Here's the next chapter for you guys. I hope you all enjoy!
S I X
Casey walked through the chilly garage towards the white rig, his hands shoved in his pockets as he approached the open back doors. Shift had started about an hour ago, Matt having spent the majority of his time in the common room working up the nerve to come and speak to Gabby.
He'd already been here when she came in this morning, Dawson barely making it before shift change, her lateness not giving him the chance to approach her before work. And then, doing as she'd done since he'd gotten here, she never reappeared. After their meeting, she disappeared, Casey not seeing her until Shay dragged her out into the garage about ten minutes ago, the two having not come back since.
Matt slowed his steps as he got to the ambulance, Shay and Dawson coming into his line of sight as he saw them sitting in the back of the rig, Gabby on the stretcher while Shay was moving around the back.
"Hey there." Casey made his presence known, Shay looking towards the voice, a small smile resting on her face.
"Hey Casey." She greeted, Matt's eyes flashing to Gabby, the woman having ignored his presence entirely, keeping her focus on the clipboard in her lap. "How'd your job go?"
"Hmm?" He hummed curiously, his eyes flickering back towards the blonde who had squatted down beside Gabby, facing her body towards him.
"Kelly said you had a big job yesterday." She elaborated, earning an understanding nod from Casey.
"Oh, yeah. It went well. What about you, how was dinner at the Herrmanns?"
"Eventful. Very eventful." She replied with a chuckle, shaking her head lightly. "So, what can we help you with Casey?"
Clearing his throat, he brought his hand up to rub over the back of his neck, his gaze landing on Gabby. "I, uh, came to speak to Dawson, if you have a second." He responded.
Shay's eyes narrowed in confusion, turning to look at Gabby, who had yet to look up from the papers in her lap, the blonde glancing back towards Matt.
"Sure, yeah. I'll just go get some breakfast." Shay responded, her eyes flickering between the two as she hopped down from the rig. The paramedic was obviously curious as to what Casey wanted, but decided against asking questions at the moment as she walked towards the double doors, giving the two space.
Matt glanced back towards Shay's retreating form, waiting until she was out of earshot before turning back to Dawson, seeing the woman busying herself, refusing to look his way.
"Dawson, can we talk?" He asked softly, crossing his arms over his chest as he took a step towards the rig.
"About what, Lieutenant?" She questioned back coldly, her eyes glued to the supplies in her lap, her response earning a heavy sigh from Matt.
"Gabby…" He breathed out quietly, glancing around to ensure they were still alone before he stepped up into the back of the ambulance, sitting down on the bed beside her, keeping space between them. "I want to apologize."
She kept on with her task as if she hadn't heard him, or noticed his presence beside her, Dawson completely ignoring him as she worked.
"Gabby," He spoke again, reaching out and placing his hand over hers, forcing her to stop her movements. "I'm sorry." Matt told her, Gabby breathing deeply before finally glancing up at him, Matt able to see the exhaustion present in her eyes. "What I said to you the other night, that was wrong and I'm sorry."
Gabby's bottom lip fell between her teeth as she nodded, breaking their eye contact.
"No need to apologize on my account, Lieutenant." She responded, placing the clipboard down on the stretcher as she moved to get up, Matt sighing as she stepped down from the ambulance.
"Gabby-"
"No, it's fine. You feel bad for what you said, but there's no need to pretend you didn't mean it. I had it coming, I should've never been there to begin with."
"You didn't have it coming." He responded, confusion laced in his words as he followed her out of the ambulance, reaching for her arm to stop her from walking away, Gabby huffing out a breath as she turned back to face him. "You were obviously upset when you came over," His voice dropped as he spoke, Gabby biting down on the inside of her cheek as she averted her eyes. "And what happened between us, it shouldn't have happened at all… but I know you were there because you were upset and needed to forget whatever it was."
"Casey…" She spoke warningly, forcing down the emotions welling within her, hating that he was able to read her so transparently.
"I know you said things to me, and about me, but I also have a feeling that I'm not really the person you're mad at." He murmured, Gabby blinking tightly as he continued. "I should've tried to help you, and instead I lashed out and that wasn't fair."
"You don't know me, Matt." She responded, her voice sharp but quiet. "Quit acting like you do. I went there to have sex with you, that's it. There was nothing more to it." Matt blew out a breath, shaking his head as he saw her putting back up those walls around herself.
"I'm just trying-"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know what you're trying to do, and I'm telling you I don't want it. You're trying to fix me. You think you can swoop in and pick up the pieces and make everything in my life perfect, right? That's what you're trying to do. Be some hero or knight in shining armor, some bullshit like that." He could see her getting more and more angry as she spoke, but the tears shining in her eyes told him more than her words ever could. She was protecting herself, lashing out at him instead of dealing with what she was going through.
Shaking his head, Matt took a step forward, Gabby watching his movements carefully. He knew was she was doing, she was trying to start a fight. But unlike the other night, he wasn't going to take the bait. He wasn't going to hurt her again, because he knew his words had. No matter how infuriating he found her, he knew she was going through a lot, and he didn't want to make it worse.
"I'm not trying to do any of that. Trust me, I've only known you for two weeks, and I'm well aware you can handle yourself." He spoke honestly, seeing her guard drop slightly. "But, I don't know, I guess I just want you to know that if you do need someone to talk to… I'm here."
"I don't need your help, Casey." She responded quietly. "I don't know what game you're trying to play, that if you really are trying to fix me, or if you're just being nice to get into my pants… whatever this is you're doing." She huffed out, waving her hand in the air as Matt's eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
"Is that really what you think?" He questioned, Gabby catching the flicker of hurt that flashed in his eyes. "That I'm only being nice to you to take advantage of you? Do you really have that low of an opinion of me?"
"Well, you seemed to have no problem doing that the other night." She replied sharply, Matt shaking his head, running his hand over his mouth as he released a heavy breath. "Like you said, you knew I was upset when I got there, yet you had no problem sleeping with me."
Taking a step away from her, Matt put his hands up, signaling defeat as he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "You know what, forget I said anything. You're clearly fine." He spoke roughly, Gabby clenching her jaw as he began walking away. "Just next time you need someone to distract you, don't show up at my door." He muttered as he stepped past her, heading back towards the firehouse.
Shay pushed open the doors as she came from the common room, flashing a smile towards Casey as she saw the man walking towards her, but that smile soon fell when she saw the furious look on his face, his features hard in anger. "Everything okay, Casey?" She questioned, but it was like he didn't even hear her as he walked past her, Shay turning to watch him go, confusion filling her body. "Casey?" She was met with silence again as the truck Lieutenant whipped open the door, stepping inside without a word.
Turning back towards the garage, Shay saw Gabby standing a few feet away from the ambulance, her hand rubbing over the side of her face, her head to the ground. Glancing back towards the door Casey just exited through, Shay's confusion only grew, the blonde paramedic walking towards Gabby.
"Hey," Shay called, her soft voice grabbing Gabby's attention as the PIC looked up at her. "What did Casey want?" She questioned cautiously. Clearly, Casey was angry about something. But Gabby, she only looked sad. And Shay couldn't help but wonder what happened.
"Oh, it was nothing. He just, um, had a first aid question." She covered lamely, Shay raising her eyebrows.
"Well, he must've not liked whatever he heard because he looked pissed." She responded, hoping to get her friend to explain more, but she wouldn't budge.
Shay didn't buy the excuse for one second, clearly some conversation deeper than basic first aid had taken place. If that was the only thing it was about, Casey wouldn't have needed to speak to Dawson alone, and he definitely wouldn't have left their talk so angry. But what Shay didn't know was what they could've possibly been talking about.
In the two weeks Casey had been here, him and Dawson barely interacted with one another. In fact, Shay would almost say the two avoided each other. She didn't know why, but she never really bought either of their stories that they didn't know each other. They acted too strangely around one another for there not to be a history there; Shay just didn't know what it was.
As far as she could tell, no one else had picked up on their weird interactions between 51's PIC and new truck Lieutenant. But with Gabby's odd behavior, that wasn't too surprising. Shay just wished her friend would tell her something, anything that could help Shay help her. Whether it was about Walker, or Casey, or anything, Shay just wanted to be able to help her struggling friend. But Gabby didn't seem to want it.
"You sure you two don't know each other?" Shay questioned, catching the look of panic that quickly flashed in Gabby's eyes before the brunette shook her head.
"I met him when you did." She responded, looking away from her partner, walking back towards the ambulance.
"Mhmm." Shay responded with narrowed brows.
Before the blonde could press any further, the bells rang throughout the house, signaling squad and ambo to a car accident a few blocks away. Gabby had never felt more thankful for a call as she quickly cleaned up the back of the ambulance, getting out and shutting the doors while Shay got into the driver's seat, squad hurrying out to their rig as members of 51 headed towards their call.
"Can I get you a beer, Casey?" Severide asked as soon as the man stepped foot into the apartment, Matt nodding as he hung his coat up on the rack.
"Sure, thanks." He responded, looking towards the living room, flashing Shay a wide grin. "Hello."
"Hey Casey, glad you could make it."
"Well, I'm not one to turn down hockey and pizza. Thanks for inviting me."
"Of course, come on, sit down." Shay encouraged from her seat on the couch, Matt coming over to sit down next to her just as Severide walked back in, beers in hand.
"Food should be here soon." He spoke, handing a beer to both Matt and Shay before settling in the chair, grabbing the remote to find the channel with the game.
"So, anything fun happen since we saw you this morning?" Shay asked curiously before taking a long sip of her drink, Matt shrugging.
"No, not really. I've just been working. What about you guys?"
"Shay was hanging out with Dawson this afternoon, I came home and took a nap. Nothing too exciting here."
Matt nodded slowly, thinking for a moment before taking a drink of his beer, missing Shay's watchful eyes on him. "Well, let's hope the game is a little more exciting than our day's have been." He replied with a grin.
The three friends fell into easy conversation as they watched the game and waited for their food, Severide interested in learning more about Matt's construction business, while Shay interjected every few minutes trying to get them to talk about something more interesting. But her efforts proved useless each time, Matt just shaking his head and continuing to talk to Kelly.
Shay's phone ringing pulled them all from their conversation, Matt glancing towards her as she picked it up, her eyebrows furrowing before quickly answering it.
"Hey girl."
Matt couldn't hear the exact words being said on the other end of the line, but the person was talking really fast, and they sounded upset.
"Whoa whoa, Gabby, slow down. What happened?"
Matt did his best to be at least a little subtle about listening in on Shay's conversation, but Severide didn't care so much about that, he had completely stopped talking to Matt and was focused on the blonde paramedic, who looked confused and a little concerned. Casey still couldn't make out the exact words Dawson was saying, but her pace had slowed down a bit.
"Honey, why don't you come over and we can talk about it? The boys are watching hockey, we've ordered pizza. We have booze… Yeah, Casey's here with Kelly." Shay responded, looking towards the two men who were staring at her. "Okay I'll see you in a little bit."
Shay said a few more goodbyes before hanging up the phone, blowing out a heavy sigh as she shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Kelly asked first.
"Something's going on with Gabby, I'm not sure what, she wasn't making a whole lot of sense. It had something to do with Bryan, cause doesn't it always." Shay spoke bitterly, tossing her phone down onto the coffee table, rubbing her hand over the side of her face in frustration. "But I told her she could come over, I hope that's okay."
"Of course, yeah. I hope she's alright." Severide spoke, the sound of the buzzer gaining their attention, Kelly getting up to get the door.
"Is that okay with you?" Shay asked, turning towards the truck Lieutenant. Matt's eyebrows furrowed, the man nodding slowly.
"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know, there just seemed to be something going on with you two last shift and I know we invited you over, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."
"No, it's okay. Dawson and I are fine, and if she's upset she probably shouldn't be alone, you know." He rambled out, Shay looking towards him with raised eyebrows. "What?"
"What is it with you and Gabby?"
"I'm sorry?"
"There's something weird there, but neither of you will say what it is. Did you all like used to date or something?" Casey choked on his beer, Shay leaning away from him slightly as he coughed.
"What'd you do to him?" Severide asked as he walked back in with two pizza boxes, placing them down on the coffee table.
"I'm trying to get him to tell me why he and Gabby act all weird around each other, but he won't."
"Did you two know each other before?" Kelly asked, sitting back down in his chair while Matt cleared his throat. "What, you two date or something?"
"That's what I said!" Shay responded loudly, Severide shooting her a grin before both of them looked back towards Matt, who looked horrified.
"No, we didn't date. I'd never met her until I came to 51." While his words were definitely bending the truth, it wasn't a complete lie. "There's nothing to know there, Shay."
"Alright…" She responded, clearly unconvinced. "But just know I don't believe you, and I will find out what it is."
"She will." Kelly supplemented, Matt glancing towards him. "I mean, if there's even anything to find out, she will." He finished with a laugh, Matt smirking as he shook his head.
"There's nothing to find out, Shay."
"Mhmm. Sure." She responded, her eyes narrowing playfully before breaking out into a grin.
They had just barely gotten started on their pizza when they heard the buzzer again, Shay putting her plate down knowing it was Gabby at the door. Letting her up, Shay opened the door, waiting for her friend to get there. It took her a minute, but the second Shay saw Gabby, she could tell she was upset.
"Come on in, honey." She spoke softly, wrapping her arm around Gabby's shoulder once they got through the door.
"Hey Dawson." Severide greeted, Gabby giving him a slight nod before her eyes landed on Matt. Neither of them really knew how to act around one another, but when he gave her a soft smile, she relaxed a bit, reciprocating his action as Shay led her to the couch.
Shay sat her down where she'd previously been sitting, the blonde sandwiched between Gabby and Matt, her back towards Casey as she focused on her friend.
"What happened, Gabby?" Shay asked quietly, hating seeing her friend so upset. Gabby's eyes were tired, and a bit puffy. She looked broken, that was the only way Shay knew how to describe it, and she'd looked that way for weeks.
"I, uh…" Her eyes flickered around the room uncomfortably, Shay quickly realizing the issue. Turning to face the boys, she saw they were trying their hardest to pretend to not be listening, but they clearly were.
"Hey Kelly, why don't you and Matt go get some more beers and paper towels." She suggested, but they all knew it wasn't up for debate.
Nodding knowingly, Kelly grabbed his slice of pizza off his plate before heading for the kitchen, Matt following suit, leaving the two alone.
"Okay, they're gone. What happened?"
"I got a text from Bryan earlier, saying that he'd found some more of my stuff and he wanted me to come and get it. I told him he could just give it to me on shift, that I thought it was better for the both of us if we don't see each other outside of work. But he was adamant, saying he didn't want to keep staring at it for the next two days, so I went." She explained, Shay rubbing softly over her shoulder, hoping to provide some source of comfort. "When I got there, some woman answered the door. I don't know who she was, I'm guessing it was the same one he took on the trip over Christmas that was supposed to be for us…"
"He did what?" Shay asked angrily, Gabby looking up towards her friend.
"We'd made plans to go away on Christmas, just spend some time together for the night. But then the break-up and everything, I guess he took some other woman with him, a girl he met at a bar a few days before. I heard him talking about it to Kelly and Casey at the firehouse, I'm assuming they went."
"Asshole." Shay muttered under her breath, Gabby breathing deeply before continuing.
"Anyway, I just… I wasn't expecting it. He made me come in to get my stuff, and the woman just- she looked so comfortable there, in less than a week she'd managed to be more comfortable there than I ever was, and I lived there for a year." She spoke sadly, shaking her head. "I know it's stupid, he can do whatever he wants but it… I just wasn't expecting it, and he almost looked proud of himself."
"It's not stupid." Shay responded quickly. "He's a dick, Gabby. But I'm glad you came to me, you know I'm always here for you, whatever it is. I've been so worried, but I didn't want to push you."
"I know I haven't been the easiest person to be around lately…"
"Hey, no none of that." Shay replied. "You have a lot going on, and Bryan isn't making it any easier. But there's no right or wrong way to deal with this, Gabs. And knowing that prick, I have a feeling he wanted you to come tonight just so he could show you he's moved on. He's an asshole, and he never deserved you. I know it hurts and I know you loved him, but I really think you're better off without him." She spoke honestly, Gabby nodding slowly.
"I know you're probably right, but I'm- I'm just sad." She nearly whispered. "I don't know how else to describe it. I never thought he'd end things, I had no idea he wanted to, that he didn't love me anymore. It came out of nowhere… or maybe I just ignored the signs, I don't know. But I never expected this to happen."
"I know." Shay replied gently, moving her hand in soothing circles over Gabby's back. She got the feeling that there was something else Gabby wanted to say, but she was having a hard time finding the nerve to say it. "What is it?" Shay coaxed, Gabby's teary eyes locking on her friend.
"He'd been cheating on me, Shay." Gabby's voice was barely audible, the blonde's face hardening in anger as she digested the information.
"Are you kidding me?"
Gabby shook her head, her tongue quickly poking out to run over her bottom lip. "He had been for a year."
For as angry as Shay had been a second ago when learning of his infidelity, it was nothing compared to the rage she was currently feeling. "With who?"
"With… everyone. Anyone. With whoever he could find." Gabby replied sadly. "I asked him how many times, he couldn't even give me an answer. He slept with so many different women he didn't even have a guess…" Gabby responded, sniffling as she wiped the water sitting under her eyes. "He started cheating long before he even thought about proposing to me."
"I'm gonna kill him." Shay bit out roughly. "I swear to God the next time I see him, I'm going to strangle him." Shay's harsh words were filled with anger, Gabby remaining silent next to her as Shay worked through her own feelings. "Does anyone else know?"
"My parents, and Antonio knows he'd been cheating on me but not the extent of it." Gabby explained, the rage in Shay's eyes softening as she listened to her friend. "When we were getting my stuff out of the apartment, I found some woman's lingerie under our bed, and Antonio saw it."
"He took women back to your home?" She asked in disbelief, Gabby nodding slightly. "I'm going to murder that bastard." She breathed out, disgust fueling her words as she shook her head angrily. "You deserve so much better than him, Gabby. He's terrible, and I know it hurts right now but him breaking up with you might've been the best thing he's ever done for you." Shay spoke honestly, Gabby biting down roughly on her bottom lip.
"Yeah, maybe." She responded quietly, a frown forming on Shay's face as she watched her friend.
"Come here." The blonde spoke, wrapping her arms around Gabby, pulling her into her embrace. Gabby relaxed into her, curling her arms around Shay's waist as they sat on the couch. "You're gonna be alright." She whispered, rubbing her hand up and down Gabby's arm. "And I can enlist Kelly to help me hide the body." She spoke lightly, earning a soft chuckle from Gabby as they pulled back.
"Thanks Shay." She responded, wiping the few remaining tears under her eyes as the boys came back in.
Shay wasn't sure what all they'd heard or not, but based on the confused look covering Severide's face, she figured he hadn't heard much.
"Kelly, can I talk to you for a minute?" Shay asked as she pushed herself up off the couch.
"Yeah, sure." He responded, handing Casey the extra plate they'd gotten for Gabby, the roommates disappearing into the kitchen.
Sitting back down on the couch, Matt cleared his throat, holding out the plate and beer that they'd brought for her. "Here you go."
"Thanks." She responded quietly, grabbing the things from him as they sat in an uncomfortable silence, neither knowing what to say.
Matt hadn't heard much while they were banished to the kitchen, though he knew Walker was the cause of whatever had brought her here. But he knew he couldn't say anything, not unless he wanted to get his head bitten off. Although her guard seemed to be down, he didn't want to push his luck. And he also didn't want to upset her. No matter how he felt about her right now, he didn't want to make things worse. Even though she wasn't one of his favorite people at the moment, she'd clearly been having a rough time. And though his intentions were usually coming from a good place, he knew he had a way of getting under her skin and making her defensive. Anything he said always got flipped around and taken the wrong way, so he figured it best to stay quiet. And with Shay and Kelly close by, he knew there wasn't much of a conversation to be had, so he left it alone, quietly eating his pizza as he focused on the hockey game.
In the confines of the kitchen, Shay glanced back out towards the living room before turning to Kelly, her face hardened in anger.
"So what happened?"
"Your best friend is a dick, that's what happened."
"Yeah, I've been seeing more and more of that lately." He responded sadly. "What did he do now?"
"It's what he's been doing, Kelly." She spoke under her breath, Severide's eyebrows furrowing. "He cheated on her, for an entire year. With multiple people." She bit out, Kelly's eyes falling closed, a heavy sigh leaving his lips.
"Jesus Christ…" He muttered, shaking his head in anger. "How is she?"
"She's not doing well, that's for sure. I just… I knew he was always kind of an asshole, but I didn't realize he was this bad. I thought he loved her, Kelly."
"We all did. Hell, I didn't notice anything until after they broke up. But if he'd been doing that for an entire year…"
"I can't even imagine what else he's put her through. I tried to tell her that it's probably for the best, that she deserves better than him. But she's so hurt right now, and I don't know how to help her." Shay responded softly.
"Just be there for her, Shay. That's all you can do." He told her, wrapping her up in a quick, supportive hug. "And I'm gonna have a talk with Bryan, see if I can figure out what the hell he was thinking."
"I'm sure there wasn't much thinking involved." Shay spoke bitterly, Kelly rubbing her shoulder.
"Let's just go and enjoy time with our friends, hopefully Dawson can manage to have a decent night." He replied, earning a nod from Shay as they headed back out towards the living room, seeing Gabby and Matt sitting in silence, watching the game.
As the night wore on, Shay did what she could to try and help Gabby forget about everything, but the woman was clearly caught up in her own head. Matt had gone quiet, too, only really speaking when addressed. It hadn't been the night any of them expected to have, but Shay was just thankful Gabby sought her out, that instead of shutting down she came to her. It was progress, and Shay knew she had to do everything in her power to make sure it stayed this way.
"Hey Walker, can we talk for a second?" Severide asked from the confines of his office as he saw Bryan walking past his open door, the man stopping in his path.
"Yeah sure, what's up?" He asked, coming to lean against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I, uh, wanted to ask you about something… something Gabby told Shay the other night."
"Oh brother, what's she saying about me now?" He questioned, clearly annoyed at the topic.
"Dawson was really upset, and she told Shay that you'd been cheating on her. For like a year." Kelly responded hesitantly, but Walker didn't give much in the form of a reaction.
"Is there a question in there?" He asked shortly, Kelly's eyes narrowing towards Walker.
"Yeah, my question is what the fuck? Why would you do that to her?" Severide was frustrated and angry at the man's demeanor. He was beginning to understand more and more of why Shay always had a problem with Walker, he just never knew how he didn't see it before.
"Why does it matter?"
"Because you cheated on her for a year." Kelly responded roughly. "You breaking up with her doesn't change what you did. And then you proposed to her on top of it. Why would you do that?"
"I thought you were supposed to be my friend, Sev. Not Dawson's. Why do you care so much? Her and I aren't together, it doesn't matter anymore."
"Yeah, I am your friend which means I can call you out on your bullshit." He responded angrily. "It matters because you strung her along for a year, you made promises to her you had no intention of keeping. Don't you see how fucked up that is?"
"You're the last person who should be giving anyone relationship advice, Severide. And whatever Gabby's been saying about me, it's none of your business. What happened in our relationship doesn't concern you… The last thing I need is a lecture from you, so just leave it the fuck alone Kelly." Bryan spoke angrily, turning around and leaving the bunk room without another word.
Severide blew out a frustrated sigh, pushing himself up from his chair forcefully, the object colliding with the wall behind him.
"You okay?" Kelly glanced up to see Casey standing in his doorway.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good, I just…"
"I heard." Matt supplemented, Severide staring at him. "I heard what you guys were talking about."
Kelly sighed heavily, shaking his head. "I don't know who the hell that guy is," Severide spoke, "That's not the guy I've known for years. The Walker I knew wouldn't have ever done that, especially not to Dawson, but I guess I must've never really known him at all."
Matt gave him an understanding nod, unable to respond before they heard the bells ring throughout the house, signaling the entire house to a single vehicle car accident.
The conversation Casey heard got pushed to the back of his mind as he and Kelly headed for the garage, knowing he needed to focus on the task at hand.
"Why are they sending us so far out of the city?" Shay questioned as the paramedics climbed inside their rig.
"I don't know, but someone must really need help." Gabby breathed out, 61 the first ones out of the garage, 81 following close behind.
It took nearly fifteen minutes for them to get there, truck pulling up behind ambo as they all hopped out of their rigs, assessing the situation.
They were on a two-lane road, there barely a car in sight aside from the one that clearly needed assistance, one that had at least one victim trapped inside. From what Casey could tell, they'd swerved and went off the road, the car now nestled in between two trees, hanging face first down towards the ravine below. It was a dangerous scene, there was no way around it. And Casey knew they would need squad's help with this.
"Severide, what's your ETA?" Casey asked through the radio.
"A few more minutes, at least. Got pinned in some traffic. What are we looking at?"
"Single car accident," Matt spoke as he got closer to the car, stepping down off the side of the road into the slick grass. "I see one victim, but there could be more, the car's hanging off the side of the hill. As soon you get here, we're gonna need you guys to help stabilize it. We don't have enough equipment in the truck to hold it up safely."
"Alright, we'll be there in a second."
"Alright, truck lets get the chain out, try and keep her up until squad gets here." Casey spoke, not missing Dawson walking towards the car out of the corner of his eye.
"Got it, Lieutenant." Otis replied, his men getting to work.
"Ma'am, can you hear me?" Dawson asked as she stepped off the road, taking small careful steps towards the vehicle, earning nothing in response. "Ma'am, what happened?" Gabby asked again, taking a few steps closer.
"Dawson, get back." Matt spoke, stepping towards her.
"I've gotta help her, Casey." Gabby replied, inching further down the hill every few seconds.
"Wait, stop-" He reached out for her, pulling her back away from the car, meeting Gabby's fiery gaze. "It's not safe, we need to wait for squad to get here to make sure the car is secure."
"You're not my boss, Casey. I'm gonna help her, I'm not getting in the car. I can at least put a collar on her." Dawson replied forcefully, ripping herself out of his grip. Casey saw the car shifting slightly against the ground, resisting against the branches holding it up. He knew it wouldn't hold much longer, that there might be nothing they could do, but what he did know what that he couldn't allow Dawson to get near that car.
"Dawson, just wait a second." Matt tried, reaching for her again.
"Gabby, you're gonna get yourself killed!" Walker called from the road as Gabby tried to get back to the car, Matt shooting him a firm glare, holding his hand up signaling the man to be quiet.
"Dawson, listen to me." Matt tried again, grabbing ahold of her body, stopping her movements and getting her to face him. "If you go down there before that car is secure, you and I both know what could happen. Squad's on the way. You can't help her if the car falls, alright? You have to wait." He kept his voice steady and calm, hoping to get her to see reason. He didn't know why she was so set on endangering her own life, but he knew he wasn't getting through to her.
"It's right there, I'll be fine." She pushed herself away from him, walking back towards the car. Without another thought, Matt grabbed her, pulling her back, despite her fighting against him.
"Casey, let me go!" She shouted as he pulled her back to the road.
It was only seconds later that the car won out against the nature, the chain truck secured to the back snapping, Gabby watching on in horror as the vehicle fell down into the ravine, disappearing from sight as they heard a loud crash. Dawson fought against Casey, trying to get out of his grip to get down there, but he wouldn't let her go. He pulled her further away, as all eyes were on the two of them.
"I could've helped her!" She yelled as she turned around in his grasp, punching against his chest. "I could've helped her, but you just let her die!" Gabby continued fighting against him, Matt holding onto her arms, trying to calm her down.
Amidst the chaos, squad pulled up, unsure of what they walked in on, but they saw Gabby nearly punching Casey, clearly upset while Matt was trying to help.
"What happened?" Severide asked quickly.
"Dawson was trying to help the woman, but Casey wouldn't let her cause it was unstable. We got a chain on it but it was too much weight and it snapped, the car slid down the hill."
"Alright, squad let's get geared up. Tony, you're coming down with me."
Casey had managed to pull Dawson further away from the scene, but his attempts to calm her down were useless.
"Dawson, I know you wanted to help but we both know you could've gotten yourself killed had you gone down there. This is the job, we help who we can, but not at the expense of our own lives, if we can help it."
Gabby pushed against his chest forcefully, Matt releasing his grip on her, Gabby taking a few steps back. He saw the anger burning in her eyes, hiding the few tears that had appeared during the struggle.
"I could've tried." She bit out, her chest heaving.
"Gabby, you and I both know you would've gotten hurt, if not worse. I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you go down there."
Gabby bit down on her bottom lip, shaking her head forcefully, her dark eyes locked on him.
"You got that woman killed."
Without another word, she walked past him, heading for the ambulance. Blowing out a heavy breath, he turned around to see her shrug off Shay's attempt to comfort her, walking around to the back of the ambulance where she slammed the door shut in anger.
He knew he did the right thing, and that there was a lot more to her anger than just that victim. But it didn't make her words sting any less.
Casey sat at his desk, flipping his pencil between his fingers as he stared at the blank paper in front of him. He was trying to write up the report for the last call, but he was struggling to do so. Since they pulled the woman's body from the scene, he couldn't stop thinking about it. If he had made the right call by pulling Dawson back, if there was anything he could've done differently to stop this from happening. He always tried to never second guess himself, that was dangerous territory in this line of work. But it was hard not to. From what he could tell, the woman might've still been alive when they got there, and then after his decision, she wasn't.
It was a hard thing to digest, and it made writing up this report nearly impossible.
The sound of his slightly ajar door being pulled open brought him out of his thoughts, Matt turning to see a very nervous looking Dawson standing in the doorway. Part of him wanted to just turn back around, because he imagined whatever she was here for, he didn't want to hear it. But something kept him for ignoring her presence as he turned around completely, dropping his pencil on the desk as she stepped inside.
"I, uh… I wanted to apologize." She spoke softly, fiddling with her fingers. "Today at the call, what I said to you, that wasn't fair and I'm sorry. You were right, it wasn't safe and I had no business going down there. I'm sorry."
Matt watched her closely for a few seconds, not expecting her to have come to him at all, let alone come to him to apologize. He knew there was more going on with her than he could probably ever understand, especially after seeing her demeanor when she showed up to Shay and Severide's the other night, and then hearing Walker's conversation with Kelly earlier today. But up until an hour ago she'd never let her problems cloud her judgement on a call. She'd managed to keep a level head until now.
But he knew she didn't need a lecture from him. He wasn't her boss, and he had a pretty good feeling she knew what she did today was reckless. Whether Shay had gotten through to her, or she came to the realization on her own, something had changed to make her understand what she'd done at that call wasn't smart. She didn't need him to tell her that.
"It's okay." He responded, "It was a tough scene, I know you wanted to help her but I also knew if I let you, you'd probably be in the hospital right now."
Gabby nodded, pursing her lips together tightly as she thought over his words. "I just, uh- wanted you to know that I'm sorry. What happened to her wasn't your fault and I never should've blamed you. I wasn't thinking."
"It's okay Dawson, really."
She nodded, looking towards the open door before glancing back towards him. "And uh, for what it's worth, I guess that woman snapped her neck in the crash… she was already gone before we got there. We wouldn't have been able to do anything to save her." Gabby told him, Matt's eyes falling closed for a split second, nodding slowly. "Nothing you did changed the outcome for her, this wasn't your fault. In fact all you did do was stop me from doing something stupid… I, uh, hope you can forgive me for what I said. For everything I've said. I've been taking things out on you when they're not your fault, and I'm sorry."
Matt's gaze softened as her eyes stayed plastered to the floor. He wasn't sure what brought on this realization, but even her admitting it seemed like a step in the right direction. He knew he wasn't blameless in all this, but she definitely hadn't pulled any punches.
"It's alright, Gabby." She looked up when he said her first name, Matt offering her a small, sympathetic smile. "You've had a lot going on, and I know my presence here hasn't exactly helped things for you. But, I uh…"
"What?"
"...I'm worried about you." He admitted, watching as she wrapped her arms across her chest protectively.
"I'm fine." She deflected. "I just wish we could've done something to help her."
"That's not what I'm talking about." He replied softly, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I know I don't know you, but I think I've seen more than most people around here how you've been dealing with things. I do know all this has been hard on you."
"I'm fine, Casey."
"I know Walker cheated on you, that he had been for awhile."
Her eyes widened slightly, Gabby taking a step away from him. "Did Shay tell you that?"
"No, she didn't. But she must've told Kelly, because Severide approached him earlier and I heard them fighting about it." Matt responded softly.
"Does anyone else know?" She questioned in a whisper, Matt shaking his head.
"Not that I know of. I was the only one here… but don't you think they should?" He asked her, Gabby's eyes narrowing in confusion.
"It's none of their business."
"I know that, but I've seen the way everyone here treats him. I know they love him and I also know that aside from Shay, they've mostly just been focused on him and how he's doing since I got here." He spoke, Gabby averting her eyes away from him. "You don't need to protect him, Gabby."
"I'm not protecting him, but you really think I want everyone knowing that I was an idiot for the past year?" She asked quietly, a frown forming on his face. "That, up until maybe a couple months ago, I didn't even have the slightest clue he was cheating on me? That I was so naive and stupid to believe him when he said he wanted to marry me? You really think I want everyone knowing that?"
"Gabby, you have nothing to be ashamed of. This is on him. You trusting him wasn't stupid." Gabby shook her head, blinking back the tears sitting in her eyes as Matt stood up from his seat. "Look, no one can tell you how to deal with this, but I know how awful it feels to be cheated on by someone you trusted…" Her eyebrows furrowed at his words, seeing him glance down towards the ground in between them. "You feel like maybe somehow it was your fault, that you could've done something to change it. But I'm telling you, it's not your fault… I'm really sorry he did that do you."
Gabby's mouth fell open then shut, unsure of how to respond. She didn't know what to say to him, and she couldn't figure out why he was being so nice to her after how she's treated him. She didn't understand why he still cared about sparing her feelings, why he even went so far as to try and make her feel better. She didn't understand it, and part of her wasn't sure if she could trust it.
But what she did know was that Casey was speaking from experience. Someone had done to him what Bryan did to her. And she didn't know what to make of that.
"Hey Lieutenant, can we talk for a second- oh." Walker's sentence stopped short as he saw Gabby standing in there with Casey, the two standing closer than Bryan would've liked. His eyebrows furrowed as Gabby looked away from him, Matt's spine straightening as he turned towards his firefighter. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"It's fine." Casey responded, glancing back towards Gabby who met his eyes once more.
"So, yeah… I just wanted to apologize for earlier." Gabby stuttered out, Matt nodding.
"It's okay, Dawson. Really. But I appreciate you coming to talk to me."
Without another word, Gabby nodded before leaving the office, sliding past Walker and heading for the locker room, Bryan watching her go with a curious stare.
"What did Dawson want?" He asked, turning back to face his Lieutenant, finding a blank look covering his face.
"I don't believe that concerns you." Casey replied firmly, sitting back down at his desk, turning his attention to his paperwork.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, I just… after how Dawson acted on that call today, well I know better than anyone how she can be. But you handled her pretty well out there."
"Did you need something, Walker?" Casey asked, ignoring his comments. He didn't like the way Bryan spoke of Dawson, like he barely acknowledged her as a person.
"Right, sorry. I just, uh, wanted to talk to you about something… I know you haven't been here very long, and I know you've gotten close with Shay, and Severide, and I'm sure you've heard a lot of things about me." Matt's eyebrows furrowed as he turned back around to face the firefighter. "I know my personal life was pretty much all over the firehouse the minute you got here, but I just wanted to know, or I hope I guess, that your personal feelings towards me aren't affecting how you see me as a firefighter."
"Walker, do you have a problem with me?"
Bryan's eyes widened, the man shaking his head firmly back and forth. "No, of course not, sir-"
"Have I done something out on call, treated you any differently than anyone else?"
"No-"
"So let me make sure I have this right. From what I can tell, you came here because you're worried about who I'm friends with. You're more worried about what people in this house might be saying about you, than you are with doing your job. The fact that you automatically assume the only thing anyone could be talking about is you tells me more about you than my two weeks here has."
"Lieutenant-"
"You need to check that ego, Walker." He responded firmly, pushing himself up from his chair. "Whether I actually have an opinion of you or not, that doesn't matter. All I care about is your ability to do you job, but if all you're focused on is whether I like you or not, we have a problem." Matt's voice was rigid, the man in front of him never faltering. "If all you're thinking about is yourself, that's how people get killed. I can't have men under my command who care more about their own self-interest than they do about the men they're working with. Now, up until about two minutes ago, I didn't think you and I had any problems. And I would rather us not have any issues going forward. Is that understood?"
Swallowing thickly, Walker nodded. "Yes, sir."
Matt could see the anger burning in the man's eyes, but Walker knew he couldn't do anything about it. Fighting back against his Lieutenant would only get him in trouble.
"I hope so. I can't work with firefighters who aren't focused. This job is dangerous enough already."
"I am focused, sir." He responded, clearly holding back what he wanted to say. "But I just get the feeling that you don't like me very much, and I don't know what all Shay, or even Dawson for that matter, might've told you about me. I just wanted to make sure I was getting a fair shot."
"Walker, this conversation has done more to impact my view of you than anything I could've heard from anyone else." He replied sharply. "You need to start understanding not everything revolves around you-"
"Lieutenant-"
"I wasn't done." Casey spoke roughly, the man falling silent. "Based on what I've seen out on call, I know you're one hell of a firefighter. You're talented, and with the right adjustments you could be an officer one day. But none of that is worth a damn if your men don't trust you. If they don't trust you with their lives. And, I don't know about you, but I find it hard to trust someone who cares more about themselves than they do their coworkers. The people who would be depending on you to get them home safely. I think you're a great firefighter, Walker. But without respect and trust, that means nothing."
Bryan pursed his lips together, nodding slowly as Casey finished talking.
"Understood, Lieutenant."
"Good. Now I've got paperwork to get back to." Casey responded, turning back to his desk without another word, hearing Walker stomp out of his office, the man clearly unhappy with the way the conversation had gone.
But Matt knew he needed to hear it. Despite his personal feelings, Casey knew Walker was too impressed with himself, both professionally and personally. He needed to be knocked down a few pegs, or it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.
So, seems like Matt and Gabby have managed to find some common ground. Things between them aren't perfect, and I definitely wouldn't call them friends, but things are seemingly moving in the right direction. And Casey had a nice little conversation with Walker, we'll definitely see how that dynamic plays out through this story.
I can't wait to hear what you guys thought of this chapter, thank you all for the constant love and support!