3.

The aroma of coffee filled the apartment as Valentina ran around getting ready for her next shift that started in an hour. She popped a bagel into the toaster and poured herself a steaming hot cup of coffee. As the first sip hit her tastebuds, Valentina closed her eyes and moaned out loud. There was nothing better in her opinion than that first sip in the morning when sleep still remained in the eyes. Many times it was the reason for her getting out of bed in the morning.

Valentina curled up on the sofa and slowly sipped on her coffee. Outside she could hear the city start to come alive and the traffic pick up. The early morning rays shone through the window and brightened the room. It was the perfect morning, if only she could get her head to stop spinning.

Her eyes drifted towards the bookshelves to her left and the photographs she kept there. They locked onto the one with her unit out in the dessert. The same reoccurring thought that had been on her mind for several weeks pushed to the forefront of her mind. One of the reasons for why Valentina moved to Chicago was to locate the one person who knew her better than herself, her best friend. But she kept finding reasons not to. Her first excuse for not calling him was that it wasn't the sort of conversation one should have over the phone. She should tell him in person. But when she went to look him up, his number was unlisted and became another dead end, another excuse for her to put it off.

Her fear was irrational and the longer she put it off, the harder it became. But lately the urge to reach out had become harder and harder to ignore. She had entertained the idea that it might be time. After she opened up to Kelly Severide about her past, having a connection to that past didn't seem as daunting as it once had.

O

O

By the time they moved on to their second beer, the TV had been turned on and stood flashing in the background. Valentina looked over at Kelly where he lounged comfortably on her sofa and almost had to pinch herself at the bizarre turn her day had taken. From a full-blown panic attack to enjoyable company on the couch.

"So, since you got to ask me a bunch of questions…" Valentina started. "I think it's my turn to ask you some things." Kelly frowned and looked almost as if he was about to have a panic attack himself.

"Okay…" he said apprehensively. "What do you want to know?"

"Why a firefighter?"

"It's in my blood." Kelly shrugged. "My dad worked at 51 when I was a kid. I practically grew up at that house. Every free time I had, I spent there learning the gear, watching my dad run out on calls… I loved it. By the time my dad split and left me and my mom, I had already decided that I was going to be a firefighter."

"Why did he leave?"

"He found himself another woman and started another family where we didn't fit in the equation. Turns out it wasn't the first either."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Valentina's heart squeezed painfully in her chest as Kelly told her of his father's past transgressions. She truly felt for the young boy, who from the sounds of it, once really looked up to his father. It wasn't hard for her to imagine his pain as she was no stranger to being disappointed by family. Kelly though, he just shrugged his shoulders and gave her a crooked grin.

"Don't be, I learned a long time ago to not let him bother me."

"Still…"

She leaned forwards and reached for her beer on the coffee table for something to do. The neck of her hoodie slipped down her shoulder, but she didn't think anything of it until she looked up and saw Kelly's face. His eyes were fixated on her shoulder, almost as if in awe. She looked down at her exposed shoulder and quickly realized what had caught his attention. The beginning of her scar was on full display. Every bright, jagged inch of it.

Her entire face heated up in embarrassment. No one besides herself and her doctor had ever seen even a glimpse of the injury that ended her career in the army. No one but the people in her unit and the rescue team even knew that she had been injured, let alone left with a scar for life. She moved to cover it up, but a hand shot out and grabbed a hold of her wrist to stop her.

"Don't!" his voice was both low and deep, almost chocked up as he spoke.

Kelly's hand that did not hold onto one of her wrists slowly reached out for her shoulder. Just as she had done only moments before, he ran his fingers up and down her scar. Valentina let out a shuddering breath. His touch was so gentle and tender, but never once did he falter.

"What happened to you?"

All Valentina saw in his eyes as Kelly looked up at her was genuine concern and it was pretty hard to resist. She had never spoken about what happened, not even with the people in her unit that lived through it with her. She didn't want to talk about it. The pictures that never left her head already served as a reminder of that day. But there was no coming back from this. The memories were already front and center. It wasn't like talking about it could make things any worse.

"Me and my unit drove in a convoy when an IUD went off and the blast hit our Humvee. Not everyone survived. I was impaled in my upper side and stomach with shrapnel and spent almost a month in the hospital and rehab to regain my strength and movement." She tried to keep her answer as simple and clinical as she could to make it easier to talk about, but it didn't help. Her voice still wavered with every word and tears filled her eyes to the brim, a few even managed to escape out of the corner of her eye.

Kelly kept up the motion of his fingers, they danced rhythmically up and down along her shoulder and collarbone. Valentina closed her eyes and let the touch slowly erase the pain. She matched her breathing to the motion. Every time Kelly's fingers moved down her collarbone, she exhaled. Every time they traveled up her shoulder, she inhaled. They stayed like that for several minutes without saying anything. Both of them were afraid that if they spoke, they would ruin the intimate moment.

O

Valentina couldn't remember how long they stayed that way until Kelly's phone dinged with a text message and broke the silence. The spell might have been broken but the magic somehow remained. For the rest of the night, they both found reasons to touch the other. Kelly would say something fun that made her laugh and she would rest her hand on his arm or push his shoulder teasingly. He would tickle her to annoy her when she paid more attention to the tv than to him. They would squeeze the other's hand in appreciation if they shared something personal.

It had been a long time since she had connected like that with another human being. And it felt good. It felt great. That night she had gone to bed with a huge smile on her face and fell asleep to the memory of his soothing touch. She had spoken about what haunted her both at night and during the light of day and the world had not come crashing down. Perhaps she was ready. Perhaps it was time.

O
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Kelly placed his coffee down, leaned back in his chair and put his boots up on the table before he reached for his newspaper and pen that awaited him. He flipped to the sudoku in the back and quickly started to fill in the missing numbers of the easy puzzle. This was by far the best part of his day. His squad was off doing various things throughout the house, and he got a few undisturbed moments to himself to enjoy his coffee and some intellect.

This morning wasn't any different and he managed to get through two whole puzzles and start on the third before the door to the apparatus floor opened. Footsteps approached and Kelly expected to see a member of his crew as they came to join him but was pleasantly surprised when he saw that it was Rossi and not Capp or Tony. She gave him a bright, brilliant smile and Kelly couldn't help but think that maybe that was the best part of his day.

Rossi came up to him and took a seat in the chair next to him. She didn't say anything. She simply stared down at the newspaper for a second, then stole his pen and filled in one of the missing numbers. A smirk was clearly visible on her face the whole time.

"Did you come here just to annoy me, or did you want something?" he questioned.

"It looked like you were struggling, so I thought I'd help you."

"It did, huh?"

He stole back his pen and waited for Rossi to get to the point of her visit. He watched as she gathered her thoughts. Or perhaps it was her courage. Kelly sat up a little straighter in his chair and waited with bated breath. He just knew that he was about to learn something else about Valentina Rossi and he could hardly wait to hear what other morsel about her life he would get to hear about next.

"I was wondering…" she begins. "if you would be willing to do me a favor?"'

"Sure, name it!"

"You have friends in the force, right?" Kelly nodded and she continued. "Well, I'm looking for a cop and I was wondering if you could ask your friends to ask around where I might find him?"

That was not what he had been expecting when this conversation started. And the turn of events unsettled him for a bit. Why would she need to get in touch with a cop? Had something happened?"

"Sure… Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's nothing like that." She waved his concern away with her hand.

"What's the name?"

"Jay Halstead."

Kelly startled at the familiar name. Another surprising turn of events that he had not seen coming. What were the odds that out of all the cops in the city she was looking for one of the few that he actually knew.

"I can do you one better. I know Jay myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah! How have you not run into him before today? He's at Molly's like all the time with his unit."

At the same time as he asked the question, Kelly realized that he couldn't remember Rossi ever being at Molly's. She had been asked multiple times. Both by him and others from the house but she never turned up. It was another mystery that had been solved the other night. Clearly Rossi was more wounded from the war than she let on. It must be hard to go from living in the dessert to come back to civilian life while struggling with the loss of ones friends.

"Really?" A wide, genuine smile broke out on her face once again. "How do I best get in contact with him?"

"Best bet would probably be to head over to the district and ask for him there. He works in Intelligence, and they are rather busy."

"Thank you!"

Rossi gets up from her seat, but before she walked off she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek that he could still feel minutes after she had walked away.