OneChicago/911

They hadn’t decided what exactly they were yet. There was time for that, to discuss and decide and adapt. She wanted to go on a date with him properly, but that timeline was slipping into the future. There was only so many people they could ask to look after Andy, and each of the options would be nosy and want to know why. So it was on the back burner until then.

But they shared a final kiss before getting out of the car at 51, parked a little away from everyone else. They still did their jobs, still worked and did what they needed to. And she loved that she did.

The first two weeks of January passed quickly with stolen kisses and watching Andy grow. But on a mid January morning they arrived in to see a group of men in white shirts standing beside Boden in the briefing room.

“We’ve got some members of LAFD here shadowing us today. They want to see how we arrange our shifts and run calls, so everyone will have an extra person on their rigs today. Please make them welcome.”

Sylvie smiled at Paramedic Chief Abrams who introduced himself with a firm handshake. But before they could get to know each other they were pulled out on a call, Sylvie driving as Violet ran over their procedures with the older man. It didn’t take long to arrive at the scene and the three slid from the ambulance to check over their victim. He’d been shot twice and Sylvie knew the chances, but she and Violet got to work to try stabilise him. It was hard work but finally he was stable enough to get into the rig. They were lifting the gurney up when the oh too familiar sound of a gun cocking was in her ear, Sylvie pausing.

“Let. Him. Die.” The man - no, boy - with the gun was barely a teenager, staring at them with eyes that had seen too much.

“I can’t do that. Same way if it was you on this gurney I wouldn’t let you die either. So you need to back up, and let us do our jobs. Or if you end up with two bullets in you we won’t help you. Understood?”

He stood back, gun wavering in his hand but let them leave. Sylvie gave Violet the keys and sat into the back of the rig, checking vitals and pushing fluids in. She could hear Violet over the radio giving the alert to Med that they were on the way, to give a description of who they were searching for. But as they approached Med their patient flatlined and Abrams began bagging while Sylvie did CPR and ran epinephrine into his veins. She handed over to Connor Rhodes and filled out the paperwork. But before they could leave, Erin arrived up beside them with Jay Halstead.

“Mikami called it in, what happened?” Jay asked, but Erin wrapped an arm around Sylvie, holding her for a moment before letting go and doing the same with Violet.

“We were treating the victim and he was just a kid. Maybe thirteen or fourteen? Bulls hoodie, jeans, dark shoes. He was Latino. I’m sorry I just…it was a lot.” Sylvie shrugged as Jay took it down, but Erin rubbed her back.

“I’m just glad you’re ok, that’s the important part. Once your shift is over go cuddle your kid. Drinks tomorrow night?”

Violet frowned, shaking her head. “I’ve a date. Kev’s introducing me to his siblings properly.”

“Have fun, but yeah. Kelly can watch Andy for it.” They said their goodbyes and went back to the ambulance to clean out, Abrams watching her.

“Kid? You’re a mother?” He asked, Sylvie nodding.

“I have a son, Andy. He’s nearly a year old now, Lieutenant Severide and I are raising him.” It wasn’t any of the man’s business why they were raising Andy, and she left it at that. In his defence the Californian just nodded and helped them clear out the rig.

It was a couple of small calls, Sylvie and Violet trading who drove and who was in the back as they dealt with a car crash, a bike accident, and a memorable moment of avocado hand in a twelve year old. But finally they were back at 51 for lunch for the first time since they’d left that morning. Kelly was straight up to them when they arrived, looking her up and down carefully.

“You ok?” He asked, and all Sylvie wanted was a hug from him. But they were platonic outside of the apartment, so she just nodded.

“Fine. Definitely scary, but it’s not the first time someone’s held a gun to me recently.” Her words were too flippant, the memory of the terror they’d both felt that day clear on their faces. But the ambo needed restocking, and once they’d finished that Herrmann came out to announce lunch was ready. It was soup and toasted sandwiches he pulled from the oven as everyone crowded around, hot and necessary on the freezing January day. But once Sylvie had finished her food she wandered into the bunk room, staring around.

It was so close. And she didn’t think the boy would have shot them, but the fact that she’d been up close and personal with another gun didn’t help matters. The emotions were surging through her and she ran her hands through her long hair, pulling out her braid to redo it. Before she could sit on her bed to do it Kelly came into the room, taking her hand and pulling her into his office. The blinds had already been down as he closed the door and pulled her to him, hands running through her hair to hold her lips to his.

Sylvie melted into the kiss, so desperate for more. When they separated they just held each other, Kelly’s hand on her head as Sylvie leaned in and listened to his heartbeat. Alive. Alive. Alive. They had each other and Andy and things were going to be ok.

“Want me to fix your hair?” He asked and Sylvie nodded, holding out her hair elastic. She expected him to just put it into a ponytail but instead she sat in his chair as he was on the bed and put her braid back in. He was nearly done when one of the LA group knocked on the door and came in.

“Sorry for disturbing you,” he said, but Sylvie smiled and stood.

“You’re fine. Lieutenant Severide was fixing my braid, it’s awkward to get without a mirror. I’ll leave you alone.”

She’d barely made it to the common room when the bells went and she listened out.

Squad 3, Truck 81, Engine 51, Ambulance 61, Battalion 25. Train derailment.

She ran out to the turnout room to get her coat, Violet doing the same before they got into the ambulance to join the convoy to the scene. She didn’t know what she expected, but it wasn’t this. A commuter train had derailed with nothing else on the tracks, and from the debris field it had been going quickly. Sylvie said a quick prayer that at least it wasn’t rush hour and pulled out her radio.

“Ambulance 61 to Main, requesting EMS plan one, major casualty event. Ambulance 61 taking control of the scene until an ambulance commander can arrive.”

“Main to Ambulance 61, confirmed. Set up triage and other units are en route.”

She and Violet worked as a team together to set up the triage units, Abrams agreeing to oversee the black and red tagged area so she and Violet could get to work. Sylvie directed other rigs to take patients, dividing them up between the different tarps and doing whatever work they could to keep people alive. The crackle of flames from one of the carriages was in the background as she treated people. It was bandaids to some people, splinting obviously broken bones, and doing what she could to preserve the dignity of those she couldn’t help. There were a few people with first aid abilities who offered help, and she sent them around the green tarp to check on people.

Finally an ambulance commander arrived, in shock at the scale of the disaster around them. Sylvie had been so focused on treating the people the different crews brought back to her that she hadn’t paid attention to the chaos and disaster apart from when she’d arrived. It was an eight carriage train, four of them on their sides and one engulfed in flames. CFD had been rescuing people from the other carriages and getting them away as an Engine company was working on getting the flames out.

“Brett, good job,” Hawkins said, and Sylvie nodded while wiping the sweat from her brow. “You can go back to your house if you want, you and Mikami have done amazing work.”

“We’ll do runs to hospitals?” Sylvie asked, not wanting to leave them short handed. Hawkins agreed with her, pointing to the yellow tarp. The black one was filling up but she couldn’t let herself look at it, and the red was mercifully empty thanks to everyone either going to hospital or being moved.

“Start taking from the yellow. Lakeshore asked us to not bring anyone for a half hour, they’re struggling with how many they have right now. Try Med and County.”

“Got it.”

Abrams followed them and watched as they loaded up two sitting patients, Violet and him in the back with them as Sylvie drove to Med. It was the usual drop off, but when they were getting back in the rig Abrams stopped them.

“Why did you put two in the ambulance? I thought it was one person per trip?” He asked Sylvie, who shrugged.

“The rules say one paramedic to one patient. We’re usually in teams of two which means one in the back, so only one patient. But in this case we had two non critical patients, and two qualified paramedics. The rules weren’t broken so I thought it was a good use of our resources rather than doing two journeys when one could work.” Her voice got slightly higher as she finished her explanation, but instead of the dismissal she expected he nodded and smiled.

“Excellent idea. Well done for making sure we help the most people. Back to the scene?”

They did three more runs before they were stood down to go back to 51. Their entire house was sent back at the same time, so they all went together in a slower convoy. Exhaustion was painted on everyone’s faces and Sylvie put in an order for pizza for them all. It arrived shortly after, people snagging slices before going to the bathroom to wash grime and soot from their faces. She sat with Violet, staring at a photo of Andy on her phone.

The day was horrible. She’d seen too many awful things, and she knew the next time she lay down to sleep she’d have a nightmare. They were fortunately rare, but they still happened. But every cell in her body was remembering the tension of the previous few hours. The blue gloves littered across the field as they stripped and changed them to deal with new patients. The moment of seeing bodies taken from the red tarp to the black, trying to give people dignity when they had none left.

CFD’s academy didn’t train you for days like this one. Days when you wanted to be wrapped in someone’s arms, or cuddle your son. So she stared at the photo of Andy for an hour in solemn need, making sure she kept him front of mind. He was the reason she did this, the reason she didn’t give up. So she could tell him the legacy Matt and Gabby had left behind.

That night they were called out three times, but the firehouse was quiet when they returned each time. Nobody was sleeping, everyone too emotionally wrought to. But finally it was home time. She didn’t think anyone on shift even changed their clothes, just grabbing their bags to leave. As she looked around she spotted Kelly in Boden’s office, so Sylvie settled to wait for him to leave. But before she could get too comfortable, Chief Abrams called her across to the blue room.

“Ms Brett? I have a question for you.”