#ofi

Kelly’s repeated involvement with OFI had been the source of many, many arguments between him and Stella in the past. After his time in Alabama put a huge strain on their marriage, Kelly really cut back on full-scale arson investigations and only let his ‘fire cop’ side out when he had Stella’s full support.

Kelly had a natural talent for arson investigation and denying him the opportunity to use that talent was doing him, the CFD, and the city of Chicago (and beyond) a disservice. Stella never wanted Kelly to feel like she was holding him back, and he’d earned her trust again after Arizona, so she tried to be on board with Fire Cop Kelly coming out every now and then.

Things had been going well for Kelly; he was focusing on Stella, their relationship, and his job at the firehouse. Truck was going through a lot of changes and Kelly wanted to be there for Stella as much as he could.

Then the fires started.

At first, they were small. The fires only caused structural damage but it was clear they’d been intentionally set. Chicago had itself a serial arsonist.

Very quickly, the fires got bigger and more dangerous as the arsonist grew bolder. More injuries were reported as the arsonist moved on from abandoned buildings to stores, businesses, and apartments.

Two firefighters died after a collapse at a department store fire, which was a loss felt by every member of the CFD, and others were injured in a fire at an office building but it was the members of Truck 81 getting trapped and nearly dying during an apartment fire that did it for Kelly. The arsonist needed to be stopped so, with Stella’s blessing and a whole lot of anger and determination, Kelly made a temporary jump to OFI. 

Time was of the essence but there was a lot of evidence to get through. The arsonist was careful but the bigger and bolder he got, the sloppier he became. A pattern became noticeable and, whether intentional or not, clues were left behind at different scenes.

The police were helping as well, turning over any recovered CCTV footage from the fires to OFI. Between the camera footage and tips called in, Kelly and the OFI team finally had a lead on who the arsonist was and where he was hiding. 

It was just after sunset when the OFI team rolled up to a rundown motel near the city limits. It was a seedy looking place, just two stories tall and in desperate need of renovations. Half the rooms were boarded up, there were cracks in the walls and rust on the railings and stairs. The motel had closed a while ago but the accompanying police officers said they wouldn’t be surprised if people had taken to squatting in the empty rooms. 

One by one they searched through the rooms. While there were signs of obvious squatting, none of the rooms so far had shown any recent activity. 

Until they arrived at the room on the corner.

Kelly was the first one through the door and right away, he knew they’d found the right room. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings of the fires, those that mentioned deaths and injuries were front and center. Bottles of accelerants and empty gas cans were scattered on the floor, along with boxes of matches, lighters, and other fire-starting mechanisms.  

Seager radioed the others to report what they found while Kelly moved further into the hotel room. He knew PD would come and process the room and hopefully give them an ID on this guy, but Kelly was more interested in trying to figure out this guy’s next target.

As Kelly approached the back of the room, a sudden rush of movement caught his eye. A door on the side of the room burst open and a man rushed towards Kelly. There was a quick fight, but Kelly was soon overpowered. Before he even knew what was happening, Kelly was crashing through the back window and falling to the ground below.

Pain engulfed Kelly’s body as he hit the cracked asphalt below. His vision blurred and he fought to stay conscious but he was in agony. Through the ringing in his ears, Kelly heard yelling and thundering footsteps growing louder as they came closer. 

Kelly’s last thought, before he gave into the overwhelming darkness, was the arsonist’s face and the overwhelming knowledge that Kelly had recognized him.

… … …

It was a slow night at Molly’s, just the 51 crew and a few regulars in the bar. Stella was behind the bar and had just served Violet and Carver another round of drinks when her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, which normally meant she wouldn’t answer, but there was a gnawing feeling in her gut that told her to answer it.

“Hello?”

Stella listened for a minute, her eyes growing wider and wider as each second passed. “Is he okay?!”

After another minute Stella threw her dish towel on the counter, grabbed her keys, and started rushing towards the door. “I’ll be right there!”

“Kidd, hey,” Herrmann said, grabbing her arm gently before she made it around the bar. “What’s going on?”

“That was Seager. The serial arsonist OFI was looking for? He just threw Kelly out of a second-story window.” Stella looked at Herrmann and noticed she had the attention of everyone else from 51. “I need to get to Med.”

… … …

It took about an hour for all of the team from 51 to make it to the hospital, where they joined Stella and the OFI team in the waiting room. Apart from the initial update Seager and Van Meter had been able to give Stella when she arrived, they hadn’t heard anything else about Kelly’s condition. 

It was another 30 minutes before Dr. Ripley came into the ED with an update. 

“Lieutenant Severide is going to be fine,” he shared. He gave the group a moment to soak the news in, knowing the group in front of him cared greatly for his patient. “He’s got a pretty bad concussion, some broken ribs and a broken shoulder from the fall, but those should heal up just fine in a few months.”

“Our biggest concern is the fractures on the C5 and C6 vertebrae.”

“He broke his neck?!” Stella cried, the shock and fear making her voice louder than she intended.

“He did,” Dr. Ripley confirmed. “But ortho and neurology have both been in to see him. He’ll be in a neck brace while the fractures heal but as of now, there’s no need for surgical intervention. Neuro has also ruled out any deficits and paralysis. As he heals, Lieutenant Severide might experience some weakness and nerve pain but we’ll get him a referral to physical therapy for the rehab process.” 

“We’ll be keeping Severide overnight to monitor his concussion and get a handle on his pain. He’s being moved to a room now and then you guys are good to go see him.”

“Thank you, Dr. Ripley.” Stella said, sincerely.

Dr. Ripley nodded and headed back into the ED. The waiting group of firefighters and arson investigators all relished in the relief that Kelly would (eventually) be fine.

“That Severide luck strikes again,” Capp murmured.

“What luck is that Capp?” Cruz asked. “The bad luck that keeps getting him hurt or the good luck that has him surviving?”

“Uhh, both?”

Stella snorted and that helped break any remaining tension in the waiting room. Kelly Severide was a lucky guy…whether it was good luck or bad seemed to change in the blink of an eye. 

… … …

Kelly Severide was miserable. The neck brace and sling were uncomfortable, his entire body hurt, and no amount of pain medication could completely get rid of the throbbing ache in his head.

Seeing the team from 51 had been nice. Kelly had missed seeing everyone and while he liked the OFI team, they weren’t his team. They kept the visit short since visiting hours were almost over but they were all just happy to see Kelly awake and relatively okay.

When just Stella and Boden were left in the room with Kelly, Seager and Van Meter entered.

“Severide, how are you feeling?” Van Meter asked as he came to a stop at the foot of Kelly’s bed.

Kelly shrugged (or tried to) his good shoulder. “Not my first time going out a window.”

“Hopefully it’s your last,” Stella said, fixing him with a glare. “Take the stairs next time, hmm?”

“Hopefully there won’t be a next time.”

“The arsonist you were chasing,” Boden started. “Did you get him?”

“We did,” Van Meter answered. “PD is holding him at the precinct but he’s not talking yet.”

“Who is he?” Stella asked.

Before Van Meter could answer, Kelly jumped in. “Martin Carlisle.”

“That’s right,” Van Meter confirmed, raising an eyebrow at Kelly. “How’d you know that?”

“I met him in Alabama. He was an arson investigator from California, I think? He ended up getting sent home early for spouting all this crazy rhetoric. He presented a few times and had the most outlandish takes. Every time he got correct or even questioned he’d get mad and just spew even more nonsense. He got hostile so they sent him home.” Kelly explained. “No one knows for sure what happened to him after he got sent home but rumor was that he got fired.”

“Any idea what brought him to Chicago?” Seager asked.

“None,” Kelly mumbled. “But Carlisle did get into with me and a few others as he left. I’d check and see if there were any suspicious fires in Houston, Atlanta, and Seattle before he came here.”

“You think he’s done this before?”

“Maybe? I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Van Meter nodded and finished jotting something down in his notebook. “We’ll look into it, thanks Severide.”

“Rest up,” Seager added. “The CFD needs you.”

Seager and Van Meter left after that, heading back to OFI to look into the information Kelly had given them. 

Boden stayed with Kelly and Stella for a little while longer before heading out himself. He had things to handle on his end and he had some calls to make: he wanted to find our more about this Carlisle guy.

Once they were alone, Stella ran her fingers through Kelly’s hair. He’d gotten quiet since Van Meter and Seager left and Stella knew he was lost in his thoughts. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Kelly moved his eyes to look at Stella. “It’s just a lot.”

“You know this isn’t your fault, right? Whatever choices this guy made, the destruction he caused, that’s all on him.”

“I know.” 

And Kelly did know. This wasn’t the first time he’d heard of an arsonist making things personal like this. Hell, thanks to Hadley, this wasn’t even the first time he’d been on an arsonist’s hit list. Their actions were completely their own but innocent people had been injured, good firefighters had been killed, his wife and her team had almost died. The fact that Carlisle could’ve done all of this as some sort of revenge plot against him made the guilt feel worse than the broken neck. 

“It still sucks though.”

“Yeah, it does.”