The Good and the Bad

Shoved In My Face

Chapter Twenty-Four

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"Yeah! I called it! I called it! Did I not call it?" Herrmann shouted as most of the crew stood around in the garage on Matt's first day back from medical furlough.

Large smiles filled nearly everyone's faces at the news Gaby and Matt had announced-- that they were officially together. Everyone happy for the new couple, though absolutely no one was surprised. Chuckles filled the group as they watched Herrmann jump around in excitement, like a young child.

"No," Otis shook his head at the other man's bragging.

"Oh, yeah, I told Cindy." Herrmann realized as Severide rested his hands on the older man's shoulders in attempt to calm him down. "But, hey, I called it! I knew you two were meant for each other."

"Me too! Randy McHolland," Mouch nodded in agreement, giving Matt a little nudge in the side. "I knew you guys were gonna be turtledoves one day."

"It all worked out. Thanks, guys," Matt chuckled as he looked around at all of his friends. As he did so he couldn't help but notice one person in particular sitting off to the side of the room at one of the tables. It was at the same moment that Gaby spotted Peter walking up the drive of the firehouse. "I'll, uh, talk to you later."

"Yeah," Gaby nodded as they parted ways. She made a beeline for Peter while Matt headed towards his sister, his smile dimming at the sight of her sitting there.

"Please don't tell me you're cutting coffee out of your diet again. I swear, we all thought you were gonna kill Otis last time you tried that." Matt attempted to joke as he took a seat beside Scout.

"Please, me not having coffee had nothing to do with that." Scout rolled her eyes slightly at the reminder of her and the last candidate's interaction nearly two and a half years earlier. "I love Otis, but he has a face you just wanna punch."

"Whatever you say," he chuckled. "You wanna tell me what's bugging you then, if it's not lack of caffeine? I figured you'd be jumping up and down with Herrmann when Gaby and I told everyone."

"Matty, I've known about the two of you since it happened. It wasn't a big surprise," she offered him a tight-lipped smile.

"Still not answering my question," he pressed.

"Just haven't been sleeping well the last few nights," she tried to shrug it off. "Between work, the boys, and everything... It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that you decided to stay here instead of going to Intelligence like you'd planned?" He raised a challenging brow, broaching the very subject the siblings had been avoiding since his accident. "You know, 51's not gonna fall apart without you, right?"

"Are you sure about that?" She teased. "'Cause since I announced that I was planning on leaving you ended up needing brain surgery, Gaby left for the fire academy, and Clarke's fighting a murder charge."

"None of which connects back to you," he reached over to give her arm a squeeze. "If you wanna go, Scout, no one here's gonna stop you. And that includes me."

"So you're all on board for me going to work for Voight?" She eyed him, skeptical about just how 'okay' he was with all of it.

"Working for him? No," he spoke honestly. "But I know that you were being honest when you broke the news to us. Being a cop was always your dream, you shouldn't let the rest of us get in your way of having your dream."