Back to Chaos

C H A P T E R - S E V E N T E E N

Alyssa Torres liked the people from Intelligence Unit.

Despite everything that had happened with Antonio Dawson, she still liked him as a friend and they still got along.

Despite her liking the detectives from the Intelligence Unit, her heart sank when they showed up at the firehouse a month later.

She had been finishing the report from their last call when she walked out of her office and into the common room. She paused dead in her tracks when she entered the room.

Antonio Dawson, Erin Lindsay, Hank Voight, and Jay Halstead stood in the middle of the room, in an arc with Chief Magana and Lieutenant Alex Orozco standing in front of them.

Lindsay was the first one to see her. The female detective looked up, sending a tight smile to the woman.

"What's going on?" Alyssa calls. She was afraid to draw nearer to the group as if that would change anything.

This caused the other detectives and the two firefighters to turn to face her. The other members of the firehouse, who would have originally been in the common room, were nowhere to be seen. Presumably having left when the detectives arrived.

It was at that moment that the door swung open so forcefully that it hit the wall with an almost deafening bang.

Kelly Severide was practically running into the firehouse, stopping next to the detectives, his eyes glued to his girlfriend. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," she murmurs, stepping closer to the group. Kelly was instantly by her side, wrapping an arm around her waist, keeping her firmly against her waist.

"Julian Black is back," Lindsay states.

"We knew that," Alyssa responds, shaking her head. "We've known that."

"Julian Black shot and killed a police officer today," Hank Voight was the only one willing to outright say it. "We believe he's starting his path to kill you."

There was silence in the room after that. Even the sound of the fan above the stove seemed to stop, the constant drip from the coffee pot that no one would fix stopped dripping. The world seemed to stop moving.

"Kill me?" Alyssa managed to whisper. Kelly's grip on her had tightened considerably, she wouldn't be surprised if there were permanent imprints of his hand on her waist after this.

The woman stood silent as Kelly began to ask all of the questions.

"So what happens now?" the male firefighter asks, casting a glance at his girlfriend before facing the detectives again.

"You and Alyssa will go into protective custody," Jay Halstead began to explain. "And you'll stay there until Black is found."

"And what if he isn't?" Alyssa had found her voice again and managed to ask the question that had been weighing on her since the beginning. "We ... what ... move states? Continents? Take on fake names? Fake lives?"

"Lys -" Kelly starts, facing his girlfriend. He knew what she was worried about. Chicago, being a firefighter, that was her life.

"We don't know," Voight cut the man off.

"We're going to find him, Alyssa," Lindsay tried to comfort but Alyssa simply shook her head in response, not fully convinced.

"Alyssa, you can go change into your day clothes."

Alyss was quick to turn around, heading to the locker room with Kelly quick at her heels.

"Lys, hey, slow down, sweetheart. Let's talk about this," Kelly calls as the door of the locker room bangs up, the handle hitting the wall behind it.

The woman turned around as tears began to stream down her face. "Talk about what, Kelly? The fact that my life is, once again, ruined? Talk about the fact that we're going to be in protective custody for god knows how long."

Her boyfriend took a step forward, cupping her face for a moment to wipe the tears but when he realized that they weren't stopping, he pulled her into him. His hand moved up to the back of her head, pressing her face into his chest. The other arm wrapped around her middle and he could feel as her entire body shook with every sob.

"It's okay, sweetheart," was the only thing he could think to say, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I love you so much."

He could barely hear Alyssa's response of "I love you too" since it was muffled by the sound of his shirt and her tears.

Once the tears stopped and Kelly could feel her body stop shaking, his hands moved to cup her face, pulling her body from his.

"Hey," he whispers, causing her eyes to flit to his. "Whatever happens, no matter what happens, it's always going to be us two. I love you, Lys." He pressed his lips softly to hers, tasting and feeling the salty tears on her lips.

"I love you," Alyssa answers, pressing her forehead to his, her eyes falling shut.

There was silence between the pair for a minute before a knock sounded on the door of the locker room.

"Hey, sorry to disturb, but we really need to get going," Erin Linsday was knocking on the door.

The two pulled apart and Alyssa turned to her locker, pulling off the lock that she never actually locked. Her duffle bag was in her office, she needed to remember to grab it before she left. She grabbed the few of her necessities from the locker - her keys, her wallet, a few pictures of her and Kelly.

When Alyssa pulled the door open to the locker room, Linsday was still standing there, Alyssa's duffle bag in her hand. "Figured I could grab this for you." The detective sent the woman a smile but it wasn't returned by the firefighter.

"Thank you," her boyfriend spoke up, a hand on the small of her back as they walked from the locker room. Linsday nodded to him, silently letting him know that she took no offense to Alyssa's actions.

Kelly followed the woman back out to the common room. But this time, it wasn't empty. The firefighters from Squad 3 were spread out around the room, conversating with the members of Firehouse 90.

As soon as eyes landed on the couple walking from the locker room, silence emersed the room, conversations instantly ending as every pair of eyes landed on the couple, none of them finding Alyssa's gaze.

"I want to leave," Alyssa whispered, stopping in her tracks as she felt everyone's gaze on her. She turned to face her boyfriend, her hand tugging his.

"Okay, princess, hold on, we'll leave," Kelly answers, squeezing her hand lightly before leading them over to the group of detectives at the entrance to the common room.

Alyssa stood there, lightly kicking her shoe into the floor as her boyfriend paid close attention to what the detectives were saying.

"You ready to go?" Kelly faced her girlfriend, squeezing her hand to get her attention.

"Hm?" the woman hummed, lifting her head so her gaze set on her boyfriend. She hadn't realized that she'd been standing there for about five minutes now.

"We're gonna go, baby."

Alyssa nodded, following her boyfriend out without saying anything to the other firefighters. They trailed behind the detectives. Kelly kept glancing over at his girlfriend but her gaze stayed straight ahead but he knew she wasn't actually looking at anything.

As the two climbed into the backseat of one of the Intelligence Unit SUVs, Linsday began to give them the day's rundown. Well, she gave Kelly the day's rundown.

"We'll drop you off at your guys' apartment for an hour or so, you guys can get a few of your belongings and then come out to us. We'll move you to the safehouse after that."

Kelly nodded, making eye contact with the female detective in the rearview mirror and sending her a small smile before turning his attention to his girlfriend.

"Lys, baby," he whispers, his hand moving to grab her thigh. Her gaze, still looking a little clouded, flickered up to her boyfriend. "We'll be okay, princess."

Alyssa simply nodded, her gaze falling back to her shoes.