One Call Away

Fired

"Listen, I've done my part of this. I sent on the information I gathered to my director, and he should be getting on it as we speak."

"Okay, but why isn't my internet going any faster?"

Kara stared at the man in front of him, blinking slowly. "Because it's sick today, Bill."

The man glared at her while raising his voice. "You better get that internet working, or Miss Grant is going to be pissed."

Then he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Kara lowered her head and slowly, repeatedly, banged her head against the top of her desk. Across from her, her best friend, Winn Schott Jr., just laughed at her.

"You know better than to try and reason with him." He snorted, watching as she gave him the finger. "Hey, did you hear? There was an armored car robbery last night. Now, there were no witnesses except for this homeless guy who swears the perp had horns...like, on his head!"

Kara laughed nervously as she shook her head. "Winn..."

"I'm telling you, they're out there." He smiled at her. "Aliens!"

"Winn, there are no such things as aliens." Kara smiled at him, having had years of practice keeping the secret out of her eyes and smile.

"You might feel differently if you read this website." He told her, ignoring the sound of the doorknob turning.

"You write that website!" She laughed.

"I contribute..." He stammered.

"What now, you got another conspiracy theory, Schott?"

Looking up at her older brother, Kara nodded. "Aliens. They exist."

"Of course," Jay smirked as he dropped a bag on her desk. "The barista that packaged these donuts for me was blue. Had to be alien."

"Okay, just shut up, both of you." Winn waved away the detective.

Kara opened the bag in confusion, and then her jaw dropped. "You brought me two dozen crullers. What do you want?"

"What?" He shrugged and perched himself on the corner of her desk. "I can't just bring my little sister her favorite morning snack and say hi?"

"No."

He sighed. "Fine. I was wondering if you'd help me out with something."

"What's up?" She asked, sensing the serious cop tone he was slipping into his voice.

"We're tracking down the drug dealer who is responsible for at least half and dozen deaths in the last two days. Our tech guys are swamped with work right now, and Voight's out on this one. I need this," Jay handed her the phone. "searched for whatever is on it."

"Jesus." Winn shook his head. "Six dead in two days?"

"Yeah, this shit is nuts. But I figured if anyone could help us out on this one, it would be this crazy one." Jay teased.

"Hey, don't call the person who just hacked a phone crazy." She raised her brow at him.

"You're in already?" He came around her desk and leaned over her shoulder to read the screen.

"Why do you always sound so surprised?" She rolled her eyes. "It looks like over the last three days he's made...damn, twenty-two phone calls to one number." Her fingers ran over the keys at a speed that rivaled Usain Bolt on a track, a feat Jay could never figure out how she managed. "It's a burner phone linked to...Pilsen?"

"Pilsen? Are you sure?"

She nodded, and her printer started up. "Definitely. The name comes back to an Ernesto Varga."

"How did you get a name off of a burner phone?" He asked as he grabbed the papers.

"It's me...I can do just about anything." She quipped.

Kissing her hair, he nearly ran from the room. "You're the best. I owe you."

"No hurry. Just get these guys." She told him.

Waving, he was almost to the door when he turned around and smiled at her. "Also, why isn't the internet working yet?"

He ducked to avoid the stapler she'd thrown at him and laughed as he let the door shut.

Shaking her head, she growled at him. "I hate you!" Looking at Winn, she raised her brow again. "You have something to say?"

The man in question held his hands out in surrender. "Nope. Nothing...except, seriously, don't knock the aliens thing. You never know, Kara."

"I guess that's true." She told him. "But I still say they don't exist. So don't be expecting to run into one any time soon."

...

Over a week later, Kara sat in the same spot staring at the television screen with almost a dozen other tech employees. She felt Winn's arm go around her shoulders as they watched the news coverage of an apartment building burning and people running everywhere.

Their friends at Firehouse 51, whom they'd met through her brothers, were there with a bunch of other houses, but Kara had only one thought on her mind.

"Kara...is that?" Winn observed her closely.

"My dad's place." She nodded. "Yeah, it is."

"Didn't he like, just have surgery?"

She nodded again. "Yep. Heart surgery. Now a fire. This is insane."

"You should go." He told her. "I mean...a family emergency has to be reason enough to take a day off."

Biting her lip, she went to respond when her phone rang. Seeing that it was Will, she grabbed it instantly. "Will."

"Hey, I can't really talk, but Dad's here at Med. He's okay, but-"

"Yeah, I saw the news. I'll be right there." She hung up, knowing he had to work this crazy fiasco and turned to her best friend. "He's at Med."

"Go." He told her. "I'll cover anything that comes to your desk."

"Thank you." She smiled and hurried off.

...

"Earl, that fire...that's my dad's place. He's in the hospital, and I really need to-" Entering her director's office, she froze when she saw who was in there with him. "Oh, uh...hello, Miss Grant."

"Miss Halstead. Have a seat." Earl told her quietly.

Sensing something was wrong, she shook her head. "I'd rather stand."

"Kira, is it?" Cat looked at her. "I got word this morning that you recently ran a hack through our computer system."

"For my brother, yeah." She admitted, knowing that Cat would smell a lie anywhere. "He works for the CPD. Intelligence. He came and asked for my help with a case, completely above the books."

"Are you aware that hacking is against the rules here at CatCo?" Cat asked, but ignored her as she went to speak again. "No matter, we just wanted to inform you of your termination, effective immediately."

Kara stared at them. "Excuse me? You're firing me. I'm one of your best tech agents."

"And yet you broke the rules, so how good can you be?" Cat sighed. "Your things need to be out by the end of the day. Don't expect a recommendation."

Then she was gone. Kara stood in shock for a minute before looking at Earl, who looked sad.

"Kara, I tried..."

"It's okay, Earl." She told him. "I will have Winn grab my stuff for me if that's okay. Like I said, my dad..."

"Of course." He told her. "Kara, I really am sorry."

She didn't respond. Her brain was reeling, but at the moment, all she cared about was making sure her father was safe and unharmed. Running out of the building, she brought her phone to her ear. "Winn, I need another favor..."