Shenanigans in the group chat, Sylvie and Buck regret their decisions, TK shows off his boyfriend, Sylvie comes out, and a sneak peek into how some key moments of Chicago Fire are different in this timeline.

Let me know what you think!

***

Sylvie: Hypothetical situation time.

TK froze in the middle of taking a sip from the water bottle Mateo had passed to him as he checked his phone during a break in the conference. He quickly swallowed his sip, then tapped out an answer quickly, guessing Buck was still on shift since he wasn't answering.

TK: Should I be worried?

Sylvie: No.

Sylvie: It's hypothetical, TK.

He snorted, turning his focus entirely on his phone, ignoring the bewildered looks his team was giving him.

TK: You're not making me any less worried, Brett.

Sylvie: Shut up, Strand.

Sylvie: Can I share my hypothetical situation or not?

TK: . . .

TK: Fine.

Sylvie: So, say a bar only has red wine and white wine.

Sylvie: Hypothetically, if someone ordered a bit of both and mixed it together, would it then be rosé wine?

TK choked on his next drink as he read the paramedic's texts, and he turned his face into his elbow, coughing into his sleeve. "Whoa," Judd blinked, stepping forward. "You alright, brother?"

"Yeah," he said weakly, nodding and waving Judd off. "I'm fine. Just . . . went down wrong."

"What are you reading, anyway?" Marjan asked, looking ready to peek over TK's shoulder to see for herself.

"A group chat," TK evaded easily, tapping out his elegant response.

TK: What the hell, girl?

Sylvie: Our stupid bar at the hotel doesn't have rosé!

Sylvie: This is a serious crime!

"Oh, my – " TK abruptly turned and thumped his forehead against the nearest surface, which just so happened to be his father's shoulder.

"Everything good, son?" Owen asked in concern.

"Oh, I'm fine," TK snorted. "I'm worried for someone else's sanity."

"Oh, no," Owen sighed.

"Whose?" Mateo perked up.

TK snorted, waving his phone. "Someone I met at the derailment last night."

"Yeah, you did split up from us for a while," Paul nodded his understanding. "It's that interesting of a conversation?"

TK raised an eyebrow, holding up a finger to hold off on questions as he typed out a message.

TK: If this is a serious crime, you're obviously an angel.

Sylvie: You are absolutely right.

Sylvie: Compared to the rest of my house, I'm a seraph in paramedic form.

Sylvie: At least until you leave me with Casey and Severide.

TK: Do I even want to know?

Sylvie: I blame Severide.

Sylvie: He turned Casey and I into his partners in crime for arsonist hunts.

Sylvie: Not that I'm complaining since I got my two best friends ever from them.

Sylvie: But I could go a year without having to chase arsonists down staircases or get threatened by them.

Sylvie: At least I'm not the one who had to physically stop them.

Sylvie: Thank God Sev can shove a dumpster into the path of a speeding car.

TK blinked, reread the texts, then laughed loudly. "Oh, Dad, if you ever meet this woman, you'll get along so well."

"Oh, hell, that sounds like a dumpster fire waiting to happen," Judd pinched the bridge of his nose.

"She just said someone from her house pushed a dumpster in the path of an arsonist, so it's not that far off," TK grinned.

Judd made an exasperated gesture with both arms. "I didn't mean that literally!"

"And it's a she?" Marjan grinned. "I wanna meet her."

"I'm not sure if we'll meet with her house while at the conference," TK admitted, checking his schedule. "And she's a paramedic, so . . . "

"It's always Michelle and her crew," Paul huffed.

"What about us?" the black-haired paramedic captain walked up with an eyebrow raised, coffee cup in her hands.

"TK made a friend last night," Mateo grinned.

TK sighed. "Glad to know everyone is so invested in my personal life."

"Just looking out for you, son," Owen squeezed his shoulder.

"I know," TK smiled.

***

TK: Whenever we meet up again, you are telling me how a paramedic got involved with arsonists.

Sylvie snorted at TK's response, typing her response quickly.

Sylvie: Three words.

Sylvie: Severide and Casey.

TK: You know, if I wasn't totally taken, I would really be interested in these two.

Sylvie stared at TK's response, then giggled.

Sylvie: I'm pretty sure they're straight.

TK: That's a shame.

TK: They're all yours, princess.

Sylvie choked on air, making Emily look up from where she was checking their ambulance's inventory. "What was that?" she grinned.

"Sorry," Sylvie coughed, reaching for her water bottle. "Just a conversation I'm having with someone."

"What about?" Emily frowned, setting a box of gloves to the side.

Sylvie blushed. "I may have let slip I've been on arsonist hunts with Casey and Severide."

Emily grinned. "OK," she climbed over to sit across from her partner. "Which one is it?"

Sylvie squawked, looking at Emily with her jaw open, eyes wide. "Excuse me?!"

"I've seen you like this before," Emily jabbed her finger just inches from Sylvie's chest. "You were like this when Casey entered the bunkroom and you 'swallowed wrong.' The other time was at Molly's when Ruzek sang your praises about one of your arsonists and Severide looked at you like you made the constellations yourself."

"He – !" Sylvie cut herself off when she heard how shrill her voice sounded, and she glared at Emily. She doubted it worked because of how hot she felt her cheeks burn with a blush. "He did not."

"Girl, he did," Emily nodded. "If Stella had heat vision, she would have incinerated you."

Sylvie groaned, dropping her face in her hands. "As if that doesn't prove your point enough . . . "

"Aha!" Emily cheered. "It's Severide!"

"It's – !" Sylvie's protest died off as Emily cackled and went back to her inventory. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's not that simple," she mumbled under her breath.

There was a very good reason she looked at Matt and Kelly like they were the sun and the moon.

***

TK: You know what.

TK: I take it back.

TK: Our paramedic captain would absolutely hunt down an arsonist if either my dad or my boyfriend asked for her help.

TK: She is just as insane as my dad.

Sylvie: And your boyfriend?

TK: He's the sane one of everyone at our firehouse.

Sylvie: He's a firefighter?

TK: Oh, God, no, I could never handle that.

TK: He's a police officer.

Sylvie: How is a POLICE OFFICER the sanest of everyone at your firehouse?!

TK: You obviously don't have a constant police officer visiting your house.

Sylvie: Of course not.

Sylvie: We're amateur detectives so we always have an entire unit of officers visiting.

TK: And you're judging ME?

Buck hadn't even known these two for a full day, and after the train derailment and the conversation he had with Abby, TK Strand and Sylvie Brett were officially his new favorite people.

He understood what Abby had meant, he truly did, and he could be happy for her . . . but for her to think she might not trust herself if she came back to him? God, not much in his life had hurt more than that.

So to open his suddenly blown-up group chat to find Sylvie and TK arguing about wines and arsonists? He really needed the hysterical laughter that generated.

Buck: I volunteer to try mixing wines if you two join me.

TK: Dude, I just said I had a boyfriend.

Sylvie: TK Strand!

TK: How the hell does that sound like you just said my full name?

Sylvie: Do you want to know the amount of times I've called my captain and one of the lieutenants by their full names?

TK: . . .

TK: Honestly, yes.

Sylvie: I swear to God, TK . . .

Buck: I just had a very much needed, yet hard conversation with my ex-girlfriend.

Buck: Who, may I remind you, now has a fiancé.

Buck: Who I willingly climbed into a derailed train to save.

Sylvie: Nice going, TK.

TK: Now I feel awful.

TK: I'm sorry, Buck.

Buck: Apology accepted, TK.

Buck: I would just like a night out with friends.

Buck: Which I hope we now are.

Buck: And I kind of want to avoid sympathetic looks from my L.A. ones.

Sylvie: Can it be a bar with rosé if wine mixing goes terribly wrong?

TK: Like it probably will?

Sylvie: Shush.

Buck: Tell me your favorite and I'll make sure we hit one with it.

Sylvie: Buck is my new best friend.

TK: Excuse me?!

Sylvie: Which means I'm in.

TK: Will the bar have mineral water?

Buck: Definitely.

TK: Just say the time and place.

TK: Hell, I'll be Sylvie's designated driver, we're probably close to the same hotel.

Sylvie: Woo!

Buck snickered as he slid his phone into his pocket and walked back to his Jeep, leaving the bench he had spoken to Abby with behind him.

***

Sylvie took one sip of the mixed wines and immediately gagged, forcing herself to swallow. Buck wasn't anywhere near as elegant, spitting the mix back into his glass. "Nope," he shook his head, going for his water as a laughing TK almost fell out of his seat across from them. "That's the best red and the best white this bar has. I am not trying that again."

"Never," Sylvie coughed in agreement, waving to flag their water down. "Boy, am I glad Foster didn't see that."

"I should have recorded it and asked for numbers," TK chortled, his shoulders shaking from the force of his laughter. "That was awesome."

"Says the designated driver," Buck griped.

TK grinned. "I've been designated driver for a long time, this is nothing."

"Not a drinker?" Sylvie asked, pointing out the wine she wanted.

"No," TK shook his head. "I, uh . . . "

She immediately shook her head when TK fiddled with his glass. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

"No, it's OK," TK sighed. "I relapsed on opioids in January. It's part of why my dad and I moved to Austin. I learned the man I wanted to marry was cheating on me."

"Oh, man," Buck winced. "I'm sorry, TK."

"Thanks," TK smiled tightly. "Honestly, while I'm not happy about the overdose . . . I'm glad we ended up where we did. I love it at the 126, and I'm happy I'm with my boyfriend."

"Any pictures?" Sylvie leaned forward conspiratorially.

TK grinned, pulling out his phone. "In uniform or out?"

Sylvie's eyes widened. "Definitely in uniform."

Buck laughed loudly. "I guess that's the type!"

"I will toss this in your face," Sylvie threatened, holding up the dreaded red and white wine mixture.

"Hey, I declare this a judgment free table," TK announced as he flicked through his camera roll. "Whatever we say at this table does not leave the table unless we say it can."

"Amen!" Sylvie raised the wine glass that just got delivered.

Buck smirked, raising his beer. "What Sylvie said."

TK grinned, finding the picture he wanted and turning it to them. "Here you go."

Buck whistled appreciatively as Sylvie smiled at the picture. It was of TK in his black uniform and a Latino in an Austin PD uniform, both smiling at each other like they were seeing their whole world. "You two look amazing," she complimented.

"Thank you," TK smiled. "I didn't realize Judd took my phone, and our chief paramedic had his."

"You have a good house," Sylvie smiled fondly.

"I do," TK nodded. "We look out for each other, especially my dad. He was at Ground Zero for 9/11, ended up being the only survivor of his house."

"Wait," Buck's eyes widened. "Your dad is that Captain Strand?!"

"I think I've heard a few of my housemates at 51 mention that name before," Sylvie frowned.

"Oh, his ego doesn't need any more stoking," TK groaned. "Yeah, my dad rebuilt the entire 252 after 9/11, and he made it into a really great house. Last January, after the explosion that took out all but one of the 126, the AFD Deputy Chief asked my dad to rebuild it, too."

"Yep, that's how I know it," Buck nodded. "Our academy in LA has it in our classes."

"Oh, God," TK thumped his head on the table. "My dad is gonna get a kick out of that."

"The chief at our house worked 9/11," Sylvie said thoughtfully. "Maybe he worked with your dad."

"It's possible," TK nodded. "Dad said he worked with a few out of state crews."

"I'll ask him when I get back," Sylvie decided.

TK nodded, putting his phone down. "And I'll ask my dad if he worked with any Chicago firefighters."

"I don't know if anyone from my house would have been called for that," Buck said thoughtfully.

TK shrugged. "All I know is I'm happy Dad was able to rebuild this house. I like it in Austin much better than New York."

"Good," Sylvie smiled. "I'm glad you two are happy."

TK chuckled. "You really are an angel, aren't you?"

Sylvie blushed. "Not always."

"Yeah, I want to hear more about your escapades with your captain and lieutenant," Buck chimed in, leaning forward with a grin. "Arsonists? Really?"

"Oh, my God," Sylvie buried her face in her hands, face flushing redder. "I don't know how Sev keeps sucking us in." She sighed, looking up. "OK, so it started over a year ago when an old arsonist resurfaced and 51 got dragged into it . . . "

***

Sylvie flipped through the report she was working on for the last call she attended when she heard more papers being flipped from an office she passed. She took a few steps back, seeing Kelly sitting on his bunk and flipping through several papers. "Hey," she knocked on the doorframe. She quickly held up her hand when Kelly looked up, startled. "Everything OK?"

"Yeah," Kelly nodded, taking a deep breath and looking at the different papers in his hands. "Well, I could be better."

Sylvie raised an eyebrow, then looked in the next office. Matt was bent over a paper, likely another report, and she used the side of her boot to knock on his door. Matt quickly looked up, and Sylvie tilted her head in Kelly's direction. "Is it the arsonist case?" she asked as Matt walked over and opened the door.

Kelly nodded and held up a picture; Sylvie put her report on his desk and walked over, taking the picture. "Carol Spears," he said, nodding to Matt as he poked his head through the door. "She's in the wind. No sign of her."

Sylvie hummed, scanning her. "Do you think Intelligence would help out?"

"You called Voight after the meeting with the brass, right?" Matt looked at Kelly.

"I did," Kelly huffed. "Intelligence Unit is in the middle of something. Voight said to sit tight and 'trust the process.'" Sylvie giggled at the haughty look on his face. "This is the last thing I thought would come out of my mouth, but . . . " He sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead. "I wish Benny were here. He'd chew up some ass over at CPD to have half the department in the streets looking for this lady."

Sylvie looked over the mass of papers on his bunk, then checked her report again. "Well, since this is basically finished," she closed the file and walked over, plopping across from Kelly, "you have one extra hand. How can I help?"

"Whoa," Kelly blinked at her. "Brett, you don't have to do that – "

"Hey," Sylvie gave him a stern look. "I know how you get on cases like this, Kelly Severide. What better way to keep an eye on you than to help you?"

"Well, when it's put that way," Matt tossed his file onto Kelly's desk chair, "count me in, too."

"Casey!" Kelly protested, then faltered when both Sylvie and Matt gave him the same warning look. "Damn. I'd hate to be the person who gangs up on you two."

"Don't be the first," Sylvie warned. "What are we looking for?"

***

"OK, but it sounds like you volunteered for that," TK pointed out.

"Oh, I definitely did," Sylvie agreed. "I just didn't realize how much we'd get sucked into it."

***

"Hey," Sylvie nudged Kelly with her shoulder when she noticed his eyes not moving. "It's getting late. If you need some sleep . . . ?"

"I'm good," Kelly shook his head.

"Sev, you haven't changed pages for an hour," Matt pointed out.

Kelly sighed. "I just don't wanna miss some details!"

Sylvie chewed her lip. "I don't want to overstep . . . but the last time you had that look in your eye was after your father died and everything with Stella . . . " She trailed off when Kelly looked at her sharply, and she ducked her head. "You're not alone in this, Kelly," she said quietly. "We're helping you. It's OK to look after yourself."

She was examining her pages closely, afraid she overstepped, then Kelly quietly said, "No one else is gonna catch this woman."

"We're going to, Sev," Matt told him. "We're just going at it the long way around."

Kelly nodded, then his cell phone made the bunk buzz, and Sylvie jumped, startled. Kelly quickly picked his phone up and answered. "Hey, this is Kelly." Sylvie and Matt exchanged concerned looks as Kelly had a heated conversation with someone, then both inched forward when he hung up. "Body wasn't Carol's," he said. "It was a homeless woman with a history of drug abuse and mental health issues. Carol must've lured her to the car, let her shoot up, lit the fuse."

"Oh, my God," Sylvie balked, turning a little green at the thought.

"OK, I'm the highest-ranking member of this shift in the room, and here's what I say," Matt abruptly stood from his chair. "This is moving too slowly. When shift is over, we're seeing her ex."

***

"You know what, never mind you and my dad meeting," TK shook his head. "He'd want to meet your captain and lieutenant."

"Probably," Sylvie sighed. "But then I'd have three ranking officers I'd have to look out for, and believe me . . . if anything like what happened at that house happened again . . . "

***

"This is why I was worried about you," Kelly grumbled as he watched one of the paramedics examine the knife slash in Sylvie's arm.

"I volunteered to help," Sylvie reminded him. "I got myself into this. There's nowhere else I would have rather been at the end of the day."

"You have the girls," Matt pointed out.

Sylvie raised an eyebrow. "You're not making me run away, Captain."

He held up his hands defensively. "Understood."

"Severide!" The three turned to see the arsonist captain walk up with a wide smile. "Great work."

"I'm just glad it's over," Kelly shrugged.

"You know, I'm not sure if anyone would've ever been able to solve this if it wasn't for you."

"Ah," Kelly shuffled awkwardly, making Matt and Sylvie exchange fond looks. "Thanks goes to Benny. And I had help," he gestured to them.

"Well, listen," Hubble smiled. "Someday when you least expect it, I'm gonna convince you to transfer over to OFI. You have a nose for it, Kelly. Just like your father."

***

"Didn't you say you had two arsons, though?" TK asked.

"Yeah, doesn't sound like there was a dumpster involved in that one," Buck agreed.

"Yeah, there was a second one," Sylvie nodded. "There was more going on at the firehouse then, so Casey and I weren't roped in immediately, but the moment Sev asked for back-up, well . . . what were we gonna do, say no?"

***

"I'm surprised Lieutenant Seager isn't here," Adam noted as he and Kelly walked out of the elevator.

"We're his bodyguards against her," Sylvie said dryly, making Matt bark in laughter.

"Is that right?" Adam grinned widely.

"Shut up!" Kelly grumbled.

Adam just laughed as he and Kelly walked up to the CEO of the company, Matt and Sylvie looking around. "Hey," Matt looked at Sylvie. "How's everything going with Julie?"

"It's going well," Sylvie smiled shyly. "She and Scott are moving to Chicago, so . . . more connecting."

"I'm really happy that's going well for you," Matt smiled.

"Me, too," Sylvie beamed at him, leaning into his side.

"This could be all my fault," the CEO's voice brought them back to the present.

Adam tilted his head. "How is that, Mr. Roesch?"

"I asked Brad to keep an eye on Ray," Roesch answered. "Ray Averett. He's . . . he's had some trouble in the past. He's been to rehab, but I told Brad, 'don't let him out of your sight.'"

Kelly looked around the offices, then narrowed his eyes. "This Ray Averett . . . is he a big guy, red hair?"

Roesch blinked. "Yes, why?"

Kelly walked past Matt and Sylvie, and they turned to see him walk towards a man of that exact description. "Hey, Averett!" he called.

Averett barreled towards the elevators, and as Kelly took off running, Adam sprinted after him, the first responders behind him. Adam crashed into the elevator doors just as they closed, and Matt took one look at the numbers. "Stairs!" he ran to the right, Sylvie veering with him.

Kelly and Adam took off towards the other staircase, and the clamor of the office ended when Sylvie let the door close behind her. Matt was ahead of her, far ahead, and she kept up as best she could when she made it out into the parking garage. She could hear tires squealing and turned on the spot, trying to look through the dark garage. "Guys?" she called.

"Brett!" Matt called from nearby. "You see him?"

"No!"

"Averett!" Adam bellowed from nearby.

The tire squeals sounded much closer, and Sylvie turned just in time to see Averett's car roar towards her. Someone crashed into her, and Sylvie yelped, hitting the ground, Matt protectively over her. The car barreled towards the end of the ramp, then Kelly appeared at the bottom, pushing a dumpster into the car's path. The car, in turn, crashed into the parked cars in the garage. Adam was on him in a second, yelling for him to get out.

Sylvie sighed in relief, slumping on the ground. "Hey," Matt frantically checked her over. "Sylvie? Are you OK?"

"Matt?" Kelly's worried voice called. "Sylvie?"

"I'm good!" Matt called back.

"I'm fine!" Sylvie agreed.

Kelly ran up to join them, eyes wide. "What happened?"

"Bastard nearly ran her over," Matt glared down at Averett as Adam put him in handcuffs.

Kelly glared as well. "Now I wish Adam had actually shot him."

Sylvie blushed. "I'm fine, guys."

"Yeah, well, no one should try and hurt our favorite girl," Kelly huffed.

Matt chuckled as the preening Sylvie did. "Yeah," he gave her a hand up. "You're our favorite."

***

"Lucky you," Buck huffed. "I wouldn't know how to choose between the two of them." Sylvie slowly sank into her chair, the color in her face from flushing slowly draining out. "Oh," Buck's eyes widened. "Did I say something wrong? Shit, I'm sorry if I did – "

"Um," Sylvie cleared her throat. "It's, um . . . no, you didn't. It's just . . . " She took a deep breath. "If I had my way, I wouldn't choose between them."

Buck blinked. "So . . . neither?"

Sylvie dropped her head into her arms. "No," she sighed. "I've only ever told two people since I left home, and I am not good at this."

TK got it, though. "Oh," his eyes widened. "You mean you wouldn't choose between them because you would want them both."

Sylvie numbly nodded. "Yeah," she worked moisture into her mouth. "I could never figure out why being in relationships with one person felt a little . . . I don't know, draining, to me . . . and then I realized I often liked more than one person at a time, and those people were often close with each other. You know how sometimes in school, the star football players were inseparable friends?"

TK snorted. "Oh, yeah."

"Yes," Buck agreed at the same time.

Sylvie smirked. "It was those kinds of people in those kinds of relationships I found myself crushing hard on." She sighed, taking a long drink of her wine. "And that's Matt and Kelly." She snorted. "And they don't have a single clue."

"Damn," TK sighed. "I'm sorry, Sylvie."

"It's not your fault," Sylvie shook her head. "You've got what looks like an amazing boyfriend. I don't know what my chances of finding people who are good with a poly relationship are, so . . . I don't know what will happen with me. Though I know what happens if I try and get myself engaged to someone."

Buck choked on his beer. "You've been engaged?"

"Mmmhmm," Sylvie nodded. "Twice."

"Twice?!"

"The first time was me thinking the poly part of me would die out," Sylvie nodded. "The second time . . . I don't know what I was thinking, really. I tried dating him for a while, then he broke up with me and a month or so later . . . we weren't even dating again! That was when I started getting closer to Matt and Kelly."

"Maybe it was some instinctive thing to try and get away from them?" TK wondered.

"I thought about that," Sylvie admitted. "But we lost a firefighter that day, too, and I just wonder if I was trying to run from everything, but . . . I don't know." She sighed. "You know, only one person at the house was more happy than surprised that I accepted that proposal? I think they knew it wouldn't work, too."

"Who was happy?" Buck wondered.

Sylvie grimaced. "Kelly's ex."

"Oh," Buck nodded understandingly. "That's not a surprise."

"Yeah," Sylvie sighed. "Things haven't been as smooth with her as they used to be when they were dating."

"The ex isn't happy you're getting along with him," TK nodded.

Sylvie laughed hysterically. "I'm best friends and in love with one of my former best friend's ex-boyfriend and another former best friend's ex-husband. God, I'm a mess."

Buck snickered. "My best friend and captain ripped into me after we got back from the derailment about taking on that rescue for my ex-girlfriend's fiancé. Trust me, I'm a mess, too."

"I'm a recovering mess, so here's to being messes," TK raised his glass. "We'll get ourselves sorted out eventually."

Sylvie snorted, raising her glass. "Cheers."

Buck clinked his bottle against theirs. "Boy, am I glad I ran into you guys at that accident."

"Same," TK nodded. "I need friends outside of the 126."

"I'm glad it's you two as well," Sylvie agreed.

***

I didn't even realize I was past 4K words by the time I was done with the flashbacks, I was so invested in showing how the epic trio that is Casey, Severide, and Brett formed. There's even more next chapter. XD

So next chapter will likely conclude the time in Los Angeles, and we might get a bit of a time skip. Not completely certain yet, but we'll see!

graphic by marvelity