You guys are getting so spoiled this chapter. You get 11.6K words because I didn't want to leave you on the cliffhanger I originally had planned.

Owen and Sylvie reach the strike team, Owen learns there's a reason you shouldn't fly in 20 knot winds, De Leon does not endear himself to the strike team, TK and Buck prove why they're Dumbasser and Dumbassest, the Chicago boys are Not Happy, and Owen and Sylvie spend some quality time together surrounded by wildfires. Overall, your typical angsty adventure with the fire gangs.

Enjoy!

***

In San Angelo's twilight hours, the dying sun cut through smoke and trees to create brilliant patterns of light. Trees went as far as the eye could see for acres, and while some were being destroyed by the wildfires, many were standing strong and high.

At any other time, Owen would have called it beautiful. However, he kept his mind on the rescue mission as he adjusted his headset, seeing Sylvie use the thermal camera in front of him, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "Great Oaks strike team, this is air support," he said. After a moment, he added, "Squad 9, do you copy?"

***

Buck's head poked out of the bushes he was searching through, and he saw Matt turn in surprise from where he was looking around in the trees. "Cap?" he asked in surprise. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, we heard you could use a hand," Owen answered. "Besides, half of you are out there . . . might as well have the full house join the party."

"A full house?" Matt repeated, frowning in confusion. "What's that mean?"

Buck gulped. "It means Cap's not alone up there."

***

"Full house?" Kelly turned to TK. "Does that mean the rest of your crew's up there?"

"Yeah," TK swallowed. "Oh, Dad, why?"

Eddie stayed silent, understanding TK's worry. He'd only been witness to one conversation involving Sylvie, but he'd also seen pictures since then, and it was obvious she was important, so important to Squad. As Buck had put it himself, she was his and TK's sister. To know she was up there with Captain Strand in hard weather conditions . . . yeah, he was starting to worry, too.

***

"What's your 20?" Owen asked.

"We're a few klicks west of the camp," Matt answered as Buck jogged to rejoin him. "We haven't found JJ yet. We found his tent back at the campsite, but no remains. He probably went deeper into the woods trying to get away from the fire."

"Alright, we see you."

Matt looked up, seeing the helicopter soar above them. "Let's keep moving," he told Buck.

"Copy," he nodded, returning to the driver's seat.

"Who would your captain want to bring out here in this?" Matt shielded his eyes against the sun, climbing into the passenger's side.

Buck grimaced, continuing to drive through the woods. "I don't think it's want as much as couldn't stop."

***

"Hey, Sylvie?"

"Yeah, Owen?" she asked absently, keeping her eyes glued to the screen.

"On a scale of cat up a tree to five-alarm lumber factory fire, how protective are Casey and Severide gonna be when they realize you're up here?"

Sylvie snorted. "You'd have to find a higher scale."

Owen sighed. "Great. They're gonna have my hide after all this."

Sylvie smirked, then blinked when she saw a signature on the camera. "Wait . . . I got something!"

Owen looked over her shoulder, nodding in agreement when he saw the human-shaped thermal reading rushing through the woods. "Buck, Casey," he said into the radio. "We've got something under a grove of trees . . . south by southeast of your position. We're gonna try to get over on top of it."

"Copy that," Buck answered. "Coming at you."

***

"JJ!" Matt started shouting when they closed in on the helicopter. "JJ!"

"You're closing in," Owen told them. "Less than twenty meters!"

"JJ!" Buck called. "You out here?"

"Help!"

Buck slammed on the brakes, almost sending Matt out of the vehicle. "Sorry!" he apologized as Matt winced, rolling out his neck.

"All good," Matt promised, jumping down. "JJ!" he shouted. "Fire and rescue!"

"I'm down here!" JJ called back, and Matt darted through the grass, hearing Buck on his heels. "Help! Here! I'm over here! God, it hurts! Help, please!"

Matt rounded a tree and put on a burst of speed, arriving at a writhing boy in a sooty green shirt and ski cap . . . and a nasty metal trap locked around his foot. "Damn it," he seethed, turning his radio on. "Captain Strand, we got him!"

***

Kelly sighed in relief, looking far less tense now that he knew Matt had gotten where he had to be. "Good."

"How's he look?" Owen asked.

"Not good," Matt answered grimly, making the three exchange worried looks. "His ankle's caught in a bear trap."

Eddie hissed sympathetically. "Yeah, that's not good."

"Think you can get him out?" Owen asked.

"I don't know," Matt admitted. "It's got him pretty good. Buck's hooking him up to the LIFEPAK right now, but it looks like he's lost a lot of blood."

TK swallowed hard. "He's gonna lose a lot more when they try to free him."

"Casey's got basic medical knowledge," Kelly looked between them. "What about Buck?"

"Basic again," Eddie answered. "At least that's what he had until he left Los Angeles."

"He's learned more here in Austin, but he's never been interested in dual certification," TK chewed his lip. "They'll need someone in their ear."

***

"What kind of loser gets caught in a bear trap running away from a bear, right?" JJ asked hoarsely.

Buck blinked. "There's bears?" he asked, looking around.

"I thought they were chasing the wolves."

"And wolves?" Matt did a double take.

"They were running away from the fire," JJ shook his head weakly. "They're gone now."

"Oh," Buck chuckled nervously. "Well . . . that's a win."

***

"Yeah, this trap's got him really bad," Buck said over the radio, making Owen wince. "TK? Eddie?"

Owen looked carefully at Sylvie's face, seeing her swallow hard before she took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Actually, Buck," he said into the headset. "All due respect to those on the ground, we got someone better in your ear up here."

Sylvie nodded, adjusting her headset. "Buck? Can you read me?"

***

"Buck? Can you read me?"

Eddie looked up sharply when he heard the familiar silvery voice over the radio, but more surprising was the way Kelly reeled back as if physically hit, his eyes wide. "Damn it," TK closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I know Dad said full house, but I really hoped – "

"Sylvie?" Kelly spun around, looking at TK wildly. "She's here?"

"Yeah," TK nodded. "She said she was gonna invite you down to Austin when the wildfires were cleared." He sighed, squinting up into the sky. "This . . . sure as hell wasn't what any of us had in mind." He clicked his radio on. "We read you down here, Sylvie."

***

Buck hesitantly looked up from where he was examining the bear trap to see Matt as pale as a ghost, his head snapping to look up so quickly, he thought he heard a crack. He gulped, nodding. "I read you, Sylvie. When did you get back to base?"

"We pulled in about a half hour after you hit the trails," Sylvie answered. "Got to medical base just in time to hear the call about what was going on."

Buck squinted into the sky, barely seeing the helicopter through the smoke. "And you accompanied Cap out in this?" he asked.

"Who said she's accompanying?" Owen asked dryly. "This was her idea."

"What the hell?" Matt balked.

"Seriously?" That came from TK. "Sylvie, the winds – !"

"If we'd gotten back a little earlier, I would have volunteered to be there on the ground with you from the start," Sylvie interrupted, her voice harder than diamond. "Do you really think I would sit at medical base doing nothing on today of all days?" Buck winced, but it was her final sentence that blew his argument to pieces.

***

"And do you really think I would have accepted being anywhere but out here when I heard who made up the team?"

Kelly closed his eyes, swallowing hard and shaking his head. "Typical," he muttered thickly.

TK smiled sadly. "When she gives a damn, she really gives it her all, doesn't she?"

Kelly's laughter sounded forced from him. "Yeah, you'd think I'd know that by now, wouldn't you?"

Eddie looked back and forth between the two in confusion before he finally made the connection. "Wait," he looked at Kelly with wide eyes. "So Sylvie – ?"

"Used to be 51," he nodded, pain coloring his tone. "Until she left without a word."

***

Buck shook his head, unable to form any sentence to counter Sylvie. He really should've known that from the start when Owen said they were both out in the air. He knew Tim's funeral had been that day, and as much as he and TK had begged to go with the paramedics, neither of them had been able to be spared. He knew all three women would want to be as useful as possible when they returned, and Sylvie was the best qualified to be out in the air with Owen. And how the hell could he argue against her when not just he and TK, but also Matt and Kelly, were out in God only knew what kind of conditions?

Matt looked like he had come to that conclusion, too. He steeled himself, still looking shaken to the core, but he clicked his radio back on. "Tell us what to do, Sylvie," he ordered.

Time resumed, and Buck heard Sylvie go into paramedic captain mode. "Before you do anything, place a tourniquet three inches above the wound, but not over the knee."

Matt held out his hand expectantly, and under the captain's iron gaze, Buck didn't argue. He handed over the materials Matt needed and watched him create the tourniquet. "JJ, I'm not gonna lie," he said. "This might hurt."

"It's what I deserve," JJ whimpered. "Just like my dad always said. I'm a waste of space."

Buck winced, then watched Matt wrap the tourniquet as Sylvie directed. "On three?" he said.

Buck nodded. "One, two, three!" Matt twisted expertly, and JJ shrieked in pain. "It's OK, JJ," Buck soothed. "There it is."

"Tourniquet's on," Matt reported. "Next?"

"You can get him out of the trap now," Sylvie said. "But you need to be careful. Keep his foot elevated above the heart and wrap that wound as fast and as tight as you can."

Matt eyed the metal and gritted his teeth. "Got it."

"I'll lift the leg," Buck volunteered.

"Got it," Matt nodded, placing his hands on the trap. "Ready?"

Buck cradled JJ's foot, then nodded. "Go."

Matt wrenched the trap open, and JJ screamed as the metal released him. "JJ, we got it," Buck promised, elevating his foot as directed as Matt unwound the gauze as quickly as he could and started wrapping the dripping wound. "We got it, JJ."

***

"She's calm under pressure," Eddie complimented.

"She's the best," Kelly nodded, looking at Eddie as if challenging him to argue.

"You'd've been proud of her if you saw the first time she was in action," TK grinned. "Only paramedic on the scene, and she not only scaled the slippery rocks like a champ, but she splinted the victim's leg herself."

"Did she?" Kelly grinned. "Atta girl."

"Matt, Buck, tell me what's going on," Sylvie came over the radio again. "Keep me up to speed. How's he doing?"

"Not good!" Matt called back. "He's bleeding out, and he's crashing."

"You need to get fluids in him to stabilize him!"

***

Matt searched through Buck's bag, finding the IV necessary. "Keep him awake!" he ordered Buck.

He nodded, rubbing JJ's arm, seeing his eyes roll. "JJ, stay with us," he urged. "Hey, JJ? I know you think you deserve this, but you're wrong."

JJ whimpered. "You don't know anything about me."

"Maybe I don't," Buck agreed. "I don't know what you did to put yourself here, but that doesn't matter. I do know what it feels like to be considered a waste of space. And let me tell you, years from now when you tell this story to another kid and you know that 'waste of space' isn't true, it's gonna be one hell of a story. But you can't tell it unless you stay with us, OK?"

Matt eyed the LIFEPAK, watching JJ's vitals slip more. "Keep it up!"

"Hey," Buck cradled JJ's head, forcing the boy to look at him. "You think you deserve this? I always thought I deserved what I got back home, too. All that time my parents looked at me in disappointment, as if I was a waste of space, just like you. The things I did to get them to pay attention to me . . . God, I would've probably ended up somewhere just like this if they wanted me there. But that would also mean they would have to care about me, so who knows? It took me a long time to get where I am now, and you know how I got here? When everyone, no matter who it was, my family or my crew or strangers, it doesn't matter. When they hit me, I stood up and swung back. You know what you gotta do, JJ? Stand up and fight back!"

He smacked his palm against JJ's face, and the boy gasped, eyes suddenly focusing. The LIFEPAK made much nicer beeps, and Matt sighed in relief. "There we go. Heart rate's going back up to 100."

"There you go, JJ," Buck smiled happily. "That's how you fight."

"Sylvie?" Matt called. "The fluids are working."

***

"You're a miracle worker."

Sylvie laughed. "I'm glad to hear it, Matt. And for the record . . . this was not how I planned on telling you where I was."

Kelly shook his head, laughing to himself as he clicked his radio on. "You did it while saving a kid's life from meters up in the air, Sylv. I don't think you can introduce yourself better than that."

"That's our girl," Matt agreed proudly.

"You know it!" Sylvie laughed.

***

Owen smiled, seeing the genuine joy on Sylvie's face for the first time in . . . he couldn't remember. There had been the delight he had seen when she reunited with TK and Buck at the airport, had seen her excitement when they had first started working as a crew, but that was nothing compared to the pure happiness he saw in her interactions with Matt and Kelly.

He was finding a way to keep that look on her face more often, he decided as he grabbed his gear. "Alright, I'm gonna harness up for the rescue."

The console started beeping, and the pilot shook his head. "Not with these gusts," he said. "We shouldn't be up here much longer."

Owen and Sylvie exchanged concerned looks, and Owen sighed, putting his gear down. "Captain, Buck, can you get him out of there on an ATV?"

"Not a problem, Cap," Buck answered.

"Sev, we'll swing back to you three," Matt added.

"Copy," Kelly responded.

"Roger that," Owen said in satisfaction. "See you back at base."

Sylvie sighed in relief, turning the thermal equipment off and settling back in her seat . . . only to sit upright again when there was a sharp cracking noise followed by alarms going off. "What the – ?"

The pilot reached over, hastily working. "Base, we need assist!" he called.

***

Grinding metal on the radio made Kelly cringe, and TK stood up from where he sat. "Dad?" he said into the radio. "What's going on?"

"Not sure!" Owen answered.

They could hear the grinding and clanking from above them now, and Eddie's eyes widened in horror. "Make sure you're secure!" he barked. "And brace yourselves!"

"Brace?" Kelly repeated, turning to look at him sharply. "You know what's happening?"

"Yeah," Eddie looked up into the sky, blood draining from his face. "I've been in a chopper when it's crashed before."

***

Sylvie cried out when the helicopter veered sharply, her head cracking against the window. "Sylvie!" Owen called.

"Sylv?" Matt's voice asked worriedly. "What's going on?"

Owen made sure his harness was secure, then leaned over to see Sylvie shake her head. "Sylvie?" he repeated.

She swallowed hard, looking around before grabbing onto her seat as the pilot relayed another message. "Mayday! Mayday! We are going down!"

***

Maddie felt her heart drop into her stomach when she heard the radio call in the medical unit, and she heard the animated voices of Gianna and Nancy abruptly stop as the call repeated. "This is a distress call! Mayday! Mayday! We are going down!"

"Isn't that – ?" Violet began.

Maddie slowly turned to look at them, eyes wide. "Captain Strand and Captain Brett's chopper," she confirmed weakly.

Tommy's eyes widened, and Nancy swayed on her feet. Gianna stood frozen in shock, and it was only Violet's quick timing that led to a chair being shoved under Nancy, just in time for her to collapse. "Not again," she whimpered, hand over her mouth. "Oh, God, please, not again!"

***

Buck thanked every god that ever existed that he and Matt got JJ to their ATV when the call came through. That meant they didn't have to worry about leaving the boy on the ground as they searched frantically for the helicopter in the sky.

It was Matt who spotted the plume of black smoke first, and he swallowed hard, pointing. "Up there!"

Buck craned his neck to see, and his eyes widened when he saw the fire helicopter careening through the air, plummeting into the mountain. "Oh, my God!"

"Sylvie!" Matt shouted desperately into the radio.

"Dad!" TK's heartbroken cry came shortly after.

***

"OK, I see your earthquake," Marjan narrowed her eyes at Lena as they walked back into the camp, the sky fully black, the rest of the line crew behind them. "I raise you the 126 fighting a solar storm."

"What even is that?" Lena sniffed. "You can't see it!"

"Remind me how long they've been going at this?" Herrmann whispered.

Stella checked her watch. "Are we counting when they first started comparing calls?"

"OK, look at it this way," Gallo interrupted, making both women look at him. "Is Captain America better because he's a super soldier with an indestructible shield, or is Tony Stark better because he's a tech genius with a sick weaponized suit?"

"Captain America," Marjan answered promptly.

"Iron Man," Lena said at the same time.

Ritter groaned as the women glared at each other, but Gallo just laughed. "That's the point! Neither is better than the other! It's a speeches argument. They're both badass, and when they team up, nobody could beat them."

"Thanos did!" Mateo piped up.

"Oh, great," Paul sighed. "Now there's three of them."

Bobby chuckled. "At least the company's good."

"Yeah, that made it more comfortable up there, that's for sure," Mouch swiped a hand across his brow. "I want to nap for days when we get back home, though."

"You can nap on the drive," Stella said. "As long as I get to sleep before we head out."

"Tommy?" Judd asked suddenly. "Hey, when did y'all get back?"

51 and the 118 stopped to see the 126 face a woman in a paramedic's uniform, her face grave. "Not long after the strike team left," she answered grimly.

"Are they back yet?" Stella asked impatiently.

"The ATVs are," Hen pointed out.

Boden carefully looked over the group in front of them: Tommy, her expression grave; another Austin paramedic with her knees against her chest; a brunette woman in an LA dispatcher shirt sitting next to her; and Violet and Gianna, the younger paramedic staring at a spot on the ground, Violet looking like she was trying to find words to say and failing miserably. "What happened?" he asked.

Violet swallowed. "You didn't hear up on the fire line, did you?"

Marjan's eyes narrowed. "Hear what?"

The five women exchanged looks, and Tommy took a deep breath. "When we got to the medical base, the strike team called saying they were still searching for one of the kids," she said. "Both squad captains took a chopper to help look. They found the kid . . . but the chopper went down in the winds."

"Went down?" Mateo squeaked.

"The team saw the crash," Maddie nodded. "And there's been no contact with anyone, the pilot or the captains, since."

The other Austin paramedic whimpered, burying her face in her knees, and Maddie scooted closer, rubbing her back. "All five members of the strike team have been arguing with De Leon since," Violet finished.

"You said both captains?" Joe asked sharply.

Herrmann eyed him warily, but Gianna nodded, swallowing hard. "Both."

"Oh, hell no," Judd growled, eyes flaring as he stepped forward . . . only for Paul to put up a hand and stop him. "Paul!"

"I wouldn't do that," he shook his head. "I'm not going into that tent even with a ten-foot pole."

"That's our house stuck up there!" Marjan exploded.

"Yeah, I know it is," Paul narrowed his eyes. "But I'm not going near a ticking time bomb that's gonna go off. You think Buck and TK are pissed off? Trust me . . . you don't want to be in that tent when De Leon tries squaring off against Casey and Severide."

"Believe me," Violet said dryly. "You don't."

"I'm lost," Chimney decided.

"Yeah, me, too," Capp frowned uneasily. "What're we missing?"

***

Owen was never going to argue with pilots who say going into 20 knot winds was a terrible idea ever again.

"Yeah," he grunted, jumping out of the crashed helicopter. "That radio's dead. I can't get cell reception to save my life."

He turned, holding up his hands as Sylvie climbed into the broken windshield. "Hopefully Command can pull GPS from the chopper to find us," she said, wobbling a little before jumping.

Owen caught her and helped her on the ground, pressing his hand to her back when she stumbled. "You good?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, taking a deep breath. "Just, uh . . . just realizing I really hate being in crashing vehicles." She sighed. "At least we're better than the pilot." Owen nodded sadly, knowing what Sylvie had the moment they saw the angle the pilot's neck had ended up in. "I'm sorry, Owen. I know you were on good terms with each other."

"I am, too," Owen sighed, scratching his head. "OK . . . where to go from here."

Sylvie winced, feeling how hard the wind blew around them. "I've never felt something like this before."

"Yeah," Owen cringed, feeling how hot the wind was, then he pointed to the whirling flames around them. "You feel that? It's creating its own wind. It's a firestorm." He pulled a map from the bag he brought with them. "Gonna find some shelter." He unfolded the map, and Sylvie blew some stray hairs out of her eyes to look with him. "OK . . . we're somewhere near here," he pointed before tracking the nearest safe space. "This could work."

Sylvie nodded in agreement. "That could work."

Owen nodded, then froze, feeling the heat against his back. "Feel that?" he looked at Sylvie, who looked up in confusion. "It's making its own wind."

Sylvie stared at him, eyes wide. "Owen?"

"What?" he asked.

"You just repeated yourself," she said, swallowing and pulling her medpack over. "OK, moving can wait. I'm checking you out first." She pulled out a penlight, clicking it on. "What day is it?"

Owen looked blankly at her. "It's night."

Sylvie rolled her eyes. "You know where you are?"

Owen winced as she shone the light in his eyes. "Somewhere I really don't wanna be."

Sylvie huffed, clicking the light off. "Uneven pupillary responses. You might have a concussion."

"Oh, please don't tell me you want me to stay off my feet," Owen groaned. "And this isn't exactly the best place to avoid stress!"

A crackle behind them made Owen turn to look, and he shielded his eyes as the flames towered above them. "Actually," Sylvie gulped. "How does 'run like hell' sound to you, Owen?"

"That sounds amazing," Owen nodded rapidly, regretting it only a little when his head pounded. "Come on!"

He grabbed her arm, and Sylvie stumbled after him as they hurried away from the downed helicopter, away from the firestorm.

***

Eddie was the calmest of the team, and he never thought he would ever say that. But as he looked around the command tent where the strike team had gathered, he saw TK pacing like a caged tiger, Buck with his arms folded and his teeth grinding, Matt gripping the back of one of the chairs with white knuckles, his green eyes blazing like the wildfire outside, and Kelly with his hands on his hips, his own eyes as icy as glaciers.

Eddie had no idea how De Leon didn't feel the murderous glares on him as he bent over a map, pointing things out to another firefighter. "Yeah, but what we need to do is get containment in here, here, or if I make it myself – "

Eddie had thought it would be Captain Casey who broke first. He should have expected it to be TK, who erupted with a furious "This is a joke!" De Leon broke off as TK stormed forward and planted both hands on the table, nostrils flaring as he looked at the incident commander. "We know exactly where the chopper went down! So why haven't you sent out a rescue team?"

De Leon took a deep breath, calm in the face of TK's anger. "As I said, the beacon is coming from two miles inside an active burn zone. It is not safe to send anyone up in the dark."

"And as we said, Commander," Matt's voice shook with a mixture of rage and panic. "With all due respect, we accept the risk. We're not asking for anybody else to go. The four of us – "

"Five," Eddie threw out.

Buck looked at Eddie with relief, and Matt nodded. "The five of us can do this ourselves."

"You know I can't authorize that, Captain," De Leon shook his head.

"Those are our people up there," Buck growled.

"They could be bleeding out right now," Kelly nodded, looking like he wanted to think about any other scenario. "Dying."

Matt flinched, and TK looked like he had just been stabbed in the heart. Eddie didn't know Captain Strand or Sylvie personally, but he knew in that moment they meant far more to Buck, TK, Matt, and Kelly than he had known going into the mission. He knew what Owen and Sylvie meant to Buck and TK; Owen was their captain, hell, he was TK's father, and Sylvie was their little sister. He didn't know exactly what Sylvie meant to Matt and Kelly, but considering the tight lids they were keeping on their emotions as they confronted their incident commander, she meant a hell of a lot to them.

"Son," De Leon's voice softened as he looked at TK. "We haven't had any cell or radio contact at all since the Mayday. Nobody else is risking their lives tonight . . . and your father would be the first one to agree with me."

The chair creaked under Matt's grip, and Eddie swore he heard an animalistic growl form in Kelly's throat. Buck's eyes had narrowed to slits, and TK looked murderously at De Leon before spinning on his heel and storming from the tent. Buck threw one last contemptuous look at De Leon before following TK. Eddie watched them go, then turned to see Matt take a deep breath and pry his fingers from the chair. "On your own head be it, Commander," he spat, heading for the exit as well.

"Is that a threat, Captain?" De Leon's eyes narrowed.

Eddie didn't expect the chuckle that came from Kelly, and De Leon looked back sharply as Kelly moved to the exit as well, right to Matt's side. "You're saying we should leave Captain Brett up on that mountain, surrounded by fire, with no rescue in sight," he said coldly. "We don't make threats when it comes to her, Commander. We make promises."

The Chicago officers ducked out of the tent, and Eddie looked back at De Leon, who appeared resigned as he looked at the LAFD firefighter. "Any last words from you?" he asked tiredly.

"I don't really think there's anything left for me to say," Eddie shrugged, turning his back on him and leaving as well. "They just did it for me."

***

Sylvie had gotten used to being up close and personal with fire first in Chicago, then even more in Austin upon moving to a squad crew. She had still never seen or been surrounded by so much fire until she was blindly following Owen through the forest, trees and bushes and grass up in flames. "Just a little further," Owen promised.

Sylvie nodded numbly, her grip around Owen's waist tightening, his around her shoulders pulling her closer. "Never trust me with a crazy idea like what we did again," she gasped.

"I already came to that conclusion myself," Owen nodded. "Still . . . helped save a kid. That counts for something."

"Yeah," Sylvie wheezed. "One of the few good things that decision caused."

Owen nodded. "Here we are." Sylvie ducked under Owen's arm, and he walked up to the boarded mineshaft they were now in front of. He suddenly laughed loudly. "I've spent my whole career running into danger, but there's never actually been a sign!"

Sylvie's flashlight landed on the sign saying Danger – Keep Out! and she snorted. "Casey and Severide would ignore that in a heartbeat."

Owen turned to look at her as she tore the brittle wood off the entrance. "Are you cheating on me?" he asked in amusement.

Sylvie rolled her eyes. "I think I started cheating on them when I moved down here."

Owen snickered. "Pleasure to be chosen over them." He tossed the wood away, then beckoned. "Come on." Sylvie took his hand and let him lead the way into the mineshaft, Owen's flashlight beam bouncing around. "The deeper we get, the more protected we'll be from the heat."

Sylvie nodded in agreement, then paused when she saw what was on the yellow sleeve of Owen's bush jacket. "Wait . . . are you bleeding?"

Owen paused, aiming his flashlight at the bloodstain, then pushed up his jacket to look at his arm. "It's not mine," he shook his head, frowning. "But the only person I've had my arm up against is . . . "

He trailed off, and he looked up at Sylvie with wide eyes. She got the point, too, and she carefully reached up behind her head. She flinched when she brushed the back of it, and her palm came away red. "Oh, no," she whispered.

"Turn around," Owen demanded, and Sylvie obeyed as her captain came closer. She felt him carefully probe where she had touched, and she winced when she felt the pain. "Yeah, that's a bad gash," he hissed.

"I'll get something to press against it," she said, opening her bag again.

"Let me," Owen held out his hand, his tone no-nonsense. Sylvie handed the gauze pad to him, and Owen reached up, pressing it against the bleeding. "There."

Sylvie reached up, nodding when she took over. "I got it."

Owen nodded, clicking his flashlight on and looking around the mineshaft. "Can you believe this?" he asked. "It's like stepping back in time!"

Sylvie nodded, looking around with interest. "Paramedics don't often get to see stuff like this on ambulances."

"Well, we'll have to get you in the thick of things more often," Owen decided.

Sylvie giggled, then froze when her light landed on a box. "Oh, my God . . . Owen!"

He turned to see what she had, and his eyes bugged open wide. "That's dynamite!" he breathed, crouching down to look.

"How old is it?" Sylvie asked.

Owen thought back to how old the mineshaft was, and he shook his head. "It's gotta be a hundred years old."

Sylvie whistled lowly, impressed. "Worksite safety really wasn't a thing back then, was it?"

Owen snorted, standing straight. "Remind me to lodge a complaint with OSHA if we ever get out of here." His light reached the end of the mine, and he turned. "This is the end of the line."

"Alright," Sylvie nodded, leaning against the wall. "Well, we better get comfortable. It's gonna be a while before anybody comes looking for us." She looked up at Owen. "You'll tell me if you feel dizzy and I'll tell you if something's up with me, got it?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," Owen waved her off. "You picked the right person to be in a helicopter crash with. Invincible, remember?"

Sylvie smirked. "Yeah, all four of my boys will be glad to hear that."

A bitter chuckle came from behind her. "Sure. You survived again." Owen balked, and he flashed his light past Sylvie . . . illuminating the zombie-like Tim, who shook his head. "It's great for you."

Owen stared, eyes wide, and Sylvie cautiously looked behind her. "Owen?" she asked. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah," he swallowed, settling down on the ground.

It was really going to be a long wait if he had a hallucination to deal with, too.

***

It took careful maneuvering for Eddie to snag what he wanted and then find where Buck and TK had planted themselves. The Ladder 126 crew was talking furiously between themselves, and Maddie was still comfortable with the paramedics from the 126 and 51. The 118 and the rest of 51 had split off into their own groups, looking like they were hitting it off. Eddie had to make sure none of them saw where he was going. He had a feeling neither TK nor Buck wanted all the attention on them.

"OK, I will," TK was saying into his phone when Eddie found the two Squad members, Buck leaning against the table. "I love you, too."

Buck turned as Eddie walked up, giving a short, curt nod. "What's up?"

"Well," Eddie held up the pizza box he had. "We just had 20 kinds of pizza delivered, if you're hungry."

TK pursed his lips. "I'm good, thanks."

Eddie nodded understandingly, putting the pizza box down and settling in one of the chairs. "They survived the crash," Buck said abruptly, making Eddie look up at him. "And they're with each other. They're the best captains in their fields. They're in good hands."

"I believe you, Buck," Eddie assured him. "Captain Strand sounds like the one who's first in the building and last to leave . . . and since you said you're 'a little bit in love' with Sylvie."

"He's not wrong," TK mumbled, taking a swig from a water bottle. "Everyone is."

Eddie smirked. "But you've also said how great a paramedic she is. I have no doubt they're gonna be OK."

"Yeah, if only Commander De Leon thought that," Buck scoffed. "He's given up on them."

"Well," Eddie gestured between the three of them. "We haven't. And considering the way Captain Casey and Lieutenant Severide looked like they were a comment away from murdering De Leon with their bare hands, they haven't, either."

"Oh," TK snorted loudly. "If they weren't about to murder De Leon, I would be seriously concerned."

"Yeah," Buck smirked. "No, they're pissed. Considering the lengths they've gone to for Sylvie before . . . sitting on their asses and doing nothing has to be killing them."

Eddie looked between TK and Buck warily. "What am I missing?" he finally asked.

"Remember when I said I wouldn't help you when her two best friends murdered you?" Buck grinned. "Yeah. That's Casey and Severide."

Eddie blanched. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh," Buck nodded. "That's them."

"At least they have the pulling power as officers," TK grumbled. "We can't do a thing."

"I can always see if I can convince Bobby to help convince him," Eddie volunteered.

"Eddie, you don't have to," Buck began.

"Buck, this is your crew now," Eddie gave him an iron look. "And Bobby knows how happy you are here. He'd do whatever it took to make sure you stay that way . . . including argue with the incident commander."

Buck sighed, scratching the back of his head. "If you think you can . . . "

"I'll see what I can do," Eddie patted his shoulder, standing up again. "Hang in there, OK?"

Buck nodded, watching Eddie leave. "You're lucky you have him," TK finally said.

"Yeah," Buck smiled fondly. "I left Los Angeles, but I still have my best friend."

TK stared at him. "Oh, my God, are you seriously still fooling yourself like that, Buck?"

"It's never gonna happen, TK," Buck shook his head. "He has Christopher to think about – "

"Who adores you. Next."

" – and you do know we live states away from each other?"

"There's this thing called a long-distance relationships."

"Which is something Eddie wouldn't want!"

"Funny, I haven't heard his opinion about it."

Buck wilted. "It's just . . . I don't want to fool myself into thinking it's possible when it's not."

TK gave Buck a pointed look. "You don't know it's not possible until you talk to the man in question."

Buck sighed. "Now's not the time to think about that."

TK snorted. "What's our other option? Thinking about how we're sitting here and doing nothing?"

Buck smothered a smirk. "You know how it took me a while to catch up with you?" TK frowned, but nodding. "See, I was thinking about how you would likely be ranting about how we're sitting around doing nothing, and I had the brilliant idea . . . " He fished through his pockets, then held up something that glinted in the lights beaming down on them. "What if we didn't have to?"

TK blinked, then his jaw dropped. "Is that – ?"

"The key to our rig?" Buck's grin was in full force, and he looked so proud of himself. "Yes. Yes, it is."

***

Joe sighed, shaking his head as he listened to his brothers argue over the pizza boxes. "Look, I know it's not Chicago deep dish, but it's food, alright?"

"Yeah, it's food," Capp lifted the lid off a box and wrinkled his nose. "Do Texans really put barbecue on everything?"

"That's stereotypical," Tony snorted.

Joe couldn't help but snort. "I'm sure there's your usual pepperoni and sausage around here somewhere."

"Yeah," Capp eyed the dozens of pizza boxes. "Keyword somewhere."

Joe shook his head, then perked up when he saw the silver-haired man making his way towards them. "Lieutenant!" he greeted. "Hear anything – ?"

"Grab your pizza and follow me," Kelly said curtly, his voice hard enough to break glass.

Joe faltered at the man's no-nonsense tone, and he gulped. "On your six, boss!" he fumbled for a box at random and hastily jogging after Kelly.

"What the hell was that about?" Tony asked, taking a quick peek under a lid and snagging the next box.

Joe swallowed. "I have an idea."

The three firefighters followed Kelly to a more secluded area of the camp, where Matt was pacing up a storm, his eyes alight with fury. Kelly took one look at the man and snorted. "You know that saying 'you'll wear a hole in the floor?'"

"Does it look like I care about that right now, Kelly?" Matt snapped.

"Oh, I don't, either," Kelly shook his head, taking a sip of his water bottle. "I'd be doing it, too, but you're tearing the ground up enough for the both of us."

"OK," Capp looked around uneasily. "What happened on that rescue mission you took?"

"Oh," Matt grinned bitterly. "Nothing much. We just saw Captain Strand's helicopter get taken down by 20 knot winds. With Sylvie onboard."

Tony almost dropped the pizza box. "I'm sorry," Capp's face drained of color. "Did you say – ?"

"So she was up there?" Joe demanded, eyes wide.

"Yeah," Kelly nodded. "We didn't know until we heard her voice. Sylvie's the paramedic captain on Captain Strand's Squad crew."

"Shit," Tony breathed.

"Did you know?" Capp looked at Joe.

"I knew she was gonna be interviewed to be a captain," Joe nodded. "That picture she sent a few months back? It was of all of them on the rig. I didn't know her captain was Owen Strand until today."

"Well," Matt took a deep breath. "We didn't even know Sylvie was here until she and Captain Strand flew out to help us look for the last missing boy from the camp. She proceeded to tell us how to stop the boy from bleeding to death from a bear trap . . . and then the wind knocked the chopper out of the sky right into the mountain."

"Oh, no," Joe swallowed hard.

"The chopper had a GPS locator, though, right?" Tony looked around. "If they have that signal, they know where they are."

"Yeah, they have the signal," Matt nodded.

"Then they can send a team to find them," Capp nodded.

Kelly snorted loudly. "Oh, if only De Leon approved of one. He's not letting anyone out there."

"What?" Joe narrowed his eyes. "Why the hell not?"

"The place the chopper went down is in an active burn zone," Matt answered, folding his arms. "He doesn't want to risk anyone going up there."

"Are you kidding?" Capp asked incredulously. "He's got several firefighters who would be willing to risk going up there!"

"Yeah, and the five of us on the strike team were the first ones to volunteer," Kelly spat. "He said no."

"He said what?" Tony asked sharply.

"That's his operations commander out there!" Joe protested. "Hell, that's – that's Sylvie out there!"

"And TK's dad," Kelly nodded. "And his and Buck's captains."

"And he said no?" Capp asked incredulously.

"Right to our faces," Matt nodded with a scowl. "Repeatedly."

"Son of a – " Joe cut himself off, fuming. "And we're supposed to be cool with that?"

"If you think we're cool with that, Cruz, you don't know us very well at all," Matt growled.

"And besides," Kelly gave a shark-like smile. "When have we been good at doing what higher-ups tell us what to do?"

The three squad firefighters perked up. "Are you saying – ?" Tony began.

"That's Sylvie up there," Matt glowered. "And I'm not sitting on my ass when she's up there in God knows what kind of conditions."

Joe narrowed his eyes. "What's the plan?"

***

"Damn it," Sylvie leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes, her phone dropping into her lap. "I still can't get a signal."

"Yeah," Owen glared at his own phone. "Me, either."

"You're in a mineshaft, genius!" Tim sang from where he sat across from Owen.

Owen gave the hallucination a sharp look, then turned to Sylvie. "What was your favorite thing to do with Casey and Severide?" he asked.

"Oh, good," Tim giggled bitterly. "Small talk."

Sylvie was silent for a few moments, and Owen was worried she'd passed out. "Just being with them," she answered. "It didn't matter what it was. If it was just crashing in one of their quarters, movie night at their loft, game night at mine, hitting Molly's, touring Chicago . . . " Her voice quieted. "They were with me every step of the way after my birth mother died," she said. "Julie came to Chicago looking for me, and Matt and Kelly were always there as a buffer if I needed it. They were there when I got the news she died having my little sister." She smiled sadly. "Amelia . . . she's almost six months old now." She giggled. "One of the last trips I took with them was to Rockford to see her. Oh, she's already growing so much. And she has both of them wrapped around her little finger."

"Oh, I bet," Owen smiled. "Your little sister? Does she look like you?"

"Almost a mirror image," Sylvie confirmed. "Just like Julie, too. Though I see a bit of her dad in her, too. It's like how TK looks an awful lot like you."

"People say that a lot," Owen nodded. "I think he looks like his mom, Gwen."

"She's not here in Texas, is she?" Sylvie frowned. "I think we would've met her by now."

"She was right after TK was shot," Owen said. "She briefly visited to see him." He snorted. "God, that was almost a dumpster fire. For a moment when she was here, I thought we could give things another go-around after fifteen years of divorce . . . which sounds even crazier saying it out loud."

"You know what's crazy?" Tim piped up. "Getting hit by a lava bomb. That is crazy."

Owen looked sharply at Tim, ignoring the pain his heart. If he had been more attentive, he could have gotten Sylvie out of the way himself . . . and someone under his command at his house had been killed instead. "I'm sorry."

Sylvie frowned. "For what?" she asked.

Wind whistled through wood, and Owen looked back towards the mine entrance to see smoke whirling about. "The wind has shifted," he got to his feet, coughing a bit.

Sylvie winced, getting up as well. "We gotta find another way out."

"There is no other way out," Owen aimed his flashlight pointedly at the dead end behind them.

"If the wind keeps blowing smoke in here, we won't last ten minutes!" Sylvie protested.

"You know she's never seeing those officers and that little sister of hers again," Tim smirked.

"Shut up," Owen scowled.

"We picked a real nice tomb, though," Tim remarked, looking around.

"I said shut up!" Owen roared, glaring at the hallucination.

Sylvie backed up, startled, then realized he wasn't looking at her. She cautiously looked behind her. "Owen?" she whispered. "Who're you talking to?"

He sighed. "Someone who isn't here." He paused, then looked around, aiming his flashlight at the sticks of dynamite. "But he did give me a good idea."

***

No one looked twice at the captain that made his way through the camp, up to the board showing where each rig was located and where it was deployed. The keys to all the rigs were dangling on hooks next to it. Matt examined the board casually, nodding to other firefighters streaming past. He found the number he was looking for and nodded, moving onto the keys on hooks.

He plucked it from its hook, then paused, seeing there was a key missing that shouldn't have been. He glanced back at the board, then froze, realizing which key was missing. He closed his eyes, shaking his head in a mixture of exasperation and amusement. He pulled out his phone and dialed Kelly's number, walking away from the board.

He caught up to Tony, who was waiting, just as Kelly picked up. "We're ready," Kelly reported.

"Find Diaz," Matt ordered. "We're not the only ones with this idea."

***

Eddie had been about to approach where Bobby was chatting with Boden when he heard a hiss of his name from nearby. He stopped and looked around, then found Kelly gesturing to him. Eddie frowned and jogged over. "What happened?" he asked.

"Buck and TK," Kelly said simply.

Eddie blinked, then sighed. "What did they do?"

***

"You sure it's still here?" TK asked hesitantly, ducking with Buck behind one of the ATVs. "Maybe they deployed it!"

"Not according to the board," Buck shook his head. "Besides, engines are more useful at wildfires than rescue squads. They just needed more manpower." TK nodded, and Buck peered out from behind the ATV, checking to see if anyone was nearby. "Alright, go, go, go!"

TK nodded, running out with Buck, ducking into the shadows of the mass of rigs in the yard. "Hey, you know you don't have to do this," he looked at Buck.

"That's my captain up there, too," Buck reminded him. "And our sister. They'd do the same thing for us."

TK nodded in agreement, following Buck through the rigs. "Did you change where you parked it?" he asked.

"Well, there are a lot more rigs than there were when we first started taking it out," Buck huffed. "Yes, I had to change where I parked it!"

TK sighed, following Buck around a ladder rig –

"Dumbasser! Dumbassest!" They flinched when the flashlight beam hit them, and they turned to see Matt walk towards them, face unreadable. "And to think I wondered why Judd called you those names."

"Yep!" That was Eddie, and Buck winced as he turned to see his best friend walk up with Kelly, both men with their flashlights aimed at them. "That's Buck, alright. Not sure which one he is at the moment."

"I'd say whoever came up with this plan is Dumbassest," Kelly deadpanned. "Did you two seriously think that you could sneak off and drive into wildfires?"

"Yes?" TK answered meekly.

"I think you worded that wrong, Sev," Matt said.

"Right," the lieutenant nodded. "Did you two seriously think that you could sneak off and drive into wildfires without us?"

TK's mouth clicked shut to stop the protest that had been brewing. "Uh, wh – " Buck stammered. "What are you – ?"

"Lieutenant!" Joe poked his head around the rig, Capp behind him. "We found where we're at!"

Kelly turned back to Matt, eyebrow raised. In return, Matt held up a key that was similar to the one Buck had clutched in his hand. "All yours," he tossed the key to Squad 3 over TK's head.

Kelly caught it with one hand. "Thanks," he nodded, backing up. "We'll be right behind you."

"Whoa, wait," TK looked around, eyes wide. "Are you guys seriously – ?"

"Squad 9, right?" Eddie aimed his light at the rig to their right, his light bouncing off the shining number. "Found our ride."

Matt nodded. "Get on, Diaz."

Eddie opened the door and climbed up. "Wait," Buck looked in confusion. "You're not stopping us?"

That made Kelly stop in his tracks and turn to look at Buck dubiously. "You really don't know me or Matt at all, do you?" he asked, shaking his head and jogging to join Joe and Capp.

Buck and TK looked back at Matt, who smirked darkly. "If you think we draw the line at driving into wildfires for Sylvie, you have no idea how wrong you are," he said, walking forward. "We've jumped out of moving rigs for her. This is nothing." He spun to walk backwards as he headed around the front of the rig towards the officer's seat. "We need to get moving."

Eddie raised an eyebrow expectantly. "You aren't going anywhere I'm not following you, Buck. Let's go!"

TK shook himself out of his stupor and climbed in after Eddie, and Buck hastily bounded up into the driver's seat. Matt was already buckling himself in, and as Buck inserted the key, he clicked his radio on. "Sev?" he asked.

"We're ready," Kelly reported.

Matt nodded, and Buck revved the rig to life. "We're heading out."

"Copy that. Right behind you."

Buck expertly drove the rig out of its spot, and he saw the lights of Squad 3 brighten in response. He drove out of the motor pool, leading the other squad rig out into the night and right towards the wildfires. "De Leon's gonna be pissed," he finally said, unable to keep from grinning.

Matt's grin matched his. "He shouldn't have told us we couldn't go after our people."

TK laughed behind them, and Buck's grin widened. He could definitely see why Sylvie liked the two officers.

***

Sylvie finished adjusting the boxes of dynamite, and she eyed them warily. "You think these being one hundred years old make 'em more or less stable?"

Owen snorted. "Definitely less. You see the crystals? That's nitroglycerin. It sweats out of the dynamite after years and recrystallizes. Definitely makes it more volatile."

"OK," Sylvie gulped. "So we're putting these down nice and easy." Owen nodded, coughing harshly as they placed the crates by the entrance of the mine. Sylvie was starting to cough, too, and she looked at the crates with wide eyes. "God, I hope this isn't overkill."

Owen snorted. "Better to have too much than too little."

Sylvie conceded, then perked up. "Give me your brush jacket."

Owen frowned, watching her. "Feeling chilly?"

She shook her head, taking her own jacket off. "If we're gonna lock ourselves in a mine, we may as well leave a marker outside just in case somebody comes by."

Owen nodded, pulling his coat off. "Smart." Sylvie took his jacket, stepping over the crates and heading for the entrance of the mine. "Wish me luck."

Sylvie smirked. "Don't blow us up."

Owen snorted, watching her leave. He carefully took the dynamite sticks out of their crates, setting them up.

"For the record?" He turned when he heard Tim's voice. "This wasn't actually my idea."

Owen rolled his eyes, finishing stacking the dynamite when Sylvie returned, a burning hunk of timber in her hand. "Ready?" she asked.

Owen nodded, brushing his hands off. "Ready."

Sylvie paused hesitantly. "Are we really doing this?" she squeaked.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Owen sighed. "Unless dying of smoke inhalation is your thing?" She hastily shook her head, and Owen gestured to the wire they had set up. "Wanna do the honors?"

Sylvie nodded, and Owen backed up, allowing her to put the flaming wood to the wire. Owen blew on it to lit the spark, and as it spread along the wire, Sylvie dropped the piece of wood and grabbed his hand. "Go, go, go!"

Owen followed her further into the mine, and both winced when the dynamite went off behind them.

***

"Judd!"

The 118 and 51 turned with the first responders of the 126 to see a police officer with a worried expression walk up. "Carlos!" Judd got to his feet. "Long time, no see!"

"Yeah, well," the officer – Carlos – smiled tightly. "That's what happens when I get assigned to evacuations far away from you guys."

"That just sucked, man," Mateo complained.

"Good to have you back, though," Paul smiled.

"Yeah," Carlos nodded. "Glad to be back."

"You guys know everyone, don't you?" Mouch asked from where he sat with Herrmann on one of the benches.

"Well, we know this one better than most," Judd clapped a hand on Carlos's shoulder. "Carlos here is dating TK. Best officer the APD has. We're lucky to call him ours."

"Or, well, TK's," Paul smirked. "Carlos, meet the Los Angeles 118 and Chicago 51."

Carlos's eyebrows shot up. "You mean they're – ?"

"Yep," Marjan nodded quickly. "They are."

Carlos nodded, then cleared his throat. "This, uh . . . this isn't actually a social call."

"Oh?" Judd frowned. "What is it?"

"Commander De Leon put out a call to all officers in the area," Carlos looked around. "Apparently two rigs rolled out of the motor pool without his permission."

"That's odd," Bobby frowned. "Usually rigs are tightly monitored in conditions like these."

"Well, De Leon doesn't know the crew members of one of them very well," Carlos snorted. "Though I don't know what happened to make Buck and TK take Squad 9 out from under his nose. Haven't they been using it for evacuations on the mountain?"

"Wait," Marjan's eyes widened. "Squad 9 is one of the rigs that got taken?"

"Yeah, and Buck and TK aren't accounted for," Carlos nodded. "I've scoured the entire camp for them. Not a sign."

Judd sighed. "Oh, hell. No way they woulda stayed put with the rest of their crew trapped in wildfires."

"That sounds like Buck," Hen shook her head.

"Wait," Carlos's eyes widened. "We saw that chopper go down. That was – ?"

"Both captains?" Paul nodded grimly. "Oh, yeah."

Carlos sighed heavily. "Yeah . . . now I'm not so surprised Buck and TK are missing."

"Oh, it's not just them, Carlos." Grace walked up behind them, Josh behind her. Both looked a cross between exasperated and amused. "And it's not just Squad 9 missing."

"Eddie's gone, too," Josh said.

"Well, where Buck goes, Eddie's typically right behind him," Maddie smiled fondly.

"Hang on," Paul frowned. "What other rig is missing?"

Grace looked at Boden. "Chicago Squad 3," she answered, making all of 51 start in surprise. "Including all four of its crew . . . and Captain Casey hasn't been found, either."

"What?" Herrmann asked in surprise.

"Why the hell did they go?" Stella asked.

Paul blinked, then burst out laughing. It was such hysterical laughter that even the crew of Ladder 126 looked at him in surprise. "That funny, Strickland?" Boden frowned.

"Oh," Paul wheezed, wiping his eyes. "Oh, it's so funny. Let me guess, De Leon said he wasn't letting anyone out while it was dark?"

"Yeah, that's what Buck said," Judd nodded slowly.

"Oh, man," Paul chuckled as Gianna's eyes widened. "Oh . . . that's gold. Now I kind of wish I had been in that tent, just to see Casey and Severide rip into him. Forget Buck and TK, they would have gone no matter what."

"Oh, man," Gianna slowly started to grin. "You mean – ?"

"Life lesson, guys," Paul grinned widely. "You never, ever want to be the idiot who stands in the way of Casey and Severide when it's someone they care about on the line. They'll tear you to shreds without remorse and won't give a damn what they've been told not to do. And they're not coming back down that mountain until they have who they're going for, no matter what it takes."

***

Owen took a deep breath from the oxygen mask in his hand, then he blearily looked at Sylvie, who was collapsed next to him. "Is it just my traumatic brain injury . . . or does the air in here feel a little thin?" he rasped.

Sylvie took a breath from her own mask, nodding wearily. "Every time we exhale, we poison the air a little bit more," she explained. "Unventilated mines fill up fast with CO2, nitrogen, and water vapor. It's called black damp."

Owen sighed. "Maybe this wasn't the best plan."

Sylvie shook her head. "It was the only plan."

Owen lifted his head slightly, looking at the gauze Sylvie still held up against her head, which was almost soaked through. "I should never have let you get on that chopper," he said. "I'm sorry."

Sylvie raised an eyebrow. "What happened to being invincible?" she asked.

Owen chuckled, staring at the hallucination of Tim across from him. "You were with me at the pool, Sylvie. it's the people around me who tend not to be invincible."

Sylvie looked across from him. "Is that who's been haunting you?" she asked. "You're seeing Tim?"

Owen silently nodded. "Just another one of the many people who didn't make it," he said. "The people who didn't make it couldn't fit into this mineshaft."

Sylvie closed her eyes. "It's brutal," she whispered. "It is brutal being the one who survives."

Owen chuckled harshly. "Yeah. Pisses me off. You know how many brothers I lost on 9/11?" Sylvie shook her head, and Owen took another breath from his mask. "Fourteen. Fifteen of us went into the tower, but I'm the only one who walked out."

She swallowed hard. "Owen . . . "

"You're the only one I've ever admitted this to," he said. "I've never forgiven them."

"And you're guilty about it," Sylvie guessed.

He snorted. "I've got guilt over everything, dear. Over surviving, over forcing TK to follow in my footsteps, over the failure of my marriage, over . . . " He gestured vaguely to her. "Telling this all to you."

Sylvie forced a smile. "Well, might as well get everything out in the air if we're going to die, right?"

Owen shook his head. "Now you're just trying to cheer me up."

They both inhaled from the oxygen, then Sylvie coughed weakly. "You shouldn't feel guilty about Tim, Owen."

"Oh, yeah?" Owen raised an eyebrow. "He was under my command."

"He was under my command, too," Sylvie said. "I was the one who ordered him to triage with me. It wasn't you he knocked out of the way. It wasn't you who had to look people who cared about him in the eye and explain he died saving your life." She shook her head. "Tim shouldn't be your ghost, Owen," she said faintly, leaning her head back. "He should be mine."

Owen frowned uneasily, looking at Sylvie, hearing her breathing turn quiet. "Sylvie?" he murmured. "Sylvie?"

He didn't get an answer, and as his gaze swam with black spots, Tim came closer, waving tauntingly. "Night night!"

***

With every minute that passed driving through the wildfires and closer to where the GPS had signaled the chopper went down, Buck pressed on the gas a little bit more. Based on when he looked in the rearview mirror, Squad 3's driver was doing the exact same thing; the rig had kept pace the entire time, never once lagging behind. He could hear TK's rapid breathing behind him, Owen's son bordering on the edge of panic. Eddie was looking through the medical supplies he had brought, and Matt's fingers were drumming on the windowsill, the captain looking seconds from jumping out the door and running the rest of the way. All of them were at the limit of their patience, just wanting to get out and search.

Finally, the smoking remains of the chopper came into view, and Buck slammed on the brakes, cutting the sirens and unbuckling his seatbelt. TK, predictably, was the first out, almost collapsing on the ground before sprinting for the chopper. "Dad!" he yelled.

"Sylvie!" Matt was right behind him.

Squad 3 screeched to a halt on the other side, and the other Chicago firefighters joined the race. "Sylvie!" Kelly called out.

TK dove to crawl under the chopper, trying to find his way inside as Buck leapt on top, attempting to peer in from that way. "Got a body in here!" TK's voice wavered.

"Whose is it?" Eddie asked worriedly.

"It's the pilot!" TK finally answered.

Buck felt horrible from the relief he felt. Horrible because the pilot was dead, but relief because – "They made it out!"

"Dad and Sylvie aren't in here!" TK cried in relief. "Buck! They're not in here!"

"They made it out!" Buck cheered, jumping from the chopper. "Cap! Lieutenant! They made it out!"

"Oh, thank God," Joe sighed in relief.

"Alright, get clear!" Matt ordered, backing up. "Fan out and search the area! They can't have gone far! I don't care how small a space is, look everywhere!" Buck and TK nodded, running up the hillside, their calls for their crew piercing through the smokey air. The mountain echoed with eight firefighters' desperate yells, all of them trying to find the captains.

It was Eddie's keen eyes who spotted the battered yellow fabric hanging from pieces of wood at the front of a collapsed mine. "Here!" he called, seeing Matt spin from where he'd been about to look another way. "Guys! Down here!"

Capp and Tony were the next to join him, and Eddie cautiously jiggled one of the pieces of wood. When it came away easily, he tossed it behind him, and Capp started hacking away at the wood with his axe. By the time Buck, TK, Kelly, and Joe had joined them, the four had already thrown away half of the wood. "Dad!" TK called, hopeful for a response.

"Sylvie!" Joe shouted.

When enough wood had been pulled away, TK scrambled over the rocks to shine his flashlight into the mineshaft. He saw crumbled stone and wood . . . and the grey of Austin FD T-shirts. He almost collapsed from the relief he felt. "I see them!" he called in excitement. "Keep going!" He turned to Eddie as Capp and Tony got to work getting more wood out of the way. "You got the spare bag?" he asked.

"Yeah," Eddie slung one of the medical bags off his back. "Here."

"Thanks," TK took it and hung it over his neck. "I'm helping my dad."

Eddie nodded, not arguing, and TK turned back when Joe threw away the last piece of wood covering the mine entrance. TK planted his hands on the rocks and jumped down into the shaft, swallowing hard when he saw Owen and Sylvie slumped against each other, Owen's head on top of Sylvie's. "Dad!" he crouched in front of Owen, cradling his head in his hands and his fingers moving to his neck, ignoring the sound of someone else climbing in. "We got you. We're here." He found Owen's pulse point, and he bowed his head, relieved beyond measure when he felt the weak flutter. "I got a pulse!" he called.

"Oh, thank God!" Buck choked out, dropping into the shaft next to him.

TK tapped Owen's cheek, hearing the scramble of everyone else getting into the shaft. "Stay with me," he begged. "Hey, stay with me! Stay with me!" Owen's eyes fluttered, and TK nodded desperately. "Hey, I got you. I got you. Dad! Dad!" Owen's eyes forced themselves open, and TK smiled, nodding. "Dad, we're here. We're here."

"Sylvie," Owen's hoarse voice slurred. "She – "

"Don't worry, Captain," Tony appeared on TK's other side, smiling slightly as Capp appeared on Buck's other side. "She's in the best hands possible."

***

It took everything in Matt's power not to force his way into the mineshaft first. TK's father was down there, and he wasn't going to let TK spend a single second out longer than he needed. So as soon as TK was inside and Squad threw the last pieces of wood far away, Matt climbed inside, blinking the dust and ash out of his eyes.

TK paid attention to Owen, and Matt's eyes went right to the blonde slumped against him, oxygen mask limp in her hand. Matt swallowed hard, his hand slipping under her head to lift her from Owen. "Sylvie," he whispered, thumb stroking her cheek as he scooted closer, his other hand lifting to check her pulse. "Sylvie, come on, wake up!"

"Sylvie!" Kelly was next to him in an instant, his pale face clear in the dark as he lifted a trembling hand to cup the other side of Sylvie's face. "Oh, my God!"

Matt exhaled sharply, feeling the jolt of Sylvie's pulse against his fingers. "She still has a pulse!"

Eddie dropped in next to them, and he pressed his stethoscope to Sylvie's chest, listening intently. "She has it, but it's slipping," he said, slinging his stethoscope around his neck. "And – wait, Captain!" Matt froze, and Eddie shifted closer, peering behind her. "That gauze at the back of her head!"

Matt carefully leaned Sylvie forward, and Kelly cursed when he saw the gauze at the back of her head. "What happened?" he asked.

Matt peeled the gauze away from her head, and he recoiled, seeing the blood matted in Sylvie's hair. "She got cut somewhere!"

Eddie grimaced. "Head injury and we have to assume she has a concussion, too." He looked back, watching Buck and TK start to maneuver Owen out of the shaft, Capp and Tony helping. "Be careful," he said unnecessarily.

Matt nodded, looking at Joe. "Get her legs," he ordered.

"Copy," he nodded, moving to place his arms under Sylvie's legs.

Matt looked at Kelly as he placed one of Sylvie's arms around his shoulders, Kelly doing the same on her other side. "On three. One, two, three!"

The three men lifted Sylvie, and Eddie led the way out of the mineshaft. Capp was watching TK and Buck load Owen into the back of the Squad 9 rig, and he turned to Kelly, watching closely as Eddie directed them to load her into the back of Squad 3. "I'll drive for Squad 9," he said. "Neither of them are fit to drive back."

"Go," Kelly nodded.

Capp nodded, running for the driver's seat. Matt looked hesitantly from Squad 9 to Squad 3, and Eddie looked up at Matt. "I'll take care of her," he promised. "They'll need you to make the calls over there."

Matt bit his lip, then looked at Kelly. "Don't let her go."

"I've got her," Kelly nodded.

"We've got her," Joe amended.

Matt nodded, shifting his grip so Kelly could take her full weight. They must have jostled Sylvie somehow, because she suddenly flinched in her sleep, a pained whine escaping her. That sound stabbed Matt in the heart, and he swallowed hard, brushing his knuckles across Sylvie's cheek. "We've got you, Sylvie," he promised, kissing the top of her head. "You're safe." Kelly held her securely, and Matt stayed close to the rig enough to watch Joe help him up into the rig. When he was inside, Sylvie cradled in his arms, Eddie jumped in after him. Matt raced for Squad 9 as Joe hauled himself up into the officer's seat, and Matt joined Capp in the front of Squad 9.

Kelly barely saw Matt's door shut before Squad 9's siren wailed and Capp drove past the helicopter and back down the mountain. Tony followed closely, and Kelly turned his attention back to Eddie, the army medic working on securing an IV in Sylvie's hand. "How is she?" he asked worriedly.

"Pulse is still thready, but she's hanging in there," Eddie answered. "I think it's oxygen poisoning."

Kelly frowned, the term unfamiliar. "It's what?"

"They breathed in oxygen, and they put CO2 out," he explained. "Inhaled oxygen, exhaled what was, essentially, poison."

Kelly gulped. "Tony!"

"Heard, Lieutenant!" his driver called back.

The rig rumbled as Tony pushed it as fast as he could, and Kelly's grip around Sylvie tightened further. "Come on Sylvie, hang on," he begged as Eddie pushed the saline solution through the IV, constantly checking her pulse. "Don't you dare die on us when we just got you back!"

***

Is it technically a reunion if a) one of you is in a chopper hundreds of feet from the ground or b) you're unconscious when the reunion actually happens? Not quite sure, but if you count it . . . there you go! And to think, I was almost tempted to stop the chapter when Owen and Sylvie passed out. You're welcome. :)

The aftermath of "Hold the Line" is next chapter, and we see where all the fire families go from here, because once 51 realizes it's Sylvie that went down in that chopper . . . well. Can you spell "overprotective 126?" XD

graphic by marvelity