Chicago Fire: Burning Bright

Back to the Flames

Chapter Seven: Burning Edges

"This summer can suck it," Cailin remarked, sitting at the bar at Molly's one with Erin and Antonio, the only IU members she could convince to join her for more than a drink, after a particularly grueling week.

Jay was on the fence until he heard Erin chatting up her damn firebug, making plans to meet him at the bar later and decided to call that girl he met last week instead. Alvin was still trying to work his way back into the house from the garage and had a family dinner planned. Adam was vague about his plans but both Erin and Cailin guessed they had something to do with the preening Kim Burgess they saw in the locker room on their way out. Atwater, Cally still couldn't call him Kevin, had come for a quick drink, but got a better offer and had left a few minutes before.

"Agreed," Erin and Antonio echoed, raising their glasses to hers.

"Thankfully it is over," Erin added, though the Labor Day weekend had been long and bloody and they had worked non-stop after the homicide rate crept near all time highs.

And that was just trying to keep the Mayor happy, to say nothing of the Russian mobster they were trying to pin down who was trafficking in girls and the joint task force they were 'working' with the FBI. Which basically meant they were tasked with all the grunt work on digging up intel on some Eastern European syndicate that was skimming credit card info at bars and restaurants in the toniest areas of the city and using the proceeds to capture their own corner of the Vice market.

"Hey why don't you practice for your new gig and mix us up another round, Callahan," Antonio teased, shaking his empty glass.

Cailin was about to go undercover as a bartender in one of the target bars responsible for the majority of the skimming, thought to be the head honcho's den.

"Off the clock, 'Tonio, flag your sister down," she said, gesturing to Gabby at the other end of the bar where she was chatting with Joe and his new-old girlfriend, the very same Taylor that Cailin had thrown up on upon coming to in the hospital after she was shot.

That had been an awkward re-introduction the first time Cruz brought her in; but the woman seemed intelligent and funny and Joe Cruz was looking more and more like a teddy bear each passing moment he spent with her.

"Cally doesn't need any practice, trust me," Erin said, tossing her head back in laughter thinking about their last girls' night. Shay, Gabby and Katie Severide had joined the pair of detectives to compete with the boys' night that had left them all single for the evening. Cailin decided to work her way through a couple of chapters of the Joy of Cocktails and they all ended up three sheets to the wind and laughing uncontrollably while playing 'can you top this' with their worst dates ever.

"Girl, put those dimples away before you get every guy in here sniffing around us," Cally teased as Antonio moved down to get his sister's attention.

"We have badges, guns and hot firefighter boyfriends, I think we'll be okay," she quipped, but gave an ice-cold stare to the pair of bros who had started to make their way over as soon as Antonio vacated his stool.

"Speaking of which," she added as the door to Molly's opened and the trio of Lieutenants walked in, having gone to shoot pool and the breeze to celebrate Casey's return to, albeit modified, duty.

"Great, now I'll never get a refill," Antonio remarked as his sister also zeroed in on the newest arrivals.

He was happy for his little sister, jumping in with both feet up in Roger's Park, engaged to a good man, putting their mother over the moon with wedding planning; but still, he felt something in his gut. She hadn't seemed the same since the building collapse.