The Fire Within (wlw)

Matchstick

I gripped the strap of the duffel bag that was on my shoulder as I looked at the large firehouse. While I looked up at the large symbol for Firehouse 51 on the wall of the building, I ran my fingers across the same symbol embroidered onto the bag, a smile forming across my face. I walked up to the huge open garage door, immediately greeted by a tall, intimidating man wearing a white shirt and dress pants. I knew from his outfit he must be the battalion chief. He extended his hand and I took it, shaking it. 

"Welcome to 51 Hayden Quill, I'm Chief Boden. If you learned anything in Fire Academy, it's that I am your highest command in this house so you listen to me, even if your truck command says something different." he said, giving a slight smile which made me feel more at ease. "Yes sir." I chuckled, taking my hand back. 

"Follow me, let's go get you introduced to the others." he said, walking off towards the doors that led to the inside of the building. As we walked, I glanced at some of the trucks. They're beautiful... I thought to myself. I caught the door that Boden had opened for me and walked in, glancing around the living room and kitchen that were in the same large room. There was another tall guy standing there cooking something that smelled delicious. I looked at the big table on the side and there were a few people sitting there either reading magazines or quietly talking to each other. I switched my focus to the couch and there were two guys sitting on it watching what sounded like a baseball game with another guy intently staring at the screen from behind the couch. Nobody noticed that anyone had walked into the room until Boden cleared his throat, making me jump a little. 

All eyes were on me after that moment and I smiled nervously, taking in everyone's faces. "This is Hayden Quill, she's our newest member. I expect you all to show her the ropes and show her just as much respect as you show your fellow firefighters. She's one of us now. Severide, she's qualified for Squad 3 so that's where she'll be working. She's under you now so I expect you to give her a Squad 3 warm welcome as well as the tour of all your tools and the truck so she gets familiar with what she'll be working with." I looked around and saw some people whispering. Are they making fun of me? I wondered. A muscular, blue eyed, pepper-haired man stood up. "Yes Chief." he nodded at Chief Boden before sitting back down. That must be Severide... I thought. 

Chief Boden nodded at the group as if to say goodbye before walking out of the room. I stood there looking at everyone nervously. The Severide guy walked up to me and extended his hand for me to shake so I took it in mine. "Hey, Hayden, isn't it? I'm Lieutenant Kelly Severide but everyone here calls me Samurai." he smiled, his blue eyes staring into mine. "Nice to meet you...Lieutenant..." I said, not knowing how else to address him. He chuckled. "Please, call me one of my other three names unless it's business." I smiled and said "Alright..nice to meet you Severide."

He smiled and stepped back for another guy to come up and shake my hand. This guy was a bit shorter than Severide and had brown hair but the same color blue eyes. "I'm Lieutenant Matt Casey but I tend to go by Casey. I am the head of Truck 81 out there." he said, nodding towards the truck bay. I had seen that truck when I walked in and noticed that their crest was a goat. "Ohh, the goat truck?" I asked, smiling. Casey laughed a bit but one of the guys at the table sighed deeply. 

"Oh great, not even here 5 MINUTES and she already notices the goat crest. I wish there was no attachment or history behind that goat for Boden because I still think we need something cooler, like Squad 3's three headed hell dog!" the man said, making the others laugh at his reaction. 

"Don't mind him, that's just Otis being Otis." said another man coming up to me. "Hi, I'm Joe Cruz." he said, shaking my hand. I nodded in response and one by one, everyone came up to me and introduced themselves. 

"Hey, why is that guy called Mouch?" I asked, pointing towards the older guy on the couch. "Half man half couch, cmon what's so hard to figure out about that?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders in defense. We all laughed and some of the guys joked around with him. "Hey, Hayden, come with me." a shorter, dark haired brown eyed girl said, grabbing my arm. "Alright." I said, letting her lead me over to a small round table where another girl was sitting. I didn't see these girls when I came in, it must have been because it's in a more secluded area of the room but I was glad there were some girls at 51.