Best Friend To The Very End

Red Rag The Bull

'Morning squirt' Severide said as he sat in the lounge room watching TV
'Where's Dawson and Matt?' Hannah asked, still half asleep
'They had some things to do' He explained 'You hungry?'
Hannah nodded he head
'Good, me too. There's some eggs and bacon in the kitchen' Hannah glared at him 'Come on get cooking' He joked
Hannah sat there confused 'Really?'
'I just kidding, it's already cooked, theirs some left over if you want it'
'Cool' Hannah said as she got out of her bed and ran into the kitchen
'Hold on' Severide said as he reached for Hannah's arm as she ran past
'What?' She questioned
'Where's my hug?' He said pulling her towards him and hugging her
'Dad' She whinged as she hugged him
'What?' He questioned
'I'm hungry!' She laughed as she tried to get out of his grip
'No your not' He laughed, still hugging her
'Yes I am' She laughed as he let go and she went in to the kitchen
'Remember we're meeting up with your mom at 1' Severide reminded Hannah
'Yeah at Lakefront' She replied
'What do you think she's gonna say?'
'Dunno, one of her typical replies like "It'll get better" or "He'll change"'
'What about you, what do you want to do"
'You know what I want to do but I can if Mom doesn't'
'You don't know that'
'You really think our plan could work without mom?' Hannah questioned as she sat back on the couch with her breakfast
'We'll there might have to be a few alterations'
'Yeah' Hannah replied as she began to eat her breakfast
'Got enough hot sauce on that?' Severide questioned
'Yeah' Hannah replied
'You definitely grew up in a fire house' He laughed to himself
'I'm not sure about other house's but definitely 51' Hannah replied

'Come on hurry up, or well be late' Severide called out as he looked for her keys
'I'm ready' Hannah called back as she came out of the bathroom
'Got your bag?' He questioned
'Yeah' Hannah replied 'Got your keys?' She asked as she dangled his keys in front of her
'Where'd you hide them?'
'No where' Hannah laughed 'You left them on the coffee table'
'Right,' Severide said to himself 'Come on' He said opening the door
Hannah walked outside, Followed by Severide who locked the door behind him
'You got the plan?' Severide asked
'Yep' She said taking the piece of paper out of her pocket
'Good, lets go'

'Where exactly were we meeting mom?' Hannah asked as she got out of the car
'At lake front' Severide replied
'But it's 18 miles long'
'We'll just wait a few minutes then see where she is'
'Alright then, or we could just call her'
Severide thought for a second 'Alright then' He said getting his phone out of his pocket
He dialed Katherine's number and waited for her to answer.
'Katherine' He said as she answered the phone 'Where are you?'
'Near the conservatory' She replied 'Where are you'
'Not far' He replied as he looked around 'We'll see you soon'
'Where is she?' Hannah asked
'Conservatory' He replied
'And you said were not that far?'
'Well we have a car, don't we'
'You are so not a thinker, you're a do-er'
'Shut-up' Severide replied sarcastically
'Shut up' Hannah mimicked as she got back in the car
'There she is' Hannah said as they pulled up near the observatory 'Mum!' Hannah called as she got out of the car and ran towards her
'Hey sweetie' She replied as she hugged her 'Don't you ever run away like that again'
'I won't, I promise' She replied 'But dad and I know a way out of this'
Katherine looked at Hannah and Kelly confused 'What do you mean?'
'We can move out. We stay in Chicago, you can keep your job, I don't have to leave dad'
'How?' Katherine asked 'You and I can't move out, we won't be able to'
'You can' Severide added 'You guys can rent a house'
'I'm not sure about this'
'Mom just listen, dad and I have come up with a plan'
'Ok, I'm listening'
'Cooper's going to conference in Detroit for a few days and that's our chance' Hannah explained 'That weekend we can move out'
'To where?'
'A house, away from Cooper'
'Hannah we can't afford that'
'But that's where dad comes in'
All three of us move in together' Severide explained 'Just till you guys are on you're feet again'
'We can be a family again. A real family' Hannah said with a bright smile
That's all good and well but what about Cooper'
We get a restraining order, just until he goes back to Phoenix'
'You know he won't just leave like that'
If you take away what he want then he'll have to' Severide explained
'And whats that?' Katherine asked
'Power' Said Severide 'Once you leave his powers gone, you're no longer reliant on him'
Katherine shook her head trying to think of something to say, but for once there was nothing, there was no excuse.
'I, I can't say anything. This might actually work' Said Katherine
Hannah smiled
'Don't get too excited squirt, we've still got a lot to sort out'
'I know. But I know we can do it. We always have'
'Always?' Severide questioned
'Well 80% of the time'
'Hannah, where would we move to?'
'That's still a working progress' Hannah replied
'You think we can find somewhere in the next three weeks?'
'Yeah' Hannah replied unsure
'Look, Han go find a paper and we can start looking at apartments'
'Isn't that what phones are for?' She asked
'Just go find a paper squirt' He said giving her $3
'Alright then' Hannah said walking the other way
'We need to talk, don't we?' Katherine asked
'Yeah' Severide replied 'We do'

The two of them walked towards the entrance of the observatory
'It's been good to see you and Hannah, I'm glad you came back to Chicago' Severide said as they walked through the flowers
'I wish it was under better circumstances' Said Katherine
'Yeah' Severide replied 'You remember the summer I stayed at your house?'
'How could I forget' She replied
'That was probably the biggest turning point in my life, things could have gone a whole lot differently for me if your parents hadn't have taken me in'
'That was me though, I talked to them and said I have this friend who has no place to live, and you know they always saw you as their second son'
'Then the second biggest turning point in my life, when I found out I was going to be a dad'
'Yeah' Katherine replied 'that took a while for my parents to wrap their heads around'
'Me too' He replied 'I always wonder what would have happened if we stayed together'
'We knew what we always wanted, You wanted to be a fire fighter and I wanted to be a lawyer'
'That still could have happened if you stayed here'
'It works both ways Kelly, you still could have become a firefighter if you came with us'
'But you know what 51 meant to me' Kelly explained
'I understand that but I never thought I'd be where I am now, I'm finally closer to being a lawyer'
'What in a relationship with a jerk who beats you'
'OK, maybe that's not a highlight but he wasn't like that when we first met'
'What was he like?'
'He was amazing, he loved me and Hannah' Katherine explained 'Hannah had a male role model in her life'
'But she had me, and my dad, and your dad'
'But you were all on the other side of the country'
'Doesn't mean we weren't there for her' Said Kelly 'So what made him snap?'
'You' Katherine explained 'He knew I wasn't over you and we still shared so much'
'What do you mean?' Kelly asked
'I may have got the job I wanted but I regret that everyday. Leaving you, taking Hannah away from her dad.' Katherine explained
'You know what this whole situations gonna do to him' Said Kelly
'It'll be like a red rag at a bull, he won't give up without a fight'
'He's gonna have to because there's no way he's gonna hurt you and Hannah ever again, I promise'
There was a silence
'I still love you Kelly, I always have'
'Katherine' Kelly replied
'No Kelly, I want us to try again'
'Katherine, you know I'll always love you guys and I'll always be there but I don't know if I can go there again'
'Yeah' Katherine replied 'I understand'
'But I still love you, OK' He said hugging her and kissing her on the forehead
'I love you too' She replied hugging him back