If You Play With Fire

Firehouse 51

Chapter 2 - Firehouse 51

"I think we have to make an announcement! Liam Casey is to visit!" Hermann said. Too often, they did not see the Casey boy. Usually Liam came to the Firehouse only when his father had to work on a holiday like Thanksgiving or he needed a school signing. Kelly sat in his chair at the squad table and turned back. He can not shake the feeling that Liam is celebrated like a celebrity every time he visits 51. In the near future Hermann will probably roll out the red carpet.

"Hey buddy!" Kelly shouted to him, "What's the school doing? Written your essay? "He winked.

"With the help of Gabby, anything is possible," the 13-year-old grinned and looked around the hall.

"Your dad is in his office," Severide said and was immediately corrected by Matt, "Your father was in the office," he winked.

"I need a signature for the school trip," Liam said, handing the letter to his father. Matt, as always, read the letter through thoroughly.

"Uh, I should have signed the letter two weeks ago," he said.

"Well, what can I say, I forgot," Liam said and Matt ruffled his son's hair. He was used to Liam not passing the letters to him until weeks later. Nonetheless, Liam must learn to pass on such letters to him immediately. Matt signed the letter and handed it to his son.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Matt asked curiously.

"No, I have something else to do," Liam winked, saying goodbye to the people and cycling away with his bike. Although Chicago had an extraordinary infrastructure, Liam loved mountain biking. Even though there were no mountains in Chicago itself. He was also independent of any timetables. And you do not drive too far from the apartment or school to the 51.

Deep in thought, Liam cycled through the streets of Chicago listening to music through his headphones. Suddenly Liam collided with a pedestrian, who fled hurriedly out of a building.

"Can't you watch out?" Liam complained, getting up off the floor and staring at the man. He said nothing, got up and ran to his car. Fortunately, Liam had only a small wound on his knee.

Only after the man was gone, he realized that it smelled strange. Liam looked up at the building. Smoke came out from behind the boards.
For a while Liam stared at the burning building before swiping his fingers over his smartphone and dialing the emergency call. It was not long before the firehouse 51 arrived at the scene. Kelly and Matt quickly distributed the tasks.

"Wow. You've been listening to fire safety education," Kelly winked, marching into the building with his men.

"I heard you dialed the emergency call?" Matt smiled.

"I only did what I was taught," Liam said.

"Then your father did a first-class job," Matt laughed, giving his son a friendly knocker on the back and hurrying after Kelly.

Liam grinned and looked proudly to his father. He used to dream of becoming a firefighter himself and following in the footsteps of his father.

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"Mommy, look there! I'll also drive with the truck when I grow up!" the 4-year-old said.

"Yes, I see it," Hallie said. She urgently needs to go to a job interview in a clinic and really just wanted to get the 4-year-old to Matt quickly, but the boy was so fascinated by the firehouse that he absolutely wanted to show his mom everything he learned on his last visit.

"I even have my own helmet!" Liam explained beaming, "I'll bring it!" and ran away. Gabriela Dawson watched Hallie's arrival with Liam and also her annoyed look. Actually, Gabby would have taken Casey to her, only this one was in a meeting with Chief Boden and Kelly.

Gabby watched as Hallie took the moment and returned to her car. Stunned, Gabby just shook her head. Liam ran into the vehicle hall, looked around for his mom and ran after her, "Mommy! Where are you going?" Liam called after her and looked sad as Hallie drove away.

"Hey Liam, maybe you'd like to show me the truck, huh?" Gabby asked.

"Okay," Liam mumbled.

He explained to Gabby the functionalities of each device in a funny way. You could tell that Liam was 4 years old and that he did not understand the connection between things. After showing her everything, Liam played with her firefighters. The boy played the lieutenant and Gabby was the candidate.

"How do we do that?" Liam asked highly motivated as they arrived at their fictional fire.

"Why do you ask me? You're the lieutenant," Gabby grinned, "I'm just the candidate!"

"Exactly because of that! You have to learn!" Liam grinned. At the same moment Casey came into the vehicle hall. Mouch told him about the presence of his son.

"Oh, maybe Chief Casey can help us out," Gabby winked, laughing. Immediately, Liam turned around and happily ran into his father's arms, "Daddy. Gabby and I are playing firefighters!" Liam said.

"I heard it," laughed Matt, "I have something for you."

He brought a kids T-shirt from the truck 81, where the logo with the goat was pictured. He was told what number Hallie pulled off. And it was not the first time. Hallie never wanted a child. Liam was, as she say it, just an accident.But for Matt, the kid meant everything. He was glad it happened and used every free minute he got with Liam. Each time Liam visited him at the station because Hallie got a more important appointment at short notice, Liam got another thing to add to his fire-fighting toy gear. So he already had a children's fire helmet, gloves, a plastic crowbar, a small plastic fire extinguisher and a game phone.

"Woah, Cool!" Liam beamed.

"So, tell me why you need the help of the Chief?" Matt grinned.

"The cat was sitting on the tree. We lit the tree and the cat jumped down, but now the tree is burning!" the 4-year-old explained. Kelly, who was just around the corner, struggled hard to laugh.

"Why didn't you fetch the cat down with the help of the truck?" Matt wondered.

"The ladder is broken" Gabby explained.

"Oh, well then I probably would not have acted that way anyway," Matt grinned and turned to his son, "Then you have to alert the engine 51."

"The engine 51 is made up of lazy people like Mouch." Gabby said.

"That seems like a real problem," Matt said and Liam nodded.