IN THIS SKIN -- CHICAGO FIRE

44;

The time in which Marley was spending at the Firehouse had been gradually increasing in the weeks that followed her gifting the house to Herrmann. Whilst, as always when she spent time there, nobody minded- it was becoming clear to everyone that something wasn't right with her. She spent the majority of her time in Kelly's office, only appearing to eat or shower. Gabby had also heard from Antonio that Marley had been dodging all the unit's calls, and nobody had heard from her since the trial despite their multiple attempts to reach out.

She wasn't coping. That much was clear.

Kelly sat in Boden's office, accompanied by Matt and Gabby. The four had been talking about the teenager, Kelly's frustrations growing.
"I just don't know what I can do. She won't talk to me. Not about things that are bothering her." Kelly sighed.
"You gotta be patient, Kelly. She went through a huge trauma with Yates and the trial. She can't just get over that." Matt said firmly.
"Exactly. She won't go to therapy and still hasn't been back to the unit. He may be in prison, but there is so much more she has to process and deal with before she can recover." Gabby explained. Kelly exhaled deeply, but shook his head defiantly.
"No, I think it's more than that. I really do."
"How so?" Boden asked. A sigh escaped Kelly's lips.
"I don't know," He ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. "I really don't."

Jimmy Borelli hadn't had much interaction with Marley during his time at 51. He had joined at the time of the trial, and so Marley hadn't been up to talking much- Jimmy hadn't been offended, and had been mindful of the fact that she probably wasn't comfortable around men after her ordeal, so had kept his distance. He did, however, have a huge amount of respect and empathy for the young girl, who he had established had dealt with more than her fair share of trauma in her life. So when he walked past Kelly's office and heard breathless sobbing, he couldn't help but open the door. The teenager was hunched over on the floor, her arms crossed over her knees, a letter clutched tightly in her hands. Jimmy closed the door behind him and approached cautiously.
"Hey, hey, try to focus on your breathing," He said gently, sitting down next to her, taking her hand and unclenching it. "I need you to follow my breathing, Marley, okay? We can't have you hyperventilating," he spoke softly, placing her hand on his chest, covering it with his own. "look at me," she obeyed, turning her head to face him. "Good, now," He gestured, inhaling and exhaling clearly watching the teenager as she imitated him, her breathing slowing gradually.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled slowly.
"Hey, don't apologise, it happens." He rubbed her back gently, smiling warmly at her. "What brought this on?" He watched as she faltered slightly, seemingly weighing up her options. Jimmy sat patiently next to her, sensing she needed to talk about something, but not feeling comfortable enough himself to push her.
"He's getting released," she said after a moments silence, waving the letter she had. "This came in the post four days ago, and I didn't have the guts to open it. I wish I hadn't."
"Yates is getting out already?" Jimmy asked, anger evident in his voice. He had barely served two months.
"No," Marley shook her head quickly, still not feeling ready to talk about him. "My dad."
Tears flowed again as she placed the letter on the floor. She brought her hands up to her face and cried again. Jimmy didn't know what to say to her. He didn't know much about her relationship with her father, and to the best of his knowledge not many people at the firehouse did. There was nothing he could say to comfort her, instead he wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer to his chest, resting his head on top of hers. No words exchanged between the pair, she just cried into his chest until she fell asleep.

A knock at Boden's office door interrupted the four firemen within.
"Yes?" Boden shouted.
"Er, Chief,"
"Yes, Jimmy? What is it? We're in the middle of something, here."
"I know, but you all need to hear this anyway," Jimmy began, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the letter he had taken from Marley's grasp. "I saw her crying, and she told me about this." Kelly stood up and took the letter from him, his eyes scanning it quickly. Almost immediately he threw it to the floor in frustration, and swiftly stormed out the office. Gabby retrieved it from the floor and tried to read it. "I don't know all the details, but Marley's dad is being released." Jimmy summarised for the others in the room. "I didn't mean to get involved, or anything like that, I just heard her crying and I had to see if she was okay. I don't know why she told me, she just cried then fell asleep so I put her in Kelly's bed."
"No, you did the right thing, Borelli." Boden said firmly, nodding his head at the young paramedic.
"Yeah, thank you, Jimmy." Matt said quietly. Jimmy nodded at them and left the room silently.

Kelly's anger was obvious to everyone he passed on his way to his quarters. The anger he felt was overwhelming, so much so he avoided seeing Marley out of fear that she would mistake it as anger directed at herself, which it wasn't.
He entered the apparatus floor, slamming the door behind him.
"Squad 3, we're taking a ride."

Hank Voight had spent the past 3 days out of office appealing the release of Jonah Turner. As a courtesy, the Parole Officer had informed him of the news given his previous involvement with the Turner neglect and abuse case. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was being released early, his lawyers were claiming reformation and wanted to have him meet with his daughter to reconcile their relationship. Voight had done as much digging as he could and tried harder than ever before to show the courts that Jonah was dangerous, but to no avail. He had been a model prisoner, and consistently had expressed regret for the crimes he had committed. Voight had nothing. So it had come as no surprise to him when he saw Kelly Severide marching up the steps inside the District with a look of fury in his eyes, barely being held back by his Squad members.
"You knew about this?" He demanded loudly. Hank stepped forward with a hand raised.
"Kelly, believe me, I have played every angle possible to prevent this from happening-"
"That's crap! There has to be something? After everything Marley has been through, everything he has put her through, he's just getting out with a slap on the wrist?"
"Severide, trust me, if there was something I could do then I would. He'd never applied for Parole before because he had admitted he deserved punishment, he was a model prisoner. He has served for what, 8 years now?"
"So as far as you're concerned he's done his time and that's that?"
"No, but as far as the City of Chicago are concerned, he's paid for his crimes and showed remorse. It's out of our hands, Severide."
"I hope you know that if I ever get my hands on him-"
"Kelly."
"I mean it, Voight. He ever comes near Marley again, it'll be me behind bars."
"Severide, watch what you're saying."
"I'll kill him." And with that, Severide marched out of the unit, seething with anger.

Voight sighed as he observed the rest of the unit all watching him, confused. He had kept it under wraps given the distance Marley desired after Nadia, and that in all her time with the Intelligence, she had never actually disclosed anything about her past.
"What was all that about? Is Marley in trouble?" Antonio asked. Voight shrugged.
"I guess I had better explain."