If You Play With Fire

Happy End

Liam stood motionless midway between Matt and Gabby. He got a slight suspicion of what was about to happen. He never wanted to see Kelly, Cruz, Otis or Hermann again. Even if it would be difficult not to see all the people again.

The crews got out of their vehicles and gathered in front of them.

"We know that an apology is not forgiving what we have done. We have long considered how we should apologize to you. Our ideas weren't really imaginative. Movie tickets, soccer tickets, amusement park. Somehow we didn't find the right one," said Cruz

"We should have visited you where you were still in the hospital, but we were partly ashamed because we thought you were the arsonist," said Otis.

"We officially apologize to you here and now and hope you will forgive us one day. We made a mistake and sentenced you too quickly," said Chief Boden.

"We are aware that you are a Blackhawks Fan," said Hermann and spread out a red Blackhawks T-Shirt in front of him, "Original signatures of current players and 3 cards for the game on Saturday," said Hermann.

Liam didn't know what to feel. Whether to accept the apology. Cruz and Otis were sometimes so disgusting to him that he doesn't want to accept any more. But he also knows that part of the 51 did not know what they did to him.

He buried his hands deeper in his jacket pocket and didn't answer the apology. He would have preferred to just go home now.

However, his father would not tolerate his behavior. He felt his father put his hand on his shoulder. Liam was certain that his father knew about this reparation and intentionally brought him there.

"Thanks guys," Matt said, "for the shirt and tickets. Many thanks also on behalf of Liam. I don't know if and when Liam will accept the apology, but in the past few days I have learned what two of you have asked Liam to do and if I were in Liam's situation, a simple apology would not be enough."

Liam looked up at his father in shock. Apparently he knew about the reparation action, but not how they would apologize. Liam would now have expected Matt to say he should accept the apology and not be a stubborn kid.

"I made a big mistake myself. I was neither behind my son nor did I help him. And I regret it. But two of you really behaved under all sow. And these two people will do the cleaning of 51 until Liam decides when is good," said Matt.

"We even got a little present for you two," Gabby grinned, handing Joe and Otis a can of wet dog food with beef hearts and vegetables.

Liam looked at Gabby in surprise. He didn't know that Matt and Gabby were so well prepared for it. The faces of Cruz and Otis were definitely legendary.

"Cruz, Otis," Matt said, "do you notice anything?"

Both shook their heads intimidated.

"The 51 is dirty. You should start cleaning," grinned Matt. Of course, the 51 was still in bad shape. Otis and Cruz followed the captain's command. While they are cleaning, Severide is preparing the grill for a BBQ and the others are also pulling out tables and benches to end the day together. Liam stayed very covered, was always close to Gabby and Matt. They both knew that Liam was not yet so happy with the situation.

A few weeks later, the fire station 51 stood again - freshly set up and renovated. Everything was back where it belonged. Even the pictures and awards hung on the walls. At home, each individual checked whether he still had one of the pictures and brought it with him. The awards, however, were new.

"It feels so good to finally see everyone again and work together. I couldn't have stayed one day longer. Shout is like a colorful, jittery unicorn," said Gabby. Hand in hand, she entered her workplace with her husband.

"I'm also happy to finally be able to spend the day with my wife again," Matt smiled. In the past few weeks, they have worked on different stations at different times. So they almost never saw each other. The only good thing was that Liam was never alone. Even if the boy actually no longer needed a babysitter.

They greeted each other warmly for their first shift at 51. Chief Boden said a few words and quickly agreed that they would organize an evening meal.

"Hey Casey!" Severide called and hurried after his colleague, "How is Liam?"

"He is fine," Matt said.

"I haven't heard from him since the apology," Kelly said.

"He needs a distance from 51. He wants to meet his friends and do everything he couldn't do because of the house arrest," said Matt.

"You can invite him to dinner tonight," said Kelly, "I kind of can't get rid of the feeling that Liam still hasn't forgiven us."

"I can invite him, but I won't promise anything," said Matt, "And Severide, Liam is no longer angry with you."

They sat at the table and watched the delicious food. They ordered from the Thai. Pasta and rice dishes. Chicken and duck. Fresh vegetables. Spring rolls.

Matt tried to delay Chief Boden's speech, but Liam just couldn't stop by.

After waiting 10 minutes, the stomach of almost everyone growled and they started eating.

"Sure Liam is no longer angry?" Kelly asked. He found it very sad that his godchild is currently distancing himself from the fire station and obviously does not want to know anything else about them.

"Liam wrote to me that he was trying to come," said Matt.

"It's also called a cancellation," Otis said.

"That was not a cancellation," said Liam, who heard the conversation when he entered the station "I still had soccer training."

Matt exhaled in relief. How could he forget Liam's training? "Hey buddy," Matt said and asked his son to sit next to him. Cruz filled Liam's plate with all Thai delicacies. In the meantime, individual crews disappeared due to calls, but the majority stayed on 51. It was a quiet shift. Liam said goodbye in the evening, because the next day he will finally rewrite the math exam that he had been missing for weeks.

The End