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Chapter Text

It had been years since Matt felt this pain, he had almost forgotten about that even when the CFD made him run some rest every year. He knew he was at the hospital and the pain in his head was still there but it was much milder thanks to the drugs. He was thinking now about how stupid he was by going to the doctor to get checked out after the first sharp pain in his head. Sure, he was hoping it would go away, but it didn't. He was grateful that when everything turned black he was in front of Sylvie Brett. God, she probably was scared but sucked it up to try to help him, he was sure she had tears rolling down her eyes until he was at the hospital. No matter how bad things were between them now, he was sure Sylvie loved him as a friend at least. He had his eyes covered with a little towel since the bright hospital lights were a trigger for the pain, he had heard how they took CT scan just by the noise. He heard voices but he wasn't able to understand much of them, but since he was in a room and not in another part of the hospital immediately after the scan he was sure there was nothing to put his life at risk.

"You are an idiot" he heard a soft whisper, that voice saying those specific words was one he hadn't heard in a while and he was confused on why she was there. "Don't uncover your eyes" the female voice said while holding the towel on over his eyes. "I don't even going to ask why you didn't come to the hospital to get checked out after that call. Chief Boden told me what happen"

"I'm fine" Matt said or tried to say but even moving his jaw made the pain grow.

"You are now with all the drugs, but us who are not high are dead worried. Specially Sylvie."

"How is she?" Matt asked in spite of the pain.

"Pissed that you didn't say something earlier, but all of them are. they are okay now that I told them you are going to survive so they can kill you." Matt kind of smiled.

He heard how the slide door opened. "Captain Casey" he heard a male voice "I'm doctor Abraham's assistant, he's in surgery now but your CT showed that your brain is a little inflamed and needs to be checked out due to your record."

"Thanks doctor" the female voice said.

"Your pain medication is going to be lowered through the night and tomorrow morning we'll take another CT. See you tomorrow"

Matt raised his thumb and then dropped his hand, but he felt how the woman took it between her own hands after the doctor left. "You need to update your emergency contacts… it took me forever to get here…"

"I never thought about it. Thanks for being here".

"Any time".

---

Sylvie was trying to find something in her phone to distract herself but not one of her games or favorite blogs cut make her forget his face wrinkling from the pain, at first she thought he was going to tell her something and her heart started pounding in her chest, then she was confused thinking he was about to throw up but she never imagined he losing his balance and she having to holding him, she chuckled at the fact she was able to hold him until someone, she could remember who, helped her. Then she remembered how, almost in autopilot mode, checked him and how she was able to hold her tears until she was with him in the back of the ambo. 

"Hey" Sylvie raised her head when he heard Herrmann's voice. "How you doing, kid."

"I'm starting to get sore" she rubbed her arms.

Herrmann held her hand "you did amazing, I'm surprised you could catch him, he's not that light."

"People get extra strength out of somewhere for…"

"People you love" Sylvie opened her eyes wide. "It's no secret you two love each other in a different way."

"There's nothing…" she tried to explain

"I know you are not together but it's pretty clear you love each other. I don't get why and I'm not asking for explaining but just wanted to tell you he's going to be okay and that you did great taking care of him"

"Thanks" Sylvie rested her head on Herrmann's shoulder. Until a voice alerted them all.

"Guys, Matt is doing much better, in and out of the drugs, we are staying for a few days to keep an eye on the brain but everything should be fine".

"Do you want us to stay with you?" Kelly said standing up.

"You should go home, I'm staying overnight but maybe tomorrow morning you could come so I can go to shower and change clothes."

"We'll make up a schedule," Boden said in a commanding tone. "Please call us if anything changes."

"Will do, chief. Thanks for being here."

The woman was about to leave when she came close to Sylvie who was fighting the urge to stay. "Sylvie, would you mind staying with him for a while… I'm going down the cafeteria…"

"I could go buy you…" Sylvie interrupted.

"Go with him but don't talk, the sound bothers him" the woman smiled and took her hand. "But please don't kill him until he's out of the hospital".

---

Sylvie entered the room trying to make as little noise possible, there was little to no light, only enough to not trip. She could not tell if he was sleeping or awake. So she just sat down and looked at him, how can that man cause her so many emotions, she was still a little mad at him because of how he treated Greg, why he could not let her be happy with someone else… he had done it with that redheaded woman. He was jealous but he didn't do anything about it. She was waiting for him to act on his feelings but he had done the opposite to fight for her. The universe had put Greg on her way and she could not try. She was sure if Greg would be the guy she would marry and have a family with, she wasn't at that point yet, but with Casey those ideas were almost a given the times she let herself fantasize with that idea, the sad part was that even in her dreams Gabby came back and she took everything away from her… of course Gabby was not to blame, she was the one…

"Is there anybody here?" She heard the softest whisper coming out of Matt, she just reached for his hand trying not to talk.

"The pain has faded a bit. I was dreaming…" she was trying to let go of his hand but he held her tighter. "Sylvie?"

She was surprised he recognized who she was without talking so she put his hand on her face and nodded.

"I'm sorry" he said with a sigh "I want to make you happy but only manage to make you sad, angry or worried." He felt how she was shaking her head no. "I want you to be happy even if that means being with someone else then I guess I'll have to deal with it again". That confused Sylvie, "but if you realize that he's not the guy you deserve I'm going to be there waiting for you to give me a chance to do the things right."

"I…" Sylvie started to say.

"Don't say anything" Casey said trying to take the towel from his eyes but she held it in its place. "I'm going to wait and if the time comes I'll not waste my chance again".

Sylvie felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to the woman standing next to her with a board on her hand.

"Matt," the woman said, whispering. "It's time for Sylvie to leave."

Sylvie took Matt's hand again and rested her cheek on it, then put his hand back on the bed.

When the two women were outside, Christine, Matt's sister hugged her and Sylvie broke down.

"You should not be the one comforting me" Sylvie apologized.

"I know you love him and he loves you too." Sylvie was going to say something but Christine stopped her. "It's complicated… all great love stories are complicated at first, and God knows I know how complicated Matt can be". 

Sylvie chuckled. "I know. Guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes but before you leave… I need to ask you something. It took so long for the doctors to get in touch with his emergency contact that they had to delay some procedures until I got here, you know, for legal reasons. And it took them a lot of time because Gabby is still his emergency contact and she never picked up. I'm sure it's because he didn't even think about it, the papers are almost 3 years old" Christine felt the need to explain. "And my phone was in my car… anyway… could you be Matt's emergency contact?"

Sylvie was surprised, of course Matt had not thought about that kind of thing, no one likes to think about "what if". Well, she had, actually she had made Matt her emergency contact after Julie passed.

"Sure"

"Gabby called me a few hours ago, she's worried but can come to see him "

"I'll text her later." Sylvie offered.

"Don't. If she is interested she should call me. She's just his ex-wife… it's like something happens to me and anyone would call my ex-husband to let him know, I don't want that bastard anywhere near."

Sylvie's phone buzzed, she saw a text from Greg asking her how everything was going, the word had gotten to his house about what happened since 51 was off service.

"I got to go."

"I'll text you from Matt's phone any news"

"Thanks, see you tomorrow."

----

Sylvie was about to leave 51 next morning when she saw Greg waiting for her. She felt so confused, she knew Matt's feeling for her but she could not break Greg's heart. He had been so great, he understood there was a past with Matt, he was kind of perfect. His only fault was… that he was not Matt Casey and she was not going to make him feel what she had felt for so long, Greg Grainger did not deserve to be her second choice.

"Hey" he came close to giving her a kiss on her cheek and taking her bag out of her shoulder. "How is everything going? How is Casey doing?"

"He's stable now."

"Good to hear. Ready for breakfast?"

Sylvie took a deep breath, thinking her words, deciding what to do. "Sure…"

Chapter Text

Greg left Sylvie at her place after breakfast. He wanted to stay but decided otherwise since she was literally a zombie and he knew it was from spending almost all day at the hospital. He knew, even when Sylvie didn't, that he was competing against the captain but he wanted a fair fight since Sylvie was worth it.

Sylvie opened her eyes when he got a text from Gabby. "Hey, how are you doing, partner? I was wondering if you have news on Casey. Christine is quite vague on her texts. Please take care of him and let me know. Love. G."

She took a deep breath and looked into her messages. There was one from Christine ``sleeping peacefully since you left, tolerating sound and light better, scan in an hour." She assumed she sent that message to all of them and answered back to Gabby. "Matt's doing better. I'll stop by the hospital later today." 

----

"You know, you shouldn't be carrying this around" Christine said putting their uncle's watch on her purse.

"I've done some thinking looking at it." Matt was now with his eyes open but the lights were still almost out. "Do you really think he just loved her?"

"I do." Christine sighed "but not everyone nos like that… you, for example, you had your first great love with Hallie and I'm sure you loved Gabby too."

"I did" Matt rested his head back on the pillow.

"And now Sylvie…" Christine said fishing for a reaction.

"I do".

"I just hope I can still find some love in my life, because God knows I've tried".

"Do you think uncle Jake was happy just remembering her?"

Christine took a moment to think "do you think you could have been happy just with Hallie's memory?" Matt looked at her.

"At first I was worried I was disrespecting her by moving on but then…"

"Then you kept her memory and moved on because deep down you knew she wasn't the one because you two would never agree on their futures. The same with Gabby, you were going different ways and not even all the love you had for each Pop 1other could have saved your marriage."

"Sometimes I think I didn't try hard enough."

"From my point of view I think she didn't try either. But what about Sylvie?"

"She's in a relationship now… I blew it because she asked me if I would choose Gabby if she came back to Chicago."

"Would you?"

"I would try if she decided to come back…"

"And then you'll realize that the problems between both of you are still there. Both of you tried and were on different pages on subjects and I truly believe that neither should change just for the other one to be happy. Marriage is a compromise of deciding the beat for both of you, not a competition of who gets to change the other one's mind." Christine saw him thinking. "And of course the first love is always a memorable one but I guess choosing who is going to be your last love is the real decision."

---

Sylvie came into the hospital and found Severide already there.

"Did I get the schedule wrong I thought" Severide was a little confused.

"No." Sylvie explained I just came…"

"Go in first." Kelly stopped her understanding she had no need to think about an excuse.

Sylvie was about to enter when she heard Doctor Abraham's voice.

"You were really lucky to not get killed instantly" those words were hard but she knew it was the best way to talk to a patient like Matt. "Your firefighter career on the field is going to be shorter because if you get another of this pain and dizziness episodes you are risking people's lives. So I suggest you start thinking about a desk job in your future if you want to continue working for the CFD."

"But I can get back to work at least for a couple of years"

Doctor Abrahams rolled his eyes. "Not for at least 2 months. And from now on your helmet is mandatory even for the easiest call."

"When can he leave?" Christine asked with worry in her voice.

"We'll keep him here for a couple of days and run some tests to see if the pain goes away without the drugs." Dr. Abrahams left the room without saying anything else. Sylvie felt like she had been punched on the stomach and she knew he felt the same and that now he needed a friend. So she knocked on the door with a smile on her face.

"Can I? Or I could come back later."

"I don't think…" Christine started saying

"You heard it." Matt said looking at her. His eyes were filled with a mix of rage and sadness and covered in tears.

"I did.'' Sylvie confessed, finally entering the room and closing the door.

"I'm done. The only thing I know what to do is…"

"Being an amazing captain and leader… you can get used to the helmet thing." she felt so guilty understanding how much he risked by jumping out of the rig to get to her, he could have died. "You have helped Severide in his OFI cases, you could become a consultant. Or you could be a paramedic with me" Sylvie waited for his reaction into her last statement, Christine chuckled and Matt kind of smiled.

"That's just because you want to boss me around."

"I could take care of you and shout to you if you pull one of your Casey risky stunts. Matt you have so many possibilities, so you are not done." Sylvie smiled. "I know you don't believe it now, and that's okay. For now you just focus on getting out of here. Would you do that for me?"

Matt looked at her. "Thanks Syl."

"Of course. Now I'm leaving since it's Severide's turn." she leaned to kiss his cheek, "I'll come back tomorrow when it's my actual turn." She said more to Christine than to Matt. "Do you need anything?"

"Let me walk you out." She turned to Matt . "Will you survive?"

"Sure. Thanks for stopping by. Sylvie could you keep this a secret?"

Sylvie winked and crossed her heart and followed Christine out who hugged her as soon they were out of Matt's sight.

"Thank you." Christine said breaking down and crying.

Sylvie just hugged her tight. "He's going to need us to be positive. He was there for me when my mom died, I'm always going to be there for him." Sylvie watched Severide over Christine's shoulder. "Kelly is coming and Matt doesn't want him to know. So see you tomorrow, call me if you need anything."

"I will thanks Sylvie"

Kelly had a worried look while coming in, but Sylvie mouthed him a "it's fine" when they crossed paths.

As soon as she closed the door of her car, her tears began falling down her face.

----

He entered the room and saw Matt and assumed he was sleeping so he sat down and listened to a voicemail. "Hey Kelly, it's me Gabby, I'm coming home tomorrow. I need to see Matt."

Chapter Text

Sylvie arrived at Greg's department for dinner. She loved how every time she saw him his eyes light up and a smile formed on his lips. She loved how happy her simple presence changed his face without any hesitation, he would openly show her how happy she made him. And she smiled back but knew deep down he did have the same effect on her and that sucked. She knew in every new relationship there's one who is more involved in it. She used to be that one but now she was on the other side and it kind of sucked. How could other people live knowing that the other person has so many feelings and not feel guilty about not feeling the same?

Sylvie tried her best to have her full attention in what Greg was saying but Matt's situation came back every time. 

"Ambo got the victim to Lakeshore at that was it" Greg was telling her about a call but noticed she was hearing him but not fully listening.

"Did you get news about how he's doing? Sylvie asked him.

"No… we just got him to the hospital. You know in the academy they reach you not to get involved."

"I can't do that." She finished her glass of wine. "Nobody at 51 does that."

"So I've heard." Greg said a little frustrated so he asked. "Any news on the Captain?"

Sylvie was surprised and Little embarrassed that he knew she was thinking about Casey. "He's still in the hospital."

"I assume he got a head trauma… that's the rumor."

"Is that so?"

"Some are saying that's the end of his career… something about a previous injury."

Sylvie was upset but not surprised that Casey's health was a topic across the CFD, Casey was known as a great firefighter. "Don't know about that, " Sylvie said calmly. "What would you do if a doctor tells you your career as a firefighter is over?"

"I don't like to think about that." Greg answered hashly, she knew it was a tough subject for firefighters. "What would you do if you would be able to be a paramedic anymore?"

Sylvie had one answer involving her personal life and that was being a mother. She was sure that if she ever got pregnant she would stop working for a while. "I would like to teach at the academy."

"I could see you doing that." He smiled at her. "You have a reputation around."

"Really? About how many partners I've had?

"More like how many partners have gotten inspired to find true happiness in their jobs. I can see you really love what you do, maybe they realized they didn't love being a paramedic as much and they left you to find the job that could make them happy."

Sylvie blushed, she was so used to thinking that everyone had left her because being a paramedic wasn't good enough for them, but that was another POV. "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Any time." He said, raising his glass to hers. "You are aware I still think there's more than you would like to accept between you and Casey, right?"

"What?" Sylvie felt she was caught. "He's just a friend."

"I'm more than willing to help you get over your feelings for him, but I don't think you are ready to let those feelings go." She drank again from her glass. "And it's okay. You were clear with the situation".

"Are we breaking up?" She said with guilt written all over her face.

Greg gave her his best smile. "Are you okay by calling it the start of a great friendship?"

"I would love too."

"I'm here for you, to talk, drink, booty call." She half chuckled. "Or if there comes a time to try to make this work again."

"You are the best Greg Grainger".

----

Sylvie was just arriving at 51 when Tony told her the chief was looking for her. He rushed to his office and found Stella, Severide and Herrmann already there. She could not wait but think it was bad news about Casey.

"Brett" Biden invited her to sit down. "Kidd is in charge of 81 today." Sylvie bumped shoulders with Stella. "Now, I got Casey's report from the hospital, did anybody know how bad was his pain." 

Sylvie felt all eyes on her. "He was trying to tell me something but, as usual, there was a call and…"

"I'm not blaming you Brett, this…" he showed a folder. "Casey is getting reported since he didn't report he got hit… he endangered victims and firefighters by hiding his latest injury…"

"I know he never meant to." Kelly interrupted.

"We all know why he did it." Herrmann followed.

"Of course we all can understand but I'm so pissed off… he could have died he could be driving on his way home or during a call… it was almost a miracle everything happened with a paramedic next to him." Biden tried to explain himself and his frustration.

"Chief, what's going to happen with him now?" Stella asked knowing what Sylvie was thinking.

"Doctor Abrahams recommended ending his active duty and working desk or at the academy, for his own sake."

"Come on!" Herrmann was about to rant.

"The CFD thinks the same and we need to be thankful they just don't axe him without payment for falling to report."

"Could he train in the academy and if his injuries heal properly… could he come back?" Sylvie asked, now holding Stella's hand.

"We all know we haven't seen the last of Matt Casey, he just needs to let his body recover and that takes patience."

"Good luck with that." Severide said ironically.

At that moment, ambo got calle so everyone was about to walk out of the office when Herrmann asked. "Who's with him now?"

Kelly cleared his throat. "Dawson"

---

Matt was surprised when Gabby knocked on the door to his hospital room. But he was absolutely confused about how he was feeling. He could not even put a name on the way he was feeling. In that moment he came back to "THE" when Sylvie asked him "THE" question. He knew he could say no, but he really didn't know what he would do the next time Gabby Dawson was in front of him. She used to have the power to make him forget everything but now… he was sure that there was no "regardless of Gabby". 

"Hey." She said coming closer to his bed. "How are you doing?"

"You didn't have to come…"

"Of course I had to… you would not end up in the hospital for something less than something that might actually kill you." She took his hand but somehow that made him really uncomfortable… it was like some stranger was holding his hand.

Gabby felt weird, he could see how he was not looking at her as he used to, even that last night they spent together. He was looking at her like it was the first time they met and maybe it was the first time in a very long time Matt Casey looked at her not being in love. She was now just a friend and she was strangely fine with it… she felt the same way, not that she regretted their last night after the ball but the feelings were different now.

"How did you do it? Matt asked out of the blue.

"Do what?" Gabby asked him, really confused.

"How could you leave your dream of becoming a firefighter?"

Gabby smiled, he felt weird, he was so used to his heart beating hard every time he saw her true smile and now even the monitors showed to change in his cardiac rhythm. "There's more ways to help and save people's lives than being a firefighter."

"Are you happy?" He used the most serious tone to ask that. "Is the work you are doing there enough for you to be happy?"

"I am." Gabby answered looking into his eyes. "Are you thinking about ending your career?"

"I might not have a choice." His voice cracked.

"Well, how about trying to help in other ways in a disaster zone sounds like a new career?"

Chapter Text

It's been 3 weeks since Matt had left with Gabby. Sylvie hadn't had a chance to miss him. It was almost like if the city of Chicago was falling apart without Matt Casey. Of course Sylvie had taken some few extra shifts to keep her mind busy ,and thankfully, most of those extra shifts were along Greg. Sylvie had been texting with Matt every other day and he seemed happy. He hadn't mentioned Gabby at all and she wasn't brave enough to ask him.

----

Sylvie had stopped by Med and found Gabby in his room, Matt was laughing at some story Gabby was telling him. Seeing both of them laughing was like a blast from the past and it seemed so… right.

"I can see someone is much better now" Sylvie said with her best smile, Matt's face turned into a serious look, almost as if he was reading his mind.

"Thank God you are here" Gabby jumped to give her a hug. "I need to use the bathroom and I can't trust him not escaping this room."

"Sure, I'll stay".

Sylvie stood up far from the bed, Matt sat up slowly… and noticed how the heart monitors showed his heart beating faster.

"I felt nothing," Matt said, trying to catch her attention.

"What?"

"I felt nothing when I saw her."

"But you were all smiles" she said rolling her eyes.

"Remembering some parts of our past will always be fun." He smiled noticing the jealousy in her eyes. "And knowing that the past turned into a friendship is good".

Finally Sylvie came close, he scooped to the side and asked her to sit in his bed. "And knowing my heart only belongs to you is a great feeling." Matt slowly reached for her hand and brought it to his chest.

"I ended things with Greg…"

"That's good to know" he smiled and Sylvie melted, but then he got serious again. "Gabby proposed something to me."

"What is it?"

"To go with her and try to help people in other ways, now that I might not be a firefighter anymore. What do you think?"

Sylvie let go of his hand and got a hold of her radio. He remembered how she did that when the doctor told her about Julie. 

"I…" Sylvie's voice cracked.

"Doctor Abrahams put me off any kind of work for a month… I was thinking of giving it a try… I would come back… you know I'm a Chicago guy… but…"

"Go." Sylvie could not stop him, she could see how I'm his eyes, that opportunity gave him hope and maybe he needed to be close to Gabby to really know and understand his feelings. But she could not stop the tears, she was right all along, she came back, asked him to go with her and now he was going with her.

"I told her how I feel about you, I told her what happens…" Sylvie was shocked that Gabby seemed okay. "She said she saw her coming when every time you talked or texted I became Matt instead of Casey. But I told her that our marriage and the story made you stop anything from happening and how you think that I'm still in love with her."

Sylvie was about to say something when ambo got called. "Sorry".

---

The next time she saw Matt, she went to see him along with the Herrmanns after he was discharged from the hospital. Luckily, she was almost all evening listening to Annabelle, while feeling Matt's eyes on her at all times even when the Herrmann boys were demanding the 4th rematch on the basketball game.the Herrmanns left and Sylvie stayed now competing against Stella.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Kelly asked a smiling Matt, watching Sylvie doing her victory dance while Stella asked for a rematch. "We could have more nights like this."

"I am… and I'm not. The firefighter needs to see if it's true what Gabby says… and for sure I want to stay with her but what if I make her miserable by being just a burden."

"Come on man, you have more ways than one to work on the CFD."

"It is not the same and you know that."

"Yeah." Kelly had to admit while finishing his beer.

"It's really time for me to go home" Sylvie stated after winning again.

"Can we talk?" Matt said out loud and both Kelly and Stella almost disappeared.

"Sure." Matt chucked since that "sure" didn't sound secure at all.

"I don't like it when you avoid me and you know it."

Sylvie blushed. "I wasn't…" Matt just raised his eyebrows. "Okay I was."

"Why?" He took her hand and Sylvie noticed how often he did that now. "Last time you were trying not to kiss me."

Sylvie took a deep breath and condensed "I don't want to ask you to not go." Matt was really surprised she admitted that. "But I do want you to go, maybe it's good for you… and with Dawson."

"Sylvie, let me be clear. I'm not going TO BE with Gabby… I'm just…" he didn't know how to explain it. "Why don't you come with me?"

"I can't be with you and Gabby…"

"Then you gotta trust me… you got to believe what I'm saying and I know it's hard…"

"I do trust you but… I'm just afraid… you might change your mind being around her…"

"Would you change your mind if… what would it happen if Antonio came back?"

"It's not the same thing, I'm positive Antonio and I will never work."

"That's the same with me and Gabby. I know that's never going to work." Matt knew that no amount of words would make Sylvie believe in his words, she was an actions speak louder than words kind of woman. He got up slowly and walked to his room, he came back with a small box and handed it to her.

"What's this?"

"It's a memory from my uncle. It's a watch and I want you to keep it for me until I come back."

"I can't take this."

"You are only keeping it for me, I can't travel and I know it's going to be in the safest place with you. And when I return home I'll tell you it's history."

"Fine." She said, putting the box in her purse. "Have a nice trip." She came close to him and looked into his eyes for a second then she hesitated before kissing his lips so she kissed his cheek.

---

Sylvie was so tired, the last extra shift had been hectic thanks to the icy roads but she had promised Stella to help decorate the department for Casey's welcome home party. She was kind of scared and was being pessimistic, trying to force herself to not have high expectations. She knocked the door twice before Stella opened.

"So glad you are here… please start, I need to pick up the beers and your wine from Molly's. 10 minutes tops."

Sylvie wasn't able to say anything when Stella was gone. Took the decorations bag and sat down on the couch and started looking around imagining where to put each thing, it was a little hard since that loft had the weirdest distribution ever.. Suddenly she saw a pile of bags outside of Matt's room. Of course, he was leaving, those were leaving bags, not staying bags. Her heart broke, feeling betrayed because Matt didn't tell her anything, but of course, if that made him happy. She took the watch box out of her bag and entered the room to put the box in the bed.

"Hey…" she turned to see a very tanned and bearded Matt Casey who was closing his closet door. He couldn't help but smile looking at her confused face. "The beard is coming off later."

"It looks nice on you. It's just weird seeing you so… relaxed." She was fighting the urge to run her hand through the long hair covering his neck. "I was going to leave this here. And do you need some help packing?"

"Not yet." He said putting the box down on the desk. "and I'm already done with packing."

"So… I guess it was a good trip?"

"It was an eye opener, seeing how much help they need… and even when things are awful they listen to music and let themselves forget everything for a few minutes. One woman I met told me that she was holding up to those moments until things get better" he heard her chuckle. "Happiness is really important… the most important thing."

"I know. And I'm glad you found happiness there."

"What?" Matt said in the highest tone she has ever heard from him. "It was good but something was missing. Someone."

"You and Gabby were apart?"

"We were at the same place but doing different things… she's really happy there and she has moved on from her life here, that includes our history and I understand that I need that too… I need to move on."

"I get it."

"I don't think you do." Finally Matt reached for her hand. "I'm not leaving again… I'm moving out of here." Her mouth dropped a little. "I'm moving to Herrmann's until I find somewhere else, I was hoping you could help me with that… and then help me to be happy with you"

"There are some empty departments on my building." She said smiling. "Not all of them have the lemon wallpaper."

"That would be nice." Matt pulled her hand to his lips. "About us…"

"Us…" she whispered.

"I heard you have spent some time with Grainger lately."

"Extra shifts are not exactly spending time with someone."

Matt bent down to kiss her. It was sweet and she finally combed her fingers through his hair. While Matt picked her up to close the door without stopping kissing her.  But she had to cut the kiss as soon as he laid her in his bed.

"What?"

"It tickles." She said caressing his beard. "I like it."

Matt smiled and reached to cup her cheek. "Sylvie Brett. Can we, finally, be together from now on?"

Sylvie felt touched that Matt was asking for her permission. "Only if you promise never leave again."

"You got yourself a deal." He kissed her and hands began to go under clothes. "Wait." Matt stopped, both breathing heavily. "I want to take you out on a date first and buy you flowers… " she continues kissing his neck. "Drive you to visit your sister and I want you to bake cookies for me and I want to take care of drunk Sylvie…" he stood up, using all his will power and took the watch. "Story time…" he opened the box and took the watch. "This was my uncle's and it has engraved his first live initials." Matt handed the watch to Sylvie for her to look. "She died 50 years before he did and never let go of her memory."

"That's so sweet."

"He was miserable, trying to solve everyone's problems, she was obsessed with my mom's case, he got mad every time he learned about someone in the family getting a divorce, like they didn't try hard enough when he had lost his." He turned to see her eyes. "I was going down the same road when Hallie died but then Gabby didn't let me… and when things started to go down I thought it was because I wasn't trying hard enough…but you can't force things, love should be easy, has to be organic and grow slowly." Sylvie smiled understanding him. "And Christine said it… yeah, your first love is always important, the same as the second but the most important one is the one you chose to be the last.

"I've had more than one love too." Sylvie rested her head on his shoulder. "I think she's right…"

Matt kissed her again "I need to ask you something"

That statement sounded way too familiar for both of them. "What?"

"How do you feel about having kids?"

Sylvie started to laugh. "Maybe one day…" and she knew what he was thinking. "Biological or adopted."

"Hallie didn't want any and you know the story…"

"Yeah I know. Well take decisions together… We are a team now. Me, you and Veroni-cat".

 "She needs a new name…"

"No, she doesn't." Sylvie clarified and then she kissed him again.

----

"So what are you doing now?" Everyone's eyes were on Gallo who completed his question. "Captain?"

"I'm taking the job at the Academy and as a consultant at OFI. If things continue to get better with my injury, then I hope the new Truck lieutenant accepts me back one day".

"We'll see," Stella said with irony. "I'm really good and we might not need you."

"You'll always have a spot at 51." Chief Boden said. "You need to take your time…"

"Trust me… I'm fully aware that good things take time". He said it looking straight to Sylvie.

"He really has brain damage. The real Matt Casey is not that patient."

"That's one of the things that's going to change from now on."

Mouch looked first to Sylvie and next to Matt, they were smiling to each other like fools. "To change." He raised his beer.