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Chapter Text

Epilogue

Cruz breathes shakily inside his car, which was parked just a few blocks away from the fresh crime scene.....

His heavy breathing in the winter chills of the night was fogging the raised glass windows, thus reducing the visibility for the outsiders....

He was distraught.....Everything happened so fast that he could not process it yet.....

But one thing he knew, inadvertently, he has become a part of the crime scene and landed himself into much more trouble......

Suddenly the screen of his phone glowed and a group photo of Chloe with his two precious sons displayed on the screen. The photo was clicked on the day when the court declared them legal as the legal parent to Javi.....Chloe was calling.....

He knew that Chloe would notice immediately that he was not good just from his single syllable......

He peeked at his wounded arm, the bleeding has not yet stopped.......yes, he had not escaped unscratched from the cross-fire.....A bullet from either of the gun has lodged into his dominant arm.....

Hence he let go of the call.......and kept applying pressure.....hoping that the bleeding might stop at one point. 

~~~***~~~

At Cruz's Residence:

Chloe's mind wandered back to the day she first held little Otis in her arms. She had thought she had over a decade to prepare for the challenges of raising a teenage son, but fate had other plans. Javi, who had joined the Cruz family at 10 years old, was now in his mid-teens. Despite being a well-adjusted kid who adored Joe, Chloe, and his baby brother Otis, Javi was going through typical teenage phases. He was eager for his dad to attend his inter-school basketball tournament, but Cruz's hectic schedule had prevented them from discussing it.

As the clock ticked past Cruz's usual shift end time, Javi asked Chloe to call him. Chloe, ever the peacemaker, understood Javi's disappointment and shared his concern. A nagging feeling told her something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She dialed Cruz's number, but it went straight to voicemail. She hung up, her brow furrowed with worry, and checked the time: 11:30 pm. Cruz should have been home by now.

Suddenly, she remembered the party at Molly's to celebrate Hermann's and Mouch's exam success. She had planned to join, but little Otis's crankiness had forced her to cancel at the last minute.

“Honey!! He must not have been able to listen to the call due to the heavy music at the pub. Why don’t you go and catch some Zs. You may be talk to him tomorrow. I will already give him a headstart. How does that sound?” She said while caressing Javi’s cheeks. She really felt bad for the boy.

Javi disheartened nodded his head in agreement and giving his mom and quick good night hug, went to bed.

But Chloe was still feeling restless. After thinking for a few moments, she searched her contact list for Mouch and hit the call button.

At Molly's

Mouch along with Ritter, Hermann, and Cindy was having drinks. His phone rang, shrill in the lively atmosphere of Molly's. He grinned, answering, "Hey, Chloe! How are you? We all, especially Cindy, are really missing you. Let me put you on speaker!”

Chloe smiled and replied, “Hey! Many congratulations to both Mouch and Hermann. You guys really deserved this. And I am really sorry for not being able to be a part of the celebration.

“No worries!! You are family and you can always come and have fun at Mollys.” Hermann grinned.

 “Well, I was trying to Cruz over phone, but his calls are going to his voice mail. Can you please tell him to call me once.” Chloe laughed. “Can anyone of tell Cruz to call me. I have been trying to reach him, maybe he cannot hear the ringing.” Chloe asked.

Mouch's grin faltered as he scanned the room, his eyes locking onto the familiar faces of Ritter, Hermann, and Cindy. For the first time, he noticed Cruz's absence. "Uh, actually, Chloe, I don't see him around. Maybe he went to use the restroom. Don't worry, I'll tell him to call you," Mouch said, reassuring Chloe before disconnecting the call.

"Have you guys seen Cruz?" Mouch asked, his voice low and laced with concern.

Ritter shook his head. "No, I thought he was with you. In fact, I haven't seen him since the shift ended."

One by one they all started calling on Joe’s cell phone, but none of them were able to reach him, The call just went to voice mail.

Cindy's expression turned worried, her brow furrowing deeply. "What do you mean you haven't seen him? He was right here at Molly's, wasn't he?" She turned to Hermann, her voice rising. "How could you not notice he wasn't here from the beginning?"

Hermann held up his hands defensively. "Hey, I thought he might have stepped out for some fresh air or something."

Cindy's eyes flashed with annoyance. "You're kidding me, right? Hermann, we're talking about Cruz. How long have you known him, yet you didn't even notice his absence? He's family."

Mouch's face edged with concern. "How could I forget him? He was the one who motivated me to go for this exam. I had almost given up the idea of becoming lieutenant, but he was the one who gave me the confidence." Mouch regretted; his voice tinged with self-reproach.

"Let's ask Severide," Ritter suggested. "Maybe Cruz had told him something."

The group exchanged worried glances, their minds racing with possibilities. Where was Cruz, and what had happened to him? Mouch and Ritter approached Severide, who was still sitting with Chief Pascal, sipping their drinks.

"Hey, Severide, have you seen Cruz?" Mouch asked, his brow furrowed with concern.

Severide's expression turned thoughtful. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him since we got here. I assumed he was with you guys."

Chief Pascal's eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"

Mouch filled him in on the conversation with Chloe and their inability to locate Cruz.

Severide's expression turned serious. "Let's try calling him again. If he doesn't answer, we'll start looking for him."

Chief Pascal's expression turned thoughtful. "Before you start looking, let me add my inputs. Actually, I think I saw Cruz leaving the firehouse after our shift. He seemed to be in a hurry, didn't even notice me standing there."

Severide's eyes narrowed. "Did he say anything to you?"

Pascal shook his head. "No, like I said, he didn't even notice me. Just sped out in his car."

Mouch's concern deepened. "This isn't like Cruz."

Ritter frowned. "And Chloe said he wasn't answering her calls... Something's off."

Suddenly Severide’s glance fell on Capp and Tony. “Hey Capp and Tony!! Can you both come here for a sec?” Severide called.

Capp and Tony made their way to Severide, noticing the tensed expressions on their faces. "Hey, what's going on?" Capp asked, his brow furrowed with concern.

Severide answered seriously, "We can't find Cruz. He's been MIA since the shift ended."

Tony's eyes widened. "What do you mean you can't find him? He was just here at Molly's, wasn't he?"

Ritter shook his head. "We thought he was with someone, but it turns out no one's seen him since we left the firehouse."

“Did he told you anything as to where he was going after the shift?” Severide questioned to which both Capp and Tony nodded their head negative.

Severide's eyes narrowed, his mind racing with possibilities. "Think back, guys. Did he mention anything unusual during the shift? Any calls that seemed off or anything that might have spooked him?"

Capp and Tony looked at each other with concern on their faces and then Tony started speaking, "Looking at the current circumstances, I think you should know.  Since few days, Cruz was really disturbed because of some prank pulled by someone. He even asked us if we were behind it.”

Mouch's expression turned serious. "What kind of prank?" he asked, his voice low and even.

Capp answered, “Someone had placed bullet shaped pendants hanging off chain twice, once in his locker and second time on his car window.”

“And he seemed quite distracted lately. Sometimes he didn’t even the return the friendly greetings.

Severide nodded his head in assertion and said, “Yeah, even I noticed him distracted all in the last shift. When I asked him, he was worried about something going in his home.” Then turning towards Mouch, he shot his next question, “Hey Mouch!! Trudy has been friendly with Chloe, right? Did Chloe mention anything as such.”

“Nope…Nothing that I know of.” Mouch said while nodding his head negative. “Well, I can certainly ask Trudy to help us off the books.” Saying this Mouch went on to call Trudy, while Severide’s mind went back to all conversations he had with Cruz in last few days, including the one when he had informed Cruz about OFI getting call about the 12 year old Humboldt Park fire and thought if it was related to Cruz’s disappearance.

Where the hell was Cruz? Was he okay?  This was the question that was running across everyone’s mind.

******

Meanwhile, on the deserted road, Cruz grimaced with intense pain inside his car, his arm wound throbbing relentlessly. The bullet seemed to have nicked his artery, and the bleeding showed no signs of slowing - a dire sign that Cruz knew all too well. Although he was applying pressure, but he had lost a lot of blood. His phone had rung a few times. They were calls from Mouch, Hermann, Chloe, Ritter, Severide and his friends of fire house. He picked none of their calls, for he didn’t know what to answer. But one thing he knew was that he needed help.

The only person that he could think of who might be able to help him turned out to be Voight. In the past Voight had doubted that Cruz had his part on death of Flaco and used that to convince Cruz to let his brother as snitch in the gang. Cruz knew that Voight was crooked but he also knew that Voight trusted him.

Cruz hesitated for a moment, weighing his options. He knew that reaching out to Voight was a risk, but he was desperate. He slowly dialed Voight's number, wincing in pain as he waited for the detective to answer.

Voight's gruff voice came on the line, “Sergeant Hank Voight! Who is this?”

Cruz took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice steady. "I am Joe Cruz from Firehouse 51, I need your help, Voight. Can you meet me now. There is something I need to tell you and …..” Cruz paused for a moment and then said “I’ve been shot."

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Voight responded, "Where are you?"

Joe managed to convey that he was a few blocks away from the Moreno’s custom paint shop in West Side and the detailed address of his location. But by the end of the conversation, his voice had started slurring, and his vision began to blur. He shook his head repeatedly, fighting to stay conscious.

Realizing Cruz’s condition deteriorating due to blood loss, Voight barked into the phone, “Alright, Cruz, hang in there. I'm on my way. Don't move, don't talk to anyone. You got that?”

In the past, he and Cruz had many disagreements, but he trusted Cruz, and there was no bad blood between them. CPD had long way back with Fire House 51 and there was no way for him to let Cruz perish like that.

He quickly dialed a number, his voice low and urgent as he spoke to the person on the other end. "It's Voight. I need a medic and a secure location, ASAP. We've got a situation with one of our... associates." He hung up, grabbed his coat, and rushed out of his office.

Trudy was still working at the front desk when Voight descended the stairs. Before leaving, he asked her for a favor, his voice low and serious. "Hey Trudy, need a favor. If Chloe, Mouch, or anyone from Firehouse 51 calls asking for Joe Cruz, don't do anything until I say so."

Trudy's brows furrowed, and she looked alarmed. "Wait, is everything okay? Is there something I should know?"

Voight's expression remained deadpan, his face a mask of calmness. "No, nothing as of now." His tone was neutral, but Trudy's concern only deepened, sensing that something was off.

Joe's condition had worsened dramatically after ending the call with Voight. His vision tunneled, darkness closing in around the edges like a suffocating shroud. An unusual numbness, accompanied by creeping chills, spread through his body. His strength seeped away, like sand slipping through his fingers. As his mind fogged, thoughts grew disjointed and distant. Suddenly, a figure materialized on the passenger seat - Otis. Otis's face, free from scars, contorted with worry, his eyes locked onto Joe's. "Don't worry, Joe... everything will be alright," Otis whispered, his voice a gentle breeze in the darkness. "I'm right here with you, and I'll always be, my brother." Joe's gaze remained fixed on Otis's face until the darkness enveloped him completely.

Chapter Text

Voight sped up his car to reach Cruz’s location. He knew that Cruz got shot but he had no idea about the fatality of the wound. But judging by Cruz’s slurred speech, Voight knew that he had to act really fast.

Voight's tires screeched as he took the corner, where Adam along with his medic friend, Dr. Lucas Ross, was already waiting for him. Voight stopped his car near Ruzek’s and casted a meaningful glance at the person seating beside Ruzek. Adam, understanding his boss’s intent said, “Boss! He is a friend from Canary Ville. Voight nodded his head and gestured him to follow his car. Voight would have taken Dr Will Halstead’s help, but the red-headed doctor had moved to Seattle, a few years back.  And within a minute, they had reached the exact location, where Joe’s car was parked.

Voight descended down his vehicle and rushed towards Cruz’s car. Adam too followed. Voight's heart sank, seeing the slumped fire fighter inside, while Adam was absolutely clueless. Without wasting another moment, Adam took out the pen knife from his pocket and unlocked the car door.

Voight’s face twisted in concern as he saw Cruz’s condition. “Hey Cruz!!Can you hear me??”, Voight barked, while patting his cheeks. He could feel his cheeks were clammy, perhaps due to pain and exertion. Cruz did flinch, but never regained consciousness. Voight moved aside, making room for the Dr. Ross to attend.

Adam approached Voight, his brow furrowed with concern. "Boss, what's going on? Why is Cruz in this state, out here in the middle of nowhere?" Voight's expression remained stoic, his silence speaking volumes. Adam pressed on, "Boss, you need to give me something. What's happening?"

Voight said in his gruffly voice, “For now all I can say is, he is a friend and he needs us.”

“Copy that!!” Adam said, accepting his defeat. Dr. Ross, came towards them and started updating about Cruz’s condition, “He is not in a great shape. A bullet has lodged into the upper arm and looking at the amount of bleeding, it can be assumed that it has nicked an artery. We need to perform a minor surgery to repair the damage.”

Adam's voice was laced with concern. "But, boss, we can't take him to a hospital."

Voight's gaze turned to Dr. Ross. "Do you have everything you need to perform the surgery?" Dr. Ross nodded, his expression confident.

“Then let’s take him to my place.” Voight suggested. Without wasting another moment, Adam with Lucas’s help, carefully shifted Cruz to the back seat of Voight’s car. Dr. Lucas sat in Voight’s car, resting Cruz’s head on his legs and kept applying pressure on the wound, which had again started bleeding due to the movement.

In the mean-time, Voight took out his phone and called Trudy. The call got picked up immediately, and before he could say anything, the voice from the other end shot questions, “Voight! You need to tell me exactly what’s going with this Cruz. While leaving the precinct, you asked for that unusual favor and now, I got a call from Randall (Mouch) that Cruz has been MIA since his shift end.”

Voight chewed the inside of his cheek and replied in his gruffly low voice, “Listen Trudy! Cruz is with me and he is safe.”

“SAFE!! What do you mean? Listen I have known Cruz and his family a long time, not just as someone who works with my husband, but as family. If there is anything wrong with him, please tell me.” Trudy urged. But Voight chose to remain quiet. He was not ready to spill the beans until he gets to know the entire scenario. “Trudy!! Call Randall and tell him, I have asked Cruz for some help with an undercover mission and asked to keep it secret from everyone. So as of now he is with me.” Saying so, Voight hung up the phone.

Turning towards Adam, he directed, “Cruz couldn’t have driven far in his given condition.” Then fidgeting, a small piece of paper from the pocket, Voight continued, “Cruz had mentioned about a paint shop in the call. Call Burgess and Atwater, and have a look at this place and around.”

Adam nodded his head and had just brought out to call, when Voight warned while settling in the driver seat of his car, “If you find anything, call me before booking it as evidence.”

“Copy that, Boss!!” Adam replied.

Voight pressed the gas pedal of his car and within 15 minutes, they had reached his residence. Cruz was immediately taken to one of the guest rooms, where Dr. Ross started off with the procedure to extract the bullet and repair the damage, while Voight waited at the Hall.

At the deserted place, where Cruz’s car was found

Atwater and Burgess had reached Adam’s location. As soon as they came, Adam them everything, he had witnessed so far.

“Cruz is a good man. What business could he have at such a shady place?” Kevin expressed his doubt.

“We all know Cruz had a beef with Voight in the past. Then why did he call Voight instead of his team mates?” Burgess voiced out the question which had been running across Adam as well as Kevin’s mind.

“Honestly speaking, I am as clueless as you are.” Adam admitted. Looking at the address, given by Voight, pointing towards the east, he informed, “The paint shop must on that alley. Let’s scan the area around for clues.”

All three of them took out their guns from their holster, after removing the safety lock, and light up their torches. While moving towards the paint shop, they kept scanning the area around, looking for some clues. At few places, they found a few drops of blood. Adam collected those blood samples, to be tested later.

Soon they reached the paint shop. Kevin was about to knock at the door, when he saw the door was slightly open. He exchanged looks with Adam and Burgess. Carefully they entered inside the paint shop while scanning and clearing one room after other, until they reached the garage, where Junior’s and the Moreno’s Associate’s bodies were lying. Adam and Burgess crouched down only to find them dead long, while Atwater checked other rooms and found them to be completely vacant. Multiple bullet casings were lying all over the place and bullet marks were evident on the bodies of the cars parked and on the walls.

“A massive crossfire seems to have taken place here. How come no one has called the 911?” Adam stated while expressing his confusion.

“It’s a shady locality. Most of the inhabitants around the area are trying to avoid the cops.” Atwater shared his insight. “But how did a fireman like Cruz got caught into this?” He questioned

“Seems like only Cruz can give answers to all these questions.” Burgess concluded.

They started taking photographs of the crime scene and started collecting the bullet casings and the other evidences at the garage. Suddenly something caught Burgess attention. Behind a car there was a small splatter of blood.

“Adam! Kevin! May be that’s where Cruz got shot.” She said while to her team mates while collecting the blood sample from the splatter.

It took them approx. 2 hrs. to comb the entire shop for evidence. Once they were done with collecting the evidence, Adam picked out the phone from his pocket to inform Voight about their finding and enquire about his further directions.

At Voight’s residence

Approximately an hour passed since Dr. Ross started treating off Cruz’s wounds. Voight was anxiously pacing in the hall. Even though he had no idea as to how Cruz ended up in that situation, but he had more than 50 questions running across his mind and he wanted answer to all of them.

Suddenly, Dr. Ross emerged from the guest room with a look of relief on his face. "Cruz is stable, Sergeant," he reported.

Though Voight eyes seemed to heave a sigh of relief but his facial muscles still remained tense. "How long until he regains consciousness?" he asked, his voice low and urgent. Dr. Ross hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "It's difficult to predict exactly, Sergeant. Cruz has lost a significant amount of blood, and the anesthesia will take some time to wear off. I'd estimate at least 2-4 hours, or may be even longer, before he regains consciousness."

“Thank you, Dr. Lucas Ross. You have been a great help today. And please, don’t say even a word about this to anyone.” Voight expressed his gratitude while shaking his hands with Dr Ross.

“Don’t worry Sergeant. Adam had already warned me before hand.” Dr Ross agreed and left after handing the prescription and medicines to Voight.

Voight went inside the guest room, only to see the closed eyes of fallen fire fighter. He wondered, why Cruz wanted to meet him. He knew that Cruz certainly must have run into some shady business, for he chose to take his help instead of his team mates. While thinking about all these things, he sat on one of the chairs placed beside the bed.

Since it was already past mid-night, unconsciously Voight’s eyes might have closed for a moment, when his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. It was Adam’s call. Taking one last glance at Cruz, he went out of the room to attend the call.

“Yes Adam, what did you find at the paint shop.” Voight said while answering the call.

“Boss! Two DOAs with multiple GSWs are lying at the paint shop.  It seems some kind of cross firing between the rival gangs happened. The bullet casings and blood droplets have been found. Perhaps, Cruz was here too when the guns went on and ended up getting shot on his arm. However, the reason for Cruz coming here cannot be ascertained from the crime scene.” Adam reported.

Voight's expression turned resolute. "Only Cruz can provide the answers we need, and for that, we'll have to wait until he wakes up.” He paused for a moment and then issued further directions, “Listen, send the bodies to the morgue for further analysis and on the collected blood samples and other evidences collected from the scene, run private tests, and keep this under wraps for now. I don't want Cruz's involvement to leak out until we have a clear understanding of what happened.”

“Okay Boss!!” Adam replied. “And tell Atwater to bring Cruz’s car and park at my garage.” Voight directed further and hung up the phone.

Apart from investigation skills, one thing that Voight had expertise is that he had lots of connections and he knew as to when to seek assistance from whom. He searched for a contact details on his cell phone and hit the dial button. After 2 or 3 rings the phone got picked up, and Voight said over phone, "Hank Voight! I need a small favor from you in return I will...."

At Fire House 51

The celebration at Molly's immediately came to halt as soon as news about Cruz’s going MIA spread as no one was in celebration mood thinking that one family member might be at distress. Though Chief Pascal tried convincing everyone to get back to their respective houses, while awaiting any update Cruz, but none of them agreed. Hence, in the middle winter night at Chicago, the entire team of Fire House 51 awaited at the fire house.

Meanwhile, Mouch called Chloe hoping that he would be able pacify her with some lies, but the moment Chloe started shooting questions at him regarding Cruz’s whereabouts, his speech faltered and he was forced to confess to her that no one knew anything about Cruz.

Everyone prayed for Cruz to be safe, but the lieutenant of Squad 3, Severide, had various things running across his mind. Several years ago, Cruz transferred from truck to squad following a vacancy caused when Scott Rice was booted out of the Squad 3. Since then, Severide had been really close to Cruz. That’s why Cruz’s behavior in last few days, especially after the day when he informed that someone has raised red flag about the Humboldt Park fire, caught his attention. Though Severide had not yet said anything to Pascal, but one thing he was 100% sure was that something really disturbing had happened with Cruz 12 years ago and the memories of the same had flared up again, and that has been the main reason for Cruz’s unusual behavior. But what was that incident?

Severide thought for a while and went to the record room, and started searching for the file containing the details of the Humboldt Park fire. After searching for a while, he got the file but it didn’t give him any info except the fact the fact that notorious gangster Flaco died in that fire. But Severide knew that at times, somethings do not make their way to the written records, because no one wants people to remember about them. If there was any person who could provide answers to Severide’s question was his old friend Captain Matt Casey. He took out his cell phone from his pocket, and dialed at his old friend’s number.

That's where the chapter ends:

Would Matt Casey reveal Cruz's secret to Severide? How Severide may react to it?

How would Cruz react infront of Voight on regaining consciousness?

How would Chloe's reaction when she gets to know the truth?

So many questions, but no answer...stay tuned with the story to get answers to all of your questions.

Thank You.

Chapter Text

Portland’s time runs two hours behind Chicago. Captain Matt Casey was on his way to his home, when his phone ringer went on. He was slightly surprised looking at the caller ID.

“Hey Severide! You must be having really good reason to call me.” Casey said while answering the phone.

“Why? Can’t I call you without any reason? After all you and me go back a long time.” Severide answered.

“Actually, it’s just that you never call, unless it’s related to work.” Casey justified.

True, since Casey got married to Brett, and moved to Oregon, Severide had called him only a couple of times and those calls were related to work only. Realizing his mistake, Severide could only scratch the back of his head and give his usual smile. Obviously, none of these instincts were visible to Casey.

“Tell me, how may I assist you?” Casey asked in his cheerful voice.

“Do you remember anything about the fire at a building near Humboldt Park around 12 years ago?” Severide questioned.

“Humboldt Park?” Casey expressed his confusion, while trying to remember about it.

“The building was an abode to gangsters and the leader of the gang, Flaco was DOA. Cruz’s brother Leon, happened to be part of the same gang then.” Severide provided some more info to help Casey to remember about it.

However, Casey’s car came to a screeching halt, for whatever information Severide had given him was enough to remind him of Cruz’s dreadful past. Although, he never let Cruz confess about it, but he knew as to what Cruz was about to say. He had never mentioned about that incident to anyone, not even to Brett. Clearing his throat and masking the shiver in his voice, he questioned back, “That was a long time ago, why do you ask about it now?”

“Actually a few days ago, OFI got an unknown call about the Humboldt Park fire. I informed Cruz, thought he should know, since his brother was a part of the gang. Since then, Cruz seemed quite disturbed and now he is MIA.” Severide informed.

“MIA? My God!! Since when? Cassey voiced laced with concern for his old team mate.

“He had a day shift today. He left the firehouse after his shift ended and since then no one had seen him.” Severide updated.

“Did you guys inform the Chicago Police. I think Mouch can pull a favour from Trudy.” Casey suggested to which Severide replied, “Yeah Mouch has informed Trudy. We are awaiting an update, as of now.”

Severide felt slightly reluctant to put the next question, but he had to ask Casey, no matter what, “In the Humboldt Park incident, do you remember anything happening, which might have not made to the records?”

Casey had never been a good liar and but a lie is much better than a truth, if that lie saves someone’s life, and in this case, it will be saving the entire fire house 51 and the Cruz family. After all, what’s the point of messing the cold ash. Casey turned on his car ignition and said in a confident tone, “Right after that incident, Cruz was relieved for he was able to take out his brother from the gang. May be when you mentioned about that accident once again, it brought back those old memories, and that might have disturbed him.”

“That’s possible.” Severide tried to agree, though he was not fully convinced. He knew Casey wouldn’t say a word no matter what. “Okay, I will update you as soon as I get any update.” Saying so Severide hung up the phone.

Right then, there was a knock at the door and Mouch entered. “Any update??” Severide questioned to which Mouch answered, “Trudy called me just now to inform that Cruz had been with Voight all along. Voight had sought his assistance for some kind of undercover mission and had asked him stay tight lipped about it.”

Severide was taken aback, for he knew Cruz was not much of a fan of Voight. So, he looked Mouch with puzzled gaze. “But he is safe. I assure you that I confirmed this fact from Trudy.” Mouch said raising his hands. Severide just nodded his head and went out of the room.

Once Severide was out, Mouch’s face went pale, for what he heard from outside the room made his blood go freeze. 12 years ago, he was the one who raised red flag about Cruz’s recklessness and unusual behaviour, almost lost his life once on account of those recklessness and convinced Casey to dismiss Cruz. Also, after listening to the Cruz’s part of the story, helped him to come out that guilt zone and stopped Casey from ruining Cruz’s career.

He knew people like Flaco and his team mates know nothing other than harming others. He knew for sure that Cruz had landed himself into huge trouble and only hoped that he may return safely to them.

At Voight’s residence, inside the Guest Room, where Cruz was laid

Cruz felt someone in his close proximity. He could feel someone’s touch on his upper arm and that touch felt really familiar. Yes, he recognised that touch. But how could he feel that person’s touch? Cruz tried to open his eyes to check if he was imaging, but it seemed as if his eye lids were glued. While he kept on trying to open his eyes, he heard that familiar voice, “Hey Buddy!! Take it easy. I am right here.”

Cruz tried harder and this time he succeeded. He just could not believe as to what he was seeing. Otis was sitting at his bedside. Except for a slight hint of worry, he looked fine. “O..T…I….S! You..you a….re really here!” Cruz stuttered.

“You are an idiot! A big, beautiful idiot!” Otis chided at Cruz. Cruz smiled remembering the first time when Otis said those words. When Cruz came down the ladder after dangling in the riskiest position in order to save Freddy, Otis said those words.

“I am scolding you and you are smiling. Tell me what exactly were you thinking when you went to meet Junior? Did you presumed he would be waiting to welcome you with flower garlands?” Otis scolded once again. Cruz tried to get up and, in the process, unknowingly put pressure on that injured arm. Immediately a low scream left his lips, “Aaaah!!”

Otis immediately held Cruz and made him lie down once again. “What would have happened to Chloe, Javi and little Otis, if anything happened to you?” Otis said in a concerned tone once again.

Cruz looked at his friend’s face and asked in a timid tone, “How long have you known?”

“What?” Otis questioned confusingly.

“About Flaco….” Cruz replied. Otis remained silent for few moments and then replied, “A few days after my death.”

“Were you angry?” Cruz shot his next question. Otis looked away and licking his lower lips replied, “Not angry, but yes I was hurt realizing that you don’t trust me enough to share such a dark secret.”

“But I haven’t told to anyone, not even to Chloe.” Cruz tried to reason.

“But I was not anyone, I was your brother. Besides, Mouch knows everything. Even cutting your wrist seemed much easier option than sharing about it with me, thanks to Leon that he stepped at the right moment, otherwise, you won’t have been living this beautiful life.” Otis immediately countered; his voice had slight hint of anger.

Cruz smiled, for now he knew the exact reason for Otis’ anger, “Okay so you are angry because I preferred Mouch over you. Listen brother, that time I needed someone to confide in and Mouch came up to me on his own and offered to help me.”

“But now tell everything to Voight. Ony he can help you to come out of this mess. If a word of this incident comes out, your career is going to finish Cruz and then entire fire house as well as Chloe and kids would have to suffer. So, tell him everything from the beginning.” Otis said in an understanding tone. Cruzz nodded his head in affirmation.

“Brother, I need to go now, and don’t forget, I am always there with you.” Otis said while taking leave and slowly his faded away. Cruz felt his eyes getting heavy once again and he drifted off to sleep.

At the Hall in Voight’s residence

Atwater had come earlier to park Cruz’s car. Adam and Burgess too came by now. They were all discussing about the findings and evidences they had discovered so far.

“Boss, this is Junior Polanco, a gangster, serving an imprisonment sentence of 20 years for attempting murder. But recently he got an early release.” Adam said while pointing to Junior’s photograph.

“And this person had no criminal background so far, so no identity can be obtained about him.” Adam continued while pointing to the photograph of the other victim.

"And the paint shop, it belongs to whom?"  Voight asked to which Adam replied, "It belongs to Moreno, a small drug peddler."

“Anyone of them related to Cruz in any manner?” Voight questioned.

“Yes, this Junior is a cousin to the notorious gangster Flaco, who died in a house fire around 12 years ago. We have checked, Fire House 51 were the first responder at the scene, so Cruz was certainly a part of the rescue.” Burgess informed

“And Flaco happened to be the leader of the gang of which Cruz’s brother Leon was a member as well. Eventually Cruz to get his brother out of the gang right after Flaco’s death.” Adam added.

Voight was suddenly reminded about a very old incident. In the past, he had some suspicions regarding Cruz’s involvement in Flaco’s death, and he used that as a leverage to convince Cruz to let Leon act as a snitch in order to catch a gang red-handed. But after the case was over, he never thought about it until now.

“Junior must have something up in his sleeves which had forced Cruz to be there at the garage.” Atwater suggested and everyone could help agreeing to it.

“And what about those blood drops?” Voight asked, to which Burges answered, “Those belaong to Cruz. He must have bled on the way to his car.”

They might have talked further, but a voice caught their attention. It was Cruz’s whimpering from the guest room. They exchanged looks and immediately went inside the guest room only to find the fire fighter struggling to open his eyes. Voight signally Atwater, and Atwater immediately went at Cruz’s bedside, and said in a gentle tone, “Its’ okay pal. You are safe.” Gradually Cruz opened his eyes. He was slightly surprised looking at the audience infront of him.

Voight went ahead, grabbing a glass of water and offered to Cruz. Cruz slowly sat up with Atwater’s assistance and took few sips to moisten his parched throat.

“Cruz, are you okay?” Voight questioned.

“Yeah Sergeant Voight….I feel fine. Thanks for saving me.” Cruz said expressing his gratitude.

“Cruz, you don’t need to thank me. Just tell me why did you wanted to meet me and answer a few questions of mine. That would do. Voight said.

Taking deep breath, Cruz starts narrating everything happened so far, starting from Flaco’s demand to release his brother from the gang, the fire house accident, where he deliberately left living Flaco only to be burned to death, him confiding to Mouch and even about the suicide attempt.

All of them went silent. None of them could speak a word. Ruzek, Burgess and Atwater could not believe what they were hearing. They had always known Cruz to be sweet, gentle giant, but never had they thought that such skeletons might also be hiding in his closet. Voight was not that surprised. However, none of them could Cruz, for they knew what kind of person Flaco was, and whatever Cruz did was to help his brother, his only family then. And anyone would have done the same thing for the family, even Voight. But they knew what Cruz did was a crime in the eyes of law.

When no one said anything for a long time, Cruz understood that his days as fire fighter was over and very soon everyone on the CFD as well as his family will get to know about his dark past. Cruz will lose everything, even his family. His kids might even hate him. But Cruz knew it was the right thing to do and he should have done this earlier. He accepted his fate.

Voight cleared his throat, “Fine, you take rest for now. Tomorrow, you will come with me to the firehouse. There are some things that needs to informed without any delay.” Then without waiting for a single moment, Voight went out of the guest room. Adam, Kim and Atwater followed him giving sorry glances at Cruz. Cruz laid back on the bed and closed his eyes. Few tear drops escaped his eyes thinking about his loss.

Whether Voight will inform Chief Pascal about Cruz's crime?

Will Cruz lose everything?

How will Fire House 51 react to this news?

Stay tuned with the story....all the questions will be answered in the next and the final chapter, which will be updated day after tomorrow. Let me know your feedbacks and comments.