Trouble Don't (File Two of The First Responders Files)

You ever have a weekend where you just wish everything would stop? That was this weekend. So much was going on that when I tried to take it easy today, my body went "wrong!" and kept my adrenaline going. This is the result of that adrenaline. So . . . if you give me comments I'll pay for your dental bills after the inevitable cavities you'll get?

It's a pretty simple summary here . . . it's time for the return and the reopening of the 126, and the 2-7 finally sees just what family they're getting drawn into.

***

The morning of the reopening ceremony dawned bright and cloudless, which Frank thought was a perfect way to describe Sylvie when he entered the kitchen of the barndominium. The paramedic was already in her dress blues, her jacket hung over the back of one of the stools and her blonde tresses tumbling down her back as she puttered around and made her morning coffee. "You're out here early," he noted as he checked his watch.

"Back atcha," Sylvie laughed as she pulled an additional mug from one of the cabinets. "Matt and Kelly are the commanding officers of the firehouse, and I'm the chief paramedic. We need to get to the house before the rest of our crews and make sure there isn't anything else that needs to be done before the ceremony." She smirked as she poured them heft helpings of coffee, and she handed one of the mugs to him, which he accepted gratefully. "That means you, Nolan, and Lily are among the first who get to see what the remodel looks like. The boys have already seen it."

"I'll take that honor," Frank chuckled as he took a sip. "Who else you think is gonna be there?"

"If I had to guess, probably Benson and Stabler," Sylvie shrugged as she mulled over the fruit in the basket. "You care what color?"

Frank smirked. "Surprise me."

"Copy that," Sylvie grinned and tossed a green apple over her shoulder at him, with Frank effortlessly caught with his spare hand. "I remember Owen saying that Noah wanted to wait until the push-ins to see what the firehouse looks like, so Peter will bring him with the others. According to the grumpy texts I got this morning, Noah may be more wired up for this than the actual firefighters."

"Except for you, looks like," Frank noted as he watched her continue to walk around the kitchen. "I don't think I've seen you stop moving since we got here Thursday evening." Sylvie paused in surprise, and Frank gestured to the stool next to him. "Unless you think the world will stop if you do, you can take a moment."

Sylvie sighed and walked around the counter to hop onto the stool; Frank watched as her fingers drummed the top of the island. "I know it won't," she said as she looked into her coffee. "Frank, the sniper incident is the closest call I've had . . . but I've had close calls the entire time I've been with the 126. I'm very lucky to be here today, and I know that. I'm lucky that I get to see Matt and Kelly here, too, because I know I'm lucky they were able to bring the boys to Austin." She rested her arm on the counter and looked at Frank, the seriousness in her eyes making him put down his coffee to give her his full attention. "Remember how I told you I was blackmailed into leaving Chicago?"

"I do," Frank nodded with a scowl.

"You know what she had on me?" Frank shook his head, and Sylvie scoffed. "Matt and Kelly had been my best friends for two years at that point, and she overheard a private conversation with a few other friends where I admitted I was in love with them and that I've been polyamorous since high school. When she confronted me after I became friends with another lieutenant in the CFD, she threatened to out me to the brass and use that to twist my friendships to make it look like I was sleeping my way through the officers."