An unexpected incident ends a firefighter's career, Sylvie reveals a hidden talent, and she helps a friend get back in the saddle.

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"I guess I could get the torch out and just braze something together real quick." Sylvie walked in to Cruz, Herrmann, Mouch, and Otis manoeuvring a halligan and a sledgehammer together. She stared at what they were doing, working it out for a moment.

"No, a brazed joint won't be strong enough. You want to MIG weld it." The four men turned and stared at her, jaws on the floor at her comment. "I grew up on a farm. When the cultivator threw a shank, who do you think fixed it?"

"So could you do it?" Cruz recovered quickly.

"Yeah, if I had a welder. Do you know where I can get time on—" She was cut off by the oh too familiar bells.

Engine 51, Truck 81, Ambulance 61. House Fire, 742 Halstead

They all got into action, grabbing turnout gear before leaving. Sylvie ended up in the middle of the convoy, Truck in front and Engine behind. It wasn't far from the house, but they could see the smoke darkening as they arrived. It was going to be dangerous. They pulled up, and she and Emily got the backboard out, ready for action.

"Borelli, Kidd, Otis, ground floor search. Mouch, Herrmann, with me on the top floor. We've got two minutes, go." Matt called, and Sylvie watched him lead his crew into the house. Deidrickson had Engine providing vent support to keep them safe. Sylvie and Emily held the family back, but one of the kids slipped through everyone's arms.

The house was empty, and it seemed like a normal call until a spark lit the adjoining garage on fire. Sylvie and Emily held the family back, but one of the kids slipped through everyone's arms, screaming for a dog that was in the garage.

"I'm going in, Casey," Borelli called, and he chased after the kid, grabbing him and pushing him out. The fire in the garage wasn't big, so Matt and Stella followed with extinguishers to put it out. Sylvie relaxed, knowing they'd be fine, and checked a graze on the boy's arm from where he'd gotten loose. She didn't see the explosion, but heard the boom and looked up to see a plume of black smoke.

"MATT! STELLA! JIMMY!" She screamed, calling out. Boden was onto the parents in a flash.

"What was in the garage?"

"I'd gotten a couple of tanks of butane for the grill." Sylvie watched Boden's face pale, and felt her heart sink. The time seemed to pass too slowly, but as if it wasn't real there were two figures coming out of the shell of the garage, a third held up between them.

"Brett, Foster, help!" Stella yelled, her voice weak from the fumes. The paramedics ran over with the gurney, and pulled Jimmy onto it. His face was burnt, and Sylvie was shocked at the extent.

"Right, we're taking him to Med now. Foster, you drive. Casey, Kidd, in the ambo with me. I want you checked out there." The two firefighters looked like they'd disagree, but Boden gently pushed them into the ambo, making sure they got in beside her. Sylvie handed them oxygen masks, a pointed eyebrow making them put them on and breathe in. She didn't know what they'd inhaled, but extra oxygen wouldn't hurt.

The drive to Med didn't take long, and she busied herself with treating Jimmy's burns. They seemed mostly partial thickness, and his turnout coat hadn't been fully buttoned so they hit part of his chest along with his head and neck. Foster had told med they were coming in with firefighters, and it was like a VIP had arrived. Will Halstead met them at the ambo door, grabbing the gurney as Sylvie followed along.

"Jimmy Borelli, 24, CFD from Truck 81. Butane tanks exploded in his face at a fire. Nobody knew the tanks were there. He was wearing turnout gear, but partial thickness burns to his face, neck and chest, approximately sixteen percent of his body. O2 sats 92 on nasal cannula, we didn't have any extra masks and didn't want to risk intubation before we got him here. BP 110 over 80, pulse 94, resps 22. Gave 2 milligrams of morphine IV in the field, plus two litres of saline wide open." She finished her recitation and Will nodded.

"Thanks Brett, I'll take him from here. Natalie will look after the others, they didn't sound too bad."

She turned, and Natalie was there, directing Matt and Stella into a separate cubicle. She squeezed in before Natalie closed the door.

"I brought them in, and they won't tell you everything if I don't. They were putting out a garage fire with CO2, there was butane tanks that exploded. Borelli got the worst of it, but I've had them on O2 by mask since they got into the ambo. I wasn't able to do a full workup while we were en route, but Casey was coughing into the mask and trying to not let me notice." Matt had the good grace to look embarrassed at Sylvie's words.

"Thanks, Brett. I'll work them up and let you know. I assume 51 is going to be outside when I finish with them?" Sylvie smiled at the doctor.

"We wouldn't have it any other way. Boden was calling in another company to help put the fire out and do overhaul, then they were coming here. I need to let Squad know what's happened too. Call me if there's any news?"

"I will." At the dismissal Sylvie left, and helped Foster with the paperwork to get everyone entered as patients. Once it was done, she picked up her cell phone and called Kelly.

"Hey, how come you aren't back yet? We were expecting you already." He answered without much notice, and Sylvie swallowed.

"Kelly, there was an incident at the fire. Some butane tanks exploded. Borelli's got bad burns to his upper body, and Matt and Stella are in getting treated for smoke and butane inhalation. They're alert and fine and Manning isn't worried, but I needed to let you know."

There was stunned silence on the end of the line for a few seconds, and Sylvie nearly repeated herself before she heard him speak.  "Squad's on the way. I'm pulling us off duty for an hour. Are everyone else there yet?"

"No, they're doing the fire and coming."

"We'll be there in ten. Squad, there's been an incident, we need to go to Med now." Kelly hung up the phone without saying goodbye. With nothing to do but wait for their coworkers, Sylvie and Emily put the gurney back in 61, moving it out of the ambulance bay proper and down to the set down area. Once the rest of the house arrived it'd be surrounded by CFD vehicles. They arrived back into the waiting room, and were soon joined by everyone else. They took up a large area of it, and were left alone by anyone else waiting, conspicuous in their uniforms.

It only took about an hour for Manning to arrive out, and they all stood to hear about Stella and Matt. "We've good news. They didn't inhale a lot of the gas, it looks like it immediately went up in flames. I want to keep them on O2 for a couple of hours, make sure there's no later term effects that we don't catch. If they're good then, they can go home. They'll both need 72 hours rest before coming back to work. They've got a first degree burn on their faces, it'll heal fine, we treated it but it doesn't need to be wrapped." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at some good news.

"Is there any news on Jimmy?" Boden asked, making everyone tense again.

"I don't have anything. I know Ophthalmology and Plastics are having a look at him now. Facial burns are delicate, we want everyone to look for best healing. Brett, Severide, the two of them have been asking for you if you want to come back?" Sylvie turned to Boden, who nodded at her to go.

She'd never come into the ER in Med from the waiting room side, and she watched as Natalie waved her card to get them in. Matt and Stella were in the same cubicle as before, and someone had put two plastic chairs there for the visitors to sit on. The injured pair had stripped off their turnout coats in favour of just being in their t-shirts, but the oxygen masks were on their sooty faces to help them breathe.

"I blame you for this, Brett," Stella said around the mask. She pulled it down to speak, but Kelly was across to her and putting it back on her face.

"Blame her all you want, if I'd been there you two would have arrived here in the Squad truck. You ok?" He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her hand, taking the seat beside his girlfriend.

"How're you feeling?" Sylvie asked, sitting in the seat beside Matt. His eyes were shut, but she could tell from the tension in his face he was awake.

"The adrenaline's worn off, my lungs are sore. Manning said it'd be a side effect of the butane and the explosion, I hit the ground pretty hard, Borelli was in front and he covered us. Is there any news about him?" Matt looked so nervous, and Sylvie hated having nothing for him.

"Nothing yet. Plastics are in to look at how to heal the burn, so hopefully we'll hear soon. You want me to let anyone else come in here?" She asked, not really wanting to leave the room but not wanting to intrude.

"Nah. Manning said she'd let the two of you stay here till they let us out."

Sylvie kept her hand on Matt's arm as he lay on the bed, watching his chest rise and fall. Kelly had wrapped Stella in his arms to keep her close to him while they waited. True to her word, the next time they saw Natalie was when she came in to discharge the two firefighters, with strict instructions to rest for the next few days. She and Kelly brought them to the waiting room, where 51 still remained. There was a muted celebration when they arrived, but everyone stayed seated to wait for news about their Candidate.

Finally Will Halstead came out. Everyone stood, but he called Boden over to him. Sylvie shared a look at Matt and Kelly, the three officers there knowing it was a bad sign. They sat waiting until Boden came back, everyone feeling like they were holding their breath.

"They've confirmed that there was a portion of full thickness burns to Jimmy's face and head. He's lost sight in his left eye, and it's unrecoverable. He's not going to be able to continue in CFD after this injury. Borelli's on a ventilator for the moment due to butane inhalation and his chest burns, but he is alert. I'm going to go in and see him for a while. Everyone else, go home. I'm officially pulling us out of service till the morning. Stop off and top up the fuel levels on the rigs, make sure they're mostly stocked, and then go home. I'll see you all at the next shift."

There were sullen nods from the crowd as they stood and prepared to leave. It took Sylvie almost lifting Matt up by his arm for him to go, not wanting to leave his firefighter in the hospital alone. They all made it to their vehicles and went back to 51. It was silent as everyone packed up in the locker room. Sylvie watched the firefighters who had lost people before were retreating into their shell, and she worried about them.

As Sylvie finished at her locker, Stella came up to her. "Look, you can completely say no to this, but I don't want to be alone tonight. Is it ok if I come over and stay with Kelly? He offered but I wanted to make sure you and Matt were ok with it." Sylvie put a wan smile on her face, wrapping her arms around her best friend.

"Yes. Come over, please. I'd worry about you being on your own, at least this way I know you're ok. I need to check on Foster, tell Kelly and Matt I'll be out in a few?" Sylvie watched Stella leave the room before she turned to the bathrooms.

Foster was sitting on the floor of one of the shower stalls, the curtain pulled to hide her from glances. The paramedic hadn't been crying, but her head was in her hands.

"C'mon, Foster. Stella's coming back to mine and Matt's, you come too?" Emily looked up at her PIC, staring nearly through her.

"I just feel like it's my fault. If I'd done something, maybe I could have stopped this from happening. I could have treated his eye sooner, he'd still be a firefighter?" Sylvie dropped to her knees at her words, squatting and looking the paramedic in the eyes.

"It's not your fault. It's not my fault either. It's the fault of a homeowner having three tanks of butane in his garage and not telling anyone. Our job is to provide the best care we can to the most people. Once that tank exploded Jimmy's career was over. But we kept him alive and got him to hospital. C'mon, come over to mine." Sylvie held out her hand and Foster accepted, the two women walking out arm in arm as Foster drove them to Sylvie's apartment.

It was like a funeral, the five of them sitting on the couches, staring at the tv. Sylvie had thrown on a movie channel, just to keep noise and light in the room. It was yet another time she'd nearly lost Matt, and she was worried about him. This was more than his usual "Matt Casey wonder stunts". He could claim it wasn't on purpose for any of them, but three was a pattern and she didn't like it.

Sylvie was supposed to cook, but instead she ordered pizza for them all. The pies were put on the coffee table and everyone ate slowly, staring at the screen but not taking in any of the show that was on.

Once she ate Foster decided to leave, hugging everyone goodbye. Once she was gone Kelly and Stella called it a night early, going into his room. It left the two of them on the couch, watching a Hallmark show she didn't know the name of but involved someone who may be magic and a doctor. She thought.

"Matt, are you ok?" Sylvie broke the silence between them.

"I'm fine, Sylvie. My lungs are still a little sore, but it'll ease."

"That's not what I meant, Matt." He looked up at her, worried at her words.

"What do you mean? I'm fine." Sylvie took a deep breath before opening her mouth.

"Matt...in the last three months I've seen you nearly die three times. And each time there's a possible excuse for it. A gust of wind, a train moving when you didn't realise it, butane tanks nobody knew about. But I'm worried about you. Have you talked to anyone about what happened in the last two years?" He huffed at her words.

"I'm fine, Sylvie. I don't need to talk to anyone."

"That's the third time you've said that. Look, it doesn't need to be a therapist or anything, but even Chaplain Orlovsky. Matt, in the last two years you've found out you were going to be a dad, got married, lost your child, found out you and your wife couldn't have kids, gotten divorced and moved out of your own condo into a rented apartment with your friends. I'm saying it's totally natural to need to talk to someone about all of this. It's a lot to happen in a decade, let alone two years." She stood to get water, and left her words hanging in the air while she filled her glass and drank. By the time she got back to the couch, Matt swallowed deeply.

"You're probably right. I've talked to Kelly, but our talks involve us blurting out stuff and the other listening. It might be good to talk to someone who's been outside all of it. Thanks, Sylvie." He stood, and she did as well. It didn't take long for Matt to close the gap and wrap her in a hug. "I meant what I said at New Years, I don't know what I'd do without your help. Thank you.".

The two left for their rooms, both lost in thought thanks to the conversation.

The next shift passed quietly, the house not the same missing the three. They'd been told they'd get a new candidate now Borelli was gone, but they were waiting for them to arrive. Instead Sylvie spent half of it wrapped in turnout gear and a torch face cover, welding Cruz's new Slamigan invention.

Her first welding had drawn a group to come look, all of Squad and half of Truck trying to work out who in the house had welding abilities. It wasn't until she'd finished and taken off her mask that some gasps of shock were heard as she shook out her blonde hair.

"What the hell? Where'd you learn to weld, Brett?" Capp asked, leaning against Engine.

"I grew up on a farm. Cruz, try that. It's a 70,000 PSI tensile strength weld, it'll hold. Don't worry about letting it cool, give it a go."

Everyone watched as Cruz lined it up against the door, but the hinge had too much give and he missed, causing a groan to go up from the crowd.

"Back to the drawing board?" She asked with a smile. In between calls she helped him come up with more ideas, and the second attempt was better at the hinge, but the sledge handle itself just snapped in two, ending up on the floor from the force.

They were heading out for the day, but Sylvie walked over to where the welding setup was. "I don't have anywhere to be right now, want to try it again?"

They spent some time drawing diagrams, and making sure everything was as good as it could be. Sylvie welded a bracket for the sledge to sit in, before boring the hole to connect everything together. It was secure, the hinge had very little give and it looked good. She watched as Cruz lined it up fully and drew back, and cheered when the door opened on the first hit.

"Heck yes!" She jumped up, and Cruz came over and lifted her into the air, giving her a hug and a twirl. Even Boden looked impressed at the Slamigan working and gave them a nod.

Once she got home she was still high on the feeling of making it work, and decided to make lunch for them. The smell of enchiladas roused Kelly and Matt, who were grateful they didn't need to cook anything. When they finished eating Kelly left, presumably to Stella's, and Sylvie pulled out her phone and started swiping. Stella had convinced her to try dating again, so back to tinder it was.

"What exactly is making you so annoyed?" Matt asked when she let out yet another huff of frustration.

"Ugh, guys. Stella showed me this dating app, and it feels like every guy on it has a picture of him with a fish, him with a truck and him with his shirt off. In that order. I just want to go on some dates!" Sylvie showed Matt the latest photos from Drew, 31, who had brown hair and glasses, with one photo that was him and what looked like his frat brothers at some event.

"This is how people get dates now? I will never understand it. Although makes sense, not like I'd ever meet anyone at Molly's I could go on a date with. We'd all probably work together." Matt caught a glint in Sylvie's eye and realised his mistake.

"Give me your phone."

"What? No."

"Matt, gimme. If I'm doing the online dating thing, you are too. Which means you need me to set up your profile. Gimme." She got his phone from him, downloading the app and loading it up quickly. Unlike Stella and Gabby when they did hers, she picked recent photos from Matt, including a couple of from him on job sites. The hardest part was putting down a bio, but at last she had it. "Read this."

"Matt, firefighter and builder. Likes good deep dish, Hawks and Bears games and adrenaline. Dislikes fire, bad drywall and the Packers. Looking for a relationship. It sounds like me?" He half asked half said, and Sylvie laughed.

"That's the aim, Matt. Make it seem like you actually wrote it. When you like someone on it, you swipe right. If you don't like them, swipe left. If you both swipe right on each other you can start a conversation. That's pretty much it." Sylvie let go of the phone, and let him begin.

"This feels like there should be a catch, you know? What is it?"

"The creeps you get? Be glad you're a guy, so many guys on it are creepy. Just don't be overbearing, and if a woman doesn't reply to you for some reason don't go following her up. Be nice about it, you know?" Matt nodded in response, and the two settled in to swipe for an afternoon.