Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to Chicago Fire or it's characters. This is purely for fun, and I am making no money from this story.

Hi everyone! So, as I am completely unable to believe that they killed off such a great character, I have decided to write my own version of what happens after the explosion. I hope you enjoy it!

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.

Chapter One

As the dust from the explosion settled it was the men and women of firehouse fifty-one who were left to deal with the repercussions. And their lives would never be the same.

On the fourth floor, one by one the firefighters were pulling themselves and their coworkers from the concrete rubble. Barring a few scrapes everyone on the upper floors was okay... except Lieutenant Matt Casey.

A part of the upper floor had collapsed in on where Casey had stood, and he was half buried by debris.

"Guys, help me shift this," Squad lieutenant Kelly Severide ordered, taking charge in the chaos.

Even those who were injured jumped to follow the command, if they weren't already attempting to free Casey, who had been knocked out cold by falling debris.

But soon they came to a piece of concrete too heavy to shift. Matt's legs had been crushed under the massive weight. There was no way to free him, other than to amputate.

"Mills, assess Casey's condition, then wait with him. Everyone else needs to get out, tell the chief that we need a trauma surgeon here." Kelly knew Matt well enough to know that he wouldn't want his guys to see the career ending surgical procedure, even though they would almost all have seen amputations before, this was different, and Kelly knew it.

Meanwhile on the first floor, Gabriela Dawson knelt over her partner, Leslie Shay, who lay lifeless on the floor amidst the debris. Dawson desperately performing chest compressions on Shay in an attempt to revive her.

"Come on Shay! Come on!" Dawson shouted frantically as she performed the compressions on her injured partner. Silently she prayed that help would arrive soon, that her other colleagues had escaped the blast uninjured and would be there any second. As the building that they were in was literally crumbling down around them.

Dawson looked around at the debris, searching for their gear, only to find to her dismay that the defibrillator - the item she most needed at that moment - had been destroyed in the blast.

All their gear had either been damaged or buried in rubble, all Dawson could do for her partner was keep up compressions, and pray that help would arrive in time.

Then there was a faint sound, a voice calling from the upper floors. "Shay! Dawson! Call out if you can hear me!" It was Severide.

"We're here! Shay's hurt!" Gabby called out as loudly as she could through the smoke and dust filled air.

There was a long pause, before Gabby heard Kelly's response, "We're coming."

If she had not been sustaining Shay's life with the chest compressions, Gabby would have sagged with relief.

Another thirty seconds or so passed before Dawson heard the scraping of rubble from where the stairs had been, and finally Severide appeared through a gap in the concrete which had fallen in.

"Oh god, Shay," Gabby heard Kelly murmur in shock at the sight of his lifeless best friend.

"She had a pulse when I found her," Gabby reported. "We've got to get her out of here."

"Here, I've got her," Severide said, moving to lift Shay. "Follow me. Stay close."

Battling their way through the partially collapsed structure, Severide led Dawson out to the nearest ambulance. As soon as Shay's body hit the waiting gurney two unfamiliar paramedics took over CPR on her.

Chief Boden rushed over to meet the pair, and without taking his eyes off of his best friend, Severide relayed what he knew of the situation.

As they spoke most of the firefighters from fifty-one made their way out of the building down an external fire escape, some being helped to walk over to awaiting ambulances.

Gabby looked over to the crowd of battered firefighters, searching for her boyfriend, but there was no sign of Matt. Matt was still inside the damaged building.

"...trapped on the fourth floor, Mills is with him. We need the trauma surgeon here. Rest of the guys seemed to be okay." Gabby overheard the end of Kelly's report to the chief.

"Severide, where's Matt?"

Boden took a step towards her. "Dawson, you should sit down."

"No. Just tell me. Matt's hurt, isn't he?"

Kelly also moved closer to Dawson, ready to steady her if need be. "Matt's trapped, his legs are caught under some concrete that we couldn't shift."

Her mind clicking into place what she had heard about needing a trauma surgeon, Gabby began to frantically shake her head. "No, no. You can't."

"I'm sorry, Dawson. I really am. We can't get him out any other way," Kelly said as Boden made the request for a trauma surgeon over the radio.

"I want to be with him," Gabby told Severide.

"No way," Chief Boden interrupted quickly. "No one other than the surgeon is going back in, this structure is too unstable."

Inside the building Casey was now conscious, and starting to panic. As a firefighter he knew the full brevity of his own situation, though yet another knock to the head wasn't doing him any favours, and to the best of his current ability he accepted what would be necessary to free him, but the uncertainty he felt not knowing if his girlfriend had made it out safely was rapidly becoming too much.

It was a terrible feeling for the lieutenant not to be able to protect his own girlfriend.

It felt like a lifetime had passed since Severide had left to search for Gabby and Shay, and not much less time since Hermann had led the rest of their coworkers out of the building through a still functional fire escape.

"Take it easy, Lieutenant. You've got to lie still," Peter Mills said, concerned. "Help will be here soon, we'll get you out."

"Gabby. Did Severide find her? Is she okay?" Matt asked urgently, not for the first time.

"I don't know, but Gabby's tough. I'm sure she's okay. And she'll be mad as hell if you hurt yourself further, so lie back down."

Casey complied, feeling another wave of dizziness crash over him.

"Hey! Stay with me, Lieutenant," Mills said worriedly. With each passing minute he could see Casey's mental status waning. "You just gotta hang in here for a few more minutes, then we'll get you out, and you can see Gabby. Stay with me."

To Be Continued...

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