Endure

Missing

Precinct

Severide was pacing up and down waiting for news. It had been two days since he had found Katya's dead body in the apartment. Two days since Casey had been declared missing. No one had seen or spoken to him for three days. Severide found it odd that the world hadn't just come to a standstill; life was carrying on as usual. There had been no trace of Casey since his phone was last located at Stilettos.

Nesbitt was currently sat in an interrogation room being questioned. Severide was pacing because he knew they couldn't hold him here much longer, they had no evidence of his involvement, but everyone knew he had just covered his tracks exceedingly well.

Voight had one more hour with Nesbitt before he would have to be released. Antonio was desperately trying to find any other leads. Forensics had scoured the apartment and came up with only a partial print that didn't match anyone in the criminal database. The bullet that had killed Katya came from a gun that had not been found and couldn't be linked to Nesbitt or anyone else. Severide hated that it was Voight who was on the case, hated that the man who had put a price on Casey's head was now the one he was relying on to find him but the police still had nothing to go on. The only chance they had in finding Casey was if Nesbitt talked and it was looking unlikely.

The door opened before it slammed shut behind Voight who shook his head negatively. "I can't pull anymore strings; I gotta release him," he announced grimly. When Severide got home after this news he punched the wall.

Apartment

Casey had now been missing for four days. Their apartment still smelt like powerful cleaning chemicals. It made Severide feel sick as he sat on the sofa with his phone by his side. He was waiting desperately for good news. They had lost Darden and Shay. he couldn't face losing Casey as well, none of them could. Despite their many differences in the past Severide firmly believed Casey to be one of his closest friends and he knew 51 would never be the same without him. All around him it felt like everyone was giving up hope. Casey's face had been plastered all over the news for the last two days but no one had come forward with any information, it seemed like he had vanished into thin air.

The hole in the wall was cracking. Bits of paint had pealed off it as the plaster was slowly crumbling underneath. It needed repairing.

Firehouse

The tension in the house had disappeared since Rice had left but now that Casey had been missing for six days there was an air of loss and sadness. Severide refused to believe that all the police would do now find is a body. The news reporters were no longer broadcasting the case. Voight and Antonio were continually insisting to Severide that Casey was still a top priority but it didn't seem that way to him, if he was surely they would have found him alive and well by now. Back at their apartment the hole in the wall was now a gaping cavern; he really needed to repair it.

Cherry Boulevard

Severide was watching his crew and Truck 81 clear up after a car crash; two dead on arrival and one sent off in Ambulance 61 in critical condition. Casey had now been missing for nine days.

"Severide," Boden called. He turned around to see his chief placing his phone back in his pocket and indicated for him to come over and join him.

He frowned questioningly as he walked up to Boden, "Chief?"

Quietly, so no one else could hear, he announced, "That was Voight."

'Oh God, please don't let this be it,' Severide thought desperate for anything but bad news. His heart had dropped into his stomach and the world seemed to slow down around him as he waited for Boden to continue.

"They've found Casey," Boden stated solemnly.

'Oh God, please don't say it,' Severide said inwardly, he could barely take a breath and looked at Boden with wide watery eyes.

"Alive," Boden stated and Severide let out a long breath in relief.

"Alive?" he repeated, worried that he had misheard.

Boden nodded, "Alive. They say he's in serious condition but he should it make it."

Emergency Room

Severide burst into the ER and spotted Voight immediately. The detective didn't notice his arrival, he was too preoccupied looking ahead into one of the trauma bays. Severide followed Voight's gaze to discover a mop of dirty blond hair surrounded by ER staff. Quickly he brushed past Voight, without noticing Antonio or the two uniformed police officers, and he went directly to the room where Casey was being treated. Once there he couldn't make out much of what was being said and he couldn't see much either.

"Sir, I need you to step back," a nurse was holding him back from the room insisting that he left.

"That's my…" Severide began, "He's family!" he raised his voice.

"I need you to step back, sir," the nurse insisted firmly. "We'll keep you informed," she stated.

Severide stood his ground, Casey had been missing for a whole nine days and he couldn't even see him, he didn't know what had happened to him and he didn't know how badly he was hurt, he was terrified of the condition he could be in.

"Kelly," suddenly Boden was stood in front of him with a firm grip on his shoulders as he was pushed back away from the trauma bay. "Kelly come on," Boden insisted, "Let them work; let them help him."

Surgery Waiting Room

The whole house had now taken up residence in the waiting room. Severide was pacing as they waited for more news. Casey had a bullet lodged in his right femur and the leg was already infected from days of captivity. That was all they had been told, they knew nothing about any other injuries and they knew nothing about what had happened to him or how and where he had been found. Oddly Severide found himself worrying about the hole in the wall in their apartment that had been crumbling away more and more whilst Casey had been missing; he really needed to repair it before Casey saw the mess he had created.

After what felt like an age a doctor appeared, still in scrubs, and announced, "The surgery went well, we removed the bullet and we've fixed the fracture caused by the bullet with an IM rod." The doctor paused before continuing carefully, "But he has other injuries. Are his family here?"

Severide walked up to the doctor, Boden followed. The three of them moved away from the rest of the group who looked on with worry.

"We've contacted his sister and tried to get in touch with his mom but I'm listed as his next of kin, I'm his emergency contact," Severide explained. Then he indicated to Boden and then to the rest of the house who were now stood apprehensively out of earshot, "And we're the closest family he's got."

"Kelly Severide?" the doctor question after looking at Casey's chart, Severide nodded in response.

The others watched anxiously as the doctor spoke privately to Severide and Boden. They watched as the doctor sympathetically placed a hand on Severides arm. They watched as Severide put a hand over his mouth in shock after running it through his dishevelled hair. They watched as the doctor walked away leaving Boden and Severide stood in shock before they joined the others and eventually sat down. Severide was silent whilst Boden announced, "We'll be able to see him soon." But that wasn't exactly what they all wanted to hear so they continued looking expectantly towards him and he explained solemnly, "He'll be ok. He'll need all our support but he'll be ok."

Dawson sat down next to Severide and brought him out of his own world, "Kelly?"

Slowly he turned his head towards her and saw her questioning frown and worried expression. He simply said, "He'll be all right," accompanied with a small nod. He was only really saying it to reassure himself but he had no doubt that his friend would be all right, eventually.

ICU

Severide followed the doctor into the ICU. Boden and the others had to wait outside. The ICU was a very surreal place. It was eerily quiet except for the sound of mechanical ventilators and beeping of monitoring equipment.

"Oh God... Casey," he said aloud as he saw his best friend lying on the bed attached to so many different wires and tubes he barely looked human. The skin that he could see was covered in cuts and bruises, some looked old and some new. What was most shocking was how skeletal his friend looked; he looked so frail beneath all the medical equipment. His left wrist and hand was encased in plaster, his right in a support wrap. His hands were marked with bloody sores like he had been banging them on a wall. His right leg lay uncovered on the bed encased in a black brace from his groin to just below his knee, the white tensor bandage underneath was slightly bloody, presumably where the bullet had hit him and the stitches now lay. His face was obscured by the ventilator and the nasogastric tubing. His left eye was swollen, both eyes were bruised and there was a large cut fixed together with butterfly stitches. Severide felt sick as he stared at the bruising around his neck; strangulation marks. The bruises that adorned his body were a stark contrast to the pallor of his skin and Severide didn't want to imagine what the rest of his body looked like underneath the white hospital gown and blue bed blanket.

After the doctor had explained Casey's injuries Severide had expected it to be bad but he hadn't been able to picture his friend in such a terrible state and now standing at the end of the hospital bed he was in shock. He wanted to kill the men who did this to Casey. His friend didn't have a bad bone in his body, he was selfless and caring, he didn't understand how anyone could have done this to him.

The doctor interrupted his murderous thoughts. "Most of what you can see is superficial, like I said the major concern at the moment is infection in his leg but the surgeon saw little tissue damage when he was in there. It looks like they tried to keep it clean and there were track marks on his arms and traces of morphine on his tox screen…" the doctor explained softly.

Severide frowned. "They… oh God," shocked he brought a hand up and through his hair, he shook his head disbelievingly and sighed. "Have you told the cops?" he asked, maybe it was just in movies but he felt like they should know, maybe they could trace the morphine back to someone who was involved because surely it wasn't something that was easy to get hold of.

"They know everything you and I do," the doctor said grimly. "There's strict visiting hours but stay with him if you want," he said softly, taking pity on both the lieutenants. He had seen Casey's face on the news for two days when he had first gone missing and wondered why anyone would ever want to kidnap and harm a firefighter.

"Thank you," Severide said simply. He pulled up a stall and sat by the edge of Casey's bed.

Hospital Corridor

Severide saw red, "You did this to him!" he yelled at Voight who stood dumbstruck in the middle of the corridor, "He would never have got involved if you hadn't forced him!" Now Severide knew this wasn't strictly true, Casey was a selfless do-gooder, as soon as he found out what was happening he'd wanted to help, he had to help; it was in his nature. Antonio grabbed Severide as he lunged forward at Voight. He shrugged Antonio off himself and continued to yell, causing passers-by to take an interest. "The men who did this; they better be locked up or dead right now!" he yelled. Voight and Antonio shared a brief grave look and Severide looked from one to the other, frowning, "They're not are they?"

"Kelly you…" Antonio began.

"I don't want excuses! What the hell happened? Where did you find him?" Severide demanded.

"We got a tip from a CI. Casey was being held in an old office building. There were only two people there when we got him, one of them is being questioned right now and the other is lying in the morgue," Antonio explained and Severide frowned, wondering what had happened to allow them to shoot one of them.

"Shot him in the head, he was choking Casey when we got there," Voight stated. That explained the strangulation marks then.

"Two people? Nesbitt?" Severide questioned, he couldn't believe that only two people had been discovered there.

"We should be able to bring Nesbitt in when Casey wakes up and gives us a statement and we have some headshots to show him. We're not holding out much hope for any DNA evidence from under Casey's nails, doesn't look like he had much chance to fight back," Antonio said soberly before adding, "We'll get them, Kelly. Don't do anything rash; Casey needs you right now."

TBC