Title: A Friend in Need

Summary: After their harrowing ordeal, Severide stops by to see how Stella is doing. Tag to eppy 5.16 'Telling Her Goodbye'

Disclaimer: Same as always. I own nothing but my muse and my love for all things #firefighters #Sevasey & #Lindseride

A/N: So love the Severide/Stella friendship (if I can't have him with Erin then I'll take him with Stella b/c I love her and Miranda‼) so this is just a little friendship piece and hope you all like it. First time writing for this pairing/friendship and hope I do them some justice.

Note: As always "words in quotes and double italics taken from the eppy" single quotes or without are past convo's or thoughts.

When he heard one of the gunmen tell the others that he had taken care of the ambo lady his mind started to race and he knew he had to find a way to get into the back and check and see if Stella was okay and then try to get outside the building and get the SWAT team the lay of the building and who was were.

"When he's distracted, cover me…" Severide instructed Cruz who nodded in agreement and then tried to sit back and wait. But as he listened to Boden and one of the gang members argue and the other two in the backroom with Casey and Otis, Stella's quiet absence was more than noticed.

She had always prided herself on her tough exterior but he knew inside…facing these guys she'd be just as scared as the others and would try to hold it together as long as she could. But he also knew if she was pushed, she could push back and with these guys that could mean pain in one form or another.

Come on…come on! Severide's mind inwardly growled as he watched the front gang member pace back and forth and then stop to lip off to Boden or check on what was going on outside. Come on…turn around for a few minutes…longer than a few seconds… his mind chanted as he waited for the right moment. He didn't have to wait much longer as it presented itself a few seconds later when something on the outside caused a commotion that made the gang member to be distracted for just the right amount of time for Cruz to stand up and him to slip out the side door and into their large meeting room.

Severide rested for a few seconds in the hopes of getting his heart rate under control before he crouched low and crept toward the main hallway.

She's tending...wait…he paused to listen to the voices in the room where the shot gang member was and hear only male voices. Stella…where are you….his mind wondered as he peered down the hallway and was about to make a move when he was forced to pull back out of sight when one of the gang members – the really agitated one, entered the hallway and headed for the locker room and then disappeared out of sight.

Only one reason he's going there…Stella! He waited a few seconds to make sure that the coast was clear before he stealthily made his way toward the locker room, having told himself that Stella had to be in there. She better be okay…his mind whispered in silence as he waited by the entrance alcove while the gang banger muttered something while he searched for…Stella? Is she…she's hiding! But where? She hadn't managed to sneak out past them in the truck area where he had been so that could only mean that she was…hiding!

Gotta get to her before he does or she's in trouble, his mind instructed as he heard the gang member's voice start to get quieter and then dared to peak around the corner. Okay he's gone but…but where? He didn't have to wait too long for his answer as he heard him starting to check the bathroom stalls one at a time by forcing each door open and then pausing.

She's gotta be in a stall…or the shower…

He knew he had to act fast and if he thought too long and hard about it, he might not pull it off correctly. His only goal was to get Stella away from harm and find a way out of the building and tell the police outside what the situation was inside and hope that all his 51 family got out safely.

Severide rounded the corner into the bathroom and watched as the gang member was about to force open the third stall door where he assumed Stella could be hiding. So he took a deep breath and then charged. He landed two stiff blows to the gang banger's stomach with one has as the other tried to keep the gun at bay. A few seconds later two shots were fired shattering the mirror on the wall behind him a few meters away. Severide added a bit more destruction to the mirror as his hands latched onto his attacker's jacket and spun him around and into the bathroom sink and mirror – what was left of it, sending jagged shards flying in all directions.

The gun clattered to the floor as the gang banger delivered two firm blows to Severide's already tender mid-section which made him wheeze a bit more. A few seconds later his fists grabbed two handfuls of Severide's navy quilted Sqad jacket and rammed his already aching frame into the hand blowers, Severide's lips uttering another painful grunt.

He tried to keep up with the younger man he was fighting but when the gang banger twisted him and Severide around and slammed his frame through the nearest bathroom stall door, he knew he had to find some way to end this fight or he'd be in even bigger trouble than he was before.

Their two frames crashed through the door and slammed oddly into the wall behind, the hard edge of the toilet rim hitting his thigh which forced another grunt to be heard. Severide's frame started to slide to the bottom of the stall but he managed to stop himself, grip the sides of the stall and bring his knee up. He caught his attacker in the groin which made him falter and stumble backward. Another kick and Severide was able to regain his footing and forced his attacker off him and into the hallway of the bathroom.

Severide dropped his shoulder once more and slammed the gang banger's body into the wall and then followed that up with a tightly balled fist. However, his attacker wasn't ready to give up just yet and started to deliver a few hardened blows to his throbbing ribs which instantly stopped Severide's barrage of hits and made him stumble backward. Two thick fists balled and then connected with Severide's stomach, sending him flying backward into the open shower stall.

His hands tried to claw at the shower curtain to keep himself upright, but instead his boot got caught the bottom edge which made him lose his footing and crash to the bottom of the stall with the gang banger's rage-filled frame on top of him. Severide tried to regain the upper hand and get his attacker off him but instead he found himself gasping for air when the gang banger's hands latched onto his neck and started to squeeze.

Severide's hands tried to push his attacker away but instead he found his brain had to direct his hands to the gang banger's arms and try to pry them away from his neck. However, that didn't work and soon his lungs started to gasp for air and his face turn a deeper shade of red. But just before the small black circles could get any kind of momentum, a figured loomed over them and a few seconds later Stella delivered a blow that struck the gang banger on the back of his head and took him down for the count. Severide, finally able to take a few deep breaths and then looked up with surprise but gratitude.

"You okay?" Stella asked Severide as she extended her hand and arm for him to take.

"Yeah…" he slightly gasped as he latched onto her hand and started to pull himself up right.

"Okay…let's go," Stella stated in a great sense of urgency in her tone. "Come on!" She urged, eager to escape their nightmare.

Severide quickly switched places with her, putting himself in front and then leading them toward the entrance he came in, the one he thought was still safe. "Side door," Severide directed as he crouched low and led the way. "Just watch our backs."

"Got it. Lead the way outta here," Stella whispered as she tried to get her heart rate to slow to a normal pace. But once Severide stopped to check the activity in the room where Casey and Otis were, she felt her agitation once again start to gain momentum. "What is it?"

"Casey…he was shot," Severide whispered in return as Stella's brow furrowed. "Just a graze. He's okay. Otis is…" he stopped and then waited for a few seconds. "Okay, we're gonna dart past them and run like hell for the exit. Got it?"

"Got it."

He knew he didn't have to ask her twice but he also knew they couldn't just take the chance to creep past, they had to run and there was risk involved. "Stella…"

"Just get us the hell outta here," she told him confidently. "I trust you."

Without looking back, he quickly grabbed her hand and started to make a sprint past the open door where Casey and Otis were trying to treat the gunshot victim she had tried to help earlier. "Let's go!" He uttered in a panic just as one of the gunmen looked up.

"HEY!" The gunman shouted as they bolted past and he tried to get to them and stop them. However, just as soon as he entered the hallway with his gun raised, ready to give chase, a small group of SWAT members stormed into the area, bringing that part of the hostage crisis to an end. They were safe. Casey and Otis were safe.

He stopped and then turned to her and looked at her in concern.

"I'm fine," she told him in haste as she tried to brush off her slightly battered appearance as nothing. "We should…check on Casey."

"What happened to your head?"

"It…met with a locker. We gotta get outta here."

"Wait what…? Stella!" Severide stammered as she pushed past him and went to check out the commotion in the main truck area. He wanted to press for more details about what happened when she was missing and the gang banger said he took care of her but now with Boden as a hostage that would have to wait.

XXXXXXXX

After it was all over and they watched the last of the SWAT officers leave, the members of Firehouse 51 started to slowly disperse. Stella gave Severide a brief but friendly hug and then hurried back inside, pulled her locker open and stopped.

"You care about these?" She recalled his words as he held up a picture of her dear friends. "I'm going to find them and hurt them and…" her eyes squeezed shut as she remembered the instant hatred and raged that welled up inside her and forced her to take action that looking back she shouldn't have taken. She balled her fist and then slammed it into the gang bangers jaw. He was momentarily stunned for a few seconds but then reacted in the worst possible way, grabbing her head and slamming into her locker twice.

Then…her world went black.

Not wanting any of the guys to see her so emotionally upset, Stella grabbed her jacket, shoved a few things into a small knapsack, slammed her locker shut and darted out the back door.

XXXXXXXX

He could tell by the bruise on her forehead and her skittish actions afterward that something else happened that she didn't want to admit and now her suddenly just disappearing after the whole ordeal told him a few more tidbits of the story. However as her friend he knew he had to make sure that she was okay and so after he checked on Casey and Boden, Severide told them he was going to check on Stella and would be back the next day for their regular shift. He knew she was brave, it was the way she always tried to come across, mostly to protect herself, she had always admitted. But the events of the day rattled even him and she was missing for too long to not have been shaken by whatever happened. He had to find out what and if she was okay. She was his friend and right now that friend was in need.

Severide slightly shuffled on each foot as he waited for Stella to open the door to her apartment. "Stella? It's…Kelly."

Finally he heard her approach the door and slowly open it.

"I said…"

"I come bearing gifts," he interjected as held up a six-pack of light beer. "You okay?"

"Come in," she lightly groaned as she left the door open and then headed back into the living room and slumped down onto the couch, taking the small ice pack and holding it against her throbbing temple.

"I'd ask how you are but…"

"I hit him."

"What? Hit…who?"

"The guy…the one who took Boden hostage. He…he was all up in my face about…" her voice died out as she looked at him with a small frown; the ice pack slowly lowering back to her lap. "We went to get some supplies and he asked which locker was mine."

"What?"

"Yeah…he wanted to make it personal. I opened it and then he pulled a picture out and said…he said he'd come back and get them if I messed with him. I was scared and then angry and I…I balled my fist and punched him in the jaw."

"What the hell? He had a gun."

"I know," Stella shrugged. "And then he…he got angry and banged my head against the locker and I…I went down."

"Damn," Severide cursed as he leaned in a bit closer.

"I'm fine. I went and saw Maggie at Med before I came home. Maybe a mild concussion but…damn I shouldn't have hit him. Lucky he didn't use the gun."

"Yeah," Severide huffed as he looked at her in growing concern.

"I'm fine. Just a bit…rattled, you know?"

"I get it. Those guys…they weren't fooling around. That one…I think it was Turk he…I think he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory."

"Casey was grazed and…and I keep telling myself it could have been worse. When I came to I wanted to make a break for it but I heard someone coming and then went and hid. Glad you came along when you did."

"What else are friends for? Except to save your ass from gang bangers."

"Guess we're even then," she retorted with a small smile as he nodded in agreement. "I'm okay. Just…wanted a quiet night you know?"

"Can't blame you. So…how about we order something in and just…hang?"

"Hang…yeah I can just hang."

"Okay good."

Severide offered her a can of the light beer and both sat and talked quietly while they waited for their take out supper to arrive. They would later watch a comedy, something light and funny and hoped that the stress from the day's events would be gone by the time they parted ways later that evening. Both had helped the other escaped a near death experience and it was something that would strengthen their bond more than even they expected.

THE END!

A/N: Hope you all liked this little piece and please do review before you go and thanks so much!