Chapter 10
A/N: Aha! Chapter 10 is finished. Things have been crazy but I've finally finished this chapter and have tons of sticky notes worth of ideas for the next one! Enjoy!
Alex practically left Newhouse in the dust in his frustration. He had one destination in mind. His heart was beating faster than his tense breathing.
He slammed open the Commons room door. As usual, both Truck and Squad were sitting around. Mouch, Otis, and Cruz were on the couches watching some infomercial. Mills was behind the counter, getting small things ready to make a snack or meal of some sort.
Everyone else had either magazines, newspapers, or phones in their hands.
Alex pulled out the chair of the closest long table and stepped from it onto the table. Casey, who set his magazine down by Alex's boots, looked up at him in confusion.
"Attention everyone! Would you all stay OUT of my personal life! It would be greatly appreciated!" Alex growled.
He jumped off the table and stalked off. The room was quiet but the tension was in the air.
"What's got his panties in a twist?" Otis asked.
"Leave it alone Otis." Severide growled.
Mills abandoned his food and wiped his hands. He lifted a hand to stop Severide and Casey from getting up.
"You guys have done enough." he said simply.
Leaving the room in shock, he headed after his partner.
Alex arrived in the men's room in a rush. He paced in front of the stalls. Things were going ninety miles a second. He had gone nearly a year without even having to deal with Brian's car life and then all of a sudden, it comes back full force. He could feel a tension headache coming on.
Turning on the faucet, he splashed some cool water on his face. The frigid water seemed to clear his mind. He had to keep his cool. Cody depended on him and Brian. He had to be strong.
"If you want to talk, you know you can come to me? I'll just listen."
Alex was startled to see Herrman's reflection in the mirror. The man was standing against one of the stalls.
"I hope you washed your hands." Alex tried to joke but it fell on deaf ears. Sighing, he turned to face the fireman and crossed his arms.
"I heard your little announcement out there. I know you don't want people getting involved but you need support in this. That's all anyone here wants." Herrman told him.
Although Alex had never expressed it, he had always seen Herrman as a father figure. The man had done a lot of research after Cody's accident to see what could be done to help the O'Connor family adjust. He had even collected money to help pay for Cody's hospital bills. It was something Alex would always respect Herrman for.
"I know. Sheesh just yesterday things were quiet and all I had to worry about was Cody's grades. Now I've got people at my house that could be scamming Brian!" Alex explained, his voice raising slightly.
"See? You admit that you care about Brian. I know it must be hard but you have to rebuild that trust with Brian. It doesn't have to be complete by all means but for Cody's sake. Thinking that the two of you hate each other has to be eating him up as well." Herrman reasoned.
Alex was quiet. He knew Herrman was right. All three O'Connor brothers knew they came from a broken home. It was a no brainer.
He was sure that if there had been no accident, all of them would be on perfect terms. But Alex tried to never think like that. There was nothing he or anyone could do about that and it helped no one by dwelling on it.
"Brian and I can't even be in the same room as each other without hostility. If you thought the tension before was bad, you haven't seen anything yet." he sighed and leaned against the sink.
"Alex..."
Herrman was interrupted by the alarm going off.
"Ambulance 61. Woman in distress at 16th and Madison."
Alex ran a hand through his hair.
"Last run of the shift."
TF&TF
~3 hours later~
Brian sat on the edge of Cody's bed. The sun was beginning to come up. The Disney Cars clock on the bed side table read 6:50a.m. Cody was still fast asleep, his hair askew. Pumba was sprawled out on the other side of the bed, his head practically on the other pillow. If he had his phone, he would have snapped a shot of them. Reaching up, he pushed some loose hairs away from Cody's closed eyes. Sometimes Brian would stand at Cody's door and enjoy the seemingly quiet simplicity of the early morning.
His heart seemed to fall in his chest. When Alex was younger and Brian had the chance, he would do the same thing in the morning. It seemed like such a long time ago. Brian headed back out of the room and down the stairs at the sound of the front door shutting.
Alex was leaning against it, his eyes shut. He looked as if he had fallen asleep. A small smile appeared on Brian's face. It was a sad smile. Quietly crossing to his brother, he gently took Alex's duffle bag and set it down. Alex opened his eyes silently but said nothing.
Brian helped Alex take his jacket off before leading him to the stairs.
"Get some sleep buddy."
Alex said nothing but trudged up the stairs. He nearly stumbled at the top but caught himself.
Although they didn't get along, there were rare moments that there was peace between the two of them. They were usually when one or both of them were extremely tired. It was when they remembered how things used to be.
But they never talked about it afterwards. It was as if the anger quickly set in like the chill when one stepped out of a warm car on a frigid Chicago night.
Taking a sip of his coffee, he trotted back into the kitchen. He had to finish off the rest of his coffee in the coffee pot. Knowing that Roman had his own favorite coffee, he knew the older man wouldn't hesitate to dump Brian's.
Already in the kitchen was the quiet form of Vince.
"Dom will be glad to see you back." he quipped, grabbing the coffee pot.
"Oh spare me the lecture. I don't take orders from you." Vince practically hissed but it lacked it's usual bite. He had watched Alex trudge towards the stairs.
He was practically at a loss for words. When he had met Alex, he had never gotten a last name. It wasn't like he went around asking for the last names of everyone he met. He didn't even know Brian had a second brother. Just the reveal of Cody had been unexpected.
Brian meanwhile was observing the haggard look on Vince's face. He had no idea how long Vince had been there. It was obvious Tej or Roman had let him in. There hadn't been any arguing earlier so Brian was pretty sure it had been Tej, who was always up early for a run.
"You have to argue about everything don't you. Those snide comments mean nothing these days." Brian commented, gulping down some coffee. He had no desire to get into an argument with Vince, much less in his own house. After everything the O'Connors had been through, he didn't want that.
Taking a sip of coffee, he glanced down at his phone on the table as it rang. He let out a groan.
"Popular at 7a.m. already B?" Rome asked as he appeared at the top of his basement stairs.
Brian didn't respond. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone. The number was blocked.
"Hello?" he said, setting down his coffee mug.
"Brian, it's Joker. I've got some information on Garth. You wanna hear it?"
TBC
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