Chapter 19 "Ready! Aim! Fire!"

                                    

                                          
Shaylynn calls out to Severide, "Kelly, would you come here, please." Severide walks over to where Shaylynn is. 
"Kelly, I would like to introduce you to Stef or Lady Gaga, what ever you want to call her" Shaylynn says looking at Stef. 
"Pleasure" Severide says to Stef. 
"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine!" Stef says back to Severide, smiling at him.
A call comes in, "Engine 51, Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61, Battalion 25, multi car accident...." 
"Stef, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to go." Shaylynn says. 
"That's alright! I need to be leaving. I have to catch a flight to New York. Next time I'm in Chicago I'll give you a call." 
Shaylynn walks Stef out to her limo, they hug each other, Stef climbs in and Shaylynn closes the door. 
She then runs off and climbs into Squad since she hasn't gotten her SUV back. Thankfully Squad has a compartment that she can lock her guns up in.
                          
A few hours later the crew returns to the Firehouse. Waiting on them is Butch and the other guys. 
Great! What do they want! 
Shaylynn gets out and walks up to them, "Why are you guys here?"
Boden, Casey, and Severide walk over to where Shaylynn is. 
"The Firehouses the other guys are at, they've been asking for a while now to "see" what we can really do. Are you game Shaylynn?" Butch asks her.
Shaylynn looks at Boden, "Well Chief, would you and the crew be up to it?" All of a sudden a huge roar of "YES" comes from the stalls. 
"I think you just got your answer" Boden says smiling. 
"When do you plan on doing this?" Shaylynn asks Butch. 
"Sunday, late afternoon. That way everyone is done with church. We're also inviting families if they're interested." 
"Okay, just text me the details" Shaylynn tells Butch. 
"Will do! Oh yeah, here's the keys to your SUV. All of our vehicles received new tires. Their suppose to be bullet proof. I'll have to see it to believe it!" Butch tells Shaylynn. 
The four guys walk back to their SUV and drive off. Boden, Casey, Severide, and Shaylynn head into the Firehouse, into the common area.
"Where will this be at?" Herrmann asks Shaylynn. 
"I'm sure Butch has somewhere in mind. I can tell you it won't be in Chicago. It will more then likely be some where out in the country."
"What exactly will you be doing?" Otis asks. 
"I'm not sure what Butch has in mind. Is there anything you would like to see, Otis? I can't surprise you with "Henry" cause you've already seen him." 
"Henry?" Capp asks confused 
"My suit I wore in the hospital. I call it Henry. He has saved my life to many times to count. So Otis, is there anything you would like to see?" 
"No, not really. I've always wanted to see an Apache Helicopter up close, but I know you don't have anything to do with them." 
"If this is happening Sunday and today is Friday, we better call our families and tell them what is going on, so no one makes plans" Boden tells everyone. People start taking out their cell phones and calling their families. 
Some time later, Shaylynn is asked to come into the common area. 
"You wanted to see me, Chief." 
"Just wanted to let you know that EVERYONE is coming Sunday" Boden says with a smile. 
"That's great! Since it's toward the end of shift, would it be alright if I cut out now so I can start getting things together for Sunday?" 
"I appreciate you asking Shaylynn, but you don't work for me. You can do whatever you want" Boden tells her.
"No I can't! I have far to much respect for you to just up and leave without your permission." 
Boden smiles at her, "Go! Get! Why are you still here?" 
"Thank you, Chief! I received a text from Butch, he said for everyone who is going to be here at the Firehouse at 2 o'clock Sunday. A bus will be picking everyone up." 
Shaylynn walks over to Severide, "You'll pick up Leslie won't you?"
"Sure will! Now get out of here."
Severide gives Shaylynn a kiss, she turns around and heads out.
                          
Sunday comes around and everyone has gathered at the Firehouse to head where ever they are going to watch Shaylynn, Butch and the other guys. Four buses pull up, three are already full from the other Firehouses the other three guys are at. 
The door to the bus for 51 opens and Hank is standing there. 
"All aboard!" he tells the Firehouse Crew. 
They start getting on the bus and everyone from the Intelligence unit with family members are already on there. Once aboard, everyone takes a seat. The bus driver closes the door and the buses take off. 
It's been an hour of driving to who knows where. The buses turn down a dirt road and drive for another 15 minutes. Finally the buses start to slow down and out the windows bleachers can be seen with different things sat up. It looks like different kind of targets of all shapes and sizes.
The buses stop, everyone files out and see that Butch and the three other guys are standing there, but no Shaylynn. 
"Welcome, everyone! Please head for the bleachers and on your way pick up a pair of headphones to protect your ears" Butch says to them. 
All the Firehouses fill in the bleachers a long with the Intelligence Unit, but 51 is confused to where Shaylynn is.
"As you can see we have different targets sat up of all different shapes and sizes. The guns you see on the table are what we commonly use. Each of us will demonstrate them. PLEASE, I can't express the importance of staying in your seats while we are firing the weapons!"
Butch picks up the first gun and starts firing it. The next three guys do the samething with the other guns. This goes on for around 30 minutes, but still no Shaylynn. 
"You have seen what we have to offer. Now, please look out to the full size target of a person." 
People turn their heads to look at the life size target. They notice there's a black box underneath it. 
Butch pulls out a walkie talkie and says something into it. 
A shot rings out, 4 seconds later the head of the life size target has a hole in it. Another shot rings out and 4 seconds later the life size target explodes and fireworks go off. The little kids cheer with excitement when they see them. 
Butch says something again into the walkie talkie. 
Everyone is staring at him wondering what is going on. 
Butch smiles. 
Butch never smiles. 
"By everyone's faces I can tell you're not quite sure what just happened. That was Shaylynn who fired those shots!" 
"How far away is she?" Boden asks.
"Shaylynn is over a mile away" Butch tells everyone. 
There's a sound in the distance. 
What is that sound? Everyone is looking around. Then they see it, an Apache Helicopter coming over a hill and it's heading straight for them. 
It swoops up and all the little boys are going crazy. It circles a few times, then lands far off in the field. It cycles down, the window on the side toward the front goes up and Shaylynn climbs out. 
Otis can't believe his eyes. 
"OTIS!" Shaylynn yells at him and starts waving at him to come over. Otis' eyes get real big and everyone around him starts clapping and telling him to hurry up and get over there. People move out of his way so he can get down off the bleachers.
Otis runs over to Shaylynn, she hands him her helmet, he climbs up inside and she helps him with the belts. She climbs down and Otis closes the door.
Shaylynn backs up far enough so the pilot can start the rotors back up. She then salutes the pilot, which he does back to her. The pilot takes off and heads off into the distance with Otis on board. 
Shaylynn starts heading over to everyone else to a roar of clapping with hollers from 51. She reaches them and everyone in 51 is down out of the bleachers. 
"You've made Otis' year, Shaylynn!" Herrmann tells her. 
"Forget about year, you've made his whole entire life!" Cruz says. 
"I hope he enjoys himself" Shaylynn tells everyone. 
Casey and Dawson walk up, "How did you pull off getting that Apache?" Casey asks. 
"Knowing the right people who owe me A LOT of favors" Shaylynn tells Casey with a big smile on her face.
Severide pulls her to the side, "This is why I love you! You are always doing something for others!" He starts kissing her. 
"EEEEWWW, gross Uncle Kelly!" says Herrmann's youngest son. 
The Apache starts heading back. It starts getting closer, it gets so close that everyone can see Otis waving at them, smiling from ear to ear. Before anyone knows it, it pulls straight up, starts doing a roll and is flying upside down, then back up right again. It flies around one more time, then lands back in the field where it landed before. 
Shaylynn races back over to help Otis out. She reaches the Apache, Otis is opening the door, a long with the pilot. Otis shakes the pilot's hand and gets out of the way. Shaylynn can be seen shaking the pilot's hand, shuts the front door, while the pilot closes his. 
She grabs Otis' hand and they back up like she did before they took off. The pilot starts the rotors back up. Shaylynn salutes the pilot once again, Otis joins her and salutes the pilot also. The pilot salutes back and takes off. 
Otis turns to Shaylynn, gives her a big hug, turns to face everyone and throws his hands up in the air with excitement as he walks toward them with Shaylynn behind him. 
Otis joins the others and 51 returns to the bleachers. They all sit down, while Shaylynn goes and stands beside Butch. 
"Does anyone have any questions they would like to ask us?" Butch says.
"Have you known each other for a long time?" a guy from one of the other Firehouses asks. 
Butch answers, "We met each other when we joined the organization. Most of us are from different parts of the military. Any other questions?"
"How do you decide who does what?" asks Burgess. 
Butch answers again, "Over in the Middle East, us four guys were the ones who went into places and did sweeps, Shaylynn hung back and covered us. She's the sniper out of group. We preferred it that way. We knew that we were being well protected, while at the same time knowing that she's not in immediate danger." 
"How much can you tell us about the organization? And why did you join?" a firefighter from another firehouse asks. 
Butch and each of the guys tell why they joined, then it comes to Shaylynn. 
"I was recruited when my husband Marshall was killed in an explosion. He was a firefighter with the military. When I received news that first responders back home were being targeted, that's when I went to the head of the organization and asked if we could turn the focus of what we do to protect those back at home. I was bound and determined to make sure no more Firefighters would die at the hands of terrorists or anyone else. As for telling anything about the organization, that's a touchy subject. It's privately funded. Everyone who is a part of the organization is from a different branch of the military and from different levels. Cause of that, they can get military items." 
Butch adds, "The men in the organization who are out in the field are called Guardians. Were the few women are called Angels." 
"Does the government know about the organization?" asks Trudy. 
The four guys look at each, so Shaylynn answers the question.
"Certain officials within the government know about us, but they don't know about us." 
Everyone looks at her confused. 
"It's called plausible deniability. If something goes wrong, the government can't be blamed. But, if something goes good, the government can't take credit for it either." 
Clouds start gathering over head, a storm is heading their way. 
Butch speaks up, "I would say that this is the end with the storm coming. Would hate for everyone to get stuck out here. It starts raining, the field gets soft, those big buses aren't going any where." 
People start heading for the buses, get on, and find their seats. Shaylynn gets on the bus with everyone else. While waiting for the other buses to fill up, Shaylynn stands up at the front of the bus. 
"I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, but I want to make sure no one is scared about what I do. I have a big heart, I really do. That's why I do this, to protect the good guys. Everyone on these buses, especially this one, is my family. I will be here for my family, ALWAYS!" 
Severide looks up at her with a shocked look. Shaylynn smiles at everyone, looks at Severide and notices he has a weird look on his face. 
She sits down beside him, "Are you alright? It looks like you saw a ghost."
"It was something you said" he tells her. 
"What was it?" 
"That you will be here for your family, ALWAYS." 
"What's wrong with that?" Shaylynn asks. 
"Shay and I set some ground rules early in our friendship. The one rule she added was, that we would be there for each other, ALWAYS."
Shaylynn leans over and hugs Severide, "Kelly, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to upset you." 
"You didn't upset me. You and Shay would have been good friends. You both are a lot alike. There are times I think she sent you here to watch over the Firehouse" Severide tells her.
"And you?" Shaylynn asks him. 
"Yeah! I'm sure she's none to happy what happened to me after she died."
Casey and Dawson are sitting behind Severide and Shaylynn. Off to Shaylynn's left sits Cruz and Otis.
Dawson leans over the seats, "I have been meaning to ask you where Leslie is?" 
Severide answers, "Katie's in town, so she's watching Leslie. Doing the Aunt thing." 
Otis hears that Katie is back in town and gets an even bigger smile on his face. 
Cruz notices Otis, "Are you still smiling after riding in that Apache?"
"I just heard Severide tell Dawson that Katie is back in town." 
"Whoa, Otis! You have no idea how long she's going to stay. You don't want to get hurt again." 
"There's no harm in seeing her" Otis tells Cruz. 
Cruz tries to talk some sense into Otis, "Are you sure? Maybe she doesn't want to see you cause it will hurt to much when she has to leave." 
All the buses are finally full. They start driving out of the field and head back to Chicago.