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Stephen Vale reached out.

He sure didn't miss a beat, did he?

Don't screw up everything we've been

working so hard to rebuild.

Stay the hell away from her.

Carver has a new girlfriend.

This girl could just be a distraction.

He has no idea how you're feeling.

Engine and Squad-- that's the same crew for years.

Your rig has more turnover than the Cubs bullpen.

Why is that?

Damon!

Your lieutenant ordered you to stand down.

I know you heard her.

If you tell her, she'll fire my ass.

Damon lied to me.

You lied to me.

We can't work at the same firehouse.

One of us has to go.

Damon's not a bad kid.

There's just too much baggage here.

51 isn't the place for him.

I can't argue with that.

Good, because my mind is made up.

I'm going to Chief Pascal,

and I am telling him that I want Damon gone.

Hey.

Yes, I was angry.

But at the end of the day, you told me the truth.

And I know that you were just trying to do right by family.

Damon is going to land on his feet.

You went home with the hot guy

from your karate class? - Uh, jiu-jitsu.

And, yeah, Violet wasn't into him, so.

Wait.

Are we talking about the guy that you showed me pictures of

with the abs?

She wasn't into that?

Right?

Okay, so, how was it?

Well, it turns out, he lives with his parents.

So we all watched "Call the Midwife" together.

And I was home by 12:30.

Ooh.

Oh.

Hey, Vi.

Hey.

How's it going?

I'm fine.

Totally, totally fine.

Totally fine.

Are you, though?

I hope you're not mad about Marcelo, because,

trust me, you made the right move.

No.

When I was leaving the club last night,

I may or may not have drunk-texted Carver.

Oh, damn.

Yeah.

- "You up?" - No, worse.

I said that I missed him.

And he still hasn't texted me back.

Oh. Damn.

Yeah, I almost called in sick today.

Okay, well, whatever.

Who hasn't sent a drunk text or ten that they've regretted

in the sober light of day?

Well, maybe he just hasn't seen it yet?

Doubtful.

Or maybe it meant something to him

and he's waiting to talk to you in-person.

Knowing you guys, I bet that's it.

Hmm.

Morning, Chief.

Morning.

What did you do to your hand?

Caught a guy's belt buckle when I hit him.

Or if my wife asks, I went a little hard on the heavy bag.

Morning, Lieutenant.

Getting a jump start on the day.

Yeah, I wanted to clean the ladders before shift.

And I was hoping to catch you,

get a chance to explain what happened

on the call the other day.

- Let's talk later. - It'll just take a minute.

Later, Damon.

Truck 81, Squad 3.

All right, let's pack up that ladder, roll out.

51 to Main, we're en route.

Hold on, sweethearts.

51 to Main, we're on scene.

Copy. 51 on scene.

All right, Engine.

Lead out.

Help!

We got a victim, second floor, delta side.

Engine 51 to Truck 81,

what's your ETA?

Two minutes out.

All right, we can't wait that long.

The whole building's gonna be in flames by then.

Doherty, Clarence, you cover us.

Ritter, grab your Halligan.

We're going in.

Ritter, break the door!

Copy.

Good job.

Fire department! Call out!

In here!

Hey! You all right?

Let's get you out of here.

Come on.

Anybody else in here?

I'm not sure.

I can clear the rest of the room.

- All right. Do it quick! - All right.

Come on.

Fire department, call out!

- I got him. - Okay.

I got you.

Chief, we're just clearing out

the rest of that second floor.

But that--that smoke is getting pretty angry.

Ritter, evacuate now!

Copy that. I'm on my--

Ritter!

Ritter, can you hear me?

Truck, primary search on one!

Squad, mask up.

Secondary search on floor two.

Let's move! - We got you, pal.

Clarence, let's get another line on this.

- Copy. - Pulse is tachy.

Let's pull him out to do a workup.

- Field strip him right now. - Yep.

Ritter, hang tight.

You got this. You're doing great.

You're doing great.

We got you, pal.

Novak, hold C-spine.

Ritter, there was a blast.

You fell out of the building.

But you're okay.

Pupils are equal and reactive.

Okay.

Lungs are clear bilaterally.

All right, he's stable.

We have to get him to Med to do a full workup

and rule out any internal injuries.

Here, I got him.

Get him to the rig on three. One, two, three.

There we go.

Okay, let's get him out of here.

Chief.

Go. We got this handled. You go.

You thinking gas explosion?

Gas leak ignited by a pilot light?

Maybe.

You guys finish up here.

I'm gonna take a look upstairs.

Copy.

Hey, you gotta stay back. You can't be in here.

My parents own this building, the restaurant.

What happened?

There was a kitchen fire, led to an explosion upstairs.

My parents speak some English,

but I help with the rest.

We got an alert that the alarm went off

and got here as fast as we could.

How did the fire start?

It's too soon to tell.

Thank God no one was here when it happened.

There was one person we pulled out.

Who?

I don't know.

A younger guy, brownish hair, beard.

I don't know. He's on his way to Med.

He's getting checked out for smoke inhalation.

That's Cody.

Cody rented the apartment upstairs from us.

But he was a bad tenant.

He threw ragers at night, refused to pay his rent.

My parents were finally able to get him evicted last week.

What was he doing back here?

Squad 3 to 51, a couple of bays flared up.

I need a hose line back here.

Hey, you guys stay back.

This is still an active fire.

How's Ritter?

He's all right for now, alert and aware.

They're gonna run a CT scan on him.

And a couple more tests,

some blood work to check for his internal injuries.

I'll tell you, that is one tough kid.

That fall would have cracked me in half.

Hey--

Hey, Chief, you have a sec?

I do.

I wanted to let you know, Ritter is doing good.

We're keeping tabs on him, seeing how he improves.

That's good to hear. Thanks for the update.

There is something else I want to talk to you about.

Go ahead.

I need to put Jack Damon back in the floater pool.

You've never mentioned any issues

with him in your reports.

From what I see, Damon's a solid firefighter.

He can be, yeah.

But I just found out that he disobeyed

a direct order on that speedboat call last shift.

Then he lied about it.

And there have been some questions

about his honesty in the past too.

If there were problems, I shouldn't

just be hearing about it now.

You're right.

I should have flagged it sooner.

And once again, there's turnover on your rig.

That is true.

And I don't want to make excuses.

Then don't.

As chief, I'm the one who makes the final decision

about who stays and who goes in the firehouse.

And I'll decide if your leadership

is part of the problem.

Dismissed.

Let me talk to Pascal.

I'll tell him the whole Damon situation is on me.

No way.

It will only make me look weaker.

And I appreciate the offer.

Pascal will think you're doing it

because we're married, which he has already

raised that as an issue.

We can't do nothing.

We got ourselves into this.

We got to just let it play out,

hope that Pascal arrives at the right decision.

Van Meter.

Hmm.

Hey, Captain.

All right, copy that.

Yeah, I'll check in with Chief Pascal,

and I'll meet you over at OFI.

Okay.

Hey, was that about the restaurant fire?

Van Meter says he's got some evidence

he wants me to take a look at.

They think that it's more than just an accident?

He's not sure yet. He alerted PD too.

But it's not their top priority since no one was badly hurt.

What?

Ritter could have been killed!

It's only by the grace of God that he landed in those bushes!

Listen.

If this was arson,

you need to find out who did it.

- Keep me posted. - Same.

Any trouble clearing this with the new chief?

No, I got the full go-ahead.

You weren't expecting that?

Yeah, never know with him.

Pascal's kept a tight rein on things since he got here.

Every chief likes to put their stamp on a new house.

But the guy I worked with years ago

always did right by his crew.

Not a surprise he'd do that now.

You know him?

Yeah, he helped us out on a couple of cases

back in the day-- hell of a firefighter,

loved getting his hands dirty.

So your hunch was right.

The fire started in the restaurant kitchen downstairs.

Apparently, this place had people

lined up around the block,

specialized in Hong Kong street food.

This was the gas line that ran upstairs

through the apartment.

Well, if the downstairs fire severed

the line inside the wall, the gas would rise

and build up, just waiting for a spark.

Damn.

Ritter's lucky to be alive. - Mm.

You're Lieutenant Severide?

Cody.

Yeah, I called your firehouse,

and they said you were here.

What the hell did you tell the Chens?

Whoa, what are you talking about?

I'm Captain Van Meter, Head of the Office

of Fire Investigation.

Why don't you back up, tell us what this is about.

I was getting treated when David rolled up

to my hospital room, talking all kinds of crazy.

And he accused me of setting the fire.

Why would he think you did this?

Because the Chens raised the rent on me,

by, like, a stupid amount.

And, yeah, I was angry.

Did you make any threats?

I might have.

But I wasn't dumb enough to burn the place down.

What the hell were you doing there this morning?

I left some stuff behind.

So I dropped by this morning to grab it.

Next thing I knew, the building was lit up.

Did you hear or see anyone while you were there?

Yeah, right before the smoke started.

I heard a car peeling away.

Did you catch the make or model?

No.

I was trying to get in and out of there fast.

Last thing I wanted to do was run into the Chens

and get caught up in their drama.

What drama?

The old couple was always arguing, night and day.

I was glad to get out of there.

You were looking for me, Chief?

I was. Have a seat.

I heard there was an issue between you

and Lieutenant Kidd on that boat call last shift.

I wanted to hear your take.

Oh, okay.

There was sort of a...

miscommunication, I guess you'd say.

What kind of miscommunication?

Well...

I thought I was following orders,

but it turns out, I was wrong.

Were Lieutenant Kidd's orders unclear?

To be honest, sometimes she's clear.

But sometimes, she's not.

Look, I'll admit, I'm still pretty green.

I only have a couple years on the job.

But I just want to get better.

I'm trying to do the right thing, Chief.

I just don't always know what that is with her.

Hey, I just got a text from Dwayne.

He's at Med with Ritter. Okay.

"X-rays came back normal. No internal damage."

- Oh, thank God. - Mm-hmm.

And he's going in for the CT scan now.

Okay.

Still no text back from Carver?

Nope.

Yeah, I tried to bring it up with him earlier.

He practically sprinted away from me.

Well, whatever.

He's doing you a favor.

Oh, yeah? How, exactly?

He's letting you off the hook.

He's pretending he never got the text.

Well, if that is the case,

then I can just pretend I never sent it,

and that I am not some smitten idiot.

Hey, smitten idiots are the best kind.

Ambulance 61, child injured.

Unknown causes, 375 West Superior.

He's inside, in the bedroom.

It's my grandson, Oliver.

I watch him after school every Wednesday

while my daughter works late.

We were playing, and I got a phone call.

And I was only gone a minute.

What kind of pills are in here?

Mainly anti-anxiety.

Benzos.

How many did he take?

All of them.

I just filled the container this morning.

Six minutes out. How's he doing?

Sats are dropping.

Come on, let's go!

Move your asses!

Are you kidding me?

Whoa, hang on, hang on.

Oh, crap.

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

What happened?

Pothole must've knocked something loose.

Oh, damn it.

61 to Main, we broke down.

Our patient is a red.

Can you send an ambo to 35th and Union?

61, no units available right now.

Will update.

He's going into respiratory arrest!

All right, grab the small pediatric i-gel.

We can't wait.

Stay tough, Oliver.

You're gonna be okay.

Okay.

Let's try that.

Okay, come on.

Yes, okay!

Hang on back there.

Here we go.

Did the chief say anything else?

No.

I know he had a conversation with Damon,

but I got no idea what the upshot was.

I'm just trying not to go crazy here.

Van Meter thinks pretty highly of Pascal.

Maybe this will all shake out the right way.

We'll see.

Okay, well, I got to run.

PD still hasn't budged on taking the case,

so I'm going full fire cop.

You got this, Kelly Severide.

Severide around?

He's at OFI.

Huh, well, I was gonna go finish up with those ladders,

if that's cool with you?

Go for it.

Lieutenant Kelly Severide.

You and your parents have a minute to talk?

Okay. Come on in.

I hope you weren't waiting long.

I had to drive my dad to a doctor's appointment,

on top of everything else today.

I took the day off to help them get it all sorted.

You don't work at the restaurant?

Sometimes I do.

But I've also got a part-time gig

at a boutique on Oak Street.

What about Cody?

We're still looking into it.

There's nothing tying him to it yet.

My dad thinks it was him.

Yeah, I get that.

But the fire started in the kitchen,

so we need to prove that Cody was there.

Were any of you guys at the restaurant this morning?

No, no. We don't open that early.

Why?

Cody heard a car pull out.

He also said that he's been overhearing

your parents fighting a lot and that they raised the rent.

Was your family having any money troubles?

No.

Business was good.

Always a crowd.

What was the fighting about?

This is private, between husband and wife.

If I don't get answers, it's just gonna

make things harder for them.

My mom wanted to sell,

but my dad built this place from nothing.

So he wanted to keep it.

They had different opinions.

Do you guys have any idea how the fire may have started?

What do you mean, it's your fault?

What is she saying?

My mom has this old rice cooker.

It's been on the fritz.

She thinks she left it on last night,

and it shorted out and caused the fire.

You think it was the rice cooker.

How would that happen?

Hey, what are you doing here?

I heard you're checking out soon.

But you need our approval too.

Yeah, they're sure there's no damage to your spine

after landing on your tank like that?

Let's take a look at the bruising here.

Hey, okay. Stop.

No. Stop, stop.

I have been thoroughly examined.

Meanwhile, what the hell have you been up to?

Oh.

Oh, just my bad-ass partner beating our rig into submission

so we could save a kid's life.

No, Novak saved him. I just got us here.

If we had been a minute later,

the reversal agent might not have worked.

I talked to Severide,

asked him to loop me in on the investigation.

He says if he finds anything actionable,

he'll let me know.

Oh, good. You didn't slip into a coma.

So you're breaking out of here soon, huh?

Yeah, I should be, but people keep stopping by.

Well, I can only stay for a sec.

I took a detour with the rig while I was gassing it up.

But before I forget, Cindy made baked ziti.

And she wants to bring it by your place later.

Are you gonna be home?

She didn't have to do that.

I am not that badly hurt.

I will be back next shift.

Are you crazy?

You don't say no to Cindy's baked ziti.

Well, I mean, we'll take it off your hands

if Ritter doesn't want it, because we do

have the rest of the shift--

Whoa, easy, I never said that.

He actually never said that.

Hey, Chief.

Ritter's been released.

Violet just sent me a list of all his test results.

Oxygen levels normal, heart rate normal,

blood pressure normal.

So all normal?

Yes, indeed.

That's really good news.

I've been impressed with what I've seen so far from you,

Mouch, a guy who's been on the job as long as you have,

still pushing yourself to the next level.

Well, thanks, Chief.

It's been a challenge,

but I'd like to think I'm up for it.

Would you be willing to take the test

and step up to lieutenant if I needed you?

Of course, yeah.

But there's no room at 51 for another lieutenant.

Well, not just yet, but stay ready.

You never know.

Rice cookers have a fail-safe.

They're designed to turn off automatically

once the food inside is cooked.

What if the sensor is broken?

Then it won't stop heating.

The food inside will eventually burn and ignite.

The fire will spread, and if left unchecked...

This is where Helen said the rice cooker would be.

I don't see anything.

If the cooker caught on fire,

it would have melted into the table.

This table is empty.

Check this out.

Charred plastic.

There's more over here too.

It's the rice cooker.

With a debris radius like that, this thing didn't burn.

It exploded. - Yeah.

How the hell does that happen?

Hey, Mouch.

What's up?

Everything okay with you and the chief?

Why would you ask that?

I don't know.

There's just some weird tension in the air.

And it kind of feels like it's around the two of you.

You're not wrong.

I went to the chief,

and I asked to have Damon transferred out.

Damon has not been honest about a bunch of things.

Is that what the fight after the boat call was about?

Yeah.

But Chief Pascal, he rejected my request.

In fact, he threw it back in my face,

and he pointed to the turnover on Truck

and questioned my leadership.

So now I'm the one on the chopping block.

So Chloe and I checked in on Ritter

a couple hours ago, but he was all set up.

Dwayne took the day off to take care of him.

- He is literally the best. - I know.

I keep forgetting he's a cop.

I hope he never has to arrest me.

That would be so embarrassing.

So, hey, how'd Ritter seem to you?

You think he was planning on coming back next shift?

As far as I know.

He seemed pretty pumped about that fire,

you know, getting to be the first one on scene.

Hey, Herrmann,

a couple of tequila shots to start things off.

All right, coming right up.

Everyone, this is Tory.

Tory, that's Herrmann, Cruz, Novak, and Violet.

- Hi. - Hey, y'all.

I heard the ambo broke down on a call,

and you fixed it on the spot.

Oh, yeah, it was just the ambo battery,

which I remember you helped me get going

when my own car broke down.

Well, I'm sure you would have figured it out for yourself.

Well, glad to meet y'all,

especially the famous Violet.

Hey, anybody else want in?

No, I'm actually gonna get going.

Long day. I'm gonna call it.

Glad we could finally meet.

Me too.

Sorry I'm late.

Some personnel issues that--

What is it?

I got a call from Ally Nuñez.

Her husband works at 118, remember?

Okay?

She was at some fundraiser the other night,

Stephen Vale's place.

Dom, did you go to his house and hit him?

Yes.

Aww.

You got jealous?

I did.

Hot-headed man.

Mm-mm. Ignore it.

They don't want to give up.

What the hell?

Sorry for bothering you at home, Chief.

What is it, Mouch?

You were right, what you said.

I am dead set on becoming a lieutenant

before my career is over.

And that's because I have been lucky enough

to be inspired by some of the best lieutenants in the CFD,

like Stella Kidd.

And you came to my house to tell me this?

I didn't want you to make any decisions before you saw these.

Her record speaks for itself.

And since I know you believe knowledge is power,

I took the liberty of pulling

some of her older records for you,

especially those concerning turnover.

All I ask is that you take a look.

Thank you, sir.

And, again, I am sorry for the interruption.

Okay, Captain, got the public records

for David Chen that you requested

and the latest chem analysis from the scene.

- Thanks, Flanagan. - Thank you.

Anything stand out?

David wasn't lying.

The restaurant was doing well.

But I see here, he did try to take out

a second loan on his home.

He got into some financial troubles,

decided the best way out was to drive over to the restaurant

when his family was busy and handle it himself.

The lab found large quantities of mineral turpentine

and petroleum distillate inside of the rice cooker.

Paint thinner, on the inside?

Someone turned this cooker into a bomb.

- See you tonight. - Mm-hmm.

- Have a good day. - Mm-hmm.

Hey, hon.

I thought that was you.

You know, you left in such a rush the other night,

we hardly got a chance to talk.

Yeah, sorry about that.

I was--I was pretty beat.

You know, I just wanted to say,

I know you're still carrying a torch for Sam.

But texting him sweet nothings at midnight,

I am not cool with that.

You better believe I deleted it.

I already lost that guy once,

and I am not going to let it happen again.

So maybe next time you have an impulse

to send another sad late-night text,

you just put yourself to bed, okay?

Cool.

Sam said you were really smart.

So I knew you'd get it.

Hey, Chief.

Thanks for coming in early.

- Yeah. - Have a seat.

No problem.

Here for whatever you need.

I wanted to let you know,

I'm putting you back in the floater pool.

What?

Wait--wait a minute.

I mean, I know I've made some mistakes,

but I'm not the only one.

You said so yourself.

I've learned a lot since we spoke,

both about the house and Lieutenant Kidd.

Now, I was concerned when you first said

the lieutenant wasn't decisive,

but then I went over the moment in the restaurant call,

when she thought Ritter was hurt.

She didn't miss a beat.

Still gave clear orders to the rig.

She was clear on that call, yes.

But-- - I looked into her past calls,

and I learned very much the same.

You've broken the trust with your lieutenant,

and there's no getting it back.

Dismissing you from this firehouse is the only option.

Oh! Hero in the house!

Whoa, everyone, everyone, calm down.

I heard you grabbed a Halligan

and popped those hinges like a pro.

But let's be honest.

The real hero here is the shrub you fell onto.

So we brought you back a souvenir.

We named it Reggie Bush.

You guys are the worst.

Oh, I missed the presentation!

Oh.

Don't do your own stunts again, okay?

Mm-hmm.

Hey, is that Dwayne I saw in the briefing room?

Yeah, Severide asked him here this morning,

said there's a breakthrough in the case.

You said there's an update on the fire?

We found evidence confirming it was arson.

I thought it was an accident.

The rice cooker didn't burn.

It was rigged to blow.

That's crazy.

Who would do that?

Your mother?

She wanted to sell the restaurant, correct?

But when your father refused, she decided to burn it down

and collect the insurance money.

Mom didn't do this.

Stop it.

Yes.

I did.

What?

No, no.

She doesn't know what she's saying.

I get wanting to protect your family, believe me.

But you can't save them from themselves.

Cody heard a car that morning outside the restaurant,

someone who had access,

someone who drives.

We're pulling up CCTV from the area right now.

Who do you think we're gonna find on it?

Or we can arrest your mom right now.

I did it.

Why?

We gave you everything.

Including the restaurant, once your parents retired?

That's why you wanted to hold on to it.

But she wanted something different.

Is that true?

I didn't know how to tell you.

You and Mom were fighting so much.

This way, you could just take the insurance money and retire.

And I could live my own life.

Which is why you wanted to sell

and why you took the blame.

Did you know?

I do.

Grace was unhappy.

No. - Let's go.

No.

No, no, no, no.

No.

Sad situation there.

Mm.

You know, after you got launched out of that window,

on the way to Med, I don't know who texted Dwayne,

but he just about beat us there.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

The look of worry on his face when he came running in?

You got a good one there.

- I do. - Yeah.

Don't screw it up.

Trying not to.

Lieutenant.

Yes, Chief?

Damon's done at 51.

There's a floater on shift today.

But I'm gonna let you decide who permanently fills

the spot on Truck.

That--that's--

thank you, Chief.

I appreciate that.

Let's make sure this one lasts, okay?

You'll get a job at another firehouse.

This is the best thing for you.

Trust me. - Trust you?

I came to 51 because I wanted to get to know you,

learn from you.

But you abandoned me the first chance you got.

And you were too busy working an arson case

than to help me out when I needed you the most.

You think you put Benny in the past?

You are Benny.