A week had gone by and Henri still hadn't seen or heard hide nor hair from Dean. Not an apology. Not an update on whether or not he'd be bringing her her stuff, like she'd asked him to about ten times since he drove off last week. Not even a 'how you doing?' had graced her phone since last she saw him and honestly she was getting a little fed up with his behaviour.

Henri knew when Sam said to give Dean time to adjust to her decision to stay in Chicago, he meant longer than a week. He probably also meant for her not to badger him like she'd been doing, but she just couldn't help it. He was her twin brother. Her literal other half, who'd been by her side from the day they were conceived and all she wanted from him was at least a smidge of approval as to her wanting to start a new life.

Instead she'd just been left to stew in the words he'd fired her way before doing what he does best and storming off. Ignoring her text messages. Sending her calls to voicemail. Every little thing he could think of to make Henri want to drive to Bobby's and smack some sense into her idiotic brother.

Which, come to think of it, is probably exactly why he was doing all of that. As though he wanted her to drive out there just to see what she was leaving behind. But she wouldn't be giving him the satisfaction of doing that, which is exactly why if she had to continue to call him fourteen times a day, she would.

It's like he was doing this specifically to get back at her for... God knows what, she hadn't done anything to him last she checked. Well, expect saying yes to Lucifer. But could he really blame her? He was the one who had to physically carry her away from the body of the love of her life as he lay dead on the floor so he could at least understand why she felt the need to get away from that life.

Even just for a little while as the more time Henri spent away from her brothers, from Bobby, she grew to miss them greatly and began to wonder just how long it would be before she rocked up to the house and asked to be brought back in. But she was kind of hoping it wouldn't get to that as not only would hunting more than likely push her to the brink, she was really enjoying life at fifty-one and was excited to see what the future held for her there.

"So what, did you like... donate it to those people who turn hair into wigs? Or whatever?" Cruz waved his hand in front of him, glancing to his side towards Henri as the two of them leaned against the truck, cleaning mud off their boots with a brush that looked dirtier than the actual boots themselves.

"No." Henri chuckled, shaking her head and setting her slightly less muddy boots down in front of her. "I just... Wanted a change, that's all." She added, shrugging her shoulders and staring down at her smudged hands, her mind flashing back to all the times they'd looked exactly like that after she'd just dug up a grave.

"I'm just asking." Cruz held up his hands in defence, his fingers curled around the brush handle, dirty water dripping down the length of it and rolling across his palm. "It's a lot of hair to cut off in one go. And most of the time when a woman cuts off that much hair... She's going through something. Or she's donating it to make wigs."

"Oh yeah?" Henri tilted her head, an amused scoff leaving the back of her throat. All she did was go from having waist length hair to shoulder length... A week ago and yet they were still asking about it. Honestly, you think she'd grown two heads with how the guys were reacting. "Which magazine article did you pull that one from? One written by a man, I'm assuming."

"Hey... Uh, my...my name is Peter Mills." A relatively shy sounding voice caught both firefighters' attention, Henri's eyes squinting a little as she shielded them from the sun, looking up at the young man now standing before them, his body clad in a CFD uniform. "I'm the new candidate on Truck 81."

"Oh fantastic." Cruz perked up, grabbing hold of his boots and getting to his feet. "Joe Cruz..." He motioned to himself with the dirty brush before pointing it towards Henri, making her swat it away before he got her even more covered in mud than she already was. "That's Henri Winchester... don't ask her about her hair, she gets sensitive."

"Eat me, Cruz." Henri mumbled, easily hearing the amused chuckle that left Cruz's lips as he led Mills further into the firehouse, the poor kid more than likely going to end up taking over the tour Otis was giving inside.

The one he'd tried to ask Henri to give instead as he wasn't "good with kids" or whatever nonsense he'd babbled. But neither was she, which is exactly why she'd told him no almost immediately after the question passed his lips. And she didn't even give in to the puppy dog eyes he fired her way afterwards either.

She'd been around Sam long enough for those types of looks to no longer work on her, which is why Otis would need to try much harder if he wanted her to do things for him.

Standing from the edge of the truck, Henri stretched out her back, something beneath her skin popping loudly as she did, inciting relief from the stiffness of her body. You'd think firefighting would be a lot more strenuous than hunting was, but it turns out it wasn't as she was finding herself to be a lot stiffer than she usually was. Maybe her age was finally catching up to her or maybe her body just wasn't used to not being thrown across the room by angry spirits, but whatever it was, Henri was finding herself in great need of a massage.

Ding.

Fumbling for her phone in hopes that Dean had wised up and texted her back, Henri was met with only a little disappointment when her eyes found her screen. It wasn't Dean, she should have known that but it was Otis, which is why she couldn't be fully disappointed. Not when he was texting her just to gloat about passing off his tour to the nervous, young candidate as she'd wished him good luck in finding anyone stupid enough to take over for him.

Otis: New candidate, 0. Brian Zvonecek, 1.

Henri: I'm not gonna congratulate you on dumping your tour on the poor newbie if that's what you're hoping for.

Otis: :(

Chuckling to herself, Henri clicked out of their rather long message thread for them only knowing each other a week and one day. She never normally texted someone this much, nor did she like to but when it came to Otis, she didn't overly mind. If anything it was nice as it offered her somewhat of a distraction as to what she would otherwise be thinking.

Her eyes scanned the short list of messages present on her phone, mainly just Otis. Mouch; who would often ask her for advice before he passed on information to other hunters about monsters they were hunting, Sam; who kept her updated on Dean and his childish behaviour and Dean himself, who was yet to text her back and the only incoming message she had from him was the coordinates from last week.

Seriously, she'd never come across someone as petty as Dean Winchester.

Pressing the little phone icon next to his name, Henri brought her phone up to her ear, not surprised to just keep hearing it ring... And ring... Until eventually it went to voicemail. She knew Dean purposely declined the call as it didn't ring long enough for him just to have missed it, and truthfully? That made her more annoyed than him ignoring her all together.

"This is Dean's other, other cell... You know what to do." Beep.

Henri sighed, locking her phone as there was no use in leaving him a voicemail when he wasn't going to bother listening to it. She'd wasted enough of her breath in trying to get through to him and if he wouldn't get his head out of his ass just long enough for her to explain herself, then fine, because she was done trying.

A little while later, upon their arrival back to the firehouse after a rather exciting call that ended with their new candidate tackling a hit and run driver to the ground, Henri was less than surprised to see she still hadn't received any new messages from Dean. She knew she said she was done trying, but that didn't mean she still wasn't hopeful about him coming to his senses.

With a deep sigh, she hung her jacket up on the side of the truck, climbing out of her gear at a pace that would get her fired should she use it when climbing into them.

"Hey, you okay?" Otis asked quietly, Henri's head slowly moving towards the direction of his voice as a glaze cast over her eyes, hiding the true sadness she had deep behind them. She hadn't even noticed Otis climbing out of the truck after her as he usually climbed out the other side, but she was always ready to put on a facade whenever she needed to.

"Yeah." Henri smiled, slipping her feet back into her boots. "Just stiff is all... Think I need a massage to loosen me up a little." She added humorously, stretching out her joints to make it a little more believable.

"Don't we all?" Otis agreed, chuckling softly to himself as a small smile rose on his lips, his eyes involuntarily moving past Henri as he never could look her in the eye for longer than a few seconds.

Was he developing a crush on her? Maybe. But was he repressing it as she was way, way out of his league and he knew he'd never stand a chance with someone like her? Absolutely.

This is why he preferred texting her as at least that way she couldn't see the way she had him smiling.

"You gotta stop worrying about me, Brian." Henri said softly, snapping Otis's attention back towards her as she took a small step closer, bringing her hand up and lightly ghosting her thumb over the space between his eyebrows. "You're gonna get worry lines."

Henri didn't even linger long enough to see what that simple touch almost did to Otis. Which was floor him. The second he felt that gentle brush of her thumb his knees almost gave out from beneath him, his heart hammering beneath his chest so hard that he thought it might implode.

No, it was probably for the best that Henri didn't stick around afterwards or he would have more than likely got down on his knees and pledged his undying fidelity to her as if she was some sort of God. Although little did he know she was more like the Devil.

Upon entering the common room, ignoring the arguing she heard on her way in from Casey and Severide as she couldn't be bothered dealing with all that testosterone as she'd had enough of that for one lifetime, Henri soon got the urge to bake. She didn't know why. Wasn't sure what brought it on but it always was something she liked to do.

Maybe that's why Dean was so pissed at her. Now she wouldn't be around to make him pie whenever he wanted.

Perhaps it was the arguing itself that made her want to bake. A batch of her famous cupcakes used to always go down a treat with her brothers, the instant she started making them had them both stop their petty squabbles and behave like good little children for once, so here's hoping it worked for the guys too as she'd just heard Chief Boden yell at them to give over.

As Henri gathered up what she needed for her famous chocolate cupcakes, thanking anyone but the useless God that the house had all the ingredients she needed, the common room doors soon opened, Otis trailing through them like a lost little puppy with a pout pulling down on that cute face of his.

"Brian?" Henri questioned, her head tilting a little as Otis looked up from the ground, becoming the definition of 'turn that frown upside down' the second he saw her. It was only a small smile though, as he didn't quite have the energy for anything more. "You okay?"

"I guess." Otis sighed, delving further into the room and coming to rest his elbows upon the kitchen counter, brow furrowed a little over the array of ingredients Henri had out in front of her.

The whole time she'd been here she'd never once stepped foot into the kitchen unless it was to steal Mouch's secret stash of M&M's so to see her cooking, well that was strange to say the least.

"What's up?" Henri cracked a few eggs into a bowl as she spoke, beginning to whisk them as Otis let out another deep sigh, running his hands down his face before resting his arms lengthways across the metal beneath him.

"Nothing... It's just..." Otis's eyes drifted from Henri, falling on the sign behind her as he debated whether or not to bring it up. He didn't want to sound pathetic in front of her, getting so worked up over something as silly as his name, but at the same time, Henri gave off a certain energy that made him unable to do anything else but want to talk to her. "I wish the guys would start calling me by my name instead of calling me Otis all the time that's all."

"Did you ask them to stop calling you Otis?" Henri asked, mirroring his position as she stopped what she was doing.

"Yeah... But they just keep telling me that I'm still Otis." He exhaled, pushing himself off the counter as his attitude changed, his head shaking a little as though getting rid of the thoughts about what people called him. "Whatever... It's stupid. What are you making?"

"Cupcakes." Henri replied, following Otis with her eyes as he rounded the counter towards her, his own eyes a little wider at her response. She took hold of his arm, drawing his attention from the cupcake mix as he came to a standstill next to her. "For the record, it's not stupid wanting to be called by your actual name, you know."

"I know." Otis nodded, his heart dancing in his chest once again over her touch. "I just wish they would."

"I know you do." Henri said softly, trying to hide the pity behind her eyes as she knew that wasn't what he wanted when he told her. "But hey, I call you Brian, that's something, right?"

"Yeah." Otis smiled, a small one, one that barely gave him his dimples, but it was enough to make Henri satisfied with her attempts at helping cheer him up. "Yeah, it's something." He whispered and had this been a cartoon, hearts would have sprang out of his eyes as he simply gazed at her.

Although unfortunately for him, Henri was completely oblivious to his obvious heart eyes. Or she was choosing to ignore them... It was probably that one. But Otis liked to live in a constant state of denial so he'd go with oblivious.

"Exactly. Now forget about them, I'm the only one who matters now." Henri joked, shrugging her shoulders playfully whilst scanning the counter for the pack of cupcake cases that looked like they'd been in the cupboard since before her mother burned on the ceiling.

She soon found them, lifting the pack and tossing it once in her hand before passing it to Otis, still completely unaware of the way he was looking at her. As though hearts were floating around her head and a bright white light emanated from behind her, as though he'd been stabbed by a morgul blade and she was an elf here to save him.

"Here, fill the tray with these for me and not only will I let you lick the bowl, but you'll get first dibs on whichever cupcake you want once they're ready." Her voice snapped Otis's from his smitten induced thoughts, the hearts poofing from away from around her as he shook them from his head.

"You had me at lick the bowl." Otis said in a half whisper, unable to find his true voice as she'd all but rendered him speechless by just existing.

The cupcake baking continued, the smell of them in the oven drifted through the firehouse which soon had an audience gather in the common room, watching like hungry hawks as Henri worked away at making the frosting, which Otis kept stealing tastes of anytime she wasn't looking.

Or so he thought. Really she had noticed him but didn't have the heart to scold him. Yet. She might have to as he was pushing him limit as to how much he could take.

"She's pretty... She bakes... Girl, you are all kinds of perfect, you know that?" Shay teased, leaning her elbows against the counter as she told Henri all the things Otis wished he could tell her.

Part of him was glad Henri was straight as he would not have been able to compete with Shay to win her affections.

"Guilty." Henri chuckled, absently smacking Otis's hand away from her bowl of frosting before turning to him, innocence clouding his blushing face. "Stop. Eating. All. The. Frosting."

"But it's so good." Otis pouted like a petulant child, folding his arms and sulking when Henri covered the bowl.

"I know it is. But if you keep eating it, there's going to be none left for the cupcakes." Henri pointed out, making Otis sigh before he slumped down on the counter and focused his eyes on the timer, trying really hard to see if maybe he'd developed the ability to fast forward time.

"Speaking of cupcakes... When can we expect to eat them?" Mouch asked, glancing over his shoulder and earning an unamused frown from Henri.

"Seriously. It's like you guys have never had cupcakes before." She chuckled, shaking her head as she went back to wiping up the mess Otis had made when she allowed him to sift the flour.

"You'll soon come to learn that this house is all about food." Casey said in a hushed tone towards her, making her mumble in agreement under her breath.

Luckily she was used to things being all about food as she'd lived with Dean her whole life and she wouldn't be lying if she said she wasn't a foodie herself.

Time ticked by slowly, each minute feeling painfully slower than it should be as firehouse fifty-one waited on the cupcakes. Even the Chief had come in from his office, his taste buds curious as to the source of the delightful aroma that had reached his office.

Eventually the timer buzzed, everyone in the room sitting up from their slouches as their eyes widened. Henri grabbed the oven mitts, crouching down behind the counter to carefully lift the tray from the oven as she knew if she dropped it there'd be literal hell on earth. And she should know. She's been to hell.

At that point, the common room doors opened, automatically gaining the attention of those in the room, all of whom seemed a touch confused at the appearance of the older man who'd just stepped foot into their firehouse.

He looked extremely out of place, from his plaid shirt, to the tatty, stain covered brown jacket that layered over it. Even the cap, that was a little torn around the edges and covered in oil smudges, that sat atop his head stood out, making them feel like he should be out living on a farm rather than in a city like Chicago.

A few of them also couldn't help but think that maybe he was homeless and had wandered into the firehouse seeking shelter. But from his surprisingly neat beard and clean hands, they quickly came to suspect otherwise.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss that smell." His voice was a little deep and grumbly, the smile on his face and the words he chose to speak confusing the others more than his appearance alone had.

They exchanged looks, none of them having a chance to say anything as the second the first word left his mouth Henri had shot up from behind the counter, the tray of cupcakes going abandoned in front of her as she pulled off the oven mitts. She walked slowly into the main room, her lip a little wobbly, her eyes beginning to glisten with tears as she came to stand in front of the strange man, hesitating for a second just to breathe before she threw her arms around him and hugged him with all her strength.

A gentle sob left the back of Henri's throat, her eyes squeezed shut as she forced herself not to cry. Just seeing Bobby again after so long, after the two hundred years she had spent in Hell, which to him was only two, thinking he was dead was enough to make her forget all about baking. Her mind flashed back to that day in the cemetery, the way she had felt his neck snap under her own hand, making her cry out inside her own head which had only made Lucifer laugh.

Seeing Bobby die was different to seeing her brothers die. Sure, with them it still hurt but she had grown accustomed to the fact that they seemed to have a tendency to come back, as though the three of them were cursed to have to live out their tragic life. But when it came to others. To those around them. Well they never were so lucky as to be resurrected, so when she saw Bobby die that day, she assumed that that would be it.

"Easy there, kid. I ain't made like I used to be." Bobby grumbled beneath her hold as Henri all but squeezed the life out of him.

"Sorry." She sniffled, pulling back immediately but keeping a firm grip on the sleeves of his jacket, using her shoulders to wipe at her eyes like she'd done before when it had been Castiel standing in front of her. "I just... I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"You and me both." Bobby said softly, cupping her face with one hand like he used to do all the time when she cried when she was younger.

Like all the times John had dumped her on him and taken the boys hunting because girls didn't hunt. He was all for teaching her how to properly use weapons but God forbid she actually wanted to use one, then it was a problem.

"What the hell were you thinking, Henri?" Bobby asked, his eyes squinted in question as Henri's dropped to the floor, closing lightly as she should have known that would be the first question he'd ask her.

She hadn't thought of Bobby in her decision to say yes. All she'd thought about at that moment was herself and the unfathomable pain she felt inside her.

The others simply listened, waiting for Henri to give him an answer. They didn't know what else to do and they were rather curious as to the context in which the unlikely pairing of... Friends? Family? Whatever Henri and this strange man were to each other, they were rather intrigued by what they could possibly be talking about.

"I wasn't thinking." Henri murmured, that crushing weight of why she'd said yes in the first place, compressing her chest once again. "At least not with my head."

"You Winchesters never do think with your heads, and that's the problem." Bobby replied around a gentle sigh, not meaning to sound like he was scolding her as he wasn't. He just didn't like having to be told that the closest thing he had to a daughter had willingly dived head first into Hell.

Henri took a breath, a shallow, shaky breath as she looked back up, her mind having cleared a little in that moment which allowed her to remember that she was not in a place in which she could openly talk about what had happened. She released her grip from Bobby's jacket, turning her head as his hand dropped from her face, his eyes following hers towards the moustached man behind the counter.

"Will you set the cupcakes out to cool for me?" Henri asked, her voice a little crackly and had she not been overwhelmed with enough feelings she'd have felt a little embarrassed over it.

"Sure." Otis nodded, offering her a thin lipped smile, his gaze continually shifting between her and Bobby, a thousand different thoughts flying around inside his head over what they could possibly be talking about.

Unfortunately for the nosey others though, the second after Henri thanked Otis she and Bobby left the room, heading outside in silence until they reached his car. Henri just leaned against the hood, a soft creak coming from beside her as Bobby mirrored her motion, looking straight ahead at the trucks in front of him.

"Firefighter, huh?" He said through a smile, glancing to his side. "Not surprising... Can't seem to count how many times you had me take you down to the fire station just to watch them drive the trucks out of the station."

"I remember that." Henri smiled fondly, reminiscing over the days when they'd simply park outside the local firehouse, sit atop the hood of the car like they were doing now, with a hotdog in their hands and wait for the time when the trucks would go flying out of the doors with their sirens blaring.

Given that Sioux Falls was a relatively small town, it didn't happen often. Sometimes it didn't happen at all and Henri would get so disappointed that one time Bobby phoned in a false tip just so he could see the way her eyes lit up when she watched the firefighters climb into their gear. And now here she was, over twenty years later, finally getting to live out her dream.

"Never thought I'd ever get to drive in a real truck." Henri added quietly, her own eyes falling onto the truck. Her truck. The one she still couldn't believe she was a part of after all she'd gone through just to get here. "Almost makes having Dean hate me worth it."

"Dean doesn't hate you." Bobby's hand landed on hers, pulling her gaze away from the truck and towards his face. The face she'd seen more than her own father. "He's adjusting, that's all. You know what he's like. It'll take him time but he'll come around... You'll see."

"I don't know, Bobby, I mean..." Henri sighed, running her free hand through her light brown hair, still adjusting to the vast length change. "I've never seen him like that before. So cold. So... So angry. And now the whole ignoring me thing he'd doing? Sending my calls straight to voicemail? It's like he's purposely trying to make me feel worse. Worse enough that I come crawling back."

"Don't let him get to you, kid... Don't let him drag you back in, not when you got out... You earned this, Henri. After what you did? After what you went through? Ain't nobody can fault you for wanting a normal life."

"My life's never going to be normal, Bobby." Henri said around a deep breath, pushing off the car and standing with her hands on her hips as she once again stared at the truck. "I mean, I've been to Hell. To Heaven. How am I supposed to go about and act as if that's normal?" She turned, her breathing slightly more rapid now as she'd worked herself into quite a state.

"Like you always do." Bobby replied, straightening on his feet before stepping towards her, his hands landing on her shoulders. "You beat the damn Devil. You've been to Hell and back and yet you're still standing. So, if there's anyone I know who can do this... It's you."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you should go into motivational speaking?" Henri joked, sniffling a little as she tried to mask how she really felt with humour.

"Rufus did. Once. Never saw the appeal." Bobby smiled, wiping away the tears that rolled down cheeks as Henri took a deep breath, closing her eyes as though she was mentally getting her life together.

When she opened them they looked different, less sad, less angry. More motivated which is exactly what Bobby had been hoping for. He always knew she was strong. Stronger than him. Stronger than John. Hell, even stronger than her brothers and strength was one thing Dean prided himself on. He had no doubts that Henri could pull this life off. No doubt that she could go on to live a happy, supernatural free life like she's sort of always wanted, yet anytime she tried to leave she'd get sucked right back in.

But he'd be damned if he'd let her get dragged back into it this time, and if he had to force Dean to pick up the phone, or even lock him in the panic room room so that he didn't drag Henri back by her hair, then he would. And he wouldn't even hesitate.

"After you... Well you know..." Bobby began, walking around towards the trunk of the car after Henri had settled a little. "Sam boxed all your stuff up for you, kept it at my place whilst he and Dean hit the road." He twisted the key, the trunk squeaking open as he began to rummage around inside it. "Not sure if all your flannel will really fit in here now that you're one of those city folk."

Henri chuckled, folding her arms as she rounded the car, catching a glimpse of the one box worth of stuff that she had. Living on the road her whole life meant she didn't get to have belongings, but what little she did have she treasured, which is why she was glad to have it back with her in her new life.

"Also, I uh... I wasn't sure if you'd want... This." Bobby hesitated, his lips pressing together before he lightly shook his head, digging into his pocket where he pulled out a small diamond ring. "But I...I found it that day in the cemetery, must have fallen out and I didn't want to leave it behind."

Shakily, Henri took the ring, her eyes beginning to sting with tears as they remained fixated on it, watching as the gem twinkled in the afternoon sun. She hadn't even thought of it since she'd got back, having completely forgotten that he'd even given her it just minutes before he went and got himself killed. She still didn't know if he would have honoured the meaning of the ring or if it was more just a symbol of what they had.

Hell, Henri didn't even know if he knew he was going to die but with the way he looked at her just seconds before. Seconds, before her world crashed down around her, and her heart shattered into a million tiny pieces, she could only think that he had and that the ring had been to simply show her that he'd always love her.

"He'd be real damn proud of you, kid."

"I don't think he would." Henri whispered, shaking her head as she let out a wobbly breath and pocketed the ring, choosing to move on without saying another word about what could have been. "Did you, uh, did you bring my journal?"

"Yep." Bobby nodded, lifting the flaps of the box open to reveal what was underneath. "Even threw in a new one so that you can write down about fires or whatever it is that you get up to here." He added humorously.

"Thanks, Bobby. You didn't have to drive all this way but I appreciate it." Henri smiled warmly, her hand going absently towards the box where she soon felt the slight roughness to the fur of the stuffed monkey she'd carried with her her whole life. She'd really need to give that a good wash before she placed it on her bed as it was truly disgusting.

"It's nothing." Bobby shook off, waving a hand in front of him. "I've driven a hell of a lot further for a whole lot less." He watched as Henri lifted the box from the trunk, shutting it behind her with a loud thud before the two of them headed back towards the front end of the car.

They didn't talk much more afterwards as they didn't really have much to talk about given that Henri had only been back for two weeks and didn't want to know anything about hunting. However Bobby did tell her that Rufus had died when she was down under, something about a worm that crawls in people's ears and controls them or whatever, she wasn't overly sure as she didn't want to hear much. But it did sadden her to learn about the death of her unofficial uncle.

Soon enough. Henri was watching Bobby drive away, leaving her standing on the apron with a single box containing all the memories she'd made over the years of living on the road or crashing on his floor. All those dingy motel rooms with the questionable stains. All the nights spent curled up in the front seat of the Impala next to Dean, as Sam was too tall and took up the entire backseat to himself.

All the days spent just acting like a normal family, taking small breaks from hunting to visit carnivals and arcades. Watching Dean lose to a twelve year old at skeeball or the time Sam freaked out when the clowns wouldn't stop climbing out of that car. All the memories she had were inside that one box she held in her arms, just sitting amongst a boat load of flannel, old flip phones and her favourite weapons. And honestly, Henri was finding simply looking at the surface of the box to be so overwhelming that she couldn't bring herself to dig any deeper yet.

"The guys are getting antsy in there." Severide called towards her, clear amusement in his voice as he lifted whatever it was he'd come onto the floor to get. "It's gonna be world war three if you keep them waiting on those cupcakes any longer."

Henri turned, the redness to her eyes and obvious sadness written all over her face making Severide grumble under his breath, regretting his words as a grimace crossed over his face. Clearly that hadn't been the happiest of reunions for Henri, so it was more than likely that cupcakes were the last thing on her mind right now.

"Sorry... I'm..." He paused, taking a step forward as Henri dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her t-shirt, the two of them avoiding eye contact as they both just happened to look anywhere but at each other. Saved the awkwardness of the situation really. "I'm sure that's the last thing on your mind right now... Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Henri forced a smile, swapping the box over to her other arm and tucking it comfortably under it. "I just gotta put this in my locker and then I'll be back in."

"Yeah, alright." Severide mumbled, his answer pretty much going unheard as Henri had already made her way back inside, the doors swinging in place all Severide could see when he glanced to his left. He just breathed out, turning on his heels and making his own way back into the firehouse, the others grilling him for information the second he'd even stepped foot into the room.

"Well?" Otis asked, unsure how much more he had in him before he gave in to temptation and ate the entire bowl of frosting.

"The old guy is gone but Henri..." Severide drew out, concern filling the room at his furrowed brow. "I don't know... She seemed a little upset."

"Where is she now?" Otis straightened from where he'd been leaning his elbows on the counter, no longer thinking about frosting, or cupcakes, or any type of food. Not at the mention of Henri being upset over something.

"Said she had to put something in her locker." Severide used his thumb to point in the general direction of the locker room, shrugging his shoulders a little before adding. "She said she'd be back soon but, I don't know. Seems like feeding you lot is the last thing she cares about right now."

"Yeah..." Otis mumbled, biting at his inner lower lip until Severide's words set fully into his mind and he froze. "Oh God."

"Oh God, what?" Boden sat up in his chair, clear concern over the mere worried, yet almost frightened tone Otis sported. Not to mention how his face had drained of colour and he looked as though he was about to catch flies his mouth had dropped that much.

"The prank." Was all Otis said before he ran off in the direction of the locker room, the scrapes of chairs following behind him as the others got to their feet. He'd barely made it into the locker room in time, Henri's fingers grasping the latch of her locker and about to pull it open. "Henri, don't!"

But it was too late, the opening of her locker was already set in motion as Henri's fingers moved on their own and the second her arm pulled back, bringing the locker door with it, a giant, furry, rubber spider sprang down from above it.

Henri screamed. Like truly, fully screamed as the spider hit her in the face, causing her hands to flail a little in front of her. She stumbled back, tripping over the bench and just as the others piled into the room, her scream having quickened their pace, Henri fell backwards, her head smacking hard against the locker behind her as she hit the floor.

"Henri!"

The spider landed on her legs, making her kick them in panic as she shivered. She didn't care if it was fake, she hated spiders, bugs and anything even remotely relating to them with every fibre of her being. Even Lucifer had used them against her in the continuous torture of her soul, so it was safe to say that she did not appreciate the nature of that prank.

"Henri, are you alright?" Boden asked with worry, part of him seething towards Otis and whoever else was responsible for such a stupid and reckless prank. They should know better than to have something jump out from a person's locker when there was a bench so close behind them and they were lucky Henri didn't break her neck.

The question went unanswered as Henri slowly lifted herself to her feet, her face as red as the eyes she'd spent the last two years looking into as no one else even knew how to react. She crossed one arm over her stomach, blindly kicking the spider away before slamming her locker shut, her fist pressed hard against the cold metal as her head slowly turned, locking eyes with Otis whose face told her everything she needed to know.

"Henri, I..." Otis swallowed his words as Henri just shook her head and turned on her heels, leaving the locker room feeling more embarrassed than the time Sam stupidly told the lady at Santa's grotto that they were just, quote, 'there to watch'. To watch Santa of course... When they thought they were after Krampus.

The others, Otis especially, knew that Henri must have been so pissed at what had happened as not only had she abandoned a box of her belongings, which was clear as the box had 'Henri's stuff' written on the side, but she had also left her locker unlocked, which she never, ever did. It remained locked constantly throughout the shift due to Henri's well known need for privacy.

And for one of the members of firehouse fifty-one, seeing that she'd left her locker free for anyone to poke their nose into? Well let's just say that that made him feel particularly glad for Otis and Cruz's stupid prank.

"Otis." Boden said sternly, placing his hand firmly on Otis's shoulder, everyone able to hear the audible gulp he let out in response. "My office. Now."

Otis nodded, his stomach twisting and even when Boden lifted his hand he didn't feel any better. Honestly he felt like such a dick, and it didn't help when he turned around to see Cruz looking innocently at the ground as if the entire prank hadn't been his idea. All he'd done was push it forward a week from when they'd originally planned.

"Cruz. You too." Boden added, allowing for just a second where Otis could smile smugly before it quickly dropped.

The two men followed swiftly behind, despite the nature of what they were about to hear they didn't dare dawdle, not when Boden was all but steaming from his ears. And the second the office door shut behind them, the Chief turned, his hands on his hips and his teeth clenched together.

"Chief I..."

"We..."

"Enough." Boden held up his hand, silencing both men whose mouths had snapped shut the second his hand even left his hip. "I know that pranks are a way to help solidify a person's position in this house but what you two did..."

With parted fingers he pointed at the two men, whose hands were clasped behind their back as they did their best to keep eye contact.

"Well that goes way beyond what is even considered acceptable. What you two did was stupid. And dangerous. Not to mention a complete invasion of Henri's privacy."

"Oh, but Chief, we didn't even need to open..."

"I'm not finished." Boden silenced Cruz, who shrunk on the spot and began to feel like he was three feet tall all of a sudden. "It doesn't matter if you didn't need to open the locker, if you rigged it so that it would fall from the top, I don't care. And neither will Henri. All she saw was that thing jumping out at her the second she opened that locker door. Now we all know Henri is a private person. Doesn't like to talk about herself, so can you imagine how she's gonna feel thinking that you two went rummaging around inside her personal locker?"

Silence.

"Can you?" Boden asked again, this time much louder.

"Yes, Chief." Otis and Cruz both replied quietly after they nearly jumped out of their skin, feeling as though a grey cloud hung over them and they were waiting to be struck by lightning.

"Good. Now I want you both to go out there and you apologise to that girl and if you ever, and I mean ever pull a stunt like that again... Well, let's just say that you will see a side of me that you may very well not like." Boden finished, scaring both firefighters even more as they didn't even like this side of him nevermind the one he was threatening them with.

With a wave of his hand, Boden sent Otis and Cruz scurrying out of his office with their tails tucked between their legs. Neither of them said anything to one another, nor to the others who were all, minus two, sitting quietly in the common room, as though waiting their turn to be shouted at despite not having any involvement in the prank.

The two men carried on in silence through the room, searching around the firehouse for Henri until they eventually found her outside on the apparatus floor, sitting on the ground between the two trucks with her knees to her chest and her face buried between them.

Otis's heart all but broke at the sight of her, unable to imagine what she was probably going through right now. He had only meant for the prank to be a fun little scare, he had no idea it would go the way it did. Or that it would have happened minutes after a very obvious reunion with someone who clearly meant a lot to her, one that only had her feeling upset even before his stupid idea of a joke. He honestly felt more terrible than ever and he really hoped that she could forgive him.

"Henri?" Otis said softly, hearing a breathy sniff coming from Henri as she turned her head away from them, hiding the fact that she was wiping at her eyes after going through a mini breakdown where she felt like she was in Hell again. "We uh, we're really sorry, Henri..."

"Save it, Otis." Henri muttered, getting to her feet in one quick motion, anger riddling her face and overthrowing whatever else she might have been feeling. "I don't want to hear it." She moved forward, pushing through the two men, one of which felt his entire being shrink at the sound of his nickname passing her lips.

An apology was the last thing Henri wanted to hear right now. She'd never felt such humiliation in all her life. To have been embarrassed like that in front of those she was meant to start her new life around? Who weren't supposed to have seen her looking so afraid, so vulnerable and so pathetic over something as silly as a rubber spider.

The spider wasn't even what was annoying her most as how were they to know she was scared of bugs? How were they to know Lucifer had thrown her into pits on them during their time together in Hell? Unless they were psychic they wouldn't have, so that wasn't the big deal here. No, it was more the fact that not only had Otis, and Cruz too apparently, felt the need to prank her, but that he'd gone and broken the trust that had built between them by going into her locker, the one thing he of all people knew that she didn't like them doing.

That's why she was so pissed at them. That's why she had called him Otis. And that's why he'd be lucky if she ever found it in her to want to talk to him again.

Upon entering the locker room for a second time, after her haste to get away from the two men, Henri soon bumped into Hadley, who had been rounding the corner where her very own locker had been. The red-headed man looked surprised to see her, as though she spooked him when she hadn't exactly been quiet on her way in.

"Henri." Hadley grinned, in a way that filled Henri with unease. "Hope that spider didn't scare you too much."

"What were you doing?" Henri asked, not even bothering to answer him as he clearly didn't care whether or not it did.

"Excuse me?"

"Your locker is on that side." Henri pointed to the side of the room behind where Hadley had just come from. "Why were you coming from this side?"

"Just passing by." Hadley replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he rocked on his heels, that uneasy smile never fading from his face. "No law in that right?"

"I guess not." Henri mumbled, moving past him but eyeing him carefully over her shoulder. She soon rounded the corner away from him, shuddering immensely as he was so creepy that it made her not want to be around him alone.

Had Henri not spiked the coffee pot with holy water on her first day she'd have suspected him of being a demon. But it had been a week so maybe she should do it again just to be safe.

Opening her locker, slowly and as though there may be a bomb inside it, Henri was satisfied that no more rubber insects were going to come flying out of it. She examined it carefully, it having been unlocked which only made her worried that Hadley had been snooping in it. But nothing seemed out of place, nothing looked moved or was missing.

The small jug of holy water that sat on her top shelf was still there, the rosary beads still floating inside it. The pocket knife next to it was also where she'd left it, as was the false back she'd added to her locker to hide her gun and angel blade behind.

All in all everything looked fine, but that still didn't mean she still wasn't suspicious of Hadley. Or that he didn't make her incredibly uncomfortable and that he better stay away from her otherwise she'd knock him on his ass. She didn't have it in her right now to test him, or anyone else for that matter, again for any signs of a demon host, but come next shift that coffee pot would be getting thoroughly spiked with holy water, and if anyone so much as coughed, well then just put her in a black, bowler boater hat and call her Father Merrin as it would be exorcisms all round.

-
now that i've reached canon this is where i will be asking for your patience when it comes to posting... this book requires a lot of thought when it comes to crossing over both shows which is why i want to take my time with each chapter as i don't want to end up leaving anything out

i won't be including everything or making things hard for myself but there is quite a bit i need to include, so yeah, please bare with me in terms of that

and in regard to canon, pretty much most of what happens in chicago fire season 1-however long i go, will be happening in the background unless stated otherwise. or unless it revolves personally around otis as when it comes to him things will change (for example in season two he won't be dating severide's sister)

but yeah, most things that don't revolve around otis or henri will only be mentioned in passing to allow you to know whereabouts we are in terms of the shows storyline but if you have any questions or whatever, don't be afraid to ask :)