Title: Second Warning

Summary: Voight shows Casey that he's not playing games and ups the stakes by sending his second warning. But who else is secretly watching it all unfold? And what will happen next? Casey/Severide Based on eppy 1.04 One Minute 'contains some spoilers'

Disclaimer: Chicago Fire and its characters are the property of Dick Wolfe, NBC and….well sadly not me lol

A/N: Okay so I know they showed Hallie being caught up in all this but I like my boys better and hope that's all okay with you as well.

Note: Words in italics and double quotes taken directly from episode

"Hey Lieutenant Casey I just saw your car out front, something happened to it."

After Nikki had told him that, Casey rushed out to find the tires of his truck slashed and windows smashed and gym bag taken; angry but not overly phased, chalking it up to a stupid Halloween prank and merely stating he'd report the crime and let the cops handle it. Although at that moment he didn't figure on exactly which 'cop' would take it upon themselves to 'help him out.' Had he known it would be his new nemesis, crooked cop Hank Voight, he might have forgone the report and just dealt with it on his own.

"Got some good news for you Casey. I heard about what happened to your car and I don't normally handle this kinda thing but to be honest I felt like I owed you an apology after my behavior the other night. I was outta line. So I put my guys on it and we caught the little scumbag."

"And how'd you know it was him?"

"Come here. This yours?" Voight asks, thinking he had Casey right where he wanted him. "There you go, he had it on him. Make sure nothin's missing will ya."

Casey then opened the bag and instantly spotted the rolled up wad of cash; Voight living up to his name with the implied bribe. With a smirk of somewhat surprise he instantly turns it down and holds his ground not wanting to give in to the dirty cop.

But Voight wasn't about to give up and offers a reason for his putting the cash in there to be found.

"You know there is a simple honest solution to all this; one that keeps my son out of jail and lets you and I get on with our lives. All you gotta do is change that report."

"I'm not gonna do that," Casey held his ground and offered Voight one last look of disdain before leaving the rolled up wad of cash on the hood of the car and turned his back, not seeing another set of eyes besides Voight watching him.

After shift the following day, he had gotten the call from Hallie about her car being vandalized the same as his the day before and he knew Voight was taking things to the next level. This time instead of filing another report he took it to the shop and paid for it out of pocket, despite her initial protests.

'Matt, what is going on? What aren't you telling me?' She had questioned as soon as the tow truck had taken her car away and she heard him curse someone's name.

'Just some punks with leftover stupidity from Halloween,' He had retorted in haste. 'I need to get back and finish my report from today's call. I'll see you later. Here take my keys, I'll get a ride home.'

But instead of coming back to the fire house to fill out a report, he had gone straight into the workout room, hastily pulled on a pair of gloves and started to hit the padded bag of leather with all he had left inside after the trying day.

Damn bully and his cheap intimidation tactics, Casey's mind growls inside as he strikes the bag and then pulls back with a somewhat stinging wrist; his body now feeling the effects of the past half hour and suddenly sensing a set of eyes watching him in wonder; turning to see Severide leaning against the lockers and halting his actions.

"Almost…done," Casey lightly pants as he tries to strike the bag again, the slightly swinging apparatus not fully accepting his blow and forcing him step back and curse in frustration.

"Take your time…I don't need it," Severide casually comments, prompting Casey to stop and look at him with a sweaty frown.

"What do you want then?"

"I see he's not giving up."

"Who?"

"Who? The man who's desperate to make you his new best friend….either that or his next casualty."

"It's nothing," Casey mutters as he turns back to the bag. But this time his stance turns rigid and he's unable to hit the bag with the forces he wants, instead shaking his head and cursing Voight's name as he pulls back. "He's a bully and nothing more."

"Punk in the back…wadded up cash roll planted in your bag for you to take…showing up unexpectedly...yeah not really nothing."

"You saw? How?" Casey turns and asks him with a small scowl.

"I was leaving and saw from the parking lot, fell back and watched...you put the roll on the hood and walked away…yeah I saw it all."

"He's picked the wrong man to bully," Casey states firmly as he turns back and tries to hit the bag, his force gone as his adrenaline starts to dissipate. "I won't be bought off."

When Severide doesn't answer back, Casey turns and watches him offer a small shrug but remains silent. "What? You think I should take the bribe?"

"No. You give in to this guy once and he'll never leave you alone. You sped away from here pretty fast tonight, what else happened? Why'd you come back?"

"He…someone…got to Hallie's car also. It's at the shop…she has the truck and went to her mom's and I…I needed to burn off some steam," Casey's voice dies out as he heads for the bench and slumps down, gloves still on his hands, now resting in his lap. "Do the right thing and…" he huffs as he leans his damp dirty blond locks up against the cool cement wall; Severide easing down onto the same bench a few feet away; both of them looking straight ahead.

"And it comes back to bite you in the ass," Severide notes in a quieter tone as Casey looks over, Severide feeling his gaze and then turning to meet it.

"Either way I'm gonna pay right?"

"Next time…"

"What?"

"He plays dirty then…"

"I'm not gonna stoop to his level," Casey insists as he leans forward and tries to get the gloves off, uttering a frustrated grunt and resting back to his original position.

"You're not. I was going to say wear a wire…you're getting something back on him," Severide points out as he pushes away Casey's right hand and starts to undo the Velcro. "How'd you get these on?"

"I was angry at the time," Casey slightly smirks as he pulls off the right glove and mutters a soft thanks before he gets to work on the left. "Yesterday my truck...today it was a Hallie's car…tomorrow…"

"Your kneecaps," Severide interjects. "What? Baseball bats and kneecaps just sort of go hand in hand…I know," he utters as his mind recalls his own tense discussion about an hour earlier.

"Broad daylight and no one saw anything, patrolled hospital parking lot and no one saw anything. Voight picks up some…yeah I know," Casey sighs as he looks over at Severide with a heavy frown. "What if he comes after Hallie again? Or the guys or…" he shakes his head as he looks away.

"You? He's sent his second warning."

"Yeah and who can I call? Some punk that he probably paid or bribed? Think he'll side with me? I have nothing to offer but asking him to do the right thing and I doubt he will. Someone on the force? Then it comes down to my word against Voight's? He'll make up stories…if he hasn't already and I still lose."

"Just don't get caught speeding," Severide retorts with a deadpanned expression.

"Yeah. Maybe I'll take the bus home," Casey lightly jokes.

"Did you tell Hallie about all this with Voight?"

"I wanted to, but haven't yet. She'd worry needlessly. I told her it was just leftover Halloween stupidity. I'm hoping…"

"You're hoping Voight will suddenly back off? This guy's whole career is probably made possible because of who he has bribed and who he's put away…for good."

"I am not expecting a change of heart…I am just expecting him to back off."

"Yeah well he won't," Severide comments in truth as he slowly stands up.

"Oh and you're the genius all of a sudden?"

"I know guys like Voight; grew up with them. He's not gonna back down, and neither will his kid. Trust me when I say it would take a miracle for either one of those two things to happen."

"And I'm out of those right?"

"How many of your nine lives have you used up?" Severide slightly smirks, hoping to ease a bit of the tension; but the verbal ploy doesn't work as the tension remains etched on Casey's normally placid expression. "At least if you could record him asking you to back off the hearing or else…then maybe you'd have more of a fighting chance against him."

"Yeah…maybe," Casey utters softly as he slowly stands up and offers his counterpart a small nod. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah…goodnight," Severide replies softly as Casey slowly walks past and leaves the quiet room, Severide thinking back to Voight's at first smug expression and then the one that was shooting angry daggers as Casey turned his back; Casey might not have seen the look of revenge on Voight's face but he did and knew exactly in that moment that Voight wouldn't back down – he'd only been made angrier.

Not going to give in, Casey's mind silently mutters as he offers one of the night shift guys a small wave and then heads outside into the cool night air – again. He clears the empty parking lot and heads for the bus stop, not wanting to take a cab as the slower ride home would give him time to think and formulate a new plan of being extra alert and possibly what to tell his already worried fiancé.

Being so lost in thought, Casey fails to see the dark sedan slowly pull beside him; his mind forcing him back to reality as his ears identify Hank Voight's tone talking to him.

"Need a ride home Lieutenant Casey?" Voight asks as Casey stops walking and looks at him in surprise.

"No," he replies simply. But his tension starts to surge as Voight stops the car in front of his path and slowly gets out, looking at him across the roof.

"You know it's not safe to walk out here alone…at night. Bad things happen."

"You know all about that right?" Casey retorts, his mind giving him a mental kick in the ass, screaming at him to shut up and keep walking; do not engage.

"I put the bad people away…lock them up where they belong. But you're one of the good guys right Casey? You don't belong with them do you?" Voight mocks as he keeps up with Casey as Casey finally pulls away. "Not done here Lieutenant!"

"Oh I think we are," Casey states firmly as he veers to the right, picking up the pace and hoping Voight will take the hint – he doesn't. But just before Voight's car can block his path once again, another vehicle heads directly toward them; running interception.

"Need a ride?" Severide calls out to Casey from the front seat. Never more thankful to see his fellow 51 Lieutenant, Casey nods and heads for his vehicular salvation, getting in and offering a small thanks. Voight watches them pull away, his fingers angrily tightening around the hard plastic steering wheel, offering a vengeful sneer to Severide as they pass.

"What'd he want now?"

"To give me a ride…probably not home," Casey groans as he leans back in the seat as they head into the main roadway. "Does he think I'd get into a car with him – alone?"

"Next time take a cab."

"He'd probably pay them off also," Casey tosses back. "Am almost afraid to ask what's next."

"Then don't."

But not more than ten minutes later, both of them hear sirens behind them and exchange surprised glances as Severide brings his car to a stop.

"It's Voight," Casey utters in disbelief.

"This guy just won't quit," Severide huffs as they both watch Voight exit his car with his gun drawn. "What the hell, he's pulled his gun?"

"What?"

"Hands where I can see em!" Voight shouts as Severide slowly raises his hands, Casey doing the same. "Roll down the window."

"What's the problem officer?" Severide asks firmly.

"You know how fast you were going back there?" Voight snaps as he shoves his gun into his pocket.

"Yeah, forty and this is a fifty zone."

"I say you were doing sixty."

"I wasn't speeding."

"Your friend gonna back you?" Voight nods to Casey who mutters under his breath.

"I am," Casey replies with a firm glare. "We can probably check with the traffic cam back there since the light changed and he didn't run it and it would be hard to get up to sixty in that short a time frame," Casey counters, trying to keep his own smugness at bay.

Voight looks past Severide and lets his angry glare rest on Casey for a few minutes before he mockingly tells them to have a good night and heads back to his car, turns off the sirens and then peels away.

"That guy is a piece of work."

"But who knows what he'll pull next," Casey muses. "A busted window…speeding ticket…I can live with those."

"Just don't take rides from stranger's," Severide tosses back as he slowly pulls away from the curb. "He could have slapped a phony arrest on us or something…just to be a pain in the ass you know?"

"I know," Casey half whispers as he looks out the window with a perplexed expression before he turns back to Severide with a look of concern. "Maybe I should take the bus from here."

"What?"

"Look I don't want to put anyone else in this guy's path."

"I'm not a stranger to trouble so don't worry."

"I do worry. This isn't ordinary trouble," Casey fires back.

"He can only push so many buttons and he knows it."

"He can also do a lot of damage and he knows it," Casey argues in return. "I get an email last night from the father of the boy…and he thanked me again for what we did and was asking for an update. I can't…give in."

"I know."

They head the rest of the way to Casey's in silence, each of them pondering just what Hank Voight was planning next and if he would indeed up the stakes or maybe just back off and allow his son to take the punishment he earned.

"You probably don't want to hear this but…prepare yourself for whatever he might try next," Severide lightly warns as he stops his car in front of Casey's home.

"He shows up without warning and seems to have every angle covered."

"When is that hearing?"

"It's not set yet."

"Sleep with a baseball bat by the bed until then," Severide mentions.

"And don't take rides from strangers."

"Or walk down dark alley's alone."

"And now I'm the one being punished for doing the right thing," Casey pauses before he gets out. "Thanks. I owe you two now."

"I'm not the one keeping score," Severide replies with a small smile. "See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

Severide watches Casey head up the stairs to his home and frowns before looking out into the shadows dotting the quiet Chicago neighbourhood ahead of him; wondering where Hank Voight might be hiding. Because if he knows anything, he knows Voight hasn't gone far.

Just watch your back Matt, Severide thinks as he pulls away down the front street, totally oblivious to the dark sedan parked in the back alley – waiting to strike for a third and possibly fatal time.

THE END!

A/N: oh you know I had to add of bit extra angsty tension right? Hehe … am still waiting to see what the show has cooked up for Voight's next move on Casey but if its not much then my muse's love of whump will step in and rewrite it for us all hehe or maybe we'll do it anyways (evil grin). Well I hope you all liked this offering once again and please let me know in a review before you go and thanks so much!