The 2026 One Chicago Crossover's Big Death Explained By Showrunners

Contains spoilers for the "Chicago Fire" Season 14 Episode 13 — "Reckoning, Part I," "Chicago Med" Season 11 Episode 13 "Reckoning, Part II" and "Chicago P.D." Season 13 Episode 13 – "Reckoning, Part III"

In every One Chicago crossover, a little rain must fall. Usually, characters just end up getting sick or encountering intense danger — they don't tend to pass away during these major multi-show events, with a number of exceptions like Leslie Shay (Lauren German). But in the awfully familiar multi-show crossover "Reckoning," Macy Vasquez (Carlita Tucker) dies, along with over a hundred plane passengers who are exposed to a chemical agent that was released on the flight. 

Macy's death occurs, per "Chicago Fire" showrunner Andrea Newman, in part to motivate her mentor, Stella Kidd, (Miranda Rae Mayo) and push her growth as a character. "The Girls On Fire program is so important to her, and those girls are like her children. It's kind of partly what inspired her to become a foster parent is having these young women under her that she was so responsible for," she told TV Insider, adding, "she's going to have a struggle in terms of how she copes going forward." But she notes that Stella is resilient, and will be focused on helping others.

Fans will remember Macy as the very first graduate of Stella's Girls on Fire program. She's recurred on the series ever since, appearing a grand total of four times before her death. While she's the only major fatality the crossover sports, there are plenty of other scary moments awaiting viewers.

Besides Macy, several other characters are exposed to the agent and experience health issues. Capp (Randy Flagler) and Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) are exposed to the chemical before the team understands what it's dealing with and find themselves hospitalized. They're so strongly affected by respiratory symptoms that Cruz ends up driving their engine off the road, crashing through a fence, and veering into an open field.

Lizzy Novak (Jocelyn Hudon) must grapple with dire health consequences when the blood of the plane's sole survivor gets into her eye as she's treating her in the back of an ambulance. Fortunately, the rest of the agent is discovered and an antidote engineered before any more lives can be lost. But Macy's death will forever hang over the team, especially Stella, from this point. Everything comes full circle when the fallen fireman's mother arrives and holds the baby that her daughter had a hand in saving. Life continues to go on, in its bittersweet way, in the OneChi world.