Imagine That! by Gabbie Johnny skipped around the engine in his usual frenetic manner, almost bowling over Mike, who stood at its front fender, tenderly polishing a dull spot that only he could see. "OOPS," Johnny grinned apologetically at his friend, "just who I was looking for." The grin widened. He was gonna rope Mike into his plan, whether the fireman liked it or not. He promised Dixie to get the engineer to the hospital on Independence Day, and he'd do it, even if he had to drag the tall man in, kicking and screaming. Mike heaved a deep, deep sigh. He was afraid of what was coming. Knowing Johnny as he did, something was sure to follow this grin, something that he probably wouldn't like and that Johnny would be hell-bent on talking him into. "Ah… Mike…?" Johnny shoved his hands into his pockets and favored Mike with an imploring grin. "Look, I know you like to be left alone, and you don't socialize much with us and stuff, but Dixie… you know, Dixie McCall over at Rampart, well she has her annual 4th of July special for the kids there next Sunday, and…" He stopped short when he saw the look in Mike's face. The engineer was taken aback. He was a quiet man, very private, but he liked his station-mates and thought them to be good friends. He certainly never perceived himself as un-social or aloof. Mike loved children and would do anything he could to ease their pain, especially when they had to be in a hospital on a holiday, like the upcoming Independence Day. He just didn't believe in gibber-jabber, what's wrong with that for crying out loud. Annoyance washed over him as his defenses kicked into gear. He reigned the anger in and held it tight. "Yeah, go on." He looked at Johnny, unaware that the look in his eyes had the properties of a glare. Johnny felt innocently accused. He didn't even tell Mike about the plans yet, and already the engineer raised the drawbridge and tried to drown him in the moat. His ire rose and he took a defensive stance. "Now look Mike, you don't have to get so huffy about it!" Johnny's voice had that familiar edge in it and it did not go unnoticed by Mike. "I'm not 'huffy' as you so delicately put it, I'm just waiting for you to finish your speech. People have been known to do that you know!" The situation turned into a confrontation and both men realized it. They needed to break and try again, or this could become a trifle ugly. Johnny expelled his breath, while Mike briefly closed his eyes. "Okay…" Johnny looked at Mike and restarted what he begun. Had it really been only a few minutes earlier? "I thought that you could join the rest of us in going over to Rampart on the 4th and be with the kids, you know, visit with the shut-ins, play with them and stuff." Johnny brushed an errand strand of hair off his forehead and plunged on. Unfortunately he chose the wrong words. The cart, as the saying goes, was hopelessly stuck and the best thing for both men would've been to stop and try again at a later time, but since neither man had trained in the Diplomatic Corps, they didn't see the chasm they were steadily approaching. "Dixie thought, that meeting the man who drives the big red fire engine would give the kids a boost. I already told her that it'd be a long shot, that you probably don't want to do that, but I'd try…" Johnny's words trailed off as he watched Mike's countenance darken and he heaved an impatient sigh. "Now what? Honestly Mike, of all the guys here, I can't make you out at all. I only told Dix that I'd give it a shot, you don't have to do it if you don't want to. I can always ask Carl from C-shift if he's available…" Johnny's words came out sharper than he intended, put it down to exasperation. By now Mike looked like the proverbial thunderstorm. Of all the nerve… The two men facing each other looked more like combatants, not like the friends and crewmates they really were. A casual observer would be convinced they were about to come to blows. "Oh I see," Mike's voice was sharp and his expression forbidding, "now I'm not only un-social, but an ogre as well!" Mike's eyes locked with Johnny's. "How dare you make me out a cold, uncaring creature who doesn't give a shit about anybody? How long have you been telling people that I'm some sort of an arrogant snob who doesn't care about anything?" Mike took a deep breath to control his anger and stared at his crewmate. Johnny was utterly startled at Mike's reaction. Was this the calm, cool and quiet man that he knew? What the hell was going on? Johnny had no clue that he just touched on a sore spot, how could he? Everybody took Mike at face value, never bothering to find out what the tall, quiet man was really all about. "Don't jump all over me, I never told anybody you were an ogre or a snob or arrogant. We just all know that you like to be by yourself most of the time, I mean… you never do anything with us, hardly ever join in the conversations, what else are we supposed to think?" Johnny frowned as he stared at the man he thought he knew. "Really?" Mike's voice took on a sarcastic note. "Let me ask you a question John, when was the last time any one of you invited me to do something?" Mike snorted, unfolded his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I talk when I've got something to say, not to hear my own voice." He shook his head; the dark anger left his face leaving a shadow of dejection. "Tell Ms. McCall… on the other hand, I'll call her myself and tell her to expect me." With a last look at the paramedic, the engineer turned and vanished around the engine. Johnny was dumbstruck. He stared after Mike with an open mouth, completely speechless. Whatever reaction he'd expected, this wasn't it, not by a long shot. Slowly he turned and walked toward the day room, his thoughts were tumbling around in his mind, refusing to come to order and make sense. Mike was right, the dark haired man couldn't recall a single time when he or one of the others asked the engineer to participate or join them in their off-duty activities. Try as he might, Johnny couldn't come up with a single reason for that stupid oversight, not a single excuse. Dredging his memory, the picture of Mike, always leaving in the middle of tales of their exploits, stood sharp and clear in his mind. 'BIG DEAL'…the two words, sharply spoken by their engineer, took on a special meaning. He remembered his surprise at Mike's uncharacteristic reaction to what he thought was a particularly fascinating tale about a vacation that he, Roy and Chet had taken. Deep in thought he entered the common room. "Hey Gage, wake up!" Chet grinned at the paramedic. "Wanna cup of coffee?" "No thanks," Johnny looked at the fireman absentmindedly, completely oblivious of the jab, and plopped into a chair. "Well?" Roy fixed his partner with a questioning look. "Is he gonna do it?" Getting no reaction from Johnny, Roy walked over to the table and nudged the silent man with his elbow. "HEY, sleeping beauty, did you hear me? Is Mike gonna go with us?" Startled out of his thoughts, Johnny looked up. "Hm...?" He pulled himself into the present. "Oh… yeah, he's gonna come with us, in fact, he's calling Dixie right now." "I had no doubt about that." Hank leaned back in his chair. "Mike wouldn't say no to you, he likes kids, as a matter of fact, he's excellent with them. One of these days he's gonna make some lucky kids a great father." "How come you know that Cap?" Johnny looked curiously at Hank. "Well, Mike's volunteering at Mary's Haven gave me the first clue." Hank grinned. "The orphanage on Teaberry Lane." He added by way of an explanation, when he saw his men's puzzled stares. "What does he do there?" Marco sat down and joined in the conversation. "He's more or less a big brother. He plays with the kids, talks to them, tells them stories, you know, the usual stuff you do with kids. He goes there twice a week." Hank explained. Slapping his hands on the table and sighing, he pushed his lanky frame up and walked to the door. There were memos to read and paperwork to tackle, oh how he hated this part of his job. Thoughtful, Johnny gazed after Hanks departing figure. He hadn't known that about Mike. As a matter of fact, what did he really know about their engineer? He was the best engineer in the county, as a matter of fact; he would stack Mike up against any engineer on the planet with the utmost confidence. Frowning he thought on. If worse came to worse and Cap were hurt, he would blindly follow Mike's lead, unconditionally and without the slightest hesitation. He trusted him with his life, depended heavily on him for his safety, they all did. Other than that…? "Hey Gage, stop making believe you're a deep thinker and set the table will ya?" Chet's voice cut through his contemplation. Johnny looked up. "Huh? Oh, sure." He rose and walked to the cabinets to get the dinnerware, still immersed in thought. 'Splash'. The water-balloon caught him squarely in the face. The junior paramedic felt his blood pressure rise, he was getting so tired of being Chet's target. He took deep breaths to control his emotions, turned and stalked toward the door, depriving Chet of any reaction at all. In the doorway he met Mike, who was just walking in. The two men locked eyes briefly before each went their different way. Mike gazed at Chet. "Don't you ever get tired of making a fool out of Johnny?" The tall man shook his head. "One of these day's he's gonna get you, and I hope that I'm around to see it." "Yeah," Marco nodded in agreement, "if you did to me what you do to Johnny all the time, I'd tie you up and force-feed you habanero peppers. This is getting tiresome, get a new hobby Chet." "That was really nasty Chet." Roy's eyes narrowed, his normally smooth voice took on a sharp element. "I always thought the 'phantom' wouldn't kick a man when he's down." He rose and walked to the door. "Johnny is very obviously bothered by something, and you just had to go and twist the knife in a little further, didn't you Chet?" Roy didn't see Mike flinch, and even if he had he wouldn't associate it with his words. With a disgusted look on his face, Roy walked out of the kitchen in long strides; he needed to cool off. "Hey, why is everybody in such an uproar?" Chet was puzzled; usually the others didn't react this way about his pranks. "I was just trying to lighten up the mood… you know give Gage a lift. He was sitting around brooding and…" "Oh shut up Chet." Marco swiveled around in his chair and stared at his hose-mate. "I fail to see the humor in getting splashed all the time. The only reason you're still alive is that Johnny can't hold a grudge to save his life." Stroking his luxurious mustache, Marco got up and went to the cabinet to get some cleaning supplies. He had a dorm to clean. "I see, then it was you Marco, wasn't it?" Chet walked up behind his friend, arms akimbo. "I knew Gage wasn't smart enough to get around my brilliant set-up, I just wasn't sure which one of you disassembled it." "Chet, you're making even less sense than usual." Marco straightened up, his arms full of cleaning supplies; a rag was dangling from his fingers. "I have absolutely no idea what you're jabbering about." "Don't play dumb with me…" "I did that, and I'd do it again." Mike rose from his chair and approached the stocky fireman. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Mike towered over Chet, his eyes held the man steadfast to his spot, "that was a downright idiotic idea and it could've got Johnny really hurt." "But…" "But nothing. I'm saying it now and I'm not gonna say it again, lay off messing with electricity, you don't know anything about it. One false move and it can get you badly hurt. On top of that, you had two huge water-attacks rigged up with that stunt. Every kid knows that you don't mix water and electricity Chet." Mike's eyes narrowed as he kept glowering at the fireman. Chet eased away from the engineer, bumped into Marco who stood with his mouth agape, and sidled around him toward the kitchen table into safer territory. "Well well Stoker. I hope you know what that means. Nobody messes with the phantom, you better watch out." Chet really didn't know when to quit. A powerful anger surged across Mike's features, for the briefest of moments only, but Marco saw it. He was so shocked, he almost dropped the cleaning supplies. This was simply incredible; as a matter of fact, this whole shift was full of twists and turns that were unusual and unheard of. It was a weird day and it kept getting weirder by the minute. Madre de Dios, he didn't like it, he didn't like it at all. "Kelly!" Mike's voice was low, but it held a razor-sharp edge. "Be really careful here, very careful. I'm talking to you as the engineer and I mean every word. Lay off the stupid stunts that can get people hurt or I'll report you." Mike straightened up and took a step forward. "As for the phantom, you better watch out yourself. I'm not afraid of you, and I'm certainly not John Gage. I can hold a grudge very well and for a long long time. I advise you to think things through before you act." Chet took one look at Mike, turned and almost ran out of the room. "Mike…?" Marco looked at his engineer, uncertain what his reaction would be. "Are you okay, is anything wrong amigo?" Mike heard the worry and discomfort in Marco's voice. He dropped his head and swallowed hard. He had no idea why he was acting like this; he was usually able to reign in his emotions with practiced ease. Knowing he had to get a grip on the situation he breathed in deeply. Mike felt his tight control returning, looked over his shoulder and grinned at Marco. "What could possibly be wrong? Don't worry Marco, everything is fine." With a nod and a smile the engineer left the kitchen. Marco wasn't convinced, but there was nothing he could do about it. With a half-shrug he lugged his supplies out of the kitchen, heading for the dorm and his assigned chore. Station 51, traffic accident with injuries, 157 Kirkwood Avenue, cross street Emory Lane, 157 Kirkwood Avenue, cross street Emory Lane, time out 11:45. Marco shoved his load into the closet and ran for the vehicles, as did all the others, swarming into the bay from all directions. Hank grabbed the slips of paper and acknowledged the tone-out. "Station 51, KMG 365." The squad rushed out, followed by the engine, sirens blaring into the quiet, sunny Saturday morning. Kirkwood Avenue was right smack in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood with narrow streets. To make matters worse, cars were parked along the sidewalks on both sides of the street, leaving only a narrow strip of asphalt to maneuver the vehicles. Only Mike's superb handling of the engine and Roy's equally developed skills with the squad made it possible for Engine Company 51 to reach the given address in a reasonable time. Both vehicles came to a halt and the men jumped out. "Holy smoke!" Hank blinked in surprise at the spectacle in front of him. A mid-sized delivery truck had barreled into a house, ripping a large hole into the structure. It was sitting halfway in what appeared to be a large living room; the smell of gasoline hung in the air. Gawkers were milling about, hindering the firemen and the paramedics. Hank sucked his breath in sharply. "All right everybody, step aside and let us do our jobs!" Nobody heeded his command; he only rated a quick glance from most of the people. Hank was getting angry; didn't these people care that there were injured victims to be taken care of? That they had to get rid of the gasoline or possibly face an even greater disaster? Damn these idiots, where was the police? The sound of sirens turned his head, and he took in the welcome sight of the approaching police cruisers. Maybe now they'd be able to work, they lost too much precious time already. Johnny and Roy managed to force their way through the crowd and were approaching the house, their gear in hand. "I really hope nobody was home." Johnny put both their worries into words. "I hear ya junior, I hear ya." Roy ran to the driver's side and tried to open it. It was stuck and wouldn't budge an inch. "Johnny…" The gas fumes made his eyes teary and he coughed. 'Come on guys, get over here with the hose!'  Roy wiped his eyes with his sleeve and circled the vehicle, meeting up with Johnny at the passenger side. "Stuck Roy, we need some tools." Johnny's eyes were red and his voice nasal. They really needed their crewmates to take care of the gas, the sooner the better. The car doors had to be opened by force and even the tiniest spark could ignite the fumes in a heartbeat. With deep relief they heard the approaching footsteps, turned and saw Marco and Chet running toward the truck, hoses firmly in hand. "About time, what kept ya?" Roy stepped aside as Chet aimed the nozzle under the truck and started the flow of water. "Yeah well," Chet's brows were drawn together, an angry shadow washed across his face, "next time we have to remember to bring a chair and a whip, these gawkers wouldn't move for nothing. Mike had to practically shove them away from the engine." Roy shook his head and followed Johnny, who was already running up to the squad. The cops had the crowd pushed back far enough to give the firemen access to their vehicles. The paramedics made their way to their captain. Hank saw their approach and walked toward them. "What's the story?" "We need to get the driver and the passenger out of the truck, the doors are hopelessly stuck and strangely enough, all the windows are still intact. There's a lot of gas around; the truck must've carried a full tank. We don't wanna risk igniting the fumes; all in all it's safer to wait until it's all washed away. We need to get our tools to crack the doors open." They reached the engine and Johnny turned to Mike. "I'm pretty sure we need the 'jaws', the dashboard is pinning the driver." He took in a big gulp of gasoline-free air, and Roy picked up the slack. "Do any of these people here know if there was anybody home?" While gathering the needed tools, Roy looked about him with contempt in his eyes. "We made a cursory exam of the room, but couldn't see anybody, the room is huge, and debris is heavy however, someone could be trapped under it." Without further hesitation the paramedic rushed back to wreck. "I wish we knew for sure if someone is in there," Johnny said to nobody in particular, swung around and raced back to the accident site. Frowning, Hank looked after him. Wanting to be with his men, he was about to tell Mike to join them after the hose down was finished, when a little voice drew his attention. "Miss Anna is home, I seen her." A little girl with red pigtails and freckles, no older than five or six looked at him with solemn green eyes. She was standing behind the fence of the small, well kept house, across which the engine was parked; a teddy bear was clutched in her hand. "Nonsense!" A skinny, middle-aged woman with a long pointed nose and a shrill voice had pushed her way through the crowd, planted herself in front of 51's captain, and frowned at the child. "Don't interfere Stephanie Cooper, Anna couldn't possibly be home this time of day. She's a schoolteacher, she tutors seniors on Saturdays, and that's where she's at." With a satisfied nod she turned to the fireman. Hank ignored the woman and crouched down to the child's eye-level. "Hi Stephanie, I'm Hank." He grinned at the little girl and she grinned back. "Why did you say that Miss Anna was home? Are you sure you saw her this morning?" "Didn't you hear me young man?" The woman ruthlessly pushed herself between the child and the crouching captain. Hank jumped up, annoyance plainly in his face. "If there is any possibility that the occupant of the house is in there, we have to know ma'am…" He was rudely interrupted. "The child is lying, she just wants attention. Her mother doesn't seem to be able to give it to her." She turned her glare to the little child. "Where is your mother Stephanie Cooper?" "She's…" Mike's arrival halted her words. "Gas is washed away Cap." "Mike," Johnny yelled over his shoulder as he and Marco worked on the passenger door, "get ready with the 'jaws', looks like we definitely need them." "Jaw 's ready John," Mike shouted back, "just say the word."  He turned back to the woman. "Excuse me ma'am." He inserted himself between the woman and the child, thereby moving the woman backward, away from the little girl. Grateful for his engineer's interference, Hank squatted down again and smiled at the now frightened child. "Hello again Stephanie." He reached through the fence and offered his hand to the little girl, who shook it shyly. "We believe you when you say that you saw Miss Anna, but are you sure it was this morning?" "This is ridiculous." The shrill voice cut through the air, the woman tried to shove Mike out of the way to get back to the child. "I told you, the girl is a liar…" The impossibility of physically forcing the tall, muscular fireman out of the way reached her gray matter and she stopped trying. "Now look here…" Mike had enough of this. "Ma'am you're interfering in a rescue. Go back home or back to the crowd over there and let us do our jobs." "Or what? What are you gonna do? I pay your salary young man, you better remember that." "Oh I know. You see, I'm just doing what you're paying me for." He took a step sideways when the woman tried to slip around him. "Now do what I told you and move away, I would really hate to have to call one of the policemen over here." "Insolence!" The woman spat the word out and tried again to step around Mike, who foiled her once more. "This is an outrage! You're interfering with my rights, do you think that just because you're a fireman you're above the law?" "VINCE!" Mike shouted to his friend and upon getting his attention, pointed to the woman. "This lady here would like to file a complaint, would you please see to it that she's moved to another location?" "Now, what's the trouble?" Vince rushed to Mike's side. "I'll tell you what the trouble is officer." The woman pointed at Mike. "He thinks he can push us citizens around, just because he wears a uniform. He's nothing but a paid public servant, and I demand that he's put in his proper place!" Her attention was on Vince, she never saw the amused grin Mike shot in the policeman's direction, and she wasn't aware of the fact, that Vince had to struggle to keep a straight face. "Okay ma'am, why don't we go over here, and you can tell me all about it." Vince led the woman away, and Mike breathed a sigh of relief. The relief however, was short lived. He heard Chet call his name and turned around. "MIKE, WE NEED THE 'JAWS'" Chet came running up to help Mike bring the equipment to the accident site. "The driver is pinned pretty good, we need you to do your magic. Without further ado, Mike and Chet grabbed the tool and rushed to the demolished truck. Mike leaned into the driver's side to hook in the chains and flinched. The smell of alcohol was overwhelming. Man, another one of them, why where some people so dumb? Taking position on the hood Mike fastened the chain to the jaw. He glanced into the vehicle and suddenly noticed that a yellow blanket was pulled all the way over the passenger. That shouldn't be, they would've removed the protective blanket after they were done removing the windows, unless…He looked questioningly at Roy. Roy understood and shook his head sadly. 'Dead…rats, damn and hell, this didn't have to be, why do people drink and drive?' Mike shook the dark thoughts off and nodded to Chet who manned the motor. "Start her up Chet." Mike worked the 'jaws' with expertise and concentration, the dash moved steadily backward in his direction. "Okay Mike, that's good." Johnny waved at the engineer and bend back into the truck. Mike, removing the heavy equipment, looked up and noticed his captain's rapid approach; worry was evident in every step. 'Damn, there IS someone in here. Teach, you picked a bad day to play hooky'  "What's the word Cap?" He looked at Hank, who exhaled with a whooshing sound. "The little girl seems to be right, the occupant is home. The mother came back from the baby-sitter just now, she picked up her infant, it's only five doors down from her house." Hank wiped his forehead. "She says the teacher came home sick about two hours ago. She should be home because she saw her in the living room window and waved to her when she left to pick up her baby." "Crap!" Chet leaned forward and tried to see into the destroyed room. "If she'd been in any other room of the house she'd be standing here with us, she must be in the living room somewhere." Johnny, who was in contact with Rampart, finished relaying Brackett's instructions to Roy. "Rampart, we have an update on the situation. There appears to be another victim, trapped and inaccessible at the moment, what are your instruction regarding victim number one?" Kel Brackett closed his eyes and sighed. When it rains it pours. Now what? "Okay squad 51, here's what we'll do. One of you needs to go with victim one in the ambulance, he's in bad shape and needs to be transported immediately, the other one can stay on site. LA can patch you through to us when you find victim two." Inhaling deeply he continued. "Squad 51, do you need me to order another Squad and ambulance?" "Negative Rampart base, that's unnecessary, our captain has requested assistance already. The victim is trapped under heavy debris; we don't know when we'll have access. Stand by for additional information." "Ten four squad 51." Johnny broke the connection and turned to Roy. "You going with him?" Upon Roy's confirming nod he rose and ran over to Hank. "Roy's gonna go with the victim Cap, I've got Rampart's permission to stay. Any idea when the back-up is gonna be here?" "10's on their way John, let's get started." Placing shovels and port-a-power into the paramedic's hands, Hank took the rest of the tools and together they rushed back to the dwelling. The men of 51's lost no time. They crawled into the wrecked room and did what needed to be done. Shorings were set up; heavy debris was picked up and carried out. The side wall was completely collapsed and its remnants were all over the place. Huge parts of the ceiling were strewn about.  The furniture was in pieces and scattered, glass was everywhere.  The men dug and searched without interruption, not even the arrival of 10's broke their steady rhythm. "Johnny." Mike's shout snapped the paramedic's head around. He jumped up and rushed to his engineer's side. "Did you find her?" As soon as the question was out of his mouth he spotted the arm. He was kneeling beside the victim in no time. The other firemen helped Mike move the big chunks of wall, so that Johnny could have access to the woman. 10's paramedics came to Johnny's aid. The engine crews paused and watched their paramedics. Their faces fell and their hearts became heavy as the paramedics' movements became more and more frantic. They knew what that meant. Standing close to the victim, Captain Stone of 10's, once a paramedic himself, sighed and turned to Hank. "Stoney?" Hank was afraid of the answer he knew he'd get. 10's captain shook his head in defeat. What a lousy day. The poor woman, poor innocent soul. Killed by a drunk driver in her own home where she should've been safe and sound. Johnny turned to his captain. "Cap, send the ambulance home and tell the coroner that he's got another one." His voice was flat and dull, his face was pale. The woman never had a chance, a splintered piece of wood had impaled her through and through. She had barely clung to life and expired right under their hands. He swallowed and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He twisted his head and looked right into the face of Mike Stoker. "Come on Johnny, let's go home." Mike's voice was low and full of sorrow. He helped Johnny to his feet and, with his hand still on his friend's shoulder, guided the paramedic outside into the sunshine. Together they took hold of all the equipment they could carry and walked to their vehicles. The scene was crawling with firefighters, but it was eerily silent. These dedicated men hated it when a victim was snatched from their hands, especially in such a cruel way. After loading up the squad, Mike turned back to Johnny. "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm getting there." Johnny scanned the mob; the gawker's ranks had swollen to almost three times their original size, and the paramedic was disgusted. "Look at them, look at all of them. I can't understand that mentality, what's with these vultures?" "Don't be too harsh on them Johnny, morbid curiosity is part of human nature." Mike's voice was smooth and soft. "I can safely bet, that most of Ms. Tiller's neighbors are genuinely upset about her fate, but they can't tear themselves away from the spectacle. A large part of that has to do with our fascination with death and the relief that it wasn't them this happened to." "Hmm, yeah. I guess you're right Mike. It's just a little hard to take after a call like this. " Johnny grinned half-heartedly at his engineer. "The driver stank of booze to high heaven, and of course, he's the only one who made it through alive." "But his troubles are just beginning. I wouldn't want to live with two dead people on my conscience, that'd haunt me to my dying day." "That's because you got a conscience Mike. What are the odds of you getting behind the wheel of a car after one too many?" "Just about as high as the odds of you doing it." Mike grinned at Johnny, and Johnny grinned back. To anyone but the two of them, this was just a conversation. To them it was a mutual apology and the mutual acceptance of it. "Well, we'll meet you guys at the station. I better lend a hand with clean-up, Cap is looking a mite impatient." Mike grinned. "You're right, see ya later Mike." The paramedic smiled, waved and jumped into the squad. "Yeah, later." #### Johnny parked the squad, bounced out and bolted through the doors of the emergency entrance of Rampart. Once inside, he switched to a slower, more deliberate pace, clearly looking for someone. Dixie and Roy, standing at the nurse's station, watched his approach. "Ten'll get you fifteen, that he's looking for your new nurse, Annabel what's-her-name." Roy grinned at Dixie, who grinned back. "No bets, I don't bet against hopeless odds." Dixie sighed. "Johnny doesn't know it yet, but he's got no chance of getting a date with Annabel, she's after bigger prey." "Prey?" Roy raised his eyebrows. "Whatdaya mean by that?" "We had a little talk yesterday. I asked her about her plans for the future, and the answer was a whopper." Dixie shook her head in disgust. "She told me in no uncertain terms, that she didn't plan to be a nurse forever. She was gonna…and these are her exact words…snag a rich husband and live a life of luxury." Dixie frowned. "It convinced me that I need to keep an eye on her, an attitude like that has no place in the medical profession." Roy shook his head. "Hm…man o man, Johnny sure can pick 'em, can he?" "Yeah, he's got himself some real winners over time, poor Johnny." Although Dixie would never admit it, not even under torture, but she had a soft spot in her heart for all the men of station 51's A-shift, especially their paramedics. Maybe it was because both played such a big role in getting the program off to a good start, maybe it was because she knew them the longest, whatever it was, she hated that Johnny had such incredibly bad luck with women. Hopefully the right one would come along soon and put him out of his dating woes. "Hey guy's what's up?" Johnny grinned at his two friends and made a beeline to the coffeepot. "How's the driver?" A frown appeared on his handsome features as the memories of the last call flooded back. "He's hanging in there." Roy read his partner's expression correctly; he was at the base station when the code F was called in. "The alcohol content in his blood is hindering the treatment, he's got four times the legal limit in him." "Stupid, stupid, stupid." Johnny gnashed his teeth in frustration. None of this had to happen; one man's stupidity left two people dead and ruined a lot of lives today. He heaved a deep breath and shook himself. "Annabel isn't on duty today Johnny," Dixie smiled at her friend, "I thought I'd save you some trouble." "Hm?" With a puzzled look and a frown, Johnny stared at the nurse. "Oh her, no, I'm not looking for her." Placing his hands on the counter and leaning forward he smiled into Dixie's eyes. "Say Dix, who's that nurse that was here the other day, you know, when we brought the kid in with the peas up her nose?" Johnny tried to be nonchalant. Roy snorted. Well that didn't take long. Leave it to Johnny to bounce back so quickly. Dixie rolled her eyes. She should've known. "That was Emmy. She's a pediatric nurse." Dixie paused, trying to figure a way to explain something to Johnny so it wouldn't sound insulting. "Johnny, Emmy is a real nice girl, gentle and quiet. Please don't…what I mean is…well heck, might as well say it, be nice to her, or else." Dixie took the sting out of her words with a great big smile and patted Johnny's forearm. "What do you take me for?" Surprised, Johnny brushed his hair away from his eyes. A grin spread over his face. "I know what you mean. Talking to her was real easy; she really is very nice. We've got a date for after the 4th of July special here, I can't wait." Roy and Dixie grinned at each other, and Roy slapped Johnny's back.  "Let's go junior, they're probably waiting for us back at the barn. It's your turn to cook, ya know." "Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Johnny put down his cup and turned a thoughtful face in Roy's direction. "Do we have any ketchup? We were running low last time, and I hate hamburgers without ketchup." Roy rolled his eyes in resignation. Hamburgers…again! The two men waved at Dixie and sauntered down the hallway. Dixie looked after them, an amused twinkle in her eyes. Sighing she turned to her desk, picked up a pen, and with a frown re-read the memo that came down earlier. She'd like nothing better than to shove the offensive piece of paper down the new administrator's throat, new schedule module indeed. #### They were well on their way, when Roy became suddenly aware of the silence. It was an unusual occurrence, and somewhat disconcerting. Johnny should be working on a super-rant right now; drunk drivers were his pet peeve. "Johnny?" Roy turned his head briefly and looked at his partner and best friend. "You okay?" Johnny didn't answer right away, but continued to stare out of the window. Roy was just about to try again, when Johnny suddenly turned in his seat and looked directly into his friend's face. "Roy, tell me… what do you know about Mike?" As far as Roy was concerned, the question came from somewhere out of left field, and it startled him. It was the last thing he expected to hear and he was slightly confused. "Mike who?… Our Mike? Mike Stoker?" "Yeah our Mike, you know, tall guy, drives the engine." Johnny frowned. What was the matter with Roy, his question came out loud and clear, didn't it? "Where does this come from? Why the sudden interest in Mike?" Roy was puzzled. "Because…" Johnny's frown deepened. He hated it when his questions were answered with another question. "If you think about it, he's the one guy we know almost nothing about, that's why." "Well, maybe that's because he want's it that way, and he has a right to his privacy." Roy was still groping around in the dark. "No he doesn't." Johnny stated somewhat unclearly. " We just assume that. Did it ever occur to you, that he might like to be included in our hiking and fishing trips and stuff?" Roy contemplated stopping the squad and shaking some sense into his partner. "Would you mind explaining all this to me? What are you talking about, and how would you know what Mike would like and what he doesn't?" "Well, when I talked to him earlier, he got mad at me…I mean, we had…" "Mad at you? Mike got mad at you?" Roy had the strange feeling that he'd left the planet earth altogether, and was somewhere in the twilight zone. He shook his head and breathed in deeply. "What in heavens name did you do to get the most calm, even-tempered, stoic man on the face of the earth mad at you?" "Look," Johnny was getting exasperated, "I didn't do anything, I just brought up Dixie's 4th of July thing and he blew up at me… well it sorta happened that way. But that's neither here nor there, Roy, can't you just answer my question?" Roy said nothing for the longest moment. He had to digest all this new information and he was getting indigestion from it. 'Blew up'? Mike Stoker? Try as he might, he couldn't picture that, and if he didn't stop trying he'd get a headache. "Roy?" "Yeah, give me a minute, I have to think about that." "Ha, I knew it." Johnny grinned triumphantly. "You don't know anything about him either!" "I didn't say that!" Roy turned briefly to his friend. "I said, I had to think about it." Roy had the long-suffering look on his face that only Johnny could bring out. "Let's see…Well, Mike likes to read, he's a pretty good second baseman, he's generous and helpful…ah…Oh yeah, he's very intelligent…He inspires trust and loyalty, he'll be a fine captain one day…er…He's got a wicked sense of humor, the best one-liners in the department…hmm…" Roy trailed off, he ran out of tidbits about Mike. "And that's about it, right?" Johnny plopped back into the seat. "Pretty sad isn't it? We don't know anything about his private life, if Cap hadn't told us about the orphanage, we wouldn't even know that." "Johnny, Mike's private life is just that, private. If he wanted us to know, he'd tell us, don't you think?" "Mike doesn't talk unless he's asked questions. Sheesh Roy, you should know that by now, we only worked with the guy for what… five years." Johnny's tone was heavily on the sarcastic side. Roy didn't answer right away, they arrived at the station, and he was busy backing the squad into the bay. He shut off the motor and turned to his partner. "In that case, why don't you just ask him? You're not afraid of him, are you?" "Afraid!" Johnny was outraged. "Me? Afraid of Mike? Why would anybody be afraid of Mike? What made you say that?" Roy opened his mouth to answer, when a glance out the windshield told him that his captain was standing right in front of the squad, frowning. "Hello, this is you captain speaking. Would you gentlemen mind getting your butts out of the squad and into the kitchen? We're all hungry and sitting around in the bay isn't getting our dinner done." Johnny quickly plastered a smile on his face and jumped out of the vehicle. "Sure Cap, no problem, I get on it right away." He turned to the kitchen, but swiveled back and looked at Hank. "Say Cap, do we have any ketchup left?" Seeing Hank shrug he turned back and hurried into the kitchen. Hank looked at his senior paramedic as he climbed out of the squad. "What does he need ketchup for, he…Oh no," Hank groaned and shook his head, "not again." He looked at Roy. "Say it ain't so…Hamburgers…" Roy nodded solemnly "Again…!" Both men sighed in resignation and followed the younger man into the day room. Johnny bounced around in the kitchen assembling the ingredients. "Dinner'll be ready in a jiffy, this'll not take very long, cause I'm making…" "Hamburgers." Mike, leaning against the counter, grinned at the paramedic's surprised expression. "How'd ye know that Mike?" Johnny stared at the engineer. "Didn't you know that Mike is psychic? He's got ESP man." Chet had the look of utmost sincerity on his face. "Right Marco?" Marco nodded as he sipped his coffee. "Yeah, how come you didn't know that Johnny?" The fireman pulled a chair out noisily, sat beside Chet and looked at Mike. "Tell him some more Mike, tell him what's on his mind." "Okay." Mike took a seat at the table, closed his eyes and a look of deep concentration appeared on his face. "Hmm…it's all a bit foggy, I have to try and clear it…" "Forget it Mike, fog is normal for Gage's brain, try anyway." Chet grinned at Johnny, who scowled back. The five men had a hard time keeping a straight face. It was simply amazing how easily Johnny Gage always stumbled into these traps. "I see something…Hot dogs…yeah, that's it, Hot dogs." Mike opened his eyes and looked at Johnny. "You were torn between Hot dogs and Hamburgers, but somehow the Hamburgers won out, right?" Johnny's surprised expression was slowly replaced by a scowl. "I get it, I get it, you're putting me on, right?" He looked at the engineer. "You just looked in the fridge and saw the dinner stuff, that's all." Mike grinned and patted the paramedic's back. "Right Johnny, I'm just as psychic as you are. But I swear I never looked in the fridge. The reason I knew what's for dinner is that you always make either hamburgers or hot dogs." Johnny looked hurt.  "What the hell do you mean by that crack? I do not make either hamburgers and hot dogs all the time, that's a lie, and furthermore, stop trying to make me the butt of your little jokes." Mike was contrite. "Sorry John, it was just too hard to resist. Come on, think about it, it was pretty funny." "Yeah well…" Johnny's sense of humor returned and he grinned at the engineer. "But let me tell you something, you're all wrong. I don't cook the same things all the time." "You do too Gage." Chet threw himself into the conversation. "Think about it, try to get that brain of yours into gear and tell me when you cooked something other than the old burgers or dogs." "Well, I…" Johnny stopped, a light blush spread over his face. Mike, still feeling guilty, stood up. "Come on Johnny, make the patties, I get the fixings ready." He saw that Roy was moving toward them and smiled. "Roy'll help me." Chet and Marco rose as well. "We'll set the table, the sooner we get the chow on, the sooner we can eat." Chet smirked at Johnny. At dinner Mike suddenly realized that Roy looked at him thoughtfully whenever he looked up. Now what? Mike couldn't fathom why the senior paramedic's attention was focused on him. He looked around the table and his eyes fell on Johnny. The dark haired man looked back guiltily, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Mike frowned, trying to figure it out. Oh of course…Johnny spilled the beans to Roy, told him all about the earlier incident. Mike grinned. 'Johnny, Johnny…you've got the mentality of a washerwoman. #### They just started clearing the dishes when the tones went off. Station 51, assist the police at Carson City Bank. 400 Main Boulevard, cross street Maryland Avenue, 400 Main Boulevard, cross street Maryland Avenue. Time out 16:45. The engine and the squad moved rapidly toward the address. They hated calls like this; 'assist the police' could mean just about anything, they'd been to a few doozies in the past.  Since a bank was involved, criminal activity was very possible. They arrived at a scene crawling with people. Police, uniform and plain-clothes, were all over the place. Hank jumped off the engine, his men were right behind him, as were the two paramedics. Vince spotted the Engine Company and ran up. "We gotta stop meeting like this guys." He grinned at his friends. "Tell me about it." Hank nodded in agreement. "What's going on here?" "Got three guys who decided that working for a living wasn't for them. They tried to hold up the bank." Vince removed his helmet and wiped his forehead. "Our Swat Team just went in, they should be out momentarily." "What do you need us for? Is anybody hurt?" Johnny had a worried countenance; he hated firearms with a passion. "They tied the employees up and stuck 'em in the vault. At least that's what they said. I hope they're okay, but there's something else." Vince turned toward the building. "The three criminal masterminds decided to come up with something new. They placed explosive charges throughout the bank, sort of a back-up plan ye see. One reared up and bit 'em." A shout focused their attention to the bank's entrance. A figure in black garb waved at the assembled crowd and stepped forward. Disheveled looking people staggered out of the building behind him. Vince excused himself and ran back to his cruiser. The firemen went into action. "Mike get the hoselines ready, if the explosives go off we could have a nasty situation. Chet, Marco, inch-and-a-half. Roy, John look after these people, they seem to be the hostages, make sure they're okay." Hank turned when someone spoke up right behind him. "There's no need for hoses, we found all the charges and disabled them." The speaker nodded casually at the firemen. "I'm Detective Mecavoy, I need your men inside; the three whiz kids are hurt. One of their splendid ideas went off on them." Hank focused on the officer. He was a tall, powerfully build man, about 35 years of age. Dark, immaculate hair covered his head in a regulation haircut; the mouth had an arrogant twist. "Do you need me to call in additional paramedics?" "No, unnecessary, the hostages are fine, they were very lucky. The charge that went off was in the back of the main vault, the employees were held further up front. None of 'em even got hit with any debris. Two of the would-be robbers are trapped however, and we need your tools and your expertise." The detective glanced at the firemen with an arrogant, demeaning look. "At least I'm hoping that you know what you're doing." Hank took a dislike to the policeman. He hated it when he was talked down to; he'd stack his crew up against the police department any day of the week and twice in February. "Oh we know what we're doing, but do you?" The policeman was tall, but Hank was taller, which allowed him to glare down on the man effectively. "Are you sure you found all of the explosives? If you overlooked one and it goes off, it could spell disaster." The detective's mouth curved into a nasty sneer. "I know how to do my job, don't worry about the explosives. Your only worry'll be about getting splinters in your fingers." The man turned and walked away. "Dumb hose-jockeys," he mumbled in a stage whisper, clearly intending for the firefighters to hear him. Chet breathed in audibly and started forward when a hand grabbed him from behind. "Don't start anything Chet." Mike patted the fireman on the back. "People like him are all over the place. He's full of shit, and one of these days he's gonna choke on it." "Yeah well," Chet still looked like thunder, "I hope it doesn't happen at our expense." "You and me both buddy." Mike grinned at his friend. "Come on, let's go." Grabbing their gear they followed Cap and Marco, absorbing Roy and Johnny on their way into the bank. The hostages were unhurt, just badly shaken; they didn't need the paramedics' attention. They stepped onto plush carpeting. The bank was luxuriously furnished in the old fashioned style. It looked like the lobby of a first class hotel. Brass fixtures gleamed; marble columns stood in silent magnificence. The rich, dark wood of the desks, counters and doors was polished to a high sheen, exuding prosperity; the crystals of the three chandeliers sparkled like diamonds. Impressed, Johnny let out a slow whistle. "The economy must be in better shape than I thought, will you look at all of that." "Just a front," Chet glanced around with a knowing look, "banks have to seem prosperous, it's their bread and butter." "Listen to Chester B. Kelly, expert banker." Johnny sniggered. "Knock it off ya twits. We have work to do." Cutting the threatening argument off at the pass, Hank motioned his men forward. He spotted two people, standing by a huge double door. One was short, fat, had thinning brown hair and quivering jowls, he was clearly very agitated. The other one was taller; had salt and pepper hair, handsome, ruddy features, and was in great physical shape with an air of competence surrounding him. "Jake." Hank was relieved to find a familiar face in the crowd. "Well, well, if it isn't Hank Stanley. So you're the poor fire-troop they roped in to help us." The detective excused himself from the fat man and walked toward the men of 51's. Walking up to Hank he clasped the captain's shoulders and grinned from ear to ear, his gray eyes sparkled with genuine joy. "Hank, you old hose-jockey, it's good to see you." The policeman's voice held a slight trace of an English accent. "You've no idea how glad I am to see you too. I should've known the FBI would send their best man." Hank grinned back at his old friend. "We just finished with a less than pleasant representative of your guild. Show us where the injured men are, so we can get to work." "My, my, let me guess. You ran into a tall, dark-haired chap with enough arrogance to furnish a battalion of snobs for years, right?" The FBI-agent turned and motioned for the men to follow him. "That would be the guy." Hank looked at his friend. "He's all to sure of himself. Well, anyways, these are my men." He pointed to his crew in turn. "These guys are firefighters Marco Lopez and Chet Kelly, the tall drink of water behind them is my engineer Mike Stoker. Over there are my paramedics, John Gage and Roy DeSoto." The agent nodded at the men in acknowledgment. "I'm Jake Arnold. Hank and I are old college chums and partners in crime." His eyes fell on Mike. "Stoker, Stoker, hm…say fellow, any relation to Bram Stoker?" Jake grinned from ear to ear. Mike laughed. "Not that I know of Mr. Arnold, although it would be interesting to find out." They reached the double doors. "I'd say it would be interesting. By the way, I'm Jake, Mr. Arnold is my father's moniker." He gestured into the room hidden behind the doors. "That's the main vault, the doors are actually made of steel, disguised with wood paneling. The brainiacs are all the way down there at the end. One of their charges exploded and the wall shelving fell on top of two of them. The third one got smashed in the leg with a piece of the marble counter base. I'm no paramedic," Jake winked at Johnny and Roy, "but the leg appears quite broken to me." He slapped Hank's back. "Your crew looks very competent to me, and I know for a fact how good you are at your job." He pointed to the fat man. "I'll leave you to your work, I have to baby-sit that fellow over there. His name's Brad Riley and he is the bank's vice-president. I'm going to send some uniforms in for additional man power, let me know if you need anything else." Jake turned and left, while 51's walked into the huge vault. "Now him I like." Chet grinned at Hank. "Say, Cap, what did he mean by 'partners in crime'?" Hank turned and glowered at is fireman. "None of your business Kelly, get to work!" Chet grinned. 'Don't worry Cap, I'll find out anyway.' They reached the end of the vault and did a quick survey. The three would-be robbers were on the floor; two were partially hidden by large debris. The engine crew went over to them, while Johnny and Roy shed their turnouts and went over to the third man, who lay on the floor, moaning. "Where are you hurt?" Johnny opened the trauma-box and retrieved the stethoscope to get the man's vitals. The man stopped moaning and looked at Johnny with hateful eyes. "Don't touch me you stinking pig, get me a doctor." "Now listen, I'm not a policeman, I'm a paramedic with the LA County fire department and so 's this guy." He motioned to Roy, who was activating the bio-phone. "That thing he's working on is a phone that'll connect us to a doctor at Rampart Hospital. We're here to help you, take it easy." Johnny took the BP-cuff and turned back to the man. "I'm gonna wrap this around your arm to get a blood pressure reading, okay?" "As long as you're not a dirty pig, I guess it's okay." The man sneered at Johnny. "You better know what you're doing little boy blue, you don't even look old enough to drive." "I've been a paramedic for five years, trust me, I know what I'm doing." Johnny turned to Roy and relayed the man's vitals, who in turn informed Joe Early at Rampart. In the meantime, while the two hoodlums hurled swearwords and insults at them, the engine crew successfully separated the tangle of rubble and men. "Cap, I think it would be better if we moved all of 'em outta here and into the lobby. It's pretty cramped in here with all these people around." "Good idea Mike." Hank motioned to Chet. "Kelly, grab yourself some policemen and get the backboards out of the engine and the squad." Walking over to his paramedics, Hank tapped Roy on the shoulder to get his attention. "Roy, we're moving these guys into the lobby. Chet's getting the backboards. Grab yours and follow us okay?" "Sure Cap." Roy looked up at his captain. "Cap, we need another squad, in addition to another ambulance. All three need to go to Rampart and none of 'em can be transported sitting up. Besides, I'm sure the cops are gonna want them under guard, that means we'll be having at least one policeman riding with us." Hank nodded. "Will do Roy." #### All the wounded had been removed from the vault and were lined up on backboards by the front door. Roy and Johnny, with the aid from 116's paramedics were getting them ready for transport. "I'll go with this one, Stephen is going with the other two." Roy slapped Johnny's back. "See ya at Rampart junior." "Ya, see ya later." Johnny watched as the ambulance attendants took charge of the gurneys, followed by Roy and Stephen lugging bio-phones and trauma boxes. Hank and his crew were standing by the entrance. "Where's Mike?" "Back in the vault Cap, getting the K-12." Chet pointed into the bank. "All right, do we have everything else? Ready to roll?" Hank looked around. "Oh crap…the splint box." Johnny slapped his forehead. "Cap I'll be right back, I forgot the splint box." "Okay Johnny, hurry up and tell Mike to shake a leg too." Hank slipped into his turnout and his men followed suit, while Johnny ran into the vault. Mike was standing in the back, wrapping the cord up. "Johnny, how nice. Decided to keep me company huh?" Johnny laughed. "Yeah, that and getting the splint box. Where is it by the way, did you see it anywhere?" "Right beside me buddy, I was gonna bring it out with me." "Thanks Mike, that's…" Johnny's words were cut off by a sudden explosion. The earth seemed to shake and tremble, the force of the blast was throwing both firemen around like rag-dolls. Plaster dust thickened the air; the repercussion deafened both men. #### Out in the lobby the men dove for cover. The blast was not as pronounced there, the larger area could absorb and distribute the shockwaves with greater ease. Hank lifted his arms off his head and looked around. What he saw took his breath away. The marble column standing by the vault teetered and fell slowly sideways. With immense horror Hank watched helplessly as the huge column hit the vault door with great force slamming it shut and blocking access. "NO." Hank was unaware that he was shouting. His mind reeled. Two of his men were in there; the major force of the blast seemed to have gone right through the doors and into the vault. There was no obvious fire, but he needed he hoseline and he needed back up. He hoped with all his heart and soul that both Mike and Johnny were still in the back when the explosive went off. Hank scrambled to his feet and flew to the vault, although it was unclear what he was going to do once he got there. The huge, shattered column blocked access effectively; he'd have to climb over and through all the mess to reach the door. "Cap." The word, spoken by a trembling voice, spun Hank around. He looked at Chet and Marco who were standing right behind him. His firefighters where white as sheets, panic and shock written all over their faces. Hank was sure he didn't look much better. His fingers gripped the HT and yanked it out of his pocket. "LA dispatch this is engine 51. We had an explosion at our location and two men trapped. Send another engine, a squad and an ambulance" "Acknowledged engine 51." The captain shoved the unit back into his coat and turned to his firefighter. "Let's move, we need the inch-and-a-half." The men ran out the door and right into a number of police officers charging toward the entrance, Vince in the forefront. Without stopping they dashed for the engine. Hank took his engineer's place and charged the hoselines, while Chet and Marco where rushing back inside the bank. Their minds on automatic pilot, they expertly drenched the area with water. The entrance door flew open and admitted 51's captain. He never broke stride, sprinting to the vault and his men. Hearing a familiar voice he spun around. "HANK, thank heavens you're all right. We feared the worst." Jake gripped Hank's shoulder. "Jake…" Hank's voice shook and he forced himself to focus and to calm down. One look at Chet and Marco told him that it was absolutely imperative that he do so, if he panicked so would they. "Jake, two of my men are in there." Hank gripped his friend's arm and pointed to the vault. "The blast seemed to go right through the doors. I need to check on them, I need to get them out." Jake paled, he thought that all the firemen were in the lobby. He needed a phone to order a new sweep of the bank. If one explosive was overlooked so could another. He just hoped the vault was clear. Vince Howard ran up to the captain. "My God Hank," The policeman's eyes were troubled, "who's in there?" "Michael Stoker and John Gage." A strange noise turned his head. Chet seemed to be choking on something. "Chet, are you okay?" "Cap." Chet's voice was barely a whisper. "Cap, where is that s.o.b.?" He looked around. "Where is that arrogant s.o.b. who told us that the bank was secure?" He spun around wildly, searching, ready to rip the man's heart out. "Fireman Kelly, front and center!" Chet came to attention. "Chet, our first and foremost objective is to get Mike and Johnny some help, don't you think?" Hank said a silent prayer; he didn't need his fireman up on murder charges. "We don't need any distractions, we'll deal with everything else later." At Chet's nod he released his breath. "At ease." He turned. "That goes for you too Marco." 'And for me.' Returning from the telephone, Jake made his way to his friend. "Tell me what you need us to do Hank." He turned his head as Vince stepped beside him. "Okay guys, we need to get this crap cleared so we can reach the doors. Tell that what's-his-face vice-president to get over here and get ready to open the vault." "Right." Jake and Vince nodded in unison and jumped away. Jake went to collar the bank officer, Vince went to get all available men into the bank, every hand was needed to help clear the way to the vault. "Cap, Mike has the one of the engine's HT." Marco's eyes were full of fear for his comrades. "Maybe…I mean…" Hank closed his eyes briefly and sighed, damn, damn, damn, why did this have to happen? "It's worth a try, although…" He watched as Jake dragged Riley over to them. The man was still agitated, or maybe he was agitated again, who cared. The front door opened and more police officers rushed in. Most of them knew the guys from 51's and were shocked at what happened. They were able, willing and eager to help in any way they could. They joined Marco and Chet in attacking the broken rock with determination and vigor, working side by side with many policemen. Jake and Riley reached Hank. "Mr. Riley, as soon as the way is cleared, I want you to open this vault, so stay right here." "But…but I can't do that." Riley pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his face. "The vault is on a timelock. Every Saturday at 4:00pm is clicks in and it doesn't release until Monday morning 7:00am." Hank closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over him. "Are you telling me that there is no way to open this door before Monday?" His hands curled into fists, his voice rose in volume. "That's ridiculous man, there's got to be a way to override the lock!" The lobby fell silent as every eye turned to the Riley. "I'm not aware of such a procedure, we never had to do that." "Twaddle! You better become aware of the bloody procedure, or I'll get every bloody safe-cracker on the western seaboard in here and let them have a bloody crack at it." Jake stared at Riley. "In case you've forgotten, there are two fireman in there, very possibly hurt, so get your bloody butt in gear and find out." Riley shrank back from the force of Jake Arnold's command; nobody had ever dared to talk to him like that.  "I'll go call the company that set up the security features, they should know." He swallowed. "I hope there's someone there on Saturdays." He scuttled away into the direction of his office. "Wait!" A terrible thought raced through Hank's mind. "How much air is in there? Are they going to run out of oxygen on top of everything else?" "I… I don't know. Nothing like this ever happened before" Brad Riley stared at Hank, a sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead at the captain's glower. "I can find out if you want me to." "Mr. Riley…" Hank said in a strangled voice. He stopped and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Look, call whoever you need to call, but find out. And get the damn Security Company on the phone!" "Hank, calm down. It's a huge vault, they're not going to run out of oxygen any time soon, we'll have your chaps out way before that can happen." Jake tried to reassure his friend and to a degree, himself. He nodded at the three men carrying strange equipment. As they passed him their leader gave him the 'all clear' sign. At least there were no more explosives in the lobby, please let the vault be clear. #### "Squad 116, what's your status?" Stephen rolled his eyes and depressed the call button. "Squad 116 available." "Squad 116, assist station 51 at their location, explosion, two firefighters trapped, possible code I." Six people looked at each other in total disbelief. They stood frozen at the base station of Rampart and stared at HT, speechless. "Wh…?" Dixie's voice refused service and she had to clear her throat. "Jesus." Joe's shoulders hunched forward, he swallowed hard. The three paramedics broke into a desperate run, the words "LA dispatch, squad 116" floated through the air. Kel Brackett sank heavily onto a chair. He turned his gaze on his friends. "I want somebody at base station at all times." Joe and Dixie nodded; worry hung in the air like a thick and stubborn fog. ####   Johnny shook his head, was rewarded with a stinging pain and decided to knock it off. What the hell happened? Where was he? He took stock of himself. His right wrist hurt like hell and so did his head. He was covered with cuts and bruises and something wet was running down the side of his neck. Suddenly the memory came back. There was somebody in here with him! 'Mike'. "Mike, where are you? Mike, can you hear me, answer me damn it!" He wished his ears would stop that infernal ringing. "MICHAEL STOKER YOU BETTER ANSWER ME!" "Will you stop it?" Mike crawled out from under the counter, where the blast had thrown him. "With your yelling and this damn ringing in my ears, I'm getting a headache." Mike looked at Johnny accusingly. "What happened to us?" "Something blew up. Are you okay, are you hurt anywhere?" "Something blew up he says," muttered Mike, "brilliant deduction, who'dve guessed." Taking inventory he spoke up. "My left arm hurts from my hand to my shoulder, I can't move it much. I've got cuts and bruises all over me and my ears are ringing louder than Big Ben." The engineer glared at his friend. "I didn't blow anything up, so stop giving me dirty looks! Let me look at your arm." Johnny slid over to Mike. "The ringing should subside in a few minutes, it's from the…" "Explosion, I know, I know. And I didn't give you any dirty looks." Mike scrutinized the paramedic. "You're bleeding from the side of your head, and why are you holding your right hand so strangely?" "Cause it hurts Mike." Johnny looked up. "My wrist is sprained. Let's worry about you right now. Can you get your coat off?" "Yeah, hang on. What about your head?" Mike slid his right arm out of the sleeve and let the coat fall. "It's just a cut, head wounds bleed a lot, don't worry." Johnny examined Mike's arm. "Doesn't seem to be broken thank God, but we better put it in a sling and immobilize it." He looked around. "Where's the splint-box? I really hope it's still in one piece." "Just a cut huh?" Mike's eyes narrowed. "Lemme see." "Cut it out Mike, we got to get your arm immobilized, where is that stupid splint-box?" "Let's see…I was standing right there when it happened and the box was right beside me, so it should be somewhere around there." Mike's eyes searched the rubble. "That's not at all a given. The blast threw us around, and we weigh a little more than the splint-box Mike." Johnny rolled his eyes. "I'm well aware of that, but we gotta start somewhere, don't we?" Mike crawled to the spot where he'd been standing. Hearing a sound behind him, he turned. "Stay where you are, I can find the box by myself, you'll just start bleeding more." "Oh, now he's a doctor too. What did you do, take medical training behind our backs?" Johnny ignored his friend and rummaged around. "Gage, it's common knowledge, that the faster the heart-rate the faster the blood-flow, High School Health-Ed 101." Mike glowered at the paramedic. "Sit down, I see the box, I'll have it over there in a second." "There you go with the dirty looks again. Stop glaring at me Stoker." Mike sighed. "I'm not glaring, now do what I told you." He grappled around under the counter, trying to get a hold of the box. His efforts were complicated by his injury, every time his left arm moved a searing pain shot through his whole side. A last powerful yank freed the box and he slid back to Johnny. "Here you are paramedic, do you thing and then I'll look at your head." Mike shrugged back into his turnout. Johnny opened the box awkwardly; his right hand was totally useless. He took a piece of cloth out and turned to his friend. "Let's get this on you." He wrapped the sling around Mike's shoulders and realized that there was no way he could tie it up. "Shit." "Turn the ends toward me, I'll tie it." "You're not using those left fingers Mike, I want the arm to be still." "All right, then we use my right hand and your left, that'll work." Mike pulled on the cloth. "Good idea, two halves make one whole." Johnny grinned. "Teamwork, right?" "Right." They fumbled around in uncoordinated motions, but finally succeeded in tying a workable knot. Johnny placed Mike's arm in the sling and turned it. "Okay, now you." Mike searched through the box and came up with another sling. "Turn your head." "What're you gonna do, put my head in a sling?" "No, but I'm gonna put your butt in it if you don't move your head." Mike grinned. "I'm gonna tie this over the cut, it's better than nothing right? It'll stop the bleeding. Then we check your wrist." "Yeah, I need to wrap that." Johnny lifted his arm. "Did you know that sprains hurt more than breaks?" "Gee, I didn't know that John. Imagine, I almost went through life without this fascinating information, thanks." "You're welcome." Mike chortled. "Sorry Johnny, I didn't mean to snap at you." "It's all right. Are you almost done up there?" "Put your hand right there and hold this end so I can tie it up." He frowned in concentration. "Okay, I'm done." Mike plopped back down on the floor. "Now, let's get that wrist wrapped. Grabbing a bandage he slid back to Johnny. You ready?" "Ready. Mike, we have to wrap it kinda tight, it needs to be totally immobile." "Let's get to it then." The engineer lifted Johnny's injured wrist. "Holy cow, it's swollen up pretty good, it's almost twice its normal size." "No kidding. Okay, you hold this end and I'll start wrapping the bandage around. When I'm done we have to cut the ends so we can tie it up." This time it went much faster, they were getting better at coordinating their movements. Practice makes perfect. Mike leaned back and closed his eyes. This was exhausting. He lifted his head up, and breathed deeply, time to get up. Pushing himself on his knees, he took hold of the wall and tried to stand up. Out of the side of his vision he noticed that Johnny did the same. "Stop that, let me get up first. You've got a head wound, if you get dizzy, at least I can keep you from falling flat on your face." Johnny started to protest, realized that Mike was right and acceded. He kept his eye on his friend though; he might be more hurt than he himself realized at the moment. Mike rose steadily with the aid of the wall, tested his legs and nodded. Nothing hurt, no dizziness, so far so good. Turning to Johnny, he bend down and took hold of his friend's arm "Okay, now you." When he reached an upright position his vision blurred and he swayed. Johnny felt Mike's grip tighten like an iron fist. "Oww! You got a grip like a vice, what are you trying to do, break my arm?" The paramedic frowned at Mike. "No, I'm not trying to break your arm, I'm trying to stop you from breaking your face." Mike steadied the paramedic. "Maybe you should sit back down, and look who's glaring now." "Sorry." Johnny grinned crookedly.  "I don't wanna sit back down, the dizziness will pass. We've got to look around and figure a way outta here." His eyes started to focus and he let out a relieved breath. "Mike, d'ye think we got enough air in here?" "Yeah we do. It's a big room and they're gonna get us out soon…I hope." Mike looked around and walked toward the front of the vault. He looked at the destruction the front area had endured and shook his head. "Well, well, dumbshit was wrong, he doesn't know his job after all, does he? We're very lucky John. If we'd been any closer to the door when that charge went off…" Mike let the words trail out, he didn't really want to dwell on it. "Who's dumbshit?" Johnny turned and looked at Mike. Plaster dust fell from his hair, got into his nose and made him sneeze. "Gesundheit. Dumbshit a.k.a. the Arrogant s.o.b. is a cop who told us that he took care of all the explosives in here. He called us dumb hose-jockeys. I shoulda let Chet sock him." "Chester B. was gonna sock a cop? Man I would've loved to see that." Johnny chortled and walked over to Mike. "What are we gonna do now?" "Hm… I guess we should try to get all his stuff out of the way so we can get out once they get the door open, which I hope, is gonna be…" A squawking noise made both men jump. "What was that?" "How should I know? Besides it came from under the counter and you were the one underneath it." Johnny walked back to the marble counter and kneeled down to get a better look. "The HT!" Mike whirled around and joined Johnny. "I had the engine's HT with me. It must've fallen out of my pocket when the blast knocked me under there." "Here it is." Johnny grabbed the unit and held it up with a triumphant grin. "Let's see if it can do more than squawk." He depressed the call button. "HT 51 to engine 51, can you hear me?" Silence. "HT 51 to engine 51 come in." Getting no response, Johnny's shoulders slumped, disappointment enveloped him like a shroud. "Crap. Oh well, it would've been too easy wouldn't it?" "Come on, let's try to move this rubbish. They'll get us out John, it's not as if we're missing, they know exactly where we are." Mike patted his friend on the back. "It was a long shot anyway, bank vaults tend to be very thick and solid." "You're right." Johnny exhaled audibly. "Okay let's get started." Johnny rose, noted that he didn't experience any negative symptoms and nodded in satisfaction. With a concerted effort a path was soon cleared, but both men were very tired from the exertion. By silent, mutual agreement they moved back and sat down. "I wonder why I'm so tired, I'm used to working much harder." Mike leaned his head against the wall. "Slight shock, stress and injury." Johnny paled suddenly and turned abruptly to his friend. "You don't think we're running out of oxygen do you?" Mike was smart, he was an engineer, he'd know. Mike opened his eyes and looked at the paramedic. "Not a chance. Look at the sheer size of this room, look how high the ceiling is." He sat up. "Believe it or not, we've only been in here for an hour. Seems much longer doesn't' it?" "Yeah." Johnny felt reassured and sank back against the wall. "Mike?" 'Oh, oh, here it comes.' Mike took a deep breath. "What?" "I didn't mean to tell Roy anything about this morning, it just slipped out. It's not as if we were talking about you…I mean we were talking about you, but it was nothing bad…I just…what I mean is, that we were just trying to come up with…" Johnny stopped, not knowing how to disentangle himself from the convoluted sentence. "Come up with what John?" Mike's voice was low, his tone careful. "Well, come up with things we know about you, that's all." "Why?" Mike was genuinely puzzled. "Because I realized that you were right, and I needed to figure out why." "What was I right about?" Mike stared at Johnny in bewilderment. How did Roy deal with this day after day? "About us not asking you to do stuff with us." Johnny frowned, why was everybody so dense today? First Roy, now Mike. In a resigned motion he shook his dark head. Oh well, it'd been a strange day all day long, so why the hell not? "So, did you figure it out?" "No, I couldn't come up with a single reason. We also realized, that we know next to nothing about you." Johnny reached up and adjusted the bandage around his head. "Johnny, if you want to know anything, just ask. If I wanna give you an answer I will." "Yeah, sounds easy, but it isn't." Johnny tried to figure out a way to say what he wanted to say without making his friend angry again. "You make it hard to even try, you know. There were plenty of times when I wanted to talk to you, but…Oh I don't know, how should I put it? Well, I always get the feeling I'm going on your nerves, or bother you, or something, and I'm sure the others feel the same way. Besides, the times when you don't have your nose buried in a book or the paper are few and far between." "Don't exaggerate, I don't always have my nose buried in a book or the paper." "Well if you don't, you're in the bay polishing something or other on the engine." "Johnny, you're always welcome to come over and help me polish." Mike grinned broadly but became immediately serious again. "I've always been quiet, but I didn't mean to come across as distant or aloof. I've just never been good with empty talk; it always feels like a waste of time you know. And I do like to read. But I never realized that I made you all uncomfortable in approaching me. If I'd known that, I would've done something about it a long time ago." "You must've felt something yourself, otherwise you wouldn't of blown up at me this morning like you did." The paramedic swiveled to face the other man. "Honestly Mike, I've never seen you this mad, I had the devil of a time trying to figure out what I could've possibly done wrong." Mike grinned. "You think I blew up at you? Go compare notes with Chet sometime, then you'll know what me blowing up really means." "Chet? You got mad at him too? What'd he do?" "It's a long story Johnny, I'll tell you one of these days." Slapping the paramedic on the shoulder he continued. "I'm sorry old friend; I've got a lot on my mind, but that's no excuse for the way I treated you. What with my new house and all the work it needs…I guess I was just a little overwhelmed." "You bought a house? Why? Where? When? What's wrong with it?" He looked at the engineer curiously; this morning's disagreement was totally and utterly erased from his mind. 'Marco's right, he can't hold a grudge to save his life.' Mike laughed out loud and sat up again. "Okay," he ticked his answers off on his fingers, "let's answer that in order. Because it was a good deal…On the corner of 5th and Lafayette…Two weeks ago…and you name it and it needs work. How's that?" He was still grinning from ear to ear. "Sooo? When were you gonna ask the rest of us to help you, hm?" He looked at Mike with raised eyebrows. "Don't answer that, don't answer that, I'll answer it for you. Never, right? You weren't gonna ask us at all, right?" Mike lowered his eyes; Johnny's shot had found its mark. It just never occurred to him to ask his crewmates for help. "I didn't want to bother you all…I mean, I didn't want you guys to feel obligated…What I'm saying is…" Mike sputtered to a halt when a noise penetrated his thoughts and he raised his eyes. There was Johnny, lying on the floor, cracking up with laughter. "What?" This spurred Johnny into a veritable laughing frenzy. He slapped the floor with his good hand and struggled for breath. "You…you're getting pretty good there pal… you almost sound like me!" "Johnny?" "Yeah?" "Shut up." #### The atmosphere in the lobby of the bank became more and more strained with each passing minute. 27's had arrived earlier and joined the men at the vault. The sound of running footsteps spun Hank around, and he saw Roy rushing up to him, followed closely by 116's paramedics. "Cap…" Roy inhaled deeply. "Any news…" He looked around and realized who was missing. His stomach constricted when he spied the shattered column. "Any news about Johnny and Mike?" Hank motioned behind him to Marco and Chet who worked silently and feverishly by the vault doors. They wouldn't budge from this position until the doors were opened to give them their friends back. "The guys will fill you in Roy, go join them, we need to stick together now." Hank gave up trying to reach his men with the HT; it obviously couldn't penetrate the massive steel of the vault. For a fleeting moment he thought he heard something, only to be disappointed. The one good piece of news came from Jake, who reassured him that there were no more charges anywhere to be found. He staked his reputation on the thoroughness and competence of his men and Hank trusted Jake. A horrendous thought invaded his mind. "Jake!" Hank turned to the FBI man with an abrupt movement. "Jake, for heavens sake, what if there is another explosive in the vault?" "I thought about that, but I don't think so. They planted the charge that went off on them with the intention of blowing the safe deposit boxes open. As far as I know the criminal element, they don't like to be too close to their deadly tools of trade." Jake smiled reassuringly at Hank. "Besides, it'd serve no purpose for them to plant another charge into the vault, it would do nothing but hinder them." "Yes. Besides, I certainly would've found an explosive in the vault." The arrogant voice spun Hank around. If he had one wish, just one wish, he'd wish that he could punch this sneering young dirt-bag right in the kisser. He reminded himself of the order he'd given Chet and Marco. Hank had to set an example and keep his composure or it'd be a signal for his firemen to tear this idiot to pieces. "Oh really? It seems you overlooked a charge right in front of the vault, didn't you?" Chet snarled. His tone of voice could've cut granite. "That was not my fault. I delegated this area to a subordinate and I'll make sure the man is brought on the carpet for his neglect." Mecavoy's mouth curved into snooty expression. "I see." Hank's fists were itching. "In the fire department the supervisor has the ultimate responsibility that a job is done right, it goes with the territory. I always thought the police department worked under the same rules and regulations. I guess I was wrong." "Cap, don't you know that the rules and regulations for the average police officer don't apply to this guy?" Roy's voice dripped with sarcasm. The snarl on the detective's face intensified as he gave Roy a snooty glance. "With all due respect captain, but you know nothing about police-work…" "Neither do you." The voice was barely recognizable as Marco's, the Latino fireman was beyond furious. He moved forward; Chet followed as if pulled by a string. Hank moved into their path. Not that he cared about the arrogant detective who definitely deserved getting read the riot act; he had his men's best interest in mind. A volatile situation like this could easily escalate. The two firefighters were far to valuable to humanity at large to let them put their careers in jeopardy for the likes of Mecavoy. "Mecavoy, return to your precinct house." Jake's voice held a forbidding undertone. But the detective, who considered himself far above the rest of the human race, protested. "Sir, you are not my supervisor." "I am the senior crime-scene coordinator and an FBI agent. I'm everybody's supervisor here. If you don't move this instant I'll have you up on insubordination charges so fast it'll make your head spin!" This finally got through to the detective and he turned and stalked out. Hank noticed the contemptuous smirk on Vince's face when Mecavoy walked by him and surmised that there was not much love lost between the two men. Shaking his head the policeman walked up to Hank "We've got the area cleared Hank, now we have to find a way to get the door open. Mike and Johnny have been in there for about two hours now." Jake turned around and held out his hand to Vince. "Jake Arnold, FBI." Vince shook the outstretched hand "Vince Howard, 6th precinct." "I assume you're a friend of Hank and his chaps, would you mind sticking around and help coordinate our efforts, Officer Howard?" "I would've done that anyway, you're right, they are my friends, all of them. And please call me Vince." "Jolly good Vince, call me Jake." The agent smiled. "Do me a favor and see if you can't round up Mr. Riley. He should've made some sort of headway by now." Jake watched as Vince left in a trot. Now there was a good, reliable man. "Hank, we're getting close, you know there has to be a way to override the lock, all time devices have that feature." Hank sighed. "I know Jake, I know, but will we be in time? They could be very hurt, or…" No, he couldn't think that, he could not allow himself to follow this particular train of thought, it was as if thinking it would make it come true. "And we don't know whether they have an adequate oxygen supply either." With a sympathetic look, Jake clapped his hand on Hank's shoulder and walked away in search of Vince. The officer might need assistance with the vice-president. Hank stood looking forlorn; he was lost in thought. A commotion from the counter claimed his attention. Vince and Jake were practically dragging the vice-president toward him. Hank allowed himself a small smile. He felt lucky to have two such good friends by his side in this time of crisis. "We found this fellow lolligagging in his office. He claims there's no one in the security company offices. Instead of letting us in on this he just hid in his plush chamber." Jake was positively growling, Vince looked like thunder. Hank was speechless. They were dealing with two trapped, possibly badly hurt firefighters and this guy couldn't care less. His brows furred, his eyes shot fire. "You…" He caught himself just in time. "Mr. Riley." Hank's voice was low, dark and dangerous. "You will do everything in your power right now to get my men out of there. I don't care what you do, but you'll sit right here in front of me and call any-and everybody you can think of who might just have the slightest bit of information about this vault, do you hear me Mr. Riley?" The fat man was quivering all over. He shrank back before Hank's frightening look and wiped his forehead. "Captain, it's not that I don't want to help you, but I know nothing about branch operations, I'm strictly sales management." Hank was getting dizzy with fury. "THEN GET ME A DAMN BRANCH OPERATIONS EMPLOYEE!" "But she's gone, she was one of the hostages, I don't even know where she is right now." Riley defended himself. Hank was just about to blow his top when there was a disturbance at the entrance doors. A woman was arguing with an uniformed policeman, her gestures were frantic, her expression worried. Jake called out. "What seems to be the problem officer?" The woman whirled toward the sound of the voice. She had a tan complexion and short blond hair. She was dirty and barefoot, her skirt was torn, and she had a cut above her left eyebrow.  "I'm the branch operations manager, you gotta let me in. I…" she had no time to finish her sentence, because a crowd of men were rushing her. Her pleasant features stiffened in fear. All the men noticed it at about the same time and stopped in their tracks. The woman had just gone through a hostage situation; they needed to be gentle with her. Aside from that, she represented the first real ray of hope in this otherwise horrid evening. "Miss…" Hank looked at the woman. "Masters, but call me Vera." "Okay Vera, call me Hank." He introduced everybody. "Let me explain the situation…" "You don't have to Hank, I heard everything on the radio at the hospital, that's why I'm here. The vault is locked and your men are running out of air. I jumped into my car and came here." She smiled shyly. "I'm gonna have some explaining to do to that nice nurse, I just ran out on them." Finally, a caring individual. "Vera, is there some way to get this vault open?" The men looked at her hopefully; Riley was sitting at a desk, quivering away. "Yes, there is, but I need to get a hold of two other employees. It takes the three of us to get this thing open, but I can buy your firefighters some time right away." She smiled encouragingly at the men. "How?" "There is a fresh air release in the back behind the teller-line. It's usually on, but shuts itself off on weekends. It supplies the vault with fresh air. I can reactivate it right now, that way you don't' have to worry about oxygen deprivation." She let deeds follow words, dashed behind the counter and took a panel off the wall. With a few hand movements she activated something, a green light switched on inside the panel.  "There, that'll help." She turned and smiled. She became immediately solemn however. "How are they?" "We don't know yet, how could we? There's no way to talk to them, we don't even know if they're still alive." Hank's eyes clouded with worry, Marco, Chet and Roy looked close to tears, 116's paramedics and 27's were pale and agitated and the policemen frowned. "Oh." The compassionate woman looked sad. "The intercom's broken then? That is a low blow." It took a few seconds for the woman's words to sink into their collective consciousness. Hank grasped their meaning first. "Inter…" He choked on the word, whirled around and glowered at Riley. If looks could kill, the vice-president would slide right off his chair and fall to the floor, a mountain of dead flesh. He had a thousand things to say to the man, but they could wait. The only important person in the whole wide world right now was Vera Masters. The men crowded around the woman, everyone was talking at the same time. The frightened look crept back into her eyes. They saw it and backed off. Hank was elected unofficial spokesman by silent consent. "Vera, we didn't know about any intercom, but don't both units have to be switched on to work?" Hank sat the woman down gently and sank into a crouch before her. "Yes, that's right, but there is a way of making the person in there or out here aware of the fact that someone wants to talk to them." Vera calmed down. "Show us Vera, please show us how." Hank took the woman's hand and she guided him to a speaker unit behind the counter. It looked like an old-time wireless and it too was polished to the max. "See this button here, the big brass one?" She pointed and Hank nodded, as did all the men who were crowding behind her. "You just pull it out and push it back in several times. It transmits a buzzing sound to its twin in the vault. The person in there has to flick this switch and the connection is open." She followed her words with action and the unit came to life. It emitted several squawks and crackles, followed by a buzzing sound. #### "Did you hear that?" Johnny leaned forward, straining his ears. "I sure did." Mike jumped up and tried to locate the origins of the sound. It seemed to be originating from the front of the vault, by the edge of the marble counter, which spanned the right wall of almost the entire room. The counter and wall above were heavily damaged from the blast, but he could see nothing that could possible make a noise like that. Johnny joined him in fruitless search.  "There are either a million bees behind that wall or we're both going nuts." Johnny ran his hands over the wall. "Something is going on out there, first the fresh air, now this." Mike turned to his friend. "This has got to mean something Beside, I've got no time to go nuts just yet, and neither do you. I've got a house to renovate remember, and I'm gonna haul all you guys to the task, see if I don't." He grinned and followed Johnny's example, physically examining the wall. "Hey, I found something." Johnny's shout brought Mike over to his location. "See, this piece of wall moves inward. How the hell do we open it?" "I bet it's a spring-lock. We've got to find the right spot to push and it'll pop right open." Johnny straightened up, stepped aside and looked expectantly at his friend. "What? Are you waiting for a written invitation or something? Go find the lock." "Who says that I have to do it?" "You're the engineer, I'm the paramedic. If the wall starts bleeding I'll do something, you're the technical genius remember?" "Hmph." Mike snorted but moved to the wall nevertheless. "Step aside Mr. Paramedic, genius at work, don't bother me." He stretched his good hand and wiggled his fingers. "What are you doing?" Johnny was intrigued. "I'm limbering up my fingers, what else? All us geniuses do that, don't you know anything?" With Johnny's laughter as an accompaniment he ran his long fingers around the wall, gently pushing the outer edges of the moving section. Suddenly a large panel of wall swung back, revealing what looked like an old fashioned wireless. "You know what this is?" Mike grinned at Johnny. "Let me guess… a radio." "Close, buddy real close. It's an intercom. Let's see if we can open up communication. They must've found a smart person who works here." "What are the odds?" Johnny giggled. "Things are looking up all over." Mike found a switch that looked somewhat different from the others. "I bet this is it." He flipped the switch upward. "Hey out there, can anybody hear me?" "You think it'll work?" Johnny stared hopefully at the speaker-unit. #### Krkkkr…hear….krrrkk…work…kssrrkkkr… That was all the assembled men heard. But it was enough. The alleviation was palpable, for the first time in hours the strain partially lifted, the stress became bearable. Two words, just two words, spoken by two different voices made all the difference in the world. They took them into their hearts and cherished them, they were alive, both of them. A collective sigh of relief rose from the back of the counter and floated through the lobby. "Oh my." Vera frowned. "The unit must've been damaged in the explosion, there seems to be a loose connection." She turned her brown eyes to Hank. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how to fix that." "Vera," Hanks voice was thick with emotion, "you will never know how much you did for us, all of us, today. It doesn't matter that the intercom is not working right, we heard our friends, both of them. They're alive and conscious, that's all that matters right now." She smiled. "I think I know what you mean. I was scared to death earlier when these…these…" Words failed her, the memory of the terrifying ordeal brought tears to her eyes. "They're not going to do anything like this again anytime soon." Jake put a hand on her trembling shoulder. "They'll be cooling their heels in prison for a long, long time. They're lucky the two firemen are alive, or they'd be up on murder charges as well." Vera smiled up at him through her tears, then turned to Hank. "I better get the two others over here, now we have to get your guys out." She sighed. "I better get started, I need to get back to the hospital, my people need me to be there. They've been through a lot today, they need all the comfort I can give." With a last nod the woman disappeared around the counter in search for a telephone. The men looked after her, their faith in humanity restored. After dealing with the likes of Mecavoy and Riley she was like a breath of fresh air. Hank allowed himself a smile. 'Vera Masters, you're in for the best dinner money can buy after this ordeal is over'. "Cap, let's try again, maybe we can find out if they're hurt or something." Chet looked at his captain with pleading eyes, his friends nodded in agreement, they wanted to hear their friends' voices again. Hank acceded and flipped the switch. "Mike, Johnny, can you hear me? Are you hurt?" Krrrkksss…Cap…kssssskk…okay…krrkkrr…hungry…krkrrk The men couldn't help themselves, they started laughing. It was music to their ears. That was very definitely Johnny, complaining about being hungry. Neither man was badly hurt, else Johnny wouldn't even be thinking about food. "We are working on getting you out, sit tight, it'll not be much longer." Hank straightened up and wiped his forehead. "I'll advise headquarters of the situation, they can alert Rampart." He turned to the paramedics. "You ready?" "We've been ready from the moment we got here, Cap." Roy smiled happily and 116's paramedics nodded in agreement. Chet and Marco were high-fiveing each other and grinning from ear to ear. #### "What did he say?" Johnny asked, as if Mike, by some miracle, heard more than he had. "Don't know, but I can guess. They're working on getting us outta here, I hope it'll be soon. I'm so hungry I'd even settle for one of your hamburgers." A grin played around Mike's mouth, he knew Johnny would have something to say about his crack. "Ha, ha, very funny Michael Stoker. You're not such a great cook either you know. Some of your dishes should be on the lethal weapon list." "Behave, or I'll serve figs and weird green mush the next time it's my turn to cook." Mike sat back down and grinned up at the paramedic. Johnny made a retching sound. "Oh man, that was god-awful. I never did figure out what that green slop was, did you?" He sat down beside his friend.  Not giving his friend a chance to answer, he continued. "You're gonna love living in a house, there's nothing like it. I'd never move back into an apartment. My house was a great find." "I remember, isn't that the one you snatched away from Roy?" Mike had fun needling his friend. "I did not snatch it away, he didn't want it, and it was not…" Knock it off Mike, are you taking lessons from Chet by any chance?" Johnny scowled at the engineer. "Stop glaring at me Johnny." Mike grinned. "I don't need lessons from Chet or anybody else, I can think these things up all by myself." "I'm not glaring… You're right, you let loose with some great zingers every once in a while. Johnny leaned back and inspected his wrist. He looked at Mike with a big grin. "Gurgle, gurgle?" Mike laughed. "I couldn't help that, it just popped out." He became serious." What's the matter? Is you wrist bothering you?" "Just hurts like hell, sprains…" "Hurt more than breaks, I know, I know." Mike's eyes twinkled. "You should've forgotten the drug-box in here too, at least you could pop a few aspirins now." "You're a regular riot Mike. By the way, how's your arm?" "It hurts." "It's not getting numb by any chance, is it?" "No, trust me I'd tell you if something weird happened to my arm, I'm aiming to keep it. Who ever heard of a one-armed engineer?" Mike leaned his head back and sighed. "They gonna take us to Rampart, and the Docs there are gonna want us to stay, wanna bet? Man, I hate hospitals. I thought I'd be safe from them when I took the engineer's exam." Mike lifted his head and grinned at Johnny. "I guess I didn't figure in the fact that I'd be working with you." "Everybody is a comedian. Are you suggesting that I'm accident-prone?" "You're not exactly accident-prone Johnny, just impulsive." Mike sat up. "Remember all the times you landed in the hospital? Accidents, sickness, you went through all of that." "Don't forget your friendly neighborhood rattlesnake." "Don't remind me of that one, that was too close, way too close." Mike swallowed. The horrible sensations that overpowered him that day came back and squeezed his throat.  "I thought we were gonna lose you, I thought you were going to die right there in the back of my engine. I kept praying the whole time, I don't think I ever drove this fast. When we arrived at Rampart I was shaking like a leaf. I couldn't get through those hospital doors fast enough." Mike turned his head and gave Johnny a little half-grin. "For the first time in my career as an engineer I forgot to lock my door, and I didn't even realize it until we got back to her. I didn't get in trouble with Cap though." Mike's grin widened. "He forgot to lock his door too." He shook his head. "I had nightmares for a week after that, even worse ones than after your car accident at that bar." Leaning back and closing his eyes again, the engineer continued. "It's not only you, you know. Being left behind is not all it's cracked up to be. It's very terrifying to know that one of you is injured and I can do nothing but stand and wait." Johnny listened with rapt attention. He was amazed at Mike's story, he never knew Mike cared so much about them, he just never thought about it. He suddenly realized how unfair his thought was. Just because Mike didn't react outward like all the others didn't mean he felt less of the stress and the fear than they did. "Mike? Mike, do you think of me as your friend?" Mike felt the now increasingly familiar bewilderment; Roy deserved a medal. "Yeah, don't you?" "Well yeah, I do, but I didn't think you did. I mean you've never let on…well you know, what I mean is, I didn't realize you worried about all of us this much." Johnny stopped. "Wait this didn't come out right…Mike, can't you help me out here, don't you know what I'm trying to say?" "Yeah, you're calling me an ogre again. Didn't we just leave that party?" Mike's expression was serious, his voice however, held a hint of laughter. "You gonna get mad again Mike?" Johnny smiled. "Three times in one day? We have to alert the media, that record will never be broken. And you know exactly what I mean, stop acting dense. I guess we never really thought about what being alone by the engine and having to fear the worst can do to you, you know what I mean?" "Yeah, I know what you mean Johnny, I know." #### Vera ran up to Hank and the others. "I got hold of both of them. They already heard the news, as a matter of fact, they saw it on TV. They're on their way, your guys'll be out real soon now." "TV?" Chet let out a low whistle. "That didn't take long." "Are you kidding Mr.…?" Vera squinted at Chet's nametag, but he answered her instead. "My name's Chet Kelly, but please don't call me Mr. Kelly." He smiled, his blue eyes twinkled. She smiled back, captivated by his charming manner. "As I was saying Chet, there are news-crews all over the street out front. This is big prime time material, I had a hard time fighting my way through them when I got here." "Wow." Chet was impressed. "I wonder how come they're not at the hospital, were the robbers are." "Because this is much better. Explosions, trapped firemen, it's big news. You're the good guys you know." Vera looked up when she saw movement by the entrance. "There they are." She turned her smiling face back to Chet. "We'll have your friends out in no time now, you'll see." She rushed away; Chet looked after her with thoughtful eyes, she really was very pretty. "Vera." The two men made straight for the woman. "How are you, how are the others?" The speaker took her hand and patted her shoulder. "What a terrible thing to happen." "Yeah." Vera pulled the man over to the vault. " We're all okay, but we need to get the firemen out." Without further ado Vera pulled the wood paneling from the left door. A square plastic case with three digital counters became visible. She put a small key into the left counter, turned it and punched some numbers into the pad below. The two men followed suit. A low rumble was heard as the massive bolts slid back and an audible click followed. Vera pulled the long handle upward and the heavy door swung slowly outward. The men crowding behind her held their collective breath. ####   Both men sat up abruptly and looked at each other. There were noises coming from the door. They slowly and carefully rose, as the huge door inched open. It swung back completely and revealed a pretty blond woman, smiling at them with sparkling brown eyes. Crowds of men where clustered behind her. The woman had barely enough time to move out of the way of the surging men. Roy and 116's paramedics rushed toward Mike and Johnny, the sight of their crewmates standing and grinning filled their hearts with joy. "Well hello Junior, can't let you out of my sight for a second, can I." Roy took hold of Johnny's wrist and examined it. "I wasn't the one who forgot the splint-box, remember?" Johnny tried to scowl, but the only thing on his face was a big grin. "Besides, if I hadn't gone back, Mike would've been in here all alone, and he'd been as helpless as a newborn baby all by himself." "Watch it John, I can still take that sling off your head and put it elsewhere." Mike turned and stared at Johnny, but his eyes were smiling. "Stop giving me dirty looks, Stoker." Johnny's grin never wavered "I'm not giving you…" Mike stopped and started laughing. Looking around he resolved to make it easier for his friends to approach him. It would take a lot of work, old habits are hard to break, but he wanted…no, needed to be a bigger part of their lives. He needed them as much as they needed him; it was warmer inside a circle of friends, than outside. He looked up and suddenly became aware of the blond woman. What a pretty girl that was. His eyes lit up with interest. The end. return to main menu