I've only just started getting into this show but I really like it. Especially for a show that was popular a few decades before I was born! But regardless here is my attempt on a Stoker story with some Hank-Mike friendship.

I don't own anything of Emergency

Captain Henry "Hank" Stanley had an hour left to sleep before his shift when the phone rang. His wife Suzanne nudged him softly from her side of the bed, mumbling as she turned over about who on earth would call at this time at night. Taking a look at his clock, Hank saw it was only a little past 4am, and instantly his worry was peaked. He reached for the phone hastily and tried to sound like he wasn't just fast asleep a few minutes ago. "Stanley" he spoke briskly.

"Hank, its O'Keefe," came the voice of the C-Shift captain, "I'm sorry to wake you but we have a situation.

Captain Stanley was wide awake now, "Situation? What kind of situation?"

"It's your engineer Hank, he's here. We were out on a run and when we came back we found his car in the parking lot. He's asleep in there and looks a little beat up from what I can see. Hell if I didn't see his chest rising and falling I would have called an ambo, it shocked me so much. We haven't woken him yet, didn't want to startle him. Damn Hank, Stoker always seems like such a cool and calm guy, sure gave us a scare."

"He looked beat Jim" Hank wanted to curse his voice for sounding so shaky. Yes Michael Stoker was probably the best damn engineer he ever had the privilege to work with, and this from a former engineer himself, but he was more than that, he was also Hank's best friend at the station. The two were always hanging out together and Mike had even been named Courtney's godfather, he was such a beloved person in the Stanleys' lives. To hear that he was hurt in any way made Hank's heart skip a few beats and he struggled to compose himself enough to get a clear picture of what he was walking into. "How bad Jim?"

"Definitely seems like he took a shot or two to the nose and eye" the C-Shift captain explained cautiously, "Can't see much else. You want me to wake him?"

"No" Hank spoke honestly, "I'm heading over now but when I get there-" his sentence was interrupted by the sirens going off.

"Sorry Hank, got to go. I'll see you soon." O'Keefe hung up quickly and Captain Stanley wasted no time and headed right towards his bathroom.

"Is everything alright honey?" his wife asked, rising up from the bed with a concerned face.

"Suze honey, everything's okay, head on back to sleep. I just need to head to the station a little early."

"Who was beaten?" she asked softly, her voice shaking a little as she watched her husband rush to dress. "Hank? What's going on?"

The Cap knew his wife was coming from a place of concern and though he hated to worry her, he knew she would never let him leave without spilling. "It's Mike, honey. Jim from C-Shift said he's in his car in the parking lot fast asleep with a black eye and a bleeding nose."

"What!"

"I know. I'm heading there now, I'm sure he's fine" he added quickly, though in his own head he was having a hard time believing it.

"Do you think it has to do with Tricia?" Suzanne almost spat the last word, her distain for the other woman so evident; Hank almost would have grimaced if he didn't hate Tricia just as much. Tricia Stoker was Mike's wife of a very long six years. Though when they first met, Hank and Suzanne were both happy for the young engineer, after spending some time with the young blonde from Orange County, the Stanley's felt as though Tricia's love was not as genuine as Mike's. When Tricia announced her pregnancy, Mike immediately proposed, intent on doing the right thing for his now growing family. When their healthy baby boy came into the world looking exactly like his father, Hank and Suzanne gave a relieved sigh, convinced that perhaps Tricia was not faithful. Instead she waited until her little boy was about four months and then she began her cheating. She was always out with other men and Mike being the stoic man that he was, refused to comment in fear of Tricia taking his son away and never letting him see him. So now five years later, Mike Stoker comes home to a wife who hates him and is unfaithful but to a little boy named after himself who he loves more than anything. He dotes on his son for anything and while he has never and will never cheat on Tricia while they are married for the sake of his own beliefs, it is clearly not easy on the poor man. The men at station 51 all know about Mike's home situation and though they don't openly comment on it to Mike, they always provide whatever they can for him. Recently, Mike has come to work and shared with Hank that Tricia has been seeing stranger men, who seem almost dangerous and how he is concerned for what little Mikey must see at the house. Captain Stanley continually pushes his engineer to think about divorce but he knows that the mother most likely will get custody and that will kill poor Mike.

Hank was taken out of his thoughts by his wife's now angry look. "No Tricia has never been violent physically, Suze you know that."

"It's not her, I'm worried about. It's whatever stupid guy she's brought back to rub in Mike's face. Oh the poor guy!" Hank had finished dressing and was grabbing his keys. "Honey call me the minute everything calms down and tell Mike if he needs a place to stay he can always come here."

Hank smiled at his wife and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I will Suze, thank you. I love you." He grabbed his keys and headed out the door until he stopped suddenly and headed back into the room. "What's wrong?" his wife asked watching her husband coming back. Hank reached for the phone and dialed the familiar number quickly. He waited two rings and was met by his tired senior paramedic's hello. "Roy, its Captain Stanley. I need you to get to the station a little earlier today if you can." He waited to hear Roy's reply which was of course agreement but then concern for what was going on. "It's Mike Roy, I think something might have happened. Can I count on you to meet me?" He listened to Roy explain that Johnny was at his house too, his apartment had lost power for the weekend. "Bring him along too if you can get him up" Cap remarked and then he smiled. "Thanks Roy, see you soon." He hung up.

"That was smart to call Roy." Suzanne observed from the edge of the bed.

"It's just a precaution." He explained, kissing his wife one last time on the lips and then finally heading fully out the door. "I'll call you soon" he called as he hurried out of the house.

Captain Stanley was sure he made the trip to the station in record time but it still felt too slow. As he pulled into the parking lot and saw Mike's car, he was relieved to see that C-Shift had not returned yet. At least it would offer him some privacy with his engineer at first. He walked over to Mike's truck calmly and took a glance inside. There was his young engineer, asleep with some dried blood on his face and a blackened eye but he could hear his heavy breathing from outside the car and he was happy to see no other major injuries from his spot through the window. He crack some knuckles on the window pane and was unsurprised to see the light sleeper jump in alarm and look around. Stoker found his Cap staring at him and he struggled to offer a weak smile before hitting the unlock button on his driver side door. Hank climbed into the passenger seat and stared at his engineer in concern. Now inside the captain could see the way, Mike was bracing his ribs and his stomach. They must be hurt too. "Mike" he began but the engineer cut him off in an uncharacteristic show of wanting to talk.

"I'm guessing Captain O'Keefe called you huh?" the engineer watched as his captain nodded. He shrugged "I thought I heard people outside the car before, should have known they would see me over here. I'm sorry Cap that he called you, I just didn't know where else to go."

"What happened Mike?"

The engineer sighed painfully and exhaustedly, "Tricia and I had a fight." When he offered no more, Hank tried to push, "Did she- did she do this to you Mike?"

"Tricia? No Cap, I'm not that pitiful of a man" he tried to joke but there was no humor in his blackened eyes. "She brought that guy back, the one who seems a little unstable. Well turns out he is a lot unstable and I came home after dropping little Mikey at his friend's for a sleepover to find them in the bedroom. I shouldn't have instigated, I should have left then and there but I was angry and banged on the door telling the guy to get the hell out of my house. The guy got annoyed and took a swing but he was so drunk that I was able to push him away and head upstairs to the guest room to just avoid them until I could pack some things and leave. What I wasn't expecting was his whole gang to come over with baseball bats and brass knuckles and take them to my stomach and face."

"Mike!"

"I know Cap, it sounds bad but would it make you feel better if I told you to see the other guys?" Hank didn't look pleased at his engineers attempt at humor. He cleared his throat roughly and waited until Mike glanced over to him. "Mikey, Pal, are you alright?" he asked concern dripping in his voice as he placed a comforting hand on his friend's arm.

Mike nodded slowly, "I held my own Cap, don't worry. A few off them scattered when I knocked them to the ground and then when the numbers weren't in their favor anymore the rest left as well. They were all drunk bikers. I ran downstairs ready to leave and saw her with him again. He was smirking triumphantly and all I wanted to do was just punch him right in that smirk so I did. I know it was stupid of me but that jerk deserved it! Tricia screamed and tried to claw at me but I grabbed my keys and raced over here. I know I shouldn't have fought them, it was stupid but I was angry and wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry Cap."

Mike looked down in shame and Hank fought the urge to tell his engineer they should go back to his house and beat the guy more but that wasn't the example the young man needed, instead he took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "Mike, you don't have to apologize to me, you stood up for yourself, I'm proud of you."

The younger man looked up in surprise, "but, but I was reckless and stupid. Hell I pulled a Gage, throwing myself into a dangerous situation without thinking! Those men could have been armed; I could have been really hurt."

"Yes," Captain Stanley nodded, "you could have been more hurt" He emphasized the word more and made sure his engineer was listening. "Don't downplay those injuries Stoker; I see the way you're holding those ribs." He softened his voice as the younger man grimaced as he shifted uncomfortably. "But Mike, you did what you had to do. Again, I'm not mad at you. Not even for getting me into work an hour early, I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thank Cap, it means a lot."

Captain Stanley was almost ready to get the man to discuss his future options when their heart to heart was interrupted by Roy DeSoto and John Gage running up to the car. Roy took one look in through the glass and grimace at the sight of his friend's face. "Mike" the senior paramedic called, "you alright?"

Mike opened his door slowly and gingerly stepped out. Johnny offered him a hand and helped the man towards the fire station. Captain Stanley noticed the engineer favoring his left leg and shot a look to his team of paramedics. Roy returned the glance with a worried look of his own and ran to Mike's other side. He took a gentle hand to Mike's nose and frowned. "I think it's broken" he announced.

"Oh it's definitely broken" Mike reasoned as he winced at Roy's touch. "It bled a lot before."

"Can you see out both eyes Mike?" the paramedic continued his examination taking a penlight from his pocket and shinning it towards his friend's eyes.

Mike nodded, "Yeah Roy I can see, they got a bit more swollen from before but I can still see out of them."

"Damn Pally," Johnny was looking the man up and down. "What did you do, get into a fight?" He started to laugh a little until he saw the look Mike gave the captain. "Wait, you did? What? Stoic Stoker got into a fight? Oh man! Chet is never going to believe this!"

"Junior" Roy warned as he looked around the engineer's head for any sign of concussion. "Any nausea Mike? Dizziness?"

"No Roy. No shots to the head, just the face." Roy nodded but he still continued to look. He didn't seem convinced.

"Stoker?" Gage's curiousity was too peaked to let this go, "what the hell happened? We you at a bar or something?"

"It's just a little fight, Johhny, don't tell me you never got into one."

"Well no," the dark haired paramedic looked to be thinking, "I can't say I have. Very few people want to punch this good looking face if you know what I mean!"

"Gage" cautioned the Captain and Johnny's smile disappeared as he went back to helping Mike limp across the parking lot.

"I can walk, you guys don't need to-"

"Save it Stoker" Hank called out coming up behind them to get the door for the station. "Let them help."

Once inside, Roy and Johnny placed the man gently on the couch then each ran to get their supplies. Meanwhile Hank took a seat across from his engineer. "That knee" he motioned to Mike's right pant leg which seemed to be stretched wider than the left.

"Oh yeah" the man spoke sheepishly, "they got a shot to my kneecap when I was turned around. Did I forget to say that?"

"Yeah I think you did there Pally." Mike smiled at his captain's affectionate yet worried tone. "I'm alright Hank" he murmured softly, not used to calling the captain by his first name while at work. "You don't need to worry."

"Yeah well," Hank threw him a small smile, "I'll let Roy and John be the judges of that."

As if on cue, both paramedics came back with their first aid kits, drug box, and biophone. "Well hang on a minute" the engineer tried to sit up and argue, "It's just some bumps and bruises. No need for all that."

"Humor us" Roy deadpanned as he motioned for Mike to lie back once more. Johnny meanwhile was rolling up Stoker's pant leg to expose the severely swollen and multi-colored knee. "Whoa" the younger paramedic whistled, "you sure did a number on this." He probed it gently and looked to see Mike grimace silently. "Mike what did they hit you with?"

Mike was saved from answering right away as Roy was helping him remove his shirt. Once the thin black shirt was removed, Hank, Roy and Johnny couldn't help but gasp at the huge welts along their engineer's torso. They could see where each impact was on his sternum and from the bruises that gathered in dark purples and reds; they could also see which ribs were most likely broken.

"Damn It Stoker," the captain grumbled as he turned away from the sight, his anger beginning to rise.

Roy took a tentative hand to Mike's abdomen. "A bat?" he asked softly, though he already knew the answer. Mike merely nodded from his place on the couch earning another impressive whistle from Johnny. "How many guys? Roy asked as started getting more supplies from the box.

"12" came the soft voice.

"Stoker!"

"Mikey!"

"12!"

The other three men in the room looked upon the injured engineer with different reactions. Hank Stanley looked ready to kill as he stood up from his seat across the room and began to pace. "You didn't tell me it was that many Stoker," he began to argue, "Jeez Mike you could have been killed!" Roy DeSoto on the other hand was staring up at the engineer with pure concern and worry on his face. "Mike, 12 guys, what the heck happened?" Lastly Johnny was staring at his friend too but with some of his trademark amusement despite the severity of the situation, "Oh man," he mused, "Chet is really never going to believe this!"

Mike swallowed roughly and sat himself up against the protest of both Johnny and Roy. "It was Tricia's guys. I know I shouldn't have but I was angry and stupid and thought I could take them. I did put up a fight" he offered Johnny a smile which the younger paramedic returned.

"Oh yeah Mikey, I bet you did! I wouldn't want to mess with you!" Johnny reached for the biophone, "but we should call Rampart and bring you over. I don't like those rib shots or your knee."

Stoker prepared himself to argue but the look from his Captain told him it was useless. If Gage and DeSoto said he had to go to the hospital he was damn well going. "Okay John," he countered instead, "I'll go but I'll drive myself. I don't need an ambulance."

"We still got thirty minutes until shift, how bout I drive you over Mike, while Cap calls in a sub for you."

"Sounds good to me Roy" Hank answered for him as he gave Mike a hand standing up. Together the three men helped the injured fourth into Roy's car. Johnny headed for the backseat while Roy rushed to the front. Hank knelt down towards the passenger's window and gave Mike's shoulder a pat. "I'll feel a lot better once you get check out, okay Pally?" He smiled when Mike nodded. "When you get released call the station and someone will pick you up and we will figure out where we will go from here."

Mike nodded again and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Cap, I don't- I'm not sure what I should do. My son- I can't lose him and she will take him, I know she will." His voice quivered for a second and both Roy and Johnny pretended not to notice. Hank meanwhile squeezed his friend's shoulder a little harder. "Don't think about that now okay, I told you, we will figure it out together." The stoic engineer merely nodded once more. Hank took a step back and motioned for Roy to get going. The senior paramedic gave a short wave and headed the group towards Rampart.

So there you go Chapter 1! I hope everyone likes it! Reviews are always appreciative!