This story came to me while I was in a laundry mat doing my clothes. Thanks to Soldier Heart for being a great beta reader.
I do not own the guys, but I promise to put them back the way I found them! Please read and review!
As a rule of thumb, Johnny Gage hated laundry day. That entailed dragging all his clothes that were dirty to the laundry mat and spending too much time and money on something he hated doing.
On this particular day, much to his surprise, his laundry had been relatively smaller, thanks to the fact that he had to work a few extra shifts at work. This happened to be his day off that was given him after pulling so many shifts. As he was loading some of his wet clothes into one of the big dryers, his thinking of what he could do that evening after his laundry was done.
I could call up Roy and see if I could go play with the kids. After all, I haven't been over there for a little while. I owe Chris a basketball game and Jenny a tea party. No wait, Roy's at work. I'm the only one who had the day off.
He smiled as his thoughts were on his partner's kids. He loved them as if they were his own. Roy DeSoto was his best friend, partner and brother and Roy's wife Joanne was like a sister to him. They were his only family, besides the guys at the station who were his brothers.
Johnny finished loading the dryer and shut the door. Just as he sat down to wait for the clothes to dry, he heard yelling from the front of the building. He looked up to see 2 men with ski masks on their faces and carrying guns run into the building. The one man began to shout, "Everyone on the floor, or everyone dies!"
Because all the patrons were to slow to obey the gunman's instructions and hit the floor, the two men began shooting randomly in the air and at the customers. Johnny saw a young woman go down near the front washing machines as a bullet hit her in the chest. Another woman went down as she was shot in the leg. The rest of the patrons were on the floor, some whimpering, others begging as the gunmen made their way around the room.
All Johnny could do was lie on the floor and pray to god the victims were going to be okay. He gasped when he saw a pair of shoes by his head. He heard the click of a gun near his head.
"Okay, any money, valuables, anything, put them in this sack," the gunman hissed.
Johnny obeyed, realizing there was nothing he could do to help the victims until the shooters had left the building. As he handed over his wallet and watch, the gunman caught sight of Johnny's fireman badge. He reacted like he had been shot.
"Oh shoot, a cop. Hal, we have a cop over here. You," he pointed at Johnny, "up. Now!"
Johnny stood up slowly. "Look man, I'm a firefighter/ paramedic with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. I'm not a cop, I swear," he said, holding his hands in the air.
"I don't believe you. Over by the wall, and if you so much as make one move, you've had it," the gunman named Hal said.
Before Johnny could reply, sirens were heard outside. Inside, Johnny was relieved. How the cops knew what was going on, he didn't know, just as long as they were here now. He could still hear whimpering and wondered if the two women shot were even still alive.
"Sam, what are we going to do? How did they know we were going to be here?" Hal asked, his gun still trained on Johnny.
"I don't know Hal. But I have to think of a way out of here. This cop may be the key," Sam said, motioning to Johnny with his gun.
"But would they let us go? I mean, we shot 2 people. This isn't a bank; it's a stupid laundry mat. We had to be stupid to think this would work.""Hal, would you shut up! I have to think. Keep an eye on our guest over here," Sam said, walking over to a set of dryers.
"You in the laundry mat! We have the place surrounded. Give yourselves up. You have no where to go. Let the hostages go," a voice said over a bullhorn.
Sam walked over to Johnny and grabbed him roughly by the arm. "Let's go, you're going to be my cover."
The two walked to the front of the building, Sam placing Johnny between him and the cops. Johnny was praying one of the cops would recognize him and be able to tell the shooter that he was not a cop. Johnny was praying that everyone would make it out alive. He jerked slightly as the gunman pulled him to a halt in front of the building. Sam still had his gun trained in Johnny's back.
"We are not giving up. There are 20 hostages in here, 2 of which are wounded. You decide what's important. If you try to come in after us, we start shooting hostages, starting with my shield right here," the gunman said, holding his gun to Johnny's head in front of the police. As he held the gun to Johnny's head, the gunman pulled Johnny back into the building.
Just as the door closed, shooting started in the laundry mat again. He was roughly pushed back against the wall as his other captor joined in the firefight.
Johnny was looking for a way out and trying to form a plan when a searing pain through his chest brought him out of his thoughts. His hands went instantly to his chest. Warm, sticky, has to be blood.
He looked down at his chest as he slid down to the floor, back against the wall, unable to stand. As he placed his hands over his chest, the blood seeped around his fingers. The shouting and gunfire faded into the background as blackness began to overtake him. He tried to fight it, unable to. Johnny's world went black as he lapsed into unconsciousness.