It was 3am. Station 51 was dark and quiet. The only sounds in the room were the soft breathing and snores of six sleeping firefighters. Well, make that five.

"Hey, Roy? Roy?"

A soft grunt came from the opposite bed.

"Roy, are you awake?"

"I am now," came Roy's voice groggily.

"Do you ever wonder what will happen when you die?"

The suddenness of such a question had Roy silently questioning whether Johnny was simply talking in his sleep. He rolled over to face his partner, now more awake.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just wondering, that's all."

Roy decided to go ahead and answer the question.

"Well, first of all Joanne will be notified, the rest of the family, and then there'll-"

"No, I mean to YOU - what will happen to YOU after you die?"

There was a long moment of silence. Roy suddenly remembered the last run they'd been on and knew why Johnny was asking. It'd been a young girl, no more than nine years old, who'd been hit by a car. Her last words to the paramedics before she lost consciousness had been "Don't be sad for me. I'm going to heaven." Johnny and Roy had rushed her to Rampart but it was too late. She died on the operating table despite the doctors' best efforts to save her. The unusually quiet drive back to Station 51 was testament to how terrible Johnny felt.

"Roy?"

Johnny's questioning voice brought Roy back to the present. He really had no idea how to answer.

"She sounded so sure."

"Yeah, I know. Look, Junior, I'm probably not the best one to talk to about this."

"Why not?"

"I'm not really a religious type of guy…"

"Neither am I. I just wanted to know, that's all."

Silence again reigned in the darkness. Johnny sighed loudly.

"I guess I always thought that when I die, that'd be it, you know. But now… I don't know. And it's not just this run, Roy. It's been bothering me for a while now."

"It's a tough question, alright."

Roy couldn't hold back a yawn, and Johnny joined him halfway through.

"Why don't we sleep on it? Maybe it'll make more sense during daylight hours."

"Yeah, sure. Goodnight, Roy."

"Night, Johnny."

Roy rolled over to face the wall and Johnny flung his arm over his face. Suddenly the lights came on and the tones sounded. Automatically the two paramedics, along with the rest of the men, scrambled out of bed and into their gear.

"Station 51, accident with injuries. Intersection of Farrell and Third, time out 0311."

"10-4. KMG-365."

As Roy slid behind the wheel, Johnny looked at him and smiled.

"So much for sleeping on it. Do you think working on it will help too?"

Roy couldn't resist a grin. Yep, Johnny sometimes had interesting ideas at 3am, but he wouldn't change his partner for anyone. Even if it meant losing eleven minutes of sleep to a futile conversation.