Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto were restocking their medical supplies and placing each box back into their respective squad compartments when the engine returned to the station. 'Big Red' was covered in a fine layer of smoky grime with flakes of fresh ash leaving behind a thin fog as it backed into the bay.

"Man..." Johnny slammed shut the final compartment door. "I thought they just went to a brushfire, looks like they went toe-to-toe with an entire city block!"

As the returned crew slowly climbed down from the engine, each man looking just as disheveled as the engine and equally exhausted, the more Johnny and Roy became convinced that the brushfire in question was not as routine as they had come to expect.

Captain Hank Stanley took off his helmet and rubbed his fingers through his dark, sweaty hair. Ash continued to fall and cling to his blackened smoke covered face. "Johnny, Roy." He greeted his two paramedics. "Anything exciting happen while we were out?"

Roy scanned the engine and his captain one last before answering. "No, but it looks like you had enough for excitement for all of us."

"You have no idea." Hank slipped off his turnout coat relaxed his shoulders. "I hope that is the worst call of the day, I really do."

Chet Kelley, Marco Lopez and Mike Stoker all proceeded to remove their helmets and turnout coats as well, soot and ash fell from their clothing leaving small piles on the floor of the bay at their feet.

Marco looked down at the ash and sighed as he looked at Chet. "I'll go get a broom if you put on some coffee."

"Deal."

As the rest of the engine crew dispersed into the kitchen Johnny and Roy proceeded to check the oxygen tanks in the Squad. As they lowered the resuscitator to the ground Marco returned with a fresh shirt and a broom. He began sweeping the ash into piles.

"Hey Marco," Johnny was curious about the fire. "What happened out there?"

"What?" Marco looked up and scanned the bay until he saw Johnny looking at him. He was so tired he didn't really hear Johnny talking. "Oh. Well, it's just too odd to really explain."

"Try me!" Now Johnny was really curious.

"Okay..." Marco was folded his hands over the end of the broom and was leaning on it. "You know it was a brushfire, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it turns out the brushfire wasn't started in the 'usual manner'."

"What was it?"

"A car."

"A car? What do you mean a car?" Roy was listening to the conversation and was just as curious.

"Some moron stole a car and hid it in the brush. He panicked when he couldn't find it again so he tried to burn the weeds out of his way so he could locate it."

Johnny stopped fumbling with the resuscitator. "You're kidding!"

"Nope." He then continued to sweep up the ash.

Johnny and Roy couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. By this time Mike had returned to the bay, he too had a clean shirt. He had a rag in one hand and bottle of disinfectant in the other.

Roy watched as Stoker opened up the door to the rig and began spraying down the interior. "Hey Mike, what're you doing?"

Mike stepped down from the cab as he waited for the fumes to fade a little before scrubbing. "While we were taking care of the fire a field mouse was hiding out in the cab."

"A mouse? How'd he get up there?" He tried to imagine something so small scaling something so big.

"I don't know. I guess fire can be a great motivator."

"I guess."

The Klaxon's sounded off noisily, echoing loudly through the bay. 'Squad 51; Heart Attack: 616 Maple, 616 Maple. Time-Out: 13:22.'

Johnny had returned the resuscitator the Squad's compartment while Roy wrote down the address and acknowledged the call. "Squad 51: K.M.G. 3-6-5." The door had been left open to help air out the bay off the lingering smoke smell and ash.

As the Squad disappeared from the bay and down the street Mike climbed back into the engine cab to finish cleaning it out. Just as he expected he found several mouse droppings on the floor. After dousing the floorboards with the disinfectant he finished cleaning up after the mouse and climbed down from the cab. Stretching out his neck and back Mike headed toward the kitchen, the alluring aroma of fresh coffee was too enticing to pass up.

Marco had finished sweeping up and entered the kitchen shortly after Mike.

The four remaining members of Station 51 sat at the kitchen table, exhausted.

Hank looked at his men and heart went out to them, he would never dispute their work ethic or heart. He wanted to find a way to reward his crew for their hard work, or at the very least raise their spirits since they were so low on energy. But as he looked at his crew he immediately became focused on his most quiet engineer.

Ever since the fire Mike seemed quieter than usual. He also seemed to be far more exhausted than the rest of the crew.

"You feeling alright Mike?"

"Yeah Cap. Just tired, my back and neck are a little stiff too."

"You want to take the rest of the shift off?" He couldn't help but notice how much more tired Mike appeared than anyone else.

"What? No, I'm fine." He seemed a little offended that his captain would ask such a question. "I just need to rest for a few minutes, then I'm good to go."

"Alright." Hank didn't want to keep pressing his engineer with irritating questions.

The afternoon dragged on uneventfully. Just after 2:30pm (14:30) the Squad returned to the station. Johnny and Roy slowly and silently walked away from their Squad and into the kitchen. Both men sat down on the sofa, pushing Henry to the side, and remained silent.

Hank had been reading the latest department memo when he noticed his paramedics were uncharacteristically quiet, almost sad. "Hey fella's, how was your run?" Instinctively Hank knew that when Johnny and Roy were silent after returning from a run that meant the victim didn't make it.

Roy answered gloomily. "Not great."

"How's that?" Hank continued, waiting for the inevitable negative answer.

"He didn't make it."

"Sorry." Hank then thought to himself. 'I knew it, shouldn't have asked.'

Johnny spoke up. "Don't be sorry Cap, it's not like you had any ability to prevent his heart attack. Or the ability to call for help sooner..." His voice trailed off, he knew it was unprofessional to take a loss personally or to blame the victims' family members and friends.

Roy patted Johnny on the shoulder. "Want some coffee?"

"Nah, I'm good for the moment."

Mercifully the Klaxon's remained silent for the rest of the shift. The stationhouse was able to collectively rest and mentally recover from the day's events. Hank made sure to thank the 'Big Fireman in the Sky' for the slow day. The rest of the crew was eagerly using up the hiatus to catch up on paperwork, wash the engine, mop up the bay and make dinner.

However as the evening gave way to night Hank couldn't help but notice that Mike was nowhere to be seen. Leaving the kitchen he checked the bunkroom and found his missing engineer already asleep. 'Must've been more tired that he realized.' Hank left Mike alone to sleep in peace.

The night wore on and the Klaxon's stayed quiet. Their neighboring stations were not so lucky. Each house remained active all day and evening, but thankfully Station 51 seemed to hanging onto their lucky slow day. When it was lights out each man practically passed out in their banks as the sweet sanctuary of sleep overtook their minds and bodies.

The next morning the crew awoke from their uninterrupted sleep and began their morning routine before the shift was officially over. The first thing that Hank saw the next morning, despite sleeping well all through the night, Mike still looked tired. "Morning Mike. Sleep well?"

"Huh? I guess. I just wish I could get some energy back." He was rubbing at his neck and shoulders like they were aching as he spoke to his captain.

"I hate to keep asking you this, but are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I just slept funny. My neck is one big knot and my shoulders are stiff." He did his best to straighten his posture. "Having a day off will wonders, you'll see."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it." As the crew walked into the kitchen Hank looked at the calendar on the wall. "Hey good news guys, starting today we get three days off."

Johnny sounded thrilled. "Yeah, I've been waiting for this for two weeks now."

"Let me guess..." Roy responded sarcastically to his partner's comment. "You have a date."

"Jealous?" Johnny teased.

"Not at all. The best part of marriage is never having to deal with the drama of dating anymore."

Chet had to get his two-cents in. "Gage having a night out with a girl without drama? Never gonna' happen, even if he was married!"

Everyone laughed warmly at the jab, except for Mike. He remained quiet as he finished changing out of his uniform.

...to be continued...