The squad came to a halt as it pulled up in front of the burning factory. Parking behind the previously arrived engine Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage climbed out of the cab of their squad and eyed the smoldering, smoke engulfed building. "Friday the 13th, Roy..."

"You still on that kick?" Roy had heard Johnny's superstitious paranoia all morning. "Heart attacks and fires are pretty commonplace for out line of work, remember?"

"But this early in the day? Seems a little odd to me!" Johnny commented as he opened the side exterior compartment on the squad.

"You seem a little odd to me..."

"Funny."

Captain Hank Stanley saw that his two paramedics had arrived at the scene and walked away from the gathered mass of firefighters at the scene and toward the parked squad. "Roy, John, glad you two could make it. How's your heart attack patient?"

Roy answered as he pulled on his turnout coat. "Dr. Brackett thinks he'll make it."

"Just glad we got there in time." Johnny added as he slipped on his helmet.

Roy and Johnny had gotten the call for the heart attack just minutes before the factory fire was reported. They couldn't abandon their call to respond with the rest of the station. As a result they arrived at the scene last and after the fire had already been contained. Most of the responding crews had already been relieved and returned to to their respective houses.

"How's it lookin', Cap?" Roy asked after he finished snapping up his coat.

"We have the fire contained and the building evacuated." He pointed at Roy's coat. "You don't have to go in for a sweep, Marco and Chet are already inside."

"That's good to know." Roy replied as he slipped off his coat. "Any victims?"

Hank pointed at the makeshift triage center positioned a few yards away. "Just smoke inhalation. The burn victims have already been transported."

Roy and Johnny looked to where their Captain was motioning. It was then they caught sight of the world's 'perfect' paramedic: Craig Brice.

"Oh no..." Johnny grimaced. "Not Brice!"

"Easy partner." Roy tried to sound reassuring. "We don't have to work with him, just near him."

"But for how long?"

"C'mon." Roy put his hand on Johnny's shoulder and pushed him forward. "Let's go."

"Fine, but if he tried to 'correct' me or 'remind' me of proper procedure-"

"I know, I know. Just take a deep breath. Everything will be fine."

"Not today..."

"Friday the 13th?"

"What else?"

"Full moon?"

"You're just a regular comedian today, aren't ya'?"

Roy and Johnny approached the remaining two smoke inhalation victims on the yellow tarp. Brice and his partner, Bob Bellingham, were leaning over the two downed men and taking their vitals.

"Brice," Roy kneeled down next to the meticulously-natured paramedic. "do you need any assistance?"

"Thank you Roy, would you be willing to ride in with our second victim? It'd be more convenient for Bob and myself to have another person ride in with the victim so that I may gather our equipment and restock supplies at Rampart without having to wait for someone to bring in our squad for us."

"No problem." Roy happily escorted the second victim to the ambulance. While walking he whispered to Bob. "I already know about the inconvenience of waiting for the squad. Does he really think everyone else is really that dense and needs a long-winded explanation?"

Bob laughed discreetly. "You should see him explaining to the guys the perfect 'water to bean' ratio when making coffee in the morning."

Roy and Bob climbed into their respective ambulances to escort the two smoke inhalation victims to Rampart. This of course left Johnny alone with Brice and worse yet, Brice's mouth.

Without saying a word, and trying to avoid anything that might spark a criticism from Brice, Johnny began picking up the equipment placing each item in their proper location. Bob had taken the biophone with him in the ambulance, his victim was in worse condition than Roy's, leaving only the drug box and resuscitator behind.

Brice noticed Johnny packing up the equipment and spoke up. "Did you remember to keep the used items in the case so that I can have a precise number for replacements?"

"Yes. Brice. I did." Johnny had been a paramedic two full years longer than Brice and yet Brice's controlling and arrogant personality always made him sound snotty and condescending.

"I was just being careful, John."

"You and everyone else who's a certified paramedic."

"Not everyone is as dedicated to the job as we are."

"'We'?" Johnny was a little amused by the notion of Brice acting like a normal person. "Every time there's a call you seem to have the idea that you are somehow the one doing all the work and supervising everyone else. I don't recall a time where working with you ever felt like a 'we' kind of teamwork."

"I'm sorry you feel that way John." Brice's tone remained mono and condescending. "I just know for a fact that I've read the manual more times than anyone else in the county."

"Reading the manual and gaining experience are two completely different things! They are BOTH required and you can work with other people and treat them with respect even if they haven't read the manual sixteen times!"

Brice gave Johnny a surprised look. "I had no idea you felt this way."

"I had no idea you were even listening to me."

"Hmph." Brice stood up and brushed off his pristine work shirt. "Perhaps it's best that you and Roy are partners. You're both stubborn and incapable of admitting faults."

That last line was Johnny's breaking point. "WE'RE stubborn? I just told you to lighten up and stop talking down to people, yet you're still carrying a superiority complex, but WE'RE stubborn?"

"John, I-"

"No, Brice. Don't even start. Every past experience I've had working with you has been unpleasant and unprofessional. I should be able to trust you, not wincing every time I see you."

"I..." Brice suddenly paled and he began staggering a little.

"Brice?" Johnny noticed Brice's change in demeanor right away. "What's wrong?"

Before he could respond Brice's legs buckled and his eyes rolled in the back of his head. As his body went limp Johnny managed to catch him and keep him from striking his head on the hard ground. While Johnny was still holding onto Brice the suddenly ill man began to have convulsions.

"Brice!" Johnny held Brice down, using his arm to keep Brice's head and neck as stable as possible. "Cap!" Johnny called out loudly. "I need some help over here!"

Within a few seconds Hank was kneeling next to Johnny and holding down Brice's legs. "Johnny, what happened?"

"I don't know! He just started seizing!"

"Did he hit his head or have a fever?"

"Not that I know of!"

The seizure finally subsided. Brice's body went limp as he lay unconscious on the ground beneath Johnny and Hank's grip.

"Cap, I'm going to need the biophone and drug kit from the squad."

"Right!" Hank pushed himself up from the ground to retrieve the requested items.

Johnny took the penlight from his shirt pocket and used it to check Brice's eyes. "Brice, can you hear me?"

Hank returned with the squad's equipment. "I'll set up contact with the hospital."

Roy and Bob had escorted their smoke inhalation victims to the exam rooms and were now sitting in the doctor's lounge with two mugs of coffee.

"Seriously Bob, how do you deal with it?"

"Do you mean Brice?"

"Yeah. I've only had to work with him for a few weeks and I almost lost my mind, I can't imagine working with him all year round!"

"He's really not all that bad. You know, once you get to know him."

"Do I want to get to know him?" Roy asked as he took another sip of coffee.

"That's up to you. But to be honest it took me almost six months to learn anything about him."

"Like what?"

"Well, he's a bookworm, loves to watch plays, goes running on the weekends and is an avid fisherman."

"Seems like a normal enough guy. But why is he so... analytical?"

"Ana- what?"

Roy smirked a little. Bob was a great paramedic and a reliable 'teddy bear', but sometimes he could be so dense. "Nothing. Just, why is Brice so controlling and cold?"

Bob stared at the coffee in his mug. "You guys really don't know?"

"Know what?" Roy was a little stunned by Bob's tone.

"Brice came from... a really broken home!"

"How..." Roy wasn't expecting that answer. "I mean, is he alright?"

"He is now. As a kid his father was a drunk who abandoned him, his sister and his mother. His mother became ill when he was a teenager and it was up to him to take care of his sister. His mother was institutionalized when he was only seventeen. It was just him and his kid sister for a long time."

"I didn't know Brice had a sister. I didn't know... Poor guy. No wonder he's such a control freak, his whole childhood was just nothing but chaos."

Bob nodded in agreement. "After his sister was... killed in a car accident he decided to become paramedic."

"Aw man..." Roy felt terrible for the guy. "He's isn't a cold jerk, he's just sad loner."

Bob finished off his coffee and stood up from his chair. "Yeah, and don't tell him I told you. He doesn't want pity or to be treated with kid gloves."

Head Nurse Dixie McCall walked into the doctor's lounge and addressed Bob. "Bob, there's a problem."

"What's wrong?" Bob turned his attention to the dedicated nurse.

Roy was also focusing on Dixie, he had come to know her very well over the years and recognized the concern in her voice preserved for fellow paramedics and firefighters.

"It's Brice. He's had a seizure."

"What?!" Bob's eyes widened with fear. "Is he...?"

"Johnny's with him. All Brice's vitals indicate low blood sugar. Do you know if he's eaten anything unusual?"

"No, nothing. Literally. He didn't eat anything this morning, just coffee."

"Okay, I'll let Dr. Early know."

"Is he here?"

"Two minutes out."

Bob followed Dixie out of the lounge and Roy jumped up from the table to keep in the circle. At the bay station Dr. Early was keeping vigil over the line connecting the squads to the hospital. "Dix?" Roy spoke low to keep the situation calm and controlled. "Is it bad?"

"I don't think so." Dixie responded honestly. "Besides Johnny's taking care of him."

"Yeah, you're right."

Just then the front door to the hospital opened and the gurney carrying Brice was wheeled in. Johnny was walking beside the gurney carrying an I.V. bag in his hand.

Dixie directed the gurney into the designated exam room. "Room four, please."

Roy watched as Bob stepped into the room and Johnny stepped out. "Johnny, what happened?"

"Well, we were talking and he just started seizing."

"Talking?"

"Uh..." Johnny blushed a little. "Maybe arguing is a better term, but anyway, he just out of the blue collapsed and had a seizure."

"Bob said he hadn't eaten all day."

"Makes sense." Johnny smirked a little. "Isn't proper diet covered in the paramedic's manual?"

Roy put his hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Maybe you should be a little nicer to Brice. He doesn't mean to be so..."

"Cold? Strict? Annoying?"

"Reserved."

"What's with you?"

"Bob and I had a little chat and-"

"Roy?" Dixie butted in. "Chet's here with your squad."

"Thanks Dix. I'll explain it to you later."

"Explain what? Brice? That's going to take forever!"

As Roy and Johnny exited the hospital and spotted Chet in the squad.

"What the...?!" Johnny started laughing. "Chet? What happened to you!"

Chet sat up straight and tried to sound serious. "Nothing, what happened to you?"

Roy got a good look at Chet's face and started laughing too. "Did you shave?"

"Not exactly." Chet slid over from the driver's seat to the middle. "More like a small blaze caught me off guard and... singed my mustache."

"See Roy?" Johnny arrogantly quipped as he sat down in the cab. "Friday the 13th, strange things are going to happen!"

"Yeah..." Roy finally agreed with Johnny before whispering to himself. "like understanding Brice."

-The End