Title: Modern Love
Characters and Pairings: Johnny, Roy, Dixie, Kelly Brackett, Chet
Rated: T for language, just to be safe
Summary: Sometimes we are unable to see the wrongs being committed when they right in front of us. John Gage faces "growing pains" with his relatively new best friend and his career as one of LACoFD's almost as new paramedic program.
A/N: This story, at least in the beginning, may jump from the current moment, to back in time. I will try to make it as smooth as possible. The story begins with the episode of Emergency! "Peace Pipe".
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I make no money from writing about these characters. They belong to the wonderful writers and creators of Emergency! and Mark VII productions. Any quotes from the series will be in italic and bold print. This chapter as mentioned starts with the episode "Peace Pipe"
"That's not funny!" John didn't know what to do first. The person he considered to his closest friend, his best friend, had hurt him in a way he never thought possible. As he was getting ready to question Roy about his comment regarding the Indian jokes, Chet had blindsided him. He could deal with ignorance; it wasn't like that was in short supply in society. He could even put up with off color remarks, so to speak, about his ethnicity as so few people truly knew anything about Native Americans that hadn't been twisted and trivialized in so many books and movies. What he could not tolerate was exactly what had just happened. Chet took his joking to a level that crossed the line to discrimination. He tried to say more regarding Chet's blatant disrespect of his peoples' most sacred ceremonial tool but, no words would form. He could not recall a time when he was more angry and hurt. When he felt his eyes begin to tear up, he did the only thing he felt he could do, he gave Chet Kelly and his tackily decorated "peace pipe" a disgusted look and walked away.
Roy watched his best friend walk from the bay toward the back lot. He knew Johnny was beyond furious with Chet and his pipe by the simple fact he wasn't still there reading the riot act to his shift mate. If John was just angry he would be there yelling at Kelly as he always did when the Irishman harassed the younger paramedic. He would be telling Chet just how little he knew about Indians and make some remark or another at the lineman's expense. Over the past year and a half Roy learned some things about his partner's personality, or thought he did. The thing with John Gage was that just when you thought you had him figured out, you didn't.
Giving his partner a moment to calm down before following him outside, Roy thought about how much or how little, it seemed, he knew of his friend.
Roy thought John was quiet and introspective when they were taking the paramedic class at Rampart. He noticed the younger man would watch every procedure very intently and seemed to trying to commit every aspect to memory. Roy liked that John took the program almost as serious as he did. This paramedic training program was to Roy, a turning point in the fire department. He knew that if the bill passed in the state house countless lives would be saved. So many times rescue personnel were only able to comfort the sick and injured. Soon it would be allowed that these specially trained men would be able to start treatment prior to transportation to the hospital. He knew as a medic that his being there in that moment, could make all the difference in the world. Whether it was Roy's enthusiasm or if John also figured out the enormity of what they were trying to accomplish, John soon became as big a proponent for the paramedics as Roy.
On a morning before class, Roy headed to the cafeteria to meet his new friend for coffee. The younger man had his manuals spread out over a table as he scanned the books and took notes. He seemed completely oblivious to the noises and chatter going on around him and Roy wondered how he could concentrate in such an environment. He, himself, needed to be in a quiet room to study. It was something he had learned from his father who was a teacher. No distractions made it easier to absorb what you were trying to learn. Roy was taught at an early age to sit comfortably in a well-lit room with space to spread out your books and papers. He remembered being so happy when his parents got him a writing desk for his birthday so he could study in his room instead of at the kitchen table
His father's teaching him good study habits was rewarded when Roy graduated valedictorian of his high school. Those habits also served him well during his time in the army. He would study at night, after chow and chores. When the others were playing cards or shooting pool, Roy was studying his manuals for his medic and field training. The young field medic's time in the hellish jungles of Vietnam was not a very long one. Three months into his tour of duty, Roy's father passed away unexpectedly. The military was going to allow Roy to leave the service to care for his mother as he was the only male child of the Desoto household but, Roy opted instead to stay in service in the National Guard. This would allow him to say close to home to be with his mom and also give him a job of sorts while he tried to figure out his future.
After finishing up his two years in the National Guard, Roy was getting ready to apply to colleges when he saw an article in the paper regarding employment opportunities for city and state agencies. He came across the fire service information and smiled. He remembered how he wanted to be a fireman when he was little. He loved seeing the trucks in the parades and wanted so badly to up on them with the men waving to the crowds. His parents indulged childhood fantasy for a few years but, it was made clear to him that college was in his future. Civil service jobs were fine, his father had told him, for those who, for whatever reason, could not go to college but, his son was going and there was no argument about it. Roy, as he did for every decision he had to make, took time to go over every aspect of the situation. In the end and after a lengthy discussion with his fiancée', Joanne, it was decided that Roy would take the civil service exam to see about entering the fire academy.
Roy passed both the civil service and academy tests and the rest as they say is history. He thrived in the fire service. It reminded Roy of the military and loved the structure and discipline of it all. He relished riding the engine and being on the front lines of firefighting. He made friends easily and was making a bit of a name for himself in the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He dreamt of working his way up to Captain and then a Chief. He figured he could retire at about the age of 50 to 55 years of age and live a quiet existence with his now wife and growing family.
When talk of a program about training firefighters to become a kind of field medic came about, Roy joined the cause and fought not only to get the program implemented, but after his training he decided to do some recruiting as well. It was on the last day of this recruiting schedule that a rescue man, though if Roy could have, he would have called him a rescue "kid", walked into the office full of questions and arguments and determination. Roy convinced the kid to sign up for the program, giving him his sixth and final student.
John R. Gage signed the paperwork with a borrowed pen, shook the older man's hand and in a very short period of time turned Roy Desoto's tranquil, if not overly disciplined, life… ass end up.
Roy was startled out of his thoughts when Chet spoke up. "Jeeze." He stated with slight irritation in his voice. "What's eatin him?" The lineman jerked his chin in the direction Johnny had just gone. "I apologized to the guy and even made this peace pipe like the ones described in that book I got. What more does he want?"
Roy looked at Chet for a moment before responding. "Apparently, he didn't feel you apologized. And I know I didn't help matters with my comments about the jokes." Roy looked closer at the pipe Chet was holding. "Are you sure that's a peace pipe? I mean maybe it has some meaning you don't know about. Did the book give direction on making one?"
Chet shook his head. "Nah, the guy just described a long pipe with feathers. Said the Indians would smoke these with the white settlers as a sign of peace. It was their way of saying welcome, or something like that." Chet looked over his handiwork. "I mean it may not look exactly like an old peace pipe, but I did the best I could." Chet looked at the offending object once more, shrugged and walked back toward the dorms.
Roy took a deep breath and was about to go talk to his partner when the tones sounded.