This is my first fanfic, so please be patient with me. Karen is not the same as one that was a trainee in season 5. This Karen is a firefighter/paramedic.

I do not own any of the Emergency! characters, although I would love to own Mike!

Thank you to Soldier Heart for being my beta reader

Hope you enjoy my story.

"She shoots...she scores! Yes! Way to go Karen!" Marco Lopez yelled, high-fiving his younger co-worker. He had just witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Karen Summers, the only female on a crew of seven firefighters, had just beat the pants off the Phantom himself, Chet Kelly, at a game of one-on-one basketball. They were out in the back of Station 51 enjoying the warm summer afternoon in Carson, California.

Karen bowed deeply to Marco as she said, "Thank you, thank you. Now, not only I, but the rest of the crew get to reap the benefits of my hard work. Chet here has latrine duty for the next month." The young brunette eyed the short, stocky fireman, taking in his twitching moustache.

"Maybe, maybe not. Since Cap doesn't know about the bet and when he assigns latrine duty to someone else, then I get out of it," Chet replied smugly.

The smugness left , however, when he heard a commanding voice from behind him say, "That won't happen, pal. I DO know about the bet and you can be rest assured that for every shift for the next month, you WILL have latrine duty."

Tall, lanky Captain Hank Stanley, who had been watching and listening to the conversation from the back door, joined the small group.

"But Cap…" Chet started to protest. Cap held up a hand to silence him. "Don't 'But Cap' me, Kelly, I'll give you longer. A bet is a bet. You have to live with your end of the bargain," Cap replied.

Chet didn't say a word as he turned on his heel and headed for the station. "He is not happy!" Karen said as she, Marco and Cap followed him, heading for the day room.

Chet was at the coffee pot pouring himself a cup as the other three entered. Roy DeSoto and Mike Stoker were playing checkers at the kitchen table and Johnny Gage was reading a magazine on the couch with Henry, the station's resident hound dog , on his lap.

As the trio entered the room, Johnny looked up from his magazine, noting Chet's dejected look and Karen's Cheshire grin. He knew better than to ask, but… "Who won?"

"I did!" Karen said, still smiling ear-to-ear as she sat down beside Roy at the table. Her soft brown eyes were twinkling with excitement.

"Man, you guys should have seen her. She was excellent!" Marco said as he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat next to Karen.

Chet stood by the sink and kept glaring at the youngest member of the crew, saying nothing.

"Boy Chet, at least you didn't bet anything. She'd have cleaned you out," Roy said, looking up from the checker board, laughing at the Irish firefighter.

Marco, who had just taken a sip of his coffee, promptly spewed it out, showering the kitchen table with coffee as he doubled over laughing at Roy's comment. Cap snorted before he too laughed heartily with Marco.

As Marco started to clean the coffee off the table, Chet slammed his cup to the counter and stormed out of the room, heading for the locker room. Karen jumped up from the table, hot on Chet's heels.

"But Chet, it's only a month. It's just like any other time you've had it for your pranks!" Karen was saying as she bolted out the dayroom door.

As their footsteps receded and the were out of ear shot, Johnny's curiosity got the better of him. "What did he do?" Johnny asked the still laughing Latino fireman, who now had tears in his eyes, and his doubled over Captain.

Marco could barely breathe as he said, "Chet did bet her. Her bet was that if he won, she would do his chores for a month. His bet was that if she won, he would do latrine duty for a month. Well, needless to say, he was not thinking when he agreed to that bet. She skunked him!"

"No way! I have never heard of Chet being beat that bad," Roy said, standing and heading to the coffee pot.

"Well, he lost that bad. I could not believe my eyes!" Marco said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Well, at least he didn't bet anything stupid, like latrine duty for a year!" Mike said, sending the five men rolling in another bout of laughter.

Their laughter, however, was cut short by the klaxon sounding throughout the station, sending the crew running for their respective vehicles.

"Station 51, Station 110. Motor vehicle accident with multiple injuries. Intersection Of Burbank Avenue and Alameda Street. That's intersection of Burbank Avenue and Alameda Street. Time out 14:46," the dispatcher relayed.

"Station 51, 10-4, KMG 365," Cap replied as the bay door went up. He handed one slip to Roy, who promptly handed it off to Johnny, as Cap ran for his spot in the engine, putting his turnout coat on as he climbed into the cab. Both vehicles started their lights and sirens, Cap giving a pull on the air horn, as they left the station.

Station 51 was the first company on scene. The engine crew jumped down out of the rig as the squad came to a halt in front of the accident. A black Toyota truck had hit a blue Chevy car almost head on. They were the only two vehicles involved.

The three paramedics already had their equipment out and ready as they went to check on the two victims, realizing the Jaws were going to be needed to get both victims out. Marco started to hose down the area, as the Toyota was leaking fuel, and Chet was pulling battery cables so they could use the Jaws safely.

Cap sized up the situation before asking, "Roy, John, Karen, do you need the other squad?" The three looked at each other and the situation before Roy yelled out, "No, I think we can handle it, Cap!"

"Okay, I'll cancel squad 110 then," Cap said as reached in his right coat pocket for the handi-talki, realizing only then he had left it in the cab of the engine. As he headed for the cab, he heard Karen say, "John, Roy, I'll get the backboards off the squad so that we can immobilize them as soon as they are extricated."

"Go ahead, it'll take a few minutes before they are free," Johnny said, checking the driver of the Toyota. She headed for the passenger side of the squad as Roy and Johnny continued to help the injured drivers.

Please review and tell me what you think. Thank you!