In my Nursing classes we were talking about mixed raced families and cultural differences and this story popped into my head (successfully distracting me from the lecture, but don't worry I jumped right back into reality and managed to focus the rest of class!). I'm telling you right now there may be some touchy material in here and I want to reiterate that none of the bigoted views some of the characters in the story may show are not MY views and they are only meant to bring conflict to the story.

Also, all rights belong to Mark VII and Universal and I own nothing and this story is purely fiction and not meant for any personal gain and all that disclaimer jazz.

P.S. This is the rewritten, lighter, less rushed version.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Into the shadows, whose illuminated crest

Speaks of the world behind them where the sun

Still shines for us whose day is not yet done.

Those last dark ones go drifting. East or West

or North or South- it matters not; their quest

is toward the shadows whence it was begun;

Hope in it, Ah, my brothers! there is none;

And yet- they only seek a place to rest

So mutely, uncomplainingly, they go!

How shalt it be with us when they are gone,

When they are but a memory and a name?

May not those mournful eyes to phantoms grow-

When, wronged and lonely , they have drifted on

Into the voiceless shadow whence they came.

American Indians-Vanishing Race

by Badri Narayanan

"Hey guys, is Johnny in here?" I tuned my ears into Chet Kelly's voice and emerged from the other side of the squad and saw Chet slink into the kitchen. Oh geez, he was probably setting up a water bomb or some such awful prank that I would unwittingly walk into later on. Well I wasn't going to sit around and let him do it, by golly!

I marched toward the kitchen and as I walked through the doorway I heard Chet say:

"So this Indian walks into a bar…"

I froze in mid walk and I saw Mike poke Chet's arm and nod slightly towards my direction. Chet didn't even flinch.

"He ordered a drink, drank it and went home to his big happy family after a hard day at his extremely well paying job!" he finished his statement and turned around with a smile plastered on his face.

"Nice try, Kelly," I said darkly as I changed my direction and headed for the coffee pot on the stove. I sighed and poured a cup then turned around and leaned back on the counter.

The sound of the tones calling out for the engine to respond to a small abandoned house fire soon had the kitchen empty minus Roy and myself. I plopped down in the seat next to Roy and propped my feet up on the table, it was ok to do as long as the Cap wasn't around.

"Hey, Junior," Roy said hesitantly, "You're not insulted or anything, are you?"

"Naw, of course not, Roy," I replied, knowing full well I was lying as soon as the words left my mouth. Truth be told, it stung a little.

"Good," Roy seemed relieved, "Because you know Chet doesn't mean anything by it, right? You have to admit, some of his jokes are pretty funny even if they are a little off colored."

"I know it," I said, taking another sip of coffee, "I'm kind of curious about how that joke was going to end too." And I really wasn't kidding about THAT!

We sat in relative silence for a long time until Roy set his coffee cup down with a heavy clunk and I jumped a little at the sound.

"I've got a question, Johnny…" Roy seemed really nervous and I wondered vaguely what was on his mind, but I gave him my full attention and nodded for him to continue. "How do you feel towards other races? Whites and Blacks and Hispanics and Asians?"

I looked at him for a moment as I thought his question over.

"Well…can't say I've ever had any problems with ANY race," I said honestly, taking my feet off the tale and leaning forward onto the table. "I don't really think about what color someone's skin is when I'm treating them on the job or their bone structure as I check out at the market or their accent when I talk to my neighbors in the elevator at my apartment building…to me, people are just people."

"Me too!" Roy defended himself, "I feel that same way, so please don't ever forget that! I just wondered if people considered to minorities thought about the issue."

"It shouldn't even BE an issue, Roy," I muttered solemnly.

"You're right, Junior," Roy nodded, looking just as serious as I felt, "It shouldn't be."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

After our shift was over, I said goodbye to the guys and jumped in my Rover, eager to get home and start enjoying my days off!

The first thing I did when I got home was plop down on my couch and fall fast asleep, not waking up for several hours. When I did wake up, I noticed it was about 3 in the afternoon and I jumped up.

I just slept through half of my day! I put my hands on my hips and yawned, feeling lazy and disappointed in myself. I had plans!

I ran down my mental list of things I had planned on getting done today: grocery shopping, dry cleaning drop off and I had been planning on taking a run on one of the outer roads before dark. I guess if I wanted to accomplish any of this I should get going.

I grabbed my uniforms off the back of my chair and my wallet from the table and headed down the stairs of my apartment building and across the street to the parking garage and headed to the dry cleaner's first to drop off my uniforms and then headed straight to the market to restock the fridge and cupboards.

It wasn't until about 5:30 that I parked the Rover on the side of the dirt road and started stretching for a nice, long run. I loved the feeling of running, the pounding of my feet on the dirt roads, or pavement or whatever as my mind went blank and I let myself focus on nothing but the feeling of my muscles working to continue the pace. Thinking back to my high school days when I ran track I asked myself why I never went out for endurance racing…why hadn't I? Oh well, too late now.

All too soon, however the sun began to set and I reluctantly turned around to head back the way I had come. As I rounded a particularly sharp corner I noticed a figure sitting on the edge of the road, a young feminine figure none the less! But then I noticed she had a look of pain on her face and she was clutching her calf tightly. I skidded to a stop in front of her.

"Hey there, are you alright?" I asked, my medical training jumping to the front of my mind completely pushed out all thoughts of attraction or flirtatiousness. I knelt down at her side and waited for her to reply.

"I…I think I pulled something pretty bad," she answered me, not meeting my eyes, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine in a minute."

"Well, I don't think it's worth the risk," I stated simply, "Well, ma'am, my name is John Gage and I'm a paramedic with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Would it be alright if I just took a look at you to make sure you didn't break anything?"

She hesitated a moment but then nodded and released her hold on her leg, leaning back. I smiled at her and took her calf between my hands as I palpated and examined. Her muscles felt really tight under her skin and I felt nothing broken and she didn't indicate any pain from the pressure of my fingers.

"Looks to me like you just had a bit of a Charlie Horse," I said. I lifted her leg out straight and elevated and pushed her foot back toward her in firm dorsiflexion.

"Oooh, ow!" she yelped at the stretch of her calf muscles.

"Yeah, I know it," I said soothingly, but continuing the flexing of her foot. "But it's gonna keep hurting it you don't stretch it out."

She sighed heavily as I pushed her foot back again and started to relax. I gently began rubbing her calf and she looked at me really funny.

"Am I gonna live?" she asked quietly.

I grinned at her, feeling the now relaxed muscles and nodded.

"Yep, just take it easy for a while ok?" I replied, releasing her leg. "In fact, I'd feel a lot better about things if you'd let me give you a lift home."

She looked at me with a questioning look, but then it turned to consideration as her eyes seemed to be running a full scan of my intentions. I shifted a little uncomfortably but then she gave me a little smile.

"If it's not too much trouble?" she said quietly. "My sister was suppose to come get me but not for a while."

"No trouble at all," I replied, glad I had passed her scrutiny. "I'll be right back."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A few minutes later, we were sitting in my Rover discussing my job, the Fire Department, running and anything else that came to our minds. I found myself amazed at how easy it was to talk to her and how pleasant she was as we drove under the city lights. Her name was Destiny and she worked as a secretary at a local business office.

"So, have you lived here long?" I asked.

"All my life," she replied, "And my daddy lived here his whole life before me."

"And how long has your whole life been?" I asked boldly, giving her a snarky smile.

"Twenty four years," she replied simply, returning the smile with just as much sarcasm. "How about you? LA County born?"

I chuckled darkly and shook my head.

"Naw, I was born on a reservation up in the north part of the state," I stated simply.

She turned to look at me in surprise and I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

"Reservation?" she asked, sounding shocked. "Like an Indian reservation?"

"Yup."

"You don't look like an Indian…" she said slowly.

"Well, I'm only half," I explained, "I may not be as dark but I've definitely got the features."

And I noticed her squint at me in the darkness of the car and then she nodded.

"Yeah, I can see it now," she said, sounding satisfied. She sat back in her seat. "Well that's pretty cool. So what brought you down here?"

"Unfortunate circumstances…" I reluctantly admitted. I hoped she would let it drop.

She nodded silently and didn't ask me anything else.

We drove in silence for the rest of the way, but it was a comfortable silence. I was feeling really glad I had picked that road to go for a run on today, never know just where you'll meet a pretty girl!

She gave me directions to a small house in a not so good part of town and I felt a little bit nervous as I parked in front of it. I glanced around as she got out on her side.

"Well thank you so much, John Gage, for rescuing me," she said with a smile as she prepared to shut the door.

I felt like I was about to miss a great opportunity and I gave her the most winning smile I could muster.

"Not a problem, little lady," I did a horrible John Wayne impression and felt like a complete idiot as soon as I did, but she giggled happily. "Say, Destiny, I was wondering…would it be forward of me to ask to see you again sometime soon?"

And for a moment I thought she was going to run in the opposite direction! She stiffened up and looked at me in shocked silence, her eyes wary and wide. But slowly her features began to soften when realized I was being serious and she looked down at the ground then slowly back up at me.

"I would like that," she replied quietly, "When?"

"How about Saturday?" I asked, feeling excited that she had accepted my request, "I get off duty that morning around eight."

"Which station?"

"51."

"I'll meet you there?"

I broke into a toothy grin and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan!"

She smiled and shut the door and started walking back to her house.

"See you then, John Gage!" she called back before she shut her front door.

I felt a surge of excitement run up my spine at the prospect of the date to come on Saturday as I pulled back onto the street. I thought back over the day and back over…her! She was one of the most beautiful women I had ever had the good fortune to meet and one of the most pleasant to talk to as well! She had a smile that lit up her whole face and made her nose crinkle slightly. Her eyes were large and dark brown and full of laughter and happiness. She had long black hair that was a mass of tight curls that hung loose about her pretty face. She wasn't stick-skinny; she definitely had some curviness to her but her legs and arms were long and lithe in a feline kind of way. She was absolutely the most lovely thing I had seen in a very long time.

Oh…and one more thing that made her gorgeous. Did I mention the fact that her skin was the color of melted chocolate?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

There, that's better. Lighter and yet still the same concept.

Here's something I noticed today: Johnny reminds me of Barney Fife and Roy reminds me of Andy Taylor…only Johnny can do his job well and professionally without screwing everything up.

Reviews are loved!