Disclaimer: Nothing pertaining to Emergency! belongs to me. I'm just taking the guys out for a spin.

Hey, What's in the Bag?

By: Vanessa Sgroi

"Hey, Gage, what's in the bag?"

"Nothing for you, Kelly."

"Ah, c'mon, what's in the bag?"

"Nuthin'."

Hearing the locker room door open, Chet glanced up to see who was entering.

"Hey, Roy—tell Johnny to tell me what's in the bag."

DeSoto looked from Chet to his partner and back again and ruefully shook his head. "Is there anything you two won't argue about?"

The mustached fireman just shook his head then nodded, obviously unsure how to answer the question.

"Geez, I was just curious. It's all good, man."

Roy opened his locker and began to shrug out of his shirt. "I bet I know what's in the bag."

Johnny gripped the oversized paper bag tightly and gave Chet the stink-eye.

"Johnny, why don't you just tell him?"

Gage's focus shifted to Roy.

"Yeah," echoed Chet, "why don't you just tell me? Save the Phantom some trouble."

"Just . . . just because he's . . . nosy," muttered the dark-haired paramedic.

"NOSY? I . . . I'm not NOSY! You're the one who's . . ."

Rolling his eyes, Roy answered, "Relax, Chet. It's just candy."

Startled, Gage squinted at him.

"How'd you know?"

DeSoto held up his own, much smaller, paper sack and shook it.

"Halloween. Kids. Party. It wasn't a huge mental leap," Roy laughed.

"You mean that's all you got in that huge bag? Candy?" snorted Chet.

"Ha! Not just any candy, Chet, I got the good stuff!"

Johnny dumped the contents of his bag on the bench.

"Man, look at all that!" Kelly chortled reverently, "You bought too much."

"I did not."

"Did too! Look at all this stuff. Chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, mint. How many kids do you think will be here—500?"

"Oh, go away, Chet."

"I'm just sayin' . . ."

"It's called variety, Chet. Var-i-ety."

"Can I have a piece?"

"No."

"Ah, c'mon."

"No."

Incensed, Chet muttered, "It's not like you don't have enough."

"Okay, fine. One piece and only one piece!" he growled.

While Chet was hemming and hawing over what piece of chocolate to choose, Roy finished tying his boots and slipped out of the locker room, leaving the two men to their bickering. The enticing scent of coffee automatically pulled him toward the kitchen.

"Hurry up, Chet! Pick something!"

Finally, Kelly picked a peanut butter cup, unwrapped the candy, and popped it into his mouth.

"Mmmm . . ."

"Okay, you've had your piece of candy. Now get outta here so I can get ready for roll call."

Johnny watched the other man leave the room and then scooped all of the loose candy back into the paper bag. Making sure he was still alone in the locker room, he quickly found a hiding place to stash the candy—away from Chet's sticky fingers.

Whistling, he finished changing into his uniform and rushed out of the room to line up for roll call.

O O

The morning remained fairly quiet for the crew of Station 51, with the paramedics responding to two minor aid calls and the engine responding once to a trash fire. Typically on Halloween, they'd get really busy just after dark, and they'd stay busy throughout the night. The crew used the quiet time to get the day room set up and decorated for the "Community Outreach for Kids" Halloween party. Marco was in charge of making the food; Stoker the games and prizes.

Periodically throughout the morning, Johnny slipped into the locker room and checked his stash, pulling the bag out and shaking it before tucking it back away, confident Chet was behaving himself.

About a half hour before the kids were due to arrive, the men started to set out the food. Seeing Roy dump his candy into a plastic pumpkin, Johnny figured it was safe to bring out his contribution to the party. He grabbed the bag from its hiding place and took it into the kitchen where a giant plastic orange bowl waited. Upending the bag over the bowl, Johnny was shocked to see a pile of rocks and pebbles tumble into the bowl instead of the candy he expected.

"CHET! CHET, I'M GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS!"

Grabbing the evidence, Johnny went in search of his nemesis.

"CHET!"

Rounding the corner, he nearly mowed down his partner.

"Roy, where's Chet? Look! Look what he did!" Johnny pushed the bowl of rocks into Roy's stomach.

DeSoto grunted. "I see, I see. Just don't take it out on me!"

"Where is he? CHET!"

"Johnny, calm down. We have time. We can just go to the store and get more."

"Oh, no! I'M not buying more. That little sneak can just give me the money to get more. KELLY, WHERE ARE YOU?"

The door to the bunk room opened.

"Johnny, Roy," intoned Captain Stanley, "you might just want to look in here."

The paramedics followed the captain into the bunk room where they heard loud groaning from one of the beds. They followed the noise and discovered a rather green-looking Chet curled up in a ball.

"Chet, you ATE all that candy you took?" stuttered Johnny.

The other man moaned.

"No wonder you have a stomach ache."

"I only took a piece at a time," he said, "I'd take a piece and leave a rock so you wouldn't know I'd found your hiding place."

"Well, I need to go get more so give me some money," Johnny said, not unsympathetically.

Taking a deep breath, Chet sat up and immediately turned a shade greener. "My wallet's in my locker. Grab some money out of there." Clapping a hand over his mouth, he jumped up and dashed for the restroom.

Roy and Johnny headed out of the room. Looking over his shoulder, Roy said, "Cap, we'll take a look at him when we get back if he's not feeling any better."

At Kelly's locker, Gage grabbed the man's wallet and looked inside. As he was reaching for some cash, a picture spiraled to the floor. Picking it up, he whistled.

"Hey, Roy, look at this! Who do you think she is?" Johnny showed him the photo of a curvaceous blonde.

DeSoto shrugged.

Tucking the photo back in the wallet, Gage murmured "Man, she's a great lookin' chick. Think Chet has been holding out on us?"

"Could be. C'mon, let's go get that candy. The kids will be here soon."

"I wonder if she's dating him? I can't believe someone as hot as her would date him. Where would he have met her? Why wouldn't he tell us about her? I wonder if it's serious . . ."

It was all Roy could do not to run to the squad and lock himself inside. It was going to be a long and noisy trip to the grocery store.

O O The End O O