Captain Stanley watches as the ambulance pulls away from the scene and starts down the road, its destination being Rampart General Hospital.
He rests his hands on his hips in a pose that had earned him the nickname Superman when he had been a young firefighter, which in turn had followed him into his days as an engineer. In this manner, he watches until the ambulance is out of sight and then he sighs.
Poor Mike.
And the rescue had been going so well, too!
There had been a few complications, of course, as usual.
The terrain had been too rocky to drive the engine far enough down to be of use and they had been forced to manually anchor.
Being the tallest of four, he and Mike acted as the anchors while Marco and Chet stood lead, respectively.
Roy and John then rappelled down the cliff face to the victims who had been doing who knows what and tumbled over the edge.
Everything was going perfectly according to plan, almost textbook even. They got the victims up and then the crew was holding the lines for Roy and John to climb back up to them.
He should have known it was too good to be true.
As the two paramedics climbed, the captain and the engine crew remained stationary, bracing as best they could.
Because Hank and Marco were a little more solidly built, the two of them held the rope for Roy, while Johnny climbed the rope that Mike and Chet held.
Everything was going great.
And then suddenly, several things happened in fast succession.
Below them, John lost his footing and slid. The momentum jerked the rope, making Chet lose his footing, leaving Mike to hold most of the weight.
The normally soft-spoken engineer screamed in pain as a sickening pop sounded, and he immediately dropped to sitting to try to hold the weight until help could arrive.
Cap had watched, unable to do anything, but thankfully, two deputies on the scene ran forward to help. While one grabbed the rope to take the weight off of Mike, the other helped Chet back to his feet.
True to Mike's character, the man was steadfast and forced himself to his feet, tenaciously holding to the rope and gritting his teeth until John had managed to climb up to safety.
Most of the weight was off of him during that time, but the damage was done.
Once both paramedics were on level ground, Mike stepped away, holding his right shoulder, and the expression on his face said everything.
Cap knew that his engineer's shoulder had to at least be dislocated.
Of course, John had gone to Mike as soon as he found out what happened and had examined his shoulder—much to Mike's dismay—and came to the same conclusion.
Dislocated.
Since Roy was riding in the ambulance with the two victims, Cap sent Mike along with John in the Squad to get checked out at Rampart.
Which is exactly what brings them to the current circumstances.
"Uhh… Cap? How do we get back to the station?" asks Chet from somewhere behind him as they are walking back to the engine.
The Captain turns to the curly-haired lineman.
"What do you mean, how do we get back to the station? In the engine, of course! What else?"
"Well, yeah… But Mike left with Gage and Mike always drives the engine…"
"What's your point? Did you forget that I used to be a driver?"
He glances over his shoulder to see Chet sigh and turn around to Marco to mumble, "I was tryin' to…"
At this, Captain Stanley stops walking and pridefully squares his shoulders back, draws himself up to his full height, and turns to look at Chet.
"What was that, Kelly?" Hank scowls, affronted.
"What?" Chet replies, turning back to face his captain with an innocent expression. "Oh, nothin', Cap. Just hard t'see ya as anything but my captain, y'know?"
He crosses his arms, not buying that bull for a second, but rather than waste more time, he simply sighs.
"Just… get in the engine. Both of you."
The two comply, albeit much more slowly than he would have liked.
While they clamber into the engine as instructed, he almost reverently lays a hand on the driver's side door.
"Been a while since I've done this, Red. Go easy on me, will ya?" he says, an almost boyish grin spreading across his face.
That said, he opens the door and steps up into the driver's seat.
Noting the nervous glances that Chet and Marco are sending each other, a mischievous idea takes root in their captain's mind.
"Now… Let's see…" Captain Stanley begins, seeming to focus intently on the various read-outs, controls, gears, shifts, and so on. "Where is that gear again?"
Complete silence falls for a little under two minutes before he hears it, a barely audible sound.
"Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo…"
So quoth Marco.
"Okay, Pal. Are you trying to give God the wrong idea about my driving ability?"
A quick glance at Chet shows Cap that the lineman has a death grip on whatever he can reach.
"Oh, come on, guys!" he exclaims at last in exasperation. "I was only joking!"
He is again met with silence and turns forward, starting the engine and placing his hands on the steering wheel.
"Alright. Let's show 'em, Red."
Putting the engine in gear, he begins the journey back to the station.
He's missed it, the former engineer realizes as he skillfully navigates through the traffic. He doesn't miss it enough to want a demotion, but enough that driving an engine again keeps a smile on his face the entire way back to the station, despite the way in which the trip had begun.
It isn't until halfway there that Chet and Marco seem to realize that their captain does still know what he's doing and they relax… and maybe even feel a little ashamed that they had doubted him in the first place. After all, he is the captain.
Once they reach the station, Hank backs into the bay without trouble—perfectly in line between the sides—puts it in park, cuts the engine, and then turns to look at his crew with a broad grin.
"That wasn't so bad, now was it?"
He gives them a look and then gets out, an obvious bounce in his step as he walks into the kitchen quietly singing.
"The wheels on the truck go round and round…"
Fin.