Chapter Two

Chet sighed when he saw the base of a ladder. He looked at Johnny, his relief evident. He frowned, Johnny's eyes looked even more stressed than before. John masked his fear with a calm voice. "What kinda tools you got in your pocket Chet?" he casually asked. Chet went to feel his pockets, but Ryan was in the way. "Hey Ryan, why don't you hang out with me for a sec." Johnny said, reaching his arms out for the young kid. "You can stand on this ladder. I won't let you fall." He added when Ryan's arms wrapped around Johnny's neck. Chet was furiously going through his pockets.

"All I got is a spanner wrench." Chet mournfully reported. He inwardly cursed himself, he meant to put a door chock before their shift started, but completely forgot.

"Why don't you pop up ahead and see if you can get the cover? I'll stay here with Ryan." Johnny said, flashing his 'Gage grin' again. Ryan smiled slightly, if they weren't scared, he wouldn't be either.

Chet didn't want to leave his current partner at the bottom of the tunnel, but he saw no alternative and didn't want to argue in front of the kid. "Sure Gage, we'll be out in a jiffy." he said with confidence he didn't have. "I'll need my ladder for a minute Ryan." Chet said, winking at the kid. "He can't be older than seven." he thought. Chet waited until Johnny picked Ryan off the ladder, then sped up, figuring John would put Ryan right back on. As he climbed, he noticed they were climbing up after him, staying close behind. John was holding Ryan's back so he wouldn't fall. "What do you know that you aren't telling me?" Chet thought. He stopped pondering when he noticed the current height of the water.

The radio beeped, Johnny answered it one handed. The other wrapped around Ryan holding the ladder. "Team 2." he said, winking at Ryan.

"What's your status?" Captain Stanley asked, stress clearly evident.

Johnny forced some cheerfulness in his voice, Ryan could hear every word and the tone he said it in. After carefully thinking of his response, "We're currently below manhole V5b, we're working on getting it open right now." he said, hoping that his Captain would understand the urgency and code for 'We're stuck'.

"We copy, ETA two minutes." came the rushed terse reply. Johnny took it as a 'Received and understood' and hoped Mike was speeding in their direction.

"How we doing up there Chet?" Johnny asked as if he had no care in the world. Even though they were four rungs up, the water was now up to John's waist.

"Dandy." Chet replied. He was having no luck. He spared another glance down, he didn't like that the water was nipping at Ryan's knees. Chet shoved the end of the spanner wrench into the manhole cover again. Try as he might, he just couldn't get the leverage from underneath. Chet had heard the radio conversation, he didn't think they had two minutes. He heard Gage ask Ryan to climb one more rung. Chet pushed against the spanner wrench, trying to get anything to move. He took his gloves off and shoved them in a pocket. They were soaked and no longer helpful. He tried the spanner wrench again. Losing his grip, it sliced his palm then slid out of his hand into the water. He swallowed a curse and asked instead, "Everyone down there okay?"

"You good Ryan?" Johnny asked. After a second John replied. "We're okay, how about you?"

"I'm fine, wrench just slipped outta my hand." Chet lied. Gage couldn't do anything to help him at the moment anyway. He heard a dull roar in the distance, "Noo." He quickly worked out what it was. Ryan and Johnny were as high as they could get on the ladder behind him. He desperately went back to work, trying to manually lift the cover. First he tried pushing with his arms, bracing himself on the ladder with his legs and feet. It didn't budge. Then he tried slamming it with his shoulder. There was no movement. Chet tried again, out of any other options. The second time, he felt it shift. "Almost there!" he assured his fellow ladder friends. He smashed his shoulder once more, certain Ryan could hear the roaring water by now. The boy was faintly sniffling again and he could feel Johnny pressing himself against the ladder, bracing for the coming impact. Chet felt like giving up, the cover wasn't moving. As a last-ditch effort, he tried a fourth time. Before his shoulder made contact with the unforgiving cover, it was removed. The momentum threw his head and shoulders above the ground. There, he was greeted with the beautiful face of one stressed Marco Lopez. As thankful as Chet was to see his friend, he wasted no time. He essentially threw the rest of himself out, then turned around reaching for Ryan. "See," he said, hugging the boy, slightly out of breath, "Told you we'd get out." He let Marco help Johnny out, who was already halfway out behind Ryan. Chet looked down, the water was a couple feet from the cover rushing by, they would've drowned had it been any longer. Marco took the boy from Chet's arms and passed him to Roy, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Chet and Johnny had yet to move. They were sitting in the street, next to the manhole, in the rain. They looked at each other, no words were adequate to describe how they felt.

Both of them felt a hand on their shoulders. "Next time, I'm not giving you twits six whole minutes." Captain Stanley said, "Pretty sure you just sucked six whole years outta my life. And another year from Marco." Chet looked confused so Stanley explained, "He jumped out the engine, long before it stopped." The hands squeezed their shoulders, expressing more feelings than words ever could. Johnny just laughed, all the stress that built finally getting released. He went to stand up, but noticed Chet's hand.

"When did that happen?" Johnny asked, grabbing the bleeding appendage.

"The spanner wrench bit me." Chet replied. He looked at his Captain who had squatted down. "I lost it in the water, sorry Cap."

"I don't care about that ya' twit." Hank said. "Go and get your hand, and whatever else, checked out. Roy shouldn't be too long, the kid's parents are here."

True to the Captain's words. Ryan and two tearful adults came over to the firefighters. They were still sitting in the street, in the rain. Captain Stanley stood from his squatting position greeting them. "Ryan, go ahead." the mother prompted after a minute.

"Thank you." Ryan tearfully said. The father made an 'and' gesture. "And I promise never to go in a manhole again." he added. He rushed forward and hugged Chet. The parents had tears in their eyes.

"Thank you." they both said. Hank smiled, letting Team 2 respond.

Johnny answered for the both of them, "Just doin' our jobs." Ryan tearfully waved goodbye as the parents walked away to a nearby police car. Marco, Mike, and Roy joined the soggy street party. Hands were offered, Johnny and Chet took them, standing. "Let's go get your hand and shoulder checked out, shall we?" Johnny said, walking towards the squad. For once, Chet didn't argue, not even about his shoulder.

"I am never becoming a rescue man. Never ever." was Chet's only response. Station 51's A shift only chuckled in reply, thankful they still could after the close call.

"Good," Stanley said, "My blood pressure couldn't handle it." No one argued that fact.