As Rambo's leaving date got nearer and nearer, plans were being discussed over who would take over. Tate was hopeful that Bulstrode would agree to hire not one but two firefighters, he believed now was the time to expand.

As he walked into the staff room, he could hear everyone begging Josie to sing at the leaving do which was to take place at Rambo's uncles pub, The Oliver Twist.

"Hey, I hope this lot aren't pestering you Josie! " said Tate as he walked through the door, Josie smiled and shook her head.

"No sir. "

Suddenly the bell rang and everyone slid down the pole and got into the fire trucks in quick time.

There was a crowd outside a small newsagent's near Blackwall high school as a fire raged within, a woman was frantically waving her arms around shouting,

"Help me! My husband is in there! "

Bayleaf and Josie rushed outside while Charisma and Malcolm unloaded the hose from the engine, Bayleaf fought through the flames in order to find the gentleman in question, Josie began choking on the black smoke and Tate helped her outside so that she could get fresh air.

"Help me! My foot is stuck! " A mans voice shouted out and Bayleaf coughed and splattered as he battled through the smoke when he was joined by Vaseline and Rambo who began shifting away the obstacles that were trapping the gentleman, Bayleaf helped him onto his feet and slowly but surely led him outside while Vaseline and Rambo stayed together and worked their way out while trying desperately not in inhale the lethal smoke.

Within minutes Malcolm and Charisma extinguished the fire which had been caused by a faulty radiator in the back office, Tate was heard given both the shopkeepers a lecture on making sure that checks were being made, Josie was furious to learn that they had both known it had been faulty but did not report it.

"Some people are so thoughtless, its insane." Josie said furiously as they drove back to the station.

By the end of the week, Rambo was prepared to say goodbye to Blackwall, he had an emotional afternoon as the lads gave him their gifts, including a pair of men's g strings and a mug saying worlds most strongest firefighter. He would miss the lads terribly and knew he would stay in touch with them, he was due to leave for Manchester in the morning and his family would see him off.

Later that night, as Vaseline was getting ready, he could see that Lynette was dressed in a pink kimono dressing down with fluffy high heeled slippers while wearing a face pack. As he was about to leave, Lynette called out,

"Don't stay out too late, you have to drop me off to the train station tomorrow, I'm going to see Rochelle. "

"Oh mum why don't you get a taxi or ask Marie to take you? "

"You know Marie has a driving ban, she was caught speeding for the third time in a month, she can't drive for the next six months."

"I'm not driving anyway, I'm going with Malcolm. "

Lynette stood up and poured a glass of red wine, she smiled at Vaseline and said softly,

"You make me proud you do. Your a fine young gentleman you know that. Shame none of your marriages or your relationships ever worked out. "

Vaseline rolled his eyes and put on his jacket,

"Oh I knew we would come to that subject, it ain't my fault it hasn't worked out. Anyway, your relationships haven't been a lot of cop either, your marriage went down the toilet and Rochelle's dad did a moonlight flit. Little kettle black mum. "

"Give my regards to Malcolm, tell him I'll visit his mum very soon." And Lynette retreated back into the living room and shut the door.

Vaseline felt bad for what he had said, it always touched a nerve. Malcolm's mother Margaret and Lynette had become friends through their sons and sometimes Margaret would give Lynette a lift to work. Currently she was in hospital after breaking her leg tripping over a neighbors dog something that the lads had teased Malcolm about. Malcolm also had a sister named Felicity but she was in university, she had been a schoolgirl when Malcolm had joined the brigade.

The party was in full swing and everyone was laughing, drinking and chatting away to their hearts content. Josie, Charisma and Bay leaf were sitting at one table while Malcolm, Vaseline and Tate sat at another table.

"Where's the guest of honour?! " Vaseline yelled over the music, Charisma yelled back,

"He's behind the bar, he's helping his uncle change the barrels because his dad has done his back in."

Vaseline grinned as Rambo finally made an appearance, his wife Carol was standing by his side.

"Come on Rambo give us a speech! " Bayleaf called out, everyone began chanting "Speech, Speech, Speech" over the sound of tainted love by soft cell. Rambo grabbed his can of carling and said solemnly but with a smile on his face,

"I'll miss you all, you've been my family these past few years and I hope to be in touch with all of you. Please keep in touch and don't give my replacement an hard time eh. "

Everyone raised their glass in his honour and began singing along to the music while Rambo went back to the bar.

"So Charisma, do you have a girlfriend? I know that Malcolm got divorced and that Vaseline is the stud of blue watch but is there a special lady in your life? " asked Josie as she sipped her red wine. Charisma shook his head and said,

"No I've been out the game a while, I had my fair share of girls a while ago though. "

The lads started to snigger while Josie shook her head,

"Don't worry, you might get lucky tonight. We will look out for you, won't we lads? "

They nodded and still sniggered while attention was brought back to Rambo. This time he was talking to a young woman, she looked great. She wore a black lace dress which showed off her long legs, her high heels made her look very tall and her dark blonde hair was curled. She was smiling and chatting away with him and then she gave a kiss on the cheek before she began following Rambo to their table,

"Hey guys, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Marion. Marion, this is the black wall gang out in force. " Rambo introduced and suddenly Vaseline realized who she was.

This was the girl he had been encountering at the shops. Was this fate or just mere coincidence? But the lads, upon hearing her name, started laughing.

"Ignore them Marion, their just being dick heads because their sloshed. Guys, her dad owns this pub so behave! Vaseline, don't stare at her, can't you kept it on a leash for just one night? "

Marion smiled at them and made her way back to the bar, Vaseline didn't know what made him do it but he found himself following her.

"Hello, do you remember me? "

"Yeah I remember you, we've bumped into each other twice at the same shop. We have to stop meeting like that. "

"So your dad owns this place? "

"Yeah, he's owned it for years. I sometimes do the accounts and I run a cocktail hour every day from eight till 1030."

"Nice so your Rambo's cousin then? "

Marion burst into laughter and Vaseline could see his table looking over,

"Rambo? Why is he called Rambo?! "

"He uses the gym a lot. "

"I was going to say, Kenny would never win in a fight I can tell you. The amounts of scraps he's been in and lost is unreal. So do all your work mates have a nickname? "

"There's Bayleaf he's the mess manager, his real name is mike, charisma is all talk no action, he's called Lesley, there's sicknote whose really called Bert he's a hypochondriac and I'm called Vaseline cause I use it for skin care and I'm really called Roland. We also have a tony, he's not got a nickname. "

"Aww that's a very cute name." Said Marion as Hallam and Sicknote arrived with Tony. Vaseline stayed with Marion for most of the night while the rest of the squad chatted together.

Bayleaf brought Tony a drink as he joined their table, he sipped his pint as he watched Vaseline interact with Rambo's pretty relative.

"So Tony, you seeing anyone? "

"I'm Engaged, my partner is called Dorothy we're getting married in the new year. Great start to twenty eleven I say, this year has been catastrophic, Dorothy got made redundant, I got injured during a shout and I lost my granddad in June. "

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, my marriage has gone downhill this year and I don't see much of my daughter. If its any consolation, most of the squad are disasters when it comes to their relationships, have a look at Vaseline. I mean he's only twenty six and he's been through two marriages, both with the same name and only lasting a short time. I think alot of him when really I shouldn't. He's had a topsy turvy life I can tell you. Charisma doesn't have much look with the ladies, he's not the most confident of men, Malcolm's been through a divorce and Josie is planning to leave her husband. Sicknote, Hallam and Tate are the only ones who have a strong marriage. Anyway come on let's have another drink. "

By the end of the evening, most of the squad were very drunk and unable to stand, Hallam had to drive Charisma, Tate and Josie home while Malcolm phoned a taxi to take him and Vaseline home, he would collect his car in the morning.

"Marion, please go and collect those glasses!" A middle aged blonde woman called out from the bar and Marion got off her stool and looked at Vaseline,

"It was lovely talking to you, drop by anytime and ask for me, you'll have a discount and that goes for the rest of the squad."

"Would you like to go out in the week? "

"I can't unfortunately, my brother Steve, he's in the army and his wife Joy is pregnant and she's staying with us, she's due any day so I have to put off a lot of plans right now. How about we exchange numbers? "

"That's great, here's my number. I'll give you a call sometime."

Rambo was about to leave and Marion gave him and Carol a hug,

"Take care of yourself you two and I mean it." She said as Vaseline waved her goodbye just as his and Malcolm's taxi arrived.

Was this the start of something special or would it end in disaster like many times before?