You would think he'd be used to this by now, but every new assignment brought a thrill the first time he stepped into the firehouse. Roy DeSoto, twenty-eight years old – a six-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department felt the thrill run down his spine.

"No," he says to himself. "It will never get old."

For as long as he could remember, he wanted to be a firefighter. He also wanted to be famous. He carried out both with the fire department. First by joining the department and secondly by becoming the very first certified Paramedic. And now that he finally found another paramedic that he liked and wanted to work with he was about to start his first shift.

He enters through the back door into the dayroom. Captain Dick Hammer, whom he had met a few days ago, sat at the table alone drinking a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Cap," Roy calls out cheerily.

The other man looks up and smiles. "Good morning, Roy. Welcome to Station 51."

"Thank you. I'm excited to be here," Roy replies. "Anyone else around?"

"My Engineer is running the desk; you should go check in with him before you change into your uniform."

"Got it," Roy nods as he walks through the room. "See you in a bit."

Roy stops as he enters the truck bay. Sitting in front of him is the shiny new squad all prepped and waiting for a call. Roy takes a moment to admire the multi-purpose vehicle before heading to the office. He looks back and grins before stepping into the office.

"Hello Roy," a familiar voice calls out to him.

His smile fades in shock when he sees the man sitting at the desk. "Mike! It's been a long time."

The Engineer, tall and lean stands up from behind the desk and reaches out a hand. "Yes, it has. How are you?"

Roy shakes hands with him. "I'm good. I got married," he says hastily.

Mike smiles wryly. "I heard. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Roy says nervously.

Mike leans against the desk. "Is it going to be a problem for you, working with me?"

Roy frowns and thinks for a moment. "Well…"

Mike cuts him off. "Listen. We were both different people then. Fulfilling a need that both of us had. We've both moved on. I mean, I have. Have you?"

Roy looks at him directly and realizes that his earlier feelings for the man in front of him have changed. "Yeah. I have."

"Do you think you can work with me?" Mike asks. "Because I'm not transferring and I'm pretty sure you don't want to either."

"I do not," Roy agrees.

"Good. Because we have worked well together as firefighters and I think we can continue to do so now," Mike points out.

Roy relaxes for the first time since he stepped into the room and smiles. "I agree. What's in the past is in the past."

He turns to leave as Mike's next words stop him.

"I still care for you, Roy. What we had was special and I don't regret one minute of it."

Roy rotates back to the other man. "To be honest, I don't either."

From the truck bay, Roy's new partner Johnny Gage, yells out his name.

"I should go get ready," he says softly.

Mike nods. "Good idea. And don't worry – all anyone here needs to know is that we worked together on truck 10 for a year. No one needs to know anything else."

Roy nods and smiles shyly. This time when he turns and walks away, he makes it to the truck bay.

"What are you doing?" Johnny asks enthusiastically. "You need to get changed before the bell rings.

That thrill was back in his gut. Roy's smile widens. "I'll hurry. Don't go anywhere without me."

"I wouldn't think of it."

~finis~