6 Weeks Earlier

Kevin Warren walked into the 55 station and looked around the bay. He moved up the stairs and checked out the plaques. He looked at the 9/11 Memorial and gulped. He continued up the stairs, stopping in front of the door marked 'LIEUTENANT' and saw no one. The truck was gone, but he was 30 minutes early for his first shift as a firefighter. He walked through the building scoping it out. He moved into the weight room and saw a woman in her mid-twenties doing sit-ups. Her face was red and she was sweating slightly. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow as she continued her workout.

"You the new guy?" She looked over at him, stopping her workout. She got off the bench and stood up. She was wearing a black sports bra and matching spandex shorts. Her long black curls were pulled up into a messy bun. She grabbed a towel, wiping her face.

"Yes I am. I am looking for Lieutenant Nieto. I am early and I don't think he is here yet." He fidgeted slightly, looking her over. Damn she's hot. He thought to himself as he watched her walk towards him.

"You're looking at her. I'm Lieutenant Nieto. Expecting a guy, I assume."

"Umm, yeah, actually. I'm sorry. My name is Kevin Warren." She stopped before him. He towered over her by a good 8". She looked up at him and nodded.

"There is an open locker downstairs. Just tear off the name Doherty. You can use that, get changed and met me in my office in 20 minutes." She walked away and went into the bathroom, to shower and change into her work clothes.

"Umm, yes, ma'am." He went downstairs and looked for the locker with Doherty on it. He found it and took the nametag down, opening it. He heard something and turned around to see a Hispanic looking man standing at the steps.

"You the new guy?" It was Carlos who was talking to him. He was out of breath from doing his 1-mile jog around the neighboring blocks.

"Umm, yeah. I'm Kevin Warren. You are?"

"Carlos Nieto. Have you met Mercedes yet?"

"Who?"

"Lieutenant Nieto. My wife, have you met her yet?"

"Oh, yes, I have. She seems nice. She is in the shower right now. She told me to get a locker and meet her in her office in 20 minutes."

"Cool. Nice meeting you. Excuse me." Carlos jogged to the bathroom, to meet and greet his wife, and get cleaned up for his shift. By the time Kevin was ready to meet his new Lieutenant in her office, DK, Walsh and Levine had shown up. They all introduced themselves and small talked as Carlos and Mercedes walked to them.

"Come on Warren. We need to get some paperwork in order." She walked into her office, allowing him to follow and shut the door behind him. She moved to her desk, and pulled out a folder. She gathered some papers in it, and had him fill them out. She told him to finish, and when he was done, to come get her. She walked out, leaving him there. He got nosey and looked at the pictures on the walls, and on her desk. He saw one of her and Carlos, in Central Park, she was on his back, laughing. One was of her and her brother, both in uniform, sitting on his RMP in front of the station. He saw a picture of a 2-year-old boy and wondered if the toddler was hers.

"All right, boys and girls. We have one new person today, and we are getting 3 more over the next week. 2 are transfers, 2 are new. He is one of the new ones. We are getting Smith from the 52 and Chipolski from the 78. The other new person is a girl. She will not be here until Friday." She sat on the table, looking at the group of EMT's and firefighters.

"That makes a team of 10 for us and a team of 4 for Carlos. Your new paramedics are due in Friday. Until then, I was told to let you ride alone, but that's not happening. Carlos, pick an option, one of my firefighters here as a Paramedic sub, or ride with Levine and 2 firefighters pair together for 55-2."

"I'll take Levine. That way, if there is a fire, they can go and we will take the other cases."

"Good deal. Walsh, Gagnon, your in 55-2. Enjoy! DK, you get the privilege of showing our new probie the ropes. But, when we go to a fire, he is my responsibility. If something happens to him, I don't want you involved. He is on probation under me, and I will take care of him. Just, look out for him. We were all probies once; we all made first day mistakes, let's make sure he doesn't get hurt." She broke up the meeting and with a small peck on the cheek, Carlos moved with Levine to the bus. Warren came out and passed the papers to her. She went back into her office and looked them over, nodding.

"All right, you're all set. For now, go with DK and get the famous 55 tour. When he's done with the firehouse, if we don't get a call, I will show you the precinct. You may as well get to know the cops. Before the Paramedics leave, I will introduce them to you as well."

"All right ma'am." He went out to find DK, and was lead around. Mercedes filed the paperwork, faxing parts to downtown. She walked out and went downstairs, seeing DK give him a tour of the truck. She went to 55-3 and looked in, seeing Carlos.

"Come on; let me introduce you to the new guy."

"I already met him, before my shower."

"All right, as long as he knows who you are." She walked to Levine and introduced Warren to her. Once DK was done, she walked him across the street, before the usual teams could leave. Mercedes walked to the desk, with Warren and looked at Swertzky who stared Warren down.

"Is Mo around? I want to introduce the new guy to some of the cops, so he isn't so rattled by their presence."

"He's in the locker room. Go ahead."

"That's Swertzky, he's important. He's a Sergeant." She led him to the locker room and cleared her throat. Ty, Sully, Bosco, Sasha, Gustier, and Yokas turned, and a couple extra cops whistled at her. Warren looked around and saw the man from a picture on her wall at work.

"Warren, that's Ty Davis, his partner Sully, Sasha Monroe, her partner Gustler, Yokas and her partner, my brother, Bosco. And the peanut gallery on the side. Everyone this is Kevin Warren, my new firefighter." She pointed to each and they all nodded.

"Watch out for her, she might have a nice ass, but she's tough as nails." One of cops said, and she sneered at him. Bosco jumped up and got in his face.

"That's my sister you're talking about! Back off!"

"Kindergarten." Mercedes whispered to Warren who just smiled.

"See ya later boys and girls." Mercedes left the argument and went back outside. She walked across the street just in time to hear the alarm.

"Station 55, Adam 55-2 and 55-3, respond to a house fire, 5678 75th Street."

"Welcome to the 55." She ran into the bay and got her gear on, showing him where to sit, then jumping front.