As the years went by Walsh became a seasoned veteran firefighter. He had seen his share of working fires, and the future only promised to bring more in. The squad continued to work well together under the leadership of Lieutenant Pratt. But as with every officer, they get promoted or transferred to a new position.

Walsh hadn't known any other Lieutenant in his 7 years in the FDNY. He hadn't known any other crew either. That was all going to change though. Miller passed the Lieutenant's exam and got transferred to the 86. Lieutenant Pratt became a Captain and moved up the ladder to Manhattan. He took over at Engine Company 1. So that left an opening at the Squad 55.

"So who's our new Lt, you know yet?" DK asked Doyle

"Some guy named Johnson." Doyle replied as they walked into the firehouse.

They looked at the assignment board.

Driver: Doyle

Officer: Johnson

Tommy Doyle wasn't used to anyone else being in that seat beside him. This would take some getting used to. Another thing that would take some getting used to was having medics stationed in the house too.

They walked up to the kitchen where Walsh was already sitting and eating a sandwich.

"Always eating." Doyle remarks

"Growing boy's gotta keep his strength up somehow." DK cracks

"Very funny." Walsh says as he puts it back down on the plate. "New Lieutenant's here."

"Saw that." DK noted

"We got medics here too now." Walsh adds

"The kid's quick!" Doyle cracks

One of the medics enters the kitchen. He is African-American. DK looks for a moment,

"Monty "Doc" Parker." The medic introduces himself

DK points to Walsh, "That's Billy Walsh, Tommy Doyle, and I'm DK Kitson."

"Nice to meet you." Doc replies

His partner enters the room; "Jerry Mankowitz" Doc introduces him.

"Nice to meet you." Jerry says to all of the firefighters.

Just then the new Lieutenant enters the room. Everyone quiets down.

"What, the new guy walks into the room and everyone shuts up?" Lt. Johnson asks. "I know you all better than that." He smiles. Lt. Pratt had filled him in before he left.

"Just trying to be respectful." Tommy replies

"Okay, I appreciate that." Lt. Johnson says, "I would just like to make sure that you all don't try to change too much would ya?"

"Yes sir." DK responds

"Alright, I'm new here, you all know that. Things won't change. We're still a crew and we still need to work together. The only change is that I am now the LT. But that's all that changed." Lt. Johnson insists. "If you ever need something, don't be afraid to come to me."

"Yes sir." DK says again

"Are you a broken record?" Lt. Johnson asks as the rest of the group erupts in laughter.

Lt. Johnson looks over to the medics.

"Oh I lied, something did change. We got in house medics now." He grins, "Welcome."

He headed back to his office and the guys just sat around the kitchen.

"I like him." Walsh says

"Yeah me too." DK replies

"I heard he's one of the best." Doc says

"I worked with him once, very no nonsense type of guy." Jerry adds

The alarm sounds.

"Squad 55, Adam 55-3 respond for an MVC 146th and King."

"Guess we're about to find out." Tommy says as they all head for the truck

Tommy guides the engine through the streets and then through the traffic resulting from the accident. It looked worse than it actually was. There was water spraying into the air from a damaged hydrant but all of the people were out of the car and walking around. There was an old man, a younger woman, and a younger man.

None of them wanted to go to the hospital. It was just scrapes and bruises, nothing that required immediate medical attention. No one really wanted to pay a hospital bill for something as small as a scrape.

DK and Walsh managed to get the hydrant shut off. Doc and Jerry were talking to the old man.

"You know you can always go get checked out." Doc reminds him

"I'm fine, just want to go home and have a nice dinner with my wife." The old man replies

"Okay, well if you change your mind." Doc says

The old man sits on a bench and waits for the police officers to talk to him. He suddenly clenches his chest and falls over.

"Doc!" Walsh yells as he rushes over to the old man.

Doc reaches the man, "He's not breathing!" Then he checks for a pulse. "No pulse!"

Doc and Jerry begin CPR on the patient. They loaded him into the ambulance.

"Walsh drive them." Lt. Johnson orders

Walsh quickly guides the ambulance through the streets of the city. The sirens drown out the sounds of the medics who are busy in the back of the bus. The red and white lights reflect off of the windows of the buildings and cars lining the path to the hospital.

He finally pulls into the ambulance bay at Mercy hospital. The doctor meets the medics at the door and they enter the emergency room. They transfer the patient to a hospital bed. Walsh watches from the hallway. This was the first time he had ever done this. It was a different part of the job.

The medics walked back out into the hallway. The doctor stopped CPR. He looked at the clock and pronounced the man dead.

"Funny how life is sometimes." Jerry says to Walsh, "One minute he is talking to you and the next he's gone."

"Yeah." Walsh looks into the room again, "Doesn't see quite fair."

"Makes me just want to go home and have a nice dinner with my wife right now. Tell her I love her you know?" Doc says

"Yeah." Jerry replies

"What about you Walsh?" Doc asks

Walsh is in a trance; he suddenly realizes that Doc asked him a question and snaps out of it. "No, I don't have anyone like that in my life."

Doc wasn't sure what to say. He was sure that someone as young and good-looking as Walsh would have someone to turn to. He had no idea that Walsh didn't.

When Walsh had a tough shift, he knew he could always count on his sister to help him through it. Since she moved to Philadelphia with Andrew he had to call her. Andrew had been hired as a District Attorney there so Ashley found a teaching job in a local elementary school. She had said that they were trying to start a family.

"I'm sorry." Doc wished he could take the question back.

"Nah, it's okay." Walsh said.

He wasn't bothered by it though.

"Why don't we head back to the house?" Jerry suggests

"Yeah, let's get going." Doc replies.

When they got back it was time to eat. DK had made Salisbury steaks and mashed potatoes. This was all of the family that Walsh needed right now. They sat down and enjoyed their time to relax. It wouldn't be long before they'd have another fire to fight, but right now it was time to relax. They earned it.