The squad was returning from a motor vehicle accident on the FDR. It was nothing major so they cleaned up and headed back to the house. They reached the top of the stairs when they noticed Doug Maple standing in the kitchen area.

"I've got good news and bad news." He said

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"Okay, give it to us." Lt. Johnson said

"Good news is that I think I have narrowed down a list of suspects on our arsonist." Maple said

"And the bad?" Walsh asked

Maple sighed. "The person is or was a firefighter."

Everyone looked at each other.

"You mean some firefighter has set out to hurt or even kill one of us?" Taylor asked

"I'm afraid so." Maple replied

"Do you have any idea who it could be?" Jimmy asked

"Would you like the short list or the long one?" Maple responded. "I'm looking into anyone who has been fired from or left the department in the last 2 years. Specifically anyone from this house."

"I don't think it's one of our guys." Lt. Johnson said

"We'll see." Maple replied, "I told you I would keep you posted."

"Thanks." Lt. Johnson said as Maple headed down the stairs

The squad moved into the kitchen. All of them clearly upset about the turn that the investigation had taken. It had been over a month before all of this started. On top of their already busy call load they had 10 arsons they had responded to. They were all wearing down from it, and it showed.

"Okay guys, I don't want you all to worry about this." Lt. Johnson said, "Maple will handle it."

Taylor grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took a seat at the table. Walsh picked up the newspaper. The front page had a story on the ongoing arsons. No one said a word about it though. They all wanted it to be over so they could sleep at night.

Soon enough Jimmy, DK, and Lombardo went off into the lounge. Taylor finished her water and looked at Walsh who was still reading the newspaper.

"I'm going to head upstairs and take a nap." She said as she yawned.

"Okay, sweet dreams." Walsh smiled

Taylor playfully messed up his hair as she walked by him

Taylor headed upstairs to her bunk. She wanted to catch a nap while she could. The evening was young but she figured that there would be another arson to respond to. She lay on her bunk and thought for a few moments.

"Arson leaves no witnesses."

She couldn't remember who it was that had told her that, but it was true. She heard it over and over again in her head. She drifted off to sleep.

The voice she heard sounded so distant.

"Alex, Alex wake up." The voice said

Taylor stirred in the bed

"Alex, come on we got a call." The voice was distinctly Walsh's

Taylor quickly sat up.

"Where we going?" She asked

"Riverside for a warehouse fire." Walsh said

Taylor immediately thought about what everyone else had feared. Another arson. As they headed towards it they could see smoke rising from the building. Taylor quickly fastened her coat and adjusted her hood. She was definitely going to need it in a few moments.

They arrived on scene and immediately they got their airpaks on.

"Walsh you're with Taylor." Lt. Johnson quickly pointed out their jobs, "Jimmy, Joe you're the roof team. DK hydrant."

Lt. Johnson looked at the building again. The smoke was thick and black, but he couldn't see the orange glow.

"Central, get me a couple more medic units rolled on this, I'm gonna need 2 more ladders, 4 engines, another squad, and get me a fire boat." Lt. Johnson radioed

Jimmy and Lombardo quickly climbed the ladder to get to the roof of the 8-story warehouse. Once again it was abandoned. The arsonist definitely wanted to protect the citizens.

They made their way across the roof. The smoke started at the 6th floor and made it's way out of the windows.

Walsh and Taylor made their way into the building and quickly looked for the stairwell.

"Well, you ready?" Walsh asked

"Let's go." She said

The stairs were metal; there were metal planks and tons of crevices in the building. It was an old chemical storage warehouse. They quickly made their way up and past the first landing. They were there to do one thing- find the fire.

"The smoke was coming out of the 6th floor windows." Walsh said

"So I'm guessing we'll find it somewhere around the 5th floor." Taylor said

They reached an elevator shaft and looked up. They couldn't see any flames, but the water was already running down into it from the external hose lines. Surround and drown seemed to be the best idea until they knew what they were working with.

"Well, let's keep going." Walsh said as he tugged on Taylor's arm.

"Something doesn't feel right about this." Taylor said

Walsh looked at her for a moment. Taylor shook her head as they moved back the hallway. They were on the 4th floor and could hear the hiss of the fire. A faint orange glow was getting brighter. They made their way back into a section of open rooms and storage and offices.

"I think we're getting warm." Walsh said as they made their way through a maze of left over crates and barrels.

"What's in these anyway?" Taylor asked as she snaked her way through

Walsh shined his flashlight on one of the labels- NITRATE

"That makes me feel safe now." Taylor cracked as she bumped into one of the barrels and knocked it over.

It rolled towards the stairway and they watched it.

"Well it didn't explode." Walsh smiled

They continued back the hallway when they started to feel the heat.

"Alright, let's check the doors." Taylor said

About a third of the way back the hallway they found it.

"Lieu, fire in the control room 4th floor." Walsh radioed out

He looked over to Taylor, "Let's see if we can make our way around it."

Taylor was checking under the doors for smoke. None of them showed any signs of it so they opted to enter the room to the left.

"It's clear." Taylor said

Walsh kicked open the door and they made their way inside the darkened room. They could see the flames through the glass window to the control room. As Walsh made his way across the room he felt the floor beginning to buckle. Out of nowhere a 2x 4 connects with the back of his head and Walsh falls to the floor. His haligan bar dropped beside him

"Billy?" Taylor asked as she turned around to see another person standing in the room.

"Hello Alex." The man said with a grin on his face.

"Danny." Taylor said calmly as she went to check on Walsh

"One more move and I'll kill him." Danny said

Taylor looked at Danny; he had bunker gear on- and a pistol in his hand. He put the 2x 4 down beside him

"Took you guys long enough to make it up here." Danny grinned

"You're insane you know that?" Taylor asked

"Put your axe down." Danny ordered

Taylor obeyed his order to prevent him from shooting Walsh.

"It's not Billy you want to kill now is it Danny?" Taylor asked

"Oh, I'll kill him. Gets him out of the way for me to take you." Danny grinned as he pointed the gun at Walsh

"I'm not going to be with you, get that through your head." Taylor was defiant.

"Same old Taylor, defiant as ever. This time, I'm the one who will come out on top. You cost me EVERYTHING! And for that…" Danny pointed the gun towards Taylor, "…you die."

Taylor puts her hands up and freezes.

"That's not going to solve anything." She said

Danny was angered by her calmness. "You'll be dead and I'll have won. It will solve it all."

Taylor looks down at Walsh who is lying on the floor not moving.

"You'll accomplish nothing other than have two dead firefighters- resulting in 2 murder charges, along with the time you'll do for arson." Taylor replies trying to stay calm and figure a way out of this mess.

Smoke begins to filter into the room.

"You escaped my last few traps." Danny grins

"I'm a better firefighter than you thought I was." Taylor replies

"You were stupid to come into this one." He grins even more because he knows that he has her trapped. "You're not going to leave this building alive."

"I think you're wrong." Taylor says

"You gotta keep pissing me off don't you?" Danny says, "You could have kept all of this from happening if you would have just slept with me. I wanted you Alex. I wanted you bad. And you tortured me, teased me, and now I'm going to end all of that."

"You brought that on yourself Danny." Taylor replied

She could hear footsteps coming into the rooms. She knew Danny's time was running out.

"I'll kill them too." Danny becomes desperate.

"You don't want that, it's me you want." Taylor says

Neither of them notices that Walsh was beginning to stir on the floor.

"Pull the trigger, that's what you want to do isn't it?" Taylor asks

"Die!" Danny says as he squeezes the trigger.

Walsh quickly rolls over and puts the pick end of the haligan bar through Danny's calf. He screams out in pain as he pulls the trigger three more times before falling to the ground.