Ok, I have the following rescue clearly played out in my mind, but when it came down to getting it right on paper, I stalled a bit, so hopefully all of you readers can conjure up this scene within your own imagination. I remember doing some of these acrobatics myself when I was younger, so they are definitely doable. Enjoy!

Don't own the characters, wish I did, just borrowing 'em for awhile.


Chapter 3

The address turned out to be in a residential area – as the squad pulled up to the curb a heavily pregnant woman waddled up, arms waving frantically in the air. The dark haired paramedic was only half way out the door, gloves in hand, when she latched onto his arm, pulling at his jacket with one hand and digging her red tipped fingernails through the fabric and into his arm with the other hand. Gage winced and wondered what his arm would look like if he didn't have his jacket on….

"Ma'am, ma'am you need to calm down….MA'AM!" Johnny growled out the last word, finally catching the panicked woman's attention. "What's the problem? Is it you…."

"No, no! It's my kids, they're stuck up the tree in the backyard, I'm so afraid they'll fall, I can't get them down…obviously! This way, this way….." She grabbed Johnny by the arm and started pulling him towards a side gate leading to the back yard. Shooting his partner a "you've got to be kidding me look", the bemused young man allowed her to tug him after her, narrowly missing knocking them both to the ground when he tripped over a sprinkler hidden in the shaggy grass. Roy, trotting after them with a gear box in each hand, smiled as his counterpart righted himself and firmly took control of the situation – gently disengaging himself from her grip and taking HER elbow in his hand and escorting her forward.

After skirting around the toys and playground equipment scattered about the large backyard, the paramedics could finally see the tree, but not any children. They moved forward under the shady canopy and peered upwards – finally locating the dangling legs of two small children perched precariously within its branches. Both men paused, wondering exactly how the kids had managed to scale their way up into the tree. Johnny loped around the tree in a circle, looking up into the branches. He made his way back to the front of the tree and tossed his helmet to the ground off to one side.

"Hey Roy, there's a knotted rope hanging down on the back side…I think that's how they got up there…

"Better call for an engine and get a ladder up there," the older man replied, pulling the HT away from his wrist where it dangled from the strap.

"No no! There's a ladder right there hanging on the house…use that! My husband put that rope up there, I don't know what he was thinking!" The woman kept on rambling hysterically, even as the paramedics trotted over to the ladder suspended from hooks and lowered it down. One man on each end, they carried it to the tree and leaned it against the trunk. Johnny stepped back out of the shade and looked up again, shading his eyes against the noon sun.

"I'll go up over there, see if I can reach them and hand them down to you, k?" He didn't wait for a reply but scurried over to the rope, pulling on his gloves that were jammed into his back pocket. He pulled on the rope to test it, then nimbly began climbing up hand to hand, and launched himself up and out of sight into the dense canopy of green.

Roy could hear John talking to the children as he made sure the feet of the ladder were stable; he began climbing up the rungs. Once his feet reached the next to the top rung, he stopped and peered upwards, the top of his helmet brushing against the leaves. He stretched his arms upward; there was a good two to three feet between the tips of his fingers and the swinging, tennis shoe clad legs of the children above him.

From his branch above but to the left of the two kids, John looked down at the tousled blond heads. A boy and a girl, about six years old, were straddling a branch. The boy was behind the girl, arms wrapped tightly around her middle. Their heads were rotating between John and his partner, but both children seemed calm and unhurt.

"Hey guys, my name is John and I'm a fireman. What's your names?"

The girl turned her head back in his direction and pouted her lip out. "I'm Sara and this is my twin Matthew. How come you don't have a helmet on if you're a fireman?"

"Well, I'll tell you…I'm always getting in trouble from my captain 'cause I can't seem to keep that thing on my head. It's down there in the grass by the tree, near your mom. But you notice my partner Roy down there has his on, I guess he listens better than I do. You ready to come down now?"

"Yep," Matthew replied, "my butt hurts. How you gonna get us out of here?"

John peered down at the branch the kids were straddling, knowing there was no way the limb was going to support his weight; the tip of it was already bending downwards. Every time the twins shifted, it quivered beneath their 100 pounds of combined weight. He hoped one of them wouldn't make a sudden move, as the branch looked springy enough to catapult one or both of them into the air.

"I've got a plan, but I need you to do something for me. Try to sit really still, alright?" Gage rose from his crouched position to his feet, moving sideways on the limb to his left. He cautiously encircled some of the trunk with his arms, and swung his lower body out and around the trunk, planting both feet awkwardly on a branch that jutted out at an angle but was almost directly above the kids. He slid the rest of his body around the trunk and paused for a moment to catch his breath, one arm still around the trunk. Letting go of the trunk, he carefully turned around on the branch so that his back was to Roy and the kids and sat down. He thrust both legs out and pushed his feet against the branch parallel to him that had the rope tied to it; he removed his gloves and laid them down on the branch. He slowly reached forward and grabbed the rope, untying the simple knot and pulling the rope up and into a coil.

From his perch down below, Roy peered up through the leaves and branches, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. He watched as his partner hitched the rope to the branch he was now fully crouching on, and slowly let it drop behind him. The rope fell down past Matthew's position and stopped about a foot below the limb they were sitting on. John turned his head and looked down at the kids, his left hand on the tree trunk for balance and his right hand resting on the branch.

"Ok kids, which one of you wants to go first? I'm going to get my arms around you and lower you down to my partner, but I'm going to be upside down and will need to move kinda fast…."

"Johnny are you sure…?" Roy queried, trying to get a better view of Gage. He barely heard John's soft reply of "trust me, partner" because the kids had begun to bounce in excitement, causing the branch to spring up and down.

"Matthew first!" John shouted, making a quick decision after seeing the antics of the kids below him. He moved down the rope with his whole body, about a foot ,before scissoring his legs around it and going over backwards in one swift movement. He grunted as his lower back hit the vibrating branch the kids were bouncing on, but reached over in a twisting motion and grasped Matthew with both hands, pulling him away from his sister. He slowly let his weight drop backwards again, turning the boy and lowering him with straining arms downwards to the stretching hands of Desoto. Roy slid his hands up the boy's dangling legs until he got a good grip around his waist, yelled "got him" to his gasping partner, then rapidly descended almost to the bottom of the ladder and handed off Matthew to the patiently waiting patrolman below.

Johnny, stomach muscles furiously protesting, twisted himself partially upright to the left again, his legs beginning to quiver. "Sweetheart, can you slide backwards just a bit, towards me?"

Sara obligingly slid herself backwards several inches, allowing the fireman to encircle her waist with his arms. He plucked her off the branch, turning her as he let himself go over backwards again. He could hear Roy climbing the ladder below him, and hoped he was close. Seconds later the weight was removed from his grasp, and after he heard Roy's "got her" he released his grip, and heaved his top half up on the kids' branch, his cramping legs above the limb releasing from the rope and smacking downwards onto the branch. He lay prone on the wildly vibrating limb, hoping his weight wouldn't snap it; he rested his cheek against the bark and held on for dear life until the bucking subsided and he could catch his breath.

Roy carried the girl over to her mother, trying to hide his smile as the still wildly excited woman tried to put her arms around both of them; her protruding stomach stopping her from accomplishing the task even halfway. He set the girl down on the ground and watched a moment as the mother was finally able to encircle the child and pull her into a smothering hug. Matthew ran up to the pair, Gage's helmet hanging down past his ears, and joined in the noisy fray.

This time Roy smiled and turned his attention back to the tree. He could see the boots and blue legs of John slowly descending the ladder, the police officer steadying the ladder. Roy frowned in puzzlement when the patrolman reached up and shook John's foot; the feet paused for a moment and then the shook foot kicked out and lightly tapped the cop on the head. With an audible thump, his partner skipped the last two rungs and jumped to the ground, the knotted rope coiled and hanging from his left hand. He paused to say something to the uniformed man, who responded with a bray of laughter, then continued over to Roy, a quirky smile in place on his perspiring face.

"My friend Drew, motorcycle cop extraordinaire….Well, I wonder just how long it will be before those kids are in that tree again?" He smirked, looking over at the family. "I guess we'd better get that ladder down before they get any more ideas."

Roy shook his head as both men headed back to the tree. "I'll lay money on their mother going into panic induced labor before then…."

Gage rolled his eyes and snorted, slapping the end of the rope against Roy's derriere. "If that happens, partner, you get to deliver even though it's my turn! I think I'm gonna hafta have stitches where she clawed my arm! There's no way I'm gonna be within 10 feet of those lethal weapons!"

His partner tried to keep his laughter in check as they put the ladder back in its place and joined the family and Drew, who was trying to fill out his report. Johnny retrieved his helmet from Matthew, narrowly escaping the now thankful clutches of the mother, who was trying to smother her children with hugs and kisses while grabbing for the paramedics. John's friend finally escorted the trio into the house and the partners began the hazard strewn walk back towards the squad.

"Awww…I left my gloves up in that tree. Go ahead, Roy, I'll meet you at the squad." Roy answered with a wave of his hand and disappeared around the corner of the house. The dark haired man trotted back over to the tree and threw the rope back up over the original branch, fastened a simple hitch, and climbed his way back up. After pocketing the gloves, he unhitched the rope and coiled it over his shoulder. He made his way to the lowest branch, swung over the branch and down, hanging for a second with an overhang grip, and then dropped the five feet to the ground.

Gage hung the rope up on the ladder, safely out of reach of the twins, and jogged his way to the corner of the house. He halted suddenly, leaning up against the back corner, bending from the waist and bracing his hands on his knees. Gasping slightly, he tried to quell the rising nausea and keep from losing the contents of the canteen now churning in his stomach.

"Awww man, come on…"he muttered, pressing one hand up against his forehead, his pounding headache back in play now that the adrenaline rush had worn off. Taking deep breaths, he finally straightened up and shivered, using the sleeve of his still zipped jacket to wipe off his face. "Get it together, Gage, the shift isn't even half over."

Finally, after composing his features into a carefully blank expression, he moved carefully toward the squad and his waiting partner. He was surprised to see Roy still standing by an open compartment door, hefting something in his hand. When John got closer, he could see that it was one of their life belts. He smiled sheepishly as Desoto glared at him and swung the belt toward him in a menacing arc.

"You do know what one of these is, right? And what they're used for?"

"Yeah…sure…really Roy, there wasn't a heck of a lot of time….that branch was either going to shoot those kids into space or deposit them into a not too pretty heap on the ground…." Roy snorted and threw the belt back into the compartment. Johnny was glad for the diversion as he cautiously opened his door and slid slowly into the seat before Roy had made it around to his own door.

After John called them in as available, there was silence for a few moments as Roy navigated out of the neighborhood and back onto the main roads. John turned his head slightly and looked at his partner, who seemed lost in his own thoughts.

"You've got kids, right?"

Roy shot a quick look at Gage, wondering where this conversation was headed. "Two kids, boy and a girl. Why?"

"Would your kids do something like that, you know, climb up into that huge tree?"

"Not really sure, they're kind of young right now …but I have a feeling that my daughter will probably be the ringleader in that sort of adventure when they get a little older."

"Huh…I would have been up in that tree probably younger than that, but then again I wouldn't have been able to sit down for a week after my old man tanned my hide." Johnny smiled slightly, apparently recalling some memory. "Not that it would have stopped me from doing it again….."

Roy looked back over at his partner, noticing that he was rubbing his face again and his skin seemed flush. "Yeah, my dad would have done the same. But unlike you, I wouldn't have tried again. You going to need some aspirin when we get back? Looks like you still have that headache."

John picked up the canteen, still lying between them on the seat, and shook it. "Guess we missed lunch again…wanna stop somewhere and eat? I think my stomach is eating itself. And yeah, I really need those aspirin….."

The men stopped at a burger joint about two miles from Station 51; the locally owned restaurant was fast becoming one of their "one of those days" places to stop and grab a bite when they missed a meal. Head down, Roy had uncharacteristically wolfed down half his burgers and fries in anticipation of being called out.

Finally coming up for air, he swallowed and washed down his calorie laden food with several swallows of soda before glancing across the picnic table at Gage. His partner had his own head bent over his food, but instead of eating it was distractedly pulling the top of the bun apart with his long fingers. His soda, straw and lid laying abandoned on the table, was completely gone except for several slivers of ice. Feeling his gaze on him, Johnny finally lifted his head and looked back, before shrugging and pushing himself to his feet. He gathered up his trash and dumped it before heading over to the cab of the truck, ht swinging from his hand.

Roy closed his slightly opened mouth and shrugged also, before leisurely finishing the rest of his food. When he climbed into the squad, his partner was slouched down, head against the back of the seat, shoulder leaning against the door, and eyes closed. Roy, remembering the persistent headache, felt a pang of guilt and hurriedly drove back to the station.

Once inside the apparatus bay, John clumsily exited the vehicle and made his way to the locker room. Roy slowly climbed out, feeling the greasy food sitting in the pit of his stomach and wondering if maybe his partner had had the right idea of abstaining from the food. Captain Hammer leaned out of his office, then stepped the rest of the way out and approached his senior paramedic.

"How'd that run go? What was the unknown rescue, anything serious? Didn't hear any requests for an ambulance."

"Nope, a couple of little kids stuck up a tree. I was more worried about their very pregnant mother going into labor; she was pretty high strung but maybe that's the way she always is. I only heard one call for the engine, pretty quiet?"

"Just a dumpster fire, cleanup took longer than putting out the fire. Have lunch? There's some leftovers in the fridge…Lopez is already busy on dinner."

"We ate on the way here…" Roy replied, following his captain into the day room to grab a glass of milk. Maybe that would help settle his queasy stomach.

Splashing cold water on his face, John Gage looked up into the mirror and grimaced at his reflection. It was a wonder that he hadn't scared those kids out of the tree with the colorful bruising, dark smudges under his eyes, and squinty eyes that he couldn't seem to be able to open all the way because of the incessant pounding behind them. He sighed, rinsed his mouth out, and headed over to his locker to root through his locker for the bottle of aspirin that he hoped he had in his gear bag. He'd barely made it into the latrine before losing the soda and the few bites of bun that he had swallowed down.

Roy pushed into the locker room and headed for the sink to wash up. He looked at his partner's reflection in the mirror as he washed his hands. "Do you need aspirin, or did you find some?"

Perched on the bottom of his locker, John held up his hand to show Roy the two white pills pinched between his thumb and index finger. Roy grimaced as the younger man dry swallowed them, then leaned back out of sight within the depths of his locker. Shaking his head in disgust, Roy dried his hands and headed back towards the bay, hoping for a little down time to fill out the log.

"Station 51, possible heart attack…" his hopes were squashed as the tones rang out, and the station 51 crew headed for their vehicles. The door was going up as Gage entered the vehicle, pulling on his uniform shirt over his v-neck tshirt, and tossing his jacket on the seat beside him…