Stepping out of the shower, Hank finished toweling his hair dry before he reached for his clean uniform and began to redress as his thoughts wondered back to the dumpster fire that they had just put out. Someone had thought it was funny to fill the dumpster up with plastic and other toxic flammable items and set it on fire. It had taken them only ten minutes to extinguish but the cleanup had taken so much more time, leaving them all covered in ash and grime and reeking of burnt plastic and in need of a good long shower.

Hearing the squad slowly pull in, his thoughts turned to Roy and the fire that was burning right here in their own station. It was an insidious fire within his senior paramedic, so insidious that it had hid behind the walls of a friendship and partnership so strong that he had missed the initial signs that it was there. He shook his head with guilt and regret at his failure as John's captain and friend because when it flared, it had burned the youngest member of their team so badly that Johnny had transferred out, and now was lying, critically injured, in a hospital bed. Now, that same fire threatened to engulf the newest member of their team, something he was not going to allow to happen.

Hearing the doors of the squad slam closed, he quickly buttoned his shirt as he headed towards the door, determined to find out the cause of the fire and put it out, even if that meant that he would have to suspend Roy to quell it.

Stepping out into the bay, he saw Allen scurry across to the dorms. The hunched shoulders and the bowed head told Hank more about how the trip with Roy to Rampart went more than any words could as the younger man disappeared through the dorm doorway. Turning back, he frowned as he watched as Roy, totally ignoring his new partner, turned, and stalked towards the locker room.

Running his hand over his head before leaving it to rest on the back off his neck, he sighed, as much as he wanted to be updated by Roy on Johnny's condition, he knew that would have to wait, he had something that was more important he needed to do, something he had failed to do for Johnny. He swallowed hard as a pang of guilt stabbed his heart, momentarily robbing him of his breath with its intensity. He had failed in his duty and his friendship with Johnny, and it had led up to Johnny transferring out and now critically injured. He might be as close to Allen, not yet, but he was Allen's captain and Allen was one of his guys and this time he wouldn't let Allen down when Allen needed him the most like he had done with Johnny.

Waiting until Roy reached the locker room door and pushed it open, he turned and headed towards the dorms.

E!E!E!E!E!E!

Allowing the squad to cruise to a stop in its spot in the bay, Roy slowly turned the engine off and took the key out of the ignition as he closed his eyes, willing the headache that had been plaguing him for the last couple of weeks. He knew he should apologize to Allen about the rant about Johnny. He never meant one word of what he had said and didn't even know why he had said, Johnny was his closest friend, but the words had come tumbling out before he could stop them, shocking even himself with what he was saying and the malice with what he was saying it with. Allen's silence told him that he had crossed the line again, a line that seemed to be becoming more and more blurry to him.

He jumped as he heard the passenger door slam shut and turned to watch as Allen scurried around the back of the squad, almost as if the younger man was trying to keep as much distance as possible between them just as Johnny had started to do before the argument. He felt the anger that always seemed these days to be bubbling just beneath the surface, begin to boil over, frightening him with its intensity as he climbed out of the squad and slammed the door shut. He knew that he should see Cap and update him on Johnny's condition, but he needed to get his temper under control before he ended up owing anyone else an apology today.

Spinning on his heel, he headed towards the locker room, pushing the door open with a bang. He winced as the loud noise of the door hitting the wall echoed through the room and reverberated through his head, aggravating the headache that never seemed to go away. He paused a minute to reassure himself that the locker room was empty before he hurried across to his locker and opened the locker door. Reaching into the bottom of his locker, he pulled out the small bottle he had hidden there just after he had come in for his shift. Picking up the bottle, he unscrewed the top, before shaking two of the white tablets into his hand. He hesitated a moment, staring at the two tablets before shaking a third tablet out and dry swallowing them. Quickly screwing the top back onto the bottle, he stashed it back into its hiding spot before slamming his locker door closed .

Turning, he slowly walked across to the sinks. Turning on the faucet, he cupped his hands capturing a handful of the cold water before splashing the water onto his face. Reaching up, he grabbed one of the paper towels and began to wipe his face, momentarily pausing as he dragged the wet towel below his eyes as he stared at dark rings below the haunted eyes of the face staring back at him in the mirror.

Swallowing hard, he dropped the wet paper towel and made a grab for the edge of the sink in a desperate attempt to stop himself from toppling to the ground as the image in the mirror suddenly blurred out of focus and the room around him began to spin. Almost as fast as it had started, the room stopped spinning and ashen color face in the mirror sharpened again, leaving him feeling weak and incredibly nauseous as his legs threatened to give out from beneath him. Clinging to the sink, he took a deep breath, waiting until he regained at least some semblance of his balance, and some of the color back in his face before he turned and slowly and shakily walked the couple of steps towards the locker room door, aware that Cap and the other guys would be expecting for some sort of update on Johnny's condition.

E!E!E!E!E!

Allen walked through the dorm and sat, despondently, down onto his bed. He shook his head in defeat, he just couldn't go on like this. After Roy's rant about Gage and the dangerous risks that he claimed Gage took, often risking the lives of his co-workers when they had to go in and rescue him when things went wrong, they had ended the ride back to the station in silence. He knew he should feel grateful that Roy's temper was directed solely at Gage this time and not at him, but he was tired of always walking on eggshells around the older man, never knowing just what was going to trigger Roy's volatile temper.

Picking up his pillow, he held it tightly to his chest. He had promised Sue that he wouldn't do anything until after he had talked to Brackett or Dixie, but he had had enough. Taking a deep breath, he looked across at DeSoto's bed and sighed. He had really wanted to be a paramedic, Hell, he had studied so hard and was over the moon when he graduated but maybe it had been a mistake, he didn't seem to be able to do anything right in DeSoto's eyes. Hell, DeSoto had made it more than clear that he didn't even trust him enough to take the lead in rescues or ride in the ambulance with the patient, instead DeSoto had delegated him the job of always driving the squad to Rampart. Maybe, Gage was right when he wanted to go back to just fighting fires.

"Is everything okay, Pal?"

Allen jumped and looked up in surprise to find Hank standing next to the low brick partition next to DeSoto's bed, watching him.

"Everything is fine, Sir." Allen lied, embarrassed that the captain had had to come looking for him to see what he was doing as he hastily put the pillow back on the bed.

"The name is Hank or Cap when we're back at the station, there's no need for formalities here," Hank smiled as he walked around the petition and sat down on Roy's bed opposite his new paramedic.

"Umm, everything's fine, Cap." Allen stammered, nervously as he started to rise to his feet, "Is…is there something that you need me to do?"

"Yes, there is," Hank answered softly, deciding the best course of action if he was going to find out what was going on between Roy and his partners was to be honest. "I think we need to have a small chat, Pal."

E!E!E!E!

For those who are waiting for some more Johnny angst- don't worry I haven't forgotten him, his turn is coming in the next chapter.