The next morning, Travis grabbed his jacket and slipped it on as he sent Vic a text, ready to go to work. He typed Hey. Have fun last night? And then when Travis got to the door, he paused.

Zack. What if Zack's out there again? Travis swallowed, puffing out his chest a little as he slowly opened the door, peering out and scanning his porch. He held his breath and was glad when he didn't see anyone, relaxing as he closed his door and locked it, going to his car.

See? Nothing. He reminded himself again.

Travis drove to work and got his breakfast, sitting down with the rest of the crew to eat, listening to Warren ramble on about Medic One again, offering him a few side comments with the rest of the guys.

Then Vic walked in with a smile and a stride in her step and Travis sat up more when he saw her, eyebrows raising.

"Nevermind. I'll tell you tomorrow." He had told her.

"Good morning Station 19!" Vic sing-songed with a happy tone, clearly in a good mood. Travis watched her, pursing his lips together. She sat down next to him with her bagel. "Hey Trav."

"You're in a very good mood. Did you have a party with Naked-Man-Friend after you went out drinking?" Travis played it cool, trying to act as if he wasn't waiting for her to ask him about what he wanted to tell her from last night.

Vic snorted and looked away with a laugh, looking offended. "Travis! You jokester, ha ha!" She laughed loudly, glancing at everyone else. She then leaned down closer to him with a hushed voice. "Maybe."

Travis smirked at her and nodded, continuing to eat his oatmeal. "Ahhh."

"So, what did you do last night? Have any parties with Naked-Man-Friends yourself?" Vic smirked coolly at him, Travis nearly spitting out his food, giving her a look which made her laugh out loud in spite of herself.

"No Hughes. The only party I had was with myself." And Zack…..He thought about the name again, looking away. It didn't seem like Vic was too anxious to ask him what he wanted to talk about it. Maybe she forgot; she had been drinking last night after all.

"Ooh. Well next time invite me to your Me Party, okay?" Vic shot him a playful smile, getting up to grab an orange, patting his shoulder as she walked past.

Travis sat back in his seat a little, keeping to himself. Can't do that. Not if Zack's there….

That afternoon, on their third call of the day, Travis got some cuts on his face from shards of glass while trying to get a civilian out of their burning house as flames roared around them. As soon as he and Miller got out of there, Warren pulled him aside to check him out, pulling on his arm.

Travis was catching his breath, glancing around, spotting a group of people watching nearby, not even thinking before he scanned their faces, eyes locking on the rugged-looking face of Zack and Travis quickly froze. He felt the color drain from his skin, suddenly light-headed, heart racing, wide-eyed.

Warren hadn't seen Travis react and when he turned back to face him, his eyebrows furrowed. "You're pale, Montgomery, you feeling okay?"

Travis swallowed hard and looked away, brushing Ben off his arm. "Nevermind, i'm fine."

"Hey, wait, your cuts-" Travis ignored him, quickly walking off, not daring to glance back into the crowd, quickly heading over to Victoria and Jack. He didn't say anything or listen to what they were saying, he just needed to be beside them. He watched the ground, still trying to catch his breath a little.

Then he heard his name, it sounding as if Vic was shouting at him, flinching a little as he looked up. "What?"

Vic was looking at him a little funny. "I said are you okay? You look a little shook up. Did you get checked out?"

"Yeah, yeah, i'm fine." Travis looked away distractedly, shifting on his feet, feeling jittery.

Vic seemed to accept it, offering a small smile. "Okay, Freckles."

Sullivan came over. "Montgomery, you alright?"

Travis stood up straighter, glancing at Vic. "Fine, sir."

"You sure?" Sullivan looked him up and down. "You seem off. Get checked out, now."

"Uh, already did sir." Travis fibbed, continuing to shift on his feet, his lips suddenly feeling dry, shaking a little.

"Really? Well I just saw you walk away from Warren not two minutes ago. Get checked out, now." Sullivan directed with a nod and then walked off, leaving Travis to look at Vic out of the corner of his eye.

She looked at him as if waiting for an explanation. Travis didn't say anything, turning away with a tired sigh, going back over to Warren. Before he could stop himself he looked back at the crowd seeing Zack was gone. He relaxed, feeling the weight off his shoulders subside, able to focus now.

Thank god.

That evening, at supper, Travis thought everything was fine as he ate and chatted with his friends, laughing and just having a good time making jokes and having fun. Nothing to worry about.

He felt his phone vibrate and he pulled it out of his pocket, seeing he had received a text from an unknown number. His eyebrows furrowed a little at not knowing who it was but opened it nevertheless. The text read,

You looked great out there today, i'll have to tell Grant. Are your cuts okay? I sure hope so. Wouldn't want our precious firefighter to be hurt, now would we?

Travis just about dropped the phone, eyes going huge, feeling his mouth fall open. He sat there frozen for a minute, shocked, quickly glancing around to see if anyone had noticed, swallowing hard.

No one seemed to be paying him any mind so Travis looked back at the phone and turned it off without answering, frowning as he took another bite of his food, staring at his plate.

Zack has my number, Zack just texted me, oh my god, Zack has my number Zack has my number!

Travis couldn't even hear what the others were saying; they were laughing at something but he was too busy staring at his food to notice.

Another text. Travis anxiously lifted the phone, frowning as he hesitantly opened it.

By the way, Grant and I are having Mexican tonight. Bet you miss being with him huh? Oh wait. YOU DON'T.

Travis gulped, literally gulped and roze from his chair, not able to do this. He spoke, not meaning to interrupt Maya, but he did. "I think i'll actually head home early tonight. See ya guys later." He took his unfinished plate to the sink, starting to head out, no one seeming to object, sharing a few glances with one another.

"Night Trav."

"Night Travis."

Travis snatched up his jacket from his locker and hurried outside, running a shaky hand over his face and then through his hair, frowning, taking deep breaths.

Another text.

Hey Travis, I think Grant and I should have sex tonight. What do you think?

Travis's eyes widened and his lips curled in disgust and shock, disgusted and yet appalled at how inappropriate and creepy this was.

He didn't answer and drove home, trying to compose himself, trying to get Zack out of his head, admittedly on edge and freaked out.

He got home and stepped out of the car, suddenly freezing in place. Wait, what if he's here, what if he's here again on my front porch?!

Wide-eyed and tense, Travis started walking hesitantly up to his porch, eyes scanning everyone around him, holding his breath.

No sign of Zack. Okay, that was good. Travis hurried inside and put himself up against the door and let out a deep breath, overly relieved.

He was about to head off to bed when he got another text, reluctantly opening it.

Nevermind. What do you care about Grant anyhow?

Travis's eyes widened again and he felt his heart race again, swallowing, biting a fingernail, desperately feeling the need to call up Grant and just scream at him, wanting answers about this damn guy.

He swallowed hard and climbed into bed, turning his phone off, putting his hands to his head in frustration, his brain all foggy.

He knew he couldn't keep dealing with all this. He was about ready to inform the cops soon. Then this would stop.

Travis hopped out of the shower and threw on his clothes, heading off to work, checking his phone. No more texts from Zack. That's good.

He opened his front door while reading a text from Vic, closing the door behind him without looking up.

"Morning Montgomery."

Travis looked up and jumped back, a gasp escaping him, back hitting the door as he looked up in horror to see Zack standing there before there with that dumb-ass smirk on his face.

"Have a good night?"

Travis stood still, staring at Zack with wide-eyes as he held his breath, frightened. Shaking, he opened his mouth to speak, swallowing hard, managing to take a few steps towards him, trying to look tough.

"Get-Get out of here, right now. I'm going to call the cops on you I swear!"

"Oh really?" Zack suddenly started forward, backing a frightened Travis up against the wall, glaring down at him with a rough look. "Well you know who i'm going to call then? Hughes."

Travis felt a chill shudder through him, eyes flashing at the name, straightening. "Vic?"

"You and her are good friends right? She's really pretty. I should go see her sometime. Let her know how I feel about you." Zack was still looming over Travis, whose eyes went narrow, pointing a finger at Zack's chest.

"Whoa, whoa, you are not going to do anything to Vic, you don't talk to her, you don't-"

"Hey, listen to me," Zack snapped, grabbing a fistful of Travis's shirt, pressing him up against the wall hard, making Travis flinch with fear. "If you say anything about me to anyone or god forbid you say anything to the cops, i'm going to go after her instead, you hear me? You already hurt someone I love and i'll hurt someone you love too if I have to. I will break her. Are we clear?"

Travis was shaking, eyes wide with fear, eyebrows furrowed at the thought of this guy daring to do anything to hurt Victoria. "You touch her and I swear i'll-"

Zack growled and pushed Travis back up against the wall forcefully, clasping a firm hand over his mouth, cutting him off. "I said, you say anything about me and not only are you dead, but she'll die too. You don't want her to die now do you?"

Travis flinched and quickly shook his head no with glossy eyes, Zack's hand still over his mouth, frowning deeply at the thought of losing his best friend.

Zack was glaring at him coldly, huffing. "Then keep your lips shut. But i'm still going to make you suffer, pal." He took his hand off Travis's mouth, offering a cool smirk, patting Travis's cheek, who flinched. "See you around, heartbreaker." Zack huffed, walking off as if nothing had happened.

Travis remained up against the wall, eyes big with fear, breathing heavily and swallowing hard, waiting until Zack was gone to pull out his phone, scrambling to text Vic.

Wait a minute.

He couldn't text Vic. What had Zack just told him? If he told Vic, Zack was going to hurt her. Oh no.

Travis couldn't tell anyone, not if Vic's safety was in jeopardy.

Travis swallowed the massive lump in his throat, shakingly going to his car, feeling sick.

If only Michael were here, he'd know what to do. But Michael's not here and soon Vic won't be either if he doesn't keep his mouth shut.

Travis bit his lip hard, exhaling shaky breaths, struggling, not knowing what to do. He couldn't lose Vic but he couldn't keep encountering this stalker Zack everywhere he went.

He felt trapped and now he didn't know how to get free and for once there wasn't anyone who could help him. He was on his own. Just like the skyscraper. And he had barely made it alive out of there.

What if he doesn't make it out of this either?

When Travis walked into work, he still felt a little sick and he didn't eat all that much at breakfast, staring at his plate, shifting uneasily when he received another text.

I wasn't kidding. You don't tell her, you don't tell anyone.

Travis nervously licked his lips, frowning deeply as he glanced at Vic, a knot in his stomach. He thought about how Zack had pushed him up against the wall, how he loomed over him, how scary and creepy he is. The thought of him made him want to back away and never come near him again.

Another text.

Grant misses you ya know. But you don't miss him of course 😠

Travis swallowed hard and couldn't eat anymore of his breakfast, getting up to go to the workout room instead, needing to get this off his chest. He hadn't been in there for long before Vic walked in.

"Hey, everything okay?"

Travis glanced at her, quickly looking away. "Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, it just seems like you walked out of there in a hurry. Anything you want to talk about?"

Swallowing hard, Travis avoided looking at her. "Nope. I'm good."

"Okay. Just checking. See you at line-up." Vic shrugged and smiled at him before walking out and Travis frowned when she was gone, wishing he could just tell her. He can't do this by himself, he needs Vic's help, she's always there to help him. But not now. Oh, what is he going to do?

At 19's next call, when he wasn't inside helping put out the fires, Travis was watching the crowd, anxiously biting a fingernail, tense, eyebrows furrowed. Zack wasn't there, thank god.

But Travis knew that creep could show at any time and he could not get over the thought of someone watching him at work.

Tapping his foot, he looked over every face, not paying much attention to anything else, keeping his eyes strictly on the crowd.

"Montgomery," Travis jumped and almost yelped, whipping around to face Sullivan, who eyed him. "Keep your focus on your crew members and on the fire, not the crowd. You get paid to help save people not stand around and watch them."

Travis frowned and stood up straighter, pursing his lips together, almost embarrassed, feeling ashamed. "Sorry sir, it won't happen again."

The Captain nodded and walked away with narrowed eyes and Travis shook his head at himself.

Damn you Zack.

Travis couldn't take it anymore. He had been getting texts from Zack all day, his phone vibrating nonstop. And they were getting worse now.

You're going to be sorry, Montgomery. I'm going to make you pay.

Scared yet? Good.

Hey Travis. What do you miss most about Grant? Oh, you don't miss anything at all because you broke his heart, didn't you? 💔

You're going to regret everything. You're going to be begging for mercy soon enough. You'll see.

How's Vic doing? Hope you two are having fun at work.

Travis's lips curled, he couldn't do this, he was sick of it!

Tapping Reply, he typed Look, leave me alone you freak. Stop harassing me. Send.

Travis was in the workout room again, unable to eat much for Supper, panting heavily and sweating as he pushed himself to keep exercising, despite his body getting strained and tired.

He stopped when Zack texted back, angrily grabbing the phone, opening it.

Ha, I was wondering when you'd answer me. What's the matter? Is little Twavis scared?

Travis felt a growl escape him, starting to get irritated, glaring angrily as he started typing to reply.

"Montgomery."

Travis jumped and yelped a little, looking up quickly to see Sullivan in the doorway, who looked a little perplexed, eyeing him over. Travis frowned and quickly hid his phone behind his back.

"Everything okay?" Sullivan questioned lowly.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, of course." Travis stuttered, swallowing with a shrug.

"Why are you in here and not eating with everybody else?"

"Um…..I just needed some time to myself, sir." Travis said quietly, trying to make everything seem like it was okay.

"Well just make sure you eat enough when you get home." Sullivan nodded at him before walking out.

"Of course, sir." Travis swallowed and looked away, sighing when he was alone, running a tired hand through his damp hair. He was tired and tense and honestly just wanted to get home.

He lifted his phone, seeing he had yet to respond to Zack. Scowling, shaking his head, Travis glared as he typed I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE.

…..

…..

Ooh, is that a threat? I'd watch myself if I were you, you don't know who you're messing with.

Travis felt his face scrunch up in anger, turning and marching out of the workout room and straight to his locker to grab his jacket, storming out to go home without bothering to say goodbye to anyone.

He glared at the road ahead of him the whole drive home, jaw locked tight, gripping the steering wheel tightly, knuckles going white. He ignored his phone that vibrated again and scowled when he got home, slamming his car door shut, stomping up to his porch, fists shoved into his pockets.

"Honey, i'm home!"

Travis jumped when he heard Zack, looking up in alarm, shocked to see him sitting in one of his chairs again. At first he was frightened, but he was in such an angry mood he started stomping up to him with a finger pointed as a warning.

"What the hell are you doing here? I told you to leave me alone!" He snapped.

Zack shot up out of the chair, glaring down at Travis coldly with curled lips. "And I told you you'd regret what you did to Grant. But you don't regret what you did now do you?"

Travis scoffed and angrily looked away. "What is your obsession with me and Grant you creep? I did love him it just didn't work out, you have to understand that!"

"Oh I understand alright. That you were just using him as a dumb excuse to make up for your dead husband." Zack growled.

Travis felt his temper snap. "Hey don't you bring up Michael into this, he has nothing to do with this!" He growled

"Oh so now you're upset?" Zack glared. "Well get used to it, Freckles. I'm here to stay and i'm going to make your life miserable. So I'll talk about you and Grant and Michael whenever the hell I want!"

Travis glared at him, pointing a finger. "No! I want you gone! Get out of here right now, i'm calling the cops!"

"Oh really, guess who i'm calling then?" Zack huffed, pulling out his phone, putting it to his ear as if he was talking. "Oh hello Vic." He chirped with a cool smirk, giving Travis a taunting look, whose blood was broiling. "Hey Vic, guess what? I'm going to come after you next." Zack continued with a huff.

"You said you wouldn't go after her. You are not going to do anything to her, she is my best friend!" Travis shouted with wide, fearful eyes.

"Well soon she'll be your dead best friend if you don't keep your lips shut! Then she can join your dead husband too!" Zack huffed with a laugh, eyes narrowed, quite enjoying himself.

Travis's eyes flashed with anger and he swore, lashing his arms out, shoving Zack away from him in fury, pushing at him. "Get out of here! I want you gone! You're never going to-"

Travis was cut off as Zack's fist suddenly collided into his cheek as the man punched him, knocking Travis to the ground with a yelp, holding his breath as he lay there wide-eyed, cheek stinging with pain.

He looked up to see Zack standing tall with a sort of smirk on his face and Travis continued to lay on his back with a deep frown, feeling sort of dazed, face feeling numb.

Zack reached down for him and grabbed him by his shirt, hoisting him up, making Travis flinch and squirm a little, a whimper of fear escaping his lips as Zack pushed him up against the porch beam, holding him there.

"You're sexy when you're angry, but sadly, you don't scare me. You're too sensitive Travis. And i'm going to break you." Zack stated lowly, looking Travis straight in the eye. "You're not going to get out of this whether you like it or not. Now be a good boy and keep your mouth shut."

He dropped Travis and gave him a little wave with a smirk, turning to walk off. Travis stood there panting heavily, wide-eyed, hands gripping the rough edges of the porch beam tightly, shaking as he frowned deeply.

Travis was frightened and even worse, his cheek hurt, Zack had just punched him.

Shakingly, he went inside and triple-checked to make sure he had locked the door, a little whimper escaping him as he went to his fridge, quickly grabbing a water, trying to calm himself down, wide-eyes looking at Michael in his picture frames, lip quivering a little, hugging his chest with his arms as he went to take a shower.

I can't keep doing this, I can't keep doing this, not alone, not all by myself. Someone's gotta help me. Or I'm really not going to get out of this. Just like Zack said…

A/N: Nine more days until the next episode, aaaahhhh! Hope Ripley is okay!