This chapter does mention fire-related deaths and the deaths of children.

+1.) Chet rested his forehead against the cool tile of the shower, knowing he was the last to use it, needing a moment to decompress after their last run. None of them had seen anything that bad in years, certainly not a structure fire in a residential home. There was just so much shit in that house. The home had been so packed with clutter that no one could maneuver inside, not even John, so there was no real way to get lines or rescuers inside. The fire took over an hour to put out because a neighbor had unwittingly given the fire more oxygen by breaking a window to see if he could help. Otherwise the amount of crap in that house woulda stalled the ventilation and the fire woulda died out on its own from lack of oxygen. Instead, they went to two alarms and a major overhaul before they could even get in to figure out what went wrong and determine a number of victims. It wasn't good.

The homeowner was an elderly woman, who was now nothing more than charred remains, whose cigarette appeared to be the ignition source. Unfortunately, she was not the only occupant. She had five grandchildren living with her, all of whom died of either asphyxia from the fire eating up all the oxygen or smoke inhalation. Chet didn't know which, and it didn't matter anyway. Dead was dead. Every man on scene had been called inside for overhaul, from the captains to the greenest rookie, just due to the volume of stuff in the house. Chet and Marco found the old woman, but for once, Chet wished he'd found the kids if it meant Cap and Mike wouldn't have. Not Cap with his three beautiful girls he loves more than anything… Not Mike who hates blood and death, who had to deal with the Oaks Manor Fire… not them… Chet heaved a sigh and finished his shower, scrubbing extra hard after finding all those cockroaches. (Apparently, they were trying to escape the fire and thought turnout gear was a good place to hide.)

Everyone was sitting in the kitchen when he finally emerged from the locker room in his civvies, ready to go home and sleep for as long as he could. Cap gave them a quick talk, telling them to make appointments with the shrink if they had serious issues and to rest and recuperate before their next shift. Chet knew Cap would go home and talk to his wife and decompress, as would Marco and Roy, and John would need Roy to talk to because only another paramedic could really understand how it felt to not be able to save anyone from that house. That leaves me and Mike… poor Mike… Their engineer looked utterly miserable, his eyes dead, his form slumped. Chet approached him in the parking lot, asking, "Hey, you wanna crash at my place? Charlie's outta town with a girlfriend so there's plenty of room and, uh… I think we could both use the company."

"Sure, Chet… thanks."

"Not a problem, pal. Come on…"

Mike refused to take Charlie's bed even though she was out of town or Chet's because 'that would be rude', so Chet gave up arguing and just got him a spare pillow and blanket and set him up on the couch. He knew full well that Mike would immediately give up his bed if their roles were reversed, and he just wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Chet went in and made sure his bedroom door was open before dropping into an exhausted sleep… that was cut much shorter than he would have liked. He blinked in the muted daylight until he consciously heard the small, barely audible sounds of distress coming from the living room.

He found Mike curled into an impossibly small ball on the couch. Sad, soft noises issued from his shivering form. Chet went to him, doing his best to wake him gently, to coax him into reality.

"There ya go… that's it," he whispered, "Wake up, Mike. It's alright. Everything's alright. We're all safe, me and you, too. Everyone's safe here. Come on, I've got ya. Just wake up for me…"

Mike sat up so fast he almost headbutted Chet, who managed to move just in time. He was back at Mike's side in an instant, trying to calm the upset and disoriented engineer.

"K-Kids, Chet," Mike stammered, shivering more than ever, "They we-were just kids, little-little kids, and-and they got stuck in that-that death trap-! So-… they were so-so scared. You… you could see it in-in their f-faces, Chet, how sc-scared they were when-! Shit!"

Mike was shaking and sweating, his face white as a sheet. Chet knew what that meant, so he hauled the taller man into the bathroom just in time for him to empty what little he had in his stomach. Oh, how the tables turn… Chet perched on the side of the tub, resting his hand on Mike's back in a gesture of comfort until he was done heaving. He grabbed a washcloth for Mike's face and some water for him to sip on, trying to maintain as much physical contact as possible to let Mike know he wasn't alone. When Mike was sufficiently calm, Chet quietly asked, "What happened?"

"I-I can't, it's-"

"Talk to me, Mike. Let me help you."

He blinked up at Chet, his eyes wide and wet. Chet explained, "You said that to me, when we were here after the Incident. You asked me to let you help, and I did. You've… you've done a lot for me, helped me out… and now I think it's time I return the favor. Let me help."

Mike's expression crumpled almost immediately, and he looked down at his knees, whimpering, "I saw them… those kids… they were asking why we didn't save them… them and all the ones before, even back to '62… and they always look so scared, not even a little angry, just-just scared… and-and… I can't-!"

He choked down a sob, and it was all he needed to start. They sat there in the bathroom, Chet on the side of the tub, Mike pressed against his legs, openly weeping. Chet thought back to when he was a little kid, getting picked on and coming home crying every day, and smiled faintly as he remembered his mother. Following the memories, he brought his hand around to Mike's forehead, smoothing his hair back, though he held off on the humming. He spoke instead, a low and constant murmur, speaking about his mother and his father and taking care of Charlie, how his elder brother drifted away and became a stranger, how his younger brother died in 'Nam.

"…and I just remember Mom doin' this for us when we were upset or sick and, well… my brothers are pretty much gone now… so all you guys at the station, you're my brothers," he said softly, "I suppose if you're my brother I can let you in on the family secret. It's… it's really nice havin' brothers again."

He couldn't even be sure he'd been heard with how hard Mike was crying, but he spoke anyway, until Mike cried himself into exhaustion.

"Looks like you really needed that," Chet remarked, helping him to the couch.

Mike huffed, "Yeah… I s'pose I did. Never really have an opportunity usually. It's pretty awful when you're alone."

"Well, now you know you can call me… just like you told me to do."

"S'pose I did," Mike repeated sleepily.

Chet laughed quietly, "Alright, take a nap, Mike. A good one. I'll be here."

"Hope so. It's your place."

Chet let out a bark of a laugh, and Mike snickered in response. It was all they needed to be sent into fits of laughter that left their sides aching and their eyes wet.

Thanks so much to everyone who followed and enjoyed this story. I haven't done a proper 5+1 in a while, and I really enjoyed putting this one on paper (and the web).