Part II

On their first day with Poole as their captain, the men were called in one at a time for a conference with Poole. The first in was Mike. He came back out with a puzzled frown on his face, gave his anxious co-workers a small shrug, then headed out to his engine without a word.

Next one called in was Roy. If Mike's exit from the office had made everyone anxious, that was nothing compared to how Roy leaving the office made them feel. Roy - easy going, affable Roy - came out looking like he would gladly take a club to someone. Johnny would have gone after the passing storm that was his partner, but he was the next one called into the office.

It didn't take Johnny long to figure out at least part of what had Roy so pissed. Roy had put his heart and soul into the paramedic program. There probably wasn't another single individual that had put out the sheer amount of hours, stubbornness and determination to make the paramedic program into a reality. Poole considered paramedics to be a waste of the Fire Departments resources.

"It's sheer idiocy to spend the kind of money we do just so that some of you boys can play doctor. Not on my watch. Oh, you'll still be doing that job, of course. Much as I would like to eliminate it, for the moment, that's not my call. But you are a fireman first and a paramedic after all the real work is done. When you have to go to Rampart to restock or drop off a patient, no hanging around to keep an eye on a victim or to assist the medical staff. The second that the patient is through the doors of the hospital, they cease to be your concern. I won't have you men lollygagging around the hospital and fraternizing with the staff. Are we clear?"

"Yessir."

Johnny didn't trust himself to say more than that. Mentally, he was already counting the number of days they would have to put up with Poole until Hank came back.

"And Gage? Keep that partner of yours in line. He's looking for trouble and, by God, he's going to find it if he doesn't get with the program."

"Roy's no troublemaker, sir. He's -"

"No first names, Gage. I don't approve of the lax attitude Stanley let you men slide by with. I also don't approve of the use of 'Cap' that I heard my first day. You will call me either 'sir' or 'Captain Poole' at all times. Is that clear as well?"

"Yessir."

"Good. Dismissed."

Exiting the office, Johnny felt a lot like he had after his first earthquake. Stunned and a bit shell-shocked. He barely even acknowledged Chet and Marco as they watched him wander past on his way to find Roy. Marco was called in next, leaving a very fidgety Irishman waiting all alone.

It wasn't hard for Johnny to find Roy. He might not have exactly been slamming the doors on the squad, but he was closing them a lot more forcefully than usual. And for once, Johnny didn't even have to try to coax his partner into talking about it.

"Do you believe him? One of the first questions out of his mouth is if I pushed so hard to get the paramedic program going because I realized I couldn't cut it as a 'real' fireman. Oh - and I'm not 'properly dedicated' to the job because I have a wife and kids. And to top that all off - I can't even call my co-workers and friends by their first names. How long have we been partners now? And I have to call you Gage?"

Johnny shook his head in amazement. During the maybe five minutes that Captain Poole had spoken to Roy, he'd managed to hit every one of his partner's sensitive areas - his dedication to his job, the paramedic program, his civilian family and his firefighter family.

He could easily see where the situation between Roy and Poole could spiral out of control and tried to put a little water on that particular fire.

"Easy, partner. He's only here for a little while. Maybe if we consider putting up with him as sort of an anniversary present to Cap?"

That got a slight chuckle out of Roy.

"That might be the only way I get through this month. But you're right. We just have to bite the bullet until Cap comes home and then things can go back to normal."

Roy and Johnny turned their heads in unison as Marco stomped past on his way to splash cold water on his face. Roy sighed and let his forehead rest briefly against the side of the squad.

"It's going to be a loooooooong month, Junior."