Part VI

By the time Joanne drove to Stoker's apartment, Marco was already there, but Mike hadn't been able to reach Chet. Joanne left Roy there after Mike said he would make sure Roy got back home after they all grabbed a nap. Knowing that they wouldn't be likely to speak freely with her there, she agreed.

Roy nodded to Marco and Mike, taking the offered seat. There was a long, awkward silence. Roy cleared his throat and broke it.

"Well, guys. I guess since I made the first call, I should be the one to start. That first morning when Poole was calling us in all one at a time? Basically, he doesn't like anything about me. I'm married, so I'm not dedicated. I'm a paramedic, so I'm not a real firefighter. I was one of the ones that pushed for the paramedic program, so I'm responsible for the wasting of the Fire Department's resources. In a later talk, he started telling me that I should considered modeling my behavior after Johnny's."

Sighing, Roy slumped in his seat in a very uncharacteristic way as Mike and Marco stared at him. They both liked Johnny and respected his abilities, but Roy's was overwhelmingly the calmer and steadier influence.

"Either of you come off any better?"

Marco just shook his head.

"I don't think he likes having someone of Mexican descent in the crew. Not that he's going to put it that way, of course. But he specifically told me that he didn't want to hear me using any Spanish and when it's my time to cook, he doesn't want me doing anything Mexican or even Tex-Mex."

"Man, that stinks. Your chili is one meal I always look forward to. Not to mention those couple of Spanish phrases you taught me have really helped me a lot in the field."

"I can't imagine having to go without your chili either."

"Thanks, amigos. At least I call you guys that here. What happened with you, Mike?"

Mike looked very uncomfortable and put off answering for a minute by offering to get iced tea or cold water for everyone. Both Roy and Marco accepted the tea, then just patiently waited for Mike. Mike generally wasn't much of a talker, but it was obvious he had something to say that he didn't care for.

"You remember I was the first one he called in? First thing he tells me is that, as engineer, he considered me his second in command. Which, you know, I am for Cap, so no big deal, right? Then he told me what he expected out of his second in command."

Frowning, Mike reached for his own glass of iced tea, staring at the condensation on the glass for a minute before taking a sip.

"My orders are to basically report every infraction of his new 'rules' that you guys aren't following - with instructions to pay closest attention to DeSoto and Kelly. Including every time you guys call each other by anything other than your last names. So really what he wants is a shift tattle-tale."

Marco muttered something under his breath, then looked up to his friend.

"That's why you've been keeping yourself apart from us as much as you can, isn't it?"

"If I don't hear anything, I'm not caught having to decide between my teammates and our current Captain's orders."

Sitting back and sipping his tea, Roy thought over what the others had just said.

"Okay, I know what he has against me, but why Chet?"

"I don't know, Roy. I got a feeling though that the Phantom has something to do with it because he referred to Chet as a joker. And it didn't sound like he approved of jokers on his crew. Maybe if we can talk to Chet, he knows."

"I don't know that Chet will speak to us. Whatever Poole said to him got him really upset. I couldn't even get him to make a stop with me for a sandwich after work. This can't keep going on, but what can we do?

"I don't know that there's anything that we can do, Marco. The guy's unpleasant and is making things uncomfortable, but he's not actually broken any department policy that I can think of. And believe me, I've been trying to think of them."

"Me too, Roy."

"All three of us then."

They all went quiet then, thinking. It was so quiet that Roy and Marco both jumped a bit when Mike put his glass down suddenly and left the room. They exchanged glances, but Marco just shrugged to indicate he was as much at a loss for what was going on as Roy was.

Mike returned in short order with paper and a pen for each of them.

"Okay - are we all in agreement that Poole seems to have it in for some of us and might not be above forcing the issue?"

At the nods of the other two, Mike continued.

"At this moment, none of us have a disciplinary action against us from him. All of us write down what he said to us and what we've observed up until now, signed and dated. We'll seal them in an envelope and I'll put that into another envelope and send it to Chief McConakee, with a note about what we've done and why."

Marco gave a slow nod.

"I think I see what you're saying. That way if Poole does start taking this to another level, he can't say we started making this stuff up just because we got mad that he disciplined us."

"Right. And I'll make mention that the only reason Gage and Kelly don't have a statement in here is that we couldn't get in touch with them today."

"I do believe you have something here, Mike. Chief McConakee might not like it, but I think it's better than doing nothing and just hoping we can outlast Poole until Cap gets back."

They all sat down and wrote out their own interactions with Poole, then watched as Mike gathered them all together and sealed them in an envelope. Then he wrapped his note to the Chief around it before sticking it into another envelope and addressing it.

"My recliner and couch are open, guys. I'll grab some blankets. After we nap, I'll mail this when I run Roy home."

"Thanks, Mike. I just wish Johnny and Chet had been here. Espcially Chet. I'm worried about him."

"I think we all are, Roy."