A/N: Thanks again to Natchez for being a wonderful beta and grammar fixer-upper. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
I don't own 'em and promise to return 'em when I'm done.
On Tuesday afternoon when Callie was finished being Miss DeSoto, first grade teacher for the day, she packed up her papers and headed for the station. She had a "letter" and some cookies to drop off. She was hoping the engine would be out on a run when she got there.
Her luck held. As she drove by station to turn into the parking lot, the garage door was open showing only the squad inside. Now, she would be able to place the letter in Chet's locker and maybe even short sheet his bed, if time allowed.
Callie entered the kitchen door and looked around, but there was no sign of Roy or Johnny in the immediate area. She headed for the cookie jar to dump the cookies she made the night before. She placed the jar in the middle of the table so the guys would know they had a snack when they returned.
Callie made her way out to the bay. She could hear her cousin and his partner/best friend talking about Johnny's date the previous night. She walked around the front of the squad to see Roy working under the hood and Johnny on a dolly under the squad. They were so busy working and talking they didn't hear or see her.
"You want some chocolate chip cookies to go with your bragging, Johnny?" Callie asked without even saying "Hello" first.
Both men were startled by the unexpected female voice. Roy bumped his head on the hood and Johnny dropped the wrench he was using on the floor and pushed himself from under the squad.
Roy turned to find his cousin standing next to him and smiled. "You have something to drop off?" He saw the pretty, feminine envelope in her hand.
"Um..." Callie hesitated then smiled. "I might. Which locker is his?"
Johnny looked at the two cousins, trying to figure out what was going on. "Whose locker?"
Roy answered for her. "Chet's."
Johnny grabbed the letter from Callie's hand and smelled it. "Smells like a love letter."
"It should. Do you like the perfume I chose?" A knowing grin spread over Callie's face. Men couldn't resist a perfumed letter.
Roy took the letter from Johnny before he could answer and sniffed it for himself. Both men agreed it smelled pretty.
"Who's the love letter from?" Johnny asked. He knew there was no way it was from Callie, not as furious as she was just a couple of weeks ago.
"Chet may have a new secret admirer – and she's perfect for him." The sarcasm in Callie's voice was hard to miss. She turned toward the locker room and started across the bay. Roy told her which locker was Chet's before the door swung closed.
Fortunately, Chet left his locker unlocked. What an idiot, considering the Phantom's tendencies. She had no trouble placing the letter inside, flat on the floor of the locker in plain sight. There was no way Chet wouldn't see it as soon as he opened the door.
The engine wasn't back yet, so she returned to the bay for a little more help from Roy and Johnny. "Which bunk is Chet's?"
"Callie, you're not going to, are you?" Roy asked knowing what was on his cousin's mind.
"I most certainly am." Callie just smiled impatiently at Roy. "Maybe you should tell me or I might just 'fix' your bunk instead."
Johnny looked at Callie and smiled that crooked smile of his. "Come with me." He took her by the hand and led her straight to Chet's bunk.
"You should go so you can honestly say you have no idea what I did." Callie hugged Johnny. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Johnny was about to turn to leave when he stopped. "How are you going to know whatever you're about to do worked?"
She grinned. "Oh, I figure a little birdie will give me the news." Callie meant both Mike and Roy, but knew Johnny would take it to mean just Roy.
"I think you might have two little birdies tell you." Johnny couldn't help himself. It was nice knowing someone was going after Chet. It was even better knowing he wasn't the one who was going to get in trouble for it.
"Call me tomorrow after four and tell me all about it." Callie realized then that half the shift now knew about her plans on one level or another. She was going to get three reports. This was too good to be true. "Now, get out. I need to get this done before they get back."
Johnny went back to the squad, chuckling the whole way. Roy had returned to working under the hood and Johnny decided it would be best if he finished the work he started underneath. He wasn't sure if Roy was upset with him for helping Callie. He wasn't entirely certain he cared just then, either. He was just going to sit back and watch.
~~E!~~
Everything was quiet for the next few hours. Callie didn't hang around the station since Roy and Johnny had been called out to a run after Callie fixed Chet's bed. Both men promised to call her if Chet found his love letter before lights out. Callie told them to stay safe as they pulled out of the bay.
It was about 7:30 that evening before Chet had a reason to go into his locker. He was getting ready to jump in the shower to wash the grime away from a building fire. Marco was getting dressed from his shower as Chet found the letter.
"What's that?" Marco asked when he noticed Chet set it aside.
"A letter." Chet laid out his clothes and moved toward the shower.
Marco stood there stupefied. "Well, aren't you going to read it?"
"When I get out of the shower. I don't want to get it dirty." Chet started the shower, drowning Marco out. Of course, he wanted to read the letter. The handwriting on the envelope was beautiful and the writer had clearly taken some time to complete it. The perfume sprayed on the letter was also very feminine and smelled expensive. Chet just couldn't imagine what chick - no, lady - had left such a letter for him.
While Chet finished his shower, Marco went to find the other guys. He knew they would all want to see the letter. He also knew Chet would take some good-natured ribbing over it. It was definitely Chet's long overdue turn in the hot seat.
By the time Chet dried off and was putting on a clean uniform, the other five men of Station 51 had joined him in the locker room. They were all equally anxious to see the letter. Roy and Mike were curious about what Callie had finally decided to write. Johnny was looking for an excuse - any excuse - to needle Chet.
Chet was frustrated that all the men, including Cap, were waiting for him to open his letter. He kind of wanted to read it alone before everyone else saw it, to see if he could figure out who it was from. He hadn't said, but he had been having a bit of a dry spell for the last three or four weeks. Maybe things were looking up.
"Well, open it, already!" Johnny was getting impatient. The others murmured their agreement.
Chet tucked his shirt tail in, then finally grabbed the letter. He opened it carefully to preserve the pretty writing on the front. As he read through the letter, he started to blush a little. He had never received a letter quite like that from a woman. Ever.
He carefully folded the letter and started to put it back in the envelope. There was no way he wanted his friends to see it. It was very personal and might embarrass the writer if she knew his friends had seen it. Not that he could remember at the moment who B.R. was. She had most certainly remembered him.
Roy and Mike looked at each other. They thought for certain that Chet would share the letter. He was always bragging about his "success" with women. This was certainly not how they expected things to go.
Johnny decided to take matters into his own hands when it became evident that Chet wasn't willing to share. He closed the short distance from the sinks to where Chet sat on the bench in front of his locker. He deftly snagged the letter from Chet and passed it to Marco. Marco quickly passed it to Roy to keep Chet from getting it back. Roy removed the letter from the envelope and started to look it over.
"Aw! Come on, fellas!" Chet started to complain. "That's personal!"
"I'll say," Roy said dryly. "I don't think Joanne ever wrote me a letter like that while we were dating."
Mike reached over and took the letter from Roy. Callie really had remembered almost every word of the letter she made up Sunday morning. To see it in writing, in such beautiful script, though, was enough to make him wish he was on the receiving end of such a letter from her.
Johnny was really tired of being patient now. "Would one of you just read it already?"
Chet tried to protest, but his words fell on deaf ears. His own ears were turning red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. He knew he wasn't going to hear the end of it for several shifts.
Roy took the letter back from Mike and began reading it out loud. "Dearest Chet, I love the way you caress my body on the mornings we're together. No other man has ever taken the time to worship me the way you do. I can't stand that I only get to see you every few days. The time apart makes me miss your tender, loving touch that much more. Until I see you again. X O X O, B.R."
Cap looked over at Chet. "I didn't know you could be so - what did she say, tender?" There was a certain evil gleam in his eye as he looked at his lineman.
Chet was truly frustrated now. "Not you, too, Cap!" Chet retrieved the letter from Roy and made his way through the station to his van. He figured it was the only way to keep the guys from reading it over and over again to him.
Roy and Johnny looked at each. Johnny started laughing. "I had no idea."
Roy and Mike both started laughing, along with Johnny. Marco and Hank were staring at the three of them.
"All right, which one of you twits wrote that letter?" Hank asked. It was clear something was up and half his shift was in on it.
"None of us," Roy said, trying to stifle his laughter. "Honest, Cap," he replied when Hank gave him a knowing look.
Hank looked over at Johnny and Mike with the stare that said, "You better tell the truth".
"It wasn't me," Mike replied quietly.
"I wish it had been me." Johnny acknowledged. "Wait. How did you know what was going on, Mike?"
"You aren't her only friend." Mike smiled and turned to leave the locker room.
"Not so fast, Stoker." Hank stopped him. "Is there something the three of you want to share with the rest of us?"
Roy cleared his throat. "Cap, maybe we should take this to your office."
Hank stared at Roy before answering. "Yeah, sure." He held the door of the locker room open for Roy and followed behind him, leaving Mike, John and Marco behind.
While Roy filled Hank in on Callie's plan, Johnny and Mike filled Marco in. Hank had to agree it was Chet's turn to be on the receiving end of a practical joke. He made Roy promise to keep Callie from taking things too far.
Poor Chet was sulking in the day room while Henry put his head on Chet's lap. All he could do was rub the dog's ears and try not to think about how humiliating that experience had just been. If only he could remember who B.R. was. Maybe that would help.