Hey guys! Welcome back! I would like to send a special shout out to all my reviewers, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! Thanks for all the info and advice. I did take the plunge and find a lovely beta (my best one yet) and so hopefully there won't be ANY errors in this chapter! Hahahaha, jk, there probably will be, so know they are mine. Ready for chapter 2?
*As a side note, I reposted a betaed chapter 1 with a full summary of the story (you might want to check that out)!
Chapter 2:
Engine 51 sat as close to the chow building as Mike could manage, with all of Station 51 sprawled out on a slightly grassy bank next to the parking lot. Captain Stanley sat hunched over a sandwich in the passenger seat of Big Red with his long legs hanging out of the open door. Mike sat down on the steps below him, head hanging tiredly and nursing his third bottle of water. Chet lay sprawled out in the meager grass, snoring beside the remains of his dinner. Marco sat to his Chet's left, gazing tiredly off into space. The paramedics sat to Kelly's right, heartily digging into their chow.
Nobody bothered looking up when another engine pulled in beside 51; Mike didn't even check to make sure that they were far enough away from his engine. No one might have even noticed the truck if a voice hadn't called out, "Hey, should you two be saving some poor fireman from smoke inhalation?"
Johnny jerked up from his sandwich, absentmindedly wiping some mustard off his chin at the sound of the newly familiar voice. Roy, however, was the one who answered as Liz Abel, Julie Chrysler, and four other figures strolled towards 51, "Shouldn't you two be back out there getting strung up in some barbed wire?"
Abel grinned, previous offensives apparently forgotten, "Touché."
Chrysler took in the slightly ragged crew, "A tattered bunch you got here."
"Guys," Johnny reached over and whacked Chet to wake him up, "meet Liz Abel and Julie Chrysler, Kings County Engine 15."
"A pleasure to meet you," Marco said, instantly perking up, "Fireman Marco Lopez."
"Fireman Chester B. Kelly," Chet said, looking very much awake as well, "but my friends call me Chet."
Abel made a face, "I hope I'm not included in that category."
There was a slight pause before Cap spoke up, "Well. I'm Captain Hank Stanley."
Both women nodded before glancing expectantly over at Mike who had remained quiet, "Stoker. Mike Stoker. Engineer."
There was another heartbeat of awkwardness before Chrysler motioned to the group behind her, "I guess it's our turn for introductions. Cap?"
A short, muscular prematurely-gray woman stepped forward and smiled warmly at the group, "Been a while, Hank," she turned to the rest of Station 51, "Captain Rita Meadow. Nice to meet you boys."
Next to her, a dark haired looker with big brown gave the group a crinkly-eyed smile, "Gabriella Giordano."
A lean Amazon of a woman with dirty blonde hair and tired gray eyes was jostled forward next, "Um, hi. Engineer Stephanie Austin."
Last, but not least, was the petite woman with white-blonde hair and bright blue eyes, "Gladys Riley," she winked at Chet, "my friends call me Laddy."
Now that the introductions were made, everyone, even Johnny Gage, seemed at a loss for words. 15's engineer, Austin, muttered something about chow and disappeared, followed by her captain and 51's, "I could use a coffee. How's the north side looking?" Stanley asked Meadow as the duo walked back towards the chow line.
Johnny glanced over at the two Captains walking towards the chow line, "Wait a sec, they know each other?"
No one but Johnny seemed too disturbed by this. Marco and Chet were desperately flirting with Giordano, who wasn't really flirting back. The oddball Riley was staring at Chet in a way that was clearly unnerving the firefighter, who kept glancing back at her suspiciously.
"I'm going to go call home," Roy said to his partner as he stood up, stretching out the kink in his back, "see how Joanne and the kids are doing."
"OK," Johnny said distractedly, watching the interactions of Station 51 with Station 15. Roy rolled his eyes and headed into the building where chow was being cooked and the telephone was located.
Base Camp #2 had taken over a small community center to house the off-shift firefighters and cook the meals. It had four fair-sized rooms that were used for town meetings, retreats, and other things like that. Right now, it housed close to fifty firefighters at a time with another fifty sleeping in tents behind the building. Counting both the morning shift and the night shift, that was two hundred men, and to feed that many men and women, the kitchen was a hopping place.
There were just two phones in the building and Roy chose the one by the kitchen hoping there wasn't a line. There wasn't a line, but there was someone already using the phone. A tall, wiry woman with blondish hair spoke into the phone, and although he couldn't see her face, Roy could hear the smile in her voice, "Wow honey, that sounds like so much fun! I'm so glad you're having a good time with Grandma and Grandpa."
She paused and listened for a minute. "The beach? That sounds like so much fun! I'm jealous…"
There was another long pause and the woman shifted her weight and glanced behind her. Her eyes landed on Roy for just a second and he was surprised to see that he recognized the woman. It was 15's engineer, Austin.
"I know, baby, I miss you too. I'll be home as soon as I can. We talked about this, remember? If the fire doesn't get put out, it could burn people homes down and they'd have nowhere to go. That's not a fun thing, right? I have to go now honey, there's someone else waiting to use the phone. Be good for me and take care of your grandparents…Okay, I will. Love you!"
She sighed almost imperceptibly then turned to Roy, "Sorry about that didn't mean to hog the phone."
"It's fine," Roy replied, "How old?" he asked, referring to the child she'd been on the phone with.
Austin smiled, "He's six."
"That's a handful. My son's seven and my daughter just turned five," Roy grinned, "It's hard to be so far away, huh?"
Austin nodded, "Yeah, especially when he's so young. Thank God for my parents or I don't know what I'd do."
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask about the kid's father, but he swallowed his question as she turned to go, "Well, I'll let you make your phone call."
As she walked down the hall, he was suddenly feeling more homesick than he had in a long time. He picked up the phone and dialed home as fast as his fingers would let him.
By the time Roy had returned from his phone call, the crews of 51 and 15 were in a lively discussion as everyone finished up their meals.
"You're crazy!" Johnny was declaring staring at the dark haired Giordano.
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "I'm tellin' you, the Yankees are going to be in the World Series next year."
"No way. They haven't made it anywhere near the World Series since '64," Johnny declared, "There's no way they could win it."
"I didn't say they were going to win it, I said they were going to be in it. It'll be the Reds."
"Why are we talking about next year?" Mike piped up, "This year's season isn't even half way over."
"She already knows whose gonna win this year," Able replied, "that's old news."
"Who?" Johnny demanded, eyeing Giordano suspiciously.
"Cincinnati Reds versus Boston Red Sox. Cincinnati comes out on top," Giordano rattled off.
"How'd you come to that conclusion?" Roy asked, sitting down next to Johnny.
"She's an insanely good at guessing," Chrysler replied, "She's gotten it right four out of five times in the last five years that I've known her."
" '71 was a rough year," Austin muttered.
Giordano frowned, "I do not guess. I have a system. My Nonno taught me when I was nine. I've only been wrong four times since."
Marco looked impressed, while Johnny just looked skeptical, "I'll believe it when I see it."
Giordano grinned deviously, "Care to make a friendly wager?"
In the end, no money was exchanged, but the conversation had lightened the mood considerably. Everyone was nearly done eating when Chet spoke up, "Okay, so I have a question. This might come across as offensive..."
"But he's gonna ask anyway," Johnny chimed in, getting a laugh from everyone, even Abel.
Chet glared at him, "What do your husbands think about your job?"
His question was met with silence. Abel was the only one who looked offended, and Johnny couldn't wait to see what her answer would be.
"What does your wife think about your job?" she ground out. Under her breath, she muttered, "Men like you are the reason I'm single," along with something fairly rude.
Chrysler swooped in to keep the peace, "My fiancée is currently stationed at Fort Benning and basic training is keeping him a little too busy to care what my job is."
"Single," Laddy Riley shrugged.
Gabriella Giordano smiled deliciously, "I've got muscles like you wouldn't believe. The boys love it." Marco looked like he might have drooled a little…and he wasn't the only one.
The group tuned to Austin, who sat picking at a blister on her palm, "Me? Happily divorced. And my ex hasn't been sober long enough to be bothered with what I do for a living."
There was a pause before Riley piped up, "Cap's husband only cared about her job when she got promoted before he did."
"Who knew a man could be so green?" Rita Meadows boomed from behind the group, causing them all to jump like they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't have, "Jealousy is an ugly thing, ladies and gents."
Captain Stanley grinned, "All right guys, what do you say we call it a night? It's gonna be another long day tomorrow."
Captain Meadows nodded, "Sounds like a good idea. Ladies?"
Reluctantly, the two engine companies drifted to their designated vehicles, "Well, see you around?" Johnny called over to Abel, sounding a little hopeful.
"Maybe!" she replied as she clambered onto the back of engine.
Austin started the truck with a curt wave, and Engine 15 disappeared around the back of the building where the men- and women- sleeping out in the tents parked their rigs.
"That was weird," Chet muttered as he followed the rest of the crew into the community center.
"How so?" Captain Stanley asked.
Chet shrugged, "I don't know. It was just like…"
"Talking to yourself?" Mike supplied.
"Yes," Chet declared, "like almost exactly!"
The group was making their way through the big bunk room towards their row of cots. Cap rolled his eyes at Chet as they reached their beds, "I think the heat's gotten to you."
"I mean, as much as I hate to agree with Chet," Johnny shrugged, "I actually sorta do."
Roy shook his head as he plopped down on his bunk and began to untie his shoes, "They seemed fine to me."
"I didn't say that there was anything wrong with them, I just said that talking with them was weird," Chet said.
"I know what it is," Marco said sagely from his bunk as someone shut the lights off from across the room.
"What?" Johnny and Chet demanded together.
"Doppelgängers."
"Doppel what-" Johnny started, sitting up in bed.
"Hey, keep it down will ya?" somebody shouted from across the room.
Johnny lowered his voice to a whisper, "Marco, what's a doppel-?"
"Go to sleep, John," Cap cut in, "you two can discuss this in the morning."
As tired as he was, Johnny's mind wouldn't let him fall asleep too quickly. Doppelgängers. Doppelgängers. Doppelgängers. The word whirled around his tired brain until it lulled him into a fitful sleep.
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Love, Striker