Johnny arrived for shift bright and early, his days off had been wonderful; the barbeque all but forgotten. He hadn't allowed himself to forget about Chet and his taunting, which was one reason why he had decided to arrive early. He wanted to beat the phantom in and not receive any surprises in his locker. He opened his locker cautiously and placed his clean uniforms in it. They were beginning a forty-eight hour shift. The thought of not seeing Ellen for forty-eight hours overwhelmed him, having never before wanted something more than to work as a fireman/paramedic. The thought took him by surprise and he smiled to himself thinking 'I'm in love'. This was something very new to him and he liked it.
It was while he was deep in thought that Roy walked in. "Johnny!" Roy greeted his partner and proceeded to get changed.
"Roy!" Johnny took a deep breath and got on with getting changed. "Everyone have a good time at the barbeque?" Johnny asked his partner, letting him know he was interested in the get together even though he couldn't stay.
"Yes, they did." Roy's answer was short and sweet. He was still a little annoyed that Johnny didn't stay but it didn't last long because he was also thankful that Johnny had at least made the effort to call in and say hello. He really couldn't stay mad at his partner.
Sensing Roy was not as mad at him as he had been last shift he added, "I really am sorry I couldn't stay Roy...or even help you set up for that matter. I really did have something else on...I'll tell you about it one day in the near future when the timing is right." Johnny told Roy and closed his locker door and made his way to the kitchen looking for his first cup of coffee for the day.
Roy watched his partner leave and pondered over what he had just said. He sighed and he too was about to go searching for a cup of coffee but was stopped by Chet. "Gage is already here...Damn...I wanted to set up!"
"Set up what?" Roy asked not liking Chet's tone.
"The phantom wants to get his pigeon big time!" Chet said with a fiendish look in his eyes.
"Yeah well, the phantom will have to get up earlier if he wants to catch his pigeon." Roy told his friend, unimpressed by his antics.
Roy could hear voices coming from the day room and as he entered they stopped. Johnny and Mike looked up at him and Mike said "Hello Roy."
"Hi Mike! You got home ok?" Roy asked his shift friend, out of courtesy.
"No problem Roy and thanks. Barb and I had a good time." He smiled at Roy and glanced at Johnny feeling a little uncomfortable talking about the barbeque in front of Johnny.
"You guys certainly had a nice day for it." Johnny said cheerfully trying to put Mike at ease. Johnny looked at Roy hoping he picked up on Mike's uncertainty.
"Well Junior next time I'll make sure I give you more notice." He told his partner reading his thoughts.
Mike smiled to himself, he was glad the partners were at ease with each other. Marco walked in and said hello to everyone, he was smirking to himself. Roy picked up on it and knew only one person could plant that smirk there, Chet. "So what is Chet up to Marco?" Roy asked, putting him on the spot. Marco just shook his head not wanting to get involved. "Come on Marco, only Chet can make you grin like that."
"You have a suspicious mind Roy." Marco said joking with his friend.
Johnny watched the interplay; he smiled to himself and accepted the fact that he would be the target of one of Chet's pranks. Marco was obviously already privy to Chet's intentions and Roy was obviously warning him in a roundabout way. He got up from the table and poured himself another cup of coffee. Roy joined him and held out his cup for him to top up. "Thanks!" Johnny said appreciatively to his partner.
"Well, well, well if it isn't the groper!" Chet exclaimed maliciously. Johnny froze, but it was Roy who came to his defence.
"Chet! I'm just going to say this once. We had this out at the barbeque and Joanne told us all that it wasn't like that...so drop it!"
"Or what Roy?"
"Kelly!...I don't want to hear another word about this during shift. Stop calling John names and take it up with him outside of shift. I won't have petty arguments going on in this station. Do I make myself clear?" Cap looked at Chet and Johnny for confirmation.
Johnny answered straight away "Yes Cap!"Cap looked at Kelly waiting for his acknowledgement.
He reluctantly replied "Yes Cap."
Johnny could feel the flush in his cheeks. He didn't know that Chet thought he had groped his girlfriend. 'How could he think that?' he thought. All he had done was grab her arms to stop her from falling. He swallowed hard and said to Roy, "I'm going to do the morning checks." Roy could see the embarrassment in his partner's eyes and glared at Chet for being so immature. Cap looked on and watched his paramedics leave the day room. He shook his head thinking that he was leading a bunch of school kids rather than fire fighters.
It wasn't till late in the afternoon that Johnny found himself alone with Chet. Roy was filling out the log book and Marco and Mike were hanging hose. Johnny got up and was going to help Mike and Marco when Chet grabbed his arm. Johnny stopped and looked at Chet's hand that had hold of his arm.
"Everyone might believe Joanne but I know better. You keep your hands off my girlfriend!" Chet was serious and Johnny sighed in resignation; a woman was coming between their friendship.
"Chet, I could say the same thing about you only it would be...Keep your hands off me!" Johnny told his friend looking at Chet's hand that was holding his arm. "Does that mean you're groping me?...Because that's all I was doing with Alana is holding her arms Chet." Chet let go of Johnny and sighed. He looked at Johnny and suddenly realised how unreasonable he had been acting towards his friend. Johnny left and headed towards the hose tower to help Marco and Mike. He was hurt to think Chet thought so little of him. To help him cope with the rest of the first day of their shift he thought about Ellen and found himself smiling both inside and out. Mike looked over at Johnny and watched the smile creep across his friend's face. He knew he was thinking about Ellen and that Johnny Gage was smitten. He couldn't wait to tell his wife.
Roy woke during the night and turned over facing his partner's bunk. He was surprised to see it empty. He looked down at the floor and saw that Johnny's boots and turnout pants were gone. He waited for a while and decided to get up and look for his wayward partner. He found Johnny sitting in the day room drinking some hot chocolate.
"Any left in the pot?" Roy asked.
"Probably, half a cup." Johnny told his partner.
"Can't sleep?"
"No. Too much on my mind." Johnny simply stated. He was having trouble sleeping because he couldn't get Ellen off his mind. Roy sat down and Chet walked in. Johnny frowned; he didn't want to start arguing with Chet.
"Is there any hot chocolate left?" Chet asked.
"No! I took the last of it." Roy told him.
"Man...I wish Alana was here...she makes the best hot chocolate." He said as he licked his lips.
"Call her and get the recipe." Johnny suggested.
"She also likes to sleep John!" Chet replied.
Johnny shook his shoulders and looked at Roy who was grinning. Johnny smiled at his partner.
"You know Chet...I don't think she'd mind if she thought she was helping you sleep." Roy challenged his friend. He winked at his partner.
"Roy! Do you think Joanne would appreciate you calling her at 1am in the morning?"
"If it was to help me sleep...no I don't think she'd mind...besides she reads till this time sometimes."
Chet contemplated Roy's statement. "Chet if you think your relationship wouldn't cope with a late phone call..." Before Johnny could finish his statement Chet was at the phone calling Alana. An annoyed male voice answered the phone.
"Aahh sorry...must have the wrong number." There was a click at the other end before Chet could say anything more. He looked at Johnny and Roy and shrugged his shoulders. He dialled the number again, this time being more careful. The call was answered before the first ring was completed.
'Hello!' Alana sounded flustered to Chet.
"It's Chet...Did I wake you?" A silly grin broke out on his face from hearing her voice. "I need the recipe for your hot chocolate." He told her.
'Chet! It's one o'clock in the morning!'
"Please..." Johnny and Roy shook their heads and got up to leave. "You're not the only one I woke up. When I tried calling you the first time this man answered and was he mad...he hung up on me." Johnny and Roy left the day room not wanting to listen to Chet any longer. Johnny thought about what Chet just said and wondered. He desperately hoped he was wrong but somehow, after what she said to him at the barbeque he suspected he wasn't.