Whoa, two chapters in one day?! Who won the lottery?

Jamie POV

I picked the girls up and dropped them off at my dad's. They would spend the night there, and then either I or Emily would grab Jewls tomorrow. I drove to the fire station to get a few hours of sleep with Emily before I went to pick up Sam. Angela pointed to the bunk room, and I walked right in.

I walked back to Emily's corner. I leaned down and rubbed her arm, "Hey," I whispered.

She opened her eyes and gave me a small smile, "Hey. When did you get here?"

"Just now."

She sat up, "Have you eaten yet? I could see if there's some leftover food?"

I took off my shoes, "Honestly all I want to do right now is climb into bed with you and sleep. I'm exhausted."

"Oh thank god. I was willing to do it if you were hungry, but I just want to sleep, and curl into you."

I smiled, "Well then move over."

She chuckled and did as I asked. I rolled to the back of the cot and laid down. She laid down, and I pulled her close to me, "How come you always sleep with your back to the wall here?"

"It's a habit left over from when I was little. I'd face the door so I could hear when my dad, or Sam and Katie, were coming. Now it's just so I'm out of the door one second faster if someone needs me." She paused and I could tell there was more, "There was a time when sleeping in a fire house was not safe for women. Go in any fire house, and the women's beds will most likely be in the corner." She yawned, "I'm sure there were even a few women who were raped as a power struggle. Not me, not then." I reminded him of my past, "By that time I was tough enough that no one messed with me in that way."

I nodded, "Then hat did they do?"

She chuckled, "I've had frigid water thrown on my face a few times when it was 30 below. I've come back from a run and my bed was on a different level. One time I rolled over into a pile of warm piss. Nate and I were probies in the same house. They were picking on him because he's always stick up for me. We shut them in the captain's office. But before that we had filled it with rats. One guy had his shoe eaten off before they could get out."

Once we finished laughing she continued, "I was working a different shift one day when they tried to tackle me when I slept. I put a guy in the hospital because of that. No one dared to mess with me after that."

"Is that why the beds in the middle are all guys?"

She nodded, "Usually those beds are reserved for probies in bigger fire houses. In smaller houses there's enough for to have all the beds against the wall with the end in the middle, but not here. There's a rule in this fire house that women are not allowed the middle beds; so far no one has tried to fight me on it."

"How can you have that a rule? Wouldn't someone fight you on it?"

I could feel her laughter, "Angie did when she first started. I was a Lieutenant then. I told her to go ahead and take it. Two weeks later she wanted the bed against the wall."

I laughed, "What did they do to her?"

"Not much. Every time they tried to do something, she'd do something back. For her it was more of the fact that you hear every single person walking by and it's hard to get sleep."

"So it's like when a cop sits in the back booth of a restaurant, facing the entrance?"

She nodded.

"Mhm. Ok." I put my arm around her stomach and went to sleep.

It wasn't much longer later when I heard the alarms going off to single a truck.
Alarm *Blare* Fire *Blare* Truck *Blare* and then it repeated. Emily was out of the bed before the first word of the alarm was finished.

She turned to look at me, "Go back to sleep," she put her pants on. Why she slept with her pants off was a mystery to me, "No one will bother you while you're in my bed."

I had gotten used to the meanings of the different alarms here. "Be careful. Remember there are people here who need you. Let your team do their job, you don't always need to go inside the fire."

That stopped her. She looked at me and kissed my forehead, "I'll be careful. I promise." She kissed me on the lips, and ran out the door.

I noticed she didn't promise to stay out of the building.

Emily POV

The truck pulled up to the fire. I looked around and saw we weren't the first truck there. I walked over to the other chief, "Got any building plans for me?" He nodded and handed them over.

"Fire seems to be centered on the south side of the building. Security said there's a hidden staircase in the back."

I nodded my thanks. WE both knew his team would fight the fire from the outside while we would locate the people, "How many inside?"

"Three; locations unknown."

"Shit. Thanks." I walked back over to my team and relayed the information.

Nate spoke up, "Where would you like us?"

"Probie stay with Rivera. Nate and Jack check the third floor. Johnson and Smith the fourth. Then start over until the eighth floor. Rivera check the second. The first should be good, but Johnson and Smith can check that on their way out. Try to keep the fire from spreading if at all possible."

"Got it boss. We'll let you know if we need you in there."

I winced. I had purposefully not promised Jamie that I'd stay away from the building, but it didn't mean I had to like it. "Try to handle it on your own. I'll only come in if you all can't fit into one of the rooms." Sometimes a beam collapsed across a doorway, and people were too big to get through the gap. I was skinny enough that I could get through, even though my muscles were still bigger than Jack's.

They nodded. We heard a window blow out from the pressure and covered our heads. Nate looked at me, "You okay boss? You normally love going inside."

"Yeah, I just have a feeling that we need to be careful on this one."

He nodded, "By the book; got it." They all put their helmets on and ran inside.

Every five minutes or so I could hear one of them clear a floor on the radio; eventually all but the eighth floor was cleared. Roman came over the radio, "Boss, we've got a problem here. The roof caved in on the hallway, right outside where two of the people are. There's a hole to get through though."

I sighed, "Let me guess, all of you won't fit Probie?"

"Yeah. We're really sorry boss."

Was he actually apologizing for his size? God damn he really must be trying to stay no the team. "I'm coming up. Nate get out here and take over." In situations like this you always needed someone in charge out side of the fire. I preferred to go into a fire with Nate, but one of us had to be in charge. And Angie would be there; she was just as good as Nate. Everything would be fine, right?