Chapter 2

Kelly stomped out of the office with his "shadow" right behind him.

"I'm really looking forward to this…Lieutenant. I'm prob'ly gonna have a ton of questions for you." Craddock prattled on. "So what are we gonna do first?"

Kelly stopped and Craddock barely avoided crashing into him.

"First off…you're gonna take about four steps back. Second…you're gonna watch…and third…you're not gonna get in the way. This job's tough enough without havin' to watch your ass too. Are we clear?"

"We're good…" Craddock replied tersely.

"Okay…" Kelly said. "Now…the first thing you need to know…is there's "Truck" and there's "Squad". Never confuse the two."

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"Engine 51…Truck 81…Ambulance 61…Squad 3…"

They pulled up to a strip mall…where a Laundromat was engulfed in flames…and had already spread to the dry cleaners next door.

Severide jumped off the rig and studied the scene.

Craddock climbed down.

"What do I do?" he asked.

"Stay the hell out of the way!" Severide spat at him. "Stay by the truck…outside the collapse zone!"

"What's a collapse zone?" Craddock asked.

Dumb as a box of rocks…

Kelly didn't have time to explain.

"Just stay out of the way!" he said before he strapped on his mask to go in.

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Morgan stood by Squad 3's truck…watching…waiting…

God, this was boring.

He caught movement out of the corner of his right eye. He turned to see a group of four girls…maybe late teens, early twenties…definitely hot. Maybe this wasn't so bad at all. After all…chicks dig firefighters, right?

One of the girls shyly approached him…casting glances back at her friends…giggling all the while.

"Excuse me…" she said. "But are you Morgan Craddock?"

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The fire was finally out…and Squad was ready to head back to the station.

"Hey, Lieutenant…" Capp said. "Get a load of 'Hollywood' there…"

Kelly looked up…there was Craddock…talkin' ( flirting) with a bunch of girls.

"Oh, Good God…" he groaned, as he rolled his eyes heavenward.

Then he whistled…loudly.

"Hey! Craddock! You got about ten seconds to get your ass in this rig!"

Morgan quickly said good-bye to the girls…and hustled over to where Squad 3 was looking him up and down with disgust.

"If you wanna hold a meeting with your fan club…" Severide told him "do it on your time, not mine!"

The box of rocks actually had the nerve to argue back.

"What's your problem?" he said. "Fans are what make or break you in this business. And did you not see those girls? They were hot!"

"Well, what makes or breaks you in this business is staying focused." Kelly growled at him. "And I know jailbait when I see it…you should be thanking me. You'd get at least five years for each one of those girls."

"Yeah…" Capp said. "Then you can hold your fan club meetings down at 26th and Cal!"

"Just make sure you don't turn your back on 'em!" Hadley put in his two cents.

The men all laughed…except for Craddock. He didn't know what '26th and Cal' was.

Severide just rolled his eyes again.

"Get in the damn rig…"

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They rode back to the house…

They had been at the strip mall for hours…and they'd missed lunch. Several stomachs were growling.

"Man…I'm starving…" Capp said. "What's for dinner, huh, Mills?"

Mills ignored the question.

"Would it be wrong for me to wish Alyssa would show up at the house with dinner?" he asked.

"Who's Alyssa?" Craddock asked.

"My wife." Severide answered. Then he turned to look at Mills. "And no…it's not wrong. Unless you're wishing she'd show up for the same reason I am…then we need to talk."

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The Squad rounded the corner…and there was Alyssa's SUV parked in front of the firehouse. And the tailgate was open.

"Hey, Mills…ask and you shall receive." Hadley said.

"Thank-you…thank-you…thank-you." Mills said to whatever higher powers were listening.

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The men climbed off the rig and shrugged off their gear before they made their way over to where Alyssa and the twins were waiting.

Kelly caught his wife in his arms and gave her a kiss.

Mills was staring at the foil pans in the back of the car.

"Alyssa, how did you know I needed you to cook tonight?" he asked.

Alyssa laughed and smiled up at Kelly…her brown eyes glowing.

And he felt a shiver of anticipation run down his spine.

"It gives me an excuse to see my husband." She said. "And Andy and Jesse an excuse to see their daddy."

"So what's for dinner?" Mills rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Alyssa pointed to the two large pans.

"We have BBQ chicken breasts…and Chicken Lemon/Oreganato…they're all cooked…you just need to throw 'em on the grill to crisp 'em up. Then we have cold pasta primavera…garlic bread…you just have to throw that in the oven or on the grill."

Truck 81 had pulled in and the guys headed over to see what Alyssa had brought.

"Is there dessert?" Cruz asked.

"Who are you talkin' to, Joe?" Alyssa asked in mock surprise. "Is there dessert?"

She pointed to more foil covered trays.

"Because I was thinking about my incredibly handsome husband…" she said with a wicked grin… "Jumbo red velvet cupcakes…"

"Yes!" Kelly said.

Red velvet cupcakes were his new favorite…and Alyssa's were out of this world.

There were appreciative moans of anticipation from the men. They had had Alyssa's cupcakes before…

They started grabbing trays and unloading the car.

"Hey! Keep your paws off my cupcakes!" Kelly called after Cruz and Hermann.

Then he turned to his wife.

"What do you say we go to my quarters so I can thank you properly?"

"And what about Thing 1 and Thing 2?" she asked.

Kelly looked up…Casey was heading back inside.

"Hey, Casey! We got any jobs for a couple of junior candidates? The chrome on the truck's looking pretty grungy."

"I've got an even better idea." Casey said. "How 'bout if we show Craddock here the "down firefighter" drill?"

Andy and Jesse both broke into huge smiles. They loved it when they got to participate in drills with the men. And they'd been doing it long enough so they were just as good as some of the real firefighters.

Craddock looked excited to actually get to do something.

"Sure…" he said.

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Casey went to get the stuff…and he grabbed Hermann, Cruz, and Mills to help him.

They came back into the apparatus room carrying CPR dummies dressed in full gear and Casey had two jump bags.

Cruz and Mills went to set up the "firefighters".

"Okay guys…" Casey said. "This is our "down firefighter" assessment. You crawl in…find your firefighter, disable his PASS alarm, and drag him to the extraction point. Easy, right?"

Craddock nodded.

It sure sounded easy enough.

Then Casey reached into the jump bags and handed out masks.

"Blackout masks…to simulate zero visibility. Okay, Craddock. You're gonna race Andy and Jesse here…"

"Wait a minute. You seriously expect me to go against a couple little kids?" Craddock asked incredulously.

The very thought of competing against children was demeaning.

Hermann scoffed.

"My money's on the kids…"

"Mine too." Otis said as he reached for his wallet. "In fact…I've got a C-note here that says Andy and Jesse make it to the extraction point and you're still crawlin' around on the floor."

"Oh, you're on!" Craddock said confidently. "Anybody else?"

Cruz reached for his wallet.

"Oh, hell yeah! I wanna piece of that action!"

"Count me in…" Hermann said.

One by one…Mills, Mouch, Capp, Hadley, Dawson and Shay all reached into their pockets. And Craddock took a wad of hundreds out of his pocket.

"What are you? Crazy?" Cruz asked. "Walking around with that much cash in your pocket? Eres loco?"

"Okay…" Casey said. "Everybody gear up!"

Hermann and Mills helped Andy and Jesse get their masks on while Otis helped Craddock. Then they led them over to the starting points.

"PASS alarms!" Casey called out. "And go!"

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Andy and Jesse had done this a hundred times and they dropped to their knees and followed the sound to their "firefighter". They disabled the alarm in a hurry and started dragging their man to the open garage door.

"C'mon boys…" Hermann muttered under his breath. "Uncle Chris needs a new pair of shoes!"

Over on the other side, Craddock was disoriented in the black out mask….and he had to stop and regroup…and by that time he was way off course.

Andy and Jesse dragged their man the last few feet.

Casey hit the stop watch.

"Time!"

The two little boys pulled their masks off, very pleased with themselves. They knew they had done well.

Craddock got to his feet and removed his mask in defeat.

He was never gonna live this down.

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Casey looked at the stop watch in utter disbelief.

"Hey…Severide!"

Kelly looked up. Casey held up the time piece.

"Two fifty-six…" he said.

"No way!" Kelly couldn't believe it.

Casey nodded and held up the watch again.

Kelly broke into a huge grin.

"My boys!" he said as Andy and Jesse ran over to him.

He scooped his sons into his arms.

"Pay up, Hollywood!" he said.