(A/N: I do not own Paw Patrol, enjoy!)
*** WARNING: Contains spoilers for Paw Patrol Ultimate Rescue: Pups and the Plane Crash! I highly recommend you read that entire story before reading this one! ***
Let's Get Together
Marshall lay exhausted across the back seat of Engine 25. Shadow, the black and dark grey American coonhound, was flopped over next to him, passed out on his side. Misty, the female Border collie, was sprawled on her back between them, her head lolled over towards Marshall with her tongue hanging out, just as unconscious as Shadow. Marshall smiled, if anyone took a picture of them in that moment and titled it "best fire pups in the city," no one would believe it. By any metric, Marshall should have been just as unconscious as his fire pup partners. A call had come in right after the night shift came on duty of a fire at the airport. While technically correct, it was not wholly accurate. The fire at the airport was at the fuel farm where all the jet fuel for the airplanes was stored. The fire trucks at the airport had responded first but needed to be relieved quickly. The airport was still open and those fire trucks and their specialized equipment were needed in case of a plane crash. Engine 25, along with eleven other fire engines, had been tasked with putting out the fuel fire. It had taken nine hours in total to extinguish the blaze. I was the single longest incident Marshall had been on from start to finish and quite amply explained why Marshall and his teammates were physically spent. Misty and Shadow needed to catch a quick nap before going home but Marshall just needed to make it to the fire station where he could take a much-needed shower before crashing into his bunk for a few hours.
As Camille parked the fire engine in the station, Marshall nudged Misty and Shadow awake; he was not going to put everything away himself! The tired pups groaned, stretched and got to work. Fortunately, the morning shift was there to help them put all the gear away.
"You look terrible Misty" Sadie, the female Australian Shepard, informed the fire smudged Border collie, "you should go home and get some rest."
"No kidding" Misty replied with a tired smile.
"We heard you were out there all shift" Axel, the male Dalmatian, chimed in as he helped Shadow unload the spent SCBA bottles from the engine and into the refill rack.
"Yeah, it was pretty gnarly" Shadow replied, locking the last bottle in place.
"Toasty is more like it" Marshall commented as he locked a fresh bottle into the last SCBA pack before slinging it over his shoulder and placing it back on the fire engine.
"Up all night and still making terrible jokes" Misty shook her head at Marshall.
"Hey Marshall, don't look now but you got some new spots under your eyes" Sadie teased as she finished putting away the last of the gear and the pups headed into the fire station.
"Well, better spots than ash smudges" Axel chimed in his support of Marshall's new look.
"Just in time for picture day too!" Rain, the female lab from the afternoon/evening shift chimed in as the pups walked into the lounge.
Marshall groaned, "That is today, isn't it? How much time do we have to get cleaned up?"
"About 20 minutes" Splash, the female American Water Spaniel also from the afternoon/evening shift, responded. "More than enough time to roll in some more ash to complete that burnt marshmallow look you have going for you."
"Ha-ha" Marshall replied with a smile as he headed towards the shower behind Shadow and Misty.
Marshall and Shadow let Misty use the shower first. While she was not a girly pup like Rain and Splash, she still wanted to look slightly better than "freshly showered" for picture day. When she was done, Shadow hopped in, got clean and hopped out so Marshall could do the same. As Marshall dried off, he regretted not catching a nap on the fire truck on the way back like Misty and Shadow had. Marshall also felt little nudges at his mind but he brushed them off as his tired mind playing tricks on him. Marshall grabbed a quick snack from his stash before heading out to rejoin everyone.
Marshall trotted out to join the rest of the crews with five minutes to spare. It was rare for all three shifts to be at the station at the same time. The last time it had happened was when Skipper had introduced Marshall to the team. Today was similar in that Skipper's newest trainee fire captain would be introduced and they would be taking pictures of the whole team for posterity. Marshall hoped it would be over quickly. He also hoped the new trainee would not be a nincompoop like the last one. Marshall hadn't had to deal with the last one but had heard enough stories to know that he was useless. Marshall found a spot to lie down next the Ashley, the senior Paramedic trainer for the station, who gave him a smile as she reached down to scratch Marshall behind the ears. "CAB"
"Compressions, Airway, Breathing, order of interventions for cardiac arrest" Marshall replied with a sleepy smile. Ashley's preferred way of checking to see if Marshall was too tired to provide proper assistance on a rescue was to quiz him on various acronyms. It was surprisingly effective. The only time Marshall hadn't passed was when he came to her because he thought he was too tired to be effective.
"DCAP-BTLS" Ashley inquired.
"Deformities, Contusions, Abrasions, Punctures/Penetrations, Burns, Tenderness, Lacerations, and Swelling; used for rapid trauma assessment" Marshall replied as he lifted his head up into her hand for a deeper scratch.
"And how is my favorite trainee this morning?" Ashley asked with a smile of her own.
"Tired, but not bad" Marshall replied with a shake of his head before laying down so Ashley could pet him from head to tail.
"That's good" Ashley replied as she continued to pet Marshall. "I hear the new trainee fire captain is a pup, first one, just like you."
"Interesting, let me guess, public affairs wants to do some fluff piece about us?" Marshall replied sarcastically.
"Good bet that they do" Ashley replied with a knowing wink, "Also, rumor is that she is a super cute Dalmatian."
Marshall turned one eye questioningly towards her, "And I care about that fact why?"
"Because when you put a cute Dalmatian like her and handsome and famous Dalmatian like you together in the same fluff piece, you get some interesting rumors" Ashley replied with a chuckle.
Marshall groaned and buried his head in his paws.
"Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be too bad" Ashley reassured Marshall while patting his side.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" Marshall replied with a sarcastic smile.
"ATTENTION!" Capt. Matt called and all three crews snapped to sit or stand at attention as Skipper walked in.
"At Ease folks, let's get this over with so you can go back to enjoying your Sunday" Skipper said with a smile. "Before I get around to introducing our new trainee fire captain, we have a few admin items to attend to. First, the station is going to be expanding to include a reserve rescue squad truck. It will not be manned 24/7 but the gear will be available to us as needed. If we need it, the shift lead will drive it to the scene. This means all of you need to brush up on all the gear that comes with a rescue squad truck as you will have to be proficient with it. That being said, we will not be getting a quint added to the station anytime soon so expect to have quint 23 or 26 assigned as our support as needed. Second, Ashley, in recognition for all of your hard work and superior training skills, you are being promoted to EMS Captain!"
Everyone let out a rousing cheer and those nearest to Ashley gave her a high 5 or a hug.
"With your promotion comes additional responsibilities. Senior EMS Instructor Captain Dan will be by later to fill you in on the specifics but the gist of what he told me was that they are grooming you for something special. Third, while we will not be getting the quint that command keeps talking about, someone on the personnel side is already lining a few things up just in case we do. Matt, your sins have caught up with you," Skipper paused for effect, "it is my honor to promote you to Instructor Fire Captain. You first task is to figure out what it is going to take for Ken and Joe to pass the Fire Captain Exam that they insist on continually failing!"
"Got a fire somewhere you need put out instead; something easy like a 5-alarm?" Matt replied with a groan. Everyone else laughed and cheered.
"Don't worry Matt," Skipper replied with a smirk, "I'm sure that Ken and Joe will pass and get promoted just in time for command to have found a quint for us."
"Right, so in a couple years" Matt joked.
Skipper waited for the laughter to die down before continuing, "Finally, before we all go outside to bake in the sun for pictures, I'd like to introduce our newest trainee Fire Captain. She has done under-instruct time at both TF 2 and TF 3 as well as a number of engines and quints throughout the city. She actually entered the Fire Captain training pipeline when her captain got knocked unconscious during an incident and she stepped in to lead her quint crew. She is also the first fire pup to come through the fire captain program." Skipper paused to wave to the waiting pup forward.
"Please give a warm Light Force 25 welcome to…" The Dalmatian stepped forward and Marshall saw her face.
"CINDER!" Marshall yelled, his exhaustion totally forgotten, as he leapt from where he was sitting towards the surprised pup. Her eyes focused on the black and white ball of fur cannonballing towards her before they widened in surprise.
"MARSHALL!" She cried as she leaped towards him. The two flying Dalmatians collided into a hug mid-air hug, spinning around before landing on the floor, paws still wrapped around each other, tails wagging faster than anyone else had ever seen.
"I feel like I missed something important somewhere" Skipper said with a smile as he looked at the two hugging Dalmatians, evoking laughter from all three crews.
"Sorry for stealing your thunder Skipper" Marshall said as he broke the hug and looked at him. "Cinder and I have known each other since…"
"…we were born. We haven't seen each other in many moons. Marshall and I are twins!" Cinder finished.
"Identical twins?" Skipper asked, "With the same clumsiness gene?"
Marshall and Cinder nodded happily.
Skipper sighed, "Matt, you may as well order duplicates of everything that is breakable on the trucks or in the station now so we have it when we need it."
"It won't be that bad Skipper" Marshall consoled him, "I haven't broken too many things yet so doubling the rate of breakage won't bankrupt us!"
"How very reassuring" Skipper replied dryly, "Ok team, let's get these pictures done for public affairs so we can go home!"
Everyone laughed as they headed outside to stage the fire engine and ambulance for the pictures.
Allison and Mike, the drivers for Engine 25 and Medic 25 respectively for the morning shift, had repositioned the trucks in front of the station so that they were tail to tail in a upside down V. A ladder had been setup at the end of the driveway so the photographer could get a good view. "Guy pups on the truck!" Axel called as he hopped up on top of Engine 25. Marshall and Shadow followed him up and the trio struck a cool dudes pose, leaning on the water cannon.
Sadie, Rain, Splash, Misty and Cinder laughed as they lined up at the front of Engine 25, paws around each other. Allison, Juan, Pedro, Kelly, Camille and Paul lined up next to the girl pups down the side of the Engine. Mike, Kevin, Dave, Ashley, Sam and Alan all lined up along the side of Medic 25. Kevin, Joe and Matt lined up on either side of Skipper at the top of the V where the two trucks met.
"Ok, great!" the photographer called as he snapped a set of photos. "For the next one, Marshall and Cinder come over here in the center with Skipper; Shift leads can I get you leaning out of the cab of Engine 25 and Ashley leaning out of the cab of Medic 25?"
The indicated people and pups moved to their new positions and the photographer snapped a few more photos. "Ok, last set where I need all of you; Marshall and Cinder I can I get you front and center with Skipper and Ashley behind the two of you, then shift leads, can I get you behind them?"
The people and pups shifted again but the photographer wasn't quite satisfied. "Hmm, ok, let's do this; Skipper and Ashley, lean your backs against each other with your arms crossed. Shift leads, can I get the two LTs on Skipper's side and Capt. Matt on Ashley's side with your best "cool dude" poses. And Marshall and Cinder, cross your inner paws with the other's and hold your outer paw out and up." The photographer got down at Marshall and Cinder's level, maybe a little lower, and snapped a few shots with a slight upward angle. "Ok, one last change, Marshall and Cinder, can you put your inner paws around each other's shoulders and keep the other one out?"
"Sure" Marshall and Cinder replied as they adjusted.
"Perfect, hold that pose!" the photographer said, snapping the last few pictures. "Ok guys and gals, time for the funny picture!"
Shadow knocked Axel over with his shoulder and then pushed him so he was dangling off of the top of Engine 25. Axel adopted a mock fearful face while Shadow put on his best criminal mastermind grin. Sadie, Rain, Splash and Misty all adopted their favorite hot girl pup poses. Allison, Juan, Pedro, Kelly, Camille and Paul all made funny faces at the camera. Mike, Kevin, Dave, Sam and Alan all gave each other bunny ears. Ken and Joe grabbed Matt around the shoulders and forced him down while giving him a noogie. Skipper and Ashley both buried their faces in their hands in the most comical way possible. Cinder pushed Marshall over onto his back, with his side towards the camera, and the twins play pawed at each other.
"Excellent, great job everyone!" the photographer said, "I just need Skipper, Cinder, Ashley and Marshall for a few more shots." The indicated people and pups groaned as the rest of the team dispersed to go home or head inside for their shift. The photographer spent the next 20 minutes taking pictures of each of the four individually, Cinder with Skipper, Marshall with Ashley and Cinder and Marshall together in various positions on and around Engine 25 and Medic 25. Finally it was over and the dynamic duos headed inside.
Marshall and Cinder headed off into a corner of the lounge with some beanbag chairs to sit on while they caught up with each other. "I'm so happy to see you Cinder!" Marshall exclaimed as he flopped down onto one of the bean bags.
"Me too Marshall!" Cinder replied excitedly in her perpetually soft-spoken voice as she flopped down on the bean bag next to him.
"The last time we saw each other was last Thanksgiving when we both came home to mom & dad's, wasn't it?" Marshall thought back.
"It was, we had so much fun together!" Cinder softly confirmed.
"I had totally forgotten that you were a fire pup here" Marshall admitted sheepishly, "otherwise I would have reached out sooner."
"It's ok Marsh" Cinder softly replied, pressing her head up into Marshall's chin, "You've been super busy and so have I, it isn't like we would have been able to spend much time together."
"Fair" Marshall conceded, "How long will you with us here?"
"Until Skipper determines I'm ready" Cinder replied softly, "It usually takes a couple months but I have gotten more time with other Task Forces than most candidates so Skipper is going to give me a month to prove I can handle it."
"That is exciting," Marshall replied excitedly, "I finish my practicals and get my certification in a month too!"
"They will probably graduate us on the same day" Cinder softly mused; "makes for a better story that way" she added with a giggle.
"Public affairs is just a professional name for newshounds" Marshall almost spat.
"Oh, they aren't all bad Marsh" Cinder softly giggled; no one in their family liked the newsies but Marshall's distaste for the paparazzi was legendary in the family. "Muckrakers aside," Cinder softly changed the subject, "how are you and that pretty lavender husky you always talk about doing?"
Marshall blushed, he should have guessed that Everest was the first thing about his life that his twin would want to hear about. "Well…"
Marshall and Cinder talked for hours about everything from Marshall's love life and his Paw Patrol team mates and life in Adventure Bay to Cinder's own romantic pursuers and everything she had been up to. Oddly enough, there were no emergency calls into the afternoon. It was during one of Cinder's stories that Marshall's adrenaline finally gave out and he passed out on the bean bag chair. Cinder immediately caught Marshall's soft breathing and smiled lovingly at her exhausted brother. Cinder hopped off of the bean bag chair she was on over onto Marshall's. Cinder laid down with her back pressed against Marshall and her head next to his. Cinder felt the warmth of his mental glow as she closed her eyes to join Marshall in catching an afternoon nap. I've missed this Cinder thought softly to herself as she drifted off.
Rain and Splash, having just come on duty, were walking over to see what the two Dalmatians were up to when they spied them fast asleep.
"Aww, don't they look cute together" Rain softly whispered as the two pups came to stop, far enough away where their whispers wouldn't be heard.
"If I didn't know they were twins, I would call it love at first sight" Splash quietly whispered back.
"Yeah, that spotted heartbreak is still technically single" Rain replied wistfully.
"I thought you dropped that weeks ago" Splashed teased as the two pups turned and snuck away.
"I did" Rain replied with a blush, "But such an energetic pup like Marshall could love a pup on all three shifts and still have plenty left over for that pretty husky he is dreaming about back in Adventure bay."
Splash snorted, it was a closely guarded secret between the four girl pups at station 25 that all of them had gone through little crushes on the famous paw patrol fire and medic pup since he had joined them. But none of them had gone anywhere because Marshall quite clearly saw all of them as just teammates. Rain's crush had been the last to go away but her flirty nature seemed to have kept an ember of it alive. "You know he wouldn't go for that even if you, Sadie and Misty had tied him up and snuggled and snogged him for 24 hours straight."
"No he wouldn't have, but I pup can dream can't she?" Rain replied.
"Am I going to have to hose you down today?" Splash teased her minx pup teammate.
"No" Rain replied with a hint of longing for impossibilities in her voice. "Let's go see what Pedro and Kelly are up to!" she cheerfully changed the subject as the two fire pups padded off.