Chet was deep in his thoughts as he changed into uniform for his next shift, anxiously on the lookout for Sam.
It was just a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't a big deal.
Well, it wouldn't have been, if Sam hadn't looked so startled at the move.
He let out a short huff as he slammed his locker door. What the hell had he expected, anyway? Sam had made it clear she just wanted to be friends. Chet could hardly expect her to change her mind based on an afternoon at the movies and a peck on the cheek.
A heavy smack on his shoulder snapped Chet out of his thoughts. "Come on, babycakes." Adam told him. "Roll call."
Chet followed Adam into the day room, spotting Sam and Johnny by the stove. Sam said something that made Johnny grin widely and pat her on the shoulder before he nodded to Adam.
Once the two paramedics had their briefing with the B shift team, they all lined up for the daily briefing with Cap. Chet was suddenly very aware of Sam slipping beside him, and he greeted her with a quick nod and a smile.
It was going to be a long next couple of months if he couldn't get it together around her.
He barely heard the rest of Cap's briefing, only tuning back in when he heard his name. "Huh?"
The rest of the crew snickered as Cap sighed patiently. "I said that you and Marco are going to run some skills training with Sam this morning."
"Right." Chet nodded.
"Actually, I could use a little more study time." Marco ventured. "The engineers' exam is only a few days away."
Cap seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding. "I suppose so. Chet, are you okay working with Sam on your own?"
Adam snorted, and Chet could feel his face heat up as he smacked Adam hard on the arm. "Sure thing, Cap." Chet told him.
"We'd better get going, Adam." Johnny broke in. "Got all these fire inspection stops to make."
"Fine, but I'm driving." Adam replied. "You look like hell."
Johnny tossed the keys to Adam, shaking his head. "Both Katie and Diane were sick all weekend. Some kind of stomach bug."
They continued their chat all the way out into the bay, and soon the squad started up and pulled out. Chet took a deep breath and turned to Sam. "Ready when you are."
Sam smiled a little. "Let's go."
Chet tried to think of a drill that they could easily set aside should they get a call. "Sam, how are your rope skills?"
Sam scrunched up her face. "They need work."
"Great." Chet found a length of rope and unfurled it before handing it to Sam. "You'll tie the knots, I'll direct you. Only thing is, I can't help you. I'm going to have my hands behind my back, and you'll tie the knots following my verbal instructions. Ready?"
"Ready."
Chet started with a couple of basic knots, talking Sam through the process. It was clear to Chet that she had a handle on those, tying them easily. "Good, good. Okay, we're going to try some more advanced knots."
They moved on into more complicated knots, and it was as challenging for Chet as it appeared to be for Sam. Sam's brows knitted in concentration as she focused on getting the knot right, so much so that she didn't seem to hear Chet at all.
"Sam?" Chet broke in.
Sam lifted her head. "Am I doing something wrong?"
Chet stepped toward her. "Not exactly. It's just that it seems like you're tuning me out. Tying the knots isn't the whole point of the drill. It's an exercise in following verbal directions, too."
The realization seemed to dawn on Sam. "Right, of course."
"Let's try it again." Chet ventured. "This time, just follow my instructions, okay?"
"Okay." Sam nodded, deftly undoing the rope.
Chet once again started talking Sam through the process of tying the knot, and Sam glanced up every so often, pausing as she awaited her next instruction. There were a few moments where the frustration was obvious, and she huffed irritably. "I don't get what you're saying." She finally told him.
Chet had to suppress the smile he felt trying to break through. "Okay, let me try that again."
He started over, and Sam worked through the steps, looking increasingly puzzled. "You know, I don't mean to argue with you, but I don't think that's right."
Chet knew the jig was up. "You caught me."
Sam's eyebrows shot straight up. "Excuse me?"
Uh-oh. Chet knew he'd have to tread carefully. "Sometimes you have to know when to speak up. You know, when someone's steering you wrong."
Sam's face set in a hard mask, and she tightened her grip on the rope. "You're an asshole. You think it's funny to make a fool of me?!"
"No, Sam." Chet started to panic a little. "That wasn't what I was trying to do, not at all."
Sam threw the rope at Chet's feet, turned on her heel, and left the bay. Chet picked it up and played with it, cursing himself for doing something so foolish.
Of course Sam was furious. She'd probably dealt with similar behavior, or worse, from others in the department.
It didn't matter what Chet's intentions had been. He'd hurt Sam all the same.
"Chet?" Cap's voice broke into Chet's thoughts. "What did you do?"
"I…we were doing a knot tying drill, you know the one where you have to tell the other person how to tie the knot?"
Cap folded his arms over his chest. "Go on."
Chet felt all of two feet tall under Cap's steady gaze. "I…might have misdirected her a little bit."
"Chet, you know that's not the purpose of the drill."
"I know, I know." Chet was growing more embarrassed by the second.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Cap demanded.
"I don't know!" Chet blurted out in exasperation. "I'll go talk to her."
"I think you've done enough of that for the time being." Cap replied. "Let her cool off a little."
"Right." Chet sighed heavily. He felt like a damn fool.
He coiled the rope back up and put it in one of the compartments on the engine before returning to the day room. Mike was talking to Sam near the sink, and the engineer's expression told Chet everything he needed to know.
He'd screwed up badly, and it was going to take some time to make it right. For now, all he could do was take Cap's advice and let her calm down. Maybe then he'd be able to explain himself a little better.
Sam felt slightly better after talking to Mike. She was surprised at how quickly he had expressed concern when she had come storming into the day room after what Chet had done.
She didn't know why she was so hurt and disappointed. No, that wasn't true. She knew why. For all his talk, Chet had turned out to be just like all the other guys she had worked with, the same ones that couldn't wait to trip her up, to prove that she didn't belong.
Damn him, anyway. And here she had thought they were really starting to get along.
"Chet can be a real jerk sometimes." Mike had told her. "He doesn't mean it, mostly. He just doesn't think. But that doesn't mean you have to put up with it."
It was a nice thought, but Sam knew better. She knew coming into this that she would have to fight for respect the whole way.
Chet had come back to the day room, looking thoroughly chastened, but Sam wasn't in a terribly forgiving mood. Cap must have really given him an earful. Good.
She heard Johnny and Adam before she saw them come into the day room. It amazed her how much they always had something to say.
"I swear those two never shut up." Mike commented with a slight smile. "Sure is peaceful when they're not around."
Sam couldn't help laughing a little at that, and Mike gave her a knowing wink. To Adam and Johnny he asked, "You guys find any violations?"
Johnny let out a long sigh as he made his way over to the coffeemaker and poured himself a cup. "Had to write up our hot dog place. Amazing they haven't burnt that place down."
"Yeah, I think we can kiss our firefighters' discount goodbye." Adam chimed in as he sat down at the table. "Too bad."
"Well, maybe they'll have fixed it on our next round." Johnny replied. "I'd hate to have to find a new place."
Adam glanced over to the couch where Chet had settled in with a newspaper. "You and Sam get any drills done while we were gone?"
The entire room fell silent, and Mike merely shook his head. Adam looked baffled. "What happened?"
Sam took a deep breath and turned around, finding a mug and filling it with what was left of the coffee before deciding to start a fresh pot.
"Yeah, Chet, what happened?" Johnny asked.
"It…it just didn't go as planned." Chet answered.
Sam pushed the button on the coffeemaker and turned around, her temper starting to get the better of her. "The hell it didn't, Chet. You knew exactly what you were doing."
All eyes were on her once again, but Sam didn't care. She'd had enough of being jerked around just because she dared to be a woman in a man's job.
Adam was the first to break the silence. "Jesus Christ, Chet. What did you do?"
Chet tossed aside the newspaper with a huff. "We were doing the rope drill and I…changed it up a little."
"You made me look like a damn fool." Sam snapped.
"I didn't mean it!"
"It doesn't matter!" Sam could feel the growing lump in her throat. She wasn't going to cry in front of all these guys. No way.
She forced herself to calm down, aware of everyone's eyes on her. "It doesn't matter." Sam managed to speak more quietly.
Chet's expression was unreadable as he rose from the couch and left the day room. It wasn't long before Adam rose from the table and followed. Sam guessed that Chet was about to get another earful and possibly more from Adam.
She didn't have it in her to feel too bad for Chet. He'd brought it on himself.
Johnny finished his coffee and rose to cross over to the coffeemaker, standing in front of it as it brewed. "You know, Roy pulled that trick on me once."
Sam turned to look at him. "Really?"
"Yup." Johnny poured some coffee into his mug with a slight smile. "I was pretty pissed off at him. Didn't really speak to him the rest of the shift unless I had to."
He turned around and leaned on the counter. "Even if Chet didn't mean anything by it, it's still a dirty trick, and you don't have to put up with it."
"That's what Mike said, too."
"Mike's a pretty smart guy."
"Thanks, Johnny." Mike commented from behind his own section of the newspaper.
Sam couldn't help laughing a little at that. Even if Chet was being a jerk, the rest of the guys seemed to be in her corner. That made her feel a little better.
Chet heard Adam's footsteps before he glanced in the mirror and saw him with his arms folded across his chest, that familiar scowl on his face.
"Don't start." Chet told him. "Cap already chewed my ass."
"Good." Adam answered sharply. "Jesus Christ, what the hell were you thinking? You know you can't just treat her like that. I thought you liked her."
Chet could feel his face burning. "I do."
Adam relaxed a little, unfolding his arms and shoving his hands in his pockets. "Looked like you two were having a nice time at the movie. Almost looked like a date."
"It wasn't." Chet answered resignedly. "And at this rate, there's never going to be one."
Adam rolled his eyes. "Quit being such a little bitch. God."
Chet was incredulous. "Excuse me?"
"I call it like I see it, babycakes." Adam replied. "Now, quit being a little bitch and apologize to that girl."
"I'm not going to do that right now." Chet argued. "She's liable to pop me in the mouth."
"I'd love to see that." Adam responded with a short laugh.
"I'll bet you would." Chet muttered.
Adam sighed heavily. "Look, you fucked up. No two ways about it. You're going to have to give her some time to calm down. I'm sure it'll all blow over eventually."
"Great." Chet didn't feel much better.
The tones went off, dispatching them to their call, and they all climbed into their respective vehicles. Marco deliberately let Sam in first, sitting between her and Chet. Probably a wise move, all things considered.
The fire didn't look like much at first, a few flames visible in a first-floor window. Everyone took up their positions as Mike set up the pumps and charged the lines, Cap shouting directions while Adam and Johnny readied themselves for whatever rescue duties they might need to engage in.
They made quick work of the fire, and the residents were well out of danger, so the crew was able to quickly clean up and return to the station. Chet wanted badly to get an opportunity to get Sam alone, just for a moment so he could apologize.
He really did feel terrible. Making a fool out of Sam had been the last thing he intended. He should have known better.
Once they were back at the station, Sam and Adam started pulling sandwich items out of the fridge for lunch, with Sam cutting up tomatoes and onions.
Chet figured now was as good a time as any. "Hey, Sam."
Sam merely met him with a steady look as Adam shook his head. "Are you sure you want to talk to her while she's armed?"
"Shut up, Adam." Chet huffed in exasperation, sitting down near Sam. "Sam, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, and I damn sure wasn't trying to make a fool of you. I should have known better."
Sam didn't say anything at first, just kept slicing the tomato. Finally, she looked up at him and nodded. "You're right. And I appreciate your apology."
Chet breathed a sigh of relief. "So, am I forgiven?"
Sam raised her eyebrows. "I didn't say that."
Chet's sense of relief turned out to be short-lived, but he nodded anyway. "Well, hey. Maybe we can try that drill again some other time."
Adam gave him a funny look, shaking his head. "Maybe you should quit while you're ahead."
Sam let out a brief laugh at that. Just then Johnny came breezing in, snagging a slice of tomato from the cutting board.
"Hey, you almost lost a finger." Sam scolded him.
Johnny merely grinned a little. "I like to live dangerously. This idiot apologize to you yet?"
"He did." Sam responded mildly.
"Good." Johnny responded cheerfully. "All's well that ends well, I guess."
Well, not quite, not in Chet's estimation. But with any luck, he'd be able to get back on Sam's good side. He just wasn't sure how he was going to go about it.