Sam finished off her coffee and crossed over to the coffee maker for another refill.

"Babe, wait." Chet's voice caught her just before she reached the coffee maker. "You might want to, uh, start a fresh pot."

Sam set down her mug and turned toward Chet, one hand on her hip. "What did you do this time?"

"Oh, nothing you need to know about." Chet assured her. "Good thing I caught you, huh? That was a close one."

"At least you warned me this time."

Chet's eyes went wide. "I tried to warn you last time. Why do you think I was waving my arms like an idiot?"

Sam could hear Mike chuckle softly from his vantage point behind his newspaper. "Don't blame Sam for being mad about that one, Chet."

Chet huffed irritably. "Well, how was I supposed to know she was going to come in first instead of Adam? Anyway, now I have to think of something else to get back at him. You want to help?"

Sam sighed as she dumped out the basket full of chewing tobacco. "I'd rather stay out of your little prank war, thank you."

Before she knew it, Chet was gone, but not before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. Sam could only shake her head as she replaced the filter and filled it with coffee before moving on to clean out the carafe.

"Starting a fresh pot?" Adam was suddenly beside her.

"You almost had a nice fresh cup of chewing tobacco juice, no thanks to Chet." Sam responded.

Adam rolled his eyes as he took down a cup from the cabinet. Sam felt a few drops of water hit her arm and turned to see Adam holding a cup with a wet shirt and a puddle of water on the counter.

"That little shit." He huffed. "I'm going to get him."

Sam couldn't help laughing just a little at the sight as she went around Adam to start the coffee maker. She had no doubt that Adam would come up with a way to get back at Chet. He always did.

The prank war seemed never ending. Sam couldn't believe how they had managed to keep it going all these years. And she couldn't believe how the rest of the guys seemed to be unperturbed by their nonsense.

For her part, she was sick and tired of being caught in the crossfire. Never mind that they were almost always tame pranks, compared to some she had been the victim of at other stations during her probation period. It still irritated her to no end.

But it appeared neither Chet nor Adam was going to back down any time soon.

The tones went off, dispatching the paramedics to their next call, and Adam set down his cup, racing to catch up to Johnny as the squad started up.

Once the squad was gone, Sam poured herself another cup of coffee and returned to the table, opening the book she had started reading earlier.

She heard the rustling of a newspaper, and she could sense Mike's eyes on her. Sam lifted her head to see a thoughtful expression crossing Mike's face.

"Those two get pretty crazy, don't they?" He commented casually.

"It's so obnoxious." Sam replied with a short sigh. "It's like working with a bunch of teenage boys instead of grown men."

Mike smiled ever so slightly at that. "Ah, it's a proud firehouse tradition. I remember when Johnny first came over here from Ten. Chet pulled all kinds of stunts on him. Johnny would get so mad. Never could get back at Chet."

He folded the section of newspaper and set it on the table, threading his fingers together in front of him. "You could always join them, you know."

"Why would I want to do that?"

Mike shrugged. "Wouldn't you like to give them a taste of their own medicine?"

Sam closed her book and took a drink of her coffee. It still tasted vaguely of tobacco. "Maybe just a little."

Mike's smile grew a little wider at that. "Well, considering they have a ten-year head start on you, we'll have to get you up to speed."

Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing. Mike always seemed to be above the fray. "Mike, I'm surprised at you."

"Those two can get a little out of hand." Mike answered. "Won't hurt them to get knocked down a peg or two. So, you see, when I was a lineman…"

# # #

Sam and Mike were setting up for lunch when Johnny and Adam finally returned from their run, and they were chatting among themselves as Johnny reached up for a glass from the cabinet and started to turn on the faucet.

Thinking quickly, Sam crossed over to the sink before Johnny could turn it on, bumping him ever so slightly. "Whoa there, Sam."

"Sorry." Sam replied, reaching for the sprayer nozzle, slipping the rubber band down enough so that the handle was free. "Forgot to rinse off the tomato."

Johnny looked as if he was going to say something before he seemed to realize what was happening, a barely suppressed smirk spreading over his face. "It's no problem. No problem at all. Let me know, uh, when you're done."

Sam rinsed off the tomato, then nodded at Johnny. Johnny filled his glass and gave Sam a quick wink. While Adam and Chet were trading insults, Sam slipped the rubber band back over the sprayer handle.

Everything seemed to proceed as normal until lunch was over, and Adam and Chet started cleaning up. Adam turned on the faucet, immediately drenching Chet with the sprayer. "Hey!"

Adam looked baffled as he shut off the faucet. "What?"

"You know what." Chet replied. "Oldest trick in the book."

Adam turned on the faucet again, with the same result. Johnny burst out laughing while Roy let out a sigh. "Damn it, Adam. Stop that!" Chet hollered.

"Is something wrong with the sprayer?" Adam seemed genuinely confused, turning off the faucet again.

Now it was Chet's turn to look confused. "You didn't do this?"

"When would I have had time?" Adam asked. "Johnny and I have been gone most of the morning."

Chet turned around and surveyed the room. "So, Johnny was with you, and Cap was probably in his office, which leaves…" His eyes landed on Sam and Mike. "These two."

Adam had turned around and was leaning against the sink. "Now come on, Chester. That's simply not possible."

"It's either that, or we've got ourselves a real phantom." Chet pointed out.

"Serves you two right." Johnny interjected. "While you two are having your little prank war, there rest of us have to suffer for it. We're, you know…what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Collateral damage." Mike chimed in.

"Yeah, exactly." Johnny nodded.

Chet looked down at the front of his shirt before looking over at Sam. "I hope you know what you're in for."

Sam sat back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest. "Bring it on."

Chet smiled widely before smacking Adam on the arm. "See? That's why I love her. She's feisty."

Adam rolled his eyes before turning around again and turning on the water. Chet immediately jumped back. "Damn it!"

The room exploded in laughter, Sam included. She had to admit, it felt good to give those two just a little taste of what they'd been subjecting the rest of the crew to all this time. She happened to catch Mike out of the corner of her eye, and he gave her an approving nod.

Sam suddenly felt Johnny's hand land on her shoulder, and she turned to look up at him. He was still laughing a little but managed to collect himself. "That wasn't bad for a first attempt."

Sam gestured at Mike. "I had help."

Johnny shifted so that his hand rested on the back of Sam's chair. "You want some more?"

Cap snorted softly beside her. "You? You couldn't prank Chet way back when. How are you going to be any help?"

Johnny scoffed and waved a hand dismissively before turning his attention back to Sam. "I think I've still got this old joke book in my locker. You might find it useful."

"I can always use more reading material."

Johnny glanced toward the sink before gesturing for Sam to follow him. She followed him out to his locker and waited while he dug through a pile on the top shelf, finally producing the small paperback and handing it to Sam.

"There's lots of good stuff in there." Johnny told her. "As long as you don't mess with anyone's equipment, everything else is fair game. Good luck."

Sam was oddly touched. "Thanks."

She started to return to the day room when Johnny stopped her. "One more thing."

"Yes?"

Johnny gave her his usual half-smile. "I'd sleep with one eye open if I were you. Chet'll probably go easy on you. Not so sure Adam will."

"That's good to know." Sam answered.

She started to peruse the book as she started back toward the day room. While she would definitely have to be on her toes from here on out, she had to admit that she understood the pranks a little better now.

It was a bonding ritual, in a weird sort of way, and it was probably better that Sam learned to join them, since she was sure she couldn't beat them. And honestly, it had been kind of fun to watch Adam's and Chet's confusion.

She couldn't help smiling to herself. Things were about to get a lot more interesting around here. All was fair in love and war, so the saying went. Sam supposed that applied to pranks, too.