The Next Morning

It was sunrise and a particularly beautiful day as well.

Arnold soon was woken up by the sun rays. He soon saw he had his arm over Spinelli, who was sound asleep.

"Hey, sweetie. If you hear me, I just want to let you know that I love you with my entire heart, and words can never describe my love for you. Sleep tight." Arnold whispered with a smile and kissed her cheek.

Instead of getting up or doing anything else, Arnold decided to lie there and stay next to Spinelli.

"I managed to overhear Sixteen is getting shut down. This could be another chance to clear way."

"We can't unless we get a distraction with the entire station empty!"

"I want that dogshit station gone tonight! Or you won't be getting paid tomorrow."

"Fine… Boss."

The two people in an alleyway discussed.

At MedStar

"Olga Pataki. Surprise to see you." Stella started.

"Mind explaining what was in your purse the day of the airport fire?" She had both her purse and the cigarette box.

"I'm sorry, but what is that cigarette box? I never even touched a cigarette in my life! Stella-"

"That's CHIEF to you." She replied sternly. "Chief, I assure you I never even had a cigarette in my life, let alone carry a box like that!"

"Ok… Well, tell me, how did this box get in this purse?"

"I can't remember much, but it was when I was with my baby sister."

She started to remember back.

"I was with my little Helga, she was wearing her usual dark clothing along with a weird leather jacket I had never seen before."

"Hold on, pause. Helga's back in town?!" Stella asked. "Uh, yeah. She recently came back from Los Angeles. Surprisingly, she even made it to L.A."

"Continue."

"I remember I was with her and she was annoyed with how I usually act. Next thing I know, I see a bright orange light in the corner of my eye, I felt my arm yanked by I didn't see who did it, I just saw her run off."

"Hm. Sounds a little odd." Stella couldn't assure herself of what she should say. "Look…" She sighed. "I had a long few days and quite frankly I can't say much, but something about this story seems off. I'll see you later." Stella soon started walking away.

"Chief Dixon?!" Travis ran into Patrick's father. He was coming out from an alleyway. "Travis Montgomery… Pleasure seeing you here." He gave an unpleasant look.

"What the hell are you doing in this alleyway?"

"I- I lost a coin there!"

"And you're looking for a coin in this hidden alley?" Travis lowered his eyelids. "It's none of your business whether I lose something here or not! I'm a very busy man, and I shouldn't be wasting my precious time with someone like you!"

"'Least I'm not a bum like you…" He scoffed. "This isn't the last time we meet, Travis…" Jalen glared.

He walked away and pulled out a cigarette box but immediately closed it as he grabbed the wrong one. Travis caught a brief look, but couldn't tell what it was.

"I'm not liking this… Not one little bit." Travis told himself.

"Soon, all that land, including 55 will all be mine! And soon, I'll be making millions!" Jalen told himself as he looked at his phone.

Arnold felt Spinelli moving around, more and more until he saw her slowly blinking her eyes open.

"Morning, sweetheart." Arnold smiled. "Hey, sweetie." Spinelli turned around to face him. "I heard all the lovely things you said about me."

"Y- You did?" Arnold blushed a little. Spinelli gave a slow kiss on his cheek while she had a hand on his face. "I can say the same about you. No words can ever express my deep love for you." She smiled.

"Any plans today before our date?"

"Ou, that's tough, and there's so much we can do." She smirked. "I thought I already paid off my debt…"

"Not that! As much as I would want to, I quite frankly feel too lazy to do so anyhow." She shrugged. "And about last night… Thanks."

"For what?"

"For helping me about my full name. I don't feel too happy about it, but you made me realize that there'll always only be me. A different Ashley."

"Awww." Arnold kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you feel that way… Ashley." Arnold smirked. "You motherf-" Spinelli playfully hit him while laughing.

"Spinelli, I forgot to mention last night…" Arnold started as he reached over. "What's that?"

"You had this tied around my rod." Arnold smirked as he held up her black panties. "Uh… Oops."

"Don't worry, I still love you." Arnold kissed her nose and smiled. "And here I thought I was gonna panic." She playfully rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Hey, Arnold. How about we head to the couch and… you know." She giggled. "You want me to feed you like any other couple?" Arnold raised an eyebrow with a smile. "No, I want you to put on my socks. The fuck does it look like I'm asking?" She chuckled after.

"In all seriousness, that's exactly what I'm asking for. Please?"

Arnold smiled. "And here I thought I was with a Spinelli."

"Keep that up and I'm grabbing electrician tweezers and pulling your teeth out." She lowered her eyelids. "I'm kidding!" Horns were heard in the background.

"Hear that?"

"Sounds like Truck 55, and we've been around those units long enough to know what they sound like. Wonder where they're headed." Spinelli wondered. Arnold only shrugged as they kept laying in bed.

Engine 55 soon made a left turn as the sirens shined bright through the sun and traffic. On the outside, many people thought there were brave heroes inside, but on the inside, a whole lot of emotion was shown…

It was B-Shift. And everyone in the truck was rather upset with each other. A big fight broke out among all of them over last night's football game.

Ladder 55 soon made the left turn as well, and everyone in it was also upset.

The trucks weaved through the early morning traffic, with a Battalion Chief pickup truck following behind shortly after.

Nobody in the trucks said a word. All of them were extremely pissed and upset with one another. The outside of the truck was screaming bad things.

The truck sirens got closer and closer to the Lloyd-Shortman mansion. Arnold and Spinelli were in robes as they wondered where their company was headed.

They soon saw the trucks make a right turn, passing by, and just by one look, they looked at each other, almost in fear. The outside of both trucks felt like they were screaming trouble. Something was bound to happen.

Despite it being a bright, sunny, and beautiful morning, the trucks felt odd this morning. Arnold and Spinelli felt something off in the air.

The Lieutenant on the Engine didn't even mention a single word to the team. He only kept honking the horn of the truck while the sirens kept blaring.

Minutes Later

The two trucks soon came to a stop and parked near… Station 16.

"Lieutenant, you didn't mention anything about it being station 16!" One of them complained. "Oh, I thought you didn't want me to mention that like I mentioned that your shitty ass team lost last night!"

The Battalion Ford F-150 soon pulled to a stop, and it was Stella. She hopped out immediately, leaving the door slightly open, and rushed over to the argument.

"Aye! What the hells going on here?!"

"Oh, everything is smooth, Chief! This asshole didn't think to mention anything about the fire we were headed to. HE COULD'VE SENT US IN BLIND AND HAVE US KILLED!" He shoved the Lieutenant.

"ENOUGH!" Stella yelled, shutting everyone up. "I'm not sending ANY of you in there, no reports of entrapment. I want you all on fire attack, surround and drown. I'll have two-three different companies replace you, once they're here, you're all sidelined until further notice. And I'll make sure dispatch reroutes any calls directed to 55 toward other stations like 23 and 24. Everyone understand? Good. Now get to work and stop staring you bucket of morons!" She shouted.

"Yes, Chief…"

"Understood…"

All of them were dead silent and were forced to work together.

"Dispatch, requesting two Engine companies and a Truck company."

"Copy that, Chief."

Five Minutes Later

The two other Engine companies and the Ladder company soon arrived. It was Station 23 and Ladder 24.

"55, you're all OUT." Stella demanded as the were trucks parking.

"Rough morning, Chief?" Luiz, the Lieutenant of 23 asked. "Ugh, it's horrible with 55 messing up right now."

"Man, what was that all about? I felt like I had deja vu or something." Spinelli said. "Come to think of it, I somehow feel like I saw the same thing with what was happening to those trucks, only at night?"

"Enough yammering already! Now c'mon, you and I still have certain business to do." Spinelli smirked at Arnold. "I didn't forget, hun." He smiled.

"I'll deal with you all later." Stella gave a stern look at the members of 55.

"Not the ideal place I wanted to burn, but it's a start." The same hooded figure told itself. "He'll pay…"

"Dispatch, requesting additional units."

"Roger that, Chief, second alarm."

"Building is empty, so we fight it from the outside, people!"

Stella noticed something odd. The door looked like it was opened by forced entry.

"That's not right…" She thought.

"Clear! Watch out, up high!"

Later

"Keep it on the hot spots!"

"This is what we all get 'cause you root for a shitty team!" One of the B-Shift members grumbled. "At least I know sportsmanship, unlike your shit-headed brain!" He slammed him against the truck.

"Aye! You two break it up, NOW!" Stella immediately stepped in and yanked one of them.

"I dealt with too much of all your bullshit, you all hear me?! The next time anyone starts this, they're fired. Do you all understand?!" They were all dead silent and nodded.

Stella walked away, in frustration.

"Boy, I seriously need more than a break. Vacation for once" She thought.

"I never knew strawberries were this good." Spinelli and Arnold were on the couch, tucked in with a blanket as they were both in their underwear.

"Another one, honey?" Arnold offered Spinelli another strawberry from the pancakes. "Mmm… I'd much prefer this." The two then kissed.

"Man, for once, it feels so good to lay back, kick our feet up, and relax. Don't you think, Arnold?" Spinelli looked at her football-headed love. "Words don't even begin to describe how relaxed I feel with you right now." Arnold kissed her head and smiled after.

"Isn't it crazy how weird and bland our day feels when we're off duty?" Arnold soon asked. "Come to think of it, most of our exciting and fun moments came from the- Well actually, never mind. But to be fair, you are kinda right."

"You know, ever since we started dating, we really haven't had much time to ourselves. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with what happens around us, it's just that we barely get any time together. And I rarely get a chance to show my love for you." Arnold then smiled and kissed her head.

"Awww. You're so sweet, you know that?" Spinelli kissed his cheek. "Come here." Arnold smiled as he pulled her into a kiss.