Copyright: May 2001 By Robin R. Neher
THIS STORY IS WRITTEN FOR PLEASURE AND IS NOT INTENDED TO INFRINGE ON ANY PREEXISTING COPYRIGHTS THAT MAY BE VIOLATED. FEEL FREE TO SHARE WITH FRIENDS, BUT NOT FOR PROFIT.
THIS STORY IS FICTIONAL, A WORK OF THE WRITER'S IMAGINATION. THE CHARACTERS AND INCIDENTS USED IN THIS STORY ARE PURELY FICTIONAL AND ARE NOT BASED ON ANY PERSON AND/OR PERSON'S ACTUAL EXPERIENCES.
Title: A Choice To Make
Author: Robin R. Neher
E-mail: NRobin1027@aol.com
Rating: PG
Pairing: N/A
Archive: Yes
Summary: What would've happened if one on the boys couldn't resist the $20'000 reward in the "Unlikely Heirs"?
Content Warning: Harsh language
A Choice To Make
By Robin R. Neher
All the guys waited on pins and needles as their Captain and Paramedic John Gage faced off in the rec room.
"Gage, you have a choice to make. If you accept that money, then you have to give up your badge." Hank told the young man. "If I allow you to take that money, It'll just show that
firefighters can be bought."
"Cap, the policies are stupid!" Johnny argued.
"Johnny, those policies are there for the good of us all." Cap insisted. "If firemen were allowed to accept gratuities, they'd no longer be effective."
"Ah, screw you!" Johnny sneered, slamming his badge on the table, then grabbing the cash. "I'm tired of stupid, rules and procedures! Everything we do, we have to check with the Chief! I'm outta here!"
With that Johnny grabbed his stuff and started to walk out, but Roy grabbed his arm.
"John, okay. Go on and take the money." Roy said, softly. "But I want you to take that badge laying on the table too. Keep it with you always to serve as a reminder of the honorable man
you once were. A man who proudly did his duty and expected nothing in return. A man who once made a promise to serve this department faithfully and honestly."
"Roy, I tried that." Johnny answered. "I worked a job that barely gave me enough to live on and constantly put me in danger. A job that many of my friends died doing. It's time that John Gage take's what's his!"
"What are you gonna do when that money's gone, Johnny?" Cap asked.
"Something better than this." John flatly replied, then walked out of the station for the last time.
***
ONE YEAR LATER.........
Johnny Gage had done better than even he had expected. After a series of investments, Johnny had become a multimillionaire. He was now living the high life in Beverly Hills. Johnny grinned as he looked around the huge home he now lived in.
As he surveyed his property, his butler, Jacques, entered the room.
"Sir, there is a Roy DeSoto here to see you." The butler informed John.
"I don't know any DeSoto. Release the dogs on him!" Johnny ordered.
***
Outside, Roy DeSoto waited patiently to see John. As he waited, the butler carried out his orders and released a pack of Rottweillers. Roy saw them and took off running toward his car. As Roy ran, the memories of him at Johnny at 51's flashed through his mind. He could not believe that the man he knew would turn a pack of dogs on him. That was not the man who a year ago, had been his best friend. As Roy drove away, he realized that the John Gage he had known was gone.
***
When Roy arrived at his house twenty minutes later, the rest of A-Shift was waiting for him.
"Cap, did you see John?" Chet Kelly asked.
"No, he turned a pack of dogs on me." Roy replied, shaking his head. "I can't believe he's rich now."
"He must've made some good business decisions." Joanne said. "I just hope he's happy now."
"I just hope he can live with himself." Roy told his wife. "What happened to him? He used to be happy as a fireman."
"Honey, who knows?" Jo answered. "He may have had this dream he was gonna join the fire service and be a hero. Then, when he finished at the academy and saw the realities of the job and soon burned out."
***
"I wish Hank Stanley were here." Mike Stoker shook his head. "He'd know what to do."
"I do miss him." Roy agreed. "He was one of the best Captains the department had."
"I know." Mike whispered. "If only Johnny hadn't been so stupid and selfish, Cap might be alive now. The Doc said the heart attack was brought on by Johnny taking the money. John Gage broke Stanley's will to go on."
"Hey, Guys, Hank Stanley died of a massive heart attack." Jo reminded them. "The thing with John contributed to that, but the attack itself was not John's fault. How could he have known that Hank would die?"
"Jo, the official cause of Hank's death may have been a heart attack, but in my mind, Henry Stanley died of a broken heart. One that John Roderick Gage caused." Marco Lopez said.
"Does John know about Cap?" Mike asked.
"I don't think so." Roy replied as his tears again started flowing.
Joanne got up from her chair and went to Roy's side where she gathered him in her arms.
"Honey, let yourself cry." Jo whispered as she and the other guys too cried. "This has been a tough time for us all."
"You can say that again!" Sobbed Dixie McCall as she and the Docs from Rampart came to join everyone else.
All had just come back from Cap's funeral.
"The service was beautiful." Wept Dr. Kelly Brackett.
Just then, a long, black limo pulled up to the DeSoto home and John Gage emerged from the back. Roy scowled when he saw Johnny as did the other firemen.
"You guys, be polite!" Joanne said as she cried.
"Hi, All." Johnny greeted, sullenly as he stepped in beside Roy. "I'm sorry about Captain Stanley. He was a friend to us all."
"But you weren't any friend to him!" Roy hissed. "You have alot of nerve, Gage! A year ago, you turned away from the department and Cap! Now, you waltz over here in your limo and expect us to believe you give a damn about Cap and us! Well, I don't buy it, Johnny, so get back in your limo and leave us to grieve in peace!"
Johnny turned to leave.
"You're right, I shouldn't have come here." Johnny said as he started to walk back toward his car.
Dix grabbed Johnny's arm before he could take a step.
"John, come, sit down." Dix invited, gently.
"Dix!" Roy protested.
"Roy DeSoto, this may be your house, but Johnny was part of the station 51 family too!" Dix told the older man. "What happened a year ago does not change that! Johnny had the courage to show up here the least you all can do is welcome him!"
Marco and the others hung their heads as Roy went red with rage.
"Roy, Johnny should be here." Joanne told him.
"Oh, great, my own wife turns against me!" Roy roared. "This piece of shit turns his back on us, yet he's invited here! Fine, he can stay, but I'm gone!"
All watched as Roy got in his pickup, gunned the motor and sped off. Joanne then turned to John.
"Johnny, I apologize. I don't know what gets into Roy sometimes!" Jo wept.
"Jo, Don't apologize. Roy's right. He put all his time and energy into making me a good medic, then I turn my back on him." Johnny soothed. "I don't blame him for being mad."
"Johnny, you have more then made up for what you did." Dix reminded him. "You not only paid back the money you stole, but you also gave money to the fireman's fund and other charities."
"Yeah, and bought those new engines, squads, and helicopters for all the stations." Mike added.
"Yeah, but the one thing I can't buy is Roy's forgiveness." John said, sadly.
"No, but you can earn it in another way." Dix said, then bent down and whispered in John's ear.
____
The next day, Captain Roy DeSoto was on duty at the station working on reports when Mike Stoker came into the office.
"Cap, our new Paramedic is here." Mike informed him.
"Send him in." Roy instructed.
A few minutes later, Johnny Gage entered.
"Captain DeSoto, Sir! Fireman John Gage reporting for duty, Sir!" Johnny barked, then saluted Roy, who gaped in suprise.
"Fireman Gage, I do not and cannot accept you as one on my men!" Roy growled, rising to his feet behind his desk. "To have a slimeball like you in my station stains everything this station stands for with your stench!"
A hurt Johnny turned and left the office, Roy's message coming through loud and clear. As Johnny left the station, he severed any ties he'd had with Roy. In his heart, Johnny knew that his former friend had a perfect right to feel as he did. He knew that with his actions, he'd made Roy and the rest of A-shift look foolish as well as the department as a whole. As Johnny drove away in his old Land Rover, he wondered if coming back to the department was such a hot idea.
****
A few hours later, Chief Craig Brice arrived at 51's.
"At ease!" Brice barked to the men who stood at attention in the apparatus bay. "Captain DeSoto, let's have a chat in your office."
Roy obeyed, leading his Chief there. Once the door was closed, the fun began.
"DeSoto, I sent you a new medic. I wanna know why he was thrown out of here like garbage!" Chief Brice demanded to know.
"It's very simple." Roy hissed in response. "John Gage is rotten to the core! I don't want him around my guys!"
"That was a year ago!" Brice argued.
"Sir, John Gage stains and dishonors the badge he wears." Roy shot back. "Oh sure, he paid the money back and gave to charity, but the fact remains that Johnny sold out for money!"
"DeSoto, Gage is a Paramedic and needs to be on a squad!" The Chief insisted. "He's lost everything he had in that fire last night!"
****
As Roy and the chief were debating, Johnny was arriving at Rampart.
"Johnny?" A concerned Dixie asked.
"Dix, Roy said no." Johnny sadly stated. "I guess he just doesn't want me around. The department has moved on without me."
***
"What are you gonna do now?" Dix asked.
"I don't know." Johnny sighed. "All I know is that I don't deserve to wear this badge. Dix, this badge represents honor and integrity."
"You have that." Dix argued.
"No, Dix. Not anymore. That died the day I left 51's with money that was never mine. I took something that should've gone to people who really needed it." John insisted. "A fireman does his duty without expecting anything in return. He accepts the risks and the rewards of the job. He also accepts that he may die doing that duty. The one thing he does not do is allow himself to be corrupted by money. The truth is, I never should've joined to begin with."
"Johnny!" Dix gasped.
"I went in thinking I was gonna be a hero. I never wanted the realities of firefighting. I wanted the glory. I wanted the medals. That's not why one should join the fire service." Johnny said. "Firefighting is for people who geninunily wanna help people."
With that, Johnny took off his badge and deposited it in a nearby trash can, then shuffled out the double doors. Dixie quietly cried as Johnny drove away. Once he was gone, the nurse retrieved the badge and put it in her pocket.
*
Later that afternoon, Roy was teaching paramedic recruits at the academy when he saw Dixie quietly come to the front of the room.
"Captain DeSoto, may I speak to the recruits?" Dix asked.
"Sure." Roy replied, then sat down at his desk.
"Most of you are fairly new to firefighting, right?" Dix asked the class.
Most of the students nodded.
"How many of you were sold on Firefighting by some brochure, showing pictures of all the pretty engines and squads and the shiny badges?" Dix asked.
Most of the students raised their hands.
"And I'll just bet that Captain DeSoto here has sold you a bunch of fluff of how wonderful being a Paramedic can be, right?"
"Dix!" Roy protested.
"Roy, did you tell John Gage the truth about about life as a Paramedic?" Dix asked. "Did you warn him about the risks he'd be taking if he became a medic? Did you warn him about the low pay and the death he'd see? Did you warn him how thankless the job would be?"
Roy just gaped as Dixie talked on.
"And you wonder why Johnny took that money a year ago!" Dix finished. "Roy, Johnny Gage is a human being who deserves a second chance, don't you think?"
END PART 5: A Choice To Make