Copyright: June 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: Damage Done

Author: Robin R. Neher

E-mail:NRobin1027@aol.com

Rating: R

Pairing: N/A

Fandom: Emergency!

Archive: Yes

Summary: Set after the events in "lighter than air man" Roy loses his confidence behind the wheel and turns the driving of the squad over to Johnny.

Content Warning: Harsh language. Angst.

Damage Done
By Robin R. Neher

As Roy DeSoto arrived for work the shift after he was off the hook after he was accused of hitting an old man with the squad, Johnny Gage and the rest of the crew all noticed that Joanne DeSoto was at the wheel of Roy's pick up instead of Roy.

"Wonder why Joanne's driving?" Johnny wondered. "Roy's usually as protective of his pickup as he is of the squad."

"Maybe Jo's using the truck cause her car's in the shop." Guessed Captain Hank Stanley as he joined his men in the station's parking lot. "You guys should be getting ready for work. Let's move it, Huh?"

"Right, Cap." Engineer Mike Stoker replied. "Let's go, Guys.

The other guys all followed the Engineer inside the station while Johnny lagged behind as Roy kissed his wife of eleven years good-bye. As Joanne pulled away, Roy joined his partner as they went to join the others in the station.

"Roy, why was Joanne driving you to work?" Johnny asked as they entered 51's apparatus bay.

"Cause, she needs the truck to help a friend of ours move." Roy lied, hoping Johnny wouldn't ask anymore questions.

Roy was relieved when Johnny just shrugged his shoulders, then went to change into uniform. Roy followed suit seconds later. Once in uniform, Roy went to the apparatus bay to ready the squad for the shift ahead. Johnny entered as Roy was putting his own turnout gear in the compartment on the squad's passenger side.

"Roy, what are you doing?" Johnny asked. "Your gear goes on the driver's side since you're the one who drives."

"Johnny, you've just graduated from passenger to driver. Congratulations." Roy smiled, handing the younger man the squad's keys, then walking toward Cap's office before he could argue.

Johnny just stood there, keys in hand, unsure of what to think about his "promotion". The only thing that John knew for sure was that something was wrong with Roy.

*

Once there, Roy knocked on Cap's door.

"Come in, Pal, you look like you need to talk." Hank invited.

"Thanks, Cap." Roy sighed as he entered the office and shut the door. "Johnny's gonna be driving the squad from now on."

"He is?" Cap asked. "Roy, you're usually so protective of the squad. Why the change?"

"Cap, I can't get that accident out of my mind!" Roy blurted. "I know the guy was faking."

"But?" Hank prompted.

"I can't help but think what if that guy had really been hurt?" Roy asked as he paced the room. "What if Lt. Crockett hadn't come up with those prints?"

"Roy, sit down." Hank instructed.

Roy did so.

"Roy, yes you could've lost everything, but you didn't." Cap said, perching his skinny frame on the edge of his desk.

"It's not just that." Roy countered. "Have you ever thought of the responsibility you have when you get in your car and start the motor? When you take that wheel, you take not just your life, but the lives of the other drivers on the road and their families in your hands. Cap, I don't want that responsibility again."

"Roy, you're off the hook!" Hank insisted.

"I know, but what if?" Roy wondered. "What if I hadn't been cleared? I might've not only lost my job, but my driver's license, maybe even my wife and kids!"

"I see what you mean." Cap replied, understandingly.

"Cap, I could've been sent to jail!" Roy cried, as the tones sounded.

Squad 51, woman injured. 124 Green. 124 Green. Crosstreet: Stevens. Timeout: 08:30

"Squad 51, 10-4-KMG-365." Hank acknowledged as Johnny started the squad and Roy got in on the passenger side.

"Johnny, you are not to go a mile over 55, got it?" Roy asked as his partner guided the squad out of the bay.

______

An hour later, the sound of Roy yelling at Johnny could be heard as the squad returned from it's run.

"Roy, you're not driving, so don't be telling me how to drive!" Johnny yelled.

"John, you were going way too fast!" Roy was heard to yell back. "What do you think this is? The Indy 500?!"

"Roy, we got there and back safely, so I'll thank you to shut your pie hole!" Johnny growled. "I'm driving the squad now, so, I'll do it my way!"

"Hey, Guys, what's this about?" Cap asked, running into the bay.

"Nothin!" Johnny spat.

"Nothing but a junior Paramedic that won't listen to experience!" Roy added, his tone full of anger. "Johnny Knievil here thinks it's okay to peel through city streets!"

"How fast were you going?" Hank asked.

"Fifty-five as per speed limit!" Johnny hissed.

"More like eighty!" Roy shot back. "Cap, this idiot took a corner on two wheels and almost hit a police car!"

"I did not, you liar!" Johnny yelled.

"Hey, there's no need for name calling." Cap told Johnny. "We're all adults here. Let's act our age, shall we instead of our shoe size?"

"Sorry, Cap." Johnny mumbled.

"That's better." Hank nodded. "Now, one at a time, tell me what happened. John?"

"Cap, from the moment we left the station, Roy criticized every move I made behind the wheel! You're going too fast, Johnny! You're tailgating! Didn't you see that red light?" Johnny complained. "Roy sounded like his damn mother-in law!"

"Roy? Let's hear your side." Cap encouraged.

"Cap, riding with Johnny is like riding with Joanne!" Roy told his boss. "He drives just like she does. The whole run, his foot was glued to the accelerator. The only time he used the brake was when we got to the scene and when we arrived at Rampart! If that's the way he drives his Land Rover, I can just see what the squad's gonna look like after a few shifts!"

"Roy, you turned over the squad to John, so now you must let him drive his way. Johnny, you need to remember that you're driving county property, not your Land Rover out back. We can't afford to replace a squad or to have a bunch of speeding tickets, got me?" Hank asked.

"Yes, Sir." Johnny sighed.

"Roy?" Cap asked.

"Yes, Sir." Roy nodded.

"Good. Why were you at Rampart?" Hank asked.

"Cause, I sorta got sick in the squad." An embarrassed Roy admitted.

"Well, you shoudnt've eaten all those candy bars before that first call." Johnny snickered.

"Roy, chocolate? This early in the morning?" Hank laughed.

"I overslept and didn't have time to eat. So on my way here, I stopped and bought some candy bars. I ate all six on the way here." Roy explained.

"Six?" Hank guffawed. "I eat two and I feel queasy."

"Hey, I'm a growing boy." Roy smiled.

"Growing boy!" Johnny scoffed. "Cap, there's puke all over the seats!"

"Roy, get the stuff and start cleaning." Cap ordered.

"Cap-" Roy started to argue.

"Roy, you barfed, you clean it up." Cap told the senior fireman.

 ____

Roy muttered angrily to himself as he stomped to the closet to get the cleaning supplies.

"Damn Johnny! Thinks he's Mario Andretti!" Roy mumbled as Johnny went into the kitchen for coffee.

"Roy doesn't like the way you drive, Johnny-baby." Teased Chet Kelly.

"Roy's just mad cause Johnny's a better driver than he is." Marco Lopez put in. "At least Johnny doesn't run people over with the squad!"

"Will we read a headline in the evening paper that says, "Pedestrian killed by Paramedic?" Mike Stoker too laughed.

"Guys," Cap tried to step in, but to no avail.

"I can just see it now, DeSoto gets life for murder!" Chet Kelly guffawed.

Johnny just walked back into the apparatus bay where Roy was inventorying the drug box.

"Roy, don't listen to them." Johnny told him.

"Kinda hard not to." Roy replied, trying to hide his hurt.

A few minutes later, the guys were leaving to get supplies. Johnny handed Roy the keys. As Roy got in the driver's seat, Chet Kelly came in.

"Roy, here's our part of the grocery money." Chet said. "What are we having, road kill?"

That was the last straw for Roy. He jumped out of the squad and ran into the dorm.

"Thanks alot, Kelly!" Johnny hissed. "I thought what you did earlier was low, but you've sunk even lower!"

"Johnny, I didn't mean-" Chet stammered.

"You're an insensitive pig, ya know that?!" Johnny yelled. "How you became a fireman, I'll never know!"

With that, Johnny guided the squad out of the bay toward the hospital.

_____

When Johnny returned to the station an hour later, he went to find Roy. Johnny found his partner in the darkened dorm, laying on his bunk.

"Roy, come on. Get up!" Johnny commanded.

"Leave me alone!" Roy growled.

"Get up!" Johnny insisted pulling Roy into a sitting position. "We're going for a drive!"

Roy sighed as Johnny pulled him to his feet and led him to the apparatus bay. Once there, Johnny handed him the squad's keys and opened the driver's side door.

"Get in." Johnny said.

"Johnny-" Roy began.

"Roy, what the hell's your problem?" Johnny asked. "If I'm gonna help you, I need to know what's scaring you."

"Nothing!" Roy yelled.

"Bull!" Johnny yelled back. "Ever since that accusation was leveled against you, you refuse to even touch a steering wheel! Now what's going on?!"

"John Roderick Gage, leave me alone!" Roy exploded, then stomped out back, slamming the back door behind him.

Johnny sighed as Hank entered the bay.

"Damn!" Johnny hissed.

"Johnny, Roy is dealing with fear right now. He fears what could've happened if Crockett hadn't gotten those finger prints." Cap soothed. "If it makes Roy comfortable, go ahead and drive the squad for awhile."

"I can't just stand by and watch as Roy loses his nerve to drive. That guy was faking." Johnny countered.

"You know that, I know that." Cap replied.

"Roy should too." Johnny argued.

"But what would've happened to Roy if that guy had been hit?" Cap asked. "Roy could've faced some very serious charges, maybe even gone to prison. He definitely could've been fired from the department."

"You mean he couldn't have worked on an engine?" John gasped.

"Nope, not if he was convicted of hit and run." Cap replied. "What would've happened to Roy's kids then?"

"I never thought of that." Johnny whispered. "The trouble is, who drives the squad if I have ride into Rampart with a victim?"

______

Out back, Mike Stoker joined Roy on the stoop.

"Roy, I'd like to apologize for my remark earlier. It was insensitive." Mike said, quietly.

"Save it!" Roy hissed. "Mike, I hope that one day, you hit somebody with the engine! Only then, will you all know what I'm going through! I have two little kids I could've been torn away from, thanks to that faker!"

"Roy," Mike pleaded.

"Shut up, Stoker!" Roy growled.

"Roy, enough!" Johnny said, joining the two men. "You're unloading on Mike and I won't have it!"

"Shut up, John!" Roy yelled. "I'm leaving the Paramedics!"

"Roy!" Johnny gasped.

"Johnny, I've turned in my certification." Roy announced. "I've been reassigned to truck 127. I'm tired of all the crap that goes along with being on the squad! This is my last shift here!"

"Roy, was it something I did?" Johnny sobbed.

"Junior, you paramedics have alot on your shoulders. I can't handle that anymore." Roy told him. "I can't risk my family like that again. As just a fireman, I don't have to worry about having lives in my hands."

With that, Roy turned and went back inside. Cap met him in the kitchen.

"Roy, is this what you really want?" Hank asked him.

"Cap, it's about my kid's future now, not about what I want." Roy answered. "I'm not getting any younger and it is time that I moved up in rank."

"Are you taking promotion, Pal?" Cap asked.

"I've been offered Captain on truck 127. I'm gonna take it." Roy replied.

 _____

When Johnny reported for duty two days later, Cap gave him the news.

"Damn!" Johnny hissed, slamming his fist into his locker. "Roy's taking the easy way out as usual!"

"Johnny, don't be mad at him." Cap soothed. "It was gonna happen sooner or later anyway."

"I know, but I wish he didn't leave like that." Johnny told his Captain. "We agreed that we'd be promoted together."

"I'm sorry, John. It was his decision to make now we must respect that decision." Cap advised. "No matter how we feel. If we hold Roy back for our own selfish reasons, he may resent us
later."

Johnny realized that Hank was right. Roy had to live his life the way he wanted, for himself, not for Johnny or anyone else. As much as he hurt inside, Johnny knew that he had to accept Roy's promotion, like it or not.
______

At station 127, Roy was just meeting the crew, his crew.

"Okay, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other, but right now, we need to get ready for shift." Roy instructed. "I want a line up in ten minutes."

"Right, Cap." Engineer Mark Lang smiled, then followed the others into the station's lockeroom.

Cap. Roy smiled to himself. Captain Roy DeSoto. I like the sound of that. Paramedic Roy DeSoto is dead. Captain DeSoto is in his place.

Roy went into the latrine and looked himself over in the mirror. Roy was startled by a ghost next to his reflection.

"Johnny?" Roy gasped.

"How could you?!" The apparition demanded, in Johnny's voice.

END PART 8