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: Johnny's Place

Author: Robin R. Neher

E-mail: NRobin1027@aol.com

Rating: R

Pairing: N/A

Archive: Yes

Summary: Johnny has moved into the house he bought from under Roy in the E! ep, "To buy or not to buy". However, Johnny must now deal with Roy's hurt feelings.

Content Warning: Harsh language. Graphic Violence.

Johnny's Place
by Robin R. Neher

The weekend had been a great one for John Gage. He'd finally moved into his own home. As he looked around this house, he had some great ideas for how to decorate it and the kind of
furniture it was gonna have. He smiled as Dixie McCall brought in the last of the boxes from the moving van outside.

"Dix, Have I thanked you for doing this?" Johnny asked as Dix sat the box down in the last bit of space in the front room.

"About a hundred times, the guys too." Dix laughed. "Johnny, we're always glad to help."

"Too bad Roy didn't come." Johnny shook his head.

"Is he still mad?" Dix asked.

"Afraid so." Johnny sighed as the Docs and the rest of 51's A-shift came in and sat wherever they could, exhausted by the move.

"Johnny, Roy's just pissed cause you jumped on this first." Captain Hank Stanley said. "He waited too long and he lost out."

"Besides, what would DeSoto do with a stable?" Added Chester B.Kelly. "Not to mention the workshop."

"I can't picture Roy on a horse or woodworking." Kelly Brackett chimed in.

"Neither can I." Agreed Joe Early. "Johnny, this house is made for someone just like you."

"I do love it." Johnny smiled as he passed sodas to everyone.
_______

Meanwhile, at his house, Roy was brooding as he mowed his lawn. He was brought out of his thoughts by his wife, Joanne bringing him a glass of iced tea. Jo understood her husband's disappointment with not getting the house, but not his feelings of bitterness toward Johnny.

"Roy, why won't you go help Johnny move?" Jo asked. "Johnny took an opportunity."

"Honey, that house should've been ours!" Roy hissed as he sipped the tea. "Johnny stole that house from us!"

"There are other houses, Sweetie." Jo offered. "We'll just keep looking."

"Jo, that house was within our price range and it's beautiful." Roy said. "Johnny took advantage!"

"Honey, Johnny saw an opportunity and took it. He saw that you were going back and forth about it and bought it himself." Jo soothed. "He may get married and have a family too someday. Now, he can provide them with a home. You couldn't when we first married."

"I remember," Roy laughed. "I was living in that small apartment in Norwalk! There was barely enough room to move around! Still, Johnny bought the house on a whim. What does he know about owning and maintaining a home or the costs involved? I think he should sell that house to me."

"Honey, lots of single people have their own home. They like the idea of the house being theirs." Jo smiled. "You should be happy for Johnny."

__________

On Monday morning, Johnny arrived at station fifty-one early and changed into uniform so he could avoid Roy. As Johnny changed, Roy arrived.

"Good morning." Johnny greeted his partner.

"For you maybe." Roy flatly replied.

"You missed a great time this weekend." Johnny informed the older man. "Too bad you couldn't be man enough to show up. I thought you were my best friend."

"Well, you thought wrong." Roy replied, coldly. "I'll be in the bay."

Johnny just sighed as Roy slammed his locker shut and left the lockeroom. John could already tell that this was gonna be a long twenty-four hours. He just could not understand why his friend
was so upset over a house. John finished changing and joined Roy in the apparatus bay.

"Roy, what did I do that was so wrong?" Johnny asked. "I saw a great opportunity and took it. What's wrong with that?"

Roy threw down an IV bag he was packing in the drug box and looked John square in the eye.

"You just don't understand, do you?!" Roy yelled. "Johnny, I was weighing the pros and cons of buying that house! I was carefully thinking things out! You brought it on a fucking whim! Same ol Johnny, always looks before he leaps!"

"Unlike you, who thinks life is a fucking chess game!" Johnny roared. "At least I'm man enough to make a decision without running to wifey! Roy, do you even go potty by yourself! Does Joanne wipe your ass for you too?! Play it safe Roy! You're a spineless wimp!"

Roy's eyes went wide at the last words.

"So, that's what you really think of me." Roy gasped, then turned and ran out of the station.

"Roy, I'm sorry!" Johnny yelled, as Roy peeled out of the parking lot in his truck.
"ROOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!"

All Johnny could do was watch as Roy's truck faded from sight.

_______

Hours later, Cap came over to Johnny as he sat at the kitchen table.

"Gage, Joanne just called. Thanks to you, Roy has reenlisted in the Army." Hank informed the young man.

"Cap, I was just telling Roy what I felt." Johnny sobbed.

"You really do think that Roy's a wimp?" Cap asked. "Johnny, maybe Roy isn't the risk taker you are, but that's because he has a family. They depend on him to provide for them. He has to think things out."

"Yeah, but Roy always has to ask Joanne before he does anything!" Johnny sobbed. "To me, Roy is not a man, but a stupid, worthless boy! Maybe the Army will give him a backbone!"

_________

Cap just got up and went to get a replacement partner for Johnny.

Meanwhile, at LAX, Sgt. Roy DeSoto waited for his flight to begin boarding. A flight that was taking him to Vietnam, by way of San Francisco and Hawaii. As he waited, Roy read his letter
of farewell to Johnny.

Dear John,

I am writing this letter to say good-bye. The Army is sending me to Vietnam to serve as a field medic. This is the last time you'll hear from me, for I plan to die over there. You think I'm not a real man cause I don't take risks, we'll I'm taking the biggest one now. If I die, It'll be with honor.

Just what is a man to you, Johnny? Is a man someone who's a daredevil and acts before he thinks or is a man someone who always thinks of others first? Do you think Ed Marlowe's a man just because he takes risks? You say that Ed was wrong, but deep in your heart, I think you agree with him and his beliefs.

Johnny, Have you ever thought of what would happen if you were killed or badly injured on the job? How would your family in Wyoming be affected? What about your friends here? Do you think they''ll say at your funeral, what a hero that John Gage was or will they say, how stupid John Gage was?

I know that you're young and think nothing can happen to you. I pray that nothing does happen to you.

Signed,

Sgt. Roy DeSoto

Hearing his flight being called, Roy quickly mailed the letter, then ran to board the plane.

___________

A few days later, Johnny read the letter and immediately felt guilty and ashamed of what he'd said to Roy. During his days off, Johnny paid a visit to Joanne while her kids were at school.

"Jo, I'm so sorry." Johnny said as they sat down on her couch. "If Roy dies over there, It'll be my fault."

"John, listen to me." Joanne said in response. "Roy made the decision to reenlist, not you. If he wants to be there, then let him. I'm prepared for the possibility of Roy being injured or anything else that might happen. You can't be a fireman's wife and not be prepared for the worst."

"But, I'm the one that called him a spineless wimp!" Johnny argued.

"Because you were mad." Jo soothed. "We've all said stuff we don't mean at one time or another. Roy started that whole thing, not you. John, Roy is upset because you were able to buy that house. Roy couldnt've."

"Why?" John asked.

"Because, he wasn't serious about that house. Roy gets scared when he has to make a choice. He was raised to go along with whatever his folks wanted, without question. He's just programmed. You could tell him to jump off a bridge and he'd do it, no questions asked." Jo answered

"He went out for Engineer not too long ago." John reminded the dark haired woman.

"But, he didn't take it." Jo shot back. "He wasn't serious about that either. Johnny, sometimes I am more Roy's Mom then his wife. He feels like he has to have my okay for everything. I keep telling him that I'll support whatever he does."

"I have the feeling he doesn't believe that." Johnny mused. "I think Roy lives in fear."

"Of what?" Jo prompted.

"Failure." Johnny guessed. "He's afraid of losing you, the kids, everything. Roy knows that he isn't exactly the life of the party. He also knows that his job takes him away from you and the kids a lot."

"He and I have fought a lot about that." Jo admitted. "My mother too."

"She puts him down cause he's a fireman. He told me." Johnny replied.

"Roy throws a fit every time she comes to visit." Joanne told Johnny. "What am I supposed to do? Not include her in my life? She's my kid's grandma! The only grandparent they have."

"I know, and Roy puts you in the middle. You have to choose between her and him." Johnny understood. "My father hated my grandmother too and she him."

"How did your mother handle it?" Jo inquired.

"My father forbade Mom from inviting her mother over to our house." Johnny replied. "The only times I ever got to see Nana Little Hawk was when Mom would take me to her house. Dad would just stay at home. He'd never come with us."

"That's too bad." Jo shook her head. "I just wish my mother and Roy would get along."

"Jo, that probably won't happen." Johnny told her. "Jo, It might be better if you went to see your Mom rather then her coming here. Her being here just creates hostility and what kind of visit can you and the kids have with her and Roy fighting all the time?"

END PART 4: Johnny's Place