Mike almost tripped over the box that was sitting at the office door. He was on his way out to raise the flags and wasn't watching where he was going. The contents of the box mewled at him.
"Oh not kittens again!" he muttered under his breath. This would make the fourth box that had been left at the station in three months. He had lost count of how many kittens they had pawned off on to relatives, friends and other firefighters. His feeling of annoyance turned to utter amazement as he stooped and pulled the cover back.
"What the...?", he exclaimed. He stared down at a bundle of blankets that was topped off by a small face, scrunched up at the intrusion of the morning sunlight.
"A baby?" He almost dropped the flags with shock. "CAP??" he yelled at the tops of his lungs. His shouting startled the child who began to cry lustily. Mike bent down and picked it up, cradling it in his arms carefully.
"What in the heck is all the yelling about Stoker?" Captain Stanley said as he came around the corner. He pulled up short as he saw Mike with the baby in his arms.
"Is that a...baby??!!??" Cap asked incredulously. Mike nodded and shrugged his shoulders.
"I was just on my way out to raise the flags and this is what I found."
"Well don't just stand there Stoker, bring him, uh her...bring the baby in here."
He hurried back into the kitchen where the rest of the shift were having their morning coffee.
"Roy, Johnny, you wanna step in the office for a minute? We got a problem."
"Don't tell me, let me guess," Chet piped up. "Stoker ran himself up the flagpole right?" He grinned at his own wit. The Captain just glared at him and he shut up.
"What's up, Cap?" Roy asked as he and Johnny followed him back to the office.
"That's what's up," Stanley said, pointing to the baby in Mike's arms. Johnny blinked and then grinned.
"Ahh, so your past has caught up with ya, huh, Mike?"
"Don't start, Gage. Get your gear and check the child out while I get someone out here to deal with it," the Captain said sternly as he reached for his phone.
Roy and Johnny checked the baby over and could find nothing out of the ordinary except that it was a she and she was wet and hungry.
"Okay, Phil. How long is it gonna be before Family Services will get here? Yep, all right, we'll be here Phil....thanks, bye." Stanley hung up and turned to the assembled firemen. Marco and Chet had wandered in, curious to see what the ruckus was.
"Looks like we have to baby-sit until either Family Services get here or the cops. In the meantime I suggest we get her fed and comfortable. Take her into the day room Roy. Chet, get some milk warmed up."
Roy picked the infant up and cooed to her as he made his way into the kitchen. The others, except the Captain, crowded around him as he sat down.
The Captain stood there in his now empty office scratching his head. What to do? He went to the door and picked up the box and deposited it on his desk. He rummaged around and pulled out a piece of paper that lay under an empty baby's bottle at the bottom. He read the note carefully.
'To whoever finds this note: Please take care of Jessie. I have no way of looking after her for now. Whatever you do, don't give her back to her father. I am so scared for her well-being if she goes back with him. Thank you.'
He turned the paper over in a vain hope of finding a name or a phone number, anything that would point them in the right direction with finding who this baby belonged to. He sighed as he looked at the blank sheet.
******
Stanley got the dispatcher to stand down the engine until they could hand Jessie over to the authorities. He walked into the kitchen to see his men squabbling over who was going to nurse the baby.
"All right, knock it off, guys. Did you change her yet?" he asked Roy. Roy looked up at his Captain.
"Well it's not like we have a supply of diapers on hand. Someone get a sheet or something and cut it up into squares," Roy ordered as he lay little Jessie on the table. She clutched at his fingers and her bottom lip quivered. Chet left the room and came back in with a bedsheet. Marco helped him cut it up as Johnny finished warming the milk. Roy changed her quickly and picked her up again.
"Make sure you sterilise that bottle and nipple, Gage. It has to be clean," Stanley said as he sat down next to Roy. He held out his arms. "Can I?" he asked Roy.
"She's all yours, Cap," Roy said smiling. They watched as he rocked Jessie in his arms slowly. The baby was getting restless and kept wriggling around.
"Here ya go, little one," Johnny cooed as he handed the bottle to the Cap. As Stanley fed the hungry baby, the guys were firing questions at him.
"It's all been taken care of. Someone should be here soon. Her name is Jessie, by the way."
"Who would dump a little angel like this?" Mike said, slipping his finger into Jessie's small hand.
"There was a note with her. Looks like the mother won't be coming back in a hurry," the Cap said, watching Jessie nodding off on her bottle. He gingerly eased the nipple out and held her up to his shoulder. He patted her back until she brought up her wind.
"Haven't lost the touch," Stanley said grinning.
"Yeah, but it looks like Jessie lost her lunch. All over your back Cap," Chet said snickering. The Captain made a face and handed the baby back to Roy.
******
Stanley cracked the whip and got the guys organised for their morning duties. He nursed Jessie as he went over memos and paperwork in the office. He looked up as he heard someone bashing on the office door. A young woman was standing there with tears streaming down her face.
He went over and opened the door. Before he could ask her what she wanted, a man appeared behind her and shoved her in the door.
"Hey!"
"Shut up! Move back and don't try anything!" the man growled. He grabbed the woman by the arm and squeezed hard. "So you thought you could hide her huh? Did you?" he screamed in the woman's face. Roy stuck his head in the door.
"What's the yelling about?"
The man pushed the woman forward towards Roy and produced a handgun. He pointed it straight at the Captain.
"How many more are there here? I want you guys to move out the door slowly. Anybody does anything stupid and I'll kill him and the kid."
"There are six of us here," Roy said quietly. He led the group to the day room. Johnny looked up as the group entered. He saw the grim looks on the Cap's and Roy's faces.
"What's wrong now?" he asked. He gasped as he saw the guy with the gun in his hand. The others exchanged looks as the gunman forced the woman into a chair. The guy looked around counting heads.
"I thought you said there were six of you here," he snapped at Roy. Roy looked around to see that Mike Stoker wasn't in the room. He glanced over at Henry laying on the couch.
"I guess I meant the dog too," he replied nervously. He hoped Mike wouldn't walk in on them right now.
"Give the baby to me," he said menacingly to the Captain. Stanley held the child closer to his chest.
"Look, whatever the problem is we can talk about it without anyone getting hurt," he replied.
"Don't push me! I said give me the damned kid! NOW!" he yelled, aiming the gun at Stanley's head. The young woman moaned and hid her head in her hands. The Captain walked up to the gunman and reluctantly passed Jessie to him. Jessie began to wriggle and whimper as he clutched her to his chest tightly.
"That's better. Now I want you all to sit down and not say a word."
******
Mike had watched and heard everything. He had come out of the locker room to see the guy march everyone into the kitchen. He crept quietly back into the locker room and made his way into the bunkroom. He picked up the phone and hesitated. If he went for an outside line the phone on the kitchen wall would register it. The button would light up. He couldn't take the chance that the guy would see it. And he couldn't take the chance of using the station mike to call for help.
"Wait a minute," he said to himself, "the walkie talkie! Brilliant Mike." He snuck back out to the vehicle bay. The big Ward LaFrance provided cover for him as he edged his way to Chet's seat. Climbing inside, he glanced over at the kitchen doorway. He could see the guy standing there with Jessie in his arm. Shaking his head, he noiselessly slid the glass partition open and leaned forward. His hand closed around the Captain's turnout coat. He gave it a tug and pulled it towards him.
Reaching into the deep right pocket, he pulled the radio free and scooted down off the engine. He hurried back into the dorm and through to the locker room where the noise would not travel. He keyed the button and spoke low but clearly.
"LA dispatch this is Engineer Stoker, Station 51. We have a still alarm at the station. The crew is being held at gunpoint by a man who is also holding a young woman and child hostage also. We need police assistance on the double!"
"Engineer Stoker, LA dispatch, 10-4. Sending two cars to your location. Please keep us advised of the situation," came the cool response. Mike whispered his acknowledgment and put the radio down on the bench. He couldn't just sit there and do nothing. His buddies were in there with that guy. Surely there was something he could do?
******
"Thought you could run from me, Sarah. I told you if you ever tried to leave I would find you and kill you."
The young woman looked up at the gunman and bit her lip. She knew she should have gone straight to the police in the first place. This seemed the next best thing. She looked over at the Captain. He gave her a brief tense smile and turned his gaze to the gunman.
"Tim, I'm sorry okay? Look, why don't we just leave. Go somewhere and talk this out," she pleaded. "It's not fair to drag these people into this...." He cut her off.
"Unfair? I tell you what's unfair, you ungrateful bitch. You got everything you ever wanted, everything you ever needed. But were you satisfied? No. You had to go and get pregnant with this thing," he pointed the gun at Jessie. Everyone held their breath as the baby gurgled and grabbed the barrel, playing with it. "I told you I didn't want any kids!" he spat. "You have more time for her than you ever had for me."
He pulled the gun away from the baby's face. Jessie was not impressed with this and began to wail loudly. Tim shoved the child towards Sarah. She grabbed the baby and cuddled her to her shoulder, soothing Jessie to keep her quiet.
The guys sat in their chairs quietly. Marco could see the Captain's mind working overtime. He glanced at the rest of the guys. If they could get only one chance at getting the gun away from Tim. But it was too risky. Tim was waving it around, pointing at each person in turn. He was becoming more unstable by the minute.
******
Mike had crept around and was on his stomach peering under the squad. He watched as the gunman handed the child to the woman. He glanced up at the squad's compartments and then over to the engine. He needed a weapon. Now that Jessie wasn't in his arms anymore it was the best chance he would have of disarming him.
What was taking the cops so long? He got to his feet but kept his head down as he worked his way around the back of the squad. The guy was ranting and raving at the woman now who was cowering in her chair. His eyes fell on the extinguisher fastened to the rear of the squad.
Not taking his eyes off the guy, he slowly reached over and unclipped it, wincing as the metal clasp ran along the side of the extinguisher, making a small grating sound. He hefted it in one hand and darted over to the left side of the kitchen door. Now what? He could bean him with the extinguisher or get him in the eyes with a good spray. Bean him, Mike thought to himself. He had to disable him good.
Mike gripped the extinguisher in his hands lengthwise and raised it above his head. He stepped into the doorway. The young woman's eyes widened as she saw the fireman standing there. Tim jerked his head around. He pointed the gun straight at Mike and went to fire as Mike brought the extinguisher down on Tim's arm hard. Tim yelled as he felt his forearm snap. The gun was knocked from his grasp and skidded over to an armchair.
The Captain was on his feet in a flash. He threw himself at Tim and tackled him as he went for the gun. Mike jumped on Tim as the Captain brought him down. Roy had grabbed Sarah and dragged her from the room, out of harm's way. Chet and Marco joined in the scuffle for the gun. Chet and Marco pinned Tim's arms above his head, eliciting a bellow of pain from him as the bones in his broken arm rubbed together. Stanley grappled with his feet as he thrashed them around wildly. Mike sat on his legs to keep him still.
Johnny had gone after Roy, who seeing the two police cruisers pull up from the Captain's office, let the cops in. Johnny pointed in the direction of the day room.
"They're in there! The guys have him pinned down," he added as the cops pulled their guns from their holsters. "For God's sakes, don't go shooting anyone, will ya?"
They followed the cops back into the day room. Tim was more subdued now, moaning and complaining about his arm. The Captain got to his feet.
"Roy, John, get your gear. He'll need medical attention before they take him away."
The two paramedics got the bio-phone and the trauma box set up. They tended to Tim as the a couple of police officers took statements from the others. They splinted his arm and let an officer handcuff him at the front.
"We'll take him on into Rampart in a cruiser instead of waiting on an ambulance," one of the officers said. "You guys following us in?"
Johnny nodded. He felt exhausted all of a sudden. The tension was easing from his body and he felt drained. He helped Roy pack up the equipment and walked on out to the squad. The officers muscled Tim out through the Captain's office to a car. Chet opened up the bay door and watched as another officer escorted the Sarah and baby out. Before she walked out into the sunshine she turned and faced the firemen standing in the doorway.
"I am so sorry for all the trouble I caused today. You saved my baby. Thank you doesn't seem adequate."
Captain Stanley smiled at her. He was relieved that everyone had gotten out of the situation without getting hurt.
"Next time, knock and ask for help. We would have helped you." He paused for a moment and walked over to where she stood holding Jessie. "Better still, make sure there isn't a next time. Look after Jessie. She's a sweet kid."
Sarah smiled down at her daughter, tears blurring her vision. She had been so lucky. She looked up again and searched out Mike's face in the group. Sarah walked over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. Mike blushed and ducked his head out of the way.
"Time to go," the officer said, taking Sarah by the arm and guiding her to the car. The guys stepped back as Roy and Johnny got in the squad and started it up.
******
They all met up at the Second Alarm after work. The Captain suggested they needed a good stiff drink after all the drama. He got no complaints. They sat at their table drinking and joking around while the music played in the background.
"I wanna propose a toast," Stanley said as he got to his feet, holding his beer glass in his hand. "To Mike, who had the fortitude to do the right thing under extreme duress. If it wasn't for your quick moves pal, we might all have been rubbing shoulders with the big guy upstairs."
The others got to their feet and cheered, raising their glasses in salute to their engineer. Mike went red again and grinned. He gestured for them all to sit down.
"I'm sure if it were any one of you in my place you would have done the same," he said.
"Ah, your modesty is touching Stoker, just don't go getting a big head over this okay?" Chet quipped, laughing.
"Chet?" Johnny said.
"What?"
"Shut up, you goofball," Johnny replied.
The guys chuckled as they watched Gage and Kelly getting ready for a verbal free for all. Captain Stanely interrupted them.
"From what I hear, Mike, you are going to be put in for a commendation from the Fire Department as well as the Police Department. If you ask me, you deserve it, pal."
The others murmured in agreement. They sat quietly for a minute, pondering what would have happened if they had all been in the day room. If Mike hadn't taken the chance that he had.
The Captain excused himself from the table and walked over to the bar. He returned after a couple of minutes with a huge cake. They made room on the table for it.
"From all of us here to you, Mike," he said grandly as he set the cake down with a flourish. The top of the cake was decorated with the words 'OUR HERO'.
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