For Lack of a Happy Ending (Emergency Fan-fiction)

Chapter 1

Roy woke to the sound of pots clanging to the floor. He opened his eyes, the morning light was blinding. He sat up and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. Around the room the other firemen at station 51 were doing the same.

"What the hell was that?" Asked Captain Hank Stanley, clearly annoyed that his sleep had been interrupted. Roy glanced over at his partners bunk, it was empty. The puzzle pieces began to fit together. It was Johnny's day to cook breakfast and they all knew he was a klutz in the kitchen.

"Johnny is cooking..." said Roy. Everyone realized what must have happened and rolled their eyes in exasperation.

"KEEP IT DOWN GAGE" Yelled Chet Kelly in the general direction of the kitchen.

"Oh shut it Kelly!" John yelled back defensively. Everyone rolled back over to try and get a little more sleep before John inevitably set the stove on fire. Roy tried to sleep for a few minutes before deciding that it was a futile endeavour. He rolled out of bed and walked to the locker room to put on his blue uniform. As he walked out pulling on his jacket he smelled something burning.

He started running towards the kitchen, just in case Johnny had really started a fire. Instead Roy found Johnny hacking away at the burnt eggs with a spatula.

"What are you doing?" Asked Roy smiling.

"Good morning to you too," Johnny grumbled. He took one last swing at the eggs and the spatula snapped in half. Roy laughed.

"Do you want a little help?' He asked with a smile. Johnny glared at him.

"No I do not want any help thank you!"

Roy raised his eyebrows and sighed, he went over the the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He walked over to the sofa, grabbed the paper and sat down. CLANG! Roy glanced over his paper to see Johnny using a large kitchen knife to remove the burnt eggs. CRASH! He looked up again, Johnny had smashed a plate. CLANK. Roy looked up expecting to see another mess, instead he saw Johnny smugly setting the table.

"How's it going?" Asked Roy setting the paper down.

"Fine! Fine," Said Johnny smiling like a dork. "Breakfast is served."

"Oh, okay," Said Roy. "I'll go tell the guys-"

"No! No, I'll tell them. I'll tell them." Said Johnny quickly.

"Okay," said Roy, raising his hands in surrender. Johnny practically ran, he pushed open the door the the locker room and raced into the dorms.

"Breakfast is ready!" He called from the door.

"SHUT IT JOHN." Said Chet with his face in the pillow.

"Yeah," agreed Marco.

"Okay!" Said John defensively. "Grouch," He said under his breath as he left the room. He walked back into the kitchen dejectedly. He sat down next to Roy, who was reading the paper. "Do you have the comics?" He asked innocently. Roy looked up slowly with an annoyed expression.

"Here," he said, smiling forcibly.

"Oh, thanks." The two of them sat together until the rest of their crewmates started to file in tiredly.

"Good morning!" Said Johnny cheerfully as he jumped to his feet to get the food from the oven.

"Morning," They mumbled back. The engine had been called out to a brushfire and two rubbish fires the previous night, so they were dead beat.

"What's to eat?" Asked Cap.

"Eggs," said Roy looking up from his paper. Johnny set the bowl of scrambled eggs on the table and the plate of bacon next to it. Everyone pulled out one of the stiff backed wooden chairs and sat down. Their meal was quiet, the silence only broken by the request to pass something down. They were still silently eating when the alarms sounded.

"Station 51. Engine 127. Engine 36. Structure Fire. 13270 Flower. 13270 Flower. Cross street Third. Time out, 07:51."

They shot up from their chairs and ran for their respective vehicles.

"Man, this sounds big," Said Johnny. "Third and Flowers... isn't that that old mill?" Roy nodded a yes, he had a nervous knot in his stomach, like something big was about to happen, but he didn't know why.