Copyright November 2002 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: Dumped again, Naturally

Author: Robin R. Neher

E-mail: NRobin1027@aol.com

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Johnny/Gage/Pam Tyler

Archive: Yes

Fandom: Emergency!

Summary: Johnny Gage is dumped again. Insult is added to injury when Karen Overstreet gives Johnny a rough time about it.

Note: This story is set sometime around the time of the Emergency! episode, "The indirect method"

Content Warning: Harsh language. Mild violence against Johnny.

Dumped again, Naturally
by Robin R. Neher

It was two days after Karen Overstreet had begun her field training at station fifty-one and she was already there when John "Johnny" Gage arrived for work. Karen sensed that all was not well with thd dark haired man when he slammed open his locker door.

"Johnny?" She asked.

"What?!" The Paramedic growled, whirling on her.

Karen gasped when she saw a huge shiner under Johnny's right eye.

"What happened?" Karen asked.

"My date punched me!" Johnny answered, hotly.

"Punched you?" Karen repeated.

"That's right!" John sneered. "My face met up with her fist!"

"Johnny, did you-" Karen began.

"Hell no!" Johnny cried. "I didn't force myself on her! You women are all alike! Every man you meet only wants one thing! We're just wolves in your eyes!"

"You got dumped again." Paramedic Roy DeSoto guessed.

"You should see the shiner he has." Karen teased.

Johnny glared as he reached for a uniform to change into.

"Sorry." She backed off.

"If you'll give us a minute to change." Roy hinted.

Karen left the lockeroom, but as she did, she broke into laughter. Johnny sank onto the lockeroom bench and put his head in his hands.

"Johnny?" Roy asked. "Talk to me."

"Roy, you know I took Pam out last night." Johnny said.

"Pam Tyler? The new nurse at Rampart?" Roy prompted.

Johnny nodded.

"We were at this bar, having drinks when in walks Valerie." Johnny told his partner.

"You mean, Valerie with three kids?!" Roy gasped.

"The one and only." Johnny answered. "Anyway, she whispers something to Pam. The next thing I know, Pam decks me and I'm seeing stars!The next thing I feel is a drunk bastard, peeing on me!"

"Valerie probably told Pammy what a jerk you were to her when you two were hot and heavy." Karen guessed, sticking her head in.

"OUT!!" Johnny ordered, pointing toward the door.

Karen quickly left the men alone.

"Well, it's over and done with now." Roy assured his friend.

"Oh yeah? And just what do you think Chet Kelly will do when he finds out about this?!" Johnny asked as he buttoned his workshirt. "I already feel emasculated as it is!"

"Don't worry about Chet." Roy advised, buttoning his own workshirt. "As for feeling less of a man, you just need to remember that a man is more than his cock and his sexual abilities. A man is also more than his fighting abilities."

"Tell that to Karen out there!" Johnny griped as he and Roy finished dressing, then closed their lockers.

As the men left the lockeroom and headed for the kitchen for coffee, Karen roared with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Roy wondered.

"Gage, I'm sorry, I just can't help it!" The trainee guffawed. "It just feels sooooooooo good to see to get put in your place by a woman!"

Johnny just turned and slinked into the dorm. An angry Roy then turned to Karen.

"Of all the downright insentive-" Roy began.

"Oh, come off it, DeSoto!" Karen giggled. "You're no better than your partner in the dorm there! Your thinking when it comes to women is just as antique as his! I'll bet you don't treat your wife any better than he does his dates! When are all you men gonna learn that women aren't just put on this Earth to cook, clean and be there with her legs spread and naked anytime you wanna get turned on?!"

Karen just laughed all the harder as she disappeared out back Roy just stood there, his jaw clenched.

"Damn!" Roy muttered.

"Something wrong, Roy?" Captain Hank Stanley asked, startling the Paramedic. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, Cap, all this women's rights crap is getting to me." Roy stated. "Poor Johnny, he got decked by a girl last night, then Karen laughs at him! Johnny doesn't feel like a man now! Cap, could she ride the engine with you today? Please?"

"Okay, Roy." Cap agreed. "Chet called in sick today anyway."

Another lucky break for Johnny. Roy thought as the klaxon went off.

Station 8, engine 51, broken gas man on the corner of Elm and Pine. Elm and Pine. Timeout: 08:00.

"Karen, C'mon! You're riding with us!" Cap called, getting a turnout coat and helmet for her from the apparatus bay closet.

"Engine 51, KMG-365." Engineer Mike Stoker responded as Karen quickly put on the coat and helmet Cap handed her, then took Chet's seat on the engine as it left the station, code R.

*

As soon as Roy was sure the engine was gone, he went to find Johnny. As Roy entered the dorm, he gasped to find Johnny naked on his bunk.

"Johnny, what are you doing?!" Roy demanded.

"Getting used to masturbation." Johnny wept as he touched himself.

It was then Roy realized just how disturbed Johnny was by the punch and Karen's remarks. He quickly left the dorm and went to the rec room. Once there, Roy went to the phone and dialed.

"Dixie? Roy DeSoto." Roy said into the reciever. "You and a doctor better get down here on the double. I think that my partner is losing it......Dixie, I'm serious! Johnny got punched by one of your nurses last night and Karen Overstreet may have just pushed Johnny over the edge!.......He's sitting on his bunk, playing with himself!"

Dr. Early and I are on the way. Dix assured Roy. Take the squad out of service til we get there.

"Right." Roy replied. "Thanks, Dix."

Roy hung up the phone, then went to stay with Johnny til Dix and Early arrived.

"Johnny, Dr. Early and Dixie are on the way over. I'd like you to tell them what's wrong, okay?" Roy asked.

Johnny nodded, his brown eyes haunted.

"I'm taking the squad out of service til they get here." Roy added.

Joe and Dixie arrived minutes later.

"He's in the dorm." Roy said.

"Joe, Johnny knows and opens up to me. Would you mind if I went in alone?" Dix asked.

"Not at all." Joe replied.

As Dix was about to enter the dorm, the engine returned from it's run.

"Cap, would you mind having-" Roy began.

"What's wrong, DeSoto?" Karen asked.

"Actually, you are." Roy told her, pointedly. "Thanks to you, Johnny's naked on his bunk and playing with himself! He's upset, very upset!"

"Look, DeSoto! If Johnny got punched, it's his own damn fault! It was gonna happen sooner or later anyway!" Karen shot back.

"Now, look, Overstreet!" Cap tried stepping in..

"No, Captain Stanley, you look! You have til end of shift to whip these men into shape or I go to the Chief!" Karen told him, then got off the engine and headed toward the kitchen.

"Cap, with all due respect, I think that Karen's right." Dixie stated. "You run your station as if it's a men's lockeroom. The only trouble is that you're doing it with a woman in your midst, with no respect for her feelings or sensabilities."

"Dixie, what the hell would you have me do?" Hank asked.

"I'll tell you what to do." Dix smiled, then bent to whisper in Cap's ear..........

*

"LINE UP!!!" Hank shouted a few hours later. "LET'S GO, LET'S GO, LET'S GO!!!!"

Hank clapped his hands as the crew scrambled into the apparatus bay, along with Karen. He then opened the apparatus bay closet door for the guys to grab their dress hats.

"Move it!!" Hank commanded.

The guys all got their hats and scrambled into formation with Karen in between the Paramedics.

"Ten hut!" Hank barked.

A-Shift snapped to.

"Over the last couple days, it has become obvious that this shift has a problem having a woman in it's ranks." Hank began. "Frankly, I thought you were better than that! Miss Overstreet, your behavior has been just as bad! We're all supposed to be adults here as well as professionals!"

Hank paced up and down the line as he talked, looking his men over. He stopped when he got to Karen.

"Miss Overstreet, I want you to know that I do not like being threatened, esspecially by a Paramedic Trainee! Women's lib has no place in a fire station! These men have worked long and hard to be respected and I'll die rather than watch you criticize and belittle them because you don't like how they talk and act! You have no idea how we treat our significant others, so don't tell us how we should behave! The place for Women's lib is outside this door, not inside this station! As for the rest of you, I warn you that I will not tolerate the behavior of the last couple days anymore!" Hank stated.

Cap left Karen and got a waste basket from the kitchen. He then returned to the bay with it and set it in front of the crew.

"It all comes down to this, Guys. Either you can start acting in a way becoming firemen or you can put your badge in this trash can and walk out that bay door, no questions asked." Hank told them.

All the guys and the Paramedic trainee stood stiffly. After a minute, Karen grabbed her purse and left the station. As the sound of Karen's car pulling away was heard, Johnny was the next to speak.

"Cap?" He said.

"Yeah, John?" He answered.

"Roy and I need to get over to Rampart for some supplies." Johnny said.

"Go ahead." Cap approved.

Roy and John got in the squad and left for Rampart Hospital. As they did, Roy turned to his partner.

"We sure blew it this time." Roy remarked.

*

The next morning, Joanne DeSoto watched as her husband picked at his breakfast.

"Roy, what are you upset about?" She wanted to know.

"Who said I was upset?" Roy asked her.

"C'mon, Honey. Ever since you walked in the door, you've been quiet and you're not eating. What's wrong?" Joanne asked.

"Karen Overstreet quit the Paramedic training and went back to Redding. The Chief called me into HQ and chewed my ass about it before I got off shift." Roy spilled the beans. "McConnikee said that as senior Paramedic on A-shift, I was supposed to make sure that she was treated fairly."

"Was she trated fairly?" Jo asked, taking a seat next to Roy at their kitchen table.

"Yeah, at least I thought so." Roy answered. "We went out of our way to welcome her to station 51."

"If she was treated so fairly, then why is she not training with you anymore?" Joanne asked. "Are you sure you fellas wern't a little hostile toward her?"

"Why would we be?" Roy answered.

"Cause maybe six firemen I know were upset at having a woman thrown at them." Jo smirked. "Or could it be that some male egos were bruised by a woman who had her own thoughts and ideas?"

"Are you implying that I'm sexist?" Roy asked.

"Not in so many words." Jo replied. "Honey, think back. When you and Johnny first became partners, did you ever tell him that he couldn't act on his own judgement?"

"No, but-" Roy stammered.

"But, Johnny was a man." Joanne guessed. "Johnny's opinions and ideas are valued more cause he has a penis, right?"

"No! I mean, yes!" Roy stammered. "Look, Johnny is a qualified Paramedic!"

"So's Karen." Joanne softly rebutted. "Or she was until she arrived at Station 51 and met six spoiled children who couldn't let a girl play too."

"That's not the issue!" Roy roared.

"Oh, isn't it?" Jo shot back. "You guys have had piss poor attitudes from the day you saw Karen was a woman and wanted to be a Paramedic. She sensed that from day she arrived there."

"Hey, she walked in with a huge chip on her shoulder!" Yelled Roy.

"No more of one than she was met with!" Jo hissed. "You guys were terrible to her! You acted like assholes just because nobody told you that she was a woman! Worst of all, Chet Kelly!"

"Can I help it if Miss Women's lib didn't have a damn since of humor?!" Roy demanded.

"Would you if someone you were treating suddenly sat up and said, sorry it was all a joke?!" Jo demanded of him. "I sure as hell wouldn't! I wouldn't think that was funny at all! If Captain Stanley had even one ounce of authority in his body, he sure as hell would've torn Chester B. a new asshole for that stunt he pulled! If Cap was any type of a man, he would've suspended Chet! If you and Johnny were any type of men, you would've stood up to Chet and reported him to the Captain!"

"So that's it. It comes out." A calmer Roy said after a minute. "You think I'm soft."

"Honey, you just can't stand there and smile when Chet or anyone else does something you know is wrong." Joanne said.

"Johnny and I were in the office when that happened." Roy said.

"Then whoever was in that kitchen should've stepped up and stood up to Chet." Jo stated.

"You're right." Roy sighed. "Dammit, you're right. Trouble is, it's too late to tell that to Karen. She's two hours away in Redding."

Jo went to Roy and put her arms around him.

"Roy, we're not doing anything right now, are we?" Joanne asked.

"Not that I know of." Roy replied.

"Why don't we take a drive up to Redding and see if we can't talk to Karen? After all, she did save your life the other day. Don't you want a chance to say thank you?"

"Yeah." Roy admitted. "If it hadn't been for her, I surely would've died."

*

Meanwhile, in his apartment across town, Johnny Gage sat in his overstuffed chair, feeling both sad and guilty. He still, despite the talk with Dix the day before at the station, felt robbed on his manhood. He also felt guilty about causing Karen Overstreet to leave Paramedic training.

"We were awful to her." Johnny told himself. "I was just as terrible to Pam."

"No, Johnny, I was awful to you." Pam Tyler said, quietly.

"What are you doing here?" Johnny asked the nurse with blond, curly hair. "How'd you find me?"

"There ain't that many Gages in the LA area." Pam replied. "Especially John R. Gages."

"That's true." Johnny smiled. "Come in."

"Thank you." Pam replied, entering the small apartment. "Nice place you have here."

"It's home." Johnny replied as Pam entered and shut the door. "What brings you here?"

"Johnny, I came for several reasons. One, I heard about what Karen did from Roy. To think that she could laugh at you that way turns my stomach. You are every bit a man, no matter what that bitch said! When I heard what she'd done to you, I wanted to strangle her! Johnny, I should not have hit you the other night." Pam said, perching herself on Johnny's couch. "I'm so sorry, Johnny."

"Don't worry about it." Johnny grinned. "My eye will heal."

Pam smiled back at him.

"The other reason I'm here is that I can't get you outta my head. You are a gorgeous man. I love those eyes of yours, not to mention that crooked smile." Pam said. "I'd love to see those eyes dark with passion and that smile dazzling me as you smile down at me as we make love

*

Back at the DeSoto's, Roy and Joanne were getting ready for their trip to Redding. Roy was rehearsing what he'd say to Karen when they got there.

"Roy, I'd better do the talking when we get to Redding." Joanne said.

"Okay." Roy agreed. "After all, it was Johnny and I's caveman attitudes that caused all this."

"Roy-" Joanne protested.

"It's the way you women have been taught to think." Roy said. "All that equal rights mumbo jumbo has turned you all against us."

"Roy!" Jo rebuked her husband.

"All you women think that men are idiots!" Roy hissed.

"Now, Look! I'm sorry that you and those asses at station 51 feel threatened by a woman working alongside you, but we women have just as much right as you do to be firemen, Paramedics or whatever the hell else we want to be as you
do! Joanne told her husband. "If you can't get that through your mind, then we'll just see how much longer you have a wife, Buster, and we'll just see if any girl will go out with Johnny or any of the other single cavemen!"

Roy just got out of the car and went back toward the house.

"Where you going?" Jo asked. "Roy!"

"Joanne, you have a way of making a man feel worthless, you know that?" Roy asked.

"Honey, get back in the car." Jo requested.

"Jo, I'm staying here. You go on and have a talk with Karen." Roy said, his feelings hurt.

Jo could only watch as her husband went back inside their house.

"Dammit!" She cursed.

"Joanne?" Dixie McCall asked.

"Dix, what are you doing here?" Joanne asked her friend.

"Cheif McConnikee called me about Karen. He asked if maybe you and I could talk to her." Dix replied.

"That's where Roy and I were headed, until a minute ago." Joanne sighed. "I never knew Roy to be such a caveman, until now. He just stomped back in the house, saying he was staying here."

"It's better if just you and I go anyway." Dix replied.

"We'll take my car." Joanne sighed as Dix joined her in the passenger seat. "Big babies, all of them."

"Jo, that's not fair." Dix told her. "Of course the guys are feeling threatened. I mean, Chief McConnikee didn't tell these guys that the trainee was a woman. Then, this woman comes in with a major chip on her shoulder and gets mad over a station house prank that was stupid, but she still overreacted."

"Fast forward to now. I get pissed and call one of those firemen a caveman and imply that he's an idiot." Joanne realized.

"Doesn't help a man feel manly, does it?" Dix asked as Jo pulled out of her driveway.

*

Johnny, meanwhile, was feeling very manly. His heart pounded in his chest as Pam eased herself on top of him. She then stroked his face.

"Johnny, just lay back and enjoy the ride." Pam cooed.

Johnny grinned as the pretty nurse smiled down at him.

"This isn't gonna be just a one time thing." Pam told Johnny. "I love you, John Gage. I have since I first came to Rampart. I'm not like the others. I see way more than just good looks in your favor. I'm not after you cause
you're cute."

"You're not?" Johnny stammered.

"No." Pam assured him. "And I'm not like that bitch, Valerie, either. Number one, I have no kids and two, I don't buy the cock and bull story my coworkers tell about you. I saw that you're no jerk. You are a very compassionate man."

Johnny shivered as Pam slowly unbuttoned his shirt.

"Pam, you're making me feel so good right now." Johnny told her. "I just wish Karen Overstreet was as understanding as you are."

"I do too." Pam agreed. "I've known her since we were kids in Redding."

"Was she always-like that?" Johnny asked.

"You mean, down on men?" Pam guessed.

Johnny nodded.

"Johnny, Karen is usually a very nice person." Pam said as she massaged Johnny's sculpted chest. "I think that when she was picked to train as a Paramedic, she didn't realize the flack that she'd take, simply because she was a woman. Then, she was sent to you and DeSoto for field training at station 51."

"A fire station full of men." Johnny finished.

"For her, that was like being asked to train in a men's lockeroom." Pam said. "She had never sat foot in a fire station before a few days ago."

"I'll admit that we weren't exactly friendly toward her either." Johnny said. "In hindsight, I see that now. It's both our faults things turned out as they did. Karen's as well as Roy's and mine."

"How so?" Pam asked, then kissed Johnny's neck.

"Roy and I were the ones assigned to train her." Johnny answered, then moaned as Pam's hot mouth next found his left shoulder. "We were supposed to see that she was treated right."

"But, where was your Captain in all this?" Pam asked Johnny.

"What do you mean? He didn't know anymore about her than we did." Johnny replied. "Oooohhh, Pammmm!!"

Pam giggled as she swirled her tongue over Johnny's belly.

"What I mean is where the hell was he when Chet pulled that stupid prank on her?" Pam hissed as she next reached for Johnny's belt.

*****

Meanwhile, at the DeSoto home, Roy sat alone in his favorite chair. As he looked out his living room window, the words that Joanne had said just before she'd left with Dixie for Redding echoing in his mind.

We'll just see how much longer you have a wife, Buster! The words repeated in Roy's head over and over. We'll just see how much longer you have a wife! A wife! A wife!

Roy clenched his fist and banged the arm of his chair.

"Caveman, am I?" Roy muttered. "I'll show her that I'm no caveman!"

With that, Roy got up from his chair and went to the bedroom that he and his wife shared.

"Daddy?" Six year old Chris said from the room door.

"What is it, Sport?" Roy asked the boy who was home from school with a cold.

"Daddy, I'm thirsty." The boy stated.

Roy went over to the boy and picked him up.

"I'll put you back to bed, then get you a glass of water." Roy smiled. "How's that grab ya?"

"I love you, Daddy." The boy smiled as Roy carried Chris toward his room.

Once his son was back in bed and the water gotten, Roy gathered all of Chris's dirty laundry, along with his daughter's, his and Jo's and proceeded toward the laundry room. After putting the first load into the washer and starting it, Roy retuned to Chris's side.

"How come you're washing clothes, Daddy?" The child asked, his voice raspy. "That's Mommy's job."

At that moment, it hit Roy. He realized that he was setting the wrong example for his Son.

"Christopher, I don't ever wanna hear you say that's Mommy's job ever again, understand?" Roy asked. "Boys can wash clothes and cook. They can sew and take care of little kids. Girls can be cops, firefighters, doctors, even Paramedics."

"Your dad's right, Chris." Karen overstreet smiled.

"Karen, I thought-" Roy stammered.

"That I was in Redding?" Karen guessed. "I started to go back there, but then, I realized that if I went back, nothing would be accomplished and it would show what a coward I was. Roy, I owe you a huge apology, the others too. I was behaving stupidly."

"You weren't the only one." Roy replied. "Karen, I owe you an apology too. We didn't exactly welcome you to the station with open arms either. How'd you get in my house anyway?"

"I invited her." Joanne smiled. "Thanks for starting the laundry, Hon."

"Anytime, Sweetie." Roy grinned.

"We spotted Karen's car as we were leaving town at a motel and brought her back here." Dix told Roy.

"I'll be right back, Chris." Roy told his Son. "Jo, may I see you in the bedroom for a minute?"

"Roy, this is no time for a quickie!" Jo answered, teasingly, taking his hand as the other grown ups laughed.

"What's a quickie?" Chris asked.

"I'll tell you when you're older." Roy answered, then whisked Joanne into their bedroom.

Once the door was shut, Roy kissed his wife.

"Honey, it's you I owe the biggest apology to." Roy said. "I've been a jerk to you most of all. I acted like an ass earlier and I'm sorry."

Much to Joanne's shock, Roy broke down.

"Roy? Honey? What is it?" Jo asked, gently as her husband sank down to the bed.

"I blew it, Joanne!" Roy wept. "I blew it with Karen, you and most of all, my Son! I was gathering the dirty clothes earlier and Chris asked me why I was doing laundry! He said it was Mommy's job!"

"So?" Joanne asked, taking a seat next to Roy on the bed.

"When he said that, I nearly fell over." Roy sniffed. "My god, what have I been teaching my boy?! I've always told him the women should be treated with respect! Then I turn and treat Karen like dirt and allow the other guys to do so at the station! Some example I was!"

END PART 9