"Roy, I don't wanna meet her alone!" Johnny argued.

"Uh, DeSoto," Stanley called, cocking his finger at him.

Roy followed as the Cap lead him into his office and shut the door.

"Roy, I think a double date's a good idea." Hank said. "I don't like the idea of John meeting her alone either."

"Okay," Roy decided. "If it helps him, okay."

With that, Roy and Cap rejoined the others outside.

"Okay, Johnny, Joanne and I will do it, but you owe us, BIG!" Roy told him, then went to call his wife.

"Johnny, you okay, Pal?" Hank asked him.

"Cap, what I didn't tell Roy was that I got a letter from Shawn this morning. I found it taped to my door as I was leaving for shift." Johnny revealed. "It said she dreams about me, in a thong and dancing for her."

"Kinky lady." Cap remarked.

"She also said, she'd like to tie me up and whip me." John added.

"Some women like S&M." Cap shrugged.

"I'm not sure I do though." Johnny told him.

"How do you know unless you've tried it?" Roy asked as he rejoined them. "Johnny, I danced for my wife in the buff last night."

"Too much information, Pally!" Johnny winced as Hank chuckled and the tones went off.

Station 51, man down at the department store. 7714 North Eden Ave. 7714 North Eden Ave. Crosstreet: Eve. Timeout: 09:10.

"Station 51, KMG-365." Cap acknowledged as Johnny and the rest boarded the trucks.

***********************************

When they arrived on scene ten minutes later, they were met by none other than Shawn herself.

"Shawn!" John cried."You work here?!"

"Yeah," She replied. "A man claims he hurt his back in the bathroom. Follow me."

Cap, Johnny and the rest followed her to a restroom in the back of the store. As Johnny was about to enter the men's room, Hank stopped him.

"I think we can handle this, John." Hank said. "I think you and Miss McShane here have some, uh, things to talk about."

"Cap!" Johnny protested as Roy took the biophone from him, then followed the rest of the crew inside the bathroom. "Don't leave me! Cap! Guys!"

"Johnny, I'm not gonna bite! C'mon!" Shawn said as she led him toward the nearby storeroom. "As the Captain said, we have some things to talk about!"

Johnny had no choice but to follow as she led the way inside a storeroom and shut the door behind them.

"Okay, John Gage, your friends aren't here now. It's just you and me now." Shawn told him. "I want some answers and I want them now! I wanna know why you threw away my package and I wanna know why you don't wanna be with me!"

"Shawn, look, I don't know you and you don't know me, yet, you've seen me naked, sent me gifts and letters." John told her.

"Is that why you didn't have the guts to face me?" She asked. "Is that why you hid behind your colleagues when you saw me just now?!"

"Yes," The Paramedic admitted. "Shawn, the truth is, you make me uncomfortable."

"Okay. Why?" Shawn asked of him.

"Well, you spied on me in some of my most private moments for starters." He answered. "Then you send me gifts that were not in any way appropriate. Last but not least, you send me a note that details what you'd like to do to me if given the chance."

"So?" Shawn prompted. "Johnny, you are so sexy, but you go from girl to girl. Nobody ever gets to know the real John Gage. You never give anyone a chance."

"Look, let's cut to the chase here." John said. "You said that you wanted to meet me, right?!"

Shawn nodded.

"Okay, my place. Tomorrow 8:30 AM." Johnny told her. "I wanna see you in something hot."

"Deal." Shawn agreed as Johnny wrote down his home address on a slip of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to her.

Johnny then left to rejoin Roy and the rest as Shawn looked at the piece of paper he'd just given her.

****************************************************

The next day, Shawn arrived at Johnny's on time. He answered on her first knock.

"Come in," He invited. "The kitchen's this way."

"T-the kitchen?" She stammered as she stepped inside and he shut the door.

"That's right." Johnny answered. "Any girl of mine has to be able to cook a meal for me. You see, I can work for up to a week at a time at the station and when I come home, I'm gonna be tired more times than not. I need a gal that can look after things here while I work."

"Johnny-I." Shawn stammered. "I thought we were gonna-"

"Honey, I don't have the energy to love you, much less romance you right now. I've just come off of a twenty-four hour shift at the station and all I want now is my breakfast." Johnny said as Shawn started to cry.

"You Son of a bitch!" She cried, then slapped his face, hard, knocking the young man into a chair. "If I'd known you were like this, I wouldnt've come here!"

"Shawn, wait!" Johnny pleaded as she yanked open his apartment door."Shawn! Don't go! Shawn!"

John could only watch as she ran out, crying and heard the sound of the door slamming as she left. At that moment, John Roderick Gage knew he'd blown it, big time.

******************************************************

"Yeah, you blew it all right." Roy said when he heard what happened two days later as he and John were changing for work at 51's. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine!" John defended himself. "She was living a fantasy!"

"So, you took it upon yourself to give her a dose of reality, right?!" Roy guessed.

"Yeah! I wanted her to see that life with a fireman isn't all she thinks it is!" Johnny answered.

"Let me ask you something, Johnny-boy." Chet Kelly spoke up from his locker down the row from Roy's. "How the hell do you know what her ideas are? How do you know what her dreams are? Did you ever bother to talk to her or did you just assume she was crazy cause she was the one that made the first move?"

"Why don't you answer him?" Shawn encouraged as she entered the lockeroom.

"What are you doing here!?" He demanded.

"I just came by to tell you that I won't be bothering you anymore." Shawn answered. "I also came by to say on behalf of all women everywhere, go jump off the nearest bridge cause we have no use for sexist, uneducated pigs like you! Johnny, you were right when you said I was living a fantasy! I was living one! I thought that you were a real man, but I sure found out the other day what a jackass you are!"

Johnny was pale as she stepped over to him.

"Somehow, somewhere in your childhood, you were taught that a woman is nothing unless she lives for you!" Shawn told him. "Well, we women are people too, John Gage and we'll be just fine without you and your goofy grin! As a matter of fact, I can replace you and that grin with a cold piece of liver!"

With that, Shawn turned to go.

"When your ready to go from boy to man, give me a call. I'm in the book!" Shawn finished. "Roy, will you walk me out?"

"Sure," Roy replied, then escorted her out.

"What are you looking at?!" Johnny growled.

"Nothing," Chet assured him.

***********************************

All just went on about changing for work as Roy returned from escorting Shawn out. Roy just changed in silence, then went to the kitchen for coffee. John joined him shortly after.

"Well?" He asked.

"Well, what?!" Roy replied. "What do you want me to say, John?! I just don't understand you now!"

"Why?!" John asked. "Because I'm not married with a family like you?!"

"You're jealous of me." Roy realized.

"WHAT?!" Johnny laughed.

"You're jealous!" Roy laughed.

"How can you even think that?" John asked his partner.

"We all know that you wish you had family. I also know how difficult being alone in the world is for you." Roy calmed down. "You see us with our families and are reminded of what you don't have. It hurts you inside, doesn't it?"

"I think we all know how Johnny hurts." Cap chimed in as he joined the Paramedics. "I think that with the hurt, there's resentment too. John here resents you and me cause we have found love and happiness with others."

"No!" John yelled, then stormed out of the kitchen.

Roy was hot on his best friend's heels as he went into the dorm.

"Johnny, we struck a nerve, didn't we?" The older medic asked. "Tell the truth."

"It's not that, Roy." A defeated Johnny said as he sank into the chair at the desk by the Captain's bed. "You have no idea what it's like to be a piece of meat. That's how most women see me. Oh, they love me, every single one of them. They love lookin at ol John when he's washing his car without a shirt on or fixing something for them!"

Roy nodded.

"Oh, the ladies sure love me when they see me at a fire in my turnouts or I pull them from a smoke filled building or extricate them from a car wreck! I'm a big hero to them! Get one of them in a room with me outta uniform and watch them dump me or slap me!" Johnny hissed. "I resent women who love me because of what I do for a living or how I look!"

"Like Shawn." Roy recognized.

"Exactly." Johnny nodded as Stanley came in.

"Roll call, Guys." He told them.

"Be right there, Cap." John replied.

John and Roy left the dorm and followed Hank into the Apparatus room where they joined Chet, Marco Lopez and Engineer Mike Stoker in line by the engine As Cap took his place in front of his men. The tones started sounding before the A-Shift skipper got one word out.

Station 10, engine 51, engine 11, fire alarm ringing in the elementary school. 55 West Johnston Ave. 55 West Johnston Ave. Crosstreet: Ventura. Timeout: 08:01.

"Engine 51, KMG-365." Hank responded, then joined the crew on the engine as they left the station.

"Roy, about what I said in the dorm-" Johnny began as Roy shut the bay door.

"Johnny, you didn't say anything wrong." The Senior Paramedic assured him. "I think that what you said needed to be said. It helped me to understand you better."

"How?" The younger man asked.

"You revealed alot to me in those angry words." Roy explained. "You have reason to feel as you do about women. I see that now."

"That don't excuse what I did to Shawn." Johnny told his partner. "I was a complete ass toward her!"

"Yeah, but she was toward you too." Roy reminded him.

"She could've been the one, Roy." John said, sadly. "I'll never know now because I just had to be an ass!"

"Johnny, look her up in the phone book." Roy suggested. "There can't be too many McShanes in LA County."

"I doubt she'd even talk to me." John hedged as he grabbed some cleaning supplies from the storage closet. "I'll be in the latrine."

"Johnny-" Roy began.

Johnny just went to clean the bathroom. The rest of the morning was spent cleaning the station and inventorying the squad. Once the chores were done, Johnny made his way into the dorm to think while Roy went to read in the rec room. The engine arrived back from it's run shortly after and soot covered Mike joined John in the dorm, along with Chet.

"How'd it go, Guys?" Johnny asked them as they walked by him on their way to the shower.

"Johnny, it was a mess." Chet told him. "It was a fire in the school cafeteria. It was started by someone leaving an oven on. It took us two hours to get the fire out and one hour to do the overhaul."

"Sounds like a real mess." Johnny remarked.

"You still thinking about Shawn?" Chet asked him.

"I really blew it, Chet." Johnny told him.

"So what?" Chet asked. "You blew it. Maybe you can learn a lesson from the experience."

"She might've been the one I was looking for." Johnny stated.

"John, look, we both know that she would've wound up like any number of other gals you victimized over the years. You're a love em and leave em guy, Johnny-baby. That's just the way you are." Chet told him.

As Chet left to grab a clean uniform from his locker, John couldn't help but think that the Irish fireman was right.

***********************************

The rest of the shift passed with very few runs and when he got off the next day, Johnny looked up Shawn's address in the phone book.

"So, you're gonna call her, Huh?" Roy asked as he and John were walking to their cars in the parking lot.

"I'm gonna go by her place on my way home." Johnny replied. "I wanna apologize to her face to face. Later."

Johnny got in his Land Rover and leaving 51's he made his way over to Shawn's apartment building which was across the street from the one he lived in. Going inside, he bumped into the lady herself as she was leaving for work.

"John," She greeted the dark haired man. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize for the other day." He explained. "Have you got a minute? I'd like to talk to you."

"Johnny, I'm sorry, but I cannot forgive what you did the other day. You had fun at my expense." Shawn told him. "You hurt me outta some childish need to get back at me."

"Shawn-" Johnny reached out to her.

"Johnny, one of these days you're gonna learn that love is not a game. You're gonna meet a girl that will see beyond your charms and your smile and see you as you really are. A manipulative, self-centered, oversexed bastard! Part of any successful relationship is having two people who are mature enough to understand the responsibilities that go with a relationship and with sexual activity." Shawn told him.

Johnny nodded.

"I'm not saying this to hurt you, I'm saying it in hopes that you'll rethink your behavior toward women. Johnny, I love you. A part of my heart always will, but I see now that you're not ready for a serious relationship with me or with any other woman." Shawn finished.

"Shawn, I realize that I acted badly the other day, but it wasn't because of anything you did. I was carrying around alot of hurt and resentment. See, alot of women have used me too. Some have only liked me because I'm a firefighter. Others have only liked me for my looks." Johnny told her. "I've never found anyone who loved me for me."

"You have now." Shawn smiled, gently. "C'mon."

Johnny followed as she led him toward her apartment.

"Make yourself at home. I'll be right back." She told him as she shut her door behind them.

Johnny sat down on her sofa and looked around as she went back into her bedroom. As Johnny looked around the small apartment. He saw photos along the walls. He guessed they were of Shawn's family.

"I'm back." She brought him out of his thoughts.

Johnny gasped when he saw her. She was now dressed in a shimmering red dress that ran all the way to her feet. Her hair shone as it cascaded down her back.

"Wow!" The Paramedic breathed as she turned on a record player.

"Dance with me?" She invited as a slow song played.

John rose to his feet and took her in his strong arms.

***********************************

As they danced, Johnny felt something he'd never before felt. As he held Shawn close, his heart skipped a beat.

"Johnny?" She asked.

"You know, I have a strange feeling." He remarked. "I have the feeling you ain't gonna be on my love em and leave em list. Shawn, are you still hot for me?"

"Yeah," She admitted. "This time though, I'm in love with the man I have in my arms, not the fireman I saw at the fire."

"Well, that's good, cause I'm falling for the lady I'm holding now." Johnny told her. "Not just sexually either."

"Why, Johnny Gage, I do believe that the man in you is emerging." Shawn smiled. "I'd like to fix breakfast for you."

"Only if you let me help." He purred as she pulled him into the kitchen which was just off the living room. "I'd better warn you, the guys at the station rib me about my cooking."

"Well, I nearly gag on my cooking!" Shawn giggled. "I've nearly burned this place down a time or two with my eggs!"

"Well, I think between the two of us, we can come up with a half way decent breakfast." Johnny grinned.