Archive of Our Own ^beta

Two weeks after the paramedic bill passed Johnny made his monthly drive to visit a gay bar that was two hours away. He wasn’t looking for love or even a hookup. He just wanted to go someplace where he could be his complete self for a few hours. He was sitting at the bar contemplating what glass of beer he wanted to spend the next few hours nursing when he looked across the room and saw Mike Morton. Johnny panicked and quickly left. He hadn’t been back since.

Mike had finally decided that he wanted to try to have an actual relationship. He wasn’t sure where to meet men so he decided to try a gay bar. He decided to try one a couple of hours from home to start out with. He had been there for a few hours when he was positive he saw John Gage sitting at the bar. He panicked and left.

Neither man ever discussed what they saw with each other.

“This equipment needs to go down to the morgue,” Dixie commented.

“Why does the morgue need a box of bedpans?” Morton asked. 

“It doesn’t. It’s just where they are being stored while they clean out the supply closet. Somebody said it was a fire hazard,” Dixie replied, looking pointedly at Johnny.

“Sorry, Dix,” Johnny replied.

“You are not. You loved handing Brackett that citation,” Dixie said with a mischievous smile.

“Maybe a little,” Johnny admitted. “Roy still isn’t here. I’ll take them down for you.”

“I’ll get a gurney and we can take all five boxes at once,” Mike volunteered.

The two men quickly loaded the boxes and pushed the gurney to the elevator. They got off on the basement level and pushed the gurney to the morgue.

“Why’s the morgue always in the basement?” Johnny asked.

“I don’t know. I’m not an architect,” Mike replied.

“But haven’t you ever wondered?” Johnny asked.

“No, I haven’t,” Mike responded, although now he was really curious.

They entered the morgue and started stacking the boxes in the corner. Johnny went to open the door and the knob turned all the way around but nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing.

“Is there a problem?” Mike asked.

“The door won’t open,” Johnny explained.

“It’s not that hard to open a door, Gage,” Mike said as he came beside him and turned the knob. Still nothing.

“How long has it been?” Mike asked.

“It’s been seven minutes,” Johnny said in exasperation. “Give them time to notice and they’ll come let us out.”

“Try the HT again,” Mike ordered.

“It’s not working in here. We’re underground and there’s too much metal,” Johnny explained patiently.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

“How long now?” Morton asked.

“You are wearing a watch,” Johnny pointed out.

There was more silence and then Johnny thought he heard a noise. He started looking around.

“Hear a ghost?” Mike teased.

“No, I…how many dead bodies do you think are in here?” Johnny replied.

“We had two people die earlier so there’s at least two.”

“Shouldn’t there be a medical examiner here?”

“They’re dead. They don’t need supervision.”

Dixie hung up the phone and looked very unhappy.

“What’s wrong?” Joe asked.

“All the elevators are out. And half the building is being run on the generators,” Dixie explained. “Somebody hit a transformer. Half the city is without power.”

“Call Kel and see if he can come back in. Then get triage set up. It’s going to be a long night,” Joe ordered.

“We’ve been forgotten,” Johnny announced. 

“Maybe there was a nuclear war and we’re the only survivors,” Mike suggested.

“Haha,” Johnny responded. “I understand forgetting you but Roy should be back by now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Morton snapped.

“It means they just assume you’re with a patient. But Roy can’t leave without me so he should be looking. So why isn’t he?” Johnny explained patiently.

Mike could tell Johnny was worried. He wasn’t very fond of the paramedic . And he’d actively distanced himself since the incident. But he decided to try being nice while they were stuck together.

“Maybe it’s because it’s cooler in the basement,” Mike said.

“Huh?” Johnny asked.

“Maybe that’s why the morgue is always in the basement.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s a good reason.”

Roy came upon a lot of firetrucks and rescue vehicles. Traffic was completely blocked off. The battalion chief came up to his window.

“Where are you headed?” he asked.

“To Rampart to get my partner. He flew ahead on a helicopter,” Roy explained.

“There’s no way through right now. Go to station 99. We are setting up a triage station,” he ordered.

So Roy turned the squad around and headed to station 99.

Johnny had his flashlight out and was frantically going through all the drawers and boxes looking for something he could use as a screwdriver. He was not having any luck.

“If you can’t take the doorknob off just knock the door down,” Mike suggested.

“I can’t. The door opens in so I can’t just kick it down,” Johnny explained. “It’s not like we are in any danger. Wait, are we in danger?”

“Only if you’re afraid of ghosts,” Mike teased.

“I’m not!” Johnny said indignantly as he slammed the drawer he was looking in shut.

“Sorry,” Mike said, feeling the need once again to be nice to the paramedic.

“Something’s wrong. Roy should be back by now. Someone should have missed us,” Johnny changed the subject.

Before Mike could answer the lights went out.

“Johnny, you can let go now,” Mike said. 

The paramedic was currently holding his arm in a death grip.

“Don’t you watch horror movies? That’s how they get you when you are alone,” Johnny argued.

“This isn’t a horror movie,” Mike replied, forcing himself to remain patient.

They were trapped together. Getting into a fight wasn’t going to make things better. He waited for Johnny’s grip to loosen. It didn’t.

“Maybe I’m a little afraid of ghosts. But only when I’m locked in a dark morgue,” Johnny admitted. “You know how to ward them off, right?”

“Why would I know that?” Mike asked, trying to figure out if he should be offended.

“Because you were in the navy. Don’t they do something to avoid ghost ships?” Johnny asked.

Mike started laughing. This entire conversation had been an adventure from beginning to end. 

“There are some people in the navy that believe in ghosts. I wasn’t one of them,” he explained. “So I don’t really know.”

“The power is out in the whole hospital. All we have is generators now,” Dixie announced.

“I’ve got all the paramedics diverted to other hospitals. That should help,” Brackett told her.

“As soon as the road opens back up we’ll be slammed,” Joe added.

“Where’s Mike?” Kel asked.

Before anyone could answer a man came running in.

“I’ve got 3 electrical shock victims in my car,” he hollered.

“It’s getting colder,” Johnny commented.

“I think the generator automatically makes sure the temperature stays cool in here,” Mike explained.

“Can I sit close to you again?” Johnny asked. “We could share body heat.”

“What would people think?” Mike replied.

“That we were cold?” Johnny responded in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb,” Mike snapped.

“I’ll tell them I was the one afraid if that’s what you’re worried about,” Johnny tried to placate him. He really did want some body heat even if it was Morton’s.

“Don’t play dumb. I saw you,” Mike said angrily and then instantly regretted it.

“You think I’m hitting on you? I drove two hours away to avoid seeing anyone I know,” Johnny responded indignantly.

“I’m not worried about that. You’re not my type. I’m worried about what other people would think,” Mike said in exasperation.

“I flirt with every female in this hospital. No one would think anything,” Johnny answered.

They were silent for a minute.

“Whatta ya mean I’m not your type?”

“You don’t have to pout,” Mike said. “Don’t forget you don’t even like me.”

Johnny had moved across the room and wasn’t talking anymore. Both men were freezing.

“You don’t want me to like you,” Johnny argued. “I’m not gonna tell anybody. Why would I out myself? Do you know what happens to gay firemen?”

“Yeah, I know,” Mike said quietly. “Come over here before we both freeze to death.”

Johnny crawled back over to where he was and they put their arms around each other to stay warm.

“Maybe I don’t want you to like me because I don’t like you,” Mike suggested.

“Impossible,” Johnny replied making Morton snort.

“Hey, Dixie,” Roy greeted.

“Roy, what are you doing here? We diverted all the paramedics because we only have generators,” Dixie replied.

“I’m just here to finally pick Johnny up. I was working at a triage station while the road was closed,” Roy explained.

“You never picked him up?” Dixie asked, feeling a sense of dread.

“No,” Roy answered in confusion.

Dixie ran into exam room one. Roy followed her.

“Kel, have you seen Morton since you got here?” Dixie asked.

“No,” Kel said looking up from his patient. “I’ll be right back.”

He joined Dixie and Roy in the hall.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I sent Mike and Johnny to the morgue before this happened. I haven’t seen them since. They must be stuck on an elevator,” Dixie explained.

“Maintenance opened all the elevators. They got everyone off,” Kel explained.

“Then where are they?” Dixie demanded.

“Why don’t we check the morgue?”  Roy suggested.

“So cold,” Johnny moaned.

“Freezing,” Morton replied.

There was noise outside the door. Neither man noticed. Suddenly the door flew open and Roy, Dixie, and Kel were standing there.

“Crap,” Roy said.

All three ran over. 

“We need to get you out of here,” Kel said as he tried to pull the two men apart.

“Tired,” Johnny responded.

“Mike, let go of him,” Dixie coaxed.

“Cold,” Mike argued.

“I’ll grab Johnny. You grab Morton,” Roy suggested to Brackett.

Somehow they managed to get them into the hallway. They were rubbing both men trying to warm them up. Dixie had gone upstairs to get help to get them to the emergency floor.

Mike was so warm. He wanted to go back to sleep but something wouldn’t let him. There was something important he was forgetting.

“Johnny!” he said as his eyes flew open. 

“Wha…” came from the other bed.

“Johnny, wake up,” Mike demanded.

Johnny begrudgingly opened his eyes.

“Where are we?” he asked.

Before Mike could answer, the door opened.

“Roy said you were waking up,” Kel said.

Roy and Dixie were right behind him.

“Fellas, I’m so sorry. The power went out. We were so busy. I didn’t realize…” Dixie apologized.

“I couldn’t get here because the road was shut down. I didn’t know,” Roy added.

“It’s okay,” Mike replied.

“But not okay enough that you can’t spoil us while we’re here,” Johnny said with a grin.

“Deal,” Dixie agreed.

“Do we have to stay here?” Mike asked

“At least overnight. Your temperature was 96 and Johnny’s was 95,” Kel answered.  

The next morning they were eating breakfast and waiting for Brackett to release them.

“Come on. You won’t know I’m not your type without a proper date,” Johnny argued.

“I am positive you are not my type,” Mike answered.

“You smiled. I saw it,” Johnny said triumphantly. “Okay, how about this? When’s the last time you went out with a guy?”

“It’s been a while,” Mike admitted.

“Then I can be a practice date,” Johnny offered.

“Okay, fine. But not a bar. And not anywhere we could run into someone we know,” Mike agreed.

“Don’t you worry. I will take you on the perfect date,” Johnny said.

Unfortunately, he did not…