Not Again

Chapter 1

Captain Hank Stanley sat in the office doing paperwork, pausing at one point to listen to the silence of the station. Six months ago, Engine 51 had been involved in an accident. Well, it actually ran into an oak tree trying to avoid other vehicles on the road, avoiding a major pileup.

When his engineer came back from a meeting that he had been forced to attend, Mike had been livid. Not just at his captain for allowing his beloved engine getting hurt, but more at himself for being pushed to go to the meeting in the first place. Though Mike knew he had to go and his captain understood his engineer's feelings as he had been an engineer himself. The bond between the engine and the engineer was a special one.

Four weeks after the accident the La Ward Engine 51 had been returned much to the relief of Hank, and that of the rest of the engine crew. Mike had been like a bear with a sore head while the engine had been gone. Even though they had the old Crown Engine 51, they had all gotten used to the new rig with the enclosed cabin against the weather.

In the beginning, after the Crown Engine had arrived, Mike was even quieter than he usually was. Speaking very little over the next few shifts, Mike also went through one without a word spoken other than when needed in response to orders. Everyone, including Hank himself, was on tenterhooks, not knowing what would set the quiet engineer off, if at all.

The first week for everyone was the worse. Well, actually the rest of the shift the accident had occurred, and the next one was the most stressful any of the A-shift had ever worked. Mike's faced was a mixture of emotions, and none of them were good. After the replacement engine had arrived and Charlie, the mechanic, had left, Mike got everyone cleaning the Crown engine until you could see your reflection. Even Hank had joined them for a short while before the phone rang taking him away. To say Mike was anal about the cleanliness of the replacement rig would be an understatement. The truth was Mike made sure every member of the shift, barring the captain, felt like it was their fault they now had the old Crown. The paramedics had also been lumped in along with the others, even though they had already left at the time of the accident.

Slowly shift by shift the men felt less uptight about what their engineer was or might have been planning as revenge. Even Hank thought his engineer had gotten over what had happened to his beloved engine, until one morning when no one was expecting anything to happen. Mike's revenge was sweet, sweet as the cupcakes that he had brought in from home.

The cakes Mike brought in had been cooked by his girlfriend. His girlfriend loved baking, though it wasn't her primary job. The revenge Mike wanted to deal out to his crewmates, made his girlfriend wonder about his dark side. Mike made the request that the cupcakes still be edible, but with a punch behind them, barring a couple that was to be overpowered by lemon. The lemon ones were for his captain, the others were for the rest of the men.

Arriving earlier than usual, Mike placed two boxes on the table. Noticing the apparatus bay was empty, meaning the off going shift was out still on a job. Mike was so early even his captain hadn't arrived as yet. Quickly changing into his uniform, Mike grabbed a coffee and waited.

Mike didn't have long to wait when his captain arrived entering the kitchen in search of a coffee before heading to the office and the paperwork that awaited him. Hank had noticed that both rigs were still out, so peace at the station was sweet and rare. What was even more unusual was seeing Mike was sitting at the table already drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Morning, Mike. You're early this morning."

"Morning Cap. I was awake early and thought I'd get in early. I brought some cupcakes."

"Mmm, I look forward to having one."

"The small box is for you, Cap. The bigger box is for the others."