"Do you believe it's been thirty years, Roy?" Johnny asked his former partner and longtime friend.

"Every time I look in the mirror," Roy laughed good-naturedly, running his hand through his ever-thinning hair.

Johnny cocked one eyebrow and smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"We sure did see some crazy things though, didn't we?" Roy asked rhetorically.

"And crazy people." Johnny set his beer can on the arm of the deck chair. "Worked with a few crazy people, too," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"Speaking of crazy, you hear from Chet lately?" Roy asked.

Johnny nodded. "As a matter of fact, he called today. I think all of us are more than aware of how long it's been since we first starting working together."

"I'm surprised he didn't arrange to have a waterbomb set up for you for the occasion," Roy laughed, remembering fondly the multitude of times his partner had been drenched by the dreaded "Phantom."

"You talk to him today, too, or something?" Johnny asked suspiciously.

"No, why?"

"Because he said almost the 'exact' same thing…."

"Great minds thinks alike, you know," Roy teased.

"Yeah," Johnny agreed sarcastically, "that must be it."

"Remember that time we got the Phantom back though?" Roy laughed aloud with the thought.

"You mean with the lights in the bathroom?" Johnny joined in with the laughter.

"And the eyechart!" Roy bellowed louder.

"That Twit! He was seriously going to quit!" Johnny shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh, he knew we were pulling one over on him," Roy said with one last chuckle.

"Don't you believe it!" Johnny snickered. "We had him, hook, line, and ladder!"

"You ever wonder where that came from?" Roy asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"The name, Twit. Do you think Cap just made that up?"

"Nah, I'd heard it before," Johnny claimed.

"Oh yeah, from who?" Roy asked.

"It was…wait a minute…" Johnny rubbed his chin in deep thought. "It was from one of the guys from Cap's old station."

Roy kept silent, knowing he was probably right about the origin of 'Twit."

Johnny grew silent as well. The two men sat in quiet reflection for several minutes. Johnny was the first to break the quiet of the night.

"Do you ever think about what else you would have done?"

Roy looked up at his friend. "Done?"

"Beside firefighting."

"No." Roy's answer was short and revealed no hesitation.

Johnny studied Roy's face for a long minute.

"You never wondered what else you might have done if you hadn't joined the department?" Johnny asked again.

"There was never another option," Roy answered sincerely. "Why? Do you think about it?"

The somber look on Johnny's face intrigued Roy. A few more minutes of silence slithered by before Johnny spoke.

"No," he answered, surrendering a slight grin.

"Then why'd you ask?" Roy wondered.

"Just checking."

The two fell silent again, remembering the years they shared at Station 51, the men they'd worked with, the laughs and the heartaches, and the longstanding friendship that had resulted from their partnership as paramedics.

"I guess we're the lucky ones then," Johnny reflected.

"Lucky?"

"Yeah, I mean, how many guys are lucky enough to work a job they'd always wanted to do and land a partner that ends up being their best friend for the next thirty years?"

"Here's to the next thirty!" Roy hoisted his nearly empty beer can.

Johnny picked up his equally drained can and tinged it against Roy's as they swallowed the last possible drop.

"It's late, I gotta go," Johnny announced as he stood to leave. He sifted through his pockets for his keys but came up empty. "I think I left my keys on the kitchen cabinet."

"C'mon, I'll walk you to the front door." Roy paused to pick up an empty can then followed Johnny to the patio door.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Johnny wailed in protest.

Roy burst out laughing at the oh-so-familiar sight of a waterbomb drenched Johnny Gage. Johnny leaned over and shook his head, water droplets flying from the short graying hairs.

Roy coughed, trying to disguise his laugh. "Come to think of it, I guess I did talk to Chet today!"

Johnny's hair was still dripping and his shirt was soaked, but he couldn't help but laugh at himself and his gullibility. "One of these days, I'm going to get that Phantom and then we'll see who has the last laugh!"

"By that time, we'll all be in nursing homes!" Roy laughed and threw a kitchen towel to his dripping friend.

"Maybe you'll be in a nursing home, not me!" Johnny declared, rubbing his hair vigorously with the towel..

"Whatever you say, Partner, whatever you say…" Roy clapped his hand on his partner's shoulder. The material splattered a light spray of water into Roy's face. Johnny pulled the towel from his face just in time to see Roy get the leftover touches of Chet's prank.

"Now who's been got?" Johnny laughed. He tossed the towel back at Roy. "Maybe you'll want to rethink that nursing home until we get the Phantom back!"

"Maybe, Partner, maybe..." Roy agreed with a sly smile. He had a feeling that some things, even after thirty years, would never change, and that was okay with him.