Roy and Ed came out of the treatment room and headed over to the nurses station where Dixie was listening to Johnny recount his adventure down the side of a cliff.

"I started grabbing at anything available to stop my slide, which happened to be an overgrown weed sticking out of a cliff, so..." Johnny noticed his partner and the trainee and acknowledged them, "Ed; Roy," then continued on without even stopping for a breath. "...about that time I started repenting for a lifetime of sin. I stop sliding. A little too close for me!"

"So are you still gonna repent for a lifetime of sin?" Dixie asked.

Johnny clapped his hands together and said, "Gentlemen, do you think we should go back to the station?"

Dixie smiled at him when she said in a sing song voice, "Johnny, you didn’t answer my question."

"See ya later, Dix," Johnny said as he turned to leave, but is stopped short when Dixie continued to question him.

"Johnny Gage, what did you mean by a lifetime of sin?"

Johnny knew that Dixie wouldn’t drop the subject and neither would Roy. So instead of trying to dodge the question, he thought maybe an explanation was called for, since he, himself was the one that brought up the subject.

"Well, Dixie, I’m guilty of all seven deadly sins," Johnny answered her question.

"Johnny! I can’t believe that," Dixie said in a state of shock.

"It’s true!" Johnny said with a hint of remorse in his voice.

Roy stood by his partner not believing what he was hearing. Ed Marlow had the good sense to excuse himself and made his way out to the squad.

"Johnny, what are you talking about?" Roy asked.

"Like I said, I’m guilty of all seven sins."

Not able to look at his partner or Dixie, Johnny stood with his head bowed. How could he have been so stupid as to confess what had been weighing heavily on his mind ever since his life flashed before his eyes just an hour before.

Dixie didn’t know what to think. Johnny just didn’t seem like the type of person that would fall victim to anything 'un-Johnny'. That was the only way she could describe her thoughts.

Roy knew his best friend had a past that he knew very little about, but there was no way that he could believe that Johnny was anything other than the person he knew.

"What exactly do you think you’re guilty of?" Dixie inquired.

"Yeah, you said all the deadly sins, so, how do you explain them? Let’s start with pride," Roy said.

Fidgeting a bit, Johnny began his explanation.

"I’m guilty of pride because when I joined the paramedics I had an excessive belief in my own abilities. I thought I, uh, we could save the world," Johnny said the last part with a slight smile.

"Johnny, we all felt like that in the beginning, then we experienced reality. We can’t save the world," Roy said.

"OK, one sin down, six to go. What about envy?" Dixie queried.

Johnny’s face turned a dark shade of red. This was something he really didn’t want to divulge, but knew there was no way of getting out of it.

"Uh..., I envy, uh..., you!" Johnny stuttered, looking at Roy as he spoke.

"Me! Why me?" Roy asked.

"Why you? Roy, are you blind, you have the perfect life; a wonderful wife, two beautiful kids that adore you, a job you love, and me as your partner and best friend. Why wouldn’t I envy you?!" Johnny confessed with a slight grin.

"I uh, I…." Roy didn’t know what to say.

Seeing the awkwardness between the two, Dixie decided it was time to move on to sin number three.

"What about gluttony?"

"What about it? I think that one is obvious. I tend to have an inordinate desire to consume more food than a normal person would require."

"Johnny you don’t stuff yourself, you just eat a lot throughout the day. With your job and you having a very high metabolism, your need for nourishment is a little more than the average person," Dixie reasoned.

"I didn’t think of it that way," Johnny admitted.

"OK, how about lust?" Roy asked with a knowing look on his face.

Johnny’s face, again, turned a deep shade of red.

"That one may be one *you* actually *do* need to repent for," Roy said.

"Aw, Roy! Cut it out!" Johnny whined.

"Well, I’ll take pity on you and we’ll go on to the next one." Dixie didn’t want to get into details of that sin with John Gage, but she had to admit to herself that it could be an interesting topic.

"Let’s see, so far we’ve covered, pride, envy, gluttony and lust; next would be, anger. Now, Johnny, you do understand everyone gets angry every now and then?" Dixie wanted to make a point.

"Yeah, sure, Dix, I understand that, it‘s just….sometimes the Phantom can really get to me. I try not to show it, but it really bugs me. Then, when I try to get him back I end up getting myself instead. You remember don’t you, Roy? I put garlic extract in those chocolates and ended up eating one myself?" Johnny made a face remembering how awful the sweet treats tasted.

Roy couldn’t keep the chuckle to himself as he recalled the prank that backfired, which earned him a slightly annoyed look from his partner.

"Oh, yeah, I remember!" Roy was still laughing at the memory.

"I guess angry is a normal emotion and I’m not the only one guilty of it. Even though I feel myself becoming a might angry right now."

"Sorry, Junior! Now let’s move on to the next one before we get toned out, and I’m sure Ed’s getting tired of waiting for us," Roy said.

"I doubt Ed is in any hurry. He’s probably got his nose stuck in that book again," Johnny surmised.

"Greed is the next sin. How are you guilty of…… Oh! Hmmm!" Dix stopped in mid question.

"What do you mean by 'oh, hmmm'?" Johnny asked.

"I think she means that you have had a few get-rich-quick schemes," Roy answered.

"Is that so?!" Johnny said a touch defensively.

"You have to admit you have come up with a few not so great ideas."

"Such as?" Johnny questioned his partner.

"There was the time you were going to go out on the rodeo circuit. And that‘s just one of a few," Roy supplied.

"Oh, well, I… OK, I guess you got me there."

"Just remember that in the future, when you get another idea."

"Trust me, Roy, no more," Johnny half promised.

"OK, guys, I’ve got to get back to work and I know you do to, so let’s wrap this up. The seventh, and last sin, is sloth."

"How do you figure you’ve committed this sin, Johnny? You’re anything but lazy."

"Not normally, but there was that time Cap wanted me to give that tour to those school kids and I tried to talk him into having you do it. I’m sorry about that," Johnny said.

"Johnny you can’t be serious! You were sick. You didn’t know it at the time, but you had caught that virus. You love kids, and at any other time you would have loved showing the kids the engine and the squad." Roy defended his partners actions.

"So the way I see it, Johnny, you don’t really have much to repent for especially if what you told us is all you have to confess," Dix said knowingly.

"She’s right, John. So stop beating yourself up," Roy said as he slapped Johnny on the back.

Johnny stood there, his lips pulled downward in a deep frown. He sighed heavily.

Noticing his friends apparent unhappiness Roy asked, "Hey, Johnny, what’s wrong?"

Looking up at his best friend and Dixie he said, "I just realized…. here I thought I was such a bad person for all that I thought I’d done, and you two, in less than ten minutes, show me how boring I really am. Man!"

Johnny turned and headed for the squad, leaving a shocked Roy and Dixie to try and figure out if Johnny really *is* a NUT.

One thing they knew for sure, Johnny's no sinner and he definitely ain't no saint.

The End

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Trainee: Johnny's Repentance Page