SEBASTIAN pushed his way through his morning workout with Nate and Rodrick at the basement gym of their fire hall. There was only one phrase he repeated to himself.

Pain is temporary. Pain is temporary.

It had been his mantra throughout the entire rehab experience. He usually believed it, but today, not so much. The pain he felt today had less to do with his knee and everything to do with the damned song pouring through the speakers at the gym. As if it wasn’t enough that the news of her reconciliation with the rhinestone cowboy was widespread, she had to go and release a song with him. A song that at the moment, made Sebastian want to rip the speakers from the ceiling. Yes, this was a new kind of pain.

The pain in his knee however, was all but gone. So much in fact, he felt pretty good about his chances to pass the physical in a week. That would get him back to work, and it wouldn’t be a moment too soon.

“What the hell are you doing, Bash?” Rodrick shouted across the room from the functional training bench. “Did you forget about getting a bench press spotter while you were off?” He crossed the space in six long strides and placed his hands near the center of the bar Sebastian had lifted high above his chest. “How much weight do you have on this thing?”

“A hundred and fifty pounds,” Sebastian groaned, placing it up on the rack before sitting up. “Thanks. It’s my last set for the day.”

“Good. So…when were you planning on coming clean, bud?”

Sebastian picked up the towel resting on top of his gym bag. “About what?”

“You had us fooled.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Alex…that was Lexxi Rock all along? Man you got us hook, line and sinker that night at the speed dating thing.”

“Oh right,” Sebastian chuckled. “Yeah man. Sorry about that. Lexxi Rock was doing what she could to keep a low profile in town.”

“You two are friends?”

He hesitated. They weren’t anything now. “I wouldn’t say that. Her dad lives next door.”

Nate looked at him curiously. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to that story?”

Sebastian picked up his gym bag and started heading to the mats for a quick stretch. “There isn’t.”

“Hmmm. Okay. When are you hooking us up with Lexxi Rock concert tickets or backstage passes?”

“I haven’t hooked myself up with those, so why would I hound her for you slackers?”

“That’s ice cold, Sullivan.”

“Nope. It’s fair. Don’t you think she’s got a fuck ton of people already hounding her for shit because of what she’s made of her life?”

“True, but they aren’t the ones who took her speed dating. I’d say you, Rodrick and I are special. Plus she got the drop on us with that Alex boy stunt she pulled. I’d say she owes us.”

“You’re welcome to tell her that yourself.”

“What? You’re hooking me up with her number?”

“Nice try, bud.” Sebastian finished up his stretches and checked the clock on the wall. “Okay. I think I’ll call it a day.”

“Cool. Are you coming out to the bar with us this weekend? We’ve got to celebrate seeing you around here again.”

“Friday?”

“Yeah.”

“I can probably swing it. Sure. I’ll be there.” Grabbing his gym bag, Sebastian headed for the locker room.

“Sullivan,” the fire chief called out before he made it to the door.

“Hi Chief.”

“Let’s have a word upstairs for a minute.”

“Sure,” he answered, confused. He followed the fire chief up the stairs to the small back office built in behind the three-truck fire hall bay.

“Come on in and have a seat.”

“Thanks. How can I help you?” Sebastian asked, taking a seat on the only guest chair in the small, cluttered room.

“I’ve got some good news and some bad news,” he told him, pulling a file folder off the top of a large pile at one corner of his desk. He moved around the stack of papers inside, looking for something.

Sebastian shrugged, trying to hide his nervousness. He straightened in the chair, bracing himself for the worst. “Tell me the bad news first, Chief.”

“You sure?”

He swallowed and nodded.

“Okay. The bad news is you won’t be coming back to your firefighter position.”

“What?” Sebastian asked, shocked. “I’m just getting ready now for the fitness test. You’ve got to give me a chance, boss.”

“We’ve seen this type of injury before, Sullivan. We can’t put you or the team, or the public, at risk by letting you return to this job. Now, I’m sure you can take this up with the union, and they’ll grieve the issue and get you in that test when they win, but that’s not going to change the outcome.”

Sebastian’s shoulders slumped. The timing couldn’t be worse. The agonizing rush of disappointment tightened up his throat as the air around him seemed to leave the room. He ran a hand over his face. “Okay,” he said shakily, failing miserably at taking it all in stride.

The Chief rapped on the desk to draw Sebastian’s troubled gaze back to him. “I’m not finished. The good news is I recommended you for a promotion and it’s a go. Now wipe that sorry-ass look off your face.” He laughed heartily, and it took Sebastian a second to register what the man was telling him.

“I…I don’t understand,” he said slowly.

His boss passed him the papers he finally found in the file he was searching through, Sebastian scanned them over.

“As I mentioned, based on your injury, Sullivan, the doctor doesn’t feel comfortable letting you try out for that fitness test. If by some chance you pushed through and passed, you’d still be a liability, and even if we wanted to take a chance on it, your doctor wouldn’t clear you for it. Just so you understand, he did say he would re-evaluate your knee after another six months. He just isn’t too optimistic. So, at the moment, you’re cleared to work in an office setting. Son, because of your degree in Fire Science and your experience, none of us here want to see you walk away from what you do best. If you want the fire investigator position that just opened up, it’s yours, and I’d like to be the first to tell you congratulations.”

The Chief reached a hand across the desk to shake Sebastian’s, and the excitement, relief and gratitude expanded out to where it threatened to make him tear up. He stood and gratefully clutched the fire chief’s hand, pumping it up and down. He could hardly believe it.

“Chief, I don’t know what to say,” he told him, slightly choked up. “Thank you. That’s the best news I’ve had, probably all year.”

“Don’t mention it,” he humbly waved him to sit back down. “You should already know there are some training programs you’ll need to redo, but the state’s paying for all that. You can report to work here next week, and get started by scheduling some of those trainings right away. I also want to pair you up with Cumberland for a while. He’ll get you up to speed and make sure you learn the ropes out in the field. The bottom line is you’ll be back to work soon.”

“Wow, Chief. I can’t thank you enough.” He took a few breaths to let the good news sink in. He wasn’t expecting this. It was a lot to take in, and a heck of a lot to be thankful for.

Once the fire chief kicked him out of the office, he was greeted by his crew and some of the other firefighters, all waiting with a cake and handfuls of confetti. He laughed when he looked up and saw the Congratulations banner they must have put up in the few minutes he had been in the chief’s office.

Rodrick stepped forward. “We hate to lose you on the team, man, but you’ll still be close enough to harass. We’re all pretty proud.”

“Thanks,” Sebastian murmured. “You knew about this didn’t you, you old bastard.”

Rodrick gave him a wink. “Yup. Don’t forget about us, now, because we know where your office is, and you’re likely to get a hose-down if you get too big for your investigator breeches.”

The group relaxed into low key laughter and lighthearted conversation, and someone passed Sebastian a slice of cake after they shook his hand. Everyone stopped what they were doing around the firehouse to wish him well and share in the celebration. As he said a few words to the people he had come to know as family, relief washed over him. He still had a career to return to.

Nate, Rod and Sebastian talked for a few minutes before the fire bell went off and a dispatcher announced an emergency call. The party wrapped up pretty quickly, and Sebastian watched the gang gear up to go fight a fire somewhere in the city.

The Chief stepped over to him quickly. “Stick around if you’d like. We’re all glad to see you back. See you later.”

After they were gone, he stared around at the beige cinderblock walls and scuffed concrete floor of the fire station truck bays. He had really missed this place. With the pain in his knee still a dull ache, he knew how incredibly fortunate he was, that instead of hearing he couldn’t come back, they found a way to make it work to keep him on the team.

A small part of him wanted to call Alexandra to tell her all about it.

I should, but I won’t.

He was ready for anything that could get his mind off of Alexandra and Wilkes.