Smoke billowed through the slide pole's opening. Marshall descended into smoke and heat. Coughing, he looked back through the hole and yelled "Zuma, get down here and open the bay doors so we can get the smoke out of here!"

"Coming down!" yelled Zuma as he slid into the heavy smoke. He moved over to the wall and pressed the button to open the door. As soon as he did, the smoke rushed out of the bay. Using his shirt to cover his mouth and nose, Zuma could see Marshall down low moving to the source of the smoke. Marshall coughed a few times as the smoke started to clear. He could feel the heat and soon, the flames. Marshall could see that the air compressor was on fire and quickly spreading.

"Found it!" Marshall yelled as he quickly began knocking down the fire.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Chase waited impatiently outside the bathroom. Just as he was about to burst in, the door to the bathroom opened and Rocky looked at his father with fear in his eyes. "What's going on?!" he yelled. "What's that alarm?"

"Fire down in the bay," explained Chase as he quickly took Rocky's hand and lead him down the hall to the outside fire escape. Skye was waiting just outside with Rubble. She ran and hugged Rocky as soon as he was on the ground.

"Have you heard anything yet?" asked Chase as he looked around mentally counting heads.

"No. Zuma and Marshall slid into the bay and that's the last I saw of them," said Skye, her face filled with worry. "I'll go check and see if they need any help," said Chase rushing around to the bay. Rocky stood there watching Chase in awe. Skye noticed him and hugged him tighter.

Chase ran through the open bay door and found Marshall and Zuma mopping up the fire and making sure it was out. "Air compressor must have seized up" explained Marshall. "It overheated and caught fire. We could have lost the whole station if we hadn't been here."

"You need any help?" asked Chase.

"No we got this," said Zuma. "You might want to get the ventilation fans going upstairs if anyone is going to be able to sleep in there tonight."

"Will do. I'll let everyone else know the fire's out," said Chase walking back to where the others were waiting. He explained the situation, then told Skye it was safe to go back in. "Rocky, Rubble can you help me with the ventilation fans? We've got to get that smoke out of the station."

"I'll make some coffee," said Skye. "And, no, you can't have any, Rocky." Skye shot a glare at Chase who just smiled sheepishly as they went to grab the fans.

The smoke had mostly cleared when Marshall and Zuma came to the table. Skye handed each of them a cup of coffee as they sat down. "Whew that was close," said Marshall. "It's lucky we were here when the alarm sounded. A few more minutes and we could have lost the whole building."

"We should put a sprinkler system in the bay," said Zuma. "It would have knocked that down quickly."

"Yeah but with all the electronics in our equipment and stored in the bay, it would ruin too much stuff."

Rocky set his glass down, a milk mustache plainly visible. "You could use an FM-200 system Marshall." Chase handed him a napkin.

"That could work. I don't know much about them but I've heard of them," said Marshall.

"What's an FM-200?" asked Zuma.

"It's Heptafluoropropane," said Rocky confidently. Everyone stared at him in silence. "What?"

"Can you explain that for us normal people, brainiac?" Zuma chuckled. Everyone laughed as Rocky continued.

"It's a clean agent fire suppression system. The Air Force uses it and a lot of Computer Server Rooms use it. It dries clean and doesn't leave any residue or ruin electronics."

"That makes sense, honey," said Skye as she marveled at Rocky's intelligence.

"Okay, but what would it take?" asked Marshall.

"I could easily design a system for the bay," said Rocky. "Building's a different story." His face scrunched up as he thought to himself. "What material would be best?"

"Great, that would put my mind at ease if we were away at a call or something and another fire occurred."

"I'll get right on it," said Rocky. He started to get up, but Skye gently pushed him back down.

"Oh no you don't," she said. "You can do it after school, no more all nighters for you."

"But-" Rocky started to protest but let out a yawn and said. "Yes Ma'am. I guess I'll go to bed. Good night everyone."

A chorus of 'good nights' echoed around the room. "I'll go tuck you in," said Skye. Chase started to get up and join them when Skye turned and gave him a look. Chase nodded and sat back down.

"What's up?" asked Zuma.

"Not sure, she wanted to talk to Rocky about something," said Chase.

"How'd you pick that up?" laughed Rubble.

"What can I say? We're linked," Chase said tapping his head.

"More like bonkers," laughed Marshall. Chase popped him on the back of the head with a rolled up magazine, making him spill his coffee. Marshall glared at the smirking man before putting him in a headlock.

***

Rocky laid down on the bed and Skye began to cover him up. "Did Chase scare you earlier?" asked Skye sitting on the bed.

"What do you mean?" asked Rocky

"You just seemed stunned or something when you two came out of the station during the fire," explained Skye.

"No, he didn't scare me," said Rocky. "It's just..."

"What honey?" said Skye softly. "There's nothing we can't fix. But you have to talk to me."

"It's just.." stuttered Rocky. "It's that whenever something happens, Dad is so brave and stern. He gets this look in his eye that's calm and focused. I could never be that calm under pressure. I want to make you proud of me but I'll never be as brave and bold as Dad or Marshall or even Zuma." He looked down at is hands.

Skye laughed. "Oh honey, we are extremely proud of you. I love Chase with all my heart but, frankly, he'll never be as smart as you are now, and you're just getting started." She sighed. "They weren't always this brave. It came after years of working emergencies."

"But still, they're so confident of their actions and decisions," said Rocky.

"Trust me, they made their share of mistakes as well, like your father giving you coffee. It's what you do after that makes a difference."

Rocky looked at her questioningly.

Skye continued. "Everyone makes mistakes. But, if you take that knowledge and learn from it, that's what makes the difference. Over time, you gain confidence in your ability by not proving to anyone else you can do something, but by proving it to yourself. Your ideas and inventions blow me away. I know you're smart and very capable. But you have to know it before you can become confident and show it. You don't have to run into burning buildings or confront an active shooter to prove you're brave or confident. You just do what you do best. Look at myself and Rubble, you don't see us running into the building, but we support those who do and that's what makes us a team. And now you're part of the team as well."

Rocky sat up and hugged Skye. "Thanks Mom. You always know how to make me feel better."

"Good night, sweetheart," said Skye as she got up and turned off the light. As she closed the door, she heard hush, low voices coming from down the hall. There, she saw Chase and Marshall wrestling on the ground. She tapped her foot impatiently. "Boys..." The fighting stopped as they both looked up at her. Zuma and Rubble busted out laughing, trying to keep quiet. "Bedtime, children," she mumbled, turning back towards her room.

Later, as everyone else was going to bed Chase asked Skye if there was a problem. "What was all that with Marshall?" She asked as she snuggled next to him.

He turned the light off, wrapping his arm around her. "Just guys being guys. What happened with Rocky?"

"No problem," smiled Skye. "Just a young boy with confidence issues. I took care of it. I live to make my boys feel better."

Chase smiled and kissed his wife. "That you do, honey, that you do."

***

The next morning, Marshall and Chase were sitting at the table drinking coffee when everyone came into the kitchen. Chase handed Rocky a coffee cup with milk in it. Rocky looked at him and he winked and motioned for him to sit down.

Skye walked in soon after and looked down at the coffee cup sitting in front of Rocky. She immediately glared at Chase. "I told you no more!" Skye hissed.

"Oh, come on. It'll make a man of him!" laughed Chase. Skye started toward Rocky, ready to grab the cup when she noticed it was filled with milk. She looked up at Chase and her expression immediately softened. "So you want to play games, do you?"

"What me?" asked Chase. He looked over at Marshall, seemingly pleading for help.

Marshall held his hands up. "You're not dragging me into the grave your digging," he laughed.

"You'll regret this," laughed Skye walking away.

"Uh guys?" asked Rocky. "Is there something I should know?"

"Your father just challenged Skye to a prank war," laughed Marshall. "They had one when they were younger. She's going to kill you one day," Marshall said to Chase.

"Psh, she'll never pull anything on me now that we're married," said Chase confidently.

"Uh huh, like that matters," said Marshall. "This is Skye we're talking about. She always get's even."

"Well, I gotta go to school," said Rocky.

"You can ride with me," said Chase. "I'm looking forward to my first day back."

"Don't let 'em eat you," laughed Marshall. Chase rolled his eyes as he and Rocky grabbed their bags before heading to school.

***

The week flew by with nothing out of the ordinary. Chase quickly got back to his routine patrols of the school. All in all it was a good week, very few problem students. Rocky, in his spare time, drew up a few preliminary ideas but planned on working on it more this weekend.

Saturday morning, he awoke with determination in his heart. He would get his plans done as soon as he ate some breakfast. Being a typical twelve year old, if he wasn't eating or sleeping, he was usually thinking about one or both. Skye sat a plate down for him as he walked in. He looked over to Chase who was fanning his tongue and looking at his plate curiously. "You alright, Dad?" asked Rocky.

Skye just walked by picking up Chase's plate and replaced it with a glass of milk. "He's fine, sweetie," she said. She turned and kissed Chase on the cheek. "Love you honey," Skye laughed. Chase downed the glass, glaring at his wife the entire time. Rocky laughed and quickly finished his breakfast before returning to his room.

A few hours had passed. He was sitting in the middle of his bed, drawing, when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in," yelled Rocky without looking up.

"Hey, Rocky," said Scott as he opened the door. "What are you doing?"

"Oh hey Scott" said Rocky, looking up and smiling. "I'm working on a fire suppression system for the bay."

"Cool, like a sprinkler system," said Scott sitting down and looking at the drawing Rocky had laid out. Rocky explained the system to Scott and how he thought it would work best. "That's amazing," said Scott. "I wish I was as smart as you."

"What do you mean?" asked Rocky. "You're every bit as smart as me."

"No, I just have an extra year of experience from being held back," laughed Scott. "I'm not saying I'm stupid. But you are genuinely smart and can do something with it. You don't just have knowledge you waste, you actually apply what you know. That's cool."

Suddenly Rocky everything that Skye had told him the night before clicked. "Oh, so that's what she meant..." said Rocky.

"What?" said Scott now confused. Rocky explained what had happened the night before, the fire, his dad's confidence and what Skye had told him ask she put him to bed. "I have to agree with your mom, Rocky," said Scott. "Your brain is better that a hundred brave firefighters or cops. I mean, yeah, we need them, but we need someone to come up with ideas to make their job safer and easier. I admire your dad and Marshall, but I'm more jealous of the way you can take thoughts and turn them into something useable."

"Thanks, Scott," smiled Rocky. "I've never thought of it like that."

"That's what friends are for," said Scott. Rocky looked at Scott and started to say something but stopped. "What is it Rocky?" asked Scott. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, just the opposite" said Rocky "I've never really had anyone call me friend before. I really like having you as a friend."

"I don't have any real friends either," said Scott quietly. "I just like begin around you and your family. I really like having you as a friend too. In fact you're my best friend."

"You're my best friend too, Scott." Rocky held out his hand, but Scott grabbed him in a bear hug instead. They broke the hug laughing.

"Now show me what you're doing," said Scott. "I'll help if I can." Rocky showed him where he was in his plan and then explained the designs he was drawing. "Have you ever thought about taking architect classes?" asked Scott. "You could draw your plans more crisp and then someone would be able to simply work off your plans."

"I only draw what I have to," laughed Rocky "I like coming up with the idea. I leave the real detailed drawing to others. Besides, until recently, none of my ideas went anywhere."

"I could do it, I love to draw" said Scott. "I hope to be an animator or something."

"Deal! I'll do rough sketches and you can do final drawing while I come up with the figures," said Rocky.

Marshall was walking by in the hall and heard the conversation. He stuck his head in the door and looked over at Rocky. "Hey, couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I've got an old architects table that I use for reading building plans you could use to draw on if you'd like."

"That'd be awesome!" said Scott and Rocky together.

"Great, I'll get Zuma to help me bring it over to your room." He returned shortly. "Rocky, Scott, I had a better idea. Come on."

"Okay, Marshall," said Rocky getting up.

"Grab your plans and stuff you'll need it," said Marshall. Rocky quickly gathered his notebook, iPad and rough drawings and followed Marshall. Marshall led the two down into a room filled with plans and drawings of various buildings throughout the area. "This is my plan review room. I only use it once in awhile and store the building plans here. You too can use it as your research and design lab. This way we don't clutter up your bedroom with stuff that is already in the room. If I need it I'll just wait 'til you're in school or something."

"This is too cool," said Scott. "Can I look at the plans?"

"Absolutely," said Marshall. "Look at whatever you like, everything in here is open records anyway." Marshall walked over to a cabinet near the drafting table and began pulling open drawers. "In here is all the drawing paper and supplies you'll need to make your plans. Or if you're really adventurous you can use the computer station there and it's got the latest CAD software."

"Woah," said Rocky and Scott.

"I've learned how to use it," laughed Marshall. "I'm old fashioned I like paper." His pager began beeping. "Gotta go. Y'all have fun."

Rocky quickly set up his stuff on a desk and sat down to his work. Scott walked over to the drafting table and pulled out a couple sheets of drawing paper and set out the drawing implements he would need. Marshall smiled and bolted out of the room leaving the boys to their planning. The boys heard a few sirens as the others left on a call.

"It seems every time they go to a call, I find a new thing to make their jobs a little easier," laughed Rocky.

"We're going to make a great team Rocky," said Scott "I'm really glad we became friends."

"Me too, Scott," laughed Rocky going back to his planning. Scott smiled and turned back to his drawing.