The Phone Call

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to review this story. You\'re feedback means a lot to me and is very much appreciated.

To \"Anonymous\"-
I wish you had left your email so that I could thank you properly. The link you had provided have led me to discover that this story was blatantly ripped off and used to someone else\'s advantage. In turn, there was a trail that was easy to follow and I ended up finding 4 different websites the plagerist had posted this particular story on, this one included. My happy ending is seeing 3 sites delete the story, and 1 site that completely removed the plagerist\'s account.

Whatever your intentions were for clueing me in on this fact, I am grateful that you did. i\'m also glad to hear that you enjoyed this story\'s plot and you may be happy to hear that the ending and epilogue does exist. (Which will be posted up as soon as the revision is finished). Thank you again.

Kaiiz.

The Phone Call - chapter 2
Copyright 2002 Kai
Revised 2005 Kaiiz


Nathan\'s POV

Wow... I still couldn\'t get over it. In my entire 29 years of existence I have never been called Alan. My birth certificate has, and always will, read Nathan McCrae as my given name. Nathan... not Alan. But then again, I\'ve never taken, and thoroughly enjoyed for that matter, something that was meant for another man. And damn, did I ever enjoy it.

I wondered what this Alton looked like. He seemed shy, probably a quiet pretty boy. Oh well, I guess I\'ll never know now. I glanced over at the clock… 3:02am. \'Better get sleeping again, don\'t want ol\' Captain Sam wondering why I\'m looking like the walking dead tomorrow.\'

~~~~~

~Beep beep beep~... I reach my hand out from the blankets and blindly flung it around, searching for that damned snooze button. Was it 7 o\' clock already? I laid in bed for awhile and opened my eyes. It actually looked sunny today. And I don\'t feel too tired as a matter of fact. Hmm...

Oh... last night, I remember now. I wondered if the events last night had anything to do with my rather restful sleep. Either way, I\'m not going to complain.

~~~~~

\"McCrae! Snap out of it!\" I looked up into the face of a very frustrated Captain.

\"What?\"

\"Did you even hear a word I said? You look like you\'ve been off in Never Never Land ever since you got here with that goofy grin on your face. Wait...\" Sam leered at me, \"You finally got laid didn\'t you?\"

I leaned back in my chair and grinned at him. \"Suuure, you can say that.\" Picking up my cup of coffee to take a gulp, I continued to peer at him over the rim. The older man had a look of confusion on his face. Then sitting up again, I leaned in and asked, \"Sam, do you know anyone by the name of Alton?\"

The Captain\'s face brightened up, \"Is that the name now?\"

\"Apparently.\"

A frown appeared on the older man\'s face. \"Why do I get the feeling that you don\'t seem to know this person either?\"

I shrugged and then looked around to make sure no one was within hearing distant. Still, I kept my voice low. \"I received a phone call late last night. At first I was convinced that it was one of your little pranks again, but it was too good... too convincing, so I then wondered if it was maybe one of the other guys here doing it. I mean, nobody else would have access to my phone number except here at the hall.\"

Sam frowned at me in seriousness. \"Son,\" he began, \"if you feel that someone in this station is harassing you, you damn well better let me know. I don\'t tolerate that sort of behaviour in my department and those under my wing should not as well.\"

\"No no no... Don\'t worry about it Sam. I\'m absolutely sure that it\'s from no one in this station. I think that it\'s just a simple case of a misdialed phone call.\"

The Captain appeared to calm down somewhat. \"Alright,\" he said grudgingly. \"So now what then? Did you manage to let the other guy in on your revelation? That he had the wrong number?\"

\"No... It wasn\'t until he hung up did I come to that realization.\"

\"Damn, so I guess you weren\'t able to sneak out his phone number eh?\"

\"Nah, but I did get his number on my caller ID.\"

\"So, you gonna call him or what?\"

I grinned at my superior. \"No Sam, I don\'t think so. The guy thought he was talking to his boyfriend.\"

\"The hell?... couldn\'t the guy recognise the wrong voice when he heard it? The relationship must not be too old, maybe you still have a chance.\"

\"Well, he did wake me up and my voice was croaking. After that we were mostly just whispering and moaning and stuff.\" I chuckled, \"And boy, did we moan... but no, I don\'t think I would want to pursue anything anyway. He was way too good over the phone, God knows he must have done it before. But then again...\" I remembered the shyness and nervousness that was in the voice. I must have zoned out for a bit, but when I looked up again, I saw that the older man was still staring expectedly at me. \"What?\" I asked.

\"You were going to say something?\" I was about to open my mouth to close this topic when Kevin came up to us.

\"Let\'s go guys, we got ourselves another kitty stuck up a tree.\"

>>>>> Alton\'s POV

I had no more than knocked once on the door when it flew open and a six-year old jumped me. \"Uncle Alton!\" I picked the little blond boy up and perched him on my hip.

\"Jesus kid, what\'s your mom feeding you? You\'re starting to get to big for me to lift.\" I looked up into the house and saw the boy\'s father walking towards me at a much slower pace. \"Mark, you\'re starting to show your age.\"

My friend snorted at me and looked at his son in disbelief. \"The little brat doesn\'t realize that 6\'o clock is not a decent Saturday wake up call. Cartoons aren\'t even on yet!\" Despite the complaint, he reached out to ruffle the boy\'s hair.

I looked over to the young lad and grinned at his look of innocence; blue eyes large and wide like his father\'s. \"Is that true Mike? Why did you wake your father up so early this morning?\"

\"I wanted to get my cereal before I watched TV. I woke Mom up first but she told me that Dad would get it for me.\"

\"Well, there you have it Mark.\"

He shook his head at me, \"First my kid, and then my wife. I have one word, \'conspiracy\'. Now I have to drive Dianne out grocery shopping for tonight\'s dinner. Thanks for babysitting the kiddo for me by the way.\"

\"No problem. Mike and I are gonna have fun at the library today, aren\'t we kid?\"

A look of horror crossed over the boy\'s features. \"No way Uncle Alton! That\'s so boring! You have to be kidding me!\" Mike started to squirm along with his whine and I had to put him down back on the floor. Then he held on to my hand and started to jump up and down.

\"Michael!\" Mark had his arms crossed in front of him and he frowned down at his son in disapproval. Son, in question, quietened down immediately, but moved to hide behind me, using me as a shield from his father\'s glare.

\"Aw, it was my fault. I forget how old I am and how kids these days don\'t like the library, right Mikey?\" I turned around and picked the boy up again. He solemnly nodded and then hid his face in my neck. \"I know, how about we go to the playground.\" The nod became much more enthusiastic and he was able to make eye contact with me again.

\"Just remember to hold back on the ice cream if he starts acting like that again, Alton.\" Mark smiled at his son.

Mike opened his eyes real wide at us and then quickly turned his attention to me. \"Ice cream? I promise to be real good, really Uncle Alton.\"

\"We\'ll see. Let\'s bounce then kiddo. Do you think you\'re able to use your own stubby legs or do you need me to carry you to the playground?\"

The boy scrambled down my body to quickly get back on to the floor. \"I can walk Uncle Alton,\" he said exasperatedly. \"I don\'t want the other kids to think I\'m a big baby!\" But he continued to hold me by the hand and started to tug me out the door. \"Let\'s go already before Mom and Dad wants to kiss and hug me goodbye!\" I grinned back at my friend, who was shaking his head in disbelief for the nth time that day, and followed my young charge out into the world.

>>>>> Nathan\'s POV

It was always the same with these calls. A small group of people would gather and watch, wondering what all the excitement was about. The crowd would always get bigger of course. A large fire engine plus a group of people equalled something really interesting going on right? There were only three of us sent out on this call. And the three of us stood by the really, really large tree, heads up and looking. Coming from somewhere at the very top was a soft, but audible, mew. We weren\'t able to make out the source of that sound but we knew that is was up there.

\"So who feels like playing Tarzan today?\" Kevin asked. \"And may I remind you guys that I DID drive us here, and will be driving us back.\"

Shawn and I exchanged looks.

\"If it was a dog I\'d do it. But you know I\'m allergic to cats.\"

I let out a snort of disbelief. \"Why the hell did you come then?\"

Shawn grinned sheepishly at me. \"It\'s a beautiful day out and I didn\'t want to be stuck inside waiting for a real call like all the other guys were.\"

I scowled and shoved my helmet at him. \"Take my jacket too,\" I muttered. I stood closer to the tree, as did my comrades. \"Sure is a tall one,\" I mused. I noticed that the first branch was just a few inches out of my reach. \"Someone give me a lift.\"

The strong hoist that the other two gave me lifted me to about chest level with the large branch and I easily lifted myself up onto it. Looking up, I suddenly realized that I still had a long way to go before reaching the top. I heard the mewing get more insistent. \"Alright fur ball, I\'m coming, I\'m coming.\"

~~~~~

\"Ah hah! I see you now!\" A tiny body of fur sat crouched amongst the leaves. Small, yellow eyes blinked at me. The mews were sounding pretty pathetic by this point. Slowly, I reached out towards it and let it get use to my hand. The kitten eventually moved toward me and started to lick a finger. I took this opportunity to grab it by the collar. \"Ah, hellfire...\" I cursed as the small animal started to hiss and struggle away from my hold. Tiny, but sharp, claws protracted and wildly reached to try and scratch at my hand. \"I\'ve got the cat,\" I yelled down.

\"Send it down!\" Still cursing, I reached for the small mesh bag that was attached to me. It was connected to a rope that looped through the carabiner, which hung from my belt. The rope reached the ground and acted like a pulley.

Trying to be as careful as I can, I dropped the kitten into the bag and tightened the drawstring. The cat still tried to claw through the material at me so I held it loosely by the rope. \"Incoming package!\" The bag slowly descended as the guys below fed the rope through the carabiner. I stood, relaxing; my job at this point was to manoeuvre the rope so that the small package didn’t bang against any obstacles.

It was a few minutes before the kitten was finally in the arms of its grateful owner. The crowd had cheered and was almost dispersed by the time I had reached ground level again. I stretched and wiped at the sweat on my brow. \"This is gonna hurt tomorrow,\" I groaned.

\"Uncle Alton look, it\'s a firetruck!\" My heart skipped a beat at the sound of the name... Alton? What were the chances of meeting an Alton? It wasn\'t exactly a common name. I turned around and saw a young boy dragging his chaperone by the hand. He was pointing exciting at the large red vehicle. Shawn, who was quietly rolling the rope back up by the truck, smiled at the boy.

\"Do you want to sit behind the wheel?\" he asked.

The child turned large, baleful eyes at his adult and jumped eagerly up and down. \"Can I sit behind the wheel? Please Uncle Alton? Can I? Pleeease?\" I had to hand it to the kid; he was persistent.

\"Alright, but Mike, don\'t touch anything!\" The words were barely out of the man\'s mouth when the kid scampered off to follow Shawn to the driver\'s side. He stood there, head shaking in defeat. I approached him and grinned.

\"Energetic one isn\'t he?\" I commented.

He looked up at me and I was rewarded with a small smile. \"You don\'t know the half of it. I don\'t think I can keep up with him any longer.\" He returned his gaze back to the young boy and the smile widened. I pretended to watch as well, but had trained the corner of my eye to study the other man.

He looked to be about my age and was maybe a couple inches shorter than my own height of 6\'3\". A tad on the skinny side perhaps. His brown hair looked windblown, or perhaps bed tousled? I gulped as I felt myself reacting below the belt at that thought. \'Thank God for the bunker pants,\' I thought wryly to myself. My focus would not linger from the hair; it looked so soft. I felt the sudden need to run my fingers through it. I had to shake my head clear. \'Get a hold of yourself, McCrae.\'

When I looked up again, soft brown eyes stared back at me expectantly. I realised that I was asked a question. \"I\'m sorry, what was that?\"

\"I said my name\'s Alton.\" The man looked amused. \"That kid is my friend\'s son, Mike.\" I returned my gaze back to the child that was now wearing my helmet.

\"Nathan McCrae at your service.\" I took the hand that was offered, before I remembered how dirty and grimy my own was. \"Oh crap, sorry about that man.\"

Alton wiped his hand against his cargo shorts. I continued down the length of the long legs and noticed that they were nicely muscled. He laughed lightly; the sound of it struck a chord of familiarity in me. Was that my Alton? The one who so sweetly seduced my imagination last night? But what were the chances?

\"Don\'t worry about it. I\'ve been dealing with Mike\'s ice cream for most of the afternoon already.\"

\"Kids will be kids I guess,\" I commented. He nodded and smiled. His skin glowed golden from the rays of sunlight. Oh, what the hell, gotta take the chance and find out. \"Alton eh? That name sounds familiar.\" He looked at me with his brown eyes, full of interest. \"Say, do you know a guy name Alan?\"

His eyes widened. \"Alan Laurier?\"

\"Yeah, that\'s it,\" I improvised. \"Do you know him?\"

\"Yes. We\'re... pretty close friends. How do you know him?\"

\"Oh,\" Oh damn... think fast McCrae, think fast. \"He\'s also a friend of mine.\"

Alton looked at me, disbelieving. \"Really? You don\'t look like any of his typical friends.\"

\'Well, he\'s actually a friend of my brother\'s. It\'s been awhile since the two of them have seen each other, since my brother\'s moved away to New York.\" I grinned at him, hoping he would buy my story. It must have worked because he rewarded me with another smile. I could grow use to being on the receiving end of that.

\"The three of us will have to get together some day then; go for coffee or something.\"

\"That\'d be great. How is Alan these days anyway? I haven\'t spoken to him in a long time myself.\" Let\'s see what we can dig up about this other man... not that I was trying to find any dirt or anything.

\"He\'s been well.\" A small frown appeared on Alton\'s face. \"Actually, he was supposed to call me today, but he never did.\" I felt a twitch on my guilty conscience. \"But then again, I haven\'t been home much today.\"

I shrugged nonchalantly. \"It probably just slipped his mind,\" I offered.

\"Yeah, it is getting closer to the tax deadline. I imagine that it\'s good to be an accountant at this time of year.\" Ah, so Alan is an accountant. \"Listen, why don\'t I leave you with my numph...\" Alton swayed and lost his balance as he was tackled from the side. I instinctively reached out to steady him and caught him in my arms. Wow, he felt good, and damn did he smell even better. My lips brushed against his ear and my nose was buried for that split second into his hair. It felt so right in that instant, but almost immediately, his entire body stiffened and he pushed away from me. His face was pink and he had a look of embarrassment on his face.

\"I\'m sorry,\" he apologised. Then he turned to stare sternly at his young company. \"Michael, what did I say about jumping on me like that?\"

\"That your back is getting too old for that,\" he said solemnly. I grinned as the colour on Alton\'s face deepened. The boy suddenly noticed me, and moved to hide behind Alton\'s leg. He shyly peered out at me.

Alton sighed, exasperated with the situation. \"Nathan, this little troublemaker here is Mike. Mike say hello to Nathan.\"

I squatted down to about eye level with the child and offered him my hand. \"Hello Mike, pleased to meet you.\" The boy looked up at the adult he hid behind to make sure it was okay to speak to a stranger. When Alton nodded his okay, Mike reached up for his hand, for reassurance, before slowly coming out and taking my own.

\"Hello,\" he shyly responded. \"Are you a fire-fighter?\"

\"I am.\" I grinned at him. He returned it unabashedly and let go of Alton\'s hand, now full of confidence.

\"Really? That\'s so cool! Is it fun? I wanna be a fire fighter when I grow up. I wanna wear a fire-fighter\'s hat and drive the firetruck all the time... and slide down the pole when the alarm goes off... and spray water all over the fire... and...\" I had to laugh at the enthusiasm this kid had.

\"Mike, don\'t ask so many questions,\" Alton admonished. \"He\'s a friend of Alan.\"

The child blinked at me. \"You know Uncle Alton\'s boyfriend?\" I heard something that resembled a choke and saw that Alton had that lovely shade of red on his face again.

I raised an eyebrow up. \"Boyfriend?\"

\"He...he\'s just a friend,\" he insisted. I could see him swallowing nervously. \"Listen,\" he began, \"Nathan... it was nice meeting you, but I should be getting Mike back to his parents now. See you around.\" He tugged at the young boy and turned to walk away. I sighed, wondering if I would ever get to see that face again. Then I saw that the guys were ready to leave now and I hopped into the passenger side, having earned myself shotgun since I did most of the work today. I whistled random tunes on the ride back to the station. At least now I was able to put a face to the sexy voice and then realised that my dreams were now about to get more interesting.


~~~~~
TBC... feedback greatly appreciated :)