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Buck's feet pounded against the concrete. The music flowed through his ears as he reveled in the light rain hitting his face. His bad leg ached slightly underneath him, telling him to take it easy, although Buck just ignored it as he pushed on.
A part of him was exhausted. He had just gotten off a 24-hour shift and wanted nothing more than to just sleep, but he knew that wouldn't be coming anytime soon. Everyone else had either short shifts or the day off, so they planned a get-together at Bobby and Athena's house later that evening. Buck slowed down, pausing to catch his breath. He knew he had to head back if he wanted to catch a shower before he went over.
Earlier, Eddie had offered to take him, but Buck had declined, claiming he had a few errands to run before going over. That was a lie, Buck just didn't want to burden his boyfriend with his tiredness and overactive mind. He quickly shook the thought off. He just.., he just felt bad about himself. Despite Eddie and the others forgiving him and apologizing about everything forever ago, he just couldn't help but think that they still thought he was exhausting. Hell, he exhausted himself sometimes.
His thoughts guided him for a few minutes, walking around the small, desolate park that was near his apartment. His keys jingled in his short's pocket, having forgotten they were even there. He stretched his aching muscles for a few moments, jumping when a voice rang out from behind him.
"Oh look what we found boys, it's that pretty firefighter from the news." The voice drawled out.
Buck spun around, coming to face a group of men leering at him. He took his earbuds out, slowly putting his hands up when he saw the glint of a gun in one of the men's hands.
"Can I," he cleared his throat, "Can I help you guys?"
A few beats passed, Buck's heavy breathing filling the air. He felt his heart beating fast. He wasn't sure if it was from the run or the current situation he found himself in; he assumed it was the latter.
"I'm sure you can." The man from before spoke. Buck assumed he was the leader in some way.
"What do you guys want?" Buck asked, his eyes flitting to the gun once more, glowing in the ever growing moonlight.
"To have fun." Another man spoke.
Suddenly, the men rushed forward, fists and boots flying at Buck. Buck went into fight mode, instantly throwing his fists towards the man with the gun, hoping he could disarm him. A fist snapped across his face, splitting his lip. Another hit his eye, his chest, his ear. One of the men kicked his bad leg, the shin splitting open underneath the weight of the boot. Buck fell to his knees, a sharp gasp of pain escaping his lips when one of them tore his left arm back. He felt the shoulder pop out of the socket as his wrist bone began to crack under the pressure of the man's hand.
The man released his arm, pushing him down to the ground. Buck landed on his stomach, before promptly turning on his back, his arms barely supporting him as he looked up at the group of men. Their faces varied, some with full facial hair and others with sparse beards. The man with the gun looked down at him with a predatory gaze, grinning as he fingered the trigger of the gun.
He spat out a glob of blood before speaking, "What do you want?" He repeated.
None of them answered. Buck painfully brought his arms up to protect his head as the blows started to rain down on him. He clenched his eyes shut, not fighting back knowing it could anger the men more. He let out a pained shout as his bad leg was twisted painfully. He felt cuts and gashes begin to open and bleed all over his body. His t-shirt rose up, his skin rubbing raw against the pavement, little pebbles embedding themselves into his skin all over. One of the men ripped his arms away from his head while the others continued to kick and punch at him, a gash opening right above his birthmark from one of the men's steel-toed boots.
It felt like it had been hours when in fact it had been mere minutes. The hits began to slow as he loud shouts for help were resigned to quiet gasps as he struggled to breathe. God, it felt like there was an elephant on his chest.
"Let's go." One of the men, Buck not sure which, spoke.
"Well let's get what else we can." One argued.
"Fine, check his damn pockets then." Another spoke.
He felt hands on his body, tensing.
"Oh calm it kid I don't have the time to cop a feel."
The pockets of his shorts were turned inside out, his cracked phone and his keys the only thing having been in there, spilling out.
"Seriously, that's all you have?" One asked.
"I was just going on a run." Buck explained.
"Whatever kid."
The man pat him on the head in a humiliating manner before standing up and joining the others. One man grabbed his keys, looking at the picture of him, Eddie, and Christoper on the charm Chris had made for him. The man scoffed before throwing them, Buck not seeing where they landed. His form shaked on the cold pavement, the sky still releasing a light sprinkle. One more kick landed itself on his ribs. Another splash of blood escaped his mouth.
His half-lidded eyes watched as the man with the gun spoke quietly with others, nodding his head in agreement. He lifted the gun, aiming it directly at Buck. Buck's eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen.
"NO! No, you don't have to do this!" He pleaded.
"Sorry kid, no witnesses."
He aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, the sound resonating through the night.
"Where is that boy?" Athena wondered for the umpteenth time that evening, looking through the front window.
Everyone had arrived at the Grant-Nash household a little while earlier. The kids were together outside, laughter filling the air. The adults were inside, lingering around as they made conversation while Bobby cooked dinner. He was missing his sous chef and pseudo son right about now. Normally the younger man would be here, helping him out in the kitchen while keeping up a continuous stream of chatter about the latest topic he was learning about.
" 'Thena I'm sure he'll be here any minute, don't worry." Chim reassured, snuggling close to Maddie.
"Yeah, you know how my brother gets. Besides didn't he just get off a 24-hour shift?" She looked around the room for confirmation before continuing, "He probably just took a nap when he got home and overslept."
"Yeah, maybe." Athena couldn't shake the bad feeling in her gut.
She was torn out of her thoughts by Hen coming up, talking to her about the shift she had just gotten off of and everything else. The stress quickly melted away as they talked about anything and everything, some stories even being about Buck. Maddie was right, it was probably nothing to worry about.
Buck came to suddenly and violently on the cold pavement.
His shoulder ached. Buck was confused, wait, he wasn't dead. He wasn't dead! Buck faintly remembered having moved when the gun went off. He looked down and yep, the bullet wasn't in his chest thankfully. He felt a sharp pang in his left shoulder. He looked over at it and saw the hole in his LAFD t-shirt. Oh, so that's where it was. He slowly reached his right hand behind the shoulder, trying to feel for an exit wound, wincing when he didn't find one. Panicking, he looked around, seeing nobody. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized the men were gone, apparently thinking they had killed him.
A loud groan of pain escaped him. His head was ringing and he just wanted to sleep. No! No, he had to stay awake. He felt blindly for his phone, cutting his fingers open when he gripped the broken screen. The only thing working on it was the time, blinking brightly at him. It was already 7 o'clock! He went for a run around what, 3, 4? He had been due at Athena and Bobby's an hour ago! He tried in vain once again to call, nothing working. He slammed the phone down in frustration, a grunt coming out between his bloodied, pink lips.
He let out another grunt when he tried to lift his broken body into a sitting position. He managed to succeed, supporting himself on his weak right arm. He pushed up, stumbling to his feet. He leaned against the pole to a broken swingset, a harsh cough escaping his battered chest. He had no means of communication, he doubted he could find his keys and make it back to his Jeep, hell, his pain-addled mind wasn't even sure where he was right now!
He stayed slumped against the pole before opening his eyes. He gazed around for a few moments, realizing he had run farther than he thought. He looked around, noticing the street sign up ahead. He was a few miles from Bobby and Athena's. He muttered a few words of encouragement to himself before pushing off the pole.
He made his way through the back streets, knowing they would be slightly faster in his trek to his Captain's house. His bad leg dragged behind him as his right hand came up to put pressure on the bullet wound, albeit weakly.
He limped his way to the house that held his family with blood-riddled vision.
They all grinned when they heard the doorbell ring. Sure, he was an hour and a half late but that could be forgiven. The poor kid had been exhausted lately and had just come off a rough shift. Dinner was almost ready so he was just in time.
The conversations continued, lowering the volume slightly as they all prepared to greet Buck, jabs and playful insults on the tip of their tongues.
"I'll get it!" Eddie yelled, jumping at the opportunity to see his boyfriend. He had been worried about the younger man recently. Eddie knew he could get caught up in his own head sometimes, so he wanted to treat the younger man as they both had the day off tomorrow and Chris was going to be staying at a friend's house that night.
"Hey sleephe-" The greeting died on his tongue when he saw the state the man was in.
"Hey Eds." Buck said, heavily leaning on the doorframe. "You gonna let me in or what?" He put on a weak grin, showing off his bloodstained teeth.
"Oh my god, Buck." Eddie whispered, everyone too caught up in their current conversations to hear what the man said.
He moved, putting his arms around Buck to support him into the house. Everyone looked up, anything that had been planning on saying completely erasing from their brains when they saw the battered man.
"Holy-" Bobby let out, cutting himself short as he moved to help Eddie support Buck.
The others quickly got off the couch, moving pillows to be able to brace Buck's bruised form. They were all grateful that they had moved the kids inside to Harry's bedroom, the sound of their video games echoing throughout the house.
"Karen.." Hen looked at her wife.
"I got it." Karen understood, racing to the room.
A hush fell among the group in the living room, the only sound being Buck's heavy, pained breaths. Commotion suddenly broke out, Hen and Chimney asking Athena where they kept the medical supplies, racing to where they were when she replied. Michael and Bobby grabbed some of the kitchen towels, bringing them up to put pressure on Buck's bloody wounds.
Maddie and Athena hovered close to Buck, the latter biting her fingernails as tears escaped her eyes at the man's state. Eddie ran his hands through Buck's matted hair, wincing every time he felt a bump, as he whispered soothing words.
"Guys.." Nobody could hear his hushed tone.
"Guys.." He weakly tried again.
"GUYS!" He yelled, finally garnering the attention of everyone in the room.
"Calm down, please. You guys are moving too fast." He breathed out.
Everyone stopped for a moment, before Eddie asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"Evan, what the hell happened?"
"I got jumped." Buck said plainly.
"Son, how did this happen? How the hell did you even get here in the state you're in?" Bobby asked.
"I was out for a run and this group of guys came up to me. T- they recognized me from the news, called me the 'pretty firefighter' or whatever. They attacked me, I- I tried fighting back but one of the guys had a gun. They beat me until I couldn't see straight and then checked my pockets. I only had my phone and my keys on me and that upset them. The guy shot me and then I passed out. I woke up awhile after and my phone was broken and I had no clue where my keys were. I realized that I ran farther than I had anticipated so I walked here." Buck finished, shrugging like what he did was no big deal.
"W-w-wait back up, they shot you Buckaroo?" Athena exclaimed.
Buck nodded, his hand flopped down from the wound, a fresh wave of blood gushing from the wound. Everyone let out a loud gasp as they realized how bad Buck's injuries were.
"No- no exit wound. The shoulder is- is definitely dislocated, and the bullet's stuck in there." Buck explained, his voice growing weaker every minute.
"Okay, okay I'm calling an ambulance, you're gonna be okay son." Bobby said, whipping out his phone and relaying the information to the dispatcher on the phone.
"Buck, Evan baby stay awake, come on." Eddie begged as he saw his boyfriend's eyes droop close.
The next twenty minutes were filled with yelling and blood. They struggled to keep Buck awake as they waited for the ambulance. The medics took Buck to the ambulance as they all agreed to let Eddie ride with him. Michael and Karen agreed to watch the kids as the rest of them clambered into their cars, rushing off to the hospital.
Eddie thought Buck looked somewhat angelic as he slowly came back to consciousness.
Everyone was sat around, conversing quietly, stopping when they noticed Buck beginning to wake up.
"Evan?" Maddie said.
Eddie's voice quickly followed, "Evan, come on, it's time to wake up."
Buck let out a soft grunt as his bright blue eyes opened.
"G-guys? What?" Buck stuttered out, his throat dry.
Eddie brought a cup of water up to his mouth, helping his lover slowly drink it. He set it down, looking lovingly at Buck.
"You can't keep doing this to us cariño." He said.
"W-wha?"
"You died on us Buckaroo." Athena's motherly voice rang out from the foot of the bed. She sat next to Bobby and Hen, Chimney having taken residence up next to Maddie.
"I-i'm sorry?" Buck cocked his head in confusion to the side, the concussion obviously mixing up his muddled brain.
They all shared a glance before small smiles broke out on their face at his cute antics.
"What-what happened?" Buck asked.
"You were jumped, do you remember?" Eddie responded.
A look of realization crossed over Buck's face as he remembered the attack. Eddie noticed the look on his face and reached down to grasp his lover's hand, stroking a comforting thumb across his bruised hand.
"You got out of surgery a few hours ago." Eddie sat down in his seat, the others following suit. "They got the bullet out, you'll regain full motion and use of your shoulder with some physical therapy." His voice cracked, "We lost you for a minute there."
Buck winced, clearly not liking the idea of physical therapy again. "How bad was the rest of it?"
"It was bad Buck." Hen said, her hand coming up to stroke the blaket that lay over the mangled flesh of his bad leg.
"How bad?" He repeated, clearly not satisfied with the previous answer.
"Buck.." Bobby started.
"No. No, I needed to know what those bastards did." He said, tears shining in his eyes.
Eddie started, but Bobby stopped him, clearly knowing that as the captain he should let his son know what happened and not force the man's boyfriend to have to recount the grisly details.
"Buck, it was bad. You were right about your shoulder, it was dislocated and the bullet got stuck in there because of the angle it entered. As Eddie said, they removed it and it'll heal with time. You, you have five broken ribs, a major concussion and your wrist is fractured."
Buck looked down at the cast and sling that adorned his arm.
"You had a pretty bad gash on your head that they managed to fix up and it shouldn't really scar. You have a split lip and a black eye and some other bruises on your face. You had a bunch of small rocks stuck in your skin that they had to dig out. Your bad leg had a pretty bad gash on your shin but it shouldn't cause any permanent damage to the leg. You have a bunch of cuts all over and your body is going to be one big bruise for a few weeks. But, you'll be okay and you have your spot waiting for you after you're healed." Bobby finished, knowing that that had probably been a thought on the man's mind since the attack.
Buck nodded before whispering, "I-I'm sorry."
A sob tore out of his battered chest, breaking Eddie's heart. He reached in first, wrapping his arms lightly around Buck as he whispered words of comfort. Everyone soon followed, looking to comfort the hurt firefighter.
"None of this is your fault Evan." Maddie said.
A few minutes passed as Buck's cries came down into broken hiccups. All of them released except for Eddie, resuming their seats by Buck's bedside. Eddie held on a couple moments longer, rubbing his hands gently up and down Buck's back. He felt his breaths grow slower as sleep started to overtake the man.
"Shh, shh, Evan, you can sleep now. It's alright."
"I- I don't want to see them. Or all the other stuff I dream about."
Eddie's heart broke once more at the revelation."We'll be right here to wake you up, okay? All of this will get sorted out, but for right now you need to rest."
Buck's eyes looked wary at the proposition.
"None of us are going anywhere, I promise." He looked at the others, smiling when they all nodded forcefully, reassuring his point.
"Now sleep mi amor. I love you Evan." Eddie said quietly.
"I love you too. I love you guys." His breathing evened out as he fell into what would probably be an uneasy, drug-induced sleep.
"We love you too Buck." Bobby whispered to the sleeping form.
They all struggled to get comfortable, settling in to what would be a difficult night, but not wanting to be anywhere else in the world.