Chapter Text
When Eddie emerged from the shower it was to find 3 new notifications on his phone, all from Buck. 2 texts and 1 Snapchat. He opened the Snapchat first, watching a shot of Chris and Buck devouring a tower of pancakes accompanied by a sparkly filter, he could hear Chris laughing as Buck made exaggerated growling noises as he shovelled a forkful of the food into his mouth. In response, Buck's eyes lit up and returned the laugh, a genuine one, one that Eddie hadn't heard in a while. Next he opened the texts, one being confirmation of them safe and having fun, the other an image of them wearing the popcorn buckets from the cinema as hats- oh god, their hair would be so sticky.
With a renewed spring in his step Eddie made his way to the loft of the station, finding his teammates huddled around the island nursing coffees.
"You look happy. You have a special shower? That last call had you pumped." Chim wiggled his eyebrows in jest. Hen hit him, her words expressing disgust but her face crinkling with mirth.
"Nice Chim. But no, got these from Buck." He laid his phone on the counter, replaying the snap and opening the text chain to the photo Buck had sent.
Hen laughed. "That kid is going to need 5 showers to get that stuff out his hair, and he definitely won't be sleeping tonight after all the sugar and excitement."
Without missing a beat, Chim added. "Christopher too!"
They all laughed, but it was genuinely so good to see Buck seeming better again. His smile. The shine in his eye. The absence of the lines on his forehead that had seemed to appear in the last few months. They had been worried for him, really worried, he'd been the quietest they'd ever seen him and even Maddie said she had only seen him like this a couple of times. He'd pulled away from them, secluded himself.
Eddie poured himself a coffee and sat on one of the stools, flicking to Buck's contact again and tapping the video button. The tune chimed for a few seconds before a blinding shot of sun and ocean appeared on the screen, along with Buck's face crinkled with squinting in the sunlight.
"Hey Eds!"
Eddie felt the team close in around him, watching on but keeping out of shot for now.
"Hey Buck. Looks like you're having a great time."
"Heck yeah! Ain't that right kiddo?" Buck swung the phone around until Chris was in frame too, holding onto Buck's shoulders as the boy stood on a bench behind him- though, it was more his legs in frame rather than his face.
Chris laughed. "They can't see me!"
"Well if you stopped being a monkey, climbing all over me, and sat down, maybe they could see you. Huh!? Tarzan!"
Chris laughed again, yelling 'no' the way he did when they were playing. "I'm watching the ocean for pirates. I have to stay on guard."
Buck turned back to the camera. "First he wants to be a pirate, now he's on guard for them. He's just as indecisive as you are on pizza night Eddie!"
"Oh ha-ha." Eddie deadpanned. "So you're at the pier now? What happened to the cinema?"
"We moved on. We had planned on getting dinner at the mall and maybe going bowling but Chris said I needed fresh air, no point in dragging me out of my apartment to be stuck in a stuffy mall all afternoon."
"Wise kid."
"Uh huh." Buck gave a mock annoyed face but his eyes shone with humour.
"Bucky! We could try our new toy!" At the top of the frame Eddie could see Chris' hands tapping excitedly at Buck's shoulders where he held on. "Dad! Dad! We got a new thing to have fun with."
Oh god, what now.
Buck fiddled with something in a bag first, laying his phone on the bench and providing Eddie and the team with a blaring view of the bright sky. After a moment the phone was lifted into the air again, with parts of Buck in view one minute and parts of Chris the next, along with random shots of the pier.
"You got it?" Buck asked, and they heard Chris confirm. He gave it one final turn and finally they could see a wide shot of Chris and Buck- now stood behind the boy, holding onto his waist.
"Ta-dah!" Chris exclaimed, holding out his hands. Eddie could make out a belt type device around Chris' chest and the start of a pole connecting his son to the now floating phone.
"A selfie stick!?" He deadpanned.
"One that Chris can wear as he walks so he doesn't have to struggle with his arms. Or, if you're out running, you can make a call as you run, hands free. Isn't it neat?"
"I am not running with that thing attached to me."
"No, he just doesn't run full stop." Chris turned and stage whispered to Buck and they both burst out laughing, as well as the team alongside Eddie.
"The team there too?" Buck smiled at him from over Chris' shoulder, who was still stood on the bench. He knew the bench, it was the one right at the end of the pier, one he had often sat on when he needed some time to think.
"You're grounded when I next see you, both of you! And yeah, they're here. Wanna say hi?" They didn't really give Buck time to accept before they were crowding into Eddie's space, all eager to get a proper glimpse and wave at them both.
"Hey guys. Having fun without me?"
"A blast." Someone joked behind him, but Eddie only gave notice to the slight crack in Buck's smile, the twitch of the eye upon hearing the words. One thing Eddie had realised, some thanks to Maddie, was the insecurities that weighed Buck down, triggered by the smallest of things, the most innocent slip of the tongue from his friends.
"We're kidding man, can't wait for you to be back. It's really wrong not having you here."
Buck didn't reply for a moment, his eyes flashing down to his feet for a second before coming back up and regaining his composure. "Just you wait until you hear all the facts I've been learning since my accident! You'll be calling me Buckepedia!"
"I think we already do kiddo." Bobby chuckled deeply from Eddie's left.
Eddie felt warm, this camaraderie, seeing their friend acting so much better than he had been just this morning. He knew it may not last, that in a few days the thrill may wear off and Buck would be back under his bedsheets with take out boxes decorating his cabinets, but right now they knew their Buck was still in there, that they could reach him and help him.
Chris' voice pulled Eddie from his thoughts, returning his smiling gaze to the screen. "Buck? Where did all the water go?"
Buck's head turned from staring at the camera to looking quizzically at Chris. "Huh buddy?"
"The water. It's gone." Chris' voice was quiet and scared. His gaze was down toward the edge of the pier where waves usually lapped against the wood as they made their way to shore.
Buck's eyes followed Chris' line of vision, his forehead wrinkling in confusion at whatever he saw. Behind them people were walking closer, their eyes also looking out beyond the frame of the phone, some of them were whispering, or beginning to grow panicked.
"Buck? What's going on?" Bobby intervened, trying to get the pair's attention. Neither of them reacted, not to Bobby at least, but they looked around as they noticed the crowds growing around them.
And then the first scream came.
It wasn't too close to them but Buck whipped his head around to look, his training and instincts on high alert. Then more and more people began to yell out, some were backing away and some even began to run.
"Buck!?" Eddie tried this time. Chris was turning his head to Buck, his face nervous at how everyone was reacting around them. This was what snapped the younger man from his trance, turning to comfort the boy before his eyes gazed out to the open ocean.
1 second.
Less than a second even.
Buck's eyes became saucers, his face dropped, the colour draining from his cheeks and his mouth fell open in horror.
"BUCK!?"
An alarm began to blare out, echoing around the pier.
Buck moved. He turned around, waving his arms at everyone around them.
"RUN!! RUUUUUUUUUUUN! GET OFF THE PIER!" He yelled at them, and the ones who hadn't already made their move suddenly awoke from their freezing terror, and did just as Buck commanded. At that, the firefighter himself turned back around, grabbing Christopher and throwing him over his shoulder before joining the masses.
The pier rushed past them on the screen as he ran, Christopher jostling in the hold and forcing the selfie stick to ride about. The movement was sickening, but it could also be the abject fear of watching this play out; And play out with his son and best friend right in the middle. As they moved down the length of the structure the alarm wavered in and out, deafening one second and drowned out by all the yells the next.
They could hear Buck struggling, his breathing quick and pained as he ran as fast as possible on a recently injured leg, all whilst carrying a 10 year old over his shoulder- trained firefighter or not, it would have been a difficult task. Noises from his throat, cries and muted yells, only made the fear and exertion more evident. Hen had grabbed Eddie's hand, the both of them squeezing and surely hurting one another with the force. Bobby had gripped the counter with both hands, his head bent, listening but not being able to watch. And Chim had folded his arms tightly around himself, staring straight at the screen, barely blinking.
Kiosks and booths began to appear on the screen and the camera angle turned slightly to show Buck looking behind him, past Christopher, before he hoisted the boy up into a new position. It was just the same view though, blind chaos around them as crowds ran and people yelled, with the back and side of Buck's head bobbing as he ran and Chris' face square in shot, looking pale and scared.
Suddenly Buck slowed, the camera flipped and all around Chris they could see the decorative display of a games booth, stuffed toys and bright colours contrasting to the horror that was playing out. Chris was shuffling around, crying at the loss of contact with Buck before a shadow passed over him as a form with a pink shirt blocked out the light.
Arms came around him and wrapped him up quickly, followed by the selfie stick falling away and now recording the harlequin pattern painted ceiling. The last, split second shot of the pair had been of them huddled in a corner, Buck's arms encompassing Chris' small frame, the man's face tucked into the boy's curls.
A breathy, distant, "Chris" could just be heard.
Before everything went dark.
Before a tremendous crash sounded.
Before the sound of rushing water, bubbling and swirling, took over.
Just before the feed cut out there were shots of bodies, floating toys, planks of wood, even (Eddie swore he hadn't imagined it) fish; real life fish.
Then black. Disconnected flashing up on the screen.
And silence.
Broken 10 seconds later by their own alarm screaming out and a disembodied voice calling all available units to the Santa Monica surrounding areas.
Emergency protocols.
Natural disaster.
All hands on deck.
A tsunami had hit California.