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The static that echoes through the radio fades out to white noise under the thundering of Eddie’s heart.
“Firefighter Buckley, do you copy?”
He waits with baited breath for the response but all he gets is the crackle of the flames around them and the roaring in his ears.
“The floor collapsed, Cap.” The voice, when it finally comes, is not the one Eddie had been hoping to hear. “Buckley’s fallen through to the first floor. I can see him, but I don’t have a way to reach him.”
“Which quadrant are you in?” Even over the radio, the strain in Bobby’s tone is evident as he organises to get hoses to the other side of the building. “Firefighters Tomas, Han and Diaz, return to the truck. We’ll focus our efforts on the lower South West corner.”
Eddie stiffens and shares a glance with Chim. They’d been sent in to sweep and clear the North and East sides of the two storey apartment block while Buck and Tomas had gone to clear the opposite corners.
The fire had taken hold quickly, threatening to consume the building when Bobby had ordered them to pull out.
Reaching the bottom of the stairwell, Eddie turns towards the centre of the building.
“This whole place is going to come down,” Chim warns him, voice muffled by his mask. “You heard Bobby, we’ll get him from the other side.”
“It’ll take too long,” Eddie insists. “And every moment we wait we risk the building collapsing.” He shrugs away from the grip Chim has on his turnout coat. “It’s Buck. I can’t leave him.”
With a long sigh, Chim pushes Eddie down the Southwest corridor and reaches for the radio clipped to his coat.
“Captain Nash, Firefighters Han and Diaz are approaching Buckley’s approximate location.”
They jog down the hall keeping their heads low and away from the flames that lock the ceiling.
Visibility is poor. Smoke and ash swirls all around them and the building creaks as the fire eats away at the supports.
When they find Buck its because Eddie almost trips over him. He’s hidden, half buried by the disintegrated remains of the floor he’d been standing on.
“We got eyes on Buck, Cap,” Chim relays into the radio before crouching beside the fallen firefighter.
“Buck.” Eddie gives his shoulder a shake and relief floods through him at the sound of Buck’s long groan. “Hey, easy now. We’ve got you.”
He looks to Chim who’s pushing away bits of debris.
“He’s not pinned,” Chim observes. “Can’t see any obvious signs of trauma. If we’re lucky we’re probably just looking at a concussion.”
Buck groans again and coughs against the smoke that fills the room. “Eddie?”
“There you are.” Eddie grins and fixes the Buck’s mask to cover his face properly. “You think you can stand?”
The ceiling groans ominously and Chim rises from his crouch.
“We don’t have time to find out,” he says, helping Eddie lift Buck on his feet. “We need to go.”
They hurry from the building, breaking out into the humid morning air. Once they’re far enough from the building, they set Buck down on the ground and Chimney switches to paramedic mode.
He gestures for someone to bring over the oxygen and starts checking Buck over for injuries.
The oxygen is delivered by Bobby who gives Eddie and Chim a stern look.
"You both disobeyed my orders,” he starts, only to be interrupted by Buck.
“It was my fault, Cap.” The mask he’s wearing fogs up with each breath.
“I’m not sure how that’s possible,” Bobby says, but his expression softens. “Unless you were trying to break through the floor.”
Buck lets out a short bark of laughter that quickly turns into a cough.
“What’s the verdict?” Bobby asks, turning to Chim.
“He’s doing surprisingly well for someone who decided to take a shortcut to the first floor,” Chim teases. “But given he lost consciousness for a bit, he needs to get checked out at the hospital.”
“I’m fine,” Buck croaks.
“You heard him.” Bobby clasps Buck’s shoulder in a warm grip. “Go get checked out.”
Eddie helps Buck to stand, holding him steady when he sways dangerously.
“Uh, Captain?”
Bobby looks from Eddie to Buck, his keen gaze lingering on the grip Eddie has around Buck’s waist.
“Yes, you can go with them,” he says, lips ticking up at the corners.
Eddie doesn’t want to think about the conversation that will probably be waiting for them when they get back to the station. Instead he focuses on helping Buck into the back of the ambulance and helps him strip out of the rest of his heavy turnout gear.
“I’m okay,” Buck mumbles as the ambulance pulls out on to the road. He slips the mask up off his face and grabs at Eddie’s hands. “I’m okay.”
“I thought...” Eddie doesn’t want to say the words, doesn’t want to speak them into existence. This call out could have had a very different ending.
But Buck is able to read the unspoken words in the creases of Eddie’s bow. “It didn’t happen. I’m okay.”
Almost unbidden, Eddie’s hand comes up to wipe the soot from Buck’s cheek and then he’s leaning in and their lips are pressing together with a need that’s almost desperate.
Buck tastes like smoke and sweat but his mouth is warm and so, so alive.
The loud blaring of the ambulances horn brings them back to their senses. Buck pulls away and Eddie turns, scowling towards the front of the truck.
Hen and Chim are both staring at them from the front of the cab, twin grins plastered across their faces.
“About time,” Chim crows turning back to the road as the traffic starts moving again.
Hen laughs. “You boys just made me a lot of money.”
But Buck’s hand has found Eddie’s, his fingers curling around his wrist and that’s all that matters.