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“Yeah, I know.” Buck speaks to the phone that’s squeezed between his ear and his shoulder while putting the groceries in a shopping bag. He got off shift thirty minutes ago, went home and quickly changed out of his uniform, hopped into his car and drove to the grocery store near Eddie’s home. Bobby has taught him a new recipe a few days ago— a delicious cherry lava cake, and he promised Eddie that they will try to bake it together for the first time tonight. They left the work together but Eddie had to drop Chris at Tia Pepa’s for a sleepover, so Buck was honored with the glorious duty of shopping before driving to Eddie’s.
“I checked the list twice, Eds. I got everything we need.” He rolls his eyes and lets out a soft chuckle. Buck always teases Eddie over how he goes full-on control freak mode even over a grocery list, but deep down, Buck finds it really adorable.
“I’ll be there in ten, I’m at the register now.” Buck finishes putting everything in the bag. “Okay, bye.” He lifts his tilted head, catches the phone with his hand and hangs up.
“Have a nice evening, sir.” The cashier girl smiles at him while giving him the change.
Buck wraps his fingers around the bags and nods at the girl with a soft smile. “You, too.”
There are two bulky men right behind him, taking slow and calculated steps while quietly chattering. But there’s something to it. Something feels off. It’s suspicious, and Buck notices it immediately because an uncomfortable sensation twists his gut— telling him not to turn around, and walk straight to his car. He barely ignores the intense urge to side eye the men behind him and keeps his head down, taking quick steps. It was a long day, and he really doesn’t want trouble. The plan is this: Buck is going to walk straight to his car, place down the grocery bags hastily, hop on his car and leave the parking lot. That’s the plan. No muss no fuss. Nothing will go wrong. He presses the unlock button on the car’s remote and places it in the pocket inside his jacket.
“That’s a dope car you have, man.” One of the guys booms out, an irritating tone in his voice. Buck just made it to his car, standing in front of the door that is waiting to be unlocked and packed. The guy slowly steps right next to him, tilting his head to the side and looking at him with a stupid grin on his face. It makes Buck’s stomach turn. Buck takes a deep breath and tries to compose himself. He gives a stare at the man’s eyes and turns to his car.
“Thanks.”
The other man creeps up on his left side and leans sideways on the driver’s door, elbow resting on the car’s roof. “I guess you won’t let us drive around a few rounds, huh?” The man pats on the roof, not glancing away from Buck.
Buck opens the back seat’s door and places down the grocery bags, one by one. He is not gonna play along and give them what they want. “You guessed it.” Buck deadpans and closes the car door. He turns to his left to walk towards the driver’s seat, but he faces with the other man—only a few inches of distance between. The man is looking straight into his eyes, clearly not willing to step aside. He is bigger than Buck, lots of muscles. But it doesn’t scare him. Buck takes a step forward without looking away, and the man takes a few steps back— letting Buck come closer to the door.
Just as Buck wraps his fingers around the door handle, wanting to open the door and step in— the man on right fold his rough fingers around Buck’s wrist, keeping it in place. The man gives Buck a faint squeeze. “Give me the keys.”
“Not gonna happen.” Buck tries to remove his hand from the handle, but the man tightens his grip and squeezes Buck’s wrist harder, his rough skin rubbing against Buck’s.
The man on his left takes a few steps and closes the distance between him and Buck. His chest pressing firmly againts Buck’s shoulder, the man leans his head forward and looks him up and down. “We are not asking.” His hot breath tickling Buck’s face. The beat of Buck’s heart is a flutter, and the rise and fall of his chest is quick, shallow. His heart skips a beat and Buck feels his face burn, cheeks too hot to touch.
Buck slowly turns his head to the man, gazing directly into his soul. He doesn’t twitch a muscle. “No.” His voice is low and rough.
And then, all at moment’s notice, the man on his right hardens his grip on Buck’s wrist, and pulls Buck towards himself with a sharp thrust. The abruptness of the movement and the shock of the moment catch him off guard and Buck misses a step, making him lose his balance for a second and falter like he is drunk. Buck tries to put his hand on the car for support, and get himself together; but before he knows it, the man’s hands are on him— wrapping his hands tightly around Buck’s collar and yanking him with a force. The man hurls Buck around and drags him— the brutal force making Buck nauseous and dizzy, and he pins Buck to the wall with a rough move. The solid wall pressed to his back scratching and prickling his muscles under his shirt.
The man presses himself closer to Buck, trapping him between the hard wall and his chest. He tugs the collars and lifts Buck’s head up. “Give me. The keys.” The man growls, his spits splattering right on Buck’s face. The other, bigger man walks towards them and stands next to his partner. He extends his arm and places his hand on the wall— blocking Buck’s exit on one side.
Blood rushes through Buck’s ears— pumping in his system like crazy and threatening to tear his eardrums. The heavy body squeezed against his chest makes him hard to take a breath, each attempt falling short and causing a sharp pain in his ribcage. Delirious with the adrenaline; Buck does the first thing that crosses his mind. He spits on the man’s face and lifts his knee, kicking him in the groin.
The man blurts out a loud scream and doubles over, hands covering his body. “You son of a bitch!” He lets out an engraged groan. Buck shoves him aside and frees himself from the hold. As he takes a few quick steps and begins to pick up his pace and run, suddenly; he feels a hand on his ankle, clutching impossibly tight. Buck doesn’t even get the chance to look down to see what it is when the hand yanks his ankle fast and lifts his leg up. It causes Buck to reel and Buck falls flat on the ground with a hard thud, his back slumped on the ground. The quick and sharp tug makes Buck slam his head on the concrete and his head bounces from the impact.
“Fuck.” Buck brings both his his hands on his head and covers his head. He sucks in a breath and lets out a hiss. He his his head pretty hard, and it’s throbbing violently, his skull feels like it’s gonna shatter into pieces. Buck closes his eyes and rubs his head with his hands, not being able to suppress his whimper.
“You think you’re clever, don’t you?” The man, no— the other man, the bigger one— fuck, paces towards him and kicks his ribs, the toe of his boots stabbing his side. Buck rolls over to his side and wraps his arms around his ribs, letting out a quiet groan. It’s gonna bruise like hell.
The next thing he knows, the man wraps his hand around Buck’s throat, gives him a firm squeeze and lifts him up. Buck holds the man’s wrists to gain balance, as the man lifts him and drags him like a rag doll. Then, he slams Buck and pins him to the wall. His hold on Buck’s throat tightens as he presses Buck further to the solid bricks, as if it’s possible. “You stupid fuck.” The man growls and pulls Buck towards himself, only to pin him to the wall again— this time with more force, causing Buck’s head to slam against the wall, again.
Buck rests his head on the wall, unable to keep it up any longer— it hurst too much, and he closes his eyes. A possible concussion. He feels dizzy and his skull is minutes away from shattering completely. The pressure around his neck is closing his airways and crushing his throat. Buck winces in pain everytime he tries to take in a breath, only ends up wheezing. With his remaining energy, Buck tries to loosen the man’s hard grip around his neck. But his shaky hands won’t cooperate. His lugs don’t fill with enough air, leaving him breathless, his throat is bruised and crushed, and his head is exploding with pain. He forces his eyes open but can not focus on anything, everything is blurry. He is suffocating. His legs don’t have the strength to hold him up anymore. His knees buckle, but he doesn’t fall; the visious grip around his neck holds him up. Buck lets his hands fall to his sides and lets out a painful last wheeze. As he closes his eyes and lets the darkness take over, the voice of someone familiar fills his ears.
“LAPD! Don’t move!”
A pressure is on his chest, rubbing against his sternum up and down. It hurts. But it wakes him up.
Buck flinches his eyes open and he sucks in a deep breath. Then, he lets out a harsh cough and winces at the same time, the cough irritating his already battered throat. Buck takes in another deep breath and heaves, tears prickling around his eyes. He feels soft hands trying to keep him down when he starts to thrash around.
“Hey, hey. There you go.” Soft hands hold his shoulders and press him down, then one of the hands lay on his chest— rubbing soothing circles. “Breathe.”
Buck turns his head to look at the owner of the hands. He blinks couple of times and tries to get himself to focus. Eddie is here. How did he get here?
“Ho-“ Buck tries to say but ends up heaving again, and then coughing. It’s a torturous loop. He wants to breathe but ends up coughing, which irritates his throat.
“Easy. Don’t talk.” Eddie keeps rubbing circles and his other hand gives him a soft squeeze on the shoulder. “You were gone for longer than ten minutes. I called Athena.” He explains.
Buck manages a nod and closes his eyes, feeling all kinds of pain and exhaustion all at once.
“No sleeping.” Eddie taps his fingers on Buck’s forehead. “We should get you checked out.”
Buck nods faintly. He lifts his hand slowly and puts his hand on Eddie’s. Eddie locks his fingers and draws small circles on Buck’s hand with his thumb. He gives Buck a soft, reassuring smile that reaches his eyes.
Buck squeezes Eddie’s hand lightly and returns the smile. It’s gonna be a long night, but they’ll get through it.