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“…I didn’t think this was possible.”
Chim laughed tightly at Hen’s incredulous tone before speaking to the group at large. “Anyone else starting to feel like a cartoon character?”
“You’re not helping.”
“Shut up, Chim.”
He struggled a bit, pulling on his arms and thus the other two unfortunate members of his party, earning a groan and a side-glare from Eddie. “Not. Helping.”
“C’mon, Diaz—you don’t find this the least bit funny?”
Eddie snorts angrily. “What exactly is supposed to be funny about this, Chim? That somebody got the drop on not one but four members of the LAFD and tied us together with our own fire hose, or the fact that they decided to make Buck their ambulance get-away driver after giving him what I can only assume is a pretty severe concussion!?”
It was quiet for too long.
“Well…I guess just the first part, mainly.”
“SHUT UP CHIM.”
Athena is in the right place at the right time to recognize that a bleeding Buck driving the 118’s ambulance erratically down a relatively busy street accompanied by an unfamiliar, gun-wielding man did not spell a fun evening for her.
She was really looking forward to getting home to some of her husband’s famous chili and grilled cheese sticks, too.
Sighing, she called in for backup and flipped on her lights and sirens, following them for three blocks before they finally pulled over.
Well, swerved over.
Into a ditch.
Athena skid to a mud-flinging stop and hastily climbed out of her cruiser, radioing in her position and the updated situation before proceeding. She drew her gun as she slowly approached the ambulance, which now lies almost on its side in several feet of bracken water. “LAPD, throw out your weapons and release your hostage!”
For a second there was nothing. Then, slowly, one of the doors swung open, gravity taking it to the ground with a wet clunk. First one, then another gun was thrown out and a moment later Buck came stumbling out of the ambulance, holding onto his bleeding head and looking around wildly until he spotted her. “Thank god,” he called, tone gravelly and stressed. He trudged up the muddy incline to her, dropping his head onto her shoulder and folding into her lightly, as if he wanted her to hold him, but knew she couldn't truly bear his weight. “M’pretty sure they’re both out.”
She allowed her posture to relax a little, bringing up her free hand to rub in between his shoulder blades. “That's good, Buck. You did good.”
“Th’team ok? Eddie ok?” He mumbled into her shoulder as she continued to comfort him.
“I got some officers checking on their location, now.”
Buck hummed a bit, suddenly leaning heavier into her shoulder. “M’tired.”
Athena nodded against him. “I bet you are, baby. Let’s get you sitting down. I can hear cavalry coming, now.”
Another cruiser and an ambulance pulled up a moment later and she stood with him as the EMT got him sitting down on the back of the rig.
"Can we call Eddie, 'Thena? Please?"
She patted his arm affectionately, pulling out her phone. As she was tapping on her contacts list, she got a notification from one of the officers sent to check on the 118's location. She chewed the inside of her lip to keep herself from grinning as she turned the screen to Buck.
"Something tells me he's going to be just fine."
Buck (completely ignoring the EMT, by the way-much to her annoyance) took the phone from Athena and laughed.
There, sitting on the ground in front of the ladder truck, were Hen, Chim and Eddie. They were sat back to back to back, lashed together with the fire hose, which was also still attached to the truck. Eddie was the only one whose face could be seen clearly, and he was shooting the camera a death-glare, his cheeks red with embarrassment.
Athena took the phone back from a giggling Buck and pulled up Eddie's contact, handing it back to him before pulling the EMT to the side. "You may as well let him get this out of his system; you're never going to get him to sit still until he's talked to his man."