Chapter Text
It's a shitshow from the start.
The details that come through from dispatch are vague, the caller disconnecting before Maddie can get much more than an address and confirmation that something’s on fire.
When the 118 arrive on scene at the three storey building, they have to push through the crowd of sightseers to get to the hydrants.
There’s smoke billowing from a window on the third floor, but from the looks of it, the two lower storeys are clear.
"Buck, Eddie, I want you masked up. You're going in,” Bobby directs from his position by the truck. “We’ll work on stopping the spread while you make sure the building is clear.”
“Got it.”
They race to don their gear, taking a moment to check each other’s oxygen tanks before Buck claps Eddie on the shoulder.
“You ready?”
Buck can’t help the grin that pulls at his lips at Eddie’s nod. It feels good to be working together again. He’d felt unbalanced the whole time Eddie was gone, like a part of him was missing.
He follows Eddie towards the apartment building, keeping close as they make their way inside through thick and choking smoke.
They head for the stairs, working to clear the building from any occupants who may be reluctant to leave.
The building appears to be empty and Buck makes the mistake of thinking maybe this will be easier than he thought.
They’ve just cleared the third floor, about to move on to the second when the radio call comes through.
“Firefighters Buckley and Diaz, do you copy?”
Buck shares a look with Eddie and keys his radio. “Buckley and Diaz, copy.”
“The fire’s spread into the roof,” Bobby tells them, the radio crackling. “How close are you to clearing the building?”
“Third floor is clear,” Buck tells him. “We’re just moving to the second floor.”
“Okay.” The radio crackles to life after a beat. “Keep going, but be prepared to evacuate on my order.”
“Copy that, cap.” Buck turns to Eddie. “Better make this quick, it’s going up fast.”
“I’m not surprised,” Eddie says as they make their way towards the stairs. “This place is just code violations on top of code violations.”
Shaking his head, Buck follows Eddie onto the stairs. A lot of people are going to lose their homes and belongings because the property owners were too cheap to follow the rules.
There’s a rumble as they start their descent, a disconcerting sway as embers rain down around them.
“This is Captain Nash. The structure has become unstable. All personnel must evacuate the building. I repeat, evacuate the building. Please confirm you copy.”
“This is Diaz and Buckley,” Eddie says, as they make their way down the stairs. “We copy, we’re evacuating the—” he’s cut off as the building shakes and Buck stumbles, smacking into Eddie’s back.
“Sorry.” He uses the railing to push back onto his feet.
“You good?” Eddie turns, gripping Buck’s arm while he steadies himself.
“Yeah.” Buck gives Eddie a nudge to keep going. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
The building shakes again, the walls groaning under the weight of the caving roof. Buck feels the stairs shift between his feet.
“Eddie!” He throws his weight forward, pushing Eddie towards the landing as the third floor collapses.
There’s a moment of weightlessness.
Then there’s nothing.
Buck rouses slowly to the wailing of an alarm. It takes a moment to place it, his head ringing from the fall, but eventually he recognises it as the PASS device he’s wearing.
The tank strapped to his back is uncomfortable, but he can’t shift to find a better position— there’s something keeping him pinned. He can’t see it, but he can feel the pressure across his abdomen, holding him down.
" — Buckley, do you copy? "
He searches blindly for his radio.
"Yeah, I copy."
"Thank God. You had us worried there for a minute."
"Mm." It's almost too much effort to keep the radio held to his face. "Is Eddie okay?"
"I'm fine, Buck," Eddie's voice drifts down from somewhere above him. "You pushed me out of the way when the stairs collapsed."
“M’kay, that’s good.” Buck lets himself slump back against the rubble of the fallen staircase.
“We’ve got the fire under control, but it might take us a minute to get to you,” Bobby’s voice crackles through the radio again. “Hang tight.”
“Not going anywhere,” Buck mumbles.
“I’m going to see if I can find a way down,” Eddie says, his voice echoing in the empty stairwell half a beat before the radio. “I’ll keep you updated.”
Buck can hear the shift and scrape of wood and cement above him as Eddie picks through the rubble. He tries to stay awake, tries to answer the questions Eddie calls down to him, but his head pounds and his chest aches in a way that makes it hard to catch his breath.
“Hey, I thought I told you to stay with me.” Eddie’s head pops through the gap above him. “That means eyes open.”
“You were taking too long,” Buck pants out. “I got bored.”
“Ha.” Eddie’s face is obscured by his mask, so Buck can’t see the expression he’s making. He doesn’t need to be able to see it, he can hear the concern when Eddie asks, “how’re you doing?”
“Could be better.” Buck lifts an arm that weighs two tonnes to gesture to himself. “I could do without reliving the time I got crushed by a ladder truck. But hey, at least it’s not actively crushing me this time."
“Just stuck?”
Buck nods and Eddie’s head disappears. When he reemerges, it’s feet first to clamber down to where Buck’s pinned.
“Sorry I’m late.” Eddie crouches in the rubble by Buck’s head. “You ready to get out of here?” He keys his radio. “Bobby, I’m with Buck. How long until we can get out of here?”
“Not too much longer,” Bobby says. “We’re going to come in through the delta side wall, should be quicker.”
“Guess we’ll wait then,” Eddie says, pulling down his mask. “Now that I’m here, how are you really doing?”
“Head hurts,” Buck replies honestly. “I think I knocked myself out.”
“I don’t think you were out for long,” Eddie tells him, his fingers moving through Buck’s hair, searching for a bump. “And you clearly remember what happened.” His fingers brush the knot on the back of Buck’s head. “Sorry,” he says, when Buck flinches away.
“S’fine,” Buck says, panting to catch his breath. Honestly, it hadn’t hurt that bad but moving had aggravated whatever was pressing down on Buck’s chest and stomach.
Eddie doesn’t miss it, his mouth pulling down in a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just— can’t quite get a full breath— with this thing on top of me,” Buck explains.
“You in any pain?” Eddie asks, running his hands down Buck’s sides.
Buck shakes his head, regretting it immediately, when the world starts to spin around him. “Just feeling a bit squished.”
He shuts his eyes and lets Eddie do his thing, prodding Buck’s stomach around whatever’s holding him down.
“You don’t feel that?”
It goes to show how well they know each other, that Buck notices the edge in Eddie’s otherwise calm voice.
“Your hands?” He cracks an eye open. “I can feel them. Why?”
Eddie’s gone still above him, his hands still splayed on Buck’s stomach. They’re warm. Warmer than Buck feels lying there on the cold cement.
“Eddie?” He tries to shift, trying to get prop himself up on his arms to catch a glimpse of whatever has caught Eddie’s attention.
“No.” The hands on his stomach are gone, pushing at his shoulders to keep Buck lying flat. “Don’t move.”
There’s a heat in his belly. It’s different to what he normally feels around Eddie. It burns, red hot and all consuming.
“Eds? What—?”
"Stop moving." Eddie keeps one hand on Buck's shoulder, reaching for his radio with the other. "This is Diaz, how far away are you?"
"We're coming through now," Bobby's voice echoes through the radio. "What's your status?"
"Buck's been injured," Eddie says. He locks eyes with Buck and lets out a long breath. "He's been impaled."
Oh.
That– that explains a lot.
Whatever Bobby responds with is lost beneath the roar of Buck's own mounting panic. He chokes on it, the fear crawling up his throat and clutching at his chest.
"Buck, hey. Just breathe. In and out."
He can't. The fire in his belly is spreading, he's going to burn up before he ever gets the chance to say—
"Eddie." He grips the sleeve of Eddie's jacket. "I need—"
"Don't." Eddie doesn't even give him a chance to finish. "The team's almost here. We'll have you out in just a minute."
"Please," Buck insists, tugging Eddie closer. "I need to tell you—"
"Buck, I know," Eddie says, his voice gentle. "But you can tell me later, okay? We can– tell each other, yeah?"
And that's enough to cut through the haze of pain and panic.
"You—" Buck cuts himself off with a shake of his head. "No, I want— I might not get another chance."
"You will." Eddie's expression pulls tight and determined. "Because I'm getting you out of here.”
There’s a clatter from off to the side, out of Buck’s eyeline. He tries to shift his head, but Eddie hovers over him, his hands moving to hold Buck’s head still.
“You know the drill, Buck. No moving.”
“Since when has he ever listened to any of us?” A pair of turnout pants appear on the side of Buck’s vision. “How’re you doing, Buck?”
“Chim?” The hands on the side of his face prevent Buck from looking, but his friend leans over him.
“The one and only.” Chimney hands Eddie a collar and goes back to rummaging through his bag. “You ready to get out of here?”
“Been ready this whole time,” Buck murmurs, fighting the urge to close his eyes. The adrenaline in his system is crashing and his body is heavy with exhaustion.
He’s dimly aware of others joining them. Hen’s there— her voice in his ear, calm and in control even under the screech of the saw.
Things get fuzzy after that, and then there’s nothing.
Buck wakes slowly.
The drugs circulating through him try to drag him back down and he struggles against the pull, blinking open sticky eyes.
“Hey.”
Buck goes to speak but the words stick in his mouth, and he coughs, trying to find some moisture.
“Here.”
A plastic cup appears in front of him and Buck reaches for it, sighing as the water hits his tongue.
“Better?”
Nodding, Buck rolls his head towards the figure beside the bed.
“Hey.” His voice is wrecked, but it’s worth the effort of speaking to see the way Eddie’s face lights up.
“Hey yourself.” Eddie puts the cup back on the table beside the bed and leans forward, bracing his arms on the railing. “How’re you feeling?”
Buck takes stock. There’s a throbbing in his head, starting at the back and radiating around, but it pales in comparison to the ache in his abdomen. The discomfort must show on his face, because Eddie presses the call button and a nurse bustles into the room to fuss over him.
She messes with one of the IVs beside the bed before pressing something into his hand, directing him to hit the button if he needs more pain relief.
She leaves them after that, with a promise that a doctor will be in at some point to talk to him.
“What time is it?” Buck asks, once they’re alone.
“Late,” Eddie says, resuming his spot by the bed. “I just convinced Maddie to go home. She’s going to be pissed that she missed you waking up.”
“She should be with Jee,” Buck murmurs, shifting to get comfortable. He still hasn’t hit the button, he’s not ready to go back to sleep and the pain is helping to keep him awake.
“That’s what I told her,” Eddie tells him. “Press the button, Buck.”
“Don’t want to fall asleep.” Buck glances up. “Wanna tell you something.”
Eddie captures one of Buck’s hands, a smile tugging against his lips. “This again?” He gives Buck’s fingers a squeeze. “You don’t need to say anything, I already know.”
“Wanna tell you anyway.” Buck struggles to sit up, but his bones feel like they’re made of putty and he flops back down. He finds the controls on the side of the bed, ignoring Eddie’s protests to raise the head of the bed. “Eds, please. I’m trying to tell you that I’m in love with you.”
Eddie’s smile pulls wider. “I know.”
That stops Buck short. “You know? Eddie—“
“I’m in love with you too,” Eddie tells him, the words almost too quick for Buck to catch. “I was going to say something, I was just waiting for the right moment.” He gestures to the room around him. “This is not how I wanted this conversation to happen.”
“You’re in love with me.” Buck blinks, processing that information.
“Yes, will you press the button now?” Eddie asks, eyes dancing with amusement.
“I want to talk about this more,” Buck argues. “How long— how— when?”
“We can talk about it in the morning,” Eddie promises, nodding towards the PCA button. “Go to sleep, Buck.”
Buck fidgets with the blanket, trying to put off the inevitable. There’s a sharp ache in his belly that beats in time with his heartbeat. He wants to press the button, but he’s afraid he won’t remember when he wakes up.
“I don’t want to forget this,” he mumbles, looking over at Eddie.
“I won’t let you forget,” Eddie tells him, gripping Buck’s hand tight. “And I’ll be right here when you wake up. Go to sleep.”