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Gunshots were loud.
He knew that. He’d been around guns before. He had to learn to shoot on the ranch in Montana and when he was trying for the SEALs. He respected guns, mostly because if he didn’t, he could end up on the wrong end of one.
Like right now.
Lou Ransone was barely able to tackle the woman holding Buck hostage in time, the gun that had been against his temple instead firing just to his left. He could feel the heat of the bullet as it shot past his ear, so close that his short hair was signed.
Athena broke rank and rushed over to him, pulling him back behind her SUV before he had even really begun to register what had just happened. She was already calling for someone - Hen? - but the sound was muted, almost like it was echoing down a long tunnel.
He barely felt arms come around him, pulling a shock blanket over his shoulders. He couldn’t see what was happening around him. He just let himself sink back into darkness.
How was this today?
The shift had been a normal one, Bobby reflected, sitting quietly in his living room. Normal calls, normal banter. Enough cats in trees to make neighbors laugh about stereotypes, enough kids in claw machines to let Buck make all sorts of jokes (and he always paid the children with a toy when he let them out, not letting anyone but Bobby know that he always gave the claw machine’s owner payment for the toy).
Of course, it all went to hell not an hour before they were to be relieved for the day.
They’d been called to a fender bender, which was out of the norm, but understandable. Six cars altogether, one had hit the brakes and caused a domino effect of crashing into each other as they had all been following too close in the afternoon LA traffic. The 118 was there primarily to check on a few drivers who were making complaints and help the police with traffic control.
The passenger of the lead car had been agitated by the delay. The driver was being checked out for signs of whiplash while the passenger paced back and forth, grumbling about how she had better things to do with her life then stand on the side of the 405 after her idiot boyfriend caused the accident. In her next breath, she managed to insult every firefighter and paramedic that was working, her tone and language more vile with every third word.
It took them less than thirty minutes to either clear or prepare to transport the people who had been caught up. Buck had been asked to help assist the lead driver towards the ambulance - he was slightly injured, enough to necessitate a trip to the hospital, but not bad enough to warrant being strapped to a backboard and transported.
Buck and the driver had only stepped a few feet away from his girlfriend when she hit her breaking point.
Where she had hidden the gun, they probably wouldn’t know, unless Athena told Bobby at some point. The first shot had gone wide. She didn’t have a good grip on it. The second shot was more successful. Bullet straight through her boyfriend’s neck. He hadn’t hit the ground before the muzzle was pressed against Buck’s temple.
That was a sight that would haunt Bobby. Buck had been at gunpoint before (the Lola incident came firmly to mind), but never like this. Never so close that Buck was actually about to die.
A knock at the front door pulled him from his darkening thoughts. He quickly pushed himself out of his chair and answered, only to find Lou waiting on the porch.
“Athena said you brought him home,” Lou quickly said, not letting Bobby even say a greeting. “But his loft is-”
Bobby nodded. “He’s here. Still shaken, probably not asleep. Second door on the left.” He gestured down the hall.
Lou gave him a muttered word of thanks before striding down the hall, keeping his knock light just in case Harry was also home and asleep on a Monday evening. Barely a moment later, the detective slipped into the guest room, quietly closing the door behind him.
Bobby settled himself down in his chair once again, thinking about the brief encounter.
Buck’s friendship with Lou Ransone had come as a surprise to the firehouse a few months prior. Apparently they had become friends after running into each other only a few weeks after Taylor Kelly had left town. They weren’t dating - Buck had been clear on that - but they did hang out a good deal of the time. Basically, whenever they weren’t working and Buck’s time wasn’t already occupied by the Diazes.
Lou had come to Bobby just over a month ago to check in on Buck, after the younger firefighter had taken a nasty blow from a falling two-by-four in a house fire. He just asked to be kept in the loop when Buck was sent to the hospital, the same way they kept the fire family informed when someone was transported (mostly so that Carla could reschedule Christopher, Karen could plan around Denny, and Maddie could take Jee-Yun to the Lees). It was a good system. Once Buck texted his okay, Lou was added to the list.
Faint crying floated down the hallway. Bobby sighed in relief.
When Buck had been released, he’d tried to bring him back to the loft or to Eddie’s house, only to get a firm headshake. So Bobby had brought the younger man home, setting him up in the guest room. Buck had curled up and shook, barely acknowledging Bobby’s presence. If Lou was finally able to get the man to react…
Bobby whispered a quiet thanks to Lou and turned out the light. It was time to finally end the day.