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The scene is a mess from the get-go.
They are dispatched to an unstable building complex as their last call of the shift to evacuate and secure the area before something disastrous happens, but even by the way the dispatcher informs them, Eddie can tell it's going to be a tricky one.
And the weather isn't helping them the slightest, either.
Not only it's pouring down rain hard and the roads are almost completely blocked, but also it's so fucking cold that he can feel his bones shrivel and tremble like a pathetic leaf despite the turnouts he's in.
At this point, he just wants to call it a day and go home to his son, and maybe invite Buck to spend the night considering his place is closer to the station.
"Want to come over after shift?" Eddie leans closer to Buck, who is sitting next to him in the engine, taking off his headpiece so only Buck can hear him. "You'll stay the night, don't think the roads will get any better tonight."
It's not that he needs an excuse to invite the other man over, he knows Buck would say yes no matter what, but still it feels guaranteed this way.
Buck stares through the window and watches the raindrops hit the glass, letting out a sigh as he shakes his head. "Man, look at that rain."
"It will be hell of a night for the B shift." Chimney joins.
Oh, yeah, that's for sure.
Thankfully, luck is on their side for this one.
Buck turns his head to him and smiles, their knees touching. "I'll take that offer."
The engine finally stops and the quiet rambles from the backseat come to an end as Bobby unlocks the door and hops off. "We're here."
Eddie jumps off the engine after Bobby and wanders his eyes around the place before gathering his equipment, and the sight is only a proof of what the dispatcher said.
It is really a mess.
It looks like it's barely standing tall— one touch to push it over the edge and it will fall apart, deep cracks starting from the bottom spreading through the walls and surrounding the building like a spider web. It's hanging on by a thread, that much is obvious, but there is something about the building that makes Eddie's hair stand on end. It's not even a high rise— only a four storey construction, but it is gloomy and dark, and Eddie doesn't like it.
"Okay, you know the drill!" Bobby's voice is barely audible from the drilling sound of the rain. "I don't want any of you to waste any time." He turns to look at Eddie and Buck, pointing at the two. "Buck, Eddie, you have the first two floors. Hen, you and Chimney have the upper two floors."
"Got it."
"The building isn't stable so if I say we're pulling back, you will listen . Understand?" Bobby orders, assertive eyes meeting all of theirs one by one but staying longer on Buck's.
They all nod in acknowledgement. "Yes, Cap."
"Good." Bobby nods back, putting on his helmet. "Lets go."
Surprisingly, they work so swiftly and carefully that it takes much less than what Eddie was expecting to clear the building— but then again the whole damn world knows how Buck and him work seamlessly like it's a child's play and knowing that alone is enough to bring him security.
They are escorting the last victim towards the exit when all of a sudden she tightens her grasp around Eddie with a quick yelp and everyone stops dead on their feet.
"What was that?" Eddie's head shoots up, his brows knitted as he looks at the ceiling then at Buck.
He swears he felt the ground and the walls shaking back and forth. It was under one second maybe, but he definitely felt it.
Buck shakes his head, eyes wide. "I don't know, something moved."
"Was tha—"
Eddie's feet vibrate as the ground shakes one more time like there is a high-speed train under the pavement and pieces of plaster begin to fall off the ceiling. Thin, black lines begin to appear on the walls, threatening to split open.
Something's wrong and whatever it is, it warns them to hurry up.
Eddie's radio buzzes with a static sound, the spoken words over the line making his heart skip a beat.
"Diaz! Buckley! You need to get out now." It's Bobby. "The building isn't stable!"
Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.
In under a split second, his eyes lock with Buck's, sharing a dreadful look.
"We got the last victim." Eddie leans into his radio, voice loud and firm. "We're leaving now!"
His boots stomp the ground with each fast step, barreling towards the door with his one arm wrapped securely around the victim as Buck follows them only a few inches behind, but then a creaking sound coming from the wooden floor followed by a sharp shout causes Eddie to turn around.
He does not like what he sees.
Buck's foot is stuck in the broken hardwood.
"Buck!" Eddie chokes out, his face soaked with terror. Bile rises up his throat and his heart hammers against his chest deadly strong.
Buck grits his teeth and his face screws in pain as he doubles over and clutches his ankle, trying to get it out. "I'm stuck!"
No, no, fuck, how the hell did this happen?! They have to go.
"Buck!" Eddie shouts one more time and rushes towards the other man, wrapping his fingers around Buck's calf to help him. "We gotta go!"
The building shakes again and it keeps shaking and Eddie almost loses his balance if it wasn't for the victim holding the hem of his turnout coat to steady him.
But when Eddie holds him tighter to try again, Buck pushes him back.
"What are you doing?!" Eddie exclaims.
Buck shakes his head. "You have to go!"
What the—
"What?!"
"You go!" Buck says. "I'll be behind you!"
Now what the fuck is he even thinking .
"Are you insane?!" Eddie's brows furrow— god, this must be some kinda joke or maybe Buck has just lost his mind right before his eyes. "I'm not leaving you!"
He attempts to hold Buck's calf again but Buck doesn't let him.
"Buck—"
Buck only shakes his head harder, he sounds upset . "Stop! You're wasting time! You have to go—"
"I'm not leaving you!" The veins on Eddie's neck almost burst out when he shouts back.
He's not leaving Buck.
He's not, he's not.
They will get out together.
" Eddie , you have to get her out!" The tone of Buck's voice changes from stubborn to pleading, Eddie can see the desperation in his eyes and god it hurts . "I swear I'll be behind you but you gotta get her out first."
Eddie's chest rises and falls with each short, heaving breath. "And what if you won't?!"
"Then you'll come back for me, I know you will." Buck protests and just then the walls shake harder, and Eddie lurches forward when Buck pushes him to move. "Go!"
He hates this, he hates this so fucking much but he doesn't have any other option but to get out quick so he can come back.
So he does.
With all the strength he has, Eddie grabs the victim's arm and runs for his life until they make it to the exit.
After what feels like an eternity, Eddie's eyes finally spot the door and he pushes it open with his elbow, revealing the outer world and the 118 readily waiting for them.
His lungs are burning, suffocating him— screaming at him to get some fresh air, his muscles are hurting and his brain just wants a break from the chaos. Every piece of him wants to stop but he can't, not right now, not when Buck is still inside.
"Cap! Cap!" Eddie barely chokes out between his ragged breaths, he lets go of the victim and waves his hands at Bobby like a lunatic, running at him. "Cap! Bobby! "
"Eddie?!" Bobby grasps his shoulders, his face screwed in complete confusion. He looks around as if he's trying to find something and his face drops even more. "What's going on? Where's—"
"Buck. Buck's still inside." Words leave a bitter taste as they escape his mouth in a rush. He doubles over and rests his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath, shaking his head. "He's stuck, he's still inside."
Bobby's eyes widen in horror as the realization visibly strikes him, and the look on his face is like a fuel to Eddie's already existing panic.
"Eddie—" Hen's voice nearing from the right fills his ears. "— what's going on?"
They keep asking the same thing over and over again and what's left of Eddie's sanity slips away each time they do; he shouldn't be answering the same question when they should be saving Buck. It's only a waste of time.
Eddie clenches his jaw and forces a breath so he can at least manage to sound clear. He looks Bobby dead in the eye but no matter how much he tries, the tone in his voice is nothing but desperate. "Cap, we have to go back in."
They are not fast enough.
An ugly sound resembling a roar surrounds the air as the walls shake one last time—
"No."
No, no, no, no—
— and not even in a split second, the building dissipates into pieces as it collapses on the ground with a loud boom, leaving nothing but dust and a mountain of debris behind.
"Buck!" The name of the other man rips Eddie's throat like a plea as shock captivates his body and paralyzes him. His heart beats against his chest so fast that it might as well gave out and combust; his lungs refuse to work and he feels himself shaking everywhere and fuck, his chest hurts, this can't be happening, this can't be real, it must be some kinda sick joke—
His legs already begin to rush towards the wreckage before his mind can comprehend what's going on, he vaguely hears footsteps following him behind, the sound of the rain and the thin screech kicking his eardrums block everything else; it's like he is moving on autopilot until he makes it to the destruction, then he starts to remove the debris piece by piece with his hands, desperately tossing the cement and the bricks away so he can find who he's looking for.
"Buck!" Eddie shouts, his throat scratching. "Can you hear me?!"
"Mayday, mayday! We need immediate assistance!"
"Buck!" Hen— Chimney, both scream as they help Eddie. "Buck! Can you hear us?!"
Please, please, please.
"Buck!" Eddie keeps tossing the stones but god it's a mountain, they can't do it without help. They need help. "Bobby!"
"Mayday, mayday! This is Captain Nash, I need immediate assistance!" Bobby repeats one more time, voice out of conrol.
"Come on, Buck." He just wants a sound so he knows Buck is alive, just a sound, that's all he wants.
That's all he needs.
But he can't hear anything. There is nothing coming out other than the sounds of stones and cement and broken bricks smashing against each other and hitting the ground. He shouts for Buck's name over and over again but he gets nothing in return and every time his pleas stay unanswered, Eddie feels a harsh kick straight into his stomach, crushing him alive. So until help arrives, Eddie keeps digging and digging until his gloves scratch and begs god to give him a sign.
In the end, more units arrive at the site and rush to help clearing the wreckage, it takes hours , but they can't find Buck.
The rain gets heavier and heavier, making their turnouts completely wet from head to toe, and the weather gets colder, freezing Eddie down to the marrow; and yet still they don't stop— none of them do.
But still, they can't get a sight of Buck.
Eddie wants to scream and destroy everything.
"We have to go deeper." Eddie blurts out. His muscles ache from doing too much but it's still not enough. "I think he's buried at the bottom."
That or he's dead.
Eddie doesn't even dare think about that possibility.
He swallows down that creepy voice torturing his mind by telling him Buck's dead and they will find his corpse hours later when it's too late. He tries to ignore that voice with everything he has because a big part of himself is scared shitless to realize maybe it is telling the truth.
Chimney runs a hand down his face and chokes out a groan, "We have to find a quicker way to get to him."
The implication hits Eddie like a truck even though the words are unsaid, and everything feels too much: they have to find a way before Buck dies.
Suddenly something burns behind his eyes and his face heats up, his line of vision slowly starts to blur and the lump in his throat gets ten times heavier and—
No, he isn't going to cry.
He's not going to accept whatever this is, he's going to find Buck and if that means he has to clear the mess with his bare hands, so be it.
But maybe he doesn't have to.
Because from afar, Eddie hears those sweet words that shake him by the shoulder and plants tiny seeds of hope in his chest, causing his heart to beat a mile in a minute: "We got something!"
With that, Eddie sprints back to the mess where his teammate stands and there, right fucking there , he sees a gloved hand barely sticking out the rubble, hanging limp on the bricks.
It's Buck.
"Buck!" Eddie shouts and his knees hit the pavement with a thud; he brings his shaking hands to take off the glove and reveal Buck's deadly pale hand.
He has to check for a pulse.
His fingers wrap around Buck's wrist— fuck , he's freezing, and feels the ice cold skin beneath his fingertips, pressing firmly.
He feels a slow, barely there thump begging for his attention, and Eddie wants to cry all over again, this time from relief.
Eddie chokes out a loud breath as he twists his head to Bobby. "He's alive!"
Hen and Chimney brings the emergency kit and kneel next to him before taking out an IV line and a bag of fluids, and Eddie slides his hand to hold Buck's hand, slowly turning it over so Chim can draw the line on the back of Buck's hand but even when Chimney starts to stick the cannula, Eddie doesn't let go of Buck's limp hand.
He can't risk it.
And then, something happens.
Something that Eddie can't find the right words to explain the feeling it awakens.
Hen brings out the bag and hooks the bag to the cannula and right after she pulls away, Eddie feels a tiny, weak , featherlight squeeze on his hand, cold fingers barely moving an inch and trying to wrap themselves around Eddie's.
Eddie's eyes widen at the sight, his heart swelling at the cold contact.
Under that mountain of bricks and stones, Buck is still alive .
Even though Eddie can't see him.
"Buck!" Eddie exclaims, holding the younger man's hand tighter carefully to not irritate the IV needle on the back of his hand. "Can you hear me?"
The bricks don't move and the verbal answer Eddie yearns for doesn't come, but he swears he feels Buck's fingers twitching one more time like he is trying to hold on to Eddie with all the little strength he has left— if he has any, and the shiver running through his spine when it hits is nothing but cruel.
"It's okay, I'm right here." Eddie says. "We're gonna get you out." He doesn't know if the promise is for Buck or for himself, maybe both.
His fellow firefighters don't waste any second to remove the wreckage and give everything they have once they have a vague idea on Buck's spot, following Bobby's orders and working in complete dedication to clear the area, but Eddie can't bring himself to leave Buck's side, he can't bring himself to move and inch and let go of Buck's trembling hand. Bobby doesn't say anything to him— bless his soul, everyone sees Eddie grasping Buck's hand desperately and letting the downpour wash him over and soak him through the bone as he kneels next to the buried man, but no one talks about it. Deep inside, he knows he is where he is supposed to be, doing what he's supposed to do. And he's not going to change that.
As his teammates keep working, the wreckage lessens and lessens and slowly reveals the man Eddie was dying to save but no matter how much he has been waiting for this very moment, it still catches him off guard and jolts him to the core.
His mind stops.
Under the debris, Eddie finds Buck lying on the pavement completely still other than the horrible trembles wracking him from head to toe, dust covering his turnouts and his disheveled, ruined curls, pale skin now painted with ashy gray. With his face slacked and eyes almost rolled back, Buck looks on the verge of passing out and out of it, chest rising and falling terribly shallow and slow. Eddie would think the other man is dead if it wasn't for the shakes running through him, and his stomach clenches and bile rises up his throat when the not so impossible scenario crosses his mind.
But Buck is alive. He's alive and now he's waiting for Eddie to save him.
"Bring me the gurney!" Eddie gestures at someone— he doesn't know who, without taking his eyes off of Buck, his voice frantic and face flushed with adrenaline despite the cold.
He lifts his free hand to cup Buck's cheek and his panic only skyrockets through the atmosphere when he feels Buck's violent shivers and his deadly cold skin against his own. "He's freezing."
"We have to warm him up." Hen says, her normally calm voice now unsteady.
Without even thinking, Eddie takes off his turnout coat and drapes it over Buck. His own uniform starts to soak within seconds, he can feel the raindrops hitting the fabric and making it stick to his body like a second layer. It feels wet and heavy and uncomfortable, but he doesn't give a shit.
When Chimney and Bobby bring the backboard and crouch down next to them and after Hen puts a c-collar around his neck, Eddie positions himself so they can place Buck on the board.
"Careful." Bobby says, looking at Eddie then Chimney. "On one, two, lift!"
"Easy, easy!"
As carefully as he can, Eddie puts his hands under Buck's back and holds him secure as he, Chim and Bobby slide him to the backboard, then on the gurney.
A whimper escapes Buck's lips and his face slightly screws in pain, he looks too weak to manage a proper sound or do anything else.
They roll him into the back of the ambulance and Eddie sits right next to the gurney across Hen and Chim while Bobby sits on the front and hits the sirens.
"Hen, help me out." Eddie unbuttons Buck's turnout coat one by one while Hen takes off his turnout pants, all soaked and dusty.
Buck's shivers only worsen now that he is left with his uniform, his teeth chattering and eyes fluttering; he mumbles a barely audible mewl and Eddie's heart breaks into millions of pieces.
"We're almost there, Buck." Chimney speaks, the way he talks manages to bring solace, and puts a shock blanket on Buck, tucking him from the sides and securing him.
Once there is nothing left to do, Eddie leans forward and instinctively runs his fingers through Buck's dirty curls, he watches the younger man's restless face, his shivering form, and tries to find some comfort in the fact that Buck is here, he's safe, he's alive.
The doctor gives them the good news.
Buck is going to be fine.
Other than having a mild hypothermia and some scratches and some bruises, he is fine.
To be honest with himself, Eddie thinks it's a miracle to be able to get out unharmed hours after staying under that hole.
But miracle or not, Eddie is grateful.
They treat Buck's wounds and put him in a room to stay the night— maybe two nights and the 118 stay in Buck's room with Maddie until they make sure everything is fine and it's time to leave.
Of course, Eddie stays with him.
He calls Carla to ask her if she can take Chris to her house, informs her about what happened and hangs up only to call Chris and tell the same things. After Chris tells him to give Buck a hug for him— Eddie says yes, they hang up and Eddie makes it to Buck's room.
The room is dimly lit with the night lamp on the commode next to Buck who is lying under a mountain of blankets, curled on his side.
His skin is still ghost white and he looks tired, his eyes are barely open and he is still shivering despite the hoodie Maddie brought him, but at least he doesn't look dead. If anything he looks so young and fragile. It does something to Eddie, makes him feel some type of way.
He isn't sure if Buck is sleeping or not, so he takes quiet steps towards the bed and sits on the chair next to it.
Buck's eyes slowly open more— although not completely, and his glassy blues try to focus on Eddie. "H-hey." Buck croaks out, exhaustion oozing from his voice.
A faint smile twists up Eddie's lips, it feels good to hear his voice, even when it's only a whisper. "Hey. Thought you'd be asleep."
Buck doesn't answer, instead he closes his eyes and curls onto himself more, pressing his cheek into the pillow and grasping the blankets to pull them closer, constant shivers visibly shaking his body.
"How are you feeling?" Eddie asks softly.
He doesn't wait for an answer, but he asks anyway.
Buck utters out a quiet whimper and lets out a shaky breath. "I'm— I'm cold."
That's all Eddie needs to hear.
He gets on his feet, and lightly squeezes Buck's shoulder to get his attention. When Buck cracks his eyes open and frowns, Eddie nods at the other side of the bed: "Scoot over."
"Wh—What?"
"Just do what I say, come on." Eddie gives his shoulder another squeeze.
When Buck wiggles to the other side, Eddie crawls under the covers and lies next to Buck, sliding his one arm under the younger man and resting his hand on his back, pulling him close. "Come here."
Buck doesn't resist, he plasters himself against Eddie's side and presses his face into the hollow of his throat, his curls ticklish and the tip of his cold nose touching Eddie's skin.
Eddie drapes his other arm and rubs his hand up and down over Buck's arm to warm him up, and Buck just melts , his fingers loosely holding the hem of Eddie's shirt.
They stay like that for a while, Eddie enveloping Buck and holding him close as Buck's soft breaths touch his skin and his shivers slowly subside, then Buck's hoarse voice breaks the silence.
"Told you."
Eddie frowns. "Told me what?"
"You'd come back for me." Buck slurs in a whisper, his eyelids slowly drooping as his body surrenders to fatigue.
The heaviness sitting on Eddie's chest for the entire day eases a little, it gets easier to swallow the lump in his throat.
His face heats up and his eyes sting, his voice cracking. "You did."
Buck doesn't say anything after that, only for Eddie to realize that he fell asleep, Eddie tightens his hold around him and closes his own eyes as well. He finally lets out a deep breath that he hadn't been able to for hours and lets the steady rise and fall of Buck's chest lull him to sleep.