Chapter Text
In hindsight, maybe Eddie should have expected it.
He knew how Buck got when he was feeling hurt, betrayed and guilty. Last time it had ended with a lawsuit, and Eddie yelling at him in a grocery store. Maybe he should have seen the signs, and tried to keep Buck closer.
But instead, he’d let Buck leave last night. He’d sat there with his Best Friend Eddie face on as Buck explained to him, Bobby and Hen what he’d learned the night before and more details about his childhood than he’d ever revealed to them before. He’d stared through the mask that Buck was wearing to try and cover the depth of his hurt, anger and pain; trying not to wince while Buck made jokes about having “defective parts” and wanting to just pull him into his arms and hold him like he could glue him back together. And he’d let Bobby split them up into different teams as they stood before the flame-engulfed perfume factory.
“Eddie and I will be joining the 133 searching on the Charlie side. Hen, Chim, Buck- you will be running a team with two firefighters from the 141, your entry point is the Alpha side. Let’s go!”
Eddie hadn’t had time to do more than look over his shoulder towards Buck before he had to follow after Bobby.
The building was a labyrinth. Eddie wasn’t sure if he’d ever been in a more dangerous fire in his time with the 118, and that was saying something. When Bobby gestured for them to retreat, Eddie was almost relieved- even if it meant that they hadn’t found all the workers.
“Hopefully one of the other teams will find them,” Bobby said to Eddie mournfully, looking up at the building. “I just can’t risk it.”
“I know, Cap,” Eddie reassured him.
“Let’s go find the others.”
Finding Hen and Chim was reassuring, and even if he couldn’t see Buck, Eddie assumed that he was close by. And then Hen said the words that made his blood run cold and his heart stop for a moment: “He split off when you lost two of your guys.”
Hearing Buck’s voice over Captain Mehta’s radio was a comfort for a brief moment, until there was a loud explosion from behind him and they turned as one to see part of the factory burst into fresh flames, launching up towards the sky. The part, Eddie was pretty sure, that was close to where Buck was trapped.
“Bobby,” he said desperately, spinning to face Bobby.
To this day, Eddie could describe every detail of the panic that had rippled through him at the sight of Buck trapped under the overturned firetruck; the way Buck had clung to his hand; the dread he’d felt during the seemingly endless hours of surgery waiting to find out if Buck would be okay, if they’d be able to save his leg. With the grief of losing Shannon still so fresh, Eddie remembered thinking nothing could be worse than that feeling of feeling so helpless and so scared.
And then he’d gone and fallen in love with Buck and had been proven so wrong.
“The rescue team’s on their way, they’ll find him,” Mehta said, but Eddie didn’t take his eyes off Bobby, silently pleading.
He was prepared to fight him on it, or to go in regardless of what Bobby, Mehta or anyone else said; he just needed to get in there and find Buck. He hadn’t been able to do much more than hold Buck’s hand when the truck bombing had happened. He had to do more now, whatever it took. Thankfully Bobby didn’t need him to go that far.
“Let’s go,” he said firmly, and Eddie was right on his heels as he strode back towards the building, Hen and Chim following close behind in their wake.
The sprinklers were on now, but the factory was still filled with flames and smoke, and it was no less maze-like than it had been the last time Eddie had stepped inside. His heart thudded in his chest frantically as he hurried behind Bobby, straining his eyes for any Buck-shaped figure. But the relief of spotting Buck was quickly extinguished as Eddie took in the fact that he wasn’t wearing his mask and the tired, defeated slump of his shoulders.
Eddie hurried past Bobby to be the first to Buck’s side, grabbing the rope that hung over the vat. Bobby, Chimney and Hen were right behind him, and Eddie was sure that he was the only one who caught Buck’s quiet sob as they were finally able to pull the trapped man free from beneath the fallen vat. As soon as they dropped the rope, Hen and Chimney scooping up the worker between them, he reached for Buck. He sagged against Eddie’s side at once, and Eddie tightened his grip without saying anything. Bobby took up Buck’s other side and they made their way towards the exit and the fresh air.
Buck started coughing more as they stepped outside, and Eddie placed a hand on his chest to steady him gently, drawing Buck’s eyes up to meet his gaze.
“Ed-”
“Come on, kid,” Bobby cut him off gently, steering him towards the ambulances. “Let’s get you checked out. A hospital visit may be in your future.”
“No, Bobby-” Buck immediately protested, his voice hoarse.
“Uh huh. Save your breath,” Bobby said firmly, taking on Buck’s full weight.
“Cap,” Eddie croaked out, pulling off his mask and helmet as Buck was torn out of his arms- well, that’s how it felt.
Bobby either didn’t hear him or ignored him as he led Buck away towards the nearest ambulance, and Eddie was left to watch Buck away from him. The sheer relief of seeing Buck alive and whole hit him out of nowhere, threatening to take him out at the knees and feeling as robbed of breath as Buck.
“Eddie?”
Tearing his gaze away from Buck seemed almost impossible, and it took Eddie a moment to register Athena standing nearby.
“Hey, Athena,” he said weakly.
Athena’s brow furrowed as she looked at him carefully. “You okay? You need to be checked over?”
Eddie shook his head. “No. No, I’m not hurt. It’s just… Buck…”
Athena nodded knowingly, and she turned to scan the scene until she found where Bobby was helping Buck to sit on one of the ambulances to get checked out.
“Is he okay?”
Eddie swallowed hard, his throat dry and painful, and nodded. “I- yes. I think so,” he said.
Athena was looking at him oddly now, and Eddie couldn’t blame her. His heart was still pounding furiously in his chest, and he didn’t know how to explain to her that it wasn’t because of what had happened, but because of the vivid reminder of what could have happened. Every firefighter knew the stories- they exchanged them in the academy as they heard them, like trading ghost stories around a campfire. And then they went to their houses where older, more experienced firefighters handed them out to the probies as warnings. And slowly they began to live them or witness them for themselves, and they would then pass on to young firefighters.
Eddie had far too many horror stories to tell before he’d even entered the academy, after Afghanistan. Then he’d lost Shannon, and had already almost lost Buck once. But now, the thought of possibly losing him again- maybe before they even had a chance to be something more- it scared him.
“Alright,” Athena said slowly. “Why don’t you go get a drink of water, Eddie? I’m going to go check on your boy.”
Eddie froze, but Athena just patted his shoulder and walked away.
He didn’t have time or the mental capacity right now to wonder if she knew or suspected anything, or if she’d meant that the same way everyone in the firehouse seemed to always refer to them in one breath- “BuckandEddie” . So dazedly, he did what she’d said. He got a drink of water, put his gear away and then got roped into helping a few firefighters from the 141 pack up theirs.
“Eddie.”
Eddie looked around immediately at the sound of Bobby’s voice.
“Let’s go,” he said simply, and Eddie wasted no time in following.
“Is Buck okay?” he asked.
“Seems it. I’ll feel better once he gets checked out at the hospital, but he’s convinced me to let him go back to the station and clean up first, instead of riding in the ambulance.”
That was reassuring. As much as Buck hated hospitals and was a terrible patient, if Bobby had given in, he must be in no real danger.
“So, we’ll go back and get cleaned up, and I’ll take him to get checked,” Bobby said, the firmness in his tone telling Eddie that Buck had already tried to weasel his way out of that too, and lost. Eddie desperately wanted to be the one who went with Buck , but he had a feeling he’d lose that battle if he tried it.
When they reached the engine and Eddie climbed inside, Buck had his head leaning back against the seat, his eyes closed, although Eddie didn’t think he was sleeping. There was so much he wanted to say, to check that he was alright. But Buck didn’t have his headset on, and as the engine started, Eddie didn’t want Buck to strain his voice anymore than it no doubt already was. They couldn’t be sure how long Buck had been in the factory and not wearing his mask.
Instead, all Eddie could do was take his usual seat opposite Buck and nudge his leg with his lightly. Buck didn’t move or open his eyes, but he did press his leg back against Eddie’s much more firmly than Eddie had. Eddie didn’t move his leg, and they sat that way in silence the whole way back to the station.