Chapter Text
It was a long shift at the firehouse, titan appearances have been on the up and up. Which means more people injured and all around chaos. Eddie was ready to get home and take a nap before picking Christopher up from school, but when he finally got home- well. His home wasn't there.
Instead lay a massive titan, a weird dog-crocodile thing. It crushed the whole line of houses, and Eddie immediately got out of his truck to look for any survivors. He stared at the titan for a moment though, it was massive.
He honestly wasn't sure what to think at this moment.
Should he be mad? Or concerned? Why did a titan decide to take a nap in a neighborhood, they usually stay away from civilization unless they’re fighting.
The titans tail twitched, the large yellow spikes going down the middle of it clacking together. A low rumbling noise escaped its mouth -which had an ungodly amount of teeth- the rumble shook the ground.
The more he studied it, he realized it had scratches all over it. At first he thought it was just the pattern on the scruffy fur, but then he realized they were bleeding. The red contrasted the blue splotches on the titan, but was barely visible on the gray fur everywhere else. The titan opened its eyes, which had slit pupils like a crocodile’s, and glared at Eddie. A hiss escaped it, as if it was warning him. Immediately he backed up, Eddie wasn’t about to play around with this thing.
Eventually he managed to tear his gaze away when he heard a painful scream. He rushed over to the sound to see one of his neighbors, Alè, pinned under some wood beams. He helped him out of the rubble and checked him for any non-visible injuries. Thankfully he wasn’t severely injured, a particularly sharp piece of wood had stabbed right through his leg though.
A wave of relief passed over him as he heard sirens approaching, he called over a paramedic who jumped out of one of the ambulances and told her Alè’s injuries. After he was sure his neighbor was going to be okay, he started looking for more victims.
After a while of searching, and helping the other first responders, the blades of a helicopter whirled overhead. Eddie glanced up to see a massive weird yellow flying block, and once his eyes focused, he noticed a person hanging off of it.
What the hell kind of an idiot..
The helicopter-thing-whatever- started lowering over the titan. Somehow Eddie forgot for a moment it was there. It hovered over the titan and the person dangling from it landed on top of the thing.
Okay, so this guy really is an idiot!
Eddie made his way over to the titan, and watched this man give the animal something, to which the titan groaned, huffed, then stopped moving entirely. “Is it dead?!” Eddie shouted.
The man looked down at him and smiled, “No! Just sedated!” He climbed down from the titan, using the spikes protruding out of its back as a ladder, and took off his glove then held out his hand. “Buck, I'm a titan veterinarian.” He said way too nonchalantly.
And, well. Wow. Not only was this man gorgeous, he was a titan vet? Eddie realized he had been staring too long when Buck raised a brow. He shook his hand and glanced at the sedated titan. “Uh- Eddie. Diaz. You said you’re a vet? For these things? How does one even get that job?” He asked with a laugh of disbelief.
“Just kinda happened. Started as an exotic vet, then I found myself giving Kong a fake tooth.” He smiled, gesturing towards the titan who blew around dust as it’s breathing steadied.
Okay, so he's not an idiot, just crazy.
“Well, this one decided my house was a good place to pass out then.” Eddie shook his head, putting his hands on his hips. He heard about titan insurance, but with a firefighter salary, there was no way he could add that on top.
“Sorry about that, Eddie.” Buck turned to look at the titan. This guy was so calm, like this wasn't the first time he's had to give condolences. “Monarch calls this one Rex. He's actually pretty docile, judging by his injuries something attacked him.”
What on earth would attack this thing? It’s nearly as big as Godzilla!
“Hey, if you wanna come back to Monarch headquarters with me I could set you up with some help. I know a few guys who can make this- less awful.” Buck turned back to Eddie with a sheepish smile. And well, what else could Eddie do? So he agreed, and the next thing he knew he was in that big yellow thing -now he knows it's a flying ambulance, sorta- on his way to a monarch outpost.
The place was huge, and very impressive. Buck led him to what he assumed was headquarters and explained how this specific outpost had been tracking a missing titan. Well that’s comforting.
The room itself was massive. There was dim lighting, but a window that made up an entire wall made up for it. The window overlooked a more secluded beach on LAs coastline. Computers and very futuristic screens covered the walls, with weather patterns and other things on them. He felt like he shouldn’t be here, like this is some top-secret thing he just walked in on.
“Rex okay?” A man came rushing up to Buck and Eddie.
“He’ll be fine, just some bumps and bruises.” Buck said, the guy sighed in relief then looked over at Eddie. “Chim, this is Eddie. Lost his house in the crossfire. Chim keeps track of the titans, health, patterns, etcetera.”
Chim looked between Buck and Eddie, sighed, and shook Eddie's hand. “Buck you've gotta stop bringing randos here, this isn't the red cross.” He glanced at Eddie. “No offense.”
“None taken..” Eddie looked at Buck, who was smiling brightly, face full of mischief. But also kindness. Buck led him over to the table in the center of the room and bumped his shoulder. “I don’t actually work here, I just kinda tag along.”
“Like a lost puppy.” An older looking guy stood up, smiling fondly at Buck. “Bobby, head of logistics. That's colonel Henrietta Wilson, and that's Maddie Buckley.” He said pointing to two women who were looking at a computer.
He shook Eddie's hand. “Don't worry, we can help, I just wish he would bring victims to the actual department made for situations like yours.” He glared at Buck, who shrugged and walked off towards Chim who was typing something in a computer.
Henrietta waved at Eddie without even looking away from another computer, she seemed very focused, but Maddie stood up and introduced herself. “Im Bucks sister, unfortunately he brought you at not such a good time.” A wave of concern flashed over her face before walking back to her spot at the table. “That titan that fell on your house is actually a key part in our investigation. I work closely with all of these guys, I specialize in the MUTO species.”
Eddie just looked around the room, which was pretty busy for only six people. It definitely seemed like a bad time. “MUTOs huh? My son is doing a school project on them. Speaking of which..” He glanced down at his watch. “I need to pick him up from school, anyway I could get a ride back to my truck?”
“I can,” Buck said. “I can also explain everything, I feel like you have a right to know. Your house getting destroyed and all.” He said, looking over at Bobby who nodded in approval.
Buck smiled and grabbed his keys. “We won't take the flying ambulance this time,” He laughed, bumping shoulders with Eddie again.
“Nice to know you’re a little normal.” Eddie said, smiling at Buck's sarcastically offended face. Eddie had a feeling he got himself into something he won't be able to get out of, but he doesn’t think it’ll end badly. At least, he hopes so. He is getting a ride from a titan veterinarian after all.