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Tommy’s flight suit is halfway zipped when his phone rings. He answers without looking, tugging the zipper up the rest of the way. “Kinard speaking.” He says, nudging his locker shut with his elbow.
“T-Tommy.” Evan stutters out and Tommy’s pulse quickens. Evan’s in the middle of his 48, maybe closer to 30 now, and something’s wrong.
“What hospital?” He asks immediately. “Are you hurt? Eddie?” He yanks back open the door to his locker, fishing for his keys. It takes a moment to snag them, but he’s able to shove them down into his pocket while reaching for his wallet. A change of clothes will have to wait but he’s sure his captain won’t mind given the circumstances. Whatever they are, it can’t be good.
“We’re fine. It-“ Evan breaks off, making a low noise of distress, and Tommy hears the sirens of an ambulance. “I think I fucked up,” he croaks out. He hears Hen shouting in the background and slamming doors. Evan’s breath hitches and Tommy wishes he’d developed the ability to teleport in the last thirty seconds.
“Baby, stay with me.” He murmurs. “Take a deep breath in for me.” Evan sucks hard and Tommy exaggerates his own breathing for a moment. He patiently walks Evan through a couple of breathing exercises, waiting until the man’s calm enough before he tries again. “What happened?” He prompts gently. “Who got hurt?” If it’s not Hen, Eddie, or Evan then all signs point to Howie. Maybe he should offer to go and pick up Maddie from her shift if she’s working.
“It-it all happened so fast,” Evan begins. “One second I was…and the next…I didn’t mean to hit him that hard-“ Tommy’s brow furrows. Evan wouldn’t hit Howie, which can only mean one thing. One person. Gerrard. His stomach twists and sours at the thought. He knows without question the man deserved whatever happened to him, but hitting a superior is grounds for termination. He’s certain that Evan is spiraling and picturing the worst. And if he hit him hard enough to need an ambulance, there will probably be lawyers involved and police to talk to about the incident.
“Buck!” Eddie snaps in the background.
“I-I have to go.” Evan’s next breath rattles out of him and then hitches.
“Evan, wait!” The line goes dead and Tommy swears softly. He shoots off a text in the 118 group chat he’s part of, not expecting an immediate answer, and heads off to find his captain. He’s waylaid twice by Lily and Lucy, both worried by whatever expression he’s currently wearing. He doesn’t have it in him to school it into something more neutral or placate them with empty reassurances. By the time he makes it to his captain’s office, she’s hanging up the phone and waving him inside.
“Makes it easier than having to call you, Kinard.” She gestures for him to have a seat. “You’re former 118, right?”
“Yes ma’am.” He sinks into the chair and forces a nod. “Under Captain Gerrard.”
“Captain Gerrard is currently en route to the hospital and Henrietta Wilson is acting captain in the meantime. She called and requested your presence to meet her team there.” Her gaze softens a fraction. “I’ll call someone to cover your shift. You can work out the logistics later.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” He swallows hard and licks his lips. “Did she tell you what happened?”
“Only that it was an accident and he’s lucky to be alive.” The worst flashes through Tommy’s mind and he digs his nails down into his thigh. “Go change and get going. I expect an update when you can give me one.”
“Yes ma’am.” He rises up, nodding and heading toward the door. He hesitates a moment, debating asking her what’s the worst that could happen if Gerrard dies, and then shakes his head and walks out. He doesn’t want an answer.
By the time he’s changed and climbing into his truck, he has a text waiting from Eddie. It’s the name of the hospital they’re at and that Buck has been temporarily put on leave. He finds it odd that Eddie doesn’t say suspension, but maybe that makes it a little too real for everyone. He shifts the gears and prays to someone he doesn’t believe in that he hits mostly greens on the way. Apparently luck is on his side today.
The hospital doors slide open and he heads straight for the lobby, knowing that’s where everyone will be waiting. There’s an officer taking a statement from Hen and another with Evan and Chief Simpson. The chief smiles and nods, clapping a hand on Evan’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. Evan nearly buckles under it and Tommy aches to be at his side, but he hangs back until the officer is stepping away. “You did good, son. You’ve got great instincts.” Chief Simpson tells Evan before turning away. “Firefighter Kinard,” he greets.
“Chief.” His gaze flicks to Evan, who is pale and starting to tremble. “I heard there was an accident.” Evan flinches and makes a wounded noise and Chief Simpson raises an eyebrow over at him.
“Luckily not a worse one. Things could have been very different today is Mr. Buckley wasn’t so quick on his feet. I’ll be in touch about your return to work. Mandated therapy, don’t forget.” Chief Simpson points and waits for Evan to nod before walking away.
“Hey, baby.” Tommy swoops in immediately, wrapping his arms around his partner. Evan collapses into him, reaching a hand up to fist in the material of his shirt. “Hey, I’ve got you.” He presses a kiss to sweaty curls and tightens his hold. It takes a moment to maneuver them into a pair of chairs and Evan sags into him, still gripping onto his shirt. When he looks around the waiting room, he notices Eddie hovering a few feet away and Hen is walking over.
“Buck,” Hen says before kneeling in front of him, “look at me.” She puts a hand onto his knee and squeezes gently. “He’s going to be okay. You saved that dinosaur’s life. Even if you don’t believe it or didn’t mean to save him, you did.”
“There wa-was so much blood.” Evan chokes out.
“Head wounds bleed a lot,” Eddie jumps in. “He’s going to have a hell of a concussion, but that’s better than a saw through his body.”
“Tommy, thank you for coming. We’ve gotta get back and get the station online again. Buck here has the next couple of days off. Can you take him home and make sure he gets something to eat?” Tommy’s already nodding while Evan shakes his head.
“I’ve got him. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“I’ll swing by tonight with the stuff from his locker.” Eddie promises. “Thanks for showing up.” Eddie claps him on the shoulder and takes his leave with Hen. Tommy presses another kiss to Evan’s hair and uses his thumb and forefinger to guide his chin upwards.
“Do you want to talk about what happened? I’m getting conflicting reports.” He says, hoping the honesty of his statement will snap a little more awareness into Evan.
“Gerrard was going off on me.” It takes a moment of Evan breathing hard through his nostrils before he pushes on. “He-he was talking about my-my pout? A-and my tattoos. And he just kept talking and telling me that-that I wasn’t good enough to be here. That I should have washed out.” Tommy scoffs at that, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. As much as he wants to cut in and set the record straight, he keeps his mouth shut so Evan can finish talking. “Next…next thing I know, he’s on the ground and I’m on top of him. A-a circular saw came free from outside and almost…it almost hit him.”
Tommy sucks in a breath at that and Evan’s eyes go wider. “I-I thought I killed him. There was…there was so much blood and he-he was still talking and none of it made any sense. We got him straight into the ambulance and Hen she-she called Chief Simpson. He said that…that they’ll still need to do an investigation, but they took statements already. Everyone said I saved Gerrard. But I don’t feel like I did.”
“Oh, honey.” Tommy wraps his arms around him and pulls him tight against his chest. He’s painfully aware that his own heart is pounding and his skin feels a little too tight. “Did you get hurt?” He asks.
“What?” Evan croaks out.
“When you tackled him. Did you land on your bad leg?” Tommy clarifies.
“N-no. I mean, maybe? It doesn’t hurt.” Evan pulls back and stares at him. “I-I could have killed him.”
“Paint the full picture for me. You said a saw nearly hit him?”
“It hit the truck after I-“
“Hang on, wait. Is this from the construction going on that you sent me pictures of? The stuff happening right outside?”
“Y-yeah.”
“And a saw somehow detached itself from the table?”
“I-I heard it-“ Evan stops abruptly and his eyes go wider. “It didn’t sound right. I-I was trying not to listen to Gerrard. I kept hearing everything he’s been saying and Eddie’s voice and I-I needed something else to focus on.”
“Uh huh.” Tommy doesn’t smile, but it’s a close thing. “And what did your time working in construction tell you?”
“That…something was off. The sound was different. I…” Evan’s brow furrows. “I saw it and made the decision.”
“Of course you did.” Tommy says without pause. “Because that’s who you are. A big damn hero.”
“But I was…Tommy, I was so pissed at him.”
“You had every right to be. He’s been digging under your skin for months. Even if you had meant to hurt him, you wouldn’t have done it.” Tommy says with certainty. He hasn’t known Evan for all that long, but he knows him enough to know that he isn’t violent at his core. “I know you’re not going to believe it right now because you’re trying to process this. But I know that you never would have swung on that asshole, much less tackled him.”
“How can you be so sure?” Evan rasps, licking his lips.
“Because I remember how sick you looked when you hurt Eddie. How the very idea of being violent toward someone seemed to shake you up. I remember all the guilt. Doesn’t matter that it was your best friend because I guarantee you would have felt like shit if you’d hurt anyone else on the court that day. Because you care so damn deeply for everyone and could never raise a hand against someone else. Even if they deserved it. It sounds to me like you made a split second decision and saved a man’s life. And your own was in danger, too. But you didn’t hesitate. You saved him.”
Evan doesn’t say anything else, but Tommy doesn’t expect him to. He wraps his fingers around the back of Evan’s neck and squeezes gently, drawing him in to press a kiss to his forehead. Slowly, he feels some of the tension slip away from his partner. It takes a few minutes of breathing each other in before Evan looks up, his gaze a little less troubled. “Can you take me home?” He barely speaks above a whisper, a complex series of emotions flashing over his face.
“Back to the loft?” Tommy asks, already digging his keys from his pocket. “Sure thing.” He rises to his feet, holding out a hand for his partner. Evan takes it and stands slowly before stepping into his space. Tilting his head, Tommy waits for him to speak again.
“N-no. Your place.” Evan swallows and bites down on his lip, looking up between his lashes. “Home.” He repeats. Warmth floods through Tommy and he grins, nodding and leaning forward. Evan meets him in the middle for a chaste kiss and breathes him in.
“Yeah,” he murmurs against chapped lips, “I can do that.”