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The 118 are on their way to put out a fire in a hotel. It's a pretty nasty fire, too.
A 4-alarm fire.
It's winter in L.A., and the heater in this hotel wasn't up to code. It was completely the management's fault for not wanting to pay to keep it in code. The heater overheated, igniting a raging fire that spread rapidly.
The 118 arrive on the scene, and it's worse than they thought.
Bobby immediately has them get to work and bring out the ladder to extinguish this thing.
The ladder is at full length, and Buck is harnessed up by Eddie, about to climb it. And it's bringing up some trauma for Eddie. It does every time Buck does this, but he comes back every time...minus that one time years ago for three minutes and seventeen seconds—Thank God, Eddie can't stand to lose him again, especially now. He and Chris can't lose anyone else. Especially Buck.
"Be careful, amor, alright?" Eddie looks at Buck with worry in his beautiful brown eyes.
Buck gives him a little smirk. "I'll be alright, Eds. Don't worry about me."
Eddie cocks his head to the side. "I always worry about you." He gives Buck's cute little ass a light smack, making Buck smile. "Now, go get 'em, cowboy. Then you come back to me." He orders, with a lovesick grin.
Buck smiles back, then winks. "Always, baby." Then he begins the climb up, Eddie watching the whole time, praying to a god that he doesn't believe in that Buck will be okay.
+++
Buck extinguishes most of the fire when the 133 arrives on the scene. They get their ladder out and a man up there with a hose as fast as they can to help Buck, and shortly after, the fire is out.
"Alright, team, let's get inside and get these people out as fast as we can!" Bobby shouts.
"On it, Cap!" Hen yells as she walks towards the building, Chim following right behind her.
"Eddie?" Bobby asks him because he's just standing by the ladder truck, making no effort to move, staring up at Buck at the top of the ladder.
"Once Buck comes down, we'll head in," Eddie tells the captain, because he won't go anywhere until his partner is back on solid ground with him.
Bobby nods, walking away towards the 133 captain, with a knowing look on his face.
"Aww, were you waiting for me?" Buck asks, teasingly as he reaches the bottom of the ladder and sees Eddie standing there, still waiting for him.
Eddie looks up at him, unable to hide his smile. "Shut up and let's get you unharnessed."
"Mhm, okay, princess," He jokes, making Eddie's face turn the prettiest shade of pink from the nickname he loves, and is not ashamed to admit that he does, very much.
Once Buck is unharnessed, they grab their gear and head inside the building. Walking side by side.
+++
Hen and Chim find a young woman running frantically shortly after they walk into the building.
"Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am!" Chim shouts, running to her, trying to get her attention. And he does, fairly quickly. She looks at him with terror in her eyes. "Are you okay, ma'am?"
"I-I-I am fine." She stutters. "B-but my husband and daughter are missing. I-I can't find them."
Hen walks over to Chim and the young brunette woman. "We'll find them. But we need you to walk with us out of here so we can check on you."
She shakes her head. "I am fine! I need to find my family!"
"Ma'am," Chim says sweetly, "we need you to calm down."
She takes a deep breath. "Not until I know my family is alive and okay."
"We'll find them," Hen says. "Just walk with him outside, okay? We won't stop looking until we find them."
"Okay." She sobs out.
"What's your name, ma'am?" Chim asks her.
"V-Vanessa."
"Nice to meet you, Vanessa. I'm Chim, and that's Hen. We're going to do everything we can to find your family."
"That's right." Hen assures. "What're their names? How old is your daughter? Any clothing that would stand out to help us find them?"
"My husband's name is Adam. He's wearing neutral colors, as usual. And our six-year-old daughter is named Ashley. She's wearing blue shoes and a purple jacket, that's all I can remember. Please find them. They're all I've got."
"We'll do everything we can," Chim assures her as he walks over to Vanessa. Then he escorts her out of the building and into the ambulance, making sure she's all clear.
Hen walks around carefully, looking for Adam and Ashley, shouting their names as she walks around.
A man shouts back, "Here!"
She finds a man pinned under some furniture. It doesn't seem to be too bad.
"Adam?"
He nods. "Yes."
"Vanessa's your wife, right?" She asks, crouching down in front of him, very carefully removing the furniture off of him, making sure nothing was punctured by the furniture, which there wasn't.
He quickly starts to panic. "Yes, why? Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay."
"She is. One of our best is checking her over now, and he's making sure she has no injuries."
"Thank God." He breathes a breath of relief. "And Ashley?"
"We're going to find her. But let's get you out of here, and then we'll find your daughter."
He nods, cooling down, understanding what needs to be done. "Okay."
Minutes later, Hen is walking Adam out. He's fine, just many bumps and bruises, and plenty of scratches too. But he's alright other than that. He got very, very lucky.
Vanessa and Adam have a very sweet reunion, and then Chim asks Hen, "And Ashley?"
She shakes her head. "I shouted for both of them. He was the one who answered first."
"Oh, God."
After a moment, Hen says through the radio: "Guys, there's a six-year-old girl, Ashley, missing somewhere in there. Blue shoes and a purple jacket."
"Eddie and I are on our way. We've gotten everybody out of the building up here." Buck says into the radio, determined to find her.
"Copy," Hen says back.
"They'll find her," Chim says, hopeful.
She nods. "Yeah, they'll find her."
+++
When Buck and Eddie reach the lobby of the half-burnt building, the 133 said that they'd handle the top floors to find any survivors while Buck and Eddie search for Ashley.
Buck looks left and then right of the burned-down lobby. "Should we split up? Cover more ground."
Eddie gives him a look of longing, of never wanting to separate from Buck—which they never want to, ever. He knows it's right to, they'll have a better chance of finding Ashley. But he doesn't want to leave Buck.
Eddie sighs. "Yeah, we should."
"Okay." Before he walks away, he looks back at Eddie. "Stay safe, Eds." He gives him a little grin.
He smiles back. "Yeah, you too, baby." They can't look away from each other. So Eddie decides to walk over to Buck before they can officially part.
He pulls Buck into a tight embrace, Buck hugging Eddie right back. "I love you so much, mi vida. Come back to me."
Buck nods into the crook of Eddie's neck. "I promise, Eds." Buck pulls back, looks into Eddie's eyes, and smiles. "I love you too, baby."
Eddie smiles back.
They share a sweet, warm kiss before parting, each searching on opposite sides of the building.
+++
As Buck walks around one side of the lobby, he looks to the left and right over and over again, searching for any sign of Ashley. Then he hears something shifting.
"He—Hello!" He shouts, running towards the sound. "LAFD!!"
"Help!" Some woman shouts. Who is definitely not Ashley, because this woman has to be in her twenties and not six.
Buck gets her out from under the debris. But her legs are damaged, but she should be okay, and she will be able to get out of here, with help from Buck, of course.
Suddenly, the ceiling, well, what's left of it, starts to fall to the ground, but not all of it. Just certain sections that were burned up pretty badly and couldn't hold together anymore. It takes a while for it to fall, but in the end, it does.
Buck hovers over the injured woman to protect her.
The debris doesn't affect Buck and the woman at all, just dust when it hits the ground and blows in their direction.
He sits back up with only one thing, or rather person, on his mind.
"Eddie," he breathes out in worry for his fiancé.
+++
Bobby radios for his team, making sure everyone is okay after the ceiling collapse.
"Wilson, copy."
"Han, copy."
Hen and Chim are tending to the injured, just as the 133 paramedics are. In one area, where the 133, Buck, and Eddie—when they were helping the 133—brought them.
"Buckley, copy." He says into the radio before helping the woman up and beginning the walk out of what's left of the hotel.
There's silence for a few moments.
"Diaz, do you copy?...Diaz?...Diaz?" Bobby practically yells over the radio, concerned.
Buck feels his whole world come crashing down, and he freezes in place. He doesn't know if he can move. At least not until he knows that Eddie is okay.
The woman looks at Buck. Who looks completely broken.
"Is he a friend of yours?" She asks.
He slowly shakes his head, trying to find the right words to say. Because Eddie isn't only his best friend, he is the love of his life, his goddamn soulmate. Friend doesn't even begin to describe what Eddie means to him.
Because Eddie means the fucking world to him.
"No...he's m-my everything." He finally spits out.
She did not expect to hear that. "Oh, God. I'm sorry. I hope he's okay."
"Yeah, me too," Buck says, swallowing thickly, throat suddenly dry, finally finding the will to move to get out of here to get her to safety. Then he's not going to stop until he finds Eddie.
Because Eddie is his everything.
+++
Minutes Earlier
"Ashley!" Eddie shouts, running around the lobby. "LAFD! I'm here to help you!"
He keeps walking around. He's not leaving until he finds this little girl and returns her to her family, safely.
Suddenly, there's a flash of blue and purple in the corner of his eye. He turns to it.
It's a beautiful little girl, sitting beneath what used to be the receptionist's desk, knees to her chest.
He walks to her, approaching cautiously. He doesn't want to startle her; she's already been through enough today.
"Ashley?" He asks kindly, squatting down in front of her.
"Yes?" She squeaks, looking up at him with wet eyes. She's been crying.
"My name's Eddie," he says kindly. "I'm going to get you out of here."
"Are my parents okay?" She looks at him with her glassy green eyes.
"They sure are!" He breaks into a smile, trying to lighten the mood, because this girl is absolutely terrified. "And they are really worried about you. So, let's get out of here and go see them! What do you say?"
"Okay." She says, smiling a little, emerging from under the desk.
Eddie hears a funny noise. He looks up, and the ceiling is cracking. It's going to crumble.
"Scratch that." He looks back down at her. "Go back under, Ashley. And cover your eyes for me, okay, sweetie?"
"Okay." She says, going back under the desk and hiding her eyes like he said to do.
There's a noise—not coming from the ceiling—coming from behind him, footsteps.
He turns around to see a young man wandering, lost. He almost looks like he works here, based on his uniform...or what used to be one. It's slightly torn up.
Eddie runs for him.
"You need to come with me," Eddie tells him urgently. "The ceiling is going to collapse, and we need to take cover."
"Not until I find my sister, Elise. She's close by. I heard her," He says, looking around frantically for his sister, Elise.
"Listen to me, you won't be able to find your sister if you don't take cover." He hears the ceiling crack a bit more. "Now!"
"Elise?!" The man shouts.
Unexpectedly, a woman shouts not too far in the distance. "Simon!?"
"Go, I'll get her," Eddie says to Simon, who runs for the desk.
Eddie looks around, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Elise!"
"Hello?" She asks, emerging from some rubble.
"Elise." He breathes a sigh of relief. "Come on, we need to move. Your brother is waiting for you." The ceiling is about to fall, and he hears the cracking become louder. "Now!"
He shoves her in the direction of the desk, and she makes it there in seconds, with the momentum he gave her.
He runs for it. Then parts of the ceiling crash down all around him.
I'm sorry, Chris, I tried to come home to you.
I'm sorry, Evan. I wanted to come back to you.
I love you both so much.
Then everything goes black.
+++
Now
Buck and the injured woman escape the building. Hen walks over to him, then leads the woman to the injured area, where the paramedics are, so they can help her and give her the proper care she needs until an ambulance arrives to take her to a hospital.
Buck turns around and walks towards the building, which is almost no more.
"Buck!" Bobby shouts as he grabs Buck's arm, keeping him from walking any further. "What do you think you're doing? That building is going to collapse any second."
"But Eddie is in there!! That six-year-old girl is in there!! We have to find them!!"
"We will."
"When? Because for all we know, they could be trapped in there and can't get out. And by the time we get there, it could be too late!" Buck can't breathe. He can't breathe. He's going to lose one of the most important people in his life, whom he can't bear to lose.
The love of his life.
His everything.
"Buck, you need to breathe. Everything is going to be fine. We're going to find Eddie and the girl. Everything is going to be okay."
"You don't know that." He says, pissed.
Buck then shakes Bobby's hand off his arm, then storms away. He goes over to check on the injured people, where Hen, Chim, and the paramedics for the 133 are. He needs a distraction. So, maybe he can be helpful over there, and maybe it'll distract him for a bit until he hears any word on Eddie...and Ashley.
God, Buck hopes they're okay.
+++
Eddie wakes up hearing a sweet voice calling his name."Eddie! Eddie!"
It's Ashley.
"Ashley?" He slowly begins to sit up, eyes half-open, seeing her sitting right in front of him, looking scared.
"Are you okay?" She asks.
He coughs, looking around. He's surrounded by rubble.
How the hell did she get to me? There is debris everywhere. I can't even see a hole where she could crawl into.
"How did you get in here?"
She points behind him. And there's a small hole, which is the perfect size for her to crawl through.
"Sweetie, I'm not gonna fit through there." He laughs a little, smiling at her. One day, he thinks he would want a daughter, give Chris a little sister, and raise her with Buck.
Now that would be a dream come true.
(And it does a couple of years later. They go into surrogacy and end up with the cutest pair of twin girls Eddie has ever seen.)
"Yes, you will." He hears Simon's voice coming from the hole. Eddie turns to the voice. "Elise and I are going to make sure you do. You saved us. Now it's our turn to save you, Eddie."
It takes a few minutes, but Elise and Simon make the hole bigger, just enough for Eddie to crawl out. Ashley followed right behind him.
Eddie stands and dusts himself off. He then tries to radio the team, but the radio got busted when the rubble came down on him.
He groans silently, then says, "Well, let's get the heck out of here."
"Yay!" Little Ashley giddily says.
Eddie smiles widely as he picks her up. Simon and Elise walk in front of him, leading them out since they are more familiar with the place than Eddie is. Because they both work here, apparently. He's a bellman, and she's a receptionist.
They chat with Eddie the whole way out as Eddie thinks in his head over and over:
I'm coming home to you, Christopher, like I always promised I would.
I'm safe, amor de mi vida. I will see you soon.
+++
Buck's currently helping with the woman he saved; her name is Tessa.
"What's he like?" She asks as he bandages her legs.
Buck looks up at her, "Who?"
She cocks her head. "Diaz or whatever his name is."
Buck smiles. "Oh, Eddie...Yeah, he's great. I've known him for almost seven years. We've been together for about five months, engaged for one," He chuckles, with a big, proud grin on his face. "We live together in his house, and I've never been happier in my entire life. And Eddie has the most wonderful kid, Chris. Who I love like he's my own." He suddenly feels tears in his eyes. "I can't lose him. We've been through so much."
She smiles. "I envy you. You found your person. God, I hope to find something even just a little bit as great as what you found."
"Yeah, I hope you do. Everyone deserves to find their person. I just got incredibly lucky, I guess."
"Well, he seems great. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks."
He's finished with her, so then he goes to help anyone else while he continues to wait for word about Eddie, since he can't go and find Eddie himself.
Suddenly, there's a loud commotion in front of the building.
Buck finishes with a teenage boy, Chad, who got banged up a bit by some debris, and walks over towards the racket.
He sees Adam and Vanessa reunited with what he assumes is their little girl, Ashley, all in tears of joy. He smiles at the sight.
He then sees a young man and a woman being examined by Hen and Chim, who appear to be hotel workers.
He continues to look around. Suddenly, it felt like his heart stopped or skipped a beat because Eddie is standing right there, alive, one hundred feet away from him, talking to Bobby.
Eddie looks okay. He's just covered in dust and ash. Thank God!
"Eddie!" Buck shouts.
Eddie spins around, hearing his fiancé's voice.
When they lock eyes, they both can't help the happy tears that fall, and they can't help the fact that they sprint to each other faster than they've ever run in their lives.
They pull each other into a tight embrace, panting from the running.
Buck cries into Eddie's shoulder. "I thought I lost you, Eds."
They pull back, and Eddie grasps Buck's face in his hands and wipes some tears away. Then he presses their foreheads together.
"I will always fight to come home to you and Chris. Always."
They pull back and look into each other's eyes.
Then Buck pulls Eddie into a desperate kiss. To make sure that this is real.
Eddie quietly moans into the kiss, wrapping his arms back around Buck, and pulling him closer.
Buck pulls back first and asks, "Can we go home now?"
Eddie laughs, wiping more happy tears from Buck's cheeks. "I'm sure we all can soon. I know it's hard for you right now, considering everything, but just be patient, amor."
"Ugh." Buck groans, rolling his eyes. "Fine." Eddie gives him a look. "I'll try."
"That's better." Eddie gives him a quick kiss.
Buck breaks out into a big smile. "I love you, Eddie."
Eddie smiles back. "I love you more." They embrace again, never planning to let go anytime soon.
When they finally get home, a couple of hours after the call, they both give Chris a big hug, and then, when it was time for bed, Buck holds Eddie close as they fall asleep, never wanting to let Eddie go ever again.
And Eddie never wants him to.