Chapter Text
"This is what you're going to do." Christina grins, slapping a dull piece of paper onto the counter. "You'll write everyone that is important to you onto that piece of paper." She points at it so overdramatically that it makes Buck chuckle. "And then you go visit them."
With a shrug and a shake of his head, Buck stands up, wandering over to the oven to peer at his loaf through the tinted glass. "I don't think this'll convince me to leave with you, Chrissy."
As he glances away from the bread, he can see her agitated face. Her long black hair trails behind her as she walks towards her bag to take a pen. Mindlessly, she starts writing down names.
A few days ago, Buck's old friend Christina had visited the 118, or more accurately, shown up. No one recognized her; everyone was pretty confused as to why she was asking to see Buck. It didn't take them long to realize the two were friends, especially after Buck had pulled her into one of his strong hugs. Making Eddie's face contort.
He'd explained to his team that they met when he was traveling the world; the two of them and some other people became friends and stayed in touch. The only difference was Christina was still traveling, and Buck had "settled down," as she described it to the 118.
"What was that pretty boy's name?" She asks, perking her eyebrows up. "Eddie." Buck says while taking the loaf out, admiring the beautiful brown crust and the amazing smell. He glances around, hoping to see some excitement on his friend's face; instead, she's still writing, tongue peeking from between her lips.
"What are you writing?" He finally asks, moving closer. The paper is now filled with names, a list with a little square in front of each of them. As if you're supposed to check them off.
"These are all the names of your so-called family, right?" She asks, pushing the paper towards him. He didn't enjoy the way she said "so-called family," but he let it slide with a little glare. She was known for being outspoken and bold. Even if she ended up hurting people.
Over the years he'd grown to love that part of her; she always gave it to him straight. No lying, not trying to soften any blows. Just honesty.
"Yeah, that's everyone, I guess." While they don't speak a lot, they do write letters. Out of the three of them, he's the only one that settled down. Christina and her boyfriend, Max, were still on the road, and he loves receiving postcards from them. Keeps them connected.
Though he hadn't realized he'd told her so much. Because every name is there on that paper. Christopher, Tommy, Bobby, Athena, Hen, Karen, Chimney, Maddie and Eddie.
"These are the most important ones, yeah?" It's as if she's double-checking, the pen in her hand hovering over the paper.
He nods, staring down at the neatly written letters. "That's them." Her eyes shine with some contentment, dropping the pen on the counter. "I will prove to you that you're better off with Max and me." She says her accent slipping through.
While still glaring at the note, Buck leans back against the counter. "And how do you plan on doing that?" At first he'd been curious what she'd meant; now he can only feel anxiety move up his spine.
"I know for a fact that they don't care about you, so." She spins around, heels clicking against the floor. "I am going to prove it to you." Her head turns to see the complicated feelings move over Buck's face.
He isn't sure what to say to her. "Chrissy, I know for a fact they care; no need for this "trial"" The usage of finger quotes pisses her off slightly.
He can see the darkness move over her face, similar to the clouded look she'd get when playing poker. "Scared Buckley?" A sly smile pulls at her lips, eyes darting back towards the paper.
"No!" He calls out. "Then try it." She turns back around. "I'll see you and the paper tomorrow!"
With that, she's off. Buck can hear her heels echo through the halls and how the sound dies out after a while, indicating she's actually left. Slowly his hand moves towards the paper, fingers brushing across the names. Somewhere... in the back of his mind he couldn't help but wonder...
Against his better judgment, he'd taken the paper to work with him that next day. All throughout the night he'd been wondering and had grown the urge to prove her wrong. So he just waited for the perfect setup.
All day long he'd been paying close attention to everyone, and while no one seemed to realize he was acting pretty weird, it didn't matter that much. After all, the day had been quiet. Except for a little kitchen fire, nothing big happened.
Hen and Chimney were in the kitchen, talking about something while Buck and Eddie cleaned the firetruck. Suddenly Athena storms in, eyes filled with fire and anger as she runs upstairs. This might just be Buck's moment.
So without saying anything to Eddie, he follows her. Bobby is sitting in his office, almost jumping as the woman storms in. "They passed me over because of my age." She spits out.
Both Bobby's and Buck's eyes go wide. Maybe this was not the best time, but instead of backing away, he moves closer. "I'm sorry Athena, that sucks." But as he wants to give her a hug, she backs away. "Buck, I need to speak to my husband."
Her voice is pained and angry... "Yeah, sure, but if you want, you can alwa—."
"Buck!"
She's angry, she's angry, not at him, so why is she yelling? He tries his hardest to not flinch at the sudden harsh tone leaving the woman's throat...
Bobby and Athena don't seem like they've noticed his little jump, so he just ventures back downstairs. With a crease forming between his brows, he walks back up to Eddie, silently continuing to clean the truck. He wonders if that counts.
Just as he's about to pull his phone out to ask, the alarm goes off. With adrenaline coursing through them, they all jump into action, getting in their respective places, waiting for whatever Bobby can tell them about the situation.
"Woman, 30 years old, got her hand stuck in an escalator."
Hisses and faces of surprise spread through the firetruck, all of them wondering how this could have even happened.
"Okay, MOVE EVERYBODY!"
The normal talking and murmuring of the mall was now twice as bad as normal. It wasn't hard to find the scene, because people kept gathering around her, getting their phones out to snap a good picture.
"EVERYONE MOVE!" Bobby hollers, making multiple people jump back in surprise. "Hen, Chimney, take a look at that hand, Eddie, Buck, crowd control."
With a simultaneous "Yes cap." They start moving. Keeping the crowd back was harder than Buck had hoped. Why so many people wanted to look or get a picture actually made him nauseous.
"Come on, get back ma'am." Eddie slightly curses in Spanish as the woman tries to get by, phone high up in the air. "Ma'am get back!" Eddie screams, she startles, and her face scrunches up in anger as she turns her phone to him.
The overall audacity radiating from her, told the firefighters enough. "YOU JUST YELLED AT ME!" Her high, silvery tone threatens to pierce their eardrums. Agitated, Eddie rubs his ears before turning back. "I said move ba—" "YOU SHOULD TREAT US WITH MORE RESPECT!! I PAY YOU!"
And there it was. "MOVE BACK!" It's now Buck's turn, and while his voice isn't exactly louder than Eddie's, he sure is a bit bigger. While she keeps throwing curses at them, she is smart enough to move back. Phone still glued on the firefighters.
Only now that other eager people see the chance to take her place does she get pushed to the back. "Jeez." Eddie murmurs, resting his hand against Buck's side for a moment. "Thanks, man." He can feel Buck squirm under the touch, though he doesn't say anything.
So he sees this as a moment to take a playful jab at him, fingers poking at his side. Buck jumps away, his face heating up at an alarming rate. Luckily for him, it's not like Eddie noticed.
While the crowd keeps pushing, the mall's security guards step in to help, giving Buck and Eddie the time to check up on their team.
"How's it goi—ouchh." Buck hisses, staring down at the woman. Her hand probably couldn't be saved... not that there was much left anyways. She glances up at him, a little smile pulling at her lips. "You could say that." Her voice is slightly shaking.
Both probably from fear and adrenaline. "So can you maybe tell my colleagues who pushed you?" Chimney mentions, nodding towards Buck and Eddie.
Quickly the woman nods, "More like hit. You can see the bruise, but it was this old woman, not very tall, grey hair—"
"Blue glasses?" Eddie finishes for her. She gives them a little nod.
The firefighters all share a look, "Get her please." Bobby motions to his younger members. That damn woman from earlier. Buck can already feel his skin crawl at the idea of her. At least it'll be easier to find her now that they've already seen her.
The crowd keeps on growing, and pushing through all those people was a bit harder than the two anticipated. With a few sorry's and excuse me's, they finally found a way through the mountain of people, eyes scanning the mall for the woman.
"Damn it, how are we going to—"
A loud shout interrupts them; their heads snap around, trying to locate where it's coming from. There, they notice a security guard arguing with a very angry woman.
"Follow the shouting, apparently." Buck sighs. He couldn't believe that such a little lady could cause so much harm.
"Ma'am." Eddie starts, hands out towards her as if she were a deranged animal. Her blogspot eyes snap over, her anger she had previously been bestowing upon the security guard now focused on Eddie.
With a sneer, she stomps towards him. "You! What the hell do you want." Her beady eyes search the firefighters. "Ma'am, apparently you pushed that woman?" He points back towards the escalator, where he can see Bobby looking at them.
He seems to be assessing the situation quietly, lips pierced and eyes strained on them. "I didn't!!" She hollers back, fists swinging around in anger. The way she charges towards Eddie gets Buck to step in. No one should treat anyone this way, especially Eddie didn't deserve that. "Okay ma'am calm down."
In hindsight, that might not have been the best approach, because she comes out swinging. Buck doubles over, grasping towards the burning sensation climbing up his leg. Without a word, Eddie grabs onto her, and the security guy seems grateful to give him his handcuffs.
She hollers and screams, yelling profanities at everyone she can. Eyes darting back towards Eddie every now and again and a limping Buck. "Well." Buck starts holding up the woman's shopping bag "Now we know why she toppled over." He says, nodding towards the woman they finally freed from the metal clutches of the escalator.
"Nice work." Bobby grins, patting Buck on the back. "Let's go."
Buck breathes out a sigh of relief at the end of his shift. As fun as it is with the 118, that woman did a serious number on his leg. Out of the two legs he has, she chose the one that got stuck under a ladder truck. All day long he had been trying to bite away the pain. It wasn't as awful as it had been after the accident, but she'd hit it just right for some reason.
"Bobby?" He asks, moving over to the older man. He doesn't really acknowledge him, just glances over and says, "Yeah?". "Could you maybe take me home please?" Right then and there he put those puppy-dog blue eyes to work.
After receiving a grin and a sigh from Bobby, he thought he'd get home. Chimney and Hen already left, and Eddie told him he had plans. Whatever that means. So it was going to be Bobby or walking home.
"Sorry, buddy." Bobby pushes the last bit of stuff in his bag, already slinging it over his shoulder as he heads for the exit. That was not what Buck was expecting. "B-but please?" Ignoring the pain in his leg, he tries to follow the man outside. "Otherwise I have to walk, Eddie has places to be."
Bobby shakes his head this time. "I have to be there for Athena, Buck." Suddenly, his voice isn't so fatherly anymore. He says it so matter-of-factly that Buck sounded dumb for even asking. "Ah." He'd almost forgotten that morning.
"Y-yeah, I forgot sorry." He backs up, giving his captain the room to get into his car and drive off, leaving Buck in front of the 118.
He jumps at the sound of a horn, the excitement running through him was almost too much to handle when he realized it's Eddie. The man is grinning at him as if he were his whole world. "Eddie?" He almost runs over, eyes switching between him and the car "I thought you had plans?"
"Well." The man shrugs, motioning for him to get in "I noticed your leg was acting up, can't let you walk home now, can I?" The warmth spreading through Buck's chest was almost too much for him to handle. He lets himself fall into the car seat, Eddie's cologne and the familiar scent of home filling his nose.
"Thanks." He could have gone for a snappy remark. But he wouldn't have to do that. For most of the drive, they're silent. Just basking in each other's company, enjoying the evening. "So..." Eddie doesn't take his eyes off the road. "That girl, Christina, is she—?" His mouth snaps shut; he waits for an answer that doesn't seem to arrive.
Buck looks rather confused. "She??" He asks, locking his eyes onto Eddie. Now he does glance over, lips pulling into a tight line. His fingers start tapping against the wheel anxiously. Why? Buck isn't sure. "Oh!" He thinks they're dating? "No, no, we aren't dating; we just met each other when we were both traveling, and every now and then she visits."
Eddie hums; it's clear and low, and it sends shivers up Buck's spine. "So you two aren—"
"No." Buck snaps back, not in a harsh way, more... playfully. He hadn't known that Eddie was so interested in his dating life. "Why do you want to know anyway?"
Something... seems to take hold of Eddie, because his spine straightens and his jaw locks up. "I'm your best friend, shouldn't I know those things?" He sounds like he is asking himself, as if he wasn't sure.
It only confuses Buck, so he doesn't react. "Okay... Well.. thank you for dropping me off." He smiles at him, door already swinging open "See you tomorrow!" And with that he's out, leaving Eddie alone in the car.
Just for a moment, Buck looks back, meeting Eddie's eyes. They're so fixated on him that it makes something in his gut twist. Finally, the car starts back up and with a wave, Eddie leaves.