Chapter Text
The late afternoon sun spilled gold across Buck or Eddie's living room floor, casting long, warm shadows from the open window. Christopher sat on the couch while holding his tablet. He was focused on a coding tutorial Buck had recommended—something about building a simple game. His brow furrowed in concentration, glasses slightly sliding down his nose.
Eddie sat nearby at the dining table, flipping through the day's mail without really seeing any of it. The hum of normalcy in his old house felt strangely comforting. The last few weeks had been anything but normal.
"You think Buck will actually play this when it's done?" Christopher asked without looking up, a teasing edge to his voice.
Eddie glanced over, smirking. "If it has lasers or explosions, yeah. If it makes him think too hard? Probably not."
Christopher grinned. "So, I should add more explosions."
"You know your audience."
They shared a quiet moment—comfortable, familiar. Despite everything, moments like these helped hold the pieces together.
Eddi's phone buzzed on the table.
He checked the screen. Maddie Buckley.
He picked up quickly. "Hello?"
"Eddie?" Maddie's voice was tight, strained. "I... I didn't want you to hear this on the news."
Eddie's stomach dropped, "What's wrong?"
"There was a collapse. An apartment building—118 and Athena were inside doing evacuations. Everyone's been accounted for, but Buck, Chim, Athena, and Ravi are trapped. Structural damage is bad. Rescue teams are mobilizing."
For a second, Eddie couldn't breathe. It was like the words short-circuited something in his brain. Buck, Chimney. Athena. Ravi.
"How bad is it?" he asked tightly.
"They're alive. Radio confirmed. But they're deep inside. Conditions are unstable."
Eddie was already grabbing his keys from the hook by the door.
"Off-duty support's being called in," Maddie added, her voice a little quieter now. "I thought maybe—"
"I'm on my way," Eddie said.
He turned and found Christopher watching him from the couch, expression tight.
"Is it Buck?" Christopher asked.
Eddie nodded. "There was a collapse. He's okay, but he's trapped."
Christopher's hands were tight around the edge of the tablet. "Go."
"I will call Tía Pepa," Eddie said. "She'll be here. I won't be gone long."
Christopher hesitated, "Tell Buck I said not to do anything stupid."
Eddie gave a shaky smile. "You know he's not gonna listen, right?"
"Tell him anyway."
Eddie crossed the room, pressed a kiss to the top of his son's head, and whispered, "I love you." Then he was out the door, heart pounding, mind racing, already bracing himself for what he might find.
Because Buck wasn't just another firefighter. He is family.
Meanwhile, at the collapsed building, dust hung in the air like a fine mist, catching in the beam of Buck’s flashlight as he swept it across the debris. A jagged slab of concrete blocked what used to be a hallway, and the only real light was what filtered in through a thin crack in the ceiling above them. Everything else was shadows and silence, broken only by the faint static of the radio and the shifting groans of the building around them.
They weren’t crushed, which was lucky.
But they are buried.
“We’re gonna be fine,” Buck said aloud, more for the civilian’s benefit than his own. The woman—a thirty something nurse named Maya—sat on a patch of clear floor with her back against a broken beam, her arm wrapped in gauze from the first-aid kit Ravi had rigged together. Scrapes, bruises, shaken—but alive.
“Still no answer?” Ravi asked, crouched beside a tangle of rebar near the wall.
Buck brought the radio back to his mouth. “Dispatch, this is Firefighter Buckley. We’re in the east wing, sublevel two—trapped with one civilian. No major injuries. Can anyone read me?”
A beat of static.
Then, “Buckley, this is Captain Gerrard.”
Buck winced slightly. Not the voice he wanted to hear.
“We’ve got your location, Structural integrity is unstable, so we’re working on a plan from the outside. Sit tight until we give the go.”
Buck glanced around the space again. It was tight, but not crushing. High enough to stand, wide enough to move without having to crawl. But that didn’t mean it was safe to wait.
He pressed the radio again. “Copy that. We’re holding position.”
But the second Buck let go of the button, he looked at Ravi.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Buck asked quietly.
“Ravi didn’t meet his eyes, “I’m thinking we follow orders.”
“There’s not much debris on the west end. It looks like part of the stairwell collapsed sideways—we might be able to squeeze through and get a line out.”
Ravi frowned. “And if the rest of it comes down on top of you?”
Buck exhaled sharply, not quite laughing. “Then you’ve got one less pain in the ass to deal with.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m not trying to be.” Buck nodded toward Maya. “She’s scared, but she’s holding it together. The best thing we can do is get her out of here—or at least find a way to get her some air.”
Ravi looked down at the cracked floor beneath them, then up toward the jagged break above. “Gerrard said to wait.”
“I’m not waiting for Gerrard to make up his mind while Athena and Chim might be just as stuck somewhere else.”
That landed. Ravi didn’t argue, but he didn’t follow either. He gave a curt not and moved to check on Maya, adjusting the brace on her arm.
Buck turned, stepping over twisted furniture and chunks of drywall. His breath echoed in the enclosed space, every creak and moan of the building overhead sharpening the tension in his spine.
He wasn’t being reckless.
Not this time.
Buck just couldn’t sit still—not when people he loved might be out there under the same rubble, waiting for someone to move.
Buck moved steadily, ducking beneath a splintered beam as he followed the narrowing corridor of collapsed walls and crumbling concrete. The dust here was thicker, hanging like fog in the air. His flashlight cut through it, bouncing off jagged edges and the exposed guts of the building—pipes, insulation, wires twisted like vines.
The route he’d spotted earlier opened just enough to suggest possibility.
A sliver of space, a tight but passable. The stairwell had folded into itself like origami, part of the wall caved inward at an angle that created a crawlspace barely wide enough for a grown man.
He knelt and shone the light through. On the other side, he could see clearer air—open space, maybe even a partial collapse to the street.
“Buck,” Ravi called, catching up with him, Maya following close behind with one arm still clutched to her chest.
Buck turned to them. “This is it. If we go through here, I think it’ll get us out or at least closer to a breach point. It’s tight, but it’s doable.
Maya looked wary, but nodded.
Ravi crouched, examining the gap. “It’s not ideal. But yeah. It’s a shot.”
Buck started to guide Maya forward when he froze.
A sound.
Faint. Muffled. But there.
Buck held up a hand.
“Wait!”
Ravi paused. “What is it?”
Buck tilted his head, holding his breath.
There it was again—faint, distant, but unmistakable. A voice. Weak, but calling out. It echoed through the structure, warped by steel and stone, but it was enough to send adrenaline spiking through him.
“Someone’s still in there.” Buck said.
Ravi turned, tense. “Are you sure?”
“I heard it. It’s close. Could be just behind the east corridor—somewhere we missed in the collapse.”
Ravi looked at the narrow opening. “If we don’t get Maya out now, that tunnel might not hold. You know that.”
Buck nodded. “that’s why you’re taking her. Get her to safety. Let command know someone else is still inside.”
“What about you?”
Buck met his eyes, steady. “I’m going back.”
Ravi hesitated. Not out of doubt—but out of frustration. Because this was Buck. Because this was always Buck.
And because if their roles were reversed, Ravi knew he’d be doing the same damn thing.
“I’ll make sure she gets out,” Ravi said finally, helping Maya down into the crawlspace. “You better come back in one piece.”
Buck gave a faint grin, but there was no light behind it. “No promises.”
He turned and retraced his steps, heart pounding louder than the creaking walls.
There was someone still out there.
And Buck wasn’t leaving them behind.
Buck’s boots crunched over debris as he moved deeper into the collapsed corridor. Following the source of the sound. The air grew thicker, heavier, the only light coming from his beam and the occasional flicker of movement in the dust.
Then Buck heard it again—clearer this time. A low groan, followed by a faint cough.
“Hello?” Buck called out, voice echoing off the twisted remains of drywall and broken rebar. “Can you hear me?”
A soft voice answered, raspy and weak. “Here… I’m over here…”
Buck turned sharply, scrambling over a fallen cabinet, around a buckled support beam, and found him.
A middle-aged man—maybe late forties—partially pinned beneath what looked like a collapsed HVAC unit and part of the ceiling frame. His legs were trapped, torso angled sideways in the rubble, blood matting the side of his head.
“Hey, hey, I got you,” Buck said, sliding to his knees beside him. “Name?”
“D-Dennis,” the man gasped.
“All right, Dennis, I’m Buck. I’m with the LAFD. You’re gonna be okay.”
Dennis gave a weak nod.
Buck examined the wreckage pinning him. I wasn’t crushing his chest—thank God—but it was heavy. Too heavy to lift by himself. He braced his shoulder against one side and pushed—”
Nothing.
He shifted position, tried from another angle. His muscles burned with the effort.
Still no movement.
“Come on,” Buck muttered. He looked around, found a length of bent steel pipe, wedged it in as leverage, and pushed again with every ounce of strength he had.
The beam groaned. Shifted dan inch.
Then stopped.
“Damn it.” Buck whispered.
His hands were scraped raw, sweat stinging his eyes. He leaned back, gasping, ready to try again, when—
“Need a hand?”
The voice hit him like a jolt.
Familiar. Solid. Grounding.
Buck turned so fast he nearly slipped.
And there—ducking under a low-hanging beam, in a turnout coat that didn’t quite fit him right—stood Eddie.
Buck blinked. For a second, he thought he was hallucinating.
“Eddie?” he breathed.
Eddie stepped forward, flashlight clipped to the coat, a thin layer of dust on his face. “Didn’t feel like sitting around waiting.”
A breathless, disbelieving laugh escaped Buck. “You’re insane.”
Eddie smirked, kneeling beside him. “So are you. Now let’s get this guy out.”
They locked eyes—brief, wordless communication honed over years of calls and chaos. Buck shifted position, and together, they braced against the beam, Buck with the pipe, Eddie with his full weight underneath.
“On three,” Buck said. “One… two… three!”
They pushed.
The beam groaned again, lifted just enough.
“Move, Dennis!” Buck shouted.
With a strained cry, Dennis dragged himself clear, collapsing beside the two firefighters with a sob of pain and relief.
They lowered the beam carefully.
Buck sat back, chest heaving. “You really do have the best timing.”
Eddie gave him a look. “You had a whole building fall on you and still ran off after someone else.”
Buck tilted his head. “So you followed me in?”
“You’re my partner,”” Eddie said simply. “What else was I supposed to do?”
Buck stared at him, chest tight in away that had nothing to do with exertion.
He didn’t answer—just nodded once, then turned back to check on Dennis.
Buck crouched beside Dennis, quickly checking vitals—pupils reactive, breathing shallow but even. He glanced up at Eddie, who was already opening a trauma dressing from the small kit clipped to the borrowed coat.
“We’ve got to stabilize that leg before we move him,” Buck said.
Eddie nodded. “Pressure bandage, and I’ve got a splint in the side pocket.”
Buck worked quickly, securing the wrap while Eddie positioned the splint, their movement practiced and in sync despite the chaos.
Once Dennis was as stable as they could manage, Buck finally looked up again.
“What’s the situation outside?” he asked quietly. “Ravi made it out, right?”
“Yeah,” Eddie replied, double-checking the wrap before sitting back on his hells. “He’s fine. Rescue teams are working both sides now. They are focusing on the northwest entry—it’s the most stable.”
“And the others?”
Eddie hesitated, then said, “Chim and Athena are trapped in the west hallway. They’re okay. They’ve got a civilian with them—hurt but responsive. Structural collapse isolated them from your side.
Buck exhaled. “That’s good. Chim’s with her.”
Eddie tilted his head slightly. “You think so?”
Buck looked up at him.
“She hasn’t been able to be in the same room as him since Bobby…” Eddie trailed off.
Buck nodded slowly, understanding. “Yeah. I know. But maybe being stuck together, forced to focus on saving someone else… maybe it’s exactly what they need.”
Eddie let that hang between them.
“I know Chim’s been trying to give her space,” Buck added. “But the way Athena’s been holding everything in—she might crack before she lets anyone see it.”
“She already did,” Eddie said softly. “The day after the funeral. Just not around him.”
Buck looked away, swallowing the sudden tightness in his throat. “Chim’s not okay. And she sees Bobby every time she looks at him.”
“Which isn’t fair,” Eddie said, not unkindly.
“No. But grief doesn’t care what’s fair.”
Buck finally stood and adjusted Dennis’ arm over his shoulder. “We should get moving before the structure shifts again.”
Eddie moved to help. “We’re not far from the corridor Ravi used. Once we get Dennis there, we can flag a rescue crew.”
As they began the careful journey back, Dennis leaning between them, Buck glanced sideways at Eddie.
“I meant it, by the way. About your timing.”
Eddie didn’t look at him. Just muttered, “Yeah. You better.”
Buck smirked. Despite the dirt, the sweat, the weight of it all—there was something steady in Eddie’s presence. Like even when everything was falling apart, some part of Buck knew that Eddie would always find his way to him.
They were nearly there.
Buck could see it—daylight breaking through the narrow gap where the rescue crew had carved a partial exit. The dust was thicker now, stirred by movement and wind, but they were so close it almost felt safe to breathe again.
Dennis was weak but moving, his arms slung across both their shoulders, half-dragged and half-walking as Buck and Eddie guided him towards freedom.
Then the ground trembled.