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It starts as a call like any other.
"I don't get why people willingly do dangerous things." Buck sighs, approaching the edge of the cliff. All of the crew fall silent, gesturing towards the harness that Buck and Eddie are being strapped into as he speaks. Right- they all willingly do dangerous things for their jobs everyday. "You ever think before you speak?" Eddie teases, tugging at his harness. Buck chuckles while Chimney prepares the winch.
"Well, we are pros at this, aren't we? Went to the academy! These guys didn't- they are just doing dangerous things anyway." Buck excuses, to which Eddie just rolls his eyes and begins to descend the cliff.
Maybe Buck is being dramatic. Ever since they had that call to the graveyard earlier in the shift, Hen's words have stuck with him.
The way she said that she hopes they haven't disturbed ' the spirits ' gave him the heeby-jeebies. Some part of him knows that spirits probably don't exist, and (if they did) they probably wouldn't be fussed over some graves/coffins being damaged to save lives, right? Still, it stays with him. But, he knows Eddie doesn't buy into all of that sutff. Cap says he doesn't, but Buck can tell that his captain is also a secret believer in that kinda thing.
"Big jump, Eddie." He hears Bobby warn over the radio. Upon looking down, Buck realises that the captain is (as per usual) right. The rocks beneath them are practically spikes, ready to impale either of them. And the drop is...well, the drop is huge. Still, Buck can't help but appreciate the beauty of the sight. Clearly, Eddie is the same. "Million dollar view." His partner sighs, both if them starting to parasail down the cliff. Buck hums in agreement, hesitating to take a peek at the sight before them. If they weren't here to save a guy that had fallen off the cliff, he would stay to enjoy the way that the Sun is perfectly reflecting off Eddie (he can't help himself from admiring how nice his best friend looks today), and the light breeze feels fresh against his face.
But then the cliff starts to shift.
"Uhm, Cap, this doesn't feel too steady."
Eddie says into his radio, while Buck continues to lower himself. Eddie stays in his position, awaiting further instructions. Buck is practically at the base of the cliff when the rocks above violently jolt and Bobby shouts for them to escape. Buck knows he needs to take MAYDAY warning seriously, and this cliff feels completely unstable, but he is so close to helping their victim- there is no way he can leave now. "Cap, I'm basically at the bottom! Can't I-"
Buck makes eye contact with Eddie just as the cliff breaks way. Debris starts to rain down on him, some slamming into Buck with such force that he can barely breathe. The rope attached to his harness starts to tether, and loosen, until it just snaps. Too many people are screaming for Buck to tell whose voice is whose or where their voices are even coming from.
He's falling.
And falling.
And falling some more.
He sees Eddie flying toward him, and Buck reaches out his hand for his partner just as the pain swallows him whole.
*
Eddie's head is killing him by the time he opens his eyes. The pain ripples through his entire body. There is definitely a concussion. What happened? It takes him awhile for the memories to mostly come back to him. He and Buck had been parasailing down a cliff to rescue some guy, the cliff had started to shake, Eddie had anxiously looked down at Buck, and then he fell. That was it. He slowly sat up, assessing his own injuries. His ribs cry out, surely broken, and his leg is too sore to even try move.
A slab of concrete is pinning his leg down, though with a painful heave (and a bit of screaming that he poorly tries to muffle using his coat), he manages to release himself. It isn’t much of a shock that his radio is destroyed- only static emitting from it- though it’s still a huge inconvenience. Realisation suddenly crashes into Eddie. Where’s Buck ? He scrambles to his feet, careful of his injuries. Due to his leg and numerous ribs being broken, he’s forced to lean against the side of the cliff to keep him upright.
”Buck!!” Eddie hollers, only getting silence. “Buck! Where are you? Can you hear me?” Still no reply. “Firefighter Buckley!” He shouts yet again, eyes scanning over the rubble that surrounds him.
”Ed’ie?” A hoarse voice whispers just loud enough for him to hear. Eddie instantly hops over to the small mountain of rubble that the noise comes from. Slowly, he sees Buck crawl out from under it with a tired grunt. He's out of breath, heaving himself free. Eddie helps to shove off the rest of the debris, yanking Buck up to his feet.
His head is bleeding a lot, but seems to be otherwise alright. "You good?" Buck asks, supporting his own ribs with an arm that is bent out of shape. Eddie nods with a small shrug, glancing around. "Brilliant." he knows it isn't the right time to be sarcastic, but oh well. "Just need to find a way to get back up." His gaze lingers on Buck for a brief second. "Are you okay?" Buck hums initially, before he realises Eddie is still staring at him with an expecting glare. "Injured: arm, head, and ribs. Standard stuff- I'll live. N'thing serious." He huffs, rolling his eyes.
Eddie nods- it's good enough. He can see well enough that Buck's radio is as equally fucked as his own. "You should sit down." Buck warns, gesturing to the way that Eddie's knee is very much pointing in the wrong direction. Weird; Eddie hadn't even realised. But, now that Buck has pointed it out, he is in awful pain. He stumbles forward, and Buck gently steadies him before slowly lowering Eddie onto one of the rocks. He sits beside Eddie, blinking away what's probably nausea.
Buck pulls out the med-kit that they had brought down and, with Eddie instructing him, starts to aid to Eddie's injuries. Buck winces as Eddie screams out in pain while Buck clicks Eddie's knee back into place. Eddie lets out an apology through gritted teeth and gasps of pain. His partner just smiles. Buck holds one thumb carefully under Eddie's chin as he applies some gauze and bandages to fix up the bleeding gash atop Eddie's head. It feels oddly intimate.
"Think our victim's dead?" Buck questions, and Eddie raises his eyebrow while scanning over the catastrophe that surrounds them. Nobody below will have survived this wreckage, especially if they were already injured. But, of course Buck is still holding hope. "No, Buck, I don't think he is." Eddie breaks to him, though he can see the reluctance in Buck's face as he speaks.
Eddie takes the medkit from Buck and uses the sparse amount of bandages and gauze to try stop the bleeding around Buck's head and to form a makeshift cast for his wrist. There's barely any supplies left to even try help Buck, but he assures Eddie that he is alright.
"I mean- he- we're alive..." Buck tries to stutter out, but the look alone on Eddie's face must extinguish the last sliver of hope. "We shouldn't leave him here-" Buck tries to gesture to the mountains of stone that surround them but (whether it's due to his injured arm or a lack of hope, Eddie can't tell) gives up. "We need to focus on getting back to the 118. Then we'll send people down. When it's safe ." Eddie makes sure to emphasise the final part, knowing damn well how reckless his partner can be. It's exhausting. Buck gives him a tight nod.
"Knew we shouldn't have disturbed the spirits at the graveyard." Buck groans, his lips tugging slightly up. Eddie can't stop the chuckle he lets out. Leave it to Buck to make jokes in situations like this. Eddie hates the whole 'ghost' thing, but Buck talks to him about it all the time and Eddie loves the excited look that Buck gets on his face when he yaps about nonsense too much to call it bull. For a brief second, Eddie forgets that they are in the middle of a dire situation. But it only lasts a second. As soon as they finish their small chuckle, the seriousness sets back in.
Buck's gaze drifts up, where the only sight is unending cliffs. They must have fallen far. "Wha' we do?" Buck asks, neither of them acknowledging the slight slur to his words. They are both without a doubt concussed; they need to prioritise getting to safety before they fret over any of their non-lethal injuries. "I guess we just..." Eddie thinks, looking around, before glancing up the side of the cliff. There's a myriad of uneven surfaces sticking out- things they could use to climb. "We climbed down...what if we climb back up?" Buck suggests, as if reading Eddie's own mind. The two of them ponder in silence for a few moments, before Buck drags himself over to the wall.
"It's too dangerous Buck; your arm is injured, and even if it wasn't, there's nothing we'll be able to do if you fall or-" Eddie tries, but Buck is already staring at him with that look that reminds Eddie of why Buck is one of the closest people in his life, that look of such hope and desperation to do good. "Let me try. Please?" He begs, wide blue eyes staring into his own. Eddie stays quiet long enough for Buck to start single-handedly scaling the cliff-side. As much as he can with only one functioning leg, Eddie limps over to the bottom so that he can catch Buck if he falls.
He only manages to climb a few inches before reluctantly scrambling back down, clenching his wrist with a grimace. "I can't climb with one hand." Bu k admits with a pout on his face that would normally amuse Eddie. Wincing as he slumps tiredly against part of the debris. Buck clenches his hand in and out of a fist- the same thing he does when he has pins and needles. He must be frustrated. Is this the wrong time to say 'I told you so? ', Eddie wonders. Eddie catches his eye, looks at the blood that is matted in Buck's blonde hair. "Don't need both legs to climb." Eddie mentions, folding his arms. Buck doesn't seem to get what Eddie is hinting at- it's either down to his concussion or just not paying attention. "I can do it." He drawls, nudging Buck's shoulder. He still doesn't react. Now Eddie's getting worried.
"Are you sure you're alright, Buck?" Eddie asks, kneeling in front of his best friend. Buck rapidly blinks, like he has only just realised that Eddie is there. Maybe his injuries are more serious than Eddie previously thought. "Ed- I'm...don't w'rry- I'm okay. Jus'- we just gotta go." Buck grumbles, though Eddie doesn't miss the way Buck whimpers when he shifts. Now that Eddie is properly looking at him, it is becoming more obvious that Buck isn't looking too good. His skin is dangerously pale, sweat mixing with the blood dripping down his face, he is hunching over, gently trying to nurse both his ribs and arm.
"I'm worried about you, so I'll ask again, are you injured?" He reiterates slowly. If looks could kill, Eddie would be dead. Buck's glare is made of knives. It isn't hard to tell that Buck doesn't want to talk about this- though Buck rarely wants to talk about having help. "I'm a'right-" he pauses, as if that will stop the way his sentences are coming out slurred and in between ragged breaths, "lightheaded." Eddie doesn't budge. "And some cramps with a shortness of breath. N'ne serious, Chim'll che' me out." he hesitantly adds, leaning back against the rocks in exhaustion.
Eddie clicks his tongue, taking in the sight of the cliff. He doesn't really need both legs to climb; being both a firefighter and army vet, his upper body strength is fantastic. "Stay put, bud, I'm gonna get help." He promises, though Buck seems barley there anymore. Something is seriously up. Should he be staying by his side? Is it safe for him to leave Buck down here by himself? No, he can't be much help to Buck if they are both stuck down there. The best way to help his best friend is to get people who can actually help him. Besides, it's probably just a severe concussion; Buck would tell Eddie if he was properly injured, right?
His best friend is mumbling incoherent rubbish as Eddie pulls himself to the cliffside.
But, just as Eddie prepares to start climbing, Buck suddenly slumps forward onto the ground. Eddie's by his side in an instant, rolling him onto his back. He ignores the way his leg screams at him in pain as he does. "Buck? Hey! You alright?" No answer meets his question. Buck's eyes have slipped shut. His fingers instantly fly to his partner's neck, where a small rhythm greets his fingers. Thank God; he is alive. Eddie rips away Buck's buttoned shirt, and can't contain the gasp that slips from his mouth at the sight.
Awful blurs of purple, red, and green cover his chest, blood spotting all over. His abdomen is rigid when he touches it, skin icy cold, and is slicked in unreasonable amounts of sweat. It's swelling like crazy. Maybe it's internal bleeding. It would explain the confusion, being lightheaded, slurred words, and other signs that Eddie had ignorantly ignored. "Damn it, Buck!" Eddie hisses, evaluating the injuries. They're serious. Buck won't have very long unless Eddie gets some help- and quickly.
He's almost a quarter a way up the cliff when he starts to hear familiar voices. "118! Down here!" he screams out with all his might, ignoring the way the rock that he's clinging onto is steadily becoming more and more unstable. He can hear silence for just a moment before people are shouting, and there's a lot of movement. Soon, he can make out the sight of Bobby and Hen peering down over the edge of the cliff. "Ed- Firefighter Diaz, are you and Firefighter Buckley okay?!" Cap shouts, as Eddie continues to anxiously haul his body higher and higher. His broken leg limply dangling around- weighing him down- is making much more difficult than he'd anticipated.
Eddie is about to answer them when the part of the cliff that he's holding onto gives way again.
*
By the time that Eddie forces his eyes open this time, it's clear that more time has passed. The baby blue sky has been licked away by a beautiful mix of red and orange hues with small flicks of ocean-like blues and cosy purples as the Sun is swallowed by the great horizon, the Moon starting to rise in it's place. Golden hour. Normally, when he and Buck are on shift at this time, they'll take a moment to admire the way the city seems to glow at five o'clock. But, now, all his groggy and injured mind can think of is that- when Eddie managed to drag a second wave of rocks down with his fall- Buck was down below to be buried by the aftermath.
Eddie knows that he shouldn't be moving- his head is pounding, ribs without a doubt crushed and his leg is most definitely one hundred times more fucked than it already was- but he can't leave Buck. Considering the state Buck was in when Eddie tried to climb the wall, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was... No, Eddie can't think like that. He can't give up on Buck. On his best friend. Hell, if Chimney can survive rebar through the brain, Buck can survive this. Right ? Besides, Buck wouldn't leave Chris, or Bobby, or Maddie, or the 118, or him . Not like this. Buck is far too stubborn and loyal and kind and...Eddie's getting off topic.
But, upon sitting up enough to look around, Eddie is thankful to realise that he only brought down the part of the cliff that he had been so tightly holding onto. Buck is scattered further away from where Eddie had earlier left him; he isn't sure whether he was thrown from the impact or if he had managed to briefly wake and move himself. Eddie tries to force movement into his body. Everything hurts- it is overwhelming every nook and cranny of his body like nothing before. But, Buck is just lying there. He's only a little further than an arm-length away from Eddie. He can reach him if his body would just fucking move.
The idea of Buck suffering just inches from him outweighs the pain that courses through Eddie. With a sigh- biting down on his coat to muffle his screams of pain- Eddie starts to army crawl towards Buck. Such short distance has never felt so long as Eddie drags his aching bones toward his best friend. He must help Buck. Because, if Buck were to die with Eddie so close, Eddie would never be able to forgive himself.
Finally, his fingers graze against Buck's arm. He curls his fingers around Buck's hand, and tugs with all his might. It's only when he hears Buck's subconscious moans of pain that he realises Eddie was pulling at Buck's injured arm. He would apologise, but he knows it's more important that he deals with the internal bleeding as opposed to his wrist. "Sorry, Buck." he murmurs, even though he knows that it is unlikely that Buck can hear him.
Gently, he prompts Buck up against one of the pieces of collapsed cliff. Buck looks even worse than he did earlier, and it becomes clearer than ever that Eddie needs to get them help. But he's still alive, Eddie reminds himself. That's all that matters; Buck is alive...for now. His breaths are coming out all shallow and ragged- but Eddie just keeps on telling himself that at least Buck is breathing at all . Eddie is certain now that the 118 are coming for them, he can actually hear their voices up ahead. Still, considering how unstable this cliff is, it will take them awhile to actually reach them.
Buck is constantly drifting in and out of it, his uninjured hand randomly jerking before returning to stillness. Eddie's not sure what to do- there is nothing he can do- aside from sit on his ass and wait. It's hard to keep track of time; Eddie's head is pounding and each second feels like an hour and each hour a second. He's getting increasingly more tired of this shitty situation. Why did that climber have to go on the restricted area? If it hadn't been for that guy wanting to play daredevil, this never would have happened to him. To Buck .
Eddie isn't going to try kid himself; Buck is dying. Unless the 118 reach them within ten minutes, Buck will die by Eddie's side, and Eddie will be left to suffer the pain of losing his closest companion.
"Ed?" Buck mumbles, his voice barely audible. Eddie turns, glancing at Buck. His eyes are open- seemingly more aware than earlier- and he is trying to properly sit up.
"You 'kay?" The way Buck asks it so sincerely makes Eddie want to laugh. Why is Buck asking? Eddie's mostly alright; it is Buck that might die today (though he supposes Buck isn't quite alert enough to know that). "I'm okay, Buck." He tries to hide the exhaustion in his voice from his best friend, but Eddie knows better than to try fool Buck. Somehow, he always knows when Eddie is lying to him, or if something is going on.
"Wha's wrong?" Buck's voice is even quieter than before, like simply talking is draining him of his remaining energy. A selfish part of Eddie wishes that Buck would fall back unconscious and spare Eddie the guilt of spending what could potentially be Buck's final moments lying to him. Though Buck has always been difficult. "With me." Buck asks. Eddie raises a quizzical eyebrow, but Buck just stares at him like it's obvious. "My guess? Internal bleeding. When the cliff came down and temporarily crushed you...God damn it, Buck, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Eddie knows he shouldn't be yelling at Buck- especially not now- but he can't help the anger that rises within him.
He isn't angry at Buck though. Of course he isn't. How could he be? His best friend is dying as he sits in silence. Eddie is angry at himself. Angry that he didn't spot the millions of signs earlier, angry that he didn't know how careless Buck is, and angry that he can't do anything to save him. Eddie was a medic in the army, he should have known better. Why didn't he know any better? Buck is stewing in silence, his head bowed on his chest, Eddie suddenly realises. But, before Eddie can try say something, Buck perks up.
"We've been down here for...awhile." He gestures towards the golden view that shines down on them. Eddie nods, letting Buck continue. "Internal bleeding." He echoes, slowly staring down at his unbuttoned top to see the damage. Eddie watches as it computes in Buck's eyes, the severity sets in. The idea that Buck very well may be dead in a matter of minutes. "So, I'm done for." Buck comes to the conclusion, head drooping against Eddie's shoulder. He doesn't dare move, Eddie doesn't even breathe.
"Don't say that, Buck. They're coming." Eddie promises, wrapping his arm around Buck's shoulders- as if pulling him closer will shield him from the pain and danger. He knows his words are empty. Eddie can feel Buck's breath getting gradually slower and weaker, but Buck is still blinking blearily ahead. "E''ie." the pure simplicity in him grumbling Eddie's name is enough for his heart to shatter into pieces.
"No goodbyes!" Eddie snaps. " No goodbyes ." He repeats, only this time it's whispered. Buck tries to nod against Eddie's shoulder, but gives up halfway through from the tiredness that Eddie doesn't doubt is overwhelming his entire body. " L've you ." Buck says. It catches Eddie off guard, and he slowly uncurls his arm from Bucks' shoulder. Odd- Eddie had specifically said no goodbyes, and yet it sounds like Buck is trying to say goodbye. Eddie knows Buck doesn't mean it in a romantic way, but it still startles him." 'M sorry ..." Buck groans and, before Eddie can even reply or cushion the blow, Buck is lying motionless over the ground.
And Eddie, the man who never panics, fucking panics.
It's funny; Eddie has spent the past few minutes preparing himself for the prospect of Buck dying, but now that he is being faced with it, he refuses to allow it. He starts CPR, ignoring everything but one thing. Everything but Buck. The feel of Buck's ribs crushing beneath his hands, the way he's not breathing, his eyes closed, his entire body lifeless under Eddie.
There's loud noise echoing round him, voices growing louder around him. But Eddie just ignores it. Nothing matters aside from the chance that, if Eddie tries hard enough, Buck may persevere and not die.
Because Buck can't die. Not when Eddie needs him so badly- not when Chris and the 118 need him so bad. Eddie needs Buck to make silly jokes on calls, to fill in random info about things that nobody really cares about, to always do the selfless stupid things that he does. Because Buck is the best friend that he has ever had, his partner that always seems to be in sync with him, the man who easily bonded with Chris, the person who somehow wormed himself into Eddie's heart. Because Buck is the guy that Eddie-
Oh.
oh .
Eddie loves Buck. It should be a weight off his shoulder to realise such a monumental thing, however Eddie still feels like he is drowning. Why did he have to realise that now of all times? If he couldn't lose Buck before- he really can't now.
It takes a moment to compute the hands pulling at Eddie, and suddenly he's ripped away from Buck's body. A voice is talking down his ears, but Eddie drowns it out. He just wants to help Buck- but now people are crowding his view and he's being dragged further and further away.
"Eddie!" His captain's voice snaps him from his trance-like state. "You need to stop, okay?" Bobby orders, sitting Eddie down against a slab of concrete. "You need help." Bobby shouts over Eddie's stuttering excuses.
He can see Chimney continuing CPR on Buck as Hen tries to help. He keeps on hearing Chimney mumble, "More time, Buck." over and over. Buck just needs more time- he needs time to start breathing again.
Suddenly, Buck jerks up and Chim collapses back with a sigh of relief. Buck's alive. Thank God. He is really breathing.
As soon as Eddie catches Buck's half-open eyes, his chest raggedly rising, all of the adrenaline and strength from his body instantly drains away. He falls forward in exhaustion, his captain's arms catching him. Eddie stays still for a moment, Bobby wrapping his hands around Eddie as he tries to sit him back. With Bobby murmuring calm words down his ear, and the sight of Buck breathing, Eddie's eyes slip shut.
They will be okay, right?