Chapter Text
The firehouse smelled like coffee, engine grease, and syrup.
Which was, honestly, how Evan Buckley preferred it.
Buck came barreling through the apparatus bay doors ten minutes late with his turnout pants half-zipped, his hair still damp from a shower he had absolutely rushed through, and a granola bar hanging out of his mouth that he clearly had not taken a single bite from.
"Buck!" Bobby's voice echoed from the kitchen.
Buck jolted so hard he nearly dropped his duffel bag. "I'm here!" he called around the untouched granola bar.
"You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago."
"Technically," Buck said, finally biting into the bar as he rounded the corner into the kitchen, "I was supposed to be here five minutes ago because I texted Hen I was running late."
Hen looked up from the coffee machine. "You texted me a gif of a raccoon falling out of a shopping cart."
"That was communication."
"That was concerning."
Chimney snorted into his coffee.
And Eddie—
Eddie glanced up from where he sat at the table helping Christopher with homework over FaceTime and immediately narrowed his eyes.
Buck knew that look.
That was the you forgot something important look.
Sure enough, Eddie's gaze flicked to the untouched granola bar.
Then to Buck.
Then back to the granola bar.
"You eat breakfast?"
Buck froze. "...Define breakfast."
"Buck."
"I had intentions."
"That's not breakfast."
Buck shoved more granola into his mouth defensively. "I'm eating now."
"You took your meds?"
Buck brightened immediately. "Yes!"
That was apparently the wrong answer because Bobby pinched the bridge of his nose while Eddie leaned back in his chair with a deeply unimpressed expression.
"On an empty stomach?" Eddie asked.
Buck waved a hand. "It's fine."
"It's Adderall," Hen muttered. "Not Tic Tacs."
"I forgot breakfast," Buck admitted. "I woke up late because my alarm didn't go off—"
"You slept through it," Chim corrected.
"—and then I couldn't find my left shoe, and then I lost my wallet, and then I found my wallet in the fridge—"
"Why was your wallet in the fridge?" Eddie was baffled.
Buck paused. "...You know, I really don't have an answer for that."
Christopher's laughter crackled through Eddie's phone speaker.
Eddie shook his head, though Buck caught the fond smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"You need actual food," Eddie said.
"I'm literally eating."
"You're inhaling oats held together by glue."
"It's protein."
"It's cardboard."
Buck grinned.
And because Eddie was Eddie, because he always took care of everyone before himself, he slid a plate across the table anyway.
Eggs. Toast. Fruit.
Buck looked at it like it was a declaration of love.
"You made me breakfast?"
"I made breakfast," Eddie corrected.
Buck sat down immediately beside him anyway. "Still counts."
Eddie rolled his eyes, but he nudged the ketchup bottle toward him without even looking.
Buck's chest did something stupidly warm over that.
It happened more often than he liked lately.
Or maybe exactly as often as he liked.
Yet before Buck could dig in the alarm went off.
—
The morning passed in a blur of routine calls.
A fender bender on the freeway.
An elderly man locked in a bathroom.
A kid with his hand stuck in a vending machine.
Normal shift chaos.
Buck didn't get a chance to eat.
He was a little more energetic than usual by noon, bouncing on the balls of his feet and talking fast enough that Chimney finally threatened to spray him with the hose if he didn't slow down.
But honestly?
That wasn't entirely abnormal.
Buck with ADHD and caffeine in his system already functioned at a frequency most people couldn't match.
Still, Eddie noticed things.
He noticed Buck forgetting where he set equipment.
He noticed him talking over himself.
He noticed the way Buck's knee wouldn't stop bouncing during lunch.
"You okay?" Eddie asked quietly while the others argued over whether pineapple belonged on pizza.
Buck blinked at him.
Then smiled too quickly.
"Yeah. Why?"
"You're jittery."
"I'm always jittery."
True.
But Eddie still frowned.
Before he could say anything else, the bay doors opened.
A woman walked in carrying two large trays covered in foil.
"Oh thank God," Chimney breathed. "Please tell me that's food."
The woman laughed. "Brownies. My husband wanted to thank you guys for helping him after the motorcycle accident last week."
Buck lit up instantly.
Eddie actually saw it happen.
Like someone plugged him directly into electricity.
"Brownies?" Buck repeated reverently.
"Oh no," Hen muttered.
Bobby accepted the trays with a smile. "That's very kind of you."
The woman waved it off. "You saved his life. Least we could do."
The second she left, Buck descended.
It was honestly impressive.
Eddie watched him peel back the foil with the kind of focus usually reserved for bomb defusal.
"Oh my God," Buck whispered.
"Buck," Bobby warned immediately.
Buck already had one in his mouth.
"These are amazing."
Chimney grabbed one.
Hen split another with him.
Eddie took one mostly because Buck shoved it into his hand with alarming enthusiasm.
Bobby declined entirely.
And Buck—
Buck ate another.
And another.
And another.
By brownie number five, Eddie stared at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
Buck looked genuinely offended. "I skipped breakfast."
"So the first thing you're putting in your system is brownies?"
Buck licked chocolate off his thumb. "Mhm! Zero regrets."
Hen laughed. "You're gonna make yourself sick."
"I'm fine," Buck insisted.
Then he stole half of Chimney's brownie too.
—
The call came in twenty minutes later.
"Possible medical emergency at a children's beauty pageant," dispatch announced.
Chimney groaned. "Oh, that sounds horrifying."
"You're just afraid of glitter," Hen said.
"I am afraid of glitter. It never leaves."
Buck snorted loudly from the back of the truck.
Too loudly.
Eddie glanced over.
Buck was sprawled across the bench seat grinning at absolutely nothing.
"You good?" Eddie asked.
Buck gave him a thumbs up.
"...Your hand is backwards."
Buck corrected it slowly. "Better?"
Eddie stared at him.
Something felt off.
But the truck jerked to a stop before he could think harder about it.
The pageant venue was chaos.
Tiny girls in sequins and full makeup ran around backstage while frantic mothers shouted over one another. Somewhere nearby, a child was crying.
And in the middle of it all sat a woman with a stiletto heel embedded directly through her cheek.
"Well," Chimney said. "That's unfortunate."
Hen immediately knelt beside the woman.
Eddie moved to help stabilize her while Chim started assessing.
Buck—
Buck got distracted by the children.
Eddie looked up just in time to see him crouching beside a line of little girls in sparkly dresses.
"Okay," Buck told them solemnly, "one at a time."
Then he started spinning them.
One by one.
The girls shrieked with delighted laughter as Buck twirled them around like a human carousel.
At first Eddie smiled despite himself.
Then he really looked at Buck.
His movements were loose.
Unsteady.
Too exaggerated.
His pupils looked huge even from across the room.
And he was talking.
Constantly.
Words tumbling out too fast to follow.
"...tiny queens—whoa, okay, gravity feels weird—did you know your tiaras are crooked? Not emotionally crooked, just physically—"
"Buck," Eddie called.
Buck looked over.
And nearly fell over.
Eddie's stomach dropped. "Hen," he said quietly.
Hen glanced up. Then frowned. "What the hell..."
Buck spun another little girl.
Too fast this time.
He had to catch himself against the wall afterward.
Eddie was worried. "You okay, man?"
Buck blinked at him slowly. "Yeah," he said. "The floor's just... moving."
Chimney looked over then.
And all three of them exchanged a look.
"What did he eat today?" Hen asked.
"The brownies," Eddie said immediately.
"Sugar high?" Chim guessed.
Eddie latched onto it instantly. "Yeah. Probably. He didn't get a chance to eat at all this morning."
Hen made a face. "Sugar highs aren't actually a thing."
"Yes they are."
"No, they're not."
"They absolutely are."
"They've literally been disproven."
Buck was now crouched in front of a little girl examining her glittery shoes like they held the meaning of life. "...sparkly," he whispered.
Eddie's anxiety spiked. "Okay, but something's wrong."
Chimney frowned suddenly. "The brownies."
Eddie looked at him.
"I only had one," Chim said slowly, "but my face still feels weird."
Hen blinked. "Wait."
The woman on the stretcher started laughing.
All four firefighters looked at her.
She chuckled around the heel in her cheek. "Your friend is definitely high. Somebody absolutely laced those brownies."
Silence.
Every stomach dropped.
Eddie went cold. "Buck ate five," he said.
Hen swore.
And suddenly Eddie was moving.
Fast.
He crossed the room in seconds.
"Buck?"
Buck turned toward him immediately with a huge, dazed smile. "Eddie!"
His face was flushed bright red.
Sweat dampened his curls.
His pupils were blown so wide there was barely any blue left visible.
"Oh, buddy," Eddie whispered.
Buck leaned closer conspiratorially. "There are tiny ladies," he whispered loudly, pointing at the children, "are we giants?"
One of the mothers stared in horror.
Eddie ignored her. "Buck," he said carefully, gently. "You took your meds this morning right?"
Buck beamed proudly. "Didn't forget this time!"
Oh, shit.
Adderall plus a massive amount of THC on an empty stomach.
Eddie's pulse spiked. "Okay," he said softly. "We're gonna go outside, alright?"
Buck nodded immediately.
Then Eddie tried helping him stand.
Buck whimpered. "I'm hot."
"I know."
"My legs feel weird."
"That's okay."
"No, like... weird weird." Buck swallowed hard. "Walking makes me dizzy."
Nausea.
Dizziness.
Sweating.
Disorientation.
Eddie's concern turned sharp. "Buck, look at me."
Buck tried.
His eyes crossed halfway there.
"Oh wow," Buck whispered. "There's two of you."
"Okay." Eddie wrapped an arm around him carefully. "Okay, stay with me."
"Eddie?"
"Yeah?"
"I think my brain's melting."
Eddie's heart broke a little.
Bobby appeared beside them then.
One look at Buck and his entire expression changed. "What happened?"
Eddie explained rapidly.
The brownies.
The meds.
The symptoms.
Bobby went pale. "Hen!" he barked immediately. "Call another ambulance. Now."
Buck flinched at the volume. "Too loud," he mumbled.
Athena came through the backstage entrance at that exact moment. "What's going—"
Then she saw Buck.
Saw him limp and glassy-eyed in Eddie's arms.
Saw Bobby's face.
And instantly switched into cop mode. "What happened?"
"Possible accidental ingestion," Bobby said tightly.
Hen and Chim returned with a stretcher.
Buck stared at it in betrayal. "I don't need that."
"You do, baby," Athena said gently.
Buck blinked at her slowly. "...Athena?"
"Hi, sweetheart."
Eddie helped ease him onto the stretcher while Buck complained weakly the entire time.
"I can walk."
"You're dizzy."
"I'm very brave."
"I know."
"I think I'm dying."
"No, you're not."
Buck's fingers latched onto Eddie's hand with surprising strength. "Don't leave."
Eddie squeezed back immediately. "I'm right here."
—
The ambulance ride was chaos.
Buck started crying two minutes in.
Not loudly.
Just quiet tears slipping down flushed cheeks while he clung to Eddie's hand.
"I don't feel right," he whispered.
Hen checked his vitals again.
Heart rate elevated.
Blood pressure high.
Pupils still huge.
"He's tachycardic," she muttered.
Buck swallowed hard. "I'm gonna throw up."
Chimney drove faster.
"You're okay," Eddie kept saying softly.
Buck leaned heavily against him on the bench seat.
Too hot.
Too shaky.
Too scared.
Eddie brushed damp curls off his forehead. "You're okay, Buck."
Then Buck stiffened.
Hen noticed first. "Wait—"
Buck's eyes rolled back.
And suddenly he seized.
Everything exploded into motion.
"Buck!"
"Hold him—"
"Protect his head!"
The seizure lasted barely two minutes.
It felt like eternity.
Eddie held Buck through the violent convulsions with absolute terror clawing up his throat.
Then it stopped.
Buck went limp.
Breathing hard.
Disoriented.
Hen and Eddie quickly rolled him onto his side.
Buck vomited almost immediately.
Then started crying harder. "Oh God," he choked out weakly. "I'm sorry—"
"No, no, hey," Bobby soothed immediately. "Nothing to apologize for."
"I'm sorry—"
"You're okay."
Buck looked terrified.
Confused.
Humiliated.
"I...don't...understand what's happening."
Hen checked him again rapidly. "He's postictal," she said quietly.
Buck whimpered softly. And then— "Papa?"
Bobby broke instantly.
The sound that left him was quiet and wrecked.
"I'm here, kid," he said immediately, gripping Buck's shoulder. "I'm right here."
Buck's eyes fluttered half-open. "Don't leave me."
"We won't."
"I'm scared."
Eddie nearly lost it right there.
Instead he tightened his grip on Buck's hand and kept talking softly all the way to the hospital.
—
The ER swallowed Buck from them the second the ambulance doors opened.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Questions.
Bright lights.
Buck crying weakly because he didn't want them to go.
Then he disappeared behind trauma doors.
And the team just...
Stopped.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The adrenaline crash hit hard and ugly.
Eddie sat heavily in a waiting room chair with Buck's vomit still staining his sleeve.
Bobby stared blankly at the floor. While he texted Athena.
Hen paced.
Chimney kept rubbing both hands over his face.
Athena arrived first with Maddie an hour later.
Maddie looked terrified. "Where is he?"
"In treatment," Hen said softly.
Athena immediately crossed to Bobby. "He called you papa?" she asked quietly.
Bobby's eyes shut. "Yeah."
That broke Maddie.
She sat beside Eddie and started crying silently into her hands.
And still—
No one left.
Not even when dispatch called twice asking about the rig.
Not even when hours passed.
Eventually a doctor emerged.
Everyone stood instantly.
The doctor glanced at the chart. "Family?"
"Yes," Bobby said immediately.
The doctor nodded. "He's stable."
The entire room exhaled.
"He ingested a significant amount of cannabis," the doctor explained. "Likely concentrated THC butter in homemade goods. Based on his bloodwork and symptoms, we suspect approximately 60 to 80 milligrams total."
Hen hissed softly.
"That's enough to hospitalize someone with no tolerance," Chim muttered.
The doctor nodded grimly. "Combined with prescription amphetamine salts, Adderall, it created a severe reaction. The stimulant increased his heart rate and blood pressure while the THC caused neurological impairment, disorientation, and anxiety. The combination likely lowered his seizure threshold significantly, especially since he took the medication on an empty stomach."
Eddie felt sick.
"He'll be okay?" Maddie asked shakily.
"Yes. We treated the seizure activity, gave IV fluids, anti-nausea medication, and monitored his cardiac rhythm. His vitals have stabilized." The doctor softened slightly. "He's exhausted. Embarrassed too, from what I gathered during lucid moments."
That sounded painfully like Buck.
"He's asleep now. You can see him."
—
Buck looked heartbreakingly small in a hospital bed.
The room was dim.
Monitors beeped steadily beside him.
An IV snaked into his arm.
His curls were damp with sweat against the pillow.
And Eddie—
Eddie immediately moved to his bedside.
Like gravity.
Like instinct.
He took Buck's hand without thinking.
Buck shifted faintly in his sleep but settled almost instantly afterward.
Everyone spread quietly around the room.
Athena sat beside Bobby.
Maddie brushed Buck's hair back gently.
Hen lowered the lights further.
And slowly, finally, the panic eased.
—
It was well after dark when Buck woke up.
He made a soft confused sound first.
Then blinked blearily at the ceiling.
Eddie felt the movement immediately. "Hey."
Buck turned slowly toward the voice. "...Eddie?"
"Yeah, baby."
Buck looked dazed. His hand tightened weakly around Eddie's. "What happened?"
Everyone in the room stirred instantly.
"Easy," Bobby said gently, moving closer. "You're okay."
Buck frowned.
Then memory started creeping back in fragments.
The stupid brownies.
The pageant.
The ambulance.
His face went white. "Oh my God."
"Buck—"
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry."
"Hey," Eddie said firmly.
"I embarrassed everyone—"
"No."
"I threw up on you—"
"I don't care."
"I called Bobby papa—"
Bobby immediately looked emotional again. "You were scared," he said softly.
Buck covered his face with his free hand in horror. "I'm never recovering from this."
Athena snorted softly. "You almost died, baby. You're allowed a little dignity loss."
Buck groaned.
Bobby gently explained everything.
The brownies.
The THC.
The seizure.
The hospital.
Buck listened in growing mortification.
By the end he looked close to tears again.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Eddie squeezed his hand harder. "Stop apologizing."
Buck looked at him helplessly.
"I should've known something was wrong."
"How?"
"I ate five brownies!"
"You also once ate six protein bars in one sitting because you forgot lunch existed."
"That's different."
"Not really."
A watery laugh escaped Buck.
Thank God.
Athena stood eventually. "I'm going to look into who dropped those off."
"Please arrest them," Chim muttered.
"One step ahead of you."
Eventually everyone filtered out toward the cafeteria after Bobby forced them all to eat something.
Everyone except Eddie.
Buck watched him quietly once the room emptied. "You stayed."
"Obviously."
Buck swallowed.
The room was quiet for a moment except for the monitors.
Then softly—
"I was really scared."
Eddie's expression softened instantly. "I know."
"I couldn't think right." Buck stared at their joined hands. "Everything felt wrong. And I knew something bad was happening but I couldn't stop it."
Eddie moved closer. "You don't have to explain it."
"But you took care of me anyway."
"Buck."
"I mean it," Buck whispered. "I was saying nonsense and crying and throwing up and—"
"And you were sick."
Buck's eyes shimmered.
Eddie brushed his thumb across Buck's knuckles slowly.
"You know what I saw?" Eddie said quietly. "I saw someone scared out of his mind who needed help. That's it."
Buck looked wrecked by the tenderness in Eddie's voice. "You don't think I'm stupid?"
Eddie stared at him in disbelief. "No."
"I should've realized—"
"You trusted someone who brought food to the station. That's not stupidity."
Buck blinked hard.
Eddie leaned forward slightly. "This wasn't your fault."
The words seemed to hit Buck hard.
His face crumpled just a little.
And because Eddie couldn't help himself—
He climbed carefully onto the edge of the hospital bed and pulled Buck gently against him.
Buck melted instantly.
Exhausted.
Warm.
Safe.
Eddie wrapped an arm around him and pressed his cheek against Buck's curls. "You scared the hell out of me," he admitted quietly.
Buck's arms tightened around him immediately. "Sorry."
Eddie sighed dramatically. "What did I just say about apologizing?"
Buck huffed a tiny laugh against his shoulder.
"There he is," Eddie murmured.
Buck went quiet after that.
The kind of quiet that only came when his brain finally stopped running itself into the ground.
Eddie kept rubbing slow circles against his back.
Eventually Buck mumbled sleepily, "You called me baby earlier."
Eddie froze. "...Did I?"
"Mhm."
"And?"
Buck snuggled closer with zero shame. "I liked it."
Eddie laughed softly under his breath.
Then, after a moment—
"Go to sleep, baby."
Buck smiled against his shoulder.
And within minutes, finally safe and warm and breathing steadily again, he fell asleep in Eddie Diaz's arms.