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Buck gingerly gets his phone from his pocket and sighs when he sees that it's smashed.
“Buck?” Theo calls tentatively, sounding terrified, and Buck wishes he could hug him and reassure him that everything's going to be fine.
Except Buck slipped on loose terrain and ended up in a fucking ravine in the Angeles Forest. He'd been trying to rescue Theo’s water bottle from rolling away when he'd knocked it off a rock, and he'd slipped. His side is killing him, his ankle is definitely sprained, and he's scraped up.
“I'm okay, kid!” he calls back. “Do not get too close to the edge or go anywhere, okay? I need you to make a big promise to me. This is really important.”
He looks up and sees Theo peeking over the edge, his face red and teary.
“Hey, I'm okay,” Buck says, trying for a grin. “I'm just not going to be able to climb out of here by myself. And I need you to stay right there so one of us can be safe.”
“O-okay,” Theo replies before a big hiccup of a sob.
Buck presses his forehead to the rocky face of the ravine and tries to keep himself from crying, too. He's stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere, and they haven't seen anyone all day. It'll take some from the parks department seeing his car in the lot after sunset before anyone gets called, and then it can take hours for search and rescue to figure out where they are. And Theo will be stuck in the cold and the dark, and it's Buck’s fault.
He feels his watch buzz and lifts his head sharply.
It's cracked but telling him it's detected a fall and asking if he wants to call emergency services.
“Holy shit,” he breathes, swiping across to call.
“9-1-1, what's your emergency?” an operator asks a moment later, and Buck pumps his fist triumphantly.
“H-hi, my name is Evan Buckley. My son and I are hiking in the Angeles Forest, I-I don't know our exact location, but I slipped and went into a ravine. My ankle is sprained, and there's no good holds to climb out. My son isn't hurt, but he's above me on the trail and alone with minimal supplies, and he's four,” he says in a rush just in case the call drops. “I'm going to need a helicopter, there's no road access, and they won't be able to land. I'm going to ask my son to take the emergency blanket from my first aid kid out to catch the sun. He's wearing a blue shirt.”
“Alright, Evan, we're going to get you some help. You might need to sit tight for a bit while we dispatch a helicopter to your location. Do you have water?”
Buck looks at the bottle next to his foot and the dinosaur on the side of it. “Uh, yeah. A little. My son has some, too.”
“And you said your ankle is sprained. Did you hit your head or your back at all as you fell?”
“Uh, n-no, I just banged up my abdomen and knees and hands. I have a first aid kit. Just a second.” He lowers his wrist and looks up. “Hey, Theo? Can you go into my backpack and get the first aid kit out?”
Theo disappears from sight for a moment before holding it over the ravine. “Do you want it?”
“Not yet. Can you put it on the ground and open it up? There's a square inside that's as big as a sandwich. I need you open that and take the big thing inside that looks like foil and open it up. Do not let go of that.” He waits for a moment and digs his fingers into the rock. “You got it?”
“It's hard to open!” Theo yells, then a few grunts of frustration. “Oh wait, there's a button.”
Buck smiles and sniffs back a rush of tears. “You got it, buddy, you're doing so good. Is it unfolded?”
There's a lot of rustling and then Theo is poking his head over. “I got it!”
He feels a swell of pride. “Awesome. Can you close the first aid kit and drop it on me? And then don't look over the edge anymore, I don't want you to slip. But you can talk to me, and I'll talk to you. I'm on the phone with 9-1-1, and they're going to send someone to help get me out of here, so we'll get to go home soon.”
“Is Aunt Maddie on the phone?” Theo asks.
“No, Aunt Maddie isn't on the phone.” Buck sighs and lifts his wrist again. “Are you, uh, in main dispatch? My sister's Maddie Han, she’s one of the managers.”
“I'm in a satellite center, but I can see if I can patch through,” the operator says. “You're doing great, Evan.”
Buck laughs and looks up just as Theo dangles the first aid kit over the edge. “Thanks. I'm a firefighter.”
“Yeah? What station?”
“The 118.” He catches the first aid kit and carefully moves so he's sitting instead of kneeling. There's a slope next to him deeper into the ravine, and he's not willing to risk going down that, too.
“I've heard stories about you guys.”
Buck laughs. “Yeah, they're all probably true. What's your name?”
“Naomi.”
“Thank you, Naomi.”
“I'll be right back, Evan. Help is on the way.”
He opens the kit and grabs a rolled wrap, easing his shoe off and wincing at the swelling. “Jesus.” He looks up and sees Theo watching. “Thank you, buddy. This is going to help me a lot. But I really need you to sit next to the backpack. I don't want you to slip.”
“Are you sure you're gonna be okay?” Theo asks.
“I'm so sure,” Buck promises. “Pinky promise.”
“Pinky promise,” Theo repeats, then looks over his shoulder. “Can I sit closer? The backpack’s too far and I can't hear.”
“Okay, a little closer. Just not at the edge.” He starts wrapping his ankle too stabilize it. “I love you, buddy, I'm so proud of you for helping so much, even though it's really scary right now. I'm scared, too, but we'll be okay.”
“Love you, Buck,” Theo says, sounding like he might start crying again. “You're not gonna go with Mom and Dad, right?”
Buck presses his lips together and feels tears burn his eyes. “Nope, that is not happening.”
“Buck?” Maddie says.
“Hey, Maddie,” he says, hooking a clip into the bandage. “So I fell into a ravine. Chasing a water bottle. I'm fine, Theo’s fine, but we're stuck. I asked for a chopper.”
“Yeah, Naomi has one on the way,” Maddie says, sniffling. “God, you can't keep scaring me.”
“They're still a little ways out, they're going to be coming from the southern part of the city,” Naomi cuts in.
Buck fumbles the other clip. “Is it—”
“Yep,” Maddie says.
“Please tell me it's not—”
“Oh, it is.”
Buck rests his back against the ravine. “Motherfucker.”
“You said a bad word! I heard you!” Theo calls, and Buck sighs.
“I know! I'm gonna pop the ice pack, it'll be loud.” He squeezes it quickly and puts it on his ankle. “Naomi, you really couldn't find anyone else?”
“The 217 responded immediately,” she says. “We don't have a lot of available choppers right now.”
“Yeah,” Buck sighs. “Okay, well, it sounds like the person rescuing me today is going to be my ex-boyfriend. Awesome. Can you patch me through to his radio?”
“I can try,” Naomi says. “Firefighter pilot Kinard, do you copy? I'm being asked to patch the caller through.”
“Go for Kinard.”
Buck smiles. “H-hey, Tommy. It's me.”
“Hey, Evan. I heard you might need a ride.”
“Yeah. Uh, I'm not sure where we are, maybe two miles from the trail head. But Theo has an emergency blanket unfolded, so you can see it from the sky.”
“Theo?”
Buck sighs and looks up at the top of the ravine. “Yeah. You remember how I donated sperm to my friends?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Something happened to them, and I'm fostering their son. My son. It's a long story—”
“Usually is with you,” Tommy says, but he sounds like he's smiling. “He's okay?”
“Yeah, he's okay. Scared, but he's handling it really well.” He moves his wrist away a little. “Hey, Theo?”
“Yeah?” Theo yells.
“We're going to go up in a helicopter. When you hear it, I need you to wave the blanket around. And then when you can see it, get under the blanket. It's going to make all the dirt fly around, and I don't want you to hurt your eyes.”
“A helicopter?!” Theo shrieks.
“Yep. What did I say to do when you hear it?”
“Wave the foil!”
“And when you can see it?”
“Get under the foil!”
“Exactly.” Buck brings his wrist back up. “You catch that?”
“Loud and clear,” Tommy says. “Dispatch said you were injured.”
“Sprained my ankle. Which is, uh, maybe a little ironic. Or karmic, I dunno.” He exhales shakily and closes his eyes. “Sorry I didn't text you back.”
“It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay. Relatively speaking.”
“Eh, I've been through worse.”
“Struck by lightning, I heard.”
“Blown up, kidnapped, tortured, the usual.” Buck smiles when Tommy snorts. “Chased by the military.”
“Does that one count? You weren't flying.”
“I mean, I ended up getting shoved into an SUV, too, I think it counts.”
“Guys, you're still on the dispatch line,” Maddie says.
“Hey, Maddie.”
“Hey, Tommy.”
“How's the baby?”
“Baby's good, he just turned one,” she says, sounding a hell of a lot less worried than she had a moment ago. “We call him Nash.”
“How's Jee-Yun liking being a big sister?”
“She's kind of great at it. Loves treating him like a doll. He's going to end up in a lot of tea parties.” She puts her hand over her microphone to say something to someone. “Okay, guys, I need to take over a call. Please let me know when you're safe, okay?”
“I will,” Buck says. “You still there, Naomi?”
“I'm still here,” she says. “I've been muted, but I'm here. You were the firefighter that got struck by lightning?”
“Yeah, I was. Died for just over three minutes. But I'm still here, and now I'm never going to be able to judge anyone I ever have to rescue from falling down into a pit, ravine, canyon, or hole ever again. I knocked my kid’s water bottle over when I was putting our stuff away, went to grab it before it rolled off the edge, turned a little, and the ground just moved under me.” He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “You got non-narcotic pain medication on board?”
“Yeah, of course,” Tommy replies.
“Good. I'm allergic to naproxen—”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“—and I got hooked on Oxy after the Firefighter Games,” he adds with another sigh. “So no narcotics.”
“You have water?”
“Yep.”
“Drink it. We're coming up on the Angeles Forest now. I've got something onboard to help, but you can't be dehydrated or it can compromise your kidneys.”
“Got it,” Buck says, opening the top of the water bottle and drinking. “Theo? How you doing up there?”
“I'm eating more crackers!”
“Drink water, too, please. It's hot.”
He starts gingerly disinfecting his hands and knees with what he has, which isn't much. When he hears the rotors, they're far off, but he lets Tommy know he can hear them. He has to tell them if they're going away or towards them until they're definitely coming over the next ridge.
“I see a very enthusiastic toddler waving around something shiny,” Tommy says. “Handing over controls.”
“Hey, Buck,” Lucy says.
“You heard all that?” Buck asks.
“Figured you two needed a moment. You finally going to ask each other out after this or do I need to listen to him be sad and bitchy for another year and a half? Where are you in relation to the kid?”
“Just over the ridge next to him. There's about a six foot across opening. Grab him first.”
“That's the plan. You're good to lower him,” she says to whomever else is in the chopper with them.
He listens intently until Tommy says, “I got him. Going up.”
Buck lets out a breath he'd been holding and claps his hand over his mouth to muffle the noise that threatens to crawl out of his chest. The fucking relief that Theo is in safe hands and okay and with someone he trusts more than almost anyone.
“Alright, Evan, I'm going to hang up now,” Naomi says. “The other pilot just confirmed that she can see you.”
Buck looks up and sees the nose of the chopper. He waves. “Thanks, Naomi.”
He watches the chopper move over him, and Tommy comes down on a line with another harness. He crouches next to Buck and smiles, his eyes creasing.
“Thank you,” Buck says, hugging him tightly. “Fuck, thank you.”
Tommy helps him into the harness and clips them together. When Buck hugs him tight, the water bottle clutched in his hand, Tommy says to bring them up.
Buck holds onto him tight until they're being pulled into the side of the chopper by a guy he doesn't recognize. And then he's in a jump seat as the door slides shut, and he grabs Theo and hugs him tight, feeling just as desperate to hold him as that day on the bridge.
Tommy holds out a headset, and Buck puts it on, turning it on immediately and curling his hands over his son's face, wiping away the dusty tear tracks.
“You did so good, buddy,” he says, smiling.
Theo starts to nod and then starts to cry, and Buck holds him close and rocks him.
“That was scary, but you did so good. You did everything to help us, and now we're safe,” he says. “I'm okay, see? I got scraped up, but I'll be okay.”
“We still need to take you to the hospital,” Tommy says, on his knee next to the paramedic who's inspecting Buck’s ankle. “Especially if you hit that wall on the way down.”
“I know,” Buck says, shifting Theo in his lap. “You wanna meet my friends? This is Tommy. He flies helicopters, too. And that's Lucy who's flying us right now. And this is—”
“Jesse,” the paramedic offers.
“Our new friend Jesse,” Buck says, and Theo starts looking around curiously. “They're all firefighters just like me, but they get to be in helicopters instead of trucks sometimes. Or planes.”
“Planes are for suckers, real cool pilots fly choppers,” Lucy says over the headset. “How you feeling, little man?”
“I'm okay,” Theo says, sniffling.
“Thought you might be. That was great blanket waving.”
Buck has to strap Theo into his own seat so Jesse can assess him. He checks his kidneys for trauma as best he can before giving him an intramuscular shot of an NSAID. Buck mostly got bruised in the front, and his hands and knees are scraped to hell. He watches Tommy sit with Theo and point to all the stuff in the helicopter and tell him what it all is. They're on a separate channel so Jesse can communicate with Buck without distraction, but Buck can tell Theo’s already shaking off some of the immediate fear from everything. He's got the wide-eyed wonder of being in a helicopter for the first time ever.
When they land on the First Pres helipad, Tommy helps him to a gurney and carries Theo inside, walking alongside Buck with the doctor and nurse.
“Can you call Maddie?” Buck asks. “My phone broke.”
“Yeah,” Tommy says, reaching into the pocket of his flight suit. “Same number?”
“Yeah.”
Tommy hits a button and a moment later says, “Yeah, they're okay. Evan’s about to get examined, I've got Theo. You want to talk to him?”
He hands the phone to Buck. “Hey, I'm okay,” he says. “I'm at First Pres.”
“Of course you are, I'm starting to hate that place,” she says, sighing. “I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? I've already reached out to Parks to let them know we'll get your car in the morning, and I can use Jee-Yun’s booster seat for Theo to get you guys home.”
“Thanks, Maddie.” He reaches up and rubs his knuckles across Theo’s hand, and Theo grabs his fingers tight, looking down at him with big blue eyes. “If you can't leave for a bit, it's okay. They'll need to X-ray me and everything. Tommy's here until they've gotta fly back.”
“Tommy's here a little longer than that, because he's maxed out his flight time for the week and can't legally be in a helicopter for a couple days,” Tommy says. “But I'll Uber back to the station.”
“You sure?”
Tommy nods, smiling a little. “Yeah, I'm sure.”
He gets off the phone with Maddie, handing the phone to Theo so he can say hi and tell her about waving foil around for the helicopter. He lets himself get poked and prodded and realizes he can't wave it all off anymore. If he pushes to leave and something's wrong, he can't do that to Theo.
The X-ray is fast, and then Buck just has to wait in a room with Tommy and Theo. Theo’s curled up against his side on the bed, and Tommy's sitting in the chair helping Buck get a replacement phone while Buck tries to remember the information for his phone insurance.
“He asleep?” Buck asks softly, and Tommy nods. “Long day. Woke him up at six so we could do some stuff before the hike.”
Tommy hums and scoots closer. “He's a sweet kid.”
“Yeah,” Buck agrees, kissing his hair and smiling when there's a wet snuffle against his chest. “I didn't think I could do this, you know. But he just…fits.”
“Yeah.” Tommy reaches over and brushes some hair away from Theo’s cheek before standing. He turns most of the lights off and unfolds the blanket at the foot of the bed, settling it over them. “How you feeling?”
“Sore.” Buck tucks the blanket around Theo’s shoulders. “Actually, I'm in so much pain right now, but I know I can't have anything stronger, so I'm trying to be tough. How am I doing?”
“Believably tough.” Tommy rubs Buck’s shin lightly. “I'll be right back, I'll see what else they can give you.”
“You don't—”
But Tommy steps out and looks around before waving. “Hey, sorry, can he have something for the pain? He can't have narcotics, but is there anything else you can do?”
“Let me ask the doctor,” the nurse replies. “He’ll come by soon.”
Tommy steps back in and slides the door shut, sitting back down and pulling out his phone. “Let's see what we've got for options.”
“You always took really good care of me, you know that?” Buck says, and Tommy snorts softly. “No, really. The shoulder thing, the tonsillitis, my leg acting up. You were always good at it.”
Before Tommy can respond, Buck’s doctor comes in, and Buck lays back while Tommy quietly but firmly argues for a recently approved drug to be given to him. It's not a narcotic, it won't interact with the shot he was given in the chopper, and Buck isn't on any of the medications that can cause an adverse reaction.
“He's in pain, and it's not fair to keep him in pain just because he's in recovery,” Tommy says, glaring up at the doctor in the dim light.
“Let me see what we have on hand,” the doctor finally says.
“Thank you,” Buck replies.
The doctor leaves, and Buck holds out a hand, which Tommy gingerly takes, careful of the bandages.
“You wanna go on a date? I won't look pretty, but we can still go out,” Buck asks, only teasing a little.
Tommy kisses Buck’s knuckles and presses them to his cheek with a smile. “You're still pretty. Saturday?”
Buck nods. “I'll cash in on some free babysitting I'm owed. I'm pretty much covered until he's old enough to be home alone.” He chews his lip for a long moment. “It's not a problem?”
“No, not even a little,” Tommy replies, standing. He braces a hand on the side of the small bed and bends to kiss Buck’s forehead.
Buck tilts his head back and gets a real kiss, too. It's gentle and soft and doesn't last very long, just long enough for him to realize how much he's missed it.
When the doctor comes back with the medicine Tommy had asked for, it helps. It helps more than he would've expected, honestly, and he feels enough relief that he falls asleep for a bit, too.
He wakes up when a hand brushes across his forehead. He opens his eyes and sees his sister. Theo is still a heavy weight against him, and there's something on his leg. He looks down to see Tommy with his head on folded arms, dead asleep.
“Hey,” Buck mumbles.
“Hey,” Maddie says, smiling. “Rough day?”
“Could've been worse,” he says, and she perches on the edge of his bed. “Time ‘s it?”
“Uh, six,” she says, looking at her watch. “I talked to your nurse, and you've got a bad sprain. You'll need crutches, I told her you've got some already. Your ribs are probably bruised, no fractures. And you're being given some fancy new non-narcotic pain medication. It probably won't be covered by your insurance yet, so just be prepared for that.” She nods toward Tommy and raises an eyebrow.
“I know,” Buck says, smiling. “Am I good to go now?”
“In a bit, they need to come in, do the whole discharge spiel.”
Tommy inhales sharply and lifts his head, squinting one open eye at Buck and then Maddie. “‘M up. Time?”
“Six,” Buck and Maddie reply in unison, and he gives a thumbs up before putting his hands in the middle of his back and arching with an old man noise.
Buck is pretty sure he's never letting him go after this. Not if he can help it.
“How you feeling?” Tommy asks, twisting side to side and wincing.
“Better than you, probably, you okay?” Buck asks.
“Yeah, I'm just old.” He yawns and stretches. “Theo still out?”
Buck can feel the drool soaking through the hospital gown. “Oh yeah. He sleeps like a rock once he's out. And he gets sweaty and drools, so I'm so comfortable right now.”
“Want me to take him?” Maddie asks, and Buck shakes his head, shifting Theo a little to take pressure off his side. “That's what I thought.”
The nurse comes in and gives Buck his discharge instructions and double checks the pharmacy for the medication.
“You definitely have crutches?” she checks.
“They're in my car already,” Maddie says. “I made a pitstop.” She holds up a tote bag. “Also new clothes.”
“Bless you,” Buck sighs, taking the bag. “You didn't go into my sock drawer, did you?”
“Yes, but I'm smart and opened it this much,” she says, holding her fingers a couple inches apart. “Because I remember my husband's reaction all too well. Here, I'll take him, you get dressed.”
Buck reluctantly hands Theo over to her, and he flops around comically until she settles him on her hip.
“You need help?” Tommy asks him.
“Yeah, probably,” Buck says, looking to the nurse. “Uh, I'll send him out when I'm ready to go. Can we get a wheelchair?”
“Already waiting in the hall for you,” she says, smiling. “I'll be checking on a couple patients, but wave me down when you see me.”
Maddie follows her out, closing the curtain behind herself. Buck pulls a pair of basketball shorts, some underwear, socks, a t-shirt, and a hoodie out of the bag.
“Fuck, I left my other shoe in the ravine,” he realizes. “I got the stupid water bottle, but I left my shoe. And the backpack.”
“Backpack is on the chopper, I forgot to grab it, I can't help you with the shoe,” Tommy says. “And I'm not getting it for you.”
Buck huffs out a laugh and swings his legs over the side of the bed. He takes the gown off, and Tommy drops it in the linen bin. He crouches and helps get Buck’s underwear over his feet and over the bandages on his knees. Buck takes care of them the rest of the way.
“Gotta say, I'm having a Pavlovian issue right now,” he admits softly, flushing and doing his best so he doesn't start popping a boner in the ER just because Tommy's on his knees in front of him.
“Down, boy,” Tommy murmurs, smiling. It doesn't help.
The shorts are next, and then Tommy is getting a sock on his mostly uninjured foot. He takes the boot off of Buck’s bad foot and eases the sock on, stabilizing his foot against his shoulder the whole time. Then he puts the boot back on.
Getting the shirt on isn't great, but it's easier than when he dislocated his shoulder. Buck is able to do it himself, and he pulls the hoodie on after.
“How do I look?” he teases, looking up at Tommy once he stands.
“Still pretty,” Tommy says, bending to kiss him.
Buck inhales sharply through his nose and kisses back, wrapping an arm around him and ready to curl a leg around him for good measure. But then Tommy wisely breaks the kiss and straightens up, opening the curtain. He takes Theo from Maddie, who shakes her arms out with a grateful smile, and she looks around before waving to what Buck assumes is his nurse.
Tommy rubs Theo’s back and murmurs something as Theo starts to move, and he turns them around so they're both facing Buck.
And Tommy holding his son, that looks right.
“See? He's okay,” Tommy says, depositing Theo back into Buck’s arms.
“How you feeling?” Buck asks, rubbing Theo's back.
“Hungry,” Theo says, pressing his face into Buck’s neck and shoulder. “You're not hurt?”
“Oh, I'm definitely hurt. But I'm not hurt bad. We get to go home, and then you get to watch me use crutches for a while.” He kisses Theo’s hair and rocks him gently. “You did so good today. I know I keep saying it, but you did.”
“So did you. Except when you fell,” Theo says, and Buck grins.
“Yeah, that was not good. But, hey, you got to ride in a helicopter. And you met nice people.”
He has to set Theo down so he can shift to the wheelchair, and Theo takes Maddie's hand and then holds the other one out to Tommy.
“Oh,” Tommy says, taking it. “Thank you. Uh, can I—”
“Get a ride? Yeah,” Maddie says, smiling. “Where you headed?”
“Home. I can get my truck tomorrow.”
“He lives near me,” Buck says.
“I do?” Tommy asks.
“Mhm. Like fifteen minutes.”
They pile into Maddie's car, and she takes care of securing Theo in the car seat. Buck sits next to him in the back and watches him look out the window.
“We can stop for food,” Maddie says, and Buck nods. “What sounds good?”
“Ice cream!” Theo declares.
“For dinner?” Buck asks incredulously. “Bud, we've got ice cream at home. But you can get nuggets for dinner.”
“But Aunt Maddie asked what sounds good,” he points out.
Buck gives his sister a pointed look in the rearview mirror. “That's right, she did.”
“Wanna split a shake with me?” Tommy asks, looking over his shoulder at Theo. “It’s ice cream you can drink.”
“Okay,” Theo agrees, kicking his feet in the car seat.
—
Full of fast food and exhausted, Buck hobbles up to his front door.
And realizes his keys are in his backpack.
“Maddie, I need your key,” he groans.
“Got it,” she says, taking it off the ring and handing it over.
“Which means my car keys are at Harbor, and my car is at the parking lot,” he says, sighing and unlocking his door.
“Well, I can get my truck in the morning, get your backpack, and drive you to your car,” Tommy says, carrying in a once again sleeping Theo. He'd fallen asleep with half a nugget hanging out of his mouth while they were waiting for Maddie outside the pharmacy.
“Can you see if Chimney can take Theo tomorrow while I do that?” Buck asks Maddie.
“I'm sure he will be more than happy to get some Uncle Chimmy time,” she says, walking ahead to switch on the light in the hallway and open Theo’s bedroom door. “Over here, Tommy.”
Buck watches from the doorway as she gets Theo’s sneakers off and wrestles his unconscious body into pajamas. She doesn't struggle with it the way he has the couple times he's had to do it. Then again, she's done this before a whole lot more than he has. By the time she tucks him in and kisses his forehead, Buck knows he's smiling.
“Thanks,” he says softly as she walks past him.
He carefully bears his weight onto the bed and balances himself so he doesn't fall when he bends to kiss Theo’s forehead. And then his cheek for good measure.
“Love you, kid,” he says, smoothing his hair off his forehead. They need to revisit the haircut talk. “See you in the morning.”
He straightens back up, grabs his crutches from where they're leaning against the wall, and goes back out to his living room.
“Alright, I'm good from here,” he says. “Thank you again. Both of you. Mostly Tommy.”
“Yeah, fair,” Maddie says, squeezing his shoulder before hugging him carefully. “I'm working tomorrow, but call me if you need anything. Or Chimney.”
“I, uh, can't,” he reminds her. “I won't get my new phone until tomorrow or the day after.”
“Use your tablet, dork,” she says. “Or your watch. You can do it, you have the technology.”
“You're spending way too much time with Chimney,” Buck complains as she goes out front.
Leaving him with Tommy.
“Sure you're okay?” Tommy asks. “I can help get you set up before I leave. Or crash on your couch.”
“As nice as it would be to have you over, I promise I'm okay,” Buck says, smiling. “It's just a sprain. Trust me, you have done more than enough to help. You airlifted me out of a ravine, and you kept my kid from running around an ER unattended while they X-rayed me.”
“Well, he mostly just wanted to unplug everything he saw, so it would've been fine,” Tommy says, grinning. “He's a good kid.”
“Yeah, he is.” Buck shifts on his crutches a little to put more weight on his hands instead of his armpits. “I'm really glad you guys took the call.”
Tommy looks a little…shifty. “Uh, yeah. I should probably confess before Lucy tells you: we were supposed to leave. Like, go home. And I heard the call go out, and she mentioned it was another firefighter and I just had this feeling. I asked what the name was, and she said yours. I, uh, owe Lucy ‘a Flintstones level rack of ribs.’ Jesse was already on shift.”
Buck remembers that fluttering feeling in the chopper when Tommy had admitted he'd also stolen it for him, not just Chimney. This is about at that level. “Oh,” he says softly.
“I just really wanted to see you again.”
“I always want to see you,” Buck confesses. “B-but I've been kind of a mess? Barely holding it together sometimes. I was feeling okay for a bit, then everything in New Mexico happened. Now it's, I don't know, leveling back out? It sort of has to because of Theo. I can't lose him again. If they find a next of kin, I can probably still see him. But if they just take him, I—” He squeezes the handles on the crutches and shakes his head. “He's the most important thing in the world.”
“Well, yeah, he's your kid,” Tommy says, and Buck nods. “And for the record: I don't want to just be here when things are going okay. Clearly.”
Buck imagines going through everything he's gone through in the last year with constant support, a partner. And he feels stupid for never texting Tommy back to take his tentative offer of friendship. It had felt like an extra complication, because Buck couldn't just be friends with him. But maybe Tommy had known that, had felt the same way.
“Fuck,” he sighs, sagging against the crutches a little. “I should've texted you back.”
“I probably should've been a little more persistent. I've kind of got a hangup about that. I am, uh, working on it in therapy,” he admits with a soft laugh. “Fear of rejection or not being wanted or enough informing my relationships.”
Buck perks up a little. “Oh, hey, I've got that, too! But being too much to handle.”
“Looks like we match,” Tommy says, stepping closer to him. “I'll ask if Chimney can come by nine, I'll be here then, too, with my truck and your backpack, we'll get your car, and we'll figure out plans for Saturday.”
“Okay.”
He gets another kiss, and then Tommy leaves.
Buck stops at Theo’s doorway to check on him. He's got more of his face pressed into his pillow than Buck can understand, because how does he breathe? But he's breathing deep and even. He's safe. He made it through what could've been a terrible day, and he hopes this doesn't make him scared. He already doesn't love being in the car, he hates bridges and overpasses.
He closes the door and goes to his room, getting the shower chair out of the closet. He feels gross, like he's caked in sweat and dirt. He kind of is.
Buck carefully takes the boot off and then his clothes before he sits under the spray. When he tips his head back, he lets the water warm him up and wash away all of the bad parts of the day until all that's left is Theo looking around the helicopter with wide-eyed wonder while Tommy smiles next to him.
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