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It had started as a good day. Buck and Eddie had driven in together after dropping Christopher off at school, and they’d even had time for Buck to make pancakes.
So yeah, it was a good day.
As they reached the top of the stairs, Buck gave Eddie a gentle peck on the lips before joining Bobby in the kitchen.
“You guys, come, you didn’t even make it five minutes!” Chim complained loudly. He’d been doing so at every and any form of PDA since Buck and Eddie had officialized their relation.
“That’s still a new record for them,” Hen snickered, smirking at Eddie, who just rolled his eyes, ignoring their banter.
“I still don’t want to see them kiss,” Chim whined, dropping on the couch. “They’re like little brothers.”
Buck made a face at him from where he was cutting vegetables. “Strange thing to say when your girlfriend is my actual sister, and you don’t hear me complain about it.”
“How about we just put that conversation on the ice for now,” Bobby interjected. “Let’s not start that argument this early in the morning. Also, boys, we talked about this.”
Eddie felt his face heating up. “Sorry cap.”
“Can I help… woah, hey!” The scream from downstairs followed by a loud bang caught their attention. A gunshot.
Bobby quickly grabbed his radio. “Mayday, shots fired at 118 firehouse. Please send help.”
Someone was coming up the stairs, slow and steady.
“If you could put down the radio, Captain Nash, that would be much appreciated.” They all recognized him, of course, even if, last time they saw him, it was under the blinding lights of their engine.
Jeffery Hudson smiled coldly at them, gun at the ready. “Now, I want all of you sitting close to the wall there. And put these on,” he added, throwing zip ties in their direction.
They all obliged, following Bobby’s lead. Once they were all sitting, they pretty much just glared at Jeffery, not antagonizing him.
“My guy down there, the one you shot. Can I send someone to help him?,” Bobby asked calmly.
Jeffery scoffed. “I don’t think you can help a dead body.”
That sent a chill down their spines. If he’d shot someone, if he wasn’t afraid of killing people, then their chances of survival were slim.
“Alright, then what do you want with us?”
Eddie really admired the way Bobby was able to stay this calm under pressure. He’d been taught how to do it, of course, but lately, loads of therapy had made it difficult for him to hide his feelings.
Especially when someone was waving a gun way too close to Buck for his liking.
“I thought I’d surprise that dear Athena. I was gonna send an invitation, but… I might need a bait.”
They all shuddered, Eddie pressing himself a little bit more into Buck, hiding him as much as he could.
“I looked into all of you, you know? I really wanted to find the one person who would get her attention. I had a few options. Like you, captain.”
Bobby’s face didn’t indicate any discomfort. He just kept staring at Jeffery, collected.
“But,” Jeffery turned around, acting as if he was thinking. “You helped her. You helped her track me like an animal. So I felt like I needed to punish you in the same way. But him…”
And oh, did Eddie’s heart drop in his chest. Surely couldn’t Jeffery be planning what he thought he was planning. Surely he wasn’t pointing his gun straight at Buck. Surely that wasn’t his target the entire time.
“No.” Bobby got up suddenly, pulling Jeffery’s attention from them. There were cracks in his façade. Buck always had that effect on him, the capacity of pulling him out of focus. “Whatever you want to do, you have me. Don’t you dare touch my team.”
Jeffery laughed, walking towards Bobby. “Unfortunately for you, you don’t make the rules right at this moment.”
Several shouts erupted when he pistol whipped him, sending their captain tumbling to the ground.
Visibly, Jeffery was done losing time. He stepped over where Hen was kneeling over an unconscious Bobby, pulling him away from danger.
Eddie saw Chim getting kicked when he tried to step in. It only hardened his resolve to stop Jeffery from reaching Buck. That man would not touch his boyfriend. He pushed Buck back, kicking at Jeffery’s legs. Fun observation, he didn’t need his hands to fight. And he certainly didn’t care if he got hurt. All that mattered was keeping Buck safe from that psychopath.
Until Jeffery lost patience and pointed the gun right at Eddie’s head.
“Stop!” Buck got up, stepping over Eddie. “I’ll come with you! Please, don’t hurt them!”
Eddie tried to grab Buck, but this stubborn, self-sacrificing idiot just swatted at him. “Buck, shut up!”
Jeffery grabbed his arm, roughly pulling him forward. Eddie’s blood boiled at the act, especially with the way he was talking in his ear. “That’s right, you belong to me.”
He couldn’t stay static. He couldn’t not act. If that man didn’t let go of Buck right that instant…
He got up, trying to get between his boyfriend and his attacker, who was pulling him forcefully towards the stairs. As they reached the top, Jeffery got a glint in his eye, one that scared Eddie more than he’d ever been scared before.
“Well,” he drawled. “I guess we need to make sure no one follows us.”
With that, he pushed Buck down the stairs, the younger man tumbling without his hands to catch himself. Eddie rushed forward, but Jeffery raised the gun and fired.
At first, Eddie thought he’d missed, until a sharp pain in his leg made him trip and crash.
“Eddie!” Hen rushed to his side, but he only had eyes for the empty space that Buck used to occupy. Chimney ran downstairs, seemingly uncaring of the gun that Jeffery still had.
“No!” Chimney screaming, a car rushing away, someone screaming to call the police and Eddie’s heart shattered in his chest.
Buck was gone.
***
Getting the call about an incident at firehouse 118 freaked Athena out.
Arriving on the scene, seeing Eddie covered in blood, Bobby with a lump on his forehead, and Buck nowhere to be found, it shattered her.
Learning that Jeffery Hudson was behind it filled her with rage. Especially if he’d done it to lure her out. Fortunately, Chimney had managed to memorize the license plate, and a patrol unit had spotted the car.
Athena was currently in pursuit, trying not to let the chase drag on too long. If Buck was in the trunk, as Chimney had seen, things could end very badly.
"Athena, it looks like he's heading for the freeway. If you take La Brea, you could catch him on Adams."
Of course, it was Maddie who had taken the call. Her voice trembled slightly over the radio.
"Copy. I'll get him back, Maddie."
Maddie didn't answer.
She hated having to lose sight of the car, even if there were other cars involved in the pursuit. She had to get him back. She and Buck might have started off on the wrong foot, but he’d definitely grown on her. That, and his special relationship with Bobby… he was like a son to her. The feeling of racing against time to get him back from Jeffery felt almost exactly like when it had happened with Harry.
Maddie had been right, as it turned out. She managed to block Jeffery’s way, the other police cars behind him.
He got out, trying to reach the trunk. “Don’t even think about it!”
He turned to Athena who stood, gun at the ready.
He seemed to be thinking it over… “This will not end well for you. Surrender, now!”
Her entire body was tense, staying that way until, finally, he dropped his gun and put his hands in the air.
Athena didn’t care what happened to him. She saw officers arrest him, but it didn’t matter who. She just followed her urge and ran to the trunk, popping it open.
***
From the moment he saw a gun aimed at Eddie’s forehead, Buck had stopped thinking about his own safety. Even when Jeffery pushed him down the stairs, even when he landed hard, all he could hear was the gunshot and Hen screaming Eddie’s name. He stopped breathing right then. He remained in a near-catatonic state, barely conscious, as Jeffery grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the station. He struggled when Jeffery grabbed his hair, yanking his head up and forcing him to his feet. Chim was running in their direction. People were walking on the sidewalk across the street, and no one else could get hurt. Not after Bobby and Eddie. Oh, God. Eddie.
He shouted at the passersby to run, to get away. In response, Jeffery tightened his grip on his hair and slammed his head down against the open trunk.
He would have collapsed if not for the grip on his hair. He was barely conscious as he was shoved into the trunk, as a cloth was forced into his mouth, and as the trunk slammed shut.
His thoughts were running in circles, focused on Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.
It couldn't be... and yet, he knew what Jeffery was capable of. He had seen Chloe’s body by the door. He could still see her lifeless eyes, frozen in an expression of surprise.
Eddie’s face replaced Chloe’s, and Buck sobbed as he pictured those blank, empty eyes, the hole in his forehead...
He gagged on the rag in his mouth, but did nothing to dislodge it. If Eddie was gone...
His head was throbbing, his whole body ached, and he was being tossed about in the cramped space.
He heard sirens in the distance, praying they were heading toward the 118. They needed to go help his team. They had to...
He was suddenly blinded by a flood of light. Someone was leaning over him, but he didn't want to know who. It was probably Jeffery, getting ready to kill him. Or to do God knows what to him just to lure Athena in.
Hands on his face, gentle and tender, pulled him from his daze.
"Buck? You with me, baby?" Athena. She had found him. She had come for him, not his team. Why hadn’t she gone for his team?
She gently removed the rag from his mouth and untied his hands, pulling him out of the trunk and into her arms.
"Come on. There are people who want to see you."
He was placed on a stretcher, and the insultingly blue sky gave way to the ceiling of an ambulance. He knew Athena was there. He could feel her hand in his, but he couldn't hear what she was saying.
He had no sense of the passing time; he only realized it when the scenery shifted again to a hospital ceiling.
He wanted Eddie. He could almost hear him...
"Buck!" Oh, no wait, he could hear him. That was a change from his own thoughts, for once.
"Buck!" It sounded almost real. This version of Eddie sounded desperate, as if he truly wanted Buck to notice him. But Buck couldn't. He couldn't look only to find him missing; he couldn't survive that.
"Buck, answer me!"
"Mr. Diaz, you shouldn't be walking..."
"Let me go! Buck! Buck!"
It sounded... He turned his head and locked eyes with his boyfriend's wild, frantic gaze; Eddie was fighting off nurses to get closer to him.
"Eds?"
Tears were streaming down Eddie's cheeks, Eddie clearly not dead. "Eddie!"
He bolted upright, straining against the paramedics trying to keep him on the gurney. "Buckley, wait..."
He shoved their hands away, tearing himself free and lunging forward just as Eddie broke loose.
They ran, crashing into each other in the middle and landing clumsily on the floor, clinging tightly to one another.
He held Eddie close, burying his face in his neck, breathing in his scent, listening to his heartbeat…
"I thought... I thought..."
Eddie was weeping, his face buried in Buck's curls.
"Me too. Me too, but it's okay. It's okay. You're okay." Buck pulled away, just long enough to see those eyes full of life, then grabbed his head and pulled him into a kiss.
It was desperate - a testament to the stress they had endured, and an affirmation. They had survived.