#I think i like Polyfire as their throttle name

[princessfbi]

#3 please!

Everything hurt. Three broken ribs. One busted up shoulder. A body covered in bruises and lacerations that burned every time he stretched wrong which seemed to be every direction possible. Even his ankles hurt.

But nothing was as bad as the bruising where his harness had caught him. The deep black and purple bruises had wrapped around his hips and across his thighs. The straps under his butt had been the worst of it, making it almost impossible to sit without the ache turning into a deep throb that rocked him to his core.

Better that than at the bottom of a ravine, broken and gone, but still. Everything hurt and Eddie's pride most of all. He just wanted to go and lick his wounds until he could put it all away and be fine.

Too bad he had two very large worry warts that hadn't left his side since he'd walked out of the emergency room.

"Hey," Tommy said, his hands a hovering line of heat along his sides. "Just easy does it."

"I'm fine." Eddie bit out, trying to muscle back the prickling sting behind his eyes.

"So you keep saying," Buck said in front of him. He held out his hands and despite everything in Eddie wanting to prove to them that he could walk on his own, he couldn't help but settle his palms against Buck's. His hands were sore too, scrapped raw and bruised, but there wasn't much Eddie could deny Buck when he asked.

Buck rewarded him with a smile that made Eddie's heart skip three beats. He still couldn't believe he got to see that smile aimed at him.

Eddie clenched his jaw as he took one step then another before his toe caught on a crack in the pavement and he jolted forward. The pain lanced up through him white hot and nearly unbearable. He grunted as he tipped in the wrong direction and braced himself for impact. But Tommy's hands settled on his sides and caught him. He didn't squeeze but it was almost too much anyway.

Buck and Tommy's gentleness was almost too much.

The burn behind his eyes overtook him, lodging a knot in his throat, and Eddie couldn't tell which direction he was free falling again.

That's what it had been. A free fall that almost ended everything. Eddie hadn't hit the ground. His harness had caught him and the rope had swung him like a pendulum, twisting his world upside down. But he was alive! So why did it feel like he was waiting for impact still?

The warm, solid chest at his back was soft and steady as Tommy's scent cascaded around him, bringing him back down to earth.

"Hey," Buck said as he closed the distance at the front, sandwiching Eddie between them. He cupped Eddie's face with his hands as Tommy ducked down and kissed his temple and for once the touches didn't hurt. They were soft and gentle and somehow that was the thing that almost broke him.

"We got you," Tommy said and Buck stroked his cheek until Eddie opened his eyes.

"We got you." Buck repeated.

And Eddie sagged against them and let them catch him.