#and like. other than by maddie the only time anybody calls buck evan is when they’re pissed at him (chim for example)

[bookinit02]

i know there have been a million posts about this but i am thinking very very hard about the fact that tommy only calls buck “evan”

[bright-molina]

Emergency Contact

synopsis: Sometimes it takes an accident and the revelation that Buck is Luke's emergency contact to really bring the Buckley-Mercer (et al) Family to the same page.

fandoms: Julie and the Phantoms x 911

relationships/characters: Buckley!reader (gender neutral), Alex Mercer, Evan Buckley, Luke Patterson, Athena Grant, Maddie Buckley (all relationships are familial/platonic)

word count: 2503

warnings: mentions of minor injuries (and I mean minor, sprained ankle, minor concussion is all)

a/n: @biqherosix surprise! Catch me pushing the Buckley-Mercer family agenda cause I can. For anyone wondering, we're running with the idea that they're cousins. I honestly have no idea where this came from, I wrote it at like midnight yesterday. And it only figures that the first thing I post in forever is a crossover that is mostly self-indulgent but I promise I'm trying to get the hang of things again.

For those of y'all that haven't seen 911 but still wanna read: one, I appreciate you so much oh my gosh, two, I highly recommend it and three, all you really need to know for this one is that Buck is a firefighter with the 118, Athena Grant is a police officer, and Maddie is Buck's older sister and a 911 dispatcher. If I missed anything and you wanna know feel more than free to ask!

The absolute last thing you expected was your phone ringing well past midnight.

“Don’t answer it.”

Alex’s voice sounded from beside you, muffled by the pile of blankets he was buried under. You rolled your eyes and reached for your phone only to have him snatch it out of your grip and stuff it under the blankets alongside him.

“Give it back!”

“No,” Alex crossed his arms tighter, ignoring the second ring completely. “It’s probably Buck checking to see if we’ve gone to sleep yet, if you answer he’ll know we’re still up.”

“Like Buck would voluntarily be up right now. He’s fifteen hours into a twenty four hour shift,” You leaned back against the couch, knowing there was no tearing the phone away from Alex. “Will you at least check who it is to make sure it’s not Maddie?”

Alex groaned, loud and exaggerated, before sticking his head underneath his blankets to check your phone. You were just barely able to hear his panicked ‘uh oh’ before he put on his best fake tired voice and answered, “Hello?”

“Alexander Mercer, what are you doing awake at this hour?”

“I wasn’t awake.”

“Sure you weren’t. Give the phone to y/n.”

He was handing you the phone in a flash and you could see his wide eyes in the dim blue light coming from the living room tv. “It’s Athena.”

“Thanks, I heard. And I told you so,” You smacked him with your pillow when he stuck his tongue out and he quickly ducked back under the blankets. Whether he was hiding from you or Athena was up for debate. “Hi Athena.”

“Y/N,” Uh oh was right. You recognized the tone in her voice immediately. Exasperated and tired with a little bit of worry laced through. “You wouldn’t be able to get ahold of Buck would you?”

“I could,” You sat up straighter and Alex peeked out from under the blankets again, craning his neck to listen in on the conversation. “Is something wrong? Can’t you call Captain Nash?”

“I could,” Athena echoed your words back to you and you heard muffled shouting in the back. “But Captain Nash isn’t Luke’s emergency contact.”

“His what!”

“It’s not a big deal!” Luke’s voice. It was him who had been shouting. “I’m fine!”

“The cast you’re wearing says different,” There was a click on the other end of the line and Alex tripped over the discarded blankets and pillows as he rushed to look for the car keys. “We couldn’t reach him and Maddie was his second emergency contact but May said she went home early today.”

“Yeah, uh, she -” You put on your shoes as fast as possible and reached for the nearest sweater, one you were sure wasn’t yours. “Jee’s teething so she - she’s probably busy with her. What happened? Luke -”

“Is fine. You just focus on getting to the station and bringing Buck to Med cause he’s gotta fill out some papers. I’ll stay here with him until you do.”

“Okay. Okay we’ll be there soon.”

“Y/N put me on speaker,” Athena must’ve been able to hear the panic in your voice. She knew both you and Alex well enough to know every emotion that was running through you both at that moment. “I want both of you to listen to me. Luke is okay. A little scratched up. Maybe a bruised ego. But he’s just fine, I promise you.”

If there was anybody you trusted it was Athena Grant. So you and Alex shared a look, thanked her, and sprinted out of the apartment wondering what on earth Luke had gotten himself into.

“What do you mean you don’t know!”

“Athena didn’t tell us anything!” You shouted right back at Buck despite knowing it probably wasn’t the best idea given the time or the circumstances. Alex was a few feet away, talking quietly to Chimney to have him relay a message to Maddie. She’d be less angry if the news came from him.

“I thought he went back home,” Buck shook his head before jogging down the stairs and you followed him. He all but charged to the locker room and started shoving all his things in the duffel he always carted with him from the apartment to the station and back. “I thought he was okay.”

It wasn’t until then, until you caught a glimpse of his reflection in the little mirror in his locker surrounded by pictures, that you realized something. Evan Buckley, the firefighter, your brother who always seemed so fearless, was scared.

Buck’s mind was racing at a million miles an hour. He kept going through every piece of information he could from the last two days. Luke had promised him. Sworn he was going back home to his parents. He should’ve known better. They were too much alike and he should’ve known better.

He supposed the worrying came with the territory. The anxiety and panic and not knowing were all things he didn’t like but things he would bear if it meant making sure one of his own was okay.

He had always been protective. You were the youngest Buckley and he took it upon himself to make sure you had a better life than him and Maddie had had. Alex was family and he didn’t hesitate to give him a home when he needed one, metaphorically and literally.

And somewhere along the way the Buckley-Mercer family had grown without him realizing it. Alex had brought his band, his friends, over for dinner once and from that moment on they became a fixture in his life.

Bobby, who was surprised the first time Maddie grinned and hugged him, telling him how proud she was of him. Reggie, who was the first to accept a place in their makeshift home, needing the support and love they offered more than anything. And Luke, who was stubborn and wore his heart on his sleeve and fit right in with them.

And Buck couldn’t believe he had let them down. He couldn’t believe that he tried so hard to let Luke know he was there for him and he had failed. If he had just paid a little more attention then -

“I know what you’re thinking,” Your voice cut off his thoughts and he paused for a moment before continuing.

“No you don’t.”

“You’re blaming yourself. It’s what you always do,” You watched as he pocketed his phone and zipped up the bag. “It’s what you did when I thought I could jump off the swing and ended up with a broken arm even though you couldn’t have stopped me. It’s what you did when Alex had that really bad allergic reaction even though none of us knew he was allergic in the place. It’s what you’re doing now.”

Buck slammed the locker shut without meaning to and silently wondered how you seemed to know everything about him when he seemed to know nothing about any of you, not really. He wasn’t like you or Maddie or Alex and that had never been more clear.

“I’m not blaming myself. I just -” He sighed and walked out of the locker room, past you and Alex, and around to the drivers side of the car. He didn’t get in yet. Instead he glanced between the two of you. “I’m not Maddie. I don’t know how to tell what you guys are thinking. I don’t know how to do the things she does. I can’t help how she does. But - but maybe if I could then -”

“You’re right,” You cut him off, already knowing where he was going. “You’re not Maddie. But we don’t need another Maddie, we need Buck.”

“Y/N’s right,” Alex leaned against the top of the car and gave an easy shrug. “Maddie does family dinners every week and helps us with homework and keeps superhero bandaids around for when Reg and Bobby come back from the skate park with scrapes all over them. But you host game nights and come to every one of our practices when you’re not here and tell really bad jokes when you know we need to hear them.”

“They aren’t bad -”

“Yeah they are,” Both you and Alex answered in sync, successfully pulling the faintest laugh from Buck.

“You’re Buck,” You repeated and finally opened the door of the car. “And when Luke left home he came to you. Athena said you’re his emergency contact because he trusts you more than anyone else. We all do.”

It took less than a couple seconds for Buck to nod and get in the car, the two of you following his lead. Moments later he was speeding away from the 118 and in the direction of the hospital, determined to be where he was needed.

“You’re an idiot, Luke Patterson.”

“Wow thanks,” Luke rolled his eyes from where he sat on the couch, an action that earned him a scolding from you, and kept picking at the fabric of the pillow he was holding to him.

It was nearing mid morning and you had all gotten back to Buck’s apartment only a short while ago. The combined insistence and intimidation coming from both Buck and Athena meant the doctors had no choice but to run as many tests as necessary until they were positive Luke was fine.

Your eyes scanned his face again, a habit you’d picked up from Maddie, in an attempt to assess the damage once more to be sure nothing had gone wrong in the last ten minutes.

A butterfly bandage on his forehead above his left eye. Some scrapes on his arms from the fall. The brace around his right ankle propped up on the coffee table and some pillows. A tear in his favorite flannel that you were already patching up.

“What were you thinking?” You sighed and dropped your hands, turning in your spot beside him to look at him and read all the expressions flashing across his face. “You got hit by a car, Luke.”

“I did not!” He flinched when Alex, fast asleep across the other couch, shifted a little at the noise. Buck did the same thing upstairs in the loft, though he recognized the sound of talking and opted to listen in. “I swerved out of the way. The bike lost control and I hit the pavement but I’m fine.”

“The mild concussion and sprained ankle beg to differ,” You stared again. Luke refused to meet your eyes, refused to look anywhere around the apartment that wasn’t the pillow on his lap. He’d been doing the same thing since Buck had nearly busted down the door of the room he’d been sitting in at the hospital. “What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Luke finally sighed, knowing you wouldn’t let it go any time soon. “I just - I did go home. At first. And i-it was okay until my mom started doing that -that thing she does. The voice, talking down, asking when I was gonna start getting serious, telling me I should do better. I tried but she wouldn’t stop saying all of it so I -” His shoulders sank and his head hung low and you moved closer. “I left.”

“So why didn’t you come back here?” You reached out, hand on his arm in an attempt to get him to hear you. To listen to you. To talk to you. “What made you think you couldn’t?”

It took a few moments but when Luke finally looked up his eyes were watering and he looked unsure. He looked scared and he was never scared. “I didn’t want to disappoint anyone else.”

“I don’t know if you know this,” You gave a sigh and leaned against the back of the couch on one arm. “But we are, historically, a pretty messed up family.”

You successfully pulled a laugh from Luke and a muffled ‘shut up’ from Alex only made the two of you laugh more. But when the laughter faded away you were left with the ghost of those doubts. Present and needing closure. To be acknowledged and reassured.

“There is nothing you could do that would disappoint Maddie and Buck, believe me,” You gave him a faint, sad smile and for a second he wondered what memories were the source of it. “And you never have to be scared. We’re your family and we’re here for you. Me and Alex and Buck and Maddie. Athena who stayed with you until we got there and after. Chimney who’s breaking the news to Maddie to save us all. Albert. May. Bobby. Reggie. You have all of us. I hate to break it to you but you’re a part of our weird little family and we aren’t going anywhere any time soon. So please, please never feel like you have to hide from us. You’re home here, Luke.”

And he believed every word. For a moment he wondered why he ever doubted it in the first place. It was evident in the way he had a designated spot at the dining table at Maddie’s place. In the way his clothes took up a good amount of space in one of the dressers upstairs. In the pair of house keys that hung on a chain around his neck. Reggie and Bobby were also given a pair long ago.

“Does one of you want to explain to me what the hell happened!” The sound of the door being thrown open startled all of you. Alex sat up quickly and Buck came barreling down the stairs to meet Maddie at the door.

Bobby and Reggie came in after her, holding piles of various items she’d insisted on bringing with. They were followed moments later by Albert carrying bags filled with takeout and then Chimney with Jee-Yun in her car seat.

It was dead silent for a moment as Maddie looked between her siblings, her cousin, and the boy she considered one of her own. They were all her family and that was that.

Finally the silence was broken by Luke leaning over in your direction and quietly asking, “Hey, does home have a place I can hide from Maddie until she’s less mad?”

“Oh, Luke,” You offered him a smile he recognized as a slightly sympathetic yet playful one. “There is nowhere you can hide where Maddie’s anger, love, and aggressive post-injury nurturing won’t reach. Good luck.”

She sat in your spot the moment you stood up and was immediately making sure Luke was okay. Her eyes scanned each injury just as yours had and when she finally let him take a breath he looked around.

All of this, the chaos that was unpacking the various takeout boxes. Setting up a little station on the kitchen island with various medical supplies. Chasing Jee-Yun around as she crawled and wobbled all around the place. Music playing softly in the background as everyone smiled and talked and felt relieved that he was okay.

This was home. Luke was sure of it.

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[hmslusitania]

Prompt: AU to 2.01. during the workout scene Eddie brings up Abby and Buck feels hurt and betrayed that Chim would share his private life with basically a stranger. When Chim says Eddie’s cool Buck says he can be wary of the new guy who gets so comfortable right off the bat when Buck himself got hazed like crazy as a probie. When Chim says Abby’s not a big deal Buck turns to Eddie and asks if he found his abandonment amusing. Eddie feels horrible and Chim finally understands his screw up. Buddie

Hi Anon! I’m not 100% sure this will satisfy your prompt, for which I apologise. That said, in a longer fic I’m currently working on, this scene gets examined hardcore from both Buck and Eddie’s POV and I hope to post that fic soon, so if this does not quite do it, hopefully that will. All that said, I do hope you enjoy this:

--

The kid is like a brother to him, but good god. It’s only Eddie’s second shift and they haven’t even all clocked in yet, and Buck is already being a dick. Chimney sighs – on the inside – and keeps buttoning his shirt while Buck slams locker doors and Eddie just tries to change.

When Buck finally stomps out of the locker room, Eddie takes a second and then turns to Chim.

“So, is it just me, or…”

“Try not to take it personally,” Chim recommends. He likes Eddie, has liked him since they met. It’s nice to have another medic on the shift, even if Eddie isn’t certified as a paramedic like him and Hen. Bobby’s and Buck’s EMT certification is great and useful but sometimes that little bit of extra medical knowledge comes in handy.

“So he’s just a dick to everyone?” Eddie asks.

Chim sighs. “Nah,” he says. “He’s just – look, the kid’s got a heart of gold, he really does, and most of the time he’s the sweetest guy you’ll meet, like a giant 6’2 golden retriever, but his first serious girlfriend just dumped him and then ghosted him, and he’s been a bit…in a bad mood.”

Although, now that he thinks about it, Buck’s straight up denial about Abby having dumped him has kept his mood afloat well enough. Up until Eddie showed up at the 118. But Chimney can’t fathom how the two would be related.

Eddie nods like that makes sense and they continue getting ready for their shift.

Chimney does his best to stay out of Buck’s way for most of the morning. It’s only by coincidence he finds himself in the gym at the same time as Buck and Eddie. Buck, clearly trying to comfort himself with the hot firefighter calendar, starts taking selfies over by the bench press.

Chimney does not know why Eddie decides to start something.

“You’re in the wrong light, man,” Eddie says. Chim frowns. Light? For a selfie?

“Some of us don’t need lighting to look good,” Buck shoots back.

Chim glances at Buck, but he’s distracted by himself.

“Hey, Eddie? What did you mean by the wrong light?” Chim asks.

Eddie explains about warm side lighting as opposed to flat blue light, and shows off the pictures his niece had taken for him. Chimney doubts that most of the effect is just because of lighting. As he’d pointed out on Eddie’s first shift, that is a beautiful man.

Still, having well done photos can’t hurt.

“You think she’d be willing to take my pictures for me? I’m told I photograph like an Asian Fabio,” Chim says, which gets him a laugh from Eddie.

“Sure she would,” he says.

And then, of course, Hurricane Buck.

“You shouldn’t get his hopes up,” he says to Eddie, all glower. “No offence, Chim.”

Chimney isn’t sure how he’s supposed to take that as anything but offensive. But—

He’s got a heart of gold, Chim reminds himself. He’s got a goddamn heart of gold.

“None taken,” he says, heading back to his bench dips. “Evan.”

He gets maybe two reps in before he hears Eddie say, “Okay, man, what’s your problem?”

Chimney winces and looks over to see Buck getting up in Eddie’s face.

“Okay, you,” Buck says. Chimney frowns. Eddie? It really is personal? “You’re my problem. Your comfort level. You’re – you’re not supposed to just walk in here like you’ve been here for years. There’s supposed to be a getting-to-know-you period. You’re meant to respect your elders.”

That’s what Buck is pissed about?

“You’re not his elder, Buck,” Chim points out. As he says it, he realises he doesn’t actually know how old Eddie is. He’s been assuming due to his work history that he’s on the other side of thirty from Buck, but he doesn’t actually know.

“Look,” Eddie says. He sounds calm and rational, in complete contrast to Buck’s anger and irritation, which Chim takes as a good sign. “I in no way meant to, uh, be too familiar or step on anybody’s toes. I know you’re going through some personal stuff right now.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Chimney can see Buck flinch.

“What personal stuff?” he asks.

Whoops.

“I know your girlfriend recently broke up with you and you’re coming to terms with that,” Eddie says.

“No, I’m not,” Buck says. Which, points for honesty, Chim thinks. “And she didn’t break up with me. Who told you that?”

When they both turn to look at him, Chim tries to melt into his exercise equipment.

“I’m just saying, I hear you’re a good guy, and I’m sorry you’re going through pain but you don’t need to take it out on me,” Eddie says.

“I’m not in pain,” Buck snaps, wounded.

Chim doesn’t mean to heave a dramatic sigh, but it happens. Buck rounds on him.

“And why are you telling all of my personal shit to strangers?” Buck asks.

Chim winces. There are a lot of reasons – Eddie asked; Eddie is already a clear part of the team, not a stranger; because Chimney’s worried about him and gossip is how they deal with things at the 118; but he doesn’t think Buck’s in a mood to accept any of those.

“I asked if you were pissed at me or something else,” Eddie says. “And I’m sorry about your girlfriend, man, I know what it’s like to have someone you thought loved you disappear on you in the dead of night.”

Chimney stops doing his dips and turns to scan Eddie, concerned. But Eddie��s just looking at Buck.

“She didn’t – I drove her to the airport,” Buck says.

He sounds so damn small and vulnerable that despite how much of a dick he’s been recently, Chim kind of wants to just hug him. He’s spent so much of the past four months since Abby left acting like he was completely fine most of the time, and so they hadn’t really…

Well, they hadn’t been there for him. Bobby’s got his reasons, Chim knows, since Hen’s almost certainly right about the secret Bobby-Athena relationship going on in the background. But Chim and Hen could’ve done better.

“Look, man, all I can tell you is that staying in denial isn’t gonna help,” Eddie says. “You’re still gonna get the divorce papers in the mail eventually.”

“We weren’t—” Buck starts and Chimney almost jumps into the conversation to make sure Buck isn’t actually that stupid. “Oh.”

“Truce?” Eddie asks, taking off one of his boxing gloves and holding his hand out in Buck’s direction.

Buck swallows and, after a long, awkward moment, takes Eddie’s hand. “You’re still a probie.”

“I promise you, there is no worse hazing you can do to me than the guys in Afghanistan already did,” Eddie says.

Chimney wonders if he feels like eating those words later that night when Eddie and Buck get into an ambulance with a live grenade. Chim and Hen aren’t on the call with them, since they were already doing a transport from the previous call, but when they all get back to the station, something has clearly shifted between Buck and Eddie.

“You two idiots got in an ambulance with a live grenade?” Hen demands, hands on her hips. Chim has seen her deploy this expression at Denny before. It usually gets her immediate apologies and chagrin.

“Eddie was an army medic,” Buck says. “We were totally safe.”

“Until the ambulance exploded,” Eddie points out.

“Yeah, but we weren’t in it anymore,” Buck says, knocking his shoulder into Eddie’s while they sit at the kitchen counter together. Hen shakes her head slowly, like she can’t believe what she’s hearing. “And besides! We saved the patient.”

“Which is what matters,” Eddie adds.

Hen throws her hands up, exasperated. “I’m so glad there are two of you now.”

She stalks off and Chim watches while Buck and Eddie exchange bright smiles. Chim couldn’t say for sure, but he thinks the last time Buck smiled like that, he was talking to Abby. Which is certainly a development Chim didn’t see coming.

He finds Buck later in the bunks.

“Hey,” he says, knocking on Buck’s partition. Buck isn’t asleep, he’s just scrolling through his phone. “Got a sec?”

“Sure,” Buck says, sitting up and dropping his phone into his lap.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Chim says. “Telling Eddie about Abby, I mean. I don’t think any of us really realised how much you’re still hurting over that.”

“I’m fine,” Buck says. It’s too quick, and just a bit too sharp to be genuine.

Chim just waits.

“I’m – I’ve – I’ve been single for four months, haven’t I?” Buck asks quietly.

“Yeah,” Chim says, because Eddie had pointed out, denial just hurts more.

“Great,” Buck says. He clears his throat a couple times like he’s trying to get rid of a blockage. Chimney takes that as an opportunity to clap him on the shoulder.

“You’ve still got your family,” Chim says. “By which I mean the 118, because as far as you’ve said, you may as well have sprung out of the ground fully formed.”

Buck snorts. “I’ve got a sister,” he says, which is the first biological family member Chimney has ever heard Buck mention. “Maddie. She’s actually sleeping on my couch right now.”

“God, a female Buck,” Chim says. “I can’t even imagine how terrifying that must be.”

Buck scoffs and elbows him. “She’s not like me at all. You might even like her. She’s basically the best person ever, just a heart of pure gold.”

Chimney doesn’t quite trust Buck’s judgement when it comes to his sister, but if he’s right, well…

“Certain shitty comments you’ve made recently aside, that sounds exactly like you, Buckaroo,” Chim says.

“Thanks, Chim,” Buck says and sounds like he means it. “And I’m sorry for being a dick.”

Chim nods and claps him on the shoulder again before turning to head back to his own bunk.

“Hey, Chim?”

Chimney pauses.

“Do you think Eddie’s—”

Chimney waits, but all Buck says is “never mind.”

Their next call isn’t until morning when they find a group of idiots who have cemented their friend’s head into a microwave. When the kid falls into a pool, Buck jumps in to save him without hesitation and Eddie is only a split second behind him.

Chim doesn’t think about it until they’re all back at the station and changing out for the end of shift, but he thinks that this particular level of drift compatibility between Buck and Eddie might be a bit of a dangerous thing.

When they’re all back in civvies, Eddie says goodbye to everyone and starts to leave, only for Buck to follow him out, calling, “Hey! Eddie! There’s a really great brunch place down the street if you want to grab something, maybe?”

Chim and Hen watch them go, and wait until they’ve both driven off – together, even if in separate vehicles – before commenting.

“They’re gonna give us all heart attacks, aren’t they,” Hen says, resigned.

“Oh yeah,” Chim agrees.

“At least Buck seems happier?” Hen asks.

“Small victories,” Chim replies. “I’ll see you on Thursday.”

“See you then,” she says, going back to cleaning her locker.

Chimney only makes it as far as the parking lot before he’s stopped dead in his tracks by a breathtakingly beautiful woman. He’s never been a poetry kind of guy, but he’s pretty sure he could wax poetic about the bright stars in her eyes for several days if pressed. It doesn’t hurt that she’s holding a large Tupperware of baked goods.

“How can I help?” Chim asks, swallowing his gum. There’s nowhere to spit it out and no way to do that in front of a pretty girl that doesn’t look tacky.

“I was actually looking for Evan Buckley,” she says. “I wanted to surprise him. He said he was having a kind of intense shift.”

Chimney feels an instant spike of envy, and then realises who she is.

“You must be Buck’s sister,” he says.

“I am,” she agrees. “Maddie Kendall. Well, Buckley, again, I guess.”

“I’m Chimney,” he says, offering her his hand to shake.

She balances the container of baked goods on one forearm and shakes his hand. “It’s nice to put a face to a name. Buck says you’re one of the best guys at the station.”

Chimney can’t help but smile at that. “That’s funny, I was just saying the same thing about him.”

Maddie laughs and Chimney is struck by the desire to make her laugh always.

He stands there, grinning at her like an idiot, for much longer than he should until Maddie finally says, “So, where would I find him?”

“Oh! Sorry! You just missed him,” Chimney says. “He already left for a brunch date with the probie.”

Maddie’s eyebrows lift, delighted. “A date?”

Chim shrugs. “I’m not sure either of them knows that part, but definitely.”

“How about I put these down somewhere and you tell me absolutely everything,” Maddie suggests, holding up the box of muffins.

“I don’t know if I should,” Chim says, showing her up the stairs to the loft where D shift are working on the coffee maker. “I kinda got in trouble for telling people things about him recently.”

“Mm, big sister’s prerogative,” Maddie says, happily accepting the cup of coffee Chimney offers her.

“Okay, but if he yells at me again, I’m blaming you,” Chimney says. He takes one of the muffins from the now open container and groans. So not only is she gorgeous and the best person ever by Buck’s estimation, she can also cook and she thinks Chimney is funny. “These are amazing.”

“Thank you,” Maddie says. “And I’m sure we can work something out about Buck re blame. So long as you dish.”

Chimney grins. “Deal.”

[myemergence]

The Only Reason

Pairing: Ruckley, Russley, Jevan (Josh Russo/ Evan Buckley)

Series: 911 First Kiss Week

Rating: Teen

Summary: Lately, Josh has been celebrating every single ridiculous holiday. It started with Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day and has quickly progressed into multiple holidays being celebrated each week. Buck finds himself going along with each celebration, until National Fried Chicken Day.

Buck has ideas about which holiday he’d like to celebrate with Josh instead.

Read it on AO3

@nurse-buckley thanks for the beta, love!

*

“I’m here! Dinner can begin,” Buck announced once he stepped inside Maddie and Chim’s, ignoring the way that Maddie rolled her eyes as he made his way past her.

“Contrary to what you might think, we weren’t waiting on you to start dinner,” Maddie said.

“Ouch, you wound me.” Buck pouted, holding a hand to his heart as he spotted Chimney on the couch with Jee-Yun. “Thankfully there is at least one person here that’s happy to see me.”

“She’s too little to know better, Buck.” Chim waited until Buck took Jee-Yun from his arms before joining Maddie in the kitchen, and Buck trailed behind them.

“Jee loves her Uncle Buck.” Chim smirked at Maddie and she let out a small laugh, then opened the oven to check on the chicken. Buck frowned at their obvious teasing before looking down at his niece. “Don’t you, sweetheart?” She cooed up at him, and Buck smiled at her.

“I honestly don’t know how either one of you gets anything done with this adorable little face to look at.”

When neither one of them responded, Buck looked up and found both of them watching him.

“What?” Buck asked with a pinched brow.

Chimney grinned. “She has you wrapped around her finger already.”

Buck rolled his eyes, then spotted several pies on the kitchen island. “Um, Jee hitting the sweets already?”

“No, those would be courtesy of Josh. Didn’t you hear that he has been celebrating everything lately?”

Buck pressed his lips together. “What do you mean by everything, Mads?”

“It started with Applesauce Cake Day, then the other day was Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day. He made half a dozen for dispatch, and we only finished two of them. If you couldn’t tell that already by the number of pies that are on the counter, I brought the leftovers home… and you’re not even seeing the one that Chim polished off last night.”

“Well, I’m not gonna complain because they’re delicious,” Chim commented, as he finished preparing the salad.

“Maybe, but it’s also the reason that dinner tonight is so vegetable heavy. He should be celebrating National Vegetable Day instead.”

A short while later they finished up dinner, and Buck was helping Chim with the dishes, while Maddie got Jee-Yun ready for bed, feeding her in the living room.

“So, do you know if Josh is joining us later?” Buck asked casually, wiping down the plate.

Chimney tilted his head to the side a little to look at Buck more completely, holding another dripping plate. “Any particular reason you ask?” Buck shrugged, trying to go for casually interested but knowing he’d been utterly failing at it lately.

“I just wasn’t sure if I was going to be taking just your money, or his too.”

“You won’t be taking anyone’s money, because we know if Maddie is playing that she’s going to slaughter us all.” Buck laughed, knowing that Chimney was right, as he added the plate to the pile on the counter. “And to answer your question, he said he’d be over around 8, so you’ve got 5 minutes, give or take.”

Josh arrived a few minutes later, and Maddie met him at the door before leading him inside. Jee-Yun had already been put to bed, much to Josh’s disappointment. “I can’t believe you put her to bed before I got here.”

“Well next time get here earlier,” Maddie said with a roll of her eyes.

“I was busy, Maddie.”

Buck couldn’t help the teasing smile that spread across his face. “Were you baking more pies?”

“No,” Josh said, “it’s not Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day anymore.” He raised an eyebrow.

“So you’re saying if we finish these off that you’re not going to make more?” Chim asked.

“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Josh replied with a laugh.

“Sorry, Chim.” Buck glanced over at his brother-in-law who sat beside him at the table, pouting. “I tried.”

“Howie!” Maddie scolded, smacking his arm lightly with exasperation. “I swear I’m going to make Buck take all of the leftovers to his place.”

And if Josh made them, Buck really wouldn’t mind.

*

Buck walked into Josh’s house and was immediately hit with the overwhelming aroma of coconut. Josh had been planning to host a spa day at his place for a week now, with both Buck and Maddie coming over to reap the benefits of yet another celebration day, but Buck hadn’t been prepared to be hit by a wall of coconut.

Buck hated coconut, the smell and taste of it— but even more than that, the texture of shredded coconut was enough to gag about. Thankfully he was just there for a spa day, so he wouldn’t need to worry about that at least.

“I, uh, brought over some sliced cucumbers, even though Maddie said you didn’t need anything for today. She always uses these when she does a mask.”

“Too bad she won’t be here to benefit from them,” Josh said ruefully, to which Buck raised his eyebrow. “She had to bail, said Chimney had to work, and Jee had an appointment that she couldn’t miss.”

“She—” is a liar, Buck finished in his head, fighting off a frown. What the hell? “She’s really gonna miss out, huh?”

“Yeah, I mean I really catered today around things I know Maddie likes, but…” Josh trailed off with a sheepish smile and shrugged. “I hope it’s not a total waste.”

“I’m sure everything is perfect.” Buck paused, glancing around to see if he could tell what Josh had set up. “So I smell coconut, what is that from?”

“Everything,” Josh answered with a laugh. “It’s National Coconut Day. So naturally, we’re celebrating with everything coconut. Follow me.”

Coconut. Everything.

He was going to kill Maddie.

“I just finished making some pina coladas if you want one?” Josh offered, adding a pineapple wedge to the rim of two glasses before holding one out to Buck.

“A little fancier than my usual beer, but I think I can be a little adventurous today.” Buck chuckled, taking the drink from Josh’s outstretched hand. He ignored the jolt that he felt when Josh’s fingers brushed against his. “Thank you.”

Josh grabbed a drink of his own before casting a glance in Buck’s direction. “I don’t think that being adventurous is really a stretch for you.” Josh paused, then added. “I seem to remember more than one rescue, particularly the ones that Maddie was freaking out about because they were risky.”

Buck shrugged his shoulders, wearing a sheepish smile as he followed Josh towards the living room. “That’s my job.”

Josh laughed, sitting down on the couch and shifting his body so that he was angled towards Buck. “So are you saying that it’s more adventurous for you to drink a pina colada than to rush into a burning building, or rappelling off the side of a cliff?”

Buck laughed lightly, feeling his cheeks warm, while his mind was on an endless loop of I hate coconut. Maybe it hadn’t exactly been adventurous of Buck to drink the pina colada, but for the effort that Josh had put into the day, he couldn’t let him down by telling him he hated everything coconut. He brought the drink up to his lips, taking a small sip before answering, trying not to react to the sudden taste flooding his tongue.

“Jumping into action at the scene when someone needs to be saved, that’s just instinct kicking in,” Buck explained, setting his glass on the coffee table, letting his gaze settle on Josh.

“That’s because you’re a hero,” Josh stated, setting his own glass down. “And heroes deserve to be pampered.”

“Josh, I’m not a hero,” he argued.

“I seem to remember watching you, trapped under a fire rig just doing your job and responding to a call, then in the months that followed you fought with everything you had to get back out there. Saved hundreds of people when you were off-duty during the tsunami. I could go on,” Josh said, “if you want.”

“Um,” Buck cleared his throat, running a hand over the back of his neck as Josh explained why he thought Buck was a hero. He shook his head a little. “That won’t be necessary.”

“In that case, I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home.”

Buck tried not to let his mind linger too long on how the atmosphere at Josh’s felt different today, more intimate without Maddie’s presence. She was always there, as a buffer, keeping Buck from making a fool of himself in front of Josh. Yet today, there was nobody to save Buck from himself.

Josh came back a few minutes later, setting a round container on the table and the sliced cucumber beside them. He told Buck to go wash his face before they got started, and when Buck returned, Josh set a pillow on the couch.

“Lay down,” Josh instructed.

Buck hesitated for a moment before laying down, resting his head on the pillow. “You know, we could do yours first—I know this is more your thing with Maddie, and I—”

“Anybody ever tell you that you’re argumentative?” Josh looked down at him, mouth turned up in amusement.

Buck rolled his eyes, watching as Josh grabbed the pouffe to sit on, his expression turning more focused as he moved the coffee table closer, making sure that what he needed was in reach. “Usually they just tell me I’m a terrible listener.”

“Close your eyes and relax.” Buck hesitated as he looked up at Josh, watching as Josh’s smile turned into a grin. “You know, they’re not wrong.”

“You always invite guys over and then call them argumentative and bad listeners?” Buck asked, finally closing his eyes.

“And they say I’m the dramatic one,” Josh teased. Buck heard him shuffle around on the table, then a moment later Josh’s voice again. “I’m going to put a warm washcloth on your face first. Just relax with it for a minute.”

The heat from the washcloth felt soothing against his skin, and Buck felt himself relaxing more, despite how this afternoon came to be just him and Josh having a spa day at home. Josh’s fingers brushed against his forehead a minute later, removing the cooling washcloth from his skin.

“So, what’s your skin regimen like anyway?”

“Uh,” Buck laughed softly. “Usually just soap and water. I don’t really have a skin regimen.”

“Well that’s offensive.” Josh’s eyes widened comically as he looked down at Buck. “First of all, that’s so bad for your skin, especially given that you deal with smoke exposure on a regular basis, not to mention the sweat. Second of all, it looks like you take great care of your skin… which is unfair, given that you absolutely do not.”

“Are you going to convert me into a skin care enthusiast?”

“I see that sarcasm is definitely a Buckley family trait.” Josh glared at him playfully. “I’m going to apply the mask now. It’s just avocado, coconut oil and some nutmeg. It’s supposed to be great for anti-aging and really moisturizing, not that your naturally flawless skin needs it.” Josh’s gaze flickered away from his, grabbing the container from the table, collecting the paste onto a brush before moving closer.

“I was really not expecting a green mask. You’re going to make me look like Maddie all those times I teased her when we were growing up,” Buck said.

Josh laughed, beginning to spread it over Buck’s skin, making Buck close his eyes again. It only took a minute before Buck’s face was thoroughly covered and Josh moved away with the container.

“Just relax for about fifteen minutes, and then we’ll get you cleaned up,” Josh said. He returned a few seconds later, setting something cool over each of his eyes, which Buck could only assume were the cucumbers.

Buck became more conscious of his breathing as the minutes passed by, the quiet of Josh’s home surrounding him. “15 minutes up yet?” Buck mumbled, not even sure if Josh was still in the room.

“Uh, just about,” Josh answered. “I’ll get you cleaned up in just another minute.” There was another stretch of silence until Buck heard the shutter of a camera, quickly followed by rapid tapping.

“Josh?”

“Just a second, Buck.”

“Josh, what are you—” Buck removed the cucumbers from over his eyes, finding Josh standing not too far away with a mischievous smile on his face. “You can’t take a picture of me like this.” Buck gaped at him.

“I mean, I already did,” Josh said with a little laugh that lit up his entire face. “And I might have accidentally sent it to your sister.”

“Accidentally?”

“Maybe intentionally.”

“You have no idea what you’ve done. I’m never going to hear the end of this. She’s going to show Chimney, and it’ll circulate around the firehouse. Hell, Chim and Hen will probably blow up the picture and post it all around the station,” Buck finished dramatically, groaning as he sat back.

Josh smirked but didn’t say anything else, although his expression made it clear that he had plenty to say. He tapped out another response on his phone before he slipped the phone into his back pocket.

“We should go get your mask cleaned off, before your face is stuck like that permanently.” Buck’s hand shot up to his face and touched the mask, and Josh snorted at the appalled expression on Buck’s face.

“You know, I think my sister has influenced you way too much for your own good.” Buck followed Josh towards the bathroom, stepping into the room and turning on the warm water. Josh grabbed a clean washcloth and handed it to him. Josh disappeared from the doorway, leaving Buck to clean the thick green mask from his face.

Buck looked at his reflection and grimaced. “I can’t believe there’s a picture of me like this floating around,” he muttered. He tried to clean the mask off of his face and to not make a mess but this was… way messier than Buck expected. “Oh my god.” Green sludge covered the sink and the counter, and it was dripping off of Buck’s face like something out of a horror movie.

“Buck? You doing alright, you’ve been in here for—” Josh’s voice broke off with laughter. “Oh… wow. What is happening here? You—wow. This is a sight.”

“You keep saying that,” Buck said, cutting a glare in his direction, resulting in a green-tinted water dripping onto the counter.

“You are a disaster, Buck. Sit down.” Josh laughed, directing him away from his position in front of the mirror until he was sitting on the closed toilet lid. Josh grabbed a hand towel to wipe at the excess water dripping from Buck’s chin, first. Josh cupped Buck’s chin, gently tilting it until he was looking up at him. Buck swallowed hard as they held each other’s gaze, and the laughter disappeared from the room, replaced instead by a tension that Buck couldn’t quite explain, but made his heart race.

Josh took his time, patting off what was wet enough to wipe from Buck’s face. He worked silently for a few minutes, stopping to rinse off the wash cloth with warm water every so often before focusing his attention on cleaning Buck’s face.

“You know I could do this myself, Josh, I—”

“I don’t mind,” Josh said softly, and tossed the dirty washcloth in the sink before grabbing the clean hand towel he’d laid out before. “Let me just make sure we’ve got it all.”

Buck couldn’t find it in him to look away, mesmerized by Josh’s focus as he cradled Buck’s face, then the way he gently tilted it to the side from where he held Buck’s chin.

“Ah, missed a spot,” Josh said.

The feeling of the warm washcloth being wiped across his brow made his eyes flutter closed. Without his vision, Buck felt like he was suddenly more aware of everything else. The way that Josh smelled, and the fact that Buck could reach out and wrap his arms around the other man due to their closeness. Josh’s fingers still gripped Buck’s chin, moving the towel lightly over Buck’s skin, and dried off the last remnants of water.

“Think we got it all,” Josh whispered into the deafening quiet.

Blinking his eyes back open, he caught Josh’s gaze when they opened. Josh smiled at him, then his eyes settled on the spot just above Buck’s eye, rubbing his thumb over the skin there . In the past, Buck had been self conscious about his birthmark, hating how it made him stand out. But at that moment, as Josh studied it with such intent, Buck was glad to have it. Josh brushed his thumb over the skin a few more times, until their eyes met again. It’s like something clicked into place at the moment their eyes met, yanking Josh out of the intimacy of the moment, his jaw dropping open the tiniest bit as he took a small step back, putting some space between them.

“Well, your skin is perfectly soft now.” Buck forced himself not to frown at the loss of Josh’s touch, his stomach twisting as he fought the desire to reach out and tug Josh closer. “Not that it wasn’t before,” Josh added.

“Thank you for that experience. And for, uh, helping with the clean up,” Buck said. He stood up from where he was seated. “Definitely went above and beyond.”

“It was my pleasure,” he said.

“Well, now it’s my turn to return the favor.” Buck smiled at Josh, trying not to let the way that Josh made him feel when he cradled his face and studied his birthmark like it was some work of art. “But I can’t promise it won’t be an even bigger mess.”

Josh laughed, and the tension between them that had been there for only a few moments dissipated. “I’d expect no less.”

*

After National Coconut Day, things felt different between Josh and Buck, like somehow their relationship was no longer held together by Maddie. They began to talk regularly as the days passed, they texted and made plans to get together soon. Josh, of course, had another celebration day in mind—and after how the last one had turned out, Buck couldn’t find it in him to necessarily discourage it.

Until he’d learned that it was another food-centered celebration: National Fried Chicken Day. Josh was very invested, sending Buck links to different food blogs and recipes that he’d found on Pinterest to try: a classic southern fried chicken, buttermilk fried chicken, and even a KFC copycat recipe.

The intimacy of their home spa day played on repeat in Buck’s mind, the moment when Josh had cleaned Buck’s face, brushing his thumb tenderly over Buck’s birthmark. He’d thought Josh was going to kiss him, had even hoped that he would. In the minutes that stretched on afterwards, he’d felt disappointed, but shoved that feeling aside to unpack another day. And Buck had decided that maybe today was that day.

Buck sighed, looking at himself in the mirror one last time. He opted for a casual shirt and jeans since it was meant to be a low-key celebration, and grabbed his keys off of the counter on his way out.

Within twenty minutes he arrived at Josh’s door. Josh opened the door in an apron, which was certainly a look. “You’re just on time. I was about ready to get started.”

Buck smiled as he followed Josh inside, back towards the kitchen. He watched as Josh set a pan on the front burner of the stove, then moved fluidly to grab the bottle of the oil.

Now or never, Buckley.

“Step away from the oil, Josh,” Buck said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What? How am I going to make fried chicken without the oil?” Josh turned his head to look at Buck, who had moved closer now, standing beside him next to the stove.

“You’re not.”

“Buck,” Josh drew his name out slowly, thankfully having not yet turned on the burner, his full attention now on Buck. “We’re here to celebrate National Fried Chicken Day—”

“But your arteries are pleading with you to not do that,” Buck explained. “We could celebrate something else today.”

Josh frowned at Buck’s words. “Like what? You couldn’t have mentioned this days ago? What could we possibly celebrate that we just happen to have everything for?”

Buck trapped his bottom lip between his teeth, then dared to catch Josh’s gaze again. “It’s International Kissing Day.” Of course the only reason Buck wanted to celebrate that with Josh was for the betterment of his health.

“…and how would we celebrate that?”

“The only logical way that I could come up with is that we could kiss.”

A nervous laugh shook out of Josh, and a flush colored his cheeks. “Buck, I’m not going to let you kiss me just because you don’t want me clogging my arteries.”

“Well,” Buck swallowed past the nervous anxiety bubbling in his chest. “What about letting me kiss you because I like you, and this is all just a poorly crafted excuse to kiss you, masked as concern for your arteries?”

Josh’s eyes flickered to Buck’s lips, then back up to his eyes. “I-I think I’d be okay with it, if that were the case,” Josh whispered.

The corners of Buck’s pulled up into a smile, though his heart didn’t stop racing. “That’s good to hear,” Buck murmured, stepping forward to close in the little bit of space between them. He reached out, cupping Josh’s cheek as he looked down into his face. “Because I was really hoping that was what you would say.”

Buck leaned in as Josh’s eyes fluttered closed, and their noses barely brushed as he pressed his lips to Josh’s. The kiss was soft and sweet, like Josh, not frantic or urgent, and the tenderness made Buck’s heart swell. Josh’s hands ghosted against Buck’s sides before they settled at his waist. Finally, Buck dropped his hand away from Josh’s jaw, studying his features when he did.

“I hope that was okay,” Buck whispered, not able to tear his gaze away, as he cringed at his words.

“It was great, but…”

“But?” Buck asked.

“But I don’t think you can classify one kiss as a celebration,” Josh explained, a smile tugging at his lips.

“It would be like celebrating Strawberry Rhubarb Pie day with only one pie.”

“A travesty,” he murmured, sliding a hand to the back of Buck’s neck, pulling him back in for another kiss.

Buck decided, maybe he wouldn’t kill Maddie after all.

[marvel-medigeek-fics]

Give Me a Miracle

—part 2–

There was nothing they could do. Sitting ducks. Chim was a wreck, and Buck was silent. Eddie was pacing. SWAT had been here for a while already and everyone was growing restless.

“I need to be in there.” Buck, Eddie and Chim all say at the same time.

“No.” Athena says, coming up behind them. “Buck, I don’t want to arrest you. Eddie, Chim, I trust you.”

Eddie does the “I guess” eyebrow dance thing. Buck scoffs. Chim sighs.

“Just get them out. Please.” Chim’s voice is resigned.

—-

Josh’s eyes haven’t stopped twinkling. Maddie’s leg hasn’t stopped bleeding. The bullet didn’t have a exit wound so she’s just bleeding internally. Oh. Shit.

There’s been more shots. People are getting restless. Maddie keeps hearing things about the ransom going wrong. She wonders what Buck is going to do without her. He’s grown up, but to her, he’s still a little kid.

She looks over at Josh, who isn’t scared anymore. He’s angry now. He rips the tape, slowly. Foster hears it and within 5 seconds has his gun into Josh’s chest. “Do it. Kill me.” Josh challenges. “If you wanted me dead, you would have done it already.” Josh may be crying a little, but he doesn’t lose confidence. He was done being afraid, and there was nothing that made Maddie more proud of him.

“Don’t threaten me. I have all the power here. You have none. You’re not a dispatcher now, just a helpless, helpless bitch.” Foster drives the gun in closer to Josh’s ribs. One wrong move, and Josh is dead.

“What is your problem with me?” Josh can barely breathe but he spits the words out anyway. It matters why.

“You decided that my sister wasn’t worth enough, that she deserved to die alone. I saw the logs. Someone hung up on my baby sister, and it was 9-1-1. So I decided a little reckoning was going to come to the dispatchers of Los Angeles. And here we are.” Foster’s face turns to a grin and he fires.

—

When Buck looks at his phone, he has 6 missed calls. 3 from Bobby, 1 from Hen and 2 from Carla. He just ignores them.

Eddie is the only one watching SWAT go in. Chimney is a wreck and Buck is silent.

“I need to be in there.” Buck, Eddie and Chim all say at the same time.

“No.” Athena says, coming up behind them. “I trust you guys. Don’t make me regret it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Buck looks like it takes all of his strength to say anything. He looks worse than he did while being crushed by a fire truck.

“Buck, she’s gonna be okay.” Athena says. “They all are.”

“Athena’s right.” Hen pipes up. “And I see that idea forming, Buckaroo, your sister needs you to be alive more than risking your life for her.”

“She’d do it for me.” Buck replies.

—

Maddie tastes blood from biting her tongue so hard. She doesn’t even stop when the gun fired. She anticipates hearing Josh fall to the floor, but she doesn’t. “Maddie.” Josh gasps out.

“Josh! You’re okay.” Maddie cries.

“Yeah. I’m good.” He rips her pants open to reveal a giant bleeding mess. He grabs the cardigan from Maddie’s desk and rips it into strips.

“I loved that cardigan.”

“Life or ripped up cardigan? Too late for making the wrong choice.” One strip gets tied around the bottom of her knee and a few more get wrapped around the rapidly bleeding wound.

More shots ring out. As Josh turns to see them, Maddie catches sight of a blood red stain on the back of his arm. “I got it.” He grabs a strip and ties it off around his arm. “I’m okay, Maddie.”

“Thanks, Josh. I know this is hard for you.”

“It’s a hostage situation, Maddie, of course it’s hard.”

“Yeah.” She chuckles.

“Thank you, Maddie. For standing up for me.”

“Keep your hands where we can see them!!!” Someone yells.

“Thank God.” Maddie sighs, ripping her bonds off. “Josh? Josh?” He is slumped against her legs, not moving. Not talking.

In two moves, Maddie is working on Josh. She grabs the strips and rips his shirt open. She ties a makeshift tourniquet around his shoulder. She doesn’t notice the flurry of movement, or Foster evading the real officers.

“Josh. Josh. I’m here. Open your eyes. Come on.” Maddie ignores the pain in her leg to focus on Josh, who is turning painfully pale.

“Maddie...?” He groans, his eyes fluttering rapidly.

“I’m here, Josh. Stay here with me.”

“Maddie...? I...love...” His eyes close and Maddie’s cries echo through the whole building.

—

When Buck, Chim, Hen and Eddie make it to them, both Maddie and Josh are unconscious.

“Maddie!” Buck screams, collapsing to Maddie’s side. Chim and Hen jump in to save them both. Eddie is the only who doesn’t stay with them. He is moving away from the hurt.

“Anybody here?” He calls out in the empty hallway. He listens and hears a quiet groan of pain.

“LAFD, anybody here?” He calls again.

“In...here!” Someone croaks out, almost crying it.

Eddie runs to where he heard the cry. He sees a pair of legs and runs in. “Hey, hey, hey, I’m here. Are you hurt?”

“My chest.” Sure enough, redness bleeds through his shirt. Eddie turns the man over, looking for an exit wound. There isn’t one. “Can you feel your legs, sir?”

“I think so.” His Babinski reflex is normal.

“Good. You’re good. No spinal injury. In a few seconds, a few Kleenex’s are shoved into the mans bullet hole, just to the right of his sternum. Eddie’s worried about a collapsed lung. He moves around and maneuvers to drag him out.

By the time he gets out to the main room, Maddie and Josh and Buck are gone. Chim and Hen are working on other people. “GSW to the medial right chest. Vitals stable.” Eddie drops him off next to the gurney. He sees someone across the room. He recognizes an enemy opperative when he sees one. “Good here?”

“Yes, sir.” Eddie sprints off, fire in his eyes. He ignores Hen calling his name and tunnels his eyes to the man. The real cops notice both men and run after them.

“You did this.” Eddie closes the gap between them. His voice is pure fire. “And you won’t get away with it.”

“Diaz, stand down!” Someone calls behind him. “Don’t be a hero!”

Nothing cuts through the fog in his brain, and without a second thought, he’s tackling and wrestling the gun out of this man’s hands.

He doesn’t think for a second, until he hears the gun fire. He wasn’t fast enough, and for his failure, his side spilts in a fiery cloud of pain. Another shot and the world goes black.

—

Eddie didn’t come back when Maddie was taken to the hospital. Buck never had to worry about him, but that didn’t stop him from doing it.

Worrying about Eddie distracted Buck from worrying about his sister. She had been in surgery for an hour, and Buck was a wreck. Chim was silent. “Hey Chim.” Buck moved to put his arm around his almost brother.

“Hey, Buck.” Chim looked at the blond with tears in his eyes.

“She’s gonna be okay, man.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I just wish I could see her.” Chim sighed, rubbing his eyes with the butt of his hand.

The doctor appeared in the doorway of the waiting room. “Evan Buckley?” He said, to which Buck waved.

“Maddie is out of surgery. Which went fine, she’s gonna be okay. You can go visit her within the hour.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Chim and Buck said at the same time.

When he is gone, Chim and Buck hug and cheer. “She’s okay!”

They hugged for a minute, just grateful that Maddie was okay. “Is...Maddie...okay?” Someone groaned out.

“Eddie? Yeah. She’s okay.” Buck replied, smiling so hard his cheeks must hurt.

“That’s...great.” Eddie almost fell into the chair behind him.

“Are you okay, man?” Chim asked.

“Yeah. Umm, peach...peachy.”

Chim and Buck’s eyes traveled to the growing stain under Eddie’s shirt. His eyes fluttered rapidly and he looked white as a ghost.

“Yeah. Not that.” Chim jumped into action, Buck right behind him.

“You’re okay, Eddie. Everything is gonna be seriously peachy. Just stay awake.”

••notes: I hope you aren’t too mad about the ending, part 3 should be up soon! I love you all, stay safe. Peace.

[briinstardust]

Part 2.

The monster, calls Evan, with the offer from the City. Buck goes over there, and the monster informs him the city wants to settle, he writes down a number on a piece of paper, and the monster, is confused by Evan’s shock.

“This is all they’re offering?” Evan says and the disappointment on his entire face is astonishing. He then launches into telling the monster, the only reason he did this was to get his job back. He wants to go back to work for the LAFD. He doesn’t want their money.

to which I think to myself, Evan why? why did you think you could take this on on your own, or that you even needed to take this on on your own? Evan why are you here?

“I did this so I could go back to doing what I love, to be back with my team.”  is how Evan responds to the monster. This by itself...I just need to reference my previous thought of, Why the actual fuck, are we here right now? Evan has said he is alone in this fight. Has completely forgotten that he’s said this apparently. His team, he says. His team. His team who consists of Eddie Diaz, Henrietta Wilson, Howie Han, and Bobby Nash. Evan wants to be back with his team. okay. um. yeah. I’m going to reference my previous thought of Why the actual fuck did you think could take this on, on your own Evan? So your team, your family even. Why were you unable to turn to them when you were going through it, and when you were up in your feelings? These people are literally the only thing he is thinking about, and I’m confused. (I’m not completely confused, we’ll get it in a bit.)

So the monster takes takes what Evan says, and responds with the reason I refer to him as a monster, and the reason I referred to him as a predator in pt 1 “You really think they’re gonna welcome you back, kid?” and there’s a bit to unpack here.

This monster calls Evan kid. This is some straight disrespect. A man who’s just paid you probably a lot of money (bc lawyers are expensive), you just called kid.

So let me get this straight. The entire time you’re working on this case, Evan looks like a kid to you. So you saw a vulnerable kid, picked at him, targeted him, made him feel some feelings with your disgusting trash mouth. This is predatory behavior. This is why this man is a monster. The monster then follows up his previous statement with, “I raked your friends, over the coals, pretty hard.” 

and wow.

Evan’s response to this is “I told you that stuff in confidence, for information, not to use it against them.”  and Evan says something about Attorney Client Privileged, and the monster replies with “Yeah, that doesn’t work the way you think it does.” to which I must reference back to my question of Why the actual fuck did you think, you could take this on, on your own? These are absolutely huge life decisions, and you didn’t even think you could talk to your sister about this shit? Excuse me Evan Buckley, what the fuck?

The monster says they’ve won and Evan should be happy. Evan’s response to this is “This doesn’t feel like winning.”  and the monster replies, “it’s probably as close as you’re ever gonna get” and I am going to say I don’t think I’ve ever seen Evan Buckley look more disappointed in himself in 3 entire seasons, than he looks in this scene right here.

So we’re about to get into the grocery store scene, but before I do that, I need a moment to stop, and wonder what this story line was actually for. I need a minute to stop and think about who this story line was for. I need a moment to wonder what this story line accomplishes. What is the actual purpose of this story line? Why is this story line here?

Now that I’ve taken that moment.

“I just think Bobby needs to let go of being pissed off at Buck.” Henrietta Wilson, a woman, who Evan Buckley just drug though an arbitration, took time out of her whole day, time she could have been spending with her wife, a woman who has always been supportive of Buck, says. the conversation continues with, “I know that, and so does Bobby,” Howie Han, a man Evan Buckley has known for years, a man who also dates Evan Buckley’s older sister, a man Evan has called a friend, says.

So Evan’s at the grocery store 8 miles from his apartment, bc that’s where I shop for all my groceries too... and Evan says he’s come to apologize, and Holy shit.

The minute Evan says he came to apologize. Eddie’s face. wow. oh boy, wow. “Oh you came to apologize rn? Let’s hear this and it better be good.” That what that face was. Eddie says “What did you think was going to happen?”

Well I’ll tell you what Evan thought was going to happen. Evan thought he would get his job back. I’m convinced he has no idea how lawyers work, but that’s what he thought would happen. (I need to reference back to Evan’s earlier quote of “I did this so I could go back to doing what I love, to be back with my team.”)

I need to say that I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eddied Diaz as angry as he is in this scene. Understandably so. You can tell how thrown off he is by seeing Buck here, and is so uncomfortable about this entire thing, but damn is he out here with his feelings in the open. 

I am going to say Evan is up in his feelings right now. maybe he’s thrown off by how upset Eddie is with him right now, but Eddie says “You told your lawyer everything about us. personal things.” 

And I am left wondering if Evan is naive, because he next says, “You’re supposed to be truthful with your lawyer.”

I just don’t know if he knows what to do with the emotions that Eddie is throwing at him right now. It’s all coming at him at once and maybe he just can’t process it quick enough? But honey that was just the wrong thing to say.

Before anybody has another thought, Evan spits out, “Why are you so pissed at me right now?”  to which I have to say. Holy shit. Evan Buckley’s got balls out here. Evan’s getting angry now. In the grocery store.

And excuse me, my entire chill is gone.

Really?...Really? Holy shit! Seriously? Excuse me, Evan Buckley, are you fucking listening to the people you came to apologize to? Are you fucking listening? Because Eddie said exactly why he was pissed. I’m not sure how you missed it Evan. Eddie Diaz, just said, “You told your lawyer everything about us. personal things.”

This means there were personal conversations that happened, in private, between two people, and one of those people, thought a private conversation means it stays between the conversation participants. Not it stays between the conversation participants unless your lawyer asks.

Evan Buckley does not have the right to be angry at Eddie. Evan Buckley does not have the right to be angry at Hen. Evan Buckley does not have the right to be angry at Chimney. Evan Buckley does not have the right to be angry at Lena.

“Because, you’re exhausting,” is the answer Eddie Diaz gives Evan, for Evan’s absolutely out line question of “Why are you so pissed at me right now?”

Do we need more context here? I don’t. Eddie has been going through it. Eddie has clearly been doing some emotional heavy lifting here, and couldn’t talk to his best friend about it. goddamn.

“We all have our own problems, but you don’t see us whining about it. No, somehow we just manage to suck it up. Why can’t you?” Eddie says before anyone else can get a thought in.

The look on Evan’s face, he’s crushed right now. He is so upset, and I’m still processing this absolute look, bc he is angry and disappointed and sad, and other things are written on his face rn this lip tremble that is happening. Evan has 100 different emotions rushing through his mind and body as soon as these words leave Eddie’s mouth, and he can’t process this quickly enough.

Luckily for Evan, he does not have to process that final thought, as Howie Han, Evan’s friend for many years, who also dates Evan’s older sister, supplies Eddie with, “That’s kinda harsh. It’s not like the guy asked to be crushed by a ladder truck.” 

This is correct. Evan did not ask to be crushed by a ladder truck.

“No, but he filed a stupid lawsuit, and now I can’t even talk to you because of it. You know how much Christopher misses you?” 

so, this is that reference I referred to in part 1. This reads like anger from hurt feelings. Eddie’s been through this arbitration, he’s been going through his own shit, he’s going through it. in the arbitration we see Eddie come off as upset, but to me it did not look like anger. This looks like anger, as a result of, “can’t even talk to you because of it” his feelings are hurt that he can’t talk to his best friend, and it’s coming out as anger.

You know how much Christopher misses you? I’m referencing back to part one again, Eddie has to deal with the fall out of Evan’s impulsive, selfish behavior and one of the things is that Eddie’s son is now upset, because he can’t see Buck.

So Eddie’s personal feelings are hurt, that Buck didn’t even think he could talk to him about something like this, and he’s upset that his son is upset, because of Buck.

“How could you? You’re not around.” 

His son’s feelings are hurt, and Buck did a thing while only thinking of himself. Buck came into their lives, and got them through some times, was with them through some shit, and Buck instead of talking to Eddie or anyone about what he was going through. This man internalized all of his fucking feelings “I’m in this alone” are you fucking really? This man internalized all of his fucking feelings, filed a lawsuit and ripped himself out of all of their lives in a single moment.

Christopher needs Buck, and Eddie can’t give his son what he needs, and is rightfully angry about it.

“I didn’t realize that.”

Honey I know. You weren’t really thinking about anybody but yourself. You were up in your feelings, and mad at Bobby, and ran to a lawyer, instead of your support group. Maddie, Your sister. Eddie, your best friend. Hen, someone you’ve known for years, and who’s supported you every time it counted, Chimney, who’ve you’ve known for years, who’s bedside you sat beside and cried when you thought he wasn’t gonna make it through. These are people that you refereed to as your family, not co-workers, not friends, but your family, and you thought that you couldn’t turn to any single one of them when you got some devastating news and when you were spiraling, and when you were going through it? You couldn’t turn to your own family?

“No, it prevents me from reaching out to you, I couldn’t even call you to bail me out of jail.” 

Eddie was in jail, and was only thinking of one person he wanted. He could not have the person he wanted to be with him during this time. while he was in jail. bc he was legally not allowed to contact his best friend, Evan Buckley. Someone Eddie expects to understand him, but he’s unable to contact him.

”Look, man, Why can’t you see my side of this?”

“Because that’s all you see.”

Evan did you stop and think about how what’s happening to you, isn’t just happening to you? But to those around you? Did you stop and think how you being off work is effecting people who care about you? These people your family, are now barred from contacting you. your family, is now having to take time out of their personal lives, and days, to sit in arbitration's with you and your lawyer. your family are having their private conversations exposed to lawyers.

Eddie is absolutely not wrong here. And has every right in the world to be angry with this man right now. Evan has no ground to stand on, bc he caused these feelings that Eddie is having right now. And god forbid anyone other than Evan Buckley get to have an emotional response to a situation that is upsetting.

Evan has been having emotional responses to literally everything around him, everything that happens to him, everything that happens to others around him, this entire goddamn time. the fact that Evan Buckley can sit here, see an emotional response from his best friend, and not think that maybe he needs to talk to his best friend about it. but instead, this elicits an additional emotional response from Buck. this is more telling than anything Buck’s said thus far. Evan doesn’t understand how emotions work, and needs some perspective.

“Because that’s all you see.”

[caralynsmoved]

care

fandom: 911onfox characters: evan “ buck “ buckley, bobby nash, athena grant, maddie buckley, ( the fire fam and christopher are mentioned )  relationships: evan “ buck “ buckley & bobby nash, athena grant/bobby nash, mentions of evan “ buck “ buckley/eddie diaz, maddie buckley/howie “ chimney “ han rating: general audiences warning(s): mentions of attempted self harm, no actual self harm in this story but it is assumed and mentioned quite a few times in the beginning of the story and will be brought up throughout the course of it. be safe !  setting: set during 3x06 “ monsters “ but goes au pretty much as soon as bobby shows up to the hospital.

“ hello ? “ 

“ is this robert nash ? “ a female voice he doesn’t recognize on the other end asks and bobby feels his brows knit together as he steps away from the sink where he had been washing up last night’s dishes, unable to close his eyes without his mind racing. 

“ speaking, “ he says warily, wiping his hands on a dish towel before he moves to hold his phone more securely from where he had had it resting in the crook of his shoulder. 

“ i’m calling from cedars-sinai, an evan buckley was admitted early this morning and you’re listed as his next of kin, he - “ 

“ what ? “ the confused and immediately worried question slipped past his lips as he started to look around for his keys, “ is he okay ? “ 

concern clawed at him as he thought of buck’s eager face, the deflated set of his shoulders, the plea in his voice and how last night as he walked away the confused worry on buck’s face, how he couldn’t believe bobby’s care for him. he had been angry and hurt, letting his feelings overshadow his love for buck and now buck was hurt and once again it might have been all his fault because for all his talk and thoughts of wanting to protect the younger man all he had seemed to hurt him more. 

“ he’s stable, he cut himself and because of the blood thinners he was on he needed a transfusion - “ 

all of the woman’s other words were drowned out in a rush of white noise, static rushing to fill the void as the words he cut himself, he cut himself .. he cut himself echoed. maybe there was a rational explanation, maybe buck had simply nicked himself shaving or broke a glass but … but. there was a voice in the back of his head telling him that buck had been through so much lately, lost so much and sure they had been there for most of it, but after a while buck really had been going through it alone, the second recovery after the pulmonary embolism, the tsunami, the lawsuit … buck had been convinced he was doing it all alone and maybe one some level they had let him. guilt curled around his ribs like a familiar vice and he forced himself to breath, if that had happened, if buck was so hurt that he had done this then the kid needed him, them, now more than ever and this time he wouldn’t let himself be pushed away, wouldn’t convince himself that buck was okay, he’d there, they all would. 

“ I'll be right there, “ bobby was quick to hang up the phone, pocketing it as he finally spotted his keys hung up on the rack and was out the door and down the driveway before it could even swing shut.

∞

“ mr. nash ? “ 

the call of his name stopped bobby’s pacing and his debates over whether to call his wife or maddie or anybody, but every time he thought about what to say the words dried up in his throat and now at least he could put those aside for now, “ how is he ? is he okay ? can i see him ? “ 

“ take a breath, mr. nash. “ the doctor instructed him not unkindly, “ i’m doctor rice, i’m the one who treated him. your son’s going to be just fine, I can take you to see him right now, if you’ll just follow me. “ 

“ thank you, “ the words seemed hollow, seemed not enough as he spoke them but, she seemed to understand, once more giving him a kind smile before leading him past the double doors and into a quiet room where the lights were dimmed and it was only when they were in the quiet and he could see buck in his sights that what she had said finally filtered through;

your son’s going to be just fine

when she had first said that he had just focused, clung to the fact that buck was going to be okay that he hadn’t even really registered the wording she had used. it wasn’t the first time someone had mistaken buck as his kid, whether teasingly or seriously and he usually just shook his head, brushed it off, a few times with a smile, sometimes with a declaration that buck wasn’t his kid, but maybe it finally the weight of everything that had happened, maybe it was sitting across from buck at arbitration having their relationship pieced apart, maybe it was his wife’s words, maybe even it was the way buck looked at him with worry and fear when he had told him to go home, but maybe it was mostly standing in his kitchen with a nurse telling him that his kid was hurt...

… he just didn’t correct them this time, held onto it for just a little while longer. 

the early morning light filtered through the pale curtains of the room and cast a pale glow over the sleeping young man curled up in the chair.

“ like i explained he needed a transfusion just to be safe and antibiotics. after he was all cleaned up he crashed, been in and out since. “ 

bobby nodded, making his way to buck’s side, resting a shaky hand on the side of his face not hidden in the blankets and finally breathes. buck for his part snuffled in his sleep, leaning into the touch with the softest of sounds like nothing was wrong at all anymore. 

oh, kid … 

“ he should be fine to leave once he’s up, cuts were sealed up and he ran out the antibiotics and transfusion, just need to sign him out. “

“ thank you, really, thank you, “ she reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder with a sympathetic smile, “ i’ve been really worried about him, lately. “ 

“ i think we always worry about the ones we love, no matter how old they get, “ doctor rice said, shaking her head with a soft laugh, “ but your kid ? you don’t have to worry too much, he’s a hero, saved that guys life last night and the woman’s too, neither of them would have made it too long if he hadn’t found them when he did. “ 

confusion washed through him at her words and he found him fishing for words, all the thoughts that had been lurking and growing in the dark recesses of his brain falling away in the realization of her words, “ he didn’t … he didn’t do this ? “ 

similar confusion played across the doctor’s features before realization dawned and she immediately shook her head, eyes wide, “ oh, oh mr. nash i am so sorry i thought the nurse had explained his injuries, i had no idea .. “ she shook her head once more, features firm as she explained, “ your son didn’t hurt himself, from what i understand he found a woman with a man through her windshield of all things. the woman herself had a bleed in her brain and the man was in need of serious care as you can imagine and he managed to pull them over and keep them stable until help arrived, he saved their lives. “ 

“ it’s what he does, “ bobby said, a lump in his throat and a sad smile crossed his lips, fingers gentle as ever stroking along blonde curls, “ drives me crazy sometimes with it, “ 

“ don’t they all, “ was the fond response he got as she walked away, clipboard held to her chest, “ i’ll give you two the room, whenever he’s up just let the charge nurse know and they’ll set up with discharge. “ 

[911fox]

I know this is obvious but 001| 9-1-1. Also, 003| Evan Buckley and 003| Howie Han.

001 | 9-1-1:

Favorite character: ALL OF THEM I DON’T HAVE FAVORITES  (Athena & Buck)

Least Favorite character: Okay so Abby was one of my favorites, but imma put her here since the bitch disappeared. 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): 

Character I find most attractive: ALL OF THEM 

Character I would marry: ALL OF THEM 

Character I would be best friends with: ALL OF THEM

a random thought: yes (LA) firefighters are this hot 

An unpopular opinion: that it’s “just another procedural show”. it has a lot more heart, character development, etc than just the case elements. And all the cases are super exhilarating and sometimes emotional. 

My Canon OTP: Bathena, Maddie/Howie 

My Non-canon OTP: Buddie, ???

Most Badass Character: Athena fucking Grant

Most Epic Villain: the lady that kept getting into accidents for the insurance money lmfao

Pairing I am not a fan of: Buck/Taylor, but that didn’t last long. Howie and whoever that whore was that wouldn’t go see him in the fucking hospital after his accident. 

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I really feel like they’ve done a number on Buck this season. As much as I liked him and Abby, I don’t think so much of the first half of the season should have been about a character who’s no longer there. I mean he spent what, the first 6 episodes (out of 10) living in her place? and he was just way too extra about it for Buck. I get he needed some time to move on, but they weren’t together for that long. And I didn’t at all like that he actually gave into Taylor after being disgusted by her actions. Finally, I think all the stuff between him and Eddie is just baiting taken too far which is sad bc they have really built up a fanbase. 

Favorite Friendship: Athena/Hen 

Character I most identify with: Probably Maddie. I’ve never been abused like that, but I really feel her struggle to trust and let people in and her need for change. 

Character I wish I could be: Athena or Hen. I mean Athena handles every situation with a level head and doesn’t let anything get to her. The way Hen has stood up for herself and really paved her way is super inspiring. Neither take shit from anybody and would kill for the people they love. 

003 | Evan Buckley:

How I feel about this character: I love him, but not always his choices. He’s super frustrating sometimes, but he’s also had some great character growth since the first few episodes. 

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Abby (even tho the end of that relationship was handled poorly due to Connie leaving), Allie as I think it would be good for Buck to be in a stable relationship with someone age appropriate and they seemed to have a good connection, and I think there’s something interesting there with Eddie that could be explored. 

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: There’s many, but probably his relationship with Bobby. Bobby has really stepped up as not only a role model for Buck, but a father figure. Someone to help him tie his tie, someone to give him advice about women, someone to call him out when he’s being stupid. And Buck has really been there for Bobby as well and has gotten him to open up. I’m also enjoying seeing him in a different kind of female relationship with Maddie. 

My unpopular opinion about this character: I think some people dislike him bc of his attitude, but I find it’s changed a lot and he’s not as cocky. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I actually really wish they would explore something more than friendship with Eddie, but unfortunately I can’t see it happening :( it would be soooo hot tho. 

Favorite friendship for this character: I like how him, Hen, and Howie tease each other. I also like his relationship with Athena. How she went from disliking him to he’s always welcome in her home. 

My crossover ship: my brain can’t process this question 

003 | Howie Han:

How I feel about this character: He’s an actual cinnamon roll that I want to protect at all costs. 

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: MADDIE IS THE ONLY WOMAN WHO’S TREATED HIM LIKE HE DESERVES. 

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Same answer as the 2nd to last question. 

My unpopular opinion about this character: is there one? 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish he’d get more screen time! I feel like he’s kinda only there when they need him at times and hasn’t much had a story on his own. It seems like they are setting him up for something bigger in the next half which I’m excited about. 

Favorite friendship for this character: Probably his relationship with Hen. I really enjoyed their origin story and seeing Howie struggle early on not always being the man we know now. How he was afraid to stand up for what he knew was right as he felt isolated/powerless because of his ethnicity, but ultimately realized Hen had it much worse and he was changed for the better. 

My crossover ship: my brain still can’t process this question