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When the stars are the only things we share, will you be there?
Buck shook his head, holding the map down on the table so that the wind wouldn’t claim it. He couldn’t have the wind take anything else from him. It already had someone.
“Even if we can’t get a search party together until the morning, Bobby… we have to do something. Please.” Buck wasn’t begging, but he was about to. Eddie was lost, somewhere up in the wild mountains of LA. They’d been putting out a wildfire that was claiming all the dry bushes by the Hollywood sign and the wind had shifted, forcing them to send someone to the other side of the fire. Eddie had run off without another word and they hadn’t seen him since.
He was missing in the acres and acres of brown and yellow and burning orange. They still needed to get the fire put out, and with the sun setting, the police couldn’t gather enough people to send out a group with flashlights. Especially not with a fire billowing with every gust of wind.
The 118 was forced to continue to work tirelessly, trying to calm the embers so that they could go find their teammate.
Buck wasn’t even working anymore, just following around the IC, and Bobby, and all the other captains who were on the scene. He stood just outside of the door and listened in on the meeting the police held in the handy little police tent they’d set up. Then when he heard them say that they needed someone to find volunteers, Buck went crashing through the zipper and held up his hand.
He sent a mass text to all of his contacts, a voice note explaining what was wrong and begging them to bring flashlights, friends, and food. He sent out a list of things he knew Eddie liked, just in case anyone found him and he needed a snack. Eddie got sleepy when he didn’t eat enough, and Buck was worried about his blood sugar. He’d been lost in the LA heat for almost 2 and half hours.
Buck had seen what could happen to people in that time, and moments after texting people, he began to get responses. Some people he hadn’t spoken to since his Buck 1.0 days responded to say they were on their way.
15 minutes later they had 20 people searching the side of the mountain for Eddie. Buck had called Chris and told him what had happened, and while it killed him to have to listen to Chris crying and begging Buck to let him help, Buck knew he couldn’t let him. He needed to stay with Carla, and Buck knew Eddie would agree.
Buck tried to ignore the what ifs? Tried to ignore the voice in his head that whispered “what would you do if he died?” The voice that wondered how Buck would feel if after he finally told Eddie how he felt, Eddie was lost to the winds of LA.
He’d never even gotten to hear Eddie's response, since the tones had gone off as soon as the words had left his mouth. Just Buck’s luck, whisper the words I love you and then never see him again. Buck sank onto the bumper of the engine, feeling the ghost of Eddie beside him. His eyes flickered and he could remember every time he sat against that very same bumper with his best friend beside him.
Then his phone buzzed with a voice message from Albert.
They found him.
▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။၊|• 0:20
He was alive.
He was on a stretcher and they were pulling him into the back of an ambulance. Buck was following close behind, holding onto Eddie’s hand, prepared to say they were dating. It would be a lie, it would be illegal, but Buck was worried sick, and his mom was a police sergeant.
But no one stopped him, maybe he’d scared a few people…by accident… maybe it was the yelling, or the slamming of maps onto tables… but Eddie was safe. He was dehydrated, he’d been out in the sun for too long, and they were taking him to the hospital. It would be a tough recovery, and Buck was just glad he hadn’t had to use the what ifs.
He climbed into the back of the ambulance just as Eddie opened his eyes and smiled at him. His thumb skidded along Buck’s fingers and he swallowed to say something. Buck shook his head quickly, placing another hand on Eddie’s.
“No, Eddie, don’t try to talk. You’re safe, we’re safe, they’re taking you to the hospital.”
Eddie shook his head and looked down at Buck’s hand, tapping it once, then four times, and then three times.
I love you.
Buck smiled, holding up Eddie’s hand and pressing his lips to his fingertips. “I love you back.”
I will remember your face, ‘cause I’m still in love with that place.