Work Text:
Burning Rain
by 0hedvig0
Smoke that before was pouring out of the vents, was now replaced by pure burning rain. The sudden scorching heat was a shock against the body and even if the backup came into view- carrying the civilians into safety- it didn’t calm Buck’s quick breaths and heart. The image of fire swallowing Eddie and the child whole, burned more at his eyes than the fire itself.
Buck’s scream “Eddie!” tore through the raging sound of fire. His pulse thumped loud in his ears when he climbed over some debris he hadn’t noticed falling down from the ceiling. “Eddie!” Buck’s first instinct was to tear the heavy piece of vent shielding Eddie and the child from the fire directed right at them. But the logical side of him quickly stopped him and he breathlessly checked every way possible to help Eddie.While an idea came to mind, he took the time to check on them.
“Eddie” Buck breathed repeatedly when crawling as close as possible- the light and heat almost blinding him. “Eddie please answer me” Buck’s pleading - muffled by the mask- sounded wrong, broken, when he sighted the helmet belonging to his best friend. Buck twisted his body enough to see the face. He didn’t know what the reason of making the stinging in his eyes, but in a quick motion, he carefully reached under the piece of metal -risking to be burnt- to cup Eddie’s face and see if he got a reaction out of it. The stirring of eyes left Buck feeling relieved and he quickly got up. If he leaned the piece of metal just right, then the fire would be directed away from him and the other two.
Buck turned to see if there was any other firefighter free to help him, but came up short and he didn’t have time to wait- no seconds to spare. He grabbed onto the heated metal and took a stance. Within seconds he felt the burning sting in his hands and he grinded his teeth while willing the pain away. Muscles tensed, sweat rolled down and mixed with fallen tears when Buck growled by the heavy weight that was unwilling to move. “Come on, come on” slipped through Buck’s lips, nothing special but sounding like a prayer with the hell’s of fire surrounding him- claws of flame trying to grab onto anything coming in its way. Buck could feel the skin on his hands starting to sizzle and a whine sounded low in his throat, but the metal refused to move and his whole body shook with fatigue. “Please, just this once” Buck closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then he pushed with every last energy he could gather. The metal groaned in protest of being moved, but it moved. Moving it enough to put the shoulder beneath, Buck pushed even more- finding renewed energy by the hope. Heavy breathing fogged the mask and whimpering came out without permission. Just a little more, then Buck could reach Eddie.
Buck’s hands was slippery against the glove’s ruined fabric, when he took a new hold - changing angle on them- and his eyes stung by the crucial pain seering in them. Taking a step backwards, Buck slipped and knocked down some debris laying next to Eddie and Buck hunched a little lower by the sudden heavy pressure his slipping caused. The foot then thumped against Eddie’s shoulder and he quickly glanced down at the couple who was looking like they were sleeping. The child was almost not visible, only fingers peeking out from under Eddie’s larger body. In the last moment before passing out, Eddie had shielded and held the child secured in his arms. Buck swallowed, barely being able to tear his gaze from them “Quickly! Someone grab them!” his voice carried long enough to have firemen moving closer in the heavy smoke and saying something unclear in Buck’s ears. He was too busy taking of his mask- hand and legs shaking by the effort- and holding his breath to not breath in the poison. Carefully he lowered the mask to Eddie’s face to make it clear to the others that he was missing one - not trusting his voice to carry words to the others- and signaling the amount of time Eddie been without a mask.
Gloved hands took a hold on Eddie, pulling him out with the child. Buck raised his eyes by the voice “We’re coming back for you, alright” and he nodded at the fireman and raised the mask onto his face again. Buck’s fingers, complaining by the movements, slipped when he went to secure the mask. It was enough for him to lose focus and his legs gave out, folding themselves under him, his face smashing into the floor- the mask flying and gliding over the floor to other side. The metal groaned again by the sudden change of direction. Seeing the blurry image of Eddie being lifted and carried out, Buck scrambled as best his muscles could do to get away. But it wasn’t enough. Reality was like moving underwater and the smoke making him feel like he was drowning. Buck felt the air pressure from the metal closing in, soon to be crushing him. Skin shivering. Body screaming by every push. Mind screaming to not stop fighting. A breath slipped out “Eddie”.
“Gotcha!” a voice groaned and Buck huffed a wet laugh, glancing at the ones holding him alive. Another set of hands grabbed onto him och he let himself being dragged away.
Holding the oxygen mask against his face, Buck sat by the fire truck hunching tiredly. Thick bandages covered every blister and flesh wounds- just a temporary solution- on his hands. Huffing eagerly at the fresh air, Buck let himself linger his gaze on the figure by another fire truck. Eddie nodded slowly at something Hen said, not meeting her eyes. Probably scolding him for not going to the hospital, Buck thought with a snort and closed his eyes while leaning backwards against the cold metal.
The fire had been put out and what he’d heard, there hadn’t been any victims, not yet at least. He knew the poison of the smoke was moving around in a lot of people’s bodies right now, a risk to slowly suffocate. Several times he’d found himself drifting back to the apartment and every time he was forced to live through the horrible scene of Eddie disappearing into the flames.
The touch by his neck startled Buck, his eyes flew open and saw the sooty face belonging to the hand cupping his neck. Tired eyes gazed down at him, the lips moving to the words “You okay?” and hearing the voice, Buck let out a breath -lowering the oxygen mask- and his lips stretched into a great smile. Eddie’s stomach turned by the smile directed at him, screaming that Buck was relieved seeing him. Fingers squeezed at Buck’s neck and Eddie could feel the soft beating of his pulse beneath his fingers, telling him of the life running through this body and he found comfort at it. It had been close, the lungs told Eddie so much. He knew Buck soon would force him to go to the hospital and he knew he would let himself be forced.
“I can’t believe Hen’s letting you walk around” Buck chuckled, leaning his head to the side while taking in the image of Eddie now shrugging “Who said anything of letting me” and looking over his shoulder- letting his hand falling from Buck’s neck. Which only meant Eddie had escaped the clutches named Hen and Buck found himself laughing, but the sound quickly quiet down when the pain in his hands reminded him of everything that had happened. Eddie noticed the sudden change of mood and turned to look at his friend, brows furrowed and eyes searching for clues. They stopped at the heavily bandaged hands- one of them holding an oxygen mask- and Eddie felt his throat thicken.
The tormented eyes - staring at Buck’s hands- blinked by the “Oh, oh. Someone’s in trouble” Buck coughed while glancing at something behind Eddie. Eddie scrunched his face, just waiting for the “Eduardo Diaz, you stubborn piece of” Hen’s voice carried loud and clear and he opened one of his eyes, glancing down at Buck's face who portrayed sympathy. A hand grabbed onto Eddie’s arm and started leading him away- Hen muttering words Eddie never would let Christopher hear- he glanced over his shoulder “See you at the hospital?” and Buck nodded with a small smile “Yeah, of course”. Their eyes locked onto each other for a second, before Eddie turned his attention to Hen. Watching Eddie leave, Buck felt a punch in his chest. The thick and raspy coughing coming from Eddie sounded really bad, which did anything to ease Buck’s nerves. Gnawing at his bottom lip, Buck forced himself to stay and not following into the ambulance.