Chapter Text
Buck doesn't notice it at first.
Accidents happen in their line of work, and despite their training, despite all of the precautions and protocols they follow down to the letter, injuries are a common occurrence.
Bruises. Burns. Minor concussions.
They happen.
So it takes Buck nearly three weeks to really notice just how often they seem to be happening to Eddie.
When he thinks back on it, he kicks himself for not having noticed sooner. The ceiling collapse at the bodega fire should have alerted him right away. The team on the roof had already vented it and pronounced it as structurally sound (or as sound as a burning building can be), so when the corner crashed down — right where Eddie was standing — Buck should have realized something was wrong.
Instead, they all chalked it up to a freak accident. Some coincidental and unfortunate collision of shoddy workmanship, a vent that had come disconnected, and a freak gust of air that happened to feed the fire in that one specific area.
Honestly, Buck was too busy digging Eddie from the debris to give it much thought.
Thankfully, outside of some minor smoke inhalation and one wicked bruise on his shoulder blade from where a joist swung down and hit him, Eddie was given a clean bill of health.
Buck made a stop at a convenience store on the way home from the hospital that night, dragging a grumbling Eddie inside to buy a lottery ticket before he'd take him back to his place.
“Eds, you just survived a building falling on you with almost no injuries. Lady Luck is on your side!” Buck had grinned.
“This is ridiculous,” Eddie insisted, but even as he shook his head fondly, he was pulling out his wallet. "We make our own luck, Buck."
“Apparently we make our own rhymes, too," Buck grinned. "Come on, how awesome would it be if you hit the jackpot? And then you'll be thanking me for making this pit stop."
"Mmhmm."
They spent the rest of the drive home discussing what they would do if they became the next big winners, and Buck never even considered the events that lead to the collapse.
(The ticket won him $9)
A few days after that, it was a car accident.
Eddie was working to pull a woman from a car that had been pinned between a bus and a fire hydrant. The angle made it a little awkward and Eddie ended up heaving himself onto the hood for better access just as the cap of the hydrant flew off with so much force that, had he not moved out of the way, there’s a good chance it would have blasted right through him.
Buck had been working on freeing the bus driver and missed the initial commotion, but he saw the residual fear in Eddie's eyes as they both pulled their victims free. It was the same look they all got after a particularly close call. Like they couldn’t believe they made it out alive. But then there were more people to triage and help free, the fire hydrant to shut down, a small engine fire to extinguish.
When Buck saw Eddie again, he looked completely fine.
So Buck let it go.
Soon after that, Eddie ended up with a first degree burn on his wrist when his glove got caught on some twisted metal in a warehouse fire, yanking free just as the fire flared up around them. Buck and Ravi worked together that time to get Eddie out and over to Hen for treatment, thankful that the burn was relatively minor.
Two days ago was a near miss when another car accident had them rushing to get two children out from the back seat when a drunk driver nearly ploughed into them as they worked. Eddie jumped out of the way in the nick of time and they got the kids out safe and sound, but it was the first time Buck started considering just how unlucky Eddie had been.
He figured he was probably imagining it. Seeing patterns where only chaos exists, but the idea made a home in the back of his mind, burrowing deep, entirely unshakeable.
But then this happened.
And there’s sure as hell no way to brush it off any longer.
Buck hangs off the side of the cliff while Eddie is about thirty feet down, already approaching their stranded climber. The sudden prickle at the back of Buck's neck has him looking around, recognizing the feeling from long ago, knowing a powerful magic is happening around him. At first, he can't place it — no one is around aside from the rest of the team above, and Eddie and their unconscious climber below — but then he catches a flicker of movement just below him and to his right.
He watches in horror as Eddie’s line frays and unravels before his eyes, and there's something so inherently wrong in the way the fibers unweave, something so unnatural, that Buck realizes exactly what’s happening between one faltering heartbeat and the next.
"Eddie!" He screams, throwing himself into an uncontrolled descent, needing to get down to the man before his line snaps and he falls a few hundred feet to his death.
"Buck, what are you…" Eddie shouts from below, the words cutting off as his line breaks free.
Buck barely has time to see the flash of terror that contorts Eddie's features before he's slamming into him, wrapping an arm and leg around his body to keep him close as he brakes with his other hand, the rope pulling taut so fast that Buck's harness digs into flesh in a way that's sure to leave bruises come morning.
He almost loses his grip on Eddie as they jerk to a stop, but Eddie is quick to wrap his arms around Buck, squeezing tight until their momentum is no longer threatening to send him sailing into the abyss.
They work in tandem to get Eddie clipped to Buck's gear before the radio can even burst to life.
"Firefighter Diaz! Firefighter Buckley! Report!"
The note of panic in Bobby's voice makes Buck's chest tighten uncomfortably, and as soon as he can spare a hand without fear of losing Eddie, he reaches for the radio.
"Eddie's line snapped, Cap. I have him, but you need to pull us up now." Buck's voice cracks as he speaks, the adrenaline in his veins leaving him a little shaky already. He needs to get Eddie topside before whatever snapped his rope tries for round two.
"We're bringing you up. Hold tight," Bobby's voice crackles back, still tense but less panicked.
Buck makes sure he's got a good grip on Eddie, gear be damned, before they're being pulled back up the cliff, slow and steady. It surprises Buck just how comforting it is to feel Eddie against him — the rapid puffs of Eddie's breath against his neck as the fear begins to ebb, the tense pull of Eddie's muscles as he holds on tight to Buck — to feel physical proof that he's safe and alive and no worse for wear.
Mostly.
Eddie is clearly shaken but Buck can practically see him begin to compartmentalize his near death experience as they're hauled up the cliff. When Eddie finally speaks, his voice is steady, calm. "What the hell just happened?"
That's a damn good question. One Buck fully intends to find the answer to.
"Look, I'll explain everything. After shift. But right now I need you to trust me and do exactly what I say. Can you do that?"
They're halfway up and running out of time. Once they reach the top, this conversation is going to get a hell of a lot more difficult to have.
"Can I trust you?" Eddie repeats back, like it's the dumbest question that's ever been tossed his way. "Of course I trust you, Buck."
Something warm and bright and achingly beautiful blooms inside of Buck at the words, but he lets it take root completely unheeded, focusing all of his attention on keeping Eddie safe.
"I need you to wear this," Buck says, awkwardly reaching into his pocket to pull out a thin metal chain with a medallion in the center. To his credit, Eddie doesn't even question him, just helps Buck to slide the chain over the bulk of his helmet until it's settled around his neck, right below Eddie's St. Christopher pendant. Seeing it, Buck offers a silent prayer, knowing his pendant will offer more protection right now than Eddie's, but not willing to leave any stone unturned at this point.
He hasn't prayed since he was eight.
Once the necklace is in place, Eddie lifts the pendant, looking down at it curiously. "It's your tattoo."
"Uh. Yeah. It is," Buck says, far too concerned about keeping Eddie safe to pay any mind to the way it makes him feel that Eddie even noticed. "And like I said, I will explain everything. But right now I need you to sit in the firetruck and not come out."
For just a second, Eddie looks like he's about to argue, but the desperate look on Buck's face must be enough that his jaw snaps shut and he merely looks at Buck, awaiting an explanation.
"Please," Buck murmurs as they reach the top and everyone rushes forward to pull them up and over the ledge.
"What the hell happened?"
"Are you guys okay?"
"Any injuries?"
The questions come all at once, but Buck is still holding onto Eddie like he doesn't want to ever let go (he doesn't), and Eddie is still looking at Buck like he's seeing something deep inside of him that Buck has always kept hidden. It's not until they're being pulled apart, with Hen stepping in front of Eddie to give him a once over and Chim stepping in front of Buck to do the same, that Buck can finally answer.
"We're good Cap. Send me back down with a basket. The climber is out cold on a ledge and I can get him up on my own."
Bobby looks hesitant at first but he obviously trusts Buck's judgement enough that he nods his okay to the rest of the team, who jump into action to get everything ready. Suddenly Buck is back on the ledge, ready to go down and rescue the climber, alone this time. He's given the all clear to begin his descent but waits at the edge just a second longer — until Eddie has assured Hen that he's fine and Buck has watched him climb into the back of the firetruck — before he goes over once more.
Between the pendant and the guards Buck keeps on the truck (and has ever since the truck bombing incident that nearly killed him), he trusts that Eddie will be safe until they can figure out who the hell wants him dead so badly.
He rappels down slow and steady, fully focused on the task at hand now that Eddie is taken care of. It doesn't take long at all to load up the climber in the basket and send them up safe and sound, but as he climbs back over the ledge and catches the look on Eddie's face from where he's sitting in the truck, Buck realizes the most harrowing part of his day is yet to come.
Hen and Chim load up the climber in the ambulance, taking him off for the medical treatment he needs, while the rest of them work to pack up all the equipment they have out. When Eddie makes a move to get out of the truck to help Buck with the winch, Buck just gives his head a small shake and stops him before he can do more than open the door.
They may not be cliff-side any more, but that doesn't mean that Eddie couldn't still be seriously injured — or worse — if some sort of magic is still at play. Buck's not willing to take any chances, even if Eddie seems less than thrilled at being benched, and Bobby looks more than a little confused as to why Eddie isn't helping at all.
Despite the vein of tension that seems to be running through the scene, they have everything packed up and are back on the road in no time flat, the team working flawlessly together like they always do.
"Anything I need to know about what just happened out there?" Bobby asks from the front seat, turning to look at Buck even though his voice carries just fine through the headset.
"Equipment malfunction, Cap. I think the rope must have been damaged to start and then snagged on a jagged rock," Buck offers, hoping Bobby will leave it at that, even if that means they'll be doing a full equipment inventory when they get back to the station.
Bobby just looks at him for a moment — actually, they all stare at him as they make their way down the winding road — like he doesn't quite believe the lie, but has no reason to doubt it either.
"Okay. I'm taking us offline. We're doing full equipment checks on every single item on these trucks when we get back."
Bobby gives Buck one last look then shifts in his seat to face forward once again. And while Buck can see that Ravi is eying both Buck and Eddie with something caught between curiosity and suspicion, he keeps whatever thoughts he has to himself and the rest of the ride is spent in silence.
Which makes Buck realize that Eddie hasn't said a word since they were pulled up from the cliff face.
His gaze, though, hasn't left Buck for even a second.
Not that Buck can bring himself to meet his eyes. With Eddie's life on the line, Buck knows he has no choice but to be completely and totally honest with the man; Eddie is most definitely going to need to be on board for everything that's about to happen.
But Buck can't help but wonder if the truth about what's happening — the truth about who he really is — will be too much for Eddie. He's lost people in the past when he revealed the truth and he knows it's a very real possibility here, too. When it comes down to it, though, if losing his best friend is what it takes to keep Eddie safe, Buck will do it without question.
Even if losing Eddie would break his heart.
It's not until they're back at the station, safely parked and climbing out of the truck that Eddie finally speaks, pulling Buck to the side as everyone gets to work on their equipment inspections.
"Look. I don't know what's happening here and I have a feeling I'm not gonna like it when you tell me," Eddie says, intense but still quiet, standing so close to Buck that he can feel the heat radiating from Eddie's skin. "But whatever it is, you just saved my life. Thank you."
It's...not what Buck was expecting.
Neither is the hug Eddie pulls him into, though Buck returns the embrace after just a second or two, trying to ignore just how right it feels to have Eddie in his arms.
"You wanna come back to my place to explain things when we're done here? Chris is staying with Abuela tonight." Eddie pulls away with one last pat to Buck's back and Buck misses the contact, the comfort, already.
"Actually," Buck says, running his hands down the front of his uniform, smoothing out the wrinkles just to give himself something to do as his nerves get the best of him. "There's somewhere I'd like to take you. Somewhere safe we can talk."
Eddie shoots him a questioning glance but offers a slow nod, agreeing, once again, to trust Buck implicitly. It's a heady feeling, and one Buck isn't sure he'll ever get used to.
"Diaz. Buckley. We could use a hand here," Bobby calls out from the opened side of the truck, already pulling out every piece of equipment they keep stored in there.
"Coming, Cap!" Buck calls over his shoulder, then turns back to Eddie, lowering his voice as he says, "You're right. You're not gonna like it. But I promise I'll explain everything as soon as shift is over. Just. Don't leave the station until then, okay?"
"For the same reason I couldn't leave the firetruck at the scene?"
There's no judgement, no sarcasm. Just a genuine curiosity that helps to loosen the knot that's been forming in Buck's stomach since he first saw Eddie's rope unravel.
"Yeah."
"Okay," Eddie agrees so easily that Buck can't blink back his surprise. "Let's go check the equipment that I'm guessing is perfectly fine?"
Buck nods and smiles bashfully, following Eddie to the truck, both men working side by side as they inspect each and every piece of equipment for wear and tear that Buck knows they won't find.
It's...kind of nice.
So long as he ignores the fact that someone is trying to kill Eddie.