Chapter Text
“Dad, we have to find Buck. Dad!” One of Christopher’s trembling hands gripped Eddie’s shirt collar while the other shook his shoulder. “I lost him, Dad. He saved me, and then I couldn’t find him - you have to help me find him!”
Yards away on Eddie’s left from where he knelt on the concrete, Buck pitched forward and would’ve landed on his nose if Chim and Bobby hadn’t caught him. They helped him sit, and Hen started checking him out. At no point did he break eye contact with Eddie.
“DAD!”
Eddie scooped Chris up into his arms and bolted over to Buck. Without saying a word, he dumped his son onto his best friend’s lap. Then he took his son’s glasses and gently secured them around his head.
“Buck!” Christopher clung to Buck’s neck and started to sob.
“Hey, buddy, hey, oh my god, Christopher…” Buck’s entire body started to spasm with emotion. He hugged Chris tight, the boy’s cheek against his chest. “You’re ok, buddy. Me and your dad got you.”
“They…” Eddie opened and closed his mouth over and over as he looked between Bobby, Hen, and Chim. “They were at the b-beach.” The three firefighters exchanged shocked looks of horror.
“I never stopped looking for you,” Buck told Christopher. “I’m so sorry I lost you, buddy, I’m so sorry.” Buck looked up at Eddie and got out two words before he broke down weeping. “I’m s-sorry—”
Eddie fell to his knees. He pulled Chris against his right shoulder and Buck against his left and hugged them both with all his strength. “I love you, I love you, I love you both so much,” Eddie whispered as he kissed Chris on the head first and then Buck.
Chris squirmed. “Dad, you stink!”
Eddie snort-chuckled. “Me?” He sniffed and wiped his tears against his upper arm. “Buck smells like a… Buck?”
Buck suddenly turned to dead weight against Eddie’s arm. "Eds, I..." His head rolled back, eyes closed, lips slightly parted. The scratches across his face stood out bold against his white face, his tears like dead ponds in the muted light.
“BUCK!”
THE END