Chapter Text
Los Angeles, California
“My baby! Where's my baby!?”
His eyes followed the little boy being loaded up into the back of the ambulance, lurched forward searching for his mother despite the pain she had caused him. Bobby shook his head, he could never understand why someone would intentionally hurt their children just to keep them from doing what kids do. . .grow up.
‘Hey, Cap!’
Bobby turned, shoulders squaring as the younger man approached him.
‘Playin’ Captain today, Buck?’
The other man’s eyes widened, ‘What, no-I- you-Bobby-?’
He chuckled, ‘Relax kid, I’m just messin’ with ya.’
Buck, just that much more flustered, turned, watching both of the ambulances load up and take off. Another paramedic behind him responded to a different call, then his attention was brought back to the man in front of him. He was only slightly confused by his Captain’s presence, he was supposed to be enjoying one of those rare days off, but he would never pass up a chance to see his “pops.”
‘I didn’t think you were on call, Bobby?’
The older man shrugged, clearing his throat, ‘I was leaving a meeting, saw our engine, thought I’d check in.’
The boy chuckled, placing a hand on Bobby’s shoulder, ‘It is around lunch time if you’d like to-’
He rolled his eyes, cutting him off before he could get the words out, ‘Make sure you update, Eddie. His gut was right about this.’
He raised a brow, shaking his head, ‘You really want me to tell Eddie that he was right, we’ll never hear the end of it.’
‘Sorry ki-’
Time slowed in that moment, a warm spray of liquid painting the side of Buck’s face as Bobby’s body jerked forward from the force of a bullet. The older man’s eyes widened, the breath leaving his lungs as the burn of the lead lodged between his ribs. The two men’s eyes locked for a moment, shock evident between them.
‘Buck. . .’
Buck felt a hard tug on his hip as he watched another bullet tear through the older man’s abdomen, the force of the second bullet knocking Bobby to the ground.
He felt another sharp tug as a man yanked him behind a fire engine just as another bullet ricocheted off the front bumper. He felt a hand on the back of his head, keeping him out of the line of fire while calls were frantically yelled into radios.
‘Shots fired! Shots fired!’
‘Firefighter down! I repeat we have a firefighter down! Requesting back up and additional RA units!’
‘Shots fired!’
Bobby lay twisted on his side, a pool of blood growing beneath him as precious seconds ticked by. His eyes flickered, there was a desperate sheen to them, a fear the younger man had never witnessed before. Buck squeezed his own eyes shut, he couldn’t bear to see that expression so deeply set on his father figure’s face.
When he reopened his eyes, Bobby was unconscious and limp on the asphalt. That broke Buck out of his stupor as he pulled away from the paramedic that had saved his life and crawled underneath the fire engine to grab hold of the man’s arm and drag him out of the line of fire. All while he was praying his movements wouldn’t attract the sniper.
‘Firefighter needs help! Firefighter needs help!’
As Buck dragged him the rest of the way from the engine, a visceral scream left Bobby’s throat at the force of the pull. He hated that he had caused the man pain, but at least he was conscious now. The younger man hovered over him for a moment, hands pressing desperately at the blood pumping freely from his wounds. Bobby struggled to pull in oxygen as the rest of his body descended into shock.
‘Bobby! Bobby, look at me! Look at me please!’
The man’s graze sluggishly panned over Buck’s face, raw pain filtering through his dark irises, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and consciousness left him again.
‘No! No, don’t do this to me Bobby!’
The same paramedic that had shoved Buck out of the line of fire crouched down at his side, giving him a look as he grabbed for Bobby’s legs and together, they quickly hoisted the man through the door and over the seats of the fire engine, pulling to doors shut and calling out to their driver to floor it.
‘Back up! Back up, back up, back up!’
‘Bobby, stay with me. Stay with me, please.’
His dark eyes fluttered open, locking onto Buck’s, ‘You hurt, kid?’
He looked down at himself, the blood splattered across his face and chest, ‘No, no, no, I’m good. Just stay with me, Cap! Bobby!’
‘Come on! Come on!’
He turned his attention back to Bobby and ripped the pale blue polo open, revealing the angry, mottled wounds. Buck winced at the sight, tears threatening the corners of his eyes, but he couldn’t let them fall, he had to be strong., ‘It’s ok, three minutes out, three minutes out.’
Bobby’s eyes rolled into the back of his head once again as someone placed an oxygen mask over his face just as he began to struggle for breath and Buck continued to press gauze pads to the man’s chest, his other hand cupping the back of the man’s head in part to keep it stable, but more to bring himself some sort of comfort.
‘You can’t do this to me! Please pops, please. . .’
They came to a jerky halt in the center of the emergency room drop off just as Bobby spit up blood in the oxygen mask. Buck jumped from the back of the engine, meeting the medical crew as they came to a stop with the gurney in front of him. Bobby’s feet came out first, and he grabbed hold of his thighs to help drop him gently down onto the stretcher.
‘Large caliber?!’
‘It was a sniper!’
XXX
“. . .Multiple reports of shots fired. LAFD in need of assistance. No casualties reported.
Athena sighed, pulling the radio from its dock, ‘727-L-30 responding.’
“Be advised, sniper still at large.”
‘Copy.’
She pulled up behind the search and rescue SUV, ducking slightly behind her steering-wheel as she clipped on her body-cam and pulled her gun from her hip. She pushed her shop door open, squatting behind it for cover, searching up toward the buildings across the street, hoping to catch a glint off the sniper's scope.
Back-up pulled in behind her, tires squealing full stop and she looked up in confusion as Officer Davis jogged out from the shop toward her. They must have received information she hadn’t if he was leaving the cover of his car.
‘Sergeant Grant!’
Athena pinned the younger man with a look, pulling her sunglasses off so he could feel the full effects of her glare, ‘Now do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?’
The younger officer swallowed loud enough for her to hear, and she had to hold back a smirk, but something in the man;s eyes caught her attention and that's when she knew something was wrong.
‘Sergeant, you’ve been redirected to First Presbyterian.’
She shook her head, ‘Mhm nmh, I am not doing clean up at the-’
‘Ma’am, it's your husband.’
The breath in her lungs stalled for a moment. What could have possibly happened? She was fifteen hours into a twenty-four hour shift when she had gone home for some breakfast, and Bobby was just getting in from his own shift. They had eaten some oatmeal together before he left her with a kiss, promising to get some rest.
‘I love you, baby. Home safe.’
That was six hours ago.
Has there been an incident at home? A break-in? A mugging? A car accident? Or God forbid, did he relapse? There were so many questions filtering through her mind, but one thing was for sure, her husband was hurt and she needed to get to him.
She turned from the officer without another word, ready to jump in her patrol car and speed off to the hospital to get the answers she so desperately needed.
With one boot in the car, she saw a crime-scene tech place a tag down by a large pool of blood and drag marks left behind by a body just a few feet from her.
‘Athena!”
Her head snapped toward the sound of the voice, where she saw Rick jogging up to her. He reached a hand out to place it on her shoulder and suddenly everything slotted together in her mind.
‘Rick. . .’
He shook his head, ‘Bobby was the lone victim Athena. It's looking like the sniper is targeting firefighters.’
A shaky breath left her throat, eyes flashing between the pool of what she now knew as her husband’s blood and the face of the man who was there the last time a man she loved had been shot.
‘I-I need-I need to get to him.’
‘I’m not letting you drive. Davis, over here!’
The young man was by their side in less than a second, a slight pant leaving his mouth as he stood next to them.
‘Take Sergeant Grant to First Presbyterian. We’ll have an officer posted at Captain Nash’s room until we’re sure of the motive behind this shooting.’
Athena’s eyes widened, surely no one had targeted her husband specifically? Firefighters received praise for their work, cops were typically the ones who had to worry about being shot down no matter the time of day, especially if they had rubbed the right person wrong.
Whatever the cause of the shooting was, she would run the last lead down to the ends of the Earth if she had too.
To be continued. . .