Evan Buckley has a good heart, it’s not a secret. So when he finds a stray dog, he can’t let him in the street. It’s a dalmatian, the symbol of firefighters. Buck needs to convince his boys to adopt the dog. Christopher falls in love the second he meets Jax, but Eddie needs a little more convincing.
Written for @911crackweek Day 5: Non human outsider POV
Link to AO3
The explosion comes from deep within Ladder 118. She feels her walls expand and contract and she’s barreling through the pavement sending everyone inside flying. She ends up on her side, collapsing in the middle of the street.
She tries to keep tabs on everyone and she senses most of her firefighters are out safe.
Most.
She panics when she realizes someone is missing from the headcount and a teenager is running around her with a bomb strapped to his chest.
Buck wiggles underneath her and Ladder 118 groans in frustration. She has landed over own of her own.
Maybe even her favorite firefighter.
And she might be killing Buck, but there’s nothing she can do about it.
“Get me the captain!” the teenager yells.
Ladder 118 knows Captain Han is here. She has faith in him, he will save them all.
Then the teenager sees Captain Han, but he doesn’t want him… he only wants Bobby and Bobby is not-
“Freddie.”
A wave of relief takes over her the moment she hears Bobby’s voice.
That’s the boy from that restaurant fire. Ladder 118 doesn’t know him, but she’s heard Bobby talk about him and his father.
“Thought you’d be on the truck.”
“I’m here now,” Bobby replies.
Ladder 118 slips in and out of consciousness. She fights it, but can’t stay aware of her surroundings for more than a few seconds at a time.
“What about him?” Bobby demands and Ladder 118 only wants to keep Buck safe right now. She knows she’s gone, but Buck still has a chance. “He’s got parents, a sister, a girlfriend and he never did anything to you. He wasn’t even a firefighter when your father burned down that restaurant.”
Everything turns black again.
She wakes up with Captain Han standing beside her.
It’s over.
Is it over?
“Just hang in there, Buckaroo.” Captain Han’s voice gives her a sense of security. A certainty that Buck will be alright.
“Alright. Let’s try to lift this off him, yeah?”
They are trying to move her, lift her up but she’s too heavy, they know she’s too heavy and she can’t help them at all.
“We got anything on the truck we can use for leverage?” Bobby asks, but no, she doesn’t have anything in her to help.
She’s helpless and she’s going to end up taking Buck with her.
A swarm of civilians surround her after a few minutes and Buck screams in agony.
“He’s almost clear. Hold it.” Captain Han yells while still holding on to Ladder 118.
“Keep pulling!” Someone else eggs them on.
“All right. We got him out. We got him out,” Eddie reassures the group of people.
Buck is safe in Eddie’s hands and nothing else matters anymore.
Darkness unfolds around her as she hits the pavement one last time. It’s Eddie’s turn to take care of Buck.
Characters: Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley, Howie "Chimney" Han, Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Bobby Nash
Additional Tags: Crack, Knives, Hilarity Ensues, 9-1-1 Crack Week (9-1-1 TV), One Shot, Ficlet, Non-human POV, Injury, How Do I Tag
Summary: There's a face off between two tall boys.
***
His life span hasn’t been long, but he’s seen much of the world pass by.
Young children playing games in the back-seats of cars, full of complicated hand gestures and shouted words. Older people battling with the hoses and punching the air in triumph when they manage to untangle them. Broad men sat on the steps of their trucks, gesticulating as they speak on their mobile phones, or wolfing down some semblance of food before jumping back into the driver’s cabin and swinging their enormous metal beasts back onto the road, to join the other cars that thunder by.
All these things fascinate him.
Though he doesn’t have anyone to keep him company, he still wants to express his thoughts on all he sees. Though he doesn’t have a voice, he still wants to talk about the world around him.
And so, he dances.
It’s a simple life, standing proudly in the forecourt of the gas station on the corner of East 19th and Newport, but one that’s largely uninterrupted for a while. That is, until two young men, with matching grins and another man trailing behind them with a resigned expression on his face, get out of their car and approach him.
The knives that are attached to his arms aren’t particularly heavy, but they throw off his balance and he finds his movements somewhat restrained. He can tell from the glint of the metal, and the way the third man shouts out that this is definitely the stupidest thing they’ve come up with to date, that he’ll have to be careful.
And so, he puts a little more effort into keeping the blades away from his body, arms flung out wide.
Not even an hour later, an ambulance and a different type of truck pull up into the gas station. Four men and one woman jump out, and immediately stop in their tracks before pressing themselves against the side of the vehicles.
He tries to keep his head still, to gauge the severity of the situation from their expressions. The eldest of them, who everyone eventually turns to look at, cycles through anger and annoyance, before he yells out a couple of commands to his team and storms off towards the shop.
The two men that were standing with him look at each other, the taller of them cocking his head to the side, eyebrows crinkled in confusion, whilst the other’s eyes widening almost comically before he rolls them.
The man from the ambulance folds his arms and gives him a once-over, and the woman quirks up an eyebrow before muttering something under her breath. The two of them make quick work of capturing the culprits, and they’re swiftly bundled into a police car, driven by a woman who manages to promptly shut up the protests of the three men. In the meanwhile, the other two have set up a cordon, leaving him free to swing his arms without worrying about any stray passers-by falling into range.
It looks like they’re waiting for something, but the tallest of the men keeps looking over at him, each glance revealing a growing determination.
The last glance is followed immediately by him running full-pelt towards him, followed by an anguished cry of “Buck!”
Buck ducks and weaves as he nears. He’s not entirely sure what Buck’s intending to do, particularly since his own movements are growing less and less predictable, even to him.
Try as he might, he can’t avoid him. As he sees red drip onto the concrete, he wonders once again just what colour his own blood would be.
There’s a grunt and his question is answered. He feels the air leaking from his side and the life leave his arms and he slowly furls downwards. If this is dying, it’s the reverse of being born.
By the time he’s pressed against the ground, face sideaways and half deflated, he realises he’s not dead, just temporarily defeated. He’ll just need patching up.
On that note, Buck’s lying on the floor, still gasping from exertion, and his partner is crouching down next to him, trying to cover up Buck's wounds.
“You're an idiot.” The words don’t hold too much heat though, not when combined with how concerned the man looks as he swipes a clear liquid over the gash on Buck's cheek, and smooths on a band-aid.
“Uh-huh - ow – you think I'm not gonna - OW - fight you on that – geez, Eddie!”
“I thought you were a badass?” Eddie gives a particularly sharp yank to the bandage he's wrapping around Buck's exposed forearm. It sounds like a conversation they’ve had before.
“I am!” The last word comes out on a pained whine and Eddie is treated to a glare.
“I didn't see anyone else stepping forwards.” Right – seems like this Buck is the reckless type, acting before he thinks, leaping before he looks. Edddie does not seem pleased by that, at all.
“That's because I know better than to put myself in front of flailing knives.” Eddie rolls his eyes at Buck’s affronted sigh.
“Hen, can you talk some sense into Eddie – somebody had to do something...”
Hen looks down, and mutters, “you certainly did something alright.”
Eddie sits back onto the ground. “Okay, I think that's everything – any more cuts?” Eddie’s eyes take a while to scan over Buck, his lips pressed together as though there’s more he wants to say, but he’s holding back.
Buck props himself up on his uninjured arm and heaves out a reedy breath, looking over himself before shaking his head.
"I still saved the day." Buck’s already puffing out his chest. The man from the ambulance takes a step forwards, moving to say something. Eddie blurts out, "we were just gonna switch it off from the mains."
"…Oh…"
Buck deflates in a way that's too reminiscent of his own flattened self, almost as red faced too.
Hen roars with laughter behind Eddie and the man smacks his hand against the side of the ambulance in an attempt to stay upright whilst in silent hysterics.
“Hey now, the damage isn't that bad. Chim, tell him!” Chim, the man with tears of laughter in his eyes, just waves a hand at Buck instead.
Eddie gives Buck two raised eyebrows in response, pointedly looking at Buck’s cheeks and his left forearm, before clearly deciding that Buck isn’t going to change his ways, no matter how much his face screams of worry.
Buck grunts as he lets himself be pulled to his feet, and the captain returns, just in time for there to be a flurry of movement.
It takes both of them a little time to realise what's happened, between the distracting ouch and another peal of laughter.
There’s Hen with her forehead pressed against the side of the ambulance, Chim lying on the floor clutching his stomach, and Eddie looking shell-shocked. None of them are looking at Buck.
Buck, standing in the middle - arms outstretched, short sleeves in tatters, his hair dragged to ridiculous heights, and the right leg of his uniform in a bunched heap around his ankle.
Buck looks up with such a mournful expression that he almost feels sorry for him.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Characters: Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Karen Wilson
Additional Tags: Crack, 9-1-1 Crack Week (9-1-1 TV), 9-1-1 Crack Week 2020, day 7: free choice, Mind Reading, Eddie Diaz is a Mind Reader
Summary:
Eddie has a new talent, which may end up being very useful.
My contribution to @911crackweek 2020! This was so fun to write and @matan4il and @adamngoodbuck did an amazing job organizing! Everyone who contributed had amazing content and I’m so glad this happened! Hope y’all enjoy!
