6 or 13 for buddie (caretaker asks) 😊
(Loosely takes place during 3x18, though it’s not necessary to have seen that episode to read this. This is essentially a rescue on a train that went off the tracks, and is now suspended precariously over a cliff.)
It happened, Eddie would swear later, in a literal blink of an eye. One second, he had been staring fixated at Buck, negotiating his way carefully over the train car, and then Eddie had to blink, the sweat dripping in his eyes overwhelming his deep and constant need to always be looking at his husband, especially in dangerous situations like this one, and in that blink Buck was gone.
"Buck!” Eddie screamed, scrambling with wild abandon to the edge of the precariously perched train car, and there was Buck, there was his big-hearted and far too courageous husband, holding on by his fingertips to the only piece of metal he could grab, a piece that was starting to pull away from the rest of the train.
“Hold my hand.” Eddie said it as an order, a command, leaving no room for defiance, but as he had expected, Buck shook his head, ignoring Eddie’s outstretched hand.
“Eds, you can’t, I’ll pull you down with me,” Buck insisted, shaking his head, tears flooding his eyes.
There was so much Eddie wanted to say in that moment, how Buck was so important, so loved, so needed. How if Buck left him, a part of Eddie would go down with him and Eddie would never, never recover. How every day for the rest of their lives Eddie was going to remind his husband that he was worth so much more than he believed he was, that Buck sacrificing himself for others might save someone else but would doom Eddie.
But there wasn’t time. Buck was going to fall. So Eddie tried to sum up the entirety of his feelings about the most incredible man he had ever known, and all in a way that would guarantee Buck would take his hand and would let himself live.
“Christopher and I love you, so much, and we can’t do this without you, I swear Buck, we can’t do life without you anymore,” Eddie called out, not caring who else but Buck heard, letting the tremble in his voice sound and the love in his eyes shine, as he anchored himself in place and kept his hand outstretched. He let his wedding band catch the glow from the searchlights.
Eddie pulled him up quickly, pure aderaline, his muscles could hate him later, because Buck was in his arms and Eddie was rolling them off the train car seconds before it became a scrap heap of crumpled metal hundreds of feet below.
They clung to each other, shaking, uniforms covered in mud, faces soaked in tears. Grabbing Buck’s face between his hands, Eddie rested their foreheads together, making sure their eyes met.
“You are important, do you understand me?” Eddie pleaded, refusing to let Buck look away. “You are so important. I know that you want to save as many people as possible, and I love that about you. But getting everyone on that train out is not worth you falling to your death. You are worth everything to me and our son.”
Eddie let out a relieved breath when Buck nodded, and even in the darkness, under all the dirt, Eddie could see Buck’s cheeks flush pink under Eddie’s praise. He could hear Buck trying to silently keep more tears at bay, could feel his body jittering with the effort, and Eddie let out a soft sigh, tapping Buck’s chin and rubbing soft fingertips around his eyes.
“I’ve got you,” Eddie assured him, “it’s okay. I’ve got you, and I love you.” Buck nodded again, a shaky smile spreading across his face even as he let the rest of his tears fall.
“I love you too,” Buck whispered, resting his face in the crook of Eddie’s neck, and as Eddie wrapped his arms around his husband again, placed gentle kisses along Buck’s cheeks and jawline, Eddie heard the promise Buck was making.
