Work Text
Eddie sighs as he pulls into the driveway. He’s beat. Work had the whole team running through the wringer, and that was just before lunch. The over time is hardly worth it after days like this. His eyes are gritty and begging for sleep. At least he’ll have the next two days off to recoup. Maybe he can finally catch up on the pile of laundry collecting dust on his bedroom floor.Or at least that’s the plan for all of five minutes before shit hits the fan.Eddie’s tugging his bag out of the backseat of his truck when someone comes up behind him. He doesn’t think much of it; people like to go for runs in the area. It’s near popular trails and parks. But most of those people don’t rush up pointing a knife in Eddie’s face, demanding:“Belongings. Now.”Eddie turns over his shoulder, having not understood what he said in the rush of it all, and earns a knife in his side right above his hip when he doesn’t respond fast enough.Startled and now in full fight mode, Eddie tries to right himself and protect his face, but the movement aggravates his injury. He groans loudly, clutching his side as he whirls around and his attacker gets three grimy fingers around the clasp of his watch and yanks until it comes free. Eddie rears his elbow up and lets it collide with the guys face. Cartilage cracks under bone and Eddie barely even breathes again before the faceless wannabe robber takes off on foot.Despite the urge, Eddie doesn’t chase after him. The adrenaline is already leaving him and the pain is kicking in. He inspects the stab wound with a grit of his teeth. There’s a small pool of blood in his palm when he takes his hand away from his side. It’s not very deep, and the blade itself wasn’t much more than an inch wide, thankfully. It won’t even need stitches, by Eddie’s calculations.Well. He might as well clean this up himself.Eddie shoulders his bag, moseying slowly inside. He unlocks the door with his free hand, the other one still cupped against his bleeding hip. His duffle bag drops onto the kitchen table as he passes it. The zipper on the first aid kit hums its familiar tune as Eddie fumbles with it. He lays two thick pieces of gauze over the wound and tapes it down.Eddie has just changed into a clean, not stab wound afflicted shirt when he hears his back door open and shut. His first thought is that his attacker has decided to come back and finish the job for some reason. His second thought, the one that is always lingering in the back of his mind, is that maybe Christopher has finally come home. Maybe they can finally talk and bridge the distance that’s been between them these last few months.There’s not much time to let his hope or his fear lean one way or another when he hears: “Eddie you here?”Buck?Wide eyed, Eddie makes sure he’s washed all the blood from his hands and walks back to the kitchen. Buck is standing in the doorway, already sans shoes like he plans on being here for a while. “Hey… what’s up?”Buck sighs, his head dropping back on his shoulders. “It sounds stupid, but if I have to be alone in my apartment I might die. Today would’ve been mine and Tommy’s anniversary and I can’t even look at my kitchen island right now. I know you probably want to sleep but do you mind if I… hey, what happened to your watch?”“What?”Buck taps his wrist bone, still looking intently at Eddie’s. “Your watch. I watched you put it back on at the end of shift like you always do. Where’d it go?”Eddie looks down, the faint tan line around his wrist bone laughing at him. His hands grow clammy all of the sudden. “Oh, the uh- the buckle has been bent the wrong way for a while, it must’ve come off or something. I’m not worried about it.”“Really? You love that watch. Didn’t Chris get it for you?”Eddie’s stomach churns thinking about it. It was the last Father’s Day before he reenlisted. Shannon helped Christopher wrap it all neatly and stuck a bow on top. Eddie still has the hand-made card Christopher drew for him that year; he couldn’t imagine ever throwing it away. He keeps everything Christopher makes him; always has always will.“Yeah, but that’s alright. He can get me a new one. Just a watch, right?Buck narrows his eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”“Nothing.” He curls his fingers into fists when he notices them start to shake. His chest feels a little funny, too, now that Eddie thinks about it.“No, something’s up. You would never be so casual about losing something Christopher got for you. I watched you turn my living room upside down one time because that the clasp broke on that key chain he got you on his field trip. You wouldn’t leave till you found it, remember?”“I-I remember.” Eddie’s mouth is horribly dry all of the sudden. It’s getting harder to focus his eyes. He thinks he might need to sit down. “Listen, do you mind if we-.”“Oh my god, you’re bleeding.”“What?” Eddie looks down and sure enough, there’s a bright red patch slowly soaking through his shirt. “Shit, I thought I covered it well enough.”“You- what? How did this happen? When did this happen?”Eddie averts his eyes, pursing his lips. “I uh, might’ve gotten mugged outside right before you got here.” “Why didn’t you say something earlier? Did you at least call somebody?” Eddie looks at Buck like he's sprouted another face. “No? The last thing I need is Athena showing up here at this hour. Besides it was just my watch that he took.”“Eddie, he literally stabbed you.”"Okay... and? I’m a paramedic.""Sweet Jesus," Buck replies, rolling his eyes. “No wonder you’re so pale. I thought it was the shitty lighting in here.”“Hey!” Eddie retorts, but there’s not even a little bit of heat behind it. The force of his words takes the last vestiges of his energy, leaving him to stick his hand out and grab the chair in front of him before his knees give out altogether.Buck appears at his side in a second, easing him down onto the seat. In the blink of an eye, Buck’s got his first aid kit out again, rooting through it. He pulls out a pair of gloves, the antiseptic, and a fresh pack of gauze patches. “You don’t have to do that.”“Let me.”“It’s not fatal, Buck, I already-.”“Just let me.” Buck insists, eyes steely and firm.Eddie’s jaw clacks shut. He rolls back the end of his shirt, cursing himself for the extra laundry he’s going to have to do after this. The world has stopped spinning now that he’s not standing anymore. That’s something at least.Buck is meticulous as he goes through the steps of cleaning up the wound, narrating everything like he would if this was a call they were responding to. It only takes him a minute to decide that they don’t need to make an emergency room visit; it’ll scar, but a single stitch isn’t going to change that fact. “You’re lucky this wasn’t any worse.” Buck says. “If this had been any deeper, he could’ve done some real damage.”“Do I need to remind you that I’ve been shot? More than once?”Buck lightly smacks the outside of Eddie’s arm with his knuckles. “You know what I mean. If you get seriously hurt while on my watch, Christopher would never let me hear the end of it.“Didn’t realize both of you were keeping tabs on my well-being.” Eddie sighs, his head resting back against the seat. “You know, I think this the first time I’ve been relieved he’s not here.”The color leaves Buck’s face. The light fizzles out behind his eyes.He hates himself for even saying it, much less thinking it. It’s not what he means, not by a long shot, but he knows that Buck understands him anyways. Eddie doesn’t want to think about the freaked out look that would’ve been on Christopher’s face had this happened in front of him. He’s just a kid; he shouldn’t have to see his dad get hurt all the time.He shouldn’t have to feel like he can’t be around his dad all the time either.“Have you talked to him?”Eddie shrugs. “A week or so ago. I tried asking about him coming for Thanksgiving but he wouldn’t budge. And its our year in rotation for Christmas so-.”“So you couldn’t go to Texas even if you wanted to,” Buck finishes for him. “I know it’s gotta be hard, being this far from him. But it’s like they say. This too shall pass, right? You guys are just having a rough patch. Chris won’t be away from you forever, Eddie.”Eddie nods. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”“Alright,” Buck says, smacking his hands over his knee caps. “The bleeding has stopped and nothing looks like it’ll get infected. I’m ninety eight percent sure that you’ll survive the night.”“Only ninety eight?” Eddie jokes. “What if I make a drastic turn for the worse and the other two percent happens?”“Then it’s a good thing I’m staying with you. Because I would never let anything happen to you.”Something warm and familiar blooms inside of Eddie’s chest, distracting him from the ache in his side altogether. Buck gets up and puts the first aid kit away, and the brief joy in the room quickly follows him out. Eddie’s shoulders slump. His neck aches. The pain in his side flares when he breathes too deeply. He’s been exhausted by life lately. Somedays he’s surprised at himself for still doing all of this.Then Buck comes back into the room like a beam of light, holding a hand out to Eddie to help him up, and the light comes back again. When Eddie staggers and has to reach for Buck’s shoulder to steady himself, Buck laughs at him fondly.“I think that blood loss is getting to you, tough guy.”“Eh, maybe. Good thing I have a big strong fire man to help me out. Right?”“Right,” Buck replies sarcastically. “Because that’s the only thing you need me for.”It’s not even remotely true and they both know it. Eddie wouldn’t have made it five minutes without Christopher if Buck wasn’t here. He hasn’t told Buck yet, but he’s been looking at listings in Texas on his down time. If something changes with Christopher sooner than later, he doesn’t want to worry Buck about the possibility of him leaving. The idea sounds better and better by the day, but his family here in LA is so important to him, too.His blood family over his chosen family. How is he ever supposed to decide on something like that?Eddie blinks and they’re on the couch, a football game from earlier this week playing on the TV. The bright light from the TV washes Buck out, but he’s still as handsome as always when Eddie looks over at him. He doesn’t say it enough, but he really is lucky to have Buck in his life. It doesn’t take long for Buck to notice that he’s staring.“What are you looking at?”“Nothing, nothing I promise. I’m just glad you showed up, that’s all.”Buck shrugs. “It’s what we do. C’mon, lets see if we can make it through the first half before we fall asleep.”Eddie leans into the couch cushions knowing that he’s going to fail, and he’s alright with that. He watched this game when it aired the other night, but it’s funny listening to Buck cheer and grow frustrated at poorly called flags. Eddie’s eyes grow heavy, but the smile remains on his face as he drifts off listening to Buck’s commentary. How could he go?