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Whenever they needed someone to do something insane, stupid, or dangerous, Buck was first pick and first volunteer. The Maneuver, dangling from this that or the other thing, grabbing someone off a moving plane while standing on top of a moving fire truck. It was one of Buck’s favorite parts of the job. He usually did it alone until Eddie came along. He never understood why but he was consistently the next volunteer until it became a habit and Buck was grateful. He was also grateful that Bobby seemed to give them more insane tasks since there were two of them. This was the crowning challenge and Bobby told them that if they didn’t want to, they would figure out a new plan but Buck stopped him before he even finished.
“What do you wanna us to do, Cap?” He asked with a grin. Next thing he knew he was getting harnessed up to go over a waterfall, feeling like bait on a fishing line. Maybe he should’ve let Bobby finish.
Eddie was a few feet above him as they carefully repelled down the cliff side, both getting sprayed with water.
“There had to be a better solution to this!” Eddie called over the roar of the water.
“Not really! This is the fastest!” Buck yelled back, finding his footing as they moved lower still.
“The one damn waterfall in California...”
“Actually, there are a number of waterfalls in California!” Buck shouted in a weirdly excited voice. “There are a lot even in Los Angeles alone. The Paradise Falls are my favorite, well those and the Escondido Falls. Oo and Copper Canyon is absolutely gorgeous. I went when I first moved here and I try to go to one once a month and I-” His ramble was cut off as he stepped where he thought was safe and slipped, falling and getting caught in the water. As he got ripped down the cliff, Eddie, who was tethered to him, got yanked down with him. However, neither one of them noticed before that the ropes that were connecting them to the truck got caught around a rock. Between the jagged stone itself and the force of the water taking both firefighters, the rope snapped.
Lucky for Eddie and Buck, the pool that the waterfall dumped into was deep enough to keep them from getting too injured. Eddie surfaced and wiped the water out of his eyes. Hell of a day. His turnout was soaked and weighing him down but his instincts kicked in and he started to swim to the water’s edge. He got half way before remembering his partner.
“ Buck! ” He yelled, immediately turning around and thrashing a bit to search. “Buck! Buckley! Evan!”
Suddenly there was a splashing behind him and he turned in time to see Buck emerging from the water with a gasp, shaking his head like a dog. Eddie immediately relaxed a bit and grabbed the other man’s arm, dragging him along to the shore and up onto it. Buck didn’t argue much, having been under a lot longer than Eddie. He took a second to catch his breath, spitting out water. Eddie flopped down next to him.
“You… okay…?” Buck panted out, letting his head flop to the side. Eddie looked over and couldn’t hide a smile, nodding as well and closing his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine, Buck. You focus on breathing,” Eddie said, only half joking. After a moment or two, Buck got up, making Eddie then get up to make sure he wouldn’t die. He didn’t ask any questions but watched in half shock as Buck found the patient and started to talk to her and tried to radio up to the others before his head shot up.
“Hey, Eddie, you got this?” He asked as Eddie got there. The man in question turned to look at the woman and as he looked back to respond, Buck was gone.
I gotta get that guy a goddamn bell , Eddie thought to himself as he knelt down and tended to the woman, getting her up and attached to the board the team lowered down in hopes that him and Buck were fine. Eddie promised her she would be okay and gave a tug on the rope before looking back out into the woods for Buck. The guy seemed to vanish into thin air.
“Buck!” He called as he started to make his way through the woods. “Buck!”
“Over here!” Buck’s voice called and Eddie ran over, stopping as his heart melted at the sight before him. There was a crying kid in a scout uniform with a scraped knee, probably lost from their troop, and Buck was kneeling beside them, talking gently but brightly, smiling and cleaning the kid’s cut. Okay, Eddie could excuse the disappearing for this. Buck looked over and noticed Eddie, smiling brightly and making Eddie feel weird things.
“Hey, this guy got separated from his troop and got a little banged up. We’re going to take him back to call his mom and scout leader,” Buck said and Eddie just nodded, going over to offer help but Buck easily picked the kid up, carrying him as he followed Eddie back to the waterfall. While they were gone, the team up top sent down a basket and a radio. Eddie explained the situation to them as Buck got strapped in with the kid.
Finally, they were all back up with the others, Hen and Chimney handling the two patients as Bobby brought Buck and Eddie towels, both still soaked to the bone and sitting on the back of the truck. Eddie leaned back against it, taking a moment to breathe before looking back at Buck who had taken off his uniform top and boots to dry out quicker but was now shivering. Eddie sighed to himself, smiling a bit before leaning over and pulling Buck against his side. He wrapped his towel around both of them and part of him would admit it was an excuse to hold the shivering man after nearly losing him… twice.
“I’m still getting you that bell like I said,” he told Buck, leaning his cheek against his head. Buck huffed a laugh under him
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure. Why do I need a bell again?” he joked, his voice still shaking slightly.
“So I don’t lose you again,” Eddie replied and was glad that Buck took that as a joke too.