#so far 2024 has been full of people DEMANDING I make room for them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

capseycartwright · 2 years

Text

life sure can try to put love through it

Listen - the panic attack Buck had, it was fully justified. As far as he knew, it was 2021 - and Eddie was standing next to him, telling him that he’d forgotten the last three years of his life. He felt he deserved a moment to have a panic attack, thank you very much.

or - after an accident at work, Buck forgets the last three years of his life. Mentally, he's back in 2021 and in the midst of a failing relationship with Taylor - but actually, its 2024 and he's married to his best friend, Eddie. Navigating amnesia is pretty heavy work, as it turns out.

aka, 20.k words of amnesia!fic.

ao3 link

There were a few sounds it was ingrained in you to hate as a firefighter. Eddie had learned that early on during his probationary year - how certain sounds would make the team collectively wince, fearful of what was to come, and none more than the sound of a PASS alarm going off. The sound of a PASS alarm going off was the kind of sound that struck a cold, paralysing fear into any firefighter that heard it. The long, slow, almost rhythmic screech of a pass alarm was a sound you heard in the back of your mind for days and weeks after, the sound only ever meaning one thing -

Firefighter down.

“This is Captain Nash, 118 - calling for a full evacuation of the building. Structural integrity has been compromised - I repeat, structural integrity has been compromised. All teams evacuate now.”

Eddie tried to take as deep a breath as he could, as he listened to Bobby call the evacuation order. If Bobby hadn’t called it when he had, Eddie probably would have called over the radio and demanded Bobby do it. The warehouse fire they’d been called to was one of the worst they’d been to in a long time - how people didn’t realise that not adhering to building regulations meant your property would go up like firewood if a fire was to start, he’d never understand. Building regulations weren’t just a costly paperwork exercise - they were essential, to give first responders time to get in, and get everyone out safely.

They didn’t have time to do that today.

The building creaked, as Eddie started to move toward an exit.

“Buckley, Diaz, report - you’re the only ones left in the building.”

Eddie clicked the button on his radio, voice hoarse as he spoke. “We got separated, Cap,” he explained. “I’ll find him and get out.”

“Do it quickly,” was Bobby’s sharp response.

“I’m to the left of the staff room,” Buck called out over the radio. “I thought I heard something.”

“Stay there,” Eddie replied quickly. “You’re closer to the exit, Buckley.”

“Loud and clear, Diaz,” there was a hint of a grin, in Buck’s reply, a smirk Eddie could imagine on his husband’s face. They’d been married for close to a year now, and they’d kept their own names for work. Everything else - IDs, bank accounts, the deed for their new house - was Buckley-Diaz, the name they shared now, and so they always took the opportunity to tease, at work, to use Buckley and Diaz as they once did, before they made themselves an official, forever-after family.

It was their way of flirting on the job, Eddie supposed.

Chimney’s contribution was long-suffering. “Stop flirting, and get out of there.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, the fire raging around him. He loved his job - really, he did - but fires like this were hard. He was sweating, underneath his turnout gear, and he was looking forward to getting out, and back to the station, and having a cold shower - never hot. The residual heat of the fire always lingered too long for any of them to truly want a hot shower after a bad fire.

Before Eddie could round the corner to where Buck was waiting, he heard an almighty creak, the ceiling crashing down on top of him before he could even call out. He didn’t get knocked unconscious, at least, groaning under the weight of the debris as he struggled to get to his feet.

“Ceiling has come down, Cap,” Eddie groaned into his radio. “Buck and I are still separated. I’m okay.”

There was a pause, on the radio. “Buckley, report.”

Eddie didn’t pray all that often, anymore - he was prone to having a conversation or two with God, when he was particularly stressed, asking God to help him deal with a hyperactive kid, and an equally hyperactive husband, but he wasn’t as strong a believer as he once was. There and then, though, he prayed - he closed his eyes, and he prayed.

Come on, Buck.

“Buckley, report.”

It couldn’t have been more than a couple of seconds, but the time between Bobby’s calls was agonising, waiting for Buck to pick up his radio and reply. Before Bobby could call a third time, Eddie heard it - the long, slow screech of a PASS alarm.

“No, no, no,” Eddie scrambled to his feet, clicking his radio on again. “I can - I can hear his PASS alarm,” he couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice as he spoke, not caring that there were four stations on scene to witness his meltdown over the radio. It was his husband's PASS alarm he was hearing - Eddie wasn’t going to be calm about it.

“Eddie, breathe,” Hen’s voice was calm, as it crackled over the radio. “Think, for a second. A PASS alarm starts going off after twenty seconds of inactivity. He could just be trapped.”

Eddie didn’t bother replying, crawling across the mess of debris to where he knew Buck had been last. The sound of the alarm was getting louder, as he dragged himself across the mess of crumpled concrete and heat-twisted metal, the alarm getting more intense, louder, as they passed the 30-second mark, the moment the PASS went from being in its pre-alarm, to full blown panic mode, the noise making Eddie’s heart twist in his chest.

“Buck,” he yelled, wishing, hoping that Buck would reply - that his radio was shattered, and that was why he wasn’t replying to Bobby’s requests to check in. “Buck - fuck - come on,” he was getting close, now, the noise of the PASS grating on his ears. “Answer me, Buck - goddamnit. Answer me, you asshole.”

#911 fox #evan buckley #eddie diaz #911fic #buddie #in which i ramble #in which lorna writes fic #this one has wrecked me imma sleep for a week enjoy x

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