⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆

| 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐃 |

♡ -- act one, she was whiskey in a teacup

CHAPTER TWO - 7.1
( episode two, season two )

♡

concrete that used to be grey was now turning red. taylor's eyes that once were energetic and bright were now dimming into pale orbs, frantically looking for a med kit on the tipped shelf behind her.

buck glances from her leg to the shelf, following taylor's eyes.

"hey, look at me." he says sternly.

he knew she was panicking. she had every right to, i mean her leg was freaking impaled... but he needed to calm her down to fix her up.

taylor's eyes flickered from the blood to buck. whatever emotion he was feeling it was hidden pretty well behind his strong exterior. it always was when she needed help.

he always was strong for her.

buck studies the wound for a few seconds before snatching the med kit and placing on the ground next to him.

"stitches. yeah- you're gonna need those." he says, his hand rummaging through the kit.

in the distance bobby was helping other people off the floor and chimney was assisting.

eddie and hen rush over to taylor and buck, concern flooding them.

hen speaks first. "what the hell happened to you, pinkie pie?"

taylor almost giggled. key word- almost.

"glass happened."

before she even muttered the words, hen was speeding to get taylor some water to drink.

eddie stood towering them still.

buck made eye contact. "hold her leg down."

eddie's eyes widened. "what?"

"you heard me." he scoffs.

"it's not gonna hurt that bad." the girl half jokes.

buck eyed her. as soon as eddie gripped taylor's leg and held it flat to the ground, buck threaded the needle, and practically jammed it into her leg.

taylor wasn't even sure when he took the glass out, she was probably in shock.

the girl hisses at the pain. debating whether to punch him now or wait until she's not bleeding. "asshole..."

"blame it on the needle, not me." buck chuckles.

she rolls her eyes.

a few stitches later, eddie releases his grip. "hey, you mind if i go help them?"

taylor meets his eyes. they're not focused. she can't explain it but there's something there she can't read. was there a cat he was worried about because of the earthquake? a dog? a hamster?

who knows.

do you think they'll send her home for this? or let her work?

great now she's lost blood, hen gave her water to someone who actually passed out, and she has more questions than answers.

this day sucked so far.

୨ৎ

eddie sighed in the back of the fire truck, alerting buck immediately because he was already curious why eddie was sulking.

"everything okay?" he asks.

"yeah, there's no service. texts won't even go through."

taylor, who was already annoyed the city didn't give her the big key for her injury, let out a very dramatic sigh.

"you know... you almost die, and some people are worried about texting their hamster." she looks out the window for effect.

buck giggles but looks back to eddie. "who are you trying to get ahold of?"

eddie shaked off the comment about the... hamster? and answers after a few beats.

"my son." he looks gloomy. "i'm trying to get ahold of my son."

taylor snaps her head towards eddie. so definitely not a hamster.

eddie pulls a picture of his son up on his phone and shows it to them. "christopher. he's seven."

the girl watches him in silence.

buck studied the photo. "i love kids, he's adorable."

"i love this one. i'm all he's got. his mother's not in the picture."

"he's at school?" taylor finally asks.

he nods. "yeah."

"i'm sure he's fine." she reassures.

it takes a few minutes to arrive to the scene but when they do they can see the hotel that once stood was now half torn down and collapsing.

the team hops out of the truck and stand to finally get a full view of it.

"you guys ever seen anything like this before." eddie asks.

bobby shakes his head. "no."

taylor goes to say something but is cut off by a police woman practically dragging a woman and her husband out of the building from the side pathway.

"please, our daughter is still inside! she's eight years old!" she screams, fighting the officer.

her husband is behind her, another officer dragging him past the team.

"kat! her name is kat!" he shouts behind him.

bobby frowns slightly then turns to the team. "lets go find the incident commander."

as the team follows buck leans to the back of the group, pulling taylor with him. "chase called at all?"

taylor shakes her head back and forth. "i don't know yet, none of my calls are coming through but i hope not."

he nods pulling them forward to match the teams pace.

the incident team plus multiple commanders explain the situation. giving them time to create a plan and head in to find survivors and escort them out of the building.

"okay, listen up, here's how you make it to the end of the day. don't worry about the things you can't control. focus on one task at a time." he eyes taylor specifically. "i can't order you guys to go inside that building. i'm not going to judge you if you decide not to go in either."

chimney looks to the ground. "hen, you've got a kid so..."

she holds a stern look. "yeah, and i'd hope whoever's job it was to save him had the chance, they'd do it."

"where do you want us?" taylor asks, settling her helmet against her hip.

a police officer lays a hand on taylors shoulder to gain the team's attention. "hey, you guys are gonna want to see this."

he leads them to the side of the building where a man is sprawled against the window multiple floors up. the building leaning towards the ground.

the whole team watches the window in fear for them.

"we could set up a bag street-side in case that window gives." chimney suggests.

"nobody works under that side of the building, someone going to have to get him from inside." bobby says, glancing up.

eddie raises a brow. "buck, would you say that's the eleventh-floor?"

"i would." he says contemplating. "i bet we could take the ladder to the fourth, cut the distance in half."

taylor leans in-between them, head on buck shoulder. "and you could bring me with you."

buck shakes his head abruptly. "absolutely not."

"it's not a choice." she responds.

bobby tips his head at the three of them. "head on up guys."

the three gear up, strapping into the safety belts and hats, then head up the ladder.

once they reach the top, eddie hit the window with a crowbar, breaking the glass and sweeping it off the sill so they can safely step in without injury.

taylor, before stepping in spits out a random fact, "after northridge FEMA spent $200 million retrofitting every school in the LAUSD." she steps in fully, helping buck. "eddie, your kid is in the safest place he can be."

eddie glances to taylor for a few seconds before turning back around. "why do we have to up the budget for bullet proof classroom doors then?" he scoffs.

buck and taylor let him get a few feet ahead.

buck whispers to her. "he's just worried about his kid, tay."

"yeah... yeah i know." she lets out a small smile of reassurance so he knows she didn't take it to personally.

eddie gestures them over to the stairwell door, which is severely leaning.

"alright, you guys ready? on my count."

they nod.

"one. two. three."

they all three let go of the door and slide into the hallway, falling straight into the far wall and using their feet to balance on it.

"hello! hello! anyone here?" they yell.

a woman yells back from a few doors down.

"we're down here!"

eddie pulls the miniature circular saw from his utility belt and saw the door open. pushing it to the side.

"thank god, please help us get out of here."

buck slides into the air conditioner, the only thing holding him up. "please just hold still ma'am. we're coming to you."

the guy laying against the window below speaks. "no offense, but i think this might be a situation where 'women and children first' does not apply."

"did you just say no offense? everything about you is offensive." the woman says.

eddie follows behind buck, the rope falling down behind him.

taylor comes next, gripping the wall tightly and sliding into a gap.

"first date?" eddie asks tying the rope.

the woman scoffs with a humorless laugh. "he wishes. that pig is married with five kids. doesn't stop him from asking me to shower with him."

buck slides down a bit further to try to reach the woman. "man, have you watched the news at all over the past year?"

eddie scoffs. "seriously. catch up with the times."

"i'm gonna throw you a rope, okay?" buck says.

eddie slides down to the man, trying to pull a table off the pile over him.

taylor grabs the rope, ties it to her waist and then waits by the gap in the door to pull them back.

"try and secure yourself." buck mutters.

just as the woman tries to move the rope around her, the window creaks loudly from underneath the man.

"don't move!" eddie shouts.

taylor pulls to alert buck silently. he meets her eyes.

she mouths 'is she secured?'

he nods without talking and turns back to eddie.

"you need to stay totally still." eddie continues. "don't even talk."

eddie pulls something out of his belt.

"i'm gonna secure this webbing around you and we're gonna get you away from the glass."

the glass begins to crack slightly as the woman stands and buck pulls her up towards him.

before taylor and buck can get her back up to the hallaway, aftershock hits.

the glass cracks further and screaming ensues.

"no, don't!" eddie screams.

the window frame fully collapses on itself, sending the man falling towards the ground before they can do anything to grab him.

then, the rope pulls sending the woman right after him, her hand catches the window sill and eddie grabs her. holding her there so she doesn't fall.

taylor lands on her butt in the hallway pushing her feet against the wall to prevent eddie and buck from falling out the the window.

she's the only thing keeping her and her friends from falling more than eleven floors up to pure concrete.

currently not proofread, 1,790 words