••••

THE GROUP WERE SLOWLY MAKING THEIR WAY DOWN THE STAIRS. It was a very long process but they had to make sure they didn't fall down the debris. Buck was in the middle with the victim, Eddie was in front while Victoria was hanging in the back. "That's it. You're doing great." Buck says as he looks at Ali, the victim. "You've, uh, you've done this before, haven't you?" He jokes, mainly to lighten the air.

"Yeah, uh, it was my major at the Rhode Island school of design." She responds with a bit of a harsh tone. Buck stares at her for a moment as she sighs. "Sorry, sarcasm is my fallback for pretty much everything." Ali admits, leaning on the wall to help her get down the next part.

"Huh, Vic has the same thing." Buck says with a laugh, looking over at Vic. Vic seemed a bit out of it but she still flipped him off.

"Just for you, Buck." She answers him with a tight smile on her face. Buck shakes his head as he turns to Eddie.

"Come on, I got you. Vic's behind you just in case." Eddie explains to her as he holds his hands out. The victim just stares at him, a bit hesitant.

"Do you think he'll still be on the sidewalk when we get down there?" Ali asks them. Eddie and Buck share a glance with each other.

"No. Besides were not going out that way anyway." Buck denies as he clears his throat a bit. Ali nods her head before taking Eddie's assistance.

"Let's hustle. We don't want to be here for the next aftershock." Eddie tells them making Ali's eyes widen.

"Next aftershock? What do you mean next aftershock." She asks, clearly becoming full of fear once again. Eddie clears his throat, starting to head down the stairs, Buck behind him.

"I'll go ahead, see the damage." Eddie tells them and Buck headed down a bit with him.

"Careful." He tells the man who nods his head. Ali, who was left with Victoria, seemed to notice how she was leant against the wall. Her eyebrows furrow as Victoria was hunched over a bit.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ali asks her, concern in her voice as she moves toward the woman. Before she could get there, Victoria collapsed on the ground. Ali's eyes widen. "Oh, my god." She tries to get there as quickly as possible, leaning down. "Hey!" She shouts, trying to get Buck and Eddie's attention. "Hey! Up here!" Ali screams as she tries to get Victoria to open her eyes.

Buck and Eddie hear her call, heading back up, confused on what was happening. "What's wrong?" Eddie asks curiosity. Ali turns her head as she sees them come into view.

"She just collapsed." Ali tells them and when they finally get up, they can see Victoria on the ground. Buck instantly becomes worried, rushing over and almost falling in the process.

"Vic?" Buck asks as he leans down beside the woman. "Vic, can you hear me?" He pleads as he lifts her head slightly. Victoria meets his eyes slowly and he was just glad she wasn't dead. "What hurts?" He questions, looking around to see what the problem would be.

"My... my s-stomach." Victoria says breathlessly. Eddie kneels down next to Buck, reaching for her jacket.

"Her stomach, okay." He mumbles as he opens it, revealing her shirt soaked in blood and a hole cut in it. Buck was shocked at the sudden injury.

"Oh, god." Buck could barely move as he stared down at it while Eddie jumped right into action, grabbing what he could out of the pack in order to stop the bleeding.

"She must've hit something when she was grabbing the victim." Eddie explains to him, looking at Buck who seemed to be a bit out of it.

"Why didn't she say anything?" Buck asks, hating how he didn't even notice that something was wrong. Eddie sighs as they couldn't focus on that right now.

"Vic, I'm gonna try and stop the bleeding." Eddie tells her before pressing down on the wound making the woman groan. He glances down the stairs, remembering how most of it was blocked. "Buck, we're not getting out this way." He denied, glancing at the man who snaps his eyes to him.

"What are you talking about? She needs help." Buck points out. She couldn't just sit here, she would bleed to death. "What do we do now?" He asks, trying to figure out a way to get her to the hospital.

"Go back up." Eddie knew that was the only viable option.

"Back up?" Ali asks, not seeing how it was really possible. Buck also didn't like the idea.

"Eddie, she can't walk." Buck denies.

"Can you carry her?" Eddie questions, knowing one of them had to stay with the victim. Buck didn't know how he'd navigate it but he would because he wouldn't leave her. It seemed Victoria thought exactly that though.

"Just leave me." Victoria's voice was quiet. Buck shakes his head immediately.

"Hey, no. That's not an option, okay?" Buck says, placing his hand on her cheek as he gazed down at her. Ali flickers her eyes between them.

"Ladder 18 respond. This is Captain Nash, I need a head count." Bobby's voice came through the radio causing Eddie to sigh as he grabs his.

"Ladder 118 responding. Diaz, Buckley..." He trails off for a moment as he looks at Victoria. "Cap, we can't get out of the building and Vic took a hit. She's bleeding bad." Eddie explains to him.

"Is there any way you can see to get through?" Bobby asks, instantly worried. They already lost Hen under the rubble.

"We're going back up, trying to find some sort of exit." Eddie tells him. Bobby sighs, glancing around where he was with Chimney.

"Keep me posted." Bobby responds.

"Will do."

"Castillo and Jackson responding." The other firefighters start to call into the radio.

"Paulson, Marcus and Riley responding."

"Severide here, we're all good. Dawson and Shay are doing triage for some victims."

"Chimney responding."

"Hen, do you copy? Hen?" Victoria looks at Eddie and Buck as she hears that Hen wasn't responding. "This is Captain Nash for Henrietta Wilson. Do you copy?" They heard the fear in Bobby's voice as he called out for Hen.

"Is that a friend of yours?" Ali asks them. Victoria hated being so useless, especially now knowing Hen was missing.

"Let's keep moving." Eddie says, knowing there was nothing they could do right now.

"Eddie, what's your location." Kelly's voice came through the radio. Eddie glances out the window to try and see.

"About... the eighth floor, east side." He answers.

"I'll try and meet you halfway and find a way for you to get down." Kelly explains to him. "Is she conscious?" He asks, hoping that she was.

"Right now." Eddie tells him, knowing she would probably pass out sooner than later.

"Vic, you stay awake, you hear me?" Kelly tells her, speaking directly to Victoria now. "I'm not about to lose another one." His voice was quiet on the radio. Victoria smiles softly as she brings her hand carefully up to her own.

"You're so condescending. You know not everything's about you, right?" Victoria jokes, knowing he was probably freaking out. She could hear his laugh come through.

"I see your sarcasm is still intact." Kelly responds. Buck wraps his arm around Victoria, pulling her against him.

"Come on. I got you." He says, helping her stand up so that they could start making their way back up.

••••

THEY HAD ONLY CREATED MORE WORK FOR THEM AS THEY HAD RESCUED A VICTIM FROM ONE OF THE ROOMS. Now, they not only had Ali and Victoria, they had a man on an ironing board since they didn't want to risk him moving. They decided taking the elevator shaft down would be faster than the stairs. But even then, they encountered some problems. "Okay, uh, Eddie you take him down, Ali will stay behind you. I'll stay with Vic." Buck suggests, trying to think of the best way to do this.

Victoria shakes her head though, wincing as a shoot of pain moves through her. "She can't go down alone." She denies. Ali was a citizen, she didn't know how to go down a cable. They couldn't risk her falling if she did something wrong.

"Well, you can't do it yourself." Buck denies with a slight scoff, looking over at her.

"I'll be fine." She'd have a better chance and he knew it. Eddie looks between them before settling his eyes on Buck.

"Buck, she needs someone to help her." Eddie tells him and Buck looks at the ground, trying to think for a second.

"O-okay. I'll go down with her and then come back up for Vic." Buck states with a nod. It would have to work that way. Victoria didn't want to be holding them back though.

"Buck-"

"End of discussion." He didn't mean to be harsh but leaving her behind was not something he was willing to do. Not when she had so many people counting on her. Not when Rosie would be left with no one.

They get equipped, Victoria leaning against the wall as she watches them. She was holding her side, scrunching her nose up in pain. Eddie and the victim on the ironing board went down first but they encountered the door being closed. Buck and Ali went next but slower so it would give Eddie more time.

Victoria slid down to the floor, wincing as she hit the hard concrete. Never did she think this was how she would end up today. In a building about to tip over as she was bleeding from a wound she got almost sliding out the window. If her job wasn't being a firefighter,  no one would believe her.

A sudden shake of the building caused her eyes to widen. She heard a loud creaking noise. The elevator. "Eddie, kick that door open!" Buck shouts toward him as the elevator comes crashing down. Luckily they were able to make it to the next floor without getting hit. But it had cut the cable they were using. "No, no, no." Buck mutters as he grabs the cable, looking up the shaft.

"Buck, you're not climbing without the rope." Eddie knew what he was thinking and Buck would fall to his death if he tried that.

"Shes still up there!" Buck shouts back at him, glaring at the man. Eddie sighs, knowing he was just scared and taking his frustration out on everybody. "Vic!" He screams up the empty shaft, trying to call out to her.

"Vic, do you copy?" Eddie asks into the radio, having the smarter idea. "Vic." He tries again when he got no response.

"Damn, so that elevator didn't take Buck out?" Victoria questions with a small laugh. Eddie shakes his head. Of course she would small joke after all of this.

"I-im coming back up for you okay? It'll just take longer." Buck says into the radio, his voice trembling a little bit.

"Get the victims out." She tells them.

"Vic--"

"Evan Buckley, are you denying a order from your superior officer?" She teases with a smile on her face as she rests her head back against the wall.

"Okay, one, you are not my superior officer." Buck responds, sniffling a bit as he didn't even notice a tear had left his eye.

"Well, I'm better than you." Victoria points out with a laugh. "Come back for me later, I can wait." She assures them.

"You'll bleed out." Buck denies. He knew she was already losing too much blood.

"I'll be fine." Victoria responds. She needed them to get the victims out, that was their job. She could hang on a little while longer. And even if she couldn't, at least they would be safe.

••••

BUCK WAS PRACTICALLY HYPERVENTILATING AS HE STARED UP AT THE BUILDING. Eddie and him and tried to go back for Victoria but the staircase was completely collapsed by that point. He felt like his lungs were giving in as he pictured victoria dying alone on that floor. Eddie was trying to calm him down but nothing was working. Nothing would work until they were able to get to Victoria.

Bobby walks over to the pair, accompanied by Chimney, Hen, Gabby and Shay. All of them seemed to be okay from the looks of it. "Hey, everyone all right?" Bobby asks as he stops beside them. Eddie glances toward him. "Which hospital did you send Vic to?" He questions, looking between them.

Buck felt tears escape his eyes as he covers his face. Bobby notices this, sensing something was wrong. "We didn't." Eddie answers him. This caused everyone to stare at him with wide eyes.

"What?" Chimney didn't understand why she wasn't sent to the hospital. They said she was bleeding and could barely move.

"We tried to go back in, but the staircase leading to her was completely collapsed." He explains to them. They all look toward the building. Eddie hears the man next to him start to cry. "Buck, it's not your fault." Eddie assures him but Buck pushes him away.

"We left her there!" Buck shouts toward him, an angered expression on his face as the tears keep falling down his cheeks.

"She told us to get the victims out." Eddie retorts. They did what they were supposed to do. They couldn't have predicted that the staircase would be inaccessible.

"I should've-- I should've done something!" Buck felt like his whole heart was going to break as he felt he failed her. Bobby walks over to him, grabbing the man and placing his hands on Buck's cheeks.

"Hey, hey. It's not your fault." Bobby wasnt going to let him blame himself, especially since they were in an impossible situation. "We'll go back in for her." He states. They would know where she was so it was straight shoot there.

"Negative." The chief denies as she shakes her head. Bobby looks toward her, a sigh leaving his lips.

"Chief--"

"That building is unstable now, we can't risk anyone going in." She explains to them. They had already risked it by rescuing Hen, they couldn't let anyone else go inside.

"Well, Kelly is already inside." Shay pipes up causing them to look toward her.

"What?" The chief asks.

"Yeah, he went to find a way in when you guys said she was injured. I haven't heard from him since." She explains to them. Bobby looks at the chief who was even more reluctant now.

"That's two firefighters." He states. They couldn't abandon both of them, especially with the very high likelihood that they were still alive.

"I'm sorry, Captain. I can't allow you to go in an extract them." She denies. She wasn't going to allow them to get themselves killed rescuing two people.

"So, we're just gonna leave them in there?" Gabby snaps, glaring at the woman. She understood she was just doing her job but she hated knowing that two of her friends could die if they don't help them.

"Oh, my god." Shay gasps in relief as she looks past them. They all turn their heads, seeing two firefighters walking over to them.

"Vic!" Gabby shouts as they rush over to the pair. Kelly was practically carrying her but it seemed Victoria was still conscious.  Well, Kelly had kept her awake for the remainder of the way out because if she passed out, it was probably due to blood loss and that was bad.

"Hey, you okay?" Shay asks, looking at both of them. Kelly nods his head.

"She needs to get to the hospital, she's lost a lot of blood." He tells them. Hen brings a gurney over to them.

"Get her on the gurney." Hen says and they all help to lift Victoria onto the gurney. Eddie looks toward Kelly who was leant over a bit.

"You okay?" Eddie asks him, wondering if he had been injured but he nods his head.

"I'm fine, check on her." Kelly tells them. He was just exhausted from trying to hold her up while simultaneously trying not to fall down the debris.

They put a oxygen mask on Victoria but her head just turns toward Kelly. She lifts it off slightly. "Whyd you risk your life to get me?" Victoria asks him. She thought she was a goner until Kelly had shown up and practically dragged her ass out.

"Who else is gonna be a pain in my ass every single day?" Kelly teases her with a smile on his face as he strokes her cheek. Victoria just lazily scrunched her nose up.

"Shay." She answers him. Shay gasps as she lightly nudges the woman.

"Hey!" Shay scolds, playfully glaring at her. "I'll let that one go because you're injured." She says as she points her finger at Victoria who smiles a bit. They wheel her gurney over to the ambulance. Kelly was about to follow but Bobby stops him.

"Kelly." He looks toward Bobby. "Thank you." Bobby says as he holds his hand out. Kelly shakes his head, not needing any sort of gratification but he shakes Bobby's hand anyways.

"She's strong. A small earthquake wasn't going to take her out." Kelly admits with a smile. She'd been through a hell lot worse.

"How'd you get to her?" Eddie asks, wondering where he found somewhere to squeeze out of.

"Well, I got up before the aftershock completely destroyed the staircase." Kelly tells them with a sigh. "Luckily she was by the door and we were able to find a small pocket to get through." Buck shares a glance with Eddie.

"The staircase? She was by the elevator." Buck tells him. Kelly just glances toward him before shrugging his shoulders.

"Must've got herself to the stairs." Kelly answers him before heading to the ambulance in order to ride with her. Eddie saw the way Buck still seemed a little overwhelmed.  He places his hand on the man's shoulder.

"She's okay, Buck." He assures him with a soft smile. Buck nods his head, happy about it but he still felt guilty.

"Yeah." He mutters back making Eddie a bit confused. But Buck had been waiting for Abby to call. He had been talking about her all day to the victim Ali and still, he didnt recieve one thing. "Abby didn't call." Buck says, meeting Eddie's gaze.

Eddie wanted to feel bad for him but honestly, everyone told him what would happen. And he didn't think Buck deserved a woman who would just up and leave him like that. "Maybe because everyone is right. She doesn't care." Eddie tells him. Buck frowns but he did see that now.

"But you care for her." Eddie says as he points to the ambulance. Buck didnt say anything, just letting his eyes drop to the pavement. "Is it possible that you're holding onto this relationship with Abby because you don't want to see the truth?" He asks the man, not really expecting an answer as he pats Buck on the back. Eddie walks off toward the group, leaving Buck with a contemplation in his mind.

••••

VICTORIA GROANS AS SHE OPENS HER EYES, a beeping sound catching her attention as she looks around. Her vision was blurry for a second before seeing that she was in a hospital room. She groans, feeling like she was literally hit by a bus. She went to lift her arm in order to block the sun but she couldn't move it. She was confused at first, she couldn't be paralyzed because she was moving every other part of her body.

When her eyes moved to her arm, she saw that Buck was rested against it, his eyes closed. His mouth was slightly parted and he was basically drooling on her skin. She wondered how long he had been there. "Buck." She tries to say, her voice coming out a bit hoarse. She tries to nudge him awake by moving her arm a bit.

He doesn't budge, just letting out a small snore as he shifts a bit. Victoria smiles as she rolls her eyes, not really wanting to disturb him but her arm was getting numb. "Buck." She says, this time shoving him causing him to jolt awake. Buck's eyes widen as he sits up, glancing around the room before he meets the girls gaze. Victoria was just staring at him.

"Hey, you're awake." Buck says, feeling awful because he didnt know how long he was asleep for. He brings his hand to his mouth, wiping the drool and feeling a bit embarrassed. "Are you okay, do you need something? Because I can--" He starts to ramble but she just shakes her head.

"I'm fine." Victoria assures him, trying to get him to calm down a bit. Buck rests back against the bed, his gaze on her.

"You scared me." He admits. His voice cracked a bit. "When you dropped like that.." Buck shakes his head, bringing his hand up to his face.

"I should've said something. I just thought I could make it." She admits. Victoria also didn't want to be a burden since they had two other victims.

"You are stubborn." Buck states making her smile gently. "I'm glad you're okay." He says, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly.

"You wouldve missed me the most." Victoria teases with a laugh. Buck nods his head, laughing as well but honestly he would have.

"Definitely."

"How is Hen? Gabby.. Gabby told me that she was trapped." Victoria faintly remembered Gabby mentioning it in the ambulance but she couldn't remember if she said if Hen was okay or not.

"Yeah, she was. But we got her out and she's fine." Buck tells her, not wanting her to worry since Hen was okay.

"Good." Victoria groans a bit as she winces at the pain in her abdomen.

"Do you need anything?" Buck asks her, caressing her hair a bit. He didn't know why he was doing it, but it seemed to be comforting her.

"To get off my iv." She tells him. Buck furrows his eyebrows, not really understanding what she meant by that.

"What?"

"You're on my iv." Victoria points out. Buck's eyes widen as he looks down and there he was, leant on the thing that was giving her fluids and medication.

"Shit, sorry." Buck apologizes and she just laughs lightly.

"It's okay." She responds, coughing a bit. "You're just trying to actually kill me." Victoria teases him. Buck smiles as he tilts his head a bit.

"Maybe then I wouldn't have to be called probie anymore." He tells her.

"Nah, you'll always be probie in my eyes." Victoria says, nudging his arm. She bites her bottom lip, seeing that he was a bit down. "Did Abby call?" She didn't really want to ask but she did because she knew he still liked her.

Buck was silent for a second. "I actually uh... I broke up with her." He admits. He had called Abby and told her that he wasn't going to just sit around for her. And that he felt like she didn't truly care for him when she wouldn't even message him for weeks.

"Oh." She responds, not really knowing what else to say. But she couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of joy in his announcement.

"You were right. Everyone was. I was holding onto something that was already over with." Buck states.

"I'm sorry." She apologizes. Victoria was glad that Buck realized he was holding onto something that didn't exist anymore. But she still knew he was probably hurting pretty badly. Buck hesitates, going to say something else when the door opened.

"Hey, look who's awake." Kelly says with a huge smile on his face. He walks in, the rest of the group behind him. Victoria puts on a smile as she sits up a bit, Buck backing up.

"Hi." She responds as Kelly gently hugs her. He pulls back, putting his thumb on her chin.

"I told you not to do anything stupid." He tells her and she playfully rolls her eyes.

"Right, like I asked to be impaled." Victoria retorts, shaking her head. Bobby leans forward, squeezing her hand a bit.

"We're all happy you're okay." Bobby tells her and she nods, looking around the group.

"Me too." She responds. Gabby moves her way to the front.

"We uh, have a little surprise." She tells the woman, holding a tablet. Victoria furrows her eyebrows but she gasped when she turned the screen, showing the entire 51 squad.

"We knew a little earthquake wouldn't take you away!" Hermann says through the screen with a big smile on his face. Victoria smiled back as she laughs a little bit.

"Hermann." She responds.

"We miss you!" She hears Cruz shout.

"We're glad you're okay, hon." Connie tells her with a smile and that woman never smiles. Victoria was the only one she liked in that firehouse, or at least admitted it.

"Hopefully severide isn't boring you to death yet." Casey jokes with a wink. Kelly just narrows his eyes.

"Shut up, Casey." Kelly mutters with a small laugh.

"Okay, everyone. Settle down." Boden tells them before looking towards the screen.  "You're doing all right?" He asks her and she nods her head.

"Yeah, chief. I'm perfect." She answers him with a soft smile. Boden returns it.

"We wish we could all be there with you but we're hoping you have a fast recovery." Boden tells her and she nods her head. Victoria honestly wished she could just fly back to Chicago but she still needed a bit more time.

"Thanks." She responds before Gabby grabs the iPad.

"This is her new crew that she abandoned us for." She introduces as she turns the screen to the 118 crew. They all wave with smiles on their faces.

"It's nice to meet you guys." Hen tells them. Everyone was practically talking at the same time as they tried to introduce themselves. Victoria just watches with a smile as she fiddles with her fingers.

Her eyes move over to Buck who was in the corner by himself, his eyes on her. When their gazes meet, he just gives her a soft smile, but she could see the pain in his eyes. She hated knowing she made him feel such hurt. Victoria just wanted him to be safe but she knew it had put herself in danger.

Victoria didn't even know he cared that much about her. Well, she knew he cared, but Gabby had told her in the ambulance how he had completely broken down about her. About the possibility that he lost her. And that made her realize that he cared a lot about her. Even more than she knew.

Buck just moves over to her, bringing his hand to her cheek and stroking it softly. The way he way staring at her with such admiration but yet so much pain, it confused her. Especially with the way he wasn't saying anything, he was just there. There was also something else but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. But as he pulls his hand away, he sniffles as he just heads toward the door silently.

Victoria watches as the man leaves, a frown on his face as the ghost of his touch was all that remained in the room.

••••