••••

BUCK WAS THE LEAST BIT IMPRESSED AS HE STOOD ON THE APPARATUS FLOOR. It had been a week since Bobby had been suspended and Chimney was in charge. To say it was a nightmare would be an understatement. He could barely move without Chimney making a comment. Buck wanted to grab a halligan and just hit him with it. "So, we're doing line ups now?" Buck grumbles as Chimney walks over to him.

"Stow it, Buckley." Chimney responds and Buck bites his tongue to repress a sigh. "So, listen up. Because the word of the day is hose maintenance." He tells them and Hen just scoffs as she holds up her hands.

"Okay, I'm out." Hen tells him, walking away before he could say anything.

"Seriously, why?" Victoria asks with a small groan. Bobby never made them do maintenance unless it was actually necessary.

"Because that's what your captain is telling you to do, Victoria." Chimney responds and Victoria clenches her jaw, her gaze hardening.

"Don't call me that." She snaps a bit causing everyone to glance at her.

"Crossed a line, I see that now." Chimney says, clearing his throat a bit. "Hose or washroom maintenance. You pick." He tells her before walking away. Victoria makes a choking gesture behind his back.

"Murder has never crossed my mind but right now..... ooh, I want to wring his neck." Victoria mumbles as she rubs her face a little bit.

"I'll help." Buck pipes up.

"We can totally make it look like an accident." Eddie grumbles as he sighs, resting against the wall.

"Ladder drills? Oops, he just fell." Victoria says, pressing her lips together tightly as she holds her hands out. Buck smirks as he looks down at her.

"You're really hot when your plotting someone's demise." He admits, moving closer to her. Eddie sighs, honestly wishing they never went public because at least then they weren't all over each other all the time. He didn't really wanna see Buck flirting with Victoria.

"Am I?" Victoria retorts, raising an eyebrow as she turns to him.

"Mhm." He hums, his eyes running over her momentarily. Luckily, Eddie was saved by Chimney chiming in a bit.

"You two, do you want me to write you up for fraternizing on company time?" Chimney asks them making Buck and Victoria look at him.

"Chim, you serious?" Buck asks with a groan, rolling his eyes. They weren't even doing anything. So now he wasn't allowed to make the slightest comment toward her?

"Does it look like I'm kidding, Buckley?" Chimney retorts sternly before walking away.

"Do you think he's just being a natural prick or is Maddie holding out on him?" Victoria asks curiously, honestly wondering if he was supposed to be this way or if this was all maddies doing. Buck groans from beside her, his face filling with disgust.

"Ew, why would you say that?" Buck asks her, making a gagging noise as he really didn't want to think about his sister and Chimney.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You don't want talk about Chimneys sex life?" Victoria asks him, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Because that would mean we're talking about my sisters sex life." He responds to her bluntly, narrowing his eyes. Victoria shrugs her shoulders.

"Well if she comes and sleeps with him, maybe he'll be less of a prick." She suggests watching as Buck physically repulsed at the thought, shivering.

"I'm gonna go do hoses now." Buck sulks off toward the truck. Victoria goes to turn only to meet Eddies pointed stare.

"You're evil." Eddie tells her with a shake of his head.

"If Buck does twice the work, i don't have to do any." Victoria says with a smirk as she places her hands on her hips. Eddie chuckles as he crosses his arms against his chest.

"You're a genius." He corrects himself as they both watch Buck grab one of the hoses off of the truck.

"Yeah, but he needs a partner so get in there."  Victoria says, patting Eddie on the back. The man smiles, thinking Victoria was joking.

"Yeah, right."

"No, I'm being totally serious cause I'm not going." Victoria tells him and eddies smile drops as he stares back at her. She raises an eyebrow and he just sighs, walking over to Buck.

As the boys did the hoses, Victoria sat with Hen on the edge of the firetruck with a bowl of popcorn. "That's not the most efficient way to do it guys." Chimney denies as he walks toward Buck and Eddie. Hen and Victoria snicker to themselves at the sour looks that appear.

"Look at their faces." Hen says with a smirk as she points toward a very annoyed Buck and Eddie. They both glare at her as they walk over to the truck. Buck takes the seat beside Victoria who comfortably rests against him.

"I don't get how you two are just sitting here, eating popcorn." Buck mutters as he rests his arm over her shoulders. Eddie just leans beside the man, rubbing his hands together.

"Because we know how to finesse the system." Victoria teases him as she just brings another piece of popcorn towards her mouth. Buck hums as he narrows his gaze, leaning toward her.

"Give me some." He tells her and she rolls her eyes but grabs some from the bowl, practically shoving it in his face. Victoria laughs as Buck pouts back at her. He pokes her in the side but presses a kiss to the side of her head before bringing his hand to the bowl to get his own popcorn.

"I want to say ew but you two are actually adorable." Hen says as she scrunches her nose up a bit.

"Get it nice and tight. It's a clean line. You watching, Buckley?" Chimneys voice interrupts the conversation and Victoria snorts as she looks toward Buck.

"Yep. Totally." Buck says with a roll of his eyes as he just rests his head on Victoria's shoulder. The woman smiles as she runs her fingers through his hair, her legs loosely wrapping around his own as they sat beside each other.

Eddie glances at them, his eyes flickering between them before he forces himself to look away, a sigh leaving his lips as he just crosses his arms against his chest, going back to watching what Chimney was doing.

••••

VICTORIA KNEW THIS WASNT GOING TO BE A NORMAL CALL. A report of an explosion was almost never normal, especially when it wasnt created by some sort of gas leak or human error. "Mail bomb. Wife's in rough shape but she's still in one piece. The house hasn't been cleared yet. Bomb squads still a couple of minutes out." Athena explains to them and Victoria sighs as she shakes her head.

Of course it was a bomb. Why it was sent in the mail, that was the mystery, as was who had sent it and why to this address.
"

Copy that. Let's move!" Chimney tells them as they make their way toward the porch.

"A small package did all of this?" Victoria asks as she sees the victim on the wood. Athena sighs as she nods her head.

"This is honestly the best case scenario right now, any bigger and she wouldn't be here." She mumbles, giving Victoria a look before backing off and letting them get to work.

"Here! Shes not breathing." The husband tells them. "I tried talking to her but she wouldn't answer." She admits. Chimney bends down to the patient before anyone else can.

"She can't hear you cause her eardrums are blown out. All right, let's turn her." Chimney says as he checks the womans injuries.

"On it." Eddie says, Victoria bending down to help move the woman so they could have better access to treat her wounds.

"Eddie and I can handle this." Hen tells Chimney who didn't seem to be really listening to her. Victoria glances toward the woman who looked annoyed.

"Breathings shallow. We're looking at a bilateral pneumothorax. If we don't release the pressure, she could suffocate."

"I did my share of these in combat." Eddie says but Chimney shakes his head.

"Get some fentanyl, slow drip." He demands. Hen clenches her jaw a bit.

"Chim, there's post attack protocol. You're the captain." She points out. He needed to run the protocol, not be looking after the victim.

"I'm also the most experienced paramedic on site. Four inch catheter, ten gauge." Chimney states. Victoria looks toward Hen who sighs but does as the man says. "All right, Buck and Eddie, there could he a secondary device. We need to get everyone off the x." Chimney admits. Victoria glances around the porch, if there was another bomb, it wasn't in sight.

"Sir, is there anyone else in the house?" Buck asks curiously as he peeks his head inside. Victoria makes sure he didn't actually go in before they both turn to the man.

"No, no. Is she gonna make it? Please, please, please tell me she's gonna make it."

"Why don't you come with us? We can check you out." Eddie suggests as he and Buck had to hold back the man from getting to his wife.

"No, no, no she has to know that we weren't just going out to dinner. I had tickets for us to Fiji!" He tells them, trying to get past.

"You can tell her.. you can tell her yourself later. I promise." Eddie assures him before they were able to get the man off the porch. Once they were alone, Victoria just stares at the Eddie, shaking her head.

"Eddie, we don't promise anyone anything, okay?"  Victoria denies, making him meet her gaze. He furrows his eyebrows a bit.

"I was just trying to calm him down." Eddie admits, not meaning any harm by it and she knew that.

"Then tell him we're doing the best we can, we can't promise things because we don't know what will happen." She explains to him. Buck glances between them, rubbing his hands together. He didn't want to say anything because honestly, Victoria would just snap at him for interrupting.

"Right, yeah. I shouldn't have said anything." Eddie apologizes as he nods. Victoria sighs as she bites the inside of her cheek.

"Just don't say it again." She didn't mean to be rude or acting like she knew better than Eddie, but she did know how saying that could come back to bite you in the ass. Victoria just wanted him to be careful with his words going forward, especially toward the family of a victim.

••••

"ALL RIGHT, MAKE WAY! LAFD!" Chimney shouts as they make their way through the scene of a car accident. Victoria squints her eyes due to the sun in her eyes as she glances around. "All right, John, triage the minor injuries. Hen, Vic, you're with me. Buck and Eddie, check the driver." Chimney demands before heading over toward where the crowd was surrounded.

"Let us through." Victoria says with a sigh as she tries to get through the sea of people. Seriously, you'd think people would make room for the actual first responders. She bends down next to the victim. "Ma'am, everything is gonna be --" Victoria stops herself short as she finally looks at the woman beside her. "Oh, my god." She couldn't help but say as she was in shock for a split second.

Hen was behind her, having the same reaction as Victoria. "Isn't that..." Hen trails off, sharing a glance with Victoria. Victoria glances back toward the car, seeing Eddie and Buck tending to the victim.

"Yeah." She mutters before looking back at the woman in front of her. Shannon. Eddies wife. Victoria clears her throat, pushing everything away and just focusing on what was in front of her. "Shannon, we're gonna do everything we can, okay?" Victoria assures her as she starts to check her Vitals.

"Y-youre vic, right?" Shannon asks her and Victoria hesitates but nods her head, offering her a light smile. She really wasn't sure what Eddie had told her other than the obvious.

"I am."

"I'm sorry... a-about--" Shannon goes to apologize but Victoria shakes her head. She wasn't going to let this woman's last words be for her. She had to save her breath, especially since it didn't seem like her condition was too good.

"Thank you." Victoria responds. "Thanks for putting some sense into Eddie in order to tell me." She knew that without Shannon and without Buck, Eddie mightve never told her. She wanted to give Eddie the benefit of the doubt but she truly believed he would've kept it to himself. Maybe he would have drunkenly told her but that was a separate thing entirely.

"H-hes stubborn." Shannon says with a slight laugh and Victoria scoffs.

"I get that." She says before looking behind her and now seeing Eddie behind held back by Chimney. She stands up in order to talk to Eddie, Hen having everything under control.

"Eddie let me handle this." Chimney tells him.

"Eddie, there's nothing you can do. Let Hen and Chimney do what they can." Victoria says, placing her hand on Eddies arm but he wasn't looking at either of them, his eyes on his wife.

"Is it bad?" Eddie asks and Chimney sighs before nodding his head.

"It's bad."

"Spinal injury?"

"Maybe worse."

Eddie moves past them in order to get to his wife. "Shannon." He says as he leans down beside her, trying to keep himself together. Shannon just smiles back at him.

"Hey." She responds. "Are you here?" Shannon asks him and Eddie returns her smile as he nods his head.

"I'm here."

"Oh god. This is so embarrassing." Shannon admits. Victoria frowns as she glances away, knowing she wasn't really needed as Chimney and Hen were the paramedics right now.

"Vitals trending downwards." Hen states, looking up at Chimney who clenches his jaw.

"All right, let's get her on the backboard. Get her transported, now!" Chimney demands as they quickly make the transition to the gurney, rushing her to the ambulance.

"I'm riding with her." Eddie says, trying to get in after her but Chimney stops him which causes Victoria to glance her eyes between them.

"She's decompensating. We got to intubate her." Hen tells them as she starts to get prepared for it.

"Eddie. If we put that tube in, there's a good chance it never comes back out." Chimney explains to him as he just stares at the man who had tears in his eyes. Victoria closes her eyes, bringing her hand up to her face. "Hen, stop. Do not intubate." He denies as he looks toward the woman who was staring at him like he was crazy.

"Cap."

"I know." Chimney says with a sigh before his gaze moves back to Eddie. "He knows." His voice was softer as a tear left Eddies eyes. Victoria wanted to hug him, to hold him so tight that it would give all his pain to her but right now, right now was the only moment he would have to say goodbye. "Get in there and say goodbye to your wife." He tells the man.

Eddie climbed into the ambulance, the doors shutting behind him. Victoria shakes her head as she watches the ambulance drive off. "The universe is seriously fucked up sometimes." She says with a scoff, biting her tongue as she felt tears threatening to appear.

Buck stops beside her, his hand placing on her back. "You okay?" He asks curiously. He had been with the other victim so hadn't seen everything, but he was still worried about Victoria.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just head to the hospital." She says as she brushes him off, heading toward the truck. She tried to push the thoughts trying to push their way into her head. She just didn't want to think at all. Victoria didn't want to think about how they basically just left Shannon to die.

••••

VICTORIA WAS SAT AT THE COUNTER, her eyes just watching Maddie cook. Her hands go into the bag of chips in front of her before her gaze moves to Buck. He was scrolling the contents of his phone but his free hand was trailing circles against her back. "How's Eddie doing?" Maddie asks suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence that had formed between them.

Maddie was over at bucks loft cooking since she just wanted to spend time with her brother. Of course she had invited Victoria as well and in toe, Rosie but Rosie had said she already had plans. Buck glances over at Victoria briefly who had now brought her gaze to her hands. He clears his throat, putting his phone down.

"He uh, took a few days to be with his family." Buck admits. It had been a few days since Shannon had passed and they hadnt seen Eddie since. They had sent messages, none of which got responded to. But Victoria knew he needed time, even though he told Bobby he'd be in for next shift.

"It's awful what happened." Maddie says with a sigh, shaking her head.

"Freak accident, what can you do?" Victoria mumbles as she just breaks the chip that was in her hands. Maddie shares a glance with her brother who was already a bit worried for Victoria ever since the accident happened.

"And how are you doing?" She asks, stopping what she was doing for a moment. Victoria lifts her gaze to Maddie, a bit confused.

"Fine?" Victoria responds. She notices Buck was also looking at her. "Seriously, just because Eddies wife died, doesn't mean I'm gonna go off the edge." She tells them as she brushes her hair out of her face.

"But you can talk to us, you know that, right?" Buck states. Victoria looks at him, feeling his hand wrap around her own.

"I know." She says with a nod but she could see that he was still on the edge so she just leaned toward him, tilting her head a bit. "Really." Victoria assures him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before pulling away. Buck smiles as he squeezes her hand.

"Ugh, I wish I bet on Hen's stupid pool. I would've won some easy money." Maddie grumbles, causing Victoria to laugh a bit.

"Right, Hen mentioned that." Victoria says as she places a chip in her mouth. "So you knew we were..." She trails off, narrowing her eyes a bit and Maddie just raises an eyebrow before slapping her hand away from the chip bag. Victoria scrunches her nose up as Maddie takes it away from her.

"He's my brother, vic. He breathes and I know what he had for breakfast last week." She admits with a small laugh. Buck crosses his arms against his chest, making his way toward her.

"Oh, really?" He lets out a heavy breath beside his sister who groans as she glares toward the man, shoving him away from her. The man laughs loudly, smirking back toward her.

"That was rhetorical and you know it." Maddie scolds him, pointing her finger toward him. Victoria smiles as she shakes her head before hearing her phone buzz. Looking down at it, she noticed it was a message from Eddie.

Can we talk?

Victoria frowns as she stares at it before getting up from her seat. She moves over to Buck, placing her hand on his back to get his attention. "I'll be back." Victoria tells him softly. Buck furrows his eyebrows as he immediately becomes concerned.

"Everything okay?" Buck asks her curiously. She just puts on a smile and nods her head, not wanting to worry him. Even though she didn't know whether or not she should worry herself.

Victoria just puts on her shoes and makes her way out of the apartment. Heading down toward the lobby, she walks outside, noticing Eddie who was sitting on the bench nearest the door. Victoria shivers as the cool air hits her skin and she just walks over to him. "It's cold, you wanna come inside?" She asks, gaining his attention. Eddie glances toward her.

"No, I uh, I'm fine."

"Well, are you gonna lend me your jacket then?" She asks with a small laugh. There was a ghost of a smile on Eddies lips as he takes off his jacket and hands it to her so she was able to put it on. "I won't ask how you're doing because I hated when everyone would ask me that." Victoria admits with a sigh as she sits down next to him. "Did everything go okay with the get together?" She questions, wondering if something had happened and that's why he was here.

"I guess."  Eddie says with a shrug. "My father made some comments." He mutters. Victoria furrows her eyebrows before a scoff leaves her lips.

"You're kidding." She understood that maybe eddies parents weren't the biggest fans of Shannon, but making comments when your son and grandson were trying to grieve her was just low.

"I wish." Eddie responds. "He was barely around for my childhood and he thinks he can judge Shannon, who just died?" He asks, shaking his head.

"He sounds like a dick." Victoria admits, shoving her hands into the pockets of the jacket.

"Your dad was probably a hell of a lot better." Eddie admits. He didn't really know anything about Victoria's dad, but the way she spoke highly of him really told him all he needed to know. That he was infinitely better than his own.

"I'm really sorry, Eddie." Victoria says, not being able to really put it into words. There wasn't any that could encompass how someone felt when they lost someone. It was a bit better since she knew how it felt personally. Because you could sympathize, you can try your best to understand but until you felt the loss yourself, it really did nothing.

"I know." Eddie says with a nod, fiddling with his fingers. "I just..." He trails off, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. "No one in my family really understands. Talking to Chris is hard when I can barely keep it together and... I don't know." He admits, shaking his head as he brings his hands up to his face.

"And I understand so you came here?" Victoria asks him curiously. She didn't blame him for wanting to talk to her, she understood what it felt like when a loved one died but he scoffs, rubbing his face.

"It doesn't even-- I mean, she asked for a divorce. We weren't exactly a happy couple but then she just died and now there's nothing. It's just empty." Eddie admits. Victoria hadn't known about the divorce but that didn't change anything. Eddie had still loved her, in what way, she didn't know. But it was still between them and Eddie had still lost her in a pretty cruel way.

"I felt a large void when Anthony died. It didn't help that I hadn't seen him for months before his death. It just felt like the world was ripping him from me." She admits. Maybe if she had seen him before his death, she wouldn't be still hanging onto it but it was definitely a huge factor in her grief. "And no one understood either. I mean, his family was grieving the loss of their son, their brother, their uncle but me... I was grieving the loss of a piece of me."

Victoria never wanted to decrease the pain in family felt, she knew they bore a pain she would never understand. But so did she. She had known him for a long time and she had loved him with everything she had. Anthony had shared everything with her, even things his own family never knew. And no matter how much love they had for him, and how much grief they had felt when he had passed, she felt like it was worse for her. Not that it was a competition in any way. But the reason she hadnt kept in touch was because that pain was too much to handle and talking to them would just remind her of it.

"How soon did you leave?" Eddies voice brings her back as her eyes move to his.

"Thinking of ditching us?" She teases him even though she would be sad if he actually did. But Eddie shakes his head.

"No, no. Just curious."

"A month or two." Victoria admits with a small sigh. "Time really blurred between his funeral and coming to LA." She tells him. She really could barely remember the time between, it all hazed together. Victoria remembered slight moments, her drunken hook up with Kelly being one of them. Kelly was still reeling from his break up with Renee and her getting into a car accident and she was grieving, it had just happened. "But you can put her to rest, you can let go, knowing she's safe now." She states.

Eddie just stares at her. He hated how she wasn't able to do that. He could eventually let Shannon go, be able to overcome the pain, heal, but she would always have that pain in her life. Because she didn't have a body to bury, a body to put to rest, and to have peace.

"I wanted to search for him, the whole team did, but they denied us." He tells her. Eddie knew there was a slight chance that Anthony could have survived the helicopter crash, but the army didn't care, they said it was 'enemy territory' and they couldn't risk it.

"Guess I'll just have to live with my void." Victoria says, smiling back at him but he could see the pain clear in her eyes. She just clears her eyes, looking away for a second. "Maddies cooking, are you sure you don't want to join us?" She asks again, not wanting him to be alone. She knew he had Christopher but sometimes it was good to have other people as well.

"I should get home." He tells her, not wanting to intrude any longer. It seemed Victoria wanted to say something else but she stopped herself.

"Okay." She says with a smile before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "I hope your pain lessens, Eddie. I really do." Victoria states as she squeezes her arms before pulling away, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Eddie nods as their gazes meet again.

She just allows her hand to linger on his before she stands up and heads back toward the apartment building.

••••

BUCK TURNS AROUND AS VICTORIA KICKS HIS SEAT ONCE AGAIN. They were riding in the ladder truck, heading toward a scene and Victoria got stuck in the back. Seems like she just wanted to annoy him because of it. Victoria pouts as she leans forward a bit once she had gotten his attention. "Why aren't you sitting back here with me?" She asks, tilting her head a bit. Buck only smirks as he gazes at her.

"Because I was faster and got the front and now you're jealous." Buck retorts cockily. Victoria narrows her eyes as she moves closer to him, her arms rested in between the console.

"Hm, say that to my face." Victoria taunts and Buck chuckles lowly as he leans toward her, closing the bigger gap between them.

"You're jealous." Buck tells her and Victoria clicks her tongue as she rolls her eyes.

"You're an idiot." She responds.

"A very hot idiot, once again." Buck states with a proud smirk, turning back to the front as Victoria turns red, her eyes glancing to the others who were just chuckling to themselves.

"Buck." Victoria warns, knowing that they should be a bit more careful with the flirtatious comments toward each other.

"The compliment was for myself, Bobby isn't even around for him to say anything to." Buck says with a shrug of his shoulders. But both of them knew the guys in the truck wouldn't say anything. Now, if it was Chimney, he would be leaving a long message from the moment he saw or heard anything.

"118. 118, this is dispatch. We got Bobby Nash on the line, he says it's important." A voice comes through their radios making Buck glance toward it all the while Victoria just raises her eyebrows.

"Jinxed it." She states as she shakes her head. Buck chuckles as he just looks out the window.

"Dispatch. Dispatch, please repeat--" Chimney's voice starts to say but all of a sudden Victoria was thrown to the side with a gasp. She couldn't even really process what had happened, one minute she was inside the firetruck and the next, she was laying on the pavement.

Her head pounds, her vision blurring as a ringing sensation goes through her ears. Victoria takes a shaky breath, squeezing her eyes shut in order to try and get it to clear. As she looks around, everything was still a mess of colour's and lights, but she was able to make out the firetruck. It was completely on fire and small flames lingered around.

Victoria didn't even try to figure out what had happened, her one thought, her one concern was buck. The moment she was able to somewhat see things clearly, she started to try and push herself up. But with the way her arms were shaking beneath her, she had to settle with crawling against the pavement, the rough terrain grazing her skin.

"Buck?" She asks, trying to call out toward him. Her own voice sounded like an echo as she glanced around the area. "Buck?" Victoria tries again as a groan leaves her lips. She stops herself, wincing as she brings her hand to her head. As she moves her hand down, she sees the faint sight of blood covering her hand. "Shit." She mutters. Victoria could barely feel it, probably due to the adrenaline in her system.

Her mind completely disregards the blood as her eyes rest on her boyfriend who was in front of her. But it wasn't anything she could've ever expected. Buck was, from first glance, laying beside the firetruck. That was until she took a longer look and noticed that the firetruck was on top of his leg. "Buck, oh my god." She gasps out, feeling her heart start to race at even just the thought of him in so much agony.

Victoria went to crawl again when someone stops her. At first she thought it may be someone from the other firetruck, Eddie, Hen, even Chimney. But as she looks up, she sees an unfamiliar boy. "Stay there." He warns her and she notices the vest he had strapped around him and the way his hand was holding something. But all Victoria was thinking about right now was Buck. "I said, stay there." The boy says, a buy more stern this time as he noticed she was still trying to move.

"Please, just let me--" She says, trying to crawl more but he stands in front of her, using his foot to kick her down so she was flat on the ground. Victoria groans, her ears already ringing like crazy.

"You want me to blow you up, bitch!?" He shouts toward her and Victoria stays silent until he moves away from her. Her eyes move toward Buck who was slightly moving from underneath the truck but it wasn't like he could go anywhere.

"Buck, can you hear me?" Victoria asks, but she was still too far away and with the way he was positioned, he probably couldn't even see her.

"Give me the captain!" He shouts, glancing around. Victoria moves her eyes to the one most likely responsible for what had happened. "Where's the captain?" The boy asks loudly before seeing one of the firefighters trying to move. "Hey, I told you not to move." He threatens.

Victoria takes the opportunity since he wasn't looking at her to move toward Buck. It was slow, but she eventually got there because the man was too distracted by who he was trying to get. "Buck?" She asks as she settles beside him. Buck seemed to relax hearing her voice, probably glad she wasn't dead somewhere on the pavement.

His eyes move to her but he groans as he feels the pain go to his leg. "A-are you okay?" Buck asks her and Victoria rests her hand on his, nodding her head.

"I'm okay." Victoria assures him, but as his gaze landed on her bloody hands, his eyes move to her face and that's when he notices the wound on her head that she seemed to have.

"Your head."

"It's nothing." She denies. She really wasn't the one that needed help right now. "You're pretty stuck, huh?" Victoria knew cracking a joke wasnt the best right now but she felt this way in high stress situations. It was how she stayed sane. Buck tried to laugh but it just came out in gasps.

"Just a little." He responds, his breathing shallow as she checks how his pulse was. Victoria glances around before her eyes settle back on him.

"We're gonna get you out, okay?" She assures him. Victoria didn't know how but they would get him out of it. Buck nods slightly but he rests his head back against the pavement.

"I'm cold." Buck's voice cracked as his body shivered due to the blood loss.

"You just hang on." Victoria whispers, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. She glances back over to the boy, wanting to see the police taking him down but there was no way they would do that with a bomb strapped to him.

"I'm the captain, okay?" Chimney's voice comes out of nowhere and Victoria's eyes widen as she notices him walking toward the bomber. "I'm the captain, okay? So please, just let me help them." He says as he looks toward Victoria. Their eyes meet for a split second and she could tell he was trying to do an assessment in his head.

"No. No I don't want you." The boy denies with a shake of his head. "I want Captain Nash." He admits. Victoria was too disoriented to even know what was happening or why he wanted Bobby. If she knew him, she didn't exactly recognize him right now.

"Freddie."  It was Bobby.

"Thought you'd be on the truck." He mutters with a scoff as he looks at the overturned fire truck.

"I'm here now. What's next? It's what you wanted." Bobby points out as he looks around the area. His eyes settle on Buck and Victoria by the truck and he tries his best not to give the reaction Freddie wanted, but his heart broke as he saw them in pain.

"I wanted you dead."

"I get that. But what about them? What about him?" Bobby asks as he gestures over to Buck. "He's got parents, a sister, a girlfriend, and he never did anything to you." He explains. Bobby let's his eyes rest on Victoria for a second and she gave a slight nod to let him know she was okay. Was she really okay? Well, time would tell. "He wasn't even a firefighter when your father burned down that restaurant." Bobby points out with a scoff. Freddie just shrugs his shoulders.

"Collateral damage." Victoria felt her blood boil at that comment. How could he hurt so many innocent people just because he wanted to, because he could? She knew he was young but that didn't excuse anything. And if she wasn't in pain, she would be tackling him to the ground. Because Buck wasn't collateral damage, he was a human being who didn't deserve this to happen to him.

"Is that how you see yourself? An unintended victim in all this?" Bobby asks him, raising an eyebrow.

"Stop. One more step, we all go boom." He warns Bobby who only sighs as he narrows his eyes a bit.

"Freddie. You got dealt a bad hand and I am sorry about that. But what you did with it-- that's a choice. You stopped being a victim the moment you left that first bomb." Bobby explains to him, not about to feel sorry for someone who willingly made these bad decisions.

"That lawyer. She--"

"Did her job. We were all doing our jobs." Bobby tells him and Freddie scoffs.

"Destroying my family. My mom and I lost everything. She was in so much pain." He admits and Bobby just takes a step closer to him.

"Want to make it worse? You want to make her watch you die?" Bobby asks him. Freddie furrows his eyebrows as he hears his mom call his name. As Bobby tackles him, Victoria brings her attention back to Buck. She was still holding his hand, making sure he was squeezing it back as an indicator he was still conscious.

The others quickly rush over to the firetruck as soon as it was clear. "Still with us, Buck?" Chimney asks as he kneels down with the med pack beside him. Hen was beside him as she offered a comforting smile.

"Buck, how we doing?" Hen questions.

"Kinda numb." He admits in a shaky voice. Victoria feels his hand slip from hers suddenly.

"H-he's losing a lot of blood. We need to get him out and we need--" She starts to ramble at them but Chimney cuts her off, knowing she wasn't exactly in the best state either.

"Vic, we've got it, okay?" Chimney tells her, trying to focus on what he was doing. Victoria frowns as she shakes her head.

"No, but he-- we need to make sure he doesn't go into shock." Victoria points out, moving closer but Eddie suddenly blocks her.

"And we are gonna take care of him." Eddie assures her, sharing a glance with the others. "Now, let me take a look at your head." He suggests as he takes her arm but she just pulls it out of his grip.

"I'm fine, just help Buck." She denies as she moves closer to Buck. Eddie didn't take no for an answer though as he just grabs her arm again. He wasn't rough about it, but he didn't allow her to shake it off this time.

"Vic, you have a head injury. You know how serious those can be." Eddie says in a stern tone. Victoria moves her gaze to his, biting the inside of her cheek. "Let me take a look." He pleads. Victoria hesitates, her eyes moving toward Buck. Hen just moves her hand to hers.

"We've got him, I promise." Hen tells her. And Victoria knew that they would do everything in their power to help buck. Hen would never promise her anything if she wasn't sure Buck would make it out. Victoria sniffles as she moves closer to buck, leaning down toward him and placing her hands on his cheeks.

"Don't you dare die, okay? I'll kill you." She warns, a tear dripping from her eye as she places a soft kiss on his lips. Once she pulls away, she moves out of the way so that Chimney and Hen could work.

"Sit right here." Eddie says, gesturing to an area a little bit away from the truck. Victoria moves but she doesn't allow Eddie to look at her.

"I-i don't need-- help Buck." Victoria would sit out of the way but she wanted everyone to focus on helping Buck, not her. Eddie doesn't listen, just holding his fingers in front of her.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Eddie asks her. Victoria rubs her eyes a bit, still feeling the blood oozing down her skin.

"Three." She answers him with a sigh.

"Do you know your name?"

"Victoria Claire."

"Where were you born?"

"Chicago."

"Do you know what year it is?"

"2019."

"Good." Eddie says with a nod, glad she wasnt having any memory issues. He brings a small flashlight up, shining it into her eyes. "Look to the left." Victoria felt impatient but she did it, wanting the checkup to just be over with so she could go back to Buck. "The right. Up for me." Once he was satisfied, Eddie pulled the light away. "You're gonna be okay." He didn't see any sign of a brain bleed or something more serious.

That being said, she was still loosing blood from the wound on her head. "That's what I've been trying to say, now let me go back to Buck." Victoria tells him but he blocks her way.

"Woah, you still have a pretty big gash." Eddie points out with a frown, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Eddie, just let me see him." Victoria pleads. She wanted to be with him every step of the way, especially since lifting the truck off of him will be painful. "Please." She adds after she saw the man hesitating. Eddie sighs after a moment but nods his head, allowing her past.

"Okay, we're gonna lift in three two, one." Bobby says as Victoria makes her way back go them. She grabs Bucks hands again and Buck seemed glad she was back with him.

"Baby, I'm right here." Victoria assures him just as the team start to try and lift the fire truck.

Bucks screams are something Victoria didn't think she would ever forget. They would surely haunt her later on. They were nothing but pure agony as his hand squeezed hers. Victoria wished she could take his pain for him, but instead she just had to sit beside him and hope they were able to quickly get him out. But as the truck barely budges, that didn't seem to be an option.

"You've gotta lift higher." Hen tells them. She wasn't even able to get Buck out an inch as the truck had barely lifted an inch.

"One more time guys. Ready?" Bobby tells them. Victoria wanted to close her eyes, to not hear the pain that Buck was experiencing but it was near impossible to even try and block it out. Tears stream down her face as the scream lasts longer than the last and she couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't handle hearing him like this.

"Stop! You're hurting him!" Victoria pleads as she looks up at the group who were still trying to lift the truck. "Stop!" Her hand hits Bobby's leg and the team drop the truck once again. Bobby places his hand on Victoria's shoulder as she turns back to Buck. "Evan?" She asks, crying as she brushed his hair back.

Buck could barely speak so he just squeezed her hand ever so slightly to let her know he was still there. Relief flooded over her as she closed her eyes for a moment. "We got anything on the truck we can use for leverage?" Eddie asks with a sigh as he looks toward Bobby who shakes his head.

"No. We need more people."

"I'll radio again. Dispatch this is--" Chimney stops himself when he notices the civilians breaking down the barricade and rushing toward the truck. Victoria didn't even notice, her gaze too focused on Buck.

She places a small kiss on the side of his head as the people try and lift again. But this time, there was actual progress as the truck starts to finally lift. Buck was still in agony but at least it was going to be worth it once they get him out. "We got him! We got him!" Chimney shouts as they pull Buck out, quickly putting him on a gurney in order to rush him to the ambulance.

"Stay with us, Buck." Hen says as she looks down at the man.

"Stay with us, kid." Bobby mutters as he stands aside so they had space to open the ambulance doors.

"Hospitals four minutes away, okay?" Hen tells him, knowing they'd have him there in no time and hoping it would be enough.

"You're gonna be okay." Victoria assures him but Buck was now unconscious due to the pain being too much to bare. "You hear me? You're gonna be fine." She says as they put him in the ambulance. Victoria takes a step back, just staring toward Buck as she felt her heart beat finally slow down. Chimney extends his hand to go and help her into the ambulance when suddenly she was falling backwards.

Eddie was quick to catch her as the woman had completely passed out. The adrenaline within her body having come to an end. "I got her." Eddie admits as he brings his arm down in order to properly carry her. Bobby sighs as he shakes his head, signaling for another gurney.

••••

VICTORIA WAS SITTING ON THE EDGE OF THE HOSPITAL BED, her hands just slowly going through Buck's hair as he slept. She had been getting checked out and hadn't been able to see him immediately. Carla and Maddie told her he was doing okay, his leg was the only thing of big concern which was to be expected. When she finally got to his room even though the nurse told her to stay in bed, Buck had been asleep. She didn't want to wake him so she just sat down beside him. Her eyes never left him for a minute, worrying that this was all a dream and he'd disappear as soon as she looked away.

But as she sniffles lightly, her fingers still running slowly through his hair, she could see him stir a bit. Bucks eyebrows furrow as his eyes squeeze slightly before slowly opening. Victoria smiles gently down at him, her hand moving down to his cheek, resting beneath his jaw. Buck blinks a few times before his eyes land on Victoria. His body visibly softens as his gaze meets hers.

"Hey." She says as her thumb rubs over his skin. Buck still felt a bit drowsy from the pain meds but the smallest smile formed on his face.

"Hi." His voice was hoarse, his hand resting on her knee as she was sat beside him. Buck lets his eyes run over her and his smile fades when he notices the bandage on her head. The accident was a bit blurry to him so he didn't remember all the details. Maddie mentioned Victoria got hurt but she said it wasn't serious. A head injury seemed serious.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you first woke up." Victoria apologizes. Buck shakes his head as he frowns, lifting his hand up to her head. He didn't care about that, not when she was clearly getting checked out herself.

"You're hurt." Buck points out. Victoria takes his hand, bringing it back down between them.

"I'm fine." She assures him. It honestly didnt even hurt and the doctor said it was superficial. They just wanted to keep her overnight for observation but they do that with all head injurys. "Better shape than you, anyways." Victoria states and Buck narrows his eyes a bit.

"Funny."

Victoria presses her lips together as her eyes drift back to his leg for a moment before she clears her throat. "How are you feeling?" She questions, her hand resting on his arm and running up and down it.

"In pain." He admits, grimacing a bit as he readjusted himself on the bed.

"Did the doctor say anything about your leg?" She asks, wanting to know what they said regarding pain, recovery and everything else. Victoria knew Buck was stuck on being a firefighter so not being able to wasn't an option.

"He says he won't be sure until it starts healing." Buck mutters, hating how he'll be off of work for a while. And the doctor wasn't even giving him a clear idea if he will even fully recover.

"How long will that take?" Victoria asks, although she knew it wouldn't be a fast process.

"Few months." He admits. "Guess you'll be nurse Vic this time." Buck teases, knowing he didn't have to make jokes or anything right now but he just needed to lighten the air a bit.

"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" Victoria asks with a small laugh. Buck rolls his eyes playfully.

"Yeah, I purposely got crushed by a ladder truck just to have an excuse for you to be around me constantly." Buck responds and Victoria's smell fell slightly.

"Buck, when you were pinned.... I was so scared." Victoria admits, the tears forming in her eyes once again as her eyes move down to her hands. Buck grabs a hold of them, giving them a squeeze.

"I'm right here." Buck assures her, bringing her closer to him so she was sitting right beside him on the bed.

"But you're hurt." She points out. Victoria couldn't barely look at his leg without feeling her heart clench. It was a horrible injury and she wasn't even sure if it would fully heal. Buck shakes his head as he brings his hand up to her cheek, stroking it.

"It'll heal." He responds.

"But what if it was worse?" Victoria asks. He was literally crushed underneath the firetruck, hes lucky the leg wasnt amputated or worse and he went into crush syndrome. "You couldve died." She states.

"I didnt." He tells her. Buck bites the inside of his cheek as he fiddles his fingers. "I guess I see why you don't date firefighters now." Buck says. He didn't really understand why until now. How she lost Anthony, dating someone who worked the same dangerous job as you, it was hard. Buck hated when she got hurt as well.

"I love you, Evan. And I cant lose you." She denies as she rests against his chest, the tears now flowing down her cheeks, her hands clutching to the gown he had on. Buck frowns as he wraps his arms around her.

He knew she wasn't actually saying she loved him. Well, she was, just not in the way that he truly wanted. Victoria loved him as in, she didn't want him to get hurt and she was more talking in a general way as oppose to actual love. Buck knew it was way too soon for her to be saying it, especially with all she's been through. She most likely didn't even realize she had said it. So, he wouldn't point it out or ask her about it. At least not right now.

"I know." Buck says as he runs his hands through her hair. He presses a kiss to the side of her head, just holding her as she cries in his arms. "I love you." His words were barely audible, more coming out as a whisper as his eyes closed.

••••

Authors note;

Notice how there was no too.... because he says saying he's in love with her and she's..........I'll stop adding salt to the wound.

I also didn't mean for this chapter to be as long as it was but oh well

Thank u for almost 100k I feel completely undeserving of it.