••••

BUCK GASPS AS HE REACHES THE SURFACE OF THE WATER. His eyes were wide as he stared up at the sky. One moment he was sat with the others on the pier, the next he was running away from a tsunami with them. And now he was alone. Completely alone as he tried his best to stay afloat in the rough waters that were threatening to pull him back under. His eyes frantically search around.

"Christopher?!" His voice screams as he looks around, his eyes darting in every single direction. "Christopher?!" The boy seemed to be gone even though he was just with him in the booth. He had slipped from his grasp and Buck didn't know what to do. How would he even find him in this mess, how would he find any of them?

"Victoria!? Rosie?!" Buck felt like his entire life had just come crashing down. The past year he had spent finally growing his relationship with Victoria into something great and now she was gone. And even if he was to find her and Rosie was gone, he didn't know if Victoria could survive that. Having her sister ripped from her.

"Christopher?!" Eddie was on his mind. Eddie had entrusted Christopher with him and this happens. Buck didn't want to lose his best friend, he didn't want to lose Christopher, he didn't want to lose anyone. But if he didn't find everyone, he would surely lose one or all of them.

"Buck!" Buck's head snaps in the direction of the voice, seeing Christopher holding onto the pole. His eyes widen, relief flooding over him that he was at least alive.

"Christopher! Just stay there, don't move!" He shouts, wanting to make his way to the young boy without him trying to do the same. Buck grabbed what he could to get him closer and slow him down. "Reach out and grab my hand! Christopher, grab my hand!" Buck states, reaching out but as their fingers only brush against each other, he was pushed past the boy by the waves. "Just stay over there!" He screams, trying to find something to stop himself.

"I can't hold on!" Christopher shouts back, his hands slipping from the pole.

"Just hold on, Christopher!" Buck luckily got stopped by a large piece of debris, his eyes going back to Christopher who was desperately trying to hold on.

"Buck!" He screams before he goes under the water. Buck tries to track his movements beneath the waves. He pushes himself off, intercepting the boy in his path and grabbing a hold of him. Buck brings him out of the water, holding him tightly so he couldn't go anywhere.

"I got you!" Buck assures him, closing his eyes for a moment as he breathes heavily, feeling the young boy cling to him. "I got you, I got you." He whispers, glancing around and seeing a firetruck in the distance. He swims them over to it, lifting Christopher onto it.

Buck sees debris heading his way so he quickly ducks under it before he was able to climb up himself. He rests next to Christopher, taking deep breaths before his eyes finally see the full intensity of the situation they were in. "Vic..." He says, not being able to keep his mind off of what she could be going through, what rosie could be going through. She was a kid and she was probably all alone. "We're gonna find them, okay?" Buck assures Christopher as he looks at the man.

"Buck.." Christopher says, his voice soft. "She was here." He admits and Bucks eyes widen as he sits up a bit.

"What?"

"I-i saw her, I was talking to her and then the wave pulled her away." He tells the man who was shocked, moving to the edge of the firetruck. He didn't really know what he was expecting. She wasn't going to magically pop up from the water.

"She was here." Buck mumbles, his eyes searching the area. He felt his heart ache, knowing she had only just been there and now she was gone."Victoria!" He shouts, not even expecting an answer at this point. If he recieved one, that would be a miracle. "Rosie, did you see her?" He asks as he looks back at Christopher who only shakes his head.

Buck felt defeated as he rested back against the metal. His eyes drifted toward the water. Why did this feel like the universe sending him a sign? He survived a fire truck blowing up only to get caught in a tsunami and losing his girlfriend in the process.

He knew he had to keep positive, to believe they were alive, but with the waves not slowing down, it was very hard to do in that moment.

••••

VICTORIA WAS SCREAMING AS SHE SWAM THROUGH THE WATER. As she rose back to the surface after being pulled under the water and away from Christopher, she had found herself completely alone. She could even see a glimmer of them in the distance. No matter how much she hoped that when she would look slightly to the right she would see them, it didn't happen.

"Rosie!?" She screams as she thrashes around. Victoria had promised to take care of her sister and then this happened. She knew she couldn't exactly prevent it, but she was the one who forced Rosie to come with them. If she wouldn't have, Rosie would be safe in their apartment right now and not potentially floating face down in the water.

"N-no, no ,no." Victoria felt herself start to panic as tears formed in her eyes. She couldn't lose her family, not when she had already lost so much. "Rosie!?" She tries again, hoping to hear some sort of response but she gets nothing. Victoria didn't even care about her potential injuries or the debris or a potential second wave. She needed to find her sister. She needed to find the others.

"Evan?!" Victoria shouts, thinking maybe he was around instead. The last she had seen him, he was ducking behind a stand with Chris. So, where had he been when she had seen Chris. She tried not to think he was dead. Lord knows she couldn't lose him after the gruesome past few months they had.

"Chris!?" Victoria could imagine Eddies face when she told him Christopher was gone. She couldn't do it. She wouldn't want someone to say to her that Rosie was. And it was the fact he trusted Christopher with them and yet he was gone. She was hoping he was with Buck, maybe they had found each other but she had no way of knowing that.

"Come on." She mutters, bringing one hand out of the water to rub her face. "Evan?!" Her voice was practically screeching at this point, too desperate to find someone, to find him. She just wanted to be in his arms right now. Victoria wanted to have her sister in her sight, to look up and see Christopher. But none of that seemed to happen. The universe didn't seem to be listening.

"Help!" Victoria frantically looks around, hoping to see someone she knew, only to see an unknown boy waving over at her. "Please, help me!" He pleads. Victoria tried to hide her disappointment as she made her way over to him.

"What happened?" She asks as she stops beside him, holding onto the metal beside her.

"My mom, she's stuck and i-i can't get her out." He tells her, looking at the debris that was on top of his mom. Victoria looks at the situation, seeing the woman underneath some bars, one of them being on her neck restricting her breathing a bit.

"Okay, I'm gonna help you, but you need to calm down." She states, not needing him to be freaking out because she would most likely need his help. "What's her name?" Victoria asks.

"Soojin."

"Soojin, can you hear me?" Victoria questions, looking down at the woman who winces.

"Yes..." soojin responds as she held onto the bars trying to at least keep them off of her jugular.

"I'm Vic, I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?" She assures the woman who nods her head slightly. "It's actually your lucky day cause I'm a firefighter." Victoria tells them both and Dae just lets out a sigh.

"Luck isn't the word I'd use." A miracle would be more like it.

"Okay, I need you to grab the other end and on my signal, lift as much as you can." Victoria tells him, gesturing to the bar. Dae glances around, moving but being very aware of the predicament they were in.

"But the water--"

"One problem at a time." Victoria cuts him off. She would worry about the water getting higher in a minute. "Three two one!" She groans as she lifts the bar with the help of the young boy. They were able to get it up enough so the mother could move freely. "I got it, I got it. Get your mom out." She tells dae who does what hes told, helping bring his mom out so Victoria could drop the bar. "Ma'am, are you injured?" Victoria asks, moving over to the woman.

"M-my leg." She says, gesturing to the deep gash in it.

"I'm gonna get you out of this water, every moment we're in, the risk for infection increases." She explains to the woman and Dae frowns as he glances at her.

"Where are we gonna go?" He asks curiously and Victoria let's out a sigh as she looks around the area.

"I don't know." She admits, desperately trying to find anything that was out of the water. Thats when she noticed a platform a bit above where the water level was. "Here." She says, pointing at it before moving them toward it. "Let's get her up here." Victoria states and Dae nods his head.

"Mom, we're gonna get you out, okay?" Dae tells her and she seemed up for it. But as Victoria went to start lifting, another voice interrupted them.

"Help!" Victoria glances around, seeing a young girl grabbing a hold of a wire as she tried to stop herself from drifting away.

"You got her?" Victoria asks, referring to his mother.

"Y-yeah, but what are you--" She doesn't let him finish, just letting go of Soojin and swimming to the young girl who was trying to hold onto the wire.

"I'm coming for you, okay!?" Victoria assures her, trying to avoid the debris in the water as she wanted to be quick but safe.

"I-i can't hold on!" The young girl responds. Victoria was lucky to get to her just as she let go of the wire. Victoria catches her, holding her close.

"I got you." She admits as she holds the girl closely before helping her over to where the platform was. Boosting her up, Victoria took a deep breath as she felt her energy being depleted. But she had to continue to fight. She helped Soojin up next before Dae. As she glanced up at the others, she offers a smile before seeing how they were looking over her shoulder.

As Victoria turns her head, she noticed about half a dozen people floating down toward her, waving them arms for help.

••••

HER EYES WERE FORCING THEMSELVES TO STAY OPEN. Victoria didn't know how long she could stay holding herself afloat. There wasnt enough room on the platform for everyone so she offered to stay in the water as she had the least injuries. She was becoming cold as well with the water hitting her skin. She felt like she was slowly dying with the way her heartbeat would increase and then slow down almost to a point where it wasn't even beating anymore. She had to get out of the water, but she didn't want to until she found the others. She wouldn't just leave them.

"You doing okay?" A voice asks curiously. She looks over, thinking it was one of the people that she helped only to see it was Anthony. Someone who she hadn't expected to appear right before her eyes.

"Anthony." She says, with a bit of shock in her tone. But she wasnt sure if it was the adrenaline in her system, or if she had finally went crazy, but it didnt even seem unreal to her. "Yeah, I'm peachy." Victoria answers him with a small smile.

"How long do you think we've been hanging here?" Anthony questions, leaning next to her on the pole. Victoria sighs as she shakes her head.

"Too long." She admits as her eyes scan in front of her. "Someone should be coming." There were rescue teams on the water, she knew it. She just didn't know if they were going to come this far out because there was still risks of more waves.

"And what if no one does?" Anthony questions and she moves her eyes back to him. "They're still out there." He points out.

"I-I know." She responds, her mind going back to her sister who was probably so scared. She just hoped Rosie wasnt alone. "We have to find them." Victoria agrees as she nods her head.

"You sure you're okay to do that?" Anthony asks, his eyes moving to her arm. She looks at his, seeing the scratch bleeding along it.

"I'm fine." She assures him and Anthony chuckles, smiling brightly back at her.

"You always were stubborn." Anthony responds and she rolls her eyes playfully.

"You're one to talk." She tells him before her eyes move to the group on the platform. "Hey, so a rescue team will come to you, you just need to stay here okay?" Victoria states which makes everyone look a bit confused.

"You're not staying with us?" Soojin asks her with a frown as she exchanged a glance with her son.

"I have to find people I lost." Victoria admits as she goes to move but Dae stops her, shaking his head.

"What if another wave comes--"

"You don't need to worry about me. You just stay here, with your mother sat up here and you'll be fine." She tells him with a smile before going past him. Victoria lets go of the pole, allowing herself to swim in the water.

She hears a few calls from behind but she ignores them. Victoria needed to find the others and she couldn't when she was waiting there for rescue. "Where are we going to start?" Anthony's voice comes into her ear again and she sees him swimming beside her.

"They could be anywhere." Victoria admits as her eyes run over the water in front of her. "They could be..." She trails off, stopping herself from saying it out loud.

"They're not dead. You don't believe that really." Anthony denies as he looks at her and she sighs, chewing the inside of her cheek.

"I don't want to."

"Okay, then let's get to work." Anthony says with a smile as he gestures to the horizon. Victoria takes a deep breath, trying to preserve her energy as she pushes to swim even faster, moving further away from the platform and swimming towards what she hoped was salvation.

••••

THE EXHAUSTION FLOODING HER BODY MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP GOING. Victoria didn't even know how long she had been fighting the waves to get to the shallower parts. To get to dry land. It seemed to be getting farther away as opposed to closer. It didn't help that she had still not seen Buck, Rosie or Christopher. All she had come into contact with were helpless souls floating in the water. She should be relieved it wasn't them who she saw but it didn't mean it didn't hurt less.

"Buck seems like a really good guy." Anthony's voice gains her attention as she looks to the side.

"He is." She admits as she nods her head. Anthony smiles as he only swims closer to her.

"And you seem happy." He points out. Victoria felt herself deflate a bit as she tries to focus on keeping herself above the water.

"Do you want me to be?" Victoria asks. Anthony looks confused as he tilts his head.

"Of course I do, Vic." He assures her with a small frown. "That's all I ever wanted for you." Anthony tells her and Victoria felt tears trickling in her eyes.

"But you're not mad that I found someone else?" Victoria questions and she could see the light, amused expression that formed on his face.

"Mad? You're asking if I'm mad in the middle of a tsunami?" Anthony asks with a laugh as he raises his eyebrow. Victoria sighs as she floats through the water.

"Nothing else to do." She points out. Unless she saw someone who needed help or a rescue boat, there was nothing to do other than swim.

"I would never be mad." Anthony denies as he shakes his head. "You know the conversation we had." He tells her and her eyes drift slightly.

"Doesn't make me feel less guilty." She admits. Anthony had told her if anything happened to him, he'd want her to he happy. But that didn't mean it was easy, or that she wouldn't feel awful for actually moving on.

"Nothing was your fault." He denies as he looks at her and Victoria kept her eyes low. "And hey, I'm right here." Anthony says making her gaze move back to him.

"Are you?" Victoria asks him. Anthony just stares at her before he was moving over to her, his hand placing on her jaw. It felt so real, his touch seemed like it was actually there.

"Now, I need you to fight and we need to find the others, okay?" Anthony tells her, needing her to continue pushing herself to safety.

"Okay." Victoria says as she nods her head. She couldn't let herself die, be swept away by the water when she didn't know if everyone else was okay. She couldn't allow her sister to be alone or for Eddie to lose his son. And she didn't want to lose the man who had made her heart whole this past year.

"Evan?!" She calls out, her voice already hoarse from earlier. Victoria feels so hopeless as she continues to aimlessly scream out their names. "Rosie!? Christopher?!" As her eyes go back in front of, she notices another wave heading toward her, the one that would wash her out to sea if she wasn't careful.

But there wasn't really anything for her to grab onto, not that would keep her from being hit by the large waves. So as she frantically thrashed, trying to get to safety, the wave comes over top of her, pushing her down into the water. She fights against it, feeling the debris hit her skin as she is thrown around.

Her ears ring as she felt every single thud and shot of pain that went through her body. As she tried desperately to reach the surface, she felt like it was drifting away as every single movement she made dragged her away from it. And with every movement, her energy was getting less and less.

Victoria feels her body become too weak to fight the waves pushing her around. The surface of the water gets further and further away as she slowly slips down. Her hands move above her head as her eyes begin to close. Her body didn't even fight against the water entering her system.

And it also didn't register when someone was pulling her back up to surface.

••••

BUCK WANDERED AIMLESSELY AT THE EMERGENCY REFUGE. He had spent his entire day looking for Christopher after he had fallen from the ladder truck. But with no luck, the boy was still missing. He needed to find him, he couldnt ever look eddie in the eyes if he didnt. Buck moves over to one of the workers. "Hey, I'm looking for a kid. He's got brown hair -- chris-- Christopher." He tells her, his hands sweaty as he ignored the blood seeping from the wound on his arm.

"How old?" She asks him curiously as she looks at the list she had in her hand.

"Eight.. maybe nine." Bucks brain wasn't even comprehending anything anymore. He felt like the whole world was moving in slow motion, his heart rate beating so fast that he felt like it was going to explode.

"Last name?"

"Diaz."

"Christopher Diaz. No, not here." She denies as she shakes her head. Buck felt himself lose even more hope as yet another hospital didn't have Christopher.

"W-what about Victoria and Roseanne Claire?" Maybe, just maybe he would find them. At least he wouldn't have to worry about all three of them anymore. But the woman only shook her head once more causing him to sigh and close his eyes.

"No, sorry. You may want to check over there at the black tent." The woman tells him and Buck wanted to be sick. His eyes slowly moved over to the black tent, seeing the covered up bodies. Bodies. This woman was telling him to look at the people who died.

"I-isnt that the um..." Buck couldn't even say it out loud. He didn't want to.

"The morgue. Excuse me." The woman moves past her. Buck stumbles back a little bit, feeling like everything was only getting worse. He could handle them still being missing but once there names were on one of these sheets for the black tent, it was all over.

He glances around, moving over to a couple who were sat together. "Excuse me. Can I use your phone?" He asks them, his voice shaking. The man nods his head, giving it to him. Buck tries to focus as he types in maddies number.

"Hello?" She says after a moment of the phone ringing.

"Maddie." Buck says, sniffling as he was just glad to hear his sisters voice. At least there was one person who he hadn't completely failed.

"Buck? Where are you? I don't know this number." Maddie says, concern in her voice.

"I borrowed someone else's phone. Maddie, I need your help."

"Okay, um, tell me what's wrong. Are you hurt?" Maddie questions, probably wondering what the hell was going on. Buck clenches his jaw, trying to even find the words.

"Eddie dropped Christopher off with me. H-he thought, you know, doing some activities with him would get me out of my apartment and... out of my head." He starts to explain to her. "Maddie, I brought him to the pier." His voice cracks, tears forming in his eyes.

"Oh my god, you were there?"

"We all were." Buck tells her.

"Who's we?" Maddie asks curiously, thinking it was just Christopher. "Buck?" She asks after she didn't get a response.

"Vic and Rosie.... they disappeared. I-i never even saw them after the wave hit." Buck tells her, letting his head fall back against the wood. He didn't even want to imagine either of them gone.

"Oh, my god." Maddie gasps, frowning as she couldnt believe it. "And Christopher?" She asks, wondering what had happened to him.

"I had him. All right, Mads? I-i had him, i-i kept him safe. We were... Uh were on top of a ladder truck and then the water receded." Buck explains to her.

"Okay, you're not answering me. Are you injured, bleeding?" Maddie asks, wanting to know if he was okay but that was far from Bucks biggest concern right now.

"No, it doesn't matter! Don't you hear what I am saying? Christopher is gone." Buck snaps at her, getting angry that she even cared about his well being right now when they were all gone. "They all are." His voice was small, the tears dropping down his cheeks. "I checked the emergency refuge camps at the promenade, at the high school--"

"Did you check the VA hospital? The command centre, you know, on satellite?" Maddie suggests, trying to be helpful but it was pretty hard.

"I'm here now and he--" Buck stops himself, his eyes widening as he sees Eddie walking out of the building. "oh, god. No." He says, quickly hiding himself from Eddies view.

"What?"

"Eddies here." Buck says as he covers his face with his hand. He couldn't talk to Eddie, not now, not when he was still without Christopher.

"Does he know what happened?" Maddie asks him but it stays silent. "Evan, you have to tell him." She states.

"How? How do you tell your best friend that you lost his son?" Buck asks, his voice cracking. He could barely handle it himself, he couldn't even imagine how Eddie would react.

"No, no, no. He's his father. Okay, you have to tell him that Christopher's missing." Maddie states, shaking her head at the fact that Buck was thinking of not informing Eddie.

"No, Maddie. I need to keep looking for him. I need to find him." Buck tells her.

"Buck, you are in no condition to go looking for Christopher-- for any of them by yourself. I'm coming down there." Maddie states as she gets up from her chair.

"No, no. Maddie! Maddie!" Buck whisper shouts into the phone but she had already hung up the phone. He groans as he glances around, seeing some vans pull up.

"I need some help here!" Bobby shouts as he gets out of one of them. Buck wasn't quick enough to move as Eddie had made his way in the general direction but had stopped when he noticed that man.

"Buck?" Eddie asks, confusion in his tone as he walks up to him. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?" He questions, running his eyes over Buck who didnt look too good. "Wait, where's Christopher?" Eddie noticed his son wasn't with the man who he had left him with just this morning.

"Eddie.." Buck starts, barely able to say that without tearing up. Eddie's eyes drift to Buck's neck, his stomach churning at the sight.

"Why do you have his glasses?" Eddie asks him but it seemed he was already starting to put the pieces together.

"We um.... Me and Christopher... Rosie, Vic, we were... at the beach, and um.. listen to me, okay? I-I swear to you..." Buck stutters through his words, feeling like he was going to be sick and seeing the pain forming on Eddie's face, he hated being the one who was responsible for losing Christopher. "O-Okay I tried, and I just.... but I... they all... I can't find any of them. Vic, Rosie, Chris, I lost them all." He drops his head, the tears leaving his eyes.

Eddie tried to fight back his own, not wanting to be angry at Buck, not wanting to lash out. He was just filled with fear knowing his son was missing. But as his eyes drifted past Buck's shoulder, his face falls before moving into a shocked expression.

"Christopher?" He asks making Buck look back up at him.

"What?"

"Christopher?" Eddie says again as he moves past Buck. Buck slowly turns around, watching the man walk over toward someone.

"Dad!" Christopher's voice was clear as day as Eddie engulfed his son in a tight hug.

"Oh, my god." He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. Eddie was so relieved that he hadn't lost him. As he looked up, going to thank the one who brought Christopher, he noticed it was Rosie. His eyes widen as he sees her. "Hey, you're okay?" Eddie asks, as he glances back over at Buck.

"Yeah, yeah. And he's fine too." Rosie admits with a small smile. Eddie holds his son but brings his hand up to hold Rosie's for a split second, glad she was okay too.

"Buck, what happened?" Chimney asks as he walks up to Buck who was only watching Eddie and Christopher before his eyes landed on the girl beside them.

"R-rosie?" He questions, stepping past Chimney.

"Buck-" bobby tries to stop him, seeing that he was injured but Buck pushed past him, wanting to get to Rosie who hadn't seem to notice him yet.

"Rosie!" Buck calls out gaining her attention and she seemed shocked to lay her eyes on him.

"Buck?" Rosie asks as she starts to move over to him, meeting him half way.

"Rosie, Oh my god." Buck mutters as he pulls her into a tight hug. His hand holds her head as he closes his eyes for a moment. Rosie hugged him back, glad to know that he was alive. "You're okay. You're here and y-you're okay." He stutters as he pulls back, looking down at the girl as he held her. Rosie nods but she sees the blood on his face.

"Are you? You don't look good." Rosie denies with a small frown but Buck shook his head.

"I-I'm fine." Buck tells her but as his eyes move around, he realizes that it was just them. Victoria wasnt with her. "Where's vic?" He asks, glancing around, hoping to see the woman running toward him but he didn't. All he saw was the team.

"She's not with you?" Rosie retorts, she had thought that she would find them both together, turns out she wasn't with any of them.

"N-no, I haven't seen her."

"I haven't either." Rosie denies. Buck felt his whole world stop as he stumbled back a little bit. So, no one had seen Victoria since Chris watched her go under the water. He felt like he was going to be sick but it seemed his body had enough of the adrenaline as he had completely collapsed to the ground.

The others caught him just in time as Buck aimlessly stared in front of him. Victoria was still out there, whether she was alive or not, that was uncertain.

••••

EDDIE SAT BESIDE HIS SON, his eyes just staring in front of him as he thought about Victoria. He was relieved that Christopher and Rosie were okay, but he couldn't help but worry about her. The fact that neither Buck or Rosie had seen her was troubling. Did that mean she had been washed far away or did that mean something else? He felt a hand on his and moves his eyes down to Christopher.

"I tried... she told me to stay where I was." Christopher starts and Eddie furrows his eyebrows, slightly shifting in his seat.

"What?"

"Vic." Eddie froze as he felt his heart stop for a moment. "I saw her, I wanted to get to her but she told me to stay on the pole. Then she went under the water." Christopher explains to him. Eddie gulps a bit before clearing his throat, glancing around. He squeezes Christopher's shoulder before standing up.

"Would you mind sitting with him for a moment?" Eddie asks, his eyes on Rosie who was beside him. She doesn't say anything, just staring down at her hands. "Rosie?" He says and she looks over at him. Rosie slowly nods her head before moving over to Christopher.

Eddie sighs as he heads over to the team who were trying to figure out what to do. "I checked in with all the hospitals and emergency sites... she's not at any of them." Hen denies as she shakes her head, wanting to be sick even just wondering what happened to Victoria.

"So, she's lost." Chimney starts before hesitating. "O-or..."

"She's in the water." Bobby finished for him. No one wanted to think that but it was a very realistic thing.

"A lot of people got pulled out to see when the wave receded." Hen points out before her eyes move over to Rosie. "What do we tell her?" She asks.

"Nothing right now. Not till we're sure." Bobby admits. He didn't want to worry Rosie who was already terrified. And he didn't want to say anything for sure because they truly didn't know.

"Christopher said she was there when the wave first hit, but that she went under water after making sure he was safe." Eddie says, his voice cracking. It was clear that everyone was already thinking the worst. Hen drops her head, feeling the tears leave her eyes.

"Hey, no." Bobby denies as he sees them all try and fight back their emotions. "No tears, okay? We just have to keep hope that she's alive and that she's, I don't know, helping move some of the debris." He explains to them.

"Or she's hurt and alone." Hen retorts as she shakes her head.

"Hen, we need to keep a positive mind, okay?" Bobby assures her and Hen scoffs. She wanted to believe in the good of the universe but a tsunami just happened and countless people were dead, who's to say Victoria wasn't too.

"How?"

"That's all we can do. Cause honestly, I don't know if I can afford to think anything other than that." Bobby admits as he shakes his head. If he allowed himself to think of the worst, to think that she may be dead, then who would hold up the rest of the team while he collapsed into grief?

"H-hey!" A voice catches their attention and they all glance over. Eddie was first to rush over. "I need some help!" The man admits and Eddie quickly stops beside him, seeing the woman in his arms. It was only when her hair fell off of her face that Eddies eyes widened.

"Oh, my god. It's vic!" Eddie tells them, taking her from the man's arms and bringing her over to the group.

"Get her on the table now!" Bobby tells him. Hen moves her fingers to Victoria's neck as she was placed onto the table.

"No pulse." She denies.

"Starting compressions." Chimney says as he starts the movements as Rosie comes running over.

"Vic!" She calls out but Bobby stops her from getting too close.

"Rosie, stay back okay? Let them work." Bobby tells her. It was clear Rosie didn't want to just walk away, especially when she was seeing her sister for the first time all day after a natural disaster.

"B-but--"

"We've got her." Bobby assures her and Rosie nods her head, taking a step back.

"How long has she been down?" One of the doctors asks as he steps up to the table.

"I-i don't know I was just trying to rush here." Dae admits as he stands back, his handles fiddling with each other. The doctor sighs as he shakes his head, pulling his hand away from Victoria's pulse.

"Call it." He states and everyone snaps their heads towards him.

"What?" Bobby didn't think he had heard him correctly.

"There's still a lot of people here who we can help, we can't just give out resources to lost causes. The percentage--"

"I don't give a damn about percentages." Bobby snaps back at him, his eyes angry as he glares at the doctor. He just scoffs, turning back to his team. "Chim, keep doing compressions. Hen, grab the monitor, Eddie start an iv drip." Bobby demands and they all do what he says. "You, what's your name?" He asks as he looks over at Dae.

"D-dae."

"Okay, Dae, I need you to tilt her head back okay?" Bobby instructs but Dae looked like a deer in headlights.

"I-i don't know how to... you guys should do it." Dae tells them. Bobby furrows his eyebrows, they just saw him walk in carrying Victoria but he was scared to do some rescue breaths?

"How old are you?" Bobby asks him.

"F-fifteen."

"He's just a kid." Chimney states as he shakes his head. The others were shocked, sure he looked young but for him to have been able to lift Victoria for probably miles, it needed a whole lot for strength.

"You carried her the whole way here?" Bobby questions and Dae nods his head. "I need you to walk me through everything that happened, can you do that?" He asks, needing to know exactly when she had stopped breathing.

"U-Uh, she first helped me get my mom out from under some debris. She didn't seem hurt except for some scratches.... she um, there were others and everyone-- it was chaos. But she got everyone onto this platform so they were safe. There wasn't enough room for everybody so we hung onto the poles below." Dae starts to explain to everyone as they intently listen while also making sure to keep their eyes on Victoria while Chimney does compressions.

"But she kept saying she needed to find people, that everyone was safe so she needed to go." Dae admits and Eddies eyes briefly move over to his son who was talking to one of the nurses. "My mom told me to go with her, that she helped them all so somebody should help her and I was the only one uninjured so.. i-i don't know, she seemed fine... well, she was calling me Anthony so I don't think her head was all there but--"

"She was calling you Anthony?" Hen asks him, her eyes widening as she glanced at the others.

"When the wave receded, she was under the water for a really long time. I tried to hold her up and when I finally got us out, she was unconscious. I-i don't think she was breathing." Dae explains to them, his voice stuttering. Eddie shakes his head as he looks at Bobby.

"That's a really long time, Cap." He states, not wanting to think the worst but it wasn't looking good right now.

"Yeah." Bobby mumbles, clenching his jaw a bit. "Did she regain consciousness at all?" He asks, hoping that was the case because that would mean she might not have lost her pulse too quickly.

"I-i don't think so... but I was so focused on bringing her to safety that I might not have noticed."

Bobby looks down and Victoria, her eyes still closed as her body jolted with the compressions Chimney was doing. "Come on." He whispers, fighting back tears. "Come on, kid." Bobby couldnt lose her too, not after they nearly just lost Buck. "Eddie, tilt her head back, give five rescue breaths once Chimney stops, okay?" He tells the man who nods his head, getting into position.

"Go." Chimney says once he stops his own movements. Eddie leans down, pinching Victoria's nose and making sure her head is tilted as he blows air into Victoria's mouth, taking small breaks in between.

"Intervals, two breaths, thirty compressions." Bobby states, watching the two try and resuscitate Victoria.

"I got the monitor connected." Hen tells them, but when it turns on, they were only met with the harrowing noise of a flatline.

"Damn it." Bobby mutters as he watches the screen, praying for some sort of movement.

"P-please, I can't lose her too." Rosie cries as she almost falls to the ground but Bobby was quick to catch her. "Please save her." She begs, watching as the monitor continues to flatline. Chimney continues the compressions, Eddie giving Victoria rescue breaths as neither of them wanted to be the reason why Rosie had to watch her sister die.

"Wait-- there, did you see that?" Hen asks as she points to the monitor where she could've sworn she saw some activity a second ago. Everyone's eyes move to the screen which only continued to show the line. That was until it spiked and Victoria was gasping, coughing up the water from her lungs.

Eddie grasps her shoulders, the woman almost choking. "Turn her on her side." Bobby demands and Chimney and Eddie were fast to do just that. Victoria coughs the water out, some dirt also coming out. Eddie bends down with a flashlight, looking into her throat as the woman chokes a bit.

"There's a lot of debris, Cap." He warns, knowing that with the way she was in the water, added with every little piece of dirt she took in, her throat may begin to close again.

"We should intubate her." Chimney tells them as he moves in order to grab the equipment. "Vic, this is gonna help you breathe." He explains as he starts to tilt her head back but Victoria fights against it, her eyes scanning around. Eddie could tell she was panicking so he moves over to her, hovering where she could see him.

"Hey, you're okay." Eddie assures her as he places his hands on her cheeks. "You're a force of nature, you know that?" He says with a small laugh, smiling down at her and blinking away his tears. He felt her hand on his, her eyes desperate and he shakes his head. "Chris is okay, he's fine." Eddie tells her, not wanting her to worry anymore. "They all are." He adds, making sure to not leave any fear lingering in her. Buck was going to be fine, he just over exerted himself.

"Vic?" Rosie says as she moves so her sister could see her. "I'm here." She assures the woman, wanting to at least give her a bit of relief. Victoria nods but as she feels more bile in her throat, she begins to choke again.

"Okay, we really need to intubate her before we lose the airway." Chimney announces, tilting Victoria's head back. Rosie glances away, her eyes squeezing shut. Eddie sees this, making a move to wrap his arms around her so that she didn't have to watch. Rosie quickly hides her face in his chest, feeling the man rubbing her back lightly.

Eddie could barely watch himself as Chimney put a tube down Victoria's throat. He just moves his eyes to his son, who without buck, without any of them, would not be sitting right in front of him.

••••

BUCK WAS STOOD NEXT TO VICTORIA'S BED. They had gotten her to a hospital with an actual bed for her but she had still yet to wake up. The doctor wasn't sure what they would see if she did, that's what he had said, if she wakes up she could have numerous deficits because of the time she spent under the water and without oxygen. But Buck had hope. There was no way she was going to survive all of it, hang on until the last second and just not wake up.

He didn't know if he could handle that. Because Buck had been so focused on Christopher, that he barely had time to look for Victoria during the tsunami. And it seemed like she had needed his help. Buck knew she wouldn't blame him, she would've done the same thing as he did. But that didn't make him feel any less guilty or like it was his fault.

But by fate, Rosie had found Christopher near that bakery and had brought him to the emergency refuge. Buck was glad that he hadn't been alone any of the time. And while Victoria wasn't alone either, she still suffered.

Buck's attention was brought back to Victoria as he sees her eyes fluttering open slowly. "Vic?" He asks, placing his hand on her shoulder as he watches her adjust to the light. The monitor spikes slightly but it was probably because she was a bit disoriented.

"W-what happened?" Victoria's voice came out hoarse and cracked. Between the intubation and the debris, her throat would take a bit of time to heal completely.

"There was a tsunami, you were hurt during it, do you remember?" Buck asks her, not knowing how much of it she actually remembered, if anything. Or maybe she didn't remember anything at all. That was the worst case scenario, though his mind always went to them.

"Are you really here?" Victoria questions, her hand reaching out to him. Buck smiles, nodding his head as he takes her hand in his, squeezing it tightly.

"I'm here." Buck assures her. From what it seemed, she didn't have any deficits that the doctor warned them about. Then again, sometimes you couldn't see them straight away. Victoria sees someone else step up, her gaze shifting as she sees Rosie with a saddened smile on her face.

"Hey, sis. You gave us a scare." Rosie admits, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her but she was just really glad that her sister was okay. Victoria wanted to talk more, she wanted to make sure they were all right, but her body seemed to want to do the opposite.

"I'm really tired..." She admits and Buck nods his head, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"Your body needs time to heal, apparently you were down for quite some time."

"Guys, she's awake." Hen says as she stops by the door before heading into the room. Buck backs up a bit so the others could see her. "Hey, how are you feeling?" She asks, her voice full of concern as she looked at Victoria.

"Like I was hit by a truck." Victoria answers, her throat still causing her words to come out very faint.

"Mm, well a huge wave will do that to you." Athena adds, tilting her head as she gazed down at the woman. Victoria takes a deep breath, feeling her head pounding.

"Guess who wants to say hi." Eddie tells her and Victoria just stared at him before Christopher came out from behind the man.

"Vic!" Christopher says with a huge smile on his face. A flood of relief fills her chest as he stands next to the bed. Victoria slowly holds out her hand for him.

"H-hey buddy." She says, tears forming as her eyes run over him. "You okay?" Victoria asks. It was a miracle that none of them had been seriously injured, even Buck seemed to be back onto his feet with his blood thinners.

"I'm okay. Buck found me on the pole." Christopher admits as he pats the man beside him. Victoria knew he would, that's what she was hoping for when she told Christopher to stay where he was.

"Did he?" Her gaze moves to Buck momentarily and she could tell he was trying to be strong for everyone but there was no doubt that he was also incredibly terrified because of what happened.

"Yeah, but we couldn't find you." Christopher tells her and Victoria sniffles, nodding her head.

"I got a little lost." Her voice was small, barely able to continue speaking as she felt the intense tiredness crawl into her system.

"Well, we're all really glad that you're okay." Chimney tells her with a smile and Victoria tries to smile back but all she could muster was a half smile.

"The kid that brought you in, he said you saved a lot of people." Bobby tells her. He wasn't surprised she had helped people even during a crisis and trying to find everyone she lost. She would never leave anyone to suffer on their own.

"Kid?" Victoria asks, her eyebrows furrowing. Bobby looks confused as he stares back at the woman.

"Yeah, Dae." He answers her, but with the way her face didnt change, it was clear she didnt remember any of it. Bobby watches as Victoria rests her head back, her eyes fluttering a bit. "Okay, guys why don't we come back when she's a bit more healed up?" Bobby suggests, gesturing for the group to exit the room.

"Is she okay?" Christopher asks, looking up at his dad who forces a smile onto his face as he nods his head.

"She just needs to rest, sweetheart. Her body went through a lot." Eddie tells him. Christopher squeezes Victoria's hand before everyone starts to filter out. Buck stays in his spot, waiting until everyone left before sitting on the edge of the bed.

Victoria pats the space beside her gently and Buck lays down beside her. His arms wrap around her and she rests softly against him, wincing a bit at the headache she had. Buck didn't try and talk, he knew she really needed to sleep and regain her strength. Bobby had told him what had happened and he hated how he hadn't been there to help. But the others got her back and he would forever be grateful for it.

"I love you so much." He whispers, nuzzling his head into her neck. Buck wasn't expecting anything back, but he had to say it. He stopped himself countless times over the past four months, he stopped himself at Bobby and athenas the other week, he wouldn't now. Not when he almost lost her.

But as Victoria holds onto his shirt, her head resting on top of his, he feel her kiss the side of his head before a long sigh leaves her lips.

"I love you."

••••

Authors note;

Just so it's not confusing, Vic speaking to Anthony was all in her head

Also the lawsuit is coming up and I wanna just preface this by saying, vic won't leave him because of it, she'll stick by his side. I hate when every book I read, the oc always hates buck for doing it. If anything, they should hate the lawyer and the others for not understanding why buck went forward with the lawsuit.

That's not the drama between them this season :) let's just say, it's very sad, there's anger, new flings and ........ vics begin chapter happens near the end of season 3. Do with that information as you will.