Into the Fire with You

Chapter 5

When Buck arrived at work, he was greeted by his team. Hen and Chim looked worried and Bobby was confused. However, Buck just shrugged past them and got dressed. The team felt it was best not to press him.

As they gathered around for their briefing, the LAPD showed up. Bobby handed over the reins to an LAPD chief who explained the plan. The LAPD explained that the team would wear bullet proof vests and SWAT would be at every call until the sniper was apprehended.

The firefighters looked at one another with a glint of fear in their eyes. Despite their growing concerns, they knew they had to do their job or people could die. So, they all suited up and anxiously awaited their first call.

As the day went on, the calls went smoothly and no more firefighters were shot. In the afternoon, they came to a call where a man was pinned on a crane hundreds of feet in the air. The team began to assess the situation and calculate the risk. They knew that whoever climbed the crane would be an easy target for the sniper.

Before they could decide what to do, Buck was climbing the crane. Bobby radioed to him telling him to stop but Buck refused. He was adamant that he could do this. All his team could do was hold their breath and watch as Buck endangered his life to save another.

He got to the man after what seemed like an eternity and was able to cut the steel that was pinning him down loose. The chopper arrived and both Buck and the man were airlifted to safety.

Back at the station, Bobby admonished Buck for his antics. Bobby came to the realization that Buck would never stop being this way and Buck defended himself by saying that he's not reckless and somebody had to go up. He made a judgement call and it paid off. He would rather it be him that got hurt than any of his team.

As they finished talking, Bobby got a text from Eddie. It read, "Hey Bobby I'm awake. Can you come by the hospital, but please don't tell anyone". Bobby responded with an "okay" and told the team he had to go out on a personal matter and that Chimney was in charge.

At the hospital:

Bobby arrived and walked to Eddie's room. When he entered he saw Eddie was awake but looked pale and weak. Despite this, Eddie gave Bobby a warm smile and motioned for him to come over. Bobby closed the distance between them and gave Eddie a pat on his shoulder.

He sat in the chair beside the bed and waited for Eddie to begin. Bobby could tell that Eddie had something on his mind.

After a few minutes, Eddie started, "So I wanted to speak to you before the others because there is something you need to know about me and Buck..."

Before Eddie could continue Bobby raised his hand to stop him and said, "Actually Buck told us after you got shot. He was not doing well and he said he needed our support but he could not get our full support if we did not know the truth."

Eddie only nodded because he knew he would have done the same if the roles were reversed. Buck and Eddie were planning on telling the team soon anyways.

"So, then I guess you know" Eddie chuckled and then winced as it caused some pain in his shoulder.

"Yes, we know and like I told Buck, I am very happy for you both" Bobby responded with a big smile on his face.

Eddie felt relieved and then proceeded to ask how everything has been going. Bobby explained about the sniper and how they are still looking for him.

"And how is Chris?" Eddie asked.

"He is doing well; Buck and Carla have been taking care of him." Bobby answered.

Eddie was relieved because he knew his son was safe with Buck. "And how is Buck doing?" Eddie then asked.

"Well, he's Buck. You know how he is. He seems to have thrown himself into work." Bobby responded.

Eddie thought about this for a moment and then his eyes went wide. He did know Buck and he knew he was not going to like the answer he was going to get, but he asked anyways; "He's being reckless, isn't he?"

Bobby hesitated, but decided that if anyone could talk some sense into Buck it was Eddie. Bobby proceeded to explain the events that unfolded earlier that day and told Eddie that he should talk with him. Eddie agreed and felt anger building up at Buck being so reckless. He could not lose him.

After some time, Bobby left as Eddie was falling asleep.