Word Count: 4,905
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with 911, Fox, or anything else related to that particular universe.

Long minutes ticked by where Eddie was only aware of his heartbeat, and the rise and fall of his chest, and his trembling hands. When the doors finally parted and Maddie came flying in, her hair bouncing around her shoulders and her hands waving in frantic circles as she spoke to the nurse, Eddie pushed away from his team without a word. He cut through the sea of people, calling her name over the din of noise. She spun, her eyes filling with fresh tears as she reached for him.

"Eddie!" She was already sobbing as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and she clung to his waist. He gently cradled the back of her head, chin resting atop her hair as she gasped unsteady breaths against his shoulders. "I- I'm a-afraid to ask-"

"He- He'll be okay," he assured, with as much certainty as he could muster. He had no factual basis for such an assertion but plenty of an emotional one. "He was- He was shot in the knee so they took him to surgery but it's- It didn't look life-threatening."

She hiccupped, fingers twisting into his shirt as she peered up at him. "You were there?"

He swallowed and wished for the millionth time already that shift that he hadn't been. "Of course I was." He ran his fingers through her loosely tangled curls and somehow used her distress as a way to centre himself again, tucking away his hysteria to ensure she was comforted and settled. He knew Buck would do the same with Chris or Abuela if something ever went wrong. "How- How about we get a seat?"

She followed him to where the guys were still seated, her swollen eyes darting between the fact they were all still dressed in full gear and armed. She frowned at each of them. "Shouldn't you be debriefing back at HQ?"

"Athena can chew us out later," Nicholls said with a shrug, reclining into his chair. "It's more important to be here for our boss."

Eddie looked at Nicholls sharply but the guy, who was Eddie's senior by at least fifteen years, didn't seem perturbed to have adopted Tandy's nickname. Walker didn't bat an eye either, nor did Anders or Maddie. Nicholls did shift over a seat though, allowing Maddie to sit next to Eddie on one side with Walker on the other. She slid her fingers into the gaps of his and held their hands against her knee. Her lower lip was increasingly bitten raw as she sat silently behind him, occasional twitches and tremors coursing through her frame.

After half an hour, Walker's phone chirped and Eddie knew from the apologetic look on his face when he glanced at the screen what it meant.

"Go. Don't piss her off," he insisted with a wave that lacked much enthusiasm. Walker squeezed his shoulder and Nicholls ruffled his hair before they left, which gave him something to fuss over as the foursome walked through the sliding door.

"Do- Do you want to talk about it?" Maddie said, squeezing his hand after the silence had surrounded them for a deafening five minutes.

He glanced at her, weighing up how she was a civilian and there were still certain limits around what he could or couldn't say. "All suspects downed," he said, hearing her exhale that seemed as much relief as shock. "Athena made it sound like he tried to jump one right as we were about to breach."

Maddie huffed a broken sort of laugh. "That sounds like my brother. Putting himself in danger to look out for others."

There was something in her words that he didn't fully understand but also didn't know how to ask, so he let the silence fall over them again. It was less uncomfortable this time, but it lasted longer.

Sometimes he had to stand and move while they waited, pacing simply for something to do, pacing because he needed to stretch out the kink in his legs every time his knee started to ache. There were other times he reached for his phone, checking to see if there was any communication from HQ about issues he had to deal with because he still felt like he should be on-shift.

Sometimes Maddie had to stand and she'd approach the reception counter, checking for any updates because she was clearly struggling. Each time, he watched as her arms crossed her chest, her fingers twitching against her arms, and her frustrated brow and tear-filled eyes would return to his side where she'd renew the vigil of clutching his hand.

"He'll be okay," she said at least half a dozen times. "He's a fighter. He'll be okay."

He wasn't sure who she was trying to convince.

It had to be almost two hours of crawling up the walls of watching and waiting and wandering, before her latest attempt at talking to a different nurse led to a different reaction. She waved him over and he bolted off his chair so quickly that he almost toppled into a kid playing on a phone. He managed to correct himself and mumbled an apology, weaving among the assorted chairs to press into her side. Her fingers loosely tangled with his, a reassuring squeeze that made his breath catch.

"He's out of surgery," she said simply and he attempted to swallow around the tight lump in his throat, attempted to find some version of a smile that didn't seem so much like a terrified grimace.

"He's listed as in Recovery. The surgeon should be here to see you shortly," the nurse behind the counter said with a smile that almost passed for comforting. Eddie could barely breathe, could barely think, as Maddie folded into his side and released another series of sobs.

They hovered near the swinging double doors that led to the maze of corridors. Maddie held onto him with one arm and texted with her spare hand.

"Howie's on shift," she explained when she evidently felt him glancing towards the phone curiously. "Chim. He'll tell the others at the 118. Bobby will tell Athena."

He nodded, still barely trusting himself to speak.

"Does your team know?" she asked, pocketing the phone and rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. His gaze drifted from the double doors towards her again, taking in her wobbly smile that looked etched with more hope than he'd seen for hours, and he frowned.

"Know what?"

"That you're Marked."

He opened his mouth in surprise, hesitating to provide an answer and eyes flashing away like he was scared someone would overhear and report him for…for what? For working a SWAT call while someone he loved was inside? It'd be all over the news banners if that detail got out. Huntley would have his head if that detail got out.

"He told me," she said, squeezing his hand and drawing his attention away from the panicked spiral. "I- I didn't believe him at first, which made him angry." She pressed her lips together, spare hand reaching to wipe at her damp cheeks. "I think- I think it hurt him that I doubted it. He was so giddy to show me the Mark behind his knee and it was… I've never seen him so happy."

Eddie could vividly recall Buck's disbelief at Eddie's Mark, and then the mix of happiness and fear that had filled Buck in the early days, the insecurity that what they were trying to create wouldn't last because Abby had broken his heart. Buck's reaction to Maddie's doubt made sense, mostly because he knew Buck had been filled with so much of his own doubt and had probably needed his big sister to soothe his fears.

For the first time, the way Maddie was looking at him created an uncomfortable prickling at the backs of his eyes. "My best friend knows after today," he admitted in a whisper and she gripped his hand tighter. "They- They were there when my ex-wife died. They met Buck when he came to do some training at Headquarters so they…uh… I'd guess the others will have their suspicions now too…"

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." She tilted away from him for a moment, lifting the hair off the back of her neck to expose a familiar sort of scar just above the knob of her spine. Then the curtain of brunette hair fell again and he could only blink. Buck had never mentioned Maddie had lost someone. "It's… It's painful, losing someone you share a connection with."

"It is." He realised he had so many questions for her, questions he wasn't sure he could ask because he didn't want to overstep with someone he only sort of knew about through the bits and pieces that Buck would share. "I- I'm sorry too. For your loss."

She snorted. "Don't be sorry. Not for that." He raised his eyebrow, wondering what on Earth she could mean. Scarred Marks hurt and it was the polite thing to say. She stared at his reaction and then rolled her eyes when she realised. "Buck never told you, huh?"

Eddie shook his head slightly. "He's… He hasn't really shared much about his Marks so he definitely hasn't shared anything about yours."

She sighed, conceding a small nod that could have been gratitude for his protection of her privacy. "My ex-husband was- He was abusive. I killed him in self-defence after he kidnapped me a couple of years ago."

He stared, waiting for the punchline, the wicked grin, the "Hey! Gotcha!". When it never came, and he was still staring, she rolled her eyes again.

"Buck really should've told you," she muttered. He now had more questions but any opportunity to ask was stolen when the double doors swung open again. A man in dark green scrubs and a white coat exited and Eddie just knew he was the surgeon about to announce Buck's name.

"He made it through surgery," the surgeon confirmed. The stitching on his coat said DR DANIELS, ORTHOPAEDICS and Eddie felt like those words were emblazoned across his eyes. "There were some minor complications, though. He seemed to bleed more than we expected. We couldn't obtain previous medical records."

Maddie clung to Eddie's hand. "He- He's been on blood thinners since last year," she explained and though Eddie blinked at her in surprise, he didn't interrupt with a fresh series of questions.

"That would explain it then," Daniels said with a nod. "He's stabilised and in Recovery. I predict at least a month with the cast to stabilise the joint and the ligament repair, and then there'll be some rehab required to strengthen the ligaments again and increase his range of movement. Luckily, we didn't need to place any plates and screws into the bones which will aid recovery time."

"He would've hated that again," Maddie agreed and Eddie could only blink. Again? He'd seen the long scar that snaked along Buck's leg but it had been clear the other man was reticent to ever discuss it, so Eddie had never brought it up. "Can we see him?"

Daniels nodded and ushered them through the doors. Eddie could only follow the pair as Maddie asked a series of complicated medical questions and the doctor answered them easily. Eddie knew a reasonable amount from his medic training in the army, and he knew plenty about victims and injuries and triage and making life-and-death decisions, but he had no idea about a lot of the details that Maddie was asking. More questions to add to his expanding list.

They paused outside a door while Daniels squeezed antibacterial gel onto his hands, then gestured for them to do the same. Eddie could feel his heart skipping beats as Maddie released her grip to mimic the doctor. He was still rubbing the gel over the backs of his hands as he trailed behind her. He wasn't sure why it felt like he couldn't swallow and his stomach was in knots because he instinctively knew Buck was okay. He'd felt the pain in his leg but it still hadn't been the crippling agony of a broken connection, and there was some small degree of comfort in the increased proximity.

Still, Maddie waited for him by the drawn curtains that Daniels had disappeared through and he inhaled deeply, released the breath slowly to try to loosen some of the tension in his shoulders, and nodded at her.

For all her anxiety and tears in the waiting room, Maddie seemed less distressed now that she had her brother in front of her. She moved easily to his side, fingers sliding around his hand and avoiding the cannula and wires that circled his hand and wrist. Eddie felt like his eyes darted everywhere: the bulky shape visible beneath the sheet, the monitors and IV by his bed, the nasal cannula attached to his face, the way his cheeks were as white as a piece of paper.

"He'll be pretty groggy when he wakes up, which should be sometime in the next half hour or so," Daniels said, gesturing towards his leg. "All indications are that he'll be fine."

Eddie tentatively stepped toward the opposite side of the bed from Maddie, the pads of his fingertips drifting across the skin of Buck's arm. It felt unnervingly cool to the touch, unnatural, although there was a small flicker of heat emanating from his Mark at the touch. It soothed some of the sick twisting that had been ravaging him since he'd first learned that Everaces was where they were being deployed. He curled his fingers around Buck's arm and inhaled a breath that was deeper than any other in the last few hours. Buck was alive. Buck would heal. Buck would be okay. It finally seemed like he could start reminding himself of that.

"Thank you," Maddie said, breaking some of the trance Eddie felt like he was in and he caught the nod between her and Daniels.

"All in a day's work," Daniels said with a smile and then he was gone.

Maddie's carefully maintained façade crumbled as soon as the curtains were yanked closed, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. "You're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, dumbass."

Eddie hooked his foot around the plastic chair and drew it towards him, sinking into the plastic because even though he'd been sitting on and off for hours, he still felt like his knees were weak. He couldn't think about whatever words were circling in his head and could do little more than stare at Buck's face and keep his hand against Buck's arm and try to block out all the fearful noises with a constant chant of Buck was alive, Buck would heal, Buck would be okay.

Maddie sat on the edge of the hospital bed and continued muttering a mixture of big sister desperation and frustration that Eddie had heard from his sisters on more than one or ten occasions. It sounded to Eddie as though Buck had been in a lot of awful situations in the past and he couldn't help wondering if Buck was a danger magnet for disasters or just extraordinarily unlucky. Maybe chasing too many black cats towards broken mirrors while diving under ladders.

They both noticed Buck twitch at the same time, a slight shift in his breathing and a sharper beep from the monitors beside him, followed by some incoherent mumbling and a low moan. His brow dipped as he tilted his head.

"Hey, Ev," Maddie whispered, brushing her spare hand over his forehead, smoothing fingers through curls of hair. "I'm here. Eddie's here."

As if to emphasise the point, Eddie increased the pressure of his hand slightly.

"Hurts…" Buck hissed, eyes flickering open for the briefest flash as he tilted into her hand on his cheek. "Mads…"

"Yeah, it's me." Her thumb traced his cheekbone but it did little to erase the pained scrunch of Buck's eyebrows. She glanced at Eddie, an eyebrow cocked. "His injured knee had the Mark on it, right?"

Eddie nodded, looking between her, Buck's face, the bulk beneath the sheet, and back to her.

"Can you rub a hand against yours? It… It's a long shot but it might help."

He dragged his bottom lip between his teeth with his tongue, afraid of maybe inflicting more pain on Buck. Usually touching the Marks made things feel better in incredibly sexual ways but this was…completely different and he didn't want to cause that sort of reaction.

Much as Maddie raised her spare hand to Buck's cheek, Eddie lifted his to steal beneath the collar of his t-shirt and trail the tip of his finger over the Mark. It was cool to the touch, as cool as Buck's skin, and he watched closely as Buck's inhale stuttered before some of the obvious pain in his face and muscles lessened and he sank into the bed.

"Eddie…" Buck hummed, and Eddie wasn't sure whether he was meant to look at Buck or Maddie. Buck, whose eyes were closed, or Maddie, who looked smug as shit.

He kept circling the Mark with his finger and eventually it seemed Buck was dragged into a light sleep because his breathing evened out and Maddie looked no less pleased.

"What?" he said, belatedly realising it was the first thing he'd said since she'd told him about killing her ex-husband. He still wasn't sure he knew the words he was trying to find to talk to Buck or explain his feelings about this situation.

"That's a deep connection you've got to my brother, Diaz," she said, her cheeks stained with shiny tear trails. Yet the edge of her lips kept twitching upwards, which made him feel somewhat unnerved. "Had you realised?"

He hadn't, although he knew it was different to what he'd had with Shannon. They both had such limited experience with requited Marks that Eddie had just assumed variations in connection strength was natural.

He drew his hand from his shoulder and tucked it around Buck's arm, wondering if the skin was warmer to the touch now or it was just his imagination. He knew Maddie's eyes were still on him, perhaps waiting for him to say something, but his attention was on Buck, on ensuring he was okay and comfortable and resting.

Buck stirred again a couple of hours later, when Maddie was getting some coffees and Eddie was pacing. He'd been moved from Recovery to a room and Eddie attempted to find comfort in the steady beep of the heart monitor and the fact Buck could breathe on his own, but until his eyes opened, until he was awake and alert and communicating…

So when Buck stirred, a muffled whisper of pain that drew Eddie to his side in three quick steps, his hand slipping into Buck's as he sat on the edge of the bed. It took another few minutes before he watched those beautiful, confused, blue eyes drift across his face.

"E-Eddie?" His voice sounded almost as rough as Eddie's frayed nerves.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty." He cradled Buck's jaw with his other hand, mindful of the nasal cannula looped across his cheekbones and behind his ears. "How do you feel?"

Buck's brow creased as he shifted slightly, eyes widening as a fresh ripple of pain spread across his vision and his breath hitched. Eddie thumbed over his cheek, waiting until some of the hurt dissipated, until Buck was as comfortable as possible in the hospital bed.

"What happened?" Buck said instead of answering, gaze wandering around the room. "Why am I in the hospital?"

Eddie squeezed Buck's hand, lifting it towards his mouth to place soft kisses over his knuckles. "You- You were shot."

"I… What…?" Buck's frown deepened, his eyes flicking back and forth like he was trying to recall some of the images. "I- I don't- How? Where?"

"You were at work." He held Buck's hand against his chest, watching some of the uncertainty give way to flickers of understanding. "What do you remember?"

"It… There were…three of them…?" Buck said slowly, clearly sorting through the bits of memory as his eyes danced over sights Eddie couldn't see. "They wanted the cash and…and some of the top label stuff? I… One of them got...antsy, I guess, when people managed to escape Fired some warning shots into one of the walls..."

Eddie nodded, adding the information to the debrief he would undoubtedly have at HQ later and when he was cross-referencing witness statements. He knew Buck was on a lot of pain medication but he also trusted Buck's recollections more than anyone else that had been at the bar. Three guys who wanted cash and some alcohol? Why had they been kitted out with high-grade weapons? Why had they been prepared to go to a siege? There were some threads Eddie couldn't tie up and he knew they'd be questions he would ask Athena during the debrief. He almost expected her to stop by after her shift ended, even if it was the stupidly small hours when she was due to knock off.

"Once he'd fired the shots, he…he said the others couldn't leave after that," Buck continued, his voice wavering.

"Hey." Eddie shifted the hand from Buck's face to stroke through his hair, squeezing his hand. "You did leave, Buck. You got out. Everyone did."

Some of the distance in Buck's eyes lifted as he met Eddie's gaze, and then seemed to realise he was dressed in his blacks. "You- You were there?"

Eddie supposed he was glad that Buck seemed unable to recall those immediate moments of being shot, the heart-stopping panic Eddie had felt as he'd held Buck's hand and tried to keep him conscious through the pain. He pressed his lips together and gave a tentative nod.

Buck released a shaky sigh, shifting a little in the bed again and wincing in obvious discomfort. "How- How bad is it?"

"The injury?" He shrugged, jerking his head towards Buck's leg and rubbing a thumb over his knuckles. "It passed through the back of your leg. The surgeon said you didn't need any plates and screws but you'll be on crutches at least a month and need some rehab because of the ligaments?"

Buck wrinkled his nose. "Not again…" he mumbled.

Eddie was partway to opening his mouth to ask the question that he'd thought about when Maddie had been talking earlier, but then she re-entered the room with two coffee cups in her grasp and an Asian man behind her who had his own cup.

"Evan!" She deposited the cups on the bedside table and nearly knocked both over as she flung her arms around her brother, jostling Eddie against the bed and almost certainly shifting Buck with the way he groaned in obvious pain. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you're awake."

Buck awkwardly patted a hand against her shoulder. "It's my knee, Mads. Not my head."

"Still." She cupped his cheek, her eyes clearly glittering with tears. Eddie began to feel like an unnecessary extra observing their interaction from too close and it was clear the man hovering at the foot of the bed felt the same. "Next time, please just let Eddie's team do their job. Or if you get stuck in a burning building, wait for Chim. Okay?"

Eddie glanced at the other man. Chim. Chimney. That name was familiar. Fourth of July barbecues. Calls where they'd crossed paths with the 118.

"It's hard not to be the hero," Buck joked, even though Eddie didn't think Buck actually remembered much of those final moments of action. Maddie huffed, prodding the middle of his brow. "Anyway, hey Chim."

"Buckley." Chim nodded at him, the stern expression on his face betrayed by the twitching of his lips. "You actually managed to last more than twelve months before landing in the hospital again. I was so impressed but now I have to restart the timer."

Buck snorted, then winced at the evident pull on various muscles. "I'll try not to follow it up with another visit around Christmas time and I still should be doing better than last year, right?"

There was a conversation occurring that Eddie didn't understand as he glanced between the three of them but at that point in time, it didn't matter. As far as he was concerned, nothing else mattered except the fact that Buck was awake, and talking, and joking, and okay.

Buck squeezed his hand and offered a wobbly sort of smile like he knew some of the anxieties swimming inside him, which helped lure Eddie away from the thoughts buzzing around. "Have you told Chris we need to delay camping and burying the capsule?"

To be fair, Eddie didn't even have his personal phone on him to text or Abuela or Carla. It would still be in his locker at HQ, and the thought of collecting his things had been so far from all the important things tumbling through his mind in the aftermath of the call and the desperation to get to the hospital.

"Not yet." He pressed a kiss to the centre of Buck's palm. "He'll understand."

"This damn leg is going to affect so many of our activities," Buck complained, sinking into the pillows and releasing a deep sigh of frustration. "He's going to hate it."

"Nonsense." Eddie squeezed Buck's hand, ignoring the amused smiles he knew were being exchanged between Maddie and Chim behind him. He wasn't sure whether it was in response to him or Buck and he wasn't about to ask. "I can almost guarantee he'll see you on crutches and be delighted that you match."

Some sort of faint flicker of a smile tugged at the corner of Buck's mouth. "He really would."

"Yep," he said with a more decisive nod before glancing at Maddie and Chim, then back to Buck. "So, uh… It's either very late or very early. We should probably have a doctor check on you and then leave you to get some more rest."

Buck pouted, gaze drifting between Eddie and Maddie. "Don't leave me here."

"Buck, visiting hours ended before you were even moved up here. You're just lucky Eddie's in SWAT and flashed his badge around a whole lot," Maddie pointed out and Eddie ducked his eyes at the look Buck shot him. He hadn't intentionally thrown his weight around, but he might have said something about how he was a witness and needed protection until he was awake and alert and interviewed. Perhaps.

"But I… I don't want to be alone," Buck admitted, his voice fading towards a whisper, and Eddie peered up at him and then towards Maddie. She looked undecided, bottom lip caught between her teeth.

"I'll stay," Eddie said, thumb stroking over Buck's knuckles as he looked back to him. "Abuela will already know she needs to keep Chris until the morning. Athena or Simon would've called her if she hadn't already seen the news. I'll sort out getting to HQ for my car and gear in the morning."

"I can call Bobby, and he can call Athena to get your gear," Chim offered and Eddie looked to him and gave a grateful nod.

"Are you sure?" Maddie asked and Eddie reached for her arm, offered a light squeeze as he smiled at her.

"I couldn't possibly be home alone," he said and though Buck squeezed his hand again, Eddie kept his eyes fixed on Maddie until she nodded. He'd never been surer of anything in his life than continuing to look after Buck, keeping him close, reassuring his brain that he was still alive.

"Okay." Maddie leaned forward to kiss her brother's head and trail her fingertips down his cheek. "We'll be back sometime in the morning. Maybe lunch time. I love you."

"Love you too," Buck murmured, managing a small wave at Chim and then following their departure with his eyes. Once they were gone, the door ajar for the inevitable doctor visit once they tracked someone down, his attention returned to Eddie. "Thank you for staying."

Eddie shifted from the edge of the bed to the uncomfortable plastic chair, knowing he was going to deeply regret his decision to stay after he'd spend a handful of hours coiled into the unforgiving piece of furniture and then have to unfold himself in the morning to return to Headquarters and collect Chris. "I'll feel better knowing you're close anyway."

"I appreciate-"

Buck's words were interrupted by a doctor flurrying into the room, checking his charts and observations on the machine, and then quizzing him about his pain, what had happened with the surgery, what he remembered of the incident, if he had any questions. Somewhere in the middle of it, unnecessary to the conversation, Eddie had lowered his head to the bed beside Buck's hip. The dialogue washed over him, like it was taking place on some other planet, and the low murmur of voices helped lull him somewhere towards a state caught between awake and asleep.

There was a huffed laugh somewhere above him and he thought he hummed in quiet contentment when he felt fingers brush through his hair. Some of the light hitting his eyelids lessened, and before he was even consciously aware of it, all the adrenaline of the day finally faded away and he was sinking into the embrace of sleep.

~TBC~