Full Summary:
A trip to the mall has unexpected consequences for Buck & Eddie. What happens when the Mall goes on lockdown, with them still inside? Will they make it out okay? Or is there more to the lockdown than either of them know?
AN-I was asked for an Eddie Whump, so this chapter will have be a Buck & Eddie Whump!
The Mall:
A stressful day at the firehouse had the team discussing what they planned on doing with their day off. Buck said he needed to get some clothes shopping done so he was going to the mall. Eddie said he needed to get some Christmas Shopping done for Christopher, so he was also going to the mall. Chimney was hanging out with Maddie, at the mall. Hen and Karen were taking Denny & Nia to the park. Bobby & Athena were hanging out with the kids at the house. They all had semi-different plans, but at least four of them were going to be ending up at the mall. Chimney said he'd talk to Maddie about joining Buck and Eddie in the mall but he wasn't counting on her wanting to. They were going to be shopping for baby clothes and he didn't know if Buck or Eddie wanted to do that. They were laughing about something when the alarm went off. Today was definitely busy.
By the time they got back from the call, it was time to clock out and head home. Eddie and Buck decided to carpool to the mall the next day and they let Chimney know whereabouts they would be. Since Chris was asking for some new clothes for Christmas, they could do the clothes shopping together. And since they would be carpooling, Eddie invited Buck to stay the night so that at least he could hang out with Chris for a little while. Buck agreed, but had to stop at his place before heading to Eddie's. Eddie nodded and headed for his truck, telling Buck that he'd be waiting at home. Buck nodded and got into his jeep and then headed for his apartment. Once at the apartment, he grabbed a duffel bag and packed clothes for one night, his toothbrush and a towel. He made sure to grab his shopping list on the way out. He always had his wallet on him.
When he got to Eddie's house, Chris opened the door with a smile. Buck bent down and hugged the little boy. Eddie had made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner. They set at the table and ate as they chatted about what they were going to be doing the next day. Chris was a little mad that he wouldn't be able to go to the mall with his dad and Uncle Buck, but he knew that he had to go to school. Buck promised that they would go to the park after school, once Carla had picked him up. He took the answer and then asked if they could watch a movie. Eddie asked what movie he wanted to watch and Chris said 'Ice Age'. So while Eddie and Buck cleaned up dinner, put the leftovers away and cleaned the dishes, Chris got ready to watch Ice Age.
Once the movie was over, Eddie got Chris settled for the night in his room and then went back out to the living room. He and Buck stayed up a couple more hours going over the plan for the next day, mostly in whispers so that Chris didn't hear them. By the time they were done with the schedule for the next day, they were both yawning. They said good night and headed to separate rooms. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck pulled into the parking lot next to the mall, closely followed by Eddie. They were taking separate vehicles because Eddie had to pick Christopher up from school and Buck had plans with Maddie after the mall. Chimney had mentioned that he and Maddie would be at the mall that day, but a quick text to Maddie had told him that they had decided to have a picnic in the park instead. She'd see him when he was done. He let Eddie know that Maddie and Chimney were not going to be meeting them at the mall. The two headed for the mall and then went in separate directions, promising to meet up at the food court when they were done with their shopping.
Buck headed towards his favorite clothing shop and entered the store. It took his brain a minute to realize that something was off. He'd been wandering around the store, collecting some shirts and pants and then looked at the belts. He'd never been very good at wearing belts, but he did know that he needed some. He was just about to walk up to the register when he heard what sounded like a gun going off. He looked over at the cashier, who he could tell had also heard the sound. She looked at him and then out the door towards the rest of the mall. People had started to run past the door and then more gunshots were heard. Buck motioned for her to get down and try to remain silent. He crouched down, leaving his merchandise on the floor. He went over to the counter and was just able to make it behind the counter when the door opened (the doors normally stayed closed because of the perfume that was sprayed throughout the store and the employees didn't know how may or may not be allergic to the perfume). Buck motioned for the cashier to stay quiet as he pulled out his cell phone.
Unlocking his phone, he turned the volume all the way down, making sure it was also off vibrate. He didn't want anyone knowing that there were people in the store. The cashier did the same. They put their phones away and then held their breath as they heard someone in the store. The person was moving about and pushing things over at the same time. The cashier held a hand over her mouth and silently cried. Buck swallowed a bit but didn't make a sound. He moved his head to the side a little so that he could see if anyone was coming around the counter. The counter was actually one that you had to physically jump onto in order to see what might be hiding behind it, but if you walked around to the side you had easy access.
Whoever was in the store shoved and pushed displays over, probably trying to get someone to make a noise, but neither Buck nor the cashier made a noise. When it was evident that there might not be anyone in the store, that they might have already run out, the person left the store. At the sound of the store door pushing open and the person walking out, Buck and the cashier let out their held breath. Buck pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text Eddie to tell him that he was safe and to get out of the mall if he could. That someone was in the mall with a gun and that they were shooting people. He got a text back from Eddie saying that he and some shoppers were hunkered down in a clothing store on the other side of the mall and that there might be more than one shooter. Eddie also texted that he had messaged Athena, who was on shift that day, and told her what was going on. He told Buck that they were going to get everything ready outside. He asked Buck if he was in a safe enough place to which Buck told him No, but they could get somewhere safe.
Buck put his phone away and turned towards the cashier, who'd done the smart thing and grabbed her purse which she always kept under the counter. He smiled at her before beginning to talk.
"I'm Buck. Can you tell me what your name is?"
"I'm Maggie Sinclair. My dad is a cop and I texted him to let him know what was going on. He said he'd get here as fast as possible."
"Okay, Maggie, we are going to need to move. Do you think you can be as quiet as possible?"
"Yes, I can do that. Dad taught me how to act just in case something like this ever happened. But I think we may need to grab some things from the store, just in case anyone is hurt out there."
"How old are you Maggie?"
"I'm 19. This is only a part-time job. I'm going to school to be a nurse. So dad made me start carrying around some supplies just in case anything happened. My manager makes me keep the first-aid kit in the employee break room. But it's easy access. You can grab a bag from the store, just tear off the tags so it doesn't set an alarm off and I'll remove the store tags so nothing happens."
"I'll grab some belts as well, just in case we need something for a tourniquet. And maybe some shirts for safe measure."
"And grab yourself a jacket, something that has lots of pockets, just in case we get separated. You can carry some of my supplies."
"Alright, on the count of three, you head to the break room and I'll grab stuff from the store. Be as quiet as you can. We don't want to draw any attention towards ourselves."
"Of course; and thank you for being here, Buck."
"No problem."
At the count of three, they moved in separate directions and Buck went straight for the bag section. He managed to grab a decent sized backpack and then as many belts as he could grab, which he shoved into the backpack. Then he grabbed a pile of tank tops because he could use the straps as a way to tie the shirt around a wound. He also managed to find a jacket like the one Maggie had told him about. When he was done, all the while keeping an eye on the front door to make sure nobody was out there watching the stores for anyone hiding; he headed for the break room, which was actually in the back room and out of the site of the front door. Luckily, there were security cameras facing the front and they could watch to make sure nobody came in the door without them knowing it.
When he got into the break room, he put a chair up against the door knob so nobody would be able to get into the room without them knowing about it first. Maggie had the first aid kit and had grabbed a backpack from the storage as well. She'd also grabbed her own jacket, which she put on and put her phone into one of the pockets, which thankfully zipped up so the phone didn't fall out at the most impromptu time. She looked up at him and smiled. She showed him the tag remover and removed all the tags of the clothes, bag and jacket that he had grabbed. They pulled out the belts and removed the tags too, just so the alarm on the front door wouldn't sound when they left. They put the belts back into the backpack and then Maggie handed over some medical supplies from the first aid kit, just in case they were separated.
"Before we go out there, I need to know that you've got this. That you are okay with doing this, possibly running straight into danger."
"Buck, before I came home and got this job and before I decided I wanted to be a nurse, I did a year abroad. I volunteered for the Peace Corps and was over in Darfur. I've seen worse than what we might see here. I'll be fine."
"Good, because there is no telling what we might run into out there. We need to be able to make the hallway in the back of the stores a sort of rescue area. Do you have a key or badge for the doors leading into the mall?"
"Of course, they make sure we have it on us at all times."
"Good, then we will head out the back for now and make our way around to the other stores and pull people into the back. They can help with anyone we pull in from the mall area."
"Got it, let's go."
And so the two exited the break room and making sure nobody was in the front of the store, headed for the back entrance which lead into the back hallways. Luckily, it looked like a bunch of mall employees were able to get into the back hallways. They also seemed to have some shoppers with them as well. A couple security guards were also there and when Buck explained what his plan was, almost everyone was on board with the plan. Buck sent Eddie a text and said that if he and anyone in the store with him could get to the back hall of the store they were in, it was more secure. Eddie responded back with a 'they would try'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, with Eddie having texted Athena as to what was going on, she had called her kids back to the house because she didn't want them out where they could possibly be hurt. Harry had been brought back almost immediately by his friend's mom; however May never made it home. She got a call from May's boyfriend's mother saying that he and May had gone to the mall for some alone time. Athena sent May a text telling her to get somewhere safe and not to move unless someone she knew showed up to help her. She then told May that both Eddie and Buck were in the mall and she would let them know to keep an eye out for her and her boyfriend. Athena got a text back saying that she was with Eddie and they were trying to find a better place to hide and that she was going to turn her phone to silent mode so no sound came from it. She told her mother that she loved her and would see her when everything was over.
Athena then rallied the troops, letting all fire and rescue crews in the area know that the mall had been taken hostage and that there was an open shooting taking place. Police rallied around the mall, blocking any escape off that the gunmen might be thinking of taking. They knew what the outcome would be. Athena was met by a rather large off-duty cop who said his daughter was in the mall, that she had texted saying that she and a customer were making ready to help people get to the back halls and that if any rescue was to be had, that the back halls was the best bet. All outer doors leading to the back halls were assessed to see if they could be breached and to try and figure out if people could be pulled out without making any noise. It turned out that at least three of the doors were accessible and the SWAT teams were getting ready to breach the doors and get as many people out as possible. Athena texted Eddie and Buck saying that the SWAT teams were getting ready to breach the back halls and to make sure people still stayed as quiet as possible. She got a text back from Eddie, but Buck didn't respond. She assumed that he didn't have his phone in his hand at the time. She couldn't have known that Buck and Maggie Sinclair were out in the main part of the mall grabbing people up and taking them to the back halls so that they could be treated for their gunshot wounds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Eddie learned that Buck hadn't messaged back but knowing Buck that could mean anything. Right now, he had May Grant to keep from freaking out. They had managed to make it to the back halls as had many other employees. However, they knew that more shoppers were still stuck out in the main much as many people wanted to help out, they knew that staying the back hallways was safer and knew that the shooters weren't going to be able to get to them since the only way you can get into the back hallways was with a key card and no one knew if the shooters had one or not. However, Eddie also knew that Buck would do what he could and that that could get him hurt. Which made all the more reason to try and get to the part of the mall that Buck was at.
Eddie grabbed May's hand and they headed down the hallways, trying to locate either an exit or a way to connect to the other side of the mall. May's boyfriend kept near her, knowing full well that Eddie was only keeping ahold of her hand out of respect for her mother and the need to protect his extended family member. They made their way to what looked like an exit, but before opening the door, they listened. They could tell that it wasn't actually an exit to the outside world and that it led into the interior of the mall. Eddie held up his hand and motioned for everyone to move back the way they came. They backtracked and were about to go another way when one of the doors opened. They halted and remained calm until a SWAT team rounded a corner and started to escort the group out the way they had come. Eddie sent May and her boyfriend with them but told the SWAT team that he was staying, that he was a trained soldier and that he knew his way around a gun. The team radioed their leader who was still outside and about to breach another door who gave the okay for him to stay with the team. He was handed some armor and a gun then the SWAT team moved further into the building, for now keeping to the back halls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Buck and Maggie were using the hallway they were in as a barrier between them and the shooters. They would open a door, look out to see if anyone was around and if they saw any wounded, Buck would run out and grab them up and then dash back towards the hall. They had saved over twenty shoppers by doing this. Once the person was assessed, they'd be passed back towards the others who were waiting for rescue. A couple times they had had to bypass a couple shoppers because they were surrounded by gunmen. They could always double back and grab them when the gunmen took off for another part of the mall.
It was on one such dash out of the hallway to grab up an injured shopper when one of the gunmen round the corner and saw Buck kneeling down next to someone who was hiding. Buck heard movement coming from his left and looked over to see the gunman, and put his hands up, putting him in front of the little girl who'd been hiding behind one of the benches in one of the many seating areas around the mall. Maggie saw him put his hands up and closed the door quietly. Just as she was about to move back towards the others, a gunshot rang out. She closed her eyes just for a minute, calming herself. She pushed herself along the wall until she was able to round the corner where the others were hiding. She put a finger to her lips and they all stayed as quiet as possible.
The sound of a door opening had her eyes darting to the side, hoping that none of the gunmen had figured out how to get into the back halls. When nobody came around the corner, she looked towards where the feet were coming from and relief spread over her face. A SWAT team was making its way into the building, towards them. She let out a small breath and motioned for everyone to follow the SWAT team out of the building. A couple members of the team stayed near her.
"Ma'am, you need to leave the building."
"No, my friend is out there. I believe that he's been shot. I'm a nurse-in-training. I can help. I have been helping since this whole thing went down. Please let me stay."
The officer radioed his commander and got permission for the girl to stay with them. They needed someone to be able to help treat the wounded.
"You need to stay behind us at all times, is that clear?"
"Crystal. I just want to help. The gunmen were right out that door, right around the corner."
"Alright, there is more than one SWAT team in the building. We are going to leave the back hall now. Stay with us and do not wander off."
"Yes, officer."
The SWAT team regrouped after leading the other survivors out the way that they had come in. Maggie told them what they had been doing and then they moved towards the door around the corner. As they opened the door, they fully expected to see one of the gunmen in the area. Fortunately for them, the gunmen had left the area, for now. They moved out of the hall and towards where Maggie had pointed them. When they got to the seating area, they saw Buck lying next to a kid. The kid was unconscious but Buck was awake and sporting a bullet to the back of his shoulder. The SWAT team let Maggie help Buck and then he picked up the kid. They moved as one, towards the food court, which ironically is the direction in which the gunmen were converging.
They stopped every few feet to listen and then continued on. As they turned the corner towards the food court, a voice came over their radios and the team stopped. Another SWAT team walked up with Eddie in tow. When Eddie saw Buck holding the kid and a young woman standing close to him, relief flooded through him. Maggie had a badge to get into the back hallways. They were ordered to go to the back hallways to wait for the third SWAT team and then they would go after the gunmen.
Once in the back hallway, Eddie moved towards Buck as he bent down. The kid would have to stay with them for now, just until they got outside. But they didn't want any civilians with them as they went after the shooters. Once the kid was on the ground and Maggie was looking after him, Eddie walked up to Buck and noticed the pained look on his face. As he went in for a hug, Maggie stood up and turned towards Buck. But before she could speak, the third SWAT team merged with them.
"Lt. Graves, this is Eddie Diaz the former soldier, Maggie Sinclair the nurse and Evan Buckley the fireman. They will stay here as we go after the gunmen."
"Nice to meet the three of you. You didn't have to help all those people, you know that right. That's our job."
"We were here, you were not. Besides, my father always said that if you can help, do so. No need to be a coward about it." Maggie said.
"Your father sounds like a smart man."
"He's a cop. And he knows that I am in here. He knew that I wouldn't leave the mall while there were people still in here and hurt. He knows that I would do anything to keep them from being hurt."
"Your father has taught you well. As for you two, I heard from Sgt. Grant that you both work for LAFD. You wouldn't have backed down anyways."
"You're right about that Lieutenant. I'll stay here with the gun that was given to me by your men. You go get those bastards." Eddie stated.
"Good on you. We'll be back as soon as we can. And hopefully have those cowards in custody."
"My vote is they don't need to be in custody. Men like them don't deserve freedom for a stunt like this." Buck said.
"Here, you're going to need this, so you can get back into the hallways." Maggie said as she handed over her key card so they could get back through the doors leading to the halls.
The SWAT teams quieted themselves before leaving the back hall. Lt. Graves pocketed the key card and then Maggie turned towards Buck as Eddie watched the door shut behind the officers.
"Let me have a better look at your shoulder Buck. No need to pass out on me while I do so. Have a seat."
"What happened to his shoulder?" Eddie asked, coming back to them so that he was near enough to protect them with the gun the officer had given him.
"He went to get this kid and one of the gunmen rounded the corner. He was shot but I don't think it's going to leave any permanent damage. He should be good to go soon."
"Leave it to you to get yourself hurt. Bobby is going to have a field day with this one."
"Athena will rein him in. She knows this isn't our fault."
"Speaking of which, you missed a bunch of texts from the both of us and I'm pretty sure Maddie too."
"I turned my phone on airplane mode while we were moving in and out of the doors to get people. How'd you manage to get involved with the SWAT team? I figured they would have sent you outside with everyone else."
"They wanted to, but when I found out you were still inside I knew I had to stay. May and her boyfriend are fine. They managed to make it out. They should be sitting in Athena's car by now."
"May was here? I feel sorry for her."
"She didn't see much. We'd just run into each other when the sound of gunfire was heard. We hid together and I was able to protect the two of them until the SWAT team showed up. May wouldn't let go of my hand either. She knew I was in full dad mode."
"Well, be a dad and keep an eye out. We should probably stop talking for now; just in case."
So the talking stopped and after about ten minutes more gunfire could be heard. They held their breath for what felt like forever before the sound of gunfire stopped. Eddie crept towards the door with the gun. He stayed close to the door instead of near Buck, Maggie and the kid. Maggie had finished bandaging up his arm and given him a shot of morphine, but not too much that it would make him loopy. He needed to be awake and ambulatory for when they had to get up and leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a tense couple minutes before the outer doors opened and the group walked out of the mall in one piece. A couple officers had gone back to get the small group of survivors and then they had all walked out together. Before they left the building, Eddie had relinquished the weapon and armor to one of the officers so that he wouldn't be arrested as they left. All but two of the gunmen had been killed. In all, there were ten gunmen. All teenagers who thought it would be a fun time to bring their video game to life. The two that were still alive were in handcuffs. Maggie had bandaged them up before they were marched out of the mall. Maggie was next to Buck as Eddie had the kid in his arms. All four would need to go to the hospital but they had survived one of the longer days of their lives.
Athena could be seen on the other side of the police barricade. As she saw Buck and Eddie walk out with a young woman, she let out the breath that she had been holding. Maddie and Chimney had shown up only an hour ago after hearing what had happened. They had told Athena that they had changed their minds earlier and instead of being in the mall they had gone on a picnic. Athena had said that she'd been in contact with Buck and Eddie at first but then their phones had gone silent.
So when Maddie saw Buck next to Eddie, she tore from the police line and straight towards Buck. She wasn't the only one. Members of the 118 were allowed to help their friends to safety. Maggie nodded at the team as they surrounded the three and then helped them towards the ambulance when they noticed that Buck had blood on him. He promised to tell them what had happened later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck was sitting in a hospital bed. He'd been in the hospital for two days and was already getting tired of being in the hospital. He wanted to get out. When Maggie walked in the door, he smiled. She'd been by a couple times to check on him and the kid that he had taken a bullet for.
"Hey, thought I'd stop in and say hi. How are you?"
"Ready to get out of here."
"Well pace yourself. You don't want to overdo it."
"I know, Maddie keeps telling me the same thing."
"Good, then you better listen."
"So, there is the stuff you gave me and that I didn't pay for. Pretty sure your boss might want the inventory back."
"Yes, about that. I spoke with the owner of the store and after learning what we had done with the stuff I just gave you, he said it didn't matter. He's a veteran so he understood what we were doing. He does want to meet you though. Give you some proper clothes that you had originally gone in to buy."
"That's kind of him, but I don't think I'm going back to the mall any time soon."
"I don't blame you. As much as I'm not afraid of stupid people and their guns, I think I need a change of pace for a while. I talked to my dad and he agrees. Since I technically graduated Nursing school yesterday, he wants me to start work as soon as possible. But I think I want to go into a different profession. I talked to the LAFD. Since I have my nursing degree and I don't actually want to be a firefighter, I just need to take their paramedic training and I should be good to go."
"So, you've come over to the dark side, huh?"
"I liked helping the way I did during the shooting. And being able to grab and go was, and I hate to say it because of what happened, but it was exhilarating. I felt so alive. Whereas when I was in the hospital training, I didn't feel so alive. I know this is what I want to do for the foreseeable future."
"That's good to hear, because we could always use some more good paramedics in the field." Bobby said coming into the room with the rest of the team and Maddie.
"You must be Maggie. Buck told us what you did with him that day. I applaud you for your bravery."
"It was an easy decision. Besides, I've been in Darfur during the war. A mall shooting was easy to handle for me. Not saying that it wasn't for everyone else. Just Darfur has more violence."
"We get what you are saying. And since you will be double qualified, you can also work in a hospital part time if you want."
"That's the notion anyways."
Talking ceased as a nurse came in with discharge papers for Buck who looked at his sister.
"We all know how much you hate the hospital. As long as you take it easy, the doctor is willing to let you go home today. You will be staying with Bobby and Athena until you are ready to go back to work full-time. You've been in the hospital way too much for our liking lately." Maddie said.
"Accident prone, huh?" Maggie asked.
"You have no idea."
Laughing ensued as the group left so Buck could get changed into some clothes. When he was ready to go, a nurse brought in a wheelchair and then the group left the hospital together. Maggie peeled away saying she'd also come to check on the little girl they had pulled from the mall. Buck nodded and said he'd see her later.
When they got to Athena and Bobby's place, the guest room was waiting for him. May and Harry were sitting on the bed when they came in. Harry nodded and May said that she didn't mind that he was there. May had been asked by Maddie to grab some belongings from Buck's place so that he'd be more comfortable and May had done as she was asked. She was still getting over the shock of the mall shooting as well.
The small group of family and friends settled in for a small supper and then the members of the group that lived elsewhere flitted off to their own homes. There would be time for talking later. For now, Buck went to the guest room and fell asleep. Getting shot always had a way of making someone very tired. He couldn't wait to get back to work.
AN-Sorry for the long wait, I got a little writer's block on this chapter.
AN-I know this wasn't exactly a huge whump on Eddie, but it took me a while to figure out how to write this chapter. I think it was more of (for Eddie at least) a heart jerker to know that Buck was on the other side of the mall from him and he had to protect May.