Every Breath You Take (I'll be watching you…)
Summary: Buddie fic. Mysterious gifts start appearing at the firehouse for Buck from a secret admirer, but as the gifts get progressively more sinister and the 118 grow increasingly worried, they must uncover the mystery before someone close to them gets seriously hurt, or worse. Protective!Eddie. Established Buddie relationship. Follows on from Turning Point but can be read as a standalone.
Disclaimer: I do not own 9-1-1 or anything associated with the show.
TRIGGER WARNING: NEEDLES/DRUGS
Author Notes: Thank you for reading! I love writing these characters so much.
Set after season 6.
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Chapter 8
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"I thought you were taking him home?" Bobby's raised eyebrow and thinned lips echoed the disapproval in his words, his gaze landing on Chimney.
"Funny thing," Chimney started, shuffling from foot to foot and clearing his throat. "I started to and then, I guess we somehow took a wrong turn?"
"A wrong turn through the wrong door?" Athena shook her head, sliding her gun away and clipping it back into place. "Do you two have any idea what you've just done? All this evidence could be thrown out for tampering when this all goes to trial."
"You're acting like I plan on giving this guy the chance to go to trial," Eddie answered, voice as hollow as his glare and jaw tight.
"I will pretend," Athena said, slow and steady, closing her eyes briefly, "that I did not just hear you say that."
"Eddie, we have to let the cops handle this." Bobby tilted his head, his tone pleading, but really, Eddie wasn't in the mood.
"Oh really?" Eddie took a step forward, pointing at Bobby. "Kind of like how you are?" But before Bobby could say anything to defend himself, Eddie continued on. "It's Buck, Bobby. You really think I can just sit back and wait for someone else to find him. Look at this place. We already know what this guy is capable of, and he has Buck."
"I hate to say it," Chimney said, taking a step forward and passing one of the photos in his hands over to Bobby, "but Eddie's right. Buck isn't the only person this guy has been watching, but he's the one he really wants."
"What is this?" Bobby asked, frowning at the photo.
"Look familiar?" Chimney raised an eyebrow before answering his own question. "That's our OD guy from the club. We just assumed he did it to himself, but what if he didn't?"
"What are you saying?"
"The locked door? The missing key? If it had taken us any longer to get to him, he could be dead right now. What if he found out this Carter guy had been watching him? What if he did something he didn't like?"
Bobby was quiet, withdrawn almost, as he looked down at the photograph, and for the longest moment, Eddie thought he would relent. He allowed himself to hope that Bobby would let them tag along, let them help find Buck.
"You're right," Bobby said finally, straightening up and putting the photo down. "We do know exactly what this guy is capable of, which is why I can't let you get involved in this-"
"I'm already involved!" Eddie glowered at him.
"You could get hurt, and not just some minor cuts and bruises. Do you think Buck would ever forgive me if I let anything happen to you? Do you think he'd forgive himself?"
"He doesn't exactly get a say in this right now." Eddie took a breath, steadying himself. "Bobby, please…"
But Bobby shook his head and took a step to the side, creating an opening for Eddie and Chimney to pass through. "Chim, please… take him home, and try not to take anymore wrong turns this time."
Chimney looked between Bobby and Eddie before sighing and nodding his head. He placed a gentle hand on Eddie's arm, guiding him toward the doorway. "Sure thing, Cap."
Eddie allowed himself to be led from the building, allowed Chimney to believe all the way until they were outside that he was being compliant. But once they reached fresh air, he pulled his car keys from his pocket and took a step away from Chimney.
"I'm sorry, Chim, but I'm not going home. Not yet."
"Are you kidding me?" Chimney questioned. "I only said that to get them off our backs."
"What?"
"I mean sure, Cap may actually kill both of us for disobeying him, but Buck is like a brother to me… plus, if Maddie ever found out I didn't do everything in my power to find Buck, well, Bobby would be the least of my worries."
Knowing he wasn't alone in all this gave Eddie some relief, allowing him to breathe just that little bit easier. "So, what now, Detective Han?"
Chimney pulled a face at the nickname, but held up a finger. "Would you believe, I do actually have a plan in mind?"
"And what's that?"
"We track down our patient, pay him a visit."
"Oh yeah? And how do we do that?"
"We already know his name, and what hospital he was at. We take it from there."
-.-.-.-.-
Buck had no intention of letting David do anything. He watched him carefully, waiting for the right moment, trying his best not to give anything away. As David reached out for his arm, Buck pushed up, allowing the adrenaline to take hold, and focused on the door. He felt like he was trudging through water, like every movement was heavier than the last, but he pushed on regardless. Until he felt David tackle him to the ground.
His head hit the concrete with a dizzying smack, disorienting him and numbing him all the more as David flipped him over to straddle his hips. Before he had even regained himself enough to fight back, the needle bit into his skin and his head span, body already feeling the effect of the fresh batch of drugs.
David looked down at him with a clenched jaw, gaze travelling over Buck before lingering on his forehead. He reached down, pad of his thumb running over the fresh wound, causing Buck to let go of a hiss of pain. "Now look what you've made me do. All I want is to protect you."
"And who will protect me from you?" Buck forced out, trying his best to glare up at David, but his vision was already beginning to blur.
"I already told you," David growled. "I am not dangerous. I would never… You made me do this." He leaned down. "No one could keep you safe like me."
"Eddie…" Buck breathed out, finding every ounce of defiance he could muster. "Eddie could."
Rage entered David's eyes, and for a moment, Buck was expecting pain to blossom from somewhere, but instead of taking it out on Buck, David pushed up and kicked the tray of food across the floor as he shouted. "No! No! You don't need him. Eddie didn't protect you from that scum at the club and he didn't protect you from the creep with the photos. Eddie isn't the one keeping you safe! If he loved you like I do, he could have done what needed to be done."
"And what's that?"
David paced the floor, fists tight against his side before swinging back to face Buck. "Anything and everything. He doesn't love you, not like I do…" He dropped to his haunches beside Buck and traced his thumb along Buck's jawline, tilting his head to the side with a look of almost adoring on his face, his voice softening just a little before hardening again at the threat in his words. "And the sooner you realise that, the better off you'll both be. The better off Eddie and his kid will be."
Buck tried to push up at that, but David pushed him back to the ground with ease before standing up, ignoring the sneer on Buck's face as he turned away and headed to the door. It thudded into place after him, the sound of metal scraping as the lock clicked into place echoing in the silence left behind.
"Easy there, kid," not-Bobby said, and this time there was sadness in his voice as he took his place on the edge of the bed and looked over Buck. "You need to get your strength back."
Buck said nothing, instead staring up at the light overheard as the thoughts ran rampant in his mind. He raised his hand above his face, taking in the aura around it that accompanied the double vision. The tingling sensation present there echoed throughout the rest of his body, making it feel as if his body wasn't his own, as if he was stranger in his own skin. It made pushing up from the ground and making his way back toward the bed difficult, but as he dropped down onto the mattress, his gaze locked on the door opposite.
The thought of David going anywhere near Eddie or Chris made him sick and Buck knew, as he had known for the longest time, that when it came to them, he would do anything to keep them safe. They weren't just his family, they were his everything. For them, he would throw himself into the worst flames imaginable.
He just wondered if he would be able to make out to the other side.
-.-.-.-.-
Bobby was very much aware that he should not be touching anything in that room and he tried his best to keep his hands to himself as Athena called Romero and filled him in on what they had found. But seeing all those photos, seeing the frozen image of a young Buck on the monitor, it all made his blood boil. He had been so busy trying to protect Buck from himself for years that he had never realised how close this danger was.
After everything that had happened with Jonah, Bobby had grown even more protective of his family at the 118. He had even gone so far as to use his position as husband to a police sergeant to have in-depth background checks ran on anyone new that didn't immediately click with the team. But when the evil came from outside of the firehouse, he was beginning to see just how little control he had.
"You know," Athena spoke up, placing her hand gently against his upper arm, "Eddie's not exactly wrong."
Bobby snorted. "Oh yeah? About which part?"
"Maybe you should go be with them." She searched his eyes, and he wondered what she was looking for. "This could get dangerous."
"Athena…" he breathed out, jaw tightening as he shook his head. They both already knew the answer to her request.
She gave a sad smile and let go of a small dry scoff. "It was worth a try."
"As long as Buck is out there somewhere, I'll be out here looking for him."
"I know," Athena patted his arm and took a step away to look at the photos on the nearby wall. "But you do realise that your boy won't be giving up either, right?"
"Buck doesn't give up, it's what makes him Buck."
"Oh, I don't doubt that. But I was talking about your other boy. Eddie."
Bobby took a breath. Athena was right, and as much as he hoped Chimney could wrangle Eddie in somehow, he knew it would be impossible. Where Buck's stubbornness was often driven by the foolish hope in his own heart, Eddie's came from a cold and dangerous determination.
"Then maybe we should try and get ahead of them this time," Bobby answered, looking down at the photograph Chimney had shown him. Their OD victim. Devon McDaniels. If Bobby knew Eddie and Chimney as well as he thought he did, they would be following up the next best lead they had and currently, he was it.
-.-.-.-.-
Allowing Eddie to drive was probably not the best idea that Chimney had ever had, and if he clung onto the handle a little bit tighter than he usually would as a passenger, he said nothing about, not daring to risk Eddie's wrath. His own car was still back at the club, since he had jumped in Eddie's truck back then, not daring to let the younger man out of his sight.
"We're going to find him," Chimney said, filling some of the silence between them.
Eddie said nothing in return, his grip simply tightened on the steering wheel. Whatever thoughts were running around his mind, he kept them to himself. But Chimney could see the essence of them written across Eddie's face and in his eyes. Fear battling against rage, murderous intent keeping the panic at bay.
When Maddie had gone missing, Chimney had been a wreck. He remembered the turmoil of emotions well, remembered the thoughts and paranoia that kept creeping in. If it hadn't been for Jee-Yun giving him something other than his own pain to focus on, he would have surely lost himself. Logical thinking had not been his strongest asset at that time, so if he was able to give Eddie some direction in the darkness that he was currently shrouded in, then Chimney would do exactly that.
It was a little after ten o'clock when they entered the hospital and made their way to one of the reception desks. Chimney put on his best smile as he came to stand in front of the nurse manning it, and tapped idly on the top as she finished up what she was doing before she addressed him.
"Hi, how can I help you?" She smiled back, which Chimney took to be a good sign.
"Hi, erm, I'm Howie Han and this is Eddie Diaz. We're firefighters with the 118. We're looking to do a follow up on a patient we brought in about a week or so back. We were hoping we might be able to get some contact details for them."
She shook her head politely and let out a breath. "I appreciate your concern, Mr Han, but I am not in position to disclose personal information regarding our patients."
"Okay, I understand that… but this is really kind of important."
"As is keeping our patients' personal information, personal."
Clicking his tongue in thought, he cast a glance toward Eddie, before leaning forward a little across the desk and dropping his head a little to offer up his best puppy dog eyes, his tone lowering to a barely above a whisper. His gaze flickered to her badge briefly before meeting her eyes once more. "Lydia, right?"
She nodded but showed no signs of cooperation.
"This guy we brought in, he was in really bad shape and my colleague here," he patted Eddie on the shoulder as he spoke, "he hasn't been able to get a lick of sleep from worrying about him. I told him, we did the best we could and handed him over into good hands. But, I mean, look at him. If we just knew that the patient was okay and has been discharged, that would help us out so much."
She looked between them, her lips thinning before she let go of a sigh. "What's his name?"
"Devon. Devon McDaniels."
She worked at the computer quickly and when she eventually looked up, her smile had returned. "Yes, I have his record here. He was discharged a week ago and was doing good."
"And I don't suppose that record has an address?"
With a roll of her eyes, she let go of a snort and shook her head. "It does, but you know very well that I cannot give it to you."
Chimney patted the desk one last time and bobbed his head. "Worth a shot. Thank you, Lydia. You've been a great help."
He tapped Eddie on the arm and pushed away from the desk, taking one step and then two before suddenly stumbling and falling forward a little. He caught the side of the desk to slow his decent and looked toward Lydia with wide eyes as he slipped down to the floor. "I can't feel my legs, oh Jesus! What is this?"
Eddie and Lydia were moving immediately, concern lining their voices as Lydia rounded the desk and Eddie dropped to his knees beside Chimney. But Chimney tried to push him away with one hand as he used his other to beckon Lydia closer.
"Oh jesus… am I going to lose my legs?" he called, very aware of the overdramatic tone in his voice as he caught Eddie's eyes and motioned toward the computer with a slight nod of the head.
Eddie's eyes narrowed at him but as Lydia began trying to call for help, he finally seemed to catch on and ducked behind the desk whilst she was distracted with Chimney. Chimney did his best to keep her attention on him as Eddie worked and grabbed a nearby pen and paper.
"I've heard about things like this," Chimney whined. "First your legs go, and then your lungs, and then before you know it, you're dead!"
"Please try to stay calm, Mr Han." Lydia looked over him, pressing at his legs in various places. "Can you feel anything at all? Any pressure? Tingling? Any pain?"
"Oh God, this is it, isn't it? This is how I go…"
"Mr Han, please."
"I never even got the chance to sing at my wedding. I had all these great plans, and now-" He caught sight of Eddie moving away from the computer, hearing a quick tap-tap on the desk as he let Chim know he had it. "Wait… I can feel my legs again. I'm okay!"
Chimney bounced back up to his feet, aware that Eddie was already moving toward the exit. Lydia tried to encourage him to sit back down, standing warily beside him.
"Mr Han, you shouldn't stand."
"It's a miracle!" Chimney cried out, holding his hands together and looking up toward the ceiling. "I'm cured." He turned to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You must have healing hands, Lydia!"
"You really shouldn't be moving about," she said, but Chimney was already rushing after Eddie. "Mr Han! Please! We should check you out! Mr Han!"
But Chimney was already well on his way out of the door by the time any help arrived, and he hoped he and Eddie would be long gone before Lydia realised what had just happened. He thought once more about his potential murder at the hands of Bobby, but as he met Eddie at the truck, he knew it was worth it.
"Did you get it?"
Eddie held up a small piece of paper in his hand.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
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A/N: More soon...