Fresh wind on a hot day (Jim Street x Evan "Buck" Buckley)

It Happened Again

-Luca, you are scaring me. -Jim sighed heavily, looking at the shockingly empty fridge containing only beer, a half-empty jug of milk and some Chinese leftovers. -I was gone only three days, what the hell do you eat while I'm not here?

-Coffee, cereal and takeaway. -the older man shrugged, not even briefly gazing up from the newspaper. -I was fine before you moved in, will be fine when you move out.

-How are you still alive?! -Street shook his head in disbelief. To be fair, he used to be like that, not caring about food too much, but ever since he started spending time at Buck's, who enjoyed cooking, realised that eating properly is a game changer in terms of physical and mental health. -Also, there is no more cereal, I checked.

-Oh, good to know. -nodded the other officer. -Write it down on the list.

There was no list. Jim quickly found some post-it notes and made one, with a little more items than just "cereal" on it. He felt a little guilty for often leaving his best friend alone, and as much as considering moving in with the firefighter. It somehow wasn't right, despite them having a strictly platonic relationship. Like if he was abandoning his family, even though it was obvious one day their living arrangement would change.

Possibly soon.

They were talking, hypothetically, about Street slowly merging into Buck's apartment. Which seemed too fast, after barely four months of dating, however not that unreasonable. So while he thought about permanently staying with his partner, the Omega began to fill the designated closet space, one clothing piece at the time. This activity was actually forcing him to visit the Alpha more frequently, since his current household had severe laundry issues. He actually had to go there after today's shift, having no clean shirts anymore.

The shift the two cops were nearly late for, neither watching the clock, thinking the other one was keeping track. And they were lucky because the team had to roll only five minutes after starting the work day.

There was a bust of a human trafficking ring in progress, planned in detail by the PD, although a last minute development have occurred, when once on the move, they found a strange tunnel coming from the target facility and realised the group on some point had built a few escape routes that were not an original part of the building, therefore weren't on the blueprints. Which meant they needed more people than anticipated to cover all exits.

Jim was "fortunate" to get himself a creepy ass underground corridor lightened by flickering bulbs. He slowly walked down the makeshift stairs, and cautiously continued forward, unsure what's waiting at the end, hoping the passage is not too long 'cause it made him feel like he's in some horror game.

The officer passed a corner, instantly noticing an oddly placed curtain covering the left side. Before he managed to inspect it, a large man came flying through it, rage clear in his wild eyes as he hit the opposite wall. The perp ran straight into the first shot, crushing the cop under his significant weight as he attacked him. Gun dropped somewhere on the floor above his head, too far to reach without being able to move as strong hands firmly grabbed his neck, holding him in place. Struggling with oxygen deprivation, Street did the only thing he could think of, punched the gunshot wound on the man's shoulder, who immediately screamed in pain and backed off abruptly. Aware it might be his only chance, he threw himself in the gun's direction. This movement did, however, leave him on full display. The assailant noticed a perfect opening and instinctively bit the Omega's exposed nape. Then fell down lifelessly onto Jim's chest when a bullet pierced his brain.

Completely ignoring the sharp, pulsating pain, and the whole situation in general, like on autopilot, the officer got up, wiped his face and calmly pushed forward to continue his job. He cleared the small room hidden behind the curtain, crossed the very long corridor to its end, and eventually left the building where half of his team was already waiting, done with their routes. Street joined them quietly, feeling too nauseous to talk. Deacon was the first to look at him, his eyes instantly went wide open.