Ready Made Relationship

Wildfires And Wood Piles

Buck didn't know what he'd been thinking when he'd made his plan to drive off up the hill to find his friend and father figure, except that he did know that he wasn't planning to bring TK. If he was going to put himself in danger, then he wasn't dragging his younger brother into it.

And so, the plan went like this.

• Lie to TK.

• Get in truck 118, whilst TK runs to get in truck 126.

• Listen to TK get caught by Judd and Matteo whom Buck had made sure were listening in on them whilst he'd told TK the fake plan earlier.

• Take off like a bat out of hell and figure the rest out on the road.

Currently, Buck was in the bat out of hell, figuring it out, stage of his plan. Following the clear path he'd marked out on the map he'd stolen from the ICC, not the one with pin holes all over it, he was quickly making ground.

Then, like the world itself had turned against him, the cab filled with TK's enraged voice.

"Dear God, Bucky boy, you're lucky I'm not there with you!" He hollered, the sound of laughter filtered past his voice. "You tricked me!"

"I'm sorry, I just want you to be safe," Buck answered, eyes on the ground ahead as he spoke. "Stay with your team, kid. I'll have your dad back before you know it."

"What about your safety?" TK snapped. "We literally just had this talk earlier today!"

"And, now we're having a different one. The fire is moving in TK, and you mean too much to me, I won't let you get hurt." Buck argued. "Besides, this is a simple rescue, dude. Drive up, get 'em, take 'em back. You like the wild ones more. Now, do me a favour and radio Owen. I need him to get in tough with me so he can try to relay his location."

"You are a nightmare!" TK yelled, and then the radio was quiet. Buck's eyes shone with tears. He didn't feel the need to stop them from falling as he was alone, and Owen was expecting him to be in bad shape anyway.

Buck ruined everything again.

He'd been trying to protect TK, and in doing so, he had caused him pain. TK was always quick to anger, but this kind of yelling and hissing was new. This was the same anger that Buck had incited in the 118 during the lawsuit, the kind of anger that had stirred just under the surface between him and his team ever since.

That's what Buck was good at.

That was Buck's special skill.

Buck hurt.

Not only himself, but also everyone that he encountered.

A sob tore from his throat, which ached and burned still from the flames in the car, which had tasted so thickly of gas that he'd rather not tell anyone about it. Usually, Buck would pull over to cry, but he didn't have the time for that.

The superiors in the ICC had agreed that sending anyone up the hill to rescue Hen and Owen whilst the flames were crawling ever closer was too dangerous to consider as a viable option. Buck and TK had, of course, been told in no uncertain terms that they were not to do anything stupid. That's when Buck hatched his ludicrous plan.

He didn't regret it.

He wouldn't if he managed to get Owen, Hen, and the boy back to base safely.

He only regretted that he had lost TK to the madness.

His radio crackled to life.

"Evan Buckley, I am so mad at you right now!" Owen's tone was stern but not mean. It helped Buck's mind to settle and kept it off TK's new hatred of him.