Gold Rush

Worst day ever

"Oh wow, that smells amazing!" Aurelia exclaimed as she and Buck entered the kitchen. Leaning over the counter, Buck grabbed a pepper from Hen's plate, earning a glare from her.

"Really? If you want some, just ask." 

"I'm good. I already ate." Buck shrugged. 

Rolling her eyes, Hen passed her plate to Aurelia, who was already waiting to dig in.

"Wait, how come she doesn't have to ask but I do?" Buck protested.

"Because I don't go around snatching food off people's plates," Aurelia retorted with a grin. Hen nodded in agreement while Buck just rolled his eyes.

"You still owe me twenty bucks, Buck. Don't think I'mma forget."

"For what?"

"For the cookie bouquet we delivered to Chimney," Aurelia said between bites, her words slightly muffled by food. "You know, the one with the get-well card that we personally watched you sign."

"He's doing it again." Buck remarked, his attention fixed on Bobby across the room, seemingly oblivious to what they were saying to him.

"What? Eating dinner?" Hen scoffed.

"Staring into that book." Buck replied "Come on, you two must have a line on the gossip around here. What is it? Wh-Why is he obsessed with it?"

"Mm-mm, all I'm gonna tell you about that book is to stay the hell away from it. Trust me, I made that mistake three months into working here." Hen warned.

"Yeah, Buck, let it go. Everyone's got their secrets," Aurelia advised, her tone gentle yet firm.

"So, you're saying no one here knows what he writes in it. Well, watch this," Buck declared as he strolled over to Bobby, leaving Aurelia and Hen to take their seats at the dinner table.

"Buck, just drop it," Aurelia urged, her tone carrying a subtle warning. It was well-known that Aurelia and Bobby shared a close bond. From the moment he joined the 118, Bobby had cared for her as if she were his own daughter.

"All right, Buck. When he pops you in that pretty face, just make sure it's on the side that's already got a mark." Hen called after him.

"You know Bobby can take care of himself, right? Still, it's kind of cute seeing you go all guard dog on Buck." Hen said.

"I know, it's just...he's the closest thing I've ever had to a father figure. I just can't help feeling protective, you know?"  Aurelia sighed.

"I know," Hen smiled.

A sudden thud redirected their focus to Buck, who was shoved against the wall by a furious looking Bobby. The alarm blared as soon as the captain stormed off.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"You guys ever seen something like this before?" Buck asked, no one daring to answer as they as ran towards the beach.

"Captain Nash. Who's got incident command?" Bobby yelled over to the coast guards.

"You do now, Captain. It looks like the plane split in two  on impact."

"All right, I'm gonna need you to be my point man on the beach. All right, Hen I need you to check on the Coast Guard chopper. Buck, Lia, I need you to check with dive team, all right?"

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"Buck, Buck, we got somebody here." Bobby called out.

Aurelia glanced over to a woman struggling to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Hey, I'm Lia. Let's get that seatbelt off." Aurelia told her as she tried to take off the seatbelt that was jammed.