nine
"help"

—

—

"I WANTED TO SAY THANK you, again."

After making it back to dry land, happy that they had all managed to get out of there alive along with the fact they saved lives today. This is why Lynn does what she does, because although the dead frightened her, there were still people she managed to save. They were in change of mending the ones with minimal damage from the crash, while the ones who would need surgery, etc, were taken with ambulances.

Lynn hooked her fingers around Buck's palm, pulling him to an abrupt stop, mostly because she could see the adrenaline pumping throughout his veins and he more than likely didn't even process what she was saying.

He looked good soaking wet, because his sandy blonde locks made little wet pellets drip down his forehead, like a mop but much more attractive. And now that his entire uniform was sticking to his body, his muscles could be seen even easier than before; and that was already a lot.

"Really, I mean it," Lynn stated, glancing down to their interlocked fingers, and she quickly released her grip while backing up a foot or so. "I would've been a squashed bug on that cart if it wasn't for you."

"It's really no problem, Evie," Buck replied, flashing her the smallest of smiles while he glanced back over to a medic tent, where more bandages were stacked away.

"Where did Evie come from?" Lynn questioned, quickly jogging to catch up with Buck's long legs. "No ones ever called me that, I mean no ones ever called me Eve either."

"It's a cute nickname, isn't it?" Buck asked, and Lynn was silently celebrating the fact it was pitch dark outside and the only light they had was from the many different tents set up.

"Well, sure, I just don't feel like an Evie type of girl," Lynn replied, shrugging her shoulders lightly while she squeezed in between two hospital beds to grab a box of the white bandages.

"You're saying you're not cute?" Buck tilted his head to the side, and this was another moment where she would compare him to an adorable puppy. "'Cause then, you're most definitely wrong."

Although Lynn wanted to comment on how Buck had called her cute in a way, but the redness that swelled up on her cheeks mixed with her throat tensing up sort of inhibited her from doing so. Thankfully, a soft voice had spoken up, while Lynn felt a soft palm on her arm.

"Excuse us."

"Hi," Lynn smiled politely, gazing down to the same couple Buck saved from the restroom with the cart.

"Thank you," the young girl spoke up, and Lynn's eyes fell on where her forehead was dripping a bit of blood mixed with water. Mascara was smudged under her eyes, but overall she looked to be in good show for someone who just survived a plane crash. She gave Lynn's hand a squeeze, and she almost felt awkward in the situation. "We owe you guys everything."

"You saved our lives," the man added, his arm wrapped solidly around the woman's waist.

"You should be thanking this guy over here, he's the reason you're safe," Lynn explained, moving her body a bit out of the way so their eyes could fall on Buck, and not her.

"Oh, i-it's a team effort, you know?" Buck stammered slightly, and he stared to sheepishly scratch the back of his neck awkwardly.

"We're getting married."

Lynn and Buck both smiled nicely towards the couple, and although there were doubts about how young they were and the fact adrenaline was probably making this decision for them; it was still sweet.

"He asked me as soon as we made it to dry land," the woman grinned happily, closing her eyes as the young man interwrapped her in a hug.

A ringtone started going off in the background, and Lynn glanced over to see that it had belonged to Buck. She wondered who would be calling him at a time like this, and surely the news had broadcasted how so many firefighters were down here at the time. He fished the phone out of his pocket, and then glanced up to Lynn, quickly hitting the decline button while stuffing in back in his pocket.

"But, yeah, that's, uh, that's great. Congratulations," Buck continued, trying to shake off the tension in his bones he must've felt from the phone call. "You seem like a very nice couple."

"You guys, too. You work really well as a team," the woman commented, and suddenly the happy smiles that were on Buck and Lynn's faces faded into confusion.

"What? No-I, we aren't together," Lynn slightly scoffed, letting out the smallest of laughs as she switched over to Buck, almost asking for him to confirm the story. "We're just coworkers."

"Wait, really?" The woman questioned, and suddenly she shifted awkwardly in her seat. "Sorry, it just looked, um, like it."

"Tell her she is cute," Buck spoke up, and Lynn glanced over her shoulder to give him a teasing slap on the shoulder.

"That is-wow, I'm so sorry," Lynn shook her head in disbelief at the boy standing beside her, and she mentally facepalmed. "That is totally unprofessional."

"No, you are WAY cute!" the woman stated excitedly, clapping her hands together as that same lighthearted smile returned.

"That's what I'm saying!" Buck exclaimed beside her, and the two quickly shared a high five as Lynn just stood there, continuing to shake her head to the side while her cheeks were engulfed with a blush. "Her nickname is Evie, and I said it's fitting cute nickname for a cute girl, and she went 'aw...shucks, no...'"

"Evan, I'm going to beat your ass," Lynn growled annoyingly, and she seriously questioned whether or not she should tackle him to the floor as he tried mimicking her more feminine voice. "Alright, it was nice meeting you two, and I hope for the best for you guys, but we should really get going."

"Yeah, yeah, the woman's right," Buck agreed, narrowing his blue eyes playfully at Lynn as he spoke. "You take care of each other, okay? Excuse us."

The two firefighters then moved away from the medical tent and then backwards another one where more bandages would soon be required. That was when Lynn leaned on her tippy toes to land a good smack on the back of Buck's wet hair.

"Ow!" Buck complained, rubbing the spot where Lynn had previously hit him. "Not a nice way to treat someone who saved your life."

"You're lucky I don't kill you here and now."

•••

"Bobby? Bobby, open up!"

Lynn leaned her body against the frame of the door as Hen's raised her fist to pound it against the brown door even harder than last time. They were currently at Bobby's apartment, because the man hadn't returned anyone's calls or texts since the plane crash, they were a bit worried for the man.

Lynn even came on her off day, so instead of wearing the tight, neat uniform like Hen and Buck, she had a pair of dark blue jeans and a basic clean white shirt, along with her favorite pair of dirty white converse.

"He ever gone MIA like this before?" Buck questioned, switching between Lynn and Hen as they stood near the door.

Lynn nor Buck had talked about how much the boy had flirted the night of the plane crash, especially going far enough to talk about how she was apparently cute enough for the nickname Evie with patients they had rescued. She knew she would be even more flustered and stuttery than she was before, and that was a lot to start out with.

"No. Honestly, I don't know much about his story before he took over the house," Hen explained, but the young adults could hardly hear her soft words since she was basically speaking to the door instead of them. "Just that he, uh...he's in recovery.

"You hear that?" Buck questioned, raising his spare hand that wasn't carrying his ringing cell phone to heed Hen to come to a stop. Once everyone recognized that Bobby's phone was indeed inside the apartment, Buck continued. "I'm gonna kick it down."

"No way," Lyn scoffed, and then she shrugged her shoulders as she continued. "Anybody got a pin?"

"Wait, you can pick a lock?" Buck raised an eyebrow, and he genuinely sounded shocked.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Buckaroo."

"No. No, Buck, you are not kicking this door down. And Lynn, you aren't picking it either," Hen shook her head quickly, and Lynn pointed towards the woman as she let out a sarcastic nod. "Bobby and I gave each other spare keys just in case one of us couldn't make it home one day."

They silently entered the apartment, almost creeped out by what they stumbled upon. It was empty. Not that no one was living there, because there was furniture and such scattered among but the fact there were no decorations whatsoever. She knew Bobby had kids, and a wife, so why wasn't there a single picture of them anywhere?

"Bobby?"

After slowly checking out the place, they stumbled into the bedroom, where there laid Bobby completely passed out. With an empty bottle of Jack Daniels next to him.

"Ew, Daniels, I thought he'd have some taste," Lynn commented, but after she earned weird glares from both Hen and Buck, she realized she had said her thought straight out loud. "Oh, shit, sorry. Thought I was thinking that."

"Come on, let's get him up."

After struggling to carry the unconscious Bobby to the shower, they finally managed to spray him down with the cold, running water to wake him up. And he certainly didn't look excited to see his fellow coworkers in his apartment.

"How long has it been?" Buck questioned, and Lynn glanced over to Bobby, who was now dressed it none wet clothes and instead a robe.

"Five hundred forty six days," Bobby explained, his eye contact busy on the wall in front of him rather than any of his paramedics. "Forty five and a half if we're being picky. Days...Eighteen months."

"That crash was hard-core," Buck stated, and Lynn nodded beside him. The two were sharing the small one-seat couch, where Lynn was sitting on the lumpy arm and Buck was on the comfortable cushion.

"We all have our breaking point," Hen concluded, handing off a hot mug of tea for the hungover man. "Who were you cooking dinner for? There are four plates set."

"I don't know," Bobby shook his head while closing his eyes, and Lynn almost felt something was wrong. Like he knew what he was doing, not just using the alcohol as am escape. "I was drunk. I am gonna be fine. This is a one-time thing, I promise, okay? I'm good. I'm sorry I put you guys through this."

"Bobby, we're here for you," Lynn stated, pressing her palm onto his shoulder for a supportive squeeze.

"You know why redwoods can grow so high?" Hen asked, and both Lynn and Buck glanced over to her with confusion written on their faces. "They move and bend with the wind. If you stay rigid, eventually you'll break."

"You calling me uptight?" Bobby questioned, and he almost sounded a bit offended. "She's calling me uptight, isn't she?"

"Maybe ask for help once in a while?"

"Asking for help never hurt anyone," Lynn added, flashing her captain a sympathetic smile.

"Help."