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The top of this partially submerged firetruck was currently Buck’s only hope of keeping himself and his pup safe. He had been able to pull a few others up onto this truck, but he was leaking comforting pheremones, he was trying his hardest to keep his pup safe and comforted.
Chris was only seven but had experienced so much trauma for such a little boy. His eighth birthday was in three weeks, Buck was planning on taking him to the aquarium, since he was still on medical leave, but after today? Buck’s plan was to steer clear from any sources of water for the next year, or maybe forever. Yeah, forever sounded good.
Buck was torn out of his thoughts by his pups whimpering. “Hey, hey, buddy what’s wrong? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.” He pulled Chris closer.
“I-I’m scared…a-and I wanna go home and be with you and daddy.” Chris whimpered, his normally sweet, milky pup scent had turned sour.
“Oh, honey I know, but your dad is gonna find us, and he’s gonna rescue us.” He kissed the top of his head. “It’s too dangerous to go out and swim in this water, do you see how fast it’s moving? The current could take someone all the way out to the ocean, and we don’t want that, right?” Although the only thing running through Buck’s mind is that exact possibility of being dragged out to sea and drowning in the beautiful, yet unforgiving waves.
“R-right.” Chris says, his voice shaking as he pushes his tiny body closer and closer to Buck. He was scared, and tired, and his body ached.
“I know, I-I know kiddo, I’m gonna try to get us home, okay?” Buck said softly, he nuzzled his face into Chris’ neck, trying to spread his scent to try and soothe the pup. They spent a good hour up on the submerged firetruck with about fifteen other survivors before the second wave hit.
The water rushed around, causing the truck to shake and move violently with the rush of strong water. People screamed and cried, the scents of distressed alphas and omegas permeated the air. But all Buck could focus on was Chris, the young boy, who was already unstable enough, wobbling and getting dangerously close to the edge. Buck moved quickly, he grabbed Chris by the back of his shirt and yanked him back, a young omega woman catching him. Now with Chris safe, Buck could breathe. But the relief was short lived as the water crashed heavily again, and this time, Buck wasn’t so lucky, having gotten thrown off the top of the firetruck and into the cold, rushing and unforgiving water.
Buck heard Chris cry out his name as he crashed into the deep waters, but the only thing he cared about was his pup's safety. The last thing on his mind was Chris, before his head came in contact with a piece of driftwood, and the world went dark.
~~~~~~~~
Buck woke up and the sky was dark and he felt sticky, and stiff from the mud and dirt. He groaned. He felt himself, and god did he feel like how he did after the fire truck, like he had just been through a spin cycle of his washer. He was in so much pain, but, fuck he needed to find Chris.
“CHRISTOPHER?!” Buck screamed, his voice rough and broken. It tasted like he had swallowed a bunch of salt water, which was probably true. He whimpered softly, his wolf begging for Chris, for Eddie. He wanted to cry. He needed to find his pup, and soon. He stood up on shaky legs, blood was dripping down his face sluggishly, some of it had dried but because of the blood thinners, his blood couldn’t clot correctly.
He started walking through the ruins of the Santa Monica Pier, he was so tired, but the drive to find his pup was stronger. He kept trucking through the debris, stopping anyone he saw.
”H-Hi, hey, have-have you seen a little boy? H-He’s wearing a yellow shirt, a-and red glasses.” Buck asked, repeating the same words over and over. And everytime he got the same response.
“No, I’m sorry.” said a beta who was trying to find a safe zone.
“Sorry man, haven’t seen him.” came the voice of an alpha who was definitely trying to size him up.
“I- no I’m so sorry.” answered an omega who had just found her own pup.
It was driving him crazy, he needed to find his pup, he needed to. And then he spotted them, red glasses, no doubt Christophers. He picked them up with shaky hands, and he swore the world almost fell from beneath him. His pup, he needed to find him. Oh god his pup, he needed his glasses. He felt a sob rip through his chest, he felt nauseous.
But he couldn’t stop, even though he was weak, and hurting, and just felt all over bad. He needed to keep going. So that’s what he did. He pushed through and eventually, he found a tsunami safe zone. He almost collapsed in relief, but he had to find Christopher.
He walked, well, more stumbled, towards a nurse. “E-Excuse me?” He asked, his voice breaking.
“Oh my god! Sir, please sit down!” the nurse exclaimed as she took in Buck’s dishevled state.
“N-no-No! I-I’m looking for m-my pup, h-he’s got a yellow shirt on, a-and curls like mine, h-he’s got cerebral palsy, I need to find him.” Buck said, spots filling his vision, he started to sway.
“I- Sir you need to sit down.” the nurse protested, she really was not liking how he was looking.
“No, I-I need to find my pup. H-His name is Christopher Di-Diaz, do- do you have anyone with that name?” Buck was begging at this point. He couldn’t rest until he found his pup, he couldn’t. “I-If you help me find him, th-then I will let you treat me.”
“I- Okay, okay, fine. Give me one second.” The nurse grabbed a clipboard with multiple sheets of paper with names all over them. “You said, Christopher Diaz?” she asked him.
“Y-Yes.” Buck nodded, the action making him dizzy. He needed his pup. He was terrified that…the worst had happened. He waited for the nurse to look through all the names.
“I-I don’t see anything for a Christopher Diaz, but this is a survivors safe location, and we just got a new round of survivors…so you can go check to see if he’s there, but if not, I have to treat you, understand?”
“Y-yes- yes! Thank you!” He ran off to where he saw what looked to be a truck load of survivors. He looked at every single survivor walking through. That’s when he spotted him, “Christopher!” He could sob from relief, his pup!
“Buck?!” came the small, scared voice of his pup.
Buck moved fast, pushing through the crowd of survivors until he got to Chris. “Oh-oh my god, Chris, I got you sweetheart, you’re safe.” He felt like the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders. He couldn’t believe it.
“Buck!” sobbed the pup, tears streaming down his face.
“A-are you hurt?” Buck asked, pulling back to check him.
“N-no, you saved me!” Chris whimpered, the pup's scent changing from sour, back to sweet milk. Buck let out a shaky breath and instantly started scenting him, rubbing his vanilla, citrus and honey scent all over the pup. Chris whimpered again as he was covered in his other dad’s scent, instantly calming him and putting him at ease.
“Okay…okay, c’mon…l-let’s go get checked out, okay baby?” Buck stood up slowly with the pup in his arms. The world swayed, and he got spots that swarmed his vision, but he needed to protect his pup, so he forced himself to move. He sluggisly moved back towards the nurses, stumbling as he moved until he walked right into someone's back. He let out a soft growl, but he swore whoever he ran into smelled familiar.
“Buck?! Chris?!” came the voice, and oh it was so familiar.
“Daddy!” Chris cried, the pup wiggling to get to his dad.
“E-Ed’s…” Buck slurred, remembering, but it wasn’t long until the world tilted sideways, and Buck went down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Buck stirred, it was to rhythmic beeping, the scent of antiseptic, and the weight of something warm on his chest. He forced his eyes open, Okay, he thought, I’m in the hospital, but where’s- But his thought’s were cut off when Eddie opened the door.
“Oh god, Buck!” Eddie said, rushing to his side, “I was so worried, you collapsed, and you had Chris, but, god you’re alive.” The alpha sounded like he was ready to cry. He leaned down and buried his face in Buck’s shoulder, breathing in his comforting scent.
“H-had to protect the pup…” came Buck’s rough and unused voice.
“And you did omega. You did such a good job keeping our pup safe.” Eddie kissed the top of his head and rubbed his wrist over Buck’s shoulder. And Buck knew what Eddie was doing, rubbing his spiced chocolate and campfire scent all over him. He knew the alpha was worried.
“B-But I lost him…” Buck whispered.
“That’s not how he remembers it mi vida.” Eddie says softly. “He said that you protected him from falling off the truck and fell in. And then he said that when you found him, you immediately scented him to make him feel safe.” He cupped Bucks scratched and bruised face, “You did everything right omega, and Christopher and I are so lucky to have you as our omega. As my mate, and as his mother.”
Now that got a sob out of Buck, and Eddie was quick. He wiped away the omega’s tears and got in the hospital bed. And later, they would talk about the tsunami, later they would go over Buck’s injuries.
But right now, they were too busy scenting each other, and creating that security. So the little hospital room erupted in a mix of vanilla, citrus, honey, spiced chocolate and campfire, with a touch of sweet milk. And that was the scent of home.
And Buck easily fell asleep, surrounded by his two boys, and pushing out a beautiful mix of scents. The omega purring, and his wolf content.