The studio smells like rosin and rain, faintly sweet, faintly sharp. The piano stops mid-phrase when Buck pushes through the glass doors, his radio clipped to his vest. The mirrors throw light across the floor, where a handful of dancers stand frozen in a semicircle.

“She just—she landed wrong,” one of them stammers, eyes wide. “We heard something crack.”

Buck’s already kneeling before the girl on the floor, Y/N Y/LN. Her leg is twisted just slightly off, her face pale and slick with sweat. There’s no smoke, no chaos, just the kind of stillness that feels worse.

“Hey,” he says softly, taking off his gloves as he crouches beside her. “I’m Buck, with the LAFD. Can you tell me what happened?”

She swallows hard, tears gathering but not falling. “Grand jeté. I—” she grimaces, catching her breath. “It snapped. I heard it.”

“Okay,” he murmurs, steady, like it’s just the two of them in the world. “Don’t look at it. We’re gonna keep you still until the medics bring the splint. You’re gonna be okay.”

Her breathing hitches, panic flickering behind her composure. “I have a showcase next week.”

He almost smiles, the kind that hurts a little. “Let’s worry about next week when we get you standing again, yeah?”

She nods faintly, a tear finally spilling as she looks at her foot which is swollen, already purpling. Buck gently presses her shoulder. “Hey, eyes on me. You dance, right? You know balance better than anyone. Let’s breathe through this together.”

And Y/N does. Slow inhale, shaky exhale, her fingers gripping his sleeve while the medics work.

When they lift her onto the stretcher, she winces, and he slips his hand into hers without even thinking. She squeezes back, hard.

Outside, the siren lights cut across the wet street. He helps load her into the ambulance, but before the doors close, she whispers, “You’re staying calm for me. You’re good at that.”

He laughs, soft and rough. “Fake it ‘til you make it.”

The doors shut, and for a second, he stands in the drizzle watching the taillights fade, the echo of the piano still in his ears.