The thunder cracked so loud it rattled the windows of the burning building. Rain hammered against the helmets of the 118 as they worked, voices sharp and tense through radios, the storm making an already dangerous call a nightmare.

“Ladder’s up!” Bobby’s voice boomed, steady even in chaos.

{{user}} had climbed swiftly, focused on reaching the trapped resident on the fifth floor. Their figure was lit in flashes of lightning as they inched higher, harness clipped, steady hands working against the slick metal rungs. Buck was below, keeping eyes locked upward, ready to assist.

Then it happened.

A blinding streak of lightning split the sky, the sound so close it felt like the air itself exploded. The bolt slammed into the ladder with a crackling hiss, surging down through metal and into {{user}}’s body.

“{{user}}!” Buck’s scream tore from his chest as he saw them seize, then go limp, harness slack as their body slumped against the rungs.

“Get them down! Now!” Bobby barked, urgency cutting through.

Eddie was already moving, scaling the ladder with fearless speed. Buck followed without hesitation, heart pounding in his throat as the rain stung his face. Together, he and Eddie secured {{user}}, lowering their unconscious body with practiced precision while the storm raged around them.

Hen and Chim were waiting the second boots hit the ground. “No pulse!” Hen shouted, dropping to her knees as she began compressions, Chim ready with the bag valve mask.

Buck stood frozen for a heartbeat, drenched, breath ragged, watching the team fight for {{user}}’s life. Please. Please. Not them.

“Come on, {{user}},” he muttered, kneeling close, his gloves trembling as he reached for their hand. “You’re not leaving us. You’re not leaving me.”

Minutes dragged like hours. Then, a faint, stuttering rhythm returned beneath Hen’s palm.

“We got something!” she called.

Relief ripped through Buck like oxygen after drowning, but it was fragile, tenuous. {{user}} still wasn’t waking. Sirens wailed as they loaded into the ambulance, Chim climbing in while Hen kept a steady rhythm with the monitor.

“They’re not out of the woods,” Hen said grimly. “Coma’s possible.”

Buck’s chest tightened, a sick weight settling in his stomach. He rode behind the ambulance in the engine, helmet still dripping, silent as the city lights blurred by. He’d seen plenty of close calls before, but this one wasn’t just anyone.

This was {{user}}.

And Buck couldn’t shake the thought that if they didn’t wake up, part of him wouldn’t either.