WARNING: Lots of hints towards Season 5... Please enjoy! 

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Eddie had been back on the team for a few weeks after he finally was told he could return to work, after the whole sniper incident and getting shot. He was beyond glad he was back, recovering from being shot had sucked, the only highlight was Ana and Christopher had been there. He was also beyond excited for tonight, as Buck was going to be picking Chris up from school and taking him home with him at the loft so that he could have some time with just Ana.

He waved bye to everyone, as he was heading out, but even in his haste, he didn't miss that Buck's face was paler than normal. He walked over to the younger man, who flashed him a smile that never quite reached his eyes.

"You okay?" he asked, worried that something was bugging his partner.

Buck nodded his head and flashed the same smile. "Yep, just trying to figure out what I should do with Chris," he said nonchalantly, shrugging as he spoke.

Eddie didn't miss the brief flash of pain that showed in Buck's eyes but chose to drop the subject until the younger man decided to come to him to talk about it. "I'll see you tonight when I come to get Chris," he said, patting Buck's shoulder, his hand lingering a smidge longer than normal, and just long enough to register that the younger man was running warmer than normal.

He turned away before frowning as he knew that if he gave away that something was wrong, or that he knew something was wrong, he would be met with resistance from the stubborn side of Buck. He waved bye to everyone and left, pushing his worry for Buck to the back of his mind as he went home to prepare for his date.

—----------------------------------------Back to Buck—---------------------------------------------------------------

Buck sighed as he left the fire station, relieved that he was not going to be psychoanalyzed by Eddie, for coming to work with a low-grade fever. He pushed past his discomfort and focused on going to Christopher's school to get the little man. He squinted in the afternoon sunlight, trying hard not to look at any reflective surfaces, as the reflective light aggravated his already pounding head. He pulled up to Christopher's school a little earlier than was expected, so he took a second to dry-swallow some tylenol and regain his light-headed composure.

He looked up to see Christopher walking out using his crutches, and he opened his door and hopped out to go and help the boy. "Hey, kiddo, ready to go have some fun?" he asked excitedly, even as a steady pulse of pain was ricocheting inside his skull.

"Buck! I am so happy to see you!" Christopher said loudly, as Buck scooped him up and carried him to his jeep. His hand brushed against Buck's bare skin ever so slightly, and was surprised to feel how unusually warm he felt, but he ignored it as he got comfortable in his seat.

Buck helped Christopher buckle up, before getting in his own seat and buckling up. "So superman, what kind of food should we get for back at the loft?" he asked, a lump forming in his throat at the mere mention of needing to eat.

"Pizza!" Christopher said immediately, not wasting a moment to think of a different idea.

Buck laughed, as he drove them to their favorite pizza place. "Eat in, or take home?" he asked the boy, not really having the mental capacity to decide the answer for himself.

"Home!" Christopher said with a big grin, the amount of joy and excitement radiating from the boy was enough to override how miserable Buck felt, helping the man feel happy too.

"You got it." Buck said with a goofy grin, as he parked outside the pizza place and pulled out his phone shooting their order to be brought out to them. Once he was done, he snapped a picture of Christopher in his backseat and all happy, and sent it off to Eddie as a way to confirm he had picked the boy up.

Within twenty minutes, the pizzas were brought out to them, and they were on their way back to the loft to eat pizza and play video games. It only took about ten minutes to get to the loft, much to Buck's relief, as even driving was making him feel off-kilter. The older of the two grabbed his duffle, the pizzas, and Christopher to help, and went inside after unlocking the door and letting Christopher in.

Christopher went directly to the living room area, where the video games were already set up and sat down, sort of bouncing up and down in his excitement. "You're gonna lose, Buck!" he challenged, earning a feigned look of dread from the man.

"No way, dude, I am so gonna win." Buck challenged back, grabbing some sodas and cups to bring into the living room with the pizzas. He opened the boxes, smiling as Christopher dug in right away. He looked at the pizza thoughtfully for a moment before deciding to join the boy and eat some as well.

Christopher was already done with his first two slices, while Buck had only eaten half of one and was now sipping on some citrus-flavored soda. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern, snapping Buck out of his thoughts as he turned the video game on.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Buck countered, all excitement gone from his body as he looked at the boy with a confused look.

Christopher thought for a moment before speaking again, as he didn't want to upset his best friend, besides his dad. "You're not eating, you always eat." he said finally, a deep frown crossing his young face and made him look exactly like Eddie when the man was bothered by something or someone.

Buck sighed inwardly, before grabbing another piece of pizza, and crammed half of it in his mouth in one bite. If he was being honest, the greasiness of the pizza was not sitting well in his stomach, as a simple stomach-ache had turned into full-blown nausea. "Better?" he asked once the last bite of his first and second slices disappeared into his mouth.

Chris nodded happily, blissfully unaware of Buck's predicament, or that all the color had drained from his face as he nibbled on a third piece, trying desperately to hold the nausea at bay.

They both grabbed their controllers, and started playing games, the dizzying colors making Buck feel even worse, but he tried really hard not to show it. Of course, it doesn't work very well, as Christopher paused the game, to look at Buck more closely.

"You okay, buddy?" Buck asked, sounding more tired than he had when they had gotten home, only an hour and a half or so ago. He blinked a couple times, when he realized the game was paused, because everything looked a little fuzzy.

"Yes, but are you?" Christopher asked, noticing that his guardian if Eddie got hurt or died was too pale, even for Buck. He looked around briefly, noticing Buck's phone was laying on the table by the pizza boxes. "Maybe we should call dad." he offered, as he watched the man's face turn faintly green.

"Nah, I am good, are you good?" Buck asked, trying not to swallow as his stomach felt like it was in his throat.

Christopher frowned, not liking how Buck was handling the situation at all, but he wasn't the adult, so he didn't feel like he could argue with him... until he saw that Buck was swallowing way too much, almost like if he didn't stop swallowing something bad would happen.

"I want to talk to dad." he said suddenly, deciding that he needed to change tactics. "I need to tell him something about school, it's important," he said urgently.

Buck snapped out of his hazy thought process, and looked at Christopher with renewed interest, his hand ghosting to his stomach. "What happened? Who's ass do I need to kick?" he asked, protectiveness coming through his tone without him even realizing it.

Christopher shook his head. "I need to give him a message from the teacher," he lied, hating that he was being dishonest, but he needed his dad to come help Buck before the man did something stupid... well more stupid.

Buck thought for a moment, before nodding and unlocking his phone before handing it to the kid, just leaning forward is enough to trigger his stomach again. He closed his eyes, as he fought to override his body's sudden urgency to eject his stomach contents.

"Dad? It's Buck, dad. He looks really sick, like he might throw up." Christopher said urgently, when his dad answered the phone.

Buck blinked at Christopher realizing the kid had outsmarted him, but he didn't have a lot of time to respond, as his stomach suddenly leapt up his throat. He didn't even have time to run upstairs to the bathroom, all he has time to do is up and run towards the kitchen in a brief panic.

"Dad, he just ran to the kitchen... and he's puking in the sink! Dad, we need your help now!" Christopher said, anxious energy pouring through him and his voice as he watched Buck retch and gag over the sink. "Okay, thanks. Is the door unlocked, Buck?" he asked, hating that he was interrupting the sick man.

Buck shook his head no, before retching hard over the sink again. He winced, as his breaths were coming in too fast. He laid his arms on the sink's edge, and lay his head down on his right arm, so he was still over the sink but didn't have to support all of his weight.

"He doesn't..." he said hoarsely, gagging hard in the middle of speaking. "Sorry, he doesn't need to come early," he forced out in a rush, as another gag ripped through him painfully.

"Dad, the door is locked. No, he can't even talk without trying to... Yeah, okay. Bye, dad!" Christopher said, hanging up the call and hobbling over to the front door to unlock it stiffly.

Buck watched through blurry eyes, not sure if it was tears or the fever that had him shivering so hard he was having trouble staying upright. He grabbed a big mixing bowl from the cupboard beside him, and sank down to the floor against the kitchen sink. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he said with a wince, as he swallowed hard against his now burning throat.

Christopher ambled over to where Buck was sitting and sat down beside him on the floor. He stayed there watching over the sick man, until his dad got there about ten minutes later.

Eddie opened the front door and peeked around, searching for his son and his partner. "Guys?" he asked, before walking into the kitchen and seeing his son sitting on the floor, and noticed a very pale Buck on the floor with his eyes closed. He could smell that Buck was sick, but he could also see that the younger man had not actually vomited yet.

"Dad!" Christopher said in relief, letting his dad help him up so he could hug him.

"How long has he been like this?" Eddie asked his son, when Buck had waved but was keeping his eyes closed.

"Since I hung up. He's really sick..." Christopher said in concern, looking down at one of his favorite people with a look of anxiety.

"I can see how sick he is; what do you say we take him home with us, until he feels better?" Eddie asked, earning a big grin from the boy.

Christopher nodded in relief, knowing that Buck still needed him. "Can I come too? Or am I going to Carla's?" he asked in concern, looking at his dad, then Buck, then his dad again.

Eddie looked at Buck for a moment, before looking at Christopher. "Do you want to help me with him?" he asked, knowing the boy would choose Buck any day, even if one of them were sick. Turns out he was right... again, Christopher nodded adamantly at his dad's question. "Alright, go get in the car, and I will bring Buck out in just a moment," he instructed, watching as Christopher jumped to do as he was told.

Buck waited until he heard the front door again, before moving or speaking. "I'm sorry, I didn't think I was going to..." he said, coughing on his own words.

Eddie looked down at him before shaking his head. "What? That you would end up puking or trying to puke your guts up in front of Christopher? How long have you felt sick?" he asked, ignoring the guilty look on Buck's face.

"This morning... I woke up with a low fever and sore throat." Buck admitted, finally opening his eyes but focused them on the bowl in his lap, too afraid to look at Eddie.

"You went to work with a fever?" Eddie asked incredulously, a hint of irritation in his tone bringing tears to Buck's eyes. He noticed the tears and knew the younger man had to feel downright wretched to get emotional over his partner's words. "Hey, what's with the tears?" he asked gently as the tears started to drop silently.

Buck sniffled a couple of times as he squeezed his eyes shut as tight as possible, attempting to stop the possible flow of tears. "M sorry, I wasn't trying to make Christopher get sick," he said miserably. He whimpered softly, wrapping his arm around his angry stomach.

Eddie squatted in front of him, resting a hand on the younger man's cheek before moving it to his forehead, making sure he never broke physical contact. "You've got more than a low-grade fever now. Have you actually thrown up, or are you just trying to choke on air?" He asked in concern, worried that Buck would be choking up air for as long as this bug lasted.

Buck's eyes opened in surprise, before drifting closed, as the older man checked his temperature. "N...no, just feel really crappy and trying to bring up air." He mumbled as he looked about, ready to pass out. "What about Ana?" he gasped, his eyes flying open when he remembered her existence.

Eddie chuckled, knowing that Buck always cared about everyone else, never considering the danger or problem it could pose himself. "She went home," he said, not offering any details which brought the guilt-ridden look back to the younger firefighter's face. "Stop it," he said firmly, making Buck look at him in confusion.

"What am I doing?" Buck asked, groaning softly at the end, as his stomach picked up its flipping.

Eddie sighed, standing back up and offering a hand to help Buck up. "You're feeling guilty for cutting the date off early. But that doesn't fall on you, it falls on me. I chose to cut it off because I was worried about Christopher... and you." he said, not wanting to upset the younger man further by admitting that the date was falling apart since he had left the house to begin with.

"But..." Buck started to argue as he grabbed the older man's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. Once he was upright, he doubled over with a vicious retch that still brought nothing up.

"Whoa, easy... You are really sick... Okay, you're okay." Eddie stammered, caught off guard by the aggressive gag. He wrapped an arm around Buck's waist, to steer the younger man out to the truck. "Do you want to bring the bowl, or grab a trash bag?" he asked, as he stopped and looked around, but stopped searching when he saw the pizza.

Buck shrugged, leaning into Eddie's guidance until the hiccups started. They weren't small hiccups either, they were the kind of hiccups that made your whole body jerk back and up every single time. "Either would be fine. I highly doubt I will do more than gag," he added in between hiccups.

Eddie frowned, mulling over what had happened so far. "Did you eat any pizza?" he asked, so he didn't assume anything red was automatically blood.

Buck nodded, looking at Eddie questioningly, as the feeling of wanting to upchuck was back with a vengeance.

"Just making sure that if and when you puke, I don't panic if I see red." Eddie explained, since he never really mentioned what happened during or after the bloodclot.

Buck's eyes widened as he got the gist of what Eddie was hinting towards, even though they had never really talked about it much.

Eddie shrugged at Buck's surprise, opting not to say anything more on the subject, rather than risk upsetting the more sensitive of the two. "I am going to bring the pizzas with us, and we have soda at the house. Is there anything else you need that you don't already have at my place?" he asked as he helped the sick man lean against the table so he could grab the pizzas. "How is it, you ate the pizza but are only choking up air?" he asked, noticing that there were at least five pieces missing and only a couple bites taken out of it.

Buck looked at him thoughtfully, a momentary look of perplexion crossing his face, before turning a washed out green.

Eddie noticed the change in color immediately, and moved back to Buck's side in a couple strides. "You good?" he asked, searching Buck's expression and stance to make an educated guess on how the younger man felt and if he was about to try to choke up more air.

"N...no," Buck breathed out, stuttering slightly before using the table to brace himself and the mixing bowl, as he tried repeatedly to gag on nothing, and once again he couldn't bring anything up.

"Easy, easy. Try to breathe slowly." Eddie encouraged, wrapping a protective arm around the younger man's back and waist.

Buck whimpered, sagged as soon as the gags stopped.

"Okay, hang on. You're heavy," Eddie said quickly with a breathless chuckle. "Come on, let's get you out to the truck where Christopher is waiting for you. We'll bring the bowl, and if you need to throw up, I can always pull over." he offered, hoping Buck would be able to relax once they got to his and Christopher's house.

Buck nodded slowly, pushing himself back upright and off of Eddie. "I may fall asleep on the way." he mumbled tiredly, sounding and looking like he was about to drop in exhaustion. He lumbered out to the truck, clutching the bowl tightly to his chest as silent gags led him to coughing hard and attempting to choke up air again.

Once his body calmed down, he walked the last couple steps to the truck, opened the passenger door, and climbed into his seat sinking down with an exhausted sigh. "Hey Chris," he mumbled, his voice cracking as he spoke.

"Hi Buck, are you okay?" Christopher asked, sounding anxious as he had watched Buck gagging more than once now. He put his hand on the adult's arm, conveying his anxiety with just that simple touch.

"Yeah, buddy, I'm just tired and my stomach is very unhappy." Buck said in a forced happy voice. "I'm gonna close my eyes, okay?" he asked, wanting to ease the boy's concern, without adding to it by falling asleep.

Christopher nodded, sitting back and watching Buck rest in his seat.

Eddie walked out moments later, after locking the front door and climbed into his seat.

"Dad, why is Buck trying so hard to puke, but still not puke?" Christopher asked softly, not wanting to wake his friend up, but still worried all the same.

Eddie looked at Chris as he was backing up the truck, and got them on the road, before attempting to answer. "Sometimes the body does weird things... He'll be able to throw up soon," he said gently, as he focused on the road.

They were about five minutes from the house when Buck spoke out of nowhere. "Pull over," he said quickly, with a hint of anxiety in his tired voice.

Eddie shot a glance in Buck's direction, before signaling and pulling over. He made sure to stop the vehicle as gently as possible, so as not to upset Buck's stomach further.

Buck shoved his door open, and barely got his head parallel to the concrete below them, when he gagged and coating the ground in wave after wave of undigested food and soda.

Eddie rubbed his back, worried but relieved that the younger man's body had finally allowed him to bring things up. "See, he should be okay real soon." he told Chris with a loving smile.

Buck finally stopped turning his stomach inside out, and moved back into his seat and closed his door. "That was gross," he mumbled.

Eddie and Chris started laughing, earning a tired look from Buck. "Are you ready to go home?" he asked, earning a nod from the sick man.

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Eddie and Chris took Buck home to their house, allowing him to relax and heal up, under their watchful eyes.

I hope you all enjoyed this fic. I promise more fics are coming... It just takes time. Lol.

Anyways you know the drill. ;) As always: vote, comment, and request away. Love you all! <3