#harassment?

Reported for what?????????

Jack, Andy and Daz return to the Mill and learn the outcome of the panel fronted by Dave Spencer - it’s a no go for community service in the village especially the garage. That means looking at something in Manchester. Later, Daz confronts Scott at the post. Jack and Andy worry when they are unable to locate Daz. Meanwhile, at the garage, Katie arrives for some nookie with Robert who locks them in for some ‘safe sex.’

If you asked Buck how he thought his day was gonna go two hours ago, he never would have guessed this.

He never would have guessed that he'd be standing next to Maddie in a dark alley that he never really should have led her into in front of a group of young men with their hands held up to their sides and hoping they wouldn't shoot.

They had to take a detour because construction was blocking things, and Buck wishes he had just driven them.

He's not necessarily standing in front of Maddie because she's a little behind him. He'd do anything to protect his sister; he has before, and he will now.

"Please let us go," Maddie begs, her voice cracking. Buck wants to tell her to be quiet, but he can't bring himself to say anything. He's frozen in place.

"We have the gun, we make the rules," a gruff voice replies. His hair is brown and slicked back, his eyes dark and beady. He's not particularly big, but not small either, and as impulsive as Buck is, he's not about to try anything stupid when he and Maddie are staring down the barrel of a gun. Not at the moment, at least.

"Give us your phones," a different voice, one in the back, calls.

Buck maintains eye contact with Beady Eyes, slowly lowering his hands to grab the cell phone in his pocket. Maddie does the same, but not before taking a brief glance at Buck, likely to see what he's going to do.

Beady Eyes steps forward and grabs the phones out of their hands, his free hand holding the gun.

Suddenly, his eyes flick over to Maddie as if seeing her for the first time, only breaking his lecherous gaze to turn around and whisper something to his friends. Buck's eyes narrow as he takes a risk, side-stepping to get closer to Maddie and put a protective arm in front of her. She's a young woman, and... he doesn't want to finish that thought.

"She's pretty," Buck hears one of them say. The other 4 men murmur in agreement and his fists clench as Beady Eyes gets closer, heading straight for Maddie.

He stands in front of her, only inches away, his hand coming up to roughly grip her forearm. Maddie tenses, not quite knowing what's coming, but feeling pretty secure in the knowledge that whatever it is isn't good.

"Leave her alone," Buck growls before he can stop himself. Beady Eyes' gaze immediately switches over to Buck, his face hardening as they lock eyes.

"The fuck did you just say to me?"

"Buck—" Maddie warns, giving him her classic big sister glare, but it's not the same, Buck notices, the hints of fear in her eyes only barely hidden.

"What kind of a name is that?" Another one of the five asks, stepping closer to get a better look at Buck. Buck's lips press into a thin line as he tries not to take the bait. It's an interesting contrast; the leader wants him to obey his every whim, but the others seem to want to provoke him and Maddie into a fight.

Knowing that he needs to protect his sister, he stays quiet, a plan forming in his head.

At that moment, the rest of the young men begin to participate in harassing both of them, getting closer and giving them uncomfortable stares.

When Beady Eyes looks back to Maddie, Buck acts quickly, kicking him in the shins. Their phones slip out of his pocket as he groans and instantly falls to the ground, his gun falling a few feet away. Two of the other men still standing attack him, shoving him against the cold wall, a shiver running down his spine despite the fact that he's wearing a long-sleeved shirt. Another one tries to grab the gun, but he kicks it away. He can't fight them all off on his own; he's already pinned to the wall. But he doesn't have to, he realizes, when a loud grunt from a very familiar voice sounds to his far right, and he turns his head to see Maddie struggling against the remaining one for the gun. He's yanking on her wrist, and Maddie's putting up a pretty good fight. She lifts her right leg and kicks him in the hip, and as he lets go of her, she loses balance and falls to the ground, grabbing the gun and quickly standing back up.

"Hands off him!" She yells as she aims the gun at his assailant, distracting him enough for Buck to shove the man's chest and push him far away from him. He runs over to her and she hands him the gun. Suddenly, there's someone behind her with a knife to her neck, his front pressed against her back and his free arm wrapped around her, getting way too much pleasure from that.

"Drop the gun, or she gets it," he says, and Buck lets go of the gun, it clattering against the hard ground. However, the man doesn't let go of Maddie.

"We should take care of him, right?" He says to Beady Eyes who, strangely enough, has just stood up from when Buck kicked him before.

"Yeah." Beady Eyes grabs the gun, aiming at Buck. Buck closes his eyes in defeat as he hears the pull of the trigger.

"No!" Maddie wails. When he doesn't feel anything, he tentatively opens one eye, and then the other, in shock of what he sees below him.

Maddie's lying deathly still on the ground in a puddle of blood.

Their attackers choose this moment to run away from the scene, probably hearing the sirens in the distance even though they're not coming for them.

"Maddie!" He finally screams. "Maddie? Please say something!" He jogs over to his abandoned phone, grabbing it and dialing the 3 numbers he knows by heart.

He yells for help, setting the phone down next to Maddie as he kneels over her, taking her wrist to check for a pulse. It's faint.

"Buck?" She whispers, her voice raspy.

"Why would you do that, Maddie?" He asked, both to keep her talking and because he genuinely needs to know.

"Had to... protect you."

"God, you're worse than I am."

"If I don't make it... I just want you to know—"

"NO! Don't even say it, Maddie."

"Please... I need to do this."

The blood is pouring more and more from her torso, and tears run down his face at her battered body. "I love you, Evan," she whimpers. "Tell Chimney I..."

Her eyes begin to close and Buck panics.

"How much longer?" He yells into the phone.

"The paramedics will be there in 2 minutes," the dispatcher says as Maddie's eyes shut.

"No! Wake up, please don't leave me alone," Buck pleads.

Sirens begin to sound, closer than the distant ones he had heard earlier, and Buck turns to squint down the alley, spotting an ambulance stopped on the road nearby. The door opens, and the paramedics run out, and one spots him staring toward them, gesturing to her co-workers to follow her and dashing toward Buck and Maddie.

He turns back to her, and her eyes are still shut. "Maddie, please! Think about Chimney, think about me! Please don't go!"

Her eyelids begin to flutter, and the next few minutes pass as the paramedics take care of her.

After loading her into the ambulance, he thanks the 911 dispatcher and hangs up, sitting down with her and holding her hand.

"You're gonna be okay, Maddie," he reassures, although whether it's himself or Maddie he is reassuring is unclear.