#it's whumpy finally

“What's up with you?” Finally pushing himself up to a sitting position, Buck turned to stare at Eddie. He really sounded… off, even given their rather dire set of circumstances. 

“What's that supposed to mean?” Eddie glared a little as he made eye contact with Buck, clearly still frustrated. It probably didn't help that Eddie had been left standing for god knows how long, and his arms were probably numb from being wrenched up above his head like that. Buck knew how uncomfortable that was. He shuddered a little.

“...something happened.” Buck deduced, and his hunch was only made stronger when Eddie averted his eyes to stare at the floor. “Eddie.”

“It's nothing.”

“It can't be nothing.” Buck shot back, starting to stand but stopping when his vision swam, hard. “What did he say to you?”

Eddie was quiet for a long moment, and then sighed. “It wasn't Axel.” 

“What?”

“It's just…” Eddie sighed again, and Buck could feel the weight behind it. It made his chest ache. “It’s me.”

Buck’s eyes narrowed. “Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?” 

“I could've gotten us out of here.” Eddie said softly, guilt weighing down his voice. “But I failed. And they knew I would.”

“If anyone failed, it was me.” Buck shook his head, the motion making him dizzy all over again. He steadied himself with his hands. “So either we share the blame, or take none of it. Got it?”

Eddie raised his eyebrows. “Since when did you get so wise?”

“It's the only thing either of us would accept, right?” Buck tried to smile again, meaning every word. He had to hope his sincerity would reach him, or they'd really lose all hope.

“...I guess.”

Buck grinned tiredly. “Good enough.”

The cellar fell silent after that, Buck trying to get his brain to stop turning to mush. He needed to focus, to make sure they survived at least a little longer.

They weren’t afforded long, though, the door opening only a few minutes later—followed by Mara dashing down the steps with a smile.

“I'm back!” She cheered, throwing her arms up in the air. “Good, you're both awake.” 

She looked between the two of them a few times, her grin growing sharper.

“Trouble sleeping?”

“Just get it over with.” Eddie turned to glare at her, furious.

“Is that you volunteering?” Mara’s tone was completely teasing, something sadistic in her eyes that made Buck shiver. 

Eddie didn't seem to be bothered, though, holding his glare steady. “And if it is?”

Buck stared between the two of them, confused. Eddie had always been hostile to them (obviously), but this felt like it was something deeper, something more personal. It meant that Buck was definitely right—something had happened while he was unconscious. 

“Then I'll happily oblige.” Mara grinned up at him, taking a seat on the floor by his feet. A moment of confusion passed through the two firefighters, made only worse when Buck realized she was carefully unlacing his shoes. Just as she took his boots off Buck’s attention was quickly pulled over to Axel, who had started to come down with Mara but stopped—sitting about halfway down the stairs. This set off an incredible amount of alarm bells. 

Axel was being quiet? This boded not well at all. 

Panic started to stir in Buck’s stomach. It felt like death was finally approaching.

Mara set up a table across from Eddie but then abandoned it to approach Buck, rope in hand. Already sensing her intention, he gritted his teeth and went back to lying on the floor—face down.

“Aw, you're so well trained.” She cooed, and it took every ounce of restraint Buck had to not say anything back. She wasn't entirely wrong, anyway.

After tying his hands she left him there, going back to skipping around the room to finish getting set up.

Buck took one look at the car battery set up on the table, already with two cables attached, and felt his blood run cold. Mara left it there and went to stand behind Eddie, giggling. She placed one of her hands on Eddie’s left shoulder, gently rubbing at the muscles there.

“You feel that, right there?” Mara was whispering in one of Eddie’s ears, but wasn't so quiet that Buck couldn't hear her. “Wow, your shoulders are so tense!”

Eddie flinched, but couldn't really pull away from her. She snaked her other hand up and placed it on top of her first one, positioned directly on top of his shoulder.

“That will make this worse.” She said seriously, before suddenly shifting her weight to apply as much pressure as she could to the joint. “Annnnd… out!”

Buck heard the crack as Eddie’s shoulder slipped out of place, his body immediately shifting to compensate for the overextension of his arm. He squeezed his eyes shut as Eddie gasped in surprise, yelping awkwardly instead of really screaming.

“Is that all you've got?” Mara teased, and Buck opened his eyes just time to see her starting to reach for Eddie’s other shoulder.

“Mara.” Axel suddenly cut in, her turning to him with a wide pout.

“Fineee, I'll get on with it.” She shrugged, turning her attention to her table. “I was totally getting bored anyway.”

Nobody in the room believed her. 

She then picked up a small knife and turned around, spinning the new weapon in her hands. She made quick and efficient work of cutting Eddie’s shirt away, putting the knife away when she was done. Buck normally loved the sight of Eddie’s body, but this was far from the right context. It also showed off all of the injuries Eddie had already endured at Mara’s hands, from the last time they’d been taken. After they were rescued, Eddie had started to avoid being shirtless, even at night. Buck counted himself lucky that most of his scars were out of sight unless he went looking for them.

Mara tapped the edges of the metal together, a spark shooting out from between them. She then looked back at Eddie, who was struggling to keep his eyes open. “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”

That's what he was blaming himself for? Not being able to kill Mara in cold blood?

He almost couldn’t believe that Eddie would take that burden on, but he knew him too well to think it wasn’t true. They’d probably set him up on purpose—and if he had killed Mara, who’s to say that would’ve even helped them escape? It was probably part of whatever sick plan Axel had had in mind before he set the trap with the knife. But it seemed that this was weighing even more heavily on Eddie than anything else.

Buck suddenly looked away, trying to bury his face into the floor, as Mara placed both cables against Eddie’s chest—his body convulsing from the sudden shock.

He heard Eddie sputter and pant for air a moment later, and when he glanced back up he saw that Mara had set the cables down and walked off again. She hefted up two buckets full of water—one in each hand. 

She set one down right beside Eddie, before grinning down at Buck and setting the other near him. “Don’t worry, this one is for you.” 

That obviously brought Buck no comfort, since it spurred in him nothing but nervousness for what was about to come. He was, at the moment, far more concerned with Eddie’s safety than his own.

“Now, how about a shower?” Mara picked up the bucket beside Eddie, shifting to hold it steady against one of her hips. Eddie blinked once before something dawned on him, and he preemptively shut his eyes and flinched—barely a half second before Mara sloshed out all of the water in the bucket to drench him.

Eddie was breathing heavily. Buck wondered how bad the pain of hanging on his dislocated shoulder had to be. Mara picked the cables back up, and sparked them again.

This time, Buck heard Eddie scream when she shocked him again, clearly not able to lock his jaw fast enough as the current pulsed through him. Buck caught a glance of Mara, seeing real joy on her face as she went in for another round.

By the fourth time Mara went in, Eddie had gone completely quiet. Buck really, really didn’t want to look. He just desperately prayed that it would be over.

“Right then.” Mara abruptly set the jumper cables down, dusting her hands off as she then turned her full attention to Buck. "Your turn!”

Buck had no idea what to expect now, but he nervously glanced at Eddie—who seemed barely conscious. It would be best if he was out for this next part, if what Mara planned to do to him was even remotely similar.

“Don't worry, I've got something different in store for you.” She said as if reading his mind, helping him up off the floor just enough for him to be kneeling in front of the bucket she’d placed near him earlier. “It’s no fun to do too much of the same, you know?”

Before he could even think to ask what she was talking about, Mara grabbed the back of his neck and shoved his face down in the water until his head was completely submerged.

It had been a long time since Buck had been anywhere near the water, after what had happened on the pier with Chris. In an instant he was fully underwater, drowning in a tidal wave as his body wouldn’t respond to help him swim to the surface.

Mara suddenly yanked him back out and he started heaving for air, water spraying everywhere as he tried to stop his body from shaking. He was panicking, without a doubt, but not for the reasons Mara probably expected. His chest felt tight.

“Oh, this seems to really bother you!” She jeered, tightening her grip on the back of his neck until his attempts to sputter for air slowed down. “Do you not know how to swim?”

“No, I…” Buck tried to answer her, but he couldn’t seem to focus on his surroundings. All he could see was the flooded pier, and the bodies floating in the water. “I… I can’t find him.”

“Buck?” Eddie’s voice was shredded and weak, barely breaking through the haze of whatever memories Buck was now lost in. “Buck!”

He felt Mara shove him forward again, plunging him back into the cold water until his lungs started seizing up from the lack of air. He saw stars when she pulled him back out, all of the sounds around him turning to a quiet hum overtaken by rushing water. He really had no idea where he was, he just knew he felt cold, and guilty.

Christopher… where was Christopher? He’d lost track of him at some point in his attempts to save people drowning on the flooded streets, and the new waves of the flood didn’t help matters. His head hurt, and his legs were tired from treading water. Suddenly he was back under the water again, and it felt like his life was flashing before his eyes.

He was definitely drowning. Water scorched his air-parched mouth and lungs, and he could barely think. All he could feel was that he’d fucked up, and it was all his fault. His bad leg twinged.

The next time he was able to blink, he was lying on his back on the floor of the cellar, coughing and hacking up pink tinged water onto himself and the floor. His mouth tasted like blood, and his mind swirled with uncertainty.

“I think we’ve lost him.” Mara’s voice floated into his consciousness from above. He could’ve sworn he heard Eddie yelling.

“Just leave him there. We can always come back later.” Axel said, and Buck felt his eyes starting to drift closed. Everything hurt, and he was just so tired. He couldn’t tread any more water, couldn’t save anybody else—let alone himself.