#whee!

Tommy stumbled into the house after a shift that had gone over by nearly four hours. They’d been grounded for the warehouse fire, and every part of Tommy ached. It had been a while since he’d worked such a large fire from the ground; usually he was doing evacs, but because no one had been in the warehouse, they'd been recruited for hose and clearing duty.

Evan was on shift; he’d started twelve hours ago, and Tommy knew he’d been somewhere at the warehouse, because he’d heard Nash and Howie over the radio. Tommy hoped Nash would take them offline for a little while, at least long enough to get some food into them, if not a quick nap. He’d had captains that didn’t care about stuff like that, but he knew firefighters worked better if they had the chance to be rested.

He headed straight for the kitchen, intending to make himself a quick shake before heading to bed. Tommy opened the fridge to pull out some milk when he spotted a tupperware container with a sticky note on it. Hey Tommy, the note said, hope you like spaghetti. For the love of god, REHEAT IT before eating.

Tommy had to snicker at his roommate’s hatred of cold leftovers. They were just better that way though. Regardless, he dumped the contents of the container into a bowl and reheated it, even going so far as to raid some of Evan’s fresh parmesan, figuring he would approve. He was about to take a bite when he paused, pulling out his phone and snapping a photo. He sent it to Evan with a simple thanks :)

Evan didn’t respond until he had finished eating and had washed his dishes. He’d sent Tommy a thumbs up and yay parmesan!

Tommy’s cheeks warmed a bit as he read it.

— — —

“Thanks,” Howie said. They circulated around the little group, handing out warm coffee cups and letting people select their pastries. Karen and Howie had to pick for Hen and Maddie, neither of them seeming to realize that there even was food.

When they finally sat down, Tommy had to pluck an apple fritter out of Howie’s hand and replace it with a bear claw. Howie looked down, startled, then made a face at the fritter. “Thanks,” he said again.

“No problem,” Tommy kept the fritter for himself. It wasn’t his favourite, but it was fresh and doughy and the icing was still a little melty.

He watched Howie out of the corner of his eye, as he mechanically ate the bear claw, his eyes focused on Maddie and Hen, huddled together in the next row of seats. Tommy would have thought Howie would be sitting with Maddie, but something about the way Howie was holding himself let Tommy know it wasn’t a question to be asking right now.

Tommy watched as people finished their snacks and drinks, circulating to collect the garbage and throw it out.

He bumped into Sergeant Grant on one of his trips to the other side of emergency room.

“Kinard, right?” She said, looking at him. “You used to be at the 118.”

“Yes,” Tommy nodded, surprised she remembered his name. Then again, that was part of her job, he supposed.

“How did you end up here?” she asked, curious but not judgemental.

“Uh, Evan’s my roommate,” Tommy said, trying not to shift awkwardly under her sharp gaze. “Howie asked me to bring some of his clothes by.”

Sergeant Grant nodded at this. “I’m assuming no one told you what happened.”

Tommy shook his head. The little crew had seemed so weighed down with whatever had happened to Evan, he hadn’t wanted to bring it up again. He probably could have reached out to someone on shift at Harbour to find out, but that felt like a breach of confidence.

Sergeant Grant looked back at the 118, then gently steered Tommy out of the emergency room and down an empty hallway.

“Buck was struck by lightning,” she said it calmly, not mincing her words, but Tommy still felt the deep gut wrench that accompanied finding out someone he knew had been injured. “His heart stopped, but they got it back before he went into the ER.”

That meant — that meant Evan had died. They had brought him back. No wonder the room felt the way it had. Tommy had only known Evan for a couple of months and he felt like the ground was about to collapse under him.

“We’re waiting on updates,” Grant continued, like Tommy hadn't figured that out himself. “Buck’s had… some health concerns in the past.”

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