Reading Time: 2 Minutes
Title: Walk Me Down Your Broken Line
Author: Jilly James
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Contemporary, Drama, Episode Related, Family, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, Slash
Relationship(s): Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Minor character death, Canon-level situations, Canon-level violence, Canon-level angst. Explicit Sex. Can be read as anti-Chimney. There are mentions of COVID consistent with where this story falls in canon.
Author Note: Takes place immediately after 5×06. I am not anti-Taylor, nor do I think this story is anti-Taylor. Your view may differ. Thank you, Keira, for helping with the title and helping noodle this. See notes tab for information about minor character death.
Beta: desertpoet. Alpha: El, Keira, desertpoet
Word Count: 61,800
Summary: After being abducted and held hostage, Buck wants nothing more than to be with Christopher and Eddie. But things take a turn for the worse when his relationship implodes and he suffers an unexpected personal loss.
Faced with the potential destruction of his friendship with Buck, Eddie takes a trip of self-discovery that forces him to face his own desires.
Artist: Nightsong21133
Artist Appreciation: Thank you choosing my story and for all the time and attention you gave to creating the art. It was a pleasure working with you on this challenge.
Story
Notes
Inspiration comes form the song Closer by Joshua Radin.
This story reflects my feelings about the odd trajectory we saw with Buck and Eddie’s friendship in the latter half of season 4 and up to mid season 5, even though the divergence point is early season 5. Their friendship seemed to get weird the moment Eddie met Ana. That’s pretty much my angle of approach for this.
I’ve done a fair bit of research into the LAFD, and there are quite a few things I change deliberately either for my own convenience or to be somewhat more consistent with canon (which is, unsurprisingly, inaccurate in many areas).
Special thanks to Keira for helping me get out of my own way during the writing process on this story on more than one occasion. Also, for introducing me to Joshua Radin, who I listen to almost every day now.
I don’t see characters as being all good or all bad. So characters I like can make questionable choices in a story, and that should be okay. Humans are flawed. One of the things I enjoy about 9-1-1 is that no one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. More than one character makes a questionable decision in this story. Doesn’t mean they’re evil, and it certainly doesn’t mean I’m bashing them.
If you need to know who dies in this story, read on.
(spoiler space)
Character death: Margaret Buckley
Cast
All story art by Nightsong21133, cast gallery by Jilly James
Spanish Vocab
Common Spanish words/phrases I use in my 9-1-1 stories. They may not all be in this work. Some words could have more than one meaning; I’m obviously listing the meaning I intend.
Abuela – grandmother
Abuelo – grandfather
Abuelita – grandma/granny (literally: little grandmother)
Ay Dios – oh my god
Bien – good
Bisabuela – great-grandmother
Cariño – sweetheart
Cielito – little sky
Dios – god
Hijo – son
Idiota – idiot
Mijo – mashup of “mi hijo,” meaning “my son.”
Nene – baby
Nieto – grandson
Niño/a – child (little boy/girl)
Pene – penis
Querido – darling
Phrases from this work:
hiciste bien – you did well
siento mucho que hayas tenido que soportar esto por tu cuenta – I’m so sorry you had to endure this on your own
For those looking for the “other” post, the second half of the story accidentally got posted first. This story isn’t in the queue until the 16th, so the other post was pulled.
Looking forward to this so much!
Hello! I am absolutely chomping at the bit to read this, but I don’t see a link to either part of the story? Are they just not up yet? Or have they been posted elsewhere?
The posting schedule is on the main menu. Stories post throughout the first 16 days of June. This story posts complete on 6/16.