Buck
"Take him,” he ordered.
"Yeah,” Ghost said. Both men looked toward the building, and then toward Wren, who immediately knew exactly what they were thinking.
Wren cursed viciously. "You're both idiots."
"Probably," Ghost admitted.
"Definitely," Buck agreed. The fire continued spreading, and time was running out. Wren looked between them—furious and terrified. Buck could see all of her emotions at once as she marched directly up to him and grabbed the front of his kutte. The force of it surprised him.
Her eyes blazed. "You come back."
Buck's chest tightened. "Wren?—"
"No." Her voice cracked slightly. "You do not get to tell me you love me and then run into a burning building."
Ghost looked startled, and Buck froze. Everything around him seemed to stop. "You know?" he asked quietly. Wren looked ready to cry and punch him simultaneously.
"I'm a scientist, Buck. Not an idiot,” she said. Ghost barked out a startled laugh. Buck felt something dangerously close to happiness despite the chaos surrounding them.
Then Wren grabbed Ghost, too. "Both of you."
Ghost's expression softened instantly. "Sweetheart?—"
"Both of you come back to me,” she choked.
Emotion clogged Buck's throat because nobody had ever looked at him the way she was looking at him right now.
Like losing him would destroy her, like he mattered—like he was loved.
The realization nearly broke him. Buck leaned down and kissed her—hard, fast, and desperate.
He was promising her everything with that kiss.
When he pulled back, Wren looked stunned, and Ghost immediately looked offended. "Oh, come on." Buck actually laughed. Then Ghost cupped Wren's face and kissed her too—softer, longer, and gentler.
When he pulled away, her cheeks were bright red despite the freezing temperatures. "There," Ghost said. "Now we're even." A section of the roof collapsed behind them, and reality crashed back instantly.
Buck looked toward the flames and then toward Ghost. Ghost nodded as Buck looked back at Wren one final time. And for the first time in years, he wasn't afraid to say it. "I love you." Her eyes filled with tears, and Ghost smiled softly beside him.
"So do I,” Ghost said. And then the two Kings turned toward the burning warehouse and ran straight into the fire.
The heat from the fire hit him like a wall.
One second, he was standing in the snow with Wren's taste still on his lips, and the next, he was charging through smoke and fire beside Ghost. The warehouse groaned around them as metal screamed overhead.
Flames climbed support beams and exploded through stacks of wooden crates.
"Take the left side!" Ghost shouted. Buck nodded, and they split instantly. Years of fighting together made it automatic. There was no hesitation or confusion, only trust.
Buck pulled his shirt over his nose and pushed deeper into the smoke. "Kings of Anarchy!" he roared. His voice echoed through the burning structure. "If anybody can hear me, answer!" For one terrifying second, he heard nothing, and then came a cough. It was faint, but he heard it.
Buck changed direction immediately as the smoke thickened with every step.
His eyes burned, and heat soaked through his clothes while burning debris crashed around him.
There was another cough; this one was closer.
Buck rounded a stack of half-collapsed pallets and found her—a teenage girl, maybe seventeen.
She was pinned beneath a fallen metal beam and looked terrified.
"Please," she sobbed. Buck was already moving towards her.
He tried to lift the beam, but it weighed a ton—maybe more, but that didn't matter.
He wrapped both hands around the twisted metal and lifted as his muscles screamed.
The cut along his side reopened instantly, and pain shot through him, but it still didn't matter.
The beam shifted, and the girl crawled free.
"Move!" Buck barked. She stumbled toward the exit immediately, and he knew better than to let his guard down because there were probably others trapped in the building. He heard another voice, but this time, it wasn’t another hostage. It was Ghost.
"Buck!" Ghost shouted. His tone hit him instantly, and he knew that Ghost was in danger. Buck turned and sprinted toward the sound as smoke swallowed everything around him. The warehouse felt like hell now, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to get them both out and keep his promise to Wren.
But then, he saw Ghost, and his heart nearly stopped.
A burning support beam had crashed across the corridor, and Ghost stood trapped on the opposite side. Fire was everywhere between them.
"Shit," Buck shouted.
Ghost looked surprisingly calm. "Hey,” he casually called.
Buck glared back at him. "Don't hey me." Ghost smirked despite the situation.
“You get the girl out?” Ghost asked.
“Yeah, and now, I’m getting you out of here,” Buck insisted. "We need another way around." Ghost nodded just before his expression changed, and all amusement vanished.
"Buck." Something in the way he said it made Buck freeze.
Ghost looked toward the ceiling, and Buck followed his gaze.
The roof was falling in fast. Cracks raced through support structures overhead, and fire was everywhere.
There was too much damage. The entire warehouse was seconds away from coming down, and Ghost saw it too.
Their eyes met through smoke and flames, and suddenly Buck understood exactly what Ghost was thinking. "No,” Buck breathed.
Ghost's jaw tightened. "Buck?—"
"No,” he repeated. The word came out like a growl because absolutely fucking not. Not after finally admitting what they were to each other, and not after Wren.
Ghost laughed softly, and Christ, the sound nearly broke him. "You're gonna make a terrible husband."
Buck actually wanted to punch him. "Ghost."
"Listen,” Ghost shouted.
"No,” Buck said.
"You never let me talk when it matters,” Ghost grumbled. Buck started moving toward the flames and the beam. Hell, he’d move toward whatever insanity would get him to Ghost. The heat intensified immediately, fire licked up his boots, and smoke choked his lungs, but none of that mattered.
Ghost's eyes widened. “Buck!" Buck grabbed a burning support post and tried to shove it out of the way as the structure shifted slightly, but it wasn’t enough. He shoved at it again, harder this time, and pain exploded through his shoulders. He didn’t stop, though, throwing his weight against the beam over and over again until finally, the beam moved just enough for Buck to crawl through.
The flames caught his sleeve, but he ignored it.
Ghost met him halfway, and for one brief second, they simply stood there, breathing hard, covered in soot, and he was so fucking thankful that they were both alive.
Ghost grabbed the front of Buck's shirt. "You are the dumbest son of a bitch I've ever met."
Buck grinned, the first genuine grin in days. "Yeah." Ghost stared at him and then shook his head. He pulled him in for a hard, quick kiss, and the ceiling exploded above them.
Reality crashed back instantly. "Move!" Buck shouted.
Both men ran as the warehouse collapsed behind them.
Steel sounded like it was screaming around them, and the floor shook beneath their feet.
Buck could see daylight ahead as they ran for the side doors.
It was the exit, and they were almost to safety, and back to Wren when he heard another cry for help hidden beneath the roar of the flames.
It sounded like a child crying for help, and they both froze.
Both men turned simultaneously as the sound came again from somewhere deeper inside the building. It was definitely a little girl.
Ghost closed his eyes briefly. "Fuck." Buck looked toward the exit and then back toward the sound. He knew that just outside, Wren was waiting for them, hoping that they’d come back safely to her.
She was everything that he had ever wanted, and she was just outside the flames.
But behind him was a child—alone, terrified, and about to die.
Ghost already knew what he was about to do.
Buck saw it on his face because they were the same—always had been.
"We can't leave her,” Ghost insisted.
"No,” Buck agreed. The roof groaned violently overhead, and the entire building shuddered. Buck knew that they only had seconds if they were going to save the kid and get out of the building alive.
Ghost looked toward the exit one last time. "Wren's gonna kill us." Buck actually laughed, and then they turned together and ran back into the fire.