#am i forgetting any ship names for them? theres so many i can't keep track

[captain-gillian]

'no thing defines a man like love that makes him soft'

2,407 words. rated t. summary: In the wake of a powerful solar storm, Buck and Tommy take to the skies for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the northern lights over California. huge thank you to rachel @sznofthesticks for the beta read <3

After the news of the solar storm and a rare opportunity to see the northern lights in California broke mid-shift, it didn’t take long for the 118 to start making plans. Nobody seemed to want to let the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass by, least of all Buck, who, for the first time in a while, hadn’t even been bothered by the fact it was Taylor Kelly who broke the news on the station television.

The station was a flurry of action as they put into place protocols to prepare for an onslaught of calls relating to the solar storm. Amid the chaos, Hen and her wife, Karen, found the time to make a plan. Karen called Hen and offered to pick her up as soon as her shift ended so they could take the kids out of the city and away from the light pollution for the best chance at seeing the colourful phenomena. And as it always goes, the plan grew quickly. Hen invited Chimney, Maddie and Jee-Yun to join them. Then Chimney invited Ravi, who invited Captain Nash and his wife, Athena. Bobby then invited Eddie and Chris. Finally, Eddie invited Buck. But Buck had already been confirming plans of his own over text.

“Can’t, sorry,” Buck tells him. “Tommy and I already have plans.”

“Next time,” Eddie replies with a smile, and Buck swallows down the urge to remind him the statistical likelihood of a ‘next time’ to see the northern lights this bright in California is more or less zero.

Buck’s phone buzzes in his pocket as he leaves the locker room at the end of his shift; he takes it out to read the message. Butterflies flutter in his stomach when he sees the message is from Tommy. The text is a quick reminder that Tommy will pick him up at ten and not to forget his camera—he’d mentioned once in passing over coffee a passion for photography, and Tommy had committed it to memory.

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