Chapter Text
There was so much blood.
There was so much blood and Buck didn’t know if he was making it worse or not. He was just trying to keep Charlie alive. The space in between his shoulders burned and his lungs were locked in a tight squeeze as he breathlessly counted with the dispatcher on the line.
Twenty-five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
“Come on, Charlie! Come on!” The words burned at the back of Buck’s throat as he kept going.
Three days. It had been three days since he’d been practicing CPR on a dummy in the middle of the academy gym. Three days since he’d passed his certification and Charlie had congratulated him with a toast as he clapped Buck on the shoulder. Three days and now Buck was doing them on Charlie as his blood stained Buck’s skin.
Eddie got the call at a quarter past midnight on his way home from a long day at his desk. The headache that had been a full ache pulsed like a live wire behind his eyes sending sparks across his vision as he answered his cell.
“Diaz.”
“We’ve got a homicide. I need your eyes on it.”
“Cap,” Eddie bit off a pout with a sigh. “I’m on my way home. Can’t—”
“I need your eyes on this, Eddie.” Captain Maynard insisted. “The victim… he’s retired LAPD.”
A breath punched out of Eddie’s chest as he turned on his lights and made a sharp U-turn.
“Where am I heading?”
Sadie’s was one of the best and busiest shield and ladder bars in the city. The owners— two LAPD and two LAFD guys with stories for days and a want to reminisce over a couple of beers— had decided to open the place after retiring from their respective departments. It had been a risk. 2000 was the last normal year before everything had changed and businesses left and right had been forced to close as real estate prices hiked up higher and higher with each passing number at the gas tank.
But it had been a business venture worth risking.
Eddie had only been there a few times when he first moved to LA but he could remember the packed tables with good burgers and even better drinks coming in and out of the kitchen. The walls were deep stained wood with history that seemed to come alive every Thursday night when they were at their busiest.
But Sadie’s looked like a shell of itself when Eddie pulled up into the parking lot. The outside brick seemed dull and lifeless as flashes of red and blue dashed across it from the squad cars gathered around like a barricade to respect the dead. It probably was in some way. Sadie’s may have been a bar but in a way, it was a safe place for first responders to go to laugh and cry and zone out and shake off all the horrible things they saw day to day. On and off duty people were lining the police tape with a devastating stillness and a tension that could crack in the air with a single snap.
Eddie pushed back a tired sigh as he showed his badge and ducked under the tape.
Athena was waiting for him at the front door, her uniform pressed and imposing even for a woman her size.
“Hey sergeant,” Eddie said as she let him in.
“You look about ready to drop, Eddie.”
“I was heading home but Captain Maynard said she wanted me.”
Athena gave him a tight nod as if she agreed and led Eddie through the empty yet clean bar. Boxes were stacked along the wall of bar top tables, half opened as if the person in the middle of unpacking them had been interrupted, and trash bags were tied and piled outside the kitchen door.
“They close early on Mondays,” Athena said as she caught him taking in his surroundings. “This place was cleared out by seven. This way.”
She waved him through the rows of tables and booths with walls and walls filled with pictures and memorabilia of firefighters and police hung proud in their frames.
“Victim is Charles Dumont. Three gunshot wounds to the chest. Looks like an attempted robbery. There was a case of bourbon with a bottle missing and we found Charlie’s wallet tossed a few blocks from here. And Eddie?” Athena stopped just as she got to the door and turned him with a serious expression on her face. “There’s a witness.”
Her frown dipped under the professional mask she was known for and Eddie caught the flicker of concern pulling at her composure.
“You know him?”
Athena pressed her lips into a tight line and nodded.
“Evan Buckley. He’s the bartender here. He was helping Charlie restock tonight when he heard a noise and saw it happen.” Her eyes pinned Eddie to the spot with nothing short of a fiery protectiveness that almost made Eddie want to squirm beneath. “He’s a good kid but he’s shaken up. You need to be patient with him.”
Eddie arched a brow because he wasn’t exactly known for his impatience but then again neither was Athena known for letting her personal feelings get involved with her job. But he suspected that if Athena thought for any reason that he would further traumatize the witness, she would stalk in front of him like a panther protecting its young until someone moved her. Eddie nodded and stepped through the back door leading to the alley.
Stepping into the alleyway was like stepping into a whole other world. Death hung like heavy humidity amongst the fumes of trash and mildew but the frenetic energy of the officers canvasing the scene was like a pulse of a live wire just waiting to go off. Cameras flashed as forensics tech documented every inch of evidence they could find. Eddie got it. One of their own, retired or not, was gone. But Eddie couldn’t help the way all the activity set his teeth on edge. It was like he was jumping into a train that was already running at full speed.
But the victim being a former cop and such a staple in their vast community meant everyone was going to be doing everything by the book.
He spotted the victim’s body first and moved over to take a look as a tech took pictures for evidence. Eddie had never met Charles ‘Charlie’ Dumont officially but he’d been on the force long enough to know his name. He’d been creeping his way into his seventies with a full belly and mustache that made him the easy choice for who was going to dress up as Santa Claus at the Christmas party the year prior. Eddie had sent Christopher off while keeping a safe distance as he fought back the creeping tendrils of childhood anxiety.
Eddie hated that they had to meet this way but he swallowed back the sadness and forced himself to take in his first impressions with a clinical eye.
Charlie’s eyes were wide open, lifeless from the twinkle that had been in them before, with his mouth slack in permanent shock. It was just as Athena said: three gunshots to the torso. One in the shoulder, one in the chest, and one too close to the heart for anyone to survive. Blood stained his dirty Sadie’s t-shirt with a handprint pressed into the fabric and a mess where someone had started to do compressions.
“The witness?” Eddie asked and followed Athena to a space across the alleyway where an officer was unsuccessfully trying to engage the witness.
Not that he would’ve needed her to tell him.
Evan Buckley could’ve stood out in a crowd of thousands.
Even without noticing the dotted pink birthmark across his brow, he was tall though, you wouldn’t have been able to tell with the way he was hunched over, arms wrapped tight around his middle like he was afraid of falling apart. His blond curls were frizzing and stuck to his forehead with sweat and his blue eyes were impossibly wide as he stared across the way where Charlie remained. He was pale and in shock with his bottom lip lost between his teeth as he rolled the skin back and forth until Eddie was sure the skin was plump and swollen.
There was still blood on his hands.
It was smearing across the black fabric of his tight t-shirt and staining his skin.
Athena must have seen it too. She sucked in a sharp breath through her nose and turned to grab a tech as they passed.
“Has he been processed?”
“Yes,” the tech said before shrugging. “He wouldn’t let us touch him to clean the blood.”
That Eddie could believe as he watched him shy away from the touch of the officer by his side, his eyes never wavering from where they were laying a sheet over Charlie’s body. Athena didn’t wait to see if Eddie followed her and she shooed away the officer with a flick of her hand.
“Buck?” Athena’s voice took on that soft tone, the one that reminded Eddie of a warm blanket on a cold day. It soothed all the spiked parts of fear and banished away the rawness with just a simple wash of her voice. She rarely used it.
Buck blinked as if he wasn’t quite sure he’d heard her before finally, he pulled his gaze away from Charlie.
Eddie could’ve sworn the world tilted into a shuddering jolt as those blue, blue eyes landed on him. His heart slammed once against his ribcage before falling back into a quickening rhythm, leaving Eddie stunned and rooted beneath the intensity of the endlessness of his gaze. Buck blinked at him, his lips twitching, before Athena’s hand landed on his elbow and pulled his attention away.
“Buck,” Athena said, just as soft as before. “Honey, why don’t we get you cleaned up?”
Buck frowned as a confused sound stumbled from the back of his throat. “‘Thena?”
Right. The shock. He wouldn’t be able to get much of a statement out of him while he was still reeling from that and he knew Athena was by the book. He’d be fine with her.
Eddie didn’t think too much of the intensity that surged up in his chest with the idea of Buck going away so soon; didn’t think much about the magnetic pull that was desperate for him to be under the attention of those blue eyes that somehow made breathing easier for the first time in Eddie didn’t know how long.
“C’mon, Buckaroo,” Athena said, coaxing Buck away from the wall with the smallest of tugs that managed to make him uncurl enough to stand on his own feet. “C’mon. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
Buck nodded as she pulled him to her side and Eddie could only watch as they walked back into the bar and out of sight.
Lena stepped through the entrance with two coffees in hand and her hair tossed up in a messy clip she only wore when the dry shampoo just wasn’t cutting it.
“That our witness? The bartender?” She asked, holding out one of the coffees for Eddie.
“Thanks.” Eddie winced at the bitterness on his tongue but let the caffeine work it’s magic as he took in his partner. “Yeah. Called 9-1-1 and tried performing CPR until units arrived.”
“Any chance he’s involved?” Lena asked, flicking the plastic top on her lid. “Disgruntled employee gets into it with his boss? Stages a robbery when things go bad?”
Eddie ticked his head to the side. “My gut says no. He was pretty shell shocked and units said they found the victim’s wallet a couple blocks from here. We’ll check the security cameras to be sure but Athena vouched for him.”
Athena’s word, as impactful as it was, wasn’t proof of anything. But Eddie knew her well enough to know that if she thought for one second Buck was involved, he’d already be in handcuffs.
Lena tsked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head. “I just can’t believe this happened to Charlie.”
“You knew him?”
Lena cocked a brow with a quirk of her lips that always managed to make Eddie roll his eyes at some point.
“Some of us have a life, Diaz.”
Eddie rolled his eyes. There it was.
The endless teasing about his social life from his partner was nothing new but he had a kid to get home to and a crime scene to take apart piece by piece so he ignored her.
“What can you tell me about him?”
Lena sucked in a breath as she sipped her coffee and made her way over to the body. Eddie followed behind and scanned the scene, forcing himself to jump from a little picture view to a wide lens of the big picture.
“Charlie Dumont. Seventy-two.” Lena recited as she did a scan of her own. “He was on the force for thirty-five years before he retired and opened Sadie’s with his partner and two LAFD now deceased. His partner is being notified so we can get access to the cameras.”
Lena pointed over her shoulder at a security camera pointed to the mouth of the alley.
“Any enemies?” Charlie has been retired for over a decade but it was like Eddie’s Abuela always said: Grudges took root and choked out any life as they grew.
But Lena shrugged. “None that I know of. Charlie’s whole thing was that he never had to discharge his weapon and for a white cop in the seventies? That was pretty damn impressive. Why? What are you thinking?”
Eddie frowned as he shook his head. “Something doesn’t feel random about this.”
“It looks random.”
“Exactly,” Eddie said before he gestured for a tech to lift the sheet. “But look at how he was shot. These two looked like they were wide, like the suspect panicked.”
Lena nodded before Eddie pointed to the one at Charlie’s heart.
“This one is almost execution style. Like he was aiming for the heart. Except this whole thing is sloppy. Why pretend to be a professional? If the perp hasn’t planned on killing him, why the third shot? Why not run? If they had planned on killing him, why bother with these other two?”
It was all speculation until they could pour over the evidence and view the security footage but already the questions were adding up and Eddie didn’t like what they were telling him.
Buck didn’t think he could breathe.
The pale pink water drained away into the sink as Athena murmured quiet encouragements every time his hands would spook, splashing water everywhere.
“S-Sorry.” Was that his voice? It had to be. Buck had felt his lips moving but the voice that followed sounded like an echo, hollow and raspy even to his own ears.
“None of that,” Athena said, her voice sounding like honey, warm and comforting as she rubbed more soap into his skin.
Blood. There’d been so much… Buck needed it off. He needed it off!
“Buck!” Athena’s fingers tightened around Buck’s hands and held them still to keep him from clawing his own skin off in his desperate attempt to get clean. “Alright. Calm down, baby. Just calm down. That’s it. Relax. It’s okay.”
Buck let himself be washed in the shower of Athena’s reassurances. He pushed out a long hot breath from between his lips and tried not to tremble as it rattled around in his chest on his release.
He’d gotten more water on Athena’s uniform.
“Sorry,” Buck croaked and he didn’t know why that one felt like glass in his throat. It made the pinprick of tears burn at the back of his eyes, lodging a knot in his throat until he could only suck in a sliver of air. “Sorry!”
“Sergeant?”
The new voice made Buck startle so bad that the water splashed up onto the wall. The adrenaline that had crashed out of him the moment he’d been propped against the alley wall came flying back into his veins and burned hot beneath his too cold skin. His lungs begged him to breathe but when Buck sucked in a breath, it hiccuped on his lips and stumbled down the wrong pipe. Buck’s stomach turned in an instant and Buck barely managed to gag before Athena was pushing him over the sink.
“Just set it down. Take those out of here.” Right. Buck’s clothes. Athena had helped him out of his clothes and left him in nothing but his underwear. A distant part of him thought he should’ve been embarrassed.
The closer part just told him he was cold. So cold. Buck shivered until he felt like he couldn’t stop.
“Do you need—”
Buck keened as the unfamiliar voice made all the hair on the back of his neck stand up and the adrenaline made his stomach clench again.
“No thank you,” Athena said, clipped and to the point before a warm palm was pressing in between Buck’s shoulder blades and rubbing slow, soothing circles. “You’re okay, Buckaroo. You’re okay. Just breathe.”
He heard her take loud, obvious breaths and Buck tried to mimic her as he stared down at the still running water in the sink.
“That’s it. Good, Buck, good.” She coaxed him back up when he got his stomach back under control and guided his hands back under the water to scrub away the blood.
“I’ve got you some clothes for now that we’ll change into for now. Then just a little while longer and we’ll get you nice and warm, okay?”
Buck didn’t think she expected him to respond but he swallowed and nodded anyway.
He was so cold.
“It’s just the shock.”
Buck squeezed his eyes shut and held his arms stiff to try and get the trembling to stop. He shouldn’t be acting like this. No one wanted a firefighter with shaky hands. He shouldn’t—
“It happens to all of us, Buck,” Athena said as if reading his mind.
Maybe she could. Jury was still out on that.
“Look at me, Buck.”
Lifting his head, dragging his gaze away from the running water in the faucet warming his fingers as Athena massaged more soap into his skin, felt like a Herculean effort but he did it.
He did it.
Everything was slowly creeping back into his peripheral again and the last flare up of adrenaline left his muscles achy and sore. But he looked at Athena and saw her. Saw the pity pulling down her lips into an almost sad smile. Saw the shine in her eyes as she pinned Buck to the spot and rooted him to the floor so the world didn’t spin out from under him.
“Listen to me, Buckaroo, because I know that big brain of yours is kicking back into gear and filling you with all kinds of doubt. Listen to me.” She waited until Buck nodded and he strained his ears to take in everything she had to say. Athena only said things when they were important and he knew better than not to listen. “You did everything right.”
The argument was on the tip of his tongue. He hadn’t. He hadn’t done anything. That had been the problem. If he had maybe Charlie would’ve still been alive.
“No,” Athena said again with a sharp shake of her head as if his thoughts were her own. “You did everything you were supposed to do. Okay?”
No.
Buck swallowed past the knot in his throat and shook his head.
“It should’ve been me, ‘Thena,” Buck said. Whispered really. The thought of it having been Buck sent a cold chill up his spine. “I should’ve gone—”
“It shouldn’t have been you, Buck.” Athena squeezed Buck’s fingers hard and he clung back just as tightly. “It shouldn’t have been you and I’ve been thanking God ever since that it wasn’t. Charlie would’ve too.”
And Buck hated that she was right. He hated that Charlie would’ve thrown himself in front of a bullet if it meant saving Buck.
But most of all, Buck hated that the truth eased some of the guilt in his chest until there was some more room to breathe.
“Now, let’s finish cleaning you up and then we can get you in some clothes. Okay?”
Buck sucked in a breath and held it for a beat too long until his heart slammed against his throat. Only then did he exhale and nod at Athena as he tried to will his hands to stop shaking.
“You’re okay, Buck. You’re okay.”
Buck still had his arms wrapped tight around his middle but at least his skin was clean with a pinch of color back in it. He’d been given a LAPD wind breaker to cover up with, his bloody shirt taken into evidence along with his pants and shoes. Eddie didn’t know if the gym shorts and shoes were also Buck’s but he was glad he had them instead of trying to put on the always too small extra pair of scrubs forensics always gave.
Athena spotted Eddie first and whispered something to Buck too quietly for him to hear before she shifted from friend to sergeant with a subtle lean of her body weight.
Buck looked up, blasting Eddie again with those endless blue eyes that were almost neon with how bright they were against the paleness of his skin, and Eddie sucked in a breath to hold as he tried to keep the world from spinning again.
Eddie cleared his throat and held out his hand.
“Mr. Buckley,” Eddie said as Buck shook his hand. Eddie couldn’t tell if his own palm was scalding or if Buck’s were freezing but it felt electric all over again feeling the weight of his hand in his own. “I’m Detective Eddie Diaz. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”
“Buck,” Buck corrected and the twitch of his lips spoke volumes of how much he liked his own nickname. “Here.”
Buck handed Eddie a wrinkled napkin with Sadie's logo printed at the bottom and black scribbled penmanship scrawled across the paper. The letters were hurried but careful as if Buck had been trying to write quickly but clearly so that Eddie could read it.
74K
Gator
Red
Sedan-old
Eddie looked up as Buck went back to chewing on his lip.
“Is this the car you saw the suspect get away in?”
Buck nodded and it took everything in Eddie to shove back down the surge of adrenaline that flared up in his chest. Usually they were lucky if a witness could get a color of the car let alone a partial license plate. But Buck had managed to see and remember three digits.
“What’s the gator?” Eddie asked. “Was that a sticker or…”
Buck shook his head. “No, it was like one of those frames you put around your plates. Like where you went to school or something. It looked gold or maybe bronze. I’m not sure. I’m sor—”
“No!” Eddie cut him off before he could apologize and spotted the way Athena’s head tipped in approval. Like Buck did that a lot. “No, Buck. This is excellent. Thank you.”
Buck’s eyes widened before his shoulder hitched up to his ear in a shrug.
It was taking everything Eddie had not to run back to Lena and get started on searching for the car in their database but he needed to get Buck’s statement so he could send him home.
And away from Eddie so he could look anywhere else but those beautiful eyes with that pink birthmark on his brow.
“Ok,” Eddie said as he pocketed Buck’s napkin. “Do you think you can tell me what happened tonight?”
Buck sucked in a deep breath and held it long enough for Eddie to worry that he might actually pass out before he exhaled.
“Charlie and I were restocking the bar after closing. We usually save it for Sundays but half of the order didn’t come yesterday so I offered to stay and help. We were still missing a box and Charlie…” Buck closed his eyes as he swallowed hard. Athena’s mask cracked as she rubbed at Buck’s shoulder and Eddie spied Buck’s trembling hands as he rubbed them up and down his thighs. Buck sucked in another breath and worked the bolt of his jaw as he tried to muscle his way through the obvious nausea stealing his color again. He blinked back and it was like Eddie could see him physically claw his way out of the numbness of shock again. “Charlie went to go check and make sure we didn’t miss it before he called the supplier. I should’ve gone. I should’ve–”
“You can’t think like that, Buck,” Athena insisted and Eddie found himself nodding in agreement.
Buck dropped his gaze to his lap and Eddie didn’t know Buck but even he could see that Buck didn’t believe him. Buck sniffed and curled a hand over the back of his neck to rub through the small hairs at the nape of his neck.
“I uh… I heard a noise like um… I-It was like glass breaking?” Buck shook his head. “I went out back to see if Charlie was okay and then I heard…”
Buck swallowed again and that time he really did look like he was going to be sick. Eddie sympathized and his gut instinct regarding him was only strengthening with each passing tremble across his shoulder.
“I heard the first shot,” Buck said as he shoved his hand over his eye. “I think the second one covered the sound of the door opening because he didn’t even act like he heard me. But by then Charlie was on the ground and they were talking or it was like… Charlie was saying something and I just froze.”
“You did what anyone would’ve done,” Eddie insisted, catching himself and Buck and Athena by surprise with how strong his voice was. Talking with witnesses was hard and Eddie had a knack for calming down even the most hysterical of people. But he always kept it light and professional. Not with Buck. Not when he could see the way the guilt was settling onto Buck’s shoulders until it threatened to pin him to the floor.
Athena arched a knowing brow high onto her forehead at Eddie’s conviction that made Eddie try to shove down a blush as the warmth crawled up his throat. He dropped his gaze back down to Buck who was looking up at him with those knockout blue eyes.
“You did what anyone would’ve done,” Eddie said again. “You did what you were supposed to do. There’s nothing to feel guilty about that.”
Buck stared at him like he was trapped, caught up in the same magnetic pull Eddie was feeling deep in his chest, and Eddie didn’t know if he ever wanted to look away. He did because Buck was a witness and Eddie had a job to do but it felt like ripping up a stubborn root that didn’t quite want to let go.
“Did you hear what Charlie and the suspect were saying to each other?” Eddie asked, looking down at his notes just to give his pulse a break from the thundering pace it had set against his ribs.
“No,” Buck said, shaking his head again. “No, they were too far away and by then he’d…”
He shot Charlie again. The kill shot. Eddie figured. But he would need Buck to say it.
Buck sucked another breath in and dropped his hands back down to rub at his thighs again.
“He shot him a third time.”
“Did the shooter see you?” Even as Eddie asked, the suspenseful fear of Buck being seen had taken hold of Eddie’s throat. Athena stiffened as well, worrying about the same thing but Buck shook his head again.
“No,” Buck said. “No, I dropped and hid behind the dumpster until I heard the car leave. Then I called 9-1-1 and tried to give Charlie CPR but he was…”
Already dead.
Charlie would’ve bled out in seconds. He probably had died in the time it took Buck to run from the dumpster. Not that Eddie said. None of that would’ve helped.
“Can you give me any details about the shooter? Did you see what they look like? Were they wearing a mask?”
Buck shuddered as he nodded. “It only covered the bottom half though. He was white. Tall. Maybe about your height. Buzz cut.”
Buck blinked as the line around his mouth dipped into a frown. There was something right on the tip of his memory. Eddie could see him fishing for it but the longer Buck searched, the deeper his frown and the more distress started to pinch around his eyes.
“Tell you what,” Eddie said and Buck swung those blues right up at him until he was sure they could pierce his soul. “You’ve been through a lot. Why don’t you go home and get some rest? We can talk tomorrow.”
The relief made Buck’s expression soften and Eddie found himself thanking God or whoever that the suspect hadn’t seen him. It was like staring at the most devastating puppy dog eyes he’d ever seen and he had a seven year old!
But there was always the chance and Eddie wasn’t about to put his only witness— put Buck— at risk.
“I’ll have a unit stationed outside your home and—”
“Oh,” Buck said, sitting up and turning to look at Athena before shaking his head. “No. I’m okay. I don’t—”
“It’s standard procedure, Buck,” Athena said with a tip of her head. Buck shot her a pleading look with his teeth sucking in his bottom lip as he shook his head. “It’s just for the night.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Athena cut him off and Eddie could only watch as Buck sank back into his seat in defeat. If they weren’t currently at the scene of a homicide, Eddie would’ve almost called it a pout. “I know Maddie doesn’t get off shift until tomorrow morning so it’s that or you can come stay at our place tonight. Your choice.”
“What about Bobby?” Buck asked.
As if spoken into existence, the fire captain was escorted into the bar with an officer at his side and the pinched worried expression that he shared with his wife.
“Hey,” Bobby said, racing past the officer. Buck barely stood up before he was being yanked into a tight hug that spoke volumes of their relationship. It was quiet in the way Buck ducked his head down; in the way Bobby stared at his wife in unbridled shock like he couldn’t quite believe Buck was in his arms. “You okay?”
Buck nodded as he pulled away but he kept his head down even with Bobby’s hand settled on his shoulder like he was too afraid to let go. Buck snuck a glance at Athena who was as unapologetic as always.
“Bobby’s fine with it.” Athena shrugged. “Try and get some sleep, Buckaroo.”
Buck let himself be steered around as Bobby herded him towards the exit. “I’ll see you. Love you.”
Athena turned her cheek for a quick kiss from her husband and that was all Eddie needed to kick start his brain from the spectator to participating as well. It wasn’t hard not to fall into the soft amazement of watching three people who seemed to know each other so well interact with almost unspoken words. It made Eddie ache for it too and that was something he tried not to dwell too long on.
“Here,” he said, loud and out of place to his own ears. Buck and Bobby stopped as Eddie hurried to pull out his card. He scribbled his number on the back without thinking and definitely didn’t blush as he handed it to Buck. That would’ve been stupid and unprofessional. “My card and that’s my number. Call me if you remember anything.”
Buck’s thumb swept across the indents of Eddie’s scratched numbers before he pulled his eyes up from the floor and Eddie braced for the intensity of those blues. What he wasn’t prepared for was the twitch of his lips that gave Eddie a fraction of a smile. Something quiet but bright that he couldn’t even begin to imagine what a full one must have been like.
“Thanks,” Buck said as his thumb swept over the numbers again. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Detective Diaz.”
And Eddie didn’t know what made him do it. It wasn’t something he had ever done. He’d planted himself so firmly over on one side of the line where nothing was supposed to hurt him or drive him wild with insanity. It was a line of self-preservation that shielded him from the worst things in the world and kept his heart free of bruises so he could do his job and still have the strength to stand up for the people who needed him afterwards. But for some reason he did and for once, Eddie couldn’t say that he minded.
“Eddie,” he said and that smile that made his heart rate triple in speed.
“See you tomorrow, Eddie.”
Eddie watched as Bobby steered Buck away and rocked onto his toes when Buck took one last look over his shoulder before disappearing through the door. Athena stepped up beside him and sighed.
“I’m going to need to put a unit on him regardless, you know,” Eddie said when they were alone. But Athena clucked her tongue to the roof of her mouth and shook her head as she made her way back out to the alley.
“There’s already one sitting outside my house as we speak.”