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Edmundo Diaz and Christopher Diaz sat in their Abuela’s house, sitting across from a single mom and her twin daughters. The mother wore heavy make-up and had strutted inside with her chest pushed forward, showing off a LOT of cleavages. Eddie had to hold back the urge to cover his son's eyes from such a sinful sight. But it became worse when the daughters this lady brought pulled Chris away to play with him.
“It must be so hard to raise a child alone…” Sniffed the lady, wiping away crocodile tears while dabbing them with a folded napkin. “I know the pain the challenges… You aren't alone…”
“Well, I don’t find it hard at all. Chris is the best child I could ever ask for,” Eddie casually stated while keeping his eyes adverted from that amount of revealed skin. “And I wasn’t alone. The 118 helped me so much whenever I'm too busy…”
“R-Right..” The vixen seemed flustered by his response and fixed her skirt. Well, fixed as in showing more of her dark-skinned thighs. “Well, Ive heard you're a firefighter. How is your work?”
“Fun.” Answered the single dad while trying to see how his son is doing. When he knew he couldn’t see them all, he asked, “Where are Chris and your girls?”
“Angela and Sarah are taking care of your son! You have nothing to worry about!” She smiled sharply, seeming annoyed by the mention of Chris before leaning forward. “So, 118?”
Eddie decided to try and go overboard with the family vibes between him and the 118. This is to make her know WHO his REAL family is and why he wouldn’t accept some slut. Of course, he also enjoyed seeing her tick and become more and more disgruntled as he showed zero interest in her. At some point, she finally snapped and slammed a hand on the desk. At his raised, brow, she tried laughing it off.
“S-Sorry, Edmundo! I just noticed you kept mentioning this Buck person. Is he like, your partner?” She wondered, trying to hide how disgusted the idea of gays was.
Eddie didn’t like how casually she used his first name and hissed, “Diaz. And yes, he's my partner, my best friend and the person who always has mine and Christophers' back when we are in any type of danger!”
“H-How nice…” She spluttered while beginning to look anxious when he mentioned danger and Christopher in the same sentence. But she tried to hide her discomfort by asking more mild questions. But Eddie wasn’t going to have it.
“Okay… Where is your daughters and Chris? I need to check up on him…” Edie stood up to head toward the door he saw the kids walk through. When she tried to intercept him, he towered over her with a dark glare and growled dangerously. “Move…”
“Y-You shouldn’t disturb the kids! Im s-sure they are trying to get along…” She reasoned weakly, only making him worry even further.
“MOVE!” He yelled while clenching his fists, not wanting to inflict physical harm. He knew she could easily call dispatch if she wanted to and women as usually believed over the men in such situations.
When she didn’t move, he called out his son's name and got no answer. It made him worry even further and he finally couldn't hold back and shoved her. He heard her call 911 in the background but all he cared about was the safety of his son. He could hear the sirens of approaching the house by the time he opened the door. That was the last thing he could comprehend before he saw red.
Christopher Diaz was simply afraid. He knew his Daddy told him to be brave but his Buck always said its okay to be frightened. So, instead of trying to act tough as his possible step sisters began talking about very adulterous topics and showing off scary toys, he cried to himself in the corner.
“Oh, shut up, you disgusting monster… I can't believe your dad actually kept you. You're an abomination,” hissed one of the girls while the other laughed.
“He's crying! What a wimp!” She leaned towards Chris and held up a scary-looking metal contraption as the young blonde began to hiccup and sob loudlier. “Shut up, or you're getting the muzzle! Mother told us monsters like you should be locked up and we should always have one on hand!”
“I got the cuffs! Let's go find a good place to lock him in!” The other girl giggled while they both towered Chris, who had begun to cry and tremble.
He tried to run, knowing whatever they wanted to do to him would hurt. But they ganged up on him, stole his crutches and cornered him. Chris whimpered as he began to feel overwhelmed by their presence and went temporarily mute in fear. The girls, seeing his silence as obedience but his lack of response as distaste, still choose to muzzle and cuff him to the bedpost as they rummaged through his things.
Lil Chris was crying as they began to read his diary, mocking him for his childish behaviour before noticing something. They kept seeing entries about a certain man Chris called His Buck and they began to suspect something.
“Ew! Why do you want two daddies?? That’s just sick! Only sick and disgusting people marry a person of the same gender! What did Mommy call them?” The blonde sister asked.
“Faggots! You want your daddy to be a fagot?! How gross!” The other sister whined before kicking Christopher in the gut. At the sadistic feeling of her actions, she continued doing so and invited her sibling to join. Together, they beat Chris, following their mother's example she does to those men she claims ‘needs to be taught a lesson’ .
It was then that they heard a commotion outside the bedroom door and their possible-future father (A/N: Well, not anymore ofc) stepped in, face filled with rage…
And they screamed.
“LET GO OF ME! THOSE BITCHES DESERVE TO DIE!”
The 118 were dispatched to Eddies Abuela's house a few minutes ago and they were all worried. But to hear their fellow firefighter go absolutely berserk and resist arrest made it even worse. Bobby and Hen stepped forward to try and cool him down while Chim and Buck turned to ask a few police officers.
“An arranged lunch that led to child abuse...” Officer Nolan sighed heavily while rubbing his nape. “I haven't seen my TO get this mad in years… I guess this kind of case kicks the bucket…”
“Child Abuse? Whose the-?”
Before Buck could finish his sentence, an officer by the name of Tim Bradford stepped forward and looked at the firefighters. “You guys the 118?” At their nods of agreement, he added, “Talking to the victim. Currently temporarily mute. He keeps signing a name… Buck. Do you know him?”
“I-Im Buck… Who-” it dawned on the blonde who the victim child was and dread filled his face. “Oh God… Chris…”
Tim jotted down the kid's name (seeming to know how to spell the kids full name) while leading the taller firefighter to the ambulance. Chris had curled up into a ball while a blanket was placed over his shoulders to keep him grounded. His entire being was trembling but as Tim knelt down, he seemed to relax slightly.
“Hey Kiddo… found your Buck…” Officer Bradford muttered while signing efficiently, keeping a hand up to stop Buck from approaching just yet. Albeit irritated, Buck knew this guy seemed to recognise this kind of situation and had things under control. So he kept away for now.
Once again, all the blonde boy in a striped t-shirt could sign was the name, ‘Buck’ and it hurt Buck to see his son figure in so much mental pain. The policeman kept silent before signing again. This time, whatever he signed brought a sense of clarity in the boy's eyes and they finally lifted to see Buck standing awkwardly. Tears immediately began to pour and Christopher lifted his arms before finally saying the word out loud…
“B-Buck! BUCK! BUCK!!!” He cried out before the officer passed the kid into the firefighter's warm and gentle arms. “Buck! Buck! Buck!”
“I know kid… I know… I'm here now… I've got you,..” Buck kept repeating the reassuring words while gently patting the boy's back. His eyes turned to the officer and he mouthed a silent Thank You before walking back to the team, away from the victims. He had the rest surround Chris with warm cuddles each and soon they agreed to visit the station so the Diaz boys could give their statement.
Bobby was watching them all carefully, not wanting his kids and grandkids to be in any more face of danger. It was Athena who reassured him they would be okay, especially since she recognised her former partner, Tim Bradford who had helped deal with Chris’ situation. Captain Nash sought the officer to give his absolute thanks. However, he couldn’t find him and took note to send a thank-you gift to the local LAPD office.
Together as a whole big family, all of the 118 rode their vehicles to the closest hospital while the rest followed Athena to the station so they can bail Eddie since he wasn’t the predator. They could only hope the paperwork wouldn’t take too long.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, EDDIE IS GETTING ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT? What he did was self-defense for Chris!” Evan Buckley's voice echoed in the hallway, shocking them all at his rage. Those remaining cops, Training Officer Talia and Rookie Officer Lucy Chen tried calming him down before Jackson West and Angela Lopez joined the fray to calm the man. It was the arrival of Captain Anderson (A/N: this is before she dies cause she is the best captain and I prefer her over any other captain!)that made him hesitate.
“Captain…” He nodded respectfully while giving a short salute. “Commander Evan Buckley from Team 62 of the Navy Seals, currently working under the 118 LAFD team and Captain Robert Nash…”
“Commander…” She turned the salute and glanced at the paperwork. “Sir. Its protocol that the victim can try to press charges. However, with the amount of evidence against her, it will definitely be dropped.”
“It shouldn’t even be issued! Former Medical Private Edmundo Diaz’s CP son is crying for his father and you are keeping him from his comfort as he faced trauma!” Leaning towards her, he gave a soft threat. “You know what I can do, ma’am. Don’t make me go all out to press charges on LAPD. I myself have the power so do yourself a favour and release him from the holding cells.”
Anderson genuinely didn’t like being forced by others. However, she had heard legends of Commander Buckley's true colours back in the field and the political world. He could move mountains with his connections just for his own preference. And so, she gave a reluctant nod and pressed a fingertip to his chest.
“But instead, you cant be connected to the court case between the Diaz and the Laraphels.” She hoped this negotiation could stop him in his tracks and sighed as he agreed casually. “Thank you, Commander.”
“No, thank you, Captain.” He replied before glancing at his phone, receiving a picture from Hen of Denny and Harry cheering Chris up with their video games. “The kid means way more to me than what you could ever expect…”
And with that, he joined Athena and Eddie in her car, headed for the hospital to help his son…
And if that night, the two parents (father figure for Buck) spent the night curled around their son who woke up in cold sweat. Nobody would call them out since they knew a father needed to be with his son…
Evan makes no effort to deny the title given to him…