Chapter 1: Steve McGarrett
Chapter Text
Bobby was in the loft cooking lunch in one of the rare peaceful moments buried within the barely controlled chaos. It was relatively calm at the moment as half the shift was out on a call. It was a simple call, a single car collided with a pole; minor injuries. He sent the probie with Buck and Harris in the engine while Chim and Hen went in the ambulance. They left about 30 minutes ago so they should be back soon. If he timed it right, which he usually did, everyone should be back when lunch is finished cooking.
“Hello,” a firm voice called out. The greeting sounded more like a command, but the voice was unfamiliar to Bobby. And even more strange was the fact that he didn’t see or hear anyone walk in. With it being a nice summer day, the bay doors were open, and with the engine and the ambulance gone the station usually had quite the echo. Bobby put down the knife, wiped his hands, and walked over to the railing. There he saw two men, a tall dark-haired man and a slightly shorter and broader blond.
“Hello?” Bobby asked, “Can I help you?”
“Yes, hi! I’m Detective Danny Williams, and this is Steve. Where looking for Evan Buckley.” Said the blond man.
“Detective, sorry I don’t recognize you. Are you new to the LAPD? And I’m sorry Buck isn’t here, he’s on a call and should be back shortly. I need to ask though, is he in trouble? How concerned should I be”
“I’m with HPD, and no concern is needed, this is a social call not business” Though Bobby’s questions were answered he felt more lost than before the conversation started. “Why don’t you come up here, it’s more comfortable than just standing around” Bobby invited them to the loft with a smile. The dark-haired man made a small noise that seemed to disagree with Bobby but was silenced with a pointed look and a sharp elbow from the detective.
The men made their way upstairs and Bobby was able to get a better look at both men. The blond looked like a stereotypical detective, button-down with a tie, slacks, and patent leather loafers. His Badge and gun clearly visible on his belt. The brunette was dressed more comfortably, a white tee shirt tucked into khaki work pants. An open dark blue button-up with the sleeves rolled up covered up his badge and gun. Bobby gestured to the table for them to take a seat. “Can I get either of you something to drink?” Bobby said opening the fridge “We have bottled water and … bottled water, sorry, we haven’t made it to the store this week to restock”
“Water would be great thanks” the blond, Detective Williams Bobby reminded himself, said at the same time the brunet, Steve Bobby kicked himself he wasn’t usually this bad with names, said “No thank you”
Bobby made his way to the table while asking “So how do you know Buck?” For the first time since meeting the men, Steve answered the question. “The kid and I go way back; we’ve known each other close to 14 years at this point.” That was not quite the answer Bobby expected, though to be fair Bobby didn’t know what to expect. Buck has supposedly known these men most of his life but never once mentioned them. He’s talk about …. Come to think of it Buck hasn’t talked about anyone from his past, not specifically. Wracking his brain Bobby can’t come up with the names of Buck’s parents, if he has any siblings, or aunts and uncles, heck even an old high school friend, or if he played any sports. Actually, thinking about it he knew close to nothing about Buck outside of work. Just last week Chim was asking people what their favorite colors were and somehow that led Buck to discuss supernumerary rainbows vs double rainbows. Bobby assumed that meant Buck liked all colors or something like that, but Buck never actually explicitly stated his favorite color. This wasn’t new either many times when Buck is asked a question his answers spin off into something tangential to what was asked but, never giving specifics, and everyone fell for it. But no longer, Bobby was determined to get answers out of that kid.
Just as that thought crossed his mind the engine and ambulance pulled into the empty bays. Jolted out of his thoughts Bobby realized he never finished the prep for lunch. Walking over to the railing he called down to the men and women climbing out of the rigs. “Sorry folks, lunch got a bit delayed. Do your checks, restock what’s needed and lunch will be ready shortly. Buck you’ve got some visitors up here”
“Who?” Buck asked curiously
“A Detective Williams and Steve” Bobby answered as Buck bounded up the stairs 3 at a time. Bobby was expecting a warm reunion considering that, according to these men, they have known each other for years but that’s not exactly what happened.
“What are you doing here, what are you BOTH doing here?” Buck asked in a slightly cold and very suspicious tone.
“What I can’t come visit my brother every now and then,” Steve asked much more jovially than he’d been when it was just Bobby around. Buck, still heavily suspicious, “You can but we’re going to see each other in 36 hours and that still doesn’t explain Danno”. That last comment got Steve hit with a hissed “Steven” before Detective Williams answered “What I can’t come to visit my favorite kid type person”
“Gracie is your favorite kid type person” Buck replied, with an expectant look.
“We just wanted to see you and meet the people you’ve been talking about the last 18 months, no bullshit,” Steve said. That answer seemed to placate Buck as he soon pulled each man into a brief hug. Buck pulled out his keys and handed one to Steve. “Here is my house key. I get off at 1800 we can talk more than”
“They can stay for lunch, I always make too much anyway,” Bobby said suddenly really really wanting answers. Buck slowly turned to face Bobby miming no no no. “The more the merrier” Bobby exclaimed taking a bowl of salad to the table. Buck just facepalmed while Steve and Danny shared a small smirk.
Once everyone was seated conversation quickly overtook the loft. No one quite dared to ask the two newcomers anything until Hen decided to bite the bullet. “So how do you know Buck?”
“Steve and Buck go way back, have known each other, what 13 years” Danny replied.
“Almost 14” Buck and Steve said under their breaths.
Silence overtook the table as everyone took in this new piece of information. Buck had apparently known these men for most of his life and never mentioned them. Bobby took the opportunity to ask some more probing questions while everyone else’s mind reeled.
“So Buck mentioned that you were going to see each other in just a few days, what are the plans?”
“We meet up in Coronado every 6 weeks for 3 days for reserve training, and every 6 months for 7 days.” Steve said causally. Buck knew this game, he knew Steve didn’t like that he kept his service a secret. The silence seemed to grow louder as people not only stopped talking but stopped eating too. Buck, cocky, impulsive, Buck was in the military?!
The silence was broken by Harris “That’s not a typical reserves program,” he said “I’m army reserve” he added to let the two newcomers know he did know what he was talking about.
“We’re not typical reserves.” Was Buck’s response as he went back to eating wanting nothing more than to sink into the floor. The looks his co-workers were giving him made him feel very exposed. Bobby feeling for the kid tried to get people to talk about something else. “Kid, you never answered Chim’s question last week”
Bucks head shot up “What?”
“Your favorite color? we got an awesome physics lecture, but no answer”
“Ohh that’s because it’s kind of a boring answer”
“How can a color be a boring answer?” Chim asked enthusiastically “Its color”
“I guess, it’s just brown, like dark brown” Buck said sheepishly, knowing what the response would be because it always the same.
“Brown, ok I take it back there is a boring answer to that question and Buck just found it… OMG brown!” Chim laughed and the rest of the table chuckled the tension from the last conversation eased away and pleasant conversation and laughter morphed into a singular buzz as Steve thought back to 14 years ago.
The team has been on base for 5 hours waiting for orders. And that was 5 hours too long for a group of people who just wanted to be in the action. Everyone was bored and getting antsy. Steve looked at his team, the 6 of them huddled together. “What’s your favorite color kid?” Haley suddenly called out, Buck startled and looked up from his crochet project.
“What?” He asked dumbly, a red heat creeping up his neck.
“Your favorite color kid, what is it” Richards repeated Haley’s question.
“Uhhh, I. I don’t know” Buck stammered “No one’s ever asked me before, so I never thought about it” Everyone turned to stare at Buck. Buck thinking he had done something wrong hung his head.
“Hey kid, you’re not in trouble for not having a favorite color, we all just a little shocked because for most of us, it’s a pretty stand question to ask any kid” Steve placated Buck. In the short time Steven knew the kid, it was clear he was heavily mistreated as a kid. But as time goes on it’s clear he’s opening up and trusting the team.
“How do you pick a favorite color” Buck asked timidly. Steve almost chuckled but he didn’t want to discourage the kid from opening up. Honestly though if he didn’t know Buck was one of the best SEALs trained and a member of the top SEAL team, it would be impossible to believe with how innocent he always seemed.
“For me, it’s a color that brings back my happiest memories,” Haley said thinking of the way the lilac bloomed in her backyard as a kid
“For me, it’s a color I never get tired of seeing,” Sayre said thinking of the deep dark blue the sky gets just after the sun drops below the horizon
“I just like red,” Richards said “No special meaning or shit, it’s just a good color”
“I’m partial to green,” said Owen
“I like the color of the ocean,” said Steve quietly. Thinking of days on the water, surfing, carefree. A time before he got sent to military school, before the SEALs, before any bad happened.
“I’ll think about it” Buck said.
“Let us know when you figure it out, ok?” Haley said.
It was almost 2 years later when Buck got off a video call with that army medic he’d been talking to. He lays down on his bunk and calmly says “brown, dark brown with a little bit of gold in it. I think that’s my favorite color”
“That seems like a great color kid”
Steve was pulled from the memory by the harsh ring of the alarm. The switch from a carefree lunch to getting down to business would give any normal person whiplash. Everyone ran to get their turnouts on as Bobby called out “Large structure fire in the warehouse district, multiple units responding at least 13 people unaccounted for. Probie your man behind” and just like that both engines, the ambulance, and all but one firefighter were gone.
The probie set to cleaning up lunch. Unsure what to do, Steve and Danny stood up and walked out of the station. A text came through to Steve’s phone.
From KID: Go to my house. We’ll talk when I get off.
At Buck’s house
6 o’clock came and went, as did 7, then 8, and 9. It was just after 10 when Steve and Danny heard the key in the lock, and a tired Buck came into view. He looked rough. Soot caked his skin, his curls pressed flat to his head.
“Hey guys!” He said, cheerful despite the exhaustion clear in his eyes. “That fire was a beast; I know I said we would talk when I got home but I need a shower and some food.”
“Go shower,” Danny said “I fix you something for dinner and we can talk while you eat”
Buck nodded and disappeared down the hall. He was back 10 minutes later wet curls still pressed to his forehead, but thankfully free from all the soot and debris. Danny set down a simple bowl of egg fried rice in front of Buck
“T’anks” said Buck through a fork full of food. Danny just rolled his eyes at the kid.
“So, how’s it going with work and Chris and everything” Steve asks
“It’s going as well as it can be. Chris is at science camp this week and gets home on Sunday. Carla is going to pick him up since he’s up in San Francisco. Thanks again by the way, for setting me up with her. She’s been a godsend.”
“And how are things with Eddie?” Danny asks softly
“What can I say, I miss him every fucking day that I’m here and he’s over there. Work and Chris make the distance almost bearable, but nothing feels quite right when he’s gone.”
“My last question” Steve starts “why haven’t you told them anything? They seem decent enough”
“I trust them,” Buck says maybe a little too quickly “I do, for work stuff. I know they have my 6 when we are going into burning buildings and shit. But with my life, with my past, I don’t think I can. I mean Chim joked about Dr. Wells assaulting me. My partner, Harris, is the closest to the military and to understanding anything but all he has ever been is reserves. He doesn’t know what that shit is like. Not to mention they all treat me like a snot-nosed kid, it’s patronizing” Buck took a deep breath to steady himself “I can’t let them in right now, maybe once I have some better footing but not now” Steve nodded understanding.
The silence that followed was calm, it didn’t make Buck want to claw his ears off, he didn’t need to fill it with useless information, they could just be, and it was wonderful. Until Buck realized something critical.
“Say Danno, what are you going to do while Steve and I are at Coronado?” Buck asked
“I’m heading to Jersey tomorrow morning, it’s my niece’s birthday so I figured I’d surprise her” Buck gave a little aww at the sweetness of the gesture as he walked his empty bowl to the sink.
“You guys can take my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch, and before you argue it’s totally fine, I need to be up early for a shift. I get off at 1800, Steve if you want to pick me up from the station we can drive down together then.” Buck flopped on the couch and was out in minutes. Danny and Steve made their way to the bedroom and were asleep almost as fast as Buck was.
Meanwhile at the Grant-Nash house
Bobby climbed into bed and pulled his wife close. Athena rolled over to look at her husband’s face and seeing it etched with worry immediately has her asking him what was wrong.
“It’s Buck” Athena got a knowing look on her face because, of course, it was Buck. That kid was worming his way into her husband’s heart in a way Athena found incredibly sweet.
“Not in the usual Buck being reckless sort of way, he got visitors today at the station and it just made me realize I don’t know the kid nearly as much as I thought I did.” Bobby recounts the lunch and all the realizations he had along the way. Which included that somehow the kid's favorite color was brown which just seemed so un-Buck-like. He confided in her that he has so many unanswered questions that he doesn’t know what to do.
“Let’s start with easy ones,” Athena said trying to ease the worry on her husband’s face. “I’ll reach out to some contacts with HPD to see what I can learn about Detective Williams and Steve. I can run a background on Buck in the morning and see if that gets us any more answers.” Bobby didn’t feel great about running a background check on Buck. Clearly, the kid liked his privacy and didn’t trust people with personal information, but he also didn’t know what else to do. Conflicting thoughts haunted him as he fell asleep.
It wasn’t until halfway through his shift the next day that Athena dropped by the station with some answers.
“So, my contacts in HPD told me that Steve is actually Cmdr Steven McGarrett former (?) navy SEAL and current leader of this special task force the governor started. Detective Danny Williams is also a member of the task force.” Athena paused to let that sink in before she continued “my contact told me that this task force takes on the worst of the worst the islands have to offer and that while they are on the good side, they are extremely dangerous and have operated with some pretty questionable practices” that last comment did not ease the knot in Bobby’s stomach. He did not like the idea of Buck casually hanging out with dangerous people.
“What about the background check?” Bobby asked
“Well, I didn’t get very far before NCIS put a stop to it, which was incredibly strange. But I did find a birth certificate for one Evan Jeremiah Buckley born 4/20/1992 parents listed as a Margret and Phillip Buckley, and they are from Hersey Pennsylvania”
“Great! Did you find contact information for”
“Woah, easy cowboy I know you’re excited, but I found one other thing before I was told to stop.” She handed Bobby a folded piece of paper. Bobby took it and carefully opened to it find a legal document calling for Evan Buckley to be emancipated from his parents dated 2006.
“2006, he would have been 14 years old. How does a 14-year-old get legally emancipated.” Bobby pondered “Steve called Buck his brother, where you able to find anything on..”
“I’m going to stop you right there” Athena Interrupted Bobby “I got flagged and told to cease looking into Buck, I doubt I’d get any further if I tried to pull McGarrett’s records”
“Do you think Buck really was a SEAL?” Bobby asks “Genuinely a Navy SEAL”
“At this point, I think he still is.” Bobby and Athena both look out of the office window to watch Buck clean the engine. Both with more questions than answers.
It’s 6 o’clock on the dot when Cmdr McGarrett walked back into the fire station for the second time in as many days. As he spots Buck he calls out “you ready kid?”
“Give me 5 minutes to change and then then yes, I will be.” Steve nodded as Buck made his way to the locker room. 5 minutes later saw them walking out shoulder to shoulder when Buck suddenly grabs McGarrett’s arm stopping both in their tracks “absolutely not, give them here” Buck says
“What,” Steve said trying to be innocent
“I know you and you are not driving my Jeep, keys now” Steve dangled Bucks keys in front and Buck snatched them from Steve and stalked off to his car muttering about reckless driving and LA traffic.
Everyone who watched that interaction was confused, when did Steve get Buck's keys, and how did Buck just seem to know? They all watch the black jeep pull from the lot with more and more questions mounting on just who Buck was.
The drive to Coronado was uneventful (and safe thanks to Buck), it turns out that training was actually a mission this time around. This wasn’t unheard of. In the 18 months since the team unanimously decided to move to the reserves, they’ve done a number of missions on their 3-day training and 1 mission over one of the 7-day training.
Somewhere hot and sandy
“KID, IRIS, you got eyes on the target” Steve’s voice crackled through the comms.
“Confirmed visual,” Haley said looking at through the scope
“You're free to take the shot” not a minute later Buck pulled the trigger.
“Shot confirmed, target down,” Haley said looking through her scope. Buck quickly packed his gun, and both took off towards the rendezvous point. Over the comms, they could hear the other four bust open the door of the room where Buck's target now lay on the ground and took out the other two men. A short scuffle and Steve’s voice once again graced their ears “Confirmed kill, clean shot KID”
4 hours later the team was on a flight back to Coronado, and on Monday morning Buck walked back into Station 118 ready for a long 48-hour shift.
Chapter 2: Christopher Buckley-Diaz
Summary:
Buck doesn’t often hang out with the rest of the team after work. He claims to be busy, and when he does go out, he quickly sneaks off after finishing his 1 ½ beers, not that anyone really notices.
Notes:
I am not an expert on CP, Muay Thai, Samhain, or Dia De Los Muertos so I am sorry for any inaccuracies portrayed. I also don't know Spanish and used google translate (you can find the English version of the conversation at the bottom.)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It’s been a few months since the 118 was introduced to Steve McGarrett and Detective Williams. Buck being SEAL was still being heavily questioned mainly by Chim.
“How do we know he is really going out for training, he probably just goes out for a couple day bender, we all know he’s a playboy” said Chim, Hen eyed Chim reproachfully “what?! He hardly ever comes out with us and when he does he always sneaks out with some chick. He stole a fire truck for a hookup, for goodness sake” Buck overheard these rants by Chim frequently but never said anything, I mean he did steal a firetruck, but it wasn’t for a hookup, he just didn’t need anyone asking what it was actually for.
As time passed no one really learned anything new about Buck, not for a lack of trying. More questions about his childhood got gracefully avoided and left everyone feeling like they learned something about Buck until he walked away and realized that once again, they made assumptions about the information that were given instead of actually being given an answer. Bobby thought back to last week when Hen was asking about people's Halloween traditions. The Probie ecstatically talked about his mom’s pumpkin stew and trick or treating, while Hen talked about dressing up with Denny, and Chimney, being a single bachelor, loved finding the Halloween-themed Pop-up bars. Everyone turned to Buck, and he started talking about Samhain and celebrating with bonfires and games which casually morphed into talking about Dia De Los Muertos and how other cultures around the world celebrate holidays similar to American Halloween. It was fascinating to learn about, and everyone hung on to his every word. It wasn’t until he walked away that they realized they didn’t know how he celebrated Halloween. Was he Celtic and had a bonfire, was he Hispanic and set up an ofrenda?
Bobby’s stewing was interrupted when Buck’s phone rang out. While it wasn’t unusual for people to get calls while at work, Buck getting a call defiantly was strange, and stranger stillis that he ran, physically ran, behind the engine to take the call. Bobby quietly followed behind Buck to try to listen
“What do you mean you lost him?!” Buck was irate but didn’t raise his voice “He’s pretty easy to keep an eye on, he’s not that fast.” Buck was about to continue when a strange clacking noise was heard outside. “He’s here, we will discuss this more next week” Buck hung up the phone as a child’s voice ran out in the station
“DAD?” Hen being the closest, went up to him.
“Who are you looking for sweetie, your dad? The police might be a better option to try and find him”
“No,” the child said “my dad works here, and I need to talk to him” Hen looked around confused. She knew all the people on shift currently and did not recognize this child as any of theirs.
Still behind the truck Bobby watched as Buck took a calming breath before stepping out from behind the engine.
“Superman!” everyone turned to look as Buck of all people called out to the small child. The child turned “DAD!” he called. Buck picked up the kid and spun around which elicited a giggle from the small boy. “Christopher why are you not at school you teachers are worried sick about you!”
“I don’t like that school” The child, Christopher, said.
“Its only been a month, sometimes it takes time for things to settle and feel good”
“NO!” Christopher shouted angrily
“Ok, ok, fine. How about this, I call Tia Pepa to come get you and then we can talk about this at dinner” Buck looked at Chris one eyebrow raised
“Can we have Lorco de Papa?” Chris with the same expression as Buck. This negotiation is similar to all of the others that they two have
“Yes,” Buck acquiesced, the dish much more reasonable than the triple cheese macaroni he asked for last week. Chris broke out into a smile. Buck started to lead Chris outside to make a phone call.
“Why don’t you take him upstairs” Bobby found himself saying, not thinking. Buck slowly turned back to look at Bobby with a look that made Bobby feel like he was already 6 feet under. But with his comment, Chris’ face lights up
“Yeah, Dad can we go upstairs?”
“Sure superman, do you want to go up the stairs yourself or do you want a piggyback ride.” It was then Bobby understood Buck’s look. There was no elevator in the firehouse to get up to the loft.
“Firemen carry!” Chris called out. Chris squealed as Buck picked him up and over his shoulders. Buck held on to an arm and a leg with one hand and with the other picked up Chris’ crutches. Buck took the giggling child upstairs and unceremoniously dropped him on the couch. Everyone flinched at the apparently rough treatment of the kid but instead of crying out or seemingly getting hurt, Chris was just laughing. Buck turned on the TV and put on the Fire Truck Simulator that he and Hen had been playing earlier. He waved Hen over.
“Chris this is my good friend Hen, she is going to play with you while I call your Tia Pepa.” Hen looked startled for a moment at being called a good friend but quickly recovered.
“OK Dad” Chris said almost dismissively too enthralled with a new video game to really care. Hen sat down and they were fast friends playing the video game.
Buck took out his phone and dialed Chris’ great aunt. Bobby ever more curious followed Buck yet again to overhear the conversation.
“Hola tía Pepa, ¿cómo estás?” Buck said into the phone. The shock of an unknown aunt was only outweighed by the knowledge that Buck spoke Spanish.
“Hola Evan, ¿está todo bien con Christopher?” an older woman’s voice sounded over the phone.
“Sí, está bien, más o menos. Se escapó de la escuela y llegó a la estación. ¿Puedes venir a recogerlo? Carla está libre esta semana.”
“¡Evan! No puedes seguir haciendo esto. La abuela y yo tenemos una vida fuera de ti y de Edmundo. Necesitas buscar ayuda.”
“Tengo ayuda” Buck said sounding indigent
”Necesitas más ayuda”
“¿Puedes venir a buscarlo o no?” frustration clear but again never raising his voice.
“Puedo, pero primero tengo que terminar mi trabajo. Pasarán al menos 3 horas antes de que pueda llegar a la estación”
“Gracias Pepa. Puedo averiguar algo hasta entonces.” Relief flooded Buck’s voice. Buck hung up the phone. He hung his head and just stood there taking a few deep breaths. Bobby took this as his cue to vacate the area. He went back upstairs to start lunch.
Buck made his way upstairs not long after. He made a beeline for Bobby.
“Bobby, um…” Buck started
“don’t worry” Bobby interrupted Buck “he can stay here until someone can pick him up, you okay with being the man behind till he gets picked up though?”
“Uhh yeah, Thanks Bobby,” Buck said a little dazed, not quite expecting that response. “it’ll be about 3 hours” Buck turned away from Bobby but didn’t walk away. Instead, he took a moment to just watch his son play with Hen. Chim, Harris, and the Probie cheered Chris on as he pulled into the ambulance bay.
“Dude, your kid is better at this game than you, at that saying a lot” Chim called out. Buck’s eyebrows crunched trying to work out if Chim just insulted him or Chris.
“Dad!” Chris called out
“yeah, Superman” Buck responded while walking over the couch.
“This game is awesome; can we get it at home?” Chris asked, pulling the ultimate puppy dog eyes.
“What will you do for it?” Buck asked him. This again was a fairly common negotiation at home. Buck wanted to give everything to Chris but didn’t want to create a spoiled kid in the process. This system worked well for them.
“The last game was you got me cost me reading 20 chapter books” Chris murmured to himself “so I could offer that again, or I could do some yard work, our garden is in need of some serious pruning” Chris was lost in thought before he spoke to Buck, muttering something about doubling up on rewards.
“If I pruned the garden, would that count?”
“I’d consider pruning the garden a good exchange for the new game, and yes your physical therapist would reward it too.” Chris gave Buck a huge grin. Just then Bobby called for lunch
The conversation was flowing well everyone asking questions about and to Chris. Bobby learned that Chris was 8 years old and loved video games, and science.
“So why don’t you like school, little man” Chim asked. Chris immediately deflated “I just don’t ok” A pointed look from Buck kept Chim from asking any more follow-up questions.
“I have a question for you Chris,” Hen said “How did you even get here?”
“The Bus” Chris answered as if it was the most obvious answer on the planet. “I have a bus pass and Dad taught me how to navigate the routes when we first moved here” All of the firefighters’ eyes moved to Buck who didn’t look phased at all
“Chris, you know that was for emergencies not for escaping school.” Chris looked a little sheepish.
“Lunch was delicious cap, as always,” Harris said standing up. As he walked over to drop his dish in the sink he called out “I’m going to hit the gym, Chim can you be my spot?”
“Yeah man I’ll be right down” Chim called out.
It was like flip switched Chris turned to look at Buck.
“No,” Buck said.
“But I haven’t asked anything yet,” Chris said indignantly.
“The answer is still no; we don’t have any of your equipment here. It wouldn’t be safe.” Buck said calmly. Bobby was glad Buck was putting his foot down on something. For the short time Bobby knew Chris the kid seemed to get away with a lot. I mean his choice for dinner, a new video game.
“What if I just did my physical therapy exercises while you did your workout, and we can do the rest at home.”
“I still don’t think it’s the best idea, the gym here isn’t adapted like the gym at home, there is no stander, no belts, and a very hard floor.”
“I’ve fallen on harder, remember the skateboarding incident last year.”
“Ugg don’t remind me” Buck put his head down.
“How about Muay Thai?” Chris asks Buck just groans. Chris starts poking Buck “Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Muay Thai” Buck starts defending himself against the pokes, this just encourages Chris who stood to get better leverage in his attack. Buck not keen on taking this sitting down stood up, grabbed Chris flipping him over, and started tickling his exposed sides. Chris who hasn’t stopped laughing shrieks and between laughing gasps calls for a truce. Buck gently flipped Chris over and held on while Chris took a moment to regain his balance.
“So… Muay Thai,” Chris asked innocently. Buck just chuckled and picked up the kid and his crutches and took him downstairs. He set him down and went into the locker room to grab wrist wraps and a spare gait belt.
“Your wraps are at home so you’ll need to use mine,” Buck said walking with Chris over to the Gym.
“You said you didn’t have a belt,” Chris said with a grin.
“You know I always carry a spare" Buck replied. He directed Chris to sit on a bench and started to wrap Chris’ wrists. Once Buck was done, he tapped Chris. Christ stood and Buck put the belt on him.
Together they walked over to the punching bag. “This bag is a little different than the one we have at home, Chris.” Buck said to Chris “it's narrower and heavier” Chris nodded. Buck grabbed a hold of Chris’ belt "Alright let’s see a left jab”
Harris and Chim stopped their workouts as they watched Buck call out various punches for Chris to do. Bobby and Hen were enthralled watching from the loft. It said a lot that Buck didn’t notice almost every single eye in the station was on him and Chris. While it was clear the punches didn’t have much power the form was decent, and Buck only needed to correct Chris’ form every now and again. After 30 minutes it was clear that Chris was tiring.
“Alright, superman, last one give me your best combo right jab, right cross, left uppercut.” Chris executed the combo well turning to face Buck and met with a double high five “Nice one Superman!”
“Thanks, dad,” Chris said sounding a little breathless. They walked back over to the bench and sat down. Buck started removing Chris’ wraps
“Alright, we’ve had fun, food, and exercise. Let’s go upstairs and you can start on your homework. I know you haven’t done any of the weekly packet yet and you’ve got math as well.”
“Okay Dad” they made their way back over to the stairs and after stashing the wraps and belt Buck asked “Climb or Carry?” This time Chris chose to climb. They slowly made their way up the stairs. Chris took a seat at the table and Buck handed him his backpack. Chris pulled out his packet work and got started while Buck started cleaning up lunch. Chris occasionally asked a question, and Buck was quick to answer questions with questions of his own, making Chris do the work on getting the right answer. It was domestic, calm, something no one ever expected out of Playboy Buck. Soon Buck received yet another phone call.
“Alright Chris let’s get packed up. Tia Pepa is here.” Buck picked up Chris, and his crutches and walked him downstairs where an older Hispanic woman was waiting
“Hola tía pepa” Chris called out
“Christopher, ¿estás listo para irte?” the woman responded
“Sí, bye dad” Christopher called out walking away with his aunt.
“¿Qué vas a hacer para Halloween?”
“Dad me va a llevar al skatepark y luego vamos a tener una cena tonta y una hoguera.”
His aunt leveled Buck with a reproachful look as she left with Chris. “I never said anything about the skatepark Chris” Buck called out as they walked out.
Hen, Chim, Harris, and Bobby walked up behind Buck. But the conversation was thankfully avoided when the bell rang.
The call wasn’t too bad, a small cooking fire that got a bit out of hand, some property damage, and a few small 1st degree burns. As they pulled back into the station, Buck could feel everyone’s eyes on him, and he knew he was about to be ambushed. They gave him the decency to get out of his turnouts before Bobby, Hen, Chim and Harris cornered him in the locker room.
“So, a kid huh” Hen started “you know he is around Denny’s age we could have arranged a play date months ago” Buck didn’t quite know how to respond to that.
“What is with the Mauy Thai, the skatepark, and pruning the garden” Chim asked
“Chris wanted to learn Muay Thai to be like his dad, and his friends at school like to skateboard. He doesn’t love pruning but he wanted the garden, so he has some responsibility for it and Pruning isn’t a usual activity for him, he usually waters the plants.”
“But aren’t those dangerous for a kid like Chris?” Bobby asked Hen and Chim nodding along
“Are they dangerous for Denny, or Harry” Buck rebutted
“But Denny and Harry are Normal,” Chim said.
“I am going to pretend for you didn’t just say that,” Buck said “I will support my kid how I see fit and if he wants to Skateboard or do Muay Thai I am going to support him.”
“I think what Chim was getting at was more isn’t it better to set realistic expectations on what he can and can’t do” Hen said.
“Realistic expectations?” Buck said “That isn’t my job, trust me the world will take care of letting him know what he can’t do, my job is to support my child, and if I can find a way to make things like skateboarding accessible to him I will absolutely do that”
“What happens if he gets hurt,” Hen said
“What happens when Denny gets hurt”
“Touche”
"What about riding the city bus by himself, that is dangerous for any 8-year-old" Chim asked, seemingly really wanting to drive home to the point that Buck was a bad dad.
“I taught him to navigate the bus system in case of emergencies, I will discuss with him later about abusing that responsibility. But if he gets lost or we get separated I want him to have every opportunity to get home." Buck said exsperated. Buck took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose "Look to some degree I can understand and appreciate the concern, but you have known him for 3 hours. Everything I do with him is cleared by his physical therapists, who by the way LOVES what I do for Chris and encourages Chris to do everything and more. I get that you think I am impulsive and reckless, but I would never harm my son.” Buck said “So, please just stop”
“How do you take him skateboarding?” Harris asked
“it’s a modified stander and electric longboard,” Buck said. “I built the rig myself”
“dude that’s awesome” Buck left the locker room
Later in the loft
“So now that we know you have a kid, what are you dressing up as for Halloween this year?” Hen asked, sitting next to Buck on the couch
“Chris doesn’t want to go trick or treating this year,” Buck said casually placing a bookmark in his copy of Dune.
“What?!”
“I mean these last few years have been rough for him around the Holidays, so he has always clung to the traditions that involve the family. That and he has a personal vendetta against chocolate. Please don’t ask, I don’t know why”
“So, what traditions do you guys practice? I know we talked about this earlier, but you never really answered our questions”
“We usually have a bonfire and dumb supper on Halloween, and then on the first, we set up the Ofrenda, abuela and Tia Pepa cook, and we go to the cemetery to eat.” Buck says “You could ummm, you could come to the bonfire if you want, bring Denny. My neighborhood is safe”
Hen could see the apprehension of inviting her “Is it just going to be you are Chris?” She asked
“Ahhh no, actually” a smile, small but genuine, graced Buck's lips “My team wanted to “relive the good ol’ days”, and they know it's hard for me to travel with Chris right now. They all fly in tomorrow”
“That sounds like a lot of Fun”
“It will be”
It was Buck’s first Halloween in the SEALs. He was still nervous around them. They worked well together in the field, he trusted them and they trusted him, but outside missions, he still didn’t really know how to act around them, or any people really.
“What are some of y’all’s favorite Holidays,” Richards asked one night when they were bored. This sparked lots of joyful conversations among the other 5 team members. Buck loved to listen to their joy, it made him happy. As he smiled, he started to frog his crochet project.
“Kid, you're quiet. What’s your favorite holiday?” Haley asked
“I don’t celebrate holidays,” Buck said “My family never celebrated anything” This wasn’t entirely true for two reasons. One, He celebrated July 1st because that was the day of his emancipation it was also the first day he ever had ice cream so that became his very first tradition. And for two his parents and Maddie did celebrate holidays like Halloween and Christmas, but Buck was never allowed to join in with them. He was either locked in a room or they left him alone in the house while they went to grandparents’ houses to celebrate.
“No holidays at all,” Sayre asked incredulous.
“Well, I get an Ice cream cone on July 1st” Buck said embarrassed
“That’s a start,” Steve said “Look Halloween is coming up, so why don’t we start a new holiday tradition. For the 6 of us” Everyone liked that idea. And started brainstorming, again buck fell silent letting their conversations wash over him.
“What are you thinking kid,” Steve asked
“Umm, nothing. It’s not important”
“If you’re thinking it, we’d like to hear it,” Sayre said gently
“Well, supposedly my family is Irish. And I guess I’ve always been drawn to Samhain. They have a big bonfire, dumb supper. It sounded interesting.” Buck said
“That sounds awesome!” Richards and Owen said.
Three days later they were on the beach with a large fire blazing in front of them. They just finished Dumb Supper and were all content watching the fire. Richards slipped Buck a beer, with the stipulation that he was only allowed 1. Buck found that this silence was one he could handle, it was content, peaceful.
Hen walked away when Buck grew quiet. The rest of the shift went by uneventfully and soon Buck was back home with Chris making Locro de Papa.
At Buck’s House
As the soup simmers Buck called out to Chris.
“Alright superman, time to talk. Why did you leave school” Buck asks gently
“I told you I hate that school”
“Sorry bud, I am going to need more specifics”
“The teachers suck, and the kids are mean”
“So, from that all I know is that you are at a standard elementary school,” Buck said. “I need a little more so that I can actually do something to help”
“The teachers suck, they never let me do anything. They won’t let me cut my own projects or carry my lunch. Mrs. Johnson even tries to keep me in at recess because sitting on the swing is “too dangerous”. They treat me like a baby who can’t do anything, and I hate it.” Chris was screaming by the end. Buck wrapped him in a hug
“I am so sorry Chris; I know how it feels to be constantly underestimated”
“No, you don’t, you can do everything. And I can’t do anything”
“that’s not true, Chris. There is so much you can do. You are ranked #5 worldwide on battle royale, you won the first-grade science fair last year, and you learned to skateboard. Chris, you are amazing! And I am so sorry your teacher is treating you like that. I will talk to her about it.” Chris sniffled into Buck's shirt. “Now what about these mean kids? How long has it been going on? You seemed to like a lot of the kids in your class.”
“I did, but we needed to draw our family in school last week and after that, all the kids started saying mean things about you and Papi. It made me really sad, but the teacher wouldn’t do anything to stop them.” Tears started flowing and all Buck could do was hold him. And if Buck’s heart could break anymore, it would have shattered at the next words out of Chris’ mouth.
“I miss Papi”
“I know Superman, I miss him too”
Meanwhile at Grant-Nash house
“So, baby Buck has a baby of his own,” Athena said after Bobby recounted the day's events.
“Yeah it was strange,” Bobby said “I knew that Buck didn’t tell us a lot of stuff, and I’m sure he has his reasons, but this just feels like he doesn’t trust us.” Bobby signed and continued to cook dinner for himself and Athena. “How does someone even keep a child a secret for nearly 2 years?”
“You said his name is Christopher, right? Maybe I could pull records”
“I don’t know Athena, running a background on Buck was one thing. But a kid” Bobby was again conflicted “Buck has his reasons, and the kid was happy and healthy, I worry you pulling a background on the kid might trigger some kind of investigation.”
“You think there would be a reason for an investigation? I mean you said the activities Buck was having him do seemed inappropriate for a kid like Chris.”
“I mean yea, but Chris was thrilled with doing them, and Buck was right we’ve only met Chris for a few hours and Buck was clear that Chris was cleared by doctors to do them.”
Bobby steered the conversation away from Buck as He and Athena sat down to eat dinner. Bobby was content knowing a few new things about Buck even if it caused more questions to arise. Bobby was sure that the mystery of Buck would reveal itself in due time.
Notes:
Buck and Tia pepa phone call
Hello Aunt Pepa, How are you?
Hello Evan, is everything alright with Christopher?
Yes, he is fine. More or less. He ran away from school and came to the station. Can you come pick him up? Carla is off this week.
Evan! You cannot keep doing this. Grandma and I have a life outside of you and Edmundo. You need to get help.
I have help
You need more help
Can you come get him or not?
I can, but I have to finish up my work first. Its going to be at least 3 hours before I can get over to the station
Thank you Pepa. I can figure something out till then.Tia Pepa and Chris' Conversation
Hi Tia Pepa
Christopher, are you ready to go?
Yes
What are you going to do for Halloween
Dad is taking me to the skatepark and then we are going to have Dumb Supper and a bonfire.
Chapter 3: Maddie Buckley
Summary:
Buck had a family. He had 3 brothers and 2 sisters, a wonderful husband, and the best kid ever. He didn't need any one else
Notes:
This isn't my favorite chapter but Eddie's chapter really wasn't flowing and this one did so....
CW: Child Abuse
Chapter Text
When Buck got to work, Christmas music could be heard playing in the loft. It was the middle of December and Buck was coming up on finishing his first year as a fully-fledged firefighter with the LAFD and at the 118. He felt proud of this work. He loved being a SEAL and knew he was doing good work, but having boots on the ground actively saving rather than killing. It felt good. He called out a hello to Hen as he made his way to the loft
“Hey Buck” Hen called out “Denny has been asking about a sleepover with Chris. Is that something you’d be open to?” ever since the team found out about Chris, they seem more interested in him than Buck. Hen, Bobby, and he have arranged a few playdates, or hangouts as the kids prefer to call them, but nothing more than a few hours.
“I don’t think we will have the time to do that until after New Year's” Buck responded. He had his biyearly weeklong training with the SEAL reserves next week and while he is gone Chris is going to be in El Paso. They would both get back to LA on Christmas Eve. They were both going to spend the last week of Christmas break together ice-skating, having a day at Disneyland, and, overall, just trying to do enough to forget about the giant Eddie-shaped hole in their lives.
“Hey guys!” Chim called out as he joined Hen and Buck in the loft. “I was wondering if you’d be okay with me inviting someone over for dinner” It was the start of a 24-hour shift and no one knew if they would even be in the station, but it wasn’t uncommon for significant others to drop by for meals.
“Who is it Chim” Hen asked.
“Well, you know I’ve been seeing this girl, and we’ve been going steady for a while, so I figured that it’s time to introduce her”
“Going steady, what is this 1950” Buck ribbed Chim, “So tell us about her”
“Her name is Maddie” Chim started, Buck barely suppressed a shudder thinking of his biological sister. It wasn’t the same person. Couldn’t be. “She moved to LA a few years ago and is working as a 9-1-1 dispatcher.” Chim continued to rave about Maddie and how amazing she was, but Buck tuned him out thinking of the last time he saw his sister.
It was dinner time and one of the few that Evan was allowed to eat with the rest of the family. Maddie had a big announcement that she wanted to make.
“I got accepted to Boston College!” Maddie exclaimed. She was very excited to get out from under her parents. Margert and Phillip were excited to have their daughter go to such a prestigious university. Evan was not happy and though he knew he wasn’t supposed to talk at the table he exclaimed “your leaving?”. Evan didn’t want her to go, she was the only barrier between him and his parents. Evan barely survived with her he didn’t want to think about what would happen in this house without her.
“Silence” his mother reprimanded him.
“You can’t go, Maddie, please” Evan begged.
“I said be quiet, Child,” Margert said with a rough backhand. Her dinner ring caught on Evan’s forehead creating a cut above his eye. The blood spilled on the table staining the white tablecloth. “Look what you’ve done!” she shrieked. Soon plates and cups were crashing around the room and Maddie roughly grabbed Evan by the arm and dragged him to the bathroom to get cleaned up.
“Maddie, please don’t leave me with them” the 9-year-old pleaded with his sister. He hissed as she pressed an alcohol swab to the cut above his eye.
“I have my own life Evan, and taking care of a little brother full-time was never a part of the plan,” Maddie said
“They hate me”
“If you would stop antagonizing them this wouldn’t keep happening Evan” Maddie practically shouts at Evan causing him to flinch back “Look I am leaving for Boston next week for school, alone. That will not change. You have a phone, if you really truly need me you can call, ok” she tapped his leg and Evan slowly got down from the bathroom counter. Maddie and Evans's mom walked into the bathroom right then.
“Tell the boy he needs to clean up his mess and once he is done, he is to go to his room until further notice.” Evan slumped against the counter as his mom walked away.
“You heard her Evan, get to it” Evan went back into the kitchen and started cleaning up the broken dishes and spilled food. The whole time he heard his parents talk about what a waste he was. Once he was finished, he went back to his room. It didn’t take long for him to hear the lock on his door click shut. Evan looked around his room and sighed. He climbed onto his bed and stared at the ceiling until he fell into a restless sleep.
Maddie left while Evan was still locked in his room. He tried calling her, but she never answered. She never came back to the house again either, at least while he was there.
“I would love to meet her Chim. She sounds lovely” Hen said, glad that her best friend had found his person. Buck missed much of the platitudes that Chim shared about his girlfriend while he was lost in thought but agreed with Hen on principle “Yeah man, she sounds great!”
Still a little shaken from the memory, Buck excused himself and went to the gym to release some of the tension he felt building. He didn’t like thinking about his time living with Margaret and Phillip Buckley. He’d been beating on the punching bag for about 15 minutes when Harris walked up.
“Hey man, you seem tense, everything ok”
Buck replied, “I was reading an article the other day about how exercise releases chemicals in the brain that make you happier and ...”
“Buck, I like to think that after 2 years I know you pretty well” Harris cut off Buck “and one thing I feel like I can do pretty well is spot your deflection techniques. Now I can tell something is on your mind.” Buck went to say something, but Harris continued “Now you don’t have to tell me anything, because I also know you like your privacy, but just know that we are here for you.”
“Thanks, man” Buck said, “would you mind spotting me” That was new, Buck hardly ever asked for a spot.
“Happy too man,” Harris. The next hour was spent working out and making lighthearted conversation about nothing. Just as they finished their work out the bell rang, and they were off to a call.
It was a house fire that didn’t seem that bad at first, but nothing seemed to work to get the flames to stay out. It was like a giant trick candle. Every time they thought they got it out the inferno started up again. Eventually, Buck discovered a large gas tank in the back of the house that was still feeding into the house despite the gas being cut off from the street lines. The excess heat from the embers kept igniting the fumes meaning they were there for far longer than they should have been.
They rolled back into the station just before dinner.
“Man, I am so hungry that I think my stomach is going to start digesting itself,” Buck said hopping out of the engine. Everyone made their way to the locker room to strip out of their turnouts. Buck, having been in the house more than everyone else, went to take a shower to rinse the soot off while everyone else filed up to the loft to start eating. Buck finished his shower and was halfway up the stairs when a voice stopped him in his tracks. A voice he hadn’t heard in nearly 20 years but that he could never forget. Buck turns around and quickly makes it to the bunk room before he completely breaks down. Buck slides down the wall hyperventilating, cognizant enough to text SOS to his lifeline group chat before memories swallow him whole.
“Evan what were you thinking” Maddie said examining his bruised cheek. Evan opened his mouth to say something, but Maddie cut him off “You weren’t thinking”
Evan held his ribs, as pain radiated throughout his body. Maddie found him in the basement. “Come on Evan,” she said pulling him up. The movement nearly causes him to blackout. “I can’t carry you, Evan. I need a little help” he was able to stay conscious until they made it to the car.
“Evan how long have you been in here,” Maddie asked, “What day is it?” was Evan's response
“Maddie please I need you” Evan begged into the phone for the first time since she left
“Here Evan” Maddie said handing him a heavy square package “What is it”
“It's a birthday present”
“Whose Birthday it is?” Evan asked innocently
“yours,” Maddie said. Evan ripped open the paper. It was an encyclopedia, not really appropriate for a 6-year-old but it was what Maddie could do. It’s his first and only present while living in that house
“You need to stop making them angry,” Maddie said wrapping his wrist
Evan was curled on the porch, cold and wet. He missed curfew by 10 minutes because Maddie finally called him back and he got distracted.
Evan shivered in his bed. Maddie said she’d bring him soup. He never got soup.
A faint buzzing slowly pulled him from the memories. He barely registered it as his phone. He swiped to answer but couldn’t seem to bring in enough oxygen to talk.
“Kid are you ok” Steve’s voice filtered through the fog. All Steve could hear were ragged hyperventilative breaths. “You know the drill kid, in for 4, hold for 7, out for 8” Steve talked Buck through his breathing, and slowly he heard the kids breathe even out. After about 15 minutes he asked, “Are you okay?”
Buck let out a weak “no”
“What do you need”
“EXFIL”
“I can be there in 12 hours; Can you fill me in on what happened” Steve asked concerned
“She found me”
“Who found you”
“Maddie” Buck breathed out. Steve had only heard that name a few times, but he would never forget it or its meaning to Buck
“Kid talk to me, what happened” Buck recounted how Chim had a new girlfriend that he brought to dinner. She was already in the loft when everyone got there and how just hearing her voice from the steps brought up unwanted memories.
“So, you guys never saw each other,” Steve asked
“Yeah,” Buck said, now that he was calmer, he could see the irrationalness of the thought of her tracking him down and getting in with his co-worker just to get to him.
“So, there is a chance she doesn’t even know you are Evan if everyone calls you Buck.”
“yeah,” said Buck, he was getting tired. The fire plus the panic attack took a lot out of him. “Thank you, Steve. I think I am going to take a nap”
“Anytime kid. If you need me to fly out there let me know, sleep well.” Buck hung up the call. He looked at his phone. 20 text messages from his team and Eddie and even more missed calls. He sent a message to the group chat to let them know it was a panic attack and that he was fine. Messages of relief and love flooded his phone. A private message from Eddie came through
From Army Man: I’m in a minefield (Literally and figuratively) atm, but let’s move our weekly call up to tomorrow.
From baby SEAL: Yes please, I get off at 0600, should be home by 0630, and need to take Chris to school at 0725
From Army Man: I have time at 1745
From baby SEAL: Perfect
With plans to talk to his husband tomorrow, Buck eased himself off the floor and laid down on one of the bunks. A little too amped to actually sleep, he closes his eyes and works through some breathing and relaxation techniques. It's maybe 90 minutes until Chim walks into the bunk room
“There you are man,” Chim said “Why didn’t you come to meet Maddie, I really wanted everyone there.”
“Sorry man, after my shower I was really beat, and the bed sounded amazing”
“The bed sounded better than food and good company,” Chim asked a little incredulously “you were complaining about your stomach eating itself as we got off the engine”
“What can I tell you, man, I just wasn’t hungry”
“That’s Bullshit” Chim said storming out of the bunk room. Buck stayed on the bunk putting his head in his hands and took a few deep breaths. He understood why the man was upset but really couldn’t explain why he chicken out of dinner. If Maddie figures out who he is, she is going to tell her parents and that would be a disaster.
As Buck went back to his breathing exercises, more people trickled in to go to sleep before the next call. Buck listened as all of their breathing evened out. Soon the bunk room was full. Buck feeling as rested as he could slipped out of the bunk room and made his way to the loft to get some food. Dinner was long gone with no leftovers, but there were some protein bars and organic fruit leathers in the pantry. Grabbing what he could he made his way over to the couch, flipped a lamp on, and pulled out his copy of Dune. It wasn’t long before the alarm sounded.
“Multiple cars went over the bridge, Buck and Harris harness up, Chim and Probie you’re on the winch.” Buck harnessed quickly, missing the rest of the assignments, and went over to the Probie
“Fully open the line, no tension, we don’t have time to repel down,” Buck said. Once the Probie finished checking his harness he walked to the edge of the bridge. Harris eased himself down to start being let down while Buck took a few steps back to get a running start and jumped. The yells of his crew were drowned out by the wind. As he fell, he kept his arms firmly at his side, pointed his toes, and entered the water with a surprisingly small splash. He released his line as he spotted the first car in the water and swam over. The doors were jammed shut but the trunk had popped open. Soon he had pulled out all 3 occupants and swam them up to the surface. Swimming them to shore he made it about the time Hen and 3 other paramedics. He passed off the 3 people and dove back into the water.
Harris made it to the water; he released his line and together they got everyone out of the last two vehicles. Once again on shore, they help load people in the baskets one at a time.
“We’ve sent two people up on your lines already,” Hen said as they loaded the third. The winches were slow to pull up the basket, but Chim and the Probie were working well at keeping them paced the same, going up steadily.
“This is the last person who will need both lines” Hen radioed up. “Send a second basket down and we can start to double-time getting these people up”
Once they had both baskets getting the remaining 6 people up was quick work. Buck and Harris reattached their lines and were about to be pulled up
“Anyone wants a lift,” Buck asked the 4 paramedics. They all shook their heads more than content to hike back up to the bridge.
“I don’t need to be dangling a hundred feet in the air tonight Buck” Hen said. Buck and Harris gave two sharp tugs on their line and were both lifted into the sky. Getting up was slow but eventually Harris and Buck were climbing over the edge of the bridge. Once solidly on they unhooked their lines and walked over to the truck where they started to load their harness. Loading up and moving out was quiet, the tense kind of quiet, the kind Buck hated.
“I was reading the other day about starfish…” Buck continued to fill the tense silence all the way back to the station. It wasn’t until the bay doors were shut that someone other than Buck said anything.
“Of all the bone-headed stunts to pull Buckley” Bobby starts tearing Buck a new one “Jumping off a bridge is a new low, what were you thinking, you…”
“I was trained” Buck interrupted
“Ohh you were trained,” Bobby said almost mockingly “While you were in the SEALs which you never felt the need to tell us about” Buck started to shrink in on himself “your done Buck, go get cleaned up. Your man behind for the rest of the shift” Bobby said dismissively.
The rest of the shift was uneventful, for Buck at least. However, the craziness of the call managed to push any and all thoughts of Chim’s new girlfriend being his biological sister straight out of his mind.
TIME SKIP
Buck was mostly excited to get back to work after two weeks off, he was a little nervous because his last shift did not end well.
“Hey Buck,” Bobby called from the loft “Can you give me a hand with breakfast”
“Yeah cap, I’ll be right up” Buck tossed his duffle in his locker and took the steps to the loft two at a time. Cap was making baked French toast with sausages and fruit.
“Can you start prepping the fruit, and occasionally check the sausages? I need to get these in the oven and then I’ve got paperwork due later today that I have to finish.”
“Sure Cap” Buck said as he washed his hands. Grabbing the cutting board, he started to cut up Strawberries. The French toast took about 15 minutes in the oven and soon everyone was chatting and eating. Buck was reaching across Hen to grab another piece of French toast. Hen playfully smacked his hand “manners”. No one noticed someone walking up the steps.
“Knock knock” said a very familiar voice. Buck froze not daring to turn around.
“Babe!” Chimney called “I didn’t know you were coming this morning.” He got up and bounded over to his girlfriend to give her a hug.
“I wasn’t planning to but you left this at my apartment, and I figured I could drop it off on my way to work,” Maddie said passing Chim his cell phone charger
“Thanks, it would not be fun to be missing this” Chim said gratefully “Do you want a bite to eat before work?” Maddie nodded and started to move to the open spot at the table “You know everyone except Buck, he’s been on leave for the last 2 weeks”
“Hi Buck, I’m..”
“Maddie” Buck said looking up from his plate for the first time. Maddie gasped
“Evan” she breathed out. She tried to reach out to him, but he stood up and out of reach.
“you guys know each other” Chim asked
“He’s my brother, the one that ran away when he was 14,” Maddie said, shock still clearly evident in her voice.
“I didn’t run away,” Buck said
“What else would you call leaving home without permission, without ever returning”
“Can we please not do this?” Buck pleaded
“Do what, figure out how my long-lost brother is not only alive but a member of the LAFD” Maddie said “Mom and Dad have been beside themselves looking for you, I need to call them.”
“NO” Buck shouted
“What do you mean no? They have spent years looking for you. They will be so happy”
“I guarantee you they won’t be”
“They missed you when you ran away”
“I didn’t run away, I got out. Just like you did”
Maddie scoffed “I went to college at 18”
“And you never came back either, not for 5 years at least”
“You left as a minor, there is a big difference”
“I was emancipated,” Buck said desperation leaking into his voice “So please, drop this”
“I need to get to work anyway,” Maddie said. She turned and left the loft; her footsteps could be heard walking out of the station. Once she was gone it was like a spell was broken and everyone was able to move and talk again.
“Buck” Hen said
“I’m going to get started on cleaning the engines,” Buck said and practically ran down the stairs. No one knew what to do, the breakfast wrapped up quickly and silently. Hen and Chim went to find Buck. He wasn’t hard to find, he was washing and polishing the trucks.
“Buck” Chim called out
“Hey guys check out this new wax, it makes the engines practically glow”
“Buck,” Hen said sympathy (Pity) oozing out of her voice.
“Look guys, I’m really not in the mood to talk right now,” Buck said
“Buck, I never put together that you and her were related” Chim started
“Hey man, you're good. I didn’t think she could be my biological sister either”
“Is that why you didn’t come up to dinner that night? You realized it was her” Hen asked. Buck suddenly couldn’t speak so he just nodded, Buck turned back the truck he was polishing
“It really is a good wax,” Chim said picking up a rag. Hen and Buck just chuckled.
At Buck’s house
Buck’s phone buzzed after dinner. He picked it up without looking at the caller ID
“Evan” Maddie’s voice sounded thru the phone
“How did you get this number” Buck asked
“Chim gave it to me”
“He had no right to do that”
“He was trying to be a good boyfriend,” Maddie said trying to placate Buck. “I just wanted to talk to you it’s been almost 20 years.”
“That’s not on me”
“It kind of is, you ran away from us”
“I did not run away.”
“That’s not how Mom and Dad see it.”
“Frankly, I don’t care how they see it. I got out and I never want to or have to see them again.”
“Is that what you thought about me?” Maddie asked. Buck was quiet for a moment
“Maddie look” Buck was interrupted by a cry of “DAD” in the background. “I got to go,” Buck said in a hurry
“Wait Evan do you have a kid” Maddie asked but the line was already disconnected.
At the Grant-Nash house
Hen walked through the door “Bobby we need to talk”
“About Buck”
“Yes, I am worried about him,” Hen said “I can count on one hand the things I know about him, and I learned all of them in the last 6 months. He was/is a SEAL, he has a son, he celebrates Halloween with a strange combination of Celtic and Hispanic, he was emancipated at 14, and he has a biological sister who within 5 minutes of meeting her has him shouting.” Hen ranted “Bobby I have never heard that boy raise his voice before”
“Don’t forget his favorite color is brown” a slurred voice called out from the kitchen.
“You were not the only concerned party,” Bobby said as he led Hen into the kitchen. There at the table was a tipsy Chim.
“Bobby what are we going to do,” Hen asked.
“Maybe we don’t do anything,” Bobby said, which got him two incredulous looks. “What I’m saying is maybe the best way to show him that he can trust us is to trust him”
“We do trust him Bobby” Hen said
“Yeah, we do but I haven’t done a great job of showing it. I still berated him any time he did something I thought was reckless. Even though he has the training. I mean he has the most certifications in the station for goodness sake. And even after I learned he was a SEAL I still treated him like a kid.”
“I was kind of an asshole about his kid,” Chim said softly “and all that playboy stuff, even after it was clear he had legitimate reasons to be missing social events.”
“So, Operation Trust Buck,” Hen asked
“Operation Trust Buck” Chim and Hen said
"what do you mean he has the most certifications on the team" Chim asked
"he has like 6 of the 7 national certifications, not to mention city/state certifications, the only thing he isn't is an EMT and he is working towards that one too" Bobby said.
Chapter 4: Edmundo Diaz
Summary:
Buck's married?!!??!!?
Chapter Text
Edmundo Diaz
Buck was cleaning the engine. They had gotten a call about some trapped hikers. The rescue went off without a hitch, but the engines got caked in mud. The mud seemed never-ending, He sprayed it down and it seemed like more just appeared. Buck checked the hose to see if it had any dirt down in it, but it looked clean.
“Hey Buck, there are some men here to see you” Bobby called out his voice sounding distorted and distant. Buck put the hose down and was in front of two men dressed in Army fatigues. “Evan Diaz,” they said, and then the sound cut out, one of the men handed Buck a set of burned dog tags. Buck fell to his knees or tried to; someone was holding him upright. ‘No’ Buck thought ‘No, no, no,’
Buck woke up with tears running down his face and a sob caught in his throat. Dreams like that are becoming more frequent the longer Eddie is radio silent. It’s been three weeks since Buck has heard anything from him. Its not strange, Buck and Eddie had been out of contact for much longer than three weeks, but that was because Buck was on a mission, not Eddie. Buck doesn’t like being on the receiving end of this. Buck sat up in bed and grabbed the wedding rings off the bedside table where he placed them last night. Buck was feeling vulnerable late last night so he grabbed his and Eddies fancy rings from the firebox. They were a simple yet elegant design. His was a black tungsten ring with a brushed metal finish and a band of gold running down the middle, Eddies was the inverse of that. They didn’t wear these rings often. With the jobs they had, it was downright stupid to wear tungsten rings. They still wanted people to know they were married, so a small internet rabbit hole later they found silicon rings existed. They got a kick out of finding a variety pack of them to wear on deployment. Buck was on his last 3. At the start of Eddies most recent deployment, he still had all 7.
Buck slipped on his fancy ring and got lost in the memory of his wedding day.
They were getting married in El Paso. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment wedding, but it was a little more rushed than they planned because Buck and his team just got a notice that they were shipping out in 2 days, and they decided they didn’t want to wait the minimum of 18 months it was going to be before they were both back in the states to get married. Buck’s side of the aisle was pretty barren but Richards, Sayre, Owen, and Haley were there all in their dress blues. Eddie’s side of the aisle was practically overflowing with his mom and dad, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Buck suggested letting them sit anywhere because they are all family but Abuela insisted on doing it the traditional way. Steve agreed to officiate for them and Eddie’s one year old son, soon to be their son, was going to be the ring bearer.
Buck and Eddie stood together on the altar and pledged to each other to love and cherish each other and each moment that they had together. They vowed to honor each other and the sacrifices they make to be together and still so far apart. They promised each other happiness and support. When they kissed the four SEALs hooped and hollered louder than all of Eddie’s side.
Buck leaned in close and whispered “Our house is going to have an infestation problem”
“Why did I agree to hitch myself in with 6 crazy SEALs? My whole platoon said I was insane”
“You’re kind of stuck with me now,” Buck said with a smile, twisting the ring on his finger
“I wouldn’t want it any other way, Mi Corazon”
The rest of the night was spent filled with love, and laughter. Steve handed Buck a beer.
“You know the rule,” Steve said
“JUST ONE” all the other SEALs shouted out. And if Buck snuck an extra half a beer no one bothered to mention it, it was his wedding after all.
More tears fell from Bucks's eyes. He needed to talk to someone just so he could get out of his own head for a little bit. He picked up the phone and dialed Sayre, they were the only other one crazy enough to also marry someone in the armed forces. They were married to a marine, so they would understand what Buck was going through.
“Hey Kid” Sayre picked up on the third ring.
“Hey Sayre,” Buck said.
“What’s on your mind”
“Eddie, it’s been weeks since I last spoke to him, and I feel like I’m going crazy.” Buck started “I know 3 weeks isn’t even close to how long we’ve gone without contact but”
“But it’s different not being the one in the field” Sayre finished Buck’s sentence.
“Yes,” Buck said.
“You’re going to hate what I’ve got to say kid, but it's not going to get easier,” Sayre said “The waiting, the unknown. It always sucks all of the time. It’s like of like when we got to a base, and we knew a mission was coming down the pipe but they wouldn’t tell us what it was. Only a million times worse.”
“A million times worse is right” Buck replied. Sayre started telling Buck a story about her crazy marine and what they and their buddies did when Sayre mentioned needed a new faucet in the guest bathroom.
“We needed to refloor the entire downstairs Buck” Sayre said through gasp and laughter. “I was pissed when I got home but now it’s just hilarious and I have a gorgeous bathroom.”
“That reminds me of how Eddie’s parents got a brand-new kitchen,” Buck said and began to regale Sayre on the time Eddie tried to bake a cake.
“The batter was everywhere, and it was like concrete,” Buck said, “I went to get it off the tile and I pulled the tile up!” Buck said laughing. The two of them shared stories until Buck could see the sun start to peek through the curtains.
Feeling better, but still a little sentimental, Buck grabbed one of his silicon rings and slipped it on his dog tags. He knew he risked people spotting it and asking questions he wasn’t nearly prepared to answer but he didn’t care. He needed his husband’s strength to get him through today.
Buck got to the station and made his way to the loft. He made a cup of coffee and forewent his usual instead opting for 2 sugars and a splash of creamer. He sat at the table and was so lost in thought he didn’t notice Hen or Chim sit down next to him.
“Hey man,” Hen started “Karen wants to set up another playdate with the boys, she found this expanding technology expo and there is apparently a lot of hands-on interaction that she thought the boys would like.”
“Um maybe, I’ll talk to Chris,” Buck said distractedly. Hen and Chim tried a few more questions but Buck just wasn’t paying attention. They both soon left him alone to stew in his own thoughts.
The bell rang. Hen and Chim looked at Buck concerned he hadn’t been present all morning and they were concerned about him being distracted on a call but that proved not to be much of a concern. It was like a flip switch in Buck, he was calm and focused on the whole call. But as soon as they were back in the station it was like the fog settled over him once again. Both Chim and Hen noticed him fiddling with something under his shirt.
“Hey man is everything good with your team” Hen asked. Buck looked up startled
“Yes,” Buck said rather harshly “As far as I know, why” his tone morphed into suspicious
“you’ve just seemed distracted today and you keep touching your tags,” Hen said. “Are you going to see them soon”
“Yeah, next weekend,” Buck said.
“You want to tell me about them?”
“The SEALs were founded in 1962 and conduct small unit military operations …” Buck continued to give Hen the history of the SEALs. As far as deflection and redirection go this was one of his more obvious attempts. Hen gives it to him though.
Chim and Hen are alone in the loft. “Is Buck getting worse at deflecting or are we just getting more in tune with him and can tell when something is off with him.” Asked Hen
“Or he as always sucked at it, and we are even more distractable them he is” Chim rebutted
“I’m going with the option that makes us seem smarter,” said Hen. Chim nodded in agreement.
At Buck’s house
Buck was lying in bed. He was on his side facing Eddie’s empty spot. The emptiness of the bed has never been this hard and he feels silly for being so dramatic. Most, scratch that, all of their relationship one or both of them have been deployed. Long stretches of no contact are completely normal in their relationship.
He picks up his phone and calls Steve.
“What’s up Kid” Steve answers the phone after a few rings.
“I feel like I am going crazy” Buck responded.
“How so”
“Eddie has been incommunicado for like 3 weeks, and Sayre said the feelings don’t go away and I know we have gone longer without talking but something feels wrong Steve.” Buck ranted out. “I don’t know what, but I just feel like something bad has happened and I can’t do anything.”
“Well, Sayre is correct in that the worry always persists. It comes with the territory of loving someone. And yes, sometimes the silence is louder than other times and it feels off. Your instincts are not usually off kid, but until you know try to believe that no news is good news.” Steve and Buck talk for a while longer before realizing its 3 am and he needs to take Chris to school in just a few hours. Buck doesn’t feel less uneasy, but he does feel more at peace with the uneasiness of the situation. He falls into a dreamless sleep until Chris wakes him up asking for shakshuka.
It takes 3 more days before his cell phone rings in the middle of the night. Blindly Buck reaches for the offending device, one glace at the phone and he is jolted into full consciousness as he swipes to answer the phone. Eddies face fills his screen.
“Hey,” Eddie says
“Hi,” Buck says a little dumbstruck just seeing his husband. They take a moment happy to just see each other. “What happened Eddie?”
“Where you worried about me,” Eddie says jokingly. Buck levels him with a half-hearted glare
“I always worry about you,” Buck said simply.
“Mi Corazon” Eddie said “I’m fine, the mission was a success, but my phone got damaged. It took 3 weeks to get a replacement, and the signal here is so bad it took 3 days for the phone to back up.” Eddie explained.
“That’s all,” Buck asked a little annoyed. “You didn’t think to shoot off an email or use someone else’s phone. I thought you died!”
“Why would you think I died after only 3 weeks”
“I don’t know” Buck deflates a little “This whole stretch of silence has felt off, like you were hurt or dead and I couldn’t do anything about it.”
“Oh” Eddie said “Now, don’t be mad”
“What did you do”
“Well you would call it being lightly shot” Eddie started “The medics called it getting shot, but it really is just a graze”
“You got shot”
“Grazed”
“What happened” Buck said in a tone that left no wiggle room for Eddie.
“It was how the phone got damaged.” Eddie began to tell Buck “A stray bullet hit the pocket I keep the phone in. I also got nicked in the outside of my upper thigh. I didn’t even need stiches. Honesty, Mi Corazon, I am okay.” Buck released the breath he was holding. They talked for a few more minutes before Buck got out of bed. “Where are we going?” Buck didn’t answer as he padded through the dark house.
“you’ll see” Buck hummed. He eased open the door and walked quietly over to the small bed. He gently woke up Chris. “Hey superman,” he said handing Chris his glasses “Someone wants to say hi” Buck flipped the phone around showing Eddie to Chris.
“Papi!” Chris cried out.
“Hi superman” Chris and Eddie talked for a few minutes, but it was clear that Chris was still tired. He was asleep before Buck fully eased him back into a prone position. Buck gently removed his glasses and stepped back out of the room.
“Thank you” Eddie said. They hung up shortly and Buck fell into the most peaceful sleep he had had in 3 weeks.
At the Fire Station
Everyone could tell something had changed for Buck when he got into the station for his shift the next morning. He was lighter. The bell rang pretty much as soon as the shift started and so no one was able to ask him about it.
It was a stupid move, Buck knew that. Buck also knew that time was of the essence in a case like this. The car was dangling off the edge of the bridge. One kid was still stuck inside, his car seat buckle jammed, the hooks they put around the car to stabilize it were failing as more of the bridge collapsed. They needed to move the truck back to more stable ground, so Buck did what he needed to, he unhooked his harness, grabbed the rope coiling around his body, and went back to the car with the clearly terrified child. He just grabbed the whole car seat and ran back with it. The bridge was collapsing and Buck felt his footing come loose, before the fell he gave the car seat a chuck to solid ground.
The fall was short, he managed to grab an exposed piece of rebar and was dangling. He shimmied the rope from his body and secured it to the underside of the bridge. He took a moment to take stock of himself, the bridges state, and just the situation in general. Thankfully it seemed like the remaining bridge is stable, the failure was contained to one section of the bridge. The bridge is about 50 feet in the air, and he has about 75 feet of rope. While he didn’t have all of his climbing equipment he was thankful that he kept a few clips, cams, and other useful pieces of gear with his turnouts. He soon had a functional belaying system set up and was able to self-belay down to the ground.
They got back to the station in time for lunch.
“Buck” Bobby called out.
“I know it was a stupid, boneheaded move, but” Buck started.
Bobby cut him off “It was a good call.”
“It, I, What” Buck sputtered.
“It was a good call, and you executed it well” Buck just stood there a little shell-shocked. Bobby started going up the stairs, “Come on, Buck, I need help with lunch, you can be my Sous today”
TIME SKIP (7 months)
The Probie was officially a fully-fledged firefighter. At least if the cake and the party were anything to go by.
“Does this mean you’ll actually start calling me by my name?” The not-Probie asked.
“Which is what?” Buck asked, straight-faced.
“You don’t” not-Probie started but Buck couldn’t hold it in and started laughing. “Yeah Josh, I guess you’re not Probie anymore” Josh looked relieved and started laughing too. It was then that the bell rang, and everyone sprung into action.
The apartment fire was on its way to being contained by the 169 when the 118 pulled in.
“We’ve got it contained to the lower floors” the IC started to explain “But we got 6 unaccounted for persons between the 6th and 10th floor. Stairs on the 2nd and 3rd floor are collapsed so we need your ladder to make entry on the 6th floor. We are going to send it 4 teams of 2, one for each floor so we can evacuate quickly before the rest of the building collapses.” They got the truck in position and soon were in the inferno. Buck and Harris made their way up to the 10th floor. The flames hadn’t reached up that high yet, but the black smoke was thick. They located the two missing persons and evacuated the building with no issues. The fire was put out and everyone packed it up and they headed back to the station.
They got back to the station, and everyone was really for a shower and some lunch. Not-Probie Josh was on kitchen duty, so he went up to start cooking while everyone went to clean up. Showers were finished long before lunch so everyone was just milling around, some downstairs cleaning or restocking the trucks. Buck and Hen found themselves upstairs with nothing to do, so they started playing the firetruck simulator.
“Can I help you sir” one of the floater’s voice floated over the din of the station.
“yeah, I’m looking for” a strange voice started and before it could finish Buck was on his feet. He vaulted over the couch and sprinted to the staircase, jumping over the railing when he was halfway down because it was faster. He stopped about 50 feet from the stranger and just stared for a moment before he breathed out “Eddie”, both men started moving towards each other. Eddie dropped his bag and they embraced each other so tightly it was hard to tell where one man started and the other began.
While they were lost in their own world, everyone took stock of the scene unfolding in front of them, the stranger had a darker complexion than Buck and was a bit shorter than Buck and stockier. While Buck’s muscle was lean this man had muscles that looked like they could crush a watermelon. Buck and the stranger separated but they were still touching each other. They were talking to each other, but no one could hear them.
“That is a beautiful man,” Chim said, Not-probie hummed in agreement while Hen claimed an inability to disagree despite her own queerness. In front of them, the two men kissed. It was passionate, and a little desperate. Chim went wide-eyed, While Hen and Josh shared a knowing look.
“Buck” Bobby called out, breaking the silence, and pulling Buck out of his own world. “Care to introduce us?” he asked.
“ohh yeah, ummm this is Eddie” Buck said, Bobby raised his eyebrows expectantly “My husband” Buck finished a little sheepishly. And if that didn’t shock everyone nothing would.
“Would Eddie like to stay for lunch?” Bobby asked
“I would love to,” Eddie said ignoring the withering glare that Buck was giving him, and followed everyone upstairs. Not-Probie was back in the kitchen finishing up the spring rolls, and everyone took a seat at the table.
“So Eddie,” Hen started “How did you two meet?” Eddie chuckled while Buck flushed in embarrassment at the memory.
“No, you son of a bitch. I don’t need, gah, stop, I don’t need” a voice was protesting while being shoved none too gracefully into the medical tent. A tall man took stock of the tent and started dragging a slightly smaller man over to the only free medic, who happened to be Eddie.
“Sit” the man ordered. The slightly smaller man just crossed his arms defiantly. The ensuing stare-down took about 5 minutes and finally, the slightly smaller (and much younger) man sat down.
“So, what’s going on” Eddie asked, a glare from the larger man had the other talking albeit reluctantly.
“I just need some antibiotics”
“Motherfucker” the larger man whispered before speaking in a louder voice “Little shit got shot” Eddie looked at the other in surprise.
“Lightly, and it's fine”
“Kid, I swear to god” the larger man started, both started staring each other down looking like they might come to blows.
Before that could happen, Eddie interjected “Maybe I could take a look, devise a plan, and look at getting you out as soon as possible” The smaller man, Kid, just shrugged and took off his jacket. Eddie got a look at the wound, a pretty deep slice through his arm, and while technically yes, a graze it was teetering on the very edge of that definition. It was also stitched up well but clearly infected.
“We just got back to base; we were not in a place to keep it super clean,” Kid said.
“Well, it needs to be irrigated to clear out the infection. I’ll likely need to remove the stitches to really clean it out thoroughly, then I can restitch, get you some antibiotics, and send you on your way.” Eddie said.
“Just the antibiotics,” Kid said. “I can do that other stuff later”
“I didn’t realize you were a medic too,” Eddie said
“He’s not,” The larger man said, “He just doesn’t let anyone he doesn’t know touch him, especially when he’s hurt and stubborn.”
“Steve” Kid hissed.
“Well, how about this, you can clean it but you do it here so I can make sure it all gets cleared out,” Eddie said trying to compromise.
“fine” and with that Eddie left to get an irrigation bottle, stitch kit, and antibiotics.
“no, no,” Eddie said exasperated “you need to tip it up” Eddie reached to guide Kid's hand and just barely made contact with it, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe.
Steve was in front of him suddenly “Your breath will return in a second, you got punched in the throat, your good” Eddie took a shuddering breath.
“No touching got it,” Eddie said and sat back down. “Seriously though you need to tip that bottle up to get the rest of that infection out.”
Soon the infection was all cleared out and Kid was stitching the wound back up. “It’s passable, I could have done better,” Eddie said, smirking slightly feeling the need to give Kid just a little shit. “I’ve got an antibiotic injection; it will stay in your system for 14 days. If the infection doesn’t clear up in that time or comes back after 14 days you need to come back for a different round of antibiotics.” Eddie said “This needs to go in a vein”
Kid glared at Eddie before passing his arm over. Thankfully, he had exceptionally good veins and it was a very short time that Eddie manhandled him.
The next three times Kid, or as he later learned Evan/Buck, got hurt (badly enough to need a medic) he would only see Eddie and slowly allowed him to do his job rather than just walking Buck through it.
“The throat punch was really unexpected!” Eddie chuckled after telling the team of their very first encounter. The rest of lunch went well and everyone loved learning a little more about Buck. Lunch ended and Buck started clearing the table of dishes. Bobby joined him and the sink and took over washing, surprising Buck.
“Go home,” Bobby said.
“Huh”
“Go be with your husband. I know you want to. I already approved it for the rest of the week.”
“Thanks, Bobby,” Buck said. The two men walked, shoulders touching out of the fire station.
Buck and Eddie surprised Chris at home, once he got out of school. They had an amazing evening of movies and couch cuddles. Eddies exhaustion from the 36 hours of traveling was clear and they soon retired to bed.
“I can’t believe you're discharged,” Buck said.
“Me either if I am being honest, I know the helicopter crash was bad, but they discharged everyone involved, even Bex who wasn’t hurt at all.”
“I’m just glad you here to stay,” Buck said tucking into his husband's warmth.
They had 2 blissful days before Buck’s cell phone rang. “Steve,” he said.
“We are getting recalled for a mission” Steve’s voice came through the phone. “We all need to be at Coronado in 36 hours, plane is in the air in 48.” Buck just nodded and then remembering Steve couldn’t see Buck he said “Roger” and hung up.
Three months later
“Alright,” Steve said “This is our last target; we take him out and we go home” The other 5 cheered. Steve went over the plan again, and they moved out under the cover of darkness. 15 hours later the target was lined up in Bucks crosshairs.
“you are clear to take the shot” A breath later and Haley was confirming the target was down, and just a moment later Richards was confirming the kill.
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