Chapter Text
Buck 0.1, The Runaway
Maddie Buckley (not Kendall, not anymore, never again) stares down at her phone in disbelief when she sees a familiar figure through her doorbell's camera feed.
"Hey, yo, Maddie! Hey! Heeeyyy!!!"
There's a bright, eager grin on his face while he bounces in front of her complex's front gate with excited anticipation. He has a stuffed backpack slung over one shoulder and his phone in hand, and when Maddie doesn't immediately react to his grand entrance his movement slows as his smile falls and his brows furrow in confusion. He looks down at his phone screen, arches back to check the numerous addresses and doorbell cameras positioned next to the secured entryway, then stares at his phone again.
He mutters something about pushing the wrong button while he leans towards the camera, close enough that his face distorts comically in the new perspective. He squints into the lens and lifts a finger to ring the bell a second time just as Maddie finally comes to her senses.
"Evan," she calls. He startles back, jumping from the unexpected voice coming through the comm before him. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
Evan Buckley, unperturbed by her blunt question, beams at her through the one way camera. His blue eyes sparkle with childlike glee when he lifts his arms and shouts, "surprise, sis!!!"
-_-
Maddie last saw her kid brother three months ago on a whim that took her all the way across the country to a town she'd grown up in and long abandoned.
After nearly four years of barely any communication, of keeping her distance under the guise of living a normal, busy adult life—first to prove to her parents that she could make it on her own, then to hide the horrors of her marriage from them—she decided to take the chance and return to Hershey, PA for a surprise visit.
"…Evan…Buckley…"
Maddie had smiled with proud tears in her eyes when her baby brother, suddenly a gangly giant of a teenager, shuffled on stage to a smattering of polite, albeit indifferent applause. She put her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle before screaming his name as loud as she could from the edge of the crowd. Her voice carried across the high school football field where the graduation ceremony was being held despite the unseasonable June chill and drizzling rain.
Evan beamed when he spotted her under her colorful umbrella and waved his newly acquired diploma in her direction. She laughed and waved right back, still cheering for him even while the next graduate was called up on stage.
She had never intended to stay for the entire too long ceremony in that dismal weather, and she certainly hadn't expected him to seek her out before she could duck away.
"I can't believe you're really here!" Evan greeted her with a loving embrace in arms that were strong enough to lift her off her feet and spin her around.
"Of course I am," she said once the spinning stopped and she was returned to solid ground. "I wasn't going to believe you actually graduated high school unless I saw it happen for myself."
He rolled his eyes at her playful teasing with the wide grin still on his face. "Well, I've got the paperwork now to prove it," he told her, gesturing with his rolled up, sopping wet diploma. "See? It's totally legit!"
"Until it melts in all this rain." She lifted her umbrella, needing to stretch her arm high above her head so he could hunch underneath the cover with her. "Where's mom and dad?" she had asked, only so she could avoid them. "I didn't see them in the stands."
Evan's grin fell a fraction. "Oh, they…they're not here."
"'Not here,'" Maddie repeated incredulously, temper rising. "They seriously couldn't suck it up in the rain for a couple hours?!"
"I don't think they even know it's raining," he said with an indifferent shrug. "They're in, like, Europe or something. Pretty sure dad had to go to a work thing that they turned into vacation. They'll be back next month. …I think? I dunno."
Maddie's blood boiled on his behalf. "I cannot believe them," she growled. "It's your graduation and they couldn't even be bothered to—"
Evan took her by the shoulders, grounding her before she could let her anger get the best of her. "Hey, it's cool, Maddie, it's fine, really," he assured her. "I mean, 's not like they ever showed up for important stuff before, not even your wedding, right? Besides, it's always waaay better when they're not around. Mom's been…sh-she's just been a lot since you left."
Maddie frowned, not sure what he meant by the comment exactly and not caring for the overall implication that their parents leaving him alone wasn't an abnormal occurrence. The Buckley parents had always been emotionally distant, but at least they were physically around when she and Evan were kids.
"Who needs 'em, right? I sure don't," Evan continued with a grin. "I'm just really glad you're back now, Maddie, 'cause we have got some serious catching up to do."
She shot him a forced, tight lipped smile that she hoped he couldn't see through.
Evan was the one person she had reached out to from California after she was settled, and even then it was only to give him her new address after swearing him to secrecy. She'd missed the cards he used to mail to her, the simple little joys she received at the hospital she'd worked at in Boston.
But Maddie's little brother didn't know what happened between her and Doug, would hopefully never know the circumstances that led to her finally leaving her husband and moving across the country. It's always been her duty as a big sister to protect him from painful family secrets, after all.
"Yeah," she eventually said. "We definitely do."
"Great!" he cheered, then unceremoniously ripped away his graduation gown and balled it up with his cap. He'd been wearing tattered jeans and a t-shirt underneath that Maddie was sure wasn't the recommended ceremonial attire. "Diner?"
He grinned at her, a familiar glowing smile that was as contagious then as it was when he'd been an over excited little boy constantly seeking her companionship in lieu of their negligent parents'.
"Diner," she confirmed with a smirk of her own. "That's the one thing I really miss from out here. Besides you, of course," she quickly added in response to his exaggerated pout.
"What, there's no good diner food in the sunshine state?"
"That's Florida, Evan."
"But they've got sun like twenty-four-seven out in Cali too, right?" He looked up at the cloudy grey sky and blinked against the steady rain. "Sounds nice."
"It is nice," she'd said, her smile no longer meeting her eyes. "Nicer than here or Boston ever was."
He stared at her for a long moment, his own smile falling when he read into her forlorn expression. She could tell that he could tell that something wasn't copacetic with her abrupt move west, but that he also knew better than to ask and potentially bring up unwanted drama during their first real meeting in years.
So, in perfect Evan fashion he masked his concern with a wide grin then held his arm out chivalrously so she could hook hers around his elbow.
"Diner it is," he told her. "But you'll have to drive, my ride won't hold us both."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't tell me you took your bike here. For your own graduation. In the rain."
"Sure did," he confirmed all too cheerfully. "It's not like I have a car, and I think we both know mom and dad woulda killed me if I touched one of theirs while they're away."
Maddie couldn't exactly argue with that.
"Whoa, this is yours?!" Evan called when they approached her grey Jeep, the only car with a California plate in lot full of Pennsylvanians. He circled the vehicle, whistling as he took it in. "Sweet ride, Mads!"
The Jeep was an older model Wrangler that she'd gotten for a steal with the help of a friend at a police impound auction. The car was scratched and dinged and had an undoubtedly shady past, but it ran just fine.
"Glad you like it," she said playfully while he continued his inspection, looking thoroughly impressed. "Get in, kid, I'm starving."
The Buckley siblings ended up in a familiar diner from their childhood and ordered burgers and milkshakes that they dipped each other's fries into while they laughed like they were kids again. They stayed there for hours, until eventually Maddie knew she couldn't safely stick around any longer.
She decided to leave Evan with her Jeep, a fact that had him nearly falling out of his seat in shock. She wouldn't need it to get her back to California. She'd taken public transportation all the way across the country once, she was confident she could do it again.
She told Evan the car was an intended early birthday slash graduation gift, along with her original, last minute present—a few twenties tucked inside of a cheesy card that played a tinny version of "Pomp and Circumstance" when it was opened. He'd been just as thrilled by the novelty card, opening and closing it in such quick succession that she was sure the melody would burn out before he even got it home.
"Thanks, Maddie," he told her genuinely. "But this…this is all…I mean, you didn't even have to give me anything. You just being back home is the best gift I coulda gotten."
She would never forget the moment she saw his heart break, when he registered the guilty look on her face and his sweet smile fell. She didn't even need to say anything for him to read her thoughts, she rarely ever did.
"Y-you…you're not staying, are you?"
Tears welled in her eyes but she blinked them back. "I can't."
He looked crestfallen for all of a second before the sparkle lit in his eyes again. "Then I'll just go with you! Back to California or whatever!"
"Evan…"
"Seriously, Maddie, it's gonna be great," he exclaimed. "It'll be you and me again, just like old times! No mom or dad or—"
"No, Evan," she'd snapped, her tone coming out sharper than she meant it to. He shrank back, eyes wide and lower lip quivering. She took a deep, calming breath through her nose to course correct when she continued in a softer voice, "tell you what, I'll get you a plane ticket so you can visit for the holiday break, okay? We'll spend Christmas together, like we used to."
"Why can't I just go with you now?" he asked, his voice small.
It pained her to see him so upset, it always had. But she'd only just gotten used to her new life in California. Her job as a dispatcher was the perfect new career for her, she'd gotten a beautiful apartment in a safe building, and she had made some amazing new friends, but none of that changed the fact that even after being out of Doug's reach for six months she was still looking over her shoulder and jumping at shadows everywhere she went.
Maddie couldn't expose Evan to that kind of life, not until she was absolutely positive that she'd found some stable ground to settle on. She was running in search of space, a distance from everything and everyone in her past, even if that regretfully included her baby brother.
Instead she'd told herself that Evan needed to find his own way in the world, just like she did. He needed to go to college, get a job, and get out from under their parents' roof all on his own.
Hopefully he wouldn't find a Doug at nineteen and completely derail his life before it could even begin like she did.
"Because you need to at least give school a try first," she eventually reasoned. "It's part of growing up. You'll find your path without me, I know you will. You just need to figure that out for yourself. Okay?"
"B-but—"
"Okay?!"
He swallowed hard and slumped. "Okay, yeah, I…I get it," he muttered unconvincingly.
"Hey." She held out her pinkie for him and his mouth quirked into a hint of his usual bright smile. "The rest of the year will fly by. You'll become a big shot college smarty pants and it'll be Christmas break before you know it."
"Thanks, Maddie." He shook her pinkie then wrapped his long arms around her for another big hug. "I love you."
"I love you too, Evan."
She left him with the keys for her Jeep and got on the first available bus headed west. When she was eventually back in L.A. she made a point to save up over the summer and picked out a round trip flight for him in early September, knowing it was best to book well ahead of time and not risk the airlines selling out closer to the holidays. She texted him the information and explicitly reminded him that he should keep everything between them a secret, even from their parents. Especially from their parents.
Evan promised that he would with a ridiculous amount of exclamation points and hug emojis.
Not long after that she received a post card in the mail, one featuring the Comet, Hershey Park's oldest roller coaster. Can't wait to see you, Mads, the simple message read in his bubbly handwriting. Love you lots!
She had grinned and added the card to her collection, never thinking that he would show up at her apartment only a week later.
-_-
Maddie finally buzzes him in through the front gate and meets him at her open door. She makes a point to stand in the entryway and raises a stern hand to stop him when he automatically moves to hug her. He flops his arms down with a pout when she leaves him standing just outside of the threshold.
"You are very early," she tells him. "Like, obnoxiously early. Three months early."
"Yeah, I know, I know," he says with a sheepish shrug. He can barely meet her eye when he adds, "I just wanted to surprise you, kinda like how you surprised me before, so…surprise, here I am!!!"
"I can see that," she drawls. "I'm just wondering how you're here, and why you're here on a school night."
"Oh, well, see, I figured those plane tickets you got me would be worth, like, a lot of money on accounta they were for holiday times, so I pawned them and came now instead. To surprise you! Surprise!!!"
Maddie is not impressed by the explanation, nor his clear avoidance of the school night comment. She sighs heavily. "I wish you'd told me you were coming, I could've at least picked you up from the airport!"
He grimaces. "Actually the…uh, the thing is I didn't exactly fly here."
"God, Evan, don't tell me you—"
"Drove across the country in your Jeep?" he quickly finishes for her. "'Cause that's exactly what I did! I mean, that's what you did, right? I just figured if the Jeep made it all that way once, it can probably do it again. Plus I've never really been away from home before so I wanted to make it a road trip and camp out and see the sights and stuff. I mean, Maddie, it was so sick, there's waaay more stars out in the desert than back home. Isn't that crazy? Like, it's technically the same sky, right?! I thought it was pretty crazy…"
He rambles on while the vein in Maddie's temple pulses. She doesn't know if she's furious at him for showing up at her home unannounced despite their already established plans or just terrified over the notion of what might have happened to her reckless and accident prone baby brother along the way. She pictures him parking his Jeep on the side of the road in some desert for the night, stargazing while oblivious to all of the very terrible things that can happen to him as a teenager out on his own for the first time.
"…And I used the plane ticket funds for gas and food so no worries there," he continues when she doesn't say anything. "But holy crap is everything waaay more expensive in California, I dunno how you live out here, you must be, like, a gajillionaire now. I didn't even know nurses could make that much, that's pretty cool. Right, Maddie? …M-Maddie?"
She purses her lips and shakes her head. She says nothing while she returns her glare to the phone in her hands and pulls up her contacts.
"Uhhh, what're you doing?" he asks.
"Calling mom and dad," she answers bluntly, even though they are the last people she wants to talk to.
Maddie's just about to hit the call button and put the device to her ear when Evan snatches it out of her hand. The move is so unexpectedly aggressive that she startles back a step. He flinches just as hard, looking devastated by her reaction.
"S-sorry, sorry, I-I-I'm sorry," he tells her breathlessly in a cracking voice. He holds the phone back out to her with a shaking hand. The contact for their parents is still there on the screen, waiting to be dialed. "Just please don't call them."
She takes the phone back but doesn't use it. "You're barely eighteen, they need to know you ran away from home."
"They really don't," he blurts. "Not like they give a shit anyways."
Maddie's frown intensifies. "Evan—"
"Maddie, seriously, if you tell on me then they'll be super pissed and it'll be a whole thing and I really, really don't want to deal with that right now, okay? I swear I-I'll text them later and let them know I'm okay. Just please don't call them. Please."
Any excitement he'd had for being there is gone, leaving his face pale and drawn and his wide eyes shining. Her brother's never been good at concealing his emotions, and right now he looks a little too much like she felt when Doug first started to show his true colors back in Boston. Evan looks terrified.
Maddie shakes her head of the thought. She needs to talk to her brother, and her parents, and figure out a way for them to finally air the Buckley family's ever growing pile of dirty laundry. But how she'll manage that is a mystery she's not about to solve anytime soon, not while Evan's expressive face is doing his best sad puppy impression.
"Fine," she eventually gives in with a groan, and he slumps with relief. "I just can't believe you thought driving across the whole freaking country by yourself was a good idea."
The smirk is back on his face when he says, "guess I figured, hey, I was gonna go see my big sis Maddie who I love very very much for Christmas time anyway, so why not surprise her early and stick around? I mean, we did pinkie promise on it, you can't take it back now, that'd be extremely uncool of you."
"Yeah, except you're forgetting that I promised you could visit, not stay," she reminds him. "And what happened to giving college a try, I thought you were going to County?"
"I, uh, kinda dropped out?" She levels him a look and he winces. "Or technically never started. All my friends went away to like Philly or wherever and I bankrolled one too many parties over the summer instead of saving for tuition," he admits with a humorless chuckle. "Don't tell mom and dad."
There is so much to unpack here, but all Maddie can do is pinch the bridge of her nose and let out a frustrated exhale. "Damnit, Evan…"
"But this'll be a temporary thing, promise," he's quick to assure her. He holds out a pinkie, an unspoken request he knows she will never refuse. "I'll find my own path, like you said, it'll just be from out here instead of back home."
She sighs heavily but doesn't hesitate to entwine her finger with his. "I really wish you'd've at least told me you were coming first."
Evan grins wide. "Where's the fun in that?"
She rolls her eyes and finally disentangles their pinkies so she can gesture him inside. He only steps far enough to pull her into a one of his big, gentle bear hugs.
"Thanks, Maddie," he says softly into her hair. "Love you lots."
She squeezes him right back. "Yeah, yeah," she mutters. "I love you too, kid."
They hold each other for a long, heartfelt moment until—
"Uh, hey," a voice says, making them both jump. "Feel free to keep pretending I'm not even here, 'cause it's not like that's weird or anything…"
Chimney is staring between the Buckleys from where he sits on Maddie's couch, slowly munching on popcorn. He looks torn between being enthralled by the real life drama that's been enfolding before him and debating whether or not he should attempt to leap out of a window while he still can.
Maddie groans. As nice as the couple's movie night had started out, she can't deny that the evening is ruined thanks to the untimely appearance of her cock blocking baby brother.
She takes a deep, calming breath. "Evan, this is Howard Han," she says, looking from her brother to Chimney. "My…boyfriend."
She realizes after the words leave her lips that she's saying it for the very first time. Chimney beams with loving pride and she smiles softly back.
Evan does a double take, his eyes widening. "Holy shit, this is so awesome, Mads! It's for real, no more Doug?!"
She shakes her head. She has no idea how he knows about her leaving her husband exactly, but at least she can tell by his reaction that he doesn't suspect the ghastly reasoning behind her move.
"It's for real," she confirms, "no more Doug."
"Definitely no more Doug." Chimney pops up from his seat, taking her introduction as the invitation he needed to stay. "And you can call me Chimney," he tells Evan with an outstretched hand.
Evan shakes Chimney's hand even while he cocks his head, brow furrowing in confusion. "…Why?"
Chimney's eyes dart to Maddie and she firmly shakes her head. "It's a long story," he says. "You don't even wanna know."
"Um, 'kaaay," Evan drawls. "Then you can call me Buck."
Maddie raises an eyebrow at her brother. "'Buck'?"
Evan—Buck—stands proud and ignores her incredulous tone. "Yeah," he confirms. "I go by Buck now. That's my thing."
"Since when?" Maddie scoffs.
"Since there were like a ton of other Evans in school. And Buck just sounds way cooler."
Chimney looks between the two, grin widening. "I guess that makes Maddie a Buckette, huh? Huuuhhh?!"
Maddie is not amused and does not rise to his bait. Buck, on the other hand, laughs out loud and claps Chimney on the shoulder hard enough to nearly knock the smaller man over. "I like this guy already, Mads!"
"And I am so glad you approve," she tells him sarcastically, though deep down her brother's endorsement means everything to her. If only she'd listened to him when he'd been a little kid whining about how much he didn't like Doug the first time she introduced her then boyfriend to her family all those years ago.
"How'd you guys meet?" Buck asks.
"On the job, sort of," Chimney answers.
"No way, are you a nurse too?!"
Maddie shakes her head for the both of them. "I'm not a nurse anymore," she tells her brother. "I work as a dispatcher."
Buck blinks at her. "A what now?"
"I answer 9-1-1 calls."
"Oh. That sounds not very fun."
"Sometimes it's not," she admits, "but it feels good to still be able to help people, I'm just not as hands on as I used to be."
"Sooo, basically what you're saying is you thought you figured out what you wanted to do in Boston, but then you moved across the country and found something else that's even better, and you probably wish you'd come out here and found this other path sooner instead of wasting so much time on the first one, riiight?"
Buck looks smug when he says it and she knows that any argument she might have still had for him going home is officially off the table.
"Yeah," she eventually sighs, "that sounds about right."
Buck beams, satisfied with her answer, then all of his attention is back on Chimney. "You're a 9-1-1 guy too?"
Chimney shrugs. "I mean, when you put it like that…"
"Chimney's a firefighter," Maddie explains for him. "He's one of the first responders that I send calls to."
"No way, you're a firefighter?!" Buck exclaims. "That's awesome!"
"Paramedic technically," Chimney corrects. "And yes, it is very awesome."
"Mhmm, and you should probably get home," Maddie says pointedly, "so you can get some rest before your next awesome shift."
"Nah, I don't—" She shoots him a look. "—Yeah, uh, actually that's a good idea. I should. Get some rest, I mean. Long day tomorrow."
"Great! I'll walk you out," she says quickly as she grabs Chimney's arm.
Buck opens his mouth to respond with his farewells but she's already yanking Chimney outside and closing the door behind them before he can.
"There's another Buckley, huh?" Chimney comments while she leads him across the dark courtyard. "That's fun."
"I am so so so sorry," she says the moment they're alone and definitely out of ear shot. "He's not supposed to be here until December, I had no idea he was going to just show up like that! I cannot believe he just showed up like that."
"Hey, Maddie, it's alright, I get it," Chimney assures her. He takes her hands in his and gives her a gentle, comforting squeeze. "Trust me, I've got a kid brother like half my age that I've never even met in person, and if he randomly appeared on my doorstep one day I'd be weirded out, sure, but not enough to turn him away when he needed me, ya know?"
"I know, it's just…" she trails off, unsure how to even put her feelings in words. "I wanted to get away and move on from everything, including Evan. I never even told him what happened with Doug, which just means there's more secrets I need to keep from him if he sticks around." Chimney raises a curious brow at that but she doesn't elaborate, merely shakes her head. "I feel like my life is still a work in progress here and I…I don't think I'm ready for this reminder of the past." Her heart aches even as the words leave her mouth. When she looks to Chimney it's with the sting of tears in her eyes. "Does that make me a bad person?"
Chimney's expression softens and the guilty vice around Maddie's chest eases just a little. "No, of course not," he assures her. "I think you're an amazing person, you're probably the strongest person I've ever known, and, trust me Maddie, I've worked with a lot of beefy firefighters."
She lets out a sound that's half laugh, half sob while she falls into his open arms.
"Seriously though, I hate that what happened to you happened," he continues, voice soft yet resolute as he holds her close. "I just need you to know that nothing from your life before will ever scare me off."
Maddie can't find the words to tell him how much that means to her. She just nods gratefully while he gently wipes a stray tear off of her cheek with a smile.
"Not even the fact that you're a big sister to someone who is annoyingly adorable."
She chokes out a laugh despite her tears. "He's what?"
"Please don't make me repeat it," he groans. "But as far as first impressions go I think my description of Buck is pretty on point."
"It really is," she says with a smile. "And thank you."
"For what?"
She leans forward to kiss him and feels his lips grinning against hers. "For being your amazing self too."
Then she watches Chimney go with a long sigh before steeling herself to deal with Ev—Buck's sudden appearance. She needs to put on a stern face and lay down some ground rules, needs to make sure he knows he can't just freeload at her place for the foreseeable future.
"Buck," she calls as soon as she's back in the apartment and the door is firmly bolted behind her. "We should talk…"
But the only response she gets is soft snoring. Her baby brother, all gangly six plus feet of him, is sprawled across her sofa, fast asleep. She can't help but smile and run a hand through his mussed hair. He grins at her gentle touch even in his sleep and her heart swells with affection; suddenly she doesn't know how she ever left him in the first place.
"I love you, kid," she whispers. "Just wish you weren't so annoyingly adorable sometimes."
Chapter Text
Buck 0.2, Another Buckley Lost and Found
Maddie genuinely had no idea that her life would take such a drastic turn for the better once she'd finally worked up the nerve to leave Doug.
She ran from her husband with nothing but a hastily packed bag containing clothes and essentials, the couple of thousand dollars in cash she'd been stashing under his nose, and a tall stack of greeting cards sent to her by her little brother ever since she first left home for college.
Evan had sent her cards for every holiday in the beginning, even obscure ones. They'd started as hand drawn mementos (including an especially memorable illustration featuring what she assumed was supposed to be a cartoony rendering of her and Evan eating a pie for Pi Day) before the kid found his way to a Hallmark store, though the personalization and frequency of the cards dwindled over the years when she stopped responding. She hadn't seen or even spoken to Evan in more than three years while she was under her husband's thumb, and for a long while his silly little cards were the only things that kept her going. Maddie considered herself lucky Doug never found them.
When she left Boston she didn't bring a phone or computer or anything that could be traced back to her. She tossed her credit and ATM cards, all of which were accounts shared with her husband. She hadn't looked back, just got on the crowded T that took her to South Station and purchased tickets for the next available train out of New England.
From there she took trains and buses from one destination to the next, always getting somewhere as quickly as she could with no real thought as to where she was going. She only ever stayed in one place long enough to buy the crap that passed for fast food in whatever state she'd landed in. She slept on moving vehicles and in rundown terminals and washed up in grimy restrooms.
Maddie's trip west hadn't been glamorous by any means, but it was still a vast improvement over staying with Doug.
She didn't even realize how far she'd run until she found herself stopped in Los Angeles, California. The sky had been blue and cloudless, the late December sun warm on her face in contrast to the biting cold of winter where she'd come from.
It was there that she felt like she could actually breathe for the first time, surrounded by tourists and people with dreams of making it big in Hollywood. It was in that crowded city that she finally found a safe place to stop.
But Maddie's new life didn't really begin until late that first night outside of a shady looking motel in South Los Angeles, the only place she could afford while she rationed the cash she had left.
She'd been debating her next steps—trying not to panic while her mind spiraled around what ifs and a sudden sick feeling of regret in the pit her stomach—when a commotion outside drew her attention. She peered between dirty blackout curtains into the dimly lit parking lot and gasped when she saw an older woman clearly in distress as a pair of burly tattooed men approached her.
Maddie didn't think. She just threw her door open and ran towards the men who were each at least twice her size. She didn't even consider the possible consequences of her actions when she yelled a shrill, "hey, you leave her alone!!!"
But to Maddie's shock the pair actually did back off and put their hands up in a placating gesture. She was even more surprised by the genuine concern in their wide eyed expressions compared to the irate, hysterical sounding woman whose ramblings Maddie couldn't make out from only a few feet away.
"Listen, we was just tryin' to help," one of the men said to her. "I think this lady's lost."
"Yeah," his friend agreed. "She seems real out of it."
Maddie approached the woman with wild strawberry blonde hair, a woman who looked disheveled and exhausted, but more than anything frustrated by her own confusion.
"Ma'am?" Maddie started gently. "Are you alright, do you know where you are?"
The older woman finally stilled and seemed to stare right through Maddie.
"A-Abby?" Her legs buckled and Maddie just managed to catch her and gently lower her to sit on the ground. "Abby, it…it's so late, you shouldn't be out."
"Neither should you," Maddie chided lightly. "Where are you trying to go? I can help you get there."
But the old woman's eyes went glassy, and it was clear she hadn't registered a word Maddie said. Her pulse was weak under Maddie's fingers and her skin was cold and clammy, all signs that she'd been out for too long in nothing but her slippers and thin nightgown.
Maddie had seen plenty of cases like that during her time as a nurse, but it never failed to break her heart when there was little she could do in the long run to help her patients suffering from dementia.
"Hey, yo, miss." Maddie turned to the tattooed men, surprised that they were still anxiously hovering at the scene. "What can we do?"
"Tommy," the old woman croaked, "is that you? My, you've changed…"
The man—who was likely not a Tommy—didn't miss a beat. He schooled the initial surprise and sorrow from his face before crouching down to her level with an easy grin. "Hey, yeah, Tommy, that's me. I'm here, I got you."
The woman relaxed and smiled at her "Tommy," calmed and distracted for the moment.
Maddie looked to the other man who adamantly agreed when she whispered, "we need to get her to the hospital."
In the end they managed to gently coerce the woman into the men's car under the guise of going on a ride with "Tommy" and "Abby" while the third member of the rescue party went thankfully unnoticed as he called 9-1-1 to alert the authorities of their situation. Together they helped the woman into the nearest Emergency Room, by which point she'd been barely coherent and so weak that she couldn't do anything to resist the nurses when they guided her onto a gurney.
"She's suffering from dementia related psychosis," Maddie explained, automatically falling back on her role as a nurse when she passed off her patient. "She couldn't tell us who she is or where she was going. Her BP is low and she's definitely dehydrated, maybe hypothermic."
The nurses nodded their understanding before wheeling the old woman away, leaving the shell shocked Maddie and two men behind in the ER hallway.
"I take it you three are my good Samaritans?"
Maddie startled at the unfamiliar voice and spun around just as a striking, petite woman in a police uniform approached them from the hospital's entrance with a frazzled looking redhead on her heels.
"Sergeant Grant," the officer stated with a flash of her badge. The two men eyed her warily and her severe expression softened. "Nobody's in any trouble, I'm just here to get your statements. And to thank you personally, you've helped a friend tonight."
Sergeant Grant went on to inform them that the missing woman was one Patricia Clark, a seventy-five year old suffering from Alzheimer's and the mother of the tearfully grateful Abby.
"I can't thank you all enough," Abby told them sincerely. "You saved my mom!"
"It's no problem whatsoever," one of the men said with a kind smile.
From there Abby rushed off to consult with a doctor while her mother's saviors gave their brief statements. The two men eventually left with Sergeant Grant's permission but Maddie remained frozen where she was, still staring after the long departed ER nurses. She was surprised by the sudden pang in her chest when she thought of how much she missed her days working in a hectic hospital. Her short lived career had been the only good thing she'd left behind in Boston.
"You gonna be okay, hon?"
Maddie startled and blinked at the police officer. The older woman's sharp eyes took in the still healing bruise on her cheek and scabbed over cut along her hairline.
Sergeant Grant waited a beat, as if expecting Maddie to open up, before gently asking, "can I give you a lift home?"
"Oh, um, no," Maddie sputtered. "I-I'm okay."
Grant raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
"Really, it's just…I'm between places at the moment," Maddie explained. "Don't really have a home to go to, just some shitty motel."
"Mhmm, I got that impression already," Grant scoffed, but not unkindly. "Let me guess, you're new in town, came here with practically nothing but the clothes on your back, only you're not after some ridiculous notion of stardom like most young people who come out this way. I'd wager you went runnin' after a less than jolly holiday and got yourself lost."
Maddie slumped in defeat, too exhausted to lie to the perceptive Sergeant. "Yeah," she huffed out a humorless laugh. "You got me."
"Then let me be the first to officially welcome you to the city of angels," Grant said with a cordial smile. "I don't know about you but I sure could use a coffee right about now, and believe it or not this might be the one hospital around that doesn't brew total garbage. Care to join me?"
It was a pity invite if Maddie ever heard one, but in the moment the kindness being offered brought fresh tears to her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had coffee with another woman, or done anything without Doug's vice grip on her, metaphorically and physically.
"Yeah," she sniffled. "I…I'd really like that, Serg—"
"Nuh uh," the other woman tutted. "I may still be in uniform but I've been off the clock for hours. It's just Athena now."
"Thank you, Athena."
"You're very welcome, Maddie."
They sat with their surprisingly decent late night hospital brewed coffees while Athena gave Maddie the rundown of what she should know about Los Angeles if she was intending to stay. Maddie was so grateful Athena didn't push her to talk from the get-go, though she could feel the woman reading her like an open book from across the small table.
It wasn't long before their pair became a trio.
"You're both still here," Abby said as she approached them, looking exhausted but grateful to see a couple of friendly faces in the otherwise empty hospital commissary.
"Course we are, hon," Athena assured as she rubbed a comforting hand along her friend's arm. "Sit with us, Abby, tell us how your ma's doin'…"
Maddie hadn't had a friend in years. It just wasn't possible to maintain any sort of acquaintances outside of work while she was with Doug. But Athena and Abby were so kind to her that night, so welcoming from the start. The three immediately clicked and talked well into the early morning hours while Abby's mother slept through her recovery, and eventually Maddie found herself opening up for the first time about her terrifying situation with her husband. She couldn't say why she trusted the two women, two complete strangers, but in the end she was glad she did.
They both sympathized with her plight—each having already shared their own far less dramatic ex-fiancé and ex-husband stories—and assured her how strong she was for getting free when she did. Abby even invited Maddie to stay at her condo, arguing that someone with a nursing background would be a great help whenever her mother's home aide was unavailable. Maddie gained more friends in both Patricia and Carla while living with the Clarks, and she was encouraged to join Abby as a First Responder when an opening came up only a couple of weeks later.
"It's a secure job," Abby, a seasoned 9-1-1 operator, had explained, "as in your piece of shit ex will have a hard time finding you. We're not exactly Google-able."
Maddie took to her new profession and coworkers immediately. She found a surrogate mother in Sue, her supervisor, and a best friend in fellow dispatcher Josh. She was even able to keep in touch with Athena, who was thrilled to be the one to take Maddie on official LAPD ride alongs as part of her training.
Maddie's growing friend group soon led her to events attended by other first responders, and after a particularly enjoyable night of drinks and karaoke she gained a new companion from the 118 Firehouse, one who became more than just a friend with Abby and Josh's encouragement.
Within six months of leaving Doug Maddie's entire life had completely turned around and she never wanted to look back. Her new life was perfect—she had friends, a job, a car, and an apartment all to herself, the kinds of things she never could have had while she was on the east coast.
But Maddie should have known that nothing good lasts forever.
"Maddie," Abby had called her one morning in June. "It…it's my mom, she…oh god, Maddie…"
In the end Abby couldn't stay, not in the home where her mother had suffered for so long. Maddie understood better than anyone that urge to run, to escape in the hope of finding a better life. She encouraged her friend when Abby expressed a desire to travel, and it wasn't long after Patricia's funeral that Maddie was dropping her friend off at LAX airport with the promise to watch over Abby's condo and car while she was away.
"Just one more thing," Abby told her outside of the airport's glass sliding doors. "I know you had a good reason to run, but don't give up on your family. I'll always regret not spending more time with my mom when I could. Before she…before she wasn't really my mom anymore."
Maddie frowned. Abby was the one person she'd opened up to about everything—and she meant everything—so she knew that her friend wasn't referring to her own distant parents in that moment. The Evan shaped hole in her heart that couldn't be filled with greeting cards alone twinged while she bid Abby farewell.
As soon as Maddie was home she decided to heed Abby's advice and follow in her friend's footsteps. Maddie was long overdue for some kind of vacation anyway, and according to a quick Hershey, PA web search her kid brother would be graduating high school soon. She knew she couldn't miss it.
-_-
Maddie puts away her headset at the end of another too long shift with a weary sigh.
"And here I thought this was one of those rare stress free days," Josh comments with a grin from where he's suddenly leaning against her desk. "I'm telling you, enjoy them while you can."
"Oh, yeah, sure, today was great," she says dryly. "Just a near drowning, a premie in a pipe, a reptile hoarder strangled by her own snake… Sooo fun."
"Sounds like the kind of shift that requires drunken karaoke afterwards. Whaddya say? I know Chimney's in, he never misses a karaoke night."
"I wish I could," she says genuinely. "But I have something I need to get home to."
Josh's grin widens. "Something or someone?"
"Seriously, he told you already?!"
"C'mon," Josh scoffs. "You know Chim's literally incapable of keeping a secret. And I'm frankly insulted that you didn't tell me about your adorable little brother running away from home."
"Our family's complicated," Maddie grumbles. "Just leave it at that."
Josh's teasing expression softens. "Hey, I get it, family sucks. You do what you gotta do to take care of your own, okay? Drinks'll be on me next time."
"Thanks, Josh," she says with a smile. "I'll hold you to that." As she's leaving she adds, "oh, and for the record? My brother may be adorable but he's still a teenager so don't even think about it."
Josh's grin turns sheepish just before the elevator door closes between them.
-_-
"Hey, Evan, I'm back," she calls as she shoulders open the door, her arms full of takeout bags. "Do you eat Thai food? God, I hope so." She struggles to lock the door behind her and reset her alarm. "Evan, get over here, help me with this!" When he still doesn't come running she rolls her eyes. "Buck! Come get…"
She trails off once she realizes that her apartment is dark, and quiet, and seemingly unoccupied. Her heart skips a beat as she drops the bags in her kitchen then fumbles for her phone with trembling fingers. She has no new texts or missed calls, and when she pulls up her brother's messages the last one is from when she'd sent him plane tickets for a December flight.
Where r u? she texts now, struggling to swallow around the worried lump that's formed in her throat. They've been apart for years, but having him suddenly disappear not even two days after his impromptu arrival has sent her spiraling.
He wouldn't have left already, would he? And if he did where would he go? He doesn't know the city, he won't know his way around, won't know what neighborhoods to avoid at night, won't know where it's safe—
The ocean! is his quick reply followed by a surfer emoji, which doesn't really answer her question.
She stares at the phone for a whole minute in disbelief before she texts back, where?!
-_-
The beach next to the Santa Monica pier is quiet just after sunset as the red and pink streaked sky fades into darker purples and blues. It doesn't take Maddie long to find her wayward brother, and she's relieved to see that he isn't actually surfing like his text might have implied. Instead Buck is sitting near the edge of the receding water with his socks and sneakers discarded behind him so his bare toes can dig into the chilling sand.
She kicks off her own flats and settles down next to him, uncaring that she's still in her work attire.
"Oh, Mads, hey," Buck greets happily over the soft lull of the waves. "Check it out, I found the ocean!"
As usual his smile is contagious, and the reprimand she had prepared for him disappearing without telling her dies on her tongue.
"That is in fact the ocean. Not sure why you're so excited about it."
Her teasing does not deter his good mood as he grins at the distant horizon. "I got bored hanging around your place," he tells her with a shrug. "And I've never been to the ocean before."
Maddie shoots him an incredulous look and is about to correct him—to remind him that they'd gone to the coast loads of times when they were children, that this is just a different ocean—when the memories hit her like a sudden, violent wave crashing overhead and pulling her under.
Buck had never been on any of those family vacations down the shore. Those were the kind of fun trips the Buckleys took together long before he was in the picture.
It dawns on her then that she doesn't remember going on any sort of outings when it was just her and Evan with their parents. She doesn't have any happy family memories from after he was born, which means that he has none at all.
"I'm sorry, Ev—Buck."
"What for?" Buck asks, oblivious to the heavy ache in her heart.
She knows she should tell him the truth. She's been struggling to tell him for years, for his entire life. Before that even, when she'd been nine and her parents explained to her why exactly her mother was suddenly pregnant with a third child, and then why they needed to keep that embarrassing fact a secret.
But Maddie can't find the words she knows she'll need to eventually say to her baby brother. For now she doesn't want to see the joy leave his expression, not when they're finally together again.
"Nothing," she says. She swipes at her eyes, hoping the movement is subtle. "I'm just…I'm sorry I left you alone again. And that I didn't think to bring you to the beach before. I mean, I live so close now, I really should take advantage."
"Yeah you should," Buck tells her with a smirk. "You could definitely use some sun. We both could. Everyone around here's, like, super tan. And hot."
His eyes drift as a couple walks by clad in nothing but a skimpy bikini and speedo despite the cool of dusk settling in. Evan's eying their perfectly sculpted and tanned bodies appreciatively, and Maddie is surprised when his gaze seems to linger for the longest on the man's derrière.
"Guess we are looking a little PA pasty," she says with a playful nudge to his shoulder. "Tell you what, I'm off this weekend, Chimney and I were planning to go to the pier, you should come with us. We'll make it a beach day."
"That'd be awesome," he grins. "And I do like that Chimney guy by the way. I think he's good for you. He seems…nice."
"He is," she confirms. "He really is."
Buck leans back, bracing his arms in the sand and glancing over at her while the breeze pushes a stray curl across his forehead. "Are you ever gonna tell me what went down with you and Doug?"
"No," she sighs with a shake of her head. "I just want to forget about him."
She's grateful that Buck doesn't press her for more information, just smirks and says, "sound good to me. I never liked that jerk anyway."
She lets her head fall against his shoulder. He wraps a long arm around her and she rests against his side while they watch the beautiful California sunset, content together as if they'd never even been apart.
-_-
"…Then the docs pulled that rod right outta my brain and all that's left is this teensy tiny scar."
Chimney points to the small cross mark above his brow and Buck stares at it in awe. "Whoa, no way, that's sick!"
"Right?! Doesn't get any more badass than that," he says with a proud smirk before nodding at Buck. "So what've you got, kid?"
Maddie rolls her eyes, unsure why their conversation about daring rescues and farfetched emergencies has turned to scars exactly, but she's glad to be left out of it.
"I got this one doing tricks on my board a couple years back," Buck says as he pulls his leg to his chest and points to a white slash that crosses his bare knee. "Hit the edge of a half pipe."
"I always warned you not to go to that skate park. Place was a death trap." She leans in for a closer look, her nurse eyes examining the thick scar with disapproval. "You should've gotten stitches for this. Did mom and dad—"
"They weren't home," Buck interrupts bluntly, then puts his leg back down. "Wasn't that bad anyway," he adds with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I was fine."
"Aw, c'mon, Buckaroo," Chimney goads with a teasing lilt to his voice. "That's it?!"
"Well, there's a little weird stretchy one on my hip, but I don't remember how I got it. Maddie, do you know—"
He stands as if he's going to lift his shirt and lower his waistband to show the scar off right there in the middle of the crowded pier when Maddie's phone buzzes.
"Food's ready," she interrupts, grateful for the timely distraction.
Buck perks up with a loud, "I got it!" Then he's gone before she or Chimney can offer to help.
Maddie shakes her head fondly while she watches him go, then narrows her eyes at her boyfriend. "What the hell was that about?!"
Chimney puts on an innocent face. "Whatever do you mean?"
She shoots him a look and he throws up his hands in defeat.
"Okay, okay, I admit I mighta gone about it the wrong way, but ever since the other night there's just one thing bugging me with Buck." He levels Maddie the most serious look she's ever seen on his face. "Should we be worried about him?"
"About what?" she asks, genuinely unsure what he's getting at.
"About the whole running away from your parents thing, and the…ya know…" He trails off and wiggles his fingers next to his eye. "After what you went through with Doug, if your brother's been in some kind of danger too we can't just let it go, right?"
Maddie has to stare at him for a long moment before she finally gets his meaning. She lets out a bark of hysterical sounding laughter, which only makes Chimney look even more concerned.
"Maddie—"
"Oh, oh god no, that's a birthmark," she explains. "Evan's always had that, it's definitely not a scar. No one's ever hurt him, Chim."
She's firm when she says it, though Chimney doesn't look completely convinced. "It's just, you've never talked about your family before," he says. "If your parents ever—"
Maddie cuts him off with a firm shake of her head. "I'll be the first to admit my parents aren't the best, but they're not bad people, they're just not great parents. They weren't really there for us growing up, you know?"
"Hey, I get that," he admits. "Probably better than most."
She smiles sadly, having heard enough about the Han family to know that their drama is on par with the Buckley's. "I know you do," she says, "and it really is sweet that you're so concerned about Buck."
"What, no I'm not, that was just the paramedic in me talking," he insists. "Besides, kid seems like he's doing fine."
He nods over her shoulder, and when Maddie turns she can just see Buck through the crowd where he's leaning against the food stall's counter with a grin on his face and a blushing server before him. There's no doubt in her mind that he's shamelessly flirting with the girl.
Maddie is painfully reminded that her baby brother is technically an adult now, and that she's missed out on some of his most formative years. She wasn't there for any past relationships or breakups he might have had, wasn't there to take him to school dances or tease him in his prom suit, if he even went. She wasn't there to pick him up from sports practices or to teach him how to drive, she wasn't around to cover for him if he stayed out too late or got drunk at a house party.
And as much as she doesn't want to admit it Chimney's not wrong to voice his concerns. She genuinely has no idea what life was like for Buck with their parents after she left, but she has a feeling their relationship didn't improve in her absence.
She shakes her head of the thought. "I just hope Buck finds a real job soon," she says to change the subject. "I can't afford a two bedroom place yet and I don't know how long my sofa will last with him sleeping on it every night."
"No prospects yet?"
She shrugs. "He signed up for some dog walking app so that's keeping him occupied at least. And the pictures are pretty cute."
"Oh, I'm sure they are. But dog walker doesn't exactly equal serious career."
"Trust me, I know," she grumbles. "I tried to tell him I'd help him get into school again but he wasn't interested. Yesterday he was talking about some construction job he saw, and then some nonsense about working on a dude ranch. He just seems so lost."
"Maybe—"
Chimney starts to speak, then snaps his mouth shut when his gaze drifts over her shoulder again and his eyes narrow. She spins to see what he's looking at and spies Buck, arms full of precariously balanced food trays, just as a pair of uniformed men approach him.
"Who…" She turns back to Chimney. He's still staring in Buck's direction, his brow furrowed like he's ready to storm over there in the kid's defense if need be. But when she looks again the men are merely handing Buck something in passing that he just manages to take in between the tips of his otherwise occupied fingers.
"What was all that about?" Chimney asks as soon as Buck reaches them.
"Ah, it's nothin'." Buck sets their food down along with a crisply folded brochure, then takes a generous amount of curly fries from Chimney's plate and shoves them in his mouth. "Jus' some army dudes."
"Okay, first off, not cool, eat your own damn food," Chimney chides while he pulls his meal out of Buck's reach and snatches the pamphlet. He skims the text with a frown. "And recruiters, really? I thought this place was supposed to be fun."
Maddie takes it next with an intense grimace of her own. "'The Navy Seals'," she reads, then looks at her baby brother with wide eyes. "You wouldn't seriously consider that, would you?"
Buck shrugs. "I dunno," he says around another mouthful. "Could be cool, those guys are badass too, right?"
"Badass if you want to become a mindless killing machine," Chimney warns. "We've had ex-Seals come through the Fire Academy before and, trust me, kid, it's not as fun as the brochures make it out to be."
"I don't think they'd let me join the Navy anyways," Buck says with a shrug. "I'd probably have to learn how to swim first."
"Learn to…seriously, Maddie? You never taught your little bro how to swim?!"
"It's not like we had a pool," Maddie mutters defensively.
"But I do think the ocean's pretty great and I always like helping people," Buck points out. "Maybe if I do learn to swim I can be a lifeguard!"
"A lifeguard?" Maddie trails off then gasps so loudly that both of her boys startle. "Oh my god," she says, "I can't believe I didn't think of this before! Chim, you should bring Buck with you to the fire station!"
"Yeah!" Buck cheers even while Chimney groans at the very notion.
"Do I have to?"
"You do," Maddie tells him.
"That'd be awesome," Buck exclaims. "I dunno, maybe that's my thing, like I'm not scared of fire or climbing ladders or doing dangerous stuff, and I wanna help people and save cats stuck in trees and—"
"Alright, hero boy, slow your roll," Chimney interrupts. "I gotta clear it with the Captain first."
"With Nash," Maddie scoffs. "Really?"
"Hey, this is uncharted territory," Chimney says. "I have no idea how Bobby's gonna take it. The guy's been here like a year and a half already and he's still an enigma most days."
Buck looks disappointed and Maddie purses her lips. She sees Chimney's lame excuse for what it is and pulls out her phone.
"Who're you…" She sees the moment Chimney knows the answer to his question without asking it. "No way, Maddie, don't even—"
Maddie smirks, reveling in her victory as the other line is picked up. "Athena! Hey, is Bobby there with you? I want to run something by him…"
-_-
The plan is for Buck to shadow the 118 early the following week, though his first visit is delayed slightly when what starts as an average shift quickly turns into one of the worst nights ever for L.A.'s first responders after a jet plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean just outside of the city.
Buck's eyes are glued to screens that night, darting between the news on Maddie's television and social media notifications on his phone. He watches as the reports come in of daring rescues the firefighters make to save everyone left alive in the horrific accident. He watches as all those brave men and women rush into danger without a second thought, knowing that his sister is in the thick of it too dispatching aid to wherever it's needed. He watches the first responders help people into boats and bring them to safety even as the plane sinks beneath them. He watches a miraculous rescue when a helicopter pulls a firefighter and one last survivor out of the turbulent ocean waters.
Buck watches everything with rapt attention and an eagerness he's never felt before. The disaster does not deter his excitement to visit the 118 and become a firefighter, if anything it has only fueled it. He can already picture himself with the others in the water and on the beach, acting heroically in the midst of all that danger, risking his life with purpose for once, and he suddenly can't imagine himself ever doing anything else.
Chapter Text
Buck 0.3, Playing Hero
Buck (not Evan anymore, not as long as he has any say in the matter) stares up at Firehouse 118 in awe. It's not at all what he expected a fire station to look like; the place is big and open, warm and inviting, and he can't help but grin as he crosses the threshold between two huge, shiny red trucks.
"…And this is where we park the engines, obviously," Chimney tells him, pointing things out as they head inside. "There's the gym over there, and the lockers, showers and bunks and offices are thataway. Upstairs is usually where we hang out between calls. You're lucky, it's pot roast day, smells like Cap's got something goin' already—"
"What is this, Chim," a bespectacled woman interrupts, startling Chimney when she suddenly appears from the other side of a truck, "bring someone else's kid to work day?"
"Ha ha, very funny," he drawls. "This is Maddie's little bro, Buck. He's checking out the firehouse."
Buck squares his shoulders and politely extends his hand. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."
She greets him with a bemused smirk and a firm shake. "Nice to meet you too, Buck," she tells him genuinely. "I'm Henrietta Wilson, but everyone calls me Hen."
"Wow, I feel like I fit in here already," Buck exclaims, "we all have such cool nicknames!"
Hen chuckles. It's a warm, kind sounding laugh that doesn't make Buck feel like he's being made fun of for blurting his inane thoughts. His smile widens and he decides to himself that he's made a great first impression already, that he's going to fit in at the 118 and become a real life firefighter, until—
"And here's our Captain, Bobby Nash."
Buck's grin falters when a middle aged man approaches the trio. He looks nothing like Buck's father, but the man's stern appearance fills Buck with a familiar kind of anxiety only ever brought on to him by his parents.
"Hey Cap, this is Buck," Chimney announces, his hand rising to clap Buck's shoulder. Buck flinches under the unexpected touch. "He's considering a career in first responding, right Bucko?"
Buck manages a curt nod but can't seem to find his tongue enough to speak. Captain Nash looks him up and down, making no outward reaction one way or another, though his stony expression does nothing to settle Buck's nerves.
"Chimney," he says, even while he continues to stare at Buck. "My office. Now."
Then Nash turns away without another word. Buck sees Chimney do a double take between him and the Captain before jogging after the man with a muttered, "be right back."
Buck swallows hard. He's not the one being called away, but somehow he still feels like he's in trouble. He wrings his hands nervously in front of him while his heart races in his chest and his mind scrambles over what he might've done wrong already, how he can fix it, what should he do—
"C'mon, kiddo," Hen says with a patient smile that stills Buck's frantic thoughts and makes him feel marginally better. "I'll finish showing you around. Between you and me Chimney's not much of a tour guide."
Buck can't help but smile when she winks playfully at him and leads him with a gentle hand further into the station. He exhales deeply, finally releasing the anxious breath he'd been holding in while he goes willingly with Hen and hangs on her every word.
As long as he stays out of the Captain's way, Buck decides, everything will be just fine.
-_-
Chimney catches up to Bobby and shuts them both in the Captain's office.
"What gives, man?!" he blurts. "I thought we were gonna show Buck a fun time here, kinda like you do with the field trip kids! Where'd this hardass Cap act come from all of a sudden?"
Bobby heaves a long sigh while he sinks into the chair behind his desk and the mountain of paperwork on top of it, looking drained before their shift has even really begun. "Chim, I know I told Maddie it was okay for her brother to shadow us this week, but you guys could not have picked a worse time for him to start. After everything with that plane…"
"Yeah, nobody saw that coming," Chimney says with a grave shake of his head. "But c'mon, Bobby, just give the kid a chance! We could still use some help around the station with Tommy gone, and I think it'll be good for Buck to have, ya know, some, like, structure in his life."
"'Structure'?"
"Structure, stability, support, something meaningful to do with his time surrounded by people who actually give a crap. The kind of stuff he probably wasn't getting back home, hence the whole running away across the country to live with his estranged older sister thing."
Bobby hums, his stoic expression as unreadable as ever.
"He really is a sweet kid, Cap," Chimney insists. "I think this'll be good for him. Him and Maddie."
Bobby narrows his eyes. "I'm not running some kind of babysitting service—"
"God no, of course not, don't even think of it like that!"
"—which is why Buckley is going to be your responsibility while he's here."
"My responsibility?! But why me, I'm not—" Bobby raises an eyebrow and Chimney gives in with a long sigh. "Oh, right, I get it. I'm the sister's boyfriend, that's on me."
"So does that mean you and Maddie are finally official?"
"She said it first so I'd say we are, yeah."
"Then I owe Hen twenty bucks."
He smirks playfully at Chimney before turning his full attention to his paperwork. Chimney gets the hint that he's being dismissed and leaves with a disgruntled huff.
"Your responsibility, Chim," Bobby calls just before Chimney is out the door. "Don't forget."
-_-
Because of Chimney's babysitting duties he's been banned from accompanying the team on calls, though he can honestly say that he's never been more thrilled to be left behind as the sole firefighter at the station.
"You ready?" he asks, stop watch held high.
Buck puts on a serious, determined face and nods. "Ready."
Chimney grins. "On your mark—" Buck's eyes dart from Chimney to his goal but he doesn't move besides the twitching of his eager fingers. "Get ssseeettt—" Buck licks his lips and crouches slightly in anticipation, looking like he's barely able to keep himself from bounding forward. Chimney decides to drag the moment out for his own amusement. "Wait for iiittt—"
Buck glares at him, "dude, c'mo—"
"GO!!!"
Buck bolts and nearly trips over his own feet while he darts around the impromptu obstacle course that's been set up. He hops between tires, hurdles over a weight bench, and follows the zig zagged track laid out for him with a long hose.
"Gotta move faster than that if you're gonna beat my record, Buckaroo!" Chimney calls.
Buck practically slides into the racks of equipment where he fumbles with the turnout that was left for him.
When Chimney showed Buck the firefighting gear and boasted of his own "world record" Buck predictably rose to the challenge. The obstacle course Chimney made up wasn't in any way a part of said record taking, but Buck didn't need to know that.
"Aw, crap!" Buck squawks just before he goes down wearing a pair of turnout pants with twisted suspenders, one boot, and a half way pulled on coat that is obviously much heavier than he anticipated. Chimney rushes over and—after a quick assessment to make sure the kid didn't manage to break anything or knock himself out—doubles over with laughter.
Buck pouts up at him from under the jacket. "Was I close at least?"
"Not even," Chimney chuckles. He finally takes pity on the kid and helps him out of the gear he barely managed to get into. "You get points for effort, though."
"I wanna try again," Buck states, looking determined as ever to beat Chimney's little game.
"Alright," Chimney says while he hangs the turnout gear back in its proper place, "back to the start, young Buck!"
The kid scrambles to his feet and sprints across the station. Chimney watches him go with a fond shake of his head.
He and Hen have already shown Buck everything worth knowing in the firehouse, from their gear and equipment to all of the ins and outs of the rigs and ambulances. The kid is like a sponge taking in information even while he's all ceaseless entertaining energy. Chimney can't deny that he's having more fun at work than he's had in a very long time. Maybe even ever.
"Oh my god," Chimney mutters under his breath, stopping short when a sudden, shocking thought occurs to him. "Do I want kids?!"
"What?" Buck calls from where he's crouched at the starting line.
"What?! Nothing, I said nothing," Chimney calls back. "Readysetgo!!!"
Buck goes off like a shot, nearly tripping over himself again on his way through the obstacle course. Chimney hadn't restarted the watch, but Buck doesn't get the chance to notice when Chimney's phone unexpectedly rings. He doesn't hesitate to answer when he sees the contact, knowing full well that she's still on a call.
"Hen?"
Buck skids to a halt just before he reaches the turnout gear and stares at Chimney with wide, attentive eyes.
"Chimney," his partner says in his ear. "We need another engine out, stat."
"Um, okaaay, I can do that," Chimney tells her. "But what's up, are you guys okay? I didn't hear the bell."
"We're fine," Hen explains quickly, "and it's not an official call, exactly. More like a favor…"
-_-
Chimney curses under his breath when a familiar squad car pulls up next to the engine.
"Heyyy Athena," he greets with a grin so forced his cheeks hurt. She lowers her sunglasses and raises an eyebrow at him then nods to his passenger, the one person who clearly doesn't belong there, who Chimney had hoped would go under the radar during Hen's mysterious errand.
"I take it this is the other Buckley we've been hearing so much about?"
Buck grins at her from where he's crowding Chimney's personal space in order to see out of the driver's side window.
"Ah, yup," Chimney says. "This is Maddie's little brother, Buck. He's, uh, helping out today."
Athena purses her lips. It's painfully obvious that she doesn't think taking the firehouse's guest along on a call is the smartest of moves. Chimney grimaces but there's nothing he can do about it now. Besides, he's technically still following Bobby's orders by bringing Buck along to keep an eye on him, and the kid is clearly eager to prove his worth.
"Yes, ma'am," Buck calls over Chimney's shoulder to Athena's squad car, sounding all too chipper. "I am here to help!"
Athena levels him an unimpressed look. "'Course you are," she mutters. She addresses Chimney when she says, "we don't have an exact location, all we know is there's a little girl alone during a break in and we need to find her before the home invaders do. If you keep your siren on Maddie's pretty sure she'll be able to hear it over at dispatch through the girl's phone and narrow down our search. That's the only thing you gotta do, just ride around and make some noise. Got it?"
"Got it, officer," Buck chimes in before Chimney can speak. "We won't let you down!"
"No heroics," she pointedly tells Buck, "don't go chasing waterfalls now."
Buck stares at her. "I…don't know what that means."
Athena narrows her eyes at the both of them and mutters her discontent under her breath before driving off without another word.
Buck waves after her until Chimney shoos him back to the passenger side so he can drive. Buck perches on the edge of his seat with a wide, enthusiastic grin on his face while Chimney flicks on the siren and thinks deep down that he really should've left the keyed up kid behind at the station.
A few nearly identical blocks later Maddie confirms that she can hear them over the dispatch line. They're close, very close.
"Just keep those baby blues peeled, Buckaroo," Chimney says. He drives slowly down the street, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible in a giant wailing red truck. "We're looking for—"
"Wait, Chim!" Buck calls, his head practically out of his window while he flaps a hand blindly in Chimney's direction. "I-I think I just saw a little girl's bike, go back! That's gotta be it, right?!"
Sure enough there's a pink floral patterned bike resting against one of the houses in Chimney's rearview. He relays the specific address to Athena as he stops the fire engine just far away enough that they can still keep an eye on things without looking like they're on a not-so-subtle stake out.
"Now what?" Buck asks.
"Now we wait. This one's a job for the LAPD, and Sergeant Grant's the best of 'em. Trust me, kiddo, she's more than got it from here."
Buck slumps in his seat, clearly disappointed that their very important mission is over already.
They sit and listen over the radio to Maddie's frantic attempts to distract the burglars while Athena makes her way into the backyard just as an SUV seemingly appears out of nowhere. It pulls into the driveway of the house and Chimney curses.
"I think the mom just got home," he groans, then turns to his ride along. "Buck, stay."
"But—"
Chimney doesn't say another word, just points a finger and a firm look in Buck's direction. He really hopes the kid gets the message, that this is not the time to be screwing around.
He jumps out of his seat and reaches the homeowner as she's getting out of her car.
"Ma'am! Ma'am you can't go in there right now," Chimney hisses.
The woman startles then eyes his uniform with bewilderment. "Is there a fi—"
"No, there's no fire, just trust me you cannot go in there right now," he insists as he ushers her quickly and quietly away from the scene. "It's a long story but your daughter's gonna be okay, she called 9-1—"
Before Chimney even knows what's happening there's a cacophony of noise and movement bursting from the home. Athena's yelling from the back just as a guy in a dark hoodie tosses a crying little girl onto the plush front lawn. The woman Chimney is trying to keep calm screams as she rushes towards her daughter while the criminal goes for his discarded motorbike.
Chimney bolts after the mother and child, urging them to take cover around the back of the fire engine when Athena appears between them and the man who's suddenly wielding a handgun as he revs his bike in their direction.
"LAPD," Athena bellows, "FREEZE!!!"
She raises her own weapon but it's not any sort of deterrent to the perp. He shoots brazenly at the officer, his aim close enough that Athena flinches back a step when the bullet hits the truck above her head. The trigger happy home invader races closer, and while Chimney trusts Athena's aim he can't deny that their situation isn't ideal. He gasps, the woman screams, her daughter sobs, and Athena steps directly into the line of fire to protect them all.
Chimney sees the man's gun pointing directly at her and feels like his heart is stopped in his chest, until the wannabe murderer is literally blasted off of his motorbike by a powerful stream of water. He shares a glance with a stunned Athena before both of them turn towards the top of the truck. Buck has expertly manned the hose after only a brief introduction to the equipment and is currently staring in slack jawed disbelief at the scene he caused.
"Nice one, Buckaroo!" Chimney cheers. He shoots the shell shocked kid a grin and a thumbs up for good measure.
"I-I can't believe that worked!"
"Me either," Chimney admits with a shaky exhale. "Definitely glad it did."
Athena merely nods her appreciation of Buck's quick thinking before she rushes to apprehend the fallen suspect. She seems to take pleasure in manhandling the whining criminal into cuffs while she tells him his rights.
It's not until the bad guy is subdued that Buck finally climbs down the side of the truck, still in a daze, then gets an armful of small child the moment his feet touch the ground.
"Thank you," the girl cries. "You saved me and my mommy!"
Buck looks bewildered by the unexpected embrace for all of two seconds before he beams and sinks down to the girl's level so he can hug her back. "Of course, little lady," he tells her with a grin and a comforting squeeze. "Saving people is what us firefighters do!"
Chimney rolls his eyes at the cliché sounding line, considering Buck isn't even close to being an actual firefighter, though he can't deny the swell of pride he feels in his chest for Maddie's little brother.
Other first responders swarm the scene after that. Paramedics drape the girl in a shock blanket and make sure she's not hurt while she and her mother give statements to Athena and the other police officers. Chimney knows he and Buck will need to stick around to address their own detailed accounts of what happened, and he's sure Bobby will have some interesting paperwork to deal with later, but for now Chimney's just happy to let Buck have his moment of victory.
It's not until later in the afternoon when they're pulling back into the station that Chimney realizes not everyone is pleased with Buck's actions. Bobby is already there waiting for them, his arms crossed tight over his chest and a too serious look on his face. Hen stands just over his shoulder, her eyes darting from their Captain to Chimney and Buck nervously.
Chimney senses the thick tension in the room and braces himself, but Buck is oblivious to it.
"Oh man," the kid says gleefully when he hops out of the rig, "you guys shoulda been there, it was so crazy!"
"We heard it all loud and clear over the radio," Bobby interrupts. "Including those gunshots."
"I know, it was awesome, right?!"
"No, not awesome," Bobby snaps, and Buck's smile falls. "You shouldn't have been on that call in the first place!"
"Cap," Chimney says, stepping forward. "That's all on me, it's my fault Buck was—"
"Oh, I am well aware of whose fault this was, Firefighter Han," Bobby barks. Chimney winces at the use of his surname, though Bobby is quick to turn his ire back onto Buck. "But what I really want to know is why Buckley here thought it was a good idea to climb up on that rig and make a target of himself!"
Buck shrinks back. "I…I got the bad guy, I—"
"You got very lucky, kid, that's all. What we do isn't some game, the tools we use on calls are not toys!"
"I just…I-I thought—"
"You weren't thinking, that's the problem." Bobby isn't yelling anymore, but there's no mistaking the harsh reprimand in his low tone. "You're just some idiot punk kid who wanted to play hero."
Buck's brow is furrowed like he's using a mask of anger to hide how close to tears he obviously is. His lower lip quivers and his cheeks are red but he doesn't say anything in his defense while his watering eyes stare down at Bobby's feet. He hasn't even looked up at Bobby since the Captain began his reprimand.
"Cap," Hen starts after exchanging a concerned look with Chimney, who is already dreading his own chewing out. "Bobby, let's just take a sec—"
Bobby shakes his head. He's still glaring at Buck when he says, "get out of here, Buckley. Chimney will clean up your mess. Go."
Buck shudders then turns heel to practically run away. Hen shoots Bobby an exasperated look and jogs after Buck, but Chimney already knows she won't catch up to his long strides before he's taken off in Maddie's old Jeep.
"Really, Cap?" Chimney scowls. "You had to go all fire and brimstone on him already?!"
Bobby blinks slowly, almost as if he's coming out of some rage fueled trance he didn't realize he'd fallen into. A flash of remorse crosses his features before he's shaking his head and turning away.
"Just…just get rid of all this crap, Chimney," he mutters over his shoulder. Chimney watches him slink towards his office then hears the door shut a moment later.
Chimney lets out a long, shaky breath as he looks over the remains of his and Buck's earlier games. The kid never did get a proper chance to beat Chimney's record, and now it looks like he never will.
"Sorry, Buckaroo," he sighs to himself, then gets to work.
-_-
Maddie is nearly at her door when her phone buzzes. She smiles when she sees her boyfriend's name then shoulders it against her ear while she fumbles with her keys.
"What's up, I thought you were still on shift?"
"I am," Chimney says. "It's just—"
"I was going to call you later anyway, don't think I'm not pissed at you for bringing Buck to that emergency today—"
"Join the club," he scoffs.
"—but Athena texted me and said he did great! I'm sure he's thrilled, just don't let it go to his head. He has a bad habit of pulling dangerous stunts for the attention."
"Good to know, but, Maddie—"
"Actually could you put Buck on for me? I need to both congratulate him and remind him to not be a reckless dumbass."
"He's not here!" Chimney blurts. "He's not here and I can't get a hold of him! Did he go home? Please tell me you're home and he's there already."
Maddie's heart skips a beat. A quick search of her apartment reveals no sign of Buck besides the usual mess of clothes scattered around the sofa he's been using as a bed.
"He's not here, Chimney," she says shakily. "Why the hell isn't he at the station with you?!"
"Because Cap totally lost it on the kid," he explains. "I figured I'd give Buck some space but now he's not answering my texts or calls and I'm kinda freaking out a little over here!"
"You're freaking out?!" she shouts back. "This isn't how today was supposed to go, Chim! This was supposed to be a good thing for Buck!"
"I know, I know, I'm sorry, and I'll tell the kid I'm sorry too as soon as he's not missing!"
Maddie takes the phone away from her ear so she can pull up another app with trembling fingers. Buck may not be answering, but she's sure he's got the phone on him or at least close by.
She recognizes his location and sighs with relief.
"It's okay," she tells Chimney. "I know where he is."
-_-
Buck is in roughly the same spot he was after his last jaunt to the ocean, watching once again as the sun dips below the horizon.
"Oh, hey, Mads," he mumbles when she sinks down on the sand next to him. Last time she found him here he'd been loose limbed and smiling in the lingering sunshine. Now he's red eyed with his knees hugged tight to his chest, looking about the most miserable she's ever seen him. "What's up."
"What's up with you," she counters, nudging him gently. "Chimney told me what happened today. I…I'm sorry."
"Why, I'm not, I got to help save a little girl," Buck mutters, his tone dry and unenthused. "It was awesome."
"You did and I am so proud of you, even if you did put yourself in harm's way which, for the record, is never awesome. But Bobby shouldn't have yelled at you for it."
"'S fine. I already know I'm an idiot."
"Buck, you're not an idiot," Maddie tells him. "You may do idiotic things sometimes but you're not an idiot."
Buck doesn't say anything in his defense, just curls tighter in on himself with a sad little sniffle. Maddie waits a beat then pushes herself to her feet, dusting the sand off her pants as she goes. It's been years since she's had to comfort her sad, dejected little brother, but she's sure what worked on him as an eight year old will be just as effective now that he's eighteen.
"C'mon, kid," she says, tugging on his arm in some lame attempt to get his much larger body upright. "We're gonna have ice cream and cookies for dinner and watch something stupid on tv and not think about any bad things that happened today, okay?"
He finally lets her help him to his feet with a defeated groan of "okay," and she takes him home.
Later, much later, Maddie tucks her snoring sugar crashed brother into the sofa and checks that he's completely out before shutting herself into her bedroom upstairs. She has some serious calls to make, and she expects it'll be difficult for her to keep her tone civil.
"Hey, sorry to call you so late," she says as soon as the other line is answered, "but I have a bone to pick with your husband…"
-_-
Athena Grant has loved Bobby Nash from the very moment they met, when he placed an unruly chicken into her arms. At first she'd fumed—the audacity of that man, the sheer balls he must've thought he had handing her some poultry like that—then she'd seen the playful smirk on his face, a smile that she couldn't help but return.
People didn't smile, or play like that on the job enough, she'd thought. All the fire captains she'd dealt with or heard about until then were either hardass drill sergeants to their team or just sexist, racist pricks in general. She quickly came to find that Bobby was none of those things, despite the stoic mask he hid behind.
After that first memorable introduction she found herself enjoying bantering with him on emergency calls whenever they crossed paths. He'd proven himself as a worthy partner when they solved the arson case at Guillermo's together, and after a particularly brutal motorcycle accident she'd been there to offer him comfort when he needed it most. They'd only known each other for a few months by then, but sitting there in the church pew that afternoon, hand in hand while they prayed, she knew without a doubt that she'd found home again.
So Athena knows better than anyone that her second husband is a good man, maybe even the best of them despite his past hardships. But she also knows from personal experience that he doesn't always make the greatest first impression.
-_-
Bobby normally hovers at the station for awhile after a morning shift change, just to make sure the B-Team has everything they need before he leaves for the day. But at the end of this latest shift—following a night spent functioning on autopilot while Hen and Chim send him pointed looks of disappointment—he doesn't stick around for a second longer than he has to. Instead he heads straight for the first liquor store he passes on his way home.
Part of him wants to sit there in the empty parking lot until the shop eventually opens so he can drown himself in a few bottles of whiskey, the other part hates himself for even thinking it. Worst of all is the fact that he's in this situation for the second time in one week.
A brief call to Wendell calms him somewhat, though he feels guilty for bothering his sponsor at such an obnoxious hour. But the man ends up giving him the same advice he had the other day when Bobby had been spiraling after the jet crash: take a breath, go home, be with your wife.
Athena will always be there to ground Bobby, to save him from the brink of his crushing despair. He doesn't know what he would do if she wasn't there to catch him, if she hadn't let him into her life, her home, her family, said yes to his impromptu marriage proposal without a moment's hesitation after only a few short months together.
Bobby hadn't thought it possible for him to be content with another partner after Marcy's death, but Athena managed to fill the gaping hole left in his heart with ease. He honestly doesn't know how he's managed to survive so long without her, her wisdom, her bravery, her perpetual love.
So when he finally works up the nerve to head home, knowing she's there and the kids have already left for school, he's surprised to see Athena with her arms crossed tight over her chest and a glower of disappointment on her face.
He shrinks a little under her hard gaze. "Athena, I—"
She holds up a hand and his jaw snaps shut. "Nuh uh, don't you dare 'Athena' me. You went too far this time, Robert Wade Nash."
Her words make him shudder. She must already know where he came from, must know how tempted he'd been to throw years of sobriety down the drain. He takes a seat across from her at their dining table without saying a word, his head ducked meekly.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," she continues with a shake of her head, "berating that poor boy like you did."
Bobby blinks up at her in surprise. "…Wait, you mean Buckley?"
"Of course I mean Buckley," she scoffs. "Hen gave me the low down last night, she said you tore him a new one back at the station!"
"What Buck did was dangerous, I couldn't just let it slide."
"I understand that, I do," Athena insists, "but even you have to know you went too far. That kid was a real asset yesterday, if he hadn't been there—"
"He shouldn't have been there in the first place!" Bobby blurts, anger rising again. "He could've gotten hurt, hell, he could've been killed. Or his stupid hero act could've ended up doing more harm than good! Athena, if anything happened to you, I don't…I couldn't…"
She softens and reaches out to take one of his trembling hands in hers. "I know, baby. But I'm fine, we're all fine, except Lil' Buckley who you mighta scared away from firefighting for good."
"That wasn't my intention, at all," Bobby admits with a slump of regret. "I swear I wasn't trying to upset him."
"But you did, and I'm at a loss as to why. You've never been that hard on anyone on the team before, not even Sal at his worst according to Hen. 'S far as she can tell Buck didn't do nearly enough to deserve the kind of chewing out you subjected him too."
"He didn't, I know he didn't."
"Then why, Bobby?"
Bobby swallows hard against a sudden, uncomfortable lump in his throat. "I…I think, in the moment, my mind went to Junior," he admits, his voice barely more than a whisper. "He'd be a teenager by now, you know?"
Athena nods gravely. "I know."
"He and Brooke have been on my mind ever since that plane went down, and then when Buck showed up at the firehouse…" Bobby trails off with a shaky sigh, fighting to blink back the sudden sting in his eyes. "I was still thinking about the son I lost, and I couldn't reconcile the two when I heard Buck put himself in harm's way. It was my call as Captain to let him tag along at the station, I should've been there looking out for him and I wasn't. If anything happened to that kid I know it would've been my fault. I can't go through that again, Athena. I can't."
"Oh, Bobby," Athena coos while she gently wipes a tear away from his cheek. He leans into her soft caress and kisses her palm, more grateful for her soothing touch than he can ever say. "What you've been through is terrible," she tells him softly, "but you have a chance to make things right this time, to be better for yourself and Buck."
"No," he mutters with a defeated shake of his head. "You and Hen are right, I went too far. That kid'll want nothing to do with me or the 118 after the way I treated him."
"But you didn't see him out there like I did," Athena insists. "He looked right at home on your engine, and the pride and joy in his eyes when he saved that little girl? Buck was born for this life, there's no doubt about it. All he needs now is a good man to help guide him on the right path forward."
"What if I'm not that man, Athena?" Bobby asks desperately, the insecurity plain in his strained voice. "After everything I've done—"
"You are that man," she tells him without hesitation. "I know it, and I know that deep down you know it too. Which is why you're gonna go and you're gonna fix this."
"Athena—"
"You are going to fix this, Bobby," she repeats, "and you are going to fix it now."
"…Now?"
She nods, the self satisfied smirk unmistakable on her face. "I already told Maddie you'd be stopping by this morning after I gave you a firm talkin' to."
He chuckles and rubs away any remnants of his tears. "Of course you did."
"She was all ready to march over here herself for a verbal smackdown," Athena continues. "I had to talk her down, girl's tougher than she looks with one helluva temper. She coulda done you some real damage."
"I don't doubt it."
"So go on then," Athena tells him with a shooing gesture. "Do right by your Buckaroo."
He nods and heads back the way he came, stopping only briefly to take his wife into his arms. "I love you, so much."
"I know," she says with a soft kiss and light shove. "I love you too, baby. Now go."
-_-
It's only a fifteen minute drive to Maddie's place, even with the lingering morning commuter traffic. Bobby hesitates at the complex's front gate while he works up the nerve to ring the bell camera that he knows connects to the Buckley apartment. He's still standing there, finger hovering, when he senses someone approaching from behind, with steps that sound just as hesitant as his were.
"Oh, uh, hey, Cap," Chimney says, clearly unsure how to react to Bobby's unexpected appearance. "What're you doing here?"
"Making things right, Chim," Bobby tells him with a weary sigh. "What are you doing here?"
Chimney holds up a fresh white bakery box. "Treating the Buckleys to an apology breakfast. So…also making things right. Wait, crap, you aren't here for apology breakfast too, are you?!"
Bobby shakes his head, though cooking as a kind of an act of contrition doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
"Thank Christ," Chimney huffs in relief. "No way was I competing with Super Chef Bobby, even if these are the best donuts in the city."
"I'll be the judge of that," Maddie snaps as the gate suddenly swings open so she can snatch the box from her boyfriend. Her reproachful expression is alarming similar to Athena's when she glares up at Bobby.
"I know," he admits, "I screwed up."
"You did, big time. Both of you did," she accuses, making Bobby and Chimney wince. She sighs heavily and her anger turns glum when she mutters, "but so did Buck. I really thought he would've grown out of his reckless phase by now."
Bobby can only raise a curious brow. He sincerely doubts that Buck putting himself in the path of a gunman isn't the most dangerous stunt he's ever pulled, but Maddie's nonchalance makes Bobby wonder just what exactly the kid has gotten up to in the past.
"Get in here," she tells them. "You've been hanging around outside like creeps long enough."
Bobby and Chimney exchange a guilty glance then follow Madde through the courtyard to her home. Chimney is obviously familiar with the route and hurries after her, but Bobby can't help but take a moment to appreciate the setting. The small complex is beautiful, with elaborate stone walls and arched entryways around a patio that is covered in flush greenery and massive cacti. It's a setting nicer than any place Bobby has ever lived in, before he moved into Athena's lovely home, that is.
Maddie leads them through an archway to a door set into a corner of the building. She pauses briefly to shoot the two men one last warning look before opening her door and loudly announcing, "Buck, we have visitors."
Bobby can just see the top of a head mussed with sleep when it pokes out from a nest of blankets on the sofa in the living room. Bobby only manages to catch a glimpse of wide, surprised blue eyes and a distinctive birthmark before Buck is ducking down out of sight again.
"Evan."
"Okay, okay," the bundle mutters to his sister, "jeez."
Buck untangles himself so he can slide off of the sofa then shuffle forward, his head down and shoulders hunched. The kid is tall, but Bobby is taller—not by much, though the difference suddenly feels monumental. Buck is practically cowering before his superior, his eyes looking anywhere except Bobby's face.
When no one speaks Maddie clears her throat and gestures from her brother to Bobby. "Buck, Captain Nash would like to speak to you and I think you should hear him out."
Buck swallows hard and fidgets uncomfortably but doesn't retreat, knowing that he doesn't have a choice in the matter.
"You screwed up yesterday, Buckley," Bobby says, making Buck hunch even lower with a wince. Bobby sees both Maddie and Chimney's hackles raise in the boy's defense until he continues, "but so did I. That's not the kind of Captain I ever want to be, which is why I'm going to give us both another chance."
Buck visibly startles and finally looks up at Bobby.
"Come to the firehouse at seven sharp tomorrow morning," Bobby instructs. "I don't expect you to stay for the entire 24 hour shift, but you will be kept busy at the firehouse while you're there."
When Buck doesn't respond his sister elbows him in the side. "Um, o-okay," he finally mutters.
Bobby nods in awkward acknowledgement. The conversation didn't go as genially as he'd planned in his head, but he supposes it's a start.
"7 am, Buck," he tells the kid again before he takes his leave, deciding it would be best to not overstay his welcome. "Don't disappoint me."
Chimney grins his approval, Maddie continues to appear unimpressed, and Buck looks like going back to the 118 under Bobby is the last thing he wants to do.
Chapter Text
Buck 0.4, The Unofficial Intern of Firehouse 118
Buck was used to disappointing the adults in his life.
He's had over eighteen years of experience with his parents, after all. And things only got worse with them once Maddie was gone, first off to college then to live with her new husband when the couple decided to stay in Boston.
"This is the last straw, Evan," his father had told him when he was thirteen and being picked up from the hospital after his latest bike trick left him with a broken wrist. Again. "We're not doing this with you anymore."
"It's not like I'm getting hurt on purpose, dad," Evan lied. He smirked over at his father who was pointedly ignoring him from the driver's seat. "But it really would make me feel better if we got a pizza on the way home. Huh? Huuuh?"
"Not this time. We're done coddling you, your mother and I have had enough. And with Maddie already moved on…" He sighed heavily. "You can't keep acting out like this. You need to grow up."
Evan pouted in his seat and attempted to cross his arms before he remembered his brand new cast with a pained hiss. His father hadn't even looked over at him for the rest of the ride, not that Evan expected him to.
Before Doug Maddie always had been daddy's little girl, even if neither of them would ever admit it. But growing up there was no denying that Maddie was dad's favorite and their mother, well, she never seemed to like either of her children very much. And she definitely didn't like Evan.
"Go to your room," his mother demanded the moment he was ushered through the front door by his pushy father.
"Seriously?" he groused. "You're grounding me just 'cause I busted my arm?!"
"We're grounding you to keep you safe," she shot back. "If you can't leave this house without acting like a complete idiot then you're not going anywhere at all!"
Evan rolled his eyes at her. "Fine, whatever." He stormed around her and up the stairs. "I'll go to my r—"
He froze in the doorway of his bedroom and blinked in disbelief. His entire desk and bookshelves had been cleared of everything he owned. His computer was nowhere in sight and all of the books, games, and knickknacks he'd accumulated over the years were gone. If it weren't for the unmade bed it would look as if he'd never even lived there at all.
"What the hell, where's all my stuff?!"
"You are being punished, son," his father said as both parents came up behind him in the hallway, crowding him in place so he had nowhere to go but his empty bedroom. "Until we think we can trust you we're taking away your things."
"Punished for what?! It was an accident—"
"Do you really think we're that stupid?" his mother snapped. "Just what were you trying to get out of your little 'accident' this time, another new bike?!"
"Wh-what, no, I—"
"Give me your phone, Evan."
"No way!"
"Give me your phone!"
"No," he shouted back. "This is total bull—"
He was cut off by his mother abruptly slapping him across the face, a move so unexpected it stunned him into silence.
"Why are you so awful?!" she cried, looking right at him with loathing in her tearful eyes. In that moment Evan decided that he preferred it when she didn't see him at all.
"M-mom—"
She slapped him again, harder than the first time. "Give me your goddamn phone!!!"
He fumbled to fish it out of his pocket with trembling fingers and she snatched it away from him. He flinched back out of reach with a hand pressed to his stinging cheek while tears flooded his eyes. He took one last look at his parents and saw the indifference on his father's expression and the sneer of disdain on his mother's before the bedroom door was slammed shut in his face.
He had thought about running away not for the first time in his young life, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. He considered climbing out of his window and getting on his bike and never looking back. But just like every other time he disappointed his parents or they lost their tempers with him he realized that he had nowhere to go, not even to Maddie and Doug's new place in Boston, wherever it was. His sister barely returned his calls and texts anymore, and she hadn't sent replies to the holiday cards he mailed to her in ages.
All he could do that night was curl up on his bed and blink back tears while he nursed his broken wrist and stinging cheek. He swore to himself he would stop being so reckless after that, and if he did get hurt he knew he just needed to lick his wounds in private and hope for the best.
He reminded himself over and over that maybe if he behaved and did as he was told and kept the house spotless, if he was quiet and stayed out of his parents' way and became the docile, obedient son they really wanted, then maybe they would finally love him.
-_-
"I've decided to give Buck a job at the station, sort of," Bobby explains to his cohorts when they storm into his office.
Bobby has determined that fixing the Buckley situation means giving the kid enough busy work to buy himself some time, even if that temporary fix leads to the aggravation of the firehouse's other members.
"We'll call it an unpaid internship for now."
"No, Cap," Chimney groans. "What you did is create a monster."
Bobby raises an eyebrow at Hen who nods in grave solidarity with her partner. "A monster, Cap," she confirms.
"Hey, hey Chimney, where'd you go?!" Buck suddenly calls out from the ambulance bay. He'd been anxious when Bobby first handed him the fire station's handbook and long list of chores then left him to it that morning. Now the kid's apparently full of confident, overbearing energy thanks to the power of the clipboard. "According to the guidelines that rig should've been parked six inches further than where you left it for optimal dispatch timing, I'm gonna haveta make a note of this for the brass!!!"
"A literal monster," Chimney grumbles.
"It's keeping him busy at the firehouse where he's safe," Bobby explains. "I don't want him going on any more unsanctioned ride alongs." He side eyes Chimney, who winces under the unspoken reprimand. "I'll be determining what calls Buck can go on in the future, if any, and he'll be strictly under my supervision from here on out. Got it?"
Hen levels him a knowing, parental smirk. "Yeah, you got it, pops."
Chimney sniggers as the two leave Bobby in his office staring after them and shaking his head before returning his attention to a mass of fresh paperwork.
-_-
"So, how's he doing?" Maddie says by way of greeting the moment Chimney's face fills her screen. Maddie knows that the 118 isn't out on an emergency so her boyfriend is free to FaceTime, and she's been anxiously waiting all morning for news about Buck's second chance at the firehouse. "Not going on any more dangerous calls I hope?"
"No, it's worse than that," Chimney whines. "Cap gave your brother a clipboard."
"I don't even know what that means."
"It means the kid's a damn menace! An organized, responsible, menace."
"'Organized' and 'responsible'?" she scoffs. "That doesn't sound like the Evan Buckley I remember."
Before Chimney can reply he's interrupted by Buck calling out to him from across the room. "Chimney, hey—hey, Chim!"
"Speak of the fuckin' devil," Chimney mutters.
"Watch it, mister," Maddie scolds, "that's my baby brother."
"Chimney, did you know the ambulance's windshield washer fluid is only two thirds full, you should prob'ly—oh, hang on, are you talking to my sister?" Buck gets into Chimney's personal space despite the man's squawk of protest. He grins at Maddie and waves at her through the phone with his clipboard. "Hey Mads!"
"Hey, Buck," she smiles back. "Having fun?"
"Oh, yeah, Captain Nash gave me a ton of stuff to do, but I swear I can do it! I-I'm gonna prove to him I can do it!"
"Okay, just don't—"
"Hey, HEY!" Buck is suddenly shouting at someone Maddie can't see. "I'm still labeling those, hands off, Hen!!!" And then he's gone, leaving Maddie to sigh over the phone.
"—stress."
"He's fine, Maddie," Chimney says when he returns to her screen. "We're just teasing him. Honestly it's the most entertaining this place has been since…I guess since the last time he was here. Before all the, ya know, drama."
"If anything happens—"
"I'll let you know, you know I will," he quickly assures her just as the bell rings through the firehouse. "Damn, I gotta go."
"Wait, who's staying behind with Buck?"
Chimney shakes his head. "Not me, Cap's still pretty pissed about that ridealong. Buck'll be fine with whoever, don't worry. Besides, it looks like he's got plenty to keep himself occupied."
Maddie takes some comfort in that. She knows from experience that a busy, single-minded Buck is a Buck more likely to stay out of trouble. It's the idle, attention-seeking Buck who usually manages to get himself into things that he shouldn't.
"Okay, stay safe out there," she says. He blows her a kiss through the screen then hangs up the call.
"So the rumors are true." Josh is standing just over her shoulder with a smirk, and likely has been for awhile. "Your kid brother is adorable."
-_-
Hen emerges first from the bunks with a yawn. She's grateful she managed to catch at least a brief afternoon nap after a few easy calls during what already feels like a too long shift. But so far the day has been fairly qui—nope, she won't say it, not even in her head. She's just grateful for the temporary peace.
A few firefighters are milling around in the station, keeping occupied where they can. Chimney is doing pullups in the gym and a quick upwards glance reveals Bobby in the loft's kitchen as he prepares the evening's family dinner.
Hen frowns when she realizes that the newest unofficial member of their team is nowhere in sight.
"Hey, where's…?"
Chimney glances over at her, his expression grim, then nods off to the corner next to one of the ambulances. She arches back until she can see Buck sitting in an empty rack of turnout gear, the one that's closest to the large bay doors. He's tapping a pen against the clipboard in his lap while he stares off into space.
"Pretty sure Buck went through at least a week's worth of chores in one day like some sort of hyperactive golden retriever," Chimney explains as he lets go of the pullup bar and lands smoothly on his feet. "Which means he's run out of stuff to do, so now he's hiding."
"Golden retriever's right," she scoffs. "Bobby coulda just got us a Dalmatian."
"Maybe. A real dog wouldn't be as fun though."
Hen hums her agreement. "Cap had to know busy work wasn't gonna keep that boy occupied for long," she muses. "Do you have any idea what the plan is?"
Chimney's frown deepens. "Not sure there is one. Kinda feels like Bobby's tryin' to ice him out. Give him the crap work to do while we go on calls then leave him hanging by himself, ya know? Too bad, I really liked having the kid around."
"Me too." Hen heaves a long sigh while she stares in Buck's direction. "Someone should go talk to him."
"Not it," Chimney says quickly, and she rolls her eyes at his predictable answer. "I started this whole mess, no way am I gonna be the voice of reason for anybody 'round here. Go do your Mother Hen thing, you're good at that."
She gives him a playful shove as she passes him by, already on her way to Buck.
Hen knows Bobby meant well, that he was just concerned over the simple call's unexpected dangerous turn and has no experience when it comes to reprimanding a headstrong teenager. Not that Hen has any experience either, though she's loathe to admit that Denny will be getting to that age soon enough. Still, she is first and foremost a mom and she takes her position as the 118's den mother very seriously. Her team is family to her too, and she hates that her family's newest member is hurting already.
She perches on the bumper of the truck in front of Buck and leans forward with her elbows on her knees.
"Hey, Buckaroo."
He startles out of his thoughts, as if he hadn't even noticed her approach. He scrambles to rise with a flail of his clipboard and a quick, "I-I wasn't—" but Hen gently pushes him back down to sit.
"Easy, kiddo."
His wide blue eyes stare up at her, looking like he's bracing himself for a lecture. "I'm not doing anything wrong," he blurts, "I was just—"
"Sitting here sulking, waiting for the other shoe to fall?"
"Um, if that means waiting for Captain Nash to yell at me again, then yeah, I'm waiting for him to kick me out with his other shoe, I guess."
Hen snorts out a laugh that brings a little smile to Buck's face, though he clearly doesn't understand what's so amusing about what he said. She softens her expression again when she tells him, "Bobby didn't mean to scare you the other day, he was just worried. He's like that with all of us, trust me. We're family here."
"Right, sure," Buck grumbles. "Definitely felt like family when he totally flipped out at me."
He hunches in on himself, shoulders going up around his ears defensively and Hen's smile falls. From what she's gathered already from Chimney about his girlfriend's ex it seems that neither of the Buckley siblings ran away from loving homes.
In the moment her mind goes to Denny again, and the recurring fear of Eva seeking custody of him. She knows a thing or two about bad parenting from experience and can't imagine her son, or this boy, ever being left in the care of someone who was unfit or unwilling to care for them.
"Listen," she tells Buck, "Cap may seem all bark and no bite, but there's really not even a bark. Trust me, we've had bad captains come through this house before and Bobby is by far the kindest. He was only angry because he was scared of seeing you get hurt."
"'Cause I'm a liability, right? H-he'll get in trouble if I—"
"No," Hen says with an adamant shake of her head. "It's because Bobby cares, kiddo."
"But…but why?" he asks in genuine confusion. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing here anymore, it's just that Maddie doesn't want me around all the time, she never did, she…" He trails off with a sigh that sounds far too world weary for a kid his age. "I should just go."
"Buck, hon—"
Buck abruptly shoots to his feet and holds out his hand as if to take hers like he did when they first met, only this time as a gesture of farewell. "It was great knowing you, Hen," he says, clearly struggling to keep any emotion from his face. "You were really nice and I had a lot of fun with you guys while it lasted. I…I-I'll see you around, I guess."
She levels a hard stare at him until he finally lowers his hand in defeat.
"You're not going anywhere, Buckaroo," she firmly tells him. "Just go talk to Bobby. I promise you'll be fine. And if not I want you to come right back here and let me know, I'll kick Cap's ass for you myself."
Buck shuffles uncertainly. "You will?"
"Damn right I will," she insists. "And I know Chim'll back me up in a heartbeat."
Buck relaxes a little, his mouth quirking into a small but grateful smile. "Thanks, Hen."
"Now go on," she says with a light shove. "Show Bobby you're worth keepin' around."
Buck swallows hard and steels himself before taking off toward the stairs with his trusty clipboard grasped tight in both hands.
Hen watches him go with a fond smile as Chimney appears from behind to plant his chin on her shoulder. "Kid's way better than a Dalmatian," he mutters.
"Yeah," she confirms and tilts her head to rest against her partner's. "He sure is."
-_-
Buck was used to disappointing the adults in his life.
"Evan," his mother's cold voice had called to him the moment he was through the door one fateful evening in September, making him flinch and nearly drop his keys. "Whose car is that?"
Both of his parents were standing in the living room, arms crossed while they glared at him from the shadows.
"Heeeyyy," he greeted nervously. "I, uh, I-I didn't realize you guys'd be home already. H-h-how was your trip?"
"The Jeep, Evan," his father practically growled. "Whose is it?"
Evan swallowed hard. He thought he'd been so careful about parking it away from the house, always wary of his parents coming home unannounced.
"Evan."
"I-I-I dunno what you—"
"The Andersons down the street said they've seen you driving it all summer," his mother snapped. "With California plates of all things. Where did you get it?!"
Evan cursed his nosey neighbors in his head. "It…it's not mine, not exactly, I just—"
"It's Maddie's, isn't it? She's in California, and she came to visit because she knew we were away." His mother looked devastated by the realization, then furious at him again. "You told her to come here when we weren't home on purpose, didn't you?!"
"What, no I didn't!"
"Damn it, Evan," his father barked. "You know Doug's been looking for her for months!"
That he did not know, though considering no one ever told him anything the revelation that he'd been left out of the loop didn't come as much of a surprise. But why hadn't Maddie told him that she moved out to California on her own? He thought Doug was the reason she couldn't take him with her after graduation, but if she finally left her asshole husband, then why didn't she—
"Evan, you are so selfish," his mother practically spat, interrupting his spiraling thoughts. "What is wrong with you, how could you not tell us where she is?!"
"I didn't think you'd actually care," he blurted, his own temper rising in response to his parents' accusations and Maddie's betrayal. "You're never around anyway, and when you are you just ignore me or yell at me and ground me for shit that isn't even my fault!"
"How dare you—"
"You guys are seriously like the worst parents ever," Evan loudly continued, "no wonder Maddie doesn't want you to know where she is!!!"
His mother let out an affronted gasp at the accusation. She automatically raised her hand in a familiar gesture but he ducked out of reach then dashed up the stairs, ignoring her shrill yelling as he went. Unsurprisingly his room was once again emptied, but at least his dresser drawers had been left untouched. He shoved as much clothes and essentials into his backpack as he could then slung it over his shoulder.
When he stormed downstairs his parents were blocking his path to the front door with matching expressions of fury on their faces.
"You're not going anywhere, son," his father said, voice low and dangerous.
"You need to tell us what you know about Maddie," his mother added, sounding just as harsh.
He glared at them as he tried to push his way through but his father shoved him right back, hard enough that he stumbled against a small cabinet in the foyer and knocked over a decorative vase that had been sitting on top of it. The ugly thing had been there for as long as Evan could remember, and he assumed it was expensive for the way his parents revered it. He genuinely didn't expect it to be full of dirt when it fell to the hard wood floor and shattered.
His mother let out a screech as if she'd been the one to break into pieces. She sank to her knees in front of the mess with an agonized wail that was terrifying to hear.
Evan swallowed hard, his anger turning to sickening guilt. "M-mom, I-I-I'm sorry, I—"
He moved to help her pick up the shards of ceramic only to have her slap him across the cheek harder than she'd ever hit him before. He fell to the side with a cry but she didn't even give him a second glance, just went right back to sobbing over the mess on her floor while his father took him by the arm in a bruising grip and hauled him backwards. Evan was tossed carelessly aside so the man could kneel and put a comforting arm around his wife's shoulders while she wept.
Evan stared at their mournful display in disbelief, anger rising once again. They really, truly cared about some ugly little vase more than they did about him. They never loved him, and he knew deep down that they never would.
He scrambled to his feet with the stuffed backpack in tow. The path before him was suddenly clear and neither of his parents attempted to stop him when he stormed out of the front door, unable to fight against the tears that slipped down his throbbing cheek.
"Just go, you'll see," he heard his mother screaming after him. "Maddie doesn't want you either!!!"
The words hurt, and Evan could only hope that they weren't true. Because he had no idea what he was going to do if his sister didn't take him in.
-_-
Bobby senses the kid lurking behind him from the other side of the kitchen island. The loft is otherwise unoccupied—the rest of the team is either downstairs working on the rigs or napping in the bunks while they can.
Or, more likely, Hen has made sure everyone steers clear so Buck and Bobby can have a long overdue heart to heart.
Bobby's back is to Buck and he frowns to himself when he hears the kid shuffle nervously, as if at war with himself over how, or if, he wants to get the 118 Captain's attention.
Bobby remains patient, and after a long moment Buck finally stammers, "oh, um, h-hey, sorry to bother you, Bob—ah, C-Cap…Captain Bobby. Captain Nash! Captain Bobby Nash, s-sir."
Bobby forces his expression into something serious despite the bemused grin that's tugging at the corners of his mouth. He turns just as Buck finishes his awkward greeting with a wince. Bobby stares for a long moment then raises an eyebrow.
"Yes, Intern Evan Buckley?"
The wide eyed kid startles at the use of his full name and quickly lowers his gaze, swallowing hard. He's holding the clipboard in front of his chest like a shield, looking ready to bolt.
Internally Bobby frowns at Buck's nervousness and the tension that remains between them. Outwardly Bobby softens his expression and loosens up to lean down against the island's counter, hoping that his less imposing stance will help to ease some of the discomfort he knows he's caused.
"You needed something, kid?"
Buck visibly startles. "Oh, no, not…not really, I mean, it's just, I, uh…" He jerks a thumb over the loft railing behind him. "I f-finished with the…with all the stuff on your checklist." He sets the clipboard in front of Bobby at arms' length then steps back out of reach just as quickly. "So…yeah. All done."
"I can see that," Bobby drawls without even looking down at the papers before him. "And thanks to you I think this is the most organized and clean that the Firehouse has ever been. Excellent work all around, Buck. I cannot thank you enough for everything you've done today."
Buck looks like he came to Bobby expecting criticism and more harsh reprimands. Bobby smiles when his praising words take a moment to sink in, then Buck's expressive face twitches from anxious to surprised to relieved before his eyes finally meet Bobby's.
"Really, you…you mean that?"
"'Course I do," Bobby tells him with a sincere grin. "You've proven yourself to be a real asset to the team in the short time you've been here with us."
Buck smiles back and some of the ice between them finally melts away. "Wow, uh, th-thanks Captain Nash! 'Cause I wasn't sure if overstepped, ya know, doing more than your list said, but then I figured I was here anyways and I liked seeing where everything goes and how stuff works and then I thought some of it wasn't as shiny as it could be, s-so…" The kid seems to trail off when he realizes he might have said too much but his proud little smile remains. "I'm just happy to help."
"As long as that help doesn't mean you getting involved in something you're not qualified for," Bobby says, and Buck winces at the reminder. "And I am truly sorry that I snapped at you the other day. But as Captain I don't enjoy the idea of any of my guys putting themselves in danger, and that includes you now, Buck."
"Oh, I-I understand, sir," Buck says, though the furrow in his brow tells Bobby otherwise.
Bobby doesn't know who set the bar for Buck's self worth so damn low, but he's more than determined to raise it.
"Good, because I've already given my recommendation to the Chief," Bobby tells him, "and he's approved my request to fast track you through the Fire Academy. You can start the program as early as this weekend if you're still interested in becoming a firefighter."
Buck looks frozen, like his mind can't quite process the life changing opportunity he's just been offered. "I…you… …what?"
"And you can still work here in your free time, though I want you to focus on your training and studies over everything else," Bobby continues. "The Academy's not easy, but you've got a lot of good people around here to help you out. Just stick with it and in a couple of months I'll have you on board as a probationary firefighter. That work for you?"
"Um, yeah, that…that definitely works for me."
"Excellent," Bobby says with a smile. "I've got paperwork for you to fill out, you should go over it with your sister tonight. She already knows it's coming."
"She does?"
Bobby nods. "I needed to make sure I had her blessing before you start running into literal fires. You're a good kid, Buck," he affirms. "We're all happy to have you here with us at the 118."
Buck slumps with relief, like whatever invisible lines still keeping him taught were cut by Bobby's kind words. He grins wobbly in his captain's direction. "Thank you, sir."
"You're very welcome," Bobby says, straightening to his full height again. "But since you're finished with your other chores maybe you could help me with something else now?"
"Yeah, of course," Buck perks up with an enthusiastic grin. "Anything!"
Bobby motions behind him to the kitchen—the spotless kitchen, courtesy of Buck's earlier efforts—and the ingredients he's already set out on the counter.
"You can help me make dinner."
And just like that Buck's face falls again. "I-I really don't think you want that, Captain Nash, sir, I—"
"Bobby."
Buck blinks. "Huh?"
"You're part of the team now, Buck. Call me Bobby. Or Cap. Whichever you're comfortable with."
"Oh, okay, um, C-Cap," the kid stammers. "It's just I, uh, I don't think I actually know how to make anything, like, food-wise? I-I-I dunno how helpful I'll be. Sorry."
"Then this is the perfect opportunity for you to learn," Bobby says, gesturing for Buck to join him on the other side of the island counter. "Because I happen to be a pretty damn good cook myself."
He doesn't force the matter and after a moment's indecision the lanky teenager finally sidles up next to him, though he still leaves a good few feet of distance between them.
"Lasagna's a favorite around here," Bobby tells him while he lays out ingredients, "and it's a fairly simple dish to make."
He starts by checking if his already boiling water is ready for the lasagna noodles.
"Pasta I know how to do," Buck comments. "I've made tons of macaroni and cheese before."
"Oh yeah? We should compare recipes."
Buck cocks his head in confusion. "But it's not that hard to make," he tells Bobby. "It just comes in a box with some orange powder stuff."
"That is not mac and cheese, kid." Bobby makes an exaggerated noise of disgust that makes Buck snort out a surprised giggle. "Tell you what, you help me now and I'll show you how to make it for real next time."
Buck's grin widens at the prospect of "next time" and he nods eagerly as Bobby places the lasagna into the stove pot.
"The trick," Bobby explains, "is to not let the pasta break or boil so long that it gets too soft. Do you know what 'al dente' means?"
Buck shakes his head.
"'To the tooth'. Means the pasta's cooked but still a little firm."
Buck inches closer and watches attentively while Bobby works to extract the long noodles once he's determined they're ready. He sets them one at a time in a casserole dish next to his other readied ingredients and explains each of the layers to Buck.
After they've worked for a little while Bobby decides the kid's warmed up to him enough to broach another subject, one that's sat like a heavy pit in Bobby's stomach since their little cooking lesson began.
"So, what kind of meals did your parents cook for you and Maddie growing up?"
Buck shrugs indifferently. "They didn't. Cook, I mean. I think they kinda did when I was really little but it was too much work for them, I guess. Maddie showed me how to make some easy stuff on my own before she left for college."
Bobby frowns. It's not the answer he wanted to hear but somehow he's not surprised in the slightest. He knows there's an almost ten year age gap between the siblings and tries not to think of a college bound teenager having to teach a little boy how to fend for himself when she's gone.
"You guys didn't have big family dinners in the Buckley house?"
Buck shakes his head. He doesn't even look upset by that fact, like the very notion of a family having dinner together is beyond him. "Mom and dad weren't really around much, especially after Maddie moved out."
"That must've been pretty lonely for you."
"Are you kidding?!" Buck scoffs. "It was awesome, I could do whatever all the time, like play video games and throw parties and eat all the macaroni and cheese and frozen pizzas I ever wanted!"
Bobby thinks that sounds less than awesome but keeps that fact to himself. "You're happy to be at Maddie's now, right?"
"Yeah," Buck says him with a soft smile that doesn't meet his eyes. "I…I missed her a lot when she went away. I dunno if she really missed me all that much though."
Bobby has a sudden, intense urge to wrap the kid up in a giant hug and take him home as the newest addition to the Grant-Nash family. He doubts Athena would need much convincing, it's obvious that she's already taken a liking to the young Buck.
For now Bobby manages to restrain himself and settles on simply nudging Buck's shoulder with his own.
"Welp, you've got the 118 now, kiddo," Bobby tells him, "and you're welcome to family dinner here anytime. Just don't tell the others that I'm sharing my secret recipes with you."
Buck beams at Bobby and the man feels his heart swell with fatherly affection.
"Thanks, Cap," Buck says. "And don't worry, I promise I won't tell."
-_-
Buck was used to disappointing the adults in his life, only because he's never actually been around adults who wanted his company, who didn't treat him like some useless burden they kept around only to inconvenience them.
With Bobby's apology and heartfelt blessing he's been officially welcomed into the 118 with open arms. He's only known this small group of misfit firefighters less than a week and they've already treated him better than his parents ever have in his entire life.
Buck even becomes close with his Captain despite their rocky start. After one of their many cooking lessons leads to a random conversation about music—and Buck's apparently disturbing lack of interest in classic rock—Bobby surprises him with last minute tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert.
It's the first real concert Buck's ever been to, and when he admits that fact Bobby happily buys him a limited edition tour t-shirt and treats him to overpriced slushies and junk foods. He catches Bobby watching him during the show at one point, grinning at Buck's enthusiasm even while the Boss performs "Born to Run" right there in front of them. No adult has ever looked at Buck like that, like they were genuinely happy to have him around; like a parent is supposed to look at their child.
Bobby pulls him in for a side hug that Buck doesn't shy away from while they cheer on the next song. Buck decides right then and there that it is one of, if not the greatest night of his young life.
Chapter Text
Buck 0.5, A Green Eyed Monster
Buck's only been at the Fire Academy for a few weeks and he's already being replaced.
"Who the hell's that?" he asks when he strolls into the firehouse on a crisp day in mid October, the spring in his step dying the moment he spots the stranger changing into a firefighter uniform behind the locker room's glass walls.
"New probie, Eddie Diaz," Chimney answers around a snap of his gum. "You missed it, his first shift the other night he totally pulled a bomb out of some guy's leg. Diaz used to be an army medic, dude's the literal definition of badass."
"Is he, um, p-permanent?"
"Yup, he sure is," Chimney says cheerily with a clap to Buck's back that makes him drop his bag. "We just got another new addition to the 118 family, Buckaroo!"
A wash of cold panic falls over Buck despite Chimney's easy grin, leaving him numb and shaky. He's taking too long at the Academy, Buck realizes. He hasn't been working at the firehouse enough and Bobby's giving up his spot already. His job is going to some army guy who's way more qualified, who's already getting along with the rest of the firefighters and pulling bombs out of people, apparently.
He's being replaced by a guy who looks so much stronger than Buck, his muscles rippling and gleaming while he changes his shirt right out in the open as if to taunt Buck with his perfectly sculpted body.
Buck feels his face flush and narrows his eyes at the newcomer. He can't let this guy take his spot on the team, he won't. He'll just have to prove to Bobby and the rest of them that he still has what it takes. And show Diaz that Buck isn't one to give up without a fight.
-_-
"Oh my god, Maddie," Chimney says over FaceTime with a shit eating grin. Hen is visible just over his shoulder sniggering behind her hand. "Buck has lost his damn mind."
Maddie raises an eyebrow and motions to Josh that she's taking her break. He smirks in understanding as he waves her along.
"Not sure why my brother losing his mind is so amusing to you," she mutters once she makes it into the thankfully empty break room.
"Here, watch." Chimney flips the phone screen and eases it around the corner of a truck where he and Hen are taking cover. Through the screen Maddie sees a man she doesn't recognize lifting weights while Buck stands over him, hands on his hips with an intense look on his face. The man is clearly bemused by Buck and not the least bit intimidated.
"That's Eddie Diaz," Chimney explains, "new probie. Buck's got it out for the guy for some reason, it's ridiculous—"
Hen shushes him so they can hear:
"…And the Fire Academy Instructor says I'm the fastest in the class," Buck is saying.
"That's nice," Eddie monotones.
"Yeah, I know it is, and I'm probably the fastest one here at the station too."
"Sure, probably."
"We should race! One lap around the building, let's go!"
Eddie takes a deliberate thoughtful pause between reps, says "nah," and goes right back to ignoring Buck.
Buck pouts, then attempts a new ploy. "How much're you lifting?"
"One eighty."
"Oh yeah? That's nothin', check this out."
They all watch while Buck hefts a number of additional weights to the barbell on an open bench then settles in underneath two hundred plus pounds of metal. Eddie stops his own reps and stands, moving close enough that he can subtly spot Buck with a barely concealed grin of amusement. Buck puts on his serious face, sucks in a breath, and pushes the weighted bar upwards.
Eddie doesn't need to spot him. Buck may have added some definition to his arms in recent weeks, but there's no way he's strong enough to bench press well over his own body weight. He can't even lift the bar from its metal rest, though he tries with all of his might, grunting from the effort until he finally gives up with a dramatic huff, his face red from exertion.
"I-I can definitely do it," he pants. "I did it yesterday, I'm just taking an arm break day today. So…yeah, giving the arms a break, you know how it is."
"Good call," Eddie humors him. "Guess that means a pull up contest is out?"
Buck blatantly stares at Eddie's toned biceps. "Ah yeah. M-m-maybe some other time."
"Sure," Eddie says before moving on to the punching bag.
Buck swallows hard, then changes tactics again. He shoots to his feet and puffs out his chest, clearly taking advantage of the fact that he has a few inches of height on Eddie. Still, the older man is unperturbed.
"Right, 'cause I've been working out a ton lately, so I'm, like, at the top of my game," Buck brags. "It's just too bad I'm not a legit firefighter yet and I can't be in that calendar everybody's talking about, I know they'd pick me for sure. I've got some real good shots."
"Oh yeah?" Eddie stops mid punch and steadies the bag to give Buck his full attention. "Me too, here, let me know what you think of these."
Buck's cheeks flush when Eddie leans in close to show Buck his phone screen. "But that…that's cheating," Buck blurts, "these are professional photos!"
"Nope, all done by my twelve year old niece. It's amazing what kids can do with filters these days."
"What, no way, what app is she using…"
Eddie thumbs at something on his phone for Buck to see while his eyes drift towards the fire engine. The raised brow he shoots Chimney and Hen make it clear that he's well aware of his audience, even if Buck remains oblivious.
Maddie hears Chimney gasp when he realizes he's been caught. The screen becomes a nauseating blur of movement as he and a cackling Hen quickly retreat out of sight.
"Eddie's a good sport for putting up with the kid, I'll give him that," Chimney smirks once the phone is still again. "You're the Buck expert, Maddie, enlighten us as to what exactly is going on here."
She sighs heavily. "That's just Irrationally Jealous Evan. He'd show up every once in a while if I had a new friend I was spending a lot of time with. Or if he like liked someone I was hanging out with, which was weird enough coming from an intense little kid."
"Mhmm, just as I suspected," Hen hums.
"What, no you didn't," Chimney scoffs. "We both thought he was just being a crazy person!"
"Did we?!"
"Either way, warn the new guy that it might take awhile," Maddie tells them, "but Buck'll warm up to him once he gets over his machismo competitive streak. Eventually. Hopefully."
Chimney and Hen share a cynical glance. Whatever Buck's been up to lately it doesn't seem like he'll be getting over said streak anytime soon.
"Just please make sure my brother doesn't do anything really dangerous," Maddie continues. "He's the kind of kid who would jump off a bridge if you dared him to. Seriously, he's done it before. More than once."
"No worries there, Mads," Chimney assures her. "We've got our eyes on him."
Hen nods in solidarity. "Buck's newfound infatuation with Eddie won't lead to injury under our watch."
"We're just gonna enjoy the show while it lasts," Chimney adds right before the ring of the bell echoes through the firehouse. "Annnd, show's over already, dang. Gotta run, see ya later, Maddie!"
Chimney hangs up and Maddie shakes her head, grinning to herself over her little brother's familiar antics. Hours later, after her shift is over and she's arrived home, she waits for him with that same bemused smirk still on her face.
"So how goes your new boy crush?" she asks sweetly the moment Buck is through the front door.
"It's—I mean, what?!" he sputters. "I'm not, I-I don't… I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Eddie Diaz, right? The new probationary firefighter. I hear he's quite an attractive young man."
"Chimney," Buck curses the man's name under his breath. "Don't you guys ever have anything else to talk about besides me?!"
"Hey, it's not our fault you're the most entertaining thing to happen to us most days," she teases.
Buck pouts at her. "I don't have a crush."
"Uh huh, suuure you don't."
"I like girls, Maddie. Eddie's not a girl."
"You're allowed to like both, you know."
Somehow his already flushed face turns even redder. "Yeah, I know that, duh!"
"So, you know it's okay to be physically attracted to another man—"
"Oh my god, Maddie," he whines.
"—but I need you to be mature if you're seriously considering a relationship with someone older than you at your age, woman or man." She adds with a sweet smile that he does not return, "and you know I'm always here to talk if you need advice on dating, and sex—"
If he'd had a room Maddie has a feeling he would have stormed off to it and slammed the door behind him as hard as he could. Instead he stomps to the sofa he's been using as a bed where he flops down face first with a frustrated noise then yanks the blanket over his head, essentially hiding himself from view.
She rolls her eyes. "Buck…"
"No, Buck's not here," he mumbles childishly from under his covers. "And he definitely doesn't want to have the sex talk with his sister. Ever."
She waits a beat and asks, "Buck, don't you have class tonight?"
He's still and quiet for a long moment, then Maddie hears "shit!" right before he's flailing and kicking himself free of his blanket. He scrambles for his Fire Academy things and stumbles back to the door.
"Have fun, be smart," she calls, handing him an already made sandwich as he passes her.
She knows how chaotic his life has been lately, which means that finding time to eat and take care of himself isn't always the top priority. She does what she can for him, falling easily back into the role of pseudo mom just like she had when they were younger and their own mother wasn't cut out for the job.
"We'll finish discussing your potential love life some other time," she tells him with a grin.
He glares at her for the comment and chooses to shove the entire sandwich into his mouth rather than respond on his way out.
-_-
Bobby catches Hen and Chimney giggling to each other when they should be inventorying ambulance supplies after a shift change.
"What is so darn funny?" he asks, making the two of them jump when he suddenly appears behind them.
"Kid's at it again, Cap."
"At what…?"
Chimney nods to the gym where Eddie is in the midst of his morning routine. Not too far away, and not at all hidden by the fire pole he's cowering behind, is Buck. He's leveling an intense look at the probationary firefighter even while he anxiously rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet.
Bobby frowns. He hasn't been oblivious to Buck's strange behavior over the past few days. The kid's either been avoiding Eddie like he's got the plague or trying to goad him into some kind of physical challenge that Buck thinks he can win. So far Eddie hasn't risen to the bait or has managed to get away from Buck thanks to a convenient emergency call, but it's only a matter of time before Buck is insistent enough to have his way, though to what end Bobby honestly has no idea.
And if he's not harassing Eddie Buck seems to be working himself harder than ever around the station, a feat Bobby wouldn't have thought possible. Whenever the team returns from a daytime call it's to an exhausted but triumphant Buck in a firehouse that's even cleaner than they had left it. Buck puts their gear away and scrubs down the engines and restocks supplies before anyone else can lift a finger, which leaves Bobby with a bunch of firefighters who apparently have nothing to do besides pick on their high strung intern while he attempts to wage a one sided war with their newest member.
"Buck tried giving Diaz a nickname yesterday," Chimney's saying.
"He thought G.I. Man was a good one," Hen scoffs, "but Eddie was not having it."
"Looks to me like the kid's going for a physical challenge today," Chimney continues. "What'll it be this time I wonder, another attempt at a footrace? Push up contest perhaps?"
"Hot dog eating contest," Hen supplies with a smirk. "Kinda surprised he hasn't tried that one already."
Chimney snorts out a laugh. "Whatever it is my money's on Eddie."
Hen shoves playfully at Chimney. "Aw hell, you know I'm not taking that bet."
Eddie finishes his reps and rises from the weight bench. Buck puffs out his chest and moves to intercept. Hen and Chimney wait with unbridled glee for the no doubt ridiculous display that's about to begin, and Bobby decides he's had enough.
"Buck, c'mere," he calls out, making Buck startle mid step and whip his head around to his Captain. He blanches slightly under Bobby's stern look. "I wanna talk to you."
"He's fine, Cap," Eddie says, surprising Bobby when he comes to Buck's defense. "Seriously, we're all good."
Buck looks just as surprised but hides it quickly. "Yeah, I-I wasn't—"
"My office, Buckley," Bobby calls again with a finger pointed down the hall "Now."
Buck hunches his shoulders and ducks away with his figurative tail between his legs. Bobby ignores the exaggerated sounds of disappointment coming from Chimney and Hen as he follows Buck down the short hallway towards the office. He has the kid sit then closes the door behind them. Bobby doesn't sit in his own chair, just perches on the desk in front of Buck, who looks more nervous than Bobby's seen him since his first days at the 118.
Nervous, jittery, and unusually disheveled. Buck's normally smoothed down curls are springing free on top of his head and Bobby's pretty sure he's wearing the same rumpled, unwashed LAFD t-shirt and pants he'd been wearing yesterday. There are tired bags under the kid's wild blue eyes even while his leg bounces restlessly, a clear sign that he's hopped up on too much coffee and energy drinks just to keep himself awake. It's painfully obvious that Buck's running on caffeinated fumes, fumes wasted on antagonizing a probationary firefighter who certainly doesn't deserve that kind of treatment his first week on the job.
Bobby tries to think of a moderate, sensible way to start their conversation but ends up blurting, "what the heck is going on with you, kid?!"
Buck blinks up at him. "Uh, what?"
"This ridiculous rivalry you're trying to start with Eddie has gone too far. I need you to be a team player here, Buck!"
Buck's brow furrows in genuine confusion. "But…but I'm just trying to show you I can still do this," he says, voice high and defensive. "I-I-I can definitely still do this, that new guy doesn't have to take my spot on the team!"
Bobby isn't surprised by Buck's insecure explanation, only disappointed in himself for not addressing the matter sooner. He pinches the bridge of his nose and just manages to hold back a long sigh of exasperation.
"I can have more than one probationary firefighter at a time, Buck," he says slowly, stating what he thought had been obvious. "Eddie was never going to take your place."
Buck's jaw literally drops. "Wait, for real?!"
"Yes," Bobby insists. "So please stop trying to prove your worth around here by working yourself to death before you even officially start!"
"Oh, um, okay that's…wow, phew, that's actually a huuuge relief," Buck breathes with a smile that has Bobby shaking his head in disbelief. "This week has been exhausting, I've got some serious studying to catch up on."
"Buck, when we made this deal we agreed that the Academy takes precedence, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember! Of course I remember, I only fell behind, like, a little bit."
Bobby needs to take a moment to roll his eyes to the heavens and count to ten in his head. "I'm assigning you a study buddy," he tells Buck. "Someone who can help get you back on track."
"Who, Hen?"
"Eddie."
Buck's pale cheeks flush red. "C'mon, Cap, seriously?!"
"Eddie got top marks too," Bobby informs, his tone making it clear that he's leaving no room for argument. "I think it'll be a big help for the both of you to work together on this. But first I want you to apologize to him."
"But I didn't even do anything!"
Bobby levels him a look that has Buck slumping in defeat.
"Ugh, fine," he grumbles. "I'll say sorry you're so cool and badass and hot and stuff."
"Maybe don't put it like that exactly," Bobby advises. "Just play nice with the guy from now on, okay? Remember, we're all a team here."
"I know," Buck sighs and pushes himself to his feet, hopefully on his way to make good on his apology.
"And Buck?" Bobby calls just before Buck reaches the door.
"Yeah?"
"The next time you get some crazy notion that I'm replacing you into that thick skull of yours please come talk to me before you do something absolutely insane, like challenge a probie to an axe throwing contest."
"Oh you…you heard about that one, huh?"
"I did. And I really don't want to have to remind you that our firefighting tools are not toys."
Buck winces. "No, I-I know that. Sorry, Cap."
"Not me, Buck," Bobby says. "Apologize to Eddie."
"I will," Buck mumbles, and Bobby watches him go with a fond, but incredulous, shake of his head.
-_-
If anyone else had stepped to Eddie like Buck has they wouldn't've stood a chance. Eddie would have gotten right into their face that first day with a curt, "what's your problem, man?!" then, depending on the response, fixed the contention between them with either heated words or brutal fisticuffs, consequences be damned.
But he understands that Buck's childish antics are just that—a weird way of acting out from a kid who feels like his position is threatened by the new guy. All Buck really wants is to not be overshadowed, to receive a little acknowledgement for the good he's doing, a word of praise here and pat on the head there for a job well done. And Eddie gets it, he really does.
So he takes Buck's bizarre behavior in stride and maintains his patience, just like he does when his own kid says or does something ridiculous but ultimately harmless. Needless to say he is not looking forward to Christopher's teen years.
But now that their Captain is involved Eddie has no idea what to expect. He's unsure if Bobby's reprimand will lead to Buck actually backing off or coming on even stronger than before in retaliation, so he busies himself by checking an already spotless and perfectly in order fire engine while he waits for Buck's return with bated breath. Eddie needs to be ready for the possibility of a whole new level of antagonization coming his way, just in case.
Hen and Chimney appear more amused than concerned which doesn't help Eddie's situation any. Chimney constantly teases Buck and riles him up like an older brother would, but he's just as protective as Hen, who alternates between seeming annoyed by Buck and smothering him with motherly affection. And Eddie had been positive that their Captain was Buck's biological father, until he made an offhand comment about nepotism in the firehouse that left both Hen and Chimney laughing in his face.
Eddie understands that he's still the new guy, new to the 118 Firehouse and new to firefighting in general, but he has a strong hunch the familial dynamic they've got going on here is not normal. It's nice, refreshing in a way, but certainly not how he imagines that the average city fire department is run.
He rolls out from under the rig and gets to his feet only to freeze when he spies Buck stopped short just outside of the parking bay and blatantly staring at Eddie. Even from a distance Eddie can tell that he's neither upset nor incensed following the talking to from his Captain. The kid only looks nervous while Eddie stares right back at him. They stand there, unmoving in their staring contest, each hesitate to make a first move.
Then Eddie is forcibly moved when the ground suddenly vibrates violently beneath his feet.
When he looks down he's not in his firefighter blues standing on the concrete floor of the firehouse. He's in fatigues and combat boots with treads that are sunk into dense, unrelenting sand. Bombs are going off, pitching his world sideways with explosions that send dirt and debris flying all around him. There's a high pitched ringing in his ears, but through it he can just make out the steady rapport of gunshots under the thumping of helicopter blades even if he can't see anything through the thick smoke that threatens to suffocate him.
The ground continues to aggressively shake and he knows they aren't going to make it. Despite everything Eddie did for his team that second bird, the one meant to be their salvation, is about to go down and there's no saving them this time. Soldiers yell and cry out with the thundering explosions but he's frozen, resigned to his fate while he stands there, unable to move besides his involuntary shaking with the ground's turbulence until one loud, frantic voice is carried over the cacophony:
"Eddie, watch out!!!"
He instinctively looks up but doesn't see a fiery, disabled helicopter or enemy missile about to bear down on him. He has a split second to remember where he is—the 118 Firehouse—and what is about to crush him—some beam falling from the ceiling—then thinks only of Christopher and immense heart stopping regret when he knows that he's about to leave his young son once again, this time for good.
Something collides into him, tackling him from the front and knocking the wind out of him just as the massive piece of debris crashes to the ground where he had just been standing. The impact sends a shockwave of pain through his body, enough to bring him fully into the present and remind him how lucky he is to be alive when he takes a shaky breath.
"Omigod, Eddie, a-a-are you okay?!"
Eddie's response is a confounded sounding wheeze while he stares at the blurred figure hovering over him. It takes a long moment for his brain to recover, to realize that he's safe and he doesn't need to panic hard enough for his heart to beat out of his chest like it is. A trembling hand reaches for his and he squeezes back just as hard, grateful for the grounding grip.
"E-Eddie?"
"I…I'm okay," he finally manages to gasp, sounding unconvincing even to his own ears.
His free hand moves to his still heaving chest where he can feel the St. Christopher medallion through his uniform. The token is what finally calms him enough that his vision clears and he sees a pair of wide, concerned blue eyes staring back at him. He blinks unevenly up at his savior.
"You 'kay? Buck?"
Buck lets out a choked sound that's a mix between relieved and terrified. "H-Hen," he calls in a cracking voice, his eyes never leaving Eddie's. "Hen, I-I-I think he needs help!"
Eddie tries to shake his head but winces when the movement makes his world spin nauseatingly around him again.
"It's okay, hon," Hen's soothing voice is saying, but not to Eddie. She appears next to Buck and rubs a comforting hand along his back just before blinding light assaults Eddie's eyes. "Pupil's are even. Eddie, did you hit your head?"
"No, I'm fine, really," he manages, batting a hand against the source of Hen's light. His other hand is still firmly held in Buck's grasp. "Fine and definitely not concussed."
"Right, sure, fine except for some bruises from that epic tackle," Chimney says from over Hen's shoulder, unmistakably trying to sound chipper to mask his worry. "Buckaroo saves the day once again!"
"But from what," Buck asks, "what the hell was that?"
"I'd say it was at least a seven."
"A seven what?!"
"Earthquake, kiddo," Chimney tells him with a grin. "Welcome to California!"
Eddie registers what Chimney is saying and lets out a long, shaky exhale. It's just an earthquake, he repeats to himself, nothing but some geological faults acting up beneath his feet. He's not under attack—he's safe and sound at the firehouse.
"You sure you're alright?" Hen asks him, her gentle voice barely above a whisper. "I know a panic attack when I see one."
"I am, really," he insists, though he needs to put a significant amount of effort into keeping his words steady. "I think I was just confused, felt like I was somewhere else for a sec."
Hen gives him a pitying look but doesn't press him for details. He finally glances around as smoke dissipates throughout the firehouse. Besides a couple of shattered glass walls, some fallen debris, and lingering white clouds from busted open fire extinguishers there doesn't appear to have been very much damage done to the structurally sound building.
Though Eddie realizes that while he's calmed in the aftermath of the seismic event the fingers still locked in his haven't stopped trembling.
"Buck!!!" a voice suddenly calls.
Buck abruptly lets go of Eddie and shoots to his feet with a stammered, "I-I didn't—" only to be pulled into their Captain's arms.
"You're okay," Bobby sighs with shaky relief over Buck's shoulder. "Thank god."
"Glad to see you so concerned for the rest of us, Cap," Hen scoffs. "But yeah, we're all okay." She side eyes Eddie when she says it, and he just shakes his head. He's fine, really. He doesn't need a little bit of past trauma to get in the way of his job now, especially not in the midst of a city wide disaster. "Just a little rattled."
"Eddie's the only who almost got pancaked," Chimney points out. "Good thing someone here's obsessed with him."
Eddie gets to his feet with Hen's help and is relieved that his wobbly legs manage to support him. The numbing panic is slowly fading, leaving a slight throbbing ache in his side where he'd hit the hard ground. Still, he'd rather have a few bruises to deal with than think of what might have happened if Buck hadn't been there.
"Buck saved my life," he tells Bobby. Then he looks into Buck's eyes and tells him, genuinely, "you are a badass, man. You can have my back any day."
Buck's shell shocked expression finally softens and he blushes from Eddie's praising words. "Y-yeah, you too," he squeaks. "I mean, you can have my back, if you want, ya know."
Eddie grins. Even if he was pissed at Buck for acting out, he knows he could never stay mad at the endearing kid for long.
The shrill bell abruptly rings throughout the station, startling them while orders come over the loudspeaker, directing them to the first of what is sure to be many emergencies throughout the city.
Bobby does a quick assessment of available firefighters and equipment, then looks to his team. "Buck, I'm putting you in charge of firehouse triage."
Buck's jaw drops. "You're…wait, you mean it?!"
"Yes," Bobby confirms. "You know the ins and outs of this place better than anyone by now. I'll need you to catalogue all the damage done by the quake, carefully. Our house took a hit but we are still standing, and for that we should be grateful. I doubt other homes around here were as lucky, so we'll need to be a safe haven for anyone looking for it. Eddie will stay behind with you to act as a medic."
"Cap," Eddie starts to protest. "I'm fine, I can—"
"I know you're fine," Bobby gently interrupts, "which is why I'm trusting the two of you to hold down the fort while the rest of us are on call today. Radio me or dispatch immediately if anything comes up, got it?"
He pointedly looks at Buck who salutes the man with a loud, "got it, Cap!" then dashes away to retrieve his trusty clipboard.
Nobody questions the order, though Eddie does raise a perplexed brow in Hen's direction.
"You guys'll be fine," Hen assures him with a soft smile. "Buckaroo's got this."
Minutes later the fire engines and ambulances are all rolling out with their sirens wailing, leaving Eddie and Buck alone in the empty station.
Buck stares at his clipboard and swallows hard, like he's not sure where to start with the monumental and unprecedented task that's been left to him. Eddie plants a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezes.
"Just tell me where you need me, Buck," he says. "I've got your back, too."
Buck nods gratefully, then they're off to work. Buck really does know where everything is in the firehouse, and it isn't long before he has cones and emergency tape cordoning off everything that's been damaged in the quake. They work together to lift heavier debris and safely dispose of shattered glass and broken fire extinguishers while Buck takes thorough note of everything on his clipboard. But besides mostly superficial damage, a busted water main, and the disconcerting loss of phone service the firehouse is running like normal.
They've just finished clearing the last of the broken glass around the locker room when Buck clears his throat.
"Eddie, I'm really sorry."
Eddie shoots him a disarming smirk. "Not for saving my ass I hope."
"No for…for being weird before and stuff."
"'Weird'? You mean when you were acting like a dick?"
"Uh, yeah, that," Buck grimaces. "It's just, I'm new here too, and then you came and I was scared they wouldn't need me anymore. This place is seriously the best thing that's ever happened to me, I-I couldn't lose it already."
"I kinda figured that," Eddie tells him without even a hint of animosity in his tone. "Honestly not sure what beating me in some contest was gonna accomplish for you, though."
Buck shrugs. "My sister always used to say I need better ways to get people's attention."
"Well, what you were doing definitely worked," Eddie assures him. "You've had my attention from the start."
Buck blushes scarlet and ducks his head with a shy little smile.
"How's about we just start over?" Eddie suggests, and offers his fist. "Partners?"
Buck's grin widens as he bumps Eddie's fist with his own. "Part—"
"E-Excuse me?"
Buck's eyes widen just over Eddie's shoulder and then he's rushing off, making Eddie spin on his heel to keep up with him. There's an older couple slowly stepping through the open garage doors—one woman is supporting another while she holds a blood soaked towel to her head.
"We were just trying to get to the hospital but the road's blocked," the uninjured woman says. "We didn't know where else to go."
"You came to the right place," Buck tells them with a welcoming grin. "My partner Eddie here is the best medic in L.A., he'll get you fixed up in no time!"
Eddie moves to help the injured woman sit in on one of the many cots he and Buck set up as a makeshift med bay. Buck gets the woman's information for his clipboard and continues to rattle off unnecessary questions, which, if nothing else, manages to keep her preoccupied while Eddie expertly cleans and sutures the wound.
"…And we've got beds if you need a place to stay and there's lots of bottled water and snacks. Oh, do you have any food allergies? 'Cause we've got stuff that's nut free, gluten free, dairy free…"
Eddie can't help but smile to himself, grateful for the rambling distraction himself while he desperately wishes the phone in his pocket would suddenly work.
-_-
When the building is finally stabilized and everyone trapped inside has been recovered the incident commander gives Bobby and his team permission to head out after the long, eventful day. He thinks it's a genuine miracle that Hen made it out from under the hotel's parking garage unscathed, and with a new furry friend to boot.
Bobby is relieved to find that his second home looks just as intact as he had left it that morning, though everything broken in the quake is now wrapped in so much yellow caution tape that any potential hazards are practically mummified.
The only thing notably out of place is Buck's trusty clipboard, which is firmly in Eddie's hand when he carefully waves them in next to the rows of chairs and cots neatly set up for visitors in need of assistance.
Bobby frowns, his concern racketing up a notch when he doesn't immediately see Buck. "Where's—"
Eddie nods up and back towards the loft. "Finally conked out about an hour ago," he explains. "Kid was dead on his feet, I had to practically force him to just sit for a minute then he went out like a light."
"Good," Bobby with a relieved smile. "He needed the break."
Eddie purses his lips and looks to Bobby with desperation in his eyes. "I know you just got here, sir, but phone service is back and I kinda really need to—"
"Go, Eddie," Bobby orders gently before Eddie can even finish. "We've got things handled now."
The young man smiles with relief. "Thanks, Cap."
"Don't thank me yet. There's one more thing I'm hoping you can do for me…"
-_-
Buck is running as fast as he can but Eddie remains just a step ahead of him on a seemingly endless, blank track. He doesn't even mind that the man is beating him after finally agreeing to a race—Buck is thoroughly enjoying the view from behind of Eddie in his perfectly fitted LAFD uniform.
The ground suddenly wobbles beneath his feet and Buck loses his balance. He's about to fall over into a dark abyss when Eddie suddenly turns, one hand snaking around Buck's waist and the other gripping his shoulder to keep him semi upright. Buck is arched backwards in Eddie's strong arms while the man grins down at him, his dark eyes staring into Buck's while their faces are only inches apart.
"I've got your back," Eddie tells him. "Always."
Buck smiles, his eyelashes fluttering while he looks up at Eddie, parting his lips and leaning in close—
"Buck."
Buck blinks at him in confusion, and suddenly Eddie is shaking him.
"Buck, hey, wake up!"
Buck comes to with a start, jerking in confusion as his dream fades into reality. He's on the loft's comfortable sofa and Eddie is leaning over him, his hand on Buck's shoulder and his brow quirked.
"You good?"
Buck feels his cheeks burn and swallows hard. "Y-yeah, 'm good."
"Good, great," Eddie smiles, relieved. "Cap's back with everybody, he told me to take you home so you don't end up in an earthquake ditch or something when you fall asleep behind the wheel."
"Wait, Cap…?" Buck blinks sluggishly, still fighting the pull of sleep and pleasant dreams. "'S everybody 'kay?"
"They're all fine," Eddie assures him. "Had a hell of a time downtown at some hotel turned Leaning Tower of Pisa, but everyone's alright. Hen's even got a dog now."
"Hen's…a dog?"
"Yeah, you can pet the dog some other time," Eddie says while he gently hauls Buck up and slings Buck's arm around his shoulders. "But now Buck needs to go to bed."
"Don't have a bed," Buck mumbles. "I only got my sister's couch."
"And apparently your sister's staying on call, so tonight you got my couch." Eddie helps Buck down the stairs and through the firehouse's side entrance towards his truck. "Just try to stay awake long enough for me to get you there, okay?"
"'Kay," Buck yawns, too tired to fully register what Eddie is saying.
"We just have one stop to make first."
"…We do?"
"We do," Eddie confirms. "We're picking up my son."
Buck stares at him. "Your son?"
Eddie nods. "It's why I was checking my phone all day." He shows Buck his lock screen and the selfie of him and a grinning, gap toothed little boy. "He's been stuck at school since the quake hit."
Buck smiles. "Awww, he's super adorable," he says. "I love kids."
"That's 'cause you are one," Eddie scoffs.
"Ha, yeah."
Their ride is mostly silent through detours and around the mess of roads left by the quake. Eddie's gaze is locked ahead of him while Buck's darts anxiously from the road to his new friend. He's suddenly wide awake and he really, really hopes that Eddie's son is okay.
They've barely stopped when Eddie launches himself out of his seat. Buck watches Eddie sprint into the school towards a bespectacled boy on crutches who's waiting just inside the entrance. Eddie takes the kid into his arms and spins him around, and even from a distance Buck can see the joy on both of their faces. The sight makes him grin too, even while a pang of longing hits his heart; his own father never held him like that, never hugged him at all.
But that's okay, he ultimately decides. He doesn't need his dad—he's got Bobby now instead.
"Christopher," Eddie says when they return to the truck and he lifts the boy, Christopher, onto the bench seat next to Buck. "I want you to meet my new friend Buck."
"Whoa," Christopher beams up at Buck. "Cool name!"
"Thanks," Buck grins right back. "I think yours is cool too!"
Christopher laughs out loud despite the terrifying day they all just went through. Eddie ruffles his son's hair affectionately while he smiles at Back, who feels right at home with the Diaz boys already.
-_-
A week following the earthquake Bobby arrives at the firehouse to hear manic giggling coming from the loft, some familiar and some not.
"Captain Nash," Eddie starts as soon as he spots Bobby. He blanches at the sight of his Captain, as if surprised to see the man there during work hours. "I'm so sorry, my abuela fell and I—"
"Bobby, hey! Hey, Bobby check it out!" Buck calls over the infectious laughter of a little boy draped over his back. Buck beams at their Captain while he holds the boy close in a careful piggy back ride. "I got us a new recruit! Look, it's Firefighter Christopher!"
Christopher squeals with joy and hugs Buck's neck while Buck spins him around. Hen and Chimney laugh along in the background and Bobby can't help but join them.
"Wait," Eddie asks slowly, "this is okay?"
"Of course," Bobby assures him. "Buck gave me the heads up this morning, I already cleared it with the Chief."
"Buck did?!"
"He did." Bobby's smile falls slightly when he admits to Eddie, "I didn't exactly give Buck the warmest welcome when he first came here. I think he was worried I might be the same with Christopher."
Eddie looks surprised. Apparently no one's told him the circumstances surrounding Buck's start with the 118, and for that Bobby is so grateful.
"How's your grandmother doing?" he asks to change the subject.
"Busted hip, but she'll be alright."
The sound of arcade music and distinctive pings draws their attention. Buck has moved on to the pinball machine where he and Christopher take one paddle each in what must be the most uncoordinated game of pinball in history. Still, they cheer with each ball they lose and Christopher gets an extra thrill out of pulling the spring back to launch it again.
Bobby nods in their direction with a fond smile. "Looks like those two are getting along already."
"Yeah, Buck's been great with Christopher," Eddie says. "He even told our situation to his sister, and she's got a friend who can help with Chris' care. I honestly don't know what we would've done without her."
"Buck's a good kid," Bobby comments lightly even while his heart swells with pride. "Hard to believe a week ago it looked like he had it out for you."
Eddie chuckles. "Nah, he was fine. Just bein' a teenager, I get it."
"Something tells me you weren't quite as dramatic at his age."
"When I was Buck's age I'd gotten my girlfriend pregnant, married her, then joined the army," Eddie says with a humorless smirk. "Doesn't really get more dramatic than that."
"Where's Christopher's mother now?"
"Shannon's mom had cancer, she left to take care of her once I was state side again. I was on my own raising Chris and my parents didn't…" Eddie trails off, sighing heavily and shaking his head. "It's just been the two of us since."
"That must have been hard, having so much on your plate at a young age."
"Yeah, I guess I feel like I lost those years," Eddie admits. "But hanging out with Buck now is kinda like having that time back. And him and Chris adore each other, which is definitely a bonus."
"I'm just glad things worked out between you guys."
"Me too," Eddie says with a soft smile.
"Daddy!" Christopher suddenly calls from across the loft around a mouthful of popcorn. He and Buck have relocated to the loft's sofa with a massive bowl between them while they grin in Eddie's direction. "I told Bucky he can come trick or treat with us, but only if he finishes firefighter homework first!"
"Okay, bud!" Eddie calls back to another round of gleeful cheering from both boys. He moves towards them but stops and turns to address Bobby one more time. "Oh, and Cap? Buck really doesn't need a study buddy. He might have the attention span of a goldfish sometimes, but he knows his stuff. The kid's like a walking Wikipedia of random facts, I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows more about firefighting than the rest of us."
"I don't doubt it," Bobby chuckles whole heartedly.
He's content to watch his happy 118 family with a grin when Eddie joins the others on the couch where Christopher, Hen, and Chimney are simultaneously throwing popcorn for Buck to catch in his mouth. After a flurry of near misses one lucky kernel finally lands and Buck throws his hands up in victory to a round of applause and exuberant cheers.
Chapter Text
Buck 0.6, The Probie / Buckleys' Interlude
In late November, about five months after Buck's last graduation, Maddie celebrates a smaller, but no less important commencement for her baby brother, only this time she's not alone. The entire 118 team and their families are there with her to surprise Buck when he arrives at the firehouse in his official firefighting gear after passing his final physical test with flying colors. Bobby pulls the kid in for a hug and practically gushes over how proud he is, and Buck beams at the praise.
Maddie wonders if Buck ever told mom and dad his exciting career news, or if he even texted them after leaving Hershey like he said he would. Maddie never followed up with him about it, and she certainly isn't going to be the one to reach out to their parents now.
Buck doesn't need them around anyway—he's got all the family he needs right here with him in the 118 Firehouse.
"Wouldya look at that," Chimney comments while he slings an arm around her shoulders and watches the rest of the party head upstairs to the loft for Bobby's special made celebratory cake. "Our little Buckaroo's all grown up."
"You've only known my brother since September," Maddie scoffs. "And he was technically already a grown up when he got here."
"Yeah, but still. Feels monumental. Big life change and all that."
He moves to join the others but she takes his hand to stop him, her expression serious when she says, "Buck's not the only one who needs a big life change."
Chimney raises a curious brow. "Well that sounds ominous."
"It's not, I promise. It's just…I think it's time I finally move on," she tells him. "So that we can move on."
Maddie fishes through her bag while she and Chimney have a moment alone in the firehouse's parking bay and reveals the folded up divorce papers she's been carrying for weeks.
"I need to finally be free of Doug," she explains. "Legally speaking, I mean. Then I'll feel like I've actually put him behind me and I won't have to hide what happened between us from Buck. It'll just be over."
"I think that sounds amazing, Maddie," Chimney says with a grin as he takes her into his arms for a passionate, loving kiss.
And it is amazing, in theory, though Doug always has a way of ruining Maddie's life, especially when she's at her happiest.
-_-
"Maddie, yo, Mads! You'll never guess what I did yesterday!"
Maddie hears her brother and the joy in his tone, but the sound of it grates on her ears. With his stint at the Academy finished he's had a more regular schedule which means more time for him to hang around the apartment on his off days. He's been living on her couch for almost three whole months now, and with each passing day his presence gets closer and closer to pushing her over the edge. She settled in California to find herself, to truly live on her own and be independent for the first time in her life.
Now she can't even have a moment's peace when she needs it the most.
"Okay, okay, you won't be able to guess, so I'm gonna just tell you." Buck beams when he suddenly appears next to her at the kitchen island, grinning from ear to ear. She does not smile in return. "I helped save a shark, Maddie! A tiger shark!!!"
Ever since Buck officially started going on calls with the 118 as a probationary firefighter he's never short on stories of their more remarkable emergencies. Normally Maddie loves hearing his wild anecdotes and will listen to him ramble on and on for hours. But normally she isn't overwhelmed by feelings of fear and anger that bubble up inside of her, just waiting to burst free.
"That's nice," she mutters absently around a mostly empty glass of wine as she brings it to her lips with shaking hands. It's barely ten in the morning and she's already drunk half a bottle.
"I know, right?!" Buck continues, his voice still high with excitement.
Her brother may have had a fun shift, but Maddie can't stop thinking about a terrifying 9-1-1 call she had received the night before. A woman had been brutally murdered in Maddie's ear, and it was only with Maddie's dogged persistence that she was able to help save the dead woman's friend and her mother from her abusive husband. The case had hit a little too close to home for Maddie, made even worse by the news she had received just that morning, barely an hour ago from her lawyer…
"We can't find him."
"What do you mean you can't find him?!"
"Doug hasn't been to work in almost a year," the other woman had explained. "He took all of his personal time at once and never went back. The hospital eventually fired him, and the bank is in the process of seizing the house after he drained his accounts. No one's seen or heard from him in months."
"So…so what do we do?"
"Honestly? Wait and see if the investigators I hired manage to turn him up alive or dead. Otherwise we can't exactly serve papers to a man that doesn't exist anymore. I'm sorry, Maddie…"
Her cell phone is where she left it on the counter in front of her. It had taken all of her self control not to hurl it against the kitchen wall and scream. Now she only wants a quiet minute alone in her own apartment and she can't even have that while her little brother is talking a mile a minute in her ear:
"See, there was this big truck that crashed and she—the shark, I mean, they said she was a she—and she was super cool, but she was in the truck and she bit this one guy but it was only 'cause she was really, really scared, so I helped everybody get her in this strappy thing in front of the fire engine so we could drive her out to the ocean and then she got to swim away, just like that, and it was so freakin' cool Maddie, I seriously helped save a real life shark!"
"Mhmm." Her lips are pursed and her temper is rising with every word that comes out of his mouth. She nearly tripped over his sneakers and back pack on the way through her living room that morning, and the fact that he's started using her banister as a coat rack is really getting on her nerves. Hell, she hasn't been able to use her sofa properly in months.
"No, Mads, seriously," Buck says, leaning against the counter top so he can get further into her personal space with an obnoxious wave of his hand. "You're not even listening to how totally awesome this was, I got to see a shark up close, she was—"
"I don't give a shit, Evan!!!"
If the profanity and use of his given name isn't enough of a shock her harsh tone is certainly loud and sharp enough to send him rearing back away from her. His grin is suddenly gone and his blue eyes are wide.
"Maddie, what's—"
She slams her wine glass down, hard enough that the stem shatters under her palm. She ignores the sting of the broken glass and shoots to her feet.
"Holy crap," Buck shouts, "M-Maddie, what the hell?!" He immediately moves to check her hand but she yanks herself out of his reach.
She shoulders around him and manages to knock him back a step in his shock. He doesn't stop her when she snatches her phone on the way out of the kitchen, doesn't say anything while she grabs her purse and keys. She gets one last look at him—eyes wide with hurt and confusion and lips quivering—before she slams the apartment door behind her.
She barely makes it to the car before she's letting out the frustrated scream that's been building from the moment she hung up with her lawyer. She glares at her phone screen, now streaked with blood from the cut in her palm. She stares at the sluggishly oozing wound and can't help but spit out a bitter laugh when she realizes that Doug doesn't even have to be around to still hurt her.
Maddie drives shakily to an empty condominium and lets herself inside, stirring up a light cloud of dust as she passes through the door. Abby has kept the utilities connected and paid up but she still hasn't come back for it or her car, the one that Maddie's been using ever since she left her Jeep in Hershey. The condo is still fully furnished and decorated, looking as if it hasn't been unlived in and eerily abandoned for nearly six months.
For now Maddie is just grateful to finally have a place to herself. She has half a mind to call Abby, the one person she'd become comfortable with venting her deepest darkest secrets to, until she remembers how angry she is with her friend. Abby's been ghosting her for months, and the more time that passes the more it seems like Abby is never coming back. It's as if she's pulled a Maddie and left everyone in her past behind her for good.
Maddie raids Abby's dusty wine rack in retaliation, all the while sullenly telling herself that her absent friend won't even notice that an expensive looking Merlot is gone from her collection. She curls up on the sofa with her second bottle of the morning and takes a long, bitter tasting drink. She's finally alone, yet she feels even more miserable than she did before.
Solitude is what she thought she needed, some peace and quiet for her to wallow in her thoughts and fears and figure out what the hell she's going to do next, knowing that Doug is out there somewhere.
But despite everything she can only think of one person in the moment, because all she pictures in her mind is Buck's shocked and dejected expression when she bursts into tears.
-_-
Maddie remembers being eleven and full of resentment over the sound of her crying brother, the annoying baby who she firmly believed ruined her life, the life she had had when it was just her and Daniel with their parents, parents who were always smiling and never upset or angry and who loved their two children more than anything in the world. Her wonderful, perfect life.
But then Evan had to come along, and he ruined everything.
The Buckleys used to have dinner together every day, and board game nights every weekend, and family vacations every summer. They were a real, happy family up until the moment Daniel got sick, then her parents' sole focus had been on their desperation to save him. After that there were no more family vacations, or game nights, or even dinners while Daniel wasted away in a hospital bed.
Evan was supposed to be the one who saved her brother, who gave them the chance to be that happy Buckley family again. Instead he'd been born full of unusable parts and Daniel was left to suffer almost another whole year before finally succumbing to his illness.
Maddie's loving brother, her best friend, had been replaced by a useless baby that never seemed to shut up.
"Mooommm," she had whined when the noise reached an unbearable level. "Evan's crying again, make him stop!"
Her mother's icy blue eyes rimmed with red barely glanced at her daughter before they returned to the wooden box in her lap, a box that contained mementos of Daniel's too short life. Her other hand held a very full glass of wine that she sipped while she pretended her daughter wasn't even in the room with her. Maddie looked to her dad who only shook his head and went right back to the Real Estate section of the newspaper in his hands.
Neither of them was willing to attend to their wailing son, which left Maddie with no choice but to act if she wanted some peace and quiet.
"God, fine, I'll do it," she groaned before storming upstairs to the one year old's room. She half expected her parents to follow, and it concerned her deep down when neither of them did.
Little Evan was sitting up in his crib screaming bloody murder. Maddie glared down at the squirming infant, at the baby's ruddy cheeks and that weird splotch mark over his left eye.
"Shut the hell up, Evan," she snapped at the baby, her hands on her hips in an attempt to look as stern and grown up as she possibly could. "Stop crying already!"
Evan didn't listen to her, just continued sobbing with his face scrunched up and his tiny fists flailing.
"You'd better not have another dirty diaper, I am not dealing with that right now."
It didn't look or smell like he needed a diaper change. She'd begrudgingly become pretty used to that chore already, considering it was just another task her parents couldn't be bothered with.
Changing, feeding, and bathing Evan had all become her responsibility by default, because it was quickly becoming apparent that no one else was going to tend to the helpless infant. She had hoped her parents would adjust to some semblance of normal after Daniel's passing, but more than a month had gone by with no sign of them stepping up to take care of their replacement son, which forced Maddie to become his caretaker whether she wanted to or not.
"Ugh, why are you always so annoying?!"
To Maddie it seemed like her baby brother was just being ornery for no reason. Even Daniel at his most sick, most helpless, hadn't been so needy, and certainly never so loud.
"Evan, c'mon, pleeeaaase shut up!"
He deliberately ignored her and screeched louder.
Maddie finally gave in to his attention seeking efforts and got onto her tiptoes so she could reach over the crib's railing. She picked her brother up then held him dangling at arm's length. The altitude change was enough to quiet Evan for only a moment before he was babbling and hiccupping through another round of pathetic cries.
She wished she could remember what her mom used to do with Daniel when he was fussy as a baby. But she'd been barely a toddler herself at the time, and she didn't think she'd ever seen her mother hold Evan, not once.
Maddie maneuvered the fidgeting little body awkwardly in her arms for a moment before she got a good grip on him. Evan finally quieted to feeble whimpers against her shoulder and took a fistful of her hair into his tiny fingers. Maddie let out a long sigh of relief.
"So you just wanted some attention, huh? You're such a little brat…"
She trailed off when Evan continued weakly sobbing on her. It was only when she moved to get a better hold on his head that she realized her brother felt like he was on fire. Maddie's previous anger with him faded to stomach wrenching worry. It seemed Evan might have had a pretty good reason to cry.
"Mom? Dad?" she said when she returned to the living room cradling her sniveling, feverish baby brother to her chest. "I think Evan's sick."
Dad's eyes darted from her and the baby to his wife, who didn't look at her children at all. She kept her attention to the pile of photos and drawings in her lap, one hand still clenching the stem of her wine glass in a white knuckled grip.
"Dad?" Maddie tried again. "Should we take him to a doctor—"
"No, we are not doing this again," Maddie's mother snapped. She slammed her glass onto the end table hard enough that the red liquid sloshed over the rim. "That baby is fine, just leave him be!"
"But—"
"Maddie," dad interjected with a shake of his head. "Put your brother back to bed. He'll be alright."
And with that she was dismissed, even as Evan's cries reached a new agonizing pitch.
Maddie looked down at her baby brother, his little face scrunched up in obvious pain while he clung to her for comfort, and decided right then and there that she wasn't going to sit back and watch another brother suffer, not if she could help it.
She wrapped Evan in the warmest blanket she could find then managed to sneak out through the front door right under their parents' noses. It was dark and damp outside but she knew the buses were still running and that she had only a mile walk into town where she could get a ride that would take her directly to the hospital. She'd had plenty of experience taking the journey over the past few years while Daniel was sick.
If the ER nurses were surprised to see a young girl carrying a whimpering baby up to their front desk that night they didn't show it. They just sprang into action, keeping themselves professional while they tended to Evan and asked Maddie questions. She nearly had a panic attack when they took him away for tests, hating the idea of another brother being hooked up to machines and left to die.
But the nurses were patient and kind and explained everything to her along the way. They didn't treat her like a little kid or talk down to her, just calmly assured her that Evan's condition wasn't dire. They praised her for her quick thinking in getting her brother to the hospital, especially after she informed them that her parents hadn't been home at the time.
When they did show up hours later it was only because the hospital administrators finally managed to get in touch with them.
Maddie remembered her parents making a big show of being grateful to the doctors. They were theatrically upset when they claimed that they hadn't been home to see that their baby was sick, and they were so very proud of their daughter for stepping up as a babysitter to take care of her brother. The doctor informed them Evan would be kept overnight for further tests and observation, but that he would likely be fine to take home again the next day.
Maddie's mother shouted at her the whole ride home that night, yelling at her for making them go to the dreaded hospital and wasting their time. She hadn't seemed concerned about Evan at all, and Maddie's father didn't said a word.
"It's gonna be okay, Evan," she would tell the baby later when he was finally sleeping peacefully in his crib again, his little chest rising and falling with his rhythmic breathing. "I'll take care of you from here on out, I promise."
Maddie brushed a gentle hand over his curly blonde head and he reached blindly in his sleep until he got her pinky finger in his tiny grip with a contented coo. She smiled down at him.
"It'll just be you and me now, kid."
-_-
Hours pass before Maddie manages to calm down and come to her senses enough to be filled with remorse.
Not for the entire bottle of wine she'd drunk alone in an empty, dusty condo. Not for the shallow, already scabbed over injury she caused her hand. Not even for all of the wasted time and money that she's spent trying to get her divorce legalized.
As devastating as the news about Doug had been she knows she shouldn't have snapped at Evan—at Buck. He doesn't deserve her ire, he never did. Even when she became frustrated and lost her patience with him as a kid she doesn't remember ever blowing up at him like she did that morning. She's all too aware that this angry, hurtful Maddie is a product of too many years spent trapped with Doug.
She knows that she needs to be better now for the brother that she never should have left alone in the first place.
When she finally sobers up enough to go home it's dark outside and in her apartment. A quick glance reveals that her place has been cleaned and organized from top to bottom, including her notably spotless kitchen counter, now without any sign of broken glass or blood on it.
Even Buck's clothing and few belongings are neatly stacked in a corner of the living room out of the way. Buck himself is asleep curled up on her couch, looking anything but peaceful between the uncomfortable tilt to his neck and the too deep lines of distress that crease his young face. She half expected him to not be there when she returned home, but she knows that running away is what she does. Buck only ever wanted to run towards something, to find a safe haven then cling to whatever comfort he could get.
She needs to apologize to Buck, to tell him the truth about what she's been going through. She has too many secrets she's keeping from him, about her relationship with Doug, about mom and dad and Daniel…
Maddie needs to tell him so much, she just doesn't know how she'll ever bring herself to.
She shakes her head and blinks away fresh tears as she takes the neatly folded blanket from the back of the couch and carefully tucks it around him. She presses a soft kiss to his temple, right above his birthmark. He snuffles a little in his sleep but doesn't wake.
"I'm sorry, little bro," she whispers. "I love you."
Then she closes herself into her room for the night, already dreading the inevitable hangover she'll be suffering through for her next shift. Still, she manages to wake early the next morning with every intention of apologizing to her brother, of sitting him down and finally explaining what happened with Doug and why she had been so upset.
But Buck is already gone, left early for his own too long work day. Maddie can only wonder when their hectic schedules will line up again, and if she'll even still have the nerve to apologize to him when they do.
Chapter Text
Buck 0.7, Saving Christmas
Buck and Maddie have been walking on eggshells around each other for days. Chimney is aware of the Buckley tension more than anyone, especially when it follows Buck to the 118.
"She's just going through some stuff right now, kiddo," he says after another long day and night spent watching Buck sulk.
It's the end of their shift but Buck makes no attempt to leave as he continues shining the same bumper he's been scrubbing for hours. Chimney plops down on said bumper, interrupting Buck's work and earning him a disgruntled huff.
"Believe me, whatever's happening in Maddie's head isn't on you."
"Yeah, no, I…I know that," Buck insists unconvincingly. "I just wish there was something I could do to make things better, I mean, it's almost Christmas and she didn't even—" He cuts himself off with a gasp and shoots to his feet so quickly that Chimney startles where he sits. "That's it! She hasn't had time to decorate for Christmas, but Maddie was always the one putting up the tree and the lights and everything when we were little! Chimney!!!"
Chimney stands with exaggerated enthusiasm and throws his hands out, mirroring Buck's pose as he looks up at the kid who towers over him. "Buck!!!"
"I need to get Maddie a Christmas tree," Buck declares. "Where can I get the best Christmas tree?!"
"I got a place," Eddie says, adding his two cents from where he'd been eaves dropping on them. "Chris picked out a great tree, he's real excited about it. And trust me, that's a huge deal, the holidays are usually a tough time for him."
Buck frowns. "Why?"
"Reminds him of his mom. When she was around she used to go all out for the holidays. That's how Christopher remembers her, as the mom who gave him a great Christmas, not the mom who left him with nothing but a note."
"Oh, that…that sucks."
"And I'm guessing you and Maddie used to have fun holidays as kids," Eddie continues, "but you gotta understand that was a long time ago for her. I have a hunch that Christmas with her ex doesn't bring up the same kind of good memories."
Eddie exchanges a grim look with Chimney. Chimney's managed to keep most of Maddie's secrets close to his chest—a fact that he's very proud of, considering his terrible track record when it comes to discretion—but everyone in their circle knows at least some of the story behind Maddie's abusive husband. Everyone except Buck.
"Which is why this has to be the greatest Christmas ever!" Buck beams.
Eddie grimaces. "Not sure that's what I was getting at."
"No, that's definitely what'll cheer her up!"
"Buck, maybe don't—"
But Buck cuts him off with a strong embrace that Eddie doesn't—or likely can't—shy away from. "Thanks, Eddie, you're the best," Buck tells him, and Chimney can practically see hearts in the kid's eyes. "C'mon, Chim! We've gotta get Maddie a Christmas tree!"
Then he's off like a shot, leaving Chimney to share an exasperated look with Eddie before jogging to catch up with Buck who's already bolted out of the station. "Right behind ya, Buckaroo!"
-_-
"Are you seriously Google-ing trees right now?"
"I need to get the best one," Buck says without looking up from his phone. "And that is a noble fir, apparently."
"Whatever you say, kid," Chimney sighs. "Just hurry it up, will ya? I'd rather not spend our entire day off out here."
"Yeah yeah," he grumbles as he wanders in one direction, Chimney in the other.
Buck has to find the best tree, the perfect tree. It's the only thing he can think of to make things right, considering he doesn't even know what he did to set his sister off in the first place. He's been carefully keeping his distance and staying quiet whenever they're in the apartment together, which is rare enough considering their schedules lately.
Still, being at Maddie's is starting to feel a little too much like it did when he was home with his parents.
Buck shakes the thought away. Maddie is nothing like their parents. Sure, she might get annoyed with him sometimes when he pushes her buttons enough to get her into Angry Maddie Mode, a term he coined in their youth when she first entered her moody teen years. But those phases were generally short lived, and he's sure a little holiday cheer is all she needs now to get her out of her latest funk.
Buck goes through rows and rows of trees until he finds the right one. It really is perfect in every way—perfect height, perfect shape, perfect amount of pine needles on full branches just waiting to be decorated. Buck grins to himself. This'll fix his sister, he knows it will.
"Chimney!" He dashes back through the lot, careful to remember his steps so he can find that perfect tree again. "Chimney, I found it, it's—"
He hears Chimney's voice one row over. He's with someone, someone who's speaking in deep tones too low for Buck to make out. When Buck gets around the last tree obstacle in his path it's just in time to see the back of a tall figure walking quickly away.
"Who're you talking to?" Buck asks. He cranes his neck around to look but the mysterious figure has already disappeared.
Chimney spins, doing a double take between Buck and where the stranger had been standing. "Oh, uh, just some guy," he says with a shrug. "I think he works here? He also said that the noble fir tree was the best tree."
"You didn't believe me?!"
"I didn't believe Google, Buck."
"Whatever." He grabs Chimney by the arm and hauls him back through the dense rows of trees. "I found the best one, we gotta get it quick before someone else finds it! Then we're going decorations shopping."
"Wait, hang on, I never agreed to—"
Buck ignores him and tugs him along. "C'mon, Chim!"
-_-
Maddie is anxiously waiting for Buck to show up at the apartment while she rehearses in her head what she's going to say to him.
Chimney gave her a vague, mysterious heads up that he would be home with her brother soon which seems like the perfect opportunity to set things right between them. She has the apology ready on the tip of her tongue, until she's staring in disbelief at the massive tree Chimney is suddenly dragging through her front door with a loud cheer of, "surprise!!!"
"You…you guys got a Christmas tree?"
Chimney's grin slowly falls when he sees her less than thrilled reaction to his grand entrance. "Is this okay?"
"I just, I wasn't really planning on doing anything for the holidays," she says, struggling to keep her anger and panic at bay. This is not what she'd been expecting—it's not what she wants at all. "My decorations are…they're not here."
"Which is why me and Chimney got you everything you need," Buck declares as he pushes his way inside behind the tree with arms full of red and green holiday bags stuffed to the brim. "See?! It'll be just like we used to have for Christmas!"
He babbles on while he shows her the ornaments and ribbon and angel tree topper, the sight of which makes her sick. They're the kind of decorations she used to love, the kind she had adorned her Christmas tree with back in Boston before Doug tore it and her down in one last fit of violent rage.
"But what I'm trying to tell Chimney," she snaps, hating that her anger is getting the best of her already again, "is that I'm not feeling very into the holiday season this year, okay?!"
"What, no, not okay," Buck's frustrated tone rises to match hers while Chimney glances nervously between them. "You're the one who invited me here for Christmas in the first place, remember?!"
She does remember, of course she does. But back then Christmas had seemed far enough away that the very notion of the holiday season didn't feel so terrifying. "Then I'm taking back my invitation! We are not doing Christmas here!"
Buck rolls his eyes and scoffs, refusing to take her seriously which only makes her angrier.
"Uh, I should probably…yeah, I think I'm gonna stay out of this one," Chimney says, wise to get out of shouting range while he still can.
"Fine, go, and take that damn tree with you," Maddie orders.
"Right," Chimney mutters as he slowly backs away with the tree in tow, "gotta get rid of the evidence before this turns into a crime scene…"
"No, c'mon, Maddie! You always loved Christmas," Buck loudly insists. "All those decorations and the stockings and the big pretty bows you used to make—"
"I'm not that person anymore," she shouts. "Just let it go!"
"But it's our first Christmas together in like forever, it's supposed to be nice!"
"It's not. I cannot believe you did this, I let you live here and you bring all this…this shit into my house! I don't want any of it!"
"You don't want it, or you just don't want me?!"
She rears back, his words hurting more than she could ever say. "Evan—"
"Oh, wait, I get it now," he continues bitterly. "You're just like mom and dad. They always hated Christmas too. Thanks sooo much for the reminder."
Maddie sees red. Comparing her to their parents is an especially low blow and he knows it. "I don't hate Christmas," she tells him through gritted teeth, "but I'm starting to not like you very much."
"See, now you really sound like mom," he says with a bark of sardonic laughter. "Don't worry, Maddie, I can take a hint. Might as well tell Chimney to throw all the other stuff away too." He dramatically drops his bags of decorations to the floor. "And I guess since you suddenly hate Christmas this doesn't count as a present so…whatever. Here."
He lightly tosses her a tiny box and she fumbles to catch it. He doesn't even look to see if she did, just turns towards the still open door.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
"I have to babysit!"
"You're babysitting now?!"
He doesn't answer her while he storms out, dodging a bewildered looking Chimney where he's hovering outside in the courtyard. Maddie considers for just a moment tossing the small box to the ground and stomping on it before remembering that she's nearly thirty and throwing a childish tantrum after a stupid fight with her little brother isn't worth doing.
Instead she unties the lopsided red bow and pries open the top. Inside the small jewelry box is a gold chain with an "M" charm turned on its side. The necklace is simple but quirky, and she loves it immediately.
She squeezes her eyes shut against a sudden burst of guilty tears with a quiet, "fuck."
-_-
Eddie answers a knock at his door and blinks in surprise.
"Need a babysitter?" Buck asks without enthusiasm. He's standing hunched on Eddie's stoop, looking especially glum.
"Well," Eddie drawls, "considering I'm here and already tucked Chris into bed for the night, not really, no."
Buck's sad face falls even further.
"…But I could always use the company."
Buck perks up and makes a beeline to the couch while Eddie retreats briefly into the kitchen for a couple of much needed beers.
"Don't tell your sister I'm giving this to you," he says as he hands Buck a bottle.
Buck rolls his eyes. "I've had tons of beer before, dude. I'm cool, I party." Eddie snorts out a laugh and plops down next to him. Buck takes a long drink then picks absently at the label. "And it's not like Maddie'd give a crap anyway."
"I take it the Christmas tree thing didn't go so great?"
"No, it didn't," Buck sighs. "And I already know she doesn't like surprises, I dunno what the hell I was thinking with that stupid tree."
"You were thinking you wanted to cheer up your sister," Eddie assures him. "Turns out a flashy Christmas just isn't what she needs right now."
Buck looks away and his eye catches the brightly lit and decorated tree in Eddie's living room. He stares at it forlornly. "Your tree looks really nice by the way."
"It was all Chris' doing. That kid's got an eye for decorating."
"So does Maddie," Buck says. "She used to do it with pretty bows and ribbon and stuff, I dunno how she did it, I always just got everything tangled whenever I tried."
"I'll bet," Eddie snorted. "What'd you ever do without her around to make your pretty bows for you?"
Buck shrugs. "Nothing. Mom and dad threw out all the decoration stuff after she left. They never wanted to do Christmas."
Eddie's teasing smirk falls. "Damn and I thought my parents sucked."
Buck stares at him, his brow furrowing in concern. "Wait, why do yours su—"
"Daaad," Christopher interrupts, startling them both when he shuffles into the living room with a fist rubbing sleepily at his eyes. "Who're you talking to…" He trails off with an excited gasp and is suddenly wide awake. "Bucky!!!"
"Hey, Chris!" Buck grins right back, recovering from his melancholy in an instant. Eddie takes the beer bottle from Buck's hand just as Christopher rounds the sofa and throws himself at the older boy.
Buck laughs and holds Christopher close. "Hang on, shouldn't you be in bed?"
"You're not," Christopher points out.
"Touché, little man."
"Are you here for sleepover?"
"Oh, um," Buck looks to Eddie. "Can I?"
"Can he, dad," Christopher practically whines, his arms wrapped around Buck's chest like he won't let go even if Eddie's answer is a firm no. "Pleeease can Buck staaay?!"
"'Course, he can stay," Eddie tells them. "Buck knows he's always welcome at Casa Diaz."
Christopher shrieks for joy. "And Buck is gonna visit Santa with us, right?!"
"Only if Buck didn't see him already," Eddie tells him in all seriousness. "Can't visit Santa more than once in one year, that's not very fair."
"Oh, yeah," Christopher pouts.
"I didn't see him yet, promise," Buck assures the boy. "But I'm a big kid, I don't need anything from Santa anymore."
"Everybody needs Santa wishes," Christopher wisely states. "Even big kids. Santa made my wish come true before."
"He did?"
"Mhmm, I wished dad would come home," Christopher points at Eddie with a gap toothed grin, "and there he is!"
Eddie laughs and reaches over to rustle Christopher's wavy hair, his heart swelling with affection. "And here I am."
Buck's own grin has fallen to something more solemn. "Then I think I'll wish for my sister to have a happy Christmas," he says after a thoughtful moment. "She needs it more than I do."
"That sounds nice," Christopher tells him with a soft pat to Buck's head before he bounces into his usual spot between Buck and Eddie on the sofa, practically vibrating with excitement. "Now movies!"
Eddie shoots him a look. "Chris—"
"Sleepover means movies!"
"He's got a point," Buck says, which is no help whatsoever. "Can't have a sleepover without movies and popcorn."
Eddie concedes with a groan. "Fine. But we are only watching one movie, a short movie, and then you're going right back to bed, okay?"
"Daaad…"
"Nope, your dad's right," Buck says. "Gotta get some shut eye for tomorrow. Then I'll make you your favorite pancakes with chocolate chips before we go see the big man, how's that sound?"
Christopher cheers and wraps his arms around Buck again.
"You should text Maddie at least," Eddie mutters. "Let her know where you are."
Buck shakes his head and hugs Christopher tight. "She doesn't care where I am."
-_-
The entire month of December is always a consistent whirlwind of holiday emergencies that keep L.A.'s first responders busy around the clock, and this year is no exception. A man with questionable taste in decorations falls off of his roof, a kid gets packaged into a box during the holiday shipping rush, and a nose is dismembered under mistletoe to name just a few of the more memorable calls.
Athena for one is grateful for her rare days off when they come, especially when everyone's schedules happen to align about a week before Christmas. Most of hers and Bobby's acquaintances will be working around the actual holiday, so they celebrate together when they can.
"Merry Christmas, Buckaroo!" Athena beams when she spots the boy on the other side of her door.
"Thanks for inviting me," Buck greets with a tentative little smile that's so forced it looks like it hurts. "I woulda brought more but I technically can't buy booze so…eggnog?"
He lifts the carton he brought with him as if it's the offering he needs to get inside. Athena takes it from him and uses her free arm to pull him down to her level for a hug.
"Eggnog's perfect," she tells him. "Maddie not joining us?"
"Ah, no," he mumbles over her shoulder. "She…she's just not in a very festive mood this year."
He sounds so dejected by that fact Athena can't help but tut and squeeze him tighter.
"Well, I'm sorry your sister's not in the holiday spirits," she tells him genuinely, "but don't you worry, baby, we've got all the festivities you'll ever need right here."
When she releases him he's finally smiling like the sunny Buck she knows he is. "Thanks, Sergeant Grant."
"I'm just Athena in this house," she reminds him with a dismissive flap of her hand. "Badges and titles are for out there."
"That's right," Bobby chimes in when he suddenly appears from the kitchen below with a smirk. "The only titles we're using today are Chef Bobby and Sous Chef Buck."
Buck lights up even further as he practically leaps down the stairs into Bobby's open arms. Athena shakes her head fondly at the pair then watches while Buck greets May and Harry and Michael and the rest of their extended 118 family with more enthusiastic hugs and bright smiles, and just like that any drama is left at the door with the other formalities.
Athena cares for both of the Buckleys, she really does, but there's something dark behind them, something she can't quite put her finger on. It's something that she suspects might be even worse than Maddie's ex, and she's all too familiar with that particular horror story already.
"Considering adoption?" Hen teases when she and Karen sidle up next to Athena with matching smirks on their faces.
"Pretty sure Bobby already did the adopting, babe." Karen nods into the kitchen where Buck is clearly thrilled with the gift Bobby has just bestowed him—a blue and white striped apron that matches Bobby's exactly. When Bobby slips it over Buck's neck and gives him a proud clap on the shoulder the two are unmistakably father and son.
"'Spose he did," Athena muses with a chuckle. "Never can have too many kiddos running around."
"A fact that we whole heartedly agree with," Karen says. She and Hen share a glance that has Athena raising a curious brow.
"What's this now," she asks, "you two thinkin' of expanding the Wilson clan?"
"More than thinking." Hen and Karen grin, practically glowing in their excitement. "We wanted to wait until it was official to tell everybody but Karen's started the IVF process," Hen explains. "It's gonna take some time, but hopefully we'll have good news soon."
"What, no way," a hushed, yet chipper voice says. "That's awesome, congrats!"
They whip their heads around to Chimney, who has suddenly appeared behind Karen.
"Jesus, Howie," she startles. "What the hell're you sneakin' around here for?!"
"I was waiting for Buck to show." He's ducked slightly behind the three women, just out of sight from the kitchen beyond the fireplace. "No Maddie?"
"'Fraid not," Athena sighs.
"Damn," he mutters, his face drawn with concern. "Don't tell the kid I was here, but I gotta go make sure she's okay. Save some of Bobby's leftovers for me?"
"Hell no," Hen tells him.
"Right, that's fair," he mutters. "Anyway, congrats again, happy holidays, see ya!"
Athena watches him duck out of her home as quickly as he came with a shake of her head. When she glances into the kitchen Buck is still absorbed in whatever he and Bobby are working on, and she for one is relieved that he never even noticed Chimney was there in the first place.
-_-
"Die Hard," Chimney announces to himself when he finds what he's looking for. "The quintessential Christmas movie."
And hopefully the perfect way to cheer up his girlfriend while she goes through a particularly rough holiday. He knows if nothing else she'll appreciate the fact that he brought her another piece of physical media to add to her slowly growing collection. She's old school like that, just like Chimney.
"Not sure I'd consider Die Hard a Christmas movie."
Chimney recognizes the voice and spins to greet the tall man with a smile. "Oh, hey! Jason, right?"
"Jason Bailey, that's right," he grins. "How'd the tree work out, kid find a good one?"
"Eh, let's just say it didn't go over as great as we hoped it would," Chimney admits. "My girlfriend got upset so then her brother got upset and it's a whole thing now."
"That's too bad," Jason says indifferently. "You guys have any plans for the actual holiday besides Die Hard?"
"I was gonna take her out for Christmas Eve, I got reservations to this really nice place and I wanted to surprise her, which I'm now realizing might not be the smartest of moves." Chimney sighs heavily. "We've technically been together for months but haven't gone on an official, like, nice grownup date. I just thought we were finally ready to take that step."
"Sounds to me like she's being selfish, stringing you along like she is," Jason tells him. "And she needs to get over this weird codependency thing she's got going on with her brother. Kid's clearly taking up too much of her attention."
"No, that's not it," Chimney mutters, suddenly regretting that he mentioned the Buckley sibling drama back at the tree farm. "Like I said, it's a long story."
Jason grins. "Well, my advice is to not let that reservation go to waste. McClain screwed things up with Holly in at least a couple of those movies, right? But he managed to win her back in the end. Trust me, I've been married going on five years now. Sometimes you've gotta work extra hard to keep a relationship together. Maybe even do things you never thought you'd have to."
"You know what, you're right," Chimney says genuinely. "Thanks, man. It really is a miracle that I ran into you."
"'It's Christmas, Theo,'" Jason quotes in what might be the worst Hans Gruber impression that Chimney's ever heard. "'It's the time of miracles.'"
Then the strange man saunters off, leaving Chimney staring after him, unsure whether he should be bemused or disturbed by Jason's second appearance in one week.
In the end he shrugs, mutters "small world" to himself and genuinely hopes he doesn't run into the guy again.
-_-
Bobby has everyone hold hands around the long table to say grace before they eat the meal put together by him and Buck. Hen still can't believe how far the kid's culinary skills have grown in just the few months they've known him. The food before her looks incredible, and smells heavenly.
"…And thank you for letting us all be safe here together. Amen."
A chorus of amens follow, then the elaborate dishes are finally passed around. Hen hears hushed giggling and can only imagine that Athena regrets sitting two hormone driven teenagers next to one another. May is practically batting her eyelashes at Buck's suave smirk while they speak in tones too low for anyone else to hear. Hen also notes that they're still holding hands long after Bobby's prayer is finished.
Hen catches Athena's eye just as she's about to call them out. Hen shakes her head with a soft smile and Athena rolls her eyes but thankfully bites her tongue.
It's different, having daughters, so Hen gets where Athena's protective instinct is coming from. Hen merely finds the teenagers' innocent flirting cute in the moment.
After dinner Buck and May disappear, which sends Athena into a brief panic until Hen points them out at the smaller kiddie table in the living room. May is laughing with Harry over something on his phone while Buck assists with Christopher and Denny's messy attempt at a gingerbread house, looking like he's having the time of his life with the pair of lively seven year olds.
"Aww, that's what we want," Karen coos.
"We want a Buck now too?" Hen laughs.
"I would love a Buck. It'd be like having an adorable big kid and babysitter all in one."
"Buck really is the best babysitter," Eddie muses as he joins them in watching the kids. "Shows up when you don't even know you need him. Works for free, too."
Buck can't hear them from across the room, but he must sense them watching when he looks up with a grin and a brief wave of his frosting coated fingers before he helps Denny stick a square of gingerbread to another piece that Christopher is bracing. The three cheer when the two walls remain standing with the abundance of frosting glue and their house construction is well underway.
"Seriously," Karen says, "can we take him home with us? Please?"
"Cap and 'Thena got dibs already, babe, sorry." Hen glances over at a softly smiling Athena when Bobby's arms wrap around her from behind, his eyes gone misty at the sight of all the kids together.
"It's alright," Bobby eventually says. "We can share."
-_-
Chimney is about to ring Maddie's bell when he hears rummaging from between a pair of dumpsters. He arches back to look just as Maddie shuffles out of the tight space, grunting while she struggles to heave a massive tree along with her, the very noble fir that he'd left out on the curb the other night.
It seems no one's heeded his "Free Tree" sign, and Maddie has apparently decided that she wants it back. The sight of her attempting to drag an entire Christmas tree from the sidewalk into her place is so unexpected and amusing that it takes Chimney a moment to come to his senses enough to ask, "what the heck're you doing?"
She startles at the sound of his voice then lets out a frustrated huff. "What does it look like I'm doing?! Don't just stand there, help me!"
He shoves his gift under one arm and eases her of her tree burden.
"I thought you'd be at Bobby and Athena's," Maddie says while he carries it inside for her like the gentleman he is. "I hope you're not missing out because of me."
"Nah, just decided I wasn't in the party mood."
"Was Buck there?" she asks, sounding almost hesitant to know the answer.
"He was when I left. Him and Bobby were playing Master Chef and having a great time, trust me." Chimney stops just long enough to hand her his impromptu gift. "Figured you'd be alone for a while so I brought us something to watch in case you needed a little unconventional holiday cheer."
The Die Hard DVD does bring a smile to her face, which makes Chimney feel better about springing his own version of Christmas on her.
Inside the apartment has been rearranged slightly to accommodate the tree. She's already salvaged the stand from the trash and set it up in the corner of the living room next to the sofa where Buck has been residing. Together they manage to get the tree upright again without too many lost pine needles.
"Great, now help me with the rest of the stuff," she says, and he follows her back outside. There's a stack of pallets strategically stacked in front of the dumpsters so she can gingerly stand on them and reach into the garbage. "I want to put everything up before Buck gets home."
Chimney just stares at her. "And you think this is a good idea why exactly?"
"Buck wanted the Christmas crap up, so I'm putting the Christmas crap up."
"Yeah, but only after you flipped out on him and threw it all in the trash."
"But now I'm taking it out of the trash." She emerges victorious with one of Buck's boxes of ornaments and passes it to Chimney. "See?"
"Not sure if that's better if we're being honest," he mutters to himself when her upper half disappears over the lip of the dumpster again.
He sighs heavily. It's like that Jason guy said—he's gotta do something he doesn't particularly want to do, but if it helps their relationship in the long run then he's all for it. He cares about Maddie so much that he's willing to go on a literal dumpster dive for her.
"Alright, lemme get in there," he announces, then climbs fully into the dank pile of refuse. He quickly finds another box of ornaments and a salvageable bag of ribbon that he passes up to Maddie, who smiles sweetly down at him.
"Thanks, Chim."
"Anytime, Mads."
-_-
The party winds down hours later as goodbyes are shared and the remaining Grant-Nash house guests take their leave, all except one who has become mysteriously absent. At first Bobby thinks to check May's room, a gentle shovel talk ready to go on his tongue, but he spots his step daughter in the family room asleep with Harry on the sofa while It's A Wonderful Life plays in the background.
"Where's—"
Athena touches Bobby's arm to get his attention and nods outside. The top of Buck's head is just visible over the back of one of their patio chairs.
"Think we might have gotten ourselves a permanent guest," she says with a humorless little smile.
Bobby frowns. "Maddie never showed?"
Athena shakes her head. "She's having a tough time with the holidays this year. I can only imagine, after all she's been through."
"It hasn't been easy on Buck either."
"I know," Athena says grimly, then looks up at her husband. "What do you know about the Buckleys exactly?"
"Funny, I've been meaning to ask you the same thing. Figured you might've done some snooping."
"I do not snoop."
Bobby raises a disbelieving brow.
"Fine, I might have snooped a little," she admits. "But there wasn't much to find about Philip and Margaret Buckley out in Hershey, PA. No reports of domestic disturbances or arrests, hell, not even any damn speeding tickets. Though Maddie's ex sure does look law abiding on paper too."
Bobby's frown intensifies at Athena's words. "I should go check on him."
"Yes, you should," she says as she gets on her tiptoes to give him an encouraging peck on the cheek.
Bobby slides the patio door as quietly as he can to not spook the kid where he's curled up in one of Athena's lounge chairs. He settles into another chair and leans close to give Buck his full attention.
"So, you wanna tell me why you're hiding out on my wife's patio?"
Buck shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Um, not really, no."
Bobby levels him a look that has Buck spilling.
"I just…I-I don't really think I wanna go home," Buck admits. "I tried to cheer Maddie up for Christmas but she hates the tree and all the decorations I got even though she used to love that stuff when we were little and now Chimney's acting all weird and he didn't even come to your party probably 'cause he's mad at me for making her mad—"
"Buck, buddy, slow down. Chimney and your sister are not mad at you."
"But she is though," Buck insists. "Maddie was so mad, she's gonna kick me out, I know she is! She was mad at me for being around even before all the Christmas stuff happened, and I…" Buck trails off, his eyes widening in realization. "Wait, was I supposed to move out when I finished at the Academy?! Crap, I-I-I was, wasn't I?! But I dunno how much apartments cost, can I afford an apartment yet? Or should I just stay with Eddie, he did say I'm always invited to his house, and his couch is super comfy, maybe even better than Maddie's—"
"Buck," Bobby interrupts again with a shake of his head. "You don't need to stay on anybody's couch. I can help you find an apartment if you want, but your sister's not kicking you out, you know she wouldn't do that to you."
"Yeah, I know," Buck says bitterly. "My parents didn't kick me out either. Still doesn't mean they ever wanted me around."
Bobby's heart aches for the boy. He knows better than to get involved in other people's family drama, but he would love nothing more than to meet the Buckley parents and make sure they're well aware of how badly they've let their children down.
"I'm just being stupid again," Buck sighs.
"No, you're not," Bobby tells him firmly. "What you need to do is talk to Maddie." Buck opens his mouth to protest but Bobby just shakes his head and continues, "I know it's hard but you two finally found each other again, you can't lose that. Especially not at Christmas. You guys'll be okay, I know you will."
"But how do you know?"
"Just call it a gut feeling," Bobby says, "and my gut's rarely wrong."
Buck smirks at him. "That's 'cause you make the best food. You've got happy guts."
Bobby chuckles and reaches over to lightly pull Buck from his chair. "Go on, get out of here," he insists. "Tell your sister we missed her today."
"Thanks, Pops."
"Anytime, kid."
-_-
Maddie beams at her Christmas tree, now covered in all the lights and ornaments and ribbon that Chimney managed to salvage from the dumpster. The only thing she leaves behind is the dreaded angel. Instead she makes a massive, elaborate bow for the tree's top and trails its long strands down to the floor. She thinks this might be her best decorative work yet, certainly her best in a very long time.
"It's beautiful Maddie," Chimney says with an arm around her waist and a kiss to her cheek. "I'm sure Buck's gonna love it."
Maddie's smile falls. "God, I hope so. I've been a terrible sister, Chimney," she admits. "I just got so scared and frustrated over what's been happening with Doug that I took it out on the one person I never, ever wanted to hurt."
"You can't beat yourself up for this, Maddie."
"No," she scoffs humorlessly. "Doug did plenty of that for me over the years."
Chimney levels her a sad, pitying look.
"But I won't let him take Christmas from me, not again," she continues with an adamant shake of her head. "Doug always wanted things to be perfect, but it never would be for him. The holidays were just another performance, another way for us to pretend we weren't completely broken on the inside. Last year was the worst Christmas of my life but also the best, because that's when I finally knew I had to get away from his abuse once and for all.
"And even though I made it all the way here, to L.A. and you and everybody, I'm still terrified that he's out there. Doug told me that if I ever tried to leave he was going to kill me, and he meant it, I know he did."
"He…he what?"
Maddie goes rigid at the sound of her brother's timid voice. She hadn't even heard the door open behind her where Buck is now standing, frozen by the sight of the tree and the conversation he inadvertently walked into.
"Evan," she gasps. "Buck, you weren't supposed to—"
Buck just shakes his head and crosses the room in quick, long steps. He reaches her just as his devastated expression crumbles, then takes her into his arms and holds her close.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispers shakily, and she can hear the tears in his voice. "Why didn't you ever tell me he hurt you?"
"I…I was trying to protect you," she mutters, though her excuse sounds flimsier out loud than it ever did in her head.
"No, Maddie," Buck says firmly. He rears back so he can look her in the eye when he tells her, "I should've been protecting you! I always knew Doug was an asshole, I knew it. I shoulda done something that first time he came over!"
"You were just a little kid! And it really wasn't bad at first, but by the time it was, it…it was too late."
"Do mom and dad—"
"No," she interrupts with an adamant shake of her head. "They don't know. I don't want them to know."
Buck purses his lips but doesn't argue with her. They both know that their parents wouldn't have done anything to help anyway. They would have only judged their daughter from afar, telling themselves that it was her own fault for getting involved with Doug in the first place.
"I want to be the one standing between you and anyone who tries to hurt you from here on out," Buck tells her. "No more secrets, Maddie, I mean it."
He holds out a pinkie finger but she hesitates to take it. This is one truth bomb she's accidentally dropped on the person she loves most in the whole wide world, she's not really looking forward to releasing another just yet.
"No more secrets," she lies, averting her gaze even as she links their pinkies together and squeezes tight.
Chimney's sniffles draw their attention to him. "Oh no, just pretend I'm not even here," he insists with a watery smile. "It's such a beautiful family moment, I'd hate to intrude."
"Get in here, Chim." Buck reaches out with a long arm to drag Chimney into their hug, then wrinkles his nose at the man. "But ew, dude, why do you smell like garbage?"
Maddie chokes out a laugh at that, then Chimney joins in and finally Buck, until they're all laughing so hard that tears are streaming from their eyes.
They watch Die Hard together that night, Maddie content in the middle with her two boys held close to her sides, regardless of how one of them might smell. She decides then and there that Doug can never hurt her again, not while she feels so safe and loved.
Chapter Text
The Many Misadventures of Doug Kendall
Maddie left Doug at Christmas, so he thinks it's only appropriate that they reunite for the holiday.
Tracking her down had been admittedly not the easiest of tasks after she somehow managed to scrounge up enough cash to stay off of the grid and seemingly disappear into thin air. After a few fruitless months of searching Doug concluded the best way to get his wayward wife back in line was to lay in wait. He knew she would come home eventually—she would have to at some point for Evan.
That kid had been the biggest obstacle to their relationship from the start. Maddie's attention was divided, and no grand gesture from her boyfriend turned fiancé turned husband would ever completely sway her to Doug. No, she was always trying to go back for her little brother, back to Hershey whenever she needed to patch him up after he got hurt in one of his stupid stunts, to comfort him while he whined about their absent parents.
But the last straw for Doug came when he intercepted a Christmas card addressed to her at the hospital in Boston. That stupid card with the cartoony Santa and the simple message inside that read "Merry Christmas, Maddie! Miss you, love you lots! Evan" in bubbly handwriting surrounded by scribbles of hearts and smiley faces. Doug had torn it up before anyone could see him, then let his anger out on his wife when they were home for the holiday.
Over the years Maddie had all but forced Doug to use a firmer hand and shorten her leash until she could finally get the hint that he was her only family. She didn't need her friends, or her parents, or her brother. Maddie was Doug's, would always be Doug's, and he was going to make damn sure that no one ever came between them again.
-_-
Buck literally drags Maddie out of bed the morning after their reconciliation.
"Maddie, c'mon, let's go!"
"Buuuck," she whines with a bleary glance at her phone. "It's not even six in the morning, I have two overnight shifts this week, let me sleep."
"But I have another early Christmas present for you, sort of," he tells her while he tugs on her arm to get her up whether she wants to be or not. "Wear something sporty!"
She grumbles her protest but ultimately does as she's told. She dresses and rushes to eat the healthy breakfast Buck made for her when he insists they're in a hurry. She lets him steer her towards the Jeep, then groans when he drives them to a local gym.
"This isn't a gift," she gripes, "it's torture."
"No Maddie, for real, it'll be fun!"
He doesn't exactly give her a choice when he takes her by the hand to lead her inside. But in the end she goes willingly to a mat, reminding herself that if this is what Buck wants to do with her than she's going to be the good big sister Buck deserves and do it. She doesn't even complain when he helps her put on a pair of ridiculously oversized boxing mitts then demonstrates for her to punch the pads covering his own hands.
"Eddie's been showing me some sweet moves," he explains. "Figured it couldn't hurt for you to learn some self defense, too. Gotta be ready with that hook if you ever see Doug again, right?"
She wants to feel sick at the mere mention of Doug, but Buck's concern for her warms her heart. "Fine," she eventually gives in. "For the record Doug is not why I'm doing this with you."
"He's why I'm doing it," Buck says. "I definitely wanna kick that guy's ass."
"Hopefully neither of us will ever see him again."
Maddie manages to sound confident for Buck's sake, but deep down there's a pit of unease in her stomach that she just can't shake. She raises her gloved hands and smirks at her big baby brother.
"Now c'mon, kid, I thought you brought me here to punch stuff."
-_-
Stalking Evan turned out to be easier than trying to follow Maddie's nonexistent trail anyway. The kid was still home in Hershey, his parents were barely around, and Doug knew it was only a matter of time before he and his sister were reunited.
Doug remembers standing in the rain six months after Maddie left him, eying the crowd from his vantage point at the very top of the bleachers as one Evan Buckley stepped on stage to receive his high school diploma. Doug's eyes narrowed at the wolf whistle that followed from beneath a colorful umbrella near the football field's entrance. Close enough for her to get away quickly after the ceremony, and far enough from Doug that he would have a difficult time subtly getting to her in the crowd.
He'd forced himself to stay calm, to be patient until he could finally go through with his scheme. He brushed unnoticed by the oblivious Buckleys while they reunited then waited in a nondescript rental car in the parking lot until they left together in a Jeep with California plates.
California, he'd mused. He never thought Maddie would have the guts to go that far.
He followed the Buckley siblings to a local diner where he left a magnetic GPS tracker tucked under the Jeep's rear bumper. He caught a glimpse of them through the window, both laughing while they dipped fries into each other's milkshakes. He watched with disgust for just a moment then left to begin preparations for a long trip.
Thanks to the tracker he would know where Maddie went from the diner. He would be able to catch up to her on her way to California, to get her alone somewhere, to finally take her back when she least suspected him.
Except the Jeep never left Hershey.
It remained there for weeks, months, parked somewhat discreetly down the street from the Buckley house and driven only by Evan. Maddie had disappeared the night of the graduation, and all Doug knew was that her car had California plates.
There was no indication of a specific dealership, nothing that said where exactly in the large west coast state she could have been hiding. Research into the plate number didn't reveal anything either—somehow Maddie managed to get a car that was not officially registered to her name and had no record of where it came from.
Doug had thrown a fit, cursing her name when she foiled his meticulous plan, until a newer, even better plan began to take shape in his mind.
He continued following Evan throughout the summer, all the while living out of his car in Hershey and ignoring continued calls from Boston. He determined that instead of going all the way to California for Maddie he would just have to use her brother to lure her east again. The kid was accident prone already, Doug was sure it wouldn't take much to stage something serious enough to bring his sister running.
He had done his research and had his tools ready so he could cut the Jeep's brakes and hope for the worst. He followed the kid home one night and waited until he was inside to sneak towards the car, when moments later Evan unexpectedly stormed outside again, sending Doug retreating to hide in a nearby row of thorny rose bushes just in the nick of time.
Doug watched Evan wipe tears from his reddened cheek while Margaret's shrill yelling followed him across the street:
"Just go, you'll see! Maddie doesn't want you either!!!"
Evan took off in the Jeep with a slamming of his door and squealing of tires. Doug fumbled for his phone and pulled up the tracking information, grinning to himself when he saw that it still worked.
Back to Plan A, because if Doug couldn't use the kid to bring Maddie to Pennsylvania, than Evan would just have to take him to her in California.
-_-
"Wow," Josh drawls with a smirk when he finds Maddie in the dispatcher's break room. "I genuinely didn't know angry knitting was a thing."
"Not knitting," she grumbles while she frantically hooks loop after loop of colorful yarn. "Crocheting. And not angry, just gotta get it done fast." Josh leans further into her space to see what she's doing and she warns, "watch it, or you'll lose an eye," while she continues to rapidly stitch in strong robotic movements that feel almost out of her control.
Josh wisely backs off. "Didn't take you for the crafty type."
"I used to be," she mutters. "It's admittedly been awhile."
"So why the sudden interest in marathon crocheting?"
She lifts her work enough to show him, still stitching away. "I'm making a Christmas present for Buck."
"Aww."
"No not 'aww', I have to do this because I'm the world's worst sister who couldn't think of a better present and now I'm running out of time to get anything. Hence the handmade Christmas socks."
"Well, I think it's sweet," Josh tells her. "And if your fingers don't completely fall apart after making these…"
She rolls her eyes. "I'll make you a pair too. In fuchsia."
"My favorite color," Josh beams.
"And flower," Maddie smiles without looking up from her work, "yeah, I know."
-_-
But getting to California hadn't been as straightforward as Doug hoped. It was almost as if the universe was throwing everything it could at him to keep him from getting to his Maddie.
He'd given Evan a few days head start back in September, knowing that he could easily find the kid once he saw that the Jeep was seemingly stopped for good in Los Angeles. He would take his time, get the lay of the land and see what Maddie's been up to, then determine the best way to crush whatever life she'd made for herself and give her no choice but to return to her loving husband.
Doug booked a flight and packed again for a long trip, taking a hefty amount of cash from his account with the intention to travel as incognito as possible, just like Maddie did. He'd already lost his job, and the bank could seize his house for all he cared. He had another savings account to fall back on, and he was confident that he would get a fresh start somewhere else easily enough. He would find a new house and a new job at a new hospital, one that Maddie could work at too, maybe even in the same department as he did. That way he'd always have an eye on her.
He'd been at the airport waiting to board when suddenly every flight to LAX was abruptly cancelled, including his own. In fact all air traffic to southern California had been put on hold following a catastrophic crash, and rescheduling a flight at the same time as everyone else heading west proved to be a nightmare, one that Doug decided he didn't haven't time to deal with.
So he opted to drive across the country instead, determined to get to Maddie without stopping for the entire forty plus hour drive. And he'd been off to a good start, until he fell asleep at the wheel and drove his car into a ditch somewhere in Ohio. He wasted too much time getting that mess sorted out in the middle of nowhere, only for his next piece of junk rental car to later stall on him just outside of St. Louis, delaying him further.
He hit bad weather everywhere he went and was frequently stopped by construction and collisions that completely blocked his path or left him crawling in bumper to bumper traffic on desert highways with no other route to take. He got food poisoning from a taco stand in Sante Fe then a flat tire in Flagstaff, costing him even more precious time, time he spent stewing in his anger and hatred for his errant wife.
When he finally made it to Los Angeles it was weeks after Evan had left Pennsylvania. The first thing Doug did was find a nice place to stay in, somewhere up to his high standards and not too far from where the tracker said Evan most frequently took Maddie's Jeep. It would be the perfect location for his base of operations while he planned what exactly he was going to do next.
He had been double checking the tracking info on his phone app as he headed into the hotel's lobby when a massive earthquake suddenly cracked open the city, including the very sidewalk he'd been standing on.
Doug ended up with a minor concussion and a litany of scrapes and bruises from his fall, but nothing serious enough to send him to the overtaxed hospital. No one had even asked for his name as they pulled him from the rubble of the precariously tilted building, just directed him to a medical tent and continued on. He considered himself lucky that his bag had remained secured to him and all he lost was his phone, no doubt crushed somewhere in the wreckage left by the untimely quake.
He decided that he was better off with an impossible to trace burner phone anyway. He couldn't access his tracking app through the less advanced device, but he wasn't concerned. He remembered roughly where he'd last seen the Jeep on his map, and after he recovered and settled into another, regretfully further and less luxurious place to stay, he laid in wait until he finally spotted the Jeep just as Evan was pulling it out of a lot next to a massive brick building with the number "118" emblazoned on it.
Doug was shocked to find that Maddie's idiotic, accident prone little brother had decided to become a firefighter.
-_-
Maddie gets to witness Buck's legendary clipboard skills in person when she visits the 118 Firehouse's Annual Toy Drive a few days before Christmas. He's in a Santa hat and looking more chipper than ever while he collects, organizes, and hands out toys to overjoyed children, and she couldn't be prouder of him.
"Maddie!" he calls when he spots her. He takes her in a big hug and spins her around, and she doesn't miss the soft looks the rest of the firefighters send her way. Evidently they're just as happy as she is that the Buckley siblings have made up. Bobby in particular wears a smile bright enough to light up the entire building when he nods his appreciation in her direction.
"I've got gifts," Maddie tells her brother when he finally sets her down. "It's just a few last minute kiddie toys for the drive. But first…" she reveals a small package from her oversized purse and hands it to him. "For you."
Buck looks thrilled as he tears into the festive paper then holds up the long pair of fuzzy, artfully mismatched striped red and green Christmas socks. She knows he can tell that she made them herself when he gasps with delight and hugs them to his chest.
"These are so awesome, Maddie, thank you!" He pulls her in for another big hug that she has to wriggle out of.
"But that's not it, I got you something else too."
"You did?!"
"Sort of," she says with a sheepish shrug. "I finally got my hands on an air mattress, a decent one. I moved the dining table, figured you can use that space as a bedroom if you want. I think you've been crashing on my couch long enough."
She can immediately tell by the happy tears in his eyes that her small gesture means the world to him. It means that she intends to keep him around, that she's not going to let him go anytime soon.
"I'm just sorry it took so long," she tells him. "But I need you to know that you'll always have a place with me. Even if it's only an air mattress."
Buck chokes out a happy sob and wraps his arms around her again. Their hug is quickly joined by an equally exuberant Chimney, then Hen, Eddie, and Bobby, until Maddie and her brother are squished into the loving, heartfelt embrace of their 118 family.
-_-
The first thing Doug did when he caught up to Evan was subtly remove the tracker from the Jeep's bumper.
He considered it a miracle the kid hadn't found the device, and that it had stayed in place during the many months Evan had been driving it around. Once that was done he parked his rental in a lot down the street from the firehouse, far enough away that he wouldn't be noticed while he watched Evan come and go.
Doug discovered after a few long days of tedious surveillance that the kid's schedule was sporadic at best. He seemed to spend most of his time at the 118 building, then the Fire Academy, then a quaint house in the suburbs.
It was a cute, southwestern-y looking little home set off the road, and Doug knew the moment he laid eyes on it that he'd finally found where Maddie was hiding. He made a mental note of the address but didn't stick around—just like back in Hershey when he'd stalked the Buckley home he knew he needed to be careful not to hover too long in a residential neighborhood and risk being caught.
Doug's abundance of caution was the only reason it took him so long to realize that Maddie wasn't living there at all. Doug saw a young man and a kid on crutches frequently going into the house with Evan, but there was never any sign of Maddie.
Doug was livid. He'd followed that damn kid all the way across the country for nothing. Maddie probably wasn't even in California, which left him at square one again with no way of finding where she went.
Back to Plan B, though this time he wasn't going to lure Maddie to him with a potentially injured brother. No, this time he'd make sure she would be showing up for the brat's funeral.
He followed Evan from the Academy to the 118 Firehouse one day with his sunglasses on and cap pulled low as he walked right by the entrance where a group of inattentive firefighters were apparently having a party. Balloons and a massive banner painted with "Congratulations Probationary Firefighter Buckley!" were hung in prominent display inside the garage.
Doug smirked. He would let the kid celebrate while he could, then as soon as he was headed back to the Jeep alone Doug would be there waiting for him, knife in hand and ready to strike.
But it was there outside the firehouse that Doug was shocked to finally see his wife kissing another man in a firefighter's uniform. It took all of Doug's self control not to rush inside and slit both of their throats right then and there.
Doug had to take a calming breath and change gears again. He needed just a little more time to learn about her new life, time to finalize how exactly he would deal with his replacement before crushing her into submission.
-_-
"Hey, so, I know we were talking about, like, going on a date date, but then shit happened, which, okay, I get it, priorities, right?"
"Riiight…" Maddie drawls.
"Right, and I know now that surprises are not your favorite things in the world, but I didn't know that to some extent when I maybe thought about what we could do for said date date. But because I'm telling you about it this way, it doesn't feel like a surprise, so maybe just don't think of it like that, okay?"
"Chim," Maddie says with a smirk, "are you trying to ask me out?"
"Oh my god, yes! I got us reservations to a fancy place weeks ago for Christmas Eve, 'cause I knew we'd both be stuck working on actual Christmas, but I swear I did not know that the holiday season was such a sore subject for you, so we don't have to—"
"How fancy?"
Chimney blinks at her. "Huh?"
"Like, is it more of a casual fancy, or should I wear a nice dress kind of fancy? I'm good either way, just curious."
"Wait, so is that a yes to us finally going out on a nice grownup date?"
"It's a definitely for us finally going out on a nice grownup date."
Chimney whoops for joy and Maddie giggles when he takes her by the hand and waist to spin her around her living room in some impromptu, uncoordinated waltz.
Buck just stares at them from where he's been sitting at Maddie's kitchen counter, watching the entire exchange over their takeout dinner.
"You guys are so weird," he mumbles around a mouthful of Thai food before the couple takes him by an arm each and drags him into their joyous revelry.
-_-
And then the universe finally threw Doug a much needed bone.
He knew that Maddie's ties to the local authorities would make getting close to her difficult, which meant that he needed an alias if he wanted to learn more about what she's been up to in Los Angeles. He was sure he'd be recognized immediately if he came anywhere near her or Evan, or if he was caught on camera at the secure apartment building he discovered she lived in. But he sincerely doubted she'd shown her new boyfriend any pictures of the husband she was cheating on.
Doug just needed to strike up a conversation, to feel the guy out, maybe even come up with a backup plan in case his original didn't work out. First he had to think of a name for himself, something inconspicuous, something like—
"Watch it, asshole," a stranger had muttered when he walked blindly into Doug on the sidewalk only about a block away from Maddie's boyfriend's place, paying too much attention to the phone he was pulling from his pocket and not looking at where he was going.
Doug, already angry and in need of an outlet to unleash it on, was about to jump the guy when he noticed the dropped wallet. The pedestrian had turned a corner with his phone to his ear and no one else was around to see Doug pocket it for himself then hurry away in the opposite direction.
Inside the lost wallet he found a decent amount of cash, credit cards, and a license for one "Jason Bailey." Doug had more than a few inches on the man and his hair was styled differently, but the age and overall appearance was close enough to Doug that he was sure he could pass as the Jason in the license's photo.
Doug used Jason's identity to approach the man Maddie thought could replace him, only to quickly discover that Chimney wasn't a threat, not really. The man would be no competition when it came to Maddie's love.
Plus Chimney was a moronic chatter box anyway. He'd shared just enough about the Buckleys' recent squabbling to peak Doug's interest, and then dropped the bomb about reservation plans for Christmas Eve. That is what gave Doug his opening, a way to finally enact the plan he'd had from the very beginning.
Because even if the siblings fought, they somehow always managed to find their way back to each other. Doug knew they always would.
-_-
"Don't wait up, okay?" Maddie says, fumbling with the clasp on her new necklace. "We probably won't be back 'til late."
"It's fine, Maddie." Buck gestures for her to turn so he can fasten the chain for her. "I'm just gonna hang out here and watch Home Alone."
"Seems like an appropriate choice."
"Haha, very funny," he scoffs. "Tease me all you want, you won't get any of the cookies I'm making."
"Aww, are they for Santa?"
She's smirking when she turns to face him again but he just rolls his eyes at her. "It's Christmas Eve," he says matter-of-factly, "of course they're for Santa."
He looks her up and down from the styled waves of her long hair to the comfortable fit of her velvety maroon wrap dress and kitten heels. It's probably the most dressed up he's seen her since her Senior prom, considering their parents forbade him from attending her wedding. His gaze lingers on the sideways golden "M" on her clavicle with a warm smile.
"Lookin' good, sis."
"You know, this is actually my first real date in…god, it's been years."
"Haven't you and Chimney been together for, like, ever?"
"Yeah, but we haven't gone on a date date. It's always just work hangouts and karaoke bars and movie nights. Never anything as fancy as this. Did I mention this restaurant spins around? How cool is that?!"
"You did mention it, many times, so I'm telling you once again to not get seasick and totally embarrass yourself by barfing all over."
"Right, save that for the second fancy date."
Buck nods. "At least the second fancy date."
She gets a doorbell alert at the complex's entrance and a quick glimpse through the camera reveals a beaming Chimney holding a bouquet of flowers. She smiles at the screen even though he can't see her as she buzzes him through and opens the apartment door for him.
"I'm just happy you're happy, Mads," Buck says, his voice soft and fond.
Her smile falters somewhat. "You deserve to be happy too," she tells him. "You know I always love you, right? Even when I'm…when I…"
"When you kinda suck?"
"Yeah," she winces at his blunt, but accurate, description.
"I know," he tells her. "And I love you too. Always."
She pulls him down to her level to kiss his birthmark just as Chimney comes bursting through her front door, dressed in a suit and grinning from ear to ear.
"For m'lady," he says with a wave of the bouquet in Maddie's direction. "And for m'Buckaroo." Another flourish reveals the DVD case he had stowed in his jacket.
"Home Alone 2," Buck comments when he sees the cover. "But I didn't even watch the first one yet!"
"Don't worry," Chimney assures him. "You'll have plenty of time to watch both while I wine and dine your sister!"
"Gross, dude," Buck says with a playful shove.
Maddie shakes her head at her boys' antics as she slips on her pea coat and passes Buck the flowers on her way out. "There's a vase around here somewhere, I think," she mutters. "I dunno, just don't let them immediately die."
He gives a subtle nod in understanding of his sister's notorious black thumb, then waves the couple along.
"G'night, you guys," he tells them with a wide grin. "Have fun on your date date, I won't wait up!"
-_-
Doug's been so close, so careful, until the night he decides to finally act.
He waits and watches from the shadows when Maddie leaves arm in arm with Chimney, off to the Christmas Eve date that "Jason" had encouraged Chimney to take her on. She's laughing at something he says, distracting them both enough for Doug to slip through the open front gate unseen just before it closes. He hears their voices fade away while he creeps towards her apartment and its sole occupant.
The door knob turns easily in his gloved hand and Doug smirks. For all of Maddie's precautions with the cameras she hadn't reminded the kid of the simplest task—to lock the door behind her when she left.
Doug tiptoes inside, taking in the high ceilings, the massive fireplace, and the tiled stairway that leads to a second floor. He sees the twinkling Christmas tree in the corner and all the lights that decorate the apartment, making it look like something out of a holiday fairy tale. Chimney's bouquet of flowers is already situated in an LAFD water bottle prominently displayed on the living room's coffee table.
Doug sneers at the sight of it. He just manages to keep himself from knocking it over as he quietly passes through the apartment, reminding himself that Chimney won't be a problem once Doug has Maddie all to himself again.
Evan is in the kitchen with his back to Doug, humming absently along to the Christmas music playing from his phone while he stirs something in a large mixing bowl. There's a carton of eggs on the counter next to bags of flour, sugar, and numerous other baking ingredients.
Doug's lips curl into a malicious grin while his fingers find the knife holstered on his belt. Stage one of his latest plan is to threaten the kid and maybe knock him around enough that Doug can easily take him far away from the city. He'll give Maddie some time to stew in her worry, then give her no choice but to come back to him if she wants to ever see her precious little brother again.
He's certain that subduing Evan will be simple enough. He remembers the kid being all big talk and tough guy act when he was younger, but Doug knows from experience that all it takes is a few choice words, a firm show of intimidation to shut down that confidence quick. Even if Evan has been training to become a firefighter Doug only needs to make idle threats against Maddie's life to turn the kid into the docile, blubbering coward that he always was.
"Making me cookies, Evan?" he asks, loud enough that the boy startles and drops his bowl. "How sweet of you."
Evan whips around on socked feet and stares at Doug with wide blue eyes that quickly narrow in recognition.
"You bastard."
Doug had thought he'd get an easy hostage. He's genuinely surprised that the kid's immediate reaction is to snarl and charge at him like a linebacker.
Evan doesn't even heed the knife threatening him when he rams his shoulder against Doug's chest with enough force to tackle the man onto the hardwood floor. The weapon slips from Doug's hand as the wind is driven out of him by the lanky kid landing heavily on his torso.
Evan straddles him and throws one powerful punch after another to his face. The blows make Doug's ears ring and fill his mouth with blood until he manages to flip Evan off balance with a twist of his hips. He slams the kid sideways into the coffee table then scrambles to retrieve his dropped blade.
But Evan's on Doug again in a second with a feral cry of rage. He manages to get Doug into a headlock from behind and yanks him away from the knife just before he can grab it. Doug gasps desperately around the strong forearm that's cutting into his windpipe and abandons the weapon so he can drive an elbow backwards blindly against Evan's side. The kid grunts but doesn't give up his hold, not until Doug surges awkwardly to his feet and slams them both backwards.
Evan hits the solid wall next to the stairs with a pained yelp and a reverberating thud that sends frames and knickknacks all over the apartment clattering to the floor. Doug rears forward then back again and the second vicious blow is enough to make Evan's grip loosen from his neck. Doug gets his opening then spins to punch the winded kid in the eye as hard as he can.
Evan falls to the side with a choked off cry while Doug stumbles after him with a gasping wheeze of his own. The kid is dazed enough that Doug finally manages to get the upper hand in their fight when his fingers find Evan's throat. He kneels heavily over Evan's chest and tightens his grip, listening with satisfaction while Evan sputters and writhes beneath him.
Doug yanks the boy's head off the ground and slams him back, once, twice, three times against the floor until his struggling, clawing fingers fall away. Doug watches Evan's tear filled eyes roll back into his head with that third crack and the kid finally goes limp.
Doug eases back, panting from exertion while he catches his lost breath. Evan can only shudder and let out a ragged cough—he's not completely out of it but there's obviously no more fight left in him for the moment. Doug rises unsteadily, wincing at the ache in his back from the initial tackle and dizzy after all the punches he took. He levels a brutal kick to the kid's torso as retaliation, relishing in the groan of pain that follows.
"Evan, Evan, Evan," Doug growls, then kicks him again. "Always making things difficult for me and your sister."
Evan curls up defensively on the floor while Doug retrieves and holsters his knife. The kid's phone is still on the kitchen counter and Doug moves quickly to grab it before crouching over Evan and taking his face in a bruising grip. The device unlocks with the facial recognition and Doug smiles when he quickly finds Maddie's new cell number. He saves it into his burner's contacts then smashes Evan's phone against the hard wood floor for good measure, knowing better than to bring something Maddie might be able to use to track him before he's ready for her.
"But don't you worry," he says, fingers still pinching Evan's cheeks while unfocused, tear filled eyes meet his. "This is the last time you'll ever have to come between us."
Chapter Text
Buck 0.8, The Hostage
Evan had been ten years old when Maddie first brought Doug home during their university's holiday break.
She was excited to introduce her successful surgeon-in-training boyfriend to her family, but Evan knew as soon as he'd laid eyes on the young man that Doug was no good for his sister. It was the only thing he and his parents ever agreed on, even if they never actually discussed that fact out loud.
The way Maddie described it she had been subjected to a sappy courtship in which Doug swept her off her feet with dramatic gifts and romantic getaways for just the two of them. To Evan he'd sounded like a controlling, obsessive creep, and the way he would stare at Maddie with a smarmy grin always sent a shiver down the little boy's spine.
Evan saw Maddie less and less over the years while she was with Doug. She would come home for emergencies and during school breaks but always had to leave just as quickly because of her new boyfriend. Evan's dislike of Doug went beyond the usual jealously he felt when Maddie spent her free time with someone besides him. No, all he felt for Doug from the very beginning was pure loathing.
The couple visited the Buckley home for one last Christmas when Evan was thirteen with the announcement that they were to be married the following summer. Maddie showed off a massive ring and seemed so, so happy, then shocked at her parents' blatant disapproval and outrage over the upcoming nuptials. Dad was pissed Doug hadn't asked for his permission per tradition, and mom was upset because she was always upset.
Still, their mother might have been the most hysterical Evan had ever seen her when she screamed at Maddie that she was a damned fool if she thought someone like Doug was ever going to make her happy.
Maddie had shouted right back while Buck hunched in his chair at the dining room table, hoping to not be noticed amidst all the yelling. He and Doug were the only ones staying quiet, though the smug, conniving smirk on Doug's face had been even more terrifying to Evan than the furious anger expressed by the rest of the Buckley family on that unforgettable Christmas.
The couple had left to Evan's parents loudly informing them that they would not be attending the wedding. Maddie didn't come back to Hershey after that, and their parents' disapproval of her marriage had unknowingly driven their defiant daughter further into a monster's arms.
Evan, then too young to really understand what was going on, could only mourn the loss of his sister, the one person who ever seemed to care about him. He'd been left with his parents whose cold demeanor and cruelty only worsened once Maddie was fully out of their lives.
Though as bad as he thought he'd had it, Buck knows now that what she went through with Doug during those years was more horrible than he could have ever imagined.
-_-
Athena is finally heading home for the night after a long, but thankfully uneventful Christmas Eve shift.
May and Harry are away with Michael's family for the holiday, and she knows Bobby's already home waiting for her before his own shift begins the following morning. Bobby had promised her fancy hot chocolate and gourmet midnight snacks in front of the fireplace, and Athena couldn't think of a better way for them to spend their first Christmas together as husband and wife.
She's just getting off of the highway and turning into her neighborhood when her cell phone rings. She frowns when she sees the time—nearly eleven—and the unexpected late caller.
"Maddie?" she answers without hesitation. "Hon, what's wrong?"
-_-
Buck squirms uncomfortably where he sits with his trapped wrists squished behind him and a seatbelt pulled too taught across his lap and chest. His head throbs and his throat aches and he's more scared than he thinks he's ever been in his entire life, but on top of all that he is furious.
Buck's furious at Doug for showing up like he did and getting the drop on him. He's furious at himself for not being able to take Maddie's abuser down when he had the chance.
"So what is your brilliant plan here exactly?" he asks his captor in the driver's seat. "'Cause I thought you were just after Maddie. It's a pretty dumb move to take me, since she's gonna totally kick your ass when she finds out."
Doug ignores him, like he has ever since Buck's been fully conscious and lucid enough to realize what's going on after being so rudely dragged out of Maddie's apartment and shoved into a car. Doug's been driving for a couple of hours already, and they're well out of the city limits. But Buck refuses to be the timid, scared hostage that he knows Doug wants him to be, even if Doug's grip on the steering wheel gets tighter with every word that comes out of Buck's mouth.
"Her and Chimney," Buck continues, managing to sound much braver than he feels at the moment. "Chimney is Maddie's new boyfriend, by the way, he's like a kajillion times cooler and more badass than you are. And he's a firefighter, so he can definitely kick your ass."
"Chimney's half my size and a damn coward," Doug growls, and Buck has to wonder how Doug would know that. The notion that Doug's been around and stalking Maddie long enough to have seen her with Chimney puts an uncomfortable, sinking feeling in Buck's already nauseous gut.
"Yeah, well, he can still kick your stupid giant ass."
"I doubt that," Doug scoffs. "Took you down easy enough, didn't I?"
Buck bristles where he sits. "Let's go again, I'll beat the literal shit out of you this time! Pull over and untie me, right here, c'mon, let's go! Or are you too much of a pussy to—"
Doug's arm shoots out to strike Buck across the face, knocking his skull painfully against the window. Doug doesn't say anything or even look at Buck, just smirks to himself and continues driving.
"Asshole." Buck licks blood off of his stinging lip with a wince and glares at his captor. "Maddie already hates you, you know. She never loved you and she never will. You've gotta be the biggest idiot in the world if you think you're gonna get her back after this."
Doug grits his teeth so hard Buck swears he can hear them crack just before a soft ding sounds as the "Low Fuel" warning light blinks on the dashboard.
"Aaand it looks like you're outta gas already, way to be prepared, moron," Buck says with a short bark of mocking laughter. "Seriously, better hope you find a gas station out here in the middle of nowhere, or your ass is walking and I am not going willingly."
Doug ignores him in favor of tapping at his GPS screen until the navigation tells him that his destination is only a few miles ahead. Apparently Doug is prepared, much to Buck's disappointment.
Minutes later a sign reading "Gas Market" lights up the desolate road. The station appears to be vacant save for a lone, bored looking clerk who's barely visible through the advertisements pasted on the little convenience shop's dirty windows.
Doug pulls the car next to a pump that deliberately blocks Buck's view of the store. He unbuckles his seatbelt but makes no move to release Buck's.
"Hey, h-hang on," Buck calls loudly as Doug exits the vehicle. "You can't just leave me here like this!"
"I can, and you'll keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you."
Buck won't, he can't, not if he wants to get free and protect his sister. He wracks his brain for something that will get Doug's attention again and blurts the first thought that comes to mind: "what if I haveta pee?"
"Hold it."
"B-but…but what if I can't?!" Buck squirms a little for show, hoping Doug will actually let him inside to use a bathroom and give him the chance he needs to escape. "It's your car that'll reek."
"This is a rental, I could care less," Doug informs him. One hand shoots forward to take Buck's cheeks in a bruising grip while the other waves a knife in front of him. "In fact, I could just slit your throat right now and leave you to bleed out all over the upholstery, doesn't mean a damn to me."
Buck swallows nervously, going cross eyed while he attempts to follow the blade that's right in front of his nose.
"But don't worry," Doug continues with a smirk. "I'll be sure to give Maddie the comfort she needs while she mourns your untimely demise."
Buck looks passed the threatening blade to glare hatefully at his ex-brother-in-law. "F-fuck y-you," he manages to stutter between the pinch in his cheeks.
Doug scowls. He rattles Buck hard against the window before pocketing his knife and releasing Buck's face with a shove.
"Don't you dare move."
Doug slams the driver's side door shut hard enough to rock the entire car. Buck cranes his neck until he can just make out Doug at the pump. The man fills a red gas canister first and leaves it in the open trunk then moves the nozzle to fill his car's tank before sauntering towards the convenience store, looking casual as any driver stopping for a late night pick-me-up.
As soon as Doug is out of sight Buck struggles with everything he's got. He kicks at the door and the glove compartment and any part of the car within reach. He pulls on his arms until his shoulders burn and his zip tied wrists are slick with blood behind him. He twists his body and thrashes against the seat belt that is digging painfully tight across his hips and chest up to his bruised neck. He tries to stretch his hands to the belt's release button but the tips of his tingling fingers don't even come close.
Buck has to stop when all the struggling does is make his headache so much worse. He's breathing hard following his desperate, but ultimately useless efforts to free himself.
"Shit," he whimpers. "Shit shit shit…"
He wills another car to stop for gas while Doug is inside. If someone would just pull up next to him all he'd have to do is call out then they would see his bruised face and precarious position and get help. But no other vehicles appear on the dark, deserted road, save for a single red cabin tractor trailer that barrels by the station without even slowing.
Buck feels tears of frustration well in his eyes. The only consolation he can think of for his terrible situation is that Maddie is still safe; Doug can't do anything to hurt her as long as he's busy kidnapping Buck.
Buck is startled by the clunk of the gas pump coming to a sudden stop. Doug appears not long after to return the nozzle to its holder and recap his car's tank with a click. Buck swallows back his fear when Doug settles into the driver's seat without closing the door behind him. Doug drops an energy drink and Slim Jim into the cup holder between them so his hands are free to open the plastic seal on a brand new roll of shiny silver duct tape. Buck trembles where he sits.
"D-d-did you get me a snack too?"
Doug doesn't respond, just finds the edge of the tape and picks it off with his fingernail. The ominous rip that follows has Buck flinching back.
"I…I'll shut up," he stammers. "I'll be quiet, I-I swear—"
"No you won't." Doug pulls the tape between his hands and moves to paste it over Buck's lips.
Buck turns away and presses his face as far against the frigid window as possible. "You…you can't," he says quickly. "Wh-what if someone sees, someone else on the road'll see, and they'll call the cops, a-a-and you'll get caught for sure!"
Doug's lips curl into an especially malicious grin. "Guess I'll just have to put you somewhere no one will see you."
With that the sticky substance is shoved over Buck's mouth before he can even get out another squeak of protest. He tries to shake his head to clear the tape but Doug grips his hair in his fist and yanks him away from the glass so he can wrap the roll around Buck's face, creating a tight band over his cheeks and around the base of his skull.
Doug cuts the tape with his knife then smoothes the edge down behind Buck's ear. He finally releases Buck's hair with a condescending pat before hooking the roll over his wrist and getting out of the car again.
Buck struggles to breathe through the uncomfortable tape and his own panicked hyperventilating while he watches Doug cross in front of the hood to the passenger side. But there's still nothing Buck can do, no where he can go, no one he can even try to call out to when Doug releases his seat belt and yanks him out of the car by the bicep, wrenching his bound wrists painfully behind his back.
Doug doesn't let up when Buck's socked feet flail for purchase on the pavement, and he doesn't react at all to Buck's muffled shouting. Buck looks to the gas station's shop for help but the barely visible clerk is turned away from the window, his attention only on his phone.
Doug drags him to the back of the car and the still open trunk. Buck struggles in vain when Doug takes him by the collar of his t-shirt and hauls him upright against the bumper. Buck shakes his head, eyes wide while he pleads desperately behind the tape. He can't go in the trunk, there's no way he'll fit, and with the tape he'll suffocate, if he doesn't freeze to death first—
Doug shoves him downwards, knocking the back of his already aching head against the raised trunk lid as he goes. Buck kicks out in one last frantic bid for freedom only for Doug to catch his legs and pin them together under one arm. Buck hears a fresh ripping of duct tape just before the sticky substance is wound around his ankles, tight enough to cut off whatever feeling he had left in his cold toes.
With Buck's ankles secured Doug can fold his long legs into the trunk. He isn't gentle in the slightest, forcing a pained grunt out of Buck's throat when his body is maneuvered to fit in the too small space with the filled gas can wedged in place next to Buck's bent knees.
"Better get comfy, kiddo," Doug says with a smirk. "We've still got a long ride ahead of us."
And with that he slams the trunk shut, leaving Buck in the cramped, terrifying darkness that reeks of gasoline.
-_-
"…And you're positive that's your ex?"
Maddie nods, her eyes welling with tears. "It's Doug," she croaks. "I know it is."
Athena purses her lips and rewinds the video again with a hard swipe of her finger. She stops at the time stamp from three and a half hours earlier that evening, not long after Maddie and Chimney had left for their unexpectedly eventful dinner. Needless to say the woman who'd been crushed against her table was certainly lucky to have had a paramedic and ex-nurse sitting next to her in that rotating restaurant.
Now Athena watches through security camera footage when the back of a tall hooded figure hurries away with a stumbling, clearly disoriented Buck in his grasp. Buck's only wearing grey joggers, a dark blue LAFD t-shirt, and handmade Christmas socks as he's forced out into the cold night air. His wrists are zip tied tight together behind his back and a gloved hand is smothering his mouth as he's dragged away from the apartment.
The pair disappears from view as quickly as they appeared. The figure kidnapping the boy never even faces the camera, though Maddie is adamant she knows who he is.
"He found me, I…I don't know how but Doug found me, and he's got Buck, he hurt my little brother!"
"Hey, we don't know that," Chimney tries to reassure her despite evidence to the contrary. "I'm sure Buckaroo's okay."
Chimney has an arm wrapped around Maddie's shoulders while tears stream down her cheeks. He looks desperately to Athena for answers, but she only has one logical course of action to take.
"What are you doing?" Maddie asks when she sees Athena go for her phone.
"Calling 9-1-1," Athena explains, "which is what the two you shoulda done the second you came home to all this."
"No, no you can't!" Maddie shrieks as she pulls away from Chimney's comforting hold. "You can't call the cops!"
Athena shoots her an incredulous look. "You called me first."
"Because you're not just a cop, you're my friend, Athena! If Doug thinks the police are after him, he might…I-I don't know what he'll do to Buck!"
"You said there was no ransom note, correct?"
Chimney nods for them both.
"Nothing but signs of a struggle and this video of an unknown male—"
"It's Doug," Maddie insists, "I know it is!"
"—an unidentifiable person abducting your brother."
Athena takes in the destruction again with a detective's eye and sees obvious signs of a violent altercation, from the upended coffee table and spilled bouquet of flowers to the tossed aside phone with its cracked, unresponsive blank screen. In the kitchen ingredients have been left out on the counter for hours, enough that the egg smell is becoming a problem.
Next to a spilled mixing bowl on the floor is a piece of note paper with what Athena knows is her husband's handwriting, listing the steps of his snicker doodle cookie recipe that even she's not privy to. She can easily picture Buck in the midst of making Bobby's special cookies when he's brutally attacked and taken against his will after one hell of a fight.
"I know you don't want to hear this," she tells Maddie, "but I need a team to do forensics, to sweep the place for evidence and canvas the neighborhood, to try to figure out just what in the hell happened here and where Buck might've been taken. I'll get Ransone on the line, he'll—"
A phone suddenly buzzes to life in Athena's hand, but it's not her own. The surveillance video still playing on Maddie's screen is abruptly covered by the notification of an incoming call from an unknown number. There's no doubt in Athena's mind what the late night call is about, and if the horrified expressions on Maddie and Chimney's faces are any indication they're thinking the same as she is.
"I'm putting this on speaker," Athena says quickly. In her other hand she unlocks her own phone and starts recording on instinct. "Maddie, I need you to stay calm when you answer, okay?"
"Yes, I-I'm calm," Maddie gasps, sounding anything but.
Athena holds her gaze for a second, then answers the call just before it can go to voice mail.
Maddie swallows hard. "Hello?"
"Hey, babe," a deep, composed voice drawls back. Maddie visibly flinches while Chimney blanches, his eyes wide with horror. Athena just grits her teeth to bite back the urge to shout at the bastard on the other end of the line even while she holds the phone steady for her friend. "I stopped by your place but you weren't home. I've missed you so much, Maddie."
"Doug," she says, obviously trying to stay calm despite the fact that Athena can practically hear the younger woman's heart pounding. "Where is my brother?"
"He's here with me," Doug tells her. "I just figured that if I couldn't see you I might as well take the time to catch up with my brother-in-law instead."
Maddie's eyes dart to Athena who gives her a subtle nod. "I can meet you somewhere, we'll all catch up together. Where are you guys?"
"We're taking a nice long drive," Doug answers conversationally. "Or at least we were, until Evan decided to be his usual annoying self. I don't know how you put up with him, Maddie, I really don't. I had to shove him in the trunk of my car just to shut him up."
Maddie jolts at the words, her hand moving to stifle a sob. Athena meets her gaze and mouths, keep talking.
Maddie's lips quiver but her voice is steady when she asks again, "where are you? I'll meet you there, and then we can go home. I…I'm so sorry I left. But, Buck—Evan, he doesn't need to be involved in this, in us. Please, Doug, just let my brother go and I'll stay with you, I'll go wherever you want. I swear I won't run again."
Doug is quiet for a long moment, long enough that Athena would have thought he hung up if not for the seconds still ticking away on the call.
"Remember when we used to go to the Poconos, Maddie?" he eventually says. "We had some fun times out there together. Evan never got to come on one of those trips, I thought it might be good for him to tag along this time."
Maddie's eyes widen in alarm and Athena feels like the air has been punched out of her lungs. If Doug is taking that boy across the country—
"I want you to come meet us," Doug continues. "I already found the perfect spot, up in the mountains. It's just like the Poconos."
Athena closes her eyes and says a silent prayer of thanks. As long as Doug stays in California they have a better chance of finding him and getting Buck home in one piece.
"That…that sounds great, Doug," Maddie tells him even while fresh tears streak her cheeks. "Where is it?"
"It's a place called Big Bear, I'm sure you can figure out how to get there. And, Maddie, this should go without saying but you need to come alone. This stays between us—no Chimney, none of your firefighter or cop friends, nobody else needs to be involved or it's Evan who gets hurt this time. You hear me?"
Athena sees the flash of panic on Maddie's face. She nods her head at the phone and Maddie swallows hard.
"Yes, I-I'll come alone," she lies. "I won't tell anyone, I promise, just please let me talk to my brother first."
"Why?" he scoffs. "You'll see him soon enough."
"Doug, please—"
"Of course if you can't be bothered to meet us I guess it'll just be me and the kid on this little vacation," Doug taunts, "and I can guarantee he won't have a good time."
Athena's fingers tighten around the phone to the point where she's afraid it might snap in her grasp.
"I swear to god, Doug," Maddie growls, a sudden hateful and furious expression crossing her face, "if you hurt him—"
"It's too late for that, Maddie," he interrupts. "See you soon. I love you. I'll always love you."
The call ends with a click and a long dial tone. Athena stops the recording on her own device while Maddie covers her mouth with shaking hands to stifle a sob.
"I know that voice," Chimney croaks, and both women's heads whip around to stare at his ashen face and horrified expression. "He said his name was Jason, Jason Bailey. I…shit, I think he's been following me. I ran into him at the video store last week, and at the Christmas tree place before that."
Maddie blanches. "Did Buck—"
"No, god no, we were separated. Ja—Doug was gone before Buck ever saw him. Maddie, I'm so sorry, I swear I had no idea who he was."
"Of course you didn't," Maddie says shakily, her hands moving to cradle Chimney's distraught face. "There's no way you could've known."
"But I should have," Chimney insists, his voice trembling as much as hers. "I knew something was off about the guy, I knew it, but I didn't…I never thought…"
Athena, meanwhile, has been running a search on her phone's map while she files away the Jason alias in her head. "I found Big Bear," she announces. "This has to be it. It's a vacation spot north east of here, up in the mountains."
She shows them her phone screen and the long, snaking trail on the zoomed out map of California.
"How far?" Maddie asks.
"Little over six hours driving," Athena admits. "Which means that Doug could be halfway there already."
Both Maddie and Chimney look devastated by the news, and a sick feeling turns Athena's stomach. None of them can forget the fact that Doug admitted to cramming Buck into the trunk of his car. And the way he'd said it certainly didn't make them think he was driving some roomy SUV.
"So we know he's got a decent head start," Athena continues, "but I can't put an APB out if we don't know what kind of vehicle he's in, and I would bet you anything he called from a burner we won't be able to trace. I can put an alert out for the alias, but there's no telling if this 'Jason Bailey' will turn up anything useful in time."
Athena shakes her head in defeat. As much as she hates it they only have one course of action left to take.
"We need to leave now if we're going to catch up to Doug by morning," she announces. "We'll figure out where he's at ourselves and find our boy safe and sound before long, I'm sure of it." She pockets her phone and returns Maddie's, then makes quick work of checking her concealed holster before grabbing her keys. "Buckley, you're with me."
They're nearly out of the apartment when Chimney shouts, "wait, hang on, what am I supposed to do?!"
"You're staying put, Chim," Athena says. "I'll call the local authorities for backup once we can better assess the situation with Doug. I don't want anybody else tagging along and getting in the way, especially if Doug already knows who you are. It's too damn risky."
Chimney follows them outside, sputtering in disbelief, "what?! But that's not…you can't just…I mean, come on, guys!"
They stop outside of Athena's car just long enough for Maddie to peck him on the cheek. "We'll be okay."
"I know you will, you've got the best cop in L.A. watching your back. But it's Buck, Maddie! I care about that kid to, you know! And I feel guilty enough as it is, I can't just sit here and do nothing!"
"You can and you will," Athena orders. "We'll give you an update once we have one."
She and Maddie get into her SUV while a distressed and teary Chimney is left standing on the sidewalk. Athena can just hear him yelling through the closed window when she pulls away:
"I know where you're going! Don't think I won't tell Bobby!!!"
Athena takes off, leaving him in her literal dust. She knows he'll tell her husband where she's going. In fact she's already counting on it.
Chapter Text
Buck 0.9, Maddie's Protector
Their long drive through the night is quiet and tense, until the guilt in Maddie's chest builds to an unbearable level.
"This is all my fault," she croaks.
Athena gives her a sidelong sympathetic glance while she speeds along the highway, deserted save for the occasional trucker and one tiny gas station they fly passed without a second glance.
"You couldn't've known what your son of a bitch ex was gonna do," Athena says. "None of this your fault."
"No, you don't understand," Maddie insists. "I knew he was looking for me! I knew Doug was out there, but I said nothing. My lawyer tried to serve Doug divorce papers weeks ago, she said he's been missing for months. I should've gone to you sooner for help! I should have had you looking for him this whole time, then Buck wouldn't—"
"You seriously think I didn't already have an eye out for the bastard?" Athena interrupts. "Ever since you dropped his name last year I've had an alert out on your ex. And I swore if I ever got wind of that piece of shit in L.A., girl, I woulda been on his ass the second he crossed city lines. But the motherfucker is apparently smarter than any of us wanted to give him credit for if he got this far right under our damn noses."
Athena shakes her head and lets out a long, defeated sigh.
"And Maddie, I know you don't want to hear it, but we all made mistakes and got ourselves too comfortable thinking Doug was out of the picture. All we can do now is make sure our Buckaroo isn't the one who pays because of those mistakes."
Maddie knows what Athena is saying is the truth, even if it is painful to hear. Maddie's well aware that Doug isn't stupid, he never was. She's the fool for believing that running to the other side of the country would be enough to get away from him.
She swallows hard. "What do you think we'll find when we get to Big Bear?" she asks, voice shaky. "Wh-what if Doug—"
"Nuh uh, don't even go there," Athena interrupts, her tone steady enough to belay some of Maddie's fears. "Just remember, as much as Doug managed to sneak up on us he still underestimated you, you and Buck. And he's gonna be in a world of hurt when we catch up to him, I can guaran-damn-tee it."
-_-
"Maddie should be here soon," Doug says from where he's peeking through the rustic little cabin's front window, as if he's expecting her to magically appear outside. "Won't be long now."
It takes a long moment for Buck to process what the man is saying while his thoughts move at a sluggish, weary pace. He doesn't understand how Doug thinks Maddie is going to suddenly show up, and he really, really hopes she doesn't. Buck is more frightened for his sister than he is for himself.
All he can do is glare at his kidnapper from his position slumped in an old, overstuffed armchair that smells faintly musty from disuse. He'd been dropped barely conscious onto the lumpy seat after Doug dragged him out of the dizzying trunk hours ago. His hands and feet have gone uncomfortably numb, and with the tape still pulled taught around his mouth there's little he can do besides curl his legs to his chest and shiver while he glowers hatefully in Doug's direction.
Doug has ignored Buck for the most part since they arrived, moving about the tiny cabin and leaving Buck anxious to know what exactly his captor is planning to do with him. He's pretty sure it had still been dark out when they first arrived to wherever they are—now the early morning sun beams are filtering into the tiny cabin, leaving streaks of glowing dust visible across the hardwood floor.
Doug finally moves away from the curtain and glances at his watch. He disappears for a moment, and when he returns to Buck's line of sight it's with a red envelope that he tucks into his jacket while he shoulders a packed bag.
"Don't go anywhere," Doug tells him with a smirk. "I'll be right back."
Then he's gone, slamming the door behind him loud enough to startle Buck. The sound of a car's engine starts up outside, and it dawns on Buck that he has been left alone for the first time in the cabin, somewhere that he can actually move and stretch a little bit. He ignores Doug's parting instruction and wriggles in an attempt to get some feeling back into his limbs. He doesn't know where Doug is or how long he'll be gone, so he needs to move quick if he wants to escape in time to save his sister.
The first thing he does is lift his hips to slide his bound wrists underneath him. He's stiff and sore but still flexible enough that it isn't too difficult for him to get his hands around his feet. He's left panting through his nose from the effort while he rolls his aching shoulders and flexes his frozen, tingling fingers to get them working again. The skin of his hands is alarmingly pale above the too tight bloodied zip ties.
Eventually Buck gains enough feeling to bring his trembling fingertips to his face but struggles with the edges of the thick tape that's obstructing his breathing. He claws at his cheek with blunt, purpling nails, his heart racing in desperation until he finally manages to catch the edge of the tape. He hears it tear and feels it pull painfully on his skin when he peels the tape away from his chapped lips. He leaves it dangling from the opposite cheek while he gasps for breath, gulping in all the fresh oxygen that he'd been deprived of when he could barely breathe through his nose.
Next he digs his fingers into the limited space between his taped ankles while his legs are still folded in front of him. He struggles to get a firm grasp on the edge, but with his legs pulling apart against the sticky substance he ultimately feels it tear through enough that his ankles jerk apart with the momentum.
He stretches both legs to get the blood flowing again and plants each of his socked, tingling feet on the hardwood floor. The feeling of pins and needles in his limbs has him whimpering while he wills the pain to pass.
Buck blinks away tears and reminds himself that he's not free from Doug yet. He just needs to find something in the cabin he can use to cut the zip ties, and use as a weapon if it comes to it. Then he can run, he can try to get help, find a way to warn Maddie before—
The crunch of gravel and rumble of a car engine outside has him startling violently where he sits. He has no idea how long it's been but there's no doubt in his mind that Doug has returned for him already, and from the sound of a single door closing and solitary set of footsteps outside he can safely assume that his captor is still alone.
Buck knows that he has only one option with the limited time left to him, and that's to play possum until he can somehow catch Doug off guard. He smooths the dangling strip of tape back over his mouth and curls his legs up together in front of him, hoping the binds still look intact around the front of his ankles and that his bent legs are enough to hide the fact that his trembling hands are suddenly in his lap instead of behind him.
Doug enters the cabin the moment Buck stills. His eyes narrow, like he's already looking for something amiss in the dimly lit space. But if he notices anything off about Buck's new position he doesn't mention it, just takes slow steps into the cabin. He's carrying the red gas canister from the trunk with him, and the overwhelming stench of it has Buck's eyes watering and his head reeling again.
"You said you wanted to know my plan, Evan," Doug says slowly, his indifferent expression and empty gaze never leaving Buck's while he uncaps the can. "The specifics might have changed while Maddie made me chase her across the country, but the endgame was always to hurt her as much as she hurt me. She needs to know what it feels like to lose someone she loves—"
Buck's eyes widen with alarm when he registers what Doug is saying as noxious liquid is trailed over the cabin's floor.
"—and I thought you might appreciate getting the firefighter's way out."
-_-
"Sorry, how many cabins are there?!"
Big Bear, it turns out, is a big place. Bigger than the vacation spot's archaic, uninformative website had implied.
"'Bout three hundred," the woman at the check-in counter repeats. She tears off a map sheet for them that shows each cabin drawn as tiny little squares set out in the woods, going for miles in every direction. Maddie's heart nearly stops when she sees the sheer number of them. Doug could be anywhere.
"Can you tell us which ones are currently occupied?" Athena asks, and Maddie is so grateful for how composed and straight to the point the sergeant is. "We're looking for one man in particular, he might have come in for a last minute rental. He's tall, thirty, white with dark hair, likely traveling alone."
The clerk blinks at them. "Huh, ya know, I think you mighta just missed him," she says, "guy like that stopped by right in time for openin' this morning! He's been staying with us for the past week or so, we don't get too many who stick 'round for the holidays. It's a pretty short staffed ol' place this time of year, just me here and my husband on the grounds plowin' snow, though this winter's off to a not so bad start, compared to—"
"Did this guest give you a name?" Athena interrupts, her voice sharp with impatience.
"Oh, he sure did, lemme see…" the woman behind the desk fishes through her old-fashioned paper filing system for a moment then reveals a mottled black and white copy of a driver's license featuring a photo that clearly isn't Doug's. "Aha! There's the fella, Jason. Jason Bailey."
Maddie points to the image. "You're sure this is the man who gave you that ID?"
The woman squints at the photo. "Hmm, yeah, I reckon so," she says indecisively. "But it's hard to say from last I saw 'im, guy got himself all beat up. I figured it weren't any of my business, besides he seemed to be in a hurry to get back to his cabin. Didn't even want any of our nice complimentary holiday breakfast." She pouts while she gestures to the table behind them, where a wide variety baked goods sits untouched.
Athena purses her lips, a vein pulsing in her temple. "And do you know where that cabin is exactly?"
"Ooh yah," the clerk replies cheerily. "He's pretty far out there, said he wanted to stay by the lake where it's all peaceful and such. 'Bout a twenty minute ride from here."
The woman uses a Sharpie on the map to trace a road that leads deep into the woods and circles a little cabin marker. Then she perks up, as if she's suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, hang on a sec," she ducks behind her counter momentarily and emerges with a red greeting card envelope, "is one of you a Maddie by chance?"
Maddie swallows hard and nods. The clerk grins then passes her the envelope with a jolly, "Merry Christmas!"
The front of the envelope is blank save for "Maddie" written in Doug's familiar neat handwriting. Maddie's fingers tremble when she takes it.
Athena, meanwhile, dials a short number and puts her phone to her ear, only to curse when the call doesn't go through. "I'm guessing your cell service isn't great?"
The woman shakes her head. "'Fraid it's nonexistent up in these parts, but we got a landline here in the office fer—"
"Good, I need you to call 9-1-1," Athena orders with a flash of her badge. "Tell the authorities that Sergeant Grant from the LAPD went to this cabin by the lake where a suspected kidnapper is hiding out. I need them to meet me there as soon as they possibly can."
The clerk stares at her, jaw dropped. "Wait, a…a sorry, a what?!"
"Call 9-1-1," Athena repeats, "and tell whoever shows that they need to head to this cabin. Now."
Then she takes the drawn on map and storms out of the rental office with a bewildered Maddie on her heels. She barely waits until Maddie's in her seat before taking off again, throwing gravel under her skidding tires as she goes at full speed.
"Doug's been planning this longer than we thought," Athena's saying. "He had to have scoped the place out ahead of time, he knew exactly where he'd be most secluded."
"But why? Why would he go all the way out here to the middle of nowhere?"
Athena's eyes dart to meet hers, then to the envelope she's still clutching tight in a white knuckled grasp. "Open it, Maddie."
Inside the envelope is a small Hallmark card with an illustration of fire trucks and emergency vehicles elaborately decorated for the holidays. They're all stacked to form the shape of a festive tree below the scripted lettering of "Merry Christmas!"
Using a greeting card as a threat isn't at all subtle, and Maddie realizes with dawning horror that she might not have kept her brother's cards as secret as she'd thought back in Boston. The inside of the card is blank save for a brief note, also written in Doug's meticulous handwriting:
"My heart still burns for you, Maddie," she manages to read aloud, before tears cloud her vision and her voice breaks. "And now so will Evan."
-_-
"Maddie should get here just in time to find your overcooked corpse," Doug says, his tone casual as if he isn't about to commit murder by immolation. "Then I can finally have her all to myself again. We won't have you around to distract us anymore."
Buck can barely hear anything over the rapid beating of his heart and the gasoline Doug is splashing around the cabin. Buck cringes but doesn't move from his tight, curled up position when Doug splatters him and the chair he's sitting on.
"I'll admit I had my doubts there for a little while when you guys were fighting," Doug continues. "Thought maybe she wouldn't care enough about you to come all the way out here."
Buck tries to ignore Doug's hurtful words and stay calm. He just needs an opening, some way to get around Doug so he can make a run for it before he is left to die in a horrible blaze.
"Hell, if Maddie cared about you at all she would've taken you with her when she first ran away from me." Doug tosses the empty canister into the fireplace. "But you and I both know that Maddie's always been selfish."
He leans in close over Buck, one hand braced on the cushion next to Buck's head while the other reveals a lighter clenched tight in his fist. He flicks the top open, eyes locked onto Buck's while the small flame dances between them.
"In fact, I think deep down she was happy to leave you behind to get slapped around, it's what you both deserve after all," he taunts, his malicious smirk and bruised face looking especially ominous in the shadowy fire light. "Though I have no idea what kind of a man just stands there and takes it when his own mother—"
Buck swings his hands up. He cuts the cruel words off with a two fisted uppercut to the jaw, the move shocking enough to send Doug stumbling to the side with a curse. His head smacks hard against the stone fireplace and he scrambles to catch his open lighter just before it drops into the trail of gasoline. Buck unfolds himself from the chair and dashes away from the quickly spreading flames while Doug howls in pain and frantically slaps at his sleeve when it catches fire.
Buck doesn't stick around to see what's happened to his captor, just slides across the slick floor while he tears the loose tape away from his mouth. He shouts raggedly for help the moment he bursts out onto the porch, nearly tripping down a few steps before he catches himself on the banister with his bound hands. Then he stops, panting with exertion and fear and uncertainty.
There's no other sign of life outside of the cabin besides a gravely road that winds away into a dense forest. Buck has a split second to wonder if he can double back for Doug's car keys and make an easy getaway, but Doug is apparently not as incapacitated as Buck had hoped—Buck can already hear the man cursing as he rises from the flames and stomps towards the door. Towards Buck.
Buck runs. He avoids the deserted road, knowing that Doug will only be able to chase him down faster on the open pathway. Instead he skids around the side of the cabin and sprints over the top of a decrepit little dam in Maddie's special made Christmas socks that are already soaked through with snowy slush. He's fast, he knows he is, but his legs are sore, his feet are alarmingly numb, and his still trapped hands make any movement that much more difficult.
Adrenaline is the only thing keeping him going as he runs for his life, zig zagging around trees and brush and over sharp rocky terrain hidden beneath patches of fresh white snow. He knows that if he stops, if Doug catches up to him then that's it, he's done for. And if he's done for then Maddie's done for, and it'll be all his fault.
Buck promised that he would protect his sister and he refuses to let her down now.
"You can't hide from me, Evan!"
He flinches violently at the sound of Doug's voice. He pushes himself to move faster despite his aching body's tired protests while his labored breaths cloud the frigid air.
"I'll gut you," Doug roars. "I'll gut you and leave you for Maddie to find!"
The man is close, too close. Buck can hear Doug's thunderous steps as he quickly closes the gap between them. Buck needs to find help, or a place to hide, or figure out a way to defend himself, or—
"Evan, get back here you little SHIT!!!"
Doug's shout seems to come from right behind him. Buck instinctively looks over his shoulder for only a second and his next step catches on the line of tape still dangling from his ankle. He tumbles head over heels down a snowy embankment with a cry that's cut off when the air is abruptly knocked from his lungs upon landing. He barely has a chance to catch his breath before Doug is tripping down the hill after him.
Buck struggles to get up again but only makes it to one knee before a heavy body is tackling him back into the snow. Doug drags Buck towards him and Buck has just enough sense to grab a thick tree branch as he's yanked passed it.
Doug flips Buck over and raises his knife. Buck swings his branch upwards, aiming for the already bleeding wound on Doug's temple. Doug recoils with a curse as Buck jerks his arms around for another blow, but this time Doug catches the stick in a red, raw looking burned fist and yanks it to the side. Buck refuses to let go and with his bound hands still grasping onto the raised weapon it gives Doug an open target for his knife. He jabs his blade down into Buck's flesh, letting the knife sink deep into the side of Buck's torso before yanking it out and stabbing him again in quick succession.
Buck can only gasp from the pain that's suddenly being punched into him. Doug pulls back to stab him a third time, aiming higher, when Buck gets the upper hand on the tree branch. He heaves it over himself towards Doug and just manages to block the killing blow.
Doug drops the knife with a shout then violently wrenches the stick away from Buck. The move knocks him off balance just long enough for Buck to see the glint of the blood stained blade in the snow next to him. He grabs the handle between his bound, shaking hands and holds the knife pointed upwards while Doug simultaneously leans in close to wrap his fingers around Buck's neck.
Buck hears a dull squelch and feels resistance but pushes up as hard as he can. Doug sputters, his eyes wide in shock as he watches the entirety of his long blade disappear into the left side of his chest. Buck realizes what he's inadvertently done and recoils with horror when he lets go of the bloodied knife. Doug eases back, his hands now hovering over the stuck hilt while he stares at it in wide eyed disbelief.
Once again Buck doesn't linger to see if his kidnapper is fully incapacitated—he squirms out from under Doug and scrambles to his feet.
"EVAN!!!" Doug bellows, his voice strained but still terrifying while Buck continues running for his life.
Buck's completely numb save for the stab wounds which burn and pulse in tune with his rapid heartbeat. He presses his already blood soaked hands awkwardly against the injuries when he stumbles away, not going in any particular direction in his attempt to get as far from Doug as he can.
But any adrenaline he might have had left is being drained as quickly as it comes. He can hardly remain standing, let alone run anywhere on his wet, frozen feet while his vision blackens around the edges and his surroundings become a haze of indiscernible shadows.
Helpless tears finally spill down Buck's cheeks and his sore, tired legs threaten to buckle underneath him. He's not going to make it. Even if Doug doesn't get to him before he passes out he's already lost in the woods, and his Fire Academy training regretfully didn't include a wilderness survival course after being abducted and stabbed. Buck is badly hurt with no idea where he is, which means no one will ever find him, no one except—
"...Evan!"
He chokes out a sob when the voice shouting for him suddenly sounds a lot like Maddie's. His aching head is playing tricks on him, reminding him that he couldn't fulfill his own promise to protect his sister. Doug's going to go after her again, to hurt her again, and it'll be all Buck's fault—
"Buck!"
The much closer call makes him freeze in his tracks. He blinks tears away when he realizes his sister's voice isn't just in his head.
"Buuuck!!!"
"…M-Maddie?"
-_-
"Oh my lord," Athena gasps from the driver's seat.
They've just rounded a bend in the gravelly road when the old mill cabin closest to the lake appears in front of them. There's smoke billowing out of the chimney and windows, and flames are visible through the wide open doorway.
Maddie's heart skips a beat. "Buck…"
Athena skids to an abrupt halt next to a grey, nondescript sedan, the only other vehicle parked outside of the cabin. She pulls her gun free and flicks off the safety as she dashes out of her seat, then does a double take when Maddie follows right behind her. She looks ready to chastise Maddie, to tell her to hang back, but lets out a disgruntled huff instead.
"Just stay behind me," Athena orders. "And don't do anything your brother would do."
Maddie nods shakily while Athena moves weapon first towards the other car, peering briefly inside the windows and cracked open trunk before storming into the inferno, shouting for Buck as she goes. Even from outside on the porch Maddie recognizes the overwhelming smell of gasoline beneath the smoke.
Athena returns coughing raggedly into her elbow after her quick scan of the tiny cabin. "Place's empty 's far as I can tell," she announces in a croak of a shout. She pulls a fire extinguisher off of the wall next to the door, no doubt intending to put out the worst of the flames before the entire forest can become engulfed. "This just became a search and rescue, we'll need help combing through all these damn woods. Doesn't look like the blaze has been burning long, and they clearly didn't leave by car."
Maddie barely hears Athena while her eyes scan the forest just beyond the lake next to the cabin. If the fire is fresh it means that Buck must have gotten away from Doug and he's out there somewhere, she knows he is. She stumbles around the corner of the cabin, her eyes drawn to footprints in the snow. More than one set of footprints by the looks of it, accompanied by a trail of red splatters.
"Athena," she calls, "I think I found—"
"EVAN!!!"
Maddie startles when she recognizes Doug's angry shout in the distance. She glances back at Athena who clearly heard the yell over the crackle of flames and is looking meaningfully in Maddie's direction.
"Buckley," she warns, "don't you dare—"
But Maddie doesn't even hear the Sergeant. She's already taken off in a sprint towards the sound of Doug's voice.
She runs across the dam and trudges through the woods with no idea of where she's going while she follows fresh prints and blood in the snow. Doug has gone quiet, and fear for her brother pulls her downhill and deeper into the forest. Buck's here somewhere, and her big sister instinct is telling her that he's scared and he's hurt and he needs her now more than ever.
"Evan," she screams, uncaring if her ex hears her. "Buck! Buuuck!!!"
"M-Maddie?" His voice is small and barely audible, but she hears him loud and clear.
"Buck?!" she calls desperately.
"Maddie!"
She stops only long enough to hone in on his response, his cry weak but definitely close. She comes to the top of a gently sloped rocky clearing and freezes when she spots a figure stumbling across the rough terrain towards her. She knows even from a distance that it's her baby brother.
"BUCK!!!"
She slips her way through the slush, barely managing to stay on her feet as she races towards him over boulders and scratchy brush.
"M-Maddie!"
Buck looks like he's about to collapse when she finally reaches him. She takes only a second to notice his zip tied wrists, the blood and bruises on his skin, and the anguish and relief on his too pale tear streaked face before she's gathering him into her arms.
"Buck, Evan, oh my god!"
"Maddie," he sobs. His trembling, bloody fingers cling weakly to the front of her dress and her whole body shakes with his. "M-M-Maddie…"
"It's okay," she cries while she cradles him to her chest. "You're okay, I've got you, I'm here! I'm—"
She hears footsteps crunching in the snow and assumes they're Athena's. She wishes she'd looked sooner when a fist suddenly grips her by the hair and twists, arching her neck back painfully until she's staring up at Doug.
He's bruised even worse than Buck and half of his face is coated in blood from a gash on his head, but she can tell that he looks more furious than she ever remembers seeing him. He tries to yank her away from Buck who refuses to let go. Her brother is still crying while he deliberately gets between them in an attempt to protect Maddie just like he said he would, though Doug only has eyes for her. Wild, crazed eyes that stare right into hers when he snarls, "you shouldn't have left me, Maddie."
Doug keeps the painful hold on her hair while his free hand yanks a knife out of his own chest with a grunt of pain and a squelching spray of warm blood. He raises the blade high over his head and Maddie realizes with horror that he isn't aiming for her bared throat. Instead Doug's trajectory is clearly headed for Buck, and with Doug's grip still in her hair and Buck clinging to her chest to shield her there's nothing she can do to stop him.
"Doug," she chokes out a scream, "DON'T!!!"
-_-
Athena hears both Buckleys cry out for one another and quickens her pace, cursing when her foot sinks into cold sludge. She is not dressed for snow.
She knows Maddie couldn't have gotten much further ahead when she ran from the cabin, but apparently that moment's head start was all that made the difference. Athena's following the obvious trail and has just made it to a clearing in the trees when Doug stumbles towards the reunited siblings from the opposite direction.
Athena sees him grab Maddie and doesn't hesitate. She holds her pistol out in front of her, her stance as steady as she can make it over the rocky ground's awkward slope. She takes a deep breath and exhales in a prayer when she squeezes the trigger just as Doug lifts an already blood soaked knife high above his head.
The crack of the shot echoes through the forest, drowning out Maddie's terrified scream. For a moment everything is eerily still, and Athena has a split second where she fears she might have missed her target. But her aim is as impeccable as ever when the bullet's trajectory narrowly misses Buck's scalp before piercing Doug's raised shoulder.
The knife goes flying and Doug stumbles back, his grip slackening just enough for Maddie to yank herself free and take her brother with her when she falls in the opposite direction of her ex. Athena only glances at them for a second where they kneel in the snow, both still shaking in terror when she dashes forward to kick Doug's knife out of reach.
She keeps her gun pointed at him but it's an unnecessary precaution—Doug is lying flat on his back, his body convulsing slightly as he struggles to take a breath around the blood that gurgles out of his mouth. But Athena knows that her bullet wound isn't fatal. She'd deliberately hit the meat of his shoulder, which shouldn't lead to him coughing up blood like he is. That's no doubt caused by the gaping hole she's suddenly noticed through the thick jacket covering Doug's chest.
"No," Athena breathes. She holsters her gun and drops so she can put pressure on the wound. "You're not dying yet, you son of a bitch."
She hears a pained sound that isn't coming from the body beneath her. Buck is staring at Doug from where he's held in his sister's arms, his blue eyes wide and glossy in his pale, blood splattered face. His wheezing breaths are coming short and fast, and Athena can see his crimson stained hands trembling where they're twisted in the ruined fabric of Maddie's dress.
It doesn't take long for Athena to put together what happened. She knows now where Doug had pulled that blood covered knife from, and how it had likely gotten there in the first place.
"Look away, baby," she tells Buck, her words firm but tone soft. "You shouldn't be seein' this."
She meets Maddie's teary eyes with a slight shake of her head. Maddie gets the hint and cradles her brother's face to her chest, shifting just enough so he's turned away from Doug's body. The sound of his muffled, gasping sobs breaks Athena's heart.
Doug's own ragged breathing is slowing beneath her. "Don't you dare," she hisses at him. "Your ass needs to stay alive so it can rot in prison."
The man just shoots her a satisfied grin, his teeth stained red as his eyes roll back into his head after one last raspy exhale.
"Shit," Athena curses as she moves from the wound to fold both hands over his sternum instead. Each compression she uses to keep him alive forces more blood to bubble out of Doug's mouth and chest but she doesn't stop, though she knows deep down that her efforts are futile.
Doug was dead from the moment he pulled that knife out of his own heart.
"Athena!" Maddie's sudden, desperate call has her head snapping up in the Buckleys' direction.
Buck is listing against his sister, his weeping slowed to pained little whimpers. Maddie has one hand still wrapped around his head to hold him against her, the other is pressing hard against his stomach through his dark LAFD t-shirt. Red spills from between her fingers and Athena realizes with horror that Doug isn't the only one bleeding out in the snow.
"Athena," Maddie cries, her eyes wide when Buck shudders in her grasp and lets out a ragged cough, pulling away just far enough for Athena to see fresh blood on his blue tinted lips.
Maddie is frozen in horror, all medical training evidently forgotten in her distress. Athena is just about to stop her compressions on Doug and go to them when—
"Athena!!!"
A new voice suddenly carries her name across the clearing. Athena looks up just as an angel in a turncoat comes running towards them through the sunlit gaps in the trees.
"Bobby," she breathes.
"Over here," he's calling over his shoulder. "They're over here!!!"
Bobby's wide, frantic eyes dart from her and Doug to the Buckleys, then he's falling to his knees at Maddie's side. Buck is still weakly crying, though the sound is becoming more labored with each wet breath he struggles to take.
Bobby turns his full attention onto Buck and Maddie lets her brother go just enough for Bobby to do a quick assessment. He shrugs off his massive coat and wraps Buck in it before laying him down gently and indicating for Maddie to keep pressure on the wound in his torso. Athena can't hear what Bobby is saying to Buck, but she knows his tone is soft and soothing while he uses a pocketknife to carefully slice the ties embedded deep in Buck's wrists.
Then Chimney, Hen, and Eddie appear trudging through the snow with their gear in hand and a pair of local police officers not far behind them. They immediately crowd around Buck and Athena feels a tight panic in her chest when she can no longer see the boy she knows is only feet from her. She doesn't even realize her blood soaked hands are still doing CPR on Buck's would be murderer until a gentle touch falls on her shoulder.
"'Thena," Hen says softly. "It's okay, let me."
Athena willingly gives her spot up so Hen can continue compressions on what she's sure is already a corpse. Athena rises shakily to her feet while Chimney and Eddie lift a backboard into the air.
Buck is strapped down in a neck brace with an oxygen mask over his colorless face and Bobby steadily squeezing the bag it's attached to. Maddie sobs while she holds a thick, already blood soaked cloth against her brother's body between foil warming blankets.
Bobby meets Athena's eye for just a moment and the raw anguish in his expression is unlike anything she's seen before. They share a meaningful glance and she nods her support just before he disappears through the trees.
As much as she wants to follow Athena knows it's her responsibility to stay behind with the authorities, to make sure the crime scene is accounted for even while she sends a quiet prayer Buck's way.
"I'm calling it," Hen announces when she stops her compressions on Doug. She looks up at Athena with a grave yet relieved shake of her head. "This bastard's dead."
"Good riddance," Athena mutters.
Chapter 11
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Buck can hear distinctive sirens and blasting fire hoses through the ringing in his ears as he's jostled along and lifted into the back of an unfamiliar ambulance. There are voices around him too, loud frantic voices that he can just make out over the rest of the noise.
"…You're gonna be okay, Buck…you have to be okay…"
"Eddie, Eddie…you need to let him go now, we'll follow in the truck…they've got him, he'll be alright…we're right behind you, Buck…"
Buck feels a comforting grip gently squeeze his arm as he fades out, then in again when hands are suddenly all over him, maneuvering him and pulling at him. It's disorienting, and he hurts…
"…his temperature's too low, he's in shock…"
"…I know, Mads…we need to get those clothes off, they're drenched, and…is that gasoline?!"
Buck whimpers when his torso is exposed to the cold and new hands press hard against the deep knife wounds in his side.
"Sorry, Buckaroo, I'm so sorry…"
"…Chim, he's losing too much blood…they'll need to stabilize him before surgery…"
"…I know, I know…thank Christ this wasn't any higher…"
"…no you don't understand, I can't give him blood! We don't match…our bone marrow…"
"…hang on, Bobby has magic blood, they should use that!"
He's moved again as the recognizable, albeit panicked voices fade away to unknown ones that rattle off numbers and medical jargon that means nothing to Buck while he's poked and prodded and scanned and overwhelmed by confusion and pain. They're talking about his head, about his lungs, about his temperature, about his blood, until finally…
"…stats are good…we'll have you fixed up in no time, Evan…"
"…You can't hide from me, Evan."
Doug's deep voice echoes in his head when he startles awake, this time winning in his fight against the pull of unconsciousness.
"Buck? You back with us, baby?"
He blinks sluggishly until the sunny hospital room around him comes into better focus. Athena's blurred form is sitting at his bedside, and he recognizes his sister where she's sprawled across an uncomfortable looking couch on his other side. She's changed into a clean set of pink scrubs and is using a balled up firefighter's jacket as a pillow while she snores, the little congested sounds echoing in the otherwise quiet and empty space.
"You've been in and out for a long while," Athena is saying. "Do you remember anything?"
Buck starts to shake his head but has to stop when his surroundings swim nauseatingly around him. His head still aches, but not nearly as bad as he remembers it hurting.
"Your surgery went well, and apparently you're lucky you only got a touch hypothermic out there this morning," Athena tells him with a wry little smirk. "Doc says you'll keep all your fingers and toes."
Buck glances down at his hands where they're resting at his sides. They're as pale as the white bandages circling his wrists, save for the lingering bluish purple hue of his fingernails. His body is covered by weighted blankets to keep him warm, and he can feel lightly vibrating bands around his legs to help his blood circulate. Besides that he is blissfully numb.
Yet somehow knowing that he's alive and on his way to recovery does nothing to calm Buck's nerves.
"A-Athena," he manages to croak, and she tuts sympathetically while she reaches for the pitcher next to Buck's bed. But Buck doesn't want water to soothe his dry throat. There's only one thing he wants to know before he loses the courage to ask it. He swallows hard, his voice barely louder than a whisper when he asks, "did…d-did I kill Doug?"
Athena freezes, her grip tight on the plastic cup. That brief but terrifying moment of silence seems to be the confirmation Buck has been dreading until Athena eases back to look at him with a warm, sympathetic smile.
"No, sweetheart, of course you didn't," she assures him. "Don't you forget now, I'm the one who shot him. That's what did the son of a bitch in at the end."
Buck remembers hearing the gunshot, of course he does, but he also remembers all too well the soft wet thud of a blade as it pierced through fabric and into vulnerable flesh. "B-b-but…I-I—"
Athena shakes her head. "You didn't do anything you shouldn't've," she says firmly. "Doug was going to kill you and take your sister, there's no doubt about it. You did what you needed to do to get back to us, and we're all so proud of you for it."
Buck feels marginally better from her words, but he still can't shake the feeling that if he looks too long into the shadowed corner just over his sleeping sister's shoulder he's sure he'll see Doug standing there with a hateful, accusing sneer on his face and a knife handle protruding from his blood soaked chest.
Athena gently cups Buck's chin and turns him towards her. Her thumb strokes his cheek to wipe away a tear he didn't even realize he'd shed.
"Things'll get better, baby," she soothes. "It's gonna hurt for a long while, and it'll be hard to put what's happened behind you, but just remember that you're not alone in it, okay? We're all here for you, Buckaroo."
Buck looks into Athena's eyes, the dark, soulful eyes of a woman he's only known a few months, of a police sergeant who he's pretty sure didn't even like him when they first met. He looks into her eyes now sees more maternal love in them than he ever has from his own mother, who hardly looked at him at all.
And as much as he wants to tell Athena all of that he can't seem to find his voice to whisper more than a soft, heartfelt, "thank you." It's clear that Athena understands enough when she smiles affectionately and strokes his cheek one more time before offering him a straw so he can finally take a much needed drink of water.
She's just setting the cup down when Buck hears a loud snort and rustling as Maddie suddenly stands bolt upright, her cheek wrinkled and hair sticking up on one side.
"Buck," she gasps, then she's running her hands over him, fingers fluttering like she's not sure where she can touch without hurting him. Buck settles her indecision by turning enough to wrap his weak, trembling arms around her waist and bury his face against her stomach. She hugs him right back, squeezing gently and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.
Athena quietly rises from her seat. "I'll give you kids a minute and let the others know you're awake," she says. "They've been out there waiting impatiently, I'm sure. They couldn't just flash a badge and waltz in here like I did." She winks at Buck and rubs a gentle hand over his back before she goes, leaving the siblings alone.
"Buck, I'm so—" Maddie starts at the same time Buck croaks, "M-Maddie, 'm sorry."
"Wait," she says, pulling back just enough to look him in the eye. "Why are you sorry?"
"I…I couldn't, when D-Doug—"
"Buck, I'm the one who should be sorry," she insists. "Sorry I ever got involved with Doug in the first place."
"No, Maddie, that wasn't…what he did, it's not your fault."
"He hurt you, Buck."
He looks up at her, his eyes swimming with tears. "Yeah, but he hurt you first."
Her lower lip quivers and blinks away tears of her own when she holds him close again. "And we both got ourselves free," she whispers into his hair. "We didn't give up. Doug can't hurt either of us ever again. He's finally gone."
Buck knows deep down that the man, the monster, will never really be gone for either of them. Doug will be haunting their nightmares for a long time to come, he's sure of it.
"He's gone," Buck confirms aloud with a sniffle, "and he totally ruined the socks you made me."
She huffs out a wet laugh. "I'll make you new ones. I'll make you more socks than you'll know what to do with."
"Thanks, sis," he murmurs, hugging her tight. "Love you lots."
"I love you too, little bro."
-_-
Buck's drifting off in Maddie's gentle embrace when he hears faint commotion coming from the hallway outside. Chimney is the first to burst through the door and make a beeline for Buck's bed with the rest of the 118 and Athena right behind him, all looking relieved and overjoyed to see him awake. Maddie loosens her hug and Chimney immediately fills the gap she left.
"Buckaroo," he chokes, and Buck is surprised to hear tears in his voice. "I'm so so so sorry!"
Bewildered over the unexpected display of emotion, Buck looks to Maddie who merely shakes her head and mouths, I'll tell you later. Buck, too tired to press for information in the moment, opts for patting Chimney's head with a soft, "'s okay, Chim," while the man sobs over his shoulder.
Bobby approaches next looking just as emotional, though he manages to hide his tears behind a wobbly smile while he runs a comforting hand over Buck's head. "Glad you're okay, kid," he says simply, his voice thick.
Buck swallows hard against the sudden lump his throat. "'M sorry I missed my shift, Cap."
"We all missed our shifts, Buck," Bobby tells him. "But don't worry, I had plenty of guys chomping at the bit to make some holiday overtime today."
"Wait, it…is it still Christmas?" Buck asks in a small voice.
He realizes then that the sun is shining outside his hospital room's window, low in the sky as day approaches dusk. He can't believe only twenty-four hours ago he was gathering ingredients for cookies and looking forward to what was sure to be an eventful Christmas with the rest of the 118, knowing full well that Bobby had adjusted the schedule and shortened shifts so they would all have time with their families for the holiday.
Hen should be back home with Karen and Denny by now, Eddie well on his way to Texas to meet Christopher at his parents' place, and Athena and Bobby off to Michael's for dinner with their family. Even Maddie and Chimney had planned a night of Christmas movies, and they had both been excited to show Buck Gremlins for the very first time.
Instead they're all at the hospital, standing around Buck's bed with sympathetic expressions on their faces. "Y-you guys missed Christmas for…for me?"
"We didn't miss anything, Buckaroo," Hen insists as she takes his hand and squeezes gently. "You're our family too."
"Yeah, Buck," Eddie says, perching himself on the edge of the bed with a comforting pat to Buck's knee. "No way were any of us gonna be okay with just sitting around not knowing if you were alright."
Athena snakes one arm around her husband's waist with a warm smile while Bobby's hand continues to card gently through Buck's curls. They don't need to say a word while they look at Buck with genuine parental affection in their teary eyes.
Buck stares at them each in turn, not used to having so many people concerned for him. It's what he always wanted whenever one of his stunts landed him in the hospital and his parents finally paid attention to him, though his efforts never really worked in his favor with them for the long run.
But now, with the 118 and his sister surrounding him, he realizes that unlike his parents he doesn't actually need to be hurt for his new family to show how much they care about him. They've cared all along.
Chimney finally pops his head up. "Yeah, what they said, and now we need to celebrate with family dinner," he announces with a swipe to his nose. "I could go for some Chinese food right about now, classic Christmas takeout! We'll even get you some bland soup or something, kiddo."
Hen rolls her eyes while Eddie smirks and Bobby chuckles. Athena already has her phone out and is passing a menu to Maddie, who's telling Buck everything he can't eat following his operation.
Buck doesn't say a word, just smiles at them all and blinks back happy tears. He's pretty sure this is the best Christmas he's ever had, even if he did get kidnapped and stabbed at the start of it.
-_-
"You got sick for Christmas?!"
"Sick" is what Christopher has been told as the reason why Buck is in the hospital. If the little boy on the other side of the FaceTime call can see the black eye or the bruises circling Buck's neck in the hospital room's dim lighting he doesn't bring attention to them.
"Yeah," Buck says with an exaggerated pout. "Totally sucks."
"Will you be better soon?"
Buck knows from years of experience that he's a quick healer—he'll be fine soon enough, he's sure of it. "Definitely."
Christopher perks up at that. "Yay! I gotta show you new LEGOs."
"You won't be home a few more days, Chris," Eddie points out. "You can show Buck all your new presents then."
Eddie's made himself comfortable next to Buck on the narrow hospital bed so he can hold his phone in front of them. They're sitting shoulder to shoulder, cheeks practically pressed together to fit on the small screen. Buck is enjoying their close proximity very much and genuinely hopes the call will never end.
"But if you're not coming here, can't I just come home now?" Christopher whines. "El Paso is sooo boring…"
Eddie huffs out a laugh that warms Buck to his core. "I'll talk to Tia Pepa and see what she wants to do, okay?"
Christopher sighs his disappointment loudly over the video call. "Okaaay."
"You know, Buck's had a not-so-fun Christmas while he's been sick," Eddie points out. "Why don't you tell him all about yours to try and cheer him up?"
Christopher perks up with a grin and immediately launches into a fumbling account of his holiday vacation in Texas, starting with how not cool it was that Eddie had to work Christmas morning.
"…and then grandma made pancakes for breakfast, but they're bad, I like Buck's waaay better…"
Eddie chuckles again and moves the phone to his other hand so he can sling his arm around Buck's shoulders. Buck snuggles comfortably into Eddie's side, so absorbed with Christopher's ongoing story and trying to stay awake that he doesn't notice the soft, knowing look Hen and Maddie exchange over their takeout cartons.
-_-
Buck comes to again when he realizes his Eddie shaped pillow is missing. He makes a confused little sound, then a soothing hand is run through his hair.
"Sorry, kiddo," Bobby says softly, "but the nurse says visiting time's over."
Eddie, Chimney, and Hen stand just behind him, looking less than thrilled to be leaving so soon. Buck pouts at them. "You all have to go?"
"Maddie's allowed to stay with you overnight, and so's Athena after she reminded them she has a badge. And a gun—"
"Damn straight," Athena adds with a smirk.
"—but the rest of us need to say our good byes now, and we'll see you again soon, okay?"
Buck nods tiredly. He's beyond exhausted and barely manages to stay awake for all the well wishes and farewell hugs that come one after the other as his family takes their leave.
Bobby is last to go and holds Buck the longest, whispering a heartfelt "love you, kid," before he finally pulls himself away. Maddie is quick to fill Eddie's vacated spot on Buck's bed and he rests his head against his sister's shoulder as he falls right back into a blissfully nightmare free sleep.
-_-
Buck is discharged late the next morning with medications and instructions to take it easy while his body heals. Maddie bundles him up and wheels him outside where Athena is waiting with a smile.
"Let's get you home, Buckaroo."
He sleeps peacefully for the majority of the long ride back to L.A. He wakes briefly when he's ushered from Athena's SUV to another car, one that he vaguely recognizes as his sister's. He dozes while he waits for her to run inside and return with a full bag that she tosses into the back seat.
"Almost there," she whispers with a light kiss to his birthmark. Buck blinks from her to the apartment complex he's called home for the past few months as she pulls away from it.
The building she drives them to is small, but striking, like something reminiscent of the city's old Hollywood style in contrast to Maddie's more south western abode. She helps him to stand on his tired feet and leads him upstairs to a door marked "5."
"There's my favorite sibling duo," Carla greets them at the entrance with a warm smile and gentle hugs. "How're you feeling, Buckaroo?"
"'M fine," he mutters unconvincingly, then looks around as he takes in the unfamiliar space. "But this isn't home. Where're we?"
Carla and Maddie exchange a glance he can't decipher.
"It's our friend Abby's condo," Maddie explains. "Carla helped get it ready for you."
"That's right," Carla says, chipper as ever. "Place just needed a good dustin' over. And the bed's all made up with fresh cozy sheets and you've got a fully stocked fridge and pantry so you can cook your sweet little heart out!"
Buck stares at her. "But…why?"
"Because having an actual bed to sleep on will feel a hell of lot nicer than an air mattress or some couch while you recover," Maddie explains. "And you can probably even stay here as long as you want, I'm starting to think Abby's never coming back."
Carla gives a low hum with a solemn shake of her head. "Certainly does seem that way."
"But I don't even know who Abby is," Buck points out. "Isn't it, like, weird if I'm in her place while she's gone?"
"No, it's not weird at all, why would that be weird?" Maddie says in a way that makes Buck think that it's definitely weird. "It'll be like having your own apartment, you're gonna love it!"
Buck frowns, lower lip quivering. He does not love it. He's enjoyed living with his big sister over the past few months and staying on her couch where he knows she's close by. The last thing he wants is to be left all alone again.
"I just thought, after everything that happened at my place," Maddie continues softly, "I…I didn't really think you'd be comfortable going back there."
"What, no, I'm fine, Mads," Buck insists with an unconvincing sniffle, feeling himself flush over the pitying looks she and Carla are sending his way. "I'm okay, you're okay, Doug's definitely not okay, so everything's great! It's not like I'm not scared of your apartment!"
"I'm not saying you are, but wouldn't it be better to just…not be there anymore?"
Buck looks away, blinking rapidly. Deep down he knows she's right, that the very idea of stepping foot in her apartment where Doug had attacked him fills him with dread. But he doesn't think being out of the space will be enough to keep the man from haunting him. Especially if he's left on his own.
"A-are you…I mean, could you maybe stay here, too?" he asks in a timid voice, already expecting her answer to be no like it has been so many times in the past when she left him.
"Of course I'm staying," she immediately assures him. "I'm not nearly as brave as you are, there's no way I can go back to that apartment all by my lonesome. But I'll be the one sleeping on an air mattress this time. Deal?"
He practically slumps with tired relief and shoots her a wobbly little smile. "Deal," he says when she holds her pinkie out for him to take, sealing their words as an unbreakable vow between the two of them.
"I'm not going anywhere, Buck," she tells him. "I promise."
-_-
Buck returns to the firehouse for light duty after a couple weeks of boring recovery per Bobby's insistence. He uses his no nonsense, don't-argue-with-me Captain's voice even when Buck whines that he's being treated like a baby, that he's perfectly fine and able to work.
Buck does everything he physically can around the firehouse once he's allowed back, just not with the same fervor he'd had when he first started as the 118's intern. Bobby knows it must feel like a step backwards for him, to have gotten so far so quickly only to be relegated to station duties again. He sulks and asks Bobby on a daily basis when he can return to doing real probationary firefighter work, until Bobby finally gives in near the end of February.
They've been called to an emergency at a car wash of all things. Buck is in his element while he and Eddie work together to carefully cut free an unfortunate young man who got himself tangled in a massive dryer roll. When Hen and Chimney take over to assess their patient Buck wanders off, and after a moment Bobby is surprised to hear the kid's peals laughter, seemingly for the first time in a long while.
Eddie smirks and immediately gravitates towards the sound while Hen and Chimney exchange raised eyebrows. They also move to investigate once they've determined that the disoriented but thankfully uninjured man is stable, and a moment later their loud cackles are joining Buck and Eddie's.
Curious, Bobby politely excuses himself from the scene and heads into the small office to determine what exactly is distracting his team from their duties.
"Bobby," Buck gasps out between laughs, "Pops, you gotta watch this, the guy h-he's—"
Buck doubles over, using Bobby's shoulder for support while he points and laughs at a small television screen. Bobby gets a glimpse of the surveillance video featuring their unfortunate victim just before he's wound around one of the massive sponges and taken for a ride.
Deep down Bobby knows it's extremely unprofessional for them to laugh at the man they've been sent to rescue, but the scene is so amusing, and Buck's joy so infectious that he can't help but join in with the rest of his team. His happy firefighting family.
Epilogue: Buck 1.0, Firefighter Buckley
"Congratulations Firefighters Diaz and Buckley," Bobby says with a raise of his sparkling cider glass. "Probies no longer!"
Maddie can't believe almost an entire year has gone by since her brother started his probationary firefighter role. The day's celebration is technically more for Eddie than it is for Buck, considering the latter is still a few weeks shy of his own anniversary. But Maddie knows Buck needs the pick me up now more than ever, a sentiment that Bobby whole heartedly agreed with when he planned the shared festivities.
After Buck hobbled into the station with one torn pant leg tucked into a cast that reached his thigh Maddie had been grateful to see a genuine smile on his face again after weeks spent miserable following yet another traumatic injury and subsequent long recovery.
Bobby did manage to pull some strings to ensure that Buck's almost full year of probationary time will be officially signed off on, but they all know that Buck's got at least a few months of physical therapy to go through before he can even consider coming back to the station as a full time firefighter, probationary or not.
Maddie especially knows that she'll need to be there for him when he inevitably pushes himself too hard, too fast in his determination to return to normal as soon as possible.
It's not like when they were younger, when she could easily pick her baby brother up when he fell, when all she needed to do was bandage his scrapes and wipe away his tears. She used to be able to carry him in her arms and comfort him just by holding him close during a lazy afternoon of cartoon watching.
Even back then Buck was never one to be kept down for long, and he's the same now as an adult. For every obstacle the universe has tried to throw at him—from minor injuries like being hit in the face by a bowling outside of a hoarder house, to serious ones like having his leg crushed under a bombed fire truck—for everyone who's hurt him or threatened him on and off the job—people like Doug and Dr. Wells and Freddie, and even a hysterical gun wielding woman on top of a billboard—Buck somehow always manages to drag himself up from everything that seems hell bent on bringing him down.
And as long as Maddie and the 118 are around she knows he'll have all the support he needs to get over any hurdles that threaten to trip him from his chosen path.
The applause dies down as Christopher steps forward to bestow Buck's helmet just like he did with Eddie's. A sad pout of frustration crosses Buck's expression when he can't easily bend to Chris' level while he's hindered by his cast and crutches, until Eddie swoops in to lift his son high into the air, helmet and all.
Buck beams when Chris settles the firefighter's helm in place and pats Buck's covered head with a giggle that the rest of the team echoes while they burst into another loud round applause and cheers.
Maddie grins, happy to know that she's not the only one looking out for her little brother anymore.
FIN.
Notes:
Kinda half assed that ending there, sorry! Thought I'd come up with more of an end chapter but it just didn't happen, oh well. I was also thinking I might make a series with the couple of other additional stories I've started/cut from here, but idk what I'll actually get around to finishing, my initial enthusiasm for this AU is admittedly not really there anymore :\
But I do want to say an extra super duper big THANK YOU to the handful of readers who actually stuck around and helped keep this thing going every chapter! Seriously, I know I've said this a bunch in replies but it really really really truly means so so so much to know that anybody out there enjoys reading my stuff!!! <3 <3 <3
If any of yous guys did enjoy this and like the idea of additional shorter stories to go with this one definitely let me know!!! (Up first'll prob be the Dr. Wells story…)