Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Maddie took Jee-Yun to the emergency room.” Chimney instantly said, as he walked right into Buck’s apartment the second he opened the door. 

“Uh, o-okay.” Buck said, not really sure where Chimney was going with this. 

“It was during the blackout. There was some kind of accident. Maddie was bathing her and the baby slipped under the water. That’s what she meant when she said Jee-Yun wasn’t safe with her.” Chimney explained. 

It all made sense to him now. He couldn’t figure out why Maddie would have felt like Jee-Yun wasn’t safe with her. She had a small, tiny really, accident and it could have happened to anyone. She was a new mom and she was just overly sensitive right now. Once he spoke to her, he knew he could get her to see reason and come back with him. 

“But Jee-Yun is fine.” Buck said, as he closed the door. 

He didn’t know the circumstances around the ER visit when Maddie had mentioned it, but he knew she was ok. Maddie would never have allowed Jee-Yun to be released from the hospital otherwise. A baby slipping in the tub wasn’t something for Maddie to be overly scared of under normal circumstances. She was an ER nurse, she had done a rotation in OB and pediatrics, she knew how to bathe a baby. It spoke to her state of mind more than anything to Buck, because despite her training, she still blamed herself for a small slip. Knowing that that was the reason why Maddie felt like Jee-Yun wasn’t safe with her, caused him to worry greatly about her mental state. She was struggling a lot more than he had initially expected. 

“Yes, exactly, she’s fine.” Chimney said and Buck felt like he was missing the whole point here. “But Maddie is out there somewhere, beating herself up because she lost her grip on a slippery child. She needs to know that this wasn’t her fault.”

“And she’ll figure that out if you give her time.” Buck said, gently as he moved closer to Chimney. He seemed to be a bit erratic and he was worried about the amount, or lack thereof, of sleep that he was getting. 

“Time? She needs me. I’m going after her.”

“Well, she-she said sh-she didn’t want you to do that, right?” It wasn’t that Buck didn’t want to go after Maddie. Of course he did. But he also knew she needed time and he had to respect her boundaries. He had to trust that his sister would contact him should she need him.

“Buck, you’re not listening. She exiled herself because she thinks she’s a danger to the baby. I can’t leave her alone like that, believing that, thinking the worst of herself. She needs to know.” Chimney was starting to feel annoyed that Buck wasn’t jumping on this with him. He would have thought out of everyone that Buck would have understood why they needed to find her. 

“Know what? That you love her? That you support her? Chim, she knows. What she needs is time, and she will come home.”

“Why weren't you surprised? When I told you that Jee-Yun almost drowned, you didn't even blink. It wasn't until I said that I was going after Maddie... Did you know?” Chimney asked, as he felt rage starting to bubble up inside of him. 

“Ch-Chim, Chimney…” Buck stumbled and Chimney had his answer. Buck knew where Maddie was and it made him see red. 

“She told you? Is that it? She called you and you already knew about this because she told you? Where is she, Buck?” He demanded as he got right up into Buck’s face. 

“I-I... I don't know. She wouldn't tell me.” 

“Eight... days. You have waited eight days while you have seen the hell I've been going through, and you didn't tell me?” Chimney seethed, as his fist clenched.

“She-she said she was fine, you know? She-she just needed to figure some stuff out. And she-she was more worried about you. She-she asked me to check in on you and Jee-Yun and make sure that you're okay.”

Before Buck even knew what was happening, his head snapped to the right as pain radiated over his face. He stumbled and fell head first into the table. The distinctive crack as his forehead hit the table echoed in the room before everything went dark in Buck’s world. 

Chimney was instantly going over to the table and grabbing Buck’s phone. He easily unlocked it knowing his code. He started to go through it, trying to find anything that would indicate where Maddie was. He knew that Maddie had spoken to Buck, but it was possible that he had written down where she was so he wouldn’t forget or if he needed to check in on her. Chimney couldn’t find anything on Buck’s phone so he put it in his pocket just in case Maddie reached out to him again. He then started to look all through the kitchen and living room to see if there was anything that would tell him where Maddie had gone. 

Chimney was frantic as he tore through Buck’s house. Throwing everything in his way on the floor. He was consumed by his need to find Maddie. All he could think about was finding her and nothing else seemed to matter. Chimney made his way towards the door, but Buck started to come to. He groaned, as he reached out and grabbed at anything that he could. He managed to grab at Chimney’s ankle, but Chimney pulled it away, resulting in Buck scratching him. 

“Get the hell off of my Buck!” Chimney yelled, as he turned to face Buck. 

Red flooded Chimney’s vision and all he could see was the person standing in the way between him and Maddie. Between him and his perfectly happy family. Fueled by his rage, he kicked as hard as he could at Buck’s face. His foot connected perfectly with the side of his jaw and Buck’s head snapped to the side once more. Chimney proceeded to kick at Buck’s torso before he stomped on Buck’s jaw. The crack echoed in the room before Chimney gave one last kick directly to the side of Buck’s head that went into the table and then Buck’s world went black once more. 

Breathing heavily, Chimney looked down in disgust at Buck before he stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him as he went. He had to find Maddie and he wasn’t going to let anyone get in his way or try to stop him.  

XXX

Eddie made his way down the hallway to reach Buck’s apartment. They were going to hang out for a bit and have a couple of beers. Christopher was off at a sleepover tonight so he didn’t need to be home. Whenever he had a free night away from Christopher, he usually hung out with Buck and they would just enjoy having some time away from parenting. Eddie knocked on Buck’s door and when he didn’t get an answer he tried the handle to see if it was unlocked, if not he would just use his key. Buck knew he was coming so there was a good chance he was just in the bathroom or out on the balcony and didn’t hear him. 

The door opened and Eddie walked in with a smile. It quickly disappeared as he walked in and saw the state of Buck’s apartment. The whole place was tossed. There were papers all over the floor, things from the shelves and kitchen counter were tossed everywhere. That wasn’t what made Eddie’s heart stop though, it was Buck’s unconscious body laying on the floor by the table. Eddie ran over to Buck and slid on his knees once he was close enough. 

“Buck?” Eddie said, with a panicked voice as he tried to take in his best friend’s appearance. 

There was blood coming from his head. Both eyes were black and his left eye was swollen shut. The most disturbing was the fact that Buck’s jaw was swollen and it was distorted. He could tell that it was either broken or dislocated and he was really hoping it wasn’t broken. Eddie moved a shaky hand over to Buck’s neck and felt for a pulse. He was relieved to find one, but he was worried with how weak and thready it was.

“Hang on Buck. Hang on for me Buddy.” Eddie said, as he pulled out his cell phone and called 9-1-1, putting it on speaker before he placed it down on the floor next to him. 

Eddie then quickly patted Buck’s legs down to see if there was anything broken or stood out. His legs seemed to be clear. He went and lifted up Buck’s shirt just as dispatched answered. 

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” It was a different voice from any that Eddie had heard, but he didn’t linger on that. 

“This is firefighter Eddie Diaz, I am at 460 S Spring St unit 104. I need an ambulance and police right away. Firefighter Evan Buckley has been attacked.” 

Eddie could see some bruising starting to make its way through Buck’s side. He didn’t feel any broken ribs, but he didn’t like how shallow Buck’s breathing was. He could barely see his chest moving and there was a long delay in between breaths.

“Is he conscious?” The dispatcher asked. 

“No. I don’t know how long he’s been out. He’s been beaten, his jaw looks dislocated or broken. His head is bleeding, his pulse is weak and thready and he’s barely breathing.” Just as Eddie said that, Buck stopped breathing completely. “Shit. He stopped breathing.”

“Are you performing CPR?” The dispatcher asked calmly and Eddie could hear him typing. 

“It’s not that simple, I don’t know if I can get his mouth open.” Eddie said, frustrated as he looked at Bucks jaw to see if he would even be able to open it. 

The bones shifted within his hands, but there was no way for him to open Buck’s mouth to breathe air into his lungs. “I can’t get his mouth open. How far out are the medics?” 

“The closest unit to you is seven minutes.”   

“That’s too long. He can’t go without oxygen for that long.” Eddie scrubbed a hand over his face. He couldn’t believe he was going to have to do this, but there wasn’t any other choice. “I gotta trach him.”

“It would be better to wait for the paramedics.” 

“They won’t get here in time. His brain will have been deprived of oxygen for too long, he’ll be brain dead.” Eddie said, as got up and went into the kitchen.

He grabbed a knife, a straw and some vodka. It wasn’t going to be perfect, but it would have to work. He’s only had to do this a handful of times in the Army, but he was trained and he was taking comfort in that. Even if it was only a small amount of comfort. Now he just needed to get his hands to stop shaking. Eddie went back over to Buck and he checked for a pulse again. It was even weaker and he knew he needed to get oxygen going into Buck before his best friend would be gone for good. 

Eddie opened the vodka bottle and he poured some on Buck’s neck, the knife and the straw. With a shaky breath he held the knife in his hand and he felt for the markers in Buck’s neck to find the right place. There was already a scar on his neck from the last time someone had to perform an emergency trach, which made it easier for him to find the right place. However, he was worried about the scar tissue making it harder for him to reach Buck’s cords. 

“Stay with me Buck.” Eddie said, before he pressed the knife into Buck’s neck. 

Blood was instant;y seeping out and Eddie didn’t let it distract him. He knew that was going to happen. He blocked out the fact that this was Buck and he focused on his medical training. The scar tissue did make it harder to get a clear visual on Buck’s cords, but he knew roughly where they were. 

“Oh my god.” Athena’s horrified voice said as she walked into Buck’s loft. 

He had heard it over the radio that paramedics were being dispatched to Buck’s loft and she instantly threw her sirens on and went as fast as her cruiser could go. She didn’t expect this.

“Get over here. Use the flashlight on your phone. I need more light.” Eddie urgently said. 

Athena pulled her cell phone out with a shaky hand and she turned the flashlight on as she bent down. She hovered it over Buck’s neck as she spoke. 

“My god, what are you trying to do?”

“He’s not breathing and his jaw is broken. I can’t open it. I need an airway and paramedics are still five minutes away. He can’t wait.”

“Is there supposed to be that much blood?” Athena felt like she was going to be sick, but she wasn’t going to be looking away. This was Buck. Someone that had been a staple at their weekly family dinners. Someone that Bobby loved as a son. Someone that her own children saw as an older brother. She wouldn’t be looking away, not when Buck needed her.

“Ya, I’m almost there.” Eddie said, as he put his finger into Buck’s neck and finally picked up the straw. “Got it.” Eddie picked up the straw and put it into Buck’s windpipe. 

Eddie then went and breathed into the straw and Athena spoke. “His lungs moved.”

“That means I’m in.” Eddie said, as he moved back and started to do chest compressions. “Where the hell are the medics?” Eddie demanded to the dispatcher. 

“Two minutes out.”  

Eddie heard a crack, but he expected as much. CPR generally meant a broken rib or two. Eddie continued to do CPR and finally the medics arrived. 

“What took you so long?” Athena demanded.

“There’s construction all over the place. What do we got?” The one paramedic asked. 

“Get me an intubation tube to replace this straw. He’s got a head wound, a broken jaw, his left eye is swollen shut from trauma, he’s got bruising along his side and now a broken rib.”

“We don’t have a trachea tube.” The other paramedic said, as he got Buck hooked up to the monitor. No one was prepared to hear the flatline. “We’ve lost his pulse. Charge to two hundred.”

The one paramedic cut Buck’s shirt off while the other one got the pads. Once the pads were on Buck’s chest, Eddie took the paddles and pressed them down onto the pads. “Clear.”

Everyone moved away from Buck as Eddie shocked him. He kept his eyes on the monitor and saw that he was still in vfib. “Charge to three hundred.” He ordered. 

The paramedic turned it up and once it was ready Eddie spoke. “Clear.” He hit the button on the paddles to send the electricity through Buck’s body. There was a massive relief at the sound of a heartbeat. 

“We got a pulse. And he’s breathing. It’s laboured, but he’s breathing on his own.” The paramedic said.

“We gotta go. We need to scoop and run.” The other medic said and Eddie agreed with him. Buck was in horrible shape, they had to get him to the hospital.

“We gotta watch his neck, we can’t put a brace on him with the trach.” Eddie said. 

“We’ll be careful. Let’s get him on the backboard and loaded up.” The one medic said. 

Eddie went and stabilized Buck’s neck while they rolled him to get the backboard underneath. Just as they were getting Buck ready Lou Ransone walked through the door. 

“Sergeant Grant, what do we got?” 

“Looks like a home invasion. We don’t know much. When Eddie arrived Buck was unconscious. His heart stopped and he wasn’t breathing, they got him back now and are taking him to the hospital.” Athena asked, as Buck got loaded onto the stretcher. 

“Alright, I’ll have a crime scene down here to start processing. I’ll meet you at the hospital in a bit to question everyone.” Lou said, as he took in Buck’s appearance. He needed a hospital and he needed it quick.

“I’ll make sure the doctors take samples and keep his clothes.” Athena said. 

“We gotta move fast.” The medic said, as they pushed Buck out of his apartment. 

“I’ll follow you.” Athena said as her and Eddie headed out. 

Eddie went with Buck into the back of the ambulance while Athena got into her cruiser and they rushed off to the hospital. 

XXX

“Fuck, it’s been hours.” Eddie said, as he scrubbed a hand over his face. 

“I know, but hopefully the doctor comes back soon with an update.” Hen said. She understood how this was hard, but all they could do was wait. 

They all looked over to the right at the sound of someone approaching. They were not surprised to see Lou Ransone coming towards them. They all stood and moved over to Lou to try and figure out what was going on. 

“Any word on Buckley?” Lou asked first.

“Not yet. He’s in surgery. Did you get anything from his apartment?” Athena asked. 

“The whole place was tossed. There wasn’t any damage and all of his valuables were there.” 

“Distraction?” Athena asked. 

“I don’t think so. I would expect to find chaos everywhere, on both floors. Kitchen drawers are usually the first to go on the floor. But this was different, it was papers, things from the counters that were in the way of something. Whoever it was, was looking for something specific. It didn’t read as a robbery though either. His laptop, tv, everything that had value was still there. The only thing missing was his cell phone. Did he have it on him, do you know?” 

“No he didn’t.” Eddie answered confidently. 

“You sure?” Lou asked, because if his cell phone was gone that meant whoever attacked him took it and then he could track his cell phone right back to the person. 

“He was wearing sweats and I patted him down to check for injuries. He didn’t have anything in his pockets. Are you sure his phone wasn’t there? He normally leaves it on the coffee table, kitchen counter or his table.” Eddie answered. 

“I searched the whole place, it wasn’t there. I will have our techs try and track it. Whoever attacked him took it for some reason. I do need a statement from both Sergeant Grant and Mr. Diaz.” Lou said. 

“I got there a few minutes after the ambulance. The place was a mess. Eddie was working with the paramedics to get Buck’s heart started again. I didn’t see anyone in the immediate area. I called in for a detective and crime scene unit while Eddie and the paramedics got Buck’s heart going and got him up on a stretcher and off to the hospital.” Athena stated. She didn’t really have much to tell Lou, because she wasn’t there all of five minutes. She knew she couldn’t work the case, no matter how badly she wanted to. 

“And you Mr Diaz?” Lou asked. 

“Buck and I were going to have a beer tonight. When I got to his place around five, just after five, the door was already open. I didn’t think much of it, he knew I was coming. The second I was in the doorway I could see him. I ran over to him and checked his pulse. I did look around from the ground real quick to make sure we were alone. I didn’t see anyone. His pulse was weak and he was struggling to breathe. I noticed his jaw was broken and his left eye was swollen shut. Within twenty seconds he had stopped breathing. I couldn’t do proper CPR because of his jaw. I had to do an emergency tracheotomy using some kitchen supplies. I gave him CPR just as the medics arrived. I shocked him twice and got a heartbeat. We scooped and ran.” Eddie explained with a shaky voice. 

He still couldn’t believe this had happened. One second he was excited to be going over to see his best friend and share a beer. And then the next he was dead on his kitchen floor. Eddie just couldn’t believe any of this. He had no idea how he was ever going to tell Christopher about any of this. 

“Have there been any threats made towards Buckley, either verbal or written?” Lou asked. 

“No, nothing like that. People love Buck.” Bobby answered. 

“Alright, I will run his phone and hopefully we can track it. If his GPS is turned on, then our techs should be able to. I’ll run all of the usual suspects, anyone in his building, anyone with a grudge against the LAFD.” Lou said. He had been hoping for something more specific to try and run with, but he was going to have to do this as a wide scope.

“Any prints?” Athena asked. 

“CSI got a few, but not anywhere near the amount they were expecting. If the place hadn’t been tossed, they would have assumed it was wiped down.” 

“Oh no that’s Buck. When he’s stressed or anxious he either does one of two things. He bakes or he obsessively cleans.” Eddie supplied. 

“Had he been stressed or anxious lately?” Lou asked. 

“He’s been worried about his older sister Maddie for a few months now. She just had a baby girl and he hasn’t been able to speak with her very much and he’s only seen his niece once.” Eddie answered. 

“Is that normal for their relationship?” Lou asked. 

“No, they’ve always been close. Maddie practically raised Buck for the first ten years of his life. When she left her abusive husband almost four years ago she came here to LA to be with Buck. They are normally pretty inseparable. It’s why he’s been so stressed and worried. He feels like something more is going on with her.” Eddie said. 

They’ve had plenty of conversations about Maddie and how she had been acting recently. He had been encouraging Buck to speak to Maddie and Chimney, but everytime Buck tried it didn’t do anything he was always blocked by Chimney or Maddie telling him it wasn’t a good time. Eddie hated how stressed Buck was getting. It had started to affect his sleep and even eating habits. 

“Maddie left eight days ago. She brought her daughter, Jee-Yun, to the firehouse and left her with a fellow firefighter. She then left and we haven’t been able to get a hold of her since. She left a video message for Chimney, Jee’s father and her boyfriend, that she needed to get away and that he needed to focus on Jee. It’s been stressful on both Buck and Chimney.” Bobby supplied. 

“Has a missing person’s report been filed?” Lou asked. 

“I believe Chimney did.” Athena answered. 

Before anymore could be said a doctor walked into the waiting room and they all turned to see if it was for Buck. 

“Family of Evan Buckley?” He called out. 

“Yes, that’s us.” Eddie said, as he was immediately moving closer to the doctor. 

“I’m Doctor Mark Greene. I need to speak with a, Mr. Eddie Diaz.”

“That’s me. How is Buck?” Eddie asked urgently.

“Can I speak freely or do you prefer that we go elsewhere?” Dr. Greene asked. 

“No, it’s fine. We’re family and this is Detective Lou Ransone. How is he?” Eddie pressed. He didn’t care about anything other than if Buck was alive. 

“He’s alive, I will start with that. But he is in critical condition and he’s not out of the woods just yet. If he does make a full recovery it will be a long one.” Dr. Greene started. 

Eddie let out a deep breath at just hearing that Buck was alive. He wished he could have been fully relieved to hear that he would male a full recovery and that he was out of the woods. But he knew Buck was in for a long road. A broken jaw alone could take up to twelve weeks to heal. 

“What are his injuries?” Hen asked. 

“The less severe injury is that his zygomatic bone has been broken. It was a clean break from being punched and it will heal within six to eight weeks. He has two broken ribs from the CPR and some minor burns to his chest where the paddles were. And we were able to repair the trachea. Unfortunately, those are the minor injuries.”

“How bad is his jaw?” Eddie asked, suspecting that would be the worst injury. 

“It’s not good. Due to the blunt force trauma the left side of his jaw was dislocated, but his right side was broken in multiple places. We had to place a plate along the right side of his jaw. It is swollen and will be very painful. We were able to use the newer procedure in jaw surgery though. No longer do you have to wire someone’s jaw completely shut. It is done with internal elastics and a small metal plate. We were able to do that on his left side. On his right side he has multiple elastics and smaller plates to try and keep all of the pieces together.”

“Will it heal right though?” Hen asked. 

“The outlook is good as long as he drastically minimizes the movement in his jaw for the next six weeks. He can speak, but he won’t be able to open his mouth very well and he could only open it a few millimeters in order for his bones to heal. He will also have to be on an all liquid diet for the first six weeks. At the sixth week mark, if everything is healing well then he will be able to move up to solid food.”

“He has a history of blood clots. Will the plates be a problem?” Bobby asked. 

“I have read his medical history and spoke with the doctor that treated him. The blood clots were from the screws used to keep the rod in his leg in place. I did have to use screws to keep the plates in place. As a precaution I have placed him back on blood thinners just until the plates can come out.”

“And the plates will come out?” Bobby asked. 

“Yes. The plates are there merely to give his bones the chance to heal on their own. Once all of his jaw bones are connected fully then I can remove the plates. However, his right side was bad, as I’ve said. So there is a possibility that they won’t heal properly and I will have no choice but to keep the plate on his right side there. If that happens, he will have to be on blood thinners for the rest of his life.”

Eddie couldn’t believe this. Buck hated being on the blood thinners and now there was a possibility of him having to be on them for the rest of his life. It was just too much. 

“He um… he had a head wound. You didn’t include it within the minor injuries. Concussion?” Eddie asked, trying to get all of the information. 

“The head wound is the other major injury. He has a five centimeter skull fracture to the right side. Best I can tell, he hit his head and then another blow worsened it. The bone did not break inward, he got lucky that way. There is no swelling or bleeding. He got lucky. However with the blood thinners we will have to keep a very close eye on him. Every week he will have to come in for a CT Scan to ensure there is no bleeding until he is no longer on the blood thinners or the skull fracture has healed. Based on its size and location, it could take anywhere from three to six months before it is fully healed.”

“Jesus fuck.” Eddie said, as he scrubbed a hand over his face. 

He had no idea that Buck’s head wound would be that bad. He thought a concussion at most, he had no idea that he had a skull fracture and it was a decent size one. He was lucky he didn’t need surgery or a metal plate in his head as well. 

“There is one more injury and I’m optimistic that it’s not permanent, but there is still a slight chance that the injury doesn’t make a full recovery.” Dr. Greene started. 

“That doesn’t sound good. What is it?” Athena asked, not liking any of this. 

“From the blow to his eye he suffered from a retinal detachment. We were able to reattach it in surgery while fixing his jaw. However, we don’t know if he will regain full vision in his eye. It’s possible he is permanently blind in his left eye. It’s also possible he might get some of his vision back but he would need to wear glasses or contacts in that eye. It’s too soon to tell.”

“This could end his career.” Eddie said.

He just couldn’t believe this. Buck was severely injured and now he might never be able to come back to work. He had no idea if Buck had to wear glasses if he would be allowed to be a firefighter. It was different for paramedics, they didn’t tend to have to wear gas masks. He had no idea if contacts would be ok or not. It wasn’t even just about his eye. Once his skull fracture healed, he would always have a weakness in that spot, making any head injuries dangerous. Add in him possibly having to be on blood thinners forever, the Chiefs were going to be pushing to get Buck on the disability list and that was something that would kill Buck. 

“I’m sorry. That’s all of his injuries though. He is going to be kept here for two weeks to be under close observations. We have him hooked up to a heart monitor as well. Our cardiologist says his heart looks good, but he just wants to be extra cautious.”

“Can we see him?” Bobby asked.  

“He’s being moved into recovery and then once he is awake you will be able to see him. I understand that he will need to be questioned about the attack. I can allow you to go in Detective and wait with him until he wakes up. But his jaw is going to be extremely painful. Try to limit your questions. And you need to be prepared, with his skull fracture he is going to be very sick. I can only give you ten minutes max with him before he will need to be sedated again.” Dr. Greene advised. 

“You’re going to keep him sedated? That’s dangerous with a skull fracture.” Hen said. 

“He will be given a light sedative and be woken up every three hours for a neuro check. We will do that for the next week before we keep him off the sedative. He will stay for another week and then he could leave. Assuming everything goes according to plan. The state that he’s in could make it difficult for him to live alone.”

“He won’t be alone.” Eddie instantly said. There was no way he was going to let Buck go home once he was cleared to leave. Nor was he going to let Buck go back to his loft until it was deemed safe. 

“Good. There is one more thing. It’s not a physical injury, but you could notice a difference with his ADHD while he is healing due to the psychological and physical trauma.” Dr. Greene supplied. 

“I’m sorry what? Buck doesn’t have ADHD.” Bobby instantly said.

“It’s not in his medical file, but I assure you he most definitely does. We did an EEG and it’s very clear based on the brain waves that he has ADHD. Typically I would expect to see it in his medical file. It’s the type of thing that is normally diagnosed in children. A child’s parents tend to notice something is wrong with their child, or even the teachers. ADHD in children often makes it hard for them to sit still long enough in school. They don’t do well on tests, they act up in class, they don’t sleep well at night. I’m sure you would have noticed something while he has been working with you.”

“I mean, he’s always been a little energetic and he can be a bit annoying with some of his rants, but he isn’t uncontrollable.” Hen said. 

“His rants aren’t annoying. He just goes on research binges and finds interesting information. He wants to share it.” Eddie instantly said in Buck’s defense.

“And that’s exactly it. Hyper focus is a symptom of ADHD. He isn’t telling you because he wants to show off, he genuinely finds the information interesting and he thinks other people will also find it interesting. A huge part of ADHD is the insomnia. Their minds are always firing and thinking. You could see a person standing on a street corner and not think anything of it. To someone like Buck, he would see the person, but his mind will notice what they are wearing, the bird that was behind them. Hey, I wonder what type of bird that is, let me look it up and the next thing they know they have been up all night researching different species of birds and where they live. Only to come into work the next day to share all of that information with you.”

“He does that a lot. He takes my son, Christopher, to the zoo and the aquarium. They both go on research binges afterwards. There have been a few times where the zookeepers are impressed by the amount of information Buck knows. Even things they didn’t know. His sleep has been problematic though. He doesn’t always fall asleep that easily, but he only really needs about four or five hours before he’s good for another twenty.” Eddie said. 

“That’s pretty common. People with ADHD tend to have more of a night owl personality. Medication can help, but sleep meds over a long period of time makes it impossible for you to fall asleep without them. They also aren’t good if you can’t get a full eight hours of sleep. There are other medications for ADHD to help with the symptoms, but at his age it might not be the best idea. Unless he is unable to function from day to day.”

“No, he’s good.” Eddie said. 

“He’s never had any problem at work. I don’t know much about ADHD.” Bobby reluctantly admitted. He was going to have to do some research and see if there was a way he could help Buck better, especially if he was able to return to work. 

“There are plenty of professionals that you can speak with that would be an expert on this topic. From my knowledge after a trauma his quirks could be worse or more intense. That doesn’t mean when he is physically healed that he couldn’t go back to work. People with ADHD can function perfectly in your line of work. He just might have more trouble with insomnia and sitting still. That’s something you can gauge though.” Dr. Greene said. 

“You said we could see him?” Eddie asked, because right now all he wanted was to see his best friend. 

“Two people can at a time. I would recommend that one of them is Detective Ransone, because once Mr. Buckley does wake up he won’t last long before going back under. Under different circumstances I wouldn’t even allow for him to be questioned by the police. However, given how serious his injuries are and he’s in critical condition. There is a chance that he dies from his injuries still. This might be his only chance to tell you who attacked him. Who potentially killed him.” Dr. Greene said sympathetically. 

The weight of his words hit them all hard, especially Eddie. He thought Buck was at least out of the woods. Injured to hell, yes, but was going to survive. He knew under different circumstances that his mind would have clicked in that of course Buck could still die. His injuries were very serious and he had a lot of them. All it would take was one blood clot or his blood thinners were too strong and he could die from it. Any ounce of relief that Eddie had felt just moments ago washed away and he was trapped right back to finding Buck laying on his floor barely breathing. 

“I think I should be there as well. He might feel more comfortable talking with me there.” Athena said. 

Eddie wanted to tell her no. That if there was a chance this was the last time Buck could talk, he needed to be there. He needed to make sure Buck knew that him and Christopher loved him. But he also knew that Athena was right. This might be the only time Buck could have to tell them who did this to him and Eddie wasn’t going to let this asshole walk away from this. He was going to make sure whoever attacked his best friend spent the rest of their lives behind bars. Buck might be the only person who could give them that name. 

“That’s fine, but remember Sargeant, I have to ask the questions. We can’t risk this case being thrown out by a defence lawyer because of your connection.” Lou said. Given how serious Buck’s injuries were they had to play this perfectly by the book. They couldn’t risk his attacker getting off on a technicality. 

“I know. I’ll just be there to make sure Buck stays on track and speaks with you. There’s no way he didn’t see his attacker.” Athena easily agreed. 

“I can take you both back there now. He should be waking up within the hour. Once he is awake and you are finished speaking with him, then the rest of you can visit. He will be moved from recovery to the ICU where he will spend the week. If his stats improve, then we can move him to a regular room after that. Our goal and hope is that he only needs to be here for two weeks. But that might change if his body isn’t strong enough to handle being outside of the hospital.” Dr. Greene informed them.

“That’s fine. We can take it one step at a time.” Bobby said. 

This wasn’t the first time they had gone through a hospital visit with Buck. Bobby thought his leg being crushed would be the worst thing to happen to Buck. He never thought he would be so horribly beaten in his own home. This whole situation felt surreal to him. He kept waiting to wake up from this nightmare and he would go to work to find Buck in the kitchen. Buck had been talking about wanting to learn how to make Korean food so when Jee was old enough he could make it for her. Chimney and Maddie didn’t know how to cook anything Korean and Buck thought it would be good for someone to know how. He had been learning how to make Spanish and Swedish dishes as well for Christopher and Eddie. They had Eddie’ Abuela for Spanish dishes, so Buck tended to focus more on the Swedish end of things. 

Buck was all about culture. He believed very strongly that you shouldn’t have to give up your culture just because you were in America. He also loved to cook and bake. If he could learn how to make a new dish, Buck was thrilled and excited to do it. And Bobby had been happy to learn something new with Buck. He loved cooking with him and he loved how enthusiastic and passionate that Buck was in the kitchen. Bobby had no problem sharing all of his secret recipes with Buck. 

“I will show you both back there. If any of you have any questions, just have a nurse page me.” Dr. Greene said. 

Athena looked over at Bobby and squeezed his hand before she and Lou followed Dr. Greene to where Buck would be for the next little while. Athena was just praying that Buck pulled through all of this, because she didn't think her family would be able to survive him dying.   

Chapter Text

Athena couldn’t believe how horrible Buck looked. She knew that Dr. Greene said he wasn’t in good shape, but she never expected for him to look worse then when she had last seen him. The bruising was more prominent and there was swelling around his left eye and his jaw. She was currently holding his right hand and she could see there weren’t any injuries to his hands. 

“He didn't fight back.” Athena softly said. 

“Is he a fighter?” Lou asked. He knew Buck had muscles, but that didn’t always mean someone could fight. 

“He boxes. If he was being attacked, he would fight back.” Athena said confidently. Buck didn’t like to fight, he didn’t like violence, but he would fight back against someone attacking him. 

“It could have been a surprise attack. Or the first punch incapacitated him. It takes a lot of force to break a jaw, he could have been stomped.” Lou said, trying to piece together all of Buck’s injuries and how they could have happened.

“I just don’t understand who would do this to him. Buck’s never hurt a fly. He’s a sweetheart with a gentle soul. All he’s ever done is try to help people. For someone to turn this violent towards him.” Athena said as she shook her head. This should never have happened to Buck. He was such a pure soul. 

“I have to work this as a homicide Athena. I know we all want to hope that he will recover, but he might not.”

“I know. I know.” Athena said, as she wiped at her cheeks to remove the few stray tears. “You need a dying declaration.”

This wasn’t the first time one had been done. Athena had been present for close to twenty-five of them herself in her career. A dying declaration was done in situations such as this, where the victim was critically injured and a doctor couldn’t say with certainty that the victim would recover. This was the only way for the victim to tell their story. It would be recorded and Lou would ask questions when needed, but mostly it was the victim giving a statement as to who attacked them. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be admissible in court, because the defendant has the legal right to confront their accuser in court. 

However, a dying declaration was handled differently and it was always paired with physical evidence to back up the claim. They had Buck’s clothes and there was DNA under his nails. There was also his missing cell phone. Even if Buck didn’t die right away, they had a year and a day to charge someone with murder if their victim dies from complications due to the injuries they sustained during the attack. If the attacker was convicted on attempted murder or a felony assault, the charges would automatically be increased to murder and a new sentence would be given out. As much as Athena didn’t want to think about the possibility that Buck could still die, she knew they had to do everything within their power to ensure he did get justice, no matter what.    

The heart monitor suddenly started to beep faster and Buck’s fingers twitched against Athena’s hand. 

“Buck, Baby?” Athena asked, as she moved and sat down on the side of the bed. 

Buck groaned and rolled his head slowly towards the right. His brow furrowed and Athena could tell he was in pain. 

“Baby, can you open your eyes?” Athena asked gently as she ran her hand through his hair. 

Buck’s body shivered, as he slowly opened his right eye. He groaned as the pain overtook him, and he scrunched his right eye closed. There was a tremble to his body and Buck felt horrible. His whole head felt like it was going to explode. His eye was pulsing and his jaw hurt. Everything just hurt and all he wanted was to go back to sleep where there was no pain. Buck let out a soft scream, as he tried to open his mouth.  

“I’ll go and get the nurse.” Lou said, as he quickly headed out. 

“I know it hurts, but try not to move your mouth right now. Can you nod if you understand me, Buckaroo?”

Buck gave a small nod, but it made him moan as the pain in his head intensified with that simple movement. Athena continued to stroke his hair as she spoke. “Ok, no nodding. How about this, one blink for yes and two blinks for no. Ok?”

Buck gave a small blink and Athena gave him a warm smile. “I know you are in pain. It’s important that you understand that your jaw was broken. You can only move it just slightly. You also have a skull fracture.” 

Buck was trying to take in everything she was saying, but his head hurt so much. It was hard for him to really process what she was telling him. He just wanted to go back to sleep. Lou came back in with Dr. Greene and he stood back to allow the doctor to go on the left side of Buck’s bed. 

“Mr. Buckley, my name is Dr. Greene. I just need to do a quick exam, ok?” Dr. Greene asked. 

Buck blinked once and Athena explained. “That means yes. He was in pain when he nodded.”

“It’s normal for you to be in pain and feeling off with the skull fracture. I just need to do a quick neuro check on you.” Dr. Greene said, as she pulled out a pen light. 

“I told him about his jaw and skull fracture.” Athena supplied. 

“You can talk, Mr. Buckley, but you can’t move your mouth too much. It would be best for you to not talk at all for the next couple of weeks. You need rest. Can you tell me your name?”

“Ev…an Buck…ley.”

“That’s good. Do you know where you are?”

“Hosp…ital.”

“How about the date?” Dr. Greene asked, as Buck’s breathing started to sound a bit wheezy. He turned the O2 up a bit to help.

“Oct…ober thirt…teenth.”

“Very good. One last question and then I will leave you alone. Can you tell me what two plus six is?”

“Eight.” 

“Very good Mr. Buckley.” Dr. Greene said with a warm smile. He turned to look at Lou and Athena as he spoke. “You have maybe ten minutes with him before I put him back under.”

He headed out and Lou moved over to the bed as Athena spoke. They had decided she would be the one to tell him about what they needed and then Lou would ask the questions. 

“Baby, you are seriously hurt. You are in critical status. Dr. Greene is hopeful that you will make a full recovery, but you are at risk of a lot of complications. We don’t need to get into all of that right now, but it’s very important that you answer a few questions that Lou has for you. This might be your only chance to tell someone what happened.” Athena tried to explain as she held back her own emotions.

“Dy…ing?” Buck asked, softly. But it was clear he was in a great deal of pain from just saying that one single word. 

“No. No baby, you aren’t dying. You’re in critical condition, but you aren’t dying. This is just a precaution because an unexpected complication could come up. But you are most certainly not going to die from this. You’re Buck. You have been through too much to let something like this take you out. You just need to give a statement and then we will get this son of a bitch.” 

Athena was doing everything within her power to keep her own emotions under lock and key. The last thing Buck needed was to see how upset she was. To see just how worried and scared she was that Buck wasn’t going to pull through. Buck understood what Athena was saying, but he couldn’t give her what she was asking. 

“Chim…ney.” Buck barely managed to say. Every second he was awake he was in pain. He couldn’t help the tears that rolled down his cheeks. 

“He’s not here right now.” Athena said, as she reached over and wiped at Buck’s cheeks as gently as she could. 

“No. Chimney…hurt…me.” 

Buck coughed and it sent a whole new level of pain crashing over his body. Lou went and poured some water for Buck, as Buck tried to get the coughing fit under control. Lou handed Athena the plastic cup with a straw and she spoke as she held it for Buck. 

“Try and take small sips.”

She placed the straw against Buck’s lips and he took a couple of small sips. Swallowing hurt, as if he was swallowing razor blades. It did stop the coughing, but he was wheezing deeply and he looked like he ran a marathon. 

“Buck, you said Chimney hurt you?” Lou asked. He knew that Buck was injured and in a lot of pain, but that didn’t change that he needed to know what happened. 

Buck gave a slow, single blink. Athena felt like she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t understand why Chimney would ever do something like this. It wasn’t in his nature to be violent. It just didn't make any sense. 

“Why?” Athena couldn’t help but ask. 

Buck took a deep wheezy breath in before he spoke very slowly. “Maddie. Thought I knew where she was.”

Athena couldn’t believe this, but it also didn’t change anything. If Chimney did do this, then he needed to pay. It didn’t matter that he was going through his own problems. It didn’t matter that they were family, in fact it made it worse. He could have killed Buck, he might still have killed him, he needed to pay for it. Athena took Buck’s hand within hers as she spoke.

“You need to make a statement, Baby. I know it’s going to be hard, but you need to. The fact that Chimney hurt you this badly, does not change that it should never have happened. You need to tell your story, Buck. Can you do that for me?”      

“Don’t want him in trouble. He needs help.” Buck weakly said. 

“The best way he can get help is by you telling us what happened. I need you to do this for me baby.” 

Athena knew this was going to cause a war, but she didn’t care. Buck was the one laying in a hospital bed, potentially on the verge of death. He was the victim and he had every right to nail Chimney’s ass to the wall. 

“Buck, I’m going to use my phone to record it. All you have to do is look at my phone and tell us what happened. I know you are in pain, so we won’t ask you any questions. You can take all the time you need. It’s very important that you tell us exactly what happened.” Lou explained. 

He knew that Buck didn’t want Chimney to get in trouble and under different circumstances they might have been able to forgo the interview right now. But every day they delayed, was another chance that Buck might not wake up. They had to do this now, because it might be the only chance they had. 

“Have…to?” Buck weakly asked. 

“You do Baby. All you need to do is tell the truth. Go as slow as you need, there’s no rush.” Athena confirmed. 

“Mhm.” Buck said, as he had to blink to wake up a bit. 

Lou pulled his phone out and hit the record button as it was facing him. “This is Detective Lou Ransone. It’s October thirteenth at six-twenty at night. I am in the General with Evan Buckley for a dying of declaration.” Lou turned the phone around, making sure that he went in the opposite way so Athena wouldn’t be in it. She had moved back slightly so there was no chance of her being caught in it. They weren’t going to be taking any chances with this. “Mr. Buckley, can you tell me what happened?”

Buck weakly looked over at the camera and he had to close his eye for a second as the room spun. He was so tired, he just wanted to sleep. He wanted to escape all of the pain. His whole head and jaw were pulsing. He didn’t know if he could do this, but Athena said he needed to. That it was important. He pushed down the pain and forced himself to talk.   

“There was a… knock on my… door. I wasn’t expecting… anyone. When I opened it… Chimney was there. He… came in without even waiting… for me to say something. He seemed manic. He just… started talking about Jee-Yun… being in the hospital. That… Maddie had taken her… there.”

Buck grimaced, as he fought to keep his eyes open. He was just so tired. He licked at his chapped lips and pressed forward. 

“She was bathing her… and Jee slipped under… the water, just for… a second. Jee’s fine, but… I already knew that. Chimney thought Maddie left… because of it. Because she blamed… herself for the accident. He kept saying… he needed to find Maddie to… make sure she knew he… loved her and to bring her… back. I told her she knew that. That… she just needed time. That she would… come back once she was ready. Chimney… asked why I wasn’t surprised to hear about… Jee. He asked why I… wasn’t trying to find Maddie. He figured out that Maddie… had called me just after she left… or maybe before… I don’t know. But she didn’t tell me… what happened to Jee, just… that she was ok. That she needed to… leave for a little while… and she needed me to look after Chimney and…. Jee for her.”

Buck’s voice was getting softer and softer the more he spoke. And he was having to take deeper and longer breaths as he went. His breathing wasn’t doing too great and it was making Athena worried that maybe something more was going on with his lungs. 

“I told Chimney… that was all that I knew. But he… didn’t believe me. He started telling me… how he had been in hell for eight… days and I knew the… whole time. The first… punch, it… came out of nowhere. He never… acted like that. He’s never… hit me before or anyone… not that I know of. I wasn’t… expecting it and he… threw all of his strength behind it. I… stumbled back and fell… into the table. My head… hit it and I landed… on the floor. Everything… went dark after that... I don’t know… how long I was out… before I started to… come to. I could hear… someone moving around… my apartment. I reached out… and grabbed them… once they were… close enough. I grabbed… his ankle and I… looked up to see… Chimney. I knew something… was wrong. My head… hurt too much. He told… me to get off… of him and he… pulled his leg… away. I thought he was… going to walk… away, but he… went and kicked… me to the… side of… my face before he… kicked my side… and stomach. I thought… he would walk… away, but he… stomped right down… on my jaw and… pain exploded… from it. He gave… one last kick… to the side of… my head… where it hit the… table and it all… goes black… after that. Until I…. woke up… here.”

This was the last thing that Buck wanted to think about. He still couldn’t believe that this had happened. It felt like he was trapped in some horrific nightmare and no matter what he did he couldn’t wake up. Lou hit the stop button on his phone to end the recording. Buck’s whole body was shaking and his breathing had gotten even worse. Athena reached over and grabbed the oxygen mask and placed it on Buck instead of the nasal cannula. 

“Try and take some slow, deep breaths Baby. You did really good. So good. I’m so proud of you.” Athena said, as she went and kissed the top of Buck’s head. She went and wiped at his cheeks. Buck had been crying the whole time and she knew it was a combination of the pain he was in and just pure heartbreak at what had happened to him.    

“He… needs… help. No… charges.” Buck weakly said behind the mask. 

“Let us worry about that. All you need to worry about is getting better.” Athena said. The last thing they needed was to get into an argument. Or for her to have to tell Buck that charges were out of their control. The second Buck was found on the floor in his apartment was the minute the police had no choice but to press charges. It was happening regardless of what anyone wanted. 

“Buck, I need to know what you would like for me to do about Maddie. There is no missing person’s report out on her right now.” Lou said. Maddie was the other topic they needed to cover before he could let Buck rest. 

“Chim…ney?” Buck weakly asked. 

“He didn’t put one on her. I checked an hour ago and there was still nothing.”

“He’s been so worried about her for the past eight days, but he didn’t think to file a missing person’s report?” Athena said with a shake of her head.

“Needs…one.” Buck said, as he fought to keep his eyes open. 

“I can put one out on her. Do you know why she left? I know Chimney believes it’s because of the accident. Is that what you think?” Lou asked, because Maddie was an adult she was free to come and go whenever she wanted. He needed to make sure there was a valid reason for filing the report. 

“Post…part….um.” Buck said with a groan as the pain in his mouth and head increased. 

“You think she has PPD. And would Chimney know that?” Lou asked. He felt terrible for having to ask Buck anything else, but they needed to know. PPD was very serious and it could turn deadly without any notice. It would change the priority on the report. 

“He’s been… isolating her. I’ve… called and tried… to see her and… Jee, but Maddie said… Chimney would be… home soon and… he wouldn’t like… it. It seemed… like he was… trying to hide… her away, keep her… for himself. He would… be gone all the… time and leave… her and Jee alone… for days straight. She’s… not ok. Might… have left… for treatment. I… don’t know. I don’t… know where she… is. Wouldn’t go… back to… Boston or Pen…nsy…lvan…ia. She needs… help.”

“Ok, I can file the missing person’s report. Do you think she is at risk of harming herself?” Lou asked. 

“No. She’s… never been…. suicidal. When things… get bad, she…. runs and… starts a… new life, leaving… the old… one behind. She’s… always… done… it. She… needs… treat…ment.”

Buck’s heart monitor started to beep wildly and his breathing was getting even worse. Dr. Greene came rushing in as he spoke. “Ok, you’re done. I need to put him back under.”

“When will he be awake again?” Lou asked. 

“In three hours, but that’s just to do a neuro exam. If you need to talk to him again, you have to wait a week. I don’t care if the President of the United States needs to speak to him.” Dr. Greene said, as he grabbed the sedative. 

“It’s gonna be ok Baby. You’re just gonna go to sleep for a little while and it will help you to feel better. Someone will be right here when you wake up.” Athena said, as she held Buck’s hand. 

“Love…you.” Buck said weakly as his eyes started to close. 

“I love you too, Buckaroo. You just sleep, we’ll worry about everything else.” 

Buck’s eyes closed as the sedative kicked in. Athena sat there holding onto his hand for a few more minutes to make sure he was fully under. 

“I need to do an exam. If you both could step out for a few minutes.” Dr. Greene said. 

“Of course.” Athena said. She went and pressed a kiss to Buck’s forehead before she moved back.  

“Well that was not what I had been expecting.” Athena said, as they walked out of Buck’s room. 

She couldn’t believe what Buck had said. That Chimney of all people had done this to Buck. She couldn’t understand why he would do this. Why he would attack Buck, of all people, and leave him in the state that he was. Buck could have died if Eddie hadn’t already had plans to come over for a beer. She understood that Chimney had been worried about Maddie, but he wasn’t thinking clearly. He should have reported her missing, but he hadn’t yet. His actions were contradicting themselves. 

“Has Chimney ever acted like this before? Ever prone to violence?” Lou asked. He had met Chimney a couple of times from various calls and first responder functions, but he always seemed pretty cool headed and happy. He’s never seen him angry and this was on a whole other level. 

“No, never. I’ve barely seen that man yell at someone. I don’t understand why he would do this.” 

“When I find him, I’ll ask him.” Lou said, as they walked into the waiting room and everyone stood.

“Is he ok?” Eddie instantly asked. 

“He’s in pain and pretty sick. It’s going to be a rough few days. The doctor was seeing him when we left to give him something to help with the pain.” Athena answered, as Bobby went and gave her a hug. 

“What happened? Who attacked him?” Hen asked. 

“It was Chimney.” Athena answered. 

“What?” Eddie asked, completely shocked. 

“That’s a lie. He’s lying. Chimney would never do this. To anyone, but especially Buck.” Hen instantly said in defense of Chimney. There was just no way that he would ever hurt someone like this.   

“Buck wouldn’t lie.” Eddie said in Buck’s defence. 

“Maybe he’s confused. Maybe Chimney was there earlier and then he left before whoever came in and attacked him. I mean come on, Buck has what a foot on Chimney and a hundred pounds. That would be like saying Buck got beat up by a woman.” Hen said. 

“Careful now, I have seen plenty of victims three times the size of Buck get beaten into a coma by their girlfriend. Just because someone is big, that doesn’t mean they fight back. It makes even more sense for Buck’s attacker to be someone he knows, someone he considers family. Buck was trained to be a Navy Seal, you best believe that boy knows how to fight. But he would never raise a hand to someone he loved, even if they were attacking him.” Athena explained. 

She was not about to let anyone claim that Buck was confused or lying. Buck would never make a statement like he did if he wasn’t one hundred percent certain that it was Chimney. 

“I have to agree with Sergeant Grant. The whole time Buckley kept saying it wasn’t Chimney’s fault. That he wasn’t thinking straight and had been stressed and barely sleeping for the past eight days. He kept begging us to not arrest him, to not press charges that he just wanted Chimney to get some help. There is also the matter of Buckley’s cell phone. Nothing in his apartment was taken and there were plenty of valuables easily in reach. If Chimney truly believes that Maddie will reach out to Buckley, it makes sense that he would take Buckley’s phone.” Lou added. 

“Did Buck say why Chimney attacked him? Were they arguing?” Bobby asked, trying to make sense of all of this. 

“Are you saying Buck is lying?” Eddie snapped. 

“No, that’s not what I am saying. I am merely asking what happened, because Hen is right, Chimney isn’t prone to violence. This is a major character change. I’m trying to understand his head space. We know where Buck is. We know he is being taken care of. What we don't know is where Chimney is and Jee-Yun. If they are ok.” Bobby explained. 

“They aren’t here. Chimney called me and said he was on his way out of town. That was twenty minutes before Eddie called me.” Hen said. 

“Where is Jee-Yun?” Athena asked. 

“She went with him. I tried to get Chimney to leave her with me and Karen, but he said that it was important for Maddie to see Jee-Yun. For her to know that Jee was safe and that it would make Maddie come back.” Hen explained. 

“But he doesn’t know where Maddie is. What is he going to do? Travel all around the country hoping to find her in some side of the road diner?” Eddie said. He couldn’t believe that Chimney could be this stupid. He was furious that he had done this to Buck. He didn’t deserve it and Eddie didn’t think he would ever be able to get his anger back under control. 

“He’s obviously not thinking straight. Jee-Yun is only three months old. She can only be in a car seat for two hours at a time otherwise she’s at risk for any number of issues. Including breathing problems. She is still at risk of SIDS. He knows better than this.” Athena said, as she shook her head. 

“What happens now?” Bobby asked Lou. 

“Now, I go to the station and I file the missing person’s report on Maddie Buckley.” Lou started, but Hen interrupted him. 

“Oh no, Chimney already did.”

“He didn’t. It’s not in the system. Buckley just reported her now. I will add a special alert for mental instability. It is possible Maddie is suffering from postpartum depression. Buckley did say she had never shown any signs of suicide or self-harm. He did say that when she is feeling overwhelmed or something is seriously wrong and she can’t handle her life anymore, that she runs. She tries to start over and forget about her old life.” Lou stated. 

“He doesn’t have any idea where she might be?” Bobby asked. 

“No. He doesn’t suspect that she would go to their parents or back to Boston, because of the memories of Doug. I’ll still reach out to Boston PD and Hersey PD to let them know to be on the lookout for her. But I will tell you what I told Buckley. Maddie is an adult and as long as she isn’t a danger to herself or others, no one can make her come back or get into contact with anyone. She will be informed that a missing person’s report was filed on her, after that it’s up to her.” Lou explained. 

“Even if she is suffering from PPD?” Eddie asked. 

“She’s an adult. No one can make her get treatment outside of a court order and they will only do that if she is a danger to herself or others. I would take comfort in knowing that Maddie has never had suicidal thoughts or tried to hurt herself in the past. Not even after everything she experienced with her ex-husband. That is typically a good sign. And Buckley did seem fairly confident that she would come back one day. That she wouldn’t want to be away from her daughter for too long. It’s possible she went away for treatment.” Lou answered.      

“And not tell anyone? I mean she would have told Chimney.” Hen countered. 

“Buck wasn’t sure about how much Chimney knew. He seems to believe that Chimney knew Maddie was struggling and he didn’t do anything to help her. In fact he said Chimney seemed to be isolating her more than ever.” Athena supplied. 

“That’s bullshit. Chimney is one of the best paramedics in the city. He would easily be able to recognize PPD, especially in his own partner. He was just being careful with Jee-Yun because of the pandemic.” Hen instantly said and it was very clear she wasn’t impressed by Buck’s implications. 

“According to Buck, he had reached out a couple of times a week for the past three months to ask to come by and see Jee-Yun. He offered to take her for a few hours to give Maddie a break. Or even overnight. Chimney denied him every time. And even a few weeks ago told him to stop calling and harassing Maddie. That she didn’t need his neediness. The few times Buck did get to speak to Maddie, she sounded stressed and exhausted. And when he offered to come by, she would tell him that Chimney would be back shortly and he wouldn’t like it if Buck was around Jee-Yun with her being so young. To Buck it sounded like Maddie was stuck at home with a baby twenty-four/seven while Chimney got to come and go whenever he wanted.” Athena explained.  

“Ya, that’s Buck’s twisted view of things. See, now it is even looking more likely that he is lying about Chimney attacking him. He’s jealous over Jee-Yun and the time she takes away from Maddie. Buck is the one with a problem.” Hen said, furious that Buck would ever lie like this. It was complete crap. She knew Chimney wasn’t isolating Maddie. Hen and Karen had both offered to go by and help out, but both Maddie and Chimney said they were good and loving the alone time together. There were no signs. It wasn’t Chimney’s fault that Maddie left. 

“We won’t know the full scope of things until I can speak with Maddie and Chimney. There’s no point in arguing about it all.” Lou said, trying to stop a full on fight before it got started. The second Buck had said it was Chimney he knew it wasn’t going to go over well with everyone within the firehouse. They were all a family and now there would be a massive divide. 

“What about Chimney? What’s going to happen to him?” Hen asked. 

“That is now very complicated. I was not expecting for him to have fled town, possibly the state. I have to put out an arrest warrant for him on aggravated battery to start.” Lou began, but was cut off by Hen. 

“This is complete bullshit. You can’t arrest him based on no evidence. He’s innocent. You can’t take anything that Buck said seriously. To begin with he has a skull fracture. He’s not mentally competent right now.”

“His Doctor cleared him to speak with us. He was competent enough to know where he was, what day it was, and do basic math. He didn’t get confused in the initial interview and he never changed his story during the multiple questions that I asked him. His statement and the doctor’s report are all the evidence we need right now to put out an arrest warrant.” Lou explained. 

“You said to start. What does that mean?” Eddie asked. 

“It’s been six hours, Chimney could be out of California. And once the arrest warrant is issued, if he is made aware of it and doesn’t come back to LA, additional charges could be added. Like evading police and running on a felony warrant.” Athena started. 

“And that is assuming the DA doesn’t decide to charge him with attempted murder.” Lou added. 

“Do you think that could happen?” Bobby asked. He knew the injuries Buck sustained were severe and there was still a chance he died from them. He was torn between wanting Chimney to not have his life destroyed and wanting Chimney to be hung at noon for what he did to his son.  

“It’s a very real possibility. Typically with first responders the DA tries to give them a break. However, Buck is in critical condition. He could still die. The department and the DA have to work this as a homicide. Buck gave a dying declaration on video about what happened. For now he will be charged with aggravated battery, just to try and get him back in. But once he does come in and is arrested it will be for attempted murder. And if Buck dies within a year and a day from today, Chimney will be charged with murder, even if he is convicted on attempted murder.” Athena explained.   

“Good, charge him with everything you can.” Eddie seethed. 

“You can’t be kidding me. We’re talking about Chimney here!” Hen yelled. 

“Ya, and he might have killed Buck! I don’t care what you think or how you feel. Because my best friend almost died in his apartment after being beaten by someone he trusted. If I hadn’t found him, he would have died. I had to give him CPR and an emergency trache. I had to shock him back to life. Fuck Chimney!” Eddie roared. 

“And that right there is what will ultimately make the DA move it up to attempted murder. It wasn’t like this was some bar fight. Chimney had the training and responsibility to act and treat Buck after his injuries, regardless of his mental state or causing them. Even if he didn’t cause the injuries and he found anyone unconscious like that and didn’t help, he would still be charged with a misdemeanor and facing up to a year in prison, because he’s a first responder. We have seen it with cops. They shoot a suspect and don’t offer first aid, resulting in the suspect’s death. They get charged and spend a year in jail.” Lou tried to explain. 

“This is bullshit and you know it. Come on Cap, you can’t honestly think Chimney would ever do something like this.” Hen said, trying to get Bobby to see reason. To get them all to see reason.   

“Under normal circumstances, no I wouldn’t. But I also know Buck would never lie about this. I’ve never known Buck to lie once in the five years he’s been on this job and in my life. And Chimney, he does have a history of going crazy where women are involved. He crashed his car and almost killed himself because of Tatiana. Now Maddie leaves and he hasn’t been stable for the past eight days. It’s not that hard for me to see that he might have snapped and attacked Buck. That he might be suffering from a mental break.”

“I will put in the arrest for aggravated battery. The best thing any of you can do for Chimney is to get ahold of him and tell him to come back. To turn himself in. If he is having a mental breakdown the DA will be more willing to work with him. No one within the prosecutor’s office will want to drag a firefighter through court. They could offer him a plea deal where he spends a year or so in an in-patient psychiatric facility to get the help that he needs. But getting that type of deal, all depends on how Chimney handles the charges and if he shows remorse for his actions.” Lou explained. 

“Chimney isn’t crazy.” Hen instantly said in defence of her best friend. 

“Well you better hope like hell that he is. A year in treatment is a hell of a lot better than the six to forty-five years in prison he could be facing on just the aggravated battery charges alone. He could be in for life if convicted of attempted murder or murder. The very last thing that Chimney wants is to go to court and fight this. People recognize Buck all the time from the videos of the truck bombing and the tsunami. The damn kid is a hero in the eyes of this city. It is not going to go over well when the public finds out he was almost killed in his own apartment by someone he works with.” Athena said. 

“Allegedly. You all seem to be forgetting that there is no actual proof that Chimney did this. And Buck isn’t that big of a hero. How will people feel when they find out he sued the department? His own Captain? All the women he slept with while on duty? Buck has a terrible past that will only make it clear he is anything but respectable and honest.” Hen countered. 

“You are unfucking believable.” Eddie seethed, as he started to pace around in a circle. He needed to calm down, but this conversation was only pissing him off more. He couldn’t believe that Hen was so strongly against Buck telling the truth. Like he had anything to gain by any of this. 

“Court is for the lawyers. Right now, Chimney needs to be found and the same for Maddie. Outside of Buckley, do they have any other blood relatives in LA or California for that matter?” Lou asked, because right now arguing about characters and who would be crucified in court was not going to help anything.   

“Chimney has a younger brother Albert. He’s twenty-three I believe. He is working as a firefighter for the 133. That’s it though. Chimney’s biological parents are in Korea. His unofficial adopted parents are in LA, but they are in their early seventies. The Buckley’s are in Pennsylvania, but their relationship has been very rocky their whole lives. They have only come down one time since Buck moved here and that was when Maddie was pregnant and it did not end well for Buck. I can’t really say they would be good for anyone.” Athena answered.

“So Buck is probably the only viable option, but he’s going to be incapacitated for at least six weeks.” Lou said. 

“If they are willing to work with him, and allow him to have help, then he would be a great choice. Certainly the one I would pick. Albert is a sweet kid, but he’s very young and immature right now. It’s not his fault, he’s only been in America for a couple of years and he lived a pretty sheltered life in Korea. He’s entitled to his fun.” Athena said with a shrug. 

“What are you talking about?” Eddie asked, as he stopped pacing and looked at both Lou and Athena. 

“Regardless of if Chimney is arrested in another state or turns himself in, he will still be arrested. He’s going to have to go to county until he gets a bail hearing and it is determined what his bail amount will be or if he even gets it. And there is a good chance he won’t because he’s already fled the state. The second he is arrested Jee-Yun needs to go into the custody of someone. CPS will want it to be a family member. Ideally, we would find Maddie and she could take Jee-Yun, assuming she is stable enough to. I don’t suspect that to be a viable option. Do any of you know if Maddie or Chimney have a living will? Something that legally dictates what happens to Jee-Yun if they are unable to care for her?” Lou asked. 

“They both have one. They actually fought about it before Jee was born. Maddie wanted Buck to have her, but Chimney wanted myself and Karen. Chimney had a lot of valid arguments, mostly with Buck being a single male. He didn’t want Jee to grow up seeing a parade of women or to not be able to have a parent there that could relate to her. Karen and I are also foster parents so it would have been an easier transition. If Jee needs to live with someone, it should be us. Buck isn’t physically able to care for her right now and even if he was fully healthy, him being any sort of father figure would be a terrible idea. Plus, it’s what Chimney wants and with Maddie not around his vote should be the only one that matters.” Hen answered.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Buck is amazing with kids. He’s Christopher’s guardian if I die. Buck would give all of the love in the world to Jee-Yun.” Eddie said, just disgusted by Hen’s words and behavior right now. It was like her true thoughts and feelings about Buck were coming out now. 

“Did they do a declaration of paternity?” Lou asked, before Hen could argue. 

“No. Chimney and Maddie both knew he was the father. He signed the birth certificate.” Hen said, dismissively. 

“That doesn’t matter. In the state of California, unless a declaration of paternity was filed, along with a DNA test to prove paternity, does the father have any sort of legal rights or custody of the child. Even if he signed the birth certificate, it doesn’t matter. Paternity has to be legally established. I’ll double check with the courts, but if it wasn’t, Chimney doesn’t have custody of Jee-Yun. Maddie would have full custody of her and that means her living will be legally held.” Lou explained. 

“It also means legally speaking, Chimney has kidnapped and transported a minor potentially across state lines. If he gets pulled over and can’t prove he has custody of her, he could be arrested on kidnapping charges as well.” Athena added. 

“What? But she’s his daughter!” Hen said. She couldn’t believe any of this. It was like they wanted Chimney to spend the rest of his life in prison. 

“It doesn’t matter. Look, those charges might not stick. A lot of parents aren’t aware of the paternity declaration. Fathers get arrested all the time because they took their kid on a vacation while the mom was working or to visit their family. The charges get dropped. But in Chimney’s case with the aggravated battery, it looks bad. He really needs to come in himself before this gets any bigger.” Athena explained. 

“What happens if Chimney gets arrested and Buck isn’t healthy enough to take care of Jee-Yun? And how long would he have to?” Bobby asked. 

“That really depends on how long this goes before he is arrested. It also depends on the CPS worker. You might get one that wants to place Jee-Yun into a foster home until Buckley is healthy enough. Or one could be willing to allow someone to help Buckley with her until he is healthy. As for the timeline, it’s hard to say and again it depends on the worker. Even with these charges, some will allow the parent to still have custody of their child until the charges are resolved. Others will keep the child away and some even file to have their parental rights terminated if convicted, even for a lesser charge and sentencing. We won’t know until Jee-Yun is found.” Lou said. 

“Buck is gonna be with me and Chris when he can leave. I have a spare room that is filled with boxes. I could easily turn that into a temporary bedroom for Jee, if Buck is allowed to have her.” Eddie said. 

“Are you sure about Buck staying with you? He could stay with us. He’s going to need a lot of help.” Bobby offered. 

“I know and part of that is going to be getting changed and showered. Buck and I have already gone through all of that together between the tsunami and my shooting. He’ll be more comfortable with me.” There was no way Eddie was going to allow Buck to go anywhere but with him. 

“For now, I will get back to the station and start working on this. The best thing any of you can do is call Chimney and get him to turn around.” Lou said, before he turned and looked at Athena. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“Please do. And thank-you.” Athena said with a great deal of appreciation.

Lou gave a nod and he started to make his way out of the hospital. The tension within the waiting room was thick. No one really knew what to say or what to do. They were all clearly taking sides and both sides had strong opinions. Bobby never expected for his team, his family, to be this divided and he had no idea how to make any of it better. How to fix it. 

“What exactly did Buck say happened?” Hen asked, because they had yet gotten to be told the story. 

“Chimney showed up unannounced, Buck didn’t even invite him in, the second the door was open he walked in. He started talking about how Jee was in the hospital. That Maddie had taken her to the ER. Buck asked if she was ok and Chimney said she was fine. Maddie was giving her a bath and she slipped and fell under the water for a second or two.” Athena started. 

“She probably nodded off for a second.” Eddie commented. 

“Most likely scenario. I’ve seen it happen all the time on calls. Single mothers that don’t have any support system, no family, they fall asleep while feeding the baby, bathing, even standing up rocking the baby. Thankfully she did jerk awake quickly, that could have ended in tragedy, and it wouldn’t have been the first time.” Bobby agreed. 

“But Maddie has a support system. She isn’t a single mother.” Hen argued. 

“Exactly and she didn’t feel like it would be ok to reach out to any of us. That right there tells me that maybe Chimney was handling things wrong. That what Buck said was true and he was trying to isolate her.” Athena countered. 

“Before Jee-Yun was born, Maddie knew she could have reached out to any of us for help. To Sue or Josh, or Carla, hell I even told her if she needed help my Abuela would be there for her. She knew she had a support system and she still felt like it wasn’t allowed to reach out to them.” Eddie added. 

“That could be part of her PPD. That doesn’t automatically mean Chimney did anything wrong. We don’t have his side to the story.” Hen said in defense of her partner. 

“What did Buck say happened next?” Bobby asked his wife. 

“Chimney seemed to believe that Maddie left because she lost a hold of Jee in the tub. Buck kept trying to get Chimney to understand that Maddie needed time. Chimney refused to listen. He kept saying that he needed to find her and get Jee-Yun back with her. That it would prove to Maddie that she didn't do anything wrong. That she needed to know that he loves her and is there for her. Buck tried to get Chimney to listen to him, to understand that Maddie just needed time and that she would come back once she was ready.”

“She might never come back on her own though.” Hen said. 

“I don’t know. Buck seems to believe one hundred percent that she will. And maybe she will. She could easily be off in a treatment facility right now. We don’t know. But I also don’t know how much of Buck’s faith in Maddie is genuine or his own hope that she won’t abandon him again.” Athena explained sadly. 

“I have to go with Buck on this one. Those two have been through a lot together. But they always gravitate back to the other. Sometimes it takes years, but they do it.” Eddie said, agreeing with Buck.  

“They do have a strong connection. If Maddie wasn’t going to reach out to Chimney, it would be Buck that she does. It makes sense for Chimney to take his phone.” Bobby added. 

“How did the fight turn violent?” Eddie asked, because he needed to know exactly what happened. 

“We don’t know that it did.” Hen countered with force behind her voice.

“Buck said that Chimney was bothered by his lack of surprise at the news that Jee had been in the ER. Said that it wasn’t until he said he was going after Maddie did Buck start to get into the conversation. Chimney believed, or believes, that Buck knows where Maddie is. That, that was why he wasn’t racing off to find her as well. Why, he didn’t want Chimney to go after her.” Athena supplied. 

“Maybe he does.” Hen agreed. 

“He doesn’t.” Eddie said confidently. 

“You can’t know that.” Hen instantly argued. 

“Yes I can. If there is one thing those two are capable of doing, it’s keeping a secret for the other. If Buck knew where Maddie was, he would have been the one to have Jee and not Ravi at the station. He would have taken a few personal days and dropped her off at a facility. He would have helped her research them, visited them. He would have been calling her, visiting her, until she left. He wouldn’t have let them out of his sight. Most importantly though, Maddie would never have asked him to keep this secret. She would have known that Buck would die before telling anyone and that would have put tension between him and Chimney and the firehouse as a result. She never would have put him in that position. It’s why she handed Jee off to Ravi instead of Buck. He might have had contact with her afterwards, but he has no idea where she is.” Eddie confidently explained. 

He had spent a lot of time with Buck and that meant he knew all of the workings between him and Maddie. And yes, there have been some bumpy roads and Maddie has done things that Eddie didn’t agree with, but at the end of the day, Buck and Maddie would die and kill for the other.

“Buck did admit to Chimney that Maddie had called him the night she left. But she never told him where she was going or why. She said that she would be back and that she needed him to take care of Chimney and Jee. That she loved him and that she would be back. Buck tried to get more out of her, but she wasn’t budging and he knew not to push. And I do believe Buck. Eddie is right, Maddie wouldn’t put him in the position of knowing and if Buck did know things would have been planned better. This feels very much like someone snapping and just taking off. And it’s not the first time a mother suffering from PPD has done it. Sometimes they come back and sometimes they don’t. I just hope her connection to Buck brings her back at some point.” Athena said. 

“Those two are ride or die. She’ll be back.” Eddie said confidently. 

“I hope you are right. For both of their sakes and Jee’s. Buck tried to get Chimney to understand that he didn’t know where Maddie was. Buck said the first punch came out of nowhere. He wasn’t expecting it and Chimney used all of his strength. Buck stumbled back and hit his head against the table, my guess is that’s where the skull fracture came into play. He was in and out of consciousness. He could hear Chimney moving around, but he couldn’t make out what he was saying. At one point he was by Buck and Buck reached out and grabbed his ankle, that’s the fingernail scrapings that the doctor took. Chimney pulled his leg away and kicked Buck the side of the head, where he had originally hit it off the table. He kicked him a few more times before he stomped on his jaw before he left.” Athena managed to say without her voice shaking. She was still pissed off and so unbelievably hurt for everything that Buck had been through. He didn’t deserve any of it and she wished she could have made it all better for him. 

“So he was awake for every blow.” Bobby said, sadly. 

“He was. He’s struggling right now and I think that will get worse once he’s had the time to heal up a bit. It was a violent attack and that can be hard on anyone to overcome, but it’s worse when it is from someone that you know and love.” Athena said. 

“There’s still no proof that Chimney did this. Buck could be confused. He’s got a skull fracture. Anything he says can’t be taken seriously.” Hen still argued. She refused to believe that Chimney would ever do something like this. He wasn’t a violent person. There was no way he would ever do something like this.            

“I think right now emotions are running high. I think it would be best for us to get some space and take some time to cool down. We all want what is best for Buck and Chimney, as well as Jee-Yun.” Athena said, trying to resolve at least some of the tension. She knew it was going to be impossible, but maybe they could walk away without wanting to kill each other. 

“I’m gonna sit with Buck.” Eddie said. 

“I’ve given you the next week off. That’s all I could give you though. But the Chief is aware of Buck’s injuries and that he will need help once he is cleared to leave. I can get you on moderated hours so you can make sure Buck isn’t alone, but so you can keep working.” Bobby offered.

“Appreciate it.” Eddie said, before he headed off down the hallway. 

“You can’t believe this Bobby. You can’t believe that Chimney would ever do something like this to anyone. That he would never put Jee-Yun in danger. He knows how to take care of her and he’s not going to spend all day in the car. He’s not an idiot and he’s not mentally unstable.” Hen immediately said once they were alone. 

“Hen, we don’t know what is going on with Chimney right now. Even you have to admit he’s been struggling ever since Maddie left. And I can’t blame him for that, no one can. The best thing for Chimney right now would be to turn himself in so he can clear all of this up. Why don’t you try and call him and see if you can get him back here?” Bobby said.

The last thing he wanted to do was cause an even larger rift between the team. It was going to be bad enough when Chimney was back. He didn't doubt Buck’s story at all and yes a skull fracture could give someone moments of confusion and memory loss, but it didn’t make you see something that never happened. Buck saw Chimney hit him each and every time. Bobby had to believe him and he had to put Buck and Jee ahead of anyone else. Hen gave a nod before she stormed off and Bobby let out an exhausted sigh.  

“This is gonna be bad.” Bobby said. 

“It’s already bad. The pain that boy is in. The whole time he had to talk, tears were rolling down his cheeks from just the sheer pain of moving his mouth even the slightest. He’s pale and weak. Bobby, he looks like he could just stop breathing at any moment.” Athena said with a shaky voice. Finally allowing her feelings to bleed out. 

Bobby pulled his wife into his arms. He knew they had a very long road to go with Buck, but he was going to have hope that Buck would pull through this. He couldn’t worry about Chimney. He couldn’t even worry about Jee-Yun right now. All he could do was focus on Buck, because he was the one that was at the greatest risk. He was the one that needed all of the love and support that Bobby could give. 

“We’re going to get him through this. If we have to find specialists or move him to a better hospital, then we will. We will get him through this.” Bobby didn’t care what he needed to do. He didn’t care if he had to move mountains. He would do it if it gave Buck a better chance of survival.

“All we can do right now is stay with him and try to get him through this. He’s got such a long road and it’s going tobe a very hard one. Once his loft has been cleared as a crime scene I can go and clean it up. Get rid of any food that will go bad, pack up some of his clothes to bring to Eddie’s.”

“I can help get the room all set up for him. I also need to call the Chief back and let him know what is going on with Chimney. I’ll also need to find some floaters to fill in.” It was going to be a nightmare dealing with different floaters, but there was no choice. He was going to be down two people from Buck and Chimney and Eddie was going to be on moderated hours so he could help Buck. They needed to try and find some permanent replacements to have so they didn’t have to have someone new each shift. 

“You go and make the calls that you need. I will go and start calling some treatment facilities. Maybe I can find Maddie. I understand she needs help and space, but she also needs to know that Chimney almost killed her brother. If not for Buck, then for herself. She shouldn’t be around Chimney right now.”

Athena wanted to believe that Chimney wouldn’t do anything to hurt Maddie, but she couldn’t be confident in that. Not after everything they had just seen. Maddie needed to be warned. Athena was just hoping that she could find Maddie, because after eight days, she could be anywhere, including not in the country. This was a nightmare and it was just getting started. 

Chapter Text

Eddie couldn’t believe how horrible Buck looked. The second he walked into the room he felt like falling down and crying. He couldn’t control the tears that ran down his cheeks as he went and sat down. He knew Buck was going to look bad, he just didn’t expect for him to look this bad. Like he was dead. Eddie was terrified that he was going to have to call his son and tell him that his favorite person in the whole world was hurt, was dead. He had no idea how he was going to tell his son about Buck. He knew he needed to. He knew eventually Buck would be coming back to the house with him and he was not going to let Buck leave. Not until he felt like Buck was safe and in a good place mentally and emotionally to handle being on his own again. 

Eddie looked up when he heard the door opening. He saw Bobby and Athena coming back into the room. They had been in and out of the room for the past six hours. Buck had been given two neuro checks, but he was only awake long enough to answer a few questions before he was put back under. He was just in too much pain. And as weak as it made Eddie feel, he was relieved when Buck went back under. He couldn’t handle seeing his best friend in so much pain. Bobby and Athena had been busy on their phones talking to various people and trying to find Chimney. 

“Anything?” Eddie asked. 

“Chief Alonzo would like a meeting with myself, Commissioner Hamilton and Athena. We need to discuss Chimney and what will happen moving forward. As well as what can be done to help Buck and Maddie.” Bobby answered.

“Do you think they will hold this against Buck?” Eddie was worried that they would try and use this as a way to get Buck out of the LAFD. He knew that lots of people loved Buck, but some were also still upset about the lawsuit thing. It would only be natural for them to try and force Buck out with his injuries. 

“No. This meeting is dedicated for Buck. They are going to give him as much time as he needs to recover. Even if he ends up with partial sight in his left eye, as long as he can wear contacts and pass the recertification test, they have no interest in holding him back. They want to know what they can do to help him through his recovery. To ensure he feels safe. What needs to be done for Chimney and they want to try and see what they can do to help find Maddie. Athena is going with me to speak on the legal proceedings moving forward. Buck is not in trouble or at risk at all.” Bobby reassured. 

“Bobby is right. Everyone just wants to make sure Buck has the best chance of coming back. With him being brutally attacked like this by a fellow firefighter, it makes everything more complicated and the LAFD is just trying to get ahead of the storm that will hit.” Athena confirmed. 

“Good.” Eddie said relieved. If the LAFD were on Buck’s side that would at least be one last thing they had to worry about. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe we should be reaching out to CPS ourselves. Giving them the head’s up about Chimney and Jee.” 

“I don’t know if bringing them into this so soon would be the best idea.” Bobby said, worried about what CPS could do given enough time.    

“No, Eddie’s right. We should reach out. If we wait until Jee is in their custody, we roll the dice on the worker. But if we reach out to them, we could do research on the right worker. Someone that would be willing to work with us and Buck to keep Jee in his care. I can call around and see who would be best.” Athena agreed. 

It would make the most sense to find a CPS worker that would be willing to work with Buck in keeping Jee-Yun under his care when Chimney was found. This way they could have everything set up that would be required for Buck to have in order for Jee to be with him. 

“I just think we need to be transparent and ready for when Chimney is caught. We can’t pretend like he’s never going to get caught. Eventually Jee will need to be taken care of by Buck and we need to plan for that as best as we can.” Eddie said. 

“Absolutely. And we will. We can get a plan put together. We know they are going to live with you. Do you want help getting the room ready?” Bobby asked, more than willing to do whatever he could to help out. 

“No, it’s fine. I can do that. As much as I would like to stay with Buck the whole time, I have to go home to take care of Christopher.” Eddie couldn’t imagine leaving Buck alone like this, but he knew Carla wouldn’t be able to stay with Christopher for the next two weeks. He also couldn’t keep shuffling him around to his Abuela or Pepa. And based on how Hen spoke, the last thing he was going to do was trust her with his son. And Bobby and Athena would have their hands full with everything else. 

“We can help you with whatever you need. After our meeting I will go and speak with Albert and let him know what is going on. Assuming Hen hasn’t already called him.” Bobby said. 

“Ya, and she’s telling everyone what lies Buck is spreading. She’ll try to discredit him, turn everyone against him.” Eddie said with his anger showing once again. 

“She can try. And I am sure Chimney will as well once he is brought back. However, there was no denying what Buck said as being anything but true. We have his dying declaration, Chimney will have Buck’s phone and the DNA that the doctor collected under Buck’s fingernails will match to Chimney as well. The lab might even be able to get Buck’s DNA off Chimney’s shoes that he was wearing during the attack. I didn’t want to say this in front of Hen, but the evidence is piling up against Chimney. The DA will press attempted murder charges and there is a very good chance he might press kidnapping charges as well.” Athena said. 

“I thought you said those kidnapping charges usually get dropped.” Eddie said. 

“Typically they do. However, the DA is considering adding the charges, as many charges as he can, to encourage the judge to deny Chimney bail. It’s not just for Buck’s peace of mind, but also for Chimney’s. If he is in jail then he will have to go for evaluations and speak with a therapist. If Chimney does need mental health, then jail would help to determine that.” Athena explained. 

“It might be best for everyone if Chimney was in jail.” Bobby said sadly. 

He couldn’t believe all of this was happening. No one prepares you for something like this when you become a Captain. Or a father. All Bobby wanted to do was make it right and this time he couldn’t. He couldn’t take the pain away from Buck. He couldn’t give him a hug and wipe his tears. It was going to take time and there was nothing that Bobby could really do to make it better.

“We can’t worry too much about that right now. For now we need to make sure Buck has what he needs when he can leave and to make sure his job is secure.” Athena said. She knew a lot was going to come up as things progressed, but the first step was just making sure Buck could be released from the hospital. 

“We should get going for that meeting.” Bobby said to Athena before he turned and continued to Eddie. “Call if you need anything or anything changes.”

“I will.” Eddie promised. 

Athena went and pressed a kiss to Buck’s forehead before she moved away. Bobby squeezed Buck’s free hand before he headed out with his wife. He hated having to leave Buck, but he knew he had to handle this so everything would be ok for when Buck got to leave. 

XXX   

Eddie wasn’t certain how long he had been sitting in the same spot. His back was starting to hurt from the plastic chair that was designed to be a torture device. He didn’t care though, because he was going to sit here no matter what. He wasn’t leaving until tonight and then he would be right back here in the morning. Eddie scrubbed a hand over his face as the door opened and a man walked in that Eddie did not know. He wasn’t wearing a white lab coat and he certainly wasn’t a nurse. He was in jeans, a blue t-shirt and a black leather jacket, he clearly was not a detective. 

Eddie stood and moved around to the foot of the bed as he spoke. “Who are you?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt. My name is Tommy Kinard. I used to work at the 118. I actually think Evan was my replacement, or he would have been my partner I guess. I moved over to Harbor as a pilot.”

Eddie held his hand up to indicate for them to step outside. Buck had recently been re-sedated so he would be down for at least two hours. Still, he didn’t want Buck hearing this, assuming that was possible and he did not want some stranger looking at Buck. Tommy might have been from the 118, but he wasn’t there now and Eddie had no idea what the fuck he was doing here.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but, what the fuck are you doing here?” Eddie asked, once they were out in the hallway. He made sure that he was the one facing Buck’s room.   

Tommy held his hands up in a surrender as he spoke calmly. Not the least bit bothered by Eddie’s hostility. “I’m going to assume you are Eddie Diaz. I’m friends with Hen and Chim. Hen called me and told me that Chim was in trouble. That Buck had been attacked and was blaming Chimney. Hen wanted to know if I had heard from Chim or if I could get a hold of him.”

“Buck isn’t lying. Physical evidence will prove Chimney did this to him. Buck could still die. So I don’t have time for you to show up and do Hen or Chimney’s dirty work. I’m too busy hoping my best friend hasn’t been beaten to death by his sister’s boyfriend.” Eddie growled. 

“I don’t think he’s lying.” Tommy stated. He wasn’t bothered by how angry Eddie was, he would be furious too. “I’ve spoken with Chimney once a week, at least, ever since I left the 118 four years ago. When he started to date Maddie, he told me about her and Buck. I met Maddie and have seen her dozens of times and she always talks about Buck. I feel like I know him. I know him enough to know that he would never lie about something like this. I also know something has been wrong with Chimney since Jee-Yun was born.”

“Wrong how?” Eddie jumped on. 

“Chim has always been easy going. Before he met Maddie he bounced from one girl to the next. He drank a lot and enjoyed the party. He got deep with a woman every time, rushed things, wasn’t afraid to lie about who he was. He used to lie about his name a bunch of times and not his nickname, his actual name. But then he met Maddie and everything changed. I was happy for him. When he told me Maddie was pregnant, he was genuinely excited.”

“But?” Eddie pressed. 

“But the further along she got the more nervous and anxious he got. I figured it had to due to the pandemic. I mean it was a scary time for everyone, I couldn’t imagine having someone that I love pregnant and not being able to be there with her. I figured once things settled down and the baby was born he would level back out. Only he didn’t act like I thought he would with being a father.”

“How did he act?” 

Eddie knew that him and Chim weren’t all that close. It was always Hen and Chim. It made sense why Bobby had wanted to have him as a probie, it was so Buck had a partner. Someone he could be close with at work and could keep up with him and assist him wherever needed. Eddie hadn’t seen Chim as a father. He didn’t really see Chim outside of work. He didn’t really have much interest in seeing Chim outside of work. 

“I thought he would be attentive, present. Especially because his own father was never around and he sent him across the world.He always talked about wanting to have a family of his own. When Maddie was pregnant he didn’t stop talking about all of the things they were going to do together. Then when Jee was born he was almost never home. He was working or he was out at the bars all over again. He was even talking to women. I had been there about a dozen times now in the past three months and saw him flirting with different women.” Tommy said, disgusted. 

“What?” 

Eddie knew that Chim had a rocky history with women, he had heard enough about them after learning about the rebar through his head. Eddie thought Chimney and Maddie were a great couple and it helped that Buck was happy about them being together. Maddie had gone through the abusive marriage with Doug, but Eddie knew Buck had also gone through it in a different sense. Getting to see Maddie in a safe and loving relationship had been a massive relief to Buck. Now it was looking like Chimney had been stepping out or at least trying to on Maddie, while she was at home struggling to care of their newborn daughter.    

“From the few conversations I’ve heard, it sounds like he had cheated on her with a handful of different women. I had talked to him about. I had yelled and lectured him on how he was a father and fucking up the best thing that had happened in his life. It wasn’t even just about Maddie, who I love. I think she’s amazing and she survived a horrific marriage and kidnapping. But it was about Jee-Yun. He was abandoned by his father, he had the chance to give Jee the best life possible. To break the trauma cycle. And he was fucking it up. I don’t understand how Chimney went from sleeping around to almost killing someone.”

Tommy ran a hand through his hair as he turned slightly so he could look through the window at Buck’s unconscious body on the bed. He had been told about his injuries from Hen, after he had to drag it out of her. He just couldn’t believe someone could do so much damage to someone they had viewed as a younger brother. 

“Did Hen tell you about his injuries?” Eddie asked, doing his best to keep the anger from his tone. 

“She did. I had to ask her a few times before she finally told me. She seems to believe that more than one person must have attacked him. I’m concerned that Hen is blindingly believing Chimney without even speaking to him to find out what happened. Do the doctors think he’ll pull through?” Tommy asked, as he looked at Eddie. 

“He’s in critical condition. If he makes it through the next week then he should survive. What his recovery looks like though, we won’t know. There’s a chance he is blind in his left eye. His heart has been working harder and struggling a bit, making his breathing labored. The Doctor said it’s because, even though he’s sedated, his body is still feeling pain. He’s got a long road before he’s recovered. He might always have permanent limits. His career could be over.”

That was the last thing that Eddie wanted to think about, but he knew he would be there for Buck. It wouldn’t be like the last time after the truck bombing. He wasn’t going to be consumed by his own life and feelings that he left Buck in the dust. He was going to be there for Buck through all of this, no matter what.

“Jesus fuck. Hen said they were going to charge Chim with aggravated battery. That they have a warrant out for his arrest. I tried calling him, but he wouldn’t answer. I left a message, made it seem like I didn’t know what was going on that I just wanted to check in. I don’t know if he’ll call me back, but if he does what should I say to him?”

“Right now we are just trying to get him to come back. We don’t want him to know this, but it’s looking like the DA is going to press attempted murder charges on Chimney. Even if Buck survives, with attempted murder, if Buck dies within a year and a day from the attack due to complications from the attack, Chimney can still be charged with murder.” Eddie didn’t know what he should be telling Tommy, but his gut was telling him that Tommy could be trusted. It was rare for when Eddie’s gut told him he could trust someone right away, that he felt a connection to someone almost instantly. The last time that happened it was with Buck. 

“And if he’s convicted of aggravated battery, they can’t charge him with murder because of double jeopardy. Attempted murder is the only exception.” Tommy said completely understanding. “How did this happen? Were they fighting? I knew Chimney was struggling, but I never thought he would become violent.”

“You don’t know about Maddie?” Eddie asked, slightly surprised. 

“No, did something happen? Is she ok?” Tommy asked with concern lacing his voice. 

“Not really. She left eight days ago, or nine almost now. She’s been suffering from PPD. Buck’s been trying to reach out to her since Jee had been born, but Chimney was always blocking it and from everyone. He’s had Maddie taking care of Jee all on her own practically since she was born. Maddie nodded off while giving Jee a bath and she went under the water for a few seconds. Jee’s ok, but that scared Maddie enough that she left Jee with our probie at the 118 before she took off. She left a video message to Chimney, telling him to take care of Jee and not follow her. That she would be back.”

“Holy shit. I had no idea. I haven’t seen Chimney in about a week and now that makes sense. How was Evan handling it? From what I understood from both Maddie and Chimney, Evan and Maddie were close. They were the only family that they seemed to have.”

“You know you’re the first person to actually ask how Buck has been since his sister did a runner? Everyone has been so focused on Chim that they forgot that Maddie was Buck’s sister. His only biological family.” Eddie shook his head before he continued. “He’s worried, but he was doing ok. Maddie had actually called him when she left. She didn’t tell him where she was going, just that she had to go away for a little while. That she would be back. She asked him to take care of Chimney and Jee. That’s what Chimney and Buck were fighting over. Chimney wanted to go after Maddie, but Buck wanted him to give her the time and space she asked for. To respect her wishes.”

“What did you think Chimney should do?” Tommy asked, because he could argue from both sides. 

Eddie gave a small huff of a laugh to that, as he moved closer to the window to Buck’s room. His eyes scanning the monitors to make sure he was still stable. “Chimney asked me what I would do. My ex-wife, Shannon, left while I was overseas. I never blamed her for leaving, honestly. I had the option of not re-enlisting and I re-upped. Said it was because we needed the insurance and money, but the truth was I didn’t know how to handle having a special needs son. Christopher was born with Cerebral Palsy. I didn’t handle it well and I spent most of his life for the first seven years overseas on tour and missions. When I was around, I wasn’t much help.”

“I was a pilot in the Army. I get what it’s like to be gone and see the shit we have and then try to go home and act like everyone else. It’s not easy. I burned through a shitload of boyfriends. I couldn’t imagine trying to do it with a child, much less one with CP.” Tommy said, completely understanding some of what Eddie had gone through. 

“Shannon had my parents to help, but they were always judging her and everyone. They still believe they would be the better parents to my son. Only they were smothering him. They never let him do anything. All they saw was his CP. After I was honorably discharged I bounced around between minimum wage jobs. Money was tight and we were constantly fighting. Shannon left one day without telling me. She came to LA to take care of her dying mother. Chris and I just ended up in LA because the LAFD is the best in the country. I tried explaining to Chimney that our situations were not the same. I always knew roughly where Shannon was. I knew what she was doing. I might not have been happy about it, but I knew she wasn’t a danger to herself.”

“And you think Maddie is?”

“I don’t know. Buck doesn’t believe she is a danger to herself. She’s never had any self-harm incidents or suicidal thoughts. At the same time she potentially left in a mental health crisis, so I can’t totally rule out the potential of her harming herself. It’s why I understood that Chimney was so worried about her. The thing is Chimney went about all of this the wrong way. He went over to Buck’s to tell him about Jee’s accident. Only Chim picked up on the fact that Buck wasn’t surprised to hear that Jee had been in the hospital. Busk admitted that Maddie called to tell him Jee was ok. That she had to go away and would be back. She asked him to look after Chimney and Jee for her. Chimney believes that Buck knows where Maddie is and he is refusing to tell him. That’s what sent Chimney off.”

“Some could argue that Evan should have told Chim that he had contact with Maddie right when she decided to leave. But playing Devil’s advocate, Maddie is Evan’s brother; he doesn't have to disclose all of her secrets. There has to be some sacredness between siblings. Besides, even if Evan did know where Maddie was, he’s not under any obligation to tell Chim where she is. She specifically asked for no one to look for her and he should respect that to some degree.”

“I don’t blame Buck at all. It’s a hard position for him to be in. He wants his sister to be safe and healthy, but at the same time he doesn’t want to leave her alone if she needs help. He also has to respect her wishes, especially because Doug chased her around the country looking to kill her. I was sympathetic to Chimney. But he handled all of this wrong. If he was that desperate to go and look for Maddie, he could have left Jee with Buck. He could have kept in contact with him and reported Maddie as missing to the police. But he didn’t do that. He didn’t report her, even though he knew she was suffering from PPD. And now he’s out there with Jee trying to hunt her down.”

“Wait, he took Jee? He didn’t leave her with someone?” Tommy quickly asked, as his head snapped to look at Eddie. 

“No. He left after attacking Buck. It’s what’s making this an even bigger clusterfuck. They didn't do a declaration of paternity, legally Chim doesn’t have any rights to Jee. When Chim is arrested or turns himself in, Jee will have to be placed into someone else’s care. The detective said they would follow Maddie’s living will which appoints Buck to be Jee’s guardian.”

“But with Evan injured, a clusterfuck turns into an all out shitstorm.” Tommy nodded with understanding. “What can I do to help? And I know you and Evan don’t know me and you have no reason to trust me, but I will help in any way that I can.”

“There’s not much anyone can do right now. When Buck is cleared to leave he’s going to be staying with me. We can’t do anything about Jee until Chim is found. We’re in this holding pattern.” Eddie said, wishing there was something more that he could do.

“I can’t believe he took Jee with him. She’s too young to sit in a car seat while Chim drives around the country aimlessly. He’s not thinking straight. Something is going on with him, something more than just Maddie leaving. He’s been different ever since Jee has been born, and I know Albert was in a bad accident, but still. There has to be something we’re missing. People don’t go from being easy-going to almost killing someone overnight, or even in eight days. I just wish I knew what the fuck happened to him.” Tommy said with a shake of his head. 

He felt guilty and he knew he had no real reason to. He had tried to get Chimney out of the bars and going home to his family, but ultimately he couldn’t force him to. All he could do was be there for his friend and hope that everything would work out ok. If he had known or even suspected that Chimney was losing his grip on reality he would have spoken up to someone. To Hen or even Bobby, but there was never any indication that he could have become violent. 

“That’s something we won’t know until Chimney is found. And none of this is your fault. The blame only lies on Chim’s shoulders. I need to get back in there.” Eddie said, not liking being so far from Buck. 

“Is it ok if I wait with you?” Tommy asked, not wanting to impose. 

Eddie wanted to tell him no, but he also thought it might be best to keep Tommy close for a little while. He might get a call from Chim, but he might still be there when Bobby and Athena got back. He wanted to see how Bobby and Tommy reacted to each other. 

“Ya, no worries.” Eddie said with an easy smile. 

They both headed into Buck’s room and Eddie went and picked up the cup with some ice chips in it. He sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up one of the ice cubes and ran it over Buck’s lips. They were chapped from being unable to drink anything with him being sedated. He was hooked up to an IV to hydrate him, but it was doing nothing for Buck’s chapped lips that would eventually crack and bleed if left untreated. Eddie couldn’t do much for Buck, but he could do this and that made him feel a little bit better.

Chapter Text

Bobby and Athena made their way into the Commissioner’s office. They were both a bit worried about what could happen during this meeting. It wasn’t that Buck was at fault, but they could try and push him out due to his injuries. As much as they would like to believe that the LAFD was on Buck’s side, they didn’t know for certain that they were. Bobby did know he was not going to make the same mistakes as he did before. He was going to be a strong advocate for Buck returning to work when he was ready. 

“Captain Nash and Sergeant Grant here to see Commissioner Hamilton.” Bobby said to the receptionist. 

“Yes, he has been waiting for you. You can go right on in.” She said with a warm smile.

Bobby and Athena both gave her a small one in return as they moved around the desk and walked down the short hallway to reach the Commissioner’s office. Bobby knocked, not wanting to just barge in. 

“Come in!” Commissioner Hamilton’s voice could be heard through the door. 

Bobby opened it and they walked in to see Chief Alonzo as well as another man with the Commissioner. 

“Captain Nash, Sergeant Grant, I appreciate you both coming down on such short notice. I know you have your hands full at the moment.” Commissioner Hamilton said, from where he was half sitting against the front of his desk. 

“It’s no problem Sir.” Bobby said. 

Commissioner Hamilton spoke as he waved his hand over to the third man that Bobby and Athena didn’t know. “This is Attorney Anthony Reed, he works with the department. I asked him here so we could all have the information and ask any questions. I would like to make this as easy as possible. And all of this is informal, so please try and relax. No one is in trouble.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your man.” Reed started. “As I am sure you are aware, we need to handle this very carefully. We don’t have nearly enough information about the attack and what Firefighter Buckley’s injuries are to make proper informed decisions. We were hoping you could shed some light on what transpired.” 

“First and foremost though, how is Buckley?” Chief Alonzo asked. 

“He’s not good. He’s in critical condition in the ICU. His injuries include; a broken zygomatic bone, two broken ribs, left side of his jaw was dislocated, but his right side was broken in multiple places causing him to have metal plates and screws in his jaw. The screws forced him to be back on blood thinners until they can come out. If they can’t come out because the bones didn’t heal properly he will have to be on them for the rest of his life. It will take up to twelve weeks before his jaw is fully healed, assuming they don’t have to reset it at six weeks. He also has a five centimeter skull fracture that will take anywhere from three to six months to heal. As well as a retinal detachment from the initial punch to his eye. The doctor was able to repair it, but there is a chance he is permanently blind in that eye or his sight is compromised.” Bobby rattled off and he still couldn’t believe how injured Buck was. 

“Jesus.” Commissioner Hamilton said at the long list of injuries. 

“There is also a chance his heart will have some damage from the pain his body is experiencing. Right now he has to be on oxygen because his breathing is labored. Even though they are keeping him sedated for the next week, his body is still showing signs of pain.” Athena added. 

“I don’t even know what to say. I wasn’t aware his injuries were that serious.” Chief Alonzo said, just completely taken aback. 

“Is he likely to make it?” Reed asked gently. 

“He has a chance, but the LAPD is working this as a homicide. Obviously our hope is that it only gets trialed as an attempted murder.” Athena answered. 

“And Howard Han did this? Chimney?” Chief Alonzo asked, still shocked by that fact. 

“He did. Buck had to give a dying declaration and he was very clear that it was Chimney that attacked him. Buck didn’t even get the chance to hit back. And he was awake for every blow. We were able to get nail scrapings from Buck, he scratched Chimney’s leg as he was trying to leave. We’ve put a rush on it and should have the results within the next seventy-two hours. That and the dying declaration, it will be enough to convict.” Athena stated.

“Did Buckley know why Han attacked him?” Commissioner Hamilton asked.

“Buck’s older sister Maddie has been dating Chimney. They recently had a daughter together. Over the last three months things have been hard on Maddie. She’s been isolated and not getting much rest. About nine days ago, during the blackout, Maddie was giving Jee a bath and she nodded off for a second. Jee went under the water, and Maddie woke up right away. She took her to the ER, but Jee was perfectly fine. Maddie then left Jee with our probie, Ravi, at the station before she took off. She left a video message to Chimney telling him to not look for her that she would be back. She also called Buck to tell him that she would come back and to look after Chimney and Jee for her.” Bobby started.

“And do we know where she is?” Chief Alonzo asked.  

“Not yet. Buck filed a missing person’s report. We are trying to locate her. She doesn’t know about any of this. So far though all of our calls have gone straight to voicemail. Buck is worried, rightfully so, that Maddie has postpartum depression. He’s hoping she went into a treatment facility, but we just don’t know.” Athena explained. 

“PPD is no joke. A lot of women end up committing suicide.” Reed said, concerned now for Maddie and what it could do to Buck. 

“We have her as a priority for the missing person’s report. We’re sending out her photo to every treatment facility in the country. As well as police stations and hospitals. Hopefully someone recognizes her and reaches out.” Athena said, 

“We will also reach out to fire departments and put the word out. The more people looking for her the better right now.” Commissioner Hamilton said. “Was the fight about Maddie?”

“It was. Chimney wanted to go and look for her, but Buck told him not to. Buck believes completely that Maddie will come back once she is ready. He was worried about Chimney chasing after her and disrespecting her wishes, that it would push her away and make her not want to come back. In this scenario Chimney should have listened to Buck. He knows Maddie best, especially in a state of trauma. Chimney became angry when Buck didn’t seem to be all that worried about Jee or Maddie. He believed that Buck knew where she was. Buck admitted to the phone call, but denied knowing where Maddie was. That’s when Chimney punched him. Buck wasn’t expecting it and his head hit the table, knocking him out. Chimney tore his loft apart trying to find anything that would lead him to Maddie. He took Buck’s cell phone. When Buck tried to reach out to Chimney for help, that’s when he beat him and caused the life threatening injuries.” Bobby finished. It still didn’t feel real to him. None of this did. 

Chief Alonzo let out a deep sigh before he spoke. “What can we do to help Buckley?”

“He just needs time right now. I know he would appreciate some patiences on your part. We don't know what his recovery will look like, but I know Buck would want to come back to work if he was able to. Even if he needed to wear contacts for his eye.” Bobby answered.

Commissioner Hamilton held his hand up to stop Bobby. “The very last thing I want is for Buckley to not be working. Chief Alonzo and I were just speaking last week about promoting him to lieutenant. Buckley has the most certifications out of any firefighter within the department, myself included. We were going to have a meeting with him and yourself to map out his career moving forward. Believe me when I say the very last thing anyone within this room wants is for Buckley to not return to work.” 

“I wasn’t aware you were looking to promote him.” Bobby said, shocked that Buck was about to be meritoriously promoted. That almost never happened within the LAFD.     

“My office has been updating files and my assistant discovered Buckley’s. He’s certified in paramedics, search and rescue, water rescues, high altitude repeals, forest fire, leadership and has his driver engineer certification. I’m surprised he’s not utilizing them more. He also has a bachelor in fire science. It’s why I wanted the meeting to determine what was holding him back. He’s trained in almost every type of rescue, I wanted to know what the goal was. What his dream path looked like. On top of all of that, his file is three times the size of your average firefighter. It is full of letters written by people he has saved. He has close to a hundred letters all from survivors or loved ones that he saved in the tsunami and on the job.” Commissioner Hamilton stated. 

“I didn’t know he was certified in all of that.” Athena said, completely shocked by the amount of training Buck had. 

“He pays for them himself. He’s always learning something. I know originally he wanted to do more search and rescue. Even work with a K9 partner, but Chimney doesn’t like dogs so we have a no dog rule at the station. I don't know what Buck’s plan is for long-term. I just know he wants to have the skills to be able to save as many people as he can. And I have allowed him to take the courses. I know he has skills that transfer over from his SEAL training days. I wasn’t aware of all of the letters though.” Bobby said, amazed by all of the love and support that Buck received from the people of LA.

“It is a conversation we will need to have before he returns for work. I don’t like the idea that he has all of this potential and skills that he is not using. I understand he wants to be at the 118. I would be willing to work with you on turning the 118 into a more hybrid station. There is room for a helicopter pad where search and rescue operations could take place out of it.” Commissioner Hamilton. 

“Your location would be perfect for rescues on that side of the city. Right now LAFD Air is on the other side of the city, having something in the middle would help to shorten the rescue time. Having someone that is trained by the SEALS to repel and jump out of a chopper into water would be a huge asset.” Chief Alonzo added. 

“I’m not certain what Buck would be willing to do or what he would be capable of doing once he is healed up. However, I am more than happy to do whatever it takes to help people. If a hybrid station is what you would like to transform the 118 into, that is fine with me. I’m happy to help anywhere I can.” Bobby said. 

He had no idea how it would all work out, but if it was the direction the Commissioner and Chief wanted to go then he would make it happen. He understood that it made a lot more sense to have a chopper part way and they did have the space for it. The thought of Buck repelling from a chopper made his chest tighten, but he wasn’t going to hold him back. He also knew Eddie would be all for it.

“That is something that can be worked out later. For now, I am going to be placing Buckley on medical leave. He can be there for as long as he needs. As long as he is able to see, even wearing contacts, then I won’t hold him back from recertifying. If he does have to be on blood thinners for the rest of his life, he can still work. You will just need to make sure everyone has surgical glue within reach should something happen. I will also make sure he has a reinforced helmet that will help protect his head better. With the skull fracture that spot will always be a weak spot for him. We have a couple dozen firefighters with the reinforced helmets after skull fractures. As long as Buckley can recertify, then he can work.” Commissioner Hamilton said. 

It was a huge relief to both Bobby and Athena to hear that the Chiefs weren’t going to try and stop Buck from working and they knew Buck was going to be relieved as well. It was one last thing they all had to worry about. 

“Thank-you Sir. I know Buck will be very grateful.” Bobby said. 

“I am not about to let a good firefighter go.” Commissioner Hamilton said with a soft smile.

“There is the matter of Firefighter Han though.” Chief Alonzo started.

“Do you know where he is?” Reed asked. 

“We don’t. All we know is that after he attacked Buck, he took Jee and left town. He’s searching for Maddie. We have a warrant out for his arrest on aggravated battery. Detective Ranone, was a bit worried about putting attempted murder out there. It might make him flea harder if he caught wind of it. We have been calling and trying to get him in, but so far he’s not answering any calls.” Athena answered.

“He took his daughter? I thought she was only months old.” Commissioner Hamilton said, surprised. 

“Three and that’s a whole other can of worms.” Athena stated. 

“One can at a time.” Commissioner Hamilton said, before he looked over at Reed. “What should we be doing about Han?”

“Legally speaking you can’t fire Han. Not without an official arrest. However, you can suspend him indefinitely and then you could fire him once he has been officially charged. He is on paternity leave right now, you should cancel that.” Reed started. 

“Could he go to the union?” Chief Alonzo asked. 

“He could. And that is why it might be difficult to fire him outright. The suspension without pay would get him away from returning. You would need to do an investigation into his career and see what else has been overlooked. Publicly speaking, you will need him fired before this hits the press and eventually it will hit the press. If Han decides to fight the charges, his lawyer could try and turn the story on Buckley. To do a trial by society and ruin his reputation and name. He could try and make it seem like Buckley is lying about all of it.” Reed answered. 

“Buck isn’t lying and I don’t see how anyone could hear his statement and think that.” Bobby said.

“And I am not saying he is lying. But in a courtroom, in the eye of the public, people love to believe whoever has the best story and often it’s the one that is the juiciest. A dying declaration is good, and the fingernail scrapings, but a lawyer could argue that Buckley scratched Chimney earlier. That it had nothing to do with the altercation. Han could claim that Buckley is lying about everything because he was dating his sister. He could spin any web of lies and if there is anything in Buckley’s past that doesn’t shine him in the best of light, he will use that against him to prove that Buckley isn’t who everyone thinks he is.” Reed explained. 

“I’ve seen that happen plenty of times. The victim gets blamed for what happened to them. Told they are lying and then they get drug through the public eye and the jury can’t help but think about all of the stories that they heard.” Athena commented. 

“How do we combat that?” Commissioner Hamilton asked. 

“By getting our story out first. We will have to wait until Han has been arrested, that way we don’t interfere with their investigation or make Han run harder. We should work with someone within the PR department. LAFD will need to make a statement, a very clear statement that you support Buckley after his attack. We will also need to make a statement about what happened. We need to be the one to get the story out first. We should also play on Buckley’s reputation with the city. A lot of people know him and love him from the truck bombing and the tsunami. We need to focus on the hero aspect. Even get people that he saved to go on social media and make videos of them telling their story. We need to make the city enraged at what happened to Buckley so it looks like Han is lying with no matter what he releases.” Reed advised. 

“Ok, I will speak with the PR department and make sure they have a statement ready to be released the second we get word on Han’s arrest. You will need to speak with the DA and make sure they have what they need from us as they move forward and through a potential trial. Also check in with them to make sure that nothing we release will be problematic for their case.” Commissioner Hamilton ordered.

“I will speak with them right after this meeting. I will also inform the union of Han’s suspension due to pending criminal charges. We will need them on Buckley’s side.” Reed agreed. 

“Good. Alright, we have covered Maddie, Buckley and Han. Now, what is this about Jee?” Commissioner Hamilton said, as he looked over at Bobby and Athena. 

“Chimney took Jee with him as he travels the country trying to find Maddie. Regardless of how Chimney is arrested, Jee will need to be taken into custody by CPS. Chimney most likely won’t be able to get her back even if he does make bail. The DA is going to push for no bail given that he has already fled the state and there is a very real possibility that he will do it again to find Maddie.” Athena started. 

“Chimney and Maddie never did a declaration of paternity. So CPS will follow Maddie’s living will, which dictates that Buck gets Jee should something happen to Maddie and Chimney. We need to find a good CPS worker that would be willing to work with Buck, given his current condition to avoid Jee being placed in foster care.” Bobby continued. 

“Charges like this, typically the defendant doesn’t get bail. With Chimney being a first time offender and a first responder, the judge might be more lenient. Reaching out to CPS is good. You want to be completely transparent with them. Let them see the dying declaration. Give them that visual of what Han was capable of. I would recommend that Buckley gets a family lawyer right away. The lawyer can work with his CPS worker to have something already in play even before Han is found. I would also recommend that you get Jee a lawyer.” Reed said. 

“She’s only three months though.” Chief Alonzo said, a bit confused. 

“Exactly. She can’t speak for herself. And we have no way of knowing how any of this will play out. Best case scenario, Maddie shows back up within three months healthy after completing treatment and Jee goes back to her mother. Worse case, Han goes to prison for life, Maddie never returns and Jee is potentially adopted out and Buckley loses his niece. A family lawyer and a lawyer for Jee, will be able to work together to ensure Jee stays with family.” Reed explained. 

“Ok, we can get on that today.” Bobby was more than happy to do whatever it took to make sure Jee got to stay with Buck. 

“I know a few great family lawyers, I can send you their information.” Reed offered. 

“I would appreciate that.” Bobby said, happy to get all the help he could.

“I appreciate you both coming down here. I know you have a lot on your plates. I just needed to make sure we were all on the same page and knew what needed to happen moving forward. Reed, you will keep us updated on anything the DA needs?” Commissioner Hamilton asked. 

“Absolutely. I will be working closely with the DA and I can with Buckley and Jee’s lawyers as well to ensure everyone has what they need from the LAFD.” Reed agreed. 

“Perfect. Is there anything else?” Commissioner Hamilton asked, as he looked around. When no one said anything he spoke. “Alright, if something comes up please reach out to me. I want all of us working as a team to ensure Buckley gets the justice that he deserves.” 

“We appreciate everything you and the LAFD are doing to help Buck. We will keep you posted on his recovery and everything that we learn about Chimney and the case.” Athena said. 

Her and Bobby were very relieved to hear that the LAFD were on Buck’s side and they weren’t going to play the middle. They now had more allies that would help Buck and they had more things they needed to handle to help set Buck and Jee up for the best life they could have. Now they just needed to find Jee and get Buck healthy again. 

Chapter Text

Bobby and Athena made their way back towards Buck’s ICU room. They were both feeling good about the meeting with the Commissioner and knowing that Buck had a lot of help in powerful places. He was going to need all of the help that he could get. As they headed inside the room they were not surprised to see Eddie was still there, but they were shocked to see Tommy. 

“Tommy?” Bobby said, as he took in the man that had once been under his command. 

“Captain Nash.” He said with a tight smile, as he stood from his chair on Buck’s right side. 

“It’s good to see you. Though, I am a bit surprised that you are here.” Bobby said, as he held his hand out and Tommy easily took it as he moved away from the only other vacant chair in the room. 

“Hen called me and I needed to come and see Evan for myself. I’m sorry if I am intruding.” 

“Not at all. This is my wife, Sergeant Athena Grant-Nash.” Bobby started before he looked over at Athena and continued. “This is Tommy Kinard. He used to work at the 118 just before Buck joined. He works as a pilot mostly out of the 217.”

“It’s nice to meet you Ma’am.” Tommy said, as he held his hand out and Athena took it as she spoke.

“It’s nice to meet you, though the circumstances certainly could have been better.”

“How is he?” Bobby asked, as he went and took Buck’s right hand within his. 

“No change, but the doctor says that’s a good thing. He has to go down for scans shortly.” Eddie answered. 

“Tommy, have you been able to get a hold of Chimney?” Bobby asked. 

“No. When Hen called to tell me about Evan and that there was a warrant out for Chim, I called him, but it went straight to voicemail. I haven’t heard from him yet. He might be trying to keep his line open for Maddie.”

“Tommy said things between Maddie and Chimney had been weird for a while.” Eddie commented. 

“Weird how?” Athena asked. 

“After Jee was born Chimney was still frequenting the bars. He was going more often then he did before Jee was born. There had been dozens of times that I’ve seen him flirting with women and sleeping with some of them. I had talked to him, but he always said everything was fine and dismissive of everything.” 

“I don’t understand what is going on with him.” Bobby said with a shake of his head. “He’s never been this person. I knew he was nervous and worried about Maddie and Jee while she was pregnant. I knew he was living with Buck during the pandemic just to ensure that he didn’t bring anything home to Maddie. I never thought he would be this type of father.” 

“Chimney has something going on with him and unfortunately we won’t know what that is until he is found or turns himself in.” Athena knew everyone would have questions, but there was only so much they could do right now. It did look like Chimney’s change started after Jee was born. 

“How did it go with the Commissioner?” Eddie asked, dreading what the Chiefs could have wanted.

“Commissioner Hamilton, Chief Alonzo and an attorney with the LAFD, Anthony Reed, were all there. They are completely supportive of Buck. He is on medical leave for however long he needs. And Commissioner Hamilton has assured us that even if Buck needs to wear a contact for his sight, he can still recertify. They are not looking to have him retire.” Bobby started.

Eddie let out a deep breath. He knew that was a long ways away, but it was a massive relief to hear that Buck wouldn’t have to worry about his job. 

“They had a lot of great things to say about Buck. The Commissioner and the Chief had been talking just last week about promoting Buck to lieutenant.” Athena added.

“Really? Wow.” Eddie said, completely shocked.

“It really wasn’t too unexpected. I knew how many certifications that Buck has. I knew he was being underutilized, but Buck didn’t want to leave the 118. I had even spoken to him a few months ago about taking the test, but he was pretty adamant that he didn’t like the idea of leading. I think there are still some confidence issues that need to be worked out. The Commissioner is even thinking about turning the 118 into a hybrid station with a helicopter so help with search and rescue. I have a feeling that even while Buck is healing things are going to be changing at the 118 to get ready for a new future.” Bobby said.

“It sounds like the Commissioner is looking to create a station around Evan’s skills.” Tommy said. 

He actually liked the idea of having a hybrid station, because it was hard to go from one end of town to the other. Yes, it was obviously faster in a chopper than a truck, but in search and rescue, seconds counted and if you could shave off five or ten minutes, it would only lead to more lives saved.   

“I think the Commissioner knows there are flaws in our system and he is looking to start repairing them.” Bobby commented. 

There was a silence that overtook the room and Tommy felt like an outsider. He was used to being the one on the outside. He was gay and despite how progressive society was he was still within a man’s man career. It was like that when he was in the army and he’s had problems with it since being within the LAFD. He didn’t care though. He had always refused to hide his sexuality. He refused to be ashamed. Straight people were never ashamed of their sexuality, so why the fuck should he have to be? He’s heard comments and seen the looks of disgust over his firefighting career. The 118 when he was there, it was nothing like it was now. He had no idea how it went from being a group of coworkers to a family, but Tommy suspected it had to do with Evan. Tommy had never met him before now and even he felt pulled into his orbit just from the stories he had heard about him. 

How could he not? This was the same man that had survived getting his leg crushed, coming back from that trauma only to survive a tsunami. And not just survive, but also save dozens of lives during it. He was a remarkable guy, a genuine hero and that pulled people in. It made you want to be a better person, even without ever meeting Evan. It made complete sense to Tommy that the Commissioner would want to capitalize on Evan’s natural influence that he had over people. And Tommy would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested in being that chopper pilot at the new 118. 

The door behind Tommy slid open and Tommy looked to see that it was Dr. Greene. He moved to the side and allowed the man to enter. 

“Full house.” Dr. Greene said with a warm smile. 

“Sorry...” Bobby started, but Dr. Greene cut him off. 

“Don’t be, it’s fine. None of you are causing any problems and I know you want to be here in case he takes a turn for the worse. I just need to wake him up to do a neuro check real quick before we take him down for some scans.”

“I’ll go grab us some coffee.” Tommy offered before he turned and headed out. 

He knew he was being a coward, but he couldn’t help it. He had been here the last time Buck had been woken up and it was god awful. He was so confused and in so much pain. It hurt to see and he had no idea how Eddie was still doing this. Tommy could feel his hands shaking and he knew he just needed to get some fresh air for a few minutes. He knew to an outsider it didn’t make any sense for him to be so worked up. He still hadn’t really met Evan. He had been in so much pain and out of it, he barely realised that Eddie was there. 

Tommy was used to seeing violence. Being a pilot in the army it wasn’t as safe as people assumed. They figured that because he was up in the air he was safe and there were plenty of pilots that were. Only Tommy flew for tier one teams, the Rangers and Deltas. He would fly for black ops and go into hot zones. He had been shot down a dozen times within the four years that he served. He had scars from shrapnel and two bullet wounds. He lost count on how many broken bones he had. He had fellow soldiers dying in his arms and he’s had to kill people, thirty-eight of them in four years. All of that weighed on him, but that wasn’t what was causing his PTSD to act up slightly right now. 

The second Tommy made it outside, he leaned against the cement wall of the hospital’s entrance. He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the sun on his face and listened to the sound of the cars and voices surrounding him. This whole situation was reminding him about Devon. He had been Tommy’s best friend. They had met in boot camp and Devon was the only other gay man there. They hit it off right away and they quickly became best friends, brothers. They never did anything sexual together, despite what some people believed. They had a deep connection, but there were never any sexual feelings there. That confused people, because why wouldn’t two gay men not want to have sex with each other? 

They had left the army together. Both received honorable discharges after a series of bad events. They both relocated to LA and after a few months of floundering Tommy decided to go into the fire academy. Devon had gone to work at a bar where he met Ryan, his ex-boyfriend. Tommy had liked Ryan, even though he was a bit rough around the edges. He always treated Devon great. They were so happy together and Ryan really brought Devon out of his shell. They had been together for eighteen months when it all went to shit. Tommy could remember it with perfect clarity, down to the tiniest detail. 

It was a Wednesday night at eight-fifty-three. It had been lightly raining all day and Tommy had been excited about graduating his probationary year the following day. When he arrived at Devon’s apartment there hadn’t been an answer so he used his key to let himself in. The second he walked in he felt dread flooding his entire body, the place had been a mess. There was glass all over the floor, the kitchen table was in pieces, furniture was knocked over and he could see even some drops of blood that led down the hallway towards the bedroom. Tommy had felt like he was having an out of body experience. His body was moving in the direction of the blood, like some sick yellow brick road, but his mind wasn’t present for it. 

When he reached Devon’s bedroom he didn’t know what to expect. A foolish part of him thought he would find Devon hurt, but alive. That he had gotten into a fight, but came out on top. He never expected to find what he did. He had found Devon on the bed. He was naked and laying on his stomach. There was blood dripping from his fingers into a growing pool on the floor. There were multiple stab wounds to his back that Tommy could see. What haunts him the most were Devon’s eyes. His dead eyes, just staring at the entrance to his bedroom. Tommy couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Devon had been watching for him to come, knowing that he was coming by that night. 

The thing that still made Tommy’s stomach churn was that Devon hadn’t been alone in that room. His lifeless body was laying on his bed, in a place he should have been safe, while his boyfriend, the man that claimed to love him, was having sex with him. Tommy could see that Ryan’s eyes were wild. He was covered in Devon’s blood and he was still having sex with him. The knife was laying right beside him. Tommy wasn’t one hundred percent certain what happened next. One second he was standing in the doorway to Devon’s bedroom and the next a police officer had his hands cuffed behind his back and he was sitting on Devon’s couch. 

Apparently, one of Devon’s neighbors had seen the destruction of his place from the front door that Tommy didn’t close and they had called 9-1-1. When the cops got there Tommy was beating the shit out of Ryan and almost killed him. The cops pulled him off and he was combatant and tried to fight the cops. He thankfully didn’t hurt any of them, but they had to cuff him to keep him restrained while his mind snapped back. The coroner had said that Devon had been dead for at least three hours. Devon had been dead before he even finished his shift. Tommy had later found out that Ryan had been high on crystal meth that night. That he had been using for years. When he got to the hospital they had to restrain him because he was convinced that he needed to go back to Devon’s place and continue to ascend the mother ship to live amongst the gods in the milky way. When he was finally able to leave the hospital he was transferred to jail where he got into a fight and was killed. 

Ever since that day, everything had changed in Tommy. He’s never allowed himself to get real close to anyone again. Not even Chimney, there was always a wall up to keep him from reaching his most inner thoughts and emotions. Even boyfriends, he kept them at a distance until eventually they got sick of it and left. Tommy knew that what happened to Devon was different to what Evan was going through, but his mind couldn’t stop thinking about how they were both brutally attacked, Evan almost killed, by someone they loved. By someone that hadn’t shown any signs of violence. By someone that was family and should have been safe. They were both brutally attacked in their home. The one place that everyone should have been safe in.        

Tommy scrubbed a hand over his face. He knew he needed to get his emotions and thoughts back under control. He was no help to anyone if he had a PTSD flare up. He knew Evan didn’t need him. He had his own family, he didn’t need some stranger there to help him. Still, he couldn’t walk away. He couldn’t help Devon. By the time he got there it was too late, but maybe he could help Evan. Even if that was just as someone else that could be there when no one else could. He needed to do this, because once again he sat down across from someone he considered a good man. He shared meals, had laughs and invited that man into his home only for him to turn horrifically violent. He didn’t understand how this kept happening to him, but he wasn’t going to linger on it right now. This wasn’t about him. This was about helping Evan and making sure he recovered. No matter how much it might hurt to be around him or see him like this. No matter what memories were brought up. He was going to do this, even if it destroyed him in the end. 

Chapter Text

Dr. Copeland made her way down the hallway of the hospital to reach Buck’s room. Eddie had called her to inform her of what had happened and that they had some questions about how to handle Buck and what to expect once he was able to go home. She was very concerned for the welfare of her patient and what he had endured. She knew of his injuries and though she wasn’t a medical doctor, she knew just how close to death Buck had come and he was still knocking on death’s door. She was hoping he would make a full recovery, but she also needed to make sure he was seeing her regularly to ensure he didn’t develop PTSD. Or more specifically make the PTSD he already has worse.

Once she arrived at Buck’s room, she knocked on the glass door before sliding it open. She saw Bobby, Athena and Eddie within the room, along with another man that she wasn’t aware of. She knew who the other three were from her many sessions with Buck, and he had shown her some photos during the lockdown.

“Dr. Copeland, we appreciate you coming.” Eddie said, as he stood and went and shook her hand. 

“I appreciate the call. Perhaps it would be best to speak out here.” She said with a nod towards the door. She didn’t want to risk disturbing Buck.

“Of course.” Athena said with a warm smile as she guided the woman out of the room.

Everyone walked out and Eddie spoke. “This is Tommy Kinard, he’s a fellow firefighter and a former member of the 118.”

“Dr. Copeland, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said, as she held her hand out to the man. 

“It’s nice to meet you ma’am.” Tommy said politely as he took her offered hand. 

“How are you all holding up?” She started. 

“I think we’re mostly in a state of shock still. All of this feels like a horrible nightmare.” Bobby answered on their behalf.   

“Unfortunately, that shock will be there for a few more days. Your minds are trying to process everything and let’s be honest, it was a massive shock to all of you for this to happen. Your minds need some time to try and sort all of the new information out and place it in the proper spot.”

“Our main concern right now is Buck and how we help him deal with all of this.” Athena said. 

“It’s going to be a process and it will take time. He was a victim of a brutal attack, one done by someone he loved and trusted. He’s very similar to someone that suffered from domestic violence. In Evan’s mind, this never should have happened and it was never a thought that it would. Chimney snapped and Evan is the one left dealing with those consequences currently. I am sure at first Evan is going to be worried about his sister and Chimney. He’s going to be adamant that he didn’t mean it and he just needs help.”

“He already did that. He didn’t want charges to be pressed, but in cases like this he doesn’t have a choice.” Athena provided. 

“And that is the first stage, especially with someone’s past like Evan’s. He was very much brought up to be invisible. To be blamed for everything that went wrong, simply because he existed. He’s going to blame himself for this and it will take time for me to help him work through that. Once that wall is broken, then the anger will hit him. Evan typically has a very long fuse. It takes a lot for him to be genuinely angry and when that fuse does spark, it only burns for an extremely short time. This time around it will be different. It will take some time for him to reach the anger stage, but once he does he’s not going to get over it as quickly as he typically does. He may go months being angry at the situation and have struggles with containing it. Especially in Evan’s case, because he’s built up so many walls around his emotions, he’s not used to feeling anger for more than a day or two. So mentally, he doesn’t know how to handle a lingering anger.”

“What’s that going to be like for him though?” Eddie asked, worried that Buck would go down the same road he did almost three years ago. 

“He’s going to have some angry outbursts. Most of it will be over nothing. Like forgetting to change the laundry around or someone moving an object to a different spot. What’s important for you all to know though, that when he does have an outburst, he’ss not actually angry at you or the situation that caused the outburst. He’s just angry in general and what has been done to him. He’s angry at himself for allowing it to happen and that anger has to come out somehow. He’s going to blame himself. It’s classic for victims, but especially in Evan’s case. He’s going to tell himself that if he told Chimney right away about the phone call, then none of this would have happened. And that is something that everyone really needs to drive home with him. This was not his fault. Ean was under no obligation to tell Chimney anything about his conversation with his sister. An outsider would argue that Chimney was Maddie’s boyfriend and father to their daughter, therefore he deserved to know. That Chimney knew Maddie best and would have been able to handle the situation more appropriately. However, if that were true, then Maddie would have been in a treatment facility a month ago. Chimney refused to see what was right in front of him. Making his judgment on the situation invalid. Evan had every right to keep Maddie’s privacy.”

“Chimney hasn’t been in the best of mindframes recently, not since Jee was born. He’s been out at the bars drinking and picking up women.” Tommy supplied, still upset at how far his good friend had fallen. 

“He’s not in a sound of mind right now at all. If he was, he never would have raised a hand to Evan. Even if you take out the legal aspect of hitting someone. Maddie was strong and brave enough to escape her abuser. To kill him when her life was on the line. Women that survive domestic violence, that make the conscious choice to leave, they almost always leave a new relationship at the first sign of violence. Even if all Chimney did was punch Evan one time, that would have been enough to make Maddie leave. She would be too fearful otherwise. Because like most women that are in violent relationships, they all know it didn't start out that way. All of the good years Maddie shared with Chimney wouldn’t count for anything if he threw a single punch at anyone, much less her baby brother.” Dr. Copeland explained. 

“We can’t do anything for Chimney or Maddie right now. What can we do for Buck?” Bobby asked, because right now Buck was his priority. 

“You give him a safe space. You allow him the time he needs to feel whatever he is feeling. You make sure he knows that it’s ok for him to feel all sorts of emotions. He’s going to feel like he’s on a rollercoaster at times with them. Unfortunately, all you can do, all he can do, is go with it. While he is healing and stuck in bed, his emotions will be pretty stable, because his physical wounds take the priority. Once he starts to physically heal, then his mental wounds will start to bleed. The best thing you can do is make sure he has an environment where he feels safe to feel those emotions. And they will fluctuate depending on the day. He might have days were he is social and then he will have days where he just wants to be in bed all alone. And that is ok. Sadness is ok, depression isn’t. When he gets sad and wants to be in bed, let him. Let him stay in bed for a couple of days, but on the third day, that is when you need to get him out of bed. Get him outside for some fresh air, have him around someone that makes him feel happy. Just something that gets him out of that cycle.

What’s important is that you keep including him in your normal routines. Evan has deep abandonment issues, which most of you know and you know why. There will be a part of his mind that will assume he will be too much trouble, too much work, and he will be abandoned again. Telling him that you won’t, won’t work. You need to tell him that you love him, but also make sure you include him. I know you do family dinners every Sunday. You still can. If he’s not well enough to go to your home, then you can do it at his. Even if it’s you picking up a pizza or he’s asleep on the couch and you guys are eating. It’s just the fact that he’s being included. That he can see that nothing will change, especially when he will know a divide will happen at the station. Some people will be in Team Chimney and others will be on Team Buck. He’s going to feel like it is his fault for that divide. You need to make sure to not change how you interact with him and what you always do.”

“Ok, we can do that. I think we know that Buck is going to blame himself and we’ve seen him pull away when he’s hurt. We have allowed it previously, but this time we won’t.” Athena promised. 

“It’s really important that he still feels like he has a home and a family. Even at the firestation. That place has been a second home to him, another safe place. If he wants to go to the station for the day, let him. Even if he’s injured still, let him lay on the couch or sleep in the bunk room. With his PTSD from the truck bombing and the tsunami, it will flare up and he’s going to have a deep desire to be in a safe place. To feel safe. The best thing you can do is let him pick where that safe place is.” Dr. Copeland explained. 

“If he wants to be at the station he will be more than welcome to. He can stay with us as well.” Bobby said. He was more than happy to do whatever Buck needed to heal from this. He was not going to make the same mistake as before. He wasn’t going to assume other people were there for Buck. He was going to be there.

“What about his PTSD, how bad will it get?” Eddie asked. 

“It’s hard to say. I am hoping to minimize the impact though and the best way to do that is by speaking to him once a week when he gets home. It will be virtually so he can type if his jaw is too sore to move. Once he is able to speak better without much pain, then I’ll increase the amount per week. What you all can do is just be there. Evan is pretty good with talking about his feelings, especially with people he trusts. I believe he will open up to you about what he is feeling and talk it out. We’ll have to take it day by day and make adjustments as we go.” Dr. Copeland answered. 

“There was something we wanted to talk to you about. Buck has ADHD.” Bobby started and Dr. Copeland agreed. 

“Absolutely. It should have been diagnosed when he was a child in school. It especially should have been picked up while he was in BUDS and then the fire academy.”        

“He was a SEAL?” Tommy asked, taken by surprise. 

“He tried out, but he rang the bell. He was really good at it, but he didn't want to turn his emotions off.” Eddie supplied. 

“Which is a symptom of someone with ADHD. People who have ADHD has something called emotional dysregulation. And what that means is that they can have a harder time with their emotions. Their emotional receptors in their brain are more sensitive because their neurons fire more rapidly than an average person. They feel deeply and also multiple emotions at the same time, which makes it hard for them to regulate them. As I said, he will also feel deeper. When you lose someone on a call, you feel it for a moment and then you move forward. Evan’s mind can’t do that. That loss will linger for days. It will feel as if he lost a friend, even though he has never met that person before. So for him, it’s impossible for him to flip a switch and turn his emotions off.”

“What is that going to be like for Evan while he is dealing with this new trauma?” Tommy asked, worried because it sounded horrible to him. To not be able to control his own emotions. To not be able to distance himself from the loss within the job. 

“It’s going to be hard. The skull fracture will also cause problems with his brain while it is healing, which could make his ADHD worse. You really need to have a lot of patiences with him. His emotions could change from one moment to the next. It’s important that you remember, he can’t help it. His brain functions at a different frequency as you. And while his brain is injured, his frequency will be out of whack. The best thing you can do is take it one day at a time and on the bad days, take it one hour at a time with him. He honestly won’t be able to help his mood swings.”

“We’re not about to hold anything against Buck. We know he’s going to be more frustrated than we will be. What other symptoms come from ADHD?” Athena asked, because she didn’t have much knowledge on it as well. 

“Excessive energy, which is no surprise and often what teachers and parents notice first. Some will suffer from anxiety, depression, have learning disabilities, most commonly dyslexia. Evan doesn’t have any learning disabilities. They can fidget, which you might notice with Evan while he is healing. He tends to move around a lot, he’s always worked in jobs that are very active, construction, bartending, ranchhand, etc. Now that he is injured, you might notice that he fidgets a lot. He has a couple of little fidget toys that I suggested for him during the lockdown. They fit in his pocket and he has a ring.” 

“He spins it.” Eddie said, knowing that he had seen Buck sitting on his couch spinning the ring around his index finger.

“He does. I believe he prefers it over the other options. Impulsivity goes with the difficulty sitting still. That is something that he has worked hard to correct and recognize. I am sure during his probationary year you would have noticed the times he acted without thinking. The impulsivity comes from his mind skipping a step and that is because the neurons fired too fast so his brain didn’t pick the step up. For example, when you had the call with the premature baby in the pipe. His mind thought, baby in trouble, get baby out, axe the wall. His mind saw the problem and jumped to the simplest solution. In that case, it would have been wrong. Now, Evan has put the work in to recognize that he needs to take a second and break the steps down to ensure he didn’t miss one.”

“Which is why over the years he’s calmed down in his impulsive behavior.” Bobby said with complete understanding now. 

“Exactly. It also helps that Eddie is the opposite of him. Eddie’s mind helps Evan to be able to rewire his own mind. It takes time and a lot of work, something Evan has made remarkable progress on. Just like his hypersexuality. He was able to recognize that there was a problem and he put the work in to correct it and better himself. That is something that Evan does remarkably well. Once he sees the problem, he puts the work in to fix them. There are some symptoms that he won’t be able to fix, even though he knows they are there. Like his hyperfixation. He is always going to love researching and learning. He’s always going to pick staying awake all night reading about a new subject over sleeping. He’s always going to be the guy you want with you at trivia night. Lastly, there is rejection sensitive dysphoria. Which is like fear of rejection, but on a deeper level.”

“Can you give an example?” Athena asked. 

“The lawsuit.” Dr. Copeland started. “Evan’s RJS is extensive because of his childhood and unfortunately no amount of therapy will cure him from it. It can help him to manage it and reduce his pain, but RJS will always be there with him. After the truck bombing everyone was there for him, but as time ticked by everyone went back to their lives and he had to deal with it on his own. Then he discovers that someone he views as a father figure had lied and betrayed him. Had been the reason he couldn't come back. Top that off with seeing someone else’s name taped over his own and using his locker while there were empty ones there. Most people would be hurt by that, but for Evan his pain would have been the equivalent of the truck landing on him all over again. You didn’t just abandon him. You didn’t just reject him. You replaced him with someone that in his mind would be better than him. You erased him from the 118, with your family, with his friends. All of that pain, the deep fear of being forgotten and left behind. All of that led him to filing the lawsuit because it was the last thing he could do to hold onto his home, his family and his place in this world. Add in the impulsivity, and you get what you got. He was so focused on not being erased, on not disappearing and being abandoned, that he didn’t see how the lawsuit would have resulted in the very thing he was afraid of happening.”

“I have a lot of regrets from that time in my life. I never even stopped to think about how everything must have looked like to Buck. What his point of view was.” Bobby said with a shake of his head. 

He really hated remembering those days. He hated thinking about how his own actions had caused so much pain to someone that he saw as one of his own. Someone that had been filled with so much light in his life and spirit and how it was drained out of him. He should have taken the time to sit down with Buck and talk about how he truly felt. They might have been able to come to a compromise about the situation, one that they both could have lived with. It was too late now and all he could do was work on ensuring he doesn’t make the same mistake. Now that he knew more about Buck’s ADHD and how his mind works, he would be paying closer attention to how to deal with Buck, both personally and professionally.   

“It’s important to not dwell on the past, but focus on moving forward. You can’t change what you have done, but you can certainly change your mindframe for the future. I am here as a resource to you all and to Evan. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have. It’s going to be a long process and it’s important that all of you are taking care of yourselves as well. Evan has a long road to go, this is a marathon, so don’t burn yourself out in the first one hundred meters.” Dr. Copeland said with a pointed look at them all.

“We will make sure we are taking care of ourselves. The last thing any of us want is for Buck to feel guilty about something else he can’t control.” Athena said with a small smile. 

“We really appreciate you coming down here and talking to us about all of this. It’s been a huge help.” Bobby said. 

“It’s no problem at all. If there are no further questions, I must be going. I have a patient in thirty minutes.” Dr. Copeland said, as she checked her watch. 

“That was it. Thanks so much.” Eddie said with a faint smile. 

“You all have a good day and stay safe.” She said, before she turned and headed back out of the hospital.   

“I need to get going. I have a shift in an hour. Will you let me know if something changes?” Tommy asked Bobby.

“Absolutely. Thank-you for being here and be safe.” Bobby said with a nod. 

Tommy gave them a faint smile before he turned and headed down the hallway towards the elevator. He hated that he needed to leave, but he had to get to his shift and he knew he wasn’t going to be any help sitting around a hospital room all day. Not to mention it seemed like Bobby, Athena and Eddie were not looking to leave any time soon. He had to hope that everything would be ok and he would get updates throughout the day. Bobby, Athena and Eddie made their way back inside Buck’s hospital room. All of them had racing minds after what they had learnt from Dr. Copeland. It was good information for them all to have, but that didn’t change that it was still a lot on top of everything else they had going on. 

“What about um… CPS?” Eddie asked, after a few moments. He had sat down and taken Buck’s hand within his. It was bothering him a great deal with how still Buck was. Buck was always full of energy and life. He didn’t just lay still. Even when he was asleep he seemed to move around all the time. Eddie remembered a few times he woke up in the bunk room and Buck was sleeping at the opposite end that he started on. Seeing him this still was nerve wracking.

“The lawyer, Reed, suggested that we get Buck a family lawyer and get Jee a children’s lawyer before we reach out to CPS. The two lawyers will be able to work together to ensure Jee gets to go to Buck.” Bobby explained. 

“I didn't know children could have a lawyer.” Eddie said, surprised by that. 

“They don’t tend to at this young of an age, because one of their parents can usually speak for them. But in Jee’s case, she doesn’t have one. Getting the lawyers makes sense. Even with proper research on which CPS worker would be the best to reach out to, Buck is still injured and there could be lots of legal hoops that come up. The lawyers would be able to handle the bulk of it and make sure the plan put in place is fair. It also helps protect Jee should the worst happen and Maddie never comes back.” Athena explained. 

“Do you think she’ll be back?” Eddie asked, as he turned to look at Athena. He knew it was a hard question to answer, but he also knew that in her many years of experience on the job, she would have the better educated guess here. He knew Buck believed she would be, but there was a chance this could be what makes Maddie snap.

“I don’t know. I wish I could say that she will be back. That she is off getting the help that she needs. I just don’t know if that is what she is truly doing. I know she is strong. I know that she is tough, but she has also been through a lot. A lot of trauma and PPD can intensify that trauma. It all piles on until it feels like you can’t breathe. I don’t know if she will be strong enough to survive this. If she will get help and not hurt herself or even turn to substances to get through. Some women in her position even create a whole new persona. A completely different name with a different backstory. I honestly don’t know which direction Maddie will go.” 

It hurt Athena to know that Maddie was out there somewhere and they might not find her. They might not be able to get her back and it hurt Athena and pissed her off. She knew it wasn’t Maddie’s fault. But there was a part of her that was so mad at her. All she had to do was call up Buck and ask for help. Or she could have called her or anyone from the 118. They would have helped her and made sure she got the help that she needed in the right way. At the same time Athena understood that in her state of mind, people didn’t think rationally. She was flooded with hormones and trauma and that was a deadly mix. She was hoping that Maddie was safe in a treatment program, but her gut was telling her she wasn’t. That she was on the run and there was no telling how this would end. 

“All we can do is hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. It’s going to be hard on Buck not having Maddie here. Not knowing where she is and when she will be back. The longer she takes and goes without contact the more worried he will get. We need to try and keep him from drowning in it.” Bobby said. 

He knew how close Buck and Maddie were. They were all the other had growing up and in a lot of ways they were co-dependant. Things seemed to have gotten better between them and they were close, but they could live separate lives now. However, Bobby knew that Buck would put Maddie first. He would run himself into the ground trying to find her or obsess with worry over her. He was hoping that Maddie, who claimed to know her brother better than anyone, wouldn’t put him through the trauma and stress of not knowing where she was. That she would reach out to him one way or another, but that was all Bobby could hope for right now. 

“Ok, do we know what lawyers to use?” Eddie asked, trying to get everything put in place before Buck would be leaving the hospital. He still had to get his place all set up for him. 

“Reed said he would send over some recommendations. Bobby and I will handle the lawyers and CPS. You just worry about Buck, Christopher and getting a spot ready for when he can leave.” Athena said, not looking for Eddie to have any more stress in his life then he was already going through. 

Eddie just gave a nod. He knew that he should be handling all of this, but he didn’t think his mind would be able to keep it all straight. If Bobby and Athena wanted to handle the authorities, then Eddie was more than happy to allow them to do it. He had a lot that he needed to handle and he would have to start that tonight. He would need to get the boxes out of the spare room and get it all set up for Jee. He would have Buck sleep in his bed. He could always sleep on the couch or with Buck. It wouldn’t have been the first time they shared a bed. When they were all living at Buck’s place during COVID they slept in Buck’s bed together while everyone else were on air mattresses on the lower level. They would make it work again. Eddie didn’t care what he needed to do, he would make sure that Buck and Jee were well taken care of. His best friend had been there for him during all of his hardest times and now it was Eddie’s turn to take care of Buck and his family. And Eddie was not about to let him down. 

Chapter Text

The second Hen walked through her front door she just felt like her whole body had been hit by a truck. It had been the longest day of her life and she still had a few hours to go. She couldn’t believe all of this had happened. She honestly didn’t know what to do. She had been calling Chimney non-stop, calling everyone they knew, calling Maddie. But Chimney nor Maddie ever picked up. The people she did speak with, they hadn’t heard from Chimney since he left and they said they would try and get ahold of them. All of them had agreed with her that Buck had to be confused or lying for some vindictive reason. That Chimney would never do such a thing. The only one that was on the fence was Tommy, but she knew he would come around once his mind had the chance to digest everything. 

“Wow, you look terrible.” Karen said, with concern flooding her voice, as Hen made her way over to the couch and collapsed down into it. 

“I feel pretty terrible. It was a long wait at the hospital to find out any news on Buck and then it’s been a shitshow ever since.”

“Well, how is Buck?” Karen asked, very concerned for their friend. She hadn’t been able to go to the hospital because Denny had been home sick with strep throat. She couldn’t leave him alone and she also didn’t want to risk exposing anyone there. 

“He’s in critical condition in the ICU. He’s got a broken zygomatic bone, two broken ribs, left side of his jaw was dislocated, but his right side was broken in multiple places causing him to have metal plates and screws in his jaw. The screws forced him to be back on blood thinners until they can come out. If they can’t come out because the bones didn’t heal properly he will have to be on them for the rest of his life. It will take up to twelve weeks before his jaw is fully healed, assuming they don’t have to reset it at six weeks. He also has a five centimeter skull fracture that will take anywhere from three to six months to heal. As well as a retinal detachment from the initial punch to his eye. The doctor was able to repair it, but there is a chance he is permanently blind in that eye or his sight is compromised.” 

Hen could see the horror form on Karen’s face as she rattled off Buck’s injuries with as much professional distance as she could. The truth was, she was horrified at Buck’s injuries. All arguments aside about who had done this, she wanted justice for Buck. She wanted whoever did this to him to fry. There were some people in the world where a part of your mind went, ‘well they deserve that’, but Buck wasn’t one of those people. They poked fun at him and called him a golden retriever, but that was just teasing. But it was also true on such a deeper level. Buck was pure at heart. He genuinely wanted people to be happy and healthy. He tried his best to look on the bright side in life and not let anything weigh him down. It was refreshing, even if at times annoying. He didn’t deserve to be attacked like that, especially in his own home. 

“Oh my god. Is he going to make it?” Karen asked, softly terrified of the answer.

“First seventy-two hours will be crucial. The LAPD are going to work this as a homicide just in case. According to the law, which I didn’t know, if someone is a victim to a violent crime and they die within a year and a day of that attack from complications sustained in that attack, then the attacker can be charged with murder.”

“Ok, that’s not good. I mean if they are already suspecting that Buck won’t make it.” Karen didn’t even know how to finish that sentence. She couldn’t imagine not having Buck. Denny loved him. She couldn’t even keep track of how many sleepovers there had been between Christopher, Denny and Buck. He was every bit an uncle to Denny. To all of the kids. They would all be devastated if they lost Buck. 

“His injuries are bad. And I’m really worried about him and I wish I could put all of my effort and energy into helping him. But right now I can’t.”

“Why not? Denny and me will be fine. I have him.” 

“I wish it was Denny I was worried about. It’s Chimney. Buck is claiming that Chimney attacked him. The police had a warrant out for his arrest. They want to charge him with attempted murder.”

“Whoa, wait, what?” Karen asked, completely blown away. 

“Buck was awake for a few minutes and Athena went back there to speak with him with Detective Ransone. They did a dying declaration, they videotaped it. Buck said Chimney came in and started asking about Maddie. That in their conversation Chimney believed that Buck knew where Maddie was. That Buck refused to tell him, claiming he didn’t know, and that is when Chimney apparently attacked him and tried to kill him.”

“I just… I just can’t see Chimney doing something like that. I knew he was stressed about Maddie leaving, I didn't think he was that far gone.” Karen couldn’t believe this. She just couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around Chimney doing something so violent. Her heart was breaking for Buck and what all of this would mean for their family. 

“He’s not. I don’t think Athena and Lou should have spoken to him. Buck was just waking up from anesthesia and his skull fracture will make him disoriented and confused. I think Chimney did come by to speak with Buck, but he left and then someone else attacked him. Buck with Buck’s injuries his mind can’t remember that and often your mind will connect the dots in the easiest path. Chimney is innocent, but because Athena and Lou jumped the gun, he’s now being framed by the LAPD. Unintentionally, yes, but still even accusations like this would cost Chimney his job. Not to mention going to jail.”

“So you don't think Buck’s mind was stable enough for them to speak with him. But wouldn't that mean that when Buck starts to get better his mind will remember what happened and then he can tell everyone the truth.”

“Maybe. The mind is still an organ that we don’t know everything about. It’s tricky. He might never remember what truly happened in his apartment. His mind might always have him believing that Chimney did this. It’s not Buck’s fault per se, it’s just how his mind has pieced the events together.”

“Ok, but the police will be looking for more evidence. They won’t be able to go in there with just a statement from Buck. With an assault like this, there has to be physical evidence on Buck from his attacker or the other way around.”

“And they are looking. Buck’s phone is missing, they are hoping it’s his attacker that has it. Buck also had skin under his fingernails, but there’s no telling what it could come back to. Even if it came back as Chimney’s that doesn’t mean it was Chimney that attacked him. Buck could have grabbed Chimney’s arm as he was leaving and Chimney pulled his arm back. There are a lot of ways that someone could have another person’s dna on them. Chimney needs an alibi, there needs to be physical proof that it wasn’t him in order to ensure he gets to keep working and he doesn’t lose Jee.”

“Oh my god, Jee. He took her with him. What happens with Jee? Are the police going to look for Maddie too?”

“They have a missing person’s report on her and they are going to send her photo everywhere. They have no idea what state she might even be in. As for Jee, that’s going to be complicated. Maddie and Chimney never did the declaration of paternity yet. Between working and the backlog from COVID, they just didn’t have the chance yet. So the police will have to go by Maddie’s living will, which states Buck gets Jee. Chimney has it as me and you.”

“But Buck is way too injured to be taking care of Jee. So how would that work?” Karen asked, now worried about this tiny infant that was about to have both parents caught up in all sorts of trouble. There was no telling how long Maddie could be gone for, assuming she came back. Or what would happen with Chimney.

“Lou and Athena said it would depend on the CPS worker. CPS will be involved the second Chimney is either arrested or turns himself in. The worker might not let Buck have her and she would be placed in foster care. I went to Chimney and Maddie’s apartment and I found Maddie’s living will. It was made a month after Jee was born, when she already would have had PPD. I want to call Sydney and get a lawyer if I have to, to get it revoked. To have it where Jee can be with us like Chimney wanted.”

“Oh I don't know. You are talking about social services and lawyers. That could go wrong a hundred different ways.” Karen said, worried about what getting lawyers involved could do to their family. 

There was no telling when Chimney would be found. It could be days or months. Buck could be healed by the time they got Jee or Maddie could be back. It seemed like they were jumping the gun already to be getting CPS involved and a lawyer. 

“I know. And I know the others might not be all that happy about it. But we need to put Jee first. Buck is going to be too injured. He’s going to have a skull fracture for at least six months and there’s no telling if he will ever get sight back in his eye. Causing him to have all sorts of problems with his depth perception. He might never be able to take Jee. And I don’t want to wait and find out he’s not allowed and then she goes into foster care with strangers. At least with us she would be properly taken care of and we won;t keep Chimney or Maddie from her. If Buck believes completely still that Chimney attacked him, he’s going to fight to keep Jee from him. Jee and Chimney don’t deserve that. This would at least protect their family.”

Hen knew that getting a lawyer before Jee was even found would be like starting a war, but she couldn’t think about that. She had to do what was best for Jee and her little family. If Jee did go into foster care, someone could try and adopt her after a year. There was no telling when Maddie would come back or how long Chimney’s court proceedings would go for. It could go for years. Jee needed to be with people that could raise her properly and would never keep Chimney from his daughter.

“I don’t like this. I really don't. We are talking about potentially fighting over a baby. Fighting against her biological uncle. And you know that Eddie will be on his side. Bobby looks at Buck like a son, so he’s going to be on Buck’s side, making Athena go on theirs. It could just be us against all of them.”

Hen reached over and took Karen’s hand within hers. “I know, but we need to do what is best for Jee. Buck is too injured, he doesn’t have a room for her. He doesn’t have a partner. He might not be able to physical work again. He might not be able to see out of his left eye, plus all of the complications that could come from his skull fracture. There’s no telling what brian injuries he could have and have to live with forever. Medically, he’s a nightmare. And Jee deserves to be in a home where she can be raised by a female. As Jee gets older she needs a woman to help her with getting dressed and taking a bath. Potty training, all of it. It makes more sense for her to be with us, then Buck on his own.”

“I’m not saying you aren’t making strong and valid points. I’m saying if we do this, then you might never be able to work at the 118 again after this. The environment might become too hostile. And I really don’t want to hurt Buck. That boy does not deserve it.”

“I know he doesn’t. And if I thought that Jee would only need to be with Buck for a week or two. If Buck was healthy, then I wouldn’t be fighting against him having her. But that’s not the situation we’re in right now and we really have no idea how long Jee might be with him. We can’t count on Maddie showing back up. You know just as well as I do how hard PPD is. The odds that women face without treatment. We can’t hope that she will come swooping in on a white horse. We need to think long term and what would be best for Jee. And that’s with us.”

Despite what anyone might want to think, Hen genuinely just wanted what was best for Jee. She wanted what was best for everyone. Even for Buck. He shouldn’t have to try and worry about taking care of an infant while he needed to recover. He should be able to focus solely on his own health to ensure he was able to function normally again. To deal with the mental fallout of being attacked. What was to stop him from hurting Jee if she wouldn’t stop crying and he was having a hard day? It was best for everyone if Jee was with them.

“Alright. Let’s call Sydney and see what we need to do. We’re already foster parents so that should make some of this easier.”          

Karen did not want to do this. She didn’t want any of this to be happening, but she also couldn’t ignore the fact that something was going to have to happen with Jee. She didn’t know if what Buck said was the truth or not. She couldn’t let herself worry about that right now. The police would sort the truth out. That was their job. Right now she needed to focus on what she could do and that was to ensure that Jee was in a good home where she was well taken care of and safe. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Buck could do that for her. It was exactly as Hen had said, he had enough on his plate he didn’t need an infant to go with it. She was hoping that Buck would agree and then everyone else would get on board and then Hen would still be able to work at the 118 and not have to worry about any animosity between the team.

Hen pulled out her phone and made the call to Sydney. After a couple of rings she answered.

“Sydney Harris.”

“Hey Sydney, it’s Hen and Karen. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing well thank-you. Yourselves?” 

“We’re ok. We’re actually calling because a situation has come up with one of our friends. You would have interviewed him when we applied to be foster parents, Howard Han.” Hen started. 

“Yes, a firefighter/paramedic. He’s your best friend.”

“That’s right. He has a three month old daughter, Jee-Yun, and some false accusations were brought against him causing a warrant to be put out for his arrest. Now Chimney didn’t do what is claiming to be done. He is also not in LA currently. He left with Jee to try and find Jee’s mother, Maddie.”

“Hang on, why is the child’s mother gone?” Sydney asked, confused as she started to write this all down. 

“She is suffering from PPD. She left Jee at the firestation with our probationary firefighter and then took off. No one has heard from her in almost nine days now. The police have a missing person’s report on her. Chimney left with Jee to try and track her down.”

“What do you mean try and track her down? Jee-Yun is three months old, you said. She shouldn’t be in a car for hours on end.” Sydney said, not pleased by any of this so far.

“And she won’t be. Chimney is an amazing father, he knows she can only be in her car seat for two hours at a time. He’s just trying to see if he can find a direction that Maddie was heading in.” Hen instantly said in her friend’s defense. 

“Alright. And what are the false accusations?”

“Maddie’s brother, and Jee’s uncle, Buck, he is claiming that Chimney attacked him. He’s in critical condition in the ICU and the police are looking to press attempted murder charges on Chimney. It’s completely false and once Chimney can speak with the police he will be able to clear it all up. However.” Hen started, but Sydney cut her off. 

“Until the charges have been dropped or he is proven innocent, Jee-Yun will need to be taken into custody by the state. When is Chimney turning himself in?”

“We don’t know. I’ve been calling him, but he hasn’t answered yet. I’m hoping he will call me back today and I can tell him. Once he knows, he will come back to fight the charges. He just doesn't know yet.”  

“And he shares joint custody of Jee-Yun?” 

“Not yet. They have been waiting to get into the court to do the declaration of paternity. But COVID has made it a nightmare with the backlog. But he is on the birth certificate and him and Maddie have been living together the whole time.”

“Legally that doesn’t matter. Is there a living will?”

“Both Chimney and Maddie have a living will. In Chimney’s it states that Karen and I are to have custody of Jee-Yun should the worst happen. However, in Maddie’s it says Buck. The police said they would have to go with Maddie’s, but I went and got the copy of her living will and it was updated a month after Jee was born. When she already had PPD. Given how she up and left, I don’t think she was of sound mind at the time.”

“Hm.” Sydney said before she paused for a moment. “It’s debatable if her living will should hold strong or not. It all depends if there is a record of her speaking to a professional about her PPD. We won’t know that unless we can get her permission to have access to her medical records or a judge approves the request for them. I am assuming you want Jee-Yun in your care and not in Buck’s.”

“That’s correct.” Hen confirmed. 

“Is there a reason for Buck to not have Jee, outside of his current medical state?”

“Look, I love Buck. But he’s not someone that should be raising a little girl. He lives alone in a loft. There’s no bedroom for Jee. He’s a single male with a history of making reckless life choices both personally and professionally. And there is the concern about his medical issues. He’s severely injured and he could have lifelong complications from it. He might be blind in his left eye and he has a skull fracture, a very large one. That can come with lifelong complications. He might never be able to work again. He can’t take care of an infant on his own. And there is no telling how long Jee will need to be with someone. It would be best for her to be in a stable home.”

“Very well. I will open a case and speak with the police to see just what the official charges are. I will also look over both living wills. I will need permission from Buck to review his medical file and speak with his doctor. However, as Jee-Yun’s uncle, he has every right to fight to have temporary care and he does have his sister’s approval. Maddie’s opinion and request in her living will will hold the heaviest weight. If you want to fight her living will, you will need to hire a lawyer and petition the courts for her medical records since Jee-Yun’s birth. Buck might get his own lawyer and then it becomes a fight in court. My position as Jee-Yun’s social worker is to ensure that she ends up in the best possible home. From what you are telling me, at first blush, that would be both you and Karen. But ultimately, it is a judge’s decision on where Jee-Yun will end up.”

“Ok, so in your professional opinion, Buck shouldn’t have Jee?” Karen asked, because she needed to hear the words in order for her to put her all into a fight.  

“Based on the information that you have provided to me, right now I believe it would be best for Jee-Yun to be with you both. It’s not often judges will award custody or care of an infant to a single male, even if they are the uncle. If the infant can be placed in a two parent household, that is always preferred, especially if they are also family. But like I said, that is for the lawyers to fight out in court. All I can do is give my professional assessment and recommendation. The judge ultimately decides.”

“Thank-you. We already have a family lawyer, so we will reach out to him today and he can reach out to you and see what you need. We really appreciate this.” Hen said with a warm smile that Sydney couldn’t see.  

“I’ll be in touch.” Sydney said, before she ended the call. 

Karen let out a deep breath before she spoke. “I know that went the way you were hoping it would, but I still feel like we need to speak with Buck before we do this. He might agree with us having Jee and then we could avoid lawyers and court.”

“Ok, we can go and see him tomorrow. We’ll hold off until then. You’re right, he might agree with us having her and then we don't have to add any more stress or drama to the situation.” Hen agreed. 

She was hoping that Buck would just agree with them having Jee. It made the most sense and it would really solve a lot of the problems. It would be better for Jee, Maddie and Chimney for them to have her. Plus, Buck needed time to heal and this way he could have all of the time in the world. She was confident she would be able to get Buck to see what the right thing to do in this situation was. Tomorrow, they would go and speak with him and put this whole thing to bed.

Chapter Text

Eddie dragged himself inside his home just after nine o’clock that night. He couldn’t believe it had only been a day since Buck had been attacked. He felt like it had been a week, not merely twenty hours. They had managed to accomplish a lot. The police were looking for Maddie. They had put a bolo out on her car and person. They sent her photo to every police station and firehouse in the country. Sue also sent out a broadcast to every 911 dispatch office across the country to be on the lookout for her name just in case it came up in a call either as the victim or a witness. Chimney’s arrest warrant was official, it was for aggravated battery. The DA held off on the kidnapping charges for now. He wanted to hold them back in case he needed to use them to leverage. They also had attempted murder charges ready to be filed once they had Chimney. 

Buck had been granted a full paid medical leave. All of his medical bills were also going to be covered, which was a huge relief to all of them. The last thing Buck needed to worry about was trying to pay off part of a medical bill. Eddie also had been granted the next two weeks off and then he would be on a moderated schedule for the next two weeks after that to help Buck during his first two weeks at home. Eddie would only be doing twelve hour shifts every two days. After those two weeks he would move up to twenty-four hours every two days for the next two weeks and then he would be back on his normal schedule after Buck had been home for a month. Eddie was relieved that the Chief had been so accommodating with him, especially because Chief Alonzo didn’t have to be. But LAFD seemed to be putting in a lot of support behind Buck and everyone was thankful for it. 

“Hey, how is he?” Carla instantly asked as Eddie walked into the living room. 

“Still breathing.” Eddie said with a deep sigh as he sat down on the couch.

“I just can’t believe all of this is happening.” Carla said, still shocked. When Eddie had called her earlier letting her know what happened to Buck and that he would be late tonight, she just couldn’t believe it. It would have been horrible if it happened, but to hear that it was Chimney. Someone they all trusted and loved, it broke her heart.   

“I know. How’s Christopher?”

“He’s ok. I haven’t told him anything, just that you were stuck at work, but would be home once you could be. He’s all ready for bed and in bed reading. Did you get to talk to Buck at all?”

“No. The only time he was awake was for a couple of minutes and the nurses had to do a neuro check. He was just in too much pain to be awake and talking. It’s going to be like that for the next week. It’s better that he’s not talking anyways. His doctor advised that he doesn't have any added stress for the next couple of weeks. His heart is under a lot of strain from the pain. His cardiologist is worried about how much stress his heart is under.”

“He’s otherwise healthy though. He’s never had heart problems.” Carla said, trying to reassure Eddie. 

“I know. But even the strongest heart can crumble under the right pressure. Carla, he’s in a lot of pain even with being sedated. I have no idea how he’s going to be able to come home in two weeks.” Eddie said, as he scrubbed a hand over his face. 

“His body is in a lot of pain right now, but the first week or two is always the worst. By the time he is cleared to come home he will be on a steady flow of pain meds and as long as you stick with the schedule he won’t be in much pain. I have also spoken with my husband, I can be here whenever you need me. Especially when Jee comes. You both are going to need all kinds of help with her. I also spoke with your Abuela and Pepa, they are also going to help whenever you need it as well. You and Buck have a whole army behind you.” Carla said with a comforting smile. 

“I really appreciate it. And I know Buck does too.” Eddie said with a small smile. 

“That’s what family does honey. Who is with Buck tonight?”

“Bobby. I wanted to stay, but I knew I had to come home and talk to Christopher. Bobby will spend the night and then tomorrow I will go back and sit with him after Christopher goes to school.”

“Ok, well you let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Your Abuela brought some food over. You have enough dinner for the week. I also made Chris’ lunches for the next week as well. So all you have to worry about is breakfast, which you have plenty of cereal and milk for. Is there anything you need help getting ready for when Buck can leave? Is he going to his loft?”

“No, he’ll be here. I have to clear out the spare room, but I’ll work on that and make sure it’s ready. I’ll have to figure something out for Jee. We don’t know when Chimney will be found or when Jee would get here. Assuming CPS even lets Buck have her. Athena and Bobby are working that part and they were advised to get a family lawyer and a children’s lawyer for Jee.”

“It can be really helpful to have them. Each one is another person to fight in this war. It’s going to be a long road unfortunately. You all need all the help you can get.”

“And I really appreciate everything you are doing for us. I honestly don’t know where I would have been if you didn’t come into my life.” Eddie said sincerely. 

“Aw honey, you would have figured it out. But I am very thankful that I get to be in yours and Christopher’s lives.” Carla said with a warm smile before she continued. “I will get out of your hair so you can speak with Christopher and try and get him to bed. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks Carla.” Eddie said, as he stood up and walked her to the door. She gave him a hug before she headed out. Once she was gone Eddie knew he couldn’t put this off any longer. He had no idea how he was ever going to tell Christopher about Buck, but he knew he needed to. 

He let out a sigh and made his way down the hallway to Christopher’s room. He suddenly understood exactly how Buck felt when he had to tell Christopher that he had been shot. He thought the worst piece of news he would ever have to tell his son was that his mother was dead. He never thought he would have to break his heart again. He didn't know how he would ever be able to tell Christopher that Buck was dead should the worse happen. He didn't know how they would ever be able to go on without Buck. He was so wrapped up in their lives and Eddie honestly didn’t know how it even happened. It was like one second he was a single father and then the next Christopher had two dads. It was even before Shannon came back. 

Buck fit so perfectly in their lives and it always felt like Buck had been there the whole time. When Christopher was sick, Buck was there. When Chirstopher needed help with homework, Buck was there. When Christopher was sad, Buck was there. When Christopher was asleep, Buck was there and they would have some beers and play videogames. Buck was his best friend. He was his partner. He was Christopher’s second father. He completed their family and losing him would be too much. The hole would be too great and there would be no filling it. They couldn’t lose him. They just couldn’t. 

Eddie took a shaky breath in before he knocked on Christopher’s bedroom door before he opened it. He walked in and saw Christopher laying in bed curled up with his book. 

“Hi Dad. You were at work a long time.”

“I know Buddy. There’s um… something I need to talk to you about.” Eddie stumbled, as he took Christopher’s book from him and placed it down on his bedside table. 

“What is it?”

“So um…I wasn’t actually at work Buddy. I was at the hospital.” 

“Are you ok?” Christopher asked, worried. 

“I’m ok. I wasn’t hurt. But Buck was.”

“My Bucky is hurt?” Christopher asked, as he sat up. 

“Ya, Mijo, he’s hurt pretty bad.”

“Fire?”

Eddie had really wished it was a fire that had injured Buck. He had no idea how he was ever going to tell his son that his Bucky had been brutally beaten by Uncle Chimney. Fuck, he wished he could have woken up from this nightmare already. 

“No. He was um… he was attacked in his apartment.”

“Attacked?” Christopher asked, slightly confused. 

“He was beaten up really badly and I had to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He had to have surgery to fix his jaw, it was broken. He’s really hurt right now, but the doctors are doing everything they can to make him better.”

He wasn’t going to tell Christopher everything that happened. Everything that was wrong with Buck. Christopher was too young to understand it and he didn’t need to know at his age. Just like he wasn't going to be telling him that it was Chimney who attacked Buck. Eventually he would have to tell him, but right now they didn’t even know where Chimney was, so there was no point in adding more fear into the mix. When they had to let Christopher know certain things, then he would tell him. 

“Is he going to die like Mom?” Christopher asked, with tears building in his eyes. 

“No Mijo. No, Buck is not going to die. He’s very hurt and it’s going to take a little while for him to recover. But once he can leave the hospital, he’s going to come and stay here. And you can help me take care of him.”

“I wanna see him.”

“I know Buddy. He’s in the ICU and doctors don’t tend to let children into the ICU. But tomorrow when I go after taking you to school, I will ask his doctor to see if he can make an exception for you. I think seeing you would be really good for him.”

He knew seeing Buck in his current state wouldn’t be the best memory for Christopher to have, but he also believed that both Buck and his son needed this. He was going to do his best to make that happen, even if it could only be for a short amount of time. 

“I have to go to school?” 

“Ya Mijo, you do. I know it will be hard, but Buck will be ok. And you can make him a card or a painting. Something to cheer him up.”

“Ok.” Christopher said with sadness edging his voice. 

Eddie knew that Christopher didn’t want to go to school tomorrow. That he would have preferred to get to go and speak with Buck and spend the day with him, but they had to let Buck relax. Plus he didn’t want Christopher to see Buck confused and in pain every time he woke up. For right now, it would be best to keep their visits short and hopefully within two weeks Buck would be staying here. 

“I know it’s hard, but I will do my best to make sure you can see Buck soon. And he will be staying here once he can leave, so you will get plenty of time to cuddle with Buck and help him out.”

Christopher gave a small nod and there was nothing that Eddie could do to try and make him feel better right now. He had to give Christopher some time. 

“I love you Mijo.”

“I love you too Dad.”

Eddie went and pulled Christopher in for a tight hug. He hated that he had to tell Christopher all of this. He hated that this whole situation had happened, but he was trying to not allow the hatred to control him again. Even though his entire body was screaming to hunt Chimney down and kill him. He had to control the anger, because he owed it to Christopher and Buck not to go back to who he used to be after Shannon’s death. Christopher pulled back after a moment and Eddie wiped at his cheeks to remove the few tears that had started to make their way down his son’s cheeks. He hated seeing him cry. He hated that he had been the one to make him cry. 

“It’s going to be ok. Your Bucky is never going to leave you.” Eddie was really hoping he wouldn’t be made a liar. 

“He’s strong.” Christopher agreed. 

“Very strong. He’s going to be back to his normal self soon enough. Now, it’s time for bed. I am going to take you to school tomorrow and then I will go to the hospital to see Buck and see about getting you in to visit him.”

Christopher gave a nod and he went and laid down. Eddie tucked him in before placing a kiss on Christopher’s forehead before he moved back. He clicked on his nightlight before he went and turned the lights off. 

“Goodnight Mijo.”

“Goodnight Dad.”

Eddie went and closed the door and let out a soft sigh before he made his way down the hallway to the kitchen. He hadn’t really eaten anything all day. It was around nine thirty and he knew he should eat and get some sleep, but he needed to get started on the spare room. There was no telling when Chimney would be caught and Eddie wanted to make sure that the room was ready for Jee, even if Buck wasn’t out of the hospital yet. Despite how tired he was, he knew he needed to push through and do this. He opened the fridge and grabbed one of the containers that his Abuela brought over. He got some food on a plate and started to warm it up. Once it was ready he took his plate and headed into the spare room. It was filled with boxes left from Shannon, their move from Texas and things that Christopherhad grown out of. A lot of it would be donated, but he needed to go through it all to ensure that there was nothing of sentimental value in it. With a deep sigh, Eddie went over and sat down in the middle of the room and got started.

Chapter Text

Tommy held onto Buck’s hand as his eyes traveled to the machines and to make sure everything was going well. Buck’s vitals were stable, but even he could tell he was in pain based on his EKG readings. Tommy’s eyes traveled down to Buck’s face and he still couldn’t believe how bad Buck looked. His jaw was swollen on both sides, his left eye was swollen and despite the ice that they have all placed on it, the swelling wasn’t coming down. Tommy was worried that the longer the swelling stayed the worse Buck’s eyesight would be. Both of Buck’s eyes were also very dark, the bruising was almost black from the skull fracture on top of it all. The bruising on his body seemed to be getting darker as each hour ticked by.

Tommy looked at his phone to see if there were any missed texts or calls. Tommy had arrived an hour ago to relieve Bobby who had stayed for the overnight shift. The man looked dead on his feet and Tommy figured he didn’t sleep at all in between Buck’s neuro checks. He could see how much his former Captain loved Buck. Bobby was definitely different from when Tommy was working at the 118. Bobby had always been professional but there was a wall up around him. He kept everyone at a distance. Even the other firefighters, they all did their own thing. Some were closer than others, but none of them were a family. Now, or at least before this event, they were all one big happy family. It had hurt Tommy to hear that the 118 had changed so much since he left. If he had known that things would turn so drastically, he might have stayed. 

The glass door sliding open pulled Tommy’s attention away from Buck. The doctor wasn’t set to return for the next couple of hours. He looked over and saw that it was Hen and Karen coming into the room. Tommy gave them both a warm smile as he stood up.

“Hey Tommy, I wasn’t expecting for you to be here.” Hen said, completely surprised to find Tommy, of all people, here alone with Buck. 

“Bobby went home an hour ago. He pulled the overnight shift. How are you?” He asked, as he gave Hen a hug and then Karen. 

“We’re going alright. I’m surprised you are here. You don’t know Buck.” Hen said, and it was clear that she didn't know what to do now that Tommy was here. She really didn't expect for him to be involved at all. 

“I’ve never met him before this, but Chimney and Maddie used to talk about him all the time. After what Chimney did, being here and making sure that Evan is ok and has all the help he needs is the least I can do. Especially with Maddie not around.”

“Except Chimney didn’t do this. You want to have some weird sense of obligation, that’s up to you.” Hen commented.   

“I know it’s hard for you to believe that Chimney could do something like this. And maybe you need to be in denial. Maybe it’s the only way your mind can process what happened. But you need to also prepare yourself for being wrong. How are you going to feel not believing Evan, only to discover that Chimney did hurt him?” Tommy asked, gently. 

Tommy could understand not wanting to accept that your best friend had done something horrific. No one wanted to believe or know the worst in someone, but at some point Hen was going to have to face the fact that Chimney did do this. Whether he admitted it or the courts found him guilty. And then what was she going to do? How was she going to make this up to Buck? How was she ever going to repair the damage? Before Hen could even answer a soft groan from Buck pulled their attention. 

Tommy turned his full attention back towards Buck as he slowly blinked his eyes open. 

“Hey Evan, how are you feeling?” Tommy asked in a gentle tone. He had been there with Buck a couple of times, but he wasn’t certain if Buck remembered those times or not. 

Buck just groaned and Tommy could see the pain starting to seep onto his face.

“I know it hurts. A nurse will be here soon to do your neuro check and put you back to sleep. Squeeze my hand if you need to.” Tommy said, as he slipped his hand back into Buck’s.

“Hey Buck. It’s good to see you awake.” Hen said, as she moved closer to the right side of the bed with Karen at the foot of it. 

“Hey.” Buck managed to say weakly. “Maddie?”

Hen was confused. She wasn’t sure if Buck was calling her Maddie or not. Tommy answered though, knowing what Buck was asking. 

“Not yet, but everyone is looking. They’ll find her.” Buck groaned, and lightly squeezed Tommy’s hand as the pain started to flare up. 

“I’ll go find a nurse.” Karen said, not liking how much pain Buck was in. 

“It’s shift change. I hit the button, they should be here soon.” Tommy explained.

“Jee?” Buck asked, through clenched teeth. 

“No word yet, but everyone is looking. They’ll find her.” Tommy answered, making a point in not saying Chimney’s name. It was something they had all agreed on, because they didn’t know how Buck would react to the name just yet. 

“You don’t have to worry about Jee, Buck. Once Chimney is found, Karen and I will take Jee. We can keep her with us until Chimney is able to get her back.” Hen softly explained, hoping that would help ease any concerns Buck had. 

“This is not the time nor the place for that conversation, Heneritta.” Tommy said with a pointed look. He didn’t know what game Hen was trying to play, but he wasn’t about to let it play out. 

“Jee, me.” Buck said, before he groaned. 

Buck felt like his head was going to explode. Even breathing was causing him to be in pain. He just wanted the doctor to show up so he could go back to sleep and escape it all. He didn’t understand why Hen was here talking about having Jee. Maddie had always said Jee would go to him if something were to happen to her and Chimney. 

“You are in no shape to be looking at Jee. Besides, Chimney wants Karen and me to do it. And with you being injured, Buck it makes more sense for her to be in a stable home. You don’t have a place for her. We already spoke with our CPS worker and she agrees. Jee is better suited to be with us. All you have to do is sign off on it and then we can avoid going to court. You are already going to have a pile of medical bills not covered by the insurance to pay. You can’t afford to have a lawyer fighting a loss cause case as well. Jee needs to be with Karen and me, so she can go back to Chimney when he’s been cleared of the charges.” Hen tried to explain. 

“Jee with me. Chimney, no get.” Buck said, as his heart rate started to increase. 

“That’s enough. Stop talking.” Tommy snapped to Hen.

He couldn’t believe that she was bringing this up right now. Buck was in horrible pain and the last thing that he needed to have was right was a conversation about Chimney and Jee. Hen had no right to come in here and start talking about CPS and lawyers. Jee was Buck’s niece, his biological niece, he had every right for her to be in his care until Maddie returned. Hen and Karen had no right to that little girl. Especially when they couldn’t be trusted not to give her over to Chimney whenever he wanted. 

“Buck, Jee is his daughter. Chimney has every right to have her and his family back. You’re confused about what happened. Your mind is playing tricks on you. Chimney didn’t hurt you. You were lying about it. You can’t trust your mind right now Buck. You can’t take care of Jee. She deserves better and that is with Karen and me until this whole mess can be resolved and then Chimney can get her back. You just need to sign off on it. You have no home for her, no money to care for her and lawyers, and CPS is already on our side. The judge will go with whoever CPS recommends. Don't put yourself and everyone else through more unnecessary drama. Do the right thing Buck.” Hen tried to reason, completely ignoring Tommy. 

Suddenly Buck gave a deep groan of pure pain. He let go of Tommy’s hand and grabbed his left arm as his legs moved to try and get away from the pain. His heart monitor started to go crazy and Tommy knew something was seriously wrong. He pulled the emergency cord and an alarm started to go off. He knew the light above Buck’s door would also be flashing red to indicate immediate help was needed. 

“Get the fuck out of here.” Tommy snapped at Hen and Karen. 

“Buck, try and breathe.” Hen said, as she moved closer to the bed.

“Get the fuck back!” Tommy yelled, as the door to the room opened and a whole team came running into the room. “Get them out of here.” Tommy demanded to some of the nurses with a nod towards Hen and Karen. 

“Get them out.” Dr. Greene demanded, as he went over to Buck’s right side. 

“They were talking to him about his attacker and niece. Then everything started to go crazy.” Tommy explained. 

“Safe. Look, safe. In safe.” Buck groaned out before a scream erupted from his throat. 

“Hang on Evan. Just hang on.” Tommy said, not really certain what Buck meant. 

“Look in safe.” Buck said, as he gripped Tommy’s hand. 

“Ok, I will.” Tommy promised. 

“We need to get him to the Cath Lab right now.” Dr. Green said, as he unlocked the wheels of the stretcher. “Let’s move people.” 

Tommy had no choice but to let go of Buck’s hand as he was wheeled out of the room and down the hallway. He could feel himself shaking as one of the nurses spoke.

“You need to wait in the waiting room and we will come and let you know what is going on. If you could get ahold of his medical proxy, that would be great.” 

Tommy gave a distant nod before the nurse walked off. Tommy couldn’t believe this was happening. Buck had been fine, but now all of this was going to set him back and he had no idea what they were going to do if Buck’s heart didn’t pull him through. With a shaky hand, Tommy reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He was not looking forward to this conversation.

Chapter Text

Tommy was livid. He couldn’t seem to get his hands to stop shaking. He wasn’t even capable of sitting down. He had to pace, because if he didn’t he felt like he was going to explode. He was not quick to anger. He had a long fuse. He knew that a lot of soldiers, current and former, had anger issues. It was connected to the PTSD, but Tommy had managed to avoid the anger that came with his PTSD. He was more quiet and broody, reserved. Right now though, he felt like he could rip someone’s head off. And he really wanted to rip Hen and Karen’s head clean off. All three of them were currently in the waiting room while the doctors worked on Buck. Hen and Karen were at least smart enough to be standing on the opposite side of the room as him.  

Tommy hadn’t heard from the doctor yet and he was worried that Buck had a heart attack. He knew that he was only twenty-eight, so his heart should be strong enough, even with it struggling a bit from the pain he was in. But the EKG readings didn’t look good. Tommy’s attention was pulled away from Hen and Karen when he saw new people come into the waiting room. Bobby, Athena and Eddie all looked worried, not that Tommy could blame them. This shouldn’t have happened. He stood up and started to make his way towards the others as Eddie spoke.

“What happened?” He asked no one in particular.  

“I don’t know. The doctors are still in with him. Honestly, it looked like a heart attack.” Tommy answered, not even looking over at Hen and Karen.

“A heart attack? How is that possible? His heart was healthy before the attack.” Athena said, shocked. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve had to read an EKG, but the readings looked like a heart attack to me. Evan was short of breath and he was in a lot of pain, gripping his left arm. They took him right away to the Cath Lab. It’s been about thirty minutes now.” Tommy explained. 

“So what, he woke up for his neuro check and had a heart attack?” Bobby asked, still trying to catch up. 

“Ask them.” Tommy growled with a nod towards Hen and Karen. 

“Us seeing Buck did not give him a heart attack.” Hen instantly said. 

“Ya, I’m sure you both coming in and telling Evan that you have a lawyer and a CPS worker, so when Jee is found you are going to be taking her. I’m sure that had nothing to do with him having a fucking heart attack.” Tommy snapped.  

“What the fuck? You did what?” Eddie practically yelled. 

“Hang on, it’s not exactly like that.” Karen said, as he held her hands up in a mock surrender. She didn’t want this to get any worse than it already was. 

“What is it like then?” Athena demanded with a slight edge to her voice. 

“Look, we all want what is best for Buck, Jee, Maddie and Chimney.” Karen started, but Eddie cut her off. 

“No, we want what is best for Buck, Jee and Maddie. We want Chimney strung up by his fucking balls and beaten to death.”

“See, that is what I am talking about. Everyone has just blindly believed Buck. He has a skull fracture. His mind is compromised. There is no telling what damage has been done to Buck’s mind. There is no physical evidence that Chimney did this. It’s innocent until proven guilty and you all have decided he is guilty.” Hen argued. 

“Because Buck gave a statement and recounted every blow that Chimney did to him. You are acting like Chimney isn’t going to have Buck’s phone. That it won’t be Chimney’s DNA under Buck’s nails. That Chimney won’t have bruised knuckles. You are living with your head in the clouds and in your heroic efforts to get justice for Chimney you are forgetting that Buck is the one who deserves justice. That it’s Buck you should be supporting.” Athena argued. 

“Look, even taking Chimney out of the equation. Buck having Jee isn’t a good idea right now. What would happen if Jee is taken into custody today? Buck can’t have her while he is in the hospital. He’s going to be hurt and potentially compromised for the rest of his life if his eye doesn’t heal. If he has brain damage. Even if he doesn’t, he still has a skull fracture that could take six months to heal. Where would Jee go? She needs to be placed somewhere. It’s better for her to be with us than with strangers. All we wanted to do was talk to Buck and get his approval so we didn’t have to go through CPS and lawyers and court.” Karen tried to explain. 

“And I would believe that, if you went about it the proper way. You didn't ask us first. You didn’t talk to us. You went straight to your CPS worker and lawyer. Henrietta had said right from the jump that Jee should be with you and not Buck, because he was not fit, in her eyes, to raise a child. You didn’t do this out of the goodness of your hearts to try and protect Jee. You are doing it because you know if Jee ends up with Buck, that he will get a say in if and when Chimney can see her. You want Chimney to get Jee and have his own little family without any consequences of his actions. But that is not going to happen. Chimney is going to prison for the rest of his life and Jee will end up with Buck. Like Maddie wants.” Athena said with an edge to her voice. These people, friends or not, family or not, were not going to be threatening her or Buck. They were messing with her family now and she was not going to tolerate it. 

“Maddie’s living will was done one month after Jee was born. She would have already been going through her PPD at the time. Making her mentally compromised. Therefore, Chimney’s living will is what will be followed by the judge. We are trying to do what is best for Jee. And Chimney is her father. He deserves to have his daughter in his life. He hasn’t been convicted of anything. You have no idea what the courts will find. This case could be thrown out because of lack of evidence. Buck needs to be evaluated to even ensure his mind isn’t damaged.” Hen argued. 

“Why do you keep saying that? He has a skull fracture that doesn’t automatically give him brain damage. The bones didn’t go into his brain. He has cleared every neuro check so far and the doctor isn’t concerned about his brain. It’s like you want him to have brain damage.” Eddie said, pissed that Hen and Karen had gone behind everyone’s back to try and get Jee. And then show up here and try to get at Buck while he was vulnerable. It was disgusting. 

“Obviously I don’t want anything to be wrong with Buck. I want him to recover and have a great life. I just also want to make sure Jee is taken care of properly.” Hen said. 

“And she will be with Buck. If she is found before he can leave the hospital then we will work it out. She can be with me. Carla already said she would help out along with my Abuela and Pepa. Buck will be staying with me and we will do it together.” Eddie said. 

“And Bobby and I will help. There are plenty of people in Buck and Jee’s life that would be there to help them with this.” Athena added. 

“And how is that better than Jee being in a stable home? Karen and me are the best people for her. The only reason you are fighting against it, is because of Buck. You all know it makes the most sense for Jee to be with us. You just don’t want to have to deal with Buck throwing a fit.” Hen countered. 

“Ok, I don’t think this is helping anyone right now.” Karen said, trying to get everyone to just stop. 

She could see both sides of it. She really could. At the end of the day though, it truly did make the most sense for Jee to be with her and Hen. At least until Buck was healthy enough to be on his own. To have a place that was suitable for a child. 

“You should have thought of that before you stormed into Evan’s hospital room.” Tommy pointed out.       

“Evan? Only Maddie calls him Evan. I don’t understand why you are even here Tommy. You don’t even know Buck. You and Chimney are friends. You should be on my side, on his side. Not some stranger.” Hen said. 

“I’m here because a friend of mine lost his fucking mind and almost killed the uncle to his daughter. I’m here because Evan is the wronged party. Jee is the wronged party. They have my support, not Chimney. Maybe he will have some of my support when he does the right thing and turns himself in. If he has any guilt, he will admit to what he did and take his punishment. Until Evan tells me otherwise, I am going to be here to support him and help in any way that I can. I would have expected the same from you.” 

Tommy was not going to tolerate anyone questioning where his loyalties should lie. At the end of the day, Chimney fucked up and Tommy was not going to stand by him for it. He didn’t just punch Buck once and that was something everyone could talk out and make it better. He almost killed Buck. Buck could still die. That was unforgivable. And Tommy knew that his friendship with Chimney was over. He didn’t want his friendship with Hen to be over, but there was a war coming and Tommy would be standing on the right side of it. If Hen was going to fight on the wrong side, then their friendship couldn’t continue. 

“You don’t even know him. You have no idea what Buck is like. For all we know he’s jealous of Chimney and Maddie’s relationship and has decided to use this opportunity to get Chimney out of the picture. Chimney said Buck was starting to be overbearing and was pushing hard to be in Maddie’s life and Jee. For all we know he planned this attack, but it went too far.” Hen argued. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? How fucking stupid do you have to be to come up with that shit!” Eddie yelled, barely holding himself back from getting into Hen’s face. 

“Don’t you fucking talk to me like that Diaz!” Hen yelled, as she went and stepped into Eddie’s personal space. 

Tommy reached out and grabbed Eddie’s wrist. Not because he thought he would strike Hen, he didn’t doubt that he would never hit a woman. But he also knew that Eddie was having a very hard time in the past two days with his anger from the attack on Buck. He was struggling and Tommy knew Eddie had PTSD. He could see it in his eyes and he knew from personal experience, man or woman, your whole body tensed up and wanted to fight when someone got in your face. His hand on Eddie’s wrist would help Eddie to focus on something else, other than the face currently invading his space. 

“What the hell is the matter with you people?” The sudden voice of Buck’s doctor had everyone’s attention snapping towards Dr. Greene. It was clear that he was pissed. “This is a hospital. The ICU waiting room. This is not the place for you to scream and swear at the top of your lungs. If you cannot behave like civilized adults, then you will be escorted out and banned from the floor. Do I make myself clear?”

“I’m sorry doctor. Things got a bit heated. It won’t happen again.” Bobby said on their behalf. He was furious though and he was struggling with keeping his own anger in check. 

“Is Buck ok?” Athena asked. 

“This is Dr. Benton, he is our Cardio Attending.” Dr. Greene said, but it was clear he was not happy about their behavior. 

“Did Evan have a heart attack?” Tommy asked. 

“No, he didn’t. But in my personal opinion, what he experienced was worse than a heart attack. A heart attack is something we can fix. Something we can predict. What your friend suffered from is called Broken Heart Syndrome.” Dr. Benton started to explain. 

“So he had a panic attack?” Hen asked. 

“No. Broken Heart Syndrome is actually stress cardiomyopathy. It occurs when a person experiences sudden acute stress that can rapidly weaken the heart muscle. When you experience a stressful event, your body produces hormones and proteins such as adrenaline and noradrenaline that are meant to help cope with the stress. The heart muscle can be overwhelmed by a massive amount of adrenaline that is suddenly produced in response to stress. Excess adrenaline can cause narrowing of the small arteries that supply the heart with blood, causing a temporary decrease in blood flow to the heart. Which mimics a heart attack in symptoms. We took him to the Cath Lab and his arteries were clear.” Dr. Benton explained. 

“You said stress induced?” Tommy asked. 

“That is correct. BHS is always brought on by stress, either emotional or physical. I have read your friend’s file and his body has been through a lot within the past couple of years. His heart has been through a lot from the crush injuries, to the PE, the tsunami and now this attack. It’s a physical stress on his body, on his heart. On top of the emotional pain from this attack and whatever was discussed before the attack. His heart had been through too much.” Dr. Greene explained.   

“Is he going to be ok?” Eddie asked. 

“He will be if he is given proper rest and the stress in his life is reduced. It will take a month for his heart to recover and his heart muscles to strengthen. Potentially longer given the strain on his heart still from the physical pain he is in. We have switched his sedative to a stronger one. Hopefully that will help reduce the stress on his heart and allow him to not be in as much pain.” Dr. Benton started. 

“However, it will make it harder for us to wake him up for his neuro checks. We will need to bring in a neurologist to evaluate him throughout the day and we will need to do regular scans of his brain. He’s not out of the woods yet for brain swelling or bleeding.” Dr. Greene added. 

“So after a month, he will be ok?” Athena asked. 

“It depends. Once you have BHS you can get it again. It only happens in five percent of the patients that we know of. It is suspected that the number is higher, but the patients die from it the second time around. The coroner has no reason not to put the cause of death down as heart failure.” Dr. Benton answered.

“The best way you can help him prevent another attack, especially while he is physically injured and recovering from this attack is to manage his stress. Which means, anyone that can’t be civil around him will not be allowed in to see him. You will be banned from the hospital, unless you are wheeled into the ER on a stretcher. He needs a month to recover and allow his heart to strengthen back up again. But as we have said, it will most likely take longer. Realistically you have to be careful for the next three to six months.” Dr. Greene answered. 

“He has been moved to the Cardiac ICU where he will be closely monitored. He will be there for the next six days and if he is stable enough he will be moved to the cardiac unit until he is able to leave the hospital.” Dr. Benton added. 

“My son, Christopher, he’s eleven, I had been hoping that I could have brought him by. Buck is like a second father to him, he would want to see Christopher.” Eddie said, but he was very worried now that it wouldn’t be possible to get Christopher in to see his Bucky. 

“We can’t let children into the CICU. We have to reduce the number of visitors allowed at a time. Only three can be in there. This is because the patients within the CICU are at a higher risk of infection. Children often carry infections without having any symptoms. It’s a risk we can’t take with any patient. You can do video calls once your friend is able to stay awake longer in between sedations. Once he is moved to the cardiac unit, then we can reevaluate your son seeing him.” Dr. Benton said. 

“Ya, I was afraid of that. I understand though.” Eddie said with a nod. It was going to be horrible telling Christopher no, but at least they will be able to do some video calls once Buck was up for it. “What about visitors? Can we block or limit who can see him?”

“As his medical proxy you can, yes.” Dr. Greene answered. 

“Only myself, Bobby, Athena and Tommy are allowed to see Buck. I don’t want anyone else, especially Hen and Karen.” Eddie stated. 

“What do you mean we can’t see him? You can’t just block us from talking to him.” Hen said, pissed that Eddie was trying to play this game. They had every right to go and speak with Buck. Especially when they were trying to get something worked out for Jee. 

“I am not going to have you around Buck while he is healing. You have only added stress to an already stressful situation. I’m not going to have anyone around Buck that can’t be one hundred percent supportive of him.” Eddie stated. 

It was because of Hen and Karen that Buck had a fake heart attack. He wasn’t about to let them cause another one. And if they wanted to go to court over Jee, it would be better for them to not speak to each other. To allow the lawyers to handle it. 

Hen went to speak, but Karen placed her hands on her arms and spoke. “We will get out of here. I am sorry that all of this happened.”

Karen started to pull Hen away. She knew that there would be another conversation between them, but right now she just needed to get them out of here. 

“Can we see Buck?” Bobby asked. 

“You can. Please remember that he needs rest and he will be taken down for a scan in a couple of hours.” Dr. Benton answered.

They gave a nod and the four of them headed towards Buck’s room. All of them hoping that this would be the last medical emergency he has for the rest of his life.

Chapter Text

Walking into Buck’s room was harder this time then the last time. To know that Buck had such a strong reaction to Hen’s news really drove home just how fragile Buck’s heart and body was. He was hooked up to extra machines to monitor his heart and it only made him look sicker. Eddie couldn’t believe that they were only on day two out of fourteen and he was already beyond exhausted. Eddie went and leaned against the wall as he scrubbed a hand over his face as Athena and Bobby went over and each took one of Buck’s hands. Tommy reached over and rubbed a hand over Eddie’s arm to try and offer him what comfort and support he could. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think Hen and Karen would do anything but sit there with him.” Tommy said with guilt.

“It’s not your fault. Hen should have known better than to talk about that with Buck. She knows better than anyone how much strain Buck’s body is under. She had no right to come in here and bring up Jee. She had no right to contact CPS and try and go behind Buck’s back to get Jee.” Bobby said. 

“I can understand wanting to protect Jee, I do. But it feels more like Hen is focused too strongly on making sure Chimney gets Jee back. She is acting as if we are going to leave Buck on his own to take care of Jee. That he won’t have plenty of help with her. Maddie could easily come back and Hen seems to be under the impression that she won’t.” Athena said. 

“She’s completely convinced that Buck is confused from the skull fracture and that Chimney is innocent. She’s not going to believe anything else until Chimney admits to it.” Bobby said. 

“I can’t imagine he’s going to admit it.” Eddie commented.  

There was no doubt in Eddie’s mind that Chimney was going to admit to attacking Buck. It would be great if he did, but in his heart Eddie just knew Chimney was going to fight this. He had to if he wanted Jee and Maddie back. According to Chimney he was doing all of this so he could have his family back, which meant he wasn't going to risk fucking it up forever by admitting to almost killing Maddie’s little brother. 

“I can’t either. It’s going to have to be fought in court and now it is looking like we will have to fight Hen and Karen in court for Jee.” Athena said with a shake of her head. 

“I don’t know how relevant this is. Evan was in a lot of pain and he wasn’t talking in full sentences, but right before the doctors took him away he kept saying, the safe, in the safe.” Tommy told them. 

He didn’t want to tell them where Hen or Karen could overhear just in case. He had no idea if there even was a safe or if Buck was too out of it to make much sense. 

“Safe?” Bobby asked, confused.

“Buck has a safe that’s built into his dresser. He told me about it when we almost died carrying that thing up there. I didn't think there was anything real important in it outside of the usual stuff.” Eddie explained. 

“Maybe there is something there. If Buck’s last thoughts were about the safe, then it’s worth taking a look. The apartment was released, so it’s no longer a crime scene.” Athena said. She didn’t know what Buck could have in it, but maybe there would be some paperwork that could help them with Jee. Either way, they had to look and see what they could find.

Eddie let out a sigh before he spoke. “Alright, I’ll go check it out.”

He wasn’t happy about leaving Buck, especially after everything that happened, but he knew they needed to check it out because if there was something important in Buck’s safe they needed to get their hands on it and they couldn’t wait until Buck was cleared to leave. Eddie gave Buck one last look before he headed out of the room and made his way back down to his truck. 

He felt like his whole body was vibrating, he was so pissed. He knew he needed to get a handle on it, but it was hard. He felt like everything was falling apart, that their family was falling apart. First it was Maddie, then Chimney and now Hen and Karen were going against them. They were supposed to be a family. They were supposed to all be together, fighting and helping each other get better. Buck needed his family, but instead they seemed to be the ones that were hurting Buck the most. And now Christopher wouldn’t be able to see Buck until he was out of the CICU and he was not looking forward to that breakdown when he told Christopher about it. Part of him wanted to take the easy way out and have Carla tell him when she picked him up from school, but he wasn’t going to do that to her. He had to be the one to tell Christopher about his Bucky. 

Eddie made the drive over to Buck’s place and he parked his car the second he could. He was not looking forward to seeing it. He knew he had to go inside and see it, but it was still going to be hard. He honestly had no idea how Buck was ever going to be able to handle living in his loft anymore. If he should be with his recovery even when he was allowed to be living alone. It was something that Eddie was going to be talking to Buck about once he was ready to be on his own. Letting out a sigh, Eddie got out of his truck and started to head inside. He felt the nerves picking up as he got closer to Buck’s apartment. He pulled out his key and unlocked the door before he opened it and sure enough Buck’s place looked exactly how he remembered it, plus a lot of fingerprint dust everywhere.

Eddie knew he would need to clean the place up, but that could wait for another day. He figured while he was here he would also grab Buck some clothes and a few things from here for the hospital and the house. He would also need to clean out his fridge and make sure any food that was left and would go bad was removed. It was a small thing, but it was something he could do to help Buck, so it did make him feel better. Eddie went over and quickly cleaned out the fridge. Buck was a pretty good eater, he tended to eat what he bought, including leftovers, so there wasn’t much in there that would go bad. With the garbage put together, Eddie made his way up the stairs and started to grab some things for Buck. 

He grabbed a duffle bag and tossed some clean clothes into it. Making sure to get all of Buck’s sweatpants and comfy clothes. There wasn’t really a need for him to have any jeans right now. He grabbed the book that Buck was in the middle of reading and his tablet. He grabbed all of his toiletries as well. With the bag packed, Eddie then turned his attention to the reason he came here, Buck’s safe. He went over to the dresser and opened the bottom cabinet to see the built-in safe. He entered the code, Buck’s former Navy ID number, and the red light turned green. Eddie was still surprised that Buck had been trained by the SEALs. He knew that Buck said he left because he didn’t want to turn his emotions off, but there had always been a little voice in the back of Eddie’s mind wondering if maybe there was more to the story. He never asked Buck, it wasn’t his place to pry, but he had been curious about it. Just the way Buck, even from when they barely knew each other, could tell when he didn’t want to talk about something. The way he could smoothly change a subject whenever his silver star was brought up. It was something he had been hoping to talk to him about, but that would have to wait until it was a better time. 

Eddie opened the little safe door and grabbed the stack of papers that were in it, some were in different folders, but Eddie had no idea what he was looking for exactly. The one folder contained typical paperwork that Eddie expected. It was the same type of stuff in his safe. Birth certificate, insurance papers, in case of my death papers, that type of stuff. Eddie didn’t look at Buck’s will, it wasn’t any of his business. Not until Buck was no longer with them and he was hoping it would be a very long time from now. The red folder was massive with lots of different papers folded up in it. Eddie pulled one of the pieces of paper out, the one that was sitting on top and he saw that it was the deeds to a very large piece of land, a hundred acres. 

Eddie was instantly confused, because he had no idea that Buck owned land, especially that size of it. In LA land was expensive and from what he could see of the address it was relatively within city limits. It was a thirty minute drive from the 118 and only a twenty minute drive from Christopher’s school. It was in a different direction from Eddie’s current house, but it still was well within driving distance from everything. The land deed was dated a couple of months after the truck bombing. Eddie put the paperwork back into the folder and then turned to the brown folder. He opened it and saw that it was banking information. Different stocks, investment portfolios, a lot of shit that Eddie did not understand and he was a bit surprised that Buck did. It was a running joke that Buck wasn’t good at math. Buck himself would admit that he was terrible with math. This stuff was going right over Eddie’s head, he had to imagine it would be hard for Buck. 

Eddie sorted through the paperwork to try and see if there was something in here that would explain why Buck was so adamant about someone looking in his safe. He came across some trust accounts in various names for the children in the family. He saw one for Christopher with half a million dollars in it and Eddie squashed down that reality for right now. That was a personal revelation he would have to deal with later when his mind was ready for it. Finally though, he came across a bank statement dated just last week. Eddie brought the paper closer to his face, as if that would help him read the numbers any better. 

“No, that can’t be right.” Eddie said, as he read the document again. 

He pulled out his phone and called Bobby without even having to look at it. He put it on speaker as he looked over the document. 

“Hey Eddie, everything ok?” Bobby asked. 

“Am I on speaker?” Eddie asked, still shocked. 

“You are. Is everything alright?” Athena answered. 

“He’s got paperwork here that I don’t understand. There’s investment portfolios, stock accounts, he’s got trust funds for all of the children and it looks like they all have half a million in each trust fund.” Eddie started. 

“He win the lottery?” Tommy asked, just as shocked as Eddie. 

“No, believe me there would have been a lot of bragging if he did. He’s got a bank statement that was just a few days ago. He’s got over fifteen million in the account.”

“I’m sorry what?” Bobby asked, taken completely back. 

“How the hell does he have that kind of money?” Athena asked, shocked. 

“From the investments? Maybe he made some good ones during the early days of a new stock?” Tommy offered. 

“I have no idea. I can’t understand the stock and investment documents. The bank statement only goes back two months. Oh whoa.” Eddie said, as he found another document. 

“What is it?” Bobby asked.

“I just found a Power of Attorney, two of them actually. Buck has POA over Maddie.”

“Why would Maddie give Buck power of attorney? She wouldn’t need someone to have it.” Bobby asked, confused. 

“Maybe with everything that happened with Doug. Going through something like that changes a person. Is it general or enduring?” Athena asked. 

“Enduring. What does that mean?” Eddie answered. 

“It means that Buck has power over Maddie’s finances, bank account, property, etc when Maddie is both mentally stable as well as unstable. Most people have a POA for circumstances just like this. Buck can’t pay any of his bills while in the hospital. If someone held his POA, they would be able to go to the bank and have them pay the money out. Or if he owned a house and a tree went through his roof, his POA could have that repaired or managed. Maddie must have decided it would be best for Buck to have an Enduring POA just in case she was no longer mentally capable of making decisions. She was an ER nurse and a victim of domestic violence, she knew all sorts of risks that could have happened to her.” Athena explained. 

“Ya, this goes back to when she first arrived in LA. That makes sense.” Eddie said, as he read through it. 

“Does that help us now?” Tommy asked. 

“It might. If we are able to locate Maddie and she isn’t in treatment, Buck could use his POA to get her committed into treatment. It would be devastating to do, but we might have to if that helps to save her life and get her better so she can come back and be with her daughter.” Athena answered.

“I really don’t see Buck wanting to do that.” Bobby said, worried about what that would do to Buck. 

“We might not have a choice. You said there were two, any chance we got lucky and Buck has POA over Chimney?” Athena asked, but she knew that would be too good to be true. 

“I wish. It’s Buck’s and he’s got an enduring one too. Huh, that’s interesting. He changed it eighteen months ago. He used to have Maddie down as his POA, but now it has you and Bobby as his POA.” Eddie said, as he read through the paperwork. 

“Really?” Athena asked, shocked as she looked at Bobby to see if he knew or suspected it would be them. He was just as confused as she was. 

“I wonder why he changed it.” Tommy commented. 

“I don't know. Get this though, it’s written right into the POA, signed off by a judge and a witness. Under no circumstances are Maddie Buckley, Phillip Buckley or Margarette Buckley allowed to make any medical, personal or financial decisions on my behalf. In the event that Robbert Nash and Athena Grant-Nash are unable to fulfil their POA responsibilities, the power transfers to Edmundo Diaz.”

“Eighteen months ago, that was before the nightmare of a dinner between the Buckley’s. Before the truth about Daniel.” Bobby said.

“Who’s Daniel?” Tommy asked. 

“Oh that is a long story and one that only Buck gets to tell.” Athena said with a shake of her head. She still couldn’t believe it. 

“Something happened though for Buck to not want Maddie or his parents to have a say in anything that happens to him. It’s something we will have to ask him about when he’s more stable.” Bobby said. 

“It is good that we have POA of Buck. That means we can get him a lawyer and handle any of his bills without having to worry about it being blocked at the bank. We don’t have his passwords so his bank account, so we will have to go in and make sure his bills are getting paid while he is here. Is there anything in there that would explain why Buck was so adamant about someone getting to his safe?” Athena asked. 

“I don’t know. I mean, the financial stuff is a shock. He’s also got a hundred acres of land in his name.” 

“I’m sorry what?” Bobby asked, shocked again. 

“That makes sense now.” Tommy said, and Bobby and Athena both turned to look at him. “When Hen and Karen were here, Hen kept talking about how Buck didn’t have a home for Jee. That he didn’t have the money to support her or to fight in court with lawyers. It was a big point to her that Buck didn’t have the funds or the home to properly raise a baby.”

“But he’s got fifteen million and if there is a house on his land, then he’s got a home.” Eddie said with understanding in his voice.

“The two main hurdles that he would need to overcome. We need to look at that property.” Athena said. 

“I’ll text you the address and meet you there. We need to know what is on the property. I’ll bring everything that was in the safe just in case Buck needs any of it.” Eddie said, as he started to pack up the papers. 

“We’ll meet you there.” Bobby confirmed. 

“See you soon.” Eddie said, before he ended the call. 

He sent a quick text off to Bobby with the address and then he grabbed Buck’s duffle bag before he went downstairs and grabbed the garbage. After dropping it off, he headed back to his truck and started to make his way to the address of Buck’s land. It was a good thirty minutes before he even arrived and he had expected for it to be all open land. He thought maybe there would be a small house, something simple. He had never expected to see a full on metal gate with a fence all around the property. There were multiple houses and a road going to them. 

“What the hell?” Eddie said, softly to himself. 

He turned his truck off and removed his seatbelt. He grabbed the folder that held the deed and he started to open the pieces of paper that had been folded up. He was shocked to see how large the papers were and they were blueprints. Eddie got out of his truck and made his way back to the bed of his pick up. He lowered the tailgate and laid out the blueprints flat so he could see them. He saw that they were designed by Buck and an engineer had signed off on it. Eddie didn’t even know Buck could design a house. That he knew how to make blueprints. He heard a car pull up behind him and he turned to see Bobby and Athena getting out of their car. The shock and confusion clear on their faces.

“We clearly got the address wrong.” Athena said, as she looked at the property. 

“Nope, it’s correct. Did you know Buck knew how to make blueprints? That he knew how to build houses?” Eddie said, as Bobby and Athena made their way over to join him. 

“I knew he did a small stint in construction. I thought he was a labor worker. I didn’t know he could do any of this.” Bobby answered. 

“Apparently, there is more to Buck than any of us knew about.” Athena commented, as she looked at the plans. 

“He’s got two main houses with four bedrooms in them. Then he’s got five smaller houses with two and three bedrooms in them. He’s got plans for more. And a stable, a barn and a kennel.” Eddie said, as he moved the blueprints all around.               

“Here, this one is a land map.” Athena said, as she grabbed one from the bottom of the pile. It showed the whole area and all of the houses and properties. It was what Buck wanted the place to be once it was done. 

“Look at the property names.” Bobby said, as he pointed to the two main houses. 

The one said Buck’s name. Another had Diaz family. Another one had one designated for the children in their family. The rest were left blank. 

“He never told me he was building a house for Christopher and me.” Eddie was shocked. He didn’t know what to say or think about any of this. It was all a shock and he needed to talk to Buck about it, but he couldn’t because Buck wasn’t in a position to have this conversation. 

“He’s got a house designed for when one of the kids goes off to college. These other places, it looks like he wants to set this up as a safe haven of some type. A place where women who are abused can escape to and be safe. He wants to rescue animals.  He’s been building this for two years it looks like.” Athena said. 

“Which is right around the time he changed Maddie from being his POA. Is this connected?” Eddie asked, trying to piece it all together. 

“I don’t know. Buck never talked about any of this. I wonder why he didn’t say something.” Bobby said, slightly hurt that Buck had kept something this massive from everyone.  

“Maybe he wasn’t ready or maybe there was some other reason why he didn’t. I don’t know, we won’t know until we can actually talk to him about it.” Eddie said, wanting to have answers too, but they were stuck until Buck could talk. 

“Let’s go in and see if one of the houses is ready for someone to live in.” Athena suggested. 

“There’s a code here, it’s probably for the gate.” Eddie said, as he grabbed one of the blueprints and folded it up. 

They made their way over to the gate and Eddie punched in the code. The gate beeped and opened up. They walked over to the first house, the one that was supposed to be Eddie’s, and they used the code written on the drawing of Eddie’s house to open the hide-a-key. Eddie took the key and they walked in. The house wasn’t fully completed. It was only cosmetic work that needed to be done. The house itself was big, it was all one level, so Christopher didn’t have to worry about stairs. It was an open concept with boxes of flooring in the living room for the house and tiles for the kitchen and bathrooms. The kitchen had appliances in and it was a nice kitchen. It was simple and Eddie couldn’t help but chuckle. Buck knew he couldn’t cook and he wasn’t one for a kitchen. He had a feeling Buck’s kitchen would be amazing. 

“Four bedrooms, three bathrooms.” Eddie said, from the paperwork. 

“It looks like everything to finish the house is here, even paint. It’s all labeled, it could be ready within a month.” Bobby said, as they took everything in. 

Eddie walked down the hallway and saw the various bedrooms. One bedroom was set up as a junior master with its own bathroom that was already set up for Christopher’s needs. There was a walk-in shower with a built-in seat should he need it. The room had a walk-in closet with shelving and racks all at the height that Christopher would need. They were also adjustable so when he got taller they could be moved up higher. Eddie moved on to find his own bedroom and it was truly amazing. It had two rooms, one for a bedroom and another for a mancave. There was a walk-in closet that his future girlfriend or new wife would die for. It was definitely built for two. The bathroom was to die for. It had a massive jacuzzi tub with a separate shower with multiple shower heads. It would be perfect for his sore and aching body after a rough shift. 

“This place is amazing.” Athena said, as she took it all in. 

Eddie walked over to the french door patio that led out into the backyard. There was a full wrap around porch with a built-in outdoor grill that was big enough to cook for thirty people on it. There was even an outdoor deep fryer. There was a covered seating area with a place to mount a tv. There was also a full bar and a fireplace that could burn real wood. It would be perfect for the kids to roast marshmallows on. 

“This house just proves how well Buck knows me.” Eddie said with a small shake of his head. “He knows what’s important to me. He knows what I love. Even the cosmetic stuff, he picked the colors he knew Christopher and I liked. The type of flooring that was better for Christopher and his crutches. He built us a house.” Eddie said, just blown away by it. 

The house had to cost half a million dollars, easily. Eddie couldn’t even process this. He didn’t like it when Buck would buy dinner for them all and he had built them a house. He couldn’t wrap his mind around this. 

“He built a lot of houses. He made one for the future for the kids in the family. You and Christopher mean so much to Buck. I can’t speak for why he did this, but I think he wanted to make sure you and Christopher were always going to be taken care of. That no matter what happened, you would have a home.” Athena tried to explain. 

It was a lot for them all to take in. To know that Buck had done this for himself, for Eddie and Christopher, for all of the kids in their family. It was unbelievable. And they had so many questions they would need to ask him once he was in a condition to do so. 

“Come on, let’s go and see what Buck’s house looks like. If it’s in this state, then we could get it finished up relatively quickly.” Bobby said. 

They walked through the grass to get to Buck’s house that was about a block and a half away. There was plenty of space between each house so each person would have their own sense of privacy. They saw Buck’s back patio first and it was similar to Eddie’s but it also had his own style. There was an outdoor kitchen, but it was complete with a smoker, barbeque, deep fryer and a pizza oven. There was a set seating area big enough for outdoor furniture as well as a dining table. There was a mount for a tv, but there was also a set firepit section. There were garden boxes as well and Eddie knew that Buck would be growing his own vegetables. The main difference with how Buck’s house looked, was the floor to ceiling windows along the one wall. They could see that it would be the living room on the other side and just like at Eddie’s there were boxes of materials for the house. 

“I know from the site plans, Buck wants to have a pool, a playground area, and even a mini putt course. He’s looking to make this place a fun place for children to be.” Athena said, as she took in all of the vast land that was cleared of any trees that weren’t along the border of his property. 

“He’s been thinking about this for a long time. I wonder what made him get started.” Bobby asked, but he didn’t expect for them to answer. 

Eddie went over and tried to open the sliding patio door, and he was surprised that it was unlocked. They headed inside and Eddie couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Buck’s kitchen. Bobby was instantly pulled to it and he tried to take it all in. Buck had a very large fridge, bigger than your most household ones. It was definitely built to accommodate a large amount of food. There was a twelve burner gas stove top with two full ovens built into the wall. There was a built-in air fryer. There was a farm sink in the island and the island was massive. There was plenty of room to prepare food and display it. There was also an overhang so you could sit at it as well.             

“Now this is a kitchen.” Bobby said, as he took it all in. 

“He definitely has this house designed to accommodate some parties. The ceilings are tall too. He could easily have a ten foot tree in here.” Athena said. 

It was a very large house. Even though it was a ranch style home, it was wide with plenty of room to have a sixteen foot table if he wanted and there would still be plenty of room to move around. Buck had designed this home to have a family in it. They made their way down the hallway and saw that there were four bedrooms here. They were set up very similar to Eddie’s home, but the junior master didn’t have the added safety precautions that Christopher’s room had. Buck’s finishings were more modern and his style.

“Ok, so he has money and a home. We just need to get it finished so he can be here with Jee.” Eddie said, as they headed back outside and made their way to the next house. 

“We should be able to get it done within a month. We’ll need to look into companies to see who can come out and get it finished.” Bobby agreed. 

“We can put in some calls and see. There was also a name on the blueprints for an engineer, he might know what company Buck used to build the houses. They might be able to come in and finish. I suspect that Buck was going to do it himself, but it would be best to get it finished so he can get in there with Jee whenever we find Chimney.”

Athena said. 

“We can do that today.” Bobby agreed.

They headed into the next house, the one that was set up for the kids in the family. It was a simple house, but it was a nice one. It was also a ranch home, they all were. Buck had clearly taken into account that people with various needs could be living in the homes and he never wanted them to be trapped within the home. It was a three bedroom, two bathroom home. Again all of the materials were in the home to finish it up. The house wasn’t anything fancy, but it would work for someone’s first apartment. The houses were designed to be simple for whatever family might need it temporarily. 

They all started to head back to their cars as Eddie spoke. “I’m gonna head back to the hospital. What are you guys going to do?” 

“We will go to the bank and make sure that Buck’s bills are being paid. We also have to now go and find Buck and Jee a lawyer and let them know about Sydney Harris and see what we need.” Athena answered.

“Let us know how Buck is doing and when we are done we’ll be at the hospital. I have today off and then I am back on shift.” Bobby added.

“Ya, with Hen.” Athena said with a shake of her head. She already knew this was not going to go over well, but she was hoping that everyone could be professional and do their jobs. 

“It’ll be fine. Things might be tense for a little bit, but we will get through it. For now, let’s focus on the things we can control.” Bobby said. 

He knew that they were all going to be worried about Hen and working with her, but they would just have to figure it out. Adding more fight was not going to solve anything. For now, they would handle what they could and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Bobby and Athena made their way into the lawyer’s office two days after Buck had been moved into the CICU. So far his heart was holding steady, but he was not out of the woods yet. They were both worried about what all of this was going to do to Buck once he was able to leave. He couldn’t be under any added stress and this situation was the exact opposite of peaceful. They at least had his POA so they could handle all of this, but at some point Buck was going to have to talk to CPS and to his lawyers and a judge. And that was just for the custody battle. That didn't include the criminal case. Even though they didn't know where Chimney was, the DA wanted to still meet with Buck and make sure they had all of their ducks in a row so when Chimney did pop up they would be ready for whatever he had to throw their way. 

Today they needed to meet with Buck’s lawyer and Jee’s lawyer. They were thankfully going to be meeting them at Buck’s lawyer’s office so they could handle all of this together and not have to keep telling people this story. They were worried though, because they had no idea what Jee’s lawyer would feel would be best. She could easily say that Hen and Karen were the right people to look at Jee with Buck being so injured. It was a massive gamble, but according to Buck’s lawyer it was the right move to make. They were trusting him and that made both Bobby and Athena very nervous. The only reason they went with him was because he was the best in the city, same as Jee’s lawyer. They were not holding back any expenses in this, especially because Buck had the money to afford the best. And they knew he would want them to hire the best. 

“Good afternoon. How can I help you?” The charming receptionist said once Bobby and Athena entered the office. 

“Grant-Nash here to speak with Mr. Turner and Ms. White.” Bobby answered.

“Perfect, I will let them know you are here. If you would like to take a seat, I am sure they will be ready in a moment.” She said with a warm smile, as she stood. 

“Thank-you.” Athena said, as her and Bobby moved over to the waiting area, but neither of them sat. They were both too nervous and anxious to sit still.

“This is the right thing, right?” Athena asked Bobby. 

“You don’t think Buck should have Jee?” Bobby gently asked. 

“I am not saying that. Maddie wanted Buck to have Jee should something happen. I believe that a mother’s wishes, especially legal wishes, should be honored and respected. And even if Maddie wasn’t in her right mind, which I don’t fully believe, Buck is still the best choice to care for Jee.”

“But?” Bobby gently pressed.

“But I would feel a hell of a lot better about this if Buck wasn’t so injured. If we weren’t about to take our good friends to court to fight over a child that isn’t any of our daughters. This would only be the first fight. As much as I love the legal system and believe in the courts, there is a chance, a slim one, that Chimney could get found not guilty. And if Maddie doesn't come back, we would have to go back to court again to fight over Jee. Our family as we know it is gone. And it’s not fair to that little girl for people to constantly be fighting over her. For her to go from home to home. I know it should be Buck that has her. But I also know that that boy would rip his own heart out to protect someone he loves. I’m just worried about what will happen to him if Chimney does get to have Jee again. He’s never going to let Buck see her and Buck will fall madly in love with her only to lose her. What is that going to do to his heart?” 

Athena knew this needed to happen, she truly did. And she was all for Buck getting Jee. Right now it didn’t make the most sense, but long-term it did. And she would gladly fight until her dying breath to make sure Buck and Jee stayed together. But she was very worried about the future. Buck would care for Jee. He would fall madly in love with her. It was easy for an outsider to say that Buck was just an uncle, but when you were raising a child from infancy, there was a connection there. It was biological that Buck would feel more like a father than an uncle and having to go back to having that distance, it would be heartbreaking. She didn’t want Buck to be destroyed like that. 

Bobby went over and pulled Athena in for a hug. “I know it will be hard at times for him. And I don’t know what the future will hold in all of this mess. But what I do know is that Buck would go through all of this to protect Jee, even if that means in the end he has to lose her. It’s not our job or place to tell him he can’t fight for his niece. All we can do is be there for him and hope that he doesn’t get his heart broken. We will get him through this, no matter what the outcome is.”

Bobby was worried just as much as Athena, but he knew they had to do this for Buck. It’s what he wanted and they needed to respect that. Would it be easy? Absolutely not. And Bobby honestly had no idea how the courts were going to sway. Both sides had valid arguments and right now Karen and Hen were the better option. They were going to have to work three times as hard to prove that Buck should get Jee, especially in his current state. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Grant-Nash, they are ready for you.” The receptionist said with a kind smile. 

Athena couldn’t help but smile at the name. They both followed the receptionist down the hallway to reach a small conference room. They walked in and saw both Buck and Jee’s lawyers were already there with papers all spread out on the table in front of them. 

“Good afternoon, I’m Bobby Nash and this is my wife Athena Grant-Nash.” Bobby said, as the lawyers stood. 

“Oliver Turner.” Buck’s lawyer said, as he stood and held his hand out. Bobby took it first before Athena did before Jee’s lawyer stood. 

“Marcy White.” 

Once all of the introductions were out of the way they all took a seat while the receptionist closed the door on her way out. 

“We appreciate you both agreeing to meet with us at the same time. We know this is a bit unorthodox.” Bobby started. 

“Ms. White and I have actually worked together on a few different cases before. We’ve met clients together in the past. Though, typically we already know the situation beforehand.” Mr. Turner started.

“And we appreciate you both agreeing to meet together for the first time. We have a bit of a different situation than what would be a typical custody battle.” Athena started. 

“What is the situation?” Ms. White asked. 

“I’m a fire captain with the LAFD and my wife is a sergeant with the LAPD. One of my firefighters, Evan Buckley, is like a son to the both of us. He has an older sister, Maddie, who started to date one of the guys at the station, Howard. They ended up having a baby together, Jee-Yun, who is three months now.” Bobby started and as he spoke he knew it was confusing. 

“Ok, hang on.” Ms. White said with a soft smile. “You both are pseudo parents to Evan Buckley?”

“Correct.” Athena answered.

“And one of your firefighters is a boyfriend to Evan’s sister, Maddie. And they have a three month old daughter together?” Ms, White asked, as she wrote it down. 

“That is correct.” Bobby answered this time. 

“Is it safe to assume we are here in regards to Jee-Yun?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“We are.” Athena confirmed. 

“Where are her parents?” Ms. White asked. 

“That is the complicated part. Maddie left roughly ten days ago. She left Jee-Yun at the firestation before she left town. She left a video message to Howard about her leaving, but she didn't specify where she was going. She also called Evan, but she didn’t tell him what she was doing or where she was going. No one has heard from her since. The LAPD has a missing person’s report out on her.” Bobby started. 

“PPD?” Ms. White asked.

“We believe so. She was pretty isolated for the first three months of Jee-Yun’s life. There was an incident just before she left, which we believe triggered her leaving. She was bathing Jee when she nodded off for a second and Jee slipped under the water. She took Jee to the hospital to be checked out and she was perfectly healthy. But Maddie left very quickly after that.” Bobby explained. 

“Unfortunately, this does happen to a lot of women. Some are able to get help in time and others slip through the cracks. I hope she is able to be located.” Ms. White said, sympathetically. 

“We are trying to locate her. We have a BOLO out on her and sent her photo to every station all across the country. The LAPD are taking this very seriously.” Athena reassured. 

“Ok, we don’t know where Jee-Yun’s mother is. What about her father? Typically, the father would get custody of the child in these circumstances.” Mr. Turner asked. 

“After Maddie had been missing for eight days, Howard discovered that Jee had been in the hospital. He determined that Maddie left because she had an accident and she was overreacting. He was determined to find her. He went to speak to Evan at his loft. They had a discussion that got heated. Howard discovered that Maddie had called Evan the day she left and he believed that Evan knew where Maddie was. Evan does not know and he is very worried about her. Howard, attacked Evan. It was a brutal attack and afterwards Howard tore the place apart to try and find anything that would give him a location on Maddie. When he didn’t find anything, he took Evan’s phone and then left.” Bobby started to explain. 

“How brutal are we talking about? What injuries did Evan sustain?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“I was one of the first officers on scene. Evan was found by his best friend, Eddie, who also works at the station with Evan and Howard. When I arrived Eddie had to do an emergency trach just to get Evan breathing. He had stopped breathing and his heart stopped. The paramedics had to shock him a couple of times to bring him back before they were able to get him to the hospital.” Athena started.

“In terms of injuries. He has a broken zygomatic bone, two broken ribs, left side of his jaw was dislocated, but his right side was broken in multiple places causing him to have metal plates and screws in his jaw. The screws forced him to be on blood thinners until they could come out. If they can’t come out because the bones didn’t heal properly he will have to be on them for the rest of his life. It will take up to twelve weeks before his jaw is fully healed, assuming they don’t have to reset it at six weeks. He also has a five centimeter skull fracture that will take anywhere from three to six months to heal. As well as a retinal detachment from the initial punch to his eye. The doctor was able to repair it, but there is a chance he is permanently blind in that eye or his sight is compromised. On top of that he had broken heart syndrome about two days ago after another firefighter from my house, Henrietta Wilson, told him that she and her wife would be taking Jee-Yun. It caused him too much emotional stress and his heart fell out of rhythm.” Bobby continued. 

“Hold on. Some of those injuries are life threatening. That is a very serious attack. What is happening on the investigation side of things?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“Howard left the city right after the attack. He took Jee-Yun with him. His plan, apparently, is to drive all around the country trying to find Maddie. The LAPD has a warrant out for his arrest. He is going to be charged with attempted murder and potentially kidnapping.” Athena answered. 

“Why kidnapping?” Ms. White asked. 

“They never did the declaration of paternity. Only Maddie has parental rights to Jee-Yun.” Athena supplied. 

“Is there a reason why they never did?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“Jee was born right after COVID. The courts were packed. They figured they would wait for things to calm down and then they would handle it.” Athena explained. 

“Alright. So both parents are out of the picture. Even if Maddie returned tomorrow she would have to undergo treatment and have a treatment plan put in place where the courts would be able to give her custody back. It’s done that way to ensure the child is safe. With you both as first responders I am sure I don’t need to tell you the dangers someone with untreated PPD could have on themselves and their child. As long as Maddie gets help, she would be able to regain custody of Jee-Yun.” Ms. White said. 

“In the meantime there is a little girl that has no parents. Does Maddie have a living will?” Mr.Turner asked.

“She does. We don’t have a copy of it, but it did state that custody of Jee-Yun would go to Evan.” Athena answered. 

“Only he’s in the hospital unable to take custody of Jee-Yun when she is taken into custody.” Ms. White stated. 

“Which is why we are here.” Bobby said with a soft smile. 

“Ok, in a perfect case scenario, what are you hoping for?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“Evan would like to have custody of Jee-Yun. We understand that he is injured. He does have a long road to go. However, he has a lot of help. He will be staying with Eddie. There is a spare room for Jee-Yun and Eddie is prepared to help Evan with her. Athena and I are as well. Plus Eddie’s family. They have a certified caregiver that helps Eddie with his son, Christopher, who has CP. Carla has already agreed to help with Jee-Yun.” Bobby answered.

“We know it’s a lot of moving parts. We know it’s a lot that is up in the air. However, Evan is Jee-Yun’s biological uncle and he is remarkable with children. He is also who Maddie wanted to have Jee-Yun should something happen. I think that is important to be respected.” Athena added. 

“As a child’s lawyer, it is my job to make sure the child’s welfare is properly taken care of. Sometimes that is straightforward and sometimes that is incredibly messy. I am ok with a mess. Child Protective Services are ok with a mess, if that is the best place for the child to be. What about other biological family on either side?” Ms. White asked.     

“Howard has a younger brother who is a firefighter in a different house. He is in his early twenties and lives with roommates. He wouldn’t be a good fit. Howard’s biological parents are in South Korea and they have not spoken to each other in a very long time. I think in a decade they have spoken four times.” Bobby answered.

“So his family is out. What about Maddie’s?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“That is very complicated. Um…” Athena started, trying to figure out how to explain that mess. “Maddie is ten years older than Evan and in between they had another brother, Daniel. He was eight years older than Evan. Daniel developed a rare leukemia and he needed a bone marrow transplant. Maddie and their parents weren't a match, so they made one.”

“A savior sibling.” Mr. Turner said, softly. 

“Exactly. Evan was designed to be the perfect match to Daniel. When Evan was born they took his bone marrow and did the transplant, but Daniel was too sick. He died within that first year of Evan’s life. After Daniel’s death his parents moved them to a different town. They got rid of anything that was Daniel’s. They never had a single photo of him and for twenty-seven years Evan had no idea that he even had a brother.” Athena explained. 

“Wait, what?” Mr. Turner asked, completely shocked by this turn of events. 

“Their parents, unable to handle the grief, they erased him completely. Not even Maddie had mentioned him. The only reason Evan discovered the truth about Daniel and his conception, was because he found a photo of Daniel in Maddie’s things. That was back when she was pregnant. To say that the relationship between Evan and his parents is strained would be an understatement. They were often present but not there after Daniel’s death with either Maddie or Evan. Evan had spoken to them between the age of eighteen when he left and twenty-seven, I believe he said three times and each time it was to tell them about Maddie. Maddie hadn’t spoken to them for the five years she had been in LA. And then she didn’t speak to them really once she left home at eighteen. They didn’t even show up for her first wedding. So, in the last ten years at least they both have only seen them once and that was when Maddie invited them down when she was pregnant.” Athena finished explaining. 

“Do you know why she reached out to them?” Ms. White asked. 

“I blame the hormones honestly. Howard isn’t close to his parents. Maddie wanted her daughter to have the chance to have grandparents in her life. And I think a large part of her wanted her mother there for her. She wanted that support and love. Someone to share in the excitement. Jee-Yun is their only grandchild. It was supposed to be a special event for everyone.” Athena answered. 

“Have they seen Jee-Yun?” Mr. Turner asked.

“They have not and to my knowledge they haven’t tried or called. They could honestly have no idea she was even born.” Bobby answered. 

“So family wise, Evan is really the only option. Which does make me a bit confused. If you have a legal document placing Evan as Jee-Yun’s guardian and there is no family fighting it, why the need for lawyers?” Mr. Turner asked.

“Because a fellow firefighter that is a member of our family and works with myself, Howard and Evan. She is also Howard’s best friend. She is looking to have Jee-Yun placed with her and her wife Karen. Hen has a key to Howard and Maddie’s place. She went in there and found Maddie’s living will, which was created a month after Jee-Yun was born. She is arguing that Maddie was already in the throws of her PPD and couldn’t make an informed decision. Therefore, the living will of Howard’s should be followed which names her and Karen as guardians to Jee-Yun should something happen.” Bobby explained. 

“Hen and Karen are already foster parents. They contacted their CPS worker, Sydney Harris, who advised them to get a lawyer. From what we gather, Ms. Harris is backing up Hen and Karen having Jee-Yun.” Athena added. 

“CPS must have a valid reason for it. And to be honest given Evan’s condition, I can’t say I blame her.” Ms. White stated. 

“We know Evan’s health is an obstacle. However, Hen does not believe that Howard is the one that attacked Evan. She believes Evan is confused or just looking to frame Howard because of hard feelings. She believes that Howard deserves to have Jee-Yun in his life and she will not follow whatever the court or CPS dictates that needs to be done with Howard in order for him to see Jee-Yun. To be perfectly honest, it would not surprise me if she helps Howard stay hidden. She is convinced that everything will prove that Howard is innocent and everything will go back to normal.” Bobby clarified. 

“That seems pretty delusional in my personal opinion. This isn’t a bell that can be unrung.” Mr. Turner stated.

“As Jee-Yun’s lawyer, my priority, my only job, is to ensure she is in the best place for her. Both short and long term. Even though she is an infant, I don’t wish for her to have to be bounced around from one home to another. On the surface what Hen and Karen are offering appears to be the best option. However, that is only on the surface and in life you can’t take things at face value. Evan is Jee-Yun’s biological uncle. He appears to be the only viable option for family on either side. He clearly wants to help raise her or you wouldn’t be here. Does Evan come with a lot of obstacles and unknowns in the short-term? Absolutely. However in the long-term he is who Jee-Yun should be with. It’s always best for children to get to be with family. And the courts take into consideration what the mother’s wishes are. I am also worried about Hen and her wife and how they will handle Howard and visitations. It would be great to say that once Howard is arrested then he is out of Jee-Yun’s life. However, depending on the CPS worker, he could have supervised visits with her. It’s imperative that the guardian of Jee-Yun follows the court’s orders to the letter, no matter what. I don’t get the sense that Hen and Karen would do that. In this circumstance, I would request for a third party to be involved so Howard doesn’t see Evan or anyone connected to him for the visits. I am assuming there would be a restraining order in place.” Ms. White said, as she looked at Athena. 

“There will be yes. It’s mandatory in these types of cases.” 

“Just so we are clear here. Are you saying you would support Evan in having Jee?” Bobby asked, because he really needed to hear the words. 

“I would like to. However, in order to make myself feel better and to please the courts, there needs to be a clear laid out plan. On paper, a full schedule for Jee-Yun. Where she would be, who would be there, who is looking after her while Evan is recovering. All of that needs to be laid out. The court will also want proof that Evan can financially support himself and Jee-Yun, especially while he can’t work. Evan would need to grant permission for the courts to speak to his doctors should they have questions about his condition and the prognosis. There would also need to be a set home. Right now he is recovering and it’s perfectly understandable given his injuries that he needs to live with someone. But after that, where will they be?”     

“So Evan actually has a hundred acre property with a home on it. The finishing touches are just being done. We’ve been assured it will be completed within thirty days. The house itself is completed, it is just cosmetic work on the inside. In terms of money, Evan has over fifteen million in his account from very smart investments.” Bobby stated. 

“Sounds like some very smart investments that I need to speak to him about. That’s impressive and all of that helps in our case. I will also set a court date to have a new CPS worker assigned to the case. I do not like that Ms. Harris is not impartial. She is very much biased and she will always lean towards Hen and Karen. We need a neutral party, which the judge should grant.” Mr. Turner said. 

“I think that would be best.” Athena agreed and she was relieved that this was going better than they had anticipated it would be. 

“We also have paperwork that Evan has an enduring POA on Maddie.” Bobby said, as he placed the POA down on the table. “I don’t know if that helps at all.”

Mr. Turner looked at the POA real quick before he spoke. “It does actually. This was signed well before she was pregnant. She had plenty of opportunities to change it to Howard, but she never did. Even if someone wants to argue that Maddie had PPD at the time of her living will, this POA nullifies it. Maddie is currently in a PPD attack. Meaning Evan has control over her affairs, including guardianship of any minor children. In the eyes of the law, currently right now, Evan is the legal guardian of Jee-Yun and it will be on Hen and Karen to prove that his rights as POA and guardian should be voided. And that is not easy to do.” 

“Wait, Evan has legal guardianship of Jee, right now?” Athena asked, surprised. She didn’t think the POA would work for that. 

“He had it the moment Maddie dropped Jee-Yun off at the station. In the eyes of the court, she abandoned her child. And because it was at a fire station it falls under the safe haven law.” Ms. White answered.

“But that is only for the first seventy-two hours of life. Jee is three months old.” Athena said. 

“Correct, so Maddie could be prosecuted for child abandonment, but it doesn’t change that Jee-Yun would still be protected under safe haven laws until she was six months old. Typically, she would be placed in foster care. However, she went to her father and he is now on the run. Had he stayed and someone looked into it, Jee-Yun would have been placed with Evan until a declaration of paternity was completed. Then she could have gone to Howard.” Ms. White explained. 

“This POA means Evan has guardianship of Jee-Yun. How Maddie left her, places Maddie into the child abandonment category, as Ms. White said. In the state of California, any parent that abandons their child, especially to a safe haven location, their parental rights are automatically terminated once CPS gets their hands on the baby. Now, in this case, Maddie is mentally ill so there might be some leeway in that regard. I can ask the courts to show leniency, but there is no guarantee the judge will listen.” Mr. Turner finished explaining. 

“Evan is not going to want Maddie to lose her rights. It would kill him.” Bobby instantly said. 

“Which is why we are not going to mention how Jee-Yun was left at the first court hearing. We will also work with the CPS worker to try and keep that from happening. It depends on the worker, but Maddie does have PPD. She is mentally ill. If she gets into a treatment facility and does what CPS says, she could still keep her rights. But you are very much on a ticking clock. Both parents have exactly one year to come back into their child’s life and try to get them back. That started the minute Maddie handed Jee-Yun off. Howard is most likely going to prison, so his rights will be terminated once he is convicted. Maddie only has a year to come back and try and work with CPS. If she does not show, if she never gets into contact with the CPS worker. Then Evan would be allowed to legally adopt Jee-Yun and both Howard and Maddie will never be able to get her back.” Mr. Turner explained. 

“And even if Howard is for some reason found not guilty. He could still have his rights terminated. Family court is not like criminal court. If the judge feels that it is more likely that Howard did attempt to kill Evan, the judge will rule in Evan’s favor and terminate Howard’s rights. The court could even find Maddie liable for child endangerment because she left Jee-Yun in the custody of a violent man, instead of Evan who she knew was supposed to have guardianship of Jee-Yun.” Ms. White added.

“This all sounds a lot messier than we were expecting.” Athena said. She was very thankful she never had to deal with family court. 

“Two parents it is complicated. Three or more is a minefield.” Mr. Turner said with complete understanding in his voice. “Evan has POA though, so he will be able to sign for Maddie’s medical records and we can try and get a timeline going of her PPD and if it was ever officially diagnosed or not. It also means that he can call her medical insurance company and see if she is registered in any treatment facility right now. He can call her cell phone provider to try and get a GPS location on her and to see about any calls. He can also do the same for her car. Get the company to turn on the GPS and get a location. Credit cards, all of it. He would need to fax over the copy of the POA every time, but he would have access to everything.” Mr. Turner explained. 

“Oh I didn’t even think of that.” Athena said, as she closed her eyes for a second. She was so wrapped up in Buck and Jee, she completely forgot that Buck could be the one that would be able to get them the access they needed. 

“It’s been a hectic few days.” Bobby said, as he reached over and took Athena’s hand within his own.

“I would imagine so. Why don’t we get started on all of the paperwork and I will write out what we will need for court and what Evan can do with his POA to try and help find Maddie. I also have a copy of Evan’s POA already that you sent over before our meeting, so that will be added to the file as well.” Mr. Turner said. 

“How much is the retainer?” Athena asked. 

“It’s twenty-thousand. But for right now we can hold off on that. You can always bring me a check when you get all of the paperwork in order. You’ll need to go to the bank and get additional documents there for me, so you can do it all at the same time.” Mr. Turner said. He wasn’t too worried given how much money Buck had. 

“Great.” Athena said with a nod. 

“And yourself?” Bobby asked Ms. White. 

“Mine is the same. And again you can bring it to my office along with the documents I will need from you. I do want to make it perfectly clear here, I work for Jee-Yun. My job is to go digging and making sure whoever has her is the best person for the job. So I will be looking into Evan. I will be looking into Hen and Karen. I will need to speak with them. I will work with Jee-Yun’s CPS worker as well. My job is to make sure Jee-Yun is in the best place for her. From everything you have said, I do believe that is with Evan, especially given all of the legal paperwork. But I don’t want you to feel like I am picking sides or going against Evan if I have to question him about something. And realistically, if I find it, Hen and Karen’s lawyer will as well. So he’s going to have to answer some tough questions if they come up.” Ms. White warned. 

“And that is perfectly fine. We understand that the past will be brought up. We are all prepared for it. And Evan doesn’t have any deep dark secrets. He is a really sweet young man.” Athena said with complete understanding to her voice. 

“Good. Let’s get all of this paperwork in order and then you can get out of here. I am sure you both are anxious to get back to Evan.” Ms. White said with a kind smile. 

Bobby and Athena grabbed a pen each and were ready to get started on what they figured would be a mountain of paperwork. They both felt better now that they had spoken to both Buck’s and Jee’s lawyers. They felt like they had a better footing and knew what to expect. Now they were just hoping everything else would go smoothly.

Chapter Text

“Did Bobby say how work was going?” Tommy asked, as him and Eddie both sat on opposite sides of Buck’s hospital bed. 

It had been a week since the attack and Buck had slept the majority of the past five days away. The doctors were hoping that they could reduce his sedation today and Buck would be able to be awake and manage the pain with medication. 

“He showed up for his shift the other day and Hen had already submitted transfer paperwork. She wanted to be placed on a different shift. He felt it was for the best for her to be working a different shift so he put her on C-Shift. Which honestly, I am relieved over. I don’t think I could have gone back to work in ten days and seen her face and not lose my shit.” 

Eddie still couldn’t believe he had to go back to work in ten days. Yes, it was moderated hours, but still. He was going to have to try and balance everything with working for twelve hours straight. He had no idea how he was going to manage it. 

“I think it’s for the best that she was moved. And I am relieved to hear that she was still of sound mind enough to realise that she needed to transfer. That she couldn’t work with all of you after doing what she did. Any word from the social worker?”

“She shows up at my place in two days for a home inspection. I’m not really looking forward to it. I got today and tomorrow to get my place fully ready.” Eddie said with a deep sigh. 

“Anything I can do to help?” Tommy easily offered. 

“Naw, I got it. I’m just gonna clean and then take everything from the spare room and bring it to Buck’s place to hide for now. I gotta go through it all, but it’s taking me a lot longer with having to be here and taking care of Christopher. I figured I would store it at Buck’s and then work my way through it.” Eventually they would have to go through Buck’s place and get everything from it out of it and sell the loft, but that could happen down the road. 

“What about things for Jee? Did you get everything for her?” 

“Not yet. We were trying to figure out what to do about all of the stuff she would need. Athena was gonna go and buy the stuff with money from Buck’s account, but we decided that we would pick up the stuff from Maddie’s apartment and use that. We went back and forth on it, but in the end we think Buck would want the items Maddie picked out for Jee. And even though Jee is only three months old, they are still her things. That’s her crib she slept in, etc. We want her to feel at home when we get her.”

Him, Bobby and Athena had gone back and forth on what the proper protocol was in all of this. Bobby and Eddie weren’t sure it was the best idea to go into Maddie and Chimney’s place and take things from it. Athena had assured them that Buck had POA of Maddie, which meant he could access the apartment because she lived there. Buck also would need to make sure the rent was paid and it was kept in good standing. Eddie hated that Buck would do it for Maddie, but that Chimney would also get to have the reward of having his place paid for. Athena said she would work with the landlord and get Chimney’s name removed from the lease, but they didn’t know if it would be possible. They were allowed into the apartment after showing the landlord Maddie’s POA and then Buck’s POA. It was horribly complicated, but they were granted access to the apartment and they moved everything that was Jee’s out of there. It was currently sitting in Eddie’s living room until he got the spare room ready.  

In the end they had decided to go with Athena’s opinions on Jee’s things. She was a mother and she would have the better understanding of what Maddie would have wanted. Maddie had been the one to pick out everything for Jee. Eddie knew that for a fact because Buck used to talk to him about how Chimney didn’t seem all that interested. Buck was the one that would spend hours sitting with Maddie as she looked through endless catalogs and debated on which styles she liked. Buck had been the one to help get the nursery put together and built for Maddie. Buck had been the one to help take her places and carry everything in. Maddie had been the one to pick out each piece of furniture, clothing, blankets, toys, all of it. So they had agreed with Athena that Jee should have what her mother wanted, especially because she couldn’t be there with Jee right now. 

“I think that was the right call to make and from what I know of Evan, he would want Jee to have her own things. To have that connection with her mother. And we still have no word on where Maddie is?”  

Tommy was worried about Maddie. He was worried for her as a person who was struggling with a mental health issue. He was worried for her as someone that had come to know her and enjoy her company. He was worried for her as someone that knew how deeply connected she was to Buck and what it would do to him. Tommy was very worried about what all of this would do to Buck, especially the longer it went on for. 

“Bobby and Athena learnt from the lawyer that Buck can use Maddie’s POA to get in contact with her car insurance, cell phone provider, credit cards, all of it. But when Athena tried to play the POA shuffle game like she did with the landlord, everyone said hell no. We need to wait until Buck is able to make the calls himself and have the POA sent to everyone.” 

“None of them would take it? Even with Athena being a cop?” Tommy asked, slightly surprised. 

“Nope. She tried. But they either want a court order or they want Buck to make the call. And I get it. At least to some degree. These people need to protect Maddie’s location and identity. I would be skeptical too if someone called in with multiple POAs to try and get intel out of them. Buck will need to send over the POA and his ID to prove who he is. It’s a whole thing. The same as Maddie’s bank. It’ll have to wait until Buck is out of the hospital and able to move around a bit.” Eddie said with a sigh. 

“That’s not going to help him relax at all.” Tommy said with a small shake of his head. 

“Not even a little. And there is no word on Chimney either. I just hope whatever the fuck is going on with him, that he’s aware enough to be taking proper care of Jee.” 

“I don't know what is going on with him. It's like he's a totally different person.” Tommy said with a small shake of his head.

“That's what I'm afraid of.” Eddie softly said, as he looked at Buck.

“What do you mean?”

“There was this army buddy of mine. Kovac. I used to see him all the time when I was on tour. I often went with his unit. He had a few TBI in the twenty years he was in. He was diagnosed with Breacher Syndrome and that’s when he was given the honorable discharge. He should have gotten medical, but after twenty years, they gave him what he deserved. He had a wife and two kids. He went home and four months later we heard about him being arrested. He had shot his wife and kids. During the trial it was determined he was not-guilty based on a medical disorder.”

“How is that possible?” Tommy asked, confused. 

“The repeated TBI caused damage to his impulse control and changed his personality. We all could see for years that his personality was different. It was a slow change, but we figured it was because he was constantly at war. But his lawyer argued successfully that his brain was compromised, therefore he couldn’t be found guilty. He got that way because he had too many concussions. Chimney got a piece of rebar through his head. He hasn’t had a brain scan in four years. Everyone keeps saying that this goes against who Chimney is. And I agree. This isn’t Chimney. What if we go through all of this and Buck doesn’t get justice because some defense attorney wants to blame his behavior on that piece of fucking rebar?”

And that was what Eddie was ultimately worried about. That Buck would go through all of this pain. All of this trauma. All of this drama and stress. And at the end of it all, Chimney would get off on it and he would get to have a happy family with Jee and Buck would be the one left standing with all of the heart break. If that happened, Eddie didn’t know if Buck would survive it. 

“I didn’t even think about that. I don’t know. I really don’t. I guess all we can do is hope for the best and be there for Evan.” 

Tommy didn’t even want to think about the possibility of Chimney being acquitted. He couldn’t think about what all of this would do to Buck or to Jee. Tommy knew the 118 family was never going to be the same. Chimney would never be able to make up for his actions. Hen would never be able to make her own decisions right. There was no redemption on either of their parts. The best Hen could hope for was civility and that would just be because of the children involved. It wouldn’t be fair to Denny to tell him he couldn’t be friends with Christopher or Harry. They would have to get along to some degree for the children. Chimney though, he would forever be dead to the 118. He would be dead to Tommy. He didn’t want anything to do with Chimney or Hen. He was free from children, so he didn’t have to try and play nice with either of them. 

“It’s the uncertainty that is killing me, man. I hate it. I’ve always hated it. Overseas you have a plan for everything. Then I got home and I worked all the time to pay the bills. I had everything planned. And now I can plan the best that I can, but I can’t control what the courts will do. I can’t control when Chimney and Jee will be found. All I can do is try and help get Buck healthy again. And I can’t even control if that happens or not.” Eddie said, as he scrubbed a hand over his forehead. 

“You’re taking on a lot. I know he’s your best friend, but you are taking on a shit ton of stress yourself. You need to be able to work through it. If you ever want to spar or something I’m happy to do that with you. I got a full gym at my place.” Tommy offered, hoping that he could help Eddie deal with some of the weight he was carrying. It wasn’t good for one person to try and bare. And Tommy didn’t have a child in the middle of it. He could help Eddie with Buck and give him a break when he was desperately in need of one. 

“I might take you up on that. Buck, he’s got muscles to him, but he doesn’t like sparring. It’s weird, because he can box. I’ve seen him beat the living hell out of a bag, but he never spars with someone.”

“That’s weird. Why not?” 

“He just says he doesn’t like the violence. To him it’s not a sport. Same as MMA and all of that. He really doesn’t like violence. That’s the thing, Chimney knows that and he still attacked him knowing that Buck would never fight him back.”

“And I get not throwing the first punch, but after you get hit and someone is still trying to hit you. I don’t understand why he wouldn’t hit back. I get that this time around it was a sucker punch that caused him to smack his head. But what if it happened again for some reason?” Tommy really didn’t understand why Buck wouldn’t physically defend himself against someone. 

“He won’t hit anyone in defence of himself. If it was for someone else, then ya he would jump in and handle business. But he won’t fight for himself. I don’t get it and it’s something I’ll have to talk to him about once he’s in a better place. That’s just who he is though. He’s a lover, not a fighter.”

“Have you guys always been close?” Tommy asked, very interested in learning more about Buck. He was also trying to figure out just what relationship Eddie and Buck had. He knew they were best friends and they were apparently co-parenting Christopher together. But he just wasn’t certain if there were any lingering feelings there. 

Eddie gave a soft chuckle before he spoke. “Naw. That first shift, he hated me. He was hostile and guarded. But then we had to pull a live grenade out of a patient’s leg in the ambo. After that we got along. I didn’t blame him for the hostility. I was the new guy and he had been the new guy right before me. He was fresh off his probationary year. What I didn’t know until later was that Bobby never told him I was being brought on to be his partner. He thought I was there to replace him. If I had known that I would have made it clear to him that we were in this together.”

“Wow, a live grenade. I’m sorry I missed all that fun.” Tommy said with a warm smile. “I remember when Bobby and I were going through the files of all the new cadets. Evan’s file stood out. He was at the top of his class all across the board. It was the comments from the instructors that caught me. They all said how he was quick to act and wore his heart on his sleeve. That he could read people and a scenario quicker than some firefighters that had been on the job for ten years. But it also said he was impulsive and reckless and quick to not listen to authority. Bobby thought I would be able to calm Evan down. It makes sense for Bobby to partner Evan up with an ex-military man.” 

“Is that why you call him Evan and not Buck? Everyone, but Maddie calls him Buck. I mean, I’ve called him Evan a couple of times, but that’s just so he knows I am being serious about what I am telling him. You always call him Evan.” Eddie asked, because it had been plaguing his mind. 

“No. One night when I went out with Maddie and Chimney Maddie and me were at the table alone and she was talking about Evan for a minute. I had asked where the nickname Buck came from and she told me. But she also told me she suspected it brought up bad memories from their parents. And that just stuck with me. No one should have to fear hearing their own name because of what memories are associated with it. He deserves to have good memories attached to his name. He deserves to be able to say his own name and be proud of it. Feel good doing it. I guess I’ll keep calling him Evan until he tells me to stop.”

Eddie couldn’t help the small smile before he spoke. “I like that.”

“Can I ask you, are you two?” Tommy said with a questioning look. 

Eddie gave a soft chuckle before he spoke. “No, but everyone thinks we are. I’m one hundred percent straight. I think Buck hasn’t figured out what he is. He says he’s straight and I think he believes that, but I have also seen him check out a guy’s ass and flirt with some. I don’t think he even realises it. Buck and I are just friends. Well, not just. He’s my best friend, my co-parent. It’s weird, because I don’t even know how it happened. I had known him for two weeks when he introduced me to Carla. I don’t know where I would be if he had never introduced me to Carla. I don’t think I would have Christopher. After that, he was just kinda always there. If I was taking Christopher somewhere, I invited Buck and he always said yes. Before I knew it, we had a schedule for when Christopher would be at his place and he was coming to parent/teacher night. He was there for holidays and taking Christopher to PT. We’ve both had short-term girlfriends that we broke up with because they didn’t like that we were so close. We just became a packaged deal.”

“I think it’s nice that you have that type of relationship with each other. Not a lot of guys are that open and honest with another person, much less a male friend. It’s good you both have each other.” 

“It’s a first for me. I’m not the type to talk about my feelings or be vulnerable, but with Buck I can. Some of the guys at work like to say we are platonically dating and I guess that’s really the most accurate description for it. And we have definitely put ourselves in this weird position where if we date someone, they have to be accepting and able to live with the fact that the other is always going to be in our lives. Even if that means we leave the bed in the middle of the night to go to the other.”

That was the main problem. Eddie had a girlfriend for all of two weeks tell him that he was co-dependant on Buck and he needed to get help for it, because it wasn’t healthy how close they were. Eddie never cared. Him and Buck were always going to be close, no matter what. And if anyone had a problem with it, then they wouldn’t be there. It was just that simple to him and to Buck.

“I think if you find the right person they will love and accept you both. You might have to kiss a bunch of frogs first though.” Tommy said with a smirk.

Eddie gave a soft chuckle before he spoke. “You got that right. What about you? Anyone special?”

“No. I haven’t had a serious boyfriend in a good five years now. Lots of guys that I have had a couple of dates with, but they don’t last.” Tommy answered with a shrug. 

“Hot for firefighter, until they realise dating one isn’t all that fun.” Eddie said with understanding. 

“Pretty much. It’s usually until they see a bad fire on the news and that’s it. It’s all good. If it’s meant to be, then it will be.” Tommy wasn’t going to worry or rush into anything. If he was meant to be in love and in a relationship, then the right person would come along one day. For now he would take the one-night stands when the need came. 

XXX          

Slowly the world came back to Buck. He felt like he was floating. His head was all fuzzy and he just felt weird and weak. He wasn’t really in any pain so he was happy about that. Buck blinked his eyes open as he tried to get his vision to clear. He could only see out of his right eye, but he knew it was because his left eye wouldn’t open. Buck kept hoping that he would wake up and everything would be back to normal. He looked over to his left and saw Eddie’s head on his bed. He was asleep bent over in a chair and Buck vaguely thought that wouldn’t be good for his back. He slowly turned his head to the right and saw someone else asleep on the bed in the same position as Eddie. His mind vaguely remembered who he was, but he couldn’t remember his name.

Buck couldn’t help but move a sluggish hand over to the man’s face and he lightly traced it. It caused the man to wake up and he slowly lifted his head. Buck’s finger traced over his cleft chin weakly. 

“Pretty.” He softly said with a sluggish voice. 

Tommy gave him a bright smile as he spoke. “Nowhere near as beautiful as you.”

Buck couldn’t help the blush that colored his cheeks. No one had ever called him beautiful before. 

“Don’t know you?” Buck weakly asked, as his eyes slowly blinked. 

“No, you don’t. My name’s Tommy Kinard. I used to work at the 118. I’ve been hanging out with you for the past week, but you mostly just sleep.” Tommy said with a teasing smile. 

“You were here when Hen.” Buck started, but groaned, as his jaw started to hurt. 

“Yes, I was here then. Do you want some ice chips?” Tommy asked, as he stood up.

Buck gave a small nod and Tommy grabbed the ice chips that the nurses kept bringing in when they checked on Buck. Tommy picked up the cup and grabbed the spoon. He scooped a couple of chips and held the spoon against Buck’s mouth. Buck was just barely able to open his mouth and take the ice. The second the coldness touched his throat he couldn’t help but softly moan from the relief of the soreness. Tommy gave Buck a few more spoons before Buck stopped. Tommy placed the cup back down as Buck spoke.

“Late?”

Tommy checked his watch before he spoke. “Just after three.”

“Should be home. Christopher.” 

“He’s spending the night with Pepa. Eddie wanted to be here in case you woke up. Do you want me to wake him?” Tommy was actually a bit surprised that Eddie hadn’t woken up yet. They were talking quietly, but still he would have figured Eddie would have popped up by now. It was only further proof how exhausted the man was.

“Sleep.” Was all Buck said, as his eyes got even more tired. 

“Ok. How are you feeling?”

“Like head not attached.” Buck said and Tommy could see him fighting to stay awake. 

“Any pain anywhere?” He wanted to let Buck get back to sleep, but he also needed to make sure he would be ok when he did. 

“Just floaty.”

“Ok, well, you just sleep.”

“Stay?” Buck asked softly and Tommy knew it would only be a couple of minutes before he was fully under. 

Tommy went and ran his hand through Buck’s hair. “And get the chance to miss watching you sleep? Never. I’ll be right here when you wake up, Beautiful.”

“Mmkm.” Buck softly said.

Tommy continued to run his hand through Buck’s hair as he fell back asleep. He was relieved to see that Buck had woken up. He was a bit out of it from the sedation, but not too much to give him cause for concern. He was hoping the next time he woke up that Eddie would be awake and they would be able to get the doctor to check him over. For now, Tommy was going to take the win and be thankful that he was able to have a conversation with Buck at last, even if Buck might not remember it in the morning.

Chapter Text

Once again the world came back to Buck. He was really starting to hate waking up and how his mind would feel all foggy. He felt like he was trying to walk through slush that just sucked you back in. And yet he kept waking up and he knew he needed to open his eyes. Every time he had to though he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to see out of his left eye. Slowly Buck blinked his eyes open and once again he couldn’t see out of his left eye. He didn’t even think it opened. He did notice that there was sunlight now in the room and both Tommy and Eddie were still here. 

“You still here.” Buck weakly said.

Both Eddie and Tommy snapped their attention over to Buck. Both of them stood up and moved closer to Buck. 

“Hey man, how are you feeling?” Eddie asked.

“Fuzzy.”

“That’s from the sedation. It’s still working its way out of your system. The skull fracture can also make you feel a bit off at times.” Eddie explained, as he reached over and hit the nurse call button so they could have the doctors check Buck over. 

“How are you feeling outside of fuzzy?” Tommy asked, as his eyes went over to the monitors to make sure Buck’s heart was doing ok. 

“Ok?” Buck said, slightly unsure. 

“Any pain?” Eddie asked.

“Not really? Drugs?” Buck asked. 

“You are on a morphine pump.” Eddie answered and Buck groaned. “I know you don’t like pain meds. But your body needed it. I think the doctor is going to try and lighten your pain meds over the next week so you can manage with some pills when you get to leave in a week.” 

“Maddie? Jee?”

“Nothing yet.” Eddie confirmed. 

“Lawyer?” Buck asked next.

Eddie gave a nod before he spoke. “Bobby and Athena got one for you and for Jee. We don’t have to get into it all right now. But with you having Maddie’s POA, your lawyer said you have legal guardianship of Jee right now. So when Jee is found, she will go to you.” 

There was a lot that Buck needed to get caught up on, but right now all Buck needed to know was that everything was being taken care of and he didn’t need to worry about it. The door slid open and a new doctor came in with Nurse Carol Hathaway. She had been one of Buck’s main nurses since he arrived in the CICU. 

“Good morning. This is Dr. Doug Ross, he is the neurologist that has been on Buck’s case.” Nurse Carol explained. 

“It’s nice to meet you all. I just need to slip in here and do a quick check.” Dr. Ross said with a soft smile. 

Tommy and Eddie moved back so Dr. Ross could get close enough to Buck. Dr. Ross pulled out a penlight as he spoke. “Ok Buck, I am just going to check your eye here for a second. It might hurt, but I promise to be quick, ok?” 

Buck gave a very small nod, but groaned at the sharp pain from the movement. 

“You are going to want to avoid any sudden movements with your head for the next six weeks.” Dr. Ross said, as he bent forward and used the penlight to check out Buck’s pupils. 

The second the light hit his eyes Buck groaned in pain, and he had to fight to not turn his head away. He felt a hand going into his left and Buck knew without a doubt that it was Eddie’s hand. Buck weakly squeezed Eddie’s hand as the light sent shooting pain all throughout his head. 

“Ok, I’m done. You did very good.” Dr. Ross said, as he moved the penlight away. 

“How is it?” Eddie asked. 

“It’s sluggish, but that is to be expected.” Dr. Ross answered, before he turned his attention back to Buck. “Now Buck, I need you to let go of your friend’s hand for a quick minute and take both of mine, please.”

Dr. Ross moved his hands over to Buck’s and Eddie let go of Buck’s hand reluctantly, but he knew that Dr. Ross had to examine Buck. “Can you try and squeeze my hands as tight as you could?”

Buck did his best to squeeze Dr. Ross’ hands but it wasn’t all that easy, especially with his right. “Very good. Now one last thing, can you hold your arms straight out for me?” Buck slowly lifted his arms up, but it took a lot of effort to do. “Great, now I am going to lightly push down on them, try and hold them up.”

Tommy and Eddie watched as Dr. Ross pressed down on Buck’s arms and they noticed that his right arm was significantly weaker than his left. He was struggling to hold it up even when Dr. Ross wasn’t pushing on it. 

“Good job. Ok, that is it. Do you think you feel up for a quick chat?” Dr. Ross asked Buck. He could see that he was tired and he knew he was still working off the effects of the sedation, but he also figured Buck would want to know what was going on. 

“K.” Buck softly said. 

“Perfect, if you have any questions, just ask away. You have a five centimeter skull fracture. It is sitting right on your parietal lobe, which controls your senses. You may find that you have a harder time with stimuli. You might get confused easily. You might have a harder time with spatial awareness and coordination. Right now you have some weakness in your right arm, which isn’t unexpecting. We can get you doing some exercises to help strengthen it back up. And once your skull has healed, you will have no lasting problems. All of your scans came back clean. There is no bleeding or swelling. Your brain just needs time to heal. Do you have any questions?”

“No.” Buck said slowly and they could tell he was already getting ready to go back to sleep. 

“Ok, well, if you do have any questions you can always have a nurse page me and I will be happy to answer any question.” Dr. Ross said with a soft smile. He stood up and he looked at both Tommy and Eddie as he spoke. “Can I just speak to you both real quick while Nurse Carol changes Buck’s bandages?” 

“Ya.” Eddie said, before he turned his attention to Buck. “I’ll be right back ok?”

“Hm.” Buck said, as his eyes started to close. 

Eddie and Tommy followed Dr. Ross out of the room and they both turned so they could watch Buck through the glass door.

“I wasn’t expecting for his hand to be weaker.” Eddie commented. 

“It’s not uncommon. Like I said, once his brain has healed up he will have that strength back. But it is important for him to be doing some exercises to help strengthen his arm and hand back up while his brain is healing.”

“What can we do to help make sure we don’t cause him any added pain?” Tommy asked. 

“Because of where the skull fracture is, he will have trouble with stimuli while it is healing. I would keep him away from anything that could cause a strong reaction. Flashing lights, loud sounds, even things that feel scratchy or have a strong taste. You’ll have to play it by ear and see how he feels and his reaction to different stimuli could change from day to day.”

“What about his memory? There’s been some speculation that his skull fracture has caused him to be confused about the attack. To get the facts mixed up and accuse the wrong person.” Eddie said. 

“No, his skull fracture isn’t located near his memory box. He can be confused from it, of course, but not to the point where his mind has created memories or gotten hardwired memories confused. When someone is attacked like he was, those memories are deeply imprinted in your memory box. As long as there is no trauma to your memory box, you will recall those memories. Everything Buck remembers from that day and before it, is very much valid. Now with that being said, it is natural for his short term memories to be a bit spotty while his skull is healing, but it won’t have anything to do with what happened during his attack.”    

It was a massive relief to both Tommy and Eddie to hear that Buck’s memories were intact and nothing Hen or anyone could say would be able to make it appear that Buck’s mind was playing tricks on him. They knew that wouldn’t stop Hen from thinking it and trying to make it seem like that was the case. But they at least had a medical professional confidently say that what Buck remembered was in fact true. 

“That’s really good to hear. When can he be moved down to a lower room?” Eddie asked. 

“I am going to be speaking with Dr. Benton and Dr. Greene about moving him down to a regular room within the cardiac unit. I will also be checking up on Buck and doing more scans throughout the next week as well. Dr. Benton will have his own tests and there will be testing done after Buck leaves for the next six months. I will also get an optometrist down here to try and look at his eye. It would be helpful if you could try and keep some ice on it. I know it’s hard when he is sleeping, but we need the swelling to go down so we know just how bad his eye sight is, assuming he can even see.”

“We will make sure to work on that.” Tommy agreed. 

“For now, the best thing for him is to sleep and I will speak with his doctors and hopefully by tomorrow he can be in a regular room. That will also allow your son to come and visit.” Dr. Ross said with a warm smile. 

“Which would be a huge relief. Thank-you so much for everything you have done for him.” Eddie said.

“You’re welcome. He appears to be out of the woods, you can all breathe a little easier now. I will be back later once we have an update for you.”

“Thank-you.” Tommy said this time. 

Dr. Ross headed off to see a few patients before he would speak with the rest of Buck’s doctors. Both Eddie and Tommy were relieved to hear that Buck was out of the woods and they were finally on the path to healing. They knew he still had a long way to go, but they were finally getting somewhere.  

XXX

The next time Buck woke up he found himself with a visitor. He had expected to see Tommy, Eddie, Bobby or Athena, but instead he had a complete stranger sitting in a white doctor’s coat. Buck had no idea who this man was, but he figured he must have been one of his doctors. 

“Hey?” Buck softly said. 

His jaw was already starting to hurt and he knew he needed to be careful with talking. He wasn’t getting as much pain medication as he had been because the doctors needed to start to wean him down so he could leave in a week. They had already moved him down to the regular cardiac room. Buck had already had that long conversation with Dr. Benton about his heart and what he needed to be careful with. Buck still couldn’t believe he had a fake heart attack. It felt like everything that could go wrong had. And it had only been eight days since he had been attacked by Chimney. Someone that was supposed to be his future brother-in-law. It was a mess that he wasn’t ready to talk about just yet. 

His doctor gave him a warm smile, as he went and moved the chair closer to the bed before sitting back down in it. 

“Hello there. My name is Dr. Carter, I am a fourth year resident. I am currently doing my rotation through psychiatry and I would really like to talk to you if that’s ok.” 

“Head doctor.” Buck grumbled. He really didn’t want to talk about his feelings right now. 

Dr. Carter gave a soft laugh. “Yes and believe me I am not in love with it myself. I would much prefer to be back down in the ER. But it’s a requirement, so I am hoping you will give me a little bit of a break and not give me too hard of a time.”

“I have a shrink.”

“I know. Dr. Copeland. She is aware that I need to speak to you. It’s hospital policy for a therapist to speak with you before you can leave. We don't have to talk about what happened. We don’t have to talk about any childhood trauma or anything. I just need you to let me know how you are feeling. I know Dr. Copeland will have appointments with you every week. You are going home to your family. I am not worried about you being a risk, but this is a box that you need checked so you can leave.”

“Don’t know what I feel. He was my friend. He was my niece’s father. The man my sister loves. Never saw any violence in him. But then he did this. How do you make sense out of something so random?” Buck asked, barely able to move his mouth much and he wasn’t too certain if any of his words were actually clear enough for Dr. Carter to understand them. 

“You know it is truly shocking how random the world actually is. Who gets hurt, who gets sick, there’s no rhyme or reason to it. As a doctor, my job is to just make people better. Take it one person at a time and try not to screw up. And it’s easy to keep that wall up between you and the patient. Almost a year ago now I was working in the ER with my medical student. I had a bunch of patients that day all at the same time and another med student I was in charge of. I left Lucy with one patient, to work on him and get him cleared to go. She was waiting on a consult from psych. It was Valentine's Day and we were having a party, it was slow enough. I noticed she was still with the patient so I went to look for her, check in. And I was stabbed three times to my lower back, right at my kidney. I fell to the floor and the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was Lucy struggling to breathe. She had been stabbed multiple times, one of which was in her neck. I was able to recover, but she died within two days afterwards.” Dr. Carter said with pain still within his voice. 

“I’m sorry.” Buck instantly said. He couldn’t imagine what that must have been like for him. 

“Thank-you, but I am telling you this so you know that I understand, at least to some degree, what it feels like to be attacked. To be left not knowing if you were going to wake up again. My attacker was a good man up until that point. It turned out he was schizophrenic, undiagnosed, and he was in a psychotic break when he got to us. Knowing why he did it, it didn’t help. And from what I have heard in all of the support groups and since I have been on this rotation, a lot of survivors from violent attacks, finding out why didn’t help them heal, because it didn’t change what had happened. If you focus on determining why Howard acted the way he did, you will never be able to heal and move forward. Because you are trying to make sense in a situation where there is no sense. That is something you will have to make peace with.”

“What if I can’t?” Buck softly asked, because he honestly didn’t know if he could just stop trying to understand why Chimney attacked him like he did. Why he went from zero to sixty so fucking fast. 

“You can. I don’t know you, but even I know you can. Because you are a survivor and you did not survive all of this, just to never recover. I get the sense you are far too stubborn to let Howard win. To let all of this darkness win. You have a really good support system, talk to them. And remember, it’s ok for you to not know what you are feeling. You don’t always have to have the answers. You can just allow yourself to feel whatever it is that you are feeling. Even if you think what you are feeling is irrational, who cares? You are allowed to feel whatever the hell you want to feel.”

This was not how the conversation Buck thought they would be going in, but he was thankful for it. “I’m just not ready to talk about it.”

“And there is nothing wrong with that. You have your own therapist, you have your family and lots of people that love you and will be there for you. Lean in them. And when you are ready to talk, I know you will have plenty of people that would be willing to listen. If you feel like you would like to talk before you are discharged, just have a nurse page me and I will come down. Ok?”

Buck gave a small nod, careful not to piss his head off. “Where is everyone?”

“Your parents are still at work. Your friend Eddie had to go home for a little bit, but he said he would be back. Tommy is waiting outside to give us some privacy. Would you like me to let him know he can come back in?”

“Ok.” Buck said softly, as he tried to stay awake. 

“It was really nice meeting you Buck and speaking with you.” Dr. Carter said with a kind smile as he stood.             

He headed out and Tommy was instantly coming back in. He made his way over to Buck’s right side and took his hand within his as he spoke. 

“Are you ok?”

“I don’t know what I feel.” Buck weakly admitted. 

“And that’s perfectly ok. I think most of us don’t know what to feel about all of this. But you know what? We don’t have to figure it out today. Your mind is still healing so you are going to be overwhelmed and confused at times. The best thing you can do is not stress over it, Beautiful.”

Buck couldn’t help the small smile that touched his lips at hearing Tommy calling him beautiful. He had no idea what to do with that. He had never been called beautiful before and he didn’t know why it had this type of effect on him. He also didn’t know why he felt so safe around Tommy. He was a stranger and yet for some reason Buck did trust him to a certain degree. There was something that just felt familiar about Tommy. As if Buck had known him his whole life. 

“You have work?” Buck was really hoping that Tommy didn’t. He liked having him around. He just felt good.

“Not until tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be here until tonight and then Bobby will be here with you overnight to let Eddie get some sleep. Then Eddie will be here tomorrow with you while the rest of us are at work. Is there anything I can get you? Do you want some jell-o?” Tommy knew that Buck hadn’t eaten anything in a week and they would need to work on getting him back to eating again. 

“Too tired.” Buck said, as his eyes slipped close again. 

“You just sleep then and when you wake up we can try some jell-o. Do you have a favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“Ok, I will make sure to have some here. I am also going to put some ice on your eye to try and get that swelling down. I wanna see those blue eyes of yours.”

“Your eyes are pretty.” Buck said with a sleepy voice. “I like when you are here.”

“I like being here. Go to sleep Beautiful, I’m not going anywhere.” Tommy said warmly, as he ran his hand through Buck’s hair. Buck gave a soft sigh as the darkness took a hold of him once again.

Chapter Text

Eddie felt his body jitter as he tore through his house one more time to make sure that everything was good. He had gotten Jee’s room all set up and he made sure everything was clean. Anything that could be dangerous for a baby was put away up high, even though Jee wasn’t going to be crawling anytime soon. Today Sydney was going to be doing a home inspection and interviewing him about Jee staying with him. He was incredibly nervous, not just because she was with child protective services, but because this woman had already spoken with Hen and Karen. She had known them for a few years and there would naturally be a bias there. Eddie wasn’t feeling confident, but he knew that Buck’s lawyer and Jee’s were going to try and get Sydney replaced. He was hoping that would be possible and they could hopefully have a fresh start with a completely neutral party. 

The knock at the door made Eddie freeze. He had never had to deal with CPS before so he had no idea what to expect. He knew so much was riding on this and the last thing he wanted was to screw it up. Letting out a deep breath, he made his way across the living room and over to his front door. He opened it and gave Sydney a warm smile as he spoke.

“Ms. Harris, please come in.” 

Eddie stepped back and Sydney walked inside. He could instantly see her looking around from her spot. 

“Mr. Diaz, I appreciate you being so quick to accommodate my visit. Given the circumstances around Jee-Yun’s custody, it’s imperative we work quickly to find the best place for her.” 

“I understand. I have time off right now so I can help Evan with his recovery.” Eddie said. It felt wrong for Eddie to refer to Buck as Evan. He knew how much he didn’t like his own name being used and every time he had to say it or someone else did in an official capacity, it just felt like they were stabbing the knife a bit deeper into Buck. 

“And how many people will be living here?” Sydney asked, as she started to look all around the living room before she made her way towards the kitchen. Eddie following her as she went. 

“It’s myself, Evan, Jee and my eleven year old son, Christopher.”

“You have a son? I wasn’t aware there would be another child in the home.” Sydney said and Eddie got the weird impression that she wasn’t happy about that. 

“I have a son, yes. And he is the same age as Denny, who clearly lives with Hen and Karen.” Eddie pointed out. 

“And where is your son’s mother?” She asked, completely ignoring Eddie’s comment. 

“She died three years ago in a car accident.” Eddie said, as Sydney opened the fridge. 

She shook her head before she spoke. “Not much food. Where has your son been staying this whole time that you have been at the hospital?”

Eddie had to fight the urge to tell this woman off. And now he was regretting not having Carla here for this, but she had been working extra for him while he was staying at the hospital with Buck. 

“He’s in school during the day. And I have my Abuela and my aunt Pepa helping me with him. I also have a home health care worker, Carla, she helps me with Christopher as well while I have been working or while I have been with Evan at the hospital. She’s been with us for four years now. As for the food, my family has been preparing meals for us while I have been helping with Evan. All I have to do is warm up the food. Carla even makes lunches for Christopher to take to school.”

“Why the need for a medical aid?” Sydney asked, as she made some notes and headed down the hallway. 

“My son has CP. Carla helps to take care of him while I am at work. She’ll pick him up from school and take him to PT. She helped me to get him into a private school that has specialized classes for him. Christopher’s CP isn’t extreme. He can get around on his crutches and as he has gotten older he is able to do a lot more than he used to be able to.”

“And you actually think you should have Mr. Buckley and Jee-Yun here with your son’s condition?” Sydney asked, as she turned to look at Eddie. 

“Christopher having CP doesn’t limit who he can be around. It doesn’t make him any less different than any other eleven year old. I don’t appreciate the ignorance from someone who works with children all day long to make a statement like that.” Eddie said with an edge to his voice. He was not going to tolerate anyone suggesting that Buck or Jee would be a hazard to Christopher. 

“You misunderstood me Mr. Diaz. I was merely asking you if you would have the time to properly care for someone so deeply injured as Mr. Buckley as well as an infant. On top of working and taking care of your special needs child that needs to be your priority. And from what I have heard from Hen, Christopher has had his own traumas that he is in therapy for. The death of his mother, being in a tsunami and Mr. Buckley lost him off the safety of a fire truck. Your involvement within an illegal fighting ring. It would appear that your son has had far too much disruption in his life. This would only be one more thing that disrupts his schedule, which is vital to a special needs child.”

“First, Evan did not lose my son. They were standing right on the pier when the tsunami hit. He was able to save him from the initial wave. He was able to swim against the current of a tsunami to get both him and Christopher safe on top of a fire truck. Then saved two dozen more people, while he was on blood thinners. And when the wave rescinded, debris hit the fire truck and Christopher fell over. Evan jumped right back into the water to find him. He searched for nine hours, bleeding and exhausted, just to try and find Christopher. Which he did. I don’t appreciate you trying to make it seem like Evan just neglected Christopher. A natural disaster happened. Lots of parents lost their children in it.”

Eddie had to fight with his body to not tremble from the pure rage that was flooding through his veins. He couldn’t believe that Hen had told Sydney about the fight club or that Buck had lost Christopher. Eddie didn’t care what word you wanted to use, Buck didn’t lose Christopher. It was a natural disaster and Buck did everything he could to protect Christopher. 

“Second, outside of myself. There is no one that loves Christopher more than Evan. We are his parents. We take care of him together. We are a team. And we have a lot of people in our lives that help us whenever we need it. Jee will have that same community. A community that Hen and Karen have now been cut off from due to how they have handled this situation as well as the situation with Chimney. They no longer have outside support. Both Christopher and Jee will be heavily taken care of and loved.”

“A community is only beneficial if the home is stable.” Sydney commented, before she turned around and looked into Jee’s room. 

It was all set up and Eddie was proud of how he got it put together on such short notice. Sydney walked through it not even making a comment on if it was good or not. She simply moved on and looked through Christopher’s room, which Eddie could help but feel protective over. There was no need for her to be in his son’s room. Sydney made some notes before she headed out and walked into Eddie’s room. 

“Where will Mr. Buckley be sleeping? You only gave three bedrooms.”

“Evan will be in the room with me here. We’ve shared a bed plenty of times during COVID. We were on lockdown together. It’ll only be for a couple of weeks. Evan has a house on a hundred acres of land that he owns. The house is just getting the finishing cosmetic touches done on it. It will be fully ready within thirty days. And then all four of us will be living on his property. It’s a four bedroom home. I can take you by and show you it.” 

Eddie knew that they wouldn’t be living in Buck’s, but they would be in Eddie’s. But she didn’t need to know that. He still had to speak to Christopher today after school about the house. He was also hoping soon he could take Christopher over to see Buck at the hospital. He needed him out of the CICU first, which hopefully would be today and then Eddie could bring Christopher by to see Buck.         

“That’s not necessary. I’ve seen all I needed to see. Your intentions, though pure, fall short. You have too many balls in the air. Both Christopher and Mr. Buckley will require a great deal of care. Having an infant in the middle of it is not ideal. Especially when there are other options that are better suited for her needs. I will be letting the courts know that my recommendation will be in favor of awarding Hen and Karen Wilson temporary custody of Jee-Yun.” Sydney stated, before she turned and headed back towards the front door.  

“That would be a mistake. Hen won’t stop Chimney from seeing Jee. She won’t listen to the courts at all.” Eddie argued. 

“I cannot allow what may or may not happen in the future dictate how I view a situation. I have no idea what will happen with the criminal case against Mr. Han. I have to focus on what is best for the child. If Mr. Buckley had been healthy and had his own place that was set up for him and Jee-Yun, then there would be something for me to think about. As of right now, his medical condition is serious. There is no report on if he will have any long-term side effects for his mind or his eyesight. He is not stable enough for me to place a child with him. My ruling is final. I commend you for wanting to help your friend, but I highly recommend you focus on your own son and all of his needs.” Sydney said with a pointed look and Eddie felt like she was threatening him. 

Sydney headed out and Eddie had to fight to keep his anger in check. He didn’t know what to expect from his visit with Sydney. He knew it wasn't going to be amazing, but he didn’t expect for her to be so cold and set on her decision. Eddie pulled out his phone and called Bobby. After three rings he answered.

“Eddie, you’re on speaker with me and Athena. How did it go?”

“Not good. She came in here with judgments and her mind was already made up. She made comments about the food in my fridge. She kept asking me about Christopher and how having Buck and Jee here would affect his condition. She didn’t like that Buck would be sleeping in the bed with me. She didn’t even care or want to see the house that Buck had. She brought up the tsunami and the fight ring. She actually questioned if Buck should even be around Christopher because according to Hen, he lost him in the tsunami from being negligent. It was bullshit. She told me she was telling the court to place Jee with Hen and Karen. She didn’t even care when I told her that Hen wouldn’t listen to the courts and let Jee see Chimney. She said she couldn’t worry about the criminal case.”

“Jesus. It would appear that she is going to believe whatever Hen and Karen have to tell her. I will inform the lawyers and they will be able to use it as further proof that we need a new CPS worker.” Athena said, as she shook her head. She couldn’t believe that this woman just walked into Eddie’s place and tore everything apart all because of the bullshit Hen was telling her. 

“The lawyers will be able to get her removed. We also have the POA. They don’t know about it and it is looking like Mr. Turner’s idea of keeping it quiet until court is the right move. I suspect if they knew about it beforehand then they would be trying to find a work around it.” Bobby stated. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about what Sydney said. We need to focus on what Ms. White needs and that is to make sure we have a plan in place and a set schedule. Once we have her on our side fully, then she will be able to work with the CPS worker along with Mr. Turner.” Athena said.

She knew this was frustrating and Eddie would be upset about what was said, especially about Christopher. However, they had to focus on pleasing Ms. White because she was going to be their greatest ally in this fight. 

“Ok. I will work on my schedule so we can get it all synced up. I am going to be telling Christopher about the house tonight and then I am hoping to get Christopher in to see Buck tomorrow.” Eddie said. 

“I will be at the hospital tonight with Buck. Tommy has a shift tomorrow afternoon. Take the time tonight to spend it with Christopher. Make sure he understands everything that is going on with Buck and Jee.” Bobby said.

“I will.” 

Eddie knew he needed to focus on some work at his house for today. As badly as he wanted to be with Buck, he had to trust him with Tommy. He needed to get things finished up and in order for when Buck was able to leave the hospital and to guarantee they had Ms. White’s support in Buck having Jee. Buck needed him to do this and he was not going to be letting him down.

Chapter Text

After picking up Christopher from his school, Eddie started to make the drive towards the new house. He was hoping that Christopher would be ok with moving. He suspected that he would be ok with it, even excited, because they would be very close to Buck. Christopher was pretty easy going as long as you told him what was going on. 

“Where are we going?” Christopher asked, as he noticed they weren’t heading home. 

“We are actually going to check out a house. So, I found out that Buck has a huge piece of land that he built some houses on. One of the houses he built for us.”

“Really? A real house?” Christopher asked, shocked. 

“It has four bedrooms and it’s almost finished. There is some stuff on the inside that needs work done. We have a crew in there to get it all done. It’s supposed to be ready to move in within the next month. I thought maybe you would want to see it and then we can decide if we are going to move into it right away or not.”

“Why wouldn’t we? Bucky built us a house, it would be rude to not live in it.”

“I know, but it was also unexpecting. It is close to your school still and Buck even has a house for himself built on the same land.”

“So we would be neighbors?” Christopher asked, excited. 

“We would be. The houses are pretty close and we share a backyard. Buck has plans for a pool and a bunch of other stuff for the property. It’s one hundred acres, so it’s a big place.”

“What is he gonna do with all of it?”

“I’m not one hundred percent certain. I haven’t had a chance to ask Buck about it yet. He’s still pretty injured so talking is really hard for him right now. But from what I can see in his plans that he drew up, he wants to have a safe haven.”

“Safe haven?” 

“It’s what you call a place where you can go if you are in a bad situation to get help and be safe. Like when a woman is being abused, she could leave that relationship and go to a safe place where she can recover and not have to worry about being hurt. Buck also has designs for a stable and to have a place for animals that need loving homes.”

“That’s cool. Could we get a dog then?” Christopher asked and Eddie looked to see a massive smile on his face.

“I don’t know. Why don’t we focus on making sure Buck is all healed up first and then we can always see what he has in mind.” Eddie knew Christopher had been wanting a dog for years now, but he just didn’t see how they could manage with his work schedule. Maybe with Buck wanting an animal rescue, that would help to fill Christopher’s aching desire for a pet. “How would you feel though about moving?”

“I think it would be great. We could all live together even after Bucky goes back home. And I can help with the animals.” Christopher offered. 

“I bet you could. And you know Buck will love to show you how to care for them all. So is that a yes to moving?” Eddie asked, but he already knew the answer.

“Yes Daddy!” Christopher said with a chuckle. 

“Alright. We’ll be there shortly and then you can check out your new room.”

“Can we see Bucky’s house too?”

“Of course we can. You just need to be careful in the houses because the construction guys might have stuff all over the floor.”

“Ok Daddy.” Christopher easily agreed. 

It was a huge relief to Eddie that Christopher was willing to move into a new home. He had a feeling he would be excited for it, but there had been a lot of changes in Christopher’s life and the house they were in now was the only house they had been living in for the past almost five years. It was the house that they spent the very last Christmas with Shannon. There were a lot of good memories in that house and Eddie didn’t want to take that away from Chrstopher. So it was a massive relief to hear that Christopher was excited to move. He knew that Christopher was going to love his new room and the house was truly amazing. With everyone on board, they now just need to get the house finished and then they could all move in.  

XXX

It was day nine and Eddie made his way into Buck’s hospital room. He had been moved yesterday to his own room within the cardiac unit. He was awake more than he was in the previous week, but he was still sleeping most of the hours in the day. He had been by earlier to see Buck and he had been able to talk to him about seeing Christopher. Buck was apprehensive about seeing him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Christopher. It was that he felt horrible and he was in a lot of pain and on drugs. He didn’t want Christopher to see him like this. They had managed to do a video call and that seemed to help make Christopher feel a bit better. 

As badly as Eddie wanted to make sure Christopher and Buck got to see each other, he understood why Buck wanted to wait. He really was in rough shape and he did not want Christopher to worry or see him like that. It was the same for him when he was in the hospital after his gunshot wound. Eddie knew Christopher was going to have a hard time with it, but with some luck Buck would feel a bit better before the end of the week and he could come by for a visit before Buck came home. 

Eddie walked into Buck’s room to see a woman in a white coat sitting on the bed looking into Buck’s eye. They had finally managed to get the swelling down enough for Buck to open his eye last night, but he hadn’t really been able to see anything out of it.

“How’s it looking Doc?” Eddie asked, as he walked in and took Buck’s right hand within his. 

“I’m checking his cornea. The orange dye soaks into his eye and nerves and it will tell me if there are any leaks or damage. So far though, it is looking good.” Dr. Susan Lewis answered. 

“But I can’t see really.” Buck said. 

“That’s to be expected. Your eye is still healing. Just like if you broke your hand, you would need to have it in a cast for eight weeks. Same rules apply. You can see dark shadows which is a very good sign. As your eye continues to heal you will be able to see more and more. In eight to twelve weeks your eye will be fully healed and then we will know what your eyesight is truly going to be.” Dr. Lewis explained. 

“And the odds of his vision returning fully?” Eddie asked.

“It’s hard to say, but it will heal enough that he will have sight in his eye and he can get perfect vision with glasses or contacts. I’m not seeing any physical damage aside from some swelling, but again it’s normal after surgery. Your retina is attached and it looks healthy. We will do tests every month to monitor your progress, but for now, it’s looking good.” Dr. Lewis said, as she moved back.       

“Thanks Doc.” Buck weakly said. 

“No problem. I will come by and check on you again before you can be discharged. If there are any concerns, let a nurse know and they can page me.” She said with a kind smile, as she got up. 

“We will, thanks so much.” Eddie said, before Dr. Lewis headed out. “This is great man. Dr. Ross said your brain will heal up and now your eye will. You’re not going to have any permanent damage.” Eddie said with a smile, as he sat down on the edge of the bed. 

“Still can’t see. Still broken everywhere.” Buck said, sadly. 

“Hey.” Eddie said, and waited until Buck looked up at him. “You are not broken, Evan. You are banged up right now, but we are getting you better. And you are not alone in any of this.”

“I just…” Buck started, as a few tears ran down his cheeks. He didn’t finish though, because he didn’t even know how to put any of this into words. 

Eddie went and wiped at his cheeks as he spoke. “I know. I wish I could tell you why he did all of this. Why Hen has lost her fucking mind. I hope you get those answers. For now, we just need to focus on getting you healthy again. It’s all gonna be ok Mano (Brother).”

Buck gave a soft nod and Eddie could tell he was trying to lock his emotions back down. “Can you um…I desperately need a shower. The nurse said I could if someone helped.”

“Ya you do smell a little ripe.” Eddie said with a teasing smirk. “Let me get it all set up and then we can get you in there. Afterwards I can get some ice for your jaw. It’s still a bit swollen and I know it hurts to talk.”

Buck just gave a small nod, because the pain from talking was extreme. Eddie got up and headed into the attached bathroom and started to get everything for the shower set up. They already had a shower chair in the stall and Eddie grabbed the personal items that he had brought from Buck’s place. He got everything all set up and turned the water on so it was the perfect temperature before he went back out. 

“Ok, let me just get your IV to stop for a second before I disconnect it.” Eddie said, as he turned the tiny crank on the IV line up all the way to close the drip off. He then went and disconnected the IV port from Buck’s port on the back of his right hand. They would need to be careful with it in the shower. “Do you know if we can get you changed into some sweats?”

“They said I could, but warned if I almost die again they would cut ‘em off.” Buck said, as he tried to move his jaw as little as possible. He felt like a failed ventriloquist.

“It’s a good thing you don’t have a lucky pair of sweats then.” Eddie joked. He pulled the covers back before he moved around to the other side and spoke. “Alright, we are going to take it one step at a time and if you need a break just let me know. It is going to be weird for a bit with walking because your depth perception will be off with your vision in your left eye not really there.”

Eddie was a bit worried because this was the first time Buck would be standing. He just got the catheter out a few hours ago when he was cleared to move around a bit. Buck slowly moved his legs over to the side of the bed and he sat up. He wasn’t too bad when he sat up and he was hoping that meant standing and walking wouldn’t be too horrible. He knew he was going to stumble because he wasn’t used to not having sight in his left eye. But Eddie was on his bad side so he could be his eyes for him. Buck lifted his left arm and Eddie took it and placed it on his shoulders as he wrapped his own right arm around Buck’s waist. It was something they had done before after the truck bombing and Buck needed help moving around and getting in the shower. Eddie knew there would be nurses here that could help Buck, but just like himself, Buck didn’t like complete strangers touching him like that. It was no big deal for either one to help the other in the shower or getting changed.

“Ok, on three. One, two, three.” Eddie said, and together they both stood up. 

Buck instantly swayed and groaned as the pain suddenly spiked in his head and it made his legs almost give out. Eddie was able to hold him up and Buck placed his head down on Eddie’s shoulder as he tried to get the pulsing pain to stop. 

“Ok, hang on, it’ll just take a minute for your body to adjust. You haven’t stood up yet so your blood pressure changed.”

Buck groaned in pain as he moved his right hand over to Eddie’s hip to try and help keep himself standing. Eddie held onto Buck as tightly as he could and waited for when Buck was ready for them to move again. He would have sat Buck down if that’s what he wanted, but Eddie knew they would just need to have to stand up again. After a few minutes Buck moved away from Eddie’s shoulder as he spoke with a great deal of pain lacing his voice.

“Ok.”

“We’ll go as slow as you need.” Eddie promised. 

“Mhm.” Buck shakily said. 

The pair slowly started to walk towards the bathroom. Eddie kept his eyes on Buck to look for any signs of added pain or fainting. Bit by bit they managed to get into the bathroom and Eddie got Buck sitting down on the shower seat. The warm water was instantly hitting Buck and he found that it was helping to soothe his sore body. Eddie moved back and quickly removed his shirt before he went and untied the back of Buck’s hospital gown to get it off. He tossed the soaking wet gown into the one corner of the shower as he spoke.

“The temperature ok?” 

“Mhm.” Buck answered with his eyes closed and Eddie knew he was struggling with the pain in his body but also trying to soak in the warmth from the water. Buck’s skin had felt cold to him and Eddie knew how much Buck hated being cold. 

“Ok, I need to remove the gauze so your stitches can get cleaned.” Eddie advised. He knew Buck trusted him, but that didn’t change that he was going to be telling him everything he needed to do before he did it. 

“Mhm.” Buck answered once again. Knowing he didn’t need to really talk for Eddie to know that he was in too much pain to really say anything. 

Eddie went and removed the gauze that was covering his makeshift trach. It was the smaller of the injuries that Buck needed repaired in surgery. There were ten stitches and they looked to be in good shape. He didn’t see any signs of infection and they weren’t red or irritated. Eddie tossed the wet gauze into the trash can before he moved on to the large piece that was all along Buck’s jaw outline. When they had to fix his broken jaw, the only way to do that is to cut along your jawline and pull the skin, fat and muscles back to expose the bone. Literally pulling back half of his face before setting the broken pieces and then putting the lower part of his face back in place. And you do it hoping that the nerves don’t get damaged in the process. Then to close the wound you have to stitch all along the incision. Buck would always have a faint scar right on the underside of his jaw, but it would be faint enough to blend in with his skin and the natural shadowing of his face. Along with Buck’s typical look of an after five beard, you wouldn’t notice the scar.

“Your incisions look good. I’m gonna be careful around them. I’ll also be careful around the bruising. I know your jaw is killing you, but I just gotta know, how bad is the overall pain? Scale of one to ten?” Eddie asked, because he needed to know what to be prepared for. He was going to do this as quickly as possible, but getting showered, dried off, back into bed, dressed, all of that was going to be painful. He needed to know just how much Buck could tolerate.

Buck slowly opened his eyes and Eddie could see the pain within them. “Seven.” Buck managed to get out with a faint groan. 

“Ok, I’m gonna go as quick as I can. When it becomes too much, just tap my arm three times. You don’t have to say anything. Ok?” 

“Mhm.”

“Ok, I’m gonna start at the top and work my way down.” Eddie said, as he went and moved so he could get Buck’s hair clean. 

He saw Buck close his eyes and he knew that Buck would be trying to list all of the States in alphabetical order in his head. When he did that he would switch to doing it geographically. When he finished that and if he still wasn’t able to fall asleep from the pain, he would switch to world countries and the whole process would start all over again. Eddie washed Buck’s hair, being very careful of Buck’s skull fracture. Once he was done, he worked on Buck’s face and neck, before moving down to his chest. Buck took a sharp breath in every now and then and that is when Eddie knew he was in pain. Eddie was very careful of all of the bruising and the burns from the defibrillator paddles, as well as Buck’s broken rib. The bruising was massive and dark from the blood thinners that Buck had to take. It was going to take weeks before the bruising would heal fully. 

Eddie worked his way lower, giving Buck’s private area a quick wash before he moved down to his legs and feet. Once Buck was fully clean Eddie reached over and turned the water off before he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Buck’s shoulders. 

“How you feeling?” Eddie asked, as he grabbed another towel and started to dry Buck off. 

“Same.”

“Ok. I’m gonna get you dried off and then we’re gonna go back to the bed and I will get you dressed. Once we get you all set up back in bed, it should be time for your next dose of morphine.” 

Buck hummed slightly and Eddie focused on getting Buck all dried off. He then grabbed a third towel to wrap around Buck’s hips. Once that was done it was time to get Buck standing up again. 

“Alright, we need to get you standing again so we can get you back into bed.” Eddie said and Buck groaned. “I know, but we can do it. Ready?” Eddie asked, as he wrapped his arms around Buck’s waist. 

“Mhm.”

Eddie helped to get Buck standing up, but instantly Buck swayed and he groaned as Buck suddenly became dead weight. 

“Shit.” Eddie said, as he just managed to catch Buck as he fainted. 

Eddie placed him back down on the shower chair and held Buck against his body. Buck’s head and limp body was pressed against his stomach. A sudden knock at the door had Eddie looking over to see Tommy in his gear, minus his turnout coat. 

“I heard a bang, are you ok?” Tommy asked. 

“He fainted. What are you doing here?” Eddie said, as Tommy moved closer to them.

“We brought a patient in, I just wanted to come up and check in on him. I know the optometrist was going to be seeing him today. Did you finish the shower?” 

“Ya, he fainted as he stood up. Standing is a lot harder than either of us were expecting. He really can’t handle vertical for very long.”

“We’re gonna need to keep a very close eye on him for the next little while every time he needs to stand up.” Tommy said, as he went and checked Buck’s pulse on his wrist. 

“What is it?”

“It’s steady. I don’t know how long he’ll be out for though. His body is going through a lot. Something as simple as a shower could knock him on his ass for the rest of the day.”

“Are you able to carry him? I can only carry him over my shoulder.” Eddie asked. 

Buck was built like a tank. The week in the hospital without food had not changed that at all. Eddie could fireman carry Buck, but with his injuries that was not ideal. Tommy was bigger than him, about the same size as Buck, he might be able to physically carry Buck in his arms. 

“Ya, I got him. On the bed?” 

“Ya, I gotta get him dressed and then tucked back in.” Eddie answered. 

Tommy gave a nod and he went and placed an arm underneath Buck’s knees and one around his back. He then went and picked him up as Eddie moved back. Tommy held Buck tightly against his chest as he turned and carried him back into the room and placed him down on the bed. Eddie went over to the duffle bag and he grabbed some clean clothes for Buck. He placed them down on the bed as he spoke. 

“Are you ok to help me out or do you need to go?” 

“Naw I got a few minutes. Would he be ok with it though?” 

The last thing Tommy wanted was to cross the line with Buck. He had never seen Buck naked. He had never helped him get dressed or anything like this. He didn’t want Buck to feel uncomfortable, even if he stayed passed out.

“We’ll keep him covered.” Eddie said with a warm smile, but he appreciated just how much Tommy was aware of Buck’s feelings. He never wanted to make him feel uncomfortable, even when he wasn’t awake. 

“Ok.” Tommy easily agreed. 

Eddie grabbed Buck’s boxers and he started to slip them over his legs. Tommy went and helped to lift up Buck’s hips as Eddie slipped the boxers up and over his hips. Once Buck was covered, he removed the towel and they did the same thing for Buck’s sweatpants. Eddie slipped on some socks before they worked together to get Buck’s shirt back on. With Buck fully dressed Tommy covered him up with the blankets as Eddie got the IV connected back properly. He then hit the morphine button to give Buck some much needed pain relief. Buck gave a soft groan as he started to come to. Both Eddie and Tommy stood on either side of the bed and watched as Buck’s eyes blinked open. 

“Hey, how you feeling?” Eddie asked. 

“What happened?” Buck slurred. 

“You fainted. Thankfully Tommy showed up just in time to play white knight.” Eddie said with a teasing smile. 

Buck rolled his head to the left to see Tommy. “My hero.”

Tommy gave him a warm smile as he spoke. “I have to get back to work. But I will see you tomorrow Beautiful.”

“Mmk.” Buck slurred again. 

Tommy gave him a playful wink before he turned his attention back to Eddie. “See you tomorrow man.”

“Be safe.” 

Tommy headed out and Eddie smiled down at Buck. 

“Beautiful eh?”

“Jealous.” Buck weakly teased. 

“Oh definitely.” Eddie gave a soft chuckle before he spoke. “I need to bandage your wounds back up. I already gave you a hit from the morphine. So just close your eyes and let the drugs do what they do best and put your ass to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.” 

Buck gave a weak moan as his eyes slipped closed and Eddie knew he would be asleep within seconds. It had been a rough hour, but at least Buck was clean and changed into some of his own comfy clothes, so Eddie was taking it as a win. Now they just needed to get through the next five days without any incidents.

Chapter Text

It had been ten days since the attack on Buck. Ten days since all of the lives at the 118 had been relatively normal. It had been eighteen days since everything had been normal and they were all a perfectly happy family. It felt so surreal to Hen that all of this had happened in just eighteen days. It took that long for their family to be so destroyed she honestly didn’t think it would ever be able to go back together again. She hadn’t heard from Chimney yet, despite all of the voicemails and text messages that she had sent to him. She hadn’t been allowed to know what was going on with Buck, not since they were banned from the hospital.  

Hen was really upset about that, because she didn’t really do anything wrong. She could understand that Buck had gotten upset and she felt horrible about it. She didn't go there with the intention of upsetting Buck that greatly. She understood he was hurt. She knew it was serious, but everyone was acting as if Jee didn’t matter. Chimney could have returned at any minute to LA and Jee would have needed to go somewhere. It was insane to think that Buck, who wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed for at least a couple of months, would be the one to look after her. 

It seemed like everyone was so consumed and focused on Buck, that no one was thinking about this little girl who lost her mother and her father would be fighting trumped up charges against him in jail. She deserved to have a stable home. Not a home where multiple strangers would be looking after her. Buck hadn’t even really met Jee. He’s only held her once. Hen and Karen had at least been there a handful of times to see Jee. Jee knew them to some degree. Not only that they had experience with infants and they were foster parents. It was perfectly logical for them to be the ones to take Jee. 

Sydney had told them that the home visit to Eddie’s did not go well. That she wasn’t confident in his ability to manage a special needs child, plus Buck and an infant. All the while he had to work a reduced schedule. It didn’t make sense to Sydney for there to be multiple people taking care of a single infant, when they could do it themselves. Hen had already checked she could get emergency paternity leave so she could be getting paid her full salary and be home to take care of Jee until all of this was over and done with. And even if Chimney wasn’t able to get Jee back by the time her leave was up, Jee would be able to go into daycare at Karen’s work. It made the most sense. Hen couldn’t understand why no one seemed to understand that. 

Her phone ringing pulled Hen out of her thoughts. She reached over and picked it up. Her heart rate instantly picked up as she saw that it was Chimney calling her. She quickly answered. 

“Chimney? Are you ok?”

“Is the world ending? I turned my phone on to see a million text messages and voicemails. What is going on? Did Maddie come home?”

“No, we still don’t know where she is. Chimney, we’ve been trying to get ahold of you for the past ten days because Buck was brutally attacked.”

“What are you talking about? Who attacked him? How did that happen?” Chimney asked, completely shocked and concerned. 

“He was badly injured Chim. He’s been in the hospital for the last ten days. He was attacked in his apartment.”

“What are his injuries?” Chimney asked. 

“He has a broken zygomatic bone, two broken ribs, left side of his jaw was dislocated, but his right side was broken in multiple places causing him to have metal plates and screws in his jaw. The screws forced him to be back on blood thinners until they could come out. If they can’t come out because the bones didn’t heal properly he will have to be on them for the rest of his life. It will take up to twelve weeks before his jaw is fully healed, assuming they don’t have to reset it at six weeks. He also has a five centimeter skull fracture that will take anywhere from three to six months to heal. As well as a retinal detachment from the initial punch to his eye. The doctor was able to repair it, but there is a chance he is permanently blind in that eye or his sight is compromised. On top of that he had broken heart syndrome about a week ago.” Hen told him.

She felt so good to be able to talk to Chimney. To be able to hear the concern and confusion in his voice. It was clear that he had no idea that Buck had been injured. She knew he would never be able to do something like that. 

“Holy shit. How many people attacked him?”

“Just one according to Buck. Chim, we’ve been trying to get ahold of you because Buck made a statement claiming that you were the one that attacked him. Chim, there’s a warrant out for your arrest.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t attack him. I was there before I left town, but he was fine when I left.” Chimney said just pissed that Buck would ever accuse him of doing something like this.

“I believe you. The problem is Athena, Bobby, Eddie and even Tommy, all believe Buck. They think you did this. Chim, he made a dying declaration on video. The police are talking about pressing attempted murder charges. There is an active warrant out for your arrest.”

Hen just knew that Chimney hadn’t done this. She knew in her gut and in her heart that he would never be that violent. It wasn’t in his nature. All of this had been a huge misunderstanding and now they could get it all sorted out. 

“This is bullshit. I never touched Buck. I left after we argued and that was it. Why the hell would he say this and why the hell would anyone believe him?” Chimney snapped. 

“I don’t think he’s able to think clearly. The skull fracture is pretty bad, I think everyone jumped the gun on it and Buck got your interaction confused with whoever attacked him. I’m hoping that once his mind has healed a bit he will be able to tell the truth. He’s going to feel horrible about all of this. But Chim, you need to come back. Like I said there is an active warrant for aggravated battery, but they want to charge you with attempted murder. CPS has also been involved.”

“Why would they be involved?” Chimney asked, confused and Hen could tell he was feeling overwhelmed by all of this. 

“Because of the charges. Maddie still hasn’t been located, but the police have a missing person’s report out on her. Everyone is trying to find her. CPS has to be involved because of Jee. With you being arrested she needs to go somewhere. I called my worker, Sydney and she is taking Jee’s case. Karen and I are trying to get her placed with us until you are able to take her again.”

“Why wouldn’t she be placed with you? All I have to do is tell them where she will go.” Chimney said, confused about why CPS would need to be involved at all. 

“Because you and Maddie never did the declaration of paternity through the courts. Right now you have no parental rights. They have to go by what Maddie’s living will states and that is that Buck gets Jee if something were to happen. But he’s too injured to have her, so Karen and I are fighting Buck and everyone on his side to get Jee with us.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. You just said Buck was injured. That list of injuries would more than disqualify him from having Jee. He wouldn’t be able to be on his own for months, possibly never again if his brain doesn’t heal or his eye. He can’t take care of a baby. Why isn’t Athena or Bobby saying anything to him?” 

“They are on his side. They believe Buck. Just like Eddie and Tommy. Which I don’t understand at all, but I really don’t understand Tommy. He’s there with Buck all the time now.” Hen said, still confused about how Tommy had anything to do with any of this. She had called him just to see if Tommy could help her get in contact with Chimney, that was it. Now he was acting like some white knight for Buck. 

“Tommy’s gay, maybe he has a crush.” Chimney dismissed. “I can’t believe all of this. So what is Sydney doing in all of this?”

“We hired a lawyer and so did Buck. We all have to go to court and let a judge rule on who takes care of Jee until you or Maddie can have her again. Sydney was not impressed with her home visit to Eddie’s. Apparently, they believe that Buck will be with Eddie at his place along with Jee and Christopher. Sydney wasn’t happy about it and still believes Karen and I are the right choice in this matter. As long as she is still on our side, the judge will rule in our favor. Which is good, because then we can make sure you are getting to see Jee. You know Buck and Eddie won’t play fair. You just need to come back so it can all be cleared up.”

“I’m not coming back. I’m not about to go and turn myself in to the LAPD and get railroaded. They are all going to stand by Athena and do whatever she wants. I’m not going to be falsely arrested and imprisoned all because Buck’s head is screwed up. I’m going to find Maddie and then we can clear this whole thing up together.” 

There was no way in hell Chimney was going to be going back to LA any time soon. Hell, he had no problem never going back again. He was going to find Maddie and the three of them were going to live happily ever after together. 

“Chim, you can’t just be on the run. You have to come back in and get this whole thing resolved. We can still work together on finding Maddie.” Hen tried to reason. 

She could understand perfectly why Chimney was scared. She would be terrified herself. There was no telling what the LAPD would do to keep Chimney in jail. They were loyal to their own and they were going to make sure Chimney felt the full force of the law just to send a message to anyone that tried to go against a cop and their family. She didn’t want him to be used as a way to send a message to the city. But that didn’t change that eventually he would be caught and it would be so much worse if he was. 

“I’m not going to sit in a jail cell, Hen. Not when my daughter needs me and when Maddie is out there, who knows where, going through who knows what. She’s not in a good mental state and she could hurt herself. I have to try and find her. I’ve been able to pick up some of her trail. I’m close, I know I am. I just need a bit of time and then I can come back with Maddie. That way while I am dealing with the courts, Jee can be with her mother. And maybe by then Buck’s brain will have fixed itself and all of this will be over and done with. I just need a bit more time. I’m so close, Hen.” Chimney pleaded.

Hen didn't know what to do, because she couldn’t physically make Chimney turn around and come back. She wasn’t there with him so she couldn’t drive him back herself. She didn’t even know where he was, just that he had picked up some of Maddie’s trail, which could really be in any direction. She completely understood Chimney’s desire and desperate need to find Maddie. She had no idea what she would have done if Karen had left in the middle of a PPD attack. She would be beside herself. She would have gotten into the car herself and drove all over the country just trying to find her. And if she was honest with herself, she didn’t think she would come back either, even with charges pending against her. Because at the end of the day she was madly in love with Karen, just as much as she knew Chimney was with Maddie. And if their life was in danger, there was nothing that they would do to help them. To find them. 

“You need to get a lawyer. You need to let them know what is going on. The police have the statement from Buck, but I don’t think they have any physical evidence. Whoever attacked Buck took his phone, they probably sold it by now, but I know they were trying to track it. Hopefully that will lead them to his true attacker and this whole mess could be cleaned up without you having to be here. But you need to get a lawyer so they can handle things.” 

“I can do that.” Chimney easily agreed.

“You need to be careful. The last thing you need is to be getting pulled over in some random state with Jee. You don’t have legal custody of her. Detective Ransone already threatened to charge you with kidnapping on top of the attempted murder. So be careful.” 

“I will. Look, I have to go. I will keep in touch with you and I will get a lawyer. You don’t have to worry about me or Jee-Yun. We’re both doing great and she is really loving getting to see all the different sights. We’re ok. You keep hanging in there and I really appreciate your support in this. It’s nice to know who my true friends are in this.”

“You’re my best friend Chimney. Of course I know you would never do something like this. Please, be safe and hopefully I will see you soon.”

“I promise. You too. Love ya.” 

“I love you. The both of you.”

Chimney ended the call and Hen let out a long and slow breath. She couldn’t believe she had finally been able to talk to Chimney. It made sense that he had turned his phone off. He was probably sick and tired of all the people calling him and the last thing he needed while driving were distractions. Hen wished that Chimney would have just turned around and came in, but she could understand his reasoning. Now she just had to try and get everything put into place so when he did come back, Jee would be with her and Karen where she belonged.

XXX   

Chimney ended the call and he looked down at his phone. He knew he had hurt Buck, but he hadn’t expected for the injuries to be that bad. He knew he should feel guilty, but he just didn’t. Buck had deserved it. He was keeping vital information about Maddie from him. He had to find Maddie. They were a family and he was not going to lose his family. Not after trying to have one for so long. Buck would drop the charges. Chimney knew that one call from Maddie and he would feel guilty about trying to take her happiness from her and he would drop the charges. He would admit to lying and then he would be kicked out of the LAFD and Chimney could go back to the 118 vindicated. 

He pulled out Buck’s cell phone, thankful that he had been keeping it off just as a precaution. He tossed it into the garbage can, along with his own cell phone. He wasn’t going to be tracked by them. The next thing he would need to do was change his license plate and then no one would be able to follow him. He got up from the picnic table and walked back towards his car. It was a really hot day out and he was looking forward to getting back on the open road and feeling a breeze. He unlocked his car and got back inside to Jee-Yun screaming her head off. 

“I know, it’s hot. Don’t worry it’ll be nice and cool soon enough.” Chimney said, as he hit the button so all of the windows could go down. 

They had been on the road for ten days now. Only stopping long enough for him to refuel and to get some sleep. Jee-Yun had been getting more fussy the longer they were going, but Chimney knew she would be ok once they found Maddie. She was just missing her mother and every time Jee cried, it only fueled Chimney on to keep pushing through. A little girl needed her mother and Chimney was going to be making sure Jee got what she needed. They would be a family again and everything would be perfect. Better than perfect, because now they wouldn’t have to deal with Buck.

Chapter Text

Eddie readjusted his tie for what felt like the hundredth time. Today was a day he never thought he would be doing. Today he was going to court in support of Buck for him to get guardianship over Jee. He still couldn’t believe they were here. He thought for sure Hen and Karen would have backed down when they released what it was doing to not only Buck but their whole family. But no matter what anyone said they were really pushing that Buck was in no condition to be Jee’s guardian. 

“Stop playing with it.” Athena lightly scolded. 

“I know, sorry.” Eddie said, as he tried to calm his nerves. Part of it was because he wasn’t with Buck right now. Bobby, Athena and himself needed to be in court today to represent Buck. Which meant he had to leave Buck. Yes, Tommy was there and honestly Eddie didn’t know what he would do without that man, but he still preferred to be there himself. 

“You all set for Buck to go home tomorrow?” Bobby asked. 

It had been the longest fourteen days of their lives and all of them were looking forward to having Buck out of the hospital and recuperating at home. He still had a long way to go, but it felt like he was making real progress with him being at home at least. 

“Ya, everything is ready to go. Christopher is beyond excited for him to be there. I don’t really know how Buck is feeling. He seems to be sleeping mostly and when he is awake he’s not really talking. I know it hurts for him to talk, I just feel like he’s already slipping into a depression and he hasn’t even made it out of the hospital yet.” Eddie said with a deep sigh. 

“It’s natural for a victim of a violent crime to be depressed, especially in the hospital. It’s all still very fresh to Buck. Once he gets to your place he should start to feel a bit better. Being around Christopher will help and getting to sleep without someone coming in every couple of hours to check on him.” Athena said. She was worried about Buck, but he was also entitled to be sad right now. To be feeling overwhelmed. 

“I’m hoping so.” Eddie said.

They all looked over as Hen and Karen walked into the courthouse with whom they assumed was their lawyer. They were also speaking with Sydney. Eddie couldn’t help the slight sneer at the sight of the woman. She was not impressed by anything he had to say and it was clear she had made up her mind before she even came over. 

“What happens if the judge doesn’t kick Sydney out?” Eddie asked the question he had been most worried about. 

“Then we will have to deal with her. We still have the legal backing on our side. She will have to get on board if the judge rules in Buck’s favor. I think today we are just trying to get a new CPS worker and that is it.” Athena answered. She herself was hoping, much like Eddie, that the judge does remove Sydney from this case because she had a personal connection with Hen and Karen beforehand. It would be the easiest solution at least. 

They would have to go through with the home visit all over again, but that could be simply enough. Eddie was set to move into the new house within the next three weeks so there would be extra rooms set up for Jee and Buck. They just needed some form of a win at this point, really. Before any more could be said Mr. Turner came over to the three of them with a warm smile on his face.

“Good morning. Is everyone ready for this?” He asked.

“As ready as one can be in this type of situation.” Bobby answered on their behalf. 

“Well, I have some good news. We got Judge Abbot. And he is a firm believer in legal papers and listening to the wants of the mother. He also loves listening to the child’s lawyer. So there is a good chance that we will get Ms. Harris removed as Jee-Yun’s CPS worker.” Mr. Turner said. 

“That is good news.” Athena said, relieved. 

“What is important in there is staying silent unless addressed. You don’t want to cause a scene, no matter what is said.” Mr. Turner said, giving the three of them a pointed look. 

“We will be on our best behavior. I promise.” Eddie stated. He knew that none of them were going to risk winning this case for anything. 

“Perfect. Once we are called we will go in and see how this plays out.” Mr. Turner said.  

“We will be here. Ready when they are.” Bobby confirmed. 

“I’ll see you inside.” Mr. Turner said, as he turned and headed off. 

“The judge sounds good.” Athena commented once they were alone. 

“Here’s hoping he sees what we see.” Eddie said, as he pulled out his phone to check and see if Tommy had messaged him. 

“Everything ok?” Bobby asked, concerned. 

“Ya, Tommy was going to message me once Buck was awake. There’s nothing yet.”

“Tommy seems like a good man. Buck seemed to be comfortable around him.” Athena commented. 

“He is a good man. I had picked Buck to be his partner because I knew they would compliment each other and get along really well. But then Tommy made the switch to the 217 so he could pilot again. It’s how I knew Eddie and Buck would make such a great team. Eddie and Tommy are a lot alike. It’s good that Buck feels comfortable around Tommy. He’s on a different shift as us so he could be there when we can’t be. If he’s still willing.” Bobby commented. 

“I think he is. He seems to be invested in Buck getting better. I think he feels a lot of guilt over the attack. Like he could have predicted that Chimney would do something like this. It’s something he needs to work his way through.” Eddie said. 

“Have you told Christopher about the house?” Athena asked. 

“I did last week. I even took him over to it. He’s really excited to move in. He loves his new room and he loves that Buck is right next door practically.” Eddie said with a soft smile. 

“What have you told him about Jee?” Bobby asked. 

“Not a whole lot. I didn’t know what to tell him because it’s not like we know when she will be found. He just knows that Jee might be coming to stay with us while Buck is healing. That she was on a trip with Chimney and we aren’t sure when they will get back. It seemed like the simplest way to describe everything.” 

“I think right now that is the best you can do. The less he knows right now the better. This whole situation is so complicated. Too complicated for an adult, let alone someone so young.” Athena agreed. 

This whole mess was so complicated and it still didn’t feel real to Athena. She couldn’t believe that Buck was still in the hospital. That Chimney was on the run. That they were fighting with Hen and Karen in a courtroom for custody of Jee. It just felt like some horrible nightmare that she was desperate to wake up from, but this was reality and they had to face it. No matter how badly they didn’t want to. 

“How is it at work? Anyone asking about Buck and why Hen isn’t on shift anymore?” Eddie asked Bobby. 

He was supposed to be going back to work soon on moderated hours. He needed to know what he was walking into. 

“Not really. Word has already spread throughout LAFD that Chimney was the one that attacked Buck. Most assume that Hen left because she didn’t believe it. Right now A-Shift is more focused on the large amount of rotating floaters. When you come back I will probably keep you on as a paramedic, just because we have two new paramedic floaters for every shift. It’s getting hard to find two that can work half-way decent together. The Chief is looking for permanent paramedics, but it’s going to take a bit of time.” Bobby said. 

“That’s fine. I don’t mind. It would be weird working the ropes without Buck there anyways.” Eddie said. He really wasn’t looking forward to working with not having Buck there as his partner. 

“I know it’s going to be weird for a bit. But take comfort in knowing that the Chief and Commissioner is looking to have Buck back. Dr. Lewis believes that Buck’s eye will heal. We don't know how much he will be able to see, but he will get his sight back. Dr. Ross said his brain was good. He just needed to heal from the skull fracture. So everything is looking like Buck will be ok to come back once he is healed up.” Bobby said. 

“Hopefully he recovers fully and he can put all of this behind him physically at least. I just want my partner back.” Eddie said. He was desperate to have Buck back at work with him. To have everything go back to normal. 

“Buckley versus Wilson!” A court clerk called out. 

They all turned to look at who had called them and they saw a woman standing in the open doorway to one of the courtrooms. They all let out a collective breath before they crossed the courthouse and headed into the courtroom. The went to the left where Mr. Turner was standing. They saw Ms. White was standing off to the side and it seemed like she didn’t know where she was supposed to go. The three of them went and sat behind Mr. Turner. They weren’t technically the potential custodians for Jee. They were just here to support Buck and be there while Buck couldn’t be. 

“All rise for the honorable Judge Abbot.” The bailiff announced. 

Judge Abbot walked in and everyone stood up while he made his way to the bench. Once there the bailiff spoke. 

“You may be seated.”   

They all sat down with the exception of the three lawyers and Athena took Bobby’s hand within hers as things got started. 

“We are here today for an opening hearing in regards to Jee-Yun Buckley-Han. Who is representing?” Judge Abbot started.

“Oliver Turner for Evan Buckley, Your Honor.” 

“Kevin Hunt for Henrietta and Karen Wilson, Your Honor.”

“Marcy White for Jee-Yun, Your Honor.”

“And Mr. Turner, where is your client?” Judge Abbot asked. 

“He is currently in the hospital recovering from a violent attack that the LAPD are investigating as attempted murder, Your Honor.” Mr. Turner answered. 

Judge Abbot was surprised. It was clear he hadn’t read the file yet. “When did this attack happen?”

“Thirteen days ago. He is set to be released tomorrow. He has named his attacker as Howard Han, Jee-Yun’s biological father. He is currently a wanted man on the run with Jee-Yun and has been for the past thirteen days.” Mr. Turner explained. 

“I see I am going to have to take a bit of extra time out of my day today to read this case file completely. The motion that came across my bench today was to remove Child Protective Service worker Sydney Harris. Is she here today?” Judge Abbot asked. 

Sydney stood up from her spot behind Hen and Karen as she spoke. “I am, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Turner, why the interest in replacing her?” Judge Abbot asked. 

“Ms. Harris, though I am sure she is a great worker, already has a history with The Wilsons. They are both foster parents and have worked with Ms. Harris for years now. They called her personally to inform her of their perspective in this situation. She was not assigned it, she picked the case up herself without getting clearance from her supervisor first. She was extremely judgmental and rude during the home inspection and she was not shy with her belief that Mr. Buckley is not a proper candidate for Jee-Yun.” Mr. Turner answered.

“Your Honor, if I may.” Mr. Hunt started. Judge Abbot gave a nod for him to continue. “The medical status of Mr. Buckley is exactly why my clients wish to have guardianship over Jee-Yun. Mr. Buckley has extensive physical injuries that could take up to six months to heal. Assuming he doesn’t have permanent damage to his left eye or brain. He can’t be left alone for the next six months while his skull fracture heals. He also has a broken jaw in multiple places. He physically cannot care for an infant.” 

“Is that true, Mr. Turner?” Judge Abbot asked. 

“Not quite. Yes, Mr. Buckley is extremely injured, but he has been cleared by a neurologist. He does not have any permanent brain injury. As for his eye, he does have some sight in it. It has started to return and he can have full sight either through recovery or with a contact lens. He simply needs time to heal. However, Your Honor. We are not here to discuss if Mr. Buckley can physically care for Jee-Yun. The motion is to have a non-biased CPS representative. One without any past history with either client.” Mr. Turner said, not wanting to jump the gun on any of this. 

“Or we could settle this now and stop wasting the court’s time.” Mr. Hunt stated. 

“Deciding where a child will live is never a waste of time, Mr. Hunt.” Judge Abbot said with a pointed look. “Ms. White, you have been awfully quiet. What are your thoughts on Ms. Harris and this situation?”

Ms. White stepped into the middle of the room before she spoke. “My job is to represent Jee-Yun and make sure she is in the best place for her. There are many complicated layers in this case. There is no way for this case to be resolved in one hearing. I doubt meditation would even help, to be honest. I read Ms. Harris’ report on the home visit and what her thoughts were of both Mr. Buckley and the Wilsons. It is very clear in her wording that she came into this case as a favor and with a bias. I would also be requesting a new representative. One without pre-determined judgments.”   

“I agree. Ms. Harris will be removed from this case and a new worker will be assigned. Any of Ms. Harris’ findings will be stricken from the record. I am going to schedule a new hearing for thirty days from now. In between you will need to set up mediation to try and come to a civil agreement. If you are unable to do so, then you will meet with me back here in one month’s time and I will make my determination based on what I have read in the file and the mediation transcript and report.” Judge Abbot ordered.

“I would like to have mediation scheduled for next week, Your Honor so we can expedite this process. There is no telling when Jee-Yun will be taken into custody.” Mr. Hunt stated. 

“I am sure you would. After all, Mr. Buckley has a broken jaw. I am sure he will be up for talking after spending two weeks in the hospital.” Judge Abbot said, not impressed at all. “Mediation will be scheduled no earlier than three weeks from now. That will give the new CPS worker time to build their own case. If they need more time, then mediation will be pushed back. I am not about to have this man, who was almost killed by this child’s father, to be put through more unnecessary pain.”

“Your Honor, I would like to request that if Jee-Yun is taken into custody before the next hearing that she be placed in the care of Mr. Buckley and Mr. Eddie Diaz.” Ms. White said.

“Your Honor, that is absurd. It makes more sense for Jee-Yun to be placed with my clients. They are registered foster parents with a bedroom all set up for her. Mr. Buckley cannot take care of her in his current medical state.” Mr. Hunt argued instantly. 

“Who is Mr. Diaz?” Judge Abbot asked. 

Eddie stood up as he spoke. “I am Your Honor. Evan will be living with me while he is healing. I have a spare room all set up for Jee.”

“And your relationship with Mr. Buckley?” Judge Abbot asked. 

“Evan and I are partners at work. We’re both firefighters. With the exception of Karen, we’re all first responders. Evan and I also co-parent my eleven year old son. We’re best friends and he became a second father to my son. It just kind of happened. I’m on moderated hours so I can be there for both Jee-Yun and Evan. I also have a home aid worker that will be there during the day as well to help.”

“Bobby Nash and Athena Grant-Nash, are both here today as well. They are pseudo parents to Evan Buckley. They will also be there to help both Evan and Jee-Yun. It might be untradiation, but there is a lot of love in both Evan’s and Jee-Yun’s lives. Jee-Yun would be very well cared for, Your Honor.” Mr. Turner added.

“And where is Jee-Yun’s mother?” Judge Abbot asked, still confused by all of this. 

“She is currently missing, Your Honor. She left in the middle of a PPD episode. No one has been able to reach her. The LAPD has a missing person’s report on her and have sent her photo to every police station across the country. She is also a 911 dispatcher. There are plenty of people looking for her. She did have a living will that stated Evan Buckley would be awarded guardianship of Jee-Yun should something happen.” Mr. Turner said, but Mr. Hunt cut him off. 

“Your Honor that paperwork was signed one month after Jee-Yun was born. Ms. Buckley was already in the throws of her PPD. Her mental state was compromised.” 

Mr. Turner spoke, as he held up the POA. “But this isn’t. Just over four years ago now Ms. Buckley signed an enduring power of attorney where Mr. Buckley was appointed as her POA. It is still valid.” 

Judge Abbot nodded to the bailiff so he could go and collect the document. 

“Your Honor this is the first I have heard of this.” Mr. Hunt stated. 

“You can get a copy after this hearing, Mr. Hunt.” Judge Abbot said, as he started to look over the document. After a moment he spoke. “This POA is valid and legally binding. Mr. Buckley currently holds sole guardianship of Jee-Yun while her mother is unable to care for her. I am awarding Mr. Buckley temporary care of Jee-Yun. What that means for those of you who are not lawyers, if Jee-Yun is found before the thirty days are up, she will be placed in the care of Mr. Buckley. We will then proceed with the court hearing as planned to determine who should get guardianship over Jee-Yun until either parent is able to restore their custody of her. Until a decision has been made by this court, Jee-Yun will reside with Mr. Buckley.” Judge Abbot ordered, as he banged his gavel one time. 

“Thank-you, Your Honor.” Mr. Turner said with a big smile. 

He turned around and he could see that Athena, Bobby and Eddie were all happy. He held his hand up as he spoke. “Let’s take this outside.”

The four of them all headed out and made their way outside of the courthouse and off to the side so they could talk without someone overhearing them. 

“This is good right?” Eddie asked. 

“It is for now. Evan will get Jee-Yun within the next thirty days if she is found. The next step is mediation. It’s three weeks away, but it will come up fast and they are going to try and use every trick in the book to get Evan disqualified. Which means we only have three weeks to find proof that Evan can handle raising Jee-Yun in his condition. As well as anything they could try and use against him. If there are any dirty secrets that can be dug up, we need to know about it. I will set up an appointment with you all in a week from now. That will give you time to get Evan settled. It will also give me time to see what I can find out without Evan telling me.”

“Ok. I will see what we can dig up as well.” Athena said. She didn’t want to go snooping around Buck’s past, but she knew he would understand if it was for Jee. 

“I will be in touch. Go tell him the good news.” Mr. Turner said with a kind smile before he headed back inside to collect the paperwork. 

Eddie let out a deep breath. “I can’t believe how well that went.”

“It was a great win. But we can’t forget it was only a battle. We still have a war ahead of us and we need to be ready for it.” Athena said, not wanting them to get too comfortable. 

“And we will. For now, let’s go and tell Buck the good news. I am sure he is climbing the walls by now waiting to hear.” Bobby said, as he wrapped his arm around Athena’s shoulders with a warm smile. 

The three of them headed off to go and give Buck the good news. They were hoping tomorrow would go well and Buck would finally be able to go back home and truly start to heal from all of this.

Chapter Text

Bobby, Athena and Eddie walked into Buck’s hospital room to see Tommy sitting on the bed facing Buck as he held an ice pack to the right side of Buck’s jaw. They all could see the pain within Buck’s eyes and they knew he wasn’t doing too well, but he was clearly trying to hold on long enough to hear how court went. 

“Hey baby.” Athena said, as she went and pressed a kiss to the top of Buck’s head. 

“He is in pain and exhausted, but he is refusing to hit his morphine pump so he can escape the pain and get some sleep. He wanted to stay awake and aware to hear how court went.” Tommy said on Buck’s behalf. 

Buck groaned and Tommy instantly knew what was going to happen. He quickly reached over and grabbed the basin and placed it underneath Buck’s mouth as he used his free hand to grab Buck by the back of his neck to help hold him up as Buck threw up the water he had managed to drink a little while ago. 

“He’s also nauseous.” Tommy commented. 

“Did they give him something?” Eddie asked, as he moved closer. 

“Twenty minutes ago, but it’s not working too well. The nurse said it would help once he hit his morphine and went to sleep.” Tommy answered. 

“It was only a matter of time with him being more awake now that the side effects from his skull fracture would appear.” Eddie said with a small shake of his head. He had really been hoping that Buck would have been able to avoid some of the side effects, especially vomiting. He needed sleep more than anything and it would be very difficult to do that if you were constantly throwing up. It also put him at risk of having to be back in the hospital from malnutrition and dehydration. 

Once Buck finished throwing up, Eddie held a glass of water against Buck’s lips as he spoke. “Rinse and spit.”

Eddie helped Buck to get a drink and after rinsing his mouth out, Tommy moved and took the basin into the bathroom to clean out. Bobby went over and placed a cold and damp cloth against Buck’s forehead to try and help soothe his stomach. 

“Co…court.” Buck barely managed to get out as a couple of tears rolled down his cheeks from the severe pain he was in. 

“No talking, Buckaroo.” Athena said, as she placed the ice pack against Buck’s right side of his jaw for him. 

“Court went really good. You were granted temporary guardianship of Jee because you are Maddie’s POA. We go for mediation in three weeks and then in a month we have the final custody hearing where the judge will make his ultimate decision, assuming we don’t find Maddie first.” Bobby explained. 

“We were able to get a new CPS worker as well. We can meet with them once we know who they are. There’s nothing for you to worry about.” Eddie added, as he reached over and grabbed the button for Buck’s morphine pump as he continued he pressed the button for him. “So please, sleep Mano . We’ll be here when you wake up.” 

Buck gave a soft moan as the morphine was pushed into his system. They watched as his eyes quickly closed and within minutes his breathing had evened out and they knew he was in a deep sleep. 

“So it really did go well?” Tommy asked, as he placed the basin back beside the bed. 

“Better than we could have asked for. Judge Abbot was not playing.” Athena said, as they all took their seats. She kept her hand within Buck’s and ran her thumb along the back of his hand. 

“Do we know who the new worker will be?” Tommy asked. 

“No, but it has to be better than Sydney. We go back in three weeks for meditation and then the judge will use the transcripts to make a decision. The POA holds a lot of weight though and we have Jee’s lawyer on our side. We just need this new worker to be ok with it all. The judge did say that if CPS needs more time then the court date will be pushed back until CPS has a report to give.” Eddie answered.

“Well that’s something at least. It also gives Maddie more time to come back.” Tommy siad. 

“Even if Maddie showed up tomorrow, I’m not really sure how much help that would be. We still don’t know if she will be charged with child abandonment.” Bobby commented. 

“What would happen if she did? Would that be probation?” Eddie asked Athena, because they hadn’t really talked about that possibility. 

“It’s a felony. She could get two years in jail and a ten thousand dollar fine, plus lose her parental rights permanently. And any child she has after Jee, she could also lose them as well. It would depend on the CPS worker. And doctors, first responders, they are all mandatory reporters. If she gets pregnant, someone would have to report her to CPS.” Athena explained, sadly. 

“Great.” Eddie said with a shake of his head. 

“But she is suffering from PPD, that has to hold some weight, right?” Tommy asked, worried about what Maddie could be facing when she did return.    

“It should. Given everything she has been through in the past five years and with her being a first responder, I can’t see the DA charging her. She also did leave Jee with Ravi. You could argue he was family and not a firefighter at the time she handed Jee over to him. I should be able to convince a DA to not press charges.” Athena knew it might be a bit complicated, but she would be able to get Maddie out of any charges. No DA was going to want to put her on trial, not after everything she had been through. And the firefighters at the 118 were Maddie’s family, so you couldn’t argue that she didn’t leave Jee with an uncle. 

“Well that’s a relief and I know Evan will be thankful for it. I’m worried about what all of this will be doing to his heart.” Tommy said, as he looked over at Buck’s sleeping face. The only time he saw Buck at peace was when he was in a drug induced sleep. 

“We have to be careful, especially over the next few months. Any added stress and we risk his heart having problems. Bobby and I will try and handle as much as we can with the court cases and only involve Buck when we have to.” Athena said. 

They were all worried about what this would be doing to Buck. He was supposed to be focused on healing, but they were constantly battling one problem after the next. It seemed like they were never going to be getting any peace. They were going to be doing their best to shelter Buck from all of it, but there was going to come a point where he would need to be an active participant and have an opinion. He was also going to have to show up for the court hearings pretty soon, whether his jaw was ready or not. 

“Where are we on the case against Chimney? Have the LAPD been able to find anything yet?” Eddie asked, because they hadn’t been told anything and he was starting to wonder what was going on. It had been over ten days now since Chimney had left. Eddie would have expected them to find him by now. 

“Not yet. Ransone had reached out to Chimney’s phone provider to try and get his GPS turned on. He’s got it set as off. The phone was also turned off. But the phone company wants a court order before they give anything out.” Athena answered, annoyed as hell that they couldn’t get what they needed. 

“Why would they need a court order? There’s an active warrant out for him.” Bobby asked. 

“Because Maddie and Chimney have a family plan account. They have separate phones, but it’s all under the same billing. The phone company is arguing that they can’t give the call logs or do anything with Chimney’s phone because the account is also under Maddie’s name. We tried to argue that Buck had POA of Maddie, but they so far, have successfully argued that giving Buck access to Maddie’s phone would then violate Chimney’s rights to privacy. It’s legal bullshit. The DA submitted a petition for a court order and they are waiting to see if they can get it approved.”   

“But Maddie is missing.” Tommy said, not really understanding why the phone company was acting like Fort Knox with their information, especially because both account holders were currently involved with the LAPD.

“She’s an adult.” Athena said with a shrug. “They don’t have to release her details if they don’t have her permission. It would be different if she was a minor or if she was deceased, but as it stands both Maddie and Chimney have the right to privacy. Ransone can’t do anything to Chimney’s phone. He can’t put a trace on it at all. They have been trying to find Buck’s, but it’s also turned off. With the model of Buck’s phone, the GPS only works when it’s on. They haven’t found Chimney’s car yet either. No camera or law enforcement official has caught sight of it. Which makes me think he changed the plates or he’s driving a different car entirely.” Athena explained. 

“And the DNA results?” Eddie asked, with a shake of his head. 

“They will take months to get back. The crime lab is backlogged, it’s constantly backlogged. I have a murder case from eleven months ago that I am still waiting for DNA results. It’ll take months before we get anything from it. And the longer it takes for us to find Chimney the likelihood that we will find any physical evidence on him diminishes. His bruised knuckles will heal, the scratch will heal, even if he had Buck’s blood on the bottom of his shoes or his clothes, that will have washed away.”

“If we lose physical evidence, doesn’t the case become a he said, he said?” Tommy asked, not liking how any of this was sounding.

“It does. It’s why the dying declaration is the strongest piece of evidence we have. Hopefully Chimney will hang himself and he will admit to hitting Buck, but not attacking him like this. Ransone was able to pull security footage from Buck’s lobby, but there’s no cameras in the hallways. We know Chimney went in and left roughly fifteen minutes later, but we could only see the back of him. And from what Ransone said, he didn’t look disheveled. He didn’t look to be in a hurry, he wasn’t acting like someone that had committed a crime. But, if he wasn’t of sound mind then he would have looked normal. Other people came in the building around the same time, Ransone has to run them down and see if he can get statements from them. It might be one of those cases that are built on a lot of speculation and circumstantial evidence that is just too much to overlook. It depends on the jury.”

Athena was very worried about the criminal case. She would have loved to be going into this with a shit load of evidence, hard evidence that no one could dispute, but right now they didn't have that. And she didn’t know if they ever would. It all depended on what they could get their hands on and how long it would take before they could get Chimney into custody. 

“That’s just fucking great. We could go through all of this and Chimney could actually get away with it. Buck could get screwed out of justice. And what, Chimney gets to have Jee and play happy family?” Eddie said, furious that Chimney might get away with everything. It wasn’t fair. Buck was going to have to deal with the trauma and memories from his attack. He was going to have scars that he would see every day in the mirror and Chimney was going to get to act like nothing even happened. It was bullshit. 

“No. No matter what happens with the criminal case, we are not going to allow that man to raise a little girl. He doesn’t get to have his happily ever after. And if Maddie comes back and wants to be with Chimney after this, then she doesn’t get her fairy tale ending either. Chimney’s life is over, one way or another.” Athena promised with an edge to her voice.

She was not going to allow Chimney to get everything after all of the pain he had caused Buck. That was her kid and she was going to make sure he got justice one way or another. If Chimney got to be a free man, she would make sure his life was miserable and hell. It didn’t matter what city or state he lived in, she would make sure he was living in a cardboard box for the rest of his life unable to get a job. And if Hen wanted to stand in her way, then she would suffer the same fate. Buck was getting his justice, no matter what.

Chapter Text

“Alright, the truck is all packed up with everything. You got his meds?” Tommy asked, as he came back into Buck’s hospital room with the wheelchair. 

Today Buck was finally able to be discharged and he was heading to Eddie’s place. Christopher was very excited to see Buck after school, but Eddie was actually worried about it. Buck was not feeling well. He had spent the bulk of the last twenty-four hours throwing up. Eddie had picked up some IVs to be able to give Buck some hydration, but all of Buck’s meds were in pill form, which would not go well if he couldn’t keep them down long enough for his body to absorb any of them. Buck was given an immediate release morphine tablets that he was to take one every four hours and then a slow release morphine tablet that he could take a couple of times a day. 

There was also a third medication that Buck was adamant about. A daily pill that would block Buck’s mind from feeling the high that came from opioids. He was very adamant about it and Eddie knew Buck was worried about becoming dependent on the pain meds. Dr. Greene wasn’t too happy about it, because the medication would dull the effects that the morphine had on the pain within his body, but he had to respect Buck’s wishes. 

Eddie completely understood where Buck was coming from. They were all first responders, they had heard the stories about heroin uses that had started because their doctor prescribed them an opioid for their pain and they became addicted to it. Buck wasn’t willing to take any chances and Eddie couldn’t blame him. Eddie was hoping that he could get Buck through the bulk of the pain within the next two weeks that he had off and then Buck would be in a bit better shape to be with Carla or Tommy when he wasn’t on shift. 

“Yup. Everything is all set at the house.” Eddie confirmed. 

Both Tommy and Eddie looked at Buck who was still on the bed all dressed and ready to go. He was laying on his back and there was a slight tremble to his frame. He was awake, but he had his eyes closed and they knew he was miserable. It made both of their hearts hurt, because there was nothing they could do for him. They had been hoping the hospital wouldn’t discharge him, but he just needed rest and time. There was no medical reason to keep him. And if he was going to be sick and miserable, he might as well do it in the comfort of his own bed, or Eddie’s bed in this case. Tommy and Eddie shared a quick look at each other, they both knew this was going to be a very long and painful drive, but they had everything that they could think of in place. Including a bucket for him to throw up in. They were going to place Buck in the backseat with Eddie, while Tommy drove. That way Eddie could help Buck if he was sick. Tommy gave a small shrug, because really there was nothing either of them could do at this point. They just needed to get Buck into his truck and head off. 

Eddie went over to the bed and he ran his hand through Buck’s hair as he spoke. “Ok Buddy, there’s no other way to put this other than that this is going to suck. But we’re twenty minutes away from my place and we have everything all set in Tommy’s truck. We just need to take this one step at a time until we get home. First step is getting you into the wheelchair and to Tommy’s truck.”

Eddie knew this was going to be horrible for Buck and he wished he could have done something to make this easier on Buck, but there really wasn’t anything either of them could do. They just had to do this. Buck slowly opened his eyes and they could both see the pain and exhaustion within his eyes. Buck was miserable, there was no other way to put it. He had been sick all day and night yesterday and he was still sick this morning. He was depressed and just done with life. Everyone had tried to make Buck feel better, but there was nothing they could do to lift his spirits. He had hit a wall and Eddie couldn’t blame him. 

“Mhm.” Buck simply said.

“I know standing is still hard, but you don’t have to stand up fully, just enough to get into the chair.” Eddie said. 

“Mhm.” Buck said, and they both could tell he was dreading every second of this. 

“When you’re ready.” Eddie said.

Buck groaned, but he gave a small nod and Eddie knew it was now or never. He went and placed Buck’s arm around his shoulder before he wrapped his free arm around Buck’s waist. Together they went over to the edge of the bed and Buck stood up. He swayed, but he stayed hunched over so he could hopefully ease some of the pain and pressure within his head every time he stood up. Tommy went over to Buck’s other side and placed his hand on Buck’s stomach and lower back and helped Buck to turn around so he could sit down in the chair. Buck groaned as he sat and he couldn’t help but lean his head against Tommy’s stomach as the room spun and the pain picked up. Tommy wrapped his arm around Buck’s back and placed the other on his head and ran his thumb along the back of Buck’s neck. 

“Breathe. In through your nose and out through your mouth. We won’t move until you’re ready.” Tommy soothing said. 

Tommy could feel Buck taking in some shaky breaths, but eventually he was able to even them out as he got the pain under control. Buck reluctantly moved back and Tommy bent down so he could look into Buck’s eyes.

“You ready to head out, Beautiful?” 

Buck blushed again, still not sure why Tommy was calling him that. Even through all of this and how horrible he felt, he had noticed how attractive Tommy was. It was different for him, because he had never felt this way about a man before. Sure, he had noticed a good looking man before, but he had never felt this strong of an attraction to another man before. He didn’t know what to make of it and he was too exhausted to try and figure it all out. 

“Mhm.” 

“Ok, we’re gonna go nice and slow and if you need us to stop, just hold up your hand and we will stop.” Tommy said.

“Mhm.”

Tommy gave Buck a soft smile as he moved back and Eddie started to gently pushed the wheelchair out of the room and down the hallway towards the elevator. They moved as smoothly as possible to get out of the hospital without causing Buck any added pain. By the time they reached Tommy’s truck that was parked out front Buck’s body was trembling from the pain and exhaustion. Tommy opened the back passenger door as Eddie put the brakes on the wheelchair. 

“Do you think you can get into the truck? If not, Tommy can pick you up.” Eddie said.

Buck held his hand up for Eddie to take. Eddie placed his free hand underneath Buck’s arm to help steady him. Tommy came around and took Buck’s other side and together they were able to get Buck up and shuffled over to Tommy’s truck and inside of it. Eddie ran around to the other side and immediately jumped in. He gently moved Buck down so he could lay his head on his lap and he turned him onto his left side just in case he needed to throw up. Tommy closed the door before he went and took the wheelchair back, he jogged back over to his truck and closed Eddie’s door before he got into the driver’s seat. 

He started his truck and started to head off. He knew that the drive to Eddie’s place was going to be the worst and they just needed to get there. He tried to avoid any potholes and not make any jerky movements. He was constantly looking into the rearview mirror to check on Buck. Eddie was running a hand through his hair and Buck’s eyes were scrunched up tight and there was a slight tremble to his frame. Tommy hated that he couldn’t make Buck better. He hated that he couldn’t just take all of the pain on himself and project Buck from the horror of his life right now. But he couldn’t do any of that. All he could do was be there for him and hope that he started to feel better soon. That the skull fracture wouldn’t make him sick the whole time it was healing. 

It was the longest twenty minutes of their lives, but Tommy finally pulled into Eddie’s driveway. He got out of his seat and headed around to the back passenger side so he could get to Buck. Buck slowly sat up with the help of Eddie and they both could feel how weak Buck was. 

“I’m gonna pick you up, ok Evan?” Tommy asked. 

“Mhm.” Buck faintly said and they both knew he was fading. 

Tommy went and wrapped his arm around Buck’s back and tucked his right arm underneath his knees. Buck weakly wrapped his arms around Tommy’s neck as Tommy picked him up. Buck groaned at the sudden pain and he couldn’t help but tuck his head into Tommy’s neck. 

“I got you, Beautiful.” Tommy softly whispered, as he started to carry Buck towards the house. 

Eddie unlocked the front door and guided Tommy into his bedroom. Tommy just walked through Eddie’s bedroom door when Buck tensed and spoke.

“Bathroom.” 

“Yup.” Tommy quickly made his way into the ensuite of Eddie’s bedroom and quickly got Buck down onto the floor. He held him up as he finally lost the battle with his stomach once again.

Tommy bent down and rubbed Buck’s back and he was hunched over the toilet. Eddie came in and handed Tommy a glass of water. Once Buck finished throwing up Tommy helped him to get some water to help rinse his mouth out. Once that was done Tommy handed Eddie the glass to put it up on the counter. Buck leaned against Tommy and gave a faint moan as he shivered. 

“I don’t know if he’s making it into a bed yet.” Eddie said with a small shake of his head. 

“Ya, no. He’s too sick.” Tommy agreed. 

“Ok, I got it.” Eddie said, as he turned and headed back into his bedroom. 

He grabbed a pillow and a blanket before he went back into the bathroom and handed the items over to Tommy before he headed back out. Tommy went and placed the pillow down on the floor before he spoke.

“Here, Beautiful, let’s get you laying down so you can sleep.” 

Tommy would have loved to hold onto Buck all day and night long if he wanted, but he was still injured and sitting like this was not going to be good for Buck’s injuries, especially his broken rib. He carefully helped to guide Buck down onto the floor with his head on the pillow. He then picked up the blanket and covered Buck. He went and placed the back of his hand against Buck’s forehead and knew he had a fever. It didn’t mean that there was an infection, skull fractures could cause someone to have a fever. It was your body’s way of trying to fight against the injury and heal itself. But it was the last thing Buck needed right now. Eddie came back in with an IV bag to help get some fluids into Buck and hopefully stop him from being dehydrated.   

“He’s got a fever.” Tommy said, as Eddie bent down and started to get the IV going. 

“We’ll have to keep an eye on it. I would like to avoid giving him something to help break it at risk of upsetting his stomach.” Eddie said, before he turned his attention to Buck. “Buck, I’m gonna give you an IV, ok?”

Buck gave a very faint moan and Eddie was taking that to mean ok. He made quick work of getting the IV going and once it was all set he went and grabbed a cloth and ran it under cold water before he rang it out. He went and placed it on Buck’s forehead to try and soothe his stomach and his fever. He then sat down with his back against the cabinet and placed his hand on Buck’s leg with a deep sigh. Both Tommy and Eddie sat there just holding Buck and trying to be there for him as he rotated between sleeping and throwing up. 

XXX 

Buck laid back down after throwing up for the hundredth time it felt like. He was miserable and there was no other word for it. He just wanted to curl up and die at this point. Buck closed his eyes as he heard the tell tale sounds of Christopher’s crutches on the floor. He wanted to see Christopher, but he was also worried about scaring him. Buck knew he didn’t look good and the last thing he wanted to do was to cause any fear within Christopher. 

“Remember Buddy, Buck is really sick. So you have to be gentle with him.” Eddie said, as he and Christopher headed into his bedroom. 

“I know Dad.” Christopher said with a sigh and it was clear that Eddie had told him a dozen times or more already. 

Buck forced his eyes to open as he saw Christopher in the bathroom doorway. Buck did his best to give him a smile, but his jaw was killing him from throwing up. It was hard to smile when his whole face was hurting him. 

“Dad?” Christopher asked with a slight fear to his voice. 

“He’s ok Mijo . He’s just really sick right now, kinda like the flu.”

“I’m ok, Superman.” Buck managed to get out. 

Buck hated that Christopher was so scared over him. He never wanted Christopher to worry about him or be scared for him or of him. Christopher had been through so much in his life already, he didn’t need to have to deal with this horror as well. Tommy picking up both Buck and Christopher’s distress, decided to jump in. 

“Hey Christopher, I am thinking I will get started on some dinner. Do you think you could be my co-pilot?”

“We can’t let Dad do it.” Christopher teased with a small smile. 

“Ya, ya, ya, everyone can cook but me. You guys are so funny.” Eddie said with a dramatic eye roll and Christopher laughed.  

Tommy got up and headed out with Christopher. Eddie went into the bathroom and sat down, pulling Buck’s head and the pillow in his lap as he went and ran his fingers through Buck’s hair.

“Sorry.” Buck mumbled out. 

“Don’t be. Christopher will be ok. He was just expecting for you to be in bed. I told him you were sick, but I think he just figured you would be like me when I came out of the hospital. He’ll be ok, don’t worry about him. That kid is tough.” Eddie said, confidently. 

“The toughest.” Buck agreed. 

“Damn straight. We raised him to be. So don’t worry about him, he’ll be ok.” Eddie said, and after a moment he continued. He figured now was as good of a time as any to mention this. “Tommy has been really great. He seems to blend in so well to our family. Christopher loves hanging out with him, but I think that has more to do with the fact that he’s a pilot. It doesn’t seem to matter that I’ve jumped out of a helicopter and a plane. Apparently, it’s only cool when you are the one flying the plane.”

Buck gave a faint laugh at that. It made him feel good to know that Tommy and Christopher were getting along well. It was different for both Eddie and Buck to have another man around them. They were used to having a third party showing up and trying to blend in, but that was always a woman. It was kinda nice having that slight change in their dynamic. 

“I’ve only known him for a couple of weeks, but he’s a good guy. I’ve noticed that he likes to call you beautiful.” Eddie lightly teased. 

“Um..” Buck started, but he didn’t know what to say to that. 

“You don’t have to say anything about it. But just know that if you ever want to talk about it, I’ll always be here for you. And no matter what, nothing between us changes. Not a damn thing.” Eddie stressed. 

He knew that some men would have a problem with their best friend being into men, whether that was as a gay man or a bisexual man. Eddie didn’t care who Buck loved. As long as that person took care of him, treated him like he deserved and made him happy. That was all Eddie cared about. And Tommy so far had done all of those things to Buck and that was as a complete stranger. 

“I feel like I have known him for my whole life. I don’t understand.” Buck said through clenched teeth so he didn’t have to move his jaw very much.

“Sometimes that happens. I remember when Shannon and I met, we just clicked right away. There were a lot of ups and downs, but I felt like she had always been in my life. That scared me and I wasted a lot of time trying to run from it. Don’t make the same mistakes that I did Buck. Just let yourself feel it, embrace it, because it could be the best thing that ever happened to you.”

Eddie was hoping that once Buck was feeling better and was healed up enough, he would be willing to try something with Tommy. Eddie knew that Buck was more open with his emotions and he was typically willing to embrace change within himself. Eddie was just hoping that Buck wouldn’t let his circumstances block him from getting into a new relationship, because he did believe that Tommy could be the one for Buck. He liked him better than any of Buck’s past girlfriends, that was for sure. He seemed to actually care about Buck. Buck went and placed his hand on Eddie’s leg.

“It’s gonna be ok. No matter what. We will get through this.” Eddie promised. He had no idea how any of this was going to play out, but no matter what he was going to be making sure Buck survived this. And he knew that Tommy would be there with them for it.

Chapter Text

Hen couldn’t help but be nervous. She was meeting with Mr. Hunt today to try and go over their attack plan. She had no idea that Buck had Maddie’s POA and she had no idea how they were going to counteract it. She also didn’t know how much weight it would have in the courts against Buck’s physical condition. What she did know, they only had twenty days before mediation and they needed to be ready. This might be their only chance at getting Jee away from Buck so she could go back to Chimney once all of this was cleared up. 

The door to the room opened and Hen saw Mr. Hunt walk in with another man. She didn’t know who this man was, but she was hoping he would be an asset to her case. 

“Thank-you for waiting. I wanted to make sure my partner, Xavier Reed, would be able to join us for this meeting.” Mr. Hunt said, as he and Reed took a seat across from Hen. 

“I’m a criminal defense attorney. The best in the city. Oliver was telling me about your case and I thought I would join you. I know it is pretty complicated the situation you are in. As well as your friend.” Mr. Reed said with a kind smile. 

“You’re interested in taking Chimney’s case?” Hen asked, slightly surprised.

“I am. It sounds like he is getting railroaded and I would like to discuss it with you so I can prepare for when he is arrested.”

“That would be great. Um…how much do you charge by the hour?”

“I do the same as Oliver. I don’t get paid until I have won the case. And for myself I will also file a civil suit to make the plaintiff pay for my services. It won’t cost Mr. Han anything.” Reed answered.

“That’s amazing.” Hen said with a big smile. If Chimney could get a great lawyer and he wouldn’t have to pay for it, that was amazing. 

“Let’s start with the custody case.” Mr. Hunt started. “We now know that Mr. Buckley has POA over his sister, Maddie. That is a hurdle that we will need to overcome. We need to prove that either Mr. Buckley is unfit to be her POA or that she was unfit at the time of writing the POA. What was going on at the time that Ms. Buckley signed the POA?” 

“She had just left her abusive husband. She came to LA to see Buck. It was originally a pitstop, but she ended up staying when Buck convinced her. But she was on the run. She was or is, estranged from her parents. In a lot of ways, Buck is her only family.” Hen answered. 

“Would you say she feels obligated to him?” Mr. Hunt asked as both lawyers took notes. 

“I would. Growing up Buck was not given love by his parents. They had another son, Daniel, who was two years younger than Maddie. He had a rare form of childhood leukemia and their parents had Buck to be a perfect match to Daniel. He donated bone marrow, but it didn’t take and Daniel died within a year after Buck was born. From then on, it was basically Maddie raising Buck because their parents were checked out from their grief. Maddie has made comments to me and to Chimney about how she feels like she always has to clean up his mess. I think it’s very possible that Buck guilted her into the POA and keeping him on even after she was in love with Chimney.”

Hen really couldn’t think of another reason why Maddie wouldn’t have placed Chimney as her POA. It made no sense to her because they were madly in love and had a baby together. They were practically married, they were common law. It only made sense for Chimney to have her POA. Buck must have guilted her into keeping it as him. 

“With their parents being estranged, it would be best to keep them out of the custody battle. We don’t need them stepping in wanting grandparent rights. We need to have Buckley removed as Maddie’s POA. We would need to prove that he is not in the right mindframe to be able to handle the responsibility. I will be putting in the request to get his medical records. I will also be getting his LAFD file.” Mr. Hunt said. 

“The best way to win both cases is to discredit him as a person. Is there anything in his past that he did to try and play the victim? Any major lie? Any dangerous decision?” Mr. Reed asked. 

“Well, about two and a half years ago he sued the city and our Captain, Bobby, for wrongful termination based on discrimination. He claimed that Bobby was holding him back from returning to work after he got his leg crushed by the ladder truck and had to be placed on blood thinners after a pulmonary embolism. According to Buck, he won that case and was awarded his job back. That he turned down millions of dollars that the city offered. I never fully believed it. Neither did Chimney nor Maddie. We all believed that the city gave him his job back to try and placate him. He was pretty popular and well known in the city at the time.”

“Perfect. I will get my hands on that as well. Anything else? Professional or personal?” Mr. Hunt asked. 

“Well, in his probationary year after he lost his first victim he had to go and see the department shrink. She could have pulled him from the job if she felt he was a risk to society and the team. Buck slept with her right there in her office during his first and only session. He told Chimney about it and Chimney told me. Said Buck was bragging about how easy it was to get cleared. He’s stolen the fire truck a couple of times that year as well so he could meet up with some girl and sleep with her. He slept with probably a hundred or more women within that first year.” 

“Wow, and no one did anything? Mr. Reed asked. 

“Bobby fired him, but he didn’t make it official and he brought Buck back that next shift after he helped save Athena, who is Bobby’s wife now. Buck claims he hasn’t been sleeping around, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he still was, but he just keeps it quiet now. Honestly, I am worried about the possibility of drug addiction.” Hen reluctantly admitted. 

“Has that been a problem in the past?” Mr. Hunt asked. 

“I was having dinner with Maddie and Chimney a few years back, this was during the time that Buck had to go through surgery for his leg. Maddie had said she was worried about Buck taking his pain medication. Apparently, when he was fifteen he started to smoke marijuana and then that increased to him doing ecstasy, cocaine and even GHB. It’s why he dropped out of college, he spent his tuition money on drugs, booze and a motorcycle that he crashed. Maddie suspected he was high when he crashed it. Said he wasn’t in enough pain for the amount of injuries he had. When Buck got his leg crushed he was prescribed oxy for six months straight until he finished all of his surgeries and PT. And with him having ADHD, twenty-one percent of males with it turn to drugs.”

It wasn’t something that Hen wanted to think about and she felt horrible for even saying it. But she was worried about the amount of times that Buck had been given morphine and oxycontin. He had an addictive personality and Buck was all about anything that could make him feel good. Combine that with how drugs would make Buck feel more normal with his brain being able to function properly and the trauma. It wouldn’t be a far stretch for Buck to become addicted to drugs.

“It sounds like there is plenty of cause for concern. We will need to have him do a drug test. I would also be concerned about the amount of women he sleeps with if he is drunk or high. There’s a good chance he’s assaulted someone and probably doesn’t even remember it.” Mr. Reed commented.

“I don’t know about that.” Hen said, in Buck’s defense. 

“I know you don’t want to think about it, but statistics are not in his favor. He gets too drunk, and he sleeps with someone. Or he’s not drunk enough and he picks up a woman who is too drunk or high and can’t consent. It happens all the time, especially in the party scene. He was a bartender, you said. It’s not out of the range that he did something he shouldn’t have. We will need to try and track down his one-night stands and make sure they were able to consent. After the Me Too Movement, it is more imperative than ever that he doesn’t have a victim struggling every day after what happened to her.” Mr. Hunt said. 

Hen didn’t want to think about the fact that Buck might have made that type of mistake in his past, but she also could see their point. Buck could have easily slept with someone that was too intoxicated to be able to consent. Maybe Buck didn’t realise it at the time or even now, but that didn’t make it any less of a crime and that woman deserves to have a voice and get justice. She would want someone to do it for her. 

“I’ll see what I can find.” Hen reluctantly said. 

“Good. Remember everything we are doing is to help your friend get to keep his daughter and also not spend the rest of his life in prison on false charges.” Mr. Hunt said. 

“It’s going to be a rough fight, but we have to do it. We will dig into Mr. Buckley and we will be able to get everything that they have in discovery. We need to start changing the public opinion on Mr. Buckley. We also need to get ahead of the criminal case. No one has reported on it yet, which means the DA are trying to keep it quiet. We need to be the first to hit the press. We need to flood the press everytime the DA tries to get their false truth out there. We need to bury it. So I am going to prepare a bunch of articles to submit to the press to keep the narrative on what truly matters and away from Mr. Han.” Mr. Reed said. 

“I understand that we need to try and prove that Buck is lying or not mentally sound. But I also don’t like the idea of him being destroyed in the press.” 

Hen knew that she needed to help Chimney. She knew she needed to fight as hard as she could to make sure Chimney got to be with Jee. But she also didn’t like the fact that Buck would be destroyed in the press. She didn’t believe that Buck was doing this to be cruel, but she also believed that Buck didn’t know what the truth was and she had to protect Chimney from being sent to prison for the rest of his life. He didn’t deserve that. She had been hoping that they all could have come together to try and work all of this out, but it seemed like they were going to be divided and there was nothing any of them could do now to go back. Hen had to be all-in, because it was the only way she could ensure Chimney didn’t end up in prison. 

“It’s going to be hard, but remember we are trying to prevent an innocent man from being in prison. We have to fight with everything we have to make that happen.” Mr. Reed said with understanding in his voice. 

“I think for today, this is a good place to stop. I will get the files that I need and we will have our investigator working to see what he can dig up. You need to not engage with the others at all.” Mr. Hunt said with a pointed look. 

“I have already moved to a different shift at the station so I won’t have any contact with them.” Hen confirmed. 

“For our side of things. I need to know if you have had any contact with Mr. Han.” Mr. Reed asked. 

“He did call me the other day. It’s the only time I’ve spoken to him since he left. I did tell him about what was going on and tried to convince him to come back home, but he is refusing to. He’s worried about Maddie and what she might do.”

“If he calls again you need to let him know about myself and that he should stay away.” Mr. Reed said. 

“You don’t want him to turn himself in?” Hen asked, shocked. She would have figured his lawyer would be all about Chimney turning himself in. 

“No, because he’s being railroaded. I guarantee you, he has also been suspended at work and no longer getting any payments. He is a victim right now. He’s being framed, for whatever reason, but that’s exactly what is happening. I am going to be filing charges for false accusations, fabrication of evidence, perjury and that is just to start. Mr. Buckley could be looking at fourteen years in prison. Mr. Han would be within his rights to sue Mr. Buckley as well as the LAPD. I would recommend that you have him reach out to me and I can help him.” Mr. Reed said.

“Isn’t that aiding and abetting?” Hen asked, still surprised. 

“Not when he is a victim of a crime. These charges are false and no one can be held accountable for helping him, because of the severity of these false accusations. We will get a neurologist to review Mr. Buckley’s file as well as, going on record stating that Mr. Buckley was not in any condition to make a statement. That will dismiss the dying declaration and lift the warrants from him. My concern is if he is arrested and placed in jail, we won’t be able to get him out until the charges have been dismissed. It’s best for him to stay away.”

“Ok, if you think it’s what is best.” Hen said. 

She couldn’t believe all of this. She never thought that Chimney would be on the run and that Buck would be facing charges himself. She didn’t know how any of this was going to work out. She was hoping that both Chimney and Buck didn’t spend any time in jail. That Buck was fined or maybe given probation and Chimney could go back to work and have his family. As hard as it was going to be going through this, she just had to remember that Chimney was the wrong party and she had to do whatever she could to help keep him out of jail. 

“We will be in touch and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.” Mr. Hunt said with a soft smile. 

“Thank-you.” Hen said, as she stood and made her way out. 

Once they were alone Reed turned to look at his partner. “It’s going to take a lot to destroy him in the public eye. We’ve both seen the videos of him under the fire truck and at the tsunami.”

“I know. But we’ve also seen his bank statements thanks to our trusty hacker. He’s worth fifteen million, at least. We just need you to win and then we could sue for twenty million, at the very least. He’s got a hundred acres of land valued at ten million with the houses on it. We either need the charges dropped because the DA was too scared to go forward or we need to turn everyone against him so no jury would convict.”

“I’ll get Rex started on hacking into everything he can to find what we need. I will also get started on sending the press false stories. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t true, someone will always believe the gossip. By the time I am done with him, the LAFD will have fired him to save face and the DA won’t be able to go forward with the charges because his star witness is too covered in shit to be put on the stand. We’ll get that money and make an even bigger name for ourselves.” 

Both Reed and Hunt were looking forward to this case. They were going to go down as legends and they were both looking forward to the payout they would get from all of this. They were not going to let one firefighter stand in their way. No matter what they had to do, Evan Buckley was going to regret surviving his attack.

Chapter Text

Bobby walked into his house after another long day at work. He was really getting sick and tired of all of the floaters. Some of the guys from B and C-Shift were working extra shifts to try and help where they could, but it was not getting any easier with four of his people now gone. He couldn’t have Hen on the same shift because it would just be too hostile. According to Hank, C-Shift’s Captain, things were getting tense on his shift with Hen there already. Everyone was trying to be professional, but it would appear Hen was constantly talking about Chimney or on the phone with her lawyer trying to get dirt on Buck. Bobby honestly had no idea how his once happy family had turned into this. He never thought Hen would stoop so low to try and find any excuse that she could to discredit Buck as not only a potential guardian, but as a person it would seem. Everything was so fucked up right now and Bobby knew it would take a long time before it would get better. 

“Hey Baby, how was work?” Athena asked, from her place at the table. 

She had her laptop and a bunch of papers all spread out in front of her. Bobby knew she had been running Buck’s name and trying to find any sort of problems in his past that could be used against him. To Bobby’s knowledge nothing came up yet and he knew that if Athena couldn’t find anything, then no one else would. 

“Fine, considering. I guess things with Hen on C-Shift are not going too well. She is constantly on the phone with her lawyer and everyone has overheard her trying to find dirt on Buck. Even going so far as trying to track down his one-night stands to see if they were too intoxicated at the time of them having sex.” Bobby answered, as he put his coat down. 

“No, she is not.” Athena snapped, and Bobby could see a fire building within her eyes. 

“Unfortunately. And fortunately, Buck has never had sex with someone when they were both too drunk to even function. It’s more upsetting than anything else. I can completely understand where she is coming from. If someone told me that Buck had done this to someone, I would instantly think he had a doppelganger out there committing crimes. But I also wouldn’t be trying to make that person’s life harder on them. I wouldn’t be trying to destroy their character in and out of the court just to gain an advantage.”

“She has lost her ever loving mind. If she’s not careful she could get reported for creating a hostile work environment. She could lose her job. The LAFD are not playing right now with Buck.”

“I honestly don’t think she cares. She’s too blinded with trying to get Jee away from Buck so Chimney can have her. It makes no sense and I don’t know if she is doing this because she genuinely believes it’s what is best or if she wants to have Jee for herself. They had wanted a little girl for a long time now, Jee could be their chance. I mean, there is a high probability that Chimney is going to prison for the rest of his life. Certainly until Jee is an adult. If they were able to get her, they could try and adopt her, even before the year is up if both Chimney and Maddie’s parental rights were removed.” Bobby said, with a sigh as he sat down at the table. 

“At this point I wouldn’t put it past either of them. I would have expected for Karen to be the voice of reason here, but she seems to be perfectly happy to follow her wife blindly down a dark alley. I just feel bad for Denny. It’s going to put a strain on his relationship with everyone and that’s just not fair to the poor boy.” Athena said, sadly. 

“I know, I just don’t know what to do about all of that.” Bobby said with a shake of his head. “What about you? How was your day? Did you find anything that we need to worry about?”

“I’m worried we only have nineteen days left before we have to go to mediation. I am worried that we have a new social worker coming to check out Eddie’s current house and the two new houses next week. But mostly, I am worried about what Hen’s lawyer could find. I’ve done some research on him. He is not above bribing a cop to get legal documents. He will also hire a PI to get whatever dirt he can.” Athena said with a deep sigh.

“If you can’t find anything though, then no matter who this guy hires, they won’t be able to either.”

“I found something.” Athena said with deep worry flooding her voice. 

“What did you find?” Bobby asked, really not liking that tone. 

“Nothing at first. I started with his resume and went through and made calls to his previous employers just to make sure there were no situations that came up. That’s when I started to notice there was a discrepancy. Buck went to College, but only for one semester. What we know now about his ADHD, that makes sense. He would have had a hard time in classes. He would have had a lot more freedom to party. After he got into a motorcycle accident, he left college and started on a self-discovery journey as he said.”

“Right he travelled along the East Coast first before he ventured further.” 

“Which tracks. He went down to Virginia Beach where he started working for a construction company. I called and the owner remembered him. No problems ever came up and Buck stayed for about four months before things started to slow down and he moved on. Now, according to his resume he took a couple more construction jobs all along the East Coast, ending up in Florida as a bartender. When things with a girl went south he moved across and started working on a horse ranch. Then he tried out for the SEALS and then finally ended up in Peru as a bartender once again. Then LA to stay.” 

“Right.” Bobby agreed, still not seeing the problem. 

“Except I called everyone that he worked for and only the first construction job and his last bartending job in Peru had heard of him. Had any record of him working there. I also could not find a single trace of him living anywhere outside of Virginia Beach and Peru.”

“Maybe he was working for cash and paid cash everywhere.” Bobby said, not liking where this could potentially be going. Especially because that resume was used in an official capacity for the LAFD before Buck entered the Academy. 

“There’s no record of him anywhere in four years. No tax returns, no place of employment, not even a speeding ticket. From the age of nineteen until he was twenty-three, there’s nothing. It’s as if he didn’t exist. He didn’t even renew his driver’s license. Then he suddenly pops up in Peru.”

“That’s not good. Was he in a different country maybe?”      

“I couldn’t find him. And if I couldn’t find him, you best believe that whatever investigator Mr. Hunt hired, won’t be able to find him either. But that’s not the worst part. With Buck popping back up in Peru, I did some digging and I found his name connected to a federal investigation. Most of it was redacted, but.” Athena said, as she slid the paper across for Bobby to look at. 

“All you can see is his name and multiple counts of murder and drug trafficking. You can’t read anything else, it’s all blacked out.” Bobby said, as his stomach was all up in knots over what he was seeing. “There’s no way Buck, our Buck, had anything to do with any of this.”

“It’s possible he was a witness. The file is too redacted to get any real information. But a lawyer could use it as proof that Buck has a violent and criminal past. This could be the smoking gun that Hen needs to get Buck removed as Jee’s guardian and to block him from ever having her.”

“There has to be an explanation. I refuse to believe that Buck would ever be involved in anything like this.” 

Bobby didn’t care what evidence was placed in front of him. There was no way that sweet, gentle and kind soul that was Evan Buckley, would ever be involved in anything like this. He had to be a witness or a victim. There was no other way.

“I agree. I’ve been a cop for a long time and I can read people better than anyone. And I can tell you right now that boy is not a criminal. I could see it if he had a drug possession charge for marijuana when he was younger. But nothing like this. I’ve never seen someone with as pure of a heart as he has. But we do need an explanation and we need to let Mr. Turner know about this.”

“Why don’t you call Eddie. If there is anyone that might know about this, it’s him.” Bobby suggested. 

Athena gave a nod and she pulled out her phone and called Eddie, putting it on speaker phone. After four rings he finally answered. 

“Hey, is everything ok?” He immediately asked. 

“We’re fine. How is Buck?” Athena asked first, because that was what truly mattered.

“He’s sleeping. Christopher is curled up with him reading. He refuses to leave his side. The last couple of days were a bit rough. Christopher didn’t expect Buck to be so sick, but Tommy was able to talk to him and get Christopher to see that Buck would be ok and he just needed some love. Christopher has been with him this whole time since.”

“He’s a sweet little boy.” Athena said, before she paused for a second before she continued. “Bobby and I need to talk to you about something, regarding Buck and his history.”  

“Ok.” Eddie said, not liking the sound of that. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve been looking into Buck’s past as you know. And I found something pretty damning.” Athena started. 

“What do you mean? Buck’s one of the nicest people in the world. What, did he not pay for some parking tickets?” Eddie gave a soft chuckle.

“I’m afraid it’s more serious than that and it surprised both Bobby and I. Now to be fair, we don’t believe he did anything. We think he was a witness or maybe even a target, but I found a federal investigation in Peru that he was named in.”

“What type of an investigation?” Eddie asked, as he moved to stand out back so no one would overhear him. 

“We don’t know. The whole file is essentially redacted. It just stated Buck’s name a couple of times and multiple homicides and drug trafficking.” Athena answered.

“No. Hell fucking no. Buck would never be involved in any of that shit.” Eddie said, pissed off that this piece of paper could ruin everything for Buck. 

“We know that. But right now we can only see a couple of words that aren’t blacked out. Athena also looked into Buck’s work history and it’s looking like most of it was a lie. Buck only ever worked at a construction company in Virginia Beach before he went to Peru. There’s a four year gap that she can’t find him in. No rentals in his name. No updated driver’s license, no tax returns, nothing. It’s as if he didn’t exist until he showed back up in Peru. We were hoping you might know something.” Bobby explained. 

Eddie ran his hand through his hair before he spoke. “No. We don’t really talk about his life before LA. But I might have an idea. Not about Peru, but about the missing years.” Eddie let out a sigh before he spoke. “Buck has a Navy ID number. It’s what the code to his safe is. You only get one if you were enlisted. Buck said he went into BUDS, but you can’t just show up and decide you want to be a SEAL. You have to fill out the application to be accepted into the Navy. You have to do tests and pass them, and then you are enlisted for at least six years and then you can re-up.”

“Buck said he rang out in Hell Week.” Bobby stated. 

“I don't have a single record that Buck was ever in the Navy or in the SEALS. There’s no record of his employment within the government or for taxes.” Athena added. 

“And there wouldn’t be, if he graduated and served. When a SEAL graduates, their personal information becomes classified. And if you are placed on a special black ops team, like SEAL Team Six, they will even make a complete fake history, erase anything that could be traced back to your location. Including Government data like taxes, employment, driver’s license etc. They become ghosts that eventually reappear, assuming they don’t die.”

Eddie fucking knew it. He had a feeling that Buck didn’t ring out. The way Buck acted when someone brought up his Silver Star. The way he could casually switch the topic away from it. The way Buck could assess a situation and just know what to do. The way he could read people. Even why Buck didn’t want to fight people, he might not legally be allowed to fight someone. It all depended on how trained he was and if he was considered to be a lethal weapon. If he got into a fight, even in self-defence, he was opening himself up to being charged. 

“Are you saying, Buck, Evan Buckley, is a SEAL?” Athena asked, shocked.    

“I’m saying it’s the only explanation that makes sense. It explains the four year gap and there is a chance that he was helping the feds with their own investigation down in Peru and he was a witness or a CI. I know for a fact that Buck was bartending. I’ve seen the photos and I’ve seen the skill. He can bartend. He could have easily seen or overheard something. Maybe he followed someone into a warehouse or something and witnessed a murder or found the bodies.” Eddie suggested. 

“That could be possible. I will need to try and get the full file, but it’s going to take time and I don’t know if I can get it before mediation or court for that matter. We need to know what happened from Buck. We also need to make an appointment with Mr. Turner and inform him of all of this. He needs to come up with a plan for when this comes out.” Athena said. 

The most likely explanation was that Buck witnessed something and he reported it. Witnesses were typically blacked out, but it was possible Buck allowed his name to be seen in order to protect someone else. That would track with the Buck they all knew and loved. 

“Let me know when the appointment is and I will be there for it. I’ll see about asking Buck, but he’s really sick right now. The skull fracture is kicking his ass and the pain meds being in pill form is not helping his stomach. I don’t know if he will be in any shape to talk about anything for the next few days, but I’ll try.” Eddie offered. 

“Ok, but put his health first. If we have to wait a week to talk to him, then we will. The last thing we need is to put more stress on his heart.” Bobby said. Buck’s health had to be the priority right now.

“We will keep you posted on what we can find and when the appointment is. I’ll make sure it’s during a time that Tommy can be with Buck or Carla.” Athena said. 

“Appreciate it. I need to go and check on them.”

“Of course. Have a good night and call us if you need anything.” Bobby said. 

Athena ended the call and she turned to look at her husband. “Well, that was unexpected. But it would explain everything.”

“Buck had said he dropped out because he didn’t want to turn his emotions off. I guess I should have been better at seeing that he’s turned his emotions off plenty of times while on the job. After the call is done, that’s when he lets them show. I just thought he was focused on what needed to be done. I mean, all of the time he did something and I said it was reckless, but in reality it might have been skill. He might be able to do things that most firefighters can’t because he was trained for it. I mean, it’s no wonder he has so many certifications.” 

Bobby couldn’t help but look back at all of the rescues that Buck had done. All of the things he had accomplished. Of course he was able to do more dangerous rescues, because he had the skill set already there. He had flown through the academy. He had flown through his certifications. He had done the impossible multiple times and it was all because he had been trained to do it and more. 

“He’s gifted and that is a plus in his category. We just need to find a way to explain this document so it doesn’t look like Buck was the one being investigated.” Athena said, worried about what it could do for Buck and his case against Jee. 

“And we will. Now that we know what the bomb is, we can work on defusing it. We have just shy of three weeks. We can do this.” Bobby said confidently. He wasn’t about to let anyone take Jee away from Buck. She was his niece and it was his responsibility to look after her. To care for her while Maddie was away. So much had been taken from him, he was not going to allow for Jee to be another thing ripped away from Buck. They would find a way to block this file from being used against him, no matter what.

Chapter Text

Eddie, Bobby and Athena made their way into the conference room for Mr. Turner. They were now at seventeen days before mediation was set to begin and they weren’t any more confident then they were a few days ago. Eddie hadn’t been able to talk to Buck about what they had discovered and suspected yet, because Buck was just too sick. He was sleeping the majority of the day and night away and when he wasn’t he was eating soup and then throwing it up. His skull fracture was truly kicking his ass and Eddie knew there wasn’t anything he could do about it until it started to heal. That didn’t change the fact that he felt helpless. His best friend was in pain and sick and there was nothing he could really do for him, besides hold him and try and help when he was too dizzy to even get up on his own. Tommy had come by this morning to stay with Buck while Eddie had to come to this meeting. Tommy had been checking in with Eddie ever since Buck left the hospital. Tommy knew just how sick Buck had been and he was going to do his best to try and help him feel better. Eddie had also given Tommy the head’s up that when Buck got sick like this he tended to cling, but Tommy said he was good with that. He would make sure Buck had whatever he needed. He also came over with some chicken broth and blue jell-o, Buck’s favorite. 

Eddie was really liking how well Tommy and Buck seemed to be getting along. Eddie could tell Buck liked Tommy, but it was funny that Buck didn’t realise that he might like Tommy more than just a friend. Eddie was really wondering how long it would take before Buck realised that he was bisexual. 

“Bobby, Athena and Eddie, thanks so much for coming down.” Mr. Turner said, as he stood as they walked into the room. 

“We appreciate you being able to fit us in.” Bobby said, as they all took a seat. 

“It’s not a problem. It’s my understanding that you discovered something in regards to Mr. Buckley’s history.”

“We did, yes.” Athena said, as she placed the federal investigation down on the table as she continued. “I started to look into Buck’s history, calling his former employers etc. I went off the resume that he submitted to the fire academy. I was able to confirm he was in the construction company in Virginia Beach and he was at the bar in Peru, but the four years in between are completely false. I was able to find a redacted federal investigation with Buck’s name attached to it.”

“And this didn’t come up in the background check for the LAFD?” Mr. Turner asked, as he started to look over the papers, but it was mostly blacked out. 

“No, this was incredibly buried. The investigation was also set in Peru, and the background checks for LAFD only cover in the country.” Athena answered. 

“This doesn’t say much, but what it does say is bad. It looks like he was being investigated for multiple homicides and drug trafficking in Peru. Which is one of the largest suppliers to the cocaine trade within the United States. This is very bad. Have you spoken to him about this? About why he has a four year gap in his history?”

“We haven’t been able to talk to Buck just yet. He’s very sick from the skull fracture. Though, I suspect I know why the gap is there. Buck has a Navy ID number and the only way he could have that is if he was enlisted in the Navy. Buck has said he dropped out of BUDS during Hell Week, but I suspect he graduated and became a SEAL. One that was most likely within a Black Ops Unit, which is why he has a fake history.” Eddie supplied. 

“Can we confirm that?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“That’s a bit difficult. We need to talk to Buck about it, but he hasn’t been well enough to talk. We also don’t know if we can get our hands on anything before the court hearing.” Athena answered.

“If Buck was in Black Ops, he was a ghost. We would need to reach out to the Navy to see if they would be willing to send some form of a document that states when his enlistment was. But it might take more than the time we have.” Eddie answered.

“Wouldn’t he have enlistment papers somewhere that we could show? Discharge paperwork?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“He would. It’s not in his safe, I’ve checked. I’ll have to ask him where he has them. It wouldn’t be uncommon for him to keep them in a safety deposit box.” Eddie answered.

“Ok, if we can get our hands on that, it would help to explain away the four year gap. However, as it currently stands. It looks like Mr. Buckley was trained by Uncle Sam and when he got out he went and joined a cartel in Peru to traffic drugs and work as a gun for hire. Then when it got too hot he left and came back to the states and started working as a firefighter to lay low. Not to mention the fifteen million could easily be a payout from all of the illegal activity. We need to know why his name was involved in this investigation and where his money came from.” Mr. Turner said.

“Isn’t there a chance that Mr. Hunt won’t find out about this? Couldn’t we get lucky in court?” Bobby asked, because it really did take a lot of digging to find. 

“Just like in criminal court, family court lawyers have to share everything with each other. It’s called Discovery. We get everything they have on their side and they get everything we have. Good or bad. It’s how the courts make it fair. We didn’t have to share Maddie’s POA in the previous hearing because it was just the first hearing and it was about Ms. Harris, not the custody of Jee-Yun. This time around it’s different. You are fighting for custody of a child, everything is transparent. Because you found it, we have to give it to them and to Ms. White.”

“Holy fuck.” Eddie said, as he placed his face in his hands.     

“You can’t tell Ms. White, she’ll switch sides.” Athena instantly said. She couldn’t believe this. She didn't know that they would have to share everything they found. She thought they just needed to be prepared should Mr. Hunt discovered the investigation. If she had known, she would have never done it. 

“I am legally obligated to. If it came back that I was hiding something I could lose my license. Does this look bad? Yes, it’s terrible. However, it’s only bad if we don’t have a perfectly logical and justifiable reason as to what happened. Mr. Buckley was working as a bartender, he could easily have seen something and reported it. He doesn’t have a criminal record. He has never been arrested. He doesn’t have a warrant out for him. No federal agency is looking for him. The chances of him having performed crimes such as this and no one is trying to find him, would be astronomical. But we still need a valid reason for his involvement, however small it may be.” Mr. Turner explained. 

“I’ll talk to Buck and see what he can tell me.” Eddie said. 

“We also need to know where his money came from. He didn’t get it working in construction or as a SEAL. If he has been investing, then we need to backdate it all the way to the very first one. We need to prove where his money came from. Because Mr. Hunt is going to make it seem like he is a criminal. The only way he wins this case is by destroying Mr. Buckley’s character. We also need to destroy their character and their relationship.” Mr. Turner said.

“I don’t know if Buck will go for that. He doesn’t like fighting dirty.” Eddie instantly said. He could still remember the look on Buck’s face during the lawsuit and how horrible he felt when his lawyer threw their past back at them. 

“It’s not fighting dirty in family court. The judge needs to know everything about the people trying to gain custody of a child. People that are supposed to care and raise that child, potentially for the rest of her life. As much as I would love to believe Maddie will come back, we just don’t know and the odds are not in her favor. We have to think long-term. And once you lose custody, it’s incredibly difficult to get it back. This might be Mr. Buckley’s only chance at securing his niece’s future. Nothing can be held back.”

Mr. Turner knew what he was asking them would be hard. They were all a family before this and now he was asking them to further destroy it. But if they didn’t they might not win and then there would be no telling if Buck would ever get to see his niece again. 

“They aren’t holding back on Buck. So we aren’t going to hold back on him. I know Buck wouldn’t want to do it this way, but Hen isn’t playing fair. She’s calling his past one-night stands, everyone she can remember and get a hold of, just to ask if they were sober enough to consent to having sex.” Bobby said. 

“She’s fucking what?” Eddie seethed. 

“She was doing it during her shift. Caused some tension amongst the other firefighters.” Bobby said with a small nod. 

“Isn’t that slander or harassment?” Eddie asked. 

“Not technically. There is a very fine line and in terms of potential sexual assault, a third party is allowed to make those calls. It’s for the same reason why people can call CPS on someone thirty times and it all comes back unfounded. You can’t arrest them because it sends a message and makes other people fear being arrested if they call and nothing is found. Hen could call up a thousand people and ask them and all she has to say is she was concerned for their welfare.” Athena explained. 

“ Eso es una mierda. ¿Sabes qué? A la mierda esta mierda.” (That’s bullshit. You know what, fuck this shit.) Eddie said, as he placed his arms down on the table and continued. “Denny isn’t Hen or Karen’s biological son. Hen brought him home when he was just a baby. His mother, Eva, was a woman that Hen was having an affair with. She was a junkie and met Denny’s father in rehab. Both of them were still using drugs and Hen slept with her knowing she was shooting up heroin. She then cheated on Karen again after Eva got out of prison and tried to sue for custody of Denny. Karen took Denny and left Hen for a bit because of it. They got back together only to find out that they had Denny without his father signing away his rights. That didn’t happen, because before Eva could tell him about where Denny was. Hen followed her and called the cops after watching her in the middle of an overdose as she debated if she should call someone.”

“What?” Mr. Turner said, completely blown away. He had not been expecting any of that to come out of Eddie’s mouth and it was clear that Hen and Karen had been trying to paint themselves as the perfect family. 

“Well, if we are going to spill the tea, we might as well spill the whole pot. Eva and Hen were together for a long time. They were living together and Hen was well aware of Eva’s drug use. Hen used to be a pharmaceutical rep before she became a firefighter. She told me a bunch of times how she had to let Eva have some of the opioid samples, because she was going through withdrawals too badly. She knew she shouldn’t be doing it, but she was blinded by love and just didn’t know what else to do when Eva was so sick.” Athena said, stepping up to the plate. 

“And outside of the personal affairs. While on shift last year, Hen did hit another car with the ambulance. She had hit the button to change the lights to green and the other side to red. However, the other side malfunctioned and all four lights were green. A nineteen year old female was t-boned by the Ambo and died on impact. Hen was found not guilty of it and cleared to return to work.” Bobby added. 

“Ok, back up though. Where are Denny's biological parents now?” Mr. Turner asked, as he quickly wrote down the notes.

“Eva is still in prison. Nathaniel never signed his rights away, but he decided to allow Hen and Karen to decide if or when he could be in Denny’s life. Denny still has no idea. He’s never met him. Hen and Karen refuse to tell him or allow him to be in Nathaniel’s life, even though he has turned his life around and is a good man. He could be a great role model to Denny.” Athena answered. 

Mr. Turner wrote it all down before he spoke. “Ok, that gives me something to get started with. I really need that explanation though for Mr. Buckley. I will get my investigator to start looking into both Hen and Karen and see what else can be discovered.”

“I’ll speak with Buck and see what I can get from him.” Eddie promised. 

Mr. Turner looked at all three of them before he spoke. “Custody battles can get messy and this one is already messy. It is going to get worse before the end. I need all of you to prepare yourselves for it. I need you to prepare Mr. Buckley for it. Mr. Hunt is notorious for being a shark and doing whatever he needs to make his clients win. He won’t hold back, because he doesn’t get paid unless his clients win. That’s his gimmick, but he also has one of the highest success rates in the city. Mostly because he forces the other parent out of the race before a judge can even make a ruling. There is no line he won’t cross. So you all need to be prepared for whatever he could do. Whatever Hen or Karen could do.”

The three of them all looked at each other and made a silent promise that they were not going to let anyone take Jee-Yun from Buck, no matter what. 

“We’re determined to do whatever it takes.” Athena said on their behalf. 

“That’s good. There is also one thing you should be made aware of. I don’t know if things will go this way, but it’s important for you to know. Mr. Hunt has a firm partner, Xavier Reed. He’s a defence attorney and he is the best in the city. And just like Hunt, he will do anything to win and he does not get paid until he does win. After he gets his client off, he immediately files a civil suit to take every penny from the plaintiff. I have seen him get murderers and rapists off and then sue the victim or the victim’s family for millions and win both cases.” 

“You think Hen would get Chimney a lawyer?” Bobby asked. 

“You don’t?” Eddie countered. 

“I would hope not.” Bobby said. 

“I don’t know if she would. What I do know is that both Hunt and Reed are money hungry vultures. If Hen tells Hunt everything, he’s going to bring in Reed to handle the criminal case. Those phone calls she is making, it could be more than just the custody battle. She could be trying to lay the groundwork for the criminal case. All she needs is one woman to lie and say Mr. Buckley took advantage of her and suddenly both cases are about a rapist and the public opinion of him will be destroyed.”

“What about what goes to Hunt in discovery?” Athena asked, concerned about how this could play out for Buck in both courts. 

“Technically, what happens in discovery stays in the family court circuit. However, they are partners and Reed would have access to it. You will need to meet with the DA and inform him of what you have discovered and what Hen has been doing so they can try and get ahead of it.” Mr. Turner advised. 

“Because we didn’t have enough problems.” Eddie said with a small shake of his head. 

“I know. I’m sorry. It seems like this could be a very rough fight on both fronts. The best way you combat it, is to get ahead of it. Know what they could use and have a defense for it.” Mr. Turner said. He did feel bad, because this was going to be a horrible fight that they had on their hands and he could only help with the custody battle. All of the criminal involvement would be handled by the DA’s Office. 

“I will reach out to them once we know what Buck’s side of the story is.” Athena said. 

“Perfect. For now, we all have our tasks. Please keep me posted and I will do the same for you. Hopefully soon we will have Hunt’s discovery and we can start working on combating it.”

“Wait, Reed? Does he have a brother?” Athena asked, as her mind just picked up on that.

Mr. Turner slowly nodded. “Anthony Reed. He’s a very good lawyer and a goodman that works within the LAFD. The two don’t have a good relationship. They are twins and I guess they took the stereotypical route, good twin and evil twin.” Mr. Turner answered and it was clear he felt for Anthony. 

“I guess we will need to speak to him about this as well.” Bobby said, as he looked at his wife, who nodded in agreement. 

They were all going to be in for a very long month and unfortunately that would only be the start of this war. Because once the custody battle was over, they still had a criminal case that just got a whole lot worse.

Chapter Text

Tommy checked his phone and saw that Eddie, Athena and Bobby were still in the meeting with Buck’s lawyer. He was hoping it was going well, but he honestly didn’t know. Custody battles could be horrible even when the circumstances were ideal and this was anything but. He had been hoping that it would be straightforward with Buck having Maddie’s POA, but apparently not. This whole situation was a mess and Tommy didn’t know how anything would ever be ok again. Even if Chimney did get put in prison for the rest of his life. That would only destroy Hen. Eventually her relationship with Denny and Karen would suffer and she could end up divorced in all of this. Buck would never be the same again. The 118 would never be the same again. All of this was so fucked up and it was all because Chimney couldn’t control himself. 

It blew Tommy’s mind when he thought about it. Chimney had always been a sweet guy. A good easy going guy. Even when Tommy had been an asshole in the beginning just trying to survive a bigoted shitty fucking captain. Chimney had always been sweet and gentle with everyone, whether they deserved it or not. He couldn’t correlate the mane that he once knew with the man that had brutally attacked someone that didn’t even fight back. It was disgusting and Tommy felt like it was the Invasion of the Body Snatchers or something. He was torn between hoping Chimney had some horrible brain tumor and not. He didn’t want the man he once knew to be capable of something like this. But at the same time, if Chimney had a brain tumor, then Buck would have gone through all of this pain and gotten no justice. Gotten no peace from what happened to him and that was almost just as bad as the physical attack. 

Tommy tucked his phone back into his pocket with a deeply troubled sigh as he started to look around the living room and at all of the photos up. He could see Christopher’s smiling face with Eddie and a woman whom he had to assume was his mother. Tommy could vaguely remember Chimney telling him that Eddie’s wife had died on a call they responded to after being hit by a car. It was a horrible accident and Tommy couldn’t imagine losing a loved one like that. It made sense that Buck and Eddie’s relationship had only grown stronger from it. There were a bunch of photos of Christopher and Buck, as well as all three of them. It was pretty clear they had tried to make their own family unit, even if it wasn’t conventional.

Tommy knew that Eddie had said they had past girlfriends that had a problem with how close they were. That they would leave their bed next to their girlfriend if the other needed them. Some would argue it was a codependent relationship and that might not be the healthiest. But to Tommy, he got it. That’s what it was like with his brothers within the army. It didn’t matter if you were in the middle of the best sex of your life, if they called and needed you, you were gone. It was hard to find someone though that understood that. 

Tommy didn’t mind how close Eddie and Buck were. He knew for a fact that Eddie was straight and the way Buck and Eddie interacted, it was clear that they were just brothers. There weren’t any sparks between them. An outsider might think differently, but Tommy had very good gaydar. They were brothers. If you wanted to be with one, you had to accept that you were also dating the other in a sense. If Tommy wanted to be with Buck, that meant buck came with not just Eddie, but also Christopher. So far Christopher seemed ok with him. He liked that he could cook, but not as good as his Bucky. He liked that Tommy was a pilot and was in the army so he could relate to what his dad had been through. Mostly though he liked that he was there for Buck.

Christopher was a great kid too. He was really sweet and super smart. He could see a lot of Eddie in him, but he could also see Buck shining through too. His influence with Christopher. Eddie had said that Buck always made sure to keep Christopher’s curiosity growing. He never told him to stop asking questions and if he didn’t know the answer, they would find out together. It was important for Tommy to have Christopher to like him, because he wanted to be there for Eddie and he was hoping that maybe something could grow between him and Buck. He knew that right now was not the time to start anything with Buck. He needed to heal and recover from everything that happened. But he was hoping that at some point down the line they might be able to start something. 

Tommy made his way down the hallway and into Eddie’s bedroom. He looked in, expecting to see Buck still asleep, but he was actually awake. He looked miserable and Tommy wished he could have done something to make it all better for Buck. 

“Can’t sleep?” Tommy asked, gently as he moved closer to the bed. 

“Tired, but I can’t… settle.” Buck said, slightly confused by what he was feeling. 

“Like anxious?” Tommy offered. 

“Ya. Been a long time since I’ve felt this way.” Buck said slowly, as he tried not to move his mouth.

“I remember when I got back from my last tour I couldn’t seem to settle no matter what. I felt like my body was filled with ants or something. I used to go for a run and I would keep going until my legs would give out.”

“I’ll give you a head start.” Buck said with a small smirk. 

Tommy gave a faint chuckle, as he sat down on the side of the bed. “Is there anything I can do to help, Beautiful?”

Buck hesitated for a moment before he decided to throw caution to the wind and asked. “Hold me?”

“Now that is something I will always do, Beautiful.” Tommy said, as he moved and went around to the other side of the bed and got under the covers. 

He was surprised that Buck wanted him to hold him. He knew over the past couple of days Eddie had often curled up with Buck. It seemed to be the only way Buck could settle enough to sleep. Tommy laid down and opened his right arm so Buck could turn slowly onto his side and curl up against Tommy. Tommy wrapped his arm around Buck and held him close. 

“So what do you do when you are not being a badass firefighter?” Tommy asked, hoping to get Buck to relax and get his mind off of everything. 

“You’ll laugh.”

“Promise I won’t.” 

“No one knows.” Buck said, slowly.

“They won’t hear about it from me.” Tommy easily promised. 

Buck hesitated for a moment before he finally spoke. “I write novels.”

“Really? What kind?” 

That had surprised Tommy. He wasn’t expecting for Buck to be the creative type. There was also a part of him that was surprised that Buck could sit still long enough to write a novel with having ADHD. Admittedly Tommy didn’t know much about ADHD and he really should be doing more research on it, especially if he wanted something real with Buck. 

“Romance.” Buck admitted and he was waiting for the teasing to start. 

“Just romance or do you have a pairing genre?” 

“Crime, mystery and ex-military. I bounce around depending on the series.” Buck said, through clenched teeth. 

“I love those types of books. I don’t get to read very often, but when I do I tend to read crime romance novels. It’s the escape for me. I’ll even read straight ones, but I just skip the sex scenes. I have a few authors that I love. I’ve never come across your name though. Do you publish?”

“Penname. Christian Holtz.”

“Fuck off. Are you serious right now?”

“Mhm.”

“That’s one of my favorite authors. I read every book. I’m not even kidding you, I have four of your books sitting on my To Be Read list on my Kindle. I have to wait until my days off and when I get everything done before I can sit down and read your books. Because I can’t put it down once I get started. I have literally sat on my couch doing nothing but reading for eighteen hours. That’s how addicting your books are. Fuck, I can’t believe I am cuddling with Christian Holtz right now.”

Tommy couldn’t believe this. He had no idea that his favorite author was one, not actually real. And two, was Buck of all people. It blew his mind. It also spoke to the level of creativity that Buck had. To be able to come up with all of those different stories and still keep his readers deeply engaged, it wasn’t easy. Buck had a series of books with fifty books in them that were focused on a detective and her partner and that was just one book series. He had multiple of them. 

Buck gave a soft chuckle. “Do you want an autograph?” He teased.   

“You joke, but yes. I actually have every book you have ever published as a hardcover and I keep them on my bookshelf. I don’t read them, they are not for reading. I just put them on display. I consider them art. And I know I’m not the only one that does that. I can’t tell you how many times I have come back from a really bad day at work or after a tragic call. I’ll sit and read one of your books and if there isn’t a new one, I’ll read an older one. They really help me to escape from it all. It helps me to be able to relax. You really have an impact on people, Beautiful.”

“That’s all I ever wanted. Growing up, books were my escape. I used to read them and pretend I was one of the characters in the book. My alternative reality. I wanted to give people that.” 

“You definitely did. I got started on your books because one of the guys I was serving with was reading them. And he heard about it from another soldier. The way you write, the style you have, it lets someone immerse into the story and just leave everything in their own life behind for a little while. I can’t tell you how many dark days your books have helped me through. When did you start publishing?”

“I was sixteen. I had written a novel, just for fun. I didn’t know if it was any good, so I figured I would publish it and get some feedback. I put it on Kindle and I was expecting for people to trash it, but they didn’t. I only made a hundred dollars off of it, but I got a lot of good feedback. My English teacher found the book and she helped me improve my writing. She was my unofficial editor. I published ten more before I turned eighteen, that’s when I switched to Christian Holtz. My first book went to number one on the best seller’s list within a week. It all just blew up.” Buck explained slowly as to not hurt his jaw. 

“That’s unbelievable. So wait, is that where your money came from?” 

“You know about that?” Buck asked, but he really shouldn’t have been surprised. 

“I do, same as Eddie, Bobby and Athena. Just like we know about the property and houses. I think Eddie has been waiting for the right time to bring it up.”

“It’s where the money comes from. That and investments.”

“And yet you still work.”

“I like helping people. I like being active.”

“That’s because you’re a good person. Is it hard for you to write? I know some people with ADHD have a harder time sitting still for too long.”

“If I’m doing something creative I can sit still. Different part of your brain, right?”

“That makes sense. Man, I’m gonna have a whole new perspective now that I know it’s you writing. I don’t read the sex scenes, but my friends have said they are very hot and intense. Any of them from your own personal experience?”

“No. I’m really careful with the sex scenes. I don’t ever want someone to read it and personally recognize what happened. I don’t want any of the women that I have been with to feel like they have been violated by me sharing the experience with the world. Names are never the same, none of it is.”

“That’s actually really nice of you. I would imagine there are writers out there that pull from their own experiences and don’t think about the other person involved. That’s actually really sweet that you do that.” Tommy said, as he started to run his hand through Buck’s hair. 

Buck closed his eyes and gave a soft moan before he spoke. “I like when you do that.”

“I like doing it, Beautiful.”

“You make me question things.” Buck admitted softly. 

“And that’s ok, because we have all the time in the world to figure those things out. For now rest. And when you get back to being healthy and when you are ready, we can figure those things out together, Beautiful. There’s no rush on my part.”

“That sounds nice.” Buck said, and Tommy could tell he was already half-asleep. 

Tommy pressed a kiss to the top of Buck’s head before he spoke. “Sleep Beautiful. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“Hm.” Buck faintly said. 

Tommy continued to run his hand through Buck’s hair. His mind couldn’t help but think about how he could get used to this. Getting to fall asleep with Buck against his chest. Getting to wake up curled up all against the other. Sitting on the couch reading while Buck typed away for another book that Tommy knew he would be dying to read. Getting to cook together. Getting to have a barbeque with Eddie and Christopher. Maybe Jee would be there if Maddie hadn’t returned yet. Or maybe they would have their own baby, either through adoption or surrogacy. Tommy never thought he would ever picture a life with someone, especially someone he barely knew. But whatever it was, from the moment he saw Buck he felt like he was made whole. He felt complete and it was disturbing and pleasant all at the same time. 

The sudden sound of Buck’s phone ringing jerked both of them. It was so unexpected that Tommy didn’t think anyone would be reaching out to Buck. Everyone that knew Buck was hurt would reach out to him, Eddie, Bobby or Athena. They had gotten Buck a new phone and were able to get the same phone number for him. Something Buck was adamant about. Tommy couldn’t blame him, it wasn’t just Maddie that could be trying to call him, but everyone else in Buck’s life. Plus, he would have people for his publishing that would need to get a hold of him as well. Tommy reached over and grabbed the phone and saw that it was a blocked number.   

“It’s a blocked number. It could be Chimney.”

“Or Maddie.” Buck said, as he slowly moved so he could take the phone. 

“Hang on, let me record it just in case. Put it on speaker. I won’t say anything, but this way if it is Chimney we might get him to admit to something.”

“That’s illegal in California.” Buck said, as he pushed himself to sit up a bit. Tommy helped to pull him up so he was more between Tommy’s legs now against his chest. 

“We don’t need to use it in a courtroom. But if we can get Hen to hear from Chimney what he did, that might stop them from trying to fight with you.”

Buck gave a slight nod and Tommy hit the record button on his phone as Buck answered his and put it on speaker. 

“Hello?” He said, trying to do his best to talk, but after speaking with Tommy for a bit his jaw was really starting to hurt him. 

The background noise on the phone was quiet. Buck couldn’t pick up any sounds like from the ocean or a train. There was no traffic, wherever this person was, it was dead silent. The only sound they could hear was someone crying. Not just anyone crying, but a woman.  

“Maddie?” Buck asked. It sounded like her, but Buck had never really heard her crying over a phone before. 

“Buck.” Maddie said with a shaky voice from crying, but it also didn’t sound right. It was weak and slurred. 

“Maddie, are you ok? Where are you?” Buck urgently asked. 

“You’ll take good care of Jee. I know you will. She deserves you. She doesn’t deserve me.”

“Maddie, what are you talking about? Of course she does. You’re her mom, she needs you.” Buck said, as tears started to fill his eyes. Tommy reached over and took Buck’s free hand within his to offer whatever support he could. 

“No, she needs you. She needs love. You’ll raise her right. Better than anyone. Soon I’ll be asleep and everything will stop.” Maddie slurred and her voice was growing weaker. It was taking longer for her to get the words out. 

“No, Maddie, she needs you. Where are you? I can come and get you and we can get you some help. Doctor’s can fix postpartum. It’s not the end. Think of Jee-Yun.” Buck said, as he grimaced as the pain in his jaw spiked. 

“I abandoned her. She almost drowned because of me. I thought I could be better, but I’m not. Only one thing will fix this. It’s all too much. I’m done. I just wanted you to know that I love you.”

“What about Jee? You need to live for her. And Chimney, you guys are gonna get married and have a family together. Just like you have always wanted.” Buck tried. 

He knew Chimney was not an option, but Maddie didn’t know that. If he had to try and use Chimney to get Maddie to call 911, to tell him where she was, then he would. He had to help her and just get her to see that she had a lot to live for. 

“Never going to marry him. He changed. Thinks I don’t know he had lipstick on his collar. I won’t be in a relationship like that. There’s no love. He doesn’t deserve Jee. Everything is ruined. But it’ll be ok now. You’ll have Jee and I’ll be at peace.” Maddie said, as her voice was so weak and faint they could barely hear it.

“Maddie please.” Buck pleaded, as the tears poured down his cheeks. Tommy held Buck closer. He wished he could have made this better. He wished he could have done something to help Buck, but he was stuck, just like Buck. 

“I’m sorry. I love you… little brother.” 

A sudden thump could be heard before the line went dead and the call dropped.

“Maddie!” Buck yelled out. 

Tommy ended the recording as he spoke. “The call is over Evan. She’s not there.”

“No. No, no, no, no, no.” Buck kept repeating as he cried his heart and soul out. 

Tommy wrapped his arms around Buck and held him against his chest. Buck turned into Tommy’s chest and just cried. Tommy didn’t tell him it would be ok. Tommy didn’t make any promises that he knew he couldn’t keep. He just held Buck as he cried through the physical pain and emotional pain at knowing that his sister might have just killed herself. It was a pain he wished that he never would have had to feel and once again Tommy felt helpless, because he couldn’t make this better. All he could do was hold Buck as his world once again was shattered.

Chapter Text

Tommy moved outside so he could talk to Eddie. He couldn’t believe all of this was happening. Buck had enough going on, the last thing he needed was to deal with more stress and drama. Tommy let out a deep sigh as the phone rang and finally Eddie answered. 

“Hey, is everything ok?” Eddie instantly asked, worry flooding his veins. 

“No. Are you still with Athena and Bobby?” 

“Ya, what is going on?” Eddie asked, as he put his phone on speaker. He nodded his head towards the parking lot so the three of them could move over and they stood by Eddie’s truck. 

“Evan just received a call from Maddie.”

“Oh my god. Is she ok?” Athena instantly asked and it was clear she was shocked. They had gotten Buck a new phone, but Athena was able to keep his same number so if Maddie reached out she would be able to get ahold of him. There was a part of her that never thought Maddie would actually reach out. 

“No, she’s not. She called from a blocked number. We thought it might have been Chimney. I had Evan put it on speaker phone and I recorded the conversation. She… she was high. She could barely talk and she was slurring her words. She was calling to say goodbye to Evan. She was talking about how everything was going to be better. That she was going to be at peace. That Jee deserved to have him. She called to say goodbye to him.”

Tommy couldn’t help but be pissed off at Maddie. He knew that might have been irrational, but he couldn’t help it. He knew she had no idea what Buck was going through, but who the fuck calls in a suicide note? It would be horrible for Buck to find out that Maddie had killed herself and she left a note for him. But it was on a whole different psychological torture for you to call someone as you were waiting to die to say goodbye. Knowing they couldn’t track your phone. Knowing they couldn’t rush in and save you. Knowing that unless you called back, they would have no idea if you were successful or not. Buck didn’t deserve that. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eddie asked, with both shock and anger feeding into his voice. 

“I wish I was. We don’t know what she took. We don’t know where she is. She wouldn’t say. She talked about Chimney when Buck brought it up. Trying to get her to focus on the perfect family, but she mentioned how Chimney didn’t love her. That she had seen the lipstick on his collar. That he didn’t deserve Jee. That she wouldn’t be in a loveless relationship again. There was nothing that Buck could tell her to get her to change her mind. To get her to call for help or tell him where she was. There was a thud and then the call ended.”

“How is Buck?” Bobby was instantly asking. 

“He cried for thirty minutes before I was finally able to get him to calm down. I’m worried about his heart. He’s not showing any signs of broken heart syndrome again, but this level of stress is not good for him. Not to mention the increase in blood pressure with his skull fracture. He’s in a lot of physical pain right now.”

“He’s due for his morphine. It’s in the kitchen by the cabinet right next to the stove, at the very top shelf. He needs one for the quick release and one regular morphine. We need to try and get ahead of his pain.” Eddie said. 

“I’ll make sure he has it.” Tommy promised, as he made his way into the kitchen to find the meds. 

“We’re gonna head back to the house. We need to talk to Buck, but for now what happened at the lawyers will have to wait. He’s been through too much.” Athena said, sadly. 

“What happened at the lawyers?” Tommy asked, dreading the answer.

“For starters, we just found out that the lawyers have to share their discovery with each other. So everything we just found out about Buck’s missing years and the redacted file, it will be given over to Hen’s lawyer.” Eddie started and Tommy could hear how pissed off he was. 

“And they are going to try and make it seem like he is some horrible criminal. We might never be able to know what happened in Peru.” Tommy said, as he rubbed his hand against his forehead.

“It gets worse, because Hunt has a partner for criminal defense. He’s apparently the best in the city, he doesn’t get paid until he wins and he always wins. He will do anything, including illegal acts, just to win. He will also sue the victim and take everything they have. Hunt isn’t supposed to share any documents from his case, but with Reed and him being partners, you know he’s going to.” Athena explained. 

“And Hen is stupid enough to hire Chimney a lawyer. This custody battle is turning into a complete shitshow.” Tommy said with a deep sigh. 

“I’ll have to talk to Buck, but it’s gonna have to wait a couple of days to let this latest blow settle. We need to know what happened. And we need to know where his money came from. If it’s all from investments or not. Mr. Turner needs a papertrail for it all.” Eddie said. 

“That’s gonna be a long papertrail. Before Maddie called, Evan and I were talking. Turns out Buck is Christian Holtz.” Tommy started, but Athena cut him off. 

“The author? Best selling, on the New York Times best seller list for the past ten years, Christian Holtz?” 

“The one and only.” Tommy confirmed. 

“Who is this?” Bobby asked. 

“Christian Holtz is an amazing author that writes romance novels. I had no idea it was a penname or that Buck was the one writing the books. They’re amazing. May and I read them all the time.” Athena explained. 

“I didn’t even know Buck was a writer.” Eddie said, completely surprised. But this was good. It meant they could clearly prove where his money came from. 

“I don’t think anyone does. But he started making real money when he was eighteen and he invested once he started to make enough money. He would have detailed records from Amazon as well as his taxes. It wouldn’t surprise me if Evan had an accountant.” Tommy said. 

“Good. That’s one less thing we don’t have to worry about. We’re heading your way and will be there within twenty.” Eddie said. 

“We’ll be here.” Tommy said before he ended the call. 

He let out a deep sigh. He couldn’t even think about what happened with the lawyer. That was a whole other can of worms that they would need to deal with once they got closer. Hopefully they could prove there was a legal answer to all of their questions. Tommy headed into the kitchen to grab Buck’s medicine and then he made his way back into the bedroom to see Buck laying on his left side and Tommy could see that he was just heart broken. Tommy went over to the side of the bed as he spoke.

“I have your next dose of meds, Beautiful. Can you sit up and take them?”

Buck slowly sat up and took the offered pills. He took them with some water before he handed the glass back to Tommy and Buck laid back down. Tommy placed the glass on the bedside table before he crawled under the covers again and curled back up with Buck. Buck instantly was cuddling into Tommy’s chest. Tommy ran his hand through Buck’s hair and after a few minutes Buck softly spoke.

“Growing up my parents spent most of their time ignoring me. They were like that with Maddie too, but not as bad. I thought that was just them. Not everyone was meant to be a parent. They never hit us or anything, they were just not present when they were there.”

“That must have been hard on the both of you.” 

“It wasn’t easy. Maddie would make sure I was taken care of and for the first eight years of my life she was the only one I can really remember showing me any form of love. But then she was eighteen and moving out. She left the state and I didn’t see her for ten years. She would call me on my birthday and Christmas, but that was it. When she left, in a way it was like a parent leaving. I went from having someone there to make my school lunches and dinner. Someone that took care of me when I was sick or hurt, to suddenly having no one. The only time my parents seemed to speak to me was when I was hurt. That first day they would act like normal parents, but then they would go right back to barely even acknowledging I existed. There would be months where no one said a word to me in that house. I couldn’t get them to look at me, it was like I didn’t exist. I used to do something to get hurt just so I felt like I was actually real and not some ghost trapped in this veil.”

Buck took in a shaky breath and Tommy knew his mouth was killing him. The new way doctors repair broken jaws was great because you didn’t have your jaw fully wired shut, so you could move it slightly and talk. That didn’t change that it was incredibly painful and it would take his pills a few minutes before the quick release one started to work.

“That’s not fair to you. You shouldn’t have to feel like you need to cause yourself physical pain just to know that you were alive. Just so your parents would acknowledge your existence.”

It hurt Tommy’s heart to hear that Buck had to resort to hurting himself just so he could feel any sense of love from his parents. Just so he could feel like he was alive. No child should ever have to go through that and it was disgusting that a parent could do that to their own flesh and blood. 

“As I got older I just got used to being on my own. Knowing that they would never be there. Every time Maddie called, all of twice a year, I would tell her how I was feeling. How hard it was to know my own parents didn’t love me. She would just say of course they do. That I was being silly. That she loved me and I would always have her. Then she would disappear until Christmas or my birthday. When I went and saw her in Boston after I dropped out of college after three months. I had just crashed my motorcycle and I thought maybe we would be able to have a relationship again. That we were both adults and we could be siblings again, proper siblings. But when we were supposed to run away together, she couldn’t do it. I found out later Doug had caught wind and beat her up pretty badly. But she still didn’t leave. Even though she knew I was right there. That I would protect her. She stayed with him for another four years.”

“Unfortunately you can’t make someone leave a violent situation like that.”

Tommy knew Buck understood that. At the same time he was well within his rights to feel frustrated and angry at Maddie. He was there, she could have easily told him what was going on and Buck could have gotten her out. They could have handled Doug and gotten the police involved. Maddie had been an ER nurse, she knew how the system worked. She knew that there were plenty of options out there for abused women. Fuck, even the people she worked with should have done something. It blew Tommy’s mind to think that doctors and nurses didn’t report someone they worked with being abused by a fellow doctor. 

“Ya, but she finally did. She came to LA and found me. I thought we could finally have a real relationship. The first time for us to be just siblings and for her to not feel like she had to take care of me. And for the most part things were good. But when the truck bombing happened, she tried to take control over everything. The doctor had talked about blood clotting preventatives, but she signed any away. Didn’t even talk to me about it. She just refused it all. And then when I get a PE, she blamed me for pushing myself. When she knew it was most likely going to happen. Not just because the doctor told her, but she was a nurse. She knows how it all works. We fought about the lawsuit and me going back to work. We finally got onto a decent page again, when she got pregnant and invited our parents down here behind my back and guilted me into seeing them.”

“I’m sorry. She had no right to do any of that to you. It sounds like she couldn’t get used to you being her brother and not some young child she had to take care of.”

It was starting to make more sense to Tommy why Buck didn’t want her as his POA or medical proxy. She clearly couldn’t be trusted to do what Buck wanted or needed. 

“Even after our parents. I thought maybe we were going to be able to be on the same page. She was going to have Jee. I was gonna get to be Uncle Buck. But then she distanced herself from me after Jee was born. Then she leaves without telling me anything. Without even asking me for help. If she had told me what was going on, I would have helped her. I would have made sure she had the right treatment facility set up. But again she didn’t see me as a brother, as a grown adult. She saw me as her little brother that she had to take care of. And now she calls me. I’m just supposed to what? Live with not knowing if she’s alive? Why would she call me? Why would she have me live with this?” Buck asked, as the tears started up again and Tommy hated Maddie at this moment. 

Tommy held Buck closer as he spoke. “I’m so sorry that all of this happened to you. I wish I could tell you why she called you knowing that she was planning on killing herself. Knowing that you would have to hear it and have to wonder if she was alive or not. It’s not fair to you at all. She shouldn’t have put that on you. She could have just left a note.”

Tommy couldn’t help but feel like Maddie had called Buck just to throw one last hurt towards him. Maybe it was irrational, but Tommy couldn’t help but feel like Maddie wanted Buck to feel her pain. She could have easily left a note before taking whatever drug she took. She didn’t have to put this level of pain, this psychological torture on Buck. It was just cruel and not something you would expect from someone that claimed to love you.

“She has hurt me the worst in my life. More than my parents. With them I expected to be hurt. But Maddie always seemed to know how to hurt me on a different level. Just after my parents left from their visit I found a photo of a little boy. I thought it was me, but it was dated before I was born with the name Daniel on the back. Turns out we had a brother, born after Maddie. He was eight when he died from a rare childhood leukemia. Maddie and our parents weren’t a match for a bone marrow donation, so they genetically made one.”

“A savior baby.” Tommy softly said, as he closed his eyes. 

Just when he thought Buck’s parents couldn’t get any worse, he was only conceived to be a donor for their son. Tommy could understand that sometimes parents had to do whatever they needed to ensure their child would live. And even back then, finding bone marrow on a donor list wouldn’t have been that easy, especially if Daniel had a rarer blood type. But parents often were so focused on saving their child that they never think about the child that would be left. How that baby would feel when they grew up and discovered the only reason they were born was to be spare parts. And in Buck’s case, his marrow must not have taken for Daniel to be dead. 

“Ya and apparently not a very good one. Daniel died before I was a year old. But instead of dealing with their grief, they erased him. We moved towns, they got rid of every photo, everything item that was his. They never spoke about him and Maddie never said anything, for my entire life. I only found out because I found the photo. If I hadn’t, I might still not know. And Maddie actually told Chimney first. And because he’s so bad at keeping a secret, he told this guy on a call that was looking to blow up a building. Afterwards they were both confused about why I was so upset and angry. Made me feel like shit if I didn't forgive her.”

If Buck was honest he kinda always felt like he had to forgive Maddie. No matter how wronged he was, he felt like he owed it to her. Like he would be this horrible person if he didn’t forgive her. Afterall, she had sacraficed eight years of her childhood to raise him. When all of her friends were going out to the mall and movies together as teenagers, she was at home with him making sure he had dinner, brushed his teeth, took a bath and went to bed on time. She stayed up late to do her school work and study for exams. She had to cancel dates when he was sick or hurt. She didn’t get to stay out all night long for her prom, she had to be home at a decent time to take care of him the next morning. She didn’t get to have a part-time job like her friends. 

It’s why when she turned eighteen and graduated high school and left for college in a different state; Buck could understand why she was so distant. She got her first taste of freedom and she was embracing every aspect of it. Of course she was going to rarely call and check in. She was getting to hang out with friends and go on real dates with a guy that she liked. Sure, Doug turned out to be a horrible man, but he wasn’t at first. It did seem like whenever Buck would bring up something that was bothering him Maddie would always point out what she had given up for him. It always came back around to how she had to grow up far too early and it was all for him. It didn’t matter that Buck never asked to be born. It didn’t matter that Buck never asked her to give anything up for him. It just always somehow came back around that it was his fault. That he was ungrateful in a sense. 

It took a lot of therapy for Buck to realise that it wasn’t his fault. That he didn’t need to be the one to always apologise and be the bigger person. To be the one to shove down his emotions for the sake of someone else. He was entitled to feel the way that he did and he was allowed to express those emotions to people in a healthy way. Buck had always been good with emotions, as long as it wasn’t directed towards someone that could cause them pain. He had always opted for a peaceful resolution, even at his own expense, compared to allowing an argument to drag on. Dr. Copeland had been helping him learn how to stand up for himself against those that he often took a more submissive role with. Maybe that was why Maddie felt like she could call him while she was dying and it was justified. Because to her, he had been the one to ruin her childhood. He was the one that couldn’t fall in line and do as he was told. 

“You are allowed to be angry, Evan. You are allowed to be upset and mad at her for doing all of this. I know she didn’t expect to have PPD. And I know what Chimney did is not on her. She didn’t think any of this would happen and I have to imagine that if she knew things would escalate like this, she never would have left. Despite what problems the two of you had she does love you. That was very clear every time she spoke about you. That doesn't change that you get to be angry right now. You get to feel whatever you need to feel and no one is going to judge you for it.”

Tommy wasn’t going to let anyone judge Buck for how he was feeling. He wasn’t going to let anyone bully or belittle him into changing how he felt. He had every right to feel like he was stuck under Maddie. That he was caught in the role of baby brother and there was nothing he could do to get out of it. To have the respect that your average grown adult deserved, let alone someone like Buck. Tommy didn’t have siblings, but he had brothers while in service. And there had been plenty of times where he didn’t always agree with their decisions and they didn’t always care for his decisions. But at the end of the day, they were all grown ass men and they deserved the respect to make their own decisions and they always had the respect of their brothers. Maddie should have been a support to Buck when he needed it and not trying to force her decisions onto him. 

In a sense she was doing it now by telling Buck to take care of Jee. That Jee only deserved him. As far as she knew, Chimney was at home taking care of his daughter. And here was Maddie, calling Buck while dying, and trying to guilt him into taking care of her daughter. Potentially having to fight against Chimney for her. What kind of person, what kind of sister did that? And if she was dead, that was the last memory she wanted to give to her brother? It was disgusting to Tommy. 

“Is that why you removed her from your POA?” Tommy asked, gently. 

Ya. The more I thought about it, the more I realised I just couldn't trust her. And that sounds horrible. But I didn’t think she would do what was best for me. I didn’t think she would respect any of my wishes and honestly, I wasn’t too certain she wouldn’t try and take advantage of it. She didn’t know about my property, the money or my author status. She has no idea that I write. I think a part of me has always not trusted her or my parents with my welfare. Part of me kinda trusts my parents more, because I know they will disappoint me. I know they will be clinical and logical about everything. Where Maddie, I can’t really predict what way she will go.”

“I think that makes sense. I also think that’s really sad when you consider they are supposed to be your family. But I have learnt that family is the one you make, not the one you are born with. You have a lot of people in your life that love you and will respect your wishes and be there for you. Those are the people that you need to focus on having in your life.”

The sound of the front door opening and closing pulled their attention. They heard multiple sets of footsteps making their way down the hallway and both Buck and Tommy knew who was coming. Buck knew he should probably move, but he couldn’t bring himself to care enough. He was too hurt. He was just too hurt. Eddie was the first one to come into the doorway and he headed into his bedroom as he spoke. 

“How you doing Mano?”

“I don’t know.” Buck said and everyone could hear the hurt in his voice. His jaw was clearly causing him a lot of pain. 

“Do you want some ice?” Eddie asked.

“No, the meds are kicking in.” Buck answered, as his eyes slowly blinked and they could tell he was feeling sleepy. “You have to call my parents.” 

“Are you sure Buckaroo?” Athena asked, not expecting for Buck to say that. 

“They need to know. They might be able to find ‘em.” 

Buck did not want to involve his parents in this mess, especially because he didn’t know if they would try and fight to have Jee on top of Hen and Karen. But right now what mattered most was finding Maddie, Chimney and Jee and there was a chance his parents might be able to find them. If nothing else they needed to know what was going on if either Maddie or Chimney showed up on their doorstep. 

“Buck, you sure? You didn’t even want them as your POA. You made it very clear that they were to have nothing to do with you.” Bobby asked, gently. 

“After I found out about Daniel, I did some digging. He was on life support. They had to make the decision to end his care. Despite what I feel about them, I didn’t want them to have to go through something like that twice. I didn’t want them to hold on longer, because they only saw Daniel in that bed. And they don’t know about pretty much everything in my life. They were never my parents. But they were Maddie’s and they love her. They might be able to help. And they need to know she might be gone.”

“Ok. I’ll call them. Do I tell them everything?” Athena asked. She wasn’t happy about it, but she would do this for Buck and she could see his reasoning. 

“They need to know how dangerous Chimney is. The rest is up to you.”

“Ok Baby. I’ll give them a call, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to stop talking and try and get some sleep. Your body needs it. We’ll worry about everything else.”

“Hm.” Buck softly said, as he fought to keep his eyes open. 

Tommy ran his hand through Buck’s hair and they all watched as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Athena stepped outside to make this call. It was not one she ever thought she would have to make and she was dreading it. She didn’t know the Buckley’s. She hadn’t met them, but she deeply disliked them. She could see the damage they had caused Buck from growing up in that house. She could see the damage they had done to him during their only visit down here. She never wanted them anywhere around Buck. But she would make this call because Buck asked her to. Because despite what they felt about Buck, they did care about Maddie and they cared about Jee, even if they had never met her. But maybe that was because Maddie had told them not to come. Athena didn’t know, but none of that changed that fact that she would have to call them. Buck wanted her to, so she would do it, because that is what you did for family. 

She listened to the ringing on the other end and a large part of her was hoping they wouldn’t pick up. That she would have to leave a voicemail to call her. They would call her back and she would miss it and they could just play this phone tag for a little while. She knew it was petty, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. On the very last ring Margaret Buckley picked up. 

“Hello?”

“Margaret Buckley?” Athena asked. 

“This is she. May I ask who is calling?”

“Yes ma’am, my name is Sergeant Athena Grant-Nash, I am married to Captain Bobby Nash, Buck’s Captain.” 

“Oh no.” Margaret instantly started to cry and right away Athena knew she had gotten the wrong picture. “No, no, no. Please no.”

“Ma’am.” Athena tried, but she heard the voice of whom she assumed was Phillip trying to calm his wife down. A second later she must have been put on speaker phone because she could hear Margaret in the background more clearly. 

“Sergeant?” Phillip asked this time. 

“I’m sorry, you both have the wrong impression. Buck is alive. He was injured, but he is alive.”

“Oh thank god.” Margaret said with pure relief. 

“You said he was hurt. How bad?” Phillip asked. 

“He was attacked in his own apartment. His left eye socket was broken, he has a skull fracture, a broken jaw and various bruises. He did stop breathing and his heart stopped but the paramedics were able to get his heart started again. He spent two weeks in the hospital and he has been at Eddie’s place for a couple of days now.”

Athena wasn’t going to go into great detail about Buck’s injuries, nor give them everything. If Buck wanted them to know everything, that was his decision and he could tell them when he was ready. 

“Oh my god. Who attacked him?” Margaret asked, just horrified. 

“That’s unfortunately the complicated part. Have you heard from Maddie recently?” Athena asked, figuring she would start there. 

“We heard from her roughly three months ago when Jee-Yun was born. We saw them on video call. We wanted to come down, but we were all worried about COVID and with Jee-Yun being so young, we were afraid we could make her sick. Maddie sent us lots of photos of her though over the past three months.” Margaret answered.

“Is Maddie ok?” Phillip asked. 

“I’m afraid she’s not. Twenty-eight days ago Maddie left Jee at the firehouse where Buck works with a fellow firefighter. She then left the state.”

“What? What do you mean she left? Where is she? Where is Jee?” Margaret asked, the fear flooding her voice once again. 

“We don’t know where Maddie is. She’s been suffering from Postpartum Depression. She was pretty isolated. Chimney kept her that way. We don’t know why Chimney changed once Jee was born. But he started going out to the bars and cheating on Maddie. When she had left she left a video message for Chimney telling him that she would be back and for him to take care of Jee. She called Buck and told him to take care of Jee and Chimney. That she would be back. Buck had no idea what was going on. After Maddie had been missing eight days Chimney discovered that Maddie had taken Jee to the ER the night she left. Maddie had nodded off for a second while she was giving Jee a bath. Jee slipped under the water and she took her to the ER just to make sure. Jee was perfectly fine, but that seemed to be what snapped Maddie.”

“I can’t believe this. She never gave us any indication that something was wrong. We would have come down to help her.” Margaret said, just completely shocked by everything. 

“No one knew. Not even Buck. He had reached out to her, but she blew it off. Twenty days ago Chimney went to Buck’s place to talk to him about what he discovered. He found out from the insurance that Jee had been in the ER. Chimney figured out that Buck had spoken to Maddie. He demanded to know where Maddie was. He believes that Buck knew where she was and he was helping to hide. When Buck told him that he didn’t know, Chimney attacked him. He beat him horribly before he tore the place apart trying to find something with Maddie’s location before he took Buck’s phone and left. Eddie found Buck and called 911. Thankfully in time. Chimney has been on the run ever since and he has Jee with him.”

“Jesus. Why are we just being informed about this?” Phillip demanded. 

“Because we were focused on Buck. And quite frankly the only reason you are finding out now is because Bcuk asked me to call you and tell you. We have a BOLO out for Chimney. We also have a missing person’s report out on Maddie. We are trying to find her. She just called Buck roughly an hour ago.”

“How was she? Did she say where she was?” Margaret quickly asked. 

“She didn’t say and we still don’t know where she was. But she didn’t sound good. She sounded high. She called to tell Buck she was sorry and that everything would be over soon. It sounded like she was attempting to kill herself.” Athena said gently. 

She had to give this news to people in the past and it was never easy. Especially after what happened to May. Athena knew personally what it felt like to have a daughter that had taken drugs to end her life. She never wanted anyone to go through that.

“What?” Margaret asked, barely above a whisper.

“No.” Phillip said, just stunned. 

“I’m sorry. We don’t know where she is or if he’s still alive. She hung up on Buck. She called Buck from a burner phone, it came up as a blocked number, so we can’t trace it. She might be alive, we just don’t know.”

It was not a position that anyone wanted to be in. They had no idea if someone they loved was alive or dead and it was terrible. You couldn’t comfort someone over the loss when you didn’t know if there was one. You couldn’t tell someone it would all be ok, if you didn’t even know if they were alive. And once again they were stuck in this grey zone and it was not a comfortable place to be. 

“Why can’t you find her?” Margaret snapped. 

“Because it’s not that easy. She’s an adult and even though we have it flagged for mental health, there are millions of missing people all over this country and nowhere near enough law enforcement to look for them. We do have her name and photo being sent out to every 911 dispatch center across the country, hopefully that gives us something. I’m doing our best to find Maddie and Chimney. But right now they have both been able to go under the radar. Maddie obviously knows how to disappear, she’s done it with Doug. There’s a good chance she told Chimney about some of the things she did. We have everyone out there looking for the both of them and the second they pop their head up we will know.” 

Athena knew they were stuck in this waiting period, but there was nothing they could do about it right now. All they could do was be ready for whatever the outcome might be. They couldn’t be out there looking for them. They had to trust in the process and it wasn’t an easy thing to do by any stretch of the imagination, but it was all they could do.

“I refuse to sit by and do nothing. We’ll hire a private investigator to track them down.” Phillip said with an edge to his voice. 

“And you are more than welcome to do that. We just want them found, all three of them.” Athena said. It wasn’t worth the argument to keep them from hiring an investigator. And really no one cared who found them as long as they were all found.

“We can be on a flight in a few hours and be down in LA by tonight.” Margaret said. 

“I would hold off on that. First, we don’t know if Maddie or Chimney will show up at your place. It would be better for you to be there in case they do. And second, I’m not sure Buck is ready to see you. He’s very sick and injured, he’s miserable, and just wants to hide from the world. He doesn’t want a lot of people around him right now. I would suggest that you text him and start a conversation that way and then see how he feels about you coming down.”

Athena knew without a doubt that Buck did not want his parents showing up right now. It was one more thing he couldn't handle and with his heart. They couldn’t take any chances that seeing his parents, and if they said the wrong thing, could trigger another attack and they might not be able to get his heart back into rhythm in time.

“You expect us to stay here while our son is that seriously injured?” Phillip demanded. 

It took everything in Athena to not point out that they didn’t show up when he had a fucking ladder truck on his leg or after being in a tsunami. That would not be helpful right now and she desperately needed them to stay put. 

“I am expecting for you to respect Buck’s boundaries. I think that is the least you both owe him, don’t you? And like I said, Maddie or Chimney could show up there and we can’t risk no one being home for that. We have no idea what condition Jee will be in. She has to be the priority.”

“And she will go to Evan? Even if he is injured?” Margaret asked. 

“That’s our hope. Right now he has guardianship of Jee. He is Maddie’s POA and Chimney didn’t do the Declaration of Paternity yet. Legally, Jee is to be with Buck.”

“Ok, we will hire a private investigator to try and track Maddie and Chimney down. And we will reach out to Evan.” Margaret said, giving in a lot faster than Athena had been hoping for. 

“We will keep you updated on everything that is going on. Especially if we find Maddie or Chimney.” Athena promised. 

“We will do the same. Thank-you Sergeant and please let Evan know we are here for him. He can call anytime he wants. And if he wants us there, we will be on the first flight out.” Phillip said. 

“I will let him know.” Athena said as she ended the call.              

Athena let out a sigh. She had tried to keep the Buckley’s from showing up, but she wasn’t fully confident in her ability to do that. She was hoping they would stay put, but she highly doubted it. Thankfully, they had no idea where Eddie lived so it wasn’t like they could shop up by surprise. She hit Ransone’s number, switching gears here. She needed to check in and see how the investigation was going. If he had made any leeway with the phone company.

“Detective Ransone.” He answered, after four rings. 

“Lou, it’s Athena. Any update?”

Ransone let out a soft sigh, but Athena was able to pick it up, before he spoke. “Buck’s phone company tried to get his to turn on remotely, but it’s not set up for that. Some one has to physically turn the device on. Our hope had been that Chimney would keep it on so Maddie could reach him. But he seems to be very aware that we could trace him with it, so he’s kept it off. We’re leaving it up. I know Buck got a new phone with the same number, the techs are aware and they can see he is in Diaz’s house right now. If another dot appears, then we can trace it.”

“I wouldn’t put much hope in that man turning the phone on. He would have already done it by now. He probably dumped it the second his mind clicked in to what he had done.” Athena said, as she scrubbed a hand over her forehead. 

“Most likely. There is a bit of good news though. Deputy District Attorney Cole Donovan, who is assigned to the case, was able to get Chimney’s phone company to turn both Chimney and Maddie’s phone on with a court order.”

“He did? Did you get their location? Maddie called Buck roughly thirty minutes ago. She was high and talking about killing herself.” Athena asked quickly. 

The fact that the deputy to the DAs office was taking this case just screamed how high profile this case was. He was in charge of every DA in the department, he didn’t just take on cases. It also meant soon enough the Mayor would be involved. When this case did hit the press, it was going to explode all across the country. 

“Fuck. We didn’t get anything off her phone. It’s been turned off since the moment she made that last call to Buck before she left town. Since then it’s been turned off and they can’t ping it without it being on. There’s a chance she dumped it.”

“Of course, because we wouldn’t want to make this easy.” Athena was so beyond frustrated. They needed to find Maddie, now more than ever, and it seemed like she was hell bent on disappearing. If she did dump her phone and not just turn it off, that led Athena to believe she never had any intention of coming back. Something that would destroy Buck.

“DA Donovan is working on a court order for all of Maddie and Chimney’s finances. We might be able to track them both through it.” 

“Buck has POA of Maddie. I am hoping in a day or two his jaw will be healed up a bit and he can start making calls and get access to whatever we need for Maddie without court orders. What about Chimney’s phone?”

“We got a bit more from that. The model of his phone, even if it’s turned off, the GPS stays active. We were able to see which cell towers it pinged from. Now, it’s not perfect, but we can see the path he took once he left Buck’s place. He started to head south east and pinged on towers all towards Flagstaff, Arizona, where its last ping was.”

“So he’s in Flagstaff. Did you get the locals involved?” Athena couldn’t believe this. They were finally going to be able to get their hands on Chimney. They could get Jee and make sure she was ok and properly taken care of now. It would also give them time to prove to the CPS and the courts that Buck could care for her, even with him injured. 

“I called the locals and they are at the last ping. The problem is, it’s the city dump, which is roughly a thousand acres piled twenty feet up in the air. The odds of them finding it.” Ransone started, but Athena finished for him. 

“Are astronomical. If he tossed it, there’s a good chance he tossed Buck’s phone with his.”

“That’s what I’m thinking. We did get some intel from the data off the cell towers though. We did see that Chimney made a lot of stops along the way. Most likely stopping at rest stops and gas stations to see if anyone had seen Maddie. The problem though, they were only two to five minutes in length. Nowhere near long enough to care for an infant or to give Jee-Yun a break outside of the car. There are longer periods over the past fifteen days where he stops for four hours, but it’s always late at night and in deserted areas. I looked up the locations on Google Maps and there’s no motels or any place that he would have been able to book a room for the night. He was sleeping in his car just long enough to be rested before continuing on.”  

“He’s not taking proper care of her. We had hoped that he would. With him being so focused on getting to Maddie to have their family, I would have expected for him to take the time to care for Jee. It’s like he’s obsessed with Maddie and everyone else doesn’t matter. As if Jee is just a pawn he can use to guilt Maddie back.” Athena said, as she turned to look at the others in the living room. 

They had all left Buck in the bedroom so he could have some privacy and a few moments to himself, but Athena could tell they all wanted to be back in there with him. She couldn’t blame them. She wanted to be with Buck too and the last thing she wanted was to have to tell him it was looking like his niece was not being taken care of. 

“That might be all he sees right now. We’re trying to get any security footage from the stops that we can. It’s taking a bit of work because Highway Patrol has to handle it. They also didn’t get the BOLO until six hours after it was released.” Rensone said with a frustrated sigh. 

“The beauty of law enforcement. Most of those offices are so small they only have a fax machine and are on dial up. We knew the smaller offices were going to take longer to catch up to everyone. And from the sounds of it Chimney avoided any major city.”

“He did. Flagstaff is the first major city and it was on the outskirts of it at one of those Welcome Rest Areas. There was one final interesting little piece of detail we got from his phone. We saw all of the calls and texts that came in from people. We couldn’t read the texts just the phone numbers. But Chimney made one call ten minutes before he dumped his phone.”

“Who did he call?” Athena asked, very interested now. 

“One Henrietta Wilson.” Ransone said with a smirk in his voice. 

“Shut up.” Athena said, shocked. Hen had given no indication that she had spoken to Chimney. 

“It lasted ten minutes. And right afterwards, he dumped his phone.”

“I can only imagine what they talked about. I’m willing to bet you she told him about Buck’s phone and that’s why he dumped both of them.”

Athena couldn’t believe that Hen had been that stupid to actually speak to Chimney and not tell anyone about it. There was no way she didn’t open her mouth and blab about everything that the police had. 

“I have no doubt on that. DA Donovan knows and he is going to try and see if he can get a wiretap for her phone. I don’t want to bring her in and tip her hand that we know. It would be best if we can monitor her calls and see if Chimney reaches out again.”

Athena knew that would be the right call to make. If they brought in Hen, she could play stupid and clam right up. If they could monitor her phone then they stood a chance at maybe tracking Chimney. If nothing else, it would help prove that she was aiding and abetting a known fugitive. 

“What would Donovan like to charge her with?” Athena asked. Typically she would have felt bad about Hen being arrested, but after everything Hen had done, she deserved it. 

“Right now he is holding off. He doesn’t know if he wants to officially charge her or to allow LAFD to handle it internally. If all she told Chimney was about the phones, that’s bad, but it’s not the worst it could be. It really depends on how long it takes us to find Chimney and what condition Jee-Yun is in. For now we are going to hold off and we can always charge her when Chimney and Jee-Yun are found.”

“Fair enough.” Athena knew that accessory after the fact and even aiding and abetting, they weren’t typically prosecuted for smaller offenses. The DA tended to wait for larger offenses, like if Hen would give Chimney money and help him stay hidden. It would be better to wait and see how it would play out. 

“I will keep you updated on what we find. At some point there is going to need to be a meeting between everyone to make sure everyone has all of the information and we are all on the same page. There are a lot of working parts here between the criminal case, the LAFD and the custody case.”

“I agree. We all need to sit down and get it all mapped out. We need a couple of days and then we can set it all up.” Athena knew they needed to talk, but they also needed to try and see what Eddie could get from Buck about Peru. 

“I will be in touch.” Ransone easily agreed. 

“Be safe.” Athena said, before she ended the call. 

Letting out a deep breath, she then turned and headed back inside. “How’s Buck?”

“He’s trying to rest. It seemed like he just needed some time alone. He hasn’t really had any since all of this happened.” Eddie answered.

“Remember what Dr. Copeland said Buck’s going to be going through a lot of different emotions. We need to give him space when he needs it.” Athena said. It was hard on all of them, but they had to respect Buck’s wishes. 

“How did the call to his parents go?” Bobby asked, though he didn’t really think he could call them that. 

“About as well as one would expect. I am hoping they will respect Buck’s wishes for them to not come down here, but I honestly don’t know if they will. The good news is they don’t know where Eddie lives. They are also going to hire a private investigator to try and track down both Maddie and Jee. They did ask how Buck was. They were very concerned for him. They also offered any help that he might need with the courts to get Jee. They both said he was the best person to raise her outside of Maddie.”

“Wow, that’s surprisingly very supportive.” Eddie said, shocked. 

“I don’t have children, but I have to imagine watching one child slowly die of cancer, it couldn’t have been easy to keep raising two more. I’m not saying how they treated Evan was right or justified in any way, just that it had to be extremely difficult as a parent to feel that grief, but know you have two more kids that need you to keep going. Especially when you only had the one to try and save the other.” Tommy said, in Buck’s parents’ defense. He had never met them and he was in no way diminishing what Buck went through. But he couldn’t imagine burying a child. 

“I would like to believe I would be able to hold on and still be loving to Harry or May should the worst happen. But I honestly don’t know if I would be able to. I think a huge part of you dies with your child and trying to come back from that to raise another, I couldn’t imagine.” Athena said. 

“It’s not something anyone should have to feel.” Bobby said, sadly. 

“Oh Bobby, I’m sorry.” Tommy started, but Bobby cut him off with a hand up.

“No, it’s ok. And you are right, it’s a pain like nothing else. And if my son or daughter had survived, I don’t know how well I would have been able to handle raising them. I look at Harry and May and they are amazing. I love them completely. But if I had them in my life back then, it would have been too painful to even look at them. So on some level I do understand where the Buckley’s are coming from. On the other side of things, I look at Buck and think, how could someone not love him? Hopefully it’s been enough time where Buck cam get some peace from his childhood trauma. If they want to help, we need all the help we can get to locate Maddie and Chimney.” 

“There is a small update on the case. Detective Ransone was able to get a court order, courtesy of the Deputy District Attorney Cole Donovan, who has taken Buck’s case.”

“Damn.” Eddie said, surprised. 

“Either they are looking to send a message or they think this case is going to turn into a circus.” Tommy commented. 

“Probably the latter, unfortunately.” Athena stated before she continued. “DA Donovan was able to get a court order for the cell phones. Now, Buck’s has been off this whole time and until someone physically turns it on, they can’t trace it. Maddie’s phone they were able to track to LA, but then it was shut off right after she spoke to Buck. Best we can figure, she dumped the phone so no one could trace her.”

“If you are planning on coming back though, why would you lose your phone?” Tommy asked. 

“You wouldn’t. There is a chance she never planned on coming back. That her most recent phone call had been the plan all along. We won’t know until we can speak with her, but we have no idea when that could be. Her phone is a dead end. She called Buck from a blocked number, most likely a burner phone, which can’t be traced. Again, telling me she was planning on never coming back.”

“She doesn’t come back, it’s going to kill Buck. He will always search for her and wait for the day she comes back. He won’t accept that she is dead, not until he sees her body for himself.” Eddie said, worried about Buck’s mental health. 

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that. Whatever Maddie took, hopefully someone saw her or it wasn’t enough to kill her.” Bobby said, not wanting to jump to conclusions. 

“She’s a former ER nurse. Seems like she would know how to make it stick.” Tommy commented. 

“Let’s just try and hope for the best, at least for Buck’s sake.” Athena said. She understood where they were all coming from, but she had to hope that Maddie would pull through this one way or another, because she honestly didn’t know how Buck would be able to live with himself otherwise. 

“Did Ransone get anything from Chimney’s phone?” Bobby asked. 

“It was turned off the whole time, but Chimney’s phone has his GPS activated even when it is turned off. It’s a safety feature that he didn’t deactivate.” 

“I still don’t understand why Buck and Maddie would have theirs off.” Eddie said with a shake of his head.

“I think it had to do with Doug. They both knew how dangerous he was and they didn’t want to be tracked by him. Even though Maddie survived, I would imagine she still has some paranoia with men, even with her in love with Chimney. As for Buck, if he was in the SEALS, wouldn’t it make sense for him to not want to be tracked?” Athena answered.

“That’s true. He would be extra cautious. I’ve never worked with SEALS, but I have with Rangers and they are vigilant with their routines and are always making sure no one can find them when they are stateside. I have to imagine all Tier One Operators are like that.” Tommy answered. 

“Ya, except Buck is a firefighter and it would have been helpful to have it should he go missing.” Eddie said with a shake of his head. He understood that there was a different mindframe with Special Operators, but that didn’t make this any less annoying. It shouldn’t be this hard to find a phone. 

“It’s something to worry about later.” Tommy said.

“Lou was able to get pings from Chimney’s phone. He was able to see the path that Chimney had driven. The last ping was in Flagstaff at a Welcome Center.” Athena continued. 

“Arizona? It took him fifteen days to drive eight hours?” Eddie said, surprised. 

“Well, at least he stopped a lot to take care of Jee.” Tommy offered. 

“Not quite. The last ping on his phone was five days ago. Lou called the local police department and they were able to go to the last ping, it’s the Flagstaff City Dump, which I have been told is one thousand acres and piled twenty feet high.” Athena continued. 

“Son of a bitch. He dumped the phone. He must have realised he could be tracked.” Eddie said, as he banged his fist against the coffee table. 

“I’m assuming they are never going to find it.” Bobby said, not happy about this either. 

“Chances are very slim. And assuming they do find it, any evidence will be destroyed on the phone from the compressors in the garbage truck. We suspect that Buck’s phone is there as well. But Lou was able to see that Chimney turned his phone on five days ago to make one phone call. It lasted ten minutes and then he dumped the phone right after.” Athena said. 

“Oh let me guess.” Eddie said with a smirk. 

“He called Hen. We think she told Chimney about the charges and Buck’s phone.” Athena said, but she held a hand up to stop any questions as she continued. “Before you ask, Lou doesn’t know if Donovan will charge her. It all depends on how long it takes to find Chimney, what condition Jee is in and if she continues to help him. But Donovan is confident he will be able to get a wiretap on Hen’s phone. So if Chimney does call, we can have recordings and hopefully get a location on him.”

“And then we can charge Hen?” Tommy asked. 

“Yes. If she continues to help Chimney and there is a clear record of it, then the DA will prosecute. She gets one pass and that’s it. Lou also said we should be letting the LAFD know what is going on, but we want her to have no idea that we know she spoke with Chimney. It’s more a head’s up for them.” 

“We can do that when we have a meeting with everyone.” Bobby easily agreed. 

“What can we do?” Tommy asked. 

“We keep being there for Buck and be ready for when we go to mediation and then court. All we can do is keep preparing and hopefully be ready for when everything explodes.” Athena said. She wasn’t happy about not being able to do anything more, but for right now they just needed to try and get all of their ducks in a row so they could start knocking them down when it was time. 

“If Buck was in the SEALs, shouldn’t we be reaching out to someone? Wouldn’t the DOJ want to look into his attack?” Bobby asked, confused still by all of this. 

“Technically it would be NCIS, Navy Criminal Investigation Services. There’s a local branch and they focus on navy and marine personal and felony crimes against them.” Eddie started.

“Great, let’s reach out to them. They might be able to find Chimney.” Athena said, all for including more help, especially federal help.

“It’s not that simple. Depending on when Evan left, and if he’s not in the reserves, which I suspect he isn’t because he hasn’t been called back for a mission, he might not even be covered under NCIS. It depends on a few factors, and length of discharge is one of them. Evan also passed the LAFD background check.” Tommy started. 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Bobby asked, not really understanding what one had to do with the other. 

“The background check is extensive for new cadets. They would have called former employers. They would have run an extensive check in his history and everyone he was associated with. But they didn’t find this investigation. Honestly, I don’t know how Athena did. It should have been so far buried no one would have been able to find it. There must have been some type of breach in the Fed’s database for it to slip free.” Eddie started to explain.  

“When you reach the level where the Government has to create a completely fake life for yourself, then you are officially a ghost. And the background holds for any type of probing. My best guess, Buck called whoever his handler used to be to inform them of his new job and they faked the phone calls. The LAFD wouldn’t have a single clue that it was all fake.” Tommy continued. 

“You make it sound like he was a spy.” Athena commented.

“Because he essentially was. Black Ops SEAL Teams, they don’t exist. They work with the CIA to run missions and go after high-value targets. Buck essentially worked for the CIA, which means any crimes against him would fall under their purview. But they can’t operate within the country, leaving it to the local police to handle. Unless we can find someone so high up in the Navy that they would be able to convince the CIA to hand this down to NCIS, there’s nothing NCIS can do. They don’t have the clearance.” Eddie explained. 

“What will that do for the court case though? The lawyers are going to ask Buck about the four years he wasn’t around. They are going to ask about this investigation.” Bobby said, now very worried about how all of this would play out. 

“Evan will have no choice but to say it’s classified and plead the fifth. He can’t talk about it, or he will be arrested for treason.” Tommy explained. 

“Buck can only talk about it if he gets clearance and even then, the odds of him being able to talk about it in an open court where the press will be. There’s just no way.” Eddie added. 

“You also need to be careful. If Evan is protected by the CIA, you digging around in his past could be flagged and they could be watching you.” Tommy said to Athena. 

“Great.” Athena commented sarcastically.

This had all gotten very complicated and it was the last thing she had been expecting. She thought Buck was an open book, but as it turned out he was anything but.

“I’ll talk to Buck in a day or two once he is feeling better after this latest blow. I’ll see if there is anything he can tell me. But you gotta get the lawyers ready for when this comes out and Buck can’t say anything. We need to try and get this investigation thrown out.” Eddie said. 

“I’ll let the DA know and hopefully there is something that can be done. It’s redacted so it’s clearly classified. Hopefully that is enough to block any lawyer from trying to bring it up. And I am assuming that if someone tried to leak it to the press that they would be facing charges.” Athena said. 

“Releasing classified intel, even something so redacted, could be seen as treason. It’s a huge federal felony.” Tommy answered. 

“Ok, Eddie, try and see what you can get out of Buck about it and then we can let the lawyers know. We also need to meet with Anthony Reed and see what we can get on his brother. For now, let’s focus on Buck and what he needs. The truth is going to come out one way or another, all we can do is brace for impact and hope it’s not too bad when it happens.” Bobby said. But he was very worried about what this investigation could do to Buck. He was hoping that Buck could shed some light on it, even if he couldn’t talk about most of it. For now, they had to prepare themselves for whatever else could be coming their way and just hope it wasn’t devastating.

Chapter Text

They were fifteen days away from mediation, two days since Buck had received a called from Maddie that sounded like she was leaving a suicide note. Everyone had been calling in whatever favors they had, but so far no one had been able to find her. It was beyond frustrating for all of them, because they just needed to find one fucking person and it seemed like they were doomed to fail from the start. Eddie and Buck were currently curled up on the couch. Buck was laying between Eddie’s legs on his right side with his head against Eddie’s chest. One of the best ways for Buck’s anxiety to ease up was when he was able to feel someone else against him. Eddie didn’t mind holding Buck, especially because it was one of the only things that Eddie could do for him. Buck had spent most of the past four days rotating between sleeping and throwing up non-stop. Eddie had to give him an IV a few times since being released from the hospital. But they were able to get him to keep down some nutrition shakes. Eddie just needed Buck to be able to keep some things down so they wouldn’t have to go back to the hospital and have a feeding tube put in. 

They were currently watching a show on the Discovery Channel. Watching really wasn’t the right word for it. Eddie was staring at the TV while he thought about how to bring up Buck’s past. Eddie doubted that Buck was really watching the show either. He was mostly just staring at the TV like him, but Eddie knew he was probably thinking about Maddie. Eddie ran his hand along Buck’s arm as he finally broke the silence between them. 

“The houses are set to be done within the next three weeks. I guess we’ll have to get to doing some packing soon.” 

Eddie wanted to ask Buck about his past, but right now he figured he would start with an easier topic or what he was hoping would be the easier one between the two. Eddie was actually looking forward to moving. He hated packing and the whole moving process, but he was looking forward to that house, specifically the outside kitchen. He couldn’t wait until Buck was recovered and he could have Pepa and Abuela over and they could do a little family barbeque. 

“Are you mad?” Buck softly asked and Eddie could hear the slight fear in his voice. 

“No, absolutely not. I was surprised, but I was never mad. I am curious why you never told me. I mean, this must have been something you had been working on for at least a year or more.”

“You were weird when I bought you a new washing machine and you only started using it because you were too tired one week to go to the laundromat. That was a five hundred dollar washing machine, this is a house. I figured your lease was up in six months, the house would be done, and when you were freaking out about rent prices, I would show you. I knew it would take you a long time to be ok with it.”

Buck knew the house was going to be a big deal to Eddie. He knew that Eddie would want to pay him rent and Buck would refuse. Thankfully he had already set something up so that Eddie only had to pay the property tax for his house. Buck had been able to get it all worked out to what Eddie’s house’s share would be, which mounted to just over four hundred a month. He knew Eddie would take it though, because it was the perfect house for him and Christopher and because Christopher would love it. He would be ok with the money aspect eventually. Especially when he would have more money that he could save up each month.

“You know I’m paying rent, right?” 

“I know you wouldn’t live somewhere rent free. It’s why I have it set up that you can pay your specific share of the property taxes to the city every year. Which is four-fifty a month. It’s fifty-four hundred a year for your house.”

“I pay two grand here.” Eddie countered. 

“Which means you have fifteen-fifty left over each month to put towards savings or making an extra truck payment to try and get it paid off faster. It’s already set up, there’s no changing it now.” 

“I hate you, you know that?” Eddie said with a smile as he shook his head. 

“Liar, you love me.”

Eddie couldn’t believe that Buck had done this and he was only going to be putting him in the position to pay just a fraction of what he was paying now. Of what that house was worth. He wasn’t going to deny that the break on rent was going to help him immensely. He would be able to pay his truck off faster, helping to take more of a financial load off of him. Plus he could put some money aside for Christopher for a new after school activity or maybe to spend more time at that camp he liked so much. They could also manage to take a vacation once a year like a normal family. It really didn’t surprise him that Buck would build a house for him and Christopher. It also didn’t surprise him that he had already set it up so Eddie wouldn’t have to pay rent. That’s what Buck did for the people he loved. He took care of them.

“Very much. And Christopher is really excited to move and honestly so am I. I can’t wait to use that grill. I am a little surprised that you didn’t have a house for Maddie or Bobby and Athena built.”

“Bobby and Athena love their house. I knew making sure May and Harry having a place to be after they were ready to move out would mean a lot more to them. I mean, how many fires have we responded to where teenagers were living in it and their landlords were slumlords. How many young adults have died from it?”

“Way too many. It’s good that you made a place where they could be safe, but also not under their parents’ roof.” Eddie agreed. 

“As for Maddie. She doesn’t know about my money or my plan. I would have loved for her and Jee to be on the property. But she would have tried to take over. She always said I didn’t understand what it was like to be a battered woman. Maybe it’s selfish, but I wanted this dream just for myself to do.”

“That’s not selfish at all. And I do think you are right. I think she would have tried to take over and force you to do what she wanted and not what your vision was.” Eddie could easily see Maddie trying to control everything at the estate. This was Buck’s dream, his vision, he had every right to want to see it become real. 

“I was going to buy her a house as a baby present. After Jee was born I wanted to talk to her about what areas she thought would be nice to raise Jee. What type of styles she liked. I knew what her old place looked like with Doug, but that was his style. And her apartment in LA was close to her style, but it wasn’t perfect. I was even hoping to have her close enough to Durrand. I would have paid for Jee’s schooling there. It’s a really good school and unlike other private schools they have a good variety of people.” Buck’s voice had grown softer, but Eddie knew it was because his jaw was hurting and not because he was tired. Eddie hated that he was having to make Buck talk, but it was important for them to know this. Especially because the lawyers were going to ask about all of this. 

“It is a great school. And hopefully one day Jee can go there. I saw the blueprints for the land. It looks like you are trying to build a safe haven of sorts.” Eddie asked, hoping talking about the land would help put Buck in a better mood.

“A sanctuary. It’s just the first stage. The land all around me is available for purchase and the owner knows I’m looking to expand in the next year so he’s going to hold it for me. I can have up to three thousand acres if I want.”

“Why so much land?” Eddie was doing a quick calculation and he knew it was roughly five square miles that Buck was talking about. Technically you could build close to six thousand houses on three thousand acres and that was houses, not small apartments.

“I want to build a sanctuary for people. Not just battered spouses, but veterans that are having a hard time adjusting to civilian life. Kids that just turned eighteen and were kicked out of foster care. Some even get kicked out on their eighteenth birthday in the middle of their senior year. They have nowhere to go, they have to drop out of school to try and work. Or kids that are sixteen, if they are filing for emancipation they can live on their own while they wait for their ruling. Kids who come out to their parents as gay or lesbian or trans, whatever, they could have a safe place to be. I’d like to have foster homes with registered caregivers for special needs children. Foster homes for at-risk youth that have been deemed as loss causes. I don’t just want homes, but a community. A community center to help people get their high school diploma. A place for counselling. I want to have a stable and a kennel to help give people skills if they want, but also helping care for animals has been proven to help at-risk youth and people with PTSD. I’d like to have a trades school for mechanics, plumbing and electrical so people can have a career or a second career. Even a corner store and a restaurant.”

Buck knew it might sound insane, but he had seen so much death and pain in his life. He had seen good people being forced into a horrific situation all because they didn’t have a safe place to go. They didn’t have the resources that they needed to stay safe and have a real life. Buck wanted to give people that chance. To him all of the money going into it would be worth it. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have the money coming in. He also had grant proposals submitted and Buck was confident that he would be able to get them approved, which would give him an additional fifteen million, which is what he would need to purchase the rest of the land. It’s a massive undertaking, but Buck was determined to see this all completed. 

“That’s amazing, Buck. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of something like that. It sounds like it’s going to be a massive amount of work, but I am happy to help in any way I can.” 

Eddie knew that a lot of people needed a place like Buck was describing. He knew about so many veterans that come out of the military and they just can’t get used to civilian life. They end up as drunks or on drugs, they end up on the street and just unable to function. Having a place like Buck was describing, it could be the difference that they needed to have a real life again. It would be a massive amount of work, but it would be well worth it. And Eddie was happy to help in any way that he could and he knew Bobby and Athena would be as well. 

“It is going to be a lot of work. But it will be rewarding. I know I can’t save everyone, but I am hoping to save as many as I can and this place can be something that gets passed down through the generations. It’s a family legacy. It’s why it’s so important to me that Maddie wasn’t involved. She would turn it into something that wouldn’t match the goals of the place. I am hoping that one day when she is better, because I refuse to believe she’s dead, that she can come and help out. Maybe help start a little clinic and be a nurse again. Or if she is mentally healthy enough, she could be a counselor. For now, it’s my baby and I want to do it as I envision.”

“And I think that’s the best thing you can do. I think keeping Maddie out of it was a smart decision. And you are right, there hasn’t been a body recovered. Someone would have called you when they got her ID if she was dead or in the hospital. Chances are she slept whatever she took off and when she woke up she felt so ashamed she went into a treatment facility.”

Eddie really did believe that Maddie was still alive. It had been two days since the phone call. If she had died, someone by now would have found her. Even if she was in her car on some back road in bumfuck Idaho, or wherever, someone would have found her by now. If she had been brought to a hospital, her name would have been flagged by not only the hospital, but 911 as well. She most likely woke up with the worst hangover of her life and hopefully decided to get some help. It didn’t surprise Eddie at all that Maddie hadn’t called Buck, because she wasn’t that good of a person to put her embarrassment aside to make sure her own brother knew she was alive. It was that very reason that was making Eddie worried that maybe she hadn’t gotten help. That she had decided to keep running and potentially doing drugs to try and numb the pain away.

Eddie had to really fight to remember that Maddie was sick. She was mentally ill right now and that she had a lot of trauma in her life. Essentially, she was fucked up, and it was hard to remember that for Eddie when he saw how much Maddie and Chimney was fucking up his best friend. But he was trying to give Maddie some level of sympathy because she had PPD and most likely PTSD that she refused to get treatment for. And again, Eddie couldn’t fault her for that, because he had spent months beating the shit out of people in a cage just to deal with his own PTSD instead of therapy. Still, that didn’t mean he had to forgive her or try and justify her actions. Because at the end of the day it was Buck and Jee that were the ones paying the most for Maddie’s decisions. They were the priority here. 

“I really hope you are right. I do agree I suspect she is alive. I know that doesn’t make the unknown any easier, but I don’t think she’s dead or in a hospital. And hopefully your parents’ investigator will be able to find something that the police can use to track either of them down.”

“I hope so. My parents are not short on funds. They come from old money. They are worth about two hundred and fifty million.”

“Holy fuck.” Eddie said, shocked.

“They do a lot of charity work. Nothing children based. Women shelters, fallen first responders, habitat for humanity, food bank, that type of thing.”

“Have they always been so involved in charity?” 

“As long as I can remember. It used to bother me because most of the time when they were gone it was because they were at one charity event or another. I used to get so mad at myself, because I would be complaining about them not being somewhere for me when they were helping all of these people. I used to believe they didn’t love me and hated me. But after finding out about Daniel, I don’t think they loved me, but I don’t think they hated me. I think it just hurt too much to see me. And I get it. Having that reminder every day, I don’t know how you would heal.”

“That doesn’t make their treatment towards you right though Buck. You were their kid. They brought you into this world. They should have thought about what you would do and feel if Daniel didn’t live. If they couldn’t love you without Daniel, then they never should have raised you. You could have gone to a loving family to be raised.”

“But then my life might have been completely different and I might not have met you or Christopher. I would never trade either of you for anything.”

“And we wouldn’t trade you.” Eddie said, as he pressed a kiss to the top of Buck’s head. They were quiet for a few minutes before he cleared his throat. “There’s something I have been needing to talk to you about for the past few days. I’ve been trying to figure out the best time for it, but there’s not really a good time to bring this up.”

“What is it?” Buck asked, as his eyes slid closed. 

“Your lawyer and Hen’s are going to be digging into everyone involved to try and prove their case. They are looking for dirt and because they are going to be looking into you, your lawyer said he was going to do the same so he could counter any negative data they find. Athena offered to look as well. She started by calling your former employers from your resume and she found out that four years were falsified.” Eddie started. 

“I guess it was only a matter of time before someone found out.” Buck said with a deep sigh. 

He didn’t like talking about this. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of what he did or that he wasn’t honored to have served. It was just he didn’t want people to judge him. To look at him a different way. He had seen it with other veterans. Once people knew they served, they got this look in their eyes. A combination of respect and pity. And they always wanted to ask questions, especially if you were a SEAL or a Ranger. Buck just didn’t want that to be hanging over his head. For people to be waiting for him to go postal or for him to do something amazing. He just wanted to be himself without any baggage when he joined the LAFD. Besides, it wasn’t like he could talk about his service anyways. 

“Black Ops SEAL?” Eddie asked.

“Team Six, I guess they call it DEVGRU now. I wasn’t exactly on Team Six, we were a special team off of it. We did the type of missions that even Team Six weren’t cleared to do. We worked directly with the CIA. Everything is classified.”

“Which is why all of your history has been fabricated. It’s also why you’ve never told anyone. You can’t actually talk about it.”

“I can tell people I was a SEAL, but I don’t tend to. That brings up questions, which you know personally what some of those questions are like.”

“I do. And it would be worse for you. I had a friend who was in Delta, complete strangers used to ask him if he’s killed someone and how many people. Like complete fucking strangers. People think they get to have free range to ask veterans any question they want. I don’t know what you can talk about, but I will always be willing to listen to what you can say. It’s also going to be hard in court to explain the four years. Can you tell a court that you were a SEAL?”

“Not really supposed to. Can’t have it out in the press. I’ll have to let Mr. Turner and the DA know and they will have to see what they can do to handle it.”

“Family court, there’s no press there. The judge might be able to get a gag order issued. Criminal case, they should be able to get it as a closed case so no outsiders will be allowed in the courtroom. Won’t help for when people talk though. Again, hopefully a gag order can be put in place. But the sooner they know, the sooner they can start working on it. I can let Athena and Bobby know and they can set it all up. If that’s ok with you?”

Eddie knew that Bobby and Athena had been handling the bulk of this stuff for Buck. But he didn’t want Buck to feel like they were taking over either. It was his life and his niece that was on the line. 

“That’s fine. I trust them. I’m not really up for making any decisions right now.”

Buck was perfectly happy to let Athena and Bobby handle all of this for right now. He was too tired, sick and in pain to be moving all over and going to meetings and getting everything set up. 

“There is one more thing that Athena found.” Eddie started, and he really didn’t know how to ask this. He was hoping it was as simple as a mission that he did with the CIA. That it wouldn’t be complicated and messy. “She found a federal report from Peru. It was pretty much all redacted, but your name was in it, along with multiple homicides and drug trafficking. We need to know what happened, because Hen’s lawyer is gonna see the file and they are going to have questions. So if it’s connected to a mission, we need to try and explain that.” 

Eddie felt Buck’s entire body tense up. It was not a reaction that he had been expecting. He could feel a slight tremble within his frame and Eddie was getting a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Buck couldn’t believe that Athena had found the report. It was supposed to be buried. The CIA had said they had taken care of it. That it would never see the light of day. Buck had done his best to push down what happened. To try and forget about it. It was the worst time of his life and now lawyers were going to be trying to use it against him. There was no way Hen’s lawyer wouldn’t try to use it. That she wouldn’t let Chimney know once he was arrested. 

“I can’t talk about it.” Buck said with nothing but pain within his voice, as the tears were already building up within his eyes. 

“I know it’s classified. But we have to try and explain it away for the courts.” Eddie gently said. “If you tell me, then we can brainstorm it together. I know I don’t have the same classification as you do. But it’s just us here. No one will ever know.” Eddie promised. 

“It’s bad. It’s really bad. There’s no way to spin it. There’s no way that they won’t keep Jee from me.” Buck said, as the tears started to fall. 

Eddie held him closer as he spoke. “There is nothing that could have happened that would ever change my opinion about you or that you are the one that should be raising Jee. Whatever happened, we can figure it out. But I can’t help you if I don’t know. Please Mano let me help. Let me in. It’ll be our secret.”

Eddie had no idea what happened, but it was clear that Buck was in a great deal of pain over what happened. He needed to let someone share this load with him. He needed someone else to know so they could be there to help him through it. Eddie didn’t care that he would have to take it to his grave, he would. He just wanted to help Buck. Buck shook his head against Eddie’s chest. He didn’t know what to do. It was classified, but not for the reason Eddie was thinking. Even if it wasn’t classified, Buck didn’t know if he would ever have told someone about this. His whole life changed after what happened. He still had nightmares. It’s why he wanted to be a firefighter. It’s part of why he wanted to build his sanctuary. He had never told anyone about what happened. No one outside of the people there for the arrest. He never wanted to talk about it. He never wanted anyone to know. And now it was looking like everyone was going to know. It was going to be leaked and Buck just wasn’t ready for that. 

Eddie held onto Buck as he cried and tried to get his emotions back under control. He wished he could make Buck feel better. He wished he could do anything to make this better. To take all of this pain on himself, because Buck had too much going on and he was too good to be dealing with all of this shit. After a few minutes Buck’s tears slowed, but they didn’t fully stop. He locked onto the TV to try and disassociate as he spoke. 

“The last mission I worked as a SEAL, everything went wrong. We started with eight of us on the team and by the end of the mission it was just me and our Commander that survived.”

“I’m so sorry.” Eddie said, as he closed his eyes and held Buck closer. He knew what it felt like to have people dying that you knew and not be able to save them. He had gotten lucky in his situation and was able to keep everyone alive, but he had gotten shot in the process. That was the last operation for him. He could understand why Buck quit the SEALS after that. It would be hard to come back from. 

“My Commander was able to keep moving forward, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to do it. It was like all of the death and pain from the four years I had served hit me. I just couldn’t handle it anymore. And he knew. He told me to go out in the world and see the beauty in it. To be young and dumb for once in my life. One of the guys on the team always talked about how amazing his time in Peru had been so I decided to start there.”

“You became a bartender.” Eddie supplied. 

He was liking this Commander. Eddie had known a few of the higher ups in his time and they were all about sticking it out. Erase and override. Push all of your hurt and trauma down and keep going. For Buck’s Commander to tell him to go and see the world. To not force himself to keep seeing the worst that humanity had to offer. It spoke volumes about the integrity that he had.

“At a tourist bar right on the water. It was gorgeous and I got to meet a lot of people. Mostly though, they were happy and alive. They had no care in the world when I saw them. Just happy tourists and a few locals that loved the menu. It felt good to just serve drinks. To listen to the waves crashing into the shore. For two months everything was peaceful.”

“What happened? The SEALS needed you for something?” Eddie asked, gently. 

Buck took in a shaky breath before he spoke. “I was closing up the bar. It was close to three in the morning. I heard some noise out back. At first I thought it was an animal, but then I heard someone yell help. So I went out back to check and there was this guy getting attacked by two men. I jumped in to help.” 

“Which is natural.” Eddie said. He was starting to feel better about this. It was sounding like Buck jumped in to help someone and two of the guys could have died from their injuries. It was possible they were drug traffickers and the navy or the CIA had to cover it all up. It wasn’t the best scenario, but it was workable. 

“I started to break it up, but the guy that I thought was being attacked, grabbed me from behind in a choke hold. A second later one of the other guys injected me with something and I went out. When I woke up I was in just my jeans, no shirt, no shoes, no sock, just my jeans and this thick metal collar around my neck attached to a chain in the ground. I was in this cement jail cell with a bucket in the corner.” Buck said with a shaky voice. 

Eddie’s blood ran cold. His whole body stiffened and he instantly wanted to tell Buck to stop talking. That he was sorry for bringing it up and that they didn’t have to talk about it. That he could just hold him until he felt better. But it was too late. Athena had already found the file. Eddie did the only thing he could do. He held Buck and ran his fingers through Buck’s hair as he continued. 

“There were others. I could see them across from me. We were in some old prison. There must have been a hundred of us. Some were in really rough shape, starved and beaten. Some were tourists and others were local. Some had been there for three months. They said the longest had survived four.”

“Survived what?” Eddie managed to ask. 

“An underground fight ring.” Buck admitted and he knew it was going to hurt Eddie, but it was the truth. 

Eddie instantly closed his eyes as the tears flooded them, a few escaping down his cheeks. Of all the things Buck could have said, that was the last thing he had expected. And it was the one thing that made all of this worse. Eddie had put himself willingly in an underground fight ring to work out his anger. He stuck around because he got addicted to it. To the pain, the endorphins of his adrenaline and winning. To the money. He loved it and there was still a part of him that did. He knew he could never go back, but being in that cage, it felt good to just let everything out. Meanwhile, his best friend had been forced to fight the same way he did for pleasure. Eddie didn’t think it was possible for him to feel like shit even more for what happened back then, but the universe had proved him wrong. Once again.

“They were kidnapping people to fight. I’m assuming they were betting.” Eddie managed to say. He couldn’t break down right now. He needed to be strong. Buck needed him to be strong. Later when he was in the shower or when Tommy was here, then he could go and break down. 

“Ya. It was a cartel. They were big in the cocaine industry. They would make us snort a line before we would fight each other. They would bring two of us out at a time. Walk us with the chain. I had refused to fight, to do the coke. The one guard just pulled out his gun and shot this eighteen year old kid right in the head. He told me that’s what happens when you refuse to fight.” 

“Dios mío.” Eddie softly said.

“They took me back to the cell and grabbed two other guys. The guy in the cell next to mine, Malik, told me to just do as they wanted. That it was the only way to make sure everyone stood a chance at living. That they all just fought and tried to pull their punches as best as they could. That the coke even helped with the pain and woke you up a bit so you could stand and fight. That they killed the ones that couldn’t anymore. They took me the next day to fight and I did. I held back as much as I could. They didn’t know I was an ex-SEAL. You didn’t win until the other person was unconscious. I had made the mistake of ending a fight too quick once, just one punch. They made me beat him while he was unconscious. I had thought about escaping all the time. But whenever we were outside of the cell, there were easily fifty guys there, all armed to watch the fight. They walked us with guns to our head to and from our cells. There was never an opportunity.” Buck’s voice shook as he kept talking. It all hurt so bad. 

“How long?” Eddie forced out. 

“Five months before the feds raided the place with my old Commander leading the charge. By then everyone that had been there when I first woke up were all dead. Either they were too weak to fight or they died from their injuries. Eighteen had died by my own hands.”

Buck broke down fully at that point and Eddie held him as tightly to his chest as he could. He couldn’t contain his own tears at hearing Buck’s story. He knew what it felt like to almost kill a man with your bare hands. It was not a feeling Eddie ever wanted Buck to feel. And to know that he had to go through that eighteen times, it would have destroyed him. It was no wonder Buck was so strongly against violence of any kind. 

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

It was all Eddie could think to say. There were no words to make this better. There were no words that Eddie or anyone could utter that would help ease Buck’s pain. Buck had done what he needed to do in order to survive and Eddie knew without a doubt that he would have refused to fight if it meant that he would be the one that got killed. But for someone else to die because of it, that wasn’t something Buck could have allowed. He would have opted to fight with the hopes that he wouldn’t do too much damage and someone would rescue them. Only that came five months down the road.

“It was all supposed to be classified.” Buck managed to say once he got his tears back under control. His head was pulsing from the added pressure. “My Commander worked with the CIA to have it redacted. I don’t know how Athena found it.”

“I don’t know, but we can try and figure that out. Maybe if it was through illegal means then it won’t be admissible in court.” Eddie didn’t really know, but honestly at this point Eddie didn’t care about that. He was more worried about Buck right now than the court cases. “What happened to you though? You had been forced to do cocaine for five months. You would have been injured and I have to imagine starved and a vitamin d deficiency from the lack of sunlight. Did you stay in Peru or come to LA?” 

“I stayed in Peru for a couple of hours before I was flown out with my Commander back to his hometown. He even organized for my stuff and the jeep to get there. I stayed there to recover for three months before I just felt like I needed to leave. I wanted to put it all behind me and seeing him was a reminder of the SEALS and Peru. I didn’t plan on staying in LA, but as I was driving out of town there was a bad car accident in front of me and I got out to help. It was about seven minutes later when a fire truck pulled in. It was the 118. Bobby was filling in for B-Shift Captain at the time. I don’t think he remembers. I was wearing a hat and sunglasses. I was still trying to stay hidden at that point. I couldn’t stop watching him. The way he spoke to the victims. How he kept them calm. The way he helped them. Afterwards he came up to me and thanked me for jumping in. He said I did a good job and would make a great firefighter. Said I had a knack for helping people and I could do a lot of good. I thanked him and he headed off into the truck. Bobby saved my life that day.”

Eddie couldn’t believe this. “And he doesn't know? He didn’t remember you?”

“My birthmark was covered and my voice was still hoarse, even after three months. The collar rubbed a lot and bruised my vocal cords pretty bad. It took about six months before they were back to normal. I never told him. His words had saved my life. Gave me a purpose again. For the first time since I had been captured, I felt a small light of hope inside of me. I applied for the fire academy and pushed myself to get back into shape and do the best I could. I had decided when I started that I was going to put it all behind me. Bury it all and be this fun, not traumatised twenty-four year old. Everything that happened, happened to someone else. Erase and override.”

“That’s not healthy though Buck. You know that. Fuck, look what happened to me. I don’t want your PTSD to destroy you. This attack is going to trigger you. Have you told Dr. Copeland any of this?”

“I can’t. I’m not allowed to talk about any of it. She’s not a Navy therapist. And I’ve tried to find one, but they are through the VA and the waitlist is long, and most just want to medicate and move on. I’ve been able to keep the walls up in my mind, but it’s gotten harder. I’m just so tired.” 

“I know. I know.” Eddie said, as he pressed a kiss to the top of Buck’s head. “We’re gonna figure this out. We’re gonna get through this. I promise.”

Eddie had no idea how they were going to work this one out, but he knew they had to. Too much was riding on their response to this investigation and Eddie was not going to let anyone take Jee away from Buck.

Chapter Text

Hen made her way to the front door that following morning once the doorbell rang. They were fourteen days away from mediation and everyone was pretty on edge right now. Things at work had been rough. Even though she had switched to a different shift, everyone was clearly in the know about what was going on with Buck and Chimney. They all knew she was against Buck. At least that’s how they saw it. She wasn’t against him, she was just trying to do what was right for her best friend. Chimney was being framed and he needed to be protected. If Buck hadn’t been the one making the claims, the LAPD would have taken longer to investigate before they had decided that Buck was telling the truth. They would have waited until there was hard evidence against Chimney and not just taken the word of someone. Especially when that person had a skull fracture. She had to protect Chimney and she knew that nothing would realistically happen to Buck. 

Yes, the lawyers had mentioned that Buck could be charged, but she knew that couldn’t happen until it was proven that Chimney was innocent. And even if he was arrested, Buck could have easily just lied and said he was confused and used his skull fracture as a defense. Nothing would happen to Buck, aside from him seeing that his own actions had consequences and he needed to live with them. And if there was a chance that Buck was lying to frame Chimney for some personal reason, then he deserved to be charged and face whatever prison time he was sentenced to, just like everyone expected for Chimney to be doing. Buck had a whole army fighting behind him and Chimney didn’t have anyone. She had even reached out to Albert to try and get him to help, but he was staying out of it. He had offered to help with Jee when she was found. He still wanted to be in his niece’s life and he was hoping for the best in this scenario, but he was not picking sides. He didn’t want to get involved legally. He liked both Buck and Chimney and he was playing Switzerland. 

It frustrated Hen that even Chimney’s own brother wasn’t going to fight for him. You could like Buck, hell she loved him, but also still fight for what was right. It seemed like everyone was too afraid to go against the golden child to do what was right. Hen opened the door and saw that no one was there, but there was a white shipping package sticking out of her mailbox. She pulled it out and headed back inside as she opened it. She looked inside and saw a black flip phone in it with a charger. She pulled it out and she noticed there was a note also in the mailer. She pulled it out and instantly recognized Chimney’s handwriting. 

They could be monitoring your phone. I programed my number in already. 

-Chim   

Hen quickly put the note and phone back into the package and went and hid it in the closet as she heard Karen coming down the hallway. Hen then headed into the kitchen as Karen came around the corner. 

“Who was at the door?”

“Jehovah witnesses. I got rid of them real quick.” Hen said with an easy smile. 

Karen grimaced as she spoke. “Last time I had two here, it took me twenty minutes to get rid of them.”

“Ya, I kinda just say no and close the door on them.” Hen said with a small smile.

“That’s smart.” Karen said with a soft chuckle. “Denny is getting ready for school. I will drop him off on my way.”

“And I will have dinner all ready to go for when you guys get home. I have to leave at three to get to my shift.”

“God, I hate that you are on a different shift.” Karen groaned. 

“I know, me too, but it’s only temporary. Once Chimney has been cleared he will be back at the 118 and I will go back to A-Shift. We just need to hold on for a little while longer.”

“Ya, except we don’t know that. Chimney needs to come back before this whole mess can be sorted out. Hopefully he had an alibi that can be verified and this whole mess can be put to bed. He hasn’t reached out to you at all? You haven’t been able to get a hold of him? I know you were calling him a bunch when this first started, I was too, but I couldn’t ever get him to pick up.” 

“No, I never did. And now the phone goes straight to voicemail, so I stopped calling.” Hen lied. 

“Ok, good. Not good that he is still out there, but it’s good you haven’t spoken to him. I was reading up the other night about accessory after the fact and aiding and abetting charges and what classifies as which. Any contact with Chimney after forty-eight hours from the warrant could result in charges being pressed against you. So it’s really important that you don’t speak to him. If he calls, then you should record it so you can prove you didn’t tell him anything about the case. Just that you told him to come back.”

“That’s good to know. I will do that. I have a feeling he won’t call me.”

Hen was not about to tell Karen about the phone or her phone call with Chimney. She also wasn’t going to be telling her what Chimney’s lawyer said about keeping Chimney away before this could be resolved. It would only make her worry and they had enough to worry about. They already had the new CPS worker, Mrs. Catherine Miller, came by yesterday to do a home visit. She was really nice and both Hen and Karen thought it went well.  

“Mom, Mama!” Denny called, as he came into the kitchen with his phone. “You need to see this.” Denny said, as he handed his phone over to Karen. 

Hen moved closer so she could look over and see what Denny was so worked up about. Both Hen and Karen saw it was a news article on one of those tabloid websites. 

Hero Firefighter, Evan Buckley, Investigated for Drug Use. Connected To Multiple Meth Labs

“Oh my god.” Karen said, just horrified. 

There was a massive picture of Buck taken from at some point in the tsunami. Someone must have taken his photo after he arrived at the VA’s hospital. He looked like he had just been through hell. The article went on to say that Buck had been injured in a meth lab explosion. That he was the only one in the house and it was suspected that he was cooking it to help feed his meth addiction. It even went on to say that he had used his Fire Marshal status to clear meth labs and known drug dens to keep them operating. 

“Is it true?” Denny asked. 

“No.” Both Hen and Karen instantly said. 

“But then why would someone make an article about it?” Denny asked, confused. 

“It’s slander. Someone is trying to dirty up Buck’s name because of everything that is going on. This website is for fake news. People write articles with nothing but lies in it just to try and get clicks and make money off of it. Someone at the hospital probably noticed Buck’s name after he was attacked and wanted to make some money off of it.” Karen explained. 

“There will probably be more articles. It’s best if you don’t read them. It’s all going to be fake. I know it’s going to be hard, especially at school, but just try and ignore it.” Hen added. 

She knew that Chimney’s and their lawyer were going to be trying to discredit Buck. She had no idea that they were going to have these types of articles written. The fact that they were with cheesy websites, no one was going to take them seriously, at least not in an official capacity. But it would help to muddy the water for a jury and in the public eye. She hated that Buck was going to be in the spotlight like this, but he also brought it on himself. If the LAPD wanted to back Buck up, then Hen would make sure the city had Chimney’s back. She also knew the LAFD was backing up Buck, so she had to try and give them enough reasonable doubt that Buck was the one they needed to cut contact with. Chimney had more qualifications and had been there longer. He was the one that deserved their loyalty and not Buck. 

“But why are they doing this? Uncle Buck was attacked, he’s the victim of a violent crime you said. Why would someone want to make up lies about him?” Denny asked, confused. 

“Because unfortunately, people will do anything to make a buck. Even if that means putting an innocent man through more pain.” Karen softly explained. 

“It’s a very complicated situation right now Denny. As news about Buck’s attack starts to get out, people are going to be coming out of the woodwork with stories about him, good and bad. The best thing you can do is ignore what the press have to say. Just remember that Buck loves you.” Hen added. 

She hated that Denny would get mixed up in all of this. That all of the kids would. But it needed to be done to ensure Chimney didn’t get put in prison for the rest of his life. It wouldn’t be right for Chimney to be punished. For any innocent man to be punished. 

“Does this have to do with Jee coming to stay here?” Denny asked. 

They hadn’t told Denny about Chimney being the one accused and wanted for the attack on Buck. Karen knew that all of the children, except for May, were being kept in the dark about that. It was something everyone had agreed on pretty early and separately that it would be best for them to not know. At least until they had no choice but to tell them. Denny just knew that Chinney went to look for Maddie and soon Jee would be coming to stay with them so he could focus on finding Maddie and getting her help. 

“No. Those are two separate things.” Hen confirmed. 

“I know it’s hard, but everything will be ok. It’s just going to take some time. For now, you need to finish getting ready for school.” Karen said with a warm smile. 

She wished she could have made all of this better, but there was just no way for her to. Everyone was going to be caught up in this fight until a jury either found Chimney guilty or innocent. They were all in for a long road and she was hoping that they would be able to keep the children out of it. Denny gave a nod and took his cell phone back and headed off to finish getting ready. The second they were alone Karen turned her attention to Hen.

“Did you know about this?”

Karen wasn’t stupid. She knew that Hen had been trying to find some type of dirt that could be used against Buck. She wished she could have been there for the meeting with their lawyer, but she had to work and she couldn’t take it off. They were both already going to be down days with having to take time off for CPS home visits and the court hearings. They needed to bank as much time as they could. Especially once Jee arrived, because they would have to try and balance both of them being home with her while still working. Hen had been hoping that the LAFD would give her some paid time off, but right now it wasn’t looking like it. Her request had been denied and she had to call her union rep to try and get it all worked out. It seemed like no one was interested in helping them take Jee away from Buck. 

Karen understood that it was natural for people to take sides in cases, especially one that involved two people that everyone cared about. But she had been hoping the LAFD would stay neutral. It seemed like they had already made their decision that Chimney was guilty and they were washing their hands of it. Karen was worried that they would do the same with Hen if she kept trying to get custody of Jee. The thing was, Karen agreed that it would be best for Jee to be with them. If Buck had been healthy, she wouldn’t have really put up much of a fight for Jee. Buck was her biological family, it made sense. But he was injured and there was no telling how long he would stay that way. Plus with everything that would happen with the criminal case, it made a lot more sense for Jee to be in a neutral party’s home while Chimney and Buck duked it out in court. Yes, you could argue that Hen wasn’t neutral, but neither her nor Hen had any skin in this game. The end result of the court wouldn’t change their lives. It would potentially be devastating, but they weren’t the ones facing jail time. So in that sense, they were neutral and Jee wouldn’t have to feel that animosity in the air. And in the long rong, if Chimney did go to prison and Maddie never came back. It would be better for Jee to be in a stable two parent household. Buck could still be Uncle Buck and come and visit and hang out with her, but he wouldn’t have the responsibility of raising a child.

“No. I swear. I know our lawyer said we needed to try and find dirt on Buck. Anything that would prove he wasn’t responsible and had questionable motives. But we never talked about a smear campaign against him. Someone at the hospital must have done this. Or maybe someone within the LAFD. I mean that place is a gossip mill across every station. Someone could have decided to get back at Buck for one reason or another. That’s for Buck’s lawyer to figure out.”

“I just don’t want all of this to get dirty. I just want to do what is best for Jee. I want all of the adults to be civil and act like adults in this. We have children blended into this family and the children don’t deserve to feel like they have to choose sides or go without. Regardless of what happens with Jee or Chimney, we all still need to be able to be a family for these kids.”

“I completely agree. And we can make sure Buck understands that we had nothing to do with this article or whatever else might come out. We can make it clear in mediation that we just want what is best for Jee. I think right now he is emotional after the attack and Eddie, Bobby and Athena are probably in his ear trying to get him to do this. He might not even want to have Jee. He could feel obligated to take her. The next two weeks will hopefully give him some time to recover and he will be able to stand up for what he wants and he can see that you and I having Jee is best for her.”

“I hope you’re right. Because the last thing I want to do is to destroy this family completely. And you best remember. If our lawyer is trying to find dirt on Buck, then you can bet your ass that his lawyer is trying to find dirt on us. So we need to meet with the lawyer and make sure he is ready for whatever they could dig up.” Karen warned.      

“I will make that appointment and make sure there are no surprises.” Hen promised. 

“Good. Now, I need to finish getting ready for work.” Karen said, as she went and kissed Hen before she moved back down the hall to finish up. 

Hen went and pulled out her cell phone and searched Buck’s name. The first thing that came up was the article. It had been reposted to multiple websites. She clicked on a few of the links and scrolled to read the comments. There were a few that were calling out the article as being fake. Some saying that he looked like that after saving them from the tsunami. That it was obviously fake. The bulk of the comments though were people up in arms about the article and that they wanted Buck charged and fired. It was definitely seventy/thirty against Buck and it gave Hen some hope. They just might be able to turn the city against Buck after all. 

XXX 

Eddie made his way into the conference room at the DA’s office. He was the last to arrive and he saw Athena, Bobby, Mr. Turner and District Attorney Donovan are all there ready and waiting for him. 

“Sorry, I had to wait for Carla to get to the house. Tommy got called in.” Eddie said, as he went and took a seat. 

“It’s ok Mr. Diaz, we weren’t waiting long.You had asked to meet all of us to discuss this redacted file.” Donovan asked. He had been worried about the file because everything was going to be used against Buck in this case and this was a huge red flag. 

“I was able to speak to Buck and he was able to confirm that he was with the SEALS for the four years that are falsified on his employment history. The SEAL team he was on was for Black Ops, a ghost unit, it’s why so much is falsified and redacted.”

“Alright, the Navy would have some form of document that would at least state he was in the Navy for x-amount of years, correct?” Donovan asked. 

“I would imagine there is something that would work to cover up the missing years. If nothing else we should be able to get them to release something that is redacted outside of the enlistment date.” Eddie answered. 

“Would that work?” Athena asked. 

“It would. If we can get the enlistment date, then that proves he was employed by the Navy. If anyone asks about the false information on his employment history, we can just say that it was done for classified reasons. His time in the Navy is really the least of our concerns. It’s the redacted file that does not paint him in the best of light.” Donovan answered.

“It’s connected to his time in the Navy though.” Bobby started. 

“It’s not.” Eddie admitted. 

“What do you mean?” Athena asked. 

“I can’t talk about it. It’s highly classified, I shouldn’t even know but Buck had to tell someone. But it’s not connected to him being in the SEALS. He was a civilian when that case happened. He had been out for two months. The CIA was supposed to have it redacted and buried permanently. There had to have been a breach somewhere for Athena to even find it.”

“What can you tell us?” Mr. Turner asked. 

“Buck was one of hundreds of victims by a cartel. He was brought in as a victim when a raid went down by federal agents. He can’t talk about it, because it’s been classified.” 

“That’s not what any of us had been expecting. This is going to be a problem in both cases if we can’t get the truth out.” Mr. Turner said, as he sat back in his chair. 

“Can’t we just say what we know? That the CIA classified the intel to protect Buck?” Athena asked. 

“In family court, you could get away with it. You could easily play it off as if Buck was working for the CIA when it happened. There’s no dates in this file. You don’t have to lie, just say what you do know. Buck was a SEAL working for the CIA before he joined the LAFD. None of that is a lie.” Donovan started. 

“Buck has no criminal record so for the custody battle, we can play it vague.” Mr. Turner agreed. 

“Criminal is another issue. I will have to do some fancy footwork to try and get this file thrown out. It is classified and redacted. There’s no way we will be able to get it unclassified. The judge should be willing to throw it out because no one can be questioned on it. Buck has the right to defend himself against any accusations, but he wouldn’t be able to. I’m more concerned about someone trying to leak it to the press. We will need to try and get a gag order on this.” Donovan said. 

“The press is a whole other issue. I am assuming everyone saw the articles being posted this morning.” Athena said not impressed.      

“Thankfully Buck hasn’t yet. He can’t look at a phone or computer screen yet. It didn’t stop the very long conversation I had to have with Christopher on the way to school today. I told him to ignore whatever people are saying about Buck. That it’s all lies.” 

Eddie was pissed that Hen’s lawyer was playing this way. It was obviously done to try and slander someone. They used an old photo from when Buck was in the tsunami with a random house on fire. Buck had never even been to a meth lab as a Fire Marshal. He did commercial buildings and apartment buildings. And there was no way in the world that Buck would ever let a meth lab just go unreported. It was going to trigger more bullshit articles though as random people wanted their fifteen minutes of fame. 

“Someone is starting a smear campaign. Either Mr. Hunt or Mrs. Wilson did get Mr. Han a lawyer and he is laying the groundwork. It’s not good for the criminal case. Every article will influence the jury. It doesn’t matter if it is all proven to be false. The thoughts are still there. And a defence attorney could bring it up in court. They could argue it goes towards the credibility of the plaintiff. The problem will be if a judge allows for the redacted file to stay in play, because Buck can’t answer questions and Mr. Han’s lawyer could try and treat him as a hostile witness, allowing him to testify instead of asking questions. He could spin the story and that will be the fresh one in the jury’s head. Buck not being able to answer won’t go well at a trial.” Donovan explained.     

“We need it thrown out. Can that happen before Chimney is found?” Athena asked. 

“No. Everything for the criminal case is put on hold until the accused can be arraigned. I can have all of the paperwork in order to start filing for a motion to dismiss the redacted file from evidence. We really need to find Mr. Han.” Donovan said, because until they do find Chimney, they wouldn’t be able to proceed at all. 

“LAPD is working on it. We have his photo and information everywhere. Even The Buckley’s have hired a PI to try and find him and Maddie. We’re coming up blank so far.” Athena said, sounding completely frustrated.  

“What did he read spy novels in his spare time?” Donovan asked, because typically a civilian wasn’t able to be this good at evading arrest.

“No, but he is obsessed with true crime shows. And Maddie most likely has told him about what she did to go undetected from Doug when she crossed the country. He’s not stupid.” Bobby answered, and he wasn’t impressed at all. He wanted Chimney caught. He wanted to be able to get this whole thing started so they could put it behind them. 

“Great. I’ll do what I can until he is detained. For now, you need to focus on the custody battle.” Donovan said. 

It was a battle they all would have felt more confident going into if they didn’t have the redacted file and this slander campaign now hanging over their heads. They had been confident that Buck would win, but now they were all feeling a hell of a lot less confident and that put all of them on edge.

Chapter Text

“More articles have been released that Firefighter Evan Buckley has connections to not only meth labs, but sweatshops. He used his Fire Marshal status to get clearance on the buildings. Along with residential buildings that were at a high-risk of a fire. He had taken pay-offs to pass the inspections. New evidence has come forward that he is also involved with a drug cartel in Mexico and has been helping to transport drugs and guns all across the state.” 

“Oh shut up.” Taylor said, as she clicked her TV off. 

For the last few days there had been a flood of articles on various gossip sites about Buck being this major criminal. From meth labs to gun running, they seemed to be trying to throw everything they could at Buck. It was definitely a smear campaign, but she couldn’t figure out why someone was so determined to get Buck eaten alive by the public. The LAFD had come out with their own statement supporting Buck and letting the public know that the claims were all false. It didn’t seem to matter, there were just more and more articles. Most of the comments from people were believing this bullshit, but that wasn’t surprising to Taylor. Everyone wanted to believe the worst in someone. It was more juicy. There were people that were defending Buck. 

Taylor looked over at her investigation board. She had been trying to figure out who had started this whole mess. If she could prove that someone was behind the smear campaign, then the public would turn to that person and leave Buck alone. She just needed to figure out who had started this whole mess and why. She couldn’t figure out who would be targeting Buck. She had gone over the reports from the 118 and the fires within the past month, she hadn’t found anything that would lead her to believe someone had a beef with Buck. He didn't even have any press worthy rescues. Which was a bit odd, but rescue types did ebb and flow. 

She knew there had to be a reason for someone to target Buck and if it wasn’t about his work, then it had to be personal. Her and Buck had broken up two months ago, but it was amicable. They had both talked about what they saw for the future and Buck wanted children. She really shouldn't have been all that surprised by it. Buck was amazing with children. But she always figured that he wouldn’t want any of his own given how many that weren’t his own were in his life. She had never wanted children. She wanted to focus on her career and she didn’t really like the lifestyle that came with having children. She didn’t want to work this hard to make a life for herself only to have to change how she lived it to accommodate for a child. She knew that some would view her as heartless, but she knew what it felt like to grow up with a mother that resented your very existence. She never wanted to put a child through that. If she couldn’t commit to having a child fully, then she wasn’t going to be doing it. 

In the end, her and Buck decided that they would alway love and care for each other, but they weren’t a perfect match. They would be friends and be there when the other needed them. She wasn’t certain why Buck hadn’t reached out to her yet with all of this going on, but she wasn’t going to wait for him to eventually ask her for help. She was going to solve this and make sure whoever was behind it, paid for it dearly. 

XXX    

Tommy made his way down to his truck. He had come over to Buck’s apartment to stay packing everything up. Eddie had been working on his place and Tommy had offered to tackle Buck’s. Thankfully Buck didn’t seem to have very much stuff. He seemed to prefer the less clutter the better, which made it easier to pack everything. The houses were set to be finished within the next twelve days so they would be able to start moving them in once everything was finished. Tommy was hoping it would all be completed on time so they didn’t have to worry about any delays. The new CPS Worker was also going to be heading to the estate today to meet with Buck and Eddie and check out where Jee would be living once she was found and the move was complete. Tommy was really hoping this new worker was better than the last one. 

Tommy headed out the front door and immediately his heart dropped. Between the time he arrived here this morning and now, someone had vandalized Bucks’ jeep. He went over and quickly took in the damage. Every tire had been slashed, all of the windows were shattered, the mirrors were gone, the lights both front and rear smashed. It looked like someone took a baseball bat to it, and put massive dents all over it. There were words spray painted on it that reflected the articles currently circulating about Buck. A car’s tires squealing pulled Tommy’s attention as a truck drove by and some guy tossed out a bottle from the passenger seat. Tommy saw that it was on fire and the second it hit Buck’s jeep, the whole hood went up in flames. 

Tommy quickly ran over to his truck to grab the fire extinguisher, as he pulled out his cell phone and called 911. 

“911, what’s your emergency?” A female dispatcher answered.

“This is Lieutenant Tommy Kinard with Station 217. I need fire and police to 460 South Spring Street. There is a car on fire. Notify Sergeant Athena Grant-Nash and Detective Lou Ransone. Victim’s name is Evan Buckley.”

Tommy started to put the fire out, but the jeep must have been doused in gasoline, because the fire just kept growing and he knew soon enough the gas tank would be going up. Tommy knew the jeep was a goner, but he was really hoping there might be a way to repair it. He didn’t know the full story, but he did know how important this jeep was to Buck. He’s had it since he was eighteen years old and he flew it from one country to another just so he could have it compared to making things easier and cheaper on himself by selling it. There was a lot of sentimental value in this jeep and Tommy did not want to have to tell Buck it was gone.   

Tommy used everything in his fire extinguisher to try and get the car put out or at least keep the flames away from the gas tank. It was a couple minutes later when sirens were heard and Tommy looked up to see some police cars and the 118 engine making their way down the street. The second the truck stopped Bobby got out and quickly spoke. “Ravi, get the hose. Let’s get this fire out.”

Tommy had no choice but to move back as Ravi and another guy, whom he assumed was a floater, went over and got the hose hooked up and started to douse the flames on Buck’s jeep. 

“Did you see who did it?” Bobby asked, just as Athena and Ransone made their way towards them.

“I got here around nine this morning to start packing things up for Evan. I came out here about ten minutes ago to see that it was destroyed. A grey pickup truck drove by and some twenty-something year old kid threw a molotov cocktail out the passenger side window. I didn’t really see his face, but he looked on the young side of twenty-five.” 

“We can pull cameras in the area. We should be able to get them. It’s probably connected to the articles.” Athena said with a shake of her head. 

“There’s some color language spray painted on the side of the truck that I saw.” Tommy agreed. 

“That’s going to be a write off.” Ransone said, as the fire was out. 

“That’s Buck’s most prized possession. It’s not just a jeep to him. That represents freedom. It used to belong to Maddie, but when Buck was eighteen and dropped out of school, she handed him the keys and told him to go and find himself. To live his life and never look back. Buck told me that it was the final push he needed. Maddie’s approval that it was ok for him to not be in college. That it was ok for him to go be lost in life. That he could run and find himself without his parents’ disappointment hanging over his head. That jeep means the world to Buck.” Bobby sadly said. 

“I’ll have it towed to my place. I might be able to fix it. If not, there has to be one restoration place in town that would be willing to take it on. I have a feeling Evan will pay whatever he needs to in order to have it restored.” Tommy said. 

“He’s definitely got the money for it. We’ll run the security cameras and see if we can get a plate on the truck and hopefully their faces. It’s just one more thing I am not looking forward to telling Buckaroo.” Athena said with a shake of her head. 

“Did something happen with the social worker?” Tommy asked, worried now. 

“Not that I know of. They are still scheduled to meet in thirty minutes. Lou was able to get some more information on Maddie and Chimney.” Athena said. 

“Did you get a lead on their location?” Bobby asked, trying not to sound hopeful.  

“Not yet. However, we were able to get the financials finally. Before Maddie left LA she maxed out all of her credit cards. She got about fifty grand in cash.” Lou started. 

“I can’t imagine you can walk into a treatment center and hand someone that type of cash.” Tommy commented. 

“You can’t. You can certainly pay out of pocket, but there is typically a credit card or a debit card used. You can’t just hand them tens of thousands of dollars in cash. She was most likely not looking to go into a facility when she left. She planned on staying gone for a long time.” Athena said. 

“And you can’t track her through the money.” Bobby said with understanding. 

“We can’t with cash. Chimney also hit the bank before he drove out of town. He removed ten grand from his personal account and a savings account. Cleared it all out. Ten grand won’t get him on the run for years, but if he flies under the radar, he could use it to get him through for months. We are in the process of re-releasing the Amber Alert and the BOLO to try and get his face back out there. We are also going to post a photo of Jee-Yun along with the Amber Alert. The DA has also decided to add the felony kidnapping and up the warrant to felony attempted murder.”

“Why the increase? I thought you wanted to try and downplay it so it would encourage Chimney to turn himself in.” Bobby asked. 

“That was in the beginning when there was a chance he would turn himself in. He’s on the run and he started running when he left. He’s well aware of the warrant for his arrest and he chose to keep running. And with all of the slander press on Buckley, the DA is done playing nice. He wants Chimney found so he can parade him around in the press and make sure everyone knows what he did. Get everyone’s attention on Chimney and away from Buck. We’ve been holding off on releasing the charges because we want him officially arrested before the story breaks. But at this rate, if things keep going like this in the press we’ll have to release a statement. At some point people are going to wonder why Buck is being targeted so strongly.” Lou explained. 

“And do you know who started the smear campaign yet?” Tommy asked.

“We have been trying to find sources. The problem is the so-called journalists are screaming first amendment. They have the right to protect their sources. We can try and get court orders but I wouldn't hold your breath on it.” Lou answered.

“Fucking great.” Tommy said, as he shook his head.

“We’re doing everything we can. I know it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for us too. We want to be able to find Chimney and get Buck justice and right now we are hitting wall after wall, waiting for something to pop. We are going to keep doing everything we can to find him. We’re not going to stop.” Lou promised. 

“You’re doing everything you can Lou. We know. Hopefully there will be a break in the case soon.” Athena knew Lou was in a hard spot. He could only do what was in their power to do and as much as you could get the Feds involved, they had too many cases themselves and not enough manpower. Chimney wasn’t a priority for them. All they could do was keep trying and hope someone or something came up soon. 

XXX 

Buck slowly looked around his new house. The place was really coming together. All of the floors were installed. The tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms were done. There was just some painting that needed to happen and then the finishing touches could be done. It would be ready within the next two weeks and Buck was looking forward to having it done, but he was also numb to it. He wouldn’t be living here until he was fully healed, so at least another two and a half months. Moving into his house was supposed to be an exciting time, but right now everything was pushing down against him. He was struggling to find any form of joy.

He knew everyone was worried about him. He was worried about himself if he was being honest. He was supposed to be meeting with Dr. Copeland a couple of times a week, but he hadn’t set up an appointment yet. He was dodging her calls. Buck knew he needed to talk to her, but he just wasn’t ready yet. His jaw hurt all the time. He was constantly dealing with a headache that was always on the verge of a migraine. He was at war with his stomach. Almost every time he ate he was throwing up. He was able to keep down just enough to keep him out of a hospital and getting a feeding tube. Buck was miserable. There was no other way to put it. He was miserable. 

He knew about the articles that were coming out, but he couldn’t bring himself to read the lies that these people were posting about him. He hadn’t heard from Maddie. His parents weren’t able to find her yet either. They were texting Buck, but just once a day asking if he was ok. They never pressed for more than he was willing to give and Buck appreciated them reaching out. He appreciated they weren’t trying to call him and demand answers that he wasn’t ready or couldn’t give. Buck also understood they were in a terrible position as well. They had no idea where their mentally ill daughter was. Not to mention their newborn granddaughter. They had every right to be worried and anxious. Buck didn’t want them to feel like they weren’t entitled to their feelings in this matter. He truly did appreciate how they were respecting his boundaries though.

“The place looks great.” Eddie commented, as he looked around the living room. 

“I should change the color for the one bedroom. I was going to have it as a guest room. I should change the paint to pink or purple. Or maybe leave it white and get those wall decals.” Buck said, as he kept looking out into the backyard.

“You could. We could always look online later and see what you think. I think cherry blossoms are popular in South Korea.” Eddie commented, as he moved closer to Buck.

“Beotkkot. That’s what they are called in Korean. And they are popular there. Maybe I could find some decals with some birds or something.”

“I think that would be really pretty.” Eddie agreed. It was bothering him how dead Buck’s tone had been sounding for the past couple of days. Ever since he had to ask him about Peru. Buck was struggling with his mental health and Eddie had been trying to get him to see Dr. Copeland, but Buck kept putting it off. He had reached out to Dr. Copeland to see what she could do, but she couldn’t force Buck to talk to her. Eddie was hoping in a couple of days he would be able to get Buck to finally agree to speak with her.  

There was a knock at the door and they both knew who it was. Eddie went and placed his hand on Buck’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze to let him know everything would be ok and he was right here with him. He headed over to the door to answer it as Buck turned around and slowly crossed the room. Eddie let out a quick breath before he reached out and opened the front door. There standing on the other side was Mrs. Catherine Miller. She was in her late forties, but she was already smiling at Eddie so he was going to be taking that as a good sign. What did surprise Eddie was that she wasn’t alone. Ms. White was here as well.

“Good afternoon, please come in.” Eddie said, as he moved back and allowed both women to come inside. 

“I’m sorry for not calling and letting you know I would be joining Mrs. Miller today. I figured I would need to see the place where Jee-Yun would be living and I would need to meet with Mr. Buckley. I figured we could do it all at the same time.” Ms. White said. 

“Absolutely.” Eddie said with an easy smile. 

“It’s nice to meet you Ms. White, Mrs. Miller.” Buck said with as much of a smile as he could manage. 

“It is great to meet you Mr. Buckley. I am glad to see you standing up and able to move around a bit.” Ms. White said with a kind smile. 

“Thank-you. I appreciate everything you have done for myself and Jee.” Buck said. 

“This is a very nice place Mr. Buckley.” Mrs. Miller said. 

“Thank-you. It’s almost finished.”

“That must be a relief to you.” Mrs. Miller said with a soft smile before she continued. “Do you mind if we look around?”

“No, of course, go right ahead. I think it’s mostly just painting that needs to be done.” Buck said. 

“We’ll try not to ask you too many questions.” Ms. White said with an understanding smile. 

“I can show you around.” Eddie offered, because he knew how hard it was for Buck to be walking around right now with his head. Even standing upright was hard for him. 

Eddie went with the two women and showed them all around the inside and outside of the house. He explained to them where his house was located and some of what Buck’s plans were with the area. Needless to say by the time they arrived back to Buck, both women were very impressed. 

“Mr. Buckley, I have to admit, I am deeply impressed with your goals for this place. I can’t tell you how many teenagers I’ve had to place in group homes or juvenile facilities, because there are just no foster parents willing to take them on. Or children with special needs or ones that need more attention because they were abused or saw something traumatizing. There are so many kids that need a safe place to be. When you are ready, I would love to be able to sit down and speak with you about it all and see where I can help.” Mrs. Miller said in just awe of Buck. 

“I would love that.” Buck said, slightly surprised. He had been expecting for this meeting to go horrible, just because that’s how everything else in his life was currently going.

“Now, I know you are injured and that you are staying with Mr. Diaz until you are healthy enough to be on your own again. I don’t have a problem with you needing to have some help with Jee-Yun in the short-term. And honestly, I don’t know a single parent that doesn’t need help from people to take care of their child. The fact that Ms. Harris had such a problem with it, I have no idea. The goal is always to keep children with their biological family, even if that means we have to get creative for a few months.” Mrs. Miller said. 

“What would we need to do to have Jee here?” Buck asked.

“Obviously have furniture, but I am assuming that is coming once the work is done.” Mrs. Miller said with a friendly smile. “I will need your permission to speak with your doctors to ensure that your eyesight will be recovered and there are no neurologic issues from your skull fracture. Other than that, you have money, a safe place for Jee-Yun to be. Lots of people are going to be there as a support system. Your physical condition is the only roadblock and you have put a plan in place to accommodate that in the short-term. I don’t see a problem with you having Jee-Yun.” 

It was a relief to hear that he had the CPS worker on his side. The last one from what Buck had been told, was not a very good CPS worker and she was very much against even the concept of Buck having Jee. They needed a win and it was looking like they might have finally gotten one. 

“That’s a relief to hear.” Eddie said on their behalf.

“I genuinely believe that having Jee-Yun here makes the most sense long-term. I don’t see the need to uproot her life again just to make things easier in the short-term. We can make it work and you will have plenty of programs that we offer at your disposal. Especially when you are ready to go back to work and if you still have Jee-Yun you might want to take advantage of some of the daycare options. There are lots of parent and baby groups you could take her to as well. I would encourage you to utilize the resources at your disposal, they can be a lot of help.” Mrs. Miller said. 

“That would be great.” Buck easily agreed.

“Well, I just have a few things that I need you to sign so I can get the documentation that I need. And then I will type up my report for the courts.” Mrs. Miller said.

Buck held his hand out to the kitchen island and they all moved over there. Buck was happy to sign whatever was needed to ensure he would be able to have Jee and keep her until Maddie was able to have her back. Buck had needed a win and he felt that was exactly what he had finally gotten. He was hoping that now things could start to look up and the pieces would fall into place.

Chapter Text

Buck slowly made his way down the hallway towards the living room. Christopher had just gotten home from school with Carla and Buck knew they were going to be doing their Friday night movie night. Buck had been trying to be there for Christopher a bit more since he got out of the hospital. The problem was, he typically felt like shit. He was having to hold onto the wall as he walked. He typically only went from the bed to the bathroom on his own. Whenever he had to walk further he would need Eddie or Tommy’s help to keep him upright. He really wanted to be back in bed, but he wanted to try and have some normalcy for Christopher. Especially because Christopher had been so worried about him since he got to the house. It was hard for him to understand, even at eleven, just how injured Buck was. All three of them had been through so much together, Christopher figured he would bounce back like they always did. Only this time around Buck couldn’t help up quickly and the longer he was injured, the more worried Christopher was getting that he would never be back to his old self. As exhausted as Buck was, Friday Movie Nights, he could do. All he had to do was get to the couch and hopefully never have to move until it was time for Christopher to go to bed.  

They were ten days away from mediation and at this point, Buck had no idea how he was going to be able to do it. He knew he needed to be there. His lawyer said he technically didn’t have to go, but Buck knew he needed to go. It would look horrible on his part if he didn’t show up. He had to go and prove that he was making an effort and that he could do what needed to be done regardless of how he was feeling. He also couldn’t let Bobby, Athena and Eddie sit there across from Hen and Karen and deal with them on their own. Part of Buck was still hoping that one of them realises what they were doing and convinces the other to let this whole thing go. Buck was willing to bet on that voice of reason belonging to Karen, but so far she was apparently using smoke signals or something to communicate with Hen how much of a shitty and horrible thing they were doing was. 

Buck really couldn’t understand it either. Yes, Jee was Chimney’s daughter and yes Hen was Chimney’s best friend. But that should mean she would be willing to do whatever she could to help Buck with Jee. Even if not before the first court hearing, but after when he was given temporary guardianship of her. That would have been a perfect time for some self-reflection. To realise that maybe she needed to honor Maddie’s wishes. Jee’s mother’s wishes. Buck couldn’t help but feel like this whole mess was pointless and one hundred percent avoidable. He would have assumed Hen would have known that he would never hoard Jee. That he would never stop anyone from seeing her. Hell, even Chimney. If it was court ordered, Buck knew he wouldn’t have a choice but to allow Chimney to see Jee. Hen should have known that Buck would reach out to her for help with Jee. They could have easily made a plan or a schedule so everyone could have that chance to bond with Jee. But instead she went straight to the nuclear option. 

He just didn’t get it. It felt like someone had poisoned their drinks and now everyone was acting polar opposite of who they truly are. He never would have thought Maddie would ever leave Jee. Yes, she was struggling with her mental health, but still she knew he would be there for her. She knew he would help her. They could have found a local inpatient program and she could have had all of the support of their family. But she dumped Jee and took off with fifty grand and apparently no interest in getting help or coming back from the looks of things. Hen, who was the most rational and level headed person Buck had ever met, has lost her freaking mind and is trying to steal his niece from him. Then there is Chimney. Chimney, who would never fight or hurt as fly, almost killed him. It took less than a week for him to go completely insane. Buck felt like he was in some weird alternate reality and he just couldn’t figure out how to get back into his own where everything made sense. 

“Hey Buckaroo, how are you feelin’?” Carla asked, as Buck just managed to make it to the end of the hallway. 

Before Buck even had a chance to answer, the front door was being kicked in. All eyes snapped over to the men rushing inside with their guns pointed up at them.

“LAPD SWAT, get on the ground!” The one man in the front yelled as more guys with guns started to flood the house. 

Christopher started screaming and Buck looked over to the both Eddie and Carla grabbing him. There were three guys pointing guns at them and a fourth going to reach for Christopher. 

“Get on the ground!” A male voice shouted and it seemed to snap Carla and Eddie into action. Eddie’s eyes flickering between Christopher and Buck. 

Buck held his hands up, but getting on the ground for him was not that simple. Between his pounding head and his broken rib, he couldn’t get on the ground very fast. Suddenly a man appeared in front of him and Buck felt his whole body turn cold. There standing in front of him with a gun pointed directly at him, was none other than Tommy. 

“Tommy?” Buck softly said. 

“Wrong one.” The man said, as he reached out and grabbed Buck by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to the ground. 

Buck barely had the chance to put his hands out in front of him to prevent himself from landing on his face. His hands were quickly ripped behind him and he felt the metal cuffs digging into his wrists.  

“Tommy, you son of a bitch!” Eddie screamed. 

Not-Tommy, spoke as he dragged Buck up onto his feet. “I’m not Tommy asshole.”

“What do you want with them, Sarg?” One of the guys asked with a nod towards Eddie, Carla and Christopher. 

“Give the guy his kid back. We’re just here for this one.” Not-Tommy answered.

“Where are you taking him?” Eddie demanded, as he shot to his feet. 

“Station thirty-one.” Not-Tommy answered, as he dragged Buck outside and over to a patrol car.

Buck could hear Christopher screaming and crying for him and it broke his head. Not-Tommy was rough as he dragged Buck down the driveway and shoved him into the back of a patrol car. It was a complete difference to how Tommy always handled him. This man was cold and harsh.

The second Buck was placed in the back of a patrol car, he couldn’t help but keep his eyes on Tommy’s lookalike. Tommy had never said anything about having a twin, but clearly he had one. Buck knew Tommy wasn’t lying about his name or being a firefighter. He worked with Bobby, Chimney and Hen. He was currently working at the 217 as a pilot and firefighter. Tommy Kinard, was Tommy Kinard. But that didn’t change the fact that Buck felt a bit betrayed by not knowing that Tommy had an identical twin. Him and Tommy had talked about his relationship with Maddie, but not once did he ever open his mouth and talk about his twin. 

“The man that put me back here. Who is he?” Buck asked the patrol officer who was sitting in the driver’s seat. 

“Sergeant Donovan Rocker. Ladder of 30 Squad with SWAT.”

Buck knew it was a SWAT team when they stormed in. But what he didn’t know was why he was being arrested. It had to be bad if SWAT was coming after him. 

“Do you know why I’m being arrested?” Buck asked, hoping to see if this man would be more forthcoming to him. 

“I don't. I just know they needed someone to transport a suspect to the station.” The patrol officer said, as his eyes flashed up to his rearview mirror. “Do you need medical?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” 

The last thing Buck wanted to do was go to the hospital in cuffs. He wanted this embarrassment to be over. He wanted all of this to be over and done with. Whatever this was. Buck did his best to sit back, but it was awkward with his hands cuffed behind his back. He laid his head back and closed his eyes, trying to get his pulsing headache back under control. All of the sudden movement had done nothing for his headache. Not to mention his sight in his left eye was still barely there and his eye pulsed with pain constantly. Buck really wished he could sleep all of this away, but he knew that wouldn’t be possible. Buck felt the patrol car started to head off and he had to fight with his nausea the whole way to the precinct. 

XXX

Buck sat there in the chair with his hands cuffed in front of him attached to the metal hook in the middle of the table. Buck couldn’t seem to stop the tremble within his frame. He was exhausted, in pain and cold. All he wanted was for whatever this was, to go away so he could go back to Eddie’s and just sleep this nightmare away. Buck knew he would never be able to get Christopher’s cries and screams from his mind. The poor kid had just gotten back from school. They were going to order some food and hang out on the couch watching movies, like they typically did on Friday nights. Now Christopher was traumatized all over again and Buck was sitting in a fucking interogation room and he had no idea why. 

Buck knew Eddie would have called Athena the second he was arrested. Buck had to hope that Athena would be able to get some answers even if he couldn’t. He had to assume it was connected to one of the bullshit articles about him. He didn’t think he needed another lawyer because of the articles. It was pretty clear how ridiculous the claims were. Not to mention none of them were reported by any type of legitimate reporter at all. This should be able to get cleared up pretty quickly. It was clear he wasn’t running meth labs or drugs and guns smuggling rings.

Buck was thankfully not left alone for very long before the door opened and a man walked in who was mid-forties best as Buck could tell. He was wearing a perfectly fitted suit that looked high-end. Buck got the feeling that this wasn’t a detective. 

“I’m Prosecutor Adam Weaver. I will be the prosecutor on your case. Have you been read your rights?” The man said, as he stood on the other side of the table, not even bothering with sitting down. 

“I have. Are you with the DA’s office?” Buck asked, a bit confused. Surely if this guy was with the DA’s office then he would know what was going on with his own case.

“I’m a private prosecutor. I represent my client, who has agreed it would be best to have an outside prosecutor compared to one that works within the District’s Attorney's Office, given the corruption within it.” 

“Ok, I’m confused here. I don’t understand why I was brought in. No one has told me anything. What client? And what corruption?” 

None of this was making any sense to Buck. One minute they were getting ready to have a movie night and the next SWAT was kicking the door down and arresting him. Now this so-called prosecutor was telling him there was corruption within the DA’s office. None of this made any sense.

“You have been arrested on the following charges to start. More will be added as the investigation continues. For now you are charged with; false accusations, false reporting, fabrication of evidence, conspiracy, fraud, perjury, attempted wrongful imprisonment and attempted kidnapping of a minor.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Buck demanded with anger this time.

He couldn’t believe the charges against him. They were all bullshit, they had to be. He didn’t try to kidnap anyone. He didn’t lie and try to get someone in jail. He couldn’t remember anyone telling him about a news article where someone made these claims against him. 

“You have been trying to frame my client, Howard Han, with attempted murder and kidnapping of his own daughter. What you did was a crime and you are facing life in prison. As well as paying millions in restitution. The LAPD and the DA’s Office are helping you to frame an innocent man. More arrests will be made and they will flip on you just to save their own asses.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. I didn’t frame Chimney with anything. He attacked me. The police are the ones that pressed the charges, not me. I told them what happened. Chimney is the one that is currently on the run on two felony warrants. How the hell did he even file a complaint and not get arrested?”

Buck couldn’t believe this shit. Chimney was trying to make it seem like he framed him. Like Chimney was that big and important in Buck’s life that he would go out of his way to get brutally attacked just so he could frame Chimney for almost killing him. Because Chimney was so important and had all of this money that Buck couldn’t resist framing him. 

“What I want to know is why you have been trying to frame my client? You seem to be fighting very hard to get custody of his daughter. What? Did you figure if he wasn’t in the picture then you would get to have her? If so, that is never going to happen. I can’t imagine there is a family judge out there that would award you custody of a child you are trying to steal.” 

“I’m not trying to steal her. I have legal guardianship over Jee. I got it the second Maddie made me her POA and she left. Chimney doesn’t have any parental rights to her. They never did the declaration of paternity. He’s kidnapped her in the eyes of the law. I was awarded guardianship of Jee. These charges are never going to stick. The DA will be called and between him and Sergeant Grant, I’ll be out of here within an hour.”

Buck knew without a doubt there would be no way the DA would ever allow for these charges to stick. Buck didn’t know how a private prosecutor worked, but he couldn’t have all the power in the world. The Da must outrank him or something. Weaver just smirked at Buck before he spoke. 

“They can’t do anything. It’s all at my discretion what I charge someone with and how I handle the case. You are right about being out of here in an hour though. You are being transferred to county where you will wait until a bail hearing is scheduled. I don’t know when it will be. It could take me months before I get all the paperwork in order. But it’s not like you’ll be going anywhere. You sit tight, you’ll be out of here real soon.” Weaver said with a dark chuckle before he turned and headed out of the room. 

Buck felt a cold dread starting to creep up his spine. He had assumed this guy would be here because of the articles. He had never even thought that this could be connected to anything that had to do with Chimney. That he could be charged with crimes that were connected to framing someone. That he could be charged with attempting kidnapping. He didn’t know enough about the law to know if it was actually possible for him to be charged at the same time as Chimney. He would have assumed he couldn’t be. That it would need to be proven that Chimney was framed before charges could be pursued and Buck knew for a fact that Chimney’s innocence hadn’t been proven.

And how the hell did Chimney file a complaint against him and not end up arrested? He should have been arrested the second he walked into a police station to make the complaint. And if this complaint did exist, which Buck had to assume, because he was sitting here, then that meant Chimney was in LA. Buck didn’t understand how he couldn’t be if these charges were here. Which really begged the question why Chimney hadn’t been arrested and why they hadn’t been notified about it, because Buck should have custody of Jee right now.

None of this was making any sense and it was only hurting Buck’s head more. He wanted to believe that Athena would be able to stop this insanity. That the DA would be able to get the charges dropped and he could go the fuck home and just try and pretend like this night never happened. He wanted to hug Christopher and tell him everything had been this horrible misunderstanding and everything would be ok. The problem is it wasn’t starting to feel like it would be ok. Buck didn’t know if Athena would actually be able to get these charges to go away. To be able to get him out of here. If he went to county, Buck knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it. 

He couldn’t go back to a place like that. He couldn’t be in another cage. Trapped at someone else’s mercy. Just the thought of it was making it hard for him to breathe. He couldn’t do a single hour there, much less having to wait around for when he would be able to get in to see a judge about bail. And Buck wasn’t stupid, he knew he was a flight risk. He had too much money and with these charges, there was a chance they wouldn’t allow him to be out on bail. Buck knew he wouldn’t be able to do it. He wouldn’t be able to be locked up for months, never knowing what was going to happen to him. Not knowing when he would get to go home. Not knowing when the next attack would come. He couldn’t do it. 

His hands began to tremble and Buck felt his chest getting tighter. He knew he was on the verge of a panic attack, but he was powerless to stop it. Even being in this room, chained up to the table, he felt like he was back in that hell. Buck knew he needed to get a grip on himself. That right here was not the place for a panic attack, but he just couldn’t seem to stop the memories flooding his mind. It was like it was playing in front of him at a rapid pace. One scene flickering to the next like an old movie projector at the end of the roll. Buck closed his eyes and tried to focus on something else, anything else. He tried to think about his memories with Christopher and Eddie. All of the good memories from the 118. Dinners with Bobby and Athena, but nothing was working. He still felt like he couldn’t breathe. 

Without even thinking about it, Buck went and turned his head and bit down hard into his left bicep. The sudden pain instantly snapped his mind back into the present. Buck released his arm and instantly his bicep had a small ache, but it was nothing compared to the sharp shooting pain along his jaw because he had opened his mouth too wide. Buck had completely forgotten that his jaw was broken. He didn’t even realise he was going to bite himself until he was already doing it. It was something he had started doing while he was held captive. The sudden pain had been the only thing that had managed to stop a panic attack. He had done it afterwards and it took a couple of months before he was able to finally stop and control his anxiety. Buck knew he had been slipping. That he could feel himself losing control of his anxiety. Losing control of his PTSD. But he thought he would be able to handle it. He thought he could do this on his own like he had done the previous times. But as he looked down at the bleeding bite mark in his arm, Buck knew he couldn’t do it alone. The problem was, he didn’t even know if he would get the chance to even try and get better. He didn’t know if he had the strength to keep fighting.

XXX                  

Tommy stormed into the police station and he felt like he was going to explode. He had been at home after working a forty-eight hour shift and all he wanted to do was get some dinner and get some sleep, because he was going to be able to see Buck tomorrow. He had been looking forward to it and it was the only thing that had helped Tommy get through these past two days. They had bad call after bad call. They had lost twelve people, the most Tommy had lost in a single shift in a long time. He was desperately clinging to the fact that he would get to see Buck tomorrow and hopefully wash away the horror of this shift. Only to get a call from Eddie who was ranting and raving about how someone who looked like him had stormed into his home and arrested Buck in front of Christopher. Tommy didn’t need to ask Eddie who he was talking about and Tommy knew there was going to have to be an explanation about who Rocker was to him. Assuming it wasn’t obvious. 

The second he walked through the door he saw Eddie and Bobby standing there. Eddie had his fists clenched and was pacing around the small area while Bobby just looked devastated. He couldn’t see Athena, but he figured as much. 

“You have a fucking twin?” Eddie snapped and Tommy did his best to ignore the accusatory tone to his voice. 

“We haven’t spoken since we were eighteen. And even before that it was far and few in between. We don’t have a relationship. We hate each other.”

This was not a conversation that Tommy wanted to get into, especially right here. He was pissed off enough at his twin. He didn’t need Eddie’s anger to go with it. Tommy was normally very good at being able to control his own emotions, especially his anger. Right now he was currently struggling with remembering he couldn’t kill someone right now. 

“Athena and DA Donovan are trying to figure out what the hell is going on.” Bobby supplied. 

He understood that Eddie was angry, but it wasn’t Tommy’s fault that SWAT showed up at his home. They could only operate on orders. They were doing their jobs, even if it was to arrest an innocent and injured man.

“Do we know anything?” Tommy asked. 

“No. No one will tell us and they won’t let us see Buck.” Eddie growled, as he let out a shaky breath to try and calm himself down. Nothing he did seemed to be working though. He was never going to be able to get Christopher’s screams out of his mind. He was never going to feel safe there ever again. Thankfully, they were moving in about ten days, but that wasn’t going to make it any easier. 

“Athena will get the information. They should be able to clear up whatever this is and Buck can come back home.” Bobby said, trying to soothe both Tommy and Eddie. 

“Is this connected to the articles? I mean, it has to be right?” Tommy said, trying to figure out how any of this even happened. 

“That’s the only thing I can think of. But fuck, everyone should know how much those articles a complete bullshit. Maybe not the general public, but at least LAPD. And if there was an arrest warrant for Buck, why didn’t Donovan know about it?” Eddie asked. 

“Hopefully that is one of the answers we are going to be able to get.” Bobby said.

The three of them all stood around watching as detectives and patrol officers walked around. They kept their eyes locked on the main area of the station hoping that they would be able to see Buck being walked out. Hoping for any sign of something positive to come from this whole mess. Maybe it was a swatting, in which case that was a felony and whoever was behind it would get arrested and maybe they could give them a clue about what was going on with the articles. Or maybe they were some punk kid that thought it was a funny prank to play on someone. In the end they all just wanted this to be from something easy. Something that could make this whole mess disappear and they could go home and try to pretend like none of this ever happened. 

They had no idea how long they were left waiting in limbo. How long they all stood there in the precinct lobby being watched and whispered about. When they finally saw someone they knew, it wasn’t Buck nor Athena, but DA Donovan making his way towards them and by the furrow in his brow, he wasn’t happy.

“What the hell is going on?” Eddie demanded. 

“Keep your voice down.” Donovan snapped in a harsh whisper. The others all moved closer so they could find out what the hell was going on. “They are refusing to drop the charges. These charges didn’t come from my office, but through a private prosecutor.”

“What the hell is that?” Tommy asked. 

“It’s where a private lawyer is allowed to represent a victim in a crime. It’s rare when it happens, but they are legally allowed to have an outside representative should they miss. Again, people don’t, because I am free and a private prosecutor costs about the same as a good defense attorney. And a victim to a crime only makes money when the defendant is found guilty, then they can sue. But again, the defendant would have to have money to get any form of payment out of it. In this case a private prosecutor was called because it is his belief there is corruption within my office.”

“Is there?” Bobby asked.

“No. Prosecutor Adam Weaver was hired by Howard Han.” Donovan started, but Eddie cut him off.

“What the fuck?”   

“How could he hire a prosecutor when he’s on the run?” Tommy quickly added.

“Technically he can’t, but he did. Or someone else signed in his place acting as a POA. Either way, he has charged Buck with false accusation, false reporting, fabricating evidence, conspiracy, fraud, perjury, attempted wrongful imprisonment, attempted kidnapping of a minor. All charges are related to framing Han for the attempted murder and kidnapping of his daughter.”

“Son of a bitch.” Tommy growled out. 

He had to take a few shaky breaths in to try and calm himself down. He wanted to punch the fucking wall right now. Hell, he wanted to punch Chimney and see how he liked having a broken jaw. 

“Those are all felonies.” Bobby said, horrified.