Chapter Text
Even though Athena wished for it very much, it wasn't completely over. So, Lucy was dead, Sommers was in prison, in this context no one was in danger anymore, but it couldn't be said that it was completely over. The actions of Lucy and Sommers had an impact on everyone, on Buck, Eddie, Christopher, the fire department.
Eddie had no idea what it all entailed when someone is shot in your house. And this, even if it is a criminal. Waiting for the arrival of the coroner to confirm the death, even though there was no doubt about the death or the cause, the questioning of the victim, that is, Eddie, the photographing of the body and all the evidence found at the scene, the evidence of footprints, the evidence of blood spatter. The whole procedure took almost two hours. Two endless hours during which Eddie had to stay at home. On the crime scene.
Eddie didn't feel well at all. He didn't understand it; he had seen the dead people so many times, in the war in Afghanistan, during calls, in traffic accidents, during fires, so why did the sight of dead Lucy terrify him so much? Because this was different. It wasn't a state of war, it wasn't even work, it was personal. It happened at his home. And it was close, he could have been the one dead, or Chris. If only…
In his head, the entire scene kept replaying over and over again. Lucy standing in the doorway of his house. Lucy aiming her weapon at him. Lucy asking about Chris. Lucy and her wide-open eyes when the bullet passed through her head. And blood. A lot of blood. Eddie knew that the human body contains approximately five litters of blood, but he had the feeling that perhaps all of Lucy's had spilled out in his kitchen. Blood, Eddie first looked at his trembling hands and then at the pool of blood soaking into the wooden floor. He still felt that smell – the metallic scent of blood. Eddie knew that the stains would remain in it forever. Even if he scrubbed the floor, even if he replaced it, those marks would never disappear. Eddie will never forget that sight. He knew it, and so did everyone at the scene.
"Eddie," Athena gently touched his hand, "Eddie, you should go."
"Where to?" he looked at her with bewildered eyes, "I, I..."I have nowhere to go...here, here…“ his gaze fell again on the bloodstain, "Here..."
"Bobby is on his way here, he'll take you to our home." She said in a tone that brooked no discussion, "You and Chris can stay with us as long as you need to, until..." she didn't finish the sentence. She herself suspected that Eddie would never return to this house again. Not after what happened here.
"Ehm," Eddie just nodded weakly, unable to think, his mind in total disarray. "Chris...I...I Christopher, I need to find Chris, he should be home any minute now...Carla called, that, that…”
"Chris is fine, Eddie, Carla took him to our place. He is with May," Athena spoke softly, Eddie was still in shock, not thinking rationally, he was closed off in his head.
"Lucy...Lucy...she said that if Buck doesn't exchange the recording for my life, maybe she'll exchange it for Christopher's...Lucy…Chris, Chris will be home soon...” Athena felt a significant sense of relief when she saw Bobby at the door.
"He is in shock," whispered Athena, "Bobby, please take him to us."
Bobby didn't wait for anything, gently took Eddie by the shoulders, and led him away from the scene, from his house. Eddie, who couldn't stop staring at the blood-stained floor, let himself be led away. He silently followed Bobby to his car. As soon as he was gone, Athena took another look at the crime scene. She had to think about everything; they wanted to get Lucy, yes, but to arrest her, not to shoot her outright.
"Agent Donovan," Detective Ransone stated firmly, "we're going to need your service weapon... protocol, you know how it is."
The agent did not respond, silently handing his weapon to the on-duty police officer. He knew what would follow: the paperwork, the weapon check, the ballistic test, even though there was no doubt about who had fired. And above all, the investigation into whether the shooting was justified. But the agent had the advantage of several witnesses who saw Lucy Donato point a gun at the policewoman, he had no choice. The shooting was justified, at least that's how it will be written in the final report.
---
A few days later, Athena was taking down the photographs of Lucy, Sommers, Buck, and everyone who had anything to do with the case from the bulletin board. The case was definitively closed. Sommers was in custody, Lucy was dead. There was no one left to chase, they had enough evidence against Sommers, at least to link him to the kidnapping, torture, and attempted murder of Buck. Lucy? Lucy was dead, there was nothing that could be done about it.
The rest of the investigation, wherever Sommers had contacts, Sommers' bribes to influential people, all of that was already the responsibility of the FBI. This fell within their jurisdiction. Athena's and the detective's role in the entire case was over. And Athena didn't like it at all. Something kept bothering her, something just didn't sit right with her.
"I know that look," Detective Ransone muttered as he placed the file in the box. The very next day, they send it all off to the FBI, "So what's biting you?"
"I actually don't even know myself," she shook her head, "Something...something is just missing for me...something is wrong, I just don't know what."
The detective knew Athena, he knew her all too well, so he just wearily sat down in the chair behind his desk, knowing that when something didn't sit right with Athena, she wouldn't let go of it until she uncovered everything down to the smallest details. "Alright, what's bothering you..."
"I really don't know," she rubbed her eyes, "the whole case, the whole thing is just..."
"Athena," the detective looked at her, "We have Sommers, we stopped him before he could kill Buck, we stopped Lucy before she could kill Eddie, we secured the recording, we have witness interrogations, we uncovered corruption within the fire department," he smiled slightly at her, "we've done a much better job in many ways than the entire famous FBI."
"Exactly," Athena snapped slightly irritated, "tell me how Sommers knew about the recording when even the FBI didn't know about it? Why didn't the FBI uncover Sommers' bribes when they investigated him so thoroughly? Why...”
"Hold on, Athena," the detective raised his hands to stop the flood of her words, "are you suggesting that the FBI agents, or one of the agents," he paused for a moment, "are involved in all of this?"
"Lou," Athena tried to convince him, "it would make sense. Dobson has been denying the whole time, or trying to convince us that no recording exists, Sommers won't tell us how he found out that Buck accidentally saved it to his cloud, they coincidentally sent us to Pennsylvania even though they must have known long ago that what happened to Buck there has nothing to do with this, they didn't even interrogate Maddie...and Lucy's death? By accident, an agent who has been behaving like this towards us the whole time shoots her....”
"How I am behaving, Sergeant?" she heard Agent Dobson's voice.
"Agent?" Athena measured him with a hard gaze, wanting to see a reaction, any reaction.
The agent, however, merely smirked slightly, disdainfully, "Sergeant Grant-Nash," he stepped closer to her, not raising his voice, not making any sudden movements, but still, in his body posture, in the tone of his voice, in the way he looked at her, "you wouldn't want to imply that I'm somehow involved in the case, would you? This could have very serious consequences for you," his gaze slid to the detective, "and for your colleague. I already told you once that your imagination is not enough to build a case, you need evidence, and that…” he picked up one of the prepared boxes, "you don't have it," he looked at the boxes with evidence, "and you never will."
"Not yet," Athena replied, "but...."
"I'll give you the same advice I gave you when we first met," he stepped closer to Athena, "don't get in my way. It might not have a positive impact on your career...or your...you know… positive impact. And besides, the FBI investigation is still ongoing, and we don't know...” he deliberately paused to add weight to his words, "we don't know who all Sommers collaborated with and what those people are capable of. I wouldn't want to...if something happened to you.”
"Are you threatening me?" she asked Athena, even though she knew very well what the agent meant.
"Just a friendly piece of advice," added the agent, "It was very interesting working with you, Sergeant." He turned to the detective, "With you too, detective, and I hope you keep an eye on your colleague, such a valuable officer is hard to come by. It would be a shame if...." He didn't finish the sentence. It wasn't necessary. They both understood his silent threat. With that, the agent left their office.
Barely had the door closed behind him when Athena exploded, "That bastard, I'll get him..."
"Athena..." the detective tried it.
"I swear I won't rest until..." Athena continued, as if she hadn't heard him.
"Athena," the detective tried again.
"WHAT?" she shouted at him more sharply than she intended.
"It's over." He said only the detective.
"No, it's not over, Lou, you heard him, he practically... threatened me... us. He practically said...”
"He said we have no evidence," the detective said calmly. "And he's right. We have nothing against him. And when it might have sounded like a threat," he noticed the expression on her face, "okay, it was a threat…but he's right. We have nothing, no evidence, nothing that would connect him to Sommers, to Lucy…”
"Except for the fact that he killed her," Athena snapped sourly.
"According to the report, the shooting was justified. Lucy was suspected of serious crimes, she threatened an LAFD officer with a weapon in his home, she aimed at an undercover police officer... I'm sorry, Athena," he didn't like what he just said either, "But we lost. We will never be able to connect him to anything."
"He's a bastard," Athena remarked, "a fucking bastard," she was not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation. She knew, or rather suspected, that Dobson was somehow involved, but she had to admit that Lou was right. At the moment, they had nothing against the agent, "I don't like it. I don't like it at all." But deep down, she knew she wouldn't rest until everyone paid for what they had done, even if it cost her her career.
"Neither do I," the detective agreed with her. But deep down, he knew she wouldn't rest until everyone paid for what they had done, even if it cost her her career.
---
Neither Athena nor the detective were the only ones unhappy with the case being closed. Buck wasn't pleased with how everything turned out either. LAFD initiated its own investigation into the entire situation, Sommers' actions, bribery, Chief Cox was placed on leave, and a thorough investigation was conducted into him and all the people he was related to or had friendly ties with. So far, everything was fine. But Buck wanted more.
Buck wanted his happy ending. Every story deserves a happy ending, at least that's what Buck thought when he was still a child. That all stories deserve a happy ending, but unfortunately, life is not a fairy tale or a romantic movie. Life is a cruel reality, and reality doesn't always have a happy ending. At least he thought about this when he held a letter from the fire department headquarters in his hand. …A regrettable mistake occurred... He had read it several times already, and the more often he read the letter, the greater his anger grew.
The letter arrived several weeks after the FBI officially closed the entire case. His injuries healed, and although he still went to rehabilitation, he was able to return to work. Just light duty, it said in the report for his commanding officer. And so Buck was back at the station, once again as auxiliary staff, as he called himself.
He was furious, still at the headquarters, folded, tucked into his pocket. He was just helping Bobby prepare dinner for the whole station, and Bobby couldn't help but notice his miserable mood.
"What did that pot do to you?" asked Bobby when Buck slammed the pot of water onto the stove with all his strength. He placed it down so forcefully that some of the water splashed onto Bobby's work shirt.
"A regrettable mistake," Buck said, continuing to angrily pull out the dishes. It was a cacophony of sounds as Buck alternately opened drawers and cupboards angrily, then closed them again. From the kitchen, only the clattering of dishes, the slamming of cabinet doors, and Buck's voice could be heard, constantly repeating, "A regrettable mistake."
"Can you tell me what's going on?" asked Bobby.
"A mistake is when you forget to give the child a snack," he opened the cupboard and then slammed it shut again, "A mistake is going through a red light," he opened the drawer forcefully, causing some of its contents to spill onto the floor. The spices were scattered everywhere. Buck looked angrily at the mess, "A mistake is spilling spices. A mistake is forgetting to buy tickets... this wasn't a mistake.”
"Buck?" Bobby started again, more cautiously, "Don't you want to tell me what happened?"
"Do you know what a regrettable mistake is, Bobby? Do you know what is considered a regrettable mistake by the headquarters?” Buck reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter, waving it frantically in the air, "According to the headquarters, ruining my life is a regrettable mistake. Making me a beggar is a regrettable mistake. Publicly humiliating me is a regrettable mistake. Destroying my career is a regrettable mistake...."
"Buck, Buck," Bobby patted Buck on the shoulder in an attempt to calm him down a bit. "Breathe in, breathe out, and calmly tell me what's going on."
"I'll tell you what's going on," Buck snapped angrily, unfolded the letter, and shoved it right under Bobby's nose, "This is a regrettable mistake. My life, my entire career, my reputation, my friends... according to headquarters, it was just a regrettable mistake. Forget it and move on..." he hissed through clenched teeth.
Bobby carefully took the letter from Buck and began to read. The more he read, the more he understood why Buck was so furious. It was a formal letter, even the signature was typed. They didn't even have the decency to have the chief's apology signed personally. The letter merely stated that in handling his case of breach of duty and disobedience to a superior's order, a regrettable mistake had occurred and the situation had been misjudged. Buck was reimbursed retroactively for all the finances he was deprived of due to this error, his record will be expunged, and his punishment was revoked. Nothing more. Bobby understood why Buck was so furious and decided not to let it go.
---
Buck had the next two days off, looking forward to work, but as he approached the station, he became quite uncertain. The gathered people made him feel that something was happening. In the lobby of station 118, it was almost impossible to move. Not only were shifts A, B, and C gathered here, but Buck also recognized the faces of firefighters from station 133 in the crowd. He nervously looked around and was overcome by an unpleasant feeling.
"EVERYONE ATTENTION!" Bobby's commanding voice was heard as he tried to outshout all the attendees who were chatting among themselves. Everyone lined up as if on command, 118 in the front, and 133 in the back. Buck stood somewhere roughly in the middle. There was little space everywhere, and people were jostling against each other. In the station hall, a strange tension was palpable. Bobby stood on the steps to be well seen, Tommy Kinard, unusually serious, stood right next to him, on his right side. On the left stood the acting commander of station 133. Buck definitely didn't like this.
"I know that the morning briefing with the participation of all three shifts, and..." he looked at the acting commander, "and members of unit 133 is unusual, but we have our reasons for it." He descended the stairs, slowly walked over to the prepared portable television, holding the remote control in his hand. "This, what you are about to see, needs no commentary." He pressed the play button.
The first shots didn't show anything that everyone hadn't experienced many times before. The footage from the fire truck, or rather, it was footage from a body camera attached to the chest of one of the firefighters, and Buck knew very well whose camera it was. He watched the footage with his mouth agape, and he wasn't the only one. All the firefighters were silent, staring at the screen, trying to understand what they were seeing.
A shot of Sommers was running on the screen. "We need two teams inside! Donato, Murphy, Vasquez on the south side, the rest on the north side. There could be civilians there!”
… "Sir," Buck's voice could be heard, "Sir, the bridge is made of aluminium alloy and…," the second metal was not clearly audible over the crackling fire, "…it's too hot. Sir, That bridge won't hold..”
… "That's not your business, Buckley," Sommers shouted sharply, "I gave orders..."
"Sir, it's going to collapse. If they go down the southern staircase, everyone will die…” shouted Buck on the footage.
"Listen, Buckley," Sommers leaned closer to the camera in the footage, clearly furious, "I don't care if that nigger, that Jewish bitch, or that faggot gets killed. I gave the order, and you will carry it out. And if you don't, I'll destroy you, and now get to that southern bridge...
"...,No sir," they heard Buck's voice, "...I won't let them cross a bridge that will collapse and kill them." And I'll put you in the report...”
"...one more word, Buckley, and you'll be..." the rest was not audible. The footage on the camera showed Buck running towards his colleagues..."We're going north side..." Then the sound of firefighters' boots thundering down the stairs was heard, followed by a loud crackling. Buck, or rather his camera, turned just as the southern bridge collapsed into the flames with a deafening crash.
No one in the hall made a sound. There was complete silence here, interrupted only by the sounds of the recording. Everyone knew what had just happened. If they had followed the original plan, all three of them would be dead by now. The recording ran for several more long minutes, maybe ten, maybe fifteen. Bobby didn't force them to watch the entire recording of the intervention, just the most crucial part.
"This," Bobby paused the playback, "is what really happened in the warehouse. Firefighter Buckley," all eyes turned to Buck, who visibly became nervous, "on behalf of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I hereby thank you for disobeying a direct order from the chief and thus saving the lives of your colleagues." Bobby looked around the hall, everyone was still standing at attention, their faces showing a shocked expression. Only Buck's face was slightly pink, he was smiling, and tears were glistening in his eyes.
"Thank you, sir," he whispered barely audibly.
And then Bobby did one more thing, he raised his hand to his forehead, saluted, and everyone else, without him having to give an order, followed his lead. Buck, all flustered by the attention, by the respect he had just received, didn't know what to do. He looked around and then simply let his emotions flow. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, he felt great. Finally, he had his happy ending.
---
A few months later, Buck stood with Maddie in the room of her and Chimney's house. Jee-Yun was quietly sleeping in her crib, Buck was nervously fidgeting, and grimacing as Maddie adjusted his tie. "I'm so proud of you,"
Buck looked just like a teenager whose parents were forcing him to go to Sunday school against his will, "I don't understand why I have to wear this thing, it doesn't even..."
"Because it is an extraordinary and very significant event that happens only once in a life," she replied calmly, "and now the shoes, we have to go, otherwise we'll be late for your own...."
"We have time," he said, shifting and discreetly loosening the too-tight knot. Maddie just rolled her eyes. She was incredibly proud of him, of what he had achieved, how far he had come, and especially that after everything, he had given them a chance. That he was able to forgive her and allowed her to be present in his life. And for that, she loved him immensely. No, their relationship wasn't the same as when they were children, they weren't as close as they used to be, but if she could judge, their relationship was on the right track. They regularly visited each other, spent joint dinners together whenever their schedules allowed.
Maddie was honestly quite busy taking care of her daughter, Buck spent time at work or with Tommy. When things returned, well, almost to normal, it was Buck who took the first step towards Tommy. It was he who one day decided that when the fire department retroactively paid him his lost wages and all the bonuses, he no longer needed to live with Tommy and could return to his apartment. Honestly, Tommy was sad about it; over time, he had gotten used to Buck, he was glad to be living with him, hoping that they might finally get together, that there could be something more between them than just a relationship between two colleagues or roommates, and then, one day, out of nowhere, Buck came and said he wanted to return to his apartment.
"...If you hadn't made that stupid promise to Bobby that you'd keep your…ehm… horns in check while I'm under your roof, I would have stayed..." he told Tommy back then, closing the door behind him. He didn't forget to give Tommy a bright smile while doing so. And it took Tommy exactly three seconds to run after him into the hallway and accompany him to his apartment, and there....
"Earth to Buck," Maddie smiled, "let's go. Otherwise, we'll really be late.”
"We have time," Buck repeated again.
"Don't you remember what always happens when the two of us go out together for..."
"Shut up!" shouted Buck, "Don't summon it!"
---
"We'll be late," grumbled Tommy. Dressed in the best suit he had, with a tie, clean-shaven, he smelled of the finest cologne.
"Well, I don't know," Hen laughed, "whether you're more nervous or Buck."
"I'm not nervous," Tommy shook his head, "just...just..."
"It's just a special day," added Bobby, "for all of us. Alright, let's get inside so we aren't the last ones." He said in his commanding tone. And then they found themselves in the hall, quietly settling into their seats, Chimney next to Maddie, Bobby with Athena, Hen with Karen, Eddie with Christopher, who was supposed to be at school that day, but Eddie decided that Chris couldn't miss this moment. And of course Tommy, who looked more than proud. He looked at Buck with a loving gaze. And then they just waited for that moment.
"Evan Buckley," came the call from the stage, where the principal of the high school Buck had successfully completed less than a month ago stood with Buck's diploma ready in hand. Buck took a deep breath and accepted the diploma, and at that moment, he heard thunderous applause. With a smile, he looked at his friends, his family who were looking at him proudly. This was a moment he would never forget.