Chapter Text
It took four long hours of Buck holding and scenting Maddie for her to show signs of recovery. Buck was unaware when her eyes started fluttering open, but he did feel the minute shifts she made in his arms before she started making questioning noises.
Buck’s breath hitched. Could she really be coming back to them? “Maddie?” There were notes of trepidation in his voice, but hints of hope were present as well.
“Buck?” But god did she sound awful ; like death incarnate. Her voice was gravelly, and it was clear to the omega that she was parched. She tried to sit up, but her brother wouldn’t let her.
“No, Mads. Not yet. You’re still really weak. Let me just keep scenting you for now.” He was so relieved that she was awake. He had been so scared that she was never going to wake up again.
“Wha-what happened?”
Before Buck answered her, he handed Maddie a water bottle so that she could take small sips and soothe her throat from where she was lying down. He squeezes her a little tighter as he says, “you were nesting , Maddie. I-I-I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it. I was so scared that our last interaction was going to be words of anger.” Tears were dripping down his face, but he made no move to wipe them away because that would require taking away one of his wrists that was still scenting her.
At the mention of that fateful phone call, Maddie bursts into tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Buck. You’re right: I’m just like Mom and Dad. I’m a terrible sister and you deserve so much better than me.” She’s shaking in his arms now, and Buck just holds her tighter to try to calm her.
“No, Maddie, no. Yeah, how you treated me during the lawsuit was shitty, but you were in a really difficult spot. And I never once doubted that you still loved me. What I said to you was cruel. I was so hurt that I wanted you to feel hurt, too. But you’re nothing like Mom and Dad.”
Maddie shakes her head. “You’re-you’re wrong,” she hiccups. “You don’t know.”
“I don’t know what?”
Maddie takes a deep breath before saying, “you don’t know about Daniel.”
Buck pulls up short. Whatever answer he was expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. He’s so confused: who is Daniel? He’s never heard that name connected to their family before, so how could it make his sister feel this terrible? “Daniel?”
“Our brother,” Maddie admits.
Buck inhales sharply. “What do you mean, ‘brother’? I always thought that I was an ‘oops’ baby and that was why Mom and Dad resented me.”
“You weren’t an accident.” Maddie sounds breathy, like all the air she takes in comes right back in her voice when she talks. “You’re also not the first Buckley to have cancer. Daniel died from leukemia about a year and a half after you were born.”
Buck’s body stiffens. “If I wasn’t an accident, and he had cancer…”
“None of us were a match.” Maddie doesn’t outright say what he’s thinking, but she confirms it all the same: Buck was a savior baby. And clearly not a very good one at that if their brother still died. Just a baby and already a failure. No wonder his parents can’t stand him.
Buck needed to get out of there. He needed to breathe . From what he could tell, Maddie was stable, so leaving her wouldn’t impact her health. “I, I need to go,” he stammers out as he disentangles himself from their embrace.
He hurries out of the room, running into Chim who was pacing in the hallway. Buck can tell the beta has been pulling at his hair thanks to his new Einstein look.“Is she?”
“She’s alive,” he confirms. Chimney exhales, and Buck can see his body loosen from relief. “I, um, I have to go, but you should, uh, you should go in there.” With that, Buck fled the apartment.
He doesn’t stop to wait for the elevator, instead opting to run down the stairs. He quickly finds his jeep, phone in his hand as he dials Bobby’s number. It rings in his lap as he starts his car, and it picks up the call as he pulls out of the parking lot.
“Buck?”
“Bobby,” the omega whimpers.
There’s an urgency in Bobby’s tone as he asks, “What’s wrong?”
“I know it’s late,” Buck sniffles, “and we’re supposed to see each other later this week, but would it be okay if I came by?” Buck’s knuckles are white where they grip his steering wheel, and he’s not sure what he’s going to do if Bobby says no.
“Of course, Buck. You’re welcome here anytime. Always. I’ll put on some tea and it should be ready by the time you get here.”
When Bobby opens his front door, he’s expecting to see Buck on his doorstep. What he’s not prepared for, however, is the haunted look that graces the omega’s face. He’s downright ghastly. He looks worse than when he had a fire engine on top of him, than when he was caught in a fucking tsunami . Buck’s never looked so lost before in his life.
The omega looks up at him, and Bobby can see the glossy look in his eyes and his red cheeks. It’s obvious that he’s been crying, and there’s nothing more that Bobby wants than to envelop the boy in his arms. “Bobby,” the omega whimpers, and the alpha’s heart just breaks.
“Buck. C’mere.” Bobby opens his arms, and Buck all but throws himself into the other man.
“I, I, I didn’t know what to do,” Buck says through the sobs that shake him.
Bobby rubs his hands up and down Buck’s back. “Of course you did, kid. You came here. You came home .”
Buck is gripping him tightly, and Bobby can start to feel his shirt become wet from the omega’s tears. Bobby doesn’t rush him. He just keeps holding the other man, following his lead on when to let go. When Buck does eventually slacken his grasp on the older man, Bobby gently leads Buck inside and has him sit on the couch.
Once Buck is settled, Bobby goes into the kitchen and pours the tea he made into two mugs. Even if Buck doesn’t end up drinking it, he knows the warmth from the mug will bring him comfort regardless.
“Thanks,” Buck says softly as he accepts one of the mugs from Bobby.
“Anytime, Buck.” Bobby sits down next to the omega, turning to face him. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Buck doesn’t look at the alpha, opting to keep his gaze intense on the contents of his cup. “I just found out that my parents never wanted me.”
Bobby’s breath hitches. It’s such an absurd thought, that someone could never want this absolute ball of sunshine of a person, that he can’t even fathom it. Surely Buck is mistaken?
Buck lets out a humourless laugh. “I didn’t have the best childhood, you know? It’s not like my parents abused me. They never laid a hand on me and there was always food on the table. But it never really felt like they cared . The only time they acted like they cared was when I was hurt. It got to the point where I was purposely getting hurt just to get a smidgen of affection from them.
“I always thought that they just didn’t want kids, but were stuck with me. I couldn’t have been more wrong. They did want kids, just not me . They wanted Daniel . And it’s my fault he’s dead.”
Bobby couldn’t be more confused. Who’s Daniel, and how could it possibly be Buck’s fault that he died? “Buck, what--”
“Daniel was our brother,” Buck interrupts. “Or, Maddie’s brother. He got sick, cancer, just like me, isn’t that ironic? He needed a donor, but none of them were a match. So they made one. Me. And I was a match, but it still didn’t matter and he died anyway. I was defective. I was the reason that their son died, and they never loved me because of it. They had to live with the walking reminder of the son that they loved and lost.”
Bobby is horrified . What Buck is describing is despicable, and he can’t believe that these people, if you could even call them that, were allowed to raise children. Bobby’s heart breaks for the Buckley siblings all over again.
“Buck, none of what happened was your fault. Do you hear me? It’s unfortunate what happened to Daniel, but you are not the reason that he’s dead. They might have clothed and fed you while you were growing up, but they were never your parents.”
Bobby is crying now, upset for the boy and upset at everything that had transpired in the past. “Buck, I am so, so sorry for making you feel unwelcome in our pack. When you almost died, I couldn’t handle myself. I don’t know when it happened, but you’ve become a son to me, and I couldn’t lose another child. I was just trying to protect you, but I realize now how I was only causing you more pain. I can never apologize enough for the pain you’ve caused me. But if you wanted, I would be honored to be your dad, and there’s not a doubt in my mind that Athena also views you as her son.”
Buck has finally looked up at Bobby, and he has tears to match his father’s. “Re-really?”
“Absolutely.”
Buck flings himself at Bobby, and the two take a few minutes to scent each other while they hug.
“Thank you, Bobby,” Buck sniffles out sometime later. “I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that.” He lets out a shuddering breath. “But what do I do about Maddie? She knew this whole time, and she kept everything from me.”
Bobby makes an understanding noise. “I understand that, but we should also look at her perspective of things. She was just a pup when Daniel got sick and died. And you’re right that your parents weren’t physically abusive, but they were emotionally and mentally abusive to each of you. Yes, she’s older, but she still grew up in the same household. Then, she went on to be abused in every sense of the word for years with Doug. Should she have told you? Yes. But I’m sure she was just trying to protect you, because she loves you.”
“I guess I never thought about it like that. Maddie has sacrificed so much for me over the years, it’s not fair to suggest that she would keep this from me for any other reason besides love.”
Bobby cuffs Buck’s neck. “It’s late. How about you stay the night here, then go talk to her tomorrow?”
Buck nods his head. “Yeah, thank you, Bobby.”
Bobby leads him to their guest bedroom and gets him some spare clothes. “Of course, Buck. Get some sleep. I love you, kiddo.”
He starts crying again, but this time they’re happy tears. “I love you too, Bobby.”
After a night at Bobby and Athena’s with enough time to think about everything that he had learned that day and all the things he had discussed with Bobby, Buck knows in his heart that the alpha was right: Maddie would never intentionally hurt him and he owed it to her, and himself, to bury the hatchet once and for all.
When Chimney opens the door, Buck can read the relief that’s all over his face. “Buck,” he breathes, “I’m so glad you came back.”
Buck kicks the floor right in front of his feet.“How’s, uh, how’s Maddie doing?”
Chim runs his hand through his hair as he admits, “She’s out of the nesting haze, but she’s still just besides herself. I wouldn’t be surprised if she slipped back into nesting if things don’t turn around soon.”
Buck lets out a small, pained smile. “Well, let’s see if we can fix that, yeah?” He follows Chimney inside to find Maddie curled up on the couch, which is better than her still being in their bed.
“Hey, Mads,” Buck says gently as he eases himself down next to her.
She turns to him, not quite believing that he’s actually there. “Buck?”
Buck reaches his wrist out to scent her, and Maddie leans into the touch. Buck gives her a sad smile, tears leaking down his face. “I went and talked to Bobby last night. I, uh, was clearly in a bad place yesterday after learning about Daniel, but Bobby helped me see things from your point of view. And while I am upset that it took you this long to tell me, I understand why it did. And I just want to let you know that I forgive you, Maddie, for everything. I love you, and I don’t want to go through life without you.”
Maddie had started crying during his speech, and she moved so that she could wrap her younger brother in a hug. “Thank you, Buck,” she says into his nape. “I’m sorry for everything. I love you so much, and I don’t ever want us to have another period where we’re not talking. I don’t think I could survive it.”
“Me either.”
From his position at the edge of the room, Chimney wipes away a tear that escapes from the sight of the Buckley siblings reuniting, together at last.
Buck is giddy as he and Eddie find a table at the bar for trivia. He’s still not totally sure that Eddie is going to have a fun time, but he’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Eddie invited him to trivia, and Buck is going to show off his superior random knowledge in the hopes of winning free beer.
Just like every other time he’s hung out with a Diaz, Eddie gave him a gift. This time, it was a couple of water color painted bookmarks. The alpha told him how he and Chris went to the farmer’s market on Sunday, and the pup helped him pick out a few bookmarks that they thought the omega would like. Buck was so touched that he insisted on swapping out the bookmark he was currently using with one of his new ones before they were allowed to go.
Eddie finds a table that is to his liking before ushering Buck into a seat and leaving to get them a pitcher of beer and some glasses. Buck is tasked with coming up with a team name for them. He sports an evil smirk as he locks in “Di-ass.”
When Eddie gets back to the table with their drinks, he takes one look at their name before giving Buck a disappointed look. “Really, Buck? ‘Di-ass?’ You’re going to be teaching the future of America and this is the name you come up with?”
Buck just raises one eyebrow at him, asking, “your point?”
Eddie shakes his head. “You’re unbelievable.”
Buck grins back at him. “You love it.”
The alpha blushes as he admits, “yeah. I do.”
Once the trivia starts, things go exactly how Buck thought they would: Eddie is extremely bad and doesn’t know any answers. Lucky for him, Buck is a walking encyclopedia, so they’re not doing too bad.
After the seventh straight answer that Eddie didn’t know but Buck did, he throws his hands in the air and asks the other man, "Seriously, how do you know all of this stuff?”
“It’s called ADHD, and it’s my superpower,” the omega retorts. “You should try it some time.”
Eddie laughs. “Yeah, I’m not so sure it works like that.”
“Oh well. You’re just doomed to be bad at trivia forever, then. I guess this means you’ll always have to be on my team.” Eddie might not like trivia, but he doesn’t look too put off by the idea of always being on Buck’s team. In fact, the omega can see a silly, happy little smile on his face as he reaches for his drink.
The rest of the night goes by in a blur, the two of them laughing and bantering while Buck continues to prove his prowess at trivia. They end up winning, and their prize is two free pitchers of beer. They opt to have their first pitcher comped and then order their second pitcher. They’re definitely going to have to uber home, but a plan is quickly made that Buck will pick Eddie up tomorrow so that they can come back for his truck.
With each drink they drift closer and closer, content to exist in the other’s vicinity. Their laughter is contagious, and each time one of them starts to laugh, the other isn’t far behind him.
Buck doesn’t know the last time he was this happy. He finally has his whole pack, his whole family , back. There are no more rifts, no more tears. He’s missed them all so much, and it feels as though everything is back on track. He’s back where he belongs: he’s finally home.