Chapter Text
Chapter One
February 19th
The week after Valentine’s Day was one of the quietest weeks of the year. February 14th itself was always crazy, with romance-related mishaps happening left, right, and centre, but the week that followed? Nope. Most of the time, the firefighters on shift just stayed at the firehouse, but there were still the occasional idiots that required a visit from the fire department.
The 118 had just finished a callout to a man who got his head stuck in between the posts of his railing on his porch. It was a simple call, and the man didn’t even need a visit to the hospital, so the entire team returned to the firehouse at the same time. By the time they returned, Eddie, Chimney, Hen, Bobby and Ravi were all laughing as they tried to figure out just how the hell the man had managed to get his head stuck that way.
Buck had been the man behind that day. Everyone had to be the man behind at some point, and normally the post was kept open for if someone needed light duty or if someone was in the doghouse. That particular day, the only reason Buck was the man behind was because it was his turn. Simple as. He wasn’t in any trouble or hurt, at least not that time.
As they stepped out of the truck, the sweet smell of what could only be Buck’s secret chilli recipe had enveloped the firehouse. It wasn’t often Buck cooked since it was normally Bobby who was in charge of the kitchen, but the five of them all gave cheers when they realised what was cooking on the stove.
“Aw yeah! Buckley Chilli!” Chimney exclaimed, punching the air.
“One day I will get that recipe,” Hen stated with a huge grin. No, she never would. Not even Maddie knew the recipe, and of all people, you’d think she would know.
Eddie watched all of this unfold with a fond smile as he hung up his turnout coat. It had been a bit of a crazy past year for everyone. From Eddie getting shot, to the blackouts, to Maddie and Chimney disappearing for months, it was a lot for everybody. But it hadn’t been all bad. In the wake of Eddie leaving the hospital, he and Buck finally got together after months of pining. Christopher had been overjoyed, and within a few months Buck had moved into the Diaz household. Chimney and Jee-Yun returned with Maddie in tow after a few months away, and though nothing had been instantly fixed, every time Eddie saw Maddie she seemed to be doing a lot better. Hen was well on her way to becoming a doctor, and she and Karen had a new foster child staying with them. Ravi had grown up a lot since joining the team. He was a good firefighter with great instincts of his own now. More often than not, when Eddie looked to Bobby, the captain was beaming with pride at his team.
Everything was going great. It was like the team was back to how they were meant to be. Just a few months ago they celebrated Christmas together, Eddie and Buck’s second anniversary was coming up in May, Christopher was in the middle of his first year of middle school, it was all wonderful. Eddie couldn’t think of a time he had ever been this happy.
The team put their gear away and began to climb the stairs. They were all starving and lunch smelled wonderful. As they climbed up to the loft, they continued their conversations but as they got to the top of the stairs, they all went quiet as they heard Buck speak.
“You want me to come and work for you? Me?” Buck said. Once he was in everyone’s sight, they saw that Buck was in the kitchen with his back turned to them. He had a phone pressed between his ear and shoulder, one hand stirring a pot on the stove and the other shaking in some herbs. “That is… Wow, okay that is a huge honour, man!”
The team slowed. They all shared looks, confused and concerned, coming to a stop at the dining table. When they looked at Eddie, he just shrugged. Buck didn’t seem to notice their arrival, not turning around and only moving to return the herbs to their place in the cupboard. Buck shook his head, taking the phone in his hand to switch ears.
“Look, Steve…” he started. His voice sounded… sad. “Me coming to work for you? Dream come true. Honestly, if you had asked me like three years ago, I would have said yes without a second thought,” Buck’s shoulders dropped, “but it’s not just me I’ve got to think about now. There’s Chris and Eddie, and my team, I can’t just leave them all behind and move to Hawaii. I’m sorry, man. The answer’s gotta be no.”
Buck wasn’t on the phone for much longer. He apologised again and said goodbye to whoever was on the other end, and then hung up. He sighed, ducking his head just briefly before he cleared his throat, stood up straight and continued to cook. Not a few seconds later he turned off the heat, took the pot of chilli off the stove and turned around, only to nearly drop the chilli and jump ten feet in the air when he spotted everyone. “Jesus Christ!” He nearly screamed.
“Nope, just us,” Hen remarked.
“When did you guys get back?” Buck asked them, placing the pot of chilli on the table. Everyone started to sit down.
“Just now, didn’t you hear the truck?” Bobby questioned, and Buck shook his head.
“... No, uh, no sorry. I was- I was on the phone.” Buck turned around and grabbed another pot from the stove, moving to the sink to strain the rice. Eddie grabbed some plates from the cupboard and cutlery from the drawer, and helped Buck to dish out the food, passing the dishes around to the others.
“Was that McGarrett?” He asked. Buck nodded.
“Yeah, he… uh, offered me a job.” Buck told him.
“McGarrett, that’s your old SEAL commander, right?” Bobby said and Buck nodded again. Steve McGarrett. The name had come up many times before in conversations Back when Buck was a Navy SEAL, before he joined the fire department, he had served with McGarrett in multiple, classified missions. Most of the information nobody knew, which was to be expected. Buck didn’t talk much about his time in the SEALs, and no one pushed, but he was still very close friends with his former commanding officer. Eddie had been jealous once, once , before he knew who Steve was,
“Yeah, he runs a task force in Hawaii now. They had two people retire and he asked me to join Five-0 until they can get some new recruits trained up.” Buck explained as he sat down and began to eat.
“What’s Five-0 do?” Ravi asked around a mouthful of rice.
“Five-0 is like a specialist police team. They handle the major crimes like murders, corruption, kidnapping and worse.”
“Damn, Buckaroo, that’s a big step up from putting out fires.” Hen cried. Buck chuckled.
“I know, but I’m not taking the offer.”
“Why not?” Chimney asked with a confused look on his face, like Buck had just said he was going to turn down a million dollars.
“I can’t just move to Hawaii,” Buck stated, “my job is here and,” he turned to Eddie, taking a hold of his partner’s hand, “I can’t just ask you and Chris to up and move across the ocean, especially not in the middle of the school year.” Eddie squeezed Buck’s hand.
“If you did take the job, how long would you be gone for?” Bobby chimed in.
“Only a year at the most, b-but that’s not the point!” Buck exclaimed, “It’s a whole year in Hawaii. I-I mean, I’d love to! I really would, but there’s no way you could hold a place on the team open for me for a year. I like it here at the One-Eighteen. I’m not about to throw that away just to go solve some crimes in paradise.”
A comfortable silence came after that as everyone happily munched away at the wonderful food. The kind that always came about whenever they got a chance to eat. It was only broken by Chimney asking “did you do something different to the chilli? It’s good!”
“I made it with meat-free mince this time so Ravi can have some,” Buck said.
“Oooh, gimme!” Ravi launched himself at the pot of chilli and heaped a spoonful onto his plate. Because Ravi didn’t eat beef for religious reasons, he had always lamented how he missed out on the famous Buckley chilli, but just as he went to take a bite, the alarm started to ring overhead. “Oh, come on! Really!” There was laughter all around as everyone ran to the stairs.
“I’ll keep it warm for you guys!” Buck called after them. Within a minute of the alarm ringing, the Ladder Truck was pulling out of the station and tearing down the street.
No sooner than a minute after leaving the station, Hen piped up. “You guys noticed how Buck was acting?” she asked, and everyone nodded. There was something about Buck’s body language that everyone at the 118 had learned to pick up on. People say that Buck wears his heart on his sleeve, but that isn’t actually the case. He wears the emotions he wants people to see openly. The rest are all hidden, but there are always little tells. When Buck is sad, or upset, or anxious, his shoulders hunch forward. He starts tapping his foot wildly. He loses eye contact. Eddie spotted all of that in an instant. He spotted how Buck hunched over his plate of chilli, pushing the food around the place instead of actually eating it. He spotted the way Buck’s leg was jumping up and down on the stool he was sitting on. The others had too. “I think he really wants to go.”
“But he won’t do it if it means he can’t come back to the 118 or if it means making any of us upset. I know Maddie would be sad if Buck left for a whole year.” Chimney said.
“I don’t even want to think about how Christopher would take it,” Eddie chimed in, not voicing his own thoughts on the idea of Buck leaving for a year, regardless of if he knew Buck would be coming back.
“But he wants to do it,” Bobby stated, “you can see it in his eyes. The only reason he isn’t is because he knows we’d all be sad to lose him for so long, especially after the year we just went through.”
And if that wasn’t typical Evan Buckley, Eddie didn’t know what was. If it were anyone else, they would at least be discussing the possibility of taking the job. Whether it would actually happen is another matter, but he would put the idea on the table. Buck won’t even do that. His logic is sound enough: if Buck did leave, he would either leave everyone behind for a year - which would mean being away from the 118 and away from Christopher - or Eddie and Chris would go with him. The problem with the second option was, as Buck had said, Chris was in the middle of a school year. Not to mention he had friends, and his Bisabuela and Tía Pepa, and how they would cope without Carla was beyond Eddie’s comprehension.
“If he did go, would he be able to come back to the One-Eighteen when he came back?” Ravi asked.
“I’m not sure. If it were up to me, then definitely. I’ll ask the Chief later,” Bobby said. Before anyone else could say anything, they were pulling up to the scene of the callout.
By the time they returned, the topic had been pushed aside.
February 21st
Buck knew that for the past two days he had been a bit miserable, but he had no idea what to do to get himself out of the funk.
After Steve’s phone call, the rest of the day went without a further mention of the topic but that didn’t mean that it hadn’t been on Buck’s mind. He knew he had spent the remainder of that shift and the one after it stuck in his head. Too many times Bobby had to call out to get his attention, and though there were no incidents on calls as Buck did his job properly, back at the firehouse, he was barely present. He felt like he was on autopilot most of the time, doing what he knew he had to do whilst his mind was a million miles away.
Even when he got back home, when Buck and Eddie relieved Carla of duty and went about the usual evening routines with Christopher, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Too often Christopher had poked him to remind Buck that they were playing a video game. He burned dinner. Eddie kept giving him that concerned stare and barely left his side.
And as Eddie went to get Christopher ready for bed, Buck normally would have jumped up and helped but he didn’t. He stayed on the couch with the book he had been pretending to read since he woke up that morning, absently listening as the sink tap ran in the bathroom and Christopher argued about wearing his Minecraft pyjamas that were getting too small but he didn’t want Eddie to throw them away. No matter how much he actively tried to focus on something, his mind kept wandering to Hawaii.
Steve’s call had been unexpected, even though they phone one another regularly to catch up on the latest in each other’s lives. Since they first met back when Buck entered his basic training aged eighteen, the two had been amazing friends. Steve was there for Buck throughout everything: basic training, BUD/s, missions across the world. It had been Steve’s idea to send postcards to Maddie about where he was in the States, even if why he was in those cities was a fabricated cover story. It was Steve who helped Buck after his injury in the Middle East, which was a story no one else knew for reasons Buck didn’t like to tell. It was also Steve who helped Buck accept that he wasn’t as fit to be a SEAL as he had wanted to be - “you’ve got too much heart, Buckley, and you will lose that heart the longer you do this job” - and helped Buck to move on after his honourable discharge.
Steve may be thousands of miles away, but he had always been in Buck’s corner. The McGarretts were family, just as much family as the 118 or Eddie or Christopher. It wasn’t just Steve either; his sister Mary was a nurse at Cedars Sinai and more often than not ended up being the one who took care of Buck whenever he got hurt, and Buck was the first person she called whenever Mary needed a babysitter for little baby Joan. Buck adored the little girl so much. Then there was Deborah McGarrett, Steve and Mary’s aunt, who had been there for Buck more than his own parents ever were. Hell, she was his emergency contact when he first joined the LAFD until Buck switched it over to Maddie!
So when Steve called Buck and told him that he wanted Buck to join Five-0, Buck had been overjoyed. Two of Steve’s teammates had retired from the force: Lieutenant Kelly left to run a task force out of San Francisco, and Officer Kalakaua left for Carson City in Nevada to stop a sex trafficking ring. It meant that there were two positions available, and Steve’s first choice had been Buck. It would only be a temporary thing - Steve knew that Buck loved Los Angeles and being a firefighter, and he had stated very clearly that Buck joining the team would be temporary, for no longer than a year, and it would be as a favour to Steve whilst they found and trained up some new recruits.
But Buck knew it wasn’t possible. No matter how much Maddie had said it would be good for him, Buck knew he couldn’t move to Hawaii for a year because the 118 couldn’t keep a space for him and he didn’t want to work with any other team when he got back. Eddie would never agree to it, but he and Christopher couldn’t go with him, and Buck wasn’t about to make a decision without taking their feelings into consideration. He made that mistake far too many times.
A shadow appeared to Buck’s left and he looked up. Eddie was hovering awkwardly next to the couch. He must have finished getting Christopher ready for bed whilst Buck was so caught up in his thoughts. “Hey, can we talk?” Eddie asked.
“Sure, what’s up?” Buck asked, patting the spot next to him. He put his book down and turned so his knees knocked Eddie’s when his partner sat down. Eddie didn’t say anything, not for a little while, and it began to worry Buck because he wasn’t sure what was wrong when-
“Evan, do you want to go to Hawaii?” The question caught Buck off guard and he sucked in a sharp breath.
“Eds-”
“Please, tell me the truth,” Eddie said, reaching out to take both of Buck’s hands in his own, “I’m not gonna be upset if you do, I just want to know.”
Buck sighed, dropping his gaze. He nearly pulled away, nearly, but Eddie’s hands in his own were grounding. He bit his lip. “Yes. Yeah, I do wanna go to Hawaii,” he admitted, but quickly hurried to shoot the idea down, “but I’m not going to, Eddie, -”
“I think you should do it.”
“...What?”
Eddie shifted closer to Buck. “I think you should go to Hawaii for a year and work with Steve on Five-0.”
“Eddie-”
“Just, hear me out?” Buck nodded, brow furrowing. Eddie glanced away for just a second, before turning his full attention back to Buck. “Bobby spoke to the Chief because we were wondering if you could do it and still be able to come back to the One-Eighteen, and you must be in the Chief’s good books because she thinks it would be a great opportunity for you too. She said she’d put it down as “educational leave”, which means that the LAFD would keep your position on the team open for as long as needed until you came back, like they’re doing with Hen and med school. If you want to go to Hawaii, you can.”
Buck’s mind was racing. He… could go? He could go, and it wouldn’t jeopradize anything he had with the LAFD? Even if he was gone for an entire year, Chief Finch would keep a position open for him. It wasn’t what he had been expecting, though he hadn’t dared hope for much. But..
“But what about you?” Buck asked Eddie, “and Christopher! Eddie, I cannot- will not leave you guys behind but, it would be such a big change if you came with me that-” Eddie silenced Buck’s rambling with a gentle press of a finger to his lips. He cupped Buck’s cheek with his hand and Buck couldn’t help but lean into the touch as he watched Eddie turn his head to the hallway.
“Chris, you can come in now.” Buck snapped his head over where Eddie was looking, and Christopher rounded the corner from his bedroom and came to join them on the couch. He was in his Minecraft pyjamas. The boy squeezed himself in between the two adults, and immediately Buck placed his hand on the boy’s back.
“Chris, what do you think?” Eddie asked his son. Christopher looked up at Buck. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and he looked… well, like he was thinking.
“Will it make you happy?” Christopher asked Buck.
“... yes, superman. It would make me really happy.”
“Promise you would come back?”
“Yes,” Buck wrapped an arm around Christopher and let the boy climb onto his lap. He was getting too big for Buck’s liking, but he was still at the age where he loved getting hugs from his Bucky. “Yes, buddy, I promise I would come back home.”
Christopher, face buried slightly in Buck’s t-shirt, nodded. “You should go to Hawaii.”
“Are you sure?” Buck pulled back just enough so he could see Christopher’s face, “Chris, if you want me to stay then I will stay right here with you.”
“But then you’d be sad and I don’t want you to be sad,” Christopher stated, frowning, “I want you to be happy. Hawaii will make you happy.” The frown was suddenly replaced with a grin that never failed to brighten Buck’s day, “and we can come and visit you in the summer vacation, and at Christmas!”
“And I would call you every night before bed to say goodnight. Every. Night.” Buck promised, and Christopher giggled, throwing his arms around Buck’s shoulders. Buck hugged him tightly, pressing kisses to Christopher’s hair. Two arms snaked their way around them and Eddie kissed Buck’s cheek and Christopher’s temple, the three of them curling up on the couch together.
It was Buck who broke the quiet that overcame them. “... Are you two sure?”
“We’re sure,” Eddie assured with a smile, “this is an amazing opportunity for you, Buck. You should do it.”
Buck felt tears forming. He scrubbed his eyes and smiled. “I love you both so much.”
“We love you too, Pops!” Christopher cheered.
As it was getting late, Eddie began to usher Christopher back to his bedroom to sleep, but not before the kid was given a goodnight hug and kiss from his Bucky. Christopher tottled back down the hall and before he followed, Eddie told Buck to give Steve a call.
Buck grabbed his phone off the table and dialled the number. “Hey, Steve. Hope I’m not interrupting. Is that offer still available?”
February 27th
The going away party had not been expected, but as Buck looked out at his family all gathered at Athena and Bobby’s house, he felt like he could cry.
Steve had been ecstatic to hear that Buck had chosen to accept the offer. Because of the nature of the cases Five-0 took on, they needed Buck to move to Hawaii as soon as possible, so all of a sudden Buck found himself with just a week left in Los Angeles. It was less time than he thought, but the quicker he went, the quicker he would be back. It took only a few days to get the paperwork sorted at the firehouse - Chief Finch shook Buck’s hand and said she was proud of him, which Buck had not been expecting - and only a few days more to book flights and pack bags. Buck planned on travelling light; one big suitcase, one duffle bag and a backpack. Anything else could just be shipped over, or he could buy it when he arrived.
Since Christopher had school and Buck still had to work, they didn’t change anything for Buck’s last week in Los Angeles, except that Christopher started arguing about bed times since he didn’t want to go to bed and not spend time with Buck. After school, if Buck and Eddie were still on shift, Carla would bring Christopher to the firehouse for a few hours.
When everyone else found out, there were hugs and a few tears all around. Maddie cried, so did Carla, and Chimney though he tried to hide it. Jee was a little too young to understand, but Denny and Harry understood and thought it was cool that Buck was going to be a police officer. Athena had been so proud of him, so had Bobby.
After Buck’s final shift at the 118 on the Sunday, where there had been a lot of gifts and cake, Bobby invited Buck and Eddie over for one last dinner. When they arrived, there was a surprise party with even more gifts and cake. Buck shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. Everyone was there: the 118, Karen and Danny, Harry and May, Maddie and Jee-Yun, Albert, Abuela and Pepa, and Carla. Bobby cooked a wonderful dinner, everyone came over at some point to give Buck a hug and their congratulations, and they all pitched in to get Buck some things he would need in Hawaii, including about twenty bottles of sunscreen.
“This is all amazing, thank you guys so much!” Buck said from where he sat on the couch, Christopher plastered against one side, Eddie on the other. The party was winding down and everyone had taken seats around the coffee table with drinks.
“We’re gonna miss you, Buckaroo,” Athena said, “but we are all so proud of you.”
“I’m gonna miss you all as well, but I’ll be back before you know it.” Buck put yet another bottle of sunscreen on the pile, “I’ll be back in May for Jee’s birthday, in July for two weeks for Christopher’s birthday, and then again in September for Eddie’s birthday.”
“And we’re gonna come visit you for your birthday!” Christopher smiled. Buck chuckled and ruffled his hair.
“Yes, and I am really looking forward to that!” He laughed, “then, I will be back at the very latest on the first of March next year.
“And not a day later,” Eddie insisted, though he too was smiling.
To say that Buck was nervous for everything was an understatement, but at the same time, he was incredibly excited. Did he miss being a SEAL? Yes. Did he want to go back to the job? No. That’s why Five-0 was going to be such a good experience for Buck. He wasn’t sure about being a cop, but he was going to be partnered with an experienced police captain who would show him the works, and the years he had spent watching Athena work would go a long way. Five-0 wasn’t just police work. They did a lot of dangerous stunts which Buck was trained for, both as a SEAL and as a firefighter.
Was he worried about the danger? Not really. Of course, he knew there were risks, probably a lot more risks than being a firefighter. Buck was likely to be shot at on a regular basis, and he would be going toe to toe with criminals. It was much different to rope rescues and burning buildings, but at the same time, if Buck could survive a tsunami, he felt confident he could survive being shot at.
“When’s your flight?” Hen asked.
“Tomorrow at three in the afternoon. I’ll be landing just after six.” The afternoon flight was deliberate. Buck got to take Christopher to school one more time and he and Eddie could spend the rest of the morning together alone. An early flight would mean waking Christopher up very early to say goodbye.
“How you feeling about it?” Ravi piped up.
“... Okay. A little nervous, but I’m ready to go,” Buck admitted, “sooner I get there, the sooner I can come back, right?” Everyone laughed. It was an amazing night.
It was made even better when, after a lot more cake and a lot more tears, Buck, Eddie and Christopher finally got home. Christopher had fallen asleep in the truck and Buck carried the boy inside, tucking him into bed and kissing his forehead. He nearly didn’t want to leave the room, but eventually he joined Eddie in their bedroom. The room looked the same, but at the foot of the bed were packed bags all ready for the flight the next day. Eddie was already in bed, leaning back against the headboard. He gestured for Buck to join him, so Buck made quick work of his day clothes and pulled on something comfortable to sleep in, crawling into bed and right into Eddie’s open arms.
“I’m gonna miss you so much,” Eddie whispered into Buck’s hair, sounding like he was going to cry. As much as Eddie was Buck’s biggest supporter of it all, he had also admitted that he didn’t want Buck to go because he was gonna miss him. For days there was something else, something Buck wasn’t entirely sure of, hidden in his eyes.
[Buck asked Abuela. She didn’t know either, but she suspected it was because of Shannon. It was those words that inspired Buck to do exactly what he was about to do.]
“I’m gonna miss you too, both of you,” Buck told him, shifting so he could look up at Eddie, “but I’ll call every day and I’ll be back for visits before you even know it.”
“It’s gonna be weird not working with you again. Who’s gonna have my back?”
“Who’s gonna have mine?” They shared a laugh. Buck shuffled up on the bed so he was sitting upright. “Um… there’s one more thing I need to do before I go.” Eddie’s brow furrowed. Buck turned and reached to open the drawer of his nightstand, retrieving something small from inside. He then moved until he was completely facing Eddie, no less than a foot of space between them. He took a deep breath.
“I know that I’ll only be gone for a year, and that we’re gonna see each other a lot during that time, but… it’s still a long time,” he said, hands fiddling with the object he had retrieved. “Even though we’re gonna be three thousand miles and an ocean apart, I will always be your partner. I just hope you will let me be more.”
Buck heard the gasp as opened up the little black box he had in his hands, revealing two rings. They were simple tungsten bands, with no engravings or gemstones on the outside. One might consider it plain, but Buck knew Eddie well enough to know that he didn’t like flashy things. There was no point in buying a ring with a huge diamond on it anyways, since neither of them would be able to wear the rings on shift.
Buck held the box up to Eddie. “Edmundo Diaz, will you marry me in a year?”
He didn’t expect Eddie to start crying. “Yes!” he said, and Buck began beaming. He took the ring from the box and slipped it onto Eddie’s finger, then let Eddie do the same to him, then nearly fell off the bed as Eddie kissed him passionately. They dissolved into a pile of laughter and tears, even as Buck reached for his phone to take a photo and send it to everyone. He turned off notifications to ignore any replies - which, when Buck looked, was a LOT of messages - and turned his full attention back to Eddie, who wouldn’t stop looking at the ring he now wore.
“I love you so much,” he all but sobbed.
“I love you too,” Buck replied, leaning for another kiss with a big smile.
“Dad? Pops?” Buck and Eddie looked up and found a half-asleep Christopher standing in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. He had changed into some pyjamas.
“Hey, did we wake you, buddy?” Eddie asked, wiping the tear tracks from his cheeks as they sat up. Christopher nodded and climbed into bed with the two of them.
“Did you ask him?” Christopher asked Buck, who nodded. The boy then turned to his dad. “Did you say yes?”
“You knew?”
“Duh. He asked me if it was okay last week.”
Eddie laughed, and they showed Christopher the rings. The boy cheered, then yawned.
“Come on,” Buck helped Christopher take off his glasses and placed them on the nightstand, “it’s been a long day, and you’ve got school tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.” The three of them laid down under the covers, Christopher squished in between his two dads, the two adults linking their fingers together under the blankets.
February 28th
The next morning was difficult. Christopher didn’t want to get ready for school, nor did he want to go into class when they finally arrived at the school. Buck walked him to his classroom at the approval of the teacher, and as they stood outside in the hall Christopher just hugged Buck and refused to let go, sobbing because he didn’t want to say goodbye. It took almost half an hour of tears before Buck was able to get his son to go to class, promising that he would call to say goodnight and goodmorning every day. The way Christopher looked back at him with a sad wave as the teaching assistant took him into class broke Buck’s heart.
When he got home, Eddie was very much the same. Barely leaving Buck’s side, being overly clingy in a way that was not like Eddie, it was concerning. They spent the time between dropping Christopher at school and Buck needing to be at the airport just curled up on the couch in each other’s embrace. When time came to go to the airport, Eddie barely spoke. He just held Buck’s hand throughout it all.
After checking in the bags, they found themselves standing by the entrance to airport security. Eddie hugged Buck so tightly Buck felt something go pop. They stood there for what felt like hours until Buck noticed the time and reluctantly had to pull away. Eddie didn’t want to let him go.
“Eds,” Buck tried, “c’mon, baby, I gotta go.” He eventually got Eddie to let go, instead linking their fingers together.
“I know, I know,” Eddie sighed, ducking his gaze. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“I’ll be back before you know it, I promise,” Buck brought Eddie’s hand up to press a kiss to his knuckles, to his ring. “Time’s gonna fly by, and I’ll be back in May. It’s gonna be okay.”
“I just…” Eddie choked out, “I’m really gonna miss you.”
Buck leaned in and kissed Eddie, hand coming up to cup his fiancé’s neck as he tried to provide as much comfort as possible, though there was really little he could do. The look of pure heartbreak in Eddie’s eyes made Buck want to call Steve and cancel everything, but he couldn’t do that. He had to see things through.
After forever, Buck eventually had to go. He slowly walked to the security line, turning back just before he would have disappeared around a corner to give Eddie one final wave goodbye. Eddie waved back.
It was going to be a long flight.
He passed the security checks, he sat around waiting for his gate to be called, he climbed onto the plane and took his seat. By three-fifteen he was up in the air, nothing but clouds and ocean below until the islands finally appeared in the distance. Buck tried to distract himself with reading, watching a movie, researching some of the things he could do in Honolulu. Before he boarded the plane, he received a multitude of messages from everyone wishing him luck.
At one point, Buck was drying his eyes with a tissue on the place and the sweet old lady sitting next to him asked if he was alright. She listened as Buck told her he was moving to Hawaii for a year for work and his fiancé and son had to stay in LA. She patted his arm and told him a story of how her husband was shipped off to Vietnam just days after they got married. He never saw that woman again after they landed, but Buck didn’t think she would ever forget her.
When the plane landed in O’ahu, Buck hurried through the security and grabbed his suitcase from the baggage carousel. He was outside in the sunshine within half an hour, and standing there leaning against a Camaro was Steve.
“Aloha!” Steve called out. Buck couldn’t stop the smile that formed on his face as he hurried over and embraced Steve in a hug. “Good to see you again, man!” Steve clapped him on the back.
“Good to see you too!” Buck replied. Steve took the suitcase and duffle from him and popped them in the trunk, the two of them getting into the camaro and driving away from Honolulu International.
“It is so good to have you joining us, Buckle- Diaz!” Steve corrected himself, occasionally glancing over at Buck from the driver’s seat, “sorry, that is gonna take some getting used to.”
“No worries, Commander,” Buck shrugged it off, “everyone calls me “Buck” nowadays if that’ll be easier?” It made Steve smile. “Thanks for picking me up.”
“Not a problem! But are you sure you don’t wanna stay with Danny and Me? It’s a lot cheaper than a hotel room.”
“Nah, man, you’ve got the kids. The house’d be packed.” Buck only planned on being in a hotel room for a few days, a week at the most. He had looked into some apartments and a few small houses just outside the city that were willing to let him rent on a monthly lease, so if he got to go back to Los Angeles early he wouldn’t have to worry about breaking a lease.
“Well, you let me know if you change your mind, okay? We’ve always got room for Ohana.” Steve told him, then nodded to the glove compartment. “Your badge and ID are in the envelope. Make sure you have both on you at all times. We’ll get you sorted out with everything else tomorrow.”
Buck opened the glove compartment and retrieved the aforementioned envelope. Inside was a Five-0 badge and an identification card in a black leather wallet with the photo Buck had emailed Steve a few days ago, the words “Evan Diaz” written in print above to his signature. The badge felt heavy, but it was a good weight.
“We’ll talk more about everything tomorrow when we’re at the office, but I’m gonna have you work with Grover - who I’ve told you about already - whilst we get you used to the way we work,” Steve explained, though he was mostly repeating information they had already discussed. “You still go to the range?”
“Yes sir.” It wasn’t something Buck spoke about but at least once a month he went to a shooting range to make sure he didn’t lose any ability to shoot accurately. He kept his gun locked in a safe in the closet where Christopher couldn’t reach, and since he didn’t have a concealed carry license, he only took it out to go to the range.
“Okay, you should have no issue with your certifications tomorrow, then.” Steve was grinning like a mad man. He reached over and punched Buck’s shoulder. “It is so good to have you here, man!”
The drive from the airport to the hotel Buck was staying at, Royal Grove Waikiki, took just half an hour as they hit a bit of traffic. They drove past the Iolani Palace, where the Five-0 headquarters was, but didn’t stop in as Buck felt exhausted. There would be time for all of that tomorrow. Instead, they pulled up at the hotel and Buck went to check in whilst Steve grabbed the bags.
The room was beautiful. It had a full kitchen and a great view, and if Buck didn’t feel ready to pass out he probably would have admired it a lot more. Steve didn’t stay long. He gave Buck another hug and welcomed him to Hawaii before leaving Buck to get some rest, the two of them planning to get breakfast together before work the next day. As soon as he was gone, Buck collapsed onto the bed. It was comfortable, so comfortable, and he nearly fell asleep right then and there.
But he didn’t. Instead, after a few minutes of lying around, Buck got up and reached for his phone. He walked to the window and opened the curtains, then clicked on the video call button and held the phone upright. Two faces he missed dearly appeared on the screen when the call was accepted.
“HI POPS!” Christopher shouted. Buck gave the biggest grin.
“Hey Superman!” He called out, moving the camera so he could show the view of the ocean he had from his window, “Guess where I am!”
“HAWAII!!” Eddie winced as Christopher all but screamed the word, lightly telling the boy to keep the volume down despite smiling himself. It made Buck laugh.
“I just arrived at my hotel and I’m about to unpack and then go get something to eat,” he explained, “but I wanted to call to let you guys know I got here okay. I think it’s nearly bedtime for you guys, am I right?”
“Yeah, we were just waiting for your goodnight call,” Eddie confirmed. They were both already dressed for bed. Hawaii is two hours behind Los Angeles so it was about nine pm for Eddie and Christopher, which was just past the boy’s bedtime, but Buck had promised he would say goodnight every night.
“Okay buddy, I love you so much! You get going to bed, and I’ll speak to you tomorrow morning before you go to school, okay?”
“Okay, Pops, I love you!” Christopher hopped up from the chair he was sitting on and disappeared from view, leaving just Buck and Eddie on the call.
“How’re you holding up?” Buck asked him. Eddie shrugged.
“I’m… okay.” Eddie shrugged. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” Buck replied. His bright smile fell into a soft, sad one. “I promise, this will all be over soon and I will be home before you even know it.” He blew a kiss to the phone. Eddie reached a hand out and grabbed the hair before him, then pressed his fingers to his lips. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
“DAD! CAN YOU READ ME A STORY?”
The two of them laughed. Buck nodded in the direction Christopher disappeared. “You better get in there. I’ll speak to you tomorrow morning, okay? Goodnight, baby.”
“Goodnight, mi vida.” And with a final kiss blown to the camera, the call ended. Buck’s smile disappeared. His eyes felt wet. He walked back over to the bed and hefted his suitcase onto the mattress, and began to unpack his things.
The first thing he took from the case was a small calendar meant to go on a desk. It had been one of his going away gifts. The calendar didn’t go from January to December, but from March to March, and every month had a different photograph of Buck with someone from the family. The first month was Buck, Eddie and Christopher at the beach.
Time to start counting the days.