Archive of Our Own ^beta

Eddie needed a fight, needed some bleed off for the rage. So he got himself put on the ticket for Friday night. He showed up, he got ready and then he dropped a bet on himself, cause he was fired up, ready to imagine his ex-best friends face on whoever they matched him up with tonight. That was probably why when he actually saw his opponent, he nearly missed a step.

Buck was standing across the ring. He didn't understand how Buck could be standing there IN the ring with him. The man was giving him sad hopeful eyes, and the part of him that had been partnered with Buck for more than a year knew he was trying to communicate something with his eyes and body. Something he expected Eddie to pick up, but he couldn't read Buck, not now and probably not ever again. He could forgive the backstabbing with the lawsuit, he already had, but abandoning Chris?

He didn't give a fuck what Buck's sob story was going to be, or what he was trying desperately to communicate. No, Eddie's only form of communication was going to happen with his fists, and he was going to make damned sure Buck got the message loud and clear, and then... well then he never had another word to say to the bastard. If he didn't get fired, Eddie would be letting Bobby make the call on who got bounced out of the 118. The flake who sued him and then after getting his way pulled a disappearing act, or Eddie. Either way, he'd never have to lay eyes on the man after tonight, he'd make sure of it.

Eddie had forgiven him, hugged it out and everything. They'd been good, and then Chris had gotten sick during a shift. The timing was for shit and no one else would have been able to pick him up. Buck, who had been off because of some appointment, offered to pick him up, instead of Eddie leaving work early and leaving the team in the lurch. Five hours later he'd pulled up to his house confused when he didn't see Buck's Jeep, and then furious to find his kid alone crying on the couch. His crutches were no where in sight and Buck was just gone.

All Chris could remember was 'his Buck' giving him some medicine after they'd gotten in the car, and then waking up alone. He had helped Chris to the bathroom, and then gotten him to bed, and then tried calling Buck. His anger was building and he needed there to be some kind of explanation. He couldn't possibly fathom what it could be, but he believed in Buck's love for his kid and he had to think there was no way he would have just abandoned Chris, sick and trapped. His call rang and then was sent to voicemail.

Eddie went past his place, the next day, but he hadn't been home, and he was getting more worried then, and that worry kept expanding with every call he made that was sent to voicemail or to their friends and family who also hadn't heard from Buck. When Buck failed to show up for his next shift, fear had started eating away at Eddie.

Then fear had shifted to rage. Because Bobby had apparently talked to Buck. He apologized for the lack of warning, but had met someone. He'd said that he was doing something more important than work. The man had sued the city and aired their secrets to get back to this job he claimed to love, just like he'd claimed to love Chris, and yet he'd abandoned them both.

That's when he learned how much rage he could hold. Eddie's anger issues before had only been a drop in the bucket, and now? Now he got to let it out.

---

Buck had rushed to pick Chris up. The poor kid had some kind of stomach flu, and since Eddie was on shift, Buck had jumped at the chance to spend some extra time with his favorite Diaz, even if it meant signing up for cleaning up puke and being worried about his fever. He'd snagged the Children's Tylenol he had picked up months ago when Chris had had the sniffles, and hadn't actually needed it, on the way out of the house. Eddie had told him the kid had a fever, and Buck knew the medicine was actually good for that.

Despite the circumstances, he had a warm spot in his chest at still being trusted with this despite everything. Eddie hadn't had to call back and add him to the list, he was already there, unremoved from the coveted spot that meant he was counted on and trusted with the most important thing in the world to Eddie, and honestly, to Buck too.

Chris looked awful and his fever was even higher than when they'd called, so once Buck got him in the car and all buckled in, he reread the box and took out the right number of grape flavored chewable tabs, thankful that they honestly tasted pretty decent, he'd checked, and that grape was one of Chris's favorite flavors. Once that was settled, he double checked that Chris was properly buckled in yet again, and then settled into the driver's seat.

Chris was snoring before they'd gotten even halfway back to Eddie's place. He wasn't sure what food was at the house and thought the wives tale was feed a fever, or was it starve a fever? He'd google when he wasn't driving, but he picked up a happy meal with a sprite without ice for later, just in case.

He decided to carry Chris in, then come back for everything else. He had just pulled the sleeping boy into his arms and was turning towards the house when there was a man with a gun pointed in his direction.

"Well you're early, and also not the home health worker. Probably for the best, she looked the sort who'd make us shoot her. You're not gonna be that stupid, right?"

Buck froze eyes wide, arms holding Chris probably too tight, but the cold and the medicine had thankfully kept him asleep. Buck spoke low, turning to put his body between Chris and the gun as much as possible. "Look, I don't know what you want, but I don't want any trouble."

"Hear that, we got a smart one. He doesn't want any trouble." The guy said to someone behind the Jeep. "Well we can all go away happy, if that's the truth, pal. You pass over Diaz's kid to my friend here, and we all go on our merry way."

Buck was looking for an out or help, not wanting to risk Chris with the gun pointed at them, but completely unwilling to give him up either. When he couldn't see a way out he used the only tool he had left, his mouth. "Why do you want him? He's just a kid."

"See, I thought you were gonna be smart. Look, pal, if Diaz does what he's told we ain't gonna harm a hair on his curly blonde head. The same can't be said for you, so come on." His partner came around the Jeep and Buck had to fight every instinct in himself to not turn and run.

"Wait, you just need him to get Eddie to do what you want? That's a terrible plan. You get that right?" Buck said, scrambling to come up with some way to stop this. "I mean his adoptive grandparents are a fire chief and a police officer. No matter what Eddie does, they're gonna have an amber alert out before you can say milk carton."

The two guys shared a look and Buck scrambled to come up with more to convince them. "The reason we're early is because he has a stomach flu. He's fevered, and threw up twice already." Both guys took a step back, like he'd just announced Chris had the plague.

"Look, there's too much at stake here to worry about a little puke. Diaz needs a leash. You play nice, and don't make us shoot you, and we'll even let you be the messenger. He wins the fights we tell him to and throws the ones we say, and once his debts are paid by way of our winnings, the littlest Diaz gets to go home."

"Fights? What fucking fights? Eddie was gambling? How much does he owe?" Buck's mind was reeling, as he tried to figure out the angles he needed to play to get both Diaz's out of this. He had some cash put away, not as much as he could have had if he'd taken the settlement, but they had confirmed his disability should have been extended, because of the clotting issue. He'd managed to get his bills caught up and then bank a little to rebuild his nest egg.

The man was looking more than a little overwhelmed by the rapid fire questioning, and then a little pissed. "Diaz made a pretty penny from betting on his own fights, plus the purse for winning, but he blew one of our fights with his fucking bleeding heart. We lost a regular site, and the takes for the night, all because one guy can't take a hit, and Diaz didn't know when to just let a guy die."

"You do realize he's a medic; the guy took an oath. How much do you figure he owes you?" Buck asked, recalculating and wondering what the going rate for his apartment was.

"Fucker doesn't owe me shit. My boss though, he's got a six digit score to settle with the sanctimonious prick, and a real fair installment plan ready to go. So quit jerking my chain and hand over the kid."

"Taking Chris is a liability. He costs you money, time, someone care for him, and the minute they realize he's gone, high risk for exposure for your activities. No, you don't need a kid gumming up the works. Diaz owes me, for saving his kid in the tsunami. We're friends, partners, and more importantly to you, he's probably one of the few people out there who would actually give a fuck if I disappeared."

"Bullshit. You're a good looking guy. You probably got girlfriends or boyfriends, hey no judgement here, all over this city. Family, friends. That makes you just as big of a liability." The guy scoffs.

"You'd think, right, but that was before I sued the city, and more importantly my captain, whose wife is that police officer."

"Sued the city? What did you fall in an open manhole or something?" The guy said head tilted.

"No, just got blown up." Buck said, with a grimace.

"Awe shit, Joey, this was the fuckin' guy under the fire truck. Ain'tcha?"

"Why the fuck you gotta go and tell him my name, Francis?" The other guy sneered

"It's Frankie, and cause the fucker is right. Boss didn't know all the details. So long as we got some leverage on Diaz, he'll be okay with it. 'Sides, that kid sounds snotty as fuck. We don't need some snotty, pukey kid, and if the boss changes his mind, well we know where the kid is, we can always come back and grab him." Buck wanted to fall in relief. "So how you wanna do this? Sit him on the porch?" The guy was sizing Chris up in ways Buck did not like.

"I have a key, let me get him inside and set up." Buck said quietly. Now that they agreed to leave Chris he didn't want to risk anything going wrong.

"I'm assuming Diaz has a couch. Sit the kid down and get your ass back out here. Give your key's to Joey." He said with particularly gleeful emphasis on the name.

Buck quickly pulled his keys and handed them over. 'Joey' took them with a glare. He stomped to the Diaz front door and Buck quickly followed. He laid Chris on the couch and then froze remembering the crutches and the happy meal in the truck.

"Hey, can I get his stuff?" He asked quietly.

"No, fucker, lets go." He said patting the gun Buck had somehow missed.

Buck nodded, dropped a kiss on Chris's forehead and hurried out of the house.

"Okay, here's the deal. Me and you are gonna take a ride. My friend is going to follow us in your Jeep. You try anything, he comes right back here and breaks something painfully vital. We clear?"

"Yes." Buck said simply before being led to the car and climbing inside. He looked at the house, before they pulled away, and hoped Chris would be okay.

"Cheer up, pal. Everything will be fine, as long Diaz does what he's told."

---

Buck didn't know what the fuck he expected but an empty factory that looked like it hadn't been operational in the last ten years wasn't it. They pulled inside and parked, and Frankie ordered him out of the car. His Jeep was driven in and parked. Joey hopped out of it and moved to walk on the other side of Buck and the three of them walked further into the building.

There was a burly middle aged guy watching a couple people up on ladders installing cameras in different corners of a large open room. Buck could see some questionable stains on the floor and had a flash of Hen grinning and passing him a can of pop, and then laughing at his confusion, before she demonstrated her trick for getting blood up. He shook his head, and then focused on the man they seemed to be taking him to.

The guy was big, bald and undoubtedly the man in charge. He turned and caught sight of them. He raised one hand and waved them forward. He ran his eyes up and down Buck, judgement clear on his face, before he turned to the other two.

"This does not look like an 8 year old boy." He said with a raised brow, looking at Frankie.

"Right, Boss, but this guy was with the kid and he made some reasonable arguments. I figure you can hear him out, and if you don't agree, we dispose of him and then pick the kid up where we left him." Joey rattled Buck's keys, to demonstrate.

"I'm a reasonable guy, to a point. I should warn you though, Diaz has exceeded that point, by a fair degree, so this better be the best bullshit ever. So, please, elaborate. Why do I want you instead of the person Diaz loves more than anything?"

"First and best reason, is that he's not the only one who loves that kid."

"Right pal, you ain't gonna convince me by tugging on my heartstrings, I had them bitches cut short."

"I meant, that kid is family to a whole lot of first responders, including a cop for an adopted grandmother and her husband a fire captain. That kid goes missing? Amber alerts will be the least of your troubles. Within the first 12 hours, every cop and paramedic and firefighter and all their friends and families are gonna be looking for that kid and any clue about what happened to him."

"That could be a concern if I wasn't already planning on keeping him stashed away. He ain't gonna stand and sing the National Anthem or some shit. You think I'm fucking stupid?" The guy was looking pissed.

"I get you're not stupid, but neither are the cops. Someone is gonna report that kid missing and if it isn't Diaz, then he's the prime suspect. How can he be here fighting for you, if he's got cops clocking his every move, trying to figure out if he did something to his own kid. People are gonna wonder where the money he's been flashing came from, and start to think he did some sketchy shit."

"That is a surprisingly good point, but that leaves me without the proper lever to move Diaz's world where I want it. No offense and all, why would he fight for me to keep you safe?"

"Because he thinks I saved his kid in the tsunami. I mean I think it's bullshit, but he isn't the kind of guy that's gonna let that shit go. Like I told them, he's about the one person on this planet, who'd actually give a fuck. That officer, who loves Diaz's kid so much? I just got done suing her husband, and the city. I dropped the lawsuit after I aired all their dirt and then in return for dropping the suit I forced them to take me back at work."

The boss made a go on gesture. "Eddie's about the only person there who wants me around. I guarantee you let me call out with some bullshit excuse, especially if it involves some hot chick, and no one is gonna question it. Once everyone thinks I flaked out, then you use me against Diaz, and no one will be watching him like a hawk."

The guy looked past Buck to his guys. "This guy's bullshit is the reason you didn't follow orders?"

Joey kind of nodded his head at Frankie, who started sputtering. "I mean the man makes a good bit of sense, and besides the kid was, you know all snotty and shit."

"You're telling me you didn't bring me the kid cause he was a brat?" The guy looked ready to blow his top.

"No, man like sick, snotty. Puking and shit. I mean who needs that right? Besides you stick Amber with some snotty puking kid and God love her, but she would never let you hear the end of that shit."

That brought the boss up short. "Fuck, okay, you got a point there. I guess we're stuck with this fucking guy. Find some place to stash him, for now, and someone to keep an eye on him. I sure as shit ain't asking Amber to babysit him."

Joey passed the keys and Buck's phone, that had been on the seat of the Jeep, over to the boss. "Here's his stuff."

"Right. When do we need to get you called off work? And are there any calls or messages that might set someone off if you miss them?"

"I can call off tomorrow. Diaz is gonna call pissed when he finds his kid all alone, wanting to know what the fuck is going on. My sister might check in but I can send her a text and that should satisfy her for another few days easily."

"Right, I'll just keep this. Tomorrow we'll have that conversation with your boss. I'm gonna enjoy frustrating Diaz, for now, and anything else we'll deal with as it comes up." He tucked the phone into his pocket and sent them packing with a jerk of his head towards the far side of the room. There was an open set of double doors. They took him down a long dark corridor and then a door was slid open long enough for Joey to give him a little shove before it was slammed closed and a lock was slid into place.

The room had a mattress on the floor and a blanket. The room was dim, chilly and slightly damp. He poked at the mattress a bit, then settled on it, and waited.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been in the dark room. His leg was stiff from the damp and being so still for so long, and he made a mental note to keep active, if he had to spend much more time there. The door scraped open, and the two guys from before were peering in at him.

"Come on, you gotta need a piss break, and then the boss wants to see you." Frankie said, waving him out of the room.

Buck climbed to his feet and hurried across the room. He used the bathroom and then quickly washed up before being led up some old metal stairs to a small office. It must have been the manager's office in the days when the factory was actually used and the furniture looked like it. Worn prints that were probably brightly colored in their prime and a plastic desk that had yellowed with age and probably nicotine, if the room's smell was to be believed.

Buck's phone was sitting on the desk and the boss looked up with a mean grin, before sliding it over to Buck. "I think we managed to rile Diaz up to a fair degree. At least judging from those text messages. The fact that he can tell he's being sent to voicemail, and that his messages are being read and not responded to are really pissing him off. Your boy has some real rage issues. Good thing I know what to do with those, right?"

"He does think I abandoned his son, so I can understand the anger." Buck said, not wanting to outright defy the man, but having to say something in Eddie's defense.

"Sure, I get that we're clearly setting the man off, but what was his excuse before. I mean he kicked a guys nose into his brain. That takes some serious anger."

"He did what now?" Buck was confused.

"Yeah I guess he wouldn't be bragging about that, would he." He nodded at the phone and pushed it towards Buck again.

Buck picked it up and turned on the screen. He really regretted not having at least a pin on the thing for security, but there was no changing that now, was there. He started scrolling up through the messages.

The last message basically ordered him to 'Stop fucking ignoring me and answer the damned phone, if you ever want to see Chris again.' and scrolling up eases the pain of that a little as Eddie goes from enraged to worried to confused. It certainly eased the fear he'd kept leashed that something would go wrong and Chris would be hurt because Buck had been forced to leave him, essentially trapped on the couch by himself.

According to the early texts Chris was scared and worried about what had happened to 'his Bucky' and obviously still sick, but none of the horrors in his mind had taken place. He closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment of relief.

There were voicemails, he knew there were, but he was not giving the man the satisfaction of hearing them, if he could possibly help it, so they remained unlistened to, and would forever if he had his way. He really didn't need an audio version of the last few messages haunting him.

He took a deep breath and then shut the screen off and sat the phone back down on the man's desk, before meeting his eyes again. "So now what?"

"Now we let Diaz stew, and we get you called out of work tomorrow, like you said, but you have another message in there. It must be the sister you mentioned, so you are going to write a nice simple reply and send it, while I watch."

Buck nodded and picked the phone back up, switching over to the message with Maddie. 'Hey, Evan, just checking in. What did the Dr. say today? Please tell me he finally agreed you've been pushing too hard. Clots are nothing to mess around with. Please take it easy.'

Despite his fucked up situation he still felt a wave of frustration at Maddie's insistence that he was causing the clots and her passive aggressive attempts to pack him into a safe little bubble. He almost grinned at how horrified she would find his current situation. Then he started thinking about how to reply, in a way that might at least alert people to something being wrong, without being overt.

He thought for a moment or two and then started typing. 'Hey Maddy, Dr. Walsh says I should take a break, and I'm ready to listen to what he has to say. Tell Howard I'm going to be out of work for awhile. I met up with Ally again, and she apologized about that Eat, Pray, Love thing. We're going to take a little time and see if we can't work things out.'

The guy read the message with a raised eyebrow. "Taking back the ex?"

"She always hated Ali, so she won't ask questions." Buck explained.

"So what's this whole clotting thing? I mean I don't want to have to deal with an inconvenient body, if I don't have to."

"I was on blood thinners. I'm not now. My sister just doesn't know how to stop mothering me." He said wincing a little at his own harsh words.

Just then the phone dinged a reply, and his heart sunk as he read it. 'That's great news, Evan! Keep me posted. She better treat you right this time.'

He could only hope she got the message that something was wrong, but there was nothing in her reply that stood out as saying she understood. He passed the phone back to the man's waiting hands.

He spoke to Frankie. "Take him back to his room. Get him a bucket for the night or something, and maybe pick him up some dinner. I got a feeling I'm gonna want to keep his strength up." He ordered with a knowing smirk at Buck, that left him feeling cold.

He didn't dare fight or try to get away, sure the first thing they'd do would be to snatch Chris from where he was, safe with Eddie. He took the opportunity to examine what was apparently his room, beyond the mattress. There was a drain and a faucet coming out of the wall on one side, that looked like it had had a hose hooked to it at one point. He doubted it was the freshest of water sources, but a little rust was better than dehydration, if it came down to it.

Joey and Frankie popped back into the room about twenty minutes later with some barely warm McDonald's and a plastic paint bucket with a lid.

Buck ate his food and sat the cup to one side in case he needed to have a go at the water. That done he started working on his PT stretches, and then moved on to other exercises. He worked up a sweat and decided to test the water and the drain, wiping down with cool water, and then drying himself with the stack of napkins the best he could.

He figured out that it had probably been a mistake as he lay shivering under the ratty blanket. Plus he smelled slightly of french fries. He pulled his arms inside his shirt to help keep them warm and kept himself away from the cold wall the mattress was up against. He tried to think of the best way of warning Bobby when he called himself off. They'd had a really good talk the morning after Halloween and he hoped Bobby understand what he was and wasn't saying, when he called. He fell asleep thinking about Eddie and Chris, taking comfort in the fact that they were both safe and together.

The lack of windows threw his sense of time off, but he was woke up with another bag of food, breakfast this time, probably from a diner by the looks of it.

"Eat up and then give a yell. Boss wants to get that call over with." Frankie said passing him the drinks. "Not sure if you do coffee or not, but I ain't one to deny anyone their morning caffeine. I snagged some juice just in case you're one of them weirdos who don't like coffee."

"I like both so, thanks." Buck offered, feeling strange about the amicable conversation, considering the situation. "Any chance I can use the bathroom, at some point?" He asked giving the as yet unused bucket a significant glance.

"Yeah, sure. The less mess, the better, and all that." He glanced around the room, with a grimace. "I'll, uh, leave the door open so you got some light to see to eat, just speak up when your done and we'll go get things taken care of."

Buck nodded and settled in to eat, before it got any colder. It didn't take long to finish the food. He drank the coffee and left the juice sitting by the bed, since it was one of the tiny sealed bottles. He gathered up the garbage from last night and breakfast, and stood up.

"Hey, I'm done." He said, walking slowly toward the door. Joey popped his head around and waved him forward. Buck was led to the same bathroom as before. He tossed his trash and then he took care of things before washing his hands and luxuriating under the warmth of the hand dryer for longer than he should have, before being led to the same shitty office.

The boss was looking out the windows that overlooked what had once been the factory floor, but was now just empty space. If they were hosting some kind of fights, Buck figured that would be where they held it.

He turned to take Buck in before pulling Buck's phone out. "I'll say one thing for Diaz, the man is persistent. Three times already today, and he's starting to sound worried." The man seemed to find Eddie's worry amusing.

Buck took the phone, not wanting to know, but needing to see. 'Buck, I don't understand. Please just answer me.' 'Chris is worried about you, can you just let him know you're okay?' and finally, 'Just answer the phone, Buck!'

Buck felt like someone had stabbed him through the heart, hating how much he was worrying them both. It was better this way, though. Chris was safe and Eddie would know the truth soon enough, if things followed the plan. He noticed there hadn't been anything from Maddie or anyone else for that matter, so either Eddie hadn't raised an alarm, or no one was particularly surprised. He wasn't sure which one was worse.

He knew Bobby worked today and was usually in his office before shift dealing with the mountains of paperwork the LAFD generated. With a glance up to the man for permission, he steeled his nerves and then placed the call and put it on speaker.

Bobby's easy "Hey, Buck." told him all he needed to know. Eddie hadn't said anything to anyone yet.

"Hey, Cap. I needed to get some time off scheduled, uh, starting tomorrow. I won't be able to make shift."

"What's wrong, Buck? Is it the blood clots again?" The boss gave him a sharp look at that.

"No, Doctor Walsh gave me a clean bill, yesterday, but I ran into Ali, and she apologized for just ghosting me like she did. Between the two it just seems like a sign, you know? Like the Universe was just screaming at me. So, I'm going to take some of the vacation days I've got built up. We're going to head down to San Diego for a week or so. You know I always wanted to check it out, but never got that far south."

"I, uh, I'm glad your doctor says your doing good, but cutting out on work?" He asked almost carefully.

"It's just a job, Bobby. Some things are more important, you need to get off my back about it." He had to fight to keep from wincing at the words coming out of his mouth. "So can you take me off the schedule or what?"

"Yeah, I can do that, Buck."

"Okay, thanks Captain Nash."

"Take care of yourself." Bobby said before Buck forced himself to end the call.

"That don't seem like a guy who has no fucks to give about your continued existence." The man said, eyebrow raised.

"I was a huge thorn in his side, but he's a decent guy. He doesn't want me to drop over dead. His wife's the one you don't want to cross. Someone messes with her family I'm not sure anyone would find the body, you know."

"There are certainly some bitches in the world you do not want to cross. So the missus is holding the grudge then?"

Buck felt a shudder of fear run down his spine half convinced somewhere in the city Athena would somehow just know if he nodded along. "She sure looked pissed when I served her husband the court papers."

He clapped his hands together. "Take our friend here back to his room, and maybe let him use the showers. He smells like old french fries for some reason."

Frankie took him back to the room. "I'll come get you later for that shower, once I can scrounge up some supplies."

"I'll still need towels and stuff, but my work bag is in the back of the Jeep. I've got my toiletries and a couple changes of clothes in there."

Frankie was nodding. "I'll check for your bag, and find the shit you're gonna need and we'll go from there."

With that he shut the door and Buck was back in the dimly lit room. With the knowledge that he was going to be able to clean up properly, he hoped, he put some time into exercising. It helped keep his body strong and the repetitiveness kept his mind clear of all the worries and fears that would eat him alive if he let them.

Push-ups, sit-ups, stretches and he even used a piece of metal machinery as a weight. He worked out until his body was covered in sweat and he once again had no idea how much time had passed. He did his cool down and drained the tiny juice bottle he'd saved from breakfast. The door opened again and his bag was tossed into the room.

Buck was able to shower, even if it wasn't exactly hot, and change clothes. Once he was done, Frankie took his dirty clothes and the towels.

"This whole thing is going to take a while, you know for Diaz to clear his balance. So we'll need to figure our shit out. I didn't sign up for babysitter duty. Well, actually, I probably did, considering I let you talk me into your bullshit, but let's be fair, I probably would have got stuck with the kid too, once Amber heard the first sniffle. God love her, but my sister ain't exactly the motherly sort, you know what I mean?"

Buck could only nod in agreement, allowing himself to be taken back to his 'room'.

"Shower every couple days, and whatever you change out of I'll throw in with my laundry. Breakfast will be whatever the fuck I can grab on the way in, and then I'll head out and get something for lunch and dinner together, something that don't mind sitting a few hours, you know?" Buck nodded in agreement not entirely sure of the point, since he didn't really have much of a choice. "Do what you're told and so long as you don't fuck up my day, I won't have to fuck up yours, got it?"

"Got it." Buck said before Frankie nodded and shut the door. He settled on the mattress and checked through the bag once his eyes got used to the dim light. Someone had clearly given it a look over, just based on some things having been moved around. He had a couple uniforms, another set of tees and sweats. There were a couple books it was too dark to read and his watch. He had some energy bars tucked away, and a few other odd ends he didn't expect to be useful. Still he was glad to have even this much.

He repacked the bag and then stretched out on the mattress. He foresaw a lot of exercises and napping in his future. He figured this would be a great time to try meditation. He would either enhance his calm, or, more likely, get sleep without the hours staring at the ceiling. Either way was a win to him.

The next few days went like Frankie had laid out. They started the day with breakfast. It usually came closer to noon than not, at least according to his watch, which had become unexpectedly useful. The watch lit up, surprisingly bright in the dim room. He couldn't use it for any real length of time, but it had helped out in the wake of a tsunami fueled nightmare. The light showed him enough of his surroundings to break him out of his panic. What was his life where the reality of being held as collateral for his best friend's debt was more palatable than the nightmares.

Every other day he was offered a shower so he kept his more intense work out for those days, and in between he kept to stretches and pacing back and forth across the dim room, to keep his leg from becoming an issue. During each shower, Frankie would swap out anything dirty for a freshly laundered set.

Sometime around five pm Frankie would show up with a bag of food and some drinks. One of the guys stayed at the door for part of the day, leaving it open and allowing him light and to use the restroom so long as he was escorted to and from. When no one could be spared, or in the overnight hours the door was shut and locked and he was left in the near fully dark room.

The schedule stayed the same until Friday afternoon, when instead of bringing food, Frankie informed him that the boss wanted to see him. Buck wasn't quite sure what to expect. Had someone sent him a message, or was it time to explain the situation to Eddie? His stomach was in knots, with uncertainty and more than a little fear that the man would decide he wasn't enough of a reason to fight, and unknowingly put Chris back in the cross-hairs.

The fact that the man seemed exceedingly cheerful definitely had Buck on edge, since he knew that couldn't possibly bode well. "You will never guess who had the balls to get ahold of me and request a spot in a fight tonight."

"Eddie" Buck breathed out, wincing at how fucking angry he had to be to risk so much for a chance to release it, especially if the things he'd heard between the two guards and the boss were even halfway accurate.

"Got it in one, Sunshine, and guess who his opponent is going to be." He said with a big grin.

Buck wanted to throw up, but could only stand and listen as the man went on explaining the plan for tonight.

"I think coming face to face with your buddy will throw Diaz way off his game, don't you? Everyone is primed to bet on him, after that last match, but they don't know he's going into the ring against you. You're the guy who saved his kid, right? He'll tap out. Guys got too much of a conscious to fight his friend." He said pacing in an excited manner.

Buck saw the problem immediately though. "You're wrong."

The man came to a halt and turned to face him. "The Hell you say!"

"You saw those messages. Unless you're telling him the truth first, I'm the son of a bitch who abandoned his kid and made the boy cry. He's not going to tap out. He's going to be baying for my blood." Buck explained.

The man started nodding. "You got me there, okay, this could be better than I thought. Yeah, I can work with this. New plan. You're going in that ring, but you don't say a fucking word. No sorrys, no explanations. One peep and I send the boys out, and this time they aren't there to snatch the kid. Daddy will go home to a few broken bones."

Buck was ready to beg if it would help but the man kept talking.

"See, him kicking your ass around that ring, that's gonna up his rep, up the bets for him and the odds in his favor. Then I get to tell him the truth of things. How he beat the ever living shit out of the guy who saved his precious kid over and over, from that tsunami, from my boys, and from his own fucking stupidity. I get to break him without lifting a finger. Then, when the bets and the odds are through the roof, Diaz takes a dive."

"What makes you so sure he's going to be the one kicking ass tonight?" Buck asked, not quite sure why he was pressing the guy's buttons, but unable to shut himself up. Instead of getting angry, the man smirked at him and made a 'go on' gesture with his hand. "He's been risking his life, his kid's life, his job and God only knows what else, to take part in an illegal fight club. According to you and your guys, he's already nearly killed a man, and is so fucking stupid that you didn't have to coerce him in any way to get him back in the ring."

"Technically there isn't really, you know a ring. Just a kind of fenced in area." Frankie piped up behind him.

"You wanna know why I'm so sure, aside from the fact that the kid pays for it if you disobey?" Buck's rage washed away at that entirely. "You're here. You willingly climbed into the noose to protect his kid, and yeah, yeah, I'm sure you love the snotty little fucker, but I've watched your face when you read those messages from Diaz."

"What do you mean?" Buck asked, confused now.

"What I mean is that you are completely ass over tits in love with the bastard. One disappointed word from him and you looked like your world was ending. It's kinda romantic in a sad sort of way. I mean I really feel for you, hand to God. Unfortunately, the idiot crossed me, and worse than that, he cost me money, time and fucking effort I shouldn't have had to spend, moving my whole operation cause one asshole had to be a bleeding heart."

Buck didn't know what to say, his mind was reeling. He didn't... did he? He loved Eddie. Of course he loved Eddie. He was his best friend, but did he love Eddie?

The guy was almost gentle when he sent Buck out of the room. "Get him fed up, and maybe in something more appropriate. White to show off the blood, you know?"

Buck didn't know what to do. His head was too full of all the things that could and would go wrong, and in the few moments he wasn't worried about that, he was poking at the concept of his feelings for Eddie with a sharp stick.

Frankie had dropped off a pair of light grey shorts and a white tank top, and he'd obediently, if a bit mechanically, put them on. There was a pair of gloves and he set those aside for later.

Frankie had brought food too, and that he'd immediately asked to have taken away. The smell was too much for him, and there was no way he could possibly eat before this nightmare was over. It was likely that whatever he'd brought would be okay for a few hours anyway, so he wasn't going to push himself to eat when his body knew it couldn't.

He took his watch off and tucked it away, so it wasn't torturing him with the absolute shit show that was relativity. He couldn't watch time move both too slowly and too fast at the same time, plus he had no plans on taking anything but himself into the ring. According to Frankie, it was barefeet and light gloves, not that he would need to protect his hands from punches he knew he could never make, not if Eddie was at the other end, anyway.

It was an eternity and paradoxically far too soon when Frankie stepped into his 'room', Joey in tow to take him to the fight. He'd been hearing the sound of people for awhile now, but hadn't acknowledged it, not really focusing on the people he knew would cheer and scream for more and more of his blood as the night went on.

Both men looked dressed up, or at least their own version of it. Nice looking clothes, gold chains, and a not quite indiscreet bulge where they were both wearing holsters. They'd look good as background extras in any number of shitty action movies. They stood waiting and he climbed to his feet following the pair of them to the last place he wanted to be, and the only place he needed to be, for Chris.

Buck slipped on his gloves and Frankie helped get them fastened properly, before catching Buck's eye. "Boss wants you in the ring, but not facing the other direction. He wants a good look at Diaz's face when he realizes who he's fighting. So you get inside and then turn to me. When the fight starts, that's when you can turn to face him. Remember you don't say shit to him. Boss is right up there," He pointed to a railing above the crowd. "and he's watching. I will be exceptionally pissed if you fuck this up and make me go terrorize a little kid. I mean I'll do it, but I will sure as shit take my therapy out on you, we clear?"

"I'd die first." Buck said, firmly.

"No, you won't." Frankie replied. "Boss would make damned sure of that. He's not one for letting people who cross him take the easy route."

Buck climbed in between the split in the fence and quickly turned to face Frankie, squatting down with his arms over his head, hoping to both hide his identity and to block out the overwhelming sounds of the crowd. It worked for a few seconds, and then the roar doubled and he knew it was because Eddie was climbing into the, for want of a better word, ring.

There were more than a few boo's amid the cheers and he wondered if that had anything to do with the last fight, people pissed about the lack of death, or just angry that they'd had to make a run from the cops. Either way he focused on Frankie instead, forcing himself to ignore Eddie's presence for as long as he could.

Time's utter elasticity reared it head once more as the start of the fight seemed to last hours not few seconds it took between Eddie slipping into the ring and Frankie to give him the signal.

"Go on, show him who he's fighting."

Buck stood and turned and got a good look at Eddie, and let him get a good look back. They'd been able to read each other from almost the very start. Maybe not in the ambulance that wasn't, but certainly by the time Eddie and Ali were dangling out a window. Now that was gone. Washed away by unbanked rage.

He could read the shock at seeing him, and then there was nothing but murderous intent. Any warmth Eddie had once held in his heart for Buck was gone. Buck could breakdown and mourn that loss later, when Chris wasn't at risk, because otherwise he was bound to drop to his knees and bare his neck like a wounded animal waiting for the killing blow. He didn't dare let himself hope that Eddie would forgive him if he knew the truth. Hope would have him begging and pleading and that wasn't allowed.

The fight started and Eddie rushed him, like Buck fully expected him to. He bounced on his toes and then ducked and shifted to the left, letting Eddie's momentum carry him past the spot where Buck had been a millisecond before. He kept light on his feet, forcing Eddie to essentially chase him around the ring.

Buck knew the boss wanted a show, before Buck went down, to hype up the frenzy around Eddie, and the man's odds. He figured the best way to give the man what he wanted was to get Eddie frustrated. He knew every button the man had, and since he wasn't allowed to rile him up verbally, this was the next best thing. Buck treated Eddie like a joke, playing with his food and making the man chase him in the hopes of getting a hit in. He ricochet around the ring, a forced grin on his face like a maniacal pinball, giving Eddie a quick shove across the ring when his moves brought him briefly to rest behind the man, before he once again gained momentum.

Eddie stumbled forward but quickly recovered and when Buck tried the same trick a second time, Eddie was ready with a quick reverse and and a kick to the side of Buck's head that sent him reeling across the ring.

That kick turned the tide, and the most Buck could do was shove him away, but Eddie kept coming back, taking shots at his ribs and his face when given the chance. There was one unlucky shot to the head that utterly rang Buck's bell, and his head went more than a little swimmy. Eddie had began to speak, now that he didn't have to concentrate on chasing him down, and the words were flaying Buck open more than any punch or kick could. Eddie was saying all the things Buck had expected from the very second he'd let Chris slip away during the tsunami.

"How could you leave him?" "I can't believe I ever called you my friend." "Worthless." "Useless." "Exhausting." Each mental body blow followed by a physical one. The last one accompanied another hit to the head, and Buck went down, hard.

---

The fight was called and Buck was carried out of the ring. Eddie stood huffing like a bull, still looking for something to hit, to destroy. He didn't see the satisfied smirk of the man watching from overhead and eventually he shook himself free of the paralysis and slipped out of the fencing, to the frenzied cheering of the crowd. He hadn't even thought to collect any winnings.

Practically on auto pilot, he made his way home, and it wasn't until he was going to check on his son, and Carla stopped him, that he realized he was covered in more than a little bit of blood. He was sure she'd asked if he needed help or a doctor, and that he'd just shook his head and walked away. He climbed into a too hot shower and stood, dazed yet mesmerized by the swirls of blood, as they ran down the drain.

He wasn't able to fully comprehend what had happened, and what he'd done, until he woke up the next day, with the typical soreness he usually had post fight, and hurried to get ready for work. Carla was giving him cautious looks over Chris's head. "I take it you had a bad shift?"

He froze a moment, and then grasped the excuse she'd offered with both hands. "There was a bad call."

---

Buck was brought around quickly with the sharp pungent ammonia scent of smelling salts. He jerked up looking around for the train that must have hit him, blissfully unaware that that train was named Eddie for a whole nine seconds before he remembered every blow, mental and physical.

After a few minutes, Frankie got Buck to his feet, and led him back through the warehouse to his 'room' and helped him down to the mattress.

"I'm betting the answer is no, but do you think you might be able to eat tonight? I don't think he actually broke anything outright, but the fucker might have cracked a rib or two, and surprisingly, he didn't get a good hit in to your face. Just, you know knocked you a little senseless. I'm not sure how you got that cut on your head, maybe when he bounced you off the ground, or the slam into the fence, but even mild head wounds bleed like a bitch, and now that I got it stopped, the thing hardly looks like anything to worry about." Frankie said, running down his injuries. "You are likely to bruise like a son of a bitch, especially when you take the blood thinners into account. So food?"

Buck shook his head, and then winced and stopped that real quick when his entire brain protested the movement. "Just something to drink." He said, quietly.

Frankie nodded as if that was about what he expected and then quickly returned with a few cold bottles of water. "I'm gonna leave these here, okay? Fight night means I got other shit Boss needs me to deal with. I probably won't see you til morning so I'm gonna leave the food here in case. If you can't eat, I'll toss it in the morning."

He sat the bag and the extra waters on the floor at the top of the mattress, and then silently left the room.

Buck was left in the dark and he just floated there, trying to not to think or move or feel, and failing at all three miserably. He finally managed sleep after what felt like years awake, but sleep was a horrible idea and should be outlawed. Instead of blissful quiet nothingness, Buck was drowning.

Water was his entire world, tumbling his aching body until he didn't know what side was up and battering against it with random bits of debris, until he felt scoured over from top to bottom. His lungs were screaming for release he knew wasn't going to come. Eons later he could breath and there was no water, only him and glorious air, but he didn't know where he was, until he turned around. Once he recognized this nightmare place, he longed for the water.

He didn't want to step inside but his feet moved without permission, and they carried him inside, and then past row and rows of black plastic. He came to a row that somehow stood out among all the other countless others. His hands reached out for the first plastic bag, and his mind tried, desperate now, to once again control his disobedient body. Instead of stopping the bag was pulled open and there was a dirty bleached out face, and wet curls. The eyes opened to cloudy unseeing pupils, and the head turned to look at him in silent accusation.

He stumbled back, only to walk to the next bag and the next and the next, each one filled with people he'd loved, people who'd trusted him, people who were now all dead, and yet still staring at him with those accusing eyes. Bobby, Maddie, Athena, Hen, May, Denny; an endless row of the fallen. Eddie was the only one he didn't find and a part of him wanted to be glad Eddie had somehow survived this calamity, until he spoke up.

"You killed them all." He accused, eyes full of grief turned to rage. "This was your fault, you weight them down like an anchor, until they couldn't hold you up any longer. Your consuming, exhausting love pulled them down. Pulled him down."

He wanted to beg forgiveness or plead innocence, but his body still wouldn't obey.

"You drowned them all, and you somehow keep making your way to the surface. Floating up on the bloated corpses of the people you damned with your love. I was smarter than them in the end. I saw what loving you did to people, and I let that go, but I was too late to save them. Now there's only one thing left to do. We have to join them."

There was an empty open bag, and Buck found himself being laid down inside it. He couldn't move to fight back and he was slowly zipped inside. When only his face was still uncovered, Eddie was suddenly there, leaning over him, his gaze almost loving and he kissed Buck sweetly on his forehead before reaching for the zipper again.

"I guess I couldn't escape your love in the end, either. Don't fight it Buck, just breath it in, and then we'll all be together again." The last thing Buck saw before the darkness was complete was Eddie's own dead eyes. The body bag was suddenly full of water and he was trapped and drowning.

He woke up screaming, first in terror and then in agony as his ribs strained from his violent movements to free himself from the lone blanket he'd been wrapped up in.

He was freezing cold, shivering with it, and he hurt everywhere. He tried to find his watch in the dark, just for those few seconds of light, but the darkness was too complete. Someone must have shut off the lights in the hallway, leaving even that dim light gone. He drug himself towards the top of the mattress. He remembered that there were more bottles of water there. He thought his bag might be just be there too. He could put on more clothes, to help keep warm, because he didn't think even with a few seconds of light, he'd be able to wrap himself up in the blanket again any time soon.

It took him far too long, hands knocking the water over, even as he tried to be careful. He tucked a bottle close and then stretched his arm up slowly sweeping from side to side until he managed to find the strap of his bag. It normally wasn't even close to what he'd call heavy but the effort it took to drag the bag even a few inches closer felt Herculean. His ribs ached and his lungs burned with the effort but he needed to see, even for just those few seconds.

He finally got the bag close enough and had to force himself to calm down and methodically search for the watch. He found it quicker than he thought he would, just because that was how he expected his luck to go at this point. He pulled it close then closed his eyes before triggering the light. He carefully opened his eyes to the small light that was somehow too bright.

He felt like a complete fraud; the big strong firefighter who needed a light to ward of the nightmares. He wasn't about to give up the peace of mind it brought. His body shivered and he realized there was no possibility that it was actually this cold, unless California was having some exceedingly freakish weather.

That meant he was probably fevered. He hoped it was Chris's cold, which yeah would suck, but it beat an infection setting in because of some damage he took in the fight. The odds it was something like that this soon wasn't non-existent, but it was far more likely that he'd picked up Chris's illness. Between the stress and the shitty conditions he was probably primed to get sick anyway.

He pulled out the Children's Tylenol, and began trying to figure out how many tabs might do something to break what had to be a fever in a grown man. If his shaky mental math was right he might have enough in the package for three and a third adult doses.

His stomach was more than a little upset so he tried to get some water down first, to hopefully settle it some. He should have eaten, but the idea of whatever was left in that bag had his stomach ready to do flips, so he settled for small sips of water. When he'd managed about a fourth of the bottle, he began popping out the right number of tablets. He chewed them slowly and methodically chasing each one with an additional sip or two of water.

He finished the tablets and then forced himself to slowly finish the rest of the bottle of water. Once he was done he sat it aside, and with another click of the watch, grabbed a t-shirt and sweats.

Buck carefully removed the clothes he was wearing, still bloody from the fight and sweat soaked from his nightmare and the fever. He put on his sweats and then after the agony of removing the tank top, began to carefully run his hands down his ribs. He didn't think they were broken, but he needed to keep himself fairly upright, because between the fever, the bruised ribs and his deluxe accommodations, he was just practically guaranteed a lung infection.

He struggled into the thickest shirt and then topped that with one of his uniform shirts. He settled the bag against the wall then topped it with the pillow. He settled against that then pulled the blanket up and with a shudder set it over himself. He didn't dare layer up like he wanted, because it would push the fever higher. That was why he quickly started feeling like he was going to shake apart. Instead of covering up more, he forced himself to open another bottle of water and drank a few sips before closing it and trying the whole meditation thing, while sick, in pain and sitting up.

He did not achieve oneness with the universe, but he managed to get a few more hours of sleep.

---

Eddie figured he was screwed, and more than that, he probably, no he definitely deserved it. He'd broken his word to Bobby, no matter how angry he was with Buck, he could have talked to someone. He wasn't clicking with Frank, but Bobby understood addiction and had told him his door was open any time.

Sure the man had been covering a different shift most of the week, leaving Reynolds in charge, but it wasn't like Eddie didn't know where the man lived or how to get ahold of him at a moment's notice. Instead he'd slipped and called to beg for a spot in the fights on Friday night. Look at where that lead him.

Monday and Tuesday had been bad enough constantly worrying and raging at Buck falling off the planet. He'd tried checking with Chim, Hen and Bobby on Monday night, and none of them had heard a peep from Buck. He hadn't explained why he was looking, some part of him not wanting to tell the others about what Buck had done, still unwilling to completely believe it himself. His calls were being purposefully sent to voicemail.

When Carla popped in to check on Chris, he'd asked her to stay for an hour or two and then drove past Buck's apartment on the way to get something for Chris's stomach. There was no sign of the Jeep.

He'd had to pull Chris's old crutches out of storage and adjust them up for the growth spurt he'd had in the last few months, frustrated all over again with not knowing what was going on.

By Wednesday, Chris was on the other side of the worst of the cold, and still asking about 'his Buck'. Carla came early since Chris was still out of school, armed with a packet of make-up work she'd picked up that morning, so Chris could get a head start on it.

Eddie pulled into the station, running a little behind, and slammed his fist into the steering wheel when he didn't see the Jeep anywhere. Eddie was in the station and up the stairs, worry having won out over frustration. He'd barged in to Bobby's office, only to find Reynolds in his place. "I, uh, sorry, sir, I was looking for Captain Nash."

"Sorry, we needed a few shifts covered so we had to juggle duties a bit to get them taken care of and still stay in regs. Unless something goes off the rails, Nash will be back on Saturday. Is there anything I can help you with, Diaz?"

"I had a question about Buckley, Sir, but I can take it up with Captain Nash." Eddie said, not wanting to get into everything with Reynolds.

"Probably for the best. I'm not sure what's going on with the man, but Nash let me know he wouldn't be available and arranged coverage for his shift. Even if I knew more than that, it's not exactly my place to do so. I suggest you take whatever your question is up with Nash or Buckley."

"You're absolutely right, Sir, and I apologize again for just bursting in. Even if Captain Nash had been here, it was highly inappropriate, and it won't happen again."

"I appreciate the apology, but you need to get into uniform, and I need to get the rest of my paperwork filed."

"Yes, Sir." Eddie said before hurrying off to change.

Once he changed he rushed up to the loft and found Chim sitting at the counter drinking coffee and poking at his phone.

"Chim, I just heard Buck wasn't going to be here." Eddie started, meaning to ask him if Maddie had heard anything, but Chim began ranting instead.

"Yeah, I can't believe Bobby is letting him get away with that crap. I mean he texted Maddie that his doctor said take it easy and how he ran into some old fling. I guess he took it as a sign, then called Bobby and demanded time off for a surprise vacation."

Eddie was trying to wrap his brain around what he was hearing. "Bobby actually talked to him?"

"Well, sure, how else could he sweet talk the man into giving him days off with barely 24 hours notice?" Chim shook his head. "Kid figured out Bobby sees him as one of his own. Kinda messed up that he's using Bobby like that, you know?"

Eddie had nodded along, not hearing anything else Chim had to say as all the worry and frustration he'd struggling with for days turned to pure rage. He wasn't sure what kept him together for the rest of shift, but the second he was free and clear he was clawing through his wallet to find a card he'd fully expected to never use again.

He'd ended up eating a lot of crow as he begged for a spot in a fight. He knew without that outlet for his anger, he'd end up blowing up at someone who might not deserve it.

Instead he'd beaten the shit out of Buck. Thankfully Bobby would be back on shift today, because Eddie needed to come clean about what he'd done and apologize for breaking his word.

Eddie got to work early for a change, and hurried inside. He needed to talk to Bobby. He managed to remember to knock this time, and Bobby called him in.

"Eddie?"

"Hey, Cap, can I have a word with you." He said, stepping into the office and shutting the door. "I, uh, made a mistake, and I needed to talk to you about it."

Bobby stood up and moved around the desk, "What did you do, Eddie?"

"I... I've been seeing Frank, like we agreed, but I fucked up last night. Buck... what he did... I was just so fucking angry, and I needed an outlet."

"What Buck did?" Bobby asked, giving him an odd look.

"He picked Chris up Monday, cause he got sick and Buck was already off work. He offered to pick Chris up. I mean I didn't even ask, he offered and insisted it wasn't a problem. Then I go home and find Chris alone, crying and all but trapped on the couch. He didn't even leave his crutches."

"Is Chris okay?" Bobby asked intensely.

"He was sick, but all he could say was when he got into Buck's Jeep, he made Chris take medicine, and then he fell asleep. The next thing he remembers is waking up alone. He left my sick kid alone, Bobby!" Eddie was tightening and loosening his fists, and flashes of punches he made last night flash in his mind, punches he barely remembered taking, and the feel of Buck's body when he hit. His stomach roiled and he moved towards the trash can, but managed to keep it down and then settled into the seat in front of Bobby.

"So Buck was at your place with Chris on Monday, and you haven't been able to get ahold of him, to find out what happened?" Bobby asked, eyes locked on him.

"I wouldn't exactly say that." Eddie wiped a hand over his mouth. "I spent two days calling his phone and being sent to voicemail after a ring or two, and had every message ignored. Then Chim told me how he called you up and sweet talked you into giving him time off so he could run off with some girl." Eddie practically snarled out. "He left Chris alone to get laid!"

"Chim said that?" Bobby asked, eyebrows raised.

"I mean he said something about a message to Maddie, too, but basically yeah. I just... even in the middle of the lawsuit, I never doubted how much Buck loved Chris, you know, I just thought he hadn't been thinking, but this... Do you want to hear the worst fucking part? Chris is worried for Buck, and the bastard wouldn't even text back a 'Hey, I'm alive.' I guess at least one good thing came out of last night. I can tell Chris Buck's alive, and just, you know busy getting better." Eddie was staring of into space.

"Eddie what happened last night?" Bobby asked, crouching down in front of Eddie and finally snapping his finger in Eddie's face when he didn't respond. "Hey, you with me? What happened last night?"

"I went to a fight. I'm sorry Bobby, I know I said I wouldn't, but Buck just left us... left Chris like we- like he didn't mean a damned thing to him. I was so angry I had to cut my nails short." He held out his hands and Bobby could see the crescent wounds his nails had made along the palm of his hands. Eddie was staring at them.

"So you went to a fight..." Bobby asked gently, taking one of Eddie's hands in his own.

"I, uh, I had the guy who recruited me... I had his number and I practically begged him to get me a fight. He told me where to show up Friday, and I didn't care that I probably pissed a lot of people off, or that it could have been a setup or something. I just needed to take back some control, you know?" Bobby nodded. "So I went and I dropped a bet on myself because why not at that point, right? Then I get in the cage with the other guy, and I'm so ready to let off steam, to get some of this mess Buck left in my head out, only when the guy gets up, it's Buck."

Bobby jerked back. "It was Buck, in the ring with you? Ready to fight you?"

"He didn't ask about Chris or apologize. He just grinned at me. I swear, Bobby, if he'd just said sorry, I never would have done it."

"Eddie, what did you do?" Bobby asked gripping his wrists and forcing Eddie to look at him.

"I fought him. He was fucking playing with me, like I didn't matter, like Chris didn't matter." Eddie's eyes were wide and wet, and he was staring at Bobby. "He just grinned at me like I was a joke, like he was fucking playing with me, and I just lost it."

"Eddie?" Bobby was the one leaving the nail marks now, into Eddie's wrists. "What did you do?"

"He thought he outsmarted me, he tried to pull the same trick on me twice, and I was ready for it. I... I won the fight, it's all just kind of... The rules are tap out or knock out. He didn't tap, Bobby."

Bobby was staring at him with some unreadable expression on his face. He seemed to go blank and he took his hands off Eddie's wrist, and stepped back, his hands making the fists now as he passed across his office. "Was he alive, Eddie?"

"I think so. I mean some guys carried him out, and he was breathing okay, but there was blood all over me." Eddie was staring at something Bobby couldn't see.

"He was bleeding? Eddie he's still on blood thinners!"

Bobby was staring at him in horror. Realization hit Eddie then and he dove for the trash can and threw up. How the fuck had he forgotten about the blood thinners?

Bobby's face was hard and he pulled Eddie to his feet. He slapped a pen into Eddie's hand and a yellow legal pad down on the desk. "You are going to tell me where you went and who was involved and any other details you can remember, and then you are going to get your ass back home. Don't show your face in my firehouse or talk to anyone else about this."

Eddie was staring at him lost.

"Write, Diaz!" He barked, anger showing for the first time and Eddie began writing. He didn't think he had more than a few words to say, but by the time he was being shoved out of Bobby's office he had filled multiple pages.

"Go home." Bobby ordered again and shut the door on him.

---

Buck woke up to the door scraping open and Frankie's voice carried across the room. "Rise and shine. Breakfast is here." He called out before he got a good look at Buck. "Shit, man, you okay?"

"I'm just great." Buck replied, only to wince and stop when his throat felt raw.

"Yeah you sound it, buddy. Shit. Hey Joey, get me a light. Boss will be pissed if the collateral drops dead on him." He was carefully prodding Buck's ribs and he wheezed in pain and flinched back, which triggered a coughing fit that brought tears to his eyes as he tried to hold his lungs in place by wrapping his arms around himself and twisting to cough into the blanket instead of in Frankie's face.

"Shit, man, that has got to hurt like a bitch." He reached out a hand to help settle Buck and then pulled back. "Fuck you're burning up. Okay, new plan. Fuck the light, Joey, go check that other room we was gonna use when we expected to be bringing home the kid. It's a lot warmer than this shithole at any rate. Make sure it will work real quick, then come help me move him up there?" Joey looked like he was grateful to be going anywhere away from the clearly infectious man.

"Once we get you situated, I'll pick up some meds and something better to eat. I doubt your throat is up for the bacon and biscuits I picked up. We might be able to get some of the scrambled eggs down you." Buck turned more than a little green at the thought of eggs. "or we could just not. Hey these grape chewables, that's the only thing you took, right?"

Buck nodded.

"Okay, we'll get you settled, and then get some real Tylenol in you to help with the fever. You're killing me here, pal. The one reason I went with the whole taking you instead of the kid plan was so I didn't have to deal with this shit."

Joey poked his head in. "Room's ready."

"Okay, up you get, buddy." He helped Buck to his feet. "Grab his bag and shit, and toss that old food." He ordered then led Buck out of the room.

He hurt to move and the new room was up a set of stairs and down another hallway. It had a dusty and abandoned feel with another mattress thrown on the floor and a few old boxes settled in one corner. there was light though, from a high wide window meant for light instead of any sort of view. In his current fevered state he couldn't tell if it was warmer since his brain was telling him he was moving through a freezer.

Frankie helped him down onto the mattress the small jolt of his landing sent a wave of aching pain across his chest and he was carefully breathing through the pain to keep from another coughing fit.

"Joey, get his blanket and pillow after you set his shit down. Make sure he has something he can puke in. I'm gonna hit the closest store and get him some Tylenol and shit. Give him one of those waters too."

"Why the fuck do I gotta get close, Francis. You're as much of a babysitter as I am."

"Just get him the shit he needs, or I tell the boss how you're gonna cost him when the fucker dies and there's no controlling Diaz. I'm not asking you to drink after him or let him cough in your face. Do you have any idea of what shit to buy if you did the store run? No you don't, cause you get the hint of a sniffle and your ma babies you like you're two, so shut the fuck up and get shit done. Unless you wanna ask your mommy how to take care of the guy you kidnapped. Shit I almost wish you would. Watching her go after you with her broom would almost be worth the risk she'd take after me too." Frankie shook his head and left.

Buck spent the next few minutes shivering in the middle of the mattress before Joey tossed his blanket and pillow next to him. He dropped a bottle of water on the bed and sat a small bucket next to the bed, before he hurried out.

Buck didn't know how long it was before Frankie showed back up with a couple bags full of supplies, including some bottles of water and juice, chicken soup, Tylenol, Vick's and a bottle of NyQuil.

Buck struggled to sit up and started sorting things out. There was a small strip of space between the mattress and the wall and he settled the water and juices there for the most part, then cracked open the Tylenol and NyQuil packages. He didn't bother with the measuring cup, and instead took a long slug from the bottle of NyQuil, then grabbed a juice and took three caplets. He was set to ignore the Vick's when Frankie spoke up.

"I know it ain't the best smell, but Joey's ma really does swear by the shit, and your breathing is fucked. Between whatever nasty cold Diaz's kid gave you and the beat down Diaz put you to, you need all the help you can get. Rub it on your chest and sniff the shit to help you breath easier." He suggested.

"Thanks for all this." Buck said while he slathered his chest with the Vick's.

"Oh yeah," Frankie said, pulling what Buck quickly recognized as his own wallet out of his pocket and tossed it down on the top of Buck's bag. "It was on your dime, so no skin off my nose. I just played gofer. Easier to do a little shopping than to dump a body, you know? There's a spoon and some crackers in the bag somewhere to go with the soup. I'll check in on you later to see how that stayed down before we figure out dinner."

With a final glance at Buck, he slipped out the door and Buck heard it shut and lock behind him.

---

Eddie did what Bobby told him to, because he was too focused on the words that kept circling his mind to think of anything else: "He's still on blood thinners."

What the fuck had Buck been thinking? Risking his life for work was bad enough, but they were prepared for his dumb ass to get hurt. How could he possibly think something like street fighting was a good idea? One wrong hit and he died. Jesus, had Eddie killed him? He hadn't pulled a single punch, from what little he could remember. Had he punctured a lung? Bruised a kidney? How much damage did he inflict without even taking the blood thinners into account?

He was supposed to be at work for the next 24 hours so Chris was with Abuela for most of that, now that he was feeling better. Considering he'd been sitting in his now dark livingroom obsessing over a fight he could barely remember, trying to medically assess each blow and determine how badly he could have hurt Buck, he was very, very appreciative of that fact.

He pulled his phone, and realized the fight had been almost exactly 24 hours ago. He had Buck's name pulled up and his finger hoovered over it for a long time before he hit call, and waited, not sure what he was going to say if Buck picked up. If he could pick up. It rang two and a half times, and then went to voicemail, just like every other time in the last five fucking days.

It took everything in Eddie to sit the phone down on the coffee table and not fling it against the nearest wall. He was up and pacing in moments so when the phone started ringing on the table, he dove for it hoping to see Buck's name. Instead it was a vaguely familiar number with no name associated with it.

He answered, wary. "Hello?"

"Diaz. Thought I'd check in with you after that fight last night."

Placing the voice he was on guard. "I'm fine."

"Good to hear. Thing is you took off after the fight and we got some financials to deal with. Think you could spare the time to swing by, we should talk."

Eddie's first initial reaction was to tell the guy to fuck off. Then he thought about where Buck might be, and what this man might know. "I got nothing going on right now, would this be a good time?"

"I was hoping you'd say that, Diaz. Yeah, same place as last night, someone will be around to point you in the right direction."

"Right. I'll be there soon." He said already looking for his keys.

"Looking forward to it." The man said before hanging up.

Eddie immediately messaged Bobby. 'Going to a meeting with the guy who runs the fights. Will see if he can tell me anything about Buck.'

Eddie shut off his phone, not wanting to acknowledge Bobby telling him not to do it. He knew full well that this was stupid, but now that the thought was in his brain, it wouldn't stop. If he'd killed Buck last night, that man would know.

He pulled into the parking lot and stepped into the warehouse's open bay. He hadn't paid any attention to the many cars that had been parked there last night, but now that there were only a few, a certain Jeep stood out and solidified his worries into a tight fist gripping his chest.

Just then a dark haired guy who looked vaguely familiar noticed him. "Hey, Diaz, right? Come on, I'm supposed to show you to the office." Eddie nodded and followed him up a pair of stairs into an office that had seen better days.

The man who ran things looked up from his seat behind the desk. "Diaz, have a seat."

Eddie settled into the seat across the desk from him, and tried to keep his cool, while the man purposefully tried to rile him up by ignoring him for several long moments.

When he seemed to realize Eddie wasn't going to break first he began speaking. "You owe a lot of money to the house, Diaz."

That hadn't been what he was expecting, but it did piss him off. "Bullshit. I bet on myself last night, and I won, but I never got around to collecting it. I don't owe the house shit."

"Those winnings last night? That was a drop in the bucket to what you owe. We're sitting here talking in a whole new location, do you wanna know why that is, Diaz? Because your fucking bleeding heart burned my last location by calling 9-1-1. That same bleeding heart sent loyal patrons fleeing in fear of the cops. That is a lot of lost revenue, plus moving expenses. I'd say you're into the house for a pretty penny, wouldn't you?"

"That's bullshit! How many people would stick around after you let a guy die in front of them. It only takes one person going to the cops to ruin your day, I got him help, kept him alive."

"You think he'd be the first?"

The utter derision took the wind right out of Eddie's sails. "You don't care?"

"A little extra for corpse removal is a lot cheaper than what your bullshit cost me. Nah, you put a spotlight on me and mine, Diaz. Way I figure it you got quite the tab built up. I was a little pissed about that, not gonna lie. I had a nice long term plan for you to pay it back. Even went and got me some collateral, but last night was a game changer. Do you know what the odds are on you now, if I put you up against the right opponent? They're through the fucking roof. I figure after last night, if I plan shit right, and you play your cards just right, we'll be able to all but clear your debt with one little fight."

"I shouldn't have fought last night, and I got no plans to do it again." Eddie hissed out, furiously.

"Did you miss the part where I mentioned collateral? Or do I need to pick up someone you will care about, I mean I did let this guy sweet talk me into taking him instead of that cute little kid of yours, I figured you'd have a little more concern, considering. I probably should have figured after what you did to him last night that you wouldn't give a shit."

Before he'd been halfway done talking Eddie had jumped to his feet ready to go across the desk after him, at the threat to Chris, but there was the clear sound of a gun cocking from his right, and he stopped, furious, even before the rest of what the man was saying sunk in, and Eddie fell back into the chair, eyes wide and chest tightening, barely able to breath as he stared at the man in horror.

"From what I saw last night, and heard from my guys today, you did a real number on him. I gotta say, I was really impressed with how stone-cold you were about it, too. I mean this is the guy who saved your kid in a tsunami, or so I'm told, and then with a gun to his head, sweet talked his way into taking the little kid's place. I gotta warn you Diaz, don't get cute with that cop grandma he warned us about."

Eddie's mind was reeling as the reality of the situation, and what he'd done sank in. "Is he alive?"

"What, now you care? Yeah sure, but he's not in the best shape, between the beat down last night, and then on top of that whatever cold your rugrat passed on. I was told breathing is an issue for him, but who care's right?"

"I care! I didn't know, I swear, I didn't fucking understand!" Eddie said.

"No, I guess you didn't. When he was in that ring, he was the son of a bitch that abandoned your kid and made him cry, right? You wanted him to hurt. Mission accomplished."

His words hit Eddie like a body blow. "Let me see him, please. Maybe I can help,"

"I had a feeling you'd say that. Phone!" He barked out the last bit holding one hand out.

"What?" Eddie asked confused.

"You called 9-1-1 using a stolen phone for a stranger. I don't care if he's halfway to Hell already, I ain't taking a chance with your bleeding heart calling for your so called friend. Besides, after all his effort to keep your kid safe, I doubt he'd thank you for being the reason he ends up hurt."

Eddie swallowed back his words and nodded tightly, then passed him his phone. He watched as the man slid it over next to what he now recognized as Buck's phone. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then opened them and watched the other man for a moment. "Well? Is someone going to take me to him?"

The man nodded at the other guy who headed for the door before turning to Eddie and asking "Well, you coming or what?"

Eddie jumped to his feet and followed.

"Someone just headed out to grab him some food, but I'm not sure how much he managed to keep down." The guy offered before opening a door and leading Eddie inside.

Buck was curled up on a mattress. He was shivering and sweating at the same time, and Eddie hurried to climb across the bed and check his temperature. "He's burning up."

"Yeah, he keeps puking up the Tylenol. Pretty sure he tried to take 'em three different times. Not sure how much actually got into his system, so giving him more right away is probably not a good call, just in case. At least according to my ma."

Eddie nodded absently. "Can I get some cool water and a cloth? It might help break the fever."

"I'll see what I can find, but I gotta lock you in while I look."

"Do what you need to do, I'm not going anywhere." Eddie said, while trying to get Buck stretched out so he could take a look at his ribs.

He carefully lifted the two sweat soaked shirts Buck was wearing, up and winced at the colors his chest had turned. If it didn't mean leaving Buck alone he would be bashing his own head against the wall. How the fuck could he do this to Buck? How could he believe Buck would have ever left Chris like that on purpose?

He carefully ran his hands down either side, checking for broken ribs. He wasn't sure, without an x-ray, but he didn't think he'd managed to break anything. Being on his back seemed to make it harder for Buck to breath, so Eddie carefully got him setting up, supporting Buck's body with his own, and stripped off the sweat soaked shirts off of him, wincing at the painful groans he made at the movement.

The door was opened right then and the guy stepped inside with an old paint bucket. The sides of the bucket were covered in dried up paint streaks but the water inside was cool and clear. There were a couple torn up towels in the bucket to act like washrags. He set it beside the bed, and Eddie quickly rang one out and then started carefully wiping down Buck's body.

Buck was shivering and let out a low pitiful whine as he tried to move away from the cold cloth. Eddie just kept wiping him down, slowly and methodically getting his front and sides, and then carefully shifting him around, so that he could swipe the cloth down his only slightly less colorful back. When he finished he dried him off lightly and reached for the back tucked next to the bed, hoping there was something soft and dry in the bag.

He pulled out a t-shirt and sweat pants out, then dropped the dirty shirts onto the floor. He glared at the guard until he turned around and then slipped the sweatpants down and wiped his back side and legs down. He quickly got the new sweats started and then pulled up into place and that's when he notice the slits of blue watching him vacantly.

"Let's just get you dressed." Eddie said, unnerved by the lack of recognition.

He finished changing Buck and then started wiping his neck and face off, with Buck leaning on him once more for support. It seemed to help a little at least he felt somewhat cooler.

A second guy came clattering into the room. "What the fuck is he doing here?" He hissed to the original guy, then turned to Eddie. "What the fuck are you doing here, Diaz? Don't you think you've done enough?"

Eddie didn't know how to reply. He wasn't exactly wrong, but Jesus, what did it say about Buck that the guy kidnapping him was worried and didn't think he was safe with Eddie? Talk about some reverse Stockholm Syndrome bullshit.

"I'm trying to get the fever down." He said, getting back to work. "How long ago did he try the Tylenol last?"

"It's been about two hours, and about fifteen minutes later he was puking again. I got him some more soup and Joey's ma said to try some Gatorade or Pedialyte so I grabbed a few bottles of that."

"Francis!" The other guy hissed, sounding almost like an angry goose to Eddie.

"Frankie." He corrected, before setting the bag of food by the bed. "I take it boss told you what's what and all then, right?"

Eddie nodded. "Then you staying with him tonight? Cause someone needs to. I don't want to come back to a fucking snotty corpse in the morning."

Eddie wanted to snarl and snap, but this was on him. He'd done this to his best friend. "You'd have to shoot me to get me out of this room."

"Honestly, buddy, at this point I think I'd shoot you if you tried to fucking leave. There's a can through there if you need it, or if you just gotta clean up the puke. No shower or anything, but there's a sink. I got plenty of soup and I doubt he'll eat even a fourth of it, so feel free to help yourself. Once we head out this door is locked until morning, so any last requests?"

Eddie just shook his head, and the two men slipped out the door and pulled it shut behind them.

Eddie checked through the bags and the stuff lined up on one side of the mattress. He found the Pedialyte and got it opened up. He also grabbed the little tub of Vick's and the NyQuil. He eyed the bottle and the packaging which meant it had been new today. There was a bout a third of the bottle gone, which meant it was probably a good thing Buck hadn't quite managed to keep anything down for long. He set that aside, not willing to risk another dose of anything for at least a few hours, just in case.

He opened the Vick's and grabbed a decent sized dab of the stuff on his fingers, then, with Buck leaning against him, worked that hand carefully up under his shirt and began rubbing the stuff in across the middle of his chest and up to his neck. He got a little more on his hand and rubbed it over his neck and dabbed just a little under his nose, before wiping off his hand.

Eddie tucked the blanket around the two of them, and then he stayed like that, Buck leaning against him, for an hour or more. Suddenly Buck began to twist and move in his sleep. His breathing, which had been improving, turned harsh and tight as he began taking shuddering breaths.

Eddie recognized he was having a nightmare and started to try and ease him out of it, gently. "Buck, come on, you need to wake up. Buck, it's time to wake up now."

Suddenly Buck was scrambling to get loose and pushing up and into the corner, blue eyes locked on Eddie wide and terrified. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to tell them! It should have been me. It was supposed to be me!" He sobbed out.

---

They were in the mediator's office and Mackey was talking on and on, he could see him, but he couldn't understand a word being said. All he could see were the faces of his friends as they glared at him, and then walked away one by one. He tried to get up and follow, but he couldn't move from his spot. Chris was the last one, sad hopeful eyes turning to anger and hatred, before he walked away too.

Suddenly Buck wasn't in the office anymore. He was laying on the street and the firetruck was on him. Freddie was standing there with the bomb strapped to his chest, and suddenly Bobby was standing there looking at him with disgust. He turned and started talking with Freddie.

"He's not worth blowing up, you get that, right? You want a statement, don't you? Go out with a bang and make a big hole in the hearts of the people who hurt you? Boy did you pick the wrong guy. You want to hurt me right? Blowing Buckley up just gets rid of one of my biggest problems. No, see these are the ones you need to kill." Bobby stepped back and Buck wanted to scream in horror.

They were all strapped to bombs now, even Bobby. "See, these are the people that would be missed."

Buck started screaming then, begging Freddie to leave them alone and take him instead. Athena and Bobby sat down in chairs from the mediator's office and pulled Chris onto their lap, almost as if posing for a portrait. Somewhere there was a flash and then the scene exploded in his face. He was able to pull free somehow, and scrambled back sobbing only to see Eddie, who looked horrified.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to tell them! It should have been me. It was supposed to be me!" He knew Eddie would never forgive him, but he had to tell him.

He looked at Buck like he didn't understand. Hadn't he seen what happened? "I couldn't get out from under the truck in time." He said, trying to explain.

"Buck." Eddie breathed out and then tried to move closer.

Buck knew he had whatever Eddie wanted to dish out coming, but he couldn't stop himself from flinching back, waiting for whatever punishment Eddie had in mind this time. Eddie looked ready to cry, and that was worse than anything else he could do to Buck. "I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm so sorry."

"Buck, it's okay, everything is okay, I mean relatively. You're sick and had a nightmare, and I'm a fucking moron, but whatever you think happened, we are okay." He said, trying to work past the knife in his chest from Buck flinching away from him in fear.

"We're always okay, Eddie. I only get the people who try to love me back killed. That always leave the two of us safe, right? So how are you killing me this time?" He asked calmly, like it was a given.

Eddie fell backwards off the mattress in his frantic attempts to scramble away from Buck. "I don't.. I'm not going to hurt you, Buck. Never again, I swear, never, ever again."

Buck looked confused by the concept. "But it's my fault."

If Eddie had the ability, he would have ripped his own heart from his chest. "You haven't done anything wrong, Buck. I'm the one who's managed to fuck everything up on epic levels, okay. You did everything right, and nothing is your fault. Whatever it is you think you've done, you haven't. You're fevered and you had a nightmare, and I know they can seem realistic, but you are the only one hurt or in danger, and that is all on me, not you."

"But Chris-"

"Is fine and with Abuela, any danger Chris was in was my fault and you went above and beyond to protect him. You've got his cold and a fever, but he's not even sick anymore."

Buck looked confused for a moment or two, as if he was trying to work out what Eddie was saying. "Chris is okay? He didn't drown or get blown up?" He asked in a small careful voice as if he expected to be told he was wrong.

"No, and he didn't get taken by thugs for money I owe either. You kept him safe, Buck, I promise."

"That's... that's good. I'm glad." Buck faded out on the last word and his head slumped as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

Eddie moved forward to pull him back into the middle of the bed. "Buck, come on. We need to get some of this in you before you go back to sleep."

Eddie pulled him back against his chest and then helped a barely awake Buck take small sips of the pale purple drink. It seemed to take forever but eventually he managed what Eddie estimated was about a cup or so.

Eddie spent a long time with Buck cuddled against his chest while he ran one hand through his hair, occasionally combing through a curl absently.

---

Bobby Nash was not having a good week. A drunk driver during a massive fire had crashed past the barriers and right into the spot where three LAFD Fire Captains had stood assessing the situation and reporting to the Incident Commander. Luckily the vehicle had been slowed down by the barrier and bouncing off of a few parked cars. This had bled off some momentum and instead of killing three of the LAFD's best and brightest, there were five broken bones and a mild concussion. Now granted they were ostensibly having a worse week, technically it had only been a bad day.

Bobby, however was being bounced from pillar to post along with six other captains, so they could cover now uncovered shifts. Between availability and the amount of time they were legally allowed to be on shift, there was a vast amount of robbing Peter to pay Paul for the week until the new updated schedule that took all of that into account was set to kick in. That was why he was covering B shift this 24 while Reynold's had A-Shift tomorrow.

He was trying to get through the stack of paperwork that had accumulated over the last couple days when his cell rang. He pulled after seeing the caller ID answered it with a grin. "Hey, Buck."

"Hey, Cap. I needed to get some time off scheduled, uh, starting tomorrow. I won't be able to make shift."

Bobby sat up, the grin falling off his face. "What's wrong, Buck? Is it the blood clots again?" Bobby's mind was scrambling to figure out who he could get to cover this shift on short notice. If Buck was in the hospital-

"No, Doctor Walsh gave me a clean bill, yesterday, but I ran into Ali, and she apologized for just ghosting me like she did. Between the two it just seems like a sign, you know? Like the Universe was just screaming at me. So, I'm going to take some of the vacation days I've got built up. We're going to head down to San Diego for a week or so. You know I always wanted to check it out, but never got that far south."

Bobby could mentally hear the record scratch as his mind stopped and he started taking notes in his own weird short hand because he couldn't fuck whatever this was up.

Walsh? Ali ghosting? A sign, universe screaming. vacation, San Diego, never South? His mind processed that as quickly as possible, and he knew he needed more information.

"I, uh, I'm glad your doctor says your doing good, but cutting out on work?" 'Give me something to go on, kid, please.'

"It's just a job, Bobby. Some things are more important, you need to get off my back about it."

Bobby flashed to a conversation the two of them had had over breakfast the morning after Halloween. Buck had been talking about the lawsuit and his regrets. "The job is important. It really is the best thing I've ever done, but keeping the job almost cost me my family, and our family is more important than anything." Between that and the slight emphasis Buck had placed on the word need, Bobby knew Buck needed him to go along with what he was asking.

"So can you take me off the schedule or what?" There was a pleading note in Buck's voice, that bordered on desperation.

"Yeah, I can do that, Buck." Bobby's voice was soft but there was a promise behind his words. He didn't know what was wrong, but Buck needed him to figure it out.

"Okay, thanks Captain Nash." Jesus, that hit him like a punch to the gut. He hadn't been Captain Nash since an hour into Buck's first shift at the 118, unless he was speaking to someone officially. One more thing to rack up, as a sign of how off this whole situation was.

"Take care of yourself." Bobby rushed to get out, just as Buck ended the call.

He listened to the phone for another few seconds, as if the call might magically reconnect. When it obviously didn't, he focused on the paper he'd taken notes on, trying to make sure he got as much of it down as he could remember, before he could forget something that might be important.

He went back and ran through the call in his mind. Buck had said he won't be able to make shift. Then Dr Walsh gave him a clean bill of health. Bobby had been to several of his appointments and he was almost positive Buck had never gone to a Dr. Walsh. Ali had moved back to New York and she had cut and run in a move so similar to what Tatiana had done to Chim that Bobby couldn't help but hate her a little for it, but she hadn't ghosted Buck. Between the two it just seems like a sign, like the Universe was screaming. Message received loud and clear there.

Then he'd requested vacation days, when his days had been cashed out to cover the break between the injury and the start of his disability coverage. He hadn't been back long enough to accrue any more. In fact, he had mentioned something about San Diego recently. He was bitching about his lack of vacation days, because he wanted to take a trip down to San Diego, to show Chris how awesome the San Diego zoo was, because he'd visited it once or twice during the time he was at Coronado, before he'd quit SEALs training.

Buck had definitely been that far south, and further, all the way down to Peru. Then came the stuff he was pretty sure he'd already figured out. Family was important and Bobby needed to not question him and just go along with his request. Being taken off the schedule, meant he didn't know how long whatever was going on would last.

He didn't know what the Hell was going on, but Buck needed help and he wasn't sure who Buck thought was in danger. He couldn't just start asking people obvious questions, and he needed help.

He pulled out his phone and called the only person he could. "Athena, can you make a casual stop for lunch? Something's wrong."

An hour or so later, Bobby was explaining the call to Athena. They had gone over everything more than once, and one thing kept coming back to Bobby's mind. "I can't figure out the doctor thing, though. I mean was it just to show me something was wrong?"

"What was the name again, Walsh?" Bobby nodded. "Why does that name... John Walsh." She said snapping her fingers.

"John Walsh?" Bobby asked.

"He hosted America's Most Wanted." She explained.

"So is he telling us something criminal is going on?" Bobby asked, worried they were over thinking it.

"Buckaroo might be telling us something more important. The show wasn't the original reason John Walsh was famous. He's the father of Adam Walsh."

"I can't remember why I know that name, but just hearing it has me worried." Bobby said racking his brain to try and place the name.

"He was kidnapped and murdered." Athena said, grimly.

"Do you think he was trying to tell me someone was after one of the boys?" Bobby asked horrified.

"We're going to need to get eyes on everyone, but I'd be willing to bet with the San Diego references he was warning us about Chris. He's been ranting about how much Chris loved the zoo and how he wanted him to see San Diego's for the better part of the last couple weeks now." She said, pulling out her phone. Just in case though, I'm calling Elaine. Until we know more, I don't want to tip anyone off. This could be nothing, but I don't think either one of us really believe that."

"I know I certainly don't." Bobby said before looking up at her. "Should I call Maddie?"

"Let me." Athena suggested, pulling her phone out and putting it on speaker. "Maddie, hey, how've you been?"

"Busy, but it's really great to hear from you Athena. Was there something you needed, though or was this just to chat?"

Athena narrowed her eyes at just how nervous Maddie sounded. "There was a reason I called, but it's nothing that can't wait for us to catch up a bit. Is something wrong?"

"No! Well, I mean not anything either of us can do anything about, although, I mean. Unofficially I know of a man I think is abusive to his wife, but officially there are accusations of stalking and misuse of my job and... I just, I don't think there's anything that can be done, but maybe you could keep an ear out about any calls around that area, in case something comes up?"

"I'll keep out of it officially, especially if any of this might cause you problems, but maybe text me the address and I'll certainly keep a look out for anything." She offered, keeping Maddie's history in mind. "I did have a question of my own. Bobby just told me Buck called up and sweet talked him into taking some vacation days with no notice. Honestly with the scheduling issues they've had it kind of left him in the lurch, so I was wondering if you knew anything about what that might all be about."

"I mean Buck's doctor said he should take it easy, which I've been telling him over and over, you know, but what does his big sister know, right? Still you think he'd give Bobby decent notice, instead of putting him in a tight spot like that. He's lucky Bobby has such a big soft spot for him. Still, you know Buck. Never looking before he leaps."

"Yeah, I most certainly do know Buck. I need to go, but you make sure to send me that address, you hear?"

"I will! Thanks again, Athena, and please pass on my apology to Bobby for Buck using their friendship like that. I swear he was raised better."

The look on Athena's face when she disconnected that call could have set the office ablaze. "Has that woman entirely lost the plot? I cannot believe I'm going to need her help in this."

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked.

"Buck will have been missing for 48 hours, later today, so we can file a missing persons report, but it would have more weight coming from his next of kin." She huffed out.

"So, his official next of kin then?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" She asked.

"I just meant, what about power of attorney and medical proxy?" Bobby asked quietly.

"Are you telling me his sister doesn't have either of those?"

"He's had me down for both for awhile. He kept meaning to switch things over to her, but the way she reacted after the firetruck had him worried. So he asked me to step up in a more official capacity, just in case, since they were butting heads so much about which course of treatment to follow."

"It will certainly give the argument more weight." She agreed. "The more I think on it though, I think we should speak with Elaine, like I initially thought. If there is a threat to the boys, we might want to keep this all quiet and see what shakes lose."

"If that's what you think is best." Bobby said.

"Going to her quietly will give us more leeway if this really is a threat to our family." She grabbed her stuff and stood up. "I'm going to go talk with her in person." She said before giving him a quick kiss and then hurried out of the office.

Thankfully, Elaine had trusted Athena's intuition and had quietly arranged a missing persons case on Buck, but had kept it quiet. They had an APB out on his Jeep, and flagged his accounts. They were treating the phone call as it was made under duress. She also arranged for unmarked cars to be watching the Diaz house, while Harry and May were sent to Micheal's place. Hen and Karen were spending time with Karen's family.

Bobby was ready to tear his own hair out for some kind of news. He'd remained on his shifts as needed. Athena had tried tracing his phone, but the closest she could come was a wide swath of industrial parks near the ocean. That had been the call to Bobby.

It was Saturday and Bobby had a shift starting in a few hours. He had tried to hold off, but they needed to bring in the others. Hen was still off but Chim and Eddie both might have answers, and honestly it was long past time to let them know something was wrong

Athena was poised to chase down any lead, but there were none to be had. It felt like they had been on high alert for weeks, both stressed and worried for their kids, all their kids. Buck might as well be one of his own. Bobby hadn't wanted to admit to that, but Athena had called him on his bullshit without remorse.

"Baby, that boy is your kid, you might as well admit it. You can't tell me he's not. The two of you had an entire secret conversation, probably in front of whoever he's stuck dealing with. Me and Buck had a rough start, but there are two things I know. He is a good boy, with a good heart, and he's your boy, a child of your heart."

If Bobby shed a few tears over that when no one was watching, well no one needed to know, right?

He got to the 118 early on Saturday, wanting to get the paperwork out of the way so he could have a couple unpleasant conversations. He imagined Eddie would be chomping at the bit by now worried. Honestly he was surprised the man hadn't contacted him already, about Buck's whereabouts. Bobby could only think he'd gotten the same bullshit blow off that Bobby and Maddie had received. He was just finishing things up when there was a knock on his office door.

He caught sight of Eddie and figured since he was here a few minutes early, when Eddie tended to be slightly late or precisely on time to just about everything, that he was about to have the conversation he'd been expecting for days now.

"Eddie?"

He looked more than a little off, unable to maintain eye contact when he spoke. "Hey, Cap, I need to talk with you." Eddie closed the door behind him, and there was a familiar nervousness about him Bobby couldn't quite pin down "I, uh, made a mistake, and I needed to talk to you about it."

It sounded like the start of a confessional, one that wasn't going to go well. 'Forgive me Cap for I have sinned.' He stood up and went to perch on the front of his desk, and tried to stay approachable and open. "What did you do, Eddie?"

"I... I've been seeing Frank, like we agreed, but I fucked up last night. Buck... what he did... I was just so fucking angry, and I needed an outlet."

The mention of Frank had Bobby thrown for a minute, remembering Eddie's issues, then he'd brought up Buck. Bobby could only assume Eddie was fighting again, and they would need to address that, but Buck?

"What Buck did?" Bobby's voice was tight, at the anger Eddie seemed to have stemming from Buck's name, when normally it's said with fond exasperation.

"He picked Chris up Monday, cause he got sick and Buck was already off work. He offered to pick Chris up. I mean I didn't even ask, he offered and insisted it wasn't a problem. Then I go home and find Chris alone, crying and all but trapped on the couch. He didn't even leave his crutches."

The bottom fell out of Bobby's world. There was no way Buck would willingly leave Chris like that. What little hope he had been clinging to that he was imagining things and being overprotective was gone. Then the realization hit, Chris! Whatever happened it had been Chris Buck was trying to protect, and trying to warn Bobby about. "Is Chris okay?"

"He was sick, but all he could say was when he got into Buck's Jeep, he made Chris take medicine, and then he fell asleep. The next thing he remembers is waking up alone. He left my sick kid alone, Bobby!"

Bobby was trying to figure out possible scenarios. Had Buck been forced to drug Chris? Eddie dove for the garbage can, and Bobby expected to hear retching, but Eddie seemed to regain control and settled back into one of the seats

Bobby, could tell something had thrown Eddie badly, but he needed more information. "So Buck was at your place with Chris on Monday, and you haven't been able to get ahold of him, to find out what happened?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that." Eddie was acting like a junky in need of a fix. He was wiping his mouth and nervous. "I spent two days calling his phone and being sent to voicemail after a ring or two, and had every message ignored. Then Chim told me how he called you up and sweet talked you into giving him time off so he could run off with some girl." Eddie seemed to spit out the words. "He left Chris alone to get laid!"

Bobby was really fucking confused why would... "Chim said that?"

"I mean he said something about a message to Maddie, too," Bobby nodded to himself, that made more sense now, either she'd been ranting or he'd heard half of Maddie and Athena's phone call. "but basically yeah. I just... even in the middle of the lawsuit, I never doubted how much Buck loved Chris, you know, I just thought he hadn't been thinking, but this... Do you want to hear the worst fucking part? Chris is worried for Buck, and the bastard wouldn't even text back a 'Hey, I'm alive.' I guess at least one good thing came out of last night. I can tell Chris Buck's alive, and just, you know busy getting better."

Eddie's voice sounded haunted, and Bobby's anxiety was ratcheting up with every second the conversation went on. He settled down in front the man. "Eddie what happened last night?"

He didn't reply and there was a frozen pit in Bobby's stomach. He snapped his fingers. "Hey, you with me? What happened last night?"

"I went to a fight." Bobby closed his eyes. It wasn't drugs, but it was just as potentially deadly. "I'm sorry Bobby, I know I said I wouldn't, but Buck just left us... left Chris like we- like he didn't mean a damned thing to him. I was so angry. I had to cut my nails short."

Bobby was confused by the seeming non-sequitur, until Eddie held out his hands. He took a look at the crescent marks on his palms and then took ahold of one hand. "So you went to a fight..."

"I, uh, I had the guy who recruited me... I had his number and I practically begged him to get me a fight. He told me where to show up Friday, and I didn't care that I probably pissed a lot of people off, or that it could have been a setup or something. I just needed to take back some control, you know?"

Bobby could only nod. Different fix, but he knew all about control, and that had always been Eddie's biggest issue.

"So I went and I dropped a bet on myself because why not at that point, right? Then I get in the cage with the other guy, and I'm so ready to let off steam, to get some of this mess Buck left in my head out, only when the guy gets up, it's Buck."

Bobby had been following along, trying to think of what he and Eddie would need to do to deal with his fighting, when what he had just said hit him and he jerked back, staring at Eddie. "It was Buck, in the ring with you? Ready to fight you?"

Eddie was staring past him as he went on. "He didn't ask about Chris or apologize. He just grinned at me. I swear, Bobby, if he'd just said sorry, I never would have done it."

Bobby went cold and he grabbed Eddie, fighting the very real urge to shake the man. "Eddie, what did you do?"

"I fought him. He was fucking playing with me, like I didn't matter, like Chris didn't matter. He just grinned at me like I was a joke, like he was fucking playing with me, and I just lost it."

Something was screaming in Bobby's mind, between Eddie's words and his mental state, and Bobby was scrambling to not see the picture the information was trying to show him. He grabbed Eddie, absently noting that he was going to draw blood if he didn't loosen his hold, but he couldn't do anything. "Eddie? What did you do?"

"He thought he outsmarted me, he tried to pull the same trick on me twice, and I was ready for it. I... I won the fight, it's all just kind of... The rules are tap out or knock out. He didn't tap, Bobby."

Bobby knew himself and knew he needed to get away from Eddie before he regretted it. He pulled back and his hands were clenching into fists and he had to force himself calm before he spoke again. "Was he alive, Eddie?"

"I think so. I mean some guys carried him out, and he was breathing okay, but there was blood all over me."

Bobby froze, and stared at Eddie in pure terror. "He was bleeding? Eddie he's still on blood thinners!"

He watched Eddie throw up and didn't have an ounce of sympathy. Last night. Buck was bleeding, Eddie had made Buck bleed last night. His son could be dead, his body dumped like garbage, and it might just be at the hands of the man he loved... loves. Buck wasn't dead yet, and Bobby knew the only thing Buck would want, would beg for, would be for Bobby to protect him and Chris, even now.

He wanted to lay the man out, but when they got Buck back, he would be so disappointed in Bobby if he'd done that. He grabbed a pen, 'don't stab him don't stab him.' and jerked Eddie to his feet. He put the pen in the man's hand instead of through it, and shoved him towards the desk.

"You are going to tell me where you went and who was involved and any other details you can remember, and then you are going to get your ass back home. Don't show your face in my firehouse or talk to anyone else about this." The stupid son of a bitch just stared at him. "Write, Diaz!"

Finally, the man started writing, filling pages and pages. When he finished Bobby herded him out the door and shut it in his face before his resolve broke and he tried to strangle the man.

He picked up the legal pad and pulled out his phone. "Athena, I got some news."

---

Eddie sat up most of the night with Buck, holding him and waking him up every hour or two to check on him and get some more liquids into him. The fever spiked again, but broke within the hour, and Buck slept fairly soundly from that point on. He settled Buck on his side at one point and slipped into the bathroom. The room was small and tight and barely qualified to be a closet, with a plastic corner sink and an old beat up mirror.

Eddie accidentally met his own eyes in the mirror and it honestly took effort to not punch the glass. Instead he forced himself to wash his hands, after waiting for the water to run clear, and turned to get back to Buck.

He climbed back into the bed carefully, and pulled Buck to lean against his chest once more. For a brief moment he opened his eyes, and Eddie froze, expecting Buck to rip his heart out by being afraid of him. Instead he ripped it out in the other direction, smiling at him warmly. "Eddie. Hi."

"Hi, Buck." He said voice soft and eyes softer as he watched Buck fall back to sleep in his arms. He tucked Buck's head in under his chin and let himself just enjoy the man being safe in his arms.

---

Eddie was circling Buck like wounded prey. His breathing was ragged, his eyes were dull and heat was radiating off of his skin like a furnace. They were in the fight again, but there was no cheering crowd, no screams or jeers. Blood was streaming from Buck's body, and still Eddie kept darting in, throwing punches and kicks.

The only sound was the dull thud of flesh on flesh. The beating just kept going. Buck's body refused to fall and Eddie's body continued to lash out. Neither man was recognizable; Buck was swollen and damaged, while Eddie's features were twisted in an unnatural hatred and rage.

Slowly there was a sound beyond the smacks of their bodies colliding; the heartbreaking wail of a child filled with terror. Chris was trying to reach them, hands reaching from what seemed like miles away as shadowy figures held him back.

Defeated blue eyes looked into furious brown.

"Do it. It's the only way."

Eddie punches Buck one last time, blood flying in slow motion. This punch didn't thud, it squelched, and the only thud was the body hitting the floor, any semblance of life gone from the dull blue eyes."

"Buck! Buck, please, I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry. Buck!"

Eddie was thrashing and jerking, trying to get to the body on the floor, and between one blink and the next he's looking into bright and very much alive blue eyes.

Buck's hands were on either side of his face, and he was talking to Eddie like he was Chris waking up from a nightmar- oh...

"It's okay, Eds, I'm right here, are you with me?" Buck paused for a minute and threw his head to one side hand coming up to brace his ribs as he coughed roughly. The second the fit passed he was back to trying to comfort Eddie.

Eddie was looking at him like he wasn't sure what was real and what was dream still, and like his very existence was a miracle.

Needless to say, Buck was very, very confused.

Once Eddie figured out he was actually awake, and that Buck, while still sick, was awake and aware, he forced down the words that wanted to bubble out and began checking him over again. He struggled with himself to remain professional. Buck had been terrified by him earlier. The fact that he'd pushed past that terror to help Eddie, didn't mean he got to forget that it existed.

"How are your ribs feeling?" He asked carefully, and clinically prodding them.

Buck looked carefully around the room, as if they might not be the only ones there, before he leaned in and spoke softly. "Is Chris safe?"

"He's with Abuela." Eddie said again, realizing Buck probably didn't remember the last time he woke up. "You kept him safe. I promise, Buck, Chris is safe, and just worried about his Buck."

He tried checking Buck's eyes, but finding out Chris was safe seemed to be the extent of his energy for the moment and he could barely keep them open. Eddie pulled him in close again, pulling Buck's head down to rest on his shoulder. He lifted his head barely conscious. "Sorry, Eds."

Eddie had never felt so ashamed of himself in his life.

---

Things with Maddie had been rough lately, and Chim just didn't know what to do. Everything since Halloween had left her seeming brittle. He kept feeling like he was going to screw everything up, and that one misspoken word would shatter the woman he loved.

She had been forced into therapy and every session left her wound tighter. Intellectually he knew it was a process and there was so much baggage to unpack, but it seemed like every step she took was backwards. He was worried that she might be stuck with the wrong therapist, but he didn't know how to broach the subject when she was incredibly tetchy about the whole situation.

Maddie resented being forced into therapy and for the wonderful open minded woman that she had always been, she didn't seem to put much stock into the process.

His bout with it had been fairly straightforward, and honestly while he knew he probably had a few deeper issues, his surface troubles didn't require a lot of work to deal with. A little attempted murder, some betrayal and gaslighting? He was able to foist that off onto the fact that Doug was an abusive psychopath, right? The man had literally snowed everyone in his life, even Maddie until she had been in too deep to run.

He knew Buck had spoken to someone awhile back, and was hoping, between his time on the couch and being Maddie's brother, he might have a better idea of how to help her get more out of the experience, or figure out if this guy was the wrong one for her, at least.

Resolved to pin the man down and ask for his help, Chim had felt a little lighter, and when he spoke with Maddie next she seemed a little lighter too. A smile and humming a tune as she shuffled through take out menus.

"Hey." He said grinning at her. "What's got you so chipper today?"

"I got a text from Buck last night." She said, organizing them and tucking them away. "He has some new doctor and I guess they agree with me about him pushing too hard. Well that and he met some ex."

Chim smiled, but the gossip in him was working overtime. The fact that Maddie didn't know who it is, and wasn't frothing at the mouth, knocked out Ali in particular and probably Abby too. Which honestly only left someone from his vast array of hookups. He barely seemed to even mention any of those more than once. Still, if Buck was happy, and if it had Maddie smiling, how bad could it be, right?

They'd been having a good day, and he was honestly mentally working on what he was going to say to give Buck shit tomorrow. The guy getting back on the horse after everything that had happened was great news, even if it was a horse he'd already... okay that was bad.

Still, the man had probably just ended the longest dry spell he'd ever had. It was about time, Chim had started seriously considering dropping some money on Hen's ridiculous bet that there might be something between Buck and Eddie.

I mean yeah, Buck could often be caught sending Eddie heart-eyes, but from what Maddie had said, Buck never really had a best friend before, and he was sure he was probably the same way when Hen got his coffee order just right, or matched him snark for snark on a really good day, and there was certainly no hanky in that panky. Plus even if the two of them were so inclined, he was pretty sure Karen could take him in a fair fight.

He really hoped those two had some better luck coming their way. Between the wreck and the IVF thing, they'd both been hurting.

If Buck was a bust, maybe Hen could give him some idea about how to approach the whole thing with Maddie. She was seeing Frank so maybe she had a better idea on if he was actually any good at his job, or maybe just not a good fit for Maddie.

He was just thinking about giving her a call, when Maddie's phone rang.

She pulled it out with a smile, but that fell off her face as she checked the Caller ID and he watched her transform from the happy woman he'd spent half the day with to a nervous twitchy mess in seconds.

"Hi." She said as she answered. She listened to whoever had called and then replied. "Busy, but it's really great to hear from you Athena. Was there something you needed, though or was this just to chat?"

Chim sat up. He knew the two were friends, but they were more 'chat at family events' friends than 'call to talk' friends, so odds were something was up. Despite it being Athena, Maddie still seemed uncomfortable, and when she spoke next it was exceedingly hard not to groan out loud.

"No! Well, I mean not anything either of us can do anything about, although, I mean. Unofficially I know of a man I think is abusive to his wife, but officially there are accusations of stalking and misuse of my job and... I just, I don't think there's anything that can be done, but maybe you could keep an ear out about any calls around that area, in case something comes up?"

He really didn't think that would go over well with Athena, but Maddie seemed to calm down almost immediately so whatever the woman had said had done the trick.

"I mean Buck's doctor said he should take it easy, which I've been telling him over and over, you know, but what does his big sister know, right? Still you think he'd give Bobby decent notice, instead of putting him in a tight spot like that. He's lucky Bobby has such a big soft spot for him. Still, you know Buck. Never looking before he leaps."

Okay so now Chim's curiosity was piqued. What had Buckaroo done now?

"I will! Thanks again, Athena, and please pass on my apology to Bobby for Buck using their friendship like that. I swear he was raised better."

Chim was sitting up now, and when Maddie hung up the phone she turned to him, frustration clear in her features. "You would not believe the crap Buck pulled."

---

Chim was low key fuming every time his mind touched on the situation. Bobby had stressed and worried for months. He'd been eaten alive by guilt from the bombing and what had happened to Buck, like the shit that little psychopath had done was Bobby's fault. Then Buck pushed and pushed, putting himself in danger, not giving a rat's ass for how much he was worrying Maddie and Bobby both. The embolism and the lawsuit had both sent Bobby reeling and Chim had been there the whole time, trying to support his girlfriend and his captain, his friend, who were both terrified of losing the man they both considered family.

He got it, though. Yeah sure he'd been pissed, but when he let himself think, he knew how much the job meant to Buck, and he saw a lot of his own struggles in Buck's return to work. Knowing Buck had passed up a huge payday to return to their family, well that softened him up a lot more. Chim appreciated loyalty like nothing else.

But everything he was hearing about what Buck had been up to? Putting Bobby in such an awkward position, for some hookup replay? Twisting Maddie's hopes for him to slow down into just some excuse to take off and get laid? It all screamed at Chim that Buck was backsliding. Next thing you know, he'd be stealing a fire truck again, or god help them the new ambulance.

If he put Hen through that, after everything she'd done for him...

Why couldn't he just make out with Eddie in the storage closet or something? Everyone would be so much better off. Speaking of, he was probably more harsh than he should have been when bitching about Buck to his best friend, but maybe Eddie could get the kid back on track. Still, he must have hit a nerve. Eddie had seemed to be running on red the rest of the shift. Chim made sure to step lightly. He didn't need Mount Saint Eddie blowing up at him instead of Buck.

---

Athena had rushed to get to the fire station when Bobby had called her for help. Something had happened, something that had shaken her husband to his core, and also that had him worried about being overheard.

She barely paid the rest of the station any mind as she slipped through the bright red doors and then into Bobby's office. He was staring out the window when she came in.

"The notepad on the desk." Was all he said, not turning around, and she would have gone right to it, but one real look at him and instead she quickly crossed the room and pulled him into a hug.

"What is it, Baby?"

"I don't think I've wanted a drink so bad in years." She pulled him over to the couch.

"Is it Buck?" Ice wrapped her heart. Had Bobby heard something she hadn't?

"I don't know anything for sure, but Eddie came to talk to me today, and... Do you remember when I was asking you about street fighting, and underground clubs?"

She gave him an intense look and nodded. "You don't mean to tell me Buck..." She couldn't voice the absolute absurdity of the idea. The boy had the build for it, most likely the skills to whoop some ass if one of his was threatened, but he completely lacked the killer instinct that would let him do much more than spar unless it was life or death. Even then it would most likely be for someone else instead of himself.

"No!" He said harshly, before taking a breath. "Not by choice. Eddie was having some issues. Anger and control. I should have pushed him towards therapy sooner, but I was too busy with my own issues to see that someone else was hurting. Then Bosko, you remember her, she was one of Coops..." Athena nodded. "She noticed him struggling and I guess there's a group of people who meet up and regularly beat the shit out of each other. She took him there; let him work out some of his anger."

"That can lead to trouble, but if it's just idiots hitting each other like neanderthals..." She trailed off, knowing there was more to it.

"Yeah, well apparently someone was particularly impressed with Eddie's capacity for violence. He jumped up from knocking people in the dirt for fun, to beating the living shit out of them for money."

"And where there's money to be had, there are people doing other people dirty to get it." Athena said grimly.

"The details are on the notepad, but Eddie got into a fight and nearly killed a guy. His training kicked in and he saved his life, and then when the guy running the place refused to do it, he stole some guys phone and called 9-1-1."

"I bet that went over well."

"Yeah well I think Buck got caught up in whatever payback there was meant to be for Eddie."

"How sure are you? I'm more than willing to go after one of these groups, but if it's just a red herring, we could be wasting time and resources." Athena said carefully.

"Considering Eddie went to a fight last night, and was put in the ring with Buck? Pretty damned sure."

"He what?" Athena all but screamed.

"Eddie was under the ridiculous impression that Buck abandoned Chris on Monday. The poor kid was sick, and Buck picked him up cause he was off. Chris said Buck gave him medicine and the next thing he remembers is waking up on his couch alone. No Buck and no crutches."

"Buck would never-"

"I know!" He cut her off. "and Eddie should have too, but yet... Then he talked to Chim, and somehow Buck disappearing became Buck dumping Chris off for some girl."

She tilted her head and looked at him. "What the Hell would Chim know about it?"

"As far as I can tell? Just whatever he overheard from your conversation with Maddie and whatever Buck messaged Maddie. He supposedly said Buck 'sweet talked' me into vacation days and ran off with some girl."

"For the love of God. This fire house is nothing but a clutch of gossipy old women." She complained. "Okay so Eddie's mad and apparently stupid, how does that lead to him and Buck in a ring?"

"The idiot was so angry he called and arranged to be in a fight."

"He what?"

"The idiot was so stupidly pissed off, that he didn't care how furious these guys would be with him and strolls right where they tell him and lets them put him in a fight, and doesn't stop when he realizes Buck is the guy they put him in the ring with." Bobby ground out forcing his anger down to finish talking.

"He doesn't question how or why?"

"He's too angry that Buck isn't saying anything, apparently he was 'playing' with Eddie. Grinning and dancing around him like Eddie was a joke." Bobby said grimly.

"Or like he was purposefully doing what he could to press Eddie's buttons."

"Like someone ordered him to get Eddie mad enough to fight him." Bobby agreed.

"Okay so mission accomplished, right? Eddie fights him and then?"

"And then by the sounds of it, Buck took a beating." Bobby was ready for it when Athena went to fly off the couch eyes blazing. He wrapped his arms around her. "Pretty sure when we find Buck he won't press charges, but we have more important things to do right now than arresting or shooting Eddie Diaz."

"Like what?" She spit out.

"Like getting eyes on that address and finding where they're keeping our boy and bringing him home."

---

Athena took the information that included the locations where the fight had taken place both the location Eddie had called an ambulance to, and the one from the fight last night, along with the few names he knew, how he was recruited, and who was acting as bookmaker, taking money and handling payouts, to Elaine. The new aspect to the case moved it up in priority, but also meant they needed to work with other departments and gather information.

Athena spent the better part of her Saturday pushing for a wiretap warrant, surveillance and fighting the urge to go down there, with or without her husband, and snooping around. Buck's life might be on the line and they couldn't afford to jump the gun until they knew where Buck was.

She had just been informed that there had been a hit on Buck's financials and was on the way to track that down, and see if she could get a look at the security footage around the time of the purchase, when Bobby called her with the news that Eddie was going to a meeting with the man in charge of the whole fighting thing. As if she didn't already want to smack the ever living shit out of that boy.

She was exceedingly glad Bobby was still working for another few hours. And then she thought better of it and warned the man not to show his face in the warehouse district unless there was a fire... And then she warned the man not to get cute and call in a fire in the warehouse district.

Shaking her head, Athena got back to work following up on the credit card purchase. She was able to follow the man who'd used Buck's card on camera from check out to the parking lot, where she got a make model and license plate number.

The car belonged to one Francis Malone, and bright and early Sunday morning Athena and a couple uniforms showed up at his door and invited him down to the station house to have a word with him about his recent purchases and the location of one Evan Buckley.

---

Detective Ransone was looking through the glass at the man Athena Grant had pulled in for questioning. Finally he turned and looked at her eyebrow raised. "Really? You think this guy snatched up Buckley?"

"I don't know much of anything, except he used Buck's credit card yesterday, and he has a colorful history. Do I think he walked up to Buck and beat him in a fair fight? Hell no, but if Buck had Diaz's kid and this guy was armed or came with friends? Yeah, I think Buck is more than smart enough to get Chris clear and just stupid enough to sacrifice himself to do it."

"Okay, fair enough. I take it you'd like a chance to question the guy?" He asked with a grin.

"Oh I would more than love to have a chat with our friend there." She said with a fierce grin.

"Well then, by all means." Lou waved at the door to the interrogation room.

She picked up the files they had on this guy and stepped through the door, pretending to be reading one before looking up and giving the man a once over, followed by a completely unimpressed look.

"Mr. Malone, the reason you were brought in today is a purchase you made yesterday. Would you be willing to answer a few questions we had about that purchase?"

"I made a lot of purchases yesterday, Officer. You'd really need to be more specific." He said with a ingratiating grin.

"Well hopefully this particular one would stand out for you. You used someone else's credit card." She said eyes on the folder for a few more seconds. "So exactly why were you making buying cold supplies with Evan Buckley's credit card?"

"Oh, that, sure. I was just helping out a friend."

Athena leaned across the table, eyes furious. " So you're telling me that you just did a little shopping for Mr. Buckley, is that right?"

"Yeah he was feeling under the weather, and I offered to get him the stuff he needed. I was just helping the guy out. I didn't think that was a crime these days."

"Mr. Buckley hasn't reported an issue, but then again there is the matter of Mr. Buckley having gone missing for the past few days. He did disappear under some questionable circumstances, like leaving a child he cares for like his own, alone and helpless, but I'm sure if you were to point us in his direction, so we could question him about that situation, he could vouch for your use of his card." She said with a sharp smile.

"I'm sure I don't know nothing about all that." He said, twisting a little in his seat.

"I'm sure you don't, Mr. Malone. But you see, I have a man that falls off the planet, under some unusual circumstances, and then I have another man, who I'm sure none of Mr. Buckley's friends of family could identify as even the most distant of acquaintances of Mr. Buckley, using his credit card, and would you look at that, signing his name. Nothing here strikes you as odd?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Holy shit! You're the cop grandma!" He said excitedly, snapping a finger as if he solved a riddle that had been bothering him.

"Excuse me?" Athena said with a glare.

He gulped, and looked at her more than a little fearfully. "Oh shit!"

---

The next time Eddie and Buck woke up it was full on daylight and Buck's breathing was a little easier than it had been for the last several hours. He was also fever free, so far as Eddie could tell. Eddie figured he should let Buck lay down, and that he should be thinking about how to get him out of this. Instead he kept holding him tight and tried to figure out what to do.

He'd throw any fight the man wanted him to, but that was no guarantee he would let Buck go. Buck was a witness after all, and Eddie was more than aware of the fact that Buck wouldn't allow a threat to Chris to continue, and that would be the stick they'd use to keep him quiet. No it was much more likely that they'd want to silence him completely once he'd fulfilled his purpose as collateral.

Eddie didn't want to risk leaving Buck here, even if just long enough to call in the cavalry. He could try and overpower one of the guys guarding the door when they came in, but he'd seen at least one of them was carrying, which probably meant both were.

Unconsciously, he pulled Buck tighter, and nearly jumped when Buck's arms tightened around his middle giving him a squeeze, before Buck started pulling back and Eddie couldn't help himself, he tightened his hold to keep him there just a second or two longer, then realized what he was doing and let go, cheeks going red.

Buck hid his face in Eddie's shirt for a second or two longer and then pulled away, cheeks red. He grabbed a tissue quickly and coughed then blew his nose and only after all that did he finally look at Eddie.

"I swear, I know I've asked this before, but I've been pretty out of it; Is Chris okay? He's safe with Abuela?" He looked at Eddie hopefully.

"Yeah, Buck, he's safe, thanks to you." Eddie reassured him.

"Eddie, I... uh, I need to apologize..." Buck started, unable to look at him.

"Buck, the only person who needs to apologize in this room, and probably for the rest of my damned life, is me. I don't care if you wreck my truck and puke in my favorite shoes, you don't ever owe me an apology ever again."

"No, you don't get it, I knew he was setting you up, and I knew how guilty you'd end up feeling, but he was watching and I was too afraid about what they might do to try and warn you. More than that, I knew he wanted you to fight. I swear if they hadn't threatened Chris I would have put a stop to it then and there, but..." He trailed off and looked away.

"But they did threaten Chris, and even if my own stupid temper was on you, in any way, we both know you'd do anything you had to do to keep him safe and I'd thank you for it every damned time."

"I didn't have to push every fucking button I could though, taunting you into it." Buck said, voice ashamed.

"Yeah and I'm a grown ass man who should have managed my anger, and opened my fucking eyes. Nothing made sense, but I rushed in like a toddler throwing a tantrum, and threw every awful hateful thing I could possibly throw at you, hurting you as much as I could, with words and hands."

---

"Mr. Malone, why does it sound like you might have some knowledge of me, flawed though it might be, since neither of my children have children." Athena asked, voice deceptively calm.

Shaken, but holding firm, Frankie took a breath before meeting her eye. "Officer, I don't know what sort of vendetta you have against my friend Mr. Buckley, he mentioned you in particular being pissed at him over some lawsuit, but this sort of harassment, going after the man's friends? It seems to be beneath you and might be grounds for a second lawsuit, if you don't mind my saying."

Athena's eyes narrowed. "Mr. Malone, I have absolutely no issues with Mr. Buckley, or any of his friends. I'm quite concerned about the man."

"Well in that case you should be happy I was able to make that purchase for him. I mean from what I was told, he was only sick because he helped out taking care of your adopted grand kid the other day. The guy was feeling poorly, and I was just helping out where I could, you know? I don't know where he is at the moment, so I can't exactly tell you where to find him. If we need to continue to talk about this, then maybe I should follow the guy's lead, and find a good lawyer."

In the next couple moments two things happened. Lou entered the room and Athena's phone rang. She glared at the smarmy little shit and then at Lou and turned to answer her phone.

"Yes, this is her. He did what?"

---

Buck looked at his watch, and then at the light coming in the window before turning to Eddie. "I was a little out of it, but did they say anything about a change of plans? Cause Frankie has been really predictable, and he's late."

"First there is so much to unpack there, I mean only you would on first name basis with your kidnapper, who seemed strangely protective of you, by the way, but uh, no, all they said was they'd be back in the morning. The two of us need to figure out a plan, cause I can't just leave you here, and I don't see them letting you leave."

"You damned well can leave me here. If they let you go, then you get your ass home to Chris and make sure he's protected, while I stay here and make sure they don't have a reason to go after him." Buck was pulling himself to his feet, holding his ribs, and then began pacing the room, running his hands through his hair.

Eddie watched him pacing the room muttering to himself, hands working through soft curls until his hair was standing in disarray. His gaze was equal parts frustration and adoration. He didn't think even Shannon had been this devoted to their son, and he loved Buck for it, but he wanted to wring the neck of whoever had made the man feel like he was disposable.

"Buck... after everything, after what I did to you... I can't. Chris is safe and he's with Abuela, but you cannot ask me to just leave you here." He said trying to reason with him.

"They were following him, Eddie. They expected Carla, so who's to say they can't figure out where he is now. So, you need to go if they open that door and let you out. You need to keep Chris safe, otherwise what you did... What I goaded you into doing, was all for nothing."

Eddie was standing now, and stepped in to block the path Buck was pacing. When Buck stopped in front of him, Eddie reached out and grabbed ahold of Buck's shoulders, and was staring into his face. "Please don't make me do it. Please don't force me to leave you here, Evan. I can't."

Just then the door unlocked and Eddie turned to face the door, putting himself between Buck and whoever was coming in.

"Dad! Buck!" Chris called out happily, as he made his way into the room.

"Chris? What are you doing here?" Buck asked, moving carefully around Eddie who was busy staring at the man in the doorway.

"That's a smart little shit you got there, Diaz. He must get it from his Ma. Cause clearly his dad is a fucking moron. Though you know, now that I finally seen the kid, he don't look much like you. You sure your old lady wasn't banging your best friend there? Wouldn't be the first time that shit happened, you know?"

Eddie had to fight not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but when the guy continued talking every urge to laugh dried up. "You, my friend, have been telling tales." He said before holding Eddie's phone up and waggling it back and forth.

His eyes went wide as he remembered his last text to Bobby, and winced as he realized the response that had to have instigated after he shut the phone off. Behind him, Buck was talking softly to Chris, while putting himself between Chris and the door. Eddie continued to try and do the same for Buck.

"You really are becoming a lot more trouble than you're worth. Still, nobody's shown up yet, except the kid, and he managed to find his own way here. Ain't technology great?" He added sarcastically. "Someone is bound to show up looking for at least one of you, eventually, though, and you and the kid each left a trail of breadcrumbs right to my front door."

"So, here's how this is gonna go, you and the kid are going home so no one has a reason to follow those crumbs. You're gonna call off your captain and his bitch wife. Otherwise the next time you lay eyes on Buckley, it will be his rotting corpse."

Eddie opened his mouth to argue, but Buck spoke first. "Eddie and Chris were just leaving. Isn't that right, Eddie." Buck said before shoving Chris into Eddie's arms.

---

In the days following the tsunami Christopher Diaz had one thing on his mind. He understood how rare an event the tsunami had been, but his Buck had kept him safe from the tsunami. It had been scary and then it had been over.

What happened after though? People got lost everyday. Kids got lost, and adults got lost. Chris had lost his Buck and Buck had lost him. His mom had gone away too, even before she'd died, and for a long time he didn't know where she was. Chris was terrified one day he'd lose Dad too, and he didn't know what to do about it.

Buck had sat with him, when he'd woken up from a nap, screaming and sure everyone was missing, he'd been wandering in his dream, and there had been no one, even Miss Maria was gone this time. He had been so tired and cold and there had been no one around as he wandered and yelled for a family who never came.

Buck had listened though, after the dream they'd sat and drank hot cocoa, and Chris had explained what he was afraid of. Then Buck had come up with a solution. He pulled out his phone and explained that he'd been afraid of losing people too. Miss Maddie had gone missing once, and he'd been very scared she'd go missing again, so they'd gotten an app for their phones.

Buck showed him how it worked and how it let him see Miss Maddie was at something called a karaoke bar. Chris had gotten just a little side tracked when Buck had explained what karaoke was. Buck said it was legal torture, but Chris loved to sing, and that sounded like a lot of fun. After extracting a promise to let Chris try it some day, Buck promised to talk to his dad about adding him to Buck's app, and maybe even Abuela too.

Chris was pretty sure his Daddy didn't really understand anything except the fact that it would make Chris feel better and just passed Buck his phone. Abuela just nodded and scooped another couple tamales onto his plate, before unlocking her phone and handing it to Buck, one Sunday dinner.

In the day or so following Buck leaving him alone, Chris had been too sick to really try and think of ways to find Buck. He'd asked Daddy where Buck had gone and he promised to figure it out, but Buck wasn't answering his phone. When Chris started feeling better he began worrying more and more about Buck. He remembered the app on Daddy's phone, but his phone was with him at work.

Thursday when his Dad got home from work he asked about Buck and Daddy had been both sad and angry, and so Chris waited until he left his phone sitting on the table and left the room. Chris immediately tried to call Buck, it rang and then went to Buck's voicemail. Before he could check the app, Daddy came back and Chris didn't get another chance that day.

Saturday he spent the day at Abuela's. She let him poke around on her phone and he could see Buck on the map. He still didn't answer and his phone didn't move, so Chris just kept watching the app, waiting for it to change. He also watched as Daddy went to work and then home for some reason. It was dark when Daddy's location disappeared, but since Daddy had been home, Chris thought it might mean he forgot to charge it. That reminded him to charge Abuela's phone.

The next day, Chris watched and watched waiting to see his Bucky move to a new spot. Daddy's phone was still off, and he was late to pick Chris up. Then, suddenly Daddy's phone showed up again, and he was with Buck!

He tried calling them both, and each call was sent to voicemail. He was looking at Abuela's phone again and another app caught his eye. He got himself ready and pressed the button. He would need to time things right, so Abuela was busy cooking, and then he used the app.

When the car arrived he made his way out to it and climbed inside. The driver was shocked at his age, but Chris held up Abuela's phone and showed the girl the map showing the two phones and an address. "My dads are waiting for me there."

She nodded, and took him to the spot on the map, and he lied a little when she started getting nervous. "My dad works here."

Chris figured if there was a fire his dad might get called to it here, so technically, he wasn't exactly lying. Not much anyway.

Once he'd gotten into the building he saw both his Dad's Denali and Bucky's Jeep, and knew he was in the right place. He moved further into the building slowly, until he was closer to where the phones were on the map, and then realized they must be up the very long set of stairs. He was trying to decide if he wanted to try calling them again, or just hollering for them, when a voice spoke up behind him.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

---

If Eddie hadn't seen the man's gun, he would have shoved Chris behind Buck and fought like hell for his boys. However, the man did have a gun and a complete disregard for life that Eddie had seen first hand. Instead he turned to look at Buck, burning the image of him into his mind. He was clearly tired, sick and hurting, but he stood poised and ready to fight if he had to, and Eddie knew without a doubt he'd decided to risk the man's wrath, Buck would have his back.

Eddie tightened his hold on Chris until he was tucked in close, hoisted on one hip. Then he turned to Buck, eyes locked on his for a long moment, before he reached out with his free hand and fisted it in Buck's shirt, to hold him still. Then watching carefully for any fear, Eddie leaned in and kissed him.

It was chaste and simple. His son was in his arms and even if he wasn't, Eddie wasn't putting on a performance for the man who'd started this whole mess. Still if he had to walk out of this room, Buck was going to know he was important to someone, before he was forced to leave him.

Buck put his hand over Eddie's hand held him in place for a long moment, searching Eddie's eyes for something. He seemed to have found it and grinned at him, despite the circumstances before letting go of Eddie's wrist and stepping back.

Eddie was forcing himself to turn and walk out of the room with Chris, when there was a pop and a flash, and something slammed into him. He tightened his hold on Chris and found himself blindly being shoved along as he blinked trying to clear his eyes. When he could see and somewhat hear, he realized he and Chris had been shoved into the small tight bathroom, and the door had been shut behind them. He could hear yelling on the other side of the door and a gunshot, but his ears were still ringing and he could barely hear Chris crying in his arms, let alone details on the other side of a closed door.

---

Athena stormed through the building, mind trying to decide who's ass she would be kicking first. The officers who decided to risk a breach with her boys in the building, the moron flunky who started waving a gun around, or his boss, who Officer Williams was practically sitting on top of to keep still.

No, she decided, someone else would be sorting those fuckers out. She was going to completely destroy the plainclothes officer who was standing with a gun on Buck, who seemed to be half blind and deaf from the initial flash bangs used. Despite his temporary impairment he was protecting a closed door, ready to swing at any movement.

"Officer, if you do not take that gun off my son immediately, I will not be held responsible for my actions."

"The perp is clearly guarding someone, and this room cannot be cleared unless-"

"Are you deaf or stupid officer? That man is my son, and one of you moron's failed to remember there was a child in this building, when you burst in with guns and flash grenades. I have every confidence that said child, my grandson by the way, and his father are the people my son is guarding. So, if that gun isn't holstered in the next two seconds, I will be shoving it somewhere entirely unpleasant for the both of us."

The officer took his eyes off of Buck long enough to see the look Athena was giving him and with a gulp quickly holstered his weapon, and stepped back.

With the idiot dealt with, Athena turned to Buck. "Buck, baby, can you hear me? It's Athena."

He was squinting at her and shaking his head, as if trying to clear out the ringing in his ears. "Thena?" He asked, voice loud.

"Yes, Buck it's Athena." She said loud enough for him to hopefully hear her past the tinnitus.

"Chris and Eddie!" He said, turning to put his hand on the door he'd been guarding. Before he could reach for the knob, he crumpled to the ground and Athena was rushing forward to check him, even as she was screaming for an ambulance.

---

Eddie hated his choices, but he stood Chris in the very small space between the wall and the toilet. "Chris, I need you to stay down there until I say it's safe to come out, okay?"

He was crying, but nodded and Eddie turned and listened as best as he could before carefully opening the door. "Athena?" He asked when her face was suddenly looking up at him from where she was crouching on the floor. "Oh shit-" He stopped himself and slipped out of the room shutting the door behind himself, carefully not wanting Chris to see any of this.

"What happened?" He asked as he dropped down to his knees next to her and started checking him over as best as he could with his eyes still seeing after images.

He was breathing though it was more than a little labored, and Eddie was trying to get him into a better position when his hand touched something warm and wet. Buck moaned soft and low and Eddie jerked his hand back to find it covered in blood. Athena's shocked eyes met his for only a second before she was up and screaming for the ambulance again. Thankfully they had already been making their way to their patient and were moving Eddie out of the way and taking over in under a minute.

They huddled to one side as the EMT's were identifying a GSW and packing the wound before getting him onto a board and then strapped to the gurney. Eddie was unable to focus on anything they were saying, unable to take his eyes off of Buck's pale face. He knew Athena was asking him about Chris and that he answered, but he would never remember anything he said or did in those few minutes where Buck's life hung in the balance in front of him.

Athena wisely left Chris where he was, until they wheeled Buck out. It was thankfully quick. The minute they were out the door, she dove for the doorknob and then quickly pulled Christopher close and began checking him over, just in case. Once she was sure this one didn't have any surprise holes in him, she carried him out of the room with his face pressed to her neck so he didn't see any of the blood on the floor.

---

Athena was ready and waiting when Bobby came running into the hospital. She pulled him to one side before he could start blasting the nurse with questions she may or may not be able to answer. She had left Eddie, wisely she thought, in a waiting room closer to the operating room where they were extracting the bullet Buck had taken, from the place where it was lodged near a rib.

"What happened?" Bobby finally managed to get out.

"What happened is some bastard decided to get cute and use Chris being a brilliant menace, as an excuse to get a warrant, and then completely failed to take the kid into account as they served a no knock warrant and went in full tactical with flash bangs and guns. Thank God Buck was so quick to get him and Eddie out of harms way, and that Williams was sitting on the place for me, and went in with our boys in mind."

"Oh God, is Chris-"

"He's fine. Feeling guilty as Hell, and grounded for the next decade, but whole and healthy." Athena quickly assured him. "Carla came and picked him up, and we're supposed to keep her posted. I learned several new Spanish curse words when I got ahold of Eddie's Aunt Pepa. She had just gotten to her mother's house and the woman has been searching everywhere for her phone and her grandson for hours now. She said she called the police and has been getting the run around, instead of them telling her anything, or just showing up to help her look."

Bobby could tell his wife was fuming over the whole situation, and if she had anything to do with it heads would role, but he had more important questions, especially now that he knew Chris was okay. "Buck?"

"Is in surgery with a good prognosis. From what we can piece together he was shot, the bullet is lodged against a rib, and did some damage to one lung. Eddie said his ribs prior to that were bruised, and he had a chest cold, but was able to stand and move around, which is how he was able to throw his idiot self in front of a bullet aimed for Eddie."

Athena explained everything she knew as they moved to the lounge they'd taken up residence in while waiting on news about Buck. Bobby wasn't sure he wanted to hug or strangle the man, and was honestly trying to decide when the elevator dinged behind them. Athena jumped to her feet a vicious look on her face.

"Detective Donato, dare I ask what you're doing here? Don't you have other children to put in danger with you're thoughtless disregard for their lives?"

"Unlike you Sergeant Grant, we take a child being lured into a dangerous situation, particularly one engineered by his own father, as a serious matter. We don't just set uni's to wait and see." Donato said with a sneer.

"No you go in guns blazing and shooting off flash-bangs. I'm frankly shocked that you didn't use teargas. Did you already use it up while storming a daycare on the way to serve the warrant?" She snarled back before something he said registered. "And just what do you mean engineered by his father?"

"Well that brings me to why I'm here enjoying your lovely company. Edmundo Diaz, you are under arrest for assault and battery, child endangerment and once he wakes up, I'm sure there will be further charges based on the domestic abuse the man suffered under your hands."

"I never-" Eddie started to argue.

"Please tell me how you never put a hand on Mr. Buckley, when I just came from watching you beat the ever living shit out of him in footage recovered from Dom's surveillance system."

"Who the hell is Dom?" Eddie asked, angry and confused.

"Domenic Donato? The man who ran the illegal fighting ring you were a part of? The man who claims to have accidentally shot Mr. Buckley in an attempt to protect him from his abusive boyfriend."

"I-" Eddie started, before Athena physically reached up and put her hand over his mouth.

"Mr. Diaz is going to exercise his right to remain silent and is also requesting his attorney be present prior to speaking with you or anyone else, Detective."

The look Athena gave him would melt steel. "You will keep right on exercising that right, no matter how angry you get, am I clear."

"Yes, ma'am." Eddie said meekly. "You'll..."

"I will make sure both your boys are taken care of, and I'm going to start making calls right away." She said, dealing with one hot head.

While her focus was on Eddie, Bobby had stepped up to stand between Eddie and the Detective. "Listen, I don't know what you think you know, but-"

"Let me stop you right there, Mr. Grant-" Donato cut him off.

"It's Nash. Captain Robert Nash of the 118. I'm both Eddie and Buck's Captain and I can assure you, despite what you may have seen-"

"I can appreciate trying to protect one of your own, I mean look, Nash, I ain't got nothing against firefighters. My girl, God love her, decided to take the easy route too, but..."

"But?" Bobby asked, fuming and starting to feel the laser sharp burn of his wife's gaze behind him. It was an itch right between his shoulder blades.

"But, I got Mr. Diaz here dead to rights, and once Officer Grant has found him, what I'm very sure, will be the best defense attorney a firefighter could afford, me and him are going to have a very thorough conversation, and then we'll see where things go from there. Now, I've been delayed long enough by our respective dick measuring, so if you'll just step aside and let me complete the arrest, without having to haul two people in, instead of one."

With one last glare Bobby moved to one side to allow the detective to move past him and pull out the cuffs. Eddie winced and held out his hands while Bobby turned to face his wife, and her unimpressed glare. He mouthed the word sorry, and she shook her head and turned to watch Donato as he read Eddie his rights. She had her phone out making calls before the elevator door closed on them.

Less than five minutes later the surgeon came out to report that the removal had gone well and that Buck was in recovery.

---

The lawyer Athena had sent his way was both exceedingly competent and kind. She listened as he explained the situation and asked questions he wouldn't have thought of. Once that was done she coached him quite thoroughly, and gave him an exceedingly simple set of rules. Do not speak unless she said it was okay to do so, no matter how angry the questions made him. Eddie had allowed his temper to cause more than enough trouble for one decade and he wasn't about to let it control him for one more second.

When they sat down with the detective, there was a screen and when Detective Donato entered the room he had a tablet in hand along with some files. "Mr. Diaz, Ms. Cortez." He said in greeting before settling down on one side of the table. "So, first things first, Mr. Diaz, you should be aware of the fact that Mr. Buckley has made it through surgery and will, with any luck, be awake and able to give us his account of events soon."

He seemed a little taken aback by the relief Eddie seemed to have a that news, but only a little. "So, before we take in your boyfriend's statement, why don't we get yours on record."

"Mr. Diaz and Mr. Buckley are not as of yet dating, and in fact weren't romantically involved at all until they shared a kiss moments before Mr. Donato shot Mr. Buckley." His lawyer stated.

"I was informed quite clearly by multiple sources that the two were partners." He said shuffling through his papers, slightly flustered.

"Until they are able to have a more thorough conversation about where they stand, the two have only been friends and work partners. And quite honestly for the bulk of the last week, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Donato's employees," The detective winced at both her use of the name and the sneer at the term employees. "and some unlucky miscommunication, Mr. Diaz was under the, as you can imagine, distressing belief that his best friend had abandoned his very sick child and his job for an opportunity with an ex-girlfriend."

"So what you're giving me here is starting to sound like motive." Donato smirked.

"Motive for Mr. Diaz's enthusiastic participation in what he was under the impression was a sanctioned fight between himself and Mr. Buckley, yes."

The detective's eyes narrowed. "Sanctioned?"

"It is not my client's job to police the licensing and permit situation for the venue where he spars or participates in matches. He has had fights and sparring sessions in various training facilities and during his time in the army as well as various matches. He is not legally responsible if the one managing the event, your cousin is it, failed to ensure the legalities of his business."

"My nephew, unfortunately." The man clarified.

"He was unaware of the fact that Mr. Buckley was forced to participate, as a sort of payback for Mr. Diaz doing the right thing in calling in medical assistance for an opponent in your nephew's previous venue. He was also, unaware of the threat towards his son that precipitated Mr. Buckley's absence, since he'd managed to convince both Mr. Donato's employees, and the man himself, that he was a more manageable piece of collateral than a sick child with connections to the LAPD."

"As to the child endangerment charges, those are frankly ludicrous, and should they cause Mr. Diaz even the slightest amount of trouble in regards to custody with his son we will be leveling defamation and a counter claim for child endangerment since your team was aware of the child's presence. In fact, you misrepresented his situation to obtain the warrant you then used to actively breech the facility without taking his safety into account."

"Mr. Diaz took his special needs child-"

She cut him off, voice tight. "First Christopher has CP, continue to use that tone as if the boy is in any way less intelligent or capable than he is and we will be having a much less pleasant conversation, and second he is a very precocious and clever child who tracked his missing parent on his own."

"I find it hard to believe-" Donato started to say only to be cut off by Eddie's lawyer.

"Your limited ability to perceive reality notwithstanding, that is indeed what happened. Are you aware that Christopher was at the pier with Mr. Buckley during the tsunami? No? Well he was, and while Mr. Buckley was able to keep him, and more than twenty other people safe, they were later separated due to no fault of their own. Thankfully they and Mr. Diaz, who was on duty for the disaster, were later reunited, but Christopher suffered from nightmares were he was unable to find his family. Mr. Buckley came up with the solution of adding all the family phones to a location service and showed Christopher how to use it, so he could reassure himself that his family wasn't lost."

"And this app magically teleported him-"

She once again cut him off. "No, that would be the Uber app on Isabel Diaz's phone. He waited until his great grandmother was cooking Sunday dinner, and then with her phone, ordered and paid for an Uber."

She leaned forward then. "Where I am having trouble is the fact that you are acting like this is all news to you when Officer Williams reported at least part of this while following the Uber across the city. Combined with the other information your department had, thanks to Mr. Diaz by way of Sergeant Grant, and the fact that Mrs. Diaz's call to report her great grandson missing was rerouted to your department prior to Christopher entering that building, and nothing was done about it."

Her gaze sharpened before she continued. "In fact, someone from your department countermanded Sergeant Grant's order to stop Christopher from entering the building. I wonder just whose name is going to be on that order, and the emergency warrant request. Keeping all that in mind we both know these charges are complete bullshit, so, why don't we skip the rest of the dramatics and the charges and get down to securing Mr. Diaz's testimony, which is what this was actually all about."

"I don't like the insinuation that the LAPD would-" He started blustering.

"Detective neither of us has the amount of time it would take to discuss the things the LAPD would do. I can only hope, with the well known and respected history your family has as officers of the law, that you are trying to ensure your nephew does serious time and can no longer be a stain on your family name, and not that you are trying to backhandedly assist in his defense, by pinning some of his crimes to my client. I'm going to repeat myself here, since I do believe this is a case of the former not the latter. Drop the charges and the drama and I think you will find Mr. Diaz quite motivated to see that Mr. Donato is fully brought to justice for his many crimes."

---

Buck woke up warm for the first time in what seemed like quite a while. He didn't open his eyes right away, even though he was almost certain he was in a hospital. He stayed still and tried to take stock of the situation. He felt more than a little floaty, which meant he had been hurt enough to be on the good drugs. Breathing was a little hard, but he was doing it on his own, with a cannula in his nose as opposed to a ventilator.

Then someone shifted beside him and he realized there was a hand holding his, and his eyes flew open to see Athena settled in next to him, watching him with a warm smile.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to open your eyes." She leaned in. "How're you feeling, baby?"

"I'm kind of floaty, but why am I-" He jerked up some, then hissed in pain as something pulled in his back, and quickly breathed past the pain to turn to Athena frantic. "Chris and Eddie?"

"Are both safe, thanks to you. Chris is grounded on several fronts, and is safe with Carla right now. Eddie was here, but there are things going on that he has no control over, and he can't be here until those things are cleared up." She explained.

"What things? What's going on, 'Thena?" He asked eyes on her.

"There was apparently video footage of the fight the two of you were in. The detective in charge arrested Eddie." She quickly put her hands out to stop Buck from trying to climb out of the bed. "Buck, you can't help him by tearing open your wound! We'll get someone down here to take your statement, I promise."

Buck settled back at her promise and then jerked towards her again. "Wait, wound?"

"They had to go in and remove the bullet. It did a little damage to your lung but mostly skated along a rib. Apparently the angle of your body and the fact that the bastard was aiming at Eddie instead of you, meant you took it at a really lucky trajectory, all things considering."

"I was shot!" He yelped. "Wait, someone was trying to shoot Eddie?"

Athena chuckled at him, and patted his hand. "Don't ever change, baby. You shoved Eddie and Chris into a bathroom to protect them and got shot in the process, then half deaf and blind, proceeded to guard that door against anyone who tried to get in, with a bullet in you. You fought until you knew I was there and that I would protect them, and then you scared more than a few years off my life when you hit the floor."

Just then the door opened and Bobby stepped into the room. "I managed to find what the nurses swear is the best coffee in the building, but they didn't have- Buck!" He quickly sat the coffee cups down and dove to the other side of the bed to take Buck's free hand. "How are you doing, kid? Are you hurting? Did one of you call the doctor?"

"Hurts when I move too much, but if I hold still I'm good, for now. Athena was just explaining what happened. Did you know someone tried to shoot Eddie?" Buck finished sounding offended by the idea.

"I'm aware, but I was a little more concerned by the fact that they succeeded in shooting you." Bobby said in fond exasperation. "Let's press this button and get the doctor in here to make sure everything is okay." He triggered the call button and then pulled up the second chair before retaking Buck's other hand. "You did so well, Buck, and I can't tell you how proud I am at how brave and clever you were."

Buck, who was still more than a little loopy blushed. "I... thanks, Bobby, but I don't know how brave I was accidentally getting shot."

"I'm pretty sure you were shot protecting both Eddie and Chris, even if you didn't see a bullet coming, that building was in full breech and you instinctively put yourself between them and the danger, and got both of them to the safest place you could. But that wasn't what I was talking about. You let them take you to keep Chris safe, and then you called me and trusted me to get the warnings you were sending right under their stupid noses. Thanks to that phone call Chris was under police surveillance before the day was out. The only reason Chris was ever in trouble was because he was too smart for his own good, and managed to track down his dad and his Bucky." Bobby said with a soft grin.

"You got what I was saying? Did Maddie get it too?" He asked feeling warm and pleased, that Bobby had understood him.

"Maddie?" Athena asked sharing a glance with Bobby.

"Yeah, I sent her a message that first day, so she would figure out something was wrong. I was hoping her and Eddie would compare notes, you know? But I don't think he talked to her, he just kept trying to call me."

Just then the door opened and the doctor came in followed by an aid and the woman in question. "I still don't understand why you can't give me any information, I'm his next of kin and the only relative he has in the damned state."

The doctor gave her a strange look before turning to Bobby, who nodded. "Mrs. Kendal, Evan's medical contact is his parents, and they are here, already."

"Mom and Dad are here?" She asked, surprised, looking around the room confused, and then back at the now equally confused doctor, entirely missing Buck wincing.

"He means us, Maddie. I'm Buck's medical contact." Bobby explained.

"Oh, those aren't his parents, that's just his captain and his wife."

Buck blushed and went to pull his hands back, only for both Athena and Bobby to refuse to let go. "At this point, we're going to need to face facts, Maddie, the only reason Bobby hasn't officially adopted that boy is he wasn't aware you can legally adopt an adult. I have a friend working on it."

Maddie gaped at her for a moment. "Mom and Dad are-"

"Awful parents, at least as far as Buck is concerned. The amount of time he's been hospitalized and they haven't shown up once, which okay, Pennsylvania is a trek and a half, but they didn't even bother to call him. I'm fairly sure the only reason they had anything to say after that debacle with Doug, was for the chance to say 'I told you so'. Still far be it for me to break up siblings, so just say the word and I'd be happy to add you to the paperwork too." Maddie just sort of gaped at her like a fish in shock. Athena just nodded. "You think on it, baby and let me know."

Maddie shook off her shock and moved towards the bed. "Oh Evan, what did you do to yourself this time?"

"Actually, I'm going to have to ask the three of you to step out for a few moments so I can take a look at Mr. Buckley's incision, and give him a quick once over." The doctor said, politely.

Both Bobby and Athena moved to stand up, Bobby with a reassuring grin and Athena giving his hand one final pat before they moved towards the door, herding Maddie along as they went, while she turned and asked "Incision?" Sharply.

Athena kept her moving and headed towards the small lounge at the end of the hall. "What do you know about why Buck is in the hospital?"

"The officer who called wasn't really clear, they said something about an illegal fighting club, but Buck doesn't really like to spar, I mean he can and he's good, he gave me lessons when I was worried about Doug, but he always worries about accidentally hurting someone, you know?" Maddie said, looking kind of lost. "Then the officer said something about domestic violence, but it's Buck, he would never. Did that ex he ran into make some sort of claims? How much trouble is he in?"

Athena tilted her head, looking at Maddie a moment before she replied. "What ex?"

"He messaged me a few days ago, about running into some ex, another A name girl. I swear at this point of a girl he likes has a name that starts with A, he needs to just run the other way, you know?"

"Would you mind if I take a look at that text, Maddie? It might help Buck out, in some way." Athena asked, glancing at Bobby who was already looking more than a little pissed. He quickly schooled his face into some semblance of neutrality.

"Sure." She said, pulling her phone out and opening the messaging app. "Here you go."

'Hey Maddy, Dr. Walsh says I should take a break, and I'm ready to listen to what he has to say. Tell Howard I'm going to be out of work for awhile. I met up with Ally again, and she apologized about that Eat, Pray, Love thing. We're going to take a little time and see if we can't work things out.'

Athena held the message out for Bobby to read, and then watched the man close his eyes and start silently counting, while taking very precise deep breaths.

"Maddie, please take this in the spirit it is meant, but do you even know your brother at all?"

"Do I... what are you even talking about?" Maddie asked, clearly hurt and starting to get angry.

"The boy misspelled your damned name, gave you the wrong doctor name, agreed to take a break, called Chim Howard, misspelled Ali's name, and gave you the wrong reason they broke up, plus the fact that the only way things could work out with Ali was if he quit firefighting, which Buck would never do. So I'll repeat my question, do you know your brother at all." Athena took her own anger managing breaths, before slapping Maddie's phone back into her hand.

"I... I..." It was clear Maddie didn't know what to say and she was already crying.

"You... you... This does not get to become about you, and God help me, if you go in that room and let that boy catch even a whiff of the fact that you were so completely clueless about him trying to send you a cry for help, I will end you. Are we clear?" Maddie just nodded, crying more. "You were very confused by it, and didn't know what to do. You showed me the message and it became part of my investigation. That part is entirely true, now, so you won't be lying. You will remember all the things I told you were wrong with that message and know how to reply if he ever brings any of those things up."

Maddie nodded again, and slumped back in the chair. "Now, what actually happened is some men who felt Eddie owed them money tried to take Chris from your brother, in order to force Eddie to participate in fights they would arrange and then win or lose the fight when and how they told him. Buck talked them into taking him instead, and the man in charge thought it would be fun to force a fight between the two, which he did, then Chris went looking for them, and things got worse."

Bobby saw the doctor leaving Buck's room and left Athena to finish filling Maddie in, and hurried after the man. "How's he doing, doc?" He asked when he caught up.

"I'm not quite sure if he is the luckiest or unluckiest man alive." The doctor said with a wry grin.

"It's Buck, I'm pretty sure he's both." Bobby said with a smirk. "It's certainly been the year to test that."

"Fire trucks, embolism, underground fight club? I'm not quite sure what's next, but we might want to invest in a bubble for the man."

"You missed tsunami, and I honestly would, but he'd just cut it open, and use it to save someone else's life." Bobby replied.

"His sister does seem a bit..." He trailed off trying to think of the polite way to complete his thought.

"Well you have the first three letters right, at least." Bobby said, before holding up his hand when the doctor just tilted his head questioningly. "Never mind. Anyway, how is he doing?"

"The incision looks good, his breathing is improved, though we're keeping him on the oxygen for now to be safe. The bruises seem to be going down and since he's been off the blood thinners for almost a week, they weren't quite the problem we had anticipated." He stopped at the nurses station and passed off his tablet to be charged before he turned to face Bobby.

"We still need to keep a good eye on the wound, in case it tears open, but for now, he just needs to relax and let it heal. He is apparently on the far side of a fairly bad infection, so we put him on an IV antibiotic since his immune system is strained at the moment and we don't want to risk a relapse, especially with his ribs the way they are. Coughing would be agony and try to keep the comedy routines to a minimum cause a good belly laugh is going to end in tears at least for a couple days."

"Dammit and I was looking forward to the captive audience to practice my stand-up on." Bobby said snapping his finger, in an 'oh damn' manner.

Bobby turned around just as the elevator dinged open and Eddie came bursting out of it and hurried towards Bobby. "How is he? Is he awake? Is he doing okay? Your wife is amazing by the way. Does he want to see me?"

Bobby shook his head and then turned and started towards Buck's room. The whine he managed to put on the drawn out "Bobby!" left him wondering exactly which Diaz was following him. He shook his head and slipped into the room, almost immediately followed by Eddie, who would have probably run him over if he hadn't immediately moved to one side and let the man get to the bed.

Buck looked up when he'd entered the room with a warm smile, and that smile was brighter than ever when he caught sight of Eddie. "Eds, hey do you know someone tried to shoot you?" He asked sounding offended by the idea all over again. Bobby noticed the little button to dispense a dose of pain medication was sitting close to Buck's hand.

Eddie shook his head and settled into the chair on the far side of the bed, taking one of Buck's hands. "They did, but someone really brave protected me."

"They did?" Buck asked eyes wide and childlike.

"Yes, they did and they're my second favorite person in the world." He said with a soft smile.

"They better be after Chris." Buck glared at the room as if looking for the monster that would take Chris's place in Eddie's heart.

"They are, do you want me to point them out to you?" Eddie offered and when Buck nodded, and Eddie started moving his index finger around as if searching before he slid it up from Buck's chest to his nose, where he booped it, and Buck's eyes went cross-eyed. It took him more time than it should to uncross them and stare up at Eddie.

"I'm your second favorite person?" He asked in disbelief.

"You absolutely are." Eddie confirmed.

"Should you be teasing him like this?" Bobby asked.

"When I had my wisdom teeth pulled, he tried to convince me there was a zombie apocalypse."

"Point taken, carry on"

---

As Buck was slowly healing, Eddie spent as much time as he could at the hospital during visiting hours, and then as much time with Chris. Eddie had taken great cares to make sure he understood where he'd made mistakes. He had lied, stolen and put himself in serious danger. Eddie tried to minimize the danger he'd added to Buck and Eddie's situation, not wanting Chris to carry the guilt of Buck being shot, but he did hammer in the stress and fear he'd caused his Abuela.

Chris, who'd been scared, but not remorseful, since he'd gotten both his dad and Bucky back, burst into tears at the sight of his Abuela crying. Eddie tried to make sure he understood that both Eddie and Christopher had made mistakes, but that in the future he needed to go to a trusted adult instead of taking a leap, or Uber, of faith when he couldn't be sure of the safety of the situation.

Buck had been quick to ween himself off the use of pain medicine, though he didn't say why. The lack of narcotics meant more serious conversations were imminent. Yet nothing was said about the kiss and Eddie was beginning to psych himself out about it, with thoughts ranging from Buck regretting it, or not liking it, to thoughts that in the trauma of everything he'd gotten some weird kiss specific amnesia.

Once he could sit up and move around the room without wincing in pain, Buck settled in on his bed, sitting kind of sideways, with one knee propped up and patted the other end of the bed. Eddie settled in, angled to face Buck, who was paying the frayed blanket more attention that it deserved. Finally he glanced up at Eddie, just as Eddie was glancing away. The two of them started giggling and the stress that had been creeping up on them fell away.

"Was it some kind of pity thing?" Buck blurted out.

"Pity thing?" Eddie asked confused.

"The kiss. Did you know I love you and just felt guilty because you were going to have to leave?"

"No, of course not." Eddie said, staring. "I just wanted to."

"You wanted to? Like a whim or 'hey kissing a guy once was on my bucket list' or what?"

"I hate to break it to you, but that one has been check marked more than a few times, Buck, and kissing you was hardly a whim. I've been falling for you for a very long time. I got to the 118 and there you were this arrogant little shit and everyone loved you, so I knew if I was going to stay, I needed to win you over, and you hated me on sight."

He looked up to see Buck blushing and raised an eyebrow. "My uh... initial reaction on first sight was hardly hatred." Buck confessed.

Eddie smirked. "Really now?"

"Shut up, you were all sweat and muscles and shit. You knew exactly what you were doing to people. Chim's as straight as they come and Hen's as gay, and both of them were tempted to climb you like a damned tree when we first saw you."

"Okay, so, my point being, I got to know you, and not the paranoid asshole guarding his turf, and it didn't take long before I wanted you. Then you started treating me like one of your people, taking care of things for me, making things better. That day you introduced me to Carla, I swear to God I thought you were setting me up on a date and then I realized what you were doing for me, what Carla could do for me, and I knew."

"Knew what?" Buck asked, unable to look away, voice cracking with intensity.

"You were the hill I was going to die on." Eddie said quietly.

"What? I don't..." Buck wasn't sure what to say.

"The night with the grenade, we said we'd have each others backs. People say that. They say it and they might think they mean it, but when the chips are really down, most of the time there's something more important than that promise. Not you. When the chips were down you hauled my ass up from where it dangled over certain death, both literally in that hotel, and metaphorically with helping Chris. I was drowning. I was failing my kid in so many ways, again and again, and every time we started to go under, there you were hauling us back up and handing me a life preserver."

"Eddie, I didn't. You are there for that kid in every way that matters."

"Because you were there for me, Buck. You helped me be a better father to that kid than I ever managed, either on my own or with Shannon." He reached out and took Buck's hand. "I don't want you to think Chris is the only reason, though, cause he's not. You are such an incredible person, Buck, and even if you come to your senses and realize how much I don't deserve you, I want you to know how sorry I am for the things I did, the things I thought, and for letting my anger touch you in any way. I know we need to take our time and I need to earn back your trust, but if you'll let me, I'm going to spend every minute of everyday doing that, because that is what you deserve."

"Eds, I... You don't need-"

"Oh yes he does." Athena said from the doorway.

"Athena?" Buck asked, startled by her sudden appearance.

"Hi, Baby, feeling better?" She asked with a warm smile.

"Yeah, I am, but, uh, what's..." He trailed off, looking between her and Eddie who had turned incredibly pale, as he squirmed under her deadly smile.

"I heard the nurses saying something about some test or other, so Eddie why don't you come for a walk with me, while they get Buck all squared away." She ordered.

Eddie, mouth dry, could only nod.

"Perfect. We'll be back real soon, Baby."

"Uh... okay." Buck said, looking back and forth between the two, confused.

Athena led the man out the door and then locked her arm through his, leading him towards one of the private family rooms. There was already a laptop hooked to the room's TV and Eddie had a sinking feeling that he knew what she was about to show him.

She slid a chair in front of the screen and patted the back of it. "Have a seat, Eddie." She all but ordered.

He couldn't meet her eyes as he sat down. She pressed a button or two and suddenly Eddie was looking at himself and Buck. He had been crouching down, arms over his head, before the fight started. He heard one of the guards speak then. "Go on, show him who he's fighting."

Eddie saw the look of recognition on his face and then the rage. He wanted to look away, but couldn't allow himself that comfort, even if he thought Athena would let him. He watched that first hate fueled rush, and Buck's grace as he danced out of Eddie's path. Buck had skillfully led him around that ring by the nose.

He watched all the times he'd left himself open to what could have been devastating shots, and watched as time and again Buck chose not to take them. He could see the forced nature of Buck's maniacal cheer in the ring, and couldn't believe he'd missed it up close and in person, his anger blinding him to the reality of the situation. The biggest 'hit' Buck made on him was a teasing shove.

When Buck made the same move a second time, Eddie out right winced at the kick he'd delivered instead. In his anger he'd been so proud of that move, but seeing it now, he could tell that opening was handed to him by Buck. He watched himself take shot after shot noting the look on Buck's face that almost seemed grateful. At least until Eddie got in a hard punch to the head that seemed to send him reeling. Then Eddie heard his own voice, and the things he'd said, and if he could shrivel up and disappear, he would have.

He didn't remember even speaking, let alone the tide of horrific, hate-filled vitriol that he'd spewed at Buck in that ring. He could see Buck taking each word to heart, and how each hurt worse than the physical blows he'd been delivering in between them. What hurt the most was the near serene look on the man's face when Eddie made the knockout blow.

He sat there staring at a blank screen, for an unknown amount of time, before Athena broke the silence. "I hope you're aware that if my husband ever saw even a few seconds of that video, your life would be over."

All Eddie could do was nod.

"When Buck is ready to leave the hospital, he'll be coming to stay in our guest room. If there is a relationship to be salvaged from this mess, and I honestly think there is, I want you to keep one thing in mind going forward. I have been a cop for a lot of years. I know the ins and outs and all the places no one ever thinks to look. My husband has been a firefighter for just as long and knows how fires and chemicals can destroy perfectly good evidence. If you ever hurt that boy again, in any way, they won't ever find the body."

Eddie didn't take his eyes off the blank screen as the sound of her heels on the tiled floor moved away and the door opened and closed. Eventually he started breathing again.

---

In the days that followed, Buck did get released only to be effectively moved into the Grant-Nash household for at least a week, while he healed up. Bobby was exceedingly clear about everything needed for Buck to return to work. Although the man was now more than a little paranoid about the trouble Buck could find himself when not in uniform, which was certainly a twist for the man, considering everything.

Eventually he was healed enough to return to the loft, and was a little confused by how much more at ease Eddie was in the loft as opposed to the time he'd spent with Buck at Bobby and Athena's place.

Both men would be required to testify against Domenic Donato at some point, but apparently both Joey and Frankie had cut deals, so their trials never happened.

Much to Buck's surprise, since his slightly drugged mind had thought he'd imagined the whole conversation, he was presented with adult adoption papers, that would make him the son of Bobby Nash and Athena Grant. He would have signed anyway, but the papers that were presented to Maddie, albeit with a little unseen reluctance on Bobby's part, only sweetened the deal.

The papers were signed at Bobby and Athena's house followed by a party with It's a Boy/It's a Girl decorations all over the place. Harry and May were very enthusiastic in setting up plans for sibling bonding time, and Buck loved every second of it.

He never did figure out why Eddie seemed terrified at having Bobby and Athena as his official in laws, when they eventually tied the knot.