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Buck sat back with his hands in his lap, letting out a satisfied sigh. Dinner had been another delicious meal prepared by Tony and everything he remembered of his dad's cooking. It had been more than satisfying and having company for eating again for the first time in months made it so much better. While he still didn't have much of an appetite, he didn't feel like throwing up any moment as he usually did and that was a great step in the right direction. At least he knew the others felt that was the right direction. He could feel himself getting a bit better with every moment he spent with his family. It was just so good to have them around him. He never wanted it to end, which made him think about maybe going with them to Hawaii.
While he had thought for a long time that his life was here in LA, if he was honest with himself, the only thing keeping him here at this moment was Chris as he didn't want to leave the boy behind. Most anyone else he had called family in this city so far, could rot in hell for all he cared right now. Not one of them deserved the moniker and he would not give it to them any longer. The only exceptions he might make were Carla, Abuela, and Tia Pepa, who he all missed terribly, but all three women were too entrenched with Eddie for his peace of mind and for him to ever be able to trust fully again. Especially as none of them had reached out in a while. He understood Carla, as he had told her to concentrate on Chris as the boy didn't deserve to lose both of them and he wasn't sure that Eddie would find someone to trust with Chris.
And in the end, that was what it came down to, wasn't it? Trust.
He had been used and abused and he was not sure if he could still trust anyone but the people in his flat right now, his grandfather, and one little boy. He really wasn't and with that went every possibility of returning to the job he loved at least for the foreseeable future, didn't it? Because he needed to trust his team to have his back and who knew what the captains and especially the teams that supposedly wanted him were really hoping to accomplish in getting him to come to their station. Buck feared that it would only be more of the same because they agreed that Buck had done the wrong thing in going to the Union, and he saw no way out of that fear.
His trust in the LAFD had been shattered after months of abuse and no one stepped in despite the chief promising to keep an eye on the situation. Buck understood that the man had chosen to trust the wrong person and didn't fault him because he could not have known that Donovan had an axe to grind with Buck, but still...
It would make it impossible for him to work for the LAFD for at least right now, and maybe forever. While it killed him a bit inside, he wasn't suicidal enough to just push it away and let them do their worst. He wouldn't do that to his dads and granddad. Not after they had come thousands of miles at the drop of a hat and made sure that he didn't end up in jail for defending himself.
"Well," Tony said after the silence of satisfaction over a very tasty meal stretched on. "What do you want to do now?"
While his question was directed at Buck, he was also looking at Steve and Danny out of the corner of his eye. Buck knew that all three of them would go along with pretty much everything he wanted right now as long as it wasn't bad for Buck's health, mental and otherwise.
Buck thought for a moment and considered his options. While he had enjoyed the meal, he knew that his portion had been much smaller than he would usually eat and that this had worried everyone present, especially as they had seen how much weight he had lost since they had last laid eyes on him in person. He knew that all of them would feel better if he ate more, but bigger portions were just not on the table right now, pun fully intended. Snacks in between meals on the other hand were, which led him to his reply.
"Can we make the cereal bars we bought the ingredients for?" he asked. It was something they could all do together since they had bought ingredients for the different types of bars all of them liked and his kitchen island was big enough for all of them to work at the same time.
"Sure," Danny replied, sounding glad that Buck didn't want to retreat into bed and that he wanted to do something that would help him in the long run in getting back to health. He clasped Buck's neck and squeezed gently, before laying an arm around Buck's shoulders.
Tony on the other hand had gotten up the moment the words left Buck's mouth to get the ingredients set out while Steve had as well, gathering the used dishes. Soon, they were set up and ready to go, all of them had gone to wash their hands and they were prepping the various treats.
While they did the prep work, the three Hawaiians talked about the cases they had worked the last few months and all the stupid shit the criminals had done to avoid arrest, and the idiotic things Steve mostly had done to make sure they were arrested. Danny especially loved to remind his husband of all the times he had nearly given them a heart attack and he also mentioned a few times Tony had. Tony and Steve in turn retaliated with things Danny had done and how he had mother ended them after each and everything Danny had just ranted about.
It led to some small smiles on Buck's face, which, while not as bright as the smiles his fathers were used to, were a definite improvement to the last hours and, they were sure, the last months.
They were nearly through their prep work, when Steve's phone rang, making all of them jump slightly at the sudden loud noise. Steve reached for the phone and looked at the caller ID before he went to the living room for a bit of distance. The rest just kept on with their work and soon were finished with the preparation, Tony taking over Steve's when he finished with his own. Now the bars only needed to be baked, so they slid them into the oven and settled back down at the breakfast bar after tidying up a bit.
"Yeah, he's here, I'll put you on speaker," Steve said as he came back into the kitchen. A moment later, Sam's voice filtered through the room.
"Buck?" the older man asked and Buck swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. "You there?"
"Yeah," he replied after a moment's hesitation. He knew that the agent was with his team right now, having had all of them in interrogation all day long and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know what they had found. "I-I'm here."
His voice was unsteady and he had drawn in on himself to make himself a smaller target as he had done for months whenever someone talked to him. He just would rather be literally anywhere else and it showed in his body language. Tony and Danny both sat down to the left and right of him and drew him close to make sure that he knew they were there for him. Steve just grasped his hand across the island.
"Your dads with you?" Sam went on to ask and this time Tony answered. He had squeezed Buck's shoulder and then started to gently massage it.
"We are. Why are you calling Sam?" the older man replied.
"We have Diaz here and he just told us why Nash has been able to force him to act the way he did. This might result in criminal charges for Diaz from the LAPD as he had been street fighting and that is not our purview as he's not Navy or Marines, so we're going to hand that over to them. He's afraid that this might let his parents sue him for custody of his son, however, so he wants to make sure that Christopher is taken care of. Due to this, he wants to ask Buck if he would look after the boy should he not be able to," Sam explained.
"Of course," Buck replied without hesitation. He would do anything for Chris. Not being able to see the boy had been the worst part of everything these last few months.
"You need to think about this," Callen threw in. The older man sounded angry. "You don't owe any of these assholes anything and Diaz should not expect you to put your life on hold because he's been an idiot and did not think about how his actions might impact his kid. They have treated you like shit for months if not years and Diaz not only stood by, but he participated as well. Sure, it was under duress, but he should not have put himself in a position where he could be blackmailed in the first place."
"That doesn't matter. Chris does not deserve to be put with Helena and Ramon Diaz just because Eddie is an idiot," Buck replied. "That boy deserves the world and they would destroy him. I will not let that happen."
"Thank you, Buck," Eddie said, his voice thick. "I know I have no right to ask this of you, but thank you, all the same. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for all that I said and that I used the stuff you told me in confidence against you and with that also showed the others your weak points. I was just trying to protect myself and Chris and I messed up, so much."
"You did, and I can't forgive you, at least not right now because you hurt me too much and too often. Hell, you used Chris against me, but he should not pay for your mistakes and he would if we let your parents get their hands on him. So yeah, you can put me down as his caregiver or whatever else you want to make sure that I'll be able to take him should you not be able to or should your parents sue anyway," Buck said.
They could all hear Eddie exhale explosively over the phone and then he answered, "That's fair. Hell, I think everyone listening would kick your ass had you just forgiven me. I am prepared to grovel as much as necessary to at least be able to call you acquaintance again one day because I know right now I'm more an enemy than anything else, but thank you for not punishing Chris for my mistakes. Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Just then, there was a timid knock on the door to Buck's flat, and all the men gathered frowned at the door. They were not expecting anyone and didn't expect anyone to knock so cautiously.
Steve got up and went to open the door, standing in it at his full height and blocking the way. In front of him was a pockmarked kid that looked barely old enough to drive and looked ready to piss himself. Behind him was a boy that Steve immediately recognized as Christopher Diaz.
"Are- are- are you Buck?" the teen asked, stuttering madly when Steve leveled him with a glare because there was nothing he could come up with for having a stranger with the child of Buck's heart.
"No," Steve replied.
"He- he- he sai- sai- said he wa- wa- was visiting hi- hi- his Buck," the teen continued to stutter.
Buck, having heard his name, told Eddie and the two agents to wait for a moment and came to the door as well, his eyes going wide as they fell on Chris, who immediately slipped passed the boy and Steve with a cry of "Bucky!!!"
The teen tried to hold him back, to keep him safe, until the name and the fact that the child clearly knew the man he had just thrown himself at registered.
"What are you doing here, superman?" Buck asked, pulling the boy closer to him.
"Visiting you," Chris replied, his face buried in Buck's stomach. "I missed you so much and Daddy wouldn't let me see you. Please don't send me away!"
The boy's voice was choked with tears and Buck felt his heart break at the words. He swung Chris up into his arms and the boy nearly hit him in the face with his crutches and managed to with his bear.
"I missed you, too, buddy," Buck replied, tears in his eyes as well. "So much. I wanted to go and see you so often, but I couldn't go against your dad. I'm sorry I left you, however."
Chris just cried harder, but he was glad that his Buck hadn't wanted to leave him behind. That really would have broken his heart. He held on more so that Buck didn't have any choice but to keep carrying him.
"I-I'm glad that he has his Buck now," the boy that had brought Chris over said, drawing both Steve and Buck's attention back on him. The teen flushed under the scrutiny but seemed to steel his spine despite Steve's renewed glare.
"He said that his dad was not home and that he wanted to go see his papa," the teen explained, making Buck's breath hitch at the moniker, "and because of his words, I thought he had been left home alone so I thought it would be better if I brought him over where he would be under adult supervision."
Immediately, the glare lessened and the boy seemed to relax a bit.
"I was worried when someone not his Buck opened the door," the teen went on, "but then firefighter Buckley came to the door and I was just so relieved that he would be okay."
Buck squinted his eyes at the boy who knew his name before recognition came over his face.
"Mike Myers," he said, snapping his fingers. "I thought I had seen you before somewhere. Is your little sister okay?"
The boy seemed to relax even more, even though seeing Buck again had to remind him so much of the day his little sister had fallen into the pool and nearly died. That he still remembered Buck from such a day humbled the former SEAL.
"She's doing fine. Everything's alright again with her. She doesn't have any lasting injuries. Thanks to you," Mike replied and Buck breathed a sigh of relief. In that case, he didn't have to leave someone at the door, he had to hand her over to another team and that had been nearly as difficult. He had been at the local pool as part of his physical therapy about nine months earlier and the little girl had fallen, hit her head, and then splashed into the pool. Buck had reacted immediately before anyone else could and had swum over to her, getting her onto the dry ground before starting compressions as the girl had stopped breathing. While doing that, he had told the mother who had come running over to call 9-1-1 and had calmly relayed the situation before telling the mother to breathe for her child.
Ten minutes later, little Gina had been alive again and was taken away by the ambulance, the mother riding with her, while the father packed up their stuff and took the two older children in the car to the hospital, but not before thanking Buck for saving his daughter. He hadn't needed to ask for his name, as Buck had stated it while calling 9-1-1.
"I'm glad," Buck replied. "And I'm glad I was there and could help. Thank you for looking out for Chris. You did good there, even though you should never ever take a child on alone again. Both for you and the child."
Mike nodded, turned around, and left. Buck pulled Chris closer, the boy had fallen asleep after crying on his shoulder. He had become a deadweight, but it was no issue for Buck as he was used to lifting much more than an eight-year-old. They went back into the flat and Steve closed the door behind them while Buck carried Chris into the kitchen. Steve's phone was still active on the island and Buck took a deep breath.
"Eddie?" he asked and waited until the older man confirmed he was still there and listening. "I want to start with 'Chris is safe'."
He heard the sucked-in breath from the other end of the line and the cursing before Eddie calmed down, no doubt after a look from one of the agents with him.
"He just showed up on my front step after taking an uber to me. Luckily the kid that drove him over was prepared to go to bat for him and brought him up to my door. He even made him stay behind him until I came to the door. He was prepared to take on Steve, even though he clearly was shitting his pants there," Buck went on.
"Madre de Dios!" Eddie breathed. "But he's fine?"
"Nothing I can see," Buck confirmed. "Besides the fact that he cried himself to a quick sleep on my shoulder because he missed me so much."
Buck knew that it was a low blow, but he felt that he was allowed to feel petty after all Eddie had put both him and Chris through these last few months.
"I'm sorry I hurt you both. Can he stay with you tonight?" Eddie asked immediately and Buck could practically hear the wince in the older man's voice. He felt some satisfaction at it, but less than he thought he would as he knew that Eddie had been blackmailed into treating him like he had. Still, he was allowed his emotions and he had felt deeply betrayed by the older man's actions and inactions. More than from every other person involved.
"Of course. I'll also call Carla and tell her. She must be going out of her mind with worry," Buck replied.
Eddie cursed again because he hadn't even thought about the woman who was supposed to be watching his son and who was most likely going crazy over losing Chris.
"Okay. Thank you," Eddie said.
"Now that everything is sorted on that front, we'd like to get back to our interviews. We'll give Diaz the name of an attorney to handle the custody papers," Callen cut in. He still sounded pissed that Buck had agreed so easily to take in Chris, even more so now that the boy had shown up on his doorstep.
"Thank you, Agent Callen," Buck replied. "I really want to take care of Chris. I love him as if he's my own and being parted from him was the worst part of these last few months, so please don't see this as Eddie taking advantage of me, alright?"
Callen made a noise that told Buck he saw things differently but he was not going to debate it with him before hanging up. Tony snorted at the other man's actions and then grinned at Buck.
"Congratulations, it's a boy," he quipped, causing all three of them to break out into laughter, before Buck pulled out his phone to call Carla, seeing that she had tried to call him several times and Athena, too, which he hadn't heard as he had put his phone on silent that morning. She answered after the first ring.
"Please tell me that Chris is with you," she begged the moment they were connected.
"He is," Buck replied soothingly. He could hear her breath of relief. "I'm sorry I didn't answer when you tried to call me. There's some stuff going on and I had it on silent."
There was a moment of silence before Carla answered, a frown in her voice.
"What kind of stuff? Is that why Eddie wasn't answering his phone either?" she asked. "Also, where are you? It doesn't sound as if you're at the station or in the field."
Buck wanted to hit his head against something because yeah, Carla would pick up on that and she would also know that he was supposed to be on shift with Eddie right now. Chris should have known that, too, and Buck had to wonder what the boy would have done had he not been home. Would he have camped out on his doormat? He really needed to have a long talk with him about this whole calling an uber to get to Buck thing.
"Yeah, it has to do with that and I'm at home, which was lucky as Chris showed up here twenty minutes ago," Buck replied. "I was talking to Eddie on the phone when he did so he knows Chris is here and that he's safe. Eddie asked me to take him for the night so you can go home or come by and make sure he's really fine, whichever you want."
"So that boy finally managed to pull his head out of his ass?" Carla asked and sounded deeply unimpressed with Eddie.
"Well, he had some help, but he'll have to tell you about it if he wants to. That's not my story to tell," Buck answered.
Carla sighed in reply.
"I'm just glad that you are talking again. Those two were miserable without you and as you told me to concentrate on them to make sure that I didn't jeopardize my job with Eddie, I don't know how you have been doing, but I can guess not good from how you sound. I'll call abuela to tell her that Chris is safe because I called her when I noticed him missing in the hopes he had gone to her as she lives a few streets over from Eddie's."
"Thank you," he replied.
"You have a good evening, Buckaroo, and look after our boy," Carla said before hanging up after Buck replied that he would.
Buck looked at his dads who had been silent for the whole conversation. He was glad they were here with him and that he had Chris back in his arms. So glad. Even if the evening had not gone how he had expected it to, he was happy with the outcome as he really had missed the boy and never wanted to let him go again. He really hoped he wouldn't have to. Now he just had to call Athena and ask what she wanted and tell her to call off the manhunt for Chris if Carla had called this in.