Chapter Text
Buck must be hearing wrong, there is no way they had a brother called Daniel.
“Evan please I need you to let me explain?” Maddie asks.
“Explain how you lied to me all my life or how if I never found the photo you would never have told me?” Buck asks.
“Evan it's not like that at all” Maddie says tears start to appear in her eyes.
Buck looks at his sister and he should feel guilty but he doesn't as she has lied to him his entire life.
“I need to leave,” Buck says and he goes to the door.
“Evan, please we need to talk about this,” Maddie says.
“I just have one question: did you tell Chimney first about this?” Buck asks.
Maddie doesn't answer and that's all the confirmation he needs and he is angry and it explains why Chimney has been acting weird for the last few days and with that Buck leaves the apartment.
Buck doesn't know what to do or even if he should go back to his apartment.
Buck thinks about how his whole life has been a lie and he starts to see things more clearly and it all makes sense and how whenever he hurt himself his parents would care and when he was 12 years old Maddie took him and her to their old house and she was about to tell him something but she never did.
Buck also looks at how Maddie acted every time he landed up in hospital and how she told him that he should no longer be a firefighter after the bombing incident. It was because she had that fear that he would end up like Daniel and Buck is angry as she had no right to project her own fears onto him.
Buck gets back to his apartment and he doesn't even know how he managed to get home safely but once he sits down on his sofa all he wants to do is just block everything out and not bother with anyone but what he does instead is goes to his laptop at the kitchen counter and starts to look up flights from Los Angeles to El Paso and Buck finds one that is leaving in two days so Buck books it and once that is confirmed he pulls out his phone and calls his Captain/ Father figure.
Buck dialed Bobby's number and waited for it to ring and he only had to wait a minute.
“Hi Buck, what can I do for you?” Bobby asks.
“Hi Bobby, I am phoning as I need to take emergency leave at the moment as I'm not in the right frame of mind to be at work” Buck says.
“Buck, are you ok? Are you hurt?” Bobby asks.
“What's wrong with Buck?” Athena asks in the background.
Buck appreciates that both Bobby and Athena care and the truth is he would be lost without them.
“I'm not physically hurt but I am emotionally hurt and I found out why Chimney was acting strange as well" Buck says.
“Ok Buck, me and Athena are coming over,” Bobby says.
“Look you guys don't have to and honestly I would rather you didn’t as I don't want you to take sides” Buck says.
“Buck you are scaring me so Athena and myself will see you in 15 minutes” Bobby says.
Before Buck could respond Bobby had hung up and Buck knew there was no point so he put his phone on charge and went up stairs and took out his suitcase and started to pack and the next thing he knows is there is a knock on his door and Buck goes downstairs and answers it.
Bobby and Athena are standing at Buck's door and once he has opened the door they immediately pull him into a hug and after a few minutes they pull apart.
Buck steps aside to let Athena and Bobby into his apartment.
Once inside Buck's apartment they see that everything looks OK and when they look at Buck they see he is ok but as the man said he is hurt mentally not physically.
“Buck sweetheart what's wrong?” Athena asks the man she sees as a son.
“Why don't you guys take a seat” Buck says and both Athena and Bobby do as Buck suggested and they sit down.
Buck tells them everything that he found out and how Maddie told him about the brother that died and how Buck was a savior baby and that he failed and how his parents and Maddie kept that a secret and she only told him because he found a picture in her baby box and he thought it was him but it wasn't and it also turns out she told Chimney first and That's why he has been acting weird with him.
Athena and Bobby are in shock they can't believe what they are hearing and their hearts break for Buck and Bobby knows what it's like to lose a child as he lost 2 himself but to keep it a secret from Buck and only tell him when he had to be told that's what Bobby can't understand.
Athena gets up and goes to Buck and immediately hugs him and she holds him and lets him feel all the love he needs.
Bobby gets up and hugs Buck as well and just for a few minutes they look like a family.
After a while they all pull apart and Buck wipes a tear away from his eyes and he knows this next part is going to be hard.
“I'm going to go away for a few weeks as I can't be in L.A at the moment” Buck says.
“Baby we understand that you need to get away but are you sure it's wise?” Athena asks.
“Son Athena’s right, have you thought it through?” Bobby asks.
“I know you guys are worried but right now all I feel is anger and I'm so lost at the moment that I need to get away to find myself and if I see Chimney I may not be responsible for my actions” Buck says.
“Ok Buck I'll put you on emergency leave for 2 weeks and I'll let Chief Alonzo know that you had a family emergency and had to take time off” Bobby says.
“Thanks Bobby, I appreciate it,” Buck says.
“Where are you going to go?” Athena asks.
“I'm going to go to El Paso and see what that's like and I may meet up with Eddie’s parents I haven't decided yet” Buck says.
“I didn't know you were in contact with them” Bobby says and he is surprised.
“Yeah we talk every week and I send them birthday cards and wedding anniversary cards and they were there through the whole lawsuit thing and they took my side” Buck says.
Bobby flinched at hearing Buck motion the lawsuit and to this day he completely regrets how he handle the situation and he and Buck had a conversation when he came back and he admitted that he does treat Buck differently from the rest of the A shift but Bobby is seeing a therapist and they are helping Bobby to learn when to keep Buck safe and when to learn to trust the man and let go.
When Athena found out that people were being nasty towards Buck she wouldn't stand for it and the next day she stormed into the station and told everyone what she thought of them.
Bobby came clean to Athena about Eddie and his addiction to the underground street fighting and Athena was angry and she told Eddie that she was ashamed of him and would risk losing Christopher and how he was nothing but a hypocrite and he needed to get his head out if his ass and actually apologize to Buck for calling him exhausting.
Bobby and Buck have managed to repair their relationship and Bobby can see that Buck is starting to grow as a person but he is still angry with the Buckley parents and he is angry with Maddie and Chimney.
Athena is going to be having words with Chimney and she has a feeling the man told someone and if he did she is going to make him wish he had never met her.
Buck tells Bobby and Athena that his plane leaves in two days and he doesn't want Maddie or Chimney to know where he is or where he is going as right now they don't deserve to know but he is fine with Eddie knowing.
Bobby agrees to let them know but he also says that it's down to Buck on who tells what has happened to him so he will keep it to himself as it's Buck's story to tell.
Athena tells Buck that she is going to find out if Chimney told anyone about what he found out as she knows he can't keep a secret so he must have told someone and Buck tells her about the incident they went to and the bomber called his name as he was getting wheeled into the ambulance so he may know.
Bobby is angry and if Chimney did tell a victim personal information about a firefighter then Chimney is going to face some serious consequences as he has broken the rules.
Athena tells Buck to pack a bag for tonight as he is coming home with them and she says don't argue and Buck does just that and 10 minutes later all three of them are heading to Bobby and Athena's house.