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Blue llama, pink tiger, yellow penguin, red dog, or green giraffe. It wasn’t an easy choice.
Buck stared at the baby blankets laid out in front of him. He didn’t want to put his new niece in a box. It wasn’t so much about the colors, but the animals attached. He loved kids so much, and he’d been to so many baby showers.
His signature move was to get something with an elephant on it. He already had a variety of stuffed animals and elephant swaddles all wrapped up for the party. They were in the backseat of his jeep. At the last second, Eddie called and asked him to grab something from the store.
There was this spatula for rash cream that was a ‘total game changer’ according to his boyfriend. It was something one of his sisters gifted them when Chris was born.
Buck didn’t mind since he brought all the other presents and the store was on the way. He checked his watch, noting he still had an hour before he was supposed to be at Bobby and Athena’s.
It was his big sister’s baby shower for his very first niece. Originally, when Chim mentioned that Maddie was thinking of having a shower, Buck was ecstatic. Unfortunately, Hen, Athena, and Karen took one look at the clipboard he brought to the planning party and shooed him away.
Buck was bummed that he couldn’t help, but he just had to remember that it was all for Maddie and baby Buckley-Han. He wanted everything to be perfect, and if that meant he and his neurotic tendencies, not his words, had to stay away until the day of, that was fine with him.
He took all of that manic energy and applied it to gifts instead. Some people – Eddie and Christopher – thought he went overboard. But, Buck thought they were being silly. There was no such thing as going overboard with presents.
He actually already found the butt spatula and picked one out. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he stood in the diaper aisle for a minute to laugh at the name. Chris would get a kick out of it. On his way to the checkout, he spotted baby blankets with animals sown into the fabric.
He grabbed one of each to choose the best one for his niece. There wasn’t an elephant, which sucked, but they were so cute and soft he was willing to pick a second favorite. He narrowed it down to either the yellow penguin or the green giraffe.
His phone vibrated in his pocket; it was Eddie. He answered before the second ring.
“Hey, are you guys there, yet?” Buck asked, bringing the llama back as a possible choice.
“Yeah, we just pulled in,” Eddie said. He and Chris went straight to Bobby and Athena’s from their house. Buck spent the night there last night, like he had been for the past week, but wanted to grab a few extra things back at his loft.
He left Eddie’s house, Eddie’s bed, and Eddie’s warm body, and physically ached to turn around as soon as he got in his jeep. He thought maybe it wasn’t super healthy he was that attached to his boyfriend, but they hadn’t been dating for that long, and he missed him.
“Did you find the thing?” Eddie asked, pulling Buck out of his stupor of thinking about Eddie stretched out in bed when he left two hours ago.
“Yeah, the butt spatula?” Buck said, smiling when he heard a tiny giggle from the other end of the line. Eddie must’ve had his phone connected to the Bluetooth in his truck.
“Butt spatula?” Chris asked giggling again. Buck joined him and knew deep down in his soul that Eddie thought it was funny, too, but someone had to be the adult.
“I’m glad they had them in stock,” Eddie said dryly instead of calling Buck a child like he probably wanted to.
“Yeah, they had a ton of them, and then I found these baby blankets with animals sown in, they’re so cute!” Buck said, pushing the penguin to the side. “I’m not sure which one to get though.”
“No elephants?” Eddie asked, and it warmed Buck that he remembered his thing.
“Nope, I’m stuck between a penguin, giraffe, or llama.” Buck scratched his head. “What do you think, Superman?”
“Giraffe!” Chris yelled decisively.
Buck should have known, the giraffe enclosure was always one of their first stops when they went to the zoo. “Giraffe it is.”
“Alright, are you heading out, now?” Eddie asked, his voice was muffled like he was further away so he must have been getting out of his truck.
“Yep, I’ll be there in like 20, 25 minutes,” Buck said while putting the blankets they hadn’t picked back where they belonged.
“Okay, be safe, see you soon,” Eddie said.
“Will do,” I love you, Buck almost said. He didn’t because they hadn’t been dating for that long, and Buck was prone to ruining his own life. Instead, he hung up, grabbed the soft green giraffe blanket, and tried to swallow how much Eddie meant to him so he wouldn’t explode.
Buck was lost in thought when he left the store. His newly purchased presents were already in gift boxes he sprung for instead of trying to fit them in the bags with the other presents.
Halfway to his car, he heard something that made him freeze. A muffled scream piqued his attention. He probably wouldn’t have even recognized it if his job wasn’t to be on alert for someone in danger.
The baby store was part of a strip mall, with shallow alleyways separating the buildings. It was 11 am and sunny. If there were a fire or an earthquake, Buck would already be aware of it. He didn’t know what was happening but knew someone was in trouble.
He abandoned going to his car to run toward the sound. The only evidence that he’d grown and wouldn’t enter a potentially dangerous situation without a plan was that he pulled out his phone and dialed 911 as he rounded the corner.
Deep in the alley, a man stood with his back to Buck. He was easily one of the biggest people Buck had ever seen, and that was coming from someone over six feet tall. From behind, Buck could barely see over the man’s massive form. He was dressed in ripped, dirty jeans and a sweat-stained tank top.
He faced the end of the alley where Buck could hear someone pleading. He couldn’t see whoever it was, but the fear in their voice made a shiver run down Buck’s spine.
“Please, you don’t have to do this, we already gave you every-” The pleading voice said.
We? Buck thought and if he listened carefully he could hear a smaller, quieter voice whimpering in distress.
“Shut up! Just shut up!” The gigantic man yelled, and there was something wrong with his voice. Buck could hear the anger and frustration, but something else made it sound sharper and more dangerous than it should be.
“Hey!” Buck called to him. He had already pressed the call button on his phone so he should be connected to dispatch. “What’s going on, man?”
The guy turned wildly when Buck yelled. He spun to see Buck but stayed at the exact angle that made it impossible to pass him without getting too close. The man was strung out. His eyes were red and dilated. The sheen from the sweat on his skin glistened in the midday sun. His skin was so dirty that Buck could hardly tell what color it was.
The part of him that was a firefighter cataloged the two people in the back of the alley that needed help. The part of him that was basically Athena Grant’s son cataloged the danger he stepped in.
The giant, doped-up man was clutching a gun in his shaking hand. Buck immediately stopped and held his hands up. His brain automatically profiled the man, like Athena taught him: White male, mid-40s with blue jeans, white top, and brown hair.
Oh, and a gun, he couldn’t forget the gun.
The two people in the back of the alley were much smaller and more scared than the man with the weapon. Two women huddled in the corner. One wore jeans and a brown sweater, the other wore a yellow sun dress and a jean jacket. The one wearing the dress was also heavily pregnant.
Brown Sweater sheltered Sun Dress using her whole body to shield the other woman. It almost didn’t matter since Sun Dress was so pregnant that Brown Sweater couldn’t cover all of her.
“Oh my god,” Sun Dress whimpered, gripping Brown Sweater’s arm tightly.
“Who the fuck are you?” Gun Guy yelled. There was no way he was lucid. Buck had seen his fair share of junkies who were willing to risk it all, and they all had the same look in their eyes.
“I’m nobody, I’m just a guy,” Buck said glancing periodically at the women. They didn’t look hurt, at least he couldn’t see any blood or gunshot wounds from where he was. “I was just getting some stuff at The Green Bean for a baby shower.”
Buck pointed toward the store a few shops down. He wanted to keep the man calm while giving dispatch a location to send help.
“Is everything okay?” he asked making eye contact with Brown Sweater. She shook her head tightly while pushing the other woman further behind her.
“Why are you here? What do you want?” The man growled. He waved the gun in the air, momentarily pointing it at Buck before swinging it wildly back at the two women.
Brown Sweater bared her teeth at him and Sun Dress gasped when the gun stopped on them.
“Nothing, man, I don’t want anything. I just heard someone scream and thought I could help,” Buck said, cautiously taking the smallest step forward. He still didn’t have a plan, but if he could get that gun away from him, he sure would feel a lot better. “I’m a firefighter, if you need help, I-I can help you.”
“I don’t need help, jackass, I need money!” The belligerent man screamed. It was a wonder that Buck was the only person to come running with how loud the gun-toting idiot had been.
“Okay, okay, I’ve got money, you can have it,” Buck reached for his wallet.
The move prompted Gun Guy to swing the weapon in his direction. Buck froze with his hand in his pocket. He got a lot of shit for getting injured, but he’d never been shot before. He could only imagine the bubble Eddie, Bobby, and the others would construct if today was the day that changed.
“It’s okay, I’m just grabbing my wallet,” Buck said, slowly pulling his wallet out. He showed it to the man so he could relax. “Then you can let them go, right?”
The bigger man blinked harshly like the sun was bothering him. He hit the side of his head a couple of times and swore. Buck would feel bad if he wasn’t being held at gunpoint. He couldn’t hear anything from his phone that was still in his other hand and connected to dispatch. Hopefully, units were being mobilized. Buck didn’t know how long they had before Gun Guy realized he held more cards than they did.
“Let them go?” The burly man asked. “I just wanted some fucking money, but they didn’t care!”
He swung the gun back at the two women who hadn’t moved a muscle. Buck had to give it to Brown Sweater. If he were in her place he wouldn’t be growling at the man and promising death with a look, but that’s what she was doing.
“Hey, I know, but it’s fine, right? I’ve got it, I’ve got it right here.” Buck held up the few dollars he always carried in his wallet because Eddie got nervous about emergencies. Buck sent a silent thank you to his boyfriend and his occasional type-A tendencies.
Gun Guy looked back at Buck, eyeing the money being offered. He stepped toward the blonde and lowered the gun a little. Buck was so hopeful that he would just take the money and leave, but just as Gun Guy approached him a cutoff scream erupted from Sun Dress.
The woman cried out, falling to her knees. She was only saved from collapsing on the ground by Brown Sweater immediately grabbing her to cushion the fall.
Gun Guy swung back around, and Buck saw his finger twitching on the trigger. He didn’t know what else to do so he dropped his shoulder and tackled the man from behind.
Brown Sweater folded over Sun Dress as the gun went off. Buck brought Gun Guy to the ground and punched his arm until the gun flew out of his grip. He didn’t have time to check on the two women because Gun Guy was down, but not out.
Buck felt himself lifted in the air and thrown into the side of the building like a ragdoll. His entire left side throbbed in pain when he landed on the ground.
“You bastard!” Gun Guy yelled, scrambling on the ground for his weapon. Buck didn’t give him any time to recover. He got up as fast as he could and kneed the bigger man in the sternum.
Buck had nothing on Eddie when it came to actually fighting, but he could hold his own when it counted. The man growled and ate the kick. He grabbed Buck’s leg, punching him in the stomach twice. It was like getting hit by a metal bat.
Buck gasped and almost lost his balance, but Gun Guy’s grip on his leg prevented him from falling forward. Buck stood as much as he could and brought an elbow down on Gun Guy’s face.
The other man howled and let go of Buck’s leg. Buck staggered back, looking wildly at the women. Brown Sweater tried to calm Sun Dress but kept looking back at the fight behind them. He met her eyes and yelled, “Get out of here!”
She startled at the sound of his voice but nodded, bodily scooping Sun Dress into her arms. She took off out of the alley, quickly running past the fight. Buck was incredibly impressed but didn’t have the time to appreciate the move. Gun Guy recovered from the elbow to his now bleeding nose. He stood on shaky legs to lunge at Buck.
Gun Guy got his arms around the firefighter’s chest and squeezed. He lifted Buck so his feet were dangling in the air. Buck could barely move. He felt his ribs compress under the weight of the other man’s strength. He couldn’t even breathe in to scream if he wanted to.
He kicked out connecting with the bigger man’s stomach and chest a few times. One hit loosened Gun Guy’s grip enough for Buck to get his arms out of the punishing grip. He raised his hands to box in the junkie’s ears.
Buck was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. He crawled to his hands and knees sucking in air as fast as he could. Gun Guy staggered above him holding his head. His ears were probably ringing and Buck could see the dazed look in his eyes.
That didn’t stop Gun Guy from kicking Buck on his already severely bruised left side. Buck groaned in pain from where he landed on his back. He saw Gun Guy shaking his head above him. He really hoped backup was coming, because he wasn’t sure how many more rounds he could go.
Gun Guy turned around with a confused look like he couldn’t figure out where Buck was. The blonde kicked out, catching the bigger man behind a knee. The man screamed, surging into the brick building next to them.
His head thudded into the wall, connecting hard. He tilted backward, the full weight of his body pulling him down. Between one moment and the next, he crumbled into an unceremonious heap and stopped moving.
Buck hugged his chest, pulling himself to a seated position despite the immense pain. He observed the man, letting out a relieved breath when he realized he was unconscious. He checked on him, ensuring he was still breathing, when he remembered the gun.
‘You better secure that weapon, Buckley.’ A voice that sounded suspiciously like Athena said in his head. He looked around the alley, spotting the gun a few feet away. During his search, he found the bullethole from when the gun went off. It was too close to where the women were huddled.
He emptied the bullets, moving the gun out of the way. After finishing with that, he went to check on the mugger. He was breathing, and his pulse was fast, but that could be expected. Buck wasn’t a paramedic so he couldn’t determine if Gun Guy was in any immediate internal danger, but he could tell he wasn’t actively dying.
There was a bump on his head from where he hit the wall, and crusty, dry blood on his face from when his nose was bleeding.
Buck leaned down to catch his breath when he finally heard sirens. Another wave of relief washed over him. That was crazy.
“Over here, they’re over here!” Brown Sweater ran around the corner and back into the alley. Trailing her was a squad of police officers with their guns drawn. They stopped Brown Sweater and ran the rest of the way to where Buck was kneeling.
“Hey, kid, you alright?” One of the officers, A. Johnson, asked.
“I-I’m good,” he said. “And so is he.”
He pointed behind him in a vague direction. “The gun’s back there.”
The officer nodded and they all fanned out. One of them collected the gun and bullets, others were securing Gun Guy, and someone was taking pictures. They must have called an ‘all clear’ because soon an RA unit was trucking in to check on the unconscious man.
Their uniforms said Company 101. Buck wasn’t familiar with their House, but any firefighter was a coworker to him. The paramedic who came to him introduced himself as Parker. He went through all the usual questions and procedures he’d seen Hen and Chim do a million times.
He answered dutifully and let them get his vitals. They checked his ribs and determined that they could be cracked, but were most likely severely bruised. Buck didn’t even want to know what his left side would look like in the morning. Based on the soreness and throbbing he could already feel, it would be Hell.
After determining that he would be alright besides some bruises and scrapes that were mostly under his clothes, the paramedics released him. Officer Johnson caught up with him after his checkup to ask him some follow-up questions.
Buck told him exactly what happened and Johnson nodded along with his explanation. There was an abundance of evidence that backed up Buck’s story. A camera from one of the stores caught everything, the two women had a similar story, and dispatch was recording from his connected phone. A phone that Johnson returned after he was done with his questions. The officer expected that Buck wouldn’t be needed for anything else and let him go.
Buck looked at his phone, noting the cracked screen from when he dropped it after tackling the junkie. The screen lit up and Buck could see he had missed calls and texts from a few people, namely Eddie asking where he was.
Buck was surprised he was only 10 minutes late for the shower, but he told Eddie it would only take him 20ish minutes to get there, so it made sense they were worried.
Buck sighed, he was not looking forward to explaining what happened to his friends and family. He shuddered at the thought of the room they would throw him in after this latest stunt. He might never see the light of day again.
“Hey, is this yours?” A familiar voice asked. Buck looked up from his phone and saw Brown Sweater holding a bag. It was the presents for the baby shower.
“Oh my God, thank you!” Buck took the bag from her, not even remembering dropping it.
“Are you kidding? That’s the least I can do,” she said, crossing her arms. She glanced back at the open doors of the ambulance. Sun Dress was on the stretcher, much calmer than the last time he saw her. “I don’t know what my wife and I would have done if you hadn’t shown up.”
“No worries, I was just glad I could help,” he said. “Is she alright?”
The dark-skinned woman gave him an unreadable look. He’d seen it before, maybe on Hen or Maddie’s face, but he couldn't place it. “Yeah, no, she’s going to be okay. They think it was stress, but from what they can tell, Lauren and the babies’ll be just fine.”
“Oh, cool, twins?” Buck asked.
“Triplets.”
“Whoa,” he said. “One baby seems like a lot, three seems like-”
“We’re going to war?” Brown Sweater asked with a laugh that edge slightly into hysteria.
Buck couldn’t blame her. He didn’t know what Christopher was like as a baby, and he would be ecstatic to have three more kids just like him running around, but it still seemed like a lot.
“Well, based on what I saw, they’ve got two pretty badass parents taking care of them, so they should be fine.” Buck smiled with the same smile he reserved for cheering Maddie or May up. Evan Buckley was forever someone’s brother first and foremost.
Brown Sweater smiled wobbly as a tear escaped, rolling down her cheek. She huffed, throwing herself forward to capture Buck in a hug. It hurt, but it was worth it.
“Thank you so much, I can never repay you for this,” she said into his shoulder. She pulled back, wiping the tears away. “They’re my whole world.” She looked back at Lauren who smiled and waved.
Buck waved back. “Yeah, I’ve got some of those, too.” Eddie and Chris flashed in his mind.
“My name’s Myla, by the way, and that’s Lauren.” Myla held out her hand like they hadn’t just hugged and been through trauma together.
Buck shook it, his grin widening. “Buck, um actually, Evan Buckley, but e-everyone just calls me Buck.”
Myla thanked him once more and then went to be with her wife.
Buck finally made it back to his jeep and slipped in. He put the gifts in the backseat with the rest. He just sat for a moment, processing what happened.
His phone vibrated again. Oh, shit.
He swiped the bar to accept Eddie’s call.
“Buck! Are you alright? Where are you?” Eddie famously didn’t panic, but Buck could hear the worry in his voice.
“I’m sorry, I… got held up,” Buck said, groaning internally at the inappropriate joke.
“Okay, are you alright?” Eddie asked. Buck could imagine him in the corner of the room, away from everyone else. He could imagine him running a hand through his hair and messing it up like he did every time he was stressed. He could imagine his mouth pulled down in a little frown and the worry lines he got on his forehead.
Buck wanted to kiss him so badly. He took a cautious breath and said, “I’m okay, I’m on my way now. I’ll explain everything, I promise.”
Eddie was silent for a moment and then sighed. “Okay, as long as you’re alright. I’ll see you soon. Be safe.”
“Will do.” I love you, Buck almost said. And he meant it and he wanted to say it. He wanted it more than he wanted air. But he couldn’t, not yet.
He hung up and started the jeep. He knew he would have to explain everything to his family. He knew Maddie would cry. He knew Chim and Hen would insist they check him over because they would only trust he was okay if they could see it for themselves. He knew Athena would be on the phone with Officer Johnson going over every detail of the report. He knew Karen would give him an extra brownie and kiss his temple. He knew Bobby would pull him into a hug and refuse to let go just to make sure Buck was really there.
He knew Eddie would kiss him, hold him, and tell him everything would be alright. He would do things that showed Buck how much he loved him even though it was way too soon for either of them to say it.
He knew his family would be worried, and he was going to ruin Maddie’s baby shower, but everything would be okay. His entire world was only 20 minutes away.
-fin-