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Buck swats Maddie’s hand away as she fiddles with his boutonniere for the bazillionth time. “Maddie, leave it. It’s fine.” Nerves twist in his gut. He wishes they were just wedding jitters, but his instincts are screaming that there’s something wrong. Something he’s missing. “Is Tommy here yet?” He should be here by now and it’s getting to the point where traffic can’t explain how late he is.
Maddie scowls at him. “Not yet. I’ve tried calling Chimney and Lucy but neither of them are picking up.
The nerves in Buck’s stomach intensify. “Is it just me or is this reminding you of your wedding when we lost Chim.”
Maddie sighs. “Don’t remind me.” And then she gives him a comforting smile and says. “They probably just hit traffic or something. I’m sure he’s fine.”
Buck nods, trying to believe, his sister because he so does not want his gut to be right about its insistence that something is very, very wrong. Because this always happens. Every time he feels like things are finally going well, like his life is on track and stable, something happens to upend his reality and he really doesn’t need that happening on the day he’s supposed to be marrying the love of his life.
“Okay,” Maddie says, clearly sensing that Buck hasn’t been placated by her words. “Let’s check “Find My Friend” and see where he’s at.”
Buck fishes his phone out of his suit pocket, hands shaking so much that once he’s unlocked it with his thumbprint he passes it to Maddie to ping Tommy’s phone through the app. He watches her face on the lookout for every minute shift in expression.
She frowns.
“What?” Bucks asks, grabbing his phone back. “Where is he?” He squints down at the screen. “Harbor?” Why would Tommy go to work on his wedding day? Unless –
Buck tries not to spiral, he really does, but the fact that his fiancé is a bona fide runner doesn’t help to keep the intrusive thoughts at bay. Because what if Tommy’s gotten cold feet? What if, instead of talking to Buck about his fears like a normal person, he just decided to leave on their wedding day, to literally fly to coop?
Buck’s heartrate ticks up a notch.
His breathing feels tight.
Now is absolutely not the time to panic though.
He grabs his keys from the dresser and leaves the suite the venue set aside for him to get ready.
“Where are you going?” Maddie trails behind him, hiking up the long skirt of her sister-of-the-groom dress, because as much as Buck’s relationship with his parents had improved over the years it didn’t feel right for them to walk him down the aisle, so he chose Maddie instead.
“To find my husband,” Buck pulls his suit jacket off and replaces it with his LAFD bomber jacket. Because he’s not going to let Tommy run away, not without a damn good explanation.
“What’s happening?” Bobby asks as he and Athena meet Buck and Maddie in the corridor. “Is Tommy here?”
Buck’s too dialled in on getting to his Jeep and getting to Tommy to answer and his brain’s too abuzz with the why of it all to form coherent sentences so he lets Maddie do the talking. “No,” she says. “And his phone puts him at Harbor Station.”
“Can’t there be a normal Buckley wedding?” Athena asks with a shake of her elegantly styled head. She’s wearing an orange off-the-shoulder cocktail dress complimented by a gold clutch bag. “What can we do to help?”
“I’m going to Harbor,” Buck says as they exit the venue. The others have to jog to keep up with him as he takes the stairs down to the half-circle driveway two at a time.
“I’ll head to dispatch to see if there’s anything that’s come through,” Maddie says. “Lucy and Chimney are also missing.” Buck’s just aware enough to hear the fear in Maddie’s voice. He’s not the only one missing someone he loves.
“I’ll go with Buck,” Athena says. “Someone’s gotta keep at least one of the grooms out of trouble.”
“I’ll talk to the venue, see if we can postpone or reschedule,” Bobby says. “Keep me posted.” He gives Athena a quick kiss. “Stay safe.”
Athena nods with a noncommittal sound and a fond smile before turning to Buck. “Okay, Buckaroo, give me your keys.”
“Uh, why?” Buck asks, but he’s already halfway to complying.
“Unless you can honestly tell me that you’re not too distracted with worry to drive then I don’t want you behind the wheel of a vehicle,” Athena says, snatching the keys dangling from Buck’s fingers.
Buck’s not really a fan of letting other people drive his car, but he supposes he can make an exception for Athena. Also, she’s right, his mind is spinning with every possible reason why Tommy could possibly be at Harbor Station when they’re supposed to be getting married in twenty minutes.
He sits quietly in the passenger seat, toying with his suit pant leg as Athena pulls away from the venue. There’s something calming about the texture of the pale blue linen rubbing between the pads of his fingers.
“You’re awfully quiet there, Buck,” Athena says after they’ve pulled onto the freeway.
He stares out the window to distract himself from looking at his phone to see if Tommy’s phone has moved, because if it has moved, that means that Tommy’s really left him and Buck’s not sure he can recover from that.
“It’s just, he promised, you know,” Buck says. “He promised that if he was ever feeling insecure or having doubts that he’d at least talk to me about it.” He worries his lip as they pass a breakdown in the emergency lane. Up until now, Tommy’s been good about communicating his fears. They’ve been in a good place. At least that’s what Buck thought. Has he just been living in a delusional bubble while Tommy’s been suffering in silence?
“Let’s not borrow trouble now,” Athena says. “There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation. One that doesn’t involve you being left at the altar.”
Buck wants to believe her, but this won’t be the first time Tommy’s walked away from him. That’s what Tommy does. That’s what everyone in his life has done at one point or another: walked away or given up on him.
Okay, sure, most of them have come back to him. Eventually. But this would just be so typical, wouldn’t it. Right when he thinks he and Tommy are at their happiest, oh, no it turns out that Tommy’s been having doubts all along. Only this time, Tommy hasn’t had the decency to say goodbye before leaving Buck behind.
Again.
“Why does everyone always leave?” he bursts out, unable to keep the words inside his skull any longer.
Athena sighs. “We don’t know that’s what this is, Buck.” She doesn’t sound fully convinced.
But Buck’s angry and scared and he wants to follow the thread Athena’s presenting, even if it’s just to prove a point. “And if Tommy hasn’t left me, then what the fuck’s going on, Athena?”
She purses her lips but doesn’t answer straight away, so Buck continues. “Because as far as I can tell, the best-case scenario here is that Tommy left me. And believe me, I’ve thought of a hundred worse case scenarios.”
“Oh really?” Athena arches a brow as she takes the exit towards Harbor Station. “Care to share with the class?”
“Option one: he’s dead,” Buck says. “He stopped by work to grab something. Slipped. Hit his head. And now he’s dead.” He knows it’s ridiculous even as he gives voice to his anxiety, because there ware always people at the station. Professional first responders. If Tommy has fallen and hurt himself, someone will be there to help him and they’ll have called Buck to tell him what happened. He’d be sitting in a hospital waiting for news on Tommy’s condition right now instead of hunting down his erstwhile fiancé.
“Okay,” Athena says. “There are a number of holes in that theory.”
“I know,” Buck says. “Same with if he’s hurt or has encephalitis like Chimney or a hundred other scenarios.”
“Or,” Athena says. “Maybe he forgot his phone at work and he’s somewhere else entirely and has no way of getting in touch with you.” She parks up in front of the station. “Though that doesn’t explain why we can’t get a hold of Chimney or Lucy either.
“Tommy’s truck’s not here,” Buck scans the parking lot.
“Do you know what Lucy’s car looks like?”
Buck nods and scans the cars in the employee lot. He doesn’t spot Donato’s Ford Explorer. “It’s not here.”
“And I don’t see Chimney’s car either,” Athena pulls her cell phone out. “I’m gonna ask them to put out a BOLO on all three vehicles.
Buck checks the “Find My Friend” app one more time. Tommy – or at least his phone – is still at the Station. But his car’s not here.
“Maybe he Ubered?” Athena shrugs after getting off the phone.
“He took an Uber from his bachelor’s party to escape his own wedding?” Buck asks.
“I’m not saying I believe it,” Athena says. “Just that it’s a possibility.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Buck says. They get out of the Jeep and head into the station.
Athena pauses right outside the door.
“What?” Buck asks.
“Something doesn’t feel right about all this,” Athena reaches into her gold clutch bag and drew out a handgun. She toes off her high heels.
“You brought a gun to my wedding, Athena?” Buck asks.
She shrugs. “It’s too quiet here,” she says. “Before we go in, call Maddie and see if she can contact Tommy’s captain from dispatch.”
Buck frowns, confused, but does as Athena tells him to do.
Buck calls Maddie’s cell, switching to speaker so Athena can hear.
“Anything?” Maddie asks.
“Uh, not yet,” Buck says. “Hey, Athena wants you to try to get in touch with Tommy’s captain before we go inside.”
“Okay,” Maddie’s silent for a bit then she comes back. “Nothing. Can’t get through to his personal line, the office, or his radio.”
“That’s bad right,” Buck says, gut sinking even further.
“It could be a bug in the system,” Maddie says. “But if that’s the case, it’s isolated to Harbor Station. There aren’t any communication issues anywhere else.” She’s doing a good job keeping her concern for Chimney out of her voice, but Buck can tell she’s just as worried as he is.
“We’ll find them,” he says and for his sister’s sake he tries to believe it, if not for his own.
“Okay,” Maddie says and then she hangs up.
Athena leads the way inside. Buck clenches and unclenches his fists though he’s not sure what he’ll do if it comes to a fight. That’s not exactly his forte.
“Is it usually this quiet in here?” Athena asks as they enter the hangar and find it completely devoid of human life.
Buck frowns. “Maybe during nightshift,” he says, though even the few times he’s stopped by Tommy’s station at night to drop off dinner or hang out when he can’t sleep, the hangar floor usually has someone keeping an eye on things.
“It’s two in the afternoon,” Athena says.
Buck glances around, trying to pick up on any clues that might tell them something. “There’s a helicopter missing,” he says.
“You sure?” Athena asks.
“Yeah,” Buck says. That doesn’t help ease his concerns that Tommy maybe stole a helicopter to get out of marrying him. But if that’s what Tommy did, where are Lucy and Chimney and where’s the rest of the Harbor crew? Because even if Tommy’s gone all Runaway Groom, no way would he do anything to hurt his friends.
“Well, maybe we can track its transponder,” Athena says. “Can you figure out which one is missing? I’m gonna take a look around. See if I can find anyone who can tell us what’s going on.”
“Yeah,” Buck knows where they keep the details of which birds are operational, and which are down for maintenance. Between those, he should be able to piece together which of Harbor’s helicopters is missing.
“You’ll be okay on your own?” he asks Athena.
She gives him a look that speaks volumes about her belief in her own abilities and her lack of faith in his to truly make a difference if things go sideways, which Buck supposes is fair. Of course, Athena can take care of herself. Buck will probably just get in her way.
They part ways, Athena heading in the direction of the breakroom and Buck towards the captain’s office. It doesn’t take long for him to figure out which helicopter is missing. He calls Maddie.
“Buck, tell me you’ve found something,” Maddie says.
“Um, it’s more what we didn’t find,” he says and then he tells her about the missing helicopter and the fact that there’s no one at Harbor when it should be bustling this time of day.
“Okay,” Maddie says. “I’ll see if we can track the transponder and find that helicopter.”
“Buck!” Athena calls from the breakroom.
“I think Athena’s found something.” Buck stays on the phone but races towards where Athena is standing outside the breakroom door, which has been welded shut from the outside.
“What is it?” Buck asks, though he’s pretty sure he knows exactly what it is.
Athena points through the safety glass window. “Look.”
Buck gasps.
“What is it?” Maddie asks, still on the line.
“We, uh, found Chimney and Lucy,” Buck says. “And the rest of Harbor’s crew.” But he doesn’t see Tommy in among the bound and gagged first responders trapped inside the room.
“Are they okay?” Maddie asks.
“I think so,” Buck says. “They kind of look like they were drugged or something.” A couple people seem to be awake, blinking in slow surprise at their surroundings, while others appear to be unconscious. “Send a couple units so they can check everyone over. I’m going to get this door open.”
“And send back up,” Athena says. “I think this situation is a lot more complicated than a groom getting cold feet.”
Buck hangs up the phone and gets to work.
And, as Buck races to an engine to grab the tools he’ll need to break into the barricaded break room, he realises that this is actually a good thing. No way would Tommy willingly take part in drugging his coworkers and holding them prisoner. Which means, Tommy didn’t leave him.
Tommy didn’t run.
Though there’s no time to be relieved because they still don’t know where Tommy is.
Using a saw, Buck cuts the breakroom door off its hinges just in time for the first RA unit to arrive from the 133.
Captain Mehta gives the command for his people to start getting everyone free.
Buck races to Chimney’s side. With blunted fingernails, he manages to peel up one corner of the duct tape over Chim’s mouth. “This is gonna hurt,” he says before ripping it away.
“Ow!” Chim says.
“Where’s Tommy?” Buck asks. He uses a kitchen knife to cut the zip ties around Chim’s wrist.
“He’s not here?” Chim winces as he looks around.
Buck shakes his head.
“What happened?” Athena asks.
“I don’t know,” Chim says. “One minute we were all sitting around drinking coffee and the next minute I was waking up in duct tape and zip ties and then Buckaroo here sawed through the door.”
“And you don’t know what happened to Tommy?” Buck asks. “Why were you even here in the first place.”
“Cap wanted to give Tommy a last-minute wedding gift,” Lucy wanders over, pinching her nose like she’s got a monster headache brewing. “So, we figured we’d swing by here on our way to the wedding. It was just supposed to be in and out. Say hi, have coffee, get the gift and then be on our way.”
“Did you notice anything unusual before you passed out?” Athena asks.
“No not really,” Chimney shakes.
Lucy seems like she’s about to shake her head and then she stops. Her frown deepens. “You know, there was something.”
“What?” Buck asks, heart leaping into his throat.
“There were these maintenance guys,” Lucy says. “I thought they were from the city, but honestly, I didn’t look too closely.”
“Oh, yeah,” Chimney says.
“Let me guess, they were wearing work uniforms and had clipboards and no one looked at them twice,” Athena says.
“That about sums it up,” says Chim. “Now, I should probably call Maddie and tell her I’m not dead.”
“Yeah,” Buck hands Chim his unlocked phone and glances at Athena. “So, you think these guys used Tommy to steal a helicopter?”
Athena sighs. “Yes, I do,” she says. “I’m going to check and see if any of the station cameras got a look at these bozos. You check if Maddie’s been able to track the helicopter’s transponder.” She pauses and pats Buck’s arm. “We’re gonna get your man back, Buck.”
Buck nods even as a whole new set of fears worm their way into his brain. Is Tommy okay?
Well, presumably these guys took Tommy with them because they need a pilot, but what about when they get to where they’re going? What will happen to Tommy then? Buck runs his hands through his hair, trying to press his panic back into the confines of his skull. There’s a buzzing in his ears. Everything feels weirdly hot and cold all at once. He wants to scream but his mouth and throat feel too dry to form words.
A hand on his back snaps Buck back to reality.
Buck glances to his side.
“Maddie thinks she’s found the helicopter,” Chimney says, concern in his eyes as he looks Buck up and down. “You good,” he mouths.
“Uh, yeah.” Buck quickly wipes his eyes. “Yeah, I’m good. Where is it?” And hopefully wherever the helicopter is, Tommy’s there too.
“On it’s way to Vegas,” Chimney says. “Maddie’s already contacted local PD, but there’s no way to know where it’s going to land until we know more about who these guys are.”
“I’ll work on that,” Athena says.
And then people are talking and planning and there’s nothing Buck can do, and it sucks and he can’t believe that he managed to convince himself that Tommy left him. Why couldn’t he trust Tommy? Why is it that he automatically went straight to Tommy leaving him? It’s just like when Maddie was kidnapped and he just assumed that she up and ran, because a part of him always excepts that sooner or later he’ll be left behind.
“Hey, Buck,” Lucy beckons him over.
Since he’s not really needed anywhere else, Buck crosses the hangar to join her. “What’s up?”
“Chim said that they’re headed to Vegas, yeah?” Lucy asks.
Buck nods.
“And you’ve put in enough flight hours to fly solo?” She lifts an eyebrow.
Buck frowns. “Uh, yeah, but how’d you know that?”
Lucy laughs. “Are you kidding? Tommy never shuts up about you.”
Buck grins.
“Anyway, what do you say you and I go after these sons of bitches?” Lucy cocks her head.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Buck asks outpacing Lucy as they head towards the nearest chopper.
“Buck you better not be doing what I think you’re doing!” Athena calls.
“Run!” Buck says and he and Lucy sprint the rest of the way.
Buck jumps in the pilot’s seat and starts up the rotor.
“Wait for me!” Chim jumps in right before Lucy slides the door home.
Buck puts his headset on and takes off with Lucy navigating.
“Evan Buckley, so help me God if anything happens to you I will kill you myself,” Athena says over the radio.
“Sorry, Athena, you’re – krzzt – breaking up – shhh – trouble reading.” Buck switches off the coms.
“Really, the fake mouth static?” Chim asks.
“Hey, it worked last time,” Buck says.
“Did it though?”
#
About half an hour into the flight Chim says, “Turn coms back on. Maddie just texted and she knows where in Vegas these guys are heading.”
Lucy switches the coms on and communicates with Maddie while Buck concentrates on flying and trying not to think about how this is his first time up without Tommy. Without Tommy’s voice guiding him. Without Tommy’s steady presence at his side.
And it’s more than a little terrifying because it doesn’t take much for things to go very wrong when flying a helicopter and what if he fucks this up and Tommy’s not here to help him out of it and they all end up dying in a stupid helicopter crash?
“Okay, here’s our new heading, Buck,” Lucy says, telling Buck.
“And what’s there?” Buck asks.
“Maddie says it’s a casino,” Chimney says.
“What, so these guys kidnapped Tommy to help them rob a casino?” Buck says. “Why Tommy?”
“Why target Harbor at all?” Lucy asks. “Why not just steal a private charter.”
“Sounds like these guys aren’t the brightest bulbs,” Chim says. “As for Tommy, it’s probably just a case of wrong place, wrong time.”
Buck fights not to tighten his grip on the controls too much. “Do we know how far behind we are?”
“Maybe twenty minutes,” Lucy says. “I bet you anything that Tommy’s flying slow to buy us time to catch up to him.”
God, Buck hopes that was the case.
“Just focus on flying, buddy, we’ll catch up,” Chim says.
“Yeah,” Buck takes a breath and concentrates.
Maddie keeps them updated via texts to Chimney, keeping off the coms as much as possible so that she doesn’t distract Buck.
“Sorry, Buck, if I hadn’t been drugged, I’d fly myself,” Lucy laments when they get word that Tommy’s chopper has landed about ten minutes ahead of them.
“It’s fine,” Buck says. “I’ve got this.” He has to.
For Tommy.
It’s all for Tommy.
He pushes the bird as fast as it’ll go without rattling apart.
“There,” Lucy points towards a rooftop where a familiar yellow helicopter sits.
Buck relaxes slightly at the sight of it.
But not too much.
Not yet.
Not until Tommy’s in his arms.
Safe.
“Um, is it safe for us to land?” Chim asks.
Which is probably a fair question because the rooftop below them is pure chaos: cops, helicopter hijackers, and somewhere in the mess Tommy.
“Probably not,” says Lucy.
“Who cares?” Buck asks.
He can practically hear Chim’s eyes roll.
Buck brings them in for the landing, causing the people on the roof to scatter.
The bird lands with maybe not the smoothest thud, but it’s in one piece. Buck powers down the rotor and jumps down, searching for Tommy.
“Tommy!” he yells.
“Evan?”
Buck runs towards the sound of his fiancé’s voice, completely disregarding the fact that all around him the police are taking advantage of the chaos their arrival created to tackle the guys who kidnapped Tommy.
And there’s Tommy, kneeling over the prone from of one of his abductors, holding the guy’s hands immobile until the police can cuff him.
An officer swoops in, taking custody of Tommy’s suspect and Tommy climbs to his feet just in time for Buck to tackle him with a hug. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Buck asks, torn between wanting to hold told close and never let him go again and examining every inch of Tommy for potential injury.
“I’m okay, Evan,” Tommys says. His hand comes up to cup Buck’s cheek. “You came for me.” His eyes are wide with awe.
“Of course,” Buck says. He leans in and kisses Tommy with all the desperation that’s been building in him since he first realised that Tommy was late to their wedding. It’s a messy, tear-filled kiss, more teeth than lip or tongue. “I thought – ” he doesn’t want to admit to every black thought he had, to his doubts, his fears, his abandonment issues rearing their ugly head.
“I’m okay,” Tommy repeats. “I’m okay.”
Buck chokes out a laugh. “Wanna get married?”
Tommy gives him one of those focused looks that drive Buck more than a little crazy. “Right now?”
“We’re in Vegas aren’t we?”
Tommy grins. “Okay.”
Buck entwines his fingers through Tommy’s and drags him from the rooftop to the nearest chapel. He ignores Chim’s protests that Maddie’s going to kill them all, because after the day he’s had, he’s not going to wait any longer to marry Tommy.