Archive of Our Own

Eddie has been on shift for hours and Buck is alone in the house when there is a knock at the door. Buck sighs thinking that it's Maddie or one of the one eighteen that have come to try and cheer him up. This is Eddie's second to last shift before he goes to El Paso and Buck is annoyed that he isn't scheduled to work today. He answers the door and blinks a little at the sight before him.

"Christopher?"

*-******************

To say Chris is struggling would be an understatement, all his life he has always loved his grandparents, and probably always will. Right now, he can't understand why they don't seem to love him back. Except that can't be right, they have to love him, they take care of him and they came so fast when he called and said he needed them. He doesn't understand how they can do all of that and then shift so quickly that Chris is still smarting from the difference. He isn't stupid, he knows that his Dad and his Grandparents argue and say things that make them upset at each other but they had never once shown themselves to him like his Grandma did today.

They have never yelled at him before, grounded him or emptied his room. He groans allowed and flips onto his side, pressing his burning cheek into the comforter and wondering when they will give him his phone back. Thinking about what he said to his Grandma makes him feel guilty but he is also upset and angry with her. He doesn't understand what he did wrong, he doesn't understand why she had to kick out his friend and he doesn't know how to fix it.

Looking back now, he can't really say that they have never been upset with him before. He knows that he has said some things that have made his Grandma pull a face, or had his Abuelo walk out of the room. Grandma has always said that Abuelo needed a minute and then she would change the subject.

It usually only happened when he brought up his friends back home, or his Dad's friends, their family, the one eighteen. Buck, it always happened when he talked about Buck, about how he missed him and how he wanted to talk to him. The first time he remembers, he had been playing a game with Denny and Grandma had called him for dinner. He thought at the time that she was annoyed because he had to finish the match before he left, but now he thinks it was something else.

He had tried to explain that they had to finish the game or they would lose and they wouldn't get as much experience points and Grandma had asked about Denny and how he knew him. Chris knows he has told her before, or at least he thinks he has. That Denny is Hen and Karen's son, that Hen works with Dad. That had been the first time they had got quiet and Abuelo had said he had lost his appetite and left the table. He isn't stupid, he knows all about homophobia, but he had never thought his Grandparents were like that. Until now.

He closed his eyes and decided that if he didn't have any games to play or his phone then he should just take a nap. He had just crawled under the covers when there was a knock at the door. Grandma opened it and told him that they were going to church and that he wasn't to leave the house or leave his room. She looked sad and disappointed but Chris didn't care. He just put his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes, pretending to be more sleepy than he actually was and waited for the sounds of them leaving. The door locked behind her and he wondered why she would even warn him to stay in his room, if she was going to lock him in anyway. The car starting in the drive way was louder than he had ever heard it but he figured that was because he usually had his headphones in.

He must have fallen asleep eventually because he woke up much later, his room was in darkness and there was no light outside. The house was quiet and the alarm clock on the side of the bed said that it was just past ten pm. They always went to bed early and he usually pretended to be asleep until the house got quiet and then he would put a movie on his laptop. They never checked on him after ten pm and he knew they wouldn't tonight. There was a note on his bedside table, it said they would talk in the morning and that they were going to church, all three of them. He screwed up the note and threw it towards his waste basket.

He laid in the dark and listened to the quiet of the night until he heard a tapping noise at his window. He climbed off the bed and made his way to the window to pull back the curtain and almost jumped because his friend David was at the window. Only he didn't look how he did this afternoon, he was in the same clothes but he looked hurt and upset.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Chris asked, opening the window and looking at David who had blood on his lip.

"No, your Grandparents told my Dad that they caught us kissing and he didn't like it. He came home from church and he hit me." David's lip wobbled and Chris felt guilty, he didn't know they were going to tell anyone. He didn't know that David's dad would hurt him, he thought they would see each other at school tomorrow and they would talk about it away from home. Chris invited him in, he knew that David could climb through the window as they had done it before when they were supposed to be sleeping. They had climbed out and laid on the grass and looked up at the stars together. He moved out of the way and watched David climb through, he did it carefully although he looked like he was hurting. Chris had seen his Dad and Buck with enough injuries to know what it looked like when someone was trying to hide that they were hurt.

Chris moved to the bed and guided David to sit next to him, handing him the box of tissues that he kept on his bedside table. David plucked one from the box but didn't wipe his face, he scrunched it a little in his hands and didn't look at Chris.

"I'm so sorry." Chris apologized, plucking another tissue from the box and holding it up to David's lip to try and wipe the blood away. David winced and Chris apologized again and tried to pull away. David didn't let him and thanked him for helping.

"It's not your fault. I should have known better, I shouldn't have kissed you." David whispered, his hand gripping Chris's a little tighter. "Dad said gay people are bad and if I am one then I'm not allowed back in the house until I realize that I was wrong and I will be better."

"Gay people aren't bad." Chris whispered back, a little louder then he meant to, he was angry now. How dare he speak about people he didn't know like that, half his family in LA were gay or lesbian or bi. They weren’t bad people. They helped people and they cared. "He is lying, I know some gay people and they are heroes and they help people."

"You do?" David asked and Chris nodded.

"Yeah, Dad has these friends that he works with, I told you about Denny's Moms and Buck is the best person I know that isn't Dad." Chris explains and David nods.

"I remember."

"Well they are fire fighters and paramedics, they are heroes. Being gay doesn't make you a bad person."

"I tried to tell Dad he was wrong and he hit me." David explained, tears erupted in his eyes and Chris wiped those away too.

"So what happens now, where are you going to go?" Chris asked and David sighed.

"I'm running away." David whispered like he was ashamed and Chris gasped.

"You can't run away, Buck says bad things happen to kids who run away." Chris tried to explain but David looked angry all of a sudden.

"Yeah, how would he know."

"He ran away when he was a teenager and he said it was really hard for a long time. He told me that he didn't eat sometimes for days, that he had to steal food sometimes and almost got caught. He said he had to do really bad jobs until he could save some money and get better jobs and find better places to sleep." Chris rushed to explain and David slumped a little.

"I have nowhere else to go." David cried and Chris felt his own tears well up too. He felt so guilty over what had happened. It had been his idea for David to test if he liked boys by kissing him and now he was homeless and in trouble. "What am I going to do?"

They cried together for a little while and Chris wished that he had his phone because then he could call his Dad or Buck, they would know what to do. They would help and they would try to do something. Then an idea hit him, he didn't know if it would work but he knew they had to try.

"You remember when you picked the lock on my locker at school after that idiot stole my keys?" Chris asked and David nodded, sniffling a little and wiping his nose and his eyes with the tissues. Chris wiped his own eyes and smiled, he had a plan.

"I need you to pick the lock on my bedroom door." Chris explained that he was locked in and that he needed to get to the kitchen cabinet above the fridge, that it was locked and had his medicine in, and as of this afternoon, his phone and his switch. David didn't look convinced at first but Chris explained that he had money in a tin that they kept for him too. That it was money his Dad sent him and that he wasn't allowed to touch unless he had a good enough reason.

"But why do we need to get them?" David asked and Chris huffed.

"So we can call my Dad and then use the money to get the bus to LA." Chris explained and David looked skeptical and a little worried but Chris assured him that it would be fine. That they could tell his Dad and Buck what had happened and they would understand. They would help. David nodded like that made sense, then his face cleared and he suddenly looked brighter than he had when he first got here.

"Do you think your Dad would take me to see my sister, she lives in LA." Chris nodded and the plan was set. David handed Chris his phone and he told him to look up bus times while he got to work.

David searched Chris's desk and found some large paper clips and a library card. Chris watched with a smile as he did something to the door that had him slide the card in between the door jamb and the lock and the door clicked open a little loudly. They both held their breath as they waited to see if anyone had heard it and if they were about to get in trouble. When no sound of footsteps could be heard, Chris explained that he had seen his Grandma put his phone and his switch on top of the tin that held his money. David nodded and made a few gestures with his fingers that looked like he was copying them from Call of Duty.

Chris held in his laugh, huffing quietly at his friends antics and waited for David to disappear into the dark corridor before he pulled up Google to look up bus times. He almost groaned when he realized that the buses didn't start until four am and it was currently closer to eleven pm. He wracked his brain a little until he saw an advertisement underneath for Amtrak trains. He followed the link and found that there was a train at midnight that they could get that took them all the way to LA. He celebrated quietly, throwing his hands in the air and pretended to cheer.

He checked the price of the tickets and he knew that he had enough to pay for himself and David in the tin and that they even had enough for some snacks. He was glad that they had taken the money off of him whenever his Dad sent it, because now he could pay for their escape. He had parts of a plan and he knew that he would need to figure out some stuff on the way, like what he was going to say to his Dad.

His anxiety rose the longer it took for David to return until finally the smiling boy appeared back in Chris's room. He had the phone and the charger, the switch and its charger. There was also the tin under one arm and Chris let out a sigh of relief. David handed him the electronics and then began to pick the small lock on the tin. Inside was enough money that Chris knew they would be fine, a plane ticket and his passport.

David's eyes widened as he read the ticket and waved it at Chris silently, mouthing the word Mexico. Chris shook his head, putting the ticket back but taking his passport. He left the ticket and the tin on his bed and put the things in his zip pocket inside his hoodie. He told David that they needed to go soon because the train was at midnight and David nodded like that made sense.

"What took you so long?" Chris whispered furiously as he climbed off the bed and handed David back his phone. David shrugged and said that the cabinet lock was tricky. As quietly as he could he pulled his duffel bag out from the bottom of his closet and filled it with a few t-shirts and underwear, a pair of jeans and his spare orthopedic trainers. He looked at all the games that he had for the switch and figured they wouldn't all fit in the bag with his laptop and his headset so he asked David to pull some from the cases and put them in a side pocket. They had more than enough by the time that Chris had enough clothes.

"Oh I almost forgot." David hissed quietly and pulled out Chris's medication from his hoodie pocket and put the boxes in the side pocket with his games. David helped him pack his laptop, headset and his controller while Chris checked to make sure he had everything he needed. They were just about finished when they heard a noise in the hallway.

They both held their breath and waited, hoping and praying that they weren’t about to be discovered. Chris was so scared that they were going to get caught again, that the punishment this time would be so much worse. The toilet flushed down the hall and then the click of his grandparents door closing behind whoever had gone to the toilet made them breathe sighs of relief.

They managed between them to get the duffel out of the window and into the flower bed below before David climbed through first. Chris looked back at his room and tried to think if there was anything else he needed but he didn't think there was. He had all the important stuff. He passed his crutches through the window and then David helped him climb through too. Chris pulled the curtains closed and then David pulled the window down as far as he could without trapping his fingers.

He made a few more gestures with his fingers and Chris had to slap his hand over his mouth to stop the giggle that erupted, it wasn't loud but they were still close enough to his Grandparents bedroom window that they could get caught. They quickly and quietly made their way across the garden and out the back gate that was on the opposite side of the house. David offered to carry his bag for him and told Chris that his own stuff was hidden under the kids slide in the park nearby.

He explained to Chris on the way that he had been planning to sleep under there until the sun rose before he tried to hitchhike out of town. The thought of David in some strangers car made Chris feel a little worried and he was more glad than ever that he had come up with this plan. He knew what happened to kids who were taken from their homes by bad people and he didn't want to think about David hurt or scared like Harry had been.

The park wasn't far, it was close enough that Chris was allowed to go and meet his friends on his own and once they got there, David ran across the small open bit of grass to the park and pulled out his own duffel and a backpack. While he did Chris pulled out his phone and turned it on. It didn't take long for it to load up and when it did Chris checked how far away from the train station they were. It was three miles, they were closer to the bus station but it was still a mile away. The seven-eleven was around the corner and they could load up on snacks before they set off on their journey.

"Let's go to the seven-eleven and we can call an Uber." He eventually decided on, hoping that Buck wouldn't be too mad about him using his credit card that was loaded onto his phone for emergencies. He would pay him back when he stopped being grounded and began getting allowance again. He knew he would be in trouble when he got home but he didn't care. He couldn't stay in El Paso anymore, not with his grandparents and not now he knew that they didn't love him as much as they pretended to.

He knew his Grandparents would worry when they woke up, but once he got home he could call them and explain. Tell them that he needed to go home and hoped they understood.

*-******************

The Uber driver pulled up outside the seven-eleven and eyed the two teenagers as they loaded their bags into the trunk before climbing into the back. He double checked that they needed to go to the Amtrak station and when they confirmed he set off and David grinned at Chris. It felt good to be doing something for himself. He was old enough to travel by himself and he was old enough to take himself home, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious though. He had never been out of the house this late on his own before and he knew that when they woke up his grandparents were going to be mad at him. They were going to yell and his Dad was going to yell but he knew he couldn't stay. He couldn't leave David on his own. He felt conflicted about what he was doing until he remembered the steadily growing heat on his cheek and the tenderness in his arm and he didn't want to feel guilty anymore. He pushed it down and smiled back at his friend.  

The driver pulled up at the Amtrak station and Chris gave him five stars and a tip once because he helped them get their bags out of the trunk. He hadn't talked too much or been creepy or weird so he thought that it was probably nice to show a little appreciation for the man who was an unwitting accomplice to their escape plan.

They made their way inside the station and Chris was relieved to see that they had made it in time and they only had fifteen minutes until the train was due. They made their way to the self serve ticket machine and selected the two tickets they needed. The machine blinked at them with a price of two hundred dollars so Chris reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out the wad of money. He peeled the required bills away and put the rest back before feeding them into the machine.

The machine spit out the tickets and a receipt before beeping and telling them to have a good trip and that there train was going to come on platform two. David grabbed both their bags and Chris thanked the stars that the only worker he could see was a man behind the counter who looked bored and sleepy. Chris didn't want the man to ask them any questions, he wasn't a good liar and he knew that someone might question why two teenage boys were getting on a train at midnight.

They found a bench on the platform and scrolled through TikTok while they waited, although Chris couldn't help but check the time a little anxiously as it drew nearer and nearer. The time the train was due came and went. He waited another five minutes until he pulled up Google to see if he had been wrong, maybe he got the wrong day when a loud noise rumbled towards them.

Chris looked up and felt almost sick with relief when he saw the train coming. He and David collected their stuff and made sure they had everything. The train pulled to a stop and the doors opened, David carried the bags aboard and Chris followed him up the stairs. They found their seats pretty quickly and Chris was happy that they had a small table between them. They decided to sit on one side so that they could lay on the switch for a little bit as the train set off and they were on their way.

The only blip in the plan happened a little while later when the conductor approached them.

"Bit late for you boys to be on the train isn't it?" He asked as he watched them rummage for their tickets, pressing a few buttons on the machine at his hip when David found them in his back pack and put them on the table.

"It's the only ticket my dad could afford." Chris explained, hoping that the man would buy it. "It's almost a hundred dollars more to go on the one pm train."

"That's true." The man raised an eyebrow, looking at the tickets a little more. "He meeting you in LA?"

"Yeah, he bought us the tickets and his grandparents were so mad that they couldn't come on the platform to see us off. They worry." David jumped in and Chris was grateful, he didn't know what else to say and hoped the man wouldn't ask any more questions.

"Oh well, have a good trip, and if you need anything you let me know." The conductor placed the tickets back on the table and tapped them with a finger. "But no funny business you hear? I don't want to have to call the police on you boys." He narrowed his eyes at them before moving on and Chris and David both sighed with relief.

There wasn't many people boarding at this time of night when they stopped at the next station and Chris was happy when they got moving again. The time between stations stretched as they played a few games of Mario before switching to an old school collection of games that his Dad had bought him.

They took turns back and forth and spent a few hours playing games before it got boring and they decided to talk while they ate their snacks. David told him all about his Dad and how he was in the military before David was born. How he always talked about how bad the gays on the TV were and wouldn't let anyone in the house watch anything that he thought was too fruity. David brought up Celina at one point, how he hadn't seen her in years and how he hoped his sister would help him.

David told him that he thought he might be gay when he started playing baseball and he saw the other boys in the showers after. That he had been too scared to tell anyone until he met Chris and he found out that Chris was supposed to be in LA with his real family. He told Chris that he loved his LA Family so much and it made his brave, that he knew he could trust Chris.

They watched the stations fly past on the board smiling at each other as they saw each new one get announced. Chris was excited he had never done anything like this before and he knew that once his Dad calmed down, he would be happy to have him home. He told David story after story about the one eighteen and his Pops and Athena. How he had Aunts and Uncles and how they were all kinds of brave and heroic. He told David about the Tsunami and how Buck had saved his life. Some of the stories, David had heard before but he wanted to hear them again and it passed the time.

They talked for so long that eventually David fell asleep on Chris's shoulder, as the sun began to rise on the horizon. Chris watched as the horizon changed from inky black to dark blue, purple then red and orange as the sun finally broke. David snored a little in his ear but he didn't mind, he was just glad that he was safe.

He thought about his own sexuality as the view out of the window changed and he wondered if he liked kissing David as much as David seemed to like kissing him. He wasn't sure if he was gay, or bisexual like Buck. He knew he liked girls so far but thinking about David and how he was going to be going to his sisters when they got to LA made him sad, he was going to miss his friend. He blinked to keep himself awake and shifted a little to get more comfortable.

The train hadn't done many stops so far, the ticket told them that it was an express that only stopped at bigger stations. Chris had gotten board while David slept so he pulled up the Amtrak route map and checked to see how far they had moved periodically as each new station was announced. They had just left Yuma and crossed the border into California when Chris's phone began to vibrate on the table startling David awake.

Chris reached for it and saw that it was his grandmother, the smiling picture of the woman so much different from the woman he had seen the night before. It was half past nine in the morning and they had taken longer to notice him missing than he thought they would.

He waited for the call to ring off before he remembered he had find my phone settings enabled. He quickly went to the settings and turned them off. He turned on airplane mode and knew that would stop the calls from going through. He didn't want to talk to them, not after what they had done. He might consider calling them once he was back home with his Dad but he had time to make that decision.

David yawned loudly and sat up, stretching as he did so and allowing Chris to unfold a little himself. David handed him his hoodie back from where he had tried to wrap it around the other boy as he slept.

"You should get some sleep." David nudged him and Chris frowned at his friend.

"I already tried but I was so worried about our stuff." Chris explained and David smiled a soft smile that made Chris want to hug him or kiss him again, he wasn't sure.

"I will watch the stuff, you get some sleep and if you don't wake up before we are almost there, I will wake you up." David told him.

"You promise?" Chris held out his pinky finger and waited for David to link his own with it before he nodded. He handed his switch to David and settled a little. They traded places almost with Chris's head now pillowed on David's shoulder. David covered him with his own hoodie and he settled down to watch him play Mario and eventually the pull of sleep took him under.

*-******************

Helena Diaz was a simple woman, she raised her kids to be god fearing and follow the bible. God had set down the rules for them to live by and he had sent his son to teach the world the rest. She was a good Grandmother and Mother, and when she realized that her son could no longer care for his son she made the decision to gain custody of her grandson. She hadn't discussed it with Ramon yet, she knew that he had grown softer since he had his heart attack and had retired and he would want to speak to Eddie about it first.

She knew though that if she told Eddie her plan then he would come and take Chris from them and they would never see him again. She already didn't agree with Eddie's parenting decisions and she didn't think it was safe for Chris to be so friendly with Eddie's friend from work. She had noted all of this down and hoped that it would work in her favor with the court. That the influence of that woman with her wife and their son was a bad one, that it taught Chris the wrong things and she didn't think he should be allowed to be confused about how you should live your life.

She went to bed that night solidified that she needed to do something. She had tried to help before when Eddie was away and Shannon was left to raise Chris, tried to show Shannon how she needed to raise Chris. Then later when she left, she had tried to convince Eddie that he needed her, that he wasn't capable of raising such a special boy but he hadn't listened, and he had ran. Taking her precious baby with him.

She was furious with that boy and how he had kissed Chris. How he had already been told lies about the world and who he should let into his life. That boy had tried to corrupt her grandson further and she didn't feel any remorse in telling David's father what she had caught them doing that afternoon. He was rightly furious and she knew that David wouldn't be allowed near Chris again. She explained to the man that his son was sick, that he had taken advantage of a disabled boy.

Ramon had tried to pull her away, telling her on the way to the car that she shouldn't have told that boy's father anything. That it was none of their business and they should have just banned Chris from seeing the boy. She didn't agree, he needed to know so he could look into treatment.

Ramon looked sullen as they drove home but she ignored him. He was too soft and he didn't understand that they needed to take care of the boy now more than ever. They needed to get Chris to come with them to church more often, even if he didn't want to. That they would teach him that the bible said that gay people were wrong and absolutely under no circumstances should he be friends with David anymore. That he shouldn't be kissing boys because it wasn't right or normal, no matter what he had been told by people who should know better.  

Ramon hadn't known all of what had happened that afternoon. He didn't know what Chris had said to her. She had walked in ready to put Chris's laundry away and found the boys kissing, they had jumped away from one another because they knew it was wrong. Helena had taken David by the arm and escorted him through her house. Explaining that he was never to talk to Chris or try to contact him again.

Then she had returned to Chris's room to see the boy looking angrier than she had ever seen him.

"You can't stop me from seeing my friends." Chris had argued mulishly and Helena had shook her head.

"You live in my house, you will follow my rules, and in my house we are normal." She had tried to tell him but he had turned away from her. "You need to understand Chris. Gay people are bad and wrong and they will burn in hell for eternity, do you want that?" She said as she kneeled at his feet and could see he was crying. She felt bad for the boy, he had been led a stray and just needed to be put on the right path.

"You're wrong." He tried to tell her, "My Dad says.."

"Your father isn't here, and he will suffer his own fate for being a part of that disgusting family that he has lied to you about. Chris they aren't your family, we are. " She tried to tell him but Chris didn't want to hear none of it and she had to make him understand. She gripped his arm and pulled him back around to face her and turned his head with a grip on his jaw.

"Do you want to burn in hell with you father and his disgusting friends?" She seethed, no longer feeling bad for the boy as he scowled at her. A horrifying thought hit her, what if he had been complicit in the events that had happened. He couldn't be, no Grandson of hers was going to be gay.

"I would rather burn in hell with them then live here anymore." Chris was stubborn like his father and Helena could see that stubbornness coming through now. The look of disdain on his face reminded her of Shannon and everything that woman had said to her before she had abandoned her family and Helena reacted.

She slapped Chris and watched as tears erupted with a look of shock on his face. She pulled back and let him go, she hadn't meant to do that, and was going to apologize until Chris steadied his chin.

"I HATE YOU!" Chris had shouted, throwing himself sideways on the bed and Helena no longer felt guilty for what she had done. Chris needed to learn.

"You can have these back when you have apologized and come to your senses." She plucked his phone and his switch off of the desk by his bed, pulling the charging wires from the sockets and then left his room. Locking the door behind her. She told Ramon that Chris had mouthed off to her and was to stay in his room for the rest of the afternoon. Her husband didn't question her, he rarely ever did and she made her way to the kitchen to put his things in the lockable cabinet in the kitchen.

That night they had gone to bed and Helena had laid next to her husband as he read and formulated a plan. The following morning she would take Chris to church and let the pastor explain that Jesus wouldn't be happy with his actions. Then she would go to the court house and submit the paperwork for grandparent adoption. She wasn't about to let this continue.

The next morning she was shaken awake by a frantic Ramon who was on the phone. He shook her again when she squinted her eyes open and began to sit up.

"What's wrong?" She asked, worried now because Ramon looked almost grey, like he had when he had his last cardiac event.

"Christopher's gone."

"WHAT?" She climbed out of bed and rushed down the hall to find Chris's door wide open. There were things missing off of the desk, things in the drawers and a duffel missing from his closet. His game cases were scattered on the bed next to the tin that usually held his allowance from Eddie. The ticket that they had bought him for their trip to Mexico, the one that was supposed to be a surprise was laid nearby, but his passport was missing and the money.

"When did you get up?" She shrieked a little as she yelled at Ramon.

"An hour ago, but I thought he wasn't coming out because he was being stubborn." Ramon hissed, holding his hand over the receiver to the phone pressed against his ear.

"Who are you calling?" Helena asked, she already knew the answer.

"The police." Ramon informed her, she moved past him quickly to get to the bedroom and get dressed. That boy was in so much trouble when they found him.

*-******************

"Chris... Chrisss.." David hissed and Chris blinked awake as his shoulder shook.

"What?" he groaned, sleeping sitting up was not good for his muscles and he felt stiff. He stretched and pushed himself upright. The hoodie that had been laid over him fell to his knees.

"The next stop is Union Station." David grinned at him and Chris couldn't help but whoop. He was nearly home. They had a renewed energy now and were excited, watching as the buildings got bigger as they got closer to the station. They made sure everything they had taken out of the bags were packed away and Chris asked an attendant who passed what he should do with their rubbish.

The woman did a double take as she held out a trash bag in her hand but smiled at them anyway. She looked between he and David before moving down the train. Chris thought that was odd and so did David but they didn't know what was wrong so they shrugged and continued to watch the buildings go passed out the window. Chris found he felt more relieved as they got closer and closer to Union Station and knew he would be home soon. Where he should have stayed all along.

"Hello Boys, your father is at the station waiting for you still?" The conductor approached them as the train announced that they were pulling into the station. Chris noticed he had his phone in hand and was on a call when he asked and Chris thought that was suspicious.

"Yeah, I really should call him and let him know that we are coming into the station." Chris avoided his eyes, he hated lying but it was necessary this time. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and switched it back to normal, the flood of notifications from missed calls was a lot but he ignored it to thumb through to the contacts. He pressed call over his Dad's number and wasn't surprised when it rang off after a few seconds. He was probably on shift.

The train stopped and they moved to stand but the conductor told them to stay seated for a minute and Chris realized something was up. He turned to look out of the window and saw two police officers moving towards the train. The attendant who had taken their rubbish was nearby talking to another cop. His eyes widened at David who looked probably about as panicked as he was.

"This is the boy from the Amber Alert isn't it?" The conductor greeted the Officers and Chris groaned.

"I aren't missing, I'm going home." He sullenly informed them, keeping his eyes on the table in front of him and his phone.

"Son.."

"I aren't your son." Chris snarked back and regretted it instantly. "Sorry."

"Kid, you can't just run away and get on a train." The male cop shook his head at him, looking annoyed.

"I'm going home." Chris reiterated. The male cop opened his mouth to speak but the woman with him held her hand up.

"Let's get off the train and we can sort this all out on the platform." She suggested and Chris smiled and nodded at her, they grabbed his and David's bags before the woman led the way, the male cop waited for them to move before he moved behind them and Chris wondered if he was about to get arrested. They made their way off the train and to a small booth that was sat on the edge of the platform, it had a few seats in it. The male cop 'Bradford' it said on his name plate, he stood by the doors and crossed his arms. He looked a little angry and scary so Chris avoided looking at him after he sat down.

"My names Officer Chen, this is Officer Bradford. First things first, do you two boys need medical attention?" Chris and David shared a look but both shook their heads so Officer Chen continued. "Are you sure, you look pretty beat up?"

They shook their heads again.

"The train staff noticed you were aboard after a female attendant came up to clean the train and realized that she had seen your Amber Alert when the train was leaving Phoenix. She recognized you and told her manager and the conductor who called us. So do you want to explain why you ran away in the middle of the night and got on a train to travel eight hundred miles?" She took a seat across from them and pulled her notebook from her vest and Chris had an idea.

"Can I call my Grandma?" Chris asked, waving his phone in his hand and watched as the cops looked at one another.

"Little late for that don't you think kid." Officer Bradford huffed but nodded when Officer Chen pulled a face.

"You have a Grandma in LA? We were informed that your only family was in El Paso, Texas." Officer Chen asked.

"No. My Dad lives in LA and so do I most of the time, I was only staying at my Grandma and Abuelo's for a little while. My other dad, Buck, his Mom is the one that lives in LA." Chris explained, bending the truth a little. Officer Bradford pulled a face like he knew Chris was lying but took a seat next to Officer Chen and told him to go ahead.

Chris prayed that she was off shift or able to answer the phone as he found Athena's contact information. He pressed call and smiled when the face time call connected only a few rings later.

"Christopher. Baby how are you?" Athena asked as she took him in, "What happened to your cheek?"

"My Grandma slapped me for kissing a boy." He told her the truth and watched as her face went from shocked to angry then worried.

"What? Where are you? Are you still in that house? Are you alone?" She asked and Chris laughed a little.

"No. Me and my friend got on the train to come home, but we got arrested at Union Station." Chris explained.

"You aren't under arrest." Both cops spoke at the same time but he ignored them to focus on Athena.

"Arrested? Wait Union Station LA?" Athena asked and for the first time Chris realized that she was in uniform and looked like she was sat at a desk in a very busy room.

"Yeah, they took us off the train. I tried to explain I'm going home but I don't think they believe me." Chris explained.

"Are the police officers there now?" Athena asked and Chris nodded, "Hand them the phone baby."

Chris held out the phone to the police officers. Officer Chen took the phone and Chris watched as she straightened in her seat.

"Officer Chen, Ma'am." Chen looked a little panicked as she greeted Athena and Bradford leaned over to look at the phone before he too straightened in his seat. Chen held the phone further out so they both fit in the frame and Chris almost laughed when Officer Bradford looked scared.

"Sergeant Grant, I was unaware Chris was your Grandson." Officer Bradford greeted Athena and Chris shot a smirk at David who just looked confused. "I wasn't aware your children were old enough to have kids yet ma'am." Bradford commented and Chris heard Athena laugh. "He said you're his Grandmother."

"Grandma huh? Well it's true enough, he is my eldest's boy." Athena explained, "Bradford, I see you have been assigned to make sure Chris gets home safely. Have you informed the Sheriff's office yet that you have located him?" Athena asked and Bradford told her that he hadn't, they had wanted to confirm that Chris was in fact the boy in the Amber Alert before they did anything else.

"Good, leave that to me." Athena told them before she instructed the police to take Chris to his father's house and she would meet them there. Both Officer's nodded and confirmed that they would do that before Athena hung up and Officer Chen gave Chris back his phone.

The police officer's shared another few looks as they helped the boys through the station and outside to their police car. It looked a lot like Athena's and Chris told them that as they climbed in. Officer Bradford muttered something that had Officer Chen laughing but he didn't care because he was going home.

"What's going on?" David asked once they were on their way.

"Remember Buck I told you about?" Chris asked and waited for David to nod. "He is basically my other dad and his dad is the fire captain at the station where him and my Dad work."

"Okay?" David looked more confused now but Chris waved his hand before continuing. The police officers turned the radio down so he knew they were listening but he didn't care. The less explaining the better.  

"His pops and Athena are married, and one time Buck got struck by lightning and we were all in the hospital and May, she's one of my aunts, she told me that Bobby was now my Poppy, or my Pops and that meant that her mom was my Grandma." Chris kept going. "We have a group chat and we used to joke that I should only call Athena my Grandma in an emergency. This is an emergency."

"So she isn't your grandma?" David asked.

"She is, but she isn't. Does that make sense?" Chris pulled a face, wondering how he was going to explain this.

"No." David shook his head and Chris sighed.

"Okay so my Dad and Buck are basically married. They do everything together, May said that they love each other a whole lot but are both stupid boys and stupid boys don't know how to talk about their feelings." Chris began. "My Buck, he knows he likes boys now, but my Dad doesn't know yet, or he is pretending to not know. I don't know."

"So they are together?" David really wasn't getting this.

"No. They aren't together but I once heard Aunt Maddie tell Uncle Chimney that you don't look at someone like that unless you love them a whole lot." Chris clarified, or at least he thought he had but David just looked more confused.

"What does that have to do with your Grandma being a cop?"

"Oh, I thought you were asking how she was my Grandma." Chris pulled a face, "I don't know why she's a cop."

"But she is going to make sure we're okay?" David asked next.

"Oh yeah, Athena is a bad ass. She has done so much stuff I'm not supposed to know about." Chris explained, "Harry swears, that he heard, his Mom shot the guy who kidnapped him in the wiener."

David looked shocked but Chris nodded gravely because he was pretty sure it was true. Officer Bradford coughed a little in the front seat and Chris realized that he could ask them if it was true.

"Did you know that Officer Chen?" Chris asked, gripping the metal between the seats and leaning forward. Officer Chen turned in the passenger seat to face them more but shared another look with her partner.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you about that." She settled on after opening and closing her mouth a little. "I have heard of your Grandma though and you are right she is a bad ass. She trained my partner when he was a rookie."

"What's a rookie?" David asked, pulling himself forward now too.

"It's what we call baby cops." Officer Bradford laughed.

Before he could ask more however they pulled up outside his house. Officer Chen climbed out and opened the door for him and David. Officer Bradford got their bags from the trunk and followed them. They made their way up the front walk and Chris moved forward to knock on the door.

They waited a minute or two but eventually the door swung open and Chris was so glad to see Buck he threw himself at him and hugged him as hard as he could. Buck looked shocked and all but picked him off his feet to hug him back. He buried his head in Buck's shoulder when he felt himself begin to cry and couldn't stop himself from letting out a sob.

"I'm so sorry Buck." He sobbed and Buck soothed him by rubbing his back and hugging him tighter for a second before he loosened up and pulled back to look between Chris's face and the doorway.

"Chris, why are there police at the door, and who is the kid. Wait, how are you in LA?" Buck looked confused and Chris figured he should explain. He opened his mouth to do just that when one of the cops cleared their throat.

"Are you Chris's father?"

"I'm Buck, his father is at work." Buck blinked, moving aside to let them in.

"Well maybe we could all sit down and get some water while we wait for Sergeant Grant to arrive." Officer Chen suggested and Buck nodded like that made sense. He got them a pitcher of water from the fridge and together they settled down to wait.

*-******************

Athena got off the phone to Chris and pulled up the Amber Alert database and yep, there was a picture of Christopher, although it looked almost two years out of date. She informed her Captain what had happened, how Chris had left El Paso because his Grandma had slapped him and that nobody noticed he was on the Amtrak until it was already pulling into LA. Athena explained  that Eddie Diaz was the boy's father and that he was usually a resident of LA and had only been visiting his Grandparents. Her Captain told her that she would inform the Sheriff's department that the boy had been located but would hold off on details until Athena could interview the family.

Athena called Bobby on the way to the one eighteen station and he told her that they had just finished at a scene and they were headed back to the station. Athena asked him to call cover for Eddie because she needed to come and collect him. She promised to explain later and that Eddie wasn't in trouble, and Bobby agreed.

Athena beat them to the station by barely a minute and didn't have to wait long for the truck to pull in. She watched as she walked up to the bay doors as Bobby stopped Eddie from moving further into the house and met them near the front of the truck.

"Eddie I need to take you home." Athena said and watched as Eddie panicked.

"Is Buck okay? Athena what's happened?"

"Everything is fine, I just need you for a few hours and Bobby as agreed to let you off shift early." Athena explained, "I will tell you more in the car, but we have to go."

"Okay, two minutes." Eddie ran inside to fetch his bag and Athena greeted her husband with a kiss.

"You'll tell me all about it later?" Bobby asked between kisses.

"Oh it's a doozy." Athena huffed, pulling away from Bobby as she say Eddie coming. They made their way to the car with Bobby watching them pull out of the station car park and were half way to Bedford Street before Eddie asked what was going on. He had been fretting even though Athena explained that everything was alright. That she needed him to stay calm and remember that everyone was alive.

Athena explained that she had received a phone call and that she was taking home so that he could clear a few things up for the officers who responded to the call. She didn't explain what the call was but Eddie looked worried just the same.

They pulled up outside his house and saw the other car already there and Eddie didn't hesitate to climb out of the car and barrel up the walkway as soon as she parked. Athena followed at a much more sedate pace, but wasn't too far behind.

"Christopher?" she heard Eddie exclaim as she reached the doorway and walked inside the house. The two Officers were sat on the small seat, with duffel bags at their feet. Eddie was on the sofa hugging Chris, Buck was sat next to him, his own hand on Chris's back. There was another boy there too and Athena worried that something had happened to him by the look of his face.

"Do you need medical attention?" She asked the boy who shook his head but didn't look up from his shoes.

"Are you sure?" She asked again and watched the boy swallow as he shifted on his feet before nodding again.

Eddie eventually pulled back from hugging his son and eyed Athena before his eyes landed on the cops in the corner of his living room.

"So who wants to explain what the hell is going on?" Eddie asked, looking between them and a sheepish looking Chris.

"Okay but Dad you have to promise to listen to everything before you react, or ground me." Chris raised an eyebrow and held out his pinky finger. Eddie sighed but held out his own and linked their fingers together.

"So.." Chris went on to explain how he and David had been really good friends since he started school and how David had explained to him that he liked boys and Chris had suggested that they kiss to see if he did like boys. That it was all his idea and he thought it was the best way to know for sure.

Eddie blinked at his son and then the other boy but kept his mouth shut as promised. Chris explained how they got caught by Helena and how she had reacted. Kicking David out, locking Chris in his room while she went to church and then telling David's dad. That David's dad had hit him and kicked him out and told him that he wasn't allowed back until he stopped being gay.

"But I aren't gay Mr. Diaz, and neither.. neither is Chris and we only kissed one time and I am so sorry, this is all my fault." David interrupted and Eddie realized that the kid was panicking.

"Woah hey. I don't care that you and Chris kissed and I don't care if either of you are gay." Eddie rushed to explain. "I am just glad you two boys are alright. You are alright, right?"

"Yeah.. Mr. Diaz, I just got a split lip but I think I'm okay." David nodded, his face pink now. Eddie turned back to his son and let him continue the rest of the story.

Chris looked a little worried now and explained that he had argued with his Grandma and told her he hated her and how she had slapped him and taken away his phone and switch before locking him in his room again. Eddie flew off the seat and had to take more than a few deep breaths as he paced. Chris lip wobbled and he began to cry and apologize to Eddie and told him that he would call his Grandma and say he was sorry and Eddie broke.

His own tears streamed down his face as he pulled his son into his lap and hugged him, assuring Chris that he would never have to apologize and that his Grandma should apologize and that they would have a conversation about that later. Eddie noticed out of the corner of his eye as Athena was taking notes and he was grateful for it.

"Do you want to continue the story David?" Athena asked David who looked just as sad as Chris was. The other kid jolted a little but raised his eyes to look at her.

"I don't know what happened with all of that." David said, "I just know that I waited until it got dark and I snuck into Chris's back garden because I needed to tell him that I was leaving. He let me in and I told him what happened and that I was going to run away and he said I shouldn't because his Buck had told him what had happened to him when he ran away and that it was never a good idea or safe."

"So you boys decided to get on a train?" Athena raised an eyebrow and David nodded.

"That was my idea Thena." Chris fought out of his Dad's grip a little to sit up and face her. He wiped his face on his hoodie jumper and then reached into his pocket and pulled out the wad of bills that he still had left from his savings tin.

He explained that he had the idea because he didn't want to stay there anymore and didn't know when he was going to be able to get his phone back or how he was going to call his Dad. So he told David about the cabinet with his stuff in and David helped get them and they Googled how to get from El Paso to LA. They found the Amtrak train and made a plan. That David had found his savings tin that his Grandma used to put his allowance in that his Dad sent him, because he wasn't allowed to spend it on silly things and had to save it. That they had taken the money and his passport after they found a ticket to Mexico with his name on.

Chris explained that they got an Uber to the train station and that they were fine on the train all the way there and if the police hadn't have come they were going to get another Uber to his house. That he had called Athena because it was an emergency and he didn't want to get arrested.

"He wasn't under arrest." Officer Chen leaned forward to assure Eddie.

Athena then turned her attentions to David and asked him to explain why he had come to LA. David explained that he had hoped that once he was here that he would be able to call his sister who lived in San Diego, that he wanted to live with her. Athena told him that he could call her at any time.

Athena watched as he answered the phone and explained to Celina what had happened. That they had run away and Chris had paid for the train tickets, and he was sorry. Celina asked him to speak to the police once he was finished and Athena explained that she would wait at Chris's house with her brother until she could come and collect him. She assured her that she wouldn't be long, that they were already in the car.

*-******************

Athena escorted the two other Police Officers to their car and thanked them for making sure that Chris and David got here safe. She informed them that her Captain had taken over notifying the El Paso Sheriff's department about the status of the Amber Alert and that she would handle it from there. She watched as they drove away before moving back to the house.

Eddie was pacing more than a little, Buck and the boys were in the kitchen making lunch so Athena guided Eddie to sit down.

"I think that you should wait for David's sister to get here before you deal with any of this. I am going to go to the station afterwards and make a few phone calls and suggest to your Mother that she stay away from this house until she receives a phone call from you to tell her otherwise, is that okay?" Athena suggested.

"That is more than fine, I don't want to talk to that woman for a very long time." Eddie sighed, rubbing his face vigorously before he lowered his hands to look at Athena. "She slapped him. He told her he hated her and he would rather burn in hell than live with her and she slapped him."

He was in disbelief, he knew his parents held certain beliefs when it came to homosexuality but he didn't think she would get violent with his son. If he had known what would happen he would never have let Chris go and live with them in the first place.

"Do you think they will listen?" Athena asked next and Eddie thought about it for a minute.

"Are you going to threaten them with an assault charge if they don't?" Eddie asked and waited for Athena to nod. "Then yeah, she will listen."

*-******************

The boys enjoy the food that Buck cooked while Eddie busied himself with unpacking Chris's bag and making his bed with fresh sheets. He can hear the boys laughing from the bedroom as Buck tells them all kinds of stories and he knows that when Chris goes to bed he is going to struggle not to breakdown. He can't believe this has happened, that his fourteen year old son masterminded a plan to steal his things back and run away from El Paso.

He offers to wash up as the boys watch a movie and Athena joins them, stating that she hasn’t seen the movie they have picked before. He is pretty sure she is lying but he doesn't call her on it. She knows he is struggling with this and he needs a breather to process. Buck follows him into the kitchen with the remaining dishes from the table. He stacks them by the sink one by one after he has scraped the remnants from lunch into the trash.

"I am such a bad father." Eddie mutters, scrubbing a little too violently at a bowl in his hands. Buck tuts at him, but he knows that he is obligated to disagree with Eddie's self flagellation's so he doesn't pay him much mind until Buck moves to take the dish out of his hand to set it on the drainer. He can feel his resolve crumbling and he doesn't know what to do.

Thankfully Buck seems to because he pulls Eddie into a hug so tight that it feels like it is holding all his pieces together. Buck runs one big hand down his back and Eddie breaks, the tears falling silently and soaking into Buck's shirt as he tries to get a grip on his emotions.

"She struck him Buck, my son. I left him in her care and she hurt him." Eddie mumbles, he knows that Buck can hear him, his lips so close to Buck's ear but he can't risk seeing the look on Chris's face when he realizes what this whole debacle has done to him.

"I know. I am so sorry this has happened Eddie, this is not a reflection on you." Buck begins and Eddie scoffs because of course he would say that. "It isn't Eddie, this is all on Helena and her choices."

"I should have gone and got him sooner." Eddie feels like he is whining but he can't help it. He is undone by this like he hasn’t been by something for a while and he has no clue how he is going to deal with it. "What if he is scared of me now, like he thinks I'm like her?"

"Eddie, hey Eddie." Buck pulls away but Eddie avoids his eyes. He can't take it. Buck isn't allowing it however and cups Eddie's chin to gently raise his face to look up at Buck. "Listen to me. I know you are a good father, that your son loves you and respects you and overall, I know that he will never ever be scared of you, do you know why?"

Eddie shakes his head as best he can while still in Buck's hold. A smile breaks out onto the blondes face.

"Eddie, without hesitation your son told you that he had been kissing a boy. No fear, no worries that you would treat him any differently. He told you what had happened and he has admitted that he knows he did wrong by running away. He told me that he knows he is grounded, that he knows that you might stop his allowance until he has paid me back for an Uber I didn't even know he had ordered." Buck explains and the truth of it is undeniable. He has kept so many secrets from his parents, even now as an adult, he wouldn't dare reveal some of the things that Chris has this afternoon.

"Eddie we will deal with this like we deal with anything else. As a family." Buck assures him and Eddie blinks up at Buck like he is the light on the horizon. Shining through on the darkest day.

"Thank you Buck."

"I'll always have your back." Buck nudges him with an elbow as they move back towards the sink and finish what they started.

"Are you staying tonight?" He asks when they are finished, before they make their way into the living room.

"If you want me to." Buck nods and Eddie feels a new kind of bravery take over him.

"Can we tell Chris tomorrow."

"Whenever you want." Buck murmurs, crowding Eddie against the wall by the hallway. He presses a kiss to Eddie's lips. They kiss and hold each other for a few minutes with the only sound in the room being the sound effects from the movie in the living room. They make their way back into the living room eventually and Athena makes a face at them, smirking a little before she turns her eyes back to the TV.

A few hours later there is a knock at the door. Athena waves Eddie away to answer it and there stood on the door step is a young woman who looks very worried.

"Sergeant Grant?" She asks, wringing her hands a little until Athena smiles and confirms that she is who they are looking for. Eddie calls David out of Chris's room and tells him that his sister is here. He looks relieved for a moment until Chris follows him out of the room and then he looks sad.

"I'm going to miss you." David tells Chris and Eddie and Athena share a look, they feel like they are intruding on a moment. Eddie turns back to the door and introduces himself to Celina. She shakes his hand and thanks him for looking out for her brother. He explains that it was no problem and tells her that David can visit any time.

"Did you mean it Dad?" Chris asks as he and David make their way to the door behind him and Eddie turns to face the two boys.

"Yeah. David can come and visit whenever he wants. You guys can face time all the time and you can skype." Eddie tries to soothe his son but he knows Chris will be sad about missing his friend for a while.

The boys follows Celina and her girlfriend to the car, Eddie follows to put David's bags into the trunk and then retreats back to the porch. Eddie watches as the boys hug tightly before David pulls away to climb into the car. He waves as Celina climbs in and they begin to drive away, Chris watches as the car moves out of sight before making his way back up the walk. He has tears falling down his cheeks and Eddie's heart breaks for his son.

Chris all but throws himself at Buck to cry as Athena tells them that she really should get back to the station. Athena stood from the chair and Eddie escorted her to the door.

"Thanks Athena."

"Anything for my Grandson." Athena commented as she left with a wave and a chuckle and Eddie watched her as he blinked a little in shock. "Grandson?" he mouthed to himself as he closed the door and turned back to the sofa to see Chris peeking out from Buck's shoulder.  

"Since when were you Athena's Grandson?" Eddie asked his son as he walked into the kitchen.

Chris giggled a little which only got worse when he informed him that she was Buck's mom, so that made her Chris's Grandma. Eddie didn't have enough mental space to unpack all that, he just let himself bask in the sound that had been sourly missing from his house for months. The sound of his sons laughter.