Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As he filed into the room with the glass wall down the center and took his place in one of the booths Buck wondered how it had ever come to this. How many wrong turns in life had they taken for this to be their reality. Staring at his sister through the glass as she lifted the phone to her ear, he could only think that she looked only partially present. Like a ghost, caught midway between worlds.

He picked up the phone on his side and tried to smile, at least with the part of his face that still could. “Hey, Mads…long time, no see.”

Maddie smiled mistily at him as she answered, “I know. I’ve been so busy lately. Jee-Yun has outgrown all her clothes again. You wouldn’t believe how big she’s gotten. Howie says that she’s obviously going to be a giant like her Uncle Buck.”

Determinedly forcing his thoughts away from the past, Buck tried to sound happy as he talked with Maddie. Happiness was such an alien concept to him now…how long had it been since he had really been happy?

“Yeah, I bet she’s growing like a weed. What else have you been up to? Last time we talked you were going to try to learn to paint. How’s that going?” Desperately reaching for a cheerful tone, struggling to stay present himself.

“Oh, you know. Painting didn’t go so well. Jee decided to help me and fingerpainted the living room walls. We had to get contractors in to replaster it. Howie says I can only take up hobbies Jee-Yun has no interest in…which is hard because she’s such a curious little girl. Just like you were as a kid. I couldn’t keep you out of anything when you were her age. One time…”

Buck let the gentle words and half-forgotten memories wash over him for the next twenty-four minutes, until the guards called time. Sadly he interrupted Maddie’s flowing chatter.

“OK Mads, I’m sorry I was such a scamp…but I’m so glad you never gave up on me.”

“Oh Buck, I never would. I never will. I’ll see you again soon, so take care of yourself. Be smart and stay out of trouble.” Maddie’s lips trembled a bit as she hung up the phone on her side of the glass. Blowing him a kiss she got up and left the room, looking back at him once over her shoulder as she passed through the door.

Buck sat for a moment in his booth, until one of the guards approached him indicating it was time to go. Obediently he rose, grabbed his cane, and followed the man out the door and through the checkpoints, eventually emerging into the late fall sunshine and boarding the bus back to the car park.

As he drove back towards Los Angeles, Buck let his thoughts roam back through the past few years. When did it happen? At what point was the end inevitable. Was it when Chim caught up to Maddie in Boston, surprising her and throwing her into a flashback so intense she responded with deadly force? Maybe when Chim decided to pack up Jee-Yun and head cross-country, following a woman who didn’t want to be found? Or maybe earlier, when Maddie decided to run away from her family to save them from herself.

Sighing as he pulled into the parking lot at his next stop, he dragged his thoughts back to the present day. Grabbing the flowers and the small toy fire engine from the passenger seat, Buck left the vehicle and walked along a shady path until he reached his destination. Taking a seat, he laid his offerings on the ground in front of the stone. Leaning forward he brushed a couple of fallen leaves off the top as he read the inscription. Howard Han friend, brother, son, father. Jee-Yun Han beloved daughter. The birthdates and the single date that marked their deaths.

“Hey, Chimney…” he began, his words trailing off into nothingness as he sat on the grass. Buck never knew exactly what to say when he was here. The people Chimney had known had drifted out of Buck’s life as it circled the drain, and poor little Jee-Yun had never had the chance to really know anybody but her parents.

“The weather’s been a little nippy lately,” he tried again. “It’s almost Halloween. Makes me think of all the crazy calls we would get this time of year. Remember the lady who tried to hot glue her fairy wings onto the roof of her car and …” Crazy calls, spotty memories, stilted conversations with a chunk of granite in a cemetery in October. His day bookended by visits to places of different sorts of death…the Correctional Institute and the Memorial Gardens. Holding on to the remnants of the happy, slightly dysfunctional family he had cherished.

“You shouldn’t keep doing this to yourself.” Buck froze mid-remembrance, then slowly turned to look behind him at another of his ghosts.

“Chris…I haven’t seen you in a long time. What are you doing here?” Buck started to panic, thinking of the reasons Christopher Diaz might be in a cemetery. “Has something happened? Your dad? Abuela?”

“No, no. I have a friend who’s hurting. Who’s hurting himself, and I’m here to try to help him.” Christopher’s voice was deeper than he remembered. His shadow broader, the heavy wooden cane replacing the arm crutches Buck remembered. “Come on Buck. It’s time to come home.”

“Your dad wouldn’t like your being here, Chris. You need to just forget me. Everyone else has moved on. You should too.” Buck stayed on the cold ground, his shoulders slumping…head bowed.

Chris gave him a shadow of his cheerful grin. “You want to know what the best part of being eighteen is? It means I don’t have to do what my dad says, especially when he’s wrong.”

Has it really been that long? Eight years? Where did they go? Buck’s thoughts spiraled out, down through the years. Maddie leaving, Chim following…after the punch that saw Buck disabled out of the LAFD when a simple knock to the head caused the fractured zygomatic bone to give way…damaging Buck’s vision and his brain. Years of speech therapy, physical therapy…friends coming by less and less often.

Bobby and Athena retired and moved down to Big Sur. Hen and Karen moved to Texas when Karen was offered an opportunity with NASA. Eddie…Eddie just moved on. Stayed in the same little house, but made it clear that Buck wasn’t needed. Kept Chris away from him. Instability runs in families you know. If Maddie could do that, what might Buck do?

“Your dad just wants to keep you safe Chris. And he wasn’t wrong. I’m a mess, and I’ll never be any better.”

“Nope, not listening. Now move your ass, Buckley. I’m not going to drag you up off the ground.” Chris clapped his hands for emphasis as he waited impatiently at the edge of the path.

Slowly Buck pulled his legs under him pushing, first to his knees and then all the way to his feet with the help of his cane. He stood for a moment, waiting for his legs to steady beneath him. Chris was watching him steadily, and Buck wondered for a moment what he saw. Was it the tall, strong hero of his childhood…his best friend and partner in crime? Or was it the broken man he was today…mouth drooping on one side opposite the empty eye socket covered by a simple black patch. Wobbling and lame on one side, a trembling leg and a hand that struggled to hold on to the things it managed to grasp. And all of that after hours and hours of physical therapy. What did Chris actually see?

“Come on then,” Christopher’s gaze never wavered, his smile a bit gentler but completely free of the pity and discomfort Buck had become used to seeing directed his way. “We’re going to that diner up on Grant Street. The one with the blueberry pancakes you love.

Slowly Buck stepped back onto the path, quietly following Chris to the exit. He had always been willing to follow Chris anywhere. That, at least, hadn’t changed.

Collapsing into the booth at the diner, Buck was thankful they hadn’t had to wait for a table. The amount of walking he had done today was really more than his legs could safely manage. He supposed he should be grateful he hadn’t landed in a heap when he got out of his car in the parking lot.

Chris slid into the booth opposite him and smiled at the hovering waitress. Waving off the need for menus, he placed his order and looked across the table to Buck.

Buck thought frantically for something he could eat in public. As he floundered around in his thoughts “can’t cut pancakes, can’t keep oatmeal from dribbling, can’t butter a biscuit…there’s a REASON I always eat alone now dammit!” Chris must have realized he wasn’t going to answer.

“He’ll have two scrambled eggs, two pieces of crisp bacon, and three silver dollar blueberry pancakes.”

Well…he might actually be able to manage at least a few bites of egg. And he could just put the pancakes in his mouth without cutting them up. And he’d figure out the bacon.

The waitress took his order from Chris, looking over at Buck in pity. He had long since gotten used to those looks, but he flushed just the same to be looked at that way in front of someone who had once looked up to him.

Once Buck would have immediately begun talking, both to distract from the awkwardness of the moment and because he genuinely loved Christopher and was interested in what he’d been up to in the past…eight…years. Now he just sat quietly, too tired to try to control his drooping mouth enough to speak clearly.

“So Buck, I was thinking…we should make this a thing…get dinner together once or twice a week. Or breakfast for dinner anyway…”

Bless his heart! Chris was determined to reconnect with him. Unfortunately, Buck could think of way too many ways that could blow up…and while Buck had become accustomed to having his life go “Boom” he didn’t want Chris to get caught in any fallout.

“Chris, buddy, I love that you remember me, but sometimes the past just needs to stay past. You mean the world to me and I don’t want to see you hurt if, no…WHEN your dad finds out I didn’t stay away.” Remembering that conversation brought up the familiar ache in his heart.

“Buck, there’s information you don’t have. About Dad, and you, and that whole…” Chris waved his hands around angrily, “situation.”

Buck remembered a man who couldn’t look at him as he told him to stay away from his family. He remembered the constantly cleared throat and the way he rocked back and forth as he hammered nails into their friendship and Buck’s heart at the same time.

“Your dad made everything pretty clear actually.” Buck said sadly as the waitress slid their plates in front of them. He carefully closed his shaking fingers around the handle of his fork and tried to bring a bite of egg to his mouth. He got it safely inside and began to chew carefully, holding his hand in front of his mouth in case any bits of egg tried to make an escape.

Chris poured way too much syrup over his pancakes and then put the jug down on the table with a little ‘thump’. “So, how much do you know about the law and PTSD?”

Buck blinked in surprise and thought a moment. “Not much really. I know it can be a minimal defense in certain limited situations, but that’s about it. I know that in…Maddie’s case…they took it into account. It’s why she is where she is instead of on death row…that’s about the extent of my knowledge.” Buck’s hand was shaking more and more, making the fork wobble unsteadily as he tried to spear a pancake. Finally he set the fork down before he stabbed himself with it. Reaching across with his other hand he grabbed a pancake and stuffed it in his mouth quickly, like if he was fast enough no one would notice.

Chris gave him a little eyebrow wiggle, but didn’t say anything, taking a few bites of his own food. “So, here’s the thing. When Gramma heard about what Maddie had done, and that the court had accepted PTSD as a mitigating factor she got one of her nephews who’s a lawyer in Texas to give her an opinion on her chances of getting custody of me if she brought in Dad’s PTSD and your connection with Maddie…mental health issues in the family…the … um…odd behavior of your parents. Anway, he said she stood a good chance of getting at least joint custody if she sued in Texas.”

“Surely even Texas wouldn’t take a child away from its father on those grounds! They’d have to get up and prove SOME sort of neglect or abuse or…something, wouldn’t they? And surely your grandparents wouldn’t have gone that far…” Buck trailed off uncertainly. Honestly, he could totally see Eddie’s mother at least trying it on.

“Dad wasn’t prepared to take a chance. Somehow Gramma had gotten evidence of the street fighting, and combined with everything else Dad thought she could sell it to the courts. Especially since her family knows three of the sitting judges in Family Court in El Paso. I’m not saying they would have been corrupt for a friend, ‘cause I really don’t know. But she was sure they’d come down on her side, and with everything else…well, Dad panicked. He started having flashbacks and nightmares again, panic attacks and things. And you, well, …” Chris trailed off, obviously not wanting to hurt Buck with the reminder of that time in his life.

“And instead of being right by his side to throw his ass into therapy and find him a land shark lawyer, instead of having his back like I promised I was in rehab learning how to open and close my hand again. Just another source of stress…” Buck sat and stared dejectedly at his plate. Suddenly that pancake sat like lead in his belly.

Chris leaned forward across the table and stabbed his fork emphatically in Buck’s direction. “Oh Hell no! You are not blaming yourself for the results of Howard Han’s poor choices and lack of control. You didn’t ask Han to sucker punch you in the face. You didn’t realize your zygomatic bone was actually fractured. You had no reason to think a chunk of ceiling giving you a glancing blow would cause your ENTIRE FACE to give way. And none of us realized the threat of stroke following the bone shards entering your brain!” Chris took a steadying breath before continuing. “And you didn’t ask your best friend to basically divorce you.”

The air rushed out of Buck’s lungs, leaving him breathless and trying desperately not to cry. Crying with an empty eye socket was a nightmare…everything drained through the nasal passage. “I should never have kept that secret…it didn’t even mean anything, but I promised Maddie…”

“There is no reason ANYONE should have judged you for keeping a promise to your sister. The fact that people did is just…MESSED UP! “ At this point Chris was trying hard to keep his voice down while still emphasizing his points. “Dad was flailing, and his mental health was crashing out. He pushed you out of our lives and proposed to Ana to give me a ‘mother’. And to get HIS mother off his back. Fortunately, Ana is a decent enough person even if she is a little ableist. After multiple flashbacks and panic attacks, she sectioned him, and stuck around to keep me at home until Dad got out. Then she walked away. The last thing she told him was to reach back out to you.”

“Obviously that never happened.” Buck didn’t have the energy to sound anything but tired. He’d never felt more defeated in his life, and considering what he’d lived through that was really saying something. “I’m just saying, that’s been a few years now, hasn’t it? If Eddie wanted to reconnect with me he would have long since done it.”

Chris took another bite of his pancakes, and Buck took a moment to admire the fine motor control that kept the syrup from dripping into his lap. It had been a long time since he’d had syrup on his pancakes. The bell over the door rang to announce another customer as Chris finished chewing and took a drink of his coffee…(Holy crap! Chris was old enough to drink coffee!)

“It’s only been a couple of years since Dad got straightened out. He and Ana were together for about four years all told, and then Dad was in the hospital for almost six months. Then outpatient therapy. He still goes to appointments once a week. Ana left about two years ago.” Chris paused to take a breath. “He’s ashamed Buck. HE abandoned YOU, not the other way around. You needed him. You were struggling with medical appointments, physical therapy, occupational therapy, … you hadn’t even made it to speech therapy yet. You needed him, and he threw you out of our lives because he was afraid. As far as he’s concerned there’s no forgiveness to be had. He certainly can’t forgive himself.”

“YOU are the victim here. Of Han, of Bobby and Hen, of Dad. None of this was your fault. But I refuse to lose you again. I’m all grown up and the rest of them can just…just…go to HELL!” Chris’ utterly indignant huff just barely missed being a ‘so there’ and Buck smiled ruefully.

“Chris, not to diss your vast eighteen years of life experience here. But I’m not sure ‘all grown up’ applies. Don’t you have college to get through before you embark on your great life adventure?”

An altercation over near the register was starting to get loud enough to draw the attention of the diners…all four of them. He and Chris in the booth at the front of the diner and two people at the counter further down all looked over to see what the fuss was about…just in time to see the man standing there pull out a gun. It was shaking around as his hand trembled, either scared spitless or high as a kite…or maybe jonesing for a high. Buck slowly started to ease out of the booth, a first responder’s instincts still in play even if his body couldn’t cash the check anymore.

He had just gotten clear of the booth when the gunman noticed him. Buck saw the gun swing in their direction and only one thought crashed through his brain. “Not Chris!” With a deep resolve Buck forced his body to move at speed. He didn’t need to go far, just enough to get between Chris and the gun. He threw himself forward as his leg collapsed stretching out just as he heard the weapon discharge.

At first, he thought the man had missed him entirely, and he panicked at the thought of the bullet going past him and into Chris. “Not Chris!” But no, Chris was here, leaning over him with his mouth moving frantically. Chris reached down and put his hands over Buck’s chest with all his weight behind them. Pain suddenly crashed over Buck as the world came rushing back. The bell ringing as it fell to the floor with the force of the gunman’s frantic exit. The sound of Chris’s voice begging him to hold on. That help was coming. The cold of the floor beneath him that seemed to be seeping into his body and spreading rapidly.

Awkwardly he reached up his hand and cupped Chris’s face. In a reverse of another weighty moment between them a lifetime ago he smiled and said, “You’re gonna be okay kid.”

Then he fell into the dark with a sigh of acceptance.

Chapter Text

It was dark and quiet, until it wasn’t. Buck sighed as the noise and light through his eyelids assured him that the brilliant paramedics of the LAFD had once again been, well, brilliant. Hoping he was alone so he could put off having to face Eddie’s fury at almost getting his son killed…AGAIN…Buck carefully cracked his eye open.

What he saw caused him to immediately open both eyes and sit straight up in shock! Wait, BOTH eyes? He put his hands up to his face in such a hurry he actually smacked himself in the head. Yep, both eyes, right where they should be. Except one of them shouldn’t. And remembering the stomach-twisting vertigo of the first few weeks learning to live with only one eye…shouldn’t having both again be the same kind of thing? So why wasn’t he feeling like puking up everything he’d eaten in the past year? Wait…no..bad Buck! No diving down a convenient rabbit hole when old ladies with scissors were standing over you on a grassy hilltop (and has grass ever been that shade of green?) under a spreading oak tree. A purple oak tree. Wait…no…the CREEPY OLD LADY WITH THE SCISSORS! Focus man, focus!

“Well shit!”

Wait what? Buck looked up at the woman who was apparently just as dismayed to see him as he was to see her. “Um, sorry?” he ventured. What did she have to be upset about? She hadn’t woken up from death? Coma? Whatever, she wasn’t the one who woke up to someone standing over her with a giant-ass pair of SCISSORS! He thought he probably had more rights to be upset in the situation than she did.

Buck looked around to determine the best means of escape, and nearly toppled right off the hill, with the tree, that was apparently floating in space. Except, no stars. Space should have tons of stars, and without the light pollution of greater Los Angeles he should be able to see them clearly. He and Chris had gone to the planetarium more than once and the night sky presentation had been their favorite…

He looked up sharply, panic clutching him by the throat. Surging to his feet he looked around the little hilltop floating in nothing. “Chris! Chris, where are you?” Checking behind the massive tree in case the boy (no a young man, Chris is eighteen now) was playing some weird game of Hide-and-Go-Seek with him. Shouldn’t play games in random strange places where you might slip off into nothingness Christopher.

Coming back around the tree to where he’d started, Buck noticed the addition of a bench to the landscape…complete with an old woman crocheting a long, fluffy something with no scissors in sight.

Looking up at him the woman huffed in exasperation. “Oh he’s not here. He should be here. But he’s not. And who is here instead? Oh, that’s right! You!”

Well, on the whole if someone was going to be having a weird conversation with a creepy, crafting old woman who might be hiding a deadly pair of scissors under her whatever-it-was…he’d much rather it be him than Christopher. Feeling rather satisfied with himself over that conclusion Buck carefully stepped around the end of the bench…which suddenly lengthened to give him room to … sit down?

Carefully perching his weight on the amazing extending bench Buck looked over at the woman on the other end. Feeling as though a few marbles suddenly settled into place in his brain, Buck blew out a long, low breath in recognition. “Atropos?”

“Evan.” The woman responded, as somehow Buck had known she must to her Name. Atropos, the third aspect of Fate who cut the threads of humans when it was their time to…”Oh, absolutely not! It is not Christopher’s time to die! You’re stuck with me. I passed my “use by” date a long time ago, and even if I hadn’t. There is NO reality in which I would not trade my life for Christopher’s. Speaking of the whole “use by” thing…where the Hell were you! I was ready to die! I needed to die! I…wanted to die! But no! You and your stupid scissors were nowhere in sight when I needed you, so you don’t get to take one of the few bright souls in my life before his time!”

Atropos looked at him and the exasperation fell away like a mask. Suddenly the space around them was filled with a glorious tapestry. Images moved and spoke, Buck’s interest catching on one, and then another randomly focusing in and then moving on to stop on another picture in another part of the tapestry. The Tapestry of Life!

Buck had no idea how long he had watched the tapestry play out before he turned to the woman sitting next to him. “So we’re all just unimportant little threads to you, huh? No one is valuable or special. Just all little snippets of colored material you can snip when it suits your purpose?

The woman’s face, which had somehow become ageless, softened. “No, Evan. You misunderstand. Every life is important. Each one vital and unique. Each one valued and needed. Christopher’s, Maddie’s, YOURS Evan. Every single life has a special part to play. And any single life missing from the weave warps the whole picture! I don’t set the pattern, and even I can not perceive all of it. God gave Man the freedom to choose his own actions, and God bade me watch over the pattern. While my sisters spin new life and weave the threads, it is my duty to correct and account for the free choices of Man. Never lightly. Never without a reason. And never for my own convenience or entertainment.”

The Tapestry faded slowly out of sight, and a heavy emotional presence bore in.

“Never without grief. But also with the assurance that Death is not the true End. And that Life cannot truly exist without Death.” Slowly the woman’s features settled back into old age, and she seemed to pick her exasperation back up with a huff. “Now Evan, what am I going to do with you, here before your time?”

Buck took a deep breath and put on his most charming smile. If Atropos could wear a mask so could he. “Well, you could just call it an even trade and send me on my merry way to whatever’s next.”

The woman blinked at him. “Good Lord boy! I hope you have a concealed carry permit for that smile. It’s a lethal weapon. But no, I can’t just accept a soul before it’s time. And you can’t just lounge here with me until it is time for you to move on. You’d be a massive distraction and I can’t just spend all my time hanging out with you on this…interesting visual construct you have going on here.”

“Hey, don’t be dissing my visual construction skills. Wait, I thought you came up with this? I mean, I’VE certainly never seen grass like this. It’s almost…furry…and that’s weirdly disturbing in an already severely fucked up place.” Buck was sure he hadn’t come up with furry grass of a shade of green usually seen on limes. Or a purple tree. Definitely not!

“Well obviously the Tree is always here. But you are DEFINITELY responsible for the furry grass!” Atropos cut her eyes at Buck with a small smile that said no, he wasn’t really responsible for the furry grass and she was just messing with him. Then the moment twisted like taffy and her face went ageless again.

“Evan, if you could change one choice you made? One time you exercised your freedom to choose and regretted it, what choice would that be? And what would you choose instead?” The Tapestry was back, this time focussed on his own life.

Feeling the weight of the question, and hope in his heart, Buck gave careful consideration to his answer. He thought about his childhood, growing up in that stifling house with adults who couldn’t look at him without wanting to see someone else. Could he go far enough back to change his brother’s outcome?

“No, Evan. You didn’t choose to make the bone marrow transplant fail to graft. You were a baby and there is no choice there to undo.” Atropos gently reminded him that he could only focus on actual choices. And Daniel’s death was never anyone’s choice.

Moving forward in time he thought about Maddie and Doug. If he could stop Maddie from marrying Doug…so much could be avoided. “Again Evan, no. You can only redo your own choice. You did not choose Doug for Maddie. And nothing you could choose to do as a child would affect that choice of hers.”

If he had stayed in college, that could change many things. But he honestly didn’t know if he could deal with his parents for an extra four years. Their resentment and grief would be impossible to bear in silence now that he knew the cause. He thought of the rambling years that followed and one memory stood out clearly. Ringing out of SEAL training. He’d told everyone he did it because he couldn’t shut off his emotions, but the scary truth of the matter was that he was too good at shutting them off, and the peace of that emotionless state was too seductive. Could he do it now? Could he shut it all off and be assured that he would come back from it? Christopher’s bright laugh rang through his memory. Yes. Yes, he could.

If he had completed training and signed his contract, by the time he got to the 118 he would have lived a life that would command the respect of his colleagues which was, in retrospect, completely missing the first time around. Rather than being the annoying kid and the butt of everyone’s jokes he could enter with the expectation of being treated as a valuable member of the team. And that could change many things.

Carefully pondering he skipped over the nonsense of his early years with the 118. The lawsuit? He could choose something different. Without the lawsuit many of the relationships he valued wouldn’t have been damaged and strained. He could have kept Eddie out of street fighting and been there to support Chris through losing his mom and the aftermath of the tsunami. “Other people’s choices Evan. You could be more present in Christopher’s life, but that is no guarantee that Eddie would not choose to fight. What other choice would you make…rather than the lawsuit?”

Atropos’ gentle question gave him food for thought. What would he choose? The union? Bobby would almost certainly lose his rank if not his job…it being his second knock after the suspension for lying on his application. Wait? How long? And how would that go when the real problem was Bobby’s lack of trust in him. Choose a different career. A swift denial rose up inside him at the idea. He had worked at his local public library part time throughout his disability and he had learned to enjoy it, but nothing filled the gaping hole inside him where firefighting used to be. No, not the lawsuit then.

What about more recent choices? Buck had been wondering earlier today (was it still today if you were on a floating hilltop in company of Fate?) at what point had the end become inevitable? Was there a choice he made that could unravel all the tragic things that led him to that diner? He could only think of two. He could choose not to keep Maddie’s secret…tell Chimney immediately when she called. That might avoid the punch and the personal price he paid for that, but would it help anything else in the situation? Would it keep Han from going after Maddie? If he went with him could he keep Maddie from shooting her boyfriend in the mistaken belief he was Doug chasing her? Could he keep Maddie from killing her daughter, strapped in a baby sling to her father’s chest…both lives ended with a single bullet? And if he didn’t keep faith with his sister, would it matter?

“You tell me Evan. Would it matter that Maddie saw you as betraying her trust if it meant Howard and Jee-Yun lived? What if you made that choice, that sacrifice and it changed nothing? Could you live with that?”

He could choose to go to the hospital after the punch. With proper treatment and support his face would heal. But if word got back to the LAFD Chimney would certainly lose his job. And if word got back to the LAPD he could lose his freedom. But would that be better than losing his life? Losing Jee’s life? He thought about Christopher and knew immediately that that was a bargain Chimney would make in a heartbeat. His freedom for Jee-Yun’s life wouldn't even make him blink. He was her Father, and that meant everything to him.

Buck turned to look at the ageless woman on the bench with him. Still crocheting that long, fluffy thing. What even was it? A tentacle-warmer for a Kraken?

Atropos chuckled softly. “Actually it’s a sweater for Jörmungandr. He gets so chilly sometimes.”

Buck had an immediate visual of the Midgard serpent surrounding the world wearing a long, fluffy sweater in a cheerful butter yellow, kind of like a pampered pet.

“More like a mischievous friend than a pampered pet. So you have two possibilities then? Should I leave you to consider your choice or would you rather have company? Time (as you rightly supposed) has no meaning here…though that does make him terribly stroppy. He doesn’t like being told he can’t go wherever he likes.”

Buck knew his limitations very well by this point. “I’m not really very good at thinking things through to all the logical consequences. I wouldn’t say no to a little help in that department. And I’m sure being who you are you might have some really great perspective.”

Atropos smiled and put away her crochet (or at least it disappeared). “It’s good to know your own strengths and weaknesses, but don’t forget you have both. Now, how can I help?”

It had been a long time since Buck had had anything but weaknesses. As the thought crossed his mind, Atropos frowned. Thinking of a few other instances of the woman responding to things he’d swear he hadn’t said, Buck began to suspect the privacy of his own thoughts wasn’t as private as he’d assumed.

The old woman smiled faintly at him. “Generally we just politely ignore it and get on with our business. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll try to only respond to things you actually say.”

Buck shrugged mentally. Nothing he could do about it, so…”So, taking the easy choice. Going to the hospital after that punch. I’m not a very good liar, so if the emergency room is required to report injuries there’s about zero chance I could sell it as walking into a door.”

Atropos looked at him calmly. “Evan, you are missing some things in this picture. I think you were raised to be invisible, even to yourself.”

“Huh? I mean, of course I’m missing things. That’s why I asked you to stay. But I’m definitely not invisible. What am I missing?”

The old woman looked at Even with eyes that seemed to see into the heart of him. “Evan, a member of your family brought violence into your home. And you thought YOU were the one who needed forgiveness. I’m not saying Howard is a terrible person, but he is sometimes terrible to you. If the police would consider what he did to be wrong, why would you doubt that? And why try to cover it up? What if he turned his violence to your sister or niece?”

“No! No, no, no. Chimney would never lift a hand to Maddie or Jee. He loves them, and would never hurt them.”” Buck was absolutely furious that this being was suggesting Chimney might be an abusive partner or parent.

“Oh Evan” Once again the old woman’s face became ageless and her eyes stared off into the distance, focusing on something beyond Buck’s sight. “I agree that Howard would never be physically violent with Maddie or Jee-Yun. But it is not ok that he was violent with you.”

“It’s fine. I deserved it for keeping Maddie’s secret.” Buck repeated what he had always said when the matter came up.

“No, it’s not fine…and no one DESERVES to be hit just because someone is frustrated with them. And the fact that your friends allowed you to take all the blame just as a matter of course should be something to consider in all this. If they truly valued you, would your pain not have mattered to them? Why didn’t it matter? Is that the attitude you want the people you love to direct towards you? And if not, will making a different choice here change their attitudes?” Atropos spoke reasonably, but there was an undertone to her calm voice that had been missing earlier.

Buck considered the questions. “I’m not really as stupid as people seem to think. I do recognize that there’s a lack of respect there. But really, I’m a lot. I leap before I look, I make everything about me, and I’m frequently exhausting. It’s not easy being my friend. And I don’t think anything I can do at this point is going to change that opinion.”

“I have never thought you were stupid Evan. Just because you process information differently doesn’t make you stupid. It doesn’t make you exhausting. And frankly, I’m not sure why everyone seems so determined to erase you from your own experiences. When your best friend gets shot in front of you, you have an experience. It wasn’t the same as his, but it was still a shocking and traumatic thing to work through….Sorry. I took a little peek at your life thread when we were talking earlier.” The being looked genuinely repentant at her invasion of his privacy.

Clearing his throat, Buck considered this choice again. “Getting back on topic … wow! I’ve always wanted to say that to someone else…anyway, getting back to the point. This choice has the potential to end poorly for Chimney, but not as poorly as a headstone. And Maddie would get the space she needed to deal with her PPD. And I would take the best care of Jee, or maybe Hen would do that. I don’t really know how they have it set up.”

“And how would your friends and sister react to this outcome?” A simple, yet unexpected question, but the answer wasn’t nearly as simple.

“Hen would be angry that I caused trouble for Chimney. “ Buck thought a little more. “Bobby would be disappointed that I took it public instead of letting him handle it ‘in-house’.”

“Eddie,” he sighed. “Eddie would think I was making it all about me again. I think all of them would feel like I had messed up again. Caused trouble for Chimney just because I couldn’t suck it up and be an adult about the whole thing.”

“Is that the life you want to live? It would keep your niece and brother-in-law alive, and your sister out of prison. Your injuries would heal rather than worsen. And it would require little to change in your day-to-day life from how you were living at the time.” The goddess gave him a considering look. “Is that enough for you?”

Buck pondered the matter carefully. He hadn’t really thought about the team’s reaction to Chimney’s change in circumstances. And of course no one but him would even know that this was an improvement. Could he live with their reactions? Yes, of course he could. But did he want to?

Buck had learned the hard way to be still. When you can’t trust your legs to hold you up, you learn not to pace around while you think. But here, he could trust his legs. There just wasn’t enough room to pace without falling off into the nothingness.

Leaning forward on the bench, Buck put his head in his hands. Tugging on the ends of his hair in frustration he did something he rarely did. He thought about himself. Usually Buck was thinking about other people. He was a genuine people person, but he knew (thanks Dr. Copeland) that a lack of love in his formative years left him touch-starved and kind of desperate for approval as an adult. Could he live the rest of his life as the annoying but loveable untrained puppy his friends tended to see when they looked at him.

He didn’t know how long he’d sat on the bench thinking about that question. He knew it had been long enough that the giant snake sweater was back in view, Atropos crocheting quietly and leaving him to his thoughts.

“No.” The answer startled Buck as it flew out of his mouth. “No, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life on the fringes of theirs. I love them. I would do anything for them. But I want them to know me, not some caricature I pulled together to try to fit into their lives. Changing this choice would change some important things. But it wouldn’t change that.”

“Very well then. What about the second option? What are the logical conclusions of completing your SEAL training?” Atropos put away her crochet again. “And please stop hurting yourself. If you want to pace, then pace!”

Buck looked around and realized that at some point while he’d been rocking back and forth on the bench the land surrounding the tree had spread out a bit. There was room to pace, so long as he kept his strides normal! Fantastic!

Jumping up from the bench Buck began walking back and forth in front of the goddess. “Ok, the logical conclusion of my SEAL training is that I would be sent for individual training. If I chose the Explosive Ordinance rating then some of the skills would transfer. At least in reverse. I’d be assigned to a SEAL team for more training, and eventually I’d deploy…probably to the Middle East somewhere, but there are other possibilities. I’d be on a six year contract , which would have me joining the 118 the year after Eddie instead of the year before.”

“If you come back.”

The words were stark, and for a moment it was as though everything in the Universe held its breath.

“What are the consequences of serving in an active war zone?” The tone was gentle, but implacable. There was no escaping this question.

“I could be killed.” That seemed so obvious, now that he looked at it closely. Back when he was in training the realities of combat hadn’t actually sunk in. The mechanics, yes. But the actual acceptance of his own mortality…not so much.

Buck sighed and paced another circuit. “God, I was an oblivious kid. I didn’t even consider that I might be killed. Back then I thought I was immortal.”

Another circuit as Buck tried to articulate his thoughts. “I’m not really scared of dying. I survived so long waiting to die. Wanting to die really, though never quite enough to pull the trigger. Of course I would have had to buy a weapon first. But anyway…Death just feels like an old friend to me. One who stood me up for a coffee date over and over again. Kind of an asshole friend, but comfortable and familiar anyway.”

Again the Universe seemed to pause. Then a strange ripple in the nothingness and a young man stepped through. He was tall and thin with a floofy explosion of curls on the top of his head and a delighted grin on his face.

“Oh wow! I’ve never really been friends with a Man before. Well, there was that once, but he only wanted company for his transition…got off at the first exit. Anyway…I brought coffee!”

The young man held three huge travel mugs in one hand and a little box of coffee condiments in the other. He looked between Buck and Atropos hopefully, holding out the mugs as if they were the price of admission to this little plot of Something floating along through the Nothing.

“You can call me Nat?” Wait, what?

“I thought the Greek name for Death was … oh…yeah. I guess that could be awkward now, huh?” Buck took one of the coffee mugs out of the guy’s hand and started rummaging through the little box of creamers and sugars. He snickered a little when he noticed all the sugar packets had a scythe on them.

“Do I LOOK like a giant purple megalomaniac to you?” Pouting a little the man handed off a second mug of coffee to Atropos and then flopped down onto the grass at the foot of the tree. He jumped up just as quickly with a ‘yip’ of surprise.

“Furry grass? Really? That’s just … wrong!” Nat glared at Atropos while wiping his hand on his shirt.

“I blame Evan. Did you bring any mint chocolate spoons?”

Buck looked up hopefully. “Ooh, that sounds good! And hey. I am NOT responsible for the quality of the grass.”

Nat reached into a pocket and pulled out three green and brown spoons and handed one to each of them solemnly. Sitting down on the long bench he unscrewed the lid from his travel mug and stirred it enthusiastically with his spoon. Buck followed suit, while Atropos handled her mug more delicately.

The first taste of rich coffee and dark chocolate hit his tongue, causing Buck to moan in pleasure. He looked up to find his companions staring at him in surprise.

He blushed, but it didn’t lessen his enjoyment of the coffee. “Hey, I haven’t had real coffee in years. It spikes my blood pressure too much.”

That reminder of the life he had been leading seemed to make the other two a little uncomfortable.

“Look, Evan…” Nat started, staring into his mug as if it held the secrets of the Universe. Hell, in this place maybe it did.

Taking a deep breath Nat soldiered on determinedly. “I heard you. When you called. When you begged. And I came.” His features seemed to morph from face to face, holding each for only a moment before melting into the next. A paramedic who helped stabilize him after that last knock to the head, a physical therapist who never let him give up, the speech pathologist that worked tirelessly with him to help him relearn how to talk, a library patron he’d had several conversations with, one of the guards at the Women’s Correctional Institute who gave him a couple of extra minutes with his sister. Face after face, until finally the features settled back to the earnest young man he first saw. “I came.”

Buck tried to talk around the lump in his throat. “Were all those people really you? Or were you really them? I don’t understand…”

“In those moments they became an aspect of Me. But Men can choose…and all of them saw a light in you that they refused to allow to burn out..” The paramedic’s face looked at him again. “I could have let you ease from life…but you were fighting to live, so I fought for you as hard as I could.” The physical therapist’s face took over. “I could have let you give up. Given you gentle supports for end of life outcomes. Pneumonia would have taken you if depression didn’t. But you were so determined. There was something in you still fighting. So I fought too. I kicked your butt and demanded one more step. One more reach.”

Suddenly Buck’s own face was looking back at him. “You have worn My aspect before. Some you have fought to save. Others you have held kindly as they slipped from life. One nearly took you with him.” A flash of a rollercoaster flew through Buck’s mind. The face settled on Nat. “I came, my friend.”

Tears began sliding down Buck’s cheeks, as he heaved out a great sob. Suddenly he couldn’t quit crying. It was as though all the tears he’d never shed had chosen that moment and he couldn’t have stopped them with the Hudson Dam. Lying on his back in the furry grass, looking up at the purple branches of the huge tree Buck gave himself over to the storm.

When it was over, Buck turned his head towards the two beings on the bench…apparently playing a cut-throat game of Old Maid. Looking at them there, both embodiments of Death in their own ways…Buck turned his mind to the real possibilities of his choice if he chose to stay in the SEALS.

Was he afraid to die? Looking over at Atropos glaring over her cards at Thanatos as he tried to pick up the three cards that had apparently escaped his hands…No. He wasn’t afraid to die, so long as his dying served a purpose. And serving his country was an honorable purpose.

“That’s not the hardest question.” Buck looked back towards the bench. The cards were gone, and Nat’s face was serious. Atropos looked at him with her ageless face on.

“No. The hardest question is not whether or not you can accept the end of your own life. It’s whether or not you can cause the end of someone else’s” Speaking as the being responsible for ending all life, her words held a weight that seemed to echo with centuries of sorrow.

Buck wasn’t sure how to even think about that. How did you become ok with ending someone’s life. He didn’t know how to evaluate himself for the possibility. Would the SEALS train him to do that? COULD they train him to do that?

“Well, sort of.” Nat’s serious voice drew Buck’s attention in his direction. “The SEALS can teach you to kill. And they can teach you to compartmentalize so that killing doesn’t destroy you. They have a deeply rooted code of ethics and police that line rigorously. But only if you have the capacity within you to do those things. I’m sure your ethics wouldn’t be an issue, and neither would your literal ability to kill. So the real question is whether you can be taught to compartmentalize well enough to maintain your mental health. And whether you want to be that person who can do that.”

Buck felt the weight of a tiny baby in his arms as an image of glass doors crossed his mind. A funeral for a sad young man he couldn’t even take to the doors. Athena teaching him about the uniform and what it meant. Bobby teaching him to work the problem in front of him and move on.

“Yes, I can do that. Bobby taught me that. Athena taught me that. It was the hardest part of learning to be a firefighter. But I learned it. I don’t know if I could have learned it from the SEALS. Not at that time. But I can do it now.” Buck thought about the next part of the puzzle.

“And there are other things the SEALS can teach me, that I really need to learn if I’m going to change the idea the others have of me…or I guess never let them develop it. How to fit in a team without losing myself. Leadership skills. Those sorts of things.”

“Belief in yourself.” Nat gave him a stern look that seemed at odds with the younger face he was currently wearing. “You are a Man of immense capability and compassion. Yes, you have weaknesses. But you need to recognize your strengths as well.”

Buck had always thought of his literal strength as being the biggest asset he could bring to any situation, and he worked tirelessly to maintain it to be the best possible support for his team. But maybe. He peeked over at the bench again. Maybe he really did have more to offer.

Looking back up at the tree, another image slid into his mind. Two men separated by a wall. On one side was a goofy, simple, almost childlike man, on the other a sober, anxious man. There were holes in the wall between them. A love of learning, a fierce protectiveness, a yearning to belong. Light and shadow, but both him. Could he bring down the wall? Allow both sides of his character to be seen by those he loved? What even was the wall?

“Fear.” Nat looked at him kindly. “The wall is fear, Evan. Fear of rejection. Fear of other’s reactions. Do your friends not deserve to know all of you? And if they can’t handle it, are they really friends you need?”

Something seemed to tickle at the back of Buck’s brain. The swings in this place. From silly to sober. From light to dark. He hadn’t really noticed them as they happened, but in retrospect…

“Yes Evan. Here in this place everyone is simply themselves. All of themselves.” Atropos smiled at him.

“Here in this place out of Time and Dimension, all are judged on the totality of their being.” He looked towards Nat and nearly choked. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see a cloak and scythe, but the Jackal’s head was completely unexpected. And yet, not really.

“Anubis” Names meant something here, so Buck addressed the god by his ancient name.

“Yes. And Azrael. And Mors. And many other names. Some lost to Time. Others just coming into use.” The jackal head morphed back into the young, open face. “But I think Nat is my current favorite.”

“But yes Evan. Here you cannot hide from us. Nor do you need to. But you are correct. If you cannot bring down that wall…well your Choice will still matter. Still make a difference. But maybe not the change you hope for.” Atropos watched him patiently, her crochet back in her hands as she waited for him to work through the issue.

“OK. Well, if I have learned something over the past decade it’s to take my mental health as seriously as I do my physical health.” Buck glanced over at Nat ruefully. “It’s why I never chased you down for that coffee date.”

Nat smiled back at him. “As much as I’m enjoying this interlude, I’m glad you never truly chased me down. But maybe there’s still some work to do? A little bit? Maybe?” Holding his arms out about two feet apart, the little troll. “This much?”

“Yeah, yeah…yuk it up funny guy. Maybe a little more work to do.” A random thought skittered sideways into Buck’s brain and panted for breath. “Wait, what about you guys? You’ve been doing these jobs like literally forever. Have you ever had a vacation? A mental health day? Hell, a bathroom break?”

Atropos and Nat looked at each other, startled.

“Well Evan,...” Nat trailed off, looking completely lost for words.

“It’s not exactly the same Evan,” Atropos began.

“I call bullshit! You talk about my mental health, and Men having the freedom to choose. What about you? Don’t you have the freedom to choose? Establish a cross-training program or a substitute pool or something? Seriously, who did you piss off to be treated like this?” Buck was incensed.

Atropos blinked. “Evan, God’s oldest children were…purpose-created. He saw a need and created a being to fill that need. Over time some of those needs have shifted a bit, and under that umbrella we have…arranged ourselves to best fulfill our purposes. But no. The freedom to choose was a gift given to God’s younger children. Those children were created for companionship. For worship and love and sharing that was worth something, because it was based on the free choice to do those things.”

Nat continued, “We worship and love, but I do not think Father values those things from us because they are part of our purpose. Not our choice.”

Atropos chuckled softly. “You are quite something Evan. No one has ever asked those questions of me.”

“And what are we doing here? With you giving me a chance to go back and redo a choice? Are you not CHOOSING to do that?” Buck challenged the goddess, folding his arms across his chest.

She suddenly looked a bit…shifty. He turned to look at Nat, only to see him looking…sheepish? What the hell?

“We can use, let’s call them operatives…to help us accomplish our purpose. Nat’s tend to be short term, in the moment types of support. Mine are a little harder to come by. It’s a role that must be freely chosen, but I have on occasion had Hands that worked for my purpose.”

Buck looked at her in astonishment. For about a second and a half. Then he burst out laughing. “Wait, you want ME to be…”

He drew himself up to his full height and tried to look Wise. “the Hand of Fate!” Slowly his laughter eased off.

“Alright smartass! Maybe not a whole Hand. Maybe just…part of a Hand. Sometimes.” Atropos had picked up her old woman persona and was judging him hard.

“The Little Finger of Fate? Now that sounds like a job title to put on a resume!” Buck was laughing again.

“And does it sound like a job title you could live with? In exchange for my bending the rules and allowing you a different Choice? If I poked…would you move for my ends? Not large things. Just the little nudges that make everything work more smoothly?” Atropos looked at him hopefully.

Buck hesitated a moment, looking for the poison in the pudding.

“Hey.” Nat sat down on the grass beside him. “It’s OK to say ‘no’. No one’s trying to railroad you here. We just have very limited ways in which we can operate within our purpose. Very few Men can handle what’s being asked of you. And if you don’t want to…” he looked full in Buck’s face and his own took on hints of the Jackal. “You are still my friend. Still the Man whose heart was pure enough to float against the feather of Ma’at.”

Buck looked over to Atropos, crocheting again while she waited.

“How will I know it’s you poking me? I mean what if you’re nudging and I just think it’s a Charlie horse? That would be awful. Or what if I’m sure you were giving me a poke, and it just turned out to be food poisoning or something? Can you imagine having to explain that to dear old Dad? ‘Oh hey, sorry this whole section of the TAPESTRY of LIFE is snarled up. Evan never should have eaten at that dodgy food truck.’”

Atropos smiled down at her crochet. “Oh I’ll make very sure. You’ll have no doubts whatsoever.”

Buck took a deep breath. “OK. I’ll do it. I’ll stick with the SEALS and be your Little Finger.”

He smiled.

“Final Answer.”

Chapter Text

The past seven months had been grueling. Anyone who said all you had to do was make it through Bud/s was a lying liar who lied. But Buck had hung in there. He had discovered quickly that the lessons learned in his previous experience served him well. Not just compartmentalization, but patience, temperance, and perseverance. Buck at twenty this time around was very different in some very important ways.

But standing at parade rest at graduation, listening to the speeches and watching his training mates getting their tridents pinned on by family Buck knew something important had stayed the same. He was still alone at this point in his life. He had sent a postcard to Maddie to tell her about his graduation and pinning, but hadn’t gotten any response.

When his name was called he expected to be met by his training officer. Instead a young man with a head full of floof was standing next to an elderly woman. Both of them looked proud as punch, and Buck felt something inside him … something that had ached from missed football games, track meets, plays, and awards ceremonies…that hurt curled up tightly in a ball at the center of his chest had relaxed just a bit.

Atropos reached to carefully pin his trident on and then pulled him down into a hug. “Well done Evan,” she murmured to him quietly.

Nat glomped on for a hug of his own. “Good job Evan! I’m so proud of you.”

Buck couldn’t quite believe the two of them were here. He hadn’t had anyone show up for him since Maddie had left for college when he was eight. He hugged them back, grateful beyond words that they had come to support him. He knew they couldn’t stay, not here in real time, but he was so, so glad to see them.

The ceremony moved on to its conclusion and afterwards Buck returned to quarters to gather his things. He had a week of liberty before reporting to Little Creek for his first Team assignment and to begin pre deployment training with his team. Virginia Beach would probably become his go-to spot for liberty. He remembered the surfing from the first time around, and he had a spot that was his favorite, where the wind and the water came together just right.

“Hey, Stag! Thought you said your family couldn’t make it man. I’m sorry I missed them, but you gotta come say ‘hi’ to my mama before we leave. We’re heading out in just a few…you sure you don’t want to come with? Plenty of room and the food’s good. Come’s with a few too many sisters, but other than that…oof!” Buck’s partner had just been hit in the stomach by one of said sisters, who eyed Buck up and down in an assessing sort of way.

“So you’re Stag…where do you guys even come up with these names?” The teenager was clearly unimpressed.

“Well it’s better than Bambi. That’s what I was called all through Bud/s.” Buck smiled at the small cloud of femininity surrounding his partner. All four sisters had come with their mother to see him graduate. For a moment the place in his memories where Maddie lived ached, but then he remembered floofy hair and proud smiles and the pain eased.

“Hello ma’am, I’m Evan Buckley.” He greeted Mama Antonelli, who side-stepped his outstretched hand and pulled him straight into a hug.

“Hello dear. I’m so glad to finally meet you. My boy has told us a lot about you. And he’s right. You’re absolutely welcome to come stay with us.” The small woman held on tightly for a brief moment before letting him go.

“Nico won’t tell us what HIS nickname is.” The youngest sister looked up at Buck with an impressive pair of puppy dog eyes.

“Um, well, … “ He looked over at his partner with a devilish grin. “It’s actually Stallion.”

“Nicolas Domenic Michael Antonelli! What did you do to get that nickname?” His mother sounded absolutely horrified.

Nico blushed to the roots of his hair, shuffled his feet, and shot Buck the evil eye. Payback would be a bitch, he was sure.

Buck laughed before saving his partner from his indignant mother. “Actually, it’s just because he’s SO Italian. Like, he was going on about how the spaghetti was tasteless and he was horrified to be eating noodles that came out of a box and his nonna and mama would be ashamed to serve CANNED spaghetti sauce…and after about a week of that one of our training officers told us to shut up the Italian Stallion unless we wanted an extra week of KP. It just kind of stuck.”

“It’s just a temporary nickname Mama, I’ll get a callsign before I deploy. They’re not gonna be calling me ‘Stallion’ over coms. Not if I can help it.” Nico gave Buck’s shoulder a hard shove that promised retribution at the first available opportunity.

“Thank you for the kind offer Mrs. Antonelli, but I’m actually heading out to the coast for the week. I already have my reservation and everything. But it was great to meet all of you. Nico talks about you a lot and now I can put beautiful faces to beautiful names.”

“Smooth, very smooth.” The oldest sister, Gianna, gave him a brief hug. “Take care of yourself out there. No getting eaten by a shark. We’re counting on you to keep this big lug out of trouble.”

“Could you really get eaten by a shark? “ The youngest, Bianca, looked up at him with a face full of nothing but curiosity.

“Well, it’s not very likely. We’re not what sharks actually like to eat, so usually when a person is ‘attacked’ it’s just a mistake. As soon as the shark realizes we’re not a seal they let go.” Echoes of Christopher moved through his memory.

“Come along girls. Say good-bye to Evan now. Our train leaves in forty minutes and we still have to return the rental car. Nico, go get the last of your things.” Mrs. Antonelli began shepherding her little flock out towards the car park as her son laughed.

“Mama, this is all my things. SEALS travel light and fast.” He hefted his duffle and trotted after his family. “Good-bye Stag, I’ll see you in seven days.”

“Good-bye all. Have a safe trip. See you in a week, Stallion.” Buck ignored the fake menace in his friend’s eyes.

Picking up his similarly loaded duffle, Buck hurried out to the parking lot for personnel and climbed into the Jeep. He was off to the shore for a week of fun, sun, and surf. Then on towards the rest of his new life.

Buck had enjoyed his week of relaxation and surfing and was a little sad it was coming to an end. Though he was eager to get on with the next part of his training, he had relished the break. After being severely physically limited for nearly a decade Buck loved physical activity of just about any description. He had learned to qualify it, thanks to an instructor who loved pull-ups. Well, other people’s pull-ups anyway.

Sitting on his board waiting for the next wave, Buck looked back towards the shoreline. His favorite surf spot was kind of off the beaten track, but there was enough tourist traffic to keep the locals in business. A scattering of kids played in the shallows while older folks watched from the shore or laid back to enjoy the warm sunshine.

“Jeannie, bring the kids on in. Food’s ready..” The oldest girl obediently began trying to round up some of the children, none of whom seemed too eager to leave the water for something as boring as lunch.

As Buck watched, something caught his eye swimming between him and the kids. As soon as Buck registered what he was seeing he started moving. Not a shark…but a snake, in a cheerful yellow sweater seemed to make a beeline for the huddle of children. A point on Buck’s shoulder burned fiercely and he sped up. He saw one of the little boys dodge away from the older girl, lose his footing, and fall. The fickle tide chose that moment to snatch him and begin dragging him seaward.

The wind carried the screams from the shore to Buck’s ears as he followed the snake, which vanished just as the boy broke the surface. Buck was only a few feet away now and a powerful kick took him right to the panicked child. Wrapping his arm firmly around the boy’s torso, Buck struck out for the shore. The child continued thrashing for a moment before realizing he was being rescued. Once he calmed down a bit Buck adjusted his hold, treading water easily and letting the little boy catch his breath.

“Thank you mister, “ he said as his teeth began chattering from the aftereffects of shock. “I thought I was gonna get swept out into the middle of the whole ocean! But then I thought I’d been grabbed by a sea monster. But then it was you!”

Buck began a lazy stroke back towards the frightened people on the shore. “Yeah bud. It was me. Now, let’s get you back to your folks before they come out here after you.”

Just at that point, Buck noticed the older girl floundering through the water towards them. She clearly wasn’t the best swimmer, but she was fighting hard to make forward progress.

Further back, another swimmer cut a cleaner line through the waves. A parent maybe?

The little guy turned around in Buck’s hold and waved to the people waiting on the shore. He started windmilling his little arms and Buck sped up a bit, giving him the illusion of helping with his own rescue.
They reached the girl first, and she clutched on to Buck with a fierce grip, even as she gasped for breath while inadvertently gulping sea water. “Jared…”

Buck thanked his SEAL training as he steadily swam towards the shore with his passengers.

As soon as he reached a point where he could set his feet down, Buck stopped swimming and started walking through the chest deep water up to the shore. He hadn’t taken more than a few steps before the children’s father was there, pulling the boy into his own arms. A few steps further on and the boy’s mother was there, crying and hiccupping as she reached out for her son.

Buck herded the little family back safely to shore and had no sooner felt dry land under his feet than he was enveloped in hugs from at least four different people. Looking over their heads, Buck saw someone who wasn’t joining the hugfest. A woman was holding the older girl as she sobbed bitterly, collapsed on the ground…limbs trembling from the exertion of trying to fight the ocean for her brother.. Probably a grandparent, trying to console the heartbroken girl.

Buck moved carefully over to the pair. He leaned over and spoke quietly, hoping to ease some of the hurt. “You know, I was a little scamp when I was a kid. My poor older sister had charge of me most of the time, and I gave Maddie a terrible time. I climbed trees that were too tall. I rode my bike too fast. One time I tied on a cape and jumped off the back patio roof, convinced that if I just tried hard enough I could fly like Superman.”

The girl turned her head sideways onto her gramma’s shoulder and the tears slowed as she listened. “See, the thing is…I always felt safe with Maddie. I always knew I could do anything, with her there…even fly. He feels the same way about you. And yeah, it sucks that it means he’s gonna get into more trouble. But that’s just little brothers for you. And speaking for all little brothers I’m just gonna say it. Thank God for big sisters. We may scare the life out of you sometimes, but we love you and we trust you to always have our backs.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m a little brother too, Jeannie. And your poor Aunt Camille had a terrible time with me.” The father had obviously made his way over in time to catch at least some of Buck’s little speech.

“Truer words were never spoken. Your dad is responsible for at least half my grey hairs.” One of the women who had hugged Buck at the water’s edge had now joined the group.

The little boy, Jared apparently, giggled. “You don’t have any grey hairs Auntie. They’re all black”

“Why isn’t anybody mad at me? I LOST him!” Jeannie was obviously exhausted and overwhelmed, her question coming out as more of a wail than anything else.

“You listen to me, Jeannette Marie Duvall! You didn’t lose him. It was an accident, through and through. And what did you do, when your brother was swept away? You WENT AFTER HIM!” With all the authority of a true family matriarch the oldest woman in the group waded into the verbal fray.

She turned to look at Buck, and for a fleeting moment she looked familiar. “Thank you, young man. It’s little enough to offer, but would you join us for lunch? You saved us today, the least we can do is feed you.”

Buck wasn’t sure what to say as he looked around the group and saw hopeful faces looking back at him. “I’d be happy to share lunch with you. Thank you for inviting me.” Maddie’s lessons on manners, learned so long ago now, came to his rescue.

It was clearly the right answer, as smiles broke out all around. Even Jeannie managed a tired smile for him.

“Hey man” the father reached out and caught Buck’s arm as everyone began to move up the shore to the large blankets weighted down with the picnic lunch the family had brought. “I can’t tell you how much what you did means. I was up getting the last cooler out of the car when I heard Jade scream. I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast in my life…but I knew it wouldn’t be fast enough. Jade can’t swim, but she was going out after them anyway. I could have lost my whole family today. Jared, Jeannie, Jade and the baby. I can’t tell you how much…”

Buck thought about an eight year old boy, swept away from him in one terrible moment. “You don’t have to tell me. I get it.”

The man looked him in the eyes for a moment, and Buck supposed he recognized the truth of what Buck had said…he really did get it.

“Oh, hey, Jake Duvall. I’m thrilled to meet you. Apparently too thrilled to remember my manners.”

“Evan Buckley. And don’t worry about it. You had other things on your mind.”

Buck didn’t even think about his surfboard, abandoned in the water somewhere out beyond the breakers, until after the delicious lunch he shared with the Duvall family. Hoping he had enough in savings to cover the cost he approached the counter of the surf shack he’d used to rent his board.

“Oh, hey.”

The cheerful greeting puzzled him a bit, since he was obviously surfboardless, and he got ready to confess all and throw himself on the mercy of the rental counter.

“Your friend brought your board back. Said you’d be by later for the deposit. Let me just run that transaction back for you.” The smiling associate pressed a few buttons on her register.

“Um? Ok…thanks. Thanks a lot.” Buck took the receipt for the charge-back and noticed a number written on it. “Uh, I’m flattered but…”

The young woman blushed a little. “Oh it’s not for you. If you could pass it along to your friend? He’s really cute, and seemed so sweet.”

For a moment Buck just stood there, boggled at the certainty that this girl was angling for a date with … Nat?

“Well we’re pulling out as soon as I get back to the condo. I’m sure he’ll be sorry to have missed the opportunity.” Buck waved a small salute and headed out the door.

As he started up the Jeep Buck chuckled a little. With a mental ‘thanks’ to Nat for looking out for his bank account, he headed back to grab his duffle and turn in his key.

Time to get on with the next part of his life.

Chapter Text

Buck lounged on the sofa in his team’s ready room, reading a manual on IEDs. His team were lounging around the room, some on the battered old sofa with Buck, some over by the pool table, and a few in the more private nooks and crannies. Some took this opportunity to touch base with their loved ones while others just enjoyed their rare downtime.

“Hey Stag, Mama says to tell you ‘hi’ and that you’d better prepare yourself. Bianca’s current fascination is coral reefs. I’m gonna need a good supply of interesting facts for my next call home. Or I could just hand the phone over to you. I swear sometimes I think my little sister has forgotten which one of us is actually her brother.” Nico flopped into a chair and nearly sent it flying over backwards with the force of his landing.

Absent-mindedly reaching out to keep his partner from tumbling tail over tea kettle, Buck finished his page and looked up. Across the room Stick (so-called for his talent with the things – pool and escrima) was lining up a shot on the table, while talking to Mark (because he always hit his marks, his actual name was Riley).

“Man, she’s calm and collected and then between one breath and another she’s a raging harpy. By the time the baby gets here I’m going to have a permanent case of whiplash.” Stick’s wife was expecting their second child, and this time he was getting an upfront and personal view of the process having been deployed during the first pregnancy.

Buck watched him take his shot, and felt the Eye of Fate on his shoulder open it’s…well…it’s eye. Jörmungandr peeked up out of the side pocket and then ducked down just as the seven-ball rolled in.

Sitting up straight, Buck focused on Stick. An image rose in his mind of a child crying in confusion, and a telephone.

“Hey man, maybe you should give her a call. You know, just to let her know you’re thinking about her? That you’re worried too? Maybe that would help her feel less stressed? Or at least less alone.” Buck wasn’t sure how to convince his teammate to call home, and he couldn’t very well tell him the truth.

Or maybe he could. Stick was looking at him like he’d been airdropped from Mars.

“Seriously. You need to call home. Right now!” Buck wasn’t playing around anymore as the child’s cries got louder in his head.

“Ok, ok, keep your shirt on Oprah. I’ll call, I’ll call.” Stick was chuckling as he pulled out his phone, leaning up against the pool table as he dialed, putting the phone on speaker. Obviously planning to tease his teammate and his wife at the same time.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Suddenly the call connected, but the voice wasn’t his wife.

“Daddy?” A quavery little voice came hesitantly through the phone.

Stick stood straight up. “Sweetheart, why did you answer Mommy’s phone? You know you’re not supposed to do that unless it’s an emergency.”

“Mommy won’t wake up. I think it’s a ‘mergency. The 9-1-1 lady told me I was naughty to steal Mommy’s phone and told me if I called back she’d call the police. I don’t know how to call you.” A sniffle accompanied the little girl’s response.

Every man in the room was alert now, ready to move out. Twitch was cussing steadily under his breath as he grabbed his emergency medical bag. Lt. Stanley stood frozen by the door for a brief moment. Then he gave the signal and everyone started out of the room at a trot.

Stick was still on the phone with his little girl, reassuring her that help was on the way. The squad picked up speed, running to the vehicle lot. Buck and Mark piled into the transport truck and pulled Stick in behind them. Twitch jumped into the front passenger seat and Nico climbed behind the wheel. At the last minute Stanley jumped into the back with Buck and Mark, already on the phone to the gate.

Nico drove like his life depended on it. Or like a baby’s life depended on it. The gate swung open as he approached and one of the men on duty waved him on through.

“Thanks LT.” Tossed over his shoulder as he barreled through the gate and took a hard turn towards town. It was a busy afternoon, and the transport truck wasn’t as responsive as the stock cars he’d raced back home, but he kept the speed steady and fast using every trick he’d ever learned to slide in and out of traffic as he raced towards the little house with his teammate’s family inside.

“Belinda, can you tell me if your Mommy’s face is white or red?” Twitch was running through the standard questions hoping the four year old could understand things well enough to help out until they got there.

“Um, it’s really white and the bedspread is sticky. Mommy, wake up!”

“OK honey, can you find anything to put under your Mommy’s feet?” Even just a little might be enough.

Nico took another hard turn, jumping the curb and cutting off the corner.

“I could put the Baby’s bag under her feet. Is that OK Daddy?” Stick looked like he was ready to scream, but his voice was measured and even as he responded.

“Yes honey. The Baby would want to help Mommy too.” Buck reached out and put his hand on Stick’s shoulder, trying to brace him as the truck took the final turn into their neighborhood.

“EMSA should be just a few minutes behind us.” Lt. Stanley had obviously been busy on his phone as well. Sirens behind them indicated that Nico’s driving had caught the attention of the local police as well. They weren’t trying to stop the military vehicle, but they were obviously determined to be wherever the trouble was going down.

“When we get there, Twitch and Stick head straight in. Mark and Stag back them up. Mario and I will deal with the police and direct EMSA, if they need it.”

Nico slammed to a stop outside the house. Twitch and Stick hit the ground running. They didn’t even stop to unlock the door. One good kick and they barely had to slow down. Buck and Mark followed three counts behind.

Running down the hall and into the bedroom Buck was sadly unsurprised at the amount of blood. Having attended far too many of these calls in his first life he was aware of the dangers of childbirth in a way laymen weren’t. As Stick clutched his crying little girl and his wife’s hand, Twitch worked like a man possessed.

Something shimmered in the corner, and Nat stared sadly at Buck. No, it wasn’t supposed to go this way! The whole point of him being what he was was that he could change these things.

Suddenly the paramedics ran into the room, and Twitch was giving them a concise sitrep as they ran lines and set up the gurney. Stick refused to let go of his wife’s hand, until the paramedic assured him that he could ride along in the ambulance, but he couldn’t bring the child.

Nat suddenly smiled and gave Buck a thumb’s up, vanishing from view even as Stick looked wildly around. Locking eyes with Buck he spoke to the little girl.

“You remember Daddy’s friend, don’t you? Can you wait with him while I take care of Mommy?”

Buck gave a startled but confident nod, reaching out for the upset child. “Hey princess, how about we go to your room and get you cleaned up a little? Then you can pick out some books and maybe a friend or two to take up to the hospital to wait on Mommy and Daddy?”

Belinda obviously didn’t want to let go of her daddy, but she reluctantly allowed Buck to take her.

“Can I bring my present for Baby?” The innocent question left Buck floundering a little. While Nat’s thumb’s up seemed to indicate the mother would live, that didn’t necessarily mean the baby would.

“Maybe not right now princess. Let’s just focus on what you’ll want to do while we wait.” That felt like a safe dodge of the question.

Something hit Buck in the back of the head, and he turned around to come face to tail with a snake in a sweater…wrapped around the light fixture…dangling a set of keys.

Buck gratefully took the keys and then carried Belinda into her room to clean up and pack.

The five large men in BDUs took up a lot of space in the small waiting room to which a harried nurse had led them. Belinda sat coloring a picture in the middle of the group, and they guarded her like a tribe of overprotective dragons with one treasure.

Buck looked at the yellow squiggly blob with a red…something…protruding from one end. He probably shouldn’t ask but…

“So princess, what are you drawing?” Yeah, curiosity killed the cat, but Buck wasn’t a cat.

“It’s my snake friend.” Belinda reached for another crayon, sticking her tongue out as she carefully drew a little girl standing beside the snake.

“What snake friend, sweetheart? Where did you meet a snake?” Nico sat down next to the little girl to get a better look at the drawing.

Buck meanwhile was feeling a little uneasy. It couldn’t be, could it?

“He came and sat with me while we waited for Daddy to call me. He said his name was Jory, and he was mad at the 9-1-1 lady. He hissed at her. I told him that was naughty…and he did it AGAIN!” Belinda was clearly overcome with shock and awe at the snake’s level of sass.

Four of the five men in the room thought it was adorable, if a little strange that her invisible friend would be a snake. The fifth…well…he wondered just how invisible the friend actually was.

“You saw him, Mr. Evan. He brought you Daddy’s car keys.”

As Buck frantically cast around for something to say, an exhausted shaken man walked into the room. Stick went straight to his daughter and picked her up for a long hug. Everyone waited quietly, no one wanting to ask.

“It was an abruption. If we hadn’t gotten there when we did…she never would have made it to the hospital. Sarah’s going to be in the ICU for a couple of days until her blood numbers come up a bit. Then they’ll move her to a regular room in Maternity for a few days.”

Nico crossed himself quickly, kissed his thumb, and raised it up a bit. The rest of the men felt like it was safe to breathe, at least a little.

Belinda had no idea of questions that shouldn’t be asked. “Daddy, Mr. Evan told me not to bring my present for the new Baby. He said Baby might not be ready for it yet. Is Baby here yet? Cause if they are I need to go home and get my present so they’ll know I’m gonna be a good big sister.”

Stick sighed and it felt like the air went back out of the room. “Sweetheart, right now your little sister is in a special little box to help her stay warm. She has a lot of machines helping her right now. She wasn’t quite ready to be born, so she has a lot of growing to do. But you know what you could do? Some of the babies where she is have a bunch of cards and pictures taped to their boxes. I bet she’d love to look up and see a picture her big sister made.”

He looked up at Evan. “Little Evangeline Leigh already knows her big sister is awesome. She’s the one who called for help, and helped Mommy when she needed it.”

Belinda cheered. “I KNEW Baby was gonna be a girl! I knew it!”

Stick put her down and she ran over to the coffee table to grab her picture holding it up to her Daddy. “Here Daddy! Take this to Evie so she doesn’t have to be jealous of the other babies. It’s a picture of me and Jory while we waited for you to come!”

Twitch went down onto a chair like his strings had been cut. Mark pulled Stick into a shoulder hug and whispered something reverent under his breath. Buck…Buck wasn’t really sure what to do. There were too many ways he’d revealed himself, and he wasn’t sure how to smooth it all out.

A nurse stopped in the doorway, looking around. “Sir, they’re moving Mrs. Samuels now.”

“Thank you.” Stick turned to look at his teammates and his daughter. Picture in hand, he swallowed hard. “Big girl, I need to go back to Mommy now. I’m gonna need you to be a very good girl and stay with one of the guys until your Gramma and Grandpa can get here. Can you do that for me and Mommy?”

Belinda gave her Daddy’s knees one last hug and ran over to grab Buck’s hand. “Of course I can. Me and Mr. Evan will be just fine, won’t we?” Big blue eyes looked trustingly up at Buck.

He smiled down at the little girl. “We absolutely will.” Looking up at Stick he asked what seemed to him the obvious question. “You want me to keep her at yours? She’d probably be happier around her own things. And I do have your keys…and your car…and I don’t remember locking the door. Actually, I think you kicked your door in…”

Lt. Stanley broke in at that point. “The police did what they could. Put up ‘do not enter’ tape and everything…but we all need to head back to yours to sort things out. You just worry about Sarah and little Evangline. We’ll take care of the rest.”

After another round of hugs, Stick left with the patient nurse. The team headed back to their vehicles with a tired little girl and a collective feeling of relief.

One newly installed door, one newly delivered bed, four large pizzas, and one bedtime story later Buck softly pulled the bedroom door nearly shut while making sure the unicorn night light was properly glowing.

“She out?” Twitch melted out of the darkness of the hallway.

“Yeah. Today was a lot though, so I fully expect at least one nightmare. You guys don’t have to stay. I’ve got this.” Buck wasn’t ready for the discussion he knew was waiting in the living room.

Twitch just raised an eyebrow and gestured pointedly down the hall.

Sighing, Buck went as directed wondering if at the end of the evening he’d be in his own hospital room. The kind with the unbreakable glass windows and beds bolted into the floors.

They were all waiting. Mark and Nico on the small sofa, making it look even smaller. The LT was in the recliner, though he hadn’t actually reclined it. Twitch moved past him and pulled one of the kitchen chairs around to straddle backwards. Buck dropped down into the remaining armchair warily. This had the potential to go very badly very quickly.

“All right. We’re all here. This is private space. We’re setting aside rank for the time being. So start talking Evan Buckley. What the Hell was that?” Stanley's calm, quiet voice belied the intensity of his questions.

“Uh…” Buck honestly didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t tell them everything. He felt a definite push away from that. But he had to say something…

“Look, every so often I just get these…nudges? And I know I need to pay attention to them. Stick was talking about his wife and the pregnancy and I just … felt a nudge. I knew he needed to call home. I knew something bad was going to happen if he didn’t. I tried to coax him into it subtly, and he just thought I was nuts. So I had to be direct. There wasn’t time to keep dancing around it.”

“Evan…” the voice was coming from the phone in the center of the coffee table. Stick must be calling in from Sarah’s cubicle. “Evan, no one is mad. You saved my family today. And I will never forget that. I wasn’t going to call. I thought you were just being all Millennial and touchy-feely. If you hadn’t pushed it…so no apologies needed man. We just ….”

“We’re your team Buckley. We just want to understand. And we need to know that you’re not going to ‘dance around it’ if it’s just us. We’ll believe you. We’ll listen. Just be straight with us. We’ve got your back. You’re safe with us.” Stanley stood from the recliner and clapped Buck on the shoulder as he moved out. “Be discreet, but be as direct with me as you can. That’s all I ask.”

“It doesn’t happen often LT. I don’t get nudges about every tragedy or terrible thing out there. Just sometimes. I don’t want people to be disappointed when bad things still happen and I was as clueless as everyone else.” Buck’s greatest fear was letting down his team, and they were getting ready to cycle into a deployment that was surely guaranteed to involve a lot of terrible, most of which he wouldn’t be able to do anything about.

“It’s fine Buckley. Just let us know when you get the nudge. We’ll act accordingly. And no judgement for the nudges you don’t get. Now anybody going back to base with me better get off their butts and get out to the truck.”

Mark and NIco got up off the sofa and headed for the door, stopping to give Buck noogies on the way past. Twitch stayed where he was for a moment, then stood and returned the chair to the kitchen.

Buck went quietly back down the hallway and peeked into Belinda’s room. He was a little surprised she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He saw movement on the bed and stepped further into the room to pull the covers back up. He stopped abruptly when he saw the snake looking at him from beside the little girl. Apparently he wasn’t the only one keeping watch tonight.

Turning around to leave he saw Twitch leaning in the doorway. Hoping it had been too dark for him to see the snake, Buck moved out of the room and on down the hallway. He was planning on sleeping in the recliner tonight, not on his buddy’s brand-new bed.

“A snake is a powerful spirit guide, Buckley. Among my grandfather’s people there are … I guess you’d call them healers. Though not really. The elders call them listeners. I don’t really understand it all…I was raised more white than anything else. But I remember my grandfather talking about the listener and his spirit guide. And I met him once. HIs spirit guide was a weasel of some sort. I didn’t know my grandfather couldn’t see him, so when I asked if I could pet him it was quite a surprise to both of them.” That was more than Twitch had said at one time in the entire sixteen months Buck had known him.

“I’ll take the pull-out. You take the recliner. If she needs us in the night, we’ll both be right here.” Apparently that was the end of the matter.

Buck wasn’t too sure the Midgard serpent qualified as a snake spirit guide, but he wasn’t going to rock that boat. If Twitch was cool with the explanation he was gonna take it for the win and call it good. He yawned as he got comfortable in the recliner.

He wondered if Belinda liked blueberry pancakes.

Chapter Text

It was cold. No. No, it was freezing.

Buck had been prepared for his first deployment to take him to sand, to jungles, maybe even to a diplomatic arena.

He hadn’t expected this. He’d trained for it of course. SEALs were trained to operate in all conditions effectively and efficiently.

But…

When the call for assistance had come in, Buck’s team had been doing some training in the Pacific and waiting for their final deployment orders to come through. From there it was a mad scramble to Christchurch and then a turbulent flight over the Southern Ocean to a sheltered air strip on the eastern side of the continent.

A camp full of geologists and climatologists had pushed it a little too much. Generally interior research camps were only maintained from October through March. At least temporary ones like this one.

But these really smart people had been really dumb. They stayed a few extra days, and then got trapped by the first of the winter storms. Their shelters weren’t designed to stand up to the rapidly falling temperatures, and their last transmission had been two days ago. They were short on food and weren’t sure how long the heat would hold up. The smaller double tents had been abandoned and all fourteen of them were holed up in the mess hall/labs building…a semi-permanent structure with an actual heating system.

Apparently somebody had a premium data plan, because even with the short wave radio useless in the storm, messages were still getting through.

There was only going to be a short window for the rescue to take place. One brief pause in the storms long enough to give them a chance to reach the camp and bring the scientists back.

They had four snowmobiles. Each could carry four people in a pinch. They weren’t sure what to expect from the vehicles at the camp. If they could get one or two of them running and someone there was qualified to drive them it would be a lot easier to get everybody back. But they couldn’t plan for that so they’d spent a brief time at the staging area building sturdy travois that the snowmobiles could drag in a pinch.

It would have to be enough.

Lt. Stanley had insisted on Buck being present during the rapid planning and information session, making use of both his prodigious memory and any possible nudges he might get. No messages from Fate, but he sure knew a lot about the geography of Eastern Antarctica now.

“Your men will need to leave their weapons here. Military actions aren’t permitted in Antarctica.” The middle management type that was trying to interrupt the mission briefing wound up taking a step backwards as Stanley and Buck both looked at him with completely unimpressed glares.

“Sir, you sent out a call for help. We’re what you got. We’re not invading your territory. We’re not engaging in military activities. We absolutely recognize that this mission would be more appropriate for the Coasties…but those scientists don’t have time to wait until a cutter could get out here. Stop creating problems and let us do our job.”

The two men moved out of the briefing room and back to the equipment storage area where the rest of the team was getting the necessary gear together.

“Anything Nudge?” Lt. Stanley muttered under his breath.

“Nope” Short and sweet. Buck focused on the mission, but he didn’t feel any pokes and there wasn’t a snake anywhere in anyone’s sight…not even his.

“Ok men. Gear up. You’re going to try to get to these mountains here. But you’ll need to wait to round the bluff until 0700. At that point the storms should be dying down slowly. Get in, get the scientists, and get out…as fast as you safely can. You’ll have 72 hours. Then the window closes. You make sure you’re back here behind these mountains before that happens. Questions?” Lt. Stanley looked around at the four men. None of them spoke.

“Alright then. Move out.”

Buck boarded his snowmobile and took his place in the single file line. The team would switch leaders every couple of hours to cut down on fatigue. For now he was in the third position, with Twitch behind him and Mark and Mario (and wasn’t Nico glad to be able to tell his mama his new callsign) out ahead.

Apart from the cold, the trip to the small mountain range was not that bad. Unlike Alaska where Buck had done his cold weather training, Antarctica had no real trees. Not even scrub. It was ice and rock and wind. Brutal but at least they weren’t getting whipped in the face by tree branches.

They made good time and reached their mark almost an hour ahead of schedule. They spent the time checking their ropes and equipment and keeping their engines from freezing up. Eventually it was time to round the bluff.

Buck was in the lead as they started around the edge of the mountains.

They had cycled through positions twice when Mark as the senior team member suggested stopping for a rest break. Immediately Buck felt the Eye begin to open.

“Negative on the break. We need to move on.” Knowing that their comms were being monitored back at base Buck was cautious but firm.

“Understood.” No discussion, no argument. Buck was so thankful for his teammates' trust in him, even when he couldn’t explain.

Pushing on through the long day the four men stopped only long enough to hydrate and eat.

As they came over the last rise and looked down on the camp, all four were horrified to see that the main building was half-way out over a crevasse that had apparently opened up. Perhaps the unusual use of the heating system had caused a melt-through, or perhaps it was just bad luck. Almost a third of the building was gone, and Buck could only hope they’d had enough warning to get everyone out of that part before it went. There would be no retrieving anything from the bottom of the crevasse.

The rest of the building was exposed, with the remains of what looked like a kitchen facing out over the crevasse. They would have to move fast to save anyone who was left in the remaining part of the building. If they had stopped to rest, they wouldn’t have found anything but a large crack in the ground. At least now they still had a chance.

Buck parked his snowmobile about twenty feet from the shattered building and cautiously approached, trying to disturb the ground as little as possible. His teammates rapidly followed suit, approaching the door in the intact part of the prefab.

As they approached, the door opened and a man who looked to be in his mid-forties peered out at them. Seeing the snowmobiles, he quickly opened the door wide and spoke urgently to someone behind him. Making a gesture to stay he slowly began ushering the other personnel out, each walking carefully and precisely towards the SEALs, not making any abrupt or violent movements that might see the building fall further into the crevasse.

The first person reached Buck and clutched on with a grip that reminded him of little Jeannie Duvall surfacing in front of him a world away. “Hey, hey…you're safe now. Move slowly over to one of the snowmobiles. We need three people to each machine.”

As the line of survivors made its slow way over, Buck counted them. Ten people had made their way over, when the people stopped moving out of the building. The man organizing the exodus moved out of sight, coming out with a small woman in his arms. She was obviously unconscious and one leg looked to be broken. Twitch moved up and met the two, looking her over and directing him to one of the travois.

“I guess it’s a good thing we cobbled those things together after all. We hadn’t really planned on having to rescue folks who couldn’t hold on for themselves.” Mario came up to help position the woman safely and get her strapped in.

“Where are the remaining members of your team?” Mark inquired of the man who seemed to have taken charge of the group of scientists. “Can they walk or do we need to go get them?”

“Elias is trapped. When the building tore away, our industrial centrifuge fell over. He’s willing to amputate if necessary to get out. We just don’t have the equipment to do that safely. We tried to move the centrifuge, but every time we did the building creaked. We were afraid the whole thing would go.”

Twitch nodded and grabbed his pack heading carefully over the snow towards the open door.

“Mitchell…didn’t make it out. He went over the edge. We’ve been afraid to get too close.”

The Eye opened completely. Buck looked toward the crevasse in complete disbelief. How could someone have survived that, and how would he reach them? Looking out across the icepack, Buck was unsurprised to catch a glimpse of a cheerful yellow sweater.

With a sigh he grabbed his ropes and harness and started towards the crevasse. “Boy I bet you’re glad of that sweater now.” Buck lay down on his stomach and looked over the edge. He found himself staring down at a man staring up at him.

“Oh. Hello there. You’re a lot prettier than I expected you to be.” Buck just looked down at the guy, obviously out of his head down there. “Much less hoody and scythe-y than I expected. More boy-next-door-y.”

Yeah, he was definitely going to be on concussion watch…once Buck figured out how to get him up to the surface. The small ledge he’d been fortunate enough to land on could give way at any minute.

About six feet away Mark approached the edge of the crevasse, laying down and creeping the last few feet just like Buck had. Looking over the edge he looked across at Buck.

“Well shit.” With only a four man team, there was no dedicated climbing specialist available. They all had some training, but not to the precision level this rescue would require.

“OK, I’ll go down. You stay up here and handle my rope…keep it from catching on anything.” As any decent leader would, Mark was prepared to take the risk for himself.

“Nope. Sorry, we’re going to reverse those positions.” Buck knew his training in rope rescue would give them all the best chance of getting home. But he also didn’t have the certifications at this point in time to back up his skills. If Mark dug in, there was no way for Buck to prove he should be the one to go.

“This a snake thing?” The code the team had unofficially put together to let Buck work his nudges into their process.

“Oh, definitely.” Buck could still see the snake, peering over the edge hissing at Mitchell like he was lecturing him for being a dumbass.

“Man I always wanted a snake.” Mitchell was still lost in his concussion induced daze, smiling up at the hissing snake with a stupid grin. “Here snakey snakey snakey.”

Jörmungandr slowly turned his head and gave Buck a “What the fuck?” look. Buck didn’t blame the snake one bit.

“Sorry Bud, sometimes they get like that. It’s just the combination of adrenaline, hypothermia, and concussion.” Setting his anchor pitons securely and trusting his teammate to have his back, Buck dropped over the edge.

Getting Mitchell into the harness turned out to be much easier than getting him out of it. He had glomped on to Buck as soon as he got into range, and refused to let go of his knight in insulated armor. Buck just shrugged at Mark and the two SEALs carefully made their way away from the edge of the crevasse and back towards the snowmobiles.

Twitch came trotting up as soon as they reached the mini- staging area. “Here, let’s get him over on the travois. We’ll start with that and if he develops too much nausea we’ll reassess.”

Mitchell meanwhile was still determinedly hanging on to Buck and muttering about how pretty he was. “It’s probably a good thing no one knows how hot you are. Wouldn’t want people TRYING to meet you. Don’t worry. It’ll be our little secret.” With a wink and a final grope, Mitchel finally let go and allowed himself to be strapped in.

Buck moved over towards the chief scientist, checking on the other travois passengers as he went. Something in his stomach dropped when he saw the empty pant leg on one of the passengers. He felt an echo of the pain and smelled the gasoline, but managed to stop himself from going into a full-on flashback. Thank you Dr. Copeland.

“Don’t worry about it. I knew when they couldn’t shift the weight of the centrifuge without bringing the building down that there was only one way out for me. I told them then to amputate, but our medic is the one over there with the head injury telling you how pretty you are.” The man smiled wryly. “On the whole, I’m glad you guys got here when you did. I was about to chew the damn thing off myself.”

Buck nodded in understanding and prepared to move on.

“And listen, Mitch doesn’t mean anything bad. He’s a great guy, and usually really careful with coming on to guys. He’s just hurt right now and I gotta say…I don’t swing that way myself, but he ain’t wrong.”

Blushing slightly, Buck reassured the man that he wasn’t offended by his friend. “Hey, Elias, right? Mitchell didn’t upset me. Except for the obvious injuries, which concern me of course. Everybody knows concussions can rock your world. Combine that with the ‘Holy Crap I’m Still Alive’ factor and …well…let’s just say he’s not the first person to get a little messed up. It’s all good.”

Elias relaxed a little. “Great, thanks man. I just don’t want to see him get in trouble for what he can’t help saying right now. Military doesn’t really have the greatest reputation when it comes to that kind of thing.”

“Well, DADT was repealed and most of us are coping better with it than we used to. My team didn’t even blink when I wore a Pride shirt back on to base after liberty last June. Just told me that orange really wasn’t my color and next time keep it away from my face if I didn’t want to look like I was in the final stages of jaundice.” Chuckling a little at the memory of his Lt.’s dry comment Buck moved on over to meet with Mark.

“What do you think, Nudge? Their vehicles went down when the first part of the building crashed. One way or another it’s us with four snowmobiles and three travois. The travois will slow us down, but the three strapped in couldn’t hold on tight enough to pack us four to a machine. How’s our time looking?” Mark and Mario consulted with Buck as Twitch passed out water bottles and packages of trail mix and beef jerky to the grateful scientists.

“We’re only 28 hours in since we didn’t stop to rest last night. But if we don’t get away from the camp, we could go down with the last of it. Not nudging, just logic.” Buck was personally sure the unstable terrain would take the remainder of the building sometime in the next hour. They definitely needed to get out of here.

“OK, let’s get everybody loaded up and get on the way.” Mark gave the order to move out as he crossed to his own snowmobile, checking on the injured woman in the travois behind it..

“Um, I tried to organize us by size. Was that right?” The lead scientist was obviously still trying to care for his people to the best of his ability. He was just totally out of his element…no pun intended.

“Not really. We need to divide up more by weight.” Mario quickly divided up the passengers to the available vehicles. South Georgia hadn’t exactly been overrun with snowmobiles, but if it had an engine Mario could make it run and drive it. “The snowmobile without a travois should lead the way. Less weight and more maneuverability if anything goes down. I’ll drive that one.”

No one was going to argue with him. They just loaded up and headed out. Buck wound up with two riders behind him. It was tight, but not as bad as it could have been. They all had room to breathe anyway.

They had just made the top of the rise surrounding the camp when a deep groan sounded. The reverberations bounced off the encircling slope, and then a sharp, loud crack sounded. The remnants of the building collapsed into the spreading rift, which now looked like a gash across the ice sheet.

One of Twitch’s passengers abruptly leaned over and puked on the ground. The extremely close shave left most of the scientists silent and numb. With a nod to his teammates behind him Mario started off over the ridge.

“We’re going to have to stop.” Twitch had pulled up to Buck’s snowmobile as they paused for a quick water and snack break. “Not just a little one like this, but a real break. They’re doing their best, but they’re not SEALs. They’re exhausted, hurt, scared people who know exactly how lucky they are to be alive. They’re not going to ask for a rest. But they need one. We’re going to have people start falling off if we don’t stop for a few hours.”

Buck looked over at the scientists, most of them sitting on the ground while they ate and drank. He looked up at the sky and focused on the weather and terrain. His shoulder ached, but there was no burn. The Eye wasn’t opening. Fate’s silence didn’t mean Buck could take anything for granted of course. The SEALs had trained him well for survival in inhospitable conditions.

Thing was, in Alaska it was easier to get shelter from the wind. The wind across the Antarctic ice sheet was relentless this time of year. And storms were lurking. They were at nearly 39 hours now. Headway was harder to come by with the snowmobiles more heavily loaded and three of them dragging significant weight that they didn’t want damaged.

Buck thought hard about the maps he had seen in the briefing. There was a possibility…

“If we can get everybody just a little further, there’s a small ridgeline. It’s not much, but it would give us something between us and the wind anyway. We wouldn’t have to make it a cold camp either. Think everyone can make it another half hour?” The scientists weren’t the only ones running on fumes. The SEALs were now clocking 42 hours since landing, with only minimal breaks.

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s get everyone mounted up. Hopefully the promise of rest will get them the rest of the way.” Buck knew making for the ridge would take them out of their way, but it wasn’t far. And if they didn’t all get some rest soon, they wouldn’t make it around the big bluff in time anyway.

With the small ridgeline to shelter the camp, the SEALs efficiently set up four small thermal tents. It would be a tight fit, but no one was complaining about sharing body heat. Twitch kept the three with the most concerning injuries with him, while the others each gathered a small group and curled up together in a tent like puppies. Well, like puppies being guarded by watchful wolves. Even in this place, where no natural predators existed and the only other people around were miles away, the SEALs never totally relaxed. They slept in shifts, communicating quietly over comms whose turn it was to sleep. In the last two hours of their rest break, Buck crept into Twitch’s tent to watch the injured while the medic slept.

After six hours of downtime, the SEALs were ready to get back on the trail. A small fire was lit…just enough to warm up some water for coffee. No one complained about the grounds. It was warm and that was good enough. Breaking the small camp down quickly, the group was soon back on the trail.

Twitch was very concerned about the woman with the head injury. She had yet to fully wake up, only rousing into a sort of twilight slumber where she spoke to ghosts no one else could see in a language none of them knew. As the SEALs looked at each other, they all understood it wasn’t just the storm they were racing now.

They moved as fast as they dared, pushing the snowmobiles for just a small bit of extra speed. The bluff rose up in front of them and they realized their bivouac detour had left them slightly more off course than they had thought. Shifting south, they began to correct their course, feeling the wind begin to pick up speed and buffet them from multiple directions instead of the steady blow it had been. Time was running out.

They rounded the bluff as the storm howled behind them. Those with imagination thought it sounded disappointed to have been cheated of its prey. The rest just shuddered, and held on tighter to the person in front of them as they pressed on towards the safety of the small airstrip and supply depot and the cargo plane waiting to take them on to Christchurch.

Chapter Text

Buck had barely dragged himself back to Little Creek from his advanced climbing course (thanks Lt. Stanley). He felt like he’d been careening wildly from one thing to another for the past four weeks, which…fair.

Stick was still out, and would probably try to shift to a support posting. He’d been talking to the team about it, and they all understood. His girls needed him. Evie was slowly gaining weight, but Sarah was having a hard time and Belinda was a precocious handful. They needed him here.

Buck’s team needed him somewhere. They were moved on to their deployment site while he was midway through his training. Now he had 48 hours of liberty before he had to report for transfer overseas to join them, and he planned to spend at least twenty-four of them asleep.

Usually Buck ate in the mess, but tonight he just wasn’t feeling it. He wanted tacos, real tacos. Like from a food truck parked on a corner tacos.

That meant a shower and change of clothes. If he ate in the mess, he wouldn’t need to do either of those things. But he REALLY wanted tacos.

Dang it!

Dragging himself up off the couch he’d face planted on Buck headed for his small bathroom.

Those tacos better be awesome.

The tacos were awesome. Buck happily chewed as he walked. Apparently there was a festival going on in town. His usual taco truck had been joined by three other trucks, and booths and activities lined the large parking lot. One booth was selling funnel cakes, and Buck was now completely covered in powdered sugar.

He looked at the colorful displays, stopped to watch some dancers, and then felt the familiar surge of adrenaline as he caught sight of a well-known snake. Buck followed as Jörmungandr wound his way between the pedestrians and festivalgoers, until he came to a colorful tent. The darn snake slithered right under the tent flap, so in Buck went, hoping he wasn’t about to scare the socks off someone.

An old woman was sitting on a low seat to one side of the tent busily crocheting something. Just as Buck registered that, a young man came in through the curtain at the back of the tent carrying three very familiar mugs of coffee.

“Hey! It’s great to see you guys. I can’t tell you how much it meant for you to come to my graduation. How long can you stay? Do you need me to help with something big? You’re not going to tell me that I’m being cancelled or something are you? I’m really trying to be subtle, it’s just not my natural talent.” Buck happily bounded over for a hug from Nat and then dropped down in front of Atropos. “What are you making this time?”

“We’re glad to see you too, and she won’t tell us what she’s making. She says it’s a surprise.” Nat pouted up at Atropos from where he lounged on the floor beside Buck. “Oh, by the way, you’re welcome for my retrieving your surfboard. It seemed like the least I should do. And the young woman was very accommodating.”

Buck almost laughed himself silly. “Did you see that? She was willing to be very accommodating. That’s what you get for looking like you’ve just escaped from BTS.”

Nat flashed him a grin with a hint of jackal in it. And threw up a hand sign Buck didn’t recognize, but figured he could guess the meaning of. Who knew ancient Egypt had a version of flipping the bird?

“Alright BOYS, enough of that now.” Atropos sent a particularly pointed look in Nat’s direction. “And it’s a bunting. I thought I would surprise you with it Evan.”

“Hey thanks, I know Evie will love it.” It looked like a cozy kind of sack, and Buck could imagine little Evie snuggling into it.

“Oh it’s not for Evangeline. Nat and I sent a nice check and a big box of diapers for when she comes home.” Atropos put her crochet away for the time being and took one of the coffee mugs from Nat. Once again the three mint chocolate spoons appeared, and the trio stirred their coffee in congenial silence.

“Now Evan, I really just wanted to check in with you. Are you pleased with the direction your choice is taking you? Are you learning the things you wanted to learn?” Atropos looked at Buck with her calm, ageless face on.

Nat looked over at Buck, obviously interested in the answer too.

“I’m pretty pleased with my choice. It hasn’t been an easy road, but I like feeling like I’m part of something important…something that matters. I think that was the first thing that really attracted me to firefighting. And the Navy spent six whole months teaching me how to fit in with a team…stuff I wish I’d known the first time around.” Buck thought of the way he’d twisted himself into a pretzel to fit into the 118 at first.

When he started at the 118 he had been a straight man and target for Chimney’s jokes, a bratty little punk to Hen’s big sister, a reckless son for Bobby, all while being a competent team mate as soon as the sirens blew. It’s no wonder he lost himself a little, playing the chameleon for everyone else. And somehow he just never quite managed to break out of those roles.

“And now you have had the experience of having a team who trusts you, even when it would make more sense not to. And you have seen a bit of how normal families work…I’m sure you’ve been thinking about it.” Atropos had picked up her crochet again and was working steadily away.

"I spent my last liberty with the Antonelli's, so I got a really close-up look at an Italian family anyway. Did you know, they all just...like each other. I mean, they love each other sure. But they actually LIKE each other. And me, for some reason. Bianca wanted to watch documentaries with me and loved all my weird facts. Constanza wanted me to braid her hair and go over her math homework and take her to the Mall because her mother told her thirteen was too young to go alone and she needed to take "one of the boys" with her. Julia wanted me to threaten her ex-boyfriend when he wouldn't take no for an answer and teach her how to dance. And Gianna...kissed me. And then said 'Well damn' because it was like kissing her brother, so she asked me to help her set up her profile on a dating app and insisted on talking about her two big SEAL brothers. I don't think she'll get a single swipe like that, but ...they just LIKE each other. They spend time together when they don't even have to."

It all just came pouring out. "And the Duvall's. Jared asked me to come to his tee-ball game. I didn't even know they had a ball game for kids that young. Even with the tee, most of them couldn't hit the ball in three tries. But everybody cheered anyway. And Jeannie was in her school play and sent me the link to see it since I couldn't get liberty to attend that day. And she was the most kick-ass princess. She didn't wait for the prince to come save her; she made friends with the dragon and drove off the evil knight herself. It was great!"

"I'm Stick's go-to babysitter for Belinda now, and he asked me to be Evangeline Leigh's godfather. I feel stupid because I didn't even realize she was named after me and Twitch until I was standing in dress blues in the front of the synagogue promising to be her shelter and things like that. And I have little kid art projects all over my fridge and a shelf of books in my bookcase just for Belinda."

All these families were so different from the silence he grew up in. Maddie had loved him, or at least he had thought she did. Maybe she did, or maybe she did once and would again? It was just really confusing.

"Families look different all over the world Evan. One isn't more right than another. But real families build each other up. They don't tear each other down." Atropos had her ageless face on again and was looking deep into his soul.

“Can I ask? Have I made a real difference? Am I being helpful to you? Or is it something I’m not supposed to know?” Buck couldn’t help the curiosity, but he was willing to take ‘no’ for an answer if that was the answer he was given.

Atropos and Nat exchanged a speaking look.

“Jared drowned. Jeannette blamed herself and never got over it. Self-medicated herself into the grave in her late teens. The stress caused Jade to miscarry, and she became addicted to painkillers in the aftermath. Jacob would die alone of alcohol poisoning in his fifties. By preventing Jared’s death you saved the entire family.” Nat recited the litany of horror in a measured tone, the Jackal’s head slowly overtaking the young face.

“Sarah Samuels died of hypovolemic shock in her bed. She never woke up. Evangeline never lived at all. Steven gave Belinda to her grandparents and got himself killed on his next deployment.” The list of tragedies just kept getting longer. “Oh, and a 9-1-1 dispatcher kept her job.”

Yeah, Lt. Stanley had gotten all up in that business. If EMSA had been called to respond to Belinda’s first call, well considering Mario’s driving it might have been a dead heat. But those few minutes could have counted. His LT had personally gone down to dispatch and had a word.

“Ten of the fourteen scientists you rescued died or suffered career-ending injuries. The discoveries they will make will save millions of lives in the next fifty years. Dr. Mitchell O’Rourke will be known as the botanist who discovered a lichen that can produce fireproof insulation for everything from houses to space shuttles without the toxic dangers of the current materials.” Buck had to grin at the thought of the rambling man convinced he’d met death, but pleasantly surprised by his looks.

“But Evan, your impact is far greater than just the people I nudge you towards. You have made many small changes…nearly unnoticeable but vitally important. One of those changes is waiting for you back at the base.” Atropos weaved the last end of her yarn into her creation and handed it to Buck. “You’ll need this.”

Buck stared down at the baby bunting in confusion. “Um…I don’t have a baby…and I’m not gonna have a baby any time soon…I’m careful, and lately very celibate.”

Atropos just smiled mysteriously and gave him a long hug. “You’ll see. Now get on with you, we all have places to be and things to do.”

“Yeah, sure.” Buck still sounded puzzled as Nat (with no Jackal in sight) buried him in another enthusiastic hug. Buck had the distinct impression that he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been hugged enough as a child.

Wandering out of the tent with the bunting in hand, Buck made his way back to his Jeep. As he was pulling out to leave and head back to base, Buck passed a sign that said “Thank you for visiting the Festival of Fate! Come again next year!”

He certainly planned on it.

Checking in through the gate Buck was dreaming of his bed. He’d enjoyed the festival, and the time with his friends, but now he was exhausted and ready to crash into slumber for a good long time.

He was surprised when instead of waving him in after checking his ID the gate personnel indicated he needed to wait. After a conversation with the man in the booth the security officer told Buck to check in at the admin building before going to quarters.

Wondering what fresh hell was getting ready to land in his lap Buck did as directed, pulling up to the building that even at this late hour was lit up with people coming and going on business.

Getting out of the car Buck jogged up the steps and showed his ID at the check-in desk. He was directed down the hall and into an office he’d never been in before, the Captain rising from behind his desk to meet him.

“Petty Officer Buckley, I’m sorry to disturb your evening. You should have been notified when you checked in earlier this afternoon, but somehow a message went astray. I need you to confirm some information and then we need to make some decisions.”

“Yes, sir. How can I help?” Buck was starting to get worried. He hadn’t done anything to warrant being pulled in to admin like this. He thought of Atropos’ gift, still sitting in the front seat of the Jeep. Surely some random woman wasn’t getting ready to accuse him of fathering her child? As he’d told the goddess herself, Buck was careful…and he certainly wasn’t the hormonal kid he’d been at this age the first time around.

Captain Maxwell picked up a paper from his desk and handed it to Buck. “Can you identify this woman?”

Buck looked at the printout of a Pennsylvania driver’s license and felt his heart sink even as his pulse sped up.

“Has something happened to my sister, sir?” Had he killed her? Had something Buck changed meant that Maddie didn’t survive?

“So you do confirm that this woman is your sister?” The question was pressed, and Buck realized he hadn’t exactly answered his superior’s question.

“Yes, this is Maddie…my older sister. What’s happened to her?” Terror was starting to climb up Buck’s throat and he knew his breathing was picking up. He’d sent Maddie a postcard when he graduated and again when he was stationed at Little Creek, but he hadn’t tried to contact her directly.

The Captain put the paper back into its folder (Maddie had a folder!) and gestured for Buck to follow him as he moved out into the hallway.

“Ms. Buckley showed up at the gate three days ago. She asked for you, and was directed here. On being told you were not currently on base, she became … distressed.” They were moving in the direction of the on-base infirmary and Buck was sure this wasn’t going to be good.

“Captain, is my sister hurt?” Buck knew Maddie had lied to him about the length of the abuse, but he hadn’t seen or spoken directly to her in almost two years from this life’s perspective.

“Petty Officer Buckley, I’m going to need you to be VERY calm before we go in there. So if you need to yell, or hit something, you keep it for later. Do you understand?” Captain Maxwell’s clear order to control himself definitely indicated that there was something worth being upset about.

“Yes, sir.” Buck had more experience at swallowing his emotional reactions than the Captain could possibly imagine.

He had this.

“Your sister has extensive injuries consistent with a severe beating, which she says she received at her husband’s hands. She says you had no idea of the abuse since she’d cut contact with you when her husband threatened your life. Right now she is stable, but the medical staff says she must stay as calm as possible. While she tried to shield her abdomen, she wasn’t entirely successful and her pregnancy is fragile as a result. Any great upset might require her to be transferred to an actual hospital and could be fatal to the child.”

Ok, he didn’t have this.

Maddie hadn’t ever mentioned a pregnancy and had behaved as though Jee-Yun was her first child. Had that monster taken a child from her? Was that the root of Maddie’s inability to bond with Jee-Yun? Guilt over being unable to protect this first child?

“Sir, I’m going to need to go out to my vehicle for just a moment.” He hoped the Captain gave him a moment.

“Go. Scream if you need to, get it out, and get back here quickly.” Buck didn’t waste time, moving out the doors and into the parking area. He wanted to scream, and shout, and rage…but that would come later. Right now he had something more important to do.

Reaching his Jeep he unlocked it and retrieved Atropos’ gift from the front seat. Looking down at the small bunting, imagining a child, he made a decision that didn’t shock him nearly as much as he thought it should. His family would never be safe, so long as Doug Kendall was alive. So he needed to not be.

In the window of his Jeep a reflection moved behind him. He looked closer and distinguished the familiar Jackal’s head. Turning around he saw nothing but the almost empty parking lot.

Standing outside the infirmary doors, Buck took hold of his temper with both hands. He started to put on his goofy mask, and then paused. This was his chance to reconnect with his sister. He wasn’t going to hide who he was. She deserved to know all of him, and he deserved to have all of him known. Maybe if she’d seen the whole of him, she could have respected him as an adult instead of falling back into her pseudo-parent role. Maddie should never have had to raise him, and he was so grateful she did…but she never really saw him as grown-up.

Taking a deep breath, He pushed open the doors and quietly ID’d himself to the charge officer at the desk. Captain Maxwell had obviously alerted them to his arrival and they had been expecting him. The infirmary had a separate hallway for short term stays, and Buck wasn’t surprised to be led to one of those small rooms.

He had to take another moment to breathe when he saw the woman in the single bed. She looked so small, lying there. Her bruises were mostly beginning to fade to yellow-green, but they were all over her face and arms. She must have had a broken nose, because both her eyes were still shadowed by deep purple bruising. A bandaged place on one side of her head probably indicated a fistful of hair torn out and she had stitches in multiple places.

Maddie’s left arm was in a soft cast and her right wrist was splinted as well. Buck had a sudden image of Maddie, curled up on the floor as tight as possible with both arms wrapped protectively around the small baby bump as Doug kicked at her viciously. How had she even managed to get from Pennsylvania to Virginia in this condition?

She opened her eyes then, and began to tense. Buck suddenly realized that she couldn’t really see him standing in the doorway with the darkened hall behind him, so he slowly moved forward into the room.

“Hey Mads, long time no see.” Remembering the last time he’d spoken those words to his sister, from one side of a glass wall at the Women’s Correctional Institute, Buck almost hyperventilated. But this was a younger Maddie, still sane, still fighting, and he would do everything in his power to keep her that way.

“Evan? Oh my God! Evan!” Maddie began to cry, trying to sit further up in the bed.

“Shh, shhh Maddie. It’s ok, I’m here… You did so good, but you have to stay calm. Come on, breathe with me.” Buck carefully measured his breathing so she could follow, and gradually she calmed. “I’m so proud of you Maddie. I love you so much.”

Maddie leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Buck as well as she could. “I knew if I could just make it to the base…the whole way, I knew if I could just make it here we would be safe.”

“Absolutely.” The voice was unexpected, as Buck hadn’t even realized that Captain Maxwell had followed him in. “You are absolutely safe here. You are Petty Officer Buckley’s family, so you are ours and we will protect you. I’ve already made arrangements to move Buckley into family quarters so you will have a safe space to recover. I’ve also contacted Legal about initiating divorce proceedings. They’ll meet with you whenever you’re ready.”

While Buck intended that Legal shouldn’t be necessary, it was good to know the Navy had his back. Looking down at his sister, he saw that some of the tension had bled out. Apparently her belief had led her to the base, and now being reassured that she could stay was just what she needed.

“Thank you. When I got Evan’s postcard telling me he’d enlisted I was worried sick. But so proud of him. And when he made it through SEALs training, I knew he could take care of himself. And when Doug was…I suddenly realized that he could take care of me too. At least for a little while. Just while I sort things out. I’m not going to take advantage of you Evan, but oh. I’m so proud of you, little brother.” She snuggled in close, and suddenly noticed the fluffy thing clutched between them. “What’s this?”

Buck looked down at the bunting and smiled as he handed it to his sister. “I went off-base tonight in search of tacos. I found a street festival and wandered around for a little while. I picked this up in one of the tents. Somehow I just knew I needed it. The woman who made it had to explain what it was, but I could just see a baby snuggled into it. I didn’t know it was going to be your baby, but I’m so happy for you.”

Maddie took the soft garment in her splinted hand and spread it out on her lap. “Oh wow! This is really beautiful. And so soft. I hope…” She stopped there with a sigh, and Buck got it. She was a nurse. There was no way she didn’t know how delicate the situation was.

“You just rest Maddie. You rest and get stronger, and the baby will too. You won’t be alone. You’re surrounded by a lot of family right now.”

“All I need is you Evan, though Captain Maxwell told me you’re going to be leaving soon?”

“Petty Officer Buckley has been authorized a week of Family Leave, but he’ll have to join his team at the end of that time. I wish I could give you more time, but your skills are badly needed in theatre.” Captain Maxwell seemed regretful that circumstances were as they were. Buck was just grateful he didn’t have to fit everything he now had to do into the next thirty-six hours.

Move quarters. Settle Maddie in. Convince her to start therapy. Change his paperwork to include her as next-of-kin.

And kill his brother-in-law.

He could get all that done in a week.

On the whole, Buck was disappointed in his brother-in-law. Well, he was pretty much low-key intensely furious with the guy and had been for more than fifteen years taking both his lives into account…but this was different.

He thought this guy was supposed to be smart.

He wasn’t.

Buck watched through his night vision goggles as his murderous, incredibly stupid brother-in-law tried to sneak through the fence of a US military base. Seriously. MPs had already been alerted to the intruder (which made Buck’s mission a little more complicated) and were setting up the take down, and any minute now…

Buck closed his eyes as lights blasted on, and a voice rang out. “Stop! Get down on the ground and put your hands behind your head.”

Doug froze for just a minute, then smiled and reached into the pocket of the (probably designer) leather jacket he was wearing. Like, for real Buck knew actual GODS with less of a god-complex.

Mentally shrugging, Buck prepared to shoot. He never got the chance to fire his weapon.

As the idiot pulled a gun from his jacket, from over Buck’s shoulder a bullet flew silently through the air and struck Doug in the throat. The immediate spray of blood accompanied the complete collapse of the body into the dirt. The MPs moved quickly to secure the weapon and render aid, although it was glaringly obvious that aid was useless.

From the shadows beyond the floodlights a chorus of canine howls began. Buck thought the neighborhood dogs must be attracted to the light…but then he saw the shadowy figure moving. Glimpses in the darkness of a human figure with a canine head.

Huh. Nat must be taking this (and Doug) personally. With a vicious yank the figure grabbed on to something Buck couldn’t see. One final victorious howl later the figure vanished and the canine chorus died away.

Buck looked over his shoulder in the direction from which the shot was fired and saw someone moving towards him from the shadows of the darkened base.

“I’d better get down there and tell them what I saw on my evening run. They’ll need my weapon.” Captain Maxwell moved past Buck with a firm nod. “And you’d better be off home.”

Buck turned to look one last time at the remains of a man who couldn’t handle being left by a woman he wanted…and suddenly events in his first life looked very different. Trying not to be sick right there on the ground as his perceptions shifted radically, he breathed through his nose and took a minute for the nausea to pass.

Then he moved off towards his quarters. Maddie was coming home tomorrow and he wanted everything to be perfect for her. She would never have to be afraid of a man again, not if Buck could help it.

“Evan, it’s lovely.” Maddie surveyed her room, taking in the comfy bed with its cheerful duvet and pillows. In the corner a cushioned rocker and footstool sat next to a small bookcase. Under the window was a small desk with a television that could be angled towards the bed or folded back out of the way. A chest of drawers rested on the wall beside the closet door.

Buck had done his best to make a haven for his sister to rest and recover in. He guessed he’d done a decent job. All he really wanted was for Maddie to like it, and apparently she did. The happy little smile as she settled back into the rocker with her feet on the footstool told him that.

Unpacking the one bag she’d brought with her on her interstate flight had given him mixed feelings. She’d only brought three changes of clothes. The rest of the space had been taken up with the things that obviously meant everything to her.

Her nursing license.

Her birth certificate.

Two sonogram pictures labelled Baby Kendall.

A stack of postcards wrapped in a rubber band.

A photo album of pictures of Buck as a baby and young child.

And a small picture in an old silver frame of three children.

Buck had placed the picture of the children on the bookcase, and Maddie picked it up with a sad little smile. “Evan, can I introduce you to someone?”

“Of course Maddie.” He had his phone half-way out of his pocket when she gestured to the picture in her hand.

“First, I want you to KNOW that I love you. From the moment Mom put you in my arms and told me to feed you, I have loved you. I will always love you, even if you never speak to me again. And you are an amazing, talented, precious person.”

“OK?” Now he was starting to get creeped out. What was going on?

“Evan, I’d like you to meet our brother Daniel. He loved you too. Until the day he died. He had juvenile leukemia. The doctors tested all of us, but none of us were a close enough match for a bone marrow donation. So Mom and Dad made you. A perfect match.” Tears were sliding down Maddie’s cheeks now as the secret she’d kept all these years came roaring out.

“Maddie…” Buck really didn’t know what to say. He’d known about Daniel for so many years at this point he just hadn’t really registered that he shouldn’t.

“It wasn’t your fault Evan! The cells just failed to graft. Daniel died. He died, and Mom and Dad just …checked out. I lost my brother and my parents at the same time. But I still had you. And you were such a happy baby. Such a bright, curious little boy And Mom and Dad just couldn’t seem to love you. But I did! I did!”

At this point Maddie was sobbing. “And then they made me leave you. They threatened to turn you over to foster care if I was too infatuated with you to grow up and get on with my life. I had to go…and I hated them Evan. Doug promised that when we’d been married a while, we’d bring you to live with us. He just wanted me to himself for a little bit first. Just a little bit.”

“Maddie!” She was building up to hysteria and Buck knew that could end very badly. “Maddie, I knew. I already knew about Daniel. And I don’t care about them, Margaret and Philip. I don’t. I’ll hate them with you if you need me to. But please don’t cry. Not over them. We’re here together in spite of them, and I know somewhere Daniel is watching over us too. And they just don’t matter anymore. We don’t need them to be a family. We’re enough.”

“We’re enough.” Maddie tested the words through her tears. The reassurance seemed to help her come down from the dangerous state she was working herself into a moment ago. “We’re enough. Just you, me, and …”

“And Baby will make three.”

Chapter Text

OK, being a SEAL was obviously going to be an experience of extremes. From the sub-zero temperatures of the Antarctic (and wouldn’t Chris be excited to hear about that!) to the hot desert of Afghanistan. That was brutal.

Buck ducked into the cool of the admin building on base, grateful for the shelter from the fierce sun. From windburn to sunburn. Man, that just sucked. Mission planning was ongoing, and Buck was expected to sit in. He hadn’t come over with the team initially, so he was playing catch up now.

Lt. Stanley was all about making the best use of his personnel. Which led to Buck getting called to things like this. It wasn’t a track he’d expected to take. Generally EOD specialists were not command track. Kind of like corpsmen. But Buck’s memory and eye for detail were skills Stanley found useful in tactics and strategy meetings. Along with his little extra something, of course. And the combination of those things was putting him more and more in a position of leadership.

If things kept going the way Lt. Stanley wanted, when Stanley promoted, Buck would jump Mark and promote to CPO. Mark had more time in rank, but he didn’t want any more command than he already had. Buck wasn’t really sure how he felt about this, but he supposed if it best served the team to have him in that position he was willing.

Looking at the monitors around the room with their satellite images of the mountain range to their north, Buck figured he was going to get to put his old/brand new climbing certs into use. Scanning the room, he noticed different service branches mingling in a way they usually didn’t. This could be big then.

The Colonel leading the briefing session got started. “Alright people, listen up. We’ve got reliable intel…”

Sure enough, those certs were coming in handy. Buck dangled from his rope halfway down an unscalable cliff face. He wasn’t going all the way to the bottom of course. Oh no, that would be too easy. No, there was a small opening in the wall of rock that reportedly led to a small cave…filled with explosives and munitions being stockpiled for a raid. Buck’s team was working with a squad of Army specialists to confirm the presence or absence of said items and to destroy the cache if it was there, since retrieval would be difficult and ill-advised but leaving the material to be used against them was a non-starter.

Carefully anchoring himself beside the opening, Buck peered into the dark. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, but no sign of a besweatered snake. Whatever was going on, Fate wasn’t involved with it. At least not at this point.

The Army climber anchoring on the other side of the opening gave him a quick nod. Both men moved quietly and efficiently to detach themselves from their rappel lines.

“Going off rope.” Buck set a long tether to his anchored rope and moved off into the cave opening. Stealthily moving down a corridor that was about a foot too short to be comfortable, Buck kept his ears open, since his eyes weren’t much use once he got a few feet from the opening. Hearing nothing, he risked turning his flashlight on.

There was a sharp bend in the tunnel and a steep slope with another turn. Keeping their lights down to avoid alerting anyone up ahead for as long as possible the two men carefully proceeded down to where the tunnel seemed to open into a wider space.

Sgt. Araiza gave him a nod and sign to indicate he’d cover him.

Buck carefully slithered around one side of the opening, keeping low to present a smaller target.

Which saved his life.

High powered lanterns blasted on just as a shot hit the wall about a foot above Buck’s head. Buck was returning fire quickly, and the two men who had apparently been left to guard the cave were dead, one from his weapon and one from Sgt. Araiza’s. Unfortunately the impact of the original shot and the ricochets caused the low-hanging shelf of rock overhead to begin collapsing.

Before Buck could move, it came crashing down burying him in rubble and filling the passageway between him and Sgt. Araiza.

Buck came back to consciousness with a ringing in his ears and a pounding in his head. The rest of his body ached and his mouth felt like he’d inhaled half the desert. Coughing to clear his throat he took stock of himself. Nothing seemed to be broken, which was a minor miracle. His belly was tender and he appeared to be a mess of cuts and would probably be black and blue tomorrow, but he wasn’t pinned under the debris and he could stand on both feet so he was going to take that for the win it was.

Looking around he saw his earpiece on the ground. Reinserting it he was immediately bombarded with demands to report.

“Nudge reporting in. I’m banged up, but I’m mobile.” The silence worried him at first. Maybe they couldn’t hear him through the rock? That would complicate things.

“Nudge, Araiza reports a completely blocked opening. Is there another way out? It’s going to take us awhile to get tools down, but the damn grunt is refusing to leave you. He says he’s only got a wrenched knee and a headache.

Buck took a minute and looked around the small cave. And then looked around again.

“Mark, we’ve got a problem.” Buck coughed again as the dust from the cave-in danced in the lantern light.

“We already know you’re stuck, Nudge…”

“OK, we’ve got two problems then.” Buck interrupted his teammate.

A pause.

“Go ahead Nudge.”

“They aren’t running weapons. They’re running people.” Buck moved further into the cave towards the cage structures built along the inner wall.

“And one of them is ours.”

In the middle cage, a young Eddie Diaz looked back at him from his position on the floor next to a woman who appeared to have been shot in the shoulder.

“Say again Nudge? Did you say this is a human trafficking operation? And that one of the victims is a US service member?”

“Affirmative. Guy’s lookin’ right at me. Army Sgt going by the insignia. He’s a little busy right now trying to keep a woman’s shoulder from falling apart, but I’ll get his details. I need to find a way to get into the cages though. And we need to get these people out.”

“We’ll get working on it. Look for another way out. Don’t be caught by surprise, and keep your eyes open for snakes. Out.”

The first thing Buck did was look for another way out. Another way out was another way in for possible enemies, and Buck wasn’t taking any chances.

Spotting a familiar yellow sweater in a shadowy nook Buck headed in that direction. Sure enough, the shadows hid the entrance to a small tunnel, big enough for people to walk single file.

“That’s how they’ve been coming and going.”

Buck turned to look towards his once (and maybe future) best friend. Eddie’d moved up to stand at the front of the cage and was looking at Buck with the deliberate focus of someone with a head injury.

“SO1 Evan Buckley, Team 8, and you’d be…” He had to get the introductions out of the way or he was going to slip up and call the guy by his name.

“Sgt Eddie Diaz, 1st Brigade out of Fort Bliss. Listen, we need to get out of here before the rest of them get back. I’ve got patients that need care.”

Buck moved over to the first dead body and started the unpleasant but necessary task of searching it. The weapon was clearly a US issue, probably Eddie’s, so Buck confiscated it, along with the other bits of kit that obviously came from the Army outfit. No keys though, dammit!

He crossed the small cave to the other body, performing the same search. Here he struck paydirt with a small ring of keys, and more bits of US military gear. “Hah! Found them you sorry son-of-a-bitch.”

Another few rocks came down over near the former opening of the cave and a small opening appeared. Sgt. Araiza’s face soon filled the opening, looking into the brightly lit cave.

“Well shit!” Yeah, that about summed the situation up. “Listen Buckley, I don’t think it’s safe to make this opening any bigger without some serious supports for the rest of the ceiling. Is there any other way out? And did they say one of our guys is in there?”

“Yeah, says he’s Sgt. Eddie Diaz, with the 1st out of Texas. Seems like maybe a medic? He’s worried about his patients.”

“They’re telling me they lost one on a welfare check up North three days ago. His unit will be glad to get him back.” Araiza listened to something for a moment and then responded, “Roger that.”

“Nudge, what’s the status on that alternative exit? Araiza says the roof’s not stable.”

“Found the entrance they’ve been using. Army guy is Sgt. Eddie Diaz, 1st Brigade out of Fort Bliss. Araiza says they lost a medic up North, it seems like we found him.”

Buck headed over to the cages with the ring of keys he’d found on dead asshole number two. “Hey, can you tell me what happened?” He started trying keys in the heavy lock, moving as quickly as he could.

“Got a call for a welfare check. Usually we don’t go out to those without an escort but our team was running a mission in another area, and the next nearest team was a man down already and couldn’t send anybody. The guy requesting a check had been very useful to us with intel and access, so they sent me out with one of my teammates as backup.” Eddie was moving between several other people in his cage, checking on wounds and reassuring the frightened.

“I walked into the house with my buddy right behind me. They shot him in the back as soon as we cleared the door. Army Specialist Dejaunte Robertson. They clubbed me over the head as I turned back towards the door. I woke up trussed up like a turkey over that guy’s shoulder in the dark as they brought me in through the back. They dumped me in here and the one who spoke English told me to take care of the injured. No supplies…just take care of the injured. I’ve done my best. I don’t know how long I’ve been here, but they’ve come in with food three times. I think. My head’s a little fuzzy.”

“Hey Diaz,” Araiza was keeping watch through the opening as best he could while Buck was occupied with his back to the rear entrance. “Robertson is still holding on. They say they won’t know til later about the extent of the paralysis, but he’s alive. They airlifted him to Ramstein yesterday.”

Eddie seemed to relax a little at the update. Buck was grateful that situation seemed to be resolving itself, but sorry his delayed arrival had left the men without an escort. A key turned in the lock and the door swung open. Handing Eddie his weapon and the bits of kit he’d found Buck turned to the next of the three cages.

Moving quickly Buck opened the remaining two cages, checking people over as he went with Eddie working alongside him and Araiza watching their backs.

“Mark, I’ve got sixteen women and children down here. And one badly concussed but stubborn Army Sgt. Two dead bodies among the vics. Seven are wounded, five women and two children. All appear to be mobile, but that may be adrenaline. We have an escape route of unknown length that might have hostiles already on their way up to us. I doubt coms will read once I move into the tunnel, so we’ll be cut off from you. Not sure which direction we’ll come out, so try to cover positions North and South. There are sure to be snakes in the tunnel, so there’s that.” Jörmungandr was moving among the children, causing a great deal of excited chatter. None of the adults seemed to notice but the little girls were obviously smitten with the snake.

“Copy that Nudge. We’ll pull Araiza up as soon as you leave. Watch your back.” Mark signed off, clearly in a hurry to get things set up for their exit, wherever that might be.

“Alright Sgt.s, either one of you know Dari? I can ask for a bathroom and tell someone to drop their weapons. That’s about it.” Buck had no idea how he was going to get all these women and children out of here if no one could communicate with them.

Double negatives from the Army contingent left Buck with a Problem. That is, until one of the women shuffled to the front of the group. “I am Nava. I speak English. A little. I help talk to others. You take us all?” She seemed worried that the injured might be left behind with the dead.

“We can’t take those who have already passed…but everyone else is coming with us. If we have to carry you, we will, but we are taking everyone.” Buck’s answer seemed to relieve and sadden Nava at the same time. She turned to the other women and spoke softly, apparently explaining the situation to them. Most of them seemed to accept the necessity of leaving the dead behind, but the littlest of the girls started crying and ran to one of the bodies.

“Shirin does not want to leave her mother. Doesn’t understand her mother has left her.” The woman seemed both understanding and exasperated. No one wanted to increase the little girl’s trauma, but there was no way he could ferry a dead body through an unknown amount of unknown tunnels in these circumstances.

Suddenly, everything slowed down and time seemed to stretch. Buck had experienced this before, so he wasn’t surprised to turn around and see Nat standing behind him. The wings were a bit of a shock though.

“Little one, your mother has gone where you cannot go. She doesn’t need her body anymore.” The little girl gulped, looking up at Nat and quickly rattled something off in a dialect Buck didn’t know. But he guessed if you were Death you kind of had to be able to understand everyone, so he wasn’t surprised when Nat responded.

“No, I can’t take you to her. You have a life to live. And your mother will always be watching over you. She wants you to grow, and be happy, and join her later…when you are old and wrinkled.” Great, now Buck was about to cry…and he absolutely did not have time for it. Although looking at everything frozen around him…maybe he did.

Shirin gave a brief response, then kissed her mother’s cheek and turned back towards the group. The moment seemed to snap and time sped up again, the little girl running back over and saying something to the woman who’d been translating.

“Shirin say Lord Azrael tell her to leave and grow old.” Nava didn’t seem to know what to make of the child’s statement but was willing to go with it if it got them on the move.

“Alright everybody. We are leaving now. We need everybody to stay together and keep their eyes and ears open. Everyone is going to need to be as quiet as possible so that we can hear if danger approaches. I’ll lead us, Sgt. You pick up the rear and watch our backs.”

As Nava passed Buck’s order on to the women Eddie signaled acceptance of his position as a rear guard. Jörmungandr moved away from the children and started through the tunnel opening faster than you would think a snake in a sweater could move.

Quickly, quietly Buck led them all into the dark.

Chapter Text

At least this was a wet cave. With no supplies and no idea of how long the tunnels were, Buck was grateful that water wouldn’t become a critical issue. The smell wasn’t great and everybody had to watch their steps carefully, but at least no one would die of dehydration, and several of the children had been heading that way.

Jörmungandr stayed close to the tunnel wall, but seemed to know where he was going, so Buck followed him through the many twists, turns, ups, and downs. Sparing a thought for the Fellowship in the Mines of Moria, Buck was at least thankful that it wouldn’t take three days to get to the other side.

And there was no balrog. That was also a plus.

After a couple of hours of hiking, they stopped to give people time to rest a bit. Buck didn’t like it, but these women had been through a horrific event and several days of captivity. Some of them were injured and all of them were traumatized to some degree. A few minutes of rest hopefully wouldn’t matter in the long term.

Eddie took the opportunity to check wounds and do what he could to render aid to their injured. Then he approached Buck, obviously intending to give him a thorough inspection as well.

“Let me get a look at that cut on your head.” Buck had almost forgotten in all the excitement that he had gotten semi-buried in a cave-in less than three hours ago.

Eddie was careful as he cleaned the wound with a fresh alcohol swab from his returned kit. “This is going to need stitches when we get back to base.” Carefully applying a couple of butterfly bandages, Eddie tried to close the wound. Buck thought of the kit Twitch carried in the field and wondered where the rest of Eddie’s kit had wound up. Probably with the men who conducted the kidnapping.

Jörmungandr was surrounded by the small knot of little girls, being petted to his heart’s content. Suddenly he shot out of the group, heading back up the passageway the way they’d come, hissing furiously. The little girls were startled, and Buck was officially freaked out.

Getting everyone up and moving, following the snake back up the path Buck moved the group as quickly as he could. When the snake turned off into a side tunnel Buck followed without hesitation. The off-shoot led within a few yards to a small open chamber, big enough to hold the party but not much else. Buck and Eddie stood at the entrance with their weapons raised, ready to do whatever was needed to protect the civilians with them. Listening carefully, they gradually heard the sounds coming closer and closer.

Apparently there was a balrog after all.

The women froze in terror, even the little girls going silent. Little Shirin clung to Nava as they pressed as far as they could back away from the chamber’s opening. Buck could see lips moving in silent prayer and sent his own prayer up. If it was time for that coffee date, Buck could live with that. But he had people depending on him. Eddie would do his best. Buck had no doubt of that…but that man was concussed and could barely see straight, much less shoot straight.

Fortunately for them, the men continued on up the tunnel towards the cave.

Waiting until the sound of their footsteps and conversation died away in the dark took every ounce of patience Buck had, but he had learned his patience in a hard school and he persevered. Finally, he relaxed a bit. Eddie taking his cue from Buck eased down a touch as well.

“OK ladies, we’re going to be as quiet as quiet can be the rest of the way down. And we’re not going to stop again until we reach the end, so if anyone needs a bathroom break now is the time. Sgt. Diaz and I are going to move up to the main tunnel shaft so you ladies will have a moment of privacy, but you’re going to have to be quick.”

Nava translated his directives to the group, the women moving quickly to gather up the children and presumably help them with their business.

Buck gestured for Eddie to join him as he moved out into the small tunnel, leaving behind one of the flashlights.

Crouched by the entrance to the off-shoot, Buck racked his brain…trying to quickly decide what was best. The danger would now be as likely to come from the rear as the front, and Eddie was injured. But there was no way Buck could tell him to follow a snake he couldn’t see. There was nothing for it but for Buck to continue in the lead and Eddie to guard the rear.

“Listen man, I know I’m not a big, bad SEAL…”

“No, you’re a stubborn, concussed grunt who can’t quite seem to completely focus his eyes. And don’t think I haven’t noticed that your wrists are raw and you’re favoring your left side and your right knee. You didn’t go down without a fight, and I respect that. But as a rear guard when we KNOW trouble’s on our tail? You tell me I shouldn’t be worried about that.”

Eddie looked back up the main tunnel. “Look, I can hold up. Yeah I’m kinda banged up, but you just had a roof fall on your head. If you think you’re not operating with a concussion, well medically I disagree. Sir.”

Buck almost smiled at Eddie’s familiar snark. “Touche. Ok, we’ll keep to our original plan…me in front and you covering our back. But we’re going to have to move more quickly. Can they take it? In your medical opinion, Doc?”

A grin flashed quickly over Eddie’s face at his rejoinder, then dropped away as he considered the question. “A couple of them might struggle. We’ve got one with a deep gash to the thigh that I’ve got stuck together with spit and baling wire and another one that I’m sure has a broken ankle she won’t admit to. The rest of them are exhausted, but they’re all determined to get out of here.”

“OK, if we have to make it a three-legged race to the finish line, the important thing is that we cross that line. We’ll make it work.” Seeing the twitch of a snake tail at the tunnel mouth Buck knew it was time to go. Leaving Eddie to keep watch he made his way back to the chamber where the ladies were waiting.

“Nava, we’re ready to move out. Sgt. Diaz tells me we have two injuries that might give us some trouble making speed so you need to let the ladies with the leg wounds know to ask for help if they need it to keep the pace. We have to move fast and quiet.” Buck watched as she went to one of the women resting along the wall, having a quick word. The woman turned and delivered a glare on Buck he was sure his grandchildren would feel. Well, pride had carried many a soldier off the battlefield on his own two feet only to collapse in the med tent later. Buck respected the grit.

Expecting Nava to go to another woman for a word, Buck was surprised when she just turned to face him calmly. “We be fine. No problem.” So Nava was either the thigh wound or the broken ankle. And apparently just as stubborn. Well, ok then.

“Let’s move out.”

Another hour or so of hiking through tunnels brought the group to the tunnel exit, only to find that it led to an encampment. Just below the tunnel opening, a small community bustled about. You would think it was just a small herding community, if you didn’t happen to notice the complete lack of women and children. Overall an excellent blind for a human trafficking ring, with a handy, inaccessible cave to stash the merch until they had a client ready for delivery.

But the chances of these men failing to notice a bedraggled group of women, children, and US servicemen traipsing out of the tunnel entrance were slim to none. And trouble was most definitely getting ready to roll up their rear. But the sun was going down.

If they waited until dusk, as the shadow fell over the canyon they might be able to make it around the encampment to the canyon entrance. Hopefully there would be a road, and somewhere around here should be a team looking for them. They just had to find them.

“Think we can liberate a vehicle?” Eddie, as usual, was worried about his patients. At least two of them desperately needed to get off their feet. And many of the others would be the better for being able to stop and sit down in something rather than walking any further distance.

Unfortunately, Buck didn’t see any sort of vehicle at all on this side of the encampment. That probably meant another raid was either getting ready to go down or already in progress somewhere else.

But that was someone else’s problem right now.

“Sorry, don’t see one readily accessible.” They were going to have to be very stealthy about this, and Buck didn’t know how much stealth could be expected from little girls.

“Ok, so what’s the plan? We can’t stay here. By now they’ve found the empty cave and are definitely on their way back down after us.”

“Alright Sgt. When the shadow hits the canyon half-way across, we should be shaded enough to give us a chance. We’ll be as careful as we can, but we’re going to have to make a run for the canyon entrance. My team is around somewhere, or if they went South then another team is looking in this direction. We just have to find them. But we have to make it out of the canyon.” Buck focused on the plan, hoping to get a nudge from the goddess. There was nothing but a sense of waiting, and that could be good or bad.

It was a fraught twenty-four minutes before the shadow hit the place Buck had indicated as their starting point. Just as the sun lowered behind the canyon wall, the Eye of Fate on Buck’s shoulder opened. Feeling the burn, he took it as a sign and gave Eddie the signal to start moving out.

The first of the women slid as quietly as possible out of the tunnel entrance and up the canyon wall. Eddie took care to stay between the women and the encampment as a meager defense should they be noticed. One by one, with the youngest girls clutched close, the women moved out.

The last of the women had just left the tunnel mouth when Buck heard the sound he’d been listening for for the past few hours. Men coming swiftly down the tunnel behind them. Buck could stop them, but he couldn’t do it without attracting attention. Nothing for it though.

Flashing a sign to Eddie that they had been rumbled, Buck reached to his tac belt and detached a grenade. Arming the grenade, he waited until the first of the men had almost reached the tunnel entrance. “Peace out, dudes.” He threw the grenade into the tunnel and ducked behind the canyon wall.

The explosion in the tunnel mouth drew the attention of every man in the encampment. That was what gave him and Eddie a fighting chance. With everyone’s attention on the explosion, no one had yet noticed the first of the women reaching the canyon entrance. But that didn’t last long.

The women had broken into a run, making for the canyon opening…all need for stealth now gone as the cry went up from the encampment at the escapees. Buck and Eddie turned to face the pursuit together, hoping to buy the women time to clear the canyon entrance. Making the best use they could of the sparse coverage available on the canyon wall, the two men began returning fire as soon as their pursuers were in range.

Buck knew Eddie’s sidearm didn’t carry a large clip. He was unsurprised to hear the empty click, but he was absolutely shocked when Eddie pulled a second weapon and began firing again. Taking a moment to look down, Buck noticed that many of the men had gathered in a clump and were coming up the canyon wall in a wedge. Detaching his second grenade, he quickly armed it and threw it into the midst of the enemy. The resulting explosion took out most of their opponents, but enough survived on the fringes to demand their full attention.

At the end, running out of ammunition, Buck made a decision. “Give me your weapon.”

“The Hell?” Eddie was shocked at the demand, but he didn’t stop firing.

“Give me your weapon. I’ll cover you up to the canyon entrance. Then I’ll retreat up towards you.” That would be a mighty short retreat, but Eddie was walking out of this if it was the last thing Buck did. And it very well might be.

“No.” Eddie was implacable. “No one gets left behind.” He took two more shots.

“You have a son!” Yeah, way to blow his cover completely, but Eddie had to get out of this.

Fortunately for Buck, his last comment was drowned out by the sound of a helicopter coming around the canyon wall. Buck’s team fast-roped down and began laying down fire, allowing he and Eddie to move back and up towards the canyon entrance.

Just this once, everybody lived. (Except for the human traffickers…they definitely died.)

Panting for breath at the top of the canyon, Buck and Eddie looked at each other. Battered, bruised, filthy and exhausted, but both alive.

“You’re a badass under pressure, brother.”

Buck's heart almost hurt as he heard those familiar words. He looked up and grinned at Eddie. “Me?”

Eddie laughed tiredly. “Yeah, you can have my back any day.”

Oh God. Buck was gonna start bawling and Eddie was gonna think he was crazy. “Or, you could have mine.” A sudden thought hit Buck, and he had to ask, “Hey, where were you hiding the second weapon? Why didn’t they find it when they took everything else?”

Eddie looked down at the weapon in his hand. “It’s Sgt. Araiza’s weapon. He passed it through the hole in the wall before we left the cave. He thought it might come in handy.”

“Then all three of you might be up for commendations.” Lt. Stanley came over to the two men, leaving the rest of the crew to mop up. “Wrenched knee and a headache, he said. Damn grunt had a grade three concussion and a shattered knee. He’s headed for Ramstein, and mad as hell about it.”

“Though it looks like he might have some company. You guys good to make it back to base in a humvee?” Stanley was obviously concerned. Adrenaline was beginning to fade, and a myriad of injuries were starting to make themselves known. Nothing that Buck couldn’t cope with until he got to base. He looked across at Eddie and saw him taking stock of his own injuries.

“Think we’re probably good to make it back to base LT, but you might make sure that medical has a cot or two with our names on them.”

Chapter Text

By the time they got back to base the jolts of the Humvee had moved from uncomfortable to agonizing. Twitch rode across from Buck and Eddie keeping a close eye on them as they rode. Buck just hoped their path had been cleared properly. He didn’t feel equal to the task of disarming an IED at this point. The women rode quietly, only occasionally murmuring to each other or one of the little girls. All-in-all it was a quiet group that finally made it back…but they all did make it back.

A liaison conversant in Dari was waiting for the women when they disembarked, and they seemed relieved to interact with her. Everybody was making a stop off in medical for an evaluation, before they would be moved into temporary quarters until their individual situations could be resolved.

Before getting his own evaluation, Eddie insisted on telling the nurses what he had found, suspected, or tried to mend for the group. Buck took the time to speak to the liaison before submitting to his own evaluation.

“The women were taken from a village about an hour north of here. Some of them still have living husbands and want to go home. A couple of the widows do too, so we’ll make that happen.” The liaison filled Buck in on the info she’d gotten so far.

“And what about the rest of them? And the little girls? Where are they going to go?” Nothing bonded you quite like making a mad escape through a tunnel system together. Sue him, Buck was worried.

“Two of the widows want to go back to their parents. They’re childless, and young enough to remarry and that’s what they want to do. One of the widows wants to request asylum, and we’ll almost certainly grant it. She speaks some English, so the US or Britain would be her best options.” The woman was patient, running Buck through a brief outline of their plans while he fended off the nurses determinedly.

“What about the girls? I’m sure their fathers went down fighting, but do any of them still have mothers?” The five little girls hadn’t seemed to belong to any of the women in the party, except for Shirin, though the women had certainly been protective of them.

The liaison, Commander Jackson, suddenly looked ready to kill someone. “They weren't taken in a raid. They were sold by their families. So they’re definitely not going back.” Any minute now she was going to achieve her final form and Buck didn’t know if the world could take it.

“But…Shirin’s mother was dead in one of the cages…and there was another woman up there…and what kind of person just SELLS their child? To traffickers?” Buck was incensed and confused. He thought of Jake Duvall, and Stick, and Papa Antonelli who died in a robbery many years ago protecting Gianna and Julia. Then he thought of Philip…and OK…maybe he did know that kind of ‘father’. If someone had made Philip an offer? Maybe?

“Shirin’s mother objected to her being sold, so she was sold as well. Her injuries came from her husband, not the traffickers. The other woman had been stolen in the raid.” OK seriously, any minute now she was going to start breathing fire.

“Yeah, OK. I’m taking the little girls home with me. I live with my sister right now, and we can put bunk beds in the nursery. I’ll look for a place off-base with a couple more bedrooms or an attic I can convert…yeah…I need to talk to Maddie…” Buck’s brain was off in Little Creek, making plans for five little girls who deserved better.

“Petty Officer Buckley!” Commander Jackson looked like she was about to laugh. “You can’t just pick up five traumatized little girls and carry them home in your duffle. You can’t even communicate with any of them.”

“Well I was planning to let them ride in seats like regular people. I don’t think they’d all fit in my duffle. One of them might, but it’d be a little cramped.” Buck marked that plan ‘use only in case of emergency’ and went back to thinking about drywall and wiring and how hard would it be to install a bathroom in an attic…

“This a snake thing, Buckley?” Lt. Stanley had come into medical, probably to wrestle Buck into an examination if he had to guess.

Buck thought hard at Fate. He looked over at the clump of little girls, sitting on a bed with the nurses making a game of their examinations. Jörmungandr was curled around Shirin, getting petted and reassuring her in turn. “Shirin. It’s a snake thing for Shirin.”

“Nava has already said she’ll take Shirin. She’s requested custody and asylum for them both, either in the US or Britain. We’ll make that happen.” Commander Jackson was now looking at the two men like they had two heads. Each, two heads each. What had Eddie said about a concussion?

“That good enough, Buckley? Or do we need to run it up the chain?” Stanley looked ready to throw down if necessary and the Commander looked completely lost.

He focused hard, but the Eye didn’t open. “That’s good enough. And what about the rest of them? What happens to them?”

Now Jackson looked more sure of her response. “Don’t worry about them, Petty Officer Buckley. They’ll be coming home with us too. The US has a strong Muslim community. There are families that will be ready to adopt them. And they really will have a smoother transition there than getting snuck past airport security in your duffle.”

“Ok then. But they don’t go back. Not a single one of them goes back to a monster that treats them like THINGS.” Buck was absolutely adamant on that point, even as the room took a slow turn around him with a dip at the end.

“Not a single one Petty Officer. I swear. Not a single one.” Commander Jackson assured him as she helped his LT catch him. Wow! She was stronger than she looked! His legs had apparently decided to strike for better working conditions. He looked down, sort of expecting to see picket signs between his toes.

Buck heard Stanley calling for a wheelchair as the darkness closed in. What had he been thinking earlier about soldiers completing their missions and then collapsing in medical? Well this was kind of embarrassing.

Buck slowly regained consciousness with a familiar floaty kind of feeling letting him know he was drugged. Opening his eyes he looked around. Well at least it wasn’t Ramstein. Wait. He took another look. It wasn’t Ramstein, was it?

“No Buckley, this isn’t Ramstein.” Oh, that was Eddie’s voice. Buck turned his head in the opposite direction and saw Eddie propped up in the bed next to his. A sign over the bed in Mario’s handwriting said “Temporary resting place of Doc. No trespassing allowed.”

“You did tell your LT to put our names on a couple of cots.” Now it sounded like Eddie was laughing. Buck loved that sound in Eddie’s voice. It felt like years since he’d heard that. Oh. It had been years, or maybe would be years? In a few years?

Lost in the muddle of his drugged brain, Buck looked up and saw the sign above his own bed. “Temporary resting place of Nudge. No trespassing allowed. (except for snakes)” Suddenly it struck him as incredibly funny and he began to laugh.

The pain resulting from his laughter was enough to pull him out of his drugged haze. Breathing carefully, he began to take stock.

“Concussion, two fractured ribs, through and through to the upper left arm, bullet crease that was more like a deep furrow across the top of your left hip. Seventeen stitches, not counting the ones closing the aforementioned furrow. Not too bad, considering you took on a human trafficking ring with only an injured man to help you.” Sometime while Buck was breathing carefully his doctor had apparently dropped in and was now reading his chart.

“Let’s just check the stitches on those entry and exit wounds and the groove on your hip. See how they’re holding up. I’ve been warned you’re not an easy patient. Like I ever get an easy patient around here.” The doctor’s hands were gentle and careful, even if his voice was exasperated.

“Don’t go anywhere Sgt. Diaz. You’re next.”

Buck endured the poking and prodding stoically and once the nurse was busy redressing his wounds asked the doctor, “So, how long you figure I’ll be down Commander?”

“That’s a deep furrow, Petty Officer. No running, jogging, speedwalking, sprinting, trotting, cantering, galloping, prancing, or pussyfooting for at least five days. For your arm, no lifting, hitting, carrying, shooting, stabbing, climbing, pushing, pulling, heaving, or hauling for the same amount of time. For the next five days, you will be an indolent slug. After that, we’ll reassess. Are we clear?” Wow, he was good. And obviously experienced.

“Yes, sir. For the next five days I’m only allowed to slug people. I’ll remember.” Giving the doctor his most charming smile.

Commander Fields blinked for a moment in absolute stupefaction. “I have straps, and I’m not afraid to use them, so behave! Five days…no activity. Period.” He turned to Eddie’s bed and pulled up his chart.

“Hmmm. Concussion, one broken rib, three fractured ribs, deep tissue lacerations on both wrists, moderate damage to the ligaments in your right knee, through and through bullet wound to the outer left thigh, bullet crease to the left side of your head, fifteen stitches not counting those for the leg wound, and a dislocated thumb. Not too bad, considering you took on a human trafficking ring with only an injured man for back-up.” Clearly Commander Fields was a secret troll.

As the doctor began checking over Eddie’s wounds, Buck took a moment to think back through the list of injuries. “Wait, a dislocated thumb?”

“Oh yes. My diagnosis would be an overdose of crime dramas.”

“Huh?” Buck was totally confused.

“He did it himself trying to slip his bonds. Son, that doesn’t work on zip ties. Now if they’d had some nice handcuffs around…” The doctor finished his examination and backed away to let the nurse move to redress Eddie’s thigh.

“Alright gentlemen, the broken ribs will take about three weeks to really start setting. We’ll keep an eye on them. And Sgt Diaz, you’ve earned yourself eight weeks of medical at home. That knee is going to require physical therapy, and your wrists might as well. All told gentlemen, you should both be fighting fit in about eight to ten weeks. Buckley can probably start light duty in four. Any questions?” Commander Fields looked at both men expectantly. When neither of them spoke, he gave them each a nod and moved out of the room.

Buck looked over at Eddie curiously. “Hey, I would’ve thought you’d protest getting sent home for a while. You sure didn’t like the idea of going to Ramstein.” Buck was sure he knew why, but the sooner he officially knew about Christopher, the better.

“Yeah, well, I’ve got a son at home. He’s almost two years old, and I miss him like a limb. I’m coming up on my ‘sign-or-go’ date in another six months. I always figured I’d put in my twenty and then go to nursing school. My folks would have paid for med school, but nursing was beneath me as a man. But I always wanted to be the one doing the actual hands-on work, you know?” The nurse bandaging his leg smiled up at him.

“Since Chris was born though, I hate missing all his firsts. And my wife…I love her, you know. But she isn’t really…I mean, children were always way off in the future for her, and I think being a mom hasn’t been what she was maybe expecting? I don’t know…”

Finishing up and clearing away the trash from the dressing change, their nurse looked up at Eddie. “If you’ve put in your six, you’ve earned the GI benefit. Talk to your wife, and see if nursing school now makes sense for your family. You could even come back in as an officer if you got your RN and wanted to.”

Wow, Buck hadn’t even known that Eddie had wanted to be a nurse. Suddenly he felt like a kinda crappy friend. Eddie had obviously put that dream away, first in favor of keeping health insurance for Christopher’s surgeries and then in favor of getting into the job market as quickly as possible after injuring out. Again for Christopher’s benefit. And his parents had dared to say he wasn’t a good father.

“Hey man, she’s right. Talk to your wife about it. Make the decision together that’s best for your family. Especially if you think she’s struggling. Maybe showing her that you’re a team would help her feel less…something. Stressed maybe.” Buck had hated Shannon with the power of a thousand suns for the way she’d behaved towards Chris and Eddie, but he knew they loved her. Maybe this was Eddie’s chance to make a different choice. Talk to Shannon before re-upping.

Suddenly he thought of something. “You haven’t offered me a single picture!” Buck reached onto the bedside table and grabbed his wallet. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?”

Eddie looked at him in some surprise. “I didn’t know you had a kid.” He began fumbling around on his table for his own wallet. Yeah, physical therapy was definitely in his future.

“I have two goddaughters. Belinda’s four and Evie’s only a couple months old. My sister is expecting right now, but I have a copy of the sonogram!” Buck gave a happy little bounce at the thought of the kids in his life. Then stilled immediately as the pain made itself felt again. Damn ribs.

“And I have some friends with awesome kids. Jared and Jeannie. Oh, and I think I have a picture in here of my partner’s little sisters. Seven, thirteen, sixteen, and nineteen. Bianca, Constanza, Julia, and Gianna. Yeah, here it is.” He passed his wallet full of pictures over to Eddie, with a brief thought for the nearly flat wallet he’d always carried in his first life.

Eddie seemed a little surprised, fumbling the wallet as he passed his own over. “It’s like you’re trying to build a strike force to take on Disneyland or something.” He looked through the wallet, giving Buck a chance to open the wallet Eddie had tossed him.

He almost cried at the picture of a two-year-old Chris smiling up at him. And the next one, of Eddie and Shannon holding Chris when he was born. Eddie looked so young. Buck didn’t think he’d ever really appreciated the fact that Eddie had only been twenty-one when Chris had been born. He must be about twenty-three now if he’d enlisted at eighteen like Buck had anyway.

When given the choice, Buck had signed the four-year contract. He’d be making the same choice Eddie was faced with in another eighteen months. At the time he wasn’t planning on it actually being a choice, but now…well. It was gonna be tough to leave his team. He didn’t know.

He guessed he’d just have to leave it up to Fate.

“Cute kid. Super adorable! I love kids.” Buck remembered the first picture he’d seen of a seven-year-old Christopher Diaz.

“I can tell. Your goddaughters are beautiful. How premature was Evie? Is she growing like she should?” It was pretty obvious from Evie’s picture that she’d come into the world early. It had been taken through the isolette while Buck reached in so she could grab his little finger. She was just about the length of his hand, but had a fierce grip on his finger.

“She’s put on some weight since she was born. Last I talked to Stick they were talking about letting her come home soon. My next long liberty I’m back stateside we’re going to redo the christening. We had to do it without the baby the first time.

Looking at the sonogram, proudly displayed in its own plastic window Eddie asked, “Is the sister who’s expecting the one living with you? Or do you have two sisters?”

“Maddie lives with me. We’re in family housing on the base at Little Creek. She has to take it really easy until the baby’s born, but we’re hopeful.” Thinking of Maddie back home in Virginia Buck hoped she was resting and recovering well. She always said so in their frequent calls, but he worried. She’d agreed to start therapy to make sure she didn’t repeat any cycles, and she was taking it seriously. “It’s just the two of us though. Our brother died as a child.”

“Rough pregnancy?” Eddie glanced over at him as he passed him back his wallet.

“No, juvenile leukemia.” Buck caught the strange look Eddie shot him and reassessed the question. “Oh, you mean Maddie. No, at least I don’t think it started out that way.”

Buck looked over at his once-upon-a-time best friend. He wouldn’t really talk to a stranger about Maddie’s issues, but this was Eddie. He wasn’t really a stranger, just a little unknown.

“Maddie raised me until I was eight. I just recently found out our parents basically forced her to go to college out-of-town and leave me behind. She got married, and moved out-of-state with him and we lost touch. I sent her postcards every six months or so. She showed up at the base about six weeks ago. She'd been beat all to hell. Broken nose, broken arm, fractured wrist and ribs…too many bruises to count. All up and down her back, both arms, and her face. She even had a clump of hair torn out of her head. And she had a pregnancy she was just barely hanging on to. Somehow she made it from Pennsylvania to Virginia, hoping if she could get to the base she’d be safe.” Thinking of how Maddie had looked in the infirmary bed still made Buck want to scream. And then hit something. Preferably Doug. Too late for that.

Eddie’s face had darkened through Buck’s recitation. “Her husband.”

“Yeah.”

“If you can wait until I’m out of physical therapy, I’ll help hide the body.” There was evidently no doubt in Eddie’s mind that Doug should be removed. It made Buck feel a little vindicated.

“Oh, no need for that. The stupid piece-of-shit tracked her down, or maybe asked around and found out I was a SEAL and just figured she’d gone to me. MPs caught him trying to sneak in through the fence at the outer perimeter of the base.” Buck was still just flabbergasted at the immense idiocy of the man.

“You’re kidding? He actually tried to SNEAK into Little Creek? The SEAL base? Seriously?” Eddie seemed just as dumbfounded that anyone in this media age would think that was a good idea.

“Right? And a lot happens on the base that has nothing to do with the SEALs, but still. Yeah, didn’t bring anything but a handgun and a really snazzy leather jacket. And then thought waving the handgun around on a MILITARY BASE was going to intimidate anyone.”

“So the MPs shot him? Death by … well, not exactly cop, but…”

“No actually, the intake captain happened to be on his run that night and saw the take down. He shot Doug as soon as he pulled the weapon.” Captain Maxwell had told Buck, late one night in the infirmary, about his baby sister, and the man who had beaten her to death. He’d told Buck that the most dangerous time for a woman was right after leaving her abuser. His sister had gone home to their parents. And her husband had broken right through the door and beaten her to death with a tire iron. Then waited until her parents got home and shot himself over the dead body.

“He and his wife are actually checking in on Maddie while I’m over here. Stick gets by as often as he can. I think Maddie and Sarah (that’s Stick’s wife) are getting to be really good friends. I still worry about her though.” Buck called two or three times a week when he could, and video-called at least once a week. It still wasn’t as good as being there himself.

“That’s actually why my team was a man down and couldn’t help with your welfare check. I got sent for advanced climbing training and then was given a week of Family leave to settle Maddie in. I guess that’s why you got jumped. I’m sorry about that, but…” Buck still felt a little guilty, but everything had ended well anyway.

“Yeah, I think you made up for it.” Eddie smiled over at him.

It was enough.

Chapter Text

Lt. Stanley did not believe in downtime.

With Stick leaving the squad they were without a back-up helo pilot. Mario specialized in land vehicles, and while he knew enough about a bird to crash land her, they needed someone who could step in and actually keep her in the air.

Apparently that someone was Buck.

He spent his four weeks of downtime studying manuals and simulations of both the Black Hawk and Apache helicopters. When he was approved for light duty his training began in earnest, and he had learned one thing very quickly. Naval aviators were crazy.

No, like seriously crazy.

Buck blew stuff up for a living, and he wasn’t this crazy. Well OK, the biggest part of his job was making sure stuff DIDN’T blow up, but still.

Listening to the aviators in the room enthusing about close calls, ejections, wild evasions, and escapes Buck wondered why people thought SEALs were the extreme members of the military.

“Petty Officer Buckley.” The instructor, Captain Hargraves, called from the front of the room. “You don’t seem to have much to say.”

“No sir.” That felt safe. Buck wasn’t looking to make enemies here. He just wanted to get his flight hours in to pass his helo certifications.

“I would have thought a SEAL would appreciate a good story. Maybe even have some of your own.” The git was a smug bastard, but he out-ranked Buck and was obviously testy about having a SEAL on his turf. Remembering Eddie’s dry question about what they were actually measuring, Buck had a new understanding of why his insecure posturing had tried Eddie’s nerves.

“No sir.” Thinking of the bone-crushing cold and a crack in the ground, and a crying little girl clinging to her dead mother, the request for stories just seemed obscene.

“Really? No daring rescues? Secret missions you’d have to kill us if you talked about? Last minute saves or narrow escapes? Guess the SEALs aren’t all that, after all.” Man, this guy was really pushing it.

“Not so much that, sir. It’s just that SEAL training kind of leans towards being prepared for anything. We kinda feel like a narrow escape often indicates a breakdown in mission planning. Our goal is always to accomplish our mission as safely as possible. Close shaves may sound exciting, but they almost always mean something’s gone wrong first. Maybe it’s something completely out of your control (like a giant-ass crack in the ground) but how your training prepares you to respond to that is something that can be controlled. And secret missions don’t stay secret if people talk about them in open spaces. Sir.” Alright. Stanley could just send him to a civilian trainer. Or maybe the Army had an instructor they could tap. This was ridiculous.

The room got very quiet. The instructor turned red and puffed up, opening his mouth to lay into Buck, then closed it abruptly when another voice spoke.

“Excellent response Petty Officer Buckley.” The instructor immediately snapped up a salute, followed by everyone present, Buck included.

“Admiral Whitcomb, sir.” Captain Hargraves looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

“At ease. Buckley, I’m sorry to interrupt the lesson but a matter has come up. If you could join me?” Buck felt his heart sink. The only reason he could think of for him to be pulled out of class would be if something happened to Maddie or the baby. But surely they wouldn’t send an Admiral after him?

The two men walked the short distance to the Admiral’s office in silence. As they entered the room, Whitcomb gestured to the chair in front of his desk and closed the door before taking his seat behind the desk.

Whitcomb unlocked a drawer in his desk and pulled out a thick folder, placing it in the center of the space and opening it to flick through. “You have certainly had an exciting few months, Buckley.”

“Yes, sir.” Thank God! If this was about him then Maddie must be fine. He could take a reprimand, so long as his sister was okay.

“You look nervous Petty Officer Buckley.” Whitcomb mused as he thumbed further through Buck’s file.

“Sir, this doesn’t have anything to do with my sister does it?” Buck couldn’t help it. Assumptions weren’t facts and he needed to KNOW.

Admiral Whitcomb looked up in surprise for a moment, then his expression softened. “That’s right, your sister has been through a …difficult…time. Let me put your mind at ease. Your sister is fine, so far as I know. This meeting is entirely about you.”

Feeling the relief flood through him, Buck stiffened his spine prepared to face whatever Whitcomb was about to lay on him.

“Now, let’s see. Evan Arthur Buckley, enlisted at eighteen…pulled almost immediately into the SEALs training program. Completed with distinction, and then fast-tracked for advancement to Petty Officer through EOD training. Team assignment. Range scores excellent but not quite sniper level. Antarctica Rescue Mission. Advanced Climber certification. Deployment. Three short term missions completed with competent efficiency. Multiple training hours in logistics and tactics. Then you apparently decided to take down a human trafficking operation. Now you’re here barely off medical leave, going for your helo certs.” Whitcomb raised an inquiring eyebrow.

“I like to stay busy sir.”

“Hmmmm, promotions as soon as time in service met…just barely on that last one. Three years into a four year contract. Hmmm.” He closed the folder. “OK Petty Officer, let’s talk turkey. Your Lt. is talking about taking you with him as a squad leader when he promotes up to platoon lead next month. You don’t have the necessary time in service for that promotion. What you do have is the recommendation of your superiors, nominations for three different commendations, the trust of your teammates, are apparently magic on a rope, and have a level of maturity and general competency that completely outstrips your age.”

Buck wasn’t sure how to respond. He’d never gotten that kind of feedback from Bobby and his supervisor at the library only cared that he could direct people to the bathrooms or the biographies. Stanley’s performance reviews were always targeted on his next area of improvement and the Promotion Board he’d faced for E-6 barely questioned him. He was just back from Antarctica, headed to Afghanistan, and they had too many open billets in that area to quibble much about time in rank.

“Thank you sir.” Buck’s confusion turned the response into more of a question.

“Son, if no one’s told you before that you’re a credit to the Navy…well, I’m honored to be the first but I’ll be having a word with Stanley.” Admiral Whitcomb seemed to find Buck’s confusion troubling. “But I have a couple of, let’s call them difficulties, with Lt. Stanley’s plans as they stand.”

Buck waited patiently for Whitcomb’s issues. He wasn’t going to be reassigned, surely? That occasionally happened due to the need to balance skills, but Buck didn’t think he had anything that niche going on.

“First of all, the men I’ve known over my years in the military who come in at eighteen competent and mature…are inevitably men who’ve had to take care of themselves or others already. Usually coming out of abusive or neglectful situations. The reaction noted by Commander Jackson to the little girls you rescued makes me feel that you know all too well what it is to have a parent or parents who don’t value you for more than what you can do or give them.”

Buck felt like a bug under a microscope. Trying to reach to turn on the stove at nine because Margaret and Philip forgot to feed him. Mowing lawns when the mower was taller than he was to earn money since Margaret and Philip didn’t leave him money for food when they went on that cruise when he was eleven. Wearing pink t-shirts to practice at twelve because no one taught him not to wash whites and colors together.

Bobby, turning away when his guilt made it impossible to look at Buck, broken and struggling. First after the truck bombing and then following his injury and stroke. Just gradually fading out of his life when Buck needed him most. Eventually not even a monthly check in. Athena had never failed to call him once a month, but he hadn’t spoken directly to Bobby in at least two years by the time he went with Chris to that diner.

Buck knew Bobby loved him, but his guilt over Buck’s disability was ultimately stronger. Buck had never blamed Bobby. He was down two men and couldn’t give Buck the time off without Buck’s giving him a reason, and Buck wasn’t willing to do that…protecting Chim to the end. But Bobby blamed himself, and that had taken him right out of Buck’s life well before he and Athena retired and moved.

“Um hm. That’s exactly what I thought. So I am entering a recommendation that we find you a therapist. The higher up you go in command the more your own mental health needs to be on point so you can properly care for your men.”

Well, Ok then. As long as the Navy didn’t try to send him to Dr. Wells, Buck guessed he could cope with that. Might actually be good for him. He had promised Nat to take his mental health seriously. He just hadn’t had time…

“And I want you seconded to a joint task force for the next six months. There’s going to be a little restructuring of your squad. Senior Petty Officer Riley Graham has indicated a preference to remain at his rank at this time, but says he would like to pick up some skill in Dari and Urdu. Petty Officer Leighton Carruthers the Third, good Lord no wonder the man ‘twitches’, is going to be getting some advanced certs on the medical side of things. You’re obviously going to be getting your hours in for your helo certs, with a more compatible instructor. And I want you to do a couple of the leadership courses. The secondment won’t officially start until you’re completely cleared by medical.”

Well, that was Mark and Twitch sorted. Stanley was going to be deep in mission planning for a couple of operations in the southern region. Buck had just assumed the team would be going with him. “What about Mario?”

“Petty Officer Antonelli will be getting his own offer of extra training, depending on where his career interests seem to lie. He may not want to be a grease monkey forever you know.” Admiral Whitcomb seemed to be offering everyone something.

“Your team has been getting some attention, Buckley. We believe in investing in the people who are doing well, in hopes they will continue to do well and might even do better. In six months, if all has gone well for all of you, we will be having another meeting about where your team sees itself heading in the near future. What do you say?” It actually sounded like Whitcomb was giving him a choice. That was unusual in the Navy. Oh, there were a few key points where you could choose your track. He’d picked EOD training straight out of Bud/s after all. But that was the last time he’d actually made a choice of direction.

“Yes sir, thank you sir. May I ask, what is the joint task force going to be working towards?”

“Well, about that…”

Chapter Text

When Buck walked into the briefing room fresh off restricted duty the first face he saw was comfortingly familiar.

“Hey Doc, didn’t know they’d pulled you in for this too. How’s the knee?” Buck bounced over to Eddie, delighted to see him in person again. They’d video-called a couple of times over the past three months, but they were just brief catch-ups. Eddie was at home with his family and focused on his physical therapy and Buck was still in Afghanistan, recovering himself and learning to fly a helicopter.

Eddie turned to meet him with a grin. “Nudge, it’s good to see you in person. Yeah, the knee’s doing okay. I managed to avoid that last surgery they were talking about, so the keyhole surgery was it. Two weeks and I was able to start physio, which sucked by the way. But Chris was more willing to do his stretches when I was doing mine right beside him.”

Several officers filed into the room and everyone began taking their seats for the introductory briefing. “Hey man, catch lunch? They finally came back with a diagnosis.”

“You know it.” Buck took his seat next to Eddie and settled in to listen, scanning the room to see what the overall group make-up was. There were about twenty-five to thirty people in all, and Buck spotted every branch of service represented. Even the Coast Guard had a representative, sitting alone and looking like they had no idea what they were doing here but determined to do it well nevertheless.

One of the officers at the front of the room got everything started. “I’m glad to see you all here, though I’m sorry there’s a need for this Joint Task Force at all. I’m General Thomas Lambert, US Army and I’m the head of this task force on Human Trafficking. Nine weeks ago, a pair of servicemen stumbled onto a human trafficking operation thanks to a kidnapping and some bad intel. We had thought the actions taken that day shut the operation down. Unfortunately as we tracked down loose ends, we found another raid in progress. And thought that was the end of it.”

“It wasn’t. What we have found, through diligent research which is still ongoing, is a network of hubs moving people, mostly women and girls, south into Pakistan. From there they seem to move in different directions. Some go into brothels in northern India, while others are being shipped to other parts of southeast Asia. Possibly even further.”

“We have two main areas of focus. Two teams of three members will be working on the dispersal aspect. Find out where those already in the pipeline are going and how they’re getting there. Chief Petty Officer Rachel Dennis of the USCG will lead these two teams and work closely with our allies to locate all ports of entry and close them down.” The Coastie sat straight up in her seat obviously keen to get started.

“The rest of you will be divided into five-man strike teams. You will be going after the hubs we have located, and shutting them down. We have a liaison for each team to work with any victims you liberate, and an intelligence officer to track any information you find at the site. There will be another round of secondments in about two weeks. They will form two ten-man teams you can call on for assistance and back-up as necessary. Any additional hubs discovered will be assigned to teams that have completed their first objective.”

Admiral Whitcomb stepped up and took General Lambert’s place at the mike. “All of our teams are mixed. This task force is seated under the Department of Defense. You have all been selected for secondment to this position because you have shown, among other qualities, the ability to work together towards completion of a common goal. By pooling our skills, knowledge, and training we have a greater chance of completing our mission within the timeframe allotted. Together we are strong. The timeframe for this mission is six months.”

“There are six small briefing rooms down this hall, one for each of the strike teams and one for the two dispersal teams to share. Larger briefings will be held in this room, or if you need the space or instruments in this room your team leader can coordinate that. The goal is for the strike teams to be in position to start their takedowns in eight weeks. Go find your teams and then take a long lunch. Reconvene in your team briefing room at 1330 hours. Dismissed.”

Team Two
Leader: Petty Officer 1st Class Evan Buckley, SEAL Team 8

Squad: Staff Sergeant Eddie Diaz, US Army
Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Cartwright, US Navy
Sergeant Matilda Zhang, US Marine Corps
Senior Airman Matthew Kusminski, US Air Force

Liaison: Commander Marlene Jackson, US Army

Buck felt like his brain had whited out for a moment when he caught sight of the sign on the door. Surely an officer would actually be running the team though, right?

Eddie leaned around him and read the sign. “Oh good, this is us. Are you going to open the door or are we going to stand out here in the hall playing statues until 1330?”

Buck reached out and opened the door, nearly dropping to his knees at the sight of the officer already in the room. Moving on into the room, he picked a chair and stood behind it waiting for the rest of his squad to find the right room and choose a spot.

As the last person walked in and picked a seat the officer went over and closed the door. Turning back to the room, he gestured for them to be seated. “Commander Jackson will be joining us in a couple of weeks. She’s out on another assignment right now. I’m Captain Gene Bridges, Army, and I’m this team’s intelligence analyst and officer lead.”

“Just to be clear, once the strike force is in the field, command will belong to Petty Officer Buckley and I’ll be your tech guy and eye in the sky. But for now I’m up. Any questions? Good. Let me introduce you to each other.” The Captain opened the folder in front of him.

“Team Lead in the field and 2IC in mission planning is SO1 Evan Buckley. Callsign ‘Nudge’, specialties are EOD and Climbing. He’s also our backup pilot and has training in tactics and strategies as well.” Buck noticed the people around the table watching him assessingly, many of them no doubt wondering at a man barely twenty-two being in even a secondary command position.

“SSgt Eddie Diaz , callsign “Doc”. He’s our medic and mechanic. Hard or soft machine, his job is to keep it running. PO1 Robert Cartwright, callsign “Wheels” is our logistics and supply member. He’s also in charge of in-field electronics and has a secondary sniper rating. Sgt. Matilda Zhang, callsign “Flitter” is a reconnaissance Marine. She has language skills as well, being fluent in English, Mandarin, and Dari as well as conversant in Pashto and Urdu. And then SA Matthew Kusminski, he’s our primary pilot and SERE specialist. Callsign “Kook”.

“All of you have experience in the field in combat postings, and they tried to make sure each team had a good mix of primary and secondary skills. If there’s something we find we’re missing we’ll let them know for the next round of secondments. You all mostly hit what you aim at, and you have a variety of unarmed combat skills. Over the next eight weeks we are going to be spending a lot of time together. In a week we’ll get our first target and begin direct mission planning. Until then, we’ll get to know each other.” Captain Bridges looked at each of them before continuing.

“You’ve all shown the ability to work with a diverse group to achieve a common goal, so I don’t expect any trouble. That being said, if there’s something brewing come to me immediately. We do not have the time or the personnel to impersonate eighth graders. Understood? Good. Dismissed until 1330. We’ll have range practice at that time. Be prepared to show us what you’ve got.”

Buck and Eddie had grabbed a table in an obscure corner of the mess, and were ready to really catch up. While Buck already knew Christopher’s diagnosis from his previous life, he was interested to know how things had gone with Shannon this time around. And how Chris was doing. And what Eddie’s long-term plans were.

“So, spill it man. Diagnosis?” Taking a big bite of his sandwich, Buck waited impatiently for his friend to chew and swallow so he could answer.

“Cerebral Palsy. I think it was a relief to Shannon that something really was wrong and she wasn’t just making it up. At least at first…” Eddie made a face, and took another bite.

“What? She change her mind? CP’s not the worst diagnosis he could have gotten. It’s gonna be tough to manage, but with the right self-care regimen he’ll be able to lead a long, full life.” Had Shannon’s problems caring for Chris started this early. Buck hadn’t thought so, but maybe…

Eddie sighed and looked down at his sandwich like it had personally offended him. “Not exactly. But my parents went absolutely out of their everlovin’ minds. They screamed at Shannon for being careless during the pregnancy and ‘damaging’ Chris. I was so shocked it took me a minute to respond. By then Shannon was nearly hysterical. I had to practically carry her out of the house. Once I got her home and settled down some, well, it all came out.”

Buck wished he could say he couldn’t believe it, but knowing what Eddie’s mother had been ready to do the first time around? Yeah, he could totally see it. And while he would never be able to condone Shannon’s behavior…a part of him softened a little towards the woman he’d always despised.

“Apparently my parents have been terrorizing Shannon since my deployment. She even had to drop out of school two semesters short of graduating because she went to pick Christopher up after class and my dad refused to let her in. Said they were Chris’s parents now and shut the door in her face. She had to call the cops.”

Eddie continued eating for a minute while Buck digested this. “Did she have them charged with attempted kidnapping?”

“No. The police officer that came and retrieved Chris advised her not to at the time, but said she’d establish a file so that Shannon could show a pattern of harassment if necessary. Shannon’s mother has also had a couple of worrying test results. Her doctors are sending her in for more tests, so I told Shannon to pack up anything she’d hate to lose and did the same for Christopher. We shipped most of it to her mother’s place and I put them on a plane before I left to come back over. There was no way I was leaving them alone in town with my parents.”

Well, that was different. Eddie’s injury this time around had seen him at home for Christopher’s diagnosis. This time there was no way for Shannon to hide the older Diaz’s behavior towards her. “Well good. My parents are…awful…so I know I don’t have the best perspective, but this doesn’t sound like the first time they’ve hurt you.”

Eddie looked stupefied. “They’ve never hurt me….”

“Do you love your son? And your wife? Have they been deeply hurt by the people you trusted to support them? Of course they hurt you. And it doesn’t sound like they’ve ever supported what YOU want…whether it’s your marriage or your career…” Buck had to be careful not to say too much. He and Eddie hadn’t known each other very long, this time around.

“I didn’t…I’ve never…your parents are awful?” Eddie seemed to be struggling with the idea of calling his parents’ behavior for what it was. Buck got it. No one wanted to view themselves as a victim of abuse.

“Yeah, I’m what’s called a savior sibling. And that would have maybe been fine, if they’d loved me. But they didn’t. After my brother died…well they couldn’t really love either of us. They mentally abused my sister. Refused to allow her to even mention Daniel, ever. Forced her to take care of me like a parent and then forced her to leave me behind. Didn’t like the man she married, so when she asked for help to escape his abuse they told her she made her bed.” Yeah Maddie’d never told him that the first time around.

“I think it was harder on Maddie than me, because they’d been different when she was little. Before Daniel got sick. So she loved them, and thought they loved her. I never really had that illusion.” Small mercies, he guessed.

Eddie looked thoughtful for a minute while he chewed the bite he’d obviously forgotten was in his mouth as Buck talked. Taking a drink, he cleared his throat and looked up at Buck.

“I can understand their desperation to save their son. I would do anything for Chris, even make another baby with Shannon. But I can’t even imagine not loving that baby just as much. And if I lost Chris…I would have been so thankful to still have one child with me. Children aren’t replaceable…but it would have been a comfort. I probably would’ve turned into the world’s worst helicopter parent though.” Eddie laughed a little at the thought.

“Thanks Doc. I feel the same. I mean I get wanting to save Daniel, but I could never understand why they couldn’t love me. I just grew up knowing that they didn’t.” It was Buck’s turn now to clear his throat.

“And why wouldn’t you want to make another baby with Shannon? I mean CP’s not genetic. It’s not like there’d be a risk of it occurring in a second child.” Buck was sure in the previous time Eddie had mentioned wanting a bigger family.

“Well, generally speaking one doesn’t go around getting one’s ex-wife pregnant.” Eddie said reasonably, taking another bite like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on the table.

“I’m sorry, EX-wife? I think you’ve skipped some important stuff Doc. It sounded like you were working the biggest problems out by sending her to her mom’s for a while.” Good grief, Eddie hadn’t wanted a divorce the first time around. He must be devastated if Shannon was leaving him now. But then again, a clean break would be better emotionally for Chris.

Eddie sighed again and put the last of his sandwich in his mouth, chewing contemplatively.

“Yeah, once I got Shannon settled down and Chris went to sleep, we had a long talk. About a lot of things. Our parents were on the list, but by the time the sun came up they weren’t really anything but a danger to navigate. Shannon and I got together in middle school. We kind of grew up in love, if that makes sense. We got married because of Christopher, and I don’t regret him for a second. But if we’d had time to grow up a little more…”

“Shannon met someone in one of her classes. At first they were just studying together, but then they started doing things together just for fun. And after a few weeks Shannon realized they were dating.” Eddie looked down at his hands. “Shannon’s not a cheater. She explained to the guy, and he got it. He seems like a decent sort. She didn’t want to divorce me while I was deployed, so she was waiting it out until my contract was up. When I mentioned re-upping to make sure we could get the surgery Chris needs…she came unglued. We talked.”

Eddie looked at the chocolate chip cookie sitting on his plate. “I don’t think we’ve talked like that since we were married. It was like being 8th grade best friends all over again. And I knew. I knew our marriage was over. We just had to figure out how to get out of it with the least damage to everybody.”

“Wow, Eddie, I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry? Or maybe … no, I just don’t know.” Buck was caught completely flat-footed. This was a huge change, and he was floundering, trying to figure out his friend's mood.

“Thanks. But I think it’s gonna be ok. She admitted that she loves Chris, but she never actually wanted to be a mother. She doesn’t want to give up her rights, but she thinks it would be better for all of us if I had primary custody. So I went to a support officer at Bliss. I’m re-upping, but after this secondment I’m shifting to a stateside post, hopefully Fort Irwin. Wherever I’m posted I’m going to start nursing school part-time, on Uncle Sam’s dime. And I’ll have Chris full-time. It’ll be tough, but the officer said the Army would provide childcare as needed. And Shannon and Dirk can be together as well. He went out to California with them. Just as a friend for right now, but in a few more months Shannon’s going to file for divorce in California.”

“Well Ok then, it sounds like you’ve got things all figured out then. I just have one question.” Buck looked over at Eddie, a serious expression on his face. “Are you planning to eat that cookie or stare at it? Because if you’re not going to eat it…”

“Hands off my cookie, Buckley.” Eddie quickly grabbed said cookie, unwrapping it and taking a giant bite.

“Alright, alright…and Eds? You know I’ve got your back, right? Whenever, wherever. And I can’t wait to meet Chris.” Buck looked across the table at his …new…best friend.

Yeah, maybe this would be better.

Chapter Text

Buck looked through his field binoculars at the small settlement in the canyon below. Looking over at Eddie, lying on his stomach beside him doing the exact same thing, he saw the recognition mirror back to him. No women. No children. Canyon with only one access point and irrigation tunnels into the canyon wall leading up to the caves in the cliff face above.

Been there, done that.

But they didn’t know which tunnel or which cave. The cliff face to the south was riddled with caves, too many to be searched systematically. So over the past five weeks Buck and Captain Bridges had come up with a plan…sort of.

Bridges was sending a drone quietly by the cliff face, mapping the cave entrances. He and Buck would evaluate the footage for anomalies. Backing away from the edge of the canyon rim and leaving Eddie on watch, Buck made his way across the mountain face to the next canyon where a small, discreet camp was set up.

It took him nearly two hours to get safely back to the base camp, sheltered in a canyon too small and narrow to be of any use to anyone. Moving into the camouflaged tent, he greeted Wheels and Kook while heading to the satellite system that would allow the drone footage to play back. Settling in to watch, Buck just hoped he got a sign. If not it was going to be an exercise in logic and trying to spot the faint marks of previous runs to this or that cave opening.

After almost an hour of careful examination of the footage Buck hadn’t seen any sign of Fate’s Nudge, but he sure had seen signs of access trails. Two of the caves had openings far away from any others. They were large enough to allow an adult to pass through. And best of all, zooming in the magnification made it clear that both caves bore signs of slight but regular access.

“Those two.” Buck noted on his geoplanner. “Numbers 11 and 19. See, around the openings? Those divots were made by some sort of piton. You can tell by the crumbling around the edges that these points bore weight. Not just impact craters from a sandstorm.”

“Umhmm,” Bridges murmured his agreement. I see it. Probably wouldn’t have if you didn’t point it out, but then I’ve never been a climber.”

The two men moved to the table in the middle of the tent with maps and notes stacked randomly on top of a large geological survey of the area. Quickly moving things around they pulled out the map they needed. “Ok guys, someone call Doc and Flitter back to camp. We think we’ve found their hidey holes, so it’s time to fine-tune our plans.”

“We’re going to need a couple more guys with climbing certs. Kook could do it, but we need him on the chopper controls to get as many victims out as possible, and as air support if needed. See if you can pull up a couple of guys from one of the support teams.” Buck had slipped naturally into field leadership once he felt he was in his wheelhouse.

Bridges pulled up the sat phone to make the request for support while Wheels studied the maps carefully. “Chopper’s not going to be able to land anywhere near the caves. The winds coming through the canyons are forced into circular patterns. The buffet would make landing extremely dangerous.” Cartwright was more used to navigating on water than on land, but if there was one thing he knew VERY well, it was wind.

If their chopper couldn’t land, what were they going to do? Buck pondered the matter, going over everything their weeks of surveillance had taught them about the way these people operated.

With enough firepower they could destroy the settlement, but that wouldn’t stop someone getting into the tunnel system to either evade capture or kill the captives.

How could they be in both places at once, especially when it was actually three places since they weren’t sure which cave might be the right one? Or if they both might be. Buck needed a way-back machine or a TARDIS or something.

Suddenly the lightbulb went off in his head. Something like back-up.

Sixteen heavily armed military personnel did not fit comfortably in their small tent. Hell, they barely fit comfortably in the small canyon said tent was in. But they made it work.

Looking at his men, Buck felt his knees wobble for just a moment. Then he stiffened his knees, his spine, and his upper lip for good measure. It was time.

“Alright people, listen up. Team Bravo will be me and Doc on Entrance 11. Team Gamma will be Kook and Flitter on Entrance 19. Team Delta will be the rest of you taking the settlement. And Captain Bridges will man Alpha point here on the sat system to coordinate coms.” Buck kept it as short and sweet as possible, while still getting his point across. “Teams Bravo and Gamma will begin insertion/extraction at 2000 hours. If our targets are clear, we’ll move to Entrances 22 and 26 as secondary possibilities. Team Delta will wait for our signal to strike the settlement, unless men are seen moving into the tunnel system. Try to preserve any data you find to turn over to Captain Bridges to be passed on to the task force analysts.”

“CPO Cartwright will be stationed on the mountainside above the settlement. He will be monitoring in-field electronics in case we have to move into the tunnels and providing sniper support. Team Epsilon will be waiting to provide air support as needed, but be aware that they cannot safely land within the canyon or on the mountainside. Any questions.?” Buck waited for a count of five. “Ok people, we’ve got our plan, but stay on coms because fubar happens.”

Buck and Eddie, along with Zhang, Cartwright, and Kusminski grabbed their gear and headed to the mountain. It would take a couple of hours to get into position to drop over the cliff face, so they should get there just as the sun had gone down, giving them at least some concealment exposed as they would be on the mountainside.

It was time to head out.

As night fell in the mountains four shadows slipped quietly over the edge of the cliff. Remembering the guards left in the cave at the site that blew this all wide open, Buck had warned Flitter and Kook to go in armed and cover each other. He and Eddie had the same plan.

Softly pushing off and landing as he rappelled down the sheer rock, Buck might as well have been a ghost. Eddie made a little more noise, since of the four on the extraction teams he had the least climbing experience, but still nothing out of the realm of normal night noises. At least Buck hoped not.

Getting down to the level of the opening, Buck anchored his rope as quietly as he could. The goal was to keep any unexplainable sounds contained to the caves and away from the settlement below. Giving two clicks on his coms to let the others know he and Eddie were in position, Buck waited to get confirmation back from Team Gamma. Once he had that, he gave Eddie a hand signal to let him know he was going in.

The deja vu hit him almost immediately. A narrow tunnel sloped slightly downward towards a sharp bend. Buck looked at the floor of the tunnel, keeping his light shielded carefully. A clear pattern of scuff marks moved through the tunnel towards the bend. Looking up at Eddie, Buck sent a click over his coms…target spotted. Then Team Gamma responded. One click. Target spotted. Maybe they were alternating caves or maybe both were in use, either way…the next few minutes would tell the tale.

Creeping cautiously up to the bend in the tunnel Buck listened as carefully as he could. A small shuffle, a soft clink, something was in the tunnel ahead. Looking back at Eddie, Buck gave the hand signal. Danger. And counted them down. Three. Two. One. They rounded the bend, separating to cover both sides of the cave. Buck crouched low, going left into the cave while Eddie did the same to the right. Lights slammed on and screaming started. Bullets were flying as he and Eddie returned fire, trying desperately to keep their shots away from the back of the cave, where several women huddled in terror.

There were five hostiles in the cave, and Buck knew that the minute one of them thought to grab a civilian as a hostage they were sunk. He and Eddie had to keep them focused on the invading military rather than strategy.

One of the men was already down. Two more were pinned down on Buck’s side of the cave by Eddie’s crossfire. Another man was on Eddie’s side of the cave, taking shelter behind a stack of crates. Buck was about to attempt another shot when Eddie yelled a warning. Turning back, Buck saw a large man charging at him while firing his weapon.

Buck ducked back behind the cave entrance, and the man followed. But as he came around the corner into the tunnel, Buck tripped him. The man went down hard, spraying bullets in a wild arc from the floor to the ceiling as he fell. Buck heard the rumble and jumped backwards into the cave just as the tunnel ceiling collapsed.

Turning quickly, he saw that Eddie had dispatched another opponent. The final two were backing up steadily, one toward the tunnel systems further into the mountains but the other…the other was moving towards the cages along the back of the cave. Buck took careful aim and fired, just as Eddie threw something.

Both their aims were true. The man collapsed with a hole right between his eyes from Buck’s shot and Eddie’s knife embedded in his throat.

Unfortunately with both Buck and Eddie focused on the man threatening the captives the other man took the opportunity to escape into the tunnels. Firing one final time before turning to flee.

Even more unfortunately, his aim was true as well. Buck felt the bullet hit him in slow motion. The words “If you come back” echoed through his head…Atropos’s caution to him. Buck felt himself fall, felt his head bounce off the floor. Heard Eddie’s panicked “Nudge”.... And fell into the dark.

He woke up muzzy and with a throbbing headache. That was soon driven right out by the pain in his side. Looking up, Buck saw Eddie above him, holding pressure on his wound as he placed the pressure bandage over the field dressing to hold everything in place. Wrapping everything up tightly Eddie tied off the bandage, glancing up to see that Buck was conscious again.

“Drama queen.” He helped Buck carefully sit up with his back against the cave wall. “You just stay put.”

Moving to the collapsed entrance Eddie knelt and unlaced the boot on the foot sticking out from under it.

Buck looked down at his own feet, but he couldn’t see anything wrong with his boots. Checking Eddie’s feet he didn’t see a missing shoe. What did Eddie want with a random boot? They had more important things to worry about.

“I’m checking for a pulse, you dumbass!”

Oh, Buck guessed that made sense. “Did you find one?” he asked curiously, wondering what they would do if he had. Buck really didn’t feel up to digging the guy out. And hey, he’d been shooting at them, so they probably didn’t have to dig him out did they?

“Nope.”

“Oh good.” No digging required then.

“I just hope one of these other assholes has the keys.” Eddie moved on to begin searching the three dead bodies in the cave. Buck slowly pulled himself to his feet, determined to help.

Suddenly Eddie’s arm was right there, bracing Buck against the wall of the cave. “Did anybody tell you to get up? No, they didn’t. And as the medical member of this team I outrank you in medical decisions. So STAY PUT, dammit!”

Eddie went back to searching the downed traffickers while Buck…stayed put.

Well he meant to stay put. He really did. But then he noticed the pile of crates one of the men had been using for shelter. Four loaded crates were stacked in a pile beside six or seven empty ones. Blinking quickly to focus his eyes a little better Buck noticed something, or rather someone, trying to slither into the top loaded crate.

The burn on his shoulder from the Eye of Fate opening seemed to push away the haziness and Buck’s focus sharpened. Standing up straighter he moved over to the stack. As he did so, the women’s voices became frantic. Poking his fingers through the open slats in the side of the top crate Buck felt straw packing, and then…something soft.

As Eddie crowed in triumph with a ring of keys in his hand, Buck spoke quickly and firmly. “Hey, Doc? I think I may have another patient for you.” He hoped he was wrong, and these crates were filled with cloth or something, but Jörmungandr perched on top hissing in worry definitely indicated something worse.

“Huh?” Looking around quickly Eddie found the tools the men had been using to build the crates. Handing Buck a hammer with a pointed look at his bandaged side, Eddie reminded Buck that he was walking wounded. “Do NOT use all your strength. Let me loosen the slats first. Sir.”

The women had gone very quiet as Buck and Eddie made quick work of getting the top off the first crate while keeping an eye on the tunnel opening. Lifting the lid free Eddie reached in and moved the top layer of straw aside.

Inside the crate were two little girls, packed like a damn pair of shoes curled up and facing each other nose to knees. Neither of them moved when the crate was opened.

For one horrible moment Buck thought both girls were dead. Then he noticed the slight rise of their chests and relaxed just a bit. If they were still breathing there was hope.

Eddie reached into the crate and checked both girls for a pulse. He didn’t look happy about what he found. “They both have a very low pulse rate. We need to get them out of here ASAP.”

Buck wasn’t happy himself. “Very low isn’t none. For now we’ll take it. Let’s get them out of this thing and get the others open.” He was very conscious that the most direct way out was blocked (again! Why did this keep happening to him?) and trouble could be coming very quickly through the only other exit.

Eddie lifted the first girl out of the crate and placed her carefully on the floor of the cave, checking her over for obvious wounds. One of the women caged along the wall began speaking quickly, pressing herself against the bars and reaching through them desperately. Buck quickly turned to Eddie. “Take the keys and get them out. We’ll check for injuries and treat what we can. See if any of them speak English or if they know what kind of drug the girls were given.”

“Fine, but you don’t try lifting the other girl out. You’ve got a bullet way too close to too many major structures and a not-yet-clotted abdominal wound. We may need to carry some of these girls out, so save your strength for that.” Eddie got up and moved over to the cages, going through the keys until he found the correct fit.

The minute the door opened on the first cage the women inside were out. One scrambled across the floor to the girl Eddie had lifted out, while another tenderly lifted the second child out of the crate and crouched nearby rocking the girl and singing softly to her.

While Eddie found the right keys and opened the two remaining cages, the freed women worked together to lift the empty crate off the top of the stack and begin opening the second crate. Buck checked the women for injuries as well as he could, but none of them were of a mind to be tended to so long as the children remained trapped. Eventually he gave up and began helping the women disassemble the horrible boxes.

In all nine children were freed from the crates, all of them in a drugged slumber so deep it worried Eddie, and Buck didn’t know how they were all going to get out of here.

“Wheels, we’ve got trouble.” Buck had made the tough call to break radio silence. They needed information. Team Gamma had last reported a possible target, and Team Delta was waiting to start their assault on the settlement.

“Go ahead Nudge.”

“We have twelve women and nine children. All nine of the children are deeply drugged. Doc isn’t sure what it is, but he’s concerned for the smallest ones. It’s dampening their respiratory reflex. We’re not sure how long they’ve been out, and have no idea when they’ll wake up. Of the women three of them have bullet wounds from the firefight we had in here. Two others have wounds that are beginning to fester, probably from when they were grabbed. And Eddie and I have both been shot. His was a through and through a couple of inches above his right elbow. Fortunately he’s left-handed. Mine is little more serious.”

“What Nudge isn’t saying is that his is an abdominal wound with no exit. Bullet’s still in there and peritonitis is a real danger.” Good old Eddie…wouldn’t let him get away with anything.

“Copy Doc. Team Gamma found and dispatched three guards. The cave contained eight boys from about age four to age twelve. Kook reports a minor bullet crease, and Flitter was stabbed in the shoulder. Sounds like they’re better off than you are, but no way Flitter can make it back up the cliff. Nudge, I’m seeing four men heading towards the tunnels. They’re not in a hurry so it’s probably a feeding run. Do I shoot?”

“Take the shot Wheels. Alpha Point, notify Team Delta that now is go time.”

“Copy that Nudge.” Captain Bridges' calm voice sounded from the Alpha Point. “Doc, Kook, can you make it into the tunnels? Right now it looks to be your exit.”

”We’ll make it.”

“We’ll try to meet up with Team Gamma on the way down. One of our hostiles made it into the tunnels. We could run into unfriendlies at any moment, and four armed personnel are better than two. Gonna assume Wheels is occupied, and you’ll probably lose us as we head further in. We’ll let you know what we can we when we can make contact again. Nudge out.”

“Copy that. Alpha Point out.” For a moment Buck missed the familiar reminder to keep his eyes open for snakes. Looking across the cave at the familiar snake, Buck decided that he needed to learn to crochet. Or at least find some new yarn for Atropos. Jörmungandr definitely deserved a new sweater.

Pushing himself to his feet, Buck gestured for the women to follow him. Carrying their children, the women got up and prepared to leave. One of the women without a child to carry went to the stack of opened crates and began kicking at it furiously. Buck wasn’t sure what she was doing, until a large slat came loose with three wicked looking nails protruding from it. With a cry of satisfaction, she picked it up and joined the group with a determined look.

The other women without children converged on the stack, quickly stomping and kicking more pieces loose and arming themselves. The first woman looked defiantly at Buck, like she expected to be told to drop her makeshift weapon. Buck just nodded respectfully, and turned into the tunnel, following the Midgard serpent with a flock of inexperienced but determined Valkyries behind, followed by a very grumpy Ixlilton at the rear.

Chapter Text

Trusting Jörmungandr to lead him where he needed to go was second nature now. Buck followed the snake through the branching tunnels, hoping that every new tunnel would be the one that led to his teammates. He knew he had given himself a concussion when he hit the cave floor, and the blood loss from his still seeping side was adding to the problem. The sooner there were four of them instead of two the happier he’d be.

Passing a split-off into a side tunnel, Buck noticed a body hunched over by the wall. Readying his weapon, he crept up to check it out. In the dim light he could see that it wasn’t one of his team. It looked like…as he got close enough to see the face, he was sure this was the man who had shot him and run from the cave. The man was clearly dead, with his eyes bulging from his head and his tongue protruding. Strangled. Checking the marks on the man’s neck, it looked like something thick. No abrasions, so not a rope…it looked more like…oh.

Well, at least he was dead. Buck returned to following the thick, muscular constrictor down the tunnel with a mental shrug. Who was he to dispute Jörmungandr’s judgement?

A few turns further on, Buck heard movement coming towards them from up above. Stopping his group behind the tunnel wall, Buck peered around the wall only to jump back in surprise when he came eyeball to eyeball with Flitter doing the same thing.

Motioning the all clear to Eddie and letting his women move forward into the wider tunnel ahead, Buck was witness to a joyous if quiet reunion. The little boys in the group with his teammates went to their mothers eagerly, some of them obviously concerned about their sisters being carried. A couple of the bigger girls were showing signs of waking, but most of the girls were still out cold and all of them were being carried. The women had passed them around as arms tired, sharing the burden without complaint.

Buck moved forward again, with Flitter on his six while Kook fell back to guard with Eddie. The party was able to move a little faster now, but with more than thirty people that wasn’t saying much. And Buck was well aware he wasn’t making the speed he usually would.

Suddenly the snake ahead of him stopped and flared, bringing Buck to a halt. Frantically signaling for silence Buck froze, ready to make way back up the tunnel to find a defensible position if necessary. He signaled his team to dowse their lights.

Conversation in the distance, footsteps coming closer. The women had herded the children into the center of the group and now clutched their improvised weapons tightly, obviously ready to defend themselves and their children. Buck readied his weapon and noticed the other members of his team doing the same.

All of them waited quietly, watchful in the darkness, as the voices and footsteps drew nearer.

The footsteps and voices suddenly seemed to be moving sideways and away. The men must be going down a different tunnel. Buck was overcome with a sensation of horror. What if the two caves his teams hit weren’t the only ones in use? What if there were others somewhere up above them needing rescue?

Signaling Kook and Eddie to join him and Flitter Buck thought furiously. They could not leave the women and children without protection. They could not leave possible victims behind if they could avoid it. There were very possibly enemies further down in the caves. Wheels was good, and Buck knew Team Delta would prevail down in the settlement, but the odds of one or more of the men escaping into the tunnels were pretty strong. And nobody but Buck could see the snake. Well, none of the adults in the party anyway. Some of the younger boys could obviously see him, but they were sticking close to their mothers right now and Jörmungandr was occupied.

Making his decision, Buck spoke quietly to his team. “Listen, we need to know where those men are going and if there are more of them. So Doc and I will follow them. If there are more victims we’ll do what we can to get them out and return to you. If they’re headed somewhere else, we’ll move to eliminate. The last thing we need is two separate groups of potential enemies, and we already know there might be one further down and heading up fast.”

“If we’re not back in thirty minutes, start moving on down. Always down. Be prepared for trouble, and keep moving down. We’ll catch up if we can.”

Kook looked less than impressed. “You’re both injured. Wouldn’t I be a better choice?” His graze was oozing a little, but at least he wasn’t bleeding. And he had a point, but…

“No. This group needs you. If it has to be just two of us leading them out…it needs to be the one with SERE training, just in case.” Buck felt sure about his decision. Yeah, he trusted Eddie in a way he didn’t yet trust Kook, because of time spent together. But ultimately it was about the mission. Without Jörmungandr’s guidance Kook had the best chance of getting this group through the tunnels safely.

Kook gave Buck an assessing once-over, then seemed to accept his reasoning. “OK, we’ll wait 30 minutes. Then start back down. I fully expect you to be leading us or close on our tail by then. Sir.”

“That’s the plan. Give people the chance to rest, but at least some of you need to be ready on your feet just in case. Good luck. Oorah, Hooyah, Hooah, why doesn’t the Air Force have a cheer? That’s just ridiculous. You can share Flitters ‘Oorah’.” Buck firmly corralled his wandering thoughts (Why doesn’t the Air Force have a cheer? Why do all the other branches have cheers? Has the Air Force never won a battle? Nonsense.) and started off following a pissed off snake, Eddie a silent presence solidly at his back.

Just like they’d promised.

It didn’t take thirty minutes. It was less than ten. The men had obviously followed an offshoot going further into the mountain rather than up towards the caves. This wasn’t designed to gather the limited moisture, this was new construction. Moving as speedily as he could manage, Buck followed Jörmungandr deeper into the mountain.

A multitude of voices up ahead caused the two men to slow down and approach as cautiously and silently as possible. They turned off their lights and crept carefully down the tunnel towards what sounded like a party. Lurking in the shadows of the tunnel the two men were invisible in their camouflage, and of course the snake was just invisible.

Peering into the room ahead they saw a group of men lounging around and conversing in seats arranged in a rough semi-circle facing a small raised platform. Three men were standing at the front of the room having their own conversation, and off to the side three little girls clung to one another. The two littlest girls were frightened and confused, but the slightly older girl was grim…obviously all too aware of why they were there.

With a rising fury, Buck recognized the military uniforms on three of the men waiting for the opportunity to buy another human being. That they were there for little girls just made it worse. He had felt Eddie tense beside him as he too realized that there were members of their own present in the room. Buck was frantically trying to figure out how to get the girls out of the line of fire when Jörmungandr moved at speed.

Arrowing straight towards the girls, apparently confident in his invisibility, the snake circled the girls once and then slowly started back towards the entrance where Buck and Eddie waited. The little girls clearly saw the snake, watching him head into the tunnel. Taking a chance Buck moved just enough to be seen by the oldest girl beckoning her closer.

The girl seemed to consider whether the man in the shadows might be better or worse than the ones in the room. Finally, obviously having made up her mind, she gathered the two smaller girls’ hands into her own and began slowly and carefully sidling towards the entrance.

Buck was ready to grab the girls and run if that was the only option he had, but something shimmered slightly between the girls and the rest of the room. A faint outline of a man, or rather an angel, with his wings spread out to cover the girls’ retreat. It couldn’t hide them completely, but it subtly discouraged people from looking in that direction.

The first little girl got within reach, and Buck reached out his hand. Slowly, slowly, with the steady shimmer of the faint obstruction between them and the enemy, the girls finally made it to the tunnel entrance. Buck grabbed the hand of the first girl, passing her back to Eddie as the other two made a break for it. The men in the room seemed to notice the faster movement and began reaching for side arms, rising in pursuit.

Shoving the girls at Eddie Buck hollered “Run! Get behind the first curve!” Readying the grenade he’d armed.

Eddie didn’t want to leave, but he recognized the order for what it was and grabbed the two smallest girls into his arms. Turning and running for the curve, trusting Buck to guard his back with the older girl holding tightly to his tac belt they reached the shelter of the tunnel bend as they heard the explosion behind them.

Buck felt Eddie turn to run as the form in front of him changed shape. The wings melted away and a very familiar canine head overtook the top and Nat’s voice whispered in his ear, “Now wear MY aspect Evan Buckley.”

Buck lobbed in the grenade, not at any of the men rushing towards the entrance, but towards the entrance itself. This time he brought the roof down on purpose trapping the men in the room. Their security system of having only one entrance point had become their end.

Hearing the victorious howl of a canine after a successful hunt, Buck was sure that by the time anyone could dig back into the cave all the men inside would be dead. As he heard the chorus of canine howls behind the fall of rock he just hoped they would still be identifiable.

The force of the blast had thrown him backwards into the tunnel wall, and he lay where he had fallen, breathless and broken. Suddenly a familiar sight filled his swimming vision. A silver medal with a bearded form, a small boy on his back, crossing a body of water. Eddie’s St. Christopher medal had come loose from his shirt, dangling in front of Buck’s face.

Christopher. The smiling little boy he first met. The brave boy torn away from him in a moment of inattention. The preteen who Ubered himself to Buck when he was afraid his world was falling apart. The teenager who he never really had the chance to know. The man in the diner, pressing on his chest with both hands and begging him to hold on. Christopher.

“Breathe, dammit!” Eddie’s voice, not Christopher’s. He hadn’t met Christopher yet in this reality. “Come on, Nudge. You’re not making me carry your heavy ass all the way out of this mountain. Breathe.” Eddie’s hands were gentle, even as his words were not…always their way with one another, lifetime to lifetime.

“Evan, you have more to do.” A soft voice, a vision of Atropos with her old face on, leaning forward and kissing Buck softly on the forehead. “Now breathe.” The vision vanished.

Buck’s chest was on fire, but something seemed to relax inside. He took a shuddering breath. Then another. And another.

“That’s it. Come on Nudge, get those lungs working again. We’ve only got ten minutes left to join Kook and Flitter, so we’d better get a move on. Sit up slowly and tell me if anything hurts.” Eddie steadily supported Buck as he rolled carefully into a sitting position.

“Everything hurts. But I’m getting out of here. Help me stand up without getting my wound bleeding again.” Buck held out his arm for Eddie to put over his shoulder and gently lift him to his feet.

“Which wound would that be? The first one in your side, or one of the ones you’ve acquired in this latest stunt.” SSgt Eddie ‘Doc’ Diaz, professional Mother Hen…was in the house. Buck shook his head carefully, trying to settle his scattered thoughts. Getting out of the tunnel. That was the mission, and there was almost certainly trouble ahead.

With Jörmungandr in the lead Buck and Eddie along with their three new charges quickly made it back to the wide point in the tunnel where the rest of their group waited. Kook and Flitter were relieved to see their teammates, and not terribly surprised to see the three additional girls with them. The two littler girls were caught up with happy cries from two of the women. The oldest girl stood and watched the reunion with a resignation that hurt Buck’s heart.

Approaching the girl with his canteen, Buck carefully lowered himself on to a conveniently placed bump at the bottom of the tunnel wall. Holding out his canteen to the girl Buck pointed to himself with his other hand.

“Evan” He told her his name, still holding the canteen out to her, hoping she’d understand and reciprocate. Or at least take the canteen and drink.

The girl hesitantly took the canteen, and then with a seeming fatalism she took a small sip. Pleasantly surprised by the clean water, she took another small sip before handing the canteen back.

“Sayah” She named herself.

“Sayah” Buck repeated. He pointed to one of the many cuts he was now sporting after having been blown into a wall. Then gestured to the girl, hoping she’d understand.

“Not hurt.” Buck was so surprised to hear English he nearly gave himself whiplash.

“You speak English?” Kook and Eddie were both paying attention now, while Flitter used her language skills to speak to a couple of the women.

“Had to learn to serve last master. Him want English all time. Had to learn fast.” The girl’s shoulders hunched in as if in self-protection as she obviously remembered the penalty for not learning fast enough.

“Neither of the women know the girl. She’s not from their village. Paroo thinks maybe she’s a shadow child. One born into slavery.” Flitter’s tone was measured and careful, trying not to reveal her horror at the girl’s situation in case she took it as directed at herself.

Moving up to Buck, she drew herself up formally. “If I could have a word, sir.”

Startled Buck pulled himself upright again and nodded briskly. “Of course, Sargeant.” Moving with her a little ahead of the larger group he turned to face her, waiting for whatever she had to tell him.

“If it’s confirmed that she’s actually always been a slave, the others won’t want her around their children. They’ll think she’s bad luck. And she’ll be completely unadoptable if they’re honest about her origins. She’ll either be in a home somewhere or she’ll have to hide herself all her life.” Flitter wanted to make sure Buck knew what Sayah would face, even in the US.

“Alright Sgt. For right now, we’re going to concentrate on getting everything safely out of this hellhole. Once we’ve accomplished that we’ll have a word with Commander Jackson about options. For now Sayah stays with the other children in the center of the group. I’m not going to insist that anyone interact with her, but she will absolutely be protected.” That was non-negotiable.

“Yes, sir. I actually think Paroo will keep an eye on her. She doesn’t have any children in this group and she has the equivalent of a tenth grade education, which places her far beyond most of these women who probably haven’t had much formal schooling. She’s a little more worldly and doesn’t quite believe the old wives tales about cursed children and djinn.” With a small shrug, Flitter reminded Buck that Afghanistan as a country was not kind to its women.

“Oh and sir?”

“Yes?”

“Should we be on the lookout for dogs of some sort? We heard a terrible sound of howling in the distance. Do you think they’re tracking us or sniffing us out?” Buck hadn’t realized anyone else could hear the sounds of Anubis’ pack.

“No Flitter, there are jackals in these tunnels. But don’t worry. They’ll leave us alone.” That he was certain of.

As they got further down in the tunnels, the four military members got more and more uneasy. They fully expected to meet some sort of threat coming from the canyon to escape Team Delta and Wheels’ shooting. The closer they got to the opening the closer the danger had to be.

As they approached the next intersection, Jörmungandr slowed down. Buck signaled everyone to be quiet and dowse the lights. Motioning Kook up into the point position, Buck readied his weapon and waited.

Taking an extendable mirror out of one of the pockets in his tac belt Kook carefully lengthened it and angled it to see around the curve of the wall.

A sudden explosion of gunfire and yells came from the other side of the wall. Kook dropped his mirror and readied his own weapon, just as a group of men came charging around the wall.

Buck began shooting with his teammates, trying to take down as many as possible before they could get to the women and children. One thing he didn’t really count on. The women weren’t waiting. One of them darted forward and slammed her wooden slat into a man’s face with all her strength, the nails raking down and slashing across his eye while he screamed. Other women took their turns and did their best, forming a living fighting wall between the enemy and their children.

It took the fleeing men a few seconds to realize that the threat didn’t just come from the armed personnel in front. By that time many of them had been punctured, slashed, and beaten by one of the determined women. One woman had apparently picked up one of the hammers used to build the crates and was wielding it with great success.

The men still capable of using their weapons turned to bring them to bear on the women attacking them, leaving them open to attack by the four armed military now flanking them. Surrounded and panicked, the men began shooting at everything, even each other.

Right about then, half of Team Delta followed the men around the wall into the tunnel. The next few moments were complete chaos (as if the previous few hadn’t been chaotic enough). Buck saw Eddie go down, but he couldn’t get to him. Flitter was sheltering as many of the children behind her as she could. Kook had apparently decided not to bring a gun to a knife fight and was slitting throats left, right, and center. It didn’t take too much imagination to picture the Jackal’s head overtaking him. Covered in blood he certainly looked like an aspect of Death.

Eddie rolled over and drove his knife into the thigh of the man who’d just shot him. Buck wanted to crow in triumph, but the gun still in Eddie’s face short circuited that impulse in a hurry. Making a split-second decision, Buck bent over and rushed the guy, taking him down with a tackle that would have made his high school football coach proud. One knife between the ribs later and the body beneath him went limp

It took Buck a minute to realize someone was calling his name through the ringing in his ears.

Rolling over, he looked up at the Team Delta lieutenant. It was getting hard to breathe again, and Buck had to really work to focus on the man.

“SO1 Buckley, the settlement is secure. Data is being sent to the Joint Task Force Command. What are our follow-up instructions, sir?” Delta had apparently been as efficient as he had hoped.

Buck tried to answer the man, but was finding it really hard to catch his breath. “Take any prisoners and contain them. Trust absolutely no one not already known to you as being on the Joint Task Force. There’s a cave up there. They were preparing an auction. Three of the girls. There were military personnel in attendance. I blew up the entrance. I don’t know if anyone’s left alive, but they should be identifiable anyway. Do NOT speak to anyone about this until you hear from either Admiral Whitcomb or General Lambert.”

Message delivered, Buck tried to get up off the floor. He failed. He felt several hands prop him up against the nearby tunnel wall.

“Let me up dammit! I’M the fucking medical member on this team. Let me get to him.” Tsk tsk Eddie. Gotta clean up that language before you see Chris again. Don’t want him to repeat those words. The strange hands were gone and Eddie was there.

“What’s up Doc?” Buck asked with a terrible Bronx accent.

“You just had to go there, didn’t you?”

“Eddie, we have to report to the top. Before they take us away. We have to report.” Buck was pretty sure that difficulty catching his breath meant a first-class airlift to Ramstein. Having seen Eddie shot at least twice, Buck was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be alone on that flight.

“Yeah, I know. We’ll figure it out. As soon as we’re out of here.”

Chapter Text

In the end, Team 2 walked out of their operation having saved thirty-four people, most of them from a small herding community in the north. General Lambert and Admiral Whitcomb made their way immediately to the site when they were told two members of the team were refusing to leave for needed medical treatment until they could report in person.

The support team’s medic used needle aspiration to keep Buck’s collapsed lung stable, but told him he’d almost certainly need a chest tube and pump once they got him to Ramstein. Eddie was salty about not being allowed to do it himself, but with only one functional arm (even if it was his dominant arm) no one was going to let him do much of anything for anyone else. The two men waited with varying degrees of patience for the Joint Task Force commanders to arrive.

Buck had also asked to see Commander Jackson before he left, and since she was well aware of his propensity to keep going until he literally dropped she made sure to get there quickly. In the end, Buck and Eddie wound up making one report to all three officers.

The three officers gathered around the two men and perched on whatever chairs they could find quickly to drag into the cubicle. Together with the other four members of Team 2 it was a packed room. Flitter and Kook were both being treated for various lesser injuries, though Zhang’s arm would see her out of commission for several days as well. But Buck thought it was important to debrief with the entire team and as the in-field commander it was his call. He knew he needed to keep it brief though, aware that at any sign of decompensation medical would overrule him and he’d be on that flight.

“Someone is going to have to loop in Dennis, because we found out how they’ve been moving most of the victims. The nine girls Team Bravo found in the first cave had been dosed with something and packed in crates to be moved as goods rather than smuggled south as people. She needs to watch her ports and stations for wide-slat crates packed with straw. I don’t know what the manifests will show as the contents, but hopefully that information can be pulled out of what you’re getting from the settlement.” Buck had to stop to breathe every five or six words, but he managed to get the first thing off his list.

Eddie spoke up at that point, hoping to save Buck some of the strain. “Once we’d joined with Team Gamma we made our way on down towards the bottom of the tunnel system. About half-way down we stopped when we heard voices approaching. We were expecting a confrontation but they took a branching route before they reached us. We were concerned about the possibility of additional victims we’d missed, since we’d had two secondary targets if the first two didn’t pan out.”

Buck picked the tale back up at that point. “I made the decision that we needed to know where the group was going, so Diaz and I left the main group to rest briefly while we followed the voices. We got to a point pretty quickly where there was newer construction than the general tunnel system. Following that route, we found a large open room with seating and a little platform or stage at the front. It was like a cocktail party or something, and everyone was socializing before getting down to business. There were three little girls to one side of the room.”

“Buckley got the attention of one of the girls, and they started moving towards us slowly. No one noticed until they were almost out of the room. Nudge told me to take the girls and run, back through the tunnel until we could put a curve between us and the room. I got the girls safely behind the curve and was turning back when I heard an explosion.” Eddie picked up the thread of the story from his perspective.

“I had thrown a grenade into the entrance to the room, deliberately bringing down the ceiling and trapping all the men inside. I don’t know if anyone survived the collapse, or how much of the ceiling actually came down, but the bodies should at least be identifiable.” Buck was gearing up for the hardest part of his debrief.

“And are you going to tell us why this report had to take precedence over medical treatment? If you don’t think anyone survived the collapse, why is time of the essence?” Admiral Whitcomb knew something terrible was around the corner. It had to be for Buckley to be holding on like this, just to report.

“At least three of the men in the room were US military.”

Buck’s statement seemed to suck all the air out of the room.

“What?” The single word dropped from General Lambert’s mouth in shock.

Eddie sighed, and confirmed. “I spotted three uniforms in the room. Our uniforms. Some of the other men may also have been US military in civilian dress, but at the least we had three members of the US Army attending a slave auction. For children. The youngest of those girls was four. The oldest was no more than ten.”

The silence was replaced by swearing of such volume and creativity that all the men present took a moment to appreciate the effort before joining in. Who would’ve thought the very professional Commander Jackson had it in her?

Whitcomb took a moment to add to the blue verbal haze (no one can cuss like a sailor better than a sailor) before pulling himself together. “All right, for now that information doesn’t leave this room. I’ll get a team of Seabees in here to get the room dug out. There’s a team just off building a forward base not far from here. We’ll go from there based on what we find in the room.”

“Was that the worst of it, Petty Officer Buckley?” Lambert really hoped there was no one left alive in the room when they got there. He had four precious granddaughters and the idea that men wearing the uniform in which he took such pride had been party to such a contemptible business left him almost speechless with rage.

“Yes and no. It’s the worst of it in terms of what you might call the business aspect.” Buck was running on fumes, but he had to finish. “The oldest of the girls in the auction, Sayah. She speaks some English. She told me her last master wanted her to speak English. She’s what they call a shadow child. Born into the system of slavery rather than kidnapped into it.”

Commander Jackson took a deep breath. “Do not try to put her in your duffle, Petty Officer Buckley. Thank you for making us aware of her special circumstances. We’ll have to explore her options very carefully. And she’ll probably have to be debriefed herself for information, but I promise we’ll be as gentle as we can with that and she’ll have support through the process.”

Buck trusted Commander Jackson to do what she said she’d do. He was still worried, but he felt that he could leave Sayah in her hands. At least for now.

Buck woke, once again aware of being in a hospital. For a minute his mind wandered through time, trying to place himself properly within it.

“This, Evan, is Ramstein.”

Ah, still sharing a room with Eddie then. Good.

Buck opened his eyes and looked around at what was obviously not a field hospital. “We the only two brought in?” He didn’t really remember the flight. They had knocked him out pretty quickly once they were in the air. He remembered Eddie fussing about having to be on a gurney instead of riding in a seat. But that was about it.

“Yeah. Zhang and Kusminski were treated in country. Cartwright and Bridges were unwounded. Though damn, Cartwright can shoot. Delta member was telling me he made all the difference in getting the settlement contained hard and fast. The men we met at the end of the tunnel were the only ones who made it in. Wheels dropped a good twenty of them”

Well, good. Buck was pleased that his core team had come through relatively well. “What about Delta? They lose anyone?” Those men were also under his command, his and Bridges.

“No, though they have a couple down with pretty minor injuries. One guy evidently broke several bones in his foot early on, and just kept going. And they had one guy with a through and through to his thigh. Not bad.”

“How long have I been out? And how long have you been awake? Have you seen a doctor for an update yet?” Buck knew he was still on the good drugs, but they didn’t have him buzzing so hard he’d be illegal in several states. Hopefully that meant he didn’t have a long stay ahead of him.

Eddie shifted to a more seated position in his bed. “Well, I’ve been awake off and on since yesterday afternoon. They started backing your meds down this morning. It’s about three in the afternoon. And the doctor usually comes in between five and six. At least that’s what they tell me. I missed them yesterday.”

Buck looked over at Eddie, giving him an assessing glance. His right arm was strapped to his chest and he had bandages peeking out from under the wrapping. Buck couldn’t see anything else and was about to ask, when someone knocked on the door, opened it, and bustled in with brisk efficiency.

“Good to see you awake Petty Officer Buckley. Are you in any pain? Please don’t move too much. I’ll raise the head of your bed for you. Don’t try to sit up.”

It was a good thing the nurse had warned him against moving. Just having the head of his bed raised put strain on what appeared to be surgical incisions on his chest and side. He had tubes attached in various locations, none of which he particularly wanted to think about.

What were her questions again?

“I’m not in much pain, but I’m sure having trouble concentrating. How long until the drugs are out of my system and I can think without chasing rabbits all over the place?” Buck had learned many ways to cope with his ADHD over the years. None of those were available to him in his current situation.

“Oh, we’re going to keep you comfortable enough to know you’ll stay where we put you. At least for the near future. Now, I’m just going to do a quick check of your temp and bp. The doctor will be around shortly after five.” The nurse gave his shoulder a comforting pat, careful not to jostle any of his attachments.

After taking his vitals, she bustled over to Eddie, who was practically pouting sitting in his bed. “I’ve been awake, mostly, for a whole day. I’m a medic. Surely I can take care of myself at this stage. It seems a waste of your valuable time to make you come by and stare at me every other hour.”

The nurse looked him up and down, while wiggling her eyebrows. “Oh sugar, it’s no hardship at all to come stare at you. I do love me a wounded warrior.” Eddie turned beet red as the nurse gave him a saucy wink. “Now you boys be good.”

She bustled on out the door, then poked her head back in. “Next time I’ll be sure to bring my sponge.” Disappearing back out the door, leaving behind one very embarrassed and one very amused patient.

Buck was in absolute awe. He didn’t even know Eddie could get that red!

He got comfortable-ish in his bed. He had time for a nap before the doctor came around...

“Pneumothorax requiring surgical repair, you’re going to have that chest tube in for another few days. Since we were in there anyway we repaired your broken ribs. Low grade concussion and a busted ear drum from the explosion in close quarters. It’s healing nicely. The big concern was the bullet wound to the side. We had to remove your gallbladder and a small part of your small intestine along with a section of liver. The liver will regenerate over the next six months, and you’ll be informed of the dietary changes necessary to compensate for the loss of your gall bladder and the section of intestine. Peritonitis was beginning to set in, so we did a thorough cleanse of the internal structures. You’ll be on antibiotics for the next two weeks.”

Having gotten the go-ahead from Buck to speak in front of Eddie, the doctor had rattled off Buck’s list of injuries as though he had appreciated the challenge to his skill. Glancing at Eddie and getting the same go-ahead, the doctor continued.

“Entry and exit wounds on the upper right arm were easy to close. But the bullet that shattered your clavicle was not as gracious. That bone is going to take eight full weeks to heal if you want it to be structurally sound. The knife wound to the stomach took eleven stitches to close, but it wasn’t deep enough to injure any of the internal structures.

“On the whole gentlemen you’ve come away better than you had any right to considering what you put your bodies through. You need to listen to them now. Petty Officer Buckley, the kidney could be a concern later in life, so you’ll need to keep an eye. And Staff Sargent Diaz, if you do not want to be prone to shoulder dislocations in later life, you need to really take the time to heal.” Problems for Future Buck and Future Eddie then. Or maybe Future-Future Buck.

“Buckley, you’ll be here until we can take the chest tube out. That should be in five to seven days. Diaz, stop pestering the nurses. You’re stuck here for at least another three days, and probably more like five. We need to see the beginning stages of healing, and we’ll need to discuss home care for the final six weeks of your recovery, and then rehab.” The doctor paused to give the two a chance to ask any questions they had.

“Do you know what’s going on with the Joint Task Force we were seconded to?” Both men were eager to hear any news. Unfortunately for them either the man genuinely didn’t know anything or felt it was better for them not to know at this time.

“I’m afraid not, but I did send a message to Admiral Whitcomb when you were able to stay awake for more than ten minutes at a time. I believe he plans to stop by in the next few days.”

He left the room as Buck and Eddie looked at each other across the gap between their beds. “Hey Doc? If that nurse really does come back with her sponge, do you want me to defend your virtue or keep a lookout? Just want to know how to have your back in that situation.” Buck was snickering as he thought of their sassy nurse.

Eddie huffed and rolled his eyes. “You might have to protect me from her deadly sponge. Especially if it’s loaded with cold water.”

Suddenly Eddie perked up as he thought of something. “Hey, do you think she’d call Chris for me if I asked her to?”

Chapter Text

As it turned out, the sassy nurse absolutely melted at being asked to facilitate a phone call between a father and his three-year-old son. And when Buck mentioned that his sister was due any day now with her first child and he’d really like to call and check on her…well…she was on a Mission.

Thirty minutes later she was back with a laptop tucked under her arm.

“OK guys, I’ve looked everywhere. I’m not sure who was responsible for sending your gear on, but they have been less than efficient.” She bustled around in her usual competent way, hooking up cables and attaching them to the ports in the laptop.

She moved on to releasing the brakes on Eddie’s bed and shifting things around so that both he and Buck could see the connected laptop. “So I talked to the other nurses. We’re loaning you the setup from the nurse’s lounge. I checked the time differential. It should be about nine o’clock in the morning in California, and about one in the afternoon in Virginia. You should be good to go.”

Eddie caught her hand as she moved off to head on to whatever her next mission might be. “Thank you so much. I can’t begin to tell you how much this means to me. I haven’t gotten to talk to my son in almost three weeks.”

She gave him a real smile and patted his hand gently. “I can’t even imagine going a day without talking to my kids. I may tease a little, but know I’m serious about doing everything I can to make sure you can hug your boy with BOTH your arms the next time you see him. Now enjoy your calls boys. I’ll be back in an hour.”

Eddie looked over at Buck. “Hey, do you mind if I call first? I’m not sure how early Chris is napping these days.”

“No worries. I’m really looking forward to meeting Christopher. He sounds like a really awesome kid.” Buck couldn’t wait. If he wasn’t absolutely sure bouncing in his bed would dislodge something important he would be bouncing in excitement. Instead he was just tapping his fingers on the sheets.

Eddie dialed the number, and after a few moments the call connected with the video blocked.

“Hello?” a woman’s voice questioned.

“Hey Shan, it’s me.”

“Eddie!! Just a minute! Dirk, go get Chris! His daddy’s on the phone. Just a sec…let me find…there it is.” The video feed connected and Buck got his first glimpse of Shannon Diaz in this life, and had to blink in shock. He realized he’d never seen her smile at anyone before. She looked younger and healthier than he’d ever seen her, and without the stresses of life in El Paso she seemed to be thriving.

“Sorry Eddie. I’d just put him in his gait trainer and Mom was watching him in her room.”

A loud squeal sounded from off camera and Shannon turned her tablet around. A tall, thin man was hurrying into the room with a small child doing his level best to fly. “Daddy Daddy Daddy…”

Eddie reached out toward the screen as though he could reach through and touch the people on the other side. “Christopher. Look at you. You’re getting so big. Are you being good for Mommy and Dirk? Hey, Dirk. Good to see you.”

“Yeah man, good to see you too. Let me get the munchkin set up here…and there you go.” Shannon handed the tablet over as soon as Dirk got Chris safely secured in his booster chair.

“Daddy…” the little boy chortled merrily at his father through the screen. “Mommy found a school for me!”

“Really? What do you do at school?” Eddie seemed to be waiting with bated breath for the details of preschool.

“Well, we read books and make pictures and play in the sand table and sing songs and play games and eat a snack. My best friend is sometimes Kylen and sometimes Moni. Dirk says Ky is hi main-ants. He wiggles a lot so maybe those ants are in his pants Nana says. I just sometimes Can’t Handle Ky’s ants, so sometimes Moni is my best friend. She doesn’t have ants.” Buck was completely enthralled with this tale of PreK intrigue, and forgot he hadn’t been introduced yet.

“So do Moni and Ky like each other?”

“Daddy, do you have a friend there? You should have inner-duced me! He’ll think I don’t have good manners, Daddy. I been ignorin’ him ‘cause I didn’t know he was there.” Chris seemed equal parts irritated with his dad and anxious to make a good impression.

“Yeah Chris. I’m sorry buddy. This is my friend Evan. Evan, this is my son Chris.” Eddie introduced the two who considered one another through the screen.

Chris shook his head sadly. “Please ‘scuse Daddy. Mommy says he was brought up by wolves, and I guess they didn’t teach him how to inner-duce people. My name is Christopher Diaz. I’m pleased to meet you. This is my Mommy and my Dirk. Daddy, did the wolves teach you how to inner-duce other wolves? Do you have to howl to do it? Can you show me?” Chris obviously considered the ramifications of trying to perform introductions among humans after being raised by wolves.

“Wolves do howl sometimes to introduce their pack to other packs or other animals, but when they’re just introducing one wolf to another wolf they actually do a little dance.” After a deep dive on wolves during Christopher’s canines phase Buck already knew the answer to that and shared it eagerly with Chris.

Christopher’s eyes grew big and round. “Really! Daddy, show me, please? I want to see a wolf inner-duction.”

“Maybe when I get home Chris. I can’t really dance right now.” Eddie shot Buck the evil eye for setting him up like that. Buck tried to look innocent, but it really wasn’t his best effort since he was also trying not to laugh.

Chris’s eyes narrowed at that point and he leaned closer to the screen. “Daddy, are you hurt again? Why are you calling me from bed? Are you sick? Are you coming home to get well again?”

Shannon and Dirk had both come closer to the screen hearing Chris ask those questions.

“Eddie? Are you hurt? I didn’t even notice. Give me just a minute here. Chris, you need to say ‘good-bye’ to your Dad. I need to talk to him for a minute about boring grown-up stuff.” Shannon seemed concerned, and obviously wanted the whole scoop outside of Christohper’s hearing.

“But I’m not ready! I gots to tell Daddy all about Mrs. Majors and Nana. They’s fightin’ over the gnomes. And …”

“Hey, Chris? I’m sorry to interrupt, but we had to borrow this laptop from the nurses. Of course I let your Daddy call you first, but I’d really like to talk to my sister before they need their computer back. She’s kinda sick and I’m worried about her. So if you don’t mind?” Buck gave Chris his best puppy-dog eyes.

Chris sighed and shook his head. “We’re gonna have to watch him, Daddy. He looks like Trouble. I can share though. I’m a big boy. Good-bye Daddy. Call me again and I’ll tell you all about the gnomes. Love you. Miss you. Come home to me soon.”

Leaning forward to kiss the screen, Christopher was trying not to cry as he told his father good-bye. Dirk picked him up out of his seat and carried him off, probably back to the interrupted gait training practice.

“OK Eddie, how bad is it this time?” Shannon got right to the point.

“Shattered right collarbone and some stitches. Awkward, but not really serious. I don’t know yet if they’ll send me home for healing and rehab or if they’ll keep me here. This Joint Task Force…well it’s important Shan. And it took a direction none of us could have imagined. I just don’t know what they’re going to decide. They’ve told me I’ll be here in Germany for at least another five days.” Eddie clearly wasn’t hiding things from Shannon anymore.

Shannon seemed to consider the situation for a moment, and then sighed. “Eddie, I don’t want to sound … well. Mom’s doctor told us last week. She’s terminal. They gave her four months. I don’t want to sound cruel but, she’s my Mom and she’s dying. But I don’t want you off in Germany trying to manage things by yourself. You should be able to come home. But I just can’t, I can’t take care of you both and Chris, even with Dirk’s help.” Shannon was crying now, obviously feeling torn between her responsibilities.

“Shannon, hey, Shan…don’t cry. I’m so sorry about Janet. She was always good to me, and I hate that we’re losing the only decent parent either of us had. But listen, you and Chris need to have this time with her. Take lots of pictures so you can tell him about it later if he can’t quite remember. And don’t worry about me. If they send me home, I’ll move in with my Abuela for a while. We’ll work it out. We’re a team, remember?” Eddie tried hard to soothe Shannon’s stress as she tried to juggle being a daughter and being a mother. The last thing she needed was to worry about being an almost ex-wife on top of that.

“I feel like it’s not fair to you, but…”

“Hey, what’s not fair is that a good woman is going to be leaving us too soon. If you need help, remember my Abuela and my tias are there and happy to help if they can. They don’t want to intrude under the circumstances of us splitting up, but they’re there if you need them. Speaking of, did you go ahead and file the paperwork we talked about?”

Buck felt a little out of place, being present for what was turning out to be a very personal call…but it wasn’t like he could go anywhere. So he just sat quietly, shoulder to shoulder with Eddie, and hoped his presence might give a little comfort. He couldn’t deny though that he was interested in Shannon’s answer.

“Yes, I filed the paperwork we had the lawyer draw up. Since it’s uncontested and there’s already an agreed upon custody plan in place they said it will be fairly quick. Six months or so. Are you sure you don’t want some sort of child support? I know you said you didn’t, but I don’t want Chris going without anything because you didn’t want to ask for money.” Talking about other things seemed to be helping Shannon get herself back under control.

“I swear to you Shan, I spend most of my therapy time right now talking about toxic masculinity. I promise, I won’t let Chris go without. You’ll always be his mother. And I’ll ask for help if we need it. Now, Nudge wasn’t kidding about his sister. She’s getting close to the end of a very fragile pregnancy and he really is worried about her. So I need to go. Tell Janet and Chris I love them.” Eddie tried to wind the conversion up so that Buck could get his turn in.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Evan, I’ll light a candle for her when I go to light one for Mom. It was nice to meet you, and someday I want to see that wolf introduction too. Bye now.” Shannon was smiling again as she closed the conversation and ended the call.

Eddie sat quietly for a moment with his eyes closed as a tear eased its way down the side of his face. “You know, Janet is great. I always used to listen to guys talking about their mothers-in-law and feel so lucky. This just…it’s not fair. It’s not fair that Chris is losing his only real grandparent when he’s too young to really be able to remember her later. She deserves better than that.”

“Hey, Eds, no. What you told Shannon? To take lots of pictures? That’ll help. It’ll give him something to attach his memories to, and even if over time they’re really more memories of the stories you tell him about his Nana…it’ll help. He’ll know her. I know what I’m talking about. Maddie and I only have one picture of Daniel, and I don’t have any memories of him at all, but Maddie’s told me so many stories, I feel like I’ll know my brother when I finally do get to meet him.”

“You really believe you’ll meet him one day, don’t you?” Eddie wiped the tear from his face and turned the computer a little more towards Buck.

“Absolutely. I don’t have a really well-developed theology or anything, and I seriously think God needs to do better by some of His kids, but I believe our loved ones never really leave us. We’ll see them again, one day.”

Buck reached out to the laptop to place his call to Maddie. As it rang through, he tried to figure out in his head if Janet Whitt was passing earlier this time around. Then the call connected, and a man’s voice answered.

“Hello?” Buck knew that voice.

“Hey Stick. How are my ladies?” Buck had known his teammate was checking in on his sister, but seeing it in person helped him feel just that much less worried.

The video turned on, giving Buck a good view of the Samuels family sitting in his living room in Little Creek with his sister. Sarah was on the floor with Belinda, who was drawing something at the coffee table. Maddie was sitting on the couch with her feet up, and for a minute Buck thought the baby in her arms was his niece. But a closer look clearly showed her own baby bump, still right where it should be. So that must be…

“Wow! Evie’s out of the hospital? That’s awesome. I was really worried when they decided to keep her longer after that bronchitis.” The baby was still small for her age, but she was a scrapper, gaining weight and hitting her milestones, with some adjustment for gestational age. “And hello Princess Belinda. How are you this beautiful afternoon? May I introduce my friend Eddie? His kid’s already roasted him over not introducing me upfront, so I thought I would use my best manners.”

“Hello Uncle Evan. And it’s nice to meet you Mr. Eddie. Manners are VERY important. Mommy says so. I didn’t have school today, so we’re visiting and giving Aunt Maddie some practice holding babies. And I’m making her baby a picture for its little box, if it needs one. So it knows there’s people out here that love them. That’s important. It helped Evie, right Daddy?” Belinda was obviously taking her ‘oldest girl’ responsibilities very seriously.

“It sure did sweetheart. She could look up and see that her big sister was waiting on her to get big enough to come home. Speaking of which, it’s about time we headed home ourselves. I know Uncle Evan wants to talk to Aunt Maddie before she has to go rest.” Stick started picking up some of the general accouterments that seemed to be necessary to traveling with a baby.

“Now, don’t forget you’ve got four meals in your fridge. Just pick out whichever one you want and zap it for three minutes in the microwave. Nice and easy. And call us if you need anything at all. It was good to get a glimpse of you Evan.” Sarah Samuels began packing Belinda’s art supplies away, leaving the picture in pride of place on the coffee table.

“Bye Uncle Evan. Be careful out there without Daddy. Mr. Eddie, you gotta watch Uncle Evan. Daddy says he’s a trouble magnet. Say ‘hi’ to Jory for me.” With a flurry of goodbyes, including one from baby Evie (ably assisted by her big sister) the Samuels family was off and out the door, leaving Maddie smiling at Buck through the camera.

“Hey Maddie, you’re looking good. And I’m glad Stick and Sarah are keeping an eye on you. I don’t really like you being alone right now. How are you feeling? What do your doctors say?” Evan was full of questions and wasn’t sure how long he had before their setup had to go back to the nurses’ lounge.

“I’m fine Evan. My doctors are a lot more optimistic than they were when I first got here. We’re in the home stretch now, and things are looking good. They don’t think they’re going to let me go into labor though. They’re planning to do a C-section in a little over four weeks. I wish you could be here, but I understand why you can’t. We’ll be fine. Steven and Hugh came over last week and painted the baby’s room. It’s a nice soft yellow, with green accents.” Maddie was trying hard to convince Evan that everything was well.

“And how are you? When I didn’t hear from you last week I thought your mission might be under way. Did things go well?” As much as Buck worried about Maddie, she worried about him. He understood that. He was the one in a war zone after all. But he really didn’t want to worry Maddie right now.

“Well, the mission went off fairly well. I wound up with some busted ribs, so I’m healing up in Germany right now.” Now Maddie was frowning at him through the screen.

“Evan, don’t front. They wouldn’t send you to Ramstein for some cracked ribs. What’s actually going on?” Yeah, there’s no fooling an experienced ER nurse.

“Pneumothorax. They’ve fixed it. And they had to remove a few things I don’t need. Like my gallbladder. It’s going to be fine. I just really need to be still. I wish I were better at that.” Buck spoke ruefully, knowing that the forced inactivity was going to drive him up the walls, especially if Eddie left first.

“Maddie, I know Nudge didn’t say it, but I’m a medic. I am keeping a close eye on him. He really will be fine with some rest and patience.” Eddie was trying to soothe any worries, but judging by the look on Maddie’s face he wasn’t really succeeding.

“Uh huh, and what exactly are you looking to do to corral Evan with what looks to be a broken collarbone?” Maddie was giving him a full dose of the Skeptical EyebrowTM worn by big sisters everywhere.

“Look Maddie, I’m really going to be ok. Healing is going to suck, but once I get over the necessity of being still, I’ll be fine. The liver will regenerate, and I didn’t need that much small intestine anyway. It was only a couple of inches. And they fixed the ribs.” Eddie looked at him pityingly and shook his head sadly. Buck ran his words back in his head and looked at Maddie glowering at him now. Oh, yeah. He hadn’t mentioned the liver and intestine. Oops.

“Evan Arthur Buckley! I swear you’re going to turn me grey before I’m thirty. You better be still and let things heal, or I’ll airmail myself to Germany and sit on you. That’ll keep you in one place. And I’d be able to read your charts for myself instead of relying on you to keep me informed.” Maddie was clearly exasperated, but not frantically worried. That was good, right?

“Listen Shorty, if you think you and that nibling you’re growing together are enough to keep me in place, well you’re seriously underestimating me. But I’ll be good. I promise. And Eddie’s here to keep me in line…well…sort of anyway. I’m so glad you’re feeling good, and that everybody’s helping out with getting the nursery set up. I wish I could be there to do it myself, but I know Stick and Captain Maxwell have everything well in hand. And if you really need me, they’ll find me and get me there, somehow.” Buck was certain of that.

“I feel ok, just heavy and tired and ready for this part to be done. But so thankful I’ve been able to hold on this long. Just a little longer now. I want to give their lungs the best possible chance. I love you Evan. You take care of yourself, and I’ll do the same. Pinky promise.” Maddie smiled at him as she reassured them both.

“Pinky promise.” Buck repeated. “Love you sis. See you soon.”

The connection closed.

The two men sat, shoulder to shoulder, thinking of their loved ones, wishing they could be there, and slipped into sleep without even realizing it.

Chapter Text

Four days of inactivity later Buck was ready to climb the walls.

The doctors were pleased with his lung and planning to remove the chest tube tomorrow. His ribs were setting nicely and a temporary medication seemed to be mitigating the worst impact of the missing gallbladder and intestine.

All in all Buck felt like he was in better shape than his roommate. Eddie still had his right arm strapped to his chest, making balance an issue. Just walking to the bathroom and back was now an adventure. And the one time Buck had tried to spot him on the way had earned both men a lecture, complete with the threat of catheters if they couldn’t remember to CALL A NURSE when they needed to get out of bed.

Buck was currently pouting. Eddie was going to be discharged tomorrow, though still no word on what they planned to do with him for the remainder of his healing, and Buck had at least two more days here.

Footsteps in the hallway interrupted his pity party and he looked eagerly towards the doorway, hoping for something to break up the monotony. He wasn’t expecting to see both heads of the Joint Task Force walk into his hospital room. Both men carried bags, setting them down by the visitor’s chairs.

Buck and Eddie automatically tried to snap to attention, which is hard to do laying in a bed. Not to mention Eddie’s immobile arm. The result looked like something out of the Keystone Kops, with Eddie trying to both straighten and bend forward at the same time and Buck grabbing for the chest tube with one hand as he tried to salute with the other, leaving him sliding sideways. Only his Admiral’s quick grab kept him from sliding right off the bed.

“At ease, gentlemen. Before you injure yourselves further.” General Lambert waved off the men’s attempts and dropped down into his chair with a tired sigh.

Admiral Whitcomb joined him, sitting in his like it was his first opportunity to sit down in days. Maybe it was.

“We need to bring you up to date on the Task Force, and then some decisions need to be made.” General Lambert had apparently been tapped to lead off.

“Dennis appreciates the info about the shipping. She’s traced multiple shipments of “Fragile Pottery” to a handful of different ports and trade centers. Investigations are ongoing, roping in NCIS and CGIS where possible. Her teams are so far pleased to be able to report that none of the shipments located have passed through or been received at a US location.”

Whitcomb took up the narrative at that point. “The strike teams have, as of 0500 this morning, shut down every hub in southern Afghanistan. Drone footage is now tracking north to determine next targets. Info is being analyzed and mission planning is ongoing. The mandate of the Joint Task Force is still being carried out, and will be until we reach either the northern border or the root of this operation.”

Buck and Eddie looked at each other, and then at the men in their visitors’ chairs. There were some important things missing from that information.

Lambert sighed, and then leaned forward in his seat. “Gentlemen, we are far more concerned about what we uncovered in that cave of yours.”

Seeing that his co-chief was struggling for words, Admiral Whitcomb took over. “There was only one man alive in the cave when the Seabees got into it. He did not survive his injuries from the collapse of the cave entrance, but he lived long enough to answer some questions. The man was obviously deranged after days in the dark without food or water. He told a story of the lights going out, howling monsters, and men screaming. Then silence.”

“The bodies were easily identified. None of them had injuries inconsistent with the roof coming down on them, but interestingly all of them died with a look of terror on their faces. I heard Sergeant Zhang mention that she heard jackals in the caves. While the bodies were not disturbed, perhaps the men heard the jackals and feared being consumed.”

“Would have been less than they deserved.” Lambert was taking the discovery of corruption within his own ranks particularly hard. “And on that note, we have a great deal of data dealing with the US and Allied militaries and this operation. Unfortunately we have very few people we can trust with it. The three officers in the cave that night are most certainly not the only ones involved. We need to know how deep the rot has spread.”

Admiral Whitcomb looked at the two injured men. “Please, hear me out. I know both of you have situations going on at home that you would like to be present for, but we need you desperately. The idea is to put the two of you in an apartment just off the base. Ostensibly you will need to remain close to the base for physical therapy and medical supervision. Diaz, you can begin your entry level nursing course and Buckley, we can find something for you to learn I’m sure. But your real job will be analyzing that data. Tracking the dragon to its lair so we can cut off its head.”

Lambert took over the pitch at that point. “Diaz knows the Army and Buckley has had some experience in intelligence analysis and strategy. You will have remote tech support. CPO Steven Samuels has agreed to work with you as needed. Buckley’s regular contact with him is already a well established pattern and shouldn't peak any interest. Are you willing to take this on? We won’t order it, but this matter must be handled with the utmost discretion. We cannot allow the indefensible actions of a few to taint the reputation of the US military.”

Eddie looked thoughtful for a moment. “Sir, the men in that cave. What is going to be the story there? The idea of them getting heroes’ funerals just … it wouldn’t be right. Can you tell us what the endgame is here? Because I’m really not ok with quiet retirements and pensions, sirs.”

Buck looked at the Task Force commanders. “I agree with Sergeant Diaz. We obviously don’t want a lot of negative attention, but this smells a bit like a cover-up, and I’m not onboard with that, sirs.”

Admiral Whitcomb was quick to respond. “The three men in the room were all colonels. At this point a posthumous court-martial wouldn’t hurt anyone but their innocent wives and children. The details will not be made public, but they will not be allowed military honors nor will they be eligible for burial in Arlington. For anyone taken alive though,...”

“They will be court-martialed, so make sure any evidence you get is properly documented and processed. How public those court-martials will be though is still up in the air. A lot will depend on what exactly you find. We’re hoping it’s just a few of the senior staff involved. If it’s bigger than that, well, Gitmo is a possibility, or some other black site. No one involved in this will walk away. I give you my word on that.”

Buck and Eddie looked at one another across the room. A raised eyebrow. A quirked lip. A wrinkled nose. A decisive nod.

Together. “We’ll do it.”

Three days later Buck and Eddie were settled in a small one-bedroom apartment just off the base. They had schedules for rehab and medical checks, and Eddie was cramming for his challenge exams at UC-Irvine. If he passed it would shave a considerable amount of time off his degree plan. Buck had decided to pursue his Emergency and Disaster Management degree through the American Military University. He had originally thought he’d go for Fire Science Management, but as he thought more and more about what he’d loved about firefighting he realized it was never about the fire. It was a saving people thing.

Yes, he was Harry Potter.

Maybe it was bred in that petri dish. Created to save a life. Mission failed. And he knew it wasn’t like that. But still…

Maddie would definitely scold him for thinking that way, and his military therapist would make him write out the logical fallacies and then confront the emotional realities. And yet…

He had been quietly picking up his old certifications from the National Search and Rescue Association on the side. And his military training and the 28 hours of college credit he already had would cut down on his time considerably. His program was on-line and self-paced, much like Eddie’s, though Eddie would have to spend at least two semesters on campus at the end.

And Buck had a new project!

The bag General Lambert had carried into their hospital room had contained all their gear. Admiral Whitcomb’s bag had contained something different.

“Is that…yarn?” Eddie didn’t seem too sure about what Buck was up to, but if it kept him still and out of trouble it got his vote.

“Yes, it is indeed.” Buck hummed happily as he dug through the big bag for the little bag of crochet hooks. This shouldn’t be too hard, right? Just around and around and around in a circle. He could definitely do that. Jörmungandr would have a stylish new sweater in no time and Buck wouldn’t have to deal with the boredom of his ‘downtime’. Win-win.

He definitely couldn’t do this

On the upside…he wasn’t bored. On the downside…he had been defeated by a wad of brightly colored, discarded sheep bits. Or maybe these were alpaca bits? He’d lost the little paper thing around the yarn so he wasn’t sure anymore what it actually came from, but it was infuriating, whatever animal it had originally been attached to.

A deep dive onto the internet netted him a pattern to follow. Sort of. Apparently no one really crocheted their snakes little sweaters. Go figure.

But he’d found a pattern that looked similar. It just assumed he knew things he didn’t. What the hell was a yarn marker? And why did he need one? The yarn was already brightly colored.

Their doorbell rang, and Eddie went to answer it. They were expecting the last bits of tech that would see them independent of the base internet, so they could really get started on their actual job.

A few minutes later Eddie came back in with a package in hand. Not their tech then. Too small. He handed the package to Buck, who tore into it quickly. Packages were always fun!

Buck peered into the manila envelope. It was a book of some kind.

Pulling it out, he turned it over. Crochet Basics: Stitches, Techniques, and Patterns. Hmmmm. Looking at the Index, Buck found the page for ‘yarn marker’. Turning to the indicated page, Buck found pictures. Oh, that’s what those weird plastic things in his hook bag were. Good thing he didn’t throw them away.

Suddenly Buck had a thought. Grabbing up the mailer the book had come in he checked the return address.

A. Nat Mortis
Fate’s Tree
Between Times

“One of your team’s idea of a joke?” Eddie was looking over his shoulder at the address.

“Nah, Nat’s an old friend of mine with a weird sense of humor. But I’ve got to say, he comes in clutch when you need him.” A small piece of paper fluttered out of the mailer into Buck’s lap.

“Try the one on page 14. A says it should work. Happy hooking!” N

“Weird sense of humor indeed. Better not let the brass see that. They’ll think you’ve taken up an entirely different sideline after getting a buddy to send you a copy of the Kama Sutra.” Eddie laughed as he moved off into the kitchen to investigate the possibilities.

Buck happily settled in with his project.

In the end, the rot hadn’t spread very far. All of it had been within a single command, though they had been trying to reach out and make more connections. The general running the operation had actually tried to argue that he was just facilitating cultural understanding. After all this came from rural Afghani culture and was being carried out in Afghanistan by Afghans. He was just a facilitator.

Buck had been present for the first interrogation, and he honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if General Lambert had shot laser beams out of his eyes. That guy was heading for a black site so dark it might as well be on another planet, and after having to deal with Lambert he was probably thankful for it.

In total, seventeen men had disgraced their uniforms (and their humanity). Seven were headed to Leavenworth, six to the aforementioned deep black site, and the last four were given dishonorable discharges for being dumbasses. (General Lambert’s paraphrasing.)

Buck and Eddie had spent the past three months (more or less) working steadily on the problem. Both men were fully healed now, and had one last thing to do before heading off to Virginia and California respectively.

The Joint Task Force was being dissolved. All the service members who had worked so hard had gathered last night for one final meal that turned into a party that lasted until the wee hours of the morning.

All that was left were the commendations.

All the serving members had received general commendations from the Department of Defense, with a few earning greater distinctions. Buck and Eddie had requested a private presentation of their awards. Given the secretive nature of their final assignment, both men thought it was best to keep things small.

But a video feed connected to a laptop in San Bernardino, where a very sick woman held the hand of her daughter while her daughter’s friend held a wiggly little boy very excited to see his Daddy on the screen even if he couldn’t talk to him. And another feed connected to a tablet in Little Creek, where a tired but happy new mother held her seven-week-old daughter and watched proudly as her first ‘baby’ was honored.

The two men stood shoulder to shoulder before their commanders. Eddie was receiving a Purple Heart, a Prisoner of War medal, and a Distinguished Service Medal. Buck received his Purple Heart and Navy Distinguished Service Medal, but was surprised to also receive the Antarctica Service Medal.

After Admiral Whitcomb and General Lambert finished pinning on the awards, they stepped back without dismissing the men. An unexpected guest had arrived. Much to the surprise of the two men in question, the Secretary for the Department of Defense stood from the back of the room and walked forward with two small boxes in hand.

Standing before the two men, the Secretary spoke. “The Joint Service Commendation Medal is rarely awarded. Joint Task Forces are rare, and in the past our military branches have seldom merged well. Most men and women being awarded this medal are not combat assets. Admiral Whitcomb and General Lambert wanted very much to give you awards for gallantry, but those are designated for armed combat with a declared enemy of the United States. We all agree that you’ve earned them, and on your retirements or resignations they will be automatically awarded.”

“But I can think of no pair of servicemen who have worked together more seamlessly to secure the freedom, lives, and reputations of everyone from small children to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. For your valor in combat, even within your own ranks. For your tireless work to shut down an inhumane and ugly business, even at the risk of your own lives. But mostly for the way in which you have shown even us old dogs that working together strengthens us all. We are proud to award Sergeant First Class Edmundo Diaz and Chief Special Warfare Operator Evan Buckley the Joint Service Commendation Medal.”

As the award was pinned to his chest, Buck could hear Maddie cheering for him. He could hear the people in California cheering for Eddie. At the back of the room, in a shadowy corner, Buck could see a shimmer that slowly resolved into three forms. An elderly woman smiled proudly at him with her hands clasped together and a tall, thin young man was bouncing up and down on his toes while grinning from ear to ear. And right at their feet, a large snake in a somewhat lopsided but nonetheless cheerful purple sweater flared and hissed in congratulations.

Buck and Eddie were waiting in the hangar to catch their ride from Germany back to the United States. They’d be riding together until they got to DC. Then Eddie would head on to California and Buck would be off to Little Creek.

Suddenly a throat cleared behind them. Turning around they saw two people standing there.

“Do you happen to have any room in your duffle, CPO Buckley?” Commander Jackson stood there with a smile on her face. In one hand she held a folder full of paperwork and in the other she held the hand of a shy little girl, with her own duffle at her feet.

Buck and Sayah had been allowed to write and video call over the past four months as Commander Jackson tried to find her a safe home with Afghani parents. Buck had known that was best for the little girl, but his heart had ached for her situation. Having been an unwanted child himself, her plight had resonated in a way that was undeniable.

Buck took a step towards the Commander. “Are you serious? I mean, really serious? Because I can’t take her and then give her back if you find a couple here for her. If I take her with me, she’s mine. No takebacks.”

“Seriously and with no takebacks. You know the problems we were having. Even the Afghani living in Europe and the US were hesitant to take her. When I asked her if she would like to live with an American family she asked if she could live with you. I think she’s earned the right to have some say in the matter, and I can’t fault her choice.” Commander Jackson smiled down at the girl.

Buck came directly to Sayah, and got down on one knee. “Sayah, is this what you truly want?”

Sayah nodded firmly. Just the once, but that was enough.

Buck dug quickly in his duffle and removed a little ring he had bought, meaning to give it to Jeannie Duvall. Jeannie would love this, so he wasn’t worried. Taking Sayah’s right hand in his, he spoke quietly but firmly.

“Sayah, in OUR country your ring finger on your left hand belongs to someone who’ll have to ask me for it and promise to love you as much as I do. But this hand…this ring finger can be used for our promise.” Sliding the little ring into place Buck continued speaking. “Sayah, I take you as my daughter. To love and protect. To guide and support. I promise to help you fly and give you a safe space to land. I’m human, so I can’t promise not to make mistakes. But I promise to admit it when I am wrong, and ask your forgiveness as I will forgive you when you are wrong. And above all, I promise to always put your needs before my own.”

Through the tears in his eyes, Buck watched as Sayah untied one of her braids. Wrapping the ribbon around his finger, she made her own promise. “Evan, I take you as father. I proud to be daughter. I will honor your name always. We say sorry when we hurt each other. And we love.”

Hugging his daughter for the first time, Buck thought hard at Fate. A thank you for nudging him towards this precious soul. He felt a gentle kiss on his forehead and heard a happy ‘yip’ in the distance.

Getting to his feet he took the folder from Commander Jackson. “Now, it won’t be legal for six months, and there are home visits and such. But I don’t think you’ll have any problems.”

Happily grinning at his daughter, Buck barely even noticed Eddie guiding him onto the plane. Buckling Sayah in between them. All of them headed home.

Chapter Text

Saying ‘good-bye’ in DC was hard.

Working with Eddie again these past seven months, even though the context was very different, had relieved a tension that Buck had carried for more than a decade. The two men had slotted in easily together, as easily as they had in that other life.

Getting to see Christopher in Eddie’s twice weekly video calls had been a delight. He hadn’t known Chris at this age the first time around, but the sunny little boy had the same sweet soul he remembered. Buck was so grateful that Eddie’s circumstances had changed enough to better both their lives, and he was even learning to let go of his anger at Shannon. The woman he had hated didn’t exist. She would never exist now, and while Buck would probably never completely trust her, he was learning to see her as the person she was rather than the person she had been in a life where so much had gone wrong.

It had been a long haul from Germany to the United States. Sayah had been very brave, but Buck could tell she was running on frayed nerves. Eddie had shared pictures and stories of his family, and Buck had done the same, keeping the little girl distracted until she had finally fallen asleep somewhere out over the Atlantic Ocean.

There had been a moment at the beginning when Buck had been so focused on Sayah that he didn’t even think about a passport until he was being asked for one. It was Eddie who had calmly looked through the folder of paperwork Commander Jackson had given them and found the brand new document. She already carried his name, and a letter from Commander Jackson in the folder explained why. The only patronym the Afghan government had offered was ‘Bardeh’, which Jackson had furiously refused.

So now Sayah Buckley was home. Eddie had flown on to California with a promise to video call later in the week, and Buck had packed his daughter into a rental car and made the hour-long drive to Little Creek. Pulling on to the base and checking in, Buck was asked to stop in at the admin building before going home.

Figuring it was something to do with paperwork, since Maddie had been fine when he spoke to her before leaving Germany, Buck made sure to bring the paperwork folder with him. He and Sayah walked in together, and Buck was unsurprised to see Captain Maxwell waiting for him. He was a little surprised to see the usually buttoned-up captain with what looked like a paint stain on his forehead, but shrugged it off as none of his business.

“Welcome home, CPO Buckley and Miss Buckley. It’s good to have you back. We just have a little bit of business we need to get out of the way, if you would come with me.” The captain took off towards the intake offices and Buck and Sayah followed.

Twenty minutes later Buck had new paperwork listing him as a father and placing Sayah on his benefits. Sayah had a military dependent ID and an appointment for a physical at the base infirmary later that week.

“If you don’t mind Buckley, could I hitch a ride home with you? I left my car at yours this morning. Vonda gave me a ride to Admin when we got word you were on your way, but she didn’t want to hang around and wait for you to fight your way out of the DC traffic.”

“Sure, no problem. I really appreciate everything you and Mrs. Maxwell have done for Maddie. I really wanted to be here to take care of things, but at least with you and Stick checking in I haven’t had to worry.”

Helping Sayah into the backseat, Buck spoke quietly to the tired little girl. “Almost there sweetheart. Your Aunt Maddie is going to be so happy to meet you!”

Getting behind the wheel Buck began driving towards the family housing section of the base. As he turned onto the little street, he saw a sign with pink streamers out in front of his house proudly proclaiming ‘It’s a Girl!’ to everyone who passed by.

Buck grinned at Captain Maxwell when he saw the sign. “Oh hey, y’all gave Maddie a baby shower? That’s so awesome. Thank you!”

The captain looked at Buck a little oddly and hummed in response. Well, it had been a long day for everyone he guessed.

Pulling into his driveway Buck was careful not to block the captain’s vehicle. He hopped out of the car and darted to the back to grab his and Sayah’s duffles. Coming around to the backseat door, Buck encouraged Sayah to get out of the car as she looked around curiously. Moving up the sidewalk to the front door Buck opened it up and walked into his living room, which was strangely full of people. A small pile of packages was stacked on the coffee table and a cake seemed to be set up in the little dining area.

Hearing a squeal from his left, Buck turned and opened his arms for his sister, picking her up and spinning her around in a hug. He set her down gently and then turned to his daughter. “Sayah, I want you to meet someone very special. This is your Aunt Maddie. She’s my big sister.”

Maddie smiled down at the little girl, so pleased for her brother. Buck had told her all about the little shadow he’d rescued in the caves and she had known how attached he’d become. She didn’t know the details of course, but she was ready to embrace this child who had so captured her brother’s heart.

“Hello Sayah. I’m so very glad to meet you. Welcome home.” Maddie was glad they’d severely restricted the guest list for this welcome home/shower party. Sayah was doing her best to stand bravely beside Evan, but if she clenched her fist any tighter in his pants they were going to rip from the strain.

Maddie held her arms out to show she was willing to hug, but waited for Sayah to decide what she wanted. Sayah took a deep breath and moved forward into the hug, tentatively hugging back. Then she pulled back and looked up at the woman whose picture Buck had shown her. She had a bright smile like Buck’s and kind eyes. “Hello Aunt Maddie. I glad to be home.”

Maddie absolutely melted. Hugging the little girl gently, she looked up at her brother who was watching them with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. He didn’t even seem to have registered the other people present to welcome his daughter home.

Letting go Maddie straightened up and laughed a little. “Would you like to see your room? You’ll need to sleep in with me tonight, because of the paint fumes, but you could go in and look and maybe put your things away?”

Buck was confused. He’d figured he would be sleeping on the couch until they could get things shifted around or sorted out. Sayah would take his bed. They’d make it work. But Maddie had already taken Sayah by the hand and started off down the hallway towards the bedrooms.

Stopping at what Buck remembered as the door to the room he’d prepared for Maddie, Maddie turned the knob and opened the door.

Inside was a room with light purple walls. The same shade of purple as the paint on Captain Maxwell’s forehead. There was a small white bed with little curing decoration in gold. The sheets were lilac and the duvet was white with little purple flowers. A small matching dresser stood along one wall with a bookcase and toy chest on the other. The desk had been painted white and was still under the window, but a storage system for art supplies and school necessities was sitting next to it.

Buck was flabbergasted, but Sayah was completely overwhelmed. She walked a few steps into the room, turned in a slow circle, and then ran back to Buck in tears. ”All is for me? For Sayah? I not good girl. This too much.”

With his heart breaking (and his mind absently noting the need to help Sayah work on her verbs) Buck gathered his little daughter close. Leaning over he whispered fiercely in her ear, “My Sayah is the BEST girl. And this is all for you.”

Remembering all the people in his living room, and the cake, and the sign…Buck finally realized this wasn’t a shower for Maddie. It was for him and Sayah. Thanking Fate for his second chance, Buck picked up his girl and carried her back into the main living space.

“Guys, I can’t say ‘thank you’ enough! It’s amazing, and I know she’ll love it once she’s had a chance to rest a little.” All his team was there, with Captain and Mrs. Maxwell. Belinda was bouncing excitedly at his feet, eager to meet her new playmate.

“Hello Princess Sayah. I’m Princess Belinda and we’re going to be best friends. I know all the best places to play, and which of the uncles will get us ice cream, and which books are the most interesting.” Belinda was happily spilling the tea to the little girl in Buck’s arms, who was now looking down at her with a tentative smile.

“Friends?” Buck remembered the tunnels, where the mothers kept their children away from the little shadow child as much as they could. Friends obviously hadn’t been part of her reality. A righteous anger burned in him that anyone could treat an abused child so, but he reminded himself that ignorance was not their fault. His girl though? She was going to have ALL the friends.

Putting her back on her feet Buck watched happily as Belinda confidently took Sayah by the hand and led her into the living room. “The cake is this way. We didn’t get to cut it until you and Uncle Evan got here, but we get the first pieces. ‘Cause in our family children go first.” That was clearly an alien concept to Sayah, who had probably never gone first in her life, but she bravely followed along with the younger girl.

“Uncle Nico, can we please have our cake now? And maybe some ice cream?” Mario was standing in the dining nook next to the cake trying to look innocent while a five-year-old unknowingly outed him as the purveyor of ice cream.

“Of course sweetheart.” Completely ignoring the playful glares of his teammates and their partners he basked in his ‘favored uncle’ status. Cutting the cake generously, he loaded up two plates for the little girls, even ducking into the fridge to put a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on each plate.

Vonda Maxwell gently guided the little girls to the side, where a small table was set up. Buck could imagine tea parties and art projects in his future, and he couldn’t wait! He looked up at Maddie as an indignant cry came from a small walkie-talkie on the kitchen counter. She and Sarah hurried towards the nursery, gesturing for Buck to stay where he was.

Surrounded by the familiar presence of his team and his family, Buck’s heart was almost full to bursting. Looking into his living room as Mario was telling Mark’s youngest son about training with the Leap Frogs, Buck saw a shimmer in the corner. For just a moment he saw the familiar forms of what he thought of as his Beyond family.

Nat was gazing longingly at the cake, so Buck discreetly shuffled over into the corner and offered his plate. With a surprised grin, Nat took it, giving Buck a friendly hug before taking a bite. Atropos pulled him down into a hug of her own, pressing something soft into his hands while Jörmungandr squeezed his leg affectionately. All of them slowly faded from view and Buck was left standing with the soft thing in his hands. On closer inspection it was a little grey rabbit with long soft ears, crocheted and stuffed, with bright button eyes and a little pink nose.

Turning back to the room he saw Maddie coming in with a small bundle in her arms. Moving forward eager to meet his niece, Buck looked towards the small table in the corner and beckoned Sayah to come over for a minute.

“Sayah, this is a gift from a good friend of mine. She can’t be here today, but she made this just for you.” Sayah took the rabbit with careful hands, gazing at it with a kind of astonished joy. “Now, would you like to meet your cousin? Aunt Maddie has a baby.”

As Maddie placed her daughter in her brother’s arms, a familiarity filled Buck’s heart. This was Jee. He was certain of that. He didn’t even know how this could have happened, but the little girl blinking up at him with dark blue eyes was definitely Jee. She didn’t look a thing like the baby Buck had known briefly in his first life, but Buck just knew. It was her.

Kneeling beside his own daughter, Buck shelved the matter for the time being and showed the baby girl to Sayah. The little girl reached out tentatively towards the baby who caught her finger in a fierce grip.

“See that Sayah? She knows you’re family.” Sayah grinned up at Buck before looking back at the tiny baby.

“What is name?” Sayah wondered what to call this new little person in her life.

“Dani. I named her Danielle Rose, after our brother.” Buck felt a lump in his throat and smiled up at his sister. Putting his hand out to his sister he gathered Maddie close in the arm that wasn’t holding his niece.

“I think he’d be pleased.”

At the end of a liberty full of getting to know his daughter and niece and catching up with his team, Buck found himself in a familiar admin building. This time though, he was headed for a conference room on the second floor.

As he walked through the doors he saw that his team was already gathered around the table.

“Sorry guys. Dani Rose seems to know whenever I’m going out. I had to stop and change my shirt. And wash my hair. That girl has great aim.” Pulling out a chair, Buck dropped into it and hoped he didn’t look as nervous as he felt.

Admiral Whitcomb entered the room just in time to hear Buck’s comment. Waving off the salutes with a practiced ‘at ease’ he chuckled a little. “If the girl’s aim is that good, maybe we should be recruiting her.” Taking his seat at the head of the conference table he brought a stack of folders out of his messenger bag and set them on the table in front of him.

“Alright men, it’s time to consider which direction this squad is heading.”

Buck took a deep breath and looked at his teammates. All of them seemed calm, so he hoped his nerves didn’t show too badly. Twitch kicked him under the table, making him jump but distracting him from his catastrophizing. (He was working on it, really).

Laying the folders out in front of him Admiral Whitcomb looked at each of the six men in front of him.

“We have a few options to give you, and you have two weeks of liberty remaining to consider your possibilities. The first option of course is to leave things as they currently are. Captain Stanley would promote up to Platoon Leader with Chief Petty Officer Buckley becoming Squad Leader. You’ll have a six month training cycle stateside and then be back on deployment.”

Buck thought of Sayah and his heart hurt. He looked across the table at Stick and wondered how he’d managed being deployed when Belinda was born. He didn’t think he could..

“Of course there are other possibilities. As a six man team you have a mix of skills that would make you ideal for either short term deployments or international search and rescue. When Buckley finishes his degree you’ll be even better positioned for SAR, and Buckley, we’d like you to consider the Sailor to Admiral 21 program. Regardless of what other choices get made here.”

Gulping, Buck thought about jumping to the officers ranks. He didn’t know how he felt about that. He could see the appeal, but what about the 118? He didn’t know what to do.

“Alternatively, you could split up. There are individual posts and two-man team postings as well. Each of you take your folder. Your offers are in there. Talk them over with your families and amongst yourselves. Many of you have had some major life changes in the past year. Consider that. I’m available to any of you for any reason. Dismissed.” The Admiral stood and left the room after handing each man his folder.

They all sat at the table slightly stunned.

“Ok, I think we should take the week. Talk with our families. Consider our options. Next Saturday we’ll have a team barbecue at our place. We’ll ask the spouses to watch the kids and have a meeting to figure out where everyone’s head is at. Go from there. What do you think?” Captain Stanley looked at the men around the table. Seeing agreement from everyone, he nodded firmly.

“See you all next week then. 3:00 at my place. Don’t be late. Unless a baby vomits all over you. Then, please, for all our sakes…be late.”

Chapter Text

Buck had a hard time falling asleep that night. After reading through the material in his folder his brain just wouldn’t shut down. Tossing and turning again, he flipped his pillow over hoping the cool side would soothe him to sleep.

“All right, that’s it.”

Sitting bolt upright in bed Buck watched as his bedroom faded away, to be replaced by a large purple tree and fuzzy green grass. The bench was in its usual spot, and Atropos was already sitting there looking at Evan with exasperation.

Before he could say a word, there was a familiar opening in space and Nat stepped through with three mugs of coffee. “Sorry I’m late. There was a…thing.”

Handing over the coffee and the mint spoons the three took their first drinks in companionable silence.

“Ok Evan, let’s have it. What’s got your brain spinning into hyperdrive?” Atropos had apparently decided to move on to the questioning portion of the program.

“Well, actually it’s a lot of things all tangled around two big things.” Buck wasn’t really sure where to start. “I didn’t think I’d get to really sit down and talk with you guys again until the next Festival of Fate. This is awesome! By the way, Sayah really loves the bunny. She’s named him Sir Listens-a-lot. Sir Liss for short.”

Nat grinned at him suddenly. “Hey, thanks for the cake! I never get invited to parties. Of course I couldn’t go if I did get invited...”

Buck remembered a shirt he’d seen years ago somewhere and immediately made plans to hunt one down for Nat. It had a picture of Death as the Grim Reaper on it with the caption “Sometimes I show up at parties just to see the looks on people’s faces.” Yeah, Nat definitely needed that shirt.

Wrenching his thoughts back to his worries wasn’t fun, but hey…at least he wasn’t alone.

“Dani Rose. She’s Jee-Yun. I know she is. But I don’t understand? How can she be Jee-Yun when Maddie and Chimney have never even met?” Buck had been noodling away at this puzzle ever since the little girl had been placed in his arms.

Atropos and Nat shared a brief look, before Nat decided it was on him to explain. “She didn’t live. In the first timeline I mean. Danielle Rose…the beating…Maddie was terrified and trapped. She had nowhere to go, and before you say she could have gone to you, remember that Doug had threatened your life if she ever did that, and she had no reason to believe you could defend yourself against him.”

Atropos took over the explanation, sensing that Buck had worked that much out for himself. “A child’s body is made by their parents. Two physical bodies recombining into a body made up of them both. But a child’s soul is made by Father. That soul is then shaped by its experiences in life, beginning with the parenting it receives. The end result is a unique individual. When Danielle Rose’s body died before being fully formed, her soul did not. She was always meant to be Maddie’s daughter. Jee-Yun was the next opportunity…the same soul in a slightly different body.”

Buck thought about that for a moment. “What about Chimney? After seeing the lengths Doug went to, well some things hit differently. I don’t think he and Maddie should ever meet.”

Atropos’ face took on her ageless aspect and looked into nothing Buck could see. “Howard will have his own Choices to make. None of us have the right to take that away from him. Perhaps he will learn and grow in a different direction this time. But I agree with you. I don’t believe he and Maddie are good together.”

Picking up her elderly aspect again Atropos looked at Buck with an expectant expression. He sighed and drank the last of his coffee. Then sighed again and looked at his friends.

“What do I do? I’ve got all these choices and I don’t know what to do. I thought I’d get out after my contract and head for LA, but then the Task Force happened and Sayah and now I don’t know. I promised her to always put her needs first, but I don’t know how best to do that.”

“Well, let’s start with the basics. What does Sayah need the most?” Nat sounded reasonable, and Buck thought hard.

“She needs love and food and health care and attention and help with her language skills and safety and fun…”

“But what does she need most, Evan.” Atropos looked at him sternly as he floundered around trying to distill a child’s needs down to one thing. Wait…one thing…

“Me. She needs me.” That realization shook a few things loose, making them obvious. “I can’t do another long deployment.”

“And there is your place to start. Talk to your friends, and your sister. We are here if you need us, but this is your Choice to make. You’ve already made a start. Now you just have to fine-tune it.” Atropos smiled at him while Nat nodded emphatically.

“Sayah has come far too close in her young life to my doorstep Evan. She is meant for better things. All children are. I want her to live a long and full life…a happy life. The day will come when you can let each other go a bit. But for now, as she moves away from me, she needs you.” Nat looked at him with hints of the Jackal drifting over his face.

“Does anyone ever stay? With you, I mean. Or are you just mostly alone in your eternal jobs?” Looking at his friends, he couldn’t imagine that sort of existence. It was far too close to what his life had dissolved into in his previous life.

Once again he had the feeling he had surprised the two of them. Atropos looked uncertain of what to say, so Nat stepped in.

“No Evan. No one stays in the In-Between. This is a place to pass through, not linger. You will understand, when it is your time to meet me for that coffee date.”

The space around him began to waver, so he moved quickly to get a hug in for each of them before he woke in his bedroom to find that it was morning.

The first person he talked to was his sister. They had promised to be a family, together. He wasn’t going to leave her behind.

Sitting down together after getting both girls settled into bed, and praying they’d stay there, Maddie and Buck got down to the serious conversation they needed to have.

“Ok, so…” Buck started. “They’ve given me a lot of choice in my next steps. Or I could walk away completely.”

“Can I interrupt you there?” Maddie asked quietly.

Buck nodded, wondering what she wanted to tell him up front.

Maddie straightened her shoulders and lifted her head. “I want to go back to school.”

Well, that’s not what Buck had been expecting at all. “You want to go back to school? You mean, like graduate school? In nursing, or in something else?”

Maddie smiled at him sadly. “Once upon a time I wanted to go into Public Health. I had this dream of opening a clinic or two where I could provide services to people who can’t navigate the health care system for one reason or another. But now, every time I think of going back into nursing I get this panic, and I can’t breathe. Everyone at that hospital was part of Doug’s surveillance system. They did more than just turn away from the bruises. They would actively report to him. I just can’t…”

Maddie had gone white and started shaking just thinking about it. Buck had always assumed Maddie’s refusal to go back to nursing was based on fear of Doug. He didn’t realize it was founded in an inability to trust her colleagues. For a brief moment he had the insane desire to gear up and head for Pennsylvania.

It must have shown on his face, because Maddie reached out and put her hands over his. “No baby brother. You can’t go slay all those dragons. They’re not worth your time or mine. But…”

“So if not nursing, then what do you think you’d like to do?” Buck was more than willing to support her, but he knew Maddie wouldn’t want that. At least not indefinitely. She’d caught her breath and was ready to stand on her own, and Buck wanted that for her.

“I want to work with domestic violence survivors. I want to go into Mental Health and get my Masters in Counseling. So wherever we land, it needs to be near a good school for that sort of program. I could do a purely online program like what you’re doing, but I’d really prefer not to.” Maddie seemed to have put a lot of thought into this. And…

“Wherever we land? You’d go with us? If we take one of the relocation options?” Buck felt his face break into a wide, hopeful smile.

“Of course. We’re a family. You, me, and baby made three. Then baby made four, Buckleys United. That’s us.” Maddie squeezed his hands and let go, sitting back into her chair and picking up her wineglass. “You just figure out where we’re going.”

Well ok then. No pressure. Buck felt a huge relief that no matter what decision he made, Maddie was coming along for the ride.

Two days after his talk with Maddie, Buck was sitting at a picnic table at the base playground. Belinda was showing Sayah how to play. The quiet little girl had just sat there bewildered the first time Belinda tried to engage her in a game. So Belinda, with the confidence she had in spades had concluded that it was her job to teach the other girl how to have fun.

On this particular outing she had roped Mark’s younger son Brandon in to help out. He was currently playing the poor beleaguered captain trying to catch the Great Pirate Belinda and her trusty First Mate Sayah. Buck had given Belinda a picture book about the famous Irish she-pirate Grace O’Malley for her birthday, and now Princess Belinda had buckled her swash and taken to the seas for adventure and treasure.

Sitting with Stick and Mark as their kids played happily together, Buck wondered how to start the conversation.

“You’ve figured it out, huh?” Stick observed.

“What?”

“You’ve figured out that you can’t leave her. You can’t take a standard deployment right now. Maybe not ever again.” Stick and Mark had both done that, left their wives and kids for months at a time, but…

“She only has me. Maddie would do a great job, but Sayah…she needs me right now.” Buck was certain of that, clocking how many times his girl visually checked him while playing. Just his presence gave her assurance.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever done was leaving Jennifer and Kevin on my first deployment. But I didn’t have a choice. Jen’s folks threw her out when she got pregnant. And I didn’t even have a high school diploma. We were sixteen and completely on our own. I was waiting outside the recruiter’s office when he opened the next morning. We’d spent the night on a park bench with the bags our parents had ‘graciously’ allowed us to pack and take. My enlistment bonus paid for a cheap hotel for Jen and I actually earned my diploma while I was in Boot Camp. Then I got pulled into the SEALs.”

Buck had always thought Mark was too young to have a child Kevin’s age, and he suddenly had a whole new perspective on Eddie and Shannon. They at least had been adults, though just barely. What would it have been like to be sleeping in your home one night and then the next be out on a park bench wondering how you were going to care for a tiny little human?

Mark continued, “Kevin was two years old the first time I deployed. I was gone for eleven months. By the time I got back, he barely recognized me. Jen had tried, but he was just so young. I think I cried myself to sleep that night. I’ve deployed six times. I was actually out when Brandon was born, but they brought me home as fast as they could. I practically skidded into the delivery room. Brandon and I made it a dead heat.”

“We’re the fathers in the team. The other guys don’t have the concerns we do. I think if we have a clear idea of what we can and can’t do, they’ll have an easier time making their decisions. For me, I’m not leaving my girls long-term again if I can help it. I was prepared to transition to one of the service roles. They’ve actually offered me that if I want it. But I’d rather stay with my team if I can.” Stick had obviously been giving this a lot of thought and wasn’t afraid to state his position.

Buck was younger than the other two men, but Stick was right. It wasn’t about age. Being a father, even for the brief time he’d had Sayah in his life, had changed the way he thought about everything.

“I’m on board with a Search and Rescue/Disaster Response squad, either here or out of Coronado. I think I’d prefer Coronado, just because I think there might be more need for us there, but I’m open to discussion. Short-term deployments might work, but I’m kind of afraid of a situation turning out to be more than it appeared on the surface and pulling us in deeper. I didn’t go to Afghanistan looking for human traffickers after all.”

Buck shared an accord with his teammates, just as the Great Pirate Belinda discovered a need for someone to walk the plank. Summoning her father and uncles, the little girl pulled them into her play. Buck took his role, grateful that he at least wasn’t being asked to balance on the wooden beam…just the right size for child feet…not so much for grown men. Poor Stick wasn’t going to make it to the end of that plank before he fell off.

Pulling up to Captain Stanley’s house, Buck parked carefully. There were already several vehicles in the driveway so apparently the party was in full swing. He took the big bowl of potato salad from Maddie so she could get Dani Rose out of the backseat, while Sayah carefully carried the Jello salad she’d made with him.

Herding his crew up to the front door he was met by a smiling man holding a spatula and wearing an apron saying, “I’m here for the party!”.

“Hey, come on in. You guys must be the Buckleys, right? I think everybody’s here now except for Antonelli. For a speed demon behind the wheel he sure takes the devil’s own time getting anywhere. Oh, sorry, I don’t think we’ve actually met. I’m Kyle Stanley. Welcome.” The man reached to take the potato salad and then led the way to the kitchen, which opened out to a beautiful patio with a moderately-sized back yard.

“You can just drop the Jello salad onto that table and then you can go play with the other kids if you like.” Captain Stanley was there in his civvies, wearing an apron that said ‘I’m the party.’ Whatever it was that was grilling smelled wonderful, and Buck was looking forward to supper.

But first…

“Ok ladies and gent, you are responsible for making sure the meat doesn’t burn, and the children don’t take over the known world. We’ll see you in a bit. Guys, this way.” Captain Stanley turned his spatula over to Jennifer Graham and gestured his men back into the house, down a separate hallway and into what was obviously a study.

About that time Mario came trotting into the room, making their number complete.

“Alright then. Who wants to lead off? Is anything completely out of play for anybody?” Stanley kicked things off while dropping into the chair behind his desk. The other men settled themselves on various pieces of furniture scattered around the room and looked at each other.

“Long term, traditional deployment is out for me. I’m not leaving my girls long-term again.” Stick tossed it out there and looked at his teammates to see their reactions. Mark and Buck immediately nodded in agreement. Mario shrugged. Twitch and the Captain seemed unsurprised.

“Ok, anybody sold on the long-term stuff?” Looking around the room Stanley didn’t get any takers.

“I could do it, but I understand why the dad brigade doesn’t want to, and I’d rather stay with my team.” Mario was really flexible. Young and without any sort of permanent attachment he could go anyway the others wanted.

“Alright then, are we all agreed that we stay together as a team?” That was the next big question.

“I’d be ok with one of the solo postings offered to me, but it would never be my first choice. I don’t want to go off on my own unless I have to. My preference is always going to be for my team.” Twitch wanted to make his position completely clear. “I will say though that if we’re going to move completely into SAR and Disaster insertions we could really use another medic. I can handle a lot and I know all of you guys have basic first aid and Nudge and Mark have EMT certs, but another fully trained medical person would be a real help.”

“We can bring that up with Admiral Whitcomb at our meeting on Friday. So the next question is which coast. Do we stay here at Little Creek or do we shift to Coronado under Pomeroy’s command? I’ve got buddies on that side who say he runs a tight ship but is always a good man to have at your back.” Stanley threw the floor open on that one.

“Kevin’s going into High School next year. If we’re going to move Jen and I would rather it be before he starts. Brandon will be ok wherever we are. So I don’t have a strong preference. But I will say I think we’d see more use on the west coast.” Mark tossed his two cents into the pot.

“I talked to Maddie and the only request she had was that we be near a college or university with master’s programs in counseling. Sayah hasn’t started school yet, so it won’t be a big change for her. What about Belinda?” Buck looked at his teammate. Belinda had been in Kindergarten before school let out last month.

“She’ll be fine if we’re all there. She’s already requested to attend the same school Sayah does so they can stay best friends, even if they aren’t in the same grade.” Stick was proud of the way his daughter had stepped up, helping the skittish little girl find her feet.

“Maddie wants to go back to school, but what about Jen and Sarah? Or Kyle? What do they think?” Buck was sure his teammates would have talked to their partners. He’d be interested in hearing what they’d had to say.

“Well, Jen is fine with relocating as long as it’s not to Tennessee. She doesn’t ever want to go back there. She says the teaching crisis is so bad right now she could get a job anywhere from Point Barrow to Galveston. Then made me go look at a map when I asked her where Point Barrow was. I was just teasing her. Geography teachers, man.” Shaking his head at his wife’s antics Mark looked over at Stick.

“Sarah is going to stay home for a little while. Evie’s doctors are really pleased with her. She’d be fine to move as long as there are qualified doctors there. Sarah says she doesn’t care which coast we live on since her family is all in Nebraska anyway.”

“Well, Kyle is already half packed. The idea of California is Extremely Appealing and I’m apparently the best husband ever to maneuver my way into a posting out there. He says civil engineering in California is a major growth field. I don’t think he’s worried about finding work. They’re also more willing to allow a gay couple to adopt. We’d both give up a lot for that.”

Buck had never realized his Captain wanted kids. Or how lucky he was to be able to bring Sayah home. He wondered if there was any way to finagle getting that baby out of the pipe before she was put in it and into his Captain’s hands. Probably not since they were apparently heading for San Diego. But it was something to think about anyway.

“So one last question then. Nudge? Anything snakey around? Are we good with our plan, as far as you can tell?” Stanley looked expectantly at Buck, waiting for his answer.

“Nothing ‘nudging’ Captain. I think this is a choice we have to make on our own. But I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Just then a series of water balloons exploded against the window into the back yard. Much giggling was heard, not all of it juvenile. Sounds like the party had started without them.

The six men left their meeting and headed to the backyard, unified in their purpose.

Those kids were going down!

Chapter Text

Sitting with his teammates in front of Admiral Whitcomb, Buck felt confident in his decisions. He wouldn’t deny that he was a little regretful to let go of the 118, but when he looked at that situation as a father…it just wasn’t tenable. Maybe they would treat him differently, with his military experience, but maybe they would still just see a young, blond muscle-bound idiot. He didn’t know and he wasn’t prepared to take that risk with Sayah in the picture.

He had a team now, who had his back through everything. Even things that would have been easier to walk away from. Buck couldn’t give that up to chase maybe’s. But God, he missed Eddie. And his heart ached for Chris. Having Sayah was amazing, but he understood now what Eddie had meant when he said children weren’t replaceable. As much as he loved his girl, he still loved his boy too. And he was in California.

“Well men, what have you decided?” Admiral Whitcomb’s eyes were alive with humor and curiosity. He was almost certain which way this group would jump, and he was prepared to sweeten the pot if need be. He was going to regret having to give them up to Pomeroy, but they were going to be a brilliant addition to Coronado.

Captain Stanley made one final check around the table. When no one said anything, he told the Admiral the decision they had made. “We want to stay together. While we have been proud to serve under your command, we feel shifting to Coronado is the best option strategically. We would however like to put in a request for an additional placement of a qualified medic. CPO Carruthers feels that as a rescue/diaster team we should have at least two, and currently he is our only fully trained medic.”

“Excellent. I will be sorry to give you up, but I believe you’re right about Coronado being an easier location to deploy from for disaster relief. And rescue situations could take you anywhere, so it really doesn’t matter on that front.” He thought a minute about the request for additional personnel. He had a few in his command who could do the job, but there might be a better choice. He’d have to look into that.

“I’m going to tentatively approve your request for an additional medic. I’m not sure right now who that might be, but I have a couple of people in mind who might suit…depending on their availability and willingness of course. I’ll consult with Admiral Pomeroy about that.” He was extremely pleased this team was willing to take the challenge and shift their focus. This was going to work out very well, except that they really needed an XO.

“CPO Buckley, what did you decide about the STA 21 program? You willing to give it a shot?” It would be un-Admiral-y to cross his fingers but no one could see his toes. And they were definitely crossed.

This had been the hardest part of Buck’s decision. Once he committed to the program he was committed for effectively the next ten years. Depending on how long it took him to finish his degree. It was a gut wrenching decision, that had involved more than one impromptu trip to the purple tree. But in the end…they had all turned away. And having now experienced what a true team felt like…well maybe they could build that at the 118. But it wouldn’t be with Buck. At least not right now.

“I’m in Admiral. I’ve talked to Captain Maxwell and have an appointment later today to sign the paperwork. Should I put that off since we’re moving commands?” Buck had had several talks with Captain Maxwell about what would be required and how it would play for him to enroll in the program to move from enlisted to officer.

Honestly, leaving Hugh and Vonda behind was the worst negative of moving commands. Having no children of their own the couple had taken to Maddie and little Dani Rose, and had been just as willing to embrace Sayah. But Hugh had told him bluntly that he couldn’t work his career around them. Hugh was coming up on sixty and wouldn’t be in much longer anyway. Who knows what might happen in the next few years.

“Wonderful. It sounds as though you’re all set then gentlemen. I’ll put these orders through and you can expect to hear something in the next week or two. I’d start packing non-essentials now. Those of you who don’t have EMT certs…your current orders are to get them ASAP. Talk to Maxwell about who to see for that. You’ll have time before you go to at least get a good start. Dismissed.” The Admiral stood up from the table and headed out the door to get things going.

Buck looked around at his team.

California, here they come!

“So it’s final?” Buck peeked in to Sayah’s bedroom, making sure his girl was sleeping peacefully. Therapy had been hard today. A familiar tail waving at him from the bed reassured him that his girl was being looked after.

“Yeah, got the final signatures done today. It took a little longer than we’d anticipated, but it’s not like we’re going to make any big changes right now. I’m certainly not taking Chris away from Janet now. The doctors are saying any day now. But she’s lasted longer than they predicted as it is.” Eddie was sitting on the bed in his room in Janet’s house. He had celebrated his divorce becoming final by helping Dirk move his things across the hall into Shannon’s room. Dirk had then helped him move out of the room he was sharing with Christopher into the guest room he had just vacated. He felt weird. Kind of unmoored.

“So how are you coping with being single for the first time since your voice dropped?” Buck lightly teased his friend, knowing he was grieving far more for the imminent loss of his mother-in-law than for his marriage.

“Eh. I have the weirdest urge to ask Shannon to pass a note to someone for me. I just don’t have anyone to write a note to.” Eddie laughed ruefully. Honestly, the last thing he wanted right now was a romantic entanglement. “How’s the work going on your degree?”

“Well, about that…”

“Oh no, that never means anything good.” Eddie braced himself for whatever was about to come out of his friend’s mouth., With Nudge you could never tell.

“Actually, I think it might be. You know how the team decided to take the transfer to Coronado? Well, Whitcomb asked me to enroll in the STA 21 program with an eye to eventually being Stanley’s XO.” Buck was getting more and more comfortable with the idea. He hadn’t reached excited yet, but he was sure he was heading in that direction.

“That’s awesome man! They’ve been talking to me about doing something similar once I get my last two semesters out of the way. I’d either be coming in as an Ensign or jumping branches. Right now I’m just waiting to hear about my practicum placement.” Since he was still active duty Army Eddie’s practicum for his nursing degree would be up to them. He’d been able to jump a lot of the entry level coursework because of his military training and the concurrent enrollment credits he had from high school. After putting in two dedicated trimesters, all he had left on his BSN was the 12 month practicum.

“Hey, that’s great. I know you’re looking forward to getting your info. How’s Chris doing with everything?” Buck worried over Christopher’s reaction to losing his ‘Nana’ and how he would take the changing relationship between his mother and his Dirk.

“Oh you’ll love this. We sat him down to explain it to him and he looked at the three of us like we were idiots. He said ‘well, duh’ and then proceeded to ask for a puppy since he has more space in his room now. It was ridiculous. We PRACTICED Nudge. We went through the whole thing three times so we wouldn’t mess up. And then a four-year-old looked down his nose at us like we were obviously too naive to be let out on our own. Janet couldn’t stop laughing.” Eddie sounded so put out that Buck couldn’t help laughing as well.

“Oh, I feel you man. When we sat the kids down and explained that we were moving to California, Brandon yelled ‘Score!’ and Belinda looked at us and told us we were ahead of schedule. She had Disneyland down for when she was seven, but she guessed she could adjust. Kevin asked if we’d get there in time for ComicCon. Sayah just looked confused, but seemed willing to follow the other kids’ lead. The only ones who reacted the way we expected were the babies. They ignored us.” By now Eddie was laughing too.

“You just never know how kids are going to take things. And you never know what’s going to come out of their mouths. Chris asked Dirk the other day if he’d ever tried to connect the freckles on his leg to see if they’d make a secret picture. And he’s still bugging me about that ‘wolf inner-duction’ so thank you very much for that.” Yeah, that totally sounded like Christopher.

“Hey, you haven’t said much, but how’s Sayah settling in? Is she relaxing a little? I’ve told Chris a little bit about her and he’s anxious to meet her. We’ll have to get together some time now that you’re only going to be a couple of hours away.” Eddie knew Sayah had a lot on her plate, learning a completely new way of life along with everything else.

Buck sighed. “Therapy was rough today. Her therapist is going to vet the possibilities in San Diego for us. There’s something bugging her. I mean more than the usual things. She learning so fast and Belinda and Brandon have been an absolute godsend in helping her learn to be a little girl. And the other day, when everything got to be a little too much, Kevin bundled her away from the group. I found them tucked up under a juniper bush just listening to music.”

“Hey, they’re family. They’re gonna support her however they can. That’s gold my friend. And I’m glad you get to keep it. The whole team moving is a great outcome, for her and for you. Listen, I’ve got to go. Someone is going to want supper soon and it’s my turn to cook. Pray for us.” Bless his heart, Eddie wasn’t much of a cook in either lifetime.

“Oh, I will. Talk to you soon. Tell Chris I said ‘Hi’.” Buck ended the phone call and laid back on his pillows.

It had been four years. Four years building this life. He remembered Eddie as he had been, angry and frightened. Lost in a hell he couldn’t find his way out of. But the Eddie he knew now…this was Eddie as he should always have been. Not perfect, struggling for the life he wanted for his son, but still able to laugh. If Buck ever needed a concrete example of the damage parents could do, he had one right in front of him.

“Never. Never Sayah. I will not be perfect, but I will never hurt you like that.” With that last thought Buck turned out the light.

“Evan, can we talk?” The carefully precise grammar alerted Buck to the fact that this was important. Sayah was polishing her English at an amazing rate, but she was most precise when she was most nervous. Maybe she was ready to tell him what was bothering her.

“Of course Sayah. We can talk about anything. Let’s go sit down on that bench under the shade, and we can talk about whatever you want.” Buck had a feeling this was going to be an important conversation to more than just Sayah.

Getting herself perched on the bench beside him, Sayah turned to Buck with a solemn, nervous expression. Taking a deep breath she blurted her request, “Can I have a new name?”

Well, that hadn’t even been close to what Buck was imagining. “A new name?”

“Lady who came out and poked in all the corners and asked awful questions about you said that you could give me a new name. I ask Belinda and she say yes. That in OUR country the mommy and daddy give name. Not a master. Please?” Sayah’s eyes were big and pleading. “If I was really your girl, what name you would give?”

OK, that wasn’t on. “First of all Sayah, you ARE really my girl. The judge will sign some papers and say some things, but they don’t matter between us. You are my own precious girl and I could not be happier about that. Got it?”

Seeing the little girl nod, but still give him puppy-dog eyes Buck thought about her question. “Well, if I had gotten the chance to name you in the beginning I would have named you ‘Natalie’ after a good friend of mine named Nat. Natalie Moira Buckley. That would be your name.”

“Can I be her?” Sayah seemed to be holding her breath.

“Oh, sweetheart. If you want a new name, you can have it. But I don’t want you to think there’s anything wrong with being who you are. My Sayah has always been enough for me. You were brave enough to come to me when it would have been easier to stay where you were. I know that Sayah means shadow, but to me it will always mean courage.” Thinking of the little girl in that horrible room who was still strong enough to come to him, a man in the shadows, and bring two younger girls with her…well, Buck was in tears that his brave, beautiful girl thought she wasn’t enough.

Sayah wrapped her arms around him. “No cry, Papa. I love you.”

Buck’s heart stood still for one brief moment. “Maybe we can both get new names. I love the sound of ‘papa’.”

“And I love sound of “Natalie’. Maybe I be Natalie Sayah Buckley?”

“I would love that. Natalie Sayah Buckley. Would you rather I start calling you Natalie?” Buck would do whatever his girl wanted.

“No. I be called Sayah by family. I be Natalie at school. OK?” Ah, maybe this was more about her perception by outsiders than her perception of herself,. Buck certainly hoped so.

Kissing the top of her head while he held her on the bench, Buck promised “I’ll talk to the court. When we get our adoption decree it will include your new name.”

“Thank you Papa. Will I ever meet your friend? Nat? Will he like me?” The little girl was curious about this friend of her father’s she’d never met.

Buck almost shuddered at the thought of how very close his girl had come to meeting Death. “Yes Sayah, you’ll meet him one day.”

But hopefully that day was a long, long time away.

Looking around at his new home, Buck was impressed. He and Sayah were in family housing on the base, in a small three-bedroom home on a quiet street. Twitch and Mario were in single quarters a short way away. The others were in off-base housing, though Belinda had been relieved to know that she and Sayah would be starting at the same school.

Even Maddie had decided to rent a tiny two bedroom house just off the base for she and Dani Rose. Buck missed them both, but had already been assured of lots of baby-sitting opportunities.

Maddie had enrolled at San Diego State University for her Masters in Counseling. She was looking forward to starting classes in about a month, and had already started reading her texts for her first semester.

Sayah was a little disappointed that her room wasn’t lilac, but Buck had promised to teach her how to paint this weekend. Right now he was just trying to get all the boxes in their proper rooms. The one downside to the team all moving together was that none of them could help the others very much. Mario had said he’d stop by this afternoon and Twitch was going to drop in on Stick and Sarah once he had himself sorted.

The phone ringing broke into Buck’s search for his kitchen implements and he answered without checking the number. “Hello?”

“Evan Arthur Buckley!” Whoa. All three names. Eddie must be pissed. Buck thought frantically over what he might have done. He couldn’t really think of anything, but before he spun too far out Eddie enlightened him as to the cause of his temper.

“Do I have you to thank for this?” Buck took the phone down from his ear and turned on the camera. Eddie seemed to be showing him…orders?

“Well I really don’t know. Can you back it up and just talk? I’m trying to find my kitchen right now, so that’s about as much mystery as I can deal with at once.” Buck couldn’t imagine what had Eddie so flustered.

“I’ve got orders for my practicum. Apparently I’m going to be serving it …wait…how do you lose a KITCHEN? It’s the room with the stove in it.” Now Eddie just sounded confused.

“I’ve somehow not managed to find the three boxes of kitchen implements I packed, Edmundo. I’m currently standing in the “room with the stove in it” but I can’t do much without so much as a pot or a pan. Now, I have absolutely nothing to do with your practicum, but don’t keep me in suspense. Where is this terrible place they’re sending you? If it’s Antarctica I can tell you from personal experience that you can never turn your back on a penguin.” Buck continued looking around absent-mindedly while waiting for Eddie to answer him.

“Oh no. It’s not Antarctica. It’s Coronado. I’m apparently going to be doing a split between a rotation at the on-base hospital and a scramble squad for rescue and disaster assistance. Sound familiar?” Now Eddie was huffing in exasperation. But apparently he was coming onboard!

“You’re our new medic? That’s awesome! Twitch will love that. Have they got you set up with housing yet? Cause we have an extra bedroom. Maddie and Dani Rose have deserted us in favor of maidenly solitude. And you could help me hunt for my kitchen. Oh, hang on a minute. I think Mario’s at the door.” Trotting into his living room, Buck opened his front door to see a man he’d parted ways with two months ago in DC and a little guy he’d never actually met in person.

For a moment he just stood there blinking stupidly, looking from the phone to Eddie’s smiling face.

Eddie reached out and took the phone out of Buck’s hand and turned it off, handing it back. “Yes Evan, I will help you find your kitchen, if you can help me locate my housing. We should be around here somewhere.”

Buck felt something tug on his pants leg and looked down at a tiny Christopher Diaz. He bent over to better hear what the boy wanted to say to him.

“Why can’t you turn your back on penguins? What do they do? What kind of penguins? Were you really in Antarctica? Maybe they just heard you were a SEAL and got scared. Leopard seals are penguin predators, you know.” Chris was apparently determined to get all his questions out before the adults got distracted with something boring.

“Is that Uncle Nico, Papa?” Sayah came out into the living room from where she had been trying to unpack her clothes and toys. “Oh, Mr. Eddie!”

Well, apparently he wasn’t the only one who’d been missing Eddie.

“Hello Sayah. It’s good to see you again.” Eddie did a strange little shuffling slide with a hop at the end. “May I introduce you to my son Christopher?” A bow and a twirl, with a two step shuffle ending in another hop. “Christopher, this is Uncle Evan’s daughter Sayah.” He turned and glared at Buck, daring him to laugh at what was evidently a ‘wolf introduction’.

“Hello Sayah. I’m happy to meet you. Have you heard the story about the penguins yet?” Chris was seeking an ally in getting his questions answered.

“Not yet. Papa, could you please tell me and Chris about the penguins?” Puppy dog eyes set to stun. Buck collapsed like a wet souffle.

“Well you see…

Chapter Text

Eddie was still chuckling as he and Buck prowled through the boxes stacked in the garage looking for the kitchen things.

“Man, I can’t believe you got goosed by a penguin! You may be the only man I know who can claim to have been propositioned on all seven continents. That’s hysterical! And I think the idea of penguin grifters working as a team is awesome!”

Buck sighed as he remembered the actual event. He’d been on his knees ready to climb into Twitch’s tent to relieve him for a couple of hours of sleep, with some jerky and trail mix to snack on while he kept an eye on the injured scientists. He hadn’t paid much attention to the penguin pair lingering nearby. There was a small nesting colony nearby sheltered behind the same ridgeline their tents were backed up to, and the birds had been coming and going the whole time.

He had suddenly felt a sharp poke at his rear, and turned in surprise to confront his avian accoster, only to have its partner dart in and make off with his jerky. As he was turning to make a grab for his jerky, the penguin who’d poked him in the butt snaffled his trail mix. Both birds had made a quick escape with their…er…booty.

Explaining to his teammates how he’d lost his dinner had been more excruciating than his sore rear. Especially since for the four days they waited at the airstrip for a ride back to Christchurch his team had insisted on ‘defending his virtue’ every time any of them saw one of the feathered menaces. Remembering Mario trying to duel a penguin and finally settling on some weird version of ‘rock, paper, scissors’ only to announce that he’d lost and Buck would have to marry the brute was sort of funny though…

“Hey, I’ll have you know that bird wasn’t my only option! If I’d wanted a concussed botanist with three cracked vertebrae and a dislocated shoulder … well, I’m just sayin’ I had options.” Mitch still emailed him every couple of months, bored out of his mind while he waited impatiently for his spine to heal so he could go back to fieldwork. Buck could sympathize, and did.

“Hello, the house! Where is everybody?” Oh, speak of his knight in shining armor…

“Hey Mario, in the garage.”

“Uncle Nico, did you really duel a penguin? This is my new friend Christopher. He’s Mr. Eddie’s son and they’re going to live with us so that Mr. Eddie can help you keep Papa out of trouble.” Uh oh. Apparently there were some false impressions floating around somewhere in that mix. Chris and Eddie were going to be housed just around the corner, but it was so good to hear his girl chattering happily away like a typical eight-year-old.

Mario appeared at the door into the garage with both children following him like little…well…penguins. Buck snickered, but stood to greet his teammate. “Hey Mario, we've been telling stories today, as you can hear. You should ask Eddie about his wolves.”

“Hey, Eddie. Glad for the backup. I’m Mario…Nico Antonelli. And yes indeed Miss Sayah. That penguin played a cutthroat game of ‘rock, paper, scissors’, let me tell you. What’s this about wolves?” Mario looked at Eddie like he wasn’t sure whether or not he could laugh at the new guy.

“Hello Uncle Nico. I’m pleased to meet you. Daddy was raised by wolves, so you’ll have to ‘scuse him if his manners aren’t always right. He has to dance to inner-duce people ‘cause he never learned how to do it like a human. I’m workin’ on that.” Chris’s explanation had Mario turning almost purple trying not to laugh. “At least he’s learned his table manners. Mommy said she didn’t get around to teaching him inner-ductions ‘cause she pry-or-tized that.”

OK, that tore it. Mario started laughing hysterically, while Buck chuckled along and Eddie blushed a deep red. “Hey man, wait until you see Stick at a barbecue. Maybe he was secretly raised by wolves too. I thought Sarah was gonna smack him last time.”

“Seriously, though. Nudge, I think I’ve got your kitchen stuff in my car. I don’t have any idea why the movers dropped it off at mine, since I couldn’t find my own kitchen with a map, a compass, and a Boy Scout to lead the way.” Mario’s lack of cooking ability was an ongoing embarrassment to Mama Antonelli. She had assured everyone that she’d tried, but Mario couldn’t stand still long enough to use anything but a microwave.

“Oh, thank God! I was beginning to think I’d lost my mind as well as my kitchen.” Buck was immensely relieved to know his things weren’t still sitting primly in his kitchen cabinets back in Little Creek.

“Daddy can help you find your kitchens. He’s really good at finding the kitchen. Just don’t let him do the cooking.” That led to another round of snickers before the three men went to move the boxes from Mario’s car.

By the end of the day, gathered in their Captain’s new backyard eating pizza while the kids played and begged for ice cream, Buck felt completely at peace. If only Nat and Atropos could join them (Jörmungandr had dropped in to play with the kids already) it would be perfect.

Setting up a new type of squad took training. And cross-training. And more training. And practice. For the pilots, Buck and Stick, it also required simulator time. All that to say, their tailfeathers were dragging. But Buck loved it. He was preparing to work with the team he loved to do what he loved most in the world…saving people.

After six weeks of intense work, the squad was ready to go live. Eddie had his hospital practicum hours to get in every week, and each of the others had on-base duties as well. Buck was teaching an EOD training course as well as working in intelligence analysis. Mark was a firearms instructor. Stick had a hand-to-hand course he was running and Mario was working with the base mechanics. Twitch worked with the on-base fire department and Captain Stanley switched between orienteering training and intel with Buck. But mostly they trained.

They were as ready as they could be when they got the alarm to scramble. Buck got out of his simulator and met Stick doing the same. They trotted together to their staging area, picking up Mario along the way. Stick was running the bird through pre-flight checks when Twitch and Doc pulled up. Mark and the Captain made it a dead heat, climbing in together.

“Fourteen minutes. That’s not too bad.” Then Captain Stanley gave them the information they’d been preparing to hear for almost two months. “This is not a drill. We have reports of a mass casualty collision at sea. The Coasties are already on scene but have called for aerial back-up and support. Something on one of the ships has exploded and they’re concerned about more explosions. Neither of the Captains have been forthcoming about their cargo. Nothing on the manifests indicate explosive capabilities. And yet…”

Buck listened intently. It could be explosive ordnance of some sort, but there were many things a ship could carry that might explode in the right (or wrong) circumstances. Hopefully there would be more information at the scene.

“Bear in mind, the Coasties have jurisdiction in law enforcement matters. We are there strictly to rescue and assist. No one expects you to contain or detain individuals except in direct protection of yourself or others. They tell you to move, you move. Unless you are actively engaged with a victim I expect you to defer. This is our maiden voyage, as it were. What gets reported across the branches about our work and our teamwork matters.” After getting ‘yes, sirs’ from everyone on board Captain Stanley switched his coms to the tac channel they had been directed to use.

Stick flew the Sea Hawk smoothly out to the designated coordinates. Their co-pilot was not part of the team, and her only responsibility would be to keep the helo in the air if Stick and Buck both had to disembark. The Captain was sitting in as navigator and Mario was the flight engineer. Everyone knew their role, and was as well prepared as they could be.

It was show time.

It was a mess.

One of the ships had smashed into the other broadside, causing the smaller vessel to effectively split into two sections one of which was on fire. The larger vessel had sustained enough damage to sink her, but it was slow going. The bigger ship was listing slowly to port, putting more strain on the non-burning section of the smaller ship. People were clinging to all three sections of ship and there were some in the water as well.

The Coast Guard had a cutter working to pull people out of the water. They also had people on both vessels trying to contain and get answers from the crews. Both captains were in custody, and the Coasties’ accompanying JetHawk had already flown off with four critically injured victims.

Priority for Buck was to get onto the burning section and try to determine further explosive potential while rescuing those people still aboard. Eddie would go with him while Twitch went with Mark to the larger ship. That would allow the Coast Guard to focus on those on the other piece of the smaller vessel and the people in the water.

While Stick held the helo steady, the four men dropped out and roped down. Buck and Eddie headed for their designated section of ship. As they reached it Eddie climbed up to begin assessing the injuries of those still onboard. Buck went down, underwater, and came up in what remained of the hold…to find a snake waiting for him.

Following Jörmungandr and working his way up towards the source of the fire, Buck carefully studied the flames and the symbols on what cargo he could see. With a jolt he recognized them from his previous life. Backing out of the hold and scrambling for the surface he broke the water speaking urgently into his com.

“Smaller vessel was transporting radioactive waste materials. Fire in the hold should be treated with appropriate suppression methods. If it reaches the tanks this section of the ocean is going to become the next Chernobyl. Doc, I’m coming up to help you. What’ve we got in terms of injuries?” Buck watched as half the people in the water returned to the Coast Guard ship, hopefully to get to work on getting those suppression measures in place.

“I’ve got three with large burn injuries. 2nd and 3rd degree. Two others have less serious burns. One is unburned but combative. Has been trying to dump me off the side ever since I climbed up. Suspect high grade concussion.” Eddie’s voice was calm as usual, but it sounded as though he had his hands full. And they had to get everyone off as quickly as they could.

“Drop a raft.” Buck sent the command up to the helo crew.

“Make that two rafts.” Twitch’s voice came over coms right behind Buck’s “I’ve got eight people here who’re going to need a flight out once that JetHawk gets back. But for now they have to get off this ship. It’s going to go at any moment. Two broken legs, some cracked ribs, I think everyone has some level of concussion. One woman is unconscious. I suspect all of them have substances onboard. Alcohol mostly, going by the smell.”

By the time Twitch had finished his report both rafts were in the water and inflating. Mario was working the winch in the helo and if they could get the worst injuries up to the SeaHawk the others could wait in the second raft.

“Ok Doc, raft’s in the water. Who’s first?” Buck climbed over the rail onto what was left of the deck. Eddie had three people separated from the others. Looking them over, Buck could see what had Eddie so concerned. Whatever the fiber had been that made up their clothing it was obviously synthetic. It had melted onto the skin instead of catching fire. There was no real way to treat these injuries with the supplies they had on hand. All they could offer was pain relief and antiseptic, and a swift ride to a trauma burn center.

“All right. I’m going to get the raft as close as possible. Then we’ll lower these three down. Doesn’t sound like Twitch has any critically injured so his can wait a bit.” Buck went back over the side to pull one of the rafts closer.

“CPO Buckley? What’s your estimate on getting everybody off this ship?” The Coast Guard captain demanded urgently. “We’re attempting to deploy suppression methods, but those people are really in our way as well as being in danger otherwise.”

“We can fit everyone in the raft, but we’re going to have to basket three of these people up. We’ll get out of your way as fast as possible, but it’s going to take time to get everyone lifted off and out of the water. Our helo can only fit three gurneys. Anyone able to wait is going to have to catch another bird.” Buck’s mind was noodling away at the logistics getting all of the patients out of the water and away to hospitals on land.

Climbing back out of the water onto the ship part, Buck reached up to guide the man Eddie was lowering down to him. Helping the guy into the raft he toyed with the idea of skipping the gurneys and just transporting everyone sitting up. “Twitch, your thoughts on transporting burn patients in the seats?” As the Senior Corpsman the call would be his.

“I don’t see any other way to get everybody out of here before they start glowing in the dark. We’ll send up Doc’s six and the three of mine with broken bones along with whichever three…hold…” Twitch’s transmission stopped while he apparently dealt with something urgent. Meanwhile Buck helped Eddie get the second man over side and into the raft.

The burn on Buck’s shoulder got his attention in a hurry. Whatever had interrupted Twitch was important.

“Captain, we’ve got trouble. There were kids in the stateroom. Four of them. Oldest is a set of eight-year-old twins. Then there’s a six-year-old and one that looks about two. One of the twins is conscious, though possibly hallucinating. Keep’s saying a snake woke him up. The others are all out cold. Mark heard the little boy shouting through the stateroom door. They were locked in while their parents partied. They just jumped the line. Nudge to confirm?” Buck’s blood ran cold at the idea that if Jörmungandr hadn’t been able to wake one of the children enough to shout for help four children would have been left behind.

“Confirmed.” The Eye was still open, so something else was going on. Besides the threat of nuclear radiation or children being unthinkingly abandoned. “Check the children for respiratory function.”

“They’re all breathing Nudge. What am I looking for?”

“Smell their breath and check for injection sites If their parents wanted to party without having to worry about them interrupting…” Buck had a deep-seated suspicion that these people weren’t those children’s parents at all, but the first concern was the children’s health.

“Negative on smell, checking for injection sites. Children do present with responses common in Benadryl overdose. Will proceed with that assumption as a precautionary measure. We need to get them to a hospital for more thorough assessments.”

“Copy that. We’ll need to strap the toddler to one of the crew to safely transport. When is that JetHawk getting back?” Captain Stanley spoke to the Coast Guard captain on the open channel.

“Another thirty minutes. Had to refuel. That’s why we called for help. Is that raft away yet?” The captain was obviously eager to get the fire suppression going before everyone was exposed to potentially lethal levels of nuclear radiation. Whether or not the children were drugged wouldn’t matter in that scenario.

“Loading the ambulatory patients now. Estimated away time three minutes.” Buck was helping a man in and Eddie was guiding the last one over the rail. Mario was ready on the winch to bring people up from the raft into the helicopter. Looking over at the other ship it looked like Twitch and Mark had almost all their survivors corralled into the raft.

Suddenly the burn on Buck’s shoulder became intense and Jörmungandr flared up out of the water. A flash of light off one of the men resisting Twitch’s urging towards the raft. “Mark, left!” Buck’s cry of warning had Mark responding without question, taking the man to his left down to the deck and disarming him.

“Armed combatant on the larger ship. Individual has been disarmed but should be taken into custody.” As Eddie climbed in and Buck steered their raft away from the burning ship two people separated off the crew heading for the fire to make their way to the larger boat in response to Twitch’s report.

Moving the raft out to where Mario could winch the injured up into the helo, Buck looked up to see a basket already on its way down. Eddie got the first burn patient ready to go up while Buck caught the basket and held it steady. “Ready to lift.” Buck let Mario know it was time to start crankin’, figuratively speaking. “Ok Doc, who’s going next?”

One by one the two men guided their patients into baskets or harnesses as they were pulled into the helicopter waiting above. Stick kept everything as steady as he could, trying to avoid creating a dangerous downdraft that would interfere with the rescue efforts on the surface.

When Mark’s raft joined them he and Twitch off-loaded the kids first. Buck went up on a guide rope with them, just as he’d done for the basket patients. None of them were awake at this point and he was deeply concerned. The gunman was detained on the Coast Guard ship, but there was no telling which of the adults left might also be dangerous. It was decided that the ones who couldn’t go in the Seahawk would be floated over to the Coasties to wait for the JetHawk to return.

With the final patient loaded Buck and Eddie climbed aboard, joining Twitch and Mark in the jump seats. They were off, back towards land and UC San Diego’s Burn Unit and the Trauma Center. No one was comfortable, but everyone was safe, and with a little luck and some dedicated nursing everyone would eventually be well.

Fourteen hours later, everyone had gotten the chance to clean up and sleep before meeting back to debrief. Buck walked into the room expecting the team to be there. He did not expect all the extra people. Dropping into a seat between Eddie and Mario, he wondered what the Sam Hill was going on? Who were all these people? He could identify the Coasties by their uniforms, but who were the rest?

The door shut, and everyone found a seat somewhere, To Buck’s surprise Admiral Pomeroy was chairing this meeting. He met his Captain’s eyes across the table and took comfort in the assured nod he got. Ok, no one was in trouble. At least not with the Captain.

“I’m just going to start this meeting by emphasizing that none of my people are in trouble. Neither are any of the Coast Guard service members, many of whom are still working at the site of the wreck. Our teams performed quickly and efficiently to contain the fire and related dangers, rescue and get the injured to safety, and detain the offenders. At least those who weren’t off to the hospital.” The Admiral looked down at his notes.

“Now we have as guests with us today representatives of CGIS, NCIS, the FBI, and the DOE. I’m not sure why NCIS is here, so why don’t we let you go first. What are you doing here?” Buck almost snorted. Captain Stanley had assured them that Pomeroy was a good man to have at your back. Evidently he wasn’t wrong.

“We were told there were multiple instances of assault against serving Naval members. Investigating crimes involving Navy personnel is our mandate.” The man looked around at the assembled people. “We need to know who the victim or victims are and the perpetrator should be in our custody.”

“You ever had a concussion, Agent?” Twitch was pissed, in his own quiet way. “People who are experiencing an altered mental state are frequently combative. It doesn’t make them criminals. Now if you want to fight the Coasties over the guy who tried to shoot me, feel free. But don’t go after my patients.”

“I agree with CPO Carruthers. The man battling with me was confused and disoriented. He was more of a danger to himself than to me. He’s been diagnosed with a Grade 3 concussion and shock. He doesn’t need to be arrested. At least not for ‘assaulting’ me.” Eddie was just as fierce in his defense of the man who had persistently tried to throw him from the ship as he was trying to help the burn victims.

“And what do you think he should be arrested for, First Sergeant Diaz?” That came from an unknown man on the other side of the table

“I’m not a cop or an agent, sir. I’m a combat medic and student nurse. I won’t try to tell you your job. Please do me the courtesy of not trying to tell me mine.” Ooh. Buck knew that voice. That was Eddie’s ‘You’ve effed around and now you’re fixin’ to find out’ voice. You did NOT come after Eddie’s patients.

Admiral Pomeroy stepped in before both medics tried to have a riot by themselves. “NCIS, I believe you’ve been answered. If you wish to debate jurisdiction with CGIS, there is a conference room next door.”

“I’m Agent Emmons of the FBI. I think I take the jurisdiction as the first crime committed was an interstate kidnapping.” The tall man sitting next to the Admiral spoke up quietly. “All four children have been identified as missing from Indiana and Ohio. Their parents are at the hospital with them now. As CPO Carruthers surmised, all the children had been dosed with Benadryl to keep them out of the way. Doctors say they’ll recover, but it was close with the baby so we’re looking at kidnapping, child endangerment, and neglect. Maybe assault depending on how the prosecutor decides to charge.”

Buck knew those people weren’t the kids’ parents. He’d seen women who were ready to fall over from sepsis fight like tigers to get to their kids. He hoped the feds threw everything in the book at those awful people. To steal children and then nearly get them killed so you could go to a drunken party was so far beyond the pale it was translucent.

“I think you’re all ignoring the most important crime. I’m Jasper Hawkins with the Department of Energy, and we need to know why the ‘Windrunner’ was transporting nuclear waste through shipping lanes and recreational waters where the ‘Merryweather’ could run into her.” A short man with a red face and a sense of his own importance, Mr. Hawkins clearly felt his issue was the most serious one on the table.

The Admiral looked through his notes. “Ah yes, I see here that EOD specialist CPO Buckley reported the nuclear waste in the hold when he went under to inspect the cause of the initial explosion and determine if there was any further threat. Did you reach any determination on the cause of the initial explosion, Buckley?”

“Based on the color and temperature of the flames, as well as the structure of the ship itself, the likeliest probability is that the engines exploded when the crash forced an abnormal fuel intake into the combustion apparatus. My determination on recognizing the nuclear symbols on the drums in the hold was that we had a far more urgent concern. The Coast Guard did a brilliant and efficient job of suppressing the fire before it could reach those drums.” Buck was completely confident on this issue. His training in both lifetimes just reinforced each other.

“That’s all well and good, but what I want to know from CPO Buckley is what he saw that had him alert Senior CPO Riley Graham to the presence of a gunman.” The unknown man who’d thought he should take a poke at Eddie had apparently decided to try Buck next. “And why did Graham react immediately rather than ask for clarification? I believe he outranks CPO Buckley, does he not?”

Captain Stanley sat up straighter at this. “CPO Buckley is pursuing officer status as part of our enlisted to officer program. He has experience in command owing to his work on Task Forces in the Middle East. He has the trust of his teammates and my complete confidence. Senior CPO Graham requested to remain at his current rank and placement within the command structure for reasons which are certainly not your business. May I ask your qualifications?”

The man sat back as though he’d been slapped. “Special Agent in Charge Thomas Rawlings, CGIS. I’m not questioning your man’s competence at his job. I want to know what he saw, or heard, or hell, smelled that tipped him off to a gunman who has apparently killed at least three people and stolen five children, one of whom did not survive to make it onto that damn party barge. And I guess I’m a little envious of the total trust he has from his teammates, if that’s what had Graham moving so fast. I can almost guarantee you that if my SFA hollered ‘Tom, left’ my response would be ‘what?’. And my teammate would be dead. So if you’d indulge me CPO Buckley?”

Buck thought for a moment. “Agent, something didn’t feel right. I’ve seen women in the course of my service who were starved, caged, beaten, and even shot fight like tigers to get to their children. Mama Bear is no joke. Those people may have been drunk or drugged, but I just didn’t feel like they were behaving like parents. Now I well know some parents don’t give a rat’s ass about their kids, but it just didn’t feel right. So I was on guard. When I saw a flash of light where one shouldn’t be, I identified the target and the closest means of removing the danger. I never doubted SCPO Graham would follow my directions. I have full trust in him as well.”

Admiral Pomeroy gave Buck a pleased look. “That sir, is what makes this such an exceptional team. Every one of them, even my cuckoo, are all about the team and it shows in everything they do. Now, I can’t think of any reason they need to be here and since I have the duty rosters I know exactly where else they have to be so…Captain Stanley, your team is dismissed. Report to wherever your duty station is today.”

Buck was grateful to escape the thoughtful gaze of the CGIS Agent, and more than ready to be elsewhere. He had the simulator scheduled in ten minutes. Waving good-bye to his teammates as they all dispersed he was a little surprised when Eddie held back a minute.

“Hey, Chris is asking to have a sleepover. If I can get it set up, will you help me host? This is the first thing he’s asked to host since Janet passed and I’d really like to arrange it for him. He was definitely the social butterfly of the house in San Bernardino, but Shannon handled most of that. So I’d really like the back-up.” Bless his heart. Eddie was intimidated by a houseful of kids.

“Well, I did promise to have your back. So sure. Pick a day and let everybody know. I’ll face the ravening hordes with you.” Sayah would love a sleepover at Christopher’s with her friends. The fact that Buck would love it just as much?

Well, that would just stay his little secret.

Chapter Text

Eddie came in and collapsed on his sofa like a man returning from a triathlon. Buck chuckled and put a beer down on the coffee table in front of him. Eddie opened his eyes and blinked at the bottle, then looked up at Buck.

“Uh, is beer allowed when I’ve got a house full of kids?” He looked longingly in the direction of the beer, and then warily down the hallway to the bedrooms.

Buck had to laugh. “As long as you’re the one drinking it, one beer is fine. Unless you’re such a lightweight that one beer is enough to get you toasted. In which case I’d suggest you stop buying it since you’re more or less always responsible for at least one little rugrat.”

Eddie grabbed the beer bottle and took a long swig like he was dying of thirst. “I don’t know how teachers do it, man. All those little eyes, all the time. Always looking at you.” He shuddered like he was talking about being surveilled by men in black.

Buck hummed a few bars of Rockwell and then said, “It’s actually when they stop looking at you that you need to worry. That’s when they’ve become so involved in their plotting that nothing’s inhibiting them anymore. That’s when you should be scared.”

He couldn’t believe Eddie was actually unnerved by kids of all things. “I sure hope you’re not planning on pediatric nursing.”

Eddie actually turned pale at the thought. “God, no. I’m planning to buck for Flight Nurse. It’ll take me a few years, but I figure with those credentials I’ll be an asset to my team and employable as a civilian when the time comes.”

“You still planning to put in your twenty?” Buck was curious. Circumstances were so different for Eddie this time around. Buck would really love to know what he was thinking.

“Definitely. Since I’m getting my degree as active Army they’re paying for everything. I’ll owe about five years of service from that alone. And I’d always planned to put it in. I’m just grateful to have the support since I have Christopher full time now.” Chris’s child care was covered while Eddie was in school, so that made a huge difference in how quickly he was able to move through the coursework.

“The doctor and surgeon have agreed that he’s going to need a couple of surgeries in the next six months. One on each side to correct his hip dysplasia. That will give him the best chance of walking independently. Then about twelve months after that, he’s going to have to have surgery to lengthen his muscles. They’re also sending us to consult with an ophthalmologist about his eyes. He may need surgery there too. I don’t know what I’d do if I hadn’t stayed in.” Eddie finished his beer and got up to throw the bottle away.

“Does he understand all of this?” Buck hated the thought of Chris in so much pain, but knew the surgery was necessary if he was to have any chance of an independent life.

Eddie sighed. “Shannon and I talked about it with him, but he’s only four. I know he doesn’t really understand what surgery will do for him. But he asked the doctor if the surgery could make him walk. Dr. Manakita said he didn’t know, but he knew without the surgery Chris would never walk. That pretty much sold Chris.”

“I’m sorry.” Buck knew Chris would come through. Remembering arm crutches, and then the sturdy cane Buck knew Chris would push himself to mobility if he was encouraged. And he knew the little boy would have plenty of encouragement.

“It is what it is. How’s Sayah settling in? Is she looking forward to school?” Eddie obviously wanted to change the subject and Buck was always happy to talk about his girl.

“She’s not struggling as much with age-appropriate behavior, as her therapist calls it. But she’s really confused and intimidated by the idea of school. I wish she was going to be in the same grade as one of the other kids. I think that might help her feel more assured.” Buck was worried that school would be overwhelming to the little girl. Maddie had offered to homeschool her, but Sayah’s therapist had said to try school first. The socialization would help a lot.

“I thought she was Brandon’s age?” Eddie had thought the little girl was ten. He knew she was small but he attributed that to malnutrition.

“We don’t actually know how old Sayah is. There are no birth records for her that Commander Jackson could find. Apparently the official she was dealing with suggested she might have more luck if she looked in breed books. I honestly thought I was gonna have to bail her out of jail.” Eddie looked absolutely horrified at the idea of having to look a child up the same way you would a cow or a goat.

“But…I don’t…what?” He was nearly speechless with either horror or rage.

“Yeah, so anyway. She asked Sayah what she remembered. Sayah can remember four Ramadan’s and one Christmas, and we know permanent memories before the age of three are rare. So we’re saying she’s eight and her birthdate will be whatever date the court gets off their keister and approves the adoption. Should be any day now. The doctor who examined her at Little Creek said that was probably close enough allowing for the effects of malnutrition.” Buck had carefully followed the nutritionist’s diet plan to try to strengthen Sayah’s bones and immune system.

“So she’ll be in the what? Third grade?” Eddie wasn’t too sure, but he thought that sounded right.

“Well, since it’s looking like she’ll have a summer birthday we’re going to start her in the second grade. If we need to adjust later, we can. I have a meeting scheduled next week with the counselor and one of the teachers to get everything set up. Since the kids on base go to the Coronado public school she and Belinda and Brandon will all be in the same school, even if they are in different grades.” Buck hoped school was kinder to his girl than it had been to him. But he planned to work closely with her teachers to make sure Sayah got whatever help she needed.

Speaking of his girl, she was peeking into the living room right now. “Hey, sweetheart, what are you doing up?” Buck held out his arm so that Sayah would know she wasn’t in trouble, and she came over quickly snuggling in and sighing.

“Sir Liss heard something outside the window. Someone was looking in.” She burrowed deeper into the safety of her father’s big frame. He could feel the little shivers running through her as she clutched her bunny close. “I tried to get Belinda to come with me, but she told me it was a dream and to go back to sleep. But I could see them, so I came to get you.”

Buck and Eddie shared a look of complete understanding. While Eddie went to quickly unlock the gun safe Buck put Sayah in the bottom of the coat closet. “Don’t come out until Eddie or I come to get you, OK?”

Sayah clutched her father’s arm. “Don’t get hurt!”

“I can’t promise that Sayah, but I will protect you. Now stay here. Got it?” The little girl nodded as she took the flashlight he handed her, aware of her fear of the dark. Buck kissed her head and closed the door.

Taking the weapon Eddie held out to him, Buck pulled his SEAL to the fore. Nodding to Eddie to indicate the direction he was going around the house, Buck started out. Eddie started in the opposite direction. They would catch whoever this was in a pincer move.

Both men had barely started out though, when a ruckus sounded from the back yard.

“You damn perv! Stay away from my little sisters!”

Both men broke into a run, rounding their respective corners of the house to find Kevin Graham standing and brandishing Eddie’s old baseball bat over a man he had evidently knocked to the ground. Eddie caught the bat just as Kevin was winding up for a swing that might have actually knocked the guy’s head into the next yard.

Buck grabbed the man just as he pulled a weapon and wildly fired a shot towards his attacker. Putting the man to sleep, with prejudice Buck barely restrained himself from snapping the guy’s neck.

Lights going on in the house next door meant that MPs were almost certainly already on their way, but Buck called it in anyway.

Reciting Eddie’s address quickly, Buck reported the situation. “Armed trespasser/intruder. Shots fired. Trespasser disarmed and unconscious. Fourteen-year-old boy shot.”

The dispatcher was squawking at him to stay on the line, but Buck had other things on his mind. Ripping the drawstring out of his hoodie he hogtied the man, just in case he woke up. Then, “Doc, what do you need?”

“A trauma center and a surgeon. Dammit! His torso was twisted as he swung and the fucker got both lungs. Come on, Kevin…stay with me. Help’s coming. Come on.” Eddie was practically chanting encouragement as Buck hurried over, trusting his improvised restraint to keep the threat contained. Especially with the gun in his pocket.

Bright red, bubbly blood. Lung shot. Buck moved in quickly to put pressure on the wounds. “Go get your kit Doc! Hurry!”

Eddie ran back into the house, nearly trampling Brandon in the front entry. Dodging around the boy he grabbed his big kit from the kitchen. Running back to the door he took one precious moment to look at Brandon. “You have the house. I’m counting on you.” Hopefully that would keep the boy indoors anyway.

Sliding to his knees in his backyard Eddie opened his kit as he heard sirens approaching. Removing a pressure bandage and pads he set about trying to keep the boy alive until they got there. Buck assisted in whatever way Eddie needed, their old synchronicity snapping into place, until he heard the sirens pull into the driveway.

“Backyard!” Buck yelled towards the front of the house, keeping his hands exactly where Eddie had put them. “Come on Kevin! Almost here…they’re almost here.”

And then they were. Twitch gently took over from Buck, and Eddie fell into step with the more experienced medic as they got Kevin rolled over to load onto the gurney. Buck stood and moved towards the MPs who were checking over the man he’d subdued.

A sudden yell sounded from the house and Buck ran towards the noise with his heart in his throat. Had it been a pair? Had someone else gotten into the house while he and Eddie were distracted in the backyard? Crashing through the door with an MP and Eddie right behind him, Buck saw Brandon wildly attacking an MP who had apparently decided to go in through the front door. Brandon had grabbed the biggest knife he could find from the knife block on Eddie’s counter and was slashing, stabbing, kicking and biting at the unfortunate man who was hampered in his response by trying not to actually hurt the ten-year-old.

“Brandon, stand down!” Eddie’s voice cut across the chaos and Brandon went limp with relief. He had done his best, and now the grown-ups were here to handle things. Dropping the knife he turned to run back to the master closet where had hidden the two younger kids.

Buck helped the MP to his feet while Eddie grabbed his backup kit from the bathroom and started applying pressure to some of the many cuts and wounds on the guy’s arms. “Did he get you anywhere besides the arms?” Buck checked the guy over as Eddie did his thing.

“Got a pretty good gouge in my side. Sure am glad you’re not one of those foodie people. If that pigsticker had been sharpened it would have done some damage.” The fellow was rueful. “Don’t get mad at the kid. I should have announced myself before I entered. He was just…”

“He was just doing exactly what I asked him to do, the best way he knew how.” Eddie was furious. At the intrusion, the injury, the fright…all of it. That guy was just lucky he’d had to concentrate on Kevin. Eddie didn’t think he could have been as restrained as Evan had been.

“We’ve got another bus coming for anyone who needs it. Who else is in the house?” The MP who had followed Buck in looked ready for anything.

Just then Brandon came charging back down the hallway. “They got Sayah! Chris and Belinda are safe in Uncle Eddie’s closet, but I couldn’t find Sayah! They snatched her!”

Buck caught Brandon on the run and held the boy tight for a moment. “Calm down Brandon. It’s fine, Sayah came into the living room to tell Eddie and I about the man in the window. Just a sec…”

Walking over to the closet Buck opened the door, and nearly got a flashlight to the face as the little girl swung with all her might and main. Ducking and catching the flashlight as it swept past his head, Buck grabbed his girl on the backside of her swing. “It’s OK Sayah. Everything’s going to be ok. It’s Papa, it’s ok.”

“God dammit!” The yell from the back of the house nearly gave Buck a heart attack. Putting Sayah with Brandon on the sofa and telling them to stay there, he ran towards Eddie’s bedroom.

Speeding through the door Buck let out a shocked laugh. The second MP was flat on his back on the floor with a furious Belinda standing over him holding him at…was that sword point? Chris had managed to get into his gait trainer and was at the man’s head threatening to put a …stiletto heel through his eye.

Looking up as his friend came running into the bedroom all Buck could do was laugh and ask “Stilettos Eds?”

Eddie pulled up short and gave Buck a dirty look. “They’re Shannon’s birthday present, Evan.”

Then stepping carefully over to Belinda he tried to take his dress sabre out of the little girl’s hands.

“No, Uncle Eddie. They took Sayah! Brandon said so! We’ve got to question the prisoner so we can rescue her!” Belinda was beside herself. She was the High Princess. She’d told Sayah there was nothing to worry about. And now Sayah was gone, and it was all her fault.

“I swear to you Belinda, Sayah is on the sofa right now with Brandon. She was hiding in the coat closet. Please give me my sword. I’m glad it was there when you needed it, but please…give it to me now. This man is like a police officer. He didn’t mean to scare you.” Gently Eddie took the sabre away and laid it on the bed. “You can go right to the living room to see Sayah.”

Belinda sniffled a little and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry Uncle Evan. I told Sayah she was dreaming. This is all my fault.”

“Oh no Princess, this is one man’s fault, and he’s currently tied up in the backyard asleep. Go on now, Sayah will be glad to see you’re ok.” Buck’s even tone did a lot to calm the girl, and she obediently trotted out to the living room, after a long hug.

“Son, hand me the shoe.”

“No Daddy, I think maybe I better keep it. What if he’s really an owl?” Huh?

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but he’s definitely not an owl. Now give me your mother’s shoe please.”

“It’s that thing where two people are a team. Like the penguins that stole Uncle Evan’s supper. Except with owls. What if he and the bad man are owls?” What in the world?

A light suddenly dawned on Buck and he laughed. “Do you mean cahoots? I can guarantee you this man is not in cahoots with the bad man in the backyard. He really is a Military Police Officer.”

Christopher reluctantly gave up the shoe and Buck helped the man back to his feet.

“Damn y’all are hardcore. Even the babies are little mini-assassins.” The guy shook his head ruefully.

“The babies are at Aunt Maddie’s house tonight. Except Aunt Jen’s, cause it isn’t born yet.” Christopher obviously didn’t consider himself a baby.

“Yeah, the babies are having their nunchaku practice right now. It’s best not to interrupt that.” Buck felt just slightly hysterical, and the MP eyed him warily.

“I think everybody in this house is crazy. But I’m glad the little ones are alright. Sure am sorry about the older boy though. Hope he pulls through.” That brought Buck crashing right back down to earth.

“Yeah, me too.”

As they walked back down the hall into the living room a paramedic came cautiously in. “Um, hello? The MP in my bus said to watch myself in here, but if anyone else is going with me they need to come on. Oh, and they’re taking the shooter into custody and down to the brig right now, so they said you guys can go to the hospital if you need to. They took the kid to the base hospital, but I heard he’s being life-flighted to Scripps, so maybe just head straight there. I think they’ll contact you there for statements.”

“Have Kevin’s parents been contacted?” In all the hubbub Buck wasn’t sure if anyone had thought to call the team.

“Yes sir, they’ve been directed to Scripps as well. And I believe your Captain has been notified.” Good. Stanley would take care of getting the rest of the team contacted. Buck and Eddie just needed to bundle up four traumatized kids, two of which still used boosters, none of whom wanted to be separated from each other and get to the hospital. Buck was sure glad he’d bought that three-row Subaru Ascent. He had gotten it for the safety ratings, but now he was glad they could all get in one car.

Making a quick sprint through both rooms to grab the kids' duffles, Buck made it back to the living room as Eddie was herding all the kids through the door. Buck took over getting the kids down the sidewalk to the driveway as Eddie turned to lock the door behind them

Brandon and Sayah climbed in first and moved to the back so that Belinda and Chris could get into their boosters. Eddie was pulling Christopher’s booster out of his truck to move to the SUV as they began bringing the perpetrator around the side of the house. As they passed through the circle of light from the streetlight Eddie looked up.

Buck heard a soft, wounded sound and turned from where he had been buckling Belinda into her seat, just in time to see Eddie go completely white.

“Pop?

The Grahams got to the hospital first.

They got to see Kevin as he was being wheeled into surgery. The boy was still conscious and reached out for his father, trying to gasp out a question.

“You did good Son. They’re going to fix you right up. We’ll be here when you wake up.” Riley tried to reassure the boy while Jen clutched his hand and smoothed her boy’s hair. Giving him a kiss on the forehead they backed up and let the trauma team whisk him away.

Finding their way to the surgical ICU waiting room, they settled in together to wait. Curled up together on one of the loveseats, eerily reminiscent of that park bench from fifteen years ago. Once again terrified for their child they held hands and prayed.

Buck, Eddie, and the kids were next.

Brandon caught sight of his parents and ran to them, quickly being swept into a strong hug. Buck guided the other kids over to the side of the room, putting all three on the one long couch. Eddie was left standing numbly in the middle of the room, wondering what he could possibly say to his teammate.

“I’m sorry.” He gasped out, finally. Not really able to think of anything else. “I’m so sorry.”

Mark looked up at him and frowned. “Hardly your fault some sicko decided to come perv on our girls.” Twitch had filled him in on what little was known when Kevin had been sped away. Apparently some deviant had been looking in the little girls’ window and Kevin had gone out to confront him.

Eddie laughed a little wildly. “Oh, I’m betting it was definitely my fault. Or at least it will be by the time he stops talking. Somehow it’s always my fault.”

Mark looked over and Buck in confusion. Buck just shook his head and went to his friend. “Come on buddy. Come sit down now. You’re not responsible for your father’s actions.” Gently coaxing Eddie to one of the chairs along the side of the room, Buck looked over at his teammate and saw realization strike. Mark nodded in understanding and tightened his hold on his wife.

One at a time Buck walked the children across the hall to the washroom and helped them change out of their pajamas. When it was Brandon’s turn he just handed the boy’s duffle to Jen. As she took the ten-year-old across to change clothes Mark got up and herded Buck into the far corner.

“What the Hell, Nudge?” Glancing over at a nearly catatonic Eddie, Mark urgently questioned his teammate.

“I don’t know, Mark. We didn’t even know it was his…well…we didn’t know until they brought him around as we were leaving. I don’t even…we certainly weren’t asking Kevin any questions. Sayah came out to us in the living room saying she’d seen someone looking in the guest room window. The boys were in Chris’s room, so it was just her and Belinda in there. Eddie and I separated to go around and catch the guy, but before we could all hell broke loose in the backyard. I guess Kevin woke up at some point and looked in on the girls and saw him. Grabbed Eddie’s old bat and snuck out the patio door from the master bedroom.”

Buck ran his hands over the top of his head. Keeping his voice quiet since the kids were mostly asleep he continued filling his teammate in. “By the time we got back there Kevin had already knocked the guy down and was winding up for another swing. Eddie stopped him and I grabbed the guy. We didn’t realize he was armed. I don’t think he was shooting at Kevin.” Buck was, in fact, certain that the most likely scenario was that the gun was meant for Eddie. Either as an execution or for the intimidation factor.

“I don’t know why he didn’t come get us.” Buck was practically in tears by that point. He didn’t blame Kevin, but why had the boy tried to take care of it himself? Why hadn’t he come to them?

“He thought it was Tank.”

Both men turned and looked at Brandon in surprise.

Jen Graham knelt down by her son. “Neither of you boys are in trouble Brandon, but who is ‘Tank’ and why did Kevin think it was him?”

The whole ugly story just spilled out of the tired boy. Someone’s parents had loose lips and had speculated on Sayah’s history. One of their sons had overheard them. He had asked Kevin at a pickup soccer game ‘what it was like to hit that’. Kevin had misunderstood at first, but when he finally got what the older boy was actually saying he had vehemently denied the suggestion.

Pointing out that Sayah was a little girl didn’t seem to dissuade the older boy, so when Kevin had peeked in to the girls’ room to make sure they were sleeping peacefully and looked up to see a face in the window…he jumped to the wrong conclusion. He had taken the bat because Tank was …well...built like a tank. He had tried to handle it himself because Tank claimed his dad was important on the base and could have all their dads fired…or killed.

“Do you know Tank’s last name?” A new voice joined the conversation. Both men tried automatically to stand and salute, but Admiral Pomeroy waved them both off tiredly.

“No, sir.” Brandon was clearly about to fall over, so the adults let him go climb in the bed Buck had made for the kids on the couch…girls with their heads at one end and boys at the other with their feet meeting in the middle.

“Stanley’s parking the car and the Samuels’ were right behind us. Carruthers has gone to check with the surgical team and find out how things are going. I understand from the MPs that you all have decided to skip the recruitment step and just raise the next generation of SEALs yourselves?” Pomeroy moved to one of the chairs and sat down tiredly.

Stick and Sarah made it to the waiting room just as Twitch showed up to report. Captain Stanley was right behind them.

“He’s hanging in there and they said it’s going well. Entry and exit wounds, so at least they’re not having to look for pieces of the bullet. Kevin’s going to be down for awhile, and he probably won’t be able to play sports this year because pulmonary rehab is no joke, but they say he’s a trooper and he should come through this.” Twitch was glad it was good news he could bring to his teammates.

Or at least he had thought it was good news. Over in the corner, Eddie let out a gasping kind of sob. With his arms wrapped around his middle, he bent forward almost in half and then began rocking himself back and forth as tears streamed down. Twitch didn’t know what had caused that extreme reaction, but he knew what that posture indicated.

Buck moved forward and gently took Eddie into a hug. The self-soothing behavior of a child who hadn’t been cared for was more than he could take. Twitch sat carefully on Eddie’s other side and wrapped his arms around Buck’s.

Mark came over and carefully knelt down in front of Eddie. “I was six-years-old the first time my father tried to kill me.”

Jen looked toward the children, all asleep on the couch. This wasn’t something Riley ever discussed with anyone but her, and she knew he wouldn’t want the children to hear him.

“He was hungover and I got grounds in the coffee. He nearly beat me to death with the hot coffee pot. The next time I was eleven. I didn’t make the sixth grade football team. He decided it was because I was ‘a pansy’ and he needed to beat that out of me. When I was fourteen I beat him in the County Fair shooting competition. If he hadn’t been drunk that night, he would have killed me when he shot at me as I came in the front door. The bullet went an inch to the right and lodged in the doorframe. He left it there as ‘a reminder not to miss next time.’.”

Eddie had stopped rocking and was listening intently, his eyes on Mark’s.

“I started sleeping in the barn, or the chicken coop, or any place I could think of that wasn’t where he was, where he could get to me. And then Jen got pregnant. I knew I couldn’t take her home. Her parents threw her out. I joined the Navy the next morning, and two days later I shipped out. I was replacing someone who had failed MEPS so I got their spot, but I had to leave immediately.” Mark sighed heavily.

“And while I was gone, he came after Jen. She got away. Holed up in a cheap motel three towns over in the next county. And when I got home from Boot Camp, he met me at the bus station. Cold-cocked me as I got off the bus. He was drunk as usual, blaming me for everything that had gone wrong in his life. In the process he admitted in front of a bus station full of witnesses that he had killed my mother and tried several times to kill me.”

Looking firmly at Eddie, Mark put his hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “I know what it is to have a father that despises you. That twists everything around until it’s all your fault. That tells you to be a man, but hates you for it. I don’t know what your father’s intention was, but no matter what comes out of his lying mouth, you never forget…he brought a gun. That pretty much says it all. So you pursue everything the law will allow you to pursue to keep him out of your life. Because he brought a gun…and that says exactly how little he values your life.”

“I was seven.” It was whispered, but the adults all heard it. “He had been drunk and my older sister had missed her piano recital. My mother couldn’t drive. I was the man of the house, so it was my responsibility to take care of my mother and sisters. He shut me up in the shed for a week. If Sofia hadn’t brought me food and water and snuck it in through the loose board in the back, I would have been dead before he remembered he’d locked me in there. He opened the door after seven days. I’ve always thought he was disappointed that I was still alive.”

“I said for years that he didn’t hurt me. It wasn’t abuse, because he never touched me.” Eddie’s voice was picking up strength, his gaze locked with Mark’s. “But it was abuse. He did hurt me. And tonight he brought a gun to my home. I won’t forget. I will pursue every charge the law will allow. Because not one time have I ever offered him violence. Not once have I ever fought back. But tonight, he brought a gun. And that says it all.”

A couple of hours later everyone was still tiredly waiting for Kevin’s surgery to be over. Jen Graham suddenly roused a bit.

“Admiral Pomeroy, what did you mean about raising the next generation of SEALs? I think I missed something.” She could really use anything that would take her mind off the surgery going on down the hall.

Pomeroy came out of his contemplative state and chuckled lightly. “Well, I spoke with several of my MPs before I came up here. I heard tales of a maniac with a knife who wasn’t afraid to fight (or bite) dirty, a wench with a wicked swing on a flashlight, a princess who apparently carries her own sword, and a young man with deadly taste in footgear. Supposedly there are babies somewhere learning ancient Asian weapons. And one who’s getting a reprieve but only because they aren’t born yet.”

Buck laughed a little, and even Eddie grinned. “Yeah, Eddie told Brandon to defend the house, thinking it would keep him inside while we were working on Kevin. But one of the MPs had decided to go in the front and Brandon did his absolute best to follow his orders. Then Sayah nearly clubbed me in the head with my heavy duty flashlight. About that time another MP wandered into Eddie’s bedroom where Belinda and Christopher were hiding. I didn’t see how it happened, but I saw the aftermath. The guy was on the floor. Belinda had found Eddie’s dress sabre and was holding it on the guy while Chris had found a stiletto heeled shoe and was hovering over the guy’s face threatening to put it through his eye. Neither of them wanted to give up their weapons either.”

“Family of Kevin Graham?” A nurse was standing in the door to the waiting room. Jen and Riley indicated that they were all family and to speak freely, so the nurse reported to the room.

“He’s in recovery now. Everything went as well as it possibly could. The surgeon is writing up his orders and may come talk to you soon, but really most of you need to go home. Mom and Dad can stay of course, but maybe everybody else could go home and get some sleep and come back during visiting hours. Not the kids of course. Kevin will be in the Surgical ICU for the first couple of days at least, so the rule is twelve and up.”

Deliberately Mark looked over at Eddie. “Hey man, would you mind taking Brandon with you tonight? Jen and I will work something out starting tomorrow, but for tonight we’d both really like to stay.”

Eddie looked a little dumbfounded. “Of course he can stay, but are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Buck clapped his friend on the back. “Come on, Eds. Gotta get back on that horse or Chris will never get to host a sleepover again. And that would be tragic, don’t you think, since you enjoy them so much.”

Eddie looked a little glassy-eyed. Buck wasn’t sure if it was his teammate’s trust or the thought of more sleepovers that had him looking like that.

Oh well, time would tell.

Chapter Text

Late the next day, Buck and Eddie were at the base brig. Since Eddie was stationed with a Navy team, the Army had deferred to the Navy on his representation and the investigation. Buck just hoped whoever NCIS sent, it wasn’t the idiot from their first mission debrief.

Straightening his uniform Eddie walked into the building, and nearly ran over his commander. “Admiral, sir. I didn’t see you there.”

“Well we’re not letting you go in alone, Diaz. JAG will be here in just a minute. Then we’ll all go in together. I had to assure Stanley that he could leave you in my hands or you would have had five of us fighting for seats in the room.” The Admiral wasn’t about to let one of his men (borrowed or not) walk into this sort of situation without back-up.

Just as their appointment time arrived, a woman walked in with a messenger bag and saluted the Admiral. He returned the salute. “Right on time Captain Valencia. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

Leading the way down the hall, the Admiral opened one of the meeting room doors and walked in. The JAG officer followed him in.

Eddie took a deep breath and crossed the threshold with Buck at his back, as promised.

Walking into the room, Buck saw two men seated at a table. Presumably the NCIS investigators. Taking a seat between Eddie and Captain Valencia, Buck had a brief flashback (or was it flash forward?) to the ridiculous interrogation of the 118 following the armored car heist. Which became a diamond heist. Hopefully these investigators would be more professional than those had been.

“Gentlemen and officers, please state your names and ranks for the record.”

One by one they did as asked.

"Captain Maira Valencia, JAG Corps."

“Chief Special Warfare Operator Evan Buckley, Seal Team 7.”

“First Sergeant Edmundo Diaz, US Army”

“Admiral Richard J. Pomeroy, US Navy”

“Thank you. I am Special Agent Nix and my partner is Special Agent Pettyfer, both of NCIS. We are investigating the incident at the housing unit assigned to Sergeant Diaz two days ago. You are not currently being charged with any crimes, but that could change in the future. Sergeant Diaz, if you would start us off please. In your own words, what happened that night that caused things to swing so wildly out of control?”

Captain Valencia spoke up before Eddie could even open his mouth. “Special Agent Nix, I find your question indicates a state of pre-judgement. If you are not able to be impartial in this matter, perhaps Special Agent Pettyfer should handle the questioning.”

Nix looked like he’d bitten into something sour. “We’re not in court, Captain. There’s no one to object to.”

“And yet, I am objecting. Can you do your job, or should someone else step in?” the Captain’s voice was unruffled but unyielding.

“Sgt. Diaz, please describe the events of the night in question.” Nix was obviously put out, but Buck felt immensely better about the whole thing with the Captain at the table.

“My son Christopher was hosting a sleep-over for the kids on our Squad. We had ordered pizza, watched movies, had a charades tournament, and tucked the kids into bed. We had fetched drinks of water, told them to settle down at least three times, and they had finally fallen asleep. The girls were in the guest room and the boys were in Chris’s room. Buck and I were talking in the living room when Sayah, Buck’s daughter, came in.” Eddie kept it short and simple.

“And why was CPO Buckley present? Do you share living quarters?” Nix looked intently at the two men.

“No, Evan was there because I had never hosted a sleepover before. My ex-wife had handled that prior to our divorce since I spent most of our marriage overseas. I was nervous about it, but I didn’t want to disappoint my son.” Eddie was determined to hold on to his temper. Buck was impressed with the effort. He must have really put in the work in his therapy.

“So CPO Buckley is experienced as a host?”

“Agent Nix, I don’t believe any of that is really relevant to the events of the evening. Could we move on?” Admiral Pomeroy wasn’t going to stand for his men being browbeaten by some smarmy weasel in a suit.

Agent Pettyfer stepped in at that point. “Why had the girl come in to you?”

Buck wasn’t sure who the question was actually directed towards, so he decided to answer it. “She had woken up and seen a man looking in the bedroom window. She was scared. Eddie went to the gun safe, and I put Sayah in the closet with my heavy-duty flashlight. Eddie and I started around the building in opposite directions so if someone was there, we would have them in a pincer move.”

Eddie picked up the story. “We heard shouting from the backyard and recognized Kevin’s voice, so we ran. I was the one coming up behind Kevin, so I grabbed the bat he was swinging to keep him from knocking the intruder’s head off. Evan grabbed the intruder himself.”

Buck jumped back in, grateful the agents seemed to be willing to let them tell the story together. “I reached the guy just as he pulled out a gun and fired a shot towards Kevin and Eddie. I put him to sleep and then hogtied him.”

“Was that really necessary CPO Buckley? Could you not have dealt with him a little more gently?”

“OK, that’s it. Nix, you are out of here. I want you off my base in the next fifteen minutes. I will be calling your superiors to explain exactly why.” Pomeroy had clearly had enough.

“Admiral…”

“Agent Nix, please follow Admiral Pomeroy’s instructions. I warned you Seb, but you wouldn’t listen.” Agent Pettyfer looked to the other side of the table. “I’m not going to ask you to excuse him, because frankly there’s no excuse. I do ask for your patience as I deal with the situation. Seb, move.”

“But…”

“Up. Now. You are to return to the office and place yourself on report. When the SAC asks what for, you tell him the God’s honest truth if you want to keep that badge you’re so proud of. You’ve got the time it’ll take you to get there to figure out what the truth is. Now move.” Agent Pettyfer watched his colleague slink out of the conference room, finally clearing his throat and retaking his seat.

“Now, CPO Buckley, I believe you were talking about how you restrained the unknown man who had frightened your daughter and shot your friend’s son.” Folding his hands on top of his folders Agent Pettyfer waited for Buck to continue.

“Uh, yeah. I ran over to help Doc, er, Eddie with Kevin. No, wait. First I called dispatch. Then I went to help. Eddie had me keep pressure steady while he ran and got his kit…his med kit…from the kitchen. He got back and I just did what he needed me to do until the ambulance arrived. Our teammate Twitch works in rota with the on-base fire department. He was the lead medic, so I turned my spot over to him and went inside.”

Eddie took up the tale once more. “I helped load Kevin up and then followed Buck in. After we got word that we could leave, we grabbed all the kids. They were upset and didn’t want to be separated so we decided to drive to the hospital in Evan’s SUV. I was getting my son’s booster seat out of my truck when the MPs brought the intruder around. At that point I recognized him as Ramon Diaz.”

“How would you characterize your relationship with your father, Ramon Diaz, Sgt. Diaz?” Agent Pettyfer kept his voice smooth and professional, and gave Eddie time to think about his response. Buck thought he might like this guy.

“That’s a little complicated. But for the past fourteen months I haven’t had any relationship with him at all. My son was diagnosed with CP at that time, and my parents verbally attacked my then wife right in front of me. I found out later that evening that they had been tormenting her throughout our marriage, even to the point of refusing to turn over our child after baby-sitting one day. I sent my wife and son to California to be with her mother, who was in the process of being diagnosed with cancer and who has since died. I told my parents to never contact us again. That if I ever wanted to talk to them, I knew how to get in touch. I am in regular contact with my father’s mother, so I certainly have a way to reach them. And they could always have asked her to pass a message along.”

“You have been divorced from your wife recently, is that true?” Agent Pettyfer opened the folder on the table and leafed through it slowly.

“My ex-wife loves our son. She did not love being a mother, nor did she love being my wife. We are much better suited as friends and co-parents. I have full custody of Christopher, but she still has her parental rights. Since we have been living in Coronado for my practicum posting she and her current partner have come twice to take him out and spend time with him, staying in my guest room before returning to San Bernardino. Is this relevant in some way, Agent?” Buck was a little confused as well. He understood the question about Eddie’s relationship with his parents, but what did his relationship with Shannon have to do with anything?

“Please indulge me for now Sgt. Diaz. I promise I’ll explain later. Is there any circumstance in which your wife, sorry your ex-wife, might have surrendered her parental rights to your parents? Even temporarily, like if she traveled out of state to visit her mother while you were deployed?” Agent Pettyfer turned a couple more pages in his folder.

“Absolutely not. Christopher was the light of Janet’s life. Shannon would never have traveled to see her mother without him. And she had ample reason not to trust my parents. Shannon and I became friends in middle school. I shared all my secrets with her. She was well aware of things I’ve only recently been able to confront in therapy. Shannon knew that my parents were abusive years before I could even hint at such a thing. So no. She would never, under any circumstances surrender her rights or custody of Christopher to Ramon or Helena Diaz.” Eddie obviously felt quite certain of that, and thinking about what he knew of Janet Whitt, well Eddie was probably right. Shannon would have definitely known something wasn’t right with Eddie’s homelife.

“Just a few more questions, Sgt. Thank your for your patience and cooperation. You mentioned that you are in therapy. In general terms are you comfortable sharing the reasons for that?” The question was carefully asked, but still mildly offensive.

“Can you just ask me what you really want to know, Agent? I’m not ever going to be comfortable discussing my therapy with anyone. Not even my therapist. So ask whatever it is you want to know, and I’ll decide then whether or not to share.” OK, now Buck was worried. Eddie’s patience was tapping out, even with Agent Pettyfer being as professional as possible. This didn’t bode well.

“It would be helpful to know whether or not you struggle with PTSD. You do not have to share your personal health business at this time, but it might help other situations to have that information on record.”

Eddie considered the man in front of him. “You have tried very hard to be professional and treat me with courtesy. So I will tell you this. It would be difficult to find a serving military member who did not have some degree of PTSD. Indeed, I would be very wary around such a person. So yes, I do deal with PTSD in my therapy sessions. But there are more ways to develop PTSD than by going to war, and mine goes back much further. To a shed in my parents’ garden, and what happened there multiple times throughout my childhood. Had I known Shannon was leaving Chris with my parents unsupervised I would have warned her not to. She figured it out for herself, of course.”

“Thank you for your forbearance. I just have a few questions for CPO Buckley now. How long have you known Sgt. Diaz?” Uh oh. Why did he need to know that?

“Um, about fifteen months give or take.” Keep it simple, don’t mess up.

“And you became such great friends that you moved in together in Germany for several months while Sgt. Diaz was still married?” Ouch. That information did look bad.

“If I may Agent Pettyfer, I can’t get into the particulars. Top secret is top secret for a reason after all. But I can tell you that Sgt Diaz and CPO Buckley were assigned to live together as they completed a highly confidential project for the Department of Defense. And I am assured that Ms. Whitt was aware of what was going on, if not why.” Thank you, Admiral, for that beautiful save.

“Thank you, Admiral. I certainly understand the meaning of ‘classified’ in this context and would like to make it abundantly clear that I do not wish to know the details of that project.” Pettyfer looked through his folder again, sighed, and looked up at Buck.

“CPO Buckley, I can think of no way to ask the questions I need to ask without causing distress. I am truly sorry for this. Admiral Pomeroy, can you tell me about the relationship CPO Buckley has with his daughter? Others are … aware of her origins and have concerns.” Agent Pettyfer looked like he wished he could wash his own mouth out.

Admiral Pomeroy looked at the man for a long moment. “Agent Pettyfer, I’m going to hope that explanation is forthcoming SOON. CPO Buckley’s relationship with his daughter…he has considered her first in everything he has done in the past nearly six months. He changed the trajectory of his career because she needed the stability of his presence, he moved across the country because the position would be better for HER. He has done everything possible, in the estimation of the Court of the State of California, to make sure she has the opportunity to be a little girl. And if allegations are being made otherwise, I can refer you to any number of people who can will be HAPPY to set the record straight.”

Buck thought he was going to be sick. Was someone out there alleging that he was taking advantage of his precious girl? Eddie’s hand clamped down on his leg.

“I think I need that explanation NOW Agent Pettyfer. I was there the day Evan brought Sayah home. I witnessed the vows they made to each other. I have been witness to the way they are keeping those vows. I have learned much about being a father from Evan, that I did not learn from my own father. So…what is going on?” Eddie’s voice was measured and even, but the emotionless tone had chills going up Buck’s spine. He clamped his own hand on Eddie’s leg to make sure violence wasn’t about to break out. But no, this Eddie had been in therapy for a long time. His anger wasn’t such a wild thing anymore.

Agent Pettyfer just looked disgusted with the whole thing. “OK gentlemen, and Captain Valencia, I will tell you what is being said, but before I do, I want to remind you that this recording is evidentiary and subject to subpoena.” He looked significantly at Eddie, and a little less so at Buck.

“Upon questioning, Ramon Diaz claims to have parental rights and an emergency custody order for Christopher Diaz. On the face of it, that seems to be true. The order was processed in El Paso County Texas and a CPS worker would have contacted you today or tomorrow to take Christopher to his grandparents or into Social Services custody while the matter was sorted out if that became necessary.” Eddie sat absolutely still beside him. Buck didn’t think he was even breathing.

“In the documents provided to the Court in El Paso, Ramon and Helena Diaz claim that Shannon had surrendered her parental rights to them prior to leaving to care for her mother. That she had decided she could not care for a special needs child adequately. They had all become aware of your instability and your involvement in a deviant relationship with a pedophile and potential child trafficker.” Buck felt like his heart had stopped. They used Eddie’s friendship with him to get custody of Christopher?

Suddenly, events in his first timeline shifted into focus a bit more clearly. He had never quite believed what Chris had told him about Eddie’s motivations. Now? Well, apparently Eddie had had a legitimate reason to be scared and was protecting Chris the best way he could. Without support, without effective therapy (sorry Frank), and knowing exactly what his parents were capable of? Buck let go of that last little piece of hurt and resentment towards that Eddie.

Then the rest of the accusation hit, and Buck wasn’t sure whether to explode or puke. Admiral Pomeroy’s hand clamped down on his shoulder in support and Agent Pettyfer pointed at the recorder in the center of the table.

“Ramon Diaz claims you were aware of the court order and had asked him to come pick Christopher up, given him the address. He says he did not check in because he wasn’t aware he needed to since he isn’t military and was there only on family business. He claims he was simply trying to determine whether or not Christopher was being groomed by CPO Buckley’s daughter and was checking to see if they were sharing a bed.” A slight sound made Buck turn his head sharply. Captain Valencia had her hand over Eddie’s mouth. Apparently that last bit was too much for him.

Pettyfer must have known he’d better finish quickly. “Ramon Diaz deeply regrets hurting the boy, but says he was attacked from behind and confused. He merely sought to defend himself. I’m now going to end this recording to give you time to consult with your legal representative.” Reaching out into the center of the table, he shut off the recorder.

“Gentlemen, I am so sorry.” Everyone was quiet for a moment. It felt as though no one was even breathing.

“Are you or CPS seeking to take Christopher Diaz into custody at this time?” Captain Valencia, thank God. Doing her job and honing in on the most immediate threat.

“I have shared my concerns about the legitimacy of Mr. and Mrs. Diaz’s documentation with both CPS and the Family Court of El Paso County. At this time, CPS thinks it best to remove Christopher Diaz from the home pending the documentation being verified. As both Mr. and Mrs. Diaz are being held on current and pending charges they have contacted a Mrs. Isabel Diaz and are planning to take the child to her. I believe she is your grandmother Sgt. Diaz?”

Eddie had to try twice to speak. “Yes. I have no concerns about Christopher being in her custody. She adores him and will protect him to the best of her ability. But…will I get to tell him ‘Good-bye’ and explain what’s going on?”

Pettyfer looked at him sympathetically. “Of course, Sgt. Diaz. Even if I believed the allegations, I would still let you say ‘good-bye’ if only for Christopher’s sake.”

“Just to be clear…you do NOT believe the allegations that have been leveled against my men?” Admiral Pomeroy was incensed. He had heard the men in the hospital, sharing the horrors of what had been done against them. He had railed at God at the injustice. That children had grown up in such homes when he and his Gracie had tried for so long…but that was an old hurt and he put it aside for now. But he was going to make sure any separation the Diaz’s had to endure was as short as possible.

“As an experienced law enforcement officer, I do not believe these allegations. I have spoken with Shannon Whitt and Dirk Wilmington. They substantiate your story. I am sorry that I cannot simply deny CPS, but they have their own mandates to follow. I expect that your attorney will soon be filing a raft of motions and I will certainly assist with that in any way I legally can. Gentlemen, I am deeply sorry.”

Agent Pettyfer sounded absolutely sincere, but Buck suddenly had a horrific thought.

“They’re not going to take Sayah away are they? Or stop the adoption going through? Our court date’s in nine days. They won’t interfere with that, will they?” Buck was nearly hyperventilating at the thought of losing his girl. Would they at least take her to Maddie? Or maybe Abuela would agree…but Abuela didn’t know him yet.

“No CPO Buckley. No court orders have been filed in California, but if I were you I would sue the Diaz’s for defamation of character since they tangentially accused you in their supporting evidence in Texas.” Buck deflated with a sigh of relief, and as his mind stilled something rose to the surface.

“He came prepared to kill Eddie. And he tried to. He didn’t even draw his weapon until Eddie was there. He could have shot Kevin before we made it around the house if he’d just been defending himself. But he didn’t shoot until Eddie was there. That he hit Kevin was actually an accident…because he was aiming for Eddie.”

Buck was horrified at the realization, and Eddie's face paled even further.

“He brought a gun.” Almost gentle, thoughtful…Eddie’s voice fell into the silence after Buck’s accusation. “That’s what Mark meant.” Gaining strength now. “I have never raised a hand against anyone in my family, but he brought a gun.”

“Yes Sgt. Diaz. And he’s going to find that hard to explain away when he’s claiming you invited him to come get your son” Agent Pettyfer’s voice was calm and certain. “And since the shooting took place on Navy property, I get the honor of asking for a charge of attempted murder. And I will.”

Outside the building Admiral Pomeroy turned to the two men. “Let me drive you home. You need to get Christopher ready to go visit his great-grandmother.”

“Do you know how long I have?” Eddie sounded heartbroken and wasn’t really paying attention to where they were going. One car was apparently as good as any other.

“Son, you’ll have time to say ‘good-bye’ properly. I promise. But the social worker checked in at the gate ten minutes ago.” The Admiral had taken a phone call as they were leaving Captain Valencia and Agent Pettyfer to their sorting out of legal motions and investigations.

“OK. Ok. Let’s go.” Buck climbed into the backseat with Eddie while the Admiral sat up front with his driver.

“It’s gonna be Ok Eddie. You know your Abuela is going to make sure Chris is safe and happy until you get him back.” Buck honestly didn’t know how to comfort his friend. He was feeling pretty heartbroken himself, and his father hadn't tried to kill him and steal his child. Thinking of that though…

“I need to get better plans in place for Sayah. I know Maddie would take her, but if she couldn’t for some reason I need to make sure Margaret and Philip never, never get their hands on her.” Buck’s mind started spinning with possibilities, but he wrenched it firmly back on track.

“Yeah, I need to do that too. I mean, Shannon would get him…but she doesn’t really want to be a full-time mother…” Eddie’s thoughts were apparently wandering down the same road.

Sharing a look in the backseat, the two men came to an unspoken understanding.

Captain Valencia was going to be very busy.

Eddie was helping Chris pack while Buck and Maddie entertained the social worker in the living room.

“But why can’t you take me there Daddy? And I gotta be back in three weeks ‘cause school is starting.” Christopher had been full of questions, ever since Eddie had explained that he was going to visit his Abuelita for a little while.

“Your Daddy has to take care of a lot of boring adult things here, so I’m helping you out.” The social worker took a long, assessing look at Christopher’s room. Then, giving Eddie an approving nod, turned back to the little boy. “Maybe you should bring a few of your stuffed friends along too.”

“But Ms. Carlyle, you don’t unnerstand. I’ve got a Doctor’s Appointment tomorrow and I’m sposed to be goin’ to the zoo with all the kids on Saturday. I’ve got things to do. I love Abuelita, but this is Inconvenient.” Christopher fussed along as his Dad packed his things, pointing out the stuffies and books he wanted to take along.

“Christopher, I promise you. We won’t go to the zoo without you. And the doctor’s appointment will be rescheduled. You just have a good time and be the good boy you always are.” Eddie held his son close for a moment. Then he let him move to arms length. Reaching up one hand to his son’s forehead, he made the sign of the cross.

“Do you know what that is Christopher? I’m giving you a blessing for your trip and the time we’re apart. Abuelita likes to do that when people are leaving. She blessed me before I went away with the Army. And I know she’ll take care of you,” Swallowing hard, Eddie got to his feet. Taking his son by the hand, leaving the social worker to grab the bag, he walked Chris to the door.

“You’re sure you can manage the gait trainer?” Eddie questioned the woman while his son said good-bye to his Aunt Maddie and Uncle Evan.

Ms. Carlyle smiled at the worried father. “I work exclusively with special needs children, Mr. Diaz. I assure you I know my way around assistive technology. And I’ll make sure Mrs. Diaz is comfortable with it before I leave him with her.”

“Good-bye Daddy. I asked Sayah to keep an eye on you while I’m not here to do it. She said she would, even though Uncle Evan is a full time job. So be good and stay out of trouble. I’ll see you soon.” Christopher was fighting tears, but trying to be brave.

“Good-bye Christopher. I’ll try to stay out of trouble. You do the same. I’ll see you soon.”

Eddie stood on the porch and waved as the car backed out of the driveway and drove off down the street. Turning to go back in he looked at his friends.

“Well, I hope Chris’ll forgive me, but I am aiming to start a LOT of trouble.” And he picked up the phone to call Captain Valencia.

Sitting in front of a military judge two weeks later, Eddie was more than ready to get this finished. While the criminal charges would be taken care of separately (and much later) the emergency session to review the custody order from El Paso county would at least get Chris back home with him.

The entire team sat in the rows behind him, and just before the doors were closed Admiral Pomeroy slipped in and took the end seat next to Buck. Kyle and Sarah were at the Stanley’s home with all the kids, but Jen and Maddie had insisted on being present. Shannon and Dirk had also made the trip to Coronado to support him. All rose at the judge's entrance.

Once everyone had regained their seats, the judge looked through the documents presented to him. Studying his very lopsided courtroom, he peered over his glasses at Ramon and Helena Diaz sitting at their table in front of an empty section of seating.

“I understand Mr. Ramon Diaz is currently under multiple charges relating to shooting of a fourteen-year-old and the circumstances under which that occurred. I am assuming it is Mrs. Helena Diaz who would be taking custody of Christopher?”

“Yes, Your Honor. The emergency custody order is clear and legal. The child should have been given into Mrs. Diaz’s custody rather than being sent elsewhere.” The lawyer for the Diaz’s was smoothly professional, and Buck wondered how much of the truth he had actually been given.

“And I see that the documents on which your clients applied for that custody are being alleged fraudulent and the arguments made against Sgt. Diaz prejudicial.”

Captain Valencia stood. “Yes, Your Honor. At no time did Ms. Shannon Whitt surrender parental rights. If you examine the document carefully you can see that it’s actually a permission for them to seek medical care for the boy when they were babysitting while Ms. Whitt was in class. It has been cleverly edited to add details that were not part of the original document.”

“Hmmm. And you have submitted your authority’s judgement as to the document’s authenticity. Yes. And the charges of mental instability? And adultery with a person of questionable moral character?”

“Your Honor, we are prepared to voluntarily submit a summary of Sgt. Diaz’s therapy and an evaluation of his mental stability from his current therapist.” Handing the documents over to the bailiff Captain Valencia continued. “We are certain these documents will relieve any concerns on that front.”

“As to the character of the man in question, I suppose you could ask the opinion of the Secretary of the Department of Defense for the USA. I believe both men’s military records, which you have previously received, speak for themselves. The characterization of a homosexual relationship as ‘deviant’ is prejudicial and should be irrelevant. Adultery, even had it occurred, is not a crime in the UCMJ, and should not have bearing on Sgt. Diaz’s fitness to parent his child.”

“Sgt. Diaz, your counsel is correct that adultery is not a crime. But it does speak to moral character, so let’s just drag it out into the light. At any time during your marriage did you engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with CPO Buckley?” Eddie stood at his table. Looking at Captain Valencia, she indicated it was his choice whether or not to speak.

“Your Honor, Evan Buckley saved my life. And his wisdom saved my friendship with my wife and has allowed us to be better parents to our son…to ensure he is cared for in the best possible circumstances for all of us. Evan is my best friend. He is the kind of friend anyone would be thankful to have. Constant, supportive, and not afraid to call me on my BS. He is not now, nor has he ever been, my lover…romantically, sexually, or any other way you care to put it. Currently I am focused on my son, my duty post, and my schooling. Evan is focused on his daughter, his duty, and his education. Neither of us are currently in the market for a relationship. And what may happen in the future is no one’s business but our own.”

Having said his piece, Eddie took his seat. Feeling the glares on him from the Diaz’s on the other side of the room, Eddie looked across at his parents. Hopefully this would all be over soon.

“I’m going to take a recess to go over the new documents. I’ll return with my judgement when I have it. Adjourned.” Getting up, the judge gathered his papers and left through the door at the back of the room.

Eddie turned to the people in the seats behind him. Feeling shaky, he reached out. Hands took his firmly. So many hands. Evan’s on his right, rough with callouses from weapons and ropes but firm and steady. Mark’s on his left, strong and sure. Jen’s hand at his wrist, Maddie’s mirroring her on the other side. Stanley had a hand on his right shoulder, and Stick had his left shoulder. Hands near his elbows must be Twitch and Mario Looking up he saw the whole team gathered around him. And in the back of the room, he saw Admiral Pomeroy with a small, dark-haired woman who seemed…familiar somehow.

Slowly the two of them moved from the back of the room towards the group of people surrounding him. The woman pushed her hair behind her ears, and he knew her!

“Sofia?”

He couldn't believe it. He hadn’t seen his sister since the day she ran away at sixteen. He had been sound asleep when she crept into his room and told him she was going, begging him not to tell, and that she had buried some things in the dirt floor of the shed that would hopefully get him through. Eddie had kept her secret, and he hadn’t seen her since.

The crowd around him parted and his sister approached him cautiously, like she wasn’t sure of her welcome. “Eddie, I didn’t know if you would want to see me but I couldn’t let them take Christopher. I’m ready to testify if I need to.”

Eddie lunged for her, completely forgetting the rail between them. He buried her in a hug and was surprised at how small she was. Sofia had always seemed so much bigger. He guessed he’d grown a bit.

Evan’s voice in his ear, “Eddie, you’re going to bring the rail down. I know. I know, ok, but you need to loosen your grip.”

Buck was shocked. He’d never met Eddie’s sisters, in either time. He remembered Eddie saying that Sofia had been the one to sneak him food and water. And he remembered how it felt to be reunited with Maddie.

Eddie laughed, and loosened his grip a bit, not letting go completely. “How did you even know about this.” He looked at the Admiral, standing quietly in the background. “Did you do this, sir?”

Sofia laughed wetly. “No, I’ve always been in touch with Abuela. She told me you needed me now. So I came. I’m so proud of you little brother.”

“Mrs. Ibarra contacted my office two days ago. I invited her to the proceedings, but I think she would have snuck in regardless. You Diaz’s seem the determined sort.” The Admiral was grinning, seemingly relieved that this had been a pleasant surprise.

Introductions were made all round, and the group chatted, ignoring the sulking presence on the other side of the room.

When the judge came back in, everyone scurried quickly to their places, and sat down when instructed to do so.

“Upon viewing all the evidence presented to me, I am overturning the emergency custody order. I am recommending charges of fraud and forgery be levied against Mr. and Mrs. Diaz in addition to whatever charges they eventually face through the criminal courts. I am upholding the custody agreement ratified by the court of San Bernardino County giving full custody to Edmundo Diaz with visitation at his discretion for Shannon Diaz. Court Adjourned.”

Eddie stood there in shock for a moment, then let out a very un-Eddie-like whoop.

An entire chorus of “Hooyah” went up from the team as they celebrated together.

Buck and Sayah had gone to Los Angeles with Eddie to retrieve Christopher

Sayah was bouncing in her seat in the back, and Buck was willing to swear that Eddie was bouncing in his seat as well. As they turned onto the street, Eddie gave him a bit of a confused look.

“How did you know where to turn?” Oh, no! Buck had forgotten that he wasn’t supposed to know how to get to Abuela’s. Well at least new-Eddie shared old-Eddie’s lack of technological savvy.

“Ever heard of Google, my friend? Those of us who live in the digital age can find out all kinds of things. You might think about joining us one day.” Whew, save!

“Alright, alright. It’s the third house on the right.” Eddie was definitely bouncing in excitement now.

“Of course. It’s the one with the four-year-old waving madly on the porch. Why didn’t I think of that.” Eddie tried to give him a dirty look, but the man was just so happy it didn’t really stick.

Pulling into the driveway Buck was completely unsurprised when Eddie flung open the door and tumbled out before he’d turned the car off. Turning to look at his daughter, he caught her in the process of reaching for the door handle.

“Natalie Sayah Buckley, what is the rule about waiting until the car is turned off before trying to get out?” Their morning had started at the courthouse, where Buck’s adoption of Sayah had become official. As promised, she now had a new name and a new birthdate. And neither of them could really stop smiling.

“The rule is to wait, so I don’t get hurt Papa. I’m sorry.” Sayah was probably sorry, but she was smiling too. There was just a lot of joy floating around today. Looking at the reunion going on up on the porch Buck felt swamped with the best of emotions. Today was the best day ever!

Getting out of the car and meeting his daughter climbing out of the back seat, Buck proceeded up to the house. Sayah skipped ahead of him and joined the hug Eddie and Chris were sharing.

Eddie turned and held out an arm to Buck.

Well alrighty then. Buck dived into the hug merrily, his heart singing as he held on to his family.

Today was indeed the best day, ever!

Chapter Text

They had wound up at a nearby park. There were just too many people for the little house to contain, so Abuela had packed up several coolers and hotboxes with delicious food and they had all walked to the park at the end of the block.

Now, too stuffed to want to do anything but sleep, Buck was sitting on a blanket on the ground watching the cousins play a weird game of frisbee tag. The rules seemed to change at whim, but everybody was having a great time.

Suddenly he felt a familiar burning sensation on his shoulder. Looking around quickly, Buck spotted Jörmungandr in his bright purple sweater near a park bench with a young girl sitting alone. Buck got up and cautiously approached, not wanting to frighten the girl.

Sitting down carefully at the other end of the bench, he looked over. The girl looked to be about fourteen. Maybe fifteen. She was thin everywhere except her middle…oh. Well.

The girl turned her head to look at the children playing with the frisbee, her hand dropping to her stomach. Buck looked at her face and felt a jolt of recognition. A thin, sick face on a child he had once refused aid. Procedurally he had been correct. Technically the girl had tried to kill her child, and should not be transported with her victim. But now. Looking at a frightened, sick little girl only a few years older than his daughter…Athena had been right too. He didn’t have the right to play God.

“Hey, would you like to join us? We’ve got plenty left over. You could join us?” Buck wasn’t sure quite how to address the girl’s condition. But he was sure he had too. Athena had told him the parents claimed not to know about the girl’s condition, but as thin as this child was there was no possible way they hadn’t known.

The girl looked from Buck to the blanket with other adults sitting and talking, watching the kids play, and gave a quick shake of her head. She dropped her face down so her hair shielded her from sight. It looked like she was trying to disappear altogether.

“You don’t have to move. I’ll bring you a plate. Would you like that? Let me go get you something to eat? Please, just stay there. I’ll be right back.” Buck quickly got up and moved to the food, filling a plate with tamales and rice and beans, grabbing a fork and some napkins. He hurried back to the bench.

“Here. Abuela makes the best tamales around. They’re a secret family recipe. Go ahead. It’s fine.” Holding the plate out to the girl as she obviously debated whether or not it was safe to accept the food. Hesitantly she reached out and took the plate from Buck, behaving as though she thought he might snatch it back at any moment. Carefully, precisely she began to eat.

“There you go. My name’s Evan. My daughter Sayah is one of the kids out there with the frisbee. Can I ask, what’s your name? You don’t have to tell me, but I’d like to help.” Jörmungandr was wound around one of the railings at the side of the bench, hissing worriedly.

“Cathryn.” It was so quiet, Buck almost missed it.

“Cathryn,” he repeated. “It’s nice to meet you. We’re having a little party today, because my daughter and I got our official adoption decree signed. And my friend Eddie was coming up here to pick up his son from his abuela’s house, so we just decided to make a day of it. We actually live in Coronado.” Buck felt like he was babbling, but he didn’t really know how to help. He couldn’t just bundle Cathryn up and spirit her away.

“At the base?” Oh well, that was a little surprising.

“Yeah, at the base. I’m in the Navy. Eds is in the Army, but he’s stationed with our Search and Rescue squad.” Maybe knowing they were military would reassure the girl.

“Rescue…” the girl softly repeated the word, stoking her baby bump with her hand.

Taking a chance, Buck very quietly asked her, “Do you need to be rescued, Cathryn?”

Tiredly looking at Buck, the girl answered just as quietly. “No, it’s too late for that. But it needs to be rescued. They told me. They’re watching me, all the time. I only got out of the apartment because the latch didn’t quite catch. But I have to go back. I don’t have anywhere else to go. But they told me not to worry about things because he’s going to kill it as soon as it’s born.”

“Evan, would your friend like something to drink?” Abuela was there with a gentle smile and a glass of water. Buck wasn’t quite sure what to do.

“Hello dear, you’re welcome to join us if you like. Or you can just stay on this lovely bench if you’d rather.” Abuela continued to hold out the glass of water until Cathryn hesitantly reached out and took it. “Good girl. You need to make sure you stay hydrated. It’s so hot out today.”

With a final smile, Abuela wandered back to the blanket.

“You don’t have to go back. Not if they’ve made threats. We can call somebody to help.” The girl was already shaking her head.

“If…my dad…my REAL dad, I know he doesn’t want me anymore, but he might want…” she ran her hand over her bump again. “He’s in the Navy. At least he was. Could you contact him? For them?” God, she was killing him here.

“If your father is a serving member of the US Navy you have the right to request medical care at a base facility.” Buck’s brain was entering hyperdrive. “Let me call my Captain and see what he recommends. What’s your father’s name?”

“Wayne Gaffney. I don’t know what he does in the Navy, or where he is. Mom said he got sick of me so he left.” Cathryn looked at him intently. “Do you think your captain can find him?”

“I don’t know Cathryn, but if he can’t I know a support officer who will make tracking your father down his life's mission. Just a second…” Buck pulled out his cell phone.

“Hey Captain, I’m sitting here on a bench with a girl named Cathryn. She’s expecting and her Mom and Stepdad have made plans to kill the child as soon as it’s born. She says her father is in the US Navy. Wayne Gaffney. Do you have instructions?” Buck put on his best SEAL voice while trying to keep his face open and kind.

“I can’t let you go anywhere Nudge. Don’t let her out of your sight. I’ll get on with someone in Admin Support immediately. I’ll call you back soon.” Captain Stanley was on the case, and Buck relaxed a little.

Oh. Looking at the worried serpent, Buck figured he’d better make sure his captain knew, “It’s definitely a snake thing, sir.”

“Alright Nudge, give me thirty minutes. I’ll call you back. Don’t let her go back.” Stanley hung up to go do what he could.

“Well, we’ll just hang out here on this bench and enjoy the day until he calls back.” Looking out at the kids, Buck picked out his girl.

Thirty-two minutes later his Captain called back. Buck had managed to talk Cathryn into coming to lay down and rest a bit on one of their blankets, and the poor girl had fallen into an uneasy sleep as soon as she lay down.

Buck moved away a little so as not to disturb the girl while he talked to Stanley.

“Hey Cap, what do we know?” He hoped the man at least had a good lead on this guy.

“It’s bad news Nudge. Gaffney was killed six years ago in an accident while deployed in the Philippines. He left behind a daughter, Cathryn, who would be just barely fifteen. That sound like her?” Dammit.

“Yeah, that sounds like her. Captain, what do we do? I can’t let her go back to those people. They keep her locked in, don’t feed her enough, I’m sure prenatal care is non-existent, and they literally told her they had a plan to kill her baby.” Buck was about to just say ‘the heck with it’ and drag her back to Coronado with him.

“Calm down Nudge. First, she’s a minor. That means she has the right to ask any adult, but most particularly service members for help. She is in a dangerous, emergency situation and needs an immediate response. You are obligated to provide the help she needs. She is also one of ours. From what they told me, Gaffney’s wife took Cathryn and moved out while he was deployed. Before he was killed. Without a divorce or a custody agreement. So we have a lot of grey areas to exploit here. Bring her home, CPO Buckley. That’s an order.” The Captain hung up at that point, probably to get back to solving the problem.

Well, at least Buck had his next steps. “She’s coming home with us.” he told the large snake laying beside her on the blanket. Jörmungandr nodded and faded slowly away as the burn on Burck’s shoulder eased down.

Yes. This was what needed to be done.

Pulling onto the base late that evening with three exhausted children in the backseat, Buck was really hoping his Captain had a plan. Checking in he was waved on through the gate and started towards base housing. He pulled up to his house, only to find his Captain’s truck in his driveway. Parking on the street, Buck began to get out of the car. Looking up at his home, he saw Stanley waiting on the porch.

His Captain jogged down to meet him. “Good news Nudge. We’ve tracked down Gaffney’s parents. They’re flying in on the red-eye. I’ll pick them up and take them to mine and we can meet tomorrow afternoon about legalities and logistics. Are you good with keeping Cathryn with you for now?”

“Yeah, sure. 1400 good? I’d like her to get a little extra sleep if she can. It’s bad Cap. And that’s without even touching the issue of who the father might be.” Buck wanted things to go as well for Cathryn and her baby as possible, and right now sleep appeared to be her greatest need. Once they got outside the Glendale area Cathryn had relaxed more and more the further they went.

“1400 hours sounds fine. If something changes I’ll let you know. Is there anything I can help you with tonight? I brought an extra bed and put it up in Sayah’s room. I figure Diaz and his son can share your guest bed for tonight. I also brought some clothes. Kyle went and got them, because he said what I knew about girls’ clothes would fill a thimble with room left over.” Buck had picked up a sleepy Sayah and transferred her easily to his Captain while he leaned in to wake Cathryn.

“Cathryn, honey, we’re home. If you can wake up enough to walk, I'll show you where you can sleep tonight.” The tired girl tried to get out of the car, and did just manage it. But then she just stood there blinking and leaning on the car.

“OK, I’m going to pick you up and carry you into the house. Here goes." And suiting actions to words Buck carried the exhausted girl in to Sayah’s room, where the Captain was already pulling the cover up over the tired little girl. Putting Cathryn down on the second bed, Buck removed her shoes and gently covered her with the sheet.

Making sure the nightlight was on, the men crept out into the living room, meeting Eddie coming out of the guest room, having just put Chris to bed.

“Well, we’ve had a crazy two weeks. Kevin’s doing well and they’re talking about sending him home sometime this week. Devin “Tank” Petrowski has been slapped with mandatory counseling and the Admiral had a word personally with his parents. You should have their official apologies for being indiscreet assholes in your email. His dad works over in transport, by the way. Anyway. Diaz has his son back home, NCIS has said you can go back to your own home whenever you’re ready. They’re done with it. And you stumbled over a lost child in Los Angeles and brought her home.

It had been a busy fourteen days, but it had ended with everyone home or close to it. And that was worth a lot.

Late the next morning Buck woke Cathryn and showed her where she could shower, giving her some of the clothes Kyle Stanley had bought. When Buck looked over and saw her standing timidly at the entry way to his kitchen in a “Hello Kitty” tunic and pink leggings, well, he wanted to go back in time and help Athena ream him out. Then he realized that was actually a future event. Wow. That was a trip. Time travel, man. Whatever you called it, it was confusing as hell to think about.

“Hey sweetheart. Come have some breakfast. I’ve got some good news for you.” Buck got the plate out of the warming oven and set it down at one of the places at the small table. Cathryn slowly made her way to the table, sitting gingerly, as if afraid she was going to be dumped off the chair at the last minute. Picking up her fork when the chair stayed put, she began to eat.

Buck brought her a glass of milk and a glass of water, then sat himself down across from her.

“My Captain told me last night. He’s located your father’s parents. I don’t know if you remember them, but they flew in at about 0200 this morning. They’re staying with my Captain, and this afternoon, when everyone’s well-rested, I’ll take you over there and we’ll get things sorted out.”

Cathryn still looked hesitant, thinking something over while she chewed her blueberry pancakes. “Do they know about…?” She trailed off into silence, leaving Buck to interpret for himself.

“They know about the baby, if that’s what you mean. And that you’re here because you weren’t safe at home. Everything else will get sorted out there. Now before we go, Captain Stanley has gotten you an emergency appointment at the base hospital for a quick check up. So if you’ve finished eating you can go put your shoes on and we’ll head out.” Buck got up and began to put the last of his things in the dishwasher, closing it and then setting it to run while they were gone.

Cathryn quietly left the room to look for her shoes, while Buck poked his head into the living room to tell Sayah to get ready to go.

Once the two girls were ready, Buck sent them out to the car, locking the house behind him.

Together they headed across the base to the hospital.

Sayah held Cathryn’s hand comfortingly as they waited for the doctor. The older girl was obviously nervous, shifting uncomfortably on the exam room bed. She had asked Buck to stay, but he was starting to wonder if that wasn’t part of her nerves.

“Doctors are scary.” Sayan began speaking in her careful way. “I was scared the first time. And the second time. But they didn’t hurt me. They make me better, even if I don’t like bro-co-li.” The way she drew out the name of the hated vegetable was hilarious.

The doctor walked in, judging the positions of everyone and then speaking to Cathryn directly. “Are you comfortable with everyone being present?”

A soft “Yes..”

The doctor, a Captain Rao, began with the basics. Height, weight, blood pressure, etc. They’d made a stop at the lab downstairs before their appointment, and some of those results had probably already been sent up.

Captain Rao had Cathryn lay back and did some firm, but careful pressing and palpating. She used a tape measure for various things, noting the measurements down on her tablet as she went.

Eventually she sat down on the rolling stool and shook her head. “You’re about seventeen pounds underweight. Your blood pressure is through the roof. You have the beginnings of toxemia and water retention masking the severe nature of your weight loss.”

“I did my best!” It was the loudest Buck had ever heard the girl. “I did my best. I didn’t want it, but I didn’t want it to die. He made me do it, and I didn’t want to. And then I knew I was pregnant, and I told Mom, but she wouldn’t take me to the doctor. She started locking me in my room, and would only feed me once a day. I haven’t been to school all year.”

“I ate everything she gave me, even if it was disgusting. I did my best.”

Captain Rao looked horrified. “Child, I didn’t mean you had done anything wrong. I’m so sorry. And I sincerely hope someone is looking into this whole situation. But it’s my job to take care of you and your baby. We’re going to set you up with an ultrasound and get a look at what’s going on in there. And while you’re doing that, I’m going to go catch a nutritionist and bring them back to put a plan together for us. But I believe you, Cathryn. I believe you’ve done your best.”

Sayah pulled herself back up onto the exam table as Cathryn sat up and straightened her clothes. Giving the older girl a brief hug, she looked at the doctor. “I stay here. Papa stay too.”

“If Cathryn wants you and your Papa, then no one will ask you to leave.” Getting a nod from both girls, the doctor hurried out to get things in motion.

They wheeled the ultrasound machine in to the exam room rather than asking them to relocate.

The tech had Cathryn lay down, and went through the usual procedures. Slide, point, click. Slide again. A series of images noted and captured, to be studied by experts. To Buck it was all pretty mysterious. He’d attended one ultrasound appointment with Maddie, and that was it.

“Do you want to know what you’re having?” A standard question. Buck certainly couldn’t tell anything from the blurry picture on the screen, but he knew the baby was a girl from his previous timeline. The image of glass doors haunted him sometimes.

“I guess. I don’t want to think of it as ‘it’ so I guess I’d like to know.” Cathryn’s response was tired and lackluster, and worried Buck more than lack of weight and blood pressure.

“She’s a little girl. So you can start thinking about ruffles and rainbows.” The tech was clearly uncomfortable with the minimal response, looking to Buck uncertainly.

Sayah looked at the screen with some disappointment. “That doesn’t look like baby.” Apparently Buck wasn’t the only one who couldn’t see much.

“Well, it’s definitely a baby. I’ll get these to the doctor and she’ll let you know when she’s ready to go over everything. I’m sure it’ll just be a minute.” Wrapping the cords of her machine up, the tech maneuvered everything out the door and closed it behind her.

Buck wasn’t too sure about the whole “just a minute” thing, but apparently wild nutritionists were easier to catch than he’d thought. It really was just a few minutes before a nurse tapped on the door and asked them to move to the doctor’s office.

Pulling up to his Captain’s house with Sayah and Cathryn and a pile of paperwork, Buck parked and turned off the car.

“OK ladies, this is our stop.” Cathryn had dozed off again on the short ride, and Sayah nudged her gently to rouse her. Getting out of the car the older girl looked towards the house with trepidation.

“Listen, Cathryn. Even if every single thing in there goes wrong…you’re not going back. You can just stay with me and Sayah and we’ll turn the guest room into a nursery. OK?” Cathryn looked up at him, just a child needing a little reassurance. God, how blind had he been.

“OK.”

With that they moved up to the front door and knocked. When the door opened, Kyle Stanley welcomed them in, directing them towards the back of the house. “We’re all back in the den. I’m so glad the clothes fit. I just loved that tunic, and thought it might be better than those ugly maternity tops they try to force women into.”

“I’ll be right back with refreshments. Is there anything you’d particularly like, sweetheart?” Obviously concerned about the overly thin teenager in his home.

Sayah looked up at him slyly. “I think Cathryn would like cookies, Uncle Kyle. The good ones you make with the marshmallows.”

Kyle winked at him, but looked solemnly at the little girl angling for her favorite cookies. “Why don’t you come help me find them honey?” Taking the younger girl away from the tension in the den for a few minutes.

Three people were standing in the room Kyle had led them to. Captain Stanley was there, of course. With him was an elderly couple, the man still tall and straight and the woman small and softly rounded. They looked just the way Buck had always imagined grandparents should look.

“KitKat…Do you remember us at all? We’re so happy to see you.” The woman reached out her arms in offer of a hug.

“KitKat…you always called me that…because I was sweet and small…MeeMaw?” Tentatively Cathryn edged towards her grandmother.

“That’s right baby. MeeMaw and Pops. Do you remember? If you don’t, that’s ok. It’s been a long time.” The woman gently surrounded her granddaughter in a hug, while her husband slid his arms around them both.

“MeeMaw and Pops. I remember you. I remember…” Cathryn dissolved into tears, safe in her grandparents’ embrace. “I remember you.”

It was no surprise to Buck that Cathryn fell asleep after the emotional reunion. She was lying on the sofa with her head in her grandmother’s lap. Sayah had been allowed to go into the backyard to play with the puppy the Stanley’s had rescued.

“Nudge, this is Arlo and Meredith Gaffney. They live in Kentucky, and had almost given up hope of finding their granddaughter after Wayne died. Mr. and Mrs. Gaffney, this is Evan Buckley. He’s the one who discovered Cathryn in Los Angeles.” Captain Stanley performed the introductions quietly, so as not to disturb the young woman sleeping on his sofa.

“It’s good to meet you guys. Cathryn’s had a rough go of it these past few years. Her mother told her that her father left because he was ‘sick of her’. She is not in great shape right now, and really needs decent family around.” Buck thought of all the things on the papers he had laid on his captain’s coffee table.

“I’m just so glad to have her back. We can’t thank you enough for stepping in. I’m sure it would have been easier to just walk on past.” Well, not with a giant snake in a purple sweater hissing like mad, it wouldn’t have been. “Can you tell us what the doctor had to say?”

Glancing at Cathryn, Buck considered the matter.

“I’ve already got someone working on custody, Nudge. Effectively they’re her guardians. It’s alright.” Captain Stanley had obviously thought of everything.

“It’s pretty bad. She’s dangerously underweight. The amniotic fluid is low. Her blood pressure is dangerously high. They’re worried about preeclampsia and that’s before we even get to the fact that she’s supposed to be on bedrest until the baby comes. No airplanes or long car rides. I don’t know how you guys are gonna get her back to Kentucky.” The older couple were looking more and more distressed by the moment.

“Well, they’ll stay here of course. We have plenty of room, and the base hospital is nearby. Most of our friends have EMT certs and two of them are actual medical professionals. Sort of. Almost, anyway. Do you have a diet sheet or something I could get started on?” Kyle Stanley was a secret Mother Hen. Ok, maybe it wasn’t much of a secret.

“Yeah, I’ve got one in here somewhere.” Buck flipped through the pages of instructions, all of which had seemed to boil down to ‘eat well and rest’. Finding the correct one he handed it over to Kyle.

“Great, I’ll go get started on a meal plan and grocery list. And getting the second guest room made up. I’ll keep an eye on Sayah while you guys talk.” With that the man stalked out of the room, obviously ready to lay siege to the nearest grocery store.

“You’re very kind to offer your home. We could look for a B and B somewhere…” Mr. Gaffney trailed off.

“No. Kyle is right. If you’re comfortable with it, you are welcome to stay here and keep Cathryn where we can care for her properly. We’ll understand if you’re … uncomfortable here and help you find somewhere else if that’s what you’d prefer.” Captain Stanley backed up his husband’s offer of help.

Mrs. Gaffney puffed up like a small, indignant bird. “If you think we’d be uncomfortable here because you’re married to another man, well, stop. We may be from Kentucky, but that doesn’t automatically make us ignorant bigots.”

A small smile crossed his captain’s face. “I apologize. I’ll just leave Kyle to his planning then.”

Buck hated to interrupt with more bad news but, “Guys, I hate to have to tell you this, but I hadn’t even gotten to the really hard part yet. The doctor noticed, and I agree, that Cathryn has no bond with her child. She wants her to be well, and has done her best, but the circumstances were horrific and she just…I think she needs to be made aware of her options.”

“But it’s too late for…” Mrs. Gaffney looked worriedly at her precious granddaughter.

“Yes, but there are other options to Cathryn having to be a mother to the child. Various types of adoptions and such. Or maybe raising her as more of a sister? I don’t know, but I know we have support officers who could give her alternatives. She’s so young. She shouldn't have to be a parent if she isn’t ready to.” Buck was looking at the adults in the room and didn’t realize Cathryn had awakened until her voice chimed in.

“Really?” All the adults present looked at the girl, moving to sit up beside her grandmother. “She could really be alright and I wouldn’t have to…” she trailed off there, looking from face to face. Maybe she wasn’t a monster after all. She’d always known she wasn’t ‘right’ in the way she thought about the baby. “Could I pick? Could I choose, so I would know she was ok?”

“Of course Cathryn. It sounds like you’re talking about what they call an open adoption. Those types of adoptions vary. You could get pictures and letters once a year, be an actual participant in raising the child, or anything in between. I can get you the information for several reputable agencies locally that help with open adoptions. Just a moment.” Captain Stanley left the room, but returned quickly with three brochures in his hands.

“OK, there are others, but I think these are the ones that would suit the best. They all focus on open adoption, and birth parent choice. Each has a database or website of people who are wanting to adopt, with some basic information about them. If you find someone you like the sound of, you can request more detailed information, or even a meeting.” Handing over the brochures, Captain Stanley stepped away to stand with his husband at the archway from the den to the kitchen.

“And why do you have those brochures on hand?” Buck kept his voice down as he talked to his captain, not wanting to disturb the conversation going on in the main part of the room.

“Kyle and I are listed with all three of these agencies, and a few others as well that favor closed adoption. We don’t really care either way. We’ve gotten a few requests, but nothing’s panned out yet. We’re still hopeful, but we’re older than most of the people on those sites. Not to mention the obvious.” Stanley sighed.

“Well, at least we had the information near to hand. Now, I need to run to the grocery store. I’ll be back soon. Evan, if you could bring the clothes and things I had Erik take to yours last night…it would make things easier.” With that Kyle was off in search of ingredients and bargains.

Buck headed to the backyard to pry Sayah away from the puppy and Captain Stanley rejoined his guests in the den.

School started the following week. It was actually unfortunate, but the team was in Peru helping with the aftermath of a huge mudslide, and didn’t make it back in time for the first day of school Since all the younger kids were going to the same school, and Kevin and Cathryn were going to be on homebound instruction for the first nine weeks, Maddie and Sarah had made those first school drop offs.

Right now Chris was staying with Maddie and the girls while Eddie was away with the team. It worked out well, since her classes were scheduled for the regular school day. He and Sayah were equal parts excited and nervous about their first day of school. Chris was starting Kindergarten, with the understanding that he would have to pass a completion test to move up to first grade with his class next year since he would be having at least two surgeries this year.

Sayah was starting in the second grade, but schooling was brand new to her. Formal education was rare for women in rural Afghanistan, and certainly female slaves weren’t going to be sent to school. She was nervous, but knew that Belinda was in the first grade and Brandon was in the fourth grade. There were people she could get to if she needed them.

Buck and Eddie hated that they weren’t there for that first day, but they were waiting eagerly for the video call that night to hear all about it. When the call connected both men crowded together to see their kids sitting side by side on Maddie’s sofa, looking exhausted but pleased with themselves.

“Hello Daddy, Hello Uncle Evan. We went to school today. I’m in Mrs. Munozcano’s class. We get to do lots of things. But she said we didn’t get to learn to read until next year. That’s unasseptable Daddy. I ‘spected to learn to read today. So Sayah said she’d help me learn to read if I help her learn her numbers.”

“Hey Buddy. I’m glad you had a good day today. And I think it’s great that Sayah’s going to help you with your reading. That sounds like a win-win to me. Did you make any friends?” Eddie was filthy and exhausted, but seeing his son in his Spiderman pjs made it all fall away for a moment.

“I’m checkin’ ‘em over for ants first Daddy. I'll know in a couple of days.” Remembering his little ‘hi main-ants’ friend from preschool Eddie had to chuckle at his son’s priorities.

“Sayah, how was your first day?” The quiet little girl was starting to worry Buck.

She shrugged. “It was OK I guess. They spent a lot of time to teach me things I know and hurry me on numbers. I never learn numbers. But Chris said he help me, so I’ll be smart soon Papa.”

“Hey now! My girl is smart. Just because you don’t know something yet doesn’t make you not smart.” Buck was practically falling asleep on Eddie’s shoulder. It had been an incredibly long four days.

“Don’t fall asleep yet Uncle Evan! You and Daddy are filthy. You need baths before bed.” Bless Christopher’s heart. As if there was any clean water to spare for washing around here.

“We don’t have showers or bathwater here Chris. We have special washcloths with the soap already in them and we just rub them all over. And we’ll definitely do that before we go to bed. Promise.” Buck yawned widely.

“Hey guys, you look beat. Say ‘good-night’ kids and let your dads get on to bed.” Maddie chiming in with the good sense of big sisters everywhere.

Saying good-bye to their kids the two men looked at each other. Dang it! They had promised. With sighs and much groaning they dragged themselves up and grabbed their washcloths.

Cathryn’s baby decided to be born two weeks later. It was a little early, but not as bad as it could have been.

Buck had been over at the Stanley’s house helping build a privacy fence since they had managed to pick a puppy that was both a digger and a jumper. Fortunately he looked to be a midsized animal, so they weren’t trying to build a fence a Great Dane couldn’t jump over.

Meredith Gaffney came out into the backyard and grabbed Buck, saying Kyle had asked her to get him and bring him in. By the time Buck made it to the upper hallway, he was pretty sure what he was going to find.

Sure enough, Cathryn was sitting up in bed holding her stomach. Kyle was sitting beside her holding her hand. As Buck watched, a contraction moved over her stomach. Yep. It was go time!

“Alright. Everybody to the cars. Meredith, you go fetch everybody else and tell them to meet at the cars. Kyle, come with me.” Buck reached forward and scooped Cathryn into his arms, turning and heading back down the hallway.

He laid Cathryn in the back of his SUV. Kyle climbed into the well between the seats so he could keep holding her hand. Hearing the clamor and clatter of everyone else behind him, Buck turned around.

“Listen up people. We have a baby who’s decided to be born today. I don’t care how you all get to the hospital, but that’s where I’m going. Captain, Kyle’s in my car if you want the passenger seat. Mr. and Mrs. Gaffney, Mario can drive you in if you don’t mind getting there fast. Here we go!”

With that Buck was backing out of the drive and heading to the base, and the fully licensed medical staff at the hospital. He did not want to deliver this baby in the backseat of his car!

They almost made it to the hospital. Buck could actually see it in the distance when Cathryn suddenly gave a loud cry and pushed involuntarily.

Kyle looked down at the baby in his hands and looked up to meet his husband’s eyes in the visor mirror.

“I caught a baby,” he said blankly as he looked from the baby in his hands to his husband.

Buck realized quickly that something was very wrong. The baby wasn’t crying, and neither was Cathryn. “Kyle, rub a knuckle gently on the baby’s sternum and then carefully massage the rib cage. Not too hard.”

A wavering, displeased cry filled the car, and filled Buck with relief. Kyle pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped the now crying baby up snuggly. Looking up at Cathryn he offered the baby to her.

Sweaty and exhausted, Cathryn looked at the child…and at the man offering it. Shaking her head, she gently pushed the baby back towards his chest. “She’s yours Kyle. I read your profile on those sites. But it doesn’t compare to the way you’ve taken care of me for weeks. I’ve already talked to Captain Valencia and she’s got the paperwork. If you want her, she’s yours.”

Buck hadn’t brought it up, but one afternoon when he’d been over for this or that, Cathryn had asked him what he thought. He’d told her he couldn’t imagine a better set of parents for a child. That they would always put her first, and would cherish her above all things. Looking in the rearview mirror at the look on Kyle’s face as he looked down at his daughter, Buck knew Fate was pleased. If he’d had any doubts, the sight of Jörmungandr, back in his yellow sweater, looking over the rear seat at the baby and then nodding at Buck before fading away…well that would have put them to rest.

Looking in the passenger seat next to him, Erik Stanley was crying. His captain, who he had once seen align and splint his own broken leg and walk three miles to safety all without so much as a whimper…had tears running down his face as he looked at his husband holding their daughter.

Buck just kept quiet and drove.

Chapter Text

“Chief Petty Officer Buckley reporting as ordered.”

A message had reached him when he climbed out of the flight simulator that Admiral Pomeroy wanted to see him at his earliest convenience. Meaning “ten minutes ago.” So Buck had trotted out to his car and headed for Admin.

Now he was standing in front of his CO's personal assistant, waiting to be told what was going on.

“You can go on through CPO Buckley.”

Buck tapped on the door, then opened it and stepped through. The Admiral was on the phone, but quickly made his excuses and hung up.

“At ease, Buckley. Sit down. We have a situation up in Los Angeles and they’ve requested military support. You felt that quake, right?”

“Actually sir, I was pulling g’s in the simulator. I didn’t notice a quake.” Was it really that time already? Or was this quake ahead of schedule?

“Really? Huh. Well I guess it’s good to know our equipment is that robust. Anyway…there was a large quake hit the LA area about thirty minutes ago. They’ve got too many problems and not enough people. They’ve called for help. I know Stanley and Graham are currently on family leave with new babies. Can the rest of you still fly out? What would you need to make it work?”

Buck thought quickly. “Twitch, Mario, and I are good to go. Doc should be fine, but he’ll need a few extra minutes to make sure Maddie knows to pick up Chris. Stick can go, but again he’ll need to let Sarah know. If we can keep the bird we fly up there we should be good as is. If you need it back right away we’ll need a pilot assigned. And we’ll need a commander. That should be all.”

Admiral Pomeroy shook his head. “You’ve got a commander CPO Buckley. Even if it’s not official on paper yet, you’re the effective XO. Your team will follow you. Fifteen minute scramble. Let’s go.”

Pomeroy picked up his phone to send the scramble alert out.

Buck saluted automatically and left the office at a trot. This would be his first independent command. Almost without thinking, he called his Captain.

“Nudge, quit dithering. I know you can do this. Pomeroy knows you can do this. Every member of this team knows you can do this. Now get out there and get it done.”

Sleep deprived and grumpy, his Captain still had his back. There was only one thing Buck could think of to say, as he climbed into his car to head for the staging area.

“Yes, sir.”

Arriving in LA in these circumstances was almost surreal. The past and the present jockeyed in his mind for position, so Buck firmly pulled his SEAL to the front.

From his position in the co-pilot seat, Buck radioed in as they landed. “SAR Squadron, SEAL team 7. Coming into LA airspace now, where do you want us to land, Chief Alonzo.” They didn’t need a runway, just directions.

“Roger Team 7. If you could circle the downtown zone, we have two buildings down with people still trapped and all our SAR teams and equipment are deployed elsewhere. If you can find space to set her down, one more evac vehicle wouldn’t hurt.” Alonzo’s voice sounded stressed, but as Buck remembered the day there was a lot of reason for that.

“Roger that, setting down as soon as we find a clear space.” Stick carefully circled the area, looking for room. Some of the first responders noticed the military helicopter and began clearing people and equipment from a small parking lot attached to the side of the hotel leaning on its side . As soon as the space was big enough, Stick began the descent.

Unbuckling and grabbing their gear, the team moved smoothly, disembarking with speed. Stick locked the engine and followed them out with his own, more specialized gear. As their team tech specialist, he had access to the newest USAR technology and it had been the first thing he’d stowed in the bird.

Buck led his team in search of the Incident Commander, hoping to get some idea of where they were in the search and rescue process. Locating her, he trotted up and announced himself. “CPO Evan Buckley, SEAL team 7 SAR Squad. Where can you use us?”

Williams turned around and studied him for a moment, then seemed to take him at his word. “I’ve got problems all over this damn site. Thirteen missing people, one of them a four year old girl. I’ve got another fourteen or so trapped under debris in the cafeteria. They had a buffet running, so we’re not actually sure of the number. We’ve got a man lying on a piece of glass just waiting to fall, and people in the next building trapped in the stairwell, because the damn hotel smashed it in.”

“Are you deploying an airbag under the man on the glass? If you need help moving vehicles we could get that done first. Mario, go hotwire some cars. Get them backed up enough for the airbag to inflate. Then contact me on coms and I’ll tell you where we are.” Mario nodded immediately and jogged off in the direction of the parked cars.

Suddenly Buck felt a burning as the eye opened on his shoulder. Looking around in the chaos, he spotted the bright red of Jörmungandr's newest sweater (made by Buck and Sayah as he taught her to crochet). The snake was moving pointedly towards the four-story building the hotel had crashed into.

“For the rest of us, we’ll head over to the collapsed stairwell.” Getting a nod from the harried woman Buck moved his team towards the caved-in side of the smaller building holding up the larger.

As Buck was crossing the parking lot to the damaged building he saw Jörmungandr suddenly dart off to the side for a minute. Not sure who he was about to encounter Buck waved his team on and turned to follow the snake. “Snake thing” he murmured into his coms and got an acknowledging wave from Twitch.

Moving quickly behind the snake, Buck almost plowed into the man before he could stop. Steadying himself on the guy’s shoulders Buck felt the eye close and looked up to see a face he had never seen alive. Russell Byrd, off-duty firefighter who came in anyway and paid for it with his life. Nope. Not this time.

“Civilians need to stay off the impacted sites, sir.” Buck played for time, trying to come up with a plan.

“Not a civilian. Firefighter Paramedic with the 221. Name’s Russell Byrd.” Excellent.

“In that case, move your feet sailor, you’re coming with me.” Buck grabbed the guy by the upper arm and moved hurriedly after his team. “My men and I are headed to an unknown number of victims in a collapsed stairwell. I have two fully trained medics and all the rest of us have EMT certs, but another paramedic would be a huge help.”

Byrd kept pace with him as they approached the building. “Sorry Squid. I was actually Army. But I’m happy to help where I can.”

“Oh, good. We’ve got one of those too. And it’s ‘seal’. CPO Evan Buckley, SEAL team 7. Thanks for the assist….Hey, Doc. I caught us another Army medic. Get him kitted out before we go in.” Eddie dropped his gear bag and opened it, waving Russell over to grab some kit.

Buck caught up to Stick , who had already deployed a USAR drone to scan the collapsed side of the building for life signs. “What’ve we got Stick?”

“Nudge, it’s a mess. We’ve got at least twenty life signs in that area between the second and third floors. Nothing below, so I’m gonna assume anybody that low made it out. Above that they seem to have headed for the roof. Looks like about twenty-five, thirty people up there.” Stick brought the drone back to base and looked at Buck for directions.

“OK. That’s the drone with carrying capabilities? Great. Load up a bag of water and maybe some snack bags. Send it up to the roof. For now those people are going to have to stay put. Our focus needs to be on the folks still trapped in the stairwell.” Slapping his teammate on the shoulder Buck turned and hurried over to the trio of medics gearing up to go in.

“Hey Nudge, got most of the cars moved and they’ve started up the airbag. Don’t know if they’re gonna make it in time. That glass isn’t going to hold through a good aftershock. But I’ve done what I can.”

“Copy Mario. Head for the smaller building. We’ve got patients trapped between the second and third floors, so double time it.” Buck didn’t want to go in until the whole team was together. “Hey Byrd, have you got everything you need?”

“Yeah man, you guys came prepared for anything. I wasn’t rostered on with my house today, so there wasn’t any extra gear for me. I figured an extra pair of hands would be helpful. Didn’t really stop to think about the lack of gear.” Yeah, and it got you killed last time, didn’t it?

“OK, we go in as a team. If we have to split up, I want a fully trained medic on each team. Me and Doc. Twitch, Mario and Byrd. Stick, I want you out here manning the drone and maintaining our coms. If we bring out patients needing immediate air transport coordinate with Chief Williams to get directions to which hospital and draft in a co-pilot. Nobody goes anywhere alone. Got it? Alright. Move out.”

Buck and Eddie led the way into the darkened stairwell.
They hadn’t gotten much above the second floor landing when they started to hear the cries for help.

“SEAL Team 7 SAR Squad. We’re here to help you. We have a great deal of debris in the lower stairwell we need to clear before we can get to you. Hold on people. We’ve got this.” Buck looked at the chunks of masonry and cement clogging the space.

“Mario, Doc…you’re the mechanics. What do you think about deploying the winch to drag a few of those big pieces aside? There’s no one below for them to fall on and it might give us a little room to work.” Buck was sure it would work, but he didn’t have the certs to officially say so.

“If we can brace the winch, sure. I’ll get right on that.” Mario motioned his partner forward as he jogged outside. “Hey Stick, we’re gonna need to use the winch on the bird to pull some crap out of the way. You want to jump in and hold her steady?”

Carefully, with Stick keeping the helo from over rotating and Mario and Byrd working the winch…piece by piece the rubble was pulled aside and out of the building.

As soon as they got a clear space to move the SEALs (plus two grunts) got the rest of the stairwell opened up.

A few people were able to move out on their own, only having been trapped behind the rubble as the wall caved in. Mario and Byrd assisted them from the building, binding and bracing as needed for them to make it to the triage tents on the other side of the parking lot. Then, giving each other a high five, they moved back in to help with those still down.

There must have been some sort of pediatrician’s office on the third floor, going by the number of kids in the stairwell.

One little boy sat in shock beside his mother as Twitch placed a tourniquet tightly before signaling Mario and Buck to shift the rock pinning her leg to the stairs below. Writing the time in black magic marker on bright yellow tape, Twitch stuck the tape to her arm before turning to check the boy out further. No concussion, just shock, and maybe a touch of whatever brought them into the doc in the first place?

Further up the stairwell, Doc had his hands full. A boy of about ten had been thrown off his feet and into the handrail, which had snapped and speared through his abdomen. The boy couldn’t quit squirming and shrieked at Eddie as he tried to assess what might have been hit.

“He’s on the spectrum.” The woman next to them, with her arm mangled and twisted in the destruction of the rail, offered quietly. “Timmy. Timmy. Mama’s here. Mama’s here.” She began humming a quiet, lilting sort of melody, and gradually the boy’s shrieks died away.

“Mama where?” Frantically craning his neck to try to catch sight of his mother. Buck stepped in gently.

“Hey, Timmy, right? I’ve got your Mama right behind you. I can show you in a mirror, but you’ll have to be still. OK?” Taking his tac mirror out of his vest, Buck extended it and angled it so the boy could see his mother right behind him. Immediately, the little boy stilled, watching his mother in the mirror as she waved with the arm that wasn’t pinned to the wall.

“Mama!” Eddie finished his assessment as quickly as possible and moved up to his team leader.

“Nudge, we’re going to have to brace the rail and cut it from the wall to travel it with him. If we try to pull it out, well you know what that could lead to. Right now there doesn’t appear to be much if any internal bleeding. I think the rail is sealing the hole, so to speak. I say we send these two and the woman and child Byrd and Mario just got out in the helo to the nearest trauma ER.”

“OK Doc, you work on bracing those entry points as firmly as you can. I’ll see about getting you some help with detaching. And I’ll find out about flying them out. Be back soon.” Signaling to Byrd to stay with Eddie, Buck grabbed Mario.

“Hey, we need to get that rail clipped before we can travel those two.”

“On it.” Mario followed his partner back into the building to oversee the separation. Buck meanwhile looked around for Stick.

“Stick, we’ve got some patients that need a priority ride. Two injured mothers, two kids, one impaled. The other not injured so far as we can tell but definitely in a state of shock. Clock’s ticking on one of the mother’s. She’s got a tourniquet on.”

“Gotcha. I’ll fire up the bird.” Stick called the drone back and landed it, then headed to the helicopter to get ready to go.

Jogging across the distance separating them, Buck approached Chief Williams. “Chief. We’ve got four patients we need to transport to a trauma center out of the stairwell. Several are still trapped, and we also have people on the roof. They have water and some food for now, but we can’t forget them. What we need most right now is directions to an available hospital with a landing pad.”

“Can you take two more? I’ve got a spinal and a crush injury out of the main hotel that really need to go.” Chief Williams referred to the tablet in her hand. “They’re bringing them out now.”

“There’s only room for three gurneys. We might be able to transport one of ours sitting up though. I’ll check, but it’s the medic’s call.”
Buck activated his com. “Doc, we’ve got a couple of priority ones over here on the hotel side. Your thoughts on who all we can fit.”

“If it’s no more than a fifteen minute flight with an immediate gurney at the other end both moms could probably sit up for the flight. It isn’t ideal for the tourniquet, but it should hold if it’s a short ride. Her son can definitely sit. Let’s keep the flight short and we’ll try.” Eddie wasn’t happy about any of his patients flying sitting up, but they’d had to make those kinds of calls before.

“OK Chief. If you can get us a fifteen minute flight, we’ll take your priority ones with us.”

“Cedars-Sinaii. They have a landing pad and are just little over the time. About seventeen minutes. We’ll call and let them know to expect you coming in hot.”

Buck looked at the Chief in consternation. “We will definitely NOT be coming in hot! Nobody should be shooting at anybody!”

Seeing the shocked look he was being given, the penny dropped. “Oh, you weren’t military, were you? Tell a military person someone’s coming in hot and they’re going to take counter measures.”

Making his way quickly back through the parking lot Buck briefly lost his footing as an aftershock rolled through. Hearing the creaks and groans of the buildings around him, Buck was thankful he’d pulled Russ in to work with them. He spared a thought for Hen, lost in the bowels of the hotel, as he continued on his way to the helo.

Climbing in to the bird beside Stick he suddenly realized…he couldn’t go. He was the co-pilot, but most importantly he was the commander. He couldn’t leave the scene. Climbing back out he headed for the crumbling building.

“OK people, how much shift did we get? Mario, you’re going to have to fly co-pilot. Doc can go as medical with the flight and the rest of us will stick together.” Moving towards the gurneys being moved to the helo, Buck saw two more being moved quickly in their direction. Beckoning them on, Buck radioed to Eddie to set the mothers up with the unhurt child between them. The boy with the rail through his stomach would have to travel on a gurney, as would the two coming at them now.

Buck almost choked when he heard a familiar voice say, “I don’t like this. We should have transported in our own vehicles.” Turning around to come face to face with Chimney Han. “I don’t even know why somebody called out the military anyway. We had this.”

Taking a deep breath, Buck addressed the man head on. “Paramedic, I assume the LAFD observes rank. The Chief of the LAFD called and requested our help. We came, even two members down, because that is our mandate as a SEAL SAR Squad. The ranking member of the LAFD on-site, Chief Miranda Williams, requested that we fly your priorities to a trauma center with our own. Now if you feel you outrank those people, feel free to tell them so. It’s your funeral. But right now the clock is ticking on one of my patients and we need to get this bird away. Load your patients and let us go.”

For a moment it felt as though the Universe held its breath. The Buck turned his back on the infuriating man to help settle the autistic boy into the gurney slot right in front of his mother. Eddie had, with her permission, given the boy a small amount of sedative. Not enough to compromise his breathing since surgery would be necessary, but enough to make him feel less frantic. As his gurney looked into place, his mother reached out and threaded her good hand through his hair.

Two gurneys slotted in next to theirs. One young man with a crushed leg and another with a probable spinal. Buck hadn’t dealt with the crush injury the first time around, but the boy looked awfully familiar.

Climbing down to let the bird go, Buck backed up and watched the liftoff. Turning to go into the building with the remainder of his team, Buck’s arm was caught. Facing the man whose lack of control had literally ruined Buck’s life…he felt nothing. Nothing but irritation. Chimney Han no longer had relevance in Buck’s world.

Currently he has, however, impeding Buck’s progress. “Paramedic, I have work to do. I would have thought you did to.”

“I don’t take orders from you!” Good grief. Buck felt as though he’d mediated this argument once this week already, when Brandon wanted to play Indiana Jones and Belinda wanted to have a tea party for the Queen of Hearts.

“You’re right.”

“Huh?”

“You are a civilian. We are not at war, or engaged in any situation in a foreign territory. Therefore, you do not take orders from me. You do take orders from someone, though. I believe that was my point.” Buck just felt tired. Had Chimney always been this…childish?

“However, I am authorized to detain civilians who are interfering with the accomplishment of my mission. Do I have to detain you?” (Do I have to make you sit on the sofa and hold hands ‘til you love?) Seriously.

“What? No! Of course not! Just…don’t tell me what to do again!” Chimney stomped off in a huff.

Buck shrugged and went back to his mission, helping the trapped and hurting people in that stairwell.

“CPO Buckley, could I have a word?” Chief Williams was calling on the team channel.

“Go ahead Chief.”

“I have a problem. I have a lost four year old, a lost paramedic, and a building about to come down. The only USAR tech we have indicates there might be a way in through the underground parking garage. Do you have anyone who could evaluate it for safety or the plan for feasibility?”

“We’re on our way.”

This was Hen. Despite the way their relationship ended the first time around, Buck couldn’t just leave her there. And that poor little girl…Kat…even the dog. They were all together by now, and should be able to get out through the garage.

Signaling his team to follow, Buck headed for the Incident Command tent. Apparently Bobby and Chimney hadn’t been so sneaky this time around. Or having to move the boy out to the military helo altered the timing a little. Regardless, they were there in the tent, obviously arguing for the chance to go retrieve their co-worker.

“CPO Buckley, thank you for coming to weigh in. This is what our devices are showing us. It’s not conclusive, but Captain Nash and Paramedic Han believe their teammate is reachable from underground, and they are assuming based on these scans, that Paramedic Wilson has headed in that direction.” Chief Willimas was obviously torn. She wanted to attempt a rescue, but she couldn’t back the play if it didn’t have a very solid chance of success.

Buck nodded to Stick, who set down his small drone case and opened it up. Sending it aloft, and then into the building he flew it carefully, looking for any life signs or weak points.

“What the hell do they have to do with anything? It’s Hen Bobby! We have to go get her! She wouldn’t leave us.” Chimney was clearly beside himself. Buck had missed this part the first time around…or maybe it hadn’t played out this way. He remembered his own argument with Chief Williams. But not this.

Bobby looked torn between running towards the building and smacking Chimney upside the head. Chief Williams jumped in before tensions got too high.

“They have equipment we couldn’t dream of. We’re working with third gen at best. Everyone knows the military has the newest gear. A high-profile SAR SEAL team…they’re going to come loaded, and I plan to take full advantage.”

Stick called out at that moment, “Nudge, I’ve got them. There’s an adult, a child, and there may be some kind of animal as well. They’ve gone deeper than your equipment shows, but they’re making for the parking garage. If we get to the level below where they currently are and open a path, they should make it out. We’ll have to be careful how we un-tetris it, but it’s doable.”+

“All right people. That’s what I needed to know. Gear up and let’s go get our people. CPO Buckley, will your men come with us, or do you still have victims?” Chief Williams was ready to take full advantage of their gear, just as she’d said.

“We should be good to go with you. Stick got the last of the people down from the roof when he got back from Cedars. There were a lot of injuries, but none life-threatening. They’ve been sent off in your ambulances.” Buck nodded to his team and everyone followed him into the parking garage.

Working together to pull the cars and debris out of the way was exhilarating, and seeing Hen walk out of the rubble with the little girl on her back was fulfilling in a way that soothed Buck’s soul.

But…

Watching as Hen, Bobby, and Chimney hugged each other, with three or four other fire fighters gathered around as well, released something in Buck.

They had been his team, and he had loved them. He believed they had loved him. At least the parts of him that he had let them see. But they had never loved all of him. And in the end, their love had no endurance. It had buckled under the pressures of life.

They had each other. They had a team that cared for them. And that was fine.

Because Buck did too. It wasn’t them. And now Buck made his peace with the fact that it never could have been.

Over the years to come, Buck would return to Los Angeles many times. For bombers and tsunamis and dam breaks and mudslides. His paths would cross with theirs frequently enough that they recognized and greeted each other on sight. He watched them grow together.

But they weren’t his team.

And that was ok.

Atropos and Nat had been right. A family builds you up. It doesn’t tear you down. Buck knew that now. Buck had that now.

It was enough.

The whole team was there for Eddie’s pinning ceremony.

Buck watched, sat between Sayah and Christopher. Shannon and Dirk had come out and were on the other side of Chris, while Sofia and her family sat beside Sayah. The rest of his teammates and their families filled in their section, though room was found when Admiral Pomeroy and his wife showed up.

As Eddie stood on the stage waiting in his dress blues Abuela, in her old nursing uniform, came forward and pinned him, pulling him down into a hug while their section of the stands went crazy. Buck remembered his pinning, how surprised he had been when Atropos and Nat had shown up. For him, there could be no greater transition.

Buck and Eddie were both graduating, but neither had elected to participate in their school's traditional graduation ceremony. The pinning ceremonies held far more meaning to them.

After the ceremony, everyone moved to the event hall Abuela had insisted on renting out for the occasion. There was music, dancing, games, and far more food than even the crowd they had could eat. It was a wonderful night.

Watching the kids clown around on the dance floor was hysterical. They bobbed and weaved between the dancing couples livening up the dances wherever they went.

Shannon and Dirk danced together in their own little world. They had eloped the week before, deferring their honeymoon until after this party. Clearly so in love with each other that it made everyone smile to see it. Stick and Sarah, Mark and Jen, Twitch and …wait…was that MADDIE! Great….now Buck didn’t know who to give the shovel talk to.

The Admiral and his wife were dancing together, and Mario had somehow talked Tia Pepa into coming out onto the floor with him. Kevin had shyly asked Abuela to dance, and she was floating lightly around the floor, deftly dodging the boy’s stumbling feet.

Buck approached the group of kids. “May I cut in?” he asked, as he bowed to his daughter.

Leading her out onto the floor, letting her stand on his feet so he didn’t have to either pick her up or snap his spine in half, Buck hummed along with the song.

“Are you happy Papa?” Looking down at his beautiful girl, his light found in the darkest of places, Buck felt a smile take over his face.

“So happy Sayah.” Looking over into the shadowed area in the corner, Buck saw the huge playpen, full of toddlers. Dani Rose and Evie were walking now. A year old and looking to take over the world. Or at least their living rooms. Kyle was giving his five month old daughter Maeve a bottle, while four month old Duncan Graham slept soundly as his parents danced.

“May we cut in?”

Looking to the side, Buck saw the man of the hour himself…standing with Christopher in his arms. Chris was currently between surgeries, so even the gait trainer was out of question. He had been disappointed not to be able to help pin his dad, but he was sure enjoying the party. The almost six-year-old had tackled a mountain of ice cream and appeared to be wearing most of it on his broadly smiling face.

“Of course.” Buck reached out for Chris while Sayah happily went over to Eddie’s shoes. The four of them stood there together, swaying gently and watching the festivities.

“Have I ever told you how glad I am that it was you who climbed into that cave?” Eddie was watching his aunt laughingly box Mario’s ears while he pretended to hide behind Mark and Jen.

“In your own way.” Buck twirled Chris around until the boy started to turn green and he thought better of it.

“So, are you ready to make it official, Diaz?” Admiral Pomeroy had come up quietly behind them, startling them both. Good to know he still had it!

Eddie had been debating between jumping to the officer's ranks as a nurse in the Army or jumping branches entirely and joining the naval nurse corps. Either way, he would be an officer. But if he stayed with the Army there was no guarantee he would continue to be stationed at Coronado with the squad.

“You’re sure I won’t be asked to go through BUD/s?” Eddie wasn’t scared of the training, but he didn’t feel he could leave Christopher that long. There were more surgeries coming up over the summer. It just wasn’t a good time for Eddie to be gone long-term.

“Positive. I’ve already got the paperwork. You’ll be part of the Navy Nurse Corps attached to Team 7 SAR. All it needs is your signature.”

Eddie looked around the room again.

“I’ll sign. I’ll be in your office first thing Monday morning.” Eddie capitulated with good grace, too happy to be upset at the ambush.

“Oh, no need for that son. Ensign Buckley, turn around. Ensign Diaz needs a flat surface to sign on.” Pulling the papers out of the inner pocket of his dress uniform, and accepting a pen from his lovely wife, Admiral Pomeroy was ready to go.

Buck laughed and turned around, dipping Christopher low and holding it to let Eddie use his back to sign his intake paperwork.

As soon as the pages were signed, the Admiral hollered out into the room, “Ensign Edmundo Diaz of the US Navy Nurse Corps is IN THE HOUSE!!!”

Cheers and shouts of “Hooyah!” went up from around the room, led by the Admiral.

Yeah, he still had it.

Chapter Text

Buck’s life moved on, further and further from the first life he’d lived.

Sad to say, there was never any great shortage of natural or man-made disasters, so the team was never without a mission for long. But most nights he was home to check homework, read stories, work on their crochet, or any number of the other small family tasks he delighted in.

Buck faithfully followed Fate’s Nudges wherever they led. Sometimes large changes, sometimes small. Sometimes connected to the job, many times not.

One time Fate didn’t nudge at all. She damn well ripped him out of bed and he was half-way down his drive before he even realized he was awake. It was a freezing, November night. Not the kind of night you’d expect to see a snake out in, but there was Jörmungandr at the foot of his driveway, dressed more warmly than Buck was anyway. Hissing furiously, he shot off as soon as Buck stumbled down the drive.

Down a supply road that led to a seldom used gate, kept locked for that reason. What Buck found on the other side of the gate had him shaking the fence to set the sirens off, bringing the MPs running. When they saw what lay on the other side of the gate the MPs brought the gate down. Stepping through Buck bent down and picked up a small, cold baby boy.

Racing to the MP’s truck, holding the freezing child against his skin under his hoodie, Buck prayed all the way to the hospital to not look up and see Nat staring sadly at him. They made it, barely.

For weeks Buck was a frequent visitor. He and Sayah had crocheted most of a layette by the time Whittaker Buckley was allowed to come home to them. Buck and Sayah were thrilled with their new family member, but Chris was absolutely enthralled. He was recovering from another surgery, hopefully his last for a while, and his favorite thing was for Buck and Sayah to visit and bring the baby.

The team flew together for seven years.

At that point, facing a mandatory promotion out of the field, Erik Stanley chose to retire.

His daughter Maeve was starting first grade and a baby boy had joined their family two years ago. The little scrap had been less than three pounds when born, and his overwhelmed young parents had surrendered him and walked away. Kyle and Erik called him “Owen”, and the day they brought him home they knew their family was finally complete.

Buck was a Commander now, and led the team with Eddie as his XO. Admiral Pomeroy was headed for his own retirement, but recommended a young man whose partner had been killed in action. Dustin Collins wasn’t interested in going back into theatre, but an SAR squad gave him purpose and was a good fit for his skills.

It was ten years before Nat came for one of Buck’s family.

Walking into Abuela’s hospital room and seeing Nat nearly brought Buck to his knees.

With tears in his eyes, Buck moved up beside her bed and took her small hand in his.

“Abuela, don’t be afraid. I have a friend here. You can’t see him, but don’t be afraid to go with him. He’s here to help you to move on to whatever’s next for you. And don’t worry. I know you’re going to float so high. So high, Abuela.” He was crying now, but determined to give her the only ease he could.

“He’ll take me to my Edmundo?” the sick woman gasped. Her big, loving heart struggling painfully for each beat now.

Getting a firm nod from Nat, Buck responded, “Yes Abuela. He’ll take you to your Edmundo. You don’t have to be afraid of the journey. He’ll keep you safe. And we’ll see you again when it’s time for us to join you.”

Hearing the family crying behind him, he moved back to allow them all a chance to say their good-byes.

With her daughter holding her hand, and her grandchildren around her, Isabel Diaz closed her eyes. A small smile crossed her face for a moment.

Nat reached out…oh, so gently…and gathered something invisible close in his arms.

Then he was gone, and the heart monitors began to go off.

That night, after putting Eddie and Christopher to bed, Buck and Sayah settled in together on the comfortable sofa. Whittaker was staying with the Grahams for the night. Falling asleep, Buck found himself under a familiar purple tree.

This time there was no happy greeting and enthusiastic hug. Nat looked almost afraid of him. Atropos was standing close, with her hand on his back in support. “Evan, I’m so sorry…”

He didn’t get any further because Buck had him in a tight embrace. “Thank you Nat. Thank you so much for coming for her personally. It made it so much easier for me, knowing you were there.”

Nat shook for a few moments in his friend’s arms before bringing his own arms up to return the hug. Tears were shed on both sides, and this time it was Atropos who produced the familiar coffee (with the mint chocolate spoons) helping them all settle back into their rhythm.

Time moved on.

The first summer after Buck’s graduation the Duvall’s came out to visit for two weeks. Buck threw a barbecue to welcome them and introduce them to everybody. And hey, it was summer. Who wouldn’t want a barbecue?

That evening Kevin Graham told his father that he’d met the girl he was going to marry one day.

Riley Graham had been fifteen when he first met Jennifer Alexander, so he just told his son that from this day forward, his job above all else was to grow into a man that a woman of worth would choose to link her life to.

And if he broke down in his wife’s arms that night, well, no one else had to know.

Kevin Graham took his father’s words to heart. He pursued athletics (though he dropped baseball after his shooting) gaining letters in football and track. He never let his grades drop, or got pulled into drugs or alcohol or reckless behavior. He had a large circle of friends, but he didn’t date…feeling it would be dishonorable when his heart was set elsewhere.

And every day before bed, he sent an email to a girl in Virginia. Sometimes it was just a brief “thinking of you” message. Sometimes he poured out his struggles and uncertainties, for he had seen that his father shared all of that with his mother. Sometimes he shared the results of the random deep dives into the internet his Uncle Evan had taken him on. And every morning, between his shower and breakfast, he read the emailed response.

And every summer, they had two weeks.

Kevin couldn’t serve in the military. The sound of a weapon discharging sent him back to a cool night outside his uncle’s house, drowning in his own blood. But he wasn’t sure he wanted college either. Jake Duvall invited him to Virginia, for a trial run in his contractor’s company.

By the time he officially proposed three years later, Kevin was a crew chief and headed for foreman. Jeannie had opted for a two-year degree and worked as a lab tech for a local company. He built her a little two-bedroom house for a wedding gift, and she presented him with twin boys two years later.

He added on to the little house four times over the years. An extra bedroom here, a second bathroom there.

They were happy.

Brandon Graham was thirteen the first time Belinda Samuels told him he’d better wait for her to grow up. She was almost nine, so he didn’t pay that much attention. He was growing up, and the little girl he’d played pirates and princesses with no longer held his devotion.

He dated, falling in and out of love every other week…but not really getting serious with anyone. He knew where he was going. The call of the sea was strong, and on his seventeenth birthday he marched into the intake office and asked to sign up. He didn’t want the SEALs, he wanted the ships.

Brandon was given a deferred enlistment, finished his senior year, and shipped out.

Boot Camp, AIT, Skills training, followed by a two year deployment.

Then one day, home at his parents’ for a few days of liberty, an angel walked into the living room.

She walked over, took his hand, and asked him if he’d waited for her.

All he could say was, “Yes Princess.”

Belinda was off to college, and he was off to another deployment, so they polished their writing skills and brushed up on their communication.

Unlike Kevin and Jeannie, Brandon and Belinda fought like cats and dogs. But they made up just as fiercely, and no one was ever allowed to come between them.

The princess and the pirate were married after she graduated from college. For a while Belinda traded in her tiara for pirate’s life, following Brandon to wherever he was stationed. There was always a need for a teacher nearby. Or a bartender. Or, on one memorable four-month occasion, a mermaid.

They raised their kids in places like Japan, the Philippines, and Samoa.

Until Brandon was injured in an explosion. They were never sure if it was equipment malfunction or enemy action. With burn injuries and missing part of a leg, Brandon was just thankful for his life.

Belinda scandalized the entire floor when she marched into the hospital in her old tiara and presented Brandon with a wooden leg.

Brandon laughed until he couldn’t breathe, but he got the message.

They moved into a cozy house in San Diego. Belinda taught and amazed her students with tales of her life with a wandering pirate. And Brandon worked part time as an actor on a pirate cruise.

He was still sailing and they let him wear his wooden leg to work. Score!

Duncan Graham and Whittaker Buckley were best friends.

From the moment he could crawl, Whit followed the toddler everywhere. Duncan for his part would frequently break Whit out of baby jail (his crib) and exasperated parents and babysitters would find them happily playing together.

When Duncan started preschool Whit was inconsolable. He couldn’t understand how Duncan could go somewhere he couldn’t follow.

After consulting with the school, they offered to let Whit come ‘shadow’. He wouldn’t be asked to do the things the older kids were doing and he could stay so long as he behaved. The school administrators had their doubts.

Buck didn’t. He knew his boy was something special. He believed that of all the kids, of course. But Whit had already started reading, and he was barely three years old. More often than not he would be the one reading to Duncan rather than the other way around.

To everyone else’s surprise, Whit thrived in preschool. And when Duncan moved to Kindergarten the next year Whit followed.

All through school the two boys challenged and protected each other. Stuck to each other through thick and thin. Until graduation.

Duncan had enlisted with the Navy, planning to follow in his father’s footsteps. And Whit couldn’t follow.

The prolonged exposure to the cold had damaged his heart. The military wouldn’t take him.

The day Duncan left, Whit went into his room and shut the door. When Buck went to check on him before dinner, Whit was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Buck could see the traces of tears dried on his cheeks. Lying down on the bed beside his precious boy, Buck looked up at the ceiling.

“What do you see up there?” Buck gently tried to start a conversation.

“Nothing. Just nothing.”

“Well, do you know what I see? I see a beautiful, brilliant boy. A boy who is going to become a man soon. And that man is going to change the world.”

Whit turned his head and looked at his dad. “She ruined me before I even had a chance.”

Buck wanted to scream in denial. Instead he said quietly, “No son. I don’t know why she did what she did. But I don’t think the ‘why’ really matters. She wasn’t your parent…just your conveyance. You are MY son. And MY son is not ruined. He is wonderful and funny and handsome and kind and so, so smart. You have something out there you’re meant for…something you were saved for. You just have to find it.”

So, unknowingly following in the footsteps of his father’s first life, Whit set out to wander, looking for his thing. He found it in a small mountain town in Guatemala, where children were dying and no one knew why. He didn’t know either, of course.

So he went looking for the answer. And though it took him many years and many false starts, Dr. Whittaker Buckley did indeed change the world with his pioneering work in gene therapy and congenital illness.

Evie Samuels and Dani Rose Buckley were not best friends.

They were sisters, and anyone who said otherwise was likely to be sporting a black eye afterwards. They were night and day, those two.

Evie was all sunshine and smiles. Despite her rough start, she was a happy child who shared that happiness with everyone around her. She loved music and had a beautiful singing voice. She also loved soccer and lacrosse. Field hockey and volleyball. Anything that would keep her moving. She excelled in the martial arts disciplines her father taught her, enjoying the sense of control they gave her over her movements and motions.

Dani Rose was a quiet, watchful child. She studied people and situations carefully before she was willing to engage. She disliked loud, rough play and would often take herself off into a quiet corner to sit and watch. As she grew older, the library became her refuge. She found her adventures in books, and on the stage. Something happened to Dani Rose when the footlights came on. Real life drifted away and she could become anyone.

Maddie hated to think that perhaps her wariness of people early in the girl’s life had marked her somehow.

The two girls fought and loved by turns, sisters of the heart.

When Evie’s locker at school was defaced with swastikas, it was quiet Dani Rose who tracked down the vandals. She never told anyone what she said or did, but Dani Rose had a bit of the Jackal about her. The two boys came in and confessed all to the principal. Evie had turned one of them down for a date, and this was their way of ‘getting her back’. They took their punishment, and if anyone noticed that they crossed to the other side of the hallway when Dani Rose Buckley walked by…well they felt it served them right.

And when three drunk boys had Dani Rose cornered at a high school dance, it was Evie Samuels who darted into the midst of them like a whirling dervish, laying all three out flat before she was done. The next morning Dani Rose asked her stepfather to take her to the range and teach her to shoot. Twitch wasn’t sure at first, but seeing the dark circles under her eyes and knowing what might have happened? It wasn’t hard for the sixteen–year-old to convince him.

Life after high school took the girls in separate directions. Evie headed for Julliard, with a music scholarship and a desire for the high drama of opera. Her career took her all over the world. She released several albums, and toured with the USO for a few years.

Eventually she returned to the quiet little neighborhood just off the base in Coronado, and settled into semi-retirement, teaching music history part-time at the University of San Diego. She never married, but she did have one child. A son she named Evan after her godfather. He was sunshine and smiles.

Dani Rose went to the University of North Texas and got her MLIS. She worked for the Library of Congress for three years and then to everyone but Evie’s surprise…she joined the FBI. She spent most of her career in the Denver office, marrying and having two children along the way. Her husband died young, and Dani Rose gathered up her girls and returned to the quiet little neighborhood just off the base in Coronado, taking a job as the High School librarian.

The two women lived next door to one another, taking the fence down between their yards so their kids could travel back and forth easily.

Five years after Captain Stanley’s retirement, Twitch and Stick had to face the same choice. They could take promotions that would take them out of the field, or they could retire.

Stick decided to stay in. He had taken the courses the Navy offered and developed his skills in technology, so it was fairly easy for him to transition to a support role for the SAR Squad, using drone technology and other scanner and satellite systems to assist. He retired fifteen years later and spent the rest of his working life doing LIDAR scanning for various projects out of Scripps.

Twitch decided to get out. He and Maddie had Dani Rose and two younger children as well. Maddie had absolutely refused to name a child “Leighton Carruthers the IV” and “Philip” was out of the question. In the end they called the boys Arthur and Gareth. Besides being a dad and stepdad, Twitch volunteered with the Coronado Fire Department and worked part-time as a paramedic with the larger San Diego Fire Department.

Both men had full lives and enjoyed their families and communities.

But after Dani Rose’s close call, the two men felt they should be doing more.

Together created a self-defense and personal care course, initially thinking they’d present it to women at the Community Center on Saturdays. Much to their surprise, word of their class spread and eventually they were fielding inquiries from school districts, community groups, and police departments all over southern California.

With Stick still serving, most of the day-to-day business fell on Twitch. The day he got inquiries from Kansas and Mexico, he threw up his hands and called for reinforcements. Sarah Samuels descended on the office in a whirlwind of efficiency. By the time she’d finished, their firm had a name, a business plan, a website, and a file cabinet.

The men were kind of horror-stricken, both at the rampant need for such a course and their more-or-less accidental success. Over time they expanded their offerings to include safety and defense courses for men, the elderly, and people with limited mobility. Stick’s course on using mobility aids for defense was incredibly popular with rehab facilities, so he spent most of his Saturdays traveling to various sites to teach the recently disabled how to protect themselves.

By the time Artie and Gary Carruthers took the business over, they had facilities in five states and Mexico and Canada…training people to teach the courses they offered. And it was a well-known fact in Coronado that personal safety courses were always on offer on Saturdays at the Community Center.

Mark was next. Three years after Twitch and Stick made their choices, Mark made his.

With his greatest skills all being related to weapons, he hadn’t seen any future for himself outside the military.

When he expressed that feeling to his wife, she asked him what he planned to do about that.

So he’d spent the past three years planning. He’d never be the tech whiz Stick was, and it was really too late for him to pick up a lot of the new stuff coming out.

He’d never been interested in any sort of mechanics or logistics.

So he decided to learn to fly.

With a deep dedication and persistence, Mark learned to fly. VTOL craft first, but then small engine planes as well. He took over from Buck as the back-up pilot, and then the pilot as Stick transitioned into a support role.

When his time came to stay or go…he chose to go.

And surprisingly, Eddie chose to go with him. The Navy was transitioning Buck more and more into an Intelligence Analysis role, and Eddie’s long term goal had always been to be a flight nurse after retirement from the military. He had his twenty, plus some.

He and Mark talked, and decided to offer themselves as a team, pilot and nurse, to area hospitals and private companies just to see what kind of response they would get. While no one could offer them full time hours as a flight crew, three different area hospitals were willing to offer part time hours so between them all and their Navy benefits, they made it work.

When Eddie moved on to the private sector, Buck transferred completely into IA. Buck might have felt abandoned if they hadn’t been living in the same house by then.

On Whit Buckley’s fifth birthday, they had an executive meeting. Sayah was fourteen and Chris was eleven. And all three of them were tired.

They were tired of constantly running back and forth between their houses every time they wanted a game night or a movie night or a Monopoly marathon or…well, you get the picture.

After a meeting that lasted all afternoon, with breaks for snacks and a quick game of Mario Kart, three children faced two men in the Buckley living room.

Eddie and Buck sat shoulder to shoulder on the sofa, wondering what the kids were up to now. Buck gave a happy little bounce and hoped it was another magic show. He loved those! Eddie was sure it was something to do with the upcoming summer holidays and vacation plans.

Both men were shocked when their children made the announcement.

“We’re moving in together.”

Eddie and Buck looked at one another in confusion.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

Both men spoke at once.

Showing their superior maturity and planning skills, the kids had elected a spokesperson. (Actually Chris had said he’d do it, and neither of the other two wanted to argue about it.)

Chris sighed and shook his head. “I said, ‘We’re moving in together.’ We being me, Sayah, and Whit. It would be convenient if you and Uncle Evan came too, Dad.”

Well, okie-dokie then. Wait.

“Where exactly are you planning for us to move to? Neither of our houses has room for all of us, unless all three of you kids want to share a room?” Eddie made a good point. Buck hoped they had a good answer.

Another sigh. “I can count, Dad, and of course we don’t want to share a room. Just a house. It would cut down on the double utilities and insurance, so it would be a sound financial investment.”

“WHAT would be a sound financial investment?” Now Buck was getting a little concerned. What had the kids done?

Chris looked at his co-conspirators. “Buying the house next door to Uncle Erik and Uncle Kyle. It has five bedrooms and a finished basement…”

“And a bonus room over the garage…” Whit tossed in with a happy bounce much like his father’s.

Chris gave him a glare, which devolved into a patient sigh when the little boy just smiled back at him. “And a bonus room over the garage. There’s a large backyard and a shed in the rear.”

“And how do you know all this?” Eddie wasn’t sure what the kids had done, but it sounded as though they’d bought a house.

Sayah picked up the tale here. “We went to the open house two days ago. We told the realtor lady our dads were looking for a house close to the base but with room for all of us. She was very nice.”

“You have an appointment to go look next Tuesday at 5:30, unless you get a call. Then we’ll reschedule.” Chris had said it was better to just tell their dads what was happening. They’d see the sense in it if it was laid out and they had time to process.

“Now, we’re gonna leave you guys alone to process.” Whit reached out and patted each of the men on the knee before hopping up and bouncing out of the room.

Sayah and Chris smiled and nodded and bounced out after him.

Buck and Eddie sat there for a minute wondering what had just happened?

Slowly, Eddie leaned forward and picked up the home brochure the kids had left on the table. Buck grabbed the excellent analysis of household expenses Sayah had put together. The two men were quiet for a moment.

“So Eds,” Buck started. “Want to go in with me on a house? I think it might be a sound investment.”

When the kids peeked in through the door Eddie had Buck on the floor with his arm behind his back and was giving him a noogie.

They bought the house.

Sayah Buckley never wanted to go far from her father.

At first, she was anxious if she couldn’t see him. Gradually, she became less anxious and so long as she could call him at bedtime she could handle his trips away. But when it came time to think about college…

Sayah had started school at a deficit. While her conversational English was good and she had begun learning to read, she had never worked with numbers before. She could count, but anything beyond that was a complete mystery.

She struggled with math all the way through elementary school. All the way up to Algebra. Geometry. Algebra 2. Precalculus. She fought her way through all of it.

Her senior year in high school, she had a small gap in her schedule. The only class available to fill that schedule that didn’t require her to sweat, was Microbiology and Genetics. Sayah liked science, so she wasn’t too worried about it. It was an interesting class, and the homework was super easy. Just some questions about peas and puppies. No big deal.

Except those two questions had apparently taken everyone else in class almost two hours to complete. Sayah was afraid she’d misunderstood the question, and when the teacher asked her to drop by after school she was terrified.

She’d never been in trouble at school before. Well, except that one time, but those were extenuating circumstances! This was just homework.

Feeling like she was going to be sick, Sayah walked towards the science building after school. She didn’t understand what she’d done wrong, and Daddy would be so disappointed. He was off on a mission right now, but she’d have to tell him when he called…Oh, no!

They called Aunt Maddie! Sayah thought she might just pass right out where she stood.

“Hey sweetheart. I got a call that your teacher wants to talk to us.”

Sayah burst into tears. Aunt Maddie held her close and listened as Sayah babbled out all her confusion and fear.

“Hey, hey. Whatever it is, we face it together, ok? Together. Pinky promise.” Hooking her little finger with her niece’s Maddie tried to comfort her.

Once Sayah had calmed down a little, she did feel better with Aunt Maddie there. Together, fingers locked, they walked into the classroom.

The teacher smiled happily at them and asked them to sit down, sitting with them at one of the student tables.

“I understand there was an issue with Natalie’s homework? I assure you she did it herself at the kitchen table last night.” Aunt Maddie wasn’t holding back. If they were going to accuse her sweet girl of dishonesty…

“Oh. No, no, no Mrs. Carruthers. I just wanted to know where the rest of it was. Natalie, when I ask you to solve a problem in this class, I really need to see your work.” The teacher didn’t seem angry, so Sayah ventured the truth.

“That is all my work Ms. Harris. They’re simple problems. At least I thought they were…” Trailing off again Sayah wondered again if she’d misunderstood something.

“May I see the homework, Ms. Harris?” The teacher handed the work to Aunt Maddie, who looked at her intently.

“Sayah, did you just read the problem and know the answer?”

“Yes? Was that wrong?” It had seemed so obvious to her. But maybe it wasn’t.

“Natalie, this is a four-generation problem for four traits. It should have taken you about a page of work to sort out. Mrs. Carruthers, Natalie, I think maybe you have what is called an instinctual grasp of probability mathematics. That is an exceptionally rare gift.” The teacher didn’t seem angry, so maybe this was a good thing?

“So you are saying this is a positive thing?” Aunt Maddie evidently wanted it spelled out clearly too.

“A very positive thing. With your permission, or perhaps her father’s permission, I would like to contact a professor of mine at UC-Davis. I don’t know what colleges or programs you’ve been considering, Natalie, but I am sure he’d want to talk to you.”

So after talking with the professor and then talking it over with Buck, Sayah was headed north to Davis for college.

Research didn’t really interest her. What interested Sayah was individual genetics. She took her Master’s in Genetic Counseling and spent her career evaluating genetic profiles for the potential to pass on birth defects or congenital conditions. She also worked as a consultant for the FBI trying to track missing children or suspects through genetic profiles.

When a classmate at UC-Davis had asked her out the first time, she froze. The second time he asked, just a gentle offer of coffee at the university bistro, she said ‘yes’. Four years later, when he asked her to marry him, she told him to talk to her father, Captain Evan Buckley, US Navy SEAL. He gulped…and bought a bus ticket.

Standing in Buck’s living room, Roger Cannon heard about their promise all those years ago and swore to Buck that he would love his daughter with all his heart and soul. After tormenting the boy a little just for form’s sake, Buck gave his blessing to the couple.

They were married, and moved into Aunt Maddie’s little two bedroom house near the base.

With all the family and friends dropping in and out, Sayah once told Buck he was lucky to have a grandchild.

Buck just held his first grandchild and made faces at her. She was the image of her mother, except for her dark red hair. Roger and Sayah had named her Rowan, and Buck was absolutely enchanted.

Eddie had a terrible tendency to pout, and attempt to make off with Rowan at every opportunity. All behaviors that were tempered when Christopher brought his girlfriend to supper and cleared his throat nervously.

Christopher Diaz loved space. Not in the “I need my…” sense. But rather in the “Space…the final frontier” sense.

Now Chris was not an unrealistic boy. He knew, because his parents and his doctors had been very careful to manage his expectations, that he would never be able to walk any distance without a cane or crutch of some sort. His goal every day was to do enough stretching and strength training to be able to stay out of that hateful wheelchair. If he could do that, well, he’d call it good.

He would never be accepted as a member of the Space Force.

But he was determined to move humanity to the stars.

After giving the matter careful consideration, he decided the most impactful way he could help the space program (aside from voting! sheesh!) was engine and fuel systems design.

He spent every weekend on a modified creeper under one or the other of the family's cars. His dad and his Uncle Mario were both gifted mechanics, and while Eddie preferred the systems of the human body, Nico was always glad to take the boy to whatever car he was working on and teach him whatever he could.

By the time Chris was in high school he had his own tools and a profitable side hustle.

He landed himself a prime position at CalTech in their Mechanical and Civil Engineering school, working steadily away at his goals…so focused that he didn’t even notice the love of his life until she literally crashed right into him.

They shared several classes, and he’d seen her of course, but he’d never noticed the way she blushed. She looked at the complete disaster surrounding them, books, phones, papers, lunch, and laughed hysterically. Then she stuck out her hand (after cleaning the guacamole and grass off of it) and introduced herself.

Her name was Genevieve Small, and she was studying engine systems too. Her focus was more earthbound though. She wanted to design an actually workable alternative fuel engine. Their conversation lasted until the cafeteria manager came over to ask them to leave so he could close.

Their first child was a bit of a surprise, but once the confessions were out of the way the family circled round to support them. And Eddie could stop pouting.

Over the years to come, Chris would see his work put an engine in a spaceship bound for a planet that hadn’t yet been discovered when he was born. While it would be a long trip, the new fuel and engine setup could sustain light speed.

He was in his sixties when that hated wheelchair finally caught him. But by then it hardly mattered.

He had gotten mankind to the stars. The boy who could barely walk, had sent men and women to a planet in a distant galaxy.

And that was enough.

Mario Antonelli hung with the SEALs until his team was gone and Buck moved into IA. Then the boy who loved to race stock cars and had red dirt and homemade spaghetti sauce in his veins returned to Georgia. He settled down in a small house near his mother and got a job as a mechanic. The pace of life was slow, for a man who’d been racing all his life.

But some days it was all he seemed able to manage.

Over the next five years, it became apparent that Nico Antonelli was going to be a casualty of war.

No one knew what chemical, or when he was exposed. Probably one of the fires he jumped into with the Leap Frogs.

It didn’t really matter.

When Buck got the call, early one Thursday morning, he kissed his kids and offered to take any of the team who wanted to go with him to Georgia to say good-bye.

Unsurprisingly, they were all waiting at the airport when he and Eddie pulled up.

Walking into Mario’s hospital room listening to the rattling gasps for breath, Buck was unsurprised to see a familiar figure in the corner. Nodding to Nat, Buck went straight to his teammate’s bedside.

“Hey Stallion,” the hated nickname now a fond joke between brothers. “We’re all here now. And I have a good friend waiting to help you with the next part.” Looking at Mama Antonelli and her girls standing on the other side of Nico’s bed…looking behind him at their teammates….

“No one could have asked for a better teammate, a better brother, a better son. All you have to do now, is let go. I swear my friend will catch you. And say ‘hi’ to your Papa. I know how much you’ve missed him.”

Mario opened his eyes and saw both his families. And there in the corner, he knew he’d seen that guy before…suddenly he remembered. Their pinning ceremony. Buck’s family. Looking at his brother, seeing the truth and understanding in Buck’s eyes…and thinking of a boy who left before he got the chance to be a man, Mario let go.

Nicolas Antonelli died at the age of 51.

He was declared a war hero, and the Navy gave his mother a pension until her death. All of Nico’s teammates checked in regularly. It was what you did for brothers.

The first of the younger generation to go was Whit.

Buck had said good-bye many times now. Nico Antonelli, Erik Stanley, and Sarah Samuels had all passed by now. Each one painful, but with hope for a future reunion.

But his boy. His beautiful, brilliant boy.

Duncan had come home, after putting in his twenty, and the former best friends reconnected. Love grew out of the ashes of their old friendship, and the two had married at forty. They felt they were too old, but they put their names out there anyway. Only to have an old friend offer to have a baby for them.

Maeve Stanley had had her own children, and knowing the story of her own birth, and how much her old playmates wanted a child, had offered them that gift.

Their son was beautiful and brilliant. Donovan Buckley was a wondrous miracle to his dads.

But now Donovan was a young man, trying to say good-bye to one father while keeping the other one from breaking. It was too much, so he was thankful when his Grandad got there.

Buck came into the room hesitantly, afraid to look, already knowing what he’d see.

And there in the corner as somehow Buck had known he would be, was Nat. Nat always came personally for Buck’s friends and family.

But his boy, his beautiful brilliant boy.

The cold that damaged his heart had finally won. The child he had pulled from the snow was leaving.

For a moment, Buck thought wildly about trying to bargain. He was an old man now.

But when Whit’s tired eyes met his, Buck knew he couldn’t do that. But he didn’t know if he could make it through his usual reassurances either.

Taking his son’s hand in his, Buck leaned over and kissed his forehead. “It’s ok, son. I understand. And I know I’ll see you soon.”

Feeling the presence of his friend behind him, Buck’s voice faltered.

But Sayah…precious Sayah, saying good-bye to her baby brother. Sayah stepped up. “Dad’s friend is here, Whit. I know you can’t see him, but I can. I think because I did once, long ago. He’ll help you now. He’ll catch you. I promise. And I’ll catch Dad. You can rest. We’ve got this.”

Whittaker Buckley passed, surrounded by his family, and at the tree that night, three friends grieved together.

The next few years saw the loss of most of the older generation of Buck’s family.

Losing Maddie nearly killed him. He thought losing Eddie would kill him, his heart laboring wildly as he tried to keep Eddie’s heart beating.

He remembered the paramedics pulling him away from Eddie. Looking up to see Nat kneeling by the body cradling something in his arms, then fading away.

Then nothing for a while.

Sayah and Roger moved in. Their kids were grown, so they gave the house to their oldest and came home to live in the five bedroom house they’d bullied Buck and Eddie into purchasing so many years ago.

Fate didn’t nudge very often anymore. Buck didn’t get out much after all. But when Jörmungandr dropped his address book into his lap, Buck always called whoever was on the page it opened to. He didn't know if these were genuine nudges or just the snake’s way of trying to keep Buck connected, but he called anyway. It was never a hardship to talk to his kids.

Two more years passed.

Buck slept a lot now. He was so tired. But it was Christmas. All the kids were home. All but his boy. He ached a little thinking of Whit, gone for a decade now.

All the grandkids were home, and the great-grandkids. Yikes! Look at that Eds. We have great-grandchildren.

Christmas was joyous. Children tearing through wrapping paper, two dogs and a kitten who didn’t know it wasn’t a dog bouncing around in the chaos, adults smiling at each other. Buck had even had enough energy to make his famous blueberry pancakes.

But it was naptime now. For the children, the pets, and definitely for Buck. Snuggling into his Christmas gift from his daughter (a crocheted blanket in his favorite colors) Buck yawned a little. Sighed. And fell asleep.

Sayah found him when she went in to wake him for dinner.

Through her tears, she whispered into the room, “I know you’ve got him Nat. See you soon Dad. Happy travels.”

Chapter Text

Buck knew he was dreaming.

He did that a lot now. Dreams of the past, not the future. Not at his age.

But now, he knew he was dreaming. He was young, and walking briskly towards something. He didn’t know what, but he knew he needed to be on time.

Walking through the door of the small neighborhood coffee shop, he looked over at the tables to see a tall young man with floofy hair waving at him.

Quickly giving his coffee order to the barista, and waiting the few minutes it took her to make it up, Buck collected his coffee and walked over to sit down with his friend.

“Hey Nat. Not our usual place. Is Atropos on her way?” Taking a sip of the very good coffee in his mug.

Nat smiled at his friend. “We’ll see her in a while. This coffee date is just for us. You’ve been waiting a very long time for it, after all.”

Buck looked at his friend in confusion, then looked around the empty shop. No, not entirely empty. Shadows sat at some of the tables. Mark and Jen waved to him from the table they were sharing with Stick and Sarah. Twitch and Erik sat talking at another table, giving him friendly nods. And at the counter, Mario Antonelli grinned at him while flirting with the barista. Then they all faded away again.

Looking back at Nat, Buck understood. This wasn’t a dream. “This is it then?”

“Yes. This time it really is your time.” Nat spoke gently, taking a sip of his coffee. “But first…”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the familiar spoons. Handing one to Buck, he used his own to stir his coffee. “We have time for you to finish your coffee.”

Buck stirred his own coffee and watched the spoon melt. Took a drink and wondered if he should spring for pastries just to mark the event.

“Atropos would never forgive us if we ate Danishes without her.” Nat made the observation before picking his coffee mug up again.

So they talked. They talked about the lives Buck had lived. The friends and family he had waiting on him wherever he was going. The things his grandkids and great-grandkids were getting up to. Rowan’s oldest son was a pistol and always into something he shouldn’t be, usually accompanied by a small gaggle of his siblings and cousins.

And when their coffee was finished, they smiled at each other. They stood up from the table and embraced.

And walked out together.

“So was it everything you hoped for?” Atropos joined them one last time beneath the purple tree.

“The date?” Buck asked in confusion.

Looking at him with fond exasperation, Atropos sighed. “No Evan, not the date. Your life. This second life your Choice gave you. Was it what you wanted?”

Evan thought back through the years. Nico, the Duvalls, Evie. His team, Maddie, Sayah and Whit. Getting to know Eddie as two men on the same path instead as a wild card and keeper. Thinking through all the experiences, good and bad, of this second chance he was given.

“It was exactly what I wanted. Was I useful? To you, I mean. Did I do everything you’d hoped for?” Buck looked at his old friend.

Atropos smiled softly at him. “Oh, Evan. All I really wanted was for you to live. The services you did me made differences. Of course they did. And that was useful to me. But I just wanted you to have the chance to see yourself, to be yourself, as you were created to be.”

“I am so proud of you. You took your chance and you did good for so many people I never nudged you towards. You are such a good man. And I will miss you.”

Wait, what? “What do you mean, you’ll miss me. I’m on this side now. We can get together whenever we want.”

Atropos and Nat looked at one another sadly. “Evan, do you remember when I told you this wasn’t a place to linger, just to pass through? Well, you’re passing through now. So we won’t see you again. But we’ll never forget you. I will always consider you my friend.”

“Well, that’s gonna change. Not the friend part. That’ll never change. But I’m gonna demand visitation rights or something. Good Grief!” Buck hurried to reassure his friends, but something kept pulling at his attention.

A sound. It sounded like…maybe an open air market. Or a karaoke night. Lots of voices blending in together…he needed to get to where those voices were. That’s where he belonged.

“You hear it now, don’t you? The Call?” Nat seemed resigned.

“Don’t you?” How could they not hear it?

“It’s your welcome home Evan. It’s not for us to hear. We’ve never heard it, but everyone who passes through hears it. All the younger children of God.” Atropos tried to explain in a way this wonderful, compassionate man would accept. “They’re waiting for you.”

“We need to go. I can take you to the Gates. Come on, my friend.” Nat gestured ahead, to a beautiful bridge arching up so high that you couldn’t see what was on the other side.

Hugging Atropos tightly, Buck tried to reassure the woman, the goddess who had given him a second chance. Who had been the first being to look at the whole of him and see possibilities rather than problems. “I’ll be back, but I have to go on now. Be well, until we meet again.”

She let him go, and she pretended to believe him. “Of course. Now, be off with you. Be well.”

Buck turned to walk with Nat, onto the bridge. He looked behind him once to see her, standing and waving. He waved back.

Then they were over the crest of the bridge and he couldn’t see her anymore.

Looking ahead of him, the bridge wound down through a small valley, then turned upwards again, heading for what looked like a city on a hill. It didn’t look like it would fit all his friends and family, much less all the people who had ever lived.

“It’s really just a gatehouse and gathering place. Symbolic more than anything else, probably. I know for millennia a lot of the people I walk over this bridge expect to see it.” Nat enjoyed this last walk alongside his friend, getting his first glimpse of Beyond. Nat didn’t know what lay beyond the Gates, but he was sure it would be the reunion his friend ached for.

“What else do people expect to see? I mean, the city on the hill is a very Judeo-Christian idea.” Buck was curious.

“Some people see a garden. Others see a great temple or palace. Some people don’t really see anything, just a kind of wavery image like a mirage. It varies.” They were drawing closer to the end of their journey and Nat was starting to find it rough going.

“What do you see?” Buck had to wonder, as often as Nat had made this journey, could he only see the destination through other’s eyes?

“I see a pair of Gates. That’s where I will have to leave you. So before we get there, I just want to say…I have never had a friend like you, Evan. I will never know a friend like you again. I wish you joy and peace in whatever comes next for you, even if that means you forget me entirely. I will never forget you.” Nat was determined to leave Buck without the weight of his grief. The last image his friend would have of him was going to be a smile.

“I’m not going to forget you! We’ll still get together for coffee sometimes, and I’ll need to pass on Jörmungandr’s new sweaters. I’m sure there’s yarn in there somewhere.” Buck was determined too. He knew that there was no place that with time and the right tools he couldn’t get into, or out of. Nat would see.

Giving his friend a long hug as the Gates rose before them, Nat whispered, “Be well my brother.” Then he let go, and smiled.

Turning before stepping back onto the bridge, he lifted a hand in farewell, getting a wave in return.

His task was done.

Buck looked at the Gates with interest. What was he supposed to do here? Knock?

Shrugging he decided to give it a try. As he raised his hand to knock, a small door to the side of the Gates, invisible when closed, opened. A head poked out and looked around expectantly.

Seeing Buck, the man smiled. “Finally! I’ve got everything ready, I’ve just been waiting for you to get here.”

Buck moved forward, through the door into a small vestibule with a large podium at one end. Another man was hustling towards the podium, beckoning to Buck to follow him.

“I’ve got him Pete. Go ahead and check Evan in. We’ve got someplace to be.” Buck's new guide was pulling him away from the podium (apparently the check-in desk) and towards a hallway off to the right.

“But sir, what about the welcome party? Everyone’s here…”

“They can wait for just a few minutes while Evan and I talk. We’ll be right there.” Hustled down a long hallway with doors spaced somewhat unevenly Buck’s guide seemed quite intent on wherever it was they were going.

“Hey, um, I realize you seem to know who I am, but what should I call you?” He had no idea who this random, excitable guy even was. Could you actually be kidnapped in Heaven? At least that Pete person in the vestibule had seen him. Buck had a brief vision of cop-angels studying the ground for evidence and questioning the witness.

The man chuckled. “You do have the best imagination!”

Oops. Buck had forgotten about that little quirk of the afterlife.

“As far as what you should call me, you referred to me as ‘Dad’ once. I’d be honored if you wanted to call me that. But if it’s too soon, you can call me Jehovah.” Opening a door to the right, the man led Buck into a large open office, with room for a few desks.

There was one desk in there already, and two chairs for more casual seating. Lists were taped to the walls. All the walls. A rolling whiteboard was ready for whatever the room’s purpose was. Wide windows let in beautiful light, and the view…was incredible. There were three file cabinets between the windows.

The desk had a large book on it. Right beside it was a modern tablet device. A notepad and pens. Honestly, if you replaced the book with a computer it would look a lot like his old desk in IA when he still worked for the Navy.

“What do you think?”

Buck looked at the man who’d brought him here, and ran his last statement back. “Um. Like…THE Jehovah?” Oh crap! Was he already in trouble with the Boss? “Wait…Dad?” He was so confused.

“Well, yeah. I mean, I’m definitely THE Jehovah, but I would love it if you wanted to call me Dad. You are My child after all. And I’m so glad you’re home son. I’ve missed you. But I took advantage of the lead time.” Gesturing around the office, like that explained anything at all.

Buck stepped over to the shortest list taped to the wall. Death, Time, Fate (3), Nature, Sleep, Curiosity, Information Services, Hell, Love, Chaos, Violence, Fear, Hope, Memory. Looking at the other, longer lists Buck saw name after name after name.

“I don’t understand” What even was all this?

“It’s your office. Your project. The cross-training substitute pool. I’ve just been waiting for you to get here to implement it. The short list are My older children, who I’m ashamed to say have, as you put it, not even had bathroom breaks. All the other names are the volunteers who’ve applied to the program. They’ll need to be interviewed of course. Not every person could step in for Death, for example. And some of them have others of My firstborn who work under them. It’s kind of a mess. But you’ll sort it out.”

Buck looked around, excitement rising in him at the challenge.

Oh, yes. He’d sort it out.

Evan’s ‘Welcome Home’ party was a riotous good time.

All his friends and family were there, the food was amazing and the band was fantastic. Dancing with Maddie, seeing his friends dancing around them, Buck was…well…in Heaven.

Everybody wanted news of their loved ones. Buck decided his second project would be some sort of info feed that would allow people to check up on the loved ones left behind. He bet there would be a lot fewer wandering souls if Heaven had a news desk.

As he danced, Buck couldn’t help but notice a couple of genuine strangers. Not just people he’d helped that he didn’t know very well, but actual literal strangers. The young man with Mario was someone Buck was sure he’d never seen before. And there was another young man watching him and Maddie dance with a wistful kind of smile.

As the music came to a halt for a moment, Maddie was reclaimed by Twitch.

Buck decided to take a break and moved towards the young man watching him. “Hello, I don’t think I know you. Are you a party crasher or a plus one?”

The young man smiled in a very familiar way. “Neither Evan. This party is open to everyone who loves you. Maddie might argue with me, but I think I loved you first. The first time she held you, you spit up on her so she wasn’t completely sold on you for at least a week. I, on the other hand, loved you from the minute I saw you. And Evan, I’m so so sorry. If I could’ve lived, I would have.”

“Daniel?” Was this his older brother? The boy his parents loved? The one he’d been born to save? And failed.

“Yes, I’m Daniel. And as your older brother I am officially enacting a family decree that you are never again to think of yourself as a failure. You have to do what I say…cause I’m the oldest.”

Buck was trying to decide how to respond to that when he caught sight of a familiar head of white blond hair. “Hold that thought. We are definitely coming back to it.”

Darting over into the crowd, Buck grabbed his son from behind and nearly strangled him in a hug.

“Dad, leggo. I can’t breathe.” Whit protested, but then finally just stood still and let his dad hug him. Again. You’d think the man hadn't seen him in ages. Oh. Well, when you put it that way…

Whit turned around and hugged his Dad back. “It’s Ok Dad. I’m here and you are too. We can see each other whenever we like. And are you sure Duncan and Donovan are ok?” So sue him. He was worried about his family.

“The house was still standing when I left and your husband and son were still speaking to each other. Duncan hasn’t blown anything up that wasn’t on purpose in years and Donovan doesn’t blow things up at all. I think they’re good.” Buck gave the reassurance for the third time.

“Oh, by the way, do you know that kid with Mario?” Buck was very curious about the remaining unknown guest.

“Nope, never seen him before in my life. Or my afterlife. Guess you gotta go ask.” Whit was heading back to the refreshment table.

Buck walked over to his old training partner and teammate. “Hey Mario, It’s good to see you. Are your folks here? I’d love to meet your dad sometime. And who might this be?”

“Hey Nudge. Glad you finally made it. And Mama and Papa are around here somewhere. They have a tendency to just disappear for a while. Nobody asks about it. At least not more than once. And this is Donnie. Donnie Mondaro.” Mario gave his old teammate a huge hug.

Reaching out to shake the new guy’s hand, Buck said, “Oh, you must be a plus one then. I'm sure I’ve never met you. But hey, welcome to the party. You know what they say…Any friend of Mario’s…should definitely be watched very closely.”

Donnie laughed lightly and shook the man’s hand. He thought he’d like this guy. “Yeah, I passed before you ever met my Nico.”

Buck thought about what it might have meant to be gay in the deep South. “Well we’ve got some time to make up for then. And I’ve got all the best stories…”

With a wink, Buck slapped the guy on the shoulder and moved back towards his brother as Mario protested loudly against the sharing of stories.

“So Daniel, about that older brother thing…want to help me with a little project?”

Daniel took in the lists on every wall in the office, the single desk, and the two lonely chairs. “Yeah, this isn’t going to work. Give me ten minutes.” Darting back out the door.

Well, OK then.

Buck was logging into the tablet and browsing the database when Daniel got back.

Daniel directed the people behind him in moving in two additional desks, a long, low table, three more chairs, and the books and tablets to go with them. After a brief flurry of activity, Daniel took a seat at one of the new desks.

Gesturing to the other desk he said, “We’re gonna need an office manager. Long-term I think my namesake is the best gal for the job. Who do you think we should draft in the meantime?”

“Clearly, me.” Maddie walked in and looked at her brothers wearing matching expressions of boys caught red-handed having fun without their sisters.

“Buckley’s United…temporary staffing solutions to meet all your afterlife needs.”

The first problem was establishing the actual parameters of each deity’s job. None of them were simple and Jehovah wasn’t the greatest help. He’d seen a need, created a being to meet that need, and left them to get on with it. He had no complaints about the way they’d arranged themselves because it got the job done.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Abuela who came up with the obvious solutions.

“I’m sorry Abuela, you’re here to do what?” Buck looked at the woman sitting across his desk from him.

“I’m here to apply for an internship with Atropos. I’ll spend time with her discussing her role and then shadow her to see how she accomplishes her tasks. Once I feel ready, I’ll take over for a brief time, getting practice in the work. Then I’ll be ready to sub in.” Abuela looked her usual serene self, supremely confident that Buck would see the sense in what she’d said.

The second problem was that not every volunteer was suitable to deal with the tasks of every deity. It took certain skills to be able to deal with, say, Curiosity’s tasks. Someone who hadn’t had much joy in learning couldn’t really spark that in others. Or channel it into safe waters. (That oil-eating amoeba was just an embarrassment)

Maddie came up with a brief, or at least fairly brief, assessment to help them sort people out. Some folks found themselves better suited to areas they hadn’t considered. Whoever stepped in for Violence had better not have anger issues. Rigid thinkers couldn’t handle Chaos.

It was a much bigger job than it had initially appeared, but Buck wasn’t about to give up.

On the other side of this was a coffee date with some friends, and Buck was determined to make that happen.

Soon!

Two old friends stood together under a drooping tree. It might once have been purple, but now it was just colorless. The grass below their feet was a dull brown, dry and crackling as they walked together.

What might once have been a bench was now a sad lump of rotten boards and twisted metal. Certainly not safe to sit on.

Standing there together Atropos and Nat silently shared a coffee in Evan’s honor. They wouldn’t get to go to his ‘Welcome Home’ party, so this was the best they could do.

“He’s going to love it there. He’ll have his boy, and all his friends. He’s going to be so happy.” Atropos was trying hard to have a positive attitude.

Nat gave her the most comforting hug he could come up with. “He is. He’s going to be happy and surrounded by everyone he’s had to say good-bye to. It’s going to be great.”

“I miss him, Nat.”

“I know.

After a few moments, Atropos raised her head from Nat’s chest. Looking around she tried to figure out what had disrupted the stifling silence.

There it was again. This time Nat opened his eyes and looked around too.

“You hear it, don’t you Nat? It’s not just me.” Atropos couldn’t understand what she was hearing.

“I do hear it. I think…it can’t be, but…I think maybe…maybe it’s…the Call.” Nat almost hated to suggest it, for fear that he was wrong.

“It can’t be that. We’ve never been Called.” Atropos wasn’t sure if she wanted it to be true or not.

The clamor got louder.

“No, I think maybe it really is. I think we’re being Called.” Nat had long, long ago reconciled himself to the fact that he would never hear a Call. But now, maybe…

Turning toward the bridge, he timidly stepped foot onto it. Reaching back he took his friend’s hand and pulled her with him. Slowly, carefully…afraid that at any moment they would lose their footing…they made their way over the bridge.

There was no city on a hill. Just a pair of Gates, with a speaker’s podium set up outside.

Looking across the valley, Nat saw his other brothers and sisters. They rarely got to interact with one another, but they still recognized each other. There was Time, with his air of officiousness. He saw his brother Sleep dragging along. Sweet Memory was moving towards the Gates.

It looked as though all of God’s firstborn were coming. Timidly, hesitantly, even afraid. But their Father had Called them, and they were coming.

As they gathered uneasily outside the Gates, a man moved out and took his place at the speaker’s stand. No, not a man. That was their Father.

The Father looked at his children with deep sorrow. That they were frightened and uneasy in His presence broke His heart. Evan was right. He had not done well by these children.

“My children, things are changing. I have wronged you, and I seek to make it right. One of your younger siblings has…I believe the current term is “Called Me on My bullshit. I had not realized what wrong I had done you. I have been thoughtless and careless with you. I have caused you to doubt My affection for you. And I have thoughtlessly worked you to Death. Apologies Nat.”

Nat was standing there in complete shock, but managed to nod his head. Was this really happening?

Atropos’ hand on his arm had grown tighter and tighter. “What did Evan do?” she whispered.

Father was continuing to address them, “We have a new department. It is tentatively titled ‘Buckleys United Transdimensional Temporary Staffing Agency.’ Please don’t forget the ‘Agency’ as they don’t wish to become known as the BUTTS department.”

A shocked giggle burst out of Nat. That was so very Evan.

“Anyway, I’ve brought the head of the department here today to speak with you about the interns you’ll be getting. And the process we’re putting in place to cross-train and create a system that will allow you all time to pursue your own interests, or even just take a nap.”

Sure enough, who was that stepping up to the mike but…

“Hi guys. My name is Evan Buckley, and I’m the former Little Finger of Fate. Though Dad might say I’m more of a Pain in the Ass. Anyway, each of you today is going to get an intern that has been carefully selected for you through rigorous assessment and interviews. If the fit isn’t good, please let us know at once so we can re-assess.”

“Your intern’s first job is to interview you about your area of influence. Then they’re going to shadow you for a few hours a day for as long as it takes for you and them to feel comfortable leaving them to go it alone. At that point, we’ll start easing them in and readying the second round of interns.”

“Our goal is to create a stable pool of individuals ready and willing to sub in for you if you want to grab coffee with an old friend. Eventually, we’d like to see each of you essentially heading a small department of people willing to take shifts under your supervision. So, since none of us really knows what we’re doing, let’s get this show on the road.”

Nat highly doubted that Evan ‘didn’t know what he was doing.’ He’d bet Evan had been planning this for years.

As the deities milled around in confusion Evan began calling people up and introducing them to their interns.

Atropos and Nat looked at one another in something like wonder. Evan bounced up with enthusiastic hugs for his friends. “See, I told you I’d see you soon. Atropos, this is Isabel Diaz. She’s going to be your intern for the next however long. Isabel, this is one of my best friends, and I guess kinda my former boss. I know you’re going to be a great fit.”

Pulling Nat a little bit to the side, Evan watched as Atropos and Abuela seemed to take each other’s measure. The deity and woman smiled at each other and moved off to one of the comfortable seating areas arranged on the lawn.

“Listen, Nat, I really want to be your intern. But it’s gonna take all three of us Buckley’s to get this off the ground. So until I can shake loose, I’d like to introduce you to somebody. You were tough to match. It couldn’t be anyone whose death was something they resented or resisted. It couldn’t be someone who struggled against you in life, like Twitch or Eddie. But I think I’ve found a good one for you.” Evan had been moving him slightly to the side, towards a man standing by the little stream, under a broad-leafed tree.

“Nat, I’d like you to meet Hugh Maxwell. He’s been a soldier in war and he’s not afraid to take the shot, but he spent most of his career trying to smooth people’s way. He’s the closest thing to an earthly father I’ve ever had. I know you guys are going to get along great.” With that, Evan bounced off to his next introduction.

Trusting his friend to have made the best possible choice for him, Nat reached out his hand to shake.

His loving, loyal, compassionate friend had seen a need no one else ever had, and in his own determined way had fixed it.

“Hey Hugh, good to meet you again. Call me Nat.”

Outtake 1

The Father looked at his first born child. The first of them all. How new they had all been, back in the beginning. How foolish He had been, to value this son less than his younger brothers and sisters. Worse than that, after creating him and setting him to his tasks, He had not thought of him as an individual at all.

“You were the first. Almost more of a brother than a son. And I failed you. I do value your love. I do value your life. You are My son. You have taken on a burden almost too heavy to lift and carried it with grace. I am proud of you. And I am so very sorry I hurt you.”

The child trembled before his Father. “I have managed, Father.”

“You have risen, when you had every reason to fall. I honor you, My son. And I would do better.” The Father’s heart yearned for His child, broke to see him so afraid. “I love you.”

The child looked up, hopefully, bravely and met the Father’s eyes. Seeing the truth of what He’d said written plainly there. “I love You too, Dad.”

The Father smiled then. “Come, I have made a place for you, as I have for all My children.”

“But I am not allowed beyond the Gates.”

“I think you will find that the Gates are mine. They will never again be allowed to keep My children from Me.” The Father laid his hand upon the Gates and they swung open.

Beyond the Gates a huge crowd waited. People as far as the eye could see. And right up front, with a huge smile on his face, a very familiar man stood holding up a banner.

“Welcome home Nat.”

Outtake 2

Maddie walked into the elementary school wondering what in the world was going on. The principal had called her, saying there had been an incident and she needed to come in. With Evan and Eddie away with the team, she was the point of contact for both Chris and Sayah. The principal hadn’t told her which child was in trouble, or even what the trouble was.

They could be sick. Or have been found to have head lice. There could be any number of reasons she would be called to the school, but as she had parked she couldn’t help but see the Samuels’ SUV and Jen Graham’s little VW Bug.

This did not look good. Thank goodness the babies were at daycare.

In the front hall outside the main office four sullen, indignant children sat, practically on top of one another. They were filthy and scraped. Bruises were forming. And was that Jell-o in Christopher’s hair?

What in the world?

Moving on into the main office, Maddie saw Jen and Sarah sitting over to the side. After checking in with the secretary Maddie moved over to the other two women.

“Does anybody know what this is about?” Getting negatives from the other two women, Maddie was about to approach the front desk again to ask for more information, when the principal came out and motioned them all into the office.

“Ladies, please have a seat. We had a bit of a problem today. We had a small fire break out in the boiler room. It was easily contained, with no need to call the fire department, but we took advantage of the situation to have an unscheduled fire drill.” The man sighed.

“In retrospect, that was a bad idea. The fire alarm was set off while the primary classes were at lunch. Natalie Buckley was apparently startled and confused by the sirens. Instead of exiting with her class she dropped to the floor and hid under the table.” Oh no. Poor Sayah. She’d never been in a fire drill before and an impromptu one didn’t give the teacher time to explain the procedures first.

“Belinda Samuels apparently saw this happen from her table as her class was exiting the building. She ran to her friend and began to try to coax her out from under the table. Belinda’s teacher was less than concerned for Natalie’s situation and expressed that to Belinda. Belinda’s response was to tell the teacher to go to Hel with one ell. Because she could say that kind of Hell, her Uncle Evan said so.” Maddie and Sarah exchanged resigned looks remembering the lessons that came out of Evan’s deep dive into Norse mythology and the stories he told the kids.

“The teacher left them there and went on outside with her class. Belinda used Natalie’s smartwatch to send an SOS to Christopher Diaz. He was already outside the building with his class, but on receiving the message, flagged down Brandon Graham. They decided the gait trainer would be too conspicuous so they left it behind. One of the cafeteria windows was open, so Brandon boosted Christopher through, right into the trash barrel.” Now Jen was joining in with the resigned looks.

“Brandon came through the window headfirst and avoided the trash barrel at the last minute. He retrieved Christopher from the trash and the two of them joined Belinda in trying to get Natalie to come out from under the table. One of the cafeteria managers was carrying the trays with lunches for the students currently in detention to the back of the room for the TA to pick up. She was just coming around the corner of the table when Brandon popped up.”

Oh dear. Maddie could practically write the next part of the story herself.

“She screamed and threw the trays up in the air. The cheese sandwiches were fine, but the tomato soup was … a problem. She slipped in the soup and fell, hitting her head on the table on the way down. She knocked herself unconscious. At that point Belinda grabbed something to put under her legs. Unfortunately what she grabbed was a mop bucket. When she put the woman’s legs up on the bucket…the bucket tipped over, spilling dirty mop water all over the floor. Brandon had straddled the woman and was getting ready to attempt CPR. Christopher was taking the woman’s pulse.” The three women continued to listen in awe.

“At this point the children were released from the fire drill and allowed back into the cafeteria. The first children through the doors saw all this and jumped to a conclusion. They concluded, and in fact shouted to everyone, that your kids had killed the cafeteria manager. The children attempted to either escape the murderers in the cafeteria or exact vengeance for the cafeteria manager.”

“When the children attacked, Brandon and Belinda overturned two of the tables, forming a protective wedge, and along with Christopher began throwing the sandwiches, plates, and bowls over the tables at their attackers. Who began throwing things back. Fortunately all the dishes are plastic. But still.” The women waited to see if there was more to the story.

“Meanwhile those children trying to run found themselves slipping in the mop water and colliding with each other. In the middle of all this chaos, Natalie apparently came out of her fright and perceived herself and her friends to be under attack. She somehow managed to detach one of the bars on the underside of the table in front of her. She then vaulted the table and began laying about with the bar like a little berserker.” Speechless, the women waited for the rest of the story.

Sighing, the principal continued. “Vice Principal Buttress had been called to the cafeteria and attempted to grab Natalie. She may not have training, but she definitely knows how to hit a man where it hurts. If you take my meaning. Mr. Buttress limped to the cafeteria office and, without my authorization, called 9-1-1 and told them a riot was in progress. I had a SWAT team show up on my front lawn. I had no idea any of this was going on, since I was on the middle school side of the building supervising their performance in the fire drill.”

“Imagine the surprise the SWAT team leader got on breaching the cafeteria to find the ‘rioters’ were four frightened children. Now I have one teacher on administrative leave for leaving a student behind, a principal on administrative leave for grabbing a student and making an unauthorized 9-1-1 call, a concussion victim on her way to the hospital, and four children I can’t even check for wounds because they try to bite anyone who touches them.”

“You need to take your children home, tend to the wounds, and have a long talk about trusting the adults around them. And maybe talk to your husbands about little ears and how much they pick up. I need to make sure I have trustworthy adults for all my students. And I need to find a new custodian, because when my current custodian saw the state of the cafeteria she quit.”

“Any questions?”

Jen Graham fell on that grenade for all of them. “What are the disciplinary consequences going to be?”

“The students aren’t going to be punished for being frightened. But Belinda is going to have to stay home tomorrow and someone needs to explain to her about the difference between talking about a mythical location, i.e. Hel, and using the word as an epithet…no matter how many ells she thinks she’s said. Brandon and Christopher are going to be staying home tomorrow too. They have to understand that they never ever ever go back into a building they’ve left because of a dangerous situation. And I think a day at home would soothe Natalie’s nerves. I know she’s new in this country, so maybe take the time to explain about the emergency drills and what they mean. None of these will be reported as disciplinary actions provided there are no repeats.”

The three women looked at each other, coming to an agreement.

Walking out of the office to gather up their kids, Sarah Samuels said, “Well, I’ve got the biggest living room. Pizza and movie night? With some private lectures?”

“Sounds good. If you’re willing to handle that, I’ll keep Evie and Dani Rose with me. Jen, you’ve already got your hands full with Kevin, but if you feel like you need to help Sarah just drop him off at mine. An evening of reading to babies won’t hurt him any.” Maddie herded Sayah and Chris out the door to the car.

All of the ladies agreed on the plan.

What they didn’t think about was the dramatic phone call the fathers would get that night when they called to say good night.

Oops.

Outtake 3

Ramon Diaz was sure he was cursed.

He’d been in lock-up for days now. He had a headache. He was bored. And he kept hearing dogs howling.

Apparently everybody else was deaf, since he was the only one hearing the dogs. Or maybe they were trying to make him seem crazy.

He had been convicted on one count of attempted murder for failing to shoot his worthless son. One count of attempted kidnapping, because he wanted to keep the crippled brat out of sight. What woman would marry Eddie and give Ramon some perfect grandchildren with Christopher hanging around? One count of assault with a deadly weapon for the stupid kid with the bat who got in his way. Multiple counts of fraud and forgery for making sure that he had the paperwork he needed. And one count of contempt of court because he shouted at the stupid judge.

He was being transferred to a maximum security prison now, and he couldn’t wait to get off this bus.

Finally, the ramshackle old bus pulled through the gates into the prison yard and the guards helped the prisoners disembark. They were separated and processed, and finally Ramon was shut into his cell. His cellmate was just a stupid drug dealer. No point in talking to him.

At the cafeteria call, Ramon got in line and made his way to the food hall. The food was pedestrian, bland, disgusting, but Ramon ate it. He had to make sure he still looked good at his appeals trial.

Moving back towards his cell, Ramon was a little surprised that part of his line shifted sideways. In a shadowy corner where two halls joined, someone came up from the other hallway. The howls got louder the closer the person came. The shadows shifted, making the man look as though he had a canine head himself.

Suddenly from behind Ramon felt the knife go in. One, two, both lungs punctured. Ramon tried to scream, but nothing came out but bubbling red blood. “I hear you like to torture children.” was whispered in his ear. And still the man from the hallway came on. Surely he would get there in time to raise an alarm.

The line moved back into place away from him and left Ramon lying on the floor. The shadows parted and he finally got a good look at the man approaching him. But he wasn’t a man! The grinning head of a Jackal rested on his shoulders, and his hands were tipped with two inch claws. The Jackal-man reached out with his hands, and Ramon felt like his soul was being shredded.

It was.

Anubis ripped out his soul and wadded it into a haphazard lump. Then he dropped it straight into the mouth of the monster Ammit.

One down.

Outtake 4

Helena Diaz was very ill done by.

She was sitting in a prison cell in a medium security women’s facility. She was wearing the most unappealing and uncomfortable clothes she’d ever worn in her life. She didn’t have her perfume or her cosmetics. Her skin was going to look terrible at her appellate hearing.

Her roommate was some stupid woman who stole some high end jewelry. I mean really. If you’re not pretty enough or smart enough to catch a man to buy you that jewelry you don’t deserve it.

Helena sighed again. She hadn't heard from her husband for several days. She needed to get a hold of her son and get him to drop the charges against her. Honestly. All he’d had to do was agree that he’d arranged to give them Christopher. It shouldn’t be this hard.

And all that ridiculous mess with that man he was sleeping with…that should be enough right there to deny him custody of his male child. Who knew when he’d turn that way. Those sorts always did sooner or later.

Someone must have brought drugs into the prison, or maybe someone ran away. She’d been hearing dogs off and on all day.

God, she was bored.

Someone opened the door to the hallway in front of her cell. Trying to get a glimpse of him, she craned her neck to see. Shadows seemed to be gathering in the hallway and the sound of howling was getting louder.

Suddenly her roommate backed away into the far corner of the room. “My Lord Anubis, what would you have me do?”

Huh? What kind of heathen talk was that?

Helena looked back to the hallway outside her cell. The man she thought she’d seen was right in front of her. But he wasn’t a man at all. He was a monster with an animal head and rows of sharp teeth. His hands were clawed and outstretched towards her. She backed away slowly as a growling voice came out of the darkness.

“Be my witness, faithful one.” What? Helena worshipped the One True God. Not some heathen half beast.

“As my Lord commands.” The woman looked at her, unblinking.

Helena screamed as she felt her soul ripped and shredded, then torn from her body.

The body dropped to the floor, still alive but inanimate…soulless.

Helena Diaz’s soul was already on its way down Ammit’s gullet.

Job complete.

Outtake 5

Evan Samuels Buckley-Diaz looked at the instrument panel in front of him. All systems were green to go.

Looking beside him at his copilot, Daniel Buckley-Graham, he gave the hi sign. All green across his board.

From behind him the engineer AmaLeigh Carruthers-Stanley reported the engines and fuel systems were holding steady and building. Ready to go.

Beside her their navigator Jarek Duvall-Diaz laid in their course.

Calls to Med Bay got green lights from Chirs Carruthers and Nicoletta Antonelli, their nurse-paramedics.

Down in the ready room, pararescue specialists Edmund Cannon and Riley Graham-Stanley were belted in and waiting.

All systems green to go.

“Tower, this is US Navy SEAL STAR-SAR Squadron 2. We report green for lift.”

“Confirm STAR-SAR Squadron 2 you a go for lift-off.”

Evan looked at his team. “We all know where we’re going. We have a ship in distress following a collision with a NEO. Our priorities are to rescue those we can. Others will be handling the debris and salvage and law enforcement issues. Our focus is the people. Everybody clear?”

Getting confirmation from his team, he gave the sign to Stanley. As the engines gathered power, Evan listened carefully…judging the moment when the power was right where he needed it. Watching his instrument panel.

Everything green.

Captain Evan Buckley-Diaz initiated lift-off.

Into space.