Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first thing Eddie processed when he came to was a raging headache. He lay there for a moment with a contorted face. Not only was his head killing him, but he realized he had no idea where he was. As a matter of fact, he can't remember how he got there. He has a terrible sinking feeling in his stomach.

He thought back to the last thing he remembered. Not a pleasant memory. 

—

“I don’t know Buck…! I wasn’t there.”

Buck reached out for Eddie before stopping himself and taking a step back. “Eddie, I-I’m sorry I didn’t ask you what it was like. Getting that news in the middle of the night, 800 miles away. I didn’t want to overstep . I didn’t know… if you wanted to let me in, like that.” 

At that point, Eddie was white knuckling the countertop, his back turned to Buck. “‘ over step? Let me in???’ Buck, you are in!” Eddie swung around to look at Buck, releasing his grip on the counter. “Come on, Buck. You know what kind of relationship we have.”

“Do I??”

“Do you what , Buck?” Eddie’s now pinching between his brows; he hates that this turned into an argument, and knows the part he played. He just wished they were communicating instead of fighting.

“Know what kind of relationship we have. Because honestly, Eddie, I’m not so sure.” Buck ran a hand through his hair, trying to self-soothe to no avail. 

Eddie paused for a moment, a guilty look flashing across his face before he attempted to compose himself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Don’t do that. Don’t pretend like you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Buck, I-”

“Don’t, Eddie. We can’t keep avoiding this. I am so tired of acting like this is all normal.” Buck really does look tired; he looks sad. It makes Eddie’s heart break a little, but he holds his tongue.

“For the past 8 years, we’ve been dancing around this. It’s driving me crazy! And I’d say it's fine if you don’t feel the same. Cause it would be, Eddie. I could learn to get over it, just to keep you in my life in any capacity.” Buck’s sadness seems to be turning into frustration. But despite his tone, tears are welling in his eyes. 

God, Eddie wanted to reach out and wipe them away, to take away all Bucks' hurt. But he himself was feeling utterly shell-shocked; he felt like his feet were glued to the ground, and reached behind himself to grab the counter to hold himself up.

“But god, Eddie. Despite what everyone seems to think, I’m not dumb! Hell, Eddie, I’m your son's legal guardian if anything were to happen to you. You have so much family! But somehow, inexplicably, you chose me .” Buck jabbed himself repeatedly in the chest with his finger as he said it. His tears were free-falling now, and his breath had become ragged. 

“Buck, stop doing that, you’re going to hurt yourself-” 

Bucks' hand flexed open and settled on his chest, gripping his shirt and skin underneath tight right atop his heart as if he were trying to keep it from cracking apart.

“No, no! Just listen! ” Buck could barely get the words out. “You chose me, but you-” Buck gasped for air, prompting Eddie to take a step forward. But Buck held out his hand that wasn’t gripping his chest and took a step back. 

Buck sucked in a ragged breath. “You chose me, but you won’t choose me! Or at least you won’t admit it. Have you even admitted it to yourself?? You’re so brave, Eddie. I’ve seen it at work. But am I not worth it?” 

“Worth it? Buck, of course you are!”

“Then man up! If I’m so worth it, then say it!” 

“Say what, Buck??”

“That you love me!” Buck finally released his chest, fully yelling, followed by silence from them both.

Eddie looked like he’d been shot in the chest, again. He seemed frozen in time as Buck tried and failed to compose himself, his arms now crossed against his chest as if he was trying to hold himself.

Eddie wished he could hold Buck, “Buck, I-”

“No. No, I’m leaving.”

“Leaving? Buck, you live here!” 

“Not anymore. Your silence just told me everything I needed. I’m staying at Maddie's.”

Eddie reached out for Buck as he walked past him, but Buck swerved away from his touch. He didn’t slam the door when he left. He closed it gently. Ever respectful, Buck. 

Eddie stood there for a while before going to sit on the couch. He sat, and sat, and then he cried. He felt a ragged sob rip through him. What has he done? He didn’t even know what was happening anymore. He’s straight . At least, he thought he was. But as he looked at everything, he realized maybe Buck was right. And that realization just made him cry more, scrapping at his chest as if he could tunnel to his heart and shut it up. He wanted it to stop, and then, it did. His whole world went black. 

—

And that’s the last thing Eddie could remember.

Eddie felt his stomach churn and made a move to sit up, but it hurt too much, leading to him emptying his stomach in front of himself while lying down. He took a sharp inhale and tried to steady himself.

There was a lot to think about, but then he remembered something more important. Where is he?  

He tried to take in his surroundings, but it was so dark. There was a little bit of moonlight shining in from a window across the room. But not nearly enough to see anything around him. What is this room? The floor is wood. Cold, damp wood. He took a deep breath and made a move to sit up before realizing he was chained up. 

What the fuck?

This is not good.

Chapter Text

Buck does not want to go to work today. It’s not that he doesn’t love his job, but Eddie’s working the same shift, and he’s just not ready to see him.

He hadn’t even checked to see if Eddie had texted him, but now he had to face him.

At least that’s what Buck thought. But Eddie hasn’t shown up to work yet, and it’s not like him to be late. Maybe Buck should have reached out. God, is he angry at Eddie; he feels like he cracked his chest open and is bleeding out, but it’s an injury only Eddie could fix. 

He just couldn’t face him right now. But he was beginning to worry about his safety.

“Hey, have you guys seen Eddie?”

“We thought he was hiding out with you, Buck,” Chimney jested at him, his face alight at the idea of starting a friendly argument.

“No, uh, I haven’t seen him. You guys think he’s okay? Eddie’s never late-” 

“Because he has a silver star!” Chimney, Hen, and Ravi all interrupted Buck at the same time, and Buck, of course, rolled his eyes in response. They were teetering somewhere on the line of annoyance and hysteria.

“Look, Buck, he’s probably just having trouble with his car or something.”

Buck knew Hen was probably right, but it didn’t sit well with him. 

It’s been an hour, and Eddie hasn’t shown up to work or picked up any of Buck’s calls. Everyone had gotten worried, but Buck seemed to be losing his mind. 

What if Eddie had gone and done something stupid after the fight? Buck felt immense guilt; it was as if all the walls were closing in on him, and he couldn’t breathe. 

“Hey, Buck, you’re not looking so hot. Are you feeling okay?”

Buck whipped his head to look up at Bobby. He had pretty much curled into himself on the couch, another hour had passed, and there was no word from Eddie.

“Okay?? Bobby, Eddie’s missing! How is everyone not freaking out??”

“Buck, I know you’re worried, but we need to just hope everything’s alright. It’s too soon for us to really do anything.”

“Bobby, something's wrong! We can’t stand by and do nothing! What if he’s in a hospital somewhere?? We need to start calling around! And after last night-”

Chim popped his head up from his chair nearby, “What happened last night?” His usual mischievous attitude had faded into concern; everything in the firehouse had gotten tense.

“God, nothing, Chim!” Buck snapped at him; he couldn’t hold in all his worry and pain anymore.

“It’s just… Look, I’m really worried here. What if something bad happened? I mean, what else could have happened??” 

“Buck, I don’t-” Hen had entered the loft and joined the conversation, but before she could get her idea out, the alarm went off.

“Fuck-”

“Buck, we’ll have to continue this conversation later. I promise we’ll figure this out, but we have to go.” 

Buck nodded his head and jumped up. No matter how upset he was, he knew Bobby was right. He had a job to do. 

Buck was in the truck, trying to focus. He couldn’t risk messing up on the job when people's lives were at stake. But that was all shattered when he heard the information about the call.

It was Eddie’s address.

“Fire’s still small but needs to be put out asap before causing any structural damage. Also to be noted the neighbor that called it in said he heard arguing last night before a silver jeep pulled out of the driveway. The front door is cracked open and there's a broken window.  No sign of the home owner.” 

The dispatcher's voice crackled through their headphones, and Buck felt his world crumble around him.

It was as if a sinkhole had opened up beneath him and swallowed him whole. 

Eddie’s house had been broken into. Eddie is missing and his house was broken into and on fire. Buck was terrified of what they were going to find there.

Everyone in the truck was looking at him now. The silver Jeep, Buck’s silver Jeep. 

Now they all knew Buck was the last one to see Eddie, and that they had an argument right before.

“Buck… what were you saying happened last night?” Chim’s words shattered through the haze surrounding Buck. He wasn’t joking but it wasn’t the time to be poking into the situation. 

“Chim.” Hen elbowed Chim in the ribs, and the rest of the ride was spent in the loudest silence Buck had ever experienced.

They finally pulled up to Eddie's house and Buck felt his heart stop in his chest. There were flames pouring out the front window and the front door was left open and singed.

It’d be easy to put out and probably wouldn’t cause structural damage since they were there in time. But the image was horrifying. The place the people closest to him live. The place he lived. Thank god Chris was having a sleepover at Denny’s, but what about Eddie?

Bobby started yelling out orders, everyone staying professional as possible, everyone but Buck.

What if Eddie was in there and passed out? What if he was burning? And what’s with the broken window and open door? Had someone broken in and started the fire?? 

Buck jumped out of the engine and immediately ran for the front door, if Eddie was in there he had to pull him out. 

“Buck! Where do you think you’re going?” 

Buck waved off his Captains yelling and crashed through the door. He knew his team would put it out quickly, but the flames were already licking at the ceiling. Some of his stuff had been left in the kitchen, where the fire had started, and had been taken by the flames.

“Eddie? Eddie, can you hear me? Come on, man, where are you?” Buck ran to grab the fire extinguisher that he knew was under the sink, because he put it there. It was all so surreal, and there was still no sign of Eddie.

Buck ran down the hall, despite knowing Chris wasn’t there, he had to check his room. He opens the door and takes a look around, his room was empty and clear of flames. 

He then ran across the hall and tumbled into Eddie’s room. The bed was made and there was no sign of Eddie. In fact, it was exactly as it was when he left. Eddie did not sleep here last night.

Shit shit shit.

Eddie’s been taken and his– their- house is in flames. God and they had that argument last night. 

Buck suddenly felt his stomach turn over. Just like his world, it felt as if his stomach had flipped upside down. He grabbed his stomach and tried to will the gross that he could feel rising in his throat, but it was no use. He took his helmet off and fell to his knees, emptying his stomach on Eddie’s floors. 

He took a deep breath and spat the rest out. Grabbing the wall, he brought himself to his feet, and steadied himself running to check all the rooms in the house, despite knowing he wasn’t going to find Eddie.

Eventually he made his way back out the front of the-his house. Most of the flames had been put out now, leaving his home smeared in ash and broken, and he could feel his heart breaking with it.

God, what was he going to tell Chris?

“Buck! Thank god you’re okay!” Hen came running up to Buck, looking him up and down for any obvious injuries before Buck swatted her away. He would have noticed the look of hurt on her face if it weren’t for his own pain.

“Buck! What the hell was that?!? I gave you direct orders, you could’ve gotten hurt!”

“He’s not here.”

Bobby’s face fell from a look of anger to outright worry.

“The place is exactly the way it was last night! Despite the flames.” 

“Buck, we’ll find hi-” 

Buck cut Chimney off by shoving him. 

“I told you! I told all of you something was wrong and none of you listened!”

“Buck, I-”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

Bobby came up and put a hand on Buck’s shoulder, gripping it tightly.

“We’re going to find him, Buck. But for now, you’re taking the rest of the day off.”

“Bobby, I-”

“That was an order.”

Buck looked entirely defeated, but didn’t say anything else and headed straight to the truck to sulk.

He wasn’t going to spend his day just waiting around for something to turn up. He wasn’t going to endure the sad looks from Maddie or the falling feeling in his stomach.

If they weren’t going to help, he’d find Eddie on his own.

Chapter Text

Eddie begins to feel around, trying to take in as much information as he can. 

The floor was made of wood, and damp beneath his bruised skin. Whoever transported him had not been gentle.

He's cuffed to what seems to be a large support beam in the middle of the room, which appeared to be some sort of shed.

The windows were boarded up, so there was very little light. But he could make out what seemed to be a work bench, covered in miscellaneous objects. 

Sure, Eddie can be a little abrasive at times, but not enough to make someone want to kidnap him. 

He groaned as he carefully moved to a sitting up position, maneuvering his way since he was chained.

God what is even happening right now???

He felt like his brain was buzzing. God, was he chloroformed??

He leaned his head back against the pole, trying to get some deep breaths in without throwing up again.

He tried to rack his brain for anyone who’d want to do this, but his head was killing him, turning up nothing. 

The room reeked of mold and mildew, this shed mustn't have had proper use in years.

He didn’t know what was going on, but all his thoughts led back to Buck.

He had been such an asshole to him. He wished he could go back, to never have had that stupid fight with him. Because what if this was it? Locked in some shed and the last thing he did was fight with Buck. God, he’s going to die with Buck hating him.

And Christopher. His precious son. No. This won't be it. He will not leave his son behind. Christopher can’t lose another parent. 

Eddie's going to fight his way out of here, and kick someone's ass when he does.

Just as he thinks this, he hears keys jingle at the door, and the sound of someone unlocking it. He sat up as straight as he could and pulled at the chains around his wrists.

“Well well, look who's finally awake!” 

A tall man entered the room, right around Eddie’s height; maybe a little taller. He had messy unkempt red hair that was shooting out in all directions, with a matching “beard” to go with it. It was hard to see in the ill lite room though.

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember me?”

Eddie looked the man up and down confusedly. He had no idea who this guy was.

“Hmph. Let me help jog your memory." The man approached Eddie, and kicked him square in the jaw before grabbing him tight by his hair to make him look at him.

“Shit, man!” Eddie spat out blood, and was all but growling in the man's face.

The face he could see much better now, along with the jagged half healed scar across it.

Shit. 

The man smiled when he saw Eddie’s face of realization.

“There we go.” The man released his grip on Eddie’s hair harshly.

“Mr. Fieldmen, you know we did everything we-”

“Tsch! Uh uh uh. I don't want to hear it!!” The man looked ready to strike Eddie again before composing himself abruptly.

“And please! Call me Alex! You’re not on the job… anymore.” 

Eddie’s mind flashed back to that day, but with the way his head felt he could only remember bits and pieces.

There was a car accident. A car with a man, Mr. Fie- Alex, and a young girl, Annalise; his daughter. She couldn’t have been more than 7. 

Their car had been t-boned on Annalise’s side, still injuring Alex. (hence the scar.) 

Eddie was the medic working on Annalise. He’d pulled her from the car and done his best but… they were too late. 

He remembered the look on Alex’s face when they called it, how Buck had to hold him back as he sobbed.

“Y’know…” Alex dragged out the word. “If you really did everything you could, my sweet Annalise would still be here! And my life wouldn’t be in shambles! I lost my job, my marriage fell apart, and I’m completely broken! So I was thinking… now it’s my turn to play god.”

Alex looked at him with wide eyes, there didn’t seem to be any real thoughts behind them though. Eddie felt a shiver run down his spin. 

“You really don't think I did everything I could?! That I don’t carry her death with me everywhere I go??”

“Don’t–! Act like you know my pain!” Alex slammed his fist down on the work bench, before running it through his untamed hair. 

“See, I already knew this was going to be fun. But oh, the drama! Y’know, I heard your fight with your little lover not-lover. Things got SPICY! I’m sure not in the way you really wanted though.”

Eddie let out a low growl from his throat.

“Hit a nerve, did I? It’s funny, see, I thought you were together too. Seems like everyone can see it but you. Oh well, you won’t have to worry about it for much longer.”

This guy seemed… perceptive? In his own twisted way.

“Although, I do feel bad for your son. Christopher, was it?” 

At that, Eddie tried to lunge at the man, only held back by those stupid chains. How dare he mention Chris.

“Tsk! Ah ah ah! When will you accept that there's nothing you can do? Not for you, not for your little lover, and not for your son. It's sad. First his mommy, then his daddy, next his Buck.” Alex made a faux pouting face.

“Maybe I'll make things… easier for him. I’d watch after him myself but I don’t think I’ll stick around much longer either… Maybe I’ll take him with me.” 

Eddie flashed him a dangerous look at that. He felt like he could bite the man's head off. 

“I swear to god if you lay a hand on either of their heads–!”

“Awww, see, you really do care!” Alex clapped his hands together with joy.

“If only you realised sooner, tsk. Too bad.”

“Why Buck? He isn’t even a medic! Y’know this would be much easier for you if it was just me. Taking care of 2-” 

Alex interrupted him by flashing up 3 of his fingers, instead of just the 2 Eddie mentioned.

“2– adults, especially of our size, would be difficult. But just me? I mean you’ve already got the hard work done there!”

“Where’s the fun in that though! Despite you seeming to think you hold the whole world in your hands…” He flashed Eddie a look of pure anger, “You don’t!” There he was, already smiling like a child on Christmas morning again. 

“See, these are my plans. Because it’s my turn! Besides, you’re little Buck was there, wasn’t he? He’s the one who– Who held me back! From my little girl!” 

Alex was in Eddie’s face now, spitting all over him in his rage. 

Eddie was tugging at his chains, just as much in the other man's face as Alex was in his. 

“I swear to god, when I get out of these chains–!” 

“But! You won't. You’re not getting out of this one, Edmundo.”

God, it was creepy how much this guy knew about him. Not as creepy as this damn shed though.

“And neither is Buck, or your little superman!” 

Buck would protect Christopher, yeah? If Eddie couldn’t get out of this… he had to though. For them. God, he just wanted to hold them both again. Kiss Chris on the forehead and promise him everything will be okay, that his Bucky will take care of him. That it’s already written up in his will and that he loves him now and for forever.

And Buck… He didn’t know what he’d even say to him. Maybe that… that he was right. That he was sorry and if he could go back and fix things he would. Just hold his face between his hands and… and tell him that he loves him.

And that’s what he’ll do the second he gets out of this mess. Because he will get out of this.

Eddie lunged forward again, his hair falling into his face now as he pulled at the chains holding him back.

“Just wait! You really think you can get away with–”

“My god!” Alex slammed his fist on the bench again. “You get so boring so fast!” 

Alex was running his hands across his face now. 

“Here’s what's going to happen. I have a few things to finish up, so you’re gonna be good and take a nice nap, okay?” 

“A nap–?” The next thing Eddie knows he’s getting kicked in the face, much harder this time. And once again, everything goes black.

Chapter Text

Buck knows what he’s doing is technically illegal. Technically Eddie’s– Their house is still a crime scene. But he needs to gather clues and find out where the hell Eddie is.

Luckily, he has keys to the house, and just has to get around the yellow evidence tape.

He starts poking around the kitchen, where the fire started. It's clear the culprit was the oven. But Buck knows the oven was off when he left, he's the only one who does any baking here anyway. And Buck’s a firefighter, a regular oven fire wouldn’t spread like this, and not so quickly.

Whatever evidence there was had been burned away though.

He made his way back to his–their– whoever's room to take another look around. It looked pretty much the same too, including his uhh… stomach filling? Yeah, like a very gross Boston cream donut threw up… that’s what Buck tells himself, at least.

He ventures through the room slowly, taking in every detail. The room is still kind of bare, he never really felt right with moving all his stuff in. Part of him was just waiting for the Diaz boys to come home at any minute. He was just keeping the house warm for its rightful owners.

But somehow they came home and the house felt colder than ever. And now Eddie’s gone, and he might never see him again.

His eyes landed on one of the things he did add to the room. A photo of him, Chris, and Eddie he had placed on the bedstand. It was from a picnic they had a while ago. They drove a little out of town so he could bring them to one of his favorite spots from when he first moved to LA by himself.

It was such a beautiful day, Buck wished he could go back to that day and stay there forever, just the three of them.

He ran his thumb over Eddie’s face in the photo, and felt the tears begin to fall.

He shouldn’t have said anything last night, he at least should have stayed. But he just got up and left when things got hard and let this happen to Eddie.

He began to whisper to himself, “It’s not fair… It’s not fair!” He was gripping the photo tightly now, his tears ripping through him, making it harder to talk.

“I’m- I’m sorry, Eddie. I should have been there…”

“Been where, Buckaroo?”

Buck spins around quickly, gripping the photo tight to his chest as if he were caught red handed.

And he kind of was, because he spun around to see sergeant Athena Grant sporting her “now what have you done this time” face.

“Athena– how’d you know I was–”

“Breaking into an active crime scene? I don’t know, maybe because of this handy dandy police scanner giving me a report about an obscenely large man breaking into an active crime scene.” Athena enunciated the last part more than the rest.

“Come on, Athena. What do you expect from me? Eddie is missing! I’m not going to just sit by and endure all your pitying looks and–”

“Woah, there! You’ll get no pity from me. What use would that do in helping us find Eddie?”

“Us?”

“Well I can’t have you running around breaking into any more active crime scenes, can I?”

“Uhhh…”

“So! What have you found?”

“Nothing really.” Buck quickly pocketed the photo before continuing, not that he thought Athena didn’t see it. “Obviously the fire started from the oven, it must have been tampered with. Everything’s so burned up that I can’t figure out what though.”

“Mhmm.”

“Umm, I was just about to check Christopher's room, he’s been at Denny’s though so I don’t think we’ll find anything.”

“That’s what I’m worried about, Buck. His room was empty when… Well last night; his room was empty last night. And if there was a person in this house looking for somewhere to hide… just be prepared and keep a keen eye.”

Buck nodded his head solemnly and followed Athena to Chris’ room.

“Yeah, I was in here earlier and I–” Buck takes in the room as it’s no longer covered in the smog from earlier, and Athena was right. Something was off.

It looked like someone had been laying in his made bed, an adult someone. Along with some of Chris’ usually organized toys and books had been moved around, and looked disheveled.

And then he felt it. Was that… a breeze? He walked slowly across the room to the window, and realized it was all the way open. He poked his head out and saw the foot prints pointed directly towards the window, and when he brought his head back in he noticed the light mud prints on the floor.

They were in the house. In Chris’ room. In his bed.

“That bastard!”

“What is it, Buck? Tell me what you’re seeing!”

“They were here! In this room! Laying down in his bed and– apparently– messing through his stuff! His toys! That creep! They came in through that window there!”

“But what about the broken window out front?”

“I don’t know! A distraction? This is clearly a crazy person. Especially if they think they can get away with breaking into my house and going through my so–” Buck paused for a moment before continuing. “Christopher’s room! And they put their hands on Eddie! My Eddie!” Buck was jabbing at his chest possessively now.

“Okay now, Buckaroo. We’ll find whoever did this.”

“Oh, I know. And I’m going to personally wring them out for this!”

“Hey, don’t say that… In front of me.” Athena gave him a knowing look. She was almost upset as he was about this.

He gave her a quick nod back before double checking over the room.

He dropped to his knees to look under the bed and found… a pink bunny? He reached under the bed to grab it and returned to his feet.

“I’m assuming that’s not Chris’?”

“It most certainly is not. Although, I think I recognize it?”

It’s a pink bunny stuffie, with long flappy ears. It looked like it had been through hell too. Covered in dirt and what looked like… blood? He held it in both his hands, and scrunched up his eyebrows, trying to place where he’d seen it.

“What’re you thinking, Buck?”

“I’ve seen this.”

“What do you mean, seen it?”

“I just– oh. Oh shit.”

“What is it? Talk to me, Buck!”

Athena had walked up to Buck and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“He meant to leave this here, he wanted me to find it!”

“He?? Buck! What is going on?”

“You remember that call? Maybe 2 months ago now?”

“You have to be more specific, Buck.”

“The car accident! Where the father and daughter got t-boned! You arrested the guy driving the truck that hit them.”

Athena had dropped her hand by now, and was giving him a pensive look. “Yeah, yeah I do. That poor girl…”

“Yeah, Annalise Fieldmen. She uh… She didn’t make it.”

They shared a moment of silence before Buck continued.

“And the father. His name was… Alec? Alan? Whatever. He was clutching this when… y’know. He was here! In this house! You can find his name in your records, right?”

“Buck, this is all circumstantial, I can try to get a warrant but–”

“But??? Athena, this is Eddie! And he knows where we live! Where Chris lives!”

“Then good thing Chris isn’t living here right now, and neither are you.”

Buck rolled his eyes.

“And Buck, now you really can’t be sniffing around in this. If this guy is who you think he is… if he has a vendetta…”

“Oh, if he has something? Hmm, what does he have again? Oh, yeah! Eddie! He has Eddie! And he could easily have Hen’s address, where Chris is, if he found Eddie’s! The biggest technophobe we know!”

Buck’s pretty much yelling now, more out of fear than frustration though.

“And this!” Buck waves the rabbit around. “He meant to leave this! He wanted me to find it!”

“Exactly! Buck! This man knows where you live! This man knows where your loved ones live! And this man wants you to find him. If you’re right, this is a very dangerous man.”

“And he has Eddie!!”

“And he won't have you too!” Athena began to yell, but quickly tried to compose herself.

“Buck, I swear we will find him. But for now you need to stay safe. Take Chris, I’d say to sleep at my place but I was the arresting officer, so he could find you there. Try Maddie’s, she wasn’t involved on the call.”

“Athena–!”

“No! This isn’t a conversation! I will keep you as updated as I can but you have to stay out of it!”

Buck wanted to fight back, but he knew Athena wouldn’t budge on this. And he did need to get Chris. He needed to take care of him, and try to tell him what's happening. And hell, he needed his Superman right now too.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to go get Chris.”

“Good, he’s going to need you, Buck. You’re going to need each other. Hang in there, Buckaroo.”

“Mmm, I will.”

And with that, she clapped him on the shoulder and made her way to the door.