Work Text:
I will send out an army to find you
In the middle of the darkest night
It's true, I will rescue you
I will never stop marching to reach you
In the middle of the hardest fight
It's true, I will rescue you
Oh, I will rescue you
Rescue - Lauren Daigle
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The reality settles in, threatening to rip a hole in the bottom of her ribcage.
Harry's been abducted.
Jeffery Hudson had walked into her home and taken her son.
She's overwhelmed by the competing emotions swirling in her; terrified, furious, guilty. She had gone after Hudson, and she hadn’t thought of herself or her family, and now they were in danger. She blames that sick psycho but she also blames herself. He had said that she wasn’t a mom who’s a cop, that she was a cop that happens to be a mother. God damn, she wants him to be wrong but she’s scared there may be a kernel of truth in his words. The evidence in front of them shows that that her children, her family hadn’t been her priority today and now they're all paying the price. She fights to slow her heart rate, to force her brain from blind emotional feeling mode into thinking mode. Fear and heartbreak aren’t going to help her right now, she needs to try and make a plan.
“I'm going to call Sue Blevins and tell her what's happening, get her to keep May at dispatch.” Athena tells her husbands, phone still in hand.
“Athena, May would-” Michael protests and she stops him with a hand on his chest.
“I know she would want to be here with us… and I know she would want to help.” Her other hand finds Bobby’s as she speaks to them both. “And so would Buck, but I've got one child already-” She breaks off to swallow a sob, working to compose herself enough to continue. “I need to find Harry, I can't be worrying about the other two as well.”
“I hear you but I think they should know.” Bobby appeals, fearing what may happen if either of their first responder children were to find out that Harry was missing over the radio.
“May maybe, but the last thing we need right now is that boy of yours going ‘Full Buck’ and getting himself killed.”
Bobby thinks of the last time he had said the words ‘Full Buck’. It had been in the station kitchen while a sniper going after firefighters had been on the loose. Buck had made himself a target to protect his team, his family. The kid had risked himself just so no one else would be in harm's way.
Bobby had seethed afterward. He’d wanted to yell, to hit things, to drink. He had wanted to say that Buck didn't get to take risks like that, wanted him to know that he was too important to be in such a situation. Buck was lucky that Bobby hadn't heard him call himself ‘expendable’.
That same week he had spoken to Athena about her attack, about how he had feared she was dying, and unlike most, he knew what it was like to be left behind. He’d already been through the loss of a wife.
He had lost children before too.
Bobby cared for all of his team, they were a family, and he would go above and beyond to protect any one of them.
The captain would be devastated to lose any of his firefighters, he would grieve for them, and then someone else would fill the position and they would continue; Bobby would continue to lead the 118.
He's not certain he could go on if he lost Buck. He cares for all of them but only one is his son.
It was simply unacceptable for Buck to put himself in the path of a sniper's bullet, no matter who or what he was protecting, even if it could be considered part of his job.
The fire captain, in the fire house kitchen, on shift, could not say any of that.
Instead he had turned back to the cutting board, blinking away tears, needing to try twice before he could speak evenly. He had said, ‘We are a team, and we're supposed to protect each other.’ He'd had to force down a sob that tried to break out, swallowing tightly as he gestured with the knife in his hand, unable to look at his kid or he would surely break. ‘Don't do it again.’
Athena was right; Buck couldn't be privy to too much information about Harry's kidnapping. They couldn’t risk him going after Hudson, or trying to save Harry himself.
And who's to say that Jeffrey Hudson wouldn't decide to come at Athena again though someone else she loves? He might decide that one child wasn't enough. He might try to lure one of the older siblings out. May's less impulsive at least, but she's just as led by her heart, just as protective. The pair are the poster children for ‘nature vs nurture’ in how they both take after Bobby.
There's a chance that May would slow down and see through the ploy but Buck… Buck wouldn’t hesitate to put himself in harm’s way if he thought it would help Harry.
With one child already in danger they can't risk another one going out there. So they'll have Sue and Josh keep an eye on May, keep her at dispatch where she can help from the safety of a secured building, and Bobby will keep Buck close, keep him out of trouble.
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Buck can feel the tension, the barely restrained rage rolling off of Bobby, and the boy falls back on old patterns, the careful steps as he approaches, how he leaves a distance between them, the non-confrontational way he asks ‘You just weren't having it tonight?’.
The anger softens for half a second, revealing a glimpse of the fear-pain-terror-helplessness-grief underneath as Bobby tells them that Harry's been kidnapped. As shocked silence falls, tears well in the cracks between the captain’s rage and he abruptly turns, fleeing for the truck.
The journey to the hospital is mostly silent, broken by the 118’s gentle attempts to talk to Bobby but he doesn’t want to talk. In stoic, clinical terms he tells them ‘Harry was taken by someone Athena arrested, they’re working to get him back’. He doesn’t tell them who, doesn’t tell them they’ve faced this monster before, that they’ve heard his voice over the radio as Athena fought for her life.
After they’ve dropped off their gunshot wound victim they return to the station. Bobby pulls Chimney aside as they get out of the trucks.
“Chim, I want you to keep everyone on task, make sure Buck… doesn’t go anywhere or get any ideas.”
“Sure, Cap.” Chimney says in understanding with a hand on the older man’s shoulder.
“I’m going to…” Bobby points vaguely at the locker room and Chim nods, patting his captain’s back as he goes.
Buck numbly stumbles through the Returning to Service procedures, thoughts on Harry. Bobby had barely spoken in the truck so he has no idea what's really happening and the unknowns are making him nauseous and jittery.
As they work to get everything cleaned, restocked and stowed, he pauses to pull out his phone to text May, then he stops. He thinks about the way Bobby had blurted out ‘Harry's been kidnapped’ as if he hadn't planned on telling them. What if May doesn't know? What if he texted her asking what she knew and she knew nothing? He can't do that to her.
He opens his messages to Athena. She hasn't messaged him today.
He scrolls further back in the chat to a few weeks ago. Harry had knocked on his door in the late afternoon with a scowl on his face.
“Can I hide out here?” The young teen had asked.
“Who are you hiding from? Cause if it's your dad fine, if it's Pops then I guess but if you're hiding from Mom then hell no.” Harry rolled his eyes and moved past Buck into the apartment, beelining for the gaming system.
“So…?” Buck prompted, taking a seat next to him.
“Mom.” Harry had sighed, reaching for the game controller on the coffee table.
“Jesus, Harry, you’re going to get me put in jail… again, or murdered.”
“She’s not going to murder you.” Harry told him, eyes never leaving the screen as he pressed through the menus. “Apparently you’re her favourite because you didn’t give her stretch marks.” Harry had scrunched up his nose at the thought and Buck had laughed, not having heard that one before.
The first time he’d caught wind of “this child is my favourite because” he had been alarmed, but he had since realised that it was a harmless game rooted in love, not competition or alienation. May is Athena’s favourite because she always makes her tea just right, Harry is Athena’s favourite because he keeps her picture as his screen lock, May’s the favourite when she sides with her mother on what to get for dinner and Harry is the favourite when he compliments her cooking; the point being that she didn’t have a favourite because she loved them both.
The first time she had claimed Buck to be her favourite (for making brown butter chocolate chip cookies) he had frozen, his chest constricted, pulse roaring in his ears. He wondered if she had misspoken, if it was out of pity or just a meaningless turn of phrase, but no. She had claimed him as her son too and he was her favourite because he washed her car, her favourite because he gives the biggest bear hugs.
“Oh really? I thought you were the favourite because May and I are “crisis magnets” and are making her “age prematurely”.” Buck had teased back at Harry. “So why are you here?” Harry chewed on his lip as he controlled his avatar around the digital plane.
“I wanted to go to the arcade after school but Momma said ‘no’ and I… may have said some things I probably shouldn’t have.”
“And now you’re scared to face the music?”
“...yeah.” He admitted, rapidly pressing the buttons. Buck sighed heavily before he said,
“You can’t hide forever but I’ll buy you some time.” Harry had dropped the remote to wrap both arms around Buck, who returned the hug fiercely because Buck was the favourite for his bear hugs. Yes, Athena loved them all, and while she was not above putting him in ‘jail’ or ‘time out’ as Chim liked to call it, she was not going to murder him. Still, he wasn’t taking chances and he had pulled out his phone.
Buck to Momma Bear: Text Chat
Sent 5:27pm: Harry's here safe, but he needs some time to cool off
Sent 5:27pm: pls don't be mad
Sent 5:28pm: (at me) he knows he did the wrong thing
Received 5:31pm: Thank you baby, are you both coming home for dinner?
Sent 5:43pm: Harry said yes if we can have Korean fried chicken
Sent 5:43pm: I did point out he might not be in a position to be making demands
Received 5:46pm: hmm tell that boy to call me when he's ready to talk
Received 5:47pm: Thanks for looking out for him honey, you're a good big brother.
Buck looks up from his phone to see Bobby through the glass of the transparent locker room as he sits and prays. Buck’s so worried for Harry, not having enough facts that his brain is working double time to supply him with countless scenarios, most horrible. He opens his text chat with Harry and May, reading the text Harry had sent only hours before.
Group Chat ‘in the clurb’: Buck, Harry and May
Harry: Sent 11:13am: Dads getting the generator working
Harry: Sent 11:13am: Have fun at work with no power suckaaas
Harry: Sent 11:13am: Image
(Description: a rendered image of a frog riding a unicycle)
May: Sent 11:28am: I’m at work with power AND air-conditioning, dingus
Buck had only replied with an emoji, trying to conserve his phone battery.
Complicated feelings swirl in him; scared for Harry, for Athena and Bobby, scared by the distance he feels right now, like he's been pushed out. They’re supposed to be a family, Harry was like his little brother but right now he feels like his family has forgotten about him; but this isn't about him, he tells himself. Harry's been taken, been kidnapped by a psycho; him and his insecurities aren't important right now.
He wants to go sit with Bobby, even though he feels unsure if he’d be welcome right now, but he doesn’t get the chance as the alarm goes off again, sending them back to the Autonomous Zone.
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“You think you got me alone that night? No, sir. When you came at me, you came at everyone who loves me.” Athena tells Hudson from behind the sight of her firearm.
Her family had been listening that night, scared they were hearing her be killed, fearing they would lose her forever. Maddie, part of their extended family twice over through her relation to Buck and relationship with Chimney, had been on the line. She’d frantically called for back-up, had tried to divert the other units to an alternate channel so the sergeant’s attack wouldn’t be broadcasted to everyone.
Athena had heard that the 118 had stormed into the storage facility before it had been cleared, that her husband and son had brandished axes as they ran to her aid.
May hadn’t been working at dispatch that night thankfully, but she was right now, patched in and helping coordinate the take-down of Hudson.
They were all listening right now. She knows she’s truly blessed to have so many people behind her, so much love and support. They would find Harry; this family doesn’t give up on each other.
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The ambulance pulls out, Harry safely inside with Athena and Michael. Bobby sags a little, adrenalin fading. He doesn't even realise he's looking for Buck until he sees the kid. Buck’s shutting the last of the storage panels, readying the truck to get going. Bobby moves thoughtlessly and Buck looks up at him, cocking his head questioningly when the man says nothing.
Bobby crashes into Buck more than anything. Chest to chest, he wraps his arms firmly around his boy. Buck lets out a startled squawk but recovers quickly, hugging him back. Bobby presses his nose to Buck's curls as the tears break free.
All the feelings he'd been pushing down to get through the day break through the surface along with the relief of finding Harry alive, the relief of Athena being spared the pain of losing a child.
“He’s okay, it’s okay.” He gasps, clutching at Buck, nearly lifting him off the ground. He’s stuck on the thought that that fucking monster nearly killed his wife then came back and nearly killed their young son, just an innocent little boy taken to be used as collateral damage to bring pain and suffering to a strong woman.
There’s a second where Bobby wishes he had brought the axe down on Hudson while he was cuffed to that pipe, but he pushes away the violent thought, focussing on the warm weight of his son in his arms. He thinks of the way their family all came together to support each other, focuses on the relief of now instead of the fear of what ifs.
“You okay, kid?” Bobby asks and when Buck nods he gives him another squeeze before stepping back, leaving a hand on his shoulder. “Alright, come on, bud. We’re taking the Captain’s Truck. We’re gonna go and pick up May from dispatch, then we’ll go to the hospital.”
“Are… are you sure I should come? I can just go back to the station, we didn’t finish our jobs before.” Buck can’t help from giving Bobby the ‘easy out’.
“Buck.” Bobby sighs gently, thumb rubbing a circle above the boy’s clavicle. He’s familiar with the kid’s tendency to think he’s not wanted, the insecurity that makes him doubt his place even after they’ve told him otherwise. It’s not unreasonable that a pattern ingrained over decades would take more than a couple of years to reprogram, and he’s more than willing to remind Buck whenever he needs reassurance.
“Today was… hard for our family, doing our jobs but not knowing if it would be enough, if we would get Harry back. And I understand it would have been hard for you and May especially, not knowing much other than your little brother’s in danger and you can’t really do anything.” Buck ducks his head, feelings surging. Bobby’s right; it had been hard, beyond hard, knowing that his little brother, not by biology but certainly by his heart, was in danger, that he needed to be saved and Buck was failing him by standing around doing nothing. Bobby wraps an arm around Buck’s shoulders, tucking the boy into his side.
“Plus, after today I think Athena’s going to want all her kids within arms reach, at least for a bit.” He has no doubt that tomorrow she will be looking up GPS trackers, he’s probably going to have to talk her down from chipping the kids like cats.
“I’ll take you back to the station after, just come see everyone. Just come… ‘be together’ for a bit.” Bobby implores, knowing that Athena needs this, that Harry and himself and Buck all need this.
Their phones ping one after another and they pull them out to read their messages.
Bobby to Athena: Text Chat
Received 9:12pm: He’s awake and doing okay, no major injuries
Received 9:12pm: Just hungry, happy to be reunited with his phone, you know that boy
Group Chat ‘in the clurb’: Buck, Harry and May
Harry: Sent 11:13am: Image
(Description: Image is a screenshot of a photo and text message. The photo shows a white man with a chin strap beard, he is in a hospital gown and has gauze taped under his nose. The message reads ‘I lived bitch’.)
“Come on, kid, I’ll let you drive.” Bobby says, tossing the keys up. Buck catches them with a grin, letting himself feel the heady relief that his family is okay.