Chapter Text
Buck let himself into his loft for what was likely the last time. He’d done it, he’d finally brought a house, and he moved in today.
It had all happened so fast, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, or so his Grandma had always said.
It was perfect, and so far from the cold industrial loft. A house in a gated community, three double bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms and an amazing kitchen. A yard. A garage.
It was a dream come true. And he could thank his maternal grandparents for it. When they’d died twenty years ago, they’d left him and Maddie large inheritances. Add to that the trust fund their parents had given them, and Evan Buckley didn’t need to worry about money.
And now he didn’t need to worry about stairs. Nothing sucked more than sleeping on the couch for months on end while his leg healed enough to tackle the stairs to his bed. But it didn’t matter any longer. He would rent the loft out, and move into his own house.
There was very little he wanted to take, but he moved around filling two boxes. His clothes would take up more room, but he’d have help in the form of his friends.
Not those from the 118. Since being injured their contact had lessened. Once that would have broken him, but he was a different man now.
One who kept in contact with friends from his days travelling, one who went to therapy, and separated his work and personal life, if even a little.
He spoke to Eddie a couple times a week. The least amount since they’d meet. And he spoke to Bobby once a week or so. Hen, Chimney and the others less frequently. But it was fine. They checked up on him, they were in contact, he couldn’t ask, or want for more.
Instead he had messaged his friend group for help. Even after moving out of the frat house he’d kept in contact with his old flatmates, and through them Buck had met more people, and found his friendship network growing. Now they were joined by partners and new friends, and though they didn’t all hang out together a lot, they were still close. It was hard after all to get a large group organised enough to meet up frequently.
It was comforting to let himself be drawn in by their group chat, as they tried to talk him into ever increasingly ridiculous house decor. Still their ideas might come in handy, it was a big house after all, and once he’d finished setting up the lounge, his room and the gym, he’d turn to the other rooms.
But first he needed to order furniture to be delivered to the house. He was sort of excited to have furniture that wasn’t show room quality, or on the other side of the spectrum, found on the side of the road.
…
Bucks body ached. His mouth was dry and salty; his ears full of water. All he wanted was to shower and curl up in bed and forget this day had ever happened.
Instead he was pulling yet another person from the dangerous waters below.
It was starting to get a little crowded, but Buck knew that it was better than the alternative, that there had been no survivors. So far their group had managed to stave off serious injury. Until Buck pulled the family of three from the water. A teenage girl, her sister who couldn’t have been older than Chris, and their mother. The girls were okay, but their mom; Buck knew she wouldn’t make it.
It would be comical if it weren’t tragic. His first emergency since he’d been crushed, and it was a crush injury. Given the lack of help available and the poor resources, she was slipping further away by the minute.
He tried to keep the girls distracted by introducing them to Chris. It helped a little, as the boy chattered away, drawing the little girl, Betsy into his orbit. Stacy, the elder girl, was old enough to be aware of the situation. She humoured him though, and sat with the two kids, keeping them from the edge of the truck.
It helped, knowing that he didn’t have to worry about Chris so much. But of course he couldn’t keep the sliver of fear and regret out of his system. He’d brought Chris here. He knew that it wasn’t his fault that theyd been caught in a natural disaster, but he was struggling already with the guilt.
In the meantime he helped another man onto the truck and checked him over quickly. A broken arm but no life threatening injuries. Thankfully.
But giving first aid wasn’t his biggest concern of the moment. There in the water were a multitude of dead bodies, floating by peacefully. A stark contrast to the chaos of his heart.
Buck didn’t hesitate, limping over to Chris and the two girls who sat beside their dying mother. “Hi, how are you feeling?” He asked blocking their view of the water.
“I’m okay mister,” the little girl said. “Well I'm very happy to hear that. I was thinking we could play a game while we wait for the water to go down, how does that sound?”
He got two nods and one shrug. He’d take it. And so while they waited for the water to calm, Buck kept the children occupied. His ADHD helped him split his attention, and he waved the man with the broken arm over, completing first aid while he kept the kids from seeing the horrors around them.
It wouldn’t last.
During the first hour the girls mother slipped away silently. By that time he’d ushered the kids further down the truck, away from their mother. He hadn’t been confident that it was the right choice, but they didn’t need to watch her die.
Instead those that he’d pulled from the water set to caring for the woman in her final moments. There were tears, but the girls seemed calm, Buck didn’t want to think about how they would react once the shock had passed. And it wasn’t just them he worried about.
It was odd, but the little one, Betsy, didn’t fuss as they climbed from the truck and away from her mother. It was like she didn’t notice, or care.
Stacy, the teenager avoided his eyes as she lifted her sister onto her hip, and Buck let it go. It wasn’t the time. She shook her head at him, but let Buck pull her into his side for several long moments.
They needed to find the field hospital, and Buck was going to push aside his exhaustion to get them there.
…
Until he was depositing Chris in Eddie’s arms hours later, Buck felt like time was moving through tar. He stopped to help people, and led his firetruck group through the streets, but he wouldn’t be able to recall most of what happened later.
He did recognise May though, collecting her into his arms when she began to cry at the sight of him. The woman she was helping was pulled from the car and after a moment May returned to her side, continuing to put pressure on the wound.
Buck didn’t like the look of the injury, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Still, he felt relief when they stumbled upon the field hospital.
By this time their group had grown quite large, as survivors joined them in search of safety. Even with the extra people, Buck still didn’t feel safe handing Chris off.
He moved the boy off his hip, and into a piggy back ride, motioning for Stacy to hand him Betsy. The teenager was clearly about to drop, having carried her sister for so long that her arms burned.
Buck felt the burn too, but he was older, stronger and used to pain. And so he settled Betsy to his chest, secured Chris and trudged on, listening to May and Stacy chatter away.
It felt like he blinked and was in front of the medical tents.
It helped that Eddie was one of the first people that Buck saw. He allowed Eddie to take Chris from his back, and then lead Stacy and May to a nurse to get checked. His legs shook, his vision swum, but he locked his knees and blinked with his whole face to keep it together.
Bobby appeared at his side and frantically checked first May and then him, but he waved him away, telling him to focus on May. It was clear that Bobby was divided, but he nodded and followed May to be checked over.
The whole time Buck kept Betsy in his arms, and Chris in his sights. And when the nurse declared Stacy dehydrated but fine Buck breathed a sigh of relief and allowed them to pull Betsy from his arms. The girl was likewise dehydrated, but fine.
It was relief to hear that Chris was okay. Not a scratch on him, and if he cried a little at hearing that no one would judge him.
Eddie carried the boy back to Buck, telling him to say goodnight, because he was taking Chris home. Sleepily, Chris did, adding “love you Bucky,” before he dozed off.
“Thank you for keeping him safe,” Eddie said, laying a hand on Bucks shoulder and squeezing. It felt like he was looking into Bucks very soul as he stared at him with emotional eyes. “Always,” Buck said in response, laying his hand over Eddie’s for a moment.
“I’ll call you in the morning,” Eddie promised, and kept his eyes locked with Bucks until they couldn’t see one another again.
“Wow,” Stacy said from beside him. “That was intense.”
Buck couldn’t help but laugh.
…
Kicking off his shoes, Buck started striping before he’d even closed his door. He’d gone back to the loft on autopilot, hours after Eddie had left with Chris.
He’d not wanted to leave Stacy and Betsy until they were sorted, and child services had been slow and hard to pin down. With no family to stay with, and Stacy a couple years off of 18, they hadn’t been able to return to their apartment. Instead child services had taken them in and were going to place them in a family home for the evening.
Buck had given his number to Stacy, hugged her and Betsy and watched as the girls got in the caseworkers car. Only once lights had disappeared around the corner did Buck move from his spot.
He pushed it from his mind, turning the shower onto hot and ducking his head under immediately. It burned, but in a comforting way, washing away the horror of the day.
Buck didn’t know how he was going to get up the stairs to his bed, but he refused to sleep on the couch one more night. And he was right, it was hard pulling his weary, achy body up the stairs, but it faded when he tumbled into the bed and burrowed under the covers.
…
The next morning Buck was up early. He’d slept like a log, until twenty minutes ago when a nightmare of losing Chris had woken him. He would have called Eddie, but his phone was probably somewhere at the bottom of the ocean.
He was pouring coffee into a travel mug when someone pounded on his door. Worried that something had happened he hastened to the door, only to find a distraught Maddie.
“Maddie, what’s happened,” Buck said ushering his sister in and folding her into his embrace.
She sobbed once before pulling herself together. “I couldn’t get a hold of you,” she said. “I heard from Howie that you were in the tsunami yesterday, and then you wouldn’t answer your phone.”
Buck ran a hand over his big sisters hair, “my phones gone, sorry Mads. By the time I got home last night I was ready to crash. I’m going out in a minute to get a replacement if you want to come with me.”
She looked up at him with big wet eyes and nodded. “I’d love to. But first I’m going to go and pull myself together,” she said, pulling him down to kiss his cheek. Happy with that she strode across the room the bathroom.
Alone again, Buck returned to the kitchen, and filled a second travel mug with coffee. He felt guilty for worrying her, but at the same time, how could Chimney worry his sister like that. He’d been there when Buck had pulled his soggy, dead phone from his pocket. It stood out in Bucks mind, if only because it had been moments after handing Chris over to Eddie.
But Chimney didn’t think about that, instead he worried Maddie unnecessarily. Buck liked the guy, but some times he didn’t understand him.
He could hear Maddie padding up behind him, so he turned with a smile and handed her her cup. “Todays your day off right?” He asked. She nodded sipping the coffee with a hum.
“Well, if you have no plans, I’d like to show you something after we get a phone.”
Maddie raised an eyebrow but nodded willingly. “You can drive,” he said handing her his keys. His leg ached and driving manual wouldn’t help.
She took the keys with a long look but didn’t push. “Let’s go then,” she said waving him out of his apartment.
…
“You own a house.” Maddies voice was incredulous.
“I own a house,” he agreed. “I’m all moved in, tonight’s my first night here. I have an agent checking over the loft tomorrow with a tenant, I thought about selling it, but figured it might come in handy.”
He knew that wasn’t the info Maddie really cared about. “I’m ready to settle down,” he admitted. “Get a couple dogs, focus on my career and find a partner.”
His sister looked thoughtful. “I’m proud of you,” she said finally. “And I’m so happy for you.”
She shimmied closer to him on his brand new couch in his brand new house, and rested her head on his shoulder. And after a minute she asked, “so, dogs?”
Buck laughed. “Yeah, I might have already found two dogs online. They were surrended when their elderly owner died. A Dalmatian and Corgie. I can swing by the centre and see them today if I want.”
“Let’s go,” Maddie said quickly, bouncing off the couch and turning to pull her brother up. He’d known she’d be excited. Their parents hadn’t allowed pets, and neither had Doug. But secretly they’d always wanted a dog.
Buck let her push him towards the door, waving at one of his new neighbours as they pulled in next door. He’d introduce himself later, it seemed that he was about to be the proud dad of two dogs.
…
Buck let himself in the back door of his new house, sweating but happy. He’d woken early again that morning and decided to take the dogs on a walk of their new neighbourhood. And though early, he’d managed to meet a number of his neighbours.
Kind and curious about him, hed found himself surrounded when he stopped to say hi to someone. Before long he’d been added to their community page and talked into hosting a potluck that weekend so he could get to know everyone. He’d posted as such on the page and already, only twenty minutes later, he had a large guest list.
A ping from his phone caught his attention. Opening his messages, his Peru group chat was popping off. They’d learned that Buck had been in the Tsunami and were stressing out. He’d nipped that in the butt, and invited them all over, citing that he was still settling in.
They agreed and the next morning he would be invaded. Until then though, he set the dogs free into the house and settled at his kitchen island. He had some messages to send, mostly to the 118.
….
Buck knocked on Eddie’s door and grinned when Chris yelled his name and came clattering down the hall as soon as his dad had opened the door.
“Hey superman,” Buck greeted, hauling the kid into his arms. Behind him he heard Eddie close the door and couldn’t help but think his friend looked like shit. Lowering himself onto the couch, Buck accepted the can of coke from Eddie and sighed easily when Chris wiggled closer into his lap.
Eddie for his part just looked at them with a small smile. Buck frowned at his friend, but to no surprise Eddie waved him off, instead picking up the remote and switching on a movie. In minutes Chris was absorbed in it, his weight anchoring Buck to the couch in a way that had become soothing.
Emboldened by the cozy atmosphere, Buck lay a palm on Eddie’s chest and tapped twice, finally withdrawing his hand and pointing the cushion Buck had lay down right beside his thigh. For a moment he thought Eddie would refuse. Continue to sit at the other end of the couch and fight of obvious exhaustion.
But he didn’t. He slid down the couch till he lay flat, and placed a hand on Chris’ knee. Buck held his breathe and ran his fingers through Eddie’s hair, and after the second motion, Eddie finally melted into the couch. Before long he was asleep, snoring softly, but Buck didn’t cease his soft motions.
….
He’d spent longer at the Diaz’s then he’d intended, but he wasn’t worried about it. He knew May would be home for the rest of the day, and the dogs were hanging out with Maddie back at his house.
He knew she was trying to be sneaky, but when he’d headed out to check on Chris and Eddie, and shortly May, he’d seen her online shopping for house decor. As long as it was comfortable and nothing like his previous furniture, he’d take it.
Pulling up to the Nash-Grant house, Buck parked and climbed out of the keep with a groan. His leg ached, but he pushed it down as he knocked on the front door.
It was Bobby who opened it, looking surprised to see him. “Buck, are you okay?” He asked.
“I’m fine Cap, just here to check on May,” Buck said, catching sight of Athena behind Bobby.
“Of course, come in,” Athena said, waving the man in. “She’s in her room, you know where it is. Do you want a cup of tea, I just boiled the jug”
He grinned at the woman, “yes please,” and beelined down the hall, poking his head around the door to see May sitting at her desk typing.
“May,” Buck greeted, knocking on her door. She looked up abruptly, surprise painting her features before it gave way to happiness.
“Buck,” she replied and crossed the room in large steps, thudding into him. He let out a playful grunt, but wrapped the girl in a hug without delay.
After a moment she started to cry softly, and Buck couldn’t be more glad that he’d visited. “The woman I helped yesterday is okay.” May whispered. “I know that she’s okay, but I still dreamt about her dying all night.”
Movement near the door caught his eye, and he tried not to feel uncomfortable at the emotion on Athena’s face as she watched them.
“I know what you mean May,” Buck said after a moment. “I see Chris swept away in the water every time I close my eyes. It didn’t happen, but my mind is trying to tell me it did.”
Over Athena’s shoulder Bobby appeared, looking worried.
“I called my therapist this morning and got my appointment moved up this week, have you got a therapist?”
He cut of the word ‘still’ that tried to follow the end of the sentence. He’d known she’d been in therapy after trying to commit suicide, and knowing Athena would still be enrolled, but May had to make the choice to go.
“I’ve not been in a while, but if you think it’ll help,” May said, her voice small. From the door Athena nodded in relief and slipped away. “I’ll ask mom to organise it for me.”
He didn’t tell her that Athena was already on it, just squeezed her before letting her go. “Good, we can suffer together,” he joked.
“Oh I see how it is,” May laughed, “you just want company in your torture.”
Buck nodded. “Of course, is there any other reason.” Before May could respond Harry came thumping down the hallway, “Buck, you’re here,” he cried.
“Want to play Mario Kart,” the boy asked, looking up at Buck with excitement. Buck looked to May, but she was already nodding. “Dibs Bowzer,” she said. “Nuh uh,” Harry said chasing his sister. One day he would realise she was only winding him up. Today was not that day.
….
By the time he let himself back into his house, the sun was high in the sky, and Buck was exhausted.
Happy though. He’d spent the day with his family and was going to spend the evening eating pizza and settling into his new home with his new pets.
Maddie was crashed out on the couch with the dogs curled up on her, though they were quick to join him, so he ushered them out the back door to the backyard. He plopped onto his bum and patted the dogs, finding a bag of tennis balls that he’d brought for them earlier.
That was how Maddie found him twenty minutes later, playing fetch with two happy dogs. And as he filled her in on his day, she relaxed at his side.
It was a nice reprieve from the horrors of the prior day. And it healed his heart a little to have this time with his sister, just the two of them.
….
“It’s been too long man,” Buck said clapping Steve on the shoulder as he let him and his girlfriend into the house. With them came their two flatmates.
“It’s been two weeks,” one of the guys laughed. He wasn’t wrong. Buck led them to the kitchen where the others were spread out checking out his new house.
“That room looks a little bare, I stand by my message in the chat,” Carter joked.
“Sex dungeon?” Will asked.
“No my other suggestion.”
“Rage room?” Kameron suggested, helping herself to the buffet Buck had supplied.
“Not that one either.”
Buck could see the others were trying to remember what other dumb idea he’d had. It was a long list.
After a moment Katie clicked her fingers and pointed at Carter. “Pottery studio.”
Carter nodded, laughing.
“Dude none of us know pottery.” Mark said, but Rose was getting into it. “Nah, he’s got a point. We could reinact Ghost.”
Buck had no clue what that meant, but the others laughed. Instead he watched as Sage and Basil made the rounds, saying hi to everyone and receiving their love and affection.
It seemed like they’d been with him forever. He loved them so much already. So much that in bed that morning he’d organised the delivery of toys and bedding for them. He expected it to turn up before long, and thankfully he had a group of friends available to help.
The visit continued in the same vein. They didn’t talk about the tsunami, but Buck could see them making sure he was okay. It was nice to have the support.
….
His good mood didn’t last.
Everyone had sounded off in the 118 group chat, confirming no injuries after the intense day working the tsunami. But Buck tried not to feel resentful that every message in the chat lately was in response to him. It wasn’t worth checking to see when someone else had initiated conversation. He knew it had been a while.
Buck got it, he did. Life was busy, and they couldn’t spend all their time talking to him. He was busy too, so he understood. But lately it felt like there was a real disconnect between him and the 118.
And he didn’t know how to fix it. Buck just hoped that when he started back at work soon the weirdness faded.
His phone ringing cut short the melencoly thoughts. “You’ve reached Buck,” he said, answering it.
“Hi Buck, my names Lucy Straight, I work for child protective services. During the tsunami you rescued two children, they’d like to know if they could talk to you.”
He knew who she was talking about, and quickly confirmed they could. After a moment of silence Stacey said, “Hi Buck.” Which was quickly echoed by Betsy.
“Hi girls, how are you settling in?” He asked. There wasn’t much else he could ask.
“We’re settling in okay,” Stacy said. “We just wanted to thank you for helping us. And see if maybe you want to keep in touch.”
“Of course,” he responded. “I’d like nothing more. Could I speak to Lucy really quick?”
It was spur of the moment but it felt right. Lucy’s voice came over the line and he asked, “what’s going to happen to them.”
He could hear Lucy shooing the girls away so they couldn’t listen. “They have no family, and due to their age difference we’re going to struggle to place them somewhere together.”
He sighed. “I’m a registered foster parent, could I take the girls?” He’d registered while at the fire academy, and had kept up to date just in case.
Lucy sounded clearly surprised as she asked him for his information so she could look him up. “It says here you live in an apartment, how many bedrooms is that?”
He’d not had time to update his details. He told her as such and filled her in on his move. Finally she said, “I can bring them over in a few hours.”
“Perfect,” Buck replied. Already he was pulling up a furniture website. The two empty rooms would need the necessities in them before they arrived.
He’d pay extra to get everything here and assembled in time. It was a good thing he had an abundance of time.