Chapter Text
Buck had a rather sappy smile on his face as he stopped by the hallway, watching as his very handsome husband lounged on their sofa reading. He immediately came forward and plopped dramatically over his husband, grinning at the dramatic ‘oof!’ Tommy let out as he caught him. “The twins?”
“May took them out for the afternoon. I figured you’d want to sleep in after the rough shift.” Tommy muttered softly as he carded his fingers through his curls. “There’s some soup and fresh bread if you want.”
“Later.” Buck yawned loudly, snuggled deeper into Tommy’s warm hold. After helping out with the collapsed residential building, he reported for his 24-hour shift without hesitation and immediately joined in several ongoing search and rescue operations in areas devastated by the sudden flash flood. Honestly, all he wants right now is to hold his husband close and get some sleep. “Just want to nap with you.”
Tommy smiled into his curls as he pet his husband into sleep, comfortable on the huge sofa, in the sunlit living room.
Athena knew the moment she opened her front door and found Hen standing outside that it was going to be a difficult conversation ahead.
Thank God May took the twins out for ice cream and wasn’t home for this.
“Come in, Hen.” She stepped aside to let the paramedic in before heading to the kitchen. She could feel Hen’s curious look as she took in the living room (Hen hadn't been much to her house; they had preferred to hang out at the Wilsons instead of Athena’s place) and knew she had questions, especially looking at the framed photos of the twins and her throughout the years.
She at least has the tact to wait until after they've talked about how Harry and May are, but Athena can see how nervous she is.
“Just ask, Hen.” Athena sat back, watching as Hen fidgeted with the coffee mug she was holding.
“I’m not sure if it's okay to ask.” Hen hesitated before plowing on. “Yesterday, 118 was called in as support for a search and rescue operation at a collapsed residential building, and we saw Buck. We… I was wondering if you still kept in contact with him.”
Athena hummed as she stared at Hen. “Are you asking if I still keep in touch with my late husband’s son?”
“He’s not Bobby’s son.” Hen protested before realizing what she just said.
“Is that what you and everyone else in that station tell yourselves as all of you isolated the poor boy in his grief?” Athena’s eyes were sharp with suppressed fury. “You know, it’s funny you’re asking now, after all this time. You all froze him out the minute he left the station. Pretended he didn’t exist. And now you're curious?”
Hen flinched, but Athena continued, her voice rising slightly. “I saw that young man trying his best to keep in touch even after leaving 118. Text messages, calls, invites. And yet all of you ignored him. And now, when he’s finally moved on, when he’s built something good for himself, now you want to reach out?”
Hen shifted, uncomfortable with Athena’s steely gaze. “We thought he needed space.”
“No, you just didn’t want to deal with him,” Athena snapped. “He was grieving. He was isolated. And you all left him there.”
“You know, Bobby would have been disappointed with all of you if he knew how all of you treated Buck.” She watched in satisfaction as Hen flinched. “He was Bobby’s son even if they didn’t share blood. Did you know what his last words to him were? He asked Buck to watch over all of you. And what did you guys do? Reject all his attempts and treat him like he was still that immature probie who walked into 118 for the first time.”
She shook her head, her expression full of disappointment. “To answer your question, yes, I still keep in touch with him. He has a good life now, a captain at his station.” She didn’t mention the weekly dinners with Buck and his family or how the twins call her their Grammy. That part wasn’t for Hen to know. Not anymore.
“Tell 118 to leave him alone, Hen. He’s finally happy now; and I won’t let all of you ruin that for him.”
Eddie was having a bad day.
Captain De Luca apparently had written him up (and made sure he knew who exactly reported him; he is honestly not sure what beef the captain has with him since they never met before), and he was currently put on administrative leave pending an investigation on his conduct during the search and rescue operation yesterday, and for once Chim didn’t have his back and didn’t even fight the decision.
And he was supposed to be his captain, he thought bitterly.
No matter, the investigation was going to show he did the right thing; the USAR captain didn’t have the right to bench him when they needed all hands on deck for the operation. It was all Buck’s fault; he must’ve influenced her decision. Judging from their closeness, they must be sleeping together, and Buck used that for some petty revenge.
Whatever.
He was going to have the week off anyways.
He has an important meeting to attend today, one that made years of scrimping and suffering worth it.
The past few years were hard for Diazes, from having to downgrade their housing situation from the beautiful bungalow to a small loft apartment with one bedroom that he had magnanimously given to Chris while sleeping in the loft area in order to keep Christopher in the private school he was in to picking up extra shifts and cutting down unnecessary expenditures to afford living in LA.
But thankfully all that had finally paid off, as Chris’s hard work at school had managed to earn him a partial scholarship with CALTECH studying aerospace engineering, and with the college fund he had saved up, Chris will be going to college debt-free.
That afternoon, he, Chris, Adriana, and his parents gathered at his lawyer’s conference room, Helena and Ramon gushing over Chris’s academic achievement when the lawyer came in, holding a thick file.
“Mr. Edmundo Diaz? Mr. Christopher Diaz? I’m Alex Harper, the lawyer assigned as trustee for your college account. Firstly, I would like to offer my congratulations to young Mr. Diaz for his early acceptance into CALTECH.” The lawyer smiled warmly at Christopher. “Now, I would like to brief you in regard to the accounts under Mr. Diaz’s name.”
“Firstly, the college trust account was set up by Mr. Evan Buckley in 2019 as part of his duties as his legal guardian up until 2025, when he ended his contribution as the sole contributor to the account. Fortunately, even after discontinuing his contribution, Mr. Buckley had made sure to put in safeguards on the account by making Mr. Christopher Gavin Diaz the only person that can access that account when he begins his tertiary education or when he reaches age 25.”
Eddie was stunned.
“What do you mean sole contributor? I contributed to the account.” He said faintly, vaguely remembering Buck and Carla reminding him again and again about making sure he set up payment to the college fund account a few years ago.
He did, didn’t he?
To his horror, the lawyer only shook his head. “I’m not sure which account you contributed to, Mr. Diaz, but I can confirm with the paperwork that Mr. Buckley was the only one who contributed to the account. He even made sure that after he stopped the payment, the account still generated income with the 4% interest, making it currently $57,120 available in the account.”
“Now,” Mr. Harper looked displeased, “there is another account under Mr. Christopher Diaz’s name where his late mother, Ms. Shannon Diaz née Walker, had opened a trust account that can be accessed when he is 21 years old, amounting to $25,000. That account, unfortunately, was closed in December 2026 when the full amount was transferred to a private account belonging to Mrs. Adriana Guzman née Diaz under her authorization as his legal guardian. Furthermore, she also tries to access the college fund but fails due to the restrictions set up by Mr. Buckley.”
The silence following that announcement was terrifying.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Adriana?!” Eddie exploded with a loud roar in the middle of the conference room as he turned to his sister, who looked wildly around for an exit. “STEALING FROM MY SON?! YOUR OWN NEPHEW?!”
“My children need the money more than him.” She said defensively. “And I was right, he has a partial scholarship to CALTECH; he doesn’t need that money now!”
“That money was from his mother; you had no right to it!” Eddie now remembers with a sinking feeling how just last year Adriana had bragged about sending all of her three children to an expensive private school. He didn’t realize she had used the money she stole from Christopher to do it.
“From the mother who ran away from him?!” Adriana spat, mad that her brother had the nerve to be mad at her for putting her children first. “He’s just a cripple. He doesn’t need that money, but my children do! They need all the help they can get to be successful, unlike your son! He’s just a waste of space.”
Chris looked at her in horror.
His own aunt.
How could she do this to him, spitting such vitriol at him while pretending all this time to be a loving aunt to him?
Thankfully, judging from his grandparents' horrified expression, they did not support her way of thinking.
The room immediately descended into madness as Eddie and his parents for once worked together, railing over Adriana’s callous remarks and her theft. Christopher, overwhelmed by everything, gestured to the lawyer and asked for his contact number and hobbled out of the conference room, calling for an Uber to the Wilsons.
He has a lot of thinking to do.