Buck decided not to stay over since he had just met Sage first the first time tonight. Going back to his own bed was the last thing he wanted to do, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He had kissed Abby goodnight and was currently in his white Jeep about 5 minutes from his apartment.

He was feeling really weird but in a good way. A month ago he would have been focused on going out and having a good time and now he was thinking about his girlfriend and her daughter. There have been some big changes, not only in his life but also in himself.

As he pulled up he saw a bunch of cars in the driveway. 'Great, looks like my roommates are throwing a party', he thought.

Walking in and heading straight for the steps in roommate yelled out, "Bucks here! Now the fun can really begin!"

"Not tonight guys." He said waving them off.

But they weren't taking no for an answer.

"Oh come on. You can't keep using your girlfriend as an excuse. At least not until we meet her. One beer!" Jeff said, tossing him a Natty Light.

Buck was still reeling from his night with Abby and Sage but decided that one beer wouldn't hurt. I mean, he was here alone and probably wouldn't sleep well tonight anyway. He wasn't used to his own bed anymore.

Buck sat down on the couch next to a girl he didn't recognize.

"Oh hi, sorry can I just scoot in here", He asked politely.

"Of course", She said devilishly. "I'm Vanessa. Jeff told me you're a fireman." She continued as he opened his beer.

He felt a little weird talking to this girl but decided that it was perfectly innocent.

"Yep. It's the best job. Can be crazy sometimes, but I love it".

They continued their conversation and Buck downed a few more beers. Before he knew it the room was emptying out and he decided to excuse himself to his bedroom.

Buck walked into his bedroom, shut the door, and took off his shirt. As he was getting into bed he heard a voice coming from the door.

"What do all of those tattoos mean? You know I'm a sucker for tattoos." Vanessa said in a sultry voice peaking into his room from the doorway.

Buck literally did not know what to do. The old him would have known exactly what to do, but getting rid of a girl was a skill he had never tried before.

"Oh, I haven't even told my girlfriend that" He trailed off; hoping his mention of a girlfriend would give her the hint to leave.

"Why not, is that relationship not going well?" She asked taking a few steps into his room. Buck swears she was wearing less clothing now than when they were talking.

"No, it's just new. We are still getting to know each other." He thought this was a strong argument, but Vanessa somehow managed to turn it around again.

"So she's your girlfriend? Or just met. I'm confused." She questioned as she came and sat at the foot of his bed.

Buck scooted to the headboard trying to distance himself.

"Well, we did just meet, but also she's my girlfriend. It just became official tonight," Buck said strongly.

"So why are you here, alone, drinking with strange women if she just became your girlfriend tonight?" Vanessa prodded.

"It's complicated, she has a daughter and I didn't want to be too overbearing with her," Buck said sweetly. He really did care about Sage, even though they just met.

"Daughter? That's heavy. Are you really ready for something like that? You kinda seem like a good time guy to me. That's why I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better tonight."

Buck realized that none of his politeness and subtly was working. "Vanessa I'm committed to my girlfriend so nothing is going to happen tonight. I really don't want to be rude, but would you mind leaving now so I can get some sleep." Buck said genuinely.

Vanessa was disappointed but wasn't going to fight it anymore. She picked up her bruised ego and left the room. He laid down in bed and was asleep in minutes.

Enter Dream Sequence

"Dad!" The little girl screamed.

Buck look around not seeing anyone else there. His fireman instincts kicked in and he sprung into action to help the lost child. He grabbed her hand to make sure she didn't run off, then he saw those kind blue eyes.

"Sage?"

"Sage, what does your dad look like, I've never seen a picture of him?" He asked, intent to help the little girl.

'Where is Abby?' He thought.

"Dad, can you help me I can't get my boots off. I can't unbuckle", She said looking up at him.

'Is she talking to me?' He panicked.

'She can't be talking to me, I'm not her dad'

Just then he realized they were in Abby's kitchen. Abby walked in and Buck was relieved. She spun around and was about 8 months pregnant.

"What the hell? How are you pregnant?" He asked confused.

Abby laughed, "Ha. Ha. That joke was only funny the first time. Can you help her with the boots? Dinner is almost ready."

Then, he was sitting in the waiting room of a hospital.

'How did I get here?' He thought looking around.

"Congratulation, daddy. It's a boy!" The doctor said handing him a baby.

Buck woke up in a sweat.

'Oh, it was a dream' he thought as he laid back down, unable to get the thought of it out of his head.

The next morning, Buck walked into the fire station, still unable to get the dream out of his head.

"Hey boy!" Hen yelled from one of the tables.

"Hi, Hen." He said sitting next to her.

"So, last night I had a crazy dream. I had a baby with Abby, and Sage was calling me dad before that. And I was super freaked out and woke up practically sweating. But then as I was falling back asleep, I felt kinda sad" He paused "that it wasn't all real. And now I can't get it out of my head." Buck said slowly, barely believing the words that were coming out of his own mouth.

"Sounds to me like you're finally growing up and it looks good on you," Hen said.

"I think this girl is turning you into a man," She said proudly.

Buck smiled. "So what do I do now?"

"You just keep doing what you're doing. Let the relationship grow. Be happy!" It's really not that hard. It will come naturally I promise.

At that moment, the fire alarm went off. 'Time to go" Hen said. They were headed to an armed robbery turned arson so police, fire, and EMT were dispatched.

"911 What's your emergency?" Abby said into the phone.

"There's a shooter in the school," the person, who sounded like a kid, whispered into the phone.

**Bang**

**Bang**

"What school sweetie?" Abby asked trying to stay calm despite hearing the gunshots echoing in the background.

"Westmore Elementary" The young girl whispered.

Abby's heart dropped.

That's Sage's school.

She dropped the call and dispatched every possible response to the school as quickly as possible. She then grabbed her cell phone and texted Sage.

Mom: Are you ok? What's going on? The police are on their way.

She then dialed Buck.

"Hey Abbs, I" Buck answered, but Abby cut him off in a panic.

"There's an active shooter at Sage's school. I just dispatched units there. But they are going to take too long, I…" she trailed off as she started to cry.

Buck was in complete shock.

"Athena, we need to get down to Westmore Elementary now!" Buck yelled.

"Were only 5 minutes away, Abby, we will get there. Athena is driving were in the cruiser now." He said into the phone trying to calm his distraught girlfriend.

"Ok, ok I'm coming down there now. I should be there in 20 minutes," Abby said a bit more calmly, but still emotionally distraught.

"I texted her and she hasn't responded yet," Abby said and it made her start to cry again.

"Abby, she's fine. Were 2 minutes out," Buck said calmly.

Pulling up at the school, Athena ran in to take out the shooter while Buck and Hen went in to help any potentially injured.

They all ran in the front door and heard a loud **Bang** to the left.

It sounded like a single shooter so Athena ran towards the sound and Buck and Hen followed closely.

Turning the bend, they saw a teenager dressed in a black hoodie with a pistol in his hand.

"Freeze or I'll shoot. Drop the gun." Athena yelled.

After a moment of contemplation, the shooter dropped his gun and Athena pounced on him.

Buck and Hen ran to the room where he was pointing his weapon and saw that the teacher had been shot. Hen rushed over and started doing CPR while Buck looked around.

There were kids crouched behind all of the desks, but it didn't seem like anyone had been shot.

"Come out into the hall quickly, Buck yelled" and the terrified kids listened.

Just as he was wrangling these kids into a line the other police showed up.

"Shooter is down one GSW so far. Take these kids out I'm going to go look in the other rooms." Buck said.

Buck ran into the next classroom to see the teacher hiding the kids in the back. "Is anyone hurt?" He yelled.

"No" the teacher responded weakly.

"Police are in the hall, get these kids out of here" Buck instructed.

He continued to the other rooms one by one finding the same scene. The kids and teachers were all scared and shaken up but no one was hurt. He directed them to the police in the hallway and then moved to the next room.

He ran into Mrs. Taylor's 2nd-grade room and yelled, "Is everyone ok?"

The teacher responded yes, and then he heard,

'Buck!"

Buck knew it was Sage's voice and breathed a sigh of relief.

She ran over to him and hugged him like she has the night before. She was shaking and had obviously been crying.

He embraced her so tightly and picked her up. He wasn't planning on letting her go anytime soon.

"Take everyone out of here. The police are waiting in the hall to help. I've got her." He said still holding Sage as she was digging her face into his shoulder.

He grabbed his phone and dialed Abby.

Abby answered, "Yea?"

"I have her she's not hurt." He said quickly.

"Oh my God… thank you" She began to cry again, but this time in relief.

Buck put the phone on speaker.

"Mom" Sage said quietly.

"Hi Baby! I'll be there in a few minutes, ok." She said calmly. She didn't want to scare Sage anymore with her tone.

"Ok" she responded.

"Are you ok?" Abby asked.

"I was so scared, but Buck is here now. I'm ok he's holding me." Sage said.

They stayed on speaker with Abby while they walked outside.

Abby pulled up and barely put her car in park.

She ran over and hugged Sage tighter than she ever had, partially hugging Buck in the process because he was still holding her.

Buck handed her over to Abby and then put his arms around his girlfriend to comfort her.

She wasn't saying a word, just hugging Sage.

After a few minutes, Buck offered to drive them home and Abby decided it was a good idea to get away from this trauma as quickly as possible.

In the car, Abby finally snapped out of her daze and grabbed Buck's hand.

"Thank you" She whispered, never meaning 2 words more strongly in her life.