Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever owned the rights to 911 or its characters. It all belongs to Fox TV and the show's creators like Brad Falchuk and whoever else.
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Chapter 3
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While the silver Greyhound bus that was carrying a completely unsuspecting Evan Buckley back to Los Angeles was still driving through the Arizona, morning was playing out over Los Angeles like usual throughout the city... just not at Firehouse 118.
The 118 had been in this strange sort of suspension, an awful standstill with no resolution thus far. Earlier in the week Chief Alonzo had come to the station bearing the gravest news, that one of their own, Firefighter Evan "Buck" Buckley had been among the many passengers who had perished in a freak Greyhound Bus accident in Colorado.
His name had been on the list of passengers, every phone call or text his family had frantically sent to him had unanswered, and Chief Alonzo had mailed over personal items with Buckley's DNA on them for the identification process at the Colorado State police's request.
A process that was still ongoing with no confirmation. It was the torturous postponement of the inevitable.
It was why the 118 was in limbo. Captain Nash and firefighters Wilson, Han, and Diaz had all been placed on bereavement leave with the remainder of A-shift and B-shift holding things down under the command of B-shift Captain Ben Marsden. With a heavy heart, Captain Marsden had gone ahead and ordered that the purple and black accoutrements of mourning for a fallen brother firefighter be put up over the facade of the firehouse, the flags be lowered to half-mast, and the black band that everyone absolutely abhorred be placed across every silver firefighter's shield.
Mourning with no body yet found, no funeral date, no idea what state Buckley would be in only that it would most likely have to be a closed casket if all the information Chief Alonzo kept providing was anything to go on. Many stomachs still rolled at the very thought of what the fire from the bus crash had probably done to Buckley and the other lost souls.
There next to the stairs that led up to the loft area was a makeshift memorial. Someone had brought in a black velvet coat mannequin and draped Buckley's heavy turnout coat over it so that his name was facing out for all to see. At he base of the mannequin were Buckley's heavy turnout boots, cleaned and oiled with care. In front of the mannequin stood a memorial table covered in a purple and black cloth. At the center of the table in prominence was Buckley's helmet, shined and pristine. To the right of the helmet was a framed photo of Buck's graduation portrait with a black ribbon across the corner. There was a tiny LAFD Firefighters cross pin attached to the ribbon. A small triangle folded American flag was placed against the picture, while a slate gray memorial book lay on the helmet's other side with a little cup full of pens for anyone who wanted to write in it. There were a few other framed pictures on the table too, from Christmas and birthday parties, to just candid shots captured from every day life at the station, all of Buck smiling wide and happy. People were free to add more as the days went on. The whole thing was surrounded by an ever growing collection of unlit candles and flowers, lots of red roses because they were Buckley's favorite.
From where he was sitting up in the loft, gazing down at the little memorial to Buckley, Firefighter Casey Willows, a man in his mid thirties with a shaved head and dark grey eyes who worked B-shift with Captain Marsden sighed heavily, blinking back a tell-tale burning behind his eyes as regret washed over him.
Buckley was gone, just like that he had left the station mid-shift to go away on vacation, and now he was never coming back. Regret and deep shame swam through Willows' veins as he remembered the months leading up to this wretched day, and how unkind he himself had been to Buckley when the young man had returned to work.
In his minds eye Willows was bombarded with the memories of how he had often given Buckley a hard time, like deliberately bumping into him or making snide comments while the young man had been stuck doing the chores Captain Nash had piled onto him, or just giving him the stink eye whenever their paths crossed because the kid had sued his captain and the department to get his job back. It had been juvenile and unbecoming behavior and he was a grown man. Willows actually realized that weeks ago, even before this hellish turn of events and he had been planning to just take Buckley aside and sincerely apologize to him. Willows had just been waiting for the right time and mulling over the right words to say.
Now that was never going to happen. The best he could do was write it down in the memorial book after he had gotten dressed in his uniform for today. As he had been writing, Willows had noticed others who had given Buckley grief upon his return had done as he did, writing in the book since the man they wished to speak to was lost to them forever.
It just didn't feel like enough, not even a little.
As he sat in the lounge area, Willows' eyes unconsciously went to the door of Captain Nash's office, where Captain Marsden was temporarily in command. As he gazed at the door, Firefighter Willows came to a decision. He got up from his seat and walked across the loft to the Captain's office, trying to keep his heard from pounding as he raised his hand to knock, but just as he was about to let his hand fly movement caught the corner of his eye. Willows looked over his shoulder and felt his eyes widen for a moment and three other firefighters were walking towards him. One was a petite auburn haired woman with dark eyes named Courtney Hallman, another was a tall black man with close cropped hair named Brian Jones, and the last was a medium height brunette man with a mustache, Robbie Collins. Hallman and Collins were members of A-shift while Jones was from B-shift like Willows himself. As these three came to stand before Willows, it didn't take him very long to figure out why they were wordlessly asking to accompany him in seeing Captain Marsden, the regret and contrition shining in all of their eyes was confirmation enough.
" Guess I wasn't the only one wanting to fess up about what an ass I've been." Willows said with a sigh, watching as Hallman hung her head, Jones pursed his lips and nodded tightly, while Collins actually teared up a little.
Willows nodded and then turned back to the Captain's door, raising his hand and knocking.
" Who is it?" Came Marsden's deep baritone voice from the other side.
" Hey Cap, it's me Casey, have you got a second?" Willows asked as he looked over his shoulder.
" Come in Casey." Came the reply, Willows nodding and turning the door knob.
When the door swung away, Marsden looked up from the paperwork he had been reading and frowned when he saw that his firefighter Casey Willows wasn't alone as he and three others shuffled into his office, looking awful penitent.
" What's going on here Casey?" Marsden asked as he looked to Willows.
From where he stood with Hallman, Jones, and Collins beside him, Willows to a deep breath.
It was time to face some harsh truths about how Evan Buckley had been treated at this house before his unexpected passing.
Elsewhere in Los Angeles...
" How is she doing Chim?" Josh Russo asked from where was seated across an exhausted looking Howard Hand, the pair holding mugs of steaming coffee in their hands.
" Not good at all Josh." Chim said with a sigh as he took a sip of coffee.
To call the days that had followed finding out about Buck's death nightmarish would be a kindness. Maddie had been beside herself in despair, but when they had all gathered at Bobby and Athena's again to just be together and mourn, Bobby had come clean to Maddie about how Buck had been treated at the station leading up to his tragic death. Hen's anger had been reignited and she confirmed the terrible truth, and also added in some of what she knew about how Buck had been bullied and harassed by several other firefighters at the station and had sworn her to secrecy.
With angry tears streaming down her face, Hen had told them flat out that Buck never once complained, just performed every degrading chore Bobby ordered of him, ignored the snide comments, and fell apart in private as he yearned for the comfort of a family he honestly felt he was no longer a part of.
It would have been better if Maddie had gone ballistic after hearing all that, to rage and scream. Instead she had just cried. She'd cried and cried and cried until she had nothing left, a quietly furious Athena taking her into hers and Bobby's guest room. An exhausted Maddie had fallen asleep with May and Karen watching over her. Harry had taken a somber Denny and Christopher to his room, leaving Chim, Bobby, and Eddie to face a truly irate Athena and Hen.
Chim felt his eyes burn as he remembered how he, Bobby, and Eddie could only sit in silence while Athena unleashed her own hell on them. Her words of chastisement still rang through Chim's mind even now after it had been days.
" How could you allow that poor boy to be treated that way Robert, on top of what you yourself did? Months Robert, Buck was bullied and humiliated for months and you not only set the tone, you contributed to it!"
" You of all people should have understood how Buck felt Howard Han! You literally had a metal rod go through your brain and was back at work in a month, and then you were almost fatally stabbed but back within a few weeks! You were that angry that Buck's lawyer brought it up to make a point that you completely ignored Buck for three Goddamn months?"
" And you Diaz? Buck is... w-was your best friend, that boy would have laid down his life for you and he very damn well near did looking for your son during a Goddamn tsunami! Bobby told me about how Chase Mackey brought up Shannon but that is what lawyers do, they go for blood for their clients. Instead of being a grown ass adult you chose to act like some petty, jilted teenager! Hen said Buck tried to apologize to you countless times but you didn't bend, not even a little and now... now it's too late!"
By the end of her collective condemnation Athena was in tears, they had all broken down into tears as Bobby had gotten up and hugged his wife, apologizing with all his heart. He had just been so hurt by the lawsuit and scared about Buck being back to work while he was on bloodthinners that he had taken it all out on Buck.
Chim himself had sobbed out his own explanation to Hen, that bringing up the rebar had felt like a betrayal at the time, that seeing Buck come back to work expecting things to be okay had been so off-putting to him, like Buck still didn't get that they all just wanted him to be fully healed before getting back to the dangerous job they do. Now he understood that he had become no better than those who had stood by while he had himself been bullied and left behind when he had first started out as a firefighter under that awful Captain Gerrard. He and Hen could only cling to each other in despair.
Eddie had just sat there beside them on Bobby and Athena's sofa with his eyes averted and silent tears streaming down his terribly blank face, saying nothing, not a single word.
" I was just waiting for the right moment to finally talk to him and clear the air you know? I just wanted to be less mad before I got to fixing things between us." Chim said to Josh suddenly, the 911 dispatcher nodding sadly in understanding as he spoke.
" And now that moment's never gonna come." He said quietly, his own throat closing up a little in lamentation.
Chim could only bow his head and nod as Josh reached over and squeezed his wrist in silent support.
" I miss him so much." Chim whispered as he finally let the tears fall.
Down the hallway in their bedroom, Maddie lay curled up in the center of her and Chim's bed. She had on a dark blue hoodie that was way too big on her. It was one of Buck's, she had taken it out of her baby brother's closet when she had forced herself to go to his loft with everyone a few days after the gathering where Bobby had revealed his unkind actions. They had all just tidied up the place and emptied out Buck's fridge, throwing out anything expired and donating the rest to a local homeless shelter.
They couldn't bring themselves to start packing up Buck's things. Maddie had thought it a good idea to at least change the locks as a precaution, so Eddie had gone ahead and installed it the next day, giving her one key and keeping the other for himself. Seeing where Buck used to live, just being in the space had proved too much for Bobby who had disappeared after they had left the loft. Athena had been trying to stay calm but they could tell she was frantic, wondering where her husband, who was in the worst emotional state, had gone off too.
Maddie and Chim had been the ones to track Bobby down... at a bar.
They had found him sitting at the counter just staring at the many different bottled that lined the mirror wall, his face pale and drawn. He had been at the very razor's edge of falling off the wagon, just seconds away from ordering a shot of whiskey when Maddie was suddenly their grabbing him by the wrist and yanking Bobby off the bar stool and straight out of the bar itself. It would have been comical, Maddie with all of her five feet and two inches pulling all six feet and one inches of emotionally distraught fire captain behind her by the wrist, but there was nothing funny as Maddie pulled Bobby outside and then took his face into her hands, making Bobby bend almost in half so that they were eye to eyed as she had spoke.
" You are not going to fall off the wagon Robert Nash, you are not going to disrespect yourself or more importantly, my baby brother's memory by touching a single drop of alcohol, do you hear me? There is no numbing what you are feeling right now. You hurt Evan for months, you lied to him and you kept him from the thing and the people that mattered the most to him, even when he got back to work, and now there's no way you can make it up to him and you have to own that, do you understand?"
Maddie felt her face crumble yet again as she remembered how Bobby had nodded at her words and then just shattered before her eyes, her own compassion overtaking her anger as she had pulled the taller man into a crushing embrace and sobbed along with him, Chim calling Athena and the others to let them know that Bobby had been found. That had been the day before yesterday, now it was Friday and Maddie felt another wave of despair wash over her.
Buf-Fridays... it had been their thing, her and Buck, and then Howard became a part of it too.
Then after the lawsuit debacle it had all stopped, Buck bowing out to make things less awkward for Chim. Now they would never get together on Fridays every again. As a fresh wave of sobs wracked her body, Maddie burrowed herself deeper into her brother's hoodie, the closest thing she's ever have to Evan's arms around her now. This was her life right now, an endless river of tears and yearning for a baby brother lost to her forever.
In another house that was mourning the loss of Evan Buckley...
Karen Wilson cracked the shell of the egg in her hand against the rim of the mixing bowl before using both hands to split the shells and drop the yoke and whites into the waiting brownie mix. She broke open one more and then began stirring it all up with a wooden spoon. The house was quiet with Denny at school and Hen sitting in the living room watching some mundane documentary.
It had been five whole days since they had lost Buck, and even as she stirred the brownie batter and added in a dollop of penut butter, it still blew her mind that so many days had already passed. There was still no word on Buck's body being identified, and finding and identifying the remains of eighty-one people was not small order. They had to be patient, but even then Karen herself wanted Buck back with them as soon as possible, so they could say their proper goodbyes to the young man who had been ripped away from them. Denny had been inconsolable that first day, but within a few days her and Henrietta's son was pulling himself together saying that he would be strong and go back to school.
It was her little man that had suggested inviting Christopher Diaz over for a sleepover to get the poor boy's mind off of his unimaginable loss. It was no secret that Christopher Diaz was not only his father Eddie's life, but Evan Buckley's as well. Christopher had already lost his mother just last year, and Karen couldn't even begin to understand what the poor child was going through now at the sudden loss of yet another loved one.
Karen finished stirring the mix and then tipped the whole thing into the flat pan she had prepared. A few minutes later the whole thing was popped into the oven and Karen got down to cleaning up, enjoying a few finger licks of brownie batter before placing everything in the dishwasher. She pressed a few buttons and then the big button to get things started. With a soft beep the washer got to work and Karen shuffled out of the kitchen to the living room.
When her eyes fell on the living room, Karen felt a sigh pass through her lips as she caught sight of her beloved wife staring out the large living room window with a forlorn look on her face.
" Hey hon." Karen said as she took a seat beside Hen.
" Hey." Hen replied as she turned away from the window and met her wife's knowing dark eyes.
Karen didn't bother asking how Hen was doing, she already knew Hen wasn't alright, that she wouldn't be for a really long time.
She had just lost her little brother plain and simple.
Karen and Hen just gazed at each other for a few moments before Hen's face crumbled a little.
" I failed him Karen, I should have said something sooner, stuck up for him the moment I found out how others were bullying him." Hen said with a pained sigh.
" Hen, Buck didn't want you to get hassled, he was protecting you." Karen said as she felt her own throat close up a little.
" But we're his family, he shouldn't have felt the need to protect me from the others. I just... I feel so-" Hen began when Karen cut her off.
" Robbed? Hurt? Completely wrecked because you thought that Bobby, Chim, and Eddie would eventually stop being angry and forgive Buck, finally bring him back into the fold and make everything whole again?" Karen said knowingly.
Hen nodded, her eyes filling with tears before she started shaking her head.
" H-He's gone, he's gone and we're never gonna be the family that we were. He was the glue, he was the heart and we lost him." Hen said with a sob.
Karen could only pull Hen to her and hold her while she sobbed, her own tears breaking free and her heart lurching at the unfairness of it all. They would comfort each other for a good long while, and then Karen would go check on her brownies while Hen headed out to go and pick up Denny from school. Once the brownies were set out to cool, Karen got to work on preparing dinner, looking forward to having Christopher over and hopefully getting to see how Eddie was holding up. They hadn't really been hearing much from Eddie since they had all gone to Buck's place and he had changed the locks for Maddie.
Meanwhile, in a church in the city...
" You made a mistake Bobby, a very costly one but it's not your fault that that bus's tires blew out and went rolling down a hill in flames. You didn't kill Buck." Came a gentle man's voice.
" No, I did worse Father, I made him feel like I didn't love him anymore. I was just so hurt and hellbent on holding onto a grudge that I treated Buck like dirt. I kept him off calls and made him clean everything. Even when he was asking for the time off I rubbed the lawsuit in his face just to be cruel." Bobby croaked out with fresh tears falling down his eyes as he sat beside Father Bernard in the church pew.
Beside him Athena said nothing, just placed a reassuring hand on her husband's shoulder with her own eyes glistening.
Father Bernard nodded and gave Bobby a sympathetic look.
" I know Bobby, it's one of the most gut wrenching things to go though when you lose someone you love while you aren't getting along. You're actions of keeping him back from returning to full duty were out of love and guilt, not spite, but I agree with Athena here that you should have just talked things out with him and made him understand. It would have saved everyone a great deal of trouble and heartache with everything that followed."
" Every single time I close my eyes all I see is the look he'd get whenever I barked orders at him or told him he was man behind, the pain I caused him. Now I find out that others followed my lead and bullied him right under my nose and I was too pigheaded to see. He never complained once, he never came to me and I know it's because he had no faith left in me Father." Bobby said with a sniffle before he continued.
" He'd call me Pops as a joke, but I saw him as a son, even when I was so mad at him about the lawsuit. It hurt so much when he showed up that night and served me the legal papers. I felt so betrayed but I betrayed him first and now I can't even tell him I was wrong, that I am sorry and make up for all the unnecessary punishment I piled onto him." Bobby finished and began to sob in utter heartbreak.
Athena and Father Bernard both wrapped their arms around him, much like Hen and Buck himself had done after he had sobbed out his plea for help after that awful plane crash a couple of years back.
" I want to drink so bad Father. Athena I just want to numb every part of me but I won't I promise. Besides you, Maddie would kill me too. She said I had to feel everything and own it, but I can't breath sometimes. I've lost him, I drove Buck away. I've lost our son Athena." Bobby groaned as he looked up at Athena.
Athena didn't even bother to hold back her own sobs now, Bobby's words striking right to the very core of her being. Athena just gathered Bobby to her, Father Bernard doing his best to silently comfort the couple, or rather the grief-stricken mother and father.
Several hours later at a house in the suburbs just after dark...
The beer was bitter but cold as Eddie Diaz swallowed the mouthful he had taken. He had just gotten back from dropping Christopher off at Hen and Karen's for the sleepover Denny had invited him to. Hen and Karen had wanted him to stay for dinner, but Eddie had bowed out, taking some of Karen's wonderful cooking to go and eating it with barely any vigor. Tonight was for taking Chris' mind off of losing one of his favorite people, and Eddie knew he would only be a hindrance since he felt like he was just a hair's breath away from either putting his fists through every available wall or unashamedly bawling his eyes out.
He didn't want to watch anything on TV or play any video games, hell he had even dropped his little late night habit of street fighting because all the anger that had been motivating him to do it in the first place was gone, burned to ashes... like that man he loved.
It had been his anger towards Buck and that stupid lawsuit that had led Lena to showing him the underground fight ring and in the months that had followed he had been falling deeper and deeper into the dark abyss of violence. After the events of just five days ago, Eddie had stopped completely, or rather he had come to his senses.
His son had just lost Buck, what would Chris do if he lost him too?
Wouldn't Buck be proud?
Eddie screwed his eyes shut tightly against the newest onslaught of emotions that crashed over him like a tsunami at the thought of how Buck would have reacted had he found out about the street fighting. Even with all his resistance, Eddie could see the disappointment and also understanding that would have been in those bright blue eyes. Buck would've been mad, but he wouldn't have turned his back on in.
No that's what Eddie did.
Eddie opened his eyes and leaned back into his sofa, as though deflating like a balloon.
First with Shannon, leaving her to a mountain of responsibilities and ridicule while he went to go fight in a war, then Buck because only his hurt feelings had mattered, only his violated privacy and betrayal had mattered. All Buck had asked was for him, his best friend to see the situation from his side of things, to understand that he wasn't being treated fairly by Bobby, that he had been lied to, but Eddie had refused, anger winning out over everything else.
He hadn't been able to speak to Buck because of the lawsuit for maybe three or four days, so he had turned around and ripped Christopher away from Buck for three whole months. He'd punished Buck far worse than any chore Bobby could throw at him and now there was no way back, no way to tell Buck how sorry he was and earn forgiveness from the man he loved.
Yes, loved with all his heart. He had no idea when, maybe when they helped Charlie with the grenade in his leg or Buck giving him a ride to pick up Chris after the earthquake, or holding Buck's hand while he was pinned under the fire truck, but Buck had his heart. Buck had his heart while he had stomped on Buck's just to satisfy his pettiness.
Eddie jerked out of his angry and melancholic thoughts by the should of glass. He looked down and saw that he had actually gripped the beer in his hand so hard he'd made a crack in the amber glass, though thankfully not shattering it completely and cutting up his hand. With a huff Eddie got up and hurried to the kitchen where he poured the beer down the sink. He washed his hands and then trudged back out to the living room where he turned off the lights.
He trudged along and turned off every other light, going to his bedroom where he pulled of his red polo shirt, jeans, and underwear before donning a pair of black sleeping pants. With his phone in his hand, Eddie turned off his bedroom lights and finally plunged his house into darkness. Eddie climbed under the covers but he knew he was in for another sleepless night, so he held up his phone and unlocked it. He pressed on the app for his photo gallery and started scrolling back several months to the very last picture he had of him, Buck, and Christopher together, a weekend trip to the zoo maybe a week before the lawsuit fiasco. A zoo employee had been kind enough to snap the photo of them in front of the bear enclosure, him and Buck hold Chris up between them while a giant grizzly stood up on its hind legs behind them in the distance.
It had been a wonderful day, they had been so happy together.
So began Eddie's hours of just laying in bed, staring at the face of the man that haunted his every thought and breath. Regret his ever constant companion.
Just after midnight at Union Station in Los Angeles...
The silver Greyhound bus rolled into the slanted parking space, slowly gliding to a smooth stop and then letting out a soft hiss as it's ignition was turned off and its hydraulics released, as if the giant vehicle was sighing in relief at having finally reached its destination.
Lord knew the passengers this bus held within it were truly relieved. Five minutes later the door to the bus was finally sliding open and passengers began to disembark. As he stepped out into the cool night air dressed in his favorite white long sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans and brown boots, Buck was glad he had stayed near the front of the bus, even with all the stops along the way for lunch and to offload and pickup up other passengers. Now he was finally back home safe and sound, but not at all bouncing for joy.
As he followed the group of other passengers as they shuffled into Union Station, Buck pulled his phone out and pressed the button. It was still in Do Not Disturb mode for which he was glad, but he made a few swipes and ordered a nearby Uber that was convenient just a couple of blocks away to take him home as he walked the length of the world famous station. Had he been in the mood he would have definitely snapped a few pictures, but he was tired and a little stiff from all the sitting and he just wanted to go home, take a shower, and then sleep for the weekend before having to face everyone at work on Monday.
Buck walked the length of the station to the doors that led outside with his head held high, and a resolve in his heart. On Monday he would have a serious chat with Bobby whether his captain wanted to or not, he was going to call him out for his retaliatory behavior and also tell him about the bullying he had endured. If things didn't change, if Bobby continued to let things be the way they were, Evan Buckley would finally be done.
He would transfer out of the 118 and start over elsewhere, heartbroken for sure, but wiser and better.
As Buck stood outside of the iconic white building in the cool midnight air, the City of Angels was still vibrant with people coming and going. It was now Saturday so technically the weekend had already started. Buck looked down at his phone, sorely tempted to finally turn off the Do Not Disturb mode and have his phone come to full life, but he really didn't want to have to deal with the disappointment of no one besides Maddie or Hen calling to ask after him. With a sigh Buck put his phone back in his pocket and gripped the strap of his duffel bag as he kept an eye out for the silver Toyota Camry that was meant to be his ride.
About ten minutes later found Buck sitting the back of said Camry, watching the city pass him by while the nice lady behind the wheel peppered him with a few questions every now and then. By the time she was pulling up in front of his apartment complex Buck was barely awake.
" Thanks for the list Mrs. Reynolds." Buck said with a tired smile as the Uber driver chuckled.
" My pleasure, just get home and get to bed dear." Mrs. Reynolds said with a nod before Buck shut the back door. They shared a wave, and Mrs. Reynolds was kind enough to linger until Buck was through the front doors of his apartment complex before she took her leave.
Buck groaned softly as he made his way to the elevators. One bright side to it being so late, the elevator was there and waiting the moment he pressed the button. After a quick ride up, Buck was getting off on the 6th floor and making his way down the familiar corridor. He fished his keys out of the side pocket of his duffel bag as he came to stand before his door. He stuck the key into the lock, and then frowned when said lock wouldn't turn.
" Oh come on." Buck groaned when he kept trying to turn the lock but it wouldn't budge, not even a little.
After several minutes of fruitless battle and resisting the urge to just kick his door in, Buck growled and then walked away back down the corridor to the elevators. Not wanting to disturb his landlord, Buck decided on a different option. A quick ride later Buck was stepping out into the parking garage of his building. Not even back home an hour and already things were going downhill for Buck as he fished out his car keys and made his way over to his gun metal gray Jeep. A fleeting smile came to Buck's face as he was reunited with his faithful vehicle but soon he was sobering as he tossed his duffel into the front passenger seat and then climbed into the drivers seat. A few moments later he was pulling out of the parking garage and driving off into the night.
He intended to just get to Hen's and inconvenience her just a little bit but as he drove Buck groaned in irritation when he realized which way he ended up going. He was so out of it, instead of the road to Hen's house, he had ended up in the neighborhood of none other than Edmundo Diaz. Feeling his throat close up and stubbornly blinking back the burn that rose up behind his eyes, Buck turned the corner and drove down the street until he caught sight of his former?... Yeah former best friend's gray roofed one story house. Too tired and frustrated to feel nervous, Buck pulled his Jeep to a stop in front of Eddie's house. He switched off the ignition and just sat in the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel in a white knuckle grip. Then Buck took a deep breath and grabbed the strap of his bag and pulling it out after him as he climbed out of the Jeep. He shut the door and hung the strap of his shoulder before making his way around the front of his car and then up the driveway and path to Eddie's front door.
As he stood before the dark wooden door, Buck quashed down the butterflies that had decided to start fluttering in his stomach and possibly facing Eddie Diaz after not only a week, but months and months of no meaningful contact. Again, his crankiness won out over any nerves or logic as Buck reached out and pressed the doorbell twice, hoping it was enough to wake up the owner of the house. Buck decided to be petty and pressed on the doorbell a couple more times for good measure. Then his heart was stopping despite himself when his ears caught the faint sound of footfalls approaching from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of the inner locks being undone.
The doors was only just swinging away when a very irate voice sounded.
" Do you have any idea what time it-" Eddie shouted, but his voice completely died in his throat when the door swung away fully and he saw the specter that had been haunting him for five straight days.
" Uh... Hey Eddie, I know it's late but for some reason I got back and my key didn't work no matter what I tried. I was just gonna go to Hen's but I ended up here and I was just...?" Buck trailed off as he noticed the way Eddie was looked at him, more like gawking actually, his eyes as wide as dinner plates and unblinking while his mouth hanging open as he stood completely frozen and as Buck belatedly observed, shirtless.
Any other time Buck would just be drinking in the sight of the gorgeous man before him, but now Buck just felt a wave of concern at rapidly the color was draining out of Eddie's whole body it seemed. He was almost as white as a sheet and as Buck looked closer, the other man was actually trembling.
" Eddie?" Buck asked as he took a small step closer.
Eddie finally blinked sluggishly, his jaw working uselessly for several moments more before he finally spoke.
" B-Buck?" He breathed out.
" Uh yeah?" Buck replied slowly, blinking confusion himself.
Eddie let out a long, shaky breath before he spoke again, though his voice was barely above a whisper.
" Oh dios mio, has vuelto a castigarme por ultima vez mi amor." (Oh my God, you have come back to punish me one last time my love).
Before Buck could even begin to try and roughly translate what Eddie had just said with his spotty grasp of the Spanish language, the blue eyed man could only stand there and watch was Eddie Diaz's dark eyes promptly rolled up into the back of his head and his whole just lost all tension like a puppet who's strings had been cut.
Eddie toppled over sideways with a small sigh and landed on the floor with a dull thud, fainted dead away.
Buck's duffel bag fell to the stone floor of the entrance to Eddie's house from his slack shoulder with a soft thud he didn't even hear as Buck now stood there frozen and gasped in utter shock, his blue eyes wide and uncomprehending of what had just happened.