I do not own the rights to 9-1-1 or 9-1-1: Lone Star. Alexander Strand is my own character.
Maddie was already waiting at the firehouse when Athena pulled up, Carla and Christopher in the car with her. The 118 was out on a call at the moment so the firehouse was otherwise empty. It annoyed Athena but she supposed it did give them time to think about how to say what they were there to say.
"Carla, hi," Maddie greeted the woman with a warm smile. "Christopher, it's good to see you."
Christopher smiled. "You're Buck's older sister."
Maddie nodded. "Yeah, I am. And you're his friend."
The four made their way upstairs. As they passed the locker room, Athena didn't miss how Buck's space was empty. His gear was still there, yes, but all personal items were missing.
"So he's really gone then," she mused to herself.
Athena found a cartoon for Christopher to watch on the television upstairs while the group waited for the 118 to return. In the meantime, the three women talked at the table. Maddie showed Carla the letter Buck had written her. It's quite an understatement to say Carla was not happy. Athena placed Buck's last letter in the middle of the table where the three stared at it with hard eyes.
A single letter to a team of four. Buck loved the 118, it showed a lot that he'd only written one letter for them. If Athena was being honest, she drew a feeling of pride in him from that fact; it meant that while Buck felt guilty, he did not feel obligated to truly say goodbye to a group that he loved but who had hurt him so badly.
Athena itched to open the letter but she knew to wait. It wasn't addressed to her but she knew she would hear it anyway when the recipients read it. More than likely, Bobby would read it out loud to the team and she would hear it then.
It wasn't long before the firefighters returned. Athena and Maddie went to stand at the railing and they watched the trucks back into the station. Carla helped Christopher over too. The boy was excited to watch but he was still upset with his dad as well. It didn't make any sense to him. Why would his dad say Buck wasn't allowed to come over? Eddie loved Buck, they were best friends.
"Christopher," Eddie called, seeing his son standing upstairs. His gaze shifted to Carla, then to Athena and Maddie in confusion, "What're you guys all doing here?"
"Why don't you come up here and find out," Athena replied coldly.
Any smiles were instantly vanquished by the woman's tone. The accused members of the 118 put their things away before heading upstairs, the firefighters on the other shift deciding to stay far away from whatever was about to happen to their colleagues. Instead they got to work cleaning the trucks of mud from the last call.
"Athena, what's going on?" Bobby asked as he, Hen, Chimney and Eddie made their way to the living space.
"Did you find Buck?" Hen added in hopefully.
Athena scowled, "Oh I found more than that."
"Dad, why did you say Buck couldn't visit us anymore?" Christopher asked from where Eddie had crouched down with his son.
Eddie frowned, "Where'd you hear that?"
"So it's true? Buck said so in his letter."
"Letter?"
The four firefighters all looked confused at that. Bobby was the first to look at Athena for an explanation, the others not far behind. Athena held up the last letter and held it out to Bobby. Bobby looked at his wife in confusion but Athena said nothing so without a word, Bobby took the letter and opened it, reading out loud.
118 Firehouse,
You won't have to deal with me anymore. I'm leaving and as far as I have planned, I'm not coming back to stay.
I don't understand how what I did was bad enough to actually leave me to die. I don't need an explanation and I'm moving on. It's clear you don't want me so I'm going somewhere that does. You don't want me in your lives anymore so I'm going to return the favour. I can't deal with trying to be where I'm not wanted anymore.
I'm sorry for all the pain I caused and I'm sorry for leaving after I fought so hard to get back to you. I'm not sorry for choosing to put myself first for once though. I'm tired of the glares and hateful comments and just feeling bad for fighting to come home to the 118. It's not home anymore, not to me. I'll miss the fun times we had before everything went to hell.
Thanks for the good memories,
Evan Buckley
Bobby looked up at the three women, "You don't really believe he left, do you? It's probably just another attempt for attention."
Athena didn't hold back. She couldn't anymore. Seeing Hen's earlier text was bad enough, to actually hear such words sent her over the edge. Husband or not, she was not going to let him continue to think so lowly of the man who cherished every bit of time with his former team.
Mouths fell open as the smack rang out. Athena shook her hand out, watching Bobby reach up to gingerly touch his cheek. The fire captain's eyes were wide just like everyone else's but Maddie's gaze quickly hardened in agreement with Athena's action.
"Bobby Nash I can't believe you," Athena growled. "That boy loves his firehouse more than anything and you treated him like trash. Maybe your feelings were hurt after the lawsuit but I'm sure you've hurt him a thousand times more since then. Putting all the chores on him? Purposely screwing up his work? Talking to him like a maid and not a teammate? Leaving him to die in a burning building?!"
"'Thena," Hen started.
Athena held up a finger, turning to her and Hen shrank back, "Henrietta Wilson, you are no better. None of you are. Were any of you there for him?" Hen, Chimney and Eddie all looked down at that and Athena scoffed, "I thought so. I'm more than disappointed in every one of you. In fact most of you should've been suspended after a few certain events I can think of, yet none of you were. And you still see fit to treat a member of your team like the enemy?"
"How can you know he's gone?" Eddie asked, guilt starting to creep up on him, but it wasn't enough to really feel bad yet.
"His apartment's cleaned out," Athena replied with a glare. "Personal items are all gone. He left four letters on the kitchen island. They told the worst bits but I want to hear it from you four."
"Dad, did you hurt Buck?" Christopher asked.
Eddie hesitated at that. "I..."
"That better be a yes," Maddie said, a stern scowl on her lips. "If someone says you hurt them, you have no right to say you didn't."
"Maddie, I'm sorry," Chimney said quietly.
Maddie glared at him. "It's not me you should be apologizing to."
"Buck hasn't answered any of our calls or texts," Hen said weakly.
"I wouldn't either," Carla stated as if it were obvious. Her arms were crossed as she glared at the four firefighters. "That boy has such a pure soul and you all decided to kick as much dirt on it as possible. Edmundo Diaz, I'm more than disappointed in you. How many times has Buck gone out with you and Christopher? How many times has he babysat for you? Buck loves this boy and you keep him from that? Keep both of them from each other?"
Eddie didn't meet anyone's gaze, looking very ashamed of himself. Bobby, Hen and Chimney were all looking similar, faces red and eyes downcast.
"He didn't even feel comfortable enough to sign the letter as Buck," Athena scowled. "I thought the one-eighteen was family."
"We are," Bobby tried to protest.
"Not to Buck you aren't," Athena snapped. She held up her own letter, "He didn't even want to come to me or Maddie because he didn't want to mess with our happiness with you or Chimney. Even when he was down, that man was thinking of us and not just himself. He was alone except for a single mystery friend who mustn't have even been close enough for him to see in person."
"Mystery friend?" Chimney muttered in confusion.
"Buck has a friend," Christopher said. "And he's going to work with his friend somewhere he'll be happy."
"You don't know where he's going?" Bobby asked, looking disappointed.
If they didn't know where Buck was, they couldn't hope to find and apologize to him properly. Yes, the fire captain really felt guilty now, having his actions slap him in the face and make him open his eyes. Bobby hurt the man he practically saw as a son so terribly that said man had actually run away. He didn't even really say goodbye. Bobby did not blame Buck for that and he would not forgive himself for what he'd done.
Athena gave a little huff. "He never wrote where. Just that he's got a friend and a job waiting. I'm not worried about his future, I'm worried if he'll be able to let go of the past. He's worried about being exhausting to others and thinking he needs to 'suck it up.' Any idea who said that?"
The woman already knew of course. She felt a sick satisfaction from watching Eddie shrink in on himself though. It was clear the four firefighters all felt guilty now. Bobby hurt the man who looked up to him. Eddie turned on his best friend and made him feel worthless. Hen didn't stop the current of hate that flowed to Buck, she went along with it. Chimney abandoned his friend, teammate and honorary brother.
They saw now how unfair and cruel their actions had been. Buck was being unfairly held back and all he did was try to get back to the job he loved. He didn't aim to hurt them, embarrass them or make them feel horrible. That's what they did to him though and they didn't even stop to think about it.
Athena had a point too; three of the four of them should face suspension. Hen for sticking her whole damn hand into a man's chest. Eddie for illegal street fighting and nearly killing a man while he was at it. And now Bobby for abusing his authority.
And they really had the insolence to think Buck's actions were an attention plea?
The sound of a ringing phone drew the 118 from their thoughts. Maddie pulled out her phone, her eyes lighting up at the name on the screen for a moment before that light turned cold and she answered.
"Now's not exactly a good time, Evan, not unless you want to hear us yelling at the one-eighteen."
She said the last few words loudly, sending an accusing glare at the guilty firefighters, each of who looked up at Buck's name before cowering at Maddie's look. Athena gave a dry smile of amusement at that. A small huff passed Carla's lips while Christopher moved closer to Maddie to hear Buck.
"So you found my letters?" Buck questioned.
"Athena found them and brought them to Christopher and I," Maddie replied, walking closer to the kitchen and away from the others, Christopher, Carla and Athena with her. Maddie put the phone on speaker. "Have you reached your mystery destination?"
"Not yet," came Buck's reply. "I can call back later. I just wanted someone to talk to for a while, it's kinda lonely travelling across the desert."
"Desert?" Maddie couldn't stop herself from repeating the word. She didn't want to let the firefighters know where her brother was going but she was incredibly curious herself. "And it's fine. We're practically done anyway."
"Don't break up with Chimney just because of this," Buck tried. "He didn't do much."
"Exactly," Maddie replied coldly. "He did nothing. He just let the others hurt you."
"You're happy with him," Buck countered. "After everything that happened with… with Doug, Maddie, you deserve happiness."
"And so do you," Carla interjected. "You've given up your own happiness for long enough, Buck, it's about time you take care of yourself."
"Carla, I—"
"You don't get to argue that," Athena cut him off. "We all agree that it's time you find your own happiness. Don't worry about our relationships. They're ours to deal with, not yours."
Buck remained silent for a long moment before weakly replying, "Just promise me you won't give up those relationships."
Maddie, Athena and Carla all shared a look before they promised. They wanted to, yes, but they wanted to give Buck peace of mind as well. He couldn't have that if he knew he was the reason for the friendships the three women shared with the 118 firefighters ending. They would just have to try and be civil with mentioned firefighters.
Christopher promised too before asking, "Where are you going, Buck?"
"Woah, I can't give away the secret just yet," Buck answered, the smile clear in his voice. "I'll tell you when I get there and then I'll have someone I want you guys to meet."
"Your mystery friend?"
Buck chuckled lightly at that. "Yeah. You'll like him, I promise."
"Is he your boyfriend?"
Maddie's eyes widened at that. Yes, she knew her brother was bisexual, they all did, but the question was rather unexpected. Maddie supposed that it made sense though, this mystery friend had been there for Buck and just from what little was said about this friend in Buck's letters, she could see that this person meant a lot to him.
"We're just friends so far," Buck replied, a grin in his voice. "I wouldn't be disappointed to have him as my boyfriend though."
Christopher laughed at that. "Now I have to meet him!"
"You will tomorrow," Buck said. "I'll arrive tonight or tomorrow and I have a meeting with the fire captain whenever I arrive if it's after their shift starts. If I arrive around eleven in the morning, with the time difference… LA's two hours behind so that's nine for you guys…"
"Focus, Buck," Athena interrupted his thoughts with an amused smile. Sensing someone coming up behind her, she turned to level her glare on Bobby and the others behind him, "Just what do you think you're doing?"
The fire captain sighed, "We all want to apologize."
"For what?" Athena replied. "What are you feeling guilty for? What you did to Buck or for getting caught?"
"Athena, that's not—"
"Fair? Neither was what you did." Athena huffed then let out a long sigh. "No, the four of you are going to spend a couple days really thinking about what you did, exactly what you feel, and what you're going to say to Buck. He gets where he's going tomorrow, you can give him some time to settle in before you remind him of what he ran from."
Bobby looked down before he nodded. "Fine. That makes sense."
The alarm chose that moment to go off. With long sighs, Bobby, Eddie, Hen and Chimney threw one last glance at Athena and the other three behind her before going to get their gear and head out again.
It wasn't hard for any of them to figure out why going through the same routine they always went through felt so different.