Bobby looked up from where he had been staring at the wood grain of the dining room table when a cup of coffee was placed in front of him. His wife gave him a sad smile as she sat down across from him at the table with her own coffee. They had just returned home twenty minutes ago after sitting and waiting on news of his youngest firefighter. They had been at the hospital a little over six hours while Buck had been in surgery and it was now a little after midnight. Bobby still felt a little lost at what had transpired earlier at the fire house and then the hospital.
Learning that Buck had turned down so much money - 8.6 million - just to return to being a firefighter. Bobby had knew from what Chief Alonso had told him days after Buck had dropped the lawsuit that the younger man had turned down a good bit of money; but not that much. Bobby had just been shocked but it had also given him a real idea as to Buck's need and want to return to firefighting; return to those he deemed his family. It was why when Chief Alonso had told Bobby that Buck would be reinstated the following week that Bobby had turned down the idea of sending the younger man to a different house. Though he was angry and saddened with what had happened between them Bobby knew he wouldn't give Buck up to another house. No matter what he knew Buck was a really good firefighter; one of the best Bobby had worked with since he himself became a firefighter.
But Bobby also didn't want Buck thinking he could just come back and return to his reckless behavior or that everything would be exactly the same. The team was still hurt and a little angry with the younger man and he knew they would need some time to get over the betrayal they all felt. Bobby just never thought - or never meant - for it to go as far as it did. He never meant to Buck to completely be ostracized from the rest of the team. He never meant for the team to completely ignore him almost to the point of pretending the younger man wasn't even there. He also never meant for the punishment of being man left behind to last for so long - a week at best; but now it was three weeks later and Buck was laying in hospital in a coma; hooked up to a ventilator that was helping him breath from a bullet that ripped through his body and collapsed a lung.
"How are you doing, Bobby?"
Bobby wrapped his hands around the mug in front of him. "Still trying to wrap my head around everything." He sighed as he looked at his wife again. "He's in the hospital again because of me."
"Bobby this wasn't your fault." Athena shook her head. "Neither was the ladder truck."
"If I had just talked to him properly he never would have sued. He wouldn't have dealt with that lawyer and his wife never would have gone after Buck."
"It's the lawyer's fault if anything, hon. There was no way Buck could have known his lawyer was using him for the money or that his wife would come after him like this."
"I should have done something more to prevent him from being shot in the first place." Bobby frowned. "I was too late to warn them about the bomb and I was too late to stop this."
Before Athena could stop her husband from blaming himself further there was moment out of the corner of her eye. Athena turned her head just as her daughter came into view.
"Mom? Bobby?"
Bobby blinked and looked towards the living room where his step-daughter stood watching them. She was wearing pajamas as she shuffled closer; hiding a yawn behind her hand.
"May, baby. What are you doing up?" Athena breathed as May pulled out the chair at the end of the table between her mother and step-father to sit.
May folded her arms across the table in front of her and leaned slightly forward. "I had to use the bathroom and saw the light on. Any news on Buck?"
Athena had called May earlier while at the hospital to let her teenage daughter know a watered down version of what had happened. She had told her that Buck had been shot and was in surgery but didn't go into details; asking May to stay home with Harry and if they needed to to call their father. She knew she would have to at least talk to May more in depth about what had happened to the person they all considered family; an older brother to May and Harry. Athena knew her daughter was going to have questions; she had just hoped to wait until morning.
"Surgery took time but the doctor is confident that he's going to make a full recovery." Athena reached over and wrapped her hand around one of May's. "It's just going to take some time. They've placed him in a medicated coma to give his body time to heal without having to overwork itself."
May squeezed her mom's hand and nodded with a frown. "So what happened? How was he shot?" She looked back and forth between her mom and step-dad; seeing the haunted and guilty look on Bobby's face she turned back to her mom. "Did a call get out of hand or something?"
Athena took a deep breath and after a quick glance at her husband she settled her gaze back on her daughter. "No, there was no call. Buck was shot in the fire house."
May's eyes widened as she sucked in a breath. "What? How? Oh my god, did one of the other firefighters that's been bullying him shoot him!?"
Bobby's head shot up from where he had began staring absentmindedly into his cooling cup of coffee. "What do you mean by bulling him?"
"How do you know he's being bullied?" Athena asked at the same time.
May scoffed. "Just because the lawsuit stopped Bobby from talking to Buck doesn't mean all of us did. I've texted with him almost daily since he was hospitalized after the bomb and didn't stop just because of some stupid lawsuit he had every right to file." She looked straight at Bobby. "I don't know fully what has been going on since he was reinstated around Halloween because he refuses to throw people under the bus by name but he has talked about the treatment he's received from others. The cold shoulders, the muttered insults under their breath. The fact that he doesn't keep any personal items in his locker after an incident with slime."
"Bobby?" Athena looked to her husband. "Why haven't you said anything about this? Better yet, why has any of that been allowed to happen."
"I didn't know about the slime thing." Bobby shook his head. "I knew people were ignoring him. It's been hard bringing him back into the fold."
"You pushed him away." May muttered as she pulled her hand from her mother's, sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
"He sued the department and me."
"You kept him from his job." May huffed. "Bobby, I love you and you're a great step-dad but you hurt him just as much as he hurt you. I know whatever happened, however he ended up getting shot, it's not on you. It's on whoever did this but this family needs to come back together for him."
"May's right." Athena nodded. "Buck's going to need all of us during his recovery." She then stood up. "But right now we need sleep. It's going to be a long road for not only Buck but all of us. We need to be strong for him so we need to also take care of ourselves."
May took that as her queue as she also stood; quickly hugging her mom and then Bobby before heading back to her bedroom to return to sleep for the night. Athena took care of the coffee mugs that neither of them really drank from before taking her husband's hand and leading him to their room. Hearing all that information about Buck and certain things that have been happening in the last couple of weeks since the younger man's return to the 118; Athena was angry. Angry at Bobby for his part in the treatment of Buck; angry at Chase and Elaine Mackey; but also angry with herself for not checking in with her pseudo-son herself instead of going through Bobby, who she know suspected had lied to her about why Buck wouldn't accept a dinner invitation from them.
Athena knew they would have a lot of work to do to get their family back to where it was a year ago. She also knew they could face any challenge that came their way as long as they stuck together. She had no doubt that Buck would recover from yet again another near-death experience and they would be at his side the whole time; holding him up when needed; keeping him grounded; showing him he is still loved. Athena would do everything in her power to fix her extended family.
