"Okay, our state of the art alarm is all set up. Bobby, are you sure we can't cover him in velcro and stick him to his bed?"

Bobby rolled his eyes at Chim as he straightened out Bucks bed for him, hoping that his extra secure tucking would keep him in his bed. "Yes, I am sure."

Buck stepped in from the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth as he warily eyed the bell Chimney had hung from the door.

"That's our state of the art alarm? That's not making me feel better. Maybe you should just take me off of overnight shifts, Bobby."

Eddie left the bathroom and ruffled Bucks hair as he yawned, already heading for his own bed.

"No, Buck. You're staying here, with us so, that we can keep you safe. I don't like the idea of you sleepwalking alone in your apartment."

Buck smiled at that, pulling his pink toothbrush from his mouth to wave it at his best friend. "Aw, you think about me?"

Eddie grunted, face down on his bed, voice muffled by his pillow. "No."

Buck was almost too smug, spinning lazily on his foot to go finish brushing his teeth. "You do."

"Guys, we have some visitors." Hen opened the door, the bell chiming as she did and let in one very excited Christopher all dressed up in his pyjamas, Carla following behind.

Eddie jumped from his bed and raced to his son, sweeping him up into a hug. "Hello, little man. I thought I'd already called you to say goodnight."

Christopher leaned into his dad's cuddle and laughed. "You did but I had to say goodnight to my Buck."

Bucks head popped in from the bathroom, a giant smile on his face. "Did I hear superman?"

Eddie turned and set Christopher down, watching with a grin as Buck swept him up the same way he'd just done. "There he is! What are you doing here? It's past your bedtime."

Carla held up the book she'd brought, already sending an apologetic look to Eddie for keeping Christopher up. "He overheard us talking about Bucks sleepwalking and got worried. He said you needed a bedtime story."

Buck smiled at the boy in his arms, rocking him from side to side as Christopher laid his head on his shoulder. "You want me to read you a story?"

Christopher shook his head, glasses almost coming loose. "No, I'm going to read you one. So, you have good dreams."

Bobby pulled back Bucks covers and waved the two over. "Sounds like a good idea. Everyone into bed."

Buck got under the covers and snuggled down as Chris sat with him, Eddie taking his bunk beside him and the rest of the firefighters following suit. Carla took a seat at Hen's feet and may or may not have started recording as Christopher opened his book.

"Each day Mollie and Peter ran down to their playroom in the garden, and looked at their wishing-chair to see if it had grown wings again. But each time they were disappointed. It hadn't."

The wishing chair was one of Christopher's favourites and Buck himself had fond memories of Maddie reading him the same story as a child. Everyone listened with rapt attention to the story until finally Christopher was too tired to stay awake and Buck was snoring.

"Okay, Chris. Time for bed."

Carla lifted him off the firefighters bunk and led him away, letting Eddie kiss his forehead before Christopher reached back for Buck. "Wait, he needs a goodnight kiss."

He was tired, making it extra hard for him to walk and Eddie held his hands to help as they made their way back to Buck. He lifted Chris up and smiled as his son pressed a kiss to Buck's curls. "Night, night, Buck."

Eddie set him down and let Carla take him. "Bye, Chris. I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Buddy?"

"Bye Dad."

The door closed and the lights were turned out but the team, all except Buck, had trouble settling down.

Hen watched her team mate snore, voice low in the quiet room as she hugged her pillow, chin resting atop it. "Are we really buying the 'it's just the stress' excuse?"

Chim shrugged where he too was watching Buck. "He is under stress. And it can affect sleep, especially if he already has sleep disorders."

Hen shook her head and Eddie and Bobby watched her worried face, feeling the same thing she was. Something was wrong with Buck. "He's always under some kind of stress. Why is this happening now? Why not after the explosion or the tsunami?"

Eddie shrugged, eyes fixed on the slow rise and fall of his best friend's chest. "He couldn't exactly wander around with that cast on. Anyway, how would we know if he had? He wasn't working then and it's not like he would have told us if he had been."

Bobby shook his head, not liking to talk behind peoples back but when it was family, when he was worried he felt like the others should know. "No, I agree with Hen. Something's different, he's not been acting like himself. He's too quiet. Something must have happened to trigger it."

Chim sighed, thinking back to the way Maddie had looked when he'd mentioned the sleepwalking. He'd made a joke at dinner, thinking she would laugh but she went pale and demanded to know what had happened. Chimney had thought it was because she was worried about Buck hurting himself while asleep but now...he wasn't so sure.

"Maddie knows what it is I think. She tried to get Buck to tell her but he shut her out. I don't know what it was but it seemed…private."

Bobby laid down, encouraging his crew to do the same. "If he wants to tell us, he will. All we can do right now is keep him safe and support him. Everyone get some rest, we're still on the clock and we don't know how much sleep we're going to be getting tonight."

Bobby, of course, was right as always. It wasn't more than two hours later that Eddie was woken by the singing bell and the soft thumping of Bucks feet against the floor as he left his bed.

Eddie sat up and watched Buck open the door and wander off, mumbling about the bees that were on their way and how very grumpy they were.

Hen sat up but Eddie waved her back down, pushing his blankets off and following Buck out into the firehouse. "I got him."

Hen didn't argue, happily laying back down and settling back into sleep but Buck was heading for the kitchen.

"Buck, you're sleepwalking again. Can you make this one easy on me?"

Eddie watched as Buck went to the table and sat down, hands pressed against the table top as he stared at the chair on the other side like there was someone in it. It was a little creepy, watching Buck operate while in a completely unconscious state. He blinked for a while, mumbles too quietly spoken under his breath to let Eddie hear them before he stood abruptly and made his way to the fridge.

"Buck, you already had dinner, buddy. You're not hungry."

Buck frowned into the fridge, swaying slightly as he peered at the ingredients inside. "Eddie's hungry."

"What?" Eddie couldn't help but laugh a little as Buck took out the peanut butter and pulled the lid off and stuck it in his sweatpants pocket.

"Aw, dude. Don't put it in there." Eddie took the jar from his hand before he could try and eat any and pulled the lid from his pants, putting both back into the fridge.

Buck was still muttering and huffing, frowning as his fingers curled and uncurled at his sides. Eddie, conscious of how careful he needed to be, pressed a hand to Bucks back, guiding him back towards the bunks.

"We're gonna move nice and gentle and we're not going to freak out, okay?"

Eddie wasn't sure what Buck might do if he was startled while sleepwalking and with how much the guy could bench press, Eddie really didn't want to find out.

"I'm not the caterpillar." Buck seemed pretty sure about that so Eddie agreed with him, voice low, slow and comforting as he guided Buck back to their room.

"No, you're not. Come on, back to bed."

Buck's feet thumped against the floor as he stumbled forward, grumpily telling Eddie about whatever his mind was conjuring up.

"And I tried but I couldn't find it."

Eddie led him back to bed and got him to crawl back under the covers, tucking him in, safe and sound. "You can find it tomorrow, Buck. Now, stay."

Buck curled up and hugged his pillow, sighing as he slipped back into his dreams.

Eddie yawned and rubbed at his eyes as he got back to his own bed, sinking down into the mattress and pulling his own covers up over his shoulders.

Of course the second he closed his eyes would be the moment the alarm went off and everyone snapped awake at once. Great. Bye sleep, hello kitchen fire.

:::::::

"You don't remember what you were dreaming about at all?"

Buck screwed up his nose at his best friend as he hosed down the last of the smoldering grass. "No. Why what did I say?"

Eddie nudged the still steaming barbeque that was on its side on the lawn, checking for any embers that needed to be put out. "You were talking about bugs and angry bees. You were looking for something I think and telling me I was hungry."

Buck looked at him like Eddie was the crazy one. "Dude, are you messing with me?"

Chimney slapped Bucks back as he passed, smiling with unadulterated glee. "You can see the security tapes if you like. I've laughed at them enough times."

Buck went back to watching the grass he was hosing down. "It's not that funny."

Hen agreed. "It's creepy."

"Everyone leave Buck alone and get back to work please. I know you're tired from this morning's early wake up call but we're still on the job."

Hearing about his sleepwalking and not remembering it was an odd and uncomfortable feeling and everytime Buck heard about it he practically shuddered. It felt like having another version of yourself walk around without knowing what he did.

"You got really upset. You kept saying 'he fell and now he knows' like you were scared about something. Are you sure you're okay?"

Chim's words were no longer teasing, he was worried and Buck tried to keep the bile in his stomach as he played like he didn't know exactly what the words meant. "I'm fine. I get nightmares sometimes and now I apparently act them out. It's nothing."

It wasn't all bad though. Sometimes it was even funny. There had been that one morning that Bobby came out of his office holding a pile of paperwork that had been scribbled over. "No more crayons, Buck! Where did you even get them from?"

"I don't know!"

And the night when Chimney and Maddie had insisted he stay with them and they'd found him folding laundry on the lawn, wearing socks. Wearing only socks.

And despite everyone constantly laughing at him it was a relief to know that his sleepwalking could be entertaining instead of the ticking time bomb of secrets he felt it was.

Like when Santiago, another firefighter from their house had bumped his shoulder during morning shift. "Hey, man thanks for the eggs last night."

Buck had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, in fact he didn't remember seeing Santiago at all. "What?"

Santiago looked a little confused too as he shrugged. "I had just finished my shift and you were sleep-cooking. You made me eggs and said that I had to get big and strong before the rains came. I don't know, man they were good ass eggs though."

He went back to his duties and Buck turned to Eddie, who was smiling and trying not to. "I'm sleep-cooking now?"

Eddie shook his head, trying not to make it such a huge deal since it obviously bothered Buck. "You were fine, I was watching you."

He took Bucks half laugh as a sign that he was becoming more comfortable with the whole thing. "So, I know that you know but I feel like I have to say it anyway."

Buck stopped walking, anxiety crawling up his spine at Eddie's cautious approach, as if he was worried he could spook him or something.

"What."

"We care about you and whatever's causing the sleepwalking is not something you have to deal with on your own. We can help."

Buck rolled his eyes and started walking, immediately shutting Eddie out. "Come on-"

Eddie grabbed his arm before he could leave and pleaded with him, feeling desperate. "This isn't normal, Buck. Something brought it back and there are far too many of your sleepwalking adventures that make me think you're scared. I don't know what you're scared of but there is something wrong."

Buck clenched his jaw, avoiding Eddie's gaze. He sighed, letting Bucks' arm go as he tried again. "Fine, you don't have to tell me what it is but just please, tell me that if it gets worse you'll tell someone. Maddie, Bobby, hell tell Carla just tell someone. Please, Buck. Promise me."

Buck gave a short nod, whole body tense and closed off. "I promise."

He walked away and Eddie knew that it was all he could do for now.