Full Summary:

Still being on blood thinners has Buck very cautious of what he does on and off the job. What happens when we he is carjacked? Does he make it home? How does his family react when they learn what happened?

The Carjacking:

Another normal day saw Buck off of work. He hadn't even asked to do a double shift because he actually needed to take a little time off for himself. He also needed food, but he wasn't too intent on going to the grocery store. He'd much rather go to the Farmer's Market. He called Maddie to see if she wanted to go to the Market and to his surprise, she said yes. So he got ready for the day and then left to get Maddie from her apartment. Once Maddie was in his Jeep, he headed for the Farmer's Market. The siblings chatted about what they planned on doing after they got some groceries. Maddie told Buck that she and Chimney were going over to Eddie's and asked if he was as well. Buck said he was and that Chris was excited because he hadn't seen his Bucky in a while. Maddie laughed at that. Buck had a special place in his heart for Chris. And it helped that Eddie and he were best friends. Nothing could separate that from anyone's mind. After the tsunami, everything had been a little hectic. The nightmares still showed themselves, but people were recuperating, slowly but surely.

As Buck pulled into the parking lot, Maddie grabbed her purse and the bags that she had brought with her. She liked using the cloth reusable bags over plastic bags because they worked better and nothing would get ruined if a bag was to break. Buck and Maddie got out of the truck and headed into the Market. They stayed together for the first part because they both needed the same things, but then they split up. They promised to meet back at the entrance once they had done the rest of their shopping. Maddie smiled as she watched her brother disappear into the crowd and then turned and headed in the opposite direction. She was able to get the rest of the items on her list and a little extra for Buck just in case. She was about to head to the entrance when she heard the disturbance in the crowd. She made her way to where the disturbance was coming from and saw Buck on the ground.

She ran to her brother and asked what had happened. Some cops had been called and the kids that stood near Buck didn't move away from him. Their father on the other hand was arrested on the spot. Multiple witnesses said that Buck had tried to calm the father down but he wouldn't listen and that the man had swung and hit Buck in the stomach. Buck was fine though he had been winded. Maddie looked at her brother who had a small amount of sweat on his forehead. He was in pain but wouldn't let Maddie call for an ambulance. He said he was fine, that he could take a punch. The boys were taken by the cops and then turned over to CPS for their safety. Maddie helped Buck up off the ground and he bent down to grab his bags. The eggs that he'd just bought were destroyed so he turned back towards the booth he'd bought them from. Before he could ask if he could buy some more, the owner of the booth handed him some more eggs, free of charge. He said he couldn't charge someone who had tried to help two obviously scared kids. Buck smiled and thanked him, gave his statement to the police, and then he and Maddie headed back to his Jeep. They put their bags in the back and Maddie made him give her his keys.

"Maddie, I picked you up. How are you going to get home?"

"I'll call Chimney. He can pick me up and check on you at the same time."

"I'm fine Mads, just a little bruised, it's nothing."

"It's not nothing; you're in pain and at least need to be checked out by a professional of some sort."

"Come on Mads, what's Chimney going to tell me that I don't already know? It'll bruise and that'll be the end of it. Don't make such a big deal out of this. I'm aiming on going to the BBQ at Eddie's and if you make such a big deal out of this, the team will make sure I stay home for sure. And that wouldn't be fair to Christopher."

"You always have to bring him into arguments. You know I can't say no to that cuties face. Fine, I won't make a big deal of it, for now. But if you start feeling any pain other than what you would expect from a bruise, please tell me you will get it checked out. I don't need to be constantly worrying about you. I have a life to live too you know."

"I know Mads, and I promise I will get it checked out if it hurts more than a bruise. Thanks for not telling Chimney."

Talking stopped as Maddie drove back to Buck's. They grabbed the groceries and headed into his apartment. Once inside, Buck put his groceries away and Maddie left hers on the counter. She did give him the extras that she had picked up for him though. They made some lunch and then Maddie called Chimney for a ride. Once Maddie had left, Buck went into his bathroom and lifted the shirt. He winced at just how ugly the bruise had gotten in only an hour. He knew he should have said something to Maddie, but he really wanted to hang out with Christopher instead of ending up at the doctor's office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buck was in his jeep heading to Eddie's. He'd gotten a text message from Maddie asking about the bruise, but he'd told her he was fine. Maddie next text told him she would be looking once he got to the party. Buck rolled his eyes at how over-protective his sister could be, more so with how many times he'd gotten hurt in the last year. First it was getting trapped under the firetruck, then it was the tsunami and finally it was being buried alive. The buried alive part still haunted him some days, but he had gotten over it. After all the snake venom had been purged from his system, his doctors had put him back on his blood thinners because there was still a slight chance that he could get more blood clots. They wanted to keep him under supervision with the blood thinners for just a little longer.

He had just turned off of the freeway and was heading to Eddie's neighborhood when someone flagged him down. The man looked like he was having car trouble. Buck pulled over to the side of the road and was about to get out to ask if the guy wanted some help when the man was at his passenger side door. Buck asked if he needed help and the man held up a gas can and asked for a ride to the nearest gas station. He said he had a bad ankle and couldn't walk very far but if he could get a ride to and from the gas station, he would be very much appreciative. Buck told him to get in and that he didn't mind driving him to the closest gas station. However, once the man was in the seat, he pulled out a gun and told Buck to drive and not to stop until he told him to.

Buck started the vehicle up one more time and headed in the direction the man told him to go. The man asked for his phone and Buck gave him the old one he'd kept just to listen to music with. His actual phone was in his pocket and thankfully he'd remembered to put it on silent mode so the man wouldn't hear it go off. The man kept the gun trained on Buck, but low enough that anyone passing by wouldn't see it. Buck hoped that he would make it out alive despite knowing what might actually happen. The man kept the music phone, probably so he could sell it later. Buck kept his eyes on the road and the man kept his eyes trained on Buck. He had a wicked looking smile on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirty minutes later and the man told Buck to pull over. He did as he was told. He was ordered out of the vehicle and to the side where the man could keep an eye on him. Buck had taken his keys and removed the jeep key, so when the man asked for his keys, he handed them over but knew that the man wouldn't be able to drive anywhere. The man didn't seem to notice the missing key and kept searching through the Jeep looking for valuables. Buck just sat on the ground. He knew that if he tried to run, the guy would probably start shooting and he'd probably be hit and with him still on blood thinners, his chances of survival were not good.

When the man was done searching the jeep for anything he thought was valuable, he turned back towards Buck and told him to get up. Buck did as he was ordered, not really sure what was about to happen. The man grabbed Buck by the arm and pushed him towards an empty house that looked like it hadn't been touched by anyone in a long time. The back door looked like it had been wrenched open previously and Buck began to think that maybe this guy had been waiting on someone stupid enough to pull over and help him. Buck was shoved into the house by the man and forced into what he believed to be a bedroom. There was carpeting on the floor and an old mattress but he hadn't the slightest idea what this guy was going to do.

Before he had a chance to turn around, pain surged through the back of his shoulder and then again through his lower back near his kidney. Buck hit the mattress and pain surged through his body. He hadn't even heard the gun go off. But when he didn't hear anything for a while, he had the nerve to turn onto his side to see where the man had gotten to. He was nowhere to be seen and as far as Buck could tell, was no longer in the house altogether. The guy probably went back out to the Jeep. He'd find that the jeep key was missing and before the guy could come back in to get it from him, he slipped it out of his pocket and under the mattress along with his phone. He didn't need the guy finding the only thing that would keep him alive.

When the man came back into the house, he was pissed and he grabbed Buck by his hair and pulled him off the mattress. He screamed in his face, trying to get Buck to tell him where the key was, but Buck just feigned surprise that the key wasn't on the key ring. He threw Buck back onto the mattress and pulled a knife from his pocket. He grabbed one of Buck's arms and sliced near the elbow. He was inflicting as much pain as possible. When he was done with the slicing, he took off. He didn't need to be there when the cops found the jeep. Buck slipped unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buck woke slowly. The room was dark and he was having trouble figuring out where he was. The licked his lips and tasted what felt like metal which could only mean one thing in his tired mind, blood. He pulled himself up a little and grabbed for his phone that he'd hidden under the mattress. He also grabbed his jeep key and put it in his pocket. He'd need it if he had to get himself to someone that could help. Using what little strength he had left, he dialed the only number he could think of at the moment; 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Need help…please send someone…"

"Sir, I can barely hear you. Can you speak up?"

"Was shot…stabbed…need help…"

"Okay sir, do you know where you are?"

"No…carjacked…LAFD…"

"Are you saying you are a firefighter?"

"Yes…need help…can't move…"

"Alright, sir, please stay on the line, help is on the way."

Buck blacked out again. His phone was still connected to 911 so they would be able to find him but Buck wouldn't be awake when they did. He knew his family had no idea where he even was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddie was drinking an ice tea next to Chimney in the yard. She'd called Buck multiple times trying to figure out when he would be there. Bobby, Eddie, Hen and Athena had tried calling him too, but nobody had been able to get through. Maddie was debating telling them what had happened at the Farmer's Market earlier in the day but she didn't know if that would make them panic or if they would say she was being too over-protective of him. They were all one big family, there was no denying that, but with Buck, it was something more. Being actual siblings, Maddie worried more about him than she did with the others.

She had just gotten up to grab her phone off the charger when it started to ring. She moved to the guest room to take the call. She wasn't expecting it to turn her world upside down.

"Hello."

"Hi, is this Maddie Buckley?"

"Yes, this is, who am I speaking with?"

"This is Dr. Nunez over at Cedar Sinai. Your brother was brought into the hospital about ten minutes ago. We need you to get here, please."

"Wait, what? Why is he in the hospital? What happened?"

"The details are spotty. I'm going off the information we got when he was brought in."

"And that information would be what exactly?"

"He was brought in with two bullets to the back, one in his shoulder and one near his kidney. And multiple lacerations up and down his arms."

"What!?"

"Mrs. Buckley, if you could please come to the hospital, I can talk to you more."

"Of course, I'm on the way."

Maddie left the guest room and went back out to the living room where she had left her purse. Chimney saw the tears first.

"Maddie, what's wrong?"

"Buck's in the hospital. He was shot twice. The doctor wouldn't tell me anything else until I got to the hospital."

"What? What happened?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know. I don't think the doctor knows either. She was working off the information that she'd gotten from the paramedics."

"Alright, we all go over there. And I can get more information from the responding officers that were on the scene." Athena stated. The BBQ officially broke up at that moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buck woke slowly. He was groggy as hell and he couldn't move much but from the insistent beeping next to him, he knew he was in the hospital again. Maybe it wasn't as bad as last time. Maybe he hadn't been in a coma for two weeks. Maybe it was only a couple days he'd been out. He remembered what happened this time, but he didn't think he could tell Maddie about it. He didn't think he could tell anyone. The worry in his head was replaced with someone speaking next to him. He couldn't understand what they were saying, only that the words were comforting. He wanted to wake up and talk to them, but he didn't have the energy to wake up. He felt his mind relaxing back into the comfort of sleep and let himself go.

When he woke again, everything was hazy, as if his mind was coming back from some place far away. This time though, he was able to open his eyes. He didn't move his head and the room was dark save for the one light on near the door. Two chairs were next to his bed. One held his sister, who again looked like she had been crying. The other held Eddie. He was asleep, they both were. He figured if they could still be asleep, then he should too. It didn't look like it was even day time out. His eyes closed and he was pulled back to sleep very quickly.

He woke for a third time and even though his eyes were closed, he knew it was sometime during the day. The light from the window was bright and he heard people talking around him. The pain was dull but it was there. He kept his eyes closed for a little longer and the people that were in the room seemed to descend into an uncomfortable silence, like they were waiting for something to happen that wasn't actually happening. And then he heard Hen say she was going to go get coffee and asked if anyone wanted to join her. Chairs were pushed back and feet exited the room. What felt like forever and then someone grabbed his hand.

"Hey there sleepy head, I know your awake. I can tell when you are faking it."

Maddie, she always knew when he was faking sleep. She always knew when he needed just her. She always knew when he needed to be alone as well, but this was not one of those times. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around before his eyes finally settled onto Maddie. Her eyes glistened with tears but she was smiling.

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

Buck licked his lips, "Water."

"Yeah, hang on one second," Maddie stood up and grabbed a cup of water and brought it to his lips to which he drank greedily from, "Here, not too fast, don't need you choking on me."

"Maddie…how long?"

"That's the first question you ask? Last time it was 'what happened'?"

"I remember most of what happened. How long?"

"We'll talk about the remembering bit later. As for the how long part, longer than last time."

"How much longer?"

"A month; you've been unconscious for a month. It can't be classified as a coma because the doctor said that you were regaining consciousness at certain times. But you have officially been unconscious for a month."

"How bad?"

"The doctors officially took you off the blood thinners permanently. They say if you keep getting brought back in they're going to make you your own person room."

"That didn't answer my question. How bad is it?"

"Bullet to the back of your shoulder was a through-in-through. The one near your kidney was lodged next to your kidney. They had to remove it very carefully, but you still have your kidney. As for the knife wounds, you were lucky they didn't bleed much."

"Was he caught?"

"Athena and the other officers that were first on the scene are still trying to find him. I'm sorry that doesn't seem to be the answer you were looking for. But we've all been here. The staff lifted the visiting hours for you only. We didn't even have to threaten to call Agent Jones in. A protection detail was already in place when we got here. I will say, you missed one hell of a bbq."

"Wish I hadn't. Wish I had been able to make it."

"Me too, little brother. We're going to have to figure something out when it comes to you and driving by yourself. Bad things tend to happen when you're left to your own devices."

"Not funny."

"I'm not joking. I do not want you anywhere near a hospital for a very long time when you get out of here, do you understand me?"

Her question was left unanswered. The talking had tired him out. When she didn't get a response, she looked over to him and noticed he was asleep again. She stroked his hand with hers and wiped the tears that sprang to her eyes away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been two weeks since Buck woke up. He was sitting up and talking to his friends and family more and more these days. And he was anticipating getting out of the hospital and soon. At least this time he'd be able to go back to his own apartment and not have to stay with Eddie while he recuperated. Bobby and Athena had just stepped out of the room when a nurse walked in. They said they'd be back once they'd gotten something to eat. Eddie was due to stop by with Chris, just like he'd promised.

Buck wasn't even paying attention to the nurse. There were so many that wandered the halls, he hadn't really paid much attention to any of them. But for some reason, this nurse caught his attention. First of all, he was acting strange and kept trying to keep his head turned away from Buck, who found it odd that he didn't want to be seen. Second, every time Buck tried to strike up a conversation with the man, he would completely ignore him. It wasn't until he fully faced Buck that he realized that something was way off. Before he could say anything, the nurse held a knife to his throat and said if he told anyone, he'd be back and when he came back, he'd kill anyone in the room with him.

Unfortunately for the nurse, Eddie had been about to walk in the door when he saw what was happening. He placed Chris on a chair outside and told him not to make a sound. Eddie opened the door very quietly and before the nurse could say or do anything, Eddie had him on the ground, the knife now out of reach. Buck put his hand to his neck and hit his Call Button which brought nurses running to the room right as Bobby and Athena rounded the corner with coffee in their hands. The shock on their faces was replaced with concern as security made their way into Buck's room. The nurse was hauled to him feet and cuffed.

Buck drew in a deep breath, he knew that the odds of this guy finding him a second time were high, but he honestly didn't think that he would find him, in a hospital of all places. Athena entered the room to see the nurse in cuffs and asked what had happened. Eddie let her know what he had overheard and seen and she took it from there. She called in some LAPD officers and they took the nurse into custody. Bobby was outside the room with Christopher keeping him calm. Eddie walked up to Buck and removed his hand, thanking God that there was no blood on his friend's neck. He'd shown up just in time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddie opened the door to Buck's apartment and Buck maneuvered in. For the second time that year, he was being brought home from the hospital. But this time it didn't take months of remembering what had happened. He remembered what had happened from the get-go. This time, it was more of how the hell had this happened again. He couldn't put his finger on it but he was beginning to think that maybe he had bad luck. Maddie put the groceries on the counter before helping her brother up to his bed. She told him to get comfortable and that she'd be making dinner. She didn't tell him who was all coming over. Before she was even downstairs, he was sound asleep.

Buck woke to the smell of dinner and people talking downstairs. He wished he could stay in bed, but he knew that Maddie would be up soon to tell him to get up for dinner. His sister was so over-protective of him that it made him laugh, most times. This time however, he wasn't laughing because he understood why she was being over-protective. He pushed the comforter away and was about to get up when Maddie came upstairs with a tray of food.

"Seriously Mads, I can eat downstairs."

"Nope, we are having a picnic up here."

"Really? And what do you mean we?"

"Oh, you know me, you, Eddie, Chris, and Chimney."

"Thought it was just going to be the two of us."

"Oh no, that's not how this is going to work."

"Maddie!"

"Evan, just indulge me this one time and then you can make dinner for yourself from now on. Besides, we need to have a talk."

"About my spate of bad luck as of recently."

"Pretty much, yes."

"And since you're going to be laid up anyways, you can watch Chris while Carla and her husband are on vacation." Eddie said as he brought Chris upstairs and sat him on Buck's bed.

"You've all ganged up on me."

"It's not our fault you keep ending up in situations like these."

"It's not my fault either for that matter."

"Maybe try being a little less helpful. Unless it's for people you actually know. If you hadn't been able to hide your phone, we never would have known you were in any trouble." Chimney said coming up with some drinks.

"And it was just your luck that I happened to be coming into your room when that nurse was threatening you. Had nobody been there, we wouldn't have caught the guy that had hurt you in the first place." Eddie said.

"And, Bobby has already said that you're going to be on light duty when you get back. You may not be on the blood thinners anymore, but that doesn't mean the whole team isn't going to be keeping an eye on you. Nobody wants a repeat of what has happened in the last six months." Maddie stated.

"I get no say in any of this whatsoever do I?"

"Just get used to us hovering over you for a while. Now, eat up. You need to get some weight back on you; you've wasted away a little."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three months later and Buck was back at the firehouse and off of light duty. Recovering from his bullet wounds and knife wounds had taken a lot longer than it had when he'd been buried alive and been bitten numerous times by rattle snakes. He was just happy that he could finally get back to what he was meant to do.