Chapter 15

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Buck had been anxious about Hen's reaction when she wasn't given his new address. It wasn't like he could hide the fact that he'd moved out of Eddie's house when Eddie was moving with him, and they'd been talking about and planning out renovation projects and contractors to have the floors refinished while they were on down time at the station. It also wouldn't be a secret to her that Bobby and Athena would both know where they were living.

Buck thought the fairest thing to do would be to sit down and explain the situation to Hen, Eddie agreed with the added suggestion that they sit down with Karen and Athena there as well, explain the whole situation, Chimney's threats and their concerns and hopefully Hen would come to the conclusion that it would be better for her to be able to honestly tell Chimney that she didn't know where Buck was living, either on her own or with Karen's encouragement.

Karen got what they were insinuating immediately. "They're concerned that when Chimney gets out of prison he's going to pressure you into telling him where Buck and Jee are living. He's your best friend you're really going to hate not being able to tell him and it might be better for you not to have to worry about having to deny telling him what he wants," Karen said, clearly agreeing that Chimney would find it fairly easy to manipulate Hen into telling him where his daughter was.

Hen took it just about as badly as Buck expected. "You don't trust me?" she accused them.

"That's not true. I don't want to put you in the middle. If you know our address then you're either going to feel badly about not telling Chim where Jee is, or you're going to feel horrible about telling him where I live when I've asked you not to," Buck protested.

"Chim assaulted and battered Buck in his home because he couldn't tell him something Buck didn't even know. I've seen men die from a punch like that," Eddie reminded her.

"So you're going to put me in the same situation. Do you think that it's better that Chimney loses his temper at me for not telling him where Jee is than at Buck for not telling him where Maddie is?" Hen asked.

"Chimney is more likely to believe what you tell him and less likely to be physically violent with you. He's already made his mind up that Buck is lying about Maddie, and he doesn't even care that Buck doesn't know where his sister is and the only reason Buck would lie about that would have been to protect his sister because she asked him to. If you honestly believe that Chimney would hit you then you should avoid being alone with him," Athena said pointedly.

"You agree with Buck and Eddie," Hen accused her best female friend, feeling betrayed.

"They're right Hon, you want to believe the best of your friend but you seem to have blinders on when it comes to Chimney sometimes. Chim is guilty of assaulting Buck and neglecting Jee and from what I've heard from you and Buck and Albert, Chimney is still blaming Buck for not finding Maddie, and telling him where she is. Buck's doing the right thing in making sure Chimney can't visit him at home like last time, and protecting Jee-Yun from being kidnapped and dragged off on another road trip," Karen said gently.

Hen sighed. "I hate the fact you think that you need protecting from Chim and that you don't trust me to keep you safe. But as much as I want to tell you he wouldn't hit you again you're right, I couldn't guarantee it. He hasn't shown any real remorse for hurting you. Fine, don't tell me your address, it will make things difficult but it's you that's going to be inconvenienced by having to all the drop offs and pick ups with the kids."

"Athena might be able to convince Chimney that you haven't given her your address but Bobby would have to have it on file and nobody's going to believe Eddie and Christopher don't know where you live," Karen warned.

"We'll warn Bobby, but Chris and I are moving in with Buck," Eddie replied, not mentioning that they'd already moved.

"I guess that means Chris isn't hosting any more sleepovers and playdates," Karen said pouting playfully.

"We'll still do our share of playdates, at the park or the zoo but no, it would be better if they kids don't know where we live either until we know what's happening with Chimney," Buck agreed.

"You're that scared of him?" Hen asked.

"I'll point out again, that he's already put both Buck and Jee-Yun in the hospital with his obsession that he has to find Maddie and he hasn't calmed down about it at all. Buck is rarely home without the children, and I will not let Chimney Han hurt the three of them," Eddie said uncompromisingly. "If he hits Buck in front of Chris, Jee-Yun and me there won't be enough left of him to put back on trial."

At first it surprised the firefam when Eddie and Chris moved into the new house with Buck and Jee. Then after they'd thought it over it seemed to make perfect sense and they wondered why they'd been surprised in the first place. The two men had been all but co-parenting Christopher for years and Eddie had just slotted Jee-Yun in there with them to form what very much resembled a family of four.

They'd thought the whole idea of buying the house was so Jee-Yun would have an approved place to live that didn't involve Buck sleeping on Eddie Diaz's couch. Though Karen had pointed out that CPS wouldn't have approved him staying at Eddie's for so long if he was sleeping in the living room or sharing a room with Jee-Yun or Christopher.

"Nobody will be sleeping on the couch, the house has five bedrooms, seven if we finish the attic conversion the previous owners started," Eddie said amused.

"Five to seven bedrooms? Are you planning on fostering more than one child?" Karen asked.

"It's a bit bigger than we needed but it was the house that met our needs for two master bedrooms the best and because of the amount of work it needed it was cheaper than most of the four bedroom places we looked at," Buck said blushing.

"We need a room for Carla or Pepa when they stay over with the kids," Eddie said.

"I wouldn't be opposed to fostering siblings at some point in the future, especially if Jee goes back to Maddie," Buck said.

"You're discounting the possibility of Chimney getting custody?" Hen asked suspiciously.

"Not really, but Chimney will be gone at least another five months, I've been hoping that Maddie will be back before that, and if she isn't I think Chimney is more likely to want to go looking for her than staying here to get Jee back," Buck said sadly.

"What's up with him?" Karen asked.

"He's worried that Maddie will use the opportunity of Chimney being in prison for at least another year to come back, get custody of Jee-Yun and leave with her, and he will never see either of them again," Eddie said.

"He really believes that Maddie has left Chimney, permanently?" Karen asked.

"Maddie was nearly killed by her violent and obsessive husband. While I know that Chimney isn't planning on killing her I don't know if Maddie could look past the similarities and feel safe with a man who went to prison for neglecting their daughter and for battering her little brother," Eddie replied.

Bobby had a quiet word with them about filing relationship paperwork with HR but they both assured him that their relationship wasn't sexual or romantic. That living together long term was about coparenting and having someone there to help managing their PTSD or run interference with the children to give them space when they needed it. The decoration work going into the two master bedrooms convinced their friends that they were telling the truth.

Buck and Eddie had both looked forward to the idea of having their own rooms again after being forced into sharing a bed for so long, and had each enthusiastically helped to decorate the other's bedroom to their owner's individual tastes, Buck's room being more modern and high tech and Eddie's more deliberately calming and mellow with no electronics other than his phone charger, However in spite of wanting their own space and eagerly heading into their own rooms the night they were both ready for occupation, after a few nights they were both tired and grumpy. Buck admitted that he wasn't sleeping very well without Eddie by his side, his bed was too cold and empty. Eddie smiled and told Buck that he was still more than welcome to share his bed. Buck looked at Eddie suspiciously and saw how tired he looked and realised that Eddie wasn't sleeping well either and was possibly missing having a warm body he could trust in his bed as much as he missed it.

Nothing more was said but Buck saw the way Eddie's eyes shined with contentment when he quietly followed Eddie into his room that night and they both started sleeping better once they were together again. After the time apart, they were more open with each other about appreciating the comfort of not being alone and having a warm body to cuddle up to after waking with nightmares.

It was still nice to have a space designated as their own to retreat to when things got too much. They kept their clothes and things in their individual rooms, stayed out of each other's room other than at night, and used them when they wanted some alone time but they mostly slept in Eddie's room except for the nights they spent in Buck's bed after falling asleep in there while watching movies. It didn't matter which room they used, Buck had insisted on upgrading Eddie's bed with the same high quality California King mattress he'd had in the loft and replacing all of Eddie's sheets and pillows when he'd first stopped sleeping on Eddie's couch, so they slept equally comfortably in either bed.

Over time the increased cuddling and physical closeness in bed spilled over into their habits while they were awake. They'd always sat more closely together than most strictly platonic male friends but now there were quick hugs and cuddles on the couch while watching movies. Which slowly grew to kisses on the forehead or pecks on the cheek along with the children when they kissed them in greeting at the end of the day and goodbye of a morning as they left the house.

Jee quickly settled into the new house without any issue. The latch on Christopher's door needed replacing and Chris soon learned to keep the toddler gates shut and to sit near them when he was in his room playing with his lego. Jee became upset if the door was shut and she couldn't see him at all but if he was sitting near the gate while he played with the small lego she wasn't allowed to touch and they could pass toddler appropriate toys back and forth, she was content not being able to get into his room for a short while until Buck or Eddie came to distract her before she demanded Chris come out and play with her.

Eddie felt guilty about not noticing the broken catch and fixing it before they moved when he knew the toddler gate made it more difficult for Chris to enter and leave his room. He also felt guilty for encouraging Chris to give in to leaving the baby gate shut but the door open for Jee's comfort and to keep the peace even after the latch was fixed. Chris has started playing in the door way, rather than on the rug in his room to keep Jee happy which meant he had to clear away toys every time he wanted to come in or out, but Chris wasn't fussed, he quite liked that Jee sought him out through the gates. He could do his own thing and still spend time with Jee when she wanted him without risking her being able to wreck his stuff or having to play baby appropriate games with her. In his mind it was the best of both worlds.

Chimney went into his second trial only slightly less confident than the first. His trial in Arizona had shown him that not everything would go his way and that his need to find Maddie wouldn't be seen as exigent circumstances, but he honestly didn't believe that Buck had been all that seriously injured and thought that he was just being petty in pressing charges for a simple punch and the judge would see that he'd been overwrought and out of his mind with worry while Buck had been withholding information that could have mitigated his distress. His lawyer could use the fact that Buck wanted to drop the charges in favour of getting his hands on Jee to show that Buck was using his sister's misfortune and pressing charges for his own gain. The judge wouldn't like that.

Chimney was angry that even after he was acquitted of the assault, he would be transported back to Arizona to complete his sentence there. He wanted to stay in Los Angeles where hopefully he would get more visitors and be able to convince one of them to tell him what Buck knew about where Maddie was.

Unlike last time Bobby and Athena, Eddie and Albert were sitting in the spectator gallery when he walked into the courtroom. He didn't realise that three of them were there to support Buck through having to testify in front of his abuser and even Albert was feeling guilty about the fact he was there to support both sides.

His lawyer reassured him that Hen, and the Lees were in the courthouse and ready to provide character witnesses, but informed him that Maddie had not arrived. She wouldn't be called until late that afternoon so the lawyer still hoped that she would be on her way because having Buck's own sister testifying in Howard's defence would carry more weight than the other three testimonies, but after she hadn't turned up to his last trial, Howard was anxious whether she'd come. To be honest he wasn't even sure whether he wanted here there or not. He desperately wanted to see her and believed that once she saw him it would be easy for him to convince her to come home with him but he had hoped that Maddie would never have to know that he'd punched Buck in the face, especially not seriously enough to be arrested for battering him.

This time Chimney paid attention to the prosecution opening and testimony and was horrified to hear how much damage he'd allegedly done to Buck's face. That couldn't be real, Buck had still been standing and walking just fine when he left.

Hen also looked at the photos of Buck lying on the floor of his apartment, and the reports by the paramedics at the scene and the ER doctors in horror when she was shown them during her testimony. She could almost forgive the distraught man for taking a swing at the person he believed was helping to hide his girlfriend's location from him in a moment of extreme emotion, but for a paramedic, even an off-duty paramedic to leave someone in this condition and just walk away was beyond the pale. Buck had clearly fallen and it was sheer luck that he had managed not to hit his head and exacerbate his concussion, or if he'd fallen backwards instead of forwards he would have been in danger of aspirating or choking on his vomit.

Seeing his best friend's reaction and listening to her testimony as she broke down crying in disbelief that her friend could've done this, for the first time Chimney Han realized that Buck could have died, and that his actions had been unforgivable. He still believed that Buck was in contact with Maddie and that Buck's main motivation in pressing charges was to stop him from finding Maddie and to get Jee away from him, but for a moment the possibility occurred to him that Buck might be doing it because she'd asked her brother to stop him from searching for her. He quickly decided that it didn't matter. Maddie hadn't been in her right mind when she left, worried that her PPD would hurt Jee, that would be the only reason she would not want him finding her. He just needed to find her and convince her that she could be a good mother.

Nobody in the courtroom was surprised when Chimney was found guilty of felony assault and felony battery due to the severity of Buck's injuries and received a three year sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 12 months to be served consecutively with his sentence in Arizona. Chimney was angry about it though. He was even more angry to be told he was to be transported back to Arizona within the next couple of days to serve out his sentence there before being returned to the California prison system. He'd found that being convicted of child endangerment meant that he was treated much worse by his fellow inmates in Phoenix than before the trial, and that the guards were more likely to look the other way. He hadn't been seriously hurt but being bumped and tripped were becoming common.

"Why didn't you bring up Buck offering to drop the charges in return for getting custody of his niece? The judge wouldn't have liked to hear that he'd used the assault to manipulate me and the Arizona CPS," Chimney demanded.

"It didn't happen that way. Buck didn't ask for custody, only that Jee-Yun's wellbeing be considered before any charges against him," the lawyer replied.

"What yes, he did. The whole thing was recorded in the police office in Williams. It should be on the transcript. Buck said he'd drop the case if they gave him custody of Jee. They gave him custody and he should have dropped the charges," Chimney insisted.

The Lawyer sighed. "It didn't happen the way you remember it," he said.

"What are you talking about. We had a deal and Buck broke it. The charges should have been dropped. I never should have had to go through this farce of a trial," Chimney insisted again.

"Buck offered to drop the charges in return for you giving custody to someone who would look after Jee-Yun while you resumed searching for your girlfriend, nowhere in the written offer is the condition that Buck have custody. The offer was never part of a plea deal so it wasn't binding and even if it had been, you refused the offer. You insisted that you were taking Jee-Yun with you as you resumed the search for her mother," The lawyer said pointedly.

"Buck still went back on his half of the deal, he got custody of Jee and still pressed charges," Chimney said angrily.

"Buck never pressed the charges in the first place. His medical proxy did after Buck was admitted to hospital for surgery and declared too compromised to sign the consent, and the detective involved in the case had enough evidence to proceed even if Evan Buckley wanted to drop the charges," the lawyer said.

Chimney paled so quickly that the lawyer thought he was going to need medical assistance. "Mads… Maddie wouldn't. She wouldn't have pressed charges against me," he said faintly.

The lawyer shuffled through the papers. "No, Maddie Buckley is not Evan Buckley's medical proxy," he replied, declining to say who was.

Albert approached Buck and Eddie and Hen after the court case. "Howard can't afford to pay rent on an apartment he cannot use for at least another 17 months, and Maddie hasn't been paying her half either," he stated bluntly.

"When did she stop paying?" Eddie asked, thinking it was potentially a sign that she wasn't planning to come back.

"Her bank records indicate that she has not visited the bank since she withdrew most of her savings on the day she left. She cancelled the rent payments via internet backing the day after she rang Buck just after Christmas," Albert replied.

"You do realise that it's illegal for you to be looking at her bank records, even if your brother's name is on the account and I didn't think that they had combined accounts," Buck said, making a mental note to warn Maddie that Chimney had been monitoring her accounts even if he wasn't able to take money out, the program he was using told him which branch of the bank she used.

"No they didn't, but Chimney set it up to check her account on his computer," Albert said blushing. "It didn't occur to me that he had no right to do that. I was just trying to work out what to do with their apartment and stuff."

"Pass me the computer, I'll close down that program and delete it and run a scan to make sure he isn't monitoring anything else illegally," Karen said, glaring at her wife when she went to object.

"She stopped paying when she found out that Chim and Jee weren't living there. That makes sense. I'll text Maddie and let her know that we need to pack up the apartment and end the lease, and ask where she wants her stuff sent to. Not that I expect her to get back to me but at least we'll be giving her the option of taking over the rent if she wants," Buck agreed pulling out his phone and texting.

"Shouldn't Chimney get a say in this too. He will want to keep the apartment so Maddie has a home when she comes back," Hen argued.

"Sure, if you're willing to pay their rent for them you could do that," Eddie said agreeably. "But Buck is already paying to bring up their child. He doesn't deserve to be financially ruined for Chimney Han's peace of mind while the man is in prison for battering him.

Hen took a step back, "I didn't mean for Buck to pay," she trailed off, realising that if she wasn't willing to pay the rent and she knew that they couldn't afford it, that was exactly what would have to happen for the apartment to be maintained, Albert couldn't afford it, even if he gave up his own place and moved in, and Buck and Eddie probably couldn't either since they bought their house.

"I'll store Maddie's stuff until she sends me an address to ship it to, but I don't want anything of Chimney's or that they owned together in my house. I'm not setting myself up to be accused of stealing his things, or giving him a legitimate reason to complain that I won't give him my new address," Buck replied.

"I don't have room for all of Howard's things, I'll have to rent storage space," Albert said frowning.

"Most of the furniture was from Maddie's apartment before they moved in together because her stuff was newer, so it's mostly only Chim's personal stuff, maybe if you stored what you could, Hen and Karen could take the rest," Buck suggested. "When does the lease finish?

"There's not enough money in his account to pay rent until the lease expires, we're going to have to pay to break it so the sooner we do this the better," Albert replied. "The lease was due for renewal just after Maddie left but Howard signed the new lease before he left to look for Maddie. Maybe she didn't know he had," Albert said.

"Okay, but I'm not going into Chimney's apartment without you and Hen or Athena and Bobby there to witness," Buck said.

"Don't you think that you're being a bit overdramatic?" Hen asked.

"Chimney got so mad at me because Maddie phoned me on her way out of town that he broke my face. Even now he blames me for stopping him from being off hunting for Maddie," Buck pointed out.

"He thinks that you know where she is," Hen replied.

"I don't. I've heard from her twice since the blackout. The day she left when she rang to ask me to look after Chimney and Jee-Yun. Then she rang just after Christmas to ask me why Jee is all over my facebook page without Chimney and why Chimney didn't post anything anymore. A conversation that it's obvious to anyone who listens that I recorded it in its entirety and she refused to say anything about her own situation or location. I told you everything I knew, and asked you to tell Chimney since he won't see me. I offered to play it for Chimney if he rang me but he never did. I refuse to be responsible for his delusions," Buck said pointedly.

"You really don't know where she went?" Hen pressed.

"I don't. Maddie said she's not in Boston and I believe her. I doubted she would have gone back there anyway and I know she didn't go to Hershey. It's possible she went back to the town they lived in before Daniel died but I don't know exactly where that is and I kind of doubt whether she'd want to go there because it's only a couple of hours from Hershey. I don't have any idea where she is, the only thing I would expect is that she's in a city somewhere, not a small town or isolated area and I'd rule out Hawaii, Florida or anywhere warmer than LA, she doesn't spend much time at the beach so I don't think that the coast is a big draw for her, she could happily be somewhere like Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, New York, Washington DC. Maybe she's not in a city that big but that's where I'd start," Buck said.

"Do you think that she'll come back?" Hen asked.

"That depends on whether she stayed away because of the PPD or whether she's hiding from Chimney. She barely contacted me for years when I left Hershey at 19 then ghosted me altogether for three years before last time before she turned up in LA, and I know Doug is partly to blame but not completely. I don't know if she'd ever have got back in contact if she hadn't been running from an abusive husband and needed a safe place to land," Buck said sadly. "I want to say she'll treat Jee-Yun better than that, being that she's her daughter and I'm just the brother she was forced to bring up. But if her PPD has been as longstanding and severe as Chimney said it was then she may not have managed to create enough of a bond between them to bring her back."

"Do you want her to come back?" Hen asked.

"More than anything I want Maddie to be well and happy. I'd love for her to get in contact and keep in touch with me and I want her here or somewhere close by where I can visit. As for wanting her to come back to Chimney, I don't know. She was happy with him before Jee was born, but I think that he's changed too much for her to be happy with him again now. One of the things she loved most about Chimney was how gentle she thought he was and I don't think she could trust that again. Even if she accepted that he was out of his mind the day he hit me, prison will change him," Buck answered slowly.

"Is that why you didn't want Chim to go after her?" Hen asked.

"At first I didn't want him chasing after her because I didn't want her feel hunted down or pursued after what happened last time with Doug, and I was worried Jee would suffer being in the car with someone who was so desperate to find Maddie that nothing else seemed to matter to him," Buck replied.

Hen looked thoughtful but didn't reply.

"He seems to think that telling Maddie that she's a good mother one more time will cure her PPD when we all know it doesn't work like that. Maddie needs serious help, and he doesn't seem willing to help her to get it. I think that's why she left in the first place and still he cannot see that she needs something other than being forced to come home and look after Jee," Buck said.

Hen sighed, she had to agree Buck was right. What Chim wanted wouldn't work.

"It was only after he hit me that I started to worry about Maddie's safety if he found her and she refused to come home with him," Buck said. "It concerns me that his obsession with finding her and his belief that she'll take one look at him and realise she can't live without him and will agree to come home, doesn't seem to be waning. I'd be seriously concerned for her safety and his own mental health, if Chimney found her while he's still thinking like he is now."

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed, commented positively, followed, bookmarked or favourited or gave Kudos to this story for your support.