Chapter Text
Buck was driving the truck. Why the fuck was he driving the truck? Where was the... His phone was leading him to the location of GROOVYHEELS? What the actual fuck was going on?
He pulled the truck over and pulled the phone out of the mount, this was such an old model, what the hell was going on and... Oh shit he'd borrowed the fire truck for a hook up. This had almost been the beginning of the end. He quickly deleted not just the conversation but the whole damned app and then tried like hell to think of a good excuse for this foolishness.
He grinned to himself and then started googling. Yes Probationary Firefighter Buckley had been a grade A moron, but this could be fun.
He kept his ears on the radio the whole time, because if memory served the timing had been close, thankfully he always had a lot of stamina so that particular ride had lasted quite a while, so he had time to work. He winced a little at the cost, after all Probationary, but this would be worth it.
He loved driving this truck again. She'd been good to him, at least early on. And the old girl wasn't at fault for the actions of greedy or homicidal idiots, after all.
He was extra careful backing her into place. It would ruin all his hard work to cover his idiocy up, if he put a scratch on her and got written up anyway. He made extra sure to check his uniform, before he slid out of the door and down into the bay.
It felt like everyone was watching, and he didn't know how he'd missed all of this the last time. Had he been that oblivious? That cocky? Probie Buck was making Probie Ravi look like a saint, even with his use of the Q-word, and don't get him started on Probie Eddie, the overly competent ass.
Shit... Eddie and Ravi...
He forced himself to take a breath. First things first, cover his past idiot self's ass, and screw with Bobby, Hen and Chim. He climbed the stairs with a shit eating grin that honestly probably said 'just got laid' even if it wasn't true.
He took a minute, and just looked at them all. They were so damned young, still older than he really was, but young. Chim was talking about something, His girlfriend, what was her name again? Tatiana! He may not have appreciated Ali's inability to deal with the stress of dating a first responder, but Chim's accident didn't have dick to do with his work and she hadn't even bothered to wait for him to wake up.
Not that he wanted that particular relationship to work out, cause hello, Jee the best niece in the world, but still he was offended on his friends behalf for the future pain he was gonna suffer over her bullshit. He was talking about a dating app when Buck stepped forward, almost feeling like he was following his nose. Bobby's spaghetti and meatballs was pulling him across the loft.
The meatballs were browning and Buck quickly washed his hands, Covid in mind. He grabbed a spoon and snagged a taste of the sauce before Bobby could stop him, and then Buck froze. Something was off, and he realized almost immediately and spun to the spices to snag the cinnamon before putting the barest of shakes in and stirring the pot. He pulled back, grabbed a clean spoon and a new taste then hummed in satisfaction.
He put both spoons in the sink and then turned around to realize everyone in the room was staring at him.
"What, Cap forgot his secret ingredient." He said defensively.
Chim looked gleeful, and settled in as if awaiting the show. Hen raised one eyebrow, and Bobby... Bobby looked like he was going to have an aneurysm. The vein on his forehead was throbbing and he honestly looked angrier than Buck remembered him being in the original conversation they had about his behavior.
Buck looked down at the pot, and then back up and snagged another clean spoon before grabbing a bit of sauce and taking it over to Bobby. He held it up Bobby to either taste or take the spoon. "I used a light hand, promise."
Bobby narrowed his eyes and took a taste.
Bobby glanced at Hen. "At least he washed his hands first? You never know where those have been."
He leaned in and tasted it and he gave Buck a very strange look. "That's... perfect." He almost sounded angry about it, and his eyes narrowed, glancing back at the firetruck and then at Buck. "What if we'd had a call?"
"I was in the neighborhood, just getting it washed, and I kept an ear on the radio the whole time, just in case."
"Did they charge you extra for the full detail?" Chim asked sarcastically.
Buck pulled the receipt out of his pocket for BJ's Truck Washing. "I didn't spring for a full detail, didn't think I'd have the time, but I did make sure they did a good job on the wax at those prices." He said. Chim grabbed the paper and his jaw dropped.
Bobby, who had clearly been gearing up for a lecture, looked more than a little stunned, and then extremely suspicious, especially once he caught the name on the receipt. "So, you just took the truck for a wash? And there weren't any special 'perks'?"
Chim started grinning and snapped his fingers. "Topless car wash... or cheerleaders?"
"Sorry to disappoint, but my taste in guys very much does not run towards sixty year old men named Jimbo. Apparently he was the J in BJ." Buck said with a grin, heading back to the stove to rescue the meatballs from where they were about to suffer for Bobby's shock.
There was a slight choking noise from Hen. "So where does your taste in men turn towards?"
"Muscular, competent, good with kids." He answered absently as he pulled the balls out of the pan and began ladling sauce over them.
Bobby shook off his shock and started grabbing food to put on the table. "Look, kid, you can't take the truck like that, I don't care why. The rules are the rules for a reason, and they're not arbitrary. I know we have this thing were you call me Pop, and I give you a hard time for being a dumbass kid, and we went to a Springsteen concert together, but this is not a family, not a club house."
"Not yet, but we'll get there." Buck said confidently.
Bobby gave him an unamused look. "I'm going to chalk this one up to you not knowing any better, but you take the truck again, without permission and I will be writing you up. Do you understand?"
"I do, Cap, and you're right. I'm sorry and it won't happen again." He agreed, before settling at the table and throwing several meatball sandwiches together, quickly wrapping them in wax paper.
Hen was watching him, head tilted in confusion. When the bell rang, however he held one out to her and she just raised an eyebrow before shrugging and heading towards the ambulance. Buck passed one on to both Chim and Bobby and then grabbed his own and ran to the stairs. They each looked at the sandwiches, then the direction Buck ran and finally at each other, before shrugging and hurrying down the stairs.
When they got to the call, the sandwiches had all been eaten, and Buck climbed out of the truck, looking around and suddenly remembering what this call had entailed. He got more than a few odd looks when he grabbed the saw, instead of the axe. He ignored it all and hurried up to the apartment the call had come from.
When the stoner told them about hearing the baby, and everyone was eyeing his bongs, Buck stepped closer to the wall. "Hey Cap, maybe give a listen with a stethoscope? I swear I thought I heard something just now."
Bobby gave him a strange look, but then there was the smallest sound, and he held out his hand and Buck passed one over. Bobby started listening and Buck waited, saw ready.
Once Bobby marked the pipe, they made quick work of the wall and then the pipe itself. He let them work and moved in when asked, eyes locked on that tiny life, willing it to live, even though he knew how this had gone, the baby had at least made it to the glass doors.
He turned to Hen. "Hey can you go get the elevator up here and held?"
She nodded and rushed out, and by the time they were moving that tiny life, wrapped and held close to Bobby's chest, the car was waiting for them. The car was small though and he nodded at Hen, before he raced down the stairs, determined not to be the reason that tiny thing took any longer than humanly possible to get where it needed to go. Without the baby in his arms he was moving at top speed and caught up with them at the back of the bus, ready to help Bobby inside.
They were about to close the doors and pull away when Buck remembered and looked out. "What about the mom?"
"We deal with the patient we have, Buck." Bobby said, telling them to shut the doors.
He was desperately looking at the building, starting to worry about what he'd changed, and if that poor girl would be found in time, when Athena came rushing out of the building, calling for them to wait. He moved to help her get the girl in and started checking her over.
"Great save, Officer." He said, trying to keep from smiling at the woman. She was far too smart to let a slip like some random punk firefighter grinning at her like a 'damned fool' go, then he'd end up telling her everything, cause there might be someone strong enough to lie to Athena Grant's face, but that would never be him.
"Would have been out sooner, but apparently someone was hogging the elevator." And there was the change. He'd need to remember to watch out for that. The devil was in the details and that one could have cost this girl, and that baby. He watched in awe as that tiny hand held onto the big one, and the baby's pulse evened out.
They got to the hospital and Buck ran through the vitals and hand off information for both the baby and the mother, giving the scared teenager a pat on the shoulder before turning to see Bobby and Hen both giving him a strange look.
"What? Did I miss something?" He glanced back at the two as they were being wheeled in, to reassure himself, before turning back to the two.
"No... that was a clean hand-off, I just..." Hen started eyes on him, as if he was something new and fascinating.
"Everything okay, with you Buck?" Bobby cut in, eying him warily. "You've been... different since you got back to the station."
"Different?" Buck asked, playing dumb.
Bobby watched him, almost as if he was waiting for Buck to break, before shaking his head. "Get in the truck."
Buck grinned at him and threw a jaunty little salute before he turned and jogged towards the truck.
---
The rest of the shift had gone pretty well, and Buck had even managed to make it to the kitchen before Bobby to get breakfast started. He was just putting the racks of bacon in the oven when Bobby came up the stairs, then turned and did a double take.
"Buck?" He asked, as if not quite sure what he was seeing.
"Morning, Cap. Just putting the bacon in, I already cracked the eggs and they're ready to scramble, once the bacon gets halfway. I was debating on pancakes or some french toast, or, since I put the hash browns in already, just regular toast? Timing would be easier if we did that, right?"
"Uh, yeah I think toast is the way to go." He said, eyes locked on Buck, who was pulling a cup out and pouring coffee before fixing it the way he knew Bobby liked it, he sat it on the counter towards him and then turned to pull a couple loafs of bread out and sat them by the toaster. He also grabbed the eggs out and a bowl of freshly shredded cheese.
Eyes still not leaving Buck, Bobby cautiously grabbed the coffee and took a sip. Eyes wide, he found a stool and sat down to watch, clearly confused.
Buck took the large skillet out and set it to heat, hitting it with a shot of olive oil and then throwing in a couple pats of butter. He sat a couple big bowls on the counter, and then checked both the hash browns, giving them a flip, and the bacon. One tray he pulled out entirely and then sprinkled just a little brown sugar on the bacon, before shoving it back in. Once that was done he snagged the big whisk, gave it a quick rinse, and then began whisking the eggs.
Bobby watched the entire thing, eyes wide. Buck gave the eggs a once over then nodded to himself, satisfied that they were ready before he dripped one drop in the pan and nodded again when it hissed and cooked up quickly. He turned the heat down some and then poured the eggs in. Bobby was just opening his mouth to stop Buck from using the metal spatula he had picked up from beside the stove, but Buck turned and dropped it into the sink and grabbed the heat proof silicon spatula and started scraping through the eggs, constantly turning the pan and moving the eggs from side to side, until he was satisfied with the results. He scooped about a third of the scrambled eggs into one bowl, and then quickly sprinkled the shredded cheese in and moved the eggs again, letting them cook maybe thirty more seconds, before everything left in the pan was slid into the second bowl.
He dropped a large domed lid over each bowl and left them on the counter before he stepped over and started making toast. "Was anyone else up, do you think?"
Before Bobby could answer there were the sounds of feet on the stairs, then Hen and Chim were crossing the loft, both of them watching the scene with wide eyes. Chim settled in to the seat next to Bobby. Buck made him a cup of coffee and grabbed a bottle of juice for Hen.
"Can one of you take over the toast while I get the hash browns and bacon on platters?" He asked, while he pulled out serving platters from the dishwasher.
Hen nodded and moved to take over the toast station, replacing the toast Buck had already made with bread and popping it down. Buck pulled the bacon out and slid it onto a platter, the bacon with the brown sugar at one end, before carefully pouring the bacon grease off into a bowl, before stacking the hot trays near the sink.
He put the hash browns on a separate platter and then carried both to the table, before returning for both bowls of scrambled eggs. "Chim can you grab that stack of plates, please?" He asked on the way to the table.
That got both Chim and Cap moving, and by the time a few more familiar faces found their way to the loft, breakfast was on the table. Buck grabbed his own coffee and settled into his normal place on Bobby's right. Buck's plate was half filled before either of the other three started serving themselves, all of them were too busy watching Buck. Buck jumped up and grabbed the ketchup, and a bottle of juice, missing the looks Chim, Bobby and Hen shared. A few of the late arrivals thanked Bobby for breakfast, but he just pointed at Buck.
Ramirez took one look at the spread and started grinning. "You made eggs without the cheese? Thanks, Cap. I been missing out on your scrambled eggs cause of the cheese." He beamed at Bobby, who once again pointed at Buck.
"I didn't do breakfast. Buckley beat me to the punch today."
There were more than a few shocked exclamations and a couple jokes about how the unavoidable food poisoning would be worth it for food this good. When the alarm sounded, more than one man was hastily throwing together bacon sandwiches for the road. Buck put his plate on the counter before snagging one last piece of bacon as he ran for the stairs.
---
He didn't recognize the house until they were inside. He closed his eyes for a moment, and shook his head, just as Chim started freaking out.
"Oh my God! Bobby I can't do snakes. They scare the crap outta me. That scene from Conan the Barbarian with the giant snake, it traumatized me for life. I ca- I can't."
"Schwarzenegger is always going to be the Terminator, for me." Buck said, then turned to follow Bobby into the bedroom.
Bobby was pulling on the snake and Hen was telling him how useless that plan was.
"You need to start from the tail, anyways, Cap. Hen, get that Dilaudid ready, I might be able to do something. Uh, which way is the kitchen?"
"Are you making the snake breakfast too?" Chim asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Constrictors constrict with their bite, if you can break them from that they release enough that we can get this thing off of her, in theory. Miss, I know this is scary, but do you think you can hold on for a few more minutes?"
"If y-you can save me and Sparticus." She gasped out.
"We don't have time for this." Bobby grumbled.
"Cap if she's good with trying, it's not fair to punish the snake for doing what it was made to do." Hen argued.
Bobby nodded. "Do it, but hurry."
Buck turned and rushed off, He quickly found the kitchen and found vinegar and a spray bottle, He rinsed it out quickly and poured vinegar inside, along with some water. On the way out he stopped and then hurried back to grab a large cookie sheet. Tools in hand, he ran back to the bedroom and then slipped the cookie sheet between her face and the snake's head.
"Someone getting served up? I was only kidding about making it breakfast, Buck."
"The snake is about to take a face full of vinegar, Chim. It might just piss it off, and I doubt she wants fangs to the face. She shook her head as much as the snake would allow, and Buck held the pan with one hand and then started spraying the snake. It lashed out, tightening its hold for a moment before releasing her and slithering down to the floor, clearly angry.
Chim took one look at it and then turned to leave. "Guys, I think he made it angry! I'm gonna... I mean I think our job is done here." Bobby nodded his head, ruefully and Chim left, quickly. Buck, Hen and Bobby shared a smirk as his vocal "Eww." came echoing down the hall.
Once Sparticus slithered a safe distance away, clearly irritated by the vinegar, Hen moved in to check the patient's breathing. "You seem to be recovering nicely, any pain?"
She shook her head and Bobby stood up, ready to head out. "You can expect a visit from animal control."
She gave him an angry look, then sent Buck a flirtatious one. "There are some really good zoo's in the area that would be a good fit for Sparticus. I know he's probably your baby, but he nearly killed you, and more to the point you'd actually care about, we nearly had to kill him. I'm sure they would agree to some kind of safe visitation, especially if you donated more than one snake, and maybe stick to the not quite so deadly ones for pets?"
She pouted, but then reached up and rubbed her throat and nodded. "You might be right."
"Okay, everyone, lets get moving." Bobby said, gathering up gear.
She was getting to her feet and sending looks Buck's way, but he ignored them all and grabbed up the bag from Hen, and hurried back to the truck.
The last few hours of shift were quiet, and he was just getting ready to change and leave when he heard his phone ring. He pulled out his old phone, only it wasn't the phone that was ringing. He recognized the ring tone and began checking his pockets, before he pulled out a second phone, and answered it, without thinking. "Chris?"
"Hey, Buck." Chris greeted him.
"Hey Superman. Wh-what are you up to?" He asked, changing directions as realization hit him mid question.
"Dad had therapy so I'm with Carla, and she said I could call. That's okay, right?" He asked a little uncertainly.
"You can call me any time you want, and if I can possibly answer, I will. If I can't answer, cause I'm busy with work, I'll call you back as soon as I can. That's a promise, okay?"
"Okay, Buck!" He could hear the sunshine grin Chris had to be sporting.
"Hey, I have a question. Diaz family trivia. When did you and your dad move to LA? And did you start out staying with Abuela, or did you move right into your house?"
"We moved right before Daddy started at the academy, and we stayed with Bisabuela until right before Daddy started working with you and the 118."
"Okay, buddy one last question, for now. That step that Abuela fell on, was it already broken?" He asked carefully.
"It wasn't really broken, but it was super wiggly. Why?" Chris asked.
"Just curious. You know I always want to know everything there is to know about some of my favorite people in the world."
"Are you going to try and meet us early this time?" Chris asked, voice curious and calm, which is why it took Buck so long to register.
"Wait, what... Chris how did you..." Buck's head was spinning.
"Ohh, did your brain do the forget thing that guy warned us about?"
"Chris, what are you... what guy? And what am I forgetting?" He asked frantic now.
"You made me promise not to remind you. He said if you didn't remember, you weren't supposed to. Some things are f-f-fixed points. Remembering them could mess up the s-s-space time con-con..."
"Continuum?" He asked carefully.
"That's it! You remember?" Chris said excited.
"No. It's a line from Back to the Future."
Chris was quiet for a moment. "Well at least we know the phone w-works. That was your one st-st-stip..." There was a frustrated growl. "The one thing you said you wanted."
"Stipulation?" Buck asked.
"Yup, that's it. You didn't want to leave us alone."
"Chris, do you know if the phone is supposed to work for everyone in your time? I'm going to need to talk to some people, and" As he was talking he'd opened up a browser and 2022 Google came up. "Oh my God.... I can browse in the future?"
"S-sure, and I know you asked about talking to M-maddie, and he said-"
"Oh shit! Maddie's still with Doug. Oh... sh- shoot! Don't repeat that, and put me down for a dollar in the swear jar, but Maddie is in trouble, and I forgot, how could I forget?"
"Need to know." Chris said, and Buck could see him nodding sagely in his mind. "You've only been there a little while, you p-probably needed time to get used to it. If you remembered r-right away..."
"I would have run off like a crazy person and blew everything up. I know Maddie is safe for now, because she made it to me before and I haven't changed anything that would reach that far yet. So I need to think and make a plan, and maybe give my Maddie a call."
"You got this, Kid." Chris said firmly.
Buck was grinning so hard. "Yeah, we got this."
They talked for a few more minutes and then Chris had to go because Carla needed her phone. "I love you, Chris."
"Love you too, Buck. Stay safe back in good old 1955."
"Jeez, kid, how old do you think I am?"
Chris's giggles sounded until he disconnected, and Buck could only smile at the phone fondly.
Grin still on his face, Buck grabbed his gear and hurried out to his Jeep. He saw Hen on the way, getting her stuff together to leave and called out to her, as he passed. "Say hi to Denny and Karen for me."
He completely missed the fact that she stood staring after him jaw dropped in his rush. Instead he hurried to climb into the drivers seat, with a grin. He smacked the dashboard in welcome and then hurried home. That was super high on his list of things to fix. If he managed to get Maddie away from Doug early, she would need a safe space, and the frat boy mentality of his current roommates was pretty much the exact opposite.
He'd been working for years with very little to actually spend money on. In all honesty, once he stopped wanting expensive toys to make up for the love his parents were incapable of giving him, he'd lived fairly modestly. Even the loft had been more for Ali than himself. Besides he didn't want to commit to buying a place this early. He might have a look for rentals in Abuela's neighborhood, or even Bobby's building.
Once he got home, takeout in hand, he quickly retreated to his room and then pulled his old... new... his future phone out and started checking it over, while eating dinner. For all intents and purposes this phone was in 2022, and was somehow here too. He checked the scores for games that wouldn't be played for years and texted his best friend, who also didn't know him yet, just to see how the therapy he wouldn't accept now was going in the future. This was a mind bending trip, if ever there was one.
He had kept his phone on, and had tried Maddie, but between work and Jee she didn't have time for the sort of heart to heart he needed to have with her. He knew he wasn't going to wait on her coming to him, but he desperately needed more information, before he went back to Hershey.
Besides he had a date with a cute blonde in Winnetka on his next shift, and there was no way in hell he was going to miss it. He just had to figure out how to make sure he was man behind, so he'd be in the right place at the right time for history to repeat itself. He damned sure wasn't about to get himself fired up on that god forsaken roof. He was terrified that might throw things off, but he had no interest in sliding back into Buck 1.0, even for a good cause. He'd come far to close to that recently and he didn't like it.
He figured a good balance of injured, but just enough, might do. Maybe a slip and fall where no one could see, a little bit of a limp? The bad thing was he'd probably have to follow through on the injury. Hen and Chim would catch on real quick, if he faked it, and he knew he was a terrible liar. God knows that flaw had gotten him in enough trouble through the years.
---
Ironically enough, despite having an intricate nine step plan, all it took was trying to be a nice guy. He'd given his roommates a heads up that he was going to be looking for a new place, so they weren't left in the lurch and had time to line up a new person, only for the both of them to decide they were moving out instead. One was going to move in with his girlfriend and the other was moving on to better and brighter things, aka his mother's basement where he wouldn't have to pay rent, and both of them wanted out before the next months rent was due.
Their rush to move, meant things were out of place and he nearly took a header down the stairs when a bunch of stuff was unexpectedly left in the upstairs hallway. He'd managed to keep from actually tumbling down them, at the cost to his wrist. It was sore and several colors of bruising, but thankfully it was just a sprain and only required an ace wrap, and some ice.
On the morning he had set himself up to be fired by way of what amounted to grand theft firetruck and indecent exposure so long ago, he walked into the firehouse with a bandaged wrist and his paperwork from the hospital.
He made his way up to the loft and found Bobby reading the newspaper. He looked up when Buck was a few feet away. "Jeez, kid, what did you do?"
"Well on the plus side, I won't be living in a frat house within the next week or so, but apparently other people moving is a hell of a trip hazard, especially when the inconsiderate jerks leave the things they're tossing out on the floor at the top of the stairs."
"How bad?" He asked eyeing Buck's wrist.
"Luckily it's just a sprain, here's the paperwork. I'm okay to be here, but I doubt I'd be good on a call, maybe just keep me as man behind? I can help with cooking as long as I'm careful, since its not my dominant hand."
"Did I just hear Buck asking for a dominant hand? Kinky." Chim said, climbing up from the couch and crossing the loft.
"Only if it's safe, sane and consensual, Chim. This was none of the above." He said holding up his hand.
Bobby was giving him an odd look again. "Is everything okay with you, kid?"
"Other than my wrist, everything is pretty good. I mean I was planning on moving to a better place, but if my roommates are going to move out, and take their random hook ups and bong collections with them? The house itself is great. It just needs a good cleaning and maybe fumigated, or at least a case of Febreze and some windows opened, you know?"
Bobby nodded.
Buck moved to the coffee pot and poured out the last bit into a cup, then before Bobby could open his mouth, Buck was moving to make another pot. He even washed out the carafe instead of just filling it up.
Chim was slowly popping his gum watching Bobby watch Buck.
Buck finished the coffee and then settled in at one of the stools, sitting with his back towards the counter and facing the other two. "Anyway, I'm cleared for work and there's nothing to file, but I figured you'd want to see that just so you know for sure that I'm good to be here."
Bobby nodded and poked through the papers Buck had handed him. "This looks fine, Buck. I think we can go ahead with your plan. I can always use a helping hand in the kitchen and you should be able to handle man behind easily enough."
Hen joined them just in time to get a fresh cup from the pot. She savored it for a moment or two before turning around and taking the rest of them in. She smirked at Buck and waved her cup in the direction of his wrapped wrist. "Couldn't get a date?"
Buck snorted and gave her a big grin. "Wasn't looking, I just lost a fight with a pile of laundry. It played dirty and got the stairs involved." She gave him a worried look and he waved her off. "Caught myself so I wouldn't go down them head first, but twisted something in my wrist in the process. Doc said ice and taking it easy. Cap is gonna leave me behind today, and I get to play in the kitchen, so it's all good. I'm good Hen, it's really just a bruise with delusions of grandeur, promise."
"Okay, but you come find me if you need it rewrapped, you hear me? None of this macho 'I can do it myself' bullshit."
"No, Ma'am." He said with a soft smile. "Wouldn't dream of it."
They had a slow morning and Buck assisted with making sandwiches for lunch, which they all miraculously got to eat. A call came in just after 1pm and Buck noticed Bobby's eyes on him in the mirror as he rode out of the station. Buck nodded to himself and made sure his phone was on hand for the call he was hoping still came.
He was starting to get really worried that he'd messed something up when the call finally came. Hen asked if he was up to driving the engine, and then gave his number to dispatch. Suddenly her voice was in his ear, giving him directions. Despite everything and how it ended up, he was grinning like a fool at hearing her voice.
He could tell she was holding it together, but worried for the kid. "Miss, what's your name?" He asked when she took a breath.
"This is Operator Abby Clark."
"Hi, I'm firefighter Evan Buckley, but everyone just calls me Buck. Do you mind if I call you Abby?"
"Y-yeah that's fine." He could tell he'd thrown her a little.
"Okay, Abby, you tell me where you need me and together we're going to help Officer Grant find this little girl."
He met up with Athena, the same as before, and tried to keep as close to the original route as he could, not wanting to change the timing and cause ripples that might end up with someone dead, instead of the happy ending they'd fumbled into the last time. He wasn't sure until the mom was pulling into her drive and he jumped from the truck to get her out of harm's way.
He listened to the conversation and was impressed all over again as Abby conned the thieves into rushing right into Athena's trap. When the man got away, just like before, he hurried the mother and daughter behind the truck and then climbed to the top of the truck and got ready. Heart in his throat he waited to take his shot.
He watched as the thief skidded to a stop and then turned back in their direction, and then as he pulled out his gun and Athena stood her ground. He was constantly impressed with how much of a bad-ass Athena Grant was, and how much of that she'd passed on to her kids. Her... kids... Fuck, May!
His mental realization about what was about to repeat itself nearly cost him Athena, but he managed to shake off the shock of that memory and blasted the bastard right off the bike, and then watched, thrilled as Athena got to work cuffing the son of a bitch. He complimented Abby, almost on autopilot, and then climbed off the truck. When both mom and daughter tried to thank him, he pointed them towards Athena for doing all the work, and Abby for getting everyone where they needed to be.
He quickly made his goodbyes and hurried back to the station. Everything seemed to have gone as well as it possibly could, though he was still frustrated about one thing. More than five years and he still had no idea what Athena meant about waterfalls. Who the hell would chase a waterfall? They didn't move.
He was parking the truck when he caught Bobby's furious face in the mirror.
He hopped out of the truck, and headed towards where Bobby was standing, Chim off to one side. Buck looked around for Hen, but the ambulance was still gone and he figured she must be with it.
"Hey, Cap. I know what this looks like-"
"It looks like you took the truck out to meet up with some girl, which is probably what you did the other day, too, and then came up with that lame cover story."
"Woah, Bobby... Cap, I know this looks bad but-
"Did you go out after some girl?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"But, nothing, Buckley, you're fired." Chim, who'd been looking just a little gleeful up until that point turned to Bobby stunned.
"What? Wait, no!" Buck said frantic, now, not sure how the hell they got to this point again.
"You thought you got away with disrespectful bullshit the first time and then came up with some cockamamie story to do it again. Hell, I doubt there's anything wrong with that wrist at all, you just didn't want to miss your date, right?"
Buck's jaw dropped and he reached for the ace wrap, pulling it off in quick jerky pulls. "Does this look fake to you?" He said waving his wrist under Bobby's nose. "Oh wait, maybe its makeup, right?" He licked his thumb and ran it across the bruise. "I know I screwed up the other day, taking the truck without asking but I didn't meet up with anyone for sex or otherwise, and I did get it waxed and washed. I still shouldn't have taken it, but I did not use it for some hook-up then or today."
"Then what the hell is going on with you? Is it drugs? You've been a completely different person the last couple of days. Whatever your baggage is, I don't want it in my station. You admitted you took the truck without permission this time for a girl. You're done." The man was clearly pissed, but he even managed to sound sad about it. Buck saw red.
"That is tough shit, sir, because me and my baggage are staying right here. I did have permission to take the truck. Firefighter Wilson called and put me in contact with Dispatch. I was ordered to take the truck and use it to help find a little girl. That is the girl I took the truck for. They needed the sirens to help find out what house she was in, and police sirens would alert the two guys who broke into her house that something was wrong." He took a breath and looked at Bobby.
"You might think I'm just some dumbass punk, but this job is everything to me, and I know my rights this time, Bobby. I don't want to, but if you try and push me out without cause I will fight you on it. Oh, and for the record I don't do drugs, and I eventually learned my lesson about the dangers of tequila so I don't drink either beyond a beer or two."
Chim was watching both of them, eyes and mouth both wide.
Bobby narrowed his eyes studying Buck, as if trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not, when his phone rang. He pulled it up and answered with barely a glance at the ID. "Uh, yeah. He did? I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that. No thank you for calling. It uh, it cleared some things up. Even if it might cost me some pie, in the end, I'm glad to hear the situation worked out. Bye, Officer."
He hung up the phone put it in his pocket and then closed his eyes, bringing his hand up to his face, and rubbing it across his mouth, before he squared up and stood tall. "Firefighter Buckley... Buck, I owe you an apology. No matter how it looked, I should have let you explain the situation before reprimanding, and then attempting to fire you in front of the whole house. You have every right to be angry with me and if you feel the need, to file a grievance for my treatment of you. I messed up, and I'm sorry."
Buck was near tears, but he stood tall, matching Bobby's stance. "Thank you, Cap. I can see how things looked, and I know I've been different, I've had some real revelations come to light in my personal life, and it... well it made me realize I need to be better than I was. I came in here acting like a pod person."
"That reference he gets?" Chim muttered to himself before Buck kept going.
"None of you were expecting that, but if any other firefighter came in here, you would have given them the chance to explain, even if you believed it was total bullshit."
"You're absolutely right, and I'm sorry for that. Between how you've changed and my own history, I was seeing myself in you, and that was absolutely not fair. I was just afraid you were going down the wrong path, and I jumped to conclusions. I really am sorry for that, Buck. You have my word it won't happen again."
"That's... that's all I needed to hear, Cap." Buck held out his hand, and Bobby took it, then clasped his other hand over it, pulling Buck close and just giving him a look, that let him know how sincere Bobby was. Buck just nodded at him, and then the doors opened again, so that the ambulance could be parked.
Hen jumped out of the passenger side and headed their way. "So, what did I miss?"
Chim nearly choked on his gum, and the alarm rang out, before he could answer.