Chapter Text
Evan Buckley's life was perfect. To him at least- as perfect as it could be in his mind. He had his job- something that was his and that he loved and worked hard for. He had his friends- his fire fam and their families, his chosen family. He had his sister Maddie whom he felt closer than ever to. And he had his favorite people in the world- his family with Eddie and Christopher- his best friend and the love of his life and the man's son who was just as much Buck's son as he was Eddie's. Buck had all of this and it was more than enough for him. After so many years, after his childhood, he finally had such a happy life and he'd never trade it for anything in the world.
The day this bliss was threatened, it was a cold and stormy February morning.
The crew of the 118 had just finished a call where a kid had called about their dad falling down the roof and getting stuck on the lower level when he was trying to take down the Christmas lights barely hanging on by a strand of lights that wrapped around his leg. Very luckily for the man it hadn't been a big fall and he only had a sprained wrist and a broken ankle. Hen and Chimney had taken the man to the hospital and he and Bobby were wrapping things up at the scene. Eddie wasn't there, having taken the day off to take Abuela and Peppa to the airport so it would just be the two of them on the way back to the house. About to get in the truck, Buck was stopped by a voice, probably one of the neighbors, calling out to him.
"Evan?"
Buck froze. Chills raced up and down his spine, consuming him and rooting him into place. That voice... it couldn't be. Right?
"Evan Buckley, is that you?"
Movements slow as if he had been wading through quicksand, the man turned around and came face to face with a pair of hauntingly familiar grey eyes. "C-Craig?" The name felt heavy in his mouth weighing his tongue down as if it was stuck beneath an anvil. Bobby eyed him with cautious curiosity as the younger man looked to this new person.
Craig was a tall man, perhaps older than Bobby. His brown hair was greying and an array of crow's feet surrounded his grey eyes. A smile stretched over the man's lips as he clapped Buck on the shoulder. "It is you. How have you been buddy?"
Buck just barely managed to hide a flinch at the force of the hit to his shoulder. He could only continue to stare at Craig, a multitude of emotions running rampant through his stomach and his mind. He barely registered what Craig was saying, the words roaring in one ear and out the other in a dizzying whirlwind.
"I mean, it must have been ten-"
"What are you doing here?" Buck winced at the way he had just cut the man off and he felt the need to apologize. "I-I'm... I mean..."
Craig waved a hand at him, paying no mind to Buck's outburst. "We live here! Moved in about seven months ago."
"Oh..." was Buck's whispered reply.
"Yeah, Philadelphia was just getting to be too much during the winters and Charlotte has a bad hip so we figured, why not move somewhere warm? We thought about Florida, but Lotte didn't like the humidity so," he gestured around to the neighborhood behind him. "California it was!"
"Oh..." Buck whispered again.
At Buck's lack of talking, Craig stepped back a little, giving the younger man an appraising look. "So, a firefighter huh? Funny, I never pictured little Evvy as a first responder! I always thought you would go for that baseball scholarship. Go pro maybe. How on earth did you end up here? Last I heard you were heading somewhere overseas!"
Buck couldn't bring himself to respond to the questions being thrown at him in rapid fire.
"Oh! And Alyssa will be so happy to see you!"
Bobby frowned at the way Buck paled even more. The captain, who had been watching in heedful silence, chose to break through the myriad of questions that were being thrown at his friend. "Buck? We should be getting back to the house."
The steadying voice of his captain was enough to rip Buck from the hurricane of tumultuous thoughts that were no doubt assaulting his mind. Blue met brown as the younger man turned his head to the captain. He nodded his head in agreement before turning back to Craig. "I- uh I have to get going. Goodbye." Before Craig had a chance to reply, Buck had hopped in the truck and yanked the door shut.
Eyes narrowed the slightest bit, Bobby nodded at the civilian quietly before he too followed his teammate into the truck. Concernment colored his expression as his gaze continuously flitted over to Buck. It hadn't been until they were halfway back to the house that he chose to speak. "Who was that?"
"No one."
Bobby arched an eyebrow at him, lips pulling into a disbelieving line. "Buck?"
Buck shook his head as he angled his body away, hiding his expression from the older man. "Uh, someone- someone from a long time ago..." He chewed his lip as he glanced out the window, wondering what else he could say that wouldn't be an outright lie. "A friend of my parents." He internally winced. Okay. Not true. But the actual truth? Too much to utter.
Bobby frowned at the way the kid carried the tension in his shoulders, the way he slouched in on himself in a quasi-attempt to protect all his secrets. Knowing that would be all he got from the younger man, Bobby sighed, begrudgingly letting it go. "Alright, kid." Years of working with him had demonstrated the fact that Buck would not always voluntarily give any information and, if Bobby or anyone wanted to know anything, they had to wait for Buck to come to them when he wanted or needed to. As rare as that still was. Even after all this time, the kid still tended to believe that sharing any problem with his friends and family would burden them.
Reaching the firehouse within the next few minutes, Buck had been quick to exit the cab of the truck. He was buzzing with a nervous energy that only appeared in times of great uncertainty. Bobby considered inquiring if anything was wrong once more but the chance was yanked from him when his phone began to ring. Seeing it was Athena, he answered glancing back to where Buck had been standing only to see the younger man disappearing into the locker room.
"Hey, Thena."
She immediately picked up on his distracted tone. "Everything okay, honey?"
"Hmm... yeah. Well, I think." Bobby glanced at the entrance of the locker room once more before turning to walk to his office.
"You think?"
"Just, something... concerning happened on our call just now."
"Is everyone alright?" Shuffling could be heard on the other end of the line as if the woman was preparing to drop everything to rush the firehouse.
Bobby shook his head as he settled in his chair. "No one is harmed but Buck did run into someone he apparently knew and... the way he reacted was concerning."
Athena hmmed on the other end, all shuffling stopping. "Tell me more. Is Buckaroo okay?"
"Well," Bobby glanced outside of his office again, and, seeing no one approaching, he delved in. "He froze when one of the neighbors called out to him. Like he recognized the voice and when he turned around, his face was pale as if he had seen a ghost." He frowned as he recalled the wave of emotions that had washed over his kid's face. "And when the man went to clap him on the shoulder, the kid flinched. It was barely noticeable but it was there. It was as if he was expecting something bad to happen."
"What was his name?" There was an edge that colored Athena's voice. One that only appeared where her family was concerned.
Bobby knew where she was going with this. "Craig. Didn't catch a last name though. But I don't think we should pry. At least not until Buck gives a reason to."
Athena sighed and Bobby could imagine her pursing her lips in thought. "You're right," she relented. "It's just... the way you described his actions. There's something there."
Bobby nodded even though his wife couldn't see him. "I know, Thena. And I want to hope it's nothing. I want to hope that I am reading too much into this but I haven't seen him react like this since the Buckleys were in town."
It was silent for a few moments before Athena broke it. "Do you think we should invite him for dinner tonight? Just to check on him?"
Bobby smiled softly at that. "I think that's a great idea. I'll ask him as soon as we hang up." The fire captain frowned contemplatively as a thought flitted through his mind." I just hope he'll be up for it. He pretty much avoided my eye the whole ride home and he rushed to the locker rooms the second we parked the truck."
"Oh, Buckaroo."
Bobby could imagine his wife running a hand through her hair, eyes narrowed in a kind of concern that applied to her just her children. "I'll talk to him, dear."
"Okay, honey."
They spoke for a little longer, making plans for that night before Athena was being called back to work. "I have to go, but I'll see you tonight. Love you."
"I love you too, Athena."
Hanging up, Bobby leaned back in his chair looking at the ceiling while thoughts of his kid still ran around his mind. What was going on? Just who was this Craig person and why did Buck look as if he had seen a ghost? And why did he seem to panic when the man mentioned someone named Alyssa? The man moved to look down the stairs to the bay when he heard a truck pulling in. Ah. Chim and Hen were back. Slipping his phone into his pocket, he stood up and made his way to the entrance of his office. Ah, perfect timing. Buck was exiting the locker room at that moment. Now to just talk to his kid.
In the locker room, Buck sat staring straight ahead, unmoving. The tension still weighed on his shoulders, Atlas-heavy and suffocating. This couldn't be happening. Craig was here. Craig and Charlotte. They were here. In L.A. The people he had worked so hard to run away from, what? Over ten years ago now? And, if what Craig said was anything to go by, Alyssa was here as well. He had run away from life in Pennsylvania. He had purposefully cut himself off from everything there for reasons he still wasn't ready to broach and- oh God. They knew where he was now! They knew he lived and that he worked here. And sure, L.A. was big and the odds of running into these people again after today were very slim, but the city didn't feel that big anymore.
"And Alyssa will be so happy to see you!"
A burning began to encroach on the younger man's throat and he couldn't tell if it was traitorous tears or overwhelming bile. No... NO! He couldn't... he couldn't do this. God he felt fifteen again. He had to get out of here. He tore himself from his thoughts, abruptly standing up hard enough to make him dizzy. Barely giving himself a chance to steady, he made his way to his locker.
By the time Hen and Chimney had arrived back, Buck was hastily making his way out of the locker room.
Hen waved at him, sauntering over to his side. "Hey, Buckaroo! What are your plans for tonight?"
Buck shrugged, throwing on what he hoped was a relaxed smile. Judging by the older woman's critical eye, he was unfortunately not as successful as he would have liked. "Probably dinner and then bed. I'm just really tired tonight."
"No Eddie or Christopher tonight?"
Buck shook his head in negative and he couldn't help but feel a sense of reprieve that he and his inner demons would be spared from his friend's scrutinizing care. "No, but we'll see each other tomorrow. Chris wants to go to the aquarium." Buck threw a hand behind his head rubbing at his neck as he continued to smile at his two friends, forcing himself to calm down even more. For the second time that day, he felt as if he were exposed and on display and it made his skin crawl and sting with the intensity of an army of fire ants.
Luckily for Buck, they were cut off from any further conversation by Bobby's sudden appearance. "Well I hate to break it to you, kid but you'll have to forget dinner for one for tonight. Athena has personally requested your presence at dinner tonight."
Buck blinked at the other man in surprise at the sudden and soft command. "I- well..."
Bobby shook his head. "And no refusing. We haven't had you over in a while and May and Harry will be home this weekend and they'd love to see you."
Buck only stared at Bobby, not able to answer. He had hoped to be able to go home and hide from everything. To hide from Craig and Charlotte. God he just really wanted to hide.
Sensing the inner turmoil inside the younger's head, Bobby continued. "I have a lasagna prepped and ready to go as soon as we get home."
Buck smiled softly at the term 'home' that Bobby and Athena used so casually with him. And... besides Eddie's, there would be no safer place from Craig than with Athena. Maybe it would be nice to not be alone with his thoughts tonight. "Okay," the younger man nodded. "Lasagna sounds good."