Chapter Text
Buck was far too used to the feeling of waking up after being knocked out against his will. He went through the checklist he made up in his mind after the blood clot in his lung almost killed him.
Conscious? Check. Breathing? Check. Extremities are moving? Check.
It felt like a freight train ran over his nervous system, stretching and flattening it in ways he didn’t even know were possible. At least when he woke up every other time he nearly died, he had been in a hospital and high out of his mind on painkillers.
But Buck wasn’t in the hospital, and he wasn’t on any painkillers, and from what he could remember, he didn’t even have a near-death experience this time. So what the hell happened?
Figuring it would probably help to start by figuring out where he was, Buck fought against the throbbing headache to open his eyes. Light was filtering through in lines, his eyes working overtime to focus on what was causing it.
It was familiar, though Buck could never remember being on this side of the bars. If he hadn’t been a semi-frequent babysitter for Maddie and Chim, there was a good chance it would have taken Buck a lot longer to recognize that he was in a crib. This one wasn’t anywhere close to the same size as Jee Yun’s though, seeing as Buck was comfortably stretched out in it.
He followed the light to a gentle lamp sitting on a bookshelf. As Buck’s eyes grazed over the room, his confusion only grew. From what he could tell, it looked like a normal nursery, aside from the oversized crib. There was a chest with dinosaurs on it, some toys spilling out the top with even more littering the floor in front. The walls were painted blue with colorful vinyl stickers of various themes plastered all over. There was a rainbow rug in the center of the room, so fluffy that Buck wanted nothing more than to roll himself up in it and sleep off his horrible headache.
That couldn’t happen, unfortunately, because the longer Buck was conscious, the more he realized that something was very wrong. He didn’t recognize this room, nor did he know why he was here. He’d had his fair share of experience with stalkers and kidnappers, being a firefighter he couldn’t say that he didn’t run into them occasionally. This situation, waking up in a random house after most likely being drugged without remembering how he got here, sounded a lot like the stories he heard from the victims of those calls.
He debated if it would be worth it to try and sit up. Buck wasn’t terribly concerned about the fact that he had been kidnapped honestly. The person who took him hadn’t entered the room yet, and if he was being honest, the blankets in the crib were comfortable. Jee Yun was always wrapped in the softest blankets, and Buck made sure that everyone in his life knew that he wanted an adult sized baby blanket. He knew they existed, but there was something that just screamed at his macho side not to give in and get one. Buying a soft baby-like blanket for himself was humiliating. So yes, he was currently being held hostage against his will in an adult-sized baby crib, but his body hurt and his head was throbbing and he felt like he was laying on a cloud. God forbid a guy take advantage of his surroundings. Everyone always told him he talked to much for a kidnapper to want to keep him anyways.
It was when the door opened that Buck regretted not trying to plot his escape sooner. The man who entered was tall, the light from the hall illuminating his silhouette and preventing Buck from seeing his face. Even without seeing his face though, Buck could tell who it was just from the way he crossed the room, holding himself with such a professional aura it would be impossible not to recognize him.
“Bobby?” Buck cringed at his own voice, sounding as if he hadn’t used it in days.
“I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” Bobby hummed gently. His voice sounded so foreign to Buck’s ears, clearly Bobby’s, but the tone was like nothing Buck had ever heard from him before. Buck was used to his authoritative, booming voice, perfect for barking commands at his team efficiently. Bobby was only gentle when he needed to be, and while Bobby was usually the most gentle with Buck due to his… rather severe need for guidance occasionally, this was so far from what he was used to.
“Where are we?” Buck asked.
“We’re home, Evan.”
Buck knew then that something was terribly wrong. Bobby hadn’t called him Evan since his first shift at the firehouse. Sometimes he even forgot that his name wasn’t Buck because no one ever called him that.
“Bobby, I-I’m confused. What’s going on?” His nerves were starting to show in his voice.
Bobby still had yet to look directly at Buck, fiddling with something on top of what looked like a wide dresser. He took a bit to respond, not because he was trying to find the words, but for dramatic effect. Buck hated it.
“What’s happening? Why am I here?”
“Shhh. Stop talking, baby. Your throat hurts, save your voice.”
Buck closed his mouth and wiggled his tongue forwards and back a few times. Bobby was right, his throat did hurt, and that was why he sounded so raspy.
“How did you–”
Bobby spun around, startling Buck. He didn’t jump though. Years of training made it virtually impossible to scare Buck into flinching.
“Daddy always knows what’s wrong with his baby.”
It was also virtually impossible to stun Buck into silence, despite everyone at the firehouse wishing it wasn’t, but that sentence had Buck frozen in place. That word was never something that Bobby used to describe himself, despite almost all of the 118 calling him ‘dad’ at some point. It was mostly jokes though, and that’s what Buck convinced himself that this had to be.
“Listen to those giggles, you cutie,” Bobby praised with a smile, and Buck’s own uneasy one fell off his face as his laughter faded.
“Okay, Bobby, the joke’s over. You got a camera in here? Ha ha, very funny!” he shouted to the alleged hidden camera. “Is Chim around the corner? You can come out now, I know you’re out there dying trying to hold back your laughter.”
“Evan, no one is here,” Bobby said steadily, putting both of his hands out, palms out, like he always did when he was delivering bad news to a defensive patient. “It’s just you and Daddy.”
Buck finally moved to sit up, though his entire body protested the movement. His abs ached, his back throbbed, and his head was spinning. Bobby’s voice wobbled as he said something, probably telling him not to exert himself, but Buck didn’t care. He was getting really weirded out.
“Bobby, I don’t know what’s going on–”
“I’m not Bobby to you anymore, Evan. You’re to call me Daddy from now on.”
“I’m not gonna do that, that’s weird! I haven’t even called my own dad daddy since I was like a baby!” Buck shouted, frustration growing the more Bobby cut him off.
“And what do you think you are?” Buck’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked up at Bobby, now standing over the oversized crib, at the man he used to trust more than anyone in the whole world. Even more than Maddie. “Look at you, Evan.”
Buck did as he was told, because even though he wasn’t used to Bobby acting like his dad in this way and it was really weird, he was still very accustomed to obeying Bobby’s commands. He was Buck’s captain, the man with all the answers and the one who guided Buck through life. It was ingrained deep within him to listen to Bobby.
And boy did he wish that he didn’t.
Instead of his typical Los Angeles, sleek but laid back clothes, Buck was adorned in what seemed to be a onesie and some… sacks? They were covering his extremities, ensuring he wouldn't be able to use them. He couldn’t tell if he was grateful for Maddie and Chim having a baby and allowing him to recognize what most of these items were, even though he had never seen them on this scale. Though Jee Yun had never had her hands and feet bound by thick mitts, rendering them useless.
“You sure do look like a baby to me.”
Buck was starting to get increasingly frustrated. He still wasn’t entirely sure this wasn’t all just a huge prank from the rest of the 118. Sure, he acted a bit airheaded sometimes and he was definitely the most whiny and immature of the bunch, but surely that wasn’t any reason to dress him up like this and put him in an adult-sized crib.
He couldn’t stand to look at Bobby, his anger rising every second his eyes lingered on Bobby’s slight smile. This was humiliating, and he had the audacity to look like he was enjoying Buck’s suffering.
That was when his eyes found the window for the first time. And then the white fuzzies floating around outside. Buck was familiar with snow, having grown up in Pennsylvania. They had snow every winter there. But it never snowed in LA, at least not in the years Buck had spent there.
“Bobby…” Buck swallowed, his voice trembling. He hesitated, afraid of the answer he was about to receive. “Where are we?”
“We’re home, baby.”
“Where exactly is home?” Buck asked, turning to face the man he was slowly starting to fear.
“Silly baby. How could you forget? Daddy brought you home to Minnesota.”