Chapter Text
It’s a very pissed off 118 that pulls into the fire station, and the second they’re off the firetruck, Bobby wastes no time telling Buck what he thinks,
“This isn’t a game, Buck! You can’t play with people’s lives like that!”
Then he storms off, which gives enough time for Eddie to catch up and give Buck a lecture of his own,
“He has every right to be pissed. You left the team in a really tight spot just to be a hero!”
Buck tries to defend himself, “Eddie, I just thought I heard a cry for help.”
Eddie reminds him, “Oh you heard something alright. From outside the goddamn building!”
Buck tries again, “It was pitch black! I was practically blind!”
Eddie stops him, “That’s why you’re supposed to stay with me, your partner. In more ways than one, in case you forgot.”
Here, Eddie shows off his ring, “Or does that mean nothing when you’re out saving lives? Because of you, I swear to god I thought something happened to you, and you needed my help. Because no way in hell am I about to tell Christopher that his Bucky died because I could’ve done something, and didn’t.”
Buck has enough sense here to not say anything, just nods in understanding.
“You don’t ever abandon your partner to be a hero. You know that. Especially not in a fire like that one.” Eddie emphasizes.
Once Eddie sees Buck is actually sorry, Eddie backs off a little. “Give the cap some time, then go apologize to everyone. And at least try to sound like you mean it.”
Buck nods, “Okay.”
Later, Buck heads to the hospital to meet up with Hen, who thankfully wasn’t on that call with them.
The second he sees her, his face lights up, “Hey, Hen! We still on for tomorrow?”
Hen nods, “Absolutely. Want me to grab some of those cupcakes Chris loves?”
Buck nods, “You know it. He’s been talking non stop about all the new flavors, and I wanna surprise him and get them all.”
Then he changes the subject, “Hey, I’m going to visit Chim and Maddie this weekend. Might be nice to grab some for them too.”
At that, Hen has to ask, “How are they, anyway?”
Buck replies, “Can’t believe it’s almost been a year since Maddie got pregnant and had the baby. I’ve been trying to get them a case worker like Carla, who specializes in Down’s Syndrome. Unfortunately their insurance isn’t gonna cover it. It just sucks that I can’t do anything about it. It’s pretty frustrating for the both of them too. I know it’s killing Chim he can’t do anything either.”
Hen sympathizes, “I’m so sorry.”
Buck waves it off, “It’s okay. I should get going. I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
Hen smiles, “Absolutely. See you.”
That would be it, but then Buck bumps into someone in a lab coat, who immediately speaks up, “Oh hey, Buck.”
Buck quickly apologizes, “Oh, Dr. Regis. I’m so sorry.”
Dr. Regis waves it off, “Please, call me Ethan.”
Buck amends, “Ethan, I’m sorry. Can’t believe I almost knocked you down.”
Ethan smiles, “No worries. You can knock me over any time. It’s really good to see you.”
Buck replies, all friendly, “You too. Take care.” Then walks away.
At the station, Hen shares a knowing look with the other nurses, but doesn't say anything.
Ethan, after watching Buck walk away for another moment, drops the charts on the station. “Nice guy. Hen, could you file these for me?”
Hen holds her tongue, with only a, “Of course, doctor.”, waiting for him to leave.
Then, once the coast is clear, she tells another nurse, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say Ethan’s got a little crush on Buck.”
When Buck greets his sister, Maddie greets him warmly, “Hey, Buck!”, moving in for a hug.
“Hey, Mads, how are you?”
“Oh, man, it’s so good to see you. I feel like I never see you anymore.”
“I know.” Then Buck moves towards the baby swing. “Hey, little man. How’ve you been?” Then kisses the top of the baby’s head.
“Today, he’s doing awesome. Can I get you a drink, Buck?”
Buck nods, “Yeah, you got any coffee?”
As Maddie goes to grab it, Buck turns back to the baby, “Oh, Johnny. You have no idea how much I wish you knew how to talk. I wanna be here when you say your first word. I miss you all the time.”
The next day, Buck gets up first, Eddie following not too long after.
They don’t say anything, just shoot each other looks that they used to be able to read so well, but now, it’s like they’re strangers again.
Eddie decides to bite the bullet, asking, “You already eat?”
Buck replies in a clipped voice, “Yes.”
Eddie grabs milk from the fridge, asking, “Oh yeah? What did you eat?”
“Everything bagel and a banana.”
Here they switch sides, where Buck is now going in the fridge for something, and as he watches from the corner of his eye, he notices the cupboards are empty.
“Planning on making a grocery run in the near future?”
Here Buck doesn’t even try to play nice, “Eddie, you get way more time off than me, because you all but insisted that was only fair for Chris. Why can’t you do it?”
Eddie drops the pretense as well, “All I asked was if you were planning on making a run. Drop the attitude. Why couldn’t you have at least saved enough breakfast for me?”
Buck snaps, “Well, last I checked, we don’t even bother trying to sync our schedules anymore. I don’t know if you’re just going to go and leave me with Chris, or I am. We don’t communicate anymore.”
Here, Eddie gets pissed off enough to slam a cupboard door, “What the hell is wrong with you, Buck? Does the fact that I’m actually here piss you off that much?”
Buck confesses, “No, what pisses me off is how you just expect me to juggle full time shifts, grocery runs and taking Chris on Carla’s days off while you sit at home watching wrestling matches on pay-per-view and dream about restoring that car.”
Eddie points a finger at Buck, “Hey, you never said a word about not being okay with it. No one said you had to.”
Buck reminds him, “Well, we need the money more than ever, because you cut into our savings to restore a car that’s just rusting in the garage. You have almost 30 grand in your own savings, when there’s plenty around here you could easily fix if you wanted to.”
Eddie asks, skeptical, “Oh yeah? Like what?”
Buck lists them off, “Like the crack in the wall, the front yard needing some serious landscaping, or how about how I keep reminding you of all the things we can do to make this place even more handicap accessible for Chris?”
Eddie admits, “Okay, you might have a point on the last one, but this place is already plenty handicap accessible. That’s why we live here, remember? And those other things are not absolutely necessary. He gets around just fine. I think I know what my son needs a little better than you, considering I’m his father. If you want to spend your money on it, go right ahead. But I’ve been saving up for that car for years. I’m not giving that up.”
With that, Buck says, “I don’t even know why I bother.” and walks away.
In his frustration, Eddie snaps, “Yeah, don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out."