Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Prologue

Med Tent, Afghanistan, 2015

Eddie swims up to consciousness, pain radiating through every muscle and bone in his body.  Pain is good.  Pain is life.

He vaguely remembers the helicopter arriving, spitting out cover fire above them, saving them. 

Them.

His team.

Did everyone come home? Did he get everyone out? 

Had there really been a Labrador helping him in the middle of the desert?  It had been out of nowhere, helping Eddie to drag and support the injured from the wreck, get them under the cover of the nearby rocks.  It had even pushed Eddie down, saving him from a bullet in his leg…

He forces his eyes open and…

There’s a sunshine yellow Labrador lying next to him on the medical cot.  He stares at it blankly, unable to comprehend what he’s seeing but…

“Congratulations, Staff Sergeant Diaz,” Sergeant Barnett appears beside his bedside.  “Your soulmate’s soul animal was beside you when you got rescued, hasn’t left your side since.”

One of Eddie’s shoulders is on fire – bullet, he remembers belatedly.  He reaches out with his good hand and strokes a hand over the dog’s head.  The soul animal whines and pushes into his touch.

Instantly he feels such a fast rush of love and affection that it steals what little breath he has.

Emotion chokes him.

“I need to find them,” Eddie murmurs.  He needs to find his soulmate.  Get home.  Hold Christopher, hold his son.

“They’re probably already hunting for you,” Barnett assures him.  “I’ve alerted our command to keep a lookout.  In the meantime, we need to get you treated for your injuries, Diaz.  You’ve got more metal in you than we’d like.”

Eddie nods.  His hand remains buried in the ruff of his soulmate’s soul animal, taking comfort in its presence. 

He drifts off.

o-O-o

Ramstein Air Base, Germany, 2015

Eddie snaps awake. 

He registers the hospital ceiling, the feel of the clean sheets and scratchy blanket.  Sunshine stirs beside him, wagging his tail.  The soul animal looks to the side.  Eddie turns his head to see what he’s looking at and…

There’s a man asleep in the chair beside him.  He’s younger than Eddie, curly blond hair trimmed short but stylish, not military.  There’s a blood birthmark like a kiss on his forehead and the top of one eyelid.  He’s dressed in jeans, t-shirt and a denim jacket. 

He’s Eddie’s.

He’d know it even without the German Shepherd that’s parked beside the man, guarding him. 

Eddie drinks in his fill of his soulmate.

He has a vague memory of being told that his soulmate was inbound, but his head is still fuzzy from the journey and the surgeries…

His soulmate stirs, his eyes blinking open to reveal pools of bright blue.  They widen at the sight of Eddie awake.

“Hey,” Eddie says, tries to say.

His soulmate hurries to grab the mug of water beside the bed, holding the straw so Eddie can drink until he pushes the straw away, careful not to disturb the IV line that’s attached to his hand.

“Hey,” his soulmate says, a shy smile curving his lips, “I’m Evan.”

“Eddie,” he says in reply.  “I’m so very glad to meet you, Evan.”

“Me too,” Evan ducks his head, “I mean, I’m very glad to meet you too.” 

They both don’t mention how Eddie almost hadn’t lived for them to meet.

Evan pulls the chair closer and offers his hand tentatively and Eddie slides his own into it, holding onto it.

Somehow, it’s enough to bolster Eddie’s spirits.  He has his soulmate with him.

They need to talk, there’s so much to talk about, Shannon and Christopher, and Eddie wants to know everything about Evan, but…

“I’m not going to stay awake long,” Eddie warns him.

Evan smiles.  His eyes bright.  “That’s OK.  You should sleep.  I’m not going anywhere.”

There’s a promise in there that Eddie just trusts instinctively.  He remembers how Sunshine helped him save his team.

“You can have my back any day,” Eddie murmurs, his eyes already feeling heavy at the idea of slipping back into sleep.

“Or…or you could have mine,” Evan says back with that same shy smile that Eddie just wants to kiss…

He slips back into sleep.

o-O-o

El Paso, Texas, 2015

The backyard Soul bonding ceremony isn’t exactly small, even with only Eddie’s family in attendance. 

Evan had invited his family, but there had been no response from them.  From the stories of his childhood Evan has confided, Eddie knows that Evan had expected the lack of response from his parents, but he’d been hopeful about his sister, Maddie.

Eddie knows Evan is hurt by the silence, although he’s excused his sister noting she may not have been able to secure the time off work, or maybe didn’t want to travel without her husband, Doug, who doesn’t like Evan and who probably didn’t want to attend.      

It doesn’t matter, Eddie thinks furiously as he stands beside Evan in front of the happy Bonder from the Soulmate Registry at the bottom of his parents’ garden.  Eddie is Evan’s family now.

They’re both dressed in smart jeans, white button-down shirts, and blue blazers which Eddie figures will be discarded as soon as the official photos are done.  His mother had tried to talk them both into suits, but it’s not their style.  They’d wanted something more casual than formal.

Eddie glances out at the happy crowd of his own family.

His Los Angeles relatives are gathered in a group, his Abuela beaming happily.  His mother and father are in the front row, his sisters and their partners just behind.  Helena and Ramon Diaz are soulmates themselves and they are thrilled that Eddie and Evan have found each other.

Finally, Shannon and Chris grin at them from the front row in the seats closest to them. 

Evan and Shannon have bonded like old friends which has eased Eddie’s worry about how they’ll all co-parent together even though he and Shannon had not married when she’d fallen accidently pregnant because they’d wanted to remain available to the possibility of future soulmates. 

Evan’s presence, Eddie muses, likely makes easier than it has been with just the two of them.  Shannon and Eddie butt heads a lot of the time – they’ve never agreed really on how Eddie provided for their son by enlisting.  But Evan manages to smooth over their rough edges and makes them fit, mostly because Evan is fantastic with their son and Chris adores Evan right back.

“It’s like Fate knew Chris needed Evan as his third parent and gave him to you for that reason,” Shannon had commented the night they’d come home to Texas and Eddie thinks she’s right.

Evan reaches out his hand and Eddie slides his firmly into it as they turn to each other.  Beside them, Sunshine and Sergeant look at their soulmates as they take their final step in bonding.

Eddie squeezes Evan’s hand.  “I greet thee, Evan Buckley, for I have spent days with the guide to your soul and I wish to bond myself to thee.”

“I greet thee, Edmundo Diaz, for the guide of your soul led me to you, and I wish to bond myself to thee in return.”

Eddie feels the warmth of their bond settling between them with satisfaction.

Their soul animals howl and disappear from the physical plane for the first time since they’d arrived. 

Eddie pulls a smiling Evan close as the Bonder announces their bonding is successful and invites them to kiss.

It’s not their first kiss, but it’s their first as truly bonded and Eddie feels Evan’s vast love for him and returns it whole-heartedly.  He hopes Evan feels how much Eddie loves him.

There’s a whistle and a holler from the crowd and they stop kissing suddenly very reminded that they’re not alone.

The party that follows is an old-fashioned Texan barbeque with a small dance floor set-up in the middle of the garden. 

Shannon finds Eddie watching his bonded dancing with his Abuela.  She sits on the arm of the porch chair.  “You’re so lucky.”

“I know,” Eddie says simply.

Evan is his sunshine.  If it wasn’t the way of soulmates, he’d question how far and fast he’d fallen for Evan’s big heart and his loving spirit.

“Chris asleep?” asks Eddie.

“Out like a light,” Shannon says with a smile which fades as she bites her lip.  “Are you sure you’re OK with me heading back to L.A. with Isabel?”

“Of course,” Eddie says, nudging her with his good shoulder.  “You need to be with your Mom right now.  Both Evan and I understand.  Chris understands as much as he can do.” They hadn’t wanted to explain too much about the seriousness of Janet’s cancer diagnosis.

“Thank you,” Shannon says.  “I know leaving you looking after Chris when you’re just home isn’t ideal.”

Eddie grimaces because he can’t argue with that.  Ideally, he would have a little more time to adjust to his discharge from the Army, to have healed more from his injuries, to deal with the nightmares that plague him…

“I have Evan to help,” Eddie says simply.  His soulmate makes all things manageable. “We’ll be OK.  You just focus on Janet.”

Shannon smiles at him, ducks down and busses his cheek.  She thumbs away whatever lipstick mark she left and slips off the chair.  “Why don’t you go grab your man and take him home, Eddie?”

Eddie looks across to the dancefloor and finds Evan grinning as he spins Abuela around.  “I think I might just do that.”

And he does.

o-O-o

Los Angeles, California, 2016

“Where did you want this box, Eddie?” His mother gestures at the box his father is carrying.

“Kitchen,” he instructs noting the mark that Evan had placed on the front of it.  “It’s all Evan’s baking stuff.”

“Be careful with it, Ramon!” Helena instructs sternly.

Eddie hides his grin at his father’s eye-rolling as they walk away, leaving him to construct the sofa they had ordered.  Helena and Evan have bonded over cooking. They’d even ended up going to a local college course together.

Evan walks in carrying a giggling Chris.  “We’ve just about got this one’s bedroom sorted.  What’s next?”

Eddie’s not sure why he got put in charge of the plan, but it’s not like the Army didn’t train him to adapt.  “Our bed needs making.”

Evan drops a kiss on Eddie’s lips.  “Right you are, Staff Sergeant!  Come on, Private Diaz, you can help me make mine and your Dad’s bed.”

“Or I can watch you!” Chris laughs as Evan carries him away.

“Hello, the house!” Shannon calls out from the front door of the bungalow. 

Eddie steps out of the living room and into the hallway to greet her.  “Hey!  We didn’t expect to see you today!”

Shannon shrugs.  “Mom insisted I drop off a casserole.”  She pushes it into his hands and looks behind him.  “And I missed my baby.”

“Main bedroom helping Evan make the bed,” Eddie tells her.  He’s not surprised when she pushes past him and makes a beeline for Chris.  She’d seen him when they’d visited for Thanksgiving the previous year, but since then it had all been video calls.

Eddie drops the casserole off in the kitchen where his mother is instructing his father on where to put the pans and escapes before she can inveigle him into it.  He abandons the sofa to join his soulmate deal with their sudden visitor.

Evan’s putting cases on the pillows and he smiles as Eddie joins them softly closing the door. 

Shannon and Chris are sat hugging in the large cosy armchair Evan insisted they needed because some house improvement design programme had said it was important. 

Shannon looks up and smiles at them, tossing her dark hair back over her shoulder.  “When do you guys start at the Academy?”

“Next week,” Evan replies.

Of the two of them, he’s the most excited to be starting their training as firefighters.  Eddie picks up a pillowcase and starts to help sending Evan an indulgent look as he babbles happily about the Academy.  Eddie is looking forward to it, but mostly he’s looking forward to being part of a team again and gaining the satisfaction of helping people, doing something worthwhile.

“You’ll be OK picking Chris up from school every day?” asks Eddie when Evan finishes.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Shannon tickles Chris.  “I managed to secure this great home-help with the money you guys sent me from the sale of the house.  Her name’s Carla.  She’s brilliant with Mom.  She’ll come over to look after her while I get this one from school and stay until I get home, or you pick him up.  Mom says if she’s up to it, she’d love to have Chris over.”

Eddie and Evan exchange a quick look and Eddie nods.  They can always pick Chris up on their way back from the Academy.

“Sounds like a plan,” Eddie says.

Shannon smiles, but her eyes shine with sudden tears.  “I just can’t thank you guys enough for moving out here.”

“You’re here,” Chris points out brightly.

Eddie smiles at her.  “Plus you know the pay’s better out here.”

Evan smacks him with a pillow.  Eddie smacks him back with another one.  There’s a beat between them, and then a full-on pillow fight ensues…

Chris starts laughing, Shannon is grinning, and it’s perfect.

o-O-o

Los Angeles, California, January 2017

Eddie parks in front of the 118 and glances across at Evan who looks nervous, his hands fidgeting at his t-shirt.  He reaches across and takes his hand.

“You OK?” asks Eddie.

Evan smiles tremulously.  “Just…first day butterflies, I guess?”

Eddie squeezes his hand and lets go to cup the back of Evan’s head. “You aced the Academy, Evan.”

Evan pokes at his ribs.  “You topped the class.”

“And you were right behind me,” Eddie points out.  “I have the advantage of my Army training, but you? You’re naturally great at this.”  He has a feeling firefighting is actually Evan’s calling.

Evan blushes.  He’s always a little stunned when Eddie compliments him, but he’s slowly gaining confidence.

“You have my back, right?” Evan takes a deep breath.

“Always,” Eddie says.  “Just like you have mine.” He kisses Evan gently.  “Come on, let’s go find Captain Nash.”

The Captain had interviewed them and immediately offered them both places with the 118. 

Evan leans in to kiss Eddie again before they separate and slide out of the truck.  They’d replaced Eddie’s old truck and sold Evan’s Jeep when they’d gotten to California.  Any sentimentality attached to the Jeep that Evan had held onto had dissipated once Maddie hadn’t responded to their Bonding invitation and with her continuing silence.

They walk side by side into the firehouse, taking in the trucks and the layout.  They are early for their shift to meet with Nash and get oriented.

Nash greets them, striding across to shake both their hands firmly.  “Welcome to the 118.  Come on in.  I’ll show you around before the rest of the shift gets here.”

Eddie catalogues everything quietly as they make their way through the tour.  Evan asks enough questions for both of them, and Nash responds to Evan’s enthusiasm with a warm friendliness that reassures Eddie.

They end up at the lockers. 

Eddie isn’t sure what to think about the glass walls.

“You sure you don’t mind going by Buckley?” Nash asks Evan as they start to stow away their belongings.

Evan shrugs.  “I know it’s confusing having us both called Diaz in the field.  I don’t mind.  I ended up being called Buck at the Academy because there were too many Evans.”

Nash nods.  “Happens to a lot of us.  I ended up as Bobby because there were five Roberts in my Academy class back in Saint Louis.”

Evan grins at their Captain.

“You’re free to call me Bobby when we’re not at work,” Bobby continues with a friendly smile.

“Thanks, Captain,” Evan says. 

Eddie echoes it.

“I’ll leave you boys to get changed,” Bobby says, “come up to the kitchen for breakfast when you’re ready.”  He walks away and leaves them alone.

Eddie drags off one t-shirt to pull on another.  He nudges Evan.  “Good?”

Evan nods, smiling.  “Yeah.  I think we could be happy here, Eds.”

Eddie nods back.  He could do without the weird idea of a locker room, but he thinks the same; they could be happy at the 118.

Act 1 – Smoke

Since their bonding, Eddie always wakes before his soulmate.    

He spends these moments of wakefulness indulging in his desire just to watch Evan, and he still sometimes thinks of him as Evan in these quiet moments despite the fact that he’s slowly transitioned into calling him Buck, thinking about him as Buck, the name Evan has adopted as his own.

But whether he is Buck or Evan, he is a beautiful man, his soulmate; inside and out. 

The early morning sun makes Buck’s skin glow, accentuating the muscles Buck works hard to maintain in order to do their job.  The light makes Buck’s trimmed blond hair shine. 

Eddie’s so deep in love with him that he can’t quite remember how he lived without Buck in his life.

It’s the sixth anniversary of their bonding in a week’s time and Eddie has plans.  They’re off shift for a couple of days and they’ve booked an Airbnb beach house up the coast.  Eddie knows he’s going to wallow in the rare time alone with his soulmate since Shannon’s looking after Chris.

Chris still lives primarily with Eddie and Buck, but he stays with his Mom during their shifts in his own room in the house she’d bought two doors down from them after Janet’s death.  The family flows in and out of the two homes with an ease that Eddie would have thought impossible if he’d considered it before meeting Buck.

Eddie smiles.  Michael Grant had once told him that Eddie and Buck’s relationship with Shannon had helped him, David, Athena and Bobby think about how they created their own blended family.

Sometimes it’s not that easy.  Eddie and Shannon still butt heads and life does have a way of bringing challenges and problems that test them. 

Shannon had been severely depressed in the wake of Janet’s death, making her an unreliable parent at best.  She’d checked herself into an in-patient therapy clinic with no contact with them for a while which had been difficult for Chris to understand.    

She had only just returned when Buck had been severely injured in a revenge bombing.  He had spent almost a year in physical recovery healing his crushed leg.  It had been a tough time.  Buck had struggled with the possibility of losing his calling as a firefighter and Eddie had developed anger issues because he’d felt so guilty for not being in the truck with Buck, not getting Buck out from under the truck soon enough, that it had been Bobby who had tackled the bomber…

But they had worked through everything as soulmates and come through stronger than ever.

The nature of their work had led to other challenges.  Buck had returned to work just before a tsunami at the Santa Monica pier which had been horrifying.  Eddie had almost lost his life rescuing a child from a well.  Sunshine had appeared to lead him through the water to safety while Sergeant had comforted Buck above ground, providing the proof that Eddie still lived.  If that hadn’t been bad enough, the year before, Eddie had been shot by a sniper with a grudge against firefighters.  Their fifth bonding anniversary had been spent with Eddie in recovery from surgery on his shoulder at the hospital.

Which is why Eddie is looking forward to their plans for this year.  Hopefully nothing will interfere.

He frowns.

If anything is going to interfere, it’s likely that it will involve Buck’s sister, Maddie.

Eddie doesn’t like her.  He hasn’t liked her since she didn’t acknowledge Buck when he’d invited her to their bonding. 

He’s grateful to her for the years she’d spent caring for Buck in his childhood, providing some love and comfort to the boy who hadn’t understood why his parents were so disinterested in him.  He’ll even acknowledge that Maddie’s distanced caring during Buck’s teenage years had at least provided him with the Jeep and an escape from his parents’ neglect and disapproval.

He’s even sympathetic to her excuses that her distance and silence with Buck was borne out of a want to protect him from an ever-increasingly toxic and abusive relationship with her former husband, Doug Kendall. But he doesn’t like how she’d turned up in their lives after finally leaving Kendall with an entitled expectation that because of her situation Buck doesn’t get to feel hurt for the years she’d shut him out; that the feelings of abandonment she’d engendered in him shouldn’t count because she was only protecting him. 

Eddie also doesn’t like how she’d acted in the wake of the revelation that Buck had been a saviour sibling and that their elder brother had died.  Eddie had hated her decision to invite her parents back into Buck’s life because she’d wanted her unborn child to have grandparents.  Buck had gone along with it right up until the truth about Daniel had come out.  The fallout was emotionally devastating to Buck, but somehow Maddie had made it all about her.  Which meant Chimney also made it all about Maddie, because the only thing that had mattered to Chimney was what his pregnant girlfriend wanted.  

Truthfully, Eddie hadn’t approved of how Maddie had fallen in with Chimney before the ink was even started on the divorce, but it had stopped Maddie trying to involve herself in his and Buck’s relationship which had been a blessing.

Buck snuffles in his sleep and Eddie strokes a hand through his blond curls to sooth him back into sleep. 

Eddie’s mind drifts back to Chimney. 

Chimney, Howard Han, has never been one of their closest teammates.  He had made it clear when they’d started that he doesn’t approve of soulmates working together and has never truly budged from that position.  He’d finally stopped with the caustic comments though when Eddie had warned Bobby after the first month that if he didn’t step up to corral Chimney, he’d make a formal complaint and they’d find another firehouse.

While whatever Bobby had said had stopped the comments, it hadn’t stopped Chimney suggesting Buck be transferred in the wake of his leg injury instead of returning to the 118.  At the time of that argument, Maddie had claimed Chimney’s feelings about soulmates stemmed from his late mother’s broken soulmate bond with his father, and Buck should have complied if he was insistent about remaining a firefighter to make Chimney’s life easier.  Eddie doesn’t know if that’s true, but he doesn’t care, because he’ll never make a decision about him and Buck based on what Chimney and Maddie want.

Chimney’s disapproval of Eddie and Buck working together aside, he’s been a good teammate on the job, and there is no doubting that he truly does love Maddie and is invested in her happiness.  He’d made even more of an effort with Eddie and Buck after he and Maddie had started dating.  Eddie won’t say they’re good friends, but they are family.  Even more so with the birth of Chimney and Maddie’s baby daughter, Jee.

Buck’s worried about his sister.

Maddie has grown distant again since the birth five months before.  Chimney’s been avoiding them too.  Buck thinks it could be post-partum depression and Chimney is being protective.  Eddie thinks it’s not a bad theory, but it doesn’t matter if they won’t let anyone help them.  And he hates how it hurts Buck when Maddie says he shouldn’t visit (they’ve seen their niece exactly four times, two of which had been when they had visited in the hospital after the birth).

Yeah, Eddie muses to himself, if anything is going to upset their bonding anniversary plans, he’ll bet money on it being something to do with Maddie Buckley.

Buck snuffles and yawns, waking up.  His eyes open and Eddie smiles as Buck’s blue gaze lights up with love and warmth at the sight of him.  Eddie leans down and kisses him despite the slightly stale morning breath they both have.

Kissing Buck always heats Eddie’s blood.  He eases back as he’d only intended a good morning kiss.

Buck cups his cheek.  “What were you thinking about so seriously?”

Eddie drops another kiss on his lips.  “Our anniversary.”

Buck rolls onto his back and stretches, the sheet shifting to drape teasingly over his hips.  “Two days all to ourselves.” He beams at Eddie.  “I have plans.”

“Yeah?” Eddie rolls on top of him.  “I may have plans myself.”

Buck chuckles, his face alight with happiness.  “I love your plans…” he says.

Eddie’s suddenly on his back, Buck’s weight holding him down, making him feel protected and safe in a way that nothing else has ever done. 

“…but I love mine more,” he concludes and kisses Eddie breathless.

Eddie spares a single thought to remember if they locked the door and then he stops thinking.

o-O-o

Eddie enters the kitchen knowing he’s radiating happiness with life and can’t be bothered about it. 

Shannon shoots him a knowing look and a smirk.

He drops a kiss on Chris’ curly mop of hair which gets him a muttered protest of ‘Dad!’ in a way that he wouldn’t have done only a year before.  His baby is growing up.  Eddie hates it.

“Is your bag packed for school?” asks Eddie as he accepts the plate of scrambled eggs, pancakes, and crispy bacon from Buck.

“Yes, and I’ve done my homework, Mom already signed it,” Chris says.  He continues to eat his own breakfast which is a smaller portion of the same dish Eddie is dousing with hot sauce.

Buck slides into the chair beside Eddie with his own plate of food.  “We’re going to have to put in a grocery order. That was the last of the eggs and bread.”

Shannon scrapes up the last of her eggs.  “Let me know the details and I’ll pick it up for you guys. I don’t have a lot on my schedule today.  Just a couple of house showings.” 

Eddie nods, already reaching for his phone and the grocery app.  “Thanks.”  He realises a touch belatedly that Buck is too quiet.  Usually, he has opinions about grocery shopping and would be arguing to do the list himself.  He glances at Buck and finds him frowning down at his phone.

“Buck?” Eddie nudges him.

Buck looks up from his phone and sighs.  “I sent Maddie a text to see if I could pop round before work, but she says she’s tired as Jee has been up all night and is going back to bed.”

“Is that why we haven’t seen Jee very much?  Because she doesn’t sleep?” Chris asks innocently.

“Well, more because Jee’s lack of sleep means her parents are sleep deprived from looking after her, so they need a lot of rest,” Eddie explains.

Shannon nods and tickles Chris making him giggle.  “My Mom stayed with me in El Paso for almost a month to help out looking after you.  You woke up every two hours that first couple of months.”

Eddie pushes away the guilt that he wasn’t there.  He was serving his country and providing for his family, he reminds himself.  He can’t deny though that a part of him is wistful about not being there for Chris’ middle of the night feeds.

“Wow, I’d need a lot of rest if someone kept me up at night like that,” Chris acknowledges.  He’s finished with his breakfast so Eddie excuses him so he can finish getting ready for school.

Eddie swipes his pancake through a puddle of hot sauce and nudges Buck again.  “Why don’t we drop in on Maddie after our shift tomorrow?”

Buck’s eyes widen.  “You mean just drop in?”

“Without calling first,” Eddie nods.  “I know you’re worried about her even if Chimney keeps saying she’s fine and she keeps saying she’s fine, just adjusting.”

“It is a huge adjustment,” Shannon comments.  She leans back in her chair, relishing the last of her coffee.

Buck nods.  “I know becoming a parent is a big adjustment, I mean it was an adjustment for me becoming a co-parent and Chris was much older, but it’s…the way she is reminds me of how she withdrew when she was with Doug, like she’s trying to protect me because something is wrong.”  He ducks his head.  “I know Chimney isn’t Doug, but…I just want to see she’s OK.”

Eddie nods.  “So, we go round to her place and lay eyes on her, see that’s she’s OK.”

Buck smiles at him.  “Thanks, Eddie.”  He scoops up some of his eggs, finally beginning to really tackle his food.

“I could also pop round later in the week while you guys are on shift,” Shannon offers.  “I can’t today, but if it is just new mom stress, she may just need to talk to another mother, someone who’s been where she is.”

“Thanks, Shannon,” Buck says, gratitude laced through each word because he knows Shannon isn’t particularly fond of Maddie.

The two women are perfectly polite to each other, but Shannon’s first loyalty is always to Chris and their family, and she’s never been silent about calling Maddie out for how some of her actions hurt Buck. 

Eddie quickly finishes his own plate as he darts a look at the clock.

Five minutes later, Shannon is hustling to get Chris out of the door so they can get to the school on time.  Eddie and Buck are right on their heels.

The commute to the firehouse is familiar and Buck finishes up the online shopping on his phone as Eddie drives.  They hit the locker room (Eddie is still campaigning to board up the glass or at least put some blurry material over it) right on schedule and change into their uniforms with brisk efficiency.

The routine of it settles Eddie into work mode.  He and Buck exchange their usual fist bump as they head out. 

“Buck! Eddie!  Come help me with the breakfast burritos!” Bobby calls out as soon as he spots them.     

Buck jogs over quickly.  He loves helping Bobby in the kitchen.  Eddie loves watching Buck help. 

He’s not surprised when he’s assigned to grating cheese while Buck has the more complicated task of cooking huge frying pans of browning protein – one pan of beef, one of Tempe.

Bobby himself is focused on making the tortilla wraps – homemade tortilla wraps.  Eddie shakes his head.  His Abuela had taught Bobby at a party two years before, and Bobby always makes them from scratch in case word gets back to her that he bought packet tortillas.

He tunes into the happy conversation Buck and Bobby are having about the history of taco seasoning and shakes his head.

Over the years, Buck has settled into a parent-son dynamic with Bobby and Athena that seems to give them all a lot of comfort and joy.  Eddie appreciates the couple giving Buck decent parental figures.  They are trustworthy, sensible people Buck can turn to for advice and support outside their own relationship.  As far as he’s concerned the more people who love Buck and see his worth the better.

He knows sometimes Buck’s playful big heart gets mistaken for childish immaturity; his lack of formal education a sign that he’s not smart.  What some people fail to understand is that Buck had to do a lot of growing up early to survive his childhood and he’s smart about the things he wants to be smart about.  Eddie’s appreciative of the time Bobby and Athena have taken to get to really know and love his Buck.    

Hen arrives with a cheerful greeting with the rest of the shift bar Chimney.  She grabs an apple and slides onto the bar stool closest to him as the rest of them start setting up the table.  “How long have they been talking about taco seasoning?”

“Since we arrived,” Eddie says dryly, keeping his voice low so it doesn’t carry to the chattering duo at the stoves.  He picks up the final block of cheese. “You want to take a bet on how long they’ll continue if someone doesn’t interrupt?”

Hen chuckles.  “No bet required to know a long time.”

They both turn at the sound of pounding footsteps on the stairs.

Chimney emerges a second later, looking frazzled.  He ignores Hen and Eddie and makes his way straight to Buck.

Eddie shifts subtly to put himself in a better position to intercede, cautious at the anger Chimney is telegraphing in his body’s tension.

“You need to stop texting Maddie!” Chimney snaps, not even caring that he’s interrupting Bobby’s lecture on the importance of cumin.

Bobby stops abruptly, staring at Chimney in surprise.

“What?” asks Buck, confusion written all over his face as he shifts his focus to Chimney and away from his cooking.

“You have to stop texting Maddie!” Chimney repeats.  “You’re constantly texting her, asking to come over.  Stop it!  You’re stressing her out and that’s the last thing she needs right now!”

Buck’s devastation crumples his face for a second.  “I…”

Eddie steps away from the cheese and stands next to his soulmate.  “Firstly, Buck isn’t texting Maddie constantly.” A daily message certainly, but not all the time.  “And secondly, if Maddie wants Buck to stop texting her, she can tell him herself.”

Buck takes a deep breath and leans closer so their shoulders touch.  Eddie wishes his hands weren’t wrapped in culinary gloves because he wants to wrap his hand around Buck’s and hold him. 

Chimney glares at Eddie.  “This isn’t any of your business!”

“Eddie’s my soulmate,” Buck states firmly, recovering to defend Eddie, “my business is his business, and he’s right, Chimney, if Maddie doesn’t want me to text her, she’ll tell me herself.  She’s never had a problem telling me her boundaries.”

And ignoring Buck’s, Eddie thinks wryly.

Chimney turns to Bobby.  “Cap, you agree with me, right?  Maddie’s my girlfriend and if she’s getting stressed out because of Buck, then I have the right to tell Buck to back the hell off!”

Bobby pats his gloved hands together sending a shower of flour back onto the counter.  “I think this isn’t the time or place to have this conversation,” he says firmly.  “I’ve said it before but if you have a personal issue to work out, work it out outside this firehouse.” He pauses.  “And for the record, Maddie’s never struck me as incapable of setting her own boundaries with Buck if needed.”

Chimney’s stunned expression is a thing of beauty as far as Eddie is concerned. 

“Get the plates, Chimney,” Bobby orders.  He gestures at Buck.  “Let’s get this dished up, Buck.”

Eddie bumps Buck’s shoulder with his, gets a reassuring fleeting smile in return, and heads back to the cheese.

Breakfast is a flurry.  Eddie splits a burrito with Buck and a bowl of cut-up fruit.  The first call comes in as they’re clearing up and they’re off…

Five calls and many hours later into their shift, Eddie stumbles across Chimney talking to Hen.

It’s the end of the day chore time.  The station is stood down and offline for an hour while Lincoln and Arnie do some maintenance on the ladder truck. 

Eddie has just finished cleaning up the gym and setting it to rights; he’s on his way back to the loft to grab a pre-dinner snack and take a break watching Mario and Laura playing video games.  Buck is out with Bobby doing a grocery supply run for their dinner plans. 

Hen and Chimney are in the ambulance doing inventory and restocking.  Three of the calls required medical assistance at the scene and the latter was a drop to ER to get a kitchen steak knife extracted from the hand of a college student…  

Eddie shakes his head as he walks close to the ambulance, skimming the edge of the garage on his way to the loft stairs.  Why the college friends thought starting a knife-throwing act with no training or talent was beyond him.  Television talent shows have a lot to answer for, he muses.

“…and Cap had no right telling me I can’t tell Buck to back off!” Chimney’s complaint is enough to arrest Eddie’s step.

He stops and pulls out his phone as though he’s reading something on the screen and unashamedly eavesdrops.

“He wasn’t wrong to tell you not to bring a personal issue into the firehouse,” Hen says, hints of exasperation layering into her tone.  “Didn’t you promise him after that whole business with the Daniel secret that you’d keep the Buckley family drama to your personal time in future?”

“I might have done that,” Chimney concedes with a heavy sigh.  “It’s just…I just want to protect Maddie from any more stress right now.  Why is everyone acting like that’s a bad thing?!”

Hen sighs in response. 

Eddie can almost picture her sat on the stretcher as is her usual practice during inventory with the clipboard and checklist in her hands.  

“Look, Chimney,” Hen says soothingly, “having a newborn is a lot of work, a lot of sleep deprivation, and a lot of adjustment for anyone.  Everyone gets that.  Buck gets that.” She pauses.  “I’m sure Buck’s just trying to help with it all, not create more stress.”

“Well, we don’t need his help!” Chimney snaps.

“And if that’s right, Maddie can tell Buck herself,” Hen states bluntly.  “She doesn’t need you to play messenger to her brother.”

“She’s not!” Chimney protests. 

“So, it was your idea to tell Buck to stop texting?” Hen questions Chimney with a sharp tone.  “Does Maddie even know you decided to do that?  Did you talk with her about it?”

Eddie approves of her line of questioning.

“I just see how tense she gets when he texts, OK?” Chimney replies. 

“Chim, you can’t put yourself in the middle of Maddie’s relationship with Buck like this!” Hen remonstrates.  “That’s not fair on either of them, and choosing to do it at work is completely inappropriate.”

Chimney sighs again, but it sounds more resigned.  “I know,” he says, “I just…I just want to make it easier for Maddie.”

Hen hums.  “You said she was struggling?”

“Huh?” Chimney sounds completely taken aback.  “I didn’t say that!”

“When you were ranting at Buck,” Hen says with more patience than Eddie would have for the conversation, “yes, you did.”

“Well, I just meant that, you know, she’s got a lot on her plate with Jee, that’s all,” Chimney stutters out.

And Eddie can tell that’s not what he meant at all.

“Uh-huh,” Hen says, indicating she doesn’t believe it any more than Eddie does, “and you know if it was more than that, if she was really struggling, that wouldn’t need to be something you and Maddie need to hide?  You have a lot of people who would help.”

Chimney is silent. 

Eddie thinks maybe the conversation is over and he starts to move but stops as Hen starts speaking again.

“Truthfully, Chim, I think suspecting that Maddie is struggling is why Buck is texting her.  None of us have seen a lot of Maddie or Jee since the hospital, which is a little unusual, but especially for Buck as he’s the uncle,” Hen says gently. “She’s his sister and he’s concerned about her.  That’s not a bad thing.”

“He should trust that I’m taking care of her!” Chimney snaps defensively.

“Look, you told me Maddie had trouble with her ex controlling her which Buck also knows,” Hen says.  “What you did this morning wouldn’t exactly be reassuring to a concerned brother that you’re not treading the same road…”

“I’m not!” Chimney protests.  “I’m nothing like her ex!”

“I’m not saying you are,” Hen states calmly, “but what’s the betting that at some point Maddie’s ex didn’t order Buck not to contact her?”

That was a good point.  Eddie silently applauds Hen.

“I didn’t think about that,” Chimney says after a beat.

There was another beat of silence.

“Look, all I’m saying is that maybe you should stay out of Maddie and Buck’s relationship,” Hen reiterates, “and I hope that if Maddie is really struggling, you both know you can reach out for help.”

“So, you do agree with Cap and Eddie?” Chimney still sounds a touch outraged at that.

Hen sighs.  “Let’s get on with this inventory or Cap will have our behinds when he gets back.  Sterile dressings?”

Eddie slips his phone back in his pocket and walks away, heading up the stairs as he had planned.

“Gym squared away?” Mario calls out despite his eyes pinned to the video game where he’s losing on the animated Daytona track.

“All done,” Eddie says. 

He likes Mario who is a gentle giant and former Marine vet.  Mario was given a medical discharge.  He doesn’t talk a great deal about his service, except to state it was classified, and Eddie respects that.      

He heads to the counter and snags a protein bar from the basket.  He gestures at the screen as he takes his seat.  “I can’t believe you’re losing.  You’re our best driver.”

“But not the best gamer,” Laura gives a triumphant yell as she wins.

Mario grumbles and sets down the controls.  “I don’t know why I play with you.”

Laura punches his upper arm lightly.  “Because I keep you humble!”  She gestures over to Eddie.  “Want to take on the champion?”

“I’m humble enough,” Eddie jokes.  He bites into the protein bar and grimaces. 

“Looking at your face, I don’t think I want one of those,” Laura determines, tapping her dimpled chin thoughtfully.  Her red hair is tied back in a utilitarian ponytail with a few tendrils escaping to frame her face.

Eddie shrugs.  “If you like the taste of cardboard, it’s not so bad.”

“Do you think Buck will make us those protein date balls if we beg hard enough?” asks Laura.

“Buck will make Eddie some as soon as hears about the cardboard,” Mario states dryly.

Sunshine appears to herald Buck’s return as Eddie goes to reply.  He grins instead, tosses the cardboard bar in the trash (because they’re not wrong, Buck will make him something else as soon as hears), pets Sunshine’s head and follows the soul animal back down the stairs to help unload groceries.

They’re almost done putting them away and Buck has just got out the ingredients for a pre-dinner snack when the alarm sounds.

They head to the trucks, changing into their gear with the required quick efficiency.  Eddie notes that Bobby directs Hen and Chimney to the ambulance again, ordering Laura and Ravi, the probie, into the truck with Buck and Eddie.  Mario climbs into the truck driver’s seat, Bobby takes the passenger seat and they’re in motion.

“We have a house fire reported,” Bobby states crisply.  “Buck, Eddie, you’ll be on search and rescue for the couple who own the house; the rest of us will be on fire suppression.  Call came in from a neighbour on site who also reported the house looked as though it had been robbed and he had been knocked out.  Police are also responding.”

Buck and Eddie exchange a worried glance.

“Do we know if the robbers are still on the scene?” asks Eddie.

“We do not,” Bobby says, “and police will not be able to clear the scene before you go in because of the fire.”

“Understood,” Eddie says.  He nudges Buck.  They’ll stay together and stay vigilant, but Eddie will take point as he always does if they think there is a viable threat.

o-O-o

The house is surrounded by flames as the truck pulls up, the police already present with lights flashing in the twilight.

The sun is setting behind the house.  It’s a strangely beautiful yet horrifying picture.

Eddie and Buck pull on protective gear quickly as Bobby heads over to where Athena is standing next to a smoke-smudged middle-aged man resting against the police car with a bloody towel pressed against the back of his head.

“What do we have?” asks Bobby.

“Brenda and Brian Lockey, both in their late sixties, suspected of still being inside,” Athena states crisply as she walks them back to the truck. “This is their neighbour Peter Armitage.  He found the door open, went inside.  Someone knocked him out.  When he came to, flames were licking at the front door.  He managed to get himself out to raise the alarm.”

Eddie does a final check on Buck’s equipment and gives him a thumbs up.  They jog over to where Bobby is beginning to direct hoses, water starting to dampen the entry to the house. 

“Brian and Brenda suspected to be inside.  House has been on fire for too long, it’s likely unstable,” Bobby says swiftly.  “Do one pass and get yourselves out.”

Eddie and Buck nod.

They grab extinguishers and head into the house.

Eddie leads the way through the entryway, calls out, and stops…

At the end of the hall is a soul animal, a black cat.  It yowls at them and turns. 

Eddie and Buck look at each other in consternation and follow the cat.

It leads them through a large den and into an adjacent corridor where there is an elderly man prone on the floor, his hands and feet are ringed with ripped duct tape, there is a cloth gag around his neck.  There’s a bruise that looks like a pistol whip across his forehead.

Eddie removes his glove to feel his pulse.  It’s thready and weak, but it’s there.

“You get Brian out,” Eddie says.  He gestures at the cat sitting on the stairs next to them.  “I’ll keep following the cat.”

Buck looks like he wants to protest, but he can carry the most weight of the two of them.  He sets the extinguisher down and hauls the man into a firefighter lift, turning and running back out the way they came.

Eddie reports Buck’s return and the discovery of the man; reports his status going up the stairs.  The cat leads him further into the house.

There’s a lot of smoke and Eddie is grateful for the mask and oxygen.  He lowers his stance and keeps a watch for flashfires across the ceilings and walls.  The cat nimbly darts into a room off to the right.

It’s a bedroom.

There’s an unconscious elderly woman, presumably Brenda, duct-taped to a chair, guarded by another soul animal, a parrot.  It squawks and disappears as Eddie gets close.

Eddie checks her pulse.  It’s barely there.  He radios it in, noting his position.  “Eyes on one elderly lady, unconscious.”  He sees the bump and blood on the back of her hair and winces.  “She’s sustained a severe hit to the back of her head.”  He uses a penknife to free her from the chair and picks her up as carefully as he can.

He makes it to the door of the bedroom but the floor in front of him collapses, fire licking into the hole, smoke bellowing forth. 

Eddie back into the bedroom and eyes the window.  He sets the woman briefly down on the bed and hurries to pull open the curtains, he pushes the window wide open and signals.  He radios.  “This is Diaz, I have no exit back through the house; I’m going to have to come out through the window.”

“Understood,” Bobby’s voice is calm and authoritative.  “Buck’s got your location, he and Mario are bringing the ladder to you.”

Eddie can see that Bobby’s redirected the suppression efforts to the window’s side of the house.  He goes back and picks up Brenda again, readjusting to lift her in the way that he can hand her off. 

Behind him the fire is beginning to eat at the floor of the bedroom.  But Buck’s suddenly right in front of him, perched on the ladder. 

Eddie hands him Brenda and Buck starts back down the ladder.  Eddie manoeuvres himself out, grasping to get a good hold on the ladder.  He looks briefly back into the bedroom and sees the flooring collapse.

He hurries back down the ladder.  He thumps the truck when he’s down and heads over to where Buck is handing off Brenda to a stretcher.  Hen is already poised to take her breathing and provide her with oxygen.

Hen’s face is sombre as she works.  “We got to move!” 

They help her load her passenger into the waiting ambulance, shut the doors and the ambulance takes off.

Buck grimaces, his worried face smoke-stained.  Eddie pats his shoulder comfortingly and Buck helps him shed the gear he no longer needs.

They head back to Bobby for orders.  There is still a house to salvage.

It takes over an hour for them to get the fire out. 

The 118 crew is exhausted when they’re done. 

Eddie accepts the bottle of water from Buck as they sit pressed up against each other on the garden wall at the front of the house. 

“Do you think they’ll make it?” asks Buck quietly.

“They have a chance,” Eddie murmurs.  He knows if they hadn’t found the couple as fast as they did, if they’d followed a typical search and rescue pattern, they would have died.

Bobby walks over.  He takes a seat next to them and shakes his head.  “That was good work.”

“We had help,” Buck says.

Bobby raises his eyebrows a touch inquisitively.

“Their soul animals showed up and led them to us,” Buck explains.

Bobby frowns.  “I thought that was an urban myth.” 

Eddie shrugs.  He sometimes forgets that Bobby and Athena aren’t soulmates, just people who are lucky enough to find each other and fall in love.   

“The Army have stories of soul animals saving people in battle all the time.”  Eddie pauses and catches Bobby’s eyes. “Sunshine showed up to save me in Afghanistan.”

Bobby nods slowly.  “Well, if more soul animals want to show up and lead the way, I’m all for it.”    

Athena approaches.  In comparison to the three of them, she’s pristine.  Her uniform looks as though it was newly pressed that hour and there is not a speck of dirt on her.

Eddie feels like a sweaty mess. 

Athena pins Bobby with a fierce look.  “Are we safe to secure the property?”

Bobby shakes his head.  “I’ve got a Fire Investigator on their way.  We need to do a walkthrough, see if we can find how this guy set the fire.”

Eddie sips his water.  He wonders whether the fire was an impulse after being caught by the neighbour or whether they’d always intended to start one to get away with their actions.

Athena nods crisply.  “I’ll leave officers here then.  I have to get to the hospital and check on the Lockeys.”  She shakes her head.  “Hopefully they’ll be able to tell us exactly what happened before the fire.”

“The neighbour provide any more information?” asks Bobby, his curiosity shining through his exhaustion.

Athena shakes her head.  “Just that the Lockeys are lovely people; good neighbours.  They apparently lost one of their grandchildren who served in the military last month.”

Eddie feels a stir of patriotic empathy for another military family.  He’s all too aware that it was almost his own family who’d had the most awful notification that someone could get if they had family serving.

“Hopefully we’ll find something left behind that helps them get justice,” Bobby says quietly.

“Let’s hope,” Athena says fervently.  “And let’s hope this is a one-off.”  She and Bobby exchange a soft smile and she walks away.

Eddie’s amused by how Bobby watches her until he can’t see her anymore.  He resolutely doesn’t think about how he does the same with Buck.

o-O-o

Eddie tugs on the laces of his boots and stands up to stretch. 

Buck looks back at him with a frown.  “You OK?”

“I’m good,” Eddie says genuinely. 

The failed home invasion and arson call had been their last one for the shift, and they’d even managed to get a few hours rest.

Buck glances around before his gaze settles back on Eddie.  “Still OK to drop by Maddie’s place?”  His voice is pitched low and quiet.

Eddie nods.  “Hen talked Chim into breakfast at the diner when they were leaving.”  He suspects that she wants to have another go at talking with Chimney about the whole situation with Maddie herself.

Buck smiles, relief dancing across his face.  “Come on, let’s go.”

It seems like the universe is on their side as the drive is easy.  They stop at a bodega down the street from Maddie’s apartment to buy some flowers.

Maddie’s apartment is tucked away on the third floor of a large building. They greet Bill, the security guard at the door, and he waves them over to the elevators.  Maddie had been worried about security when she’d arrived in Los Angeles and had insisted on finding a building with a guard.  They’d also installed a high-end security system in the apartment.  While she hadn’t said so, Eddie suspects that Maddie had been concerned that her abusive husband would follow her.

Buck presses the buzzer when they reach her door and wait.

Maddie opens up and stares at them tiredly.  “Hey, guys!”  She whispers loudly, ushering them in.  “What are you doing here?” She checks behind them as though looking for Chimney.

“Hen talked Chimney into breakfast so we’d thought we’d drop in on you,” Eddie murmurs, keeping his voice low.

On first glance, Maddie looks like any other mother of a new baby.  She’s dressed comfortably in sweats.  Her hair is loose as always, and maybe it looks a little straggly like she hasn’t showered for a couple of days.  There are shadows under her eyes giving away her lack of sleep.

The apartment is a clutter of baby equipment and toys.  There is a layer of dust over the surfaces in the den, and Eddie can see the pots are stacked up in the sink.

Nothing unusual. 

Eddie remembers the chaos of his and Shannon’s small house in the couple of weeks he had with Chris as a newborn before he left for his deployment.

But it’s the tension at seeing them though that has Eddie on alert.

“Jee asleep?” Bucks asks in a loud stage-whisper, holding out the flowers.

Maddie nods and takes the bright bouquet he’d chosen with one hand, holding up her phone with the other.  “Thanks, Evan.  These are lovely.  And yes, I’ve just got her down.”

The phone offers a live picture of Jee sleeping in her cot. 

Maddie gives them a tight smile which doesn’t reach her eyes. “I was going to take a nap.”

Buck’s smile is the awkward one he offers when he’s feeling insecure.  “We won’t stay long?” he says.  “I just wanted to see how you are; see if I can help you in any way.”

Eddie sees the flare of defensiveness in Maddie’s eyes and jumps in before she can respond.  “Shannon reminded us this morning that she had Janet with her a lot after Chris’ birth to help.” 

Buck takes his lead and jumps in.  “Yeah, I know you don’t have Mom helping like that,” the Buckley siblings manage to pull the same face in unison at the idea, “but we’re family.  We should be helping more than we have.”

Maddie softens, the defensiveness seeping out of her.  “I hadn’t thought about it that way.”  She glances down at her phone which she’s holding.  “I guess you know Howie’s going to be late coming over?”

Eddie takes note of the phrasing.  He’d thought that Chimney had moved in right after a weird pandemic scare had been put to bed.  Maddie had been heavily pregnant and Chim had been worried about her.  It sounds like Chimney still has his own place from Maddie’s words.

None of his business, Eddie tells himself, and focuses instead on Buck nodding and explaining how Eddie had overheard Hen inviting Chimney for breakfast.    

“So,” Maddie takes a breath, “help would be appreciated if you’re not too tired after your shift.”

Buck shakes his head with enthusiasm.  “Put us to work!”

Eddie nods.  He is tired, but he’s not the tired of a new mother and doing a couple of chores before they head home isn’t going to kill him.

Maddie’s smile is genuine.  “Would you be OK keeping an ear out for Jee while I take a bath?  Maybe clear up a little in here?”

Buck’s already nodding happily.

“Go for it,” Eddie says.

Maddie pushes the bouquet back at Buck.  “Pop these in water?”

She’s gone before he replies. 

Buck turns to Eddie with a grin.  “Guess she really wants that bath.”  He looks around the apartment.  “Where do you think we should start?”

Eddie points at the flowers.  “You deal with those and get the kitchen sorted.  I’ll tidy up in here.”

It takes them almost an hour to tidy up. 

Buck is sent to check on Maddie and finds her dead asleep, sprawled out in clean pyjamas and damp hair on her bed.  He covers her with a blanket and they leave her to rest.

Jee’s asleep too in her cot, cute in a green onesie with ‘world’s greatest baby’ printed on the front.  Eddie snaps a picture of Buck leaning over to stroke her cheek tenderly, a sappy expression on his face.

Neither of them feels comfortable just leaving with Maddie asleep, and Eddie won’t leave Buck alone to face Chimney coming back.     

Buck darts back out to the bodega to buy some groceries, he’s finishing up a casserole in the newly cleaned kitchen when they hear the scratch of a key against the lock.

Eddie checks the clock as he walks a sleepy Jee back and forth.  She’d woken up while Buck was out.  Eddie’s changed her and helped Buck feed her.  He has more photos of uncle and niece, and suspects Buck has snapped one or two of him too.    

Chimney enters and pauses briefly in the threshold at the sight of them.  He finally steps fully inside and closes the door, dropping his keys into the bowl on the counter beside it.

Eddie lifts a finger to his lips before Chimney can speak.  “Maddie’s napping,” he explains in a low voice.

Whatever Chimney was about to say is arrested.  Instead, their teammate takes a long look around the apartment.  Eddie’s pretty sure he’s cataloguing the clean and tidy surfaces.  

Chimney glances over at the kitchen and does a double take at Buck neatly covering the casserole with foil.  He sniffs.  “Is that your sausage pasta bake?”

Buck nods.  He sets the dish in the ‘fridge.  “You just need to finish it in the oven for forty minutes when you’re ready to have it, or you know, zap a portion in the microwave.”

Eddie notes how they’re all keeping their voices down and hopes they don’t wake Maddie.

Chimney sighs and rubs the back of his head.  “Sorry about this morning, Buck.  I just…Maddie’s got a lot on, and I just want to make her life as easy as possible.”

“I get it,” Buck says, “and I appreciate that you’re her boyfriend now, but I’m only going to stop texting or coming over if she asks.”

“Fair,” Chimney grimaces.  He gestures at Eddie.  “Hey, Diaz!  Give me my baby back.”

Eddie rolls his eyes, but he walks over and transfers a giggling Jee into her father’s arms.  “She’s had a change and a feed.”

Chimney bounces Jee a little as he adjusts his hold.  “Thanks.”  He pins Eddie with a hard look.  “I assume you and Hen conspired to keep me out of the apartment?”

“You assume wrongly,” Eddie says evenly.  “I overheard your plans and figured Maddie might appreciate some help if you were going to be late.”

“We’re family, right?” Buck jumps in.  “We’re meant to help out, give you guys a break now and again.”

Chimney’s jaw tenses, but he nods.  “Hen just gave me the same lecture.”  There’s a lingering hint of the accusation that he’s being conspired against.

Eddie swallows the retort on his lips.  He looks over at Buck.  Eddie can see that the second wind which had kept him going through the grocery shopping and cooking is seeping away.

“We should get going,” Eddie says.

Buck nods.  “Tell Maddie we said goodbye.”

Chimney holds Jee’s hand up and gently waves it.  “See you guys at the next shift.”

And that’s a clear message not to come back over in the interim, Eddie muses as he and Buck step out of the apartment.

“She seems OK,” Buck says as they climb back into the truck.  “Doesn’t she?  I mean, tired but who wouldn’t be?”

Eddie nods.  Maddie had seemed fine.  Stressed, exhausted, and maybe a little bit too caught up in the belief that she has to do it all herself, but he didn’t get the sense that she was depressed.  But he knows it’s easy enough for people struggling with depression and anxiety to pretend for a brief visit that everything is fine, and post-partum can be hidden because it’s easy for people to assume it is just the usual new mom stresses.

“We should probably call in more often,” Eddie says as he starts the drive home.  “Chimney’s not living there.”

“He’s not?” asks Buck, confusion flitting across his face.  “I thought…”

“Me too,” Eddie says, “but he has like maybe a change of clothes in the wardrobe, hardly any products in the bathroom.  I don’t think he’s living with them full time.”

Buck’s eyebrows go all the way.  “You snooped?”

“I did,” Eddie says unashamed.

Buck grimaces.  He rubs a hand over his face.  “It’s probably Maddie’s idea.  She told me before she fell pregnant that she liked living on her own and having her own space.”

“Maybe,” Eddie says, “and their relationship is none of our business really,” he admits, smiling as Buck snorts at the comment. “Just, if he’s not there all of the time, she’s essentially looking after Jee all by herself a lot of the time.”

Buck processes that and nods slowly.  “So, maybe we do more offers to help like we did today?  Maybe grocery shopping or dropping off a meal or giving her an hour for a bath…things like that?”

Eddie nods.  He thinks that will work and if they can lay regular eyes on her, maybe they’ll be better able to assess if she is struggling with her mental health.

They stagger into their own home and head straight for their bed.

Eddie curls up around Buck who interlocks their fingers and holds them against his heart.

“I’m so lucky to have found you,” Buck murmurs.

Eddie drops a kiss on his shoulder.  “I’m the lucky one.” 

He thinks about the Lockeys, about how Brian Lockey had ripped his way from the chair he’d been duct-taped to and had tried to crawl through fire to save his wife.  He shivers and knows he’d do the same if it was Buck being threatened, who needed saving.

Sunshine and Sergeant appear at the end of the bed, coming to guard them because Eddie knows whoever attacked the Lockeys is still out there.  He breathes a sigh of relief and tucks in close to Buck.  He drifts off to sleep in a puddle of early morning sunlight with Buck’s heart beating reassurance he’s safe under his palm.

Act 2 – Sparks     

Eddie’s alone in the house.

It’s a rare occurrence.

Chris and Buck have gone out for the day to one of their favourite museums.  It’s their thing and while they always invite Eddie along, and sometimes he goes, he has a sense of when they need it to be the two of them.  He’d that sense that morning since Chris managed to sigh pretty much every other minute and refused to say anything at breakfast about what was wrong.

He forces himself to crack through the bills online, update their budget and wince at the numbers.  They’re doing OK, but he’s incredibly grateful that one of the last things Janet did was to set-up a fund for Christopher’s health care.

He sets about doing one of the odd jobs he’s been putting off, namely the yard work.  He gets out the lawn mower and sets to work.

It’s good physical work which warms his muscles and gives him a workout in a very different way than the job.  It’s mindless work and he needs that, to lose himself in physical activity and let his mind wander where it will.

He finds his mind wandering to his plans with Buck for their anniversary.  They only have two more shifts and they’ll be leaving for their vacation.  If being on his own is rare, being alone with Buck for two whole days is rarer still.  Sure, they have moments where they’re alone when Chris is at school and they’re off shift, and occasionally Shannon or Eddie’s family will babysit so they can go on a date.  But two whole days alone just the two of them is something that has never really happened before.

Eddie just wants to wrap himself up in his soulmate.

Maybe more so after the case with the Lockeys than even before. 

It has hit them both hard, Eddie muses.  Seeing their soul animals fight to save them…there is something intangibly sacred in that.  He only has flashes of memory about how Sunshine saved him in Afghanistan, but he remembers the relief of the fur beneath his fingers guiding him out of the collapsed well.

At least they had learned from Athena that the Lockeys had survived their experience.  They apparently didn’t remember too much about their experience because the two men who had invaded hadn’t actually said very much.  The Lockeys had been tied up and knocked out.  Athena had noted that with the house a burnt out husk, it was going to be difficult for the Lockeys to identify what, if anything, was missing.

What has been determined was that the men who had attacked the couple were likely former military.  They’d actually used a small incendiary bomb to start the fire and had laid gasoline around the property to encourage the fire to spread.

Eddie wonders fleetingly if there is any connection to the military grandson who they had lost before the thought flies away with a difficult weed. 

He finishes with the yard work and heads inside.

He’s just finishing up the glass of water he’s downed and thinking about a shower when his phone buzzes.  He checks the caller and sighs pressing the button to receive the video call.

“Hi Mom,” Eddie greets her.

She cranes her neck as though she can see beyond Eddie into the house.

“Chris and Buck are having one of their days out,” Eddie informs her.  “It’s just me.”

His Mom huffs.  “I wanted to talk with Buck about the recipe he sent me.”

“Well, I’m definitely not the person to speak to about that,” Eddie says wryly.  “Recipe shenanigans aside, you and Dad doing OK?”

“Yes,” his Mom sighs.  “He’s still being difficult about the new diet the doctor gave him after the heart thing.”

As any Texan who liked their meat would, Eddie thinks.  He winces visibly in sympathy with his mother.  He’d gone back to Texas in the wake of his father’s heart attack and getting through to his Dad that he owed it to his wife and family to take better care of his health had felt like an uphill battle.  Ramon Diaz is making an effort though, although Eddie has a text chain filled with complaints about his diet.

“Could you ask Buck to text me about the smashed turkey burger recipe when he’s back?” his Mom requests impatiently.

“Will do,” Eddie says.  “Tell Dad I think those are great.”

His Mom nods, her eyes narrowing on him.  “And what about you, Eddie?  How’s my son doing?”

“Good, sweaty,” Eddie says honestly.  “I’ve been doing yard work.”

“And missing your boys,” his Mom states.

“And missing my boys,” Eddie agrees with a laugh.  “Although it’s not so bad having the house to myself.”

“I always enjoyed time without you children to sit with a book,” his Mom confides.  “And how is Shannon?”

“Shannon’s doing great,” Eddie says.  “She’s just started dating a doctor.”

“A doctor?” his Mom says.  “What do we know about him?”

“Not much,” Eddie admits.  “She’s been on a couple of coffee dates.  She says he’s very charming, but she’s taking it slow.”

“And I assume her dating is the reason why Chris needed a day out with his Buck?” his Mom asks, guessing.

“Maybe,” Eddie concedes.

“Ah,” his Mom nods.  “So, what else do we know?”

Eddie shrugs.  “He was a client who moved to Los Angeles about a month ago and needed a rental property.  He asked Shannon out then, but she told him that she didn’t date clients.  Anyway, apparently everything was signed and sealed last week and as soon as he paid her, he asked her out for coffee.”

“Has Chris met him and not liked him?” probes his Mom again.  In the background, his father appears and she waves him forward to join her.

“Shannon won’t introduce Chris to a guy until he’s introduced to Buck and myself,” Eddie assures her.  “The last guy was so rude to Buck, Shannon broke up with him in the middle of dinner and kicked him out.”

His Mom’s eyebrows go up. 

“It always amazes me how protective Shannon is about your soulmate,” his father comments dryly.

Eddie smiles.  “Buck loves Chris.”

“Buck is an angel,” his Mom smacks his father’s arm lightly.  “We have been blessed to have him as part of the family.”

There are times when Eddie thinks his mother prefers Buck to him.

Eddie leans back against the kitchen counter.  “Actually, I think Chris’ mood might be because Buck has been spending a bit more time over at Maddie’s this past week or so.”

His Mom nods.  “Helping with his niece?  It is the first time he has had to compete for his Buck’s attention.”

“Buck’s worried about his sister,” Eddie says.  His eyes catch on a car pulling into his driveway and he straightens.  “Speaking of which she’s here.”

“You should see to your visitor, Eddie,” his Mom says.  “Have Buck call me later.”

“Will do,” Eddie says, “and Dad?”

His father looks at him.

“Smashed turkey burgers are…” Eddie mimes a chef’s kiss. 

His father rolls his eyes at him as his mother laughs.

He ends the call and heads to the front door.

Maddie is slowly getting the carrier from the car.

Eddie stuffs his feet back into his sneakers and jogs over to help her.  “Hey, Maddie.  Want a hand?”  He notes how pale she looks and there is a spooked quality to her gaze that concerns him.

Maddie eases back and lets Eddie take care of releasing the carrier from the brackets that turn it into a baby car seat.  She heads around to the trunk and gets out a large bag which he recognises from his own time as a father of a baby.  It had felt like they needed to go everywhere with a small suitcase.

He carries a sleeping Jee inside confident Maddie will follow him. 

“Hello, Jee,” he murmurs.  “This is your Uncle Buck and Uncle Eddie’s house with your cousin, Chris, and you are always welcome here.”

It’s her first visit to their house since her birth and Eddie knows Buck is going to be crushed that he wasn’t present; Chris is going to be crushed.

He leads Maddie into the den and sets Jee’s carrier down on the floor near the hearth.

“Buck’s out?” asks Maddie, belatedly realising that there is only Eddie present.

“He and Chris went out,” Eddie confirms, “but he’ll be back soon.”

As soon as Eddie texts Buck, he figures Buck will check with Chris and make their way home.      

“Buck made a batch of his iced tea?” Eddie offers.  It’s her usual drink when she visits.

Maddie’s face lights up.  “That would be great.  Thank you.”

Eddie heads back into the kitchen.  He sends the text and pours Maddie a tall glass of the tea.  Buck texts back that he and Chris are on their way back.  Eddie grabs himself a soda, more to be sociable than because he’s thirsty.  He scrounges up a plate of cookies and heads back into the den.

Maddie sits in the comfortable armchair, the bag by her feet.  Jee is out of the carrier and sitting quietly on Maddie’s lap.

“Here we go,” Eddie says.  He puts her drink on the small table next to her.  “Buck’s on his way back.”

“Thank you,” Maddie says sincerely.  She runs her eyes over him, amusement flickering into the tired depths.  “Yard work?”

“Yard work,” Eddie confirms. 

“That’s why I wanted an apartment,” Maddie admits.  She kisses Jee’s head and smooths back the straight dark wisps of hair.  “But then I think of this one and wonder if I shouldn’t provide her with an outdoor space to play.”

“Eh,” Eddie shrugs, “you can take her to the park while she’s little or bring her over here for a visit.  Think about moving when she’s older.”

Maddie nods.  “Sorry I just turned up,” she says, her fingers fidgeting in Jee’s blanket.  She gestures vaguely.  “I was shopping and…”

Eddie waits patiently for her to continue.  He can see something is clearly preying on her mind.

“Anyway,” Maddie shakes her head, “I realised your house was close and here I am.”

“You’re always welcome,” Eddie states, wondering what else she might have wanted to say but didn’t.  Despite his misgivings about how she treats Buck, she is his sister.  “Besides, I think Buck’s dropped in without calling a few times to your place, hasn’t he?”

Maddie looks over at him, her gaze suddenly sharp.  “Was that your idea?”

Eddie shrugs again.  “I’m not great at asking for help.  I think you and I have that in common.”

Maddie bites her lip, but she slowly sighs as though accepting the charge.  “I can’t exactly deny it’s been nice to have time for a bath, or to have a casserole ready to go.”  She grimaces.  “I just…I had this idea I should be able to look after Jee myself without anyone else really helping.”

Eddie wonders idly where Chimney fits into that.  “Why?” he asks genuinely interested.  “You know none of us expected that of you.”

“I’m not sure why I thought it,” Maddie admits.  “Just…maybe an idealised version of what motherhood needed to look like in my head?”  She pauses.  “I’m pretty sure my ex would have expected me to take care of everything.”

Eddie knows there are patterns of behaviour and thinking get ingrained when someone is in an abusive situation.  He figures it’s a good thing that Maddie has maybe identified an intrusive thought she didn’t know had been planted in her mind.

“Well, by all accounts, he was a dick,” Eddie says bluntly.  “Chimney doesn’t expect you to be the perfect mother, does he?”

Maddie shakes her head slowly.  She sighs again, her expression a little rueful.  “I think sometimes he has this idealised view of me just being perfect regardless though.”

And that’s maybe added some pressure, Eddie surmises.

“It’s…I think I worry constantly that I’m not doing a good job as her mother,” Maddie confesses, her gaze dropping to Jee.  

Eddie smiles at her.  “Welcome to the club.”

Maddie looks up at him in surprise.  “But you…”

Eddie waves away her defence of him.  “Every parent has doubts, Maddie.  Shannon, Buck and I…we debate our decisions about Chris constantly.”

“So, it doesn’t stop when they get older?” jokes Maddie, but he sees her shoulders dropping a touch.

Eddie smiles.  “I guess at some point it becomes less about the decision we make, and more that we hope our past decisions have set them up for their own decisions to be good ones.”

Maddie mock grimaces.  “I don’t even want to think about Jee growing up.”

Eddie’s head tilts.   “Sounds like the truck.”  He glances out the window and smiles at the sight of the truck pulling into the driveway beside Maddie’s car.

The next ten minutes are lost to Buck and Chris’ arrival.  There are hugs and wonder from Chris at seeing Jee for the first time in months. 

They settle in the den, Chris reading a story to Jee on the mat while the adults gather towards the hearth, far enough away to talk, but close enough to the kids to keep watch.

“It’s good to see you out and about,” Buck says, holding a glass of his own iced tea.

Maddie tries a smile.  “I’m sorry I haven’t been round much.  It’s been a lot.”

“You don’t need to apologise,” Buck says affectionately.  “We know it’s a lot and I’m just glad you’re here now.”

Maddie’s brow creases a touch at the questioning lilt Buck left at the end of his sentence which silently asks ‘why.’  “Actually, I was just telling Eddie; I was out shopping.  Coming here was just a snap decision.”

“Wow,” Buck says, still smiling.  “Make me feel wanted, Mads.”

Maddie chuckles. 

“I’m amazed you wanted to go shopping with a kid in tow,” Buck’s head jerks towards Chris, “it’s bad enough when they’re that age.”

“You love going to the market with him,” Eddie points out dryly. 

“Now,” Buck says, “but I still remember the first time I went shopping with him when we got together.  He was tiny and still managed to grab the candy he wanted without me noticing.  The grip he had on that bag was unreal.”  He shakes his head ruefully.  He points at his sister.  “This is why online shopping is the way to go.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Maddie says.  She shakes her head, her fingers are shaking a little as they stroke over her glass.  Her eyes go a little distant.  “It is very stressful,” she admits.

“If you still need some stuff, I can run out for you,” Buck offers.

Maddie shakes her head.  “I got everything, I just.” She looks over at Buck and grimaces.  “I thought I saw someone from back East in the grocery store as I was leaving.”

Buck frowns. 

“But then I had to pay and when I looked back to where they were, they were gone like they’d never been there,” Maddie goes on.  She tries a smile.  “Probably just my imagination, right?  I mean, I’m tired, I’m probably seeing things which aren’t there.”

Buck shrugs.  “Maybe you did see them, but they left before you did?”

“I hope not,” Maddie murmurs. 

“Someone you didn’t like then,” Eddie states gently.  He’s not sure he knows what to make of her story, although he’s pleased that at least she felt comfortable confiding in Buck.

Maddie startles as though just remembering he’s in the room.  She nods though.  “Yes, someone I didn’t like.”  She shakes herself a little and waves at Buck who couldn’t look more concerned if he tried.  “Anyway, suddenly it just felt too much, you know?  So, I came here.”

Buck looks pleased as punch at that, and Eddie can’t deny that despite the tension that he and Maddie sometimes have in their relationship over Buck, he’s glad she felt safe enough to come to them.

“Well, we are glad to have you,” Buck says.  “You want to stay for dinner?  I’m making baked chicken?” His face falls a touch suddenly.  “Unless you had plans with Chimney?”

“Your baked chicken sounds great,” Maddie admits, “and no plans.”

Eddie’s curious about what’s going on with her and Chimney.  His teammate is surprisingly absent from Maddie’s activities which doesn’t sound like Chimney at all.

“We, uh, could invite Chimney over if you wanted?” Buck asks, because he’s clearly thought the same as Eddie.

Maddie shakes her head.  “I, uh, kind of asked Howie for some space today.”  She looks sheepish.  “He’s just been constantly at my place since we had Jee, and we had a bit of a fight about it yesterday.”  She shrugs, smiling brightly at them as though to indicate ‘nothing wrong here.’  “I was probably angrier than I should have been about him leaving stuff over – maybe it’s the hormones?  I’ll call him tomorrow.”       

“Well, nuestra casa es su casa,” Buck says, butchering the pronunciation in a way that would have had Eddie’s Abuela flapping at him.

Eddie clears his throat.  “I’m going just going to get cleaned up.”  He plucks at his vest and heads to the bathroom.

He’s not surprised when Buck slips into the bedroom as Eddie’s drying off.  Buck’s look of appreciation for Eddie’s bare skin as his eyes follow the path of the towel has Eddie preening inside.   

“All OK?” Eddie asks, with a head gesture to indicate the house beyond the door Buck’s just closed.

“Yeah, Maddie let Chris feed Jee,” Buck holds up his phone.  “I got it on video.”

Eddie dumps the towel on the floor and reaches into his dresser for underwear.  “I take it Chris isn’t too unhappy about coming home early?”

“He’s thrilled to be spending time with Jee,” Buck confirms.  He sighs and hands Eddie the jeans he’d laid out on the bed as soon as Eddie has his boxer briefs on.  “Apparently a new kid in his class told him it wasn’t right that two men were soulmates.”

Eddie freezes, his hands on his buttons.  “What?!”

“Traditionalist upbringing probably, right?” Buck sighs, sitting down on the bed.  “I’ll call Principal Allen tomorrow when the school opens and get an appointment to talk to her about how we can handle it.”

Eddie buttons up his jeans and fumes silently.

“Anyway, I explained to Chris how some people feel that only men and women can be soulmates, but that’s not our belief because we have Sunshine and Sergeant and we know we belong together,” Buck adds.  “I told him the best thing to do is to ignore the kid while we take care of it.” 

“Good,” says Eddie tersely, still furious at the kid who he notes Buck hasn’t named – probably because he knows Eddie would track them down and yell at them.

Buck nods.  “Also, Chris said he knows his Mom is dating and he wants to meet Shannon’s date.  I told him that won’t be happening until you and I have met him, and that’s his Mom’s rule.  He complained,” he smiles, “but he accepted it.”

Eddie yanks on the first t-shirt he grabs from the drawer and refuses to get distracted by Chris’ reaction to the dating.  “You know who I blame for that kid’s behaviour?”

“The parents,” Buck comments frankly. “Honestly I think my parents think that way even if they consider it rude to say it out loud in polite company.”

Eddie surges towards Buck, cups his face in his hands and kisses him soundly.  “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Buck says, smiling. 

They kiss again, softer and sweeter.

Buck pokes him in the ribs as they separate.  He casts a look over his shoulder at the closed door.  “Do you think Maddie has PPD?” 

Eddie sits beside Buck on the bed.  “I think something’s going on with her,” he admits.  “Whether it’s PPD or just anxiety or stress…” he shrugs.

“I’ve never known her to blow up at Chimney the way she says she did,” Buck says quietly. 

Eddie nudges Buck with his shoulder.  “Look, just…let’s give her a safe space today and let’s keep doing what we’ve been doing with dropping round to visit and help.  Hopefully she’ll feel comfortable talking with you eventually.  She came round today, didn’t she?”

Buck brightens at that.

Eddie drops another kiss on his lips.  “Come on, let’s go make sure Chris isn’t telling embarrassing stories about us to your niece.”

Buck laughs as they head back out of the bedroom.

o-O-o

The truck is on its way to a party where two guests have gotten trapped in an old-fashioned dumbwaiter.

Mario’s driving, Bobby’s up front, Ravi’s got leave, and it feels like their first year when it was just Eddie, Buck, Hen and Chimney riding in the back of the truck.  They’ve left the ambulance at the station since there were no major injuries reported beyond embarrassment.

They’re driving through one of the wealthier neighbourhoods they cover.

“Damn, but I wish I could afford one of these houses,” Hen notes.

Chimney’s glued to his phone and doesn’t say anything.

Hen stares at him before giving up and shooting Eddie and Buck a ‘can you believe him’ look.

Eddie shrugs.  “I wouldn’t want the yard work.  Ours is bad enough.”

“Buck would make a great pool boy though,” Hen jokes.

Eddie grins and gives Buck a heated look which has Buck blushing.  “Ah, maybe it would be worth it in that case.”

Buck’s phone buzzes.  He looks at it and shows the message to Eddie.  “Shannon’s got an appointment with Principal Allen.”

Eddie scowls because he’s still not happy that one of them is not going along to talk about the matter, but Shannon can handle it.

“I can’t believe some people still think soulmates can’t be the same sex,” Hen complains.

Buck gestures.  “Poor kid is probably just…”

“Parroting his parents,” Hen finishes up.

“Anyway,” Buck says cheerily, the way he does when he is determinedly changing the topic.  His eyes sparkle at Eddie afire with affection and mischief.  “For the record, I think you’d make a great pool boy.”

“You’re biased,” Eddie notes dryly. 

“Of course, I am,” Buck agrees easily, “I completely lucked out in the soulmate hotness factor.”

Eddie can’t help grinning back at him.

Bobby clears his throat meaningfully.

“Sorry, Cap,” Buck says brightly.

Hen finally gives up and elbows Chimney.  “Chimney!”

Chimney’s head snaps up and he looks around wildly before settling on Hen’s pointed look as her gaze falls to his phone before returning to his face. 

“Sorry,” Chimney says.  “What are we talking about?”

There’s a collective look around the truck and as if by telepathy they all agree to change the subject since the topic of soulmates is only likely to infuriate Chimney.

“What are you so invested in reading?” asks Hen.

“Nothing,” Chimney denies, his hands clenching around his phone.

“Nothing?” questions Hen, giving him her usual stare down.

Chimney cracks almost immediately.  “Alright, I met a new friend at a bar yesterday,” he waves his hands, “he’s a new dad too.  He sent me some information about an online support group.  I’m just checking it out.  That’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” Hen says, her face creasing in confusion.  “If you want advice, you do know that some of us here are parents, right?”

Chimney gestures.  “Not of a baby!”

Eddie shoots Chimney an incredulous look.

Bobby clears his throat again.  “We’re here.”

They in a winding drive that takes them up to a ranch-style house. 

A worried young woman of college age comes running up as soon as the truck stops. 

Bobby gets out to greet her as the rest of them climb out behind him.  “Miss Hanson? I’m Captain Nash, I understand we have people trapped inside?”

“Yes! Oh my God, they are so stupid!” Hanson tosses her long streaked blonde hair over one shoulder.  “They said they climbed into the dumbwaiter to hide from Julie’s ex, Ryan, who’s really great but really doesn’t understand how Julie fell in love with Michael’s brain, but then Julie and Michael can’t get out and my parents are due home any minute now!”

Eddie and Buck exchange an amused look.

Parents out and kids having a party…

“This is all very Ferris Bueller,” Chimney whispers.

Buck looks confused.  “Who?”

Eddie pats his shoulder as they start following Bobby into the house.  “We’ll watch the film later.”

“God, I loved that film,” Chimney says. 

Bobby waves away the crowd of teenagers surrounding the dumbwaiter entrance.  “Miss Hanson, if your parents are due back then maybe some of these people should head home?”

Hanson nods enthusiastically.  She starts to herd them away.

One sulky guy stays behind.  His hair is a floppy mess that hides most of his face.  He’s scowling fiercely and folding arms with some impressive muscles across an equally defined chest outlined in a far too tight t-shirt.

“I’m not going,” he says.

“And you are?” Bobby asks.

“I’m Julie’s boyfriend,” he says.

“EX!” comes the yell from the dumbwaiter.  “You’re my Ex, Ryan!”

Bobby motions to Ryan.  “We’re going to need some room, so please wait outside.”  He looks over at Eddie and Buck.

They do a round of rock, paper, scissors which Eddie loses.  He sighs and hands Buck the chainsaw.

“Come on, Ryan,” Eddie says, and gently guides the guy out of the house, listening all the while to his tale of romantic woe.  He leaves him with Hanson who is hurrying her friends from the property.

Eddie jogs back inside to find that Buck has used the chainsaw to cut a hole in the plasterboard to free the kids.  The previously trapped couple are being looked over by Chimney and Hen. 

Hen declares the young brunette in a very short shorts and a bikini top bruised but fine.

Chimney grimaces at the bruising on the wrist of the blond skinny guy with glasses dressed in jeans and an old t-shirt.  “This looks like a bad sprain.  I can strap it.”

“How am I going to cycle home?” complains Michael.

“I can take you!” The girl offers.  “I have my car.”

Bobby regards them both with a fatherly stare as Chimney sets about strapping the wrist.  “Next time try not to hide somewhere where you’ll get trapped.”

“There won’t be a next time,” Julie says.

Chimney steps back.  “Done.”

Julie tugs on Michael’s sleeve.  “Come on, Ellie probably wants us out of here anyway ASAP.  Her parents were flying back from Cancun this afternoon.”

Bobby gestures for the team to pack it up too. 

It’s only a few minutes more and they’re all trooping back outside to find Ellie wrapped around Ryan in a passionate kiss.

Julie rolls her eyes and drags Michael to her car and sets off.

They load back into the truck.

Half-way down the driveway, a sleek Mercedes passes them heading towards the house.  Eddie catches a glimpse of an open-mouthed blonde woman staring wide-eyed at them.

“Guess that’s the parents,” Buck says.

Eddie grins.

It’s a slow shift.

Buck retreats with Bobby to the kitchen to prepare freezer meals while Eddie loses game after game to Laura. 

And Chimney remains glued to his phone which means Hen gets more and more irritated. 

Eddie’s glad when the shift change comes in and they can all leave.

Chimney catches up with them in the parking lot.  “Hey, could I speak to you, Buck?”

Eddie notes that he’s not part of the invite, a quick glance to Buck confirms Buck has noticed it too.

“We were planning to get breakfast,” Buck says, his hand coming up to rest on Eddie’s shoulder.

“I’d like to talk to you about Maddie,” Chimney says, “in private.”  He gestures around the lot.  “I’m trying to keep it out of the station like Bobby wants.”

Buck frowns at him.  “OK, but you know anything you say I’m just going to tell Eddie anyway, so I don’t see why you want to talk to me without him.”

“Fine, Buck,” Chimney snaps.  “Bring along your soulmate security blanket!”  His gaze suddenly collides with Eddie’s hard stare, more for the tone than the words, and Chimney does a double take, taking a step back.

“Where do you want to talk, Chimney?” asks Buck, breaking the tension.

“I could follow you to your place?” offers Chimney with another darting glance at Eddie.  “Or we could go to the diner?”

Eddie notes that he didn’t offer his own place up and wonders if that’s because he doesn’t want them in his apartment or whether he’s still pretending that he lives with Maddie.  He shoots Buck a look which tells his soulmate without words that he’s not in favour of inviting Chimney back to their home. 

Buck shrugs.  “Diner, I’m starving.”

Eddie nods.

They follow Chimney’s car.

The first fifteen minutes feels like any other visit; they slide into a booth – Eddie and Buck sharing a bench, pressed up against each other with Chimney opposite, the waitress arrives with coffee, and they order what feels in the moment like not enough food, but Eddie knows they’ll struggle to finish.

Once the waitress leaves, Chimney picks up his coffee and takes a sip before placing it back down and turning it around nervously.

“You said you wanted to talk to me about Maddie?” Buck prompts abruptly. 

Eddie can hear how irritated Buck is with Chimney for the slight in protesting against Eddie’s presence.  Evan is incredibly generous and very forgiving about slights against him, but he’s a Papa Bear when he feels Eddie and Chris are being threatened or hurt by something or someone.

He leans into Buck, giving him comfort and feels some of the tension seep out of Buck’s frame.

Chimney sighs.  He leans forward.  “I want to know what you’ve been saying to Maddie.”

Buck frowns.  “About what?”

“About the state of the economy!” Chimney says angrily.  “What do you think about, Buck?  About me!”

Buck’s face creases with confusion and it colours every word when he speaks.  “I haven’t said anything to Maddie about you.”

“Then why doesn’t she want me around anymore?” demands Chimney.

Buck sighs.  “She said she’d asked you for some space when she was round the day before yesterday.  Is that what this is about?”

Eddie’s pretty certain Buck’s nailed why Chimney has demanded to speak to him.

“Yes!” Chimney throws up his hands.

Buck shrugs and spreads his hands wide.  “All I know is Maddie said she got upset and blew up at you.  She put it down to hormones.

Chimney stares at him.  He shakes his head and stabs a finger in Buck’s direction.  “And I know that Maddie had no problem with me until you started to visit and ‘help.’” He mimes quotation marks.

Eddie raises his eyebrows.

Buck frowns.  “I don’t know what you want me to say here, Chimney.  She’s my sister.  Of course, I want to help her when she’s got a new baby.”

“You didn’t before!” Chimney points out. “You just kept texting!”

“I didn’t want to impose on you both when you were adjusting to having a new baby,” Buck explains, confusion still coating every word.  “When Eddie and I dropped by a week or so ago, I realised Maddie would accept help if we just showed up.  So that’s what we’ve been doing.”

“Well, we don’t need your help!” Chimney states brusquely.  “Maddie’s doing a great job as Jee’s mother!”

“I never said she wasn’t!” Buck argues.  “It’s just a lot of work and if I can help out by dropping round and doing a load of laundry for her, what’s the big deal?”

“Because I’m the one who’s supposed to be helping her!” Chimney retorts.

And finally, Eddie thinks, they’ve gotten to the root of the problem. 

“Why is it so bad if others help out though?” asks Eddie, sliding into the discussion while Buck blinks back his shock at Chimney’s declaration.  “Especially Maddie’s family.”

“There’s helping out and there’s interfering!” Chimney argues.  “Maddie had no problems with my being at her apartment until after you ‘dropped by.’” He uses the quotation marks again.

“Look, until we ‘dropped by,’” Eddie refrains from using the quotation marks himself but there is enough sarcasm in his voice that he can see Chimney gets the message, “we thought you’d moved into the apartment.”  He pauses as Chimney flinches and presses on anyway.  “When we realised Maddie’s still living alone and we can see she’s under some stress, yes, we’re going to help her out.”

“But she’s not alone, she has me!” Chimney stabs a finger into his own chest. 

“That’s what Doug used to say,” Buck says quietly.

Chimney rears back.  “I’m nothing like Maddie’s ex!”

“You just don’t want me in her life same as him,” Buck continues, holding Chimney’s gaze. 

“That’s not…” Chimney literally flails, arms wildly flapping for a long moment.  “I’m not saying you can’t be in her life,” he says finally, “just stop helping.”  He takes a breath.  “How am I meant to show her how much I can take care of her and Jee, if you’re always in the way doing it first?”

And maybe, Eddie concedes, there’s something in that, although it’s a very either-or decision that Chimney’s constructed for the situation when it’s easy to see a ‘Chimney and Buck’ supporting Maddie scenario.

Buck looks back at Chimney, a stubborn line to his jaw.

“I really believe Maddie is my soulmate,” Chimney continues.  “But we won’t get there if you’re in the way.”

Eddie’s shocked enough by that assertion for a second it’s almost like his brain needs to reboot.

Buck blinks out of his own surprise.  “Less than one per cent of soulmates are visited by soul animals after they meet, Chimney.” 

Eddie’s proud that Buck keeps his tone gentle as he breaks the statistic to their teammate.

Chimney flushes an ugly shade of red even so.  “I don’t care what Jack says, it was clearly a waste of time talking to you.  You’re not going to stop, are you?!”

“If Maddie wants me to stop coming over and helping, she’ll tell me,” Buck states firmly, holding Chimney’s furious eyes.  “But I’m not going to stop helping my stressed sister who’s adjusting to being a Mom because you think that you’re the only one who should be involved!”

“I’m Jee’s father!” Chimney snarls.  “That gives me rights!”  He slides out of the booth.  “We were doing fine without you, and we’ll do fine without you!  We don’t need your help!”

He stomps away before they can say anything else.

Buck sighs heavily and slumps back against the vinyl booth cushions.

Eddie slides his hand into Buck’s, and they tangle their fingers together.  “He can’t stop us from supporting Maddie.”

“Is he right though?” Buck wonders.  “Am I getting in the way of his relationship with Maddie?  I mean, not the soulmate thing because that’s…” he bites his lip and shrugs.

Eddie rubs his thumb over Buck’s knuckles trying to comfort him.  “If Chimney really thinks that you giving Maddie the odd casserole so she doesn’t have to worry about cooking while dealing with a baby really endangers their relationship, I don’t think they have much of a relationship for you to get in the way of.”

Buck grimaces.  “I should probably talk with Maddie and check, but…”

But that would mean telling her about the entire conversation and Eddie thinks for all they should tell her about it, Maddie really doesn’t need any additional stress.      

The waitress arrives back, chewing gum and placing the plates on the table with competent efficiency that speaks of practice.  She gestures at the empty seat.  “You want me to box his up?”

“Yeah, please,” Eddie says.  He’s annoyed that they’re going to have to pay for Chimney’s uneaten food.  He squeezes Buck’s hand and lets go.  “Come on, let’s eat and get home for a nap.”

Buck nods, but Eddie can see the concern lurking as they turn their attention to the food.  Eddie hides his anger at Chimney for stirring up doubts in his soulmate and resolves to simply be there for Buck.

o-O-o

The final shift before their vacation is busy.

Eddie is relieved at the lack of downtime because Chimney is glowering at them almost as much as he did that first month they worked together.  He’s also not spoken to Buck unless it’s work-related.  Eddie knows Bobby’s clocked the tension and is watchful.  Hen has already dragged Chimney away twice for ‘inventory,’ but Eddie thinks whatever Hen is saying hasn’t worked and she’s now as visibly irritated with Chimney as Eddie feels.

They’ve just sat down for dinner when the alarm goes.

Eddie shoves a whole forkful of the lasagne in his mouth before he heads to the truck.  He’s still chewing it when he takes his seat. 

Buck splits the garlic bread slice he’d picked up and hands him a portion.

Eddie swallows the lasagne and chomps down on the garlic bread.

“I have a protein bar,” Buck offers when Eddie is done with the bread. 

Eddie shakes his head.  “I’m good for now.” 

Laura grins from Hen’s usual seat.  “I’ll take it!”

Buck throws it over to her.

The ambulance had been requested and neither Chimney nor Hen are in the truck which is something of a relief for Eddie.

Bobby clears his throat, finishing with Dispatch.  “House fire, reports of injuries at the scene…”

Which explains the ambulance request.

“…and it looks like we have people trapped inside.  Eddie, Buck, you’ll be on search and rescue.  Everyone else is on fire suppression.”

Eddie focuses as they enter a suburban neighbourhood not far from the 118.  The streets show cookie-cutter houses with neat lawns in front of them.

They pull up in front of a house with a Marine flag hanging on one side of the porch, and an American flag on the other.  Neither have caught fire which is astonishing given the flames raging through the building.

Two police cars are parked on the street, clear of the drive leaving space for the fire truck to have access.  There are people on the neighbour’s lawn, one woman prone on the ground and the other knelt beside them. Athena is keeping watch beside them.

Eddie’s not surprised when Athena immediately walks over as soon as they exit the truck. 

She takes off her sunglasses.  “Marion and David Bailey are suspected still inside with their daughter, Hazel.”  She lists off crisply.  “Nanny,” she waves at the girl on the lawn who now has Hen and Chimney examining her, “came back and found the house already on fire, tried to get inside and got herself burned.  Finally ran next door to raise the alarm and get help.  Neighbour says she fainted.”

Bobby waves them towards the house, hoses are already turned to the door quenching the flames there to allow them entry.    

Eddie and Buck head inside. 

The smoke is bad.  Flames lick at the walls.

Eddie stops abruptly as a honey badger appears in front of them.  He and Buck exchange one quick look and start following the animal.

It leads them to a basement door and down the stairs to a locked room.

Safe room, Eddie determines.

Eddie bangs on the door.  “LAFD!  Call out!”

The door opens slower than they would like, and they yank it the rest of the way. 

The father’s smoke-smudged face above the damp tea-towel he’s wearing around his mouth and nose looks relieved to see them.  His greying black hair is buzzed close to his head in the Marine style.  His wife is younger, a Beyonce look-alike, with her hair in a cascade of long braids.    

She’s huddled around their young daughter who is staring at them wide-eyed above her own tea-towel mask.  They are guarded by a large male lion who waits until the honey badger reaches them before disappearing.

“Let’s go!” Eddie says. 

Something crashes above them and a look back up the stairs sees new flames surrounding their exit.

“Window!” Buck says.

Eddie radios their position and situation as Buck clears a way to the narrow rectangular window, lining up a sturdy crate to get enough height to get to it.  It’s sealed shut but Buck taps out the glass with his axe.  They lay over a canvas blanket just as Bobby appears on the other side.

The daughter goes first lifted by Buck from her mother’s arms through the window and into Bobby’s hands.  She’s handed off to Hen as they get the mother out.

The fire has started down the stairs.

Eddie and Buck steer the Dad out before they shuck the oxygen tanks throwing them up and out of the window to Bobby.

Buck helps Eddie out first which Eddie hates, but he’s smaller and needs the assistance.  He doesn’t get clear of the window on the other side, simply turns straight around to help Buck who jumps up and grabs onto them.

There’s a frantic minute as they pull him through and clear and…

They scramble away…

A flashfire sweeps across the basement ceiling and erupts through the broken window…

Buck and Eddie hold onto each other for a moment.

Bobby pats them both on the shoulder, his face lit up with gratitude that they’ve all made it out safely.  “We’ve still got work to do.  Let’s see what we can save of this house!”

Eddie lets go of Buck’s coat even as they give each other a reassuring smile.  They’re alive and safe.

o-O-o

It’s the early hours of the morning.

Buck is still asleep in the cot across from him when Eddie wakes up.  He gives up on trying to get any further sleep and pads quietly out of the bunkroom.  He heads for the loft and slows his step as he finds Bobby, Hen and Athena sat at the table with mugs and a plate of cookies.

Bobby waves him over.  “Had enough shut eye?”

Eddie shrugs.  “I know I’m not going to get anymore.”

“Chocolate?” Bobby offers. 

Eddie slides into the chair next to Hen and accepts Bobby pouring him a mug from a pot of hot chocolate he’s made.

It’s warm and comforting with a bite of cinnamon.  He plucks one of the cookies from the plate – a chocolate chunk one which is warm and gooey.  He thinks maybe he’s lucked out waking up early.

“Athena just stopped by with news of the Baileys,” Bobby says, sitting back down with a replenished mug of his own.

Eddie turns to her, interested to know how the family is.

Athena grimaces.  “It was another similar home invasion to the Lockeys.”  She sighs, wrapping her hands around her mug.  “Two armed individuals stormed into their house. David Bailey is a former Marine, he managed to stall them at their entry, and hustled the rest of his family to their safe room.  When the smoke started to come through the vents, they realised the house could be on fire, Bailey thought they did it to flush him out and judged it best to sit and wait for help to arrive.”

“What about the nanny?” asks Hen, frowning.

“Stefanie Gunther?” Athena presses her lips together.  “She says the house was already on fire when she got arrived back from her college class, and she didn’t see anyone.”

“That’s two for two on the home invasion and arson,” Bobby says, concern turning his face stern. 

“Two for two on the Marine connection too,” Athena says smoothly.  “NCIS took the case just before I left.”

“NCIS?” asks Hen, her brow creasing. 

“They do have jurisdiction over criminal investigations related to the Navy and Marines, and their families,” Bobby says before Eddie can. 

“Right,” Athena grimaces.  “I called them about the Lockeys and they sent out a couple of Special Agents to investigate.  Same duo showed up for the Baileys.  We’ve been asked to refer any callouts for anything similar to them going forward so they can be on scene faster.”

“So, this group is targeting Marine families?  That’s the only connection?” Hen asks, curiosity bringing animation to her tired face.

“And soulmates,” Eddie says unthinkingly.

Athena turns to him and raises her eyebrow.  “Soulmates?”

“Both couples were soulmates,” Eddie says.  “Their animals helped us find them at both scenes.”

Athena hummed.  “And you didn’t think to mention this at the scene last night because?”

Eddie flushes under her challenging stare.  “We, uh, were kind of focused on putting the fire out after we rescued the family?”

Athena gives him a chastising look.  “I’ll call the agents tomorrow and let them know.  They may want to speak to you and Buck.”

“Well, they’ll have to wait until we’re back from our anniversary vacation or read our reports,” Eddie states firmly.  He takes another sip of his chocolate.

Hen’s face lights up.  “You’re leaving later today, right?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, “we’ll stop home to say goodbye to Christopher and then we’re driving up to the Airbnb.”

“I wish you’d both let us put on a party for you,” Bobby complains. 

Eddie smiles.  “We appreciate the thought.  We just want some time together after the last year.”

“I hear that,” Athena comments, raising her mug in a silent toast before drinking.  Her gaze caught on the clock on the far wall as she put her mug down.  “I should head home.”

Bobby immediately put his mug on the table and stood up as she slid out of her chair.  “I’ll walk you out.”

Eddie snags another cookie from the plate. 

Hen follows his example.  She darts a look at him.  “Has Chimney spoken with you and Buck at all this shift?”

Eddie regards her with an even stare.  “I think you know the answer to that.”

Hen sighs, despondency crossing her face.  “I don’t know what’s going on with him.”

“I think he had a picture in his head about how things were going to be with him and Maddie after Jee’s birth and the reality is turning out to be different,” Eddie says bluntly.  “He’s wrestling with the difference.”

Hen purses her lips.  “That’s…actually very perceptive.”

“I have my moments,” Eddie says.  He sips his chocolate.

“He’s taking advice from a guy he met in a bar!” Hen’s incredulity rings in every word and is painted across her face.  “Who does that?”

Eddie shrugs.  “Someone who only wants to hear the advice he wants to hear?”

“Huh,” Hen points at him with the half of a cookie she’s holding.  “You have hidden depths, Diaz.” She grins.  “I like that about you.”

Eddie grins back at her, but it fades as he considers Chimney.  “You know Buck and I have been worried about whether Maddie has PPD, but do you think maybe Chimney has it?”

“I think Chimney has a severe case of Delusion-itis,” Hen mutters. “Did he tell you he thinks that Maddie is his soulmate?”

Eddie nods.

Hen snorts.  “He won’t even listen to the fact that it is incredibly rare for soulmates to meet before the soul animals show up!”  Her expressions softens into one of contemplation.  “If wishing that wasn’t so made any kind of difference to the universe, Karen and I would be soulmates.”

“Wasn’t there a paper published a while ago by some Scottish geneticist which suggested seeing soul animals is down to some genetic fluke?” Eddie offers.  He recalls Buck being all excited about it at the time.  He thinks that he really shouldn’t take another cookie, but he does.  “It could be you and Karen are soulmates, you just don’t have the gene which allows your soul animal to appear to you.”

Hen beams at him.  Then wags a finger at him.  “Just don’t ever tell Chimney that!”

“Don’t tell Chimney what?” asks Bobby as he returns to the table.

Hen and Eddie exchange a quick look, torn between wanting to be honest and trying to keep to Bobby’s directive about personal issues staying out of the station.

Hen is the one who caves. “Chimney thinks he and Maddie are soulmates.”

Bobby’s eyebrows snap upwards so quickly Eddie is worried that he might sprain something.  Bobby gives a deep sigh and shakes his head.

“Is that why he’s back to glaring at you and Buck?” asks Bobby, looking as though he really hadn’t wanted to ask, but asked anyway.

“He’s glaring at us because we’re helping Maddie and won’t stop just because he wants to be the only one helping her,” Eddie says bluntly.

Bobby shakes his head again. 

“Sorry, Cap,” Eddie offers, “I know you wanted to keep the personal drama for personal time.”

“I guess I always knew it was an unachievable goal,” Bobby says evenly.  He pours himself more chocolate and takes a large sip.  “Do you think it’ll help if I talked with him?”

“Honestly, Bobby, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Hen says.  “The last time you seriously tried talking about his love life with him, he got into an accident being a dumbass trying to propose to his girlfriend.”

The 118 had responded to the accident.  They’d ended up rescuing Chimney who had accidentally gotten his hand stuck trying to rescue the ring from a storm drain when it had slipped out of his hands.  Chimney had ended up with a broken arm.  His girlfriend at the time Titania had left him while he’d still been in the ER.

“That time he was lying to Titania about who he was,” Hen continues, “this time he’s lying to himself about his relationship with Maddie.”

“Look,” Eddie says, stepping in as Bobby starts frowning, “Buck and I are away for a couple of days.  Maybe it’ll give Chimney some time with Maddie to talk and reset.”

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Bobby says, taking the last cookie.

Hen looks longingly at the empty plate and up at Bobby with a pleading expression.  Eddie is impressed with how much she manages to convey without words.

Bobby rolls his eyes.  “Fine, I’ll make more cookies.”

o-O-o

Eddie wakes up before Buck.

The Airbnb is an open plan beach cabin.  The single room is divided into the usual spaces.  The kitchen is at the back next to a small bathroom which has a sliding door which can be closed for privacy.  At the front, the left serves as a den with a comfortable sofa, television mounted above the fireplace, and a coffee table with a stack of board games on its lower shelf.  The bed is to the right; a large super king with a wardrobe providing a divider between the sleeping space and the living room.  The cabin’s front has sliding doors to the deck which has a great view of the sea and there is a path with access to the beach.

Once they’d arrived at the cabin, both he and Buck had deemed a nap their most important consideration after they’d put the groceries away.  The drive up the coast wasn’t overly long – they didn’t want to be too far away from L.A. in case of an emergency with Chris – but on top of their shift it ate into their reserves. 

To be fair, Eddie muses, Buck had done most of the driving as he’d been the one to get the most sleep at the station.  Buck had woken up in time to help Bobby make another batch of cookies – they’d just taken them out of the oven when another call had come in.  And after that, it had been one call after another until the shift change. 

At least it had meant that they hadn’t really had to interact with Chimney much, Eddie muses.  Bobby had kept Chimney and Buck separated for the rest of the shift.

Was Maddie Chimney’s soulmate?

Eddie turns the question over in his head.  Buck’s right about the statistic; it’s incredibly rare for soul animals to show up after the soulmates have already met.  It’s not completely unheard of, but it is very, very rare.  Somehow, he doesn’t think it applies to Maddie and Chimney.  They do love each other, but they love each other in selfish ways is how Eddie has always viewed their relationship. 

None of his business, Eddie remonstrates to himself. 

He’s worried about Maddie mostly for Buck’s sake, and he’s annoyed at Chimney because of how he’s treating Buck as an intrusion into his relationship with Maddie, rather than treating him like family.

Eddie huffs.

Buck has worked through his family’s abandonment of him, their neglect of him, with his therapist, but Eddie will never forgive the Buckleys, including Maddie, for the emotional scars they’ve left behind.  Chimney’s adding to them and that makes Eddie furious.   

Eddie leans in and kisses Buck’s warm naked shoulder.

He’s Evan’s family.

Evan wakes up sleepily, eyes blinking slowly until his gaze lands on Eddie.  “You’re watching me sleep again.”

“I’m always watching you,” Eddie says simply.

Evan changes position, sliding closer to Eddie.

They kiss long and slow and deep.  One drugging kiss after another.  They make love slowly in the bright daylight, all their scars visible, all of them exposed, until they’re both sated and drifting back to sleep.

They call home before dinner to talk with Chris and Shannon.  Chris is excited to hear about the cabin and Buck gives him a quick Facetime tour. 

It settles Eddie to see his son happy and cheerful, the lingering worry that his vacation with Buck alone would upset Chris in some way drifting away with the confirmation that he’s fine.  A secondary twinge of parental angst that his son is fine without him makes his heart ache for a moment before Eddie pushes it away.  As much as Eddie hates to admit it, Chris is growing up.      

They eschew going out to eat and Buck makes them a fresh ‘slaw and tangy potato salad to go with the steaks Eddie grills on the provided barbeque.  Afterwards, they sit out on the deck steps, holding hands, sipping bottles of beer and watching the sun slide into the ocean.

It’s perfect.

Eddie turns and kisses Buck.  “Happy Anniversary, Evan.”

Buck smiles.  “Happy Anniversary.”  He leans against Eddie.  “You know when we bonded, I didn’t think I could fall in love with you more than I loved you then, but somehow I do, every day.”

Eddie kisses him again, putting all he can’t say in words into his action.  He presses his forehead against Buck’s briefly before easing back.  “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Buck looks at him inquisitively.

Eddie tangles their fingers together.  “What do you think of us having a baby?”

Buck swallows hard, his eyes gleam with tears.  “Really?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, “we’ve been putting money away for a while now; I think we have enough.”

Buck’s face grows serious.  “Have you talked with Chris?”

Eddie shakes his head.  “Given the way he was with Jee when Maddie visited, I don’t think he’ll have a problem,” he says dryly.

Buck laughs.  “We’re really going to do this then?”

Eddie cups his cheek.  “If you want to.”

Buck nods.  “I want to.”

Eddie surges forward and kisses him again.

They don’t make it back to the bed until much, much later.

o-O-o

It’s the second day of their vacation.

It feels like a dream.

Eddie lifts his face to the sun, closing his eyes behind his sunglasses and enjoys the feel of the rays warming his cheeks. 

The beach is deserted.  The other cabins aren’t being used and they have a small stretch of California coast all to themselves.  There are some dog-walkers in the distance, near to the houses further along, but they are not close enough to shake the impression that he and Buck are alone.

Buck’s in the ocean.

Eddie had gone in with him for a swim and a smooch before leaving Buck to the more aggressive exercise he’d wanted to do.

He’d retreated to the large beach rug that they’d laid out, dried off with the colourful beach towel provided by the cabin, and settled himself to soak up the rays and scroll through Instagram.

Eddie watches as Buck appears out of the ocean like a movie star.  His long golden body surging up from the surf, water dripping down his muscles, the swim shorts plastering themselves against damp skin.  Eddie swallows hard at the sight of his soulmate, brushing away the water from his face and hair with his hands.

Buck runs up at a light jog, drops down beside him and leans in to catch Eddie’s lips in a kiss.  “Do you know how good you look stretched out like this?”

“Do you know how good you look wet?” Eddie tugs at Buck’s waistband, his eyes meeting Buck’s in a heated look.  “I think you might want to take these off.”

Buck’s about to kiss him again when his phone buzzes on the mat.  His forehead drops to rest on Eddie’s shoulder instead.

“You’d better get that,” Eddie says with a laugh.

Buck kisses him anyway, a quick darting nip to his lips before he turns away and snatches up the phone from where he’d left it by his beach towel.

He hits answer.

“Evan!”  Maddie’s voice sounds out of the phone speakers.

Eddie grimaces and starts to lift his own phone to carry on looking at his Instagram.

“Maddie,” Buck replies cheerfully.  “Did you need something?  Eddie and I are up the coast right now and…”

“I’m leaving,” Maddie cuts in sharply.

Eddie’s head snaps up, his gaze colliding with Buck’s shocked blue eyes.  He inches closer to Buck and rests his hand on Buck’s shoulder.  He peers down at the phone where a photo of a smiling Maddie and Jee beams back up at him.

“What?” Buck belatedly replies.

Maddie sighs.  “I’m at the airport and…I realised I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to you.”

“Maddie…”

“I think you know I’ve been struggling…”

Eddie can hear the tears in her voice.

“…and I think I need to get some help,” Maddie continues. “So, I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“What about Jee?” asks Buck.

“I left her at the fire station with Ravi, Chimney can get her from there,” Maddie’s voice is choked up.  “She’ll be safe there, safer than with me.”

“Maddie, what happened?” asks Buck, clearly wondering the same as Eddie.  For all she has been struggling, Eddie can see that Maddie is great with Jee and he just can’t picture her putting Jee in harm’s way. 

“Nothing, something, I…” Maddie says on a sob, “I can’t…I need to get away from her.”

“If you need help, we’ll help, but you don’t need to leave!” Buck pleads softly.

“No, it’s better this way,” Maddie says, hiccupping, “I’ve found somewhere.  They’ll help me.”

“What about Chimney?” asks Buck.

There’s a long moment of silence.

“I’ve left him a message.  Promise you won’t tell him that I called you?  He won’t understand.  Just…look after him and Jee for me, will you?” Maddie says.

There’s a noise in the background, an announcement at the airport for a plane boarding for New York. 

“I have to go,” Maddie says abruptly.  “I love you, Evan.”

And the call cuts off.

Buck stares down at his phone for a long moment, disbelief written all over his expressive face.

Eddie slides his arm around him, pulls him into the comfort of the side-hug.  In a moment they’re going to have to move.  They need to make calls and make sure Jee is safe; they’ll need to talk to Chimney; they’ll need to head back from their vacation early and pick up the pieces that Maddie has left behind. But for this moment, Eddie thinks determinedly, for this moment, he can just give Evan the comfort and the love he needs to face what comes next.

To be continued

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