Chapter Text
He's been waiting for about 15 minutes when the black truck drives up at the pick-up lane, just as the kids start to run out of the doors to the school building, laughing and jumping, excited for the weekend. As he watches he eventually catches sight of the teenage boy. He's not quite as quick as the others, his crutches slowing him down a little, but he's surrounded by some other kids, talking animatedly as they are keeping his pace. Probably his friends, that's nice. Eventually they make it to the line with cars where the dark haired man is leaning against the black truck, smiling as he greets the kids. He's making sure the boy is safely in the seat before rounding the car and jumps into the driver seat, making sure the road is clear before driving off. As he watches the truck drive off, the man starts his own car and carefully steers out on the street, making sure there's no kids running around before driving off in the opposite direction.
It´s time.
“Yo, Eddie!” Buck jumps out of his jeep and jogs up to the man waiting at the entrance of the station with a big smile, greeting him with a slap on his back. “How was last night?”
Eddie chuckles. “It was terrible. I burned the fish and the sauce had lumps in it. Marisol put on a brave face though, but I think she realized I'm a lost cause when I can't even get it right with a teacher.”
“Aw don´t be so hard on yourself man! You´ve made some decent dishes in the past.” Buck elbows him lightly.
“Yeah well, maybe this cooking class will at least prevent me from burning down my kitchen.”
“On the bright side, at least you know how to put it out if you do start a fire.” Buck sends him a cheeky grin before heading into the locker room, starting to change into his work clothes. He was a bit surprised when Eddie first mentioned the cooking class, didn't really think it was his thing, and he has a strong suspicion that Marisol is the one pressing for it, but hey, if it could teach the man cooking anything else than pasta, it's a win.
They head up the stairs and join the others, getting a quick briefing from Bobby regarding the shift. Just about they´re to sit down for breakfast, the bell rings, and they're off.
The call is not too bad, a biker who ran off the road and ended up on a cliff beneath it, not able to get back up. As they arrive they hear the faint yelling from the edge, and as they carefully lean over they spot a man in his fifties, leaning against the wall, trying to stay as far away from the edge as possible.
“Hey man, LAFD, are you hurt?” Eddie yells down to him and the man looks up at them, relief covering his face as he spots them.
“Thank good, I think I sprained my ankle.” He yells back up at them.
“Alright, hold tight, we'll be down in a sec.”
Buck and Eddie put on their harnesses, making sure each others are secure before putting on the safety lines. Carefully going over the edge as Chim and Ravi controlling the winch and Bobby keeping track of the task.
It's not long before they reach the shelf and the man lets out a shaky breath.
“How are you doing, sir?” Buck smiles comfortingly at the man.
“Fine, just, please get me out of here?”
“Well, that´s the plan! My friend Eddie here just needs to take a quick look at that ankle of yours, and then we´re on our way.” Buck leans back a little and looks over the edge down the canyon, spotting the bike far down in a heap of wrenched metal. He looks over at the man again with a raised brow. “Lucky you didn't used biking shoes with clip-ins. This could've ended quite differently!” He smiles bright at the man who goes a little pale at the thought. “I actually read that-”
“ Buck .” Eddie sends him a look and he snaps his mouth shut. And yeah, ok, he gets his point. Right now might not be the best time to recite statistics over biking accidents. He quickly moves over towards them and helps Eddie secure the man before radioing up to the others that they´re clear to get going. They carefully work their way up and the man closes his eyes for a second when he´s back up top. Hen takes him over to the ambulance and it drives off as the others clean up the equipment.
“So you got any plans for the weekend?” They´re once again back at the firehouse and doing a second try to eat their breakfast. Buck feels his mouth watering at the look of food on the table and quickly hurries to grab some egg and bacon before the bell rings again.
“We got the house full, both May and Harry are coming home and it looks like Michael and David will join us as well, so we´re going to spend some time with them. It´s been a while since we all got together.” Bobby smiles over at Hen as he answers her question.
“Chris is staying with a friend for a sleepover so me and Marisol are heading out of town for the night.” Buck feels a tug in his chest at this. He doesn't have any plans and was kind of hoping Eddie would like to hang out. It's not quite as frequent these days as it usually was, he used to just show up at Diaz´s residence, knowing he was always welcome, and they would have dinner or play some games or watch a movie. He almost spent more time at their house than his loft for a while.
But then Eddie got together with Marisol and he had Nathalia, and things changed. They didn't have as much time for each other anymore, having to juggle their friendship as well as their relationships. Which was fine, they made sure to make time for each other, still hang out on a regular basis, but not in the same spontaneous way as they used to. Then Buck broke it off with Nathalia and he realized how much he missed his friend's company. Except he´s with Marisol, and Buck´s really happy for him. His friend has been putting his own happiness second for a long time and he's really glad he found such a great woman in the end. But it doesn't change the fact that he doesn't have quite as much time to hang out with Buck anymore, so he guesses he needs to find something else to do this weekend.
“What about you Buck?” He tunes back into the conversation as Hen mentions his name, he completely zoned out and he realizes he didn't hear a word of what Eddie said after his original statement. He clears his throat.
“Um, not sure actually, don't really have any plans yet.” Eddie shots him a sideway glance before looking back down his plate with food.
The shift goes by quickly, they got some smaller calls, some fires, some car accidents, but nothing major. And as they clock out in the evening they all wish each other a good weekend and heads off in they´re own direction. Buck stays put for a while, deciding to use the gym at the station before heading home, not quite ready to go back to the empty loft. But eventually he wraps it up and heads home, swinging by the Chinese on the corner and picking up some food on his way. He spends the night binging The Rookie and heads to bed.
The Saturday is slow, he watches some more episodes, goes for a run and does some chores around the loft. He feels a bit restless but doesn't wanna bother his friends, he knows all of them are busy. He tries out a new recipe and it actually turns out pretty good, he makes a mental reminder to invite Chris and Eddie over some night and have them try it. As the evening rolls around he ends up back on the couch, hitting play on the remote and continues with the series.
He must have fallen asleep because he´s awoken by his phone ringing. He rubs his eyes and throws a glance on the clock on his arm as he reaches for his phone. 00:15 am. He frowns a bit at the time and when he sees Eddie's name on the display he raises his eyebrows in surprise, it's not unusual that they talk this late but usually Eddie´s not out of town with his girlfriend when it happens.
“‘ello?” Buck´s voice is a bit grainy from sleep and he clears his throat.
“Buck?” He sits up as he hears the tight tone of Eddie's voice.
“Eddie? What’s wrong?”
“Have you talked to Chris tonight?” Eddie talks hurriedly and Buck gets a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Um, no. Why? What happened?”
“ Dammit .” He hears the man swallow loudly on the other end of the line. “I can't get a hold of him. He always answers, he knows he always has to answer . That's why we got him that freaking phone!”
The phone in question had been a big debate, Chris thought he was old enough to have one and since his friends had phones he was starting to feel left out. Eddie on the other hand thought he was too young and don´t trust all the social media kids are using and was stubbornly saying no. Eventually Buck manages to convince him, feeling a bit sorry for the kid, he pressed on the safety of it all, that Chris could call if he was in trouble and that they would be able to get a hold of him. He also showed Eddie how to restrict it a bit and make it kidfriendly, and the man reluctantly gave in, making Buck promise to take care of the things that needed to be done. And Chris has always used it with care, only staying on the apps they allowed and he always answered when they called. Or at least called right back if he would've missed it.
“Well, it's pretty late, any chance he's asleep?”
“I´ve tried for hours. I can't get a hold of Lucas's mother either. And I´m in fucking Sacramento!”
“Did you check his location?”
“Yeah, it says the house of his friend.”
“Ok, well-”
“Buck, I´ve got a really bad feeling about this.” There's A small trembling to Eddie´s voice, so small that someone else might not have noticed it, but Buck does.
“Eddie, it's gonna be fine. Send me the address to Lucas´s house, I´m heading over there.”
“Evan.. Thank you .”
“Try not to worry, ok? I’m sure everything´is fine. They´re probably just engulfed in some movie or game or something. I´m leaving now, ok? Send me the address.”
Buck´s actually not sure at all that everything is fine, he, just as Eddie, got a bad feeling about the whole situation. Chris´s smiling face flashes through his mind, and he steps up his pace, quickly leaving the apartment and getting into the car as his phone pings with a text with the address.
He reaches the address in 22 minutes, and if he might have flown by a red light or two on the empty LA-streets, then no one needs to know. He quickly turns the engine off and jogs up towards the dark house. From the outside it looks like all the others, a lamp lighting up the porch and the windows dark, if it was another situation he would think that the residents inside are asleep. He really hopes that's the case now as well. He raises his hand and knocks on the door, his heart beating hard in his chest as he observes the windows to see if a light switches on. When there´s no response he tries again, a little harder this time. Come on . He tries again.
“Ms. Davis?” He leans his hands on both sides of the door frame, closing his eyes as he waits. No one is coming. He steps back a couple of steps and lets his gaze sweep over the house, rubbing his chest with a hand. Now what?
He heads back to the door, about to knock again, when he hesitates and tries the door handle. The door swings open quietly and he's faced with the dark hallway. He hesitates before taking a step inside.
“Ms. Davis? This is Evan Buckley, I'm a friend of Eddie Diaz.” He really hopes he won't scare the poor woman to death by entering the house and he keeps his ears on alert, not wanting to get caught off guard either with a pan to his head or something like that.
“Chris? You here, buddy?”
Still nothing, the house is dark and no one appears in the doorways to the other rooms. He feels like he's been making enough sound to wake them up by now if they were here. The knot in his stomach grows even more and he feels heavy with worry. Where the hell are they?
He takes a deep breath and walks further into the house, to the left is a kitchen, pots on the drying rack and some glasses on the table, but otherwise clean and in order. He walks past a bathroom and a living room until he gets to some closed doors, he assumes it´s the bedrooms. He takes another breath and opens the first one to his left with a shaky hand.
He switches on the light, it's obviously a guest room and he feels a stab in his chest as he notices Chris´s familiar backpack with Captain America on the bed, still unpacked on the made bed. Next to it is his phone. Just as he's about to step into the room he hears a sound from the door behind him, a muffling sound. He quickly walks over and carefully opens the door, not sure what to expect on the other side.
The lamp from the other room spreads enough light for him to see what's in there and when his mind registers it he freezes. On the bed are two figures, a woman in her forties and a young boy, probably around Chris´s age. Both are tied to the bed, not being able to get off and there's duct tape over their mouths. The woman's eyes are terrified as they meet Buck´s and she starts mumbling behind the tape and trash around on the bed.
“Jesus, shit , ok,ok, hold on.” He rushes over towards the bed and starts to gently remove the tape from the boy's mouth. “Hi, I´m Buck, I´m a firefighter and work with Christophers dad. Just hold still for me and I´ll get this off, ok?” He finally manages to get the tape off and starts working on the ropes. “Does anything hurt?” He asks the boy who shakes his head with tears streaming down his face. “N-no.” Buck nods and takes a relieved breath, trying to press down the panic rising in his chest. Where is Chris ? He finishes untying the kid and quickly moves over to the woman, once again starting off with the tape covering her mouth as her terrified eyes meet his. She hisses as he pulls the last of it off. “You must me Kaley? Are you hurt?” He quickly moves over to the ropes. “No, Buck, where is Christopher?” At this he looks up, meeting her eyes as fear spreads in his body. “I was hoping you could tell me that? What happened ?” She gets a devastated look on her face and tears start pooling in her eyes.
“I- I´m not sure. I was in the kitchen, making some popcorn for the boys as they were watching a movie in the living room, when someone grabbed me from behind, putting a cloth on my face. I blacked out almost immediately and when I woke up it was just me and Lucas in here, tied to the bed.” The tears starts rolling down her face. “I didn't see or hear anything, it went so fast. We need to call the police.” Buck nods and clenches his jaws together, furiously working on the last bit of rope. “What about you, bud? Did you see anything?” Lucas just shakes his head and as soon as Kaley is free from the ropes he flies into her arms and sobs against her neck, holding on tight.
Buck stands up from the bed and stumbles back a couple of steps. This can't be happening . It´s white noise in his ears and the room is spinning, panic clawing at his chest. He closes his eyes for a second and takes a deep breath, he doesn't have time for this. He needs to call the police. He quickly pulls up his phone and dials.
“ 9-1-1, what is your emergency? ”
“This is firefighter Evan Buckley with station 118, badge number 3671. I need to report a possible kidnapping of a child at 6957 Cantaloupe Ave.” He swallows loudly. “The child's name is Christopher Diaz.”