Chapter Text
"May! Hey, are you on your way?"
May heard her mother say, who had called her a few seconds ago. How was she supposed to explain this situation to her mother? That her mother and the others' plan had gone terribly wrong. Even though they were all firmly convinced that this plan was foolproof.
Well, foolproof, maybe, Buck safe?
Definitely not.
"Um, it's like this, Mom," she began, rubbing her neck nervously while looking at Buck. "What do you mean? What's wrong, May, and what's that music in the background?" she bombarded Athena straight away, saying that it would be harder than she thought.
"Um...Buck was Buck again and...saved the day?"
-A few days ago-
-Athena Pov -
She was angry, really angry. She hadn't seen her oldest puppy, her oldest son, for 2 months now, let alone spoken to him.
2 damn months!
So yes, she was angry, because instead of getting answers. How, wherefore and why Buck didn't show up for any meetings or calls. She got lame excuses and excuses like he didn't have time or was too tired and so on.
That's why she drove straight to the fire station, because she knew that the missing puppy in question was on shift today.
A slight grin crept onto her lips, this time it couldn't escape her. If she didn't get the answers from the others, Buck would give them to her one way or another. She was more than sure of that, God she really loved this boy.
She could still remember their first meeting, her first impression of Buck was immediate. That he was an arrogant, overconfident white macho. He thought he was the best, strongest and most beautiful. That everyone would be at his feet in one way or another.
Oh, she couldn't have had a more false impression of Evan Buckley than this one. She saw shortly afterwards how wrong she was, and then she saw it more and more often. The truth was that Evan Buckley aka Buck or Buckaroo, as she liked to call him, was a loyal, faithful and devoted person. He helped anyone who needed help, no matter what they needed. He was there, he was always there straight away. You called?, in 5 minutes he was standing in front of you. That's just how Buck was, he gave them all so much and never asked for anything. His heart was on his sleeve, he knew all sorts of things and surprised them with it more than once or twice. He always knew how to lighten a situation and he always looked for solutions.
This young man crept around all her walls and barricades at record speed. Even if she had wanted him to, she couldn't have stopped him. He crept into her heart and by the time she realized it, he had already made himself comfortable there and found his place.
So Evan Buckley became her son, her puppy. They may not have been related by blood, but she was his mother and anyone who dared to take her son away from her would get to know her. A mother should never be deprived of her children. That could get very ugly very quickly.
She had just arrived at the fire station and parked her car before she walked briskly towards it.
She looked around for a moment, trying to find her lost puppy. When she heard Bobby, her eyes flashed at him briefly, making him fall silent. "Where's Buck?" she said sharply, and saw everyone flinch. They all knew that her sharpness and anger were not directed at the man she was looking for. But at all of them. She knew that they knew. That she wasn't stupid and knew that they had done something.
She just didn't know what yet.
"I think I saw him heading towards the toilet?" she heard Chimney say, and then she just nodded briefly and moved towards the toilets.
She opened the door and looked in, and immediately noticed that Buck hadn't noticed her yet. So she took the time to look him over, after all she hadn't seen him for a long time.
He seemed a little thinner and paler. But what caught her eye more was this exhausted and tired look. A look she had never seen on him before, and to be honest, never wanted to see again. Then she could see his mouth twist into a smile. Not a smile that she knew from him, not one that she ever thought she would see from him. It looked bitter and sad, as if something was not funny at all.
As quickly as that smile came, it disappeared again, leaving behind empty and shattered blue eyes. OK. There was something not OK here, and whatever it was, it would finally stop. She swore to herself.
She took another step into the room. "Here you are, Buckaroo!" She said straight away and smiled lovingly at him. She immediately saw how he conjured up a broad and radiant smile on his face. A smile that was a very good imitation of his usual smile, but it was just an imitation. He turned in her direction and greeted her in the same way. She continued to watch him as he went to the sink and washed his hands before he led her out.
"Why did you look for me?" she heard him ask and really wondered for a moment whether this wasn't more than obvious. "Well, I wanted to make sure that you were coming to the barbecue tomorrow," she said, watching him closely. It was the easiest way to find out whether Buck really didn't have time. Or whether the idiots on the bridge were hiding something from her and thought they could keep it from her.
She saw how his gaze went almost unnoticed, behind her, up onto the bridge and to the others. So he didn't know anything about it, he didn't know anything about the meeting and so she asked herself whether he even knew about the others, what the hell was going on here?!
"I'm sorry, Thena, I already told Bobby and the others that I don't have time tomorrow."
She looked at him with her sharp eyes, she knew that it wasn't like that. She could clearly see that he didn't know anything about the meeting but was protecting the others. Loyal as ever, she thought. But that didn't really ease her anger, which was caused by the idiots who were sitting on the perch like damn chickens and watching her and Buck from the bridge.
Chickens!, like damn chickens!
"Well, I'll expect you tomorrow. No more talking! You haven't been to a meeting for over two months now!" she said firmly and with a certain sharpness in her voice so that the others on the bridge could hear her too. She wanted him to be there at the meetings again, and if the others stood in her way, well, she would kick them in the ass.
But what she saw then surprised her and shocked her in equal measure. Buck's face and eyes gave him away immediately. He had no idea about any meeting. They had never invited him or informed him!, and now she was sure. That it wasn't Buck who didn't want to come. It was the others who kept him away!, who excluded him.
Her anger grew more and more, and just as she was about to look at the chickens in question, Buck spoke up again.
"Really? Two months already? Then, I'm really sorry! I didn't know that I had canceled so many times." Which made her look at him immediately. He assured her and every word and every gesture sounded so true. As if it really was his fault and as if he really hadn't noticed. But she knew what she had seen before and she didn't believe a word of it.
He wanted to protect the others, or not make whatever was going on worse. She was sure of that.
"I'll come tomorrow, I promise!" Buck added with a beaming smile, and her gaze softened a little and she nodded slightly. "Then tomorrow at 10 o'clock, and don't you dare come, Buck," she replied, deliberately pausing for a moment as she focused her gaze again. "I'll find you," she threatened, she just wanted to make sure that Buck really came and didn't decide to stay away. Because he was afraid it would only get worse, or he wouldn't be welcome.
But he just kept smiling at her and nodded, the smile never left the spot for a second and she really didn't like that. He had a mask on, he didn't show his true feelings.
What had the others been up to since Buck was back at the fire station?
She nodded, however, and turned around to look at the others standing on the bridge. "Bye, everyone," she said briefly and left the station. In any case, after her and Bobby's shift, she would grab the latter and confront him.
Bobby and the others were the reason why she hadn't seen her self-proclaimed son anymore. They had all done some damned stupid thing, and Buck was the one who suffered.
Well, that would end at the barbecue tomorrow at the latest, she had made up her mind about that. But she had no idea that it wouldn't turn out the way she had hoped.