Chapter Text
The first thing that'd happened once they'd returned to base was that they were all taken to the hospital and separated. Casey was thankfully allowed to stay with Marco since the man hadn't taken being suddenly separated from them well and she didn't really have any serious injuries. Unfortunately, when Buck had tried to force his way back to them, the doctors had knocked him out so they could deal with his injuries.
It wasn't the first time that'd happened, but he still didn't like it.
It ended up being ok though, he woke up only a couple hours later all stitched up and with pain meds in his system. The Sergeant had already been by his bed waiting for him, and let Buck give his debrief as soon as he was awake enough to do so. Then he was allowed to move into Marco's hospital room where Casey was sat by the man's bed.
Marco had been asleep, which was probably for the best since all of this had to be quite a shock to his system. It'd been Casey's turn, once Buck's bed had been wheeled in next to Marco's, to go get looked over and to give her debrief.
She hadn't been happy about it, but she'd gone willingly tossing a, "Do not let anyone separate you." Over her shoulder to Buck.
"Over my dead body." He assured her, meaning it.
She went without argument after that, and returned a couple hours later. She had a cot with her as well as both hers and Buck's packs. She set his down by his feet and then went about setting up her own cot between Marco's bed and the door.
"They give you the ok to sleep in here or are we hosting a stowaway?" He asked, watching her dig in her pack for a sleeping bag once the cot was set up.
"Didn't ask," she shrugged, "I'll riot if they remove me so..."
Buck would also riot if they removed either one of them.
"I'll take the cot if you want?" He offered and she gave him a look.
"Unlike me, you're actually injured." She pointed out, "Enjoy the bed Buckley, and go to sleep, I can see you drifting."
Buck nodded, not having realized quite how tired he actually was until he wasn't the only one present who could keep an eye on Marco. "Yeah, alright." He agreed, "But we're stealing you a bed tomorrow."
She snorted but didn't respond, laying herself down and shifting around until she was comfortable on the cot. He drifted off not too long after that, the adrenaline mixed with his injuries finally catching up to him.
.................................................
The days after that went slowly. It was recovery time now, which was always far slower than the actual mission ever felt. That was fine though, he wasn't complaining, slow meant Marco wasn't in danger.
Marco slept for three straight days after they arrived at the base. The doctors assured them that this was all to be expected, they'd intentionally put him in a medically induced coma so that way his body could rid itself of the remaining paralytic drugs as well as just generally recover.
It was going to be a lot, when he finally woke up, so in a weird way he was sort of glad that Marco was out of commission for the time being. It gave them a good chance to figure out the rest of the details of the mission. Specifically in Buck's case, the mole from his cell block. Or the suspected mole, at least.
Sammy had been safely extracted from the fight ring, and then immediately sequestered. He wasn't exactly under arrest since they didn't actually know he'd done anything. They still needed to keep an eye on him though, and also talk with him.
Buck had convinced the sergeant in his initial debrief that it would be best for Buck to be the one to talk to him. So, the morning after that initial night, he'd been collected from Marco's room, and brought to an interrogation room.
He entered the room a bit apprehensively, and found a banged up looking Sammy sitting at the table.
"Blondie?" Sammy sounded surprised to see him.
"Hey." He murmured, "How're you feeling?"
Sammy shrugged, "I've had worse. I just- I mean what happened, man? Were we really rescued?"
"Yeah, we're out." Buck assured him with a soft smile, taking a seat at the table across from him. "We've got to talk though, man. There's some stuff you've got to explain."
"You're with them? This was all planned wasn't it? You knew rescue was coming you were part of it." Sammy exclaimed, eyes blowing wide as he pointed a finger right at Buck.
"Yes, I was." Buck confirmed, he might get shit for this later, but it felt like the right move to be honest with Sammy, especially if he wanted a good explanation, "My real name is Evan Buckley, I'm a Navy SEAL, and I was sent in on an infiltration and extraction mission. Everything else you know about me is true though, I didn't have to do a whole lot of pretending in there."
Sammy nodded, seeming to take that in pretty easily, "So if we've been rescued then why am I in some sort of interrogation room?"
Buck sighed, this would be difficult, especially is Sammy saw this as a betrayal from him. "There have been some accusation flying around from the other prisoners that you may have had something to do with feeding information to those running the operation."
Sammy sucked in a breath, eyes darting around like he was panicking.
"I requested to be the one to talk to you." He told Sammy, softening his voice a bit to reassure the man, "I didn't think it made sense. You were so incredibly pissed at your CO for having anything to do with it. I'm just asking for an explanation here, because it isn't quite making sense to me, despite the evidence."
Sammy shook his head, running an open palm over his mouth, whispering a shaky, "I can't."
"Hey, look at me." Buck said, softly yet firmly, "You have to talk to me, that's the only way I can help you, and I swear to you that I can help you."
Sammy wasn't denying his involvement, but he wasn't confirming it or explaining it either. Something was wrong here, he was missing something really important. What else did he know about Sammy, about what affected him, what seemed to really make him tick. The only thing he'd seen have a real and deep affect on the man was the betrayal by his CO, so Buck figured he'd start there.
"You should know that your CO, Alexander Baker, has been arrested and charged with treason." He informed him.
Sammy had been staring down at his hands that were on the table before, but upon hearing those words his gaze shot up to Buck's.
"Really?" He asked, sounding unsure.
"Yeah." Buck nodded, and something in Sammy's gaze clicked, "That changes things, doesn't it?"
Sammy nodded, "He, uh, he made me do it. I didn't want to, but he made me."
Well shit. If that was true then at least Sammy wasn't a total asshole, but also, the guy looked scared shitless. What had his CO done to him?
"I need you to explain everything you can." Buck told him, "And I swear I will do everything I can to help you."
So Sammy told him everything. He told Buck about his baby sister who was twelve and had leukemia. How their parents had maxed out their health insurance but she was still sick, so they'd devised a plan. His little sister was made to be his legal dependent and he'd enlisted so he could get the family health insurance for her. How he'd been station in Afghanistan and had started going to fights with some of his fellow soldiers and had eventually been kidnapped. How what he'd told them all about his CO had been true he'd just left out what came next.
What had come next made Buck's blood fucking boil. He hoped that Alexander Baker rotted in prison and then again in Hell.
Sammy's CO had apparently had higher connections in the organization than Buck had realized. He'd been high up enough to pull Sammy for a meeting and tell him that he needed to feed them information. That, as long as he did so, his sister's medical bills would be take care of, and if he didn't then he'd make sure his whole family was killed.
So as it turned out, yes, Sammy had been the mole, but he'd also been blackmailed into it. Honestly, Buck probably would've done the exact same thing in his shoes, he really couldn't blame the man. Sammy clearly blamed himself though, he confessed it all with red rimmed guilty eyes and Buck felt terrible.
"Hey, I- I know I don't deserve this after what I did." Sammy started, voice cracking, "But I'm probably not getting out of here for a while, can you just- can you check on her? Make sure he kept his word at least. Make sure she's even- that she's alive."
Sammy let out a sob then, and Buck felt his heart cracking a bit, "Yeah. Of course I will. Besides, I'm sure you won't be here for long. I'll do everything I can to make sure you get back to her soon, alright?"
Sammy nodded as Buck stood, "Thank you." He said, sounding like he'd never meant the word more in his life.
Buck wanted to tell him that there was no need to thank him, of course he would do it. He just nodded instead though, walking back out the door.
A day later he got to walk back in with one of the best lawyers he could find and a screenshot of a Facebook post showing a very much alive and now thirteen year old Sophia that proudly announced her as in remission.
.........................................
On that third day, while Marco was still sleeping, they were transferred back stateside. There had been a couple planes running at all times from the base, transferring people back to wherever they were originally from, or more accurately the nearest base to where they were originally from.
Buck never got the chance to see Hassan and Asif again before they were brought back home, but he checked the records and saw that they'd made it there safely. Sammy was going to be stuck for a little while, and there wasn't much else that Buck could do about that having already brought a lawyer as well as pled his case with the officials.
He, Marco, and Microphone were all being sent back to California. Casey was coming too even though she technically didn't live there. She'd been allowed to take leave to stay with Marco for a bit during his recovery though, so she went with them.
It was an easy trip, and Casey slept most of the way through it, and so did Marco who was still drugged to sleep anyways. He hadn't seen Mic yet since they'd been rescued, so the plane ride was a good chance to finally give him that explanation he'd promised. Buck could even give him a full explanation too since the mission wasn't classified. The government having decided they wanted the good press for such a successful large scale operation that brought home so many previously missing or presumed dead soldiers.
Mic, whose name turned out to be Frank Choi, was already working on his piece to bring back to his publisher at the LA times. He was even talking about writing a book about the experience, hopefully making it on the best sellers list. Which was why, when he was allowed a phone call when they arrived at the medical center on the Edwards Air Force Base, he didn't call his team.
He probably should've called them, actually. At least to let them know he was ok and coming home soon, that they didn't need to worry about him anymore. Except, he was coming home soon, which meant he'd get the chance to see them very soon, and then they'd know not to worry. He wasn't sure, however, that he'd get the chance to do this if he didn't do it now.
"Why the hell did you call me to come meet you more than an hour away on a work day?" Taylor Kelly asked as she picked him up from where he'd been on the side of the road half a mile away from the base.
"You brought government issued ID with you, right?" He checked instead of answering.
"Yeah. Why do I need that, by the way?" She huffed, digging around in her purse and handing him both her drivers license and her passport.
"Because, we're going into Edwards Air Force Base and they won't let you on base without this." He explained, waving the IDs in her face as she started driving towards the guard station.
"Why the hell are we going to an Air Force base? Also, by the way, what the fuck?!" She slapped him on the arm, "Care to explain why I had to find out at the scene of a car accident I was reporting on when I asked your team where you were that you're a fucking Navy SEAL that's been deployed?!"
He was saved having to answer immediately by Taylor rolling down her window as they approached the guard station. It was easy getting onto the base once they saw his ID, they didn't even question Taylor's or bother running a check on them. She rolled the window back up and immediately shot a look at him that said she expected an answer.
"Uh, you never asked?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Yes I did. When I did that documentary on the 118 I asked all of you if you had previous military service and I distinctly remember you saying no." She pointed out.
He cringed, he had been hoping she wouldn't remember that. "Yeah, I guess that's true." He agreed before pointing at the street ahead of them, "Make a right up here."
She made the turn, "So? Why lie?"
He shrugged, "There's no big interesting reason Taylor, I just didn't want to talk about it at the time. Plus there was a lot of stuff Im not legally allowed to talk about and I wasn't sure you'd be able to stop yourself from pushing at the time."
"Wow, rude." She huffed and he gave her a look, "But probably true." She allowed.
"Take a left into that parking lot." He pointed to the medical center, and Taylor did as instructed and pulled into a visitor spot.
"What the hell am I doing here, Buckley?" She asked as they both hopped out of the car.
He shot a grin over his shoulder at her, "I've got someone for you to meet."
He heard her start to ask another question, but before she could finish they'd rounded the corner into the right hallway and he was knocking on one of the doors.
"Come in." A voice called from inside, and Buck stepped in with Taylor right behind him.
"Hey man, remember when we first met and I said that if we got out of there then I had someone for you to meet?" He said, grinning at Mic who nodded, "Well, this is her. Meet Taylor Kelly."
"Hey." Taylor waved, and Mic put on a pleasant but confused smile and offered her his hand.
"Hey, I'm Frank Choi." He replied, the two of them seeming to size each other up.
"Alright, this is great!" Buck said clapping his hands together and glancing down at the watch on his wrist, "But they're waking Marco up soon, so I'm gonna head out. Have fun kids!"
"Evan Buckley, you wait a minute!" Taylor called after him in a voice that made him stop and turn around at the door, "You can't just leave us without telling us why we're here?"
"Oh right, you're both reporters and you two remind me of each other." He waved between them, "Frank here was so dedicated to keeping his ear to the ground that he became and underground street fighter, and Taylor here regularly gets in trouble with the cops for her investigations. Discuss!"
He bolts out of the room after that, hearing the indignant squawks from behind him but ignoring them as he jogs over to the elevator and heads up to the third floor. He hoped it works out well for them, but he isn't sure if they'll get along like a house on fire or if they'll tear each other apart. He hopes it'll be the former but they're both reporters so it might end up being the latter.
It doesn't take him long to get to Marco's room where Casey is already waiting. When he gets there and flops down into one of the chairs Casey gives him a smile and let's him know that they took him off the medication about half an hour earlier and that he'll be waking up anytime now. They wait in companionable silence until twenty minutes later when Marco groans and pries his eyes open.
Things go fast after that, doctors and nurses coming in and out of the room, all running a million different tests.
For all the complaining Marco used to do when they spent time in his Med tent, he was honestly a terrible patient. He always had been, it was worse now though. Now it was like every time someone who wasn't Buck or Casey interacted with him he almost lost his shit. At one point one of the nurses suggested they leave the room for a bit and Marco refused to comply with any of the medical professionals until he got confirmation that Buck and Casey weren't going anywhere.
He behaved after that, but just barely. Not that Buck could really blame him. Buck had wanted to throw a fit too when the Doctor had asked him to wiggle his toes and it'd been a struggle to manage even that. Then the man had seemed encouraged by that. Marco had looked like he wanted to strangle the doctor for his upbeat attitude.
He remembered how it'd been after his leg had been crushed by the ladder truck. Buck was right there with him on this.
"They should at least let me take my own blood." Marco grumbled as the last nurse was leaving the room having just taken another tube of blood.
"C'mon Ma, you know that isn't how it works." Casey soothed, taking a seat next to him against the headboard.
Buck moved to sit criss cross applesauce at their feet. "Yeah, I mean, imagine if I was allowed to take my own blood. It'd end up everywhere."
"That's true." Marco assented, sighing as he leaned back against the pillows, "So, I've been informed that it's been six years, I guess I should ask what I've missed?"
Casey and him exchanged a look, neither of them entirely sure where to start.
"Well, one direction broke up." Buck informed him, figuring that was pretty neutral territory to start, "But they're all doing pretty well in the music industry now, especially Harry, except Zayn who got with Gigi Hadid I think."
Marco gave him a confused look, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"He's updating you on pop culture." Casey snickered, "Although I'm not really sure why since that wasn't exactly your area of expertise before you went MIA."
"Ok fine." Buck shrugged, he could switch topics easily enough, "Scientists captured the first ever photo of a black hole. It's actually really cool."
Marco shot a fond look his way, "I'm sure it is Kid, but I meant maybe some more personal updates."
"Oh." Buck said, chuckling at his mistake, "Whoops."
"Well, not much has changed with me." Casey shrugs, "I'm with a pretty good team now, but I had to go through some clowns before I found the right fits for each position. It's been good the last couple years, but I'm getting old. They offered me a position training recruits for the SEALs and I've been thinking I might take it."
Buck hadn't actually known that last bit. He hoped she did take it that way she'd be closer to him. Also so she'd just generally be safer.
"You should take the job." Marco said, voice heavy, "Get the fuck out of the field while you still can."
A heavy air overtook the room at his words. Buck felt it settle into his bones, that same sort of icy fear he'd felt after his team had been killed. That clawing at the confines of his cage feeling like there was a ticking clock that was running out of time. Like if he didn't get out right at that moment then he'd never get out. Casey had been the opposite, she'd absolutely buried herself in missions and didn't come up for air. Those first three years after the funeral he hadn't heard from her other than a recurring Christmas card once a year.
Marco cleared his throat and turned to Buck, "What about you? Are you still active?"
"Uh, no. After everyone, you know, died, I sort of lost it for a bit, got offered a place in the reserves. I haven't actually been deployed since, not until this mission." He shrugged, "I live in LA now, that's half the reason we're in California. I actually got a job working for the LAFD."
Recognition sparked in Marco's eyes at that last bit, "Do you- Is Luca-?" He stuttered out, seemingly unable to figure out how to word the question about his brother.
"Yeah, he's here. You'll see him soon." Buck assured the man, placing a reassuring hand on Marco's ankle even though he wasn't sure the man could actually feel it, "He's still with the LAFD, still partnered with Lena too. They both helped me put my life together after everything, helped me get through the training to join up with them. I ended up at a different house than them though, the 118. I was considering transferring over to their house after my probationary year, but I ended up sort of finding a home with the 118."
Buck felt a little out of breath after he finished, like he'd just shared a big secret and wasn't sure how he was going to react to it.
"They're my family, you know? But they aren't like you guys, no one could ever replace you guys. It's just different." He stuttered out and Marco gave him a soft understanding look, leaning forward to place a hand on Buck's knee and cutting off his rambling.
"I'm glad you haven't been alone." He said, looking a bit teary eyed, and Buck felt his eyes well with tears too. "Can you tell me about them?"
"You'll get to meet them soon." He told the other man, and Casey cleared her throat.
"I think you mean we'll both meet them soon." She corrects.
"Wait, you haven't met them?" Marco asks her, looking confused.
"No, that would require him to have actually told them that he was a SEAL." Casey snarked at Buck.
"Which I have done now, so yes, you'll both meet them soon." He assured them both, rolling his eyes at Casey's dramatics. "Not that you have room to talk, I haven't even seen pictures of your team."
"My team isn't my family." She points out in return, "Besides, I don't keep photos or keepsakes. You know that."
That was true actually. Buck and Casey had gone through a very similar ordeal when the team died, her having lost her husband and him having lost his fiancé. Plus they'd lost their best friends and family all in one fell swoop. Despite going through the same thing, they'd reacted very differently. Casey had buried herself in being a SEAL while Buck had wanted nothing to do with it anymore. Buck had hoarded keepsakes and photos like treasures, Casey had burned all of hers. She'd stopped keeping any photos or keepsakes after that.
Buck kept some of her old ones that he'd been able to save though, both for himself and just in case she ever wanted them again. He wasn't sure if she would, but he had them anyways.
"Can I see your pictures?" Marco asked him, and Buck moved over to grab his pack.
"Most of them are on my phone which I don't have." He explained as he pulled out the thin envelope, "But I brought a couple that were on my fridge."
He handed the stack to him and watched Marco sift through them, holding up a photo every once in a while for an explanation.
"Is this-?" He asked, holding up a photo of him and Maddie at the Griffith observatory.
"Yeah. That's my sister Maddie." He grinned, "She's back now. She lives in LA too and works as a 9-1-1 dispatcher. She's actually with one of my teammates, Chimney." He shuffled through until he found a photo with the man in question and pointed him out, "They're super good for each other."
Marco nodded, filing away that information as he kept looking through every detail of the photos meticulously.
"This is your team, right?" He asked, holding out a photo with all of them at one of the Christmas events the 118 had hosted.
"Yeah, that's Hen, she's a kickass paramedic, you'll love her. Chimney, also a kickass paramedic, and very movie obsessed and goofier than Hen. Eddie, he's, uh, he's my partner, and also an ex-army medic. Then there's me. There's Athena, she's Bobby's wife and a badass police sergeant. Then there's Bobby, he's our captain, and also sort of a father figure to me." He explained as he pointed to each of them, "Then you already know Maddie."
"And these people, they're good for him?" Marco asked, turning to Casey who snickered.
"Yeah, they're great for him. I haven't actually met them, but I've seen how he is because he knows them. Plus I stalked them all for a bit, they're good folks." She shrugged.
Buck just rolled his eyes having already expected her to have done so. He'd background checked everyone he knew of that Casey was working with too, in all fairness.
"Good to know." Marco nodded, "So what about anyone special, either of you find someone?"
Casey shook her head, "Nothing in the dating front for me." She said with a shrug, which had been something that'd been true since Eli died. "Buck's gone and found his second soulmate though, not that he'll admit that's what they are."
"I'll admit it." Buck rolled his eyes good naturedly and Casey jolted upright from where she'd joined Marco in settling back against the pillows.
"What?! Did something finally happen with you two?!!!!" She exclaimed, reaching forward to shake him by his uninjured shoulder, "And you didn't tell me?!"
"I got distracted, but yeah, something sort of did happen." He shrugged, looking down to hide the blush.
"Details, now Buckley!" She ordered and Marco nodded.
"Yes, give us details. Unless the something that happened was sexual, then please don't give details." Marco said, startling a laugh out of both him and Casey.
"Don't worry, he grew out of his slut phase." Casey assures the man, who looks absolutely gobsmacked, which was a bit of an overreaction in Buck's opinion.
"Anyways." He said, redirecting the conversation before Casey could start really exposing his 'Buck 1.0' exploits, "Before I left we had a talk and sort of agreed that we wanted to be something more. I said we should wait until I got back though, that it wasn't fair to either of us for me to leave and maybe never come back right after we'd started something."
Casey looked elated at the news, muttering a triumphant "Finally!"
Marco on the other hand was gaping at him, "Are you serious?" The man asked and Buck felt suddenly nervous that Marco might be angry that he'd moved on after Madhu died.
"I- yeah?" He shrugged, not entirely sure where this was going.
"You decided to walk into a situation you weren't sure you'd walk back out of without even getting to kiss the person you're in love with?!" Marco said, voice shocked and outraged.
Buck rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "I mean, I thought it was the mature adult thing to do, but when you say it like that-"
"You sound like an idiot?" Marco butt in, pinning Buck with a knowing glare, "Who is this 'second soulmate' of yours anyways? Do you have a picture?"
"Uh, yeah, it's Eddie." Buck answered, shuffling through the photos to find a better photo of Eddie. "He's- like I said he's my partner, just not only at work." He shrugged, holding out one of his favorite photos of him and Eddie at the Photo Booth from May's graduation party.
“Wow, he’s quite a looker.” Marco grinned at him and waved the photo around a bit.
Buck groaned, “God, that’s such a mom thing to say.”
Marco made a disgruntled noise at that, but then Casey jumped up excitedly, a shark’s grin on her face. Buck had no idea what she was about to say but he groaned preemptively at the expression.
“Guess what!” She said to Marco, practically vibrating in glee.
“What?” Marco asked, a tentative and confused smile on his face.
“Kid here,” she did a drumroll on her thighs before announcing, “Has made you a grandmother!”
Marco gasped and Buck groaned, though a part of him warmed at having Chris referred to as his. It always did that though, so he ignored it and focused on his feigned annoyance.
“You have a fucking kid!” Marco exclaimed, “What? Who? How?!”
“Uh, well, his name’s Chris and he’s the greatest kid in the whole world.” Buck started, pulling a couple different photos of Chris from the pile and handing them over to Marco, “He’s Eddie’s kid technically, but Eddie and I have sort of been coparenting for years.”
“You’ve been coparenting with a man you weren’t in a relationship with for years?” Marco questioned, sounding incredulous.
“It’s real, I swear. I’m not just, like, injecting myself into their family narrative” Buck rushed to assure him, “I’m like, in Eddie’s will and I’m on the list at his school and his doctors offices and stuff. It’s real, we’re real.”
Casey ‘awed’ at the speech, and Marco shook his head looking painfully fond of Buck, “As sweet as that is, it wasn’t the part that I was questioning. I’m wondering why you aren’t already together.”
“Oh.” Buck huffed, shrugging, “I don’t know, it’s complicated I guess.”
“He was a pussy and wouldn’t own up to his feelings for the guy.” Casey said, which was not very helpful.
“Hey!” He huffed, reaching forward to pinch her knee.
“I said ‘was’!” She exclaimed, kicking him so he almost fell off the bed.
“Children! Children!” Marco held out his hands placatingly, “What if we didn’t fight on my literal hospital bed!”
“Fine.” Both and Casey muttered, crossing their arms like they really were petulant children.
Marco looked between them and burst out laughing so hard that the nurses rushed back into the room to make sure nothing was wrong.
…………………………………………
Two days later they finally sprung Marco free of the hospital. He was in a wheel chair and had a long long road of physical therapy and doctors appointments in front of him. They were hopeful that he’d be able to walk again someday. He’d never get back the full function he had, but the doctors said that the long term damage of the paralytics was mostly temporary and the fact that he’d skipped leg day for six years could eventually be helped by exercise and strength training.
Buck remembered his own stint of physical therapy and training after his leg had been crushed. It’d been rough, but he’d gotten through it, in part because of his steel resolve, which Marco definitely had, but also because of his family, which Buck was determined to give him. Marco would be alright. He’d make sure of it.
Casey had two weeks of leave left before she had to go back. She’d also already filled out half the paperwork to accept the position training recruits. Hopefully she’d get to start in 3-6 months if all went well. Then she’d be living only 3 hours away, which would be good for both Marco and him.
Since she was staying, Buck and her decided it’d be best for her to rent a car. Partly so that way it would be easier for her to get around without them having to share his jeep, which would’ve been fine with him just a bit impractical. Plus then Marco wouldn’t have to deal with any form of public transportation, even if it was just an Uber to pick up Buck’s jeep from his apartment. He had barely tolerated the staff working at the military hospital, Buck didn’t want to find out how badly thing s would go with members of the general public.
First stop was the 136. A reunion that should’ve happened a lot sooner but the military was being a little bitch about letting Marco go. They let him go now though, so they went to the 136.
Casey and he had discussed the plan ahead of time. Buck would get dropped off first, sort of explain the situation a bit and give Luca a heads up so he didn’t have a heart attack or something. Casey would park the car and get Marco into his wheelchair and they’d be in a minute after Buck.
For once, things went perfectly to plan.
Buck marched into the 136 with a grin splitting his face. Thankfully they weren’t out on a call, so Luca spotted him and bound over to pull him into a hug.
“Hey, you’re back!” Luca said, grinning, “And mostly in one piece too!”
“Yeah!” Buck agreed, placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder, “Hey man, listen I’ve got a bit of a surprise for you.”
“Is Casey here too?” Luca asked.
“Uh, yeah, but that’s not really the surprise.” Buck said, and suddenly he felt incredibly awkward, like even though this was amazing news he still wasn’t really sure how to break it.
“Ok, consider me intrigued,” Luca chuckled, eyebrows scrunched in confusion, “What’s the surprise?”
“Uh, well- the mission- it-” He stuttered out before he just decided to rip the bandage off, “We found Marco.”
Luca’s expression went through several emotions too fast for Buck to keep up before he started nodding, clearing his throat and saying, “Oh, um, that’s good. Thank you, Kid. I guess we can finally bury him now.”
Which, no. Luca had misunderstood. “No, he’s- we found him alive.” Buck clarified.
Luca immediately took a step back, shaking his head, “No, I- that isn’t funny, Buck. Stop that now.”
“It isn’t a joke Luca. I swear.” Buck took a step closer, trying to reassure the man who was looking near tears at this point.
“No, it- it can’t be-”
“Luca?” A voice called out, and Buck watched Luca’s eyes snap to something over his left shoulder.
Buck turned around and saw Marco sitting in his wheelchair by the open garage door, looking just as shocked as his brother.
“Marco?” Luca whispered, voice wavering and unsure as his feet carried him towards his brother, he looked like he was floating through a dream, “I- is that you?”
Marco let out a wet laugh as his brother hit the floor on his knees in front of him, their arms wrapped around each other in a death grip.
“I’m home.” Buck heard Marco say, though it sounded like a promise more than anything else. “I’m home and I’m not leaving ever again.”
Luca just buried his face in his brother’s shoulder and cried. The both of them did, terrible big heaving sobs that felt like a weight being lifted from all of them.
“Hey, Buckley! I heard you were- woah.” Lena slid to a stop next to him, eyes bugging out of her head as she took in the two brothers, “Is that-?”
“Yeah.” Buck confirmed with a nod, wiping away some of his own tears. “We found Marco.”
“That’s amazing.” Lena murmured, a soft smile gracing her features.
“Yeah it is.” Buck agreed before clearing his throat and asking, “Hey, can you go talk to your Captain about getting Luca some time off. Starting now.”
“Yeah.” She nodded before turning on her heels and jogging towards the Captains office.
Buck wasn’t worried about the request going through, Captain Cooper was a good guy. He’d make sure the Tripoli brothers got all they needed.
………………………………………..
“You sure you don’t want to come in?” He asked for the third time as they pulled up outside Bobby and Athena’s house.
“Nope. Besides, I have to get back on shift. Have a nice reunion though.” Lena waved him off, having been nice enough to drive him over to where his family was having a barbecue at the Grant-Nash household.
He counted off each of his friends and family’s cars lining the driveway as he hopped out of the passenger seat of Lena’s truck. They were all here.
“Thanks!” He waved after her as she drove off.
He headed up the path, suddenly feeling sort of nervous and jittery in a way he usually didn’t around his family. It was mostly centered around Eddie though. The man who he had made the mistake of not kissing before he deployed. The man who had every intention of kissing as soon as he got his hands on him now.
He knew they’d all already be hanging out in the backyard, so he didn’t bother with knocking on the front door. Instead he just let himself in, walking down the entryway stairs and taking in the sight of his family all mingling and having a good time through the glass doors into the backyard.
There was a noise from inside though, the sound of someone rummaging around in the fridge and then the clinking of a glass bottle. He heard it be popped open and then footsteps. Eddie came into view then, with his back turned and headed for the glass doors to rejoin the party.
Buck sucked in a breath and it was loud enough for Eddie to turn around, smile breaking out on his face at the site of him. That was all Buck needed to cross the room in a couple of long strides, pinning Eddie against the table and kissing him soundly.
It was a sudden firm press of lips that Eddie gasped into, melting into Buck almost immediately. Then they were really kissing, not exactly an end of the world kiss, more like a welcome home after a long journey. It was fervent, lips and tongues moving against each other, exploring new parts of a person they already knew so well.
It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. His lips were sort of chapped, there was an awkward clashing of teeth at the beginning, and he could feel the stitches in his shoulder pulling from where Eddie was holding him and tugging him impossibly closer. It was perfect to Buck though, and if the way Eddie moaned happily into his mouth was anything to go by, then it was perfect for him too.
“Hey, Dad, can I- Buck!” The only voice in the world that could possibly break him away from Eddie right now exclaimed.
He pulled back suddenly, and there was Chris sticking his head in through an opening in the sliding glass door. His eyes were bugging out of his head for a second in shock before he was suddenly scrabbling to get the door open more.
“Buck!” He exclaimed a lot louder this time, rushing towards him as fast as his little legs and crutches would allow him, “You’re back!”
Buck scooped Chris up immediately and the little boy threw his arms around Buck’s neck and giggled happily as he was swung around in a circle.
“Yeah, Superman, I’m back.” Buck said, burying his face in Chris’s curls.
There was a clamor from outside and suddenly people were pouring in through the sliding glass doors. Excited exclamations ringing out at his return, and he started hugging everyone.
“You’re limping.” Bobby pointed out, looking concerned around his grin as Buck moved to hug Hen.
“I got shot.” Buck waved him off, moving to hug Athena next, “I’m fine though, it’s a flesh wound.”
“Uh, we’ll be the judges of that.” Chim said, swooping in for his own hug.
“In a minute.” Buck agreed, knowing better than to argue with them.
He hugged all of them at least three times each before things really started to calm down. Then they all settled in on the couches, Buck sitting next to Eddie who had an arm slung over his shoulder and with Chris practically in his lap. It was nice.
“So how much can you tell us?” Athena asked, all business except for her happy and relieved demeanor.
“I can tell you everything.” He grinned, glad that that was the answer he could give, “Plus it’ll all be on the news soon enough.”
“Forget about the news.” Eddie said, “I’d rather hear it from you.”
Buck laughed at that, knowing part of Eddie’s disinterest with the news had to do with a fling he’d had with a certain red haired reporter.
“Good, because I have a lot to tell you.”