Chapter Text
It was a nice quiet morning for the three of them. Until loud knocking interrupted things. Eddie got up to answer it. He checked and immediately tensed up. He knew this was inevitable, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for it. He braced himself and opened the door.
“Hey, Maddie. We were-“ The alpha greeted her.
“Where is he?” The female beta glared at him.
“He’s in the living room with Christopher,” Eddie said.
“You going to let me see him, or are you going to make me push past you?” Maddie asked taking Eddie aback. He stood there, shocked by the venom in her tone. He tried to remember if he’d ever seen the beta so angry. He managed to shake himself and step aside, not saying a word. She entered and made her way to the living room.
“Maddie? What are you-“ Buck stood up from where he’d been coloring at the table with Christopher.
“Evan,” Maddie cut him off as she took in her brother’s appearance. He looked shockingly okay. Chimney had told her what had happened, and that her brother had nearly died. She had wanted to rush to him, to take care of him, but he had convinced her that it was best to let his alpha handle it. Maddie could feel tears stinging her eyes. She blinked to try and clear them. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She eventually managed to speak. “Why…Evan, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Maddie…” Buck said again, he’d meant to call her but everything had happened so fast.
“You went to Bobby and Athena’s, but you couldn’t even call me?” Maddie said, her voice shaking slightly. “Howie calls me and tells me about everything, but he told me to wait. You’d call when you were feeling better.” She looked at her brother’s vibrant blue eyes, the fading dark circles under his eyes. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.” With that, Maddie turned on her heels and brushing past Eddie, towards the door.
“No Maddie, wait!” Buck shouted. The beta felt a hand wrap around her arm. She glared when she realized it was Eddie’s hand.
“Don’t touch me.” She wrenched her arm out of the alpha’s grip. Angry tears marking her cheeks.
“Maddie, please, just-“ Eddie held his hands up to show he didn’t mean any harm.
“Just what, Eddie?” She spat at him. “You going to tell me you’ve both been too busy to call? Too busy playing happy family? Couldn’t take a minute to call your mate’s terrified sister?” Eddie flinched at the way she emphasized the word mate. “Don’t let me stop you. Far be it from me to interrupt.”
“Maddie, please don’t go,” Buck begged.
“I have been worried about you for weeks. I barely hear from you anymore. You canceled twice on me for dinner. Then Howie calls me and tells me you nearly died, AGAIN!” Maddie’s voice was practically frantic. “Then I find out that my boyfriend has lied to me. My brother has lied to me. I have spent the past 48 hours waiting, just waiting for you to call. I was so upset I ended up staying with Josh. That’s…” Maddie took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. “Happy you finally found your family, Buck. I really am.” She walked out the door. The omega frozen, tears falling. Eddie couldn’t stand the smell of pain and loss. He stormed out after Maddie.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” He shouted at her. “You come to our home, upset my omega, and just leave. Do you really think that was-“ Maddie shoved him when he got near her.
“Wrong with me?!” Maddie shouted back. “You treated him like garbage. You and the rest of your team. You treat him like scum. You guys got in his head and convinced him he deserved this, didn’t you? I JUST GOT HIM BACK!” The beta was now shaking with anger. “I thought...I thought my brother and I were closer than this.” She wiped angrily at her tears. “I loved him first, you know. I loved him from the moment he was born. I took care of him. I was all he had once he showed signs of being an omega. Leaving him was the most painful thing I’ve ever done. But I needed an education, and then Doug wouldn’t let me got back. I get him back, just to have him push me away, because of you. I sat there and listened to him pining over you. I told him so many times to just talk to you. I almost lost him, because of you. And you didn’t even have the decency to tell me he really was okay. I hope you can find a way to live with yourself. I really do, because my brother deserves to be happy. I honestly think he deserves better than the way you’ve treated him, but he’s a grown-up and apparently doesn’t need me anymore. So try not to let him almost die again, will you?” She left him stunned and headed to her car. Eddie eventually turned back to his front door and froze. Buck was standing there. He could see the omega’s shoulders shaking. The alpha went over and pulled him into his arms.
“How much of that did you hear?” Eddie asked.
“All of it.” Buck’s voice was filled with pain, just like his scent. “She hates me.”
“Shhh, no.” Eddie held his omega tight. “She hates me. She hates me for letting this happen.”
The rest of the day didn’t get much better. Buck barely spoke. The omega did his best to act like he was okay for Christopher’s sake, but Eddie knew better. Even without their bond, Eddie would know Buck was hurting. The alpha wished he could figure out a way to fix it. He did everything he could to try and comfort his omega.
Buck was still upset when Eddie pulled his truck into the firehouse parking lot that night. “Are you sure you’re up for a shift?” Eddie asked as he shut off the engine. “I’m sure Bobby wouldn’t hold it against you if you needed another day.”
“I’m fine,” Buck said.
“Buck…”
“I’m fine, not great, but I need this, okay?” Buck admitted.
Eddie reaches over and puts a hand on the back of the omega’s neck. His fingers brushing gently across the edge of the bite. “But if it ends up being too much, you’ll tell me, right?”
“I’m sure you’ll know, isn’t that the point of a bond?”
“It is a benefit,” the alpha smiled.
“Let’s go,” Buck said, as he got out of the car.
Buck didn't speak to anyone as they entered the firehouse. He simply made his way to the locker room and changed into his uniform. Eddie did his best to reassure their teammates that he'd fill them in later as he went to change.
Buck groaned as he dropped down onto one of the couches in the loft. Eddie gave his shoulder a squeeze and headed to the kitchen.
"How's he doing?" Hen asked as she stepped beside Eddie.
Eddie glanced back at Buck. "Well, he was doing better."
"Was?" Hen asked as Eddie poured two cups of coffee.
"Yeah," Eddie sighed. "Maddie dropped by and it did not go well."
"She's mad?" Hen asked.
"Very," Eddie said, mixing sugar and creamer into the coffees.
"It'll get better," Hen gave him a soft smile. "Try not to hold it against her."
"I'll try," Eddie nodded as he picked up both coffees and brought one to Buck.
The first few hours of the shift passed quietly. They had a few calls but nothing they couldn't handle. But it was obvious to the team something was wrong. Buck was too quiet, too subdued. He seemed to be on autopilot. Bobby was starting to worry. So he pulled Eddie aside. “What happened? He seemed okay when you guys left.”
“That obvious, isn’t it?” The younger alpha groaned as he dragged a hand down his face. “He…he shut himself off.”
“Why?” Bobby asked.
“Maddie,” Eddie answered. “She stopped by earlier. Chim had told us when we were leaving here to call her, but so much was going on and it was so overwhelming…”
“You both forgot.” Bobby finished for him. Eddie’s shoulders slumped as he nodded.
“She came in and she was so mad at me,” Eddie said. “And I get that, I deserve it, but she started crying, and asking why he hadn’t called. I guess he’d canceled on her a few times using work as an excuse. He’d told her he was fine, just busy. And she’d realized that Chimney had lied, that things hadn’t gone smoothly when Buck started back. So not only had her boyfriend lied to her, but her brother did too. All to protect the people that were hurting him. She said she was happy for him and left. He wanted to try and explain. Buck was so upset, and I got mad and I tried to stop her, but she got mad.” Eddie sighed. “I guess she feels like we took him away from her.”
“Like Doug did.” Bobby nodded.
“What?” Eddie said.
“Eddie listen, I think you have two problems here. One, yeah you guys really should have called her. Maddie has tried to be by her brother’s side after the truck, while he was healing. She clearly tried to be with him during all this. Every time he has almost died, she’s done everything she could to be there. Even while dealing with the fact she was struggling not so long ago herself. She nearly died herself. Which brings me to problem number two. Eddie, she had a horribly abusive husband who kidnapped her and tried to kill her. Before that he had forced a bond, cut her off from her family, and he hunted her down when she left him. She had to kill him before he could kill her. You don’t think that maybe, just maybe this hits a bit too close to home for her?”
Eddie’s brow furrowed. “She can’t possibly think I’m anything like that fucking asshole. I love Buck.”
“And Doug said he loved her,” Bobby said. “I’m not saying you’re anything like Doug. I’m just saying maybe try seeing it from her perspective. She just got her brother back. Then he nearly died crushed under a ladder truck. Then he nearly died from a pulmonary embolism. Then he nearly died at the pier. Two of the three times she just had to sit back and watch her brother almost die. You remember how hard that was for the rest of us. She practically raised him, imagine how hard that was for her. Then she gets a phone call that not only did he almost die again but that you forced a bond to supposedly save him. Now, look at it as if you’d spent most of your life taking care of him. Think about how you would feel watching something happen to your sisters or even Christopher.”
“I had to, it was the only way,” Eddie said. “I know it wasn’t ideal, and we’re dealing with it.”
“I know that, and I’m sure she does too. That doesn’t mean she has to be happy about it,” Bobby said. “She’s hurting, Eddie. She felt she had no control over her life under Doug, and she probably feels like she has no control over everything again. She feels like she is losing her brother again.”
“I wouldn’t keep him from her,” Eddie frowned. “That would be cruel.”
“If you haven’t noticed,” Bobby sighed and shook his head. “Cruelty is something the Buckley siblings are all too familiar with.”
“She isn’t answering my calls either,” Chim said.
“I didn’t mean to not call, I just…” Buck blinked a few times, trying to get a grip on his emotions. He loved his sister. He wouldn’t have survived growing up without her. He felt absolutely horrible for forgetting to call her. “I’m a shitty brother.”
“Oh Buckaroo,” Hen shook her head. “Yeah, you messed up, but she’ll come around because that is what family does. It might take some time, but she will. Just remind her you’re still there for her.” Hen said and then turned to Chimney. “What did you expect to happen, Chim? You lied to your girlfriend, which meant you knew what was going on was stupid and yet instead of knocking some sense into all of us, you doubled down. You are going to have to do a lot of begging and probably something pretty epic to make up for it. But, don’t make promises you can’t keep, she has had enough of that already for a lifetime.” She turned back to Buck. “Glad you’re back, Buckaroo.” She hugged him. “If I think of anything that might help you and your sister, I will let you know.” She smirked at Chim. “But you, you’re on your own.”