The Deployment Notice

3.

Christopher had not been happy when Eddie told him he had to go to school the next day, but he'd agreed to go once they explained that they had to work. The promises that Buck would come home with Eddie and that Chris could skip school the next day to see Buck off, probably also helped.

So they dropped Chris off at school and made their way to the firehouse an hour early for their shift, stopping to pick up coffee and pastries for everyone.

Eddie had sent out the text asking everyone to meet there an hour early, saying that they had something important to talk about but refusing to elaborate.

Everyone was there waiting for them when they arrived. Eddie walked up the stairs with the food and drinks balanced precariously in his arms with Buck following him carrying the trunk.

"Oh, so we're being bribed!" Chim calls out with a grin, moving to help Eddie, "can't say that I mind."

They took a minute to settle, everyone grabbing coffee and the pastries, before focusing back on the matter at hand.

"So you boys have an announcement?" Athena said, raising her eyebrows at them.

"Did you two finally get together?" Chim asks, powdered sugar already coating his lips and chin, "because if so, you guys just won me a lot of money."

"What?" Buck exclaims, staring at him wide eyed as Eddie chokes on his coffee.

"Chim!" Hen exclaims slapping his arm, "shut up!"

"Anyways." Bobby says rolling his eyes          good-naturedly, "what did you two want to talk to us about?"

"Uh, it's Buck's announcement, not mine." Eddie clarified, clearing his throat, "I'm just morale support."

All eyes turned to Buck at that, and he gulped.

Now or never. He thinks and takes a deep breath.

"I'm getting deployed."

Everyone froze, nobody moved and nobody spoke, they just stared at him.

"That isn't very funny, Buckaroo." Athena said, and there was an undercurrent of something dark in her voice that Buck didn't recognize, "you shouldn't joke about something like that."

"It isn't a joke." He replied, sliding the open envelope over towards her.

She picked it up and looked over its contents before handing it to Bobby. She didn't say anything else, seemingly still processing.

"You said you dropped out of training." Maddie says finally, her voice was angry, but he could see that she was holding back tears.

"I lied." He said smiling at her mournfully, "I'm sorry, Mads."

"You told me you dropped too." Bobby said, "why?"

He let out a chuckle at that, "it was getting kinda frustrating being held back from rescues that I had the training to perform. Figured it would be enough of a reason for you to let me have a bit of a longer leash if I told you that I had at least partial training."

"Wait!" Chim said holding his arms up, "everyone hold on, you were in the Army?!"

"No." Buck chuckled a bit of pride showing on his face, "I'm a Navy SEAL."

"What!" "Since when?!" Chim and Hen both exclaimed at the same time.

"I enlisted when I was 19." Buck shrugged like it was no big deal.