training wheels. // evan 'buck' buckley

xxxi. ocean's 911

i sat in the stark, cold interrogation room, my heart beating a steady rhythm that i was sure echoed in the silence. the same question kept circling in my mind: how did we get here? my fingers drummed lightly on the table, each tap a futile attempt to release the tension building inside me.

the door opened, and detective ramirez stepped back in, his eyes trained on me like a hawk circling prey. he'd already been at me for what felt like hours, his relentless questioning as exhausting as it was nerve-wracking.

"charlie meyers," he began, sitting down across from me. "you're still saying you dispatched the 118 to that gas leak with no knowledge that a robbery was in progress?"

i clenched my jaw, keeping my voice steady. "i didn't know. we thought it was a hazmat situation. the call came in about a gas leak near the bank. i dispatched them like i would any other team to a call like that."

ramirez leaned forward slightly, his fingers steepling under his chin. "and you expect me to believe that it's just a coincidence that your uncle, captain nash, and your... partner, buckley, were involved in this? that the money just happened to end up in their truck?"

my grip on the arm of the chair tightened. "yes. i do. you know as well as i do that they didn't take that money."

ramirez's eyes glinted with something unreadable. "it doesn't matter what you think they did or didn't do. we have evidence - $300,000 in cash, stuffed in their fire truck. that's hard to explain away."

my pulse quickened, but i maintained my composure. "there's no way they did this. someone framed them. the 118 would never-"

"they're suspects, charlie. whether you want to believe it or not, that's where we are," he said, cutting me off. "and you're here because your name is tied to them, just like maddie kendall's."

the mention of maddie stung, and my mind flashed to my last phone call with her. maddie was being interrogated too, likely going through the same nightmare right now. i wished i could help her - could protect buck, bobby, the entire team. but instead, we were all caught in the crosshairs of something far bigger than we had anticipated.

"i've told you everything i know," i said, my voice a little sharper than before. "i don't know who framed them, but i do know that they didn't do it."

ramirez raised an eyebrow, studying me for a moment before leaning back in his chair. "we'll see. for now, just sit tight."

with that, he stood and left the room, leaving me in a silence that felt far too oppressive. i stared at the closed door, my mind racing. how do we prove they're innocent when everything is stacked against them?

meanwhile, buck sat on the bench in the locker room, staring blankly at the wall. his mind raced, trying to figure out how they had gone from a routine call to being accused of a robbery. it didn't make sense. he'd seen the cash with his own eyes - the bags of money stuffed into the back of their truck. but how had it gotten there? who had put it there?

his knee bounced up and down with nervous energy. the 118 was under investigation, and now maddie and i were caught in the fallout because we were both dispatchers who had handled the call. the weight of that fact sat heavy on his chest.

eddie walked in, the door swinging open with a quiet creak. "hey, man. you okay?"

buck shook his head, the humorless smile on his face betraying the anxious churn in his stomach. "i don't even know anymore. how does this even happen? one second, we're doing our jobs, and the next, we're suspects in a bank heist."

eddie crossed the room and sat down beside him, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "it's messed up. but we'll figure it out. we didn't do anything wrong."