Never mess with us again

chapter four

Laughter filled the station.
The next round began.
Buck sat beside Eddie on the couch, his hand on Eddie's shoulder, softly patting him. The grim ghost that had haunted Eddie for the past few months seemed to vanish into the darkest corner of the station.

Cap looked over from the counter.

He had strictly forbidden Buck from helping in the kitchen. At first, Buck was confused and wanted to prove his usefulness, but then his dad explained why. His son's father needed him more right now, and even though Bobby would miss Buck in the kitchen, Eddie would need him the most. Buck understood and agreed, on the condition that he could be in the kitchen on the days before hearings, or when the pressure became overwhelming.

This peace was beautiful, calming, and delicate, yet so fragile and thin.
Like a waterdrop, a wrong word, a wrong note, or a leaf that fell the wrong way would be enough to hit like a bomb.

Just like that day.

It was a day that went from seemingly insignificant to one of the worst the 118th had ever experienced.
The seconds needle on the clock ticked agonizingly slowly.
From a sign of peace, with the yawning boredom and refilling cups of coffee. To a panic-stricken, anxiety-filled, screamingly painfully wrenching moment, the memory of which sent fear into the bones of all present.

That moment when the phone rang. Buck's face from mild concern to pure horror shifted and his body began shaking like aspen leaves.

When Eddie anxiously grabbed the phone from his husband's hand. His expression also started to change. From concern to confusion, then from anger to a silent plea, while listening.

Everyone knew something was wrong.
And "wrong" was the understatement of the century.
These two men had been through more than most people.
War, bombs, tsunamis, being buried alive when the earth collapsed on them, lightning strike, death, being nearly gone- and the constant fear for their loved ones.
But never, NEVER had they reacted like this.

Shaking, and barely audible. Buck whispered, "Call the Chief and M...Athena."
Bobby thought he'd misheard because the two boneheads would have done anything to save anyone. Even if it meant their end.
But something seemed to scare them, both, so much that they actively asked Athena, to come.

But why the Chief?

"CALL THE FUCKING CHIEF AND ATHENA," Eddie shouted at the group.
The former soldier wasn't usually easy to shake. And Buck, who wasn't just trained as a SEAL- but also had the unofficial title of 'Buck, who had seen a lot of crap' was on edge.
No matter what it was, the two of them had to show up immediately.
The others jumped up like startled chickens.

Bobby called the Chief and told him to come right away. He even shouted at his superior, that unless there was a Tsunami, he needed to come right away.
Hen dialed Athena's number and Chimney, equally overwhelmed, called Maddie at work. Before he could finish, she cut him off to tell Sue that she would be absent and left without waiting for an answer.

Ravi slowly helped Buck to the sofa, accompanied by an equally concerned Eddie, and all Buck asked of Ravi was: "Thanks, and could you bring us two sheets of paper and pens?"
The questioning look was met with a death stare from his counterpart.

So their colleague submissively retreated. As he was leaving, he heard his colleague say: "Breathe. In, hold and out. In, hold and out." Despite the firmness, his voice trembled more than Buck's.