Sanctuary

Say Anything

The ride on the bus from Hershey to LA is a long one, so Buck spends most of it looking out the window, watching all the cars go by, both to looks at the scenery and to watch for any cop cars that might be looking for him.

Eventually, god knows how many days later, the bus stops in LA, and the first thing Buck thinks of to do is to go to the beach, not to swim, but to just look out into the horizon, coupled with the knowledge that this is his chance to truly start over, from Jeremy, from everything.

But then, he hears a voice from inside a nearby building, and when he turns to look, a very handsome guy is talking to the cashier very animatedly.

“You’re gonna have to throw this out, this tastes like mud.”

“Sir, this is a fresh Ethiopian blend. I assure you, the taste is fine.”

Curious, Buck heads inside to buy a cup for himself, right after the handsome guy in question, as the cashier asks, “Just a mug?”

Buck nods, not bothering with words, and after paying for his coffee, tells her, “Thanks.”, and walks out.

Back outside, hood still up, Buck just looks out at the horizon again, not sure where he should go next, has he watches seagulls take off from all over the place.

Behind him, he hears the bus’ door close behind him, but he doesn’t make a move to catch it.

The further the bus gets away from the stop, the more sure Buck is he’s made his choice.

As of now, LA is his new home.

Back in Hershey, Jeremy is just getting back to the police station, right as someone holds up a thumb drive,

“Got the security footage from the bus station.”

Immediately Jeremy grabs it, pulling up the file on his computer, looking at the docking bays.

Buck winds up walking up and down the beach for the rest of the day, until he hits the Santa Monica boardwalk.

He goes underneath, and once he’s sure no one else under here’s gonna bother him, he lays down too.

The next morning, Buck decides walking into the city is his best bet, and as he does so, tries to ignore all the looks he’s no doubt getting from all the people on their front porches.

He knows how he must look to them. Nothing but the clothes on his back, and a sack of his belongings he just couldn’t part with.

Eventually, he finds his way to the same part of the beach, sitting down as he watches a group of firefighters mingle together by the coffee house from yesterday.

Determined, he gets up and walks right towards them.

“Excuse me.” Buck interrupts, hating himself for it, but knowing he has to nonetheless. “Who do I need to talk to about a job at the station?”

The whole team is instantly uncomfortable, but one of the women speaks up first, suspicious, “Depends on what you need him for.”

Crap. Now Buck’s even more uncomfortable.

“I recently graduated from the academy, and was looking to see if maybe a station had an opening.”

At that, the rest of the team still looks skeptical, until the Asian guy says, “We might have room for you. You said you recently graduated, right?”

Buck nods, “Yeah, I did. Actually that’s why I came out here.”

Jeremy keeps looking at the security footage, going over it from every possible angle, changing which camera he looks at.

But then he sees it, on the camera aimed at the bus going to Philadelphia.

There’s Evan, getting on the bus at the last possible second, hood up, and even with the footage in black and white, Jeremy can see his hair’s different color, and shaved.

It takes about another week of beach squatting before Buck’s an official member of the 118, but they still decide to put him on the scut work, as the newest team member.

In this case, that means cleaning up the loft, washing dishes, hosing down the trucks, keeping them as well as the ambulances stocked with new supplies.

But Buck’s not about to complain, not when he’s finally started his life, a life he never thought he’d be able to have.

Once he’s off his first shift, the first thing he does is go find somewhere to live. As much as he loves the beach, he’s pretty sure he can’t take much more of sleeping on it.

He listens as the realtor tells him,

“Really nice flooring, amazing location close to the city. Not much to look at now, but you can just fix it up however you want.”

Buck’s slightly distracted by looking out the window, taking in the view of the beach, agreeing with the realtor.

Once they’re outside, Buck gives the realtor a smile, and tells her, “I’ll take it.”