Title: It Started With a Leaf
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Major Character Death (Maddie), Character Bashing (Chim), Discussion of Domestic Violence
Fandom: 9-1-1
Relationships: Eddie Diaz/Evan Buckley
Tags: Alternate Universe, Getting Together
Summary: It might have started with a leaf, but it was far-reaching.
Word Count: 5,718
Beta: Grammarly


"Dad, can we please go to the museum?" Chris asked as he climbed into bed.

"We went last weekend." Eddie didn't mind, but he didn't want to spend every single weekend in one, and his son would make him. He was happy enough to go at least once a month.

"No, I want to go to the one with the science stuff. I need help picking what I want to do for the paper I need to do for science class."

"Okay. I'll see about what we have going on the weekend." Eddie wasn't sure what they were doing. He hadn't looked at the schedule more than a day or two in advance unless there was something planned. "I have the whole weekend, so I'll take you on Saturday, and if you don't find what you need, I'll see where else we can go on Sunday to help you." Eddie pulled the blankets up Chris' body before he reached over and turned on the simple nightlight that would only stay on for a little while.

"The library. I guess."

Chris looked put out at that idea, so Eddie hoped they found what Chris wanted at the museum. Of course, Chris would live at the museum if he was allowed. It was one of the better reasons for moving to LA beyond getting closer to his family, who were willing to help him instead of taking his son from him as well as making him feel like he was the worst father in the world for wanting his son to be cared for in a way that would allow him to fly high into the sky. There was nothing he wouldn't do to make sure that Chris had the life he wanted.

"You okay, Dad?" Chris asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, just tried. That's all. You ready for bed?"

"I am. I'm looking forward to this weekend."

Eddie tucked Chris in again where he had loosened the blankets around him. It was a normal night. Chris didn't want to sleep and would spend the entire night reading if he was allowed. It was still a few years until Eddie would even entertain letting him try it.

Once Chris was fully ready to sleep, Eddie got off the bed and checked the blankets before turning off the light. He left the door open a crack. The light in the kitchen was on, and he worked on Chris' lunch for the next day.

There was not a lot left to do on making it, but it was enough to distract Eddie from the thoughts swirling in his head since his shift had ended.

The victim they had helped had hit on Eddie, and for the first time in a while, it had been something he might have said yes to if he hadn't been made fun of by being hit on. He had been a little put out by the way he had been talked to by the people he worked with. He had been promised a place full of family, and it had kind of been like that, but then after a while, it had turned sour.

Eddie had been thinking of leaving the 118 for three months and moving on somewhere else. He might be able to find a place where he could be happier than he was. He wasn't sure how it was going to go in the end. There was the fear that his new place would be worse than where he was now.

He was hearing nothing but really good things about the 217. Of course, Chim had nothing good to say about one of the guys at the 217, but if the two stations were working an accident together, there was one guy who never went anywhere near the 118. Eddie had tried to talk to him once but was stopped by Chim, saying no one needed to be around the fuck-up.

Eddie wanted to see if the 217 would take him, but he wasn't sure he could take the rejection. He needed to do something because he was near the point where he wanted to punch Chim in the face, especially with how he treated women. Eddie had heard rumors of the probie that had been at the 118 and how he slept with a lot of women. There were many who thought it was not on and was kind of disgusting, but Eddie thought that how Chim treated women was a lot worse.

It was a lot of worry because Chris had started noticing that Eddie wasn't happy.

---

Chris had been at the single leaf that was pressed between glass and still green but marked up to show the parts for over half an hour. Eddie wasn't sure what the kid was doing, but he was writing in the notebook he had brought with him to write down things. Eddie was more than happy as he was texting with a guy he had met on the last five-alarm fire they had been called to. Tommy Kinard was someone Eddie had heard Hen talking about a few times before but never in too much detail. He had been on the 118 for a while, another person brought in when the racists, homophobes, and other bigots had been tossed on their heads, and the house cleaned up before Bobby had been the one to take over.

"Need help?" a guy asked as Chris started to get up but hesitated.

Eddie stood up, but he stopped moving forward when Chris nodded his head. Chris handed over the book and the bag he had with him as he moved around a little to get his legs working again. Eddie felt a little bad that he hadn't noticed how long Chris had been sitting as he had been. His legs were probably asleep. Chris was good at recognizing it and not moving.

"Thanks, Buck," Chir said.

"Anytime, little guy. Now, who are you here with today?" The guy named Buck looked around and stopped when he saw Eddie looking at them. The man frowned and seemed to get defensive."

"I'm here with Dad. Have you met him?"

"No, you've not brought him around before. Is that the guy looking at us?"

Chris looked up as he started to wiggle his left leg to get it woke up. "Dad! Come meet Buck!" Chris said a little too loud for what Eddie would like.

A few people looked at them but not too many. Eddie walked over to where Chris was finally getting to his feet; his legs seemed to be a little more off than normal as he wobbled on them a little bit. He got steady as he stood there, and Eddie was happy. It was more than enough to make him happy that his son was growing up in the best way, the way to make sure he could take care of himself if there came a time in his life when he didn't have Eddie.

There was not a lot to do but walk up to meet this Buck guy, whoever he was. He did want to know how Chris knew him well enough to talk to him like that.

"Evan Buckley, I met Chris and your grandma when they were last here during the summer. It was a good day, but she was tired, and this one was a little too tired as well. He also had bought some kind of set, and it was hard for them to get all out. I helped them carry the things out, and then the next time I was here, he was here with your aunt."

"And what are you doing here so much?" Eddie asked. He winced as soon as he asked it. He could feel Chris' eyes on him, not happy with how Eddie was treating his friend.

"Well, back then, I was still kind of reeling from some personal things, and I started to come here because at least here I wasn't alone. I am able to just wander around a whole bunch and never have to worry about being told that I can't be here because it's for a kid. Or that I'm being creepy, which I guess to you I was being creepy. Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I think that I've heard Abuela talking about Chris' museum friend. I'm glad he's finding a good friend to do things with that Abuela can't."

"Carla's nice. I met her the last time Chris was here when I was."

"We went to the other last weekend, but I got a science project I need to work on, and I was worried about what I should pick. I think I have it. Leaves and their life cycle, but I'll cover several different kinds. I'm sure I can find a lot of information in my books at home. I have all month, so Dad and I can also look up a few books and order them."

Eddie rolled his eyes. He would be taking Chris to the library tomorrow because they were not ordering too many books. If there were a few that Chris really liked that he got from the library, they could cross that bridge when they got to it. Chris didn't have enough room in his bedroom for all of the books he tried to get Eddie to buy him. Fiction books were all over, and Eddie didn't mind overindulging in those, but with the non-fiction, there were a lot of school years left, and it wasn't like those donated well.

"Okay, fine," Chris said, sounding like he was indulging Eddie and his delusions.

Buck laughed. He looked around the room a little. "So trees?"

"Leaves, actually. The report has to be on one part of something bigger. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but when we got in here, I knew this was where I wanted to find something to do the report on. We have all month to work on it. We even have two days a week to work on things in class."

"That's awesome, so are you liking Durand a little better now?"

Chris nodded his head. Eddie knew what that was about, and he was only a little worried about Buck knowing where Chris went to school. Eddie had been around people he had gotten horrible vibes from before.

"That's good. I'm glad. I know you were upset the last time we really talked about it."

Eddie swallowed and thought about how Chris had finally told Eddie how he felt about Durand. A talk with a few people, had made changes for the best in Chris' schedule for the second half of the year. Next year there were going to be more changes, and Eddie really hoped that Miss Flores would not be coming back in the next year. Her ideas of what Chris could and couldn't do didn't mesh with what Eddie wanted for his son or what Chris wanted. There were complications, but nothing good was easy to earn.

"What are you doing for lunch?" Chris asked.

"No clue. I haven't even decided if I'm going to stay here or just go somewhere else after."

Eddie knew what was coming. He looked at Chris, who looked at him with such a look of hope on his face.

"How about Buck dn I dicus lunch while you work on your leaf stuff?"

"I'm done, but I'll stay here while you have an adult conversation."

Eddie laughed and ruffled Chris' hair before he nodded toward the side of the room where Eddie would have a line of sight of the doors and Chris.

"First things first, I realized that you didn't recognize me, which considering how much I duck and run so that I don't have to work with anyone out of the 118, I'm not shocked."

Eddie stopped what he was going to say and looked at Buck. He tried to put an LAFD helmet on Buck, and he could see it. The guy who Eddie never got a clear look on his face. The legs were also about right for the guy.

"You knew who he was?"

"No, not until I looked over to see you. I was afraid for a few seconds you were going to make a scene."

"No, I know how Chim speaks of you, but honestly, you have been one that most of your team backups on things. I've also noticed that the few times we work together, Kinard talks to you about a few things, and then he gives orders like it was all his idea, then later your team is reacting like you are the one who did it."

"That's only when the 118 is around. It's better than Chim throwing his attitude around on everything. Yes, I fucked up on certain things but never the job. I was strong and dedicated; the mistakes I made were all ones that rookies made; Bobby even said so. I just couldn't take the way Chim was and left after only a few months. We realized that Chim was never going to let up on me, and Bobby wasn't sure that even his filing a complaint would do well since I was white and Chim had been facing racism before this. So he worked on getting me out of there."

"Well, I have heard nothing but good about you from everyone else, even other stations, when things are big, and we are all working together. Hell, there were a few who talked about wanting you there for the earthquake from the 118."

"I was there just on the other side of the city. I heard one of yours got injured out."

"Yes, they did. We are still working on finding me a partner."

"Kinard said you have been asking questions. Want to come by the station later today?"

Eddie narrowed his eyes.

"What? I've heard good things, and there might be a little jealousy involved in getting you. Make Chim squirm."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. Kinard is going to be there to give a tour to a few other people. We have two spots right now. A couple that moved to the far side of the city. Plus, 217 is closer to Durand. I noticed it on my way home the other day."

"That would be creepy in most cases, you know."

"Look, your grandma spent an hour interrogating me, then let your aunt do the same. I have no shame in the fact that they love me. I didn't know that you were the same guy who was hired into the 118, or I would have taken her suggestion of a dinner date to hook you up with me."

"That was you? Dios, Buck, I'm sorry."

"I mean, she led with the fact that the family was great, at least the ones that lived here. Then it was that you were hot. Recently divorced but had been apart from your wife for a couple of years prior. It was put as a selling point."

"She's a busybody, but then Pepa is as well. She wants me happy, and her kids are working on it, so it seems like I'm the one that needs the help in her eyes."

"I have no clue what that feels like. My parents are not involved in my life at all. My sister tried for about six months, but she really didn't like that. I refused to do what he wanted, and she skipped town. I haven't heard from her."

"So it's just you?"

"Kind of? One would think that after Bobby tried to make the team feel a little like a family, I would rebuff someone else doing it, but Tommy, Kinard, that is. He has a huge house that he got when his grandparents died. It was way too big for just him, but he loved it, so it's a room share. There is a group of us, but there are only four from the 217. There is another firefighter from another station, and the rest are other first responders or medical staff. It's kind of nice. We have rooms and share chores. I didn't do well on my own after I moved out of the room I had been in and tried it for a month in an apartment alone."

"There are some people who aren't cut out for it. I've never lived alone. I went from being at home to being in the Army and living in barracks to living with my ex-wife. Then I've got Chris now."

"I don't think I'm really cut out for it, and I don't care to adhere to standards of what people think is grown up. I go to work; I pay bills; I pay rent. I just also don't like being alone."

"And with the housing issues cropping up, a house big enough for more than one helps. Lunch is a good idea. Chris wanted to hit up the truck park that has the waffle place."

"Oh, I love that one. I'm down if you are down. I had Tommy drop me off. So if you don't want me to ride with you, I can not and just take an Uber somewhere."

"It's not like I don't know who you are, buck. It's fine. Then we can see the tag team corralling him after he's eaten chicken and waffles."

Buck laughed, and for a few seconds, Eddie thought about how screwed he was on that front.

---

Eddie looked at the TV, seeing more coverage of the scene of the house in Seattle that was making a little bit of national coverage. He reached out and grabbed the remote to turn the volume up. It was horrifying, and as a brother, Eddie hated it.

"More reports have come into this reporter about the restraining order that was tried to be gotten in LA followed by here, but the court denied it, even after Doug Kendall nearly killed his wife's boss trying to find out where she ran in Hershey, Pennsylvania."

A fleeting thought crossed Eddie's mind about if Buck knew the couple who had killed each other. Maddie Kendall had held on, and the hospital had tried their hardest to save her, but in the end, she succumbed to the wounds. The newest had reported that she had fought like crazy to live, but in the end, she hadn't.

There was something that was not being discussed on the news, and Eddie wasn't sure what it was, but he figured it would come out in time. There were some laws about things.

It was just horrifying that the law didn't protect women as much as it should against threats like abusive husbands. She had done everything correctly from the report that had come out so far. In the end, it still hadn't mattered.

As if Eddie summoned him, Buck texted. Eddie frowned as Buck just asked if he could come over. There was no punctuation or capitals. It wasn't anything like his normal texts.

Eddie looked at the time. Chris wasn't even awake, and Eddie had something like dread right now. He texted Buck that he was allowed over and asked Pepa to come over as well. Eddie had a feeling that he would need to be on hand for what Buck needed more than his son.

Pepa arrived several minutes before Buck, and she was ensconced on the couch watching the telenovelas that Eddie had recorded from the week for him and Chris to watch to help Chris with his Spanish.

Eddie was in the kitchen when Buck came in. He had breakfast nearly done.

"Do you have plans with Pepa?" Buck asked.

'NO, your message was worrying, and I figured all else failed. I could help you, and she can help with Chris even if we don't leave the house."

"I need to go up north and deal with something, and I..." Buck made a rounded nose.

Eddie looked at the TV and saw the footage was back on the house with the police tape. "Buck...what is your sister's name?"

"What was it? It was Maddie. She's...I can't drive up there, and I can't fly either. I just...I'm a wreck right now. As I was getting ready to leave, the Seattle PD called me back to say she was dead. I told them I would get there as soon as I could. I have...Tommy's taking care of leave for work for a little while. I just need someone to get me there. I will not be good on a plane alone. I'll pay for the flight. Up and back. I just...yeah."

"When are you coming home?"

"I am not sure. I have...I'll tell you more about it on the way, but I can't talk about it right now."

"Sure. I'll talk to Pepa. You have your bags packed?"

"I took an Uber over here instead of the airport. My bags are in the living room. On the way back, I'll need to drive back, but I can't even think about driving up there right now."

"That's why she ran, isn't it? Her husband?"

"She tried to hide it from me, and when I talked about being between her and anyone who wanted to hurt her, she freaked out. She was gone. She was fighting with me about not liking that I didn't listen to her, but protecting her freaked her out. I know why now. I just...Tommy can't take time off."

"And I'm off right now waiting for the transfer to go through. Okay. Just calm down. Try and eat something."

"I think I'll have some of those potatoes there."

"The gravy is spicy. Chris doesn't like biscuits and gravy, but he likes potatoes and eggs covered in gravy; I just make it a little spicy. The eggs are in the oven. I'll make up a plate to eat once I'm done talking to Pepa."

Buck nodded. He grabbed a plate and added in much less food than Eddie was used to seeing.

Pepa was sitting with the news now, and Eddie knew she had heard something of it.

"This is his sister?" Pepa asked.

"Si," Eddie dropped onto the couch, wincing at the groan of it from the sudden weight.

"Are you taking him to Seattle?"

"I'm going to fly with him. I am not sure, but it sounds like he's not coming home for a few days."

"Mama and I will take care of Chris, and Carla will work what she wants for her normal times, even if it's at Mama's house."

"Abuela will probably want to come here. She typically does this when watching for longer periods. I am not sure what is going to happen here."

"You'll do what he needs. Your friendship might be new, but Eddie, it's deep."

"I know. I just...I was sitting there telling myself I was an idiot thinking that Buck would know either of them since they were from the same hometown."

"Eddie, Hershey is only like ten thousand people. So it's not out of the realm of possibility."

"Huh, I expected it to be bigger. How do you know?"

"The local news has already gotten a statement about things. I looked into this when I was sitting there, not able to sleep before you called me. I was shocked at how small it was as well. It seems like it should be bigger with the Hershey plant and everything. Go and get packed. I'll make sure he's eating."

"I'll check on Chris and wake him up before I go."

---

Eddie was still a bit shocked when they stepped into the hospital, and the first place that they went was the maternity ward and to the morgue.

Despite being a month early, the baby was doing okay, and Maddie had fought like hell to keep herself alive to give birth despite all of her other injuries. She had held her son for all of two minutes before she succumbed to her wounds. Dying to give her child life."

The flight had been silent since Buck had told them everything. Pepa had taken them to the airport to fly out, and Abuela had been there with Chris, who had been upset at being woken up for Eddie and Buck to say goodbye. Pepa promised to tell him something he would understand.

Eddie still didn't know what to do about this.

"Mister Buckley?" a woman asked as she stepped up to him.

"Who are you?" Eddie asked.

"Shawna DeVore. I'm Maddie's lawyer. We had been working through getting her will set up. The courts pushed it through first thing this morning since it was still in the legal mess of the courts. I have executed it and made sure that the ball is rolling in Hershey for things to be done. I have sent a partner of mine out there to make sure that the Kendall family gets access to nothing at the moment. If there is a court fight, I've gotten the money paid for that already. We will make sure Maddie's wishes are granted. She made a video message that I'll gladly play when you are ready for it."

"Why me?" Buck asked.

"She knew that she had a chance of dying at his hands. She knew that, so she made sure that everything in her stuff was taken care of for her death and you getting the child. Since ]it was filed here, and the murder happened here, there will be no chance of moving it, and well, even the ADA who has been assigned to cover all of this is more than willing to make sure that the courts don't ever see anyone trying to get custody of the child. The Kendall family has already declared that she killed him in a fit of rage at him cheating on her. We have seized his phone and have already gotten the orders needed to open it up and find the messages he sent threatening her. He wasn't aware she was pregnant. We have abusive messages going back years on the phone."

Eddie knew Buck needed to know this. Buck was already in love with that kid. Taking the boy away from Buck was going to kill him.

"Thanks. I think that's all I can take right now."

"Of course, I have given the nurses a packet of information for you so when you are done holding your nephew; you can head back to the hotel. I already booked you in one, and it's being taken care of. I wasn't aware you would have someone with you, so it's just one bed. It's a king bed, as your sister talked about your size all of the time."

"It's fine. We will make do with what there is," Eddie said when Buck didn't answer. He was looking at the baby.

"Did Maddie name him?"

"No, Shwana said. "She wanted to leave that to you. There is a letter that I'm going to give you when I feel like you are ready. I'm not sure why that part needed to be added, but I know you'll be here for a short time. So I'll make sure you have it in your hand.'

"Can you give it to Eddie? I'll watch the video later today, but for now, I think the letter will be better for later. Despite it all being hard between Maddie and me, we loved each other. Eddie will make sure I read it when it's time."

"Of course, I would suggest that you not be alone when it happens. Please."

"I would never do it alone. It'll probably be with my therapist back home or Eddie. Or both."

A nurse came up to the window and waved for Buck to come in. Everything was set up for Buck and Eddie to go inside with bracelets and forms. So many forms. Eddie knew that things were different in some places, but even El Paso hadn't been this bad when Chris had been born. It wasn't something that Eddie had ever thought about too much, the part of why it was needed. Eddie didn't plan on going in and seeing the baby. He didn't need to do that part. He just wanted to be there for Buck. He was going to take some pictures.

"Mister Diaz, I'll escort you to the room," a nurse said as she walked up to Eddie.

"Room? No. No."

"Go," Shawna said.

Eddie followed her to a room in the maternity area next door. There was a room set up with a normal-looking bed, and there was a bassinet already set up in there with a few things that Eddie knew the hospital didn't provide.

"What is going on?"

"Given what is going on with the infant and Mister Buckley gaining custody, a few nurses got together and picked up things. The car seat is new and rated for the size that the infant is. The hospital is making sure that Mister Buckley and the baby can bond. We are only at half capacity right now, so no one is going without a room. Once he's been shown how to care for the baby, we will be moving him in here to get some bonding time in. Given everything with the baby right now, it will be days before they are allowed out of the ward, and they might have to go to the NICU for a while. If you need anything, just let us know."

"Thank you for everything. Let the others know, please. We arrived with very little, and I wasn't sure what to do when it came time for me to leave Buck to get him things he would need."

"Well, we have nurses who are willing to pop out and get stuff after their shifts as well if something else is needed. There is a list of what is all in the bags on the chair."

Eddie was alone in the room when Buck came in carrying the baby. His eyes were wide, and he looked shell-shocked. Eddie figured he had been told all about the stuff in there.

"They bought us stuff," Buck said.

"Oh, I'm well aware. I've been over the list, and it's everything you are going to need for the next few days but also in the weeks to come, along with packages of diapers for days. I honestly have no idea what to do with this myself."

"One of the nurses who came to check him out from the NICU to make sure that everything is still good said that those who deal with pregnant mothers are all shocked as hell by this. One of the nurses from the delivery room said that Maddie was a warrior when she was giving birth. They couldn't get her to stop bleeding, and the attack brought on labor. There was no stopping it, and there was no saving Maddie. If they stopped to take care of her, the baby would die. Maddie made her choice, and they respected it. The nurse said that Maddie told them I would care for him like he's my own, and she expects me to fully adopt him. It's all in the video, according to the nurse. Which I need to watch, but I'm not ready."

"No, you aren't. What did you decide?"

"Xavier." Buck walked over to the bed and settled down into it.

Eddie got closer to Buck and looked over his shoulder at the baby.

"I'm going to make sure that he never thinks that laying a hand on another person outside of protecting another person is a good idea. I'm not going to let him act anything like his father. He's going to respect life."

It was going to be a fight going forward, but with the way that Buck was looking at Xavier, Eddie knew that Buck was going to love the kid.

"What do you want to do right now?" Eddie asked.

"I need to rest a little. I'm keyed up from everything. I have no clue what to do, in all honesty. One of them said something bout skin-to-skin time, given everything. She said she would come back as soon as she could to talk to me about that. I need to talk to Tommy about getting things set up for Xavier. There's room in my room for him, and later on, I can take over a room next to me. Tommy's already working on getting a few things set up. I need to make sure he doesn't get that crap." Buck waved his free arm toward the pile of stuff in the corner of the room.

"We can call him as soon as you lay down. Why don't you put him on your chest and let him get some rest as well? Even if you aren't asleep, you can rest."

Eddie helped Buck get his shoes off and then get him settled into the bed. He sat beside the new father and made sure that Buck understood he was right there.

"I was gonna ask you out, you know?" Buck asked. He seemed like he was going to sleep, so Eddie wasn't going to go anywhere. He didn't want the baby moving, either.

"There is no reason you can't."

"I have so much going on."

"And it's going to be going on for years. Yeah, it's a lot to deal with, but a little time alone is good. Well, away from the kid. I'll help, and we can keep on going like we were. You are a father; you are not dead."

Buck smiled, and he rubbed up and down the baby's back for a few seconds before he started to fall asleep. Eddie scooted closer to make sure that the baby would settle and sleep as well. He would move the baby to his back on the bed in a few minutes, but right now, the bonding time between the two was the best.

This would be a long and hard road, but it would be good. Eddie thought about how it started, seeing Buck and Chris and the leaf Chris had been studying hard. Eddie wouldn't go back for anything.

The End