Title: Meeting the Sea Life
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Attempted Murder
Fandom: 9-1-1
Relationships: Eddie Diaz/Evan Buckley
Tags: Getting Together, Happy Ending
Summary: This wasn't how Eddie saw his fishing trip going.
Word Count: 4,281
Beta: Grammarly



Eddie knew how this was supposed to go. He was supposed to wash up on shore with the help of a mermaid who sang to him and made him fall in love with her.

Not this.

This was so far from how it was supposed to go that it wasn't funny. The trip that Eddie had won had been something he looked forward to, right until he was sitting on the boat that was dead in the water with the captain who had taken him out fishing gone. It was a three-day, two-night big trip for him and a few others who had won the trip as well. Only when Eddie got there was no one else on the trip, and the captain had been a little weird. Eddie had signed up for the thing as part of a stupid work thing. It had been easy to just lose himself in that idea of spending that time out fishing on the ocean.

There was too much that wasn't making sense, especially when the boat was dead in the water and Eddie was alone.

Of course, hindsight was nearly always 20/20, and Eddie felt like an idiot.

The water was getting rougher with the storm that was heading into him. He could see it coming. The key to the boat was gone. The only thing that could save him had been used by the captain to get the hell off the boat. Eddie wasn't sure if going under was better or worse for him. Being up meant he could be thrown overboard. Staying under meant he could get trapped and die from lack of oxygen. He had already started to empty the ship of everything that couldn't be locked down while he had been looking for a life vest and oxygen of some kind. Of course, he had found just a life vest that was meant for a kid, but it was better than nothing.

Eddie knew without a doubt that someone had tried to kill him; he just wasn't sure who it was. he was glad that he had made sure that his rights were signed over to Abuela and Pepa. They would make sure that Chris was safe. He had made sure his will stated that his parents should never get custody of Chris. There was too much on Eddie's head to even think about the fact that his parents could have been trying to kill him.

The water was getting even more choppy, and Eddie decided to stay below deck. It was safer as he could at least hopefully stay contained and not be eaten by a shark.

Eddie had already put his cell phone into a waterproof bag for the trip, and he had powered it down so that he made sure to have power for when he called. So far, he was too far out, and the SAT phone that had been on the boat was gone as well. The radio wasn't working either, or Eddie wasn't sure how to work it, which he knew he did if it was a normal radio.

The night was falling again, and Eddie wasn't sure he was going to see the light of day again, but he was going to try his hardest because Chris needed him.

---

Eddie felt the way the boat was rocking in the wind. There had been so much water that the boat had flipped in the night. Eddie had waited for it to settle a little before he had left the pocket of air with his vest strapped to his back since he couldn't fit it around his body in any other fashion. He had a bag of snacks that he hoped would allow him not to die, and there were bottles of water he had roped together to where they were going to stay attached to him and could just float on the water of the ocean.

So far, the boat hadn't sunk, and he had stayed on the bottom of it, which was now the top of it. There was nothing in his line of sight, no lights at all, that could help him figure out which way he needed to go. The moon wasn't in the sky either. He could have used that to start, maybe to float in the right direction and hope that no sharks ate him.

The bump of something against the side of the boat had Eddie rolling over, and he saw it was a float like was on a bit ship, the circle with a rope attached. It was a little strange as there had not been one of those on the boat. He rolled over carefully, making sure not to put his weight too much on one side or another. It would make sure that he didn't go into the water again. Since it was dark out, he didn't need to worry about burning. He had tried to sleep but found he could just rest.

Eddie touched the float as he slipped over that way, his feet holding onto the lip of the bottom to make sure he didn't slide off. The boat tipped a little, and then there was a fin. It was a shark fin. Eddie tried to back away, but he moved too fast, and the boat tipped; he went into the water. Eddie tried to stay calm so that the shark that was there wouldn't actually go after him. He knew he wasn't bleeding, so there was no way to attract the shark that way. It was just panic motion that would make it come after him. Eddie opened his eyes to see just darkness in the water. He let himself float up to the surface and saw more than one fin in the water. It was a school of sharks, or whatever a grouping of sharks was called.

There was no reason even to think he would survive this until one of the sharks came over and bumped the floating device toward him. Eddie carefully grabbed it and latched onto it.

Eddie could barely see a thing, but there was enough light from the stars, and the moon was starting to come up, so there was a little light from it. One of the sharks was speeding away. Eddie looked where th shark was headed and saw a searchlight in the water. He nearly let go of the float to call out when the light flipped toward them, aiming at the shark in the water. It showed that there were a lot of sharks in the area. Eddie could see there was more than what he thought in the water.

The shark that had pushed the float toward him came closer and then dipped under the boat fully.

Eddie was afraid he was dreaming. He had been thinking of the fact that he was probably going to die by a shark bite over anything else in the world. If he made it to morning, he was going to die from the sun probably or just drown, but at night, he is biggest threat was sharks.

The sharks started to move away from him, starting to move around the boat like they were protecting it.

"You okay?" a voice asked, making Eddie jerk back to look at the man who was in the water.

Eddie blinked at the man who was in the spotlight now from the boat that was getting closer and closer to him.

"I think I hit my head, or I'm asleep."

"Nah, you are neither. Now, are you Eddie Diaz?"

"Yes."

"Great. The boat is going to be hauled in by these guys, but I think that you need to get to land long before that. You okay hitching a ride with me and my friends to somewhere safe?"

"Safe?" Eddie looked at the sharks that were still circling them. "How the fuck are we safe?"

"Because they don't attack unless I tell them to."

Eddie had heard all kinds of stories about things that were not of the normal world. He had seen a few things that he had never thought were possible when it came to the world when he had been in the Army. Things he never asked about. It was why he was on the mission he had been on. He just accepted and moved on. It had ended up with them shot down, but still, he had never asked about how the patient had lived, how any of them weren't hurt worse in the crash. Of course, Eddie had still been shot three times in the wake of the crash, and they had to get out of there. But he had been more than willing to just talk about the things he knew. He didn't know how they survived.

"I don't even want to know. But sure, let's go. You and your friends can save me."

The man laughed, but then, seconds later, Eddie wasn't looking at the man anymore. It was a shark, a massive shark that Eddie hadn't even noticed before this. This had not been a shark that had been visible to him before this. He was pretty sure that he would have freaked the fuck out. This shark seemed to be big enough to eat Eddie whole, but it swam close to allow Eddie to reach out and grasp the upper fin. Eddie knew he was crazy for doing this. He knew that he would need a psych evaluation after this. There was no way to tell anyone what happened without being put on some kind of hold to make sure that whatever happened hadn't made him go insane.

The shark took off slowly, building speed even as the bottles of water that were trailing from Eddie's vest didn't slow them down at all.

In a short time, there was land in sight, with what looked like another boat closer to them that they were heading for. It was an LA County Sheriff's boat. Eddie knew the badge that was printed on the side of it. He wasn't shocked when a pair of deputies pulled him up into the boat and then did the same for the guy who had turned into the shark.

"Buckley, how the hell did you find him?"

"The area was where the last grouping of sharks was noticed by the Coast Guard, and the Navy was all the way up here doing some stuff as well a few days ago and thought there was something out there that was attracting them. I think that the water was chummed over the last week. Then the captain was caught coming back without his boat and no passenger when he should have had one, and there was no wreck report."

The man who first spoke shook his head but waved the man he called Buckley away.

"I will never understand the way your brain works. Mister Diaz, my name is Nate Stand. I'm one of the ones who was called in when the captain who took you out didn't bring you back, and someone was worried."

"I'm exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. I would love to get somewhere that I can just relax, and then I'll gladly talk to you."

"Oh, we don't need much in that way. For now, though, you are going to be considered MIA. Someone tried to kill you, and the LAFD and the Sheriff's Department would love to know who set you up for that."

Eddie looked at Buckley, who was looking a little shocked, but not enough. "You guessed it?"

"I did." Buckley rubbed the back of his neck and laughed when Stand just shorted. "Like I said, chumming the waters is the best way to make sure that a body is never found. He was paid well enough to leave his boat to be destroyed by the storm that was coming in. I was able to get to you when the captain was figured out to have done what he did."

"I still don't understand it all," Eddie said.

"I am not sure that we will ever understand it all. MIA for now, but we will be taking you someplace safe."

Buckley laughed and grinned.

"I am not sure that many would call my house safe," Buckley said.

"Your brother is the one that said that you needed to be left with him, or you would mess it up."

Buckley huffed.

Eddie wanted to sleep. He didn't care about anything else but sleep; if food and drink came with that, he would be happy about it.

---

The audio from his mother wasn't a shock. The way his father reacted when he found out his son was lost at sea made Eddie second guess what was going on. He hadn't been allowed anywhere that anyone could see him. Hell, he hadn't been brought in normally either; he had hidden on the floorboard of the SUV from the Sheriff's department when the LAPD called that his mother and father had come to see about declaring him dead.

"Helena, he could still be found," Ramon said.

"He was lost at sea, Ramon. You cannot tell me that you think he survived that? We need to make sure that Chris is taken care of, and that means that we need to push this so that we can get him home where he belongs. We have the will that Eddie filed in El Paso the last time he was there."

"Since he lived here, it's only going to be considered if he didn't file another one up here," one of the Sheriff's deputies said.

"What?" Helena asked.

"He lived here. It's not valid to have a will processed where he didn't live when he lived up here."

Eddie knew that voice; it was Daniel Buckley, an LAPD detective who had taken this entire case too personally. Eddie wasn't sure what was up with the Buckley family, but he was pretty sure that none of them were normal. He had been hidden away on Buckley land in the middle of Rancho Palos Verdes. Eddie had loved it, but he missed his son. Chris thought he was missing, and he wasn't happy that Chris thought that Eddie was going to be leaving him, but just in case his parents had done to there instead of coming in where a cop could see them, they didn't want Chris to have an idea that his father was fine.

"What would you know about it? You are just some dumb cop," Helena said.

Eddie closed his eyes.

"Actually, I went to law school. I just found that I tried to do it and hated it, so I went to the part of the law I thought I would love. I know full well about a lot of things that have to do with the law. Even if the will were processed legally, we would still need to make sure that he has no other will that was filed after that."

Eddie hadn't filed a will down in El Paso, not since he had gotten home and taken care of things after Shannon left him. It was impossible for it to be legal. The one filed in LA County would have to be the one that was used for anything.

"We can make sure that the will is verified and everything is in order. So far, since Chrisptoehr was left in the hands of his great-grandmother and great-aunt, he will be staying there until we verify everything. The local offices are all in agreement on that."

"You will give us our grandson, or I'm going to sue you."

"Helena, you are acting strange. What is going on? You brought Eddie's will? Why would you even...we weren't even home when the call came in, and it was assumed he was alive when we got the original message. Tell me right now, what is going on?"

"I always carry it with me. Eddie's so reckless that I knew it would come soon with him dead."

"Helena Diaz, you are under arrest for attempted murder," Daniel said.

Eddie snorted at the indignant tone that came from his mother as she read her rights and screamed for a lawyer.

"Do you want to talk to your father?" Detective Ransone asked as he stopped the audio from the room. His mother's tone got even worse, and she was pretty much harpy screaming.

"Yes, I would like to. I want to make sure that he didn't do this. I want to know that my father didn't pay for me to be killed just so my mother could get her hands on my son."

Ransone stood up and walked over to the door, opening it up. Eddie's lawyer slipped into the room, and then there was another man who was on light duty but had been following Eddie around for a few days just to have a body on him.

It was a few minutes later that his father came into the room with another man with him.

"So far, you are not under arrest, Mister Diaz, but I do want to caution you that this is going to be recorded, and it will be used against you or your wife if need be," Ransone said as he laid down a recorder.

"that's fine. I haven't been a part of this beyond giving my wife too much money and not reining her in when I should have. Eddie, are you okay?"

"Not even a little bit. I'm still dealing with being left for dead on a boat, the waters around it being chummed so that sharks were there. It was a chance that a few guys out having fun happened upon me before the storm hit, and I was saved. The boat was found and pulled back in to have it looked over and made sure that it would be used to put the captain away for attempted murder. Dad, why does she hate me?"

"You never gave her what she wanted. I thought she would see once you were up here that you are what Christopher needs, not her. She's just fully believing her own made-up world that she's the only good parent in the world. Given that she thinks the three children that she did raise can't raise a kid on their own, I have to wonder how much she takes anything seriously about what she does. It's the worst kind of thing. To kill your own child to get their child. I'll not support her financially for this. She's not earned her own money for years. I'll make sure that she's got a place to live, but I can't...Eddie. I can't."

"I know, Pops." Eddie stood up and walked around the table to hug his father. For the first time in a long time, Eddie felt like his father was seeing him for who he was and not who they all thought he was.

"What do you need to put my wife away?"

---

Eddie laid his fishing pole down and looked at the water as it calmed from the few waves that were slowing moving through the area. He hadn't wanted to be out here, but he also knew that he needed to get over the fear of water. There was no telling what kind of shit was lurking below the water, but he also knew that nothing that would attack him was there. Buck was under there somewhere, having a little bit of a swim.

It was the first time Eddie had been on a boat since had had nearly been murdered on one. Chris was sitting at the back of the boat with a book in his hand, covered in sunblock to make sure that he didn't burn. There were more than enough drinks scattered around him. They were going to be out here for a week, with Eddie having been pushed to take the time after the whole trial of his mother was done. She wouldn't be seeing the light of day for a while. While she was agreed to have mental issues, she was sane enough to help, or in her case, hinder her own case. She refused to shut up when the prosecutor was proving the case against her. She had been tossed in jail and her bail revoked because she just wouldn't shut up. Eddie had hoped that she would be found insane and, therefore, would get the deep mental health help she needed, but it hadn't happened that way.

There were a lot of things that were being discussed about his father and sisters and their lives in El Paso.

"Dad, do you and Buck kiss?" Chris asked.

Eddie rolled his eyes and looked back at Chris, who still had his face buried in the book.

"Yes, mijo, we do. Why?"

"There is kissing in this book between parents, and the main character thinks it's gross. I don't see you and Buck kiss."

"Well, I'm not big on public displays of affection, and Buck is, but he's gotten good at the kind I do like."

"When he touches you?"

"Yes. I like those. I like being touched by hands that care for me. He kisses me a lot of other times, and I love it. I promise you that I'm not being mean with that. We discussed what we liked and made compromises on what we were doing. It's worked well for us."

"Okay."

Eddie wasn't sure the conversation was done, but he wouldn't keep it going. Chris would bring it back up at some point when he felt like he needed to talk about it again. Still, Eddie knew that Chris had attached himself to Buck with an enthusiasm that Eddie had initially been shocked about.

The boat rocked, and Eddie watched as Buck hauled himself up onto the sideboard where he had left his shorts after dropping them when he had gone to shift into his shark form.

"Can you do more than one form?"

"Like, could I change into a whale? No. Just a shark. There is a myth that everyone turns into what they are inside. I never understood why I turned into a shark, but in the end, I did. I will not even think about what I would be if I turned into something on land. I love the ocean."

Eddie knew Daniel had won custody of Buck when Daniel had turned eighteen. Daniel had gone to law school with a kid under his arm and made it all the way before choosing something else. Eddie hadn't asked a lot about it because he knew that things were not his to know if he wasn't offered up.

"Yeah, I can't see you as anything but something in the ocean. Makes it hard to defend yourself on land, doesn't it?"

"Who is coming after someone who looks like this?" Buck waved down at his body.

Eddie could think of a few guys who would go after Buck if they thought he was the reason they were feeling things that were not for a woman. Eddie still didn't care too much to say that, as most would not go after Buck. Buck was too big, but he was a softie at heart. Anyone who went after Buck deserved whatever anyone did to them.

"Quit thinking about people going after me and dropping the rope."

Eddie tossed the rope ladder down the side of the boat. He had pulled it up as the sound of it hitting the side of the boat had annoyed him.

"Did you get what you want?" Eddie asked.

The bag was tossed up with a few fish inside that were not even dead. Eddie had seen the hauls from when Buck and his family had gone fishing, but he had never figured it out, given that none of them had arms. There were a lot of things that Eddie would never know.

"You couldn't kill them before getting them up here?"

"Why? That would mean biting them, and I am not sure if you have seen my teeth, but they are not pretty. It's not going to be something that you would want to eat if you saw it."

Eddie agreed that something that had been bitten by a shark might not seem appetizing, but at least it wasn't alive then. Eddie just wanted to eat something that he didn't know was alive just an hour before he ate it. He liked grocery stores where he knew everything had been dead for a while.

"Look at your face. Stay up here where you won't see me taking the heads off then. I'll get started on dinner. I made sure to bring plenty of stuff that you and Chris would eat if you don't like the fish I make."

Buck grabbed the bag; it smelled like fish, but that wasn't a bad thing. He liked fish most of the time.

"Dad, come and cuddle with me," Chris called out.

Eddie looked over at him to see Chris dropping the book and turning to the side to look out into the water. The area he was at had a good look on the water. Eddie had worried a little bit about it, but in the end, he had been settled, given how Chris was careful every single time he stood up.

There was no reason to fear the water with Buck being there. There was nothing that would harm them, and even if Chris or Edid went over, Buck would save them. There was nothing to fear from the sea life, even if some of it scared him.

The End