home invasion

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"We responded to a home invasion in progress," Athena reported to Bobby and the rest of the 118 once they arrived at the home to assist the victim. "Found the homeowner unconscious.'

"And the invaders?" Bobby inquired.

"House is clear."

"No signs of forced entry?" Buck asked.

"Uh, just some spilled food in the kitchen. Dispatch says that she called from upstairs. She took one hell of a tumble. She's breathing but unresponsive."

Rushing to the victim's side, Eddie and Olivia kneeled to assess the situation. Eddie pressed his fingers to the side of her neck and looked over his shoulder.

"Pulse is elevated."

"I mean, something must have really scared her, right?" Buck looked up the flight of stairs. "You sure there's no one else here?"

"I'm sorry, who's the officer on duty here, Detective Buckley?" Olivia glanced at her best friend. He stuck his tongue out at her while she began to rub the victim's sternum, earning a response.

"Ah, we have to get out. We have to..." The victim began to utter before a crack was heard throughout the room.

"Oh!"

"That was her pelvis," Bobby said.

"Ma'am, I need you to stay still," Eddie ordered. "A pelvic injury can lead to internal hemorrhaging. I'll give you something for the pain, okay?" He looked over at Olivia. "Start a line. Four milligrams of morphine."

"On it, boss," she mocked.

"I got the splint sheet," Buck volunteered.

"Ma'am, you told 911 that you saw someone in the kitchen," Athena recounted. "Who did you see?"

"It wasn't a man. It was...a monster."

"Ma'am, we didn't find anyone in the house," Athena told her.

"It was in the kitchen."

Buck left the foyer to investigate further, he spotted crumbs on the floor of the kitchen, and when he pushed open the pantry door a raccoon was on one of the shelves.

Pressing down on his walkie, he spoke, "This is Buckley. I've apprehended the suspect."

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Olivia stared at the man out of the corner of her eye and swatted the creeping hand away. He yelped and jerked back dramatically holding his hand in pain while his best friend rolled her eyes and stared back at the batch of cookies.

"Grow up, seriously."

"Olivia, that hurt," Buck groaned.

"I barely hit you."

"Just give me one cookie. I literally helped you make them."

She whipped her head to the side and scoffed, that couldn't be further from the truth. All he did was mix the batter when asked which yes, was helpful but didn't require a whole lot of manpower.

"This batch is for Eddie, he's the only one in the house that likes these chocolate chipless cookies. You can have the next batch in the oven. But save some for the kids."

"Look at you being all domestic."

"Stop it."

He laughed, studying his best friend's expression for a few seconds. "You seem happy, Liv."

"I am." Anyone could see it, she carried herself much lighter and she wore a smile on her face more often than not, the usual heavy load that weighed on her shoulders was lifted and the dark cloud that loomed was gone. "Are you?"

"Happy?" He shrugged. "Sure."

"Come on, I know you're in this whole "Age of Absolutely" thing but are you actually happy?" Olivia dried her hands on the dish towel hanging from the oven and cocked her head to the side, concern filling her features.

"Yes. There's no need to worry about me."

"You've done your fair share of worrying about me. Now, it's my turn."

Buck rolled his eyes. "Fair is fair, I guess."

"Now I get to come over to your house and eat up all of your food."

"I take it back, friendship over."

"Evan!"

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"Well, we're not gonna get up to the attic that way." Bobby observed the foam exiting the attic as they arrived at the house where dispatch had directed them. "Do you know if he has his phone on? Have you tried calling him?"

The woman who called frantically glanced at the team of firefighters. "I've been calling him since before I called you. He's not answering."

"I'm not hearing any ringing," Eddie said.

"Uh, he said he would soundproof the house."

"Uh, well, it looks like he insulated it pretty good, too," Buck said as he held the reader to the ceiling. "I'm not getting any kind of heat signature."

"How do we get him out if we can't find him?" Olivia asked.

"Old fashioned pick and poke. Everybody gear up and spread out," Bobby ordered.

"Uh, hang on, what are you poking?"

After gearing up, they went around poking holes in the ceiling with a halligan to try and find any sign of life from the man. It wasn't until Eddie found a particular hollow spot in the attic that he figured out that's where Vincent must have been due to the lack of insulation in the area.

"Guys, I want you to start poking inspection holes. I want to find the edges of that plywood floor up there."

"Cap, should I grab some support?"

"It wouldn't be enough. We need something stronger."

"Well, you know what? This is a DIY family, so let's DIY it."

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"Okay...promise not to be mad."

Olivia suspiciously narrowed her eyes at the figure poking its head into the bedroom. She sat against the headboard and carelessly tossed the novel aside on the bedside table with a raised eyebrow.

"I make no promises, Eddie."

In response, the man smiled and pulled the leash from behind his back to reveal a dog — more specifically, Hoover, the dog she and Chimney had rescued not too long ago.

"Surprise?" Eddie innocently shrugged.

"Hoover! Is this why you wouldn't tell me where you were going?"

"Honestly, yeah." He unclipped the leash, allowing the dog to leap onto their bed. "I wasn't sure if you'd be up for it so I thought I'd ask for forgiveness instead."

"He's cute. No need to ask for forgiveness."

"Oh, really?" Eddie crossed his arms and tilted his head. He stepped forward to try and take a seat on his side of the bed but instead of receiving a warm greeting from Hoover, he got a low growl. "Okay, no. This was a mistake."

"Oh, stop, the kids will love him. Elisa should be back with them soon."

Nightfall soon hit and everyone quickly got acquainted with the newest addition. Eddie and the boys were in the living room playing some new game they got not too long ago while Olivia and her younger sister were in the kitchen seated around the table and chatting.

"So, what are you going to do about the roommate issue?"

According to the college student, she and May were dealing with an annoying roommate situation. Since their apartment had a spare room, they decided to look for someone to rent it out and they assumed they found the perfect person until the girl started inviting her boyfriend and his annoying group of fraternity friends over.

"I don't know," Elisa shrugged. "May won't let me kick her out. She said it's rude...whatever."

Olivia narrowed her eyes and nodded in agreement. "Maybe go with a less...harsh approach. Talk to her first."

"Ugh, you people and your damn morals."

"Elisa..."

"Olivia!"

Both girls whipped their heads toward the loud voice. Olivia stood up first and eyed the kids sitting on the couch, the two shrugged, and she furrowed her eyebrows as she ventured further down the hall to where Eddie was standing in the middle of their bedroom doorway.

"What's wrong...Oh. Hoover!" Olivia gasped at the sight of their bedroom. Pillows were torn open causing feathers to be strewn around the room and there was a trail of toilet paper coming out of the open bathroom. "I knew he was too quiet..."

"I loved those boots," Elisa whimpered as she ran into the room and grasped the torn leather boots in her hands. "These were supposed to be mine."

"Karen did say he has a habit of chewing things up."

Olivia glared at him and picked up the stuffed porcupine lying on the nightstand. "Not my things. Find him a new home."

"On it."

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Olivia jumped and giggled at the loud hissing sound of the champagne bottle, she watched as the cork flew above and nearly hit Buck. "Whoops." The woman innocently shrugged as she poured the bubbly into glass flutes.

Everyone was gathered at the Grant-Nash home to celebrate Hen completing medical school and officially becoming a doctor.

"A little warning would be nice," Buck grabbed a few more glasses from the cupboard. "I'll pour a glass of water for Bobby."

"Athena said there's some sparkling water in the fridge we can open," she pointed to the fridge.

"Ew, sparkling water is gross."

"Good thing it's not for you."

Buck rolled his eyes before Athena came sauntering into the kitchen with Chimney suggesting the two could use a few more hands. After dropping the remaining liquid into one last glass, they gathered them up in their hands and joined everyone in the backyard where Bobby was grilling up some hamburgers.

"Paging Doctor Wilson!"

Olivia made her way over to Eddie and handed him one of the glasses. He grabbed it with his left hand and then looped his free arm around her waist, tugging her into his side.

Chimney raised his glass. "I'll toast to that. To Hen, and her beginning this new journey on a high note. Congratulations, but we're still gonna miss you." He raised his glass once again. "To Hen!"

"To Henrietta Wilson!"

"Hey, you guys think this is gonna be the last time we...you know, we're all together like this?" Buck solemnly asked, bringing the cheery mood down.

"No. We live like 20 minutes from each of you," Hen denied. "This will not be the last time that we're together."

"I certainly hope not, although you are gonna be pretty busy," Bobby added.

"So we won't hold it against you when you ghost us," Eddie said.

"I'm really gonna miss you guys."

A teary-eyed Chimney smiled at his best friend. "We'll miss you too."

"Uh, hey, speaking of missing people, I don't see Hoover," Buck noticed.

"Yeah, where is that little terror?" Olivia mused.

"Hoover has found his forever home," Athena informed. "In somebody else's home."

"Athena found Hoover a perfect home. It's a quiet neighborhood, a house with a big yard. An older couple, no kids."

"Yeah, husband travels a lot, and the wife hates being alone, so I asked her if she wanted a new watchdog."

"Cheers to that!"

"Cheers!"

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authors note

-I was tempted to write Hoover in as part of the Diaz-Rivera family but I feel like I would have forgotten about him after a few chapters🫣

-also some buck and olivia interaction for you all, feel like those besties haven't interacted in a while!!