Buck I, Olivia I, Amanda I
It's been a few months, hasn't it? XD I got all caught up in moving and finding an internship and getting a new hobby and going back down the rabbit hole that is "Danger Zone" . . . but I finally felt the motivation to come back to this one! I apologize in advance if it's a little shaky in the beginning.
Members of NYPD get the news their favorite firefighters are coming back to New York, and in Los Angeles, Buck updates Eddie, then the 118, on what's happening with Bobby. Turns out, their captain got left out of the San Angelo loop . . . whoops.
Enjoy!
***
"Bobby worked 9/11?" Eddie asked in shock as he and Buck cleaned up after dinner.
"Yeah," Buck nodded, putting leftovers in Tupperware containers. "He was sent to help clean up after the attacks."
"God," Eddie sighed, closing the dishwasher and leaning against the counter. "I've been in warzones after 9/11. To think of being up close and personal with the damage that caused the war . . . " He shook his head. "I can't imagine."
"And Bobby's going back to New York for the 20th anniversary," Buck nodded, trading the Tupperware for bottles of beer. "I admire that. He's the strongest leader I know. For him to go back and face those memories?" He whistled. "How can you not respect that?"
"I do," Eddie agreed. "Do you know if he's meeting anyone there? Or he's taking anyone?"
"He didn't say anything about meeting people," Buck shook his head. "But I said I would go with him."
"You did?" Eddie's eyebrows shot up.
"Yeah," Buck nodded. "I mean . . . it's Bobby. And every first responder hears about being the first to run into danger . . . I can't think of many calls more dangerous than 9/11, both during the event and its aftermath. I think it's a good learning opportunity for me, too. But I want to be there for Bobby, too, no matter if anyone else goes with him or not."
Eddie smiled softly. "You're incredible. You know that, right?"
Buck ducked his head bashfully. "I'd do it for any of the 118."
"I know," Eddie grinned. "That's what makes you incredible." He pointed his beer at Buck. "He's lucky he's got you. We're all lucky we've got you."
Buck hoped his blush wasn't too obvious as he clinked his bottle against Eddie's. "Thanks, Eds."
***
The bullpen was mostly silent as the officers went to work on their case, their leader turning away from the board when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Frowning, she pulled it out and checked her most recent message.
Elliot: Did you get this e-mail?
Olivia checked the attached file her best friend sent, and her eyebrows raised when she saw what it was for. She walked into her office and accessed her e-mail on her computer. Sure enough, she found a matching e-mail sitting in her inbox, and she clicked it open to read it through. When she reached the end, she swallowed hard, leaning back in her chair. She finally tapped Elliot's contact in her phone and put her phone to her ear.
Elliot answered immediately. "I can't believe he's coming back."
"It's the 20th anniversary, Elliot," Olivia said softly, seeing the information Owen had sent about him and TK returning to New York. "I'm not surprised at all."
"I know," Elliot sighed. "We just know better than anyone, other than maybe TK, how much the day weighs on Owen."
"You're right," Olivia nodded. "It always takes a toll on him this time of year . . . but twenty years, El."
"And we'll be here for him every step of the way, Liv," Elliot said firmly. "There's no way I'm going to be anywhere else."
"Absolutely," Olivia agreed. "Did he mention where he and TK would be staying? I don't think he did."
"No, he didn't," Elliot confirmed. "What're you thinking?"
"He and TK need every person they can get," Olivia answered. "Peter and I have an extra room at our loft. I'll contact him, ask if we can host them while they're here."
"Good idea," Elliot agreed. "I'd offer my place, but considering what a wonderful year my family has had . . . "
He trailed off, and Olivia winced. "You aren't wrong." She looked up when there was a knock on her door, and she nodded, seeing Peter in the doorway, two coffees in his hands. "I'll let you know what they say."
"Copy that," Elliot said. "Talk later, Liv."
"Bye, Elliot." She hung up and looked up at Peter, a tired smile on her face. "This is gonna be a long month."
"And that's before we get any cases," Peter agreed, handing her one of the coffees as she stood. "I'm guessing it's 9/11?"
"Owen's coming to New York for the anniversary," Olivia confirmed, following him to the couch in her office. "And TK's coming with him."
"It's a big anniversary," Peter nodded as they sat down. "Owen's not the only officer returning."
"Really?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.
"A good friend of mine in Chicago texted me this morning," Peter said. "Her former battalion chief, now her deputy district chief, decided he's coming, too."
Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Was he here when the towers came down?"
"No, he's been CFD his entire career," Peter shook his head. "His crew was sent as a relief force."
Olivia nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. "I get the feeling we'll see a lot of firefighters we've never seen when the memorial rolls around."
"Absolutely," Peter agreed. "Or ones who have never come back since."
"Speaking of," Olivia leaned forward. "Since Owen and TK are coming to New York, I was thinking they might stay with us at the loft."
"If they want to, of course," Peter raised an eyebrow.
Olivia snorted. "There's no forcing Owen to do anything. Of course, if they want to."
"Then I'm perfectly fine with it," Peter assured her.
Olivia smiled. "Thank you."
"No problem, Liv," Peter slung his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned against him with a happy hum. "I know what they mean to you, especially Owen. If there's anything we can do to help them with the upcoming anniversary, I think we should. Offering the loft for them is the least we can do."
Olivia nodded in agreement. "I think Noah will be giving a ton of hugs before the Strands leave."
Peter laughed. "I don't think he's going to mind that one bit."
Olivia grinned. "Not at all."
***
The giggles of Jesse and Billie echoed in the household, but they were not loud enough to cover the sound of Sonny's phone ringing in the kitchen. "'Manda, can you get that?" her boyfriend called.
"Yeah!" she responded, standing from her couch and rubbing Frannie's head. "Keep an eye on the girls, OK?" Her faithful dog woofed and thumped her tail on the cushions, making Amanda chuckle as she walked into the kitchen and checked Sonny's phone. She grinned and put it on speaker. "Hey, Tyler!"
"It's TK?" Sonny twisted from where he was working on the stove.
"No, my partner stole my phone," TK said sarcastically.
"Which one?" Amanda smirked. "The paramedic or the boyfriend?"
"Very funny, 'Manda."
"You know me so well."
"What can we do for you, man?" Sonny asked.
A sigh came from TK's end. "Dad got invited to the 20th anniversary memorial. He's going. I'm coming with him."
Amanda looked up at Sonny, startled. Her boyfriend took the homemade chicken alfredo off the stove, turning the heat off as he mulled his thoughts over in his head. "I'm not surprised he's coming back to New York," Sonny finally said. "And I'm not surprised you're coming back with him. I just know what a weight that has to be on both of you."
"A huge one," TK agreed. "I mean . . . I was seven when the Towers fell, and Dad threw himself into the 252. It's ultimately what tore him and my mom apart. I know how much this day weighs on him, what the aftermath of this day did to him. And until this last year . . . I don't think I ever really knew the magnitude until this past year." He was silent for a few moments. "The moment I realized Dad got the invite . . . there was no questioning. I knew I was going with him."
Amanda smiled, proud of TK. "You're a good son, TK."
"I've had pretty awful moments in my life, 'Manda," TK scoffed.
"Every child has their awful moments with their parents, brother," Sonny smirked as he dished dinner into bowls.
"Every child?" TK sniggered. "Even you, the good Catholic son?"
Sonny snorted loudly. "Is that so hard to believe?"
"You're the goody two-shoes of SVU. Pardon me."
Sonny smirked at Amanda. "And you seriously wonder why whenever we got up to something, everyone immediately suspected you."
"What are you talking about, Sonny?" TK sniffed. "I'm a perfect angel."
Amanda giggled. "And so's your dad when you stick him and Liv in the same room."
"Of course he is. Liv is just perfect-er." He paused. "Is that a word? It should be."
Amanda shook with laughter, covering her mouth with her hand so she didn't go into hysterics. "Why do I even try?"
"Because someone has to," Sonny winked at her. "And we know between the two of us, TK's more frightened of you."
"That's true!" TK chirped. "The cops are always worse." They heard a faint voice on the other end of the line, followed by TK laughing. "Carlos is protesting."
"We really need to meet this boyfriend of yours soon," Amanda sighed. "Then all three of us can gang up on you."
"'Manda!"
"He probably has good stories to tell, too," Sonny agreed, grinning widely.
"Sonny, I swear – "
"Hey, how good is he with kids?" Amanda's face resembled the Cheshire Cat with how wide she grinned. "Think he'll like the girls?"
"Oh, good idea!" Sonny pointed his spoon at her. "The ultimate test for if he's good enough for TK. How does he handle the goddaughters?"
There was a telltale thud on the other end of the line, signaling TK's head had just dropped onto a hard surface. "You two are fired from being my best friends," he declared. "You two are awful."
Sonny smirked smugly, licking the alfredo off the spoon. "Pretty sure that's in the job description, man."
"This is harassment. I'm hanging up now."
"Is that Uncle TK?" Jesse's head poked into the dining room.
A groan came from the phone. "You two play dirty."
"Oh, we didn't do a thing, Tyler," Amanda giggled. "She popped in all by herself." She patted the chair next to her, and Jesse scrambled to climb on. "Say hi, Jesse!"
"Hi, Uncle TK!"
"Hi there, Jesse Bean!" TK's tone instantly warmed when talking to his goddaughter. "How're you doing, sweetie?"
"I'm great!" Jesse cheered. "I'm glad I'm back in school."
"Oh, I bet you are," TK chuckled. "Y'know, Jesse . . . I have some news that I think you're going to like."
"I am?" Jesse tilted her head, resembling Frannie for a moment and making Amanda smile fondly.
"I certainly think so, sweetie. What would you think about me and Uncle Owen visiting New York soon?"
Jesse's squeal made Frannie start barking from the living room. "You are?!" the girl jumped up and down in excitement.
"Easy on the chair, baby," Amanda warned.
TK sounded in a much happier mood. "Yeah, Jesse, we are. We'll be in New York for several days, and it'll be soon, I promise. I promise one of those days, I will be all yours."
Jesse gave Amanda a brilliant smile. "Uncle TK's coming back!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, he is, sweetie," Amanda put an arm around her. "And I think he and Uncle Owen are going to need some extra big Rollins hugs when they're here. You think you can do that?"
"Yes!" Jesse nodded up and down so quickly, Amanda almost worried her head would drop to the ground. "I'm good at hugs!"
"Oh, I know you are, sweetheart," TK said fondly. "Dad and I are looking forward to getting ours. I'll see you soon, OK?"
"OK!" Jesse beamed. "Love you, Uncle TK!"
"I love you, too, Jesse Bean. Give Billie a kiss for me, OK?"
"I will!" Jesse carefully climbed down from the chair and raced back to the living room to do just that.
TK sighed happily. "Oh, I needed some love from the Rollins-Carisi house. Thanks for picking up."
"Hey," Sonny folded his arms, glaring at the phone. "We will always pick up for you, brother."
"And no matter how hard we tease you, you will always get love from us," Amanda added. "So you better be prepared to block out time for just the three of us . . . and individually with us, too."
"Copy that," TK chuckled. "Alright, I need to go, and I think it's about dinnertime for you, too. See you guys soon."
"See you soon, TK," Sonny smiled.
"Love you, Tyler," Amanda added.
"Love you guys, too."
The phone clicked, ending the call. As Amanda turned Sonny's phone screen off, Sonny planted his hands on the counter and looked at his partner, concern in his eyes. "So we're pampering TK while he's here."
"Absolutely, we are," Amanda agreed. "And we're finding out the dates he and Owen are here so we can find a day for them to spend time with all the kids."
"Agreed," Sonny nodded. "This time of year is hard on them, so we do whatever we can to make it even a little easier."
"God, I love you," Amanda beamed, kissing his cheek.
Sonny chuckled. "Love you, too."
***
"Anyone know why I got a notification yesterday that I'd be leading A-shift for a bit?" Chimney asked in the middle of inventory on the ambulance.
Activity slowed as the words sank in, then Ravi peered out from where he was searching through compartments. "You are?" he asked.
Buck, on the other hand, sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did you check the dates?"
"Yeah, I did," Chimney pulled out his phone, flipping to his calendar. "It's . . . " He trailed off, gulping. "Oh . . . oh."
"Yeah," Buck nodded. "He's going back to New York."
"Oh," Ravi's eyes widened in understanding. "He was there for 9/11?"
"He helped with the clean-up," Buck informed him. "He didn't share much with me, but I could tell it left an impact. I got a message from Athena, she and May are going with him, too."
"I can't imagine what it was like being there," Chimney sighed, putting his clipboard on his knees. "We see videos all the time . . . but to actually respond to that kind of call . . . "
"It's brutal," Hen whispered, looking down at her hands. "I heard only a little of what it was like . . . but I know it was brutal and awful."
"You know someone who was there?" Eddie asked, leaning against a compartment door.
"The three of us do," Hen nodded, gesturing between herself, Buck, and Eddie. "Aside from Bobby."
The partners exchanged bewildered looks. "We do?"
Hen gave a dry smile. "What happened in the mineshaft stays in the mineshaft."
"Mineshaft?" Chimney parroted, frowning.
Understanding crossed Buck's face, and the firefighter smacked himself in the face. "How did I not make that connection?" he groaned. "We all know that story!"
"I'm confused," Ravi looked at Chimney.
"Yeah, me, too," Chimney frowned.
Eddie sighed, closing his eyes as he made the realization, too. "The wildfires," he said. "TK's dad. Known for rebuilding his entire house after it was lost at 9/11. He was the only survivor."
Hen nodded grimly. "I promised I would never repeat what was said in the mineshaft, but if it was hard on Bobby . . . it crushed Captain Strand."
"Huh," Buck frowned thoughtfully. "If Bobby's going back to New York . . . " He nodded, pulling out his phone. "Remind me to call TK when we're done with shift."
Eddie frowned. "You're still in contact with him?"
Buck raised an eyebrow. "You and Marjan still follow each other on Instagram."
Eddie wrinkled his nose. "Shut up."
Buck snickered. "Besides . . . TK has a boyfriend. Who, I admit, I would absolutely hit on if he wasn't taken. Alas, he's TK's. And since TK is Carlos's, he's off-limits, too. I know better than to take from a police officer."
Hen couldn't help but laugh at the jealousy on Eddie's face. "Make sure your face doesn't freeze like that, Edmundo."
"Shut up, Henrietta," Eddie snarked.
"What was that about taking from a police officer?" Bobby asked as he walked down the stairs, slinging his radio over his body.
"Not to," Buck grinned. "A friend I made from the wildfires in San Angelo is dating one, which means the firefighter is off-limits. No stealing from a cop."
"Good idea," Bobby smirked.
"I don't know," Eddie eyed Buck. "Dumbass and Dumbasser . . . "
"Dumbass and Dumbasser?" Chimney chortled. "How did I miss hearing about this?"
"Because I'm not Dumbasser," Buck deadpanned. "Which means it didn't need to be said."
"You sure about that?" Eddie grinned. "Whose idea was it to steal a fire truck?"
"Excuse me, who willingly jumped into the truck behind us?" Buck retorted.
"Excuse me for wanting to rescue my friend," Eddie gestured to Hen.
"And this is where I leave the conversation," Hen turned around, making Chimney laugh.
"And I wanted to help my friend rescue his dad!"
Bobby frowned, leaning against the rig. "Now I feel left out of the loop," he complained. "I don't like that feeling."
"You never heard about them stealing a fire truck?" Ravi asked in surprise.
"Not in San Angelo," Bobby huffed.
Hen rolled her eyes. "Captain Strand probably swept it under the rug."
"Sounds like something he could get away with," Buck admitted, missing Bobby freezing behind him. "Section chief and all."
"And it was his truck you stole," Eddie ribbed.
"Come on, Bobby woulda killed me if I got ours all scratched up in the fires!"
"Cap?" Ravi frowned. "You OK?"
The four senior members of the 118 turned to see Bobby looking at Hen with wide eyes, his face pale. "You look like you just saw a ghost," Chimney agreed, looking concerned. "Bobby?"
"Did you say Captain Strand?" Bobby croaked.
"Yeah," Hen nodded. "Owen Strand, Captain of the Austin 126. He oversaw our section of the San Angelo fires."
A wounded noise came from Bobby, and Buck's jaw dropped in realization. "You know him," he breathed.
"Yeah," Bobby nodded weakly, leaning hard against the engine. "Yeah, I know him. I worked with him in the clean-up. We were pretty close by the time I had to ship out, along with the third member of our little team. I went back to Minnesota, Wallace returned to Chicago, and Owen stayed in New York, of course. Over time, and with everything that happened to me . . . I lost track of them. I never even knew Owen left New York." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "I wonder if Wallace is still in Chicago . . . "
"Well, it's like you said," Eddie gestured to Buck. "If Bobby's going back this year, what are the chances that Captain Strand is, too?"
"That's it," Buck pulled out his phone. "Give me a minute."
"Buck?" Bobby frowned as the young firefighter veered for the locker rooms. "You got inventory!"
"No, let him make this call," Eddie shook his head, holding up his hand.
Buck punched in the familiar number, holding his phone to his ear as it rang. "Buck?" TK said in surprise.
"Hey, man," Buck smiled. "Sorry I'm calling without warning."
"It's fine," TK assured him. "Just don't take it personally if I hang up on you without warning. It's been a busy day so far."
"Wait," Buck perked up. "You're on shift right now?"
"Yeah, I am," TK confirmed. "We're in the middle of a 24, we end this evening."
Buck checked his watch, grinning. A-shift was assigned a 12-hour, which meant if this timing was right . . . "Would I be able to call you back after our shifts end?" he asked.
"Uh . . . yeah, that should work," TK said slowly. "Captain Vega is insisting me, Dad, and Nancy come over for brunch, but we can make a call work before then."
Buck made a small fist pump at the words. "Great. And just . . . ask Captain Strand a question for me?"
TK sighed. "Buck, what's this about? I'm starting to worry."
Buck bit his lip. "Does the name Bobby Nash sound familiar to him?"
TK paused. "Hang on a minute. DAD!"
Buck rocked back and forth on his heels, peering in the glass to check on everyone behind him. Eddie, Hen, and Chimney were all watching him expectantly, and Buck gestured for them to wait. Hen made an impatient gesture, and Buck stuck his tongue out at her in reply.
"Um . . . Buck?"
"Yeah?" Buck brought his attention back to his phone.
TK sounded worried and hesitant. "Would you explain why my dad looks like the ground just got ripped out from under him?"
Buck whipped around and nodded rapidly to his team, grinning widely. "Because you get your dad on the call when we're done with shift," he said. "I'll make sure I have my captain on my end, and they can have a little reunion twenty years in the making. How does that sound?"
"Wait," TK's voice rose in excitement. "You mean your captain – ?"
"Yeah," Buck laughed gleefully. "They know each other from 9/11."
***
Figured that was a pretty good place to leave the story. I promise next chapter will have Owen and Bobby reuniting . . . even if it isn't in person!
Those plans include another look in Chicago as well, to see more thoughts of the Brettseyride household.
graphic by marvelity
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