Archive of Our Own

“What do you mean he wants to reject the settlement offer?” Mike winced at the anger Harvey spat through the phone, “that settlement was more than fair, all he had to do was sign, Mike! What did you do?”

Mike wanted to be mad, but history was on Harvey’s side, he did have a habit of talking clients into going for more, especially when he was invested. However, this time, it wasn’t him, “he said he doesn’t care about the money, he never has; he just wants his job back.”

Harvey huffed, “he wants to go back to those people?” Harvey said in disbelief.

“He does. So that’s what he’s going to do, we are going to counter with he gets reinstated and that’ll be that.” Mike said over the phone.

Harvey rubbed the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. This case was so cut and dry, a firefighter injured in the line of duty, being held back by his own captain, despite clearance elsewhere. The problem here, was Mike had bonded with the kid, which is good at times, but Harvey was starting to think in this case, it wasn’t. Harvey had purposely only sent Mike because of the rapport the two had built, but now Harvey was questioning Mike’s ability to get the client to see what the best course of action was.

As if Mike could hear Harvey’s thoughts, he spoke into the phone, “that’s not its Harvey, I told him to take it. But he’s as stubborn as you, there was no changing his mind.”

Harvey got even more annoyed, but didn’t let it show, “sure it’s not, how do you even know what I was thinking?”

Mike laughed, “you forget, I know you Harvey Specter, and that’s why you love me.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just get back here so I can feed you to Jessica tomorrow.” Harvey smirked.

Harvey could hear Mike’s pout, “I’m gone three days and that’s all I have to look forward to?”

Harvey looked around and saw that nobody was around and smiled when the coast was clear, “that’s tomorrow, Rookie. Tonight, I have plans for you, don’t you worry.”

Mike got excited, until Harvey cruelly let him down, “there’s a new case with your name on it, it’s going to take all night for you to get caught up.”

“You’re evil.”

“Yet, you stick around. Text me when you get to the airport.” Harvey reminded the man.

Harvey hung up, satisfied with Mike’s agreement to keep him updated and let out a sigh, he had to let Jessica know the outcome of the case, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to be happy. The slam dunk case they fought to take on, thanks to Mike’s bleeding heart, turned out to be a dud. This was a chance for the firm to make nearly a million dollars, but now, they client threw that away.

“Harvey, you better have good news about that Buckley case.” Jessica ‘greeted’ Harvey.

“About that.” Harvey started.

“Goddammit, Harvey!” Jessica snapped, looking up, “you promised me this was a winner. You convinced me to take this damn case against my better judgement, promising results.”

Harvey nodded his head, “it was, but we didn’t count on the client being so bull-headed.”

Jessica raised an eyebrow, “you let the client tank this case?”

“No,” Harvey started, “he just, he just wanted to get back to his team, and didn’t give a shit about the money.”

“Then why the hell did we take this case?!” Jessica raised her voice.

Harvey just shook his head, “look, it happened and it’s over.”

“It was Mike, wasn’t it?” Jessica accused.

“Don’t.” Harvey warned.

Jessica gave a tight smile, “if this were anyone but Mike, you’d have his head. But you can’t stay impartial when it comes to him, ever since you two got together.”

“That is simply untrue.” Harvey insisted, “I haven’t treated Mike any different since we got into a relationship, and you know it.”

Jessica huffed and went silent, it was true. Harvey DID give Mike special treatment, but it had nothing to do with that fact that they were in a relationship, and everything to do with the fact that it was Mike.

Harvey gave a smirk and Jessica just shook her head, with the faintest smile detectable. Harvey smiled wider at the acceptance Jessica was obviously suppressing and walked out of the office.

“Harvey?” Jessica called out.

Harvey turned, “yeah?”

“Tell him to be in my office at 8 am tomorrow, and don’t be late.” She narrowed her eyes.

“If I have anything to say about it, you better expect him to be late.” Harvey smiled devilishly.

Jessica just looked at the man, in disbelief but not exactly surprised, “you’re an idiot.”

“Mike, I can’t thank you enough. I can’t imagine that Harvey is very happy right now?” Buck said, looking over his shoulder to the group of firefighters.

Mike laughed, “yeah, not really but as long as you are good with the outcome, so are we. Are you? Okay with the outcome?”

Buck gave a half-assed smile, “yeah, it’s the best outcome I could’ve asked for.”

Mike smiled and noticed Buck continuing to sneak glances and couldn’t help his heart from breaking when he saw the cool looks the group was shooting the man. Mike clasped a hand on the man’s shoulder, “you want to go talk to them?”

Buck smile and shook his head no but spoke a different answer, “I do, but I don’t know if I should.”

Mike gave a supporting smile, “well, you got to face them sometime, and if now, at least I am here for you to come back to. But if not, we can go right now.”

Buck smiled at the man and clasped his hands together, “yeah, okay.” He said, eyes lighting up at the thought of talking to his friends. Mike watched as Buck took a skip step and waltzed right up to the group. Mike hadn’t met any of them formally, although he was seated across from them during the initial deposition. He watched as Buck approached and what he saw next, made his blood absolutely boil.

“Uh, hey guys.” Buck said as soon as he was in earshot, suddenly feeling so awkward with the people he considered to be his family. Buck felt himself perk up when Eddie and Chim turned to face him, but quickly deflated when they scoffed and walked away. Hen at least gave him a small smile and a squeeze on the shoulder, but she couldn’t abandon her team, so she quickly followed without a word. Buck braced himself as Athena spoke quietly to her husband before giving them some space without so much of a “hi Buckaroo”.

Mike watched on as the group dissipated to just a pair, Buck, and the man he had come to know as Captain Nash, though Buck always referred to him as ‘Bobby.’ He couldn’t hear the exchange, but with experience of his own disappointing his mentor and the look of complete loneliness, Mike could sympathize, a lot more than he had hoped. Buck slinked back over to Mike, who was waiting patiently. It took everything in him not to give Captain Dick over there a piece of his mind, but he knew that Buck would not have wanted that.

“You okay?” Mike asked when Buck walked past him.

Buck didn’t answer, he just kept walking, “can we just get out of here?”

“Of course, wanna go grab a beer?” Mike suggested.

Buck looked at him suspiciously, “don’t you need to get back to New York?”

“Eh, I’ll grab the later flight, it’s fine.” Mike assured the man, who perked up right away and excitedly told Mike all about this great dive bar he knew. Mike smiled and followed him, while shooting off a quick text to update Harvey.

Harvey’s phone buzzed and he quickly looked at it before he had to go into his meeting. He blew out a frustrated breath as he read the text:

Mike (4:33 p): Going to grab a later flight. Buck is pretty down, things with the team didn’t go well. I will be quiet when I get in and I’ll see you in the morning.

Harvey (4:34p): I’ll come get you myself, text me the information.  Also, still need updates when you board and land.

Mike smiled as he ‘liked’ the message before pocketing his phone, right now, his job was to be a friend to Buck. Since he had first met the young man, Mike felt an instant connection to him. There was something about the way he approached life and the way he was fiercely loyal to his team that had drawn him in. Perhaps, it was because he could understand the need to cling on to your chosen family, especially when coming from a fractured natural family. Mike and Buck bonded incredibly fast with the fact that they both felt an instant connection with their bosses, one that they knew would eventually stir up trouble. The relationships between Mike and Harvey and Captain Nash and Buck were admittedly different, but the principle was the same; Mike and Buck would sooner jump on the metaphorical grenade then let anything happen to Harvey and Bobby. Mike still couldn’t comprehend why Buck latched on to this man, from what he had witnessed, the man was nothing but a cold, callous, boss who didn’t really give a shit about the man before him and that made Mike madder than he could have imagined.

Buck was done with his first beer in a record time and was already ordering a second, whereas Mike was still on his third sip. Buck was rather subdued, which Mike had expected but it was quite different from the high energy kid who had come to him to get back with his team.

“You know, I get they’re mad, I really do. And I don’t blame them per say, but I honestly thought they would show a little more positive emotion to the news that I am indeed returning.” Buck said sadly, sipping his beer.

Mike gave him a small smile, “I’m sure that they are, Buck.”

Buck scoffed, “yeah right. You know, I haven’t even been able to see Chris since this all happened? Eddie told me there is no one he trusts more with his son and then nothing, I lose them all just because I want to get back to them.”

“Buck, I know it hasn’t been long since I’ve known you, but I feel like we are pretty open with one another, so I hope I am not overstepping. But truth be told, you deserve better than these people.” Mike paused, noticing the brief presence of annoyance, but Mike thought what the hell? In for a penny, in for a pound. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.” Buck said, taking another sip.

“If that’s how they reacted to you coming back, and if they have been treating you poorly for nearly 2 months now, why was it so important you get back to them? Why wouldn’t you just take the money, go elsewhere, and make new friends?” Mike made a conscious effort to sound the least judgmental as possible.

Buck smiled a bit, “would you give up so easily on Harvey?”

“Huh?” Mike asked, “what do you mean?”

“Answer the question, would you turn on Harvey? You once told me that he gave you a second chance and you owed him. You also said how close you’ve become, so, would you turn on Harvey?”

“No.” Mike said right away, it didn’t even matter that they were dating. Quite honestly, Harvey could break Mike’s heart in a million pieces, and leave him in shambles, and Mike still wouldn’t turn on or give up on him.

Buck smiled sadly, “that’s why I don’t give up on Bobby. You may be dating Harvey and I may see Bobby more as a father-figure, but the thing they have in common, is that they were there for us when nobody else was. Bobby gave me a second chance,” Buck laughed, “then a third, and a fourth. I told you, that I didn’t have the best family, and I have no relationship with them other than Maddie. What you don’t know, is that Bobby and Athena have taken on that role. Bobby was the one to tie my tie for an important date, he was the one who told me he was proud of the man I had become after my probationary period. He was the one by my side for my initial recovery, and he checked in for a little bit. Before this all happened, he would have me over to eat dinner with the family, and he is the one who made me come over for dinner with his family. Athena was the one who made me feel so welcomed in their family. She would call me if I didn’t come over often enough, and she was the one to invite me to dinner to try and repair our relationship at the start of it.” Buck sighed, fidgeting with the label of his beer, “they’re family, Mike. And I know that it may not seem that way now, but they saved my life. Bobby and Athena, Hen, Chim, Eddie, and Chris, they saved me and became my family. I would’ve taken the money and ran if it were anyone else, but it is them, Mike. They’re my family. “

Mike nodded and smiled, he truly felt for Buck. He could not imagine if suddenly, his PSL family wasn’t there for him. He couldn’t fathom not having Harvey, or Donna, or hell, even Louis and Jessica, there for him. They had all cemented themselves into Mike’s life, and the mere thought of them leaving him, was enough to break him. Both men took a sip of their drinks and Mike observed Buck’s stoic demeanor. Mike knew he had to something to cheer up the man, and he suddenly knew exactly what it was.

Harvey was waiting at the baggage claim, excited to see Mike after a couple of days apart. If you would’ve asked him if he ever would’ve guessed, he would be the type of man to miss his boyfriend after just a couple of days; he would’ve said you were absolutely crazy. But then Mike came into his life, and from day one, he was hooked. From the moment he busted into that interview, he felt this odd sense of pull to the kid. And while it took a bit for it to form into anything romantic, it was always intense and authentic. So, here he was, standing in the near empty airport on a Sunday night, or morning, waiting for Mike. The voice over the P.A. system announced the arrival of flight 131, and almost immediately, he received a text.

Mike (12:33a): Arrived, don’t be mad. Sorry I didn’t tell you.

Harvey reread the text, wondering what he had missed when he saw his boyfriend approaching from the crowd. Mike immediately wrapped his arms around Harvey and gave him a quick, but longing kiss.

“Hey babe,” Mike said into his neck, “uh, it’s so good to be home.”

“Welcome home, I missed you.” Harvey said pulling away, wrapping his arm around Mike’s shoulder, “let’s grab your bag and you can tell me what you need to tell me.”

“Actually,” Mike started, but was cut off from a familiar man approaching.

“Please tell me I grabbed the correct one, man?” Buck said, putting down Mike’s suitcase, “hey Harvey, I am so sorry for the last-minute changes.”

Harvey looked between the two men and the text suddenly made sense. In true lawyer fashion, he hid his surprise and gave his best Harvey Specter smile, “Of course, Evan.”

“It’s Buck.” The man said a little shyly.

“Buck.” Harvey nodded and grabbed Mike’s bag, “come on you two, it’s late, let’s get you home.”

Buck clapped his hands in excitement, “this is going to be a great stay, I just know it.”

Harvey and Mike smiled as the three of them made their way through the airport. Once the approached the car, Buck insisted on played Tetris with their bags in the trunk; Harvey did rent one of the small sport cars from the club, leaving minimal space. Mike looked back and saw Buck concentrated, so he leaned on the car and spoke to Harvey.

“Are you mad?” He asked, voice small.

Harvey just shot him a look, “Of course not. But a little heads up would’ve been nice.”

“I know, I know.” Mike defended, “he was just so down, and I couldn’t leave him there, Harvey. He has no one.”

Harvey nodded, “I know. I’m guessing it’s safe to say that he will not be staying at a hotel?”

Mike just gave him a look, and Harvey laughed.

“Of course not.” Harvey confirmed for himself, and Mike just lightly elbowed him while smiling.

It had taken about an hour from leaving the airport to getting everything settled in the guest room and making a quick plan of action for tomorrow. It was known that Mike and Harvey both had to work in the morning, meaning that Buck would have to entertain himself. Mike left his key with the man, in case he wanted to come and go from the condo tomorrow, and the three of them planned to meet for dinner. When Buck noticed that the guest room wasn’t ready, he felt a little self-conscious, fearing that he was imposing. Buck offered to go get a hotel room, but before Mike could even reply, Harvey was telling him that was nonsense, and he would be staying with them as long as he wanted. Buck was secretly grateful; while the night had been good for distracting him from the shit show in L.A., it was still fresh in his mind and really affecting him. Him and Mike had forged an immediate friendship and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Harvey was a little harder to read, and Buck felt as if he was intruding a bit, but to the older lawyer’s credit, he had been nothing but pleasant towards Buck since they arrived.

“Beer is in the fridge, so is anything else you might want,” Harvey said as he got a glass of water from the kitchen, “I went shopping today and got all of Mike’s favorite, so if you eat like a five-year-old, you happen to be in luck.” Harvey smirked as Mike just yelled something about Harvey being a jerk from the bathroom.

“Thanks Harvey, for this and for everything, I couldn’t have won the case without you both.” Buck said sincerely.

The man nodded with a small smile, “no need to thank me, a friend of Mike’s is a friend of mine.”

Mike playfully shoved Harvey’s shoulder, “don’t mind him, he’s a sap.” Mike laughed.

Buck laughed, “Harvey. Mike. I’m going to grab some sleep, thank you both and I will see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight Buck.” Mike said while Harvey nodded.

“Night.” Buck replied before the door closed. He flopped on the bed and let out a deep sigh, here he was, in New York once again. He loved the city, but he wished more than anything that he was able to enjoy it, because all he could do right now, was think about how much his life had changed in the past year. He longed to FaceTime Christopher, to show him the amazing view that he currently had. He got up and walked to the wall to ceiling window and watched the lights below him blur in activity. He imagined Eddie saying some smartass comment about how Buck had really gone bougie. They three would laugh on the phone and Buck would promise to bring Christopher here one day.

Before Buck knew what he was doing, he had whipped out his phone since California was 3 hours behind New York time.

To Eddie (2:00a): Hey Eds, any chance Christopher is awake?

The phone chimed almost immediately, and Buck mistakenly let his hopes get high.

To Buck (2:00a): No. Don’t text us, Buck.

Buck threw his phone on the floor, really regretting his foolishness in the past two minutes. The lawsuit just concluded today, of course they wouldn’t be okay with him. Buck knew that; he just didn’t think that Eddie would purposely withhold Chris from him, though, maybe he should’ve seen it coming. Buck scrubbed his face, suddenly wishing his buzz form earlier was still present. He threw himself under the covers and let the emotion overcome him until he was dragged into a state of unconsciousness.

“I heard the puppy got a puppy.” Donna said with amusement as soon as Mike and Harvey walked in, and Harvey just kept walking with a smirk.

“His name is Buck, and he’s not a puppy.” Mike deadpanned.

Donna laughed, “seriously, Mike. You really took getting personal with a case pretty far this time.”

“You would’ve too if you were there.” Mike insisted.

“I was there, and I didn’t.” Harvey chimed in.

Donna laughed and Mike rolled his eyes, “seriously though, you would like Buck. What are you doing after work?”

“NO!” Harvey said with authority.

“Relax, Harvey. Not to set them up, just to hang out with us. I happen to think they’d get along really well, and Buck could use all the friends he can get right now.”

Donna raised an eyebrow, “since when did you become the boss of who I date?”

Harvey looked at her with narrowed eyes, “no.”

Donna looked at Mike, and he agreed, “I’m with Harvey on this one.”

“Just for that, I am free tonight and I think I’ll sleep with him.” Donna smirked as she left the office, deciding that letting Harvey think she was serious was better than seeing his shock.

Harvey coughed and couldn’t speak, giving Donna great satisfaction. Mike and Harvey looked at each other, both concerned and hoping that the woman wasn’t serious, but it was Donna, who knew what was going on in her head.

“I’m starving!” Donna announced, walking into the restaurant before Mike and Harvey.

The two just laughed, both silently agreeing. Harvey let go of Mike’s hand to hold the door open for the man. The three of them looked around and spotted a tired looking Buck waiting in at the table.

“Hey!” Buck greeted as the group neared, suddenly looking happy as ever, “they asked if I preferred a table or a booth, and I wasn’t sure. I hope this is okay.”

Mike laughed, “it’s fine. Buck, this is Donna.” Mike gestured to the woman holding out her hand, “and Donna, this is Buck.”

“Oh my god, you’re an adorable puppy!” Donna exclaimed, “it’s great to finally meet you!”

Buck looked half-confused and half-offended, “um, nice to meet you, too.” He said, shaking her hand.

Harvey gave a huff and shook his head with a smile, “trust me, you’ll get used to her.” The group laughed and Buck immediately asked about their days. It had been a pretty calm day at Pearson, Specter, Litt, and there wasn’t much to report. Harvey spent most of the day billing, his favorite thing to do, while Mike went through some bylaws. They gave Buck a quick rundown and Donna explained how she was much more than your typical secretary. Buck and Donna seemed to hit it off right away, Mike was correct; they were like two peas in a pod, feeding off each other’s energy and their humor complimenting one another so perfectly.

“So Buck, what did you do today?” Harvey asked, sipping on his wine.

Buck’s eyes seemed to dim a little, but he quickly recovered, “not much. The usual, made some lunch, worked out, watched some tv. I went on a walk but” Buck shook his head, not wanting to continue.

“But you thought about your friends and wished they were here or that you could at least call them.”

Mike and Harvey stared at the woman harshly while Buck’s eyes just widened, “wow, you weren’t kidding. It’s kind of creepy she can just know things.”

“What can I say?” Donna smiled.

“How about not that.” Mike suggested and Buck gave a sad smile.

“It’s okay,” Buck insisted, “she is right. I just, I kept thinking about how much Chris would love to see it, and well, once I realized I couldn’t share it with him, it didn’t seem worth doing anymore.”

Mike shook his head and Harvey’s fist balled under the table, “I’m sorry, Buck.” Mike said finally.

“It’s okay, it is what it is.”

“No,” Harvey shook his head as well, “it’s not okay. You don’t deserve the cold shoulder.”

Buck looked at the group and suddenly, he couldn’t keep it in anymore, “I texted Eddie last night, I wanted to FaceTime Chris.”

“Who’s Chris?” Donna chimed in and Mike answered quickly so Buck could continue.

“He told me ‘no’ and told me not to text them.” Buck said, moving the last piece of food on his plate around with his fork.

Donna grabbed the man’s free hand, “besides Chris, it sounds like they don’t deserve you. It may be hard, but you got us now.”

“That’s right, Buck, we already told you, you can stay as long as you want.” Mike confirmed.

Harvey studied Buck and couldn’t help but think he was just like Mike was all those years ago, “and we meant it.”

Buck gave a small smile, “thanks guys.” He shook his head, and smiled wider, “anyway, enough of that, this place is amazing.”

“Harvey is a bit of a snob when it comes to where he eats.” Donna responded.

“Please,” Harvey’s light voice chuckled, “like I’m the only one here who cares.”

Mike laughed, “he’s got you, Donna. I could eat at Denny’s and be perfectly content with the chicken fingers.”

“Like that’s a good thing.” Donna scoffed. The three of them bickered light-heartedly and Buck just watched them with a wistful smile. The three of them were obviously close as could be, and their relationship was something to envy. Buck immediately thought back to his 118 family, and his heart ached. This was what he had in L.A, and what if, he never got that back. He shook off those feelings and decided to focus on the time he had here with the people who actually made him feel welcomed.

The rest of the night went flawlessly, and by the end, Buck felt a part of the group. He particularly like Donna, she was unlike anyone he had ever met. They had the same type of humor, and with Mike and Harvey together, it was automatically him and Donna on one side of all the non-sense arguments. Buck was laughing and having the time of his life. When dinner came to an end, Buck actually felt disappointed. Although, it did help that he had Mike and the rest of the gang now, but it just wasn’t the same.

By Thursday, Buck was feeling more like himself than he had in months. Harvey and Mike would go to work, and in the evening, either Mike or both of them would come home to have dinner with or hang out with the man. Buck knew that Mike had a lot of work that was probably landing on Harvey, and he was extremely aware of the fact that his presence was hindering not only their work life, but also their personal life. However, neither of them ever made him felt unwelcomed, quite the contrary. For that, Buck was extremely grateful.

Buck was sipping a beer when the door unlatched, he quickly sat up. He had spent all day walking around town, snapping pictures that he just knew Chris and Maddie would enjoy. Yet, he didn’t want to seem too lazy when Mike or Harvey came home, not after they worked all day.

“Buck?” A woman’s voice called out, and Buck was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was Donna who had come.

“Hey Donna.” Buck said standing up as she neared, “you want a drink?”

“God yes,” Donna said, pouring herself a glass of wine, “how was your day?”

“It was good.” Buck said, “how was work?”

Donna observed the man, “It was good, Mike is sorry, but he and Harvey caught a shit case this afternoon, and unfortunately, they both have to work, and it may end up being an all-nighter.”

Buck nodded, he understood, “of course, I am just surprised it took this long.” The man laughed, “based off what I saw Mike do in California, and just seeing them constantly working here, I expected it sooner or later.”

Donna laughed, “well, it’s a good thing to have that expectation with them early on. Anyway, that just means you’re stuck with me for the night, what do you say, go out or order in?”

“I like the sound of that!” Buck exclaimed, “let’s order in, Mike and Harvey have been taking us everywhere, but I just love the idea of pizza and beer.”

“You read my mind,” Donna smiled, making quick work of ordering the pizza, “so, tell me about your day.”

Donna and Buck spent the night laughing and flirting harmlessly. They both had the personality to make it so natural and completely harmless, it was just some good old fashion fun. Donna let Buck enjoy his night as they continued to play cards and listen to one of Harvey’s records. Donna decided that this was as good as any, she was going to crack the shell that was Evan Buckley.

“So, can we talk now?” Donna asked as she was shuffling the cards.

Buck laughed, taking a swig of his beer, “haven’t we been talking?”

Donna narrowed her eyes and smirked, “come on, I know the boys warned you about me and I have been taking it easy on you, but you are going back soon, and I think I’ve earned a couple of honest conversations, don’t you think?”

Buck froze, panicking momentarily, but then something strange happened; he felt as if he wanted to tell the woman whatever she wanted to know, but truth was, he wanted to know some stuff himself.

“Yeah, okay. But if we are going to do this…” Buck smiled, and Donna laughed.

“I knew I liked you.” Donna raised an eyebrow, “I’m assuming this will be a question for a question type-deal?”

Buck smiled, picking up his cards, “exactly. Winner of this hand goes first.”

A royal flush later and Buck was leaning back, trying to think of a good first question. “Okay, I have to ask, how did you become so close to Mike and Harvey?”

“Because long before Mike and Harvey, it was Donna and Harvey. So, the real question, should be how did it become Mike and Harvey.” Donna smiled, drinking her beer.

“You and Harvey?” Buck asked, yet it made some sense.

Donna shook her head, “nuh uh, Buck. One question at a time, it’s my turn. Do you think that things are going to get better at your station?”

“Wow,” Buck laughed, “straight to the big questions, ey?”

“You did ask about my sex life on question one.” Donna pointed out and Buck just nodded.

Buck thought about it, and sighed, “I don’t know, I want to say yes. I hope so, but there is just so much betrayal and hurt, I am not sure we can ever go back.”

“On what side? You better be talking about from them, because where I’m standing, you owe them nothing.” Donna eyed the man who just smiled sadly.

“Okay, my turn.” Buck thought about it, and decided to go for it, “you and Harvey.”

“That’s not a question,” Donna laughed, walking to the fridge to grab more drinks. She met Buck on the couch.

Buck thanked her for the new beer and curled his legs under the blanket, “Were you and Harvey a thing before Mike came along?”

Donna smiled wistfully, “not exactly. We slept together, once. We knew from the start it would never work, and we never tried beyond that.” Donna stalled and thought hard, “I did want more for the longest time, but Mike came along, and I think it’s obvious, that they were absolutely made for one another.”

Buck nodded sadly, “wow, I am sorry about that.”

“It was a long time ago.” Donna smiled before asking her question, “who hurt you the most?”

Buck laughed at the bluntness and Donna shrugged, “hey, if we can’t be brutally honest with one another, with who can we?”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that,” Buck paused, taking a long sip, “two of them hurt me in the worst way possible, Bobby and Eddie. Yet, they are so different, it’s hard to tell which one is worse.”

“I’m guessing you’re going to make me wait for my next question?” Donna laughed.

“Of course,” Buck looked at the woman, “this isn’t my question, but what we say here, stays here, right? Like you won’t just go tell Mike or Harvey?”

Donna smiled and grabbed his hand, “Of course not, Buck. I wouldn’t go and blab, what is talked about right now, it stays here.”

“Okay. Then, no offense, but why were you so into Harvey and if he couldn’t get you what you wanted, why did you stick around?” Buck asked and looked pretty confused.

Donna smiled, thinking about how to answer this. “Harvey, he’s complicated. The man you see now, believe it or not, most people never see that side of him, and he’s not even all the way open around you. He projects this cold demeanor, a sense of arrogance and the aura that he is dethatched and only cares about himself.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Buck cut in, “he’s been perfectly nice, he just”

Donna held her hand up, “No, I know. But there is so much more to Harvey. Once you’re in, all the way in, there will be no one who has your back than that man. He had a rough life, and it led him be terrible with emotions, but in reality, he is just one big, soft, teddy bear. You’ve gotten closer in a couple days, then most people get within 10 years. I’ve only seen one person get this close this fast, and it was Mike.”

Buck just stared at the woman in shock, and she laughed, “don’t flatter yourself, you’re only semi in because Harvey is head over heels in love with Mike, and Mike took a liking to you right away, so you automatically have an in.” She laughed, “but even so, you are closer than everyone else besides three others.”

“You and Mike, who’s the third?” Buck asked.

“Jessica.” Donna smiled, “our boss.”

Buck laughed, “And I thought the 118 was close.”

“Which brings me to my question, if Bobby and Eddie hurt you so much, why on earth do you want to go back?” Donna asked, looking intently at the man.

Buck took a deep breath, Donna just got extremely real, so it was Buck’s turn, “in order to understand, you have to know why they hurt so much. The easy answer, I love them.”

Donna arched an eyebrow, “both of them?”

“I did say they were different.” Buck pointed out.

“So, the long answer?” Donna probed.

Buck nodded, “When I came to the 118, I was lost. I had no family ties, I had no solid friendships, and I was a real asshole. I didn’t take the job seriously, I was a total hoe, and I basically did whatever the hell I wanted. Looking back, I think I just wanted someone to care. And Bobby did. He had so many chances to fire me, but he became the man I needed in my life. He became my protector of sorts, someone I really looked up to and admired. You talked about Harvey, being a hard nut to crack, but once you’re in, you’re in? Well, that’s Bobby. Understandably, he had a hard life before the 118. But, instead of firing me, and due to my constant persistence, he became the only one who cared. He helped me and I helped him. Along the way, I saw him as family. Along with the rest of the 118, but with him, it was different, he was a father figure in a way. I became close with him, then he married Athena and we became close, and then before I knew it, I was at family dinners and monthly game nights. They gave me family, a purpose. Athena and her kids became my family too, and I finally belonged. And then this happened, and I realized, he didn’t care about my well-being, not really. He was the one keeping me down.” Buck looked into Donna’s eyes, both misty before continuing, “the man who said he believed in me and who was my biggest supporter, was suddenly the one keeping me from the job and people that saved me, and it just killed me.”

Donna was silent for a moment, as she observed Buck picking the label off the bottle and trying to keep it together.

She shook her head, “I am so sorry, Evan. I can’t even begin to imagine that hurt.” Donna said and Buck gave her a fake smile.

“And then there’s Eddie.” Buck huffed.

Donna grabbed his hand, “and you love Bobby like a dad, but you LOVE Eddie, don’t you?”

Buck looked at the woman and was shocked, though he really shouldn’t be at this point. He thought about lying, about denying it, but this was as good of a time as any, to come clean; not only to someone else, but to himself as well. He opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly at a loss for words, so he just nodded.

Donna scooted closer and wrapped an arm around the man, “Oh Evan, it’s okay, it’ll all be okay.”

Buck leaned into the hug but refused to break, “my turn for a question. Do you really believe that?”

Donna looked at the man and smiled, “if I know ANYTHING about complicated workplace relationships, I know that it will be okay. It may take time, but if these relationships are as you describe them, I truly believe that.”

Buck smiled, a genuine smile this time, “thank you, Donna.”

“Don’t mention it, but Buck?”

“Yeah?”

“Just because I think it will be okay, doesn’t mean I like how they are treating you. If it was up to me, you would be joining the NYFD and staying here with us.” Donna said with certainty, “And if I ever meet these people, I will be having words.”

Buck laughed and though his nature of thinking that people were lying and that he wasn’t wanted, he really did believe Donna.

“Thank you, Donna. Really.” Buck smiled.

“Whether you like it or not, you are kind of stuck with us now.” Donna smiled.

“Well, I definitely do like that.” Buck confirmed.

“I have one last question.” Donna said, “I just don’t want to make things worse.”

Buck laughed, “trust me, you can’t make things any worse.”

“Okay, in that case, has anyone reached out since court?” Donna asked, hoping that the answer she was expecting was wrong.

Buck shrugged, “yes, but not the team.” He gave a small smile, when Donna silently urged him to continue, “Athena checked in earlier today, asking where I was. I guess the kids stopped by my place and told her when I didn’t answer.”

“Did you answer her?” Donna probed.

“I texted the kids, but not her. You know, at the courthouse, she ignored me and could barely look at me.” Buck stated.

Donna nodded, “but you said Athena was the one who had you for dinner the night this all blew up, trying to fix it?”

Buck nodded.

“So, do you think she might be trying to fix it now?” Donna asked.

 Buck sighed, maybe Donna was right. And he didn’t like ignoring the woman, he was just so hurt, and thought that she didn’t really care anymore.

“If I could change one thing about you,” Donna started, “it would be that you would be more self-assured. Buck, I just met you and you are one of the most amazing men I know. Trust me, she’s lucky to have you in her life, and even if she ignored you that day, she still deeply cares.”

“And how do you know that?” Buck shot back, a little irked because she couldn’t know that.

Donna smiled, “because I love Mike.”

Buck looked at her like she was crazy, “and?”

“And” Donna shook her head, “before Mike and Harvey were Mike and Harvey, they had a terrible fight. And as we’ve confirmed, I have always and will always be at Harvey’s side, so when Harvey stopped speaking to Mike, so did I. And it was the hardest thing I’ve done, and I know that it was wrong, but I love Harvey and I would do anything to support him; even hurting another man I love.”

Buck looked shocked, and Donna continued, “I know it was wrong, and I regret it now, but the one thing I can tell you for damn sure, is that she regrets hurting you. And if I had to guess, without knowing her at all, I would guess that text was her way to start to make things right. Even if they are still pissed, she cares enough to check in on you when you don’t answer your door.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Buck asked.

“I’m not.” Donna answered confidently, “but if I am, you have me. And you have Mike. And believe it or not, you have Harvey.”

Buck stayed silent and finished his beer, “maybe you are right, things can’t get much worse, can they?”

“Exactly.” Donna smiled, giving Buck’s thigh an encouraging squeeze. 

To Athena (11:33p): I’m in New York.

To Buck (11:33p): I heard, are you coming back? Where are you? With whom?

To Athena (11:34p): Yes, I am not going away that easily. And don’t worry about it, I’m not your responsibility anymore.

*Incoming Call: Athena Grant*

“She’s calling.” Buck’s eyes went wide.

Donna gave an encouraging smile, “still think she doesn’t care?”

“What do I do?” Buck’s voice was panicked.

“What do you WANT to do?” Donna asked.

Buck looked down, “I want to talk to her.”

“Then I suggest you answer.” Donna laughed, “you can go on the balcony if you want privacy. Buck nodded as he walked away and answered. Donna watched the man disappear into the darkness of the night and sighed, after hearing everything, she wasn’t quite sure which outcome she wanted more. She hated these people and thought that they treated Buck terribly. However, she knew exactly how much these relationships meant to the man, and for his sake, she hoped that things would correct themselves. She looked outside and only saw Buck’s shadow, but he was pacing a hole through the ground, so she could only imagine what was going on. Her stare was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and two very familiar voices quietly arguing.

“Donna!” Mike exclaimed when she noticed the woman, “would you please tell Harvey that I am perfectly capable of staying home alone for a week when he goes out of town to deal with Fenderson?”

“I know you are capable, but I just want you to come with me!” Harvey said, and it was obvious it wasn’t for the first time, “I don’t want you alone, I want you with ME!”

“Same thing.” Mike rolled his eyes.

“I’m with Harvey on this one, puppy.” Donna smiled, “you two deserve a vacation.”

“Vacation my ass, Fenderson is a beast!” Mike complained, as the two men joined Donna with fresh beers.

“We still have two months, let’s drop it.” Harvey laughed, “where’s Buck?” He asked, noticing the empty bottle.

Donna nodded toward the door and the men looked, “who?” Mike questioned.

“Athena.”

“How long?” Harvey asked, still looking toward the door.

“About 10 minutes.”

Harvey took a sip, “mph.”

“Maybe it’ll be good for him.” Mike responded and Harvey just looked at him.

“Aw,” Donna said, “look at Harvey, looks like you actually let someone else in.”

Harvey laughed, “I care for Mike’s sake, Buck is pleasant enough, but I’m not invested.

“Sure.” Donna and Mike said at the same time as Harvey continued, “I just don’t want the conversation to go poorly, which I am not optimistic.”

Mike kissed the man on a cheek, “you care.” He whispered with a smile. Harvey just shook his head and continued sipping, he wasn’t going to win this one.

About 5 minutes later, Buck came back inside.

“Hey Buck,” Mike greeted, “I’m sorry we couldn’t come back earlier.”

Buck smiled lightly, “not a problem, Donna and I had a good night, didn’t we?”

“We heard.” Harvey smiled.

Donna smiled with pink cheeks, since Mike and Harvey came home, Donna realized that she had a good amount of alcohol, “we certainly did. How’d it goes?”

Buck shrugged, “okay, I guess?”

“You wanna talk about it?” Mike offered.

“Honestly, not right now.” Buck sighed.

Harvey nodded, “of course. Listen, I hate to do this, but I am beat. I know your flight is Sunday, so the three of us thought maybe we could all hang out tomorrow for your last day. Maybe do some sightseeing?”

Buck shook his head, “you don’t need to spend your Saturday sight-seeing, we can just hang out. I mean, you all live here, you must see all the good places regularly.”

Harvey and Donna snickered, while Mike answered, “please, he might have lived here for seventeen decades, but Harvey has NEVER sight seen, he hardly knows what stores are within a mile of here.”

“The only statement I resent for being factually incorrect is the seventeen decades piece. As for the rest, it’s true, I am a terrible New Yorker.” He admitted.

“Plus,” Donna chimed in, “I always love to watch a newbie fall in love with the city. Maybe, fall in love hard enough for him to want to stay.” She raised an eyebrow and Mike just shook his head.

“Come on,” Mike said, “it’ll be fun.”

“Okay, okay, let’s do it.” Buck acquiesced.

“Good!” Mike stated, “it’s settled. We’ll leave here at 10.”

Buck glanced at the clock, it was almost 12:30, “In that case, I better get to sleep. I am beat.”

“Me too,” Donna said grabbing her purse, but Harvey stopped her.

“I don’t think so, Red.” He stated, “you take the bed, Mike and I will crash out here.”

“But” Donna protested.

“You drank too much to drive, and we aren’t letting you take a cab past midnight.” Mike insisted.

Buck shook his head, “nonsense. Donna, you can take the guest room, I’ll take the couch.”

“No.” Harvey said, “you’re our guest, we can sleep on a couch.”

“Please,” Buck laughed, “there’s one of me and two of you, I couch surfed for years, it’ll be just like old times.”

Harvey looked at Mike, who just shrugged. It was decided and everyone retreated to their quarters, agreeing to meet in the morning.

The next day was filled with adventure. From the get-go, the group got busy. They visited Mike and Donna’s favorite café for a nice breakfast before heading to central park. They walked around before heading to the boat for their cruise around the statue of Liberty. Afterwards, they had lunch at the place where Harvey and Donna had celebrated their first client. After that came a stunning trip to the Summit followed up by an extraordinary helicopter tour of New York. Buck laughed as he detailed how much more relaxing a helicopter ride was knowing that he was not about to repel out of it. The group ended up at the restaurant where Mike and Harvey had their first day, before heading to a Broadway show. It was an amazing day, and Buck managed to forget about the situation that was waiting for him at home. When the group came back to the apartment, they all got their drinks and sat on the balcony. The group was fascinated in Buck’s life as a firefighter, and he happily recounted his ‘greatest hits’ of rescues. Before they knew it, it was nearing one a.m., and Buck’s flight was at noon. Mike and Donna said goodnight and headed in, while Harvey and Buck stayed out just a tad longer. There was a comfortable silence before Harvey finally spoke.

“Are you going to be, okay? Going back?”

Buck looked at him, shocked. This was a question he would expect from Donna, maybe even Mike, but not from Harvey. Harvey seemed to notice this surprise and chuckled a little.

“I know,” Harvey laughed, “I don’t really come off as the most caring.”

Buck tried to protest but Harvey said it was alright.

Buck sat there, debating on what to say, “I think so.” He said after too long.

Harvey eyed him, “that wasn’t very confident.”

“It wasn’t.” Mike confessed, “I know it’s going to suck. And it won’t be good for a while, but I can only hope it will get there.”

Harvey nodded, “did the conversation with Athena help?”

Buck laughed humorlessly, “it started well. She was worried and wanted to know about my wellbeing, but then she took Bobby’s side and made it clear, that things were still broken.”

Harvey saw the hurt in Buck’s eyes, and all he could see was Marcus, and Mike from all those years ago, and it made him angry.

“Don’t go.” Harvey said, surprising himself, “transfer here. You can stay here until you find a place.”

Buck was shocked but smiled, “as much as I appreciate that, I can’t.”

Harvey shook his head, “I know. I just, I hate the idea of you going back there. I hate the idea of them not changing.”

“Me too, but I have to.” Buck insisted.

Harvey nodded, “promise me something?”

“What?” Buck asked.

“You tell us, if things suck, you tell Mike, you tell me, or you tell Donna, got it?”

Buck raised an eyebrow, “you really want to know that? You want to keep in contact when I go back?”

Harvey looked at the man with disbelief, “of course, of course I mean it and of course we’ll stay in touch.”

Buck smiled at that, “does Harvey Specter care?” He teased, knowing that it was an inside joke between everyone.

“It took a hell of a lot more time for me to tell Mike that than a week, kid.” Harvey laughed, “but just know, you always have a place over here.”

Buck laughed, “thank you, Harvey. I really do appreciate it.”

Harvey stood, “I wouldn’t thank me yet, because if I ever do meet these people, I can’t promise it’ll go well.”

“The thank you still stands,” Buck followed the man inside, “they may be family, but doesn’t mean I don’t want to kick their asses sometimes, and especially now.”

Harvey nodded, “that right there makes me feel better about you going back. Stand your ground, Buck.”

“Yes sir.”  Buck couldn’t help but mock salute the man.

He laughed and shook his head, “idiot,” he mumbled fondly, “you and Mike really are one of the same.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Buck assured the man.

“Depends on the day.” Harvey shot back with a grin, “good night Buck.”

“Goodnight Harvey, and thank you, again, for everything.”

“You’re welcome.” He simply said before disappearing into the dark room with small snores coming from it.

Mike, Donna, and Harvey were all standing around Buck at the car, while he was gathering his bags.

“Are you sure you don’t want to put in a transfer here?” Donna said, joking but absolutely serious.

Buck just laughed and shook his head, “it’ll be fine.”

“Of course, it will.” Mike said at the same time Harvey asked, “will it?”

That question earned him a smack on each arm, both from Donna and Mike.

“What?” Harvey whined, “I am just making sure he’s prepared for all outcomes.”

Buck smiled and replied kindly, “guys, it’s fine, he’s right to ask. No, I’m not sure, but I have to be optimistic, right? It has to be okay.”

Harvey nodded and the other two just smiled at the man.

“Remember what I said, Buck.” Harvey said in his serious tone, “you better make good on your promise.”

Donna and Mike just looked at each other with confusion as Buck smiled, “I promise.”

“Good. Have a safe flight.” Harvey said, extending his hand out to the man.

“Thanks Harvey.” Buck smiled before turning to Mike and Donna.

He was about to speak again before Donna was hugging him, “you text us as soon as you land, and if you need us, you call. You come back here if you need somewhere, Buck. You hear me?” Donna was squeezing the man tight. Buck just laughed before wrestling out of the woman’s hold, and Mike stepped forward.

“It was great having you here, man. You are always welcome.” Mike said, giving Buck a quick hug.

Buck eagerly accepted, “I know, but I think next time, you all have to come to me.” He laughed, and winked at Harvey, who rolled his eyes. Everyone there knew that Harvey was never leaving New York unless it was on business.

“Maybe I’ll send Mike and Donna, lord knows Mike doesn’t do any work obviously.” Harvey teased.

Buck laughed as Mike bumped into the older man, earning him an arm around his shoulder.

“Well, thank you all again, it was a great time. I’ll see you soon, okay?” Buck said before turning and walking into the airport. The trio watched him disappear into the doors before sliding into the car Harvey had rented, since he insisted on taking Buck to the airport themselves.

“You going to tell me what he had to promise you?” Mike asked as Harvey pulled out into the traffic.

“Nope.” Harvey popped the “p”.

Mike stared at the man with curiosity before bursting into a grin, “you totally care, Donna called it before you totally do.”

Harvey shrugged, “what can I say, being with you has rubbed off on me.”

“Or it may be the fact that he is 100% like Mike and you are reminded of him and Marcus when you look at Buck.” Donna chimed in non-chalantly, earning a glare through the rear-view mirror from Harvey.

Mike snickered, “please, we are not that alike.”

Harvey laughed, “yeah, okay Rookie. Whatever you say.”

Donna and Harvey continued to laugh and shake their heads, while Mike just sat there thinking about it, were they right? Sure, there were some similarities, but no, they were different. Buck was a man with barely any family, looking for a place to accept him. And he had found it and hung onto it for dear life. He was just in a tough spot, and he let his intense connection with his boss hinder his personal life. Speaking of connection with his boss, it definitely seemed to go way beyond an employer/employee relationship, it was almost as if Buck was completely lost without his job and the people who came from there. But who was Mike to judge, he started dating his boss?

“Holy shit.” Mike whispered, which received an even louder laugh from the two, “we are the same.”

Harvey put his hand on the man’s thigh and squeezed lovingly, “just pieced it all together?”

“Yeah.” Mike said, still obviously stunned.

Buck to Fire Lawyers (5:00p): I am home 

Donna to Fire Lawyers (5:01p): Good! I will tell the others later; they are in a meeting. Glad you are home!

Donna to Fire Lawyers (5:02p): And don’t be offended if Harvey never replies or removes himself, he HATES group chats.

Buck laughed to himself, for some reason, that made complete sense. Harvey was a very cut and dry person, someone with a rough exterior. Yet, Buck found himself completely in awe of him and completely admired him. Well Bobby was a lot softer; he found a strong sense of familiarity of protection radiating from the older man. At first, he did not understand the appeal of Harvey, but through the week, he was able to see the “true man”, as Donna had called it, and he was glad he did. Buck couldn’t quite grasp how quickly he had bonded with the New York lawyers, but he was so grateful that he had. While there was still a lot of things to work out here, he knew he had a good support system across the country, and for that, he was extremely grateful.

Buck flopped down on his sofa in the too empty apartment. The time in New York had been great because he was with people, and everyone knew that Buck alone was never a good thing. He sighed as he looked at his phone, the only texts he had gotten this whole week was from Athena, and he wasn’t answering. Their phone call had started off productive, but she kept defending her husband and telling Buck he was wrong; it just wasn’t worth it. Buck didn’t want Athena to turn against her husband, but he couldn’t keep hearing how Bobby was right and Buck was wrong. He was reaching for the remote when there was a heavy knock at the door. His face contorted in confusion, there were exactly three people talking to him and they were in New York. He stood up and moaned as the knocking got louder.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Buck huffed. He got to the door and yanked it right open, and in came Bobby.

“What the hell?” Buck said, as Bobby strode right into his apartment.

Bobby turned around, danger flickering in his eyes, “so you are alive?” He spat out.

“What-” Buck started to reply but Bobby’s hand flew up.

“You do this whole lawsuit, and try to fuck over your team, and then you just stop communicating with the people who actually care about you?” Bobby was yelling.

Buck stood there, taken aback by the anger and sentences, “what the hell are you talking about? You made it perfectly clear that you don’t give a shit about me!” Buck tossed back.

If looks could kill, Buck would be dead, “I’m not talking about me, I’m talking about Athena, the kids! I didn’t give a shit to talk to you, hell, I still don’t, but I am here because you are hurting MY family, and that stops here!”

Buck took a step closer, “the kids never even called me.”

“But they came over, and you couldn’t even open the goddamn door!” Bobby yelled.

Buck laughed incredulously, “I WASN’T EVEN HOME!”

“Yeah, sure. Like you even have anywhere to go.”

The single line destroyed Buck more than he ever thought possible, but years of terrible parents had taught him one thing; do not let them see you break. “Get out.”

“What?” Bobby challenged.

“I said, get the fuck out.” Buck hissed.

“Gladly. Oh, and Buckley, if you think you are coming on any calls with us, you got another thing coming for you. Better not be late.” Bobby scowled, brushing past the man, “oh, and call my damn wife, she doesn’t deserve your bullshit.”

Buck waited until the door was shut before he broke down. His back slid down the front door to his apartment, and his hands were wet from the tears streaming down his face. Buck knew that things were bad, but he didn’t quite realize just how bad they were. Bobby came to his place, just to shit on him and let him know that he was no longer welcome on the team. For the first time since this whole thing, he had lost all hope that Bobby cared for him. Once he caught his breath, he stood up, straightened his clothes, and did what had to be done.

Two hours later, Buck found himself eating some ramen and mindlessly flipping through the channels. He still could not believe the events of earlier, and he could really use someone to talk to, so he picked up his phone and hoped to everything that they were telling the truth. Donna picked up on the third ring and Buck immediately smiled.

Buck and Donna talked about nothing for a while before her tone took a serious turn and asked the man what was wrong. Buck smiled that she knew the true purpose, even though they had known each other just shy of a week. It honestly felt like so much more, and the comfort he felt with Donna was unmatched.

“I’m coming.” Donna spat through the phone.

Buck laughed, “no, you’re not.”

“Buck!” Donna yelled, “that man cannot do that to you and just get away with it.”

“And he won’t, but I am a big boy, Donna. I can handle it.” Buck insisted, secretly wishing he could see the woman unleash.

Donna paused, “only because I respect your decisions and boundaries will I not come right now.”

“I appreciate that, honestly, just talking to you is helping and maybe, if it’s okay, I could call you every now and then after shifts if it goes poorly?” Buck asked shyly.

Donna’s voice was so sincere, it almost broke Buck’s heart, “I would be insulted if you didn’t.”

Buck smiled and the two of them chatted for a while more, before it was time for Buck to go. Donna reminded him that they were only a phone call away, and that no matter what, he had them in his corner. Buck thanked her and got ready for bed. Before he went to sleep, he shot off a text to the Grant’s.

Buck (10:20p): I am home, I was gone for the week. I am sorry for missing anyone.

May (10:20p): Good! You had us worried, we want to hear all about your trip!

Buck (10:21p): For sure.

Athena (10:22p): We ALL do.

Harry (10:22p): Dinner this week?

Athena (10:24p): Just us four, at your place.

Buck was thankful for the clarification and sighed a sigh of relief.

Buck (10:26p): I’d like that. How about Wednesday? I’m off.

May (10:27p): Perfect

Buck put down his phone, rolled over, and pulled the covers up high. He was exhausted, but he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to sleep. He knew that tomorrow was going to be rough, but after his encounter with Bobby tonight, he didn’t even want to imagine what rough was. He shook the thought out of his head and did his best to sleep.

He woke up the next morning, with a lot of nervous energy and 8 text messages. He smiled as he noticed 3 came from the “Fire Lawyers” group chat, and one was from Maddie. He checked Maddie’ first.

Maddie (7:53a): Good luck on your first day back, lil bro.

Buck smiled at that as he clicked over to the group chat.

Harvey (5:46a): You got this, Buck. Remember, I’ll gladly sue them, you just say the word. See, I am using the group chat.

Mike (5:50a): Don’t listen to him (even though he’s right). Have a good day back, let us know how it went.

Donna (7:45a): You got this, Buckley. Remember what we talked about yesterday

Mike (7:46a): I swear, you ALL have secret talks without me that I expect to be let in on.

Donna (7:46a): No.

Harvey (7:46a): No.

Mike (7:48a): Rude. Anyway, seriously, have a good shift.

Buck smiled as he typed back, extremely grateful for the support and friendship that he had found.

Buck (8:00a): Thank you guys. It’ll be fine, I’m sure.

Buck walked into the station at 9:45a, plenty of time before his shift started at 10. He was hoping that the locker room would be full, but there was no one there. He sighed as he threw his bag in his locker and quickly changed into his uniform. He was glancing around, when he noticed that the rest of the lockers were already filled and then he heard the team having breakfast upstairs. A flicker a sadness rushed through him; he knew they were purposely early and started breakfast without him, because on any other shift, people would have just walked in, and breakfast wouldn’t have been started until 10:10. Buck ignored the purposeful dig at him and jogged up the stairs.

“Good morning.” He announced to the table that was filled with his team. The loud chatter and laughs quickly died when they noticed him standing there. Hen gave him a smile and Chim mumbled a quick ‘hi,’ but that was it.

Eddie clapped and stood up, “chore time.” he announced as he put his plate in the sink and walked the opposite way of Buck. Everyone else cleared the table and went their separate ways.

“Buckley, you’re man behind this shift. There’s breakfast on the counter.” Bobby said flatly.

“Thanks Cap.” Buck said with false positivity.

Bobby narrowed his gaze, “it’s Captain Nash.” Bobby disappeared after correcting the man.

Buck looked around at the now deserted loft and got to work cleaning up breakfast. It was a 24-hour shift and there were 8 calls, all which Buck was left behind. Buck was convinced that a personal record was broken, because he spoke to absolutely no one since that one exchange with Bobby. The team was exhausted as they all changed into their normal calls, while Buck was rested and energetic as ever. Buck knew he wanted to say something, but at this point, he really wasn’t sure what.

“So, what’s everyone doing in their time off?” Buck asked the group.

Eddie didn’t even look up, he just grabbed his bag, said ‘bye’ to Chim and Hen, and walked away. Buck sighed.

“Date night with Maddie, see ya guys.” Chim responded quickly before bolting quickly.

Hen looked at the deflated man sitting on the bench, “it’ll get better, Buck. Give us time.” She asked, squeezing his shoulder, and leaving the station.

Buck sat there for a bit longer before sighing and getting up. He walked out of the station with his shoulders slumped, quite ready to crawl under the covers and not interact with anyone for the next 48 hours, unfortunately, he would have to have dinner with the Grant’s tomorrow and figure out a lie when they ask about work.

He was on his way home when Mike called to see how work went. Harvey was in the background chiming in periodically, and they were both cursing out his team for the way they were treating the man. Buck wanted to be mad at them for bad mouthing his team, but he couldn’t defend them anymore. Harvey and Mike were right, this was absolutely unacceptable and unfair treatment of Buck. They chatted for a while, and for the hundredth time, Buck had to all but threaten them NOT to come to L.A.

After their phone call, Buck went about his lonely and boring day. He went for a run before stopping at the gym, and then went grocery shopping before finally getting home. He put away everything and took a much-needed shower, before making a quick meal. The groceries were for dinner tomorrow, but Buck bought enough to have a simple dinner tonight. After that, he sat in front of the tv and eventually, fell asleep out of boredom.

Wednesday was quite the boring day, yet, Buck had so much anxious and nervous energy. On one hand, he was more than excited to hang out with the kids and Athena, but on the other hand, he honestly has no idea how they would react around him. He had no clue how much the kids knew about the lawsuit, and he just knew that if Bobby had talked to them about it, then they would be pretty pissed at him.

All of a sudden, Buck’s phone went off. Feeling panicked, he looked at the time, he still had 10 minutes before they would be coming over. He looked at the display and smiled a little:

*Incoming Call: Mike Ross*

“What’s up?” Buck said at the same time Mike spoke.

“Stop worrying.”

Buck laughed at the overlapping talking, “how do you know I’m worrying?”

Mike’s silence was answer enough before he spoke, “remember, they want to have dinner, so they want to hang out. It won’t be as dramatic as you’re envisioning, I promise you.”

Buck laughed, “that’s what I thought about Bobby.”

Mike scoffed, “look, I don’t like to continue talking shit, but fuck that man.”

“So much for not talking shit.” Buck pointed out.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I really hate how that man is treating you. Anyway, that’s not what tonight’s about, you enjoy the night and just relax, Buck.” Mike said sweetly.

Buck nodded, though the man couldn’t see him, “you’re right, thanks Mike.”

“Of course, call or text after, we want to know how it goes.” Mike reminded him.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, “got to go, will do. Thanks, bye.”

Buck took a deep breath and went over to the door. He braced himself and took one last steadying breath, before he opened the door and greeted his guests. Buck didn’t know it, but apparently, he was thinking Bobby may show up, because when he realized the man was indeed not there, he instantly relaxed. Well, that and the fact that the kids and Athena gave him a big hug, definitely calmed his fears. May moved into the apartment, ranting about how Buck couldn’t scare them like that, and that he has to let them know when he goes somewhere. Buck blushed and looked around, Harry was agreeing, and Athena just narrowed her eyes, agreeing and amused at the fact that Buck was getting admonished by her eldest.

Athena hugged the man again, “I’m sorry about our phone call, Buckaroo.” She whispered in his ear, “I understand why you didn’t want to talk after that.”

Buck smiled softly at her and accepted the apology and apologized too. She accepted but not before biffing him on the head.

“Ouch!” He exclaimed, “what was that for?”

“For making us think you were dead or gone for good or something.” Harry piped up.

Buck threw up his hands, “I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t expect anyone to care.” He admitted before he could stop himself.

May, Harry, and Athena looked at him with a mix of hurt, worry, and anger. Luckily, Athena spared them that conversation, asking about food. Buck explained he was going to cook, but Athena said that was nonsense and that they would order in. Once the debate ended and the Chinese was ordered, they all went out onto the balcony.

“So?” May asked as soon as they sat down, “where’d you jet off to?”

Buck laughed, “jet off?”

May shrugged, “well, I mean you did hop on a plane and leave the state without telling anyone, so yeah, I’d say jet off is appropriate.”

The group laughed and Buck answered, “New York.”

“What’s in New York?” Harry asked bewildered.

“Some friends. After the trial, well,” Buck stopped and looked up, trying to figure out how to continue, “I decided I needed a change of pace, so I decided to stay with some friends out there.”

Harry looked confused yet again, “we’ve never heard about your friends in New York.”

“Would you happen to be talking about Mike?” Athena raised an eyebrow.

Buck smiled proudly, “yeah, yeah I am. Him and his boyfriend, Harvey, and their friend, Donna.”

May crossed her arms, “well, let us see these mystery people!”

“Okay, okay.” Buck gave in and handed them his phone and told them to swipe. They saw pictures of his solo day, some of him and Donna, or him and Mike, and a couple of group photos. It hurt Athena to see the pictures from the beginning of the trip compared to the end, because you could tell that Buck’s smile was extremely muted at first.

“It looked like you had a great time, Buckaroo.” Athena smiled, and so did Buck.

“Yeah, I really did.” He confessed.

They spent more time talking about the trip before the food came, and May and Harry insisted on going back with him next time to meet the group. Athena protested, stating she wanted to go as well. Buck was feeling infinitely better than the day before and was starting to feel like his old self again. When the food came, they switched gears to talk about school and the call center, and the future. Harry and May were very happy with their lives, and Buck loved to see it. After they ate way too much and were stuffed, they broke out the cards and played a couple hands. None of them realized how late it had gotten until Buck got a call from Donna. He smiled noticing who it was, before politely declining it, mentally promising to call her back. Athena gave a tight smile at the sight and told the kids to go watch some tv before they left. Athena grabbed a glass of wine, and Buck had a beer, as they went out onto the patio.

They sat down and Buck started to feel anxious again.

“So, how was your first shift back?” Athena asked and Buck just picked at the label. When it was clear he wasn’t going to answer, she continued, “I couldn’t help but notice you were on the calls.”

Buck looked up at her, “yeah, I’m man behind for a while.” He said quickly.

“Buck,” she said, keeping his attention, “is everything okay?”

Buck nodded, “of course it is, Athena.”

“You know you could tell me if not? They can’t keep you behind forever.” She pointed out. He laughed a little bit and she questioned it.

“Everything is fine, ‘Thena. But, no offense, if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t really be able to come to you now, could I?” Buck was honest.

“Of course, you could.” She insisted.

Buck smiled, “you’re Bobby’s wife. Of course, I can’t.”

“I think you of all people know by now, I am the first one to call out that man.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Not when you think he’s right.” Buck countered. Athena was about to protest, but the man continued, “look, I love you. But we couldn’t even have a phone call about how I was because you jumped to defend him. Do I blame you? Absolutely not, I would never expect you to not defend Bobby, but I also don’t want to be told he’s right and I need to suck it up.”

“Now Buck,” Athena said seriously, “I understand that phone call was wrong, and I apologized. But as sergeant, I would never let me relationship get in the way of me doing my job.”

“I appreciate that.” Buck smiled, “well, it’s a good thing everything is fine, because it won’t come to that.”

“If you say so,” Athena looked skeptical, “promise you’ll come to me if something changes?”

“I promise.” Buck smiled.

Athena smiled back, “I’m glad you had Mike this week, I’m just sorry it came at the cost of the team.”

“Me too,” Buck said sullenly, “but if one good thing came out of it, it is definitely them. They are pretty great.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet them one day.” Athena said, “know that you’re always family, Buckaroo.”

“I know.” He smiled.

After a 30-minute goodbye, the Grants were finally out the door after 3 promises to hang out again next week. Buck smiled as he dialed Donna back to fill her in on the night. Luckily for him, not so much for them, Donna, Harvey, and Mike were all together, so he only had to say the story once. They were all very happy to hear that it went well, and it sounded like Harvey was relieved that he didn’t have to sue a sergeant, even though he assured everyone he had no problem doing so. When Buck filled them in on the previous shift, their happiness disappeared and was replaced with anger. Mike was insisting on coming down and threatening legal action again and Harvey was damn near ready to book a flight then and there, but Buck stopped them. Buck promised to keep them updated and bid them a goodnight. Before he knew it, he was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

“Come on, I don’t get it.” Harvey was complaining in the backseat of Ray’s car, “you have no problem going against me when I say not to do something, but Buck says, ‘don’t come,’ and all of a sudden you decide to listen?”

Mike smiled, “Harvey, it’s okay, he’s going to be fine. He asked us not to come, so we are respecting that.”

“How is this different than with me?” Harvey was actually kind of pouting.

Mike leaned in and his hot breath against Harvey’s ear made him shiver, “because I can count on make-up sex with you,” he said in a low voice. He returned to normal volume and distance, “with him, I cannot.”

Harvey moaned, “point taken, but why’d you have to make it first thing in the morning?”

“You frustrated?” Mike teased.

Harvey’s hand travelled up the man’s thigh, “I’ll show you frustrated.”

Mike shifted as Harvey’s hand came near, “you play dirty.”

Harvey leaned over to open the door, but really just an excuse to whisper in Mike’s ear, “you have no idea just how dirty I can get.”

With that, Harvey urged the man to get out and he climbed out his own door. Mike stayed in the car for an extra minute to collect himself. Harvey smirked as he strode to the elevators, and Mike just followed behind. Harvey was glad when no one else got in because he quickly pinned Mike up against the back of the elevator and kissed him passionately. However, almost as soon as their lips met, they were separate again. Harvey straightened his shirt as the elevator doors opened and exited as if nothing had happened. Mike stepped out a couple feet behind him, turning into Junior Partner mode, not Harvey Specter’s boyfriend.

Donna followed Mike into Harvey’s office and closed the door, “why are you two here?”

Mike and Harvey looked at each other with confusion, “because it’s Tuesday?” Mike answered.

“Why aren’t you in L.A. I mean?” She clarified, clearly annoyed.

Mike rolled his eyes, “you too? Buck is fine, he’s a big boy.”

“They have iced him out for almost a whole week, 3 shifts! You know how dangerous that could be.” Donna exclaimed.

Mike shook his head and shrugged defeatedly “he told us not to, not to mention, we are swamped between Pederson and Jacobs.”

Donna shot them a look telling them that she did not approve before exiting the office.

“I am worried about him too, you know.” Mike said, looking tiredly at Harvey, “I just, I know how it feels. We can’t push too hard, because eventually they’re going to forgive him, and we can’t make him completely break that bond.”

“I know.” Harvey agreed quietly.

“I do care, a lot.” Mike reiterated.

Harvey walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “no one said you didn’t, babe. I know.”

Mike covered his hand with his briefly, “okay.”

“Okay.” Harvey repeated, “you’re right. Let’s just focus on these cases.”

Mike and Harvey spent the rest of the night, holed up in the office, trying to put out the fires that were their current caseload. The demolished pizza’s box was long forgotten, and their suit jackets discarded. Mike had his highlighter in his mouth and Harvey had his sleeve rolled up as they scoured every inch of the files. Mike would have been able to go much faster, but he kept getting distracted by Harvey’s hands, God, were they gorgeous. It was 2 am when they finally decided to call it a night, they had everything settled, all that was left between them, and 2 million dollars was a signature to be collected the next morning.

The two were on their way out when Mike’s phone rang loud. Harvey and Mike both paused for a moment, panic briefly washing over them. They truly weren’t sure who would be calling from an unknown number this late, considering any emergency calls from Donna or Jessica would surely be directed toward Harvey first.

Mike shrugged and answered on the fourth ring, “hello?”

Harvey was studying Mike’s face and did not like the look of concern.

“When?” Mike said quickly and a little forcibly, “of course, no, do it. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Mike ended the call and looked at Harvey, who was eyeing him cautiously.

“Mike?” He asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, “who was it?”

“It was a hospital in L.A. Something happened to Buck.” He said slowly, shaking slightly.

Harvey immediately grabbed Mike’s phone and put it to his ear, while he typed away on his.

“Donna?” He talked into the phone, “something happened to Buck, he’s in the hospital. Meet us at the airport.”

By the time he hung up, his email dinged with a flight confirmation for the three of them.

“You okay, babe?” Harvey asked, tilting Mike’s chin up. He looked like a ghost, and nodded slowly, Harvey continued, “let’s get a cab and you can tell me what happened.”

Donna miraculously pulled up at the same time as the men and looked like an absolute wreck. Mike filled her in with what happened, just as he had with Harvey. He didn’t have a ton of information, except that Buck had been brought into the ER unconscious. He had a gash on his head and a scan confirmed a small brain bleed. They called Mike to get consent for surgery.

“Why’d they call you?” Donna asked in between deep breaths.

Mike shrugged, “I was his emergency contact, he must’ve changed it. I don’t know.”

Harvey, who was silent up until this point, essentially growled, “god, I want to kill them. I knew things were bad, but they must’ve been much worse than he let on if he changed his emergency contact.”

“I know,” Mike grabbed Harvey’s hand, “but let’s focus on Buck right now, not the others.”

Harvey nodded and got up to get the three of them coffee before they boarded in ten minutes.

The group was able to get to the hospital in record time and walked in a quarter past 10. Mike immediately went up to the ER staff and gave them Buck’s name. The nurse smiled politely and asked them to take a seat, and someone would be out shortly to update them. The three of them sat restlessly for about 20 minutes before a friendly looking doctor came looking for them.

“Family of Evan Buckley?” She announced and they all popped up.

“I’m Mike Ross, his emergency contact, this is Harvey and Donna.” Mike said fast.

The doctor smiled, “Ah, yes, Buck said there would probably be three of you.”

“You spoke to Buck?” Harvey asked with excitement.

“I did,” Dr. Tun nodded, “he’s on the recovery floor right now, the surgery went excellent. I can take you all back to him now.”

“Yes please.” Donna said smiling, squeezing Harvey’s hand. Harvey placed a relieved kiss on Mike’s forehead before they followed Dr. Tun back.

The three of them didn’t get much information except that Buck would be fine, he just needed to stay another night for observation and then a week of supervision at home. The group agreed and were all just so relieved that Buck was okay.

“Hey buddy.” Mike said quietly, stepping into Buck’s room.

Buck opened his eyes and smiled lazily, “hey guys.”

“Oh Buck,” Donna said sweetly, “what did you do?” She asked, moving closer to his bed.

“Oh, you know, the usual. I was on a ladder to clean the top windows and it slipped.” Buck blinked slowly before continuing, “I fell and smacked my head. I thought I was fine. I continued working but then asked the battalion chief to be relieved when I realized it was more than just a little bump. I made it to the bus stop before I collapsed, and then, I was here.”

“You were on the ladder with no one around?” Harvey asked, a little more aggressively than intended, earning him a glare so he continued, “and before I get accused, I am not blaming you, I am blaming the station.”

Buck shook his head but immediately regretted it, “it was my fault, the team was on a call, and I wanted to get my chores done.”

“Don’t you have a couple other people behind to help with stuff like that?” He asked.

Buck looked sheepish, “Yeah, but no one’s really talking to me.”

Harvey opened his mouth, but Mike stopped him, “Harvey, later.” The man just nodded and clenched his jaw. He may have been prohibited from saying anything to Buck for now, but no one said he can’t check in with Jessica about opening a case against the department.

“I am going to call Jessica,” the man announced, and Mike looked suspicious, “what? I texted earlier but she wants more details about why the three of us disappeared and we need someone to get that signature.” He wasn’t lying, that was all factual, he was just omitting the part about a lawsuit against station 118.

“He really is a protective son of a bitch, isn’t he?” Buck joked.

Mike smiled fondly, “you have no idea, Buck.”

Buck smiled too, “I’m beginning to think I just might.”

“You definitely do, Buck.” Donna confirmed, “how are you feeling?”

“Like I just had brain surgery,” he laughed, “and hey, thanks for coming.”

Mike shook his head, “no need for that, of course. I have to admit, I was quite shocked to learn I am your medical proxy.”

Buck looked shy, “I should’ve told you, I just thought I wouldn’t need it. It was the night Bobby came and yelled at me, I decided right there that he didn’t deserve that right anymore and I needed someone I could trust. I hope that’s cool with you.”

Mike grabbed his arm, “of course it is.”

“Buck, do you want us to call anyone else?” Donna asked, “I know that you and Athena are okay, right? I think she might want to know.”

Buck thought about it, “but I don’t want Bobby to know.”

“We can tell her not to tell him yet, but Buck, he’s going to find out eventually.” Donna pointed out.

“But” Buck started but stopped.

“Look, it’s your choice, but I you said you trust her, right? And that she stated she wouldn’t let this get between you guys? I think it might be good for her to know.” Mike stated.

“Okay, you can call her, Mike.” Buck said after some thinking, “but make sure she doesn’t tell Bobby, not yet.”

Mike nodded, “you need anything else?”

“No, I’m good, thanks.” Buck stated and Mike nodded again before disappearing again.

Donna grabbed Buck’s hand, “you okay?”

“I don’t know, I think. I’m starting to think maybe you were right?” Buck said.

“Well, of course I was.” Donna laughed, “what about?”

Buck swallowed hard, “maybe I should transfer to New York. It is obvious I no longer belong at the 118 and I don’t feel safe anymore. Harvey was right, I shouldn’t be doing it alone, but I had no choice. No one will help, but I have to get it done or else I’ll get written up.”

Donna’s heart broke at the sad, defeated look Mike had, “oh honey, you know we would love to have you and I want you to come, but maybe don’t decide anything right at this moment.” Donna grabbed the man’s hand, “just focus on feeling better, okay?”

“Okay.” Buck said quietly, “I’m just going to close my eyes, please don’t leave?” His voice was so small and so tired.

“Of course not, sweetie.” Donna assured the man.

Harvey was finally headed back to Buck’s room when ran into Mike. The man looked so tired, and Harvey immediately took him into his arms. Mike nestled his head under Harvey’s chin and held on tight. Harvey whispered platitudes into his hair, promising that everything would be okay and that they would be here for the man.

Mike pulled away, “how’d it go with Jessica?”

Harvey chuckled, “about as well as expected. I need to get back within 48 hours, but you can stay. She is not happy we left that signature, but she understands and wishes Buck well. And she is more than happy to sue the department, as long as we have confirmation Buck will go through with it.”

Mike rolled his eyes, “I love you for that, but he’s not going to go for that. You know that babe.”

“They are at fault for his brain bleed for Pete’s sake!” Harvey said a little loud.

“I know, and he knows. But think about it, their bond runs deep. There’s no way I could ever sue you like that, it’s a lot different than the first lawsuit, this one can end the man’s career.” Mike stated.

“Exactly.” Harvey deadpanned, “anyway, where are you going?”

“To call Athena.” Mike stated, and quickly added, “Buck asked me to,” before Harvey could protest.

“Okay. I’m going to head back.” Harvey said.

“And you will not mention a lawsuit, got it?” Mike asked sternly.

“Got it.” Harvey said with exaggeration.

“Harvey.”

“I said ‘got it!’” Harvey defended himself, “now go call Athena, I’ll see you in there.”

“Sergeant Grant.” Mike heard through the phone.

“Hi, Athena, right?” Mike confirmed.

“That’s correct, who’s asking?” Athena all but demanded.

Mike took a deep breath, “My name is Mike Ross, I am a friend of Buck’s.”

“Oh.” Athena sounded surprised, “Yes, I know who you are. Why are you calling?”

“He’s okay, sergeant, but Buck had an accident last night.” Mike ripped off the Band-Aid.

“Oh god, is he okay?” Her collected demeanor instantly broke.

“He’s okay, ma’am, but he did need emergency surgery and he is in recovery now. I saw him and he is talking, and the doctors say he is out of the woods,” Mike assured the woman.

Mike explained what had happened as he heard commotion happening on Athena’s end of the phone. He heard her get permission to take off early due to a ‘family emergency,’ and Mike’s heart was happy to hear that she still considered him family. She promised to be there as soon as possible but before she could hang up, Mike stopped her.

“And sergeant?” Mike interrupted.

“Please, it’s Athena. And yes?”

Mike gulped, “well, I know I don’t know you well, so this is kind of an awkward ask, but Buck asked you not tell your husband about this just yet.”

“Of course, I understand.” Athena agreed surprisingly fast, “thank you, Mike. I’ll be there in 10.”

Despite everything, Mike was kind of happy to meet the woman officially. He had seen her at the trial but did not get a chance to formally meet her or even speak to her during the case. Mike pocketed his phone and walked back inside the hospital. He didn’t even notice the firefighters standing at the entrance of the ER.

Eddie hopped down from the ambulance, keeping pressure applied to the man’s chest.

“BP plummeted, pulse is weak and thready but still there,” he yelled at the ER trauma surgeon as they took over and rushed the patient into the hospital. He was standing at the ER doors when he noticed a familiar man walking into the ER. Eddie stopped in his tracks and tuned out Chim and Hen arguing as he watched the man.

“Hey guys?” he asked, still watching the man.

“Yeah?” They replied in unison.

Eddie pointed to the man talking to the front desk staff, “isn’t that the lawyer guy?”

“Who?” Chim asked.

“That Mike guy. Buck’s Lawyer.” Eddie explained, a bad feeling in his gut.

Hen looked and nodded, “yeah, I think that is actually. Weird, I thought he live in New York.”

“He does.” Eddie said with finality.

“So?” Chim asked.

Eddie was about to approach the man, but Mike thanked the staff and continued past the waiting room doors, disappearing into the back.

“Why would he be here?” Eddie asked.

“Maybe he has a friend here?” Hen suggested.

Eddie looked at the two, grabbing his phone, “that’s what I’m afraid of. What if his friend is Buck?”

The two were rationalizing all the reasons it wouldn’t be Buck as Eddie called the station. The battalion Chief answered and gave Eddie that answer he was dreading.

“What is it?” Hen asked, noticing Eddie’s pale face.

His answer was cut off by Bobby appearing, “come on guys, let’s get on back. Athena?” He asked, looking up.

Athena was dressed in full uniform, walking rather quickly into the ER. She looked panicked once she realized who had called her, but rather quickly, the panic turned to anger.

“What are you doing here?” Bobby asked.

Eddie looked at the woman, “you’re here to see Buck, aren’t you?” He felt nauseous.

“Sorry babe, you’re not going to find him here, he’s man behind.” Bobby explained and Athena looked conflicted.

“Eddie?” Hen probed.

“Athena?” Chim tried.

“I just got off the phone with the Battalion Chief, something happened and Buck went home early this morning, around 1:30.” Eddie said.

There was a flash of horror on Bobby’s face, “so Athena, why are you here?”

She shook her head, “I got to go, I’ll call you later,” she said tiredly as she tried to push through, but Hen stopped her.

“What aren’t you telling us, Athena?” Hen spoke, hand on her arm.

Athena shook her head, “go back to the station. Buck is here, but he’s going to be fine.”

“Going to be?” Eddie asked.

“What the hell is going on, Athena?” Bobby asked again.

Athena sighed, “look, I can’t tell you anything, but you need to get back to the station, all of you. I’ll call you when I can.”

“Like hell I’m leaving.” Eddie practically yelled.

Athena looked at him with venom, “don’t act like you care now.”

Eddie and the group looked shocked, but Athena continued, “don’t you think I didn’t find out about how you’ve been treating Buck. So don’t stand here now, acting like you care. I need to go, and I can’t tell you anything right now.” Athena stated firmly, yanking her arm back and talking to the nurse, who directed her past the same doors Mike had disappeared down.

The group of firefighters were left standing there, completely at a loss for words and not a clue as to what they were supposed to do.

“What exactly did the chief say?” Bobby finally asked.

Athena walked quickly down the hallway, her mind racing and filling with a million different questions. The doctor explained that they were doing a quick neuro check and that she would be permitted to see the man shortly. Until then, she was directed to a waiting room with three other individuals.

The nurse let Athena in the room, and immediately three heads whipped up and looked at her. Athena was known to stand her ground, she wasn’t a sergeant for no reason, so she stood tall. The red head and smaller man gave her a small smile, but the older man just seemed to glare with a slight furrow of the eyebrow.

“You must be Athena,” the other man spoke, “I’m Mike, we spoke on the phone.”

Athena shook his hand and followed suit when the redhead spoke, “And I’m Donna, it’s nice to meet you, although I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Athena Grant,” she introduced herself, “thanks for calling.”

Mike nodded, “of course.”

The unidentified man near the window snorted, he was obviously unhappy she was called.

“Excuse me?” Her eyes narrowed, “and who would you be?”

His eyes hardened, “Harvey Specter.”

Ah, that made sense. Athena had heard the lawyer on the other side was a real hard ass, but with Mike at the helm, Athena never met him in person. He was everything that Athena would expect a high-powered lawyer to be. She was quite confident that she was not going to like the man, and by the looks of it, the feeling was going to be mutual.

She turned her attention to the others, “do you mind filling me in?”

So, they did, and Athena was horrified. She knew things at the station had been rough, but if the lawyers had it right, the 118 was going to be in some serious trouble, namely her husband. While that worried her, she couldn’t be the captain’s wife right now, she had to be Sergeant Grant, no matter how hard it was going to be. Suddenly, based on what Mike and Donna had told the woman, Harvey’s attitude toward her didn’t seem so unfair. Maybe they would get along better than she initially thought.

“And I’m guessing you want to file against the department again?” Athena asked.

“Damn right we do!” Harvey boomed.

Mike glared at him, “Harvey!”

They were interrupted by the doctor letting them know that they could go see Buck again. Donna and Mike were half-way out the door and Harvey was making his way out when Athena stopped them.

“Mr. Specter?” She said, and they all turned, “do you mind holding on a minute? I’d like to speak with you.”

Donna and Mike looked towards the man, nervousness written on their features, but Harvey just nodded, and they walked out after promising to not go far.

“Yes?” Harvey asked when they were alone.

“Mr. Specter, first of all, I would like to thank you.” Athena started.

That threw the man a little, but he got his footing quite quickly, “for what?”

Athena smiled, “for coming down so quickly. From what I understand, you hopped on the first plane available when you got the call, not many people would do so.”

Harvey stiffened, “Buck is a good man, he deserves good people around him.” He wasn’t unkind, but his eyes hardened.

“That he is, one of the best I know.” Athena replied.

There was a flash of frustration, and a pause within Harvey, “why are you here?” he finally asked.

Athena scoffed, “Excuse me? Why am I here? I don’t know who you think you are, but I would advise you check yourself. I am here because I care a great deal about Buck.”

Harvey laughed, “sorry sergeant, but Buck told us about the courthouse and the phone call, so I’m finding it kind of hard to believe.”

Athena stepped closer, “you know, I didn’t react in the best way and there are things I wish I did differently, but don’t you ever accused me of not caring for that boy.” Her eyes were dark.

“How about you work on showing him that, because from the past couple months, it sure as hell doesn’t seem that way. If you really did, you would be doing what you could to have your husband to treat Buck like a damn human.” Harvey was upset, he had tried to hide it, but who was this lady? Who did she think she was?

Athena shook her head, “what are you talking about?”

“How about why Buck’s here in the first place? You’re going to sit there and pretend that the team hasn’t spoken to Buck since his return? That you didn’t know he was doing things solo? Because your husband and his team made damn sure that’s how it went.” Harvey spat.

Athena stood there, shocked. She knew that today’s incident was because Buck was alone, Mike had said that, but Athena didn’t quite realize how deep this treatment went.

“I didn’t know.” She admitted, her blood boiling, but her rage now directed to the people closest to her.

Harvey’s tone softened, but his eyes didn’t, “maybe you should’ve. If you care as much as you said you do, you should’ve noticed.”

“You’re right, but I am not the enemy here, Mr. Specter. I have known Buck for a lot longer, and I’ll be damned if some hot shot lawyer from New York stands in the way of my relationship with him.” Athena warned.

“I have no intention of doing so, Sergeant.” Harvey said simply, “I’m just saying you better not hurt him. And asking, now that you know, what are you going to do about it?”

Athena shook her head, “don’t worry about that, but rest assured, there’s going to be a full investigation.”

Harvey smiled, “good.”

Athena looked at the man, “and I would appreciate some time for us to deal with it before a suit comes down?”

Harvey’s eyes narrowed, “that’s up to Buck. I would have had a suit drawn up yesterday, but this is Buck’s call. Whenever he’s ready, we’ll be there.”

Athena eyed the man, and appreciated the fight he had for Buck, “Understood, Mr. Specter.”

Harvey extended his hand, “you are as bad as I originally thought, Sergeant. It’s Harvey.”

“Back at you, Harvey.” Athena laughed, “and it’s Athena.”

Harvey nodded and led the woman back to Buck’s room. Even though Athena and Buck had repaired their relationship, Athena felt a lot of nervousness about seeing Buck in a hospital bed, yet again. She truly wasn’t sure how it was going to go, considering it was her husband’s fault that he was in such a situation.

“Hey Buckaroo, how are you feeling?” Athena announced as she entered the room.

“Hey ‘Thena,” Buck said with a small smile, “I’m okay.”

Athena went to his side and grabbed his hand, “good. God, you scared me.”

Buck blushed and apologized meekly.

“No, no need to be sorry, Buck. I just meant, when Mike called,” she stopped, as if flashbacks of Buck lying unconscious in the hospitable bed haunted her, “I’m just so glad you’re okay.”

Mike smiled to himself, from the second he had met Athena, it was obvious how much she cared for Buck, something that he had definitely questioned. He looked around the room as the two spoke quietly, and he could tell Harvey and Donna felt the same way. His eyes lingered on his boyfriend, in awe at how far Harvey had come since they first met each other. Harvey used to and still did, keep people at arm’s length, and the list of people he openly cared about, was quite small. But something happened with Buck, and it was almost automatic. The care Harvey showed the man was something that made his heart absolutely swell, it was the same attitude Harvey had towards Marcus, or even him, to an extent. It was an absolutely beautiful sight to see.

Mike was brought out of his thoughts by Athena, “do you mind if I speak to Buck alone for a bit? There are some things I need to go over about today.”

“Of course,” Donna spoke, going over to say goodbye, “bye Buck, we’ll be back in a bit.”

Harvey and Mike nodded, saying bye to him as well before they stepped out of the room. They looked at the clock, it was already 2 pm, and they were starving and still hadn’t checked into their room.

“Well, why don’t we go check in and grab a bite to eat at the hotel, and then we can come back tonight and figure out the game plan?” Harvey suggested and the rest agreed.

The three of them walked through the hospital and were about to exit, when two firefighters caught their eye. Mike immediately recognized them and felt his blood pressure rise. Donna and Harvey, being perceptive as always, noticed the shift and glanced in their direction. The two men sitting looked up and there was a five-second period where everyone just stared at one another. Eventually, the men got up and walked towards the group.

“You’re Mike, right?” The younger one asked.

Mike looked at the man, “and you’re Eddie.”

Mike grabbed Harvey’s forearm when he felt the man tense and squeezed a bit to calm him down. Mike knew the man was not happy to be in this interaction, and honestly, Mike just wanted to avoid a fight. The last thing Buck needed was for all of them to fight.

“Is Buck okay?” The captain asked.

“How do you even know he’s here?” Donna snapped and Harvey couldn’t help but smirk.

Eddie glared at them, “we saw you and then Athena while we were wrapping up our call, so it didn’t take much from there. Is he okay?”

“Now you care?” Harvey spat.

“Excuse me?” Captain Nash asked, taking a step forward as if it would get Harvey to back off. Too bad he did not know Harvey.

Harvey took a step forward as well, “you heard me.”

“Of course we care.” Eddie said angrily.

“Funny way of showing it.” Donna tossed back.

“Look,” the captain spoke, “we’ve known Buck a hell of a lot longer and for you to question that, is absurd. Buck is our family.”

“Then why am I his emergency contact?” Mike remarked and the men didn’t have a response for that.

“You’re what?” Eddie practically laughed, “yeah right.”

“Why do you think we’re here?” Harvey asked, “we were called and flew from New York as soon as we got the news. He has “family” here, yet, he calls us in New York when something goes wrong.”

Eddie and Captain Nash just stared back; brows furrowed but unsure how to proceed.

“You see,” Mike started, “were we come from, you don’t treat family the way you treat Buck.”

“You know nothing about our relationship!” Eddie spat.

Donna stepped forward, “yeah? We know about the text. We know about the house call, captain Nash. We know about the station and the unanswered calls. So, instead of pretending like you care suddenly, just go home. Buck does not want you here.”

With that, the group walked out the door, deciding that they were done with that conversation.

“That was hot.” Mike smiled, leaning into Harvey.

“You think so?” Harvey raised an eyebrow.

“I know so.” Mike whispered before kissing the man.

“All right, love birds, save it for the hotel. Let’s go, I am starving.” Donna interrupted, getting into the car that pulled up to take them to the hotel

Athena was holding onto Buck’s arm as he got honest with what had been happening at the station. Though Athena had heard through Mike and Harvey, hearing Buck recount it with a broken voice, was like a dagger in her heart. The kid laying in the bed in front of her had become a beacon of light in her life, and the fact that it had gotten this bad, was absolutely unacceptable.

“You know this isn’t right, don’t you Buck?” Athena asked when he was done.

Buck shrugged, “they were just upset and needed time.”

“No, Evan, this goes beyond that. They put you in a position to be doing tasks alone that everyone knows requires two.” Athena pointed out, “what would you like to do?”

Buck’s eyes went wide, “what do you mean?”

“I mean, this has to get reported. You got severely injured because the department was ignoring protocol. There will be an investigation, but I know your friends out there are fully prepared to bring another suit.”

Buck stared at her, “they’re dramatic, don’t listen to them.”

“I don’t know, Buck, Harvey seemed serious.” Athena stated.

Buck chuckled, “oh, he is. But Mike will calm him down.”

“They really care about you, Buck.” Athena pointed out.

He smiled, “they do. And I care about them.”

“Maybe, we can all have dinner before they leave.” Athena suggested.

“I’d like that.” Buck smiled, “Athena, do you mind if I close my eyes? My head is killing me, and I am so tired.”

“Of course, sweetheart, I’ll be right here.” Athena assured the man, “I’ll call my chief and the station and fill them in, okay? But I’ll stay with you.”

Buck smiled sleepily, “and please don’t tell them.”

Athena was going to respond and update him, but he was out before she could. She decided it was fine, they didn’t know anything and her reporting it to the chief would make them aware anyway. At this point, she didn’t care about her relationships with them at the moment, there was no way they were getting close to Buck if Athena had anything to say about it, and rest assured, she most certainly did.

“So, what’s the plan?” Mike asked once they were sipping on their coffee after they finished their long-awaited meal.

“Well,” Harvey said, taking a drink, “we’ll go back to the hospital and see what’s up. See if Buck has thought anything of opening a suit, and that’ll be that.”

“Whatever he chooses,” Mike narrowed his eyes at Harvey, “we accept. And we don’t push.”

Harvey sighed with a defeated smile, “of course, no pushing. After that, if you want to stay, I thought maybe you or Donna, or both of you could stay here for the week, since Buck can’t go home alone. If neither of you want to, we could talk to Athena.”

“No.” Donna said quickly, “of course I’ll stay.”

“Me too.” Mike confirmed.

Harvey smiled and nodded, “so it’s settled. You will stay at Buck’s, I’ll get a late flight out tomorrow night, and then I’ll come back on the weekend.”

“It’s Tuesday, you’re going to go home tomorrow night and then come back Saturday?” Mike asked.

Harvey shrugged, “maybe Friday night depending on the case.”

“That’s insane, Harvey.” Donna added.

“Maybe.” Was all Harvey said as he sipped on his coffee and that was the end of the discussion.

Athena was watching Buck sleep, and she could tell it wasn’t a restful one. There seemed to be a permanent discomfort expression written on his face and she wished more than anything that she could take away the pain, both mental and physical. Athena was playing with her phone, trying to debate her next steps. She had to report what she had learned to her chief and of course the fire chief, but she knew what kind of shit storm that would bring down on the 118, and her husband. While she agreed that this was serious and needed to be dealt with immediately, the wife in her was extremely worried for what this would do to her husband. Her apprehension was eventually broken by the look of Buck’s head wrapped in a bandage, he had literally gotten brain surgery due to the actions of the 118 and that appalled her.

“Elaine, it’s Athena. We have a problem.” She spoke into the phone.

After a 30-minute phone call, it was decided that Elaine would go down to the fire station and speak with Bobby, captain to captain. The fire chief would also be present in this conversation, and Elaine let Athena know that while not ideal, the conversation would most likely lead to Bobby being suspended from his captaincy. Part of Athena wanted to call and warn her husband, but a bigger part of her did not care, she was so upset.

About two hours later, Athena’s phone lit up, it was Bobby. She was about to step out in order to answer it, but Mike, Donna, and Harvey had gotten back. They spoke for a while, Athena filling them in about what was going to happen, and the actions the fire department, partnered with the police department, were going to take. Donna and Mike seemed a tad more apprehensive toward such actions being taken, such as suspensions, but Harvey thought it was nowhere near enough. She liked this man, he was fiercely protective of Buck, and the more who cared for the man, the better in Athena’s eyes. The trio filled Athena in on their plan, including Donna and Mike staying, and Harvey returning for the weekend.

“Do you think that’s necessary?” Athena asked.

“What part?” Mike asked.

Athena nodded toward Harvey, “you coming back right away, do they think Buck will need that much help?”

Harvey straightened his stance, “of course it is. They said Buck needed supervision, and I want to be here.”

Athena smiled, “I didn’t mean to insult you, I think it is very kind.”

Harvey visibly relaxed.

“I talked a little to Buck and I told him how grateful I was toward you all for being there for him. I wanted to do a dinner with all of us, but with you going back so soon, Harvey, maybe we could get a bite to eat after visiting hours tonight? I would love to get to know the people that Buck has gotten so close to so quickly.” Athena explained.

Mike and Harvey looked at each other with skepticism, so Donna answered, “we would love that.”

“Good.” Athena smiled. It was true, she did want to know them and properly thank them, but the police officer in her was skeptical. These people started off as Buck’s lawyers, and in less than a month, they suddenly all become best friends? There was something that just seemed off, and while Athena hoped that wasn’t the case, she sure as hell wasn’t about let them take advantage of Buck.

When Buck woke up, the group updated him that the team did indeed know, and while that scared Buck, they all assured the man that no one he didn’t want to see would be allowed up. Harvey was relieved when Buck stated that it hadn’t changed, and that he did not want to see anyone from the team, nor did he want them to know specifics. Athena explained that they likely already knew, just due to the investigation that was ongoing, and Buck understood. Buck also gave Athena permission to tell Bobby that he was okay but asked that she shared nothing else; Athena gave her word. Lastly, they discussed living arrangements for the next week, and Buck was quick to agree to have Mike and Donna stay. There was a slight part of him that was disappointed Harvey couldn’t stay, but he knew that Harvey was already sacrificing a lot to be there currently. Selfishly, Buck was relieved when Harvey promised to come back for the weekend. Buck didn’t want to be alone right now, and his newfound supports were the people he wanted. Buck was so tired, that he didn’t mind the group leaving, as long as they came back in the morning, which they assured him they would.

Dinner went well to the surprise of all parties involved. Harvey was quite aware that Athena was sizing them up, but he didn’t care, because he was doing the same thing. Just because they talked earlier, didn’t mean that Harvey had forgiven or forgotten Athena’s role in Buck’s pain. Mike knew that Harvey was indeed evaluating Athena, which automatically made him on edge and ready to jump to the defense of whoever needed it. Donna knew that Athena looked at Buck as some sort of family, maybe a son? And Donna could relate, she may not have known the kid long, but she felt the same way about him as she had Mike all those years ago, there was just something about them that made her fiercely protective. That protective side was skeptical of Athena due to recent events, but Donna also knew that they were the outsiders here. Athena had been a part of Buck’s life for a lot longer; and while she knew it shouldn’t, it did bother her a little.

Athena was able to realize that while they all had a different way of showing it, each and every one of them really did have Buck’s best interest in mind and they all deeply cared about the man. While the bond with the New York crew and the former nomad had formed quickly, Athena really wasn’t surprised, she knew how easy it was to love Buck. Even when he drove her crazy, she would walk through fire for the boy. Depending on the day, she might drag his ass through it with her, but still, she would be there every step of the way. Once the initial assessments were put aside, the group was able to share stories of their experiences with Buck. Athena loved hearing about Buck in the big apple and the trio loved hearing about Buck 1.0. Eventually, the conversation shifted, and they took the time to get to know each other. Harvey was fascinated with all the crazy situations Athena had found herself in and asked about “Sergeant Grant’s Greatest Hits” as he called them. Donna on the other hand was in awe of Athena being a woman in power, especially within a male dominated field, the two bonded over it. Eventually, the topic of Mike being a former fake lawyer was broached, and Athena had to know the story. Mike had been nervous, with Athena being an officer and all, he truly thought she would resent him, but she just laughed.

“You know, you really are a lot like Buck. That is one hundred percent something he would do.” Athena commented.

Mike laughed, “so I’ve been told.” He nudged Harvey, and he just smiled.

Athena asked Harvey about some of his toughest cases and the one’s that made the headlines. Athena had definitely looked into all of them, so she knew the basics, but she liked hearing more in depth about their experiences. In the end, all parties involved were grateful for the chance to get to know one another, and a bond, or at least a trust, was built through their mutual love for Buck. Harvey was able to let his guard down and was a lot softer while interacting with the woman, and so was she with him.

Getting Buck home proved to be more difficult than expected, while his scans were clear, his memory was still a little impacted due to the trauma and the concussion. It took a lot longer for the group to get into his apartment than anticipated, due to Buck forgetting how to get to his apartment and which key to use. Athena was dealing with the investigation, so it was just Buck and three people who didn’t know anything about his residence. Once inside, Buck immediately sat down and closed his eyes. Mike noticed the man struggling and found a glass of water and grabbed him his pills.

“Why don’t you go lay down?” Mike suggested, “the doctor said not to overdo it.”

Buck groaned, “I’m fine.” He shook his head, but the pain quickly washed over him, and he grimaced.

“You totally seem fine.” Donna commented and Buck just glared at her.

“You guys don’t know where anything is.” Buck pointed out.

Harvey shouted from the kitchen, already looking at what the man had for dinner, “we’ll manage. Go to bed.”

“Is he always this bossy?” Buck raised an eyebrow, deciding that they were all right.

“Unfortunately.” Mike replied while Donna just nodded.

Mike gave him a sympathetic smile, “up to bed you go.”

Buck had been upstairs and asleep for about an hour and Donna was sent to the store to buy some food for Harvey to be able to cook. Harvey and Mike were sitting at the counter, working on some files, when there was a knock at the door. Mike didn’t even register it until Harvey kicked him and told him to get the door. Mike took the highlighter out of his mouth and started complaining while going to let Athena in. His head was turned to rebuttal Harvey’s latest tease, so it took a moment to realize it was not Athena at the door, but a man.

“What are you doing here?” Harvey asked, automatically standing up.

The man looked confused, “what am I doing here, what are YOU doing here?”

Mike glanced up the stairs, but Buck hadn’t stirred. He stepped outside, closing the door gently behind him. It opened within a second and Harvey stepped out as well.

“I came to check up on my best friend.” Eddie said, “I thought he was fine, what are you doing here?”

“Taking care of your supposed best friend,” Harvey replied unkindly, “you should leave.”

Eddie stood his ground, “I’m not leaving here until I know he’s okay.”

“He’s okay.” Mike said, “there, now you know, and you can go.”

“I’m not leaving until I see him.” Eddie corrected himself, rolling his eyes.

Harvey leaned against the door, “well, that’s just not going to happen.”

“And who do you think you are deciding who Buck can and can’t see?” Eddie retorted.

Harvey laughed, “you really think I’m the one calling the shots here? If so, you would have been sued hours ago. Is it really so hard to believe that Buck doesn’t want to see you? Because guess what, he doesn’t.”

“I don’t believe that.” Eddie simply stated.

Harvey was about to speak again when Mike jumped in, “and that’s the problem right there. You think you can treat Buck however you want and then you can swoop in here and act like nothing happened. Well, in case you didn’t realize, something did happen. And you can’t just come around here, acting like a concerned friend. Something happened and you are partly to blame.”

Harvey put a supportive hand on Mike’s back, a little surprised but immensely proud of the man. Eddie looked flabbergasted, but he truly didn’t have a response. He stood there, looking at the two men, deciding what he should do. He didn’t have long, because before he knew it, a familiar voice was talking behind him.

“I don’t know what you think you are doing, but I sure as hell know you don’t think you’re going to see Buck.” Eddie turned around to see Athena with her arms crossed.

“Athena,” Eddie started but Athena cut him off.

“Go home, Eddie.” Athena ordered, “he doesn’t want to see you, and even if he did, I wouldn’t let you. And even if I wanted to let you, you couldn’t. Not while you are on suspension for yesterday’s incident.”

Eddie opened then closed his mouth, but then turned to walk away. He walked a few feet before stopping and turning around. For the first time, Mike noticed the tears in his eyes, “just,” Eddie collected himself, “just tell him I am glad he’s okay. And if he wants to talk, he knows how to reach me. You know, for what it’s worth, I really am sorry.”

Harvey looked at the man, “yeah, that’s not worth much.” With that, Harvey shut the door.

“What’s the deal with that one?” Mike asked when they were all inside.

Athena looked at him, “what do you mean?”

“I don’t know, the way Buck talked about him in New York was that they were these best friends, extremely intertwined, yet during the trial and after, he completely cut off Buck. It just doesn’t make sense.” Mike answered.

Athena struggled a bit, everything Mike had said, was true. And yes, she did not agree with anything the 118 did, yet she still felt a little defensive over them.

Harvey noticed this internal conflict, “we aren’t trying to cause issues, we are just genuinely curious. Because all we know about these people is that they absolutely wrecked Buck.”

“No, you’re right, I get it,” Athena smiled, “it’s just complicated for me. I know how we’ve all been, and I do know how much they all care for Buck, even if it does not seem that way right now. Those two idiots, they share a bond that was stronger than most people can comprehend. They were partners and had to trust each other in every life-threatening situation, and then they sort of became partners with Eddie’s son, Chris. Buck was the one who Eddie decided would take care of the kid should anything happen to Eddie.”

Harvey and Mike’s face went wide, “wow.” Was all Mike could muster.

Harvey shook his head, “somehow, that makes it worse.”

“Oh, trust me, I know.” Athena laughed, “how do you think I feel? I know my husband loves the kid like a damn son, yet I have to stand here and recognize the horrific treatment he had put Buck through because his damn feelings were hurt.”

“That must be hard.” Mike said, laying a comforting hand on her forearm.

Athena sighed, “you have no idea. I love the man so much, but right now, I can’t even look at him. He’s been suspended pending the investigation, and I never thought I wouldn’t be there for him in such a dire time, but here I am, not there.

“You know, no one would blame you if you did want to be there for him; Buck would understand.” Mike and Athena both looked at Harvey shocked, no one expected those words to come from him.

“what?” He continued, “I’m just saying, if it were Mike, or even Donna, I don’t know that you would be able to stay away from them.”

Athena shook her head, “no, Buck needs me more. And I want to be here.”

Harvey and Mike smiled, “okay then.”

Athena joined the men at the counter, and they all continued to work on whatever they needed done. Donna got home and Harvey immediately got up and started to cook dinner, while Donna replaced Harvey and watched the three of them work effortlessly. It always amazed her to watch Mike get in the zone and work incredibly fast. He had his earbuds in, as to not get distracted, and he was fully in the zone.

“Does he always work like this?” Athena said, staring at the man with awe.

Harvey beamed with pride, “yup. Word of advice, never touch his highlighters.” He gestured to the one currently in Mike’s mouth.

Athena laughed, “he’s flown through like 5 pages in a minute, there’s no way he knows what was said.”

Donna raised an eyebrow and flicked the earbud out of Mike’s ear. His eyes flew up in terror, and Donna just laughed while grabbing the papers from in front of him.

“Hey!” He exclaimed, “I was working on that.”

“Alright hotshot,” Harvey mocked, “what did you just read about?”

“The case?” Mike answered, unsure what was going on.

Harvey laughed, “the specifics, rookie. What’s on the third page?” Donna flipped to the page.

Still confused, Mike rattled it off, “it’s the contract the Taylor signed for Donaldson, detailing the limitations of the non-compete. One, renders it moot if the firm dissolves. Two, renders it moot if there was any criminal activity that led to the abrupt exit of an employee. Three, states that an employee is prohibited from soliciting any client, directly or indirectly, from the agency.”

“He’s right.” Donna smirked.

Mike looked offended, “of course I’m right.”

“I just,” Athena was shocked, “I can’t, can’t believe that.”

Mike just smiled, and it clicked why he was just tested, “I can’t help it, it’s just how my brain works.”

“That’s amazing.” Athena said, “truly.”

Shortly after that, Harvey announced that dinner would be done in a few minutes and suggested that Athena go and get Buck. Buck came down and looked like a bus had hit him. Donna had his meds at the ready and immediately made him take them. Buck stated that while he looked terrible, he actually felt decent and his head was at a low, constant ache, instead of the sharp pain he was experiencing earlier.

“Who knew you could cook, Harvey?” Buck said, devouring the side of potatoes, “here I was thinking the only thing you knew about getting food was paying someone.”

Donna nearly choked on her dinner and Mike let out a hearty laugh. Harvey elbowed Mike, “there’s always has to be at least one cook in the relationship, and Mikey here, well he could burn water.”

Athena laughed at that one and everyone else chuckled. The dinner was low-key and kept light and happy. Buck was very happy to have his New York friends meshing with Athena, and he couldn’t help but think about how awesome it would be to have Harry and May here as well. Athena assured him that next time they would join, and Mike stated that he could not wait. At the end of the meal, Harvey announced he had to head out soon for his flight. With that known, it was decided that they would talk about the situation at hand and would figure out where to go from here.

Athena started and let know that the A shift were all suspended without pay for the time being, and that a formal investigation was being launched. Athena didn’t have a timeline, but she was sure that it would last for a little bit. Buck seemed uncomfortable with it at first, until Donna gently brought up the fact that their actions directly led to him being severely injured on the job. While everything turned out okay and better than expected their rejection of him had literally led to him having brain surgery. Once Buck was able to comprehend that, he didn’t feel as guilty. This is where Harvey jumped in, assuring the man that it was completely up to him and there was absolutely no pressure. Harvey asked if Buck would like to pursue charges against the department, to which Buck quickly denied. Athena asked him if he was sure, essentially giving him permission to do so if he felt it was just; in reality, he had every reason and right to do so. Buck still declined, stating that while things were terrible currently, he didn’t want to ruin everything forever.

Harvey looked at the others and took a deep breath before telling him that Eddie did indeed show up earlier. If it were up to Harvey, he would have never told the man in order to protect him from the man, but it wasn’t. Harvey had learned the hard way with Mike and Trevor, that sometimes, he had to let the people he cared about make their own decisions, even if Harvey really, really hated what those may be. Once again, Buck came through and thanked them for telling him, but insisted he did not care and did not want to speak with the man.

With everything out in the open, and a clear plan of the next couple days, Harvey gathered his things and Mike helped him get his stuff together. After the bag was packed, Mike grabbed onto Harvey’s waist.

“I’ll mis you, you know?” Harvey whispered into Mike’s ear.

Mike smiled, “please, it’s only three days.”

“So?” Harvey countered.

“I know, I’ll miss you too.” Mike said, wrapping his arms around the man.

Harvey hugged him back, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Mike said as Harvey met him for a kiss. Harvey deepened it and the two enjoyed each other for a second. They broke apart and Harvey said bye to Donna, telling her the things he needed her to do remotely, which just happened to be sending him some reminders and any communication with his upcoming meetings. Harvey then turned to Buck.

“Bye kid, I am glad to see you doing better.” He said with a smile.

“Hey, thank you, Harvey. So much.” Buck said sincerely, extending his hand.

Harvey shook his head and gave the kid a shoulder squeeze, “like I said before, you’re stuck with us so get used to it.”

Buck smiled and Athena walked Harvey out.

“I misjudged you, at first.” Athena spoke, “but thanks for all you’ve done.”

“I can’t say that I didn’t do that same exact thing.” Harvey smirked, “but it really was nice to meet you, Sergeant.”

Athena shook his hand, “you too, Specter.”

“You tell me if he changes his mind, we are ready to go on our end.” Harvey promised.

“I will.” Athena nodded.

“And Athena?” Harvey added.

“Yeah?” She looked at him.

“It’s okay to support your husband AND Buck, this is a hard time for you.” Harvey acknowledged.

Athena raised an eyebrow, “you advocating support for Bobby is quite shocking, I must say.”

Harvey laughed, “yeah, no. That’s not what it is.” He assured the woman, “he’s your husband, so no offense, but I am not a fan of his. All I know is he broke that young man in there, and I do not take kindly when people hurt the people I care about. So no, this isn’t about supporting him, it’s about supporting you.”

Athena smiled and nodded, “I understand that, thank you Harvey. Really. Have a safe flight and we’ll see you this weekend?”

Athena joined the others who had migrated to the couch, and Buck was leaning against Donna, who was rubbing a hand up and down his arm. Athena smiled at the sight and took a seat next to Mike.

“He’s a good one. Protective as all hell, but a good one.” Athena spoke.

Mike smiled and felt a warm feeling in his gut, “he really is.”

“Is he always that fierce?” Athena asked.

Donna laughed, “if he cares about you, then yes. It takes a while to get in, but once you’re there, he will go to the ends of the earth to make sure you are okay.”

Athena smiled and so did Buck, “I like him.”

“Yeah, I kind of do too.” Mike smiled and everyone laughed.

The week went by quickly, and Buck proved to be a terrible patient. Donna and Mike quickly learned that Evan Buckley was not one to sit still, and it was driving them absolutely nuts. Mike would start to make food or make a list of what to get at the store, and Buck would be there, ready with his shoes on, wanting to go.

“In the nicest way possible, you had brain surgery three days ago! What the hell do you think you’re doing.” Donna finally snapped, “sit down and let us help!”

“I don’t do well needing to rest, you can ask Athena.” Buck tossed casually.

Donna shook her head, “you’re lucky my specialty is dealing with stubborn. You may not like it, but you have no choice right now. Sit your ass down, Evan.”

Buck looked scared for a moment, and Mike just laughed at him.

“I might be stubborn like Harvey, but damn, you’re scary like Athena.” Buck whined.

“Good, I’ll take that compliment any day.” Donna smiled as she hummed and continued her tasks. She smiled to herself as Buck did exactly as he was told.

It was Friday morning, and they were all sitting around the couch. Donna was firing off some emails for Harvey, Mike was proofing some contracts for both his clients, as well as a couple for Louis. While Mike did have a higher title and more responsibility, he had a smaller caseload than other junior partners at the firm, in order to lend a hand to the name partners on the higher profile cases.

Buck was playing on his phone and groaned before throwing it across the room.

“Headache or Eddie?” Mike asked, shutting his laptop.

“Is there even a difference?” Buck snapped back.

Mike sighed softly, feeling bad for the man as he laid back. Since that day Eddie showed up, he has texted the man every couple hours, everything between apologies to threats, to even using Chris. Luckily, Buck was able to talk to Chris twice, and that made Mike happy.

“Buck?” Donna said quietly.

“Hmm?” He said, without looking up.

Donna took a minute and carefully treaded, “do you want to speak to him?”

Buck looked at her like a deer in headlights.

“You don’t have to, Buck. No one is saying that.” Mike quickly followed up, “I think Donna’s just saying if you want to.”

“No.” He said definitively and Mike and Donna shook their heads.

“Yes,” he spoke again, “maybe, ugh, I don’t know!”  Buck let out.

Donna went and sat closer, draping a should across him, “and that’s perfectly okay too.”

By the time Harvey showed up bright and early on Saturday morning, Buck was feeling a million times better. His headaches were still there, but they were duller, more manageable, and less consistent. Harvey had wrapped up all the loose ends in New York, so surprisingly, he actually had the weekend free and was able to spend time with the group. He was happy to see that Buck seemed to be in a better head space, both literally and figuratively. Harvey was able to meet May and Harry and Chris, when they came over for lunch with Athena. From what Harvey had gathered, Mike hadn’t spoken to Eddie much, but only to coordinate Chris coming over with the Grant’s.

Watching the kids interact with not only each other, but Buck, really made Mike and Harvey’s heart swell. Lunch was finished and Buck was playing video games with the kids, as they were talking his ear off about the latest school drama. To his credit, Buck seemed to be very attentive and engaged in the conversation, it really was endearing.

“You really have great kids, Athena.” Harvey said, smiling at the interaction in front of him.

“I do.” She smiled with pride, “they are pretty great. Do you want kids?” she asked the man, not even thinking about the fact that it may be an awkward conversation to ask in front of a significant other, “I am so sorry, that is none of my business.”

Mike laughed and grabbed Harvey’s hand, and Harvey spoke, “we do. We’ve talked about it, and we can’t wait to start a family.”

“And I can’t wait to be the favorite Auntie.” Donna laughed.

Harvey eyed her, “you’ll have to beat out Jessica.”

Donna laughed, “please, I got it in the bag.”

“I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for favorite L.A. auntie.” Athena joked and Mike smiled.

“I don’t see any problem with that. As long as you and Uncle Buck come and visit.” Mike countered.

Athena smiled, “deal.”

The four adults talked a while and before long, it was almost time for everyone to hit the road and let Buck rest. The three adults looked at Harvey, and then at each other; they seemed nervous.

“What?” Harvey asked, “why are you all doing that?”

“Doing what?” Mike asked innocently.

Harvey stared at him, “looking around trying to silently decide who’s going to tell me the piece of information I obviously will not want to hear.”

“Looks like Donna isn’t the only one with that power.” Athena remarked.

“No, she is, you all just have terrible poker faces. So, what is it?” Harvey wanted to know.

“I might’ve brought Chris, but I am not taking him home.” Athena said.

Harvey took a second but then understood, “no.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Donna asked, “you don’t get a say.”

“I mean, ‘no’.” Harvey reiterated, “we are not going to blindside Buck.”

“Babe.” Mike said dryly, “do you really think we would do that to Buck? He’s the one who wanted it, he wants to talk to the man.”

Harvey clenched his jaw, “I can’t believe this.”

“I know you don’t know him, and you know only the bad, but this will be good for Buck. You have no idea how close those two are, and I think them reconciling, will be good for the man.”

Harvey was going to respond when there was a knock at the door, Athena glared at Harvey, “either play nice, or go drink a beer on the patio.”

Harvey stood rooted in his spot, refusing to leave. If this conversation was going to happen, he was going to be there to make sure Eddie knew his place. Mike walked over and was whispering to Buck, presumably checking in with the man. Harvey was staring at Eddie, who was now standing awkwardly right in front of the door. Eddie’s eyes met Harvey’s, and both sets hardened. Donna and Athena just shook their heads as Buck walked over.

“Hi Eddie.” He said, eyes downcast.

Eddie looked up and flinched when he saw the bandage still wrapped around the man’s head, “hey Buck.”

It took all of Harvey’s strength to not interrupt and tell Eddie that was enough, and that he could go. His body must’ve moved, because before he knew it, Mike and Donna were at his side, preventing him from doing anything.

“You uh, you want to go outside and talk?” Buck offered unsurely.

Eddie nodded, glancing at Harvey, “yeah, that would be nice.”

Buck walked past Harvey and gave him a smile, and Harvey squeezed his shoulder in support. When Eddie past him, he just threw the man daggers, that were gladly returned by the other party.

“Why don’t we join the kids on the couch.” Athena suggested.

“Great idea, Athena!” Mike said, grabbing Harvey’s arm, “let’s go, babe.”

Begrudgingly, Harvey followed but now before throwing a glance outside. He was happy to see that Buck seemed to be standing his ground, and Eddie seemed to be groveling for his forgiveness. A smirk appeared on Harvey’s face, maybe this talk wasn’t so bad after all.

30 minutes later, the men reappeared, and both looked tired.

“Come on buddy, time to go.” Eddie announced, “Buck here needs some rest, say goodbye.”

Chris got up and gave Buck a big hug, “bye Buck! Will I see you soon?”

Buck glanced at Eddie and back to Chris, “you betcha, buddy. Thanks for coming over today, you made me feel much better!”

With that, Eddie and Chris were gone.

“How about you kids go play on your phones out on the patio?” Athena suggested as Buck sat down. May and Harry were about to complain, but one look from Athena made them think better of it. Once they were out of ear shot, Athena took a seat.

When Buck didn’t speak right away, Harvey started to second guess himself, he knew he should’ve decked that man.

“It went okay.” He finally spoke, “he mostly just apologized.”

“Mostly?” Harvey raised an eyebrow and Donna shot him a look.

“Mostly.” Buck reiterated, “he tried saying how I hurt him with the lawsuit, and I was selfish and didn’t think about anyone else, I didn’t think about Chris.”

“That’s-” Harvey started but Mike stopped him so Buck can continue.

“I told him that if that’s what he came here for, after everything, that he could leave. He apologized that he fucked up the apology and took accountability. Told me him and the team felt absolutely sick about what happened and knowing they were at fault.”

“How do YOU feel about it?” Donna asked after a moment of silence.

Buck sighed and rubbed his head, “I feel like he was serious, and I feel like I miss them. I did this whole thing in the first place to get them back and to be able to go home to my family, and it just all snowballed out of control.” Buck let out, before looking to Harvey and Mike, “I know you guys don’t want to hear that answer, but it’s the truth.”

“It’s not that we don’t want that, Buck.” Harvey said softly, “it’s that we want to make sure they treat you right.”

“What Harvey is trying to say, is that we want you to be happy. And if letting them in will do that, then we fully support you.” Mike amended Harvey’s statement and the man just nodded.

“He said they don’t even care about the suspension, the only things that’s mattered this whole time was how I was. Eddie even said Bobby has been distraught.” Buck explained.

“I can confirm that one,” Athena added, “I haven’t said anything because I didn’t want to pressure you, and he didn’t want me to do so either, but Bobby has been a mess.”

“I think I am ready. I mean, you all need to go back tomorrow anyway, I think I should do it before you all leave.” Buck said.

Harvey remained unreadable and Mike and Donna gave their full support.

“Are you going to be able to play nice?” Donna asked Harvey, as everyone’s eyes were glued to the man.

Buck laughed, “I know you have a lot of issues with Bobby.”

“Can I talk to him first?” Harvey asked.

“No.” Donna and Mike said at the same time.

Buck looked at the man and laughed, before realizing he was completely serious, “I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“I do.” Athena added with an eyebrow raised.

“You do?” The four of them, including Harvey, said at once.

Athena nodded, “I do. Look, whether Harvey likes to hear this or not, the two play a somewhat similar role in your life now, and I think Bobby could use some tough love. And I love you, Buckaroo, but you are exactly the best at being tough on Bobby.”

So, it was decided, the 118 was to come over for lunch the next day, and Mike had to admit, he was terrified of what would happen. He hated the idea of the 118 coming and making things worse, but he was cautiously optimistic. What really scared him was the idea of Harvey coming face to face with not only Bobby, but also Eddie. He knew that Harvey felt extremely protective over Buck and was terrified that he would go all lawyer Harvey on the man in the morning. So, there they were, Buck had gone up to bed, and Athena and the kids went home. Donna, Harvey, and Mike were all set up in the living room, sleeping on the couch and floor like 6-year-olds having a sleep over.

“You have to be nice, Harvey.” Mike said into the darkness.

“I’m always nice.” Harvey asserted and Donna just laughed.

“I’m serious.” Mike said, “remember, Buck loves these people, and they were around long before us. And before this whole situation, they meant everything to Buck, don’t mess that up.”

Harvey pulled Mike close and placed a kiss on his forehead, “I promise, I have every intention of being on my best behavior. But I swear if they pull ANYTHING,”

“Then you can go ‘best closer’ on them, I promise.” Donna answered.

“Deal.”

There was a knock on the door at 10:45, 15 minutes before everyone was set to arrive. Buck was a bundle of nervous energy, but the good news was that he was feeling much better, and his head had pretty much healed, at least enough where the bandage wasn’t necessary.

“I’ll get it.” Donna announced, and Buck thanked her.

Donna opened the door and was greeted by Athena and the kids, “Hey Athena, May, Harry!” She said cheerily, and they all stepped inside. Bobby was standing behind them, looking very un-captain like if Donna did say so herself. Bobby walked in and stuck out his hand, “Bobby Nash.”

“Nice to meet you, Bobby.” Donna shook his hand, “Donna Paulsen. Buck’s by the couch.” Bobby nodded and started walking that way, when Athena stopped him and pointed him to the patio, where Harvey was waiting. Bobby gave his wife a look, and she narrowed her gaze, and he acquiesced. He gave Buck, who was talking to the kids and that lawyer, a look, but when Buck met his eyes, Buck quickly looked away. Bobby sighed and made his way outside.

Harvey was sipping on his water when he heard the door open, and he turned to say a disheveled looking man. Harvey had to admit that the man looked a lot worse than he had anticipated, and it secretly made Harvey pretty happy that the man was suffering just like Buck had been this whole time.

“You must be Harvey,” Bobby said, holding out his hand, “Captain Bobby Nash, or just Bobby Nash now.”

Harvey eyed the man before extending his own hand, “Harvey Specter.”

“Look, I don’t really care to hear whatever you have to say to me, I just came out here because my wife made me, and I didn’t want to let Buck down.”

Harvey snorted, “A little late for that one, don’t you think?”

“Look Harvey, whatever you think you know, you don’t know the half of it. I have been to hell and back with AND for that kid, so you can go back to New York. Because you are just a shark circling because you smell blood, don’t think I don’t know your play. You just want Buck to sue us, then you’ll go back to dominating the corporate world in New York.” Bobby stated, “so if you don’t mind, I am going to join the group now. Good talk.”

Bobby moved to the door, but Harvey blocked his path. Bobby looked at the man, eyes daring him to make another move.

“I do mind, actually. You said your piece, I say it’s only fair I say mine.” Harvey said, not moving from in front of the door, “I don’t care how much history you have with Buck, all I have seen is you repeatedly break him. First mentally, and now, physically. The man had a damn brain bleed because of YOUR leadership.” Harvey pointed his finger right at the man’s chest, “you say you care for the kid, but your actions say differently. Yeah, I may go back to New York, but as we’ve proven, we will come right back if Buck needs us. You say I’m not going to be there for him, but where were you, huh?”

Bobby just looked at the man.

“Where were you when he wanted to go back? Where were you when he was fucking depressed due to being kept away from family? Where were you when he finally got back to the 118?” Harvey’s voice was raising slightly, “where were you when Buck got injured? When he was recovering? When he was in the damn hospital? Because I was there, and I know, you were not.”

“That’s not fair and you know it!” Bobby’s voice cracked, “I didn’t even know he was there, but when I found out, I didn’t leave until the chief called me back! I wasn’t there because he didn’t want me there!”

Harvey took a step closer, “Exactly!”

Both men were out of breath and stood in silence. They never broke eye contact, not until Bobby eyes stung with emotion. He looked away and leaned against the railing, and before long, Harvey had joined him.

“Look, I think it’s pretty damn clear that you don’t like me, and I know it is clear that I don’t like you.” Harvey said and Bobby laughed at that.

“However, I am not here to keep you from Buck. I am not here to convince him to sue the shit out of you, even though he really should. No, I am here for him. And I will go back to New York, and you will still be here. And he will let you in again because that’s just who Buck is.” Bobby was looking at the man, who was suddenly calm.

“But I am here to tell you, that if you plan on messing with him or his emotions one more time, I don’t care what I have to do, I will make damn sure you never see another captain position as long as you live.” Harvey promised, “you better make things right, and don’t you dare think about turning it around on him. Because, I may not be here physically, but I am one phone call away, and whether you like it or not, the three of us? We are here to stay in Buck’s life.”

Bobby laughed, “I don’t think I’ll ever be captain again anyway, with or without your threat, so I don’t think you need to worry about that. As for the rest, not that I owe you anything, but I am ready to make things right. I am not here to stir shit back up, or to blame Buck, I am here because I love that kid like a son, and I’ll be damned if I let this be the end of our relationship.”

“Good.” Was all that Harvey replied before making his way back inside to the group.

The quiet chatter completely ended when Harvey and Bobby came back into the apartment. All eyes were on them, and you can tell everyone was ready to jump to whatever defenses was needed. Bobby and Harvey both laughed, before Bobby clapped a hand on Harvey’s shoulder.

“You can all relax,” Bobby started.

The group was still skeptical, so Harvey back him up, “really, it’s all good.”

Buck seemed to release a breath he didn’t know he was holding, before going over to Bobby. The two had an awkward greeting but Buck then asked him, Chim, Hen, and Eddie to join him on the patio. They all agreed and left the New York trio, Athena, and the kids all to themselves.

Four hours later, endless emotionally charged conversations, and a million apologies later, the group had all dispersed. It was only Buck, and the New York crew left, and their flight was leaving shortly, meaning they had to get to the airport. They were all sitting in the T.V. room, enjoying each other’s company.

“Look, you guys,” Buck started, “I can’t even begin to thank you guys. For everything.”

“You have nothing to thank us for, Evan.” Donna smiled.

“No, I do.” Buck confirmed, “I don’t think I would’ve been able to get through today without you all.”

Harvey smiled, “well, you may not need to say thank you, but you’re welcome all the same.”

“And remember, just because we have to go back, doesn’t mean we aren’t still here for you.” Mike reminded him.

“You think you’re going to be, okay? Will work be better?” Harvey asked.

Buck smiled genuinely for the first time in a while, “yeah, it will. We had some really good talks, and I think we are on the path to repairing our relationship. I told them it won’t be easy, and I still am holding a lot of hurt, but I am willing to try.”

“That’s good, Buck. I’m happy for you.” Mike said, “and I know Athena will keep them all in line.”

Buck laughed, “you know it. I’m just sad I won’t have Harvey here to back her up.”

“One phone call and I’m there. You sure you don’t want to sue their asses?” Harvey joked, well, mostly joked.

“I think I’m done suing people for a while.” Buck confessed and that received a laugh. “Hey Harvey?”

“Yes?” Harvey answered.

Buck looked at him thoughtfully, “what did you say to Bobby?”

Harvey smirked, “oh nothing much, just a friendly chat.”

“It looked pretty intense out there.” Buck pointed out, “and I know you both said you were okay with one another, but I know you’re not. And that’s okay, but what was said?”

Harvey shrugged, “Look, we just had a talk about how they were treating you. I politely and legally reminded him why it was important to treat you right. I told him he was basically an idiot and he had to value the man you are.”

Buck looked emotional, “thank you, Harvey.”

“You would’ve done the same for me.” Harvey shrugged; it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Maybe.” Buck smirked and Harvey had to refrain from slapping the man with a brain injury.

“Idiot.” Harvey laughed.

Buck shrugged, “maybe, but you care.”

Harvey groaned and punched Mike lightly in the arm as everyone laughed, “you two really do talk too much. Like I told this moron eons ago, of course I care.”