No Rest for the Wicked | | E. Buckley

6

In the middle of the city in a broken-down warehouse, Steve heads for the old metal door. He hears small talk on the other side of the door chuckling to himself.

He takes his chances walking in. He didn't expect two guns to be drawn on him. The two brunettes with blue eyes cuss loudly.

"Jesus Christ, do you have a death wish or something?"

"Come on, we're the only ones who know about this place. Who's going to walk in here randomly?" He pauses for a moment as they drop their guns on the table in front of them. "Has anybody shown up yet?"

"No," Buck answers, "we've been here for hours. I could go for some food."

Steve reaches into his bag pulling out some candy. "Here have a snicker, it'll make you feel better."

Buck places his hand over his heart and gasps dramatically. "Steven McGarrett, have you been preparing for a snicker commercial without me?"

He bibs his head side to side with a small laugh. "Are you hang'n in there, baby SEAL?"

He blinks a couple of times, "yeah, sure, why am I baby SEAL? T.K. is younger than me."

"I've known you longer. So have the others. Come on, let's start planning."

T.K. takes a seat kicking his feet up on the table. He leans his head back letting out an exasperated sigh. "How? We don't anything besides the fact that someone is after us. You know how many people we killed and put away over there?"

Steve nods pulling out a couple of phones. "Yes, I do, but after the arrests were made that shortened the list of people who would want revenge. Now, we each get a burner phone, untraceable. Don't use it for more than a minute, we can't take the risk of anyone finding us."

"Yeah, yeah, we know the rules. This isn't our first rodeo."

Buck raises a brow at T.K., "you've been hanging around Judd too long."

"First of all, I work with him. Second of all, it's a common saying."

He laughs at his friend clapping him on the shoulder. The door opens again as three more individuals walk in. Guns were drawn they stop when they realize who it is.

Buck giggles to Steve, "what was it you said just before?" Steve ruffles his hair making him pout childishly. "I'm not a literal baby, Steve."

"Of course not, you just act like one."

"Then you should blame yourself. I get it from you."

"No, you get it from Danny."

He thinks about it and shrugs. He's not wrong. His entire personality is a mix of the two, he knows that. It's as if he's their actual child. The thought makes him think of Grace.

Before coming to L.A he spent some time in Hawaii with Steve. It's where he met Danny. He wasn't too fond of Buck when they first met but he gradually accepted him and treated him as his own. Grace and Buck got pretty close. He would pick her up from school some days and they would spend the evening. They would talk about their relationship issues, and they more focused on Buck 1.0 phase. Grace was the first one he told about self-diagnosing himself as a sex addict. She was fifteen and he probably shouldn't have but they created that sibling bond. After he left they all kept in contact.

His eyes drift upward seeing a man pull off his hat. He runs a hand through his brown hair, his green eyes looking around the place. "Am I dreaming or is that you, Halstead?"

"Yeah, it's me don't cream your pants."

He glared over to T.K. who is grinning ear to ear. "Did you tell him I'm gay?"

"I thought it was hilarious when he started stuttering saying he was happy for you coming out and being who you are."

"Fuck you."

"Sorry, I have a boyfriend."

He takes his snickers throwing it at his face. He laughs joyfully at Buck's frustration. Buck's cheeks heat up at the embarrassment his friend has made him.

T.K. is about to start a playful fight but another man pulls him back before he can get the chance. "Alright children, I didn't leave my SEAL team to watch you two fight."

"You always ruin our fun, Hayes."

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't," he smirks.

The other man with long hair ties his hair back. "Yo, Spencer, you plan on cutting that anytime soon."

He points sternly at Buck, "you even think of cutting my hair and I'll cut your dick off and glue it to your head making you look like a limp dick unicorn."

He gasps again holding his heart. "So scary. You know I told my therapist about you. He says you're a dick. Remember when I asked for your opinion? Me neither."

Eliot Spencer, former special ops and Navy SEAL not a glorified Chef in Chicago doing some sketchy shit. He smiles proudly at Buck, something he doesn't do often. "I taught you well. Never thought I'd see the day baby SEAL would become the master."

"Thank you," Buck says genuinely.

"Verbal retaliation is one thing. Hand-to-hand combat... nah he wouldn't stand a chance."

Jay Halstead is the slightly bipolar best friend who has a love for messing with Buck. A detective with Chicago PD working with the intelligence unit. No, his brother has no clue he's left the state.

Buck rolls his eyes, "up until that damn firetruck crushed my leg I improved." He bows his head placing his hand's equal length on the table.

Jay notices the disappointment in his eyes and widens his eyes. "Holy shit, that was you?" He nods slowly avoiding eye contact. "Shit, man. How are you doing now?"

"Got back my certification to be a firefighter a couple months ago," he sighs painfully, "got off blood thinners a couple of weeks ago too after the pulmonary embolism," he shrugs looking up. He forces a smile, "I'm fine."

T.K. squeezes his shoulder. "Buck..."

"Listen, I'm fine. I'm back, sort of."

T.K drops his hand running some thoughts through his head. "Were you the one who sued the fire department?"

Eliot and Steve look worriedly at Buck. He slaps his hands at his sides. "Yeah, are you going to give me shit for it?"

"No! I was just wondering why."

"Bobby wouldn't let me come back. He said I wasn't ready, that because the blood thinners prevented me from working and the LAFD's liability issues."

T.K. furrows his brows. "What? There's no rule saying you can't work on blood thinners."

"I know hence the lawsuit."

Steve remembers the case clearly. He had talked to Buck about it before. It was never so in-depth as their conversation now. "You never told me why you dropped it."

Buck picks up his gun nervously starting to clean it. "Eh, the lawyer was only in it for the money. I would have won if I didn't drop it. Would have gotten millions in the end," he laughs. He drops the magazine on the table. "LAFD didn't want to fight it, they figured it would be better to just reinstate me."

"Isn't that a good thing? You got what you wanted, you got back on the team."

Buck stops looking up at Jay. "At what cost? Everyone in the firehouse hates me. Hen is the only one who tries to be there for me. She understands why I did it. The others... the others not so much."

"What's going on, baby SEAL?"

He simply shakes his head putting the gun back together. "What's our plan? How are we taking this guy down?"

The four others stare at him. They notice slight bruising on his collarbone and the inflammation in his hands. It's not servers but enough to make them worry. What the hell is going on at the 118?