Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Good evening, this is Taylor Kelly reporting for SkyWitness News 8. In a tragic turn of events, renowned geneticist Dr. Phillip Buckley and his wife, Dr. Margaret Buckley, who was the lead DNA excavator with Oscorp Industries, died in a plane crash two days ago. The news arrives late as Oscorp has kept things under wraps. At this time, there are no further details regarding the crash or the circumstances surrounding their untimely passing. The Buckley family has requested privacy as they navigate this difficult period. We extend our deepest condolences to their family, friends, and colleagues. More updates will follow as the story progresses. Stay tuned to SkyWitness News 8 for the latest developments.” 

“Buck!” Bobby snapped his fingers in front of the man, pulling him back into reality. He’d been staring at his near empty coffee mug. 

“Hm?” He looked up.

“The alarm?” Bobby gestured around, and only then did Buck remember where he was. The red light flashed through the firehouse as the rest of the 118 rushed around, prepping for a three alarm structure fire. 

“Oh right, yeah. Sorry, Cap. I’m on it.” Buck jumped to action, but Bobby placed a firm hand on his shoulder. 

“Kid, I think you should sit this one out. In fact, maybe go home.”

“But, Cap, you need all the hands you can get! It’s a three alarm!” Buck disagreed, attempting to push past him, but Bobby was a lot stronger than he looked. 

“You’re too distracted, Buck. I let you come back to work early to keep you busy, but I can’t let you go out on the field like this. You could hurt yourself or one of the team. I’m sorry, but you’re dismissed for the rest of your shift. Go see Maddie and Jee. Keep them company.” 

Bobby started walking backwards and Buck wanted to protest, but the moment he opened his mouth, Bobby was dropping down the fire pole and out of sight. 

Buck watched his team drive off, leaving him alone with the probie’s in the fire house. 

“You should go home,” one of them spoke quietly, backing up when Buck offered them his signature glare. Maddie could do it better, but his was a close second. 

Buck let out a huff and stormed down the steps towards the locker room. He stripped in quick succession, shoving his uniform into his bag, replacing it with his sweats and a hoodie. This was turning out to be a shit show. 

On his way out to his car, his phone rang. Ever on time.

“Hey, Maddie. Everything okay?” What a stupid question. 

“Uh yeah, I just wanted to see how you’re doing. How’s your shift?” Her tone was higher than usual and Buck saw right through her. 

“Chimney told you Cap sent me home, didn’t he?” 

There was a beat of silence. “He’s just worried about you, that’s all. Are you coming over?” 

Buck slid into his seat, shoving his keys into the ignition. The small Oscorp keychain glinting under the car lights on the dashboard caught Buck’s eye and he reached for it. His father gave it to him on his last visit to LA. Buck hated it. 

He hated everything that Oscorp was and what it turned their parents into. That company made them distant and secretive. It made them cruel and cold. They never called as much as they used to and their secrets outweighed everything else. 

The funny thing is, they’d always been like this, even before Oscorp when they were with a smaller company. Buck just liked to find something to blame. 

“Evan?” Maddie’s voice was sharper now, catching his attention. “Are you still there?” 

“Uh yeah, sorry,” he cleared his throat. “I think I’m just gonna go home actually. I need to sleep.”

“Okay, but if you need anything, you call me. Promise?” 

“Promise,” Buck replied before hanging up. He stared at his wallpaper for a moment after the call disconnected. He’d changed it to a picture of him and Maddie when she’d first moved back to LA, just happy to be around each other again despite the horrors they were facing. His thumb hesitated over his texts before firing a couple off and locking his device. 

When he drove off, he turned on some firefighter podcast Bobby had everyone listening to about perseverance, to keep him awake. He drove and drove through the streets of LA, the nightlife washing over him. There was always something so peaceful and welcoming about city lights, like they held some sort of hope or promise for a good future. Like everything was going to be okay. 

It wasn’t that Buck was heartbroken that his parents died. That should be a weird thing to say, but he didn’t know them well enough to break down over it. More like this empty feeling that they’d left inside him from the moment he was born, only seemed to grow now, knowing that they could never attempt to fill it. Not like they would’ve tried to either. 

He made it to his destination and climbed out the car after going back and forth on taking his duffel bag with, before ultimately deciding against it. He wouldn’t need it. 

“Hey, Buck. Maddie not with you?” 

Buck offered a tired smile and shook his head. “Nah, this is a short visit, Connor.” 

“I see,” Connor walked beside him, hands behind his back. He’d worked with his family before whenever his parents were in LA. “You doing okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m good. I just… need to speak to someone. That’s all.” Buck cleared his throat and climbed the steps. He scanned his surroundings and wanted to laugh. The 118 would bully him to no end if they knew what he was doing right now. Buck never indulged in his family’s wealth. 

He found it to be tacky, in a way. He didn’t like flashy stuff either. So this was easily laughable. He and Maddie would always make jokes whenever they used their surname for things like this. The most they’d taken from their parents was on a down payment for Maddie and Chim’s house, and Buck’s loft to cover half his rent. 

The intercom crackled as Buck sat down, that smile still playing on his lips. “Mr. Buckley, this is your captain speaking. We are prepared for takeoff and will be departing shortly for New York City. Arrival time is 2AM Los Angeles time, 5AM New York time.”

“Ridiculous,” Buck murmured, slouching in the chair and closing his eyes, prepping for his five and a half hour nap. 

What the hell was he doing? 

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Connor woke Buck up with a gentle shake on the shoulder. “We’re landing.”

“Mkay,” Buck yawned, rubbing his hands roughly over his face. The cabin lights turned on and Buck sat upright now, staring out the window at New York City. He could already hear the chaos, his mind preparing him for it. Even at 5AM, the city never truly slept. 

He’d always wanted to bring Christopher here. Eddie too, but mostly Chris. He’d lose his mind over all the cool activities they could do, but Buck had been saving for their trip. He’d worked double shifts for a month to kickstart the savings, and he wasn’t close to his goal just yet. 

But here he was, in New York, after an impromptu decision. That didn’t sit right with him. But now with his parents assets being split evenly between him and Maddie, he’d never have to worry about saving again. That also didn’t leave the best feeling in his chest. 

Stepping out of the aircraft, Buck stretched his arms, feeling the relief of movement. He wasn’t the smallest guy, so being cramped in an aircraft — even if it is a private plane — is no fun experience for him. 

A car was waiting for him already, but he turned to Connor. “Thanks for organizing this so last minute… And for flying with me. I appreciate it.” 

“Yeah of course. That’s what I’m here for.” Connor patted Buck’s shoulder. They’d been roommates in college, and Connor had then gone on to work with private clients in organizing their lives so to say. He helps organize meetings, flights, pretty much everything an assistant does, except he gets paid triple and works less hours as it’s more of an on-demand job rather than full-time. It worked out well for him. “When are you thinking of leaving? I need to tell my wife.”

“Uh later today,” Buck nodded. “I just need the morning here. So 1 O’clock?” 

“Sounds good,” Connor smiled and tugged his bag onto his shoulder. “I got us hotel rooms. Figured you wouldn’t want to stay in your parent’s place.” Sometimes Buck forgot just how close he and Connor used to be. He knew all about Buck’s struggles. 

“Nah it’s okay, I… I think I should go through some stuff. Lighten the load before Maddie and I come back. But you keep your hotel. I’ll have the driver drop you off first.” 

Every word that came out of Buck’s mouth felt foreign. He hated this. Hotels and penthouses and drivers. He was starting to think this was a mistake, but he was here now, and it was far too late to go back. Plus, he wouldn’t waste all that time and air pollution for nothing. Hen would never let him hear the end of it. 

The drive to drop Connor off was silent. Buck kept his gaze out the window at the city. People were everywhere, as expected, preparing for the day ahead. Adverts flashed and cars honked their horns. It was far louder than LA. Another reason why Buck wasn’t all that fond of New York. There was too much chaos here, not enough grounding. 

When they arrived at his parent’s building, he thanked the driver and told him to come back at 9. That left Buck alone for three hours. He wasn’t tired, not after his nap, so he just had to stick it out. The doorman looked fairly shocked to see Buck come in at such an odd hour, but he’d masked it with a warm smile. 

“Morning, Buck.” Ted handed over a spare key. 

“Hi Ted,” Buck smiled. Ted had long stopped calling him Mr. Buckley. Mostly because Buck had corrected him every single time. He was persistent too. 

He made it to the penthouse floor and let himself into the apartment. He paused in the doorway and flicked the lights on. Well, he typed in a high end code to turn the lights on, but same thing right? 

The apartment smelled like a hotel. No lingering scent of his parents, no smell of comfort or home. But Buck wouldn’t even know what that smelled like in the first place, so he wasn’t all that reliable. 

Stepping further in, he looked around the place and frowned. It was a mess. He closed the door slowly, and took another step. Glass crunched under his shoe and he paused. 

“What the hell?” He murmured, taking another cautious step. In the main area of the apartment, Buck saw papers strewn everywhere. Boxes had been turned upside down, couch cushions had been thrown, artworks had been torn open. Drawers and cabinets from the open plan kitchen were wide open. 

Buck walked back to the front door and pulled the landline off the wall, dialing security. 

“Buck, is everything alright up there?” Ted's voice came through immediately.

“Has someone been in here?” 

“Ah,” Ted sighed, pausing for a moment. “I thought Maddie had told you… Your parent’s company came by two days ago to look through your parent’s research. They didn’t tell me much, but it looked like they didn’t find anything.” 

“I see,” Buck’s voice was hoarse as he scanned the area again. Something was off. Why would they need his parent’s work? Wasn’t it all with Oscorp anyway? And why didn’t Maddie tell him? “Th-Thanks, Ted. Goodnight.”

“It’s morning, Buck.”

“Right,” Buck dropped his forehead against the wall. “Right. Morning.” He put the landline back and stayed like that for a while, trying to ground himself. At least these apartments were soundproof. 

Too much was happening at once. This was a mistake. He really shouldn't have come here without Maddie. But then again, she’d just keep hiding things, so what was the point? 

Walking back into the apartment, Buck stepped over the papers and mess and made a b-line for the fridge. He hadn’t eaten since Bobby’s early dinner on shift and he was starving. He hadn’t had much time to think about food until now. It was a miracle he still had an appetite. 

The fridge had been cleared out, but he’d found some dry cereal in one of the cabinets and opened the packet, eating it just like that. Everything he seemed to be doing today felt foreign. Except this. It made him think of Eddie. He’d always chastise him and Chris whenever they gamed and ate dry cereal, begging them to be normal and eat it with milk. 

He wanted to text Eddie, but that would only ring alarm bells. It was past 3 in L.A. now, Eddie was still on shift, and Buck was supposed to be asleep in his loft. He’d just have to stick it out until he got back later. 

For the next hour, Buck wandered around the apartment, rifling through the papers that had been thrown around, sifting through them as he stacked them in piles. He didn’t want Maddie seeing the place like this. He took a quick coffee break before sweeping up the glass in the entryway and pulling down the ruined art pieces, leaning them all against the stairs. 

There wasn’t a single family photo on the first floor of the penthouse. There were awards and medals, but nothing more than that. It was as if he and Maddie simply didn’t exist. 

On the second floor, where the main bedroom and the guest rooms were, there were old family photos. Nothing after Buck’s fourteenth birthday. Nothing before Maddie’s tenth. 

He didn’t expect anything in his parent’s room, but he’d found an unopened safe. He’d found it fairly easily and it was no surprise Oscorp hadn’t found it. In his parent’s closet, the floorboard lifted up if you pulled it the right way. He’d found it once when he was playing hide and seek with Maddie in here and he’d thought it would be funny to hide under the closet when he realized the floorboard was loose. 

He sat himself down in front of it and tried all the codes he could to no avail. Go figure the code wasn’t one of their birthdays. He’d have to get a professional in to break it open. 

“Wait,” he spoke to himself, a laugh bubbling out. He was the professional. This is what firefighters do. They break into the impossible in dire situations, and Buck would say that this was pretty dire. 

He hauled himself up and ran back down to the entrance where the coat closet was. He found his father’s box of tools — in all fairness, Buck had made them keep a fire kit in the apartment solely because of all the flammable chemicals and technology they brought in here. He found the lock cutter in the box and jogged back upstairs to the safe.

It took countless tries to break that lock open. Buck had tried different angles, put his foot on the top of the safe, twisted, yelled, and even tried with a small pick axe before he’d made a dent. After another thirty minutes, he’d managed to wear the metal down enough and the lock snapped open. Buck dropped back onto the plush carpet and stared at the ceiling for a moment. That should not have been so difficult. 

Eddie would tell him it was because of the lack of calcium from eating dry cereal. 

After catching his breath, Buck sat up and opened the safe door. His face dropped at the sight of the contents. “Are you fucking kidding me?” 

Inside, was a single briefcase with gold engravings of P.B. for his father. Nothing else. 

He fished the briefcase out and pulled it open. Inside was a calculator, his father’s Oscorp ID card, glasses, a pen, and two spiders encased in lucite.

“Ew,” Buck cringed at the sight of the spiders, holding them carefully up to the light. He always made Eddie kill the spiders, or Hen, while he, Ravi and Chimney stood on the highest surface and Bobby laughed from a very safe distance. 

He looked into the briefcase again, pulling open a back compartment and finding a file. Buck frowned, pulling it out and opening it. It was a top secret Oscorp file named "Decay Data Algorithm" with a logo of two circles next to each other with diagonal lines through them. 

He’d seen that logo a second ago. With haste, he picked up the small vial that contained one of the spiders and found that same logo on the side. What did it mean? Buck was never good with math or science. That was Maddie’s forte. 

He flipped through the pages, and it all looked like gibberish to him, but this must’ve been important, right? The doorbell rang downstairs and Buck hastily shoved everything back into the briefcase and took it with him. He wasn’t about to leave this behind or let it out of his sight.

He wasn’t sure why, but he had a feeling it was important. 

When he opened the front door, he came face to face with Ted. “Buck, it’s nine thirty. I tried calling the landline, but you didn’t hear. So I thought I should come up and let you know your driver is waiting downstairs.”

“Nine thirty?! Shit, shit shit,” Buck cursed, flinging the briefcase over his shoulder and flailing around for his keys, phone and wallet. “Thank you, Ted. Sorry, I fell asleep.”

“Quite alright,” Ted smiled and the pair rode the elevator together, Buck had no time to dwell on leaving the apartment again, but everything important was with him. For now. 

On the drive over, Buck was tempted to stop for a bagel, or another coffee, but he was already late. Well, late in his mind. No one knew he was coming, but he really didn’t want to be there longer than he absolutely had to be. 

“Here we are, sir.” The driver spoke and Buck cringed. Yeah, he hated this. 

“Thanks, I won’t be long. Maybe an hour.” Buck hesitated with the briefcase. “Can you keep an eye on this? I’m scared I’ll drop something out of it if I take it in with me.” 

“Of course, sir.” The driver answered. “Just leave it in the seat pocket. I’ll wait out here for you.” 

“Thanks again,” Buck stepped out of the car and began to climb the steps towards Oscorp. On the drive over, he’d decided he didn’t want anyone to notice him just yet, so he’d have to find another way in, use a different name. He wanted to find out what the hell those spiders were for and why they were the only things that seemed to be most important to his parents. He had a feeling Oscorp wouldn’t just tell him. 

What if they found out he knew and something went wrong? Buck may be overthinking, and he may have seen one too many movies like this, but something was telling him to be cautious about everything. 

“Sir?” A woman called from the front desk and buck swiveled towards her, heart hammering. 

“Me?” 

“Yes, you.” She replied, looking somewhat annoyed, but her professional smile remained. “Are you here for the internship?” 

“Oh, uh…” Buck scanned the table and saw all the name badges. Perfect timing. “Y-yeah, Yeah I am. Sorry. Am I late?” 

“Nope, you’re a half hour early.” The woman replied. “Collect your badge and you can wait here.” 

“Thanks,” Buck scanned the names and picked up the first one he saw. “Got it.” 

“Your name is Ashley Beckman?” 

“It’s a gender-neutral name,” Buck said fairly defensively as if this were in fact his name, and the woman clamped her mouth shut. 

“Right, of course.” She replied. “You may sit and wait for the others.”

“Could I use the bathroom, actually? I have been all over today and I’ve had two coffees. I’d rather just go now than during the—”

“Just go,” the woman sighed. “Walk past the elevators, take a left. Don’t mistake that for the right. That’s where the stairs are.”

“Right, thanks.” Buck flashed her a winning smile and jogged off in the direction she pointed. When he made it to the elevators, he double checked to see if she was watching. She had her head bent over her computer and he turned right instead, taking the stairs. 

He had no idea where he was going, but he had approximately five minutes before she went looking for him. 

He started up the stairs and stepped aside for two people in lab coats to go ahead of him, they were carrying glass jars that seemed to have small insects in them and Buck nearly tripped up, trying to keep his eyes on the containers. They had those same symbols the spider vials had that his parents kept. 

He stopped halfway and watched the pair go further up and Buck, ever the impulsive, followed. He stayed behind enough so that they wouldn’t see him, and he paused when they turned onto one of the floors. He waited around the corner and watched one of them put in a strange code. More like a pattern. 

Now that, Buck could do. 

He watched them go inside and waited a beat for the door to close. 

Oh this was going to get messy if he was caught. Never mind an intruder, but a Buckley. That would tarnish his family’s reputation even more. It seemed like Oscorp and the government already had enough issues with them. 

It was only a matter of time before Buck got his own personal visit. Maddie too. 

The same pair exited a moment later and walked down the long corridor with a man in a suit and that’s when Buck leapt to action. 

He stopped at the door and closed his eyes, going through the pattern in his head before repeating it. It was a damn near miracle that he got it right and he slipped through into the space.  

“Woah,” he muttered as he walked. There were glass labs filled with all sorts of things. There were tubes and large machines, weird small objects and other things Buck could not seem to comprehend.  

He passed a room with caged rats and other small animals and he cringed. Buck had always hated when animals got injured, so seeing this really tugged at his heart strings. He kept walking and that’s when he saw a door leading to a blue, glowing room. 

Now that looked like something interesting. He moved inside and his eyes widened at the realization of what this all was. In the center of the room, was a spinning, round structure that held… spiders. 

He stepped closer, not daring to reach out and touch one, but he got close enough to see the details of the spiders. They were identical to the ones in the briefcase. The machines whirred and a large glowing object in the middle seemed to be charging it all. 

Buck took an instinctive step forward, accidentally knocking his foot against the machine and momentarily stopping it from spinning. 

A popping sound came from above and all the blood drained from Buck’s face. “Oh fuck.” 

The machine jerked forward, and then backward. Something at the top twisted wrong, spinning the spiders out of control and they began to drop. “Oh fuck, fuck fuck.”  

Buck jumped back, swatting the spiders off of him. There were so many crawling all over him and he let out a yelp, shaking his hoodie, sending two spiders flying. The machine slowly righted itself and Buck managed to get the rest of the spiders off of him.

With haste, he stepped and rushed out of the room, still scratching his arms and wiping his hand over his head to triple check he’d gotten all the spiders. 

Okay, that was stupid. Violently stupid. He could’ve broken the machine, set an alarm off or gotten bitten. And he hadn't even bothered to take any photos which was the most stupid part of this all. He’d been acting on impulse as always, and he’d fucked up. 

Or as Chimney would say, Bucked up. 

Buck pushed through the door he came in from and decided he’d just have to come back another time. It’s not like those spiders were going away anytime soon. He’d just have to come back with a proper plan, maybe tell Maddie this time so she could effectively help. 

Or at least do this legally. Somewhat legally. 

Eddie would’ve been perfect for this, Hen and Chimney too. But he couldn’t bring them into this mess. If they got caught, that was their lives over and he wouldn’t do that to them. 

“Hey!” Someone called a few steps away. “What were you doing in there? Come back here!”

“Uh, can’t do that, sorry!” Buck replied, his voice coming out all contorted and… British? What can he say, he doesn’t do well under this sort of pressure. Keeping his head down away from the security cameras, he bolted for the stairs, picking up the pace when he heard multiple voices yelling after him. 

What were a few security guards against a firefighter? 

Probably a lot. 

Buck’s phone began to buzz as he sprinted down and he hauled it out of his pocket to find Eddie’s contact flashing. If he didn’t answer, Eddie would go over to the loft and Buck wouldn’t be there. But if he did answer, he’d hear all the yelling.

“Hey, Eds! What’s up?” Buck replied cheerily, skipping steps now as he rushed down.

“Sir, come back here!” A security guard screamed. 

“Buck? Where the hell are you? I thought you were taking Chris to school today?” 

“Oh shit, uh, I’m sorry… I’m with uhh–”

“Sir!”

“Who’s yelling?” Eddie sounded more concerned than annoyed now.

“I’m… at Connors. Yeah. He got into a fight with his wife. Just helping out a bit. He’s got some video game on.” Buck made it to the lobby and saw two security guards waiting. In a split second, he felt a searing pain shoot through the back of his neck. He thought someone had managed to taser him, but then he felt something… crawl against his skin. “Bastard!” He hissed. 

“Buck? What’s going on?”

“Oh uh, C-Connor just lost the game!” Buck answered hastily, jaw clenched from the discomfort, aimlessly swatting at the back of his neck. His entire neck burned with the sensation from the bite. He threw his hood up now and bolted right between the two security guards, knocking them down with his shoulders. 

What had Bobby once said about him being a human bulldozer? 

“Sounds pretty loud,” Eddie replied slowly. “You sure you’re okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah no I’m good! Surround sound! Sorry I didn’t call earlier. It’s just been crazy. Look I gotta go, Eds. Talk later, bye!” Buck nearly tripped down the steps towards his car, but he made it in, slamming the door shut. “Drive and don’t stop until we get to the airport.”

“Yes sir,” the driver asked no questions and sped off, taking side roads to avoid most of the morning traffic. Buck kept looking back to make sure no one was following him and when he was certain they were in the clear, he dropped back against the seat and let out a heavy breath.

The back of his neck still hurt pretty bad, but he’d shaken out his hoodie on the way out of there so he knew the spider wasn’t crawling around in his clothes at least. Those spiders all looked like testers, nothing that meant much just yet. But that didn’t stop him from panicking over if there were any side effects or if he should tell someone, preferably a trusted medical professional like Hen or Maddie. The worst they could do was lecture him over his recklessness and stupidity. 

He’d wait it out until tomorrow to see if anything happens. If he was fine, then there’d be no reason to stress anyone out over nothing. Worst case scenario really, was that it hurt like hell for a few days. 

He met Connor back at the airport at one. He’d arrived way earlier, but he’d taken that time to go into the airport to get proper food and to read over his father’s file. He still couldn’t comprehend what any of it meant. 

He found a few x-ray copies of a close-up of one of the spiders and that successfully freaked him out, making him scratch all over at the thought. There was a chart with blue squares and a few red ones that made even less sense to him. 

Was that one of those progress charts? Like how happy someone is every day? 

There was another with a bunch of lines that looked like a heart monitor but in green, red and blue. One was titled ‘Aracne Sequence’ with a bunch of null’s and other words that Buck didn’t understand. 

There was an email to his father from one of the other scientists his father seemed to work with. Or maybe an investor? He didn’t have ‘Dr’ in front of his name, so Buck wasn’t too sure, but another scientist was cc'd in. 

The email read as follows: 

Your findings last week were indeed revolutionary... but that was last week.

Seven days is tantamount to a lifetime in an endeavor this vibrant. What progress have you made as of late? We must expedite Project 00 - our next logical step: human trials.

The latest animal experiments have yielded sufficient data; any further research in this realm would be a waste of time. I trust you concur with my assessment? Your next status report is due no later than Monday morning, the contents of which must adhere to our current thinking.

Your immediate compliance with this matter is mandatory.

“Human testings?” Buck had frowned. Those spiders were in that room with the two 0 logo. Just like the vial. Just like this email. Could Buck have been wrong here? Does this mean that those spiders were in fact for some sort of experiment that needed human trials?

If that were the case, and nothing had followed through since his parent’s deaths, that meant Buck was the first tester. 

Or even worse, Buck was losing his goddamn mind. 

He decided to go with the latter for the time being. He was spiraling and he knew it. He’d just broken into a huge company, snooped around instead of just asking, and gotten bitten by a lab spider. It was no surprise he’d jump to any and all conclusions. 

And if he was being rational, spider venom would infect him pretty quickly. It had been hours since he’d gotten bitten and he was still fine. He was just being stupid and paranoid. Lesson learned. 

The flight home was longer than the flight to New York. Mostly because he couldn’t sleep. He was so wired, that his brain wouldn’t shut off. He fidgeted a lot, walked up and down the aisle a few times and tried to stick to a conversation with Connor but ultimately failed. 

On the ride from the airport to his loft, he was just happy to be behind the wheel again. It made him feel more in control somehow. It was 2:30 in the afternoon and his 118 crew were off duty. He’d gotten a text from Bobby when he’d landed to check in on him and reminded him that they had a night shift. He’d told Buck he didn’t have to come, but Buck was insistent. 

He’d just go home for a bit, unwind, and then go back to his normal life. No one had to know anything. He needed to go back to reality. 

When he got home, he was mostly excited for a shower. He’d been in the same clothes for so long, they were starting to feel like a second skin. 

When he ripped his hoodie and shirt off, a sharp shooting pain snapped at the back of his neck, right where the spider had bitten him earlier. Buck hissed in pain and instinctively placed a hand against his skin to cool it.  It had felt like his hoodie had stuck to the bite, ripping at the skin as it went. The lump was prominent under his touch, burning away as a reminder of what he’d foolishly done. 

It was only after his shower that he felt the exhaustion finally seep through him and he crawled onto his bed, set an alarm, and dozed off. 

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When the alarm went off, Buck sat up with a gasp. He’d fallen dead asleep right away and had woken up in a sweat. How was that possible? He hadn’t slept under the covers and it wasn’t hot out today. 

Was he a sweater now too? Great, that lowered most of his chances of letting people spend the night in his bed. Not that he was actively getting any action anyway. 

He had an hour before his shift, so he’d decided to run through the shower again. He tugged his sweaty clothes off a little too aggressively, but hey, he was in a rush, and moved into the bathroom. 

On the floor were his clothes from earlier, but something glinted in the light on the floor. He bent down to retrieve whatever it was and frowned. It looked like a small white string, almost like a fish-line but thinner. 

He pulled on it, revealing the rest from under his crumpled shirt. One of the small spiders from the lab was attached to the end of the string — web — and Buck’s heart rate spiked. 

Could a spider cling on for that long? Especially after how long it had been since he’d been bitten? Wouldn’t it just fall off if it had died? Did spiders die after one bite? 

More importantly, why the hell was a web attached to the spider? Had that been attached to Buck too? Ew, he thought. 

None of it made sense, naturally, but he carefully carried the spider into the kitchen and placed it in a small mason jar. He’d definitely need that later if it proved to be of any importance. It looked identical to the other two vials he had now, but this one was different. Bigger? 

When he got to the station, he felt better than he had when he woke up. He felt more alert and ready to work overnight. That nap really gave him a rush of energy. He just hoped it wouldn’t run out too quickly. 

Needless to say, the calls were non-stop at the beginning of their shift. There was a pile-up on the highway that took most of their time. On the way back to the station, they were called in to assist with a structure fire that went from two alarms to four. Then there was a robbery gone wrong, for the robber, and they’d gone to get him out of a sewer drain he tried to climb into to escape. 

It was chaos for the most part, and Buck hadn’t thought about his parents or Oscorp or any other drama at all. It was nice to just decompress like this. A weird way to decompress, but it helped. 

Helping people helped him. It made him feel useful and better about the world. 

When things quietened down, Bobby got to work on dinner, praised Buck for being so on the ball this shift compared to the last one, and everyone finally got some time to unwind and wait for the next call. 

Buck was now dozing off with a full stomach on the couch, watching Ravi and Hen battle it out on one of the new video games Eddie brought over for them to try before deeming it safe for Chris to play. By safe, Eddie means as little violence as possible, obviously. 

Eddie winced when Hen sliced Ravi’s character in half. This game would definitely be staying at the firehouse. 

Buck didn’t remember falling asleep, but he remembered waking up.

It was an odd situation, really. He’d felt a weird sensation run through his body, almost like a body clock with an alarm going off to wake him up. Not nausea, but close? Like how a firefighter or anyone who served would jump up from their sleep at the split second an alarm sounds. 

But there was no actual alarm or emergency this time. 

It was just Chimney. 

He’d been slowly placing a Cola can onto Buck’s forehead when Buck grabbed the can before it could even touch him, eyes still closed, and he leapt up onto the arm of the couch, fingers pressed up against one of the wooden beams above him for support. 

“No fair, I thought you were asleep!” Chimney complained, throwing his hands up. 

“Now those are some good reflexes,” Bobby laughed, shaking her head at the entire ordeal. 

“Yeah, better luck next time. He grew up with a sister, I’m sure he knows all the tricks,” Hen chuckled.

Buck wasn’t listening to them, though. He was more focused on his feet… and gravity. He was barely putting any weight on his feet to be considered scientifically — physically? gravitationally? — standing on the arm of the couch. 

It felt like he was dangling instead, but that wasn’t possible, was it? He looked up at his fingers and frowned. They were like magnets. 

No, Buck thought, shaking his head. He was being ridiculous again, jumping to conclusions about things that weren’t actually happening. He needed to get a hold of himself.

He moved his hand away from the beams and slipped right off the arm and onto the couch pillows, not gracefully at all either. 

“Don’t die on the way down,” Hen snorted. “Not a single survival skill in you.” 

“Uh hey,” Buck countered, still barely focused on the conversation. He handed Chimney his Cola back, unspilled. “This couch is slippery.”

“You’re in rubber boots,” Ravi pointed out, and everyone snickered. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Buck countered awkwardly. The group offered him raised brows, but much to his luck, the alarm went off. 

It was a pretty simple call, a structural collapse that had two construction workers trapped inside. Bobby had him and Ravi secure the structure so that Eddie and Buck could go in to get the workers. Buck had carried that man like he weighed about the same as a feather. 

For a moment he thought that was strange, but promptly reminded himself that this was in fact his job, and that he needed to relax. Again. 

Neither worker sustained serious injuries. One was placed on the gurney with some cuts and a sprained wrist and the other sat beside him with a possible concussion. Hen and Chimney drove them off and the rest of the crew moved back to their rig.

Buck pulled the door open, and the handle came with. 

“Uh,” Buck froze, doing a slow turn to Bobby, who was already staring. 

“Did you break the door, Buck?” Bobby asked calmly, and both Ravi and Eddie let out snorts. 

“No!” Buck replied, his voice going up a few octaves. “I just opened it and it flew right off!” 

Bobby let out an amused huff and snatched the handle from Buck. “Just get in on the other side.”

“I didn’t break it!” Buck whined, being pushed around the truck by Eddie.

“You got some superhuman strength today, Buck.” Eddie continued to tease him, making sure Buck was right in the middle of him and Ravi. “Don’t you think so, Ravi?”

“Oh yeah,” Ravi grinned, thanking the first responder gods for finally giving him his moment to bully Buck. “You should’ve seen him lift the scaffolding with one hand.” Okay, so he wasn’t bullying. Drooling? Didn’t matter, because Buck rolled his eyes. 

“Seriously?” Bobby asked, turning around in his seat at a stoplight. He looked at Buck with wide eyes. He knew Buck was strong, but that strong? 

“Adrenaline,” Buck shrugged, lowering himself in his seat a bit. “Happens to all of us.”

“We know, Buck.” Eddie patted Buck’s thigh, who lost all coherent thoughts the moment they made contact. “We’re just messing with you. Relax.”

“I-I, yeah. Sorry. Just tired.” Buck couldn’t tear his eyes away from Eddie’s hand, that was now on his own thigh. Buck’s leg was cold from the lack of touch and he had half a mind to yank Eddie’s hand right back.

Would that be work appropriate? Would he want that to be work appropriate? 

Bobby gave him a concerned look in the rearview mirror, but said nothing. They rode the rest of the way back to the station in silence. 

Thankfully the rest of the shift was slow. Everyone was tired and happy to leave each other to their own devices. Buck had spent all of it on Google, researching near death experiences, ‘powers’ people have gained from them, venomous spiders and what to do if you get bitten. 

He got no answers. That was probably because he didn’t know what he was searching for or how to ask the questions. All he’d gotten was that the venom would have an immediate effect and he should seek out professional medical help. 

He looked around at the sleeping first responders and shook his head. 

“Ridiculous,” he muttered to himself, reminded of his trip to New York after saying that. It made him smile. He was being utterly stupid about everything. Was this what grief did? He hoped it would go away soon. 

“What’s ridiculous?” Eddie asked, startling Buck. He thought he’d been fast asleep.

“Uh,” Buck huffed quietly, cheeks reddening. “How slow time is going.”

Eddie snorted and closed his eyes again. “You’re telling me.” 

They had two minor calls before the end of their shift and Buck had never been more excited to go home and sleep. Again.

It was strange, after his nap before his shift, he’d felt so good. Like a second wind had hit him, and as the shift went on, he struggled to stay awake. That never happened to him. Usually he could do a double shift with no problem. 

It wasn’t the time difference with New York either, that was hardly much of a change for him. Was this a side effect of whatever spider bit him? He couldn’t find its species on Google, but maybe he could look in that file again and see if it had a name. 

If it wasn’t a common venomous spider, and it was strictly for Oscorp, he was fucked. He wouldn’t even know where to begin in finding out more information on the species without raising any alarm bells. 

On the drive home, things took a turn for the worse. Go figure. 

Slowly, his vision began to blur and his body had gone hot, a sweat breaking out and dampening his clothes. 

“Couldn’t have waited a few more minutes?” He murmured breathlessly to no one. Looks like this spider’s venom was delayed. Or finally reaching symbiosis. Or slowly killing him.

There are many, many possibilities. 

Now, in any logical thinker, especially a firefighter, the first and best thing to do in this situation is to pull over to avoid any collisions. The next would be to call 911.

Buck did neither of those. 

Instead, he kept driving, leaning forward in his seat and putting the rest of his focus on the roads. Thankfully the sun was out so he wasn’t in total darkness, but even still, it was a difficult task. 

It was a mere miracle when he turned a corner and found himself pulling into his apartment building’s underground parking. He’d nearly run a few red lights and pissed off several people, but he’d made it home in one piece. 

He couldn’t tell anyone about this. There would be blood tests, questions, those Oscorp people would come back. Somehow Buck knew that as skewed as this all was, he was doing the right thing. Like a sixth sense telling him everything would be fine. 

Though he couldn’t shake the feeling that Maddie might be planning another funeral. 

They really should’ve just taken that 25% off deal and bought a small lot for all their tombstones.

He stumbled through his apartment, bag and keys dropping to the floor because he couldn’t bring himself to go any further. Sinking down on his knees, he appreciated the coolness of the wooden floorboards and sank against them, letting the exhaustion take over. 

And then everything went dark. 

Chapter Text

Death is like an old friend to Buck. 

One he can’t seem to leave in the past even though he knows he should. Death’s hands are familiar, they’re cold and comforting at the same time. They’re peaceful even though they shouldn’t be, even if they’re everything no one wants to be around. 

But Death was familiar to him, and that’s how he knew he was alive. 

Groaning, he rolled off of his stomach and onto his back instead, the odd bone cracking here and there, reminding him that he wasn’t at an age where he could just pass out on floors anymore. The sun was shining harshly through his windows, making him uncomfortably warm. He squinted in the brightly lit space. 

How long had he been out? 

With a grunt, he pushed himself up. His limbs felt heavy, heavier than they usually do after a shift. He felt exhausted still, but he needed to get up, shower, and figure out what spider it was that bit him. 

He turned around to look for his phone and saw a wet patch where he’d been laying and cringed. He needed to add mopping to his to-do list. 

Reaching for his phone, he saw that it was just after 1pm. Had he really slept for that long on the floor? No wonder his entire body ached the way it did. 

There were a few texts from Eddie about hanging out for dinner later, hoping he could bake something with Chris. Another text from Maddie asking if he was okay. 

There were more, but he locked his phone again. He’d look at them after cleaning himself up and getting a good cup of coffee. 

Once standing, he began to strip his clothes on the way to the bathroom, dumping them into the laundry hamper. He turned toward the shower. This would do the trick. 

When he turned the water on and pulled away, the handle came with him. Just like it had with the fire truck. 

“What he fuck?!” Buck yelped, slamming a hand down on the bursting water, flailing around with the handle to shove it back on. When he did, some of the tile on the wall cracked and Buck jumped back to avoid standing on it. “What the fuck…” 

Great, now he’d have to shower at Eddie’s. You’d think such nice apartments would have better amenities, but nooo. The last thing he wanted to do was go over there all gross and sweaty. 

When he’d successfully turned the water off, he turned the tap on by the sink to brush his teeth. That handle snapped clean off too. 

Buck stared in shock at the sprouting water, letting it gush onto the floor. Was this some sick prank? Had someone come in here and fucked with his things on purpose? Why would they though? 

He shoved the handle back on and rested his hand on the sink, gripping it to give himself a moment to breathe, to calm down. Everything was going wrong, naturally. This was his karma. For what? There was a long, long list. 

Buck 1.0. Was finally paying for his stupidity. 

But his moment didn’t last too long, because the sink crumbled around his grasp and when he held his hand up, he was clutching rubble. 

“Did I do that?” Buck asked aloud, but he knew he was insane. He was strong, but not that strong. Plus, he wasn’t grabbing anything hard at all. He reached for his toothpaste. He’d just use the other tap and then he’d worry about fixing all of this after his shift. 

Someone definitely had to have come in and done this. Maybe Chimney seeing that he couldn’t stop teasing Buck earlier about breaking the fire truck. 

But wouldn’t he have checked if Buck was passed out and sweating on the floor like that? Wouldn’t he have called 911? None of this was adding up. 

Unless… No. That was stupid. Buck was not in some other strange alternate universe. Those were all myths. This was just exhaustion. Or maybe he was simply still asleep and this was one big, weird dream. 

He popped the toothpaste tube open and tried to push some toothpaste out, but half of the tube landed right on the mirror. “Whaaat the fuuuck…” he dragged the words out just under a whisper, dropping the tube in the sink. 

His back hit the wall and it was cold, reminding him that this was in fact, real. Somehow. Fuck! 

Okay, no, he really was losing it. Maybe he shouldn’t even be going out at all. But he needed some normalcy. If he didn’t, soon enough Maddie would start rotating their friends to come visit him again to keep him social. 

He cautiously touched the door handle and opened it achingly slowly, slipping out of the bathroom so he didn’t break anything else. If it really was him in the first place. He kept this slow pace, packing his things as gently as possible. 

He’d even gently texted Eddie to see if he could pick him up early, lying that his Jeep was giving him problems. If this really was all his doing, driving probably wasn’t the greatest idea.

He tiptoed down the stairs once dressed and slowly tugged his shoes on. What if he pulled them on and broke his foot? Or his nice new sambas? These were now very important questions. 

A knock at the door came and Buck stumbled from his living room towards the door and reached for the handle, hovering over it for a moment. 

It took him a good few seconds to slowly open it, eyes wide, tongue between his teeth in concentration. 

On the other side of the door, Eddie had a brow raised. “Hello to you too?” 

“Hi,” Buck’s voice was strained. “I’m just… gonna get my things. Wait here.”

“Okay?” Eddie frowned, crossing his arms. He watched Buck skitter off across the apartment like an insect and gently lift his belongings. “Any day now, Buck.” 

“Sorry, sorry.” Buck picked up the pace, nearly knocking his fruit bowl off the counter when reaching for his house keys. “Sorry,” he apologized to the fruit bowl. 

He shuffled past Eddie, who was looking at him like he’d gone mad. 

“Can you close the door?” He handed Eddie his keys, who took them wordlessly and locked the door for him. 

“You doing okay, Buck?” Eddie asked once they were in the elevator. He stared at Buck intensely, possibly trying to decipher if Buck was intoxicated. 

“Uh yeah, no I’m good. Just tired.” Buck cleared his throat, talking at a normal volume now. “Thanks for uh…” When the elevator doors opened again, Buck stepped forward, but his hand that was on the railing stayed right where it was. He tugged a little harder. 

Was he actually a magnet? 

“Are you coming?” Eddie turned around, his features morphing into a frown again. The elevator doors started to slide closed and Eddie lunged forward to keep them open by sticking his arm in front. 

“Uh, yup! Coming!” Buck laughed nervously, tugging again, but his hand didn’t budge. “Just got my hoodie stuck—”

“Oh, let me help.”

“No!” Buck held his free hand out to stop Eddie, who’d stepped back into the elevator. The doors slid closed and someone had pressed the button, moving them up to the ninth floor. Great.

“Buck, let me help—”

“I got it, Eds, it’s fine.” Buck replied, but Eddie was crowding his space, reaching behind Buck to see where the thread was. 

Buck’s body went white hot at the close proximity. “Eddie—”

“Just let me see, Buck—”

“I got it—”

“Buck!”

The doors slid open and two women stared mutely at the pair for a second before stepping in and pressing the first floor. Eddie stepped away from Buck and offered a thin lipped smile at them.

Buck gave an awkward wave with his free hand and tugged again on his other, but nothing, he tried to relax his body. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The elevator stopped on the third floor. 

A man and his child stepped inside next, pressing the group into a small huddle and Eddie’s back was against Buck’s body. 

Buck’s eyes trailed down Eddie’s hair, his neck, the slopes of his shoulders and back up again to the outlines of his ears. His scent had a sort of cinnamony hint to it and Buck felt his entire body ease at the familiarity. He thought about running his lips against the bare skin there and he shamefully smiled to himself. 

When he pulled on his hand this time, he was set free. 

What the hell was that about? 

They managed the awkward silence until all other parties were out and they were back on the first floor. 

“Uh, sorry about that…” Buck cleared his throat and shook his head. “But thanks for letting me shower at your place.” 

“Yeah no problem,” Eddie replied, still looking at Buck strangely. He stepped out of the elevator and walked over to his car. He’d parked on the side of the street. It was too much hassle to sign in and park underground for just a few minutes. 

Eddie climbed in and Buck stared at the car handle for a long moment. He couldn’t break Eddie’s door too. That would raise questions Buck had no answers to. 

The door popped open and Buck looked through the window and saw Eddie leaning across his seat. Buck pulled it the rest of the way and climbed in.

“Sorry, I thought it was unlocked.” Eddie chuckled, buckling up and starting the engine.

“It’s okay,” Buck mumbled, now focused on not breaking this side of the door. He slowly pulled it shut, but it didn’t close properly. With a sigh, he gently pushed the door back open and tried again. 

It still didn’t close properly.

“You scared of breaking my car too?” Eddie teased and Buck’s head whipped in his direction, eyes wide. 

“Wha- no, no I-”

“Relax, I’m teasing.” Eddie laughed. “Just close the door, Buck.” 

Buck nodded, gulping. He sucked in a breath and closed the door like he normally would and his eyes immediately flew shut, fully prepared for something to go wrong, but nothing happened. 

Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw the door still intact and Eddie was already driving. 

Huh, Buck thought. So it really was just his apartment falling apart. Great. 

“Huh, what?” Eddie asked, and Buck embarrassingly realized he’d spoken aloud.

“Oh uh, I didn't know they had uhm, that coffee shop over there,” he pointed to the random one on the corner.

“Oh yeah, look at that.” Eddie hummed. “We should go there sometime.” 

“Y-Yeah, I’d like that.” Buck felt his cheeks warm and he turned to look outside the window. This puppy crush on Eddie seemed to be growing and Buck didn’t know how to feel about it just yet. One second he was okay with it, the next he was a mess. Pretty much like the rest of his existence, really. 

He wasn’t even sure he liked guys. 

The drive was quiet for the most part. It was evident Eddie hadn’t slept and was tired, but he’d stay awake for Chris and sleep later. 

Something shifted in Buck's brain as they turned a corner, a few streets down from Eddie’s place. He sat up straighter. He didn’t know how or what, but something terrible was about to happen. It was like all the hairs stood up on his body, his hearing was sharper and his heart was racing like no tomorrow. 

Before he could even think about what he was doing, he launched over Eddie and grabbed the steering wheel, turning them sharply to the left just as a semi-truck came barreling down the street, not bothering to stop at the stop sign. 

Eddie had slammed on the breaks, tires screeching to a halt and the vehicle rocked side to side for a moment. Buck was still sprawled across Eddie, hands groping the wheel so tight, his knuckles had gone white.

He could feel Eddie’s rapid breathing against him and quickly pulled away, dropping back into his seat. 

“Quick thinking,” Eddie huffed out, pushing his fingers through his hair. He dropped his head back to take a moment and Buck gave a nod.

“Yeah, quick thinking.” He lied. That was something very different. He’d felt it way before he’d even seen the truck. Wasn’t that a thing, though? How some people get that feeling to not go outside that day or to take a different road because they think something bad is going to happen and then it does? 

Instincts, is what it was, and Buck’s were clearly heightened because of his job. 

Nothing more. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

For the next two hours, it seemed like Buck had gone back to normal. He’d taken a shower in Eddie’s bathroom and didn’t break any faucets or railings. No soap or shampoo bottles popped and he didn’t rip any of his clothing. 

He’d always felt more relaxed here than at his loft. Maybe because he didn’t feel so alone in the Diaz household.

The spider bite still hurt like hell and when he’d twisted his body to get a better look at it, it was bright red now. He’d called out to ask Eddie if he could borrow a clean hoodie to cover it, and once he had Eddie’s hoodie on, he blushed like a schoolgirl.

He had to wait five minutes to calm down before he went back out. 

They helped Chris with his homework and only one book stuck to his hand, but Chris had said he’d spilled soda on it earlier. 

He was calmer around the Diaz boys. He hardly felt any stress or anxiety over the last few days’ incidents. Everything in this house was safe, normal. This was where he was meant to be. 

He just wasn’t ready to go home later and have that peace be ripped out of him. But he couldn’t keep running from all of this forever. 

Once Chris had finished his homework, Buck and Eddie had to live up to their promise of baking with him. They’d agreed on rocky road brownies that they could make for the station, Athena, Karen, and all the kids. He added extra marshmallows to a few upon special text request from May and Harry. 

“Pass the M&M’s, Buck.” Eddie held out his hand and Buck tossed them over. “Oi, no throwing!”

“Whoops,” Buck grinned cheekily and turned back to the mixture that Chris was throwing some chocolate pieces into. 

Eddie threw an M&M at the back of Buck’s head, but he turned around just in time and caught it skillfully in his mouth, earning wide eyes from Eddie.

“Okay, how’d you do that? Your reflexes today have been next level.” 

“Hen told you,” Buck shrugged, feeling that underlying panic rise up again. “I grew up with a sister who teased me for her own personal entertainment. I have a sixth sense.”

Eddie raised an amused brow. “Bullying?”

Buck grinned. “Exactly. I would’ve thought you’d have it too, being the only boy and the youngest.” 

“Maybe mine went away with old age,” Eddie teased. 

The remainder of baking went by in a pleasant blur. Buck was too preoccupied with Chris and when the brownies went into the oven, he helped Chris make lunch for school the next day while Eddie put in a load of laundry and began to fold the clean stuff. 

After packing up the lunchbox and putting it in the fridge with Chris’ home made smoothie, he helped Chris get his room ready for bed and pack his school books for the next day. 

He tried not to dwell too much on how domestic this all was. He’d never really seen it that way before until Carla once called Buck Christopher’s other father. 

He’d been called that in public many, many times, but having it come from someone so close to them, was what made it really lodge itself into Buck’s mind, making it all the more real.

He didn’t even want to think about how his confusing feelings with Eddie tied into all of this. It couldn’t be more than just familial love, right? 

When the brownies were done, they each were allowed a taste tester and Chris’ mind was blown over how good they were. Buck almost went for seconds, but Eddie told him they had to wait until their next shift the day after tomorrow. 

After tucking Chris in, Eddie led Buck back into the kitchen and the pair cleaned up in silence, moving around each other seamlessly. They shared a beer because one each was too much for them so late, and all Buck could think about was kissing the guy. Or running away. 

One after the other? 

“Thanks for all your help today,” Eddie lightly patted the back of Buck’s neck over his hoodie and Buck winced, reminded of what he’d momentarily forgotten. “Between the shift and running around, I’m shattered. So thanks.”

“It’s what I do,” Buck replied softly, teeth clenching soon after. “You know I’m always happy to help out around the house.” 

“You gonna sleep over?” Eddie leaned against the counter, eyes already drooping and Buck shook his head. 

“I gotta go see Maddie first thing in the morning.”

“Let me drive you home then,” Eddie pushed away from the counter, but Buck held a hand out to stop him. 

“You can barely keep your eyes open. I’ll Uber.” 

“You sure? I don’t mind—”

“Eds, go sleep.” Buck offered a small smile and Eddie smiled too. “I’ll let myself out.”

“Fine,” Eddie paused in the kitchen entryway, as if he wanted to say something else, but he sighed. “Night, Buck.”

“Night,” Buck watched him walk away for a moment before grabbing his belongings. He waited until he heard Eddie’s door click shut before he left without ordering the Uber. 

He fiddled under the dim porch light looking for Eddie's house key attached to his own, and locked it. He still got giddy at the reminder that they had keys to each other’s places. 

He walked down the street and adjusted his bag over his shoulder before slipping his hands into the hoodie pocket. He could Uber, but he needed the fresh air tonight. He needed to slow down a bit and breathe.

He’d been moving at top speed ever since his parents’ deaths and even faster when he’d gone to New York. Too much had happened, too many unexplainable, yet somehow explainable things had happened and Buck needed to let it all marinate in his mind before he took the next steps.

He was learning that if he kept rushing into things, nothing would ever go right for him. 

So, he created a timeline in his head. 

After getting bitten, the following happened:

1. He had insane reflexes.
2. His hands and fingertips somehow could stick to literally everything. And break everything. 
3. He had a sixth sense: knowing when something bad was about to happen.
4. Immense strength was another, more so than usual. 
5. Blurry vision and night sweats. Solid -5/10 

He had a gut feeling that the list would only grow from here on out, and he was torn between being excited and absolutely terrified. 

The next thing he really needed to think about was his parents. 

They had worked with a small start-up company when Buck was still a baby, and when he turned about nine or ten, they joined Oscorp. 

They’d always been distant, so focused on their work, testings, and cooking up new concoctions in their basement lab. 

When they got the Oscorp jobs, they were hardly home. Maddie made Buck his meals, helped him with homework, basically did everything a parent should all whilst balancing her own school life and Doug, the bastard. 

When they were home for dinner, they were talking about all sorts of mathematical and scientific stuff. Buck could never keep up, but Maddie could, and they’d indulge her to an extent. 

The older she got, the more time she spent with their parents, attending work days on rare occasions or sitting in their offices late at night helping them with weird algorithms and testing and mixing vials. 

Even though she still made time for him, Buck had never felt more abandoned. 

He’d gotten so lost in his thoughts, that he hadn’t realized he’d already made it further into Downtown LA. Buck blinked at the bright lights and found himself crossing over a zebra crossing. The light was green for walkers, thank God, but he didn’t like the fact that he’d been walking on autopilot. Anything could’ve happened. 

That’s when a shiver ran down his spine. 

Without thinking, Buck jumped up, knees moving towards his chest and he did a forward front flip just as he heard a car horn blare, landing perfectly on his feet. 

He looked up with haste, eyes wide and wild. A car had sped through the red light and Buck had… simply jumped over it. 

“Whaaat the fuck… again.” Buck whispered to himself, readjusting the strap on his bag that had slipped off. He spotted a group of shocked bystanders on the other side, all mouths agape and eyes unblinking. “Uh,” he stuttered and pointed to himself. “Firefighter.”

“Ah,” the group chorused and went on about their business. Los Angeles people really were built different. 

Buck had never rushed home faster in his life, an odd, giddy pep to his step, as Bobby would say. 

Now that was cool. Growing up, Buck had always wanted to learn new stunts and tricks. He’d spent months perfecting different flips and cartwheels and all sorts of other moves. He’d kept it up throughout high school and had taken on parkour and for a while in college, calisthenics. The SEALS only heightened his strength, followed by first responder training. 

So it was no shock that he could do something like that still, but it was the timing, the reflexes. 

He mentally added number 5 to his list: jumping over cars like a badass. 

Back in his loft, Buck abandoned his things on the dining table and looked up at his high ceiling. Okay, that was way too high for him. He would never reach that height just by jumping, so he moved over to his living room, where his ceiling was lower thanks to the loft and he launched himself up, fingertips out.

The first few attempts were unsuccessful. He’d drop just like gravity intended, but he knew for a fact that he’d been practically hovering in the firehouse over the arm of the couch.

He wasn’t crazy! 

He closed his eyes, sucked in a deep breath and put all of his focus onto his fingertips before jumping again. 

When he opened his eyes, his feet were dangling above the floor and he let out a high pitched giggle, pure shock rolling through him. 

“Oh this is so fucking cool!” He practically squealed, kicking his legs in the air. He lifted his other hand up and pressed those fingertips to the ceiling and tried to move forward. 

He moved all across the small area, feet still dangling. 

“This is insane! What the fuck is going on!” He whooped to himself again, reaching further away to see if he could move like this in larger distances. When he was successful, he dropped back down, an odd feeling rushing through him.

This was awesome and all, but what the fuck was actually going on? 

He rummaged through his father’s briefcase again and pulled out the file to look for any of these things that had happened to him today, but it was all still gibberish to him. 

He needed to speak to a professional tomorrow, and it wasn’t Maddie.

Buck lay in bed that night with the biggest smile he’s had in years. 

So why was a pit of dread growing in his stomach?

Chapter Text

Buck barely slept that night. 

He’d just started to drift off to sleep when he heard something skittering around his room. He’d turned the light on and found a small spider running across the floorboards. 

Were spiders that loud? 

He’d let it out of his window and lay back down, only to jump up at a rustling sound. It was his blinds knocking against the window he left open. 

As the night went on, his senses seemed to heighten. He became aware of every minor sound. Every car horn, every engine or person walking the streets. It was almost like everything was happening inside his room, inside his head. 

Eventually, exhaustion had seeped in and he got a solid hour of sleep before his alarm blared. 

He didn’t have a shift, but he had more important things to do today, so he forced himself out of bed. 

Hopefully he’d finally get some answers. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck approached the front door and peered inside through the distorted glass window to see who was home. He couldn’t hear much commotion, so he thought he’d risk it. So he knocked. 

Five seconds later, the door flew open.

“Buck? I didn’t know you were coming over.” 

“Hey Karen,” Buck smiled shyly, rocking back on his heels. “Is… Is Hen home?” 

“No, she just left with Mara and Denny. Why—”

“Great!” Buck clapped his hands together. “Can I come in? I need to talk to you.”

“To me?” Karen looked at him confused, but she stepped aside for him anyway. Buck doesn’t think he and her had ever been alone together. “Is everything okay? Can I make you some coffee?” 

“Uh, sure.” Buck replied politely and followed her into the kitchen. He watched her make their drinks. “You’re like… Like a math and science genius, right? I-I mean, you’re Dr. Karen Wilson, so…” 

“I mean I have my dual PhD in math and science and astrophysics, so I’d say I’m pretty good with that stuff.” Karen slid over a mug for Buck, a quizzical smile on her features. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?” 

Buck shucked off his backpack, placing it on one of the chairs. He pulled out his father’s file and slid it over. “Last page, Decay Rate Algorithm. What is that?” 

Karen lowered her mug after taking a sip of her coffee and she frowned. She read through the entire file instead of just the last page and Buck paced the kitchen impatiently. “This is research for cross-species genetics. Why do you have this? Was this your dads?”

“Cross-species genetics? Like Jurassic Park?” Buck frowned, ignoring her questions. 

“Essentially,” Karen sighed. “But this is for human testing. No one’s making dinosaurs.”

“So what the hell is it for?” He asked and Karen shook her head, flipping through the file again. “Here,” Buck rummaged in his backpack and pulled out both vials of the spiders his father had kept. “These are the spiders mentioned in the file. They came together.” 

Karen gingerly took one and held it up to the light. She blindly reached for her glasses on the counter and put them on, turning the vial a few times before placing it down.

“It looks like human regeneration. Hang on,” Karen left the room and Buck tried to put his mug down, but it was stuck to his palm. He sighed. He didn’t have the energy to fight it right now so he took another sip. 

Karen returned shortly with her laptop. He rounded the kitchen island and hovered behind her as she typed in Buck’s father’s name along with the Dr. Curtis Connors he’d seen in that photo with his dad. 

Research flooded Google and Karen skimmed through a few. “Here,” Karen pointed to a quote from Dr. Connors. “It says that he wants equality for every human. Meaning that with this research, if it worked, it would eradicate sickness and improve bodily regeneration.”

“Like a lizard when its tail gets cut off?” Buck asked and Karen hummed in agreement. “Dr. Connors has no arm, Karen. Look.”

“So this research must’ve started with him. But why were your parents involved?” She looked over her shoulder and Buck shrugged.

“My mom was a geneticist. Connors probably recruited her and she took my dad along for the ride.” 

“No, then she would be in that photo. Not your father.” Karen lifted up the newspaper clipping.

“My mom hated attention,” Buck murmured, staring at his father. “It wasn’t her thing. My dad, however…” He cleared his throat. “It was her idea to stay out of the news. I know it.” 

“Okay fine, but that doesn’t answer why they were involved in the first place. This could change history, could change the world. Do you think that’s what they were going for?”

“Probably?” Buck shrugged again. “They didn’t tell me much.”

“Guess it runs in the family then,” Karen said slowly, moving away from Buck to retrieve her coffee. “So are you going to tell me why you have this stuff? Why you’re suddenly so interested in science?” 

Buck pressed his tongue against his cheek and gave a small nod. “I guess that’s fair.” He moved over to his backpack again and pulled out the mason jar with the spider that had bitten him. He slid it across the counter and she caught it.

“Okay, another spider. So?” 

“That spider bit me,” Buck replied and Karen’s eyes widened.

“It’s the same spider as the others…”

“Yeah,” Buck’s voice was scratchy now. He tried to place the mug down and thankfully left his grasp when he placed it down. “And now, I can do stuff like this…”

Buck jumped up, one hand reaching towards the ceiling. The tips of his fingers latched onto the ceiling, leaving him dangling before a very shocked Karen, who let out a yelp and jumped back in surprise. Her hands flew to her mouth and she stood there for a moment, gaping at Buck who tried to drop down, but he was stuck.

He let out a grunt and tugged on his hand. “Sorry, it takes a second. I’m still getting used to it and I don’t want to pull your house down with me.”

“Pull… Pull my house down?!” Karen whispered. 

“Yeah I uh… have insane strength now too? I broke my sink. And my shower. And my taps. And the firetruck door.” 

“You… You broke the— Oh God,” Karen’s hand moved to her chest and she leaned her body weight against her fridge. “This is impossible, right? It-It has to be—”

“I thought so too,” Buck closed his eyes and relaxed his body. He felt his feet hit the floor and he walked closer to the counter again. “But this is real, Karen. And… I’m scared and I need your help figuring out what the fuck is going on.” 

“Okay,” she breathed out, still staring at him like the craziest thing she’d ever seen. Which is a lot for a rocket scientist. “Okay, okay, okay,” she tried to compose herself, shaking out her hands. “Tell me everything from the beginning.”

And so Buck did. He told her about his trip to New York and how he got bitten. About the spider still being attached to his neck with a single web string. He told her about his insane reflexes and a possible sixth sense of sensing danger before it happens. 

He caught her up to his heightened senses from the night before when he was trying to sleep and somewhere between her shock and his explanation, Karen had rushed for a pen and paper and started scribbling it all down. 

“So?” Buck asked when he was done and Karen sat back in the chair, staring at the pages scattered across the dining table for a moment. 

“Well, small animals such as spiders have very small feet, and they often have hundreds of thousands of hairs and bristles on their legs and feet. These hairs and bristles can fit into the holes and gaps on walls.” Karen explained slowly, clasping her hands together. 

“Each of the small hairs is covered in even smaller hairs called setules, which have unique triangular tips. These tiny setules — more than six hundred thousand in all — give spiders their superior ability to climb up water spouts, along walls and across ceilings.” 

Buck slowly raised his hands and squinted at his fingers. They looked pretty normal to him. “So is that what I have?”

“Possibly,” Karen nodded. “If these spiders were created for human testing to help build strength for humans and eradicate sicknesses and so forth, it’s possible that their venom has properties of their genetic makeup that could potentially seep into its victim’s veins, altering that human’s own genetic makeup. Like symbiosis. Though it's never a guarantee that this works out and the test subject survives.”

“How do you know that last part?” Buck frowned.

“That’s the Decay Rate Algorithm,” she replied, turning the file towards him. “That sequence there shows that. No test subject has survived, and those were all rodents. They were set to start human testing as per this email,” Karen pointed to the email to Dr. Connors and his dad, “Which means they had no idea if the person would survive, but they were on a time crunch. Kind of like an organ transplant or a blood match.” 

“So what, I’m going to die?” 

“No clue,” she replied honestly. “Whoever this CEO is, Rajit Ratha, clearly had no clue that something was wrong, but your parents and this Dr. Connors did.”

“My dad said he and mom were going on a trip for a while when he called last week,” Buck mumbled, feeling his heart rate quicken. “Why? Does that mean someone was onto them? Because Oscorp tore their apartment upside down.” 

“If they had this kind of information and data, it’s no surprise they and possibly the government would want to control it. Or stop it. Human trials could’ve led to death and that’s murder. Like if someone asks another on the dark web to help with assisted suicide. It’s still murder if they get caught.” 

“Fuck,” Buck wiped a hand over his face and sank further into his seat. “So I could possibly die? Wonderful! Just what Maddie needs.”

“Hey,” Karen placed her hand over his. “I never said it was certain. From what I can see, aside from the strange side effects, you look healthy. Just tired. Plus, everyone’s genetic makeup is different. It could work for you and turn you into this badass with superhuman abilities, and for someone else it could give them six eyeballs. That’s just science for you.”

“So literally trial and error,” Buck huffed. “What am I supposed to do then? Just carry on like this is normal?” 

“For now, I think so…” Karen sighed and rubbed Buck’s shoulder. “Put this to good use. Use it at work where you can without raising alarm bells.”

“Karen, I have your keys stuck to my fingers.” Buck gave her a deadpan expression and she turned to look at his fingers hovering over her laptop.

Karen winced. “That’s my new laptop.” 

“Do you really think I can put this to good use?” Buck held his hands out so she could gently pluck the keys from his fingers and push them back into the board. 

“How’d you get down from the ceiling?” 

“I closed my eyes and relaxed my body, but I can’t do that every time!”

“Then you relax your body with your eyes open,” Karen suggested and peered behind him. “Can I look at the bite?”

“Yeah sure,” he tugged off his hoodie so she could get a better look and she moved to stand behind him. 

“Where’d you say you got bitten again?” 

“On the back of my neck?” Buck reached behind him and patted the area. 

“Buck, I don’t see anything.”

“Huh?” Buck stood up abruptly and rushed to the small hallway mirror. He twisted his body and caught a glimpse of his neck. There was no bite. “It was there last night! Look,” he rushed back into the dining area and pulled out his phone. “I took a photo.”

She studied the image, and then his neck, and then the image again. “Remarkable…”

“What?” Buck asked frantically. “Karen, what?”

“You healed at an accelerated speed,” she murmured, looking up at him. “Buck, I think it worked. I think… I think the testing worked on you.” 

“Wha— Are you sure? But, how? Are you sure sure?” 

“I think so?” Karen smoothed her hand over his neck. She felt the faintest bump. “It’s definitely still healing, but the flesh wound is gone. It usually takes weeks for a bite that size to disappear,” she pointed to the photo. 

“So I’m some weird spider-mutant thing?” Buck’s hand instinctively rested on the back of his neck. His heart was hammering now. What did this all mean? Did this make him some science mutation? Was that even the right word?

Scientific miracle? 

“Yeah,” Karen blew out a breath and dropped back into her chair. “You’re a spider-mutant thing…” 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck left Karen’s place in a daze. 

She’d photocopied the pages from the file and printed out a bunch of articles, two sets, one for him and one for her. She told him she’d do some more research and she’d let him know if she found out anything else. He said he’d do the same. 

Back in his loft, he cleared up the wall across from his bed, moving the TV out of the way, and began sticking up the pages and articles. He needed to get a good look at all of this. 

He found some of Taylor’s old sticky notes she’d left here when she moved out and he wrote down names he needed to remember of scientists involved and where they were located in the world and in this strange timeline. 

He used Taylor’s strings, color coding them to match up all of the people, theories, testings, and algorithms that had been given to him already. 

He added a list of all his symptoms and when they occurred and how long it had taken for them to present themselves after being bitten.

About two hours into further research, Karen sent him a photo of her own working, in gibberish — math — with a text that read: This is it. This is the correct algorithm to prevent decay. It’s your algorithm. 

He’d left her with a bunch of his own medical papers he’d emailed to her from his personal archives of his blood type, blood tests and a whole bunch of other things she might need. 

He copied out the algorithm onto a piece of paper and stuck it below his name and a photo of the spider that had bitten him. 

It was identical to the original one his father had written.

That must mean his parent’s had planned this in one way or another, right? To test on him? What other explanation was there? 

Buck dropped back onto his bed and stared at the covered wall. What the hell had his parents done? 

Even in death they had managed to turn everything into work. Always about them. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck waited for Hen to leave before jogging across the street and knocking on the door.

“Come in,” Karen ushered him inside quickly, pushing the door closed and beginning her trip to the backyard.

“How’d you get rid of Hen?” Buck asked, following close behind towards their small garden shed. 

“I convinced Chimney that he has barely spent time with Hen outside of work,” she replied, fishing the keys out of her pocket and shoving them into the padlock.

“And the kids?” 

“Having a sleepover with Maddie and Jee,” Karen replied and pushed the door open. 

“Woah,” Buck murmured, blinking as he took in his surroundings. The walls looked similar to his now, covered in new articles, algorithms, and his medical documents. On the table in the middle, were more papers, Karen’s laptop, and some textbooks on spiders. 

He pulled out the contents of his father’s file and placed them neatly on the table, aligning the spider vials and the one that bit him in the middle. 

“Woah indeed,” Karen murmured, skirting around the table. She’d placed two old dining chairs in here and Buck wanted to chuckle. This looked like those typical superhero/sidekick lairs. “Okay so, we know that you can climb walls, that you have… spider senses, and superhuman strength. Two of those are from the spider itself, the strength is from whatever else they injected into these spiders. Meaning you have enhanced human qualities, hence their whole spiel of human regeneration and eradicating weaknesses, but now you have arachnid qualities.”

“Yeah?” Buck dragged his words out. “I thought we covered that already?”

Karen sighed. “But what if you had… more traits you haven’t figured out yet?”

Buck raised a brow. “Go on.” 

Karen reached for a list of all his new abilities and tapped on the paper. “So all of these were discovered at different times, right? All of them triggered by something. What if there’s other abilities that still need to be triggered?”

“I mean that’s possible… but how would we trigger them? How would we even know what to trigger?” 

“Okay, this might sound crazy,” Karen started slowly.

“I’m sure nothing is as crazy as crawling up walls with my bare hands.”

“What if…” Karen sighed again, as if whatever she was about to say was really the most ridiculous thing. “Spiders don’t just climb walls, right? They… They shoot out webs. To build nests and traps, to lower themselves down, the works. What if… you could do that too?”

Buck blinked. “Shoot webs?”  

“Shoot webs.”

Laughter erupted from deep in Buck’s chest. Well, it was more like a cackle. “Shoot webs! Now that’s a good one Kar– oh, you’re serious.” He quickly cleared his throat when he saw her blank, unamused expression. 

“Well, why not?!” Karen countered. “You told me yourself that the spider that bit you had a web attached to you and the bite. You can do everything else, so why can’t you shoot webs?” 

“Firstly, where would I even shoot them from?” Buck gestured up and down his body. “Does it look like I have any… holes in my body that shoot webs? Don’t answer that.” He pointed a finger at her when she pursed her lips. 

“Seriously, Karen, you think I’m just gonna go like,” he gestured, throwing his hand out, wrist up, “and then I’ll shoot a web? Don’t think so.” 

“Uh,” Karen bit back a surprised laugh. “I… I think you just did.”

“What?” Buck frowned and looked down at his wrist. “Holy shit.” 

“Holy shit,” Karen mimicked as reality set in, leaning down enough to study the web that was now attached to the wall and Buck’s wrist. “Don’t move—”

“Holy shit!” Buck yanked his wrist back, detaching the web from himself, and it fell limp against the wall and dragged on the floor. 

Karen took a deep breath, her glare fixed on him and Buck froze, a sheepish smile forming on his face. “Sorry.” 

Karen didn't answer. Instead, she reached for the web and tried to pull it off the wall, but it wouldn’t budge. “Jesus, this is strong.” She tugged again and the flimsy structure groaned. She let go before she brought down the entire shed with her. 

She gingerly lifted up the web right up to her face so she could get a better look. “Told you so.” 

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Karen!” Buck practically squealed. “I can shoot webs! Oh man this is sick! Pew pew!” He shot his wrists out now, aiming for the wall all over again as smaller web blasts landed on the wood. 

“Pew pew pew!” He kept yelling with each shot, until he accidentally hit Karen’s shoulder. “Pew…” he dropped his wrists and Karen slowly shook her head.

“I am going to pretend like that did not just happen.”

“I think that’s for the best,” Buck agreed. She went back to studying the webs while he began to try to carefully pry the web off. When he heard her shirt tear, he slowly backed away. 

“You owe me a new—”

“A new shirt, yup, yeah. Got it.” Buck cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his pockets for a moment, but he was itching to shoot more webs. 

When he pulled out his hand, Karen wasted no time in slapping her hand over his wrist. “Don’t even think about it, Buck.”

“Sorry,” he murmured, pushing his hand back into his pocket. Karen reached for a pair of scissors to cut off the web so she could look at it under a magnifier, but even with the scissors, it wouldn’t break. 

“Gods give me strength,” she muttered under her breath.

Buck approached slowly and took the web from her hands. He snapped it in half with ease and handed her the broken off piece without making eye contact, knowing full well she was praying on his downfall in one way or another. 

“So… you’re gonna study the webs?”

“That’s the plan,” Karen answered, placing her hand on her forehead. “I’m not gonna lie, I didn't actually think you could shoot webs out of you, I was just spitballing. So I'm a little out of my depth here.” 

“You and me both,” Buck huffed, staring down at his wrists now. “It’s weird. There’s no… physical indication that I can shoot webs from… my body— Is it like a fluid? Because that’s just gross.”

“Kind of? There are… glands,” Karen cringed at her own words. “And there’s proteins that get pushed through spinnerets that produce a sort of silk. That’s what you have.”

“That’s disgusting,” Buck forced back a gag and shook his head, recollecting himself. “Okay, okay, but why are they so sturdy then? I mean, you couldn’t even use scissors.” 

“Well, insects can’t break the silk, right? That’s how spiders catch their food in their webs. So maybe because you’re superhuman, nothing can break your webs either. Like… levels of the food chain kind of thing.”

“I hate that that makes sense.”

“You’re telling me.” 

“Okay, so I can shoot webs… Now what?” Buck looked at her expectantly.

“I have no idea,”

“What do you mean you have no idea?”

“Buck, I have no idea what to do here! Like I said, I’m way out of my depth with this. This,” she gestured around, “is next level science that you don’t exactly get taught in university. We know that you can do all of these insane things, we know that the algorithm was made for you and you’re not going to die… probably—”

“Probably?”

“The point is,” Karen held up a hand, “There’s nothing else left to do except figure out why this algorithm was made specifically for your DNA. My best guess is your parents were going to test it on you one day anyway. Why? Who knows. You’ll have to ask Maddie if she knows anything.”

“But what do I do with… this? With me?” Buck didn’t like the idea of him just walking through life with all of these strange abilities and not putting them to good use aside from grabbing the remote from the coffee table when he doesn’t want to sit up for it. 

But what could he do with all of this anyway? The last thing he wanted was to become a test subject for Oscorp or any other lab that got their hands on him. 

Hell, it’s not like Stark Industries would want a weird bug to study. They’d definitely seen way cooler things. They literally had a guy who turned into a big green monster and a man who was asleep for seventy years. 

Buck stood no chance in a weird-off with those people. 

Karen gently rested her hand on Buck’s cheek. “You go see your sister. You find out why all of this is happening and then… You learn to live with this.” 

“I don’t like that idea,” he grumbled.

“I don’t doubt it, but what else can we do, Buck? I’ll keep researching what I can about the webs and I’ll ask around with some people to see if they know anything about these spiders, but I can’t promise any solid answers.” 

“Okay, yeah.” Buck sighed, wiping a hand over his face. “Can I just… stay in here for a while? I wanna go through everything again.”

“I’ll go make us some coffee.” She squeezed his shoulder and then she was gone. Buck rested his arms on the table and his chin on his arms, waiting for her to return.

All of this was crazy. He still couldn’t quite wrap his head around what was going on. He shouldn’t be that shocked, right? He’d seen weirder stuff in the news, but he never did think that this kind of stuff would be happening to him.

Everything he thought his parents were doing at work turned out to be lies, leaving him wondering what the hell was actually going on at Oscorp. At least Stark Industries was honest about their work. Were they? 

He wasn’t so sure anymore. 

When Karen returned with two mugs, Buck gratefully took his and let out a soft chuckle as Karen settled in her chair.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just,” Buck shrugged. “You’re like my guy in the chair.” 

Karen let out a shocked laugh. “Your guy in the chair? Seriously?” 

“Yeah!” He grinned. “You know, every superhero has their genius best friend that they wouldn’t be able to function without?”

“Are you saying we’re friends, Buck?” She raised a brow.

“I thought we always were!” He gasped.

“We are,” she reassured. “We are friends.” 

“Good,” he offered her a softer smile now before they both got to work in silence. 

It was nice sitting here, not feeling so alone in all of this. He had Karen and that was enough.

Chapter Text

“I’m so glad you finally agreed to this,” Maddie laughed, linking her arm with Buck’s. They walked down the street away from the movie theater. 

It was the following night and they’d just gone and watched that new movie Challengers after their shifts and to say watching that film with your sibling was awkward, was a violent understatement. But it was nice to just spend some time with her since everything had happened. 

She’d gotten Chimney to spend the night alone with Jee Yun so they could have some Buckley sibling time. They’d gone for an early dinner before the movie and it was mostly small talk, but it was comfortable. 

And no weird spider-stuff had happened yet, so that was a double win for Buck. 

Now they were on their way to get ice cream. Buck had a feeling this would be where the deeper conversations started and he was partially dreading it. 

“We should probably talk about… everything,” Maddie opened the conversation once they were back out in the street after retrieving their ice cream cups. “And before you say there’s nothing to talk about, there is.”

“Except there isn’t,” Buck shook his head. Well, aside from the radioactive spiders. “They died and that’s that, right? Unless there’s factually more, I have nothing to say about them.” 

Sure he needed to talk to Maddie eventually about his new found abilities, but if he told her now, he feared she might have a full breakdown.

Maddie sighed, absentmindedly moving her ice cream around with the plastic spoon. “I know you weren’t the closest with mom and dad, but they died, Evan. They’re never coming back.”

“Less trauma for us,” Buck mumbled, focused on his own ice cream cup. He sounded like a child and he knew it, but it didn’t matter. He was angry with their parents, and was selfishly relieved he never had to deal with them and their anger again. 

“That is not fair, Evan. They were trying their best.” Maddie replied, her tone slightly sharper. 

“Easy for you to say! They always loved you more. You were like their protege. And me? I was the spare in case you got bored.” Buck huffed. He’d lost his appetite entirely, but shoveled another scoop of ice cream into his mouth before he said something even more cruel. 

“You know that’s not true, right? They were just—”

“Just what, Maddie?” Buck huffed out a laugh, cutting her off. “Too busy with work? That they invited you to constantly? Too busy acting like they only had one child and not two? Because that’s what I see. No,” Buck shook his head. “That’s what I know. I was there too. I was there too.” 

“And they loved you!” Maddie insisted. They’d stopped walking now and people had to step around them to keep moving, but the Buckley siblings stood rooted to the spot. “They just didn’t always know how to show it.”

“No, Maddie, they never showed it. You might’ve gotten the loving, present parents. And you might think that I got them too, which makes you the most oblivious person I know.”

“That is not fair, Evan.” Maddie shook her head, eyes brimming with tears. “I was—”

“You left!” Buck raised his voice now. This was escalating exactly how he assumed it would. He was just hoping it wouldn’t be so public, but here they were. “How many times did I beg you to leave with me, but instead you pushed me away over and over. And I’m not just talking about when you were with Doug. You never once had to wonder if mom and dad wanted you, because you were their pride and fucking joy. Me? I would go to bed in fear that I’d wake up to my bags packed and told to go figure it out on my own.” 

“I have spent my whole life feeling like a disappointment to them. To you. Because who was I if I could never live up to you and how people saw you? You’ve always been untouchable around them, Maddie. Or at least that’s what it looks like to me.” 

Tears were free flowing from Maddie’s cheeks now and Buck hated that he was the reason. He couldn’t help it. Everything seemed to be barreling out of control. “You don’t understand—”

“No, I don’t understand, because you never tell me anything!” Buck snapped, making Maddie flinch. She took a step back and Buck’s entire stature deflated. 

“Maddie…” 

“You know what?” She sucked in a sharp breath, wiping her tears away. “I’m gonna go home. Check on Jee and Chimney. This was a mistake.”

“Maddie, I-I didn’t mean to scare you—” Buck’s voice had softened significantly, taking a slow step closer, but Maddie held her hand up to stop him. 

“I think I need some space, Evan. I think you do too.” 

“Maddie, wait!” Buck watched in defeat as Maddie turned and retreated down the street, leaving him standing there alone. “Fuck,” he sighed, throwing his ice cream in the trash bin close by. He kicked it for effect, because that would totally fix everything. 

He managed to dent the bin with his kick and wondered what else he could break if he used his full strength now. 

Buck took a moment to collect himself. He leaned against the wall of a closed cafe and sucked in a slow breath, wiping a hand over his face. This wasn’t one of their worst arguments, but it was heavy enough. 

He knew Maddie had gone through hell with their parents and as the bigger sibling, she’d suck it up and not pull Buck into the mess with her. He knew how unfair it was to say she was untouchable to them. They’d hurt her just as much as they’d hurt Buck. 

He thought of following her home to apologize or to at least make sure she got back safely, but it would spiral out into another argument and neither of them needed that right now. 

He’d just give them both a few days to cool off before going to apologize and maybe sit down and tell her everything. She deserved to know the truth. Maybe she’d offer him some in return. 

Buck pushed himself away from the wall and his whole body started to tingle. He paused and looked around. Everything was normal. No speeding trucks nearly crushing anyone, no screams or fights.

Maybe he was just really cold. He knew he should’ve brought a jacket.

On cue, a guy bumped into Buck’s shoulder on the way down the street. “Hey, watch where you’re going—” He locked eyes with the guy, who had his hood up, and the guy glared in response and kept walking. 

LA people really could be assholes. Maybe that was the tingle. He really needed a new name for that. 

Buck shook it off and started walking. The guy in front of him was one block ahead now, moving quickly past restaurants and Buck let his mind wander as he began his trip home. He could just barely see Maddie ahead of the guy and Buck was relieved she was okay. 

She didn’t seem to be in a rush to get home and he couldn’t blame her. Chimney would ask 101 questions about the fight. 

Buck jogged across the street and spotted the guy already the next block over approaching his car. He thought about having some choice words with the guy about being a dick, but maybe he was just itching for a fight. 

What he got instead was much worse. In a flash, the guy had pulled out a gun and stuck it in the front window. He started yelling at whoever was in the driver’s seat and onlookers all began to scatter at the sight of the weapon.

Buck already had his phone out, dialing 9-1-1. He broke out into a run, crossing the street and nearly getting hit by an oncoming car.

“Sorry, sorry!” He yelled to the driver and kept going. 

“911, what’s your emergency?” The dispatcher answered on the first ring. 

Bang!

Buck’s head snapped up at the sound of the gunshot. A body lay crumpled by the open car door, another man was on his knees close to the body, clutching his arm, and the suspect had thrown himself into the car, driving off at breakneck speed. 

“This is firefighter Evan Buckley. There’s been a hijacking with two victims on 544 S Grand Avenue. One gunshot wound. Might need two RAs. Suspect has fled the scene. Approaching the victims now.” Buck yelled into his phone, rushing towards the victims. “LAFD! Step aside!”

A small group of onlookers moved aside when Buck approached. He knelt in front of the first guy, who seemed conscious. “Sir, are you alright?”

“I’m– I’m okay,” he coughed out, lips coated in blood. “Guy got me pretty good, but she– she saved my life.” He pointed towards the crumpled body and Buck whipped his head in the direction the man pointed. 

That coat.

“No,” Buck’s voice shook. He rushed forward on his knees and turned the person onto their back. “No, no, no—” 

Maddie blinked slowly, heaving with every breath. “Buck..?”

“I-It’s me, Mads. Just stay still for me, okay? Just—”

“The guy–”

“Doesn’t matter,” Buck spotted the gunshot wound pretty easily. Lower abdomen. Too much blood. He frantically pulled his belt off and slipped it under her, tightening it around her waist as a makeshift tourniquet. His hands were moving robotically, but his mind was whirring. 

“Help is coming, Mads. You just hang in there for me.” Buck lightly tapped her cheek when her eyes began to close. “Come on, Maddie. You’re okay. You’re okay. Stay awake.”

“I’m sorry,” she croaked out, a weak and shaky hand lifting to touch his cheek. She didn’t get too far, so Buck helped lift her hand up. “I love you, Evan.”

“Maddie, stop. Stop it– Just stay awake okay?” Buck’s tears rolled down his cheeks and onto her chest. He had one hand over her wound and the other pressed to her wrist that held him, counting her heart rate. “You hear that? Sirens. Help is here, Mads. Just hang on. Hang on for me.” 

Maddie’s eyes slid shut and Buck felt her pulse weaken. “No, no, no, you don’t get to sleep yet,” he jostled her a little harder now, feeling her life slip effortlessly slip between his fingers. “Just a little longer.”

“LAFD, make some room!” Buck heard Captain Mehta’s voice before he saw him. “Buck?”

Buck didn’t look at him when he was hoisted up by the Captain so his medics could jump in to help. 

“No pulse!” One spoke to the other. “Beginning chest compressions. I need the LIFEPAK.” 

“Get the backboard!” The second one yelled to a firefighter, who rushed off to the rig. 

“Buck, what happened?” Captain Mehta asked again, but his voice sounded so far away. All he could do was watch the medics try to bring his sister back to life. 

The backboard was brought over just as they announced Maddie had a weak pulse and they needed to get her transported. 

Somewhere in the blur, Buck found himself seated in the RA van, clutching onto Maddie’s hand. And then he was ripped away from her when her pulse dropped again. How long had they been in the van? Buck wasn’t sure.

He heard a rib crack somewhere amidst the chaos, those cool heightened senses becoming more of a curse. And then Maddie’s heart was beating again. By the time the doors flung open when they reached the hospital, her heart had already stopped. It was only then that he’d begun to count.

She was wheeled through the glass doors and straight into surgery. When she was out of sight, Buck had counted five minutes which would inevitably be longer. 

“Buck?” Captain Mehta’s voice was clearer now and Buck blinked. He slowly looked over his shoulder and found the Captain staring at him worriedly. Mehta had come all the way here to check on him. 

It took Buck back to the day Eddie was shot. That was enough to drop him to the floor, forcing out huffs of ragged breaths and gasping to get enough air into his lungs. 

All he heard was Mehta telling him he was sorry, feeling the Captain’s arms wrap around him as they sat there crumpled on the tar road beside the RA unit. He heard Mehta tell one of his firefighters to get dispatch to notify Bobby and the rest. 

“Chimney—” Buck rasped, hand clutching his chest. He couldn’t fucking breathe. “Call… Chimney first.” 

In between waiting for Chimney’s arrival, Mehta had gotten one of his medics to see to Buck, giving him an oxygen mask until he was calm enough to breathe on his own. They’d moved into the front of the hospital by the waiting area, but Buck had gotten so many stares of horror, that he’d retreated into the bathroom.

He hadn’t realized what a mess he was until he saw his reflection. 

His hands were coated in Maddie’s blood. His shirt and jeans were too. Some of it had gotten in his hair and on his face. Some on his neck. 

He scrubbed himself raw. 

Pushing back the repeated scene of seeing Maddie lying on the ground like that, Buck scrubbed harder, using the dispenser soap and paper towels to really get all the blood off of his skin. 

Like a clock ticking, he heard that gunshot over and over and over in his head. 

He heard Maddie’s rasps and the choking sounds she’d made in the RA. He heard her telling him she loves him.

He never said it back. 

“Oh God—” Buck’s voice cracked and he covered his mouth with a hand. The sobs came quickly and he found himself leaning on the sink for support. He should've never let her walk alone like that. He should’ve been the one to take that bullet. 

He should’ve clocked that guys suspicious behavior sooner. Hell, he should’ve fucking used his webs to catch the car and beat the guy to death. But he hadn’t been thinking. His mind was so clouded with his own problems, that everything else had momentarily ceased to exist. 

He’d been selfish and look where it got him. 

Back out in the hallways, Buck heard Chimney’s voice carrying from reception.

“Where is my wife? What the hell happened to her?! I need to see my wife!” 

“Chimney,” Buck called out upon approach and Chimney swiveled in his direction. Jee was nowhere to be seen. 

“Buck, what the hell is going on? No one’s told me anything!” Chimney walked towards him briskly, tears already pricking at his eyes. “What happened?” 

“Uh,” Buck’s voice shook and he sniffed back a fresh bout of tears. “W-We got into a fight… a-and she– she stormed off ahead of me. There was this guy trying to hijack a car and she got in the middle to try and stop it. I was on the phone with 911 across the street. I couldn’t see who anyone was until I got close enough.”

“But what happened to her?” Tears flowed down Chimney’s cheeks now, his hands clasped together in front of his chest.

“She was shot,” Buck managed to croak out. “She had no pulse when we got here.”

Buck watched Chimney’s world collapse around him and it was single handedly the most gut wrenching thing Buck has ever had to witness. “Oh my God…” 

“But, uh, they’re– they’re saying she’s stable now… In surgery.” Buck rushed his words to at least give his brother-in-law some sort of hope. “We just have to wait it out.”

“Oh my God,” Chimney repeated, voice cracking, and Buck pulled him into a tight hug, letting the older man drop against him. 

He wanted to tell Chimney it was all his fault. That this could’ve been avoided and Jee would still have a mother and Chimney would still have a wife, but now everything was up in the air and Buck couldn’t reach any of it. 

The next hour whirred by. The rest of the 118 arrived, minus Karen. She’d offered to watch Jee along with Chris, Denny and Mara. It was best to keep the children away from all of this for now. Bobby had gone on a coffee run with Eddie, Hen hadn’t let go of Chimney’s hand once, Ravi had his head in his hands beside them, and Buck sat alone in the far corner, staring at the tiles on the floor. 

He’d closed his eyes and honed in on his new found senses. He listened to the monitors beep from all different rooms, listened to the thrum of beds being pushed up and down hallways, and focused on his own heartbeat that was violently thrashing against his ribcage. 

Buck could lose his parents. He could lose everyone in this room, as heart wrenching as it would be, but Maddie? Buck didn’t think he could survive that loss. That would be his tipping point. He’d hunt down the man who shot her and hurt everyone he cared for and then put him through unimaginable hell. 

“Hey Buckaroo,” a gentle voice pulled him out of his jarring thoughts. He looked to his left and found Athena, her hand lightly resting against his bicep. “How are you holding up?” 

His eyes scanned down to her badge attached to her jeans and he let out a slow sigh. “Did they catch him?”

“Not yet,” she sighed too, her hand finding his. “They’re running security footage now, scanning the number plate and hopefully we can get a lead on facial recognition, but he was well covered.”

Buck shook his head. “I know what he looks like.”

“What?” Athena frowned. “I saw the tape, you got there as he drove off.”

“No,” Buck replied, gaze casting up to where Detective Ransone stood, listening in. “He bumped into me two blocks prior. He turned to look at me. I saw him clear as day.”

“I’ll get a sketch artist,” Ransone announced and walked off to make a call. 

As he did, a doctor approached, hands clasped in front of her. 

“And?” Chimney prompted, jumping up from his seat. 

“She’s stable,” the doctor replied and the entire group let out a collective sigh of relief. “There was major internal bleeding, but she’s all patched up. However, she is on an intubator.”

“What? Why?” Chimney pushed on and Hen rested a hand on his shoulder. 

“We encountered several complications during the procedure. There was significant trauma to the abdominal cavity, leading to extensive bleeding and inflammation. Due to the severity of the trauma and subsequent complications, her diaphragm and surrounding structures were affected, impairing her respiratory function. Additionally, the effects of the anesthesia have further suppressed her ability to maintain adequate ventilation on her own.”

The doctor paused for a moment before continuing. “Given these factors, we've placed her on a ventilator to ensure she receives sufficient oxygenation and to support her respiratory system while she stabilizes and recovers. This will help manage her oxygen levels and allow her body to focus on healing without the added stress of breathing independently right now.”

“Thank you,” Bobby looked to the woman’s badge. “Doctor Palmer.” 

“You’re welcome,” she offered a small smile. “You may sit with her, but no more than three at a time, please.” With that, she walked away. 

“Chim should go in there first,” Bobby announced. “You too, Buck.”

“Uh, yeah.” Buck cleared his throat and squeezed Athena’s hand. He turned to quietly talk to her. “Can you come with?”

“Of course I can,” she stood up with him, guiding him with a gentle hand against his back. They trailed behind Chimney, who was practically running down the hall to where they’d placed Maddie. 

Buck stopped in the doorway and felt bile rise up in his throat. In his panic at the scene, he’d barely focused on anything else aside from the gunshot wound. Her face was covered in cuts and bruises. She must’ve taken a few hits when trying to stop the guy.

She saved my life, the other victim had told Buck. 

It was only when he heard the door frame crack under his grasp, that he took a step back and turned to face Athena. 

“I’ll come with you to the station.” 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

For the next two hours, Buck relayed all the information he could to Ransone. Athena wasn't taking the case because it was too close to home, but she stayed with Buck the entire time. 

He worked with a sketch artist and snuck a photo of the drawing when no one was looking. He told them exactly where they’d been at the start of their argument and where the hijacking had taken place. 

“I want to see the footage,” Buck announced, cutting Ransone off mid sentence.

“Evan—”

“Buck,” he corrected the detective.

“Buck,” Ransone tried again, looking over at Athena, silently asking for help. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It’s not like I’ve never seen her like this before. Show me the tape.” Buck’s tone was more biting than he’d intended it to be, but he didn’t care much. 

“Are you sure, Buckaroo? Even so, it won’t be easy…” Athena tried to reason with him and Buck looked over.

“I’m sure,” he murmured. He’d decided against reiterating how he’d seen his best friend get shot, Chimney, now his sister, and how he’d heard Athena get beaten half to death. He wasn’t numb, he was just angry. 

Ransone took Buck to his desk and got the recording going. Buck watched it all play out. The guy had stuck the gun in the car from the driver's window and the man must’ve started yelling, because Maddie had whipped around and rushed over to the car. 

It looked as if she’d barely thought about her own safety, just that saving someone else was all that mattered. A very Buckley-sibling thing to do. 

There was an evident struggle for the gun and that’s how she must’ve gotten those cuts and bruises on her hands and face. And then Buck watched Maddie’s eyes widen and her body go still. 

The shooter shoved her to the side, pulled the man out, and drove off. Then Buck saw himself rushing over just two seconds later and that was promptly when he looked away. He already knew how the rest played out. He’d been rewatching it in his mind over and over ever since. 

Silence filled the office space for a long moment. Buck had felt this sort of rage before, with Doug. He’d once told Maddie that the only place he ever wanted to stand, was between her and anyone that wanted to hurt her, and he hadn’t lived up to that. 

Twice now, he’s failed her. He didn’t plan to again. 

Buck stood up abruptly, reaching for his jacket and cellphone on the table beside the computer, moving towards the door. “Thanks, Detective.”

“I hope you're not about to go do something stupid,” Athena spoke, following him close behind. 

“No, I’m going back to the hospital.” Buck replied over his shoulder. “You’re welcome to follow me, ‘Thena.”

“I think I just might,” she replied with a huff. They’d played this game before, and she knew Buck would jump at any opportunity to do something stupid for revenge. “Matter of fact, I’ll give you a lift.” 

Athena did in fact, drive Buck back to the hospital. She wanted to be with Bobby anyway. Everyone was still lingering around, mostly because Chimney refused to leave. Hen had told them that she would go to his place and get him some clothes and they could all take turns sitting here with him to keep him company. 

Everyone was exhausted, there was no way they could all stay here much longer.

“I’ll stay with him tonight,” Buck offered, and no one could say no. 

Everyone slowly left and Hen returned a half hour later with a change of clothes for Chimney and Buck. he’d left some of his gym clothes at their place when babysitting Jee, and Buck was grateful for anything that didn’t have his sister’s blood on them. 

“You sure you’re okay to stay here with him?” Hen asked Buck one last time and Buck offered a small nod. 

“We’ll be fine. Thanks Hen.” 

Hen left and Buck waited until Chimney was fast asleep before getting up from his chair. He dug into his dirty jeans pocket and pulled out the police radio he’d snatched off Ransone’s desk along with his own cell phone right before he’d left the station. 

He thought he would’ve gotten caught, but it looks like he can add stealth to the list of new abilities. 

He offered one last glance at Maddie before he slipped out of the hospital room. 

Walking past the doctors and nurses, Buck kept replaying something he’d asked Karen yesterday. 

“But what do I do with… this? With me?”

He was going to finally do something about it. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck was pacing the rooftop of his apartment building. 

At first, he didn’t know why he’d gone up there, but over time, he started to think it over. This was the best place for him right now. He could see most of the streets, the expanse of LA. He knew this place like the back of his hand. Standing here on the rooftop offered him a 3D map. 

He was waiting for the radio to pick up an officer or a sighting of the suspect. Ranson and Athena had said they had sent out patrol cars looking for the stolen vehicle and the suspect. So he’d hear something if anything came up. 

Thinking it over, it was kind of stupid to be on a rooftop. If he heard anything, he’d have to rush downstairs and that would take time. So he began his walk back to the fire escape door.

A few feet away, he shot a web out to the door to pull it open. He needed to get used to it, so he might as well practice. That was when the idea hit him. 

Buck pulled away from the web and looked at the surrounding buildings. He spotted one with a billboard atop it and squinted. It was a far jump, across to the next block over to be exact. Buck had jumped from one roof to another before. He’d jumped off a fire truck and onto another vehicle before. But this wasn’t humanly possible.

Unless you could do what he could.

Without overthinking it, Buck broke out into a run towards the edge of the building. “Come on, Buckley, come on.” He grunted to himself, picking up speed. 

His foot pushed off the edge of the rooftop and then he was airborne. For a split second, he truly thought he was going to fall, but then his web dutifully shot out and stuck to the billboard he’d aimed for.

And then he was flying. 

In one large swoop, he’d crossed over onto the next building. He let out a whoop of delight right before barreling face first into the billboard. 

Thud!

Okay, so he hadn’t fully thought it through, but he was alive! 

“Ow,” he huffed lamely and rolled onto his back. That was going to leave a bruise. He could already hear Bobby and Athena giving him an earful about violence, assuming he’d sought out a fight to let off some steam. 

“Suspect’s car has been spotted,” one of the officer’s voices crackled through the radio and Buck shot up, already on his feet like he hadn’t just taken a beating from capitalism in the form of a really big advertisement of beauty products. 

“1225 S Hope Street Parking,” the officer added in and Buck barely thought it through before he was running and swinging off to the next building.

“Ohhh fuck, okay,” Buck spoke to himself as the panic of what he was doing hit him like a wave halfway toward the next building. He had one free hand, so he fumbled to stuff the radio wire between his teeth and used his second hand to shoot out the next web.

He briefly allowed himself to look down to see where he was before swinging again and again, rapidly making it over to 1225 S Hope Street Parking like the officer had said. 

That wasn’t so bad! Aside from the violent, nauseating panic, it was kind of fun! 

He spotted two police cars close by, so he landed on a nearby building to get a better look at the scene. He swayed a bit once his feet struck the ground. It felt a bit like sea legs, but he was sure he’d adjust over time if this was going to be a thing he partook in. 

Buck turned the volume lower on his stolen radio and fished out a ski mask from his pocket and pulled it on. Shamefully, he felt like a wannabe superhero dressed like this. He’d gone for an all black look.

Plus he was sure there was already a vigilante running around with a black mask somewhere already. Buck was just late to the idea. 

Ransone arrived shortly after and they began to search the car, but Buck had lost interest. This wasn’t what was going to help him avenge Maddie. The suspect was nowhere in sight, but he couldn’t be far, right? 

Buck did a perimeter sweep of the alleyway and streets surrounding the building, but found nothing. He jumped a few buildings down and did the same. 

It was a lot of this for the next twenty minutes. He went in all directions of where the car had been dumped. On one last attempt, he moved South from the car and made it ten blocks down before he heard someone whimpering.

“Shut up!” Another voice hissed. “Just give me what you have, and I’ll let you go.” 

“I-I have nothing-” the second voice, a woman, cried out. “Please, I have nothing! I just came to take my trash out.”

“Oh so you live here,” the voice sounded sly and Buck slowly peered over the rooftop to get a better look. It was a hooded man, holding a woman up against the wall by knifepoint. “Maybe you could help me out then.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Buck replied for the woman. He’d dropped down silently behind the man and thanked the spider gods for his sneakiness. He also asked them for help, because what the fuck was he doing? 

Were there spider gods?

“And who the fuck are you? Another do-gooder Avenger?” The man barked out a laugh, turning his attention on Buck now, knife still pointed at the woman’s throat. 

“Nah,” Buck sniffed, taking a step closer. “I’m just the guy who’s going to put you in the hospital.” 

“Oh a tough guy, huh?” The man abandoned the woman and pointed the knife at Buck instead, who lifted his hands in quick succession.

“Wait! I-Is that a knife?! A real knife?!”

“Yes, it’s a real knife,” the man sounded annoyed, but stepped even closer. Buck still couldn’t make out his features. He needed to get closer.

“My weakness!” Buck dropped to his knees, really putting on the performance of his life by cowering before the man. “It’s small knives! Anything but knives!” 

“Man, what—” Thwip! 

“Oh it’s so simple,” Buck chuckled after shooting out a web at the man’s wrist, knocking the knife out of his hand and sticking him right to the brick wall. 

“What the hell is this?!” The man yelled out, tugging at the webbing, but it didn’t budge. 

“Webbing that comes out of me, I don’t think you really wanna know.” Buck answered, taking a step closer and shooting at the suspect’s other wrist.

“Hey, let me go, man! I didn’t do shit to you!” The guy yelled, still tugging at the webbing, but he really wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

“Okay, one second. Hold on, one second!” Buck faked a sneeze, shooting out double web shots at the man’s crotch. He laughed when the guy cried out in pain. That was the goal. Even if this wasn’t Maddie’s attacker, this could’ve been that other woman’s. He was doing everyone a favor here. 

Twip! Thwip! Thwip!

“Knock it off, man. No!” The suspect cried, and Buck just kept shooting at different spots on the man’s body. He really was having a bit too much fun. That should unnerve him, but it didn’t. “Come on, let me go. Stop it! This isn't funny!”

“It’s kinda funny,” Buck laughed again, shrugging. He shot one more out at the guy's stomach.

“Help!” The man screamed now, hoping anyone would come save him. Should’ve thought about that before holding a woman up by knifepoint. 

“Shh,” Buck pressed a finger to his lips. He couldn’t have the cops finding him like this. Athena would lock him up until Maddie’s attacker was found and he had too much work to do. 

“Help—”

A web landed right over the man’s mouth, silencing him in half a second. He was breathing heavily now, still struggling to break free. 

Buck studied the man under the obscured lighting now. He tilted his head. Is this the guy? 

He approached the suspect quickly, slamming the palms of his hands on either side of his head, making him flinch. It pleased Buck greatly to hold this sort of power over someone so cruel. He ripped the hood off the guy’s head and studied his features intensely. 

This wasn’t the guy. He was a lot younger than the one he was searching for. 

“This could’ve ended a lot worse for you,” Buck spoke quietly. 

“LAPD, put your hands up!” An officer had run down the alleyway, cornering the man and Buck. He presumed the woman must’ve called the cops about the whole ordeal. He really should’ve thought about that. 

“Sorry, not today, officer. Maybe another time. Over brunch!” Buck replied, jutting his thumb out at the suspect. “Have fun with this guy, though. He’s not very nice to women. Don’t give him any donuts.” 

And then Buck was gone. 

He launched himself up on the brick wall and climbed at breakneck speed, evading one of the shots the officer had fired. That, he didn’t sign up for. 

His own radio crackled and he put it between his teeth again so he could listen while he swung away from the scene.

“Attention, all units in the confines of 329-347 West 11th Street. Assailant is Caucasian male, mid-30s… 170 to 180 pounds. Last seen on foot heading eastbound. You’ll need an aerial view. He’s taken the rooftops. We think he might be the hijacker. Left his buddy here with us.”

“You got a description?” Another officer responded. 

“Well, no, he wears a mask.”

“A mask? Not another one!”

Buck fought off a smile and swung back towards his apartment. He felt the rush of adrenaline flowing through him, amping it up the closer he got to safety. What a rush! 

Dare he say it was more of a rush than being a firefighter. Which says a lot. 

He made it onto his apartment balcony just as he saw the LAPD helicopter hovering back where he’d been minutes ago by the initial scene. They’ll never catch him now. 

He used his keys to get in through the balcony and only once the curtains were drawn, did he rip the ski mask off. His face was sweating, and it was a relief to breathe properly, but he still had a nagging feeling in his chest.

As great as that all was, saving a woman and being a sort of hero, he still hadn’t found what he’d been looking for. He’d just have to keep going, keep following those radio calls for anyone that matched the man’s description until he found the right guy.

He had to. For Maddie. 

He couldn’t go back to the hospital now, so he fired off a text to Chimney saying he needed to go home and be alone, before texting Hen the same thing. Chimney would be fine on his own there until the morning anyway. 

Buck waited at his kitchen counter, staring at the radio, ready to jump for the next call. The helicopter was long gone by now, presumably given up on finding this masked man they were so certain could be involved in the hijacking.

Their theory would be busted soon enough anyway. Especially when they take a look at how skinny the actual suspect was and how much bulkier Buck was. 

To them, he’d become yet another black masked vigilante. 

Maybe Buck should find himself a really good lawyer… Just in case.

After thirty minutes, the radio finally came through with something good. The guy fit the description, and he was a few streets away.

Buck pulled his mask back on and jumped from his balcony this time. 

Chapter Text

Back at the hospital, Buck was caught.

Well, kind of. 

“What happened to your face?!” Hen just about gasped, taking quick strides towards her friend, gentle fingers lifting to assess the damage. 

Now, he had to lie, and he hated lying to those he cares about most. It was one of the worst things anyone could do, and here he was. He’d already run through the lie in his head on the ride over. 

“I was stupid and I got into a bar fight last night,” Buck replied with a soft huff. His entire body ached, reminding him that last night was far more than just a bar fight. He vaguely remembers being in one handcuff before successfully evading the cops.

He also remembers being slammed into a brick wall and skimmed with a couple pocket knives from a few suspects he’d chased down. None of them were the guy that had hurt Maddie.

“You? Got into a bar fight?” Hen snorted, but her eyebrows told him that she was worried. “Was it justified, or did you just need to hit something?”

“This guy wouldn’t leave a woman alone,” Buck murmured, offering a shrug. He hoped he was a good liar. But really, this was half the truth. “He was rough with her, so I got in the middle.” 

“You did what you couldn’t for Maddie?” Hen’s tone had switched from worried Mother Hen, to soft and warm. 

“Yeah,” he croaked out and looked over Hen’s shoulder at Maddie, lying eerily still in the hospital bed. He almost asked if his parents had arrived yet, but he was sorely reminded of his reality. 

Speaking of parents, he thought when he heard Bobby and Athena’s voices carrying down the hall. 

“I’m gonna go grab a coffee, you want one?” Hen asked Buck, and he offered a small nod in response. 

“What the hell happened to you?” Bobby asked in greeting.

“Bar fight,” Hen gave him an amused look before leaving to get their coffees. 

“A bar fight?” Bobby’s eyes seemed to widen at that. “Buck, why would you—”

“I was defending this girl, okay? There was a guy and he was hurting her so—” 

“And which bar was this?” Athena asked, and by that tone, Buck knew she suspected he was lying. She had her sergeant voice on. “Because there were no calls last night for a bar fight.”

“Yeah well, the guy swore he’d leave after I threatened to call the cops,” Buck cleared his throat then, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What’s the news on Maddie’s suspect?” 

“I don’t know,” Athena sighed, looking deeply unimpressed with Buck. “All of our suspects were scared off by some masked vigilante. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” 

“Uh, a-a masked vigilante?” Buck chuckled, feeling his chest tighten. “Like an Avenger?” 

“No, like an idiot,” Athena corrected. “He spent the night jumping from rooftops, evading the police. Swinging, too.”

“Swinging? That’s new,” Bobby turned to Athena. Of course he was kept up to date on the entire ordeal. 

“Yeah,” Athena dragged her word out again, eyes not leaving Buck’s. “Some high tech string that resembles webbing, apparently.”

“Webbing? Like spiders?” Buck asked, putting on the performance of a lifetime.

“Mhm. So you don’t know anything about this, Buck?” Athena tilted her head and Buck was ready to sink into the floor. 

“I-I got nothing, ‘Thena. That seems like a Stark Industry product. Plus, how would I know enough science stuff to make… webbing.” He cringed, because he really didn’t know, even know. It just… came out of him. Gross. 

Bobby and Athena both eyed him warily for a moment before Athena finally caved. “Okay, I believe you. Because you know what happens if you meddle in police work.” 

“Yeah, been there, done that.” Buck huffed out a forced laugh and looked over at Maddie again. “Look, I… I know this is different to Doug, okay? Maddie’s here this time and… and that’s what matters most to me. That she’s right here. Even if she doesn’t—”

“She will,” Bobby cut him off, a hand already squeezing Buck’s shoulder. “She’ll wake up, Buck.”

“Yeah, she’s a Buckley,” Athena smiled, seeming to have given up on grilling Buck about the masked vigilante situation. 

“Right well, I’m going to get a coffee and then I’ve got a shift. Buck, you’re free to come and go at work this week. Just let me know beforehand if you won’t be there so I can rope in Ravi. Chim is taking the whole week off, but I know how you are.”

“Right,” Buck chuckled, rocking back on his heels. “Thanks, Bobby. I will.” 

“I should get going too,” Athena spoke. “I’m going to swing by Ransone’s office. See if he’s got any leads I can update you on. Don’t start any more bar fight’s Buckaroo.” 

“I won’t, promise.” Buck swore and let Athena squeeze his hand before her and Bobby left. 

He turned to stare at Maddie again, losing track of his thoughts with the steady rhythm of the heart monitor. Chimney would be back soon, so now would be his only alone time with Maddie.

Before he walked in, Hen brought him his coffee and left for work too. 

Buck stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. It felt too empty in here. It felt like there was no life in here, despite Maddie being right in front of him. It felt like if he reached out to touch her, she’d disappear. 

He perched on the chair beside the bed and reached for her delicate hand. He took comfort in her warmth and pressed his lips to her knuckles.

“I’m so sorry, Mads,” he murmured, feeling tears prick at his eyes. “I shouldn’t have left you alone like that. I should’ve done something sooner. I– I should’ve saved you.” 

He sniffed, moving his face away from their hands. “But I’m– I’m doing something about it now. I’ve got so much I have to tell you when you wake up. Oh man, It’s crazy.” A ghost of a smile briefly flickered over his features. 

“But just know, I’ll find the guy that did this to you. I’ll make sure he pays for what he’s done, okay?” Buck could feel the rage bubbling up in his chest all over again, replaying that moment in his head. 

“Because no one gets to hurt you and just get away with it,” Buck’s voice was scratchy now, laced with the fresh tears he didn’t bother to stop and this rage he was growing comfortable with. 

“I’ll do whatever I have to, to bring you some justice.” 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

The stolen police radio crackled, breaking the silent thrum of LA traffic that flowed below Buck. 

He was seated on one of the rooftops across from the hospital, watching EMS vans roll in and out of the entrance along with a variety of other cars. He’d been listening to the police radio for the better part of an hour, hoping to catch any sort of lead. 

It was around lunchtime, so the streets were busier than ever, a perfect time for someone to move unnoticed. So far, he’d stopped one hijacking, and one purse robbery. Why? He wasn’t sure. But no one else was going to do anything, so he thought that he might as well help where he could while he waited.

He liked to pretend that he couldn’t see people’s phones recording him. Athena was right, he’d been in the news once already for intervening with the police and then running from them, but civilians didn’t seem so scared of him once they saw him do those good deeds.

Buck didn’t care what they thought either. This wasn’t a permanent thing. He was going to find Maddie’s shooter, and then he’d be done. He had no inkling to keep doing this when he was already saving lives at work. 

According to Athena, the shooter had hijacked another car and shot yet another person, who was pronounced dead on the scene. The cops now think that this guy is planning to flee LA soon, so they’ve got patrol cars in all corners and major streets, waiting for him to make his move. 

Over the radio, Buck heard they’d found the second car after a brief chase through DTLA, and Buck thought it was a good idea to get closer so he didn’t get left behind. 

He swung through LA, through the streets, listening to people gasp and probably take photos or record, but he didn’t care. He’d be gone soon anyway. 

Buck perched on the rooftop of what seemed to be an old apartment building, looking out at the cops surveying the car for any fingerprints or other kinds of evidence. Forensics were there of course, doing most of the work, and Buck had silenced his radio so it didn’t give him away. 

A tingle rolled through Buck and his whole body tensed. Something wasn’t right about this scene. Was there a body in the trunk? He peered over and saw the trunk was empty. 

Slowly, Buck looked around the area, jumping from one roof to the next one over on the left. He looked down and found a dark figure, peering around the building across, watching the cops sift through the car. All hairs stood up on Buck’s arms and that's how he knew he’d found the shooter. 

So he was getting sloppy. Clearly enjoying the thrill of the chase and almost being caught. That’s what made him dangerous. That’s how Buck knew that if he didn’t do something now, this guy would just keep doing it. 

If this guy wanted to play cat and mouse, Buck was happy to join. 

Buck quickly and quietly ran across the roof, wanting to get behind the guy. He climbed down the wall, eyes fixed. His heart was beating so loud, he wouldn’t be shocked if it could be heard by anyone else. 

Buck inched closer and closer to the suspect and in one swift swoop, he grabbed the back of his hoodie, slamming him into the brick wall, forehead first. The suspect let out a yelp, and Buck was quick to cover his mouth with a web, hoisting him up so they were face to face.

“Make a sound and you’re dead,” Buck warned the man, fists clenched tight on his hoodie still. The suspect did nothing for a moment, but then he launched his head forward, knocking against Buck’s as hard as he could, catching Buck by surprise. 

The shooter got free of Buck’s grasp and swung a fist at him, which Buck caught, closing down on his grip and squeezing. He heard bones crack underneath the pressure and felt oddly pleased with himself.

“You think it’s fun to shoot people huh?” Buck asked quietly, knocking the shooter on his knees with one heavy punch. The guy let out a low moan of agony behind the web cover. “You think it’s a game? You think it’s fucking funny?” 

Buck grabbed a fistful of the guy’s hair and looked right into his eyes. It was definitely the guy he’d been looking for. That same cold glare looking back at him like he had a few nights ago. Except the shooter wouldn’t recognize him now. 

Buck’s body shook with rage and he gripped the shooter’s hair tighter. A glimpse of Maddie lying in a pool of her own blood flashed through his mind again and Buck hit him a second time with his free hand, sending blood splattering on the ground.

“Do you think it’s fucking funny?!” Buck yelled now, forgetting all about the police around the corner. “Do you?! Huh?! Answer me!” Buck ripped the webs off the shooter, who yelled out in pain.

By now, Buck’s fists were dripping red. He’d successfully broken the shooter’s nose, cut up his lip pretty bad and knocked a couple teeth out. But Buck wasn’t finished yet. 

“Who the hell are you?!” The shooter cried out. “Stop! Please, stop! I-I’m sorry!” He wailed and Buck found it pathetic. 

“You’re a dead man,” Buck promised. All he could think about was Maddie. About how she may never wake up and that this man right here, took her life away. That he held her future in his hands and he had no right to. Buck was merely balancing the scales. 

He lifted his fist again to take another hit. 

“LAPD! Get on your knees! Hands where I can see them!” An officer yelled out, gun pointed right at Buck, who slowly turned his head to the side, eyes narrowing behind the ski mask. “Yeah, you in the mask! Get down on the ground!” 

“Are you serious?!” Buck snapped, dropping the shooter, who crumpled to the floor. He tried to get away from Buck, but Buck slammed a boot down on the shooter’s wrist, earning a crunch. 

“Final warning. Get on the ground,” the officer took a step closer and Buck let out a laugh, anger still pulsing through him.

“I just did your job for you! While you guys were too busy with the car, you forgot to do a simple perimeter check. You’re welcome!” Buck stepped over the shooter and the cop fired right at Buck’s leg, who sidestepped just in time. 

He walked closer and the cop shot at Buck’s shoulder now, who twisted his torso away from the bullet. He should be scared, terrified out of his mind, but right now, he felt none of that. Just blinding rage guiding him down the worst possible path. “I do your job, and this is how you say thank you?!” 

Buck launched himself at the cop, snatching his gun out of his hand mid-forward flip, and landing behind him where he tossed the gun to the ground. “Unbelievable.” 

The cop reached down with haste for his taser and when he looked up, Buck was gone. He looked around wildly, yelling into his radio about the masked vigilante who’s on the run again. 

Buck was peering down from a rooftop above the cop. By the time he’d gotten up there, Buck saw the shooter was nowhere in sight. 

“Fuck!” He cursed aloud, alerting the cops below where he was. He was really screwed now. Buck made a run for it once again, swinging from building to building, hiding in alleyways and jumping from one rooftop to the next. He’d tried to look around for the suspect along the way, but he was nowhere. Like a ghost. 

Perhaps he dipped into one of the sewers, or into an abandoned building, but he couldn’t risk moving on the ground. 

Buck turned on his radio now to keep up with whether they’ve given up on finding him or not. They were still on the hunt for the suspect, but they didn’t think he’d get that far considering the clear injuries he’d sustained. They would be able to track him if he’s dropped blood anywhere. 

Speaking of, Buck wiped the guy’s blood off his hands and onto his pants instead. There was a lot more than he’d thought there initially was.

After a while, it was evident they’d given up hunting for Buck, and his adrenaline slowed and his mind cleared a bit more. 

He slipped through his sliding door from his apartment balcony and went straight to the kitchen sink to wash his hands before anything else. He couldn’t get someone else’s blood on his apartment surfaces in case someone came over. 

A knock came from the door just as he was drying off his hands and Buck ripped his ski mask off, hiding it under an abandoned jacket over a dining chair. 

Why was everything moving at 10x speed?!

He reached for his LAFD hoodie and tugged it on to cover up his turtleneck. “Coming!” He called out, yanking his boots off and throwing them under the staircase. 

Slightly out of breath, he pulled the door open and Karen barged right past him. “Hello to you too, Karen.” Buck chuckled nervously. He knew why she was here. “What’s uh… what’s going on? I was just about to go back to the hospital.”

“Why, because you’re done with your vigilante antics for the day?” Karen had her hands on her hips, brow raised. She was scarier than Hen when she was angry. Almost scarier than Athena. A close second. 

“My what?” Buck laughed, trying to play it cool, but he was sweating profusely under his clothes. “If you’re talking about the guy on tv—”

“That shoots webs? Yeah. I’m talking about him.” Karen dragged her tongue across her teeth, growing more impatient by the second. When Buck opened his mouth, she held a finger up. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Evan Buckley, or so help me God I will rip those webs out of you one at a time.”

Buck cringed at the thought, but he let out a sigh. No point in lying now. “Alright, fine, it's me. But! But for good reason, Karen! The cops weren’t doing anything right! They don’t have the skills that I do!”

“And what are those? Recklessness? Stupidity?” 

Buck clenched his jaw. “Look, I had him, okay? Karen, he was right there! I-I was going to turn him in and I would’ve if that cop hadn’t pointed his gun at me!”

“Would you have turned him in?” Karen crossed her arms now, assessing Buck. “Or would you have killed him?” 

Buck went silent. He truly didn’t know. With the way he just kept hitting the guy, he wasn’t far off from death. Buck could’ve easily killed him and that settled an uncomfortable knot in his stomach. 

“I don’t know,” he finally answers honestly, lowering his gaze to the floor. “All I knew was I had the man who’d hurt my sister, and I wanted him to hurt too.” 

“And don’t you think that that's exactly why we have professionals to handle situations like this when we get too close to something so dark? You could’ve come home tonight a murderer, Buck. What happens then?”

“I would’ve… I would’ve turned myself in knowing I’d finally caught the man that had hurt the person that means the most to me.” Buck answered truthfully, finally locking eyes with Karen. “But I would’ve hated myself for hurting everyone around me.” 

“There you go,” Karen sighed, dropping her arms to her sides. She pursed her lips for a moment, thinking. “Buck, Maddie is alive. She’s still here and that’s what needs to matter most to you right now. She needs to wake up with you by her side. Not a police officer telling her that her little brother is on trial for murder.” 

Buck hadn’t even thought about that part. Hell, he hadn’t thought about much except revenge these past few days. He’d been so clouded by it, by grief and guilt, that nothing else mattered except for finally making someone pay for what they’d done to his sister. 

“I hear you,” Buck answered hoarsely after a moment. “I just got in over my head, because she’s… she’s all I got left, okay Karen? I-I-I don’t know what I would do without her. I can’t— She can’t die— she– she can’t!” 

“I know, I know,” Karen’s tone softened quickly, and she took big strides over to him, arms out for a hug. He slouched against her, accepting her back rubs and he wrapped his arms around her. She smelled like vanilla cupcakes. “Just be there for Maddie. That’s all you can do.” 

Standing there in his loft, feeling more hopeless than he had in weeks, Buck knew Karen was right. Doing all of this could do more damage than good. 

He just has to hang up the mask and pray that the cops find that bastard. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

It’s been exactly twenty four hours since Buck handed over his vigilante get-up to Karen, swearing he wouldn’t intervene again. 

He’d spent a good portion of the night staring at his hands, picturing all that blood coating them once more. How could he have done something like that? He wasn’t a violent person, but then again, he acted before he spoke more often than not. 

It made him wonder if he should pick up boxing again. That was his and Maddie’s thing, but without her, maybe he should go anyway, right? 

For the remainder of the night, he flung his webs around, seeing what he could make. He successfully made a hammock, and a weird looking ball that could easily pass as cat hair. He also sat upside down for a half hour and was perfectly fine. 

That was another thing to add to his list. 

An hour before sunrise, Buck was out of his loft, driving to his usual boxing gym. It was mostly empty aside from two people and the workers. He was greeted with sympathetic smiles and that made him feel worse.

Maddie’s whole case had gone national ever since that vigilante had shown up on the news. Buck had made her a spectacle. 

He claimed one of the corner boxing bags away from the general area. He needed extra space. Putting in his earphones, he turned the volume all the way up and took a slow breath, closing his eyes. 

The shooter's face appeared, grinning up at Buck with blood coated teeth, taunting him to hit again, so Buck did. 

Come on, hit me! Like you mean it!

Buck hit over and over, slamming his fists in quick succession against the punching bag. Its metal chain creaked against the force, swinging back and forth the harder that Buck swung. He hit and hit, earning grunts from the base of his chest. 

If he couldn’t kill the guy, he might as well get the rest of the fight out of him, right? 

Was he capable of killing someone? 

Harder!

Buck’s thoughts were torn apart with a loud crack. He blinked and found the punching bag on the floor, sand pooling out of it slowly. Breathing heavily, he looked up to find everyone in the gym staring at him wide-eyed. 

“Long week,” he huffed and everyone reluctantly looked away. Buck made a note to pay for the bag, but first, he moved over to the next one. 

He still had a lot of fight left in him, and it terrified  him that it might never go away. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

“Oh come on, that’s cheating!” Buck laughed, gesturing to the tv. 

“Is not!” Chris defended, giggling uncontrollably. “I won fair and square.”

“Oh did you now?” Buck teased, dropping his controller so he could launch a tickle attack at Chris, who squealed and tried to tickle back, but he was no match. “Cheaters get tickled!” 

“That’s not fair!” Chris howled with laughter and Buck did too. This kid right here would be his saving grace. “Buck!” 

“Okay, okay,” Buck sighed happily, holding his hands up to show he was relenting. “But I’ll stop on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Chris huffed out, cheeks flushed bright red. 

“You go brush your teeth and get into bed while I clean this all up,” he gestured around the living room to all the snacks and drinks. Eddie had gone to sit with Chimney for a while and Buck had promised he’d look after Chris for him. 

“Deal,” Chris linked his pinky with Buck’s and shuffled off the couch, still muttering about how he was, in fact, the winner of their game. 

He was admittedly better than Buck was. 

Buck cleaned up the living room fairly quickly. He’d let Chris stay up later than usual, and Eddie was set to get home in the next twenty minutes. The last thing he needed was to fight with Eddie too. 

He made his way down the hall and lightly knocked on Chris’ half open door before entering. “You all set?” 

“How’s Maddie?” Chris asked softly as Buck perched himself on the edge of the bed. 

“Uh,” Buck blew out a soft breath. “She’s okay, bud. She’s… still healing. We’ll see soon if she wakes up.”

“And… if she doesn’t?” Chris has always been far more mature than Buck ever was growing up, and he knew he had to be honest with him, but sometimes buck wished he could shield him from the world. 

“If she doesn't,” Buck’s voice trembled, but he offered Chris a thin smile and took hold of his hand. “Then she’ll sleep peacefully and get all the rest she deserves.”

“That sounds nice,” Chris hummed thoughtfully. 

“It does, huh?” Buck gently pushed Chris’ curls back. 

“Do you think The Shadow caught the bad guy?” Chris asked and Buck frowned at that.

“Who?” 

“The Shadow,” Chris said, as if Buck was supposed to understand that. “The guy in the mask.”

Buck blinked. He’d gotten a nickname and he’d missed it? No, that checks out. Of course he missed it. 

“That’s his name now?”

“Yeah, look,” Chris reached for his phone and pulled up TikTok where there was a viral video of Buck — The Shadow — swinging down DTLA. That was when he was still on the way to find the shooter, before Buck had nearly killed the guy. 

Then a woman showed up after the clip. She seemed to be an online reporter. Not like Taylor, but still close. “Citizens have named this masked vigilante as The Shadow. Why? Well to put it simply, no one can seem to catch him. You blink, and he’s gone. Leave your thoughts in the comments about this guy. Do you think he’s good or does he have an agenda?” 

Buck read the comments, which were pretty divided. Some were calling him a hero, others were calling him reckless and insane, and many other things Buck didn’t want to repeat aloud. 

Some were right. If he could just run around being some vigilante that didn’t abide by the law, then who’s to say others couldn’t do the same and claim they’re just trying to help? 

“Look, Chris, I don’t think your dad would be too happy to know that you’re watching this guy.” Buck hated this. He hated all of it. He hated who he’d been and he hated that he missed it. 

“But why not? He’s the real hero! He found the guy before the police did! And he helps people. You and dad help people. How come he’s different because he wears a mask?” Chris asked way too many good questions. He had too many points that Buck agreed with, which was exactly why he couldn’t entertain this or Eddie would lose his mind. He already hates Chris playing video games with violence. Now imagine how he’d act over this. 

“All my friends think he’s cool too,” Chris continued and Buck dropped his head in defeat. “He’s like a superhero! Do you think Iron-Man will recruit him for the Avengers?” 

“I doubt it, kiddo,” Buck cleared his throat, shaking his head a bit. He needed to clip this conversation before it went any further. But something was nagging at him. “Why do you think he’s a hero?” 

“Because,” Chris shrugged. “He’s doing something right even though people are telling him it's wrong. I don’t think they hate The Shadow… I think they’re scared. Just like they were with Iron-Man at first. And the other Avengers. But not Captain America. Everyone loves him.”

That made Buck chuckle, but his heart had seemed to warm a little at that. “Okay, so you think he’s doing the right thing?” 

“It’s like you always say, trust your gut. I think he’s trusting his.” Chris shrugged again and Buck was, once again, left in awe over Chris’ wisdom. How was he only a kid? 

“Since when did you get so wise, hm?” Buck ruffled up his hair.

“I have two superheroes raising me,” Chris smiled sheepishly and Buck wasn’t quite sure what he felt in that moment. It felt like falling through a glass skyscraper. Free falling and never wanting to stop. It was terrifying and yet so reassuring, it nearly gave him emotional whiplash. 

“I wish I was as brave as you and dad,” Chris’s smile faltered and Buck reached over to press a gentle kiss to his forehead.

“You’re the bravest kid I know,” he swore. 

“Does that mean I could be like The Shadow when I’m older?” 

“Ohhh absolutely not,” Buck laughed, lightly pushing Chris down by his forehead. “You can do good without being reckless like he is. You can be a hero without hurting people.” 

“Okay,” Chris sighed dramatically and pulled the covers over himself, turning on his side to face the door. “Night, Buck.”

“Night buddy,” Buck flicked off the light and left the room, leaving the door half open. 

He didn’t get further than the hallway before dropping his forehead against the wall, right where there were two photos. One of Chris and Shannon, and one of Buck, Eddie, and Chris. Shannon would know what to do. 

He lightly knocked his forehead against the wall and sucked in a slow, deep breath. What the hell was he doing? Life had been coming at him like a barreling train that had no brakes and even with all this newfound physical strength, he couldn’t seem to stop it.

If anything, he felt weaker than he had before.

“Did he give you grief tonight?” Eddie asked softly, startling Buck, who jumped away from the wall. 

“Uh,” Buck sniffed, pulling himself together. “No-No sorry, it’s just… long week.” 

Eddie studied him carefully, picking apart his words and body language, trying to find the lie, but when he couldn’t find one, he sighed. “Come here.”

Buck couldn’t decipher the exact moment he crossed the room, but then he was in Eddie’s arms, letting them envelope him in a warm, safe, embrace. He wrapped his own around Eddie’s waist and he wasn’t sure they ever hugged like this before. It was always around the shoulders, but Eddie didn’t pull away, and Buck was too tired to either. 

“She’ll wake up,” Eddie murmured over his shoulder and Buck held him tighter. “She’s a Buckley. You’re fighters. It’s what you do.”

You have no idea, Buck thought dismally. 

“I’m… I’m gonna go get some sleep.” Buck abruptly pulled away from the hug, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Got my first shift tomorrow since the accident and I want to be fully rested.”

“Right, of course.” Eddie cleared his throat and let Buck slip past him in the hallway. “Want me to fetch you? We can take Chris to school together and get coffee before.”

“Uh yeah,” Buck was on autopilot now, collecting his belongings quickly. “That’d be great. See you tomorrow, Eds.”

“See you—” Eddie replied as the door clicked shut in front of him. He sighed. “Tomorrow.” 

On the drive home, Buck tapped his fingers against the wheel sporadically. Thoughts whirled through his head. So many people saw him as a hero, but was he really? He’d hardly done anything good or useful. Everything he seemed to do, got undone in one way or another. 

He heard the sirens before he saw them. Two cop cars were speeding down the highway and Buck slowly pulled into the next lane to give them a way past. His fingers itched for the stolen radio, but he didn’t have that either. Karen really made him hand everything over. 

He’d never felt more useless in his life. 

Chapter Text

“Okay buddy, you sure you have everything?” Eddie asked, twisting in his seat to look at Chris. 

“Yes, dad,” Chris groaned, unbuckling himself. 

Eddie offered him the typical dad raised eyebrow and sighed. “Say goodbye to Buck and then I’ll walk you to the gate.” 

“Bye Buck!” Chris leaned over to give Buck a hug, who met him halfway.

“Bye Chris! Have a good day at school and be sensible, okay?” He lowered his voice even though Eddie was out of the car. “Remember what I said. You can be a hero without..?”

“Without hurting people and being reckless,” Chris repeated their conversation from last night and linked pinkies with Buck. He slid out of the car, leaving Buck alone for the time being. 

Buck watched him and Eddie walk up to the gate, but his eye caught on two kids play fighting with makeshift ski masks on. It looked like they’d messily cut holes into their beanies.

“Take that!” One yelled, shooting out his shoelace, but Buck quickly realized it was a web. He sucked in a sharp breath, watching the other kid shoot his own shoelace out, trying to get it to latch onto his friend’s wrist.

Was The Shadow really that much of an influence on kids already? Buck had half a mind to blame it on viral videos and social media today in general. 

“Boys! That’s enough!” A teacher hissed, jogging over. “Violence of any kind is not tolerated.”

“But we’re The Shadow!” The first boy whined.

“Yeah, he’s a hero!” The second joined in. 

“No he is not,” the teacher held out her hand for the beanies, which the boys reluctantly took off. “Now put your shoelaces back on and get inside before I change my mind about after school detention.”

“Yes Miss Paige,” both boys chanted in defeat and trudged off through the gates. 

“God, I hope Chris stays clear of that guy,” Eddie sighed just as he got in, closing his door. Buck forced himself to look away from the kids, blinking back what felt like tears. “That man is not a hero. Even if his intentions were good, he messed with police work and lost the suspect. He’s dangerous.”

“Yeah,” Buck murmured, shifting in his seat. He definitely couldn’t tell Eddie about his and Chris’ conversation. 

“Enough of that,” Eddie clapped his hands together, putting on a smile. “Coffee time. I am severely deprived.” 

Eddie flicked on the radio, but still chatted Buck’s ear off about what he’s missed at work, but all Buck could do was stare ahead. 

God, he wished this would all just go away. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

The first hour of their shift was slow. 

Buck found himself helping Ravi clean the inside of the rigs to keep himself busy while everyone else sat and talked. Ravi talked his ear off just like Eddie had, but it worked because he didn’t really leave much space for Buck to answer anyway. 

Their first call finally came and Buck had never been more relieved. Maybe this would give him a chance to finally clear his head and stop thinking about Maddie and the shooter and The Shadow. 

His best escape from reality was always work. This wouldn’t let him down. 

The call was to get a repair guy out of an ATM. you’d be surprised how often this happened. This was the 118’s fourth call like this now. They really needed to put an inside latch in case of emergencies. 

“Okay, Eddie, Ravi, I want you on extraction. Let’s get that door down.” Bobby instructed as soon as they got out. “Hen, Chim—”

“On it, Cap!” Both replied in unison, jumping to action.

“Uh, what– what can I do, Cap?” Buck asked Bobby, who was overseeing everything now with his arms crossed. 

“Oh,” Bobby blinked, as if he’d forgotten Buck had come back to work. “You’ve done enough of these, you can do them in your sleep now. Ravi just needs some practice. You okay with… watching?” 

“Sure,” Buck sighed, expression dropping. He dragged his boots over to the truck and sat on the ledge covering the wheel and watched from afar as his team worked on getting the guy out. 

This really was dismal. 

Their second call seemed to be more of a hands on call at least. It was a one car accident. The woman had lost control of her brake and had slammed her side right into a tree and spun back out into the road. 

The door got jammed and the woman was only half conscious and probably severely concussed.

That was confirmed when Hen and Chim checked her vitals through the back seat. 

“Okay, Eddie, get on it.” Bobby instructed and Eddie was there in a flash, working away at the door already with a crowbar first to see if they could pry it open.

“You need some help?” Buck asked, jogging over, and Eddie let out an amused laugh.

“This is child's play, Buck,” he grunted and the door gave way, popping open. “I got this. See?” 

“Right,” Buck sighed, taking steps backward to give Hen and Chim space to do their jobs. 

“Next call, Buck,” Bobby promised, patting his shoulder. 

This really was getting ridiculous. 

Their third call was laughable, but Buck didn’t care. He wanted to do something.  

It was the typical ‘my cat got stuck in a tree’ call, except the owner had gone up to help and had gotten stuck too. 

Buck rushed around, throwing his harness on, remembering that Bobby had promised Buck this would be his call, but when he got to the tree, Ravi was already climbing up with a harness attached. 

“Sorry, Buck, Ravi needs—”

“Yeah I got it, Cap.” Buck held up a hand, already unclipping himself. 

“You… You can hold the cat?” Bobby suggested as Ravi held the cat out, but the girlfriend reached out and took the animal instead.

Buck lifted up a hand of defeat and began marching back to the truck. 

Even here he was absolutely useless. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Back at the station, they were greeted by Athena cooking up something in the kitchen. 

Everyone was gushing over her cooking and pleased to see her, and Buck made a b-line for the coffee machine while everyone was distracted. 

“So what’s the news on that Jackson Blake guy?” Hen asked Athena. “He’s been arrested right?” 

“Yup,” Athena sighed, stirring the mince in the pot. “We arrested him this morning. Found him trying to make a run for it. Had a new identity and everything.” 

“Who’s this?” Ravi asked, helping Chimney set the table. 

“This psycho serial killer who killed like, eight women.” Hen answered.

“Eight that we know of,” Athena pointed out. “He’s got no MO as far as we know. No specific pattern. Nothing. Not yet, at least.” 

“Well, I’d say he’s lucky he got arrested before The Shadow found him,” Chimney snorted, shaking his head. “He wouldn’t have lived to see another day with that guy running around LA.” 

“Thank God we got him first,” Athena huffed out a laugh. “Men like Jackson Blake deserve to rot in a cell, not get out easy in a cemetery.” 

“Amen,” Hen agreed, pouring juice into a large jug for them. 

“Okay sure, but what’s wrong with The Shadow? He’s helping!” Chimney exclaimed, waving the cutlery around. “He’s sure as hell got more balls than most. Not you, Athena—” he amended quickly when she raised her brow at him. “You have the most… balls. Not the point!”

“The Shadow is a vigilante, not a hero.” Bobby chimed in, shaking his head. “He doesn’t follow any laws, and that makes him about as dangerous as the bad guys.” 

“I’m just saying,” Chimney continued and Buck was tempted to give him the biggest hug. “Don’t we need someone willing to go that far just to protect people? Cops and firefighters have rules they have to follow. Masked vigilantes don’t… technically. So why shouldn’t he be able to help?”

“Because then anyone can go around hurting people claiming they’re bad and they’re just trying to help the cops. We’ve got enough of them as it is. Come on Chim,” Hen replied. 

“Are you siding with him because he hunted down Maddie’s assailant or do you actually believe in what he’s doing?” Eddie asked and Chimney’s expression went stone cold.

“Both. And if that were your wife, you would do the same. Don’t act like some perfect do-gooder, Eddie. Weren’t you the one that—” Chimney dropped the cutlery and shook his head, possibly deciding it was best to not bring up old dirty laundry. “You know what? I’m suddenly not very hungry.” 

“Wasn’t I the one that what?” Eddie glared at Chimney, eyes narrowing. “Go on, Howard, say what you wanted to say—” 

“Okay, enough! Let’s just drop it, okay? How’s that?” Bobby cut in, holding his hands out. “This is not helping. From now on, no more talk of this guy. Chim, Eddie didn’t mean it like that and you know it. Let’s all sit down and enjoy this delicious meal Athena has so graciously cooked for us and stay in our lanes.” 

Chimney dropped down in his seat in silence and everyone else made their way over too. For a while, all that could be heard was the clinking of cutlery against plates and Buck felt sick.

He forced the food down though, not willing to spark another argument. 

“Thank you for lunch baby,” Bobby kissed Athena’s cheek, who nodded and squeezed his hand. 

Buck kept his gaze down, but when he did look up at Chimney sitting across from him, they locked eyes and Buck offered a small nod, letting him know he understood where Chimney was coming from. How could he not? 

Their Maddie was lying in a hospital bed because of that shooter. The Shadow was balancing the scales. Well, not anymore. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck had spent the night with Chimney and Jee Yun.

The rest of their shift had been tense. They’d gotten into a few more arguments after that. Buck had wound up snapping at Eddie, who’d snapped back just as harshly, and Hen had gotten involved, defending Eddie, and Chimney had gone on to defend Buck. 

Bobby was sick of them all, sending them to separate corners of the station like children. Buck had even snapped at Athena, which had shocked everyone more than anything else. 

She’d said something about how when they caught The Shadow, she’d take great pleasure in putting him behind bars, and Buck had told her that maybe if she had done her job correctly in the first place, The Shadow wouldn’t even exist. 

It was a mess. 

So after everything that had happened, he wanted to be near someone who understood him. 

He’d gladly taken care of Jee that night and woken up early to take her to daycare so Chimney could sleep in and get some proper rest before they went to the hospital together. 

Eddie had texted Buck countless times trying to get him to tell Chimney he was sorry, but Chimney didn’t want to hear it and frankly, Buck understood. Buck didn’t want Eddie’s apology either. 

He found himself angry with Eddie after that. Bobby, Hen and Athena too. 

This was turning into a civil war. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

That night, Buck needed some fresh air. 

He needed to recollect his thoughts, really ground himself and return to reality somewhat more calm. The only way he could think of was to do some swinging. 

It was oddly relaxing to fly around like that above everyone else, like you’re untouchable and the world around you was made just for you. That the city lights turned on just so you could see where you were going next. 

That and the thrum of Los Angeles city noise was enough to drown out Buck’s thoughts and he needed that more than anything else right now. 

So when Chimney and Jee were asleep, he snatched one of Maddie’s black beanies and cut out some holes, put on a plain hoodie, and made his way Downtown. 

He missed his rookie get-up. Somehow this current outfit felt way more rookie. Maybe because he’d stolen his sister's beanie for this, but oh well. He’d get her another. 

With each swing from one building to the next, he felt himself ease up a bit. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush that calmed him down, if that even makes sense. But it made sense to him and that was all that mattered. 

He stopped on one of the rooftops to people watch for a while, smiling at the couples and friend groups. He wondered when he’d meet the right person that would love him enough to stick around. Maybe he’d even get a couch with them that he’d never have to sell. 

Now that would be the dream. 

He watched a large friend group rush across the street, all laughing and holding onto each other and Buck thought of the possibility that the 118 may never be able to be in the same room again, all because of him. 

That had always been his biggest fear, losing those he cares about the most. And now he was the sole reason why not only he was losing them, but they were all losing each other. 

Buck peered down at the road directly below where his feet were dangling. He was about fifteen stories up. So he shuffled closer to the edge and dropped. It was a quicker fall than he’d imagined, and at the last moment, he shot a web across to the next building, landing on the side of it with a thud.

He looked at his reflection in one of the windows, and saw his eyes wide and filled with pure shock. Why the hell had he just done that?

Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground and his legs were a bit shaky, so he took a second to breathe, closing his eyes. That was easily the most reckless thing he’s ever done and it terrified him. 

Pushing away from the wall, he’d decided he was going to just walk back to Chimney’s place and pretend like none of that just happened.

Then he knocked into someone.

“Oh, I am so sorry!” Buck sidestepped and the woman gasped. 

“You’re The Shadow, right?” She seemed to stutter and buck noticed her taking a step away from him. 

“Uh, yeah…” Buck took his own step away. “I-I was just leavi—”

“Get away from me,” she whispered, flicking out a pocket knife, her hand shaking. “Get the hell away from me.”

“Woah, woah, I-I’m not going to hurt you!” Buck insisted, raising his hands and backing away from her. Maybe he shouldn’t walk home. “I was just leaving. I sw—”

“Get away from me!” She shrieked and Buck jolted at the sudden noise, all attention turning towards the pair.

“I-I’m going—”

“Now!”  

“I’m so sorry,” Buck stuttered out. “I’m sorry.”

Buck launched himself up onto the building and crawled like hell until he reached the rooftop. People had started filming and Buck decided it was best to get as far away as fast as possible. So without overthinking, he swung and swung until he made it back onto Chimney’s street, before yanking the beanie off and dropping onto the side of the curb.

He dropped his head in his hands. He never wanted to be scary. All he wanted to do was help people, to protect them. Sure he was big and he looked intimidating, but that’s why he smiled so much. But no one could see that behind a mask. 

He’d scared that poor woman and he couldn’t blame her for her reaction. He just wished he could’ve told her that all he wanted was to right some wrongs and help people.

To some, he might be a hero, but to others, he was a monster and that trumped all the good he’d felt before. People thought he was scary. 

And then he began to sob. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

“Here,” Chimney murmured, handing Buck a paper cup of coffee before sitting beside him in Maddie’s hospital room. 

“Thanks, Chim,” Buck took it gratefully and the pair sat in silence for a while. His mind was reeling from the day before. From the fight with the 118, from the woman who’d panicked, from the reminder that he might not be the hero he thought he was. 

His phone was still buzzing with texts and calls from Eddie. It was almost relentless now. 

Chimney’s phone hadn’t stopped either, except his texts were from Hen. 

Buck had gotten a few from Karen, which he answered because she understood him too. He felt bad for putting her in an awkward position at home with Hen, but apparently Hen hadn’t really brought up The Shadow much to turn it into an argument, so they were fine. 

Karen just wanted to put everything behind her. 

“What a week,” Chimney dipped his head, shaking it. “God this is all a mess. Maddie’s going to wake up to everyone hating each other.”

“She’ll lock us in a room, we’ll be fine.” Buck reassured, but he wasn’t so sure that they would be fine. Everything seemed pretty… final at the end of the last shift. Bobby had been talking about separating them on shifts now too. 

“Doc says they’re taking the intubator out tomorrow afternoon,” Chimney reached for Maddie’s hand. “They’re hoping she’ll breathe on her own.” 

“Jesus,” Buck breathed out, sliding back in his chair. This could be the end. All of it. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Taylor Kelly appear on the tv and he turned his full attention, frowning at the headline.

He stood and manually turned up the volume.

“Breaking news: As of a half hour ago, serial killer Jackson Blake has managed to make his escape, just one day after being arrested by LAPD’s finest. In a shocking turn of events, Blake has taken Sergeant Athena Grant hostage. Authorities found her gun and phone abandoned in her backyard, following her 9-1-1 distress call. Stay tuned for more updates. This is Taylor Kelly with SkyWitness News 8.” 

“Oh my God…” Chimney was standing now too, looking as pale as a bedsheet. 

Buck’s entire body had gone hot, shivers rolling through him. More like a tingle. 

Before he could think anything through, Buck bolted out of the hospital room and down the hallway, knocking people and side-stepping as he went, not bothering to apologize. 

He slammed right into Eddie by the entrance. 

“Buck– Buck, did you get my calls? Athena—” 

“Get out of my way, Eddie,” Buck shoved passed him with enough strength to send Eddie stumbling, and broke out into a run, sprinting for his Jeep. 

They may be angry with each other, but Buck would rather walk away from this in handcuffs than let Athena finish this six feet deep. 

Chapter Text

The car ride was one of the most nerve-wracking drives Buck had experienced in a while.

All he could think about was that the longer Athena was missing, the more of a chance she had of being dead. 

He knew she could fend for herself, but unarmed and in a second location already? Anything could happen, even to the strongest of soldiers. 

Half tripping out of his car in such haste, Buck sprinted up the driveway and began banging on the front door, not caring what sort of ruckus he caused in the neighborhood.

The door flung open a second later and Buck reached for Karen’s shoulders, nearly flying into her. 

“Buck! I just heard the news—”

“Karen, I need my clothes back.” Buck moved past her, marching through the house, looking around for Hen. Right now, he didn’t care if she found out who he was. 

“She’s not here. She just left for the station,” Karen closed the door, rushing to catch up with him. “I don’t have your clothes, Buck.”

“What?!” He swirled around, a look of anger flashing across his features. “Where are they, Karen?” 

“I have something better,” she replied, twisting her fist against her palm, like she knew she would regret showing Buck this. “Come with me.”

She led Buck out to the garden shed and flipped the lightswitch. 

It was different in here. Karen had shoved all the gardening tools into a corner, and the large table was littered with all sorts of fabrics and sewing items. The spiders were lined on a shelf and printed documents were all stuck up on the walls, neater than the last time. 

“Here,” she pointed at a chair behind the desk and Buck rushed over, staring down at what seemed to be a black tactical suit draped over the chair. “The fabric is made of bullet-proof under armor. The vest is… stolen property from the LAFD, so there’s that. The uh, the mask,” she pointed to the table and Buck picked up a black mask of the same kind of fabric, except the eyes weren’t just holes. They were white, pointed at the tips. Like a spiders. 

“Karen, what—”

“And there’s an earpiece too,” she reached for it. It was a singular earpiece attached to a wire that was linked to the stolen cop radio he’d taken from Ransone. “So no one can hear your radio. I got a radio too, channel six, also stolen. In case you need me.” 

“Karen—”

“The gloves aren’t as thick as the suit, so try not to get hurt there, but it’s best if you keep your fingerprints to yourself this time.” Karen kept rambling, cheeks flushed from panic. 

“Karen—”

“Just put the suit on, Buck!” She snapped, looking shocked that she had raised her voice like that. “You don’t have much time and I need to tell you where to go.”

“You know where he took Athena?” Buck asked, rapidly stripping his current clothes. He didn’t care that Karen was seeing him half naked. Not like she would be interested anyway. 

“I think so,” Karen nodded. “Last night, Hen was still upset about the whole vigilante thing, so I got her talking about the Jackson Blake case instead. We went down a rabbit hole to see if we could find a pattern to give Athena a headstart before his trial.” 

Karen held up a finger and rushed out of the shed, leaving Buck to get dressed properly. He put in his earpiece and strapped the radio to the belt. He then found his boots neatly tucked under the desk and tugged those on too. He pulled the mask on to adjust his vision with the eyes, but it was easy to see through them. 

This suit was incredible. It was tight fitting, but comfortable, and Buck felt protected. This is one of the many reasons why Karen was the smartest person he knew.

“How did you make this so fast?” Buck asked her when she returned with a folded piece of paper. 

“I didn’t,” Karen replied, opening the paper that seemed to be a map of Los Angeles. “I started it the first time The Shadow made it to the media. I knew you wouldn’t give up and I knew the cops would try to take you down. It’s just been sitting here. I wanted… I wanted to protect you somehow. Be your guy in the chair.” 

“My woman in the chair,” Buck corrected and leaned over the map. “What’s this?” 

“An incomplete circle,” Karen replied. “These are all the markings that Blake’s victims were found at. The ones we know of so far.” 

Buck took a closer look. There was a pattern here for sure. It was a large circle around Los Angeles, with a new body every six or so blocks, moving counterclockwise with the dates these bodies were discovered. 

“There's two open gaps,” Buck murmured, his finger hovering over the empty slots. 

“Exactly. So if this guy is going counterclockwise, dropping bodies in abandoned locations every six blocks, where’s his next hit?” 

“Lincoln Heights,” Buck answered. “That old candle factory, by the public storage facility on N Mission Road.” 

“That’s where he’s taken Athena. It has to be. Or somewhere close by.” Karen chewed on her lower lip, looking at Buck for confirmation. 

Buck nodded, eyebrows furrowed. He flicked the radio to channel six. “I’ll drive until Lincoln Park and I’ll go on foot from there.”

“Be safe,” Karen fiddled with her radio, flicking it on. “And bring her home.” 

“I will.” 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck floored it most of the way, but aside from some angry drivers, no one cared.

It seemed like all police cars were scouring the city for their Sergeant, or piecing together where Blake could’ve taken her. He wouldn’t have much time before they figured out where he’d taken her. 

Buck tried to think of what this guy’s MO was, but if he did have one, he’d broken it now just to seek some sort of revenge on the woman that had caught him. 

He made it to Lincoln Park faster than he’d expected and he parked off to the side, where his car was hidden, away from the nearest street camera. 

It was broad daylight, and here he was, about to run out in public looking like– like a vigilante. 

“Hey Karen?” Buck spoke through his radio.

“You made it?” She replied back almost instantly.

“Yeah… I’m going to need you to give me twenty minutes before you call the cops in case they haven’t figured it out. Which they probably will soon.”

“Buck, what?” 

“Time it, Karen. Someone’s going to need to bring Athena and Blake in. It can’t be me.” He removed his finger and shoved his radio back on his belt. He stuffed his phone into the front compartment and the last thing he saw was the picture of him and Chris, grinning at the camera. 

He’d changed it from his photo with Maddie. It had become too hard to look at her, knowing he’d failed her the way he had. 

“Time to go be a hero, I think,” he murmured and jumped out the car before he second guessed himself and went through yet another mid-life crisis. He’d had too many of those in that Jeep. 

Buck broke out into a run across the park, feeling stares following him, but he pushed on, his boots heavily hitting the road as his legs carried him with ease towards the abandoned factory. 

His best option was to go behind the storage facility and get behind the factory too. He kept his body low and his feet quick, pushing down the panic rising in his chest. This is what he wanted, right? He craved this, and now that he was here, he was regretting it.

But the thought that Athena could be in that building, was enough to keep him fueled. 

He made it to the back wall of the factory and looked up to spot any potential broken windows, but they all seemed to be intact, or those that were broken, had smaller holes in them. He couldn't break those without gaining attention from Blake if he was inside. 

The first floor looked desolate from where he was peering in.

What would Athena do? She’d do a perimeter sweep. In her case, she’d get a drone to go from window to window, but Buck didn’t need a drone. 

He pressed his fingertips to the brick wall and honed his focus in on latching onto the building. He tugged a little, and when he was sturdy, he began to climb up the wall. 

He moved quickly now that he knew he was stable, and peered through the second floor. It seemed to have half walls scattered around, so he crawled across, looking through every gap he could. 

That’s when he spotted a lone figure digging through what looked like a duffel bag. Blake. 

Buck crawled more, trying to spot where Athena was, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Something inside him was telling him that she was here. She had to be. She couldn’t be dead already. He had that tingle again, and somehow he knew she was alive. 

So he scaled up to the third and final floor and this one was open-planned like the first was, except the roof had mostly collapsed and wooden beams where scattered all over. 

He spotted movement from the far corner to the right, so he crawled closer to the end of the building and found Athena slumped on the floor, propped up against the wall. 

She had cuts across her cheeks, her lips were bloody and her arms were tied to her sides, with her legs bound together too. There was a growing pool of blood, and Buck couldn’t locate the main wound from that far. 

He could see her chest rising and falling, and her head slowly tilted to the side, indicating she was still conscious, which was good. That was important. She had to stay awake. 

Buck was ready to smash the window and rush in and grab her and get the hell out of there, but he had to catch this guy too. If he didn’t, he’d just go and kill someone else, or he’d keep hunting Athena until one of them ended with a bullet in their chest. 

As if on cue, Blake made it up the stairs and Buck ducked away from the windows before he could spot him. 

Buck needed a way in, and right now, the front door seemed like the best bet. 

He scaled back down the building and sprinted around towards the front entrance. The lock had been broken on the doors and Buck carefully squeezed between the gap, not wanting to risk the door creaking and blowing his cover.

If he startled this guy, he could easily kill Athena and make a run for it. 

He made it to the stairs and made it up to the second floor pretty easily. The steps had groaned and creaked a few times, but thankfully, it didn’t seem like Blake had heard any of it. 

Buck could hear Blake talking now. Oh yeah, remember that time when he got bit and everything was heightened? Yeah, he got some super cool enhanced hearing. He was yet to get it under control, but hey, it worked in his favor now. 

“You really thought you could take me away from my work before it was done?” Blake chuckled, and the floorboards creaked above Buck. That must be where he was standing. 

Athena mumbled something incoherent and Blake laughed. “What was that, bitch? You tryna say somethin’?” 

Buck’s jaw clenched and he made it towards the stairs again. The pressure of his boot made the first step creak loudly, and Blake went still above him. 

“Who’s there?” Blake called out, quick footsteps marching towards the staircase. He peered down and began his descent into the second floor. He stopped halfway down the stairs and looked around. After what seemed like the longest few seconds, he went back up the stairs again.

Buck let out a soft break, slowly lowering himself from the ceiling he’d launched himself up onto. 

“Right, where were we?” Blake asked Athena, getting back to work. “Ah, yes! You get to pick what I use on you!” He was a proper psycho. 

Buck’s heart rate quickened. Blake was getting closer to ending things — or starting them — and Buck had still done nothing. He needed to pull himself together and do something.

He also had ten minutes left before Karen called the cops. 

This time, Buck used his brain and crawled up the handrail instead of using the stairs. He moved faster like this too and in silence. 

When he peeked his head up onto the third floor, Buck found Blake peering into that duffel bag again, pulling out all sorts of weapons ranging from typical tools, to knives, a brick, but no gun. Buck found that interesting. 

He must’ve stored all this stuff here before his arrest. 

Buck took this moment to latch himself onto the wall, his back pressed to it and his fingertips and feet pressed flat against the surface. He crawled like this behind Blake, who was ranting away about all the gruesomely creative ways he planned to carve Athena up. 

Buck looked over at Athena, who was watching him through half closed eyes and Buck lifted his index finger to his lips, before crawling again. Buck made it to the next side of the wall just as Blake turned to face Athena, holding up a saw and a butcher’s knife.

“Which one, sweetheart? I’ll be using them all anyway, but what shall I start with?” 

Buck lowered himself onto the ground and honestly, he could projectile vomit all over this guy right now and that would suffice as a clear distraction, but he pushed himself. 

He reminded himself that there was no way out now. That this guy wanted to kill Athena, not just hurt her. That he’d killed multiple people and he needed to pay for it, just like Maddie’s shooter. 

Men like this couldn’t be walking free, they needed to be punished, and who was better to bestow that punishment upon them than The Shadow? 

Buck sucked in a slow, deep breath before he finally did something.

“You know, abandoned warehouse murders are like, so nineties, right?” He spoke up, his voice coming out all distorted. British? Okay, he’d panicked! Again!

“What—” Blake turned around and Buck took the liberty of snatching both his weapons with his webs, tossing them on either end of the room. 

“I’ll take those!” He answered cheerily, although his whole body was vibrating. What the hell was he doing? Admittedly, he’d seen many, many clips of Tony Stark running his mouth in his Iron-Man suit and honestly, it worked. It threw the bad guys off. 

He was just hoping it worked on this one. 

“Who the hell are you?!” Blake had launched for his duffel bag, but Buck snatched that up too, throwing it towards the nearest wall, securing it against the brick with his webbing. 

“You don’t know me? I’m hurt.” Buck placed a hand to his chest, walking closer. “I went viral! TikTok? The Shadow? No?” Buck kept asking, taking slow steps forward. “How about this,” Buck reached out, pulling Blake closer with two tight webs. He slammed his own forehead hard against Blake’s, who flinched. “I’m your reckoning, Jackson Blake.” 

Blake spun around and got free, throwing a solid punch at Buck’s jaw, but really, it didn’t do much. 

“I don’t like bullies, Blake, and you’re the worst of them all.” Buck ascended, swinging a roundhouse kick at Blake, who took the blow to his left rib cage. He stumbled and caught himself against the wall. 

“I also don’t like men who hurt women,” Buck continued, grunting when Blake winded him in his stomach with a heavy kick. He stumbled back a few steps, clutching his abdomen. “You like hurting women, Blake?”

“That bitch deserved it!” Blake roared, running head on towards Buck, shoving them both against the opposite wall. “She ruined everything!” 

“Hmm,” Buck didn’t fight back at first. He grabbed Blake’s left arm that had pinned him to the wall and spun them around, slamming Blake’s face against the jagged brick. “The only bitch in here is you.” Buck murmured just as he yanked Blake’s arm backwards, snapping it clean right by his elbow, breaking through the flesh. 

“That’s disgusting— Bones really shouldn’t bend like that,” Buck cringed when Blake let out a deafening scream. “You should probably get that checked out, bud.” 

He slammed his boot down on the back of Blake’s knee, sending him sliding down the wall to the floor, leaving behind a trail of blood from his scraped up cheek. 

He quickly took a moment to check on Athena, who had mumbled something, but now her eyes were closed. The pool of blood was bigger. 

That’s when Buck heard the sirens in the far distance.

Thank you, woman in the chair!

“I look forward to watching you rot in prison,” Buck spoke to Blake, who was now a whimpering mess, profusely apologizing, claiming he’ll never hurt anyone again if Buck just lets him go. 

He worked quickly now, wrapping his webs around Blake’s body, making sure he can’t run anywhere until the cops get there. 

He abandoned Blake on the floor like that, writhing to get out, offering pained screams, and rushed over to Athena.

“Sergeant, can you hear me?” Buck gently tapped her cheek, jostling her a bit. He earned a slow nod in response and Buck looked around for where she was bleeding the most. 

He spotted it easily now up close. There was a large, gaping gash in her thigh and he worked quickly by tearing off a part of her gown. He closed up the wound first with some of his webbing and then got to work on tightening the fabric. 

“Who… Who are you?” Athena managed to croak out, but Buck kept working, a smile playing behind the mask. Like he’d tell her. When it was tight enough, Buck stood up and looked around. The space was filled with red and blue flashing lights now. The cops were at the front of the building.

His only way out of here was if he jumped through one of the back windows. 

He rushed over and kicked open one of the windows, using his boot to really get all of the glass away.

“You’re– You’re the devil,” Blake rasped out, blood coating his lips. Buck must’ve caused some internal bleeding with one of his blows. Good. let him suffer. 

“Maybe I am,” Buck answered, perching on the window just as the cops rushed onto the first floor. “And the devil always collects what’s due.” 

And then he dropped. 

Ransone was the first one up the stairs. “Sergeant Grant! She’s over here!” He yelled down the stairs, rushing over to her. “Suspect—” Ransone frowned, studying Blake, who was still desperately trying to break free. “Suspect is in custody…”

“Are those webs?” One of his cops asked and Ransone nodded slowly, crouched down beside Athena. That’s when he spotted some webbing peeking out from under her makeshift tourniquet. 

He couldn’t dwell too long, because the EMS team rushed over to begin their assessment on Athena before transporting her. 

Ransone spotted the duffel bag attached to the wall with more webbing and he walked over, only to look out of the newly broken window. 

In the distance, he spotted a black figure swinging down onto one of the self storage units, and then he was out of sight. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck hadn’t given himself time to think back on what had just happened because Chimney had called him the second he’d gotten back in his car. 

“They’re taking out the intubator soon, where the hell are you? I know Athena is—”

“I’m on my way,” Buck had replied, yanking his mask off and flooring it back towards the hospital. He kicked his boots off at the first stoplight he’d reached, tossing them into the backseat. 

Next was his belt while he drove with one hand. At the following light, he threw his bullet proof vest off and then reached behind him to unzip the suit, shucking it off until it hung around his waist. 

It was by miracle alone that he’d kept his emergency LAFD gym clothes in his car. Because yes, that’s a thing. To Buck. 

By the time he’d reached the hospital, he was certain he’d racked up thousands of Dollars worth of speeding tickets, but none of that mattered. Maddie mattered. Athena mattered. 

Athena was alive. Maddie? He was about to find out. 

He slammed on his breaks in a parking spot where he’d parked fairly skew and would inevitably get another ticket, and climbed into his backseat, throwing on his LAFD gym shirt, stripping his full suit, and then tugged on his sweats and sneakers. 

Inside the hospital, he spotted Hen with her arm around Chimney’s shoulders. It seems like they’d put their differences aside all things considered. Eddie was there too, looking through the glass at Maddie, a grim expression on his face. Ravi was seated on one of the chairs in the hall, tapping his foot rapidly. Bobby was nowhere to be seen, but Buck expected that.

He’d probably been alerted that they’d found Athena. 

Karen spotted Buck first, a look of heart aching relief washed over her at the sight of him, but she stayed where she was for now. 

“Thank God you’re here,” Chimney spoke first, pulling Buck into a hug. “You got here just in time.” He didn’t ask Buck where he’d been, because right now, none of that mattered. 

Buck’s heart was still pounding out of his chest, and at the sight of Maddie, it only seemed to get worse. 

This was it.

He reached out for someone’s — anyone’s — hand and felt a firm grip hold him in return. He looked down and saw Eddie’s firmly clasped around his. Buck squeezed back. 

The nurses and Maddie’s doctor walked into her room and began the removal process and Buck could feel his knees giving out. 

Eddie’s hand slipped away, only to find Buck’s opposite arm, holding him upright. 

The group stepped away and everyone seemed to hold their breath, all eyes fixed on the heart monitor that had flatlined the second they’d taken the tube out. 

“Come on, baby,” Chimney had murmured under his breath and Buck let out a soft choking sound. “Wake up, Maddie.” 

Buck’s opposite hand reached across to grab Eddie’s shirt, and Eddie’s free hand covered Buck’s, a gentle thumb rubbing over Buck’s skin. It didn’t provide enough comfort as Buck had thought it would. 

Nothing in this situation could.

It felt like hours, just watching the flat line move across the heart monitor. The doctor shook his head and opened his mouth and instead of words coming out, they all heard a beep. 

The doctor’s head snapped in the monitor’s direction and found a slow, but steady heartbeat appear on the monitor and Chimney had let out a cry of relief, thanking every God under the sun and Hen held him upright, hugging him close with Karen joining in too. Ravi seemed just as relieved and joined their group hug. 

Maddie was going to be okay.

Eddie hadn’t moved, staying right where Buck had kept him. Buck’s eyes trained on Maddie’s chest, watching it rise and fall just like Athena’s. She was alive. She was really alive. 

“Bobby!” Hen gasped and all eyes turned to him. “Is Athena okay? Where is she?” 

“Surgery,” Bobby sighed, walking over. “But she’s okay. She’s going to be fine.”

“And Blake?” Karen asked, quickly looking at Buck.

“Surgery,” Bobby replied again, lips forming a thin line. “And in custody. Maddie?”

“Breathing on her own,” Chimney answered between his tears, allowing Bobby to pull him into a tight hug. They both clearly needed that. 

“Hate to break this up,” Ransone spoke up and Buck had the sinking feeling that he was about to get arrested. “But I come bearing some more news. Good news,” he corrected when everyone’s expressions dropped. 

“Well, it’s fifty/fifty,” Ransone sighed and looked at each person. “We found Maddie’s attacker a couple hours before Athena had been taken. His name was Dave Pearson. Had a long list of run-ins with the law.”

“Was?” Karen asked slowly. 

Ransone offered a slow nod. “He was found a few blocks away from where he’d been attacked by… The Shadow. He’d succumbed to his injuries shortly after his escape. He’s been dead since then. So there will be no public trial. But,” he continued when everyone remained silent, “the main thing is that Maddie is safe, and awake. We’ll come back if we need anything else.” 

Ransone turned and left and Buck’s world crashed down around him. 

All those days of panic and change. Of grief and loss and anger. Of revenge and blood and now murder, had all finally caught up to him, hitting him like the weight of the world. 

A pained whine escaped his throat and his knees finally gave in, and he dropped to the hospital floor with a soft thud. He’d killed someone. He hadn’t balanced the scales, he’d tipped them. He’d broken them and there was nothing he could do about it now. 

“Buck, Buck, hey,” Eddie was on the floor before anyone else was, crouching in front of Buck, who was letting out loud, heavy sobs into his fists. “It’s okay, it’s all over now. Everyone’s safe. It’s okay.” 

Eddie would never understand what Buck was feeling. He’d never understand and Buck would never let him get the chance to, but he did allow Eddie to hold him. 

Or maybe Eddie did. He’d killed people before, but that was war and this wasn’t. This was… something else entirely. 

Buck gasped for air in between ragged sobs. His nose was already blocked and he felt borderline hysterical like this, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. It had broken open like a flood and it just kept going and going. 

There was no closing the doors on this now. He needed it out of his system.

So he cried for his parents, for his lost childhood. He cried for Maddie and Athena. He cried for himself and for Shannon. He cried for Chimney and Bobby. He cried for Dave Pearson and everyone else he’d hurt in the process. 

He cried and cried, and Eddie held him the whole way through. 

Another body joined in and Buck picked up the familiar scent of vanilla cupcakes. Karen smoothed his mess of curls back and held him close.

“You’re okay, Buck. I’m proud of you,” she whispered, only for him to hear. “It’s over now. Everyone’s safe… because of you.” 

Buck nodded at her words, really trying to believe them. He knew Karen meant them, it was a whole other story if they were actually true. 

He lifted his head up and found Bobby directly in front of him, a hand on his knee. “She’s awake…” 

Buck nodded again and wiped his tears, feeling a bit foolish for his whole meltdown in such a public place, but no one here was judging him. 

Karen and Eddie helped Buck stand, and he felt the ache of all the spots where Blake had gotten his heavy hits in. He was definitely bruising. 

Karen gently wiped some of his tears away and Buck avoided eye contact with Hen, who was watching them closely. Karen and Buck had barely known each other, and it stayed that way in Hen’s eyes, so this was new. 

“I’ve got to go pick up the kids,” she cleared her throat, looking at Hen. She’d promised to watch their kids, Chris, and Jee Yun. May and Harry had offered to come over and help babysit. “I’ll see you at home?”

“Yeah,” Hen nodded and gave her wife a kiss. 

“You can go in first,” Buck gestured to Hen. “I’ll… I’ll go last. I need a moment.” 

Hen nodded and squeezed his arm on her way past before taking Ravi inside to where Chimney was gushing over Maddie, who was weakly smiling at all of them. 

“Hey,” Eddie took hold of Buck’s arm when he started to walk away. “You’re spending the night with Chris and I. I’m not letting you go home alone after that.”

“I-I’m fine Eds, really I just–”

“No,” Eddie stated firmly. “I did the same thing and I’m still covering the holes in my walls.” 

Buck offered a silent nod and then Eddie slipped into Maddie’s room. 

He left everyone to speak to Maddie so he could splash his face with some cold water. On his way down the hall, he saw Taylor Kelly on the news, speaking about the entire ordeal. 

He saw photos of his webs and the tools, but not Athena or Blake. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he got the gist of it. That The Shadow had seemingly saved the day, but some think he was working with Blake. Of course. 

It was only a matter of time before the public knew about what he’d done to Dave Pearson. 

When he returned from the bathroom, everyone was slowly dispersing from the hospital room. Chimney said he was going to get Maddie some proper food and Eddie said he’d wait for Buck in his car. 

Buck entered when Maddie was alone and her face lit up with a smile, only for tears to break through half a second later. 

“Oh God, Buck, I’m so sorry—”

“Hey, hey, no—” Buck rushed closer, gently leaning down to kiss her forehead and she pulled him into a weak hug. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Mads. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I could’ve saved you I—”

“No, I’m sorry. If I had just listened… None of this would’ve happened.” She sniffed and Buck let go to grab a tissue for her. 

“Then that other guy would’ve been dead. You’re a hero, Mads.” Buck sat down in the chair beside her and took hold of her hand. “I really thought we’d lost you… I don’t know what I would’ve done if—”

“I’m here,” Maddie cut him off and Buck looked up at her with tear-filled eyes. How he still had tears left, was beyond him. “I’m your big sister. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Thank God,” Buck huffed, followed by a hollow laugh and more tears. “Because I was so fucking scared, Mads.” He dropped his forehead against her arm and her free hand came out to run her fingers through his hair.

“You and me until the end, Evan,” she murmured, gently lifting his face up. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Buck choked out. “I love you so much.” He allowed her to pull him in for another hug and he left his face buried against her shoulder for a few moments, content to be in her arms like this.

When they pulled away, Maddie let out a sigh and wiped her eyes. “So, what’s this I hear about some masked vigilante going all Batman and trying to avenge me?” 

“Ah,” Buck let out a chuckle, sniffing. “He’s called The Shadow and he kinda just… takes down a bunch of assholes.”

“Hmm,” Maddie looked at him with a raised brow. “I’m told he got Athena’s kidnapper too?”

“Uh yeah, he’s been real busy.” Buck rubbed his palms together, and Maddie didn’t look away.

“Buck..? Is there something you want to tell me?” 

“What?!” Buck barked out a laugh, shaking his head. “Mads, I am not The Shadow! I could barely focus at work. C’mon, now.” 

“If you say so,” she held her hands up. Buck noticed the slight tremor she had before she lowered her arms. 

“Masked vigilantes aside,” Buck changed the subject, taking her hand again. “I’m sorry for the way we left things. I know mom and dad loved you. I know things were complicated and I don’t blame you for their actions. And I’m sorry for being so harsh.”

“I’m sorry too,” Maddie smiled. “From now on, we tackle things as a team, okay? The last two Buckley’s. We’ve got to stick together.”

“Always,” Buck swore and locked their pinkies together, sealing their promise. 

Chapter Text

ONE WEEK LATER

“Alright, here you go!” Bobby announced, placing the last dish of food on the table. 

Everyone had brought a dish of food, making this entire ordeal one big feast, and of course Bobby had gone above and beyond and cooked all night before. 

“This spread is huge!” Athena laughed, a hand on her chest. She was healing well. Off duty, but healing. The same goes for Maddie, and both of them had spent a lot of time together this past week while everyone had gone back to work. 

“Enough to feed a small army,” David laughed, dishing some potato bake onto his plate first.

“It’s me. I’m the small army,” Michael noted, dishing some food too, making everyone laugh. 

“Bobby, you’ve outdone yourself as always,” May beamed at her step-father, squeezing his hand where she sat across from him with Athena at the head of the table. 

“So good!” Chris agreed, already digging into his food. 

“Well it’s a special occasion! It’s not easy to get all of us under one roof,” Athena noted and everyone chimed in their agreements. 

“I think the last time was when Buck coughed up all that blood and gave us nightmares,” Chimney winked at Buck, who rolled his eyes in response. 

“He is the life of the party,” Eddie joined in on the teasing and Buck lightly kicked him under the table. 

“What’s the news with Blake?” Hen asked Athena, moving Jee Yun from one knee to the other, feeding her some mac and cheese. Maddie needed a moment to breathe and eat, and Hen was more than happy to help. 

“Trial starts next month, but for now, he’s locked away tight.” Athena reached for her glass of wine. She was still bruised up, and couldn’t return to work for a while until her body healed up, but she looked better than she had when Buck had found her. “He gets out of the hospital next Friday and then it’s prison walls and metal beds from here on out.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Karen raised her glass and everyone followed suit, even the kids with their juice cups. 

Buck dished some food for Chris, who insisted on sitting next to him this time round. He liked to alternate between sitting beside Eddie and Buck at events like this to make it ‘fair.’ 

“You see? The Shadow is a hero!” Chimney declared proudly, making Buck grin like an idiot. Karen let out an amused snort. 

“Okay, hero is a stretch,” Athena pointed a finger at him. “In this last week, he’s run from the cops on multiple occasions!”

“Has he now?” Karen asked, side-eyeing Buck, who’d promised he’d stay good. 

“Mhm,” Athena lowered her glass. “Once stopping a bank heist but he left a three car pile up in his wake, albeit the cars were the bad guy’s and one police car. Second was taking down a group of drug addicts harassing a woman and putting the guy in a wheelchair for the next six months. Third was him… swinging and helping some old lady cross the street and the cops had pointed him out, resulting in a chase that lasted four hours, and then fourth when they saw The Shadow beating up a guy in an alleyway outside a bar. The man has no teeth left!”

“And I’m sure each and every one is justified,” Chimney pointed with a forkful of chicken. 

Hen huffed, shaking her head. “Next thing we know, Chim, you’re going to be defending Deadpool.”

“Oh, I love that guy!” May gasped, eyes alight and Athena looked at her daughter with an unimpressed expression.

“You see!” Chimney reached out to high five May, but they were too far apart, so they settled for an air-five. “Deadpool and The Shadow are heroes!”

“Deadpool is a lunatic on the run. Has been for almost two years now,” Bobby pointed out, trying to back his wife up.

“If he was really on the run, he would’ve left California a long time ago,” Harry defended Chimney and May, further shocking their poor mother. 

“Okay how about,” Eddie silenced the table. “Raise your hand if you like Deadpool and The Shadow. Keep your hand down if you don’t. After that, no more debates! I’d like to avoid a second civil war, thank you very much.” 

“Sounds reasonable,” Michael nodded and lifted his hand. May, Ravi, Harry, Chimney, Chris, Maddie, Karen, Denny and Mara all raised their hands. Everyone else kept them down. 

“So you agree with us, Buck?” Eddie looked over at him and Buck slowly raised his hand, grinning sheepishly. 

“I have a traitor sleeping on my couch,” Eddie teased, dropping his napkin onto the table, fighting off a smile.

“Hey, you said after voting, we’d stop!” Buck pointed out. “So no more!” 

“Look, bad guy or not, I still think The Shadow is a terrible name,” Ravi chuckled, shaking his head. “I mean, really?” 

“He didn’t name himself!” Buck defended quickly, feeling his cheeks go hot. “It was… Chris, who was it again?”

“The TikTok news lady,” Chris giggled.

“Yeah, her,” Buck jutted his thumb out at Chris. “It was the TikTok news lady.”

“Well, The Shadow needs to work on his branding,” Hen snorted. 

“His new suit looked cool,” Karen shrugged. “Saw a clip of him on the news running across the highway yesterday.” 

“He looks ready for war,” Eddie shook his head. “But it's an impressive suit.”

“Not as cool as Deadpool’s,” Chimney noted. “The Shadow needs some color.” 

“But that defeats the name!” Buck countered.

“That’s the point, because the name sucks!” Chimney exclaimed back. 

“Can we talk about anything else? Please?” Bobby cut their banter off and the table went quiet for a long moment. 

May spoke up then. “I heard Iron-Man took down a robot in Central Park last night.”

“Oh my God, I can’t—” Bobby groaned, throwing his hands up in defeat. 

Superheroes, huh? 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck got home just after sunrise. 

He’d crashed at Eddie’s again. He’d stayed that first night after Maddie had woken up, but then ultimately decided he wasn’t quite done with being The Shadow. 

The cops and the government might not like him but the general public were starting to love him. He got greeted now when he patrolled at night solely as ‘Shadow’ and gave people high fives and fist bumps. It was a bit of a spectacle, really. 

He would be lying if it was all wonderful. 

He woke up every morning from nightmares, still reeling over killing Pearson, and he saw twice as many horrors than he did before with work and with this new stuff too. It was a lot to take on. 

He spotted a brown paper bag outside his door and approached with caution out of sheer habit. When he saw there was a sticky note attached, he leaned down and read it. 

From your woman in the chair x 

Buck broke out into a grin and lifted the bag up, taking it into the apartment with him. He wondered if it was new shoes that didn’t make such a noise when he’s running around. He’d told Karen that that was his biggest issue with his suit. 

He tore the bag open and pulled out the item, brows creasing at the sight. Okay, not new shoes. 

The fabric was soft, but firm and almost silky? But definitely some sort of under armor. 

It was a deep blue and red, with black lines going all over it. When Buck opened it up, he noticed the patterns looked like one continuous web. 

His fingers traced over the black symbol on the chest and found himself bubbling with excitement. It was an intricate outline of a spider. 

He spotted a mask that had slipped and fallen by his feet and he reached down to lift it up too. It was all red with the same black web pattern and the eyes were more defined than his current suit’s.

He wasted no time in putting it all on. 

Standing in front of the mirror now, he didn’t look so scary with the color. This would work better around the kids, even though they weren’t all that scared of him in the first place. Maybe it would ease the adults more. 

Chimney had a point. 

Iron-Man had his red and gold, Captain America had his blue, red, and white, Deadpool had his red and black, and now Buck had his blue and red. 

Karen was silently calling him a superhero. 

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

Buck whooshed passed skyscraper after skyscraper, flinging and soaring between buildings. 

He allowed himself to drop, and caught himself just before hitting the ground, making passersby gasp and cheer when they saw him, still yelling out his name, The Shadow. 

He waved and greeted them all, asking if they liked his new suit, and everyone seemed to agree.

“What d’you think, officer?” Buck asked, landing on top of a cop car. The officer blinked and offered a mute thumbs up. “Thanks, pal!” And then Buck was swinging again.

“I’ll take that!” Buck snatched a woman’s purse from a masked guy, webbing him to the nearest pole. “Here you go, Ma’am,” he handed the woman her purse back and winked. Only to remember that she couldn’t see that. Dammit. 

“Woah!” Buck flung himself across the street and grabbed onto the back of a kid’s hoodie, hauling him back just before a car barrelled into him. 

The kid yanked his headphones off and dropped his skateboard, turning to see who the hell had grabbed him like that. 

“Shadow? Is that you?!” The kid gasped, eyes lighting up. 

“Hey kid,” Buck patted his shoulder. “You gotta watch where you’re walking okay? You can always pick your next song after crossing the street. Can’t listen to good music in hospitals. It’s all classical stuff in there. No Kendrick, you feel me?”

“I feel you,” the kid nodded. “New suit?” 

“Yeah! You like?” Buck did a half turn, showing it off and posing, making the kid laugh. 

“It’s dope, but…” the kid shrugged and Buck’s shoulders dropped.

“But what?”

“You don’t look like a shadow anymore. Not with all that color.” 

Buck looked down at the suit. The black webbing lines shone almost underneath the streetlights. Kid had a point. “You’re right. What do I look like?”

“Like a spider,” the kid answered, pointing to the web design. “Smart design choice.” 

“Thanks, kid.” Buck saw the pedestrian light go green and he gestured. “Time to go.” 

The kid picked up his skateboard and jogged across the street. Buck stayed to make sure he was safe, and then the kid turned around and waved. “Thanks, Spider-Man!” 

“Hey, that’s a good one!” Buck yelled back, watching the kid skate off down the sidewalk. 

He spun on his heels and did a giddy little jump, knocking his ankles together. He crawled up onto the traffic light. “Hey everyone! I’m Spider-Man!” He yelled out, earning a round of cheers from the onlookers.

He shot a web out at the building to his left and as he launched up, he heard someone yell, “Go Spider-Man!” 

Buck didn’t think he’s ever smiled that big in his whole life. 

He found himself on top of the Wilshire Grand Centre building five minutes later, looking out at the city he had the privilege to protect every day as both a firefighter, and now Spider-Man.  

For the last month, he’d never felt so lost, taking hit after hit. But sitting here now, he knew exactly what he needed to do, and he was in the perfect place to do it. 

Chapter Text

Buck approached Karen’s front door, a bright grin plastered on his face. 

After knocking, he took a step back, hearing her call out that she’d be right there. He knew she was home alone, because he’d timed it just right so that Hen and the kids were literally anywhere else. 

“Buck! Morning,” Karen huffed out, smiling at him. Her cheeks were flushed and she ushered him inside. “I was just making the bed. What’s going on?”

“I brought you something!” Buck beamed, holding out the wrapped box. “Open it!”

“For me?” Karen asked, taking it gingerly and laying the box down on the kitchen counter. She reached for the scissors and tore the wrapping paper open, revealing a shirt that made her snort.

“For tearing your last one,” Buck chuckled.

“How considerate,” Karen replied and tore open the next layer of wrapping, revealing another box. Her eyes bulged. “Buck!” 

It was the latest, best high tech laptop that Stark had once recommended in some magazine article. It cost Buck half of his soul, but it was worth it.

“Well, I did break your last keyboard, and you’re this super genius space lady, and now my woman in the chair, so I thought you could geek out with this.” He gestured to the laptop as she pulled it out of the box, mouth agape. 

“It’s got a holographic projection, you can change the hologram colors to whatever you like, and it has a built in U.I. like Siri, but way smarter. You can program it to match your field of work too.” 

“I don’t know what to say…” Karen huffed out a laugh, tears brimming. “Thank you, Buck.” She pulled him into a hug and he held her close, giving her a gentle squeeze. 

“You’re welcome,” Buck murmured, pulling away. “It’s got all the instructions, and there’s a ton of YouTube tutorials, so it shouldn’t be that hard to set up.” 

“You wanna help me? I can make us coffee.” 

Buck thought it over for a moment, but he already knew his answer. He placed a hand to her shoulder. “Only if you let me order us takeouts.”

“Deal,” Karen nodded and when Buck pulled away, they heard something rip.

“Buck…” Karen closed her eyes slowly, sucking in a breath for patience. “That wasn’t my shirt, was it?” 

“Uh,” Buck let out a nervous chuckle and yanked his hand away, taking with a chunk of Karen’s sleeve. He carefully plucked the new shirt from the counter and draped it over her shoulder. Karen opened one eye to glare at him, and he smiled sheepishly. “No..?” 

Spider-Man will Return.