Chapter Text
In the space of mere minutes, what was meant to be a peaceful spa day turned from Athena reassuring her daughter about getting into college to a catastrophe that ravaged the streets of Los Angeles. A pile up at the intersection of Brockton and Wilshire became more dangerous with a backflood from the sewers and a downed transformer electrifying the water. There were people hurt, people scared, and Athena’s baby girl was trapped in a car with a woman bleeding out. As she rushed to do her job, rushed to save as many people as she could whilst constantly worrying about May, Athena found she had little time to think about anyone else. Not that she ever did stop worrying about her family; Harry was with Michael for the day, and Michael’s apartment was far enough inland that they wouldn’t have been affected by the tsunami. Bobby was on shift, so he was going to be out there on the front lines dealing with the aftermath just like Athena was.
With the car in no shape to drive, Athena and May left it in favour of a lift in the direction of home. Athena had a shift to get to in a city in need, so once they finally got back, she immediately changed into her uniform. May was going to stay with a neighbour until Michael and Harry arrived - after what she just went through, there was no way Athena was leaving her by herself. As soon as she was dressed, Athena grabbed her phone and, before she put it in her pocket, she quickly turned it on.
On her lock screen, there was a message. It was from Evan, and it only read “[attached file]”, so Athena quickly opened the phone. She remembered seeing the message briefly as she tried to dial 9-1-1, but another woman got through first so she had put her phone away to talk to the operator. Evan was meant to be at home, in his apartment that was far, far from the pier, and Athena thought it a bit odd that she was happy the boy had a blood clotting issue which meant he was off work. She shook her head and opened the message.
Athena’s heart stopped.
The message with the photo was timestamped just five minutes before the tsunami hit. It was of Evan and Christopher, the two of them standing in a crowd as they took a selfie.
Behind them, as clear as day, was a sign for the Santa Monica Pier.
“Mom? Mom!” Came May’s voice, and Athena snapped her head up to look at her daughter, who was staring at her, worry in her eyes. “What is it?”
“May, you stay here and wait for your father and brother. The second they get here, pack an emergency kit and call me,” Athena ordered, grabbing her shoes and shoving them on.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
The sergeant paused. For a moment, she said nothing, just trying to collect her thoughts and calm the panic racing through her head. With a sigh, she turned to May and placed her hands - no longer covered in blood - on her daughter’s shoulders. “May, it’s Evan. H-he was at the pier with Christopher.”
May gasped, hands coming up to cover her mouth. “I’m going out there to look for them now,” Athena continued, “get the emergency kits ready. When your dad gets here, call me and we will go look for them together.”
May nodded. Athena pressed a kiss to her daughter’s cheek and then hurried out of the door.
Her baby boy was out there with her grandson, somewhere. They were in danger, and you can bet your ass Mama was on her way.
Athena and Michael adopted Evan Buckley officially on the 27th of December, 2014, but the reason why they did so started six months earlier.
Athena was on a night shift downtown on a Friday night when she got a call to a bar about a brawl. There were first responders already on the scene, but they called for backup because they… Well, they weren’t sure who was meant to be arrested. Hence, Athena. She pulled up to the scene and climbed out of her squad car, sunglasses still over her eyes, and approached the chaos before her. There was a crowd of people surrounding the first responders, one paramedic was tending to an unconscious man in the recovery position, whilst another was dabbing the bloody nose of a young man with a red mark on his eyebrow in cuffs.
“What’ve we got here, Dawson?” Athena asked, turning to the other police officer at the scene.
“These two men got into a fight. This guy,” Dawson gestured over to the man in cuffs sitting on the step of the ambulance, “knocked the poor man down there out-”
“That’s not true!” A voice exclaimed. Athena and Dawson looked up just as a woman, a tiny blonde in a dress that looked a bit roughed up, pushed through the crowd and ran as fast as her heels let her over to the two officers. “That creep tried to assault me,” she said, glaring at the unconscious man before she turned to the man in cuffs, “but this guy pulled the asshole away before he could do anything, got punched in the nose before this douchebag tripped over his own feet and fell head-first into the wall.”
Athena raised a brow, pulling down her sunglasses so she could check the woman over. She seemed sincere, genuinely sincere, and considering the state of the man on the ground, Athena was more willing to believe her.
“You alright to give a statement?” Athena asked the woman, and the woman nodded, so Athena ordered Dawson to talk to the woman. “You got a name for this good Samaritan?”
“Um… no, I-I think it’s ‘Buck’-something,” the woman said, then left with Dawson when the man gestured for her to follow.
Athena went to the ambulance, where the paramedic had just finished cleaning up the good Samaritan’s bloody nose. The man was barely in his twenties, with curly, dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. The mark on his eyebrow turned out to be a birthmark and not an injury, though given the mess of the man’s nose, it was an easy assumption to make. His button-up shirt was no longer light blue, instead stained with blood.
“You “Buck”?” The sergeant asked him, getting the man’s attention.
“Uh, I-I’m Evan Buckley, ma’am,” he said. Athena gave him a look down her glasses, and the boy seemed to shrink under her gaze. In an instant, Athena’s heart softened.
“Heard you did a good thing tonight, Evan,” she said as she reached for her cuff keys in her pocket and leaned forward to undo the cuffs on his wrists. Once his hands were free, Evan rubbed at his wrists and then began to prod at his nose. “Don’t touch that,” Athena gently ordered, and Evan’s hands fell.
“A-am I free to go?” He asked her. Athena turned to the paramedic that was cleaning up the bloody gauze.
“You’ve still got a concussion but since you’ve refused a hospital, I’ll let you go so long as you get a cab home and don’t drive for the next twenty-four hours,” the paramedic told him as she got to her feet. Evan got up too, a little unsteady on his feet, and thanked her.
The paramedic left and soon it was just Athena and Evan alone. The sergeant took his statement, confirming that Evan had indeed stepped in to protect that poor woman from a pervert, and that he had been the one who put the creep in the recovery position after he hit his head and passed out. “She told him no three times and he wouldn’t listen, started groping at her dress like he was trying to pull it off. I-I couldn’t just stand there.” Evan explained, as though he needed a justification for doing the right thing. [She would never say it out loud, but in that moment, Athena wondered who hurt Evan. Who made him second-guess himself so much he had to explain why he did something as simple as defending an innocent woman.] All the while they talked, Evan had his hands clasped before him and his shoulders hunched, like he was trying to make himself as small as possible. Athena’s brow furrowed slightly behind her sunglasses.
“You live nearby?”
“Y-Yeah, I-I have a motel room nearby,” Evan said, nodding down the road and wincing immediately afterwards. Athena gave him another look, but she nodded.
“Alright, you’re free to go then. Next time you defend a woman from a pervert, try not to get your nose broken again,” She told him, sticking out a hand which Evan shook.
That probably should have been the last Athena ever saw of Evan, but the universe decided otherwise. The pervert woke up and after being checked out, was arrested. Dawson went to the hospital and Athena handled clearing out the crowd, sending everyone off home or at least to continue with their night. By the time everything had been settled down, and Athena was looking to get back to her patrol, her shift was close to ending and she was looking forward to getting home and getting some sleep.
However, as she was pulling away from the scene, Athena found herself stopping the car once again as she pulled into a parking lot. A parking lot with a single car, and Evan Buckley attempting to open the door.
“Evan?” Athena called out after getting out of her squad car, startling the man into dropping his keys on the ground. He looked like a deer in Athena’s headlights as he sheepishly grinned. “I thought the paramedic told you not to drive for twenty four hours?”
“Oh, I-I wasn’t driving,” he insisted, hand rubbing at his neck. He sighed, “I… I don’t actually have a motel room. I just got to LA a few nights ago. I-I’m sleeping in my truck.”
Looking back, Athena would say that it was this moment when she decided to adopt Evan Buckley. As he stood there in that parking lot, doing his best to avoid all eye contact, Athena made up her mind that this sweet, selfless, honourable young man would be the death of her. She never could have guessed just how much he would impact her life, her family’s lives, and how much she would grow to love him. But there, in that moment, she felt something pang in her chest as she watched him reach for his keys and wince.
“I’ll be honest with you, Evan, I don’t like the idea of you being alone with a concussion,” Athena told him, arms crossed over her chest. Evan ducked his head, and Athena’s face fell. “I’ve got a couch you can sleep on,” she said, and Evan’s head shot up again,“it’s not much, but it beats sleeping in a truck, and I’ll feel a lot better knowing I can keep an eye on that head injury of yours.”
“I-I couldn’t ask that of you-”
“You’re not asking, I’m offering.” Athena gave him a smile, a smile that Evan hesitantly returned. “C’mon, I promise it’s alright.”
“... okay, but just for one night!”
So, Athena took Evan home. She got him settled on the couch and said goodnight, and was woken up a few hours later by Harry asking her why there was a strange man asleep in their living room. After a quick explanation to her family about their temporary house guest, Michael cooked breakfast and Evan found himself being hounded for questions by an over-excited five year old. He was in Los Angeles because, in six months time, he was going to be joining the Navy SEALs and decided to spend some time on the west coast before then. He had a job as a bartender that he was starting in a few days.
He was only meant to stay for the night, Evan had even insisted on it, but Athena and Michael thought he was sweet and were happy to let him stay until he could get a motel room or an apartment. To thank them for letting him stay, Evan helped out with the groceries and the cleaning. Harry adored him, May grew to love him too, and before any of them even realised it, Evan had become a permanent part of their life. A night turned into a week, a week into a month, a month into six. Evan stayed. He stayed, and became a very important part of the family. When he tried to bring up getting a motel room a few weeks after living with the Grants, he was begged to stay by Harry and May, so he agreed.
Christmas came around quicker than any of them realised. One night, when Evan had a shift at work but Athena didn’t, the four Grants were eating dinner at the table when Athena brought up Evan leaving for the SEALs in a month. In an instant the mood fell.
“It’s too bad we can’t just adopt Evan and have him stay forever,” May said. Athena chuckled.
“We can’t just turn around and adopt him, Evan’s a grown man. There’s paperwork and we’d need lawyers, it’s not just as simple as asking him,” she explained.
“So you’re saying we can’t adopt Evan?” Harry asked.
“... No. I’m saying we’re gonna ask him first, and then go get some damn adoption papers,” Athena told him.
Harry, May, and Michael all did fist pumps and exclaimed “YES!”, and Athena burst into laughter.
The decision was unanimous, so the very next day Athena and Michael got themselves a lawyer. It took them just a week to get all of the paperwork sorted, to get their signatures on the forms. On Christmas, as everyone was opening their presents - Evan had brought a gift for everyone, but he hadn’t expected to be given presents from the Grants - Harry and May presented him with the adoption papers and asked him to be their brother.
Evan signed the papers that very morning. The paperwork was submitted two days later when the office reopened, and though it took a month for the adoption to become official, December 27th was the day they all celebrated.
And so, Evan Buckley became Evan Grant. He was Evan Grant for three years, but after deciding not to become a SEAL, some more travels across the States and a summer in Peru, Evan decided to take back his birth name, much to Athena's surprise.
"It's not that I don't love being a part of the family, I do!" Evan insisted, "I love you guys so much, but if I'm gonna be a firefighter, I wanna make my own way in the job, y'know what I mean?"
Athena did know what he meant. She knew that she had a lot of friends in the fire department and being related to her, even just by name, could lead to some people giving Evan extra credit he didn't earn just because of a name. Evan wanted to do this himself and Athena was proud of him for that.
As Athena wandered the chaos-filled streets of Los Angeles, destruction from the tsunami around her, she couldn’t help but think back to that day; the day Evan told her he wanted to become a firefighter. She had told Evan that day how proud she was of him, but looking back, she felt as though she hadn’t said it enough. She hadn’t told Evan how much she loved him enough. Her heart clenched. She wiped away the tears threatening to fall from her eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed on.
“EVAN! CHRISTOPHER!”