Work Text:
A month ago…
“I’m doing this because I’m selfish! I can’t lose anyone else!”
Athena doesn’t know if she can get it across any more obvious than this. She knew she needed to be mostly ready to go out there because Hen was going to fight her on it. She knew this. Athena did not, however, mean to explode at Hen like that, but Hen just doesn’t get it. What else is there for her to do? Could she even survive another person she loves dying? No. No, she doesn’t think so. That’s why it has to be her.
Honestly, Athena doesn’t really remember much of what happened out there. Not only was her air supply almost shut off, her mind wandered off as well. And she almost let it.
It would have been too easy for her to get lost in her memories and slowly rejoin those she loved and lost. Time became nonlinear; the her of the past and the her of the present melded into one. One big ball of pain. She went through so much pain. So much loss. And for what? What was it all for anyway?
As she lived in the memories of her old work partner, of Emmett, of Bobby, Athena was ready to let go. To get away from all the pain and loss.
But then she remembered her babies. She remembered all the good that came after those tragedies that she thought she would never get past. She finally let Michael in, let him take her out on a date. Which led to her beautiful babies. Even from the tragedy, beauty arises. She held onto this thought and accepted Hen’s help and got back into the space station.
—
In the Present…
Life was going okay. She got back onto solid ground with her kids, she’s finally starting to live her life a little more. Which is why when her next Low hits, she does not expect it.
Though she really should have what with the holidays approaching.
She appreciates May and Harry trying to involve her in planning for Thanksgiving. She even told them to involve her. But. But how is she meant to get through this family-focused holiday without all of her family? She knows that she’ll have her kids there. That every couple of the 118 has invited her to join in on their plans. Or to even have a big 118 family dinner. Which. Sounds even worse honestly.
She starts noticing the little moments of her own apathy again.
She’ll respond to calls not really worried about the danger. She’ll dream of space and wonder why she didn’t just stay. When it would have been so easy. Athena is glad she didn’t though because Hen would have blamed herself since she was the one who was meant to go out there. And told Athena to come back in because her oxygen was low.
She dreams of the house fire.
How if Bobby just left her there then she wouldn’t be going through any of this. But then he would've had to go through this. But what if they both just drowned on the cruise ship– NO. No. She is not thinking that way. Any universe Bobby dies—even if it was them going out together—is unacceptable. Which is what makes the universe she’s living in so hard. She’s living that reality.
Sometimes she’ll cross the street without looking and won’t get hit and be a little disappointed. With all the calls she’s responded to where people are hit crossing the street, and she just magically never does. Which. Again. Is okay. Great, even. Because she doesn’t actually want to die. Just. It would be easier for Athena if it were to just…happen.
Athena is well aware that this line of thinking is dangerous and she really needs to talk to someone and get a handle on it. She usually can get over it herself, so that’s what she’s been hoping for this time.
She just tries not to think about the short time between this set of lows—only a matter of weeks.
—
Athena can tell that Buck is itching to talk to her. He keeps giving her Looks and will take aborted steps toward her when they’re in a room together. It pains her to say it, but she REALLY hopes he doesn’t. Because she knows exactly what—who—he wants to talk about.
And…he probably also has noticed her lack of care recently. Like recognizes like and all that. Which makes her want to be able to talk to him and soothe him because she knows Bobby was like a father to him and that Eddie and Chris leaving really messed him up. Set him back mentally. But– She doesn’t know if she wants to open that can of worms because she knows he will turn it back on her. Buck will help anyone else out before he even thinks about himself.
Oh Lord. Look at that, like she called him over with her mind, Buck starts walking over to her with purpose.
Athena knows the others see her as a sort of matriarch of the group. An unshakeable police sergeant who is the rock when the others need her.
They’ve been treating her with widow gloves since the lab but she knows at their core they believe she’s rock solid at hers. She’s not so sure about that anymore.
Athena doesn’t know if she has any advice or ability to talk about any serious subjects with Buck today. Or any day honestly. Buck is too similar to her, too similar to Bobby and she just can’t handle it. She hates that. Hates that she dreads when he’s in the same room as her, nervous when he looks her way.
Buck’s nervous energy is radiating off him. She can feel his approach. “Athena, hi.” He made it. He finally broke through the invisible barrier she’s had since Bobby…since then.
She starts speaking without even meaning to, “Hello Buck, how’ve you been baby?” Okay, that was a sufficiently normal response. Athena hopes her face is doing the same thing. She really does care how he’s doing! She does! She just does not want to talk about it.
“Eddie and Chris have to leave soon so Chris can go to bed. He has plans with his friends early tomorrow so we somehow convinced him to go to bed early so the drive he’s making with his friend’s family won’t be too terrible.”
Wow, okay, Athena wasn’t really expecting Buck to start right into a conversation. Honestly though, that is fine because that gives her something to latch on in safe territory.
“Oh? Where is he going?” It’s like Buck was just waiting for her to ask, he went on to explain in detail Chris’s plans.
It’s pretty sweet actually. It’s been an open secret for years that those boys are a family. Well open and obvious to everyone but them it seems. Actually, that might be wrong. Athena thinks they know they’re a family, they just don’t know. As was all evidenced by what happened when Chris and then Eddie left for Texas.
“...but anyways that doesn’t matter because my house is haunted.” What? Hold on. “Buck honey…did you just say your house is haunted?”
And that is how Athena found herself in the know that Buck has been continuing to live with his Diaz boys for months longer than he let on. And that apparently his new house is haunted? Damn. This is what happens when Athena checks out a little too much, she misses all the juicy gossip. She needs to find Hen to discuss this development. Now.
—
Athena was worried about the wrong person coming to talk to her.
She knew Hen was going to leave it be. She’s opened up to her a little and Hen knows Athena will come to her if it gets to be too much. Maybe with a little prompting, but in the end it always happens.
She was worried about Buck and all she got with their first conversation in many months was information about Eddie and Christopher and their lives. And Buck’s haunted house. Oh that boy. He always manages to surprise her.
However, Athena did not expect Eddie Diaz to walk up to her. Though really, she should have. Who else is both unexpected but also has so much life experience that should not be allowed in a man of his age. Of course, he’s lost his wife. He’s been grieving her for many years now, only recently getting more of a healthy hold on it.
He thinks she doesn’t know about his illegal adventures back when Shannon died. She’s sure him and Bobby had an unspoken agreement that it would not be brought up as long as he got the help he needed. But Athena doesn’t need her husband to tell her things. She means she didn’t need–
Anyways, nobody needs to tell her these things. Athena knows. Athena always finds out. She doesn’t judge, she just. Keeps an eye on everyone to make sure they’re alright. That’s all. And that they weren’t in any sort of trouble.
Eddie starts his conversation much like Buck did—“Hello Athena, how are you?”—just worse. She already knows—she KNOWS—he’s about to be the one to bring it up.
She’s still caught off guard when he says, “I know you’ve been avoiding Buck because you don’t want to talk about it. But I think you need to. It doesn’t have to be with him. Or me. Or any of us. Honestly, maybe even an outside person who didn’t know him would be better.”
“HA!” Oh shoot, that was her. “Sorry Eddie, what I mean by that is I think it’s a little funny that you! You are the one telling me I should go to therapy right now. Wow, I’m sorry, but wow.”
Oh Lord, she can’t stop giggling and people are starting to look their way. She feels bad too, because she knows Eddie meant it and she not only laughed in his face, she also put him down. “Um. That’s okay Athena, I know I’m not—I’m not really the one to have the experience to show for it, but it is really important. And I mean. I didn’t mean you had to talk to a therapist.” Oh there’s his little snarl he doesn’t realize he makes when talking about therapy, how precious.
“Eddie. Eddie baby, who else could I possibly talk to that is a stranger? If I wanted to, I mean.” She’s not doing any better, but Eddie will have to forgive her because she’s lost. Oh interesting, now he’s looking sheepish. “Oh…uh…” Athena could almost giggle if it didn’t make her feel terrible, now it’s Eddie who’s deflecting.
“Hey guys! Eddie, it’s almost time to leave to bring Chris home. Sorry Athena, I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.” Oh Buck. Ohh Buck. Athena wishes she could believe him but she just knows that he saw his man floundering and came to his rescue.
“Oh Buck,” Athena can’t help herself, “I didn’t realize you were going home too? I thought you came with Maddie and Chim?” Athena can see the gears turning in Buck’s brain as he tries to figure out what to say.
Eddie answers first, of course, “oh well he has to be there in the morning to see Chris off so we’re all leaving now to get an early start for bed.” Athena sees Buck’s eyes look caught for a split second before he agrees with Eddie and they say their goodbyes and leave Athena to herself.
So. Eddie doesn’t know that she knows. Meaning, it’s probably not meant to be common knowledge that Buck is still living with Eddie…interesting. Athena might have just found a new distraction.
—
If you asked Athena what she’d be doing the next night, she would not have told you she was making an unannounced stop at the Buckley-Diaz house (please, everyone knows that’s what it actually is). She knows Chris is still gone on his weekend trip, Buck made sure of that, oh my Lord, and Athena is maybe a little curious what the boys will be up to…
It isn’t until she pulls up on the street outside the house that she realizes what a weird thing she’s doing this is.
And even if her motives weren’t, let’s say, interesting, what if—what if there actually is something going on in that house? What if they’re having a moment, or WORSE! A series of moments of the more adult variety!
Oh God. Athena needs to leave right now. And quit staring at the curtains to see if she can catch any movement. She knows people make jokes about her bending the law as a cop, but. This. This is too much. And creepy.
What Athena fails to notice while she’s in the middle of convincing herself to leave, is that the front door opens and Eddie walks out. She’s completely oblivious—what a cop she is huh?—until there’s a knock on her window. She’ll only admit to jumping a *little* okay?
Rolling down her window in defeat she sees Eddie standing there with his arms crossed. She can’t tell if it’s out of nervousness or from the cool night air, but she knows he isn’t angry with her.
Eddie breaks the silence, “Athena, hello. Would you like to come inside or would you rather sit here all night? Buck is pouring wine and making a charcuterie board for us.”
Oh no. No way. “Oh no, Eddie, I was just leaving. I don’t want to bother–” Athena didn’t even get halfway through her sentence before Eddie interrupted her with an “Athena just come in, Buck will be happy to see you.”
Well alright. She wanted to see what was going on with these two and this would be a perfect excuse to observe them some more. Even if she is a little mortified at being caught.
Athena notices the night air is warm as she walks to the front door. So Eddie was nervous, not cold. She doesn’t know what to do with that.
—
The first thing she notices when she walks in is the homey feel. The soft lamp light, a fireplace with crackling playing on the television, the soft throw blankets on the couch. She…she feels like she walked in on something private. Athena knows her goal is to see what the boys know and to maybe even try and nudge them together a bit but…but could they already be there? Or on the precipice?
She needs to leave.
“It looks like you boys were having a nice night in, I’m just going to head home now…” She hears Buck yell “wait! Athena, could you come here please?” from the kitchen.
What she sees when she enters actually makes her want to laugh because it’s so ridiculous. She recognizes someone trying to impress a date when she sees one.
“Buck, honey please just stop for a second. What is happening right now?” Athena immediately goes into triage mode. The kitchen is a mess. And she’s not just talking about there being bits of cheese and meat around, maybe some grapes on the floor. No. She is seeing…flour??…everywhere, what appears to be three large mixing bowls in the sink, what appears to be egg on the fridge, strawberries strewn about the room like they just exploded in every direction. “Buck, I thought you were making a charcuterie board?”
Absolute silence engulfs the kitchen. It drags on so long Athena starts to ask if she should ask Eddie to come in before Buck finally responds with a swift and sharp “NO!”
She waits for him to explain. To say anything, because right now she is at a loss. He called her in here sounding almost panicked and Athena sees *that* look in his eyes that she sometimes sees at work when people are about to snap.
Thankfully Buck starts to ramble before she had to try and coax it out of him, “I was supposed to…but the meat and cheese I bought at the store today was not the good stuff. And the strawberries were too tart and Eddie doesn’t like tart strawberries, he only likes the sweet ones. I—I just wanted to have a good board and I couldn’t even do that. So I tried to make little red velvet cupcakes instead since those are Eddie’s favorite right now. But I got distracted by the terrible charcuterie board that the cupcakes burned. So.”
Oh. So he is capital P Panicking. Athena has seen him like this a few times but she’s never had to deal with it alone.
“Baby, please take deep breaths, you are okay.” Buck’s eyes start to water before he says, “but Athena, the cakes! The board is terrible. The strawberries are disgusting. Next the wine is going to be sour or something. Since everything else has gone wrong!”
Okay. She has to tread lightly here. But she needs to ask.
“Is this a date? Are you making all this for Eddie because you guys are having a date right now?”
There’s a moment of silence before Buck responds. “…No. We’re not…no. I just. I just wanted to have a nice night with Chris out of the house and nothing else going on. That’s all.”
Athena sees how Buck deflates with the statement. She pushes a little harder, “do you want it to be one? You know it’s okay if you do? It wouldn’t be so crazy.” Buck jolted backwards and looked like a deer in headlights. Athena inched toward him with her hands extended in a placating manner like she was trying to soothe a frightened animal.
Before she could say anything Buck asked her something that made her pause: “Did you talk to Maddie? Did she put you up to this?” Buck’s agitation level is increasing like he’s being backed into a corner.
Athena is quick to soothe, “of course not Buck, I don’t make a habit of talking behind people’s backs.” And before she could stop it from leaving her mouth, “well now anyway since I don’t really have anyone to talk to anymore.” Oh. Damn. She was so scared Buck was going to be the one to bring it up and here it was her. Figures.
A look passed across Buck’s face so fast Athena didn’t have time to recognize it. It unsettled her a little. “That’s not true Athena. And you know it. We are all here to listen to anything you have to say, anytime. And I think you know that.”
Oh. She recognizes the look now. Determination mixed with both sadness and understanding. “No Buck I know, I didn’t mean to say that–”
Buck cuts her off gently but firmly. “Athena. There’s no reason to pretend. We have all been struggling and you’ve been keeping it inside. Just because you haven’t said any of it aloud doesn’t mean it’s not real. That it’s not there.” It’s her turn to stare at Buck in silence. She doesn’t know how to respond to that.
Eddie takes that opportune moment to knock on the kitchen door, “Buck? Can I come in now? Are you guys alright?” Athena sneaks a glance at Buck before he quickly responds, “no wait! I’m alright! Athena and I are just talking, we’ll be right out!” Eddie mutters an “okay…” before Athena hears the sound of his footsteps walking toward his couch.
“Athena…”
“Sooo Buck…” Athena just wants to know! Maybe if she got Buck talking again–
“Athena. Please don’t change the subject.” Buck is throwing his big blue puppy dog eyes at her, and Lord, she’s going to cave, she can feel it. “It would make me feel better if we talked about it,” oh he’s pulling out the big guns, “could we? I know Eddie would listen too if you wanted to come sit with us and drink wine!”
Athena doesn’t know what possesses her when she hears herself agree.
She helps Buck clean the kitchen in record time—being a mother comes in handy you know—before bringing the food and wine to the living room. She doesn’t know what Buck was thinking, the cakes were only a little burnt and the strawberries were delicious (she had to do a little taste test of everything before Buck agreed to bring them out, of course).
Oh! And would you look at that, Eddie practically jumped over the coffee table to grab a cake and moaned so loud she felt the vibrations through the floor over where she was sat in the armchair. Eddie went bright red, and okay, that was a little amusing.
“Ehm, sorry Athena,” Eddie started to apologize before Athena waved him off with a “this is nothing new to me Eddie, I know the sounds of someone enjoying their food.” She couldn’t help but giggle a bit, but she thinks she did fine reassuring him.
Ah, yep. And there’s Buck looking pleased as punch that his man is enjoying his baking he thought he destroyed. Ugh. These boys are so obviously in love.
“Sorry again to barge in on you boys again, but I must say, this worked out for me,” Athena says while eating her cupcake and wow, she understands Eddie’s reaction. Buck is practically on cloud nine so figures it's her motherly duty to bring him down a peg.
“So Buck, I bet you’re glad I came so I could help you.” Oooh he’s giving her a glare, how adorable. “If it wasn’t for me baby, you would have tossed everything!”
As she expected her statement is immediately followed by a—
“YOU WERE GOING TO THROW AWAY MY CAKES??” Eddie is aghast, the poor boy.
“No!!” Buck retorts. “I wasn’t going to throw them away,” he shoots the cutest glare at Athena, “I was just sad I burnt them. I wouldn’t have gotten rid of them completely!” He stops to think before adding on, “well I guess Athena did stop me from trying to make another batch, but that’s it!”
Oh look at that, nobody is surprised, Eddie is looking at Buck fondly again. They are going to be sickening when they finally get together, Athena knows that as fact. Oh my Lord.
The rest of the night passes with Athena drinking copious amounts of wine and her eating most of the charcuterie board since Eddie took the rest of the cupcakes for himself after everyone got one.
Karen actually came to pick her up and bring her home since Hen was apparently already sleeping off her night out with Chimney. Athena tried telling Karen she didn’t need to walk her inside but she did anyway. It’s always nice to chat with Karen, she should do more wine nights with both the Wilson’s.
Eventually Karen leaves and Athena falls asleep, exhausted from not only the full belly and wine, but also from having the most social interaction she’s had at once in a long time. Since. Well. Since it happened.
—
A few weeks pass, slow as molasses.
Even when she went back to work, it was like she was in a fog. As much fun as she had with her wine night with Buck and Eddie and her conversation with Karen, it feels like those interactions completely zapped any energy she had left.
Even if they technically aren’t “together” they might as well be. Buck and Eddie are so comfortable around each other and make each other so happy. Which is beautiful to see, but it’s like her mind did a complete 180 and the dread is back. But now it’s not only the—um, the incident, but also now she dreads seeing people in love. Who click. Who are able to be there for each other and go through life together.
And that’s not even just Buck and Eddie. It’s all of her friends.
She clocks into work, says hi to Rick in the hall, drives around, responds to calls, goes home, eats, sleeps, and repeats that routine over and over until suddenly it’s been two weeks since her night at the Diaz house.
Apparently Captain Maynard noticed Athena going through motions day after day and forced her to take a few days off to rest. Which she does not need, thank you very much. It gives her too much time to think. And makes her a sitting duck for when someone finally comes to check on her since she hasn’t been answering any calls.
—
She wasn’t sure exactly who she was expecting, besides maybe her kids or Hen, but she was not expecting to see Eddie Diaz on her doorstep.
“Hi Athena, hope I’m not interrupting anything,” oh that sweet boy trying to act natural, bless him, “I was in the area so I figured I’d stop by.”
She lets his obvious lie go and invites him inside. It wasn’t until she shut the door that she noticed he had a bag of trail mix. He follows her gaze and blushes before saying, “I can’t cook or bake like Buck so I just stopped at the store and got some of the trail mix we like.”
We like, he said, hmm. The trail mix is obviously from that health food store Buck likes so much and Eddie hadn’t even known it existed before he started grocery shopping with Buck. Those boys are married and don’t even know it. They just click.
“I know what it’s like more than everyone else. To lose a spouse.”
Athena was shocked. Not again. She’s still recovering from her shock at him just saying the thing she’s been tiptoeing around when he continues: “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but you have to. Please take it from me. We’ve all noticed you starting to slip away from us again and I’d like to help if I can.”
She almost shuts him down automatically, but then thinks a little. Maybe this is the raft she needs to take. She knows he would want her to. He would want her to get better and to grieve and to, eventually, move on. Maybe by talking with someone who has lost his spouse too.
Though it’s not really the same is it? Eddie and Shannon were not together like her and Bobby. They were trying, but Shannon was going to leave him and Chris again before she died.
But then again, that in itself is a whole different can of worms when it comes to grief.
“Eddie. Let me just get this out before you interrupt or add anything okay?” Eddie nods and settles into the couch. She can tell he’s a bit surprised it was that easy, but he looks so open, so welcoming, that she just can’t help herself.
Athena takes a deep breath and tells Eddie her reservations with his statement that what he went through with Shannon is the same, with the caveat that she understands that it is more of a defense mechanism on her part than an actual critique of comparing their situations.
She then tells him how the world stopped while at the same time, for everyone else, it kept moving.
She notices a tear slip down Eddie’s cheek when she says that. She pushes herself on and tells him the surface level details of how it seems like everyone else wants to move on and is disappointed she won’t. That she can’t. Even her children. Her best friend. The 118.
She then tells him it’s hard to be around everybody for precisely that reason.
How is she meant to be around people who are also trying to move on but also seem like they’re leagues ahead of her? Who still laugh, who still leave the house, who still attend social gatherings, who still work at the station where a major hole rips through the air. She can tell Eddie wants to interrupt—likely to tell her that this isn’t the case—but he keeps his word and stays silent.
Athena remembers Bobby telling her a high level overview about Eddie’s post-Shannon coping mechanisms. She knows that Eddie has a history with self destructive behaviors. How he had to go to therapy or lose his job.
She doesn’t really want to tell him this part. She doesn’t want to mention *that* aspect of their similarities. She knows he won’t be mad—anymore at least—that Bobby told her. That’s not what she’s worried about. She’s not worried about him being mad, embarrassed, no.
She’s worried about him seeing her even more clearly than he already does.
“Athena?”
Oh! She must have been silent for too long, now Eddie must think she’s either done and he can say his piece or….or he knows she’s holding back and is urging her on. Honestly, she doesn’t know which scenario she prefers.
She’s actually regretting opening up so much now. Oh no. Oh no, she should not have done that. Great. She does not want to clarify anything, does not want to discuss anything.
Eddie’s looking at her worriedly now, “Athena I can see you’re kind of panicking, but it’s okay. I’m not here to judge, tell you off, or anything like that. I’m just here to listen and help you maybe realize that you’re not alone and I am here with my own similar, though not synonymous, experiences.”
“Eddie…I know– I just…this is hard.”
That’s all Athena can get out. The woman who everyone looks to to fix things, to be the strong one, can’t even finish a sentence. How far she has fallen. She hasn’t stopped falling since the lab. And now she can see Eddie looking at her with pity—wait, no, understanding. Both equally terrible, in her opinion.
“Did Cap ever tell you about my—my time in the underground fighting ring?” Eddie asked Athena, so nervously she felt a little bad for him. She realizes that she is a cop and that it’s probably scary as hell to admit something like this to her, especially considering the fact he almost killed someone and got really lucky he didn’t face any jail time.
Softly she responds, “just the broad points, baby. I know about how he found out and how he had to sit you down and make you deal with the emotional turmoil you were dealing with at the time.”
He looked relieved that he wouldn’t have to do a deep dive into the subject for her. But he does surprise her with what he says next. “Do you know about my mental breakdown after the shooting?”
Athena looks at him shocked and stutters out a “n– no?” He didn’t look surprised. He tells her about how the shooting affected his mental health so much that he was scared to go outside. He was scared he was going to leave his son without a father. So he quit the 118 and moved to dispatch, which was where it got so much worse.
He told her about the panic attacks. About how he tried to reach out to the people he saved from the helicopter and that they had all died since he last spoke to them. One in particular his breaking point. How that led to him taking a baseball bat to his room and Chris calling Buck in absolute fear. How Buck told him he wasn’t sure what he was going to find on the other side of the door. How a lot of healing had to be done, and how being a firefighter again helped. Being with his family.
The entire time Eddie told Athena his story she was on the verge of tears. She cannot believe that this all happened and she was completely in the dark.
Thinking back, she does remember Bobby being upset after a conversation with Eddie and Eddie not being around the 118 as much during his time at dispatch. But what she didn’t realize was how much he was struggling.
So maybe he does understand the unspeakable things that Athena keeps to herself. Maybe he would be a good person to talk to. Who would understand and not be preachy about going to therapy (while it did help him, she can tell he did not like it).
Athena breaks and spills it all, baring their similarities for them both to see. They continued talking long into the night with her many emotions exposed and discussed. Maybe…maybe this really was just what she needed.
—
A couple months later…
If someone asked the Athena of a few months ago if she thought she’d be where she is today, she would have positively told them no. Well, mostly.
The part of the day she isn’t surprised of is its purpose: Buck and Eddie are going on their first “actual” date as an actual couple! Athena thinks it’s about time honestly.
She finds herself on her way over to the Buckley-Diaz house—that is the obvious next step, of course—to help Eddie get ready. Buck apparently had “plans before the plans,” whatever that means.
Anyway, Eddie asked her to come over—to her surprise—and help him get ready for their mystery date. Athena thinks he actually just needs someone to calm him down, but she’s willing to play along for his sake.
Athena thinks back on the last few months and how much of a help her entire 118 family was, but Eddie especially.
She did not think she’d ever open up like that, especially to someone she knows. But she’s happy she did. Having Eddie in her corner has been nothing short of amazing. She’s learned more about him in the last couple months than she has the entire time since he joined the 118 years ago.
There have been numerous wine nights, game nights, or just plain old coffee dates where the two of them would get together and just talk about whatever they wanted. Mostly never to do with anything in their pasts, but it helped. Athena hates to admit it, but it helped to talk to someone else.
Occasionally they would be joined by other members of their crew. Don’t get her wrong, she still has terrible days, but at least she knows there’s multiple people who will check in on her. And Eddie knows *just* what wine and charcuterie board mix she loves and will be there the next day.
While she went through so much pain and loss, she knows what it was all for: all the moments in between.