A/N ~ A Bathena short that take place during episode 6. It's a continuation of the scene where Bobby saw May in her Homecoming dress and was reminded of his daughter Brook. This hasn't been beta'd so please forgive any grammar mistakes.

Hope you enjoy. Leave a review if you do.

I do not own 9-1-1 or any of its characters.

Bobby sat at his dining table, his eyes darting from his cell phone to the unopened bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey that sat in front of him. Athena was calling, but so was the sweet oblivion he knew the alcohol would bring.

He'd told her that he wanted to get to bed early for his shift, and it was what he'd planned to do, but ten minutes into his drive home, his truck steered into the direction of the ABC store and he made a beeline for the whiskey.

He hadn't been able to open it since he brought it home, even though he swore it was audibly telling him to.

The phone finally stopped ringing and he stared at the missed call notification. It was half past one in the morning, he was tired, but couldn't sleep and he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He hunched his shoulders, elbows on the table and clasped his head in his hands.

Just one drink.

Just. One.

The phone rang again, only this time the sound seemed more shrill and insistent. It was Athena again. Suddenly he felt guilt, not the usual reproach and shame he felt over causing the death of his kids, but guilt because he knew he promised Athena that he wouldn't touch this stuff again, but here he was on the verge of breaking that promise.

Some hero he was.

He thought about letting it go to voicemail again. He had told her he was going to bed, but a soft voice in his ear urged him to pick it up.

"Hey," he answered, quietly. "Everything alright?"

"You tell me."

He was silent, and then let out a long, heavy sigh.

"You're not asleep," she said.

"Neither are you."

"I was worried about you." He let her words wash over him, took them in in silence. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm here. I'm here for you. And you need to know that you don't always have to be strong all the time. You don't have to be a rock and shield me from what's going on in your heart and in your mind, because whatever you got going on, I'm in it with you."

He felt tears sting his eyes. He looked at the bottle and pushed it out of his line of sight.

"You still there?" she asked.

"I am."

"You think you're gonna be alright? I need you to be alright."

Her voice was so soft, gentle. It was like a verbal hug, the touch that he didn't know he needed. He smiled. Chuckled softly.

"Yeah. I'm alright, baby. You made it alright."

"That's good," she said with a smile in her voice. "That's what I wanna hear."

"Thank you."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Nothing will be able to keep me away."

"Goodnight, Bobby."

"Goodnight, baby."

He hung up and placed the phone on the table in front of him. He stared at the bottle again, but reached for it this time to open it. He got up from the table slowly and poured the contents of it down the drain. As the liquid circled the drain, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

Behind him, his phone dinged.

Sweet dreams…a message from Athena.

"Sweet dreams, honey."