Work Text:
“I just don’t like them.” Buck whined as they pulled up to the weird building they’d been called to. “I mean, come on, our job is enough of an escape room, right?”
“They’re fun.” Hen said, rolling her eyes at him. “Karen had a great time the last one we went to.”
“Maddie was pretty bored the whole time.” Chim frowned, narrowing his eyes at Buck. “Is it a Buckley thing? Not liking fun things?”
“It’s not fun!” Buck exclaimed indignantly. “You go in a room, solve puzzles, and unlock the door. It’s boring.”
“No point arguing, guys.” Eddie said, shaking his head. “He wouldn’t even go to one with Christopher.”
“You turned down Chris?” Bobby asked incredulously as they grabbed some gear and headed inside. “That’s not something we ever hear about.”
“It’s the only time he’s stuck to a no.” Eddie agreed. “When Marisol heard and offered to go, I swear I thought he was having a full-on teenage tantrum.”
“I did try to talk to him about that.” Buck bit his lip.
“What’d he say?” Hen asked curiously.
“Said her relationship was with me, not him, and he had no interest in changing that.” Eddie shrugged. “He told her he had me and Buck as parental figures and he didn’t want another one or to have an adult as a friend in any way because it was weird.”
“Christopher said that?” Chim asked, looking oddly proud.
“She tried telling him it was ok that Buck was like an Uncle, that she could be more of a motherly figure, but that set him off even more.” Eddie said, giving her a disbelieving look. “He straight up said he had a mom already and didn’t need another one, especially with a second dad, before slamming the door to his room.”
“Guys, this place is hella creepy.” Buck frowned, looking around the entrance of the escape room place; the entrance that was weirdly empty and quiet. “LAFD!” he called out, hoping someone would respond.
“Dispatch said it was potentially a medical call, but that it had cut out before they could verify much.” Bobby said, shining his flashlight around. “Hen, Chim, take the right, see if you can find anything, Eddie, Buck, same on the left. Radio back what you find.”
“Roger that, Cap.” Buck nodded, knocking his arm with Eddie’s as they took off.
“Don’t think this gets you out of telling us how Marisol reacted, Eddie.” Hen called through the radio.
“Yeah, spill the tea, Diaz.” Chim followed.
“Short version, she refused to be in a relationship with someone who wouldn’t correct their child on who their parental figures were meant to be, so we broke up.” Eddie sighed as he answered.
“Long version?” Hen pressed.
“Long version, she demanded I call Buck right then and tell him he wasn’t Christopher’s other dad. Then she wanted me to reprimand Chris for saying what he did about her place there, and the potential for her to one day be a mother figure.” Eddie grumbled. “I refused, obviously, because Buck’s been at our house, like, three nights a week for the past six almost seven years, while another two nights are usually at his place. Chris already gets unhappy with me if we change any of that for dates. She was pretty pissed at the idea of me being ok giving my son two dads instead of a father and mother.”
“That’s really shitty, Eddie.” Hen said apologetically.
“Also totally explains the answer to the questions we had about the good cop bad cop thing from a few years back.” Chim pitched in.
“None of us really knew how Buck would know that dynamic.” Bobby added.
“Buck’s the good cop.” Eddie said, smirking when Buck stuck his tongue out.
“I’ve tried being the bad cop, but I always feel so guilty.” Buck commented.
“Cap, there’s no one here.” Chim called. “We’re heading back to you.”
“Same here.” Eddie said, when they’d looked through the final room.
“I’ll let dispatch know.” Bobby said.
“Wait, did you hear that?” Buck asked, stopping Eddie and looking back in one of the rooms. He could swear he heard a small noise, like a whimper, barely audible, really. He tilted his head as he went further in, listening for the sound again. He turned his radio down, almost off, so it wouldn’t interfere. Eddie followed silently behind him, trusting his hearing implicitly. He heard it again and stepped closer to the back wall. He put his ear against it and heard it again. “Something in the wall.” Buck felt around and found a switch that slid it out of place, revealing another chamber.
“Cap, we got a hidden room.” Eddie called from behind him.
“LAFD, call out!” Buck called, stepping through, Eddie right at his back. Buck shined his flashlight around, but there wasn’t anything obvious that he could see. He stumbled a little when the floor tilted, but Eddie steadied him. Until the entire floor tilted under both of them and sent them sprawling down like pinballs. Buck grunted when Eddie landed on top of him.
“Mmph!” Buck looked up to see three people bound and gagged in the room that they had been dropped into.
“Buck, I’m not superstitious, and I’m not feeding into your delusion,” Eddie grumbled, getting off of him and helping him to his feet, “but I’m willing to consider a potential witch-doctor type fix for your luck at this point.”
“That’s probably fair.” Buck snorted, before kneeling down by the closest person and pulling their gag off. “I’m firefighter Buckley, this is my partner, firefighter Diaz. Can you tell us what happened?”
“I don’t really know.” The guy said, looking relieved that they would be free soon. “The rooms were all cleared out, we were just shutting everything up for the night when it all got kinda hazy.”
“Are you high?” Eddie asked curiously, pulling the gags off of the other two.
“We usually share a joint at the end of the night.” A girl answered. “But that was hours ago. Yeah, I know, weed leaves a weird smell as it is, but there was some other smell before we passed out and woke up here. Something more sweet.”
“Could have been a gas.” Buck offered, undoing the ropes around their hands and feet, checking them over, while Eddie did the same.
“Cap, come in.” Eddie said, keying his radio.
“Where’d you guys go, Eddie?” Bobby called back.
“There’s a latch in the third room on the left, it opens the wall up.” Buck answered. “All we did was step through and look around and the floor tilted and dropped us somewhere.”
“Status?” Hen cut in.
“We’re fine.” Eddie said, rolling his eyes so Buck could see. “Found three workers who claim there was some sort of gas that knocked them out before they woke up bound and gagged down here.”
“They’re fine, if a little high.” Buck added.
“Superficial injuries from being bound.” Eddie agreed.
“See if you can find a safe way out, we’ll look on our end. Unless they have a suggestion?” Bobby asked.
“We didn’t even know this place was here!” The guy exclaimed getting a little hysterical. “This is just a summer job, ok? And they only just opened last year!”
“It’s fashioned after a lot of disasters that have hit the city over the years.” The other girl added. “This is below the earthquake room, meant to be reminiscent of the 7.1 we had way back when.”
“My second week on the job.” Eddie snorted.
“Then there’s the tsunami room.” The girl who hadn’t spoken added.
“Glad we stayed away from that one.” Buck grimaced.
“There’s also a flood room, like when the dam broke.” The guy continued. “And a sort of cave-in room.”
“Sounds like our greatest hits.” Eddie frowned.
“What do you mean?” The guys asked cautiously as he stood up.
“The 7.1 that hit was me and Eddie’s first big call as partners.” Buck elaborated. “I was still recovering from an … accident on the job when the tsunami hit so I was on the pier while Eddie was working rescue for it. When the dam broke, we had to stabilize a bus in the side of a building since the rush of the water somehow sent it off the freeway and into a skyscraper before rescuing anyone else caught in it. Eddie was practically buried alive when a well collapsed on him.”
“Oh god, tell me you weren’t involved in the freeway collapse?” The first girl pleaded.
“We were on the upper span when it happened, responding to an accident.” Eddie sighed. “Buck was the only one not really hurt during that.”
“Hey, I got struck by literal lightning a few months earlier. It’s probably a good thing I wasn’t hurt on that one or I’d never hear the end of it from anyone.” Buck argued.
“Son of a bitch!” Hen exclaimed, dropping in from another direction, rolling just in time to avoid Chim landing on her. Bobby slid down a few seconds later, looking frustrated.
“What did you touch, Chim?” Bobby asked in annoyance as he got up.
“It wasn’t me!” Chim defended. “We were still looking for the wall switch when the floor opened under us!”
“Does anyone know how we get out?” Bobby asked, looking at the three workers who were leaning against the wall.
“That’s pretty simple, Captain Nash.” A voice called through hidden speakers, making Chim yelp and Buck jump and bump into Eddie. “You solve the puzzle, you get out.”
“No, we were called for a medical emergency.” Buck argued, backing more against Eddie who had fisted his turnout coat in his hand and was holding him close.
“Solve the puzzles quickly enough and there won’t be one.” The voice said unconcernedly. There … was something niggling in Buck’s head about it. Like it was familiar to him somehow. “Now. It took some doing, but I believe I found enough applicable material to work with for this group. Apologies to Randy, Sarah, and Jamie for being caught in the middle. You’ll be compensated for your troubles, I promise.”
“Oh hell no.” Hen murmured.
“Once upon a time, there was a baby seal.” The man said, sounding a little too gleeful. Buck sucked in a breath. There was only one person in his life that he knew that ever called him ‘baby seal’. “And this baby seal was rather far from home, for the first time in his life, living out of a car, if you can believe it. This little guy was a fighter and survived almost five years of … well. There’s not really another way to say missions, so we’ll call them adventures. Baby seal managed to survive several of his adventures by the skin of his teeth.”
“Why are we talkin’ about a baby seal?” Chim asked confusedly.
“It’s a metaphor.” Buck rasped, swallowing thickly.
“Precisely.” The voice called back amusedly. “Baby seal ran here, there, and everywhere, before landing himself in the city of angels, deciding to try fighting fires. I managed to get close, you see? To catching my long lost baby seal, but then something I did not count on happened. He found a partner. This new partner stepped in and suddenly he was everywhere my baby seal went.”
“I’m not your baby SEAL!” Buck exclaimed finally, unable to keep it in.
“Buck?” Eddie questioned quietly.
“Oh, but you are.” The voice chuckled menacingly. “If it weren’t for you, I’d still have my team.”
“You fucked up!” Buck argued. “You were the one stealing artifacts and selling them off, you were the one that nearly got your team killed. I did them a favor by getting you called out on it.”
“Tsk-tsk, that’s no way to talk to your superior officer, baby seal.”
“You were dishonorably discharged and lost any rank you had.” Buck gritted his teeth.
“Buck, what the hell is going on?” Bobby demanded.
“I lied.” Buck croaked, looking around the room frantically for a way out. There was always a way out. “About not making it.”
“Buck.” Bobby exhaled in shock.
“I couldn’t tell you about it, Bobby, and you shouldn’t even know now, but fucking Thompson isn’t leaving me a choice!” Buck growled. “I’m calling this in as soon as we’re out of here.”
“Awe, don’t be such a killjoy, sunshine. Your little friends and family will get home nice and safe and sound. You and I have unfinished business, however. So. Back to the story. Baby seal was always in search of something, though he never seemed to know what it was. He was a clever little seal, though. He knew how to blend in and be the idiot that everyone seemed to think he was, hiding away the fact he had a higher IQ than probably half of his new team put together.”
“Buck.” Eddie hissed, yanking him closer when he’d taken a step away, ready to claw his way through the ceiling if he had to.
“There’s a passage, baby seal, that you can find. If you’re smart enough. Along the wall Captain Nash came through, there is a dial. Three tries to get the combination right, or the room fills with gas. Maybe it’s poisonous, maybe it’s simply a sedative. Around the room are various numbers that you can arrange to open the first passageway. You have five minutes.”
“What the hell is going on?” Chim asked, crossing his arms, but Buck was already moving, collecting the numbers he’d seen around the room to find the combination. There was a six, a nine, three two’s, and a zero. He shuffled them a few times to try and figure out the importance and groaned before going to the wall and finding the combination and inputting the order, pissed when he was right and the wall opened.
“Less than two minutes, well done.” Thompson purred through the speaker.
“Yeah, well, next time don’t use my fucking birthday.” Buck grumbled, leading the way down a short corridor and up a few stairs to another room. Once everyone was inside, the door slid shut, trapping them inside again.
“It’s important to know that baby seal never really had time or space to be a youngling. He was never allowed to watch television or movies, and was barely able to listen to music. Some of you will recognize this particular … scenario from a cult-classic film from the 80’s.”
“Oh my god.” Chim exclaimed wide-eyed as he looked at the floor.
“What, Chim?” Buck asked agitatedly.
“The Goonies.” He answered, as if that made sense.
“The what?” Buck tried not to growl his question, but he … was nearing the end of his patience with this whole escape room ordeal.
“You never saw ‘The Goonies’?” Randy asked, looking at him in shock.
“What the hell is a goonie?” Buck retorted.
“Why, it is you.” Thompson laughed delightedly. “Goonies never say die, after all. And I believe it’s safe to say that you, Petty Officer First Class Evan Buckley, are the same. You don’t know how to give up, you don’t know how to stop, always pushing forward, not just for yourself, but to save and protect those you see as yours. So. Play the tune, match note for note, and the next passage will be revealed.”
“Tell me you know how to play one of these instruments?” Chim pleaded. Buck frowned at him before looking around and seeing a piano and a drum set, along with a few guitars.
“What’s the music in front of?” Buck asked, instead of answering.
“Here.” Hen waved him to the drums.
“What the hell.” Buck groaned, sitting down on the stool and looking at the music.
“That’s a lot more complicated than the music in the movie.” Chim bit his lip.
“Never saw it.” Buck cracked his knuckles and picked up the sticks, twirling them around a few times to try and see if his fingers remembered how to do it. “Maybe fill me in on what happens if I fuck up?”
“In the movie the floor dropped out.” Chim said, edging closer to him. “Each wrong note led to a piece of the floor falling away into a deep cavern or hole of some kind.”
“Play the bones to get out.” Eddie agreed.
“Ok, well, everyone stay close, let’s see if I can still manage this.” Buck took a deep breath and let it out. He somewhat recognized the song, but couldn’t be entirely sure since it was just the drum part. He played, hitting the snare and cymbals and bass as the music called for, not daring to look around for the opening. Not until Bobby and Eddie stilled his hands. The floor shuddered when he stood up so everyone ran for the door that had appeared and Buck had to dive through, glad that Eddie and Bobby caught his arms when the floor under him disappeared and he tripped.
“That was awesome.” Chim said a little breathlessly as they walked further along. “I didn’t know you could play.”
“I can play everything that was in there.” Buck grumbled. “You’ve been around my parents enough by now you have to know, when Maddie left, and it was just us, that they would find ways for me not to be at the house. One of those ways was music lessons until I graduated high school.”
“No one would know that.” Chim argued. “You have never said anything other than they were absent when you and Maddie were kids and you’ve never said anything about the time it was just you and them.”
“Fine, it’s not something I talk about, just like Eddie never talks about being shot in front of me, just like none of us talk about me being struck by lightning, just like you never talked about Albert until he showed up, aside from Hen knowing about him. Just like Bobby never talks about his life in Minnesota. We all have shit we don’t talk about.”
“Awe, baby seal still not talking about how his parents threw him out at least three times before he left at the ripe old age of 19?” Thompson called out as they entered another room. “First time, baby seal was thrown out for joining the football team without permission. Second time, was for scoring so high on the PSAT that government agencies and collegiate administrators were trying to meet with him. The last time before he just left was for getting caught in a compromising position with the lacrosse goalie. Or was he the captain?”
“Why the fuck does that matter?” Buck asked in annoyance. “This is exactly how you lost your team. You led them through a civil war playing mind games instead of giving them direction and being a fucking team leader.”
“Just my bad luck that had you as the rendezvous point.” Thompson said disappointedly. “Anyone else would have given me a slap on the hand, at most, and set me to desk duty for a few months. But no, baby seal had to get everyone to open up to him and write their own reports about their perception of what happened.”
“How high was your PSAT?” The girl who had been very quiet asked.
“High enough.” Buck shrugged.
“Baby seal scored a 1527.” Thompson crowed.
“So?” Buck argued. “There were kids that got 1550 and higher, my score wasn’t special.”
“Buck, you’re a genius.” Bobby said proudly.
“No, a genius is anything over 180 IQ wise.” Buck grumbled.
“And baby seal only scored a 176.” Thompson tutted. “There is a place where the sidewalk ends, and before the street begins.” Buck swallowed thickly as the room they were in slowly started lighting up, but not with lights, with small fires; they looked like they were starting from phosphorus or something that produced a bright white flame initially. There was a path forward, but it was crumbling and there were chasms on either side of it. “And there the grass grows soft and white, and the sun burns crimson bright, and there the moon-bird rests in his flight, to cool in the peppermint wind.”
“Let us leave this place, where the smoke blows black and the dark street winds and bends;” Buck took a cautious step forward, indicating everyone to fall in line behind him and step where he stepped, trying not to think about the fire steadily climbing up the walls around them, “past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow, we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow. And watch where the chalk-white arrows go, to the place where the sidewalk ends.”
“Yes, we’ll walk a walk that is measured and slow,” Eddie continued, letting him know they were following his lead, “and we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go, for the children, they mark, and the children, they know, the place where the sidewalk ends.”
Buck slowed down a little when he spotted the gap and looked around to assess how close he could get. When he felt the ground below his foot give a little more than it should, he paused. The gap was only about five feet, so he knew he and Eddie could make it, probably Hen, Chim, and Bobby, too. But they had three civilians with them that they had to get out. There were a few anchored hooks over the door they needed to get through, though. Buck … hadn’t lassoed anything in literal years, but he had to make it so it was less of an issue if he or Bobby or any of them had to swing across with the scared civilians. He rolled his shoulders and pulled his rope off that he’d had slung across his body under his turnout coat, which he chucked off and grimaced when it fell into the chasm.
“Why the fuck do you have rope?” Chim laughed nervously.
“Well, Chim,” Buck said, looping the rope and swinging it over his head before launching it and catching the hooks, “I was working inventory before we got called out and I usually wrap it around myself to keep it from getting tangled. Sort of forgot I had it on me when we left, then it didn’t really matter because we were already here.”
“Name one thing we’re gonna need some stupid fuckin’ rope for?” One of the girls snorted before coughing from the smoke that was getting thicker.
“Eddie, you’re first.” Buck said, holding the rope. “Should only be about five feet, but-”
“I got it.” Eddie cut him off and they slid by each other, far closer than they ever normally were, which was saying a lot since they didn’t have personal space with each other. Eddie jumped across and turned back to help whoever was next.
“Chim.” Buck called, and it was actually easier for him to slip by since he was so much smaller than Buck or Eddie.
“Hen, next.” Chim grunted, once he was with Eddie.
“Buckeroo, you better know what you’re doin’.” Hen said quietly as she put her hands on him to keep them both steady as she passed by.
“You’re going to use the rope and swing across to them, ok?” Buck said, carefully pulling the first girl forward. She nodded and swung, Eddie and Chim catching her easily before sending the rope back to Buck, while the girl went closer to Hen. “Next.” Buck said, helping guide the other girl to grabbing the rope and waiting for her to swing over.
“I can’t do this.” Randy said, shaking his head once both the girls were across. “I could never even do the stupid rope climb at school and that rope had knots in it.”
“That’s ok.” Buck reassured.
“Buck’ll get you across.” Bobby said certainly, giving Buck a ‘don’t argue’ look. “Just hold on tight to him and he’ll get you on your feet.”
“Bobby-”
“Buck.” Bobby cut him off, giving him a harder look. “You’re the best chance. You’ve done rope rescues with stressed patients before, and more frequently than me in the last few years. You have the experience and qualifications. Get him across then move so I can jump over.”
“Ok.” Buck reluctantly agreed, nodding at him before looking at Randy. “You’re going to hold onto my neck and you’re going to wrap your legs around my waist. Ok?”
“In literally any other situation this would be a dream come true.” Randy groaned, putting his arms around Buck’s neck as directed and hopping up a little so Buck could hold him in place while still holding the rope.
“If it helps, keep your eyes closed.” Buck suggested, not surprised when he squeezed his eyes shut and his legs and arms tightened where they were wrapped around him. Buck wrapped the rope around his hands a few times before taking a breath and swinging over, letting Chim and Eddie catch them and pull them back from the edge quickly. Buck let out his breath when he heard Bobby land behind him as he stepped forward. Randy still had his eyes closed and was definitely still clinging to him. “You, uh, you can let go now.”
“This is the safest I have felt all evening.” Randy argued. “Just- give me another minute?”
“Yeah, alright.” Buck sighed, patting the guy’s back while Hen tried not to laugh. The girls came over and hugged Randy around Buck, coaxing him into letting go.
“It’s ok, we all do it too.” Hen said softly. “Buck’s hugs are the best.”
“They’re really comforting even if he’s a solid mass of muscle.” Randy agreed, slowly stepping down finally and backing up. “Sorry.”
“It’s ok.” Buck said gently. “You guys got pulled into something that you aren’t a part of.”
“Let’s keep moving before the smoke gets any closer.” Eddie suggested, putting his hand on Buck’s shoulder. Buck felt his body relax more as Eddie moved up behind him. He hadn’t really realized he’d tensed up until then. Buck sort of … froze. He didn’t mean to, he didn’t, but the next space, the last one, from the looks of the light on the other side of the room, was a hard one to see. He recognized the scene, even if he’d come across it at a different angle. There was a helicopter, seemingly crashed on the ground in the middle of a massive room, almost like a cavern, really, with sandbags built up as hills around it. “No.” Eddie whispered, sounding horrified.
“We-” Buck swallowed thickly, taking it all in, “we didn’t-”
“Baby seal, baby seal, how well you hide your hand. That or you’ve truly forgotten your role in this important ordeal. Perhaps blocked it from your memory, even.”
“You got me captured after this.” Buck said angrily. “I stood in on your team for one fucking mission and you couldn’t even get me back in one piece.”
“I did get you back in one piece. Albeit, a little worse for the wear. Taking the detour to assist a downed Army team was a setback I could not afford. But, somehow, baby seal convinced the pilot and team that five minutes out of the way to provide cover for extraction wouldn’t be detrimental to our mission. And so we went. SEAL team seven, assisting and providing cover like common grunts, for a team of Army personnel pinned down. Medical personnel. Transportation of patients and, by the end, a casualty or three.”
“No!” Eddie screamed, looking completely haunted.
“Eds!” Buck shouted, pulling Eddie close and pressing their heads together so he could collect himself.
“You- you never said!” Eddie gasped, holding onto Buck like he was his lifeline.
“Never said what?” Buck asked in confusion.
“This- this is what happened to me. We- we were taking our patients out, away from the fight, bu- but we were shot down. We only got out b- be- because a SEAL team diverted their mission. Giving us cover until extraction arrived.” Eddie said, still struggling for breath.
“What?” Buck frowned, looking back. “That- that was you?”
“It’s- Buck, it’s what I got my medal for.” Eddie said, his breathing coming a little easier, but Buck was the one struggling now.
“No.” Buck shook his head, still leaning against Eddie’s. “No, this was my last mission before I came back, landed in Peru for a year and then went to the academy. No, I would have known , I would have known it if it was you, Eddie.”
“We didn’t know each other then, Buck.” Eddie said softly, while Buck looked frantically between Eddie and the scene. “You wouldn’t have known.”
“Fine, I wouldn’t have known , but I would have FELT it Eddie.” Buck argued. “I-”
“But you did feel something, baby seal.” Thompson’s voice cut him off. “You were muttering about a bad feeling, rubbing your chest like you felt something breaking in your heart, taking over the gunner position as you provided cover, taking out insurgents to protect the Soldiers.”
“You did?” Eddie asked, his voice cracking.
“I don’t know!” Buck exclaimed in frustration. “I remember going out, I remember … something ! Something telling me that we needed to take the distress call. I didn’t even have to convince anyone, they agreed so easily. They weren’t my team but they knew my reputation and agreed, so we detoured. Not long, and not far. Just long enough to give cover until the convoy could get there and get everyone extracted. I … we made it a few more miles, but I don’t- Eddie, I don’t remember what happened! I just … I woke up later, captive with the others. It just all felt … wrong. I got discharged after we got back, we were all offered the same deal. I took it, ready to be done, they stayed. So I went to South America, but … but they used me as a rendezvous a few times because they all knew me. Knew my name. Thompson, he led them through something in the jungle, fuck, I don’t even know what it was, because I was out, so I wasn’t cleared to know.”
“That didn’t stop you from filing your grievances with me, now, did it, baby seal? You convinced my entire team that I was the reason they were caught, tortured. After the crash and again in South America.” Thompson said angrily.
“I … I had a concussion, a grade four concussion, Eddie, when I finally got away from that. So I lost some of my memories.” Buck said, not acknowledging Thompson’s interjection, pleading with Eddie to believe him. “I didn’t know.”
“Ok.” Eddie said, a relieved breath exhaling as he held Buck close by his neck again. “Ok, Buck. I believe you. But he’s putting this here for a reason. We can’t rush through this. We only got out the first time because your team and the convoy showed up. If there are weapons involved … Buck, we don’t have the firepower to fight back.”
“So we play smart.” Buck said certainly, looking away from Eddie and eyeing the scene before him more critically, playing out dozens of scenarios in his mind. “We skirt the edges, make a mad dash for the exit, hope he doesn’t have RPGs or SAWs or .50 cals lined up and targeting us.”
“You take point, I take rear?” Eddie offered.
“I-” Buck swallowed as he tried to think as quickly as he could. “I need at least a ten yard lead.”
“Ok.” Eddie agreed. “Ten yards between you and the group, ten yards between them and me.”
“You can’t stray.” Buck said firmly, meeting Eddie’s eyes. “No matter what happens, if I get caught in something, you can’t lose focus because of me, Eds.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Buckley.” Eddie practically growled at him.
“My team, my rules, Diaz.” Buck argued, clenching his jaw. “I’m lead, you’re second. They’re just firefighters and civilians. If I’m down, they’ll need you to finish getting them through.”
“I’m not leaving without you.” Eddie glared at him. “I’m not telling Chris his other dad is hurt again. I barely survived it after the lightning.”
“Trust me.” Buck whispered, staring into Eddie’s all encompassing, warm, loving, soul-seeing chocolatey gaze.
“I do.” Eddie said without hesitation.
“Hate to break up this beautiful moment,” Chim coughed awkwardly, “but we should get moving and get the hell out of here.”
“I’m with you, Buck,” Eddie smirked at him, making him bite his lip so he didn’t snort or smile too fondly, “to the end of the line.”
“Don’t do anything stupid.” Buck rasped.
“How can I? When you’re takin’ all the stupid with you?” Eddie teased.
“This is so cute, how do you guys function around this?” One of the girls practically squealed.
“After witnessing it for six years, we ignore it.” Hen sighed defeatedly.
“Stay on me, ten yards back.” Buck said, finally tearing his eyes from Eddie and looking at Chim first. “Chim, then Jamie, Hen, Sarah, Bobby, Randy, Eddie. Stay in line, don’t rush ahead no matter how scared you are. We’re all scared. Keep your eyes on the first responder closest to you. In this scenario, you stick with Chim, Hen, or Bobby; they are the professionals. Eddie and I? We’re the soldiers, more or less. We are going to cover you and pick up or lead you out as safely as we can.”
“Can you do it?” Randy asked, sounding wrecked. “Can you lead us out?”
“Stay in line.” Hen said gently. “Stay together, and we’ll get out. He knows what he’s doing.”
“Dibs on making Buck watch ‘Boondock Saints’!” One of the girls said firmly, clinging to Hen’s side.
“What now?” Buck frowned.
“It’s a movie that promotes gratuitous violence.” She said certainly. “In defense of the defenseless.”
“I’ll make sure it’s added to his list.” Chim agreed certainly.
“Stay low.” Buck reiterated. “I don’t know what the fuck he has planned, but stay low, and stay together.” He nodded at Bobby, Hen, Chim and finally locked eyes with Eddie again. Eddie clenched his jaw and gave him a small nod in return.
Buck felt the overwhelming need to hold a weapon, even if he hadn’t touched one since he got out. Since he ran as soon as they released him and gave him copies of discharge paperwork, along with the medical evaluations that granted him a nice VA benefit. Well. Nice isn’t the way he’d ever describe it. It was hefty, he’d accept that, but it … it wasn’t nice in any way. It was a reminder of all the shit he went through, that he ran from. That he was still doing all he could to hide from and bury in his head. They made it around, fires bursting into life periodically, slowly encompassing the helicopter site, making the room stupidly hot, the air thick with smoke, before Buck was pushing everyone through the open stairs leading to the sunshine outside.
When they reached the last step, when everyone but he and Eddie were clear, Buck felt something snap over his leg. His bad leg. The leg that had been crushed. He saw the color drain instantly from Eddie’s face, saw Hen and Chim’s eyes widen in shock. Bobby was the one who rushed forward and caught him, keeping him from eating shit as his body jerked and the pain registered.
“Ahhh!” Buck screamed, holding onto Bobby desperately.
“I gave that idiot boy a fool proof plan.” Thompson sighed defeatedly over the speakers. “I gave him the information and the means to get his revenge. You were meant to end up like me, baby seal. Hindered. Broken. Losing a part of yourself. He may have called you collateral damage, but you were much more than that for me.”
“Can-” Buck gasped, gripping Bobby as if his life depended on it, “can you se- separate i- it f- from the floor?”
“I’m putting a tourniquet on you.” Chim said quietly, moving quickly and wrapping something just below Buck’s knee. “You’re not losing this leg now, not after we had to lift a fucking ladder truck off of it.”
Buck screamed again as Chim tightened it before Hen and Eddie managed to get the trap, a fucking bear trap, detached from the floor while Bobby and Eddie carefully guided him out into the sunlight, where their truck and the ambulance waited. Hen and Chim rushed for the ambulance, the three civilians rushing with them, glad to be free of the building. He was still fighting to stay present from the pain clouding his mind before he was being blown off his feet as the building exploded and his head smacked into the ground, sending him into darkness.
The next Buck registered was hearing a steady beeping, letting him know he was in the hospital again. He felt a steady weight against his side and smelled the strawberry from Chris’ shampoo. He felt a weight in his hand and squeezed it a few times as he tried to blink awake. He wasn’t surprised that Eddie was waking up, holding his hand tightly. What did surprise him was the other people in the room. All people Buck hadn’t seen in literal years.
“You gave us a good scare, Heavenly.” Jansen said, stepping forward and running a hand through his hair when she noticed he was awake. “Don’t worry about T-bag. We got him.”
“What are you doin’ here?” Buck croaked, before Eddie was passing him a cup with a straw so he could clear his throat more. He groaned in relief as the cool water hit his aching throat.
“Just cleaning up a mess.” Danvers said, giving him an unimpressed look. “We’re all a little pissed that he found you, but not really surprised. Just couldn’t lay low, could you?”
“Had to go and make the news a few times, making it stupidly easy.” Peterson tutted, equally unimpressed.
“Just doin’ my job, guys.” Buck sighed, once Eddie set the cup back down. “You all talked yet?” Buck asked, looking between them and Eddie.
“Enough.” Jansen shrugged. “Explained what we could about why you didn’t remember your man’s rescue.”
“We’ll be by your fire captain’s house in a few weeks for the cookout he’s apparently having to welcome you back when you’re leg’s more healed up.” Peterson stated. “Take care of your boys until then.”
“Duh.” Buck snorted, waving them off weakly as they all patted his arm, or good leg, or head before they were gone.
“I should have known.” Eddie said softly, once it was just them and a sleeping Christopher.
“Known what?” Buck frowned, feeling like he missed something.
“You never asked, not about the shrapnel scars, nor the medal.” Eddie rolled his eyes. “Should have known it was because you had your own experience. First hand.”
“Yeah, but I don’t remember hardly any of it.” Buck argued. “My head was too fucked up, and I just … I pushed it all away once I left. Blocked it out, pretty much. You have the physical scars, mine were internal or mental.”
“Thank you.” Eddie said sincerely.
“For what?” Buck frowned again, leaning against Christopher’s head that was resting on his shoulder.
“For saving me.” Eddie gave him a soft smile. “You saved me, and you don’t even remember it, because that’s just what you do. You save people.”
“How long was I out?” Buck asked, looking away from the sincere look on Eddie’s face, his cheeks feeling warm and slightly overheated.
“A day.” Eddie shrugged. “Chris refused to go to school until he knew you were going to wake up.”
“You’re gonna stay with us now.” Chris mumbled against him, eyes still closed. “‘Cause I need to take care of you.”
“Broken?” Buck asked, looking at Eddie, knowing his leg was in a cast, even if he couldn’t really feel it.
“Should heal up ok.” Eddie nodded. “All aligned and the muscles were stitched back together where they were needed. Six weeks in the cast, another two, at least, in a boot, while you get through PT. Besides, the lease is up on your loft in a month, anyway. Just makes sense for you to move in with us.”
“And you’re ok with that?” Buck arched an eyebrow at him. “You’re ok with me moving in, sleeping in your bed, because I am not crashing on the couch-”
“Buck.” Eddie chuckled. “You’re staying with us. We’ll toss out my mattress that you are always complaining about anyway, move yours, and we’ll figure out the family we’ve always been but never acknowledged until Chris shouted it all out at Marisol.”
“You’re welcome.” Chris grumbled, making Buck and Eddie laugh.
“Don’t be a brat.” Buck smiled against Chris’ head, giving him an exaggerated kiss and making him giggle. “Sorry I never told you guys about any of … well. Being a SEAL.”
“We should have figured it out.” Eddie sighed heavily. “You have a Purple Heart, for fuck’s sake. And a Navy Cross.”
“I do?” Buck frowned. “Wait, that-”
“Is what they were sending you in the mail when they were trying to reach you.” Eddie finished for him. “You were awarded them, but you pretty much disappeared before the awards were approved. Your name’s still on the registry for them, though. Your old teammates held onto them, wanting to give them to you in person. They knew you wouldn’t want a ceremony or any kind of attention for shit you didn’t remember happening. I put them with mine. We’ll do something fancy with them, like a shadow box or something, at some point.”
“Can we finally do that framing class?” Buck asked hopefully.
“If that’s what you want.” Eddie sighed defeatedly, poking Chris when he snickered at him. “I think … I think it’ll be nice to have our awards together. Maybe get a decent photographer and do some pictures of the three of us so we have something kind of professional for family pictures.”
“All things I can do that don’t require a lot of standing.” Buck nodded certainly, grinning when Eddie laughed. “I really wanna do that framing class, so we’ll pick a good picture of the three of us to do, too. Oh! You can have Seraphina do the pictures, if she’s still into photography.”
“I’m a little surprised you remember her name, but I know I shouldn’t be.” Eddie snorted. “She’s taking classes at San Diego State, so we’ll have to see when she would be available to come out, otherwise it’ll be at a family get together, and we’ll get shit for it the whole time.”
“You should do a couple in your uniforms.” Chris suggested with a hum.
“I … don’t think mine will fit.” Buck frowned. “Kinda put on a bit more muscle since then.”
“There he is!” Chim cheered, bursting in with a big smile, holding a squirming Jee-Yun who was squealing and reaching for Buck.
“Unca Buck!” She cheered.
“Hey sweet pea.” Buck chuckled, patting her back when she straddled his lap and hugged his stomach. She giggled when Chris poked her side playfully.
“Hey Uncle Buck!” Denny said happily, waving as he walked in just before Hen and Karen, while Mara kinda hung back.
“Hey Denny.” Buck smiled at him.
“Looks like all the kids are cutting today.” Athena said with a crooked grin as she walked in with Bobby, setting a coffee cup down for Eddie as she patted his shoulder. “How you feelin’, baby?”
“Not too bad.” Buck tilted his head as he cataloged how everything felt. “Little achy, but the pain meds are pretty strong, still.”
“Ok,” May said, pulling two different sets of markers from her bag as she joined, “glitter markers for everyone under 21, boring markers for everyone else.”
“Aw.” Maddie pouted.
“Sister privilege means we can use whichever we want.” May snickered, handing her a glitter marker. “You, me, and Hen are the only ones that get that option, though.”
“No special brother pens?” Chim asked with his own pout.
“Nope.” Maddie, Hen, and May all agreed, making everyone laugh.
“So?” Maddie asked, drawing a heart and her name carefully.
“So?” Buck frowned.
“So, want to tell us about the SEALs?” She rolled her eyes at him.
“Oh.” Buck blinked a few times. “Uh, not really? I mean, there’s not anything I can even tell you, I don’t think. I CAN tell you that I got all those postcards from traveling all over the place for training things and sent a few of them from … other places than where I’d gotten them.”
“Knowing the SEALs, even just through reputation,” Eddie said, meeting Buck’s eyes. Buck nodded at him and Eddie continued, “he’s going to have a shit-ton of paperwork that prevents him from talking about anything for several years, still. Unless he wants to get arrested or lose the honorable discharge he got, he literally can’t say anything.”
“Not to mention not really remembering things.” Buck agreed.
“Alright.” Hen pursed her lips. “Wanna tell us about how you ‘felt’ that you needed to divert your team to save Eddie?”
“You made it sound like a mythical thing, like feeling your soulmate in trouble or something.” Chim agreed.
“I didn’t.” Eddie arched an eyebrow at them.
“You were high on adrenaline from a helicopter crash.” Chim waved him off. “You would have thought any feeling was in your head.”
“Plus Eddie doesn’t believe in signs from the universe.” Buck teased, grinning at Eddie who rolled his eyes at him. “I don’t know, guys. I can’t explain it. I just … felt something weird. Like … like an ache in my chest. Not really the start of a panic attack just … a pull. A feeling. Honestly, it felt kinda like deja vu. Like I’d dreamed it happened at one point and I knew if we didn’t divert and help out that something bad would have happened.”
“Did you have any death or near-death experiences before then?” Chris asked cautiously.
“I …” Buck frowned and reached up and scratched his head trying to remember. “Maybe? I … I got sick, once. Thought it was just the flu or something, and we were in the middle of nowhere, so there wasn’t really anything we could do. Was pretty out of it. No one said anything when I recovered a week later, though. Maybe I died for a second, or got close, but I can’t really answer for certain. Would that count?”
“Some scientists think that when we have a death or near-death experience, we have alternate memories that we can access.” Chris said certainly, accepting a marker from May and scooting down to draw on his cast with everyone else. “So maybe when you were out of it, you had a dream about dad. Maybe you knew that if you didn’t do something that he wouldn’t make it. And if that happened, we never would have met. Mom would have left me in Texas with grandma and abuelo, so I never would have come to LA.”
“So the universe decided that I had to save your dad just so we could be best friends?” Buck asked, smiling at how Chris was concentrating to draw something he couldn’t see from his angle.
“Duh.” Chris snorted, making the others all laugh. “We were destined to be family, Buck.”
“Since when do you believe in destiny?” Eddie asked curiously.
“Since you managed to keep me a secret the entire time you were at the academy, but after maybe a week at the 118, Buck was giving you a ride to pick me up from school after an earthquake. Since I hung out with him while you were spending time with mom and not wanting me to see her yet. He even went to see Santa with us. Since we did PT together after the truck blew up. Since we survived a tsunami together. Since so many things, dad. I heard you tell bisabuela and Tia Pepa that you were going to keep your personal life personal, not let work blend in with it. But you knew Buck for two days before you were telling him all about me.”
“I did not tell him all about you.” Eddie argued.
“Maybe not all about me,” Chris huffed, giving his dad such an unimpressed look, Buck had to cover his mouth so he wouldn’t laugh. The others weren’t so restrained. “But you did tell him about me. And a week later he introduced us to Carla. He had a feeling he had to save you. And by saving you, he saved our family. He saved you and then gave us a whole new family. I don’t know. Feels kinda like fate and destiny to me.”
“Destiny!” Jee cheered, making squiggles all over part of Buck’s cast since she had climbed down the bed while Chris was talking.
“So what you’re saying is that your dads are soul mates?” Karen smirked at them.
“I’m saying we’ve been a family for years and no one knew.” Chris shrugged, passing his marker to Jee so she could draw with another color. “Everyone had their families or lives, but none of you knew that Buck was over at our house at least twice a week that first year for dinner or movies. No one knew that dad and Buck got stupidly codependent of each other during COVID and we ended up together nearly every night for months. When dad was shot, it was the same thing. Except Buck couldn’t sleep in the bedroom without dad there, so I had to listen to him snoring from the living room.”
“Hey!” Buck pouted at him.
“He wouldn’t shut up about how Chimney and Aunt Maddie were dating but didn’t know they were dating for months.” Chris continued, undeterred. “But no one noticed him and dad were doing the same thing! Buck and I have one weekend a month where we still go to the zoo together, another weekend where we go to a museum or the planetarium, and another weekend where we do something new while Tia Pepa tries to convince dad to go on another date that he’s gonna complain about until he ends up canceling saying he needs to spend time with his family and the three of us go to the beach. He picks me up and drops me off at school half the time, not counting when he chaperones a field trip or comes to PTA meetings dad doesn’t want to go to.”
“Hold on-”
“Wait, buddy-”
Eddie and Buck both tried interrupting, but Chris gave them each a flat look.
“You date other people at the same time because the person you usually spend time with is unavailable.” Chris looked between them. “You let other people bully you into dating because you never let anyone see that we all have everything we need already. Dad, you never grieved for mom. Not once. Because for the funeral, the whole family from El Paso came up and tried to get you to let them take me away. You and bisabuela and Tia Pepa had to fight them to be able to keep me here instead of getting time to grieve. Then Buck was hurt, and you had to deal with nearly losing him, too. I didn’t like when you were dating Ms. Flores. It was weird, since she used to be my teacher. You never smiled or laughed or anything when you were with her. The same happened with Marisol.”
“Eddie,” Bobby said softly, “you didn’t have to date anyone just because we said you needed to move on.”
“Between you all and my parents, I felt like I had to.” Eddie admitted quietly.
“That’s-”
“Not you, Buck.” Eddie gave him an unimpressed look, making Buck give him a sheepish smile.
“Ali didn’t like that Buck still wanted to be a firefighter.” Chris continued. “And Taylor was alright mostly because it was funny watching her and dad try to figure out how to interact. She was also the one who stayed with him after dad was shot. Because Aunt Maddie was sick and needed to get better, so he couldn’t see her; or Chimney or Jee-Yun. And then I apparently said the wrong thing and dad quit being a firefighter. That … that was the longest time we went without Buck coming over to the house since we’d known him.”
“It was only a few weeks.” Buck offered weakly.
“Yeah, because dad was being a tool and didn’t talk to you before he quit.” Chris glared at his dad. “You were his partner, he should have talked to you, no matter how upset I was.”
“Don’t call your dad a tool.” Buck reprimanded gently. “But he was being a dummy.”
“Fine, he was a big dummy.” Chris rolled his eyes. “You felt like dad was in trouble, more than that one time. And you’ve saved him each time. Because you’re our family, Buck. So. Once you move in, and once everyone has time to realize they never saw how domestic you weirdos are, all I ask is that you not use excessive PDA in communal areas of the house.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Eddie said, sighing heavily before looking at Buck. Buck was trying really hard to keep a straight face, because it was honestly really funny to him. He bit the inside of his cheek, pleading with Eddie to keep it together with his eyes, but Eddie’s lips twitched as he fought to keep his face straight. Buck felt his mouth curving up in a smile before he could stop it and then they were both laughing. “That was your fault.” Eddie said, wiping his face because his eyes were watering from laughing so hard.
“No way!” Buck gasped, holding his sides and trying to keep from laughing any harder as his ribs ached. “No, he’s your kid. That’s 100 percent, petty Eddie Diaz.”
“Bullshit, that was info-dumping Evan Buckley all day.” Eddie argued.
“It was both of you.” Hen cut in, looking between them in amusement.
“Did no one really know how much time they spend together?” May asked in confusion, looking around at everyone. “Well, anyone who wasn’t his sister?”
“I knew.” Athena shrugged unconcernedly.
“Ok, anyone who wasn’t Buck’s sister or mom?” May corrected, rolling her eyes.
“I’m guessing I don’t count since I’m married to one of the sisters?” Karen asked curiously.
“Nope.” May nodded.
“I honestly never really thought about it.” Chim shrugged. “Figured Maddie would fill me in on anything.”
“Honey I save my gossiping about my brother for Josh, not you.” Maddie grinned. “Sorry, but you work with him. I’m not gonna talk to you about something and then have to deal with him calling me the next day complaining about it and deciding not to tell me anything ever again.”
“To be fair,” Bobby was fighting a smile, “I don’t think we were this busy or hectic before Buck joined the 118.”
“You were just lucky to have me assigned to you.” Buck shrugged.
“Oh.” Bobby said, looking a little stumped for some reason.
“Oh what?” Buck asked cautiously.
“I never told you, did I?” Bobby tilted his head.
“Bobby.” Buck whined.
“You were supposed to be assigned to Harbor, station 217.” Bobby said carefully. “With your background, all the extra certifications you kept signing up for, they got the most heavy rescue calls, so you were going to go to them. But we lost our heavy rescue guy, needed to replace him or we were going to have to rework the area we covered and the calls we could respond to. I … was hesitant, at first, picking you, but that was because you were so young. I figured, after looking through your file, that Hen and Chim would be good influences for you.”
“Really?” Buck frowned, but Hen and Chim were frowning too.
“You replaced a repressed, middle aged, white, gay man with a white, barely legal, chaotic bisexual?” Hen asked, apparently needing that clarification.
“I thought he was our disaster bi?” Chim frowned at Hen.
“At first, yeah, but the longer he was with us, I changed it to chaotic.” Hen shrugged.
“So Tommy transferred to Harbor, and you poached Buck to replace him.” Chim nodded, as if that made sense.
“Poached Eddie, too.” Bobby shrugged.
“Where was Eddie supposed to go?” Maddie frowned, now.
“Station six.” Bobby, Buck, Hen, Chim, and Eddie all said together.
“Oh, no. They deal with way too much gang violence.” Athena shook her head.
“He said he needed someone to be a partner.” Eddie said carefully. “Someone to balance out recklessness.”
“I was not reckless.” Buck argued, feeling his face heat up as everyone gave him deadpan looks. “I just acted before I spoke more often than not.”
“Which translates to recklessness.” Bobby grinned at him. “I should have told you up front that I recruited him to be your partner. Maybe you would have gotten along better that first day.”
“I doubt it.” Buck pursed his lips. “Even if you’d have told me that, I’d still have felt like I was being replaced. I was pretty insecure back then.”
“You were also barely 25.” Bobby sighed.
“Eddie was only 27.” Buck grumbled.
“Different life experiences.” Eddie shrugged. “I became a dad pretty young, barely out of my teens, so I had different priorities.”
“And you made Buck my dad when he was 27.” Chris chimed in.
“He what now?” Maddie asked, her eyebrows shooting up.
“And then didn’t tell me until I was almost 28.” Buck gave Eddie a look, but Eddie rolled his eyes at him.
“And it took us another year for you to accept that it wasn’t as a back-up.” Eddie countered.
“You two, shut up.” Hen said, pointing between Buck and Eddie, who both frowned at her. “What do you mean your dad made Buck your other dad?”
“After the well collapsed on him, we spent a week having talks about what would happen to me if anything happened to him, on the job or not.” Chris shuffled back up the bed until he was leaning back against the pillows, Buck’s arm around his shoulders. “Mom had been gone over a year at that point, and bisabuela and Tia Pepa weren’t really options since they were older. So we talked about where I could go, but we both decided I should stay in LA. We met with a lawyer and dad got some paperwork drawn up, his will and medical stuff, that said if anything happened I would go to Buck. It was annoying keeping it from him, but every time we wanted to have a special dinner to tell him, something came up. Like that Abby lady showing up. Then Buck’s parents showed up. Then dad started dating Ms. Flores. Then he was shot. I was pretty mad that he told Buck without us getting to have a special dinner for it.”
“You baby-trapped him.” Chim blurted out, his jaw hanging open.
“I did not.” Eddie frowned.
“I did.” Chris smirked. “Buck’s my person. Even if I don’t understand why he’s so bent on not doing an escape room with me.”
“I’m not doing one again, either.” Eddie shook his head, making a horrified face. “Not after the call that landed us here.”
“Yeah, two to one!” Buck cheered, earning him an eye roll from Chris and a heavy sigh from Eddie.
“Anyway, Buck’s my legal guardian if anything happens to dad, and he’s also my secondary emergency contact for pretty much everything.” Chris shrugged.
“Besides,” Denny said, pitching in, “I’ve got two moms, so Chris comes over to experience that once in a while, so I go over with him to have a dad for a little while.”
“Harry has three dads and a mom, Denny has two moms, and I have two dads.” Chris shrugged again. “Pretty sure your firehouse has the most weird family dynamics.”
“They aren’t weird.” Buck poked Chris’ side, making him glare at him.
“You’re all weird, so it makes everything about you weird.” Chris argued. “Well, everyone but Athena is weird.”
“Thank you.” Athena said, smiling proudly.
“Why did that guy call you ‘Heavenly’ earlier?” Chris asked curiously, looking up at Buck.
“Because I made the mistake of getting so drunk with them one night that I couldn’t say my name. So it came out kinda garbled as Evan ‘ley. Like Buckley without the ‘Buck’. Anyway, I got a slight head injury at one point later on and said the same thing, but since the medics weren’t our guys, they were confused and just called me ‘Heavenly’.” Buck shrugged. “There are a whole lot worse nicknames out there, so I’ll take it.”
“I like Buck better.” Chris hummed.
“So. Let’s get to work on this schedule of moving Buck’s things to the Diaz house.” Bobby said, taking a seat next to Eddie while May handed him some paper.
Buck fell asleep while they were planning, letting the sounds of their chatter lull him down into dreams. He only jolted awake a few times, having flashes of his time as a SEAL before he’d gotten out, but Eddie was there every time, reassuring him that he was fine and safe. When they were out of the hospital, settled in the Diaz house, Buck was doing the same for Eddie. The escape room call dragged up a lot of both of their PTSD, unfortunately. They didn’t do the framing class until Buck was out of his cast and the boot, because Christopher had decided that they were doing pictures of both of them in their uniforms. Everyone showed up at some point while they were taking them, since none of their fire family had seen either of them in anything but regular clothes or the LAFD uniforms.
They got a lot of catcalls and whistles, but Buck didn’t really notice them over how heated Eddie’s eyes were on him. He hoped he controlled his blushing enough that the pictures turned out alright. He was definitely glad to be out of it again, though, once they were done. It just set his teeth on edge too much to have it on, regardless of the looks Eddie was giving him. Reminded him too much of what he did when he was wearing it. Eddie seemed at least similarly agitated about being in his uniform again. Pepa took Chris from them when they were both still keyed up later that night, wanting to give them both a chance to come down.
“How do you come down?” Buck asked carefully, quietly, when it was just them in the house finally.
“I distract myself with chores or Chris, usually. Bury what I’m feeling before I eventually lose it somehow and then I’m fine.” Eddie shrugged. “Haven’t needed a come down in a while, though. Not since you were here and getting me back into therapy.”
“That was a year and a half ago.” Buck frowned, looking at him.
“Yes.” Eddie bit his lip.
“That’s not it.” Buck argued, his face furrowing as he observed Eddie.
“Fine, that’s not it.” Eddie agreed. “It’s you.”
“What is?” Buck felt more confused.
“You, Buck. Being around you, talking with you, watching movies with you, you’re what helps me come down. You … god, I don’t even know when or how it happened, but you became my safe space. Being around you, my body just lets go and I don’t have to worry about coming down because you soothe me that much. You soothe my stress before I realize I’m even keyed up.”
“How’d you figure that out?” Buck asked curiously.
“You were here.” Eddie said softly. “I was stuck in flashbacks, or so deep in therapy I didn’t really see a way out that didn’t end in destroying my family, my relationship with my son. I’d come home, wrung out and exhausted and you were here; helping Chris with his homework or making dinner. Taking us out for ice cream or coffee or just for a walk around the block. It … it took time, but eventually my mind figured out that if you were there, then everything would be ok. That my son was taken care of, that I’d be taken care of. So if you need me to be that for you, I will. I can’t tell you about the intricacies of the ecosystem of tide pools, I can’t cook amazing meals, and I can’t give you empty promises that things will be ok, just because I want you to believe they will.”
“So what can you give me?” Buck whispered.
“Here.” Eddie moved, pulling Buck firmly against him, wrapping him in a comforting hug that Buck sank into, feeling his body release tension he didn’t even realize he was holding until the closeness of Eddie, the scent of him, made his body relax automatically. “You are touch starved, Evan. But you felt how your body relaxed into mine? Subconsciously, you recognize that I offer a safe space for you to reach out and touch without feeling guilty or needy. Physical touch grounds you in the present. You used to use sex as a way to feel present; to feel any type of physical connection to the world around you when you felt unmoored. But your mind knows you are safe with me without that. I know I’m not physically affectionate often, I know that I’m not verbally reassuring, but I’m here for you. If you need to talk, to just fill the silence with whatever is in your mind, I’ll listen. If you want to be held and just feel tethered, I’m here with open arms. Shh.” Buck sniffled as he put his face in Eddie’s shoulder, feeling his eyes leaking and dampening Eddie’s shirt as he squeezed them shut. “Take your time, baby. I’m here. And I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
They eventually crashed on Eddie’s bed, Buck wrapped around Eddie like an octopus, like he was trying to bury himself in Eddie. Eddie didn’t complain, just kept his arms around Buck, holding him close and murmuring softly in Spanish that Buck only vaguely registered. He woke up several hours later, the sky only slightly starting to lighten, with Eddie wrapped around his back and their legs tangled together. Buck grasped the hand over his waist and linked his fingers with Eddie’s. He wasn’t surprised that Eddie squeezed his hand to let him know he was awake. He smiled when he wiggled a little more into Eddie’s arms and Eddie huffed a quiet laugh, kissing his head.
“Thanks, Eds.” Buck whispered, enjoying the warmth that Eddie radiated like the sun.
“Anything for you.” Eddie whispered back, giving him another squeeze.
They weren’t better right away. They’d both stepped up their therapy, but by the time Buck was going back to work, two and a half months after he got out of the hospital, they’d gotten mostly ok.
Buck lived with his Diaz boys for almost four months before he finally cracked and kissed Eddie. Eddie just huffed ‘finally’ before taking Buck to bed. It was definitely worth the wait. They were both physically healed, and in a much better place psychologically. Eddie admitted that he was gay and was able to feel comfortable in his own skin for the first time in his life. Buck was able to talk a little about being a SEAL, mostly just about some of his training, as well as some of what happened before he joined, before Maddie gave him a way out of Pennsylvania.
It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that their friends and family threw together a surprise wedding a year later.