Chapter Text
It starts with a fire.
Police are already there when they arrive at the scene. Smoke oozes from a window on the ground floor and Athena's gaze moves from it to the phone screen, as if it hides a solution to the problem. They get out of the truck just in time to see a car with no indications of being a police one crossing the police fence. A man that jumps out of it and heads in their direction isn’t wearing any kind of uniform.
As if he can hear Bucks thoughts, he clips a badge and a gun to his belt without slowing down.
“What do we have here?” Bobby asks.
“We have an idiot Alpha with a gun. He locked himself and an unknown number of Omegas there,” Athena looks visibly disgusted by the situation. “We think that some of them can be in heat and that is why he is so aggressive and is not allowing anyone in. He’s afraid that we’ll charge him with assault and kidnapping. And that’s exactly our intentions”.
The man stays still, listening to Athena. Buck looks at him. He is tall, but not as tall as Buck, dark hair, five o'clock shadow, a Spider-Man sticker on his hand and, the thing that makes Buck frown, the man has absolutely no scent. Buck thinks he is just a Beta, but they also have their own neutral scent. This guy? Nothing. Like someone washed him with a bleach.
“This is Eddie Diaz. He will be in charge of the scene and hopefully thanks to him we’ll all go home soon,” Athena said.
Eddie stops looking at the building and gives people around him a quick but warm smile. Everything about this man screams control and calm and safety, but not in the way Buck's used to because Eddie still doesn't have a scent. Out of the corner of his eye, Buck notices Hen is taking another breath, too.
“Let’s get it done. This is my day off and I want to get back to my kid”.
Oh, that explains the sticker.
Eddie Diaz shakes Bobby’s hand and looks everyone up.
“Omega, Beta, you’re with me,” he says, looking between Buck and Chimney. “The rest stay here until we're out with the hostages.”
“You want to throw Omega and Beta into the building with an aggressive and armed Alpha?” Lena says on the edge of hissing. She takes a step forward and Buck almost whines, feeling threatening pheromones in the air.
Eddie however doesn’t skip a bit.
“I’m not gonna worry about you losing your shit because of Omegas in heat when there is a guy with a gun. I need someone with a clear head. Preferably someone who will assess potential injuries and severity of the fire”.
And that is new, okay? Buck’s used to people treating him differently because of his status, but it was never in a good way. Sure, he constantly gets asked to help children in a fire, but it still feels like “because you’re made for it” bullshit even though he does love kids. Buck isn’t used to being picked because he’s a reliable, stable one.
“That’s definitely us,” Chimney says, too loud and deliberately positive, trying to soothe the atmosphere.
Lena bares her teeth but backs down. She’s worried about him. Buck understands that. It’s in her instincts and most of the time, Buck doesn't mind. It feels good being cared for after he’s been lonely for a long time. Sometimes, though, he would have preferred a little more faith in his ability to do his job under dangerous circumstances.
As soon as they approach the building, Buck hears a gunshot. Fuck. The Alpha leans out of the window, demonstrating that the next bullet will be aiming at them.
“Man, we just want to talk and deal with a fire,” Eddie says, showing his bare hands.
Something about his actions bothers Buck. They feel weird in combination with the non-existent scent. He thinks that Eddie’s a Beta since he was so clearly opposed to Alphas in his group. Maybe police have better suppressants? But what is the point of being on suppressants when you’re a Beta?
“I said no police!” the Alpha shouts.
“I’m just a negotiator,” Eddie lies. “And those guys are firefighters. Listen, this building is going to burn down if you don’t let us in. I promise we just want to know that all of you there are alive and safe”.
“You’re not going inside with a gun!”
Eddie looks at Buck, rolls his eyes and takes out a gun. He holds it high in the air for a second, puts it on the ground and kicks away. Chimney sucks in air. The deal was that they will have an armed police officer with them. Right now, they can easily end up as hostages they are trying to save.
“I hope you have a backup gun,” Chimney mutters when they get permission to enter the building.
The ground floor is already filling with smoke. Buck lowers his mask. He can see the Alpha with a gun in the stairwell above them. He follows them while they are going up the stairs to the first floor. Buck feels a sweet, thick smell as soon as they step into the hall. Athena was right. Some Omegas were in heat. What was that place? Separate rooms, Omegas in heat, Alpha with a gun?
“He’s going to get charged for more than just assault and kidnapping, isn’t he?” says Chimney before Buck can find the words. Disgust fills him, lumping up to his throat. Selling people's bodies, selling people's heats. Maybe Eddie was right leaving Alphas behind. Buck trusted his team with his life but the air feels so full of smell it’s almost hard to move through it. Adrenalin, smoke and heat pheromones. It could be too much for anyone.
“They're going to see what we can do about the fire and I’m going up to talk to you, okay?” shouts Eddie. He has the same calm look on his face and Buck finally settles that he is a Beta on some good suppressants.
“Don’t do anything stupid!”
“Like we can beat you in it,” mutters Eddie under his breath. He turns to Buck and Chimney. “Do your job and don’t worry if you hear gunshots”.
That doesn’t sound reassuring. Not even a little bit. Chimney looks at Buck with “what the hell did we get ourselves into” and moves to the first door. All the rooms look plain and almost empty. White walls, beds, Ikea dressers. Buck shivers, seeing scratches on the wall that were clearly left with nails. They need to get those Omegas out, fire or not. Buck lifts a barely legal boy who whines and hides his face in his uniform, planning to carry him out, when they hear a gunshot. Entire building goes silent. Buck looks up like he can see through the selling or pick up a sound of a body hitting the floor.
“Let’s move, Buck, the fire can’t wait,” Chimney says, helping a woman stand to guide her out of the building.
They move quickly, trying to stay under some kind of cover in case Eddie was wrong and they should be worried about gunshots. Outside, Hen guides hostages to the ambulance, covering them in blankets. They will need more cars to get them all to the hospital, but for now, they are safe. Buck looks at shivering Omegas. They’re looking around with wild eyes, barely holding themselves together and he feels pure blinding rage. Some part of him really hopes that the gunshot was the last thing the Alpha knew.
Eddie shows up a moment later. He pushes the Alpha out of the building door with what feels like a kick. The man can’t hold himself upright and awkwardly falls down with his hands handcuffed behind his back. Buck’s sure that this entire scene goes against rules about police brutality but can’t find it in him to care. Eddie doesn't look like he was shot or like there was a fight. He picks his gun from the ground and holds his hand out for a handshake.
“Thanks for keeping your cool out there,” he says to Buck and his eyes are brown, rich and warm. Buck wants to say something in return like we heard a gunshot, you’re the cool one here but Eddie’s already moved to Chimney. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna do a bunch of paperwork and head home to my son. It’s movie night today”.
Son. Not son and wife, not family, notices Buck.
Sue him, Eddie is hot and collected and his hand feels big and warm and he picked Buck first.