Work Text:
Soulmate AU - Buddie Bingo
Instead of having your soulmate's words on your skin in your teens, the minute your soulmate utters the words that would change your life, their words are etched into your skin. Until the other has their words, anyone they are with feels like fire against your skin. After you both utter the words, they are inked next to your heart to signal this is the person who holds your heart.
Soulmates are so common that there have been so many studies into why you only get your words etched into your skin when your soulmate utters them. Some don't have soulmates, or theirs died before ever uttering their words, but for more they find out at the same time.
There are instances where one person receives the words before another, though Eddie Diaz and Evan "Buck" Buckley had to be the ones who were even rarer with going over a year between the first words etched and the other saying what they are supposed to.
Some suspect that the other person in a soulmate bond must accept they are worthy, others think it was predestined.
But in Eddie and Buck's cases, there was some serious pining involved and some uncertainty, because of the length between the words on their skins. Bobby Nash is lucky enough to have two soulmates, one romantic and one platonic, even though he loved his first wife, they were never each other's soulmates.
Bobby and Athena knew they were soulmates not long into their relationship, their words said right after each other. He even got lucky enough to have Michael as his platonic soulmate, their words scripted on their arms after his and Athena's. Athena and Michael thought they were soulmates until they realized their marking never moved to their hearts.
Hen and Karen Wilson knew they were destined to be together on their first date, while Buck's sister Maddie Kendall and Howard "Chimney" Han had something similar to Buck and Eddie, with theirs a few months apart.
Eddie was married before he met Buck, and Shannon thought they were soulmates but their markings never came. She got pregnant with Christopher and it was their parents pushing them to marry, even if they weren't soulmates.
She had found hers right before she asked for a divorce and then she died, destroying Eddie in ways no one predicted.
Buck thought Abby Clark was his, only to realize those words would never come because she meant more to him than he to her. However, when the two men met they instantly felt a connection but the words never came.
Until…
"I'll go in. I'm the one that was talking to him on the radio. He knows my voice." Eddie is trying to convince his team of letting him go down the drilled hole in the ground. This was usually Buck's MO, but it just had to be Eddie.
"Makes sense that it's me," He says, looking at them then at Buck. "Suit me up. I'm going down."
Eddie is adamant he was in the right headspace, so Bobby sighs signaling to Buck to suit him up. Buck looks at him concerned, but they stand there for a while, before Buck pulls back.
"All right, extra oxygen in case you need it. Water's rising fast down there. Green light, full supply. Yellow light, two minutes. I wanna see you topside before you see red." Bobby says, making sure he understood everything, which he did.
"Copy that. All right, we gotta go." Eddie says, allowing Buck to hook him into the winch, when Bobby continues.
"Okay, we're gonna lose comms, so here's the plan," he begins, while Buck checks his suit, his harness and the winch
"You have 30 minutes to dig yourself across, not one minute more. After 30 minutes, you're gonna feel two strong tugs on your line, then we're pulling you out. Same goes for you. You find that boy first, you tug on that line twice."
Eddie nods, and breathes in deeply. He's lowered into the hole they drilled, praying to God he can find the kid in time. The medal his son showed him reverberating in his head.
"Cap, can you hear me?" He keys his radio, hoping the signal is strong enough.
Eddie, do you copy? Tell me what's going on, Eddie. He hears Bobby say faintly then the radio cuts out.
"I've reached depth." Nothing but static and silence fills his ears.
Meanwhile topside, the rest of the 118 is concerned.
"Cap, I think he's out of range." Chim says, looking at Buck who was trying to stay calm.
-----
Eddie sighs, taking the shovel and preparing to start digging. "Don't know if you guys can hear me, but I'm preparing to punch through now."
Again nothing. He was going to save this little boy.
-----
"Cap!" Chimney says, getting his captain's attention.
"Yeah?" Bobby replies, looking at his friend.
"Now I've lost the picture too. Come on. I've lost the signal." Chimney swears under his breath, while the others debate on what to do.
"I think we need to run another line." If there is one thing they know is that Buck will go after Eddie no questions asked. They need to keep him sane and up here.
"No time for that, Chim."
Underground …
"Hayden! Hey, it's me! Eddie!" He shouts, hoping Hayden can hear him but now he can see the little boy. "I told you we were coming for you. Are you doing okay down there, Hayden?"
"Cold." The little boy says, making Eddie smile comfortingly.
"I bet." Eddie decides to try the radio again. "Hey, Cap. I got eyes on Hayden. He's fallen about…"
He trails off, before deciding to continue. " We are partially submerged. Water's rising fast. I need more time."
Please for the love of God hear him.
-----------
"I can't raise him on the radio." CHimney says, looking at Buck to gauge his reaction.
"Prep the rig. We're bringing him up." Bobby orders, making the blonde firefighter stall for time.
"No, Cap. Can't we give him more time? He could have the kid or almost have him." Buck replies loudly, while also looking very concerned.
"Or he could be suffocating in mud five stories below ground. We're almost down to one minute." They all know time is short, especially with the weather moving in.
Eddie reaches for Hayden, explaining what is going on. "I'm gonna reach down for you now, okay? Try not to move. Let me do all the work"
He gets Hayden almost out of the pipe. "There we go. There we go! Almost there!"
He almost has Hayden when he feels he is being pulled and he realizes they are pulling him up too soon.
"No, no, no, no, no! No! No! Not now! Hayden!" Eddie fights against the pull, getting out his knife and cutting his line. Buck is going to be pissed but he needs to save this kid.
--------------
"Time's up. Pull him out, now." Bobby orders, when Buck feels the weight at the end of the rope become lighter.
"I lost the weight!" Buck yells at his captain.
"What does that mean?" People ask and Buck has no idea.
"I don't know! Something's wrong! All right, 15 feet. 10, 5. Oh, my God. Oh, my God." Buck is yelling, holding up the severed line. Buck is now extremely concerned, because this is unlike Eddie… well more like Eddie since Shannon passed.
Buck can't even blame a broken soulmate bond because they weren't soulmates.
"He cut the damn line!" Hen yells, while Buck just looks at the severed rope, hoping Eddie knew what he was doing.
"Chim, I want you to gear up. I'm sending you down." Bobby says, making the blond do a double take. He is more experienced, why isn't Bobby recommending he go down?
"Copy that." Chimney says, heading toward the tent to get a wetsuit and harness, while Buck tries to convince Bobby he should be the one going.
"Cap, I should be the one to go down." Buck says, getting twin glares in return.
"So we can end up with two cut lines?" Hen retorts, and well…. She has a point.
Eddie is below them, hopefully with Hayden and he's going to be topside any moment.
Any moment.
It takes Chim about twenty minutes to go down the hole and then come back up, with a little boy in his arms. There is a collective sigh of relief, and they get the kid to an ambulance when Bobby is directing the line down in the hole, when a burst of lightning strikes the drill, causing it to collapse into the hole.
It also lands on their ladder truck, and Buck has to tackle Bobby out of the way. After things stop crashing, it lands right on top of Eddie.
"Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! No! Eddie! Eddie! No! No! Eddie!" Buck screams, trying to dig through the mud. Eddie is down there! He needs to get to him!
Bobby lugs him back, and allows him to break down on his lap.
This was his other worst nightmare.
He couldn't lose Eddie.
-------------
Pain lances through his battered body, but Eddie needs to get in touch with his team.
But there is a new pain, not the bruises but something else. Someone, something is keeping him going.
"This is Diaz. Can anybody hear me?" Eddie tries his radio again, "This is Eddie. I'm alive. I'm still alive down here!"
He sobs, "I'm still alive down here!"
"Anyone?"
His arm tingles, but he can't look at it right now because he needs to look for a way out. He starts walking and then swimming.
He blacks out for a moment, dreaming of Buck and Chris, even Shannon. His arm tingles then become scorching hot, waking him from his slumber and he swims toward the surface. As he gets on stable ground, he looks at his arm.
Eddie is shivering and the hot pain in his arm is suddenly at the back of his mind.
He walks into the crowd from behind hearing someone say "We'll use their thermal imaging to scan this wider area. Try to pick up Diaz's heat signature."
"Won't be easy." Eddie quips, red, dirty, wet and shivering. Everyone seems frozen, unable to believe he was there.
"Eddie?Eddie!" Buck shouts, then repeats himself unable to believe that his best friend is right here now.
"I'm pretty cold." That's an understatement.
"Eddie!" Buck shouts, watching him almost collapse. When Buck touches him, a warmth seeps through his bones, like the sun coming out and warming them
In the ambulance, they undress him and wrap him up in a heated blanket, while Buck doesn't let go of his hand.
Eddie doesn't know about his soul mark until a few months have passed from the well. One day, he's staring in the mirror, unable to remember where he got this tattoo. It was scrolling across his upper arm, and when he steps closer, it doesn't appear in the background in the mirror.
Holy shit, this is his soul mark. This person said it and he has a soulmate. Eddie watched the news from the night of the well, and he swore he heard these words.
He sits down on his bed, Buck and Christopher playing video games in the living room. He pulls up the video from that night and he hears it.
Eddie hears from his soulmate. ""Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! No! Eddie! Eddie! No! No! Eddie!" The former army medic heard his words etched onto his skin.
And they were from one Evan Buckley.
Holy shit, Buck is his soulmate.
It's Buck….
But… Now what?
-----
It turns out that Buck has no idea they are soulmates, so Eddie does his best in showing Buck how much he loves him.
Bobby and Hen both knew about his soul script, having seen him when they walked in on him inspecting it.
Hen told him that it may take time for Buck's words to come in but Eddie has done everything. He even made Buck, Christopher's guardian after the well. The man loves his son so much and he loves the blonde firefighter just as much.
Eddie runs into Ana Flores, the teacher that had caught his eye, while out on a call. She flirts with him, and he flirts back asking for her number. Maybe he is a fluke and Buck didn't love him back.
The minute he kisses Ana, he is nauseous and he realizes the soulmate script is real, the mark is real and he just has to wait for Buck to catch up. He says goodbye to Ana, returning home to Buck being a miracle worker.
Eddie loves coming home to Buck, but his best friend and soulmate is pulling away and he suspects it's because of Ana. He can't tell Buck he's Eddie's soulmate because the man would never believe him.
He also doesn't tell Ana that he feel nauseous everytime she tries to kiss him or initiate sex. Doesn't matter because Christopher runs away to Buck after he said he is dating someone and he is half asleep that he doesn't notice his son leaving.
Eddie keeps up the facade, heartbroken that Buck's words haven't appeared or that Eddie hasn't said anything of importance yet. He continues "dating Ana" but it doesn't go further than a cheek kiss much to her disappointment. She keeps looking for her words to appear on him, or his on hers and he knows it will never happen.
Carla meets her and basically confirms all suspicions of what he's doing and he vows to break up with her after he deals with the mom poisoning her kid for money.
Then he gets shot and his life changes forever…
Because Buck finally finds out they are soulmates.
(Ana sits by his bedside but the moment she sees the script, she leaves.)
----------------
Buck swore the moment he saw Eddie, he knew the man was his soulmate. He just feels it deep in his soul. But as time went on, he started doubting that because he saw how Shannon reacts to Eddie. He thought that the tattoo on Eddie's arm was a soul script but it wasn't.
Then Shannon dies, and Eddie is sad. He is crushed by a ladder truck, suffers a pulmonary embolism, almost loses Eddie's kid in a tsunami, files a lawsuit and each and every time he expects Eddie's deep words to be on his skin.
But they are not. Eddie says some wonderful things and yet none of them are inscribed onto his body and he wants it so badly. When Eddie is buried under 40 feet of mud, he loses it because he doesn't want to lose his soulmate.
Eddie comes out of it alive and he's so relieved. They come out of it stronger than ever, but still no scripts. Eddie, though, is more touchy feely than ever and he loves the attention.
However his parents almost ruined it all because now… now he doesn't want a soulmate because his brother, who he was supposed to save, won't.
Isn't that just grand? So he pulls away slightly from Eddie, who wants to bring him closer. But that results in Eddie starting to date Christopher's old teacher.
And that ends up with Christopher running away to him, and what is he supposed to do with that? He tells Chris he will never leave him, despite his dad dating.
Eddie doesn't talk about Ana, but introduces her to Christopher, who doesn't warm up to her. Which makes Buck happy, because she isn't replacing him. They still have their Buckley-Diaz nights, and honestly, Eddie doesn't see Ana often. Maybe once every two weeks because of shifts, Christopher and their family time.
Eddie is also worried about a kid whose mother they helped rescue and is pacing around the station when Buck and Chimney get in. They save the mom and the kid, only to see Eddie shot.
To be honest, he just remembers the spray of blood to his face and Eddie's surprised face. They both freeze for a moment, hoping this wasn't the end. Eddie collapses and Captain Mehta has to push Buck out of the way.
Buck just goes into his survival mode and that mode means he has to save his best friend and potential soulmate. He has to, for him, for Eddie and especially for Christopher. When he gets to the hospital, he's lost. Eddie could be taken away from him again and when Bobby sees him, his father figure takes him to the restroom to clean the blood off him.
Taylor Kelly shows up and her touch makes him want to puke. It just shows Eddie is his soulmate, even without the soul scripts, mark, whatever. Bobby calls everyone, and they camp out in the waiting room for Buck who has to break the news to Christopher. The kid he loves more than anyone in this world, including his own niece.
Bobby gets word that Eddie is going to be okay and he loses it, okay? Even Christopher's "You're going to be ok, Buck," doesn't stop the tears because he cannot imagine losing his soulmate.
Before he tucks Christopher into bed, the ten year old asks "Buck, are you my dad's soulmate?"
Buck takes a sharp inhale when Christopher continues, "Because Dad's words are what you said when he was in the well."
Wait, what? Eddie has… No wonder Taylor's touch makes him nauseous. This was the catalyst; there is a chance that Eddie's words will appear on his skin.
"I hope so, kiddo, I love you and your dad so much," Buck replies, before kissing him on the forehead and sitting on the couch in his home. The loft isn't home, the Diaz house is.
There is a knock on the door and he opens it to reveal Ana who looks surprised at him being there. "Ana?" he asks, dumbly. "What…"
Oh, no one told her. Well this is going to be a fun conversation. "Eddie isn't here. He was hurt on the job and is in the hospital." Buck says, bluntly. Eddie isn't her soulmate, he is Buck's. "No one has your number, so I'm sorry to be telling you this."
Ana stands there shocked, "Oh. What about Christopher?"
"I'm taking care of him like Eddie has asked me in the past. Look, don't bother going to the hospital. They won't let you in," Buck says, rubbing his hand down his face.
"He will probably want to see me when he wakes up," Ana tries to interrupt when Buck holds up a hand.
"You have barely seen Eddie in the past month, I know that. Just go home and when I have more, then someone will call you," Buck doesn't want her number. Ana nods, before fleeing to her car. He shuts the door and slides down, sobbing.
He finds out later that some front desk person took pity on her and took her to his room against their wishes. The 118 is not happy, and Buck makes sure someone is always there, but then he needs to go back to his loft for clothes. Taylor is there, after he scales a crane to rescue someone, and she kisses him.
This time he did puke after she did it, fleeing when she heard it. He is sorry about it but then Ana is calling him and his soulmate is awake. He rushes to the hospital and Ana is smiling, but then Eddie lights up at Buck.
They are the only ones in the room, which Ana notices, and in two steps, he's at Eddie's bedside, holding his uninjured hand. He lifts it to his face, when Eddie caresses his face. Ana leaves, but comes back anytime Buck isn't there.
Then one day it's just Eddie and the other man admits Ana saw his soul mark and broke it off. Both of them are relieved when the doctor comes in and says Eddie is going to be discharged the next day.
Buck is coming back in with the detailed list of instructions, when Eddie is looking thoughtful. The blue henley was the easiest of Eddie's shirts to get on him, and Eddie's nurse assists him in getting dressed while Buck talks to the doctors.
"Hey, since we got a minute…" Eddie starts, looking at Buck with soulful brown eyes.
"Uh, is everything alright?" Buck asks in return, sitting down next to Eddie, close enough to touch.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just, uh, I've been meaning to talk to you about something. Okay. So, you might have noticed I almost died. Again. Yeah, I've had a lot of close calls. This one wasn't even my closest." No shit, he has been there for two of them and he's gonna shake apart thinking about it.
"Yeah. Eddie…"
"Just let me finish. After the last time, when that well collapsed on top of me…" Buck doesn't keep the shudder at the reminder to himself. The well was the first time he truly admitted he loved Eddie and it just grew from there.
"Which you survived." Eddie chuckles, knowing what Buck means.
"After that... it got me thinking. You know, what would happen to Christopher if I hadn't? So I went to my attorney and changed my will. So, someday, if I, uh... didn't make it.. ... Christopher would be taken care of. By you."
What? Seriously, though. What. In. The. Actual. Hell.
"What?" God he sounds dumb, but seriously he's stuck on what?
"It's in my will, if I die, you become Christopher's legal guardian." If Buck wasn't sure Eddie is his soulmate, he's pretty sure that his best friend just admitted how much he loves Buck. But how?
"Uh... I mean, h-how-how does that even work? Don't you.." Buck laughs softly. This man doesn't do anything in halves. "Don't-don't you need my consent?"
"My attorney said you could refuse."
Ha, he would never. Christopher is his son now too. Suck it Diaz parents.
"You know I wouldn't."
"Nah, I know you wouldn't." God, this man knows him too well.
"I mean, he-he has grandparents, other family."
Eddie laughs again, knowing what he meant. Eddie's parents are just as bad as his.
"Yeah. After Shannon left, they all tried to guilt me into giving Christopher to them. It's not what I wanted then, it's not what I want now."
He never knew that. Seriously, maybe Helena and Ramon are worse than his parents. Eddie is the best dad, period.
"If it came to that, w-wouldn't they fight for him?" Helena and Ramon would probably murder him to get Christopher back.
"I don't know. Maybe. Probably. But no one will ever fight for my son as hard as you. That is what I want for him."
Buck is sure his eyes are shining with tears, when he realizes Eddie said last year after the well!
"Well, you said you did this last year. Why are you just telling me now?" Buck asks, afraid of the answer. He did admit to Eddie that he wished he was shot instead of him.
"Because, Evan, you came in here the other day and you said you thought it would have been better if it had been you who was shot. You act like you're expendable." Eddie sighs but Buck feels the heat of something on his skin. Like someone is writing on his skin, marking him as theirs.
Eddie. Eddie is finally speaking the words meant to bind them together.
"But you're wrong."
The heat stops after the word wrong, and Eddie stares at him when suddenly the heat transfers to their chest over their hearts.
They look at each other, with wide eyes and then break out into smiles.
Eddie had his soulmark all along, and made him Christopher's guardian after finding out Buck is his soulmate.
Now Buck has Eddie's word in his heart, around his heart. Eddie has his words, his declaration of love around his heart too.
Eddie gives him a blinding smile, before yanking him down to kiss him. They melt, sparks flying between their skin and lips.
They pull apart, when Eddie strokes his face again.
"It's about time you caught up."
And Buck can't help but bring Eddie in for a kiss again.
(When they get home, they tell Christopher who is ecstatic, and then when Eddie is healed, they map each other's bodies, tracing their words with their mouth.
Fate is a fickle thing, but it finally brought them together. And they couldn't be happier.)