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Buck liked tattoos. He’d gotten a few over the years, each meaning something important to him or marking important occasions. They told his story in ink and flesh. However, he’d never gotten a tattoo while drunk before. It had been a point of pride that he’d escaped his party days as Buck 1.0 without that particular badge of shame. So when he woke up with a pounding headache, a dry mouth, and a new tattoo right over his heart, he thinks he can be excused for his language.
The groan it elicited from his sister disagreed. And wait, what was Maddie doing in his apartment, sharing his bed? She had a husband and a daughter at home. Why would she be here? Buck frowned over at her and hadn’t managed to bring his attention back to his tattoo before she pushed herself upright in the bed with a pained moan. “I hate you sometimes, Evan,” Maddie mumbled. Which, fair. She blinked blearily at him before frowning in confusion. “What, uh, what am I doing here?” she asked. Buck shrugged. She scanned him and her frown deepened. “And when did you get a new tattoo?” She gestured at the bandage on his chest.
“I’m guessing last night,” Buck managed, trying to rub his headache away.
“Oh my God.” Maddie dropped back down onto the bed and tried to bury her head in the pillows. Bucked huffed sympathetically before getting out of bed. It was still sometime in the morning, though he wasn’t sure what time since he couldn’t find his phone where he normally left it on his bedside table. He found it when he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He plugged it in, grateful to find that there were no new messages on it. Then he went to make them coffee and breakfast. He had a couple of hours before his shift, so he could deal with the tattoo after the headache had faded some and the memories of the night before started to come back. Maddie joined him in the kitchen a while later, after pulling herself out of bed and emptying her stomach. “I’m still mad, even if you’ve already paid for this.” Maddie once again waved towards his chest. “What happened?”
“You had a fight with Chim,” Buck explained. “And dragged me out to a bar, because, and I’m quoting here, you ‘wanted to get drunk with someone whose love life was worse than yours’. When I pointed out that was most people you hit me.” Maddie looked like she was going to hit him again.
“Oh, God.” She dropped her head to the counter.
“There was a lot of alcohol. Several different kinds of liquor being mixed together, so then it gets blurry.” Buck grimaced. “There may have been gambling. There was definitely karaoke. And then…”
Maddie suddenly straightened up. “And then I talked you into getting a tattoo.” Her face paled. Buck nodded. “I can’t even remember what it is.”
“Neither can I,” Buck admitted.
Maddie glared at him. “Buck, you have a shift today.”
“I know that.”
“Don’t you wanna know what’s on your freaking chest before you have to change in front of your entire Station?”
“I don’t plan on changing in front of them ever again.”
“Buck. You need to look at it.”
“I’m good.”
“Buck.”
“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out after shift and if it’s bad, I’ll look into getting it removed. It’s no big deal.”
“Evan!” Maddie snapped. “Look at it.”
“All right!” Buck put the food down and cleaned off his hands. Then he carefully removed the bandage and looked. Buck’s stomach dropped and he felt like he may throw up. Maddie burst out laughing.
“Oh my God,” she wheezed, “I take it back. I’m not mad anymore.”
“I’m never going shirtless again,” Buck declared weakly. He was mortified. Because right over his heart, in clean black letters were the words ‘Property of Eddie Diaz’.
“You should clean that,” Maddie snickered. “Wouldn’t want it getting infected.”
Buck glared at her. “This is your doing,” he reminded her.
“You have a shift with your owner.”
“Maddie. He can’t see this.” Buck’s eyes widened.
She sighed fondly. “It’ll be fine, Evan. Just make sure it heals right and you can get it removed in a couple months. Until then, just be careful about where you change.” She smirked. “And stay away from the beach.”
“You cannot tell anyone about this,” Buck insisted. “Not even Chim. He’ll tell Hen and she’ll tell Eddie. Eddie cannot know about this. Ever.”
“I won’t tell him, but maybe you should. It might make it easier to tell Eddie how you feel when your feelings are spelled out in permanent ink.” Maddie sipped her coffee and raised her eyebrows. Buck just glared at her. But he did take care of the tattoo. He actually took better care of it than he had most of his others. He had also taken to going to work already in uniform, and only changing in the bathroom when there was no one else around if he had to change. He knew Bobby had noticed, but he hadn’t said anything to Buck yet. Eddie was harder. He’d noticed the change right away and ribbed Buck constantly about it. But, several months later, Eddie had finally given up. By that point, Buck could have scheduled the removal. Except, well, he wasn’t sure he wanted one anymore. It was true after all. His heart had been property of Eddie Diaz since they’d pulled a grenade out of that man’s leg all those years ago.
Eddie didn’t like how closed off Buck had become about his body. Buck had never really flaunted his body, but he had certainly never been ashamed of it. He knew he was attractive and he knew the kind of attention he got on calls and in bars. He’d never shied away from it. Eddie liked the soft blush that would dust Buck’s cheeks when someone complimented him and the way that the other man would swagger around the rest of the day. He liked Buck’s confidence in his body. For the first few years Eddie had known him, Buck would never turn down a chance to show off. But a few months ago, Buck had changed. It wasn’t a big thing. Not in the grand scheme of things that made Buck. But it stood out. Buck had stopped taking his shirt off around the team. Hadn’t changed with them anymore. Would go out of his way to avoid it. Even when the whole team had ended up covered in mud after a particularly messy call to rescue a hiker. Buck had waited until everyone else had finished getting cleaned up before he did.
And it bothered Eddie. Eddie didn’t know why it bothered him, at least at first. It took until Chim called him out for staring to realize it. He liked how Buck looked, especially when shirtless. He liked the confident swagger, the cute blush. The eager puppy dog that Buck became when he was excited. He liked Buck. Even when Eddie would have to shove down his jealousy when Buck would flirt back. Eddie liked how Buck would look back to Eddie. It always sent a thrill of fond emotion through him to see that beaming smile. Eddie had sat on that feeling for a while, trying to figure out when he had fallen for his best friend. He didn’t need to ask himself how it happened. That was easy to see. Buck was just so…. So Buck. Kind and strong and caring. Determined and reckless and clever. He never saw anyone as less, was always trying to make sure that everyone he met understood their importance. Like with Red. And Maddie. And Christopher. Especially Christopher. Buck had gone out of his way so many times to make sure that Chris had every opportunity. That if Chris wanted to go rock climbing or surfing or skateboarding he had a chance to try.
It was easy to see how he’d fallen in love with Buck. What was harder to see was when Buck had gone from his best friend to one of two people he couldn’t imagine his life without. When had Buck become the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with? It was a driving force in his life now and he had no idea it had happened. Not until he noticed Buck being different. How had he not noticed?
Eventually, Eddie decided he needed to do something and this time he’d do it right. So, he started with Chris. Dinner one night he sat across from his son, listening with a fond smile as Christopher described the experiment he’d done in his science class. When he finished, Eddie cleared his throat. “So, bud, there’s something I wanted to ask you about.” Chris tilted his head curiously. “It’s been a while since Ms. Flores and I broke up and I was thinking about dating someone else. I wanted to make sure that would be all right with you.”
“Who is it?” Christopher asked frowning at him.
“Uh, well, I was going to ask Buck,” Eddie said. “If that’s okay with you.”
Christopher’s face lit up. “Really?” Chris hardly let Eddie nod before he was excitedly going on. “Does that mean he’ll be around more? And we’ll hang out more and Bucky will kiss you like Mommy used to?”
Eddie laughed a little. “Uh, yeah, buddy, hopefully. But I have to ask him first.”
“You should ask him soon. I like having Buck around.”
“Me too, buddy.” Eddie smiled broadly at his kid. Then he spent the next half hour convincing Chris not to tell Buck until Eddie did first. Eddie planned to ask him after their next shift. But he couldn’t have planned for the crap they had to face.
It was pouring down rain and the whole crew was soaked right through their turnout gear. Buck hadn’t left Eddie’s side for the majority of their shift and Eddie knew why. He knew that every time they had to pull someone from a suddenly flooded street or dig a car out of increasingly muddy conditions, Buck was relieving some of the worst days of his life.
The call came in a bit before midnight. Another flash flood. A car had gotten caught in it and had been turned over when it slammed into a tree. The driver had managed to get out of the car but was now surrounded by the suddenly rushing water and trapped in the tree their car was pinned to. Bobby sent Buck into the water to get them while Eddie manned his rope. Buck was almost to the driver when the water picked up strength. It dragged Buck past the tree and Eddie scrambled to control the rope, Buck’s lifeline, as he disappeared from view. Hen and Chim grabbed onto the rope too as Bobby tried to use the winch to real Buck back in. All of them strained against the pull when suddenly the line went slack. Eddie couldn’t breathe. He pulled the line back in frantically until he came to the frayed end.
Bobby cursed. “He cut the damn line.”
“No.” Eddie shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t.”
“Buckley, report!” Bobby called into his radio. There was no response. “Buck, answer me.” Another long silence. “Buck!”
“Hang on, Cap,” Buck’s voice wheezed over the radio. The whole team breathed a sigh of relief.
“What the hell was that?” Eddie demanded into the radio. Hen and Chim gave him knowing looks. It was a while before Buck answered again.
“Sorry guys. Rope got snagged on something and was keeping me under. Had to cut it. Took a bit to get where I could respond,” Buck explained. “Didn’t mean to scare ya. I’m all good. Get the driver.”
“Didn’t hit anything?” Hen asked.
“I’m good,” Buck repeated. “Just wet.”
“All right. We’ll come get you once we have the driver. Stay put, Buck,” Bobby ordered.
“Nowhere to go, Cap.”
“Little shit,” Eddie muttered. It took them another twenty minutes to get the miraculously uninjured driver out of the tree. Thankfully the water had gone down so they could search for Buck on foot most of the way. Buck gave them periodic updates. Unfortunately, he was still mostly in the water. He had secured himself on a guard rail to keep from getting swept away again. He reported that there was still a lot of water around him but it was starting to go down. Hen and Chim took the driver to the hospital to get checked out. Eddie, Ravi, and Bobby went looking for Buck. He was easy to find but it took them a while to get him out of the water. When it was all said and done, Buck had been in the water for close to two hours with minimal thermal protection. His lips were blue and he was shivering. Bobby and Eddie had to carry him back to the truck. Which they drove directly to the hospital.
“Didn’t mean to scare you, Eds,” Buck said once they got him in.
“You did what you had to do,” Eddie replied, already working on getting Buck’s gear off. “Probie, get some blankets.” Ravi pulled thermal blankets from one of the kits while Eddie continued to strip Buck. Buck grabbed his hand weakly when he tried to pull the shirt off. “Buck, you’ve got to let me get you out of this wet stuff. It’s gonna make you colder.”
“J-just-just wanted to apologize first,” Buck managed through chattering teeth. He let go of Eddie’s wrist and Eddie pulled the shirt off.
“Hospital in five minutes,” Bobby called. “Doing okay back there?” Eddie couldn’t respond because he was staring at Buck’s chest. At the space over the other man’s heart where black letters stood out against pale skin: Property of Eddie Diaz. Eddie felt like he had been the one trapped in the water.
“We’re go-go-good, Cap,” Buck called back. It shook Eddie out of his shock and he quickly wrapped the thermal blankets around Buck’s shoulders. He couldn’t keep his eyes from slipping to the spot under the blanket where his name was tattooed on Buck’s chest.
“Didn’t see any injuries, but they should give him a full check at the hospital,” Eddie managed finally. “Along with treating the hypothermia.”
“Uh, was that what I thought it was?” Ravi asked.
“You’ve seen hypothermic people before, Probie,” Eddie replied.
“No, I meant-“ Ravi cut himself off when Eddie glared at him.
“It’s a tat-tattoo, Probie,” Buck offered with a weak grin. “Yo-you’ve seen those before, r-right?” Eddie shot Buck a look, clearly telling him to shut up. Buck laughed a little and rolled his eyes. Ravi looked between the two of them and wisely decided to keep his mouth closed.
Once they got to the hospital, Buck was taken to be checked out and warmed up. Bobby ordered Eddie to wait for him (as if there was ever a chance Eddie wasn’t going to) and the rest of the team went back to finish their shift. Several hours later, Buck was put in a room for the next twelve hours under observation and the nurses finally let Eddie in to see him. Buck flushed and looked away when he walked in, nervously picking at the sheets. Eddie scanned him, looking for any bandages or injuries he’d missed on the ride over. He was incredibly thankful not to find any. Buck had regained some color though the skin around his blush was still considerably paler than usual and his lips were still tinged blue. Eddie pulled a chair over beside his bed and took a seat.
“So,” Eddie started, “Property of Eddie Diaz?” He raised his eyebrows, and Buck flushed deeper and looked down. “For how long have you been my property? I need to know if I claim you on this year’s taxes or next year’s.”
“I was very drunk when I got it,” Buck muttered, “and it’s Maddie’s fault.”
“Uh-huh.” Eddie crossed his arms, smirk growing even as he tried to school his face.
“It is!” Buck exclaimed. “She and Chim had a fight and she wanted to get drunk and she dragged me with her. She forced me into the tattoo place.”
“Did she choose the tattoo too?” Eddie asked in amusement. Buck gulped and turned away. “That’s a no then.”
“Eddie.”
“I’m more curious as to why it’s still there. It clearly healed a while ago. I’d guess you could’ve gotten it removed two months ago since you stopped changing at the station about five months ago, which, I’m assuming is when you got.”
“I can get it removed if you want me to,” Buck said weakly.
“I didn’t say that,” Eddie said gently. He took Buck’s hand and ran his thumb over the cold skin. Buck looked up, frowning doubtfully. “Why didn’t you get it removed?”
“I didn’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“Eddie,” Buck whispered.
Eddie sighed, smiling fondly. “You know, before you got yourself admitted to the hospital, again, I was going to ask you something.” Buck's eyebrows scrunched up and he looked like a confused puppy. “I hadn’t yet because I was nervous about the answer. But I’m fairly confident in it now.”
“What?” Buck still looked confused.
Eddie grinned. “Would you like to get dinner with me Friday night?”
“We always have dinner together on Fridays. Why would I say no?”
Eddie let out a laugh. “No, Buck, not dinner at my house with Christopher. Dinner as in a date. With wine and romance and kissing.”
“A date…with me?” The confusion was gone, replaced with disbelief.
“Yes, Evan. Since your heart is already marked as my property.” Eddie trailed off, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Buck laughed and shook his head. “Plus, I already told Chris, so he’ll be expecting a positive outcome.”
“Can’t disappoint Chris,” Buck grinned. “He’s my favorite Diaz.”
“I think he likes you more than me,” Eddie huffed.
“Then this is already going better than your last relationship.”
“This,” Eddie gestured between them, “isn’t a relationship yet because you haven’t answered my question.”
Buck beamed at him. “Of course, I’ll go on a date with you.”
“Chris will be glad to hear it.”
“Right. Chris is the only one glad to hear it.” Buck cocked an eyebrow. Eddie leaned in closer.
“Well, I already knew your answer, didn’t I?” He was inches from Buck’s face. Blue eyes drifted to Eddie’s lips and Eddie grinned. He gave Buck time to pull away as he closed the distance between them. It wasn’t perfect. Buck’s lips were still cold and the bed made the angle uncomfortable. But it was Buck. And the excitement that thought brought burned through Eddie like a wildfire. It was better than any kiss with Ana or even Sharon and Eddie couldn’t wait to experience it again and again. As many times as he could for as long as Buck would let him.
“Really?” Maddie said. They jerked apart and both looked to where she was standing, arms crossed in the doorway. Eddie and Buck glanced at each other and Buck shrugged. He turned back to his sister and smiled sheepishly. “I give up. I’m going home. I’m done with you, Evan Buckley! He’s your problem now, Diaz!” She threw her hands up and left in a huff that had both men laughing.