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Eddie smiles at his team. They're messing around in the gym when the doors open. Eddie looks to see the LAFD coming in. It's been two years since Eddie left the fire department and went to the gym. After Buck came out as bisexual, Eddie's feelings for the man resurfaced. Eddie distanced himself to figure out his feelings, but the 118 thought he was biphobia. Nash had him transferred out. He had quit and came to the gym.
Buck's surprise to see Eddie at a gym. He only stays in contact with Chris because he promised the kid he would always be there for him. He fell out with Eddie after he quit. When Eddie left, Buck dated Josh and was happy with him. When Eddie tried to talk to Buck, the blond told him to leave him alone. After a call from Chris made Buck rethink the situation. He saw a picture of Eddie and another man happy. Eddie looked unwell. The man seems to be in a better spot than two years ago. Buck wants his best friend back.
"Mr. Diaz, how are you?" Chief Guillebeaux questions his ex-employee. The Chiefs and other captains wanted him off their teams when Nash transferred him. Chief Guillebeaux asked Eddie about it and got the whole truth from him. Eddie said that his friends from the military have work for him to do. He works for hospitals and gyms with his group.
"I'm well, sir; how about you?" Eddie asks. The chief had been the only one in the whole LAFD to ask what happened. Eddie respects him for that. Eddie called his Sarg, who refused to let go of him and got him to the gym. She didn't like what she saw, and she brought back up. The door opened again, and another group came in. People see SEALS and pale. A 6'5" male with dark skin, heavy muscles, blond hair, and green eyes goes to Eddie. He kisses the shorter man.
The LAFD is in shock. Other wolves cry, and Buck smiles softly at the man's love for Eddie. He has seen the relationship and knows that even though their relationship didn't happen, Buck still wants to be friends with Eddie. Eddie was his best friend, and he wanted that back. Chimney, Hen, and Bobby feel ashamed of their thoughts on Eddie. They see Eddie's happy with this man, and the 118 wants Eddie back. Eddie, blushing, looks back to the chief.
"I'm good. Have you ever thought of coming back?" Chief Guillebeaux asks the man. The chiefs and captains hope that the man comes back. They have to make it up to Diaz somehow. Buck hopes to have his friend back. Eddie looks at his family and smiles.
"I don't want to come back after everything that happened. It was wrong on everyone's part to treat a person like that. You are the only one who had asked why I acted the way I did, but no one else did. So, no," Eddie says. The chief nods in understanding. Rohan can see that Eddie is in a good spot. The mystery guy stays close to Eddie. Eddie sees Hen coming close.
"How are you, Eddie?" She asks with a kind smile. Eddie leans into the taller man as she comes up. She and Chimney had caused the 118 to turn on Eddie. They thought that he was biphobic when he was reevaluating his relationship with Buck. When the 118 turned, Karen came over to talk with him. She got his side and stayed on his side. She was allowed to join the gym. The group adores her, and Karen hadn't told her wife about this.
"Hey, Eddie?" Buck asks. Eddie looks at him with weariness, which Buck doesn't blame him for. He doesn't want bloodshed and knows Hen is the last person to talk to him.
"Buckley," Eddie can't call him Buck because they're not friends. Not anymore. Buck smiles softly at him.
"I don't mind you calling me Buck or Evan. I'm sorry for not having your back. I should've known you better, but I let Chim, Maddie, and Hen get the better of me. I understand why you don't like Josh, and I respect that. If there is ever a chance that you can forgive me, I want to be friends again. I do love you, Eddie, and I want you in my life; anyway, you will let me in," Buck says, and Eddie turns into the man. The man smiles at Buck.
"Give him some time, and prove to him that you mean it," He tells Buck. The blue-eyed man nods in understanding.
"I'm Alek. It's nice to meet you, Buckley," Alek says to the dark blond. Buck widens his eyes. This is Alek!? No wonder Eddie and Chris love him.
"It's nice to put a name to a face," Buck says, making Alek smile. Eddie looks at Alek. Eddie didn't know that Alek wanted to meet Buck. Alek kisses him on the forehead.
"Buck loves you and Chris. Chris tells me all the time what his Buck would do. I know you miss him, and I bet Buck misses you too, Eds. I love you, and I know that you love me too. I want Buck in your life," Alek says softly to his husband. Buck looks at Eddie. Eddie kisses him and leaves to go to the ring.
"Give him time. He's still healing from the bullshit that happened with the Alek says. Buck nods in understanding.
"Will he ever forgive us?" Buck needs to know the truth. Alek looks at him.
"Not entirely. He gets you. He gets that his distance had hurt you and that not telling you why has hurt you. However, from what I gather, Josh hurts him more than most and pretends it didn't happen. Your siding with Josh had hurt him. He gets it that you want to be the supportive boyfriend. However, he can't forgive you for not believing in him. He won't forgive the rest of them, especially Josh," Alek takes a deep breath. Buck sees Eddie and a woman sparing and boxing in the ring. He wants to make it up to Eddie.
"We're Eddie's soulmates, and I will protect him for you. Go his pace," Alek says. Buck nods in understanding. Buck goes to the ring and sees Eddie training the woman. Alek sees Buck's love for Eddie and smiles.
"What of you and Josh?" Alek asks. Buck watches Eddie teach. The LAFD is surprised to see Diaz knowing and training in MMA. Some of the firefighters go and join.
"Broke up. He told me what he did to Eddie, and I didn't want to be with someone intentionally cruel to another person," Buck tells him. Alek nods his head.
"How are you doing?" Alek asks him. Buck smiles as he likes Alek. He's a good man, and Buck's glad that his boys are with a good man.
"I'm okay. I miss my boys," Buck admits, making Alek smile.
"I have stage four lung cancer. Eddie knows it, but I need someone to help them through my death. Can you handle that?" Alek says. Buck looks at him with wide eyes.
"How long?" Buck asks in a hurting tone, making Alek smile. He didn't want to hear that Eddie would lose his husband so soon.
"A few months. I'm not taking any treatment, and that's hurting Eddie. I know. Can you be there for Eddie when I'm gone?" Alek asks again.
"Of course. I'll be there. I'll make it up to him first, but I'll always be there for my favorite boys. How can I help you?" Buck asks. Alek smiles at him.
"I liked you from the start; I like you from what I am getting from you now," Alek says. Buck smiles shyly, making Alek snort. Both men are the same, and that makes Alek soft for them.
"Take care of my boys. As I said before, we are Eddie's soulmates, and he will lose two of the three soulmates. Don't make him lose another," Alek says.
"Who was the other?" Buck asks. Shock and hurt that Eddie had already lost one soulmate. Eddie never said anything about that. Alek smiles sadly at the picture before him as Buck sees Alek, Eddie, and a woman with blond hair and brown eyes. Alek has his arms around Eddie's shoulders, pulling him close, while Eddie's arms are stretched out, encircling the woman's waist. The woman seems to be leaning forward like she didn't want to take the picture, but all three are smiling and laughing.
"Petra Holland, one of the Army Cyber Operations Specialists. She and Eddie completed the bond right away. Brother and sister. They were a nightmare to the camp whenever they were together. I could always stop them, but there were times when I would join in. Petra and I were older than Eddie. Petra by two years, and I am seven years older than Eddie. The man was seventeen when he joined," Alek says, making Buck look at him.
"Petra and Eddie knew that they loved each other as siblings and treated each other as such; when they went home, Eddie would take her with him, and his parents adopted her. The Diazs mean well, and it took Petra yelling at them for hurting Eddie to get the stick out of their behinds. She pushed Eddie out of the way when a grande hit the floor. She didn't make it, and I was gone on a mission," Alek says, making Buck teary-eyed. Buck looks to Eddie. The man is training people.
"Eddie needs someone to help him through his depression," Alek says. Eddie has been able to get Buck out of his depression, and he wants to return that.
"Why are you telling me this?" Buck asks Alek. The man smiles at the blond.
"I want you to stay with him. I'm staying with a friend who's helping me. He's shielding Eddie from how bad I'm getting. I need you to be with him. Protect Eddie," Alek says, making Buck look at him.
"We don't have a relationship now," Buck points out. Alek smiles amusingly at this.
"You do; you just don't know it," Alek says. Buck smiles in uncertainty. Alek sees his husband finishing the class and encourages Buck to go to Eddie. The blond goes to the shorter man. Eddie's stretching from the course.
"Hi," Buck says, making Eddie nod.
"Hi," Eddie mimics. Buck's unaware of how to talk to Eddie anymore.
"I'm glad that you have Alek in your life. How are you holding up? How's Christopher?" Buck asks. Eddie looks at Alek with love, and Buck knows that Eddie loves Alek. It will take a long time for Eddie to heal from his death.
"Christopher is good. Missing you and wants you back. Alek gets to meet you. How are you?" Eddie says and asks. Buck smiles. Always the kind, loving man that Buck fell in love with.
"I'm good. I am missing my boys, and Josh and I broke up. Maddie's pregnant again. I want you back, connecting with Alek. Alek told me about his cancer," Buck says softly. Eddie hums at this.
"What did he ask of you?" Eddie knows his husband and likes to know Buck. He thinks they're planning to guarantee he has someone to lean on.
"For me to be there for you when he dies," Buck says as if reading Eddie's mind. Eddie nods. Buck can see the sadness in Eddie's eyes.
"Hey, Eds. We love you and want you to be healthy. I hurt you when I started to listen to Hen and Chimney. I should've talked to you first. I feared that you would turn me down," Buck tells him. Eddie hums.
"I had wished that you would've told me. I would've told you that I was in love with you as well," Eddie says to him, and Buck doesn't miss the wording.
"Was?" He asks, heartbreaking at the feeling. Eddie looks at Alek.
"I'm still in love with you, Buck, but Alek made me love again. He holds my heart right now. I want to love you, but it hurts. Can we go back to being friends first?" Eddie asks, and Buck smiles brightly.
"That would be for the best," Buck agrees. Eddie smiles and sees Constance and Joelle about to get into it with Devika and Petula.
"Hernan, Mykel, Kazimir, Arlo, your wives are about to fight," Eddie calls out. The four men rushed to grab the four women and dragged them out. A man comes out and chuckles at the sight. Eddie brightens at the man.
"So you finally came out of your hole?" Eddie teases the man. The man barks up a laugh and grins. The LAFD tense. He's taller than everyone here.
"Sorry, kiddo. Paityn needed help with some paperwork," He says. He eyes the LAFD, and the mood turns sour. Eddie knows why and moves to hug the man.
"I'm okay," Eddie says, and the man looks at his son. Eddie's his son, and these people made his son a hollow shell of himself.
"You almost killed yourself," He reminds Eddie. Eddie flinches at that.
"Seth," Eddie trails off. Seth smiles at him and wraps him into a hug.
"You're my son, Eddie. Let me be a protective papa bear of you," Seth says. Eddie smiles at him. Seth adopted him when Eddie was twenty, making Eddie cry. The dad got his kid the help that he needed.
"Okay," Eddie says. Seth sees Buck with Alek and raises an eyebrow at Alek. After that, he looks around at the LAFD and sighs.
"What are you doing here?" Seth questions the chief. Chief Guillebeaux smiles at the man. He has gotten to know Seth Undergrove and can't blame the man for not liking the LAFD. They had hurt his son.
"We made an appointment with Callie for self-defense," He answers the man. Seth sighs. Callie isn't giving any crap about the history. She thinks that it will do everyone some good to see the mistakes. Callie has told time point blank that she's having the LAFD in the gym. Eddie had laughed at this.
"Seth," Eddie says, tone light and happy. Alek beams at his husband. Seth sighs.
"Alright! Fine!" Seth walks out, making the teams laugh. Eddie smiles when Alek wraps his arms around him. The man kisses the side of Eddie's head.
"I love you, Eddie," Alek whispers, making Eddie smile.
"I love you too, Alek," Eddie kisses him again. After that, the two men return to the people in the gym. After the day ended, time passed. Eddie and Buck repair the bond. Meanwhile, the 118 tries hard to talk to Eddie. However, Buck is blocking it. Eddie suggested therapy with Buck, and the blond jumped on it.
Therapy is working on the relationship, and Alek laughs at them. As time passes, Alek gets weaker, and Eddie sends Chris to Buck so that Eddie can spend one-on-one with Alek. Buck is over most of the time until Alek tells him to stay. The three men share a bed, Eddie in the middle. Buck's in the gym more often than not, and everyone likes having Buck around. The three men were together a morning later, but Eddie noticed Alek wasn't getting up. He goes to him, checks his pulse, and begins to sniffle.
"Eds?" Buck checks on his partner. The blond finds Eddie crying, making him rush to him. He sees Alek not breathing.
"Oh, Eds. I'm so sorry," Buck whispers to his partner. He grabs his phone and calls 9-1-1.
"9-1-1. What's your emergency?" Maddie's voice comes through. Buck sighs.
"Hey, Maddie. I need an Ambo at 1206 Main S. Victim died in his sleep," Buck says, and Maddie dispatches an ambulance to the address.
"Should get there in five minutes. Do you want to stay on the line, or do you have this?" She asks. Buck is grateful for the professionalism Maddie is displaying. She's in trouble with Sue, so she needs to be a professional at work, even if it is her baby brother.
"I got this," Buck says, hanging up to comfort Eddie. There's a knock on the door, and Buck goes to open it. He sees Athena and the 118 at the step. He lets them in and goes to grab Eddie. Chimney and Hen cover Alek and take him away.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Eddie. What happened? Dispatch said he died in his sleep?" Athena asks. Bobby is there to show his support to his sons.
"Alek had cancer that he never took treatment for. He didn't wake up today and thought it was a sleep-in day, but it's not," Buck answers for them. Eddie's behind him. He has seen the hurt the 118 has done to Eddie, and he is hurt and shocked.
Buck will make sure he protects Eddie's wishes with the 118. The only ones in Eddie's life are Karen and now May. The woman was upset that her family treated one of her older brothers. May made a mistake and called Eddie. The man picked her up and made her stay with them. Alek laughed at her stupidity while Eddie fussed over her.
Athena and Bobby smiled at them and thanked them. Leaving Buck to comfort Eddie. The older man is sobbing while the younger man comforts him. Buck has seen the love between Alek and Eddie, and his heart breaks. Alek treated Eddie like a king. Alek got him into the relationship. The man encouraged the two to have sex together.
Between Alek and Buck, Eddie was a begging mess within minutes when they both took the man. Buck realized that Alek had wanted Buck for some time, and that was a way to do it. All three were in a relationship, going at a slow pace for all of them. Buck sees that Alek wanted Buck and Eddie to have the relationship they wanted. Buck will continue to keep his promise to Alek to be there for Eddie.
"Eddie, Alek won't want you to cry. I'm here," Buck says to him. Buck has Eddie in his lap, comforting him. A few days later, at Alek's funeral, the 118 show their respects. Alek was the one to get Eddie to talk to them. Alek showed Eddie love and forgiveness. Eddie stayed close to Seth during the whole thing. Buck gave Eddie a month before they went through his stuff. While reading the Will, Alek gave Eddie everything and nothing to his biological family. Buck held Eddie as he cried.
Three years later
"Hey, Evan," Eddie says to his boyfriend. Evan smiles at him.
"Hey, Edmundo," Buck mimics.
"I love you, Evan Buckley," Eddie tells him, and Buck freezes. Eddie shifts nervously. Buck wraps his arms around Eddie's waist, pulls the shorter man closer, and kisses his lips. Eddie smiles.
"I love you too, Edmundo Diaz," Buck whispers.