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Buck didn’t know what this Tommy Kinard guy’s deal was, but it was quite frankly irritating.
He was the only one who kept bossing him around, pointing out every little thing that he was doing wrong, and just being overall… weird about everything Buck did.
On his second shift as a probationary firefighter (his first shift was mostly filled with completing extra paperwork), the Captain, who insisted that Buck called him ‘Bobby,’ had told Buck to follow Tommy around, that Tommy would show him where to find everything and finish teaching him everything the Fire Academy had left out.
The tour around the station had been simple enough, while the place was big, it wasn’t that big .
Then they moved to the trucks and Tommy had begun showing him where they stored everything in the side compartments. It was as they were in the middle of that that the alarm rang out throughout the station, indicating they had a call.
Buck froze from where he was standing and looked towards Tommy.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” Tommy said as he moved towards the equipment racks. “Get your gear on and get on the engine!” he barked. Buck moved quickly, running to follow after the man.
Less than five minutes later, the fire engine was pulling up outside a small restaurant with dark smoke billowing out of the windows and doors and groups of people standing outside, a lot of which looked as if they had just run out of the building.
Bobby had called out and given them all directions as they got out of the fire engine, but with everything that was going on, the noise, the chaotic atmosphere, the adrenaline coursing through his body, Buck hadn’t heard the man. He moved and followed the movements of one of the firefighters standing next to him. If Buck remembered correctly, he thought the man’s name was Chimney.
Then Buck felt a hand latch onto the back of his turnout coat and yank him back. “I told you not to leave my side,” he heard a voice say gruffly. Looking over his shoulder, Buck saw it was Tommy, who looked slightly disgruntled.
“Why aren’t we going after them?” Buck asked as he pointed at Chimney and Monroe, who looked as if they were about to enter the smoking building.
“Because Bobby told us to set the hoses up,” Tommy said as he pointed in the direction of the back of the fire engine. Oh, that made sense, Buck guessed. “Come on,” Tommy huffed. “Stay by my side.”
An hour and a half later, as they drove back to the station, there was a tension in the back of the cabin between him and Tommy.
“So,” Chimney said, trying to break it. “What did you think of that? Your first call?”
“Um… It was… cool, I guess?” Buck shrugged, not really knowing how to put it. How could he say something was ‘good’ when someone’s life work just went up in flames?
Next to him, they both hear Tommy let out a long and exasperated breath. “That’s a way to put it,” he said.
And the tension that had almost dissipated was back in full force. When they pulled back into the station, Tommy got out of the engine cabin and had immediately walked off somewhere before Buck was able to follow after him.
Then he felt Chimney put a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, don’t mind him,” Chimney said. “He just needs to blow some steam from time to time. How about I show you where we clean all of our gear?”
After lunch they had their second call, and it didn’t go much better than the first. Buck had again gotten distracted by a woman on the sidelines, and Tommy had to call his name out who knew how many times to get his attention while carrying supplies inside the building. Thankfully it was only a simple medical call and there weren’t any fires, so none of them were in as much danger as they were on the first call. Although from the look on Tommy’s face as they entered the building, he still didn’t look too pleased at Buck.
And then on their third call, Buck had to go and nearly blast a whole crowd of onlookers with water when he lost control of the hose. And really, how could he do that? It was something that was beat into them time and time again in the Fire Academy. A worse than rookie mistake.
That entire day, it felt like whatever small or large mistake he had made was right under Tommy’s eyes, it was no wonder the man probably thought he was an idiot.
He loved everything about being a firefighter, except Tommy Kinard.
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Tommy had worked at the 118 for fifteen years now, had been under countless Captains, helped teach a dozen probies, and got along with almost everybody, but if he had to be paired with Evan Buckley for one more day, he was going to quit.
Tommy wasn’t there for Evan Buckley’s first shift, he had to call off sick for a cold, but when he met the kid the following shift, nothing about him told Tommy he was special, not that Tommy had expected anything. The kid looked like any other probie they would get - and acted like them too. (Okay, maybe he was a bit cuter than the average probie he came across, but the point still stood.)
Evan Buckley was overconfident, brash, thrill seeking, and he talked way too much.
It would be one thing if the kid was asking questions about work, Tommy had no problem with that, encouraged it even. But what did working on a farm in Montana have to do with their equipment checks of the engine sirens?
And he didn’t even mention the first call they went on. Even after telling the kid explicitly “Don’t leave my side,” Tommy had to physically grab hold of him before he followed Chimney straight into a burning building.
“Why aren’t we going in after them?” Buck asked.
“Because Bobby told us to set the hoses up,” Tommy said as he motioned to the hoses still on the truck and the waiting fire hydrant.
“Oh, right,” Buck said as he turned around and ran to the hoses.
Tommy tried to let the thing at the first call go by without laying into the kid, it was the kid’s very first call, after all. But on the second call, when he had to call the kid’s name out three times before he looked over at Tommy (who was only standing ten feet away), and on the third call, when Tommy had to grab hold of the hose the kid lost control of… was it wrong of him to be slightly annoyed by the probie?
He left the station the next morning, thankfully they hadn’t received another call over the course of the night, shaking his head. It was his first shift training the kid, there would have to be hiccups at some point. Hopefully the next shift would be better, it certainly couldn’t get any worse.
Only things did not improve on the second shift with Buck… or the third… on the fourth they did slightly, only because Bobby had Buck work with Hen on the ambulance rather than on the truck.
Thankfully, after a month, Bobby must have seen something on one of their faces, and he started rotating the kid among different people on the crew. Things would have to get better at this point. Or at least Tommy thought they would get better.
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A month into his start as a firefighter, the station Captain called him into his office for a short check on his progress. Buck only had a small, minor, freakout when Bobby found him in the locker room to tell him that that morning, and as Buck walked into the man’s office ten minutes later, fidgeting up a storm with nerves, Bobby told him to take a deep breath and have a seat, that he was by no means in trouble.
“Relax,” Bobby told him. “You’re not in any sort of trouble. I just wanted to check in, see how you’re doing.”
“Oh,” Buck said as he felt the tension leave his body. “I’m- I’m doing fine,” he said.
“Really?” Bobby asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Everything’s perfectly okay?”
Buck couldn’t help but feel like Bobby was testing him with that question, and not really sure how he should feel about that. Sure, there were problems, but most could be ignored, like the fact that he still couldn’t beat Chimney or Hen in a race in Mario Kart, or that Harris absolutely sucked at making coffee yet always insisted he would be the one to make it each morning, or that no matter what Buck did, Tommy still looked at him as if he was about to screw everything up.
Buck could live with the first couple things though, and had to admit to himself that the third thing was partially his doing.
“I mean… I know there’s still a lot of things I need to learn and stuff…” Buck continued.
“No one’s made you feel inferior, have they?” Bobby asked. “Because for someone who has only been on the job for a month, I’d say you’re making good progress. On your way to being a great firefighter.”
“Really?” Buck asked, his eyes wide in surprise. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had said something like that straight to his face. Sure, he had been given the occasional ‘good job’ and ‘looking great Buckley.’ But nothing like that, with all the emotion Bobby just put into the compliment. “And no,” he shook his head. “Everyone’s been treating me great… like I’m a kid at times maybe… but everything’s been great.” Everyone except for Tommy, that was.
Bobby regarded him for a second, and Buck thought that he might have said too much. Should he have made that comment about people treating him like a kid? He meant it in a good way. He didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.
“Well, you know you can come to me if any problems come up,” Bobby said. He said it in a way that told Buck that Bobby was hinting as someone or something. Shit, Bobby did take something he said out of context.
“Y- yeah, Cap. I know,” Buck said, not leaving anything else for Bobby to bring up.
“Great,” Bobby nodded. “And if it's alright with you, I think it's time to remove you from training under Tommy and start pairing you up with some other firefighters. Pairing you with Hen last week seemed to go well, how would you like to be partners with Chimney next week?”
“Um…” Buck was again caught off guard. “Sure,” he said. “That… that sounds great… working with other people.”
At the end of their shift, Buck went back to his room in the frat house with his mind and thoughts swirling. As much as he didn’t like being paired up with Tommy, he didn’t want the man to get in trouble.
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Things began to go marginally better between the two when Bobby removed Buck from Tommy’s instruction and began pairing him with other firefighters on the crew to broaden his experience. It turned out that when Buck and Tommy weren’t being paired up together, and Tommy wasn’t the sole person in charge of Buck’s training, they actually got along pretty well. Or as well as any other two people who worked on the same truck.
That was until Buck stole a firetruck to get a hookup.
Buck had thought he was about to get away with it too. Bobby had asked him to run and refill the gas tank, and even though he suggested Buck take someone along with him, Buck insisted to the man he could do it all himself.
Only when he returned with the truck, an extra twenty minutes after when he was supposed to get back, Tommy stood right outside the driver’s side door with his arms crossed, and a fierce frown on his face.
Buck put a smile on his face as he climbed down. “Hey,” he said. “Told you all I could do it myself.”
“Give me one reason right now why I shouldn’t drag you into Bobby’s office and tell him what you did,” Tommy cut right to the chase.
“What I… did?” Buck asked as he tried to act innocent, as if he did nothing wrong.
Tommy saw right through him, however. “Dispatch radioed to ask why the truck was outside an apartment building down the street.”
“What?” Buck shrugged his shoulders. “You know LA, there was a lot of traffic.”
“In a parking spot?” Tommy raised his eyebrow. “With the engine off and everything?”
Buck thought and spoke quickly. “Look, it’s not what it looks like-” he began.
“Oh, and what is this supposed to look like?” Tommy asked.
“It’s-” Buck froze, not thinking that far ahead. “I was… I was just stopping off at a friend’s place.”
Great going Buckley, like he was going to buy that.
Tommy took a deep breath and slowly let it out through his nose. “And what in the world makes you think that you can leave in the middle of a shift to stop off at a friend’s place, while taking a firetruck to do so?”
Buck didn’t have an answer for that. He didn’t think he was going to get that far in all honesty. “I didn’t think I was gonna be in there so long,” Buck tried. And honestly, Buck hadn’t expected to be in there that long. “I’m sorry!” Buck held his hands up and clasped together, begging the man. “Please just keep this between us, it’ll never happen again! I promise!”
Tommy was silent for a moment, a long moment. Long enough that Buck thought he might just be waiting for him to get out of the way. “Don’t take this the wrong way, because I am in no way condoning this behavior,” Tommy said, and for a second Buck had a small spark of hope in his chest. “You’re on bathroom duty and cleaning the kitchen for the next month, even on the days you cook. You also have no driving privileges. Be happy I’m not taking this to Bobby,” he said as he turned around and walked away.
Buck let out a large breath as he watched Tommy walk away. Sure, he had all of the sucky jobs, but that could have ended much… much worse.
If only he had learned his lesson and not done almost the exact same thing with the snake woman a week later…
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Tommy didn’t know what the kid did to get back into Bobby’s good graces, but somehow he had. Maybe it was because he kept the first ‘stealing a firetruck’ incident quiet. It was probably that. But now the kid had gotten involved in some sort of police call and befriended Athena as well, the cop who had probably only spoken a handful of sentences in the five or so years they’ve been seeing each other on calls.
Tommy didn’t know how the kid did it, but somehow he had.
And now they were all on their way to the boardwalk, some roller coaster had gotten stuck again.
“Wow,” he heard Chimney say upon seeing it. “I didn’t know they could get stuck upside down like that.” Neither did Tommy.
Then their eyes spotted the guy on the ground. He must have been the ones the reports said about falling from the ride.
“Okay, Chim, Hen, go check the guy down there!” Bobby directed them. “Carlos, start moving the ladder up.”
“Got it!” “Yes sir.” “Moving Cap!” the three voices answered as they moved to where they were directed.
Then Bobby looked at Tommy and Buck who were still standing right outside the truck, waiting for a direction.
“Buck, how about you go up on the ladder this time?” Bobby said, and Tommy was surprised by that question. Sure the kid needed experience and this would be a great opportunity for it, but right after he got back from being fired? Either way, Tommy wasn’t going to protest it.
Before he knew it, the ladder was already in the air and Buck was up at the top, holding his arm out for the guy in the front car of the coaster to grab onto.
He was keeping his eyes on Buck’s face from where he stood at the bottom of the ladder when he saw his expression completely blank and shift to one of silent horror. And then everyone on the roller coaster screamed.
“Tommy!” Bobby called his name out. “Go up there, switch places with him!” And Tommy did, without asking questions.
Later once he had gotten everyone off of the roller coaster and back on solid ground, Tommy found Buck standing by the firetruck staring down at the ground, looking completely and utterly lost.
Tommy took a quick glance around. Chimney and Hen were working on the ambulances, looking all of the passengers over now that they were down from the roller coaster. Bobby was still trying to direct things between the media reporters, cameramen, and park officials. He couldn’t spot Carlos or Grant anywhere.
Tommy was never one to go comfort anyone, at least, not in his opinion. He always felt out of his element trying to do it. But with everyone else busy or missing, it seemed like this was up to him.
“Buckley!” Tommy called out to Buck as he jogged over to him.
He didn’t miss how Buck nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his name shouted, whipping his head around to look at him. “T- Tommy,” he stuttered. “I- I- I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Tommy asked.
“Y- yeah, about what happened up there,” Buck said nervously as he looked down and fidgeted with the straps of the harness he was still wearing. “I- I shouldn’t have frozen like that and-”
“Hey,” Tommy cut him off from his spiral. “None of it was your fault,” he said. “All of this is on the owners of the park. You were trying to do your best up there.”
Buck closed and opened his mouth a couple times, not knowing what to say. “I… Still, I…”
“Come on,” Tommy said as he handed Buck the harness he had stripped a couple minutes ago. “Let’s get everything here packed up so we can return to the station. We can go over everything in more detail there.” If Tommy knew anything, this wasn’t the place to be having any deep conversations.
As they returned to wrapping things up, Tommy heard a voice ask behind them. “Firefighter Buckley, would you mind if we ask you some questions?”
Tommy turned at the same time as Buck did in the direction of the voice to see a reporter standing with a cameraman right behind her, obviously intent on asking them about the roller coaster incident.
“Questions?” Buck asked.
“Yes!” the reporter smiled, way too happy for what Tommy knew she wanted to ask about. “About what it was like from up there on top of the ladder, we just have a couple questions we’d like to ask you.”
Before Buck was able to answer the woman, Tommy cut in. “Actually we’re kind of busy here,if you don’t mind.” He then turned Buck by the shoulder and directed him to get into the truck cabin.
“What was that?” Buck asked later as they drove back to the station.
“Trust me,” Tommy said. “You don’t need to be interrogated by them right now.”
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Two days later they were off and Tommy had woken up to Chimney texting him asking if he wanted to get drinks later. Tommy ran a hand down his face. He had had a long week so far, what with the roller coaster call, his truck needing last minute repairs, and working an extra half shift when someone on B-shift’s kid got sick. He had spent all of the day before trying to fix his truck and coming to a daunting realization that it might be one of the few things that he did not know how to fix. He didn’t have anything planned today though. He could go get drinks.
When he texted Chimney back, the other man was quick to add that Hen, Grant and Daniels were also joining them. Cool, Tommy thought. The more the merrier.
When Tommy was flipping through channels on the TV later, he came across some sort of documentary on theme parks, and had a passing thought to check in on how Buckley was doing. Even after they had gotten back to the station and on into the next morning, the kid still looked wrecked. Tommy had never really talked to the kid about his personal life, but he was pretty sure the kid didn’t have much of a support system out here.
He pulled out his phone and texted Chimney again, asking if the man could invite Buck out as well.
Later Tommy found himself sitting at a bar table with Chimney, Hen, and Grant when Buck walked through the entrance. Buck looked mostly better, certainly better than he did forty eight hours ago, but not back to his usual self.
Tommy had thought that by giving Buck a day to process the events of the last shift and just get away from all things firefighting, he would be doing a bit better. Looking at him from across the table now, Tommy realized that might not have been the smartest choice.
It seemed, once they had gotten Buck around some people and out of the firestation and away from anything relating to that call, adding in alcohol and some warm food, he bounced back to his usual self much faster. Even trying to start an argument with Chimney over… were they talking about clownfish? Tommy had no idea how they had gotten to that conversation topic.
Then Chimney’s phone started ringing, a call coming from Tatiana. When he finished speaking with her he looked back at all of them saying “Sorry guys, I got to go, completely forgot she’s supposed to be getting back from a business trip tomorrow. And it wasn’t long after that when Hen had to go back home as well, saying she told Karen she wouldn’t stay out that late, and Grant with a similar reason.
That left Tommy alone with Buck.
Tommy had been seconds away from suggesting to the kid that they both go home as well at this point when Buck asked. “Hey, I know of this bar down the street. It’s really good, you want to check it out?”
And that was… unexpected.
Tommy was pretty sure the kid didn’t like being in Tommy’s presence unless he had to be. And now he was inviting him to get more drinks. Sure, they had a shift tomorrow morning, but it was barely eight right now. He could get one or two more.
The bar Buck ended up taking him to was a lot more crowded then the first one they were in. They weren’t quite pressed up against other people, but they did have to work to move themselves around people and groups to get to the bar. At some point, Tommy felt Buck grab hold of his hand and say something along the lines of ‘don’t get lost now, old man.’
Which - what ?
As the night went on the music got louder, the place became even more crowded, and Buck pressed himself more into Tommy’s side. And did the kid realize the way he was looking at Tommy?
And now Tommy was getting a better look at Buck than he ever did before, and noticing things about the younger man that he never had before. Like the way his eyes sort of changed color depending on which way he faced the light, and the way his smile just seemed to light his face up, the way he could just move around the bar with ease, taking Tommy with him effortlessly.
Someone behind Buck must have moved, because Buck pushed himself even more into Tommy, his leg nearly stepping through the gap between Tommy’s legs. Buck’s chest was pressed against his, their faces centimeters away from each other.
Tommy took the opportunity then, without even debating with himself and overthinking it, and leant in and pressed a kiss against Buck’s lips.
He could feel how Buck was at first surprised, then for a couple seconds he leant back into it, making the kiss his own for a second. Until he suddenly moved back, taking a full step back and suddenly they were no longer touching.
Tommy blinked and looked towards Buck, who looked completely shocked, as if he ahd no idea what just happened between them.
And before Tommy could say anything, Buck turned around and went running from the building.
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Buck didn’t know what to think when he got back to the privacy of his Jeep. What the hell was that kiss?
He had kissed many women before, more than he could keep track of or possibly hope to guess, but in all of his twenty five years alive, he had never kissed a man. He hadn’t expected it to be so…
Exhilarating.
Just what the hell happened to them there?
When Buck walked into the station the next morning, he found the locker room to be completely empty from everyone except for Tommy. “Oh, good morning,” Buck greeted the man.
From where he was sitting on the bench tying his bootlaces, Tommy looked up when he heard Buck’s footsteps walk into the room. “Hey,” He said as he stood up and moved to walk past buck and out of the room.
Hey? Just ‘Hey’?
After that eye opening bombshell he had given Buck last night, just a Hey ?
Buck quickly got changed and followed after him, up the stairs to the loft where everyone was gathered around the kitchen and meal table. Tommy was standing just outside everyone, making himself a cup of coffee. Buck began walking over to him, but was stopped when Chimney pulled on his arm and into his conversation with Hen and Grant.
“Hey, Buck, we need you to settle an argument for us,” Chimney began, and Buck only half paid attention as he tried to make eye contact with Tommy, who seemed to be refusing to look in his direction.
It took another couple of hours, with two calls and various crew meetings, but Buck was finally able to corner Tommy after lunch besides one of the fire trucks.
“What was that last night?” he asked.
“What was what?” Tommy said.
Buck resisted the urge to roll his eyes, not wanting to act like a moody teenager. “That kiss, right before we left the bar.”
“Oh, you remember that?”
“Of course I remember that!” Buck nearly shouted, catching the attention of someone who had been walking past them a couple yards away.
Tommy took a second to study Buck’s face and at a quieter volume, he said. “Well, I’m sorry if I moved too soon or made you uncomfortable. I- I had way too much to drink last night, looked into things way too deeply. It won’t happen again.”
Buck floundered for a second as Tommy was able to move around him. As he started walking away, Buck turned around and spoke out. “Wait, I never said I didn’t like it.”
He saw how Tommy’s shoulders and ears perked up upon hearing him say that. Then slowly Tommy turned around.
“What do you mean by that?” Tommy asked.
Buck chewed his lip, knowing he was about to say something nonsensical and probably dig himself a hole. “I mean… I kind of liked it?”
Tommy slowly walked towards him and when he was standing in front of Buck asked. “Are you just saying that so I don’t get in trouble?”
“Get you in trouble?” Buck repeated, confused.
Tommy sighed. “I was once your trainer and am currently one of the most senior members here while you’re the most junior. With the way things work nowadays all you need to do is walk into Bobby’s office and tell him what happened and my career will be over.”
Oh, now that Buck thought about it that way, Tommy did have a point.
“But you don’t want that,” Buck said.
“Obviously not.”
“I don’t want that either,” Buck said.
“Then what do you want?” Tommy asked.
What did Buck want? He didn’t know. He just wanted…
“W- Why’d you kiss me last night?” Buck asked.
Tommy was silent for a moment before asking. “Do you realize how much you were flirting with me last night?”
Buck’s eyes widened. He was? With Tommy? Oh, tell him that Chimney and Hen weren’t there to see it. They definitely didn’t mention anything when he first came in.
“You didn’t really start until after the others had left,” Tommy said. That didn’t stop Buck from feeling mortified. “You were half laying on top of me when I kissed you,” Tommy continued. Now Buck did want to dig himself a hole. “I honestly thought it was something you were expecting me to do.”
Buck honestly didn’t know what to say to any of this. “Did you…” he began. “Did you… like it?... me flirting with you?”
He didn’t expect for a soft smile to grace Tommy’s features. One that, in the five or so months he had been working here, Buck hadn’t seen anything like on Tommy’s face. “Yeah… I guess I did,” he said.