Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You’re exhausting. 

It really is always about you, isn’t it? 

You acted out like you always do.  

But if you're gonna make this about me having to choose between you or my son, you're gonna lose every time. 

Entering the jeep, Buck gripped the handle of the car, trying to blink away the tears of anger. How could Eddie say that to him?! When he did all this for him, so he and Christopher could have a home waiting for them when they come back to LA?  

Buck was tired. Tired that Eddie, his own best friend, the man he literally would try to drag out of the jaws of death and keep him alive, is treating him like he’s some petulant spoiled brat.  

Well, good luck waiting for that renter, Buck thought as he texted Eddie using the fake account he used to sign the lease that he was canceling the agreement for some unforeseen issues, and banked him the necessary canceling fee.  

Honestly, how could he just easily sign his house away to some stranger named Freddie Fakeman without running a background check or something? Doesn’t he learnt enough about stranger danger from all the scary calls they responded to? 

Fuck. 

Now he has to figure out where to live now that he handed in his notice for the loft.  

Housing in LA is atrocious. Buck thought painfully as he looked at the meager offerings the real estate agent showed him. It was either way out of his budget with the hiking housing market price or ones that were within budget came with hazardous issues or too far from his workplace.  

Driving around aimlessly after the fruitless meeting with the agent, he glanced around the empty street when he saw it. 

A run down house in the outskirts of North Hollywood with a signpost labeling for sale in its unkempt yard.  

He doesn’t know what prompted him to stop, but he did, parking the jeep in front of the empty house, eyeing it in interest. Luckily for him, a young woman was walking up the house when she noticed him, staring at him questioningly. 

“I-uh, I-I saw the sign and I was wondering if the h-house was really for sale.” Buck asked hopefully, couldn’t help but feel shy under the woman’s intense stare. 

“Yea, my aunt passed away last year and left it to me but I don’t really need it right now since I got a house of my own.” The Caucasian woman shrugged as she waved vaguely down the street before offering her hand to him. “I’m Kitty.” 

“Evan Buckley, but people called me Buck.” He shook her hand before staring at the two storey house again, eyeing the nice looking, albeit dirty porch.  

The woman, noticing his naked interest, grinned. “Wanna check it out?” She offered.

The house was perfect.  

Sure it needed some TLC between the leaking rooftop, the walls and flooring that needed to be changed to the rusted bathroom sink as well as the horrible state of both the front- and backyard, but Buck can see himself living in this house.  

Especially when he saw the wonderful kitchen, with the wide island, the beautiful backsplash, the gorgeous wooden cabinet and the big window that overlooks the backyard. He can tell the previous owner of the house had took pride in her kitchen. 

Noticing the well-kept but dusty kitchen appliances, he turned to Kitty, who was absently staring out the window and at the lone blooming apple tree. “My aunt was an enthusiastic baker. She had a bakery down in La Brea but she did most of her recipes development here. She adored this place when she first bought it 20 years ago.” 

She turned to him and suddenly said, "Would you like to buy the house?" 

Buck perked up in interest before sighing. 

"I would love to but I don't think I can afford the price."

Tilting her head, she named a price that shocked Buck.  

“That’s too low!” Buck protested.

“You're going to pour a lot of money and time into fixing this house.” She shrugged. “Plus I saw how you looked when you saw the kitchen. And I think my aunt would have liked you.” She gave him a very appreciative look, a weird smirk on her face, “yup she would have liked you very much." She shrugged. "You might as well take it. My aunt would love it if someone who bought this house loves it like she did."

"I have a terrible credit score." He said weakly but Kitty waved the protest away. "Who does, these days in this horrible economy?"

Buck dithered but Kitty was right. It might be a bit farther from the firehouse and commute might be a bitch but he was indeed in love with the house. 

He can see himself building a life for himself here. 

"Okay," Buck smiled brilliantly like the sun at the young woman. "I'll take it."

Buck spent the next few shifts ignoring Eddie and daydreaming about the new house, even at one point while everyone was asleep during their 24 hour shift, pulling out a clipboard and making plans about fixing the house. 

During their 96 hours off, he spent most of it clearing the mess and cleaning out the house, tearing out the outdated wallpapers and helping Kitty check out the furniture, separating what could be donated to the charity and what he could keep (Kitty insisted he keep the kitchen appliances and furniture). She also helped out by mowing the lawn, telling him it was good exercise for her when he tried to stop her.  

On the last day of his off day, he moved out from the loft and into one of the bedrooms that didn’t need immediate fixing, feeling oddly sad that the six years he was in the loft apartment, he only had a few things to move into the new house, enough to fit in it.  

(He immediately endeared himself to his new neighbors when he gave away the baked goods in his fridge when he moved into the house.)

He and Kitty celebrated the move by shopping for furniture that he might need; visiting second-handed furniture stores and antiques shops. It was in the latter he founded the beautifully carved cherry wood coffee table and matching nightstands that reminded him of Tommy and how it would look nice in Tommy’s house; the coffee table looking right at home between his comfortable sofa and beautiful wooden cabinets housing his movie collections and how Tommy once rambled about looking for the perfect night stands for his guest room on rare evening Buck slept over at his place.  

He took them home. 

Buck was alone.

Despite of the friendly neighbors dropping in to see the new houseowner and Kitty popping out of nowhere, offering help to fix the house, he couldn't help but feel lonely. Now he wasn't talking with Eddie (who was too busy anyways with the moving), Hen (busy with her family and kids), Chim (who was hovering over Maddie who was pregnant again; no way he's sticking his nose into that, not after what happened last time) and Bobby (too busy with the house and Athena. They barely even cooked together now that Bobby deemed him sufficient in his cooking skills). 

The only one he talked to these days were Ravi, (who picked up Eddie's shifts in preparation as his replacement when he leaves from Texas) and Jameson, the other driver engineer in Shift A (who kept reminding Buck how he had been putting off applying for the lieutenant exams for too long).

So when he saw the sad eyes peering in the garbage bin, Buck didn't hesitate to stick his hands in and pull out the sad looking puppy. 

Gently carrying the shivering, whimpering puppy into the house, he pour a bowl of milk and pulls out the portion of minced meat he was going to cook into his Bolognese and offered it to the dog. "Think you can eat it?" He cooed softly at the poor pup, watching as the dog hungrily feasted on the treats. 

When finished, Buck took it to the large kitchen sink and washed mud and gunk from her black fur (he made sure to check.) Buck lovingly rubbed her with a spare towel before placing her on the towel-covered counter, cooing as the now clean retriever pup staring adoringly at him with heart eyes.

Someone must've abandoned the poor girl, leaving her alone.

Just like him. 

What do you say, Lucky?" He gently pet the dog, naming her then and there. "Would you like to come live here with me?"

"Is that a dog?" Chim asked incredulously during their next shift when he saw the black retriever puppy sat primly by Buck's seat, tail wagging merrily as she worried the strand of shoelace Buck dangled in front of her.

"Yes. I pitched an idea about having a firedog to Bobby and he said yes. Lucky and I will be starting our search and rescue training next week!" Buck said proudly. He was surprised to find out the puppy was semi trained and willing to listen to command so really, it wasn't a far leap to train his sweet pup into a certified firefighter like him. 

"Next week? Guess you might be missing out on Eddie's farewell dinner then." Hen pointed out as she stared suspiciously at Buck, who stiffened the moment she pointed it out. 

"Yes, well, the party isn't about me, isn't it? So there shouldn't be problem for me not being there." Buck said dryly as Eddie, who was there for his final shift, turned to snarl at Buck but before it could escalated the alarm rang. 

They were pressed back to back with level 2 and level 3 response calls till the end of the shift, so by the time Hen remembered about the incident from earlier, Buck had already left with his dog.

When the party rolled by, everyone gathered to celebrate Eddie before he leaves for Texas the next day.

Well, almost everyone.

Buck wasn't there and everyone could tell how the man's absence cast a pallor over the farewell party.

But no matter how much Hen, Chim and Bobby prodded, all Eddie would say that it was all Buck's fault as usual.

Buck couldn't help but laughed brightly as his plan to paint the living room alone for the evening turned into an impromptu painting party as his next door neighbors; Mrs. Hernandez and her two strapping teenage grandsons, the newly-wedded Choi couple along with Kitty came by to help him paint; Lucky getting under everyone's feet, running around with Kitty's paintbrush. 

By the time they left for the night, Buck, Mrs. Areum Choi and Mrs. Hernandez (who told Buck and the Chois to call her Abuela) agreed to a meet up at the Hernandez to exchange dessert recipes the next day, Lucky now covered with spots of paint over her black fur.

Buck would ended up passing out on his bed, a now clean and mostly dry Lucky tucked under his chin, both tuckered out after their excitement, the firefighter barely sparing a thought to the party he missed. 

After sending off Eddie with a basket of food (Buck, once again, noticeably missing) Bobby decided to swing by the loft to check on Buck, having realized he couldn't remembered the last time he had a honest conversation with the young man.

So imagine his surprise when he found an older man living in the loft, Buck apparently had moved out a month ago, leaving no forwarding address. 

Now where is Buck?

Chapter Text

“Pivot!” 

“You pivot!” 

Minho ‘Micheal’ Choi and Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley glared at each other across the heavy oaken dresser they were trying to carry across the threshold, behind them Micheal’s wife, Areum, giggled as she carried a beautiful vase in her arms. 

Buck had found the dresser in one of the spare bedrooms (there were two; one on the ground floor and one on the second floor), and after finding it in good condition, decided to give it and a ceramic vase Kitty said she didn’t want to the Chois. They were currently trying to figure out how to carry it into the house as apparently it had wedged itself into the door. 

“I can borrow the jaws from my House and we can open up the door a bit so the dresser can fit.” Buck offered playfully as Micheal shook his fist at him. 

“Don’t you dare! Halmeoni would rise from her ashes to scold me if we damage the doors!” Micheal shook his fist at him. 

“What do you suggest we do?” Both of them debated (aka bickered) whether to perhaps take the dresser apart for easier transport when Kitty appeared, with her a Japanese man around Buck’s age and a young girl, the three of them watching them curiously. 

“Can’t you guys just unscrew the door so you have some extra wiggle space to carry the dresser in?” Kitty pointed out before snorting as both Micheal and Buck stared at her in consternation, having not thought of that solution themselves. “Anyways, Buck, this is Katagiri Ichigo and his sister, Yuzuha. They rented Mrs. Brown’s second floor..”

To his surprise, he recognized the auburn-haired man. “Katagiri from 126 right? We met at the train derailment incident a few years back.”

“Yes, we worked a few incidents together.” The paramedic shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. This is Yuzuha, my sister.” The brown-haired girl waved at him enthusiastically. “Need some help with that?” He nodded at the dresser. 

Between the three of them, the dresser was finally in the house and into the Chois bedroom, Buck and the Katagiri quickly bonded; Ichi over their rescues and Buck’s numerous certifications (since Ichi was apparently working on his heavy rescue certifications) and Yuzuha over their mutual baking hobby.

Buck came in early for the next shift (having offered to drop off Micheal’s forgotten lunch at Children's Hospital Los Angeles where he was a pediatric surgeon there on Areum’s behalf since she was already late for her own shift as a resident at First presbyterian hospital LA where she works as an anesthesiologist. 

(And if he felt a bit envious over their sweet, easy relationship the couple shared and mourned what he had lost with Tommy, he wasn’t going to tell anyone about it.)

He grinned as he doled out the last of the breakfast lasagna for the ravenous Shift C (apparently they had responded to a multiple pileup accident and needed to load up on carbs before signing off) and talking to Captain Montgomery when Bobby appeared, looking in confusion at him. 

“I went to your loft the other day to talk and apparently the new tenant said you moved out.” Bobby bent down to greet Lucky, not noticing the flicker of emotion on Buck’s face. 

“Yeah, I uh, got a new place since my lease ran out. I was going to tell you that I needed to update my personal file. Do you want me to do that on the portal or the paperwork?”

“Why don’t you do it on both, so that way nothing gets lost.” Bobby clapped his hand on Buck’s shoulder and steered them back them away from the kitchen, Shift C calling out their thanks for the warm meal at Buck. “I’ve got the right files in my office, do you need to use my computer?”

“No, thanks though. I have my tablet with me so I can do that later.”

Bobby nodded and walked into his office with Buck. It didn’t take the young man long to fill out his change of address form, passing it over to Bobby as soon as he was done. Bobby mentally took note of the address, reminding himself to check it out later or ask Athena to do it for him. Someone needed to keep an eye on Buck now Eddie is gone , he thought charitably.

“So, why were you looking for me anyways?” Buck fidget with his tablet. 

Bobby smiled warmly at him. “I just realized we haven’t talked for a while. And with you skipping out on Eddie’s farewell dinner, I was wondering if you were doing okay with him leaving.”

This time Bobby saw his weird expression before Buck smoothed it away with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m doing fine. Just busy with moving in and fixing the house.” He shrugged. 

Bobby waited for Buck to continue but the silence hung awkwardly between them. 

“Well, then. When is the housewarming party?” Bobby prodded him. “Athena and I can bring some housewarming gifts.” 

Buck shrugged again. “The house is still a work in progress. When I’m done, I’ll host one.”

Before Bobby could poke even more, the alarm blared out loudly.

“Rent it out?” Kitty looked at him quizzically from over the roses they were helping the Hernandez kids planning as a surprise for their abuela. 

(Apparently it was her 75th birthday next week and they wanted to surprise her with the new flowers and a block party to celebrate her birthday. Buck had already offered to work together with the boys to make a birthday cake for the party.)

“Yea.” Buck rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously, ignoring the fact he was rubbing dirt on it. “It seems silly to leave two of the bedrooms empty and with the terrible housing market these days, I can at least help someone by letting them rent it.”

“It’s your house.” She shrugged, turning back to the roses. “Go for it.” She then turned to the remaining flowers in the wheelbarrow. “Didn’t peg you for azaleas though.”

Buck didn’t answer Kitty’s unasked question, busying himself cleaning up their gardening equipment before starting on his own lawn.

She was right, he prefers sunflowers but the moment he saw the azaleas in the flower market, he remembered how Tommy once told him by passing that it was his late mother’s favourite flowers and he just knew he had to get them.

Later, resting on the steps, he stared at the colourful azaleas, the constant itch he felt every time he thinks about Tommy soothes a little. 

Maybe it won’t hurt so much anymore thinking about him.

(Yea, that was totally a lie).

Chapter Text

Did you know Buck moved?

What?

You’re sure? He didn’t say anything to Maddie about moving.

Athena told me. Bobby told her Buck came up to him before shift to fill out a changing of address form.

And he didn’t tell us? We could have helped with moving. 

Maddie is going to be mad when she finds out about this.

She doesn’t need anymore stress with the baby coming.

Karen thinks he could have been kicked out of his loft and is ashamed of telling us his new address since we all know how crappy LA housing is.

Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell us?

Maybe.

Maddie is going to ask him the next time he comes by to babysit Jee. 

Wanna be here when we do it?

Sure.

Just tell us when.

Buck is going to need all the help he needs with finding a new place. 

Ravi ended up being the first person from 118 to be invited to Buck’s house. 

Even then it was by accident as Ravi had involuntarily heard Buck ranting through the phone after work about burst pipes and offered to take a look and contact his plumber that handled his buildings. 

“This is your place? Nice.” He asked, nodding approvingly as Buck showed off what he did so far with the house, including the half-ruined patio flooring that he's going replace . “You know, if you want to earn some money, there’s this new house I just bought that needs flipping.” He grinned.

Buck laughed. “I’m busy with this one as it is, but that’s a nice offer.” He sent him off with a basket of baked goods and a promise to hang out for beers soon.

Buck huffed as Lucky panted beside him, after finishing running the course. Beside him, Max Grey from Station 96 flopped down dramatically, his Malinois dog, Trixie, sat primly. 

The two had become fast friends at the beginning of the Canine Training Program, bonding over their shared experience as a heavy rescue specialist (since Station 96 is home to one of LA’s highly specialized SAR units) and Max’s hobby of photography.

“So,” Max suddenly said out of the blue, “My Captain is going to kill me if I don’t do this, but he asked me to make you an offer for our team. One of our members is moving to Station 252 in New York next month and your name came up as one of the top candidates.”

“Wait a minute!” Lieutenant Kathani ‘Kate’ Walkar of Long Beach’s Station 144 quickly popped up with her bloodhound, Bear, protesting loudly. “I thought we would all agree not to ambush him till after the course is over!”

Within seconds, Buck (and Lucky) was quickly overwhelmed as almost everyone that joined the program crowded around him, speaking rapidly about various job offers from different stations.

“You’re popular.” Ravi said in awe as he and Buck went through the job offers. The two of them along with Lucy Donato (who may or may not be Buck’s one link and spy in Tommy’s life) were meeting up for coffee after his animal search and rescue training course where Buck blurted out to them about what happened to him earlier. 

“I-I don’t understand.” Buck was confused. “Why would they ask me? I'm nobody.”

Lucy snorted. “You’re joking right?” She stared at Buck. “Shit, you’re not. Buck, you’re one of the best firefighters LAFD have, between the collection of certifications, your expertise in heavy rescue, the medal of valor and surviving the tsunami AND the lightning strike and still coming back to work. Any station would be lucky to get you.”

“I sued LAFD!”

“But you didn’t take the payout. All you want is to come back to work.” Lucy grinned when she noticed Buck’s weirded out look. “I was in a situationship with one of the ladies in the HR dept for a bit and don’t tell anyone I said this, the entire dept worshiped you. The law dept on the other hand…” She shrugged. 

“So are you gonna take the offer?” Ravi asked wistfully. “Can I come with you if you do?”

“I’m not gonna leave the 118!” He said, scandalized. 

“Why not?” Lucy asked. “Tommy did it, I did it. Heck Ravi here did it for a bit.” 

“I was just upgrading my certifications.” Ravi muttered but was ignored.

“You left because you’re an adrenaline junkie and Tommy left because he missed flying.” Buck pointed out. 

Lucy shrugged. “Just think about it. Maybe do a few shifts and get a feel for it. It's a good experience at the very least. Anyways,” the blonde’s smirk turned sharklike, “wanna hear what Tommy did this week?”

“Now I know I offered Marco and Santiago baking lessons,” Buck stood in his kitchen, his hands around his hips, “but what are you guys doing here?!” Everyone giggled as they crowded into the large kitchen. He can see Sierra Jones, who have been walking Lucky and the dogs in the neighborhood to save money for college, along with her younger siblings, Areum, whom looked guilty as she sneakily ate the cut strawberries Buck prepared, even Ichigo was there, looking haggard as he had just returned home from a 48 hours shift with his sister. 

“Sorry Mr. Buckley.” Sierra said contritely, “Marco told me you were teaching them how to make cake for Mrs. Hernandez and he invited me.”

“You promised me baking lessons.” Yuzuha said shyly while Ichigo muttered beside her, “I just wanted to sleep.”

“I was bored.” Areum shrugged when everyone turned to her. 

Buck snorted. “Fine, you all can stay. I’m planning to teach you guys how to make strawberry shortcake and  red velvet cake this afternoon.”

“Not chocolate cake?” Ichigo yawned loudly as he availed himself a cup of coffee from Buck’s coffee maker.

“That’s for next lesson.” He said sheepishly as the teens and kids cheered loudly.

Buck entered the house, carrying a box of red velvet cake, humming happily. Yesterday’s class was a success as everyone had fun (including Ichigo once he had enough caffeine in him) making the cakes, Areum even taught them how to make mochi glazed donuts. Everyone was looking forward to doing it again, Yuzuha even offering to teach them how to make Japanese castella cake in return for Buck’s Baked Alaska recipe. 

“Uncle Buck!” Jee cheered as Buck hugged his niece, carefully not to drop the cake box.

“Hello Miss Jee.” He cooed as he entered the kitchen, “Ready to hangout with uncle Bu- Oh, hey Hen, Karen.” He was confused to see the two of them in Maddie’s house but figured they were going on a double date with Chim and Maddie while he babysits Jee. “No Denny and Mara?” He asked. 

“Denny is at his friend’s house and Mara is seeing her brother.” Hen smiled as she opened the box. “Oh, red velvet. Baking again, Buck?”

“Oh, I’m teaching my neighbor’s grandson how to make a cake for their grandmother.”

Maddie, waddled into the kitchen, upon hearing her brother’s words, nonchalantly asked. “Speaking of neighbors, I went to your place yesterday,” which was a lie, “and there’s someone new living at your loft. When are you gonna tell me you moved out?”

Buck blinked, “It’s a recent thing, I’m still fixing the place up before I can host a house-warming party.”

Hen leaped into the conversation. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped with moving your furniture.” 

He shrugged. “It wasn’t much to move. Plus all of you were busy, I didn’t want to bother you. Anyway,we're gonna need to head out soon, or Jee and I are gonna be late for the show at the aquarium. Bye Maddie, Hen, Karen.” He swooped down to kiss his sister’s cheeks before taking off with his giggling niece. 

The three women exchanged looks at one another as the door swung shut. 

“That’s concerning, right?” Hen said worriedly. “Buck not sharing any details at all?”

“Maybe we should respect his privacy.” Karen suggested. “He’ll tell us when he’s ready.”

Maddie rubbed her stomach absently. “No, and wait till he gets into too much trouble? I’ll get it out of him, sooner or later.”

Chapter Text

 “And Buck didn't say anything?” Bobby asked as he passed the bowl of salad to Hen. The 118 except Buck were having dinner at Hen’s place (since the rental Bobby and Athena currently living in weren't big enough to host everyone and May was babysitting the kids at Chim’s and Maddie's house) where they were discussing Buck's new behavior.

“Just avoided the question when Maddie asked. Just giving some bullshit about his place is still a tripping hazard when I offer to drop Jee there.” Chim complained.

“Did anyone ask Eddie? Maybe he knows, he's Buck's best friend.” Athena asked.

“We did.” Hen replied, “and get this, they haven't been talking since Eddie left for Texas! Went on full no contact with him.”

Bobby frowned. “That doesn't sound like Buck.” 

“He did skip out on Eddie’s farewell party.” Chim pointed out. “Didn’t he tell us he was going to take over Eddie’s lease but whatever happened between the two of them, Buck ended up with a new address.”

“NoHo was it? I can check it out but I say you guys should just let him come to you when he’s ready.” Athena took a sip of her wine. She frankly didn’t see what was wrong with Buck, if anything, he was adjusting well after his breakup with Tommy (not he ever told them the real reason they broke up) and with the whole Eddie moving back to El Paso. 

“You saw the news, Athena, North Hollywood isn't that safe and my brother is so accident-prone. Knowing him, he’s getting into an incident sooner or later because of his kind nature.” Maddie protested. 

“Not in Kling Street.” Athena retorted back. “I asked my friends in NoHo, the area has a good, peaceful reputation, I can indeed see Buck flourish there.”

“Then why hasn't he invited us to visit his new place?” She complained loudly, rubbing her stomach petulantly as Chim fused over her. Athena rolled her eyes, done with the whole conversation.

“Maybe he’s not wrong, the house really isn't ready for people to visit.” Karen offered. 

“We’re his friends, we don’t mind a little mess.” Hen rolled her eyes.

Bobby took a deep breath. “Athena’s right. We’ll wait. Eventually, he's gonna need us all. And when he does, we'll be there. For him.”

Who knew Ravi was fun? Buck giggled as Ravi shared another anecdote about his tenants. He has standing invitations for beer and frolf (but not both at the same time; something about hitting someone's in the nuts once while drunk) and Ravi didn't tell him to shut up when he researched the shit out of the game and told him all the weird facts he found out. 

It was nice. Very few people were willing to put up with his deluge of information, and it was pleasant to have someone else who seemed genuinely interested in them.

Tommy used to be one of them.

Damnit, he was doing so well, not thinking about him. 

Buck sighed but waved away Ravi’s concerning look.

“-and also making assorted cookies and loaf cakes. I’m even currently experimenting on gluten free cookies.” Buck cheerfully told Ravi as the two climbed up the stairs and into the loft. Hen and Chim exchanged looks of panic, what’s this? Buck stress baking again? What else happened in his life to trigger that?!

(Buck and Ravi were actually in the middle of a conversation about the upcoming block party slash Mrs Hernandez’s birthday that weekend, Buck having volun-told everyone that he and the children and teens on the street would be handling the dessert table and they all had fun preparing for the party using his kitchen.)

“So Buck, I’m hosting a lunch this Sunday at my place for the 118. What time can you swing by with your baked goods?” Hen asked as the heavy rescue specialist walked past her to grab coffee from the kitchen.

To her surprise, Buck frowned. “Sunday? Sorry Hen, I can’t.” He said regretfully. “I kinda have plans with other people on that day. But I can drop off some desserts if you want them.”

“Plans? What plans?” 

“You have other people to make plans with?” Chim said offhandedly as he took a sip of his coffee then coughed when Hen dug her elbow into his ribs. “What?”

Buck looked offended by Chim’s comments. “I do have friends outside 118.” He turned away, muttering about getting started on his allocated chores, Ravi following him after giving them a weird look.

“What was that for?” Hen hissed. “We were trying to get him to tell us about his place, not alienate him!”

“Was I wrong?” Chim complained, rubbing his side. “You know Buck, he doesn’t have friends, if not, he wouldn’t have hung around us much!”

“And yet he now spent time elsewhere and not with us.” Hen shot back. “We could at least check if his friends are alright for him, it would be bad if he falls into a bad lot especially with his new address.”

Before Chim could retort back, Bobby stepped out from his office, looking around. “Where’s Buck? I was going to ask him to help me cook breakfast.”

As one, the two paramedics pointed at the bay, where they can hear Buck talking to Ravi as they do a quick inventory check on the engine.

“Right!” Buck, holding a clipboard, looked at his eager helpers. “Stock check!”

“Cakes.”

“We have one triple chocolate cake, one Japanese castella cake, two Victoria sponge cakes, one red velvet cake and Abuela’s birthday cake.” The nineteen year old Santiago Hernandez counted out the cakes on the kitchen counter, smacking his brother’s hand away from the tres leche.

“Cookies.”

“4 dozen triple chocolate cookies, 2 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies, and 3 dozen sugar cookies.” Sierra giggled as she passed the beautifully decorated sugar cookies to her younger twin siblings, Alex and Anne as Buck waved his clipboards threateningly at them. “Oh, and your gluten free macadamia nut cookies in a separate container.”

“Which leaves us with pies, which are 2 apple pies and a banoffee pi- Areum, stop eating it!”  

“But they’re so good!” Areum moaned as she dug into the pie and then ran with the said pie as Buck chased her around the kitchen. “Plus there’s a spare lemon meringue pie and a cherry pie in your fridge.” She complained as Buck finally caught her and took her fork away.

“That’s for my friend’s Hen’s dinner. I’m gonna drop them off later before I set up the table. That is, if no one else is eating it.” He laughed as his young helpers jumped away from the chocolate cookie plate. “Now, go get ready and I'll see you guys later this afternoon.” He shooed everyone out of the house but let Areum take the rest of the half-eaten pie with her. “Share them with your husband, Areum!”

“I won’t, they’re all mine!” She crackled.

“Oh, hey, Hen.” Buck was surprised to see everyone was already at Wilson’s place. “Did I get the time wrong?” He passed the boxes to Karen, who cheered when she saw her favourite pies. 

“Nah, everyone’s early. We were wondering if we could talk.”

“Yea, I want to but I’m a bit busy, still need to pick some stuff. Next time!” He kissed Maddie on the cheek and ruffled Jee’s hair before running out, already thinking about how to set up his dessert table. 

“Oh, he’s definitely avoiding us.” Chim complained loudly.

The dessert table was a success. Everyone on the street kept visiting the table for seconds and Mrs. Hernandez cried loudly when she saw the beautifully layered tres leche birthday cake. 

Right now he was chilling with his group of friends, watching the kids running around playing tag as he enjoyed his plate of food. 

“Tommy would have liked this. He loves garlic bread too much for his own good.” He said absently, taking another bite of the cheesy garlic bread, mentally planned to ask Mrs. Jackson for the recipe.

Micheal, who arrived back with Areum’s plate of seconds, heard and couldn’t help but asked curiously. “Who’s Tommy?”

Buck froze. 

He didn’t realize he was thinking of him. 

And yet, as he looked around, he couldn’t help but think about how Tommy would like this easy community of people; his new house and the new friends he made.

“T-Tommy was my ex.” Buck said softly as everyone leaned in to listen to him. 

Areum gently patted him in the arm. “Will you tell us about your Tommy?”

For the first time in a while, it didn’t hurt to talk about Tommy. It helped that no one in the group knew him. The way they tentatively listened to his stories and anecdotes about his ex ended up him blurting about everything that happened that night; how he regretted everything, from asking him to move in with him when Tommy had a his own proper house, to them unable to communicate properly, how he never told Tommy how he loved (and still in love) with him and how he regret not stopping Tommy walk out the door like everyone else in his life. 

Leaving the last line lingering in the cool afternoon air, Buck watched as Micheal discreetly wiped Areum’s tears, Ichigo looked both sad as if he had his own Tommy in his life and Kitty looking too contemplative at him. 

“Do you still love him?”

“O-of course I do.”

“Then, why didn’t you call?” She tilted her head at him.

“Because I’m t-too used to people walking out of my life and I'm a-afraid that he might reject me again, this time for good and I’m not strong enough for that. I-I’m gonna grab a drink.” Buck quickly took off, leaving his friends behind.

Areum watching her new friend walk away before turning to the rest. “We are fixing this right?” 

“Damn straight we are.” Kitty muttered mutinously. “Ichigo, you have Panikkar’s numbers right? Gimme.”

Chapter Text

After pestering from both Ravi and Lucy to at least consider the offers from the captains, Buck decided to try by working as a floater for a few stations.

It was fun to say the least. 

Between station 122 with Captain Sal Deluca, who is Tommy’s best friend who had a ‘friendly conversation’ with him about Tommy (who after listening to Buck about what really happened the night they broke up, facepalmed and walked off, grumbling angrily about needing to kick Tommy’s stupid ass), station 136 with Lieutenant Lena Bosko (the one who was Buck’s temporary replacement when he was on leave recovering from the truck bombing) ending up inviting him out for beers where both of them commiserate over their former friendship with one selfish Diaz, to a very memorable 24 hour shift with Station 96, Buck can see the possibility in maybe accepting one of the offers. 

Plus, the captains he met so far were interested when he told them he was currently studying for his lieutenancy exam, offering him a few tips and pointers to pass the exams, some even telling him they have a free lieutenant position if Buck wants it. 

And thanks to his new friends from the Canine Training Program, Ravi as well as Lucy and Ichigo (whom both are also studying for the same exam) Buck had a lot of people as his study partners. 

So yea, life is good at the moment.

Buck cycled around the neighborhood, Lucky woofing loudly in the front basket as they made another turn. He was happy that since he moved into the house, he finally found time to make use of the mountain bike he had for so long, both he and Lucky enjoyed exploring the area together on the bike. 

He did jump when a loud honking sound startled him from behind. 

He turned to see a familiar police cruiser driving slowly past him. “Hey Buckaroo, haven’t seen you for awhile.”

“Athena, hi. Wait, this isn’t your patrol area.” Buck dismounted his bike and walked beside the cruiser. 

“I’m actually on a break right now and wanted to check on you.” 

“Bobby told you my new address.”

“Bobby told me your new address.” Athena’s smile was wry. "Sorry, he was worried when he saw the new area code and since you haven't invited anyone over..." she trailed off.

Buck grinned. “Want to see my new house?”

Athena looked around, noticing the current construction work around the house. “You’re not lying about the house not being ready yet.”

“Hen told you that?” Buck grinned, not offended with them talking about him behind his back. 

He pulled out the four cheese lasagna and garden salad he made earlier and served Athena, sitting in front of her, enjoying Athena eating his food. “Yea, I just finished the living room, all three toilets, the bedroom I’m sleeping in, the roof and the front lawn. The kitchen doesn’t need fixing so I’m left with the two bedrooms and the backyard. I'm thinking of a herb garden and a mini glasshouse, maybe even a trellis.”

“That’s great, Buck. Tell me more about the garden concept.” Athena’s smile was warm as she watched Buck gestured wildly about his future project.

This is nice, Buck thought as everyone was hanging out for beer, a rare night everyone got their off time synced and Ravi meeting his new friends for the first time. Maybe they should do this more often, he mused as he stood up to go to the toilet. 

Watching Buck heading toward the men’s room, Kitty quickly turned to Panikkar. “Did you call him? Is he here?” She hissed. 

Ravi distractedly looked around the bar. “I had to get Lucy, his partner, to help make sure he’s he-, oh I see him!”

“Where?!” They quickly turned toward the bar.

“That's Tommy who broke up with Buck?” Kitty hissed, staring at the man.

“Kinard? He dated 217 Tommy Kinard?” Ichigo asked in confusion and then looked around defensively as everyone stared at him incredulously. “What? I knew the guy, we worked on a few medevacs together. The guy’s a legend, did you know he flew a helicopter into a hurricane?” He ducked as everyone tossed their coasters at him. 

“He’s hot.” Micheal said appreciatively, Areum nodding along. “Is that a cleft chin?”

“He’s reall - shit, incoming.” Everyone made themselves look busy and pointedly not looking at the bar as Buck approached their booth.

“What are you guys talking about?” Buck slides into the booth, taking another shot of tequila. 

“We were wondering what Kitty's real job is.” Areum said hurriedly. 

“An erotic audio book reader.” The woman said unprompted. She then laughed as she was the latest victim of the coaster throwing. 

“I’m gonna grab the next round of drinks.” Ravi hurriedly took off as Buck argued with Areum over his limes she kidnapped. 

Biting down the limes he rescued, grinning like a little boy at Areum while doing so, he didn’t realize till it was too late when Ravi approached their booth with two bottles of beers and a hanger-on.

“Look who I found at the bar!” He said brightly, shoving Tommy forward. 

“T-Tommy.” Buck smattered, hurriedly wiping the lime juice from his chin.

“Hi, Evan.” Tommy smiled helplessly at him.

“You must be Buck’s ex.” Kitty grinned before twitching from a possible under the table kicking. “Uh, I mean, please, sit down.”

They all shuffled around so Tommy could sit down at their booth, Buck looking quite panicky as his ex slid beside him. “Hey.” Buck couldn’t help the shiver down his spine when he felt Tommy’s breath against his ear.

“Hi.” He said breathlessly. 

“Look at the time,” Ichigo suddenly stood up, pointedly not looking at his watch, “got an early shift tomorrow. Gotta go.”

“Same here.” Micheal also stood up, dragging his protesting wife with him. “Long shift, need to get some sleep in, bye.”

Kitty looked at the two men before turning to Ravi. “You should sleep with me tonight.”

“Wait, what?!”

 Ignoring Ravi’s loud splutters, she dragged him away from the table and out the door with the rest of their friends. 

Leaving Buck alone.

With Tommy. 

He hates them very much. 

(That was a lie. He loved them very much.)

“So, how are things with you?” Tommy asked, pushing the empty tequila shot glasses around the table, failing in his attempt not to look too hard at Evan. Honestly, it’s kinda distracting to sit beside him after so long being apart. 

“Things are good. Well, my sister got abducted recently, she’s back now, she’s pregnant in fact but those two things are not related. Oh and Eddie moved to Texas, so we’re still adjusting but Ravi’s a good partner so there’s that. How are you?”

“Uh, same, wait, Diaz left?!” Tommy looked so confused at the barrage of information. 

“Yea, to be with his son, said it’s time he fixed things with him back in El Paso. He didn’t tell you?”

“No, he pretty much stopped speaking with me the moment we broke up.” The pilot shrugged. 

“Oh.” Buck had nothing to say about that, kinda tracks with Eddie’s behavior, dumping friends when he no longer needs them.

“So uh, I’ve been thinking of calling you for months now.” Tommy said shyly, wasn't sure what Evan's reaction would be, what if he thinks it's creepy or something?

“No way, You did?” Buck was elated, hope began to bloom.

“I actually drove your place the other day, sev-”

“Actually you weren't." Buck, interjected, grinning widely.

“I wasn’t?” Tommy looked at him in confusion. 

“Yea, I got a new place, actually not far from here in fact, just up in North Hollywood.” Playing with his beer bottle, he smiled slyly at him. “You, ah, wanna see it?”

Outtake:

“I can’t see.” Kitty said, peering through the window. “No way they’re still sleeping right?”

“Are we even sure they came home last night?” Ichigo asked as he tried to sneak some streaky bacon Micheal were frying. All of them were gathering in Choi's kitchen, having breakfast while trying to spy into Buck’s house. 

“The way they both stumble across the lawn at 1 am, trying to eat each other’s face out? They’re definitely in there.” Areum triumphantly pulls out a binocular and hip-checked Kitty out of the way. “What happened to Ravi anyways? You guys left together. Did you really sleep with him?” 

Kitty’s smirk tells them everything and nothing at all. 

The three of them were quibbling over the right way to make avocado toast when Areum yelped loudly. “They’re up. Or at least that Tommy guy is up,” She’s peering through the binocular, “Oh, he’s making breakfast, that’s sweet.”

“Is Buck up yet?” Kitty said absently while smacking Ichigo’s hands away, “No, not the natto Ichi!”

“Shut up, you’re putting anchovies on yours, that’s disgusting!” 

Micheal subtly tried to put kimchi on his toast, just to flinch when both Ichigo and Kitty put natto and anchovies on them. 

“Buck’s up! And OH!” Areum turned red as she pulled away from the binocular. 

Everyone scrambled to grab the binocular which Micheal won just to see that . 

“My eyes!! It burns!!” He thrusted the binocular away from him blindly just for Kitty to take it first. “Oh nice, that’s an impressive kissing technique.” She laughed manically as everyone pulled her away from the window. “No, I was watching that!”

“For the love of God, give them some privacy!”

Chapter Text

Tommy couldn’t help the smile on his face as he watched Buck curled up, asleep beside him. Early morning sunlight streamed through one of the windows, painting the strange room in golden light. 

Other than the dresser and a few knickknacks scattered across the room, almost everything in the room were new, from the California King-sized bed they were currently on, to the beautiful rosewood wardrobe as well as the cherry wood nightstands that oddly looks like the ones he was looking for his guestroom before. 

Gently extracting himself from the bed, he sneaks in a kiss to Evan’s birthmark before leaving the bedroom, hoping to find a kitchen so he can make breakfast for them.

He took the chance and looked around (since last night they were too busy eating each other’s face out and tearing each other’s clothes off for a proper house tour), humming appreciatively at the ongoing projects before finally finding the kitchen.

Oh yea, he can see why Evan picked this house, Tommy thought, admiringly the beautiful backsplash, the wooden cabinets and the huge window looking out to the frankly overgrown backyard. 

He poked around to see what he could make after starting the coffee machine, his eyebrows raised at the baked goods stuffed inside the fridge. 

Did Evan raid a bakery or something?

Ooh, there’s bagels. And a jar of wildberry jam from the farmer’s market that they both happened to like. No eggs though.

He quickly opened his delivery app and ordered a few things from the nearest grocery store to be delivered to Evan’s new house. 

Wait, what is the address to this house again?

Buck winced when he woke up, sunlight streaming into his bedroom, having forgotten to close the curtain the night before.

God, just how many shots of tequila did he have last night? He groaned as he burrowed his face into the pillow beside him. He smiled as he breathed in the scent of cedar and rosewood.

Wait a damn minute.

He lurched out of bed, looking around wildly.

Fuck, where’s Tommy? Did he just sneak out without saying goodbye like this was just a meaningless one night stand?!

And yet he can smell coffee permeating the house and noise coming from the kitchen. 

Oh.

Buck quickly headed toward the kitchen, a smile on his face as he watched Tommy cooking something on the stove. “Hey, and here I thought you left without saying goodbye.”

“I didn’t want to leave without feeding you.” Tommy smiled back as Evan approached him, passing him the cup he was holding. “I made coffee.”

Buck hummed happily as he took a sip. “Hmm, and just the way I like it.” He playfully sat on the kitchen counter, watching as Tommy plated the scrambled eggs he was making. “Where did you get eggs?” He couldn’t help but ask curiously, remembering how he had used the last of the eggs yesterday afternoon to make cupcakes. 

“Had them express delivered to your place, here try them.” Tommy stepped in between Buck’s legs, gently feeding him the eggs. 

Buck moaned, savoring the taste of the creamy, cheesy eggs and the way Tommy’s eyes darken. He smiled as he set down the coffee mug in his hand and the plate Tommy was holding and pulled him in for a kiss. 

The combined taste of sweet coffee and cheesy scrambled eggs never felt so addictive the way they were busy devouring each other’s mouth or perhaps the idea of being so close with each other after being apart for so long makes everything more intoxicating. 

“W-Wait.” As much as Buck hated to break the moment, they really needed to talk. “We should talk.”

“Talk?” Tommy's smile was blinding, addictive. “Talk about what?”

“Stop distracting me with that smile. This. ” Buck gestured to whatever was going on between the two of them. “I just wanted to say last night was great, but don’t worry, I know it doesn’t change anything.”

“Or not.” Tommy tilted his head playfully.

“W-What are you saying?” Buck looked at him in confusion.

“I’m saying,” Tommy gently trailed his hands up Buck’s body, “What are you doing on Saturday?”

“Y-You want to try again?” Buck couldn’t help, his body shivering, focus Buck, focus, don’t be distracted just yet. 

“I-I mean, I’m not ready to move in or anything but yea, I guess I want to try again, with you.” Tommy couldn’t resist stealing a kiss from Evan, not when he looks so sweet and hopeful at the idea of them getting back together again.

“A-And you’re not scared I’m gonna break your heart?” Buck wanted Tommy to be sure because if they do try again and it doesn’t work, he doesn’t think he could survive the heartbreak the second time. 

“No, not really. Especially since the competition is out of the way.” Tommy couldn’t help muttering as he pulled Evan for another kiss.

Wait a damn minute. 

Buck jerked away, staring at Tommy in shock. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” 

“Nothing, I was just kidding, well mostly .” Tommy tried to pull away but Buck grabbed him by the shoulder. “Tommy, kidding about what?” 

“No, it’s nothing.” He tried to deflect.

“It’s not nothing. I want to know. Competition with who ?” Buck was so confused right now. Did Tommy really think he had to compete with someone?

“Come on, Evan. Don’t make me say it.”

“Who?!”

“Diaz.”

What the fuck?!

“ Eddie ?!” Buck never felt so confused, “You thought Eddie was your competition?!” God, now he wanted to throw up. “There was nothing between me and Eddie!”

Ok, this is pissing him off right now. 

“That's why you broke up with me with that stupid ‘I’m your first but not your last’ speech; because you thought I was going to leave you for Eddie?!!” Buck leapt off the counter, pacing angrily.

“What was I supposed to think?!” Tommy tried to defend himself.” “He was always there all the time! Even before Christopher left for El Paso, you would  ditch our date just because Diaz asks you to do something for him. He was always your first priority, not our relationship. And the moment we broke up, he just blocked my number and Howie, of all people, told me he was too busy comforting you before telling me to stay away from you, so yea, tell me Buck , what was I supposed to think?!”

Buck shuddered angrily. “You could have asked me! And I would have told you that nothing had or will happen between me and him, not when you’re the one I wanted!” 

“A-and Chim shouldn't have said that, there was nothing going between me and Eddie when you broke up with me, in fact there was no comforting at all, he called me an idiot and stole my phone everytime I tried calling you. Not when he kept accusing me for being exhausting, or being so selfish for having feelings!” His chest heaved angrily, tears of frustration were blurring his vision. 

“Oh, Evan.” Just like that, all that jealousy, all that anger deflates from Tommy. “He shouldn't have said that to you. You're never exhausting or too much. Not to me.”

“You don't get to say that to me now! Not when you walked away like everyone else.” Buck rubbed his eyes furiously with the heels of his hands. “It hurt me, Tommy, it hurts when you told me you wouldn't be my last, you literally broke my heart when you walked out the door without letting me fight for us.”

"Do you have any idea how much I regretted that night? How I wished I could have taken it all back?! To just go back to your loft and apologize?" Tommy looked as if he wanted to cry. “But I was afraid, afraid you already moved on, afraid you wouldn't forgive me for breaking your heart. That's why I didn't call or text you.” 

"But I didn’t move on. I waited for you. I couldn't stop thinking about you, even if I tried. And I did try for some time. But it didn't work.” Buck gestured at his kitchen, “That's why I took up baking, everytime I thought of calling you, I baked my feelings away, and Tommy, I haven't stopped yet.” Buck paused, cupping Tommy’s face, his thumb gently pressing against his chin.  “I am only going to say this once, so you better listen – I love you. You hear that, Tommy Kinard? And if you let me, I want to be by your side forever.”

“Evan, what are you trying to say here?” There was hope in Tommy's eyes as Buck pulled him close again. 

“I'm saying, if you still love me and really want to try again, then yes I'm free this Saturday.” 

By now they stood so closely to each other, their breath mingled together

“Yes.” Tommy was breathless. “I still love you. And I do want to try again.” they kissed, not as passionately as the one earlier, but it was electrifying as their first kiss. 

They reluctantly pulled away, resting their forehead together, breathing loudly in the quiet kitchen. 

“How was that?” Tommy couldn't help but ask, a playful grin on his lips.

“Better than fake mouth statics.” Evan laughed. “Now take me back to bed Tommy and show me how much you love me.” 

Tommy quickly picked him up and hurried back into the bedroom.

Chapter Text

Tommy stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath after that impressive round(s) of sex he just had with Evan. He knew he was fit but damn,   Evan sure made him feel old.

Welp, time to hit the gym again. 

Beside him, Evan finally picks himself up from where he was lying face down beside him, only to lay his head on his chest like a very comfortable weighted blanket. 

“So a new house, new hobby, and judging from the group from last night, new friends. What else is new in your life?” Tommy asked as he absently treaded his fingers through Evan’s messy curls.

“Well, I’m currently studying for the lieutenancy exam next month.” Buck said shyly. “Oh, and I have a dog now. Found her in the dumpster the first week I moved here and I’m currently training with her for our canine training programme.”

“That’s great!” A part of Tommy felt regret that he missed out the positive changes in Evan’s life but he was happy for him, really. Evan deserved only the best for himself. “Didn’t see a dog though.”

“Oh, one of my neighbors, Yuzuha, had her for the evening.” Buck nosed against his neck, “Going to need to pick her up soon, I think she has a study date this afternoon.” He finally pulled away from the older man with a reluctant pout on his face. “I wish we could spend more time in bed though. I missed you.”

Tommy reached up and cupped his cheeks, gently rubbing his thumb across his cheekbone, “I missed you too. Are you really sure I can’t just tempt you into staying in?”

“Well,” Both of them froze when someone suddenly knocked on the bedroom door. 

“I really, really, hope you’re decent in there!” The door slammed open and Tommy yelped as a dog took a running leap and jumped into the bed, her tail hitting his face as she enthusiastically licked Evan’s face. 

He can hear someone giggling before fleeing, slamming the door shut.

“Say hello to Lucky, Tommy.” Evan happily hugged the dog. 

“She’s adorable.” Tommy grinned and petted the golden retriever.  “Are you adorable? Yes, you are.” He cooed at the puppy.

Buck grinned as he watched this… well they haven’t talked much about it but Buck is hoping he can call him boyfriend and his adorable dog playing. He wished they could stay in that bubble of happiness forever but judging from the faint ruckus outside his room, his friends wouldn’t let him hide forever.

“Yo Buck! Stop lazing in bed and introduce us to your man.” Someone hollered in the house, followed by loud laughter. Buck could only groan in embarrassment. 

Evan’s kitchen was being invaded. Tommy recognized the group of people as the ones at the bar last night, everyone busy setting up the table and dividing food into bowls and plates.

“We managed to save most of the breakfast and they are currently in the fridge.” One of them, a petite Asian woman said as she ushered them in. “Hi, you must be Tommy. I’m Choi Areum, and this is my husband, Micheal Choi.” The Korean man who was mixing the bowl of red looking cucumber salad gave them a wave. “We lived next door.” She pointedly pulled a chair and stared at him till he sat down. 

“Areum is an anesthesiologist resident at First Pres while her husband is a pediatric surgeon at the Children Hospital.” Buck shared as he grabbed a plate for Tommy. “This is Katagiri Ichigo,” he introduced the Japanese man who sat beside him, “he's an EMT with 126. His sister, Yuzuha,” he nodded at the teen sitting across the table, “is the one pet sitting Lucky.”

“We met. Did a few medevacs with them this past year.” Tommy shook his hand. “Your work stabilizing the patient with the placental abruption last week was awe-inspiring.” 

Ichigo looked flattered at the compliment.

“Sorry Buck for letting Lucky into your bedroom.” Yuzuha said apologetically, “But Kitty said it was the only way to get both of you out of bed.”

“And I was right.” The woman said with a laugh, reaching over to shake Tommy’s hand. “Kitty. My aunt used to own this house before I sold it to Buck here.” She and Buck shared a big grin as they began digging in for lunch.

It was a weird but fun experience for Tommy. Everyone kept asking Tommy questions about himself and his job but willing to share stories about themselves and the weird shenanigans they have been up to with Evan. 

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, are you guys back together now?” Areum smiled, passing Tommy the bowl of salad, both of them watching Ichigo and Buck discussing one of the theoretical scenarios in the lieutenant assessment they were studying together. 

“We’re taking it slow.” Tommy finally offered. “We really want to make this work between the two of us and he suggested couple’s therapy so we are going to try that.”

Areum nodded approvingly. “That’s good, guess we’ll see you around more often then.”

“Speaking of that,” Michael piped beside Areum, turning to Kitty with a devious smile, “You never did tell us what happened after you left the bar last night with Buck’s partner, Kitty.”

“Ravi? You left with Ravi?” Evan stared at her in confusion.

“We think they slept together but Kitty’s not confirming anything.” Ichigo said with a smirk as the entire table turned to her, loud questions quickly followed. But no matter how much they badgered her, the young woman would only laugh.

“So you and Tommy are back together again?” That was the first thing Ravi said to him the moment Buck stepped into the locker room during their next shift. Luckily there were only the two of them there so no one heard Ravi’s excited question.

“Did you hook up with Kitty?” Buck teased back, laughing as Ravi turned red. The two heckled each other as they changed into their uniform and walked up to the loft to grab some coffee before tackling their chores, only to stop in surprise as someone was waiting for Buck.

“Captain Pruitt.” Buck said in surprise. “Hi. Is there something wrong? Wait, is it Tommy?” Buck asked worriedly even though he just saw him just this morning before they went their separate ways to work. 

“Firefighter Buckley.” She nodded to him, turning away from Bobby, who was frowning at the file he was holding. “Firefighter Pilot Kinard is fine, last I checked. No, I'm actually here for you, Buckley.”

“Me?” 

“Captain Pruitt here is asking for you to cover a few shifts with the 217.” Bobby suddenly said. “Yea, I can’t sanction this. Buck is needed here.”

“I’m not asking you, Captain Nash. I heard you are recently Helitac Rescue certified, Firefighter Buckley?” Captain Pruitt turned to Buck. “I know you have been covering a few shifts for different stations so I’m here to ask if you're willing to cover one with the 217. One of our Helitac rescuers, Mendez, broke his ankle during his 94 hours off and we needed someone to cover his spot for an upcoming 48 hour shift.” 

“What happened to Russell?” Buck frowned, remembering Tommy telling him this yesterday and he was planning to drop off a care basket for Mendez after his shift was over. 

“On emergency leave, his sister in Seattle was admitted to emergency care last night so he’s heading there to move his nieces with him back to LA for a while. You don’t mind working with Kinard and Donato right?” She peered at him. 

“Lemme check.” Buck checked his phone, trying to check his schedule. “This Wednesday, right? Sure, I don’t mind covering the shift.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Buckley. See you this Wednesday. Captain Nash.” She nodded at him before leaving. 

“Helitac rescue, that’s so cool!” Ravi gushed the moment Captain Pruitt left. “And with Lucy too, I’m so envious. Tommy is going to be so stressed with the two of you in his helicopter.”

“Eh, he’ll survive.” Buck shrugged before noticing the awkward staring. “What?” Buck asked everyone who was staring at him incredulously.

“You've been covering shifts with other stations?” Chimney asked. “Does Maddie know?”

“Just a few 24 hour shifts and why would I tell my sister?” Buck was so confused. 

“Behind my back? I didn’t give you permission to take on those shifts.” Bobby was furious. “And when did they even talk to you? I didn’t receive any requests.”

“They approached me during CTP training and I checked with both HR and Battalion Chief Barnsfield. In fact he was quite excited that I covered a few shifts with the SAR.” He shrugged. 

“What’s going on Buck? First the house, you’re distancing yourself from us, and now this!” Bobby was so done with this. Athena told them to give Buck the space but they were so tired of watching him isolating himself.  

“What are you guys talking about?!”

 “ This! Buck, is everything alright with you? You don’t talk to us anymore, not even to your sister.” Bobby said. “You have been isolating yourself and ignoring our offers to come to your new house to check it out.”

Buck facepalmed tiredly. “I do talk , you’re the ones who are not listening. And I’m not lying about the house, it’s not ready yet. Athena can tell you that. And for the part about isolating, you guys are the ones who have been ignoring me. Let’s face it, you, Bobby, has Athena and your house to figure out, Hen has Karen and the kids, Maddie and Chim have their own kids and Diaz has been ghosting me ever since he moved to Texas. So sorry I decided to hang out with my own friends.”

“What friends?” Chim scoffed. “You don’t have friends. Eddie is your friend and we need to fix whatever happened going on between the two of you so you guys can be friends again.”

Ravi scoffed. “Buck has friends. I would know since I hang out with him and his friends.”

Buck snorted. “You’re sleeping with my friend, Ravi.”

“Not confirming that. And Buck doesn’t need to be friends with Eddie anymore if he doesn’t want to. How about respecting his boundaries and treating him like an adult instead of some spoiled kid?” Ravi snapped.

“Ravi shut up. Look, we’re just worried for you.” Hen tried to sooth him. “And now you’re going to do a 48 hour shift with your ex. Are you even sure that’s a good idea?”

“Urgh. It’s like they’re not listening to us. Come on Buck, we still need to check the rig.” Ravi glared at them, dragging him away.  

Chapter Text

Tommy didn’t expect to see Evan that day. Their work schedules weren’t in sync for that week that they just ended up talking on the phone (a lot), plus attending a virtual couple therapy session.

So imagine his surprise to see Evan, instead of enjoying his 96 off, standing at the bay doors, watching them, carrying a coffee holder and a basket of baked goods.

“Evan, what are you doing here?” Tommy approached him, confused but very happy.

“Bringing you coffee?” His bright smile was so bright Tommy had to blink a few times to recalibrate his eyesight. “It's as sweet as you.” He cooed as he tilted his head to kiss him on the cheek. 

“Hmm.” Tommy smiled, enjoying the sweet blend of mocha with a splash of sugar cookie syrup. “Just the way I take it.”

Melton and a few others came up to them, checking out the basket curiously. “Hey Buck, you’re not here to steal another helicopter are you?” He teased. 

“Haha, very funny. I’m actually here-”

“What’s this? You guys are back together again?” Miriam, Tommy’s aeromedic, interjected in delight while munching on the blueberry muffin she managed to pilfer. 

“We talked and yea, we’re giving this a second chance.” Tommy said shyly, holding Evan’s hand, who playfully lifted his hand to his lips and gently kissed his knuckle with reverence that left him breathless. 

They jumped as everyone in the vicinity (who are shamelessly eavesdropping) cheered loudly. 

Captain Pruitt, who was in her office, came out and nodded at Buck. “Buckley, ready for your shift with 217? Everyone, please welcome Firefighter Buckley. Thanks to his recent helitack certification and having completed his mandatory flight hours, Buckley will be covering senior helitack firefighter Russell for the 48 hour shift.”

“Wait, really?” Tommy turned to Evan, who nodded shyly. They had never gotten the chance to work together before so this is going to be an interesting experience for everyone. Lucy, in particular, nudged Buck in delight. “This is so cool, we get to be partners again.”

Running a high-angle rescue with Evan was exciting. Watching as he harnesses up to rappel down with Miriam to rescue an injured hiker while Tommy maintains the appropriate altitude with the helicopter, he can see why Evan had lost his cool every time he saw him in his flight suit.

His co-pilot, Lucy gave him a sardonic side glance when she caught him stealing a glance backward again. “Oh my god, stop thirsting on him, it’s disgusting." She said through the open channel, causing both Buck and Tommy to blush furiously as the others laughed. 

They listen as Buck calmly helps Miriam assess while comforting the patient before working together with her to secure him onto the backboard before the three of them could be extracted and be transported to the nearest medical centre. “He’s going great.” Lucy commented over a private line. “Then again, this is Buck, he thrives in high pressure situations.”

“Yea he told me about his shift with SAR Team One and how he enjoyed working with them. By the way, I still can’t believe you were spying on me for him.” Tommy playfully glared at her.

Lucy shrugged. “He still cared for you and all he wanted was to know you were doing ok. Plus I’m on his side on this break-up, so yea I’m not feeling guilty doing it. You guys are working on this right?”

“We did a virtual couple therapy session together and agreed to talk if we are not comfortable over things like my jealousy over his former friendship with Diaz and him needing to actually talk to me about his feelings rather than expecting me to just know.”

“That’s good to know.” She then switched back to the public line. “Everyone’s secured back there?”

“You did good during the call.” Captain Pruitt later complimented Evan when they returned to the station. “If it wasn’t for the fraternization reg and the fact the Harbor currently has no open spot, I would offer you a job.” She shakes her head ruefully. 

Buck blushed before ducking away, sitting with Tommy and the rest of the team, enjoying their dinner together. 

“So what, they just ambushed you and accused you of ignoring them?” Lucy, who was doing a maintenance check on their helicopter, looked away from the engine and at Buck in surprise. “That’s weird.”

“Right?” Buck, holding the clipboard, waved it around agitatedly. “And Ravi and I were so confused? I don’t remember skipping out on any invitations on them and I haven’t ignored everyone at work. And get this, they told me I should fix things with Eddie because whatever happened between the two of us before he left for Texas was apparently my fault?”

“I still can’t believe Tommy thought Diaz was competition.” Lucy guffawed. Tommy, who was in the said helicopter running a gearbox check, stuck his head out, pulled a face at them. “Laugh it up, I'm an idiot for thinking that.”

“Love you anyways.” Buck made a kissy face as Tommy ducked back, blushing. “They didn’t even invite me to my sister’s gender reveal party last week, I just found out about it when Hen and Chim talked about it at work. They’re having a boy by the way.” Buck’s mouth twisted bitterly. 

Lucy snorted. “Talk about irony. So, you gonna talk to Diaz?” 

Buck shrugged. “Not sure yet. I’m busy as it is preparing for the exam next month.” Both of them then argued about one of the problems in the test book, Tommy shaking his head fondly at them when he came out to calm both of them down.

It was then Melton came over with a concerned expression on his face. “Hey Kinard, you got an urgent  message from Captain Deluca of 122, something about your house.”

“My house?” Tommy was confused. 

“Don’t know but according to Dispatch, they’re responding to a fire at Edgewater Terrance, that’s near your place right? Captain Pruitt said you and Buckley can leave early and check it out.”

The two of them exchanged looks and quickly ran for the locker room.

The three of them stood outside Tommy’s American Craftsman house, looking gloomy. Captain Sal Deluca, who was the IC for the incident, patted Tommy on the back. “We did what we could to save the house but your kitchen and backyard are gone and the rest of the house pretty much has water and smoke damage.”

Tommy winced. He had bought the house just after moving to the Harbor and spent the last 8 years fixing the place, it was his safe place. Now because of his neighbor’s carelessness, he and a few others in the area are going to be homeless for a while.

“It’s gonna take months to fix this.” He said gloomily. 

“I would offer you my couch but Izzie,” Sal said, mentioning his third daughter, “is currently teething, no way Gina and I are going to inflict that on you.”

“You can stay at my place for a while.” Buck suddenly offered shyly. “I know we broke up because you’re not ready to move in with me but I would rather you stay with me while you figure out a way to fix the place.”

“Evan, you don’t have to do that for me.” Tommy tried to reject the offer, he felt it was too soon since they only got back together for a few days now.

“Not really. I have a spare bedroom that’s already fixed and if we clean up the garage today, we have space for your muay thai set up and car lift. Please, let me take care of you, Tommy.” He looked so earnest that Tommy couldn’t turn him down. 

“Yea ok, I would like that, thanks.”

Both of them just stood there smiling shyly at each other until Sal coughed very loudly. “Well, that was nauseating. I guess you guys fixed things and are back together again? That’s good, it means I don’t have to kick your stubborn ass, idiot.”

“You’re the idiot.” Tommy huffed back. “Am I clear to go in to get my stuff or do I need to wait for your people to finish doing the assessment?”

“You’re clear to go. Need me and the mooks to help?” 

In the end, it took half a day to move what they could salvage from Tommy’s house into Buck’s spare bedroom. He’s going to need to do some extensive laundry work and at some point, dry cleaning, his entire wardrobe and linen that needed to be washing. And thanks to Sal and his family, Buck’s friends, Lucy and Ravi, they managed to move the carlift and the muay thai set (that thankfully was spared from the fire) into the now empty garage. Ravi even offered his connection to start cleaning up the smoke damage and do a professional assessment on his house. 

Later after everyone left for the evening, Tommy was putting away a few knickknacks saved from the fire when Buck knocked on the door to the spare bedroom, carrying a basket of newly laundered clothes with him. “Got some clean clothes for you. We can finish up the rest tomorrow.”

Tommy set aside the basket and pulled Evan for a hug. “Thanks again for this. I promise I’ll move out as soon as the house is fixed.”

“Tommy, for the love of God, shut up please.” Buck said. “I like having you here, in my home. You can stay as long as you like.” Maybe even forever , he thought but didn’t say out loud just yet. 

Maybe one day he can ask Tommy again to move in with him and this time it won’t end up with them breaking each other’s hearts again. 

Chapter Text

Being roommates with Tommy is an experience.

He finds out Tommy really, really hates doing laundry unless he has to (Buck used to be the one to do laundry back when they were together because Tommy told him he likes the smell of the softener Buck used on their clothes. Guess that was a half-truth.). He only knows how to cook breakfast food and baked zitis (it was the only recipe he managed to learn from Bobby before he left for Harbor) and he always buys the wrong herbs every time Buck sends him out for a grocery run.

Sex was phenomenal though.

Well, they did try the whole ‘let’s take it slow and be platonic roommates’ thing for the first few hours, but really, there's so many temptations and flat surfaces to christen all over the house. 

“This is ridiculous.” Buck huffed loudly, lying naked on his very comfortable (and very sticky and dirty sofa), his left ankle was currently held captive by Tommy’s very capable hands. “We’re supposed to take this slow. And we were going to work out a list of furniture we were going to need to check back at your place.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault your competency is very sexy.” Tommy smirked as he gently kissed the instep of the leg he was currently holding. “If anything, I should be the one complaining. How can someone work when you're all distracting like this, hmm?”

Urgh, that smirk is so infuriating. 

Buck lurched forward to kiss the smirk away.

“Tommy! That’s not how you stack the dishwasher!” Tommy froze, holding the empty lasagne pan that he was going to stuff into the dishwasher. Buck hipchecked him out of the way, groaning as he saw the messiness inside. “You’re supposed to soak the lasagne pan first. And put all the large items on the bottom rack and angled to the centre so the water can clean it properly. The cups are supposed to go on the top rack, upside down, Tommy!” he shook one of the mugs at him. “How did you use the dishwasher before this?” 

“Er, I don’t? I usually do my dishes by hand?” Tommy smiled sheepishly. 

“How do I not know this?” Buck raked his brain, pretty sure he saw Tommy using the dishwasher before.

“Because every time we have dinner at your place or mine, we end up leaving the dishes in the sink and making out on the sofa?”

Oh, Buck blushed, right. That did happen .

Oh, and he now has TWO dessert thieves in the house. 

Buck hummed as he gently piped the colourful cream cheese flowers onto the red velvet cupcakes he was trying out for Hen’s upcoming birthday. He wasn’t sure what Karen and Chim had in plans for her birthday (since no one told him anything) so he figured the cupcakes would be a nice gift for Hen. 

Well, that and the free babysitting coupon he made for the Wilsons. He figured they would enjoy some adult quality time without the kids bothering them. 

“Stop eating the cupcakes.” Buck said out loud as he concentrated on snipping the flowers, not even looking at the culprits beside him. 

Tommy looked guilty as he munched yet another undecorated cupcake, crumpled cupcake casings scattered in front of him. “But they’re really good.” 

“Yea Buck, they’re really good.” Areum once again was in his kitchen. Apparently after finding out that both she and Tommy shared the same sweet tooth addiction, the two had conspired to steal his baked goods. 

“Yeobo.” Micheal walked into the kitchen, yawning loudly, back from his night shift. He kissed Areum on the forehead and patted Tommy on the shoulder before heading straight for the coffee maker. “Thought I would find you here. Stop harassing Buck for sweets.” 

Areum pouted. “But I’m bored!” She whined loudly. “And with you sleeping in the hospital these days to monitor your post-ops and Kitty in Washington for some urgent business, this is the only place I can hang out in.”

Pausing mid-bite, Tommy asked, “You know, you guys never told me what Kitty's job is.”

Buck scoffed. “Good luck figuring that out. We’ve been trying for months to get her to tell us but she kept deflecting with different answers.”

“I like the one she said she’s a water sommelier.” Micheal laughed. 

“Oh, or when she told us she's a street performer just before tripping down the stairs.” Everyone burst into laughter.

“Hey Buck!” Midway changing into his uniform in the locker room, Buck looked up to see Ravi coming in. “Tommy settled in yet?” 

“Yea, he took the rest of the week off to supervise the professional cleaners and appraisers checking over the house. He said thanks by the way for the contacts.”

Ravi shrugged. “Least I could do for a friend. Car’s ok?” He was referring to the latest beauty Tommy was working on during the fire, an 1969 Cherry Red Ford Mustang. Apparently while Buck had picked up baking to cope with the breakup, Tommy had turned to flipping up American muscle cars, the Ford Mustang being his latest project. “Think he would let me drive it sometime?” He asked wistfully. 

“After the help and the massive discount you got for him, I think he’ll let you borrow it for a day or two.” Buck snorted as the two made their way up to the loft, him carrying a box of brown butter carrot cake cookies he made yesterday, half were pilfered by a guilty looking Tommy before he left that morning for work.

“Oh, I forgot to ask, how was working with 217?” Ravi asked as he poured them coffee, the two didn’t notice everyone else stopped whatever they were doing and eavesdropped shamelessly. 

“It was fun! I did a few medevacs with injured civilians and even clocked a few flight hours with Lucy as my co-pilot.” Buck enthused brightly.  “If everything’s according to plan, I might go for the helicopter license exam at the end of this year.”

“Wait, when was this? You never told us.” Hen couldn’t help asking, exchanging looks with Chim; they didn’t know Buck was applying for a private pilot helicopter license. 

“Since last year? When Tommy gave me private flying lessons?” Buck didn’t notice the awkward pause when he mentioned his now not-ex boyfriend. “I already have my FAA medical certification.”

“We thought it was a euphemism for something else.” Chim said weakly. 

Buck rolled his eyes. “Yea well, the Muay Thai lessons were a failure but the flying lessons are actually fun.”

“I already called dibs to be his first passenger.” Ravi grinned, munching on the cookies. “But back with the 217, you did medevacs?”

But before Buck could tell them more, the klaxon rang. They ended up listening to Buck talking about his experience with 217 to the call, no other mention of Tommy was made. 

Back after the call, Buck and Ravi were talking on the couch, something about house renovation costs when Hen decided to address the elephant in the room. “So 217. How was it, working with them?” 

“It’s not like 118 but it was fun. I learnt a lot while in there and Captain Pruitt even pointed out some new certifications I can try out.” Buck grinned. 

“And you’re okay working with Tommy?” Hen asked. “It wasn’t awkward after the whole breakup?”

“Why should it be awkward? Tommy and I are fine.” Buck smiled. “ We actually talked and-”

“So what? You guys are back together again? I’m asking because we're going to need a heads-up if you guys don't work out again. Last time was hell for everyone.” Chim half-joked, the period after Buck’s breakup with Tommy was horrible for everyone’s health and waistline. 

Buck’s eyes narrowed. "He told me all of you ghosted him after the breakup when you guys were his friends longer than we dated. And I still remembered how you all took away my phone every time I thought of calling him. Honestly after all that, whatever’s going on between the two of us are none of your concern.”

“We’re just worried, Buck,” Bobby tried to placate him. He still remembered how devastated Buck looked after the breakup. He always gave his entire heart into things and always ended up suffering. He just didn’t want to see Buck get hurt again. 

Buck glared at Bobby across the table. “I thought you told me he was good for me.”

Bobby floundered for a moment. “He is,” he admitted. “I just don’t think after everything that happened that this is good for you.” 

Buck scoffed loudly. “I think I can figure it out by myself, thank you very much.”

“Well, what does Eddie think about this?” Hen asked hurriedly.

“How am I supposed to know what he thinks? He hasn't talked to me ever since he left for El Paso.”

“You ghosted him?!” Chim asked him in shock. 

He snorted. “If anything, he’s the one who is ghosting me. Then again, that’s how our friendship is to him; I’m only useful when he needs something, otherwise I’m just an exhausting, selfish jerk.” Tired of the conversation already, Buck rubbed his face.  “Look, just trust me that I can handle this. So stop being weird about this. Come on, Ravi, we need to get the rig ready for the next shift.”

Ravi just shook his head at them before following Buck. 

Tommy was reading through the insurance paperwork on the couch when Buck entered the house. “Hey.” He called out warmly. “How was work?”

“ Maddening .” Buck groaned as he slumped over Tommy. “They kept asking about my shift with 217, how I'm handling working with you since we broke up. How’s the house?”

“Troublesome.” Tommy grumbled tiredly. “The cleaners said they can have the house cleaned by Monday and the contractor Ravi gave me said he’ll send the estimates on the renovation next week. You didn’t tell them we're back together again?”

“I was going to but then I realized I kinda want to keep this apart from them, just to enjoy what we have right now without their judgement. I just told them whatever that’s going is none of their business. Was it bad for me to do that?” He asked shyly.  

Tommy took a moment to form his thoughts that hopefully doesn’t come out wrong. “I kinda understand why you want to do that and I think I’m okay with that. It is kinda nice to have this without people judging us for it. Hey, I already made dinner so how about you enjoy it and just relax?”

“By making dinner , you mean?” Buck teased.

“Ok, I may or may not have ordered from that Thai place we usually ordered from,” he smiled sheepishly, “including the usual pad see ew and that khanom tako dessert you like.”

Buck tilted his head and kissed him gently. “I love you, you know that, right? So tell me, what’s the plan for the house?”

Tommy began talking about the things he needed to do to fix his place, Buck listening attentively as they enjoyed their evening together. 

Chapter Text

Tommy stood by the sink prepping the fruits they bought at the farmer’s market that Evan needed to make a fruit cake for Mrs. Hernandez next door. It was after that when he once again noticed the overgrown backyard. He was trying to figure out the best way to clean it when Evan stood behind him, wrapping his whole body around him, lazily rubbing his cheek against his. “We bought too much jams and jellies again, you and your sweet tooth.” He laughed. 

“I was supporting the local business.” Tommy said cheekily, but mentally admitted that 5 different jams and that peach butter was too much. But it was just so delicious and tempting when he tried them!

“You know I can make them if you want.” Evan teased.

“But you spoiled me too much.” Tommy laughed, nudging him with his hip. “Hey, Evan.” He asked, “What are you going to do with your backyard?” 

“Well,” Evan rested his chin on his shoulder, “I’m thinking of a herb garden on the side, and a vegetable patch on the other side. Some flowers, maybe even a small deck under the tree so we have a place to laze around on off days.”

“That sounds like a long term project, Evan.” 

“Well, I was planning to put in some PTO after the lieutenancy exam next week to start on it.”

Listening as Evan rambled on about the cute gardening ideas that he found in Pinterest that features arched trellises and backyard greenhouses, Tommy smiled. 

It was nice to listen to Evan building his dream home here. 

Maybe he can do something about that.

Buck knew with his frantic studying for the upcoming exam, he barely had time to spend with Tommy, who was busy with his own problems fixing his house. 

Though he’s pretty sure Tommy was hiding something from him. Honestly, he worked construction before, he knew some of the items Tommy were ordering online aren’t for fixing the house.

No matter, he thought as he let Tommy question him on some of the possible questions that would appear in the exam, he'll dig it out of Tommy, sooner or later, even if he has to use his bags of tricks to do it. 

“Are you planning something?” Areum asked as she and Tommy shared their latest spoils from Buck’s kitchen; a tray of peach crumb bars, fruits from his latest stress baking session. “I saw you this morning, mapping out the back garden.”

Tommy smiled slyly. “Depends.”

“Depends on what?” Areum smiled, already liking where this is going.

“If you and Micheal are free this Friday.”

Buck woke up on the day of his exam, smelling buttery pancakes and coffee. He smiled as he climbed out of bed and went to the kitchen where he watched Tommy making his breakfast. 

“You know you don’t have to do this, Tommy.” Evan hugged him from behind, watching as he flipped another pancake.

“What, making you breakfast?” Tommy nosed his cheek. “I like taking care of you and this is an important day for you, Ev.”

Buck smiled shyly, tucking his face against his neck. 

Sitting inside Tommy’s truck just outside the exam centre, Buck was rambling nervously while holding Tommy’s hands. “What if I failed? This is stupid, it’s too soon for me to try for the lieutenancy." 

“Hey, don’t say that.” Tommy gently kissed his knuckle. “You would be fine, you studied hard for this exam to not ace it.”

Both them smiled at each other then jumped when someone knocked on the window. 

“Kitty!” Buck smiled in delight, “You’re back!”

“And just in time to wish you good luck for your exam!” She said brightly as she hugged him, nodding at Tommy. With her were the Chois and Ichigo, who also looked a bit nervous.

“Guess we’re waiting for Lucy.”

“And I’m here! Just in time to rock this exam!” Lucy rocked up, looking as fabulous as ever. After a brief introduction to Buck’s new friends, the three of them took a deep breath, ready to take the exam. 

Waving Buck off as he, Lucy and Ichigo head in for their exams, Tommy turns to the others with a very serious face. 

“Right, we have 5 hours to pull this off. Let’s do this!” 

“You know, there are better ways to impress your boyfriend, Tommy.” Sal grunted, his face red as he carried the aluminium frames Tommy had been hiding in his garage. “And I can’t believe you got my wife to volunteer me for menial labour.” 

“Apparently the babysitting offer was too hard to resist.” Tommy said dryly as he checked on the polycarbonate and tempered glass panels that came with the greenhouse. 

“Should she be doing that?” Sal asked in concern as he watched Kitty aggressively mowing the yard with the cordless lawn mower. 

Tommy shrugged. “She said she has some workplace aggression she needed to handle. Yuzuha and Areum, you guys are in charge of sweeping the cut grass while the guys can help me set up the beds and the greenhouse while we wait for Ravi to arrive with the trellis I hid in his garage.”

“Just how many hidey holes did you use to hide your surprise from Buck?!”

“I think my brain melted.” Ichigo whined as he and Buck wobbled out of the exam hall. Lucy had taken off minutes ago, muttering about celebrating the end of the exams with her boyfriend. 

“I think I got half of the questions wrong.” Buck fretted. “What did you tell the interviewers for question 5?”

“Stop! I don’t want to think about the exams anymore!” He shook him tiredly. “I just want a strawberry milkshake and whatever desserts you have in your fridge.”

The loud honking sound attracted their attention and they turned to see Micheal waving from his silver Hyundai Venue. Climbing into the front seat,Ichigo stretched out in the back, Buck’s eyebrows raised at Micheal. “Where’s Tommy?”

“Busy with something.” He answered vaguely as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I volunteered to pick you guys up instead.” 

“Hmm. What are you hiding?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Micheal’s mischievous smile somehow irks Buck. 

“Fine, keep your secret.” He pouted, staring out the window as they drove back to his place.  

Buck stared at the group of cars parked outside his place. “Is there something going on?” He asked Micheal, who was unloading some stuff from his trunk. 

“Just head for the backyard.” He called out, dragging a complaining Ichigo to help him.

Buck shook his head but went to the back, then froze in surprise.

“You fixed my garden.” Buck stared in awed delight at the now cleared backyard, marked planting beds, half-painted arch trellis and even a small greenhouse nestled at the corner of the garden, where Tommy was screwing the last of the panels in.

“Surprise!!” Tommy smiled as he walked up to him. “I wanted to surprise you with something nice after all that exam stress. It is ok right? I’m not undermining you or anything?” Tommy winced.

“No, this is great,” Buck wasn’t sure what expression his face was making but judging on how delighted Tommy looked, he must’ve looked downright sappy. “Thanks Tommy.”

“We helped too, you know.” The girls waved their hands lazily where the pile of plywood they were slumped on, Sal beside them, waving the fancy beer bottle he flinched from the fridge at them. 

“Thanks guys.” Buck made a mental note to send them home with his gratitude in the form of baked goods and desserts later. He pulled Tommy to sit beside him on the porch steps, smiling brightly at him. “So what’s next on the agenda?”

“Well, I was hoping after we finished with the trellis, fixing the deck I ordered and laying the foundations for the stone pathways that we would go to the nursery together and get the seeds and herbs you wanted to plant.” The patch of dirt on Tommy’s right cheekbone was distracting. “You wanted a herb garden right?”

“Uhuh.” Buck leaned forward to rub the dirt away, enjoying the feel of Tommy’s skin under his thumb. “We can get azaleas to match the ones up front.”

“My mother’s favourite flowers. You remembered.” Tommy tilted his head, smiling softly as he edged closer. 

“I remember everything you told me.” Evan smiled against his lips.

“Oi.” The two jumped as Sal yelled. “Get a room!”

“Hey, we were watching that!” Areum and Yuzuha complained loudly as everyone laughed. 

They were in the middle of an impromptu party, celebrating the exams being over and the new garden, with the rest of the Delucas came over with lasagna, and Ravi coming back from picking up food from a nearby restaurant.

Kitty, who unfortunately had to skip out, something about going to murder someone, even had ordered desserts from an Italian bakery to be delivered to the party.

Frankly when he heard the doorbell, he figured it was Kitty’s dessert.

So much to his shock to find the last person he expected to be standing outside his house.

“Eddie?! Chris?!”

Eddie was excited for this. Turns out moving to Texas was a terrible decision since he didn’t have a position waiting for him with the El Paso FD due to the hiring freeze and dealing with his fixer-upper was a nightmare. So hearing that Pepa was in the hospital was a huge blessing (not that he wished the worst for his beloved aunt) as it gave him a chance to coax Chris into a roadtrip to LA to see their aunt. (Forgetting the fact it was the middle of Chris’s school year and Chris missing out on the chess competition.) 

Of course, his cousin Angela then had coldly told him that they can’t just stay with her mami, accusing him of trying to give her stress during her recovery time which is all bullshit to him. 

Pepa would be happy to see his sobrino and sobrino nieto again after so long. 

Which now means they needed to figure out a place to stay during the visit since Eddie had sublet their house. Chim had helpfully told him that Buck had apparently moved out from his loft and now had a house of his own, which in a way made Eddie feel furious cos Buck should have just told him he was moving, he could have just taken over Eddie’s lease instead of watching him have to go through all that trouble to find subletter. 

No matter, he thought as he smiled at Chris as they drove to Buck’s new place, Buck wouldn't mind them staying with him while visiting LA. Maybe he can even help Eddie persuade Chris that it was in his best interest to move back where they belong. 

“Wow, dad.” Chris looks at the two storey house with the colorful azaleas in front of it. “Buck’s new house is so pretty!”

Eddie just nodded, looking critically at the flowers, frankly he thought Buck was better off planting roses than the cheap looking flowers like the ones they planted at his place. He ignored the cars parked outside the place as he walked up to the door, smiling his best smile as Buck opened the door.

“Buck!” Eddie cheerfully greets him, shoving his way into the house, Chris curiously looking around behind him. “Guess who’s visiting all over from Texas!” he ignored the group of strangers and Ravi staring awkwardly at them. “Nice place by the way.”

“Hi Buck!” Chris hugged him happily. “I missed you!”

“Hi Chris, it’s been awhile.” He patted him on the head, before gesturing at him to the laden coffee table. “You hungry? There’s some food if you want it.” He let Yuzuha usher the boy away before turning to Eddie pulling him far enough so Chris won’t hear their conversation. “What are you doing here Eddie? How did you get my address?”

(Though judging from Ravi’s, Sal’s and Areum’s face, they were blatantly eavesdropping the conversation.) 

“Chim told me. Man, you could have told me you were moving out of the loft, you could have just taken over my lease then Chris and I would have our house waiting for us when we got back.” Eddie complained as he eyeballed the group of strangers in Buck’s living room. “Are you celebrating or something?”

“ Or something . Are you guys back here for good?”

“Visiting for now, Pepa had a stroke so I came down with Chris to visit her. Though I was hoping you would help me persuade him to talk to him about moving back to LA.” 

“Did you guys at least talk about why he moved to El Paso in the first place?” Buck frowned especially as Eddie just shrugged. 

Tommy, who was in the bathroom before deviating to the kitchen to get more of the cheesy garlic bread, stared at them while holding the tray. “Eddie?”

“Kinard.” Eddie sneered before turning back to Buck, ignoring the man. Tommy rolled his eyes before joining the others. “How many rooms does this place have anyways?”

“Er, 3 bedrooms,” Buck was confused by the sudden segue, “but I only fixed the one I’m sleeping in and one of the spare rooms. Why?"

“Chris and I need a place to stay while we’re here. Your place is big enough so you definitely have space for the both of us.” Eddie said offhandedly, now trying to figure out what to ask Buck to make for them for breakfast now the issue with where they gonna stay during the visit settled. 

Buck looked blankly at him. “You can’t stay here. I don’t have room.”

Eddie scoffed. “What do you mean you don’t have room? You just said you have one of the spare rooms free. Chris can sleep in that room and I can have the couch. It's a win-win situation.”

Buck rubbed his face tiredly, this was the last thing he wanted to deal with after the eventful day he had. “Chris can’t have that room because Tommy’s currently using it.”

“What, so you’re back with your crappy ex? Just tell him to move his stuff into your room, as if he’s not sleeping there already.” He waved his hand like it was an easy thing to do, not realizing his voice was loud enough that people can hear him now. Sal looked enraged but before he could say anything, Tommy dragged him out of the house, ushering Gina, the girls, and Chris with him.

“Where he is currently sleeping is none of your business. Tommy is staying with me because his house recently got burnt.”

“So where is Chris going to stay?!” Eddie exploded. “Some crappy motel just because you can’t ask your ex to go stay with his friends instead? God, you’re so selfish!” Unseen behind him, Micheal was now helping Tommy in crowd control by carrying his furious wife out the open door. 

“You need to leave now.” Buck pointed at the door. “I’m sorry for Chris really but you don’t get to dictate who can stay at my place Eddie.”

“You’re seriously kicking me out?!” Eddie couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yes, get out!”

Eddie scowled and stepped forward but Ichigo and Ravi moved first, Ichigo blocking him from Buck while the latter quickly pushed him out the door. Everyone else, who were crowding by the open door, just stared hostilely at him, Chris scowling angrily at his father before walking to Eddie’s Prius.

Eddie winced, this is not helping his plan persuading Chris to move back with him to LA. 

Damnit Buck, this is all his fault!

Chapter Text

 “Buck didn’t let Eddie stay with him?” Bobby froze mid mixing the pancake batter as Chim munched on a banana. “Our Buck did that?”

“Yea, Eddie was so disappointed when he told us last night. He really looked forward to seeing Buck again so he was shocked to see Buck do this to him.” Chim nodded, still reeling over the fact his brother in law was callous enough to do this to both Eddie and Christopher. He had come in earlier than usual for his shift that morning and told Bobby all about the incident as he watched the captain prepare breakfast for the still on duty Shift C and the incoming Shift A. 

“That doesn’t sound like him.” Bobby frowned. Sure Buck has been distant from them for awhile, but to treat his best friend and the boy who he considered his son in everything but blood that way is so out of character for him. 

“Maddie left some voice messages to tell him how disappointed she was in how he behaved like that and tried to call him so she could talk to him about it but he was dodging our calls and texts. Oh hey, Hen! You’re early.” He greeted his fellow paramedic as she walked into the loft. “Get this, Buck kicked Eddie and Christopher out of his house last night!”

Hen had a disappointed look on her face as she looked around the loft before tuning back to the conversation. “He did what? Wait, Eddie’s back? Since when?”

“Yesterday, just for a short visit with Chris, something about his tia being sick. Apparently they went to Buck’s new house to ask if they could stay with him and he just kicked them out.” 

“How did Eddie even know his address?” Hen asked suspiciously, remembering how Buck kept telling them how he and Eddie had lost contact the moment the Latino moved back to Texas. And kicking the Diazes out? Sure doesn’t sound like Buck, who has been bending over his back all these years being there for both Eddie and Christopher.

“Oh, that? I gave it to Eddie when he called me while driving back to LA.” Chim shrugged. “And get this, Buck did this in front of a bunch of strangers AND Tommy! He was so embarrassed by it.” He tsked loudly.

“Tommy?!” Both Hen and Bobby asked in unison.

“Apparently they’re living together now. Something about Tommy’s house burnt down but that can’t be right, Tommy would have told us or we heard some gossip about it.”

“But,” Hen said slowly, her lips pressed thinly, “Both of us haven’t been talking to him since November, it makes sense he wouldn’t tell us. And when was the last time you played with Tommy and your usual crowd?” She knows for a fact that Chim collected his LAFD gossip from the rotating first responders crew that plays basketball with him down at the Angels gate park. 

Chim scoffed. “I’m having a baby again soon and taking care of a hyperactive toddler at the same time, I barely have time to sleep, let alone play basketball these days.”

Mendez of Shift C, who was passing by while refilling his travel mug (and snagging some of Bobby’s pancake) turned to them. “You guys talking about Tommy Kinard? His place did burn down a couple weeks ago, a bunch of us even donated some stuff to help him out, oh, that’s right, you weren’t there for the last pickup game.” He walked off after dropping that bombshell. 

The three of them exchanged looks.

“You think Tommy is back with Buck again?” Chim asked in a shushed voice. “Maddie won’t like that, she’s still mad after their breakup.”

Bobby looked thoughtful while plating the rest of the pancakes and served them to the waiting crew. 

“Sorry, sorry I’m late.” Buck and Ravi entered the loft laughing, the former carrying a box with him, Lucky nipping by his ankles playfully. “I had to drop my neighbour to his workplace on my way to work. Hey Hen, happy birthday!” He passed her the box, everyone froze around them still holding their plates. “Figured Karen and the others had big plans for your celebration later so I wanted to give this to you first.”

Hen was touched, both seeing the beautifully decorated cupcakes and the fact that Buck actually remembered, “You made them for me?”

“And Ravi and I chipped in together and got you this as well.” He gave her a pink envelope. “It’s an all-inclusive spa gift card and a babysitting coupon for you and Karen to enjoy some quality time together.”

Hen couldn’t believe her eyes. “Beauty Vault Med Spa? These are expensive.” 

“Only the best for your birthday.” Buck grinned before noticing Chim’s horrified expression. “You okay there, Chim?” He asked in concern. 

“Today’s your birthday?” He whispered in horror. Hen scoffed. “That answers my question, I supposed, you and Karen did forget what today is. Buck and Ravi, of all people, are the only ones who remembered my birthday!”

“Wow, thanks for the back-handed compliment.” Ravi muttered softly to Buck as they ran away to avoid the blow out between two friends.

After the whole incident with Archie was finally over, everyone trundled back to the station, already done with the whole drama of that day.

But, Chim, tired of apologizing to Hen for forgetting her birthday and trying to figure out what the hell is going on between Eddie and Buck, finally blurted out. “Why did you kick Eddie and Christopher out last night? That wasn’t nice of you to do that, they had to stay at a motel.”

Buck froze mid tying up his shoelaces and looked at his brother in law with a bland expression. “Is that what Eddie told you and Maddie? That explains her less than pleasant voice messages I got earlier about being irresponsible. I guess you’re the one who gave him my new address?”

“Come off it.” Chim was tired with all the drama. “He’s your best friend, of course I would give him your new address. I can’t believe you didn’t tell him yourself.” Around them, their fellow firefighters left the locker room, but still hovered by the door to listen in, leaving only Chim, Hen, who can’t believe Chim was doing this right now, Bobby, torn between shutting this down and wanting to know what really happened, and Ravi, hovering behind Buck, looking at them incredulously. “And humiliating him in front of strangers? That’s rather shameless of you.”

Buck scoffed loudly. “Let me guess, you’re not even gonna ask for my side of the story?”

“Why should I? Eddie wouldn’t lie.”

“Good to know that in your eyes, Eddie fucking Diaz ranks more than your own brother in law.” Buck sighed tiredly. “I’m out. I’m too tired to even argue with all of you right now.” He grabbed his duffle bag and walked away, ignoring everyone calling him back. 

It was the sound of Ravi scoffing loudly at them that caught their attention. “I don’t understand you guys, all of you are so eager to take Eddie’s side over Buck’s like he’s this immature kid and not the decorated firefighter he actually is.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about Ravi.” Hen said wearily, all she wanted was to go home and have a pity birthday party by herself and the lovely red velvet cupcakes Buck made for her. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding between the two of them.”

“It wasn’t a misunderstanding, at least not from Buck's side.” 

“And how do you know what? You weren’t there.”

“Is that what Eddie said?” Ravi scoffed. “Because I was there. Ever since the very beginning up to the part where Eddie tried to kick Tommy out of Buck’s house and called him selfish to his face for not wanting to house them when they appeared out of nowhere?”

“Wait, Ravi, you were there?” Bobby frowned as his heart sank, Eddie tried to kick Tommy out? What the hell is going on?

“So it’s true, Tommy is staying with Buck?” Hen asked curiously.

“Yea, since three weeks ago, his house was partially burnt down in that fire in Silverlake. I knew because I helped them move what stuff we could salvage to Buck’s place.” Ravi shrugged. “And I was there when Eddie came by because we were all there to help Tommy surprise Buck by fixing up his backyard. If anything, Buck was civilised the entire time, even when he asked Eddie to leave his house. He’s the one attacking Buck in front of people after trying to guilt trip Buck to let them stay with him.”

“That wasn’t what Eddie told me and Maddie last night.” Chim said in bewilderment.

“Well, if you don’t trust me, you can ask others, Captain Deluca of 122 and EMS Katagiri of 126 were there too, we were in the middle of a dinner party when he barged in.” Ravi crossed his arms as he stared them down. “You know, instead of treating him like that, you can just listen when he talks. Because he has been telling everyone what’s going on in his life, it’s not his fault when you don’t listen.”

Tommy, coming home from his shift, arrived at an empty house. Undeterred by the quiet, he just put away his duffle bag and work shoes before heading to the backyard. There he found Evan lying down on the newly made deck, staring up at the blooming foliage of the apple tree, absently petting Lucky. 

“Hey.” He said softly, sitting beside him as Evan turned, smiling tiredly at him. “Are you okay?”

“Better now that you’re here.” Quietly, Tommy lay down beside him and they spent what’s left of the dwindling afternoon sun together. 

Chapter Text

Tommy laughed as he ran out of the kitchen, Evan shaking his spoon at him. He had managed to pilfer some of the beautiful looking mini fruit tarts Evan was experimenting on before he was going to head out for a walk around the neighborhood with Lucky.

Tommy loves the adorable puppy. The scant time he brought the dog to work with Captain Pruitt’s blessings, the entire station had doted on her, Miriam and Lucy even petitioned for Lucky to be their official station mascot much to Evan’s laughing complaints.

Opening the door to find Hen standing outside, hand poised to knock on it, he wasn’t sure who was more surprised; him or her. 

“Oh, hey, Hen.” He said awkwardly, unsure what was going on.

“Tommy.” Her smile was warm as she peered behind him. “Is Buck home? Can I talk to him?”

“Talk to him or at him?” Tommy’s eyebrows raised at her, he had heard about what happened yesterday both from Evan and a very angry Ravi. “Because if you just gonna scold Evan over something he didn’t even do, I’m afraid you're going to need to leave.”

Hen chuckled tiredly. “Would you believe me when I say I just want to hear his side of the story?” 

Tommy opened his mouth but before he said something, he turned to Buck who came to the door. 

“Babe, who’s that at the door?” Still wearing the apron and with a flour smudge on his right cheek, Evan came to the door. “Hen?”

“Hey Buck, are you free to talk?” 

“Er, sure, come on in.” Tommy stepped aside to let her in, looking at Buck over her head with a questioning look. Buck just shrugged and smiled as Tommy tipped in to kiss him on the lips and rubbed the smudge away before whistling for Lucky. 

Hen and Buck watched as Tommy walked down the street, quickly joined by the Jones kids along with the dogs they were dog-walking before heading in. Buck led them to the kitchen and passed the hallway where Hen took in the photos were newly hung by Tommy just that morning; a photo of him and Bobby laughing brightly in front of a fire truck, him and Hen squished together on the sofa, mid-gaming, him and the Hans enjoying dinner together, him taking Christopher, Denny and Harry to the aquarium for the new shark exhibition, him, Ravi and his new friends bunched together in a booth, cheering at the camera and several photos of him and Tommy together; during fun dating activities, trivia nights with 217 and most recently of the two leaning into each other in the middle of the new garden out back, smiling lovingly, courtesy of Yuzuha. 

He watched as Hen admired the kitchen as she sat down, accepting the cup of coffee and the plate of fruit tarts he served her. “This is a lovely house, Buck. You must’ve worked hard on it. Are you finished fixing the place?”

Buck grinned. “It was hard work but I had fun working on it. I just left with the final spare room, Tommy and I are planning to replace some old sections of the drywalls and repainting the whole room next time we have a 96 off together.” Buck laughed. “He has ideas for the room and I can’t wait to see it.” 

Hen nodded. “You guys look happy together, I’m glad for both of you, I wish I saw that sooner.”

Buck shrugged. “It’s ok, I’m used to it.”

“And that’s wrong, you shouldn’t be used to being ignored by your own friends. Do you mind telling me what really happened the night Eddie came by?”

Buck told her everything, from the very beginning how Eddie made him keep the secret of him leaving for El Paso without telling everyone else, him railing on him when Buck tried to help sublet his place, him ghosting him the moment he left for Texas and what really went down that night.

Hen rubbed her face tiredly. “I didn’t realize how bad things were between the two of you. He shouldn’t have behaved like that to you. ”

“Looking back, I just realized the way he always had a snide comment masking a joke putting me down, that there was a difference between helping a friend and letting him treat me like dirt unless he needed me to do him a favor.” Buck tipped his head back and sighed loudly. 

“I love Christopher and I would have let him stay with me while he was here but I don’t think I can be near Eddie especially after what he said a few nights ago. And to find out he went to you guys and spun the story to favor him?”

“Hen, I don’t think I can trust him with my ropes anymore.”

Hen gasped, she knew just from that sentence how badly their friendship had broken down. 

“Oh, Buck. We should have seen this sooner. We should have stopped him from acting like that to you.”

“It’s ok.” Buck patted her hands. “I’m just glad you’re willing to hear my side of the story.”

“Are you ok now?” She asked.

“Yes. I got a strong support group, and therapy with Dr. Copeland helped in a way with my self esteem.”

“I’m glad. You look happier these days and it’s a good look on you. Now, if you don’t mind sharing, tell me about Tommy.”

Buck grinned as he gushed about his boyfriend, even ushering her to the backyard where he show off Tommy’s beautiful gift to him; from the planted herb garden and vegetable patches, the colorful pockets of azaleas and daisies, to the wooden deck and colorful cushions under the apple tree.

Buck came in early for his 48, carrying a box of Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies— he had sent Hen home with the rest of the fruit tarts and Tommy had swiped the apparently delicious cinnamon rolls cheesecake he had been experimenting on—to find Bobby in his office, reading through the handover report from the Shift C Captain. 

“Oh hey, Buck.” He smiled warmly. “Just the guy I was looking for. Can we talk?”

“Sure. Cookies?” Buck opened the box and grinned as Bobby enjoyed the cookie. “What’s up?”

“I realized we haven’t talked for a while and wanted to check on you, especially what happened a few days ago.”

 “Hen told you about our conversation.” Buck smiled wryly. 

“She did.” Bobby winced as he could still remember the scolding Athena and Hen had given him as well as the very scathing phone call from Deluca when he called to confirm what Ravi had told them. “I realized I wasn’t being fair to you for a while, especially about Eddie and the whole issue of you covering shifts with other stations and it was wrong of me. I would like to apologize for that.” He said contritely. 

“Thank you, Bobby, for saying that. I’m sorry too. I knew I should have been transparent about covering shifts with other stations.”

“Oh, no, don’t apologize Buck, it’s your right to do that and I’m glad you’re having all those new experiences working with them especially with all the compliments I’ve been getting from other captains about you.”

Buck blushed in embarrassment. “Thanks, Bobby.”

Both of them looked up to see Chief Simpsons stepping into the office. “Ah, Firefighter Buckley, just the man I was looking for.” The Fire Chief’s smile was warm as he shook Bobby’s hand as he presented him a letter. “Captain Nash, I’m here to deliver Firefighter Buckley’s lieutenant exam results.” 

“Lieutenant exam results? Buck, what’s this? You took your exams?” Bobby sounded surprised especially when he saw the result. 

“I wanted to see if I could do it.” Buck said shyly. “Um, Chief, that usually doesn’t warrant an in-person visit, does it?” 

“It does when the firefighter managed to set a new department record with his scores. Captain Nash, he is a credit to your mentorship and house, you will be working hard fielding those transfer requests even more now.” Buck smiled in disbelieved delight as the Fire Chief shook his hand. “Keep working at it, Lieutenant. You might earn your own house in the near future.”

Bobby smiled at him warmly as the Chief left. “Well, congratulations Buck! It’s a wonderful surprise but I’m proud of you. A new department record! Let’s celebrate tonight, I'll make your favorite dishes later for dinner.”

Buck smiled warmly. “Even your four cheese lasagna? I still haven’t mastered how to make it.” He teased.

“And both the chili con carne and the cornbread you like so much.” Bobby grinned as Buck whooped loudly.

Buck grinned as everyone congratulated him warmly for his exam results, Ravi teasing the new lieutenant especially as Bobby presented him the gold bugle insignia like the ones Hen and Chim were wearing on their collar to denote his new status as a fire lieutenant to be worn on his collar. 

Ichigo and Lucy even sent selfies with their own bugle insignia, making plans to have celebratory breakfast with everyone who’s free after the shift and Buck enjoyed a long, warm call from Tommy congratulating him with a promise of celebration of their own on his new promotion. 

Life is good.

Chapter Text

“I think I need to go.” Ravi stared morosely at his beer. They were currently at a bar for trivia night with the usual crowd plus Sal and his wife, Gina, waiting for Michael and Areum before the game could start. 

Ravi, still depressed over the baby that almost died that morning because he missed him, muttered, “I mean, quit. The 118.”

“Oh, come on, Ravi.” Buck put down his drink. Beside him, Tommy and Sal stop mid-conversation to listen. 

“I just kept seeing the baby and thought, ‘She could have died, and it was all my fault.”

“But she didn’t.” Buck reminded him.

“Only because Cap went in there and pulled her back out.”

“Yeah, which is exactly why we go in as a team.” Buck reminded him.

“I almost got him killed, too, if you think about it.” He said sadly. 

“So let’s not think about it. You have to let it go.” Buck tried to console him.

“Evan’s right.” Tommy interjected. “Things like this happen. We need to learn to accept and learn from those mistakes.” 

Ravi ignored both of them. “How can I? I was the one who cleared the car. I shouldn’t be out there. And you heard what Eddie said; I wasn’t meant for this job. You know what, I, uh, I’m going to tell Cap on Monday that, uh, I need to quit.”

Buck couldn’t help the snort of disgust. Eddie has been hanging around the station for the past few days, sniping at Ravi’s capabilities as Buck’s partner to the point he was straining even Bobby’s everlasting patience.

“No. No, you’re not quitting. No one else is quitting 118. Sit back down.” Tommy couldn’t help the flash of heat at the tone of authority Buck was using; Ravi immediately sat down. 

"You, Ravi Panikkar, are a great firefighter." Buck pointed at him with his empty beer bottle. "And I’m not just saying that. You really are, no matter what everyone else is saying. And I understand what happened out there spooked you. But that just means you have to get back on the horse. Right back on it.” 

“Is that what you did?” Ravi asked softly.

“Yes, so many times.” Buck shook his head. “You just have to push the doubt away. The second you let it in, it would eat you alive, like a virus. All you need is to trust yourself.”

“Speaking like a true lieutenant. Buckley’s right, Panikkar, you are a good firefighter. If there’s a possibility to poach you, I would take it in a heartbeat.” Sal snorted. “I’ve seen your file; any station would be honored to get you. In fact,” his smile was predatory, “may I interest you with a transfer? 122 can offer a lot of life-improving experiences for you.”

Ravi blushed, moving away as Sal edged closer with his maniacal grin. Buck shook his head, having experienced the same ferocious recruitment method from Sal but didn’t try to save him, turning instead to Kitty, who was glaring at her phone. 

“What’s up with you? Haven’t seen you around for a while.” He poked at her slumped form. 

 Kitty lifts her head and stares tiredly at him. “Just some problem at work; people are stonewalling me. Say, Buck, have you ever received calls from the SoCal Tech Biomedical Research laboratory?”

“Not really. SoCal has their own fire dept, so it's rare for LAFD to be called out. Why?”

Kitty shrugged. “Nothing. Hey, should we go and save him?” She nodded at Ravi, who looked trapped by Sal by the bar.

“Eh, meh, it helps him build character. What’s going on with you guys anyways? Ravi told me you guys went for frolf last Thursday.”

“It was fun.” She shrugged, refusing to say anything else when Michael and a very excitable Areum came into the bar. 

Everyone, including Tommy and Ichigo, who went to grab everyone’s orders, finally sat down when Michael cleared his throat. 

“So,” Michael started, Areum vibrating with energy beside him. “We have very big news to share.”

“We’re pregnant!” Areum suddenly shrieked, waving copies of ultrasounds in the air.

After a beat of silent shock, everyone jumped out of their seats, screaming congratulations and hugging the couple. 

At first it was just a normal call. 

118 had a request for support about a fire at one of the research labs at SoCal.

"Dispatch," Bobby asked through the radio, "what can you tell about this lab?"

Maddie, who was in charge of the call, answered, "SoCal Tech Biomedical Research laboratory." It’s an independent facility doing research on virology, including lethal and exotic viruses, with 55 staff, from janitors to microbiologists.

“Okay, we’ll need full hazmat assign—” 

“Actually they have their own. Their containment team is setting up now. They just need support putting out the fire while clearing the building.” Maddie explained through the radio, everyone exchanged wary looks as the truck arrived at the site.

“SARS, for one. Dengue, Marburg, West Nile.” Dr. Banting, head of the research lab, listed out the viruses they were currently researching in the laboratory when Bobby asked about their current research. “Thankfully most of those lethal viruses are currently locked in the cold room in Sublevel One, so we should be fine.”

“Well, hey, I don’t see any smoke.” Buck peered around. 

“It’s below our feet. The fire broke out on Sublevel Three. Our fire department is not equipped to handle this kind of situation, so we requested help in putting out the fire while our team is extracting everyone.”

“What’s on Sublevel Three?” As Incident Commander, Bobby had to ask.

“Just one thing. CCHF. Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever.” Dr. Banting explained.

“Well, that doesn’t sound scary at all.” Bobby tried to make light of the situation, but it shattered when Hen explained. 

“It’s Ebola’s nastier cousin. Super contagious and fatal, usually from uncontrollable bleeding.” Everyone exchanged uneasy looks, not liking the idea of going in with a possible outbreak. 

“How many people work down there?” Bobby asked.

“Eight. But only two are badged in: Allen and Roz. My team is still searching for them.”

“Okay, guys, rapid containment, and if we see the two workers, rapid extraction. CO₂ cans only. We can’t risk pathogen runoff from the hoses.” Bobby commanded. “Let’s move in!”

The situation went downhill rapidly, from pulling out the extraction team that was supposed to find the missing workers to finding a civilian bleeding profusely from a possible attack to most of his team trapped in the fiery research lab with no way out. 

Fuck. 

Hitting the sealed door with his halligan did nothing for Buck, as the door wouldn’t budge. 

“Cap!!” Buck screamed but not getting any answer back.

Taking a deep breath, he shoved down his panic and clicked on his radio. “Dispatch, there’s been an explosion. I can’t get to my team; the security wall came down, but there has to be a way to get through. Is there any way I can use to gett in?" 

“No, if the security wall was triggered, the entire room is sealed. No one is getting in or out of that room.” Maddie’s voice sounded panicked as she kept trying to reach the 118. “118, call out. Howie!! Hen!! Answer please!! Howie!!”

Buck took another deep breath and turned to his training. “Maddie, I need you to step away from the radio right now and pass it to another dispatcher. You are too emotionally involved in this incident.”

“How dare you!” Maddie spluttered. “You can’t tell me what to do. My husband and your team are currently missing, possibly even injured or worse!”

“Exactly.” Buck said calmly. “As the most senior firefighter on the scene, I’m commanding you to stand down. You are currently emotionally compromised, so step away from your station, Dispatcher Han.”

“This is Supervisor Sue Blevins.” Sue’s voice can be heard through the radio. “I will be taking over the emergency now. Let's see if we can figure out a way to get the rest 118 out safe, lieutenant.”

Listening as Bobby calmly debriefed dispatch as he was forced to go through the decontamination process, Buck mentally circled through all the procedures he had studied so far; there had to be something that could help him help the team.

It wasn’t until Dr. Banting clinically explained the symptoms of CCHF to them that Buck felt like panicking. There’s a possibility someone is already infected inside, Chim having already lost his headgear from the blast or Hen currently bleeding out from the injuries she sustained. “And h-how long until the symptoms start?” 

“Incubation periods are imprecise.” Dr. Banting hedged. 

“Ballpark it.” Athena barked.

“Typical incubation for CCHF is three to seven days.” A man in a military suit interjected from behind them. “Colonel John Hartman, U.S. Army Infectious Diseases.” 

The situation got worse from there. After finding out that Dr. Blake had gone rogue and modified the virus, decreasing the incubation period from days into hours, the Army had decided to nix the rescue mission, claiming how the sacrifice of the 118 would be important and honorable in the name of humanity. 

As if they were just a pack of lab rats and not humans with their worried families waiting for them to come home. 

Thankfully Dr. Roz also took offense at Colonel Hartman’s callous disregard of human life and sneakily helped Buck guide Ravi to the cooling unit that housed the antiviral, both of them grinning as Ravi cheerfully ignored the Colonel’s order to stand down with a pithy remark of his own.

Which turns out to be useless, as the antiviral was not there; Dr. Monica Blake had done her final act of revenge by stealing the only cure that could save Chim’s life. 

And now with the FBI finally arriving at the crime scene, just its lead agent, Special Agent Mark Santos, kicked them out; the future seems bleak at the moment. 

 “H-Hey! S-so what, w-we’re just going to walk away?” Buck chased Athena across the parking area. 

“Actually, we’re going to drive away. What, Buckaroo, you really think I’m going to step away from this case now? When our family is in danger?” The police sergeant looked at him judgementally. 

“Even if they find Moira Blake, and she still has the antiviral, we can’t guarantee they would use it on Chim. He’s expendable. They all are. Our plan is to get to her first, before anyone else can.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“Sergeant Grant, Lieutenant Buckley, wait!” They turned to see Dr. Allen, his head all bandaged up. “Roz told me what happened. We can’t help you much with finding Blake, but this,” he hurriedly gave them a small thumb drive, “maybe could help.”

“What’s this?” Buck asked, eyeing it carefully. 

“Her thumb drive containing her daily logs on the research—I think she accidentally dropped it when she attacked me. I’m going to head back and be with Roz before they figure out I gave you this. Good luck.” The scientist quickly hurried away as the two left with Athena’s patrol car. 

“There’s a citywide BOLO alert for Dr. Monica Blake.” Buck listened as Officer William explained through the phone, the car speeding down the street. 

“Great. I need a favor. If there’s an alert on her car, inform me first. In fact, I want you out there looking for it. I’m chasing down a lead that hopefully can lead us to her.” She ended the call and made a turn down a very familiar street. “Now, we're going to ask the only scientist we can trust to help us go through that thumb drive.”

Karen rocked on the sofa, looking very worried. 

“It’s ok, Hen’s alright, chest tube aside.” Buck winced as Athena stomped on his foot. 

“She’s locked in a Tier 4 lab with a novel virus and no cure.” Karen tried to push down the panic that was trying to claw out her throat. “How is that okay?! And you’re telling me Chimney is infected with this mutated disease.”

“Don’t worry.” Athena tries to calm her down. “The team is making him comfortable while we go find the woman who made the antiviral treatment. That’s why we’re here, Karen. We were hoping that you could help interpret her notes for us and help us figure out where she could be.”

“You guys know I’m just a rocket scientist, right?” She pointed it out but still took the thumb drive. Opening it using her laptop, she quickly did a quick read-through. "Well, whoever Dr. Monica Blake is, I could tell you she's a narcissist." 

She opened at a few paragraphs: “See here, there’s rambling about her ambitions, wanting to win a Nobel Prize, and thinking that this cure could get her there. And at this part,” She points at another paragraph: "It's all about her disdain for her fellow researchers. This one, however, is the most concerning one.” Karen points at a very long, disjointed paragraph. “She’s angry with the management and the FDA for delaying the approval to test the antiviral on the lab rats. She kept emphasizing how the delay was redundant and how they should skip straight to human testing.” They all shuddered in disgust. 

“It tells us nothing about where she is.” Athena paced around angrily. She then turned to her phone when it rang. “Williams. Tell me you found something.” Whatever Officer Williams had told her, it seems to pertain to the case when Athena made a triumphant noise. “Her car?” She turned on the speaker as the officer quickly debriefed them. “Where is it?”

“Right next to me. In the parking lot of the SoCal Tech Biomed.”

“So she never left the lab?” Buck asked in confusion. 

“Well, we know she stole the ID badge of one of her colleagues, and she stole the tumbler and the handbag of another. Maybe that’s the only thing she stole. Williams,” she turned back to the phone, “look around and see if you see any empty parking spots nearby.”

“Uh, yeah. One, two spots down. Belongs to an “R. McLeod.”

“That’s Roz.” Buck pointed out. 

“You did great, Williams.” Athena thanked the officer. “See that you update the BOLO alert, and if you can find the car that belongs to that spot.”

“All right, Sergeant. I’ll let you know what I come up with.” Athena ended the call.

“Uh, guys. I think I got something.” Karen suddenly spoke up. “This paragraph. It mentioned that her formula of the mutated CCHF strain, is projected to kill thousands of lives in the pandemic, a sure way to win her the accolades she wanted."

"But don’t win a Nobel Prize for starting a pandemic.” Athena points out. 

“Yea, b-but you might get it by stopping one.” Buck said. “Now, I—I don’t know science, but I do know arson. Some people, they just want to burn down the world. But sometimes they do that so they can be the ones to put it out. And we know she has the confirmed cure for that mutated strain." 

“Ah, it makes sense. We know from these notes she has a savior complex.” Karen pointed out. 

“So where would you go if you had the next big cure?” Athena asked the million-dollar question. 

“Well, you wouldn’t give it to the government.” Buck fumbled at his phone before showing the two women his screen, a Google Map of the biggest pharmaceutical companies based in LA. “You’d sell it.”

Athena quickly dialed Captain Eileen Maynard directly, updating her on their findings while Karen continued reading the notes to see if they could find a clue to which company she would sell the antiviral to. 

Reading over Karen’s shoulder, he turned to his phone when it suddenly rang. Looking confused at the caller ID, he still picked it up, figuring she might have heard about the fire in SoCal and was checking on him and Ravi. “Buck.”

“Kitty, I can’t really ta—”

“Listen, when you were at the SoCal Tech Biomedical Research laboratory, did you take any important documents with you?”

“Yes?” Buck was confused on how Kitty, of all people, knew about that: “Just some daily logs on Dr. Blake’s research on CCHF.”

“Send me a copy.”

“Why?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you.”

“Then send me the copy; trust me when I tell you this is very important.” Kitty abruptly ended the call. 

Buck turned to Karen. “Karen, I need to send all the data to this email.” He gave her the email as they got ready to head downtown; the LAPD had come through with their BOLO alert, having located Dr. Moira Blake at the Martel-Harvey Pharmaceutical LC.

Finding out that the FBI just surrounded the building, looking to arrest all of them and take the antiviral, leaving his entire team to die in the sealed laboratory in the name of science pisses him off. 

Buck immediately made a few calls as he fled upstairs, where hopefully Athena had found Dr. Blake and the antiviral. 

“You called your boyfriend?!” Athena’s voice almost sounded amused as they climbed onto the helipad on the rooftop. 

“Hey, you’re the one who asked for a distraction.” Buck said goofily as he waved at the helicopter. They quickly split up, Buck dragging the complaining Dr. Blake to the helicopter while Athena went down another side stair off the rooftop, trusting Buck’s plan. 

Tommy smiled at them as he and Dr. Blake scrambled into the helicopter. “When you asked Cap for a quick favor, sweetheart, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t what she had in mind.” He laughed as they strapped in.

Putting on the headset, Buck thanked him profusely. “Thank you for doing this, Tommy, even though we know how much serious trouble we're going to get for doing this.”

“For you? Anything.” Buck blushed. “Also this would finally mean Chim would finally call it quits with all the favors I owe him for saving my life years ago.” Tommy smirked. 

Blending in the crowd, Athena passed unnoticed with the actual antiviral as the FBI and the Army scrambled for air support to chase after the helicopter. When she reached outside, she moved to the side of the building where Buck had told her that her ride to the lab would be waiting for her. 

“Sergeant Athena?” She turned to see a young man with orange hair leaning against a motorcycle. “Katagiri Ichigo with the 126. Buck said you need a fast ride.”

“Oh hell no.” Athena shook her head furiously as the EMT approached her with a helmet. “Don’t you dare!” 

Thanks to Ichigo’s bike, Athena managed to arrive, with her dignity somewhat intact, at the lab and, with the help of Allen and Roz, snuck in to deliver the cure to Chim before the authorities could catch her.

Colonel Hartman and Special Agent Mark Santos, who finally arrived from the wild goose chase all over LA’s airspace, dragged in the unrepentant Buck and Tommy as his officers dragged Athena out of the lab, furious at the three of them.

“You obstructed a federal investigation.” The special agent handcuffed Athena. “You really think we're going to let that stand?”

“You think your bosses are going to let you stand up in open court and tell this country just how close we are to another pandemic? This time a deadlier one than the last?" Athena shot back, her stare was judgemental.

“I’m not concerned about the legality.” Colonel Hartman spat. “Sergeant Grant, you wasted the planet’s only dose on a living corpse.”

Tommy, who was watching closely at the CCTV, grinned. “The living corpse that’s waving at the camera?” He nodded at the monitor. There, weakly waving at them, was Chim, looking slightly less deadly pale than he was 10 minutes ago. Beside him, Bobby was pointing at a makeshift placard that said, ‘Let my people out, now!’ Buck hugged Tommy in delight; it worked!

“This doesn't change the fact that what the three of you did is a criminal act, and I fully intend to see all of you prosecuted for this.” Colonel Hartman signaled for his men to arrest them. 

“Hang on a moment, Colonel Hartman.” Everyone froze when a group of people, led by a very severe-looking woman, entered the tent. “I do hope I did not just hear you trying to prosecute the very people that just saved everyone’s asses in this room.”

“And who are you, and who let you barge in here?!” Colonel Hartman was furious at this security breach. 

“Doctor Kaitlin Parks, Deputy Director and State Epidemiologist with the California Department of Public Health's (CDPH) Center for Infectious Diseases (CID).” She introduced herself. “Tell me, why are SoCal Tech and the Army trying to block us from this case when this falls directly under our jurisdiction?” 

“All due respects, Ms. Parks—”

“Deputy Director Parks, Colonel Hartman.” She coolly corrected him. “This is no longer an incident of possible negligence with a virulent virus but attempted bioterrorism.”

“Bio-terrorism?!” Dr. Banting protested quickly. “You're exaggerating.”

“I'm not,” she shrugged, “especially when we have evidence that Dr. Moira Blake here is in contact with several pharmaceutical companies in and out of America, trying to sell not just the possible cure but also a mutated variant of the CCHF, one with a shorter incubation period. Both, I believe, to be her own creations.”

Everyone turned to Dr. Blake in horror. “You tried selling the virus?!” Dr. Banting said in horror.

“Just to prove the antiviral works!” She scoffed. “I need it so the world will acknowledge my hypothesis and win me that Nobel Prize.”

“At the price of thousands, possibly millions of possible casualties?” Deputy Director Parks sneered. “I don't think they give the Nobel Prize to world killers.”

Buck then grinned; the familiar sneer was the final clue he needed. “It’s Kitty!” He whispered at Tommy, who took a second look of shock at her.

“Wha—Holy shit, it is.”

Hearing that, the director turned at them and, for a brief moment, winked mischievously, transforming her face to the lovable and wild Kitty they were used to, before turning back to Moira Blake with a very forbidding look. 

“Doctor Blake. I really hope you weren’t banking on the government to keep you safe. The WHO and the CDPH are very interested in your attempt to cause a world pandemic for your own twisted desire.”

“My intentions are not twisted!” The scientist shrieked as two of the men with Kitty grabbed her. 

“Perhaps to you it seems noble, but here in America we call it bioterrorism. Now no sensible scientist would make only one antiviral. Where are the rest of the vials, Dr. Blake? And before you answer, know this: your answer will determine how long you will be incarcerated for terrorism.”

“I’m not a terrorist!”

“Wrong answer again, Dr. Blake.” Kitty turned to the FBI agents, who immediately escorted her away while ignoring her incoherent denials. “I need an agent to go into her office and check her safe. It’s possible that the rest of the data on the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever research and the antiviral and its formula are in there. I also want a team on standby to check on all the trapped firefighters. It’s possible we might have more patients.”

“Oh, and Colonel Hartman,” Kitty said sweetly, “I do hope you’re ready to justify yourself in front of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Justice, AND the Department of Justice for your decision to sacrifice innocent lives in this blatant attempt at a cover-up. Now, if you excuse me, I would like to check on my boyfriend.”

Everyone stared at her for the sudden non-sequitur while Buck and Tommy couldn’t help their giggles. 

The precaution was proven to be necessary in the end, as it turns out Bobby was also showing signs of being infected with the CCHF strain and was immediately escorted into the same containment unit with Chim, where he was treated with one of the two spare antivirals they found inside Dr. Blake’s hidden safe.

Others were sent to First Presbyterian Hospital for observation, including both Ravi and Hen, where they would be getting intensive care.

“You did well, Buck.” Bobby told him and Athena as they stood on the other side of the glass door that separates the containment unit and the rest of the world, where Bobby and Chim were currently under intensive observation. “You saved Chim’s and my life with your quick thinking. Great job, kid.”

Buck tipped his head down in embarrassment as Athena patted his back in gratitude. “It wasn’t just me, Bobby. Athena and everyone else helped.” He tried to downplay the moment.

“But all of that wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t take the lead, so accept the compliment, Buckaroo.” The sergeant said warmly. 

“She’s right. I’m really proud of you; you came through against all odds and made sure everyone gets to go home to their loved ones.” His warm, proud smile would seared itself into Buck’s mind forever. 

“I-I’m g-gonna go and check on the others.” Buck stepped away, offering Athena and Bobby some much-needed time alone, planning to head out. But before he fully exited, he turned once again and took a long look at Bobby. “I'm glad you're still alive, Bobby.” He said with heartfelt gratitude. “I love you.” He blushed before fleeing.

Chapter Text

At the First Presbyterian Hospital, he found Karen holding Hen’s hand as she slept off the meds; the scientist gave him a grateful hug. The others, Tanika, Jameson, Brown, and Stevens, were under overnight observation before they could be discharged into a week-long medical leave as per LAFD regulations. 

He finally made his way to Ravi, finding Areum and Michael, who came to pick her up from work, sitting with him, working their way through a bag of nougats, helpfully sharing them with Buck, who hadn't eaten all day. 

“How’s Tommy? He didn’t get into trouble helping us?” Ravi asked worriedly as he made space for Buck to sit on his bed. 

“Captain Pruitt and Chief Simpsons are with him, and Sal too, as his union representative. She's going to argue she gave authorization for Tommy to help us, and Chief Simpson is going to back her up, saying something about LAFD not being the army’s scapegoat.” Buck said, not worried because he knew if anything, the Army were the ones in trouble. “What did the doctor say about you?”

“They are keeping me tonight for overnight observation, but my oxygen levels are normal.” Ravi waved his hand vaguely and seemed miffed he couldn’t just leave. 

“Forget about that. Is it true what they said about Kitty?” Areum asked eagerly.

“What did they say about me?” Everyone turned to see Kitty and Tommy standing by the door.

“Babe! Kitty!” Buck bounded over the door and gave Tommy a hug while Kitty ducked past his enthusiastic arms. “You’re not in trouble? We’re not in trouble?”

Kitty looked shy as she took a seat on Ravi’s bed, tugging at her severe hair bun, letting it cascade down her back as she made herself comfortable.“You guys are free. The CID had officially deputized Firefighter Buckley, Firefighter Pilot Kinard, and Sergeant Grant to help with our investigation into possible bioterrorism in the SoCal Tech Biomedical Research laboratory. This means that technically the authorities cannot legally punish you guys for all of your actions during the investigation, which, by the way, you guys are so cool for stealing that helicopter.” She gushed as Tommy laughed. 

“Can’t believe you’re actually the director of the CID. How come you never told us?” Michael asked curiously. “You graduated with a PhD summa cum laude from Harvard University at age 18, were a senior epidemiologist with WHO in Geneva for ten years, and were deputy director and state epidemiologist with the CDPH Center for the CID. Kitty, this is big news for all of us.” 

“Someone did his research.” Kitty said shyly. “Well, I was embarrassed at first. I never had real friends before. Heck, Buck was my first friend here, and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have friends like you guys, and I don’t want you guys to look at me differently after finding out who I really was. I like being silly with you guys.”

“Don’t be silly, Kitty. You’re still our crazy friend no matter how cool you are.” Areum patted her on the back.

Wait, how about your colored hair?” Michael tilted his head, trying to look for the streak of red hair they used to see in Kitty’s brown hair. 

“Hair extension.” Kitty grinned as everyone threw nougats at her. 

All of them were talking about an upcoming charity event in their neighborhood (Kitty refused to discuss anything about the bio lab case, and the Chois said discussing their baby while Ravi was in the hospital bed felt weird) when Fire Chief Simpson of all people entered the already crowded room. 

Kitty immediately turned away, making sure her hair hid most of her face. The chief looked weirdly at her, unsure why the young woman sitting on his firefighter’s bed looked so familiar before shaking it off, looking at Buck.

“Lieutenant Buckley, the nurses told me I would find you here. As Captain Robert Nash and Lieutenants Henrietta Wilson and Howard Han are on medical leave for the next two months, Shift A for 118 is now without a captain. Normally we would get a captain from another fire station to come in to lead, but all the captains, including Captain Nash, had recommended you as the interim captain to lead Shift A.”

Buck choked on air. “M-Me?! But surely there are more senior officers with more experience to lead 118.” 

Chief Simpson smiled in amusement. “In case you have forgotten, Lieutenant Buckley, you are that senior officer. You are a decorated firefighter with 8 years of experience and have the necessary training to lead a station. I look forward to seeing you excel with this challenge; I have a good feeling you would make all of us proud.” He told him that the HRD department would reach him with the necessary information and wished Ravi a fast recovery before leaving. 

Buck stared at the door with blank horror, not even flinching as everyone in the room exploded with loud cheers and congratulations on his temporary promotion. 

What the fuck?!

Later that night (or what constitutes at night for them since it was almost dawn by then), while getting ready for bed, Buck turned to Tommy. “So there’s really no real consequence of you taking the helicopter to help us?”

Tommy pulled him into his arms, settling into the pile of pillows under his head. “Well, Captain Pruitt did have to ground me for a month so people don’t think she actually condoned the whole stealing municipal government properties, especially since I did it twice, but I’m just thankful she doesn’t bend to the Army’s pressure to suspend me. At least this way, I still get to work with the ground crew. Hey, it’s okay,” Tommy, realizing Buck was fretting, tried to reassure him. “It’s not like they revoked my pilot’s license. I’ll be back in the skies before you know it.”

It was weird, coming to work while most of the crews were out on medical leave. Buck had come in early to talk with Shift C’s Captain Montgomery and the Battalion Chief Schmitt about the list of floaters that would be helping out for the next few shifts. 

“You should know, Lieutenant Buckley,” Battalion Chief Schmitt said after giving him the list, “Firefighter Diaz’s application to be reinstated to 118 was denied. He had left the LAFD for more than 4 months; he still needed to recertify before the LAFD could allow him to work. Even then, it would take awhile for him, as Firefighter Diaz had let a lot of certifications lapse, and he had not completed his field EMT course.” 

Buck nodded; he was familiar with the said procedure. Both he and Chim had to do the same recertification process when he was on medical leave and Chim on his FMLA looking for Maddie and raising Jee. “I see. I suppose this means we will be downgraded to a regular fire station since we are out of the heavy rescue technicians.”

“Not actually, there were a lot of floaters with heavy rescue certifications that would be covering the shifts with the 118.” The chief’s smile was weird, as if he knew something hilarious. “I think, for one, this is going to be an interesting period for you, Captain Buckley.” 

Watching as the chief walked away, Buck exchanged looks with EMT Burke and Altman, EMTs for Ambulance Two, who had just arrived.

The two of them and Buck were the only ones left from the original Shift A to work the shift, having handled a small medical call when 118 was called for the SoCal call. 

“This feels so weird.” He told them as they waited for the team of floaters. 

“Tell me about it.” Buck winced when Burke said that but then was surprised when she continued, “8 firefighters on medical leave in the same shift? Now we are really confirming the whole rumor about this house being cursed. At least we got you as interim captain and not Gerrard.”

“You guys don’t mind that I got picked as captain over you guys?” Buck asked tentatively. 

Altman shrugged. “We all know Bobby has been training you as his successor one day, plus we know you, Buck; you’ll guide us well.” Both of them clapped him on the back as their first floater walked in, and to their shared surprise, it was someone very familiar to all of them.

“Tommy?” Buck looked surprised when Tommy walked in, wearing the normal class B uniform instead of his normal flight suit. “What are you doing here?” 

“Captain Pruitt pulled a few strings and put us in as floaters for 118.” Tommy grinned as Lucy walked into the bay with Ichigo and his EMT partner, Elaine Stevens. “Yo, Buck, heard you need floaters for the 48 shift!” 

The surprise didn’t end there, as Lena Bosko of 133 and Lieutenant Kathani Walkar of Long Beach 144 also walked in, the latter’s bloodhound Bear loudly barking as he greeted Lucky. Both firefighters congratulated him on his interim captaincy and told him they were excited to serve under his command. (Buck was sure there was a joke in there, but he wasn’t sure what it was.)

In the end there was one stranger in the group of floaters, as Jack Collins and Shawn West of Shift B came in to pick up extra shifts. Buck approached a lone firefighter as she observed the group talking to each other in a friendly manner. 

“Captain Buckley, I’m Maggie Dawson, SAR with Station 88.” She introduced herself, shaking Buck’s hands energetically. “Captain Montgomery asked me personally to be one of your heavy rescue technicians throughout your stint as interim captain.”

“Thanks for this. I will be your partner. Lieutenants Lena Bosko and Lucy Donato will be covering the other half of the heavy rescue team until Firefighters Panikkar and Jones are back from mandatory medical leave next Monday. Right,” he turned to the group, clapping his hands for attention. “I’m sure most of us know each other, but I’m taking the station off-rotation for the next few hours while we work out the kinks of working with each other.”

Of course their first call as a team was a multi-vehicle collision at the intersection of S. Verdugo Road and Dixon St. from a possible DUI, which included, much to everyone’s horror, a school bus full of children on a field trip.

118 was first on the scene, so Buck immediately took control of the incident, assigning everyone to their stations; assigning the EMTs to the injured civilians, while Walker, Collins, and West are to secure the SUV rammed over a utility pole and the overturned sedan, putting the rest to help him with the bus, everyone steeling themselves against the loud screams and cries of horrified, trapped children.

Even with the help of 146 and 122 (Buck never realized both Captain Barlett and Sal Deluca deferred to his orders and judgement) and air support from 217 to airlift those with grievous injuries to the nearest trauma center, it would take them hours to clear the incident site. 

Buck ended up taking the station off rotation for the next two hours for the team to recover. He looked at the pale, drawn faces as they climbed out of the engine (both ambulances are en route to return after delivering their respective patients). 

“You guys did well.” He said softly but clearly. “Even though this is our first time working together as a team, we managed to anticipate and support each other while making sure the civilians are extracted in a safe manner. Thanks to your hard work, everyone got out alive and has another chance to be with their loved ones again.”

“I’m going to take the station off for 120 minutes, so take the time to rest and eat. Tommy,” he turned to his boyfriend, “There’s a pot of beef stew on the stove that you guys can have for lunch; you just need to reheat that and the bread I made yesterday. I’m just going to go and do an incident report first.” He immediately walked away into Bobby’s office.

Tommy glanced at Lucy, who nodded. “Go, I can handle the rest.”

He slipped into the office to see Buck staring blankly in the middle of the room, breathing loudly and erratically. “Evan?” He asked tentatively, gently reaching out to touch him. 

Buck turned to him with that blank, haunted look that scared him very much. “Did you think I did the right thing earlier?” 

Tommy slowly reached for him, pulling him into a hug. “You did the right thing. Because of your quick, decisive decisions, we didn’t lose anyone today. You did well, Captain Buckley, and I’m proud of you for it.”

Eddie was furious.

Beyond pissed.

To find out his application to be reinstated back to 118 was tabled (something about needing to requalify and recertify) was irritating as it was, but to find out Buck was the one who blocked it?!

That was a slap to the face to him, watching Buck, of all people, leading a group of strangers during a minor call, acting as if he was someone important. 

Buck, the manchild with the maturity of a seven-year-old, as captain?! 

What a joke. 

But it seems everyone didn’t see the problem, as Bobby of all people had looked with such disappointment when he visited him at the hospital to complain and ask if Bobby could help reinstate him like he promised before Eddie had left for Texas. And Athena had the audacity to kick him out of the hospital room, telling him he was being selfish.

Him selfish?!

Eddie scoffed. 

At least Buck’s own sister, Maddie, took it seriously. Apparently Buck had her kicked out during the crisis with the bio lab, claiming she was emotionally compromised, and is now avoiding her out of shame.

Whatever. 

He’s going to head over to the station and give Buck a piece of his mind.

And maybe he can get the captains of Shift B and C to back him up for his reinstatement. 

(And if he can fix Buck’s selfish attitude, a win for him.)

Chapter Text

Thankfully the rest of the shift went on smoothly. 

There were minor calls, an adorable pet rescue call where they watched with suppressed laughter as Lena and Lucy tried to coax a cat from the rooftop of a condemned house, which ended with wild laughter when the cat got bored teasing them and lightly leaped on to Tommy’s face, purring wildly, as the pilot looked around in bewilderment, as well as rescuing a group of sheepish teenagers trapped in the condemned Oceanwide Plaza, something about trying to catch a wild Galarian Zapdos on their Pokemon Go. 

Buck could already feel the irony as he lectured them on personal safety and spatial awareness. 

The 48-hour shift was almost over when that happened. 

Ravi had swung by, already bored with his very unnecessary medical leave, and was helping Ichigo and the others restock the medical supplies for the next shift when he saw Eddie, of all people, stalking into the bay, his face dark with barely suppressed fury.

“Hey, man. You shouldn’t be here.” He tried to intercept, his heart sinking as he knew exactly why Diaz was there. 

“Step away, Panikkar.” Eddie stepped past him. “Buck, where are you?” 

“Eddie?” Buck, who was working in Bobby’s office on some new equipment requisition forms, came out when he heard the commotion. “What are you doing here?” 

“You tell me, Buckley,” Eddie snapped, stalking closer toward him. Tommy and Lucy, who were in the kitchen whipping up some snacks for the crew, quickly came down and looked at the intruder in confusion. “My reinstatement was denied over some paperwork bullshit, and then I found out that some stranger took over my position, and you strutted around, playing captain with your fucking ex when we all know you didn’t even earn it.”

Tommy looked furious. “What the fuck, Diaz? Walk away right now before you say something you regret.”

Eddie scoffed, ignoring Tommy. “Bet you loved that, huh? Finally got your hands on the power you always wanted. And how convenient that Cap and his two lieutenants just happened to be on medical leave at the same time. Real lucky break for you, Buck."

The accusation was a slap in the face.

Buck reeled back in shock, his face paled with disbelief, while a murmur rippled through the room. Ravi, watching the room, noticed Lieutenant Walkar left with the very agitated dogs, while Maggie Dawson, the Heavy Rescue Technician from Station 88, was watching the scene with a calculating look on her face.

“What the hell, Diaz?” Tommy threw back angrily. “What are you trying to imply here, that Evan orchestrated all this?! Just so he can be captain?!”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there, was I? How am I supposed to know what really went down?” 

“You’re right.” Tommy said, “You weren’t there. But I was there. Ravi was there. And we all committed treason trying to save everyone’s life, so you don’t get to accuse anyone of anything, Diaz, not when you weren’t here because you left.”

Tommy was done. 

He was done listening to Diaz bullying Evan with his snide comments and accusations. 

“You left 118 and LA because after 6 months of being a coward, you finally remembered that you’re supposed to be a father and went after the son you chased away by your own stupid mistake.”

“Fuck off, Kinard.” Eddie spat. 

“No, Tommy’s right!” Ravi jumped in, feeling angry himself. “Buck saved our lives that night; he’s the damned reason why we all got out of that lab alive.”

“You stay out of this, Panikkar! This isn’t about you; this is between me and Buck.” Eddie turned back to him. “Who the fuck gave you the right to block my paperwork?!” 

Buck rubbed his face tiredly, feeling mentally drained. “I didn’t block your paperwork, Eddie. Heck, I didn’t even know you even applied to come back until Battalion Chief Schmitt told me.”

“You weren’t even rejected; LAFD only informed you that you needed to be recertified before you could be reinstated. You know that’s standard procedure, right?” Buck had already checked on Eddie's file out of curiosity. To his surprise, he found several remarks in the file about Eddie needing recertification and renewing some relapsed EMT certifications before he could be allowed back into the field. 

“I don’t need recertification! It’s not like I’m out on medical leave or something stupid.” Eddie scoffed. “No, just admit it, you got HR to block my application because why would you want me back here while everyone is gone? Not when I could call out every single one of your bullshit to your face in front of strangers you are trying to lord over.”

“How dare you say that to me?” Buck's voice was calm but cold as ice. “When I’m trying to keep this house together while everyone is gone.”

“Here we go again, Act 97 of the Trials and Tribulations of Evan Buckley. You always make it about you. God, you’re exhausting, man. Acting like a martyr, like you’re carrying the weight of the world. Acting as if it's hard to be captain when finally, you don't have to live in someone’s shadow. You're just a selfish son of a bitch, Buckley, and you can't even admit it to yourself, let alone to everyone else.” Eddie didn’t even realise how close he was standing in front of Buck when Tommy stepped forward and grabbed his raised hand, his face red in fury. 

But before Tommy could say anything, someone else decided to intervene.

“What the hell is going on here?!” Everyone turned to see Shift B’s Captain Whitmore, who came early for the shift handover, staring at all of them. “Diaz, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“Captain Whitmore.” Instead of looking afraid or angry, he seemed pleased to see him. “I’m just here explaining to Buck about the mix-up about my reinstatement.” 

“There’s no mistake about your reinstatement, Diaz. You need to be recertified before rejoining LAFD; even then, you are not guaranteed a spot in 118.”

“Why not?!” Eddie was back to being furious. “I’ve been here for years; I earned my position with my experiences!” 

Captain Whitmore shook his head. "It's standard procedure, Diaz, and you left LAFD, which makes it more necessary for you to recertify. Furthermore, your file was flagged because of a few remarks Captain Nash had written on your file, and both Captain Montgomery and I agreed with his assessments. You have left a lot of your certifications lapsed while working with 118, and turning down several of Captain Nash’s suggestions to study for new certifications didn't help your case.”

“I had a lot going on!” Eddie protested. 

“I’m aware, but that doesn’t mean that your personal life drama should affect your work.” Captain Whitmore pointed out. “You were reminded in March 2024 through official channels to renew your certifications, and yet you did not. You were reminded that you needed new certifications in vehicle & machinery rescue, confined space rescue, and structural collapse for heavy-duty rescue, as well as EMT-P to participate in medical calls, but you did not.”

“If it wasn’t for Captain Nash’s medical leave in May and Gerrard taking over as interim captain, you would have been benched indefinitely until you recertified. And from what I see today, I will also recommend additional mandatory psychiatric evaluation and therapy for anger management issues until you are mentally competent enough to be allowed back into the field.”

“You’re not my captain!”

“You’re right, I’m not.” Captain Whitmore said calmly. “Captain Nash was Captain for Shift A, and while he’s not here, Buckley is Interim Captain. What do you say, Captain Buckley?”

Everyone turned to Buck, who was staring at Eddie like he didn't know him. “I concurred with Captain Whitmore.” His faint voice grew stronger with the words. “You need to recertify, Eddie. Your past experiences are not enough without the proper certifications.”

“Fine!” Eddie spat. “I know where I’m not welcomed. I’m gonna enjoy watching you crash and burn, Buckley.” He finally stormed off.

Captain Whitmore just shook his head at that childish display. “That man got a chip on his shoulder, and he needs to fix it before it's too late. You alright there, Buckley?”

The moment Eddie left the bay, Buck staggered back, feeling almost boneless from the released tension. “I’m fine.” He said as Lucy and Tommy caught him. “God, why didn't I realise how bad things got between us?” He muttered loudly as Ravi pushed him down on a chair he dragged over.

“Because you’re used to it.” Tommy said sadly, 'Everyone else left to give them privacy; only Ravi, Ichigo, who was watching the door in disgust, and oddly Dawson stayed behind.' “Evan, you spent years being his best friend, helping and supporting him and Christopher, and from what I know, you’ve been mentally conditioned to take his verbal abuse and snide comments.”

“But sweetheart,” Tommy crouched down. “Diaz is wrong. You are not exhausting, and you are not selfish. You, Evan Buckley, are the kindest and most selfless person I have ever known. And you know what the most important thing is right now? Because of you, everyone in that lab that night is still alive and gets to go home to be with their family again. And whatever bullshit Diaz spews out after this, he can never take that from you.”

God, Buck felt like crying from the sheer gentleness in Tommy’s words.

This is so embarrassing; he was supposed to be Captain, and here he was, trying to not bawl like a little child. 

“I can see why you never talked about him.” Ichigo shook his head. "That's a nasty piece of work. I’m going to tell everyone about this.” 

“Ichi, don’t do that.” Buck winced, knowing Areum and Kitty; the moment they find out, they are going to make Eddie’s life hell if he’s still in LA. 

“Buckley.” Dawson suddenly spoke. “I don’t know what’s wrong between you and the other guy, but you should know I think you’re a great guy and a great captain. Heck, the real reason I was sent here as a floater is because my captain gave me strict orders to try to poach you for Station 88.”

“And after what I saw today,” she jerked her head at the open bay door, “I’m tempted to just drag your ass back with me; at least my house doesn’t have toxic relationships like this.” She then took off, leaving everyone staring speechlessly at her. 

“I think that was a compliment.” Ravi said wide-eyed. “But she’s right. Eddie’s wrong; you’re worth 100 times more than him, and I’m glad you’re my captain, Captain.” He took off, dragging Ichigo with him. 

Buck turned helplessly to Tommy, who just grinned at him. “What just happened?”

“I think,” Tommy squeezed his hand, “that you have a good crew on your hand, Captain, and that’s the only thing that matters right now.”

Chapter Text

Bobby grinned as he enjoyed the delicious, hearty chicken & root soup with wild rice that Buck had snuck into the hospital; the young man he considered as his son in all but blood fussed over him. “-been reading about CCHF complications; you are experiencing fatigue and malaise, right? They are monitoring your blood pressure?”

“I’m okay, Buck.” He finally reached out and patted the man on the arm. “Now sit down and tell me all about your first 48 as captain. I kept hearing praises about you being incident commander at the MVA site. In fact,” he shook his head fondly at him, “there are renewed calls of transfer offers for you; everyone seems to have forgotten I’m still on bed rest while harassing me about you.”

Buck can feel his ears turn hot from the gentle tease. “It’s been good. I was worried at first, but then I just let protocol and instinct lead my decisions. And,” here he tilted his head, grinning brightly, “when I’m really not sure if my decision is correct, I just ask myself, ‘How loud would you and Tommy yell at me if I do this and this?’”

Bobby laughed so loudly, he triggered a coughing fit.

After accepting the cup of water from Buck, the fire captain looked seriously at him. “Whitmore told the incident with Eddie. You did well trying your best to handle the situation. I wish I was more firm with him before it escalated into this; you shouldn’t be the one that has to handle this.” 

“Bobby-”

“No, Buck.” Bobby stopped him. “His action yesterday, verbally attacking you at the station, that was on him; you weren’t at fault at all. If anything, as captain, knowing his behavior all these years, I should have put a stop to this a long time ago. We had given him too much leeway due to his circumstances, and in a way, I failed him.” Buck was glad to hear that from Bobby, in a way he had felt guilty over what happened yesterday even though everyone had assured him that he wasn't at fault. 

“But don’t worry, he’s not coming back to 118.” Bobby further reassured him.

“He’s not?” Buck was confused; it wasn’t like Eddie to give up easily.

‘Captain Garcia from El Paso Central Fire called me earlier today. Eddie had accepted a job offer with them, and he was calling me, as I was listed as one of his references. I can’t pull my letter of recommendation, but I told him about Eddie’s current situation and his need for mandatory therapy. Let’s hope they can handle him better than we did.”

“So Eddie’s not coming back,” Buck said softly. 

“He’s not. And if he does try to come back, he won’t find a spot in my house.” Bobby said firmly. 

So that was that. 

Eddie wasn’t coming back to LA.

"Weird," Buck thought absently as he left Bobby, promising to come visit him again tomorrow before work, heading toward Chim’s room. He felt nothing hearing that news, no disappointment, no relief, just a calm acceptance.

And he was alright with that.

Chim looked up from his sad-looking pudding to see Buck peering into his hospital room. “Yo, Cheonnam. Come on in.”

“Cheonnam?” Buck asked as he gave him the container of chicken & root soup. 

“It means brother-in-law in Korean. I’m so bored; Jee and I decided to do some studying in the Korean language.” He chugged down the soup, hungry after days of bland food. 

“Oh, she came in for a visit?”

“Nah, video call. She’s staying with the Lees while Maddie is here taking care of me. By the way,” he put down the spoon, “I heard you got Maddie on administrative leave.”

Now Buck looked wary at him. Last time he did something about Maddie that Chim didn’t like, he got socked in the face for it.

“Chill, I understood why you did that.”

“Y-You do?”

“Well, Hen came by earlier for a visit and explained to me why you did it. Plus, she reminded me about the regulations on working with relatives, especially in high-stress situations. And with the baby coming soon…” Chim trailed off. “I’m not happy with how you dealt with the situation, but I don’t blame you for it; I would have done the same if I thought rationally about it.”

Buck felt the tension leaving his body. “Can you tell that to Maddie?” He asked wryly. “She’s ignoring my calls.” 

“Tell her yourself.” He nodded at the door behind him, where Maddie was lurking by the doorway, looking unhappy. 

“Hey Maddie.” Buck felt oddly shy as Maddie shuffled in, both of them unsure what to do next. “You got a minute?”

Maddie spared a look at Chim, who gave her an encouraging look before nodding.

Both of them left the room and found an alcove not far, Maddie sitting primly on the chair, staring at her brother. 

“You’ve changed,” she said. “You bought a house, made new friends, and started picking up extra shifts at other stations. You’re taking that lieutenancy exam. You never told me anything more, and you won’t even let us see the new house. It kind of feels like you’re drifting away from me, from all of us. And with the lab incident where you got me pulled away from the call…it was like you were punishing me for something I didn’t do.”

Buck let out a short sigh. “Maddie, I wasn’t punishing you when I had you pulled away from that call; I was protecting you. You were too emotionally compromised with both me and Chim involved with that call. And I was just following protocols when I told Supervisor Blevins to pull you away. And about my house, it’s not ready yet; I’m still renovating the place. It’s not safe for you or Jee to come by and visit just yet.”

He reached forward and held her hands. “I know all of you still think I’m that 26-year-old immature, loud-mouthed probie who couldn’t make a decision without screwing it up. Like I can’t be trusted to make adult choices or know what the hell I want in my own life.”

Maddie opened her mouth, but he kept going.

“I’ve changed,” he said quietly. “Of course I changed; I grew up. I learned about love, about loss, and about life. There's no way I wouldn't change after all that.”

Now she looked away with a guilty look on her face. 

“That kid grew up, Maddie,” he said softly. “And no one seemed to notice.”

“Oh, Buck.” Maddie felt like crying. “I’m so sorry; I should have paid more attention to you. Is there still time for us to fix this? Is there still space for me in your life?”

“Of course I still want you in my life, but Maddie,” Buck looked at her, “do you even want me in your life?”

Maddie was confused about where this was going. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I want you in my life, Buck; you’re my brother.” She said defensively. 

“Then why didn't you invite me to the gender reveal party? Or family dinners like you used to? You even stopped asking me to babysit Jee anymore ever since you fostered Mara. Maddie, you’re the one who's pushing me away.” Buck felt sad. Maddie never even realized she had cut him out of her life, but then again, he was used to it ever since she had left for Boston, leaving him alone with their parents. 

"What? Of course we didn't…," she stopped when she realized that, in fact, they hadn't really talked about anything substantial about his life after she got married, especially after things between Tommy and him exploded, them fostering Mara, Eddie leaving, and her kidnapping.

“Then why do I feel like I’ve already been cut out?” he asked gently.

“That’s not fair,” she said, her voice was tense. “I have a family now. A husband. Responsibilities. It’s not like I’m deliberately excluding you.” She tried to defend herself but even to her ears it felt weak.

“I know. I know you’re not trying to hurt me. But it still hurts. It reminded me of when you moved to Boston with Doug,” he said, more quietly now. “You stopped calling. You ghosted me. I waited for you to come back in that empty house alone, to say something to me, to just... remember me I still exist. But in the end felt like abandonment. It was abandonment.”

Maddie’s shoulders sank. “I was going through so much back then, with Doug. You knew that.”

“I know, it’s not your fault; Doug was isolating you. But you still abandoned me. Even when I came to you to ask to come run away with me, you still pushed me away. And now it’s happening again. It’s like... every time your life changes, I’m the one who ends up getting left behind.”

She looked down at her hands. “I didn’t realize it felt like that to you. I guess I thought... you were okay. You’ve always seemed so independent. Like you didn’t need me.”

He gave a sad smile. “Maybe that’s part of the problem. I stopped asking for anything because I didn’t want to be a bother to you and your new family.”

Maddie’s face crumpled sadly; tears began to stream down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Evan. I really am. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you don’t matter.” Her voice cracked slightly. “I love you. You’re my brother. I guess I'm so wrapped up with my new life, and I didn’t realize what it did to our relationship.”

Buck quickly pulled out a tissue and passed it to Maddie. “I want to be part of your life; I want to know my precious niblings. I don’t want to watch Jee and my future nephew grow up from the sidelines, for you to only remember me when you or Chim needed something from me. I’m your family too, Maddie.”

“I want that too. I really do. I want you in my life, and I want you to know my children and for them to know their uncle Buck. I'm sorry if it ever felt like you were only thought of when I needed something; that was never my intention. I’ll do better; we all will. I can’t promise not to slip up, but I can promise to try and be better. Starting now.” She held out her right hand, pinky extended. “Can we try again?

Buck stared at her finger for a moment, a small smile growing on his face. Wordlessly, he reached out and curled his pinky around hers. “Yeah. We can try again.”

A sudden ‘plop’ sound suddenly interrupted the moment, a rush of water hitting their shoes as both of them looked down in confusion. 

“Oh.”

“Is that?”

“BABY TIME!” Both of them yelled in unison before Buck started yelling for the nearest nurse to help them.

Chim was smiling as he sat in his wheelchair, still unable to believe that he still had a chance to hold his newborn son. 

“Hey guys,” he announced to the crowd in the room, “please meet our son, Bo Hyun Daniel Han.”

“Bohyun?” Bobby, on a similar wheelchair, asked as they watched Buck gently cradling his nephew in his arm.

“We wanted to honor you, Bobby, for trying your best to keep all of us in the lab alive while everyone outside tries to save us, and at the same time, to honor the brothers we lost, so Bo-Hyun, a combination of your name and Kevin’s Korean name, Sung-Hyun, and Daniel as his middle name after Maddie’s brother.” Chim explained, Mr. and Mrs. Lee looked like they wanted to cry at the name.

“It’s a lovely name, guys.” Buck smiled, ducking down so Jee Yun could meet her brother properly for the first time. Over her head, he can see Tommy smiling down at them with so much love and affection that it turns his cheeks red in shy embarrassment. 

Maybe. 

Just maybe, one day, he could be holding a child of his own, one with Tommy’s eyes and his beautiful smile. 

(Buck tucked that dream deep inside his heart, promising himself one day to make that dream come true.)

Chapter Text

His last day as interim captain for 118 was a normal one. 

Hen had finally returned to work. Thankfully she was willing to work with Craig Brown from Shift C while Chim was now out on paternity leave. Even Bobby was at the station for his final day, observing as Buck led the crew through several minor calls. 

Working through the last of the paperwork before his final handover to Captain Whitmore, Buck looked up from his temporary desk when a loud knock distracted him from his work.

“Come in?” He said loudly, figuring it was Ravi, who was going home with him for an early lunch. To his surprise it was Bobby, Captain Whitmore and Captain Montgomery coming to the room.

“Bobby! Captain Whitmore! Captain Montgomery!” He hurriedly sat up, grabbing the stack of papers on the table. “Sorry, do you need the room or something?”

“Relax, Buck.” Bobby said, “We're just here to give you your final assessment.”

“Assessment?” Buck was confused but sat down. 

The captain gave him a long look, then smiled proudly at him.

“You’ve done an excellent job, Buck, while stepping in as captain for Shift A. You had led the team with integrity, calm, and strength. We’ve all seen how you handle yourself under pressure, how you talk to the crew, and how you take care of the people around you. You’ve become the kind of firefighter and leader that LAFD needs. And I, for one, am proud of what you have achieved so far.”

Buck nodded, muttering a quiet “thank you”, still unsure of what Bobby was trying to say.

Captain Whitmore spoke up instead. “As you know, 118 currently has 7 lieutenant-level firefighters across 3 shifts. And with you as our newest lieutenant, we don’t have a spot for you here in 118, not if we want you to advance.”

So we’ve got a proposition for you.” Captain Montgomery interjected. “There’s an opening, Lieutenant position, at Station 60 in NoHo. We want you to take it.”

“W-what?” Buck was surprised. “Did-Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Buck.” Bobby said gently. “This is a great opportunity. I haven’t told anyone yet, but I’ll be retiring in a few years; three, maybe less. That lab incident,” Bobby shook his head, “the doctors said with the CCHF complications on my lungs and my current heart problem, it’s time for me to step back from active duties." 

Bobby noticed Buck’s horrified look and was quick to reassure him before the young man would panic. “I’m fine, Buck, really. The doctors told me with strict dieting and less stress, I would live a long life. But really, I want to leave this place in good hands. I want someone leading this station who understands it, who’s earned it, and who’ll carry it forward.”

He looked Buck in the eyes.

“And we all agree that person would be you.”

The room was silent for a moment. Buck’s heart beats faster from what Bobby was implying. 

This is more than just a promotion. 

Bobby was choosing him to be his legacy to the 118. 

“You’ve got time to grow into it; I’m not going to retire immediately.” Bobby continued. “Station 60 is a good challenge, one I know you would enjoy. And when the time comes, we want you back here. As the new captain for Shift A.”

“I… Wow.” Buck rubbed his face in surprise. “I didn’t see this coming.” He laughed nervously. “Bobby, are you really sure I can do this? Be a captain?”

“We saw you grow from that young, inexperienced probie that stepped into this station 8 years ago to the man you are today, Buck. We know, especially after you taking over as interim captain, that you can definitely do it.”

Buck took a slow breath, looking at Bobby and at the two captains; emotions threatened to choke him. “T-thank you,” he said quietly. “I… This means a lot, hearing all of you say that. Um, is it ok if I take some time to think it over? It’s just that…this...this is a big step for me. I want to make sure I’m ready for this.”

The captains nodded, understanding on their faces. “Of course. Take the time you need, Buck. Just know we believe in you, and we’re here to support your choice.”

Ravi gaped at him as they pulled up at the house at Kling Street. “They offered you a promotion?! Outside 118? And a promise to be the next captain after Bobby?”

Buck shrugged as he parked the jeep, waving at Ichigo, who was sitting on the porch steps, waiting for them. “I need to think about it first. It’s a big decision to make. Hey, Ichi.”

“Hey Buck, hey Ravi.” The Japanese EMT stood up, carrying a basket with him. “Thanks for this.”

Ichigo had called while they were driving to the house, asking if he could come over with a basket of peaches (he said someone had donated baskets of fruits to 126) and see if Buck could make something out of it.

Tabling the discussion for now (he’s definitely going to tell their friends about this later), Ravi quickly suggested a bourbon-roasted peach cheesecake, remembering a dessert he saw on TikTok. Ichigo asked if it's possible to make a peach trifle while Buck toyed with the idea of making peach and thyme focaccia bread and peach shortcake. 

“Does it really have to be a dessert?” Ichigo frowned at his phone. “Because I just found this recipe for spicy peach coleslaw.”

“Really?” Buck perked up in interest. “Let me see. Guys, how about peach-stuffed pork chops? I think I have the ingredients.” He showed them the recipe, the video showing a succulent pork chop stuffed with peaches and poblano pepper.

The smell of rosemary and thyme filled the kitchen as Buck stirred the butter simmering on the stove. Tommy, who just arrived from work, leaned against the doorway, watching as Buck mixed in the panko breadcrumbs before taking it off the heat, pouring it over the already prepared cauliflower gratin before putting the baking tray into the waiting oven.

As he stood up, he smiled, finally noticing Tommy. “Hey babe. I made peach-stuffed pork chops and cauliflower gratin for lunch. Hope you're hungry.”

Tommy nodded but then spoke softly, as if he were trying not to startle Buck. “Evan, I, uhm, need to tell you something."

“Yes?” Buck stared at him curiously.

“So, I, uh, talked to the contractor earlier today. They told me the renovations to my house are finally done, and, uhm, I’m thinking about moving back to my place soon.”

Buck froze. “Wait… what?”

Tommy's smile was timid. “I mean, yeah. I figured I’d be out of your hair by this weekend.”

Buck didn’t respond right away. He just looked at him, his heart suddenly beating too fast. “You don’t have to go,” he blurted, and then, softer, “I kinda like you here… with me.”

Tommy looked surprised, yet a glimmer of hope was peering through the trepidation in his eyes. “Evan, I…” He stopped helplessly. 

“I mean it,” Buck said, stepping forward, wiping his hands on the dish towel. “I-I know we just found our way back to each other. And I know last time we brought up living together, y-you broke up with me. But…”

He stopped, searching for something in Tommy’s face. And whatever he saw there just strengthened his resolve.

“I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time. You made this house feel like more than just a place to sleep. You turned it into a home, just by being here with me. The same way you turned my loft. And-and after you left me the first time. That apartment… My life… It felt… empty. Cold.”

“But now,” he gestured around them, “this is the home I've been looking for all my life, and I found it because of you. Please don't go, not like last time.”

Tommy’s eyes softened, his voice almost a whisper as he leaned closer. “I was scared, Evan. Back then, I never thought I was enough for you; I was so afraid that I had to run from my own feelings. A small bit of me still is. I might run again,” he warned him.

“Ok.” He replied. Then he took a slow breath, stepping even closer. “You can run if you want. But hey, instead of running away from me, how about running toward me?”

Tommy was silent; his storm-blue eyes were glistening with unshed tears. 

“Is this you asking me to stay?” 

“Tommy,” Buck took the final step, gently cupping his face with his hand, “This is me asking you to marry me.”

For a second, it felt like the moment existed just for the two of them.

“Yes,” Tommy finally said, his voice thick with emotion. “Yes.”

From the kitchen table, forgotten with the honey-glazed carrots and parsnips and half-peeled peaches in front of them, Ichigo had held his phone up to record the moment while Ravi had Kitty on a video call. As one, the three of them cheered loudly in delight. 

“OH MY GOD, CONGRATULATIONS!!” Ichigo yelled as he and Ravi leapt forward to hug them. 

“Wa… what…” Tommy looked at Buck in confusion as his fiancé(!) giggled.  “They were here from the beginning.”

“I can't believe you proposed while I'm in Washington!” Kitty wailed through the phone call.

“This is so cool; congrats to both of you!!” Ravi laughed loudly. 

A sudden loud banging, followed by quick footsteps, can be heard as Areum rushed into the kitchen, her eyes wild as her husband followed from behind. “Is it true?!” She then shrieked loudly as Buck and Tommy nodded in unison, grabbing Buck as she peppered delighted kisses all over his face. “결혼 축하해!” 

Micheal laughed as he thumped Tommy on the back before swapping with his wife; Areum babbling in rapid Korean as she kissed Tommy's cheek and Micheal grabbed Buck in a playful headlock,wife, rubbing his curls wildly. Over the couple’s head, Buck and Tommy exchanged looks of delight, laughing over their friends' shared excitement over their surprise engagement.

Chapter Text

Buck stretched his back after finishing setting up the final room in his house. He had decided to turn the second spare bedroom into a shared office; three of the four walls were painted a warm light green colour, while the fourth was literally covered with books from their separate collections: technical manuals with cracked spines, harlequin romance novels, reference guides, and non-fiction.

In one corner sat a glass display case; delicate glass-blown pumpkins and cat figurines shimmered in the afternoon light, an engagement gift from the Chois. Beside them were models of helicopters and planes, once displayed in Tommy’s house and now having their own honoured place in the room. 

An office desk took up one part of the room, with more books and post-its scattered on top of it, and a laptop stand set in the centre. An easel was set under one of the huge windows, a half-finished painting set on it, and the stand beside it was full of paintbrushes and coloured tubes. A comfortable set of sofas was under the other window, colourful cushions arranged on it, waiting for its owners to cuddle together on them with a book in hand. 

He can’t wait to use the room with Tommy, spending their shared afternoons together with their respective hobbies.

You're Invited!

✨🏡✨ to a cosy night of friends, food, and new beginnings ✨🏡✨

Evan Buckley and Tommy Kinard's House-warming Party

Come celebrate our new home.

Date: 12 October 2025

Time: 5 pm till it's over (or when we run out of food and drinks)

Location: xxxxx Kling St, North Hollywood, CA, 91602

There’ll be drinks, bites, a tour of the new place, and a beautiful garden worth seeing before sunset.

Come curious, come hungry, come ready for a surprise or two. 😉

P.S. Bring your best vibes — and maybe a toast.

Tommy grinned as he watched Evan set up the last of the brownies he made on the groaning dessert table, already full of delicious sweet treats. 

“You think that’s enough? I can make more.” The younger man said dubiously as he moved away from the table. Tommy’s smile widened as he stood behind him, hugging him from behind. “Any more, sweetheart, and your oven is going to break out of protest.”

Evan’s playful pout melts away as Tommy tilted his chin and gently kissed him. The two pulled away from the sweet kiss, surveying the newly transformed backyard. 

Strings of fairy lights were strung across the garden trellis, waiting to be turned on when night arrived. Tables of delicious foods and drinks were set up strategically around the garden, and playpens for Jee and Sal’s girls were set up under the blooming apple tree by the decks so the parents could have a nice place to relax and chat while their children played. 

“And we did ask Bobby, Athena and your parents to come an hour early, right?” The pilot asked as he pulled Evan through the kitchen door. His fiancé (!) nodded, stopping by the hallway mirror to fuss at his curls. “They should arrive any mo—” The doorbell rang, interrupting his sentence. “That should be them.”

Tommy sneaked another kiss again before heading for the front door, opening it with a smile as Margaret and Phillip stood on the front porch, eyeing the house curiously. 

“You’re inviting your parents?”  Tommy caught the end of the phone call by accident.

Apparently Margaret and Phillip were visiting LA to see their newest grandchild, and Maddie had snitched about Evan’s new place, and they had called to ask if they could come by for a visit. 

“Well, seeing this is also our engagement party,” the younger man pulled a face, “I don’t want to give them cannon fodder for our next argument.”

The older couple smiled as they greeted Tommy. “Ah, Thomas, right? Buck’s boyfriend?” The pilot blinked as Margaret pulled him into a brief hug and Phillip shook his hand enthusiastically before passing him an expensive gift basket. “Buck told us not to bring anything, but it felt so wrong not to bring a gift. Oh, this house looks wonderful!” She gushed.

"Uh, Tommy actually. And thank you. Please, come in.” Tommy gave Evan a weirded-out look but abandoned his fiance hurriedly with his parents as the doorbell rang again.

Athena and Bobby had just arrived, the sergeant carrying a La Colombe Sampler Coffee Gift Box and the latter a wrapped tray of lasagna.

“Captain Nash, Sergeant Grant, come in!” He smiled brightly, taking the gift box from Athena.

“You saved our lives, Kinard, twice even.” Athena said dryly. “Pretty sure you earned the right to call us by our first name.”

“What she said.” Bobby grinned. 

“Well, Athena, Bobby, welcome to our home.” Tommy moved to put away the gift box, not noticing Bobby’s grin and Athena’s raised eyebrow. “Evan is in the kitchen with his parents."

In the kitchen, Buck couldn’t help but be surprised by the warm compliments from his once estranged parents about his new house. Time (and family therapy) did change them for the better. 

Phillip looks around the kitchen with interest, taking in the beautiful kitchen. “It feels warm here. It suits you.”

"Thanks," Buck said shyly. “It means a lot… to hear that.”

“We’re really happy for you,” his mom added. “You look settled. Like you’ve found where you’re meant to be.” She squeezed his arm gently. “Now, Maddie told me you have picked up on a very interesting hobby. She swore she gained two pounds because of your desserts.”

Buck laughed and offered his parents one of the plates with the beautifully decorated mini fruit tarts as Tommy guided Athena and Bobby into the kitchen. “Oh Bobby, you shouldn’t have.”

“That’s what I told him, but does the man listen?” Athena rolled her eyes affectionately as Bobby set down the tray of lasagna. “Now, why did you tell us to come here one hour earlier than the actual invite? Must be important since your parents are here.”

“I, uhm…” Tommy smiled as Evan floundered for a moment, stepping to stand beside him. “Bobby, remember how you told me last year that Tommy is good people and how he’s good for me?”

Bobby nodded; suspicions began to appear.

“I asked Tommy to marry me last week.” He suddenly blurted out. 

“And I said yes.” Together, the two of them pulled out their respective rings out of their pockets, a matching set of silver rings. 

A brief silence. 

His mother gasped first, her hands flying to her mouth, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Evan and Tommy back and forth. Athena smirked; she figured Buck was going to tell them something important had happened, but she figured he was announcing he and Tommy were moving in together. 

Bobby, meanwhile, stepped forward and pulled Buck into a big hug. “This is wonderful news, Buck. Congratulations!” 

Phillip surprised everyone by following Bobby’s example, shaking his hands and clapping his back. “Welcome to the family, Tommy.” Buck grinned at how fast Tommy’s ears turned red. 

Margaret grabbed Buck’s hand, smiling tremulously. “Oh Evan, this is delightful news; I’m happy for you! Does your sister know?”

“No, not yet.” Buck quickly added, noticing Margaret had pulled out her phone to tell everyone, “Wait, don’t tell anyone just yet. We want to make the announcement together tonight and want you guys to know first."

After a brief celebration with champagne to congratulate the newly engaged couple (sparkling cider for Bobby), Buck and Tommy quickly played host as guests started to arrive. The Buckleys were immediately pulled into a conversation with Mrs Hernandez next door, the Spanish grandma gushing to them about how kind and welcoming Buck was to his neighbours. 

Tommy, walking past Buck to open the door for the Delucas, caught a snippet of his conversation with Bobby, Athena and the newly arrived Hen. “Chris moved back in with his grandparents and is going to finish up his high school there.” Evan told them. 

“Captain Garcia texted me an update on Eddie; he had to re-enter the Fire Academy in El Paso and reapply for his heavy rescue technician qualifications before he is allowed to work again.” Bobby shared. “They also made him attend mandatory therapy sess—” 

“Tommy!” The Delucas pulled him into a warm hug, the girls gripping his pants, giggling. “Now, where’s that fiancé of yours?” 

“Shush!” Tommy whacked Sal on the arm. “Not yet.” He told them to head to the back garden as he saw another car pull up outside the house.

Kitty, looking manic, ran out of the Uber, holding a beautiful box in her arm while dragging her suitcase behind her. “You haven’t announced it yet, right? Right? Still can't believe he proposed when I'm away for work.” She huffed loudly.

“Not yet. We were waiting for everyone to arrive first.” He grinned, letting her in, storing her suitcase and the box that she announced with a shushed tone as their engagement gift in the spare bedroom. “Come on, everyone’s at the back.”

Everyone gushed around the chubby baby Maddie was carrying, ooh-ed and aah-ed at his thick eyelashes and blue eyes that Chim swore up and down looked exactly like his uncle Buck’s. Margaret told him tearfully that both Daniel and Buck had inherited her mother’s vivid cornflower blue eyes, and she was delighted that one of her grandchildren had them as well. 

Karen, keeping an eye on the crowd of children playing by one of the flowerbeds, turned to Tommy. “So”, she asked, trying to sound casual, “how long are you staying here?”

Tommy blinked. “Here? As in, the house?” He pretended not to realize what she was implying. 

The scientist scowled at him. “Hen told me you've been here since July. Are you and Buck together again? Or just being friends who are temporary roommates? It has to be serious since your coworkers are here too.”

Tommy just shrugged; his smile was secretive.

Lucy and Gina, who were standing nearby, and the Chois, sitting with their plate of desserts, giggled to themselves. Tommy just nodded at them and sipped his drink as Karen huffed at him.

As the sun set and the fairy lights were turned on, casting the garden in whimsical gold, Buck swapped his beer bottle with a full champagne glass and tapped it for attention. 

Everyone turned, smiling at him. 

Tommy pulled away from his co-workers and stood beside him, smiling brightly as he slipped his hand into his side pocket, toying with his engagement ring. 

“I just wanted to thank you all for coming here tonight,” Buck said loudly, eyes shining. “A lot has happened in the last 6 months; I bought my own house, got a dog and got promoted to lieutenant. Honestly, it means so much to me to celebrate this milestone with everyone.” He raised his glass, his other hand slipping into his side pocket, secretly putting on his own ring. 

Everyone raised their glasses in anticipation.

“But”, he continued, turning toward Tommy with a mischievous grin, “there’s actually something else I wanted to celebrate tonight, something very special to me.”

He paused for the tension.

“I asked Tommy to marry me.” Buck smiled as he pulled out his hand and grabbed Tommy’s hand up high; their engagement rings glittered under the light. “And he said yes. So this isn’t just a house-warming party…” he trailed off.

“It's our engagement party as well.” Tommy finished, hugging his fiance sideways.

Silence. 

Then, the garden erupted with cheers, laughter, and a few happy tears. Several bottles of champagne and chilled apple cider were opened and passed around as everyone kept toasting the couple. Karen shouted, “I knew it!”

Tommy smiled as everyone shouted congratulations at them, his co-workers crowing how they just knew he was engaged; he had a sappy look on his face the entire week! Maddie, meanwhile, passed Bohyun to their mom before pulling Buck into a hug, crying loud tears about how she was so happy for him and Tommy.

When the party finally wound down hours later, Tommy found Buck sitting on the deck with their usual crowd of friends, Lucky napping on his lap. Ravi and Kitty were asking about their wedding plans, while Areum wanted to know if they were going to get married before or after she gave birth. Sal and Lucy were arguing about who gets to be Tommy’s best man, while Yuzuha asked if she and Ichigo would be in the wedding party too. Which side would they be on?

Tommy slipped beside Buck and wrapped his arm around his fiance. Buck, without missing a beat, rested his head against his shoulder, grinning as their friends argued about the wedding party and Tommy joins in the playful argument, playing the devil’s advocate.

He’s not sure what’s going to happen next, but for now he is building a new life on happiness, and right now that's enough for him.