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Eddie sees Tommy alone in a chair on the outside of the building, hat on his lap, jacket and tie undone, gloves nowhere to be seen.
He grabs one of the chairs from inside and joins Tommy, who barely twitches at the sound of Eddie's approach.
"I heard from Buck about me being your so-called competition," Eddie says.
Tommy snorts. "It is what it is."
"Except it isn't." Eddie knocks the side of his knee against Tommy's. "I'm sorry I stopped texting. But he's my best friend." The emphasis he places on the last two words triggers a subtle response; Tommy almost turns his head.
"How's Chris holding up?"
"He's good. He's being there for me," says Eddie, quiet and grateful to have a semblance of normalcy. "How are you holding up?"
"Bobby wasn't my captain."
"But he used to be."
The corner of Tommy's mouth curves. "He helped me find the skies again. That's not... That's something I can never repay."
Eddie tilts his head to study Tommy. "You saved his life, and Athena's. I think he'd consider the debt repaid."
The silence between them stretches stickily, like taffy.
After a long while, Tommy says, "I'm glad you're back, Diaz. He'll need you."
This time, Eddie snorts. "Don't be an idiot. I'm not the one he needs."
Tommy does turn to look at him now, disbelief scribbled over his face, emphasized by bitchy eyebrows and lips pressed together into a thin line.
"He never maimed anyone for me," Eddie says, a small smile tugging on the corners of his mouth.
He's answered by the bitchiest roll of storm-blue eyes ever.
God, Eddie has missed Tommy. What the hell, he's a Latino dad, he can do guilt trips too.
"Bobby will want you to look after his kid," he says, and raises his chin, daring Tommy to contradict him. "I got enough of my own problems to deal with. That one? He's yours to manage."
"He's not a problem," Tommy retorts.
"Then maybe," Eddie says, stretching out his legs, "he's your answer."