Work Text:
They’re on a call at a sports bar when it happens.
Eddie tries to be focused on his job when he’s on shift, especially when he’s out on a call, but the call is pretty standard — a guy got too drunk, vomited too much. Hen and Chimney are doing all of the work anyway, and there’s approximately a million TV screens staring down at Eddie, so screw him if he gets a little distracted.
Because the screens are all showing game three of the National League Division Series, and Paul Sewald is throwing a sweeper to Kike Hernandez that lines out to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and somehow the game is over and —
There’s a loud upset in the bar. It has nothing to do with their call, and nothing to do with the gurney that Chimney’s pushing out, and it has everything to do with the red rally towels cheering in the on-screen crowd.
There’s protests around the bar, as Eddie tries to tear his eyes away from the celebrations happening on field and follow his team out. He can hear protests of, “This team is so unserious”, and “We’re not made for longevity, I guess, and we can only win a shortened season”, and “Millions of dollars can’t buy a championship, apparently”, and Eddie wants to smile so badly.
Eddie knows that he’s in Dodgers country. He knows that he’s surrounded by upset drunk people and he should not be happy right now, but.
He glances over at Buck, who also noticed where his eyes landed, and Buck’s been a little sour all shift at any mention of baseball because “The Orioles are a miserable organization, like what’s the point in winning that many games if we’re choking when it matters? ”
But still, Buck meets Eddie’s eyes and gives him a little smile as he rolls his eyes a little bit.
“Good for you guys,” he tells Eddie, as they walk back to the engine, and Eddie lets himself cheer in the safety of the rig, away from the upset Dodgers fans.
Because somehow, his silly little baseball team is going to the National League Championship Series.
Not only that, but somehow, they swept the fucking Dodgers, after sweeping the Brewers, after finishing only three games above .500 but somehow getting second in the division, because the Padres suck (And fuck you, Manny Machado, a Buck sounding voice in his brain chimes in). And they’re going to the NLCS.
And they could go to the World Series. And Eddie is a real adult with real money and real paid time off and like.
Christopher’s education will not be harmed if they maybe took a trip to Arizona to see the World Series, because Eddie loves a small little baseball team in Arizona, and when he was ten, his father took him on a rare father-son trip to see the Diamondbacks win their very first World Series. It was Eddie’s first and only trip to see the Diamondbacks live, and he thinks he’s been chasing that high ever since.
And maybe Chris isn’t as into baseball as Eddie is, but dammit, Eddie will drag him along anyway.
…
The chaos snakes’ devil run continues.
Eddie tries not to have animosity towards Buck at the way the Phillies are keeping the D-Backs on their toes, because the last time he accused Buck of being a Phillies fan, Buck went a little crazy.
Still, Eddie hates Pennsylvania.
Chimney’s content to hate-watch the games with him — “I will be a temporary Diamondbacks fan to better hate on the Phillies,” he tells him, dropping next to him on the loft couch.
But Eddie has a job, and Eddie has to “concentrate”, and “save people’s lives”, and the Diamondbacks are playing in a game seven, all-or-nothing, and they get called out during the fifth inning.
Eddie tries to make pleading eyes at Bobby to get him to be man behind, but his pleading-via-osmosis doesn’t work, and Chimney gets to stay behind while Eddie climbs into the truck and tries not to think about how the Phillies were winning 2-1 and that their season might be over.
He tries to be rational and normal about it — because no one even expected them to make it to the postseason, nevertheless the NLCS, but Eddie’s greedy, and he wants more, and he wants them to go all the way.
They’re not as lucky, this time, and they’re just called to a MVC, not a sports bar, so Eddie has no idea what’s happening in the game. He doesn't know why this postseason has made him so obsessive — because he swears , before now, he was just the kind of fan who catches a couple of games but just checks the standings — but he kind of can’t stop thinking about the D-Backs, and about Zac Gallen and Christian Walker, and he wonders if this is how Buck feels, with his obsessions.
The MVC ends up being a complicated extraction, and it takes forever, and by the time they get back to the firehouse, Eddie is almost exhausted enough that he forgets about the game.
Almost.
He dumps his turnouts as quickly as possible, and rushes up to the loft because surely he can catch the end of the game —
“It’s over,” Chimney says, as Eddie stops in front of the couch. His expression isn’t giving anything away, and Eddie has to wave his hands in a go on gesture to get Chimney to crack. He smiles, slowly, and then says:
“The Arizona Diamondbacks are going to the World Series!”
…
Eddie doesn’t buy tickets for him and Chris.
The resale tickets are over a thousand dollars for just one, okay, and then a flight to Arizona is another 200 on top of that, and Eddie can’t rationalize doing that. His dreams of relieving 2001 with his own kid disappear as Eddie closes out SeatGeek, and it’s fine. Christopher doesn’t give a shit about baseball.
Eddie just really wanted to go.
“Do you have plans for Halloween?” Buck asks him, as Eddie does a tiny amount of moping on his couch as the first World Series game plays on the TV.
“I mean, I’m a little old for Halloween parties,” Eddie replies dryly, looking over at Buck. “I’m working, so there’s my big plans.”
Buck makes an incorrect buzzer sound, and Eddie’s taken aback by how good of an impression he makes that he forgets to reply for a second.
“What?” he says, when he remembers that they’re having a two-way conversation.
“You’re not working,” Buck tells him, shrugging as he pulls out his phone. Eddie’s confused, because he knows that they don’t have a normal schedule, but he’s been doing this for long enough that he knows when he’s working. It’s not like he even has to memorize shift times — all of their shifts are from 9AM to 9AM, and Eddie just has to know the day.
“What?” Eddie repeats again, but Buck’s tapping on his phone, not looking at Eddie, and not replying either.
Finally, Buck shows Eddie his phone screen. It’s open to a confirmation email, and Eddie takes too long to realize that it’s a flight itinerary.
“You’re going to Phoenix,” Buck says, casually. Eddie takes a thousand minutes to register Buck’s words.
“For Halloween?” he asks, and Buck rolls his eyes, like Eddie’s being stupid.
“For the World Series,” Buck tells him, and — what? He doesn’t have long to wonder, though, because Buck is Buck, and so Buck keeps talking. “I mean, I couldn’t score two tickets, so it’s just going to be a solo trip, but I thought that you deserve to go. Your team is doing crazy things! You deserve to be there for it. And it’s game four, so if your snakes do another sweep, you’ll be there for the win.”
Eddie blinks, and he looks at the plane ticket confirmation, and he looks at Buck, and there’s a weird lump in his throat.
“You did that for me?” he asks, meeting Buck’s eyes. Buck shrugs, like he didn’t just spend a thousand dollars on Eddie.
“You being into baseball makes you happy,” he says simply. “I like you being happy.”
…
Eddie and Buck watch game five curled up on Eddie’s couch, and going to the World Series in person was insane, and a dream come true, but Eddie watches game five at home with Buck, and he enjoys it a lot more with one of his favorite people by his side.
The Diamondbacks lose, in the end, losing the World Series to the Rangers and Eddie’s okay with it.
There’s a lot he’d be okay with, as long as Buck stays pressed against his shoulder.