Chapter Text
Summary: Hondo get promoted to team lead, he and Deacon talk about it more and what happens next. Relationship status: Boyfriends (Based of Season 1 episode 1)
The day after the Raymont Harris shooting proved to be their craziest one yet. The minute that Deacon and Hondo pulled up to HQ and saw that there were camera crew setting up, groups of journalists gathered at their main area, and a lot of officers with confused looks spoke volume. “There you two are. Hicks needs both of your right now” Cortez said the minute they stepped foot on home base. She led them to their main area where a lot of attention and camera flashing were happening. “What do you think this is about?” Deacon asked in a whisper to his ear “I don’t know, Deac. But if I had to guess it would be about last night’s events” Hondo replied, whispering back to his partner’s ear.
“You wanna explain what the hell this is?” Hondo asked when they reached the main area. “I’ll explain more later, for now, just smile and nod, both of you” She said, staying in her corner. Both men lined up next to their teammates wherever there was room. Not too long after they entered, said man came up to the podium and began to talk. “In response to the attack on two police officers last night, the SWAT unit to my right neutralized 4 suspects and rescued the family that got carjacked whilst in the middle of pursuit. Sadly, 17-year-old Raymon Harris, was caught in the line of fire, seriously injured by team leader, Buck Spivey. As of this morning, I terminated Sergeant Spivey” The minute they heard ‘terminated’ they were shocked, everyone looked at each other as if asking ‘is he serious?’ “SWAT demands the highest standards, Angelinos have the right to know that actions have consequences.” By this point everyone knew the direction this press was heading in and waited for Deacon’s name to be called but that wasn’t the case “Sergeant Harelson, would you please join me?” All eyes turned to Hondo. Knowing this wasn’t the time or place to rebel, he walked up. As he walked past Deacon, he brushed his fingers against his saying “This was supposed to be yours not mine” without using any words. Before he fully passed him he gave Deac a small squeeze to his hand before joining Hicks.
Deacon understood what his partner tried to communicate with him and gave him a nod of support knowing that they’ll talk about this later. “Today I’m assigning the 20 David designation to the senior SWAT sergeant in command of this unit, Sergeant Daniel Harelson. Sergeant Harelson portrayed immense bravery under fire to prevent last night’s incident….” Hicks kept talking but Hondo kept looking back at Deacon. He’s the one that was supposed to be next, not him. He knows what he did last night was brave but enough to promote him to lead, no. The thought itself makes Hondo’s stomach twist.
Deacon know’s Hondo keeps looking back at him. Every time he tries to ignore it, but this time he looked up. What he saw was immense guilt from his eyes. If you asked Deacon why he fell for Hondo, he’ll tell you that whenever he feels something isn’t right, he’ll tell you straight to your face. Right now, that’s exactly what’s happening. Both know that Deacon was next, so there has to be more to the story.
The longer they locked gaze the quieter everything around them became. The only thing that caught their attention and broke their little bubble was the round of applause and Hick’s pat on the back of Hondo before extending his hand. Not wanting to make a fool of himself he shook the hand and placed a forced smile that looked natural on his face while the press took pictures and whatnot.
After the press was done, Hondo tapped Deac on the shoulder and signaled him to meet him at the kitchen. His partner took a second to translate the signals before nodding, soon he left towards the kitchen waiting for him. After surviving the rounds of congratulation that he didn’t feel like he deserved, he walked towards the kitchen to find Deacon picking at his nails without consciously knowing. He walked around the table, sat next to him and set his hands on top of the ones that were picking the nail, he knew that this brought Deacon back to reality. They didn’t say anything at first, and that’s fine. They both were still processing the news that got delivered not too long ago. “Why?” Deacon was the first out of both to start “I don’t know, man. I’m in the dark just as much as you are” Hondo said, his mind trying to figure out why Deacon got skipped entirely. “There has to be more to the story than you ‘showing immense bravery’ which you did, but you get my point” Deacon explains, getting up from his seat and grabbing water for the both of them from the fridge. “I know what you mean. I also agree that there has to be more to the story than what they’re telling us” Hondo agreed. “Cortez said that she’ll explain more later, why don’t we take this to her?” Hondo asked, remembering what she had told them right before all of this blew up in their face. “Yea, I like the sound of that, it would be a really good time to get some answers, wouldn’t it” Deacon replied, Hondo replied with a nod.
As if she was parked outside waiting for her cue, she came in. “Ah, Cortez, we were just talking about you,” Hondo deadpanned. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I know you two talk about almost everything here. But I told you guys I’ll explain more, so that’s why I came here.” She explained “You sure you didn’t park outside? ‘Cause we were just about to leave for your office to ask that” Hondo asked. “Trust me, I’m sure. All jokes aside, here’s why Hicks decided to bump you up instead of Deacon” She said showing them a video of news of black’s protesting cops shooting an unarmed black boy. “Hicks made the decision this morning, he thinks that if he promoted a black dude on Tv that it’ll make them cool their jets a little” Cortez explained “So he wants Hondo to play mascot?” Deacon asked “You’re getting the idea, not the point. The point is to show that black men can raise up the ladder in things like LAPD.” She corrected. “Add that with the mix of us trying to rebuild the bridge between Blacks and Blue.” She added on “I’ll admit that pushing this decision is too much too soon, but we have faith that you’ll fill the gaps. Like Buck says ‘fill the gaps, and stay liquid’” She said before walking out, giving them time to talk over it on their own.
“That’s one thing covered,” Hondo said, taking a chug with the water. “Yea, that clears some of things on the table” Deacon replies. “Hey, Deac?” Hondo called out, knowing that he needs to say this part next, just to be clear with his partner. “Hm” He replied, drinking his own water.
“I’m sorry”
“What for?”
“You know. For taking your spot. It was never mine to begin with. Buck trained you to become team lead one day, it doesn’t feel right for me to take that from you” Hondo explains, pure guilt straight up in his voice. “Hondo, you and I both know that this was thrown into your lap at the very last second. Sure Hicks got our hopes up when we realized the direction it was pointing in, but” Deacon said, leaving a sigh at the end. “Sometimes, you just gotta go with the flow. Plus, if you want me to be honest, I trust your gut and your judgement. No, I’m not saying it just because we are together. I’ve always respected your gut and judgement and this was way before you and me became a thing . Your instincts are sharper than anyone I’ve ever met. So if there had to be someone to be our team lead, I’m glad it’s someone I already trust” Deacon said with a smile and his hands open to a hug. Hondo walked into the hug and wrapped his arms around him, while Deacon did the same to him. “You remember what I told you before we walked into this hell of a mess?” Deacon whispered into his ear. “That you’d put your life in my hands over and over because you trust me to have your back” Hondo replied, remembering what he was told before they piled into Black Betty. “That’s right. And I’ll do it again. You have my trust, H” Deacon replies with a kiss to his temple.
They stayed like that until Street walked in. “Am I interrupting something?” He asked with his head poked into the door. “No, Street. What's up?” Hondo askes, pulling away from Deacon, who willingly pulls away but grabs hold of his hand. “Oh, Hicks told me to round you two up for our next OP. I have a feeling you won’t like it, but it’s crowd control, said he’ll debrief us when we get there, so we’re rolling” Street explained to them. “Alright, thanks Street. We’ll be there in a few. Tell them we’ll meet them at the motor pool when we’re ready alright?” Deacon asked him, to which he got a nod and backed out. “What do you say, team leader? You ready to lead us?” Deacon asks in a teasing way “Yea, I am. Let’s roll” Hondo replied “There’s the Hondo I fell for” He said giving him a kiss on the lips before making their way to the locker room to change and roll out.