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A few months ago, the 118 got a new lieutenant. Firefighter Derek Escondo. A man renowned for his skill and valor. After 10 years of being the army, 6 of which were spent in special forces, he retired from the military and joined the fire department at 28, where he pretty quickly rose up the ranks with the help of his previous experience and discipline. Once he promoted, he got transferred to a station that needed a lieutenant. And that's how Derek ended up at the 118. That's also Buck fell head over his heels for his lieutenant.
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It was a slow day in Los Angeles, the sky was pouring down with warm rain, creating a humid marine layer and dark atmosphere. Buck and the other firefighters were indoors, washing the rigs like usual.
His body may have been scrubbing the engine with a chamois, but his mind was somewhere else. He couldn't help but imagine his lieutenant pining him up against the rig and having his way with him in a violently sexy manner- "Buckley!" Derek shouts from behind him, grabbing his attention away from his sex fantasy.
He turns around nervously, his pretty face flushing red. "Yes, sir?" Buck asks, folding his hands behind his back professionally in attempts to seem less docile.
"Cap put you and I on dinner duty tonight." Derek says casually, reading off of a clipboard where he had a list of the daily chores written out.
With a nod, both Derek and Buck headed up the loft to kitchen area to start on cooking dinner together.
Derek washing vegetables and handing them over to Buck to be cut, when suddenly Buck let out a pained yelp, dropping his knife on the counter with a small clatter. "Hey-" Derek quickly turned to him, a concerned look adorning his face. "What was that?"
"It's nothing..." Buck lies, degrading the seriousness of his injury. He grabs Buck's hand gently, inspecting the inch-long cut he had on his palm.
With care and an uncharacteristic softness, he brought Buck over to the sink and washed the wound with warm water. "That's not nothing. You're lucky it's shallow." Derek says with a hint of worry his voice. He grabs a clean rag and held it with a bit of pressure to Buck's palm to absorb the blood. He walked away for a few seconds and came back eith a first aid kit. "C'mere." His voice was warm, but also gently commanding. Pulling out some gauze from the pack. Derek looked at him with the same protectiveness and love that he looked at his patients with. Buck's eyes met his for a few uncomfortable moment, but Derek's eyes didn't show uncomfort. They showed love, and care. "There you go, it's gonna be okay." Buck was almost tempted to ask him for a kiss to make it feel better, but he withheld the temptation. They carried on making dinner as usual, except Buck couldn't help but feel a flutter in his heart, even though he tried to keep it undercover, not wanting Derek know about his current thoughts.
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The team ate together like normal. Buck tried to ignore the thoughts and emotions that were swirling around his head. They made him feel so dirty... So, logically, he went to go hit the showers before it was time for bed. All was going well, he was washing the sweat off, and metaphorically washing the sexual thoughts off.
Until he heard someone else come into the showers. "Buckley." Derek greets him, giving him an upwards nod. God, his naked body was, uhm-... Buck almost finds himself staring, but quickly manages to snap out of it.
"Escondo." He greets, slightly less casually. God. He was being sooo obvious. Snap out of it Buckley!
Derek was a big man. Jacked from his years of physical activity, army tattoos on his bicep, war scars proving his heroism, topped off with a girthy package. It was a statue worthy figure, like a man made of marble, carefully chiseled and perched up on a block to be worshipped by millions. His dashingly good looks were only amplified by the steamy hot water of the showers.
For a few seconds, Evan thought that maybe he felt Derek's eyes on him. But, that would be insane, right? Right? I mean, his lieutenant was a ten, and Buck was maybe a six at best. And Derek wasn't gay. He probably had a line of ladies waiting outside his apartment door. Evan came out of the showers to the turnout/locker room to change. Derek was already there as he took a shorter shower than Buck, probably because he wasn't trying to wash away his homosexual thoughts. He towel wrapped around his waist. The silence was thick, but it didn't seem to affect Derek as much as it affected Buck. Suddenly, after he had changed into his pajamas, consisting of sweatpants and an LAFD shirt, Derek broke the silence.
"Buckley. We should hang out sometime." He says casually.
Buck freezes in shock for a few seconds before recuperating quickly. He pulls his shirt on and nervously smooths it out with his hands. "Yeah- uh, like a t-team hangout. That'd be a lot of fun."
Derek's lips purse as he looks at Buck with a scolding disappointment. "No, Buckley. That's now what I said." He says firmly. Not allowing Buck to alter his words.
Buck's face flushed red as he looked away with a bit of internal panic. Derek approached him carefully, like a lion would approach a dove. "Hey... look at me." He grabs Buck's chin and forces him to look up. "Don't let that panic take you over. I meant it. If you're interested.... text me." Derek says in a manner that wasn't pressuring or anything but honeyed. Then, he just, walked off to the bunk rooms.
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Buck was up all night. He couldn't sleep while thinking of his Lieutenants proposition of a date. Or was it a date? God. He didn't even know. After his shift ended, Buck practically ran home. He sat on his couch, with a glass of wine, just staring at his phone, Derek's contact pulled up on his screen.
Was this a bad idea? He hadn't been with anyone since Tommy, and that hadn't ended well... or beginned well, and the middle was kind of awful too. Was Buck ready for a relationship so soon after he went through such an awful, abusive affair such as that?
Buck quickly downed the last quarter of his glass, took a deep breath, and hit the call button. It only took two rings for Derek to pick up the phone.
"Hey, pretty boy..." Derek says in his usual dulcet, and deep-sugary tone. The kind a father would use to talk to his son. "Decided you wanted that date?"
A few beats of silence pass from Buck as he quickly tries to grasp his thoughts together in some sort of coherent sentence. "Uh- yeah... yes, yeah. I thought about it. I'd love to go on a date with you. If you still want that..."
Derek smiles to himself, but he's careful not to show his excitement in his voice. "Of course that's what I still want. How's Saturday at 7 for you? We can get dinner... drinks..." He describes the potential date to him, which makes Buck feel fuzzy inside.
"Yes, definitely... yeah. I'd love too." Buck responds quickly, his excitement much more obvious than Derek's, which makes him smile from the other end of the phone.
"Perfect. I'll come pick you up Saturday then."
"Perfect..." Buck confirms before they hang up. He lays back on his couch, breathing heavily as he calms down from the albeit not that crazy but still intense conversation he just had. He just hoped he was making the right decision.
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Well, Saturday comes fast. Buck is pacing around his apartment in nice dress pants and a black striped-white button up. He's sort of freaking out. His fantasy was coming to life.
A knock at the door snapped him out of it, snapping Buck out of his thoughts seemed to be Derek's signature move at this point.
Buck quickly went to answer the door. "Hey, pretty boy." Derek says with a confident smirk. "You ready?" Buck just nods his head in response and follows Derek down to the street where his car was waiting. An all black Aston Martin. Both stereotypical and still classy. Derek opened the door for Buck. Closing it gently once he got in. Gentlemanly. Quite the green flag. Derek got into the driver's seat and started up the car, it comes to life with the satisfying purr that often accompanies luxury cars.
"So, where are we going?" Buck asks curiously, trying to act like he wasn't nervous. Derek clocked his nerves, but decided not to address it.
"Y'know that place on Alvarado?" Buck was a bit shocked at this.
"You got a table there??" He asks in a surprised tone.
Derek chuckled. "One of the guys I went to basic training with is the manager. I have an inside link." He says with a wink.
They pulled up to the restaurant, hopping out. Derek tossed his keys to the valet as they headed inside.
It was a classy environment. Low-lighting, candles at each table, a delicious smell coming in from the kitchen. A waiter escorted them to a table that was towards the back of the restaurant, a bit tucked away from everyone else. A private dining experience. They both opened our menu's, browsing the options.
Buck, being his usual self, wants to start conversation. "So... Derek, I didn't know you were... well- uh, are you?" Buck leaves the balnks for him to fill in.
"You mean, 'Am I gay?'?" Derek asks with a smile. "Uh, yeah. I am. Gay as a maypole."
"That's- that's great. I'm... bi." Buck says awkwardly.
"Yeah, I know. You're not very quiet about it." Derek jokes.
"Right-... right." Buck says nervously, nodding his head. He certainly wasn't quiet about his sexuality, Derek was right about that. The waiter came back soon after.
"Are we ready to get in a drink order?" Derek answered before Buck could.
"Two waters and a Chateau Devbrose." Order for them. Power move from Derek.
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The last thing Buck remembered was Derek insisting that he paid for both of their dinners, and Buck needing help to walk to the car.
Then, he awoke. In a room he didn't recognize. It was a homey place. It was dark, he was wrapped up in a warm flannel pattern blanket, there were a bunch of other blankets piled on the bed, the walls were a warm brown, and it smelled like of a mix citrus and a stereotypical manly musk. He looked down to see that he wasn't in his clothes from last night, he was in an army shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Neither of them his. He heard someone moving around somewhere else in the apartment, so he decided to get up. Buck ended up finding a shirtless Derek in the kitchen, cooking some breakfast.
"Well, look whose up... hey, pretty boy."
"Uh- hey..." Buck realizes where he is and what's going on. "Last night, did we-? Like?"
Derek chuckles and quickly shakes his head. "No, no. Don't worry. I wouldn't take advantage of you like that." He reassures Buck warmly.
That was different... different than Tommy at least. Tommy wouldn't have hesitated to bang a drunk Buck, especially after spending so much money on dinner for him. He would have assumed he deserved it.
"Then why am I here?" Buck asks in a slightly confused tone. Derek shrugged his shoulders and continued to nonchalantly make them breakfast.
"You didn't want to go home. So, I let you sleep here." He then turns to Buck with a smile. "And you look cute in my shirt."
The memories of last night sort of come back to him. Warm snuggles in Derek's bed, his loving paternal care made him feel all fuzzy inside. "I-I'm sorry. I get clingy when I'm drunk." Buck explains sheepishly.
"Oh, really? I couldn't tell." Derek says sarcasticly.
Buck's cheeks flushed a light red. "I didn't mean to impose on your night." Derek shakes his head.
"No. It was nice. You're a really sweet boy, I liked spending the night with you."
Buck nodded his head in agreement, a warm smile on his face. "I liked spending the night with you too..."
"You hungry?" Derek asks, turning the stove off. "Figured we should eat before our shift starts."
"I'd... love breakfast." Derek makes up two plates of eggs, bacon, and toast and sits down at the kitchen table with Buck.
Derek was sipping on some black coffee when Buck asked, "So, what are we gonna tell them?"
"You mean... about the date?" Derek asks him, perking an eyebrow.
"Yeah, like, don't we have to, I dunno... disclose a relationship?" Buck asks nervously.
"Well, if we decide we want to he official, yeah. But, right now, we're just casually seeing each other." Derek sets down his coffee mug and grabs Buck's shaking hands. "Take a deep breath." Buck takes a shakey breath. "Nothing bad is going to happen. You aren't going to get in trouble, okay? Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it." Derek reassures him.
Buck nods his head in understanding. "Okay, yeah... okay."
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Derek never mentioned it in front of the team, so neither did Buck. But that didn't mean nothing was happening, in fact, a lot was. Date after date after date. Buck was absolutely obsessed, and Derek seemed to really like being with Buck.
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Buck laid on Derek's bare chest, panting and exhausted after their previous activities. Derek wrapped his arms around Buck, holding him close.
"Pretty boy... you okay?" Derek asks him softly, kissing his forehead.
Buck let out a little huff. "Yeah... I'm just tired..."
"I know, baby. I went pretty hard on you." Derek says with a smile. His fingers gently rubbing his head and massaging his scalp.
"Mmm... that feels good."
"I know, baby boy. It's your favorite after sex."
Derek remember that? Wow...
"Just go to sleep baby, daddy will be here when you wake up." It just slipped out. Derek was real nonchalant about it, but it made Buck's breath hitch.
Daddy? Derek was his 'Daddy' now? Buck didn't know how to feel about that.
"Daddy?" Buck asked, a little confused at the way Derek had referred to himself.
Derek looked down at Buck's face, letting out a little chuckle at his expression. "If you're okay with that, yeah."
Buck hesitated for a seconds before he said, "Yeah, i- I am okay... with that." I mean, they had been veering towards that for weeks now. With Derek taking care of and babying Buck, he probably should have seen this one coming. Buck suddenly perks up and keeps on talking. "I've never- uhm... been- like... in a relationship like that."
Derek, who already had his eyes closed, just opened them slightly to look at Buck. "Go to sleep." He commanded. "We'll talk about it in the morning."
Taken aback from the firm order from Derek, Buck lies his head back down on Derek's chest, nuzzling up to him like the good boy he was. Derek wraps the flannel blanket a bit tighter around Buck, ensuring that he would be nice and warm as he slept. Soon, Buck fell fast asleep. And when he awoke, there Derek was, gently massaging Buck's scalp with his fingers in attempts to soothe him.
"Goodmorning, baby." Derek says warmly. "You had... quite the night. Not shocked you slept for so long."
Buck felt groggy, and slowly opened his eyes. He was immediately met with his handsome face. "Goodmorning..."
"How are you feeling? I worked you over pretty hard last night." Derek says teasingly.
Buck turned his head away, his face flushing red with embarrassment. "Derek- don't say that."
"It's true~" Derek reiterates, giving Buck a firm squeeze. "We don't have work today. How about a nice warm shower?"
Buck slowly sat up, tired. "Yeah... that sounds good. But, before that, we need to talk." Derek adjusted himself to face Buck better. "Do you have a daddy kink or something?" Buck just blurts out the question despite his nerves.
"Yep." Derek answers bluntly. "I do. And I think you do too." He tells Buck.
"And- and what makes you say that?" Buck asks Derek nervously.
"Buck, we've been going on dates for 5 weeks now. I see the look on your face everytime I order your food you, or feed you off my fork, or wash your hair, or... smack your cute little bottom." Derek goes on, Buck's cheeks get a small pink hue, "You like it. And so do I. So... why not do this together?"
"I-... I guess, you're right..." Buck agrees.
"And being in a dom/sub relationship doesn't mean anything big. It'll just be the same relationship we've been having, but with an official title." Buck suddenly looks up at Derek.
"Official title?" He asks nervously.
"You'll be my boyfriend, my sub, my... mmm, baby." Derek explains. Then leans over to Buck to peck his lips.
"And you'll be my...?" Buck asks.
"Boyfriend, dom, daddy, etc etc." Derek explains with a smile.
"Sound good?" Buck smiles warmly.
"Sounds good..."
"Now. C'mon." Derek gets out of the bed, pulling Buck along with by his hand to the bathroom.
Derek slowly started pulling off Buck's clothes before pulling off his own. He turned on the water, making sure it was nice and hot. Derek liked cold showers, but Buck couldn't handle them, so they compromised and just always did what Buck liked instead.
"That hot enough for you, baby?" Derek asks as Buck held his hand under the water, and chuckled as he turned it a bit hotter. They got into the shower together, it was quite spacious, but they still preferred to stay close to each other. Derek grabbed his shampoo and started to rub it into his hair, gently scratching on his scalp.
"You're curls are so beautiful, carinõ."
"When I was younger I hated them." Buck offhandedly mentioned, overtaken by the warm intimacy of the moment.
Derek smirked and continued to clean his scalp. "Yeah, I used to hate my curls too. My mama would spend hours making them cute and coiled up, but I hated it." He hadn't yet told Buck anything about his childhood before, and this was a nice conversation.
"My mom would just slick it down with gel." Buck says, leaning his head into Derek's chest.
"That's a shame. They're so pretty." Derek lovingly rubbed his hair as Buck leaned his back under the water to wash the suds out. Derek washed his own hair pretty quickly, not bothering again with the whole 'loving, romantic head massage' deal like he gave Buck. He leaned forward and gently kissed Buck on the lips before grabbing a loofah off of the shower hook and drizzling it with his body wash. Buck loved the scent of his body wash, and especially loved it when he got to smell like it. It smelt like a mix of tobacco, ember, and warm spices. Derek slowly started to scrub Buck's body clean. Starting with his shoulders and back, he made intense eye contact with Buck. Buck let out a little groan as he was scrubbing down. It was such a satisfying feeling, he felt so... loved and cared for by the action. After finsihing cleaning Buck, Derek then started scrubbing himself down with the same loofa.
"There we go, baby. All clean."
"Thank you..." Buck thanks Derek sheepishly.
"You don't have to thank me, baby. It's a gift." Derek says warmly. He turns the water off and grabs two towels from the hooks just outside of the shower. Wrapping one around himself and then one around Buck. "Bebe niño, you want to wear your own clothes or do you want daddy's?" Derek asks while trifling through his closet.
"I wanna wear yours..." Buck says in a slightly whiney tone. Derek tosses him a pair of grey joggers, a black army hoodie, and a pair of his boxers. Just something warm so that Buck could be comfortable for the day. Derek changed into a pair of casual pants and a high neck shirt.
"So, what do you want to do today?" Derek asks Buck while pulling on his clothes.
"Uh.. Maddie and Chim invited me over to their place for lunch, I was wondering if you wanted to come... come with?" Buck offers nervously. Derek smiles and nods his head.
"Yeah. I'd love too, but are you sure you want to.. y'know. They'll probably figure put something is going on between us if I do."
Buck didn't hesitate to say, "I don't care... I mean, I want them to know. That we love each other." That was the first time either one of them had said the word 'love' in reference to one another.
Derek nodded his head. "Yeah, okay... let's do it."
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They walked up to the door of Maddie and Chimney's house together, holding hands. This was their first voyage into the world as an official couple, so, this was pretty big.
Buck knocked on the door, glancing over at Derek for reassurance, and a few seconds later Maddie opened it. She was a bit surprised to see that Buck had brought someone.
"Oh! Buck, you brought a friend." She says, surprised but not unkind.
"Uh, yeah." Buck says in an awkward tone. "I hope that's okay."
Maddie nodded her head. "Oh, of course. The more the merrier." She says with a smile, opening the door wider for the two of them to come inside.
Chimney, who was setting the table, was a bit shocked to see that Buck had brought their lieutenant to a family lunch. "Uh- Escondo. Hey..." He greets Derek. Derek smiles kindly.
"Please, we're off shift. Call me Derek." He says casually. Curiouser and curiouser.
"Uh, Jee's at Hen and Karen's. She's having a play-day with Denny and Mara." Chimney says to explain her absence.
"Play-day?" Buck asks in a confused tone.
"Yeah, it's like a play date but it's all day." Chimney says with a smile.
"Ohhh." Buck nods in understanding. "Fun."
Maddie walked off to the kitchen to grab some drinks for the table. Chimney finally looked up from the table to get a good look at the two. Wait- Buck was wearing an army hoodie. And Buck was never in the Army. But... Derek was.
"Buck... why are you wearing Derek's hoodie?" Chimney asks bluntly. Maddie freezes in her spot.
"What?" She turns us in shock, and she sees it too. Buck was wearing Derek's hoodie.
"Well, uh..." Buck was a little too nervous to be the one to tell them. His cheeks were an adorable shade of pink.
"Buck and I are dating. Officially. But, we're keeping it under wraps." Derek explains to them, grabbing Buck's hand in his in attempts to make them look like a more united front.
"Oh, Buck!" Maddie says with a smile, coming over to hug us both. "That's wonderful."
Chimney was in a bit of shock, but managed to get out a "Congrats, you two." Immediately followed by, "Have you told Cap yet?"
"Relashonship disclosure papers goes in next shift." Derek says, suddenly switching from a 'telling my boyfriends family about me' to a 'business' voice. "And if the brass has anything to say, I'm taking it. Not Buck. I promise."
Maddie looks at Derek with an 'aww' expression as he noblely says that he will take any sort of punishment for fraternization between a firefighter and lieutenant from the brass.
"Well, how about we sit down for lunch." Maddie says with a smile. They all sit down around the table, Buck and Derek on one side, Chim and Maddie on the other.
"On a more serious note," Maddie starts while making her plate up. "Buck, are you sure you're ready to date again after..." She didn't finish the question, leaving the blank open. Derek just kept his mouth shut. He knew this wasn't his place to talk, not a place where his opinion was needed.
"Derek... takes care of me in a way that no one ever has before. I'm ready, and I'm okay. I promise." Buck reassures her and Chim lovingly. Maddie accepts that as answer. She just wants her brother to be happy.
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Sure, telling Buck's family went great. But now, they had to tell Bobby. And not just Bobby, but also Captian Nash, which contrary to what some people might say, is not the same person.
"Captain." Derek calls from behind Bobby.
Bobby turns around to face him, "Escondo! Hey. You're early for your shift." Bobby looks a little confused, especially when Buck also entered the firehouse.
"I need to talk to you." Derek says in a serious tone. "In your office... with Buckley."
Bobby's face immediately turns serious as he feels the tension in the air build and the tone shift to something deeper. "Yeah, of course."
They all head to Bobby's office, the silence awkward and uncharacteristic.
"So... what's this about?" Bobby asks as Buck and Derek take their seats on the opposite side of Bobby's desk to him. Derek just skips right to the chase and slides a signed and filled out relationship disclosure form across his desk.
"Hm." Bobby picks up the paper. "This is..."
"... insane?" Buck says nervously, preguessing what he would say.
Bobby shakes his head and immediately backtracks. "No, no. Not insane, just... shocking. I did not see this coming."
Derek sighs through the tension. "We're very serious about this, Captain. So, before taking it any further, we decided to make sure it was documented."
"Wait- how long has this been going on?" Bobby asks in a confused tone.
A beat of silence passed.
"No comment."
"... Escondo." Bobby says in a slightly disappointed tone.
"I'm sorry, sir. I couldn't... help myself." Derek says honestly, looking Buck up and down with slightly predatory eyes.
"Oh, god." Bobby says, pinching his nose bridge.
"I know that one of us has to take the hit for this, and I'd prefer for it to fall on me instead of my Buck." Derek says warmly.
"My Buck?" Bobby asks. "Tsk.. Cute." He says sarcasticly.
Derek just chuckles and shakes his head. "Uhm, yeah... I'm sorry, again, Captain. I know this is a lot to just dump on you."
Bobby shakes his head. "No, no... I'm happy for you two. I really am. But it does complicate things." He grabs the relationship disclosure forms off of his desktop and slids them into a drawer to be filed. "I'll try my best to make sure neither of you have to get booted to different stations."
Buck smiles, finally releasing that tension from his shoulders. "Thank you, Bobby. For being so understanding."
Bobby smiles, his heart being warmed by Buck's joy. "Of course. I really hope it works out for you two." He says.
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And that was it. They had a whole life in front of them. Acceptance from their loved ones, from Bobby, and hopefully they'd get it from Derek's family too. But that was a coin flip in itself.