Chapter Text
Buck held Theo close to him, the toddler warm in his arms. He stared at him in amazement. He never thought that he would see him again, not after he fell out of contact with Connor and Kameron. The accident right before Bobby and Athena went on their cruise was fate. It brought them back together, brought the bright eyed and energetic little boy into Buck’s life.
It was also fate that brought Buck back to the 118 when Chimney and Eddie both were pretending to come down with food poisoning. He had left Theo at daycare for the first time and he was desperate to get his mind off of leaving his son behind. His son. What a novel thing to say. He hadn’t thought of Theo in months before the accident, hadn’t let himself think of the squirming baby he delivered on his couch in his loft. His paternity leave didn’t end for another three weeks but he found himself drawn to the station.
He had found it in quite the state. Hen was missing, off on some solo mission that could lead to her firing. Chimney and Eddie were only a few steps behind her, squared off in the corner plotting their escape. It was pure fate that Buck caught them when he did, pure fate that they took him along. Pure fate that he met Tommy.
Tommy Kinard was like no man he had ever met before. Sure, he had heard the name before. He had listened to the stories of the man he replaced when he was just a probie. Had listened to Chimney call in favors from air support. None of those stories had mentioned the broad shoulders stretching his flight suit, or the blue eyes that somehow looked brighter in person. Nobody had bothered to mention that Tommy Kinard smiled like he knew exactly how charming he was.
None of those stories compared to sitting behind him in the helicopter, wearing turnouts a size too small, feeling overheated and chilled at the same time.
“I just saw Hen park.” Tommy said, climbing out of the helicopter, “I’ll go get her.”
“So that was Tommy?” Buck asked as he watched his retreating form get further away from them.
“That’s Tommy.” Chimney chuckled, squirming in his seat. They made him sit in the middle, as he was smaller than both Eddie and Buck. Buck squirmed in return, shoving an elbow into the older man’s side when he pinched at him.
“He seems pretty cool.” Buck muttered, feeling his face heat up. What was that about?
“He’s the coolest.” Chimney told him, “I ever tell you about the time I carried him out of an exploding building-”
“Who even called you?” They heard Hen ask, footsteps approaching.
Tommy yanked open the door, gesturing to the three of them huddled in the back, “Who did you think?”
…
Buck watched in amazement as Tommy faked mouth static to Chief Simpson, watched as the other hung up on the chief.
“Has he always been like that?” Buck asked quietly, digging his elbow into Chimney’s side again to get his attention.
“Ow, Buck, stop it. No, he wasn’t always like that.” Chimney answered, pushing back at Buck.
“I used to be a Grade A douchebag.” Tommy piped up. Shit, Buck forgot about the open channel. Again.
“What changed?” Buck asked, nervously fidgeting with his hands. He felt naked without any tools and any mission but to look into the expanse of sea and hope that they could find a ship in it.
“Well, I made some really good friends in Howie and Hen.” Tommy answered, chuckling lightly into the comms. The sound made Buck shiver.
“I think they made me better too.” Buck offered, ducking his head in an unusual display of shyness.
“Buckaroo, you grew up a lot.” Hen told him, turning in her seat to grasp his hand, “It’s nice to see. Fatherhood suits you.”
“Fatherhood?” Tommy asked, arching an eyebrow.
Buck opened his mouth to answer, but was distracted by the flash of red lighting up the air. “Over there! The boat! It’s….”
“Capsized.” Tommy finished.
…
He got Tommy’s number from Chimney, had followed through with Tommy’s offer for a tour.
“You’re thinking of changing things up, aren’t you?” Tommy asked. And oh, he had no idea how much Buck’s life had changed within the last few months.
“Uh,” Buck stuttered, feeling hot under his collar and unsure of why, “I don’t know.”
Tommy gave him an encouraging smile, gesturing for him to continue.
“Aside from worrying that Cap and Athena were at the bottom of the ocean, that night was the most fun I’d had since I was struck by lightning.”
“You need to raise your bar, kid.” Tommy told him, interrupting with a quirky grin.
“Uh, not that being struck by lightning was fun. Just, uh,” Buck trailed off as he turned around to look at Tommy, briefly distracted by those bright blue eyes. “Just using it as a point of reference.”
Tommy smoothly slid his hands into his front pockets, biceps bulging through the thin fabric of his overshirt, humming an affirmation.
“So, uh, what-what got you into flying?” Buck asked, feeling his cheeks heat as Tommy gave him a knowing look as the other scanned his form. “You know, aside from the fact that I assume it feels like having a superpower.”
“I was actually a pilot in the army.” Tommy shrugged, soft grin on his too pink lips.
“No way!” Buck felt a thrill of excitement light up his spine, “Eddie was in the army!”
“He mentioned that.” Tommy nodded at him, grinning at the way Buck’s lips spread into a full teeth baring smile.
“I actually met an ex responding to a helicopter crash.” Buck shook his head at the thought of Taylor, glad that ended way before Theo came into his life. God, he couldn’t imagine the redhead with the energetic missile Buck had helped make. “That probably should have been the first clue.”
“Yeah,” Tommy chuckled, “Saving someone’s life and then dating them never turns out the way you expect it to.”
“Figured that out third time around,” Buck muttered, looking at his feet.
“But they’re always so grateful!” Tommy laughed, patting Buck on the shoulder. Buck swayed into it, catching himself before he closed the gap between them. Woah. He never felt like that before.
Sure, he'd checked out Connor before.
And okay, maybe he'd occasionally noticed Eddie's arms.
Or Chimney's shoulders.
Or Ravi's smile.
That didn't mean anything.
Everybody noticed attractive people.
That was normal.
Right?
He watched as Eddie and Tommy flew off together, feeling oddly bereft. He had never felt like this when Eddie and Chimney hung out. Hell, he didn’t feel like this when Bobby took in new probies that filled in under their shift. What the hell was going on?
…
Buck sat at the living room table, wondering what Tommy and Eddie were doing. Well, not as much as wondering as he knew they were at a trivia night. But wondering how they felt hanging out without him. Did they feel his absence as much as he felt theirs?
Christopher was a wealth of information. Tommy had been over three times that week. Tommy works the controls of the helicopter. He even lied to Chris and said that Revenge of the Sith was better than Return of the Jedi! You’re not supposed to just lie to a child to make them your friend.
“Daddy.” Theo toddled towards him, still on the clumsy side of learning to walk. The parenting books Buck read said he was slightly delayed in that aspect. Maddie told him not to put too much stock in those, however, knowing each child matured at their own speed. JeeYun didn’t talk as much as Theo and Maddie said it was just because they had different Buckleys for parents.
“Whats up, buddy?” Buck called, letting the tiny body crash into him from his seat position on the floor. He had been sitting criss-cross apple sauce with the boys as they built a Lego kingdom. Until Christopher got frustrated with the way Theo tore down the taller pieces.
“Sleepy.” Theo told him, baby voice soft and angelic. He laid his little head on Buck’s shoulder, snuggling into him. He smelled like the baby shampoo that Maddie gave Buck from JeeYun’s old things, like baby powder and the soft fragrance of lavender.
“Okay, baby.” Buck whispered, rocking him in his arms as the other yawned widely, “We gotta wait here until Eddie gets home. Why don’t we lay on the couch?”
Chris smiled at him from the desk. His homework was finished and it seemed the older boy was also beginning to feel tired.
That’s how Eddie found them when he came in, Buck reclined on the couch with an asleep Theo on his chest, and Chris half asleep at his desk.
“Have a fun night?” Buck asked, rubbing a soothing hand down Theo’s back as he stirred.
“Yeah, Tommy’s really cool.” Eddie told him, jostling Christopher to help walk him to bed. When the other man had come back out, Theo was bundled up in Buck’s arm, Buck sitting upright on the couch.
“Do you think you guys are gonna hang out again?” Buck asked, standing up with the toddler held to his chest.
“Yeah,” Eddie told him, “We have a basketball game this Thursday.”
“Basketball, huh?” Buck grinned to himself, a plan forming.
…
Convincing Chimney was the easiest part of the plan. Convincing Maddie to watch Theo was a little less so. It was her shift off so she hadn’t really been ecstatic to be on babysitting duty, especially when Chimney was supposed to be home with her. But after a few bribes and promises to take JeeYun for a day in the near future he was able to secure the afternoon off for Chimney and himself.
“So I have to ask,” Chimney started in on Buck as soon as they made it to the court, having blessedly been quiet on the ride over, “What’s with the sudden conversion to the sport of kings?”
Buck felt himself blush in return, wishing that maybe they did have the conversion in the safety of his Jeep. “What, what do you mean?”
“Well, anytime Albert and I would ask you to shoot hoops, you’d take a pass,” Chimney shrugged, raising eyebrows at Buck.
“Well,” Buck scrambled, “I-I know you love it, and I figure we’re gonna be brothers-in-law. It’d be a good way for us to bond away from the firehouse and-”
“Our kids?” Chimney suggested, laughing at the wounded look on Buck’s face. He hadn’t meant it in that way. But, well, he didn’t exactly trust Theo in a large open space like this.
“There we go!” Buck’s head swiveled at the sound of Tommy’s voice, gaze finding the older man completing some sort of complicated trick that ended with the basketball in the hoop.
“That’s my boy!” Eddie cheered, jumping with the other man in excitement.
Tommy and Eddie crashed into each other with matching grins.
Something unpleasant twisted low in Buck's stomach.
His smile slipped before he could stop it.
The sound of Tommy laughing at something Eddie said felt weirdly personal.
Buck watched as they struck each other’s chest, feeling his own warm up with some sort of pleasure. Embarrassingly enough, his shorts suddenly felt a little tight.
“Howie! Evan!” Tommy greeted them, spreading his arms wide to go for a hug, “Hey guys!”
“What?” Evan feigned surprise, but judging from the judgemental look Chimney threw his way, not very well, “What are you guys doing here? What are the odds?”
Buck chuckled, elbowing at Chimney to play along.
“How’d you talk him into this?” Eddie asked Chimney, “He always says no to me.”
“I have my ways.” Chimney winked.
“You boys showed up unannounced to your own funerals. I like it.” Buck couldn’t help but watch the way that Tommy’s biceps flexed obscenely as he went in for a fist bump. He responded with his own, fingers tingling where they met. “These two victims rotating in! We’ll make quick work of them.”
“So I’m your basketball beard.” Chimney asked as the other two turned away, “I feel so bonded.”
…
Buck knew he was always sort of a hot head. He was easy to anger. Easy to rile up. But he hadn’t thought it really extended to Eddie. Afterall, the other was his best friend.
But, his hotheadedness ended up with Eddie on the ground, nursing his ankle.
Tail between his legs, he drove Chimney home, picking up Theo from Maddie to take home.
Chimney’s words of him “bucking up” remained in his head, even as tears burned at his eyes. He always did Buck everything up.
The knock a t the door surprised Buck. He held out hope that it was Eddie, that their relationship would be okay and the other wanted to see him again. He was even more surprised to find Tommy on the other end of the door.
“Can I come in?” The older man asked. God, he looked handsome with his five o’clock shadow and Henley.
“Yeah, come in.” Buck said, gesturing for the other man to enter. He walked past Buck, curious eyes trailing through the kitchen. They skipped right over Theo’s sleeping form on the couch. They had resorted to that after a scary tumble down the loft stairs. Buck was searching for new apartments but so far had no luck. “Can I get you something? I still owe you a beer.”
“No, I’m good.” Tommy told him, leaning against the stairway, “I won’t stay long. I just wanted to clear the air, and I didn’t want to do it over the phone or in a text or something.”
Buck looked over his shoulder to see Tommy standing on the other side of his kitchen table, arms crossed over his muscular chest.
“Clear the air about what?” Buck asked, feeling faint. This was it. This was when Tommy told him he never wanted to see him again.
“Obviously,” Tommy began, “I’ve been the cause of some bad blood between you and Eddie, and I just want you to know that was never my intention.” He spread his hands out in a calming gesture, beautiful blue eyes staring at the ground by Buck’s shoes.
“There’s no bad blood.” Buck corrected him, setting his own beer down on the counter.
“Evan,” Tommy’s voice was plaintive, an almost whined tone to it.
“No, really.” Buck assured him, “No bad blood. Just…bad behavior. And-and it’s all on my part. You guys didn’t do anything wrong. You and Eddie as buddies makes perfect sense.”
“Yeah, we do.” Tommy agreed, stepping forward to cock a hip against the kitchen table, one hand on his hip, “ANd you know he can have more than one friend, right?”
“Uh, yes,” Buck chuckled, caught off guard, “I-I do know that.”
“I mean,” Tommy continued, “it’s not like I could ever replace you. Christopher would absolutely have something to say about that. That kid cannot shut up about you.”
“Really?” Buck asked, beaming.
“Really.” Tommy confirmed, giving him a warm grin.
“I guess, I guess Eddie is, uh, pretty pissed, huh?” Buck asked, gazing up at Tommy through dark lashes.
“No, he’s not.” Tommy crossed his arms, “In fact he feels bad. We both do. Nobody meant to exclude you, Evan. Eddie and I hanging out, it wasn’t about you.”
Buck chuckled, shaking his head, “That’s usually my problem. Uh, I can get pretty jealous.”
Tommy looked away for a moment, before meeting Buck’s eyes, “Yeah, you’re not the only one. I was super jealous.”
“You? Over what?” Buck’s mouth was agape as he looked at the sure and suave man before him.
“All of you.” Tommy told him, “The 118. How it became a family over there. I mean, how you all were willing to put everything on the line for each other. I wanted to be part of that. It was never like that when I was stationed there. Not until Bobby showed up and by then, I was leaving.”
“You were! And you did!” Buck interjected, taking a step closer, “You even made fake mouth static at the fire chief.”
“Hey, I’m renowned for my fake mouth static.” Tommy chuckled, leaning in.
“It was not great. It was not convincing but you did it anyway. You threw in with us, no hesitation, and I thought “wow that guy is cool. I like that guy”. That’s why I called to schedule the tour. I didn’t want to leave the 118. I just. I wanted to get to know you.” Buck rushed to say, grinning wide.
“Yeah?” Something in Tommy’s voice changed.
“Yeah.” Buck told him, shrugging his own shoulders. He was so close he could smell the musk of the other man’s cologne. “ANd then you left with Eddie, and I got jealous. I get why you’d want to hang out with Eddie. And I don’t know Muy Thai.”
“I can teach you.” Tommy offered quickly, quirking an eyebrow in surprise at his own offer.
“Will that be before or after our flying lessons?” Buck teased, chest close enough to feel the heat of Tommy’s own.
“Probably not the same day.” Tommy told him, bumping forward into him.
“Good” Buck whispered, suddenly feeling shy. He heard tiny footsteps before he saw Theo emerge from the living room, “"Trying to get your attention has been kind of exhausting."
Tommy went very still.
"My attention?"
Buck swallowed.
Suddenly there was no room left in the loft. No space between them.
"Yeah."
Tommy's eyes dropped to his mouth.
"Oh."
Buck startled as Tommy crashed his lips into his own. He startled further when he felt Theo crash into his legs, giggling as he tried to climb into his arms.
“Daddy!” Theo called, tugging on his jeans, pushing Tommy away in frustration.
"Daddy?"
Tommy blinked.
Buck's stomach immediately dropped.
Great.
Perfect.
He'd finally kissed the hottest man he'd ever met and less than thirty seconds later had accidentally revealed he came with a toddler.
"Uh, yeah," Buck said weakly.
Tommy looked from him to Theo.
Then back to him.
And smiled.
"Hi, Theo."