Work Text:
Eddie Diaz does not do adult training sessions. It’s been a rule since the first year of being open for a reason. He doesn’t need the extra money and he certainly doesn’t need the extra trouble. But this Mr. Buckley, Buck, he keeps reminding him, is testing Eddie’s strength. He’s come in every other week for Jee-Yun, a promising little fighter.
“You really don’t train adults?” He stammers. “Not that you’re not good with kids… Jee loves you. Won’t stop talking about you really.”
Eddie smirks, he’s cute, too cute. They’ve talked, only in passing, never more than a few minutes about Jee’s progress or random topics that Buck had been researching that day. Eddie always talks more with Maddie who seems equally if not more obsessed with how their daughter is doing. But there’s something about the way Buck smiles that keeps Eddie from looking away, something about the way he blossoms when he's given the space to talk that makes Eddie want to listen to him for days on end. It’s not appropriate, this crush that’s been rearing its ugly head recently. The man is married. He has a daughter, an adorable daughter that is waiting on him to start class.
“I really don’t. We tried it the year we opened and learned very quickly that I did not want to continue doing so. If you want lessons, Lena is opening her roster up pretty soon.”
Buck follows behind him as he walks into their junior room. Jee runs ahead of her father and puts her water bottle along her assigned punching bag.
“What happened that made you want to stop?”
“A mix of anger management and PTSD cases gone wrong and parents who signed up just to shoot their shot with me. I just didn't want to expose myself to all of that, besides I rather teach the kids, they take it seriously."
Buck smiles wide at him.
“And if I promise to take every lesson seriously?”
Eddie moves about the room checking his attendance for the day, most of the parents have gone out to the main gym to do their own workout.
“I really should start class.”
A smile spreads on Buck’s face.
“That’s not a no.”
“Jee will see your in an hour, Mr. Buckley.”
“Buck. Just, Buck is fine.”
Eddie shakes his head, and points to the door with his tablet.
“An hour, Buck.”
The kids all sit around one another, some of them pulling gloves on. He laughs as Buck walks out of the room and toward the main gym. He looks back at the kids and claps his hands together.
“Who’s ready for their wrap check?”
A few kids groan as others cheer. Eddie works his way down each kid, making sure their wraps aren’t done too tightly and giving each student the time to ask questions if they have them. He gets to Jee who holds out her hands, expectedly. The pink wrap is done perfectly, not too snug but secure enough that she’s protected.
“Great job, Jee. Did you do it all by yourself today?”
Jee nods.
“Mommy showed me on this hand,” she points to her right hand, “and I tried this one!” Eddie smiles.
“That’s awesome, you have any questions on them?”
“Are they always sweaty?” He laughs softly.
“Yeah, we might be uncomfy for a bit, but they keep our hands protected.”
She nods and runs off, back to her water bottle, carefully lifting it and taking a sip. Eddie stands and makes a show of waiting for all of them to quiet down. Ten pairs of eyes find him and he gets low, pretending to share a secret.
“You know what time it is?”
In unison, all of them scream.
“Warm Ups!”
“That’s right. I want all of us to listen to our bodies, stretch out all those muscles until the end of the song, no one should be putting their gloves on before then. And if I see someone hitting the bags —”
“No more boxing for any of us and our parents get told.” One of the older boys says softly. His gym is what they boast as exclusive in Glendale but Eddie knows better. He's more selective than exclusive, it’s not about the money, it’s about their effort and their discipline. He tries his hardest to be here for the kids who actually want this, who would thrive by finding a healthy outlet.
“Exactly, let’s get started then.”
He opens his Spotify and scrolls down to a playlist Chris made him a few nights ago. The opening notes to “Training Season” has them excited as he walks around and hums along. The kids belt out the chorus, their stretches quickly turning into dance moves.
The class is over before he realizes it and each kid is being signed out. He half expects Buck to stick around and try to convince him to take him on as a client again, maybe tell him about his latest research spiral, but when he looks up at the room, both Jee and him are gone.
The week feels like it's drooling on. He has an appointment with someone from the fire department for the gym's annual inspection and while he’s not worried about it, he’s annoyed at everything else. The gym is slower today, the weekend making everyone want to stay home. It would be peaceful, bu the past three hours have been nothing but administrative work and an upset mother who's already pissed off Lena and made one of their receptionists cry.
“Ma’am, I understand. I wish he’d wanted to stay but we laid out the drop deadlines before registration. Neither myself or any of my staff can teach someone who is unwilling or who is not here. Your son said he would talk to you and to my knowledge he has not stepped foot in here in weeks.”
“Are you seriously going to tell me there's nothing you can do to get my money back?”
"No. I won’t refund a class that is almost at its end. Believe me when I say I hope he finds something he enjoys. If it’s not here with us at Station Takedown —”
There’s a string of curses and a promise of a negative review on Yelp before the phone is hung up. Eddie sighs and closes his eyes. A knock at his office door gets his attention.
“Diaz, fire department is here.” Lena motions toward the entrance. “They sent you a pretty one, maybe you’ll get lucky.”
Eddie shakes his head. He knows Lena means well, but dating is the furthest thing from his… his eyes trail over the man’s broad frame, the snug fit of his uniform shirt and the soft coil of a curl that sits delicately over the birthmark he’s been trying to forget about.
“Buck.”
Buck’s smile is blinding, it makes Eddie feel a bit weak at the knees.
“Hey, Eddie. I was hoping I got to walk the building with you.”
Eddie swallows, willing his newfound excitement for the day down to a soft smile. He’s married, you idiot. He walks toward the first of the AEDs, watching as Buck jots down expiration dates on clipboards and checks off boxes.
“I didn’t know you were a Fire Marshal.”
“And a teacher at the Fire Academy.” Buck winks. “Disciplined, patient, hard-working, all the makings of a good student.”
“Told you, I don’t teach adults.” Buck’s smile fades minutely and Eddie almost feels bad. “It’s nothing personal, Buck. Remember, I have bad experiences with people who come in here just looking to throw a punch as someone instead of working through whatever is going on with them.”
“And the moms hitting on you.”
“And people hitting on me, yes.”
“Okay. No gym lessons, for now.”
Eddie exhales softly and steps through a pair of double doors and signals out the locker rooms.
“There are a few more fire extinguishers through the entrance of each locker room, we did have someone come and paint the ceilings a year ago so the sprinkler system was rewired and checked right after, the paperwork is in my office.”
“Be right back.”
Eddie thumbs through his notifications, the last notification from Chris.
New message(s) from Chris <3 at 8:37 am:
From Chris <3:
Lena told me the hot dad dude is there?
ask him if he’s actually married
To Chris <3:
Mijo, he has a kid
From Chris <3:
🙄
Like I don’t wanna sibling
ANDDDD you can have a kid and not have a wife 🫵🏼
To Chris <3:
Why must you be smart?
He slips his phone back in his pocket as Buck walks back out.
“Wanna give me the rest of the tour?”
Eddie nods.
“How we doing so far?”
Buck taps on the clipboard and meets Eddie's eyes.
“Good, scary good, actually.”
“Some of the staff used to be in first response, so we kinda know our way around.”
“Oh shit, really? Who?”
Eddie smiles despite himself. This is the first time he can say they've talked for more than a few minutes and Buck's interest seems genuine.
“Lena and I used to be in LAFD. She quit after the tsunami a few years back. Her station went under and she just didn’t have it in her to keep going. I left a year or two after that. A few others followed us here from all kinds of agencies, I got real lucky that I had people believe in me.”
“I heard about Lena’s station. It was about the same time I um started to do this actually.”
Eddie finds himself smiling as their arms brush together. They’re getting close to his office when he notices that Buck is looking at anything but him. A small part of him hates it. Hates that he doesn’t know if this man is someone he can only ever look at like he would the moon, in wonder and from a distance.
“What took you off the field?”
Buck’s writing stops and Eddie thinks he might’ve messed up.
“You don’t have to answer. I know I hate when people ask me.”
Buck shakes his head and pulls the clipboard close to his chest.
“No, no. It’s fine, just been a while since I’ve been asked.” Buck takes a breath. “You mind if we talk in your office?”
Eddie nods and opens the door for Buck, the motion sensor flicking the lights on. He pulls the chair out for him and turns to sit next to him. Buck laughs.
“Your office is more spacious than mine.”
“Perks of being the owner I guess.”
Buck bites his lip, the clipboard now forgotten on the desk.
“I was caught under a ladder truck after an explosion.”
Eddie’s memories flash to that day. He was in his first year with Station 6. Every firehouse had the news on for updates. He shouldn’t have been there that day. It was pure coincidence that he had been in that crowd that helped lift the truck off of a man, pure coincidence that it was his hand that held Buck’s pain.
“That was you?” He exhales.
Buck’s smile is hollow.
“Yeah, wasn’t supposed to be. Kid didn’t know my captain wasn’t on shift.”
“I wasn’t supposed to be there either, just saw everything and rushed in when your guys needed help. I wasn't the only one so when I saw there was enough people lifting, I thought I could make sure that firefighter knew he wasn't alone.”
Buck’s eyes find his.
“You were —”
Eddie reaches out tentatively and squeezes Buck’s hand.
“I was. I didn’t get your name and by the time we heard about how the station was doing, it was business as usual.”
Buck lets out a small laugh and covers Eddie’s hand with his own.
“They managed to save my leg. I was cleared to go back out but I had a pulmonary embolism, the metal they used was being rejected by my body. I fought, a lot, to try and get back on the field, until I couldn’t. My captain, my dad really, pulled me aside and told me he didn’t want me dying trying to push my body to places it couldn’t go. I didn't react well, almost sued the department but my team sat me down and talked to me. Told me they wanted me alive and safe, that maybe I could teach at the Academy and pick up shifts as a Marshal if I really wanted to be out in the community."
He waits, almost as if daring Eddie to talk.
“Army Medic then Firefighter. I was hurt on my second tour in Afghanistan, my team and I were flying over the Valley of Death when we got shot down. When I came back, I figured I'd work a few odd jobs until I healed, my ex-wife left us about that time." Eddie takes a breath, it's a lot, to think about, to tell someone. He finds himself wanting to be vulnerable, to hold onto Buck while he can. "I came to here because of the LAFD. I wanted it to work out, I really did. But... If I tell you this it goes to your grave..."
"Are you gonna tell me this is a front for the mafia? The training grounds for all their muscle?"
Eddie breaks into laughter.
"No. God no, but it's scary how close you guessed. I um, got in trouble for being a part of an illegal fighting ring. Obviously brass hated it, by some miracle they sent me to therapy and pulled me from the field, but didn't fire me. The whole thing did kind of inspire this place. By the time I was cleared to go back, I just wanted to spend more time with my son and make this place happen.”
Buck’s smile grows.
“I love kids.”
Eddie laughs at the absurdity of the comment.
“I love this one.” He pulls back to show Buck his lock screen, a picture of Chris cheering at winning a video game. Buck asks a few more questions about Chris as he fills out the rest of the initial inspections forms. Eddie’s stomach has moved past butterflies and is entering sheer panic. He hasn’t felt this at ease in a while, and this is someone else’s husband.
“And the phone number?”
“What?”
“The business phone number?”
“Don’t make fun, we made it while we were drunk and not sure if we’d be just MMA focused, but it’s 1-800-PTEDDIE. Or 1-800-783-3343.”
Buck smiles at him.
“It’s cute.”
They stay, their eyes locked on one another, Eddie swears he felt Buck move closer to him. Then Buck’s phone rings. Eddie catches a glimpse at the screen Mads (ICE) with a picture of Maddie and Jee. It’s like a bucket of cold water falls on him.
“Sorry.” Buck tells him as he stands and steps away to answer.
He can hear bits and pieces of the conversation and it does nothing to help the pit in his stomach.
“Maddie, I can’t. What if he -- Oh my god fine, if it doesn’t go well don’t complain when you have no time with your own daughter, my little sous chef and I will be baking up a storm.”
Eddie inhales sharp and stands. He rounds his desk and busies himself fixing whatever his eyes land on. Buck walks back into the space and picks up his clipboard. He leans against the desk and waits.
“Eddie?”
“Hm?” Eddie keep looking down at the desk, trying to will Buck away.
“I hope I’m not being too forward, well I know I’m not… it’s been months at this point, but um. Could I maybe get your number?”
Eddie can feel his heart thumping in his throat, please… stop. He looks up at Buck, hoping nothing on his face betray him.
“I gave you the gym’s number.”
Buck messes with the top of his clipboard.
“Your personal number?”
Eddie has to ask him, he has to.
“Are you married?”
Buck furrows his brow.
“Married? No, why would you think I’m married?”
He steals a glance at Buck’s phone, the screen lighting up with an unread notification from Maddie. A disbelieving laugh bursts out of Eddie.
“Don't lie. Buck, please don't fucking lie right now. Tell me your daughter isn’t waiting for her dad to come home to bake. Tell me your wife isn’t texting you right now.”
Buck’ eyes widen, he doesn’t respond just stares at Eddie like he’s trying to figure out what he just said. Eddie feels sick, like he needs to leave the room.
“You think…” Eddie stutters out a breath and feels a hand on his arm. He opens his eyes and sees Buck’s softened expression. “Eddie, Maddie is my sister.”
"I don't believe you." It comes out more broken than he thought it would, his eyes sting. His heart is thrumming loudly, the noise of—is that a dial tone?
“Did you do it?!” Maddie’s voice comes out of the speaker. Eddie lift his head, his hair flopping down in front of his face. Buck hands him the phone. “Ask her. If you can’t believe me, ask her. Please.”
“Ask me what exactly?”
Eddie takes a deep breath.
“Hey Maddie.”
“Eddie, hi! Did Evan finally tell you?”
“Mads, Eddie has a question for you before I can do what we talked about.” Buck sits back against the desk and motions for Eddie to continue.
“Are Buck and you married?”
There’s a silence on the other end before laughter fills the speaker, it doesn’t end. Eddie looks at Buck who’s trying not to laugh himself. He’s either about to be embarrassed for life or this is some sick joke to them. Maddie sighs.
“No. Evan’s my brother. How on Earth did you think we were married?”
He stares at Buck for a moment and then exhales, the weight of guilt lifted off of him.
“He kept picking Jee up, it was a natural assumption.”
“Oh my god. Eddie, you’ve met my husband before. He came in with me to sign her up for the class. I've talked about him!”
Eddie blinks. It sounds vaguely familiar. Lena had taken them to fill out the registration forms and Eddie stopped only to introduce himself to Jee.
“I’m an idiot.”
“You both are."
He tries to think if he's ever seen Maddie's husband.
"Why was it just you and Buck picking her up?"
"Howie just promoted to captain at the 118. Buck offered to help out while we figured out shift changes. He likes you Eddie, enough to fuck up his own schedule and —”
Buck takes the phone and turns off the speaker.
“Mads, that is not—”
Eddie moves as if on autopilot. He takes Buck’s phone again and puts it to his ear.
“Maddie, your brother is gonna have to call you back. I have a few months to make up for.”
He hangs up and pulls Buck into him, the phone tossed onto the chair.
“You have no idea how crazy I have gone over the past few months.”
He feels Buck shiver in his arms. He wants to kiss him senseless, get lost in him until there's people knocking at his door. But he can't, not while Buck is here for his job.
“I think I have an idea.”
"Yeah?"
"Bobby, the captain that just retired? He told me I should just ask you out."
"Why didn't you?"
"Have you seen you?"
Eddie bites at his lip, trying not to smile harder than he is now.
“Is that why you asked if I trained adults? Wanted some one-on-one sessions, work up the courage?”
Buck’s hand finds his face and caress his cheek.
“Thought it was a good idea. I didn't want all of our conversations to be interrupted by my niece yelling that she’s hungry within seconds of picking her up.”
Eddie inhales, the words settling into his head again. Sister and niece. They feel right.
“Buck, this isn’t a hook up for me. I want the first date,” Eddie steps back and takes Buck's hand up to his lips, just barely ghosting his lips over it, “the mundane chores, the stupid fights over who needed to get groceries for the week.”
A red tinge takes over Buck's features. Eddie wants to know everything he can do to keep it there.
“I want everything, Eddie. Of course, I'd love for you to bend me over your desk right now and ruin me. But I also wanna know how you hair sticks up on lazy Sunday mornings, whether or not you fall asleep while we watch a movie, what days out with your son look like... all of it. ” Buck squeezes Eddie's hand.
"I wish you didn't have to go back to work."
"I know. Maybe, I can actually get your number now?”
Eddie grabs his phone and hands it to Buck.
“Here, put yourself in.”
Buck smiles and starts typing. His own phone buzzes from the chair. He hands the phone back to Eddie and cups his face with his other hand leaning in and kissing Eddie's cheek. Eddie relaxes into the touch. Buck moves to grab his things and lingers at the doorway for a second before leaving. Eddie plays with the phone in his hand, watching as Buck walks out of the gym, sunshine peeking through the open doors. He unlocks the phone, under contact name it reads: future husband 👨🏻❤️💋👨🏼.