Chapter Text
A month had passed since Bobby Nash’s funeral. The 118 still didn’t feel the same.
The station was quieter. The laughter came less often. Every call reminded them that someone was missing.
Until the department made a permanent decision,
Eddie Diaz had been appointed temporary captain of the 118.
It wasn’t a promotion he had wanted. It was a responsibility he accepted because someone had to lead.
Shannon wasn’t thrilled when he told her the news.
“You already carry enough on your shoulders,” she had said the night before. “Now they’re asking you to carry everyone else’s too.”
Eddie understood her concern, but there wasn’t much room to argue.
The 118 needed someone they trusted.
So he showed up every shift, put on the captain’s helmet, and did the job Bobby would have expected him to do.
There was one thing, though, that Eddie refused to do. He wouldn’t step inside Bobby’s office. The door remained closed.
The office stayed exactly as Bobby had left it. His coffee mug still sat on the desk.His family photos remained on the bookshelf.
His jacket still hung from the coat rack. Every morning Eddie walked past the office without slowing down.
Instead, he handled paperwork from the kitchen table or the briefing room. If someone needed him, they knew where to find him.
Nobody questioned the decision. They understood.Some things simply weren’t ready to change.
Hen quietly picked up extra administrative work whenever she could. Ravi helped wherever he was needed. The entire station adjusted without anyone having to say a word.
One person, however, had become noticeably absent. Buck. He still showed up for every shift. He still did his job.
He still saved lives.
But the man who once wandered into Eddie’s space every chance he got was gone. No more stopping by Eddie’s bunk.
No more sitting beside him during meals.No more lingering after calls to talk about nothing.
The distance wasn’t loud.It was quiet.Intentional.
Buck spoke when work required it, answered every order without hesitation, then drifted back to the other side of the station.
Sometimes Eddie caught him staring toward Bobby’s office.
Other times Buck looked away before Eddie could meet his eyes.
Neither of them mentioned it. Neither of them knew how.
The silence between them grew heavier with every shift.
Neither realized it yet, but that silence was about to be broken by someone neither of them expected. Noah Diaz was coming back to Los Angeles.