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Eddie was still new to LA and firefighting, and he was fresh out of the fire academy. He had no set firehouse yet, but he’d been floating around to different firehouses in the city until there was a slot open for him.
And today, Eddie is heading to Firehouse 118 to fill in for McGavin since he is out on paternity leave for twelve weeks.
Eddie has helped out at other firehouses for up to six months due to injuries; he just hopes that everyone will be more bearable here than at some of the other stations.
He could tell right away the 118 was different from the other stations; for one, when he arrived, he was greeted with a giant “Welcome to the 118” banner.
“Huh, that's new,” Eddie thought to himself as he walked toward the locker room and quickly changed, hearing a bunch of voices from behind him.
He couldn’t help but smirk when he walked out, only to be greeted by 4 of his fellow firefighters and the captain, who is relatively older than everyone else here and has a kind smile that eases Eddie.
“You must be Eddie Diaz. Glad to have you, kid.”
Eddie couldn't help but smile. “Thank you, Captain.”
“Nash, but you can call me Bobby or Cap.”
Eddie nodded. “This is already very, very different from the other stations. The captain is actually nice, unlike the last captain he floated for, Captain Gerard,” Eddie thinks as an asian looking man with a goofy smile walks towards him with glee.
“Damn, aren’t you good-looking?”
“Where’s the lie?” A bald, black woman says, visibly checking him out. “And I like girls.”
“Uh, thanks…” Eddie couldn’t help but blush as he looked over to the fourth person, and he saw the most gorgeous man he had seen; his ocean-blue eyes took his breath away.
Eddie held out his hand for a handshake and introduced himself, “Hi, I am Eddie Diaz, and you are?”
Buck blushed, quickly signing his name as he spoke, “My name is Buck. Nice to meet you, Diaz.” Then he shook Eddie’s hand, their eyes locked.
“You are very beautiful,” Eddie then signed once their handshake ended, smiling at the blonde.
Buck is taken aback by Eddie signing. “How do you know ASL?” Buck signs, too shocked to speak.
Eddie chuckles, speaking and signing at the same time from habit. “My youngest sister, Sophia, is deaf. I learned for her and taught my other sister, Adrianna, how since our parents refused to.”
Buck couldn’t help but tear up hearing that. “I bet she really appreciated that,” Buck signed and spoke softly, trying not to let his emotions show too much.
“She did,” Eddie spoke and signed with a small grin, making Buck smile.
Chimney and Hen watched the two before looking at one with knowing looks, already mentally placing a bet on when these would get together, as Bobby sighed, shaking his head at the two before walking away, refusing to watch his son be flirted with, wanting to avoid another Tommy situation, and he better be grateful that Bobby even let Tommy stay on after what he did.
Then another firefighter walks over, clearly having just finished working out. He looks to be the same age as Buck. “Oh hi, I am Ravi “
“Hi, I am Eddie Diaz. Nice to meet you, Ravi "
“You too, man. Word of advice: be careful when flirting with Buck; he is the captain's son”
Eddie blinks at him dumbly. “Oh…”
“Especially after how shitty his ex is…just be careful, man.”
Eddie nods. “Thanks…I guess.”
Ravi winks. “Anytime.” Then the Indian-American man makes his way to the shower room to wash off after his workout.
Eddie then turns back to Buck, those ocean eyes still staring at him.
“Want a tour?” Buck signs with a kind smile, showing off his dimples.
Eddie nods, grinning and signing. “Absolutely.”
The two headed towards the loft, Eddie taking in the kitchen, whistling at the amount of food on the table. “You guys all eat together?”
“It's a tradition my pops started,” Buck signed, taking an orange scone from the plate of baked goods.
Eddie instantly grabs a white chocolate and double chocolate chip cookie, following Buck to the couch area, spotting Hen and Chimney playing some sort of firefighter-related video game.
Then Buck leads towards the downstairs again and shows him the bunk room.
“This is where we all go to rest, or, in my case, where I go to get away from all of the noise. It gets loud with my hearing aids.”
Eddie looks at Buck with a soft expression. “Thank you for sharing that with me, Buck. Maybe I'll join you sometime.”
Buck blushes. “I'd like that,” he signs.
“Move, Evan,” a sharp, harsh voice shouted, making them split apart.
Eddie noticed how tense Buck got and flinched when the voice got closer. “I said move. Can’t hear me? Oh, that's right, you can’t.”
Eddie turned to a man in his 40s, maybe 50s, standing next to Buck with a snark on his face.
Buck’s face just falls, breaking Eddie’s heart.
Eddie then steps between the two, shielding Buck from this asshat. “I’m new here, and he’s just showing me around. You got a problem with that?”
Tommy just looked Eddie up and down, checking him out, making Eddie recoil in disgust as the man continued to stare at him.
Eddie practically vomited in his mouth.
Then he offered his hand for a handshake. “Oh, you must be Diaz. Nice to meet you, I'm Tommy.”
“Yeah, I don't care,” Eddie said, grabbing hold of Buck's hand and leading him away from the ancient relic of a man. Eddie still feels that man's eyes on him, specifically his ass.
“Gross, as if I should go for someone who looks like they have a disease,” he thinks bitterly, turning towards Buck
“Are you okay?” He speaks and signs.
Buck nods, signing. “Thank you.”
Anything for you, Eddie thinks to himself, offering Buck a kind smile, signing, “You’re welcome.”
Then Buck continues the rest of the tour before they join the team upstairs for lunch, making sure to sit far away from Thomas Kinard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That shift was relatively calm; Eddie was able to get to know his new coworkers pretty well.
He learned that Ravi was dating Captain Nash’s stepdaughter, Buck’s sister, as he dubbed her, who is a nurse. Apparently, Ravi is also a landlord and owns three different buildings, which was something Eddie did not expect from him…or anyone, for that matter.
He also learned that Bobby came from a long line of firefighters, and he was a recovery alcoholic, 7 years sober to be exact. He is also Buck’s biological father and married a sergeant, Athena Grant-Nash, Buck's stepmom, but Buck calls her his mom since he never met his birth mother, who just gave him up.
Eddie then learned that Hen is a lesbian and was married to a badass woman named Karen, who is a rocket scientist, and they have a son named Denny, who is Christopher's age. They manage to set a playdate for the weekend so they can meet, since Chris doesn’t have too many friends right now, with them being so new to Los Angeles.
And he learned how Chimney got his nickname, and that he is married to Bobby's adopted daughter, Maddie, who is a 9-1-1 dispatcher, and they have an 8-month-old daughter together, Jee Yun, named after Chimney's deceased mother. Eddie saw pictures; she’s so adorable.
He learned a lot about Buck too. He learned that he was a former Navy SEAL and that he lost his hearing in a bombing accident on a mission gone wrong; Buck barely survived. Having lost most of his hearing in his right ear and all in his left, he also learned that Buck is bisexual and that the tuberculosis-looking man is Buck's ex, Tommy, who is very ableist, to say the least; he dumped Buck once he found out Buck was hard of hearing.
Tommy and Buck apparently dated for two years before Tommy even realized Buck was hard of hearing; that's how little Tommy paid attention to Buck and his needs.
Tommy is now number one on Eddie’s enemy list.
Eddie told Buck about his time in the army and about how he had a drunken fling with best friend Shannon and quickly discovered he was gay when Shannon told him she was pregnant with his son, Chris, who is now 7 years old.
When Buck saw the picture of the boy, his blonde curly locks and toothy grin made Buck melt.
“He is super adorable. I love kids.” Buck couldn’t help but gush as he signed and spoke with honesty, smiling widely.
“Well, I love this one. His mother died a year ago, so I’m all he’s got,” Eddie signed and shoved his phone back in his pocket.
“You have us now, Eddie. You’re not alone anymore,” Buck signed and spoke softly.
“Thank you, Buck,” Eddie signed, speaking with pure fondness in his voice.
Buck nodded with a grin.
Then Eddie did something he did not expect to do, but had been wanting to do since he first spoke to Buck. “Do you want to go out with me and meet Christopher?”
“I would love to, Eddie,” Buck signed back quickly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was one week later, and Buck and Eddie started secretly going out when shit hit the fan
Eddie had walked into work, smiling brightly, waving to Ravi as he set his stuff down, changing into his uniform, then asked where Buck was.
“He’s in the bunkroom; he’s working a forty-eight, and the first twenty-four were rough.”
Eddie nods. “Thanks, Rav.”
Ravi pats his shoulder. “Anytime, loverboy.”
“Shhhh!”
“Don’t worry, Bobby doesn’t know. Sure, it’s obvious to literally everyone else, but he has no idea.”
Eddie takes a breath of relief. He’s not scared of Bobby per se, but Bobby is pretty terrifying when he needs to be, especially when it involves Buck.
Once Eddie is clocked in, he heads out of the locker room to go to the bunk room to check on his unofficial boyfriend, but Eddie plans on asking him very soon.
But then Eddie gets interrupted when Tyranosaurs walks over to him with a strut.
He looks so smug that Eddie vomits in his mouth.
“So, Diaz, I was thinking that you and I should go sometime. I mean, we're both hot, and we're single, and I know for a fact that you're gay. I’ve seen the way you stare at me, so drinks Friday?”
Eddie looks at Tommy with pure disgust and hatred, and Tommy flinches
“I’d rather die than date your old, ancient-looking ass plus see someone.”
Tommy scoffs in total disbelief; nobody has ever turned him down before. “Who?!” Tommy shouted, aggressively shoving Eddie a bit, making him lose his balance, but luckly buck walks out just in time to catch him.
“Are you okay, Eds?” Buck signs in a panic.
Eddie just glares at Tommy before turning to look at Buck softly. “Baby, I'm fine. It’ll take more than a shove to hurt me,” Eddie signs and says, not noticing the slip of the nickname until Tommy scoffs in disgust.
“Of course you're dating the deaf one. He’s not even good in bed, so what’s the point? I’m more worth your time, Diaz.”
Eddie rolls his eyes, annoyed. “Fuck off, Kinard. You ain’t shit.”
“Whatever, you’re both not worth my time.” Then Tommy stomps off, looking like a child in the middle of a tantrum.
Eddie then turns to Buck when Tommy is out of view, pulling Buck into his arms.
Eddie is the first to pull away, smiling at Buck. “Want to go lie down for a bit?” He asks and signs.
Buck nods with a grin. “Yes, please,” he softly speaks, his hands on Eddie’s chest, so he didn’t sign.
The two then walk hand in hand to the bunkroom, climbing into Buck’s bunk. Buck takes off his hearing aids before climbing into the bed, Eddie holding him tight in his arms, the two falling asleep minutes later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple of hours later, Buck and Eddie wake, still cuddled close together, except his hearing aids are gone. Buck woke up first, hearing nothing; he felt around his ears in a panic before searching the floor, waking a grumpy Eddie.
Eddie looks to his left, spotting Buck on the floor, rushing to his side in sleepy panic, thinking Buck had fallen off the bunk. Eddie grabs Buck by his shoulders, making Buck flinch.
“Buck, what’s wrong?” Eddie asked, noticing Buck’s wide-eyed look.
Buck just looks at Eddie frantically, pointing to his ears, tears streaming down his face, making Eddie’s heart sink.
“You can’t hear me? Where are your hearing aids, mi amor?” Eddie signs.
“I don’t know, I can’t find them,” Buck signs, his chest heaving.
Eddie’s brows furrow as he looks around the floor of Buck’s bunk, thinking that maybe they got knocked under the bunk, but they’re not there.
Buck usually leaves them in his shoes when he takes a nap, but his boots are empty.
“Baby, I can’t find them either. They’re gone,” Eddie signs, hating how Buck’s face falls.
Eddie then pulls Buck into his arms, the man breaking down into tears.
Eddie kisses his head, rubbing his back to try to soothe him.
“They can’t just disappear,” Eddie thinks to himself.
Then he realizes something. “Someone took them.”
It’s the only reasonable explanation.
Eddie face darkens as he realizes who could have done this. “Tommy.”
Eddie then stands up and rushes out of the bunkroom, Buck following right behind him, confused.
“BOBBY!!!” Eddie shouts as he and Buck get to the loft, making everyone turn towards them.
Bobby raises his brow, taking in Eddie’s enraged expression and Buck's tear-stained cheeks and red eyes.
“What's wrong?” Bobby asks, turning towards his son, noticing that Buck's hearing aids are gone.
“What's wrong, Buck?” Bobby signed, turning his head towards Eddie, then back to Buck when he sees Buck signing.
“My hearing aids are missing,” Buck signs.
“Tommy,” Eddie growls, knowing Buck can’t hear him.
“What, are you sure??” Bobby asked in anger, having heard Eddie loud and clear.
“Tommy is the only one who could’ve done such a horrible thing, Cap,” Eddie explains and signs so Buck can understand what they’re saying.
Buck scrunches his face in confusion, signing, “Tommy?”
Bobby sighs in rage, “Of fucking course he did.”
Buck looks at Eddie, confused. “What is going on?”
“Tommy is the only person here who would’ve taken your hearing aids,” Eddie says and signs.
Buck cannot help but agree. “He always was a piece of shit. I hate that it took me two years to dump him.”
Eddie laughs as Bobby pulls his phone out of his pocket and shoots his wife a quick text: SOS. Buck’s hearing aids are missing. Tommy is the prime suspect.
That bitch better have not hurt my baby again. Athena sends back with Siri, which means that she is driving, so she is definitely on her way.
In other words, Tommy Kinard was a dead man walking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bobby storms down the stairs, and equally pissed-off Eddie follows him, as Buck follows behind them, looking very worried.
Eddie and Bobby quickly spot Tommy working out in the gym, talking to one of the other firefighters Eddie doesn’t remember the name of, talking to him and laughing.
“Kinard!” Bobby yells, Eddie standing next to him with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring daggers at the man.
Tommy stops lifting his weights, sets them down, noticing both Bobby and Eddie staring daggers at him while Buck stands there cowardly, making Tommy scoff. “Yes, Captain?’
“I’m going to ask you once, Kinard. Did you take my son’s hearing aids?”
“Why the hell would I take the crippled boy’s hearing aids?”
“What did you just say?” Eddie demanded, pure anger in his voice, stepping closer to Tricerotops.
Tommy just rolled his eyes.
“Boy, I know you're lying!” Athena yelled as she stormed into the firehouse, pointing an angry finger at Kinard.
Tommy paled at the sight of Athena
“Uh, Sergeant Grant ... I uh "
Athena rolled her eyes, walking towards her husband and son, glaring at Tommy before looking at Bobby. “Where is this fool's locker “
“Y-Y-You can’t d-do that! That’s a violation of my privacy!”
“When it involves my baby, it’s not,” Athena barks, reaching out to hold Buck’s hand because he looks so confused and terrified.
“It's locker 27, Athena, " Eddie says proudly, with a knowing smirk on his face, as Tommy just stares at Eddie in disbelief
Athena nods, walking into the locker room, spotting the locker in question, turning to look at Tommy.
“One last chance, Kinard: are Buck’s hearing aids in here?”
He shrugs. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Stupid, he is so fucking stupid,” Eddie thinks, watching as Athena walked into the locker room, Bobby watching her as she opened it, Eddie reaching behind him to hold Buck’s hand as Athena pulled everything out swiftly, checking Tommy’s gym bag, and lo and behold, as Athena pulled out Tommy's clearly unwashed uniform, she found Buck’s gray with bright red accent hearing aids in Tommy's unwashed pant pockets.
She turned around, making her way back to them, pissed. “Nothing to hide, huh?” she asked, holding them up in her hand.
Buck quickly rushed to take them from her.
“Wash them first, baby; they probably have some STD,” Athena signs, making Buck chuckle under his breath.
Buck nods, signing thank you before turning around to look at Eddie, smiling adorably.
“Let’s get them cleaned up, sweetheart,” Eddie signed, Buck nodding in agreement, walking with Eddie to the bathroom, Eddie flipping off Tommy as they walk by him.
“That's your final strike, Kinard. You stole from another firefighter, knowing he needs them to do his job, and then lied to both a cop and me. As of today, Kinard, you are no longer a firefighter for this firehouse, and I will be telling Chief Alonzo as well. You’ll never work for the LAFD again; I’ll be sure of it.”
Athena walked to the still pale and shell-shocked Tommy, pulling out a pair of handcuffs
“What...no, I can’t go to jail,” Tommy blurts out like an idiot, shoving Athena away.
Athena scoffs. “Oh, honey, you should have thought about that before stealing my boy's ears, and you also just assaulted an officer. Your ass is going to jail. You won’t be seeing the light of day for a long time; I’ll be sure of that, Kinard.”
She read him his Miranda rights and cuffed him tightly, making him wince.
“Oh, sorry, did I hurt you?”
Tommy just stared at her as she shoved violently into her cop car.
“Suck it up. You’re about to be a lot of prisoners little bitch,” she tells him, slamming the door, getting a perfect view of his pale face before it shuts the door, making her laugh with glee.
Then she looks over at her husband. “Baby, make sure to tell Buck to FaceTime me later so I can ask him questions or the statement.”
Bobby nods, walking over to her, smiling. “Will do, baby. Thanks for coming.”
“Anything for our boy,” she says, grabbing the collar of Bobby’s shirt, connecting their lips for a brief kiss. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Then she hops into her car and speeds off to the station, Bobby heading back inside to check on Buck and Eddie… wherever they ended up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in the locker, while Athena was arresting tuberculosis
Eddie watched as Buck cleaned his hearing aids, making the cutest face as he focused on a particular hard area of the device
“God, he is so cute”
Buck looked over both aids before sighing, satisfied that they were no longer coated in Tommy’s disgusting sweat, before putting them back on and turning them on, sound filling his ears seconds later, Eddie’s voice being one of those sounds.
“You look good,” Eddie signed and said, making Buck blush.
“Thank you. I am glad I can hear that sexy voice of yours again.”
“You think my voice is sexy?” Eddie signed and spoke.
“Everything about you is sexy,” Buck signed, grinning.
Eddie smirked. “Good to know. And I think everything is sexy about you too.”
“Really? Even with me being hard of hearing?”
Eddie shakes his head. “Yes, because it's what makes you Evan, and I love you.”
Buck tears up. “You love me?”
“So much, baby.” Eddie signs and says with love in his voice
“I love you too, Eddie,” Buck signs, tears in his eyes; he has never felt so loved by a partner before. As Eddie wipes away Buck's tears from his face, he slowly leans in, pulling Buck towards him, making Buck smile and move with him as their lips meet for the first time.
They make out softly yet passionately for a few moments before they pull away, smiling at each other for a moment before Eddie pulls Buck into his arms, holding him tight.
“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Eddie asks, speaking directly into Buck’s right ear since he has better hearing in that one compared to his left.
Buck nods, pulling back to smile up at him, his ocean eyes sparkling, quickly signing, “Yes, I would love to, as long as you’ll be mine.”
“Of course I would. I have never wanted anything more,” Eddie signs as he speaks, kissing Buck’s birthmark once he finishes, about to connect their lips again, but Bobby calls for them.
He needs them in his office, apparently.
Well, fuck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bobby freezes in place, staring at his son and temporary firefighter making out in the locker room.
He nearly stops them, but then he sees them pull apart seconds later, grinning at each other, Eddie pulling Buck into his arms.
Bobby cannot help but smile at that, pulling his phone out of his pocket to text Athena.
He knows she’s driving, but she always texts back, using Siri to send her messages.
Bobby: Well, I owe you twenty bucks.
Athena: I told you!
Bobby: You're right, as always.
Athena: Damn right I am, Mr Nash.
Bobby: It’s Mr. Grant-Nash to you, Mrs. Grant-Nash.
Athena: Oh, how rude of me. How could I forget?
Bobby just chuckles, stepping into his office to pull out the HR paperwork he has kept since Eddie’s first day, preparing for this.
And now that Tommy is gone, Bobby is definitely going to hire Eddie on as a permanent addition to the 118.
As Bobby sets the papers on his desk, his phone vibrates in his hand. It’s Athena.
Athena: I’m glad our boy is happy. Eddie is a good guy.
Bobby: He really is. I love you, baby.
Athena: Love you too, baby.
Bobby smiles at his phone; he loves his wife, before pocketing his phone into his pants and calling the two lovebirds into his office.
The two walk in nervously, holding one another's hands.
“Yes, Captain, " Eddie says anxiously.
Bobby couldn’t help but smile at the two, gesturing to the two chairs in front of his desk, telling them to both take a seat. “There are two very important things we need to discuss. One is a relationship disclosure form for HR,” Bobby says and signs, making Buck look at him curiously.
“And the second, Pops?”
Bobby turns to Eddie. “The second is, Eddie, how would you feel about being a full-time member of the 118 since we are now a man down and you already fit in?”
Eddie smiles and nods. “I’d be honored, Cap.”
“Then welcome to the 118, Eddie. You’re right where you belong.”
Eddie grins, now looking over at his boyfriend.
“I belong wherever he is.”