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Ravi remembers what Hen had told him about Buck when the probie had first joined. It might be the painkillers but look back now it seems silly. Because Hen was right. Everything Buck does is because he cares about Ravi. He is a devoted friend who has been there every step of the way. Especially now. Even Ravi’s mother cannot believe how supportive his teammate is. She is proud her son has such a good friend. It helps her feel more confident in her son's well-being on the job. It was honestly amusing how much Buck was going above and beyond to make sure Ravi is okay. It was annoying at moments, but he means well. So the probie tries to stay focused on that. 

Eddie is a bit irritated when Buck cancels on him to help take care of Ravi happens a lot while Ravi is off duty until he heals up. 

And Ravi’s first shift back is a celebration, the usual 118 welcome back. But Eddie is getting increasingly annoyed. Buck had spent half the shift fussing over Ravi. Buck is quick to take up any task Ravi is given. He takes the grunt work the probie usually gets stuck with. And Eddie thinks it's overkill. 

Ravi worries that Eddie might crack a tooth with how tight his jaw is clenched. The older firefighter was obviously irritated with how Buck was acting. Ravi had been thankful that Buck had helped with the cleaning. Ravi may be back to work but every now and again he'd reach for something and his muscles would pull just the wrong way and ache. Most, if not all, of his teammates understood. They all had injuries on and off the job. Especially Buck and Eddie. Those two were like accident magnets. So the fact Buck was so quick to help him made Ravi remember why he was glad the 118 accepted him back. He hadn't screwed up his shot at working with what is well known as one of the most tight knit houses in the department. Once you are in, you are IN. And apparently they had decided Ravi was in with or without his knowledge. And Ravi appreciates it now. But the way Eddie is acting makes him doubt that this is just how Buck is with everyone when they come back. He is tempted to ask Hen, but with as close as he has gotten with Buck, he just goes straight to Buck.

“Why are you being so nice, Buck?” Ravi asks. “Not that I'm complaining, but I'm cleared for duty. And you've already been there since it happened. You even have my parents’ numbers in your phone.” 

Buck shrugs. “I just know what it's like to be where you are. When I was initially recovering from the truck, I had help. And when I came back, well, I just wish someone would have helped me. Had my back. So…” he shrugs again.

“Oh, thanks, Buck,” Ravi smiles. Buck heads off to empty the bucket of suds from helping wash the truck. Things get a bit awkward when the probie turns around to see a few members of the team in the truck bay. Eddie looks like someone had punched him in the stomach and Chim’s brows were furrowed. Eddie quickly leaves. 

When Bobby and Hen ask what happened, Chim tells them. And it was like someone had dimmed the lights in the station. It felt gloomy. 

Eddie feels stupid. He'd been being a jerk again. And Buck was just proving again that he is the best of all of them. As usual.

Bobby makes Buck's favorite dish for dinner because he feels bad. Hen and Chim are quieter than usual but just as helpful, if not more so than usual. 

If Buck notices how things have shifted he doesn't mention it. His focus is still on making sure Ravi feels supported. And it just makes Eddie feel worse. Eddie approaches Buck as the younger man gets ready to leave. 

“I've been a jerk,” Eddie says.

Buck turns and looks at him. The shocked look on his face gives the former medic confusing feelings. Something that has been happening more and more as time goes on.

“To who? Why?”

And Eddie should be surprised that Buck hasn't even noticed how the he and the team had been acting. 

“You, Ravi, in general.” 

“Me? What? Why?” Buck asks then gets this look on his face as if he is going over every interaction with Eddie. 

And something in Eddie shifts as he stares at this beautiful and oblivious man. The one he already co-parenting Christopher with. The one he gets irrationally jealous over when anyone takes his attention from him and Christopher too long. He thinks about how petty he gets when Buck is dating anyone and yeah. It's obvious to him now.

“Why?” Eddie repeats. He looks around, glad that most of A shift has cleared out. “Because I miss you.”

“Miss me? We work the same shift, and we had dinner like…”

“Last weekend, I know, but it's…it just is. No excuse.”

“So you've been a jerk because I don't spend everyday with you?” Buck asks, amusement clear in his tone. 

“Yes,” Eddie says without hesitation. 

“Okay, wow,” Buck chuckles. To give himself a moment to process that he grabs his bag from his locker. 

“Dinner tomorrow?” Buck asks, his pulse beating a bit faster than it usually does when they make plans. Everything had changed in such a short conversations. But he's a bit scared to say it out loud. 

“Christopher will be thrilled,” Eddie smiles. And Buck gets the same feeling he always gets when Eddie smiles at him or brings up Christopher. It's a confusing combination of somehow going home but also wanting. 

“Good, because I did promise him that penne dish Bobby gave me the recipe for.” 

“Bring it all over, he loves when you guys cook together.”

“He's not the only one,” Buck says fondly.

“So, see you tomorrow,” Eddie says as he closes his locker. His truck keys in hand. 

“I’ll be there,” Buck grins, he watches Eddie leave. 

Ravi had caught the tail end of his friends talking. The fact that those two were clearly made for each other and they are both oblivious about it was amusing. 

“Sounds like you're in for a busy day off,” Ravi says.

Buck tries to shrug it off but the slight tint to his ears betrays him. 

“Well, you've earned some fun,” Ravi admits. “Been stuck taking care of me.”

“Helping a friend out isn't a chore, Probie,” Buck assures him. 

“Well, I appreciate it anyway,” Ravi insists. “But, you should just tell the guy you missed him too.”

"I am?" He checks his reflection in the mirror of a nearby cruiser and not only does he have a split lip but a nasty cut on his temple. "I am. Sarge is going to be pissed." He goes to find a medic. And he gets patched up. The mess and paperwork keeps him busy long into the night. He is just leaving the station when his phone rings. He checks the ID and shakes his head. 

"Hey Sarge," he answers. 

"What's this I hear about you getting injured again?" 

"Just a few scratches to clean up and butterfly strips."

"Tell that to your boy," she says.

"My what?" Buck asks. 

"Nevermind," she says. "But good job today."

"Thanks, Sarge."

He had been at his apartment less than 20 minutes when there was a knock on his door. He wasn't that surprised when he checked the peephole. 

He opens the door. 

"What the hell happened?" 

"Thena call you?"

"Something like that," Eddie says. 

"Right," Buck steps back and lets his friend in. 

"You didn't answer my question," Eddie says as he follows his friend into the apartment. Buck gestures to the TV as he unceremoniously drops down on the sofa. 

"Protest turned into a shit show." 

"I can see that," Eddie says as he looks back from the TV toward Buck. 

"Felt like the old days," Buck states.

"I hear you," Eddie nods, "absolutely FUBAR." And he means it, because he gets it. He's felt it but Eddie isn't the one facing projectiles and riots any more. "You at least get those looked at, didn't just manage on your own, right?" He gestures to Buck's face. 

Buck huffs a laugh. 

"Honestly didn't even feel 'em," Buck says. "But yeah, medic cleaned 'em up, said nothing seemed broken." 

Eddie seemed skeptical. 

Buck chuckled. "See for yourself, Medic."

He was mostly joking but Eddie didn't seem in a joking mood, so Buck didn't say anything when Eddie moved to check him over. And that had something inside Buck shifting. It was nice to have someone that actually cared outside of the job. It was something he hadn't had for a long time. He tries not to lean in every time Eddie's fingers touch his face. The way Eddie carefully turns his face into the light. The way the former medic gently presses to check for breaks. Buck barely winces because he is focused on the other feelings. Wow, Buck hadn't realized how ridiculously touch starved he was. And if Eddie picks up on that, he's good at hiding it. Because Eddie is in medic mode and very focused on that. 

"A bit sloppy but they weren't wrong," Eddie finally states. "Got a first aid kit?"

"Bathroom cupboard," He tells the medic.  "I was far from their first patient of the night, riots tend to keep 'em busy," Buck shrugs. "You're lucky you guys weren't called in."

"Probably," Eddie says when he returns with the kit. He looks through it. "Better stocked than I expected."

"I learned my fair share," Buck insists as Eddie gloves up.

"Before or after you got stabbed?" Eddie asks as he starts to remove the shotty crooked butterfly strips. 

"Depends which time you're talking about?"

"Why am I not surprised you've been stabbed more that once," Eddie shakes his head but keeps his eyes in what he's doing. 

"Ha, you've got a silver star from getting shot down and on your first day with LAFD an ambulance blew up. Don't act like I'm the only trouble chaser here."

"Fair point," Eddie grins. "But everyone lived."

"That's the goal," Buck says. It's quiet as Eddie finishes cleaning Buck up. 

"There," Eddie says as he sets the kit aside and takes off the gloves. "Hopefully, it won't scar."

"I don't know a gnarly scar might make perps think twice about trying to pull one over on me."

"If your biceps don't already, then nothing will," Eddie says. 

"You think so?" Buck flexes. He is focused on his own arm and misses the way Eddie stares at the way Buck's T-shirt stretches over the muscles. 

And Eddie has to remind himself he was asked a question. 

Eddie laughs. Not sure if it is at himself for getting himself into this situation, or at Buck genuinely seeming to not know the vibe he gives off. He's ex-special forces and built like a Greek god. "You don't need scars to seem intimidating, you're what? 6'2" and built like a tank, so yeah, no worries on that front."

"You think I'm intimidating?" Buck asks. And it gives Eddie pause. What was that tone? Buck couldn't be that unsure of himself, right? He's a cocky sailor that always seems to get into it. 

"I mean," and Eddie stops again because what does he mean? He thinks Buck's a gorgeous blue-eyed sculpted piece of perfection. But he isn't about to admit that out loud. They're friends. Good friends, but just friends. "You can be when you want to be, especially in uniform, but that's part of the job. So you can handle what needs to be done, like today. Even as a rookie you still have more experience with a crowd of potential hostiles like that then most of the force."

"Not sure about that, that's your guy's territory. Navy was-"

"But you knew what to do. You still get in the thick of it. You've seen how it goes. A war zone is a war zone. And SEALs are boots on the ground forces. They worked special ops, counter-terrorism, recon, DA and UW. That's Rangers level stuff and you know it. You really going to tell me you didn't-"

"Okay, okay," Buck stops him. "You're right."

"I don't want to be right," Eddie admits as he sits on the other end of the sofa. "Because I know how crappy it feels to be out of it but feel like you never left. It's easy but at the same time, it's not. It's different, but still somehow the same. New city, old games." 

Buck sighs. It was nice to have someone around that did actually get it. 

"At least it isn't every day," Buck admits. 

"True," Eddie agrees. 

Eddie isn't sure how it happened. All he knows is that his parents had just gone back to El Paso after being up for Chris's birthday. And now Chris was at a sleepover. And his frayed last nerve was damn near shot. He felt like he was losing it. And that must have shown through in his texts because before he knows it Buck is at that door. And as on edge as Eddie might be, the concerned look in his blue eyes has the firefighter’s heart racing. 

“Figured it was too quiet with the kid gone,” Buck states. And Eddie lets out a breathless laugh. Because he is right. Almost always is. The stupid special forces jerk was too observant. It made it harder for Eddie to keep his feelings locked down. He didn't want to ruin their friendship. But he just keeps thinking about the easy way Buck has charmed Eddie's parents. They took a shine to the former SEAL almost as much as Christopher had. Hence he had been enlisted to not only attend but help plan the party. And damn it. That had made Eddie feel things. Like really feel. 

A few beers later and Eddie brain was not as controlled as he'd have liked. The ideas floating around in there were dangerous. Hot, but dangerous. 

Somehow Eddie had ended up talking about Shannon and their messed up relationship when Eddie learned something that he had not known. Buck was bi. Buck had brought a short fling with a civilian between tours and Eddie's pretty sure his brain rebooted because he took embarrassingly long to process that fact. The worried look Buck shot him confirmed it. Eddie was an idiot. The last thing he wanted was Buck thinking he was some homophobic jerk. Eddie was literally the opposite. He hadn't had a serious relationship other than Shannon, but he'd had a few flings and one night stands, and not all had been women. And damn, knowing Buck was into guys. Yeah, that was now in Eddie's head and gave him real risky thoughts.

And Eddie would blame it on the booze of anyone asks but it was more the tensed shoulders and sad look on Buck’s face that had Eddie reaching forward as he shifted closer. He grips Buck by the neck and hauls him into a kiss. And Eddie worried for a half second he screwed up because Buck had gone rigid. But then Buck is damn near in his lap and giving as good as he got. They end up making out like teenagers. 

They decide to keep their new relationship a secret for a while. Buck is still a rookie and doesn't need the attention or ire from the more conservative members of the force. And Eddie is okay with that. They both served during ‘Dont ask, don't tell’ and that can really mess with your self perception. Eddie was lucky, the 118 was more like a family than a team. And yeah, Buck had Athena’s support in damn near anything he does, but that was one person on the force and Buck was younger than Eddie. And relatively fresh out of the service. So he would take it at whatever pace Buck was comfortable with. The only person they tell is Christopher and he understands it's a secret for now. He doesn't get why it has to be, but he is happy for his dad so he doesn't want to ruin it. And Christopher was thrilled to have Buck around. And Eddie couldn't believe his luck at how much Buck seemed to love Christopher. Eddie nearly cried the first time he walked in after grabbing drinks for everyone and came back to find Chris snuggled into Buck’s side and the officer was smiling down at the boy like he was his whole damn world. And dammit, Eddie knew there was no coming back from this at that moment. Buck was in his heart and Christopher’s too. 

Eddie's heart was in his throat when they had gotten a call for assistance from the LAPD. They had gotten notified shots were fired and at least one officer down. The team was oddly quiet as they approached. Eddie’s stomach turns as they get closer and he hasn't got a reply to the texts he had sent Buck. Bobby was just as tense. Especially after the recent riot. 

“The scene is still active,” Bobby states. “So be extra cautious.” 

They get out of the truck quickly but they don't go far. They stick back behind the barricade of cruisers. 

“Good, you're here,” a familiar voice says, and Bobby visibly relaxes just a bit. But Athena's tone had dread pooling in Eddie's stomach. If Athena was here that meant Buck was. When her eyes meet the former medic’s eyes she can see the question he hasn't even asked. 

“He's fine,” she tells him, “for now.” The exasperated fondness is oddly sweet in her voice. And Eddie feels the knot in his stomach ease slightly. 

“Then why-” Chim starts to ask but she just looks back at Eddie. 

“Because your boy is going to do something really stupid at this rate.” 

And Eddie doesn't deny or argue. He nods. “Where is he?” 

But before he can do anything, shots ring out and Eddie reacts on instinct. He shields Hen and Chimney as they rush behind the truck for cover. A familiar voice comes over Athena's radio and it's like a vice is gripping Eddie Diaz’s heart. He goes to get a look around the truck at the scene. 

“Fall back! Find cover!” Buck’s voice calls over the device. He calls a code that has everyone on alert. “Suspect-” 

There is an explosion that has everyone's ears ringing and Eddie shakes his head. And then the ringing is mixed with shouting. A call for back up and assistance goes out on both PD and FD radios. Athena is calling out for her officers to check in. But Eddie knows that time is not on their side. Bobby must too because he starts giving orders. And as much as Eddie wants to go find Buck, he has a job to do and needs to prioritize. Buck would be furious if Eddie didn't put his job and the injured first. So Eddie focuses on his job. Focuses on triage. It feels like hours before Eddie can actually look for Buck. And when Eddie sees his overly heroic boyfriend knelt beside a civilian bystander that was with a paramedic. 

And Eddie can't stop himself. “Buck!” he shouts. And Buck head snaps to look at him as he stands up. And Eddie has such an intense mix of emotions he feels dizzy. He picks up the pace as Buck stands up and starts towards him. And Eddie doesn't miss the slight limp in the officer’s step, but Buck is up and walking. The army medic had already helped triage and stabilize a few officers that weren't so lucky. 

Before Buck can say anything Eddie hugs him. 

“I'm okay, Eds,” Buck tells him but he knows Eddie probably has his doubts. Eddie has already had to patch him up too many times. Eddie is always worried. He knew Buck was good at his job. He knew Buck was well trained, even by LAPD standards. He knew Buck knew more first aid than most of the officers out there. But he also knew Buck will always put other people first. Civilians and his team will always be his priorities. And at times like this, that terrifies Eddie. But he wouldn't change that if he could. Would his blood pressure be better off? Absolutely. But it's part of what makes Buck, Buck. And as nerve racking as it is, he wouldn't change Buck for anything. He was mad about that valiant blonde officer. 

“How close were you to it?” Eddie pulls back enough to get a good look at Buck. Buck looks exhausted, he's covered in dirt, sweat and blood. 

“It's not mine,” Buck is quick to say at the wide eyed look on Eddie's face. “Mostly not mine. A few scratches maybe, but nothing major.”

Eddie nods but keeps looking over every inch of Buck he can see. 

“I had cover. I was lucky. I saw the detonator and had just enough time to call for everyone to fall back.”

“And your leg?” Eddie asks.

“Twisted it in the chaos after,” Buck tells him. “Trying to help clear bystanders. You can take a look at home.” And that little slip makes Eddie grin. 

“You might actually be the death of me,” Eddie mutters and Buck laughs.

“Says the guy that runs into burning buildings regularly,” Buck counters.

“At least I do it with my SCBA and turnout gear on,” Eddie states. 

“That's fair,” Buck says with a grin. “But got to meet a hot firefighter.” And Eddie wants to kiss that stupidly perfect face.

“You are ridiculous,” Eddie shakes his head.

“You love me,” Buck says.

And Eddie is absolutely caught up in the moment. He is happy. He feels ridiculously in love. So, he smiles and nods. “I do, yeah, I really do.” 

And that catches Buck off guard. “Wait, really?” 

And Eddie just shrugs because what else can he do? He's not going to backpedal. Life is too damn short and they both have dangerous jobs.

“Eddie…” Buck starts but before Eddie says anything, Buck kisses him. And the wolf whistle and cheers that earns them has them both pulling away. Buck’s cheeks are bright with a blush and Eddie finds the edge of his medical bag very interesting. Buck doesn't jump when a hand claps his shoulder. But he does avoid direct eye contact. 

“Congrats boys,” Athena says. “But maybe save it for home. Still a lot of work to do.”

Eddie grins as he opens the door to let Buck in.

“I love you too,” Buck is quick to say. “Didn't exactly get a chance to say it earlier.”

Eddie laughs because he had a pretty good feeling earlier that he and Buck were on the same page, considering Buck inadvertently outed both of them and their relationship in one single movement. But honestly, Eddie didn't mind, he had started it with the hug. Sure, his team might not let him live it down, but they were happy for him. They were supportive. And he hadn't expected anything else. 

“Didn't get in trouble for that little outburst, did you?” Eddie asks as they head into the kitchen.