"im fox freaking mulder, you punks!"

3. They're playing pool at a badge and ladder bar, and Sal's losing. "How'd you get so good at this?" Sal asks, smirking. "We had a pool table at the base," Tommy says. "And it's just math. Pilots are good at math." Sal hums and watches him sink another ball. Tommy misses the next shot because Sal is stretching out a kink in his shoulder and makes an obscene noise when something audibly cracks. "Fuck, never get old," Sal groans. "I'd planned on trying," Tommy says dryly, and Sal smiles. "Here's hoping I look half as good as you do in my old age." It's the closest he's come to a compliment, even if he wrapped it in a dumb joke, and he feels like he's gotten away with something when Sal laughs and slaps his back.

4. Gerrard hears Tommy say he doesn't have a girlfriend, says something homophobic, and Sal gets up from the table and goes downstairs, pulling his phone out. Tommy slinks away a moment later and follows. "I don't give a fuck about procedure, get him the fuck out of here or I'm calling the goddamn union, the press, and my shady Sicilian cousins," Sal hisses. "I filed three fucking reports in the last--look, you come down here and bug the place so you can hear the shit he's saying. He almost got the new guy killed, and--he's not going to file a report, he's a probie who keeps his head down and doesn't want to make waves. If he sends me or Tommy or anyone else into a situation like that, I want you to remember this conversation at our fucking funerals." And he hangs up and looks like he's about to throw his phone when Tommy clears his throat. Sal turns and relaxes when he sees him. "Guess my secret's out," he says with a grim smile. "I won't tell," Tommy promises. Then he looks over his shoulder to make sure no one's lurking nearby. "A-and I'll tell them. About the building." Sal's expression softens. "You don't gotta do that," Sal says. "I don't want any of this blowing back on you. I can take it if I need to, it'll just take me another decade to make captain." Tommy nods and shoves his hands in his pocket. "Thanks for looking out for me," he says. He knows Sal's probably just doing it because he's tired of Gerrard's shit, but Tommy hasn't had someone look out for him like this too many times in his life. "Don't worry about it, kid," Sal says, pressing a hand between his shoulder blades and steering him toward the changing area. "Let's see about making some real food."

5. Gerrard is gone, and Sal is made interim captain. Tommy feels like it could become permanent. It should, really. He's a good captain. But things are different between them, and Tommy can feel it. It's like Sal's treating him like a stranger. So he slips into the office when Sal's chained to the computer for paperwork. "What's up?" Sal asks. "Is everything okay?" Tommy asks, sitting in one of the chairs across from Sal. "Like, did I fuck up?" And Sal frowns and leans back in his chair. "No, why would you think you did?" he asks. "Because you've been avoiding me," Tommy points out. Sal freezes and looks like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment. "I'm not," he insists. "I just...y'know, I can't play favorites." And Tommy smiles and asks, "So I'm your favorite?" It borders on flirtatious, but he's been getting away with that with Sal for months. "Get out of my office, brat," Sal says, his lips twisting in a familiar smile, his eyes twinkling. He looks more like himself. Tommy hunkers down and crosses his arms over his chest until Sal flicks a paperclip at him.

6. It's a risk going to the club he's in, because he could be spotted coming out of it. But LA is a big city, so what are the odds? He's had a beer, he's working on another one, and a guy is next to him and looking at him with open interest. He's young, though, younger than Tommy. That's not what he's looking for. Sal's laugh lines and barely graying hair flashes through his mind, and he finishes the beer and goes out to the dancefloor to see who's around. It's mostly younger guys, because it's a Thursday night. It's always the college students without classes on Fridays that are out. But Tommy gets toward the edge on the other side, close to the wall, and he sees a broad back that catches his eye. Then the guy turns his head, and Tommy's nearly knocked over by a guy trying to get past him when he sees that it's Sal. His first instinct is to run, but if Sal's here, he's got just as much to lose. Unless he's here with a friend or girlfriend or whatever. Tommy could always pretend he was meeting a buddy or that a girl had stood him up for a date or something. He moves past the small group of guys between him and Sal and pressed a couple of fingers between his shoulder blades. Sal turns and his eyes get big, and Tommy leans in to say, "Fancy seeing you here." They talk a little, dancing around why they're there. Except Sal's wearing a tight shirt that's unbuttoned down to his sternum to show off his chest hair, and Tommy had dressed to draw attention, too. The plausible deniability is thin, to say the least. Sal excuses himself to use the bathroom, and Tommy ends up dancing in the crowd. There's an older guy who tucks up against him and dances with him, and Tommy would take him home if he wasn't looking around for Sal now.

7. Sal is at the bar, and Tommy ends up next to him. "You ditched me," he accuses. "No, I'm just not gonna dance with you," Sal says, tapping his fingers on the bar. "I shouldn't even be here with you." "Why not?" Tommy asks. "Because you're my subordinate now, and I can't--there's a line there now," Sal says. "But if there wasn't?" Tommy asks. Sal scrubs a hand over his cheek and scratches his stubble and laughs. "If there wasn't," he says, looking over at Tommy. "I'd have a hard time keeping my hands to myself." And Tommy steps closer, pushed by two guys trying to wedge in to get the bartender's attention. "Kid--" Tommy leans in and kisses him, and Sal lets out a shuddering breath that Tommy can feel as he pulls back a moment later. "Fuck, why'd you have to go and do that?" Sal asks, and Tommy feels a stab of anxiety and he doesn't know what else. But then Sal grabs him and kisses him, and Tommy desperately kisses back. He's hard and moving against Sal, and Sal has a hand on his ass and another up the back of his shirt, and Tommy reaches for his fly. "Not here," Sal says. "But not no?" Tommy checks, and Sal presses his nose to Tommy's cheek and huffs out a laugh. "Fucking no, not no, goddammit, even though I shouldn't be doing this. You're my subordinate, you're so fucking young--" "I just turned twenty-four," Tommy protests, and Sal gives him a pained looked as they move toward the exit.

8. Sal drives, because he never has more than one drink if he's planning on taking someone home. And they're going to his place, thankfully, not Tommy's shitty little shoebox apartment with the five minutes of hot water. He's never been to Sal's. It's a condo near the station, and they're on opposite sides of the elevator while they ride up three floors. Tommy's got his hands behind his back, squished between his body and the wall. And Sal's hands are braced on the rail, and he's looking at Tommy intently. "Shouldn't you be going home with someone your own age?" he asks. "No," Tommy says, letting his head fall back against the wall. "Just you." And Sal closes the distance and kisses him, tugging him through the doors when they open. His condo is down the hall, and he lets them in and they get their shoes off, kicking them aside before they start on their clothes. The military and their job has helped Tommy to get good at undressing fast, even when he's wearing tight jeans. "Fuck, look at this pretty boy I found," Sal teases, backing Tommy up against a wall and hooking a finger in the waistband of his underwear. And Tommy finally gets to run his hands over all the hair on Sal's chest and stomach and sees little strands of silver there, too. "Pretty sure I found you," Tommy points out, his hand covering Sal's cock through his jock. "Daddy." "I ain't even forty yet," Sal protests with a grin, but Tommy feels his cock jump against his hand. They make out against the wall of Sal's hallway until Sal drags him into the bedroom, and Tommy ends up on all fours with his fingers tugging on his own hair while he sobs and whines through Sal fucking him open. After, he falls asleep when he knows he should be getting up and leaving.

9. They try to keep it under wraps at work, but Tommy can tell Sal feels guilty about it. He doesn't. He just feels guilty about how torn Sal is over the whole thing. But then a new captain gets brought in right before Tommy's probationary year is up, and he goes through his ceremony and gets his shield pinned by Sal. He doesn't have anyone else to do it. Just a few weeks later, Howard Han starts at the station. He's wisecracking and cute and hot, and Tommy likes hanging out with him. He's a good buffer to keep Sal and Tommy from getting too close at work, and he's just a fun time. But Sal is angling for a permanent position. The new captain won't last long, Tommy can tell. He's gone in six months, off to be a captain somewhere up in the Bay Area. He debates switching shifts, but then Sal pulls him into the office and brings him around to show him an email. Harbor is looking for pilots. "I'd hate to lose you to another station," Sal says, his chin hooking over Tommy's shoulder. "But you said you wanted to fly again, baby. I will give you a fucking sparkling letter of recommendation, talk to their captains about getting you some time in a chopper to show you off. Anything you want." And Tommy's hands are shaking, imagining holding a cyclic again. Doing that nearly every day he works. "And then I can take you out for real," Sal adds. "I'm not just doing this out of the goodness of my own heart." Tommy turns and kisses him and hugs him and smiles. "Yeah, you are, you fucking meatball," Tommy says. "Thank you."

1. Buck is pacing with his phone and chewing on his thumbnail before he says fuck it and calls Tommy. "Hey," Tommy says, sounding like he's smiling. It makes Buck's stomach flutter. "Uh, hey," he says, flushing and smiling. "So--this might be a lot." "Sounds serious. Or intimidating," Tommy says, and Buck can tell he's definitely smiling now, but it's mischievous and twinkling like when he told Buck Eddie was on pain pills. Fuck, fuck he likes him so much. "I, uh, broke my last cock ring," he says, then winces. "Well, sort of. I tried using a rubber one for a while, and I didn't like it as much and it kind of got--it's not important. Uh, but I was thinking of buying another one. Do you...want one? I can get you whatever kind you prefer. Unless you have one." And then he presses his hand to his eyes and realizes this could've been a text. "So I don't actually know," Tommy says, sounding a little more like he's just choked on something. "I've never bought one for myself. My, uh, past...guys have had one sometimes. But I'd be willing to try." And Buck is surprised at that. Tommy's got a big dick and usually tops and seemed to enjoy edging both of them when they had sex the night before, so why wouldn't he have a cock ring? "Well, okay," he says, sitting at his laptop and adding two to the cart. "They'll be here in five to seven business days. We can, uh, see each other before then if you want." And Tommy lets out a soft laugh. "Uh, yeah, I definitely do," he says, and Buck bites his lip and curls his toes in his socks. "Mm, where do you stand on phone sex?" he asks. "I prefer to sit," Tommy teases. "Or lay down. Let me, uh, get inside. I'm on my porch feeding a stray cat."

2. After their dinner, Buck is riding Tommy and buries his fingers in his hair and whines, "Fuck, Daddy." And Tommy grabs his back and fucks into him hard, holding him tight. After, Buck looks up shibari harnesses and asks Tommy if he knows how to do it. "I can learn," Tommy says, kissing his shoulder. "I've never really done much beyond basic tying wrists or whatever." Buck knows by now that Tommy's last two serious boyfriends were pretty vanilla, that most hookups can't get into more than some basic rough stuff. He's not the first person to call Tommy 'Daddy,' but he's hoping he'll be the last. They get some rope, soft cotton that'll untie easily with the right pull, and Tommy idly practices knots while they watch movies.

3. The restraints are fun, but Buck wants more. Before he even asks, he knows Tommy's probably never used a spreader bar. Buck hasn't either, actually. He finds one that has loops for restraints, but it requires more flexibility than he has. Tommy, though, looks at it thoughtfully and attaches the ankle restraints. Then he rolls onto his back, pulls the bar up with his hands, and shifts a bit with his fingers looped where the other restraints would go. "Yeah, I could do this," he says, and Buck thinks he might pass out. "Yeah?" he breathes, and Tommy puts his feet down and sits up. "I can try," he says with a nervous little smile. "You don't have to," Buck says. "Believe it or not, I kind of like being pushed out of my comfort zone," Tommy says, removed the restraints from his ankles and collapsing the bar again before handing it to Buck. "And I'm glad you're comfortable enough to want to try other stuff, as long as we like it." Buck tosses the bar aside and pushes Tommy back onto the mattress to make out with him about it.

4. It's Tommy who's to blame. He's rubbing his fingers over Buck's hole and sucking on his neck and murmurs, "Fuck, baby, your pussy's trying to suck me in." And Buck shudders and drools on Tommy's shoulder and tries to flex and clench against Tommy's fingers until he's flipped onto his back and has his knees pushed to his shoulders. The next day, he orders lingerie for men, a thing even he had never thought too hard about before. When it arrives, he tries it on and flushes at how kind of ridiculous it looks, because he's been bulking. He almost buries it a the back of a drawer, but then he wears it under his clothes to dinner and surprises Tommy after when they're making out on Tommy's couch and he reaches under Buck's shirt and feels lace and boning. Maybe Buck should've talked to him about this first. Tommy yanks his shirt up and sees the sort of bra Buck had bought. There's no cups, it just tucks wires under his pecs. He sort of freezes, and Buck almost laughs it off until Tommy's breathing picks up and he sucks one of Buck's nipples into his mouth. He can't seem to ask a full question after that, and Buck unbuttons his jeans and shows lace there, too. Tommy pulls them down and off and kneels between his thighs, pressing his face to the silky fabric covering Buck's cock. There's an opening at the back, a keyhole circle that gives him easy access to Buck's hole. When Tommy fucks into him, he bites Buck's shoulder next to the bra strap and calls him a good girl. After, he looks dazed like he's coming out of a fugue state and asks if he bought more.

2. Sal started buzzing his hair a couple years before, both to make maintaining it easier and to hide some of the gray. He doesn't look distinguished with it like Tommy does. His chin is all gray, but he keeps his stubble regulation length. He used to grow it longer during time off when he was younger, because Tommy likes scratching his nails through the beard hair and even biting at it. Now his chin is mostly gray, the stubborn pad of fat underneath is never going away, but he's not as bulky as he used to be. The stress and more sedentary life of a captain took some of his muscle, so he worries he looks sick. Especially with the shaved head. Should he grow his hair out and just dye it? At least Pop went bald and had the choice taken from him, but Ma's side is all thick, dark Sicilian hair. Few people go gray as early as him, but he's the first firefighter in the family. How it's more stressful than living through a fucking World War is beyond him, but all those guys made it to their sixties before they started going gray.

3. There's a fundraiser he's gotta show face for, and he puts his dress uniform on and is trying to figure out if he should just shave his face or if it'll make his cheeks look too hollow. Tommy comes in wearing briefs and his shirt, and he's holding a wrist out pathetically for his cufflinks to be fastened. Sal smiles and turns to help. "You know, you should figure this out before you're fifty," he teases. "Why, you going somewhere?" Tommy asks. "Not willingly, but if you trade me in for a younger model, they won't be doing this for you," he says before grabbing Tommy's other wrist. "Why would I do something stupid like that?" Tommy asks, pressing close and kissing him. Sal puts the other cufflink in blind, and he drags a hand down to the back of Tommy's thigh to feel the spot where the elastic of the briefs is flush with his skin. They make out longer than they should, and they're late. Simpson glares but doesn't say anything.

4. Sal is about to tear something in his fucking chest at this rate, and Tommy frowns above him and grabs the bar, setting it back on the rack. "Yeah, no, we're taking this down," he says, and Sal groans, digging his palms into his eyes. "What's got you so worked up?" "Nothing," Sal mutters, sitting up and stretching his arms back. "Just wish I wasn't getting so fucking frail." And Tommy swaps the plates out and crosses his arms over his chest. "Yeah, that's absolutely the first word I think when I see you lift fifty pounds of equipment onto your body and then carry a human being out of a building," he says flatly. "What is up with you?" And Sal shakes his head, but Tommy straddles the bench, facing him. "No, seriously," he says, resting his hands on Sal's quads. "You keep making all these digs, and it's starting to piss me off." Sal chews on his tongue for a moment and looks at the gently lined face of the love of his life and shakes his head again. "I got old," he says. "And I hate it." Tommy's hands clench against his thighs, and he hooks a leg over Sal's so he can scoot closer. "I don't," Tommy says, bringing a hand up to rub Sal's side. "You're aging because you're still alive. And you're still a fucking dreamboat." Sal snorts softly, and Tommy grabs his chin and kisses him. It's not reassuring and gentle, it's spine tingling and dick hardening. "You're hotter than you've ever been," Tommy murmurs, hiking up Sal's shirt to get at his belly and side. "And I fucked up if you think otherwise."

5. Sal braces himself on the bar while Tommy sucks him off, and Sal shudders and swears and praises him. No one sucks cock like his Tommy. No one fucking loves it like he does, and Sal and watches him hump against the vinyl of their weight bench while he swallows Sal's dick. He kisses Sal with a mouthful of cum and humps his thigh, scratching his nails through the mostly gray chest hair Sal's sporting these days, and Sal says, "Cum for me, sweet thing." right up against his ear. Tommy chokes out his name a couple syllable noises and marks up his hip and thigh. When Sal's scratching through the gray on his stubble like he can rub it away when he's looking in the mirror a few days later, Tommy presses against his back and rubs against his towel until he gets on his knees and licks Sal's hole until he's slamming his hand against the bathroom counter. Tommy stands up and fingers him open before fucking into him, pulling Sal's forehead back while Tommy pants against his ear and watches them in the mirror. "Fucking look at you, fuck," Tommy groans, grabbing his chest and stomach and hip as he fucks into Sal. When he finishes inside him, he fingers him and jerks him off until Sal's legs shake through his orgasm. After, Tommy reaches around him to wash his hands and then slaps his ass before he turns on the shower. Sal's pretty sure he's half deaf after Tommy rides him later that week when Tommy catches him dragging his fingers over his face to try to stretch the wrinkles smooth.

2. The Uber ride is...a lot. Ravi's squeezed between them in the back as the skinniest of the three, and he's got breath on his neck and ear and jaw and hands going to his knee and thigh and stomach. He's 90% sure he shouldn't be here for this, but he's not complaining. He's had some inappropriate fantasies about Buck and Tommy ever since he walked in on them making out at a barbecue at Maddie and Chim's place. When they get to Eddie's old place, Buck pulls Tommy into a kiss on their way to the front door, and then Ravi is getting pulled in by Tommy while Buck unlocks the door. There's a charged pause before their lips meet, and then Ravi is kissing Tommy and Tommy's a fucking great kisser. A hand curls in the back of his shirt, and he's tugged inside and kissed by Buck. Buck is also a great kisser, even when a rug is falling on his head.

3. "Is this...Eddie's place?" Tommy asks as Ravi's dragging his lips down his neck. "Not anymore," Ravi says, groaning when Tommy moves away from the wall. He starts unbuttoning his shirt, because seriously, who cares where they are? Buck and Tommy get their banter out about the tour right as Ravi pulls his shirt off, and then they're chasing each other down the hall until Ravi and Buck are pulling Tommy in by his shirt and waistband. Ravi looks back and sees a mattress on the floor. "Dude, I said I'd help you--" "Yeah, yeah," Buck mutters, backing him onto the mattress and straddling his hips as he finally takes his own shirt off. "You really wanna stop and put my bedframe together right now?" Ravi sits up and sucks at one of Buck's pecs in response, and the mattress dips when Tommy kneels next to them. "Wow, you can really feel the floor through this," Tommy says. "Shut up," Buck gasps out, burying his fingers in Ravi's hair. He can hear them kissing over his head and looks up to watch. They're so unbelievably in love, it's stupid that they're not together.

4. It takes a while, but they all get undressed eventually. Ravi and Buck make out while Tommy goes between sucking them off, and Ravi hisses when Tommy takes him all the way to the root. "I know, right?" Buck murmurs, chuckling. Ravi has a condom and a single use tube of lube in his wallet like any responsible bisexual, but there's three of them and Tommy's packing the thickest dick Ravi's ever seen in person and Buck's longer than any of them, so they need more lube. Buck gets up and goes into the bathroom, and Ravi takes the opportunity to get in Tommy's lap and rock against his dick for a while. "You're so fucking pretty, you know that?" Tommy asks, pressing his thumb between Ravi's lips while his other hand cups and grab's Ravi's ass. When Buck gets back, Tommy wraps an arm around him and nuzzles into his neck and kisses him, and they smile at each other and it makes Ravi's heart twist, like he should maybe not be here for this. But then Buck smiles at Ravi and kisses the corner of his jaw and then tugs Tommy's hand away so they can kiss properly and maybe Ravi doesn't need to leave yet.

5. Ravi does sit back when Buck rides Tommy, wanting to watch them. Buck is sniffling and sobbing and whining and choking out pleas, and Tommy's petting and squeezing him and praising him. "Daddy," Buck sobs, and Tommy looks like he's going to cry, and something splits in Ravi's chest and he feels like he should've pushed Buck harder to figure this whole thing out. He crawls close and wraps an arm around Buck's belly from behind, and Buck leans into him and Ravi kisses his neck and shoulders and praises him. Buck gets needy and clingy and Ravi reassures him, "We've got you, we've got you." When Buck cums, he slumps between them and pants until he tips to the side and curls up and watches Tommy tear the condom off and pull Ravi into a hungry kiss while they rock together. Later, after they all shower and Buck asks if they want to stay, Ravi opens him up and spoons behind him and fucks him while Tommy watches and jerks off and tells him when to speed up and when to slow down and when to go harder.

6. Ravi wakes up to an empty bed, and he pulls his underwear on and stumbles into the bathroom for a piss, rinses his mouth out with mouthwash, and goes toward the voices he hears. Buck is sitting on the counter, smiling, and Tommy's in his clothes from the night before. There's so much food. "--change anything," Buck says. "Why not?" Tommy asks. Ravi is about to back away, but the floor creaks and they look at him. "Well, good morning," Tommy says, grinning. "Morning," Ravi says, still half-asleep. "There's coffee," Buck says with a cheeky little smile that makes Tommy snort softly. Ravi hums and pours some, and he looks at the two of them. "Sorry," he says. "I'll head out in a minute." "You don't have to," Buck says. "Unless you want to. I--sorry, what did you mean? 'Why not' what?" And Tommy asks if he wants to try again, then he looks to Ravi. "Or try something more," he adds. And Ravi doesn't know what to say to that, but Buck sure as hell does as he hops off the counter. When Tommy says, "Now that the competition's out of the way," Ravi spits hot coffee on himself and has to grab a napkin to soak it up. He stops them after about two more sentences, because what the fuck is happening right now?

7. "I don't have feelings for Eddie," Buck argues. "You...dude, you've been acting like I'm his stand-in," Ravi points out, and Buck shuts down. "So if Eddie brought Tommy over to you last night, he wouldn't have ended up here instead?" "What? No," Buck says, making a face. "That's like sleeping with my brother. And he's straight." And Ravi and Tommy exchange a look. "You ever crush on a straight guy?" Ravi asks, and Tommy's lips press together. "Me, too." "I don't have a crush!" Buck protests. "H-he's my best friend, and he moved and made me keep it a secret a-and nothing has been going right, okay? My boyfriend broke up with me, my sister went missing and almost died while she was pregnant, a-and then my best friend says he's up and moving to Texas and I just--" And Ravi grabs his hand right as Tommy's cupping Buck's face, and Ravi realizes he maybe should be checking in with people more.

8. They talk over breakfast. Ravi had thought Tommy was overdoing it, but they finish nearly everything. There's a lone bagel and some watery cantaloupe left. And Tommy's explained how he was in love with his best friend for years, how it fucked up his other relationships until he just finally said something was let down gently. So maybe he had some insecurities about Buck and Eddie's friendship. "I can love someone and not want to sleep with them o-or be with them," Buck argues. "I love Eddie, just not like--not like that." And Ravi hears the unspoken thing he wants to say to Tommy. Not like you. "So," Buck says, taking a deep, fortifying breath like he's about to run up a stairwell in a burning building, "what are you doing Saturday?" And Tommy grins and shrugs. "Whatever you guys want." And Ravi's head shoots up. "Uh--maybe you two should figure this out first," he says, gesturing between them. And he realizes he should've gotten dressed, because getting up and getting dressed is an awkward thing to before fleeing in an Uber.