Buck is still on parental leave and Maddie offers to have a cousins sleepover. Which means its date night for a newly (and quietly) back together Buck and Tommy. They're in an Uber on Sunset Boulevard heading to a trivia night or comedy club (or some other fun thing of your choosing) when the sinkhole opens up ahead of them. This can go one of two ways.
Buck and Tommy go into first responder mode. They evacuate cars, direct people to safer locations, and try to triage while they wait for the firefighters and ambulances to arrive. The 122 arrives followed closely by the 118. And that's how the 118 finds out that Buck and Tommy are back together.
The Uber is unable to stop and crashes. We're talking multiple car accident. The crash knocks out the driver, Buck, and Tommy. It also results in the doors unable to be open. The 118 is one of the stations sent to the scene. They are the ones that get Buck and Tommy out of the car. Buck only has minor injuries, but Tommy needs to have surgery (internal bleeding). This is how the team finds out they're back together.
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As he drives home from Evan's loft for what is apparently the last time, Tommy feels like he's driving from the backseat in a body that isn't his. There's a road in front of him but he doesn't know which one, or why he's taking a left at the stop sign or running through an intersection to beat a yellow light. Everything feels so far away. It's like he's on the moon. Maybe he drove off a bridge and just floated upwards. If he rolls the window down, maybe he'll suffocate.
You're in shock, a little voice whispers in the back of his mind.
He's been in shock before, but every time feels like the first time. He's read that some people get used to it, that it makes a home in their bodies, but he's never figured out how. His autonomic nervous system just kicks in and takes over. It's easy to let it.
That's probably why he doesn't register the hulking creature that darts into the road until it's practically splayed over his hood.
The impact knocks him out of the fugue state and, when he slams on the brake, into the steering wheel. Gasping, he looks up and finds himself staring into the familiar dead-eyed stare of something that should no longer exist. It bares its soil-caked teeth at him in a hissing growl, then pushes off the bumper and goes lumbering across the street into Plummer Park.
Every ounce of adrenaline Tommy possesses enters his bloodstream at once, which is also a familiar feeling. Undoing his seatbelt, he wrests control of his body away from his nervous system and chooses between fight or flight.
He kicks open the door and takes off after it.
Thankfully it's late enough that there's hardly anyone in the park, except for a group of screaming kids in the basketball court who try to get their phones up to film as he runs by. He picks up the pace.
His legs are screaming. They're on fire. He can practically feel the lactic acid building up in his muscles, which are splitting open in tiny tears with every step. It's been a long time since he's been forced to sprint like this. Running isn't part of his usual cardio regiment anymore. It was never fun when he wasn't with a group. His team. It's a weak-ass excuse.
In the back of his mind, he hears the memory of a voice cheering, "Go, go, Tommy!"
Sucking in air, he pushes himself impossibly harder.
After what feels like a decade and with the help of a man shouting in Russian and pointing in a specific direction, Tommy finally starts to catch up. By the time he sees it, he also sees Santa Monica Boulevard.
Somehow, he manages to find one last burst of energy and overtakes the thing before it can hit the south parking lot.
Of course, it's anticipating that, and just as he launches himself at its back, it turns on its heel and slams a stone fist right into his gut, sending him careening into the side of a car. It crumples under him and starts blaring its alarm, which is exactly the kind of soundtrack this nightmare was missing.
Grunting, he starts pushing himself to his feet and throws up an arm just in time to block another blow, then sweeps his leg out to knock it off balance. The move buys him enough time to stand, but not enough to put him on the offense. He twists to avoid a stone punch and jumps back, dodging an immediate second. He doesn't manage to avoid a third, catching it right in the eye. The bone cracks and he goes down hard.
Tommy breathes through the pain and rolls the bulk of his body to the side, onto his belly, then slams his palms into the pavement and heaves with all his might. He springs up, then jumps back to put a little distance between them.
Sliding into the old stance is like greeting a long-lost friend. He crouches down and twists his waist ever so slightly, while bringing his arms up, palms out, fingers curled into claws. Powerful, light, and quick. They used to give him such shit for it.
"Look at crouching tiger, hidden dragon over here."
"More like slouching panda, sitting duck."
As funny as the pose is, they never could argue with its results.
When it comes at him again, he's ready.
Tommy loses time when he fights. Always has. It comes so easily to him. The back and forth, the push and pull—he fucking loves it. Muay Thai is fun, but it's nothing compared to this: a no-holds barred, drag-out fight for survival. His blood is singing an aria so high it's got to be shattering windows somewhere.
He has no idea how long they've been trading blows when he finally sees an opening, striking out with one hand to slap down its attempt to hit him and using the other to punch straight through the mud and clay caking its chest. His fingers curl around a cold, solid, pulsing thing, then he jerks his hand out as hard as he can. The heart he's holding gives one last lurch before he crushes it to dust.
With a whimper, the creature collapses to the ground, crumbling into wet soil.
Panting, Tommy stands there for a moment to try and get his bearings, but his eyes start watering. He wishes it was from the pain of what is almost certainly a fractured socket, but everything's hitting him all at once.
He broke up with Evan tonight. Sitting in the loft and watching the future he'd envisioned for them crumble as Evan called him cruel for leading Abby on, it became very clear that Tommy would never be able to tell him the truth about his past. If Evan ever learned that Tommy almost ended the world, that there had been a real chance Evan would never have lived to see the fourth grade because of Tommy, "cruel" is the kindest thing Evan would call him.
Getting that stupid parking spot out front made him think that maybe the universe was trying to throw him a bone. It had been: it allowed him to make a fast getaway.
But to have run into a putty in Los Angeles on this unimaginably awful night is just hilariously shitty luck, even for him.
Tommy blinks a few times to clear the tears from his vision so he can look at the mound of wet dirt and rocks at his feet.
Sometimes it astonishes him that a group of kids managed to take these things down, considering how easy it was to create them. Earth is a terrestrial planet. There's rock and soil and stone and clay everywhere. There was an endless supply for what could've been an army of putties—if one fell, ten more could've risen up in its place. He doesn't know why they only ever fought four or five at a time. Rita never utilized them the way he would've.
Panic starts fluttering in his marrow, but he tries to ignore it. It was only one. He hasn't seen or heard anything about putty sightings until now. It could be a straggler that somehow escaped Angel Grove and managed to make its way down the coast over the course of thirty years. It could be a complete coincidence.
It could be.
He looks around the empty parking lot, searching for a cold, bright gaze and a blinding smile in the shadows. He strains to hear that awful cackle. He closes his eyes and waits to feel the press of talon-like nails into his wrist as a burning-hot hand wraps around it, pulling him into familiar darkness. But all he hears is the sound of traffic on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Opening his eyes, Tommy sniffles a little, then presses the heel of his hand to the edge of his eye socket. He thinks about how gently Evan would touch him there. He flinches, and not just from the pain.
After a while, it's clear that Rita's not coming for him. Sucking in a shuddering breath, he turns around and limps back into the park. With any luck, his truck is still in the middle of the road where he left it.
+
For the uninitiated, putties are mass-produced, golem-like foot soldiers under the control of Rita.
I hope I'm not stepping on your toes, @corporatebanana, but your pointy teeth monster theo has bewitched me body and soul. and also activated my weird magical bullshit trap card. So I wrote a ficlet about it.
--
“I'm sorry to bother you,” Evan said with an earnestness that was going to be his downfall one day, “but I don't know who else to ask.”
“It's fine,” Tommy said, even though a year's worth of unanswered texts and ignored calls meant it wasn’t. But that was on Tommy, not Evan, who lost someone he had furiously and joyously loved. Tommy didn’t love like that. He spent the first half of his life unaware it was even possible to love the way Evan did. “What do you need?”
Evan picked at the cardboard sleeve on the coffee cup. Despite the fact it was hot and only going to get hotter, Evan had eschewed his usual over complicated frozen monstrosity in favor of just regular hot coffee. “I have a foster son,” Evan said only to them immediately laughed. “Holy shit, Tommy, you gotta control your eyebrows or I’m never getting through this.”
This turned out to be the last year and half of Evan's life, an insane recitation of insane events made impossibly even more insane by Evan's rehearsed tone, like this was a funny slice of life story he was sick of telling.
“And now Theo is living with you,” Tommy said, eyebrows wrestled back into submission.
“He, uh, doesn't have anywhere else to go,” Evan said, the picking turned into full on shredding. They were going to have to sweep up the mess before going so they wouldn't get banned; it was the only coffee shop that employed a barista who hated everyone but him particularly, which meant she made the best coffee in the entire city. “Kameron’s family kicked her out and Connor was an only child. His parents and aunt aren't able to take care of Theo.” And then, a little guilty: “He needs a lot of attention.”
The old hurt snapped into anger. “He just lost his parents. Of course he needs attention. Jesus Christ, Evan.”
Evan jerked back a little, blinking rapidly in the face of Tommy's misplaced anger. “Hey, I know that, I do.” Evan said it gently, as if in apology even though Tommy was being an asshole. “I just meant that Connor’s parents were older when they had him, and now they’re not able to care for Theo. That's all.”
“No, I’m sorry. That was my own bullshit. I didn't mean to put that on you.” He scrubbed a hand over his face so he didn't have to look at the complicated face Evan was making. “So what do you need me for? Pretty sure your sister or Diaz can give you better parenting advice than whatever I could come up with.”
“You'd be surprised,” Evan said dryly, and pushed his unlocked phone across the table.
The kid that stared up at him was cute, and now that he was looking for it, undeniably Evan's biological kid: same nose, same beaming smile, same—wait. He zoomed in on Theo's smile, trying not to feel exactly like what his father always claimed he was. “Is that...?”
“He gets it from his mom. That’s why her family kicked her out.” Evan’s brave little smile wobbled. “Theo is, uh, he’s like—”
“Like me.” He couldn’t look away from that pointy smile. “Yeah, I don’t think Diaz is gonna cut it for this one.”
The cardboard sleeve had been reduced to its base components. Tommy passed his sleeve before Evan could start in on his cuticles.
“I know we haven’t—that I haven’t—” Evan broke off, frustration pulling the corners of his mouth tight.
“Just say it,” Tommy said, gentle even as he felt the telltale warmth along his spine. Thank god he’d been smart enough to go with a high collar shirt and a hoodie; the only skin showing was his face and hands, which were normal. Safe.
“There aren’t many people like him. Even the social worker doesn’t have many resources.” Evan set the cardboard sleeve aside. “It’s already so hard to be a kid, but this is going to make it—”
“Even worse for him?” He kept his tone level, but Evan flinched as if he shouted.
Evan shook his head. “Kameron and Connor should be the ones helping him and loving him, but now he’s just got me, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” Evan’s jaw set with that earnest determination. Nothing in the world was as devastating as Evan’s sincerity. “He needs people in his corner, and you’re one of the best people I know.”
Tommy closed both sets of eyelids. There it was, just like how he knew it was coming. Evan wanted what he could do but never just wanted him. He couldn’t even be angry about it; it was his own fault for never bother to fucking learn.
“Tommy?” Evan touched the back if his hand.
His opened his eyes. Right now, hidden under the shirt and hoodie and his sturdy boots, he was all lit up, a warning to predators that, hurt or not, the smart move was not to fuck with him. He slid his hand away.
“Does he have any other traits outside of the teeth?” he asked.
Evan stared forlornly after his hand before giving himself a hard shake. “I thought maybe he had like super smell, but turned out it was only for cookies. So just the teeth right now.”
“He’ll probably develop a couple more as he gets older. Puberty is a real bitch. I had terrible growing pains and I was itchy all the time.” The worse part was the never ending deep burns as he grew new nerves and cells and—well, changing in the locker room got a lot more complicated after that.
Evan perked up a little. “Oh, is that when you got the—”
“Yup.” That came out too short and Eva deflated a little. It was hard to tell from just a picture, but he’d bet there were too many teeth for Theo’s small mouth. “You should get him something to chew on.”
“Like a dog toy?” Evan said in an extremely scathing tone.
“First of all, the kid is what, four? He’s going to want to bite anyway but he is definitely going to want to put those chompers to work. And I’m sure they’re bothering him. Chewing will help.” Theo was too young to be able to tell exactly what kind shit got mixed in with the usual genetic make up, but Tommy had a feeling. “Has he lost any teeth yet?”
Evan squinted suspiciously at him. “You mean his baby teeth? He’s like several years away before his adult teeth come in.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about baby teeth. There’s a good chance he’ll lose and regrow them throughout his life. You’re going to need a good dentist. I’ll ask around.”
“Regrow his teeth?” Evan said, ignoring the bit about the dentist, which was fine. Tommy had that part covered. “Like a shark?”
He smiled. “How does the kid handle bath time?”
Evan made the face of every aggrieved parent. “He loves it when he’s actually in the bath, but he hates getting in or out of it. Transitions are hard for him.”
“They’re hard for everyone.” One last look at the picture before he pushed the phone back across the table. “We’ll have to take him down to the beach and see how he does with the actual ocean.”
“You think he’s really like—but you don’t have the teeth,” Evan said. And then, “Wait, we?”
Tommy gave his best nonchalant shrug. “I know what it’s like growing up with an extra rung in your DNA. Like you said, the kid is gonna need people in his corner.”
Evan swallowed hard, clearly fighting his own Buckley DNA to keep from crying. “Thank you,” he said softly, and this time Tommy let Evan take his hand.
“Of course,” he said just as soft, even as his weird, monstrous DNA lit up in a futile effort to ward off danger.
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cora. have you considered a pov of tommy the night of the hookup into the morning after? as an angst thing. just the fun bubbly hope immediately dashed with "i don't have to have feelings for" and tommy just. thinking they had a future together but what a fucking joke, of course buck would just break his heart, or at least what was left of it after tommy himself had broken it six months prior? wow I'm making myself sad typing this ask
Okay I kinda did this in the hanahaki fic so I tried to do it a little differently this time. Plus, don't ask me why since you even explicitly said Tommy POV, but I started with a general overview of the vibe at Harbor and then sidetracked into a brief OC POV? And it's unnecessary and tangential but...I kind of like it. I kind of like the idea that Tommy and Buck are so damn mirror flipped in every way. Buck's at the 118 with the people Tommy was so recently envious of, desperately wanting support and getting his phone keep-awayed and eye rolls about his cope-baking. And Tommy's thinking he's all alone and deserves to be miserable and there's his coworkers trying (poorly! but trying!) to help. Anyway! Here's 1500 words of angst with no happy ending because this is what damn happened! But just insert your favorite fix-it fic from this point, right?
Harbor
Tommy hadn't told anyone at work that he and Evan broke up. He just didn't mention him anymore. No more “Evan was telling me about an article…” or “Evan and I watched a documentary about…”
No more “I can't help you with your car this weekend because Evan and I have tickets to…”
Instead he was bitchy-rude instead of bitchy-funny. He muttered and banged things when he went to use the microwave and found someone had microwaved spaghetti sauce with no cover or put back the coffee pot with a third of a cup left in it. He cleaned or refilled like it was a personal vendetta against him.
But that was fine! Everyone remembered when Daniels’s wife left him for her yoga instructor or after Horvak’s kid was nearly killed by the drunk driver and was in the hospital so long. People were people. They had lives and bad shit happened and it bled out into work and everyone understood and had it happen to them eventually.
But this was Tommy. Tommy, who was so quick with a smile or a pat on the back or a joke or a hand to help. Tommy, who had used his own money to convert Horvak’s front steps to a ramp and had added handrails to their bathroom before the kid came home from the rehab facility. Tommy who had spent weeks teaching Garcia’s eldest to drive when it turned out either she or her son were going to kill the other if they kept trying to do it together.
The worst part was that he did his job. That was it. He did his job. There was nothing to complain about because there was nothing wrong with what he did. But there was no joking or flair or charm and holy shit how had no one quite realized how charming Tommy Kinard was until he turned into robo-pilot?
So the people who'd been there the longest and worked with him the closest - Garcia and Donato and Sullivan and Johansson and Mason - all talked about it and decided to talk to him.
It didn't go well.
First he said he was fine which was an obvious lie. Then he said it wasn't a big deal which it obviously was.
It was Johannson who decided to call his bluff - and sacrifice his brother, Erik in the process - by suggesting. “Then you're ready to go out on a date!”
Erik
The guy was good looking, he'd give his brother that. But Lars had only said he was recently single, not that he was still carrying the ghost like he was a walking haunted house.
“The windows are empty and no one is home,” he told his brother over the phone as he drove home that night. “He's as tempting as sin, polite as Nana to her favorite priest, and absolutely absent.”
Tommy
He drove by Evan’s loft. He reread their text thread and start typing messages he'd just delete. He spent hours scrolling through streaming options but all he really did was think about how Evan promised they were going to watch that movie when it came out because he knew Tommy liked that actor.
He'd had more ice cream than work outs lately. It didn't make him feel better. He wasn't really doing things to make himself feel better, though. If he allowed himself to really think about it there were probably all sorts of reasons for those choices.
Many of those reasons liked to repeat themselves in his head in the middle of the night.
The date with Lars’s little brother did one thing: it got him to put on nice clothes and leave the house for something other than work. It got him to shave and go through all the other going-on-a-date motions even if his heart was so far from being in it that you could measure the universe with that distance as a metric and not hit double digits.
But Tommy was good at pretending.
After Erik took off, he pretended he was going to just stop at a bar and have one quick beer. Then he pretended he wasn't going to chase it with a whiskey. Then he pretended that wasn't Ravi looking over at him.
And then he pretended that he wasn't trying to disappear through a spontaneous hole that would surely open up below him any moment now.
Any. moment. now.
Then he was sitting across from Evan…
…and he wasn't pretending anymore. He opened his mouth and truth fell out.
Maybe there was something to being honest and vulnerable because Evan invited him to see his new place. Then Evan was practically in his lap in the back of the Uber.
They could barely manage breaths between hungry - starving - kisses. His hands were on Evan and Evan's hands were all over him. Desperate.
It was a dream. It was a fairy tale.
It was… Eddie's place?
Maybe he wasn't dreaming because even he wouldn't throw in that taunting little detail.
(Yeah. He would.)
Then Evan was kissing him again and dragging him to the bedroom and that - Evan - was the only thing that mattered.
It had always been good between them. Right from the start. He'd never been with anyone like Evan, never felt like this with anyone else, never starved and yearned and burned and craved like he had since they'd been apart.
He'd never spent months lying to himself that he'd gotten out in time, never lost so much sleep about what might have been.
Now he had his hands and mouth and eyes and heart full of Evan, alive and alight and smiling and just as hungry as he was for this. For them.
Evan still wanted him and Tommy gave. He gave and gave and gave and swallowed down every laugh and smile and kiss and touch that Evan gave him in return. Until he was overflowing. Full yet so much lighter than he'd ever been.
This was love.
When they were exhausted, they fell into a heap together, gasping and still laughing, curled together, touching everywhere. Nothing else mattered. Sweaty skin and no bed frame. The security light through the curtainless window. The car alarm that went off just as they were drifting to sleep, sending them back to senseless laughter before they finally slept for real.
It was perfect.
Tommy woke up full of hope. A little sore but so happy. He watched Evan sleep; appreciating the sight like he'd spent months blind. And he had been. He'd been so blind.
He got up and went to the bathroom then went to make coffee. He found the coffee maker, found the beans. Couldn't find the filters. He peeked back in on Evan - collecting the rest of his clothes as he went - and when he found Evan still deeply asleep decided he'd surprise him with breakfast. They'd eat. They'd talk. He'd offer to help him unpack.
Coffee filters and eggs and bacon became filters and eggs and bacon and fruit and bagels and champagne and maybe he was getting ahead of himself but he just kept adding things to his basket, wanting to spoil Evan, wanting to make up for lost time, wanting to make everything perfect.
He'd probably have bought more but he wanted to get back and cook before Evan woke up.
---
Apparently he was the one who needed to wake up.
He thought he'd been a fool before. He thought he'd hurt before. He'd broken his own heart and spent the months since then eating the shattered remnants braised in regret and guilt.
And Evan. Evan Buckley. Buck. The man he'd thought was earnest and sweet and funny and filthy and bratty and brash and so fucking good. Too good. Too good for him by a mile.
Evan had shown him what real hurt could be.
And hadn't he earned it? Didn't he do the exact same thing? Evan had been open and honest and hopeful and Tommy had broken it all.
Except… he'd tried to be gentle, hadn't he? Hell, he'd done it so gently he didn't realize he'd ended things until Evan asked.
But Evan paid him back with interest.
Where Tommy tried to tell Evan that he wasn't going to be enough to keep Evan forever, Evan had very bluntly told him he was barely enough for one night.
Where Tommy said his heart was going to end up broken, Evan said his heart wasn't even involved.
Ever since he sat down in that booth, Tommy had been opening his chest and painting on the target, peeling away every layer of protection he'd spent a lifetime building.
making my own post in a similar vein to this one because i don't want to derail, but:
i just need yall to know that, if you ever message the mods of a reddit, reddit now automatically includes an AI generated summary of your entire post history with whatever message you send. yes it includes extremely personal information. i mod a support group for victims, the AI summary will regularly list out peoples' child abuse histories along with information on shit like them using reddit to seek out extramarital affairs
i don't think reddit has put out any official statements letting people know this is happening, so just as a heads up
Summary: Harry joins the 118 and it is very aparent that things are a little weird with Buck.
Words: 4.3k
Author's Note: Note the part increase...yeah, that happened...again. Oops.
Read on Ao3
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
-
Part Six
“Fucking Deluca,” Chim said, and continued muttering under his breath as he stormed out of the locker room.
Eddie shook his head and Hen looked like she didn’t quite know what to say or if she should say anything at all.
Ravi just shrugged his shoulders and looked between them. “You guys realize this happens all the time, right? I’ve worked at a bunch of different stations just to help cover someone’s leave or vacation,” Ravi said.
Harry had to wonder if any of the others had ever done that. Had Bobby ever allowed any of them, aside from Ravi who had technically been a part of B shift, to go and work at another station? Somehow, Harry didn’t think so.
Hen sighed. “Usually it’s approved by the Captain. Now we’re one short.”
“So maybe Deluca knew that Chim was going to block him so he went over his head,” Eddie said. “That’s underhanded. It’s sneaky.”
“It’s the chain of command,” Ravi said. “And Buck had nothing to do with it.”
“No, he just went along with it,” Eddie said.
When they left the locked room, Chim was already up on the loft and he was pacing while on the phone. Harry thought he looked angrier than he had ever seen him. He also thought that whatever conversation he was hoping to have with the person he was calling, it should have been done in private, not where all of them could see him. Chim either realized that, because after a couple more rounds back and forth right by the banister, he turned and seemed to head towards his office.
“I don’t think we know the full story,” Hen said and started heading towards the ambulance.
Harry was about to follow, when Eddie let out a groan while staring at his phone.
“What?” Ravi asked.
“Do you know how much an uber to the airport costs? Buck and I were supposed to split it and now — I can’t believe he’s leaving me in the lurch like this, I don’t even want to go. If it wasn’t for Bobby putting us up for this…” Eddie trailed off and walked off.
Harry caught Ravi’s eye. They hadn’t cleared the air about May yet and Harry knew that it was his fault for how awkward it felt between them. So, he stopped Ravi before he walked away and pulled Ravi back into the locker room for some semblance of privacy.
Ravi listened to him and he didn’t give Harry a hard time for the whole thing. He was understanding, actually. It hit Harry when Ravi walked away, that Ravi was a good guy and maybe there could be no one better for May. Yes, it was a little annoying that Harry was caught in the middle of things because it was his sister and his coworker, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing. Maybe that was what Buck had thought back when Chim and Maddie first got together and maybe that was exactly why it hadn’t bothered him. At the time, Chim also hadn’t been Buck’s Captain.
Harry hung back in the locker room and he pulled out his phone, tapping on Kai’s name before he remembered that she was probably working and also out on a call. She picked up on the third ring.
“Harry, what could you possibly want right now?”
“Hey, you picked up,” Harry said.
“Curiosity more than anything,” she replied. “You know, this obsession you have with Buck is not healthy. Is it some sort of crush, because I hate to break it to you but he’s way too old for you. He’s been great, by the way, Cap is trying his best to convince him to take over as lieutenant over here.”
Harry decided to ignore everything she said at the top. It was not something worth thinking about. As to the other thing, Harry felt a little torn. He’d miss him, that was for sure, but would Buck be better off at the 122? Probably.
“And how is that going?” Harry asked.
“Well he hasn’t said yes yet, but he’ll be here when he gets back from Nashville and Cap is going all out. Any more questions?”
Harry laughed. “Just one more, do you know who’s driving him to the airport?”
Harry could practically feel Kai’s eyeroll over the phone.
“I don’t know. Cap offered, but he said he already had someone picking him up. And, Harry, I’m not going to ask who it is. Are you sure you’re not crushing on the guy. I think he’s seeing someone.”
“He’s practically my step-brother,” Harry said.
She hung up on him and Harry finally went out to the rest of the firehouse. Ravi waved him over to help with some maintenance on the ladder truck and Harry joined him. When he glanced up to the loft there was no sign of Chim. Hen and Eddie seemed to be going over inventory on the ambulance.
“What do you think is going to happen?” Harry asked.
“With what?” Ravi asked.
“This whole thing with Buck and the 122.”
Ravi shrugged. “It will all just blow over. He’ll do his week there and then he’ll be back and it will all just go back to normal.”
“You really think so?”
“Buck would need a real push to leave the 118 and I don’t think there’s anyone pushing him out of here, is there? Chim will fight tooth and nail to keep him here, too.”
Harry didn’t get it. “Even though he doesn’t really want Buck here.”
Ravi didn’t deny it, but then he sighed. “I think it’s more that he wants to keep everyone together.”
Harry thought that Ravi was probably correct.
The first call of the day was a car accident. Harry and Ravi got to cut the one driver out of their car while Eddie went to deal with the agitated passenger in the other car who was more furious at his uber driver than at anyone else. The uber driver was, Harry thought, the person responsible for the crash. At least, it looked that way.
In the end, everyone came out of it with minor injuries. The cars were both in a worse state, crunched up as they were. By the time that they were heading back to the station, tow trucks had already arrived to take the cars away.
“Maybe that’s a sign,” Eddie said, “that I shouldn’t go to this thing.”
“A car accident is not a sign of anything and that’s dumb, you already bought your plane ticket,” Hen said.
Harry didn’t get it. Didn’t Eddie feel even a little bit honored by being chosen to go to the games? Or did it all seem like some sort of inconvenience to him?
“Maybe you should go,” Eddie said. “And hey, your birthday is coming up soon, how about this is my birthday present to you.”
Hen laughed. “Yeah, that is not happening.”
“How about you, Ravi?” Eddie asked.
Ravi just shook his head as he laughed. “Dude, you’re going to Nashville. It’ll be fun. I don’t know why you’re so opposed to fun.”
Eddie didn’t say anything else about it over the next few calls. They went to a house where a kid had fallen in a pool. The babysitter managed to get him out and by the time they got there she was administering CPR. Hen and Eddie took over and they had the little boy in the ambulance when the parents arrived. After that there was a guy that had fallen out of a tree while trimming off some branches. Broken collar bone along with a broken leg and a sprained wrist. He was lucky he hadn’t fallen onto one of the branches on the ground and impaled himself on them.
Chim didn’t talk to any of them unless it was on calls and he kept it strictly about the calls. It was strange. He was in his office when they were at the station and during lunch, he just grabbed a plate and took it back in there. Harry could tell that Hen was getting worried by the looks she kept shooting and how often she tried to speak to Chim just for him to brush her off.
Harry thought that Chim couldn’t be this upset about Buck being reassigned to another station for a week. Not unless he expected it to be longer than a week and as far as they all knew it wasn’t longer than a week. Harry wondered if there was something else going on.
By the time that it was time for Eddie to leave for the airport, Chim had put them offline so that he could send him off. It should have been Buck and Eddie, but instead when the uber arrived, it was just Eddie putting his stuff in the trunk and all of them cheering him on. Harry saw Hen sending Buck a message and opted to do the same to wish him luck.
Kai sent him a picture of Buck getting into a truck. It looked like the 122 had also given Buck a good send off. The driver was, Harry noted without a doubt, Tommy.
He sent back a thumbs up.
Hen took on the duty of making dinner and so, Harry and Ravi were pulled into it too. Harry was chopping veggies and Ravi was peeling potatoes while Hen got their beef for stew ready and went about making a big pot of rice.
“What do you think it’ll be like?” Harry asked when they’d sat down to eat.
“What?” Hen asked.
“The firefighter games,” Harry said.
“A bunch of guys doing some crazy stunts,” Hen said. “Buck and Eddie will fit right in.”
“And we’ll hear about it when they come back,” Ravi threw in. “Buck won’t shut up about it.”
Chim, who had actually joined them at the table scowled. “Buck won’t be here to tell us anything. He’ll be at the 122.”
They were all silent after that, the whole mood gone. Harry thought that they all started eating faster too. Chim was the first one to leave the table and Hen was not far behind, following after him into the office. The door was left open and he and Ravi heard her as she approached him.
Hen was cautious about it and Chim didn’t tell her to go so that was a good sign.
“What are you so mad about?” Hen asked.
“Deluca went around me to the chief to ask for Buck,” Chim grumbled.
“This is not a big deal,” Hen said. “He has Buck for a week and then he’ll have someone else and Buck will be back and it will all go back to normal.”
Ravi met his eyes. Neither of them said anything. They were both fully in on eavesdropping.
Chim made a groaning noise.
“I don’t think it will be that easy. The chief asked why Buck isn’t a lieutenant even though he passed the exam as if he should have gotten promoted just as soon as he passed the exam.”
“Okay, and what else?”
Chim took a beat, and then, “it seems some concerns were raised about us being family.”
“That’s never come up before,” Hen said.
Chim sighed. “No. Well, the chief mentioned it when I told him I’d take the position, but I’m sure Deluca brought it back up as if it hasn’t been working all this time. I haven’t shown Buck any favoritism, have I? Anyway, I told the Chief that we’ve never had a lieutenant. The 118 doesn’t need one, least of all Buck. Can you imagine? He’ll be running around here with a clipboard making lists and driving us all insane. Who in their right might wants Buck for that job.”
“Deluca does, apparently,” Hen said.
“Well, he doesn’t know Buck, does he?” Chim asked and then snorted. “You know what, actually, maybe it is good he’s taking Buck for a week because then he’ll know what he’s like.”
“Chim,” Hen said, voice admonishing but amused at the same time.
“I know, I know,” Chim said. “He’s just…he’s a lot. Everyone knows it.”
After that there were a few more murmurs and then they heard her footsteps and both he and Ravi moved towards the kitchen, pretending that they’d been busy cleaning up as she exited, not even looking in their direction.
“We’re not talking about this,” Ravi said and then left Harry to do dishes.
Harry didn’t really mind the dishes. He filled up the dishwasher, took cake of the pots, wiped all the counters down and then the tables too. He was still in the kitchen when the klaxon went off and then he was rushing down. He heard Chim coming behind him and when they reached the bottom, Chim clapped a hand on his shoulder before they got their turn outs and ran for the trucks.
“Structure fire,” Chim rattled off.
Hours later, they were back at the station, more worn out than not. The fire had been huge and unyielding, but they had managed to knock it down with the help of another station. No one had gotten injured, at least, and it was something they were all thankful for.
The 118 group chat had an update from Buck and Eddie. They’d arrived in Nashville and had checked into their hotel. It went like that for the next couple of days. A text from Buck or Eddie. Sometimes a picture that made sense and then a bunch that didn’t.
“You know, they’re probably driving each other crazy,” Ravi said to Harry.
Harry didn’t doubt it. Their friendship didn’t make a lot of sense to Harry. Sometimes, Harry thought that it was normal like the rest of the friendships at the 118, except that then he would hear Eddie’s commentary on Buck’s actions or decisions always with just a smidge of judgement or derision. Buck was probably a better friend, but Harry thought that he’d gone a little distant. He hadn’t presumably told Eddie about Tommy, just like he hadn’t told anyone else.
It was on the group chat that they found out Buck and Eddie had gone and tied for first with the team from Nashville.
“Well, at least they didn’t lose,” Hen said.
“They may as well have,” Chim muttered. “A tie is not really a win.”
Harry spent the time that Buck and Eddie were away, when he wasn’t at work, busy helping his mom get their place ready for the surprise party they wanted to throw for Hen’s birthday. So far, they had all managed to keep the secret from Hen. Harry thought that they were going a little overboard but after Hen’s health scare and how apparently most of them had forgotten Hen’s birthday the year before, Harry understood. Harry also got that his mom felt a lot of gratitude towards Hen for being there for her in the aftermath of Bobby’s death.
Buck and Eddie were supposed to make it back just in time for the party. Harry personally thought that the whole thing could go really well or really badly depending on if Chim — or anyone else — decided to bring up Buck being borrowed by the 122 during the party.
It was a topic that came up more than once during their last shift before the day of the party. Chim never said as much as he’d said to Hen when he and Ravi overheard them, but he still made more than a few comments and Harry fought with himself to not just remind Chim that Eddie had been gone too the last few days and that Chim was actually picking up the slack as a paramedic — something he seemed to enjoy and was similar to when Hen was out on leave — than with Harry and Ravi on heavy rescue.
They were on shift when Eddie and Buck were supposed to be flying back. The party was the next afternoon so they’d be back in time and have a night to rest after travelling. As far as Harry was concerned everything was ready. Until, at the end of the shift, when Karen arrived and surprised Hen with a weekend away. Their bags were already packed and ready and Karen was driving them as soon as Hen was done with work. Denny and Mara were already with their grandma.
Harry almost felt like laughing. He’d done so much running around buying party supplies and getting food and there had been no point to it. None of them could say anything, not with how thrilled Hen looked.
“Happy birthday, Hen,” Chim said. “Enjoy the trip.”
“Oh, I definitely will.”
“So, why didn’t we tell Karen about the party, again?” Ravi asked.
Harry had wondered the same thing when he found out they weren’t involving her, but Chim had said something about not making her keep a secret from Hen. Clearly, that had not been well thought out.
“Karen also forgot Hen’s birthday last year,” Chim said. “Guess she’s also going all out to make up for it.”
Karen forgetting had probably hurt more than the rest of them forgetting, but that must have definitely made things a lot worse. Harry decided it was probably best to tell his mom about it because he doubted Karen had. So, he called her. She picked up at once.
“Harry, is everything okay?”
Harry laughed. “Yes, mom.”
“Well, normally, you don’t call.”
Harry sighed. “I do sometimes. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that the party might have to be off.”
“So something is wrong,” his mom said. “Who’s injured?”
“No one. It’s more that Hen won’t make it to the party. Karen just picked Hen up for a weekend getaway.”
“Oh,” his mom said. “Well, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate her even if she isn’t present. We have too much prepared that would just go to waste.”
That did sound fair. “Alright,” Harry said. “I’ll let everyone know.”
Chim rounded on him. “What did Athena say?”
“Party is still on even without Hen,” he said.
“Well, we could celebrate the tie Buck and Eddie managed,” Chim said with a shrug.
The next day, Harry had May at least to help him with the last minute things his mom wanted to get done, including a banner to welcome Buck and Eddie back from Nashville. May was all for it and had brought out a bunch of markers for them to write with.
“Did Bobby tell you he was submitting them for the firefighter games?” Harry asked his mom.
“Maybe. I don’t remember,” Athena said. “But, I don’t think it was the first time he submitted them.”
“I’m glad they got picked this time,” May said.
Harry had to agree.
“Me too,” Athena said.
He and May — okay, mostly May — got the banner done and they hung it up so it’d be visible from the door, something that involved May telling him off time and again until they got it straight. Chim and Maddie arrived a little early to help out and it was Chim that informed them Buck and Eddie were running a bit late due to some delay with their flight.
“They almost decided to get a rental and drive,” Chim said.
“They wouldn’t have made it in time,” his mom said. “Not unless they drove through the night.”
“That’s what I said. In the end, I think Maddie said they both agreed that they weren’t up for it so they waited,” Chim said.
“Buck says they will still make the party,” Maddie added. “I asked if he wanted someone to pick them up, but I guess he has that covered too, but they’ll be coming straight here.”
Harry thought that it would have been a real shame if Eddie and Buck didn’t make it to their own party after Hen was whisked away so she couldn’t attend what was supposed to be her birthday party. The party would have become pointless. Still, the party was in full swing without Buck and Eddie. No one had felt like they should wait for them to arrive so they were all spread out at his mom’s house eating and drinking and chatting when the doorbell rang.
They all got up to stand under the banner as his mom went to get the door.
“Surprise!” They yelled collectively.
Harry thought that the surprise was more on their end, because while Buck and Eddie were at the door, there was someone standing behind them. Tommy. Buck grinned at them as he took them and the banner in. Eddie didn’t look as happy, but he seemed to be trying to smile and doing an awful job. Harry was probably the only one there not entirely shocked to see Tommy, though he hadn’t expected him. He was a little surprised that Eddie hadn’t texted ahead to warn them.
“Come in, come in,” Athena said.
Eddie gave his mom a quick hug and he greeted the rest of them, hugging Chim and then May and patting Harry’s shoulder.
“Drinks and food in the kitchen,” May said. “You guys are probably starving.”
“Thanks,” Eddie said. “I definitely am.”
Eddie skirted past them to the kitchen, saying his hellos to anyone he hadn’t already greeted on his way.
“We didn’t know you’d be bringing a guest,” Maddie said.
“I was just the ride,” Tommy said. “And I can—”
“I already said you’re staying,” Buck said. “Where’s the birthday girl?”
“On a weekend getaway with her wife,” Athena said.
“Oh,” Buck said. “So that’s why—” he motioned at the banner.
May shook her head. “No. We would have done that anyway.”
Harry thought that maybe May would have wanted to, but he just wasn’t sure that everyone else would have gone along with it.
“Thanks guys,” Buck said.”
“We want to hear all about it,” Athena said. “But first, let's get you some food and something to drink.”
“Uh, sure,” Buck said.
“For you too,” Athena added, talking to Tommy.
Buck and Tommy followed his mom in the direction of the kitchen.
“Since when do you think this has been going on?” Maddie asked Chim in a whisper as they returned to the living room.
“No idea,” Chim said.
Harry caught Ravi’s eye and Ravi just shrugged. As always, he’d be staying right out of it. It was funny how much Ravi didn’t try to get involved, when he was actually an intrinsic part of it. He worked at the 118, he was dating May, he was friends with all of them. Maybe his approach at not making everything his business was good, but he had to start admitting he was a deeper part of it than he used to be.
Eddie was the first to return, a plate of food in one hand and a beer in the other. He picked a seat by Chim and Harry saw Chim give Eddie a look. When Eddie didn’t say anything, Chim sighed.
“They’re back together?” Chim asked.
“Apparently so,” Eddie said. “He didn’t say anything to either of you?”
Maddie and Chim both shook their heads.
“Maybe it’s really new,” Maddie said.
“Maybe,” Eddie said. “When he said he arranged a ride for us, I didn’t expect it to be him. I thought it’d be one of you guys.”
When Buck returned, he walked in with Athena, Tommy trailing behind them. Harry shifted closer to May to give them both some room and Buck pat his shoulder.
“How was it?” May asked. “Nashville. The games.”
Buck launched into the story. Telling them about him and Eddie meeting the Nashville team the night before the games and how their station looked expensive and state of the art. What the games had actually entailed and how much fun Buck had had with the competition. To Harry it did sound like a good time.
Eddie added in his own commentary. Talking about the friends they’d made and poking fun at Buck for how seriously he took the whole thing.
“I wasn’t the only one,” Buck protested. “The Nashville guys we tied with were just as competitive.”
In turn they filled them in on how Karen had shown up to surprise Hen at the end of their last shift, blind sighting all of them.
“I guess we should have told Karen about the party,” Eddie said.
“In retrospect, yeah,” Chim said.
Tommy sat silently next to Buck. He was eating slowly, and Buck would turn to him sometimes and get a smile from him. As a moment of silence settled around them, Harry could see Maddie and Chim exchanging looks.
“How long has this been going on?” Maddie asked, eventually, looking pointedly between Buck and Tommy.
Buck and Tommy shared a look. “I don’t know. When did we run into each other?” Buck asked.
“A couple of months ago,” Tommy said.
“Yeah,” Buck said. “Garden center.”
Harry felt May shift next to him as if she had put together when it happened, but Harry had no clue. Maddie frowned.
“Oh,” Maddie said. “And you just got back together and didn’t tell anyone?”
There was a touch of hurt in her voice.
“Not immediately,” Buck said. “We wanted it to be just for us for a bit.”
He and Tommy shared a smile. It should have been that simple. That should have been the end of it. Except that Eddie made a sort of scoffing noise like he didn’t accept it and Maddie looked…Harry didn’t know her well enough to really know what was going on with her face, but something was. Chim at least didn’t seem to be showing any approval or disapproval.
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"I told you this would happen!" Tommy hisses against the back of his neck. Buck rolls his eyes and sends his elbow back into his ribs.
"Shut up, he'll hear you."
Buck holds his breath for a moment, presses his ear against the door, straining to hear anything outside of the closet he and Tommy have themselves chest to back in in their hastes to hide.
"I think the coast is clear," He whispers. Slowly, he turns the knob and cracks the door open to try to peek out into the hallway.
"Found you!" He winces as Theo's shriek of excitement echoes down the hallway. "Found you, found you! Found both of you!"
Tommy huffs out an indignant sigh and pushes Buck out into the hall so he can get out as well. Like Theo never would have thought to check the linen closet he claimed first if Buck had never bullied his way in there with him.
"Alright, we'll let you hide, but remember the rule–"
Theo is gone before Buck can finish and he turns to look at Tommy with anxious eyes.
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The recent hot VS cold polls have made me realise that a lot of people have no idea how to cool down.
As someone from a hot country that's regularly on fire, here's some tips:
WATER IS YOUR FRIEND! WATER! IS! YOUR! FRIEND! You can transfer SO much heat into this bad boy! You cannot cool down without water!
Wrists under the cold tap. Splash your face and the back of your neck. Fan yourself.
In some countries you can buy a little handeld fan with a water sprayer.
Damp tea towel around the neck. Stick an ice pack in there on hotter days.
Half fill a water bottle with water, stick in freezer. If you use a bottle with a straw, make sure it's lying on its side with the straw side up and out of the water. When frozen top up the rest of the way with tap water and off you go.
Desperate to cool off? Wet T-shirt. Sit in front of a fan. This will nuke it, just don't get hypothermia and don't fall asleep like this.
Cold showers are also your friend in summer. Some people get psyched up by these. Personally, I sleep like a baby, so I'm good to have them before bed. Just keep in mind that it takes a bit of time for the cool to circulate, so your body will tell you that you're colder than you actually are. I find that when I have cold showers I need to step out of the spray when I think I'm cold... I'll just wait, and thirty seconds later the temperature has evened out and I actually need to step under again. Rinse and repeat until you maintain coolness even after stepping out for a bit.
If you can't do cold showers, turn the cold shower on anyway and just stick your arms under. When they're cold, lift your arms up above your head. The sensation of cool blood draining into your body is fucking weird and kinda unpleasant but less unpleasant than being hot.
Feet in a tub of water with ice. Blood naturally flows to your extremities when hot, so take advantage of this. If you don't have a tub of ice water, sticking a wet rag on your feet in front of the fan works too, it's the less powerful version of the wet T-shirt.
Drinks lots of water but make sure that water has electrolytes as well. Stay in the shade.
Keep air circulating. Fans don't actually cool rooms down, they just help transfer heat from your body to the moisture on your skin or the air via evaporative cooling.
Block north facing windows early in the morning so the sun doesn't get in. If you're in the northern hemisphere, this is opposite for you. Keep in mind that if your home is brick, the bricks will still heat up and slowly release heat into your home even after the sun goes down so this will only do so much.
If it's hotter inside than outside, close all your windows but two, making sure they're on opposite sides of the house/unit you're in. Point a fan out of one window, making sure that the doors between the rooms with the open windows are all open. This will help create a mini pressure system in your home, pulling cooler air in and pushing the hotter air out via the fan. Bonus points if you can get that fan high up where the hot air rises; even within a single room the top is much hotter than the air by the floor. Adjust the amount of open windows based on how many fans you have, but generally you want more windows with fans open than windows without fans to keep the pressure correct.
Obviously, use your common sense for these. Not everything WILL work for you, just use the stuff that does and adjust what needs to be adjusted. Some of these will be impossible to use in the workplace but others you can still use. Others are best used at home. If humidity impacts your ability to use any of these, get a dehumidifier if that's an option, or use more ice instead of evaporation.
Also keep in mind that the skinnier you are, the faster these will work. More fat means more insulation, means more heat, so you may need to be more patient with some of these or use them in combination.
