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Buck turns around to see who Hen and Chimney are talking about. He doesn’t like that they’re complimenting someone when he has been working so hard to ensure his spot on that calendar. He knows they’re doing it to get under his skin, just some friendly ribbing. But by god is it working.
That annoyance melts away, however, when he sees who they’re talking about. It’s not often he sees a good result from that time in his life, which is why he prefers not to talk about it, so Diaz suddenly popping up is a pleasant surprise.
He usually won’t seek out a reason to bring it up, but Diaz inevitably will and he doesn’t want to be an asshole, especially because it’s Diaz. So, before he can think too much about it, he waves and calls out with a grin: “Diaz! It’s good to see you alive, man.”
Diaz perks up at his name, turning to look at the group to see who’s talking. When he sees Buck, he frowns, staring at him for a few seconds while a silence falls between them. Then he says: “Do I know you?”
Immediately the annoyance Buck felt before rears his head again. Of course, he’s one of those assholes, the kind who postures and represses. Fine, whatever. He doesn’t need this in his life, so he frowns back, then tersely says: “I must have confused you with someone else.”
“Oh, okay,” Diaz says, still a little confused. Buck has to hand it to him, he’s a good actor.
The others are looking between the two of them, before Bobby clears his throat, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen. “Everyone, this is Eddie Diaz, our new probationary firefighter. Graduated top of his class just this week.”
“Diaz?” Hen repeats curiously, looking at Buck.
And a part of him wants to throw Daiz under the bus a little, but he’s not an asshole, unlike Diaz. He refuses to be like him, in fact. So he shrugs: “It’s a common last name. Anyway,” he looks to Bobby, “what do we need a new recruit for?”
Bobby sends him a tired look that makes something shrivel inside his chest, as he patiently explains: “He served multiple tours in Afghanistan as an army medic. Guy’s got a Silver Star. It’s not like he’s wet behind the ears.”
“A Silver Star, wow,” Hen says sounding impressed, though clearly only trying to tease Buck, before she saunters off to introduce herself.
He sends her a bit of a stink eye, but a part of him feels a little bad for Diaz, there’s a reason he’s never mentioned his own service.
Chimney claps him on the back in a slightly condescending manner and Bobby just walks by him with a reproachful look. Buck scowls at both of them. He knows he’s being asshole and it seems to be for no reason, but he’s not.
Buck doesn’t like talking about his own service. The only reason he even did now, is because he thought Diaz would recognize him first. He knows what it’s like to see someone you served with. He didn’t want ice him out, because of his own issues. Plus, Diaz wasn’t exactly the worst part of it either, however short it might have been.
But Diaz is icing him out and being an asshole about it. That’s his shit. Buck can feel hurt by that and isn’t required to be nice to him. The others can think what they want.
Diaz gives him a weird look when Buck shakes his hand curtly. However, he doesn’t comment on it and takes it in stride while the others give him a tour and Buck stalks off to do his own thing, until the first alarm rings.
In the rig, the others are getting to know Diaz, asking him about his Silver Star. Buck can see he’s getting uncomfortable and because he isn’t an asshole – again unlike some people – he steps in. He changes the topic by asking: “So is your full name Eduardo?” since he genuinely doesn’t know and is a little curious.
“No.”
Okay, rude. Buck is saving his ass here, no need to be curt. Then just to poke the bear, he asks: “People ever call you Diaz?”
“Not if they want me to respond,” Diaz says
Buck scoffs, he clearly remembers Diaz answering to that name. So he says: “Well, something’s got to give. We got Cap, Hen, Chimney, Buck. We can’t just call you Eddie.”
“Can’t tell if he’s being serious or not,” Diaz semi-laughs after giving Buck a long look. He seems to be uncomfortable and a little unsure by how Buck is acting. Good. Let him be.
But because Chimney is a dick, who says: “I like to always operate under the assumption that nothing he says is serious,” everyone just chuckles and Diaz relaxes again.
For the rest of their shift, Diaz does a great job of not knowing Buck, while Buck makes an effort to avoid him and is a little bit of an asshole when he can’t. It’s not his most mature moment, but he just can’t help it. This guy just comes in, makes Buck seem like a weirdo while being an asshole about it, then proceeds to cozy up to everyone, while pretending Buck never held his blood inside him. He doesn’t expect the same sort of attention from back then, but the least he can do is give Buck a thank you or even a fucking hello.
He is distracted from stewing between shifts about all the ways Diaz could be replacing him with how much the other seem to like him and all the ways Diaz could ruin what the 118 has, by Maddie coming back.
Her story wants to make him dig out his rifle from storage and travel to Hershey, however, she doesn’t need that. So, he just catches her and gives her a safe space to land and a way to get her life back.
By the time he comes back on shift, he’s relaxed. But he tenses again when he spots Diaz laughing with Chimney and Hen. He doesn’t know why he feels so hurt by it all, why he can’t just move on. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t want Diaz’s asshole ways to hurt his friends, maybe because he liked the attention he got from Diaz back in Afghanistan and the rejection now stings. Either way, Diaz sucks and he doesn’t have to like him.
It’s not until the two of them are pulling a grenade out of a man’s leg and Diaz acts like Buck has zero military training, even when it’s just the two of them, that it dawns on Buck that Eddie might genuinely not remember him. It makes sense now that he thinks about it, he was actively losing a lot of blood when they met after all. And that was kind of also the only time they met…
The realization makes him feel a bit like an ass, but it also gives him peace. So when Eddie extends an olive branch, he’s more than happy to take it.
After the fiasco that was their meeting, Buck and Eddie fall into an easy friendship and good teamwork together.
Buck enjoys working with Eddie, whose military training he can play into well and who is used to crazy shit so easily follows Buck’s crazier leads where others would be worried. It’s not that Eddie doesn’t think he’s an idiot sometimes, he just also sees when his recklessness is calculated.
Eddie also doesn’t talk about his service much, just like Buck, though no one knows it. Buck doesn’t prod either. Now that he knows Eddie doesn’t remember, he sees no use in reminding him of the horrors of a war zone just to see if Eddie is still potentially interested. Eddie is a great friend, who is easy on the eyes and Buck would definitely be interested in him, but he’s not going to make a move. Not until they have a better basis at least.
However, these plans are changed sooner than anticipated. There are a few teens stuck down the side of a ridge. They’re safe enough on a ledge, but have no way to get down or back up without risking injury or death, so LAFD is there to collect them.
“I get wanting to try things, but really, cliff climbing without gear or training?” Buck comments as he straps on his helmet.
“Teenagers,” Hen rolls her eyes fondly as she sets up her medical kit with Chimney.
“No, stupidity,” Eddie says, rounding the corner of the truck as he pulls on his own helmet. However, when he sees Buck he stutters to a stop, nearly tripping over his own feet. His eyes grow wide and he stares a Buck for a few seconds, before he points at him and exclaims: “Pretty boy angel?”
Buck is so surprised with those words coming out of Eddie’s mouth again that he just blinks dumbly for a moment. In that time, Chimney has loudly repeated: “Pretty boy angel?” making Eddie flush a bright red and splutter a little.
He supposes that this helmet looks a lot closer to his SEAL helmet than his other one and guesses it must have triggered Eddie’s memory. A grin spreads out over Buck’s face and to be a little shit, he coos: “So, you do remember! I’m touched.”
“Wait, he called you pretty boy angel before?” Hen asks, while at the same time Chimney goes: “You know what he’s talking about?”
All Eddie can hear is noise. Loud noise. At least, he thinks it’s loud. It’s all so far away. Like a dream, maybe. Or maybe because his ears are ringing. There had been a lot of bullets.
Oh.
Eddie’s dying.
That’s bad.
That hurts.
He hurts.
God, h e doesn’t want to die.
Eddie thinks of Christopher, wishes he could see him one last time, apologize for not coming home. For not being a better father. For running when Chris needed him.
Fuck, he didn’t mean to die out here. He’s scared. And cold and numb. Tears form in the corners of his eyes, but he can’t move his arms to wipe them away. Humiliatingly, he feels the streams of water slide down his face, itching in his ears.
Then, suddenly, there is warmth breaking through the coldness of death . A warm hand is cupping his cheek and wiping the tears away. Eddie doesn’t know when he closed his eyes, but he’s opening them now to see what that warmth is that holds him .
Above him is an angel. He must be. It’s the only explanation Eddie has for the way this man above him seems to glow, haloed in light as he cups his cheek and says words he cannot bring himself to hear over all the noise.
Pink lips are moving and blue eyes are staring intently at him, as big gentle hands roam over him. Awed, Eddie whispers: “Pretty boy angel, ‘m I goin’ to Heav’n?”
Pretty boy angel pauses for a moment, almost choking on a surprised laugh, which suits his face, but probably not the situation. Then suddenly, Eddie can hear his voice: “Nah, Diaz, not if I have anything to say about it. We’re going to bring you home.”
Then he’s suddenly being jostled, likely moved onto a stretcher or backboard of sorts. The pain shooting through him again snaps him back into his body. He cries out loudly, tears starting back up again at the pain, as well as the now more clear headed realization that he’s bleeding out. That he’s dying and whatever promises pretty boy angel made, there is no guarantee he’ll keep them.
It’s all a blur until he realizes he’s in a helicopter, pretty boy angel leaning over him again. There are bandages in his hand and he vaguely hears: “This is going to hurt,” before they’re pressed down on the wounds and he’s howling in pain again.
Eddie tries to close his eyes, his vision is swimming anyway and he’d like to be somewhere other than here.
A slap in his face brings him back and there are those concerned baby blues from pretty boy angel again, as he says: “You need to stay awake. Stay awake for me, Diaz.”
“Ugh, aren’t a’gels supp’sed to be n’ce? Why ‘re you s’mean, pr’tty boy a’gel?” Eddie slurs as his eyes open with much dismay.
Pretty boy angel laughs at that, adjusting his helmet for a moment. It leaves a smear of blood behind and there is a vague realization that it’s his blood smearing his cheek. Before that realization is wiped away by pretty boy angel saying: “You stay awake and I’ll be the nicest angel there is, promise. Just keep talking, keep those eyes open.”
“S’mean,” Eddie repeats again. But he does as told. “You’ve g’t pr’tty eyes.”
“You were in there that helicopter. You- you saved my life,” Eddie says, still reeling. “Why… Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I tried, you didn’t remember. Didn’t think it was worth it to make you remember,” Buck shrugs, trying to be casual. “I can’t imagine that was your best day.”
“Okay, is either of you going to tell us what this is about?” Chimney asks. “I mean, when did Buckaroo here have the time to save you? And a helicopter? What?”
“Yeah, does this have to do with you mistaking Eddie for someone else that first day?” Hen asks.
“I didn’t mistake him for anyone, pretty boy here just didn’t remember me,” Buck says.
“I thought you were pretty boy,” Hen shoots back immediately, sending both of them a smirk.
Eddie blushes again and defends himself: “You can’t hold that against me, I was actively bleeding to death at the time.”
That does wipe the smirk off Hen’s face. Even if Eddie clearly lived, it’s never nice to hear about someone you care about, who is a friend, nearly dying.
Before anyone can figure out how to move on from that, they’re interrupted by Bobby. He comes over to find Hen and Chimney with their medical gear and Eddie and Buck ready to go, yet all of them are just staring at Eddie, who is blushing? “What’s the hold up?”
Chimney makes the executive decision that this is all highly important information that cannot be swept under the rug, so he gleefully answers: “Eddie called Buck pretty boy angel and is seemingly remembering him from some mysterious past where Buck saved his life. Apparently there was a helicopter involved.”
Now Bobby’s eyebrows are climbing up to his hairline, clearly interested. However, he shakes his head, tossing the thought aside for now. “That is certainly a story I’d like to hear. Later . Right now there are scared kids on a ledge down there, so get a move on.”
“Yes, Cap.”
The rescue goes smoothly. Buck knows what he’s doing on the ropes and so does Eddie, even though he’s newer at it. Eddie would have trusted him regardless, but this new revelation makes him less anxious about the whole thing. It’s his first rope rescue.
None of the teenagers need serious medical attention, so after Hen and Chimney checked them over and Bobby sternly lectured them about recklessness, they’re released and the 118 is free to make their way back to the firehouse.
Naturally, this means they barely make it into the rig, before the others start asking questions. Hen starts them off: “Okay, spill.”
Buck looks over to Eddie to let him take lead. Sure, both of them had been involved, but Eddie is the one who just blurted something out, who is still processing this sudden memory that returned to him. He doesn’t want to start prodding at that without getting a gauge on where Eddie’s head is at.
Eddie sees his gaze and swallows, before clearing his throat. “Uhm, I- I earned my Silver Star by saving a convoy. Our chopper got shot down and I pulled everyone out. We were pinned, lots of enemy fire. I got hit by three bullets.” He takes a breath.
The others are sharing looks and giving them to Buck. Clearly they have no clue how this is going to connect to Buck and obviously they didn’t expect Eddie to start with mentioning Afghanistan. Whenever they meet his eyes, Buck just gives them a reassuring smile.
After letting the air out slowly, Eddie continues: “Before today, I thought I passed out then and only woke up once they’d airlifted me to Germany.” He gives a wry smile. “But apparently Buck was out there playing hero. I thought I was dying when he loomed over me to hold the blood inside, so, you know, angel.”
“Pretty boy angel,” Buck corrects a little gleefully, but how can he not when Eddie blushes so prettily?
“You were in Afghanistan?” Hen asks Buck with wide eyes.
“I thought you said you washed out of SEALs training?” Bobby adds.
“ SEALs? ” Chimney chokes.
Now it’s Buck’s turn to shift a little uncomfortably in his seat, shrugging: “I don’t like to talk about it, why bring it up?”
“Why? That shit is super cool, you could get so many girls with that. Do you have a Silver Star too?” Chimney says.
Buck can’t blame the enthusiasm, he might have been like that too, if he hadn’t been there. “Nah, Eddie over there is the hero between us. I’m just his darling pretty boy angel, isn’t that right, Diaz?”
“Oh shut up,” Eddie blushes again. Then he processes the rest of the sentence and frowns: “You didn’t get a Silver Star for that? Why? Did you CO get full credit or something?”
“No,” Buck ducks his head apologetically. “We technically weren’t supposed to be there. In fact, we had orders to ignore your call, but we weren’t just going to leave people behind. My CO nearly got dishonorably discharged over it and it’s why I didn’t sign on for a new tour. Guess I have you to thank for not ending up somewhere in the dessert with a bullet through my head, huh?”
Eddie is wide eyed, probably only just realizing how close he’d been to never coming home again. The others are looking a little uncomfortable too, no one likes to hear about the reality of being a solider, the ways in which the US military can operate and abandon its own troops.
“I- I feel like I should be thanking you,” Eddie finally manages.
Buck is the absolute worst at receiving gratitude like this and the last thing he wants is to talk about his service. So, he slaps a salacious smirk on his face and deflects: “You already thanked me plenty.”
That brings the blush back and Eddie huffs and looks away, muttering: “I don’t remember that.”
“Ahw, really? I spend a good few hour s keeping your blood inside you and holding your arteries closed, and you don’t even remember your quite creative poetry about my eyes?” Buck teases, fluttering his eyelashes as he leans in closer.
“No,” Eddie squeaks in embarrassment as everyone else laughs at him.
The mood is lightened and they spend the rest of the drive getting a little more out of Buck – though he can deflect quite a bit with his classic ‘it’s classified’ line – as well as making fun of Eddie. Buck half makes things up, half recounts what Eddie said, while Eddie continuously denies saying half, while remembering the other bits, making his denial about the lies less believable.
By the time they get back, Eddie is about as red as a tomato. As Buck climbs out, he claps Eddie on the back, before leaning in and whispering: “If you’re ever curious, I’d be more than happy to make you remember some of the other stuff you said. Didn’t know you were an tits man, Diaz.”
Eddie blushes and splutters more, but Buck leaves him behind to be flustered by himself, whistling as he makes his way over to the loft. It’s much more fun to get under Eddie’s skin than to have Eddie get under his.
It’s really good to see him alive again.