There was nothing simple about fire. It was always something that changed at its own will. Good firefighters could anticipate what could happen but never said they knew what would happen.


This shit show that was going on wasn't something that anyone could have even thought was going to happen. Evan "Buck" Buckley from the 118 was stuck in the top ten floors of the high-rise apartment building that had been on fire. The fire had nearly been put out, and Tommy had been part of that response until the moment a literal bomb went off. He knew what that looked like. The fire was raging again, and the chief wanted water dropped, but no one had been able to find Buckley.

Now Tommy and another team were going in to see what they could see and try to track Buckley. Once the chief pulled it, they would leave and dump water on the fire. That would kill Buckley if he were in its path. They were trying to stop the place from just falling down and taking out anything around it.

The only good thing was that Tommy had seen where the bomb went off, so now they were looking for the person who lived there. The LAPD was more than willing to exhaust everything to get the person.

"Ready, Kinard?" Lucy asked.

"Sure, Lucy. How about you? You know Buckley, right?"

"I do. How do you not know him? You were at the 118."

"He's the one who replaced me, and I only met with Hen and Chim outside of the station. So, I never had the chance. What's he like?"

"He's going to be in the middle of it all. That kid has a bit of luck, which is just horrible. If something fucked up is going to happen to someone, it's going to be him. I'm not shocked he's in the thick of it, but I would have assumed he would be stuck with Diaz as well."

"Diaz had transported a patient down to meet up with the paramedics who came up to get them. He was just below the fire. He's the one who made it known that he could find no way up and everything was too unstable. He was a medic in the Army. So he is well versed in all of that. I am unsure what else he has done since joining the LAFD."

Tommy liked knowing what he could about the people he was going after. If he knew, he could hopefully figure it out. He could anticipate what the person was going to do.

"So, where do you think he is?" Tommy asked. He landed the helicopter. The winds whipped up from the flames floor below, making the landing hard, but his co-pilot could handle everything once he got them down. Landing was the best chance of getting their gear out and ready to go with what they needed. Then Remy would move a safe distance and be prepared to get them when needed.

"There was a possible person on the thirtieth floor; if he can move at all, he will be there."

"Okay, then you get that up, and I'll head there. You start to clear the place along with the two other teams that are being dropped now."

Tommy's only goal was Buckley. It was why they picked him for this. There was two-fold on it; he was good at this, and he was the only one who had the best chance of hauling his ass up the stairs if it was the best way to get him out of there. Buckley was big, one of the biggest at the 118. It was best for him to be the one to get him out of there. Of course, ther was the fact that he was alone. Tommy had that knack for finding people who were hard to find, usually kids who hide them themselves in weird places.

He headed toward the stairs once Tommy was geared up, checking on the team.

"They are in your hands, Donato," Tommy said.

Lucy saluted him, and then she started to give instructions. They were all prepared to do what they needed. Once things were settled, it was easy to push it all away. He knew where he was headed: to see if Buckley went for the one person who was the only one. They were unsure if they were home or not, as they were too close to where the bombing was.

Tommy kept his ears open for any noises as he moved, the radio telling him where the others were and how they were moving through the high rise. This was better than a hotel mostly because it was less transient of how many people could be in there. The worst was when it was in the check out window and getting access to the records of who had checked out and then not knowing since there were some who just left without checking out.

The door to the apartment where he had been given the heads-up that Buckley would probably go was kicked in. He looked to see that it was kicked in and not just warped from the explosion. All firefighters knew that difference.

There was smoke everywhere. He didn't like it.

Inside the living room, it looked like hell, and Tommy could see that the upper floors had shaken a lot more than thought in the explosion. A man on the floor of the apartment held the hand of another man trapped under a massive piano. It looked like the legs had collapsed. The amount of blood told Tommy that the man under the piano had to be dead. The second man was dressed in turnouts, and Tommy could see the end of the last name.

"Kinard for Captain Nash,"

"Go, Tommy."

Tommy crouched beside Buckley, took off his glove, and felt for a pulse. He found it beating steady. There was nothing visually wrong with the man.

"I've got Buckley. He's alive. I'm going to begin my assessment. The man he was heading for is dead."

"I'll mark that."

Tommy had heard from Howie that Bobby had a paternal relationship with Buckley.

"Shit," Buckley said, and he tried to sit up. He groaned and moved again. "Fuck."

"Buckley?" Tommy asked.

Buckley jerked round and looked wide-eyed at Tommy. He still had a mask on, which was good considering the smoke. It looked like he had shared with the man.

"Who are you?"

"Tommy Kinard. Captain Nash sent me for you."

"Radio snapped off. I have at least two broken ribs, so fireman's carry is not how I am getting out of here. I think I also sprained my knee when the explosion rocked this place. What was that?"

"Bomb. Then you get the princess to carry, Buckley."

"Evan," Buckley said.

"Evan. You can call me Tommy. Now, anything else I need to worry about?"

"No, the pain from trying to move the piano off again made me pass out, but moving around hasn't really hurt beyond those two things."

Tommy relayed what he had going for him and what he had that wasn't going for him. He wasn't sure that anyone would be that upset about him just getting Buckley out. Lucy and the other two teams were doing well at clearing the place to make sure that they all had everyone out before the water got dumped.

"You ready?" Tommy asked.

"I might pass out."

"What side?"

"Left. It's going to suck no matter what, but I can maintain."

Tommy wasn't sure about that, but he would get Buckley out of there. He stood up from his crouch, and before he could move, Lucy came toward him.

"Buck, you can't just be a good little firefighter, can you?"

"It's not my fault."

"You are cursed. Who did you piss off? Get blown up and hit by lightning in the same fucking year." Lucy crouched in front of Evan, and she held out a syringe. "Medic gave me this to give to you to hopefully stop most of the pain so that Tommy doesn't hurt you. How does that sound?"

"Who?"

"Well, Hen told them what to give you."

"Yes." Evan lifted up his shirt, and Lucy jabbed him.

"Fuck," Evan said.

"He'll be good to go in a minute. Buckley, I would like not to see you hurt again for a while."

Evan gave her a thumbs up.

"Tommy here is the best. He'll make sure you are fine."

Tommy waited for Lucy to leave before he stood up and held out his hands, getting ready to pull up Evan when he was ready for it. As soon as Evan held out his hands, Tommy pulled him up. The string of curses from his mouth made Tommy blush a bit.

"Sorry," Evan said when he could breathe again.

"It's fine. I was in the Army. Were you?"

"No, I've just been around Eddie too much, and his mouth has obviously affected me."

Tommy laughed and stepped around to Evan's better side. He hoped that he didn't move Evan in a way that would jab those broken ribs somewhere they didn't need to be. It was a risk, but leaving Evan in there and trying to get him out any other way was too risky.

"Nash for Kinard," Bobby said.

"Go," Tommy said as he got his hand up.

"Richie is going to lead you out since the smoke is worse and the fire is eating through the floor worse. He's not going to be able to carry Buck for long, but he can do the transfer as needed."

"Okay, get the med flight here. He's gotten at least two broken ribs and thinks he sprained his knee when the explosion happened as well."

"What caused the ribs?"

"Evan, ribs?"

"Idiot with a bat," Evan said.

"What happened to him?"

"Not sure. He was brandishing that at me. So I radioed to the other team, and they came to take care of him since there were two of them. Then the explosion happened. I couldn't take him alone. I didn't realize for a few about the broken ribs right when I kicked the door down to get to the guy I was going after, then boom."

Tommy relayed that all. He could understand. There was a difference in pain, but the adrenaline from the job sometimes made it hard to know what was happening. He had probably figured it out when trying to get the piano off the guy, but there was little chance that Evan would figure out that he was getting rescued with the radio broken.

It didn't take long for Tommy to get Evan into his arms in a way that would not hurt him and would allow Tommy to carry him.

Getting out was work, and Tommy did have to transfer Evan to Ritchie a few times in places where the floor made it hard to carry him. He was carrying Evan and crossing safely. The stairs sucked, but Tommy wasn't going even to attempt to do anything but this, at least until he was met halfway up them by Lucy with a backboard.

"The rest of the place is cleared; let's get Buck out of here."

Tommy knew that even with the narcotic he had been given, Evan was in a lot of pain.

"This is going to suck," Tommy said.

"I know." Evan gave a weak smile, and then he nodded when he was ready.

Tommy transferred him down, and it didn't take long for him to pass out from the pain. They had to get him out of there now.

---

Tommy knew he wasn't going to be thrown out of the room but he did stay off to the side. He had no idea what was going to come of this. Evan was in surgery to stabilize the broken ribs and to deal with a tear in something inside of him.

"Tommy?" a man asked as he came over and sat down, holding a cup of coffee out to Tommy.

"Yeah."

"Eddie. Buck's partner. Thank you for getting him out."

"You are welcome. Thanks for the coffee." Tommy took a sip; it was loaded with a lot of cream and a little sugar, not ideal for him, but more than good enough to drink. He wasn't sure how long he was going to stay. He was covered in soot and other shit. No one was paying attention to him, but he had at least gotten out of his turnouts. It was just the rest of him that was covered.

The waiting room was full of the rest of the 118, a few of whom looked worse for wear based on where they had been when the explosion happened.

Athena Grant came into the room. Since moving to the 217, Tommy hadn't seen her as much. He had talked to her during rescues over the radio, but not being on the ground as much had made it to the point where he wasn't around the cops anymore.

"Kinard," Athena said.

"Athena. You are looking a little worn out."

A few of the 118 looked at him, but he just smiled.

"It was no chicken chase," Athena said before she sat down beside him. "We have him. A lot is going on that might never reach the light of day when it comes to the guy, but he was caught and won't escape those charges. The bomb squad was allowed to get evidence they could once the fire was put out."

"Good. I'm glad. What was he doing?"

"That's going to be in the FBI's hands."

"Already claiming it?"

"Oh, yeah. He was a very naughty man who was on a watch list, and that meant he was going to be in trouble. How are you doing? I hear you carried our Buckaroo out of there."

"Still tired."

"He's a big damned hero," Eddie said before he sat down on Tommy's other side. "Buck didn't stop talking about him while they were getting him the premeds before the surgery. He was loopy and talking about how big and powerful Tommy is."

Tommy ducked his head and laughed. He had never really cared about how he got people out, but he kept himself fit to make sure that he could do what was needed.

"He's doing okay?"

"The nurse came out and gave an update. They are getting ready to be done, and he'll go to his room."

"Then I think it's time for me to go," Tommy said. He finished off the coffee. He started to stand up, but Eddie laid his hand on his shoulder.

"Stay, you can go in with me after Bobby and Athena do when he's out. He's going to worry if he doesn't see you."

"Why?"

"Because he was afraid that you were hurt getting him out. He knows how much he weighs with his gear."

"I can stay," Tommy said.

He didn't care too much about staying; he just didn't want to intrude where he wasn't wanted to. He leaned back when Athena got up to go over where Bobby was, and Mitch came over.

"Mitch, I didn't even see you over there."

"Just got here. I stayed behind at the station since I wasn't needed for that kind of rescue, and then, I cursed myself because these two idiots get themselves into something all the time. They need a constant minder. Almost like twice what you needed."

"Hey, I wasn't bad."

"Yeah, but we traded you for the guy who ended up choking on bread on his first date and having to be taken to the hospital. Then, it just went downhill from there. Then we picked up this one as well. I would love to take you back."

"I just crash helicopters now."

"Okay," Mitch said. He laughed. "I take that back. I don't want you back. Harbor can keep you."

Tommy bumped his shoulder into Mitch's and then looked at the rest of the people around them. Hen was at home but came back after helping to take care of Denny, and something was going on there. Tommy hadn't listened too hard.

A woman came into the room with a toddler holding her hand. The girl lit up when she looked around and took off for Eddie.

"Unca Ed," the girl said, holding her hands up.

It took only a few seconds for Tommy to find a few features wholly from Howie.

"Maddie," the woman said as she held her hand to Tommy.

"Tommy Kinard, ma'am."

"Thank you for saving him," Maddie said.

Tommy was confused but figured Maddie was close to the rest of them since she was with Howie.

"Unca Buck?" the little girl asked.

"You'll see him soon. I talked the nurse into letting one of us take Jee back for a few minutes. I might have said that he would need to see his niece or that he would be a horrible patient. I got an eye roll and asked when he was a good one, but five minutes is allowed," Eddie said.

"Unca Buck," the little girl said again with a pout on her face.

That pout was similar to something Tommy had seen on Evan's face. Tommy looked at Maddie and realized he could see Evan in a few features on her face. This was Evan's sister, and she was with Howie. He had known that Howie was with a dwarf, but he had never learned more than that. It had been good to know that Howie had finally found someone who loved him.

"Oh, Jee, you'll see him soon," Eddie said as he pulled her in tightly.

Jee-Yun was the girl's name. Tommy remembered the pictures he had gotten when Jee had been born. He had been so happy for Howie, and he still was.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to say you are welcome," Tommy said.

"It's fine. I get it. You look tired as hell. Everyone here does. It's fine. Eddie, you go good with her?" Maddie asked.

"Sure. I'll turn her loose if she starts to wiggle. Someone can shut the door so she doesn't escape this time," Eddie said.

"So this is Evan's niece?" Tommy asked. He held out his hand to Jee, and she made a fist.

Tommy made a fist and bumped his off her hand. She giggled and stared at him before going back to the toy in her hand. She was adorable. It was the kind of adorable that made Tommy want kids again, but he knew he needed a stable relationship to even think about it. He did not think he would do well a single arpent and hadn't gone that route. His childhood was shard enough that he liked the idea of having someone around him who was going to help temper him when in the heat of things.

"You ready, Diaz?" a nurse asked as she came into the room.

"He's ready out?"

"And in recovery. He's actually starting to wake up already, which is not a shock, given how he's done before with sedatives. I know that most of you want to see him, but most will just have to make a parade, though."

"Bobby, Athena, you two go first," Eddie said.

They didn't fight Eddie on that.

"Then you and Chim can go, Maddie; then I'll go back with Tommy since Buck's going to want to see him."

"Okay."

"Parade patrol is always nice. I don't have to be nice and comforting," Mitch said.

"You've been nice and comforting before?" Tommy asked.

"Look here...butthole," Mitch said as he looked at Jee for a second. "I can be nice. I can be comforting. You just never deserved it."

Tommy laughed. The rest of the group was starting to move around a little more and seemed to be getting ready to head out when they could go through and see Evan.

Bobby and Athena were back sooner than Tommy thought. It was Evan's sister and Howie. Jee went to her mother from Eddie's lap, and Eddie started to pack up his stuff. A woman came in the door with a smile on her face. A boy was in front of her. He looked worried.

"Your Buck is fine," Eddie said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Maddie and Chim are back there with him now, so you and Carla go in. I made sure it was fine. Then I'll go in with Tommy here. Tommy Kinard, this is my son Chris and his caretaker, Carla. Buck introduced us to Carla at the perfect time, and she's become family."

"The 118 has a way of doing that now, don't they?"

"You know them?" Chris asked as he stepped closer.

"I used to be on the 118. I think that Evan is the one who replaced me," Tommy said.

"He was," Bobby said as he came over. He held out his hand. He looked like he was wrecked in the worst possible way. The rumors that one of the 118 was Bobby's son were true, it seemed, and it was the one Tommy had saved. "We are going to head out, Eddie. Keep me up to date."

"I will. He'll be fine. He's Buck. He bounces back."

The rest of the others gathered in the corner, and it was just the four of them there until Maddie and Howie came back.

"He's wearing out fast. I think the parade last is a good idea," Maddie said. She kissed Eddie's cheek when he stood up. Eddie pulled her into a hug a little longer than most of the hugs had been. Maddie clung to him. "Why him?"

"Cause he's stood full of heart to leave anyone," Howie said as he pulled Maddie back from Eddie.

"We can all four go that way, and we can stand outside while you two go inside," Eddie said.

Tommy wanted to pull out of this. He didn't need to be here.

Time went by fast, and Tommy wasn't sure what the point of him going in there was, but he did it anyway. Eddie went up to Evan on the bed and found his hand, tugging on it. Evan weakly pulled back, and he smiled.

"Not the face I wanted."

"Hey, your favorite Diaz was already in here."

"He is my favorite, but I was hoping for another face. Did he leave?"

"I'm here," Tommy said.

Evan's head turned a little so he could look at Tommy. The smile on his face was certainly drugged up, but he looked pretty good.

"Doctor said it went well. He thinks I'll be able to go home tomorrow."

"Eh, you are going somewhere, but it's not home, not with your bed in the loft and that new couch, not something you can sleep on," Eddie said.

"You are so mean. Tommy, he's being mean to me," Evan said.

"Oh, you are so drugged up. You are going to regret this in the morning."

"No, I won't. I will never regret it."

Tommy laughed, and it made Evan focus on his again.

"He's pretty, isn't he?" Evan asked.

"Buck, please, for the love of God, do not flirt with the man who rescued you," Eddie said.

"He's got a cleft chin."

Tommy walked around the bed, and when Evan did, he held his hand and clasped it. Despite the obvious high behavior from the drugs used to keep him out of pain and the anesthesia wearing off, Evan was a beautiful man. He wasn't sure if Evan was trying to flirt with him. But it was going to be a while before he even touched it, given that Evan was going to be drugged out for at least a few days.

"Eddie, make sure he has my number," Evan said.

"You don't need to do that."

"Buck," Eddie said.

Evan started to pout and looked like a child. For a few seconds, he had been like being told the Easter Bunny, and Santa was not real.

"He told me stupid facts as he carried me out."

"What?" Eddie asked.

"Ah, yes, random weird facts to help patients focus on that instead of what was going on with them."

"I need to look up if there are really more mosquitos in Alaska by mass than trees," Evan said.

Tommy laughed because that was a new fact for him, which he had heard from Miriam after she had been told that by a tour guide on her way to her Alaskan cruise.

"Really?" Eddie asked.

"That's what she learned while she was in Alaska, my co-pilot, that is. Miriam."

"She was hot, too," Evan said.

"Yes, and you told her after she got your mask off when I got behind the stick to get us out of there. She's better at the medical stuff, and since you were not at that big of a risk, we just took you that way. So, how are you feeling?"

"Like I got run over, which sucks. My knee is fine, just a pulled muscle." Evan yawned.

"The guys are going to come through and do a wave, but we need to go." Eddie reached out and ruffled Evan's hair. "Be good."

"Without you here, I'll be just fine," Evan said. He stuck his tongue out at Eddie. He also didn't let go of Tommy's hand.

"I'm going to need my hand back, Evan," Tommy said, but he didn't tug his hand away. He just waited to see if Evan was going to let go.

"Oh, sorry," Evan said, but he still didn't let go. he just stared at his hand holding Tommy's. "I can't seem to make it let go."

"Really?" Tommy asked. He stepped up closer to the bed, and he rolled their hands to where he could clasp both of his around Evan's. It was nearly on the line of too much flirting for what Evan was currently drugged up on.

Evan yawned, and he seemed to settle down on the bed. Tommy glanced to see Eddie talking to the nurse outside of the room.

"How about I promise to come back and visit you tonight? I'll bring something that you like to eat."

"That sounds wonderful. I want something that is noodles and chicken, whatever you are feeling."

"Not that picky?"

"Nah."

"Okay, I'll be back with dinner so we can talk." Tommy waited a few seconds, and Evan closed his eyes. Tommy let go of Evan's hand with one hand before he lifted it to kiss the back of it. Evan smiled at that, and his hand finally let go of Tommy's hand. Tommy laid Evan's hand on the bed and tucked it under the blanket so it didn't get cold.

Eddie was waiting outside, smiling as he looked at Evan. Tommy wondered if there was something there.

"My heart needs him to stop doing this shit," Eddie said.

"Your heart, huh?" Tommy asked.

"Oh, no. Not like that. I love him, but not like that at all, I promise. He's my best friend. I love him very, very platonically. I saw that hand kiss there. Also, that smile on Buck's face was his smitten look."

"He said that he couldn't let go of my hand."

"He's adorable, right? Well, I hope you are going to up your game."

"I think I might even break one of my biggest rules."

"Which one is that?"

"Not dating the people I save. Which is a little different when it's another firefighter."

"Ah, yes, well, at least for Buck, it's someone who saved him. His last three times meeting someone on a call have not worked out well. Natalia and he were the most recent ones, and she was too much of a fan. It wasn't even a big thing. She was working an event and had a cut, but she was enamored with him dying when he was struck by lightning."

Tommy knew he had made a face since Eddie laughed at him. He shrugged and then waved for Tommy to follow him. Tommy did as the rest of the people started walking through just to take a peek at Evan. It felt like there was something there, and Tommy felt like maybe Evan was a danger magnet who wasn't trying to kill himself, just that stuff happened to him.

Eddie kept an eye on the people walking through as if they had done something stupid once and needed an eye kept on them. He could see the way that Eddie cared for Evan. Evan would never be with someone whom Eddie didn't like, and that probably meant Chris as well. This meant that if things started to work out between them, if this was going where he thought it was, then it would mean that he needed to make sure that he didn't fuck up that part of things.

---

Tommy went into Evan's room and found him on his side with his back to the door. The blanket was pulled up around him. Tommy almost stepped back out and was going to give the food to the nurses to give to him later.

"You can come in," Eddie said.

Tommy looked to the side where Eddie was. He had been sitting in the dark corner and not noticeable.

"He'll need to be woken up to eat in a few minutes. I thought I would save that for you. He's had a few small nightmares, and after the second, the nurses called me to have someone sitting with him all the time. They were afraid of him hurting himself."

"I shouldn't be here then."

"No, you should. He keeps asking how long until you get here. I realized that we never exchanged numbers." Eddie held out a slip of paper and smiled at Tommy before clasping him on his shoulder as he passed.

Tommy looked at the paper to see both numbers there. Evan's number had Evan written and not Buck, what everyone else called him, but Evan had never asked Tommy to do it. He had been going to bring it up tonight, but it seemed that Eddie was telling him something there.

"Hey," Tommy said as he set the food down. He walked around to turn on the overhead light behind Evan.

"Hi, did Eddie leave?"

"Yeah, as soon as I got here. That's okay, right?"

"Yes. I'm going to sit up, but it will take me a minute. I'm in normal clothes. I refuse to wear the robe thing. It never fits me right at all. How are you doing?"

"Better now that I've seen you again."

"And how much drugs are you on?" Tommy asked as he stepped back to look at Evan's face.

"Not that many, nothing too bad. The strong stuff went away about two hours ago? I think that was when Eddie said they gave me the last." Evan's face crinkled, and he closed his eyes briefly. "I feel fine."

"That's good. So, who knows that you are out?" Tommy asked.

"Why?"

"Because I want to make sure that I don't mess anything up."

"I'm not out because up until you, I thought I was straight."

"And you are sure it's not you feeling grateful for me saving you?" Tommy asked.

"No, it's not. I promise. It's not. I have never wanted to kiss Eddie when he saved me, Chim, or anyone."

"Well, I guess that we need to figure things out here, huh? Was it my smile?"

"I don't know, but I had butterflies when I saw you this morning. Eddie endured me talking about you a lot."

Tommy sat on the side of his bed and waited for Evan to look at him. "How do you feel?"

"In pain, but it's a good pain. The surgery was simple, and it won't keep me down any longer than the bones themselves heal. I swear that the LAFD will start to want to make me actually stay back on risky things."

"You get them good news clips. I saw the one with you getting four kids out of the one apartment on fire about two years ago. You photograph well, and you do things that normal humans don't really think about being something possible. Outside of parents who do insane things to save their kids."

"You looked me up?" Evan asked. He looked smug.

"I think you would be better thinking about it if you hadn't been hurt and mostly asleep; you would have done the same."

"Nah, I just pumped Hen and Chim for information."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Bobby too. He came and brought me some soup for lunch, and I asked him all about you."

"That's adorable," Tommy said.

"That's what Bobby thought, too, especially when Hen and Chim snuck in and wanted leftovers, which didn't go the way they wanted since Bobby didn't let them have any of my stuff. I had it for a snack after my nightmare nap." Evan's eyes closed for a few seconds, and he seemed to pass out nearly, but he opened them again. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I don't need your attention the whole time." Tommy waved his phone. "I have a few books on here."

"You think you need books plural?" Evan asked.

"I might. I plan to stay with you for a while. Unless you kicked me out."

The look on Evan's face made Tommy's heart ache. He wasn't sure he had ever seen a look like that on anyone's face before. Tommy wasn't going to touch it, as it seemed that Evan didn't have a filter on his mouth at the moment, so he didn't want him telling him more than he should.

"And what else would you do besides read?"

"Hmm, would it be creepy if I said I would just watch you sleep?"

"I don't know. Carla tells me I'm cute and adorable and sometimes angelic when I'm sleeping in the hospital."

"More than one time of telling you that?"

"Eh, I get hurt a lot, but I don't seek it out."

"I think Bobby would have done something if you had sought out getting injured; Frank would probably have a field day."

"Frank and I don't get along. I have my own therapist. Doctor Copeland is nice."

"Doctor Copeland?" Tommy asked.

"I didn't like calling her her first name. She was okay with that barrier in the treatment of me."

Tommy knew that Evan wasn't nearly as messed up as he sounded, but the finesse side of things was gone.

"Hungry?" Tommy asked.

"Yes, please. What did you bring?"

Tommy went over the food and kept an eye on Evan's face as he talked about each thing, settling on the fact taht Evan liked it all. They could just share the food a little.

"Summer roll, please," Evan said.

Tommy dug those out first, and he helped Evan sit the rest of the way up to where he could eat.

This might be the weirdest first date ever, but Tommy would love telling people about it if they lasted long enough to have it be a good story.

---

Tommy wasn't sure about this, but Evan seemed to be all in on it. He had brought him to the 118, but Tommy had planned to stay in the car. No one knew about them besides Eddie, Chris, and Marisol. Which was something that Tommy was willing to keep as long as Evan was unsure of himself. Tommy knew full well how finding out one's self before telling the world was sometimes easier.

Evan slipped out of the front seat of Tommy's car, moving with ease since he was still pretty tender from the whole thing. Three weeks and while Evan was good, bending still kind of sucked when it came to his ribs. he was wrapped up now since the wounds from the surgery were healed enough not to need changing that often.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Evan smiled at him and then waved for him to go first. He looked at Evan's ass as he walked because he did have a very nice ass.

Tommy was paying too much attention to said ass, it seemed, since he heard laughter. He looked around to see Eddie leaning on the inside doorway, a big smile on his face.

"Edmundo, I cannot with you," Buck said, but he pulled out a twenty and gave it to Eddie.

"What?" Tommy asked.

"He said that you like to stare at my ass and that he would catch you doing it even if you were walking in here like you were going to your death."

Eddie just grinned at Tommy and pocketed the money. "The money from Buck and I's personal bets goes to Chris' next Disney trip. Well, the fun money I'm going to give him. I'm paying for half of the trip, and Buck's covering the other half since he wants to stay in the stupid hotel."

Tommy shook his head. He wondered when that was and if he was going to be invited over as well, for at least a day. He loved hanging with Chris, even if they had only done it twice when Eddie had worked, and Chris wanted to spend the day playing video games with Evan.

"And how did you get here?" Hen asked.

Tommy looked up to see her standing at the top of the stairs. Her hands crossed her chest, and she looked like she would march down there, grab Evan by the ear, and give him a talking-to.

"Tommy drove me."

"He rescued your ass, and now you are having him play chauffeur?" Howie asked.

Tommy swallowed.

"Well, that is kind of what one does when-" Evan stopped, turned back to Tommy, and held out his hand.

Tommy hesitated for a second, but Evan didn't seem to care; he just smiled at Tommy. Tommy was about to step up to take his hand when Eddiei planted his hand in the middle of his back and shoved him forward. He stumbled forward, but he caught Evan's hand and looked up at Howie and Hen with a smile on his face.

"I see," Hen said, but she smiled. "If he trips up the stairs, I'm coming for you."

Tommy nodded and waved for Evan to go up the stairs first. Tommy didn't think that anyone there would have a single issue with them, but he wanted to make sure that if there were, he would be right there.

The rest of the station was just getting settled in for lunch.

"I expected Chris and Carla when you told me to make for two more," Bobby said to Eddie when Eddie made it up the stairs.

"Eh, I didn't want to ruin Buck's surprise. This was much better."

Hen laughed, and she sat down and glared at Evan until he walked around the table and sat down beside her.

"I am not leaving without being checked over, and I know it," Evan said.

Tommy sat across from him with a smile on his face. It was kind of nice to watch him from across like this. They preferred to sit next to each other at things.

"And if you sat beside Tommy, his hand would be somewhere that would keep you blushing."

"Who is to say that my foot can't do that?" Tommy asked.

"Please," Bobby said.

Tommy loved the way that Evan blushed.

"How long has this been going on?" Bobby asked.

"Buck started to flirt with him when Tommy recused him, talking him into bringing him dinner that night," Eddie said, puffing like a peacock.

"You look more happy about this than Buck does," Howie said as he reached for his phone and stopped himself. He looked torn.

"I told Maddie already. I wanted to make sure that she knew as soon as possible."

"That's what she was uttering about a hot pilot the other day," Howie said.

"Hot pilot?" Tommy asked.

"It's not all I talked about."

"That's good. I would hate to think you are only dating me because I'm a hot [iplot."

"Please," Bobby said.

Which set everyone at the table off.

Tommy knew that Bobby was Buck's father figure, which was something that took a little time to get his head around. He knew from Howie that Bobby had changed, but he was so distant when Tommy left. He had been a good captain and pushed Tommy to finish the stuff he needed before going to Air Ops for the last two years, getting his stuff done to get his full license to fly pretty much anything that Air Ops had. He mostly flew helicopters, but he could fly the bigger drop planes as well if needed, and he kept up his certification on everything firefighter-related as well.

"So," Eddie said as he leaned into Tommy. "Athena is going to be checking in with you at some point."

"Why would Athena be checking in with me?"

"Well, according to the text that I just got in the group chat, Chim's already crowed at Maddie for getting to meet you first. There was just a single emoji from Athena."

Tommy looked at Eddie's phone to see the eye emoji there. "Just how close are Evan and Bobby?"

"I honestly figure that at some point soon, Buck will unironically call him Pops, and it sticks this time."

"And none of you thought to tell me that?"

"Eh, you'll live."

Tommy was learning that Eddie was very much in support of being a chaotic gremlin when it came to his friendship with Evan. He also felt like he didn't have anything to worry about when it came to that friendship.

There was a lot of good there, and Tommy was glad of it. He didn't like it when his previous boyfriends settled into relationships with him and seemed to just settle into keeping things with him, not their other friends.

Tommy knew that he wouldn't come first every single time, just like Tommy wouldn't have Evan first in everything. Eddie, Chris, Miriam, and other friends would have points where they needed to come first.

Evan looked at Tommy, and he had such a happy smile on his face that it took Tomm's breath away.

"I hope this means that I can change your reservation for the wedding to plus one?" Howie asked.

"Yes," Evan said.

Tommy had already agreed to go to the wedding with him.

"Dinner at our house tomorrow," Atehan said just seconds before her hand landed on Tommy's shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am," Tommy said, and he really wanted to flip off everyone who had seen her coming up behind him and said nothing. Evan looked shocked so he would get a pass on that.

"Athena, let me get you a plate," Bobby said.

Tommy realized that Bobby's other side had an empty spot, and it seemed like they all knew that Athena was coming for a meal. Evan had mentioned a few times before that she came to meals when she was on shift sometimes, and Bobby was as well. Which was kind of adorable, but he wasn't ever going to say that in Athena's hearing. He was still pretty sure that she hated him a little for that thing with the chicken.

Hopefully, being Evan's boyfriend would give him some kind of reprieve on that one. He was still very scared of the woman, though.

But everything he would be put through was worth it as long as he got to spend time with Evan.

The End