September 20, 2017

Early the next morning, after putting in a claim for the damage to his truck through his insurance company's online portal, Eddie padded on bare feet into his kitchen and stopped in the doorway when he saw Buck, clad in a T-shirt and shorts similar to the ones he himself wore, standing at the counter, mixing-

"Pancakes?" Eddie guessed based on the scent.

Buck turned to him with a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I figured I'd get a head start on breakfast."

"Sounds good." Eddie crossed to the coffee machine and stuck a pod in it. "But I hope you don't think you have to pay me for insisting you stay here last night."

"No." Buck's response was immediate, certain. "I like to do things for people I like, that's all."

"Good enough," Eddie said by way of agreement as he watched dark liquid stream into his coffee cup.

"Speaking of, sort of – thanks for letting me stay here," Buck said. He pressed a bit of plastic wrap against the batter in the bowl and took it to the fridge. "I hadn't realized how tired I really was until I got in bed. I was out in seconds."

Eddie laughed and threw away the spent pod. "Me, too."

"So – what's the downside?"

Eddie frowned. "Downside of what?"

"You keep saying we need to talk – and I agree, we do," Buck added. "But your insistence makes me think there's something horrible beneath that stupidly attractive face of yours."

"Stupidly attractive?" Eddie grinned, and Buck's face pinkened. Eddie sobered quickly. "I come with baggage."

"Don't we all?" Buck countered.

Eddie took his cup and sat down at the table. After a moment, Buck joined him, his own mug in hand.

"I came online in Afghanistan," Eddie began.

"The same event that earned you that Silver Star?"

"A bit before that."

Buck blinked at him, clearly not understanding. "What-?"

"A different rescue," Eddie said. "The victim came online as a guide and I came online in response, we think because I was close by. We're not remotely compatible, but he's become a friend. Him and his sentinel."

Buck took a swallow of coffee, his expression thoughtful. After a moment, he said, "That who you were talking to last night?"

Eddie nodded.

Buck blew out a breath. "You know I need to meet them, right? If we're going to bond, and they're important to you, I need to know their psionic profiles."

Eddie blinked, not even bothering to try to hide his surprise. "You sound certain we're going to bond."

"More that I have no idea what would keep us from bonding. Unless – well, how do you feel about sex?"

"Usually good, sometimes great, and on occasion mind-blowing. Why?"

Buck chuckled briefly. "I meant sex with me."

Eddie blinked, but before he could speak, Buck went on, "I like sex. No, I love sex. You'll hear stories at the 118, sooner or later, about just how much I love sex. I'm not willing to give it up, so if you're not on board with that…we'll have to figure something out."

Eddie took a swallow of his own coffee to buy himself a moment while he extended his senses. Christopher's breathing and heartbeat remained steady and even, for which Eddie offered a brief prayer of gratitude. Having his seven-year-old son walk in on the middle of this discussion was something he did not need. At all. Ever.

He let out a long, slow breath, and met Buck's gaze. "I've never been with a man – unless you count a couple of mutual hand jobs. I grew up Catholic."

"The Church has never spoken out publicly against Protectors," Buck murmured. "So I don't know what that means for you."

"More than eighty percent of known sentinels are male, and female guides aren't yet to parity with male guides. It's a better than even chance that any given male Protector will have a male partner."

"And yet the Church teaches that homosexuality – or, at least, acting on one's homosexual desires," Buck corrected himself "is a sin. How does that track with its stance on Protectors?"

"The bond between Protectors is a blessing," Eddie said. "And, thankfully, takes place entirely on the psionic plane. There's no physical intimacy, so it's not a sin."

"You're shitting me." Buck stared at him, horrified, and Eddie couldn't help laughing.

Once he caught his breath, he said, "That's the official line. The reality is that whatever goes on in anyone's bedroom is private and not a matter for the Church as a general rule – unless you're particularly strict about confession, which I'm not."

Buck's expression relaxed into thoughtfulness. "Sort of a religious version of don't ask, don't tell."

The phrasing surprised Eddie, and then he thought it shouldn't have. "I hadn't thought of it that way before, but yeah."

After a moment, Buck blew out a breath. "That covers your background in the Church. What about you, personally?"

"I'm all about the person more than the equipment. If we bond – when we bond – I expect I'll fall in love with you, sooner or later. The sex will take care of itself."

"Such a ringing endorsement," Buck said dryly, and Eddie winced.

"Sorry. I'll blame the bad phrasing on not being fully caffeinated yet," he said, and took another swallow of coffee to emphasize the point. "But the fact remains, I've known you three days. Anyone who says they're in love after three days…well, I can't call them liars without meeting them, but the odds are against it being real."

"I get it," Buck said quietly, and then he grimaced. "Or, I mean…I've never had sex with someone that cared for me as much as I cared for them. I'm willing to wait for that with you. Not forever, but…yeah. I'm willing to wait."

Eddie slid his hand across the table, palm up. After a moment, Buck covered it with his own, and they held fast to each other.

After a long moment, Buck said, "So, when do I get to meet this not-guide of yours and his sentinel?"

Eddie accepted the change of subject. Still, it took him a moment to sort and gather his thoughts. It didn't take long, because a solution presented itself almost immediately.

"They're in New York right now, and will be for a while," Eddie said. "But I have plans to visit them this weekend during our 96 off. You can come with."

Buck looked uncertain. "I don't want to intrude."

"Not an intrusion of any kind," Eddie assured him. "If it helps, Christopher's coming, too. I've already arranged for him to miss school."

Still Buck hesitated, and Eddie squeezed his hand.

"Trust me?"

Buck blew out a breath. "As a sentinel? On the job? Absolutely. Personally – it'll take a little while, but I'm willing to try."

*BREAK*

After breakfast, which was delicious if a little too heavy on carbs for Eddie's taste, Buck suggested they take advantage of the weather – not to mention the unplanned school closure while post-quake inspections took place – to take Christopher out somewhere. Warmth suffused Eddie at Buck's casual inclusion of Christopher in the plan, and he agreed readily.

Christopher voted for the park – "It's easier for me to climb and play when there aren't so many other kids around, Buck," – so now Eddie sat with Buck at a picnic table with a cooler filled with deli sandwiches and bottles of water, keeping an eye on Christopher as he played.

Well, Eddie was, at least. Beside him, Buck was texting someone, just as he had been since they got in Eddie's rental car.

Despite it being Wednesday, the school inspections meant that easily a dozen kids besides Christopher had come to the park. Still, it was better than a Saturday, when three or four times that number might be playing here.

At the moment, a girl who appeared close to Christopher's age had joined Christopher on an inclusive whirl spinner. She was accompanied by a honey-haired woman who appeared to be about Eddie's age and introduced herself as Chloe, the girl's mother.

Eddie couldn't help scenting her, and he wondered at the oddly smoky scent – not like the remains of a fire, specifically, but more like a good Scotch. Some odd perfume, perhaps?

Chloe had followed her daughter, Trixie, to the whirl spinner, promising to keep an eye on both children for that ride, if Eddie and Buck would watch the next. Eddie glanced at Buck, who nodded briefly – presumably getting the same sincerity from the woman's words that he had – so Eddie agreed and told Christopher to enjoy himself.

Only a few minutes later, Chloe set the whirl spinning, and Christopher's and Trixie's laughter helped ease the lingering pain and sadness from yesterday's shift.

Buck shoved his phone in a pocket, his text conversation apparently concluded, and looked at Eddie. "I gave Bobby a head's up about us going out of town for our 96 off."

Eddie raised an eyebrow. "You tell him all your plans?"

"Only when I'm going out of town. In case something big happens, he'll know I'm probably okay, and that he can't call on me for help."

That made sense. But, "Does he expect everyone to do that? It seems…excessive."

"No. I just – it feels right for me to do that."

"Mm." Eddie considered briefly. "You're treating him like he's your alpha."

Next to him, Buck started. "I hadn't – yeah, I think I am." He swallowed. "I'll stop."

"Not for my sake," Eddie said. "I'm – I don't know the right word. Pleased? Grateful? Some combination of both?"

Buck stared at him, eyes wide. "You are?"

"To be working with someone that inspirational? Of course."

"Huh."

They lapsed into silence, sipping from their water bottles and keeping a casual eye on the kids as they played. Christopher seemed to like Trixie, and Eddie hoped his son was making a new friend.

"I came online in Peru," Buck said after some time. "Well, more accurately, I was brought online."

"Trauma brings us all online," Eddie said.

"It wasn't trauma. It was another guide – a really powerful one."

Shocked, Eddie turned to stare at him. Thankfully, Buck was still watching the kids.

"I didn't think anyone could be forced online," Eddie said.

"I wasn't forced," Buck said, then cleared his throat. Eddie shifted his gaze back toward Christopher and Trixie, realizing too late that Buck didn't need or want his undivided attention – but maybe Buck did need the distance implied by not looking at each other as they spoke.

"What happened?" Eddie asked gently.

"I was bartending at a place in Arequipa's Old Town, and one night this old man came in. He introduced himself as a guide and said he'd had a dream that told him to come to the bar that night, to meet his successor."

"Successor? As what?"

"I don't remember the Incan term he used," Buck said. "The closest English word is guardian. To make a long story short, after a couple of months of talk and thinking, I agreed."

"And he brought you online? Just like that?"

Buck snorted. "I'd never meditated before in my life, much less felt any kind of connection to the psionic plane. It took all night, and I had a migraine for days after."

Concern flooded through him, and Eddie reminded himself that Buck was sitting here, clearly physically and mentally healthy. Still, he had to ask, "But you're all right? You've been checked out by a Protector?"

"Several times," Buck assured him, finally turning to face him again. "I'm fine, Eds."

Eddie blinked at the nickname, and Buck looked down, his expression abashed.

"Sorry," he said. "I don't know where that came from."

"No, it's fine," Eddie said and smiled. "I like it – something just for you. Now I have to find something just for me."

If anything, Buck looked even more abashed than he had a moment before.

"You don't have to," he said.

"I want to."

Buck smiled slowly, and Eddie fought down the urge to find every single person who'd ever made Buck feel less than and punch them. Repeatedly.

"Slide, Daddy!"

Christopher didn't yell, but Eddie heard him anyway. He stood with a glance at Buck. "Our turn."

"Excuse me." The voice was soft, feminine, and slightly breathless.

Eddie turned to see a dark-haired Hispanic woman who appeared to be a few years younger than he was. Her skin glistened with perspiration, where it wasn't covered by a sport bra and shorts, and he remembered he'd seen her jogging around the park when they'd arrived.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Should your son be playing on that?"

Wondering what trouble his son could have gotten into in two seconds, he glanced over at Christopher. Christopher was just getting off the whirl, Chloe offering him his crutches, and the tension inside Eddie from the woman's words eased.

"It's inclusive," Eddie said. "Designed for children who have difficulty with the other whirls."

"It's dangerous for him," the woman said. "He shouldn't be playing on it – or pretty much anything in the park, really. The sandbox is safe enough, though."

Buck hadn't moved, but Eddie easily picked up the irritation bleeding through the psionic plane from the other man. For now, at least, Buck was letting him handle it. He frowned at the woman. "Do I know you?"

"I'm Ana Flores," she said. "I'm a teacher, and in my professional opinion, your son shouldn't be playing on that. It's too dangerous for a child with his condition."

Buck made an inarticulate noise, and Eddie held out a hand to – hopefully – convince him to stay seated. There was no need to look like they were ganging up on a pretty, petite woman, especially when Eddie knew how to fight with words as well as his fists.

"I'd think very carefully about what you say next," he said mildly. "Because you're dangerously close to accusing me of child abuse, not to mention accusing every one of my son's doctors and therapists of malpractice."

Her mouth dropped open. "No, I-"

"Yes, you," Eddie cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Every one of his doctors and therapists has suggested he do as much physical activity as he can handle, and they specifically approved inclusive playground equipment so he can mix with other kids. And here you are, saying every one of them is wrong, based on…I don't know what you're basing it on and, honestly, I don't care."

Ana flushed. "I just – I don't want him to get hurt."

"I don't, either," Eddie said. "But he's going to, no matter what I want, because that's life. Thanks for your concern, but the next time you're concerned, maybe you should start by expressing that rather than with an accusation."

"Dad!" This time Christopher did yell.

"Ya voy, mijo," he called back. "C'mon, Buck. You want climbing or catching?"

"Which means what, in this context?" Without looking at Ana Flores, Buck fell into step with him as they crossed toward the slide where Christopher and Trixie already waited.

"Being ready to help him climb up the ladder, or catch him when he comes down. If he needs help." Eddie couldn't help smiling at his son as they got closer. "When it's just the two of us, I run back and forth between the two positions."

Buck hummed under his breath for a moment before saying, "He doesn't know me very well, so he'll probably be more comfortable with you catching him."

"He doesn't know you very well yet."

Buck grinned at that, and then they'd joined Chloe, Trixie, and Christopher.

Chloe was glaring at the woman – Ana, who had resumed her circuit of the park – and asked, "Was she bothering you?"

"Yes," Eddie said, "but it was from a place of concern – right?" he added to Buck.

"Misplaced concern," Buck said, "but yeah. So no harm, no foul."

"Well." Chloe's tone echoed of forced calmness, and Eddie had the sense that she would've enjoyed taking Ana Flores down a notch or ten. "If she approaches you again, please call me."

She reached into her pocket and handed over a business card. Eddie glanced at it, recognized the LAPD logo immediately, and read Chloe Decker, Detective.

Then she was smiling at them. "I'll get us something from the ice cream cart."

"Sounds good," Eddie said, and took up position to catch the children as they came down the slide.