Archive of Our Own

Eddie let out a loud cough as he came to consciousness. He didn’t open his eyes at first, instead choosing to focus on the different parts of his body. There was no aches or pain, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt. Coughing again, he opened his eyes slowly, taking in the area around him. The floor had collapsed beneath him during the aftershock and Eddie had crashed down along with two other firefighters, but it seemed that they had landed in different places. He hoped the others were okay. 

As far as he could see, he was fine, but the only way to truly know would be to sit up, so Eddie did. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, he took into account that his limbs were in fact intact and working. He ached in a few places, but that was nothing he couldn’t handle. With a sigh, he grabbed his radio. 

“Firefighter Diaz with the 136 reporting.” He spoke, pushing the button, “Can anyone hear me? Bosko, are you there?”

There was no reply, not even static as feedback. He knew he had a bad feeling when he couldn’t get a hold of Chris’ school to check on him. It had been a pit in his stomach, his instincts telling him something was about to go wrong. He couldn’t afford for this to be the end though, couldn’t afford to give up, so he did what he always did best. He compartmentalized and repressed the worry and concern, and instead focused on the task at hand: getting out of this god forsaken hole before the building came down on top of him.

“I gotta get out of here.” Eddie told himself, pushing himself up to a crawl and making his way through the small open space in the general direction of where he had entered the building on the floor above. There was no way he wasn’t making it home to Chris tonight. 

He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious or how long it had been since he had fallen, but it couldn’t have been very long or else he would have definitely been dead by now with how close together the aftershocks were. He came across the body of another firefighter at one point, his helmet reading 221 and a med bag sitting beside him. His beta scent was still rancid with distress meaning he couldn’t have been gone long. Eddie paused for a moment, gripping the Saint Christopher medallion around his neck and saying a small prayer for his fallen comrade before moving on.

Ahead, he could hear yelling and grunting, so he began to move faster. If someone was in distress, he needed to help them. It’d give him something else to focus on besides how silent it was and the thoughts that ran rampant in his mind. A bang sounded and Eddie rounded the corner to see another firefighter leaning against a car, the scent of distressed alpha pungent in the air. A scent he would surely be giving off too if it weren’t for the fact that he had learned how to minimize his scent in the military.

The firefighter was leaving a voicemail on her phone, her voice cracking as she explained the situation to her mate. It was her contingency plan, so that she didn’t leave without saying goodbye. Eddie had already made one of those long ago for Christopher.

“I fought to the end. I fought. I fought to come home to you, okay?” she sobbed, her breath shaky as she put the phone down and saved the recording. 

Eddie let her have her moment before making his presence known. “Then, let’s fight together.”

The alpha jumped, eyes wide as she stared at him. It was like she had seen a ghost and he’s sure that she thought she had. She probably hadn’t known he was down here too, assuming she and the man he had seen had been the only ones to fall. As the shock cleared, hope filled her eyes and Eddie felt a pang of guilt knowing she thought she had been saved when she wasn’t. They both weren’t.

“Looks like we both fell.” Eddie said, trying to break it to her before she got her hopes too high.

He could see the light of hope leave her eyes once more. She knew the same fact he did, nobody was coming for them, not down here. They needed to save themselves.

“Edmudo Diaz with the 136. Call me Eddie.”

“Henrietta Wilson with the 118. You can call me Hen.”

Eddie nodded and picked up an axe that he’s sure Hen had been attempting to use to dig her way out. Shoving it into the crack she had most likely been working on, he pushed down on it with all his strength. Hen placed her glasses back on her face and put her helmet on before joining Eddie on pushing down.

The silence between them was thick, the thoughts of what might happen to them both swimming through their minds. They could die down here without ever seeing their families, their recorded voicemails being the only thing they had left to say goodbye. It was a terrible, heart-wrenching thought and Eddie didn’t want to think about it. Once again, he did what he always did best and repressed, choosing instead to focus on Hen.

“So, tell me about yourself, Hen.” Eddie tried, “If we might die here, I might as well know who I’m dying with.” not to mention it’ll keep my mind off dying here. He didn’t say that last part out loud, not wanting her to know that he was using conversation to keep his mind busy. “You got a family?”

“Yeah, a wife and a son.” Hen replied, “Karen and Denny. What about you?”

The pushing wasn’t doing anything so Eddie adjusted the axe into a different spot, but the rubble still didn’t budge. He let out a deep breath. “We’ve gotta change tactics, let’s try hitting our way through.”

“Okay.” Hen agreed.

Eddie nodded before pulling the axe out from under and bringing it behind his head to prepare to swing. Hen moved as far away as she could in the small space and once she was clear Eddie began to swing, trying to knock the debris loose and open a space on the other side.

“I got a kid too. His name’s Christopher.” Eddie replied between swings. Normally he would never share information about himself, but maybe the threat of death looming over his head was making him open up.

“How old is Denny?”

“He’s ten. How about Christopher?”

“Same age.”

“Well, when we get out of here, we should have them meet.”

“Nothing like a near death experience to bring people together.” Eddie joked. He knew it was a dumb joke to make, but humor seemed like a better fall back than worry.

Hen snorted quietly, shaking her head. “What about you? You got a mate?”

“Nah.” Eddie shook his head, “Was married once, but she wasn’t my mate. That’s probably why it didn’t work out.” 

Eddie knew that that was not the reason things hadn’t worked out with Shannon. Things hadn’t worked out because he hadn’t been around. He didn’t give her the love and support she needed. He had run away. He wasn’t about to tell Hen all that though. After all, he barely knew the woman.

Hen shrugged. “Maybe.”

“How about your wife? Is she your soulmate?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why were you leaving her a voicemail? Can’t she hear your thoughts?” Eddie asked, confused. It was common knowledge that when you first caught your mate’s scent you could start hearing their thoughts, but he didn’t think that ever went away even after you mated them.

“Not at the moment, no.” Hen shook her head, “When I’m at work we put up a wall. Most mates can do it, it just has to be built from both sides.”

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked.

“Both people have to put up the wall at the same time. It’s like a barricade that blocks thoughts on each side, but it has to be mutually consented to. It never feels right though. It creates this empty kind of feeling. After a while and lots of practice you don’t notice it as much though.” Hen explains, “When we first got together, I was having trouble focusing on the job because I was constantly hearing her thoughts, so we had to put up the wall. It comes down the moment I take off my uniform though.”

“Oh.” Eddie replied, unsure of what else to say. The debris had yet to give at all and Eddie was starting to feel a little hopeless. It wasn’t often that he gave up, but his arms were starting to feel really sore. “You wanna have a swing?” Eddie asked, “My arms are tiring out.”

Hen nodded, taking the axe from him and switching places with him.

“So, the 118? What’s it like?” Eddie inquired, trying to keep the conversation flowing.

“It’s great.” Hen said, “When I first started, it was awful. I may be an alpha but I’m still female and that didn’t roll over well with the team who used to be there. Once the old captain left and we got our new one, things started looking up though.”

“He's a lot nicer than your last one?”

“A hell of a lot nicer and a male omega so he knew what it was like to be treated like he didn’t belong, probably even more than me.” Hen answered. She struck the debris again and with a grumble, the wall gave out creating an opening large enough to crawl through. They both smiled at each other.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Eddie replied.

They both crawled through one at a time and a moment after they made it through a dog was rounding the corner of one of the cars and barking at them. Hen smiled, reaching her hand out toward the distressed animal. 

“Hey. Hey.” She smiled, “Lassie, go get help.” 

Eddie held back a small chuckle. Hen’s request was funny because Lassie wasn’t stuck with Timmy when he fell down that well. The dog came closer and Hen lifted it into her arms, the small creature licking her face like crazy. 

“Paisley.” She read the tag aloud before glancing over to Eddie with a smile and then back to the dog, “Okay, Paisley, show us the way out.” She set the dog down and it began to lead the way with Hen following close behind. Eddie paused for a moment, disbelieving that the dog had any idea where to go, before following after Hen nevertheless.

They managed to find the little girl that had gone missing and Hen pulled a shoe out of her pocket to give it to her. Once the shoe was securely on, Hen pulled the little girl onto her back and they continued to keep moving. They didn’t want to stay in one place for too long as they had no way of telling when the next aftershock would bring everything down on top of them. It was still life or death and they needed to move fast.

A draft filled their small tunnel and Eddie and Hen connected eyes as they heard voices up ahead. Somebody was coming for them. They weren’t at this alone anymore! A big loud boom sounded in the distance and the dog sped up, running out of an opening ahead.

“Hen?” A voice yelled from ahead, “Hen, are you there?”

Then there was silence. 

Hen looked back at Eddie who nodded for her to go first and she nodded back, standing once the rubble gave her clearance and heading through the hole first. The voices began again, each saying different things. 

“Hey, fellas.” Hen coughed. 

Eddie made his way out behind her and once he was clear, he could see the crowd. All the firefighters from every station had banded together to dig them out. People who didn’t know him or Hen from Adam. Even the team that Eddie had only been on for about a week. It was an amazing sight.

Lena pushed her way through the group and grabbed Eddie up into a strong hug. “Don’t ever do that again, or I’ll cut your knot off and feed it to you.” 

“I’ll try not to allow any more earthquakes to shake the ground out from underneath me.” Eddie promised sarcastically before laughing.

“Okay everyone, we gotta get the hell out of this collapsing building. Reunions can happen later!” The site commander yelled.

The firefighters broke up their little merriment before heading their way out of the building. Eddie felt an arm grip his and he turned to find Hen smiling at him, but the little girl was missing. Eddie didn’t think much of it, she had probably handed her off to another firefighter in better condition so that they could check her out.

“We did good, Diaz.” Hen smiled, “When all this shit is over, I’ll stop by your station and leave my number. You owe our kids a playdate.”

“I always keep my promises.” Eddie laughed. 

As they exited the crumbling structure and entered the windy night air, a scent drifted through the air from the encampment of first responders and survivors. The smell of dust of course, but something else underneath it. Something sweeter, more flowery. Something Omega. Honey and Rose.

‘Thank god the kid is okay.’ A male voice echoed through his head, ‘I’m exhausted. I could sleep for a week.’

Eddie’s eyes went wide and he swallowed harshly. He had scented his mate, but in this crowd of people, he had no idea who it was.

🎁🎁🎁

Over the next few days, Eddie began to understand what Hen had meant when she said that sharing thoughts with your mate could be distracting. He could hear every thought that crossed the man’s mind. Every time he found someone attractive, every time he didn’t feel like he was good enough, and every time he came home to the empty apartment of his ex-girlfriend and alpha, Eddie heard every thought and it tore him apart.

After a few tries of reaching out to him, Eddie had established two things: one being that the omega had not caught his scent at the hotel and the other being that his mate had abandonment issues on par with his own. 

‘Maddie’s back!’ The thought echoed through Eddie’s head as he cooked breakfast for Christopher, ‘But I shouldn’t get my hopes up. She said she’s just passing through. I wish she would stay.’  

Every time Eddie heard a thought like this, his heart broke just a little bit more for the omega. The man had been left behind by so many who had promised to be there for him and now all he could think about was when they’d leave next. Eddie wished he could wrap the omega in his arms and hide him away from everything and everyone who had ever hurt him or ever planned to. It was his mate, his soulmate, and he deserved to feel loved. Eddie vowed that when they found each other he would show the man what love was meant to feel like.

‘She thinks I should leave Abby’s house. She thinks Abby has already left me and hasn’t had the heart to tell me. Maybe she has.’ Eddie let out a sad sigh.

“Dad, are you okay?” Christopher asked, looking up at him from his seat on the couch. 

Eddie shook his head. “Yeah, buddy, I’m good.”

“Are you sure? You keep sighing, like you’ve heard something sad.”

Eddie gave his son a sad smile. “I’m okay, buddy, I’m just worried about someone.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Christopher’s nose scrunched up and he tilted his head in confusion. “How can you be worried about someone but not know who it is?”

Eddie sat down beside him on the couch. “Remember when you learned about soulmates in school?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, soulmates can hear each other’s thoughts once they catch each other’s scents.” Eddie explained, “I’ve caught my soulmate’s scent, but it was so crowded, I couldn’t see who he was.”

“But now you hear his thoughts and his thoughts are sad?”

“Exactly.”

Christopher nodded thoughtfully before smiling up at his dad. “Then, we have to find him so we can make his thoughts happy again.”

Eddie stared at his son in shock. How had he managed to raise such a kind and caring human being? He’d just told his son that there was someone new about to come into their lives and instead of being like most kids and worrying about his father’s attention being divided, he vowed to find the person. Christopher was truly a saint.

“Yeah, buddy. I guess we do.” Eddie smiled, “Now, we gotta get you to school and I gotta get to work.”

“Okay, dad.”

Once Eddie had Christopher’s shoes on, he helped his son stand and they made their way out of the house to the truck. The drive was slow, the morning rush hour packing up the streets. Eddie knew he should have left earlier. At this rate, Christopher was going to be late for school and Eddie was surely going to be late for work. 

‘That’s a nice truck. I like the color.’  

Eddie glanced out his driver's side window, making eye contact with the man in the jeep beside him before quickly looking away. He always hated when that happened. The awkward feeling of being caught staring even though he had only just looked. 

‘Driver’s pretty hot too. Nice eyes.’ 

Eddie looked back over again, making eye contact with the guy again. He was the most handsome man Eddie had ever seen, bright blue eyes and a birthmark over his left eyebrow. Eddie suddenly thought about kissing it and his stomach flipped.

‘Okay, he’s more than hot. He’s the most attractive guy I’ve ever seen…. And he’s staring at me.’

The man gave Eddie a flirtatious smirk and a small wave before glancing back forward and driving off. 

‘Good bye, hot stranger.’

Eddie sat there in shock. It couldn’t have been. That couldn’t have been who he thought it was. The thoughts definitely matched up, but that couldn’t have been his mate. Could it? Would fate really do that? Eddie had no idea.

A honk broke Eddie from his shocked confusion and he looked up at the light to find it green. Shaking the chaos of thoughts from his head, he focused on driving.

☃️🎁☃️

“Diaz! Someone is here for you!” One of the other firefighters yelled. Eddie gave a grimace at the use of his nickname. He’d asked them not to call him that, but the only one who seemed to listen was Lena. The rest of the guys in this house didn’t seem to like him all that much.

Eddie made his way down the stairs from the loft and into the garage to find Hen standing there with her hands in her pockets. He smiled, coming to a stop in front of her. “Hey, come to collect I see?”

“I have.” Hen laughed, “Denny is having a birthday party this week and I thought you might like to join us. Some of his friends from school are coming and my captain is bringing his alpha and his step-son.”

“You trying to poach me, Wilson?”

Hen laughed. “Would you object if I was?”

Eddie pretended to think for a bit. “I could be persuaded.”

“Here’s the address and my number. Party is on Saturday.” Hen handed Eddie a piece of paper with her information written in a messy scrawl. 

“Well, lucky for you, I’m off Saturday.”

“Okay, see you then.” Hen nodded before leaving.

Eddie pulled out his phone, typing in her number and saving it before heading back to work.

‘You’re just gonna send the letter. All you gotta do is drop it in the mailbox and then it’s done. Then you’re good. She couldn’t break it off with you so you gotta do it. She’s already gone.’ The omega’s voice echoed. It was a tone Eddie had often used with himself. A pep talk. His omega was finally letting Abby go. ‘Come on, Buck. You can do it. She left you first.’

Eddie froze, realizing that he now had his mate’s name. Buck. His name was Buck. 

Moving away from Texas had been hard on Eddie. Even after joining the 136, he still had yet to feel at home. But now he knew his mate’s name and he had more friends than just Lena and Christopher was settling in. Things were finally looking up.

The siren went off and Eddie ran for his turnout gear where he found Lena. “You ready Eddie?”

“Of course.”

🎁☃️🎁

Saturday rolled around rather quickly and Christopher was excited. He had yet to make many friends since they moved up from Texas so when Eddie had told him that he had been invited to a birthday party, he was ecstatic! At first, Eddie had been afraid that Christopher wouldn’t want to go since he didn’t know the other kids, but once Eddie had told him that he knew Hen from work, he couldn’t wait to meet other kids with firefighter parents.

He had texted Hen to let her know that they were on their way and Hen had said that Denny and the others were excited to meet Christopher. He’d told Hen about Christopher’s CP and she’d promised that he’d be okay with all the other kids.

Eddie pulled into a parking space on the street and took a deep breath before turning back to Christopher. “You ready, kid?”

“Yeah, dad.” Christopher said in a duh tone, “I’ve been ready.”

Eddie laughed. “I have no idea where you learned all this sass from.”

“Not you.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and climbed out of the truck, going around back to help Christopher out. A jeep drove by and it was like slow motion as Eddie’s eyes connected with the same blue from two days before. The blonde man smiled, waved, and then he was gone.

‘It’s that hot truck guy again.’ Buck’s thought echoed, ‘Maddie better believe I love her or I’d be pulling over right now.’

“Dad?” Christopher huffed from his now open window, “Are we going in? Or are you just gonna stand there?”

Eddie shook out his shock and looked at his son. “Still have no idea where you got that sass from.”

Christopher just smiled. Eddie rolled his eyes and helped his son from the car, grabbing his bag. Together they made their way across the street and knocked on Hen’s door. The scent of rose and honey lingered where they stood and Eddie took a deep breath in, holding onto the scent. It was intoxicating. 

The door opened and blew the scent away, being replaced by Hen’s strong alpha scent of cinnamon and nutmeg mixed with the softer omega scent of licorice -- Karen’s scent. 

“Welcome! Come on in! Denny is dying to meet Christopher and the rest of the gang wants to meet you too Eddie!” Hen cheered, walking back into the house and leaving the door open for them to follow. 

Eddie stepped into the living room, finding two boys sitting on the floor around the coffee table and playing legos. A woman came in from the dining room and held her hand out to Eddie for him to shake.

“I’m Karen. Hen’s mate.”

“Eddie. The guy she was trapped under a building with.” Eddie tried to joke. 

“Nice to meet you, Eddie.” Karen smiled before nodding towards the kids and the coffee table. She pointed at a boy with wild curly hair. “That’s our son, Denny, and Captain Nash’s stepson, Harry. Is there anything that Christopher might need to feel comfortable?” 

“It’s alright. He can sit on the floor, but I would like to stay near him, just in case.”

“No problem.” Hen shrugged before turning towards one of the doorways, “Everyone! Come meet Eddie!” 

Eddie helped Christopher sit on the floor as a group of people came around the corner. He smiled and, once he was sure Christopher was properly seated and in a comfortable position, he stood to shake their hands. Christopher was already introducing himself with a wide happy smile.

“Eddie, this is Captain Bobby Nash.” Hen introduced, waving her hand in a presenting motion toward a tall blonde omega man. 

Bobby took Eddie’s offered hand, shaking it twice. “Nice to meet you, Eddie. I’ve heard a lot about you. I was even in the running for you to come to my station.”

“Is this the part where you say that if I ever want to transfer, you’d welcome me with open arms?” Eddie joked.

“In so many words, yes.” Bobby chuckled, shaking his head before waving his hands toward an alpha woman who stood beside him, “This is my mate, Sergeant Athena Grant.”

The woman took Eddie’s hand and shook it. “It’s good to meet you, Eddie. I hope you’re not half as reckless as this group.”

“Well, I did meet Hen by falling into a hole during that earthquake.”

“Then I guess I have one more person to rush after. I’m gonna have to baby proof Los Angeles with you guys running around.”

Eddie laughed.

“And this is Howard Han.” Hen introduced, waving a hand towards an alpha man -- the final person in the room.

“You can call me Chimney or Chim.” Howard said, shaking his head.

“Nice to meet you, Chimney. Is there a story there?”

“A long one.” Hen laughed. She then launched into a long and complicated story about Chim being the only one small enough to climb into a chimney during a rescue. He had managed to shove the other person loose only to get stuck himself. Hence the name: Chimney. “If I ever introduce you to our other team member, Buckley, please don’t tell him the story.” Hen finished with a laugh.

“Why not?”

“It’s a running joke on Buck. He’s so curious so we’re all messing with him by not telling him.” Chimney explained.

Eddie didn’t catch anything after Buck. Was it his Buck? Did they know his soulmate? He’d seen the man he was sure was his soulmate when he arrived. Had Buck been leaving Hen’s house? Had they just barely missed each other?

“Buck?” Eddie asked, trying to remain calm, “Does he have a birthmark over his left eye?”

“Yeah, that’s him.” Bobby answered, “Have you two already met?”

“No, I…” Eddie trailed off, unsure of what to say. Could he just tell them that Buck was his mate? His omega? Would they help him meet him?

“You, what?” Athena pressed. Eddie could tell that she was definitely a very dominant alpha.

“I hear his thoughts.” Eddie said slowly.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Oh good Lord help you.” Athena finally said, breaking the tension.

Hen and Chim started laughing and Eddie looked around the group in confusion. Even Bobby cracked a smile.

“What’s so funny?” Eddie asked. Were they making fun of him?

“Evan -- fucking -- Buckley is your mate.” Chim laughed.

“He’s the most reckless son-of-a-bitch in this little group.” Athena added, “Whenever someone does something crazy we call it ‘going full Buck’.”

“With love, of course.” Hen cut in, a knowing look in her eyes like she knew that Eddie would try to defend him without even knowing him.

“Buck is the most reckless person on my team, but he’s also the most caring and kind person there is. He’d do anything for anyone, no questions asked.” Bobby elaborated, “As much as I want to knock some sense into that kid, I’m also incredibly proud of him.”

“Just don’t tell him that. It’ll go straight to his head.” Chimney added.

“He is a good person.” Athena agreed, “but you’re going to have your hands full with that one.”

“Well I guess that’s good to know.” Eddie shrugged. He wasn’t sure what to tell them. This was a conversation he thought he would never have, let alone have it with a group of people he barely knew.

Hen must have noticed how uncomfortable he was because moments later, she was changing the subject and effectively pulling away everyone else’s attention. Eddie took a seat on the couch next to Karen so that he could watch Christopher. It seemed like he and the other two boys were getting along swimmingly, laughing and joking as they put together legos.

“It takes getting used to.” Karen said, breaking his train of thought and taking his attention, “Having a mate I mean. It can be overwhelming and confusing and scary. You can hear their every thought, their every insecurity. At first, it drains you and all you can do is worry, but after a while, after you’re together, it’s the most amazing thing in the world. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“I definitely worry.” Eddie admitted.

“Buck is a good person, like they said, and they told you he’s thoughtful, but he also feels a lot. He’s insecure and half the time I think he does all that reckless stuff because he’s trying to prove himself worthy of their friendship. The 118 is Buck’s family, but we all have our own lives and I’m sure sometimes he feels left behind.”

“Do you know him well?” Eddie asked.

“Not as well as Hen or the rest of the 118, but I’m also very observant.” Karen shrugged.

“Are you like a shrink or something?” Eddie asked.

Karen laughed. “Nope, I’m actually a rocket scientist.”

“Are you serious?” 

“Like a heart attack.”

Eddie gave her an admiring nod. “That’s impressive.”

“I think you and I are gonna get along very well, Eddie Diaz.” Karen declared.

🎁🎁☃️

Eddie sighed, taking his helmet off and shoving it into his turnout gear locker. It had been a horrible day. His new team still hadn’t managed to warm up to him yet and he’d been with them for almost three months. They were still treating him like the odd man out and he was sick of it. He was about ready to take Bobby up on that transfer offer. An offer he was surprised still stood after he found out Buck was his mate.

It was December 15th, ten days until Christmas . It’d been months since he’d caught Buck’s scent at the building during the earthquake and it seemed Buck’s thoughts only got sadder after breaking things off with Abby. He was so afraid of reverting back to what his thoughts called ‘Buck 1.0’ that he had shut himself off from going out with people. This pleased Eddie of course, knowing that it was only a matter of time until they found each other, but part of him felt guilty for not interacting with Buck soon enough.

Eddie had gotten Christopher into a new school and when he did the intake meeting, they had insisted on meeting Shannon. He didn’t want to see her again and he wasn’t even sure if she would show, but it was for Christopher, so he called her anyway. She’d shown up surprisingly and when Eddie met her in the parking lot, she had kissed him.

At first he had given into the familiarity, but then a feeling like acid in his stomach twisted and his heart hurt and he pushed her away. She was angry. She wanted her family back, but Eddie told her he didn’t. He couldn’t. Not with Buck out there. Not when he knew who his soulmate was.

Shannon seemed to understand, but still asked to see Christopher. To spend time with him and make up for leaving him. Eddie was hesitant at first, but she was his mother and he couldn’t legally keep her from him. It didn’t help that she threatened a custody battle. 

After that it was almost like she had a sixth sense for when he was thinking about going to meet Buck. She’d call asking to see Christopher and he didn’t feel comfortable leaving Christopher alone with her so he would have to stay. His son always came first. Even before himself and the universe.

“You can’t let it get under your skin.” Lena sighed, coming into the room, “If they see it gets to you, they’ll just fuck with you more.”

“I’ve never seen a group of people so resentful of someone new coming in. It’s not like I don’t know my job. I was top of my fuckin’ class and I had my pick of houses. I chose this one.” Eddie huffed.

“I think they're intimidated by you.” Lena sighed, “I think they don’t like that the captain holds you in such high regard because you chose us.”

“Well, they won’t have to deal with me much longer.” Eddie growled, “I’m putting in for a transfer.”

“What?” 

“I’m going to transfer to the 118. Bobby says they need someone like me and I know those guys will treat me like one of their own, not this bullshit.”

“Captain’s not gonna be too happy.” Lena tried.

 “Well, it’s not his choice to make.” Eddie retorted, grabbing his duffle off the floor. He’d change at home.

“I’ll miss you too.” Lena told him.

“We’ll still be friends.” Eddie sighed, “I just can’t trust these guys to have my back in life or death situations if they can’t even treat me kindly in normal situations.” 

Lena nodded sadly.

Eddie patted her on the shoulder as he passed, making his way out of the building and to his truck. Abuela had demanded his presence tonight so they could bake cookies with Christoper and he couldn’t think of anything better than celebrating with his son.

Why do they keep talking about this Eddie Diaz guy. It’s fucking annoying. Buck’s thoughts echoed. 

Hearing his mate’s voice, even if it was just his thoughts, say his name sent a shiver down his spine. The team was talking about him to Buck. They were talking him up by the jealous sound of Buck’s thoughts.

I get it. He was top of his class and has a medal from saving his convoy in the military. He’s amazing and awesome. They probably like him better than me. They want him to transfer here. They want to replace me.

Eddie felt a pang of guilt in his heart. Of course Buck would take them talking about him as them saying he wasn’t good enough. He was so afraid everyone was going to leave him because everyone always has, that he’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop with the team. 

Eddie pulled out his phone sending a text to Hen that said ‘Tell him that we’d make good partners. That we’d do great working together. He’s spiraling.’

He knew it probably wasn’t kind to share Buck’s thoughts with the others, but with him not being able to meet Buck right now, it was the only way he knew to help him when he got like this. This mind reading thing was a blessing and a curse.

They want him to be my partner. They want us to work together? They think I’d be able to keep up with him? Do they really think I’m good enough?

Eddie sighed, wanting to drive to the 118 now just so he could pull Buck into his arms and show him he was good enough. Show him that he was everything. He hated himself for staying away this long, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He needed to fix this.

He let out a loud sigh once more before starting his truck and heading home.

☃️☃️🎁

The transfer paperwork went through without a hitch and next thing Eddie knew he was getting ready for his first shift at the 118. He took extra care in his morning routine to make himself look his best and Christopher giggled at him the entire time. 

“You’re going to work, Dad. Not a date.” Christopher sassed him.

“I’m trying to look my best. This is the first time he’s going to see me.” 

“No, it’s not.” Christopher pointed out, “He saw you when he was leaving Denny’s birthday and at that stoplight one time.”

Eddie regretted telling Christopher that, knowing his son had a point. So what if he was nervous? He had a right to be. He was about to meet his soulmate, the person he’d been sharing a mind with for over two months. Sure, he had an advantage since he’d heard every thought and feeling the man had, but that didn’t mean he knew exactly how things would go. For all he knew it could go terribly.

“Okay, but it’s the first time we’ll meet and talk to each other.” Eddie argued. 

Christopher rolled his eyes. Eddie could not for the life of him tell where all that kid’s sass came from. It couldn’t have been Shannon, but there was no way it was him.

After he was finally finished getting Christopher ready as well and deemed himself presentable enough, Eddie helped his son to the truck. Christopher was going to Abuela’s and Pepa’s for the day as it was the day before Christmas Eve, so there was no school. The drive was fast, Abuela and Pepa not living far from them, and before Eddie knew it he was hugging Christopher goodbye at the door. 

“Go get him, dad.” Christopher smiled, “Bring him home.”

Eddie smiled, kissing him on the cheek. “I will.”

“Good.” Christopher smiled and followed Abuela back into the house.

Pepa stopped him before he could leave. “Do you still have last minute presents to bring over for Christmas? We still have an empty space under the tree.”

“I’m picking them up from Chim and Hen after work today. They insisted on getting Christopher something on his list.”

“Then I guess that leaves only one thing.” Pepa smiled. 

Eddie furrowed his brow. “No, that’ll be everything.”

Pepa shook her head and smiled, pulling out a small folded piece of paper from her pocket. “This is the list he wanted to send to Santa.” She told him and held it out to him with a secretive smile. 

Eddie took it gently, looking at the messy handwriting on the small crumpled piece of notepaper covered in little candy canes. A single sentence was scratched across the surface and just reading it made Eddie want to cry. 

‘ All I want for Christmas is Daddy to be happy and find his soulmate. ’

“I think you can take care of that one.” Pepa smiled.

Eddie wiped away the water welling up in his eyes and nodded. Folding the paper gently and sliding it into his pocket, Eddie made his way towards his truck and waved goodbye, pulling away from the curb. Eddie used the drive to the 118 to calm his nerves. 

‘I wonder what the new guy looks like.’ Buck’s thoughts said, ‘Why’s he starting today? It’s the day before Christmas. You’d think the station would want him to wait until after the holidays. Plus, the guy has a kid. They should let him spend the holidays with his kid. Hen should get to go home too.’

Eddie smiled. Buck only knew him from what Hen and Chim had told him and yet, he was concerned for him. Either he was concerned or he just really didn’t want Eddie showing up at all. Many of Buck’s thoughts lately had been full of worry that he might be pushed out and it broke Eddie’s heart. He just hoped he could be enough for him and help him.

Eddie pulled into the parking lot of the 118 slowly, taking note of where Buck’s jeep was and parking next to it. Gripping the steering wheel, he took a deep breath. This was it. He was going to go find his omega and soulmate. This is the moment that could make or break him. 

A tap on the window interrupted his thoughts.

“You just gonna sit there or come in?” Bobby smirked.

Eddie sighed, hopping out of his truck and giving the older omega man a hug. “I wasn’t sitting there very long.” 

“There’s no need to do that with me, Eddie. It’s okay to be nervous. You don’t always have to be in control. You have the right to feel things.” Bobby smiled, leading the way towards the entrance.

A mixture of different scents hit Eddie the moment he entered, but none of them were as strong as the scent of Honey and Rose. He wasn’t sure if that was just his instincts narrowing in on the scent of his mate or if Buck was nearby, but it nearly knocked him on his ass. Pausing at the door, Eddie took deep breaths to adjust to the scent and Bobby smirked at him.

“He’s upstairs with Hen and Chim.” Bobby informed him, “But it’s as if he’s right next to you, isn’t it?”

Eddie nodded.

“That’s the bond. It tells you when he’s near and helps you to pinpoint exactly where he is in any room. It’ll calm down once you establish the mental connection.”

Eddie didn’t know if he wanted it to calm down, the scent was amazing and he’d be perfectly fine with it being the only thing he could ever smell.

“Okay, the locker room is here.” Bobby told him, leading him to the lockers, “You can change and then head upstairs until we get our first call. I’ve got some paperwork to do, so I think Hen can do the introductions for me.”

“Alright.” Eddie nodded, tossing his duffle bag onto the bench. He began to undress, pulling his shirt over his head and taking off his pants to get changed into his new uniform that hung in his locker. 

Bobby nodded, walking away. The sound of stomping echoed above him in the loft followed by the sound of a group of people coming down the stairs.

“Will you two let go of me?” Buck’s voice asked and a shiver ran through Eddie. It was the first time he had ever heard Buck’s voice in person. He’d only ever heard that voice through his thoughts, but hearing it in person was like hearing an angel sing. “Hen, Chim, stop shoving!” Buck whined.

“No can do, Buckaroo.” Chim’s voice joked, “I got twenty bucks riding on this.”

“On what?” Buck questioned.

“On what you’re going to do when you meet him.” Hen answered.

“Who? Diaz?” Buck questioned.

Eddie forced back a grimace at being called by his last name, pulling on his uniform pants and doing up the belt.

“For future reference: He likes Eddie. He won’t answer to Diaz.” Chim supplied.

“Why not? It’s his name.” Buck huffed.

“It doesn’t matter.” Hen replied.

They were behind him now and Eddie tried not to acknowledge his presence as he pulled his new uniform shirt out of the locker. 

‘Holy fuck.’ Buck’s thoughts suddenly echoed, ‘Hot truck guy is Eddie Diaz? Fuck, he’s more than just hot. I hope he never puts on his shirt.’

Eddie held back a blush as Buck’s thoughts bordered on pornographic. The images of what Buck would do to him and for him playing like a movie in his mind. It wasn’t the first time Eddie had heard Buck’s horny thoughts, but it was the first time he was standing in front of him, wrapped in his scent, as the thoughts focused on him specifically. If Buck didn’t stop soon, Eddie knew he’d have a problem that would be hard to hide.

Eddie slid his uniform shirt over his head, stuffing his street clothes into his duffle bag and shoving it into his locker before turning to face his fellow teammates. He could see the blush rising on Buck’s cheeks slightly as their eyes connected and with each step Eddie took towards him, he could see realization begin to dawn.

‘Hazelnut… coffee… Mate.’ Buck’s thoughts screamed.

‘Nice to finally meet you.’ Eddie thought back to him, ‘I’ve been waiting for this. You have no idea how much you’ve been killing my mind with your sad thoughts. You don’t have to be sad anymore. I’ll catch you.’

Eddie stopped in front of him and smiled, offering his hand. “Eddie Diaz. It’s nice to meet you, Evan Buckley.”

Buck let out a shaky breath, looking from Eddie’s eyes to his hand and back.

‘I wanna kiss him!’ Buck’s thoughts screamed.

Eddie smirked at him. ‘Go ahead. I’ve been waiting long enough.’

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Buck was on him, their lips connecting softly. The kiss was gentle at first, Buck’s thoughts swimming circles about moving fast and causing him to be timid. Eddie didn’t like that, so he slid one arm around Buck’s waist and his other hand into his hair, taking control and kissing him with everything he had. Everything he’d been wanting to say to Buck ever since he started hearing his thoughts, poured into the kiss.

‘You’re scared of being alone, afraid you aren’t good enough, and think everyone is going to leave you, but I won’t. I’ll be with you until I take my dying breath. I’ll be enough for you and you’ll never lose me. You barely know me now, but I’ve been in love with you for months and I can’t wait for you to love me too. My mate. My love. Mi corazón.’ Eddie thought.

When they pulled apart, Eddie rested his forehead against Buck’s with a smile.

‘You’ll always be enough for me.’ Buck thought back.

“Okay! Who had kiss?” Hen asked and Eddie turned to see most of the 118 standing and watching with large smiles as Hen waved around a wad of cash.

“Uh uh, who had passionate, claiming kiss?” Chim laughed. 

“That would be me.” Bobby said, taking the wad of cash from Hen’s hand and sliding it into his pants.

“How the hell did you know?” Chim whined.

“I’m an omega. My first thought when meeting my alpha was to kiss her too.” 

“But you didn’t kiss her until much later.” Hen pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I have a lot more self control than Buck.” Bobby laughed and the rest of the 118 laughed with him. 

Eddie and Buck could care less, too busy drowning in each other.

“So I killed your mind?” Buck asked with a cheeky smile, his thoughts going a mile a minute.

“Not past tense, Buck. You kill my mind with every thought.” Eddie laughed, “But I don’t know what I’d do without you now, so I guess I have to live with it.”

“I guess.” Buck smirked.

The sound of the siren broke up their serene moment. Bobby clapped Eddie on the shoulder. “Here we go, Eddie. Trial by fire.” 

🎁🎁🎁

At the end of their shift, Buck and Eddie walked together out into the parking lot while holding hands, Christopher’s Christmas presents from Hen and Chim already in his truck from their lunch hour earlier. Their shift together had been amazing, their connection proving to be an asset in the field as they worked together to save lives. Eddie was so happy he had transferred.

“I know it’s too soon and you can say no if you want to, but…” Eddie started as they got to their vehicles and pulled out the folded piece of paper from his back pocket, “Christopher… Well… he has one final thing on his list for Christmas.”

“What is it?” Buck asked.

Eddie handed him the piece of paper.

A small sweet smile slid onto Buck’s face as he read the scribbled words on the piece of paper. His thoughts were instantly so full of love for Eddie’s son that Eddie had to force himself not to cry. Buck hadn’t even met Chris yet and he already loved him like his own.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go deliver this final present.” Buck smiled, making his way around Eddie’s truck as Eddie unlocked it. 

They both climbed into the truck and Eddie began driving them to Abuela’s house. Buck took one of his hands from the wheel and laced their fingers together as Eddie drove, a sweet smile on his face. On the outside he looked calm, but Eddie could hear the other man’s fears. He pushed memories of his conversations with Christopher about Buck to the front of his mind and slowly, Buck began to relax as they pulled up to Abuela’s house.

“You ready?” Eddie smiled.

“Now or never.” Buck nodded. 

Together they made their way up the path to Abuela’s front door. Eddie didn’t bother knocking, opening the door and heading inside with Buck behind him.

“Dad!” Christopher cheered from the couch and Eddie walked over, dropping down to one knee and wrapping him in a hug.

Pulling away, Eddie turned to look up at Buck with Christopher. “Chris, meet Buck. My soulmate.”

“Hello, Buck.” Christopher smiled, “Welcome to the family.”

Buck’s thoughts screamed love and affection and protectiveness, all the things that made up an omega dad. “Thanks, Buddy. I’m sorry I didn’t bring you a Christmas present.”

“It’s okay. I already got what I wanted.” Christopher smiled, “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Christopher.” Buck smiled.