8500 Follower Celebration: A Conflict of Interest - Brett Richards x Manny Perez
Tagging: @kmc1989 @daydreamsareallineed @gremlinkat1992 @speeedybaby
Summary: Manny's decision causes problems for Brett's career.
Companion piece to:
Firehouse 42 - Brett’s personal life gets complicated when he’s assigned to ‘fix’ Firehouse 42.
Today sucks.
Brett knew it would.
The reception from Firehouse 42, it’s beyond chilly, in fact it’s practically glacial. It’s something he expected from the crew that swore blind loyalty to Vince Leone but not from his wildcard, Manny.
Avoiding eye contact, refusing to speak unless directly addressed, it cuts Brett right down to his core. The others, they think it’s a unity thing, part of their campaign to chase him out but Brett sees it for what it really is, the agony of a man forced to hide from his people, to keep a secret he fundamentally disagrees with.
This is going to end badly. Brett can see it coming, the same way you see that train hurtling towards a car stuck on the track.
When it does come, he’s kneeling on the floor of a dead man’s office attempting to rearrange the untouched stack of paperwork he found on his desk.
“No one’s been able to step foot in there since Vince passed away.” Manny had explained to him last night as they made dinner together in the kitchen. “There’s shit piling up but Jake’s a mess, Sharon’s checked out and I… it’s hard for me to see he’s not in there. It makes it real and I…”
His voice had broken then and Brett, he’d put down the knife he was chopping salad with before gathering his lover up in his arms and cradling him close. That grief, it still hits, even months and years down the line.
He’s pulled from his thoughts by a knock on the door, a gentle rap that he recognises. It creaks open and Manny lingers in the doorway, his boots barely touching the line of the threshold. He stares at the papers on the floor and then at Brett, who has his readers on as he sifts through the debris.
“This looks complicated.” He remarks wryly and Brett shrugs his shoulders, careful not to disparage the mentor that Manny holds so dear to his heart. The truth is there’s shit in here that should have been done long before Vince’s death, stuff the Battalion Chief assumed he’d eventually get around to.
“Look…” Manny begins, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He leans against the wood, his teeth gnawing at his lower lip as Brett removes his glasses giving him his full attention. “I told them Brett, I just told them about me and you.”
In that moment Brett’s world implodes because his wildcard, he can be the most emotionally intelligent man in this world, but he can also be so fucking stupid.
“They’re my family.” Manny fills the silence as Brett sits there trying to process this new development. “I can’t keep secrets from them, and this” – he gestures between the two of them-“is a pretty big secret. They already know that I’ve been seeing someone, that it was starting to get serious...”
“You don’t understand what you’ve done.” Brett says, the muscle in his cheek twitching as he tilts his head away unable to look at Manny. “I wasn’t out yet, not to CalFire and this…”
For a long time, Brett thought he was straight. Then his wife died, and a year later he ended up taking a guy in a bar home with him, and that experience… it had been life altering. The fact he swings both ways is something he’s still coming to terms with even though he’s very much in love with a man.
“So, this was about the CalFire boy’s club.” Manny summarises, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Good to know.”
“No.” Brett bites back with a fury in his eyes. “This was about me figuring my shit out.”
“You told me you already had that shit figured out.” Manny rebuts, his tone matching his fierce energy.
“My feelings for you certainly, but not the rest of it.” Brett snaps exasperated, running his hands through his unruly curls. “Now I’m about to be called up in front of a panel for not disclosing my relationship with the Captain of the firehouse I’m overseeing, the one I’m supposed to be making a decision on whether to close or not.”
The expression on Manny’s face, it looks like Brett’s slapped him. The colour drains, turning his skin ashen as he stares at the man he loves. “You didn’t tell me that, you didn’t say there was a possibility that that could happen.”
“The writing is on the wall Manny, you guys don’t function like team.” Brett informs him, dread in his chest as his phone starts to ring on the desk. He rises to his feet, each step filled with apprehension. “We have Jake and Bode tearing each other’s throats out, Audrey wavering between leaving and staying and Eve poring her time into the regeneration of Three Rock. You are the only one that is present here right now, and you’ve just fucked the only ally you had.”
“Brett I…”
But Brett’s already cutting him off with the sweep of his hand as he picks up his phone, his thumb resting on the screen.
“I’ve got to take this call.” He tells Manny, his voice steely as he stares at the number. “It looks like one of your ‘family’ has already reported a conflict of interest.”
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