I don't normally write coda's because I can't write shorts to save my life (and this is no different - I've already got plans for where it's going to go). Still, this week's episode made me a little angry, and I'd been contemplating some form of "Buck finally crashes out" fic, so here it is.
How it Starts
It starts as a tactic Dr. Copeland gave him, back when he was trying to navigate a new relationship with his parents. After being ignored and told he was too much his whole life, they suddenly want to be involved, and it was fine. It was better than nothing. It was nice that they wanted to make an effort. But it didn’t go well. For every reaction he has, and every emotion he showed, his mom would break into tears and act like he was personally attacking her.
"Have you heard of the 'Grey Rock Response?'" Dr. Copeland had asked him during one of his solo sessions. When he'd shaken his head, she'd explained a little more. "It's not a long-term solution in a relationship, but it is a tool you can use in specific situations."
Buck feels like his life right now might be one of those situations.
It had felt like looking at a funhouse mirror, hearing Hen say all of the things he’s been feeling for months. It twists something inside his guts, hearing her say that she’d kept everything secrete because no one had asked, as though he had tried to check in with her regularly in the aftermath of Bobby’s death. As though he hadn’t stopped by to drop off home cooked meals and baked goods after the space capsule had returned to earth.
He’s constantly reached out, with questionnaires, care packages of baked goods, and offers to hang out only to be brushed off, or gently turned down by Karen on Hen’s behalf.
It has him second-guessing himself, if maybe he hadn’t made himself as available as he could have in the seven months between Eddie taking over his home again and settling into his own place. He’d thought about inviting everyone over for a house warming, but between Deryl living in his attic and… everything else, he’d just never planned it.
He almost apologizes, especially seeing the contrite expressions on everyone in the room, but then Hen says “He was our captain, but he was my friend,” like Bobby hadn’t died so Chimney could live, like Bobby somehow meant more to her than he did to anyone else in the room for being her friend. Like Buck hadn’t lost one of the most important people in his life.
Evan is seething, thinking of all the times he’s tried to be there for her, for everyone, only to told he’s making everything all about himself. He balls his hands into fists in his lap, white knuckled, blunt nails digging into his palms, and says nothing.
When Hen collapses, for a brief, bitter moment, he’s angry that she’s taken the wind out of his sails, and he’s disgusted with himself for it.
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your salbucktommy pieces have bewitched me, body and soul
I know that this is not a prompt or a request, it is you being kind (and I love you for it) but:
Ma used to warn him that he needed to rein in his emotions and his intentions when he cooked anything, whether it was a potion or a sauce. So Sal treats cooking like a form of meditation, letting his mind stay clear and focused without drifting. It's hard, but he has the practice by the time he's grown and moved out and moved across the country.
Sometimes he slips up, though.
Sometimes Vincent fuckin' Gerrard says something he shouldn't and Sal can't stop thinking about it while he makes coffee, and then he's trying to keep the man from grabbing a cup.
"What, you don't want me to find out you make a weak brew for sissies?" Gerrard snarks, flapping his wrist to the side in a gesture that makes Sal regret not putting more into the coffee. It's a stupid fucking joke, would be even if Sal had his shit view of the world, but Sal wants to snap his fucking wrist so he can't do that anymore. It pisses him off, it makes Tommy shrink in on himself.
"Nah," he says coolly. "Didn't want you to burn yourself, Cap. It's fresh."
Gerrard grunts and walks away, sipping from the mug. He drinks it black and plain as a mark of manhood rather than preference, and Sal can tell because he does this little grimace whenever he takes a drink.
"Do not drink that," he snaps when Chimney's fingers close around the carafe handle.
"Did you spit in it?" Chimney jokes, and Sal grabs it, pouring it down the drain. "Oh shit. Well, good for you, man."
When Gerrard ends up with a massive blister on the back of his hand by the end of the shift, Chimney says it looks like an extreme case of poison oak and he must've caught it when they were on the side of the highway for that car crash.
"You should get that checked out, sir," he says, tossing his gloves in the trash. "That's a problem for a doctor. Don't go poking around it."
Except it itches like hell, and he does. When it opens, his shout can be heard from across the station.
"Dumbass should've listened," Sal says, not looking up from the article he's reading.
"Maybe he'll miss a shift," Tommy says from where he's doing bicep curls.
"We should be so lucky," Sal says dryly, flicking to the next page. He hadn't made it that strong.
--
When Sal invites Tommy over one night, Tommy agrees but with the condition that Sal make this eggplant parm Sal's raved about. He'd planned on ordering in, but he can cook. He just has to be real careful.
The problem is that Tommy's early, so Sal has to finish up with Tommy leaning on the counter and smiling at him and talking work and sports and old video games. He almost burns it on purpose, but he takes a risk and serves up a plate.
"God, I don't think I've ever had that much food and felt better after," Tommy says, stretching from his chair at Sal's table.
Sal keeps an eye on him until he leaves, but the problem is that the spell sort of has a slow release sometimes. Sometimes it's not a spell, just a feeling. Or he really just made Tommy feel better. For all he knows, he just cured a muscle strain or something.
Except the next day, Tommy comes into work all jittery and admits that he proposed to Abby. Sal's shocked, Chimney's shocked, Hen's shocked, they're all shocked. The relationship with Abby's been dangling by a thread for weeks, if not months.
"I don't know what came over me, I just had this feeling like I'd found the person I was meant to be with forever," he says, shrugging.
"Do you still feel like that?" Hen asks carefully, and Tommy's expression shutters.
The alarm goes off, and they're heading out. The whole time, Sal's heart is pounding. It's got nothing to do with the grease fire.
--
He's on a line in the woods with Tommy, even though they're not at the same house anymore. They got sent up the mountain a couple hours apart, because there's a brushfire. Tommy's been in the air all morning, now he's shoulder to shoulder with Sal on the ground. Sal always feels better with Tommy there, but there's no way he's not fucking exhausted.
But Tommy soldiers on, just like with anything else. He cuts lines and listens for drops and even coordinates some from the ground, advising pilots on conditions from where he's at. He's looking up at the sky, and Sal's looking at him. The wind shift catches them both off guard, and there's suddenly a wall of flame to their right, their only clear path back.
"Get out!" Sal shouts, even though he knows they're fucked. They're in a circle of flames. He looks at Tommy, sees his blue eyes through the shield, and he can't watch him burn, not his Tommy.
So Sal tears a glove off and his respirator. He can't block out the elements if he needs to use them.
He's not a spellwork guy, that's his sister's thing, but he can try. For Tommy, he'll try anything. Sal kneels in the charred earth and digs for the living soil underneath, burying his fingers in it. He calls earth, air, water, and fire, begs for their favor, begs that they bend to his will long enough to get them safe passage.
The thrum of power lights through his veins, and he feels every connection of the great cycle of life and death at work around him. It hurts, it burns like the fire's inside his body instead of surrounding him, and then he pushes through it until there's a break in the wall.
Sal stumbles through, dragging a stunned Tommy behind him, and he barely gets to the other side before he collapses.
--
Sal comes to in a medical tent. Tommy's sitting on a folding stool next to his cot, his fingers laced together in front of his mouth as if he might be praying.
"Hey," Sal croaks.
"Hey," Tommy says, blinking back tears. "Fuck, Sal."
"Yeah," Sal agrees, struggling to sit up.
"Smoke inhalation," Tommy warns, pushing him down.
Sal lets out a harsh laugh and shakes his head, but he goes back down. "Nah. It ain't that."
Tommy wipes his nose with the sleeve of his turnouts. "What'd you do?"
"I'll tell you later," Sal says, glancing at the tent's other occupants.
In their own tent, Sal sits with a paper cup of weak tea and tells Tommy about Ma's family, about himself and what he can do.
And Tommy, perceptive and brilliant Tommy, asks him about the eggplant parm the year before.
"Yeah, well, my mind wandered," Sal admits with a wry smile, sipping his tea. "There's a reason I normally kick people out of the kitchen."
Tommy nods and presses his lips together. For a long moment, Sal's worried he might leave or hit him. Instead, he reaches across the scant space between their cots, curls a hand around Sal's neck, and kisses him.
--
Years later, Tommy flies off into a fucking hurricane. He's got a charm in his pocket from Ma, but Sal still paces until Tommy calls him from a phone on the rescue ship.
"You can't act like you're fucking invincible, baby," he says. "You should've called or something, I could've gotten there."
"We barely got here in time as it was. And I'm fine. I'll be fine, I promise. No more flying into hurricanes after this," Tommy says, and Sal can hear the smile in his voice. "You should meet the new 118, it's a trip. I think you'd like them."
Days later, he does meet them. He and Tommy are playing basketball with Tommy's new buddy when Chimney shows up with this long-legged, eager puppy of a guy in tow. He's all big smiles and flushed cheeks when he greets Tommy, and it's a bit adorable. Sal, though, isn't as big an idiot as his wonderful partner.
When he introduces himself, though, he wonders if the kid's just like that, because he reacts the same when he shakes Sal's hand.
Eddie, though, ends up on the ground with his ankle in his hands. Sal and Chimney check him out, and Sal says it's probably a light sprain.
"Light?!" Eddie says incredulously.
"Yes, princess, light," Sal snarks. "Go to urgent care, you'll be alright."
"I'll take him," Tommy offers.
"I'll catch a ride with Chimney," Sal says.
"You will?" Chimney asks.
"Or whatever. Don't worry about it, babe." He gives Tommy a quick, automatic kiss and sends him on his way.
Evan looks like he's about to be sick over the whole thing. Sal claps him on the back and invites him to come grab a cup of coffee or a smoothie or whatever.
"I should probably go home," Evan says, chewing on his lip and looking in the direction Tommy and Eddie went in.
--
Sal and Tommy show up at the loft together, though Sal offers to wait outside.
"Why?" Tommy asks, puzzled.
"Baby, I love you so much, but you're dense as fuck sometimes." He grabs the covered dish and follows Tommy upstairs.
It's about when Evan's looking between them nervously as he explains what his sister had said about Sal doesn't even know what, because Tommy and Sal are exchanging a look. Sal nods, and Tommy leans in and kisses Evan.
When Evan looks at Sal with something approaching panic and hope, Sal curls a hand around his jaw and kisses him, too.
"Eat the cookies," he says before they leave. "You'll feel better."
He'd baked them with lightness, grace, forgiveness, comfort, and acceptance in mind. And a little something extra, because Tommy had snuck a kiss to his neck while Sal was mixing in the chocolate chunks. There's only a few from that batch, the rest are normal, but he put those ones at the top.
--
At Micelli's, Evan admits he'd been nervous that morning.
"I gotta know what your secret is to those cookies, though, I ate one and it just helps," he says, grinning and shaking his head. "I don't know, I feel like I was just doing all this worrying for nothing. Going on a first date is pretty scary in general, but I also have a bad track record with them. Going on a date with two guys is just...going on a date with two guys."
"That's all Sal," Tommy says, nodding toward him. "He's a wizard in the kitchen."
Sal makes a face, because a Tommy knows how he feels about that term. "Not a wizard. But thank you. It's all old family recipe."
When Eddie accidentally crashes their date, Sal can feel Tommy bracing himself next to him.
"You guys are hanging out, that's great!" Eddie says.
Before Sal can stop him, Evan says, "Yeah, we're actually on a date."
Eddie and his date's eyebrows shoot up, and Sal pinches his nose.
Acceptance. Goddammit. This one's going to hit Evan like a ton of bricks when the intention fades.
"Oh, uh, good for you, man!" Eddie says, grinning. "Sorry, we'll get out of your way, then. Have fun!"
Tommy signs for the check, and Evan looks at his beer.
"You okay?" Sal asks softly.
"Yeah," Evan says, smiling. "I think he actually meant it? That went a lot better than I thought it would."
Outside, they wait for an Uber. Evan blinks at them and then back over his shoulder at the restaurant. He looks a little bewildered.
"I just told Eddie I was on a date with two guys," he says slowly.
"You did," Sal confirms.
"And he was kind of okay with it."
"Seemed to be," Tommy agrees.
Evan smiles and his cheeks get flushed. "Okay. I--yeah, okay. I didn't think I'd be able to do that yet."
"Do you think you're ready to do that yet? You can go back and talk to him," Sal offers.
"No! No, I don't need to. I, uh, I don't know." His smile widens, his hands going into his pockets. "I don't mind if he knows. Or anyone else. Why hide it, right? If this works, they'll have to find out sooner or later."
"That's a big step." Tommy rubs between Evan's shoulder blades and smiles at him. "For you, I mean. No rush, okay?"
"O-okay," he says, swallowing and leaning against Tommy's hand a little.
The Uber pulls up, and they pile into the back of the minivan.
--
Tommy calls Sal. "Evan's cursed."
Sal drops the shirt he'd been folding. "On my way."
He gets to the loft, and Evan's covered in boils and looking miserable.
"Oh, baby," Sal says with a sympathetic wince.
"He's having a reaction," Eddie says, tossing his gloves in the trash. "And he needs a doctor."
Sal presses his thumb to his boyfriend's chin and feels something working under his skin. "Yeah, don't worry. I got a guy."
"Then I leave him in your capable hands," Eddie says, clapping him on the shoulder.
When Eddie's left, Sal presses a hand to Buck's clearer cheek and closes his eyes.
"Maybe you shouldn't--"
Sal gently shushes Evan and keeps feeling for the thing burrowing into his skin that's doing this. He feels it wrapped around his shoulder, probably the one he'd dislocated.
"Alright, I need a shitload of chamomile flowers," he decides. "And some lavender, sage, marjoram, maybe even some fucking garlic. Christ alive, kid, what happened? Whatever's cursed you is old and pissed."
Evan blinks at him with wide eyes, and he looks between Sal and Tommy. "Wait, you believe me?"
Tommy throws up his hands and sighs. "I said I did!"
Sal kisses the clearest spot on Evan's forehead. "I'm gonna send Tommy out for some things, and we'll talk."
An hour later, Tommy's back from a plant nursery and the grocery store, and Evan's laying on the couch trying to process while Sal makes tea.
"Yep," Tommy says, crouching next to Evan. "I wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't bent the elements around us to save us from a fire."
"He mentioned that," Evan says faintly. "So you can fix this?"
"I can make it leave you, but it'll find someone else eventually. Whatever's got a hold of you is having a hell of a time settling their business." Sal starts pulling springs of herbs and flowers and peeling garlic. "But that's something we worry about after."
He sits in the middle of Evan's living room with Evan across from him inside a circle of patchouli leaves.
"Smells nice," Evan comments, and Sal smiles as he mashes everything else together in a bowl, pouring in all the healing and protection he can.
He puts a fistful of the muddled herbs in a mug and lets them steep in the hot water and honey. The garlic gets mashed as well with the remnants in the bowl, and Sal touches the sticky paste to Evan's shoulder.
Evan inhales sharply, and Sal clamps his hand to him, holding the paste in place and pulling out the dark things trying to work their way through Evan. When he drops the clump of paste into the bowl and hands Evan the tea, Evan drinks it slowly.
"That doesn't taste good," Evan says with a wince as he sets it down again.
"I know," Sal says fondly, reaching across with his clean hand to touch his cheek with a smile. "But they're going down."
Thirty minutes later, Evan is free of boils and his shoulder barely aches.
"You're really a witch," he says, awed.
"Yep," Sal says, curling up on the couch with a groan.
"A-are you--"
"Healing's hard work, pushing out a curse is harder," he explains, reaching out to tangle their fingers together. "But it's worth it. I just need a nap. Few days with my feet in the dirt will do me some good, too."
"There's a reason our garden is so nice," Tommy adds.
Evan bites his lip and squeezes Sal's fingers. "You didn't have to, though."
"Why not? I'd do it for Tommy."
"Yeah, but you--" He cuts himself off and looks between them. "You love Tommy."
"Yeah, and I love you. Both of you." Sal tugs Evan onto the cushion next to him, and Tommy sits on Evan's other side. "But don't say it back just because you think you have to, okay?"
Evan nods, and Tommy kisses his recently healed shoulder, burying his face in Evan's neck.
"You smell like garlic," Tommy mumbles, and Evan laughs.
--
They're at Micelli's. Tommy's handed over the basketball tickets, Sal's given Evan a charm like the one Tommy has.
"No more curses for you, okay?" he teases.
Evan curls his fingers around it, and he rubs his thumbs over the carefully twined stems and beads. It's a bit like a small wreath.
"Thank you," he says softly.
"You cannot use magic to beat my gifts, that's totally cheating," Tommy complains.
"It didn't beat anything, thank you! I also got him something else that's in the mail."
Evan smiles at them and bumps their feet with his. "I love them."
--
When they go to pick him up for the movie, Evan's nervous. And Sal would be worried if he wasn't sneaking smiles at them.
"I, uh, talked to Josh and Maddie today," Evan admits. "Because I was just thinking about some stuff, and I didn't want to just throw all of it at you two and make you figure it out. Not that I don't know, but it was a little more theoretical before. You know?"
"Sure," Tommy says, like he's got any clue at all.
"I, uh, love you," he says, licking his lips and looking between them. "Both of you."
Sal kisses his cheek and then the corner of his smiling mouth, squeezing him close. "You already know I love you, sweetheart."
"And I have a much harder time with stuff like this," Tommy adds, lacing his fingers with Evan's. "But so do I."
Evan exhales shakily and grins. "Can we, uh, skip the movie?"
"Thought you'd never ask," Sal teases, crushing their lips together. When he lets him go, Evan turns to Tommy and draws him into a kiss, too, as Tommy backs up toward the stairs to the bedroom.
--
"It's about intention," Sal explains, stirring. "And having enough salt. Really important."
"Okay," Evan says, nestled up against Sal's back. "So if you're thinking good thoughts, then when this gets eaten, I'll have good thoughts?"
"Or you might feel better or something good might happen. That's why potions are easier, the ingredients help dictate the end result." He holds the spoon up for Evan so he can taste. "That's why I usually don't let you two bug me in here."
Tommy puts the pasta in the boiling water before slipping an arm around each of them. "Or why I usually cook instead."
Wrapped up in his boys, Sal lets himself drift on the love and contentment as he finishes up the sauce. When Evan nuzzles his neck and makes heat coil in his gut, Sal lets out a soft snort as he turns the heat on low and puts the lid on the sauce.
"That's gonna be a special batch for us that we only eat at home," he decides. "Unless you two wanna act like lovesick idiots at work."
"Already do," Evan teases, nipping at his neck. "Is it gonna be like the Viagra birthday cake?"
The birthday cake for Tommy had been baked by Sal and filled with enough love and arousal that he'd had to order one from a bakery that their friends could eat. In his defense, Evan and Tommy had walked through the kitchen after working out wearing sweaty clothes and pushing at each other, grabbing and groping on their way from the garage to the shower. The resulting cake could've made a pharmaceutical company a mint, because a sliver of it turned all three of them into horny, panting beasts who couldn't stop declaring their love for each other while they fucked like animals.
"Less horny," Sal decides. "But maybe we push breakfast back to brunch with your sister."
"On it!" He jogs off to grab his phone.
Tommy pulls him into a kiss and then another, and they make out until the opening strains of "I Put a Spell on You" plays from the next room.
"Not funny!" Sal calls.
"A little funny," Tommy adds.
"He learned it from you, brat." He pecks his boyfriend on the nose and pushes him away to check the pasta.
i for one would like to also see the salbucktommy version of that prompt 👀
first version of this prompt that I abandoned like two month ago. as you can see, I fully stole the beginning of this for the other prompt lmao. this one is rated e? soft e
The first time they dated, Tommy had slotted himself easily into Evan’s life, but he hadn’t brought Evan into his. When they get back together, one of Evan’s requests is to meet more of Tommy’s people. It feels like pulling teeth. Not because he doesn’t want Evan in his life—he does—but because the idea of letting someone get this close makes Tommy sweat.
But Evan is worth it. If this is what he wants, it’s what Tommy will give him.
He introduces Evan to his accountant cousin first. Danny and Evan get along well enough. Evan cooked, and Danny eats it like he has never tasted anything so good. It starts to fall apart when Evan asks about work. Danny launches into a speech so articulate it feels rehearsed about recent tax “reform” (his air quotes, not Tommy’s). Evan’s eyebrows pull together and he smiles in a confused, polite panic. Tommy squeezes his hand under the table and steers the conversation towards Danny’s tax season hives. Danny is equally as bewildered by Evan’s dead cowboy curse as Evan had been by his breakdown of the economy.
Next, Evan insists on throwing a cookout for Harbor. Tommy warns him that it’s not like the 118: they like each other enough to joke around, they tolerate each other enough not to start any fights, but pilots are weird, solitary creatures. They haven’t bonded the same way other stations might. Evan nods along like he’s hearing him, but he drags a grill and two coolers full of food down to Harbor all the same. Everyone is nice to Evan, and Tommy gets more than one pat on the back in an attaboy kind of way, but there isn’t a support system here for Evan to slot into the way that he clearly expected.
Tommy’s third attempt is more successful. Sal Deluca could charm anyone, but the way Evan ducks his head and blushes when Sal teases him over dinner makes Tommy tighten his grip on Evan’s inner thigh just a little. He feels territorial in a way he didn’t expect. He knew Sal was into guys—he’d had Sal’s hand on his dick in the 118 supply closet too many times not to know—but he hadn’t anticipated this.
Something swirls in Tommy’s lower stomach. At first, he thinks it’s simple jealousy: Evan is his. But after hanging out together a few more times, the feeling clarifies. It’s jealousy, sure, but it’s also simple lust. He wants to see Sal’s big hands on Evan’s body. He wants to see Evan’s lips wrap around Sal’s thick cock. And he wants both of them inside him at the same time.
Evan is on board. Once Tommy assures him he isn’t worried about Sal stealing either of them away, Evan is very on board. It’s a testament to the strength of their relationship this time around that they can actually talk about something like this and come to this conclusion.
The only hesitation is that they aren’t sure if Sal would be into it, and it’s an awkward thing to bring up. Hey, remember when we used to breathe into each other’s necks and fuck each other’s fists? Do you wanna do that again, but with the love of my life too? Sal is divorced, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t consider it a blip in his otherwise firm heterosexuality that he used to come with Tommy’s fingers in his mouth.
So they decide to test him. If he doesn’t show any interest, they’ll drop it.
They invite Sal over to watch baseball and let him catch them making out in the kitchen. Evan is up on the counter with his legs around Tommy’s hips and a hand in his hair. Sal raises a teasing eyebrow when he walks in on them. He doesn’t look embarrassed, but they can’t quite tell if he looks hungry, either. He crosses his arms over his chest and asks if they’re gonna come back to the living room before the ninth inning. Tommy gives Evan’s ass a slap and says they’ll see. Sal huffs, but he stands in the doorway and watches Evan hop down and adjust himself with a smirk. It’s promising, but not conclusive.
Tommy tells Sal to bring his car over for a tuneup. Evan comes back from a run, sweaty clothing sticking to his body. This time, Tommy has no doubts that Sal checks him out. Sal is even less subtle after Evan walks back into the garage after a shower, only wearing a towel around his waist. Evan pretends like he has to ask Tommy something urgently, but they both know what he’s really doing. His skin is pink from exertion and a hot shower, his wet curls are falling just right over his forehead, his thick muscles are bulging, and the towel is dangerously low on his hips.
Sal blows out a breath after Evan goes back into the house. “You’re a lucky man, Kinard.”
“You have no idea,” Tommy says with pride. “You know, you used to look at me like that.”
“What, you mean back when you were young and pretty?”
“Fuck off.” Tommy hip checks Sal. “Who are you calling old?”
“And who’s to say I’m not still looking at you like that, huh?”
Sal’s half-lidded eyes slowly rake over Tommy’s body from head to toe and back up. Heat and excitement rise in Tommy.
“It just seems like he’s catching your eye a little more, that’s all.”
“Can you blame me?” Sal nods towards the house. “Any chance you’d be willing to share?”
Tommy holds his eye. “Come over again and maybe you’ll find out.”
“Alright, alright,” Sal laughs.
They fall back into a rhythm, laughing while finishing up their work on the car. Sal makes a point to schedule their next get together before he leaves.
Now that they know for sure that Sal is interested, Evan plans a movie night. He dresses them both in sweatpants and soft shirts. Easy access, he says, hands fluttering over the hem of Tommy’s shirt. Tommy thinks it’s cute how nervous Evan gets about making sure everything is just right, even for a sure thing like this.
The three of them sit too close together on the couch, Tommy in the middle. Evan fidgets for fifteen minutes of the movie before he startles.
“Oh!” he says. “I almost forgot.”
He gets up and walks into the kitchen. He comes back with a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies that he sets on the coffee table.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Tommy says indulgently.
In response, Evan folds himself down onto Tommy’s lap, a knee on either side of his hips. So they’re completely forgoing subtlety, Tommy understands. Evan couldn’t stand the anticipation and took matters into his own hands. Tommy grips Evan’s hips to stabilize him as he swoops down for a kiss.
Evan turns the kiss filthy almost immediately. He gets a hand in Tommy’s hair and pulls, forcing a groan out of his throat. Tommy slides a hand down the back of Evan’s sweatpants and pulls him closer.
“Fuck, the two of you,” Sal says, almost mesmerized.
They break the kiss to look at him. He’s breathing heavily, body fully turned towards them.
“Are you okay, Sal?” Tommy teases, squeezing Evan’s ass. “You look flustered.”
“Fuck you both,” Sal laughs, and launches himself across the couch.
He kisses Tommy first, a quick hello, before cradling Evan’s face and shoving his tongue into his mouth. Evan kisses back ravenously.
Tommy waits for the jealousy to come, but it doesn’t. He watches Evan and Sal kiss over his lap, wet and messy and passionate, and he’s so turned on he thinks he could come just like this. It’s even more overwhelming when they both turn their attention back to him, kissing either side of his throat.
Tommy ends up on all fours on the couch, sucking Sal’s dick the way he never allowed himself to when he was still in the closet, getting fucked by Evan the way only someone so familiar with his body could. It’s so good that Tommy knows he’s going to want this again: having an old lover in a more honest way, sharing a new experience with the love of his life. It’s overwhelming in the best way: fully consuming, deep and rich.
Sal comes over his upper back, and Tommy comes when he feels Evan lick it off his skin. Evan kisses Sal as he comes inside of Tommy, and Tommy never wants this feeling to end.
After, Evan brings a wet cloth over to clean them up. Tommy pulls his boxers back on and settles back into one corner of the couch. Sal does the same on the other. Evan leans back against Tommy’s chest and props his feet up in Sal’s lap, still naked. He’s as comfortable as Tommy has ever seen him—as comfortable as Tommy feels.
Sal grabs a cookie and moans at the taste.
“Fuck, kid, did you make these?”
Evan grins and nods. Tommy pets through Evan’s hair.
“He’s more than just a pretty face,” Tommy says fondly.
Sal still has a mouthful of cookie when he says “But he is pretty.”
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to talk with food in your mouth?” Tommy snarks.
Sal opens his mouth childishly, showing Tommy the mush inside.
“Gross,” Tommy says while Evan laughs. “Sweetheart, you wanted to get to know my people. Unfortunately, this is what I have.”
fair warning: this is very silly and meandering (I should just make this a standard disclaimer for all my posts lol)
Thinking about a universe where Sal and Tommy stayed in touch and became close friends and Sal is one of the first people Tommy tells that he's gay to.
Sal is very supportive--maybe a little too supportive sometimes for Tommy's liking, but he's a far cry from the man who insinuated he was gay in front of half of their firehouse, including their homophobic (etc) pos captain. So, Tommy takes it in stride.
Sal even takes Tommy in after he breaks up with Abby and needs somewhere to stay while he finds a place to live.
And while Tommy's happy to have finally found a place a few months later, he will miss the Sunday dinners and having two kids underfoot--though he has an open invitation to dinner and babysitting any time.
Now Tommy and Sal are at a furniture store and Sal is pulling double duty of helping Tommy pick out furniture and making a Grindr profile for him (neither of which Tommy asked for).
They get to the mattresses and Tommy couldn't care less. He's simultaneously an insomniac and able to sleep anywhere and on anything. But Sal is insistent and asks so many questions about Tommy's sleeping preferences you would think he was making commission on the sale.
"What about this one?"
Tommy sighs. "I don't know, Sal, can it fit three grown men?" It's not the deterrent Tommy hoped it would be.
Sal raises his eyebrows, but he looks around and then he walks away. A minute later, he walks back with an employee. A very cute, very tall employee.
"Sal," Tommy mutters under his breath.
Sal grins and makes a sweeping gesture. "Tommy, this is Evan. Evan, my friend here Tommy wants to know if this bed can comfortably fit three grown men."
God, could he make 'my friend' sound any more salacious?
Evan waves. "Hi, Tommy." Then he shrugs. "Well, only one way to find out, right?"
Tommy wants to sink right into the floor, but he's being pulled onto the middle of a mattress--right between Sal and Evan.
Evan notices Sal's LAFD shirt and tells them he just started at the academy. Somehow a half hour passes with Tommy slowly dying inside--stuck between Sal and Evan talking over him, literally. The one time Tommy tried to get up, Evan hadn't even looked at him, he just pushed Tommy back down and kept talking--not missing a beat.
When a lull in the conversation finally comes, Tommy says, "I'll take it."
Cut to seven years later...Tommy finds himself in the same position. He's stretched out between two sweaty bodies--chests still heaving from exertion.
Evan grins. "Yeah, I'd say it fits three grown men." He tries to high-five Tommy and laughs when Tommy grumbles. He reaches over Tommy and Tommy hears the slap of two palms.
Yes, this is the sugar-dynamic fic with smut and feelings you think it is.
But it is also written by me.. Em… so
Yeah. Things get very real, very fast.
Expect heat, tenderness, and domestic softness and serious medical stakes with long-term consequences.
Take care of yourselves while reading. 💕
Part 1 - Part 2
The message sits in his inbox until the next afternoon before Buck replies.
He types and deletes half a dozen responses. Who's "we"? Too aggressive. What's the catch? Too defensive. Are you both real? Too pathetic and hopeful.
In the end, he settles on. Firehose: Dinner sounds good. Italian?
He shakes his head and rubs his hands over his face.
Firehose: I don't know how to do this. The app part. Just so you know.
He hits send before he can panic, he shoves his phone into his pocket. The stairs are unforgiving. Buck takes them slower than he used to. Third floor. Fourth. Fifth.
By the sixth landing his thigh is burning, the kind of pain that feels threaded through bone instead of muscle. He pauses like he’s checking something on his clipboard, like he’s reviewing something on the page. He shifts his weight to his good leg.
No one notices.
The building manager is still talking, voice echoing up the stairwell. “Elevator’s been down since Tuesday. Parts are on backorder. We’ve got a temporary inspection scheduled next month but…”
“Sprinkler heads on this floor were replaced last year?” Buck asks, jotting a note. Clipboard resting long against his forearm. Pen poised. He’s good at this part. He checks the dates. The pressure gauges. The tags. He makes neat notes.
But by the time they reach the roof access door, his molars rub together.
The manager fumbles with the key ring. “You used to run into this stuff, right?” he says casually. “Fires. Must’ve been something.”
Buck’s pen stills as he puts on an easy smile. “Different life,” he forces a chuckle. “I just make sure the paperwork’s clean now.”
The roof is bright and wind-swept. The city stretches out, sirens wail off in the distance. He doesn’t look toward them.
He finishes his inspection and hands over a copy with a smile, the kind of grin that doesn’t require anything of him. By the time he makes it back down to street level, the burn in his leg has settled into a dull throb.
He tells himself it’s manageable. But, in his company truck, he sits through a few songs without pulling away from the curb.
Tommy's at Harbor when he notices he has a few notifications. Sal forwards them with a single question mark. Tommy reads it mid-shift, standing in the equipment bay with one hand braced on a helo skid. His thumb traces over I don't know how to do this and something in his chest pulls taut.
He checks over Sal and his schedule. T: Italian, he agrees and adds. Thursday? Then he pockets the phone and tries not to think about blue eyes and steam-slicked shoulders.
Buck agrees to Thursday, he unlocks the screen at another ding. T: Worst late-night food decision you’ve ever made. Go.
He exhales through his nose, something close to a laugh catching in his chest. That’s not what he expected. He leans his head back against the seat and types. Firehose: Gas station sushi. 2 a.m. Never again.
The reply comes faster than it should.
T: Bold. Reckless. I respect it.
A second notification.
S: That’s not reckless. That’s a cry for help.
Buck stares at the screen. The throb in his leg is still there. The paperwork is still on the passenger seat. The follow-up appointment reminder he hasn’t opened is buried somewhere in his email.
But for a second, just a few, everything feels easier. He types back before he can overthink it.
Firehose: You offering intervention? Or just better sushi?
He watches the typing dots appear. Disappear. Appear again. He shouldn’t like that. But he does.
The light turns green and someone honks. Buck tosses the phone onto the passenger seat and pulls forward, heart beating a little faster than it has any right to.
Right before the next red light it buzzes again. He doesn’t look. He manages to make it home before he caves.
T: We can definitely offer better sushi.
S: And supervision. Clearly you need it.
Buck huffs out a laugh, shaking his head.
Supervision.
He’s twenty-six years old and budgeting for a possible amputation and somehow this is the thing that makes his chest loosen.
If anyone checks in, he tells himself, I’ll cancel.
If Maddie calls and asks how he’s really doing.
If Eddie calls about the lawsuit.
If Bobby…
He doesn’t finish that thought. Everyone should know by now that he dropped the lawsuit. It’s public record. It’s union chatter. It’s the kind of thing that spreads fast in a department built on rumor and pride.
Someone should have noticed. Someone should’ve already asked why by now?
He tries not to think too much about the 118 and how his sister seemed to have picked her boyfriend over him. He tries his best not to think too much about the two men who somehow make him feel seen through a few sentences and a photograph of hands.
He doesn't even know what they look like.
The restaurant is small. Red-checkered tablecloths, wine bottles lining the walls, the smell of garlic and basil thick enough to taste. Buck arrives fifteen minutes early because that's what you do when you're trying not to look desperate.
He's in dark jeans and a green sweater he found in the back of his closet. He takes a corner booth and watches the door.
They walk in together.
That's the first thing Buck registers. Not separately, not one trailing the other. Together. Shoulders close, hands brushing at the threshold before the taller one reaches to hold the door.
Tommy is broad like his body was built for lifting and carrying and holding. Dark hair silvering at the temples, cleft, jaw sharp enough to cut. He scans the room with the kind of awareness Buck recognizes from men who've spent years reading environments for threats. Cop?
Sal is leaner. A hair shorter, wearing a button-down shirt, sleeves rolled. He moves like someone accustomed to being listened to. His gaze finds Buck before Tommy's does, and holds eye contact for three seconds. Then Sal's mouth curves slightly.
Tommy leans into Sal, Buck can see him murmur something under his breath. Sal doesn’t look away from Buck when he answers, but his hand comes up smoothing the front of Tommy’s collar
They cross the room.
Buck's heart is doing something inconvenient in his throat.
"Firehose?" Tommy says, and his voice is exactly what Buck imagined.
"I…" Buck's voice cracks on the single syllable. He clears his throat. "Evan. I go by Evan."
Sal slides into the booth across from him. Tommy settles beside Sal, close enough that their shoulders touch.
"Evan," Sal repeats, like he's tasting it. "I'm Sal. This is Tommy."
Evan.
It lands strange in his own ears. He hasn't been Evan in years—not since he showed up at the 118 with too much attitude and not enough sense, not since Bobby handed him turnout gear and a nameplate and said welcome aboard, Buck.
Buck was the guy who ran into burning buildings. Buck was the guy who dated Abby and Ali and Taylor, who cracked jokes in the engine bay and pissed off his captain and saved lives.
Because Buck died on that asphalt. And no one noticed.
"Hi," Buck manages, his smile widening as he shoves the thought away.
"Hi," Tommy says back, his voice is deep and it does shit to Buck's stomach.
Buck's palms are sweating against his jeans. "I don't actually know what I'm doing here."
"Neither do we," Tommy says easily. "First time for everything."
The wine helps.
So does the food. So does the way they don't stare at him like he's a meal, don't push, don't fill every silence with pressure disguised as conversation.
Tommy asks about his work. Buck hesitates. He knows they're wondering why the hell he ended up on that site.
Buck's leg throbs under the table. "It's fine," he says. "It pays… most of the bills."
Tommy nods like he understands something. "There's dignity in keeping things from burning down before they start."
Buck nods. He wants to ask what they do, but he knows the rules. You don't ask. Whatever they did, they made enough to be on that app. The watch on Sal's wrist is not cheap. But Buck doesn't ask.
Tommy distracts him. "When you suggested Italian, Sal sent me this place inside of ninety seconds."
Sal doesn't deny it. "They serve carbonara. The only authentic version west of the Hudson."
"You've tested this hypothesis," Tommy says.
"I've been thorough."
Buck watches them, the way they finish each other's sentences, the way Sal's shoulder stays pressed against Tommy's the whole meal.
He wonders what it would feel like to be that known. "I should probably explain," Buck says, when the pasta is mostly gone and the wine bottle is nearly empty. "The profile. The… all of it."
"You don't owe us an explanation," Tommy reassures.
"I know. I just…" Buck runs his hand through his hair. "The bio. That wasn't a bit. I really don't know what I'm doing. And I'm not…"
He trails off.
Just say it. You're already here.
“I know I’m not what you expect to find on there,” he says finally. “I’m not doing this for drugs. Or tuition. Or some fantasy about being flown to Paris.” His mouth twists. “I like sex. And I need money.”
The words sit between them. Ugly. True.
He cringes. "Shit that... came out wrong."
Sal's hand finds Tommy's on the table. He expects them to flinch. To exchange one of those looks couples do, the ones that say we should leave, this is getting weird. Instead, Tommy just tilts his head. "Did it?"
Buck blinks. "What?"
"Came out wrong." Tommy presses. "You said you like sex. You need money. Those are just facts."
Buck stares at him. He doesn't know what to do with that.
"We're looking for someone," Sal explains, "to have dinner with. To talk to. To…" He pauses as he searches for the right word. "To take care of."
Buck's breath catches. Sal doesn't look away from him.
"It's something Tommy and I have always had to navigate," he continues. "I'm built a certain way. I show up. I provide. I don't… always know how to soften."
Tommy's thumb brushes once over Sal's knuckles.
Sal exhales slowly. "There are parts of him that need someone softer, someone to care for. I would rather make space for that than pretend it doesn't exist. So I'd rather invite someone in," Sal finishes, "than risk losing him because he's missing something I can't give."
Tommy nods. “And this isn’t all just for me. Sal needs somewhere to put it too.” He glances at his husband soft and amused. “He won’t admit it, but he’s got more care in him than he knows what to do with. It just… gets stuck. He holds it tight. And when I need space, he doesn’t always know where to put it.”
Sal doesn’t deny it. His eyes soften as he looks at Tommy, a small smile curving at the edge of his mouth.
Buck looks between them. He came here expecting transaction. Dinner for company, money for sex, clear lines and cleaner exits. He didn't come here for this… two men who love each other, who are trying to love each other better, and somehow think he might be part of that equation after a week of texting.
“You want to…” He stops. Swallows. Tries again. “You want me to be what? A project?”
Tommy’s mouth quirks and his eyes crinkle. “God, no.”
“A plant?” Buck presses, because it’s easier to joke than to admit he’s shaken. “Something to water?”
Tommy huffs a soft laugh and scoops up a spoonful of spumoni. He holds it out. “Open,” he says lightly.
Buck hesitates for half a second. Then he leans forward, wraps his mouth around the spoon, and pulls back.
The ice cream is cold and sweet.
Sal watches the entire exchange, heat flickers in his gut. Buck looks up with a faint smear of cream at the corner of his mouth. Tommy reaches out without thinking and wipes it away with his thumb.
Sal's gaze catches Tommy's, and Tommy sees it, the spark Sal hadn’t planned on.
Tommy lifts one eyebrow. Just to say. Oh.
Sal exhales slowly. “You wouldn’t be a project,” he says evenly.
Buck watches as Tommy scoops up another bite. “Then what would I be?”
Sal meets his eyes, and his grin grows. “Someone we choose.”
Buck holds his gaze. “And what does that cost?” he asks.
Sal doesn’t bristle. "You’d be compensated,” he says evenly. “That part doesn’t go away.”
Tommy nods. “We’re not pretending this isn’t an arrangement.”
Buck’s shoulders ease a fraction. “How much?” he asks.
Tommy and Sal look at each other. The phone passes between them. Tommy types, Sal reads, Sal types, Tommy reads. A quiet negotiation conducted in thumb-swipes and shared glances.
Then Sal slides the phone across the table toward Evan.
Buck does the math in his head before he can stop himself. Rent. Medical bills. The credit card he’s been pretending doesn’t exist.
“That’s generous,” he says quietly.
“It’s fair,” Sal corrects.
“And expectations?” Buck asks.
Sal’s voice stays steady. “Dinner. Time. Honesty. Sex. Nothing you don’t want.” Tommy’s gaze stays soft on him. “And if you change your mind, you say so.”
Buck stares at them, his heartbeat roars in his ear.
Sex is easy. Sex he understands. Sex is something he enjoys.
Dinner. Time. Honesty.
Those are the things he fucks up.
His leg aches under the table. His bank account is a slow bleed. The number on the screen is enough to buy him breathing room. Enough to quiet the panic that wakes him at three in the morning.
He drags his thumb along the condensation on his wine glass. But right now, sitting across from two men who look at him like he's worth those numbers, he feels something he hasn't felt in months.
Seen.
"I'd like that," he says. "I think."
Tommy smiles. Sal inclines his head.
The check comes.
Tommy reaches for it but Sal is already sliding a card into the folder. Buck's hand is still halfway to his own wallet, frozen mid-reach like his body hasn't caught up to the fact that he's not the one paying tonight.
"We said we'd cover it," Sal reminds him with a firmness that makes Buck’s stomach swoop.
He pulls his hand back slowly. Tucks it under the table.
Outside, the air is cool and the streetlights are flickering on. They stand in a loose triangle on the sidewalk, none of them quite ready to leave. Tommy checks his phone.
"How about Sunday?" Tommy suggests. "We'll cook."
Buck blinks. "You cook?"
Tommy's mouth curves. "Sal cooks. I have opinions."
Sal inclines his head, acknowledging the truth of this. "He's useful for tasting. Less useful for anything else."
"Hey…"
"You boiled the wine before you added the rice."
"Tory the recipe said…"
"The recipe did not say that, Thomas."
Buck watches them, the easy back-and-forth, the way they've seemed to have had this argument a hundred times and will have it a hundred more.
"Our place," Sal murmurs, redirecting. "Sunday. Seven o'clock."
Buck's nods, his chest squeezing a little. "You want to do this again?"
Sal looks at him. "I do. Do you, Evan?"
Buck thinks about his empty apartment. The unopened envelope on his table. The way his phone hasn't buzzed with a message from anyone who actually sees him in weeks.
He thinks about how Evan felt in Sal's mouth.
"Yeah," he says. "I do."
Tommy's hand finds the small of Sal's back as they watch Evan's Uber pull away.
"He doesn't know," Sal stated quietly.
"Know what?"
"How to be taken care of."
Tommy watches the taillights disappear around the corner. "Guess we'll have to teach him," he murmurs. "He wants it though."
Evan doesn't sleep that night.
Not because of his leg. Not because of the case files spread across his coffee table, the reports he should have filed yesterday.
He doesn't sleep because he keeps replaying the evening.
Sal's hand around his wine glass, his accent. Tommy's laugh, his cleft. The way they looked at each other, looked at him, like he was someone worth looking at.
His phone glows on the nightstand.
Firehose: I had a good time tonight. Thank you.
Three dots appear almost immediately.
T: We did too.
S: Sunday. Don't be late.
Evan stares at the messages, despite everything, the ache in his leg, the weight in his chest, the quiet of his empty apartment, he smiles.
@queenandthree requested: Homestead/off grid AU for Buck/ Tommy/ Sal..... And Maurice
1. Sal has always been pretty good with plants. His grandparents invested a lot of time into teaching him everything they knew about keeping a garden - from planting to tending to preparing and preserving. He always had a smug sense of pride that he excelled at all of it far better than his older siblings, so even when he moved to Los Angeles he kept a few plants on his terrace - everything he needed for tomato sauce, because if he ever bought the canned stuff Nonna would find a way to haunt him, despite beong alive and well. It's not much, but it's enough for him, and then Tommy when he comes along.
2. Sal's grandparents leave him their little farmhouse and a small plot of land, and they decide 'what the hell?' and move back to the small town in the northeast where Sal spent most of his childhood summers. They learn quickly that Tommy is detrimental to any plant he comes into contact with, but he's an ace when it comes to repairing and running equipment, good enough that larger neighboring farms hire him regularly. When their crops start coming in, Sal shows Tommy everything his family taught him, and they experiment with new recipes and creations of their own.
It's not easy and it takes time. They take jobs in town in winter when all the teenagers have left to start school, they bust their asses in the summer and fall to keep up with everything, and after a couple of years it starts to pay off. They go from just a few rows of vegetables to adding a small fruit grove, a menagerie of animals, and a little stand at the far end of the farmer's market. They'll never be millionaires, but they do well for themselves, and they're happy.
3. Sal is working their booth at the market one day when a young man he's never seen before makes his way over to browse. He keeps his head down while he picks out a few items and answers Sal's questions in quiet, few word replies. He pays with coins and crumpled bills, exact change carefully counted out. When their eyes meet for a brief moment when Sal hands him his packed up items, he sees the same haunted, tired look Tommy had when he was fresh out of the army trying to learn to be a civilian again, but he's gone before Sal can ask him anything else.
The kid turns up every few days and buys the same rotation of items. He's polite but quiet, doesn't volunteer information as freely as all the other shoppers wandering around who are all too happy to spill information Sal never asked for or wanted. It takes nearly a dozen interactions before he gets a name ("Buck. Well, E-Evan, but people have been calling me Buck for a while now"), it's also around this time Sal starts dropping extra items in Buck's bags from the storage pails under his booth, things he sees him keep looking at but never buying because they aren't part of his predetermined list, like goats milk soaps and various bees wax concoctions that Tommy's been trying his hand at making. Buck never mentions it, but Sal sees the way his cheeks flush slightly the next time he sees him and he can't fight the flood of affection he feels for this kid and his shy smile.
4. Around the Fourth of July, there's a loud bang that echoes around the market as Buck is browsing one afternoon. Sal's not sure if it was one of the old timers trucks back firing or if those annoying ass Nelson kids had gotten their hands on some fire crackers, but whatever it was it's enough to make the color drain from Buck's face and his hands shake almost violently.
"Shit," Sal mutters before he springs into action, just like he used to with Tommy when things were bad. He manages to get Buck around the booth into the fold out chair he keeps there, then tries to start one of the breathing techniques that Tommy's therapist had given them.
"It's okay," Buck says, after a minute. "I'm okay. I just got...it surprised me."
"Can I call someone for you?" Sal asks, concern lacing his words. Buck shakes his head.
"No, there's no one." He sucks in a deep breath and gives Sal a weak smile. "I'll be okay in a minute, don't worry about me."
"Maybe you should let me take you home," Sal murmurs. Buck blushes and looks down at his shoes.
"N-no, that's not...You, um, you still have a lot of stuff here. I can–"
"Evan, you're shaking." Buck looks at his trembling hands and flushes darker. "For my own peace of mind, huh? I don't want anything happening to my favorite customer."
Buck silently helps Sal pack away the remaining produce and items at his booth and carry the boxes to his SUV. After everything is secured, Sal asks for his address and Buck looks at the ground again, kicking at the gravel.
"I don't have an address," Buck mumbles, wrapping his arms around himself. "I've been sleeping in my car for a bit."
Sal wants to ask how long 'a bit' is, but the look on Buck's face is enough to inform him that it's been longer than just a couple of nights.
"Then you can stay at our place." Buck starts to argue but Sal doesn't allow him a chance to speak. "Not takin' no for an answer, kid. Where'd you park? You can follow me back." Buck scratches the back of his neck.
"It's kind of not running at the moment," He mumbles even lower than before. Sal looks skyward for strength before letting out a slow breath because goddammit, he has a type.
"Get in," Sal instructs. Buck shakes his head.
"You really don't need to–"
"In." He says it with enough finality that Buck climbs into the car with no more argument.
When they arrive back at the farm, Tommy is elbow deep in a tractor, but he emerges when Sal calls out to him.
"This is Evan. The one I've been telling you about." Tommy shakes his hand and studies him carefully, taking in his grip and the way he holds himself.
"Army?" He asks.
"SEALs," Buck answers and Tommy's mouth twists bitterly. He nods to the tractor.
"How are you with a wrench?"
Sal leaves them to talk over the engine while he checks the gardens and takes care of the animals. When the sun starts its slow descent he makes dinner, adding a few extra sides to what he and Tommy had sketched out for their meal plan, remembering Buck's meager purchases at his stand and how carefully he counted out each payment. His suspensions are confirmed when Buck cleans out the casserole dish, then looks at his plate sheepishly when he's finished eating.
"Sorry. It's been a while since I've had something homemade like this."
"Don't apologize," Sal smiles at him. "It's probably been a while since you've had a hot shower, too, huh?"
Late into the night after Buck is settled into a guest room, Tommy quietly tells Sal what hes learned as they get ready for bed. Buck had enlisted young, had been turned into a machine before he was old enough to legally buy a drink, he was in for almost eight years when a humvee explosion left him with a busted leg and medical discharge. Another kid chewed up and spit out by the system that had done the same thing to him.
"I think it's a good thing you brought him here. I think he's been lost for a long time."
The next morning Sal and Tommy wake up to the smell of breakfast wafting up from the kitchen. Buck has eggs, bacon, and biscuits waiting on the table for them when they come down the stairs.
"It's probably not as good as what we had last night," He tells them, his cheeks going pink. "But I wanted to do something. To thank you."
"You don't need to thank us, Evan," Tommy assures him with a smile. Sal tilts his head.
"Where'd you get the eggs?" Buck feeezes.
"Um, the chicken coops?" He answers hesitantly. Sal and Tommy exchange a look. "Was I not supposed to–"
"Was Maurice in there?" Tommy asks and Buck frowns.
"The rooster? Yeah."
"He didn't attack you?"
"No. I mean, he puffed up and looked pissed off, but I told him if he didn't start anything I wouldn't either."
Sal and Tommy stare at him in wonder for a long moment before explaining that ever since they got Maurice they'd been having to wait for him to leave the vicinity of the coop before they could even think about gathering the eggs, and even then they had to keep a watchful eye just in case he came back before they were done.
"We knew roosters were aggressive, but Maurice is..."
"Maurice is a demon who's purpose is to try to scratch my eyes out," Tommy finishes, then he immediately launches in to telling Buck aboit all of their near misses with the beast.
Buck's laughter rings loud and bright through the kitchen and the sound of it sends Sal's heart racing. A glance at Tommy shows that he's not unaffected by it either.
After they eat, Tommy calls the tow yard and arrages to have Buck's jeep brought to the house so he can look it over and try to get it running and Buck helps Sal with the morning chores. When Tommy comes back into the house a while later with a grave expression on his face, Buck sighs.
"I know, I know. It's ready for the scrapyard. But it's the last thing my sister gave me before I left, and I haven't heard from her in...years now."
Tommy sets his jaw and Sal can almost hear the gears turning in his head, calculations and timelines being drawn up.
"Alright," He says at last,"I'll see what I can do. It's gonna take time, I'm going to have to find the parts. Meanwhile, you can stay here and help out. We'll call it even when it all shakes out."
Buck stares at him, mistrusting for a moment.
"Are you sure?" Tommy nods and holds out his hand. Buck shakes it hesitantly.
5. Buck turns out to have a magic touch when it comes to all the animals, not just Maurice. They also learn that he's a pretty skilled baker when he finds out it's Tommy's birthday and leaves a peach cobbler on the table for them to find when they come home from a night out. They make a new agreement that if Buck wants to sell anything he bakes at the farmstand, he'll keep the money, since the wages he would be making as a farmhand are being sunk straight into the jeep repairs.
As the days turn into weeks, Buck starts to come out of his shell more and more. He talks a bit more freely about the traveling he's done since he left the SEALs, how he could never stay anywhere long before he got anxious and restless and had to run.
"I haven't felt that way in a while," He tells them one night as they're sat around the table shelling peas. "It's peaceful here. I feel like I can breathe again."
They get closer, more comfortable. They trade stories and secrets between the three of them like kids trading baseball cards. Slowly but surely things start to change between them. Casual touches become more common, last a little longer. Looks linger, eyes roaming over how muscles bulge under a shirt or how someone lips look pressed against their beer bottle. A simple, one person task suddenly needs two extra sets of hands. If Buck notices that Tommy has been dragging his feet on the jeep repairs, he does say a word, just turns a blind eye to boxes of parts being delivered and set quietly aside for a few days for no good reason.
All that can only last for so long, though. One evening Buck and Sal are sitting on the back porch, cleaning ears of corn to take to the market the next day when they hear the jeep roar to life on the other side of the barn. Both their hands pause in a silent hope, but the engine runs steady.
"I guess T got it fixed," Sal says quietly.
"Yeah," Buck murmurs, staring down at the corn silks sticking to his boots. "Guess he did."
6. There's no real way to drag it out any longer after that. Buck doesn't have much to pack and there's really no excuses anyone can come up with to make him stay any longer, so two days after Tommy gets the jeep fixed, he's standing by the driver's side, twisting his duffle strap around his shoulder as he says his goodbyes.
"You sure you want to go?" Tommy asks, before he can stop himself. Buck swallows hard, looks away.
"I don't think I have much of a choice," He mumbles.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"If I stay any longer, I won't be able to pretend I'm not im love with both of you."
Sal surges forward and grabs by the front of his shirt, pulling him in too fast. The kiss is more a clash of teeth than anything.
"If that's what you're worried about, apparently we've done too good a job pretending that we don't love you, too."
Tommy moves in to get a hand around the back of Buck's neck to kiss him as well, as Maurice struts by and squawks at them, and Tommy swears it sounds like an obscenity.
"You want me to kill your brother-in-law," the crossroads demon repeats.
Evan sticks his hands in his pockets and nods, despite the fear zipping along his nerves.
The demon studies Evan with his yellow eyes. It's irritating how handsome the demon looks: thick dark hair, chiseled jawline, strong nose and cheekbones, and a goddamn (ha!) cleft in that chin. Evan tears his gaze away to look at his scuffed sneakers, feeling too much like a college dropout, and then he looks up again, defiant and bold.
"Yeah," he says. "Kill Doug. He's beating up my sister. He'll kill her someday if no one stops him."
"You can kill him yourself," the demon says. He stalks forward. Evan smells a woodsy cologne, and under that, a hint of smoke, like the demon just walked past a campfire. "I can even make sure no one sees you do it."
"If I do it, it'll be over too quick," Evan says. He picks at a cuticle. "I want him to suffer. I want him to be as afraid as he's made Maddie. Worse. I want him to shit his pants out of fear."
The demon chuckles. The sound tingles all the way down Evan's spine and he resists the urge to fidget.
"Oh, this is delicious. You don't want me to kill him, not really," the demon purrs. "You want me to torture him." He licks his lips and inhales through his teeth. "You look so innocent, but that darkness in you... I like it."
"So... It's a deal?"
"Let's talk payment first, hmm?" The demon adjusts his tie and conjures up a scroll. "Let's see... Evan Buckley... Wait a minute."
Evan frowns. "Wait? Why?"
"I can't make a deal with you." The demon tosses the scroll up, which disappear in a shower of sparks and a lingering stench of sulfur.
"Why not?"
"Because, reasons." The demon scowls. "But I would love to get my claws on that Doug Kendall. I do so need to reupholster my armchair with human skin..." Then he grins. "I have an idea."
He points his hand straight up and snaps his fingers thrice in quick succession. Evan is about to ask what he's doing when suddenly, literally in the blink of an eye, another tall, dark and handsome man is standing next to the demon, dressed in a red and blue flannel shirt over a white tee and a pair of jeans that hugs his legs, and Evan is starting to question why he can't seem to stop looking at this guy's ass.
"Sal," says the newcomer, "I told you, you can't just call on me so blatantly. Someone will notice."
"Aww, angel, you worried? I'm not calling you for myself, Tommy, I'm calling you for my new friend." The demon – Sal – points a thumb at Evan.
When this Tommy guy – an angel? – turns to face Evan, Evan freezes completely. Tommy is taller, also handsome, with tousled waves of dark hair, and his blue eyes seem to glow.
"You're Evan Buckley," Tommy breathes out.
For the first time in a very long time, Evan doesn't hate his name. "Y-yeah, that's me."
Tommy whirls around – is that a rush of feathers that Evan hears? "Sal, you know you can't touch him."
"Hence, the calling on you." Sal smirks. "He wants to make a deal with me, I can't take it. But maybe you can."
As Tommy glances over his shoulder at Evan, Evan finds himself wanting to hold Tommy's attention for longer.
Eventually, Tommy says, "What's the deal?"
"Torture his abusive brother-in-law."
"Out of the question." Tommy stares sternly at them both. Evan turns red with shame.
Sal whistles. "How about we set it up so Doug tries to kill Evan, and you can keep Evan and his sister safe, and I can swoop in to drag an abuser into hell? Win-win-win." He winks at Evan. "I can't make a deal with you because something real powerful has a claim on you already. You have a Destiny, kiddo, and whooo. Spoiler: you have a long, hard road ahead of ya."
Evan's eyes widen. "So what's an angel gotta do with this?"
"He's your-" Sal bats Tommy's hand aside. "He's your guardian angel. Literally. Heaven made Tommy to make sure you get to live out your Destiny."
Is the angel blushing? "An angel named Tommy?"
Sal grins. "Name of the meat suit. Mine was Salvatore Deluca." He twirls, then bumps his elbow against Tommy. "What say you, angel? Ready to be the hero? C'mon, let me remake my armchair."
Tommy scrutinizes Evan, who gazes back at him as pleadingly as he can. Finally, he nods.
48 participants & 279 posts included
Updated as of 23 December 2025 at 11:30PM UTC
This post will continue to be updated so long as new posts are being made by any participants who wish to be included.
#AllIWantForChristmasIsLou
If you're seeing and using this round-up post before 1 January 2026 and want to support @alliwantforchristmasislou, you can donate to The Trevor Project HERE if you're able or share your Lou & Tommy appreciation in other suggested ways during this fan campaign if you're not.
What's new in this update?
Participants newly-added to the round-up and all their posts are indicated by a 🚒 emoji.
Participants with new posts added in this update and their new posts are indicated by a 🚁 emoji.
Participants whose sections have been revised—e.g. newly added missing posts or corrected links—and the revised posts are indicated by a 🍾 emoji.
This list is arranged alphabetically by username of the participants and chronologically from oldest post to newest.
Posts for AUs that are Gen or that include or are about pairings that are not Buck/Tommy are indicated.
Some prompts were shortened in the interest of the ease of use of this round-up post. If you feel the prompt you gave or received should be summarized differently, lemme know. Also feel free to comment/DM/send an ask if you spot any other errors or notice anything missing from the round-up post. Check out this post if you wish to be included, but aren't yet.
The round-up posts are now rebloggable, but the reblogs you might see on your dashboard may not be the newest update, so please check the original post and keep an eye out for the round-up summary & updates post, which will be reblogged whenever updates to the round-up post are made.
Thank you to everyone for playing. Enjoy!
Below the cut is Part 1 (Participants with usernames beginning #-D)
Check reblogs for the up-to-date Part 2 (Participants with usernames beginning E-H), Part 3 (Participants with usernames beginning I-R), and Part 4 (Participants with usernames beginning S-Z)
Credit for the divider used in this post: @uzmacchiato
@26-cats-in-a-trenchcoat
[Gen, ensemble] The 118 was shut down due to budget cuts
Spider-Man & Deadpool AU
Community college AU
Shared dreams soulmates AU
Bobby died in the cruise ship | FIC: all i do is pray the lord will let me walk in the sun once more
Hen and Eddie let Buck call Tommy instead of playing keep-away with his phone
🚁 @a-mel0n
Buck/Tommy have moved in; Buck discovers that Tommy loses hours to his gaming hobby
8x06 AU: When Tommy tried the break-up thing, Buck begged him to stay (sexually)
[Includes Abby/Buck and past Abby/Tommy] Abby/Tommy had a baby before breaking up
Buck and Tommy go to Vegas to watch the fight instead of Eddie and Tommy
Buck is a stripper before getting into firefighting | 5+1 additional facts
Buck/Tommy secretly got married after Bobby's funeral; others don't find out for months
🚁 [Gen - worldbuilding, ensemble] 911 x Jujutsu Kaisen
🚁 @ambernotember | Link to her masterpost
Tennis AU
[Gen, ensemble] Olympics AU
[Buck/Taylor, canon Buck/Lucy] Buck never told Taylor about kissing Lucy
[Gen, May-centric] May is the one who leaves further schooling behind to join the LAFD not Harry
Fire marshal era Buck's assigned to the 217 and meets newly-out Tommy
[Maddie/Chimney] Professional matchmaker Chimney and nurse Maddie who's skeptical despite Chimney's success matching Hen/Karen
Flower shop/tattoo parlor AU
[Ensemble, includes Bobby/Athena, Hen/Karen, Maddie/Chimney] Full cast role swap AU
Buck and Tommy, both traveling the world separately, run into each other over and over
Buck became a Navy SEAL; he meets Tommy and Eddie while they're in the Army
Witch!Buck that gains others' powers through sex/Fae!Tommy with suppressed powers
Buck and Tommy live in the same building; they have a community garden meet-ugly
🚁 Buck/Tommy reconcile when they meet on vacations they're on with the Hans & DeLucas
🚁 Coffee shop AU
🚁 Tommy is involved in the wildfire crossover episode
🚁 Kindergarten teacher Buck/Firefighter Tommy
@angels-all-sin
Flower shop/tattoo shop AU
@apollabarnes
Niche hobby AU: geocaching
Buck and/or Tommy are paranormal investigators
Donor arc AU: Buck and Tommy meet at the fertility clinic; Buck's super pent up
@aringofsalt
911 x Stranger Things fusion
Tommy is the doctor Buck is sent to see after an injury on a call
@beanarie
Tommy retired from firefighting but still flew the 118 for the cruise rescue
911 x The Witcher crossover
Buck/Tommy meet through a Big Brother volunteer program
🚒 @beefcakekinard
🚒 [Gen, Buck&Maddie-centric] FIC: the pattern of our lives -> The Buckleys didn't hide Daniel's existence for 30+ years
🚒 Maddie and Chimney have a normal wedding and Buck/Tommy get their dance
@bidisasterevankinard
Actor!Buck AU
Buck chased after Tommy after the break-up
@chemistry66
You've Got Mail with academic rivalry
[Sal/Buck] Undergrad Buck & TA Sal
🚁 @chimneyschewinggum
[Sal/Buck/Tommy] Buck meets Sal and Tommy under different circumstances
[Sal/Buck] How Sal/Buck get together without Tommy
The 118 only learn Buck had a baby when he files for parental leave
[Sal/Buck] Buck leaves the firehouse after Bobby fired him and runs into Sal
Buck leaves the 118: S9 AU
[Sal/Buck/Tommy] LOTR AU
Eddie finds out about the Buck/Tommy hook-up in his house
[Sal/Buck/Tommy] After years of trying for kids, Sal/Tommy turn to surrogate!Buck; they fall in love
8x06 AU: When Buck asked 'Are you breaking up with me?' Tommy doesn't say yes
[Sal/Buck/Tommy] S5 AU: Buck transfers after Chim punches him
[Sal/Buck] Meet-cute at the laundromat
Continuation of S9 Buck crash-out/S9 transfer fic I'm Barely Hanging On To Some Last Thread I Found In You (fic linked in the post)
Stuck in an elevator
[Buck/Ravi] S6 AU
Dog character POV AU feat. an OC dog mentioned the stuck in an elevator AU (linked above and in the post)
🚁 Tommy becomes Santa
🚁 Teachers AU: Soccer coach Tommy and assistant coach Buck
🚁 Broken-up Buck/Tommy co-parent a dog
@citrus-lou
Tommy was an instructor at the fire academy when Buck was there
Buck and Tommy met at Madney's wedding
Tailor!Buck AU: Tommy needs a suit, Buck takes his measurements and makes it
Man-behind probie Buck meets helicopter pilot Tommy when Tommy's dog runs into the 118
Drifter Buck's truck breaks down; ranch owner Tommy's passing through and helps him out
Buck/Tommy AU where the champagne is acknowledged
Buck teaches kindergarten and firefighter Tommy runs the education outreach program at his station
After Tommy stops by to apologize after the basketball game, Buck kisses him first
@corporatebanana
Buck finds himself on a website for puppy play when looking for a puppy
[Buck/Ravi] How Buck/Ravi realize they're into each other and what they plan to do about it
Buck/Tommy meet at a kink club
Buck/Tommy made a sex tape that leaks to the public
Buck/Tommy are dating during the donor arc AU
Buck/Tommy are dating during the donor arc AU: version 2
Truck bombing AU: Tommy's with Buck in the ambulance; he's included in the Buck care schedule
Buck injures both his hands; Tommy helps him with his sexual needs
@curlyboys
Competing gyms AU
Somehow it was Tommy who landed Athena's plane
@dharmaavocado
Teachers at a magic university
[Includes past Buck/Eddie] Buck/Eddie were dating when the Kim situation went down then season 7 happens
Reconciliation after Bobby’s funeral; Tommy asks Buck to move in when Eddie returns
Buck and Chim Contagion role swap; Buck's the last to see and talk to Bobby
911: Coruscant (Star Wars crossover/fusion)
Buck finding a home for the baby Road (continuation of an ongoing Sphinx Tommy AU, previous parts linked in the post)
