Buck is a grieving heartbroken mess, and he needs a change. So he transfers and ends up at the 122 with Captain Deluca.
This is 5 times Sal Deluca stands up for Buck and is his friend, and the one time Buck tells him how much that means to him.
Gen/wc :2,6k/pairing: bucktommy
ONE Sal
"Hold on," Gorman yells. "Are you serious, Deluca?"
Sal leans back into his chair, arms crossed. Looking at the 133 captain suspiciously, "As serious as a heart attack."
They're sitting at their monthly captains meeting, Gorman on the other side of the table, Willis to his left, and the new captain of the 189, Herkel, on Sal's side.
It wasn't an official meeting. More of a get-together in the bar in the middle of their station's perimeter. Mostly to swap war stories and rant about their probies.
"The chief assigned him to my station."
"Pff, assigned? You snatched his papers from the table before either one of us knew that he was transferring." Sal snorts, not losing his posture; he is on a mission.
Gorman lets out a huff, "It's not my fault you pissed off the chief one too many times, Deluca."
True, but not the point.
"I am just saying," he fixed Gorman across the table, "that he would fit way better into my station."
"The kid would fit in any station; have you seen his record?" Herkel chimes in, trying to soften the discussion happening over the table. He is new; he doesn't know yet that this just scratches the surface.
"Of course I did," Sal starts off. "I also happen to know almost every firefighter in that station who has ever worked with him, and I tell you, he fits best in the 122."
"The same station that fired you?" Willis murmurs on his left.
"Damn it, Willis, On whose side are you here?" Sal turns his head.
"Nobody's, because I never saw that transfer either." Willis grumbles into his beer.
Gorman grins winningly, "How about I just take him in as assigned, and we leave this discussion?"
"How about arm wrestling?" Sal answers with a challenging smile.
"What is happening here?" Herkel whispers.
"Idiots," Willis sighs and starts to clear the table to make some space.
It's good to know people; it's even better to know their weaknesses.
Gorman was incapable of saying no to arm wrestling.
Sal grips Gorman's hand and presses until he slams down on the winning side.
"I expect Buckley's transfer paper on my desk on Monday. See you next month, guys." And with that, Sal gives them a big grin, goes to the bar to close his tab, and walks out.
Read on ao3 or under the cut
TWO Smith
Smith looks up from the pile of bandages he was sorting when he hears a child giggle. It isn't every day the captain brings his daughter to the firehouse. But there she is, little Bella holding her dad's hand as they walk through the door.
"Buckley, come here," the captain calls out. Buckley? Why him? Did he even know the captain's daughter yet? The kid had only been at the station for about a month now.
He was curious now, so he kept listening. "Buckley, your man behind today, also. I know this is not the norm, and I wouldn't do this if there was no other way." He points to his daughter, "Her school has a teacher conference, and they only told us this morning. My wife is working, and we can't find a babysitter this fast."
Smith doesn't follow the rest of the conversation; it is kind of weird. So he decides to ask, once Sal makes his way through the station and walks past Smith.
"Cap?"
"What is it, Smith?"
He takes a deep breath. "Our kids go to the same school. That day was confirmed months ago, and I know for a fact that Gina doesn't work Wednesdays. So…do you want to tell me why your daughter is currently using Buckley as her personal gym?"
He looks at Buckley, who was grinning ear to ear, talking to the Deluca monkey that made it to his shoulders.
"I can't use a sad firefighter, and I heard you can cheer the kid up by surrounding him with kids." Sal answers, arms crossed, looking at his daughter with a stern look."
"It seems to work." Smith chuckles, "May I ask where you heard that?"
The captain sighs and turns around; Smith follows him as they walk to the kitchen. "His sister works with an old buddy of mine. Gina was in the same Mommy and Me group as Wilson from the 118, and his ex, who happens to be my best friend, is moping on my couch every other night. I knew way too much about that kid before I ever met him."
"That…" Smith tries to think how to put this, "…is a lot.
"Hmm, want to help me get the ex off my couch so I don't have to bring my daughter here every time Buckley has a bad day?"
Smith holds out his hand. "Approve my time off for next month, and I am all yours, Cap."
"Deal."
THREE Tommy
"You want to tell me what I am doing here, Sal?" It isn't the first time Tommy steps foot into the 122 station. But it is certainly the first time he has no reason to. Or to put it differently, it is the first time Sal wouldn't tell him why he called Tommy to come here.
"You need to help me fix the door," was Sal's answer as he led him through the station.
"You cal… You called me to fix your door?" Tommy repeats to make sure he heard him right.
Sal lets out a little cough. "Hmm, yeah."
They're walking into the hallway on the right side of the station. Tommy knows the supply closets are here, but he still doesn't know why he is.
"Have you pissed off the maintenance guy again?" Tommy asks, because that wouldn't be the first time.
"No, look, here we are." They stop in front of one of the supply closets; another guy is standing there. Smith, if Tommy remembers correctly.
"Oh good, you're here," Smith breathes out and steps away from the door. Was he…guarding and…was he holding the handle?
"Guys, what…" A loud whump and a few swears come from inside the closet.
"Yeah, you see, we can't open the door from the inside." Sal simply states. Smith is just nodding intensely next to him.
"But…you can open it from the outside?" Tommy asks slowly and carefully.
"Yeah, look." And with one smooth and very fast move that had to be rehearsed. Smith pulls the door open, and Sal pushes Tommy inside. Before he can react, the door is shut close behind him, and Tommy is trapped in the closet with…. "Evan?!"
"Hi…uhm, Tommy. Fancy meeting you here," Evan tries to joke. Oh God, this is…
"You guys can come out once you talk." Sal's voice shouts from the other side of the door, and Tommy could swear he hears Smith giggle.
Those bastards.
He tries to push against the door for good measure but knows to give it up right away when he hears Sal chuckle, "Don't even try, Kinard."
So Tommy turns around to look at Evan, sighs, presses his lips together for an apologetic smile, and asks, "Let's talk?"
FOUR Chim
Of all the people that could walk into the bay door of the 118, Chim doesn't expect it to be Sal Deluca.
"Sal, what…" Chim starts once Sal stands right in front of him. He looks furious.
"Are you dumb, Han?" Sal interrupts him.
"Excuse me?"
"I asked if you are dumb, you mook."
Hen joins them, and Chim can sense the rest of the team slowly coming closer, listening, watching what was about to happen.
"What is this about, Sal?" She asks him, also clearly bewildered to see Sal here.
"This is about your boy Buckley."
Chimney sighs, "What did he do this time?"
"What did he do?!" Sal's voice goes up an octave. His chest rising and falling like he has to restrain himself from grabbing Chim by the collar.
"Yeah, I mean, we know he can be a bit hotheaded…"
You could hear Sal was angry now, the way his nostrils almost flared. Chim wouldn't be surprised if there were steam coming out as well.
"No, Buckley just saved three people out of a burning building with a move I never would have thought of. And now he keeps fucking APOLOGIZING for being reckless and dumb, keeps saying shit like he bucked it up. Can you explain to me, Han, why one of the smartest, most capable, and most promising firefighters I know keeps apologizing for saving people?"
"Well, that…"
"You know what? You didn't deserve him in the first place; I am glad I have him with me now."
And with that, Sal turns around and walks out the door the same way he walked in. Sal was furious, each stride creating a deafening thud on the station floor. Highlighting his exit in the most dramatic way.
Hen is the first one to find her words again: "Was that…?"
"Sal…yeah," Chim answers, still confused about what just happened.
"And did he…"
"Hmm." Chim doesn't even know what she is asking, let alone know what to make of this.
In the end, it is Ravi who breaks the confusion lingering around their heads.
"You guys didn't even know he transferred to the 122, did you?" he asks them with a disappointed look on his face.
Chim shakes his head; with everything going on, the baby and…he never asked.
He slowly turns around to face Hen. "Hen...uhm...… When was the last time you spoke to Buck?"
"Last week…month." She breathes out.
Ravi shakes his head in clear disbelief, muttering something like unbelievable, and goes back to cleaning the rig.
Yeah, they deserve that.
FIVE Gina
Gina hears the soft little snores of her daughters before she even closes their bedroom door. Quiet, so as not to wake them up, she makes her way downstairs, where she finds Sal. Brooding over a bunch of papers on the kitchen table.
She rounds the table to hug her husband from behind. A soft hmph escapes him when she lays her head on top of his.
"Are you still working, honey?" she murmurs.
"No, just looking over some records," he murmurs back.
Gina gives him a squeeze before she pulls out the chair next to him to get a look at the papers herself.
"Oh, it's Evan's."
"Hmm."
"Why are you looking at his records? I thought everything was okay." Gina tries to remember if there was something off last week, when Evan was over for dinner with Tommy.
"No, it's just..." Sal sighs and forces his eyes away from the sheet he was just reading. "Today at work, we were at this playground, a kid was stuck on the slide, and this woman came up to him. She thanked him for something, almost cried, and hugged him before she left."
"Isn't that kind of normal behavior if someone saves your kid?" She asks.
"It wasn't the mother; it was some passerby."
"I am confused."
"So was I, so I asked him about it when we were back in the station."
"And?"
"Remember the tsunami a couple years ago? He was there, off duty, saving a bunch of people by pulling them onto a fire truck, that woman included." Sal let out a breath. "It's not even in his record, Gina."
"So you are looking into what else you missed knowing about him?"
"Kind of? He gives so much, like… I've never met somebody that so selflessly just gives and gives and gives and... but he is also stubborn, a bit reckless yeah and…"…"
…"
"He reminds you of yourself?"
He lets his head fall on her shoulders, and she embraces him in her arms.
"Yeah, unfortunately so." He murmured into the crook of her neck.
"You, my love, are a big old softy," she says softly while slowly caressing his back.
"I just wish he could get something back, you know? He gives and gives and gives, and I am afraid at one point he will be burned out if he never gets anything back."
"He won't," Gina states.
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"He has you in his corner now," she says and gives him a kiss. "The rest will follow."
PLUS ONE Buck
It's been exactly a year since Buck walked through the 122 doors for the first time. So much had changed since then. A year ago he was a grieving, heartbroken mess that needed a change, hence the transfer. Today, he is still grieving; he doesn't think that will ever go away. But it's manageable now; he learned to live with it instead of through it.
He is not heartbroken anymore, the opposite really. His heart is so full, sometimes he doesn't even know what to do with all this love.
And change had happened. Putting in that transfer request was the best decision he could have made. One, to save himself, and two, to save the relationship with his 118 family.
It's been a hell of a year. But today, Buck is on a mission, because there is one person who is responsible for a lot of things that happened this year. Buck just needs to find him; he has to be somewhere since he is the captain of this house.
He finds him in the kitchen doing some paperwork. "Hey Cap, can we talk?" Buck approaches him and pulls out a chair. Sal looks up from his work, eyeing Buck suspiciously. "What's up?" He asks as Buck sits down, facing him.
"I have a question." He tries to sound neutral.
"If this is about your time off next week, I already told you I approved of that. But you do owe me some babysitting."
"No...I..." Okay, here goes nothing. Buck took a deep breath and then said, "I want to ask you if you can officiate my and Tommy's wedding."
He looks at his captain, smiling, waiting for a reaction, an answer, something. But Sal looks…confused?
Sal squeezes his eyes shut and collects himself before he talks. "You," he points his finger at Buck, "want me," pointing to himself, "to officiate your marriage?"
"Uhm…yes?"
Sal just looks at him. "Why me?"
"Why, yo… Cap, is that actually a question?"
"Because I am your captain? Tommy has a captain too, you know."
"You are much more than just my captain, Sal, and we both know that." Buck states, because that was the truth.
"I don't understand, Buck, I…"
"Sal, you made sure I came to your station a year ago; don't make that look. I know about the arm wrestling." Sal closes his mouth and lets Buck talk. "You went out of your way to cheer me up when I first started here, trusted me with your daughters, and gave me space. You made Tommy and me talking our thing out, like, literally, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't get married." He takes a breath because there is more. "You walked into the 118, calling them out and standing up for me, and yes, I know about it." Sal clearly didn't know that, with the way he looks right now. "You stood up for me when I didn't have it in me to stand up for myself. You were my friend when I felt like I had nobody. You helped me up when I was at my lowest, so please, Captain, it would be the greatest joy and honor if you could officiate my fucking marriage." Buck ends his monologue with a pleading voice. Sal has to understand that this is important.
"I..." Sal cleared his throat. "Who's going to be Tommy's best man then?"
Buck deflates, letting out a relieved chuckle, "Gina, and mine is going to be Maddie; we already asked them both."
"You are truly one of a kind, Evan; I'd be honored to be your officiant." Sal smiles proudly. Buck grins back.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Classical Greece and Rome History & Literature RPF
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Relationships: Agrippina the Younger (15-59 CE)/Valeria Messalina, Agrippina the Younger/Junia Silana
Characters: Agrippina the Younger (15-59 CE), Valeria Messalina, Tiberius Claudius Caesar | Emperor Claudius, Junia Silana
Additional Tags: Public Sex, Hate Sex, Violent Fantasies, Implied/Referenced Incest, Grinding, Tit Sucking, Conspiracy mention
Series: Part 1 of Dining With Agrippina
Summary:
My Tacitus fanfiction. Thanks Tacitus.
The year is 48 ce. Claudius is glad his wife and his niece seem to be very good friends.
