Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eddie slowly stirred to waking, once again. He was getting really sick of this horrible, groggy nausea, the feeling that he was fighting the pull of forced unconsciousness. He was unable to move properly, like he was submerged in molasses.

Pain too, this time.

It took him long moments to remember why.

Last time he’d awoken, he’d come up swinging.

Voices floated over to him, muffled like he was hearing them through an out-of-tune radio.

Focus. He had to hear this. It could be the difference between life and death.

“… first male omega we’ve had in five years. This is what alphas are asking for. This is where the money is. Besides, a little spirit makes it better for some of ‘em, right?”

“’A little spirit’? This bitch is like an MMA fighter! He bit me, he broke Pete’s fucking arm!”

“So we’ll up the dose,” came the careless reply.

“He’s already close to overdosing, and you know this shit changes the flavour of his slick. Alphas won’t pay for chemical-tasting goods.”

“Then keep the dose high-enough to be complacent and get the ropes. Jesus Christ, you know how this shit works.”

They kept arguing about what to do with Eddie, but there was no time for him to feel smug about the fear he could smell coming from the beta he’d apparently bitten, or ‘Pete’s’ arm. He had no idea how long he’d been out in total, or how far they’d transported him from El Paso, but their end goal was clear.

Sex traffickers.

“Fucking Christ I need a new job…” he heard one of the men mutter as they stomped towards him, unaware that he was awake and listening.

During transport was the best time for him to escape, where the environment was the least secured.

Sweaty hands worked under his shoulders, ready to drag him somewhere.

Eddie’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and he reached up for the neck of the man above him with a savage growl.

***

He fought. He fought so hard.

Everything he’d learned from the Army. Everything he’d learned from fighting in school, in the boxing classes he’d taken before his Dad pulled him out after presenting as an omega.

But he was too weak from whatever they’d pumped into his system. Too overwhelmed by numbers.

Bruised, with knuckles split, and the taste of blood in his mouth – his own, and a beta’s – Eddie slumped against a wall, bound too-tightly in dirty ropes.

He was in some unidentifiable warehouse, and everyone in the building was giving him wide berth. They hadn’t yet cleaned up the puddle of blood eight feet to his right.

The doors opened, revealing it was dark out – it had been dark out when he was walking through that parking lot, and Eddie had the feeling it wasn’t the same night. A couple of figures entered, the alpha in front the clear leader. The half-dozen other men in the building went quiet, watching him.

He strolled up to Eddie with an oily smile, hands in the pockets of his expensive, pleated trousers. He was dark haired and handsome, if you were into vampires or snakes.

“Our latest find – I hear you’ve been causing quite the ruckus.”

The alpha squatted in front of Eddie, casting an amused look at the blood on the concrete.

“You know, I don’t make a trip out for any little bitch in a tantrum. But when I heard about the male omega my guys found, and saw a picture… well, I just had to come in person, to see and smell you…”

He leaned in and took a deep breath, his awful smile stretching wider. Any closer, and Eddie thought he had enough slack in the ropes around his chest to surge forward and bite his nose off.

“Gorgeous. You’ll make me a lot of money, omega.”

Eddie growled low in his throat. Like hell he would.

“Look, here are your options. First, we can kill you. You’re worth a lot, but you become more trouble, and I’ll just have to stomach the loss. Or, you can cooperate.”

Eddie struggled against his ropes, showing the alpha what he thought of that plan. He could snap this asshole’s neck if he could just get his wrist free…

The man tsked, still amused.

“I’ll even sweeten the pot for you. I’ll make sure that you reap the rewards of your good behaviour, rolling over for my clients. The best food, a comfortable room, all the amenities,” the man offered, clearly thinking he was being magnanimous.

“I’ll bite their dicks off,” Eddie promised darkly.

A fleeting look of frustration entered the man’s face before he smoothed it away.

“I see. Well, my clients want a beautiful, young omega male more than any other designation or gender. But short of having the real thing, they’ll still pay top dollar for your goods. Your slick, honey,” the man clarified.

“Why don’t we start you with that, hmm? And once you find a more agreeable nature, we can upgrade you?”

The man turned away.

“Get the heat inducers, and some better bindings – we don’t want to mark our beautiful boy up. We’ll milk him and get some samples out to market.”

***

That was how Eddie spent the next few months. He was secluded in what looked like a hotel suite from the 80s and endured forced heat after forced heat. He wouldn’t be given food or water unless he harvested what they wanted from him in little vials. Occasionally they would come for him, trying for that ‘upgrade’ the snake-like alpha had taunted him with, and each time Eddie left the intruders beaten and bloody.

Once, he almost escaped. But this place was a fucking maze, and he got unlucky when he crossed paths with two betas patrolling a hallway.

He heard the sounds of other people like him – mostly women, from what he could discern.

Until one day they threw in a red-headed woman and a bag.

“You were a military doctor, right? Fix her.”

He thought about it for a moment, seriously.

She was in some kind of overdose. Would it be kinder to help and send her back out to these animals to get hurt? Or let her go?

Eddie couldn’t bear to do nothing.

The medical bag must have belonged to a proper on-call doctor – he supposed those kind of arrangements would be needed in places like this.

He shouted questions but got no answers, so desperately took a guess and gave her a shot of naloxone. She came back to him, shivering and crying.

He shouted some more, that she needed emergency care, and they came and took her away. He yelled until his voice was broken but no one would tell him where she went or how she was.

But the next time they came to see if he was ready to ‘upgrade’, they brought the red-headed woman back with a knife against her throat.

He gritted his teeth and let the alpha who smelled like sweat and old hot dog water have him. He cried for hours after, muffled by the blankets as best he could.

Eddie considered ending it all. They didn’t leave much in the room for him to use, but he was clever and innovative. Still, he couldn’t.

He almost escaped again. He was beaten horribly, but managed to kill one of them.

Maybe third time was the charm. Maybe he’d get out, or die trying. He wouldn’t feel badly about dying that way.

***

It was a blonde woman, maybe Eddie’s age and terrified to her core, that they showed him next.

The alpha that came waddling in after smelled even worse than usual, a combination of sulphur and old socks. He was mouthy and rough too, slapping Eddie’s ass and calling him a slut, which was not unusual.

They’d stopped giving Eddie drugs to float away from the circumstances in which he found himself, since apparently alphas liked his scent and taste to be ‘natural’, and him to be as tense as possible. While it denied him an escape, it kept him sharp and fast.

Eddie wasn’t sure what took over him. But when the alpha slid a hand down his belly and said some generic filth about fucking him so deep he’d breed him full, but then followed up with some nonsense about his knot flushing out any other alpha seed (which made no sense at all), he lost it.

The bed was dripping in blood by the time he came to. It had splattered all over the ceiling as well. His chest was heaving as he stood over the remains of the alpha he’d torn apart, not quite sure why he’d had such a violent reaction, his clenched fists shaking.

They tranq-ed him with the gun and as he went down, he instinctively cradled his stomach and thought…

Oh. That was why.

***

Eddie couldn’t believe they didn’t kill him after he murdered the alpha. But they didn’t and for the first time in months, he was grateful.

He was pregnant.

He’d never intended on carrying a child. He could, obviously, as a male omega, but even imagining the look on his parent’s face at the idea of a pregnant man was enough to turn his stomach.

And he’d certainly never intended on bringing a child into his horror.

Still, he rubbed his belly and made soft promises to the life growing inside of him. He’d never let his baby get hurt.

Eddie was mostly left alone during his pregnancy, though this unfortunately meant no prenatal care.

Once his contractions started, they shoved an omega girl into his room with him. Apparently their ‘staff’ doctor had heard about Eddie’s teeth and temper.

Her name was Evelyn and she was terrified. She had just started training as a nurse when she was abducted, which made her marginally more qualified than a random passer-by.

Eddie talked her through it as best he could and with the limited tools they had. Until the baby got stuck in the birth canal.

It was agony and unadulterated terror, begging Evelyn to use the forceps to get the baby out. But she did it and Eddie heard the beautiful little cries of his baby before he passed out.

Evelyn stayed with him for two days before she was taken away, leaving Eddie with Christopher.

He was so small and Eddie barely slept at all, between worrying about his breathing and feeding him and preparing for the traffickers to come in and try to rip Christopher out of his arms.

But what he got instead was another visit from the dark-haired alpha running the operation.

“Congratulations, he’s a peach,” the alpha purred intrusively. Eddie held the sleeping baby tighter to his chest, though he noted the alpha hadn’t tried to enter the room.

“You want to keep him,” the man noted, tilting his head. “Funny, I thought you might want to give him up, so he can end up with a nice family.”

Notes of deception drifted through the barred window pane of the door like toxic gas. There was no way Eddie was handing Christopher over to those animals with false promises of finding him a home. Who knew what they would do to the tiny baby, or what amount of money their ‘clients’ might offer for him…

The alpha sighed. “Babies are expensive. Formula, diapers, clothes… And you haven’t exactly been paying your way recently, omega.”

After a long pregnancy, without a heat, Eddie’s slick production had been much reduced. He’d inferred there was still a lot of demand for it, a ‘hole in the market’ as this bastard might say.

Eddie had a ‘fan base’ now. The thought made him want to throw up.

“What do you want?” Eddie asked lowly.

The alpha smirked.

“Alphas want your slick honey, so you’ll jump right back on that heat-horse and pump it out for us. And breast milk too. I see you’re producing,” the alpha’s eyes flicked to Eddie’s chest where his swollen pecs had leaked against his old shirt. “We’ll get you a pump and I want half of whatever you make bottled for sale.”

Eddie resolutely didn’t ask why on Earth anyone would buy breast milk for any purpose other than feeding an infant.

“Give me paper so I can write out my demands,” Eddie gritted out.

The alpha tutted condescendingly. “Don’t get too spoiled now.”

“And pass this on: if any one of you assholes tries to so much as touch a hair on his head, I’ll kill them. I’ll kill you all.”

The words echoed coldly through the room and the alpha’s smirk slipped into a hardened frown. It was no idle threat.

Eddie might not be able to fight his way out like he’d tried before, not with an infant to get caught in the crossfire, but protective omega hormones would only serve to make any violent outbursts that much more savage and dangerous.

An uneasy truce settled. He did his part, producing bodily fluids, and they gave him what he needed to take care of Christopher.

They didn’t parade women in front of him to blackmail him into bending over anymore, not when Eddie already had his top priority nestled in his arms.

The status quo lasted four years.

Until there was a fire somewhere in the facility and the traffickers rushed to evacuate before firefighters and law enforcement arrived...

Chapter Text

“Remember baby, remember what you say,” Eddie whispered to Christopher curled into him in the trunk of the car.

“My name is Christopher Diaz, my father is Edmundo Diaz from El Paso, Texas. He was kidnapped five years ago. Help me,” Christopher recited obediently, the same speech Eddie had been preparing him to say since he could string a full sentence together.

“Good boy,” he whispered, kissing his forehead. His hands were shaking, every part of him was tense. But he couldn’t let this opportunity pass.

He’d overheard and seen enough, and smelled panic underneath smoke, to know this transport was not planned. The traffickers were splitting up, using any and all cars available to them to move their victims.

They’d cuffed Eddie, but at least his arms were in front of him so he could carry Christopher. He’d considered bolting but five men had surrounded him with guns pointed at his baby boy, so he’d climbed in the trunk and thanked God that they were stupid enough to not keep him in the cabin where they could see him.

In the brief glance he got, he knew they were in the trunk of a late 2010’s sedan. So there would be a trunk release button.

“Mijo – we might get separated, ok? I want you to hide and if I don’t find you in an hour, you come out and you find the nearest grown-up and ask for help, ok?”

“I don’t wanna,” Chris cried, his grip of Eddie’s shirt tightening.

“I know, I know mi amor, I don’t want to do this either,” Eddie groaned, his chest tightening at the thought of Christopher being out of his reach for the first time ever. “But it’s important, it’s so important. And I am going to do my best to get to you, ok?”

Christopher’s breath was uneven from crying and Eddie took a steadying breath, modelling for his son.

“I know you’re scared. But you’re so brave, and I believe you can do this,” Eddie urged. “I named you after Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travellers. Do you know what that means?”

Christopher reluctantly nodded his head against Eddie’s chest, having been told many times.

“It means you’re getting away. It means you’re going to get out and you’ll be protected as you go,” Eddie finished, painfully pulling his cuffed hands over Chris’s head so they weren’t entangled for the next part.

If there was a second car tailing them, this would go to shit. They’d see the boot open, and Eddie would have no choice but to try and fight their way out. But Christopher couldn’t run, couldn’t get away if he was spotted.

He had to hope they were alone and the traffickers transporting them were too stressed to be paying attention to what was happening behind them.

The car slowed to a stop, perhaps a traffic light, and Eddie gasped.

“Now!”

He popped the trunk, grabbing the edge so it only opened by a small margin and Christopher pulled himself out of the trunk.

Eddie heard his tiny body slap against the asphalt.

At a glance, there were no cars behind them, and no people around. It was a generic street, low lit but suburban.

Importantly, he didn’t hear any cries of discovery or car doors opening.

Eddie went to follow his boy, but the light must have changed and the car took off again, causing him to jolt and lose his grip. The trunk closed again.

He closed his eyes, willing himself not to panic as he hyper focused on every shift of the car, changing lanes, turning left. He had to be able to track back.

The car slowed again after a minute and Eddie made his move.

***

Buck was on a nighttime jog toward Griffith Park. Technically the park was closed this time of night, but he liked running around the outskirts anyway.

It was very much a large-alpha privilege to run at night through quiet, low-lit streets, he knew that. It helped him run off energy before going to sleep and he figured it was better to have one more decent person out in LA after dark, especially one who could and would react if he came across some sketchy crap.

Again, a very ‘alpha’ attitude to take, and maybe a little from his background as a firefighter. Buck was no vigilante, but he scored high protective instincts on every in-vogue personality and designation test that came and went from the cultural zeitgeist, so he always kept an eye out for trouble on his runs.

Which is how he spotted a tiny figure falling out of a car trunk.

It was a black sedan, probably a 2016 or 2017 model, He squinted at the trunk as he ran closer, able to make out the brand insignia and, his stomach dropped with dread, two hands of a person still in the trunk.

The car was pulling away, ignoring his inarticulate cries of ‘hey!’ as he got close.

“Shit,” he swore, pulling out his phone and punching in 9-1-1.

“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”

“Someone has been abducted on Franklin Avenue – they turned down Normandie Avenue, black sedan, license plate started with ‘4M’,” Buck rushed out as he dropped hard to his knees by what he could now see was a crying child.

He heard the operator talking to him, but they would have already mobilised police, so he let his focus turn to the terrified little boy.

“Hey, hey there buddy, it’s gonna be ok,” he said in his softest voice that usually worked on kids on scenes.

The kid must have been about 4 years old and had curly blonde hair and was sobbing so hard it must have been painful, in addition to his scraped-up knees.

“I’m gonna pick you up, if that’s ok? We need to get off the road,” Buck said, extending his arms and throwing a quick look in the direction the car had gone.

Now he was closer, he could scent not just the little boy, that milky, sweet and uncomplicated child smell, but whoever was in the trunk with him. His father, from the scent, nutty and rich and pleasant, under a bitter haze of fear.

The kid sniffed loudly and reached out to Buck quickly, letting himself be scooped into the alpha’s arms. He weighed next to nothing.

“M-my name is Christopher Diaz, my father was…” Christopher gasped for air between sobs. “Help me.”

Buck should wait here. He should talk to the operator who was loudly trying to get his attention.

But he knew, he just knew, that if he stood here, this little boy in his arms would never see his father again.

Buck swore and took off after the car. He tried not to jostle the kid too much, but if he could at least see if the car had turned, or…

They hadn’t gotten far. Buck could see the black sedan was stopped at the end of the street and people were piling out of all doors, and the trunk. The father was going to fight his way out.

“The car’s stopped on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard,” Buck yelled so the 9-1-1 operator could hear him.

He ran as fast as he could, pausing only long enough to tuck Christopher 20 metres away from the confrontation, behind a hedge, holding the phone.

The man’s wrists were cuffed but he was kicking serious ass. There were three other guys trying to grab him, and one managed a punch to the head that looked brain-rattling, but the dark-haired man put a foot to his chest and booted him six foot backwards.

They hadn’t noticed Buck yet, and just as he was about to call out, one of the men pulled a gun.

He pointed it at the fierce man fighting with his hands cuffed.

“Get back in the fucking trunk or I’ll fucking kill you and the kid!” he yelled, blood pouring out of his mouth.

The man growled and Eddie was reminded of a jungle cat, the way his feet spread and he looked ready to pounce. The gun-wielder’s arm shook, and Buck feared he would fire out of sheer panic.

Buck took the gunman down with a brutal tackle from his old high school football days.

The man landed on the asphalt with a crack and wheeze, the wind completely knocked out of him by Buck’s larger form. Buck reached for the gun, grabbing it out of his lax fingers and threw it away. He was in no way trained to fire a gun, he could do more harm than good if he tried.

The brunette man had both the other men groaning on the ground by the time Buck stood up. He turned his focus onto Buck himself.

He was beautiful. Movie star, model beautiful. Around Buck’s age, maybe late 20s, Hispanic with stubble, mussed hair and sharp, brown eyes that glared at Buck suspiciously.

“Woah ok, I’m a friend,” Buck said, holding up his hands in surrender.

The man scented him loudly, then bolted.

He took off back down the street and Buck did too, headed for the little boy he’d stashed away.

“Wait! Christopher’s here, he’s here!”

That caught the man’s attention and he skidded to a stop, turning sharply to watch as Buck picked up the boy, who was still crying quietly.

“Daddy!”

For a second, Buck was scared the man was charging him, would attack him for touching his son. A part of him wanted to spin around, protect the child bodily from the rapidly approaching man, but that would probably trigger him worse.

“Here, here,” Buck said, holding up Christopher so his little body could slip between his dad’s arms, still secured at the wrists.

Christopher wrapped his arms around his father’s neck and both of them buried their faces into the other’s throats, scenting deeply.

The man stumbled and on instinct Buck caught him with one arm, guiding him to sit on the sidewalk gutter.

“I’ve got you, it’s ok. Help’s coming,” Buck soothed as sirens sounded from a few blocks away.

He glanced back at the men scattered on the road. It didn’t look like they were getting up unaided any time soon.

“Chris, baby, gracias a Dios,” the man murmured into his son’s neck, paying little attention to Buck.

With a start, Buck realised Christopher was still holding his phone in his little hand, and Buck was rubbing the man’s back soothingly. Both man and son were dressed in just t-shirts and light pants, despite the chill in the air.

His jacket was a little sweaty, but better than nothing, so Buck took it off and with slow deliberate movements, draped it over Christopher’s shoulders and the man’s arms.

As he leaned over, he realised with surprise: this man was an omega. It hadn’t been obvious at first, but there was no mistaking the sweet appeal of his scent up close, even drowned as it was in anxiety and relief.

Buck gently took the phone back and spoke into the mouthpiece.

“Hello? Yeah, I have a Christopher Diaz and his father here. They’ll need medical attention, but they both seem ok. The kidnappers are not ok, and they are armed,” Buck warned, still keeping an eye on the men.

“What is Christopher’s father’s name?” the operator asked.

“Hey man, can you give me your name for 9-1-1? They can call your family and stuff,” Buck asked softly.

The man didn’t answer, still breathing erratically and only interested in his son’s scent.

“My father is Edmundo Diaz from El Paso, Texas,” Christopher’s little voice sounded. “He was kidnapped five years ago. Help us, please.”

***

Everything was a blur, except the feel of his boy in his arms and the fresh, crisp breeze on his cheek.

Outside. It’d been years since he’d been outside without being tied up.

He was still kind of tied up, his wrists ached against the metal cuffs, but they’d come off soon. They were safe.

They were wrapped in blankets, which made the side of the road a little more comfortable. Blue and red lights flashed across his closed eyelids and a part of him recognised that was a good thing, that was help, even as it annoyed him.

At some point, someone tried to touch Chris and Eddie snarled, opening his eyes to glare down the man whose scent spiked in fear and backed away with his hands up.

“We’ve got to get those cuffs off, yeah? Will you let me?”

A vaguely familiar voice sounded from his right, and he didn’t feel the need to tear his eyes away from the man still backing away under Eddie’s withering gaze.

The nice smelling blanket was folded over, and Eddie felt the chill of the night air against the skin of his arms.

The metal around his wrists rubbed slightly before he heard a click, and the cuffs were eased off his wrists and the blanket folded back over. He was able to wrap his arms around Christopher properly now.

For the first time, Eddie felt in this moment, that he could truly protect his son.

He let his eyes slip closed again and basked in the feeling.

Chapter Text

Eddie had been aware of them being brought to the hospital and snarling at the nurses and doctors who tried to separate him and Christopher, giving them a harsh ‘he stays with me’.

He’d been almost blinded by the cacophony of scents in the sterile white halls and could only breathe easily once he was in a room with Christopher, a beta nurse and doctor, and a nice alpha scent.

Eddie was surprised that he’d managed to drift off, even with Christopher laying half sprawled on top of him in a tiny puppy pile so he’d feel if his son was disturbed.

But now, he was pretty sure the absence of Chris’s weight was what pulled him to waking.

He immediately spotted Chris at the end of their bed, in a hospital gown with his back to Eddie. Chris giggled, the sound melding pleasantly with the sunlight streaming through the window.

“Your turn Buck!” Chris called out, and Eddie’s eyes shot up.

A large, blonde alpha was sitting on a chair facing Eddie and Chris. He had blue eyes, a pink birth mark above his left eye and perhaps the broadest shoulders Eddie had ever seen. He was looking right at Eddie, still and cautious.

“Look who’s awake,” the man said lightly and Chris turned around.

“Daddy!” Chris clambered back up to Eddie’s open arms, snuggling into his chest. Eddie kept his eye on the alpha. How had he slept in this man’s presence? He was intimately familiar with the feeling of being sedated, and he didn’t feel any of the effects right now.

“Daddy, I’m winning,” Chris said happily, tugging on Eddie’s arms for him to sit up properly. He went to crawl back over the mattress and Eddie’s legs towards the alpha, but Eddie gently pulled him back into his lap.

“What are you playing?” he asked, eyeing the man.

“Old Maid!” Chris said.

“Paediatrics sent up a few toys and games, since you guys are probably going to be here for a couple of days as you get properly checked out.”

He could see the brightly coloured cards spread over a little table on wheels.

“You’ve uh, got a bathroom there, and they’ll be bringing breakfast pretty soon,” the man said, still watching him nervously. “Why don’t you show your dad, superman?”

Chris happily scrambled off the bed at the man’s suggestion, holding on to Eddie’s hand to keep himself stable.

“Here Daddy, the shower has a chair in it,” Chris giggled, his wobbly steps leading them to the ensuite. Eddie put himself between Chris and the man, despite Chris’s apparent comfort with the stranger.

The blonde gave him a kind of sad, tight smile and averted his eyes, but didn’t make any moves to follow them. The warm scent of alpha he could recall smelling the night before clung to the man, and some deeper instincts told him the source was to be trusted, so he relaxed his shoulders a little.

But Eddie still locked the door behind them.

Eddie washed himself and Chris up thoroughly, relaxed by the generous hot water despite himself, and changed into the fresh clothing that had been thoughtfully left out for them.

“Hey buddy, hang on a second,” Eddie said, kneeling and taking Christopher’s hands. “I’m really glad you feel comfortable and safe. Because you are safe here. But I need you to promise that you’re not going to go anywhere with anyone who isn’t me, ok? And if anyone comes into our room and I’m asleep, you can wake me up.”

Chris scrunched his nose.

“Except Buck? He saved us.”

Oh, that’s why he was familiar. Eddie thought through the adrenaline-hazed fog of the night before and realised that ‘Buck’ was the blonde brick wall that crash-tackled the alpha pointing a gun at him, and the one who put Christopher back in his arms.

“Y-yeah, he was great. Buck’s pretty cool, huh?”

Chris nodded eagerly. He’d never spoken to a man that wasn’t Eddie in his whole life, but it was clear that hero worship had set in hard.

“Buck’s cool and really funny.”

Eddie smiled tightly.

“Yeah. But still, just stick tight to me buddy, ok? It’ll help me feel better to know you’re safe.”

Chris, ever affectionate and knowing when his dad needed a hug, let go of Eddie’s hands and wrapped his little arms around Eddie’s shoulders.

“Ok Daddy. But we should bring Buck with us, he’ll keep us safe, and he said he knows how to get the best snacks from the nurses.”

Eddie laughed and rubbed Chris’s back. God, there were so many foods he wanted Chris to try, so many things to see Eddie had barely been able to explain.

Buck hadn’t moved from his chair, which gave Eddie his back as they came back into the room.

Eddie lifted Chris back onto the bed and followed him up, this time letting Chris move to the end of the bed to pick up his cards.

“Um, my memory is a little patchy but uh… thanks. For what you did,” Eddie said awkwardly, running a hand over Chris’s wet hair.

“No problem. Edmundo, right?”

“Eddie,” he corrected.

“I’m Evan Buckley, but you can call me Buck,” Buck smiled warmly before turning his attention to picking up a card and then triumphantly presenting a pair of cartoon doctors.

“Buck. Ah, don’t take this the wrong way, but… what are you doing here?”

Buck looked a little embarrassed.

“Oh! Yeah of course, you wouldn’t – the doctors can explain it better, it’s a scent thing –”

As though summoned by Buck’s words, there was a knock at the door. Eddie went rigid, even though he knew the odds of anyone coming here to hurt them were low. Chris caught on to the tension and shrunk back to Eddie’s side.

“Good morning Mr Diaz, Christopher,” the smiling beta doctor greeted them both warmly. Christopher turned his face into Eddie’s side rather than answer. “I’m Dr Lewellen, and this is Nurse Debra. She’s brought some breakfast, you guys must be hungry.”

The brunette woman moved aside to let the smiling nurse through, dragging another little table with two plates and covers on it.

“Here you go, pancakes and fruit. And we’ve brought you all the syrups and jams to pick from Christopher,” she said kindly. Christopher peeked out but didn’t move to touch the table.

“Pancakes and fruit?! Yum! You didn’t bring any for me Deb?” Buck asked in what Eddie thought was an exaggerated flirt.

The nurse chuckled and looked over at Christopher. “I knew he’d ask, he’d eat the kitchen out of all our pancakes if we let him,” she said with a wink, and produced another plate from the second shelf of the tray table.

Chris breathed a little laugh and watched as Buck uncovered his plate with a flourish and licked his lips. Chris moved forward to his own plate, once Eddie lifted the cover, and studied the food.

Chris had never had pancakes before.

“Let’s try some maple syrup, that was my favourite when I was your age,” Eddie said, starting to cut into the short pile.

Chris leaned back, getting shy again.

“What’s Buck’s favourite topping?” Eddie asked, tentatively testing out a new style of food trickery.

“Oh, I love them all. But my favourite is strawberry syrup. Here, why don’t you try out mine before you commit?” Buck asked, sawing off a piece of his own breakfast with sticky pink syrup over it to deposit it on Chris’s plate.

Eddie cut it in half and speared one, holding out the fork for Chris to take. He sniffed it briefly before he put it in his mouth. He glanced at Buck as he chewed and Buck copied him, shoving a much larger piece in his own mouth and chewing around a smile.

Chris smiled shyly and swallowed his own piece before he leaned forward to spear the other. Eddie obediently opened the little packet of strawberry syrup and poured it over the rest of Chris’s pancakes before he cut them up.

“Mr Diaz –”

“Eddie. Please.”

“Eddie then. We’d like you both to stay for a few days. It’ll let us run some tests, and we’ve set up some appointments for Christopher over the next few days, with a paediatrician, a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist. It’ll be helpful to get a diagnosis so we can make sure he’s set up with the best care, for…”

“For CP. I was an Army medic, not a doctor, but I did as much research as I could,” Eddie said.

He’d suspected Chris was delayed in some milestones from the time he was a few months old. The people keeping him hadn’t been very generous in getting him materials, but he’d gotten a couple of old reference books on child development and physical therapy to do what exercises he could with his son.

It tore him up inside to not be able to give Chris what he needed. Crutches, therapy, surgery maybe…

“I see. That explains why he’s doing so well despite no formal interventions,” Dr Lewellen said.

Eddie knew it was a compliment, but he still didn’t feel particularly good about it all.

“We’ve also asked Buck to keep you guys company. We noticed both of you had a positive reaction to his scent. Is it… am I correct in saying that you were exposed to alphas who proved… unsafe?” she asked, shooting a glance at Chris.

Eddie nodded stiffly.

“It’s uncommon, but we find that a high stress environment like that can create a kind of deficit in scent profile. While an alpha scent isn’t normally needed by children or omegas, environment can trigger a biological need for traditionally ‘alpha’ traits, like protection, and result in what we term ‘trauma bonding’.”

Eddie darted a look at Buck, who had a mouthful of grapes. Not exactly a fierce guardian.

“That’s why Chris responds so positively to him. Plus, he’s great at playing games,” Dr Lewellen added, for Chris’s sake.

“So, what does that mean? Is Chris, am I, dependent…” Eddie frowned. Did they go from physical prisoners only to be tied to a stranger?

“No, not at all. It’s a beneficial bond to help you both as you transition. You’ll find you feel more at ease with Buck around, but you won’t suffer any harm in his absence.”

“You can kick me out whenever,” Buck added wryly.

“Daaaddd,” Chris whined lowly by his side, making his protest known.

“But I can hang out today. I don’t have a shift until tomorrow,” Buck said helpfully.

“Shift?” Eddie asked. They all did seem to know each other…

“I’m a firefighter,” Buck grinned, waggling his eyebrows at Chris, who looked even more starstruck. One of the few kids’ books they’d had in print was about a dalmatian and his firefighter owner.

“There’s also a police detective in the waiting area. They were hoping to do an interview with you, whenever you’re ready,” Dr Lewellen said softly.

Eddie nodded stiffly.

Of course. Eddie had memorised all the names and identifying marks he could over the years, of the traffickers, clients and their victims.

“This morning is fine,” he said.

“Ok. Why don’t you eat breakfast, and we can send him in –”

“Is there – is the room across the corridor free?” Eddie asked, gesturing at Chris. There was plenty he’d kept from Chris, since before he was born, and he wasn’t about to repeat it in front of him now.

The doctor nodded.

“Of course, we’ll bring in some chairs for you.”

“Can… will you stay with Chris?” he asked Buck, who readily nodded.

20 minutes awake and Eddie was already breaking his own promises.

Detective Ransone was a no-nonsense, serious man, which Eddie appreciated. He suspected he wasn’t going to enjoy being treated like porcelain over the coming weeks. They sat so Eddie was facing the door, looking at the room where Christopher was, so Eddie was clearly visible through the glass pane, should Chris get worried and want to know where his dad was.

They’d never been more than a bathroom away from each other, ever.

He woodenly recounted his ordeal to the detective and his recording device, naming Evelyn and the other omegas he’d treated, and sketching out the few tattoos he’d seen and the like. After 15 minutes or so, Chris and Buck’s faces appeared in the glass, checking on Eddie.

Eddie waved and Buck tapped Chris’s shoulder, the worried little boy looking up to see Buck pull a funny face. Chris smiled and did the same, his tongue out and hands wiggling until he was reassured that Eddie was nearby and yes, did think it was funny, so Chris could turn around and play some more with Buck.

Chapter Text

Buck was pretty good company. He couldn’t have gotten much sleep the night before, but you’d never know it from his energy levels. He out-played Chris easily, who resisted a nap for as long as he could before he dropped in Eddie’s lap.

He offered to head to the cafeteria for a while if Eddie wanted to nap as well, or just have some quiet time, but Eddie was strangely reluctant for him to leave.

Trauma bonding, he supposed.

Instead, they chatted quietly for an hour and a half, about Buck’s job, LA (Eddie couldn’t believe he’d ended up in one of the only cities in the US where he had family, though he wasn’t feeling especially confident about a reunion), and baseball, which was basically just Buck looking up old results before he just handed over his phone to Eddie.

“It’s so boring,” Buck complained, putting his feet up on the table. “It goes for like nine hours. Why?”

Eddie rolled his eyes with a smile. “Don’t tell me – you like football.”

Buck grinned. “Why do you say that?”

“Cause you took that asshole out like a professional linebacker.”

Buck huffed a laugh, smothering his volume. “I played a little in high school and watch the Superbowl, but that’s about it. I’m more into surfing now.”

“Hence California?”

“Hence, indeed. What about you, did you used to ‘rodeo’ back in the day?” Buck asked, adopting a playful accent.

Eddie let out a little laugh, Chris jostling gently tucked into his side.

“Nah.”

He didn’t go into the complications of being a male omega in Texas. He wouldn’t have been welcome at any rodeo, even if he’d wanted in.

“I worked at a ranch a few years ago, in Montana –” Buck started, but cut off when a loud exchange of voices from the corridor floated in.

Eddie went stiff. He recognised that voice.

Buck swung his leg down, moving to sit on the edge of his chair.

“… right to see my son!”

His father’s voice.

It had been half a decade since he’d heard it and still it made him immediately regress into feeling like a teenager with a pit in his stomach.

That wasn’t fair. He’d disappeared off the face of the Earth for years, of course they’d be worried. His family loved him, and he loved them. He wanted to see them.

He tightened his arm around Chris. He didn’t know if they’d been told about him, or what they’d think.

Chris stirred and frowned at the voices, pressing closer under Eddie’s arm.

“You ok with this, man?” Buck asked lowly.

“Y-yeah, fine. Just – it’s been a while, they don’t…” he looked down at Chris.

The door burst open, making Eddie and Chris jump, and his father stepped into the room, followed by his mother.

“Eddie, oh my God.”

Helena rushed forward and Eddie pushed himself off the bed, in front of Christopher, to receive her hug.

She gripped him a bit too tight against his bruises from the confrontation the previous night, but her familiar scent filled his nostrils and he closed his eyes and hugged her back.

They didn’t have the easiest relationship, but he missed them both.

His father stepped forward close enough to clasp Eddie on the shoulder, a sufficiently masculine but limited display of affection.

“I can’t believe it. We looked, God we looked for you,” Helena said wetly, pulling back to take in his face.

“It is good to see you healthy and strong, mijo,” Ramon said, the words rankling Eddie a bit even as he saw the real emotion in his eyes.

“Are you feeling ok, are they feeding you properly? Isabel wanted to bring some tamales, but we didn’t know if you were allowed more visitors or what diet they’d have you on,” Helena said. Eddie felt emotion well up in his chest at the idea of his Abuela hearing he was alive and immediately heading to the kitchen to cook him his favourite foods. God, he’d missed her and her cooking.

Eddie caught his mother casting an eye at Buck, who had stood silently but alert at the end of the bed, and then drift to Christopher, who had curled up in a ball on top of the blankets, peeking out between his curls to look at the new strangers.

“This is your…”

Ramon didn’t finish the sentence, scrutinising Chris so closely Eddie felt the urge to step between them.

“My son, Christopher.”

Eddie’s spine was stiff. He was more than aware of his father’s view of male pregnancy, and while he didn’t think the man would actually sneer at his own grandson, he couldn’t be quite sure.

“Son. Oh God, Eddie…” Helena cried quietly, voice full of pity. Eddie shifted uncomfortably on his feet. The only person in the room who couldn’t draw a conclusion about the circumstances of Christopher’s birth was the boy himself, and Eddie never ever wanted him to feel like he wasn’t wanted and loved.

“Chris, do you want to say hello to your grandparents?” Eddie asked softly.

The boy curled tighter, if anything.

“Christopher, honey, I’m your grandma,” Helena said, bending down and reaching out to touch him.

“Wait –” Eddie intervened too slowly.

Christopher moved fast and with a frightened gasp, launching himself at Buck with blind trust that the alpha would protect him.

Buck caught his arms and drew him in the remaining foot of distance so Chris could bury his face in Buck’s chest, out of reach of Eddie’s mother.

“Oh!” she said, taken aback. A new horror entered her eyes and she shakily turned to Eddie.

“Did they… was he…?” she stuttered.

“No, never. Never. He just… hasn’t met a lot of people in his life, and there’s so many new people and things to take in…”

It was true, Chris was entering the world for the first time, following a childhood where he was coached over and over to never trust anyone but Eddie. But the way he clung to Buck undermined every word out of Eddie’s mouth.

“Are you a social worker?” Ramon asked, eyeing Buck and his hand rubbing soothingly over Chris’s back.

“No, firefighter. I was there, when Eddie escaped and I helped Chris – I’m Buck,” he finished with a little wave, but didn’t move to shake their hands.

“You – I don’t understand, you saved them?” Helena asked, looking between the two. Eddie grit his teeth – one would think they would be full of gratitude for the alpha they assumed saved their son.

“Um no, not really. I just happened to be nearby, called the police. Eddie was the one kicking ass – oop, sorry,” he said, looking down at Christopher with a guilty wince.

The corner of Eddie’s lips twitched.

Ramon’s chest puffed with pride and Eddie hated himself for a moment for being pleased about it.

“I see. Well, thank you, very much. We’d love to spend some time, just family though…” Helena said, attempting a kind dismissal.

Buck’s eyes went straight to Eddie.

“Having Buck nearby helps, actually. Doctor’s orders. But um, you can grab some seats and we can… catch up?” Eddie finished unsurely. What happened after the first moments of the tearful reunion? He certainly wasn’t intending on spilling his guts on everything that had happened to him over the last five years.

Conversation was stilted, despite his mother’s best efforts. Eddie asked about everyone in the family, who were all doing well and greatly relieved that he was safe. He spoke a little about Christopher, about things he liked and was good at. Eventually Chris relaxed enough to do a little puzzle with Buck, though he refused to turn his back on his grandparents or let them get any closer.

Eddie was increasingly exhausted by their tiptoeing and pity in their eyes. Maybe he could pretend that it was time for Chris’s nap?

“The doctors didn’t tell us when they were planning to release you, do you know?” Helena prompted after an awkward few moments of silence.

“Not for a few days yet. Lots of tests and stuff to run,” Eddie shrugged.

“Of course, of course… What about Christopher? If he’s been checked out, we can take him back to the hotel with us –”

“No.”

Everyone froze at Eddie’s forceful tone. Too forceful.

Chris crawled over to Eddie’s far side, pressing up against his belly. Eddie saw his parents eye the stilted way Chris moved.

“There’s some assessments lined up for Chris as well, so we’ll both stay here for a little while longer,” he clarified, easing off his protectiveness as much as possible. The idea of Chris out of his sight like that was unendurable.

“Well, once you both have a clean bill of health, we’ll head back to Texas. Chris can have Sofia’s old room,” Ramon said.

Eddie froze. He could leave it. Maybe he should. As staunchly as his parents were ignoring Buck, they still had company. And he didn’t want Chris’s first interaction with his grandparents to end in witnessing a screaming match.

“I don’t know, yet. Where we’re going to go,” Eddie still said.

“What are you talking about,” his mother laughed nervously. “You’re coming home with us. You need to be taken care of, you both do.”

He was feeling suffocated by them within an hour, let alone living with them!

“I’ve got a lot to think about,” he replied, as diplomatically as possible.

“There’s nothing to think about,” Ramon said harshly.

“Papi, we’re not doing this.”

Helena ran a hand down her husband’s arm, but he didn’t calm down. The scent of frustrated alpha stirred in the room and Ramon’s voice took on that alpha tone that said his word was final.

“How are you going to look after a child, Eddie? With what job? With what help?”

Eddie narrowed his eyes. His father would be unpleasantly surprised by the effect of an alpha voice on him now.

Eddie was no longer the omega teen who went to his room and slammed the door after his father yelled at him, or the young man who stormed out of the house until he was forced to return with his tail between his legs.

He’d resisted alpha orders and posturing a hell of a lot more intimidating than Ramon Diaz, had stood his ground with force and made some of the worst of humanity shiver in fear.

Sure, those alphas hadn’t cut at his parenting skills and crippling self-doubt, but he wouldn’t be ordered around.

“I got pretty damn good at protecting my child and I intend to keep doing that,” he said lowly, a rumble echoing from his chest.

Both his parents edged back a little in their seats.

“I think that’s enough of a visit for today. Eddie and Chris need their rest,” Buck interjected.

Ramon shot him a nasty look.

“This is a family matter –”

Buck stood, and while it was clear to Eddie that he was a puppy dog, an outsider would just see a six foot three, muscular alpha who smelled annoyed enough to be worth stepping carefully around.

Ramon stood to meet Buck’s advance.

“I can move you,” Buck said quietly, more earnest than threatening.

Ramon was half a head shorter and half the width of Buck. He could move him.

“We’ll leave you both to rest,” Helena said as she stood too, like it was her idea. “Maybe we can bring Christopher a present tomorrow when we come back?”

Eddie breathed out slowly.

“Thanks Mum, that’d be great.”

They shuffled out and once Buck closed the door behind them, Eddie slumped back into the bed. Chris rose to his knees at Eddie’s side, glad to have the strangers gone.

“Want me to step out too, so you guys can rest?” Buck asked.

It was a kind gesture, but Eddie was already shaking his head.

“No. I mean, yeah, of course you can. And I am going to have a nap. But you can come and go as you like,” Eddie shrugged a little self-consciously. “Bathroom buddy?”

Chris nodded and took his hand and Eddie got to hide his blush in the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Dr Lewellen had warned him, but Eddie hadn’t believed her: not having Buck around kind of sucked.

Eddie felt more on edge. It was like the spacious hospital room was too big, and the door wasn’t secure enough. Chris was more subdued too, and clingier with Eddie.

He’d asked for Buck over breakfast.

They had a full day of appointments, Chris clinging to Eddie’s shirt or legs all the while. There were general health checks, blood tests, eye exams and a consultation with a paediatrician Chris wouldn’t speak to.

Eddie had to defer the other therapist appointments when Chris passed from scared to scared-and-overstimulated.

They were quietly reading one of the hospital’s kids’ books when Dr Lewellen knocked with some results.

“All tests came back clean, you appear to be in great health Eddie,” Dr Lewellen confirmed with a smile. “But your hormone panel raised some questions. Nothing majorly concerning, but the abuse of heat inducers you mentioned might have some longer-term impacts. I’d like to schedule you a specialist appointment, if that’s ok with you?”

“Sure, yeah – what about Christopher?” Eddie asked. Who cared if his heat and reproductive health might be a bit skewed.

“Chris is doing great too!” Dr Lewellen said, smiling at the boy who dared a glance up at the doctor who was becoming more familiar. “No underlying conditions that we’ve found. Once Chris has finished the specialist team assessments, they’ll be able to pull together a full therapy and service plan. Dr Gamlyn has also suggested some imaging, including an MRI. It might be a bit daunting for him right now, so we can work up to that.”

Eddie asked a bunch more questions, whatever he could think of. But he didn’t know if they were the right ones – what did he not know he didn’t know?

Another knock at the door sounded.

“Hey, how are you guys?”

“Buck!”

Chris shot up and was scrambling over the mattress to get to the alpha. With a blinding grin, Buck swept across the room to pick Chris up and swing him into a hug.

Eddie briefly wondered why he wasn’t, well, jealous. His little boy was bonding with someone else, actively seeking out someone else. Eddie hadn’t given a lot of thought as to how he would become ‘old news’ to Chris now they were out in the real world.

But with Buck, it just felt right. Joyous even; Chris was happy and safe.

Buck was panting slightly as he plopped Chris back down on the bed.

“Sorry, ran up here – we’re delivering a patient, Bobby said I had ten minutes to get up here and say hello before they’d leave without me,” Buck explained, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

He was indeed in his uniform, the button-up navy blue looking very nice on him, especially where it pulled across his chest and clung to his biceps.

Both Eddie and Dr Lewellen were staring.

“Uh, thanks! For visiting. Yeah um, Chris has had a big day,” Eddie stuttered.

“I’m getting glasses and the doctor said they could be red,” Chris gushed as though this was the best news ever. Eddie hadn’t even been sure he’d been taking in what the optometrist had been saying in the appointment, since he’d only been willing to whisper his answers to the lens tests to Eddie.

“Cool! You’ll really be like Clark Kent by day,” Buck gushed. Chris grinned though Eddie was pretty sure he had no idea who Clark Kent was.

“Hey, I brought you and your dad a little present,” Buck said, reaching into his back pocket.

He pulled out four lollipops, two of which were –

“Vero mango,” Eddie said, delighted. He hadn’t had the chilli-coated candy for years. He’d mentioned to Buck yesterday that he was looking forward to proper, spicy Mexican food again…

“And strawberry for you, little man,” Buck said, handing them over to Eddie to dole out. “Just in case he’s not a spice-lover like his dad.”

“Thanks man, that’s really nice of you.”

Eddie ended up needing to rip into Chris’s lollipop with his teeth to hand it to the boy, who was chattering away telling Buck everything he’d done that day.

He hadn’t realised Dr Lewellen had slipped out.

“And how about Dad, how’s he doing?” Buck asked once Chris traded talking for sugar.

“Ok. Healthy.”

Lost. A clueless parent. Starting to panic about what would happen once they were done at the hospital.

“Your parents come back yet?”

“No. I still have that to look forward to.”

Eddie sighed. “I shouldn’t complain. They don’t mean any harm.”

Buck’s lips thinned like he disagreed.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay,” Buck said instead, sounding genuinely apologetic.

“That’s ok, it’s not your problem. Thanks for coming to see him,” Eddie said.

“Coming to see you both,” Buck corrected casually. “But I’ve gotta go – I’ll see you tomorrow, ok superman?” he asked, holding his hand up for a high-five.

“Can I bring you anything?” Buck asked as he started to back out of the room.

Just you.

“No, thanks.”

“Alright, see you soon!”

***

Buck ended up showing up with a full duffle bag and armload of stuff at 10:01am, the minute the hospital ticked over to visiting hours.

He happily chattered away about some of his kid-friendly fire fighter stories while he set up a pile of blankets and tee-pee in the corner for Chris, and encouraged Eddie to sort through his offerings.

An iPad with a post-it stuck to the front with a password. Some chunky Lego to make dinosaurs with a big Ages 3+ on the box. Books. Extra clothes for them both. More candy, and some weird vegetable crisps. The softest blanket Eddie had ever felt, which smelled a little like Buck. And at the bottom, almost shyly hidden, an LAFD sweatshirt that also smelled like Buck.

His parents had brought Chris a stuffed animal and Eddie a five pack of underwear.

It made Eddie’s throat feel tight.

***

It was their fifth day at the hospital. Tests were done, assessments were done. A social worker, Natalya, had visited a couple of days ago and talked Eddie through what happened next and left a filing cabinet worth of paperwork with him to go through.

There was public housing he was eligible for, where he could stay for four weeks or until something more permanent opened. If it didn’t, maybe Abuela…

She’d come by on the third day and was officially Christopher’s third favourite adult.

Eddie still had his bank account from his pre-kidnapped days, though even with a lot of his Army salary still in there, it wouldn’t last long. Natalya had talked him through the process of lodging a compensation entitlement through the California Victim Compensation Board. It came with an offer of free counselling too, which he’d sign Chris up for… Eddie was probably more damaged than a derby car on its third round. But the idea of talking to some stranger about everything…

Too much to think about, Eddie decided.

But that just left him with the stack of papers for Chris. There were medical and therapy support programs, in-home support grants, equipment allowances, supplemental income and self-determination budgets –

“It’s like the fuc – Da Vinci Code. I can’t figure it out. Having half of this cancels out the other half,” Eddie bitched, ready to tear his hair out. Buck was squinting at some papers like they were written in hieroglyphics, so at least he was in good company. Chris was happily trying to connect Lego in his tee-pee.

“I have a friend who knows about this stuff, healthcare bureaucracy. I’ll get you her number,” Buck offered, giving up on his papers.

“Thanks. I know I have all this catching up to do with him,” Eddie sighed.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty,” Buck said tentatively, like he was nervous he was overstepping.

“It’s not the most rational feeling,” Eddie allowed. “But I’m his dad. It’s my job to make sure he has everything he needs.”

“And you’re doing everything you can, with everything accessible to you,” Buck reminded him.

A knock interrupted them and Natalya entered with a grim bearing.

“What’s happened?” Eddie asked.

Natalya looked between the two briefly, but she knew by now that she could speak in front of Buck.

“We’ve received a temporary injunction.”

Eddie frowned, dread already pooling in his stomach.

“… what?”

She was holding papers in her hands. She extended them to Eddie and he snatched it too harshly.

The words blurred as his mind ran a million miles an hour.

Conservatorship.

“A petition was lodged the day before yesterday. It only got signed off by a judge today.”

He skimmed and tried to take it in, through the legalese. These papers said that Eddie couldn’t take care of himself. It mentioned untreated trauma, PTSD, erratic emotional outbursts?

“… doesn’t this kind of thing need a doctor to attest to his capacity?” Buck was asking.

“Dr Lewellen did. Or well, the order says that the best environment to give Eddie the ability to care for himself and Christopher would be with an alpha, and continuing to receive counselling and treatment. Honestly though, this judge is extremely conservative. The fact that Eddie is omega is probably what’s driving this.

“We’ll set you up with a public lawyer. You’ll get a court date and you can prove your capacity – a conservatorship can’t be granted without an inquiry, except in extraordinary circumstances. But…”

Natalya looked nervous now, but smelled sad.

“Unfortunately, in these conditions… you see, there’s all this precedent for omegas and single parents… The petition will stop you from securing public housing or any government assistance until you get a ruling to prove yourself fit.”

“But… we’re moving in tomorrow…” Eddie faltered.

“Eddie, I’m so sorry. But if you don’t have a place to stay, the hospital can’t release Christopher to your care.”

It was like taking a punch to the gut.

He flipped to the next page of the papers, already knowing what he’d find. Guardianship for Christopher Diaz.

“How… who even?” Buck breathed.

Eddie knew exactly who was behind this.

Blistering hot anger, the kind that had seen him tearing out the throats of threatening alphas, burned through his veins.

He stormed out of the room, knowing who he’d find outside.

“Where the fuck do you get off?” he yelled as he stalked over to his parents, lingering in the corridor like cowards.

“Eddie, calm down and think about things rationally,” his mother started, holding up a condescending hand.

“You’re trying to take my kid,” he snarled, baring his teeth.

“Eddie!” Ramon snapped, like he was chastising a teenager. “You’re barely holding it together, look at you.”

“I’m fine!”

He clenched his fists, could feel his hands shaking. He couldn’t lose control now, couldn’t prove them right that he was unstable or unfit…

“I can take care of myself, and I can take care of Chris,” he insisted.

They actually scoffed in sync.

“Honey, you’re in way over your head. Christopher has special needs, and you… What happened to you wasn’t your fault, but it’s changed you, Eddie. And you never had the best judgement, or a particularly nurturing nature,” Helena reproached him.

Eddie narrowed his eyes. “Well, I’ve managed ok under some pretty fucking shitty conditions.”

His parents exchanged a look.

“You…” Helena started, looking back at Ramon for his support.

“You shouldn’t have kept him with you, Eddie,” Ramon finished their shared thought.

Deep, deep guilt, barely softened by disbelief, rapidly sapped the fight from his body.   

“What?” he whispered.

At least they had the grace to look uncomfortable.

“You kept him in that place, with all… that going on. You could have given him up,” Ramon said.

His shoulders wanted to hunch over but he didn’t let himself show weakness. Something he’d learned in the Army and in ‘that place’.

“What do you know about it?” he asked accusingly.

Ramon narrowed his eyes but couldn’t respond.

“Look, what matters is that Christopher has a chance at a normal life now. He needs stability and support, and we can give him that. We can give you both that. A chance to heal.”

Eddie turned his betrayed glare onto his mother.

“As long as it’s healing your way, under your thumb.”

“You don’t talk to your mother that way,” Ramon blustered.

“You don’t strip your son of his autonomy and freedom days after he escaped from five years of fucking hell.”

His voice broke on the last words and his chest felt tight. He could scream, he could curl into a ball and sob violently until the world was fair again.

A tether appeared in the form of Buck’s comforting scent and warm hand on his shoulder.

“C’mon Eddie, c’mon…”

Eddie let himself be pulled back in his hospital room and Buck clicked the door shut behind them.

“Daddy?”

“Mijo…”

Eddie crossed the room and pulled Christopher out of his little tee-pee, gathering him tight in his arms. He’d never let go, he’d run if he had to.

His chest was getting tighter.

He sat back on the bed, his knees suddenly weak. Each breath was harder and harder to come by.

Was he having a heart attack? Oh God, what happened to Chris if he had a heart attack and dropped dead? His parents would take him.

“Eddie, listen to my voice, ok? You’re having a panic attack. I’m right here with you, you’re safe. Chris is safe. Just try to match your breathing to mine…”

Buck coaxed him through breathing in and out, rubbing a wrist against the side of Eddie’s neck in a blatant scenting that really helped, actually. He didn’t try to move Chris out of his arms.

After a few, gruelling minutes, his breath started to come easier and his heart stopped trying to escape his ribcage.

“Sorry baby, I got upset,” he murmured into Chris’s ear, hoping he hadn’t scared him.

“You can have the last M&Ms if you want,” Chris offered in an obscenely sweet gesture of comfort.

Buck breathed a laugh on his right, and Eddie buried his smile in Chris’s curls.

“That’s very kind of you mijo. How about we share them?”

Christopher leaned back to grab the candy, balancing precariously but trusting that Eddie wouldn’t let him fall.

An insistent knock sounded at the door. Eddie tensed.

“Come back later,” Buck responded immediately.  

The person tapped again, rather rudely.

“Later.” Buck used his best alpha-voice and there was no further request for entry.

Chris doled out the chocolates, making sure Eddie got the red and the orange ones ‘cause they were the best’ before Eddie settled him back with headphones and the iPad Buck had brought in for them.

He felt bad about immediately defaulting to screentime for his kid, but the paediatrician recommended some age appropriate videos to introduce Chris to the idea of play with other children and classroom settings. Plus, it was better than hearing about adult problems all the time.

“I don’t know what to do,” Eddie said, before it even occurred to him that maybe Buck didn’t want to be involved in the messiness of his life and family. “If we can’t move into that housing… Maybe I can rent an Airbnb, or Abuela could help…”

His money would dissipate in a couple of months if he had to pay that kind of premium for housing, and Abuela was still technically recovering from a broken hip, and she was his father’s mother…

“Maybe I should just listen to my parents,” he finished woodenly.

“No!” Buck said, biting his lip for a minute as he decided how to continue. “Eddie, they… they don’t treat you well.”

He blinked. ‘They love you’. That’s what everyone always told him, after every argument, every disagreement. That’s what he told himself as a consolation whenever they made him feel small or incompetent or like they didn’t like him at all.

“You’re their son. They should love and support you unconditionally, they should lift you up! Not this,” Buck insisted.

Tears pricked at his eyes – not from anger, for once, but longing. He wished they were the kind of parents that would do that, too.

Buck rubbed his palms nervously up and down his thighs.

“Look, I know this might be weird. And I promise I’m not trying anything creepy! But… I’ve got a spare room. You and Christopher would have to share, but you’re welcome to it, until you get back on your feet,” Buck rushed out, and hit him with earnest puppy dog eyes as he waited for Eddie’s reaction.

God. He could see it.

Hanging out, doting on Chris, sharing the chores, bitching to Buck about his latest call with his mother (who would be back in Texas or much further away in this fantasy). The idea of having Buck and him between Chris and any threat that might come through the doors made still-paranoid parts of him unclench.

It would be easy and fun and Eddie would be taking total advantage of the kind, eager-to-please alpha.

“We… I couldn’t ask you –”

“You’re not, I’m offering,” Buck cut him off insistently.

“I couldn’t pay you market-rate rent,” he warned weakly. God, he had to find income ASAP if he wasn’t getting any pension.

“Don’t need it – I pay my rent whether you’re there or not. You can help buy food if you want,” shrugged Buck, like he’d happily bankroll the lives of two strangers he met less than a week ago. “C’mon, I hate living alone. You guys would be helping me out.”

The funny thing was, Eddie believed that Buck believed that.

“Plus! Plus, you’d be taking Dr Lewellen’s advice about alphas, right? I can stink up the place for all your ‘stable environment’ needs,” Buck beamed.

Eddie had to think. Rationally, not just driven by the easiest solution or the one that would keep him out of his parents’ house.

He shouldn’t trust an alpha with Chris, right? He’d spent the last four years so vigilant about not letting an alpha anywhere near his boy, so much so that he’d starved Christopher of an alpha bond and left a hole that made Chris immediately latch onto Buck to fill it.

But Eddie trusted Buck.

“It doesn’t have to be forever,” Buck added more softly at Eddie’s hesitation. “You can move in with your Abuela if it doesn’t work out, or maybe they’ll dismiss the petition and you’ll get your own housing in a couple of weeks?”

Eddie sniffed, and looked down at Chris, focused on the screen wearing his brand new glasses. Chris looked up and smiled at him warmly before turning back to the screen.

Buck was offering a home to take Chris to. And right now, there was no one else in the world he trusted with his kid more than Buck.

“I’ll pay you back,” Eddie promised softly.

By Buck’s blinding smile, you would have thought he’d promised him a million bucks instead of a couple of roommates.

“Awesome! I’ll call Natalya and see if I have to get you put on my lease or whatever,” Buck volunteered, rooting around in the little dresser they’d put in the room for the card the social worker had left.

Eddie’s heart did a little flip, a pleasant alternative to the panicked thudding.

His instincts had got them this far. No matter what his parents might think.

Chapter Text

“Here we go guys, last door on the left,” Buck said, following the Diazes out of the elevator.

Chris insisted on practicing with his new crutches, so Eddie hovered close by in case he mis-stepped, and Buck insisted on carrying the bags.

“I’ve got a spare key for you, and Bobby’s been cooking up a storm – he’s an amazing chef, you guys will love it.”

Buck didn’t know why he was so nervous. He’d been up late after hospital visiting hours ended to scrub every inch of his apartment and had packed up anything remotely adult into a box and shoved it to the back of the highest shelf of his cupboard.

He’d also switched all of his stuff into the spare room. The master was bigger, it made sense for Eddie and Chris to be in there.

Buck slid in front of them both, careful not to press himself against Eddie, as he slipped in the key and pushed the door open.

“Welcome!”

Chris was awestruck, looking around at the couch, the TV, mountain bike Buck had on the wall and the minimal amount of art and photos on display – a couple of him from his youthful travels, two bigger ones with the 118 and just one of him and Maddie from childhood.

“Nice place,” Eddie offered, also looking around.

It struck Buck, as it sometimes did at random times, that this was the first time Chris was experiencing something – he’d never seen a room outside the hospital or wherever he and Eddie had been kept. Eddie too hadn’t been in a house for half a decade.

He really, really wanted them to feel safe here, to enjoy their time staying with Buck.

“Thanks,” he said, putting the bags down against the wall where Christopher wouldn’t get tangled up in them. “I’ll give you guys the tour!”

Chris was equally impressed by the kitchen, the bathroom and the master bedroom.

“I didn’t know beds got this big,” he said with wonder, sprawling across Buck’s king size mattress like a starfish, not even close to the edges. “Can I sleep in the middle?”

Buck doubted Chris would be sleeping anywhere but the side farthest from the door, tucked under Eddie’s arm.

“Buddy, Buck has his own room down the hall, he’ll sleep there,” Eddie told Chris.

Oh, he meant the middle between Eddie and Buck. That was incredibly sweet, he loved this kid.

“Oh. Can I see your room, Buck?” Chris asked.

“Sure thing bud!”

Chris extended his arms to be picked up. Eddie was poking his head into the ensuite and didn’t react, so Buck picked Chris up, settling him on his feet. He’d picked up Chris before, but he didn’t want to overstep and assume it was ok for him to be in contact with Chris whenever.

Chris slid his hand into Buck’s, as he’d seen him to with Eddie multiple times before he got his crutches.

“Um,” Buck’s heart stuttered for a second with the feel of his tiny hand and the enormous trust that came with it, from both Diazes. “This way.”

Once the tour was exhausted, they set Chris up with some juice and a cut up apple while Eddie unpacked their meagre belongings.

They’d each need a lot more clothes, but a trip to Target would be too overwhelming. Buck would set Eddie up with his laptop and credit card tonight. And maybe Buck could sneak in a few things under the radar so Eddie didn’t log them in his brain as ‘need to be paid back’. Between his trust fund and LAFD salary, Buck was more than comfortable and would be delighted to be able to provide for Eddie and Chris as Eddie re-entered the world.

Speaking of which:

“I’ve got some packages to grab from the mail room, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” he called out to Eddie.

“Sure thing.”

Buck ruffled Chris’s hair and smiled all the way down to the ground floor. He liked having someone who would miss him, even for a couple of minutes.

***

The preliminary two psychiatry appointments Eddie had in the hospital had centred mostly on how he and Chris would have a tough adjustment period. He was told to expect nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety and depression, and for Chris to be withdrawn, have serious trust issues and separation anxiety, be angry or even crave the normalcy of their cell, the place he knew as safe and familiar.

But Christopher was currently giggling like mad and climbing over Buck like a jungle gym.

He knew they weren’t out of the woods. They’d had mostly good days, the tough times would come. Probably when it was time to leave their little ‘fun with Buck’ bubble and go to school, get a job, and generally reintegrate with the world.

“I got you!” Chris cried out and Buck howled playfully before he pulled Christopher effortlessly off his back with his big, gentle hands, and wrestled him down.

“Dad! Save me,” Chris giggled as Buck tickled his sides.

A part of Eddie yearned to join in the play, but he couldn’t be sure what his reaction would be to play-fighting Buck.

“You woke the beast mijo,” Eddie said instead. “You’re lucky he eats laughter and popcorn and not little boys!”

“Popcorn?” Buck asked, ceasing his pretend growling and perking up, which sent Christopher into another riot of laughter.

“Enough for both of you. Come try it Chris,” Eddie said, laying out the bowl.

Buck let Chris use him as leverage to get up but didn’t help him directly. Chris had been insistent now that, with his crutches and newfound freedom, he was a ‘big boy’ and loved doing everything he could for himself.

Sometimes Eddie thought Buck was a big kid himself – Eddie was convinced half the toys and gadgets in the apartment were here before Chris, or maybe he just hoped, because Buck was not shy about spending money on him. But moments like this showed how deeply Buck considered Chris before he acted, the depths of understanding he had of what Chris had been through that he hid under fun and games.

He was pretty considerate of Eddie too.

Beyond the rent-free accommodation in his bougie apartment (firefighting must pay well), Buck had got Eddie some cash-in-hand work around the apartment building, since the manager was looking for a handyman and Eddie had experience. And Buck got him Carla.

She may have been a real-life angel. She disentangled all the paperwork and applications in a day, without making Eddie feel like a moron. She was good with Christopher and knew all about CP, and while she looked at them both kind of soft and sad, it didn’t feel like pity when she offered her phone number for questions and to start some short shifts helping Chris with in-home therapy exercises between her other clients.

Chris liked her but was still shy enough that he hid behind Eddie when she was over some times. Still, he would say Carla ranked about fourth on the list of Chris’s favourite people, behind Eddie, Buck and Abuela.

Abuela’s warm nature could melt the iciest creature and her food could win over the most stand-offish – and Chris was neither. She’d certainly worked her magic on Buck in a matter of minutes.

Her and his Tia Pepa had both also arrived with a fat envelop of cash and refused to take it back.

Eddie’s new phone started to vibrate, almost as loud against the table as the ringtone he had silenced. He and Buck both glanced at the screen, though precious few people had the number.

‘Mom’.

“I can show you how to block them, if you want,” Buck offered carefully.

“The lawyer said not to,” Eddie told him.

His phone was useful some of the time, to talk to his sisters and hear from Detective Ransone on what was happening with the investigation into the traffickers. He was less endeared by it when he was dodging his parents and calls from media people about ‘sharing his story’.

Plus, there were more telemarketers and scammers now then there were five years ago.

“What do you think?” he asked Chris brightly as he stuffed a tiny handful of popcorn in his mouth.

“Yum!”

“Yay! Let’s add popcorn to the good snacks list,” Eddie said, bringing over the little whiteboard they were keeping to make a game to encourage Chris to try more new foods.

“You know, popcorn tastes even better when you’re watching a movie,” Buck said, grabbing some for himself.

“Really?” Chris asked, wide-eyed.

“Yep. That’s why it’s the official food of the movie theatre.”

Chris turned to Eddie, both respecting his authority as his parent, and recognising him as the most adult grown-up in the house.

“Can we try it, Daddy?”

“Scientific method Eds. Never too young to learn experimental rigour.”

He might have been somewhat starved for company for a few years, but Eddie knew when he was getting finessed by a team.

“A short one,” Eddie allowed.

Buck turned to Chris with glee. “There’s a Toy Story 2!”

“Cool!”

Buck grabbed the popcorn and the two scrambled out of the kitchen to the living room, crashing on the couch.

Eddie trailed after them with a smile.  

***

Twelve days after they were released from the hospital, Eddie looked down at the bed he was making, to the extra blankets and cushions he’d unthinkingly pulled out of the linen cupboard.

He was nesting.

Eddie hadn’t done that in a while. Even before, he’d always tried to resist the urge; it was natural but culturally, considered to be a somewhat feminine activity. He remembered his father eyeing the blankets he’d bury himself in as a teenager with distaste.

Nesting also signalled something so shameful his parents had never even spoken to him about it, just shoved a ‘what’s happening to my body’ book into his hands and avoided eye contact when gathering the laundry after.

Heat.

It wasn’t so much the sexual nature of having a heat that made them uncomfortable, it was the breeding aspect.

His heat happened every month, or closer to three weeks now, after the regime of heat inducing meds he’d been forced to ingest. It lasted only 12 hours or so, but the fact that there was any time where Eddie’s ass got slick and he craved a thick cock and knot like a smoker wanted nicotine, was intensely embarrassing to all the Diazes, including himself.

Not that he’d ever gone out and found an alpha to satisfy that craving, before. He’d had offers, most of which he shut down quick and paranoid, though a couple – the softer, more stuttered and sweet ones – had lingered on in his memory enough to create a secret, very secret yearning to one day try it.

As he’d proven with Christopher, male omegas could get pregnant during their heat, hence the desire to create a safe, warm environment to spend it in.

Eddie was well-versed in handling his heat alone, collecting his slick to bottle while Chris slept on the mattress he’d drag into the bathroom. He was not well-versed in handling a heat with a virile young alpha in the same apartment. An admittedly gorgeous and sweet one to boot.

They probably should have talked about this in more detail.

Buck was at work now, they could talk after Chris went to sleep, in what had become their routine of sharing a beer or just shooting the shit before bed.

Eddie picked up one of the extra blankets, stroking over its soft fluff. He should put the extra bedding away again, Buck probably didn’t want his heat scent getting into every single fibre in the apartment…

He sighed and put it down again. He’d been this selfish so far, he might as well go all the way.

***

“I’m starting my heat.”

The bottle of beer froze where Buck had tipped it up against his lips. His lovely, plush lips.

Eddie hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but it was effective.

“Oh,” Buck said, as he lowered the bottle. “Ok. Did you want me to clear out for the day? I can camp out at Chim’s.”

“No! No, you don’t have to leave, if you don’t want to.”

Probably stupid. The idea of an alpha in his space, no bars to protect Eddie and Chris, made his stomach churn and his fight or flight response kick in. But the idea of Buck around while Eddie was… out of sorts, made him feel better. Safer.

It was just easier with Buck around, always. Both he and Chris felt more settled. Chris displayed it openly, his heart on his sleeve when it came to the blonde alpha. Eddie liked to think he was a little more subtle.

“I mean, if you’d be uncomfortable with, you know, the smell, I get it,” Eddie said, feeling his cheeks go red. “And I’m not… I mean, I wouldn’t…”

He should have rehearsed this.

Buck seemed to realise what he was getting at anyway.

“Of course, yeah – I wouldn’t expect you’d want – and I would never try anything!” he quickly assured Eddie, holding up a hand as though he wanted Eddie to be doubly sure Buck wasn’t trying to slip it onto his thigh or something.

“Ok, yeah. Good. Um, Chris is really looking forward to bubble painting anyway. He’d be pretty heartbroken if you weren’t here.”

With all the leisure time and resources available to them now, they’d started ‘arts-and-crafternoons’ and Chris loved it.

“For sure. Wouldn’t miss it.”

Buck took another sip from his beer and the tension started to drain.

“So… That’s that,” Eddie said awkwardly.

“Yep.”

“Cool.”

A few beats of silence followed.

“Do you want to linger in the awkwardness a while longer, or play some Call of Duty?”

“Yeah, I could take some time to kick your ass,” Eddie said, getting up to grab the controllers.

***

The next day, Eddie was on edge.

His heat really hit in the afternoon. It wasn’t like they made it look in porn; sure he was horny, but mostly it was uncomfortable, with irritability, cramping that came from being… well, unfilled.

Plus, frequent trips to the bathroom to ensure he didn’t leak through his pants, leave a mark on Buck’s couch and have to whisk Christopher off to Sweden in mortification.

Buck was acting normal and Christopher was too young to tell anything was off, scent-wise. It was Eddie who was the freak.

He stress-cleaned and edged around the apartment like he was being hunted. He oscillated between nervous, defensive and tempted to climb onto Buck and huff at his neck like a vacuum. He smelled so damn good.

“Can I get you anything?”

“What?”

Eddie jerked around harshly, even though Buck thoughtfully stayed six feet away.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked again, gesturing over his shoulder. “Like, tea or something?”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. He didn’t think they even had any tea in the kitchen.

“I got this ginger tea, it’s meant to help with cramps,” Buck offered.

“Uh… thanks. Sure.”

Typical, considerate Buck.

No one ever acted like being a male omega, or its symptoms, were normal. It was either to be painstakingly ignored, or fetishised. Not just… an ordinary part of his life that he could talk about. That there was tea for.

“And for you little man, coffee? Some malt liquor?”

Chris giggled as though he’d ever heard of ‘liquor’.

“Juice please!”

“Certainly sir. Apple or orange?”

“Apple.”

Buck brought their drinks back, placing them on the coffee table and dropping back down to his butt to keep colouring next to Chris.

He didn’t look at Eddie with disgust or lust, didn’t treat him as fragile or like Eddie needed to be ‘put in his place’. Buck just treated him like normal. Like nothing was different, like Eddie and Chris were still just friends staying over.

Buck looked up to find Eddie staring at him, but he just smiled and went back to colouring.

Yeah, Buck acting normal, and smelling so good (like safety and comfort and happiness) soothed him. Well, maybe not soothed.

Eddie shifted uncomfortably onto his knees as he felt himself grow a little slicker. He hoped Buck couldn’t smell it.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said, a little raspy.

Eddie wasn’t sure if he caught a scent of arousal as he walked out of the room, or if it was wishful thinking wrestling out from the repressed box he kept all those thoughts and urges in.

Chapter Text

So…

Eddie was sex personified.

He was gorgeous, of course. Tongue-tying-ly beautiful, especially when he put on a tank top and shorts to exercise so Buck could see the sweat gather between his sharp collar bones.

Or when he was fixing something, like when Buck and Chris handed Eddie what he needed up the ladder as he changed downlights in the building hallway, or as he lay on his back to look at the leaking pipe in the main bathroom’s sink.

Or when he was with Chris, the way Eddie’s grin would light up the room – Buck had always thought that was just something people said about nice people who passed away, but it actually happened with Eddie!

Or even curled up on Buck’s couch in a hoodie but bare feet, drinking a beer and relaxing into the cushions and letting his eyes close as he relaxed, like he felt safe with Buck…

Buck was getting carried away thinking about Eddie, again.

A whine wanted to escape Buck’s throat, but he just gripped the steering wheel tighter.

Hen had noticed almost right away, and Bobby not too long later. Chim was teasing him about it now too, his crush on the omega. Ravi just wanted to be kept out of the teasing, thank goodness.

Buck wasn’t surprised that he’d grown infatuated with Eddie, and Chris too. How could he not?! But he needed to keep it cool. The last thing Eddie needed was his friend and roommate panting after him like a desperate alpha wanting his knot wet, not when he was already dealing with so much.

It was hard though.

Seriously, he was hard a lot.

Buck had maintained his mask and sanity through Eddie’s first heat. Once he realised how ripe and fucking delicious Eddie’s scent turned, building on an already delectable base, he thought about leaving. But he didn’t want to confirm Eddie’s worst fears that Buck couldn’t be trusted around him and his son, at any point. The way Eddie had watched him carefully, like he wasn’t totally sure Buck wouldn’t lose it and try to mount him, had doused most of his arousal anyway.

It wasn’t like Buck was worried he was going to do anything or violate Eddie in any way, but there was only so much body spray Buck could apply to himself to mask his aroused scent.

He thought Eddie probably realised Buck’s interest anyway. If not the first time, then the one just passed.

His second heat had been last night – he had a fast cycle, the doctors warned him of it after whatever shit those bastards had him on. They’d had a movie night smothered with blankets, even though Buck had been sweating. He’d lasted until after Eddie had put Chris to bed, but when he’d returned and picked up the blankets again, his scent washed tantalisingly over Buck and he’d had to gather some blankets on his lap to cover his problem until he’d calmed down enough to waddle to his bedroom with the excuse of an early night before his shift the next morning.

He was on his way in to work now, technically. With a… planned pitstop.

Buck pulled up to the motel parking lot, parking in a guest spot before he headed to reception.

He still had two hours to be at work, and he felt bad about what he was doing, he did, but he needed relief, ok?!

 “Hey I just need a room for the day? Night I mean, just one,” Buck said to the beta woman at the counter.

She didn’t care at all.

“Credit card?”

“Here.”

Buck tapped on the counter as she ran his card and picked up a key, handing both over to him with zero frills.

“Just drop the keys in the box when you check out,” she said, indicating a lock box to his right, then turned back to her magazine.

Buck nodded and headed to room 3 as per the key tag, duffle in his other hand.

The room was plain but clean. No scents lingered from past alpha or omega guests, which was exactly what he wanted and had been looking for online.

He dropped his duffle and started stripping, grabbing a towel from the bathroom and pulling back the bedding so he didn’t get the duvet messy.

He’d been half hard since the night before, and now relief was in sight, his cock was filling out further.

Buck had been, uh, storing it up. Not on purpose necessarily, but the scent and pheromones of an alpha’s release was strong, it was a territorial thing. Buck had managed to jerk off in the shower a couple of times over the last several weeks, when he got home late from a shift and Eddie and Chris were already in bed and he could air out the main bathroom before they woke up.

He could scrub all the evidence and spritz the whole area with scent repressors to wipe out any trace of scent whatsoever, as though that wouldn’t be a dead giveaway what he was doing. But Eddie, and Chris especially, benefited from his alpha scent, so it would be a dick move to use those kind of products when he knew what the collateral damage would be (and unacceptable to scrub out the omega scent and sweet child scent that had set in with their tenancy). But he didn’t want to make Eddie live with alpha territory nonsense if it would possibly trigger him.

He lay back on the towel and gripped himself with a hiss.

Buck had resisted the temptation to steal something of Eddie’s from the laundry hamper to huff in like a creep – he did feel guilty about that impulse. Now, though he tried to keep his mind blank, visions of Eddie immediately came to mind.

Eddie’s 8 pack. The curve of his pert ass. His throat, his hair, his smile. The way he looked in Buck’s sweatshirt he’d subtly slipped the omega in the hospital.

His hand was steadily pumping his cock, spreading the precum that eagerly leaked out now his cock was finally being attended to.

Sometimes he felt fucking obsessed with the omega. He measured time by how long he had left to hang out with Eddie and Chris, how long until he could see them again.

He’d also come to suspect he had something of a competency kink, because whenever Eddie fixed something about the apartment Buck had been putting off, or showed what a good dad he was – and he was such a good dad, totally in love with his kid despite their tough origins, so patient and attentive – Buck’s heart started to race.

Of course, he was grateful that Christopher existed but also wished Eddie had never been taken, had never endured what he had to endure. Maybe if he hadn’t been, they would have met anyway. During Buck’s travels, or if Eddie had come to LA to see his Abuela.

Buck could have asked him out. He would have had to work for it, he was sure. Eddie had some hang-ups with being an omega, and Buck suspected a few with the idea of being with a man too, but he’d woo him, earn it. He could’ve shown Eddie how incredible he was and how he deserved to be treated. Get on his knees for the omega, worship every inch of his body with his hands and his tongue and be grateful to do so. Yeah, in different circumstances, Buck would have gotten Eddie to fall in love with him and maybe Buck could have been the reason Eddie’s belly swelled with –

Woah no, enough. It was all dangerous territory.

Buck paused his hand, punishing his mind and dick for going there and getting so fucking turned on by the thought of –

He took a shuddering breath and refocused.

Breasts were nice, he could think of them.

Pretty pink lips on his cock, struggling to take its girth but enthusiastically trying. Hands holding his hips, as they hitched up in real life, chasing the feeling of his hand circling his glans.

Buck brought up his other hand, jerking himself harder now, twisting his wrists as he worked his whole length and felt the swelling at the base of his knot. He didn’t usually knot when he was alone, few people did, but after a while without, he wasn’t surprised.

He imagined someone on top of him, sliding into a hot cunt, yeah. That was always great. Especially when Buck was allowed to lick them out beforehand, messy and thorough, and have still-shining lips and chin when his partner started to sink down on his cock.

Buck moaned, moving faster.

One hand slipped down to hold his knot as he gasped, close now.

He should have brought a toy, his knot sleeve or a vibrator to ride. Something that wasn’t just himself and his own hands. He was going to tip over just fine, but he wanted more, he wanted –

Eddie. Eddie’s strong arms and gentle hands. His thighs, his ass, his quiet skill at everything he tried. Eddie’s slick that smelled like fucking nirvana.

“Fuck!”

Buck’s knot popped in seconds and he pumped out a jet of cum that got airborne, splashing over Buck’s stomach and chest.

He heaved a long groan as his hips jerked up, confused and trying to bury his cock in a hot, wet hole instead of his inferior hand and cool room.

God, it felt amazing though.

He tugged on the sensitive tip a little longer before he wrapped both his hands around his throbbing knot, squeezing and massaging it gently as shivers of pleasure continued to travel down his spine and his legs.

“Mmmm,” Buck let out a long moan, looking down. His chest was a mess. He always produced a lot of cum, but this seemed like a stupid amount. His cock was still flushed red and little blurts of white cum were still oozing out, timed with the harder muscle contractions that made his legs twitch.

“Shit, man,” Buck said as he dropped his head back to the pillow. It’d keep going for another 15 or 20 minutes, then he’d have to have a very thorough shower and take a leisurely drive to work, maybe stop for coffees.

It ended up being an hour later, another orgasm on the bed with two fingers stuffed inside himself and another cheeky jerk off in the shower, before he dropped the keys sheepishly in the check out box and headed out.

***

Buck came home feeling more relaxed after his illicit motel masturbation session and a good shift.

“Abuela!” he called out happily, clocking her scent before he even saw her.

“Buckito,” she greeted him with a grin and a kiss to the cheek he had to duck to allow her to deliver.

“Please tell me you’re making tamales,” Buck breathed as he looked at the ingredients she had spread over the counter of his kitchen.

“Of course, my boys’ favourite.”

“Hey buddy,” Buck added as he gentled rustled Chris’s hair where he sat at the table, pausing as Chris turned and wrapped his arms around Buck’s middle in a hug.

Across from him at the table, filling in yet more paperwork, Eddie’s eyes went soft. They always did whenever Chris did anything adorable, like breathe. Buck’s heart palpitated a little in his chest.

“Good day?”

“We went to the park and Daddy pushed me on the swings. And then we played in the sandpit and another little boy let me play with his truck,” Chris told him.

“Yeah, and the little boy’s Mummy asked if we’d like to have a playdate, so we took their phone number to organise something next week, didn’t we?” Eddie added, smiling at his boy.

Buck’s eyebrows went up and he felt tears pricking at his eyes.

So far, Chris had just looked longingly at other kids playing but struggled to make the final leap to talk to them.

“Yeah,” Chris smiled, shyly pleased.

“That’s very cool, superman. I bet your new friend would love to see your racing cars.”

Chris beamed at the word ‘friend’. This kid absolutely melted Buck’s heart.

“I’m gonna get changed real quick,” Buck said, before he burst out in happy tears and hugged this child to a smothering death.

He heard the chair scrape as Eddie followed him.

Eddie paused at the door to Buck’s room. They didn’t go into each other’s bedrooms. It wasn’t a rule, but Buck really wanted Eddie to have a safe space for only him and Chris.

“You can come in,” Buck offered as Eddie looked over his shoulder.

Eddie took a deep breath, nostrils flaring as he slipped inside.

“I got a call from the lawyer today. They’ve set a hearing date,” Eddie said nervously, crossing his arms.

Buck dropped his duffle and resisted the urge to cross the room to hug him.

“Oh, shit. How are you feeling?”

“Um, ok. It’s good to have a date, I guess. But uh, it’s not for another three months.”

Buck waited for Eddie to continue. His eyes darted around the room in a nervous tic Buck noticed – Eddie turned more vigilant and suspicious when he was off-kilter.

“Ok? That’s not too bad I guess, it’s more time to gather evidence that the guardianship stuff is bogus, right?” Buck asked.

Eddie looked at him, brown eyes slightly surprised.

“Yeah, but… look, another three months is a long time. I know you probably didn’t expect us to be around for that long.”

It was like a hand punched through his ribcage and gripped his heart. He’d been avoiding thinking about Eddie and Chris ever leaving him.

“You don’t have to leave!” he blurted out.

Eddie blinked.

Cool it Buck, don’t be a desperate clingy alpha Eddie has to flee from.

“I- I just mean, I don’t mind. The time. I think it’s working fine, don’t you? I mean, I like having you guys here and Chris is doing well,” Buck explained.

“Yeah, he does. I… I like it here, too,” Eddie offered, somewhat stiltedly.

Buck wanted to heave a sigh of relief, but didn’t.

“Then, you know… stay.”

Buck bit his lip to stop talking. Eddie probably wouldn’t appreciate the offer to stay forever or until Chris moved out for college.

“Thanks, man. I um, I really appreciate it.”

“It’s cool, you’re good housemates. And you come with free tamales, which are worth their weight in gold,” Buck joked.

“True. And Abuela’s also made tres leche cake, so if anything, you owe me,” Eddie grinned, tapping the door jam before he left. Buck watched his ass disappear around the corner and decided that the motel jerk-off plan would become a habit.

Chapter Text

The only bad thing about having such a resilient, incredible, brave kid was that he was ready to step out into the world way before Eddie.

Not even two months since they got out, and Chris was at preschool (on grant funding, thank you Carla) three part days a week.

He’d been so excited, bolstered by his success of playing with Dylan from the park. Still, he’d been shy and scared when they arrived at the school, and had clung to Eddie for his entire orientation session of two hours.

Eddie had considered delaying his enrolment by another few weeks, but when he got home, Chris was full of stories for Buck about everything he’d seen and was excited for.

Eddie stuck around longer than parents tended to do, but the administration and the teacher were aware of their circumstances, and it’s not like Eddie had anything better to do than sit on the tiny chair and read a book while Chris was warmly welcomed by the rest of the kids.

Chris still cast regular looks over to make sure Eddie was around.

They hit a rough patch when they substituted other trusted adults for Eddie. When it was Buck, Chris clung to him and only started engaging in play in the last half hour of the day. When it was Carla, Chris bawled his eyes out and panicked until he was back in Eddie’s arms in the hallway.

They’d mostly gotten passed the worst of the separation anxiety. Chris was reassured that Eddie would always come back and get him.

Text from Buck
Hey
Did rescue @ bakery, now I want that good 🥖 from last week lol wat u doin?

Reply from Eddie
Just hanging out. I can get the bread later.

Text from Buck
Hangin @ home?

Reply from Eddie
Yep

Text from Buck
… send me a pic wit a fork on ur head

Reply from Eddie
No

Text from Buck
R u @ the school? 🤨 🤨

Eddie cringed where he sat in the drivers’ seat of the car he’d brought from his cousin.

Reply from Eddie
Yeah. I’m outside. I just like to be close, in case.

Text from Buck
🥹 🩷 🩷

Ur such a softie + a good dad

But ur gonna get arrested 1 day

Eddie snorted and ‘liked’ Buck’s message.

Chris hadn’t needed him the last three times he’d done this. Which was good, very good.

Just, a little part of Eddie felt… superfluous.

Since the day he realised he was pregnant with Christopher, the boy had been the centre of his life. It was an unfair weight to put on a kid’s shoulders, and Eddie wouldn’t be the oppressive, helicopter parent that suffocated their child. But it was hard, altering his own identity to reflect his son’s independence.

Maybe if he were doing something himself while Chris was out being brave…

Eddie was restless. Which was stupid, considering there was so much more for him to do now than there was in their cells. He’d spent his days on strength-training, what cardio he could manage, exercises with Chris and all the lessons and stories he could think of. He still exercised now, but he’d managed to gain a little weight, more softness filling out his thighs, his ass, his stomach.

Buck had noticed. Eddie had liked him noticing.

But that kind of awareness just made him more restless. Like he wasn’t quite at home in his body, like he needed adrenaline or some kind of purpose that used to come from staying ‘alive and ready’.

Eddie thought Buck got that way too, this need to physically wrangle your body into something more controllable. Buck went for runs some days that had him coming home sweaty with trembling legs, which Eddie would steal guilty glances of and inhale as subtly but deeply as he could…

Eddie had never been able to get a decent job, other than the Army, and he’d been assured by too-many loud mouth alphas that he was a diversity recruit.

A lot of the jobs he’d applied for in El Paso didn’t want him around ‘as a distraction’. And while he would have been warmly welcomed in childcare or a similar setting, Eddie didn’t want a role like that, partly because of his own preferences, partly to avoid the stereotype. So he ended up doing a lot of minimum wage jobs, before the Army and after his discharge. Nothing that qualified him for much now, in his late 20s with a pretty big resume gap.

Eddie enjoyed doing maintenance around the apartment building, but the place wasn’t that broken.

Buck noticed Eddie’s quiet spiral that night, because of course he did.

“Are you gonna tell me what’s up?”

Buck was stacking the dishwasher while Eddie wiped down the counters.

Eddie sighed.

“You don’t have to. You can save it for therapy if you want,” Buck added.

Therapy. Eddie had mixed feelings about his psychologist, who he was mostly seeing because he wanted to demonstrate how seriously he was committed to being a good father and support for Christopher. But he held a lot back from the other man, for fear of him writing a report that Eddie was batshit and should be removed as Chris’s guardian as soon as possible.

“It’s nothing, really, just… adapting,” Eddie brushed off.

Buck didn’t answer, didn’t provide any reassurance, as he usually did, that Eddie was doing a great job. Which was how Eddie knew that Buck knew that it was bull.

“I guess I’m just not feeling very useful.”

“Useful,” Buck echoed, as though he were trying to puzzle out the word.

“Yeah. You know, Chris is off doing his thing like a little rockstar, you’re saving lives and I’m just trailing after a four-year-old in case he needs me, which he increasingly doesn’t,” Eddie shrugged.

“Ok first, Chris will always need you. And the fact he is out there kicking ass just proves what a great job you’re doing,” Buck insisted. “Second, you are incredibly useful and valued to both of us and Abuela and almost everyone who knows you.”

Eddie smiled at Buck’s attempt to comfort him – it did help a little, it gave him a warm feeling of approval in his chest that he was doing ok with Chris.

“Thanks. I just… I’m not trying to complain, I know how lucky I am.”

“But you miss having something to do, some like, mission to achieve,” Buck concluded and Eddie nodded, relieved Buck understood.

“Come to work with me.”

“Sorry?”

“Come to the firehouse. On Thursday, while Chris is at school. I’ll clear it with Bobby. You can come on some ride-a-longs. Maybe we’ll go on a call and something will spark for you.”

He’d yet to meet Buck’s team, though he’d heard an extraordinary amount about them and had technically borrowed books from Hen, gotten movie recommendations from Chim and at least a dozen dishes from Bobby that rivalled Abuela’s cooking.

Plus, Chris had just started asking to stick around at preschool for a full day because he ‘missed out on cool games in the afternoon’ and their funding allowed it…

“That’d be… really cool, actually. If Bobby’s ok with it.”

“Cool! I’ll call Bobby now. And I’ll ask him to make his lasagne for you, so you can help me figure out what I’m getting wrong when I make it,” Buck grinned and bounced off, leaving the dishwasher open.

Eddie watched him go with a smile. Buck was just so…

God, so fucking great.

And ok, Eddie maybe had a little crush.

No sane person could blame him for it. Buck was the perfect alpha; handsome, fit, masculine, a provider, and uncommonly nurturing and sweet. He must have omegas throwing themselves at him all the time.

Eddie had never been particularly charmed by alphas in the past, had never seriously considered dating one, his heat-driven desires notwithstanding. Had never been with an alpha at all, actually. Or a man. (He didn’t count anything that happened when he was captive).

But more important than any of that, Buck was an incredible friend, and a source of stability for Chris. And Eddie wasn’t going to let a stupid crush ruin that.

Eddie grabbed a tablet and dropped it in the dishwasher compartment door, closing it up and setting it to a regular wash.

***

The 118 were what Eddie imagined, but more.

From the moment he walked in, Eddie sensed the easy comradery between everyone on the crew, but especially Buck’s core A shift team of alpha Captain Bobby and beta paramedics Hen and Chim.

Buck was beside himself with excitement to show Eddie around and introduce him to the little found-family, and was already talking about bringing Chris around for a tour soon, if Eddie was ok with it.

They ended the tour in the loft where Bobby kindly served Eddie a cup of coffee.

“It’s nice to see you in person instead of just watching Buckaroo hunch over his phone for hours texting you,” Hen said.

“Hey! Sometimes I’m on Instagram,” Buck protested with pink cheeks.

“So Eddie, the question we all want answered…” Chim started dauntingly. Eddie sat a little straighter.

“How is it, living with Buck?”

Eddie breathed a laugh. Everyone was grinning.

“Is it like a frat house?”

“I bet it’s like having a golden retriever, does he make you do stimulation activities for him?”

“Please tell me he’s better at picking up his towels at home than he is here,” said Chim.

Buck let out an indignant sound and Chim and Hen cackled while Bobby looked on fondly.

“Buck’s a great roommate. Very clean, very considerate,” Eddie defended with a smile. “And yes, he does make Chris play with him until they’re both tuckered out.”

The team cooed at the blushing blonde, which made him whine for Bobby to ‘control his people’.

Buck seemed to be the son and/or goofy younger brother of the station. It suited him. Eddie had no trouble reconciling this Buck with the Buck he knew well from home, but that wasn’t all he was.

He was a caretaker too. He always knew what Eddie and Chris needed, and went out of his way to give it to them. Eddie suspected this wasn’t a side that the 118 had a chance to see a lot of.

It made Eddie feel pretty damn special.

“You know Eddie, I have a boy around Chris’s age, Denny. Maybe we can organise a play date one of these days, Denny’s always on the look out for new friends to play video games with,” Hen offered once the laughter died down.

Buck perked up. “That’d be awesome! Then we could have four-player Mario Kart!”

All the grown-ups looked at Buck with amusement, except Eddie who looked at him fondly. Of course he wanted to be part of the playdate.

“Sure, Chris will be excited to have someone over.”

Bobby led him away briefly to sign a whole bunch of waivers that basically amounted to ‘you won’t interfere in any calls and if you get hurt, it’s your own fault’. No sooner had Eddie signed the last than the alarm went off and Bobby gestured for him to join the crew in the truck.

Eddie could already feel his adrenaline pumping as they weaved through traffic with the sirens blaring, despite the fact that he would be trailing along as a bystander. Buck grinned at him in the seat across from him, as though he knew exactly how Eddie was feeling.

They pulled to a stop less than 10 minutes later.

“’Saddle Ranch’,” Buck read aloud as they jumped out of the truck. “Eddie, you’ll feel right at home.”

“Grab the creeper and some blocks,” Bobby instructed.

Buck tapped Eddie’s arm and handed him some wooden planks to carry, while Buck plucked out the under-vehicle slide.

“Holy crap, you are hot,” Eddie heard one of the girls flagging them down say to Buck as he walked into the bar.

It was inappropriate. But accurate. The tight LAFD shirt and suspenders had caught Eddie’s eye too.

Another made some sleezy comment about the ‘strippers are here’ as they strode through to the emergency taking place out the back, and Eddie wondered what proportion of the day Buck spent getting objectified.

Buck cleared the crowd and Eddie finally caught sight of why they were here.

A woman was on her hands and knees, her head disappearing into the tail pipe of a grotesquely oversized orange truck.

Eddie put the blocks down and backed up a step to let the 118 work. The ‘friends’ hovering around the truck explained she was drunk and flirting with this piece of work alpha, who… Jesus, this guy’s idea of flirting was daring a girl to stick her head in his tailpipe? God, Eddie did not miss dating.

Buck rolled his eyes then rolled under the truck, wordlessly sticking out his hand for a measuring tape Bobby gave him, while Chim and Hen worked to assess the girl.

“How’d she get those bruises on her arm?” Bobby asked, his tone low and dangerous.

“It wasn’t me!” the alpha protested.

Her friends explained how she’d been riding the mechanical bull, but Eddie’s eyes lingered on Bobby. For all ‘protectiveness’ was supposed to be an alpha trait, he’d met very few alphas who demonstrated it, apart from Buck. Seems like the adoptive apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

“TSA 230 saw should do the trick,” Bobby assessed once Buck rolled out.

“Oh yeah, like a knife through butter,” Buck agreed, a twinkle in his eye. He looked over at Eddie with a hint of a smile on his face.

‘See?’ the expression said. ‘Fun!’

While Bobby put on his turnout coat and helmet, ready to go in with the saw, one of the drunk girls, a pretty beta, stepped up to Buck.

“Type your number in my phone and I’ll text you so you have mine,” she instructed with a smirk.

“Thanks, but I’m not available. And I need to focus right now so my captain doesn’t cut your friend’s head off.”

Eddie prickled. He knew Buck was gorgeous, but they hadn’t even finished the task at hand and the girls were all over him. He was glad he lied about being available though – Eddie had no interest in watching Buck flirt with someone el– with anyone, and certainly didn’t want to have a conversation about who Buck could bring home to his own house while Christopher was there.

The tailpipe owning alpha skirted around the truck with his hands on his head, far more stressed about the damage about to be done to his truck than anything else. He passed by Eddie and he heard him sniff loudly.

“Oh, hey.”

Eddie resisted the urge to roll his eyes, staying focused on the 118’s movements.

“That’s my truck,” he said dumbly.

“I heard.”

“She’s my girl: 6.2L V8, custom light bars, full leather interior. Added Fox shocks for the suspension so she can take a rocking and pounding and still ride like a cloud,” the alpha bragged, stepping closer to Eddie.

Now Eddie did roll his eyes.

“Not interested, man.”

“C’mon baby, let me take you for a ride after this. You’ll love it –”

The alpha ran his hand down Eddie’s lower back, intent on reaching his ass. Eddie spun to shake off the alpha’s hand and pin him with a dangerous look.

He didn’t want to lose his shit in front of all Buck’s coworkers and cause a scene within a scene that would have the police called, but if this asshole touched him again, he’d break his teeth.

“Alright, back to the car, say your goodbyes to your ‘custom’ crap before we cut it off.”

Chim was there, waving away the alpha and lingered between him and Eddie until he refocused on his ugly truck.

“Sorry,” Eddie said lowly.

Chim looked at him in surprise.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” he shrugged, and waved back a few of the tipsier customers who were trying to get a better look.

The saw started up and Eddie held his breath, though he was sure Bobby had a steady hand.

Buck, Chim and Hen pulled the girl back, easing her up with the sawn-off black pipe still obscuring her face.

“Gonna need some lube,” Buck said, which did not cause Eddie’s brain to stutter.

“I have some!” one of the girls called out, starting to dig in her purse.

“Eddie, right side pocket,” Hen instructed, nodding at the paramedic bag they’d placed on the ground nearby.

Eddie tossed the bottle to Buck and he poured it in generously, which let Hen and Chim ease the pipe off the girls’ head.

A murmur of relief and scattered applause broke out as her soot-covered face was revealed. She looked up at her rescuers and said:

“Wow. You really are hot.”

Jesus.

While Bobby and Hen gave the girl and her friends a spiel about going home, sobering up and heading to the hospital if she had any symptoms, Eddie glanced at Buck.

“Condolences on your truck,” Buck sneered, shoving the remains of the tailpipe a bit too roughly into the hands of the sleezy alpha watching on in horror.

Eddie ducked his head to hide his smile.

“Do you guys usually get that kind of… attention at scenes?” Eddie asked as they headed back to their vehicles, carrying the wooden blocks once more.  

“The ladies love a man in uniform,” Chim bragged, puffing out his chest.

“Especially tall, blonde alphas in uniform,” Hen said, her eyes twinkling. “Sometimes we send Buck in as bait, just to draw the spectators out.”

“Really?” Eddie asked idly. So, it was very common. Eddie didn’t want to know how often Buck accepted the offers of phone numbers or other gestures of gratitude.

“Yeah. But it’s the damnedest thing – he’s been shutting everyone down left and right for the past couple of months,” Hen added.

“I guess if Buck’s preoccupied, that I, as the next most attractive single man, will have to volunteer for distraction duty,” Chim added.

Eddie knew what they were doing. But dammit, it still made him feel better.

***

Buck volunteered Eddie to help him clean the engine, which he was happy to do. As they worked side by side, they brushed elbows and chatted.

“I can see why you like it here so much,” Eddie offered, buffing out water streaks from Buck’s sponge.

“Best job I ever had,” Buck replied.

“It’s not just a job though, is it?”

Buck nodded bashfully.

“I’ve never really done anything like, important before this. And I don’t have a lot of family, just my sister who… anyway, she’s not around. So I’m pretty lucky to have the 118.”

Eddie hummed in agreement.

“I miss that, about the Army. The brotherhood,” he admitted.

There’d been plenty of alpha jerks, for sure, but most of his unit were great. He thought about them a lot when he was kidnapped, but hadn’t reached out to them.

Buck looked at him pensively, dropping his hand holding the soapy sponge.  

“You know, Eddie…”

The alarm went off and Eddie jumped.

“We’re up!”

The call was to a residential neighbourhood, to a man who had an accident with a –

“Did you say grenade?!”

Buck looked both horrified and intrigued as Bobby relayed the story from the 9-1-1 responder.

“A practice round from a grenade launcher, he said. It’s embedded in his leg. Because there may be live munitions, protocol is for a minimal team to assess before transport. Buck, you’re coming in with me, everyone else is outside, clear?” Bobby asked.

Which especially meant Eddie, as a civilian.

Eddie’s stomach went into knots as soon as Buck disappeared into the front door. Today had been fun, but also eye-opening in terrible ways.

He’d known theoretically that Buck was potentially in danger every day he went to work, at fires, accident scenes and more. He’d heard enough toe-curling stories to be worried, as well as entertained.

But seeing it in action and not being able to follow, was horrible.

Eddie wasn’t used to being the one left at home, worrying. Maybe he owed his mother and ex-girlfriend an apology, for signing up to the Army. You know, if he ever spoke to either again.

Not too long later, Hen and Chim got the go ahead to take in a stretcher, and they emerged a few minutes later with a man about 60 years old with a tourniquet around his upper thigh.

“… was a medic in the Army, ok if he rides along?” Bobby was asking as they wheeled the patient along.

“Go for it,” the gruff man said.

“Eddie, do you mind?”

“Course not, he’s not squeamish,” Buck answered for him with a grin. It was true, blood and guts never bothered him.

“Sure Cap.”

Hen was leading treatment and climbed in first, packing on dressing. Buck followed and Eddie rounded out the team

“How you feeling, Charlie?” Hen asked as she hung some fluids.

“Stupid.”

“I think she’s offering you some of the good stuff Charlie, for the pain,” Buck offered with a grin.

“Won’t say no to that.”

Buck moved some of the soaked-through dressing, reaching for some fresh materials while Eddie shone a torch on the gruesome wound.

“You see a lot of shrapnel wounds?” Buck asked Eddie.

“Yeah, my share –”

Eddie cut off, staring at the wound.

“I thought you said this was a practice round?”

“It is,” Charlie said.

“Practice rounds have blue caps. Gold caps are live!”

All three looked at him in shock.

“PULL OVER!” Eddie yelled.

Buck and Hen joined him, banging on the window separating them and Chim driving the ambulance until they came to a stop.

Hen hung a bag of blood for Charlie and they all gathered outside the ambulance. Bobby was already on the radio requesting the bomb squad.

Only, once they got there, Eddie had to explain to everyone that the round was fitted with a proximity fuse and if it turned enough to sense that it had travelled far enough, it would explode and take Charlie and whoever was with him, with it.

But the bomb squad wanted to wait for the military.

“He doesn’t have an hour to wait,” Buck protested.

“I’m familiar with the ordinance –” Eddie started.

“No!” Bobby and Buck shouted in sync.

“Eddie, there’s no way I can let you back in there.”

“I’ll go,” Buck readily volunteered, and Eddie wanted to shout ‘no!’ right back in his face.

Chim groaned. “Well, shit. I have the ‘steady hands’, I’ll go with him.”

Both men were fitted with a kevlar padded vest by the bomb squad, which Eddie knew would do jack shit that close to a detonation.

“Hen, quick, take a photo,” Chim urged as they finished strapping him in.

“Chim! Jesus.”

“What? This goes wrong, I want proof that I was kick-ass brave enough to try and remove a live grenade round from a man’s leg,” Chim protested.

Buck listened wide-eyed and turned to Eddie with puppy dog eyes.

“Eds?”

“Is this really a moment you want immortalised?” Eddie asked incredulously.

“Kinda, yeah.”

God, if the last thing he ever said to Buck was that he was an idiot and Eddie wasn’t taking a picture of him, he’d regret it. So Eddie quickly pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of them both.

The bomb squad captain returned to hand Buck a reinforced box to drop – “no, place very, very gently and without turning” – the shell into.

Buck and Chim headed to the ambulance and Bobby pulled Eddie and Hen back to the line the bomb squad said was minimal safe distance.

Eddie paced and flexed his hands agitatedly as they waited for radio confirmation, every minute dragging on for an eternity.

But at least there wasn’t an explosion.

Finally, finally, Bobby’s radio crackled.

“On our way out Cap,” came Chim’s voice on the radio.

But Eddie wouldn’t relax until they were at least 20 feet away.

They wheeled out Charlie on the gurney, heavily sedated, and handed him off to another waiting ambulance.

“Thank God,” Eddie muttered, finally breathing again, and heard a similar exclamation from Hen.

“Piece of cake,” Buck announced, joining them.

“I was never really worried,” Chim added nonchalantly. “When you’ve got skill on your side, death dares not touch you.”

Bobby patted them both on the back.

“Good work guys, I’m glad you both made it out of there,” he said.

“Maybe we should add bomb disposal to our service offering Cap,” Buck teased, for Bobby to roll his eyes.

Suddenly, without any warning, the ambulance exploded with an almighty boom and rain of broken glass.

All five of them looked back at the remains of the ambulance with horror.

“What the fuck!” Chim squawked after a beat.

“Let’s not add bomb disposal to the resume,” Hen said slowly, and they all nodded in agreement.

“And let’s thank our lucky stars that Buck brought Eddie in today,” Bobby added, clasping him on the shoulder. “Great work.”

“Yeah Diaz, feel free to tag along any time,” Chim said, still a little faint.

“Thank God for you, Eddie,” Hen added with a soft smile, squeezing his shoulder as she followed the others.

Buck closed the distance between them, still wearing his chunky bomb squad vest.

“You saved the day,” he beamed at Eddie. “And I’m the genius that made sure you were here to do it.”

Eddie snorted.

“Congrats Buck, you did it,” Eddie said, slapping him on the back then using his hand to steer him back over to the bomb squad to get him un-strapped so they could head back to the station. Plus, keeping a hold of Buck helped Eddie feel more confident on his slightly weak knees.

If Eddie hadn’t been there… if they hadn’t known…

Would it have gone off in the ambulance, killing Buck, Chim and Hen? Or in the hospital, in surgery, taking out a whole room of doctors and nurses and maybe even the whole floor or wing if it ignited oxygen lines or cracked the foundations?

He wouldn’t tell Buck, but he’d leave this innocent little ride-along shift with a whole host of new issues about Buck’s safety and how Eddie couldn’t have his back, not where he needed it.

***

The team piled upstairs to the loft, the mood oddly charged after the close call and subsequent adrenaline rush.

“Cap makes the best post-bad-call smoothies,” Buck told him as Bobby headed straight for the kitchen.

“What’s in a bad-call-smoothie’?” Eddie asked.

“Complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, magnesium and omega-3s,” Bobby called out.

“It’s a chocolate banana smoothie,” Buck clarified.

“You want cinnamon in yours Eddie?” Bobby asked.

“Ah, I actually have to get going in a minute to pick up Chris.”

“I’ll do yours first then, in a to-go cup. Why don’t you give me a hand?”

Eddie wasn’t sure how much help Bobby needed with a smoothie from a man he just met, but he complied, Buck giving him an encouraging pat and heading to the couches with the others.

“You were great today,” Bobby said, putting a bunch of bananas in front of him to peel. “Have you given any thought to going to the fire academy?”

Eddie froze mid-peel.

“I… I hadn’t even considered it,” Eddie stuttered.

“You should give it some thought. You’ve got the background, the skill and the temperament,” Bobby said confidently.

He did?

He supposed the transition from Army to firefighter was probably not uncommon. It would take several months of training, and he’d have to think about Chris – what would he do for childcare if he was on 24 hour shifts three days a week?

“Just think about it. If you feel it’s the right move for you, I’d love to have you on the team.”

Was Eddie being headhunted?

Bobby knew he was an omega. He was still asking him to consider joining.

“I will definitely give it some thought. Thanks Bobby.”

Chapter Text

“I miss sex.”

It had taken Eddie an hour to work up the courage to say something, and that was the best he could come up with.

Buck choked on his beer.

Living together for three months and they’d only skirted around discussion of sex and dating with a couple of allusions to Buck’s past. Eddie was pretty sure Buck steered clear of it for fear of upsetting Eddie, but really, sex and relationships felt far removed from his ordeal. That was about power and abuse, using his omega body, sure, but not…

Well, not what he imagined with Buck.

It was entirely possible Buck wouldn’t want the baggage, or to rock the boat of sleeping with a roommate, but Eddie wanted to… check, anyway.  

It was a recent epiphany. Not Buck’s appeal as an alpha, but the craving for Eddie’s body to be his own again. To control it, to do everything a healthy omega in his late 20s could be doing. Not just exercise, not just work, not just rubbing one out in the shower – sex.

Eddie wasn’t allowed on birth control to supress his cycle until the doctor signed it off, and Buck had thoroughly worked under Eddie’s defences. The combination of trust, attraction and regular heats was sending all sorts of signals to Eddie’s brain, his dick and his ass.

“Yeah?” Buck asked once he finished coughing, voice higher than usual.

“Sure. I mean, it feels good. Beats the hell out of riding out a heat without, you know.”

Buck had known as soon as Eddie did that he was heading into another heat, could probably smell the slick gathering as they spoke.

Buck carefully put his bottle down on the coffee table while Eddie clung to his, nervously rolling it in his palms.

“You... spend your heats with someone before?”

Eddie shrugged.

“Had an ex-girlfriend, a beta. She uh… we spent a couple of heats together, before I enlisted.”

Shannon had liked the idea of a wild sex weekend, and he had too. Of course, it ended up being on a weekday and while the sex felt good, fucking her hadn’t abated the worst of his symptoms.

She’d been the one to suggest pegging. He’d been reluctant – after all, dating a woman was supposed to prove that he was straight – but he went with it.

He’d never cum harder, before or since. He’d been jelly-legged and crying by the time they were finished.

He always, very privately, thought he’d try it again, once he was discharged. Not in El Paso, but if he ever left…

“No alphas?” Buck asked, surprised, then immediately bit his lip.

“Nope,” Eddie popped the ‘p’.

“Are you… I just want to be very clear. Are you asking if I’ll have sex with you?” Buck asked sombrely.

Not exactly romantic or a frenzy of passion.

“You interested?” Eddie batted back.

Immediately, Eddie could smell a wave of pheromones that said Buck was very interested.

“I’m…” Buck thought hard, running his palms up and down his thighs nervously. “I’m more interested in being your friend and making sure you feel safe here.”

Eddie huffed a little laugh.

“Yeah, that’s kind of why I’m asking you.”

Buck tilted his head and Eddie wanted to kiss him.

“I’m... not totally sure I can do this. I know I want to, but…” Eddie shrugged, leaving the obvious ‘why’ unsaid and avoiding mentioning the years of repression and homophobia that ruled his youth.

“So, I get it if you want to say no, if it’s too much to ask. I just… I know you’ll stop, if I want to stop.”

“Of course I will, Eds,” Buck said earnestly.

“Plus, you are stupid sexy and I’m pretty sick of sitting next to you, getting wet and not doing anything about it,” Eddie said, feeling his cheeks heat further at his own daring.

“Jesus,” Buck guffawed, running a hand over his face but grinning.

Buck looked at him for a minute. “What’s on the table here?”

Eddie frowned. What, did he want a full game plan?

“Like, are you ok with kissing?”

“Uh, yeah,” Eddie said, glancing at Buck’s lips. “Very.”

The alpha smirked.

“Anywhere you don’t want me to touch you?”

“Can’t think of any,” Eddie said, voice a little raspier.

“You want me to penetrate you?”

Eddie could feel his cheeks grow hotter and knew he’d be bright red.

He suspected what his answer would be if he wasn’t in heat. But as it was, he was so fucking horny and had denied himself the one thing his body wanted, for so long…

He nodded.

“Knot you?”

He nodded jerkily again.

“Any positions not ok?”

“I…”

Eddie frowned. He wanted to see Buck, for his own enjoyment, but also for… security? Was that the best way to put it?

“Um, not from behind,” Eddie murmured. “And ah, don’t pin me down or anything.”

“Sure. How about I let you drive, yeah? I’ll only do what you want me to do,” Buck soothed.

Eddie nodded, the tightness in his belly relaxing a little.

“You know, I have some toys here, in the closet. If you prefer, we can just use those?”

Eddie raised his eyebrows. “Toys?”

Buck chuckled. “Not the type for a four-year-old. But some of them do come with batteries, if that does anything for you?”

Eddie huffed another laugh. “Weirdly, that might be more confronting than a real dick with a knot.”

“Ok, I get that. But we’ll stop or take a break any time you want to.”

“Got it. Did you want to talk about it some more, or do you want to go to your room before I ruin my pants?”

It was all very sweet, but Eddie was a little frustrated – with Buck and himself. He was a grown man, not a scared virgin.

Buck swore and stood up, offering a hand to Eddie. His eyes lingered for a minute on the bulge in his pants before he took Eddie’s hand and followed his hurried pace to his bedroom.

“We have to be quiet,” he reminded Buck nervously as the door clicked shut. He didn’t want Chris wandering out of bed to check on the animal noises that were coming from inside the apartment.

Eddie glanced at the double bed. Buck probably had to sleep diagonal to fit his whole form on that mattress, while he and Chris luxuriated in Buck’s king-size bed.

When he looked back at Buck, the alpha was closer. Buck raised a hand to stroke Eddie’s cheek and leaned in slowly, plenty of time for Eddie to reject him.

Eddie closed the distance and pressed his lips against Buck’s.

The heat-addled part of Eddie’s brain wanted the kiss to be open-mouthed, wet and thorough, but Buck kept the press and slide of his lips light and sweet. The kind of gentle first kiss that you might have at the end of a first date on a doorstep. Eddie’s bottom lip slid between Buck’s lips and he felt the trace of Buck’s stubble against his top lip. The feeling made him shiver.

A part of him thought this might be where he withdrew – that it was one thing for his biology to crave a man and an alpha, and another to admire how handsome and appealing Buck was. But maybe the reality of actually kissing a man, being pressed against one in more than a fleeting hug, might send Eddie fleeing for hetero safety and confirm his parents’ wishes that despite the fluke of him being an omega, he wasn’t gay.

Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

In fact, based on this single moment, stacked up against every other romantic experience Eddie had? He was super gay.

Eddie’s hands trailed down Buck’s chest and bunched in the material, tugging it up.

Buck exhaled against his mouth then stepped back, quickly shucking his t-shirt.

Buck was built, dusted with chest hair and tattoos. Every curve and angle of him was perfectly sculpted, the corded muscle Eddie could feel in his biceps – when did he reach out to squeeze them?! – made to protect and save lives.

He tugged at the hem of Eddie’s shirt, silently asking for Eddie to return the favour.

Eddie blinked, having been distracted by the view and the heady scent of Buck’s uncovered skin, but now he took off his shirt.

Buck breathed out, shuffled a little closer and –

Dropped to his knees.

Eddie let out a short gasp, surprised.

“This ok?” Buck asked, fingertips trailing up Eddie’s thighs.

“Jesus, yeah. But you don’t have to….” Eddie waved over Buck’s head and Eddie’s lap.

“You can cum a few times, can’t you?” Buck asked.

Eddie nodded. Omegas were uh, resilient. Especially during heat.

“Then why don’t you start by cumming down my throat, and then we can get you set up on my dick. How’s that sound?”

Eddie was bright red and struck dumb. His dick went from ‘very interested’ to ‘now now now’ and he felt the wetness between his cheeks grow.

He made a rough sound of agreement and Buck smiled up at him, guiding him gently by his hips so the back of his thighs were against the bed. Buck undid the button and fly on his jeans before he pulled them down and Eddie plonked on the bed gracelessly.

Buck took the time to strip his pants and boxers off his ankles and cast them away onto the floor of his room, before he shuffled forward between Eddie’s spread legs and ducked his head into Eddie’s lap.

He heard the deep inhales Buck was taking and a squirming twist of embarrassment and excitement curled in his stomach. Eddie raised a lightly trembling hand and slipped it into Buck’s hair.

The alpha hummed at the feel and drew back, taking a firm hold of Eddie’s cock and before Eddie could finish drawing in a deep breath, he’d ducked his head to suck the tip into his mouth.  

It was Eddie making too much noise. He bit his lip and tried to quiet himself, but the wet heat and suction made it hard.

He’d had a few inexpert blowjobs in his youth, plus a couple of hookups, but nothing even came close to the feel of Buck’s mouth. He wasn’t just bobbing up and down on Eddie’s cock, he was applying a layered strategy designed to drive Eddie insane.

His tongue lathed the underside, flicking at his frenulum, the soft walls of his cheeks sucked and rubbed along his shaft. He ducked further down with every movement, taking Eddie’s cock deeper, and happy, rumbling sounds from Buck’s throat teased the sensitive flesh.

Eddie didn’t think alphas did stuff like this. At least, not to men. As far as he was aware, ‘acts of service’ like this weren’t considered to be necessary, not when you had a big, hard dick to get places.

But Buck clearly loved it. He couldn’t act this way, smell this way, unless it was true. One hand was clutching at Eddie’s hip, the other working the base of his cock that Buck’s mouth couldn’t reach. But…

“Oh, shit,” Eddie hissed as Buck moved his hand, wet from drool leaking out of his mouth, and took more of his length down his throat.

Eddie went cross-eyed as he felt the rippling clutch of Buck’s throat swallowing around him, the wet gluck sounds of Buck glugging down his cock making his toes curl.

Fuck, he really meant it when he said he could cum down Buck’s throat. Eddie could go off right now and he didn’t think Buck would even taste it, buried as far down as he was.

Buck pulled off with a groan, hand quickly coming up to strip Eddie’s flushed, wet length.

“You can cum whenever you want,” Buck said, panting and looking at Eddie with blown-out eyes before he spat on the already soaked prick and swallowed it back down, fucking his own throat with Eddie’s dick.

Eddie was gasping for air now too. He leaned back and slightly to the side to get a better view, and –

“Fuck!”

Buck’s pink lips were swollen and stretched so wide around his shiny length going in and out. Buck had his eyes shut and brows furrowed but it was such a look of ecstasy Eddie swore his heart stopped beating in his chest.

“Buck,” he whispered. Eddie’s hand tightened in his hair and he hoped the alpha took it as the warning it was supposed to be, despite the low wheeze at which it had been delivered.

Buck moaned in acknowledgement and forced himself right down to the root as Eddie exploded.

Eddie’s eyes rolled back in his head as he came helplessly, exactly as the alpha had offered, the clench of Buck’s contracting throat making him want to scream. Eddie curled over Buck’s head, unintentionally holding him down as his balls emptied into Buck’s wet warmth.

He let go with a gasp, leaning back to let Buck up.

“Jesus, Dios…” Eddie panted as Buck pulled off, a mess of drool and probably some of Eddie’s cum stretching between his mouth and Eddie’s dick.

“What the fuck happened to your gag reflex?” he asked.

Buck shrugged, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Trained myself out of it, it just got in the way.”

Eddie laughed lowly, which turned into a groan as the heady scent of aroused alpha rose and threatened to overwhelm him in the best possible way.

His hole clenched on nothing, painfully, and Eddie hissed.

“Buck, need it,” he said as Buck’s warm hand pressed against his abs which were threatening to cramp. This was what he’d discovered in trying to share his heat with Shannon – the better their activities were, the worse his ass ached for what his omega wanted: to be filled and bred.

“I know baby, I know. Can I stretch you?”

Eddie lay back with a shiver, shamelessly spreading (ok, with a little shame) his legs for Buck to get at his entrance. After a moment, he felt his cheeks being pushed apart and a finger traced across his wet rim.

Buck was eye-fucking-level with it, still kneeling next to the bed. In equal parts, it made Eddie want to slam his legs shut in embarrassment and tilt his hips up to present to the alpha. But mostly, he was relieved that he still had the upper ground, even prone as he was, that the alpha wasn’t looming over him.

“Fuck, Eds,” Buck breathed as his finger slipped through the tacky wetness that had been steadily leaking out of him. With a punched out breath, one long finger pushed inside.

Eddie clenched on it greedily, the persistent ache already receding.

“Can you, hold your leg for me?” Buck asked, pushing Eddie’s leg up a bit.

Eddie swallowed and shakily pulled his knee up, as guided, giving Buck easier access.

“Perfect, that’s… God, perfect baby,” Buck gushed quietly.

Buck pressed another finger inside him and his body gave easy entrance, perhaps sensing this was what he needed. They moved smoothly, scissoring gently to stretch him wider. Then, with an expert crook, Buck was rubbing over Eddie’s prostate.

A wordless moan was wrenched out of him, and Eddie cut it off quickly.

“No- let me know what feels good Eds, and I’ll keep doing it,” Buck encouraged, massaging over the little bump. “Want you to feel so good, sweetheart.”

Eddie let out a shuddering breath and a weak agreement, followed by another little moan as Buck tested his commitment with a strategic stroke.

The scent of Buck was woven into his bedding, so whichever way Eddie turned his head, he was breathing it in. How could something be so grounding, yet make him feel like floating?

“I’m ready Buck,” he slurred, hearing Buck groan in response.

“Just… let me, one more. I’m kinda big, Eds, I don’t want to hurt you,” Buck pleaded.

A third finger probed at his entrance and Eddie felt truly stretched now, though it still felt more like relief than pain.

Slick sounds echoed in the room as Buck pressed in and out, pumping faster while Eddie gasped. Eddie’s hand, previously clutching at the bedding, went to his cock that was hard and leaking, despite his orgasm not five minutes ago. He tugged on it for relief.

“Can I?” Buck asked roughly. Eddie glanced down to find him still on his knees, hungrily eyeing Eddie’s cock. Buck didn’t move to act, waiting for Eddie’s permission.

Eddie reached down to grab at Buck’s hair, firmly but hopefully not painfully, and pulled him up a foot towards his cock.

Buck went with a groan, sucking the head and moaning softly as Eddie’s hips hitched up, pushing more of his length into Buck’s mouth.

God, Buck would let him do this, drag him onto Eddie’s cock and fuck his mouth until he –

SHIT!

It was even better cumming with three fingers to clench down on. Eddie’s thighs flexed, closing around Buck’s ears. Buck stayed exactly where Eddie had moved him, sucking on his mouthful lightly until Eddie’s legs relaxed and his grip eased into petting.

Buck leaned back with a wet pop, sitting back on his haunches, fingers still deep in Eddie.

“How’re you feeling?” Buck asked.

“Fucking amazing,” Eddie panted at the ceiling.

“Is it… did you want to stop here?”

Buck would stop here, having given Eddie perhaps the two best orgasms of his life. He could picture the alpha helping him up and even to the bathroom to shower, sporting his own erection and no satisfaction.

It made his chest rumble with a purr.

No. Eddie wasn’t leaving his alpha unsatisfied. He was going to take his knot.

But his limbs needed some convincing to cooperate.

Like he was moving through a pool of molasses, Eddie pulled himself to sitting.

“Get on the bed Buck.”

Eddie would have to offer to do Buck’s laundry tomorrow, he was definitely leaving fluids behind.

Buck scrambled to obey, grabbing a condom from his bedside drawer and shedding his boxers as he moved.

Eddie watched as Buck lay on his back, taking in his whole form laid out for Eddie’s pleasure, including his –

“You’re fucking huge,” Eddie groaned, reaching out with a level of boldness and desire that took him by surprise. His fist closed (barely) around Buck’s throbbing length, flushed and generously weeping precum from the perfectly round tip. God, he felt drunk with wanting, and thank God, because his sober, non-heat-addled brain would probably go into panic at the idea of wanting this thing in him, let alone the act of taking it.

Right now, it looked fucking perfect for what he needed.

Buck whimpered and Eddie hungrily took in the way his abs tensed and his cock twitched as Eddie rubbed up and down, spreading the clear, goddamn delicious smelling liquid down the hard shaft.

With slightly shaking hands, Buck brought the foil packet to his mouth to tear open.

Eddie bit his lip and eyed the condom resentfully. He didn’t want it. He wanted Buck bare, for his essence to spill into him and make him smell like the alpha, to soothe the heat in his body from the inside.

But Eddie wasn’t on birth control, and the last thing they all needed right now was a baby.

He reluctantly released Buck’s dick so the alpha could stretch the condom over his warm skin, settling behind the slightly swollen base. Eddie supressed the strange urge to lick his palm, instead rubbing what was left of Buck’s precum onto his own cock.

Then Buck raised his arms above his head, biceps bulging as he gripped the pillow under his head.

“You set the pace. I won’t touch you unless you ask me to,” Buck promised.

Eddie believed him. He felt a lump in his throat; Buck was being so careful, would do anything he asked to make sure Eddie felt safe and in control.

He was silent for long enough that Buck frowned.

“Or you could tie me up if you want?”

Eddie shook his head slowly and swallowed heavily.

“No,” he said roughly. “I know… I know you’ll be good for me, you’ll stay right there.”

He wasn’t sure what came over him, but the way Buck’s eyes darkened and his chest heaved told Eddie that he liked it.

Eddie climbed over Buck carefully, settling one leg either side of his hips, trailing his eyes over his perfectly sculpted body to land on his latex covered cock. A nervous flutter filled his stomach.

Just… there was no denying. It would be super gay to ride it, and every bit of omega cliché to want it, to like how much it would stretch him open.

Eddie pressed his lips together tightly and silently resolved to stop worrying about it. He didn’t want to make choices based on what he feared someone else might think of him. His parents weren’t there to criticise him (thank God), Army alphas who thought this was all he was good for were long scattered and far away from him.

He wanted it – who could possibly see Buck like this and not want it – and it was being offered freely. Eddie would take it.

Eddie slid decisively up, though the butterflies remained, and reached back to once again firmly grasp Buck’s erection.

Buck hissed, his eyes heavy-lidded as he looked down. He could probably see where he was holding him from between Eddie’s thighs. The scent of Buck’s arousal was heavy in the air, filling all the space in the smaller bedroom. He breathed it in deeply; it made his thighs quake.

He hadn’t done this before, guided a hard cock into his sopping-wet entrance, but it was a pretty simple ‘rod A’ goes into ‘slot B’ scenario. So Eddie trailed his fingers up – and up and up – to the tip of Buck’s achingly hard cock to move him into place.

Buck breathed out roughly, with a low curse, as Eddie pushed his tip between his cheeks and pressed it against the clenching ring of muscle.

Eddie tilted his head. He could feel the heat of Buck’s hardness, but how much more would he love it if they could feel this happen without a condom. Eddie dragged the head over his hole, trying to find the best angle.

“Please,” Buck choked out before biting his lip.

A wave of arousal hit Eddie in the stomach like a punch.

Eddie felt powerful.

Not in the way he did when he won a fight, when he drew blood and sent men fleeing, scared. But in a whole new way, a way he’d never felt before.

The head of Buck’s cock caught on his rim and Eddie looked intensely into Buck’s desperate eyes as he started to sink down on it, bearing down to pull in a couple of inches.

It went with a little resistance, but no pain, not like his past told him to fear. A stretch though, certainly. He wouldn’t be bouncing on it like a rodeo star, not without more practice.

Buck was biting his lip savagely. He wanted to soothe it, rescue his abused lip and maybe kiss it better, but one of his hands was still holding the base of Buck’s dick and the other was braced on Buck’s clenching stomach.

Eddie rocked up a little and further down in micro movements, taking more of Buck’s cock inside. He felt full already, but he was still holding part of Buck’s length in his hand. God, he might not be able to take it all. But he had to, he had to take Buck’s knot, had to know what it felt like.

His body was made for this. He would have room, even if it meant the tip was in his guts.

He worked himself down, breathing deeply through the intensity of the sensation which only filled his senses more with Buck’s rich, safe scent. He had enough of Buck inside him to let go of his dick and lean forward, bracing both hands on Buck’s hard abs. The angle lit him up on the inside and he moaned.

Eddie felt dazed, almost like he was high, but through his slightly blurring gaze he saw Buck twist his head so the tendons in his neck stretched and his face was pressed into his pillow, muffling his own sounds.

“Holy shit Eds, holy… fuck…” Eddie could make out the muffled words, and he clumsily flexed on his cock, wanting more of those choked out sounds of awe.

It earned him a rough groan and another inch. Eddie slid his hand up Buck’s chest, stopping over his full pec and hammering heart

“I’ve almost got it all,” he said in a strained whisper.

Buck let out a hunghf sound and his arms jerked around his pillow, muscles straining even more.

“Yeah, you’re taking it so well sweetheart, you’re almost there,” Buck gushed breathlessly. “You feel so fucking good. You’re unbelievable, doing so good.”

Buck’s words warmed him from the inside, curling around his heart and his stomach. He looked down at Buck under him, with his shiny eyes and open mouth, panting. Eddie smiled.

“Mmm, so’re you,” he replied, slightly slurred. “Being so good to me, letting me take my time.”

Buck let out a high, contented sigh, like that was all he wanted to hear.

Finally, Eddie eased back and found himself fully seated on Buck’s lap. He was full, it was perfect and exactly what he needed. The persistent itch and aching hunger that plagued his heats was blissfully quiet, replaced by the contended thrumming of his nerves dancing and pulsing around Buck’s prick.

Buck’s nostrils flared as he took Eddie in. He knew pleased omega pheromones would be liberally pouring off him, though his senses were far more preoccupied with Buck’s answering scent. God, they’d have to air out the whole house (unfortunately).

After a moment, Eddie gave a little, experimental roll of his hips. The movement brushed the hard length against his prostate and made him gasp and clench, and made Buck’s eyes roll into the back of his head,

Eddie’s eyes fixated on Buck’s open face like a laser beam, and he waited for the alpha to blink and take a shuddering breath before he lifted up a little and ground back down, flexing his thighs. Eddie’s mouth watered as he watched the sweat start to beat on Buck’s forehead and chest, while the alpha just continued to hold his pillow for dear life, not daring to let go.

He shouldn’t treat it like a dare, Buck was being so respectful and thoughtful… but the mean side of Eddie, made partly of the distrustful man kept captive by alphas and partly of the omega who wanted Buck to prove himself worthy of what he was being given, wanted to test Buck.

And do it before Eddie was stuck on his knot.

Eddie rocked forward suddenly to lick Buck’s clavicle, where the skin shone with sweat, and tweaked his pebbled nipples a bit meanly.

Buck swore and his hips jerked up, but his hands didn’t move.

“You sure you want to keep wearing the condom?” Eddie asked against Buck’s skin, licking up his throat. He knew logically that you couldn’t actually taste pheromones, it was his brain receiving the stimulus and interpreting it as smell, but he still felt like he could taste the earthy, rich taste of Buck’s arousal on his tongue.

“I bet it would feel even better without it.”

“Eddie,” Buck whined pathetically. “We- we have to, baby, I’m sorry…”

He tilted his head to give Eddie better access to his throat. Eddie wondered if he’d do that if he knew how Eddie had torn through flesh with his teeth before.

Eddie rocked back, sinking down onto the bare inches around Buck’s swelling knot once more, enjoying the way the slightly distended flesh felt stretching him, loosening the muscles that had been too-tight, painfully so.

His own erection leaked precum, a drop landing on Buck’s abdomen as he moved. Buck’s eyes traced the spot hungrily and his arms flexed around his pillow.

Eddie took hold of himself, shivering with the feeling. He spread his slick down from his slit as Buck watched.

The alpha licked his lips.

How had he never imagined the power, the pleasure, of having a man like Buck under him, looking up at him with such reverence, willing to do whatever Eddie told him to?

“You’d let me, wouldn’t you?” Eddie asked, swivelling his hips. “Let me just use you like this?”

Every slight movement rubbed subtly against his prostate, sending sparks up his spine and down to his toes. A few more gentle rocks and tugs on his cock, and Eddie could make himself cum.

“I could just jerk myself off on you like this…” he half-threatened, directing his cock so the flushed, weeping slit was pointed at Buck’s chest.

Buck nodded frantically, wetting his lips again.

“You can, you can do whatever you want,” Buck urged.

“Mmm…” Eddie hummed, grinding down so Buck bit his lip again. “But I want your knot too.”

“Yes, I – I’m about to pop a knot in like ten seconds sweetheart, if you just keep making yourself feel good…” Buck gasped.

This was working for Buck as much as it was working for Eddie.

A tension coiled in his chest loosened, making him soften – not his cock, no, that was moments away from going off.

He let it go.

Eddie slid forward again, laid across Buck’s chest even though it cost him precious inches of Buck’s cock. He tilted Buck’s chin down and kissed him.

The alpha responded enthusiastically, opening his mouth for Eddie’s tongue. He made it wet and deep, knowing Buck wouldn’t mind a bit of mess and definitely wouldn’t mind Eddie mapping out and claiming his mouth.

Eddie wanted Buck’s arms to wrap around him, but he loved that they didn’t, that the alpha kept holding back for Eddie, just like he said he would.

He let go of Buck’s lips with a wet smack and buried his mouth in Buck’s throat once more, where his scent was strongest. Buck moaned softly, wantonly.

He licked and let his teeth graze the skin. Buck tasted so good, like excitement and happiness and safety… Eddie thought perhaps he could stay like this for hours.

Eddie contracted his inner muscles, musing on how long he could comfortably stay like this, legs bent and cock trapped between their bodies, only for Buck to let out a sound like a sob.

Poor alpha.

“Fuck me,” Eddie whispered hotly in Buck’s ear. “I wanna feel you move in me.”

Buck groaned brokenly and Eddie felt the mattress shift as Buck moved his legs, bracing his feet…

Then his hips started moving.

Eddie groaned right in Buck’s ear as his cock pushed deeper inside of him and dragged out again with no resistance and the sound of wet slapping. Eddie’s cheeks heated and he buried his mouth in Buck’s neck again.

He sucked on the patch of skin over Buck’s rapid pulse before rubbing his red cheeks over Buck’s skin, wanting to carry his scent with him once this was over.

Buck grunted and his hips picked up speed.

His cock was still rubbing Eddie’s prostate, the friction now making him gasp and sending him hurtling towards his orgasm.

“Ah, ah… baby, it’s… it’s coming…” Buck panted, his hips moving faster.

Content (for now) with the taste of Buck on his lips, Eddie sat up and sank down on Buck’s twitching hips and knot like a dream.

The bulging stretch was unbelievable. It made his cock kick against his stomach and forced a moan from his chest that he had to hastily muffle with a hand across his mouth.

“Christ, Eddie –” Buck hissed as his knot stretched to full size, plugging Eddie up so tightly that any more would be painful, and he started to cum.

Eddie grabbed his cock roughly with his spare hand, not even having to stroke it before it too was erupting.

Another too-loud groan was forced out, barely contained by his hand over his mouth, as he angled his cock to spurt over Buck’s stomach.

It was too much, a wild assault on his body as pleasure ripped through him, positively radiating from his entrance. Even the jerking of his cock couldn’t compare to the deeper, bone-rattling sensation of cumming on Buck’s knot.

Buck’s body jerked like a livewire under him. Eddie’s channel tightened enough that he could feel every unforgiving inch of Buck inside him, but no splash of his seed through the condom.

Eddie blinked down at the alpha below him, his vision hazy as he tried to focus.

Despite Eddie’s earlier climaxes, Buck’s stomach was still coated in a generous splash of Eddie’s cum. Like he was under a spell, Eddie slowly released his feebly twitching cock to spread his palm through the mess he’d made, rubbing it across Buck’s skin as though he could absorb it. Maybe not the fluid itself, but Eddie’s scent would be coating the alpha by now.

Buck whimpered and watched as Eddie smeared his spend around.

“Holy fucking shit Eds,” Buck panted, still watching Eddie’s hand. He licked his lips again.

Eddie leaned unsteadily forward, a gentle tug at his rim reminding him that Buck was buried to the root of his dick and Eddie wouldn’t be going anywhere for at least 15 minutes. But his arm could reach Buck’s face and he offered up his palm to his full mouth, and Buck got to work licking it clean with a grateful look.

“Jesus Buck…” he breathed. There was no tension left in his thighs, and he feared if he tried to move any more, his balance would falter. And Eddie’s body weight tipping over right now would be a painful experience for both of them.

“You can… You don’t have to stay like that anymore,” he said, nudging the back of his hand against Buck’s biceps that must be sore at this point, after all the straining.

Buck eased his arms down, moving slowly either because he was sore, to avoid spooking Eddie, or both. He hovered his hands tentatively over Eddie’s thighs, not touching until Eddie nodded. He still felt a little disoriented, like his brain was still coming back online, but the way Buck rubbed up and down the sides of his thighs, which would probably be sore tomorrow after so long cramped up, felt lovely.

“Guess I should have thought about this before we were tied together,” Eddie joked weakly, wiggling his hips a little.

Buck took in a choked gasp and his fists clenched against Eddie’s skin, and he felt the man shudder between his thighs and his erection kick inside him. Of course, Buck wasn’t done, he would cum again before his knot went down.

God, the condom must be so full…

Buck calmed again and his eyes opened, running from head to legs over Eddie.

“H-how are you feeling?” Buck managed, going back to massaging Eddie’s thighs.

“Good,” Eddie said. “Really good.”

It was the understatement of his life.

This was it. This was what heat and mating was all about. This was why omegas put up with bullshit alphas…

It was this feeling.

He was still buzzing with aftershocks from the most intense pleasure he’d ever experienced. It was healing, like all his worries, all his trauma, had dissipated, like he could float away. The perfect pressure of Buck’s swollen knot served as his only tether to the world.

No other sex he’d ever had, or imagined, compared. The only thing that came close was that one time with Shannon, but the hot, still-throbbing length inside him far outperformed the cool silicon she’d used.

The only issue now, was that he wanted nothing more than to faceplant back down into Buck and bury his face in his throat and breathe in his scent.

And maybe never stop.

Chapter Text

Eddie was being twitchy.

Buck had noticed it right away. He could admit that he spent a lot of time watching Eddie normally, but after last night…

Jesus, last night. His brain melted out of his goddamn ears.

Buck had never had sex before without touching his partner, but what he wanted more than anything else, more than the life-changing feeling of his knot slotting into place inside the omega, was for Eddie to feel safe.

And now, he thought maybe he’d fucked that up.

Eddie had wanted sex to soothe his heat, and maybe even out of a need for intimacy he’d been denied for so long.

But Buck was an alpha, and after Eddie’s experiences…

Buck had been too eager, too quick to jump at the opportunity. Blinded by Eddie’s scent and looks and personality and how much he really, really liked Eddie and how he wanted to be the one to give Eddie anything and everything he wanted.

Sure, Buck had checked in on what Eddie wanted, offered alternatives to knotting and didn’t touch Eddie while he was on top, sitting on Buck’s dick, even though that was the hardest thing he’d maybe ever done.

But today Eddie could barely look at him.

He didn’t smell scared, just that too-familiar scent of anxiety he’d come to know from Eddie.

All of Buck’s insecurities were flaring up and he wanted to pin Eddie down and beg him to tell Buck everything he’d done wrong so he could apologise and fix it. But he wouldn’t.

But he wasn’t above following Eddie into the kitchen after he made an excuse to leave the room Buck was in again.

“Is it…” Buck started, cringing at the way Eddie’s shoulders tensed up when he heard the alpha speak. “Did I screw up?”

Eddie paused briefly where he was spraying the already-clean sink with disinfectant.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, still busying himself wiping down the sink.

“… then why can’t you look at me?” Buck asked in a small voice.

Eddie sighed and finally turned around, still struggling but managed to look Buck in the eyes briefly.

“I’m sorry, I’m… it’s not you.”

He didn’t offer any further explanation.

“Eds, I want you to be able to talk to me,” Buck said, gripping the back of the stool by the bench to remind him to stay put. He didn’t think Eddie would appreciate Buck trying to get in his space right now.

Eddie was silent for a few moments, but obviously thinking. Buck was dying to fill in the gap with apologies and begging, if he had to, but wanted to give Eddie a chance to speak first. He didn’t want to overwhelm the omega, he knew he could be too much sometimes.

“I’m… embarrassed,” Eddie finally admitted.

Don’t spiral don’t spiral don’t spiral.

Even if Eddie is ashamed of you.

“Of how I acted. I was… it…”

Eddie shuffled and clenched his fists agitatedly.

“I made you do stuff for me, and I got off on it,” he rushed out. “And I don’t know if its just because I’m a shitty partner, or because of my many and various hang-ups about being an omega and all the, you know… submissive stuff, that comes with that.”

Eddie’s arms were firmly crossed over his chest now, his muscles tight enough that Buck wanted to wince in sympathy.

But he instantly felt better. Maybe that made him a bad person.

“Ok, please trust me when I say – you have nothing to be embarrassed about. You didn’t make me do anything, I liked everything we did. I was really into it, believe me,” Buck offered.

A tinge of pink coloured Eddie’s cheeks and made Buck’s tongue tangle for a minute. He was so stupidly pretty.

“As for the omega stuff… do you wanna tell me about it?”

Buck was a talker, an over-sharer. He didn’t really understand the instincts of some men to bottle things up, though he’d experienced regret for his blabbing tendencies before.

Eddie still looked physically uncomfortable, and bit his lip as he looked around, as though the answer to whether he should share or not lay in Buck’s marble benchtop.

“I always felt… stereotyped,” he started, the words coming haltingly.

“When I presented as an omega… I’d never seen my father so ashamed. My mum cried whenever she looked at me for days.”

Buck frowned and bit his tongue.

Ramon and Helena Diaz were far from his favourite people but right now, he wanted to fly to Texas so he could physically shake them both and ask what the fuck was wrong with them for treating Eddie as anything other than the wonderful, amazing person he is.

At least Buck’s parents had always been emotionally distant and uncaring, and he’d managed to disentangle, years later and with lots of therapy, that they were always that way and nothing he could have done would have changed that. They hadn’t been proud when he’d presented as an alpha, or ashamed. They’d just been… nothing.

“From then on, everyone assumed I was weak. It was their worst nightmare, but they assumed I’d end up mated to a man and pregnant. ‘Unnatural’, they called it.”

“Eds –”

“I know. I know it’s bullshit. Being pregnant with Chris, it… I wouldn’t change it. Being an omega got me my son.”

Eddie looked out the window over Buck’s shoulder, his gaze far away.

“That’s why I didn’t go back to El Paso. I didn’t want Chris to be in a place where people would know him and whisper about his “tragic” father,” Eddie mused.

“I get that,” Buck said softly.

Eddie shook his head, as though clearing out past musings.

“Anyway, that’s what I’m working with. And the idea of being with an alpha – being with a man – just… it plays into all those stereotypes and what people think I’m meant to do, you know, just spread my legs and take it and be weak and pathetic –”

“You’re not weak. And you’re not pathetic,” Buck butted in determinedly.

Eddie sighed.

“You’re not. You’re the strongest person I know,” Buck insisted.

Finally Eddie looked at him again, his brown eyes sad but cautious, looking for deception in Buck.

“You’re bad ass Eddie. And not just cause you can beat people up. You work so hard, to take care of Chris and get your life back, where anyone else – alpha or beta – would go to pieces. You’re totally our hero.”

Eddie dropped his eyes again, but it was different this time. Buck could see the pleased glint in his eyes, the bashful tilt to his chin.

“I really liked – what we did,” Eddie confided softly toward the ground.

Buck wanted to wrap him in his arms and tell him how amazing it was for him too, but resisted.

“So it wasn’t… the sex didn’t remind you of…” Buck started.

“No. Not at all. What we… us…” Eddie said, sparking a possessive flare in Buck’s chest that somewhat shamefully travelled down to his dick at the idea of there being an ‘us’. “It felt nothing like what happened to me before. It… I felt in control. Everything that happened was because I wanted it to…”

Eddie looked up at him through his lashes, flushed and coy enough that if Buck hadn’t just heard Eddie’s hang-ups, he’d assume it was a look methodically designed over years to bring alphas to their knees.

“I really liked it,” he whispered again.

Buck struggled not to puff his chest out, full of red-hot alpha pride.

“But I don’t know if I want to, you know, keep… doing that,” Eddie added nervously. “Outside of heat, I’m just a coward wrapped up in layers of issues.”

“You’re the bravest guy I’ve ever met,” Buck corrected quickly. He’d happily correct Eddie on his self-perceptions until Eddie could understand how extraordinary he is.

“But you know, I don’t expect sex from you,” he said. “We don’t have to do it ever again. Or we could just do it when you’re in heat, if you want to. Or, we could have lots of wild, animal sex where my dick gets nowhere near your ass.”

Eddie’s eyebrows climbed up his forehead, making him look adorably shocked.

“I… really? You’d want… that?”

“By ‘that’ I assume you mean your cock in my ass?” Buck asked bluntly, with a hint of a smirk.

Eddie’s eyes widened and his cheeks stained deeper red. It was kind of adorable, how shy Eddie was about this stuff in the light of day, never mind his performance last night.

Eddie nodded.

“For sure, I love it. Plus, you’re stupid levels of hot,” Eddie snorted at that. “Anything you want, count me in, even if it’s just holding hands and cuddling. I like being close to you. You’re… you’re my best friend.”

Strange perhaps, that he could be shy with his feelings not five seconds after telling Eddie he’d enjoy having his dick buried inside him.

“Same here,” Eddie answered quietly with a little smile, finally relaxing and crossing the kitchen to be closer to Buck. He hesitated, just a little.

Buck reached out his arm for a fist bump. If friendly affection was all Eddie wanted on the table right now, he’d take it.

Eddie breathed a laugh and met him there, forearms briefly bumping, before he closed the rest of the distance, wrapping Buck up in a bro-hug, complete with firm pats on the back.

He breathed in deeply, hopefully not so loud that Eddie felt like he was being scented.

He heard Eddie take a deep breath too.

Chapter Text

Eddie was sheepishly pleased to have achieved a status with Buck that was the social currency of middle-school playgrounds across the country: confirmed ‘best friends’.

The other part of their little heart to heart, where Buck basically said Eddie could do whatever he wanted to him and he’d take it with a smile, elicited a different kind of feeling that made his gut roil with nerves and heat.

And he now found himself unable and unwilling to keep his hands off Buck.

More than anything else, it was the easy intimacy that was so unbelievably addicting. The hand he could put on Buck’s back as he passed, or slide up his side to see him shiver. The way he could rub Buck’s scalp as they watched TV, or Buck could scratch his back leisurely.

He hadn’t realised he’d been missing this kind of touch so much.

It was soothing too, grounding. When he got angry about his parents, or in his own head about what happened when he was captive, or going to therapy or coming from therapy – a brush or bump from Buck could calm his boiling blood, get him to take a couple of deep breaths, and lean into the contact instead of his anger.

At first, Eddie stuck to just the innocent touches and kisses.

Buck was a great kisser.

They progressed from making out to rubbing off on each other like teenagers. It wasn’t all that different to girls. Buck even got wet, his cock leaking enough to stain his pants minutes into fooling around on the couch.

It was quite the ego-boost, to have a man like Buck perk up at any opportunity, eager to please like a puppy, at any sign of interest from Eddie.

Eddie was pretty confident it was a sure thing when he gathered his courage one night to wrap his arms around Buck from behind, while the alpha was scrubbing a pot in the sink, an hour after Eddie put Christopher to bed.

He could even make doing the dishes sexy.

“Hey,” Buck said softly, but with a pleased lilt.

“Hey, you need any help?” Eddie asked, letting his lips and breath brush against the base of Buck’s neck.

Buck tilted his head obligingly and leaned slightly back into Eddie.

“Nah, this is the last one. Why don’t you get comfortable?” Buck asked.

Eddie knew what he meant by comfortable. Relax on the couch until Buck came over, so they could put a movie on in the background at low volume and Eddie could lean over – Eddie was always the one to initiate, based on silent, mutual agreement – and start kissing Buck before climbing on top of him and dry humping him until they created even more laundry to do.

“I can wait.”

Eddie kissed the back of Buck’s neck and hitched up Buck’s shirt a little, dragging his nails teasingly over Buck’s hips, his waist, then down the defined-V leading to his groin.

He felt and heard Buck’s breath hitch, and his hands still in the soapy water.

“You going to finish or let it soak?” Eddie asked teasingly, and Buck’s hands started slowly scrubbing the sponge over the metal again.

He grazed one hand up Buck’s chest, high enough that he could poke his fingertips through the collar of his shirt, then dragged his nails lightly down, making sure to catch his nipple.

“Eds,” he murmured, and spread his legs more, removing an inch and a half from their height difference so Eddie could more comfortably hook his chin over Buck’s shoulder.

“Mmm. This ok?” Eddie asked, pushing his hands just under the band of Buck’s trackpants but going no further.

“Yes, yes, whatever you want,” Buck insisted.

He dipped in – no underwear – and took a hold of Buck’s dick that was already surprisingly erect.

It was a familiar angle that helped him build confidence in stroking it up and down, making Buck’s chest rumble.

He kept it slow, more exploration than goal-oriented.

Playing with him.

Eddie smeared the precum leaking from his tip down, making the glide of his hand so much easier.

Buck once again abandoned the dishes, bracing his arms on the edge of the counter

He breathed in the addicting scent of Buck’s excitement from the side of Buck’s throat and ran his other hand down to cup Buck’s balls

“Shit,” Buck murmured, shifting in Eddie’s hold. His right hand circled up before taking up a rhythm up and down Buck’s cock.

Buck let out a relieved sound, tilting his hips forward a bit. The back of Eddie’s knuckles brushed the cabinets and Eddie took his other hand out of Buck’s pants, planting it on his hip and pulling him backwards, right onto his own hard dick.

Buck gasped and let out a delighted little moan, suddenly more occupied in grinding back on Eddie than anything else.

Eddie was happy with the direction, lining himself up so he was pressing his length between Buck’s still-covered cheeks, giving tiny little thrusts in rehearsal for when he’d push inside for real.

“Eds, God...” Buck muttered. He picked up his pace, the sound of him working Buck’s cock a wet fap now.

“Are you gonna cum for me?” he whispered.

Buck whined and nodded jerkily, thrusting into Eddie’s hold. Eddie shoved his other hand back down Buck’s pants, using both hands to work over him, twisting his wrist just how he liked doing on himself.

“Fuck, I’m –” Buck gasped. His cock throbbed in Eddie’s hold and the blurt of cum that spilled over his head got caught half on his pants, half in the palm that Eddie kept sliding over him, drawing out his climax.

“That’s it,” Eddie gritted through his teeth, his own dick pulsing closer to the edge from the feel of Buck cumming and the high little gasps he let out, trying to be quiet. “Perfect.”

Eddie’s hands slowed to a hold, covered in a mess of cum. He pressed his lips into Buck’s throat again.

He should let go. It wouldn’t be very long before Buck’s wet pants became uncomfortable, and having someone handle your softening dick probably wasn’t nearly as appealing as a handjob.

Plus, Eddie was rather eager to finish himself.

Still, he lingered a few more moments, enjoying the closeness and the knowledge that Buck would let Eddie reach out and touch him like this.

As he pulled his hands out of Buck’s pants, Buck turned on the tap, letting him rinse them under the stream of water into the second, unfilled sink compartment.

“You next?” Buck asked softly. “Do you want my mouth?”

Eddie swore his cock jerked, and he grunted into Buck’s back. He hadn’t forgotten the feel of Buck’s mouth – his tongue, his goddam throat – on his dick.

“You don’t…” he tried to say to Buck, who was turning in his arms.

“I’ve been dying to blow you again,” Buck breathed, before he bit his lip, looking a little guilty. “I mean, I’d like to. If you want me to.”

Eddie’s brain had temporarily blanked at Buck’s admission, but clicked back into place long enough to take two steps back, and push down gently on Buck’s shoulders.

Buck went down immediately, fluidly, and it only then occurred to Eddie that he probably didn’t mean right here, on the wooden floor of the kitchen. But Buck was tugging down Eddie’s sweats low enough for his cock to spring up, and licking up the underside eagerly.

His hips twitched. He was already close. If he’d known this would happen after having his fun with Buck at the sink, he might have been able to take some steps to not shame himself by approaching the edge so rapidly.

Buck immediately took a couple of inches of his prick into his mouth, hollowing his cheeks and flicking his tongue along the sensitive underside.

Eddie let out a humphf and tried some deep breaths as Buck’s head started bobbing.

It was no use. Less than a minute of sucking down his cock, and Eddie felt his balls draw up and he rushed out a warning.

Buck stayed where he was, letting out a muffled moan and two loud swallows as Eddie shot into his mouth.

“God, Buck,” Eddie gasped as the alpha suckled on his dick, like he was trying to draw out anything Eddie was holding back from him.

They hurried to right themselves, though Chris rarely got up in the night, and spent the next two hours relaxing on the couch with some documentary, neither very successful at suppressing their smirks.

Still, they didn’t define this new facet of their relationship. Even with Buck, the idea of anything more than ‘friends’ felt a little suffocating? Panic-inducing? To Eddie.

So it wasn’t strictly fair, how rapidly Eddie came to view the alpha as his.

His therapist warned him that his instincts would probably be a little ‘off’ for a while, as he adapted to the new normal. He was talking mostly about Chris probably, and his – well, Buck’s – house. Eddie would feel protective and possessive, he’d predicted, guarding what he had until he realised no one was coming to threaten them or take anything away.

His parents notwithstanding.

Eddie was trying to be cool about it all. The worst wave of it had been when Buck had delivered to him, biting his lip coyly, papers to show he’d been tested and was clean.

‘Just in case’ he’d said.

Just in case Eddie wanted to fuck his alpha bare.

He obsessed over it for days.

Sodomise, the priest at his childhood church would have called it. His parents wouldn’t have called it anything, just screwed up their noses and changed the topic to something more palatable.

Eddie had already done it before, willingly and unwillingly.

But to choose this, outside of heat, outside of, arguably, natural order… he was the omega. Was it more sinful to put is dick in another man versus receiving it? Did it matter when he didn’t believe in God? This Catholic guilt, man…

Where had the courage gone that night of his heat, where he’d decided ‘fuck it’ and screw every bigot he’d ever encountered, so sure of what he wanted and how it felt so fucking right?

He had to trust his choices, his instincts, and live his own life, and quiet those shitty voices.

And what he knew was that the idea of fucking Buck made his mouth water, his hands go shaky and his pants get tight.

That night, as Buck moaned softly at the feel of Eddie’s tongue in his mouth, instead of pushing him back to lay on the couch, Eddie took his hands and pulled him to stand.

“Let’s go to your room,” Eddie suggested, and immediately Buck’s eyebrows rose and his hand tightened around Eddie’s as he set off quickly for the privacy of his bedroom, Eddie tugged behind.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Eddie pressed Buck against it, rolling his body up Buck’s and taking his lips again in a deep, suggestive kiss.

Buck let out a low but delighted sound, letting Eddie tangle their tongues. Buck raised his arms as Eddie tugged up his shirt, letting the omega slip it off before pushing him bodily back to kiss him some more.

“Wanna fuck you,” Eddie murmured against his lips, pulling Buck’s hips forward by his waistband to rub against him.

The man let out a garbled sound of excitement into Eddie’s mouth.

“Yeah? You’re gonna let me?” Eddie asked when he could bring himself to release Buck’s mouth again.

“Let you? I’d do some pretty humiliating begging to get you to even finger me, let alone fuck me,” Buck said, tugging Eddie’s shirt in a blatant hint to get it off.

Eddie stripped it over his head with a grin, amused and stupidly turned on by Buck’s hyperbole.

“Don’t believe me? Please Eddie, give me your fat cock,” Buck moaned with a cheeky grin, reaching down to cup Eddie over his pants.

“I guess I’ll have to see if I can coax something a little more real out of you, hmm?” Eddie asked, nipping playfully at Buck’s bottom lip and getting a little lost in his bright blue, twinkling eyes.

The urgency of their shared arousal spurred them on, and they both hastily discarded their pants and Buck threw himself onto the bed, landing on his knees and leaning over to his bedside drawer to pull out some lube.

Eddie admired the long extension of his arm and back, and the shameless bearing of his ass. There was no reason for Buck to be anything other than extremely confident though – he worked hard on his flawless physique and seemed to enjoy being admired.

“Like this?” Buck asked Eddie over his shoulder, breaking into a grin when he caught Eddie palming himself with head tilted, looking at Buck’s ass.

“Yeah, perfect.”

Another double standard Eddie was letting play out. Buck on his hands and knees, giving all the leverage and power over to Eddie when he wouldn’t let Buck have the same from him. But at least this way, there was no nagging wariness that Eddie sometimes felt when he was inadvertently cornered or felt like he was being loomed over.

He heard Buck squirt the lube as he climbed on the bed behind the alpha, and his eyes widened as Buck’s now-slick fingers appeared, arm wrapped behind his body, to probe at his own hole.

Christ, Eddie couldn’t be expected to kneel there and watch this, Buck’s thick digit disappearing into his own body? Not when he accompanied the move with a grunt like that?

His own cock was fully hard and flushed with jealousy as Eddie watched with open mouth as Buck quickly pushed in two fingers, his rim stretched tightly around them.

“Jesus, Buck…” Eddie murmured, belatedly grabbing the lube and squeezing some out on his own fingers. He could at least help, not just sit there like he was at the city’s most abrupt but arousing peep show.

“Thought you wanted me to finger you?” Eddie asked, tentatively stroking a wet forefinger around Buck’s stuffed entrance.

Buck let out a groan and pulled his fingers out with a squelch.

“Yeah, want you,” he said, arching his back a little more.

Eddie had done this to himself, out of practicality and safety, but even with Shannon, he’d never been given this kind of front row view to his fingers pushing inside of someone else. It sent a thrill through him, watching Buck’s rim stretch around his digits. His insides were hot and slick from the lube, a tight squeeze for even his fingers. Not all that different to a pussy. The idea of the sensation transferring to his dick made heat coil tightly in his belly and a kind of heady intoxication come over him, loosening his tongue.

“Can’t blame you for starting yourself. I…”

Was he really saying this?

“I know how good your fingers feel.”

“Eds,” Buck gasped, thrilled. Eddie was glad he couldn’t see his flaming face.

“Mine will get deeper than your own though, won’t they?” he asked, pushing in up to the webbing between his fingers and wriggling a little curiously.

He hoped he wasn’t obviously fumbling as he crooked his fingers slightly, searching for that little lump –

Buck let out a loud, broken moan as Eddie found his target. He watched in amazement as Buck’s thighs started shaking as he rubbed it again, and a third time, before realising it might be too much for the man.

“Fuck, you’re gonna kill me,” Buck puffed out, his stiff back relaxing a little as Eddie left his prostate.

“Too much?” Eddie asked, hoping the answer would be no. He was suddenly very interested in turning Buck onto his back and seeing if he could finger him into cumming without touching his cock.

“Too much if you want me to last for you to fuck me, which I’m personally pretty invested in.”

Eddie chuckled, squirting more lube on his fingers and daring to slowly press in three, to a low, crooned moan from Buck.

He let them press into Buck’s prostate, just a little, so he could smirk at the curse word and view of Buck clenching up. He used his spare hand to rub up and down Buck’s back in apology for the teasing, and watched the tension melt as his hand passed over the muscle.

Oh, this might be too much power for one man, to see Buck respond so strongly, so flatteringly, to every move Eddie made.

He could feel a slippery sensation around his own entrance. True to his word, Buck hadn’t tried to go anywhere near Eddie’s ass again, but that didn’t stop his body from craving it. It was just that the request caught in Eddie’s throat, unspoken, whenever he thought to ask Buck to touch him there.

“Is that… do you need more?” he asked, gently fucking Buck with three fingers.

“That’s plenty. Get in me.”

“I thought you said you’d give me begging, not orders,” Eddie teased, amused by the idea that Buck felt he was in any position to boss Eddie around.

“Eds,” Buck whined, knees spreading a little further.

“Condom?” Eddie asked thickly, just to be sure.

“Only if you want,” Buck replied.

No. He didn’t.

“Do you want me to wear one?” Eddie asked again.

“No. Wanna feel you,” Buck said, punctuating his request with a wiggle of his ass.

“Shit. Good, ok. Hang on.”

Eddie picked up the lube, squirting out a bit too much in his haste and barely warming it in his hands before slathering it over his cock. The cool shock may end up being helpful.

“C’mon, fill me up,” Buck pleaded.

Eddie took a deep breath, lining up his cock with Buck’s gleaming hole. He pressed too gently – he knew it would go in, but he didn’t want to hurt Buck. He also didn’t want to go off before he was even fully seated, which was less important but very much a threat right now.

Buck let out a needy whine, pushing back onto him.

Shit, that sent a bolt of lust through him.

“You need it, huh?” he asked, eyes fixed on the way Buck rocked into him.

“Yeah, need it, please Eddie,” Buck groaned, the novelty dropped off his begging.

Eddie ventured into the tight heat, the tip of his dick popping inside.

Fuck. He should have used the condom, give himself a fighting chance cause Holy. Shit.

It had been a while since he’d been inside someone, sure. But this fucking feeling, his first time pressing into a man, the way Buck’s walls hugged him, was shattering.

The visual too. Not just his cock slowly pressing inside, being incrementally swallowed, but the hugeness of Buck in front of him. He was a big alpha, built and muscular, and here he was, tilting his hips up wantonly, groaning and gasping like he was already on the home stretch.

So eager for cock.

Buck’s shameless enjoyment toasted the last of Eddie’s inhibitions. He ran his hands solicitously over Buck’s hips, up to press into those sexy dimples in his lower back and then gripping his hips again, pulling him back onto Eddie’s dick as he inched forward.

“Fuck,” Buck cried softly as Eddie pulled back a little before gliding back forward, finally bottoming out.

A hysterical giggle threatened to break out as he realised their balls were grazing, somehow as intimate as the fact that he’d buried himself inside Buck’s ass.

“Buck, baby… have to be quiet,” he said softly, strained.

“Sorry,” Buck muttered, grabbing a pillow and going down to his elbows so he could bite it.

“It’s ok…” he said, running a comforting hand up his spine. God, his back was so defined, had he ever found a back sexy before Buck? “Maybe on Wednesday, when Chris is at preschool and you’re off work, I could bend you over and you can make all the sounds you like?”

It came out a touch too tentative for true dirty talk, but Buck loved it all the same, clenching on Eddie’s prick and muffling his moan in the pillow.

“Yeah – yes, please, yeah,” he slurred. “Fuck me now? I’ll be quiet.”

Eddie hummed and rocked his hips, in and out. Slowly he built up a rhythm, the scorching drag of his cock into Buck making him breathe unevenly.

“Feel so good,” Eddie murmured distractedly, taking a better hold of Buck’s hips, helplessly following the urge to thrust in harder.

He was trying, sweet thing, but every thrust forced a muffle sound out of Buck. Eddie’s little understatement, like his silken hole felt anything less than heaven to slide into, made Buck keen and shamelessly arch his back to push his ass back into the cradle of Eddie’s hips.  

“You really love it,” he marvelled breathlessly, hips slapping against Buck’s ass more insistently now. “Take it so well, I can’t believe it…”

Buck groaned and his head bobbed, nodding along to Eddie’s words even as he tried to supress his sounds in the bedding.

“Love it, love the way it feels, Eddie,” he gasped, the last syllable of his name breaking as Eddie pounded into his prostate.

A violent tug on his stomach and balls warned that he was close, and another moment like Buck choking on pleasure when he was trying to moan Eddie’s name? Would be the end of him.

He slowed down a second, heart pounding. He didn’t want to end quite yet.

Buck whined, pushing back to try to fuck himself on Eddie’s cock. Eddie gripped his hips tighter, hopefully not tight enough to bruise (although…). He had to be firm; Buck was a big guy, and a gentle hold wasn’t going to stop him trying to restart Eddie’s rhythm.

“If I’d known you loved it so much, I wouldn’t have made you wait for it,” Eddie teased, though he sounded winded enough to give away his game.

“Don’t make me wait now,” Buck shot back, squeezing his internal muscles around Eddie’s dick in a ripple that made Eddie bite his lip.

He retaliated by rocking back in, slow but a deep grind. He loved each inch their skin was pressing together.

“Can you… I wanna turn you over,” he asked impulsively.

Buck let out a high moan and nodded.

It was torture to pull out, which Buck seemed to agree with. But he didn’t move with urgency, just kind of lumbered about clumsily trying to turn on his back, so by the time he was on his side, Eddie intervened.

He slid one arm under Buck to take hold of his hips and flip him flat on his back, making the alpha bounce a bit on the mattress.

Buck looked up at him with wide eyes and Eddie greedily took his fill, the sheen of sweat over Buck’s chest making his muscles gleam.

The scent of their sex was heavy in the room, but outweighed to his omega nose by Buck’s alpha arousal. He briefly hallucinated an old cartoon, the kind where the steam from a pie on a window could entrance a hungry character and make them float over to the delicious source.

He felt a little like that.

“Holy…” Buck croaked as Eddie manhandled him some more, hands under his ass to tilt him up, Eddie’s cock lined up to his empty hole. “You’re so fucking hot.”

“This ok?” he asked. He probably should have checked earlier, before he threw Buck around, but hadn’t he been just as keen as Eddie to get back to fucking?

“Fuck, yeah,” Buck breathed, grabbing one of his ridiculously long legs and pulling it up like a damn gymnast or something straight out of porn, making his ass even more accessible to Eddie.

Eddie slid back in with a low moan, matched by Buck’s groan.

Buck’s cock looked as achingly hard as Eddie felt, shiny with precum dripping from the tip and swaying close to Buck’s abdomen. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t touched Buck’s cock yet. He took it in hand, branding his palm with the heat of Buck’s flushed member.

Buck whimpered and Eddie started to thrust again, doing his best to time his hips with strokes of his hand.

“Christ,” Buck gasped, crunching his stomach up to improve his view, staring unabashedly at Eddie working over his heavy cock.

“Fucking, gorgeous,” Eddie grunted.

Buck was the sexiest damn thing he’d ever seen. It would be too much of a shame to not tell him, even if Eddie felt too clumsy with his words to do it justice.

Buck’s cheeks were pink and his eyes were glassy as he stared up at Eddie now, desperate affection shining clearly through.

It made a shiver run through Eddie, more than just physical pleasure. People had looked at him with want, and fewer had looked at him with affection. Almost never both.

It pushed him even closer to the edge. He started rabbiting into Buck, stripping the top of Buck’s dick – he couldn’t figure out a coordinated rhythm to stroke him all the way in time with his thrusts, it was just too damn big.

“Eddie, please, I’m so close,” Buck gasped.

Thank God.

“Good, come on - wanna know what you feel like when you cum on my cock,” he grunted, lactic acid starting to build up in his forearm, but he’d sooner walk back to Texas than stop touching Buck.

At the last minute, Buck turned his head, muffling his cries into the pillow as he climaxed. His cock throbbed in Eddie’s hand, white semen positively erupting and shooting up his belly as well as staining Eddie’s hand.

He got so unbelievably tight, Eddie’s eyes crossed. He was helpless against his own orgasm, pulsing as deep as he could get in Buck’s ass, grinding his hips into the soft meat of Buck’s glutes. It was relentless, shaking his whole body, even as Buck’s hips twitched and he let out a last little spurt over Eddie’s fist.

Eddie swivelled his hips a little, getting off even more on the fact that Buck was full of him now.

The movement made his own cheeks feel like they were sliding together. Coming down from the high, the ache of being hollow, wanting to be filled, came to the front. Eddie clenched on nothing, pretty sure his whole ass and maybe his inner thighs would be a mess right now.

It could just be a finger, something to just rub the cramping muscles loose…

“That was amazing,” Buck panted, letting go of his leg so he was sprawled out like a starfish, still pinned on Eddie’s dick.

“You liked it?” Eddie asked redundantly, not so subtly hoping for more.

“You’re a lethal weapon,” Buck said, grinning up at him. “My toes are numb and my balls are all tingly.”

Eddie snorted, starting to pull out. They were done, it wouldn’t make sense to ask Buck to touch him now.

“I’m not going to be walking straight tomorrow,” Buck said… hopefully? He was beaming at the idea. “Fuck, you put it so deep in me, I think it’ll be dripping out for days.”

“Gross,” Eddie said, even as the dirty idea made his belly tighten.

Buck made a noise of disagreement, closing his eyes blissfully and breathing deeply. Eddie’s softening dick was a mess of lube and his own cum, but he shoved his pants back on anyway to sneak to the bathroom, rinse himself and wet a cloth with warm water to take back to Buck.

Eddie froze as he opened the door to Buck’s room again. The blonde had hitched one golden leg up and was lazily fingering himself. Eddie’s hastily cleaned up entrance throbbed with jealousy.

He had the crazy urge to toss the washcloth and lick him clean.

He crossed the room with his tongue tied, not wanting to interrupt (wanting to keep watching) but Buck hummed and took the cloth off Eddie (but he was going to do it) with a sound of thanks, wiping over his striped chest first.

“You really like… that way, huh?” Eddie asked again, perching on the edge of the bed.

Buck made it seem so easy. A super masculine, self-possessed alpha that loved to fuck and get fucked. He doubted Buck had ever felt lesser for any of his desires, not even on his knees.

“Yeah, I love it. Depends on the person too, I guess. Guy like you, who takes good care of me?” Buck asked with a smile and a wink. “Really gets me off.”

Eddie breathed a sound of amusement, looking away to give Buck as sense of privacy as he moved the cloth between his legs, though he didn’t seem to care at all about having an audience.

“How about you? Did you like it?” Buck asked.

A short, disbelieving laugh burst out of his chest.

“Yes. Very much, yes. I… um, haven’t done that in a while. It was… you made it really great. Hot and um… safe, and stuff. So, thank you,” Eddie finished, narrowing his eyes at his own awkwardness.

It was like he had to be heat or cum drunk to get over his crippling repression. Why couldn’t he just say it to Buck straight? His friend wouldn’t laugh at him or judge him.

“You’re really good to me and like, this stuff? Helps me feel, you know, normal. Feel good about myself, or whatever,” Eddie rushed out, with all the loquaciousness of a teenage boy.

Still, when he managed to make eye contact with Buck again, the man looked at him like he’d said something pretty special.

“I’m really glad, Eds.”

Kiss him. You’re allowed to kiss him, you do it all the time. Sure, mostly when you’re about to get each other off, but that’s not a rule.

Eddie cleared his throat instead, patting his thighs in a standard mid-west sign that he was going to head out.

“I’ll put you in my Google Calendar for Wednesday,” Buck said as Eddie stood.

“Oh God, what are you going to put it down as?”

Buck shrugged with a grin. “’Dick appointment’. With an eggplant and splash emoji.”

Eddie groaned, tilting his head back in faux-exasperation.

“You know you shared that calendar with Carla and the 118, right?”

“Oh yeah. Better just make it like, ‘one-on-one performance meeting’ or something, that’s subtle right?”

“Just make it ‘Eddie’. With a peach.”

Eddie closed the door to the sound of Buck cackling.

Chapter Text

“Can I have my own room?”

Eddie and Buck both paused at the unexpected question as they all start around the table digging into the lasagne (made by Buck) and garlic bread and salad (prepared by Eddie under Buck’s supervision).

“You want your own bedroom?” Eddie asked mildly.

Inside, he felt a complex jolt of emotions.

First, blind panic. Wasn’t it enough that Eddie parted with Chris for preschool during the day, entrusting his care to his teacher or to Carla or Buck? Now he had to part from him at night, when all their guards were down?

What if someone got into the apartment, what if someone got to Chris?

Rationally he knew that was a hangover from their trafficking, and that Buck had all possible security measures on his apartment to keep them safe, and Eddie would still be under the same roof to protect him. He couldn’t wrap Chris up with bubble wrap and refuse him any independence because of his own fears.

Second, was melancholy. Chris didn’t want to be attached to his hip anymore. His baby was growing up and growing away from him, becoming his own little person with his own ideas.

It was good. That was what was supposed to happen, even if Eddie might cry about it in the shower later.

Third, a tiny bit of shameful relief. It would be nice to not be kicked by little legs or rammed with bony knees all night.

Fourth, if it were possible, it would probably be a big tick on the home visit they were getting from the CPS worker next week.

“Yeah. Kids at school have their own rooms or they share with their brothers or sisters,” Chris informed them.

“Yeah, that’s what normally happens. But buddy, there’s only two bedrooms here,” Eddie reminded him. “You and I will share until we’re in our own place, and then you can have your own room. Maybe we can even paint it or put up posters?”

He smothered the dread of leaving Buck with an indulgent smile. Once the custody crap was over in several weeks, Eddie would get the financial packages the social worker had helped him apply for, and paired with the savings he was slowly folding away from the occasional gig he was doing now, he’d have money to take care of his kid by himself.

Chris perked up at the promise.

“You can put up posters here.”

Eddie turned to Buck, who was looking a little wildly between the two of them.

“Or maybe Chris can switch to the smaller bedroom? We can get him a more age-appropriate bed and decorations and stuff this weekend?” Buck suggested.

Chris turned hopeful eyes on Eddie.

“But… I mean, I can sleep in the lounge, if you don’t mind me using the shared space?” Eddie asked. He truly wouldn’t mind, not if it meant Chris got something that was important to him.

Buck scoffed. “No, I can. I’m out half the week anyway.”

Of course that’s what Buck defaulted to. Stupid, kind, selfless giant he was.

“Buck, it’s your house –”

“Exactly, it’s my job to make sure you guys are comfortable.”

“We are not kicking you out of your bedroom. I can set up out here, or Chris and I can share.”

“No, I think it’s a great idea – it’s like, a developmental milestone,” Buck said, beaming proudly at Chris who grinned back happily. “Maybe while we’re out, we can get some curtains and a tension rod for the living room, it’ll be like another bedroom.”

Eddie wouldn’t win this outright. Buck was even more likely to indulge Chris than Eddie was, and was terribly stubborn about indulging Eddie wherever he could as well. Eddie would give the appearance of surrender, and orchestrate some more guerilla warfare later to get Buck into his bed – his own bed, that is.

“We can share.”

Now it was Buck perking up at Eddie’s suggestion. It was hard not to be flattered.

“When you’re home, you take the bedroom. When you’re not, I’ll take it.”

Extraordinarily reasonable. Buck narrowed his eyes.

“That’s fair, isn’t it mijo?”

“Yes!” Chris said, gesturing his fork dangerously in agreement. “And if you want to share my room Daddy, you can.”

That melted the stubborn looks off both their faces.

“Thanks buddy.”

***

IKEA was a nightmare.

They’d gone on a Friday morning rather than wait for the weekend, so it could have been worse, if Eddie could even imagine that. The amount of people in tight spaces made Eddie tense, edging to the side of the aisle so he could watch people that moved close to him and Chris.

Chris wasn’t nearly so bothered by the people, instead enchanted by the overstimulating amount of furniture on display in front of him. He’d wanted to try eight couches, even though they weren’t buying a couch, and Buck had to duck them through subtly hidden cut-throughs to expedite their arrival to the kid’s section.

Chris happily allowed it, standing on a rung of the trolley and gripping the handlebars, safely ensconced between Buck’s body and his arms making sure the boy didn’t slip or tip the trolley with his meagre weight.

“Wow…” Chris gasped, looking around and pointing Buck like a sled dog to the faux-bedrooms, made of all the brightly coloured – seriously, so brightly coloured – stock Sweden had to offer.

Buck helped him climb off the trolley so he could climb onto the kid-size bed.

“Can I have a room like this?” Chris asked, his little eyes behind his glasses wide with wanting.

“You can pick the bed and sheets you like, and maybe a rug and a couple of toys,” Eddie said. He’d done some research on the website last night, and he could swing more than the bare basics for Chris’s room makeover.

“I like this one,” he said, bouncing on the mattress.

Eddie thought he probably liked the dinosaur-heavy theme more so than the actual furniture. Chris ended up picking a blue bed frame, dinosaur bedding, a rug with a printed road for playing cars on, a rocket ship lamp Buck was particularly enamoured with, and a soft toy dinosaur half his size.

Buck was pointing him to the arts and craft when Eddie started to get nervous about the cost.

“I think that’s probably enough for the day, we still need to fit all this into the car,” Eddie reminded them, feeling rather shitty for it as Chris happily scribbled across a kid-size blackboard in chalk.

“I’m like an expert Tetris player, we’ll have room. And I want to buy him some stuff too, then I can play with it,” Buck said, happily drawing a daisy next to Chris’s messy scribbles.

They ended up filling the trolley, before even getting to the warehouse section to pick up the bed and mattress they came for.

After all the excitement of shopping, Chris was hitting a wall at the boring end, and Eddie eyed the long lines at checkout and wondered if they’d get through them ok. Chris had never been in such a public place for this long and been this over stimulated, which meant Eddie had never had to deal with a public meltdown.

“I’ve got the info, why don’t you guys head to the café and grab some lunch, and I’ll pick up the rest and check out,” Buck offered casually.

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked, feeling like he was taking advantage but eyeing the downturn of Chris’s lips.

“I’m a big burly firefighter. I think I can handle a flat pack child’s bed and mattress,” Buck dismissed with a wave.

Eddie handed over his debit card and elicited a promise from Buck that he’d use it, before he picked Chris up and navigated tensely to the cafeteria.

He ordered some meatballs for him and Buck and nuggets for Chris, as well as cinnamon buns for the sugar to perk them up for the drive home. Chris was more content sitting at the table near the corner Eddie picked for them, recharging his energy and reclaiming his happy nature.

Buck also wolfed down his food once he joined them, and as promised, packed his jeep tightly and efficiently before they crept their way through LA traffic.

Chris went down for a nap as the two of them negotiated the deconstruction of the guest bed and the formation of the child-size bed to replace it, Buck insistent that Bobby and his wife Athena didn’t mind storing stuff for him in their garage.

They worked well together. Eddie shouldn’t be surprised by it, they managed to live surprisingly harmoniously for a few months. From the start, they had synced in the kitchen, in the household chores and even the day Buck took Eddie to the station. But still, it felt good.

Chris was delighted by his new room, once Eddie led him in late in the afternoon.

“I love it!” he giggled as he touched the blue kid’s activity table Buck had ‘impulse bought’ in the warehouse. His crutches made no noise as he trotted over his new rug to fall into his new bed, rubbing his cheek against the fuzzy green ‘throw cushion’ Buck had insisted tied the whole ensemble together.

“I’m glad mijo. You remember what we talked about – this is your room, so it’s your job to keep it tidy, ok? That means your toys go in the chest –” Eddie could hardly believe the collection he’d built over the past few months, thanks to Eddie, Buck, Abuela, Pepa, his sisters and even Buck’s colleagues. “And the floor stays clear so there’s nothing to trip over. Ok?”

Chris happily nodded, hugging his new dinosaur to his chest and beaming at the room.  

“That is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen,” Buck said lowly, eyes sparkling as he watched Christopher’s sweet joy.

“Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculously adorable,” Eddie agreed. His heart felt full. For so long, his job had been to keep Chris alive and protected, but to see him joyful and thriving? It was beyond dreams.

He wished his parents could see this. But he knew if they were here, they’d be talking about how there should be more educational toys, or a guardrail on the bed, or how the room lacked a mother’s touch, and they’d be eyeing how close he and Buck were standing.

By the time Chris was snuggled down for bed for the night, Buck and Eddie headed to the master bedroom to change the sheets.

“You can take the bed tonight,” Buck offered pre-emptively.

“That’s odd – you don’t usually start shifts after dark,” Eddie said sarcastically.

“Eddie, be for real.”

“I am ‘for real’, I’m taking the couch.”

“You’re gonna make me feel bad if you don’t take the bed,” Buck said with a pout.

Eddie arched an eyebrow. “And you think I’ll feel good all tucked in to your king size bed while you’re cramped up on the couch?”

Buck kept pouting as he flared out the duvet so it hung evenly over both sides of the bed.

“It is a pretty good mattress. Comfortable, big…” he said.

Eddie hummed, waiting for a trap.

“Big enough for two men, especially if they were over six foot. They could roll around even.”

Eddie bit back a grin.

“Oh yeah. I guess you’re right.”

Buck was right. Buck’s feet didn’t hang off the end as Eddie straddled him, tongue down his throat. It did mean the bedside drawers were too far to reach without having to half-climb off the alpha, which he didn’t care for. He’d have to start grabbing the lube before they started.

“So fucking hot,” Buck muttered, looking up at Eddie as he stripped off his shirt. It made Eddie smirk.

He sat back on Buck’s lap, grinding down on his hardness.

“Baby, fuck –” Buck gritted out, hands shooting up to Eddie’s hips – not moving them, just holding.

Maybe they could… Eddie could…

“Daddy!”

Both of them took a sharp breath.

“Shit.”

“Thought first night in the new room was going a little too well,” Eddie admitted, climbing off Buck and grabbing a shirt – Buck’s, it smelled like him – and slipping it on.

Eddie closed the bedroom door behind him, padding down to Chris’s propped open door.

“Hey mijo, everything ok?” he asked as he opened the door, finding Chris sitting up with his arms outstretched to Eddie.

His big hazel eyes were welling with tears when Eddie dropped to his knees, wrapping his baby up in his arms.

“Did you have a bad dream?” he asked, rubbing his back.

He didn’t get an answer, just a little face buried in his neck.

After a few moments, Chris spoke.

“Can I sleep with you?”

Eddie sighed and pressed a kiss to the side of Chris’s head.

It didn’t feel right, carrying Chris into the master and kicking a turned-on Buck out, though he knew Buck would happily make way for Chris. But Eddie also wanted Chris to stay in his room, to get comfortable here.

“How about I sleep with you? Hmm?”

Chris clung to him as Eddie arranged himself on the small bed, curling his legs up. The boy nestled into his chest, immediately relaxing in his father’s arms.

Eddie couldn’t bring himself to be disappointed about how Chris’s first night in his new room was going, or that he and Buck were interrupted. His baby still needed him.

Chapter Text

Eddie stomped into the apartment, throwing his keys and failing to call out any greeting.

Just as Buck expected. It was Thursday. Therapy day.

“How was your session?” Buck called out from the lounge room where he was folding Chris’s PJs and rolling socks from the laundry basket.

The fridge door opened roughly, rattling everything in the shelves in the door and a glass was put down too-hard on the counter.

“That good, huh?” Buck muttered to himself, dropping the folded clothes back into the basket and heading to the kitchen.

Obviously he wasn’t quiet enough, since Eddie cast him a dark look as he poured himself a glass of water. The scent of frustrated omega filled the space, especially now Buck had grown so attuned (addicted) to Eddie’s scent.

“You’re angry,” Buck observed, sitting on one of his stools.

“I’m not,” Eddie insisted angrily.

“Of course you are. How could you not be? Everything going on is pissing me off, and it’s not even about me.”

Eddie accepted his sympathy grudgingly.

“Just… isn’t therapy supposed to fix that? Make me accept shit, instead of just piss me off more?” Eddie complained.

Buck shrugged. “I dunno man. Anger isn’t one of my issues. My therapist says my baggage is in self-worth, abandonment and reckless disregard for my personal safety.”

Eddie looked at him in surprise. “You have a therapist?”

“Sure. For work, and just for me. Issues with my family, issues with sex, losses on the job…”

Eddie drummed his fingers anxiously along the glass.

“Does it help, eventually?” he ended up asking.

“I find it helpful. But like, the annoying thing about it is, it isn’t like, repair work, you know?”

Eddie frowned at him.

“Isn’t it?”

“No – well, like, you take your car to a mechanic right? And you pick it up and it’s fixed. But therapy is like a mechanic who’s, like… teaching you how to drive, change the oil and change your tires. You know, you’re the one driving, but they’re in the passenger seat coaching you along and suggesting where you take a turn, or like noticing that your tire pressure is low… Am I making any sense?”

Eddie crinkled his nose adorably.

“A little.”

“I could try a metaphor with physiotherapy if you want?”

The omega chuckled. “Please, no. I hear you, you gotta put in the work, and figure out how to fix your own problems… I just don’t know if I’m built to make myself into the kind of person I need to be.”

Buck tilted his head.

“I don’t think you need to be a new person. I like you how you are now.”

That got Eddie to smile, looking up at Buck through his gorgeous, long lashes.

“Thanks. But I’m too fucked up. I’m neurotic, and paranoid and so fucking angry…”

He was back to frowning into his glass, fidgeting as best he could with it.

“I think… I got used to it, maybe.”

Eddie didn’t look directly at him. Buck had a few peeks at the toxic masculinity Eddie had grown up in, so had an idea how hard it must be for him to confront that stuff, let alone share it.

“When I was trafficked, anger was my only protection. If I got violent, I got left alone. And I’m… scared. Maybe it changed my brain. Like… the next time I get really angry, I’ll get violent again.”

Buck couldn’t refute the fact that Eddie was capable of it. From the self-preservation instincts drilled into him, from the Army; Buck had seen it himself, seen Eddie fight his way out from terrible odds. Eddie was strong and, when he was protecting his son, dangerous.

He knew Eddie had killed people.

But the idea of Eddie hurting anyone now? Without lives in danger? Was ludicrous to Buck. Eddie was all about self-control, restraint and denial, to his own detriment, and he weathered things that would have left most other people broken into pieces.

“Are you scared you’re going to hurt someone?” Buck asked slowly.

Eddie flinched, recoiling at the idea.

“I guess, maybe…”

“Or… are you afraid of always feeling like you might have to defend yourself? Like you won’t be safe again?” Buck added cautiously.

Eddie’s hands frozen on his glass.

“Shit,” Eddie said eventually, running a hand over his face. His eyes were wet, but no tears fell. “That’s… Why doesn’t my therapist just say that?”

Buck’s chest puffed up a bit, pleased to have been right. But of course he was, he’d been studying Eddie obsessively for months now; a hyper-fixation he couldn’t seem to shake.

“Maybe they were waiting for you to get there. Or maybe you need a new therapist, one you click with more.”

Eddie frowned, distracted from his epiphany.

“I can? Wouldn’t that make it seem like I’ve, I dunno, flunked out?”

“Dude, absolutely no. It means you’re taking your mental health seriously and want to find someone best equipped to help you out. If you want? I can ask Bobby for a list? The LAFD has a bunch of subcontractors that deal with different types of trauma and stuff, maybe you can meet with one of them?” Buck offered.

He could read the reluctance in Eddie’s frame, but eventually got a nod. “Yeah, ok. That’d be good, thanks.”

“Sweet. And hey, there’s other ways you can work out angry energy,” Buck said. 

Eddie arched an eyebrow.

“Not that,” Buck rolled his eyes, though he’d be happy to offer his body in any form of service to Eddie. “Like boxing or Muay Thai or sparring and junk. My gym has a boxing ring - think you could take me on?”

Buck was delighted to see the hint of pink that coloured Eddie’s cheeks.

“Buck, hitting you wouldn’t make me feel any better.”

Ok, that was adorably sexy and hit Buck in all the right, fuzzy places.

“Assuming you could,” Buck shrugged nonchalantly, a grin tugging at his lips as he stood up. “I’m pretty spry.”

“Oh yeah?”

They met at the end of the kitchen bench, Eddie loosely swinging a one-two combo that stopped before it made contact with Buck’s playfully raised forearms, defending his chest.

He was hyper-conscious of not crowding Eddie, always. He had a pretty good handle on when Eddie felt uncomfortable, the little lines of tension that would appear in his face or his posture, a slight scent of distress which told him to back off or move to a vantage where Eddie could see him better, stuff like that. Buck wasn’t even positive that Eddie realised what he was subtly projecting half the time, but Buck would rather throw himself out the window than make Eddie uncomfortable or scared around him.

“Maybe not yet,” Eddie admitted. “I don’t wanna go full flashback and tear some gym-bro limb from limb.”

Ok but honestly? The idea of sweaty, intensely focused Eddie handing some alpha’s ass to him in the ring was doing things to Buck.

Buck leaned his hip on the counter, glad when Eddie didn’t move immediately away.

“Hey, you know, as you figure things out… for what it’s worth? I’ve got your back.”

It was maybe a poor balm to Eddie’s trauma, and this was already part of why he was here, right? For Buck’s therapeutic alpha scent and lack of rent. He hoped Eddie already knew Buck would look out for him, to help him find his way back to peace.

The tentative smile on Eddie’s face was soft, calm and almost unbearably beautiful. The sweet, subtle scent of an omega at peace beckoned Buck closer, though he wouldn’t go, not unless it was Eddie himself crooking his finger at the alpha to come.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know you do.”

Buck read the second of hesitation before Eddie rocked forward on the balls of his feet, pressing a bashful kiss to Buck’s cheek. Buck basked in it like a cat in the sun – these little moments of affection from Eddie were pure gold, the few moments Eddie let himself have outside of sex.

“Now come help me change the oil on my car. You’re long overdue to learn how to do it yourself,” Eddie said a little briskly, retreating from the vulnerable moment as the cute, nose-twitching smell of nervousness entered his scent.

“Ugh, I love it when you boss me around,” Buck joked, moving to follow him immediately.

Eddie’s smile was more of a smirk now, and maybe Buck should be embarrassed at how Eddie was getting a handle on Buck’s… proclivities.

But maybe the more Eddie knew, the more he’d realise: Buck was his to do what he wanted with. Talk therapy, distract him, help with Chris, or fuck out his feelings. Whatever Eddie needed.

***

Eddie had grabbed an Amazon delivery block while Chris was at preschool and Buck was on shift, and had made it to his third last parcel when his phone rang.

He punched the accept button, and the call started over car Bluetooth.

“Hey Buck, what’s up?”

“Eddie, you’re near West Hollywood, right?”

Nerves quickly pooled in his stomach.

“Yeah. What’s going on, how do you know that?”

“You sent me a picture of a fire engine outside Cedars-Sinai a while ago and asked ‘dis u’?”

“Was it?! None of you are in hospital, are you?”

“No, no, but one of us might be soon.”

Eddie scowled at the little icon of Buck on his phone screen, alarmed.

“I didn’t mean to,” he heard a voice whine in the background of the call.

“Shut it probie,” a voice he thought was Chim said.

“Guys, cool it.” That was Bobby.

“What’s going on?” Eddie demanded.

“We’ve been cursed,” Buck informed him gravely.

Eddie paused for a moment, before he laughed.

“You’re kidding right? Shit Buck, I thought something was really wrong.”

“It is!” Buck insisted. “We need your help!”

“What, you need me to fly over there on a broomstick or something? Kiss a frog?”

“No, you’d have to kiss the probie, not a frog, and I don’t want you to do that.”

“Explain, Buck.”

“Eddie, the probie accidentally cursed us. He said the one word you’re not supposed to say on shift, and we’ve been hammered with the consequences all day,” Hen’s voice piped up. From the sound of the background noise, he’d say they were in the engine.

“I looked up how to break a curse and there’s a metaphysical supply store in West Hollywood that sells what we need to do a ritual. I was hoping you could get there and pick up some stuff for us? We’ll pay you back!”

“I’m sorry, a ritual?” Eddie asked sceptically.

“Yeah – we need hyssop and sage to burn,” Buck said.

“And the ritual candle!” Chim added.

“And a ritual candle. And I dunno if the shop attendant might have any advice for other stuff. It’s probably a witch that works in the shop, right?” Buck asked, the last part aimed slightly away from the phone but said so earnestly.

“Seriously you guys? It’s one thing to pass some time joking about this stuff, but you want to waste your money too?”

There was a squabble at the other end of the phone, and he was pretty sure he heard Chim say ‘we don’t want to anger the powers that be with Eddie’s bad attitude’. He rolled his eyes.

“Eddie, we’re desperate. I know you’re probably doing deliveries, we don’t want to interrupt, but maybe once you’re done? Please?” Buck beseeched.

“You don’t have to Eddie,” added Bobby’s steady voice.

“If you want us to suffer!” Hen called out.

“Seriously,” Bobby reproached.

 Thank goodness for sane leadership.

“…there’s no evidence that it’ll work to break the curse anyway.”

“Bobby,” Eddie admonished.  

“Eddie, we’ll all owe you big, yeah?”

“Rolling up on the scene now kid,” Bobby said.

“OK I gotta go, but if you get a chance: hyssop, sage, a ritual candle and any information on breaking a curse!” Buck rushed out, before the line went dead.

Good Lord.

***

45 minutes later, Eddie pulled up to the 118 station and carried two bags up to the loft. He greeted Julie but most of A-shift were still out, so he sucked up his disdain and got things ready for them.

The engine rolled in 15 minutes later, and a fatigued crew climbed out and up to the loft.

“Eddie!” Buck called out, perking up immediately as he saw the omega. “You came!”

“Please tell me you brought stuff to get these guys off my back,” Ravi groaned as he collapsed on one of the couches.

Eddie stepped aside, revealing a dried bushel of sage and hyssop, a lighter, a tall purple candle, a carton of eggs and a couple of bowls.

“Excellent,” Chim said, rubbing his hands together.

“Thank you Eddie,” Bobby said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Hen squinted at the table. “What are the eggs for?”

“I called Abuela. She said you all have to run a raw egg over your bodies to ‘absorb the negative energy’. Then you crack the egg in water, and apparently you can ‘read the curse’ in the water’? I don’t know.”

Buck tilted his head, looking helplessly charmed.

“You called Abuela for a counter-curse?” he asked.

“I did. I think it’s tonterías, but if it makes you feel better, have at it,” Eddie said, waving to the $49.85 worth of nonsense.

Hen and Chim were already rolling an egg over themselves with ridiculous focus, and Bobby was picking up his own and lobbed one lightly to Buck.

The firefighters rubbed the shell over their faces, their arms, bent over to get their legs.

“Eds, can you get my back?”

Eddie fixed Buck with a look and he and Bobby exchanged eggs instead, rolling them over each other’s backs.

“Have you guys had lunch?” Eddie asked as they ‘worked’.

“No time. Cap’s casserole burned,” Buck said mournfully.

Eddie grabbed the rest of the eggs.

“I’m no Cap, but I can handle some breakfast food while you guys finish your ritual-ing,” he offered.

Eddie started to scramble the eggs, and popped some bread in the toaster while the crew cracked their own curse receptacles into bowls of water.

“IS THAT A Q?” Buck shouted, causing Chim to hurry over and concur. Eddie rolled his eyes and added salt.

Bobby’s hands appeared over the frypan, sprinkling in some shards of the dried sage.

“Can’t hurt, right? Besides it pairs well,” Bobby said with a shrug.

Eddie tutted, but it was better than Hen carrying a now burning bushel of the herb around the loft, catching the ash in a bowl.

“Don’t let this put you off. We’re mostly normal,” Bobby promised.

“Who am I to deny people their quirks?” Eddie said magnanimously, despite his truckloads of judgement.

“It’ll make him feel better,” Bobby added, glancing at Buck.

“Yeah, I know about his hyper-fixations and what he gets like on a research binge,” Eddie said fondly.

Bobby smiled mischievously. “I meant having you around.”

Bobby didn’t wait for his response – good, he didn’t have one – and circled the bench to start buttering the toast.

“Thanks for this Eddie,” Buck said, gravitating toward him with a grin. “I already feel cleansed.”

“Good. Now go say sorry to Ravi. Then you can have some lunch,” Eddie instructed.

Chapter Text

Buck pulled in to his car spot in the underground parking of his building, next to Eddie’s car and the wall. They were lucky to have a place with two parking spaces, though other residents in the building had gotten used to using Buck’s spare as overspill for guest parking. But Buck would happily go toe to toe with Mr Miller and Ms Kästenschmidt again if they started griping about it.

He grabbed his work duffle bag from the back seat and closed the Jeep’s door, overlapping with the sound of the parking garage door closing.

If it was that German tyrant waiting for him to talk about how her son needed Eddie’s parking space because he was looking for jobs nearby, he would…

But it was Eddie, walking toward him with such purpose that Buck felt a bolt of fear go through him. Had something happened? Had he done something, bad enough that Eddie was marching down to confront him where Chris wouldn’t overhear?

“Hey, what’s –”

Eddie reached him and didn’t stop, backing Buck up until his back was pressed into the building’s wall, Eddie’s hand cushioning the back of his head as he took possession of Buck’s mouth.

He let out a surprised but happy groan into Eddie’s mouth, dropping his duffle to take hold of Eddie’s trim waist.

Eddie made it filthy, trading spit and sucking on Buck’s tongue while he rolled his hips into Buck’s rapidly interested cock.

“God, I’ve been thinking about this all day,” Eddie muttered against his lips before thrusting his tongue back in.

Like that sentence didn’t utterly destroy Buck and turn his knees into jello.

It was Eddie’s heat tomorrow, which accounted for his extra… amorousness.

Buck couldn’t believe it had been a month since they’d opened the physical side of their friendship. They were having more regular sex than a lot of couples. It helped Eddie, as an outlet, a confidence builder. As a part of his life he had total control over, to everyone’s mutual pleasure.

Eddie hadn’t let him near his ass though, since the first time he was in heat. Buck was in no way complaining, he was entirely satisfied. He just wasn’t sure Eddie was.

But with his heat tomorrow, Eddie might let himself ask for it again…

He doubted it would be now though, in a dirty rendezvous in the garage where anyone could walk in and they’d be soon missed.

“Chris?” Buck asked with rasping breath.

“Upstairs with Abuela,” Eddie said from where he’d planted his face in Buck’s throat, huffing his scent. “I’m taking out the trash. Saw you were almost home on ‘find your phone’.”

Buck groaned. Eddie tracking his phone so he could jump him before he was even in the door? Made him so hard it almost hurt.

Eddie drew back, tugging Buck with him.

“In the car.”

Buck fumbled for his keys in his pocket, clicking the automatic locking so Eddie could open the back door and scramble in.

Eddie was sprawled over the back seat, already undoing the fastenings of his pants.

“Want you to suck me,” he said lowly, voice rough.

Buck nodded frantically, climbing in after him and flattening himself as best he could, one leg in the footwell, one cramped uncomfortably on the seat under him.

The door was still propped open, the cement wall behind them. This time of day, it was unlikely there would be any foot traffic…

He’d make it fast.

Eddie’s cock was standing proudly, waiting for his mouth. He’d tucked his underwear around his upper thighs, under his balls.

One of Eddie’s hands stretched out impatiently, urging him forward and sliding into Buck’s hair as he leaned down.

He needed no further urging to suck Eddie down, though he loved that the omega was desperate enough for Buck to hurry him along anyway.

“Fuck,” Eddie ground out. “God, your mouth…”

He loved the way Eddie tasted, leaking on to his tongue. The weight of him in Buck’s mouth, the silken heat he longed to take deeper. Eddie’s hands were firm on his head, but gentle, never hurting.

Heat coiled tightly and rapidly in his stomach.

“Couldn’t wait, had to have you,” Eddie admitted roughly. Buck groaned, knowing the vibrations would taunt the omega, and swallowed around his prick, greedily taking him into his throat.

“Buck, you’re – finger me.”

Buck looked up, throat bulging, unsure if he’d heard correctly. Eddie’s mouth was open as he panted. He looked wrecked.

He pulled off with a wet glug, panting himself.

“Yeah?” he asked, grabbing the fabric around Eddie’s thighs.

Eddie nodded and tilted his hips up, and Buck pulled his jeans and underwear down his knees and ripped them off his left leg entirely. He didn’t care if they got the Jeep seats wet, he’d clean them (not suck on the fabric, that would be weird).

The scent of Eddie’s slick made his mouth water and his cock throb in his pants, as always.

The angle wasn’t forgiving but Buck would take the cramps with relish. Eddie pushed his left leg up against the top of the passenger side seat, giving Buck access to press his finger between his cheeks and sink, hot, wet and easy, inside of him.

Buck keened and almost choked as he dove back down to swallow Eddie’s dick, moving his finger in and out, stretching his rim as he did.

“Buck!” Eddie gasped, rutting his hips up to hit the back of Buck’s throat. His eyes watered and Buck forced himself lower desperately. He crooked his finger, obsessed by the sound Eddie made when he rubbed his prostate.

“Baby you’re making me cum, I’m –”

Eddie’s dick jerked in his mouth, his hot spend going straight down Buck’s throat and trailing up into his mouth so he could taste it as he pulled partially off, tonguing the slit for any remaining cum Eddie had for him.

After a few moments Eddie started to whine and pulled lightly on Buck’s hair to get him to relinquish his cock.

Buck was panting hard, and realised he was grinding awkwardly into the edge of the backseat. He’d have to change his pants before he went upstairs, he was leaking through the material.

He slurped up Eddie’s cock one more time, seeking out any last traces of him. The he reluctantly pulled out his finger, the pulsing of Eddie’s internal muscles having calmed. He wanted badly to suck on that too, but it felt like bad courtesy. He knew, without any detail, that Eddie’s slick was treated like a commodity when he was trafficked, and he didn’t want to act like one of those sick, creepy alphas.

But Eddie lowered his leg and caught Buck’s wrist, guiding Buck’s hand to his lips.

Buck let out a grateful whimper, descending on his shining finger hungrily and moaning at the taste that set off a whole domino effect of reactions through his alpha body.

God, he’d sign over the deed to his apartment and his trust fund for Eddie to sit on his face for 10 minutes.

“I… I can’t make you cum, with Abuela upstairs,” Eddie said regretfully, his voice still rough.

“That’s ok baby, it’s fine…” Buck said.

It was one of the unfortunate, impractical sides of alpha scenting. Buck’s cum would stain Eddie’s omega scent for hours – which Buck loved of course, but it made for a rather awkward announcement to Eddie’s grandmother that Eddie had snuck downstairs for an afternoon quickie.

But if he was careful not to get any splashes on Eddie, Buck could make himself cum. He’d just coat himself with Axe body spray after.

Buck sat up on the seat, leaning back to work his pants down enough to take hold of his twitching cock. It wouldn’t take long, not with how fucking worked up he was –

Eddie’s hand wrapped around his wrist again, firmer this time, halting the stroke of his dick.

“Don’t cum yet.”

Buck gawped up at Eddie, his cock blurting out more precum at the strength of his grip and authority in his voice.

Eddie looked a little nervous though, the kind of look he got when he was asking for something he assumed Buck would want to say no to. He’d never said no yet, hadn’t ever wanted to.

“Eds?”

“Don’t cum yet,” he said again, looking imploringly into Buck’s eyes. “Wait until tonight. Keep it for me.”

Buck let out a pathetic, wobbling sound and almost came anyway.

He fucking adored when Eddie was like this, a little possessive, a little demanding. Trusting that Buck would let him be that way.

“Is that ok?” Eddie asked softly.

Buck nodded jerkily. “Y-Yeah. I can save it for you.”

“Good,” Eddie whispered, and tugged Buck’s hand away.

Eddie quickly pulled his pants back on, wincing as the fabric clung to him, and leaned in to press a soft kiss against Buck’s lips before he opened the car door on his side.

“I’ll just, be a few minutes before I come up.”

Eddie grinned at him, darting a satisfied look down at Buck’s lap.

“Don’t go book a motel room about it either,” Eddie teased with a glint in his eye.

Buck pretend-glared at him. He almost regretted telling Eddie about his earlier relief efforts, but Eddie had been so tickled and delighted about it, Buck wore the embarrassment mixed with pride at getting Eddie to feel good about himself.

Eddie all but skipped away, and extra sway to his hips.

Buck took a deep breath, hoping some breathing exercises would get his libido under control. It was a mistake, since the smell of Eddie’s slick was still thick in the air.

His boner wasn’t going anywhere like this.

Buck clambered into the front seat, turning the car on and blasting the air. He probably wouldn’t go completely soft until Eddie was through with him that night, but he had uniform pants in need of a wash in his dropped duffle he would wear, so he could tuck his dick into the waistband as needed.

He’d grab them now. And maybe some antiseptic wipes from the first aid kit to rub under his nostrils.

***

It was torture. Cruel, unusual, pleasurable torture.

Eddie kept brushing up against him. He knew, he knew exactly what he was doing, the little cock tease, because he didn’t do it in front of Abuela or Christopher, but still while they were in earshot. And Eddie’d dance away again with a twinkle in his eye, knowing Buck wouldn’t lurch after Eddie or drag him back to hump his hip like he wanted to.

Buck would wait until tonight, just like Eddie had told him to.

***

“He’s asleep. The second run-through of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ did the trick,” Eddie said as he walked into the lounge room. “I could recite that damn book backwards in Spanish.”

“He loves your voices. You should record yourself doing it. Upload it to YouTube. Make a bunch of money.”

Eddie chuckled warmly, stopping by the coffee table. He looked down at Buck, his face still painted with amusement.

“Did, ah, you wanna watch TV or relax or…” Buck asked, praying the answer was no and that his hopeful eyes didn’t look too pathetic.

“No. You know what I want.”

Buck was already chubbing up again in his jeans.

“You’ve been so patient. I don’t think it’s fair to make you wait longer,” Eddie continued, starting to walk backwards in the direction of thei – the master bedroom.

“Hell yeah,” Buck breathed, following him like he was on a leash.

It might have been desperate, but it was also practical for Buck to strip off his pants and shirt before laying on his back on the bed, lower than Eddie and under his control, just as he liked.

“This ok?” Buck still asked, clenching his fist lightly to stop himself rubbing his dick through his boxer briefs.

“Perfect. You’re so good for me,” Eddie purred, moving lithely to the foot of the bed.

Fuck, sex kitten Eddie. Buck hoped he could last long enough to give Eddie what he wanted. Eddie stripped off his shirt, back arching languidly like it was a show and his pants and underwear soon followed, bearing his glorious, nude form to Buck.

“You were so sweet to me earlier. So good at sucking my cock, letting me cum in your pretty mouth.”

Buck’s mouth opened but no words came out. Fuck, ovulation. Eddie’s body was telling him to make a baby and get that high quality, baby-making essence out of Buck through any means necessary. And apparently that intense urge travelled by way of his mouth, chasing away the traces of hesitation Eddie usually carried and loosening his tongue for dirty talk that was hitting Buck’s buttons so fucking good.

He’d get it. Not the baby, but everything else Buck had in him to give.

“I owe you now, don’t I?” Eddie asked with a coy tilt of his head.

Buck clumsily shook his head.

“But I do. You made me feel so good, and you’ve been holding on to that load for me all night…” Eddie crooned.

He leaned forward, taking a hold of Buck’s calves under his knees and dragged him quickly down to the end of the bed. Buck gasped as the fabric pulled and ruffled under him.

He really, really liked that Eddie could move him. Even throw him around a bit, if he wanted to.

Then Eddie dropped gracefully to his knees.

Buck froze in shock.

It was the first time Eddie had ever put himself in a supplicant position with Buck.

He dare not move. Even sitting up would make his 6”3’ frame loom over the omega.

Deep, brown eyes looked up at him, hungry and with a glint of challenge.

Move, they said. And I’ll put you back in place.

Buck’s hard on was tenting his boxers high enough that it concealed Eddie’s chin and neck. Eddie’s hands smoothed up Buck’s legs and his fingertips crept into his waistband. He wordlessly tilted his hips up and Eddie pulled the material down, looking at his dick with keen hunger.

Buck swallowed heavily, breathing in Eddie’s scent. Christ, Buck could get off on that alone, knowing that Eddie was excited by him spread out like this.

Eddie took a confident hold of Buck’s prick and licked across the weeping head.

“Fu- hungh…” Buck couldn’t make words right now. Not with Eddie looking up at him like that, smirking over his cock.

He leaned forward further, his other big hand splayed over Buck’s thigh and took the head of Buck’s cock in his mouth.

Eddie moaned – moaned – as he hollowed his cheeks, the wet, velvet heat lighting up Buck’s sensitive glans.

He looked like pure sin. No one should look that good, he was a public health hazard. He’d cause heart attacks.

“Eds, God…” Buck panted. Fuck, it wasn’t like this was Buck’s first blow job (it might be Eddie’s, holy…). It wasn’t even like Buck hadn’t been getting off regularly. But with the feeling, the scent, the visual, the privilege of being here under this incredible omega…

Eddie was making him into a minute man.

“Not gonna last like this. Don’t want… don’t wanna disappoint you,” he admitted, truth falling from his lips since all the blood had rushed to his cock and not left any in his brain to be smooth or sexy.

Eddie had started to bob his head up and down, God help him, but pulled off with a ‘pop’ that Buck felt in his gut.

“You couldn’t, Buck,” Eddie said, a little bit too sincerely for someone whose lips were shiny with spit and precum.

The reassurance was a soothing balm to Buck’s perpetually needy psyche.

“Thanks, but let’s not test your resolution by having me go off in your mouth after 30 seconds,” Buck pleaded.

“Ok cariño, you can take a little longer,” Eddie said, like he was giving him permission. It made Buck want to squirm.

Eddie rose to his feet, sliding his hands under Buck’s bare thighs.

“Up the bed.”

Buck’s arms pedalled backwards as Eddie took most of his weight, manhandling him up to the middle of the bed. Eddie climbed after him, hovering over him, his biceps looking good enough to lick.

“Not helping me keep it together, Eds,” Buck blew out.

Eddie hummed haughtily. His gaze ran assessing over Buck like he was mapping out an attack. They lingered on his red cock.

“You’re going to knot for me tonight, aren’t you?”

Buck wheezed. “Fuck, probably.”

Knotting didn’t happen consistently outside of heat. Buck’s knot was more active than the typical alpha, and a lot more active around Eddie. He’d had to raise his protein intake to keep up with the energy requirements of taking care of Eddie. Not that he was complaining.

“Yes,” Eddie said surely. “You’ll knot for me.”

“You – you want that?” Buck asked in a weak voice. Where did the air in the room go?

“Yes. Fucking love it when you knot.”

“Damn, Eds.” Buck’s head dropped back to the mattress, feeling weak all over except his cock which was hard enough to hammer nails.

Eddie shifted his weight, grabbing a pillow from over Buck’s head before bullying Buck’s good leg up. He pressed the pillow under Buck’s hips, and with his legs parted, his hole was open to Eddie.

“Beautiful,” Eddie whispered over him. “Such a pretty thing.”

His right hand wrapped around Buck’s dick, smoothing down the precum streaming out.

“Love how wet you get too. Dripping for me.”

Eddie thumbed over his frenulum, and his dick kicked as he clenched his muscles in response to the sensitive touch.

“Gets me so wet,” Eddie whispered and his left hand reached behind him and –

“Holy shit…”

The subtle, wet sound of Eddie running his fingers through his slick would live on forever in Buck’s brain. He couldn’t believe Eddie was hovering naked over him, fingering his asshole like a coquette. What had Buck done right in a past life to deserve this?

He whined. He wanted to see, he wanted his fingers to join, he wanted Eddie to let him suck his juices off his hand once he came.

But Eddie didn’t linger long. Two shining, wet fingers reappeared and pressed quickly against Buck’s rim.

“Son of a –”

Had he been watching porn? The niche area of the internet Buck had lurked in (before Eddie came to stay, it felt too weird to watch that stuff with Eddie under the same roof) where omegas weren’t just bent over and fucked, they were proactive, kinky little orchestrators of the intercourse?

Eddie’s fingers stabbed perfectly right to where he wanted them. He’d uh, become reasonably acquainted with Buck’s asshole, which weirdly made Buck’s stomach flip with giddy delight.

“Fuck,” Buck cried, tilting his hips up a little to let Eddie know he could really drill him.

“So good at this, taking what I give you,” Eddie said, bicep flexing as he pumped his fingers into him. His other hand wrapped around the head of his dick tightly, tugging him just right.

The noise Buck let out was a little embarrassing. Praise did him in so quick, especially when it poured from Eddie like this.

“Ba- baby, please. Get in me. Can’t – won’t last much longer,” Buck begged.

“Play with your nipples,” Eddie ordered instead of giving in. Buck let out a half-sob, but did as Eddie asked, bringing up his useless hands to pinch at his chest. Each one sent a bolt down to his cock, which was twitching and throbbing dangerously.

A lewd groan radiated from Eddie’s chest.

“God, it’s fucking addicting. You do what I ask, whatever I need. So good to me Buck. Fucking mine.”

Eddie bit his lip and his rhythm faltered, suddenly looking up at Buck in worry. The alpha almost missed it, since his back arched uncontrollably and a wave so close to an orgasm it could still tip into one, went through him, lit up by Eddie’s claim.

It was Eddie’s own hesitation, the flash of fear in his eyes that he’d gone too far that saved Buck from an embarrassing end.

 But that quickly melted away at Buck’s reaction and urgent keen, replaced by deep satisfaction.

“Oh, you like that? Knowing you’re mine?” Eddie purred, half smug, half in wonder. If this man knew what he was capable of, that he could rule half of LA with a smirk, a flex of his abs and a hint of his scent…

He rubbed Buck’s prostate again and restarted jerking him off.

“Please,” he said wretchedly, not sure what he was asking for. Mercy, maybe. He plucked his nipples again. “Eds baby, please, just –”

Feral captivation took over Eddie’s expression and his hands didn’t stop. No, they sped up a bit.

“Say it.”

His vision was blurry, except for his pinpoint focus on Eddie’s face. His breath came in frantic gasps.

“I ah- I love it, love when you do what you want to me, when you tell me what to do. Want to be yours so bad –” Buck said, cutting himself off before he revealed more truths that might freak Eddie out.

But Eddie’s hand slipped down to the base of his cock, gripping his swelling knot.

“Whose knot is this?” Eddie demanded.

“Y-yours Eddie, s’yours – FUCK!”

His body convulsed like he’d been hooked up to electricity.

He came so hard his cum arced through the air, but he couldn’t feel it land on him because his body was being wracked with sensations previously unknown to man.

Every muscle seized, taken over by aggressive, life-altering pleasure and Buck could only take it; take Eddie’s fingers inside him caressing his prostate, take the hand squeezing and massaging his knot, take the confessions that would have streamed off his tongue if his brain wasn’t frying and fuzzy from the flood of dopamine, oxytocin and whatever magic chemicals made up Eddie’s addicting pheromones.

“Buck, Dios mío,” Eddie groaned.

Buck shuddered as Eddie pulled his fingers out, keeping one possessive, attentive hand on his sensitive knot, and started stripping himself. Holy shit.

Buck was cum drunk and dumb with it. He’d like to do that for Eddie, or maybe Eddie could climb up his chest and feed him his cock. His body was so wrung out, it’d go down his throat so easy.

He opened his mouth to offer, hoping his tongue cooperated, when Eddie gasped and spurted all over him.

After the initial rush of his orgasm, as the crest faded, his skin was shivery and sensitive. Every hot splash echoed through his bones up to his brain, and felt like a branding.

He squinted down at his lap, positively covered in jizz, as was Eddie’s hand, still circling his knot. Or was it Eddie’s knot?

The visual took him by surprise and Buck moaned as the sensation caught up with him. Eddie squeezed and another throb of cum blurted out of him, with less velocity, though the spasms it sent off in him were almost as intense, if shorter.

He was being murdered. Killed through pleasure. His heart wouldn’t recover.

“Eddie,” he rasped.

The omega was staring at Buck’s lap in disbelief.

“I… shit. Are you ok?” Eddie asked, his brown Bambi eyes clearer post-nut.

“Broken,” he groaned, stretching his back and arms a little like a cat. “Devastated.”

‘Yours’, he didn’t say. He wanted to watch Eddie stammer and blush over it, but couldn’t bear to hear him take it back.

“Glad you made me wait.”

Eddie huffed and smiled bashfully.

“Thanks for um, doing that. Humouring me.”

“Baby, feel free to run a joke like that on me any time.”

Eddie’s laugh was a little nervous.

“I… you are really good to me Buck. I hope you know how much I appreciate that. Appreciate you.”

Buck’s smile softened and he imagined his eyes were in the shape of hearts.

“I do Eds, and I, you know, appreciate you too,” he said, then shifted. “I don’t wanna undercut the sincerity of ah- this moment, but ah – I’m gonna…”

Buck grunted as his balls tightened and his dick pulsed again, cumming for a third time, trying to pump more of his cum into the omega he was supposed to be buried in right now. Eddie’s hole maybe, Jesus…

“Fuck, that’s hot,” Eddie breathed with a hint of laughter, his cheeks red at this sober confession when only moments ago he’d been claiming Buck’s dick as his own.

“You keep saying such nice things to me, it’s not gonna go down,” Buck half-joked, flopping an arm over his eyes.

“Mmmm, you should really be saving it up again, for tomorrow,” Eddie said cheekily, a squeezing roll of his palm making Buck’s leg twitch pleasantly.

Eddie seemed to catch up to his mouth again and his expression changed.

“Sorr- I just mean, my heat – if you want,” Eddie bit his lip and looked properly sheepish at the incredulous look Buck shot him from under his own forearm. “Ok, you want. I know. And um… I want you to fuck me again.”

“Eddieeee,” Buck whined, covering his eyes again. “You’re killing me here, man.”

His words dissolved into another moan as a fourth spurt was drawn up through him at the mere mention of getting to slide inside the omega again.

Eddie made a mocking, faux-sympathetic tutting sound – God, Buck loved it when Eddie got bitchy – but as Buck blinked his eyes open again, he looked remarkably pleased by the reaction he was eliciting.

“You gonna be up for the job, alpha?” he asked teasingly.

“You gonna bring out that dirty talk again? Cause if so, you might have to be satisfied with the fast version.”

Buck was the one with a praise kink visible a mile away, but less obvious was how Eddie was starved of any kind of positive reinforcement – from long before his ordeal and the Army, if Buck had to make a guess.  

He practically beamed, though he tried to be cool about it.

“Maybe. Guess you’ll just have to keep getting hard til I’m satisfied,” Eddie said, leaning to lick over the drooling head of his cock.

“Jesus!”

He’d start cumming dry soon, before his knot went down – even alpha balls couldn’t keep up with Eddie’s raw appeal. But not yet – he got to see his small, fifth load paint Eddie’s lips and Eddie lick it up curiously.

“Edsss.”

Chapter Text

Eddie was reading through the documents the lawyer sent over ahead of their meeting the next morning, passing them over to Buck to re-read them and fill him in on the stuff he wasn’t taking in.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call around and see if anyone can cover my shift tomorrow? You shouldn’t have to go to the appointment alone,” Buck offered yet again.

“It’ll be fine – the lawyer’s on my side, there’s nothing I can screw up. She’s just telling me what she’s planning for the depositions anyway.”

Buck was still frowning. “Yeah, but I don’t like that you have to hear about your shitty parents without someone around to reinforce how shitty they are and how it’s absolutely not your fault.”

Eddie smiled a little. “I promise to text you if I’m in crisis.”

“Hey – come to the station after.”

That sounded perfect. He knew he’d get in his own head without Buck to draw him out of his mood and no Chris to take care of, who would be happily at preschool all day.

But he shook his head. “You don’t need more ‘Eddie maintenance time’ on your shoulders, especially not at work.”

Buck scoffed. “Please, Eddie time is my favourite time. C’mon, I’ll clear it with Cap and you can have a look at the academy books and stuff we have at the station! Please, it’ll be great.”

Like Eddie would be doing Buck a favour by swinging by to be taken care of.

Buck had been so excited by the mere suggestion of Eddie one day joining the fire academy. He’d been trying his best to hold back and not pressure him about it, but Buck was probably due an opportunity to lather it on thick and prod Eddie about it.

“… only if it’s ok with Bobby. I don’t want to push the friendship.”

Not 15 minutes later, Eddie’s phone pinged with a message:

Eddie, please feel free to come by the station tomorrow and stay as long as you like. You’re always welcome. And there are some materials I’ve been meaning to give you for the academy – Bobby Nash.

Buck grinned brightly as Eddie answered the message that he’d see Bobby tomorrow.

They ended up in bed together after, kissing through leisurely, side by side hand jobs. And fell asleep after. Eddie thought he might have some issues sleeping with an alpha, especially as Buck was a clinger.

But the comforting scent of Buck in his nostrils seemed to assuage Eddie’s instincts, enough to even snuggle further into Buck’s hold some mornings.

(He hadn’t spent a night on the couch yet. Neither had Buck).

***

Eddie pulled up in the small parking lot that served the 118 station, next to Buck’s Jeep, only minorly emotionally bruised and carrying donuts.

One of the good lessons his mother taught him: don’t show up somewhere empty-handed.

The team cheered when they saw him (or the donuts) and ushered him immediately, warmly into the fold. Eddie ended up in the middle of the dining table, recruitment materials and manuals spread around and what he was starting to think was a coordinated attack with the mission: make Eddie Diaz a firefighter.

Hen actually had some helpful study tips. Chim spent his time half-bragging, half-advising, but his easy humour made Eddie feel a little less intimidated by the fact he was the rookie dumbass here.

Buck was… distracting.

His grin almost split his face, even happier to have Eddie here now than the first time, and impatient for Eddie to read through everything in front of him so they could talk about it, leaning over his shoulder to point gleefully at all the coolest marketing copy.

“Don’t you have chores to do Buck?” Bobby asked from the kitchen.

“Nope, finished. Eddie, you’d be really good at rope rescues. I love ‘em, they’re –”

“There’s nothing productive you can find to do?” Bobby followed up.

Buck broke his gaze away from Eddie to look at his Captain.

“I am being productive Cap! I’m recruiting the best and the brightest.”

“Isn’t that the Army?” Ravi piped up from where he was unloading the dishwasher behind Bobby.

“That’s ‘we want you’,” Chim added with a pop of his gum from the end of the table.

“Well, we want Eddie!” Buck claimed.

Hen snorted next to Chim.

“Someone wants Eddie,” she muttered with a smirk, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Eddie felt his face flush, and knew if he looked at Buck, he’d be pink too.

“Guys, you’re supposed to be helping me,” Buck whined instead of denying Hen’s tease.

Eddie arched his eyebrow and gave Buck a look, which made him shrug sheepishly. As if his ‘devious’ plan hadn’t been obvious from the beginning.

He looked so damn adorable. And maybe Eddie was getting soft, and the warm and fuzzy feelings of being liked by a group of people were dulling the echoes of his parent’s lawyer’s claims about his capabilities as a man and a father…

He threw the alpha a bone.

“One of the biggest perks of the LAFD is the comradery, right?”

“Exactly!” Buck crowed, wrapping his arm around Eddie and jostling him in a friendly way. A few weeks ago, Buck wouldn’t have done this kind of rough, ‘bro’ move, but Eddie had yet to have a negative reaction to any kind of affection Buck sent his way. He was glad neither of them felt like Buck had to tip-toe around his physicality anymore.

“You spend time together, you bond, you have each other’s backs. Ignore the mutiny happening here,” Buck continued.

“Speaking of Cap, it’s been forever since your last BBQ. I think we’re overdue. Maybe that can be the next phase of Buck’s incredibly targeted recruitment campaign?” Hen asked angelically.

Bobby settled into the seat at the top of the table with a mug of coffee.

“Sure. Why don’t we do it in our next 72 off?”

“Great!” Buck bounced in his seat, close enough to Eddie still to jostle him again. “Once you try Cap’s ribs, you’ll be begging to work here.”

“I don’t know if anything could top Bobby’s chilli with homemade bread,” Eddie said, nudging Buck with his elbow.

Buck looked down bashfully but smiling. He and Christopher were learning about sourdough starters and Buck’s results had been mouthwatering.

“Oh Lord,” he heard Chim mutter, followed by a snicker from Hen.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Buck snarked at them.

“No, we’re helping,” Chim claimed.

Eddie was somewhat embarrassed at the fond teasing and being the centre of attention like this, but it was still lovely to see Buck interact with the team, and their clear affection for him – even if they liked to give him a hard time.  

“What do you usually do around here to kill time, when Buck’s not offering a distraction?” Eddie asked.

“Nap. Video games, reading…” Hen started.

“There’s usually enough chores to do that there’s not much downtime, or calls. It’s not usually this qu-”

Ravi cut himself off as four heads whipped around to him so quick they might hurt themselves. Eddie could feel the heat of their glowers from his seat.

“.. usually slow for long,” Ravi finished cautiously.

“Good. I got used to long stretches of nothing in the Army. Not a lot of fun.”

“I like to think we’re better set up than tents in the desert. What did you use to do?” Buck asked.

***

“The game’s Texas Hold’em. Skittles are 5, Pretzels are 10,” Eddie said, dealing cards.

“Are red skittles worth more?”

“No Buck.”

Buck popped a red skittle into his mouth. “But they’re the best ones.”

“Stop eating your chips,” Eddie chastised him, putting two of his own skittles pile in front of Buck. He’d need than more than Eddie.

“Ok Hen, you’re small blind, Ravi you’re big.”

***

Groans echoed from all sides of the table as Eddie raked in all his snacks/chips with a smirk.

“This isn’t fair, we don’t know Eddie well enough to read when he’s bluffing,” Chim complained, freshly out of chips.

“But that’s not stopping him from whipping your ass,” Buck pointed out smugly.

“You should have to play with Buck on your team as a handicap,” Hen suggested.

Buck had been first out, from a combination of eating his own chips and a complete inability to mask his emotions.

After, he’d sat pressed close to Eddie to ‘learn how it was done’ but Eddie (unfortunately) had to shoo him away after he lost a hand then had everyone fold on him, from the team reading Buck’s face as he looked at Eddie’s cards.

“That won’t save you now,” Eddie said of Hen’s last two pretzels. It was Hen, Eddie, Bobby and Ravi left in play.

Eddie tossed in a pretzel and Bobby a blue skittle.

Ravi dealt and laid out the five required cards in the middle of the table, before the alarm went off.

‘Station 118 respond: traffic collision with reports of a vehicle hitting a tree, debris in the roadway…’

“Ravi, you’re man behind,” Cap ordered, putting his cards face down on the table. “Don’t cheat! We’re finishing this.”

Buck squeezed Eddie’s shoulder before he ran away and Eddie had to tense his thighs to resist the automatic urge to run after him.

As soon as the trucks pulled out, Eddie reached for Cap’s cards while Ravi reached for Hen’s, They both looked and by silent, mutual agreement, showed each other too before they carefully replaced the cards so their cheating wouldn’t be detected.

“If you need any help studying, I only graduated six months ago, it’s all pretty fresh,” Ravi offered.

“Thanks man. I’m not totally sure I’m gonna apply yet though,” Eddie said. There were things to think about, childcare most of all, even though most of it sounded pretty amazing.

“Oh! I just thought, with all this, it was more of a done deal, like the recruitment stuff was a joke.”

“Nah, Buck’s still on the hunt,” he said fondly.

Now it was just the two of them, the scents of the rest of the team fading, Eddie realised he wasn’t breathing the musk of an alpha, nor the almost-neutral scent of a beta. It was the subtle but sweet smell of a fellow omega.

Eddie tried not to let his surprise show on his face.

Being an omega in the Army was challenging. There were parts of his service he liked, parts he was proud of. But if he could go back, he wouldn’t do it again.

Plenty of the trauma had nothing to do with being an omega, but some did. He felt confident that he’d be safe and respected at the 118, but as much as Buck had fixated on it, and Bobby had suggested there would be an offer, there was no guarantee that open positions and budget would see him at the 118 if he graduated the academy.

“Do you mind, can I ask…”

“About what it’s like for an omega in the LAFD?” Ravi finished amiably.

He nodded.

“It’s ok. Honestly? There are some houses I wouldn’t work at. The brass wouldn’t place me there too, for fear of harassment or a lawsuit. Not here though. Here is nice.

“And so far, people on scenes don’t care what my designation is, they just want you to help them. There’s a couple of knothead alpha firefighters out there who give you a look every now and then on a scene, but they’re too scared of Cap and Buck to make trouble.”

“Glad to hear it, man,” Eddie replied. “So being ‘man behind’, that’s not based on designation or abilities or anything? You still get to get out there and learn?”

“For sure. But down trees on the road means ‘chainsaw’ and I’m still recovering from the last time Buck came at me with a chainsaw.”

“… he WHAT?!”

“He called it a ‘teaching moment’,” Ravi deadpanned. “The man is terrifying.”

“Buck,” Eddie said with disbelief. “My Buck?”

“Hell yeah. He’s calmed down a bit since you guys moved in together though. I think it’s good for him. And me.”

Ravi got up to get a drink, leaving Eddie smiling stupidly at a pile of cards and stale snacks.

*****

Eddie admired the long lengths of beautiful, naked skin spread under him for worship.

As his fingers pumped into Buck’s ass, Buck’s hips flexed and rubbed his dick into the sheets. Maybe Eddie should stop him; Buck didn’t have the best impulse control. But he also had a generous refractory period for someone pushing 30, so as long as it made him feel good, and they had time to go again before they had to sleep…

He pressed a kiss between Buck’s shoulder blades, which elicited a little moan, and ran his nose up to Buck’s neck where he inhaled deeply.

“I’m gonna get your sleeve,” Eddie whispered in his ear.

Buck let out a high, desperate groan and humped the bed jerkily before he took a breath and nodded into the pillow.

Buck had introduced a blushing but fiercely curious Eddie to his diverse and colourful range of toys and accessories just a couple of days ago. Buck seemed to think it was just an amusement, a cheeky curiosity, but Eddie had been hard and captivated immediately.

He wanted to try them all. On Buck, or Buck on him, which he didn’t think was necessarily the purpose of sex toys? Especially not when they belonged to his best friend / roommate / crush / guy he was fucking.

Buck was generous but surely one day Eddie would find the limit of what Buck was willing to share with him, and asking for a round with his fleshlight or vibrating dildo might be that line.

The sleeve though? That was alpha specific and as far as Eddie was concerned, immediately up for demonstration.

They’d used it that night and Eddie had been tortured by memories of it since.

It was a dark green colour, silicon with a tiny air pump attached. It fit right over Buck’s knot, tapering off quickly, leaving the rest of his cock for Eddie to manhandle. It was designed to stimulate an alpha’s knot, just like the flexing, milking rim of an omega. Only this way, Eddie could see him cumming buckets and work the rest of his prick while he knotted.

Eddie’s hand on Buck’s hip got him to turn on his side, and Eddie pumped Buck a few times before stretching out the silicon like he’d seen Buck do, and fitting it down to the slightly distended skin he knew would be soon filled-out. He pumped the input a couple of times to make the fit snug – it would slowly let out air and give him room to swell into it.

“Fuck, I love how much you’re into this,” Buck gasped.

“I love how much you cum,” Eddie admitted, eyeing the now framed erection. “I better get a towel, gonna make you leave such a mess.”

Buck whimpered and Eddie ducked away, only to come back and find him fiddling with himself, teasing his own cockhead.

“Getting yourself nice and wet for me?” Eddie teased.

It was easier and easier to use dirty talk with Buck, inspiration striking in a way it never had before, when the blonde was around him. It was confidence-building even; the alpha loved it.

“You got me wet, I just like playing with it,” Buck breathed.

“You look so pretty doing it,” Eddie told him warmly.

Buck giggled, looking up at him from beneath his lashes. How could this beefy, stacked alpha, fitted with a knot sleeve, tugging on his big cock, and wet and loose from Eddie fingering him, still manage to look sweet and shyly pleased?

“You like it? You can take a video, if you want.”

Eddie’s stomach flipped. Like 180, totally upside down.

“I don’t know where my phone is,” Eddie admitted. He got sick of the stupid thing when Buck was home and he didn’t have to text to talk with him. “Maybe… you could take a video for me another time? Send it to me?”

Buck smiled a bit like a shark.

“When? We’re almost always together. Unless you want me to get hard and sneak a video at the station…”

Buck looked pretty excited by the notion.

“Do not get fired for sexting me,” Eddie ordered, though a video of Buck in his turnouts, suspenders, open enough to reveal his hard, leaking cock would be hot.

Eat your heart out sexy LAFD calendar (that Buck had been in twice).

“Ok, you better hurry up and fuck me before I get any more stupid, horny ideas.”

Buck waggled his eyebrows and went to shuffle onto his hands and knees. Eddie halted him from moving with a firm hand on his hip.

Eddie slithered down, plastering himself up against Buck’s side where he lay on his back. He guided one thick, strong thigh up so he could fit one of his own legs between Buck’s, and Buck’s leg crooked back over his so their legs were tangled up intimately and Buck was twisted ever-so-slightly to leave him open to Eddie’s cock nudging over his ass.

“Like this ok?” he asked, wrapping an arm so his forearm was under Buck’s neck but his elbow still propped Eddie up to press his pec into Buck’s bicep and lean over his bulk so Eddie could still see the show.

“Y-yeah, it’s um, it’s nice,” Buck said.

It was the closest Eddie could figure out how to get to Buck, the most skin pressed together, without resting his whole weight on the alpha in missionary and losing his leverage to thrust.

“Ok cariño, relax and let me in,” Eddie whispered, pressing his impatient dick against Buck’s ring and leaning forward for a kiss.

His tongue licked into Buck’s gasping mouth as his cock breached him. He wouldn’t be getting any long, powerful thrusts this way, where Eddie almost drew out before slamming back in, to Buck’s rapturous gratitude, but the intimacy of how they were pressed together was a sufficient compromise.

Eddie spread his hand across Buck’s white inner thigh as he bottomed out and Buck pulled away from his mouth to breathe.

“Fuck, I love the feeling of your ass pressed into my hips like that,” Eddie growled.

Buck whimpered and squirmed, clenching on the length inside him. “Love the way you fill me up.”

Eddie started rocking, staying deep inside his alpha. The hand that was on his thigh quickly migrated to holding Buck’s cock and stroking it lazily, without any real goal of getting him off. Not yet, anyway.

They kept their sounds low, captured by the other’s mouth half the time. Neither heeded the sweat building between their skin.

Buck started to push back more insistently, his arm wrapping backwards to take hold of Eddie’s upper thigh, high enough that the meat of his ass cheek was pressing into the back of Buck’s pinkie and ring finger. His strong hold urged Eddie faster and made Eddie’s heart race – in the best ways, as every hint of possessiveness and grabbiness from Buck did of late.

“You feel incredible like this,” Eddie added. “Such a perfect cock to play with while you take me. Look at it.”

Buck moaned as he followed Eddie’s direction.

“Gorgeous. Wish you could see where I’m fucking into you too, see how good your ass takes me. Such a perfect hole, makes me wanna fill it up.”

“Yes, Eddie please, do it.”

As had become normal, Eddie’s own hole was flexing and hungry for attention. Buck had a plug or three in his collection, maybe Eddie should ask if he could borrow?

“Would you let me take a picture of you like this too? Stretched around me, trying to pull my cock back in? You can see how much you love it, such a good cockslut.”

Eddie almost cringed and apologised for the language misstep, but Buck moaned like he was getting off on it.

“You can, m’yours. You can do anything to me,” Buck panted.  

Buck would be the end of him. His readily-offered promise sent a bolt of heat that made Eddie’s stomach dip and his balls tighten.

It was the only type of ‘dirty talk’ that still gave them both pause, that they didn’t joke about, didn’t talk about outside of the height of their coupling.

Not the praise kink. That was open season, and Buck perked up at any compliment or positive reinforcement, sexy or not. Eddie kind of did too.

It was the… ownership. Belonging.

Not because it triggered anything bad for Eddie – because it triggered something good, something he craved but couldn’t ask Buck, not when he’d given so much and when saying ‘no’ would be so heartbreaking and devastating to their intertwined lives.

“Are you close?” Eddie whispered into Buck’s ear to watch the goosebumps from his warm breath break out.

Buck nodded, his face twisted in concentration and anticipation.

“Yeah, so close baby, guh…” Buck broke off into a moan as Eddie thumbed over his slit and slapped his hips into Buck. Buck’s groans built into a crescendo until –

Eddie stopped.

Buck whined loudly and tensed his inner muscles, and Eddie had to check Buck hadn’t cum anyway – nope, just his normal, excessive amount of precum.

The silicon around his knot wasn’t full, just a little plumped up. Alphas didn’t knot every time they came. Most didn’t outside of heat or a particularly amorous session, so Buck was already outside the norm.

The thing was – Eddie fucking loved it when Buck knotted. The way his dick swelled, how he got a little feral and more desperate than normal in the throes of the more intense orgasm, the way his balls would keep emptying over and over again…

It wasn’t fair to Buck, maybe, when he did it outside of Eddie’s hole. It could be uncomfortable and unfulfilling not to have pressure on a knot, though Eddie had big hands… the knot sleeve was the perfect solution.

And Eddie would make Buck fill it up and then cum desperately. Cause Buck was easy, once you got to know his body.

If his knot was being shy, a hint of edging and he’d be swelling up for Eddie’s pleasure.

Eddie made a sympathetic sound and licked up Buck’s throat. It was a struggle not to suck a hickey into the perfect patch of skin over his thudding pulse, or over the gorgeous, prominent Adam’s apple that appeared when Buck’s head fell back on Eddie’s arm in frustration.

Buck clenched his hole viciously on Eddie’s still cock, forcing a grunt out of him, followed by a low chuckle.

“You’re mean,” Buck complained breathlessly.

“Be patient,” he chided him. “Be my good boy.”

Buck shuddered and melted under the instruction.

Eddie peeked down. Yep, his knot was starting to pop.

Eddie started up again, fucking into him. The bed rocked as his rhythm picked up, the squeaks in sync with Buck’s little ‘ahs’.

“Please Eds, please… need to cum. Need you to make me cum, I’m – I need…” Buck begged, words slurring.

Eddie’s mouth watered as he groped down Buck’s cock to feel the swell of his knot growing. He fumbled a little as he squeezed the pump, making the sleeve a tight cradle of Buck’s knot, before he started stripping the wet length of him.

“You can cum this time,” Eddie promised through pants, his hips working in fast slaps. “My good boy, knotting for me. Give it up for me.”

Buck was on the cusp again, keening brokenly and close, so close, the way he tensed. So fucking good for Eddie.

He wanted to howl, but he settled for one last, rough order. “Cum for me. It’s mine.”

Buck cried out sharply and obeyed.

His cock kicked in Eddie’s grip and cum splashed wildly over him and the bed as Eddie kept pumping him ruthlessly. He kept cumming, trembling against Eddie and whining.

Still, Eddie didn’t stop.

He felt frantic with it. Buck got so tight when he came, the wet clutch driving any last threads of reason from Eddie’s brain.

Still cum sprayed, Eddie’s fist making a Jackson Pollock of them both. But like Eddie said, it was his.

Buck’s cum. Buck’s dick. Buck’s knot, by his own explicit admission. Everything about Buck, laid out so beautifully in front of him, was Eddie’s to take and have and own and –

Eddie buried himself in Buck as far as he could as he exploded, biting Buck’s bicep as he did to muffle his scream. His hips pumped in tight movements, trying to get as much of himself as deep in Buck as he could manage.

He’d never fully understood a breeding kink. But honestly, right now, if he could get Buck’s belly to swell with evidence of Eddie’s cum having been shot into him? Eddie would probably lose what was left of his mind and cum again, til he passed out.

His hand slowed on Buck’s dick, coming to settle in a hold of his shaft over where the green bands strapped over his full, beautiful knot.

The towel under them was wet, and would only get worse once Eddie rolled onto his back and his cum started to spill out of Buck and his own slick joined the mess (though he could feel it down his thigh already).

Buck let out a hitched breath and a sound that might have been a sob.

Eddie looked up to find two lines of tears starting to creep down Buck’s cheeks from his bright blue, stunning eyes. But there was nothing in his scent to suggest he was in pain or upset? No, he just smelled deliciously sated.

Still, Eddie had uh, pressed on for longer and more enthusiastically than he had before…

“Oh baby,” Eddie soothed, craning his neck to kiss the salty liquid off Buck’s right cheek. “Was it too much? Did I hurt you?”

Buck was already shaking his head, turning to try to bury his nose in Eddie’s throat, one arm coming up to thread through Eddie’s hair and keep him close.

“No! It was – I feel good, I loved it. I love… Did…”

Buck sniffled, looking deep into Eddie’s eyes.

“Was I good?” he begged. 

Eddie let out a cooing sound that would probably be better suited to a child than a six foot three firefighter with a cock still in his ass, but his alpha needed him to be nice and gentle.

“You did so good. You were incredible, mi vida, so perfect for me,” Eddie said, pressing chaste kisses slowly across his face.

“Can’t believe how lucky I am to have you like this. You take it so well cariño. I can’t get enough of you.”

Eddie felt Buck shiver and pulse in his hand, more cum came spilling out. He could feel the flutters of Buck’s channel around his softening cock too, but he rocked his hips to give Buck a little slide and glance over his prostate.

“Look at yourself, never seen anything hotter than when you’re still on my cock and milking it like this. Can’t help but keep cumming, can you? Such a good alpha, knows what I want. Keeps giving it up for me…”

Eddie couldn’t believe the words were still spilling out of his mouth, but the bliss on Buck’s face made him determined to not run out of them.

“Wanna keep being good for me, hmmm?” Eddie asked.

He got a frantic noise of assent.

Eddie pulled out gently, kissing Buck’s shoulder at his disgruntled sound and swung his body so he was perpendicular to Buck.

“Why don’t you give me some fingers? Fill me up like a good boy,” Eddie said, taking Buck’s hand and tugging it over his own, slick ass. “And while you finish cumming, I’ll blow you?”

What came out of Buck could only be described as a broken gargle.

“I’m not as good at it as you are baby, but I’ll do anything to make my alpha feel good,” he purred, trying to make it sound cheeky and playful, but meaning it way, way too much.

He hadn’t had as much practice as he’d like. The idea of getting on his knees for Buck still filled him with a little paranoia, but mostly want.

And what better time to get in a little practice, when Buck wouldn’t be able to enjoy some vacuum-powered, deep-throat skills anyway. He just needed soft, gentle ministrations.

Eddie closed his mouth over the head of Buck’s cock, just letting it brush over his cheeks and tongue, leaving behind trails of white still clinging to the hot skin. He moaned around his mouthful as Buck slid one, shaky finger into him, pressing through his too-tight rim to stretch the muscle and stroke in and out.

“Ahh!”

Oops, maybe the vibrations were a bit much for him. Eddie’s mouth filled with cum, which he swallowed eagerly.

It wasn’t a strictly pleasant taste in itself, but it set off all his greedy omega instincts, not to mention all the red-blooded-man instincts that he’d made someone cum and was proud of it.

After a minute, Buck pushed in a second finger.

Eddie figured they had about 10 minutes left of this feedback loop before Buck was exhausted. But it wasn’t late. Maybe they could refuel and Eddie could get some hands-on blowjob tips...

Chapter Text

Of course his parents chose to be in the room for his deposition.

They didn’t have to be here. Their expensive lawyers (two of them) sat across from Eddie, in suits probably ten times more expensive than the one he had on. They were supposed to represent the Diazes.

Linda, his lawyer, had warned him that it was probably an attempt to fluster him, and the best course of action was to pretend they weren’t even there. Look through them. Take a break if he needed to. Think about his answers.

If they tried to rile him up, Linda would order the room cleared of all other parties. But the kicker was, that would include Buck.

Because of course Buck was with him. Eddie had only known him a few short months, but he already couldn’t imagine a world where Buck would have let him walk into this room without a friend.

And as a sign of emotional growth he should probably reflect on, it hadn’t occurred to Eddie to tell him not to come, or to try to do it alone. He was stronger when Buck had his back.

His mum and dad had greeted him with their special brand of exasperation, like they couldn’t understand why Eddie was being so unreasonable about their decision to try and steal his kid and take over his life.

“Eddie, why don’t we just end it here, before you incur any more legal fees?” Helena urged. “You and Christopher can fly out with us when we go home. We’ve got your bedrooms ready –”

“Please advise your client to refrain from attempts to influence Mr Diaz. As we have made very clear, all communication is to go through counsel,” Linda snapped at the other lawyers.

The expensive suits murmured quietly to Helena and Ramon, who was rubbing her back. Helena closed her eyes and took a calming breath as the much-aggrieved mother she felt she was.

They didn’t try to talk to Buck, but they both eyed him suspiciously, including the pat to Eddie’s shoulder that came once the court reporter started their spiel.

He could imagine what they were thinking. They knew he and Chris lived with Buck, would remember him from the hospital. He wished he were brave and bold enough to have walked in holding Buck’s hand, or lean over now and give him a showy kiss as a thanks for his support through the deposition process. But he couldn’t be quite sure what revealing more about his sexuality (his very male-leaning, gorgeous muscular alpha centric sexuality) might do to his case.

In an unsurprisingly cruel and abrupt move, his parent’s lawyers immediately started grilling Eddie about their trafficking and trauma.

It was good, Eddie told himself. Linda had said that usually they would ease in with questions about the child’s welfare, how they were doing in school and their health, find a couple of little mistakes or accidents to hone in on and fluster the custodial parent before going for the jugular and bringing up the Big Issues.

She said that since there were no issues on Christopher’s record from his past months of assimilation, they might have to skip that entirely and throw Eddie off with hard-hitting questions from the start, so he was upset, wrong-footed and less-able to articulate Chris’s glowing progress in later questions.

If this happened, it meant they were already scrambling. Eddie just had to keep it cool and avoid any ‘emotional outbursts’ that they would spin as him being unstable.

“Mr Diaz, can you detail for us the conditions in which Christopher was born?”

“Mr Diaz, Christopher was the result of sexual assault, is that correct?”

“Mr Diaz, how did you seek treatment for Christopher’s Cerebral Palsy in this environment?”

“Mr Diaz, why did you not surrender Christopher while you were captive?”

Eddie’s blood pressure spiked and he clenched his fists. In-hold-out. Don’t snap – verbally, or their necks. In-hold-out.

Stupid Frank and his stupid breathing exercises that were stupidly sort of working.

“Mr Diaz, we require you to answer these questions. If you claim to want the best for Christopher, why did you keep him trapped?”

“Proceed with caution Mr Gomez, and mind your wording,” Linda warned him.

Eddie cleared his throat.

“I can understand why that would be confusing for people who do not fully understand the nature of the circumstances Christopher was born into. These men did not have a single conscience between them. Their only two objectives were making money and not getting caught.”

Eddie thought back, years ago, when the snake-like alpha had offered to take Chris as a newborn, and the sour scent of his deception.

“It is my belief that if I had surrendered Christopher to any of those men, they would have killed him or sold him to one of their clients.”

“But you did not know for sure, did you Mr Diaz? You cannot know that being with you in captivity was the safest option for him,” the lawyer pressed.

He heard Buck let out an agitated huff, and the tacit acknowledgement of how bullshit these questions were helped a little to calm his own fury.

“I know that I kept my son safe, through any means necessary. Would you choose to keep your baby in your arms, or hand them over to rapists?”

It made the lawyer flush and frown.

Eddie darted a glance over to his parents, to glare at them too, and was surprised to find them both, even his father, with tears spilling down their cheeks. Neither could hold his eyes.

The lawyer cleared his throat.

“Mr Diaz, would you classify yourself as an angry man?”

They continued, but Eddie could weather attacks on his character far better than attacks on his parenting. He tilted his chin up and talked about Frank and his progress in therapy, about how well he was feeling in LA.

When their baiting didn’t work – by a thread, Eddie was about three more questions away from showing these assholes what ‘dangerous’, ‘violent’ and ‘angry’ really meant – they had to ease off into questions about Christopher’s care.

He, Buck, Carla, Linda and all Chris’s service providers had documented the shit out of everything to do with the boy’s progress – and copied it in triplicate, thank you Buck.

He spoke about his employment, his budget – helpfully compiled into an Excel spreadsheet, thank you Bobby – his lease as Buck’s roommate, and – eat it Helena and Ramon – the support from other family members in LA.

“LA is an expensive city, and your income is very low Mr Diaz. How do you intend to ensure your own and Christopher’s long-term stability?” the lawyer asked smugly, no doubt thinking he’d get a final trap in, given Eddie’s employment history and omega hiring biases.

Eddie straightened his back.

“I intend to enrol in the fire academy during next season’s intake.”

***

They were released for a fifteen minute break, since Eddie’s deposition would be the longest out of them all. He and Buck ducked into the men’s room and Buck jammed the door closed behind them so he could wrap Eddie up in a massive hug that made the sharp tension ooze out of his body.

“You were so amazing baby,” Buck said, squeezing him tighter. “Just perfect. You showed them how good a father you are and how incredibly well you’re doing.”

“Thought I was gonna lose it in there a couple of times,” Eddie admitted, leaning his weight into Buck. He would hold Eddie steady.

“I know, me too. Those fuckers,” Buck growled. “But you didn’t. You were so poised, it was sexy as hell.”

Eddie chuckled wetly into Buck’s neck and breathed in his calming scent. They stayed like that for another few minutes before they each used the facilities and ventured back out.

It was Buck’s turn to be deposed next.

***

Buck was an unshakable, unbreakable font of positivity and praise about both Eddie and Christopher.

“Mr Buckley, how does Mr Diaz respond when Christopher has a difficult day or behavioural episode?”

“Christopher is such a happy kid, it rarely comes up. But he loves his Dad a lot, he’s the only one who could comfort Chris when he first….”

…

“Mr Buckley, has Mr Diaz ever asked you for financial help related to Christopher’s care?”

“Never. In fact…”

…

“Mr Buckley, with limited funds and family support in LA, do you believe Mr Diaz is equipped to understand and fulfill the long-term demands of raising a child with special needs?”

“Absolutely. Eddie already has a whole team of specialists he meets with regularly…”

…

“Mr Buckley, has Mr Diaz ever expressed feeling overwhelmed or unsure about how to parent effectively?”

“Sometimes, sure. He loves that kid so much, he is always pushing himself to do the best he can for him and making sure Chris has every bit of support he could need…”

…

“Mr Buckly, in your experience, does Mr Diaz ever isolate himself or withdraw from daily responsibilities?”

“No, he’s the picture of responsibility…”

…

“Mr Buckley, in your opinion, how is Christopher coping with the trauma of his birth and early years?”

“So well, that kid is incredible. He and Eddie…”

…

His feedback was gushing and impressed, everything he said breathtakingly earnest. Any holes the lawyers tried to poke were deftly filled with compliments.

“Yes, thank you Mr Buckley, you have answered our question,” the lawyer gritted out in frustration, holding up a hand to stop Buck waxing on about Christopher’s development, how he was adapting so well, he was popular at preschool, it only took him three nights before he was sleeping alone in his own bedroom etc etc.

Eddie’s whole chest was warm and fuzzy after 20 minutes of straight praise, and what Buck said about Christopher? Was like a highlights reel disproving every doubt he had about himself. He patted Buck’s thigh in lieu of being able to hold his hand.

Of course, Helena and Ramon’s gazes when straight to the movement. Ramon’s mouth pinched.

Jesus. They just heard, in excruciating detail, all the incredible things this man thought about their son and grandchild, how well they were doing together, how happy they were – and their biggest concern was still the fact that Eddie probably had a cock in his ass during his recovery.

Estúpido.

Ramon leaned over the table, whispering furiously to the lawyers, who held up a hand to calm him, but nodded.

“And what is the nature of your relationship with Mr Diaz, really?”

“We’re friends and roommates.”

“You are under oath Mr Buckley.”

“Asked and answered, move on please,” Linda cut in.

“You live in a two-bedroom house with another man and a child, yet you claim you are ‘friends’. This lacks coherence Mr Buckley.”

“We have a couch. And I have 24 hour shifts as a firefighter, so there’s some nights I’m not home at all.”

The lawyer’s lips thinned, making him look remarkably like Ramon.

“Mr Buckley, would you agree that your circumstances might raise a concern, that a previously unknown alpha enticed a vulnerable, confused and traumatised omega into his house, along with his special needs child, resulting in the estrangement of the omega and child from his family?” the man demanded.

Buck looked appalled.

“I’m not preying on Eddie or Christopher! Eddie is capable of deciding where he lives, who he spends time with, and who is threatening him and his family to ‘estrange’ himself from.”

“He’s traumatised, and he’s always had issues with anger and his judgement –” Helena interrupted.

“He’s a strong, intelligent man and just because he’s not letting you control his life, doesn’t mean he’s in danger,” Buck shot back.

“I bet you’re very happy with how things are, you degenerate. You have my son giving into these, these urges –”

“Dad!”

“You will control yourselves, or you will leave the room,” Linda raised her voice, glaring at the Diazes. The court reporter was tapping furiously away.

The rest of Buck’s deposition was wrapped up more tersely, and as it came to a close, a knock sounded at the conference room door.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” Detective Ransone said, nodding at Eddie. “I know I’m a little early, but I have a witness to interview in Bakersfield this afternoon, so I was hoping we could cover the necessities now?”

The detective shook Eddie and Buck’s hands and was sworn in for his statement.

“Based on Mr Diaz’s testimony, we’ve made 26 arrests and recovered four victims of the same trafficking ring,” he explained. “There’s little evidence available about Mr Diaz’s treatment, since the fire and destruction of most of the ring’s records. However, Evelyn Mercer has asked me to pass on her details so that she can write a testimonial for Mr Diaz.”

“Who is Evelyn Mercer?” Linda asked, sorting through her papers with a slight frown.

Eddie’s brows shot up and he felt tears prick at his eyes.

“She’s alive?”

Detective Ransone nodded. “We recovered her two months ago. We only recently became aware of your connection, or I would have told you sooner,” he explained kindly.

“She was also a victim?” Linda clarified softly.

Eddie nodded. “She was a nursing student. She helped deliver Christopher. I didn’t see her again after that, I thought…”

He remembered her bright red hair, her frightened eyes and her bravery. She’d been so petite. When they’d dragged her back out of his cell when Christopher was barely two days old, he hadn’t had the strength to even stand, let alone help her.

“And she’s, she’s ok?” Eddie asked, his voice breaking a little.

“She’s been through a lot, but she’s with her mother and recovering.”

Eddie nodded, a lump in his throat. He hadn’t thought anyone else had gotten out…

He held it together through the rest of the questions for Ransone, and they all stood up as he finished.

He and Buck wouldn’t stick around to hear his parent’s deposition. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of watching his live reactions to their shit.

Buck drove them home, holding his hand the whole time.

Buck was extra attentive through the rest of the afternoon, which was a sight to see from the already doting alpha. Lucky Eddie liked him (and secretly, the attention) enough to not get annoyed at the way Buck trailed after him, trying to do everything for him and lathering him with words of affirmation.

So Eddie wasn’t feeling quite so delicate when Linda called them at the end of the day to fill them in on the rest of the afternoon.

“It went almost as well as we could have hoped,” she assured them. “It was quickly established that they have a complete lack of connection with Christopher, they couldn’t answer questions about the wait times for CP services in El Paso, and all their claims about Eddie’s self-sufficiency and emotional wellbeing were unsupported or based on anecdotes from years ago. To put it bluntly? We’ll crush them with the report from Frank and the testimonials you’ve already collected.”

Buck squeezed Eddie’s waist, where his arm was slung around him.

“That’s good Linda, thanks for letting us know. And thanks for today, you were great.”

“You’re welcome honey, but you were the superstar today. What you’re facing is incredibly difficult and unfair, and not many could deal with it with the grace you’re showing. The judge will see that. I have every confidence they’ll see what you’ve overcome and how Christopher is flourishing under your care,” she promised.

“Thanks,” he said, a little choked up. God, he hoped she was right.

“Thanks Linda, we’ll talk next week yeah?” Buck finished for him.

“Yes, next week. Take care you two.”

They hung up and Eddie shamelessly leaned into Buck, taking a hit of his soothing alpha scent.

“It’s been a day. Why don’t we order pizza, have a couch cuddle pile and hit the sack early so we can get to the zoo in the morning before the school tours show up?” Buck suggested, nuzzling into Eddie’s hair.

“Yeah, that sounds perfect,” he said.

***

Later that night, as Eddie handled bathtime and Buck tidied up and packed a bag for their outing tomorrow, it occurred to Eddie what the answer to the lawyer’s question really was, about his and Buck’s relationship.

They’d become partners.

They lived together. They were sleeping together – cause come on, they never put those curtains up and no one was sleeping on the couch. They took care of each other.

They were raising his son together.

“Daddy, do you think dogs know they’re dogs?” Chris asked out of nowhere.

Eddie smiled. “I don’t know mjio.”

“Do you think Buck knows?”

“Maybe, he’s pretty smart. Head back.”

Eddie poured a jug of water over Christopher’s curls, rinsing the strawberry and kiwi scented shampoo out of his locks. His hair was lighter now he was spending time in the sun.

“Do you like spending time with Buck?” Eddie asked lightly.

“Yeah. He’s fun.”

“Yeah…” Eddie agreed. “Do you… what else do you feel about Buck?”

“He’s funny and he plays good games. He’s my best friend.”

“Your best friend? That’s pretty special.”

Chris chattered on a bit more, about liking Buck’s cooking and playing video games with him, then about how Buck promised to teach him to make cupcakes.

“And living here, with Buck, in this house… do you like it here?”

He nodded emphatically.

“I like it more than where we used to live.”

That’s what the child psychologist used with Chris. Not ‘cell’, not ‘old home’. A place where they were and are not now.

“Mmm. Why’s that?” Eddie asked, keeping his voice carefully even.

“You like it better here. You’re more happy and you’re more fun too. And here has games and books and outside and Buck and Carla and Abuela…”

Chris continued to list things happily.

It was good, how little Christopher cared to remember about that cell. It was his whole world for four years, but where Eddie had seen hell and lived in constant fear that the tenuous safety of the four walls and door would not hold, Chris had just seen a boring room and his dad.

Already he was forgetting details of their time there. But Eddie hadn’t realised he compared his dad now to his dad then.

“Hey buddy? I’m really sorry you haven’t always lived somewhere fun. And I’m sorry I haven’t always been a fun daddy,” Eddie apologised quietly, smoothing over Chris’s curls.

“That’s ok, you were kind of fun,” Chris assured him. “But not as fun as Buck.”

Eddie laughed at the brutal, child honesty.

“But you do other stuff the best. You’re a good daddy.”

“Thank you, baby. You’re a really good son,” Eddie said, leaning over to kiss Chris’s forehead. “I love you very much.”

“Love you too,” Chris replied happily. “Daddy, can Buck come do show and tell? I was gonna bring my race cars but Denny said his mum came to show and tell and she brought the fire truck.”

“A real fire truck?” Eddie asked sceptically, picking up the washcloth. “I dunno mijo…”

By the time Eddie was towelling him off, Chris had extracted a promise for him to ask Buck and Captain Bobby about what cool, firefighter-related stuff he could do for show and tell.

And once Chris was snuggled between them on the couch, leaning his shoulder into Eddie and his feet on Buck’s lap, Eddie realised he was sitting here with his own, little family. All their scents mixed beautifully, alpha, omega and child.

Buck must have sensed Eddie’s eyes on him. He turned to find Eddie staring, but just gave him a lazy smile and moved his hand from where his arm was slung across the back of the couch to rub over Eddie’s shoulder, then turned back to the TV.

Could he bottle this scent? Could he take a picture of this family? Was there anything that could show his parents that this right here, was the best possible outcome for Chris, and for Eddie? It was peace and safety and comfort.

And love. So much love.

Eddie raised his own arm over Chris’s head, knocking off Buck’s grip, but capturing his hand in his own, and letting their clasped hands rest over Chris’s small feet under the blanket.

Buck gently stroked his knuckles for the rest of the movie.

Chapter Text

One and a half days. That was all it took.

Months of stomach-churning worry and stress, the entirety of his new-found freedom overshadowed by this petition…

And it was done.

Eddie was officially ruled an adult (traumatised but still) capable of  taking care of himself.

And Chris was all his.

Shit, he and Buck even had time to grab a leisurely lunch before texting Pepa to stand down cause they could pick Christopher up themselves.

They walked out of the courthouse into the sunshine and Eddie took a deep breath, sheer relief making his shoulders sag.

“Eds,” Buck said softly, wonder in his voice.

“I know,” he answered dreamily.

Buck giggled and Eddie was about to wrap his arms around his waist and spin him in circles until a grating voice called out, immediately icing his building joy.

“Eddie!”

Helena and Ramon Diaz, both in suits and stormy faces, took the last of the stairs to stop in front of them.

“Eddie, this is a big mistake,” his mother said sternly.

“Actually, I just got a legally binding declaration that it’s not,” Eddie snarked.

He’d held his tongue, as advised by Linda, been a pillar of strength and steadfastness. But if his parents were still going to insist it was wrong for him to be running his own life and raising his own kid, despite mountains of evidence and an objective third party saying otherwise, maybe he’d have to find some colourful language to convince them – or at least, rub it further in their faces. It might be cathartic.

The victory had been quick and decisive. Even with a conservative-leaning judge. Eddie might even dare to say he’d impressed the man. He certainly took well to Eddie’s service in the Army and how he’d been providing for Christopher.

“We want what’s best for you and Christopher. And that’s your family. Sweetheart –” Helena stepped forward to implore him, but Eddie cut her off.

“You want what you think is best. But this is my life, and my kid. I decide what we need.”

Ramon scoffed.

“You don’t know what you need! You haven’t been a father long enough, you don’t know what it is to provide for your child. Eddie, you came out of hell and you didn’t even want to come home – ” Ramon complained, his last point catching.

Eddie narrowed his eyes. Was his dad… hurt?

Ramon cleared his throat.

“And you want us to believe you’re making rational decisions? Rushing in to playing home with the first alpha you come across?”

Ah, right back to it.

“Me not bringing Chris to El Paso wasn’t about Buck, or anyone else. El Paso wasn’t right for us, for therapy, for housing and employment, and… I don’t like who I am there.” With you two.

“It’s not just about you Eddie, don’t you see that? When you’re a parent, your child has to come first.”

Eddie wanted to snort.

“It’s not just about what you want, it’s about what’s best for your whole family,” Helena said.

You’re happier here.

Chris liked Eddie better when he was happy. He was a better dad. And Chris deserved the best dad, and the happiest childhood Eddie could possibly give him.

“What’s best for the two of you isn’t automatically what’s best for me and Chris.”

“For Heaven’s sake, you’re so stubborn! You’re wilfully misunderstanding me,” Helena stomped.

“Oh, so this wasn’t about control? Or some do-over? Force me back into the mould you wanted, or have Christopher be the son you hoped I’d be?” Eddie demanded.

“You’re our son Edmundo. It’s our job to make sure nothing bad happens to you,” Ramon said, then froze.

Eddie raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing else,” Ramon muttered. They could barely look at him.

“We want to take care of you. We want to take care of our family,” Helena softened, a tear spilling down her cheek.

Eddie couldn’t help but think back to the night he was taken. Tired and pissed, walking through a parking lot in the middle of the night because he had taken another low-paying job at a department store, to go with his pizza delivery job and part time construction work, post-discharge, so he could build up his savings and escape to somewhere like California.

Maybe if he’d been taking note of his surroundings instead of angrily replaying his latest fight with his parents, he would have noticed the car…

It wasn’t their fault. Of course it wasn’t. But… they knew that, right?

“I know how you feel,” he settled on finally. “That’s what I’ve wanted for Christopher, from the day he was born.”

They both blinked in sync, like they were having a shared epiphany. Had it occurred to them at all through this, that he was a father? That he was a parent who felt as protective of Christopher as maybe they had been of Eddie when he was young?

“I know you never wanted anything bad to happen to me, and you’re trying to protect me, in your own way. You raised me to be strong, to work hard, be resilient, value family…”

Helena straightened a little in pride.

“But you also taught me to hate myself. What I am, who I am,” Eddie said.

Ramon shifted defensively. “We taught you to rise above your biology, not hate yourself,” he insisted.

Eddie shook his head. “That might have been what you intended. But you made it clear that being an omega was something to be ashamed of. And it’s only recently that I’m learning to be ok with it. To like who I am.”

He cast a quick look at Buck, standing sentry beside him.

“And I’ll teach my son better. I’ll teach him to be strong and work hard and value family. But also how to be kind to himself, and other people. We’ll teach him what being a man is really about, no matter his designation.”

Eddie could see it in their eyes, their denial and stubbornness.

They didn’t get it.

But – he glanced at Buck again – Eddie didn’t need them to. The clawing, desperate thing inside him that wanted his parents to love him, to approve of him, was quiet. Though it wasn’t gone entirely, it was soothed by the love and acceptance he had from his true family.

Eddie turned into it, turned into Buck.

“Can we see him, at least?” Helena asked, her voice breaking.

Eddie felt a spark of sympathy. They had been awarded no legal rights, no custody, just a general recommendation from the judge that they all try and reconcile for the sake of Christopher having contact with his extended family.

“When I’m there,” he allowed. “Once he’s older, if he wants to get to know you, we can talk about making a change. But for now, you can call. Not too soon, though.”

He didn’t hesitate this time. Eddie slipped his hand into Buck’s, the alpha immediately squeezing his hand, and walked away.

***

Eddie moved quietly around the apartment folding boxes before slipping into Christopher’s room to get started on packing.

The boy was wiped out in his bed, spread like a starfish. They were supposed to be out right now, seeing their new apartment and getting some groceries, but Chris had claimed a stomach ache and wanted to go home, so they’d turned around early and Eddie put him down for a nap in his own bed.

God, his own bed. Chris loved this room, love this home. He was going to be heartbroken to not see Buck every day.

Eddie started slowly packing up his toys anyway. When did Chris get so much stuff? He got so many gifts… Eddie could admit he gave into the temptation too frequently too – the way Chris would light up at even the smallest treat was terribly endearing.

It was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? Moving out?

Of course it was. This is what they’d been waiting for, the funding to get Eddie and Chris their own place, for Eddie to strike out on his own, go to the academy, forge a life and a home.

And it wasn’t like they were separating from Buck for good. They’d still be best friends.

Maybe, with some more normal boundaries in place, they could even… date?

The idea made butterflies break out in his belly, fighting the dead weight of dread at leaving.

… they couldn’t stay. That would be crazy. CRAZY.

It was already wild that they’d moved in with Buck at all, they just all embraced it due to the absurd circumstances. To stay, though? To basically enter a fully committed relationship, with a child and no expiration date?

Eddie sighed as he pressed down a stuffed dalmatian into the top of the box and folded it closed.

Buck loved having them, he knew that. But he was also a young male alpha, and surely he’d like to have his own space back?

Eddie was just lying to himself now. Buck would sleep on the floor in the bathroom if it meant having his friends and family within reach.

Eddie switched to packing up some of Chris’s clothes, leaving a couple of outfits in the cupboard to put in a backpack, just in case he didn’t get around to unpacking everything straight away.

Muffled by the closed-over door and the distance, Eddie still heard the front door open and close. Buck was home.

For the first time in a long time, Eddie found himself hesitating before walking out to greet him. Would Buck happily ask about how the apartment tour had gone? Would he be covering up how much the change scared him, upset him? Would it be better if Eddie called him out, or if they both pretended to be ok with him leaving?

Eddie rose to his feet, leaving the boxes behind, and slipped silently back out of Chris’s room and into the living room.

The sight he found made him ache.

Buck was standing in the dining room, looking devastated as he stared at the modest stack of boxes Eddie had picked up at Home Depot.

Tears were streaming down his face.

“Buck…”

Buck’s head shot up to him in shock, his eyes bright icy blue from his tears.

“I-I didn’t know you were in –” Buck stuttered, wiping his cheeks hastily until he realised after a moment that it was futile; Eddie had seen his misery. He let his hands drop in surrender.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to make it about me,” Buck sniffled.

But it was about Buck. It was about how much Eddie and Chris loved him, and how much he cared about them in return.

“You’re allowed to be sad,” Eddie said lowly. “I am too.”

“… really?” Buck asked, voice soft and yearning.

Eddie wasn’t much good at speeches, or words in general, but he’d been thinking about what he wanted Buck to know.

“I’m so grateful to you, Buck. You helped me when I was desperate, without hesitation. You’ve taken care of my son, and you’ve…” Eddie cleared his throat, willing himself to keep it together. “I feel like I’ve found myself here, for the first time ever.”

Buck slowly moved toward him, face raw with emotion.

“I’ve loved it,” he swore. “Every minute with you and Chris.”

Eddie shuffled forward now too. There was maybe two feet separating them. He wanted them to sink into each other’s arms. He could see what Buck wanted too, plain as day.

“Just… we knew each other for less than a week when you offered us a place to live. There’s all the shit in my past, we’ve never fought so we don’t know how that’s gonna go, and we’ve never even talked about, you know, us and what we want for the future…” Eddie rattled off a little frantically.

Buck moved even closer, his bright blue eyes imploring.

“People would think we’re out of our minds or like, trauma-bonded,” Eddie croaked out.

They were toe to toe now, Buck’s scent sad but lightening with hope.

“I don’t really care,” Buck whispered.

He didn’t. Buck knew what he wanted, though he’d never ask Eddie, never want to put that weight on his shoulders.

God, Eddie loved this man. How was it possible that Buck maybe, possibly… loved him back? Broken, issue-ridden, stubborn and bitchy Eddie Diaz?

“I couldn’t be a house omega,” he said, his voice as strong as he could make it with Buck making his knees quiver. “I’m going to the academy and I’m going to work. We’d have to be full partners, everything down the middle with chores and money.”

A hand rose to Eddie’s face, cupping his jaw and stroking a thumb across his cheek. Eddie let his head tilt into it, just a little, as Buck lit up when Eddie said ‘partners’.

“And you couldn’t be just the fun parent, and- and- and give Chris a cookie whenever he asks. Yes, I know about that,” he said as Buck’s lips parted. “You’d have to, you know, discipline him and say no sometimes.”

Buck’s eyes were twinkling now, and his other hand settled on the small of Eddie’s waist.

Eddie sniffled. “And I’m still gonna have PTSD and issues with big, strong alphas moving around behind me, so you might never get to fuck me outside of my heat, ever. And, I’m not going to get knocked up again any time soon.”

He glared, trying to hunt out any hint of hesitation. Eddie wasn’t a ‘good’ omega, by any standards. Committing to his shit full time could give anyone pause, he wouldn’t blame Buck for that.

Buck leaned in, resting his forehead against Eddie’s.

“Is there anything you want to be different with us?” Buck asked simply, as Eddie let himself be drawn in.

Eddie thought as hard as he could with an addled brain.

“… no. I guess not,” he admitted.

“Except the cookies?”

Eddie breathed a laugh. “Some cookies are ok.”

Buck brushed their noses together.

“I want this so bad Eds,” he confided. “But I need it to work for you. I’ll do whatever you need.”

Eddie took a shuddering breath in, knowing he could – needed to – breathe in Buck’s scent every day for the rest of his life.

“I think we just need you.”

Buck let out a broken sound and crashed his mouth into Eddie’s, pouring his desperate gratitude and need into the omega.

Eddie let him, feeling safe and wanted in Buck’s clutching hands.

“You’re really staying?” Buck asked when he pulled back, just an inch, for air.

Eddie smiled, letting his hands drift lazily over Buck’s frame, mapping his alpha out.

“Yes cariño. We’re staying.”

Chapter Text

Epilogue: Five years later

Eddie was standing at the kitchen bench, chopping up some fruit for a snack – one for the bowl, one for him, one for the bowl – when a pair of big arms, accompanied by a familiar scent, wrapped around him from behind.

The hands spread over his belly and then, lifted it up.

Eddie slumped back in shocked relief.

“Holy shit,” he slurred.

His big, seven and a half month pregnant belly was a constant, very-wanted but often-annoying weight he couldn’t escape. He was big – bigger than with Christopher, either from being properly fed and healthy this time around, or because Buck’s fetus was enormous (actually they were a healthy weight, but Eddie didn’t believe Buck’s big genes didn’t have something to do with the size of his belly).

Buck lifting the weight for him was like a balm to his spine.

“Feel good?” Buck asked in his ear.

Eddie let out a garbled moan in response.

“Now you just have to follow me around for the next six weeks doing this,” he said.

Buck chuckled and Eddie felt the vibrations through his back. And something else too.

Buck’s dick wasn’t hard – there was no missing it when it was hard – but he could feel it chubbing up. He was so easy. Just a flash of Eddie’s belly and Buck was tongue-tied and horny, needing to touch and cum.

Their sex life in their five and a half year relationship had remained pretty consistent. It took a dip when Eddie was finishing up at the academy and started with the 118 on 24 hour shifts, alongside a five year old with specialist appointments and surgeries; down to maybe three or four times a week.

But it bounced back up when they found their new routine (even if too-often it had to be the ‘quick’ version), and since they decided to try for a baby? Buck had been all over him, constantly.

To be fair, Eddie was climbing him like a tree right back.

Through his pregnancy, Buck kept up knotting him. Research Back had found said that (negligible) amounts of protein could be absorbed from an alpha’s seed by the carrier, to help them grow the baby, which Buck took very seriously. Plus there was the ‘home remedy’ of stretching Eddie’s rim regularly to make the birth easier.

Buck was also doing everything he could to make Eddie’s pregnancy the easiest nine months any omega had ever experienced. Almost annoyingly so. Eddie could only do chores by stealth, when Buck was on shift and he was home from his temporary ‘light duties’ assignment to Dispatch. Still, Eddie got forced into baths and massages when caught, to ‘properly relax’ him again.

Stupid, sweet alpha.

A knock sounded at the front door.

“Pops is here!” Chris called out from his bedroom.

“Thanks for the alert mijo,” Eddie called back, sighing as Buck gently relinquished Eddie’s stomach – welcome back, unrelenting pressure on his back. Buck dropped an apologetic kiss on Eddie’s shoulder and headed for the door.

“Do you have your stuff?” he called again to Chris.

“Yep,” the boy said, appearing from the hallway to the open plan kitchen and lounge of their new house, which they’d got once they decided to expand their family.

“You have the book you borrowed from Harry?” Buck asked as he returned, followed by Bobby.

“Yes Dad,” Chris said dutifully. Buck disappeared down the hall to grab Chris’s overnight bag.

“Hey kiddo,” Bobby said, stepping forward for Chris to wrap one crutch-holding arm around his middle.

“Hey Pops!”

“Thanks again Bobby,” Eddie chimed in.

“It’s our pleasure, we love having Chris over. He’s a good influence on the others,” Bobby joked.

Eddie beamed. They did have a good kid.

“Did you want a drink or anything Bobby?” Eddie offered.

“No, we better get on the road – I’ve been told to ‘hurry up’ so the boys can start their video game tournament, marathon thing,” Bobby shrugged happily. Stepfather-hood and grandfather-hood was a good look on the Cap.

Chris rounded the kitchen bench, crutches clicking on the hardwood floor, and rocked forward to pat Eddie’s stomach.

“Bye baby,” he said, stroking a hand over the bulging belly. Eddie felt a jolting little kick. The baby always kicked for Christopher. He was already such a good big brother.

“Bye mijo, have a good time and listen to Pops and Athena, ok?” Eddie said, bending as best he could to kiss the top of Chris’s head. Luckily the boy had a growth spurt recently, or he’d struggle to reach with his belly in the way.

“See ya tomorrow superman,” Buck added, also dipping to kiss Chris goodbye, after handing his bag to Bobby. “Call if you need us for anything ok?”

Chris nodded but was happily off with his Pops, not turning to look back before Bobby closed the front door again with a wave.

Buck all but skipped back to Eddie’s side, wrapping his arms around him once more.

“I think we’re alone now…” he sing-songed, tickling Eddie’s neck with his stubble.

“Should you not wait for your son to be at least buckled into the car on his way to a sleepover before you try to get your dick wet?” Eddie asked jokingly.

Tease as he may, Eddie was no less keen for some alone adult time on Buck’s 72 off. The way his alpha smelled, the big body wrapped so warmly and protectively around him and their unborn baby was doing things to him he knew Buck could scent.

“Mmm baby, it’s been hours,” Buck whined of his last orgasm, a hasty rubbing off and handjob this morning in bed. He was only half-joking.

“Well Maddie and Chim are coming for dinner, did you really wanna get started just before your sister comes over?”

Their scents were so merged and overlapping nowadays, it was a lot easier to get away with fucking without the scent of sex clinging to them. But it still took a shower and an hour or two to fade…

“Uh-uh,” Buck said hotly in his ear. “Delayed them til brunch tomorrow.”

“Oh…” Eddie said faintly, feeling the length pressed against his ass growing.

“Yeah. So…”

***

Fuck, he was so fucking beautiful. Especially like this.

Buck looked up at Eddie with the familiar feeling of wanting to just, like, drop to his knees in worship.

He still had a few weeks to go. His belly would probably get even bigger.

It was making Buck lose his damn mind.

Buck couldn’t stop touching him. It had always been a bit of a problem for him, keeping himself from smothering Eddie with his love and eager affection, but he could barely seat himself on the other side of a table – his hands would be twitching, wanting to reach out to his pregnant omega.

Now Buck’s hands were on Eddie’s waist – what used to be his trim, dip-in waistline that was now so gorgeously swollen with the evidence of their love. Like a basketball, God he was so incredible.

And Eddie was grinding on top of him, sitting on Buck’s cock.

Buck would only let him stay on top for another minute or two. It was hard work on Eddie’s thighs and back. Eddie only picked this position because he knew what it did to Buck to see him like this.

“Fuck, I love you,” Buck gasped as Eddie’s hips did a little circle. “You’re so hot baby, you’re getting me so close already. So beautiful…”

Eddie’s eyes slipped closed, blissed out on his dick and his words.

“Mmm, not yet,” Eddie instructed, which only served to stoke the fire in Buck’s belly.

Buck swore again. He couldn’t get enough. Eddie wanted it more during his pregnancy too, and he was already almost insatiable before that…

Eddie said (joking, but sexy enough that it had Buck leaking) that getting Buck’s knot whenever he wanted, however he wanted, was compensation for what Buck’s child was doing to his body. Especially the roundhouse kicks to Eddie’s bladder.

Like that was a change from their normal. All Eddie ever had to do, from the first time Buck brought him home, was crook his finger and tell him to be good, and Buck was putty for Eddie to do with what he wanted.

Eddie reached back, bracing his lower back with a bent arm. That was enough.

Buck made him still.

“Time for you to relax back now baby, let me take care of you,” he crooned.

Eddie relented, kneeling up so Buck’s cock slid out of him and swung a leg over so he was no longer straddling the alpha. None of it was done with his usual grace, his centre of gravity different, but the groan and oof Eddie made as he settled on his back was so fucking adorable it (confusingly) made Buck’s cock twitch.

Buck grabbed an armload of pillows, fussily fitting them under Eddie’s lower back. A pelvic tilt was one of Eddie’s preferred stretches, to ease his core and back, so it was a bonus really. By the time he reached for a fourth, wondering if it would be too high and cause pressure on Eddie’s upper back and shoulders, Eddie snapped.

“Stop. Back in me now Buck, give me my knot.”

Buck dropped the pillow like a hot potato, insides immediately turning molten as he rushed to do what he was told.

Eddie’s legs were spread wide, letting Buck shakily take hold of his slick erection and feed it back into his impatient lover.

Eddie moaned, long, loud and luxuriously as Buck stuffed him full once more, setting a pace he knew Eddie wanted – slow and drawn out, with no interruptions coming.

Tilting Eddie up like this had the added bonus of his stomach not hanging quite so much, so Buck would be able to work his leaking cock better. Not that Buck had any problems with lazily jerking Eddie off as his knuckles brushed over his swollen belly.

“Fuck, I hope you stay like this as long as possible,” Buck admitted, shifting Eddie’s hips to get the angle just right as he rocked in.

“Huge?” Eddie asked.

“Gorgeous,” Buck corrected.

Eddie snorted, but his cheeks were pinker than they had been and he couldn’t quite suppress his smile.

“This is your kid Buck. They’re gonna be raring to go early, if anything.”

Eddie let out a groan as Buck hit his spot just right and Buck thrust a bit harder.

“Or do you hope I go past my due date? Keep me full of your seed, carrying around my big belly?” Eddie asked, voice gone rougher as he spoke through Buck’s thrusts.

Was it horrible that the answer was yes? Buck whined.

“Maybe we’ll need to try and induce? You thinking about natural remedies, cariño? Gonna fuck this baby out of me?”

Buck choked on a groan and his hips picked up speed, almost without his permission.

“You will if I tell you to,” Eddie taunted, breathier now. “Give me that knot whenever I want it, won’t you? You’ve been doing such a good job keeping me full and plugged up, haven’t you sweetheart?”

“Eddieee,” Buck panted. God, it drove him fucking wild and stupid when Eddie did this.

“My alpha. My baby daddy.”

Buck was rabbiting in and out now, unable to help himself.

“Can’t, believe,” he choked out. Eddie was unreal. Buck couldn’t hold back the orgasm that loomed threateningly for much longer, but he was gratified to at least have Eddie’s hips shifting back into him as best he could like this, his beautiful thick thighs tensing. He’d get his omega there first.

“Touch me,” Eddie demanded, eyes dark. He knew Buck’s mind better than he did himself sometimes.

Buck wrapped a hand around Eddie’s cock. Eddie was more sensitive when he was knocked up, Buck had discovered. He didn’t always need to be touched to cum, but Eddie liked control and sometimes cumming untouched, unless he’d planned for it and let Buck lay him out with that intention (fuck maybe they could do that later, Buck could eat Eddie’s hole for dinner), kinda of spun him out.

He was sweeter too. Something about glucose production in pregnancy, but Buck thought it was more about how much fruit Eddie was putting away, especially mango.

His cock was wet with dripping precum and jumped in Buck’s hand, happy to get his attention.

“That’s good baby,” Eddie sighed. “But that’s not what I meant.”

Buck paused, trying to think through the thick fog of lust clouding his synapses.

Touch me, he’d said.

Buck let go of Eddie’s dick, hand sticky, and moved shakily to cradle Eddie’s belly with both hands.

Eddie reached between his legs, around his belly and under Buck’s arms to play with himself as Buck hungrily took in the view, his own big hands spanning across Eddie’s stretched stomach.

His hips had faltered into almost stillness, but now Buck picked up again, feeling Eddie rock back and forth on the pillows with his belly swaying.

“Eds, fuck,” Buck groaned as he picked up speed, wet skin slapping as Buck hurdled quickly towards the edge. He whimpered as he slammed forward and felt his knot pop and catch in Eddie’s ring.

Buck groaned but Eddie was louder, cumming with a sharp gasp and exhalant moan, the kind of noise he had to muffle nine times out of ten. His channel seized around Buck, contracting around the thick, unrelenting length and he struggled to keep his eyes open to watch Buck.

“Love you baby, love you so mu –” Buck rushed out before his own orgasm crashed into him.

Every time, it took Buck’s breath away. How good Eddie felt, otherworldly. How his beautiful scent spiked and mixed with Buck’s, how he sounded, how lucky Buck was to be the one Eddie wanted when he could have had anyone.

His scorching hot, soft insides felt like they were sucking out Buck’s load. But Eddie was already full, Buck could feel the proof under his hands.

“Christ!” Buck gasped out as the waves kept going, melting his spine, until the sharpest of the pleasure faded so Buck could function again.

He let one hand move down Eddie’s belly so his fingers could run through the streaks of cum Eddie pumped onto himself.

“Just what I needed,” Eddie exhaled ecstatically, his whole body relaxing. He’d gotten pretty good at letting go and relaxing into a puddle of limbs when he was speared on Buck’s knot.  Buck rubbed over his stomach as the shivers died down, a brief break until he’d peak again.

Eddie’s eyes peeked open. “I miss kissing you while you’re inside me like this,” he said wistfully.

Buck automatically leaned forward, his instinct to fulfil whatever Eddie wanted.

Eddie giggled when Buck hit the obstacle of Eddie’s pregnant belly.

“Sorry,” Buck said sheepishly. “We can make out as soon as my knot goes down?” he offered in consolation.

“Damn right,” Eddie said and wriggled. It made him tug on Buck’s knot, made his stomach sway, and triggered Buck’s next orgasm.

He shot another jet into Eddie, moaning and steadying himself with his gentle hold on Eddie’s belly til it faded in to gentle laps of pleasure and he could speak again.

Eddie’s hand joined his stroking over his stomach fondly.

“Baby’s moving,” Eddie said, shifting Buck’s hand to feel the little flutter. The kid was developing some strong legs, but it seemed like he was aiming them in on his daddy tonight. “Can feel my heartrate I guess.”

“Still can’t believe you’re growing us a kid,” Buck mused. He wanted to cry every time it hit him.

“’Can’t believe it’, he says, after all the practice you put in to knock me up,” Eddie joked.

Practice, sure. But once Eddie went off birth control, they conceived in their second month trying. Admittedly, they were trying really hard and frequently.

The thought dragged up the next wave, and Buck shifted his hands off Eddie’s belly to his hips. There was a fine but defined line between Eddie being the sexiest thing in the world when pregnant, and feeling his kid kick while he… you know.

Buck grabbed the meat of Eddie’s slightly more rounded hips and tilted him up an inch more, a stretch he liked Buck to help him with when Buck wasn’t plugged into him. Eddie moaned, half in relief, and Buck grunted as he pumped more cum into his omega.

Once Buck did eventually pull out, he settled Eddie sweetly on the bed, clambered up to give him a kiss then scuttled away for a washcloth.

He cleaned Eddie up – at a surface level anyway, he intended to have him again soon and neither man was opposed to some snowballing. He bounced on his knees on the mattress next to him.

“I believe I promised some making out,” Buck said with a grin and leaned in.

But he saw a flicker of hesitation.

He pulled back immediately, as he always did when he got even the slightest hint that Eddie needed him to.

What was it? Eddie’s triggers were much better now, Buck’s scent having woven itself into the fabric of his being that Eddie almost never felt on edge when he was around.

Eddie shook it off, smiling and tilting his head back to entice Buck in.

“What is it baby?” Buck asked gently.

“Nothing. C’mere,” Eddie said, reaching for him. He didn’t smell distressed or upset, nothing but happy and sated…

Buck breathed out a sound of relief and amusement.

“You want a snack first, don’t you?”

Eddie opened his mouth to disagree, but it was no use. Sheepishly, he nodded.

“Maybe just a little one?”

Buck laughed, pecking Eddie on the lips before he jumped up again.

“Your wish is my command.”

Buck jogged into the kitchen, still naked. Whistling, he opened the fridge to grab the big bowl of fruit salad Eddie had made earlier. There was always fruit salad in their fridge nowadays.

He tipped some – not just a little – into another bowl and grabbed a napkin.

He hurried back to the bedroom. He had the beautiful, pregnant, naked love of his life waiting to be kissed.