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Ravi was regretting agreeing to dinner at Bobby’s when they got back from their honeymoon.
Because Reggie had opened the door in time to hear Bobby’s voice as he spoke to Buck.
“You know I’m retiring in a month… and the Chief is wondering if you want to be my replacement.”
“But the team-“
“The one twenty seven would get a new captain if you agreed.” He told his son, “But just think on it. Don’t give us an answer yet.
Oh, Ravi was glad he wasn’t part of the 127 right now.
“WHAT?”
Reggie punched Harlow’s shoulder, an annoyed look on their face as they glanced at the others in the locker room, “They want Cap to take over the one eighteen.”
“He- he wouldn’t just leave us, right?” Jonas looked the most shocked of them all. When he had started at the 127, Buck had been a fresh captain given his first assignment. None of them expected the team to mesh so well and so quickly, separating just didn’t seem fathomable. And just like Reggie, he had begun to think of Buck as a father figure. “Like he wouldn’t-“
Matthew shook his head, “He wouldn’t, especially if he knows we still need him.”
“So we convince him of that.” Ells responded decisively, “Show him we can’t do this without him to lead us.”
“But then wouldn’t he want to transfer?” Harlow asked skeptically, “Work with the team that can do their jobs efficiently without him reminding them how it’s done.”
“This is gonna take some planning.” Johnson groaned, sending a text to Ray that her ideas were welcome.
They started using their established “no captain” group chat to plan without Buck knowing, because they weren’t going to lose him unless it was what he really wanted.
Attempt One.
Matthew would like it stated just for the record that he was, in fact, not a baker. He could cook just fine, but when it came down to it, Matthew would probably stop by a drive through, or eat Ramen Noodles. He was also pretty certain that they still had some MRE’s from his days in the Marine Corps stashed somewhere in the garage, so unless he absolutely had too, he would not cook. It was tedious, he hated it. There were better things to do with his time.
The crew had decided on a cake to show Cap how much they appreciated him, and immediately his wife was volunteered to make it.
“She can’t,” Matthew said, cutting in. “She’s way too busy. She doesn’t have time.”
It was true, Ray did not have the time. The Johnsons had been so busy lately with Ray and Matthew’s individual therapy, and couple’s therapy, Benji’s doctor’s appointments, Matthew’s shifts, and Ray’s overtime at the news station since the rebuilding. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his wife or son for more than five minutes.
“Then you can make it, Johnnyboy,” Reggie said. “Just ask her for the recipe.”
“Reg,” Matthew sighed. “You know I don’t bake.”
“Matt, it’s for Cap.” Reggie turned to look at him. “He’s going to leave. Your wife makes his favorite cake. Please.”
“Fine,” He sighed. “I’ll do it. For Cap, of course.”
Famous last words.
Johnson was sure he had followed the cake recipe down to the T. There should be nothing wrong with it, he did it right.
Unfortunately, the cake didn’t seem to agree with him, choosing instead to shoot a cloud of flour into Cap’s face as he cut into it.
To Cap’s credit, he didn’t even say anything, as he turned away to wipe the flour off, but the rest of the crew was not as calm.
Reggie slugged him the moment Cap turned away.
“Ow,” He complained. “What was that for?”
“Why did it explode, Johnnyboy?!”
“I don’t fucking know. I told you. My wife bakes. Not me! Why didn’t you make it?”
“I was too busy moving after I got married!”
“Yeah, I don’t know.” Ells said, cutting in before the two could get into an argument. “I don’t think cakes are supposed to do that, Johnson.”
“Shut the hell up, Thyne. No one asked you.”
Accidental Attempt Two.
Another barbecue at Bobby and Athena’s had both fireteams gathered in the backyard, watching through the glass in concern as Reggie slammed their way in the front door and made a beeline for the freezer with a rageful look on their face. Ravi strutted behind them casually, Benji and Jee in each of his arms as Christopher walked in front of them talking to Denny, “Hey!” The new husband called out, passing the little girl to her dad.
“Hi,” Bobby answered curiously, “Why do they look to be on a warpath?”
Ravi glanced back, seeing Reggie finally uncover the ice pack they’d been searching for, “Well… if you ever wonder if someone would throw hands for your kids, you no longer need to wonder.” He didn’t attempt to reach out for Reggie as they came through the sliding door, knowing it smarter to steer clear for now.
Buck’s face screwed up in confusion as Benji clumsily attempted to leave Ravi’s arms by grabbing at his chest, “What happened?” He caved, taking the excited little boy onto his hip.
“Boom! Boom!” Benji answered, making a tiny baby fist and knocking it into Buck’s jaw, “Unc Reg boom boom!”
Every set of adult eyes snapped over, catching the wince as they finally sat and put the ice pack to their clearly bruised knuckles and gritted their teeth, “What.”
Eddie sighed, rubbing a hand down his face, “You guys took them to the fair. What could have happened?”
Reggie scowled, remembering how the man behind them in line for a ride started loudly going on and on about how Christopher shouldn’t ride it because he could get hurt. Remembering how they felt seeing this sweet teenager getting more and more upset and insecure about himself, even as his best friend tried to make him feel better. Remembered how the man’s nose felt as it satisfyingly crunched under the force of their fist.
Buck smiled to himself, even though they didn’t answer, “Reggie was just looking out for family. We should be glad we have someone like that.”
Attempt Three.
Somehow, some moron hadn’t let go of his phone when he dropped it down the sewer, and ended up going after it. Harlow didn’t know all the details, and quite frankly he didn’t ask. He felt like the less he knew the better.
“He’s wedged in there pretty well,” Johnson said, leaning over the sewer hole. “I gotta say, I don’t know if I love my phone enough to not let go of it and end up here. All my stuff is backed up to the Cloud, so I wouldn’t be worried about losing anything.”
“Yeah I know,” Reggie snorted. “I would just simply buy myself a new phone and if I lost anything, I apparently didn’t need it.”
“Looks like one of us is going down there.” Harlow said, joining the pair in peering down at the man. He felt all the color drain from his face as both medics looked back at him. “I’m going down there, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” Matthew said with a laugh. And okay, look, normally, Harlow would argue, tell them that this was in fact his only uniform, he didn’t have another, but something had been so off with Johnson lately, and this was the first time Harlow had heard him laugh in a long time, that Harlow just let Reggie strap him in, and lower him down.
The guy was okay, couldn’t say the same thing about his phone, and Harlow wanted to gag as he hurriedly stripped at the station.
“Here,” Cap said, tossing him a new uniform. “Go take a shower and change. This is why you bring extra uniforms to work.”
“If I brought extra uniforms, what would I need you for then, Cap?”
Cap just laughed, and walked away.
Accidental Attempt Four.
Since the shooting, Reggie had a rule. Everyone sent a text when they woke up in the morning, and they would reply. Just a confirmation the world was still the way they remembered it.
So when Jonas’s text never came, they were nervous. They tried to wait, assuming he may have slept in on their day off, but it still hadn’t come by early afternoon.
“Are you with Jonas?” They barked as soon as Harlow answered the phone.
“Uh, no?” He answered in confusion, “No text this morning?” It wasn’t said in judgement, just understanding. None of them liked to cause each other pain, especially if they could fix it.
“No.” Reggie answered, and he could hear them pacing around their living room and dodging boxes they hadn’t finished putting away yet. He kind of hated that Ravi was on shift and couldn’t be there for them.
“I’ll swing by and check on him.” Harlow told them, hearing their breath of relief, “And yes, I’ll keep you posted.”
“… thanks.”
Harlow had a key to Jonas’s place. It might be early in their relationship to outsiders, but their team understood. Their lives weren’t guaranteed, so they made the most of what they had.
He didn’t expect to find Jonas passed out on his couch, his anxiety medication next to a half empty bottle of whiskey. “No, no, no! Jonas, baby, wake up!” Patting the other man’s cheeks, Harlow couldn’t fight the tears burning in his eyes, “Fuck, FUCK! Wake up, baby!”
But Jonas just let out a garbled groan, not registering his boyfriend shaking him roughly.
Harlow dialed his phone, sobbing into the receiver, “Cap! It’s Jonas! Please, Cap, we need you.”
Buck raced there, Eddie and Chimney right behind him with the 118 ambulance, wrapping his arms around Harlow as Jonas became more alert and telling him he’d always be a call away when they needed him.
_______
Buck went by Harlow’s place much later when he hadn’t heard anything from him. He knocked a few times with no answer before he used his key.
“Hi Cap,” Harlow said weakly, not looking up from where he had buried himself into the blankets on the couch.
“Hey kid,” Buck said, quietly, reaching down to run his fingers through the man’s hair, pushing it away from his tear stained face. “How’d you know it was me?”
“Reg and Johnnyboy had been here earlier,” Harlow sniffed. “Jonas is under supervision for the next three days, and Thyne doesn’t have a key yet.”
“It’s okay kid,” Buck whispered, taking a spot on the couch. “It’s okay.”
“I just… I just don’t know what to do, Pops,” Harlow sobbed, sitting up and basically throwing himself into Buck’s comfort. “I don’t know what to do, I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay, I’ve got you, kid. I promise. I’ve got you.”
Attempt Five.
The station had been somber since the incident with Jonas, and Cap had insisted on daily check-ins every morning at breakfast.
“Choi, you go first.”
“I’m okay, Cap,” Reggie said. “I unpacked all the boxes last night, we finally got our bed set up, I called Jonas and he sounded better, and Ray made me brownies. I’m doing okay.”
“Good, McCormack?”
Harlow shrugged, his hands picking at the sticker on his water bottle.
“Jonas comes home soon,” He said quietly. “He says he didn’t know. He’s just been so anxious over the… and just wanted to relax. He didn’t know. So I’m doing better, because that means he didn’t do it on purpose, and Reggie was right, he did sound better.”
The station took a deep breath of relief and Buck turned to Ells.
“Thyne?”
“Oh, I’m good. Me and May got a cat. I named it Cat, and it likes to tear up my curtains.”
“You named your cat, Cat?” Harlow wrinkled his nose.
“Yeah, what else was I supposed to name it, Dog?”
“Moving on,” Buck cut in. “Johnnyboy, you’re up.”
“I am… I am not good. Ray and I might be getting a divorce.”
The entire loft fell silent, and Reggie choked on their water.
“W-What?”
“I just… I never see her, or Benji.” Matthew shrugged. “And when I do see her, all we do is fight. The BBQ we missed when Reg and Ravi took the kids to the fair, we spent the entire time screaming at each other in the therapist’s office. And you know, we knew this could happen when Ray went back to school and got the internship, but I was so sure I loved her enough to not let this happen, I guess I don’t, or didn’t. I don’t know. I just… I miss my wife and kid, I miss my family.”
“Ray… Ray hasn’t said anything.” Reggie said hesitantly, and Matthew snorted.
“She won’t. She doesn’t like talking about me behind my back, and I don’t think she actually wants to admit anything is wrong. I don’t think I was ready until just right now to admit it either. It feels like we’re killing each other, you know? It’s awful.”
“There’s many ways you can kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough.” Buck said, quietly clapping him on the shoulder. “I don’t think that’s the case here. I think you’re both just busy and overworked, and tired. Why didn’t you come to me? I could’ve given you your PTO, and you didn’t use all of your paternity leave when Benji was born, we could’ve figured something out.”
“Because Cap, you’re…. and I’ll be stuck here. We all will.” Matthew said, and Buck sent him a confused glance.
They didn’t have any time to address it, before the bell was ringing, and by time they got back, sweaty and gross four hours later, they had all seemed to have forgotten about it.
Attempt Six.
Even with Jonas finally back in the saddle, and staying Man Behind, the team still wasn’t sure if Buck was planning to stick around. He hadn’t said, hadn’t even told the team he’d been offered Grandpops spot with the 118, which stung even more. They knew he loved them, he wouldn’t just leave with no warning, right?
But they all had to shake it off when they got a call, even just an old woman panicked that her cat was stuck in a tree.
Arriving on scene brought smiles to their faces, black and white fur easily spotted in the thick green leaves and the elderly woman in a nightgown yelling for Biscuit to come down.
Buck hid his chuckle in a cough, turning to the team, “Thyne, get up on the ladder and I’ll raise you up.”
Ells’s eyes widened, looking up at the thirty foot drop, “Cap, please no. I’m dating your sister, don’t do me like this.”
Buck raised an eyebrow, “Choi is my actual sibling, and they were shot and are still in PT for their shoulder, so they aren’t going up. Johnson needs to be on the ground in case something happens and we need our medics. McCormack is so unfocused right now thinking about Caldwell, I don’t think he’s even realized we made it to the scene yet.”
On cue Harlow’s head snapped up, confusion and realization passing over his face in quick succession, “Need me to strap up, Cap?”
“Absolutely not.” He answered quickly, stern but compassionate, “Up you go, Thyne.”
Ells groaned, but she couldn’t argue with his logic as she let Reggie hook her up and made the ascension.
Couldn’t argue with his logic, at least, until she actually reached the animal stuck in the tree.
“Here, kitty kitty.” She reached out, waiting until the creature looked back to see her face, “Oh, fu- Cap! Not a cat!”
Maybe someone should have warned her that skunks scare easily before she yelled. But as it is, she ate a face full of spray as he rushed to lower her down.
Only to be met on the ground with Reggie holding another black and white creature. This one actually was a cat. “Found Biscuit,” they offered, barely suppressing their laughter before the stench hit their nose, “Oh, hell! What is that?”
Buck, far less efficiently hiding his laughter, gave her a grin, “I’m sorry- I can’t. You are not riding in the truck like that.”
“Wha-“ Ells gaped, “How am I supposed to get back to the station??”
“We will figure it out,” he choked out with his chuckles, “But I am not filling the engine with that smell.”
Whelp. At least they could still make him laugh.
Success One.
Buck had claimed Benji the moment the Johnson’s had stepped over the threshold.
“There’s my boy!” Buck called, laughing, pressing his lips all over the top of his head.
“Buck! Buck! Dada voom voom! Unc Reg voom voom!” Benji told him seriously, his fist gripping Buck’s shirt tight. Buck nodded solemnly, listening to him intently, and Matthew felt his heart squeeze into his chest.
They all knew what this was, this was Bobby’s retirement party, and it was here that they would announce that Buck would be taking over the 118. He would no longer be their captain and they would no longer be his crew.
Harlow and Jonas joined Ray and Matthew soon after, and while he was glad both men looked better than they had when he last saw them, he couldn’t deny that they both looked sad.
“Is Choi on their way?” Harlow asked, glancing around.
“Ravi is trying, but Reggie is being stubborn. They don’t want to see him leave.”
“We don’t know if he’s leaving,” Ells said, leaving May to join them, she was always the most optimistic out of the bunch. “May hasn’t said anything.”
“Of course May hasn’t said anything,” Reggie’s voice came from behind. “Cap probably didn’t tell her because he knows she’d tell you, and you’d tell us, and we wouldn’t be able to do our jobs.”
“Hey Reg,” Matt said, resting his arm on their shoulder. “Glad you could make it.”
“Ravi made me,” Reggie scowled. “He said I’d want to be here. He’s full of shit.”
Matthew went to say something in return, whether to defend Ravi or agree with Reggie was unknown, but Bobby calling for everyone’s attention cuts him off.
“Hey everyone,” Bobby said. “As all of you know, I’m retiring this month, and I had the great honor of picking my replacement, so without further ado, let me introduce to you the new captain of the 118, Captain-“
“No!” The word’s out of Johnson’s mouth before he could stop it, and he felt a little bad that he was once again interrupting a special moment for Cap but he couldn’t help it. “No, just… please don’t do this. Don’t.”
“Johnnyboy, what even-“
“No! Cap, we know you’re leaving, okay? We know. Grandpops doesn’t need to announce it, please.”
“What? You think I’m leaving?” Buck asked, frowning with his hand going to cup the back of Benji’s head protectively as Benji continued to babble and squirm, ignoring the adults around him.
“Reggie heard you,” And Jonas sounded miserable. “Grandpops offered you the position.”
Buck stares at them, mouth open wide, before Eddie’s nudging him.
“Is this- is this what’s had you all so tied up into knots? I mean I know you’ve had personal stuff going on, like Matt and Ray, and Jonas and the hospital, but there’s been something bigger than that, and it’s this, isn’t it?”
“We don’t want you to leave,” Harlow admitted quietly. “So we did all these things to try to convince you to stay, but-“
“I think we drove you away instead.” Reggie finished.
“Guys,” Buck laughed. “I’m not leaving. I mean don’t get me wrong, I didn’t appreciate the flour exploding in my face, or having to find uniforms because two of my firefighters climbed into sewers or got sprayed by a skunk, and I didn’t appreciate Jonas having to be admitted because he was so anxious he drank with anxiety meds, but I’m not leaving. Besides, Johnnyboy is going through a divorce, I literally can’t leave.”
“We’re going through a divorce?” Ray asked with a frown.
“Hey! Hey no! I never said that. I said we might. We’re not now! But the 118 is your family, Cap.” Matthew said morosely. “That’s what you really wanted. Not us.”
“You’re right, I did want the 118, but I got something just as good. You guys. Besides, I can’t be Captain of the 118. They’ve already got a Captain.”
“Hi, yes, hello.” Eddie said, waving from where he was standing. “It’s me. Buck was never going to say yes to Bobby, because, if he did, who else would punch someone because they were being mean to our son?”
Reggie laughed, and Matthew looked like he was about to cry happy tears. Jonas reached Buck first, throwing his arms around him, quickly followed by the rest of the team.
They were okay. Buck wasn’t leaving, and they were okay. They were still the 127.