Chapter Text
Evan Ellison-Sandburg (Formerly Buckley) had been online for a while now, coming online in middle school. Being a Guide has always been a struggle for him. Guides thrive on the love of others. When Maddie left home, Buck felt himself shrink. When he could leave with the Jeep Maddie left him, he found himself bouncing between different Sentinel and Guide centers. He was able to ground himself on the communities inside of each center. He eventually spoke to a Navy recruiter and joined the Navy. After a few months, he joined the SEALs and found that, although he did not have the love he needed growing up, he could shut off his emotions and be grounded enough on his team. Buck thrived in the SEALs until he got hurt.
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Edmundo “Eddie” Diaz was a latent Sentinel since he was a kid. He felt he met his match when he met Shannon, a latent guide. They matched throughout the time they dated, but once Shannon became pregnant, something shifted. They got married, and Eddie joined the military. He wasn’t even online. He working as a medic in Afghanistan, and when he was on leave and Shannon gave birth, he felt his senses imprint on his son Christopher. Shannon came online, but they knew they weren’t a match but would stay together for their son. Eddie wanted to stay, but he had an obligation and had to return to Afghanistan. He was still offline until he met a SEAL.
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“We need a medic!” someone yelled. Eddie rushed out and saw a young man with what appeared to be a red birthmark above his eye being carried toward his med bay. He felt himself focusing on the birthmark. He wanted to trace it and kiss it.
“Medic Diaz!” someone said. Can you hear me?” Eddie returned to his body, realizing he had to protect and treat his Guide. He questioned himself about where that came from.
“What do we got?” Eddie asked, dragging his guide to his med bay.
“He was shot in the leg; seems to be a through and through.” The other soldier said. “He passed out right before he got here. His name is Evan Ellison-Sandburg; he’s a SEAL XO Sniper and a guide.”
“Evan,” Eddie started, grabbing his pen light. Then, checking his eyes, he asked, “Can you hear me? Pupils responding to light.” As Eddie moved to help Buck’s leg, he heard Evan coming. Welcome back to the land of the living. "How are you feeling, Evan?”
“Ugh,” Evan groaned. “Like crap.”
“Getting shot and then passing out, will do that to you. What’s your pain level?”
“Not much, I dialed it down.”
“Before you did that, what was it?”
“7.5 out of 10.”
“Okay. I’m going to clean the wounds, then stitch you back up. Then you’re here for a bit until you heal enough. Then it’s your boss’ call.” Evan kept all his senses, both normal and metaphysical, focused on Eddie. He knew he couldn’t start this until he was at least stitched up, but feeling his Sentinel was an amazing human made him feel good. Eddie stitched Evan up and was about to bring him to one of the other med bays when he heard.
“Sentinel,” Evan said.
“Guide,” Eddie responded reactively, not realizing he had inadvertently come online. “Let's get you to my quarters.”
“Anywhere with you, Sentinel.” Eddie wrapped Evan’s arm around his shoulders and started walking with him from the med bay to his solo bunk room a couple of buildings away. He was lucky he reported he was a latent sentinel, or he would’ve been bunking with everyone else, and they would’ve had to use a bonding suite that smelled nothing like him. That would make them both more comfortable. On their way over, they were stopped by their commanding officers, who were talking.
“I thought you two would be a good match,” Eddie’s commanding officer, Smith, a mid-level guide, said. His sentinel was somewhere else on base. "I was just telling Ellison-Sandburg’s commanding officer, Jones, I expected you to come online soon after meeting him.”
“Wait,” Evan interjected. “He wasn’t online before meeting me?”
“No,” Eddie responded. “I’ve never been close to coming online until I met you. I didn’t even realize I came online.”
“I’ll call Blair, something’s up,” Smith said. “Take as long as you need. Then, the four of us will discuss moving forward. Congratulations.” Eddie continues to bring Evan to his quarters. Once they settle, Eddie realizes he has to tell his guide something.
“Guide,” Eddie said. I need to tell you something before we bond. I’m married.” Evan looked surprised, but Eddie continued, “Her name is Shannon. I got her pregnant, and we only got married for the insurance benefits. My son has cerebral palsy. She’s a guide, so she’ll understand.” Eddie went to grab a photo of Christopher. “This is Christopher.”
“He’s adorable,” Evan said. “Do you want to call Shannon before we bond?”
“That's a Good idea, SEAL of mine,” Eddie said with a smirk. "I’ll be in the hallway. Don’t leave.”
“Never, my medic.”
Eddie called Shannon, and the conversation went surprisingly well. Shannon understood and said they would get an S/G annulment once Eddie was back stateside, mostly so Christopher could still have insurance benefits. He then went back to Evan.
“Guide,” Eddie said. “We haven’t even been properly introduced. I’m Eddie Diaz, Edmundo, but only my parents call me that. I’m from El Paso, Texas, I have two sisters, and I told you about my son and my soon to be ex-wife.”
“Sentinel,” Evan replied. "I’m Evan Ellison-Sandburg. I’m from Hershey, Pennsylvania, but I call Cascade, Washington, home. I don’t talk to my biological parents; I have a sister. My parents are Blair and Jim. Can we bond now?” Evan said as he started to take his clothes off.
“Yes, mi guîa,” Eddie said as he started removing his clothes. Evan wasn’t sure what that translates to, but based on his feelings, he thought it meant “my guide.” Before he could form another thought, Eddie was on top of him. His Sentinel was on top of him, naked. Eddie took special care to avoid Evan’s now bad leg.
“I can hear you thinking,” Eddie said. “Focus on me.” They need to imprint their senses on each other.
“Sight, check,” Eddie said. Hermoso, I need to hear you talk.” As Evan started babbling about nothing in particular, Eddie picked up his guide and knew many random facts. While Evan was talking, Eddie thoroughly mapped Evan’s body with his hands, paying special attention to his birthmark. After a bit, he said, “Touch, check. Keep talking, baby.” Evan felt himself swoon hearing his sentinel, Eddie, call him baby.
Eddie then buried his face into Evan’s neck, smelling and getting his scent. He smelled like Pine, cocoa, and home. “Smell, check. Hearing will never be enough,” Eddie said. “I like your voice too much. All that’s left is taste.” Eddie then surged to press his lips first to his guide’s birthmark, then his lips. Evan could feel the bond start to cement and his dick getting harder and harder.
Eddie pulled his lips away, leaving his forehead in Evan’s. “Woah,” Evan said.
“Stay with me, babe,” Eddie said, “And it will be like that forever. I need to fuck you.” Evan quickly pushed Eddie away slightly and flipped over. “Eager, my guide?”
“Yes!” Evan exclaimed. “Fuck me!”
“Not yet,” Eddie replied.
“Why n-Fuck!” Evan attempted to ask when he felt Eddie eating him out.
“Patience, my guide,” Eddie said as he felt Evan wiggling and returning to eating him out. “Do you want me to stretch you more, or do you want to feel the burn for the first time?
“Burn,” Evan quickly responded. “I need to feel you now!”
“Ok, my guide. As you wish.” Eddie flipped his guide over and picked up his legs. “You ready?”
“Yes, sentinel,” Evan said. “Fuck me!” Eddie lined himself up and pushed into Evan. As Eddie made love to Evan, Evan’s metaphysical senses were fully bound to Eddie (he didn’t realize how strong they were). Having never felt this much love, even from his adoptive parents (they loved him plenty, but for high-level guides, this tends to happen), he felt emotional and started crying.
“Cariño,” Eddie said concerned. “What’s wrong? Am I hurting you.”
“NO!” Evan exclaimed through teary eyes and a choked-up voice. “I’ve never felt this much love,” Evan choked out.
“Oh, amor de mi vida, mi guîa,” Eddie said, blanketing himself over his guide. “I’ll give you all the love you want and more.” Eddie continued to fuck Evan until they both orgasmed and found themselves on the spirt plane. Their spirit animals quickly took up residence in their partner’s lap.
“That’s Buddy,” Evan said, introducing Eddie to his Golden Retriever spirit animal. I met him when I was six, before I was even online. Don’t judge me on his name.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, mi guîa. I can’t judge you anyway. That is Howl,” Eddie said, introducing Evan to his spirit animal, a gray wolf. Christopher named him before he could even talk, and that’s how I know he’ll come online.”
“That is a sure sign,” an unknown voice said.
“I have to agree with you, Dad,” Evan said. Eddie, this is my dad, Blair Sandburg.” What many people didn’t know is that Blair and Jim adopted Evan not long after they heard his story and knew he needed a support system. Even if he could turn his emotions off in the field, he needed to be able to turn them back on when he was home.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Eddie said.
“None of that,” Blair said. “You’re my son’s sentinel, you’re my son-in-law. You either call me dad or Blair. Evan, you called.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Evan said. “I must’ve subconsciously. Jones mentioned something was up about Eddie not being close to coming online until he met me, and didn’t even realize he came online.”
“What?” Blair exclaimed. Turing to Eddie, he asked, “Eddie, Did you know you are a sentinel, even latent?”
“I knew I was latent, I dated a guide back home, she came online giving birth. We only got married because I got her pregnant. We’re getting an annulment once I get back stateside. I think my son might be latent.”
“I need your full name so I can look you up. I hear the twang in your voice, so you’re from Texas right?”
“Yes, Si-Blair,” Eddie said as Blair smiled. “I’m from El Paso. My full name is Edmundo Diaz. Do you need my son’s or my wife’s name?
“It would be helpful if I reached out to her and your son,” Blair said. If you think he’s going to come online, it's better to prepare him as early as possible.”
“My wife’s name is Shannon, and my son’s is Christopher,” Eddie said. I think it's also important to note that he can see Howl and named her before he could even fully speak.” Blair’s eyes almost bulged.
“How long ago was that?” Blair asked. “And how old is he?”
“He’s four, and he has CP, and that was about 4-5 months ago. I had never seen Howl before than.”
“I need to reach out to the other Shamans. Evan, feeling your power now that you’ve bonded, I think you’re also one.” It was Evan’s turn for his eyes to bug.
“That can’t be right,” Evan said. “You said I barely had any of the metaphysical senses.”
“That was before you met your Sentinel,” Blair said. “When they’re Shaman level, you need your Sentinel to anchor you as much as they do with the normal senses. You won’t have your full potential, or any without them. Before I met Jim, I had none of them. The fact that you had any before you met Eddie, just proves how powerful your are, potentially more powerful than any other other shaman. Now for Christopher, can you see his spirit animal?”
“I haven’t seen anything yet,” Eddie said. “I think his may be a Chimpanzee, I’ve only seen shadows, not a full animal yet.”
“Ok,” I have enough to work with. Jim might stop by soon. I might force him, I need to research, and sometimes he’s no help.”
“It’ll be nice to see Pops,” Evan said. “He’ll give you good advice, Eds. If I’m Shaman level, that means you’re Alpha level.”
Looking at Blair, Eddie asked, “Will that effect Christopher?”
“Spoken like a true Sentinel Father,” Blair said. “If anything, it will help him, espically seeing as he could see Howl. Just so you guys know, The Tribe may override your commitments, depending on what I find. I see you being concerned Eddie. Christopher will get the services he needs. The Tribe takes care of each other, you won’t have to worry about him not getting services ever again. I’ll send Christopher and Shannon to the El Paso Center,and one of my betas to evaluate them. I hate to say it, but sometimes the local evaluators can be influenced by local politics. Not saying your family or hers influenced anything, but you never know.”
“Thank you Blair.” Evan and Eddie said at the same time.
“Already acting like an old SG couple. I will definitely be sending Jim now.
“Ugh,” Evan groaned. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you to Ev. Now go bond with your sentinel,” Blair said. “I’ll come back if I find anything, and I’ll send Jim in a few hours.”
“Good, I can prepare him for Sentinel Dad shovel talk,” Evan said. “You’ll eventually do the same for Christopher.”
“I’ll see you guys,” Blair said.
“What’s different about a Sentinel Dad shovel talk?”
“Its worse when they’re an Alpha, but its a normal shovel talk but the threat of turning off your powers, or torturing you might do it.”
“Ok,” Eddie said. “I understand now. While we’re here, can we send Buddy and Howl to watch Christopher?”
“Can I send Buddy to watch my sister? Something is telling me she needs help.”
“BLAIR!” Eddie yelled, “I need you back.”
“You rang?” Blair said, “Anything in particular you need?”
“Something’s wrong with Maddie,” Evan said. “Can you send someone from the Boston center to check on her?”
“As soon as I get back to my body, I will,” Blair said. Does she know you’re online?”
“No,” Evan replied. “Might be better to send a police pair.”
“Got it,” Blair said.
“I’m sending Buddy to watch her,” Evan said.
“I get it,” Blair said. “I’ll let the response team know.” Blair faded back to his body, and Buddy and Howl left.
“You feeling anything?” Eddie asked.
“A lot of emotions,” Evan said. “Bad emotions. POPS!”
“You needed me?” Jim asked. “You know you’re the only person besides your Dad who can get me to willingly come here.” Turning to Eddie, he asked, “Who’s this?”
“Pops, this is my sentinel, Edmundo ‘Eddie’ Diaz.”
“Its a pleasure to met you Sir,” Eddie said, standing up and offering his hand to Jim to shake.
“You realize what you’re offering me, right?” Jim asked. “I’m empathetic and touch sensitive.”
“Absolutely, Sir.” Blair took Eddie’s hand and shook it, seeing everything in his mind.
“I have two questions,” Jim said. The first one is you’re married?”
“Yes, Sir,” Eddie said. “We got married because I got her pregnant. We plan on getting an SG annulment once I get stateside.”
“I think that answered my second question, but why do I feel my grandson is coming online.”
“Already claming him, huh Pops?” Evan asked with a sly grin.
“You surprised?” Jim asked. Evan shook his head. “Okay then, Why am I feeling him coming online.”
“Dad is already aware,” Evan said. “He’s getting the El Paso response team on it. We need updates though. He’s only 4.”
“Only four?” Jim asked. At Evan and Eddie’s nods, he said, “Hold on a minute; I’ll be right back.”
“Pops, Wait!” Evan said, stopping Jim from leaving.
“What’s wrong Evan?” Jim responded.
“Dad was sending the Boston response team to Maddie. It seems like a DV situation.”
“Okay, I’ll alert the Boston team,” Jim said. I’ll be back to finish grilling you, Diaz.”
Once Jim left, Evan said, “He loves you.”
“You can already tell?” Eddie asked.
“He only asked one question about Shannon,” Evan replied. “He knows you want an annulment. That answers the most important question he’s asked my potential sentinels matches in the past.”
“THERE WERE OTHERS?!” Eddie said, enraged at no one in particular.
“And that certainly answers question 2,” Jim said, returning. “Welcome to the family, Eddie.”
“That quick?” Eddie asked. “You can already tell?”
“Being an Alpha plus shaking your hand did most of it,” Jim said. The fact that you're angry at any other potential sentinels and you just came online says a lot about how you feel about my son. I’m sure Blair already read you without you noticing.”
“He did,” Evan said. “I felt it, but knew Dad would be mad if I told Eddie.”
“I don’t know how to feel,” Eddie said. “Mad at you for not telling me,” he said to Evan, “or happy to be accepted by the Alpha Primes of the US.”
“Our range is more than just the US, Eddie.” Jim said.
“Its all of North America,” Blair said, appearing again. “I have a feeling you’ll both take over the Southern US and Mexico once everything is settled.”
“Already?” Evan asked.
“I’m not fully sure, but that’s what I feel. As for both situations, Maddie came close to killing Doug in self-defense. The guides on scene had to knock both of them out. Maddie is online now.”
“Please tell me you’re having her come to Cascade,” Evan said.
“Of course,” Jim said. Her baby brother is a shaman. We’re also considering Adult Adoption for her.”
“As for Christopher and Shannon,” Blair began, “Christopher is on the edge of coming online, but Shannon and a conservator are keeping him offline until he’s in a safe space and when his dads are back stateside in Cascade.”
“We’re headed home?” Eddie said.
“Yes,” Blair said. “You’re on the next flight out. A plane will be waiting for you in Germany to take you straight to Cascade.”
“Eddie,” Jim said. I need you to be prepared for what Blair is about to say. They are already in custody and facing an SG court, and they will be punished. Your soon-to-be ex-wife, sisters, Abuela, and great aunt are repulsed. And they want to talk to you both at some point.”
Evan positioned himself behind Eddie, hugging him in a vice grip and reading to his parents that this was a bad situation.
“Eddie, you ready? Blair asked. At both Evan's and Eddie’s nods he continued. “Your parents forced you to be dormant. You should’ve been online since middle school, the same as Evan. Their church is run by Christian extremists, to a point only matched by the Westboro Baptist Church. The only reason you even came online is because your guide was injured in front of you. The church is currently being investigated as we speak. The other reason your parents are in custody is that they attempted to force Christopher offline. That’s why he is almost online; he’s more powerful than all of us. It explains why he has CP. It counteracts his gifts. We don’t know if his CP will be relieved by him coming online or not.
“Is he okay?” Eddie asked. “Can you get me some way to see him?”
“As soon as you’re back to your body,” Jim began, “I’ll have Shannon FaceTime you, okay?”
“Perfect,” Evan said, as Eddie was unable to speak. I’ll take him back. We love you guys.”
“We love you back,” Jim said. “Eddie, you can call me Jim or Pops, I’ll take Alpha for now, I know the title is overwhelming to not use, but after a while I expect to be called Jim or Pops. Not sure on a grandpa name yet, but I’ll figure that out.”
“I’m Gramps,” Blair said. “I already called dibs. Now go back to your bodies.” As the spirit plane fades for Evan and Eddie, they hear Blair say, “You know we're in trouble, right?”
“You heard your dad say that too?” Eddie said.
“Yeah,” Evan said. “We need to talk to our commanding officers.”
“I’ll call Smith,” Eddie said. “You’re not leaving my side anytime soon.” After calling Smith, Eddie wrapped his arms around Evan. “We need to go to your space, and pack everything up.”
“I’m in a bunk room. The rest of my squad is in there. I might end up hugging them.”
“I may need to hold you before and after,” Eddie said.
“Aren’t you doing that now?” Evan said with a bit of sass as he stood up and put his arm around Eddie’s shoulders. They started walking over to Evan’s quarters. When they got there, Evan almost got ambushed. They came close to wanting to hug and congratulate him but didn’t want to anger a newly bonded sentinel.
“It's okay,” Evan said. He gave you permission.” As soon as he said this, it was like the floodgates opened. All of his squad was hugging and congratulating him. “Thanks, guys. I’m going to miss you. If you're ever in Washington State, reach out to one of the SG Centers. They can give you my info.”
“We’ll miss you too, Ellison,” one of Evan’s team members said. We won’t need medical as much, though.”
“Yeah,” another member said. “It won’t be the same with out Sandburg. We won’t get grounded as much either.”
“Do they always only use one last name?” Eddie asked through their mind link.
“Yeah,” Evan responded the same way. It depends if they’re more military-minded or academic-minded. Ellison is military, and Sandburg is academic. Only my CO calls me both.”
“I’ll take care of him,” Eddie said to the group. “It doesn’t hurt he has a Sentinel who is a medic.”
“The universe has funny ways of working,” Jones said, walking in. “You both are getting an honorable discharge, especially considering you both still want to be here. Staff Sergeant Diaz, I wish I could’ve taken you on as a squid, as you’d call us, to help Ellison-Sandburg only improve and have medic for him, as I’m sure you’ve heard about. Not to mention, having a Sentinel on a SEAL team is a significant benefit.”
“If The Tribe didn’t need us, we would’ve enjoyed working with y’all,” Eddie said. Turning to Evan, “Now what’s this I hear about my guide getting hurt.”
“It was just a few stitches and scratches,” Evan said.
“If by stitches you mean bullet wounds,” Jones said. “And scratches you mean a few broken bones, I’d agree with you.”
“Don’t worry about that now,” Eddie said. “His sister is back in the picture, and he has a stepson now. Here’s a photo, his name is Christopher,” Eddie said, passing a photo of Christopher around.
“Woah,” Jones said. “You’re not even related Evan, and you look like him.”
“Let me see! Let me see!” Various members of Evan’s team said. They all agreed that Christopher had a resemblance to both Eddie and Evan.
“Your flight leaves in 5 hours,” Jones said. “You both should pack up your things, and get ready to head out. Eddie, take care of him, alright? He can be a handful-”
“HEY!” Evan injected.
“But he’s a puppy outside of any action,” Jones continued. “Even though he’s the XO he’s a younger brother to all of us. We’ll likely be sending letters when we can.”
“And I’ll be sending care packages when I can,” Evan said. “I know your favorites, so don’t worry.”
“Eddie, can I hug Evan,” Jones asked.
“Absolutely,” Eddie said. “I feel no threat from any of you. You all can if you need or want to.” Evan’s team started hugging him again, and they fully packed up all of Evan’s belongings; it wasn’t much as he usually packed light. Eddie’s stuff took a lot longer. By the time they got ready for the almost 8-hour flight, Eddie had said goodbye to all his friends on base. However, something came up as they boarded the plane to Germany…