Chapter Text
Prologue - Adam
It’s frustrating, but Adam just couldn’t concentrate enough to join Morgan in canvassing the rest of the house. Truly, she’s brilliant in recognizing patterns and detecting anomaly. Morgan would find and deduct clues that’d bring them closer to get this perp sooner than later, never losing her pep or sense of styles. Or the all-heart, warm eyes and teasing smiles.
But.
He’d just fished Oz out of that pool. And he knew Oz was now being tended to by paramedics just outside of the garden door, only a few yards away, right there. The top of the ambulance was even visible from where he stood by the cursed blue water that almost took one of his team for good. Evidence of his failure, really. Adam himself still stank of chlorine and thoroughly wet because who had time to change when a perp almost killed a kid in your team? Not him.
But alas, he might have to admit defeat. Morgan had been narrating her usual genius commentary for the past fifteen minutes, at least half of which Adam had retained nothing. His brain was just replaying the few minutes of the ‘rescue’ over and over every time the twice-damned pool lurked in his periphery. And until his brain stopped torturing him with doomed what-if scenario, there’s no detecting happening on his part.
Maybe for the first time in weeks, Adam dismissed Morgan’s deductions and walked out. Straight to the flashing lights and fire-engine red vehicle parked haphazardly between the hedges where Oz was being tended to, hoping to catch them before hospital transport. Come to think of it, why weren’t they on the way already?
Ah.
So that’s why.
Adam stopped short of the back door, in full view of the occupants in the back of the ambulance who seemed too preoccupied to notice him. He’s debating between awkward retreat and awkward interruption when Oz looked up and zeroed-in like a homing laser apparatus.
“Hey Karadec! You need my statement?” The kid’s voice was more subdued than his usual light-banter register but he seemed fine. Much better than right after he woke up coughing vomiting pool water and bile less than half an hour ago.
Despite audience, Oz hadn’t released his arms from around the blue-clad waist of the paramedic standing with him. The male paramedic who, aside from turning his face toward Adam’s approach, hadn’t stopped petting Oz’s hair or clutching his shoulders. Hadn’t even stepped away from Oz’s head snuggling tight into his stomach, really.
Adam just quirked an eyebrow at them. At Oz’s unexpected sunshine deposition. At the very non-protocol actions happening. “I was just checking up on you, kid. Thought you’d be on your way to the hospital already.”
“Nah. I need this more. Eddie’s got healing hugs. It’s his superpowers.” The man emphasized his statement with an aggressive squeeze of the waist in his arms, at which the paramedic didn’t even flinch. Impressive.
“You’re hindering the paramedic from doing his job is what I hear.” Adam teased, something in him unclenching. The blue water receding from behind his eyes.
“I wouldn’t say that, detective. We can monitor for pulmonary edema here as well as the ER. He’s fine for now.” The paramedic interjected, his amusement evident. His hands still petting Oz like a dad consoling his kid with a boo-boo. Which was a strange comparison to make, given that the man didn’t look at all older than Oz.
Adam snorted at the even more smug grin Oz delivered at the comment, and decided he’s been rude long enough.
“Apologies for the giant baby. I’m his team lead, Adam Karadec.”
“Eddie Diaz,” the paramedic answered, wry. “I’d offer to shake your hand, but as you can see, the hands are quite occupied at the moment.”
“I’m sure they’re delivering necessary medicine. Must have been very effective if he can be this cheeky afte—”
“Oh FUCK”
The sudden expletive startled all three of them, as Oz tried to jump up from his seat on the truck but not quite managing it what with Eddie’s strong arms holding him tight. The panic on his face, however, had Adam moving fast and he’s catching the kid by the back of his neck in a blink.
“Oz, what—!?”
“Sit back dow—”
“Eddie’s in the same group!”
That paused all of them. Eddie pushed Oz to sit back down while Adam stepped back to better look at both men at the same time. He’d wondered how these two were acquainted. Now that he could infer, it’s not good.
“Your grief group?” Adam confirmed, to which Oz nodded miserably. Eddie made a discontented face, then resigned.
“I take it that little invasion of privacy has something to do with Oz drowning in some stranger’s backyard pool?”
“Unfortunately.”
Another sigh. “Right. What can you tell me, detective?”
“Adam” Adam found himself insisting. “And not much we can tell. You’d been interviewed about a Spencer in your group?”
“Ah, the abduction.”
“The perpetrator is still on the loose. You should be careful.” Adam warned. He’s just relieved that Eddie seemed the reasonable type. The man didn’t show his surprise or fear. Just a resigned sigh and a solemn nod. No panic. No demand. Adam wondered if all first responders were all this contained, or was it just this man.
“It’s a good thing my kid isn’t with me then. Thanks, Adam.” Eddie gave a bitter smile, like it pained him to mention his child at all. “Then I guess we better be safe than sorry and get this one thoroughly checked out at the hospital. Come on, Oz, get onto the stretcher. We gotta go.”
Oz, on the contrary, whined. “But Eddie, you said I’m fine!”
“That was before Adam told me you’d been drowned by a psycho, man. Now be a good boy and get up!”
Eddies’ no-nonsense voice was very stern and fatherly, Adam couldn’t help but chuckle and help him push Oz up and into the ambulance proper. The paramedic flashed him a tight smile and a handshake, but then they were all inside the car and speeding away within the minute. Very efficient.
Adam watched them until he could no longer see the bright red or hear the engine revving away. A twinge in his gut told him this case still had more development to darken their precinct with, but for now Oz was saved. All victims were found alive. He and his team would just have to make sure it continued that way until they can arrest this guy.
With new resolve, Adam walked back toward the backyard with the pool.
He wasn’t sure it was a good idea to join another gala after the last time one of them was abducted trying to get to the event, but here they are. Sotto, their Lieutenant, also refused to take no for an answer about their attendance in the Law Enforcement & First Responder Gala even after they barely made it to the LAPD one. Which, Adam would like to remind her, was not their fault. And also was not Oz’s fault for getting abducted and almost drown.
Adam sighed to himself and looked around the hall, decked out in tasteful red and gold with high ceiling and chandeliers and wall curtains. Lights reflecting on the cocktail buffet lines and the live music on stage and drinks on the trays floated around the floor by an army of well-dressed staffs. Someone’d gone all out organizing this one too, he guessed.
The hall was packed. First responder means there were firefighters and paramedics and even 911 operators mixing with the cops. A much better mix of crowds, really, in Adam’s opinion. Sounds of conversations and laughter were bright everywhere he turned. There’s a dance floor right at the front, by the low stage where various chiefs had just finished their speeches about interdepartmental cooperations and successful missions that was now taken over by the band. There also was Morgan, dancing away with her date. Tom had come up all the way from San Diego, again. And Adam didn’t understand why he himself would know that information. Not at all.
Dodging Soto once again from her clutches and her group of middle-management version of first responders, Adam snatched a bubbly drink from a server flying by and slithered away toward the wall. Maybe he could slip behind one of those floor-to-ceiling curtains for the rest of the evening.
Hm.
The curtains were, indeed, a good hiding place. Demonstrated by the man already hiding by one where Adam aimed for. A nice surprise, rather.
“You not a people person, or hiding from someone in particular?”
His question startled Eddie out of the thousand-yard stare the man was sporting, strengthening upright from his lean on the window and gripping the tall glass in his hand a bit too tight.
“Adam! Oh right, you’re a cop. Of course you’re here.” Eddie smiled sheepishly back, amiably clinking his tiny sparkling wine glass with Adam’s when he offered.
Slotting himself beside the man, Adam gestured again with his head toward the direction Eddie was staring. A group of obvious firefighter dudes clumping together—one or two of them he thought he recognized from a case out by the harbor a few years back.
“Your friends?” He had to ask. It’s a bit out of Eddie’s demographics if what he knew about that group of whiteboys was still valid. Which, considered the run-in he had during that case, was very much valid. Soto still referred any case involving air rescues in that precinct up the chain instead of taking it for their team of non-white misfits. Though now that they had Morgan? Hmm, nah. Still a woman. Better deploy their residence firecracker at somewhere more productive.
Eddie’s looking at Adam with a very knowing eyebrow quirking right up high, but then shrugged it off. Adam had a feeling that shrug-off had a ‘for now’ attached to it. He’s not opposed, though.
“My best friend Buck.” As if on cue, one of the taller guys in the group seemed to squawk at something and waved a free hand around. The man then looked up and zeroed in right at Eddie, who mustered up a smile and a salute with his wineglass in 0.01 seconds like it’s second nature.
The guy grinned wide and pouted at Eddie when he refused to walk over but was turned around bodily by the older guy standing beside him. They went back to whatever conversation was happening, this time a bit rowdier.
“And his boyfriend Tommy.”
The bitterness that came through was not quite surprising, but Adam was surprised anyway. Since this was only the second time they met. Eddie’s practically coming out to a stranger. Who was also a police officer of the glorious US of A, being in a ‘progressive’ LAPD notwithstanding.
Honey-brown eyes gazed at him intently, full of challenge and a dare for reaction Adam couldn’t help but meet.
“Hm.” He gestured subtly toward the dance floor. “My partner’s over there, dancing with her date Tom.”
“The gorgeous blond in pink?” Of course Eddie would spot who he meant without knowing any of the dozens dancers there.
“Morgan. She’s brilliant.”
Adam huffed, knowing his voice was both fond and proud of the woman who’d earned her place on their team with every squiggle of her brilliant brain and heart. Eddie side-eyed him again, leaning in further as if to divulge state secrets.
“Buck is brilliant too, you know.” His voice full of smug pride, like he’s showing off. Like they’re flexing at each other with something not even theirs to flex about but doing it anyway.
“The Toms are subpar, though” Adam whispered, his grin shit-eating. His face moving in a way it hadn’t in years.
Eddie snorted-coughed, swallowing what would have been a belly laugh that draw attention to them if let out. And just like that, they stayed together through the evening like two spinsters gossiping on the ton moving around them. Hiding away from their friends and colleagues for want of a new connection.
Chapter 1: Adam
“Hey”
Adam caught the pint slid his way on the dark wood countertop, smoothly sitting down on the stool saved for him by his friend. The man was already pouting about something, and at this point he knew it’s either his son or his best friend, what with Eddie having desensitized himself to his current interim-captain aka ‘bigot relic’ aka Gerrard as if he’s back in the army. Which, yeah, was rather concerning too.
“Bad day?” He asked when Eddie just gave a melancholic smile in greeting. They sipped half-heartedly at their beers in mutual silence for a few more minutes before Adam decided to break it.
“She showed up at my place again last night.”
Eddie paused, warm eyes efficiently turned and caught his, beer in his glass barely depleted showing how fake his sipping was. “You were already working long before that, weren’t you?”
The attention was direct and expectant, Eddie seemed to have forgotten his own heavy moment in the face of Adam confessing to torturing himself with overwork.
“Well...”
“I recall you told me you’re not supposed to take your work home” Eddie was now turning all the way into their conversation, a hand landing on Adam’s thigh closest to him. A knowing smirk finishing the ensemble. “Though I guess it’s ok if your partner won’t tell on you.”
He huffed at the teasing. They both knew Morgan joining him on his illicit work on active cases at home was nothing near regulation. And it didn’t help his workaholic tendencies at all. If anything, it rewarded his bad behavior.
“Yeah. And neither of us got any sleep.” He huffed again when Eddie’s lips pulled up wider into a grin. “Shut up. I’d consumed too much coffee for your dadjokes tonight.”
Eddie laughed, then hiccupped. Which sounded too close to a sob for where they were—a high-end bar devoid of any first responders, but sure full of strangers and socialites many of whom were already eyeing Eddie like a particularly juicy piece of cake.
“Hey. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Despite trembling hands and shaky lips, Eddie obediently got up and followed Adam out to his sedan. They rode in silence barring Eddie not-so-obviously swallowing his emotions and sniffling his tears back.
Sometimes Adam wondered which history had damaged this man more, the Southern Catholic childhood or the active warzone deployments. But their conversations haven’t gone that way much. They mostly talked about the things they couldn’t talk about to their friends and families and colleagues. The things they wished but couldn’t confide in their colleagues and loved ones simply because they’re all either too close, too affected, or too involved.
Adam kept his hand on Eddie’s, thumb caressing over his knuckles back and forth in soothing rhythm. Something had happened today that shook Eddie’s composure much more than the past months of his son deciding to leave home and staying states away, nearly cutting all contacts with this extremely dedicated single father who’d gone all-in for his kid and now seemingly had nothing left for himself.
They both knew that’s not true. But emotions were never rational, were they.
Eddie mustered up a shaky smile when they arrived in Adam’s apartment parking garage. Pulling on his hand instead of taking off the safety belt, Adam gave a gentle kiss on the fingers in his hold.
“Come on, Eddie. I have better seats upstairs than those posture-destroying stools in some bars.”
That startled a laugh out of his friend, and Adam smugly got out to open the door for him, gently leading him into the elevator and down the corridor to his apartment.
Despite the short few weeks they’d known each other, Eddie didn’t get shy or hesitate after that first few minutes at the gala. Now, the man followed Adam right inside. Politely took off his shoes and gracefully-gracelessly flopped onto the leather couch like he had been here before. Which he hadn’t. And somehow it’s endearing to Adam.
He bypassed the originally anticipated whiskey and poured crisp-cold water into crystal tumblers instead, anticipating a more sobering conversation considering the sadness shrouding Eddie’s whole body. It looked close to resignation, which was not a state of mind Eddie should ever be in considering how little the man thought of himself in general. And now especially.
Eddie finished his water in one go despite a sassy quirk of his brow, which reassured Adam a bit. If he could still muster up the innate brat in him, then he’s already doing much better than half an hour ago not-sobbing into his draught beer in a fancy pub.
Taking the glasses and putting them out of the way, Adam returned to pull the other man closer by the hand. Covering those thick, manly digits with his own and rubbing them until Eddie was relaxing into the cushion. his neck lolling close, his lashes fluttering slow. Adam waited until Eddie seemed to be ready to unload whatever had him so upset this day. Well, more upset than usual.
“It’s Christopher birthday today.” Eddie started. “So we—Buck and I, we thought it’d be a good idea to hold a little facetime party for him. I even made cupcake and everything.”
The chuckle accompanying the story was as watery as it was bitter, and Adam was already swallowing his own anger at a teenager he had never met. It wouldn’t have served anyone, least of all Eddie, to hear Adam’s opinion on a fourteen-year-old deliberately hurting their own loving parent for months upon months. He knew how biased he was, having only known the Eddie after his son had run away from home with the people who had already hurt him most—and continued to do so—with little to no remorse nor acknowledgement.
Reminding himself of the one-sided information and of what he knew Eddie want—a friend who had no bearing on what happened between him and his son. Adam could be a friend who Eddie actually needed—a friend who would take Eddie’s side first, even against his own son—later. He pulled Eddie closer into an embrace, and the man just flowed into it as if his spine was made liquid, fully limp and resting his whole weight in Adam’s arm.
Eddie continued recounting the event of the day, and Adam was successful in tamping his own reaction down to gritted teeth and hugging the other man a bit harder. Because. If he ever got the chance to meet Eddie’s parent, Adam wouldn’t be responsible for his actions. Really, he would happily unleash Morgan on them armed with a thorough background check by the FBI even if he’d have to owe Ronnie a few favors or ten for it.
He added Buckley’s boyfriend on the hit list as well when Eddie hiccupped out how the two men just left right after for their own date night. Especially when Eddie made it out like he’d been enough of a nuisance for making them joined the failed virtual party in the first place. Like they both didn’t know that it was Buckley’s idea to decorate the house. Eddie’d been so happy when he talked about their shopping trip for the streamers and the cupcake recipe last week, even bragging about how ‘Christopher’s Buck’ always knew how to connect with the kid.
“Hey, hey. No, Eddie.” Adam nudged Eddie up by the chin, gently smoothing out the tight screw Eddie’s mouth turned into when he’s trying not to cry. “You haven’t done anything wrong today. It sounds like you were trying to love them, and they just weren’t receptive to it. Yet. That’s not your fault.”
Eddie shook his head in denial, but his eyes shone with hope. He leaned into Adam’s touches, looking sweet and small despite their equal physical size. And Adam wondered just how wrong in the head someone had to be to deliberately hurt this man.
They stayed that way for a few more heartbeats in comfortable silence, looking into each other’s eyes until Eddie’s finally dry and he’s offering up a tiny little smile. It was lovely. And vulnerable. And Adam just couldn't help himself when he leaned in to press a gentle kiss on those pouty lips.
“This alright?” He asked just to be sure, even though the grip on his shirt and the soft, sweet sigh had already indicated a positive reaction. Shaking the body in his hold a bit to emphasize when all he got was a shy little nod. “Nuh huh. Words, please.”
Eddie giggled and squirmed, “Yes, yes.” But not even trying to get out from under Adam, so he counted that as a win.
Their amusement quieted down again once Adam pulled him into another kiss. And another. And another. Eddie went soft and pliant wherever he touched. Clinging and pulling all curious and experimental in a way that reminded Adam how recently this man had come to accept his own non-heterosexuality. He felt honored. Here was Eddie Diaz, a single father clawing his way back to his son in the face of adversity from the very people he should have been able to trust. Working his way through his own years of repression and unaddressed traumas. And still trusting Adam to take care of him after only a few months of friendship that went real deep real fast in mutual support.
It also made him got up, pulling an obedient Eddie along with him toward the master bedroom. If they’re going to have each other this way too, then Eddie deserved his first time in as much comfort as Adam could provide. He’s determined to never drop any balls on Eddie Diaz if he could help it.
-----
“I went to Confession.”
“Come again?”
Adam put down his coffee and surreptitiously tidied up the casefiles on his breakfast counter. Eddie not being in the room didn’t mean he wasn’t going to sniff out Adam bringing work home.
“Adam, it’s mid-morning on your day off. Why are you working on your kitchen counter?”
Busted.
“I’m just clearing it away,” he excuses, “what do you mean you went to Confession? In a church? With a priest?”
Eddie laughed, either letting Adam off the hook or too eager to talk about his confession.
“Well. Bobby told me about his church. And I kind of. I don’t know. Went to see if it’ll help me. You know, like it helped him?”
The sentence ended as a question. Adam could hear Eddie fidgeting through the phone, most likely in his own kitchen, fighting with his super hi-tech Hildy coffeemaker.
“And did you find what you were looking for?”
From the sound of it, Eddie did find something. The last few months he’d seen Eddie vacillated between emotional highs and lows, though he’d gradually grown more settled every time they met and spent the night—and sometimes day—together. Today, though, might be the first time he sounded joyful.
“Nah. Confession was a waste of time. Five Hail Mary’s weren’t gonna help me for shit and you know it. But the hot priest was.”
Adam locked his apartment and heading down to the parking garage, opting for the stairs instead of elevators to not risk the signal fizzing out mid-call. He’s switched to speaker while Eddie was chuckling through the retelling of his serendipitous meeting with the hot priest at a juice bar and how he tried to let the man of god down gently by lying about being straight. By the time Eddie finished meandering around his second confession session of the week, littering with introspective comments on the moustache and significance of juice metaphor, Adam was knocking on his door.
Eddie greeted him with giddy little kisses, and Adam had a thought about visiting this church and making some donations.
“So now I know what to do!” Eddie announced after Adam had licked the last remnant of apple-grape juice off his tongue and they’re now sitting sprawled on Eddie’s uncomfortable couch.
Skeptical, because that’s just who Adam was. But also you couldn’t just trust a suddenly happy depressed man when he announced things like this out of the blue. “Right. About Christopher?”
“Yes! If he’s gonna be angry with me and refuse to come home. Then I can just move there so he can be angry with me but 800 miles closer.”
Fuck. For once in his life, Adam really wanted to be wrong in his assumption.
Even from Eddie’s one-sided, self-deprecating stories, he could discern how damaging his parents had been for Eddie’s self-worth and sense of self. The man still couldn’t think of his own happiness outside of being a father and what he could do for his son. Or for Buckley. But mostly it was either being Christopher’s dad or performing his duty as expected of him. Meaning being the best…whatever he thought everyone else expected of him. Adam still wanted to send a SWAT team to raid the elder Diaz’s home in El Paso just in case they would find some shackles and chains in their backyard shed.
All that was to say, Adam was very, very sure that if Eddie left his support system in LA to live back home under his parents’ claws again, he feared Eddie would be lost from them forever. Adam didn’t think a belligerent fourteen-year-old would have been any kind of emotional support for his father in the battle awaiting the man considering the past months.
“Pause! Pause. What do you mean, move there?!”
Eddie’s smile paused even as he let Adam caught his wrist. “Well, yeah? I miss my kid. He’s growing up and changing and I’m missing all of it. If I’m there, then at least I will be able to see him. I’m choosing joy, Adam. I’m choosing him.”
The glowing brown eyes fevered with wild hope almost made him regret saying what he’s about to say. But no. Giving Eddie hard truths now would still be better than letting him move back into what was categorically his own personal hell hole.
“I know you want to see your son, Eddie. But moving states to satisfy a boy’s whim isn’t what a well-adjusted parent do without considering the consequences.” Adam implored, praying that their dynamic held and Eddie would listen. The indignant frown that immediately cropped up, though, indicated otherwise.
“What a good parent does is to be there for his son, which is what I’m trying to do.” Eddie snapped, “I thought you understand. I don’t want to force him back if he doesn’t want to, Adam. I will not break down his door, I’ll wait for him to open it.”
“Yeah, no.” Adam shook the wrist in his grasp, forcing Eddie to look at him. “Letting a fourteen-year-old dictate your life isn’t parenting, Eddie. That’s surrender. The easy way out. You are his dad, not a temporary assigned guardian of his trust fund.”
The hitch in Eddie’s breath felt like a punch to his solar plexus, but Adam’s not relenting. “If Christopher is going to slam a door in your face, and you want to let him, you both can do that from the safety of your home where you have family and friends who love you. Not in a place where the patriarch forced you to be man of the house at ten years old and no other adults saw anything wrong with it. Not in a place where you felt so unsafe that you picked up your son and ran as far away as you could. Not in a place where you had to work three jobs to make ends meet despite having a whole army of family there who could have supported a man just medically discharged from a warzone but didn’t.”
By the end of Adam’s tirade, Eddie was shaking like a leaf and no longer struggling against his hold.
“I want to choose joy, Adam. He’s my joy.”
Eddie sobs. He sounded defeated and small. And Adam hated what he was doing to his friend, but he couldn’t let this spiral even more out of control than it already was, even before Adam met him that day by that cursed blue pool.
“Then choose joy. All your joys. Your life doesn’t consist solely of your son. Christopher’s life doesn't consist solely of just you. There are people who he loves and love him, here, where he’s flourished for years. Don’t take that away from both of you just because you want to indulge his teenage tantrum.”
Breathing slowing down, Eddie cuddled close into him, seemingly exhausted. Or relaxed. He wasn’t quite sure at this point.
“He had good reason to be angry with me you know.” The complaint sounded like Eddie’s pouting. Adam took that as a win.
“And I still insist you let me interview that woman why she thought it’s a good idea to cosplay as your dead wife and forced herself into your home.”
“She didn’t break in, officer! I opened the door!” Eddie was laughing now. So Adam kept up the indignant cop attitude.
“Hrmf. You asked her to leave. She didn’t. Not until your family intervened. That’s at least trespassing and maybe assault if I’m creative about it.”
Adam exaggerated the huffiness just to hear another burst of amusement. They’d come a long way from the day Eddie first told him about this Kim woman. And Adam would never waver in his stance that it was obvious Eddie was having some kind of breakdown which the actress-wannabe took advantage of to practice her craft disguised as effort to ‘help’.
“Just let me at her. I promise there won’t be nothing nefarious at all. Really. Just a conversation.”
Eddie devolved into a fit of giggles that Adam couldn’t help but joining in. It’s a few minutes before they settled down, this time with much lighter atmosphere around them.
“Thank you” Eddie started, eyeing him with tender gratitude that buoyed Adam just a bit too much. He’s always got his ego stroked just right when Eddie looked at him like that.
“Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”
“Preventing unsuspecting firefighters from imploding their lives?” It was said like a joke, but Adam could hear the underlining relief in it. He gave Eddie’s rosy cheek a wet kiss just to break the sadness from creeping back in.
“Loving and supporting you, my special friend, in any way I can.” Eddie grinned at him at that, tugging on their hands that’d moved to intertwining each other somewhere in the past few minutes and squeezing a bit as if to reassure himself of its existence.
“Now get up. We gotta make war plans.”
“War plan?” Eddie got up with him, intrigued.
“If you’re gonna fight your parent on their turf to retrieve your son, then we need a war plan.” Adam led them into the dining room, knowing the Diaz household used it more as a study room where all the stationaries were stashed. “You sure you don’t want to call Buckley over? He’s the one who know your son best. After you, of course.”
Eddie hesitated, then shrugged all too nonchalantly in Adam’s opinion. “He’s busy. Got a date night with Tommy today.”
And how did that translated into being busy for the whole day escaped Adam, but he’s not going to force Eddie to explain in detail why he couldn’t call his best friend over on the day he decided to choose joy and maybe-but-thank-god-didn’t also decide to uproot his life. Instead, he pulled up a legal pad and proceeded to list out all Eddie’s allies both in LA and El Paso. If Eddie had to go to Texas to fetch his son, then Adam’s going to make sure he had all the support in place as much as he humanly could.
“Just don’t forget you’re the responsible adult. And you can leave the emotional spiteful acts to the teenager who also need to be taught about unintended consequences of his actions.”
Hm. Maybe he’d meddle a little more after all.
************
Adam could only blame himself for his current predicament. Namely, ferrying Eddie to his meeting with Captain Nash at the man’s house.
They’d spent a few hours going through their (Eddie’s) options over takeouts reminiscent of his after-work sessions with Morgan at the apartment. Only, this time they were not trying to find a perp or their motivation, but a plan of attack. They still came to the conclusion that Eddie needed to go fetch Chirstopher from the grandparent’s house in person. But it’s the details that Adam excelled in. Like keeping records of communications and amassing supports from anyone who could affect their actions. Such as Eddie’s Abuela and her gaggle of devoted grandchildren.
And of course, discussing the potential sabbatical period with Eddie’s boss to ensure effective retreat.
Bobby Nash opened the front door with a ready smile, already expecting Eddie since they’d texted him prior to arriving. The smile, however, froze up for a split second at the sight of Adam standing just a tad too close to his subordinate.
Well, it’s not Adam’s fault Eddie wanted him to come along. He’d already offered to wait in the car, but Eddie insisted he came with. And who was he to refuse his friend’s rare demonstration of vulnerability and request for support? Not Adam.
Though now that he remembered who Nash was married to, he’s starting to regret it. Just a little bit. He’s still safe since it’s not like he shared precinct with Sargeant Grant, anyhow. He hoped.
The conversation went fairly well, at least. Captain Nash was very understanding of Eddie’s plight and seemed relieved that they’re discussing a sabbatical period and not a transfer or—heaven forbid—a resignation. The way they talked about it; it looked like Eddie did have a history of taking the most drastic measures to solve emotional problems with his son. Adam’s not sure if he wished he’d known Eddie earlier or glad that he didn’t, seeing how furtive the looks Nash kept glancing his way when they mentioned it.
Moving on.
Adam was trying really hard not to react to Nash’s eye-twitches every time Eddie turned to look at Adam. Seriously, from introduction (this is my friend Adam!), to decision (Adam talked me out of repeating my second year and fourth year!), to action plan (yeah Adam helped me come up with this timeline!), Nash’s poor left eye was having a workout every time Eddie so much as turning a smile or leaning Adam’s way. And the way he brought up Buckley every single time wasn’t subtle either. If Adam didn’t know how observant Eddie was, the overly-obviously-clearly blind spots when it come to anything Buckley would have convinced him his friend was an oblivious idiot.
Hashing out the leave with his captain seemed to be a significant milestone for Eddie. He’s almost vibrating with giddiness by the time they’re back at his home in South Bedford Street. Adam had barely taken off his shoes when Eddie glomped on with a tight, squeezing hug full of gratitude and relief. Having a plan of action would do that to a man long lost in a forest of defeat, he guessed.
Adam was also not going to complain when that release of tension resulted in Eddie dragging him directly into the bedroom. And his willingness to let Adam finally eat him out for the better part of an hour. They had been learning Eddie’s body together, and Adam had long learned to leave marks and bruises where other firefighters wouldn’t see them even in the glass-walled (what the hell?) locker room.
Seriously, Adam’s only complaint was the phone call from Morgan right when Adam was fetching the condom out of the bathroom cabinet because of course Eddie kept his supplies in the top shelf there.
And well, despite knowing how they love and support each other, Eddie and Adam both knew that when their own significant others called, they always went. No questions asked.
Eddie’s smug laughter deserved that particularly stinging bite to the ass, though. It’s not like the man hadn’t run out of Adam’s bed in the middle of intercourse when Buckley called before. They’re both equally whipped. No need to laugh at him for speedwalking into the shower the second he hung up.
At least Adam had the excuse that the call was about an ongoing case. What’s Eddies’ excuse, huh? True love??