Work Text:
In a world where heat and rut leaves are constantly happening and inevitably causing urgent staffing crises, the LAFD creates a special position where certified firefighters and paramedics can be hired to pick up open shifts at stations needing short-term coverage.
It saves all the captains from constantly looking for coverage during their workers’ cycles (both planned and spontaneous) and thus increases safety and employee satisfaction.
Unmated omegas and alphas typically take a week off every few months, but mated ones and those on a strict regiment of suppressants have more stable hormones. They might only need leave once or twice a year.
Swing firefighters aren’t utilized often or for long contracts, so they switch stations a lot. Eddie has been doing the job for a while, jumping from station to station frequently, before he ever meets the 118.
The first few times he works at their particular station, he’s actually covering for Buck’s heats. They’ve been erratic and more frequent than ever since an injury forced him to wean off his suppressants temporarily, throwing his cycle into an unpredictable whack.
It means he’s missing far more work than usual and some guy named Eddie has been his assigned coverage.
He only knows this because every time Buck returns from leave, he hears the entire station talk about how amazing Eddie is. Constantly. They say he’s fearless and incredible under pressure, a natural born hero.
Of course, Buck’s feelings get hurt by this.
And Buck does what he does best. He hides his hurt by getting petty and mean.
The omega complains that Eddie used his locker and he forgot to clear out the leftover food in the fridge. Buck also tells the entire station that Eddie doesn’t roll the hoses tightly enough and that someone should show him how to organize the spices in the kitchen correctly next time he tries to cook on shift.
Everyone else laughs it off as Buck being dramatic. They tease him, pretend to call him the wrong name, “Diaz,” and act like they forgot he’s even returned from his leave.
It’s months of this cruel torture before anything significant happens. Of unpredictable heats that leave Buck feeling drained and vulnerable. Of coming back to work and being tormented by the ghost of an alpha who’s never even met Buck.
By the time his field partner, Ravi, goes on his own annual heat leave, Buck doesn’t welcome Eddie kindly.
One look at the handsome alpha with his nice smile and shiny hair and Buck knows he never wants Eddie to pick up a shift at the 118 ever again. That means he can’t let the swing firefighter have a peaceful week.
Instead, Buck finds every possible opportunity to inconvenience and annoy Eddie as payback for what he’s endured.
It’s never done at the cost of hurting anyone or truly interfering with their job, but Buck shuts down any small talk attempts and purposely pretends not to hear Eddie ask him to pass the salt at meals.
He doesn’t invite Eddie out to drinks after the shift, doesn’t tell him about the shower head with the busted temperature gauge, and certainly doesn’t offer Eddie any of his homemade desserts.
After a full week of covering Ravi’s shifts, Buck can tell his behavior is finally taking a toll on Eddie and he thinks he’s won. Eddie won’t cover any of his future heat shifts now that he thinks Buck is an asshole.
The 118 won’t be able to compare them if Eddie isn’t around anymore.
At the end of the last of Ravi’s heat shifts, Buck walks to his Jeep triumphantly, head held high and proud of his work. He’s so lost in his victory stride that he doesn’t notice Eddie following right behind him until he gets pinned against the car and caged in place by the strong alpha.
“You wanted my attention, Buckley, now you have it. What the actual fuck is your problem, man?” Eddie nearly growls in his face.
Buck hasn’t seen the guy lose his cool all week, no matter what he did or said. It’s a bit shocking to see Eddie finally snap.
Still, he doesn’t let it deter him from his mission.
“You are, Diaz,” he hisses.
Eddie rears back as if he’s been slapped, putting a small amount of space between them. He doesn’t let Buck escape though.
“You don’t even know me. I’ve been working with your crew for months without any issues and suddenly I’m being treated as if I did something wrong here. What did I ever do to you to make you hate me?”
Buck deflates slightly at the directness of the question, looking away from Eddie’s heated gaze to collect himself.
It’s hard not to feel like a chastised omega when he knows he’s been unfair about this.
Because the truth is that he knows Eddie hasn’t actually done anything wrong. He’d covered the shifts he was hired to and was a damn good firefighter. His only real ‘crime’ is making Buck feel inferior by comparison.
His presence in the station has been like a constant reminder to Buck that he’s not good enough, even at his life’s purpose.
Buck wishes he could fully blame his fucked up, intense, and disregulated hormones for the way he’s suddenly feeling very small and foolish in front of Eddie.
He admits in a shamed whisper, “You came in here with your stupid alpha heroics and your damn Silver Star. You made my whole team wish I wasn’t working here because they like you more and you’re a better firefighter than me. You really wanna know what you did to piss me off so much?”
Eddie takes the bait.
His voice is soft, but measured, when he asks, “What did I do, Buck?”
“You didn’t just fill my shifts, you replaced me,” he tells the alpha, barely holding back angry tears at his confession.
The look of sympathy on Eddie’s face doesn’t make him feel better, especially when he knows that, logically, his issue isn’t even with the swing firefighter himself. It’s with his own insecurities.
He’s never felt like anyone’s first choice.
Eddie doesn’t owe him anything.
“If you heard the way they all talked about you when you’re off on your heat leave, you’d never say that, sweetheart.”
Huh?
He sniffs, discreetly wiping at the corner of his eyes to hide the evidence of his breakdown in front of an alpha he barely knows.
“What do you mean by that?”
Eddie gives him a soft smile, tentatively squeezing the omega’s shoulder.
“Your entire station adores the fuck out of you. Whenever I cover your shifts, the whole crew complains about missing your amazing baking or says how they wish they could get your opinion on their new haircut. It's nonstop whining about how the station isn’t as loud and fun without you around.” Eddie chuckles as he recalls the memories with a fond look in his eye. “I was actually really looking forward to finally meeting everyone’s favorite coworker this week. I kinda thought we’d get along.”
Buck feels his cheeks heating up as he mulls over Eddie’s seemingly honest words in his head.
And the embarrassment starts to creep in too.
He’s spent all week being a playground bully to Eddie in order to solve some nonexistent problem and the alpha apparently just wanted to be his friend. Nobody hates him or wants Eddie to take his position.
In fact, the teasing was probably just their way of letting Buck know they missed him.
“I’m so sorry,” Buck mumbles his apology to his shoes.
“You should be.”
Buck’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the quick response and his head snaps up too, but he sees Eddie smiling brightly at him now. Clearly, there’s no ill will between them anymore.
The mixed signals are confusing to say the least.
Eddie continues in a deeper, raspier pitch, “You’ve been driving me absolutely crazy for months, Buck.”
And he’s lost now. This is the first time they’ve met?
“How could I drive you crazy? I’ve not even been here.”
Buck realizes how hypocritical that sounds considering Eddie’s been the bane of his existence without ever meeting him, but Buck can’t think what he could’ve done in return to annoy Eddie prior to this week.
The alpha chuckles at his confusion before offering up an explanation, leaning in slightly closer to speak almost directly in Buck’s ear.
“Your locker… your gear. Everything you touch here smells like you. You usually work right up until your heat starts, which means all those things are drenched in your scent and it makes me feel a little insane. This is my job, honey, so I’m used to being around powerful heat and rut scents, but your scent is the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. Makes it hard to control myself.”
Oh. That’s definitely not what Buck was expecting to hear.
Of course he noticed how attractive Eddie was the day they met (and he’d heard stories before that too, much to his chagrin), but his distaste for the alpha overshadowed his base attraction.
Until now.
“M-my scent?” Buck squeaks out breathily.
Eddie’s back in his space completely, leaving no room between their bodies as his warm breath hits the omega’s cheek. Buck is immediately grateful they were the last to leave for the night.
He can only imagine what they look like.
“The first time I got fully hit in the face with it, I almost needed to get coverage for my own spontaneous rut. I wanted to take the sweaty t-shirt you left in your locker and wrap it around my cock and knot until it smelled like both of us.”
He wants to call Eddie’s bluff, skeptical that anyone would be that affected by his scent, but then he can feel the massive bulge in the alpha’s pants pressing insistently against his thigh and he reconsiders.
They’re both still wearing scent patches, he belatedly remembers. This is Eddie’s reaction to just the memory of Buck’s scent.
“Why did you wait so long to say anything? I’ve been here all week with you.”
Eddie chuckles low in his ear, hot breath on Buck’s neck causing him to shiver and his thighs to clench as he feels traitorous slick starting to run down his leg.
“Because, sweetheart… I’m not employed directly by the LAFD. I work on short term contracts and I need to pay my bills too, but as of ten minutes ago, I’m a free man again and I can do this.”
Then Eddie’s got both hands cupping Buck’s face while he locks their mouths together in what is the most intense kiss of Buck’s entire life. It’s deep and perfect, stealing the air from his lungs and making him contemplate how badly he really needs oxygen to live.
They finally break apart after a long minute, panting for air, lips still brushing.
“I have a pretty roomy backseat,” Buck offers.
Eddie quickly rips their scent patches off and pulls them both inside, using his alpha strength to manhandle Buck with ease and show him exactly what effect his scent has on him.
It turns out that Buck has a similar reaction to Eddie’s particular combination of alpha hormones.
Scentmates, some might call them.
Either way, they don’t leave the parking lot that night until Buck’s been fingered open meticulously, eaten out thoroughly until he’s squirting all over Eddie’s face, and gushing around the alpha’s swollen knot with a promise of future pups.
When they’ve fucked it out of their systems and can barely move, they go back to Buck’s loft and do it all again. Neither one of them puts real clothes on for days. There’s no reason to do so.
By the next week, Buck’s managed to convince Bobby to offer Eddie a full time firefighter position with their team.
Bobby enthusiastically agrees to hire Eddie, but only on the condition that they fill out the proper relationship disclosure forms with HR first.
He doesn’t want an earful from his supervisors when the two of them inevitably end up mated with a baby on the way by the end of the year.