Sideways

Chapter 27 Team Building

Friday, May 26th

Just before 6 am the next morning, Buck and Eddie are in the loft of the firehouse, ready to start the shift, both in uniform, with short sleeve shirts for the start of the summer. Eddie making coffee, and Buck is already fiddling around on the stovetop, prepping breakfast for A-Shift.

Hen is the first to make an appearance, and she makes a beeline right for Eddie and the pot of coffee he has. Before she gets to him, he turns and hands her a cup of already-made coffee. "What did I do to deserve this?" Hen asks, yawning, and Eddie chuckles. "I heard you downstairs; I was making mine and Bucks, took nothing to make one for you too." Hen nods appreciatively, and she walks Buck's coffee over to him at the stovetop.

Then she joins Eddie at the countertop while Buck continues with breakfast. Eddie starts to tell Hen about how the visit with his sisters went, and they are interrupted by a new thick, raspy voice. "Excuse me, can someone tell me where I can find Captain Nash?" The three of them turn to look over the newcomer.

He is younger than the rest of them, shorter too, only about 5'7. But he is stocky and muscular, with short black cropped hair and a neatly trimmed goatee on a handsome tanned face. They can see various tattoos sticking out from under his short-sleeved uniform.

"He should be meeting with the C-Shift Captain right about now. Can we help you with something?" Hen asks.

"I was told to report to him first thing this morning." The man says.

"Since when do we have a new Probie?" Buck asks as he fries up the bacon.

"I am not a Probie. I have three years with the LAFD." The man says.

"Ignore him." Eddie says, waving a hand at Buck. "Hey!" Buck groans at the rebuttal from his husband.

Eddie gets off his seat at the counter, walks over to the man, and extends a hand. "Eddie Diaz, it's nice to meet you." The man shakes Eddie's hand. "Jamie Knox, it's nice to meet you too, Eddie." Hen steps in and shakes his hand, and introduces herself.

"Eds?" Buck asks, motioning to the frying pans on the range top in front of him, and Eddie steps in to take over. Buck walks over and extends a hand to Jamie, "Hey, sorry about that; I didn't know we were expecting anyone new, and the last few have popped up out of nowhere; looks like you are sticking with the trend. I'm Buck."

Jamie shakes Buck's hand. "Just Buck, no last name?" He asks.

"Technically, my first name is Evan. But I go by Buck. My turnout currently reads Buckley, but my legal last name is Diaz."

"Two Diaz's? Doesn't that get confusing?" Jamie asks, and Hen laughs.

"My new turnout, if it ever gets here, will read Buckley-Diaz. Professionally, it's Buckley-Diaz."

"Buck. Diaz, Evan. Buckley.... You're giving me a headache, and we haven't even had a call yet." Jamie teases, and Buck laughs as he leads him over to sit at the counter.

"Oh, wait till you see these Diaz men in action." Hen jokes.

"Oh, wait, are they like together? Like you two are married?" Jamie asks, looking from Buck to Eddie and then to Hen, and she nods in confirmation.

"Yes, Eddie is my husband." Buck says proudly.

"This now makes so much more sense. It's kinda cool that your Captain lets you work together."

"That is in the process of being determined by the department." Eddie says as he waves Buck back over to the stove. "We have a full roster here. We can mix and match teams. So, they don't need to split us up while they do their investigation. We go before them next month for the hearing and determination."