Chapter Text
Buck had fucked up, again, and he wasn't too sure how he'd get out of his most recent situation. It could be worse, he supposed—he was blindfolded, kneeling on the ground, chained to a bed and probably to the floor as well, but at least it was consensual. Or, it had been, until one of the keys had gotten stuck in its lock, sending the guy who had chained him—Jake—panicking, out of the hotel room, allegedly to get help. By now, Buck had no idea how long he had been waiting for Jake to come back, but he was pretty sure he was late for work. And if word got out about how that came to be, he would never hear the end of it.
He tried to move, to get that damn blindfold off at least, but unsuccessfully so. He didn't even fully understand how exactly he was fixated—there was a collar around his neck pulling him back to the bed, chains around his ankles that were maybe connected with the collar, and cuffs around his wrists, pulling him down. A bit much for his taste, but Jake had said he needed the heavy metal to get off, and Buck did like to be constrained, so he had obliged. Being roughly fucked in his mouth was not that high on his list of favourites, but he had done that, too—eager to please Jake and to get out of this fucking hotel room. Well, so much for that.
Now he knelt in an unfamiliar room, alone and cold and tired with no way to relieve the tension on his body. Stuck with his thoughts circling around the inevitable questions that would arise when he made it back to the station, to his family there. Where had he been, why had he let this happen, and most of all: How on earth could he let his dick get between himself and acting like a responsible adult who loved his job and would like to keep it. Again.
Great. So, he’d probably not only be out of a job, he’d also lose his family in the process and that was probably even worse. If that was possible. Suddenly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted Jake to get help. Maybe it would be best if he disappeared, not having to face the disappointment in everyone’s eyes. In Maddie’s eyes, in Eddie’s and oh God, Bobby…
A knock on the door jolted Buck out of his thoughts, but his short relief turned into dread when it was Bobby he heard yelling.
“LAFD, can we come in?”
***
“LAFD, can we come in?”
Eddie had had a fucking weird morning. Christopher had been cranky, and something was wrong with the car, and then Buck hadn’t shown up at work and that was the weirdest thing imaginable.
And now they were on a weird call where some guy had called in someone stuck in a metal contraption in a hotel room but had refused to give more details or stay with the victim. Fucking weird.
Almost like the frantic voice they heard calling out of the hotel room.
“NO!”
Eddie and Bobby exchanged a glance. Was that…
“Are you okay in there?”
A small laugh, which Eddie was absolutely positive belonged to Buck, then a beat of silence.
“Not really, no, but you should probably send someone else.”
Eddie didn’t even realise he was moving before he reached the door, but Bobby calmly motioned him to stand down. How the fuck did Bobby manage to always be so fucking calm?
“Buck?”
“No, really, please do not come in!”
“What happened to you?”
Another laugh, humourless, broke Eddie’s heart.
“Yeah, yeah, Cap, I got myself in a situation again, and I will face consequences, but please. I really don’t want you all to see me like this.”
By now, the hotel employee with his key card looked as confused as Eddie felt. Bobby took a deep breath.
“You’re not in trouble, kid. Let me come in, please.”
Eddie tried to hear something, anything, but other than a shaky breath it was dead silent on the other side of the door. Bobby sighed again.
“How about I come in alone with Eddie and we take a look to assess the situation?”
“… Fine.”
Relief washed over Eddie, but at the same time Buck’s voice had sounded so small, so defeated, that he desperately wanted to rush in there. That was probably the wrong call though, so he tried to calm himself, and nodded when Bobby asked if he was ready. The hotel employee opened the door and, careful to keep as much of the room as possible out of sight of the rest of the crew, Bobby and Eddie entered a dark room.
“I’m gonna turn on the light if that’s alright with you.”
“Sure. It’s not like I can see anything anyway.”
The scene Eddie saw after Bobby had turned on the light might have been hot in another universe, under different circumstances, if Buck hadn’t looked so scared. He knelt on the floor, naked and bruised, with chains behind his back linking his ankles to a collar around his neck. His hands were chained to the bed’s feet, while the collar was connected to the bed frame. All of this prevented him from changing his position even slightly—he couldn’t get up from his knees, couldn’t position his legs differently, couldn’t lay down. He had to be exhausted by now, Eddie thought, and forced himself not to move too quickly and frighten Buck who was also wearing a blindfold across his eyes.
“Hey Buddy,” Eddie said while moving to Buck’s side and kneeling next to him. “I’ll touch your face and take off that mask if that’s all right with you.”
“Sure.”
While Buck’s eyes got accustomed to the light, Eddie got busy getting out the tools to remove the chains. He heard Bobby let out a breath.
“Oh my God, Buck, I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
Buck laughed, but the self-deprecation was almost tangible.
“Well, it is my fault. I asked him to do this.”
“You asked him to do what?”
Eddie kept quiet but shot a quick glance between the two of them—Buck still kneeling on the floor, looking up at Bobby who looked down to him with his impossible calmness, currently mixed with confusion.
“Yeah, Cap, you see… Some people like this. That’s why I didn’t want you to see, but yes, I wanted this.”
The words came out more aggressively than Buck had probably intended them, and Eddie could see why. If he were in Buck’s position, he’d get defensive, too.
“No, Kid. I’m sorry you got stuck there. I’m sorry he left you alone and I’m sorry your stuck with us when you don’t want us here.”
“Oh.”
Fortunately, Eddie got the cuffs off relatively quickly and as soon as he was done, Bobby handed Buck a blanket. Wrapped up in the blanket, he stretched his shaky legs and arms, and finally let Eddie get on with the collar. The room was silent except for the sounds of people moving around and Eddie cutting through the thick leather around Buck’s neck.
“It’s not that I didn’t want you here.”
That small voice again. Eddie briefly thought about sitting on his hands in order to keep himself from hugging Buck and never letting him go again.
“I was just scared.”
“Scared of us?”
“What? No! Scared of what you’d think about me once you knew I wanted this. I don’t want you to think I’m back to Buck 1.0, because I’m not. Or, I don’t think I am? Maybe I am. Am I?”
“Oh, Buck. No.”
Eddie didn’t even need to see Bobby’s face to know how much compassion and understanding there was in his eyes without ever being condescending. How did he do that?
“You did something you wanted to do with a person you trusted. Maybe you were wrong to trust him, but you didn’t know that. And it’s not your fault! You are not in trouble. You did nothing wrong!”
Eddie cleared his throat.
“Would you like a hug?”
Buck didn’t look him in the eyes but nodded.
“Yes, please.”
Carefully as to not hurt him by putting pressure on the bruises on his torso or his weary limbs, Eddie wrapped his arms around Buck’s shoulders and pulled him close.
“You’re okay,” he said softly, “you’re okay. I promise.”
For a while nobody said anything, and if it sounded like Buck trying to stifle tears, Eddie and Bobby pretended not to hear it.
After a few minutes, he moved out of the hug and cleared his throat.
“Can you take me to the station?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go checked out in the hospital?”
“Why, because of this?”
He pointed at the bruises.
“I have been much worse. Nothing to worry about.”
Bobby didn’t look convinced and turned towards Eddie.
“What do you think?”
Eddie shrugged.
“It doesn't look that bad to me to be honest. Maybe I could check on you at the station, Buck, what do you think?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary, but if it makes you feel better…”
Bobby still hesitated. Eddie shot him a look.
“Look, Bobby, these look pretty much like your standard bruises when doing impact play. The guy doesn’t seem to have targeted unsafe areas though I’ll check to make sure if Buck lets me. And if he says he’s okay and wants to go to the station I think it’s fine.”
“Fine. But Buck, let one of us know if anything changes, okay?”
“Pinky promise.”
Bobby rolled his eyes fondly.
“I see, you’re already back to normal. Eddie, go get his clothes please, and Buck, get up slowly. Take a deep breath for me, try not to faint, and we’re good to go.”