Could You Want Me – blackrose17 – Chapter 2

Reading Time:
6 Minutes

Chapter 2

Once again, Daniel found himself questioning why he decided that being a kindergarten teacher was his calling. Oh, don’t get him wrong; he loved teaching the children; it was their parents that wore him out. It was either their racist and/or anti LGBTQ+ views or wondering how their children(s) grades in kindergarten would affect them getting into Ivy League schools or sometimes, to his complete horror, both. “Maybe I should consider quitting and joining Evan as a firefighter,” Daniel muttered under his breath. He would consider that idea, but for right now he was going to lay his head down on the table and forget this horrible day. 

Daniel wasn’t sure how long he sat there trying to let loose the stress of the day when he heard the door open, then closed; he knew that his brother was home. 

“I think I met my Sentinel today.” 

Lifting his head from the table, Daniel stared at the blurry form of his baby brother. “ What?” It took a moment for Buck’s statement to make sense, and then Daniel was looking at his brother. “Really?”

A sigh escaped Buck as he fell into the empty chair. “Only it can’t be possible because he isn’t online, but I felt something.” 

That had Daniel’s attention. From the moment Buck was old enough to understand what a Sentinel was to a Guide, he had been dreaming of finding the match to his Guide. “Did you meet him on a call?” 

At Daniel’s question, Buck’s shoulders slumped even further. “No, he is the newest member of our team. He is a decorated Silver Star Army Medic. Bobby and the others couldn’t stop gushing about him.” 

“Ahhh,” Daniel understood instantly; it sounded like this guy’s integration into the 118th was much different and easier than Buck’s. Daniel remembered how heartbroken his brother had been with trying with the team to earn a place among them. It didn’t help that when Buck had taken the firetruck out to be washed and serviced as he was told to by a much more established member of the firehouse, they changed it to spread the rumour that Buck had stolen the firetruck to have sex. 

It hadn’t been easy to keep Steve and Danny-O in Hawaii. They had been ready to unleash the full fury of Alpha Prime Sentinel and Guide on LA; it didn’t matter if they were good friends with the current Prime pair, not when it was their Evan who was hurting. 

“Oh, Buck.” Pushing back away from the table despite being worn out from his shift at the ER and hearing the sweet siren call of his bed, his brother needed him, and he would always be there for Buck. 

Once Daniel was in range and bending down to look him in the eyes, Buck wasted no time in wrapping his arms around him. “I felt so threatened by him. He is everything I am not, and he fits so well with the team, something I feel like I am still struggling with. I’m afraid Bobby brought him in to replace me.” 

A growl escaped Daniel. He likes Bobby; he does. The Guide was a good man; he just didn’t like how he treated his brother sometimes. Danny, at least, managed to talk Steve out of coming to LA to “talk” to Bobby about how to treat Buck. Now Athena, Bobby’s Sentinel, is someone that Daniel completely respects. “I can understand why that is the first place your mind went to.” Daniel tightened his grip on Buck as his brother tried to pull away. “Buck, I don’t think that is true at all.” At Buck’s complete look of disbelief, Daniel found himself smiling. “I know that sounds odd coming from me, and no matter what kind of issues I might have with Bobby Nash, I know that he cares about you and values you as a firefighter, so I very much doubt that he has brought anyone on to replace you. If he did, Athena would unleash holy hell upon him. Could it be possible that Bobby brought someone in to be your partner?” Daniel sees the moment that idea hits Buck and his eyes take on a thinking look.

“But why wouldn’t Bobby tell me first and introduce me to Eddie as my partner in the field?” 

Now that Daniel had no response to, “I think that the only way you will get any answers is by talking to Bobby; he is the only one who can really explain why he brought Eddie Diaz onto the team.” A mischievous look appeared on his face. “Now speaking of this Eddie, have you got any pictures of him?” 

To Daniel’s complete big-brother amusement, Buck’s face went flaming red. “Daniel!” 

+*****+

From the moment Isabel Diaz held her grandson Edmundo in her arms, she knew that he was special; she could feel the spirit realm wrapping itself around him. She never believed Helena’s or Ramon’s claims that he wasn’t a Sentinel and that they had him tested; she knew that he wasn’t destined to be a Guide. No, the Spirit Realm howled as if it had been ripped away from him. She knew that her son and his wife had done something to block Edmundo from his gifts. Helena had never hidden how much she hated Sentinels and Guides. When Edmundo moved and brought her bright sunshine of a great-grandson with him, she knew that this was what he needed, and as he came home with the scent of a Guide clinging to him, she could only raise an eyebrow at him. 

A groan escaped Eddie at the knowing look on his Abuela’s face, “Not you too, Shannon already teased me enough.” He was surprised that it didn’t hurt as it used to, thinking of Shannon as his ex-wife. When he arrived in LA with Christopher, he had done so with the mindset that they might be able to start over again as a family far away from El Paso. 

“We don’t work, Eddie, not as a husband and wife and not as anything romantic. I will never regret our time together because it gave us Christopher, but we weren’t happy together, not like two people in love should be.” Shannon reached out and squeezed Eddie’s hand. 

Eddie knew she was right; he loved her, but he had never been truly in love with her. “I miss my best friend. I lost her after we got married. I will never regret being with you, Shannon, but you are right. So you want to co-parent with me?” Eddie offered with a soft smile on his face. 

“Only if you grant me that divorce I was planning on filing, with both of us figuring out what is best for Christopher. I know that with you going on being a firefighter, you are facing crazy hours. I could make sure to get Christopher when you are on those shifts.” Shannon suggested. 

That would take a load off of Eddie’s shoulders and would lessen his reliance on his Abuela and Tia Pepa. 

Now Shannon was a touchy subject with Isabel; she hated the fact that, just like Edmundo, she had her choices taken away if she wanted to marry or not, but she couldn’t fully forgive her for abandoning her two boys. Still she couldn’t deny that they were happier. “Well, it is not every day that you come home with a Guide, and a powerful one whose scent is clinging to you.” 

A groan escaped Eddie as he ran a hand down the side of his face. “It wouldn’t work. I am not a Sentinel, and besides, he can’t stand me.” 

A giggle escaped Christopher. “Mommy says that isn’t true, that Daddy is just being silly.” 

“He is indeed.” Isabel couldn’t help but agree with Shannon. 

Another groan escaped Eddie as he hung his head. “Just watch, it is going to take something really big to get Evan Buckley to like me.” 

+*****+

Eddie would like it to be known to his family that he did not put out a challenge to the universe that didn’t mean he asked for him and Buck to bond over a man shooting a live grenade in his leg and blowing up the ambulance.