#i couldn't get it in explicitly but jade is in hospitality

[theserpentsadvocate]

Flipping The Script (Jade/Eli)

I promised @feeisamarshmallow that I would work on my depressing longer project all weekend and then I wrote this instead. It's my first fic for this fandom so I do take concrit, but, like, accompany it with hot chocolate or something.

Summary: Jade gets her mother's car fixed. She meets a guy.

*

All Jade wanted was to get her mother’s car and drop it off with enough time to get to the library before it closed, and since the library was open late on Thursdays and she’d stopped to pick it up at 4 PM, it hadn’t seemed that difficult. But somehow it was starting to seem impossible that she would make it, because she’d spent the last seven hundred years staring blankly at the high-school-age garage employee while he badly flirted with her by implying she was a car thief, and that meant the library was definitely closed.

“I mean, not that I really think so,” he said, laughing at his own joke. “But you could sure get away with it! Nobody would suspect you.”

She forced a pained smile, cursing herself internally. Her coworkers said she was just the sweetest, because she was too nice to ever say the kinds of things they did about annoying guys or bitchy guests. Really, it only meant she got just as pissed off on the inside, but she’d had ladylike manners drilled into her so deeply that she always ended up standing there and letting it happen. Three years in customer service didn’t help either, any more than the fact that she was used to dealing with this kind of thing from the other side of the counter.

One day, she thought a little hysterically, she was going to become some kind of crazed murderer, stabbing every guy who came onto her while screeching “That’s not polite!” And on that day, she might actually get her mom’s car.

“If you could just check?” she asked for what had to be the fourth time. “I know she spoke to someone about it.”

“Sorry,” he said, not checking. “There’s nothing under Jade.” A smirk. “But I–”

She cut him off before he could say but I could be and make her actually throw up. “Did you try ‘Gutierrez’, because–”

“Listen, we got these policies for a reason,” he went on. “I know it’s a pain.” The condescension was almost worse than the lechery. “Maybe you call your mom and let her know she’s got to come in herself, but hey, if you need a ride somewhere, I could take you. I’m off soon.”

Oh, God. “I really need to pick it up today.” She leaned on the firmness in the way that always surprised guests who thought being pretty and polite meant she had no backbone at all. “I know she cleared it with someone, so could you get your boss, please?”

“Fred’s not in on Thursdays,” he said blithely, and Jade could have screamed.

“Then could you call him? Or just get a supervisor, maybe?” She forced another smile so he wouldn’t think she was trying to get him in trouble. “If they authorize it then you’ll be in the clear, right?”

“He doesn’t like to be bothered at home.” The man eyed her up and down in a way she would have objected to even if he wasn’t barely legal. Jade took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself to go around the whole carousel again, but –

“Mike, what the hell are you doing?”

One of the other employees was frowning at them from the side door, annoyance plain on his face. “I need you on that Camry; Luis is busy with the bikes and we already told the owner he can pick it up tomorrow.”

“I’m helping a customer!” Mike insisted, seeming to actually believe it.

“For almost an hour? Is it a flying car?” Her saviour came a little closer, and Jade could see he wasn’t as old as she’d initially thought, maybe her age – one of those young guys who shaved their heads, rather than a thirty-something with unfortunate follicular genetics.

“She wants to pick up the car, but it’s not hers. I’m trying to explain it, but, you know…”

Only her utter disbelief prevented Jade from saying something really terrible that she would have regretted later. Was he really suggesting that she was stupid?

Mike winked at her. “I bet she doesn’t get a lot of people saying no to her, and I mean, can you blame them?”

His coworker – his boss? – stared at him in a way that blessedly reminded her that sanity existed. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?” Mike indicated Jade’s entire body with a wave of his hand, as if she was Exhibit A, and she felt her face burning in spite of herself. How was she the one embarrassed right now?

“You know we can’t give out the cars to just anyone,” he went on, and then turned back to Jade, seemingly oblivious to the other man’s incredulous displeasure. “But since I gotta get back to work, maybe I can trade it for your number, beautiful?”

“I don’t think so,” Jade told him stiffly, but it went unnoticed, since his coworker chose that moment to exclaim, “Are you fucking serious?”

It wasn’t very professional, but she decided to forgive him, especially when he followed it up with, “You can’t fucking talk to the customers like that!”

He took a couple steps over and dragged Mike out from behind the counter by one arm while the younger man protested the injustice of being denied whatever opportunity he’d somehow thought he had. Jade was polite enough to pretend to look elsewhere, as much as she desperately wanted to gawk, but even with several feet between them for the illusion of privacy she could hear the resultant conversation.

“What the hell, man, you’re not my boss!”

“Yes, I am, you dumbass. That’s why it says supervisor on my uniform! You think I’ve been chasing your ass all day for the hell of it?”

“Look, just because you’re always sucking up to Fred–”

“Fred’s not here, genius, that’s why he made me a supervisor, so he could take a fucking day off! Do think you just have no boss on Thursdays?”

“Man, you’re gonna screw things up for me here, will you quit it? I don’t have to listen to some loser who never finished high school.”

Jade risked a sideways look at them, and she saw Mr. Supervisor take the kind of deep breath that was an alternative to punching someone.

“I finished high school,” he snapped. “In fact, I’m about to teach you something. Listen up. Number one, you never had a chance with that girl because you are a dumbfuck who couldn’t even get into an automotive course and is about to get fired from the only shop in town that does on-the-job training because he doesn’t do his goddamn work and hits on the customers, and she is someone who wears pantsuits to work. Number two, you wouldn’t have had a chance with a girl like that anyway because she’s…” He inclined his head in a much classier version of Mike’s wave, which Jade probably should have been offended by, but wasn’t, “and you...” He snorted. “Number three, if you lived in some fucked up universe where she was somehow into you, you still don’t ask for her phone number, because you’re on the clock and it’s un-fucking-professional. Stand still and don’t say anything while I try to fix your mess, and you better watch closely because this is how you speak to every goddamn customer until Fred comes in on Saturday and fires your worthless ass.”

He took a breath, forcing his shoulders back and clearly trying to put the Customer Face back on – Jade had done that particular shoulder-roll enough times that her back straightened in sympathy even as she looked away for real to give him a moment of privacy. This man was her new favourite person and she had no intention of making him pay for Mike’s crimes, but he didn’t know that, so she could at least make things easy for him.

“Excuse me,” he said with a straight face, replacing his coworker behind the counter. “Unfortunately we had a miscommunication. Let me see what I can do for you, ma’am.”

The painstaking professionalism felt incongruous coming from someone who had dropped at least five F-bombs in the last two minutes, and all the more so when they both knew he was blatantly lying, but it was also pretty delightful after slogging through all of Mike’s nonsense, enough so that she even forgave him calling her ma’am. It was about making a point, anyway.

“Thank you,” Jade said graciously. “My mother brought her car in on Monday, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to pick it up, so she arranged for me to get it for her. She told me she spoke with the owner, and it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Absolutely,” Mike’s boss returned, almost brightly. It felt a little like having a conversation with an exaggerated version of people who did her job at places like the Grand, who spent all day honing their obsequiousness on rich people, except that the concierge was a Latino guy with neck tattoos and slightly wrinkled coveralls that said – she squinted for a moment – Eli. “If I can just get your mother’s name, I can access our file and see if there’s a note attached.”

Points to him for saying access the file when there appeared to be one oversized notebook planner and a lot of loose paper on the desk, and no computer at all.

“Certainly!” Jade said, matching his tone with the same enthusiasm she’d use on a particularly stubborn guest. She thought she saw him hide a smile. “It’s Rita Gutierrez, and the car is a Fiat Cinquecento.”

“One moment, please.” He flipped open the notebook, paging through with enough purpose that it had to be organized in some coherent way; Mike had only shuffled the loose pages around. “Gutierrez, came in on Monday. Oh, yes!” He said the last part with such overacted eagerness that she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. “There’s a note right here.” It was a sticky note; Jade knew this because he peeled it off the page and held it up so that his coworker, still sulking where Eli(jah?) had left him, could see. “From the owner. ‘To be picked up by daughter Jade Gutierrez’ – do you have identification, Miss Gutierrez?”

“I do.” She’d had her driver’s licence ready since she entered the building and finally handing it over was a relief. “Do you need anything else?”

“This should cover it,” he said, actually looking at the ID and at her face. Then the ultra-professional façade slid back down. “I have the breakdown for you here –” He removed one of the papers Mike had been sliding around and handed it to her. “Your mother paid our estimate when she dropped off the vehicle, so there’s only a small amount outstanding. It’s in good shape for being ten years old.”

“She has it serviced regularly,” Jade said with affected gravity, skimming over the details. Forty-eight dollars and sixty cents over what her mom had already paid, mostly for also changing the serpentine belt as well as the alternator, which was a relief. Her mom always spun out about car repairs, and she’d had Jade half convinced they’d be demanding a few more hundred dollars.

“I can take care of the balance right now,” she told him. Her mom would probably insist on paying her back, but it was worth it either way. The first forty-five minutes might have been torture, but the catharsis of seeing someone actually yell at the creep, paired with some appealingly collaborative back-and-forth with, honestly, a pretty attractive guy – she’s noticing right now that he has very nice eyelashes, which is almost as appealing as the tattoos – has been satisfying enough that it might have actually raised the tone of her evening. She’s definitely calling Trish and hashing the whole thing over later, and she’s actually looking forward to it.

Mike sighed and huffed as Eli(as?) ran her card, thanked her with elaborate courtesy, and asked if there was anything else he could do for her.

“No, thank you so much,” Jade said, taking the keys from him – and then, halfway to the door and wanting to do something to show just how much she appreciated all this, wanting a little bit to piss Mike off, and definitely wanting for once to be the kind of person who did that kind of thing, instead of thinking wistfully about it later, she doubled back, heading him off before he could re-engage with his less-than-abashed coworker. “Actually, excuse me – I’m sorry, I know this is inappropriate, but since I’m not really the customer, and since the transaction’s been concluded – I was wondering if I could get your number?”

Mike produced an outraged squawk that made them both avoid eye contact for a moment, trying not to ruin the moment by laughing. Then Eli(ott?) cleared his throat. “You know, I think that would be okay, just this once,” he told her, grinning, and if she wasn’t sure a moment ago how much of this was about proving a point, well, that was definitely coming in a distant second now.

She waited for him to write something on the flipside of one of the business cards on the rack, took it with a smile, and strode out before her nervousness could catch up with her. She didn’t look at it until she was safe in her mother’s Fiat.

Eli Navarro, 555-3407. No frills, no flirty message underneath, and it seemed like his name was just Eli.

She liked it.

[the-amber-raven]

Um Hi can I ask this question? When did you think Bobby and Buck's relationship shifted and be seen as father and son?

Like S1 Bobby said Buck has this thing calling him pops but he said aren't family

In S3 Bobby said Buck isn't his kid

In S4 (from LS) Buck considers Bobby close to a dad

In S6 that's when Bobby finally agreed that he sees Buck as his kid

But it's weird because why does he refer Buck as Kid even if much younger ones come to the firehouse?

I think it was growing right from Season 1.

Bobby told Buck they weren't a family because he was actively trying to keep his distance from all of them. He was reacting to his own trauma. More eloquent people than me have spoken about how Buck helped break that barrier down. It's even explored pretty well in the coma episode as well actually - Bobby couldn't bring himself to keep maintaining distance. Hen and Chimney helped with that as well of course - but they'd had multiple captains by then and they were a bit jaded about it all so they weren't willing to push the status quo from the beginning as much as Buck was.

But neither of them were quite willing to admit what they were to each other then. If pressed, they would probably say Bobby was Bucks mentor. And you can see that mentoring relationship throughout the rest of S1 - he gives Buck advice about dealing with the job, about Abby... but then you can also see him doing things you wouldn't necessarily expect from a work mentor, like teaching him to cook and going to the hospital when he chokes on bread.

So those lines were blurred right from the beginning and in S2 it trudges along like that. Bobby is Bucks mentor but maybe goes that step further with being someone he can rely on beyond the work context (see: his support when Maddie is taken by Doug, Buck venting to him about Abby - that plaintive "don't tell anyone" when Buck finally admits he knows its weird that he's still living in Abbys place? So son-coded.)

And then we get Season 3. That "Bucks not my kid"? That wasn't firm setting of boundaries like the "this is not a family" in S1. That was plaintive. He wanted it to be true, but he lost his kids and can't be a father anymore, so it isn't allowed to be true (even though Athena is pretty blatantly disbelieving and don't forget we as the audience also got hints of how heavily Bobby was involved in Bucks recovery which also points to their relationship being deeper than mentoring-Boss and employee).

And one thing the narrative tells us very explicitly through the lawsuit arc is that Bobby is treating Buck differently. Whether Buck should be back so soon after his embolism is almost a moot point to what this arc says about their relationship: Chimneys word was taken when he said he was ready to come back after the rebar and the stabbing, Hens word was taken when she said she was ready to come back after the earthquake, Eddie's word was taken when he said he was ready to be back after Shannon's death.

Bobby didn't take Bucks word because, while he is protective of all of his team, he takes it one step further with Buck and wants to just totally shield from as much as possible.

That's canon - Hen calls him out on it in the episode Buck comes back! And Bobby has to reckon with the idea that he can't rob Buck of his autonomy just because he wants to stop him from getting hurt, and that's how that arc ends (and I've spoken about how I think that leaves so much unresolved but at least we get some resolution for it in S6!)

But they are more settled in their understanding of their roles in each other's lives by the end of S3. To me, that's what their talk in the finale is supposed to signify.

And we then see it in S4, where Buck says outright "my captain isn't my dad but he might as well be".

And this is also the season we finally meet the Buckleys and the contrast between Phillip and Bobby (since we're focused on fathers and sons)? Immense. There's a fantastic gif set somewhere that says something along the lines of "what Phillip heard" and "What Bobby was there for".

And that sums up the difference: even when Buck was being objectively infuriating, Bobby stayed and Bobby helped. He loved Buck anyway - in spite of Bucks mistakes but also in spite of his own deep rooted feelings of unworthiness about ever being allowed to love like a father again.

Bobbys saw this lost kid and his instincts wouldn't allow him to ignore his needs no matter how much he wanted to. Compare that to Phillip whose instincts should have been telling him to love and protect but he ended up ignoring his needs for years.

For the rest of season 4 and 5, I think we then see Bobby settling into the idea that he can be a father again. He owns being May and Harry's stepfather, not just their Mom's husband.

And I think that's what puts him in a good enough mindset that the next time he gets confronted about treating Buck as his kid (by May, another child hes been treating as his own for a lot longer than hed ever admit to)?

He doesn't deny it.

There was no one moment that took us to that point where Bobby was willing to admit to being Bucks dad. It was a culmination of moments, a journey built right from that very first episode of Season 1, where Buck was 'the kid' of the station.

He's no longer 'the' kid, but he'll always be Bobby's kid.