#like serving under dadt and the deployment

[apartmentsmoke]

have we considered Buck finding these photos, or ones like them, when he's staying over at Tommy's? he's idly poking through drawers and finds them and his mouth goes dry. because he knows Tommy has his ears pierced, and he knows Tommy wasn't always the put-together he knows, but seeing photographic evidence of that is... he traces the earrings with one finger, the ridiculous outfits, the reminder that Tommy had an eventful, wild life like he did.

he's been staring at them long enough that Tommy comes to find him, and he laughs when he sees them, says "wow, those are from my army days, i forgot they were there" and then he looks at Buck. and Buck looks back at him. and Tommy goes "oh" and pivots to "see something you like?"

and all Buck does is nod, and Tommy smiles at him, big and crinkly, goes to sit down next to him, says "tell me about it."

[shxyerahol]

ok listen i mapped out how i want a tommy begins episode to lay out

im putting in a keep reading tab for length

so the set up is sprinkled in a few episodes prior here and there - people have gone missing all over the states. no connection other than they all served in the army.

episode starts with a flashback to tommy at a young age, between 7-10. he is huddled with his infant sister on the floor, crying trying to block out the noise from his bio mom and mom's new boyfriend who are screaming at each other in the other room. [[lou came up with some backstory about tommy and how he had a dysfunctional childhood and a lot of it was a lonely time. more on that later]]. the family doesnt have the best amenities. low income. bio dad in and out of jail. bio mom struggles to keep a job, gets new boyfriends all the time who treat her bad. you get the picture

episode springs forward to present tommy looking at a roughed up blurry photo of his younger sister

cue station 118/athena shenanigans. the team responds to the call(s). this episode theme overall is about loneliness and the need to be wanted so the call(s) are all about that somehow. idk im not a tv writer ill leave it up to them.

evan goes to tommys house after his 24 hour shift is over. tommy has the day off so after breakfast, a nap, they decide to go to the beach. fun cute date stuff y'know!!!

tommy and evan walk along the beach. they talk and are giddy, its cute. tommy nonchalantly mentions how he actually doesnt like the beach all that much, as the sand and heat reminds him of his army tours in afghanistan.

now is a flashback of tommy being in the army and dealing with being deployed oversees under DADT. the army gave him more of a structure and camaraderie that he never got as a child, but he repressed his sexuality so much as he was still trying to figure it out. so he is reserved off from other people. crude homophobic and hyper masculine jokes here.

tommy then goes into more detail about the struggles he faced post deployment. feeling lost and alone. struggling with his sense of self. cue a flashback with his voiceover of him sitting sad on a bench looking down the street to a gay friendly bar, too scared to walk in. having a hard time adjusting to normal civilian life.

now some cute madney and bay jee here <3

some quick flashbacks of tommys time at the 118 and the hard social environment it was. all the old school stuff that was peppered in the show is here and more

episode is close to the end. tommy is now much happier at the harbor. now in present time he is wrapping up a shift when someone sneaks up to him in the hanger and holds him hostage at gunpoint, forcing him back into the helicopter and they fly away.

the next episode is the aftermath of that. 118, other statios, the harbor and athena are tasked with trying to find the missing helicopter and pilot as it has now been 48 hours since he vanished. evan is scared out of his mind (gotta get some angst up in here!!)

turns out the person who has been tracking down the people mentioned earlier is a sibling (or parent doesnt matter) of one of the members who were killed in tommy's old platoon and are angry that their family member didnt make it home but they did. finding tommy was the last person they needed to find because they want tommy to crash the helicopter with both of them in it so this kidnapper does ntget convicted for the crimes they committed to the other platoon members

they both live. tommy gets rescued & its dramatic. evan gets all sentimental. the kidnapper goes to jail.

:)