#the movie was incredible and I couldn't stop thinking about Evan and Tommy as the leads

[kitweewoos]

Kinkley + Hollywood au (inspired by The Fall Guy)

Evan "Buck" Buckley: Stuntman Tommy Kinard: Stuntman Director

Evan Buckley, known to the industry mostly by his nickname "Buck" hasn't always wanted to be a stuntman. In fact, he bounces from job to job for a while after he left Pennsylvania in search of himself. He tries his hand at bartending, at ranching, construction, and he even tries out for the Navy SEALs. Nothing fits quite right, and when he drops out of his SEALs training, he finds two doors waiting for him. He can go to the academy to become a firefighter with the LAFD, or he can go into stunt work for movies. When he gets his first gig as a stuntman doubling for a small indie film, he knows he made the right choice.

Plus, he meets Tommy Kinard, the stunt coordinator for the indie film that kicks off his career and his reputation. He's a retired stuntman himself, taking a step back after a bad accident left him scarred and with a missing lobe of his lung, but Tommy is kind, and funny, and he makes sure that Buck is safe. When Tommy gets a project, he requests Buck. When Buck finds a project that he knows Tommy would love to be a part of, he finesses a spot for Tommy as coordinator. They're not together, not really, but there's something there.

"I got Gerrard to agree to let me work the camera for this next one," Tommy admits one afternoon while they're eating sandwiches on a break. "So, I won't be coordinating for you. But Hen Wilson is taking over, and she's the best there is." "You're the best there is," Buck tells him with a playful kick of his boot into Tommy's ankle. "But I know you want to direct someday, so I can let you go with one promise." "What's that?" "For your first big break, that movie that skyrockets your career, I want in." "As if you won't be there right alongside me."

And then, the worst happens. A stunt goes wrong, and Buck is caught underneath a firetruck against hard pavement, and his leg is crushed, his career absolutely ruined. He can't pretend that he's not in horrific pain this time, and when Tommy tries to be there for him, he simply recedes into himself. He can't possibly be the man that Tommy thought he was when he has to take pain pills every night and rub cream into his leg every morning just to function normally. He changes his phone number, and he finds a job at a bar, pretending like Buck the Stunt Guy never existed.

Until Hen calls.

Tommy's been given the chance to direct a new movie, and he's asked for Buck specifically. He swore off stunt work, but he could get back into it for Tommy Kinard. He could do anything for Tommy Kinard, to make him happy, to help him achieve his dream. He's on the next flight out to Australia, and meets Hen on set, who whisks him into his first stunt without letting him get used to being back, without getting a coffee, without even seeing Tommy.

He should've known then that something was up, but it isn't until Buck barrel rolls a car in sand and pops out with a thumbs up, that he sees Tommy, standing nearby with his hands on his hips in that beautiful, bitchy way that he always does. He wishes that things were different. He wishes that he had called Tommy back. He wishes that he hadn't hidden his head in the sand and refused to be a part of their whatever it was.

"Hey," his voice is small, and he's scared he'll say the wrong thing. "What is he doing here?" Tommy asks, not to him, looking over at Hen. "You said we needed the best. I got the best." "Get someone else," Tommy requests, and Buck deserves that. "Anyone else." "There isn't anyone else, and there isn't any time. We need Buck if we want this movie to work, and to be good. Right? You said it yourself; half the stunts only work if they're as good as Buck." "Fine, but he's your responsibility, Henrietta."

Tommy runs a scene over and over where Buck is blown back into a rock, and they have a fight on set in front of everyone, and at the end of the day, Buck meets Tommy in his trailer. Buck brings out the bottle of champagne he bought with Tommy the night before he started working the camera. He places it on the table in front of Tommy.

"I promised I would be here with you when you earned this, but I understand if that's changed. I forgot, I forgot that vulnerability isn't a weakness, and I know I should've been better. I just didn't want you to see me, you know, give up the way I was. I didn't want you to see me falling apart. I know that's not a good enough reason for what I put you through, for what I did to you. So, I'll go, if you want me to. I just wanted to make sure you had this, because from what I've seen of this movie already, I can tell it's going to be incredible. You deserve this." "I don't want you to go," Tommy says. "I can't go right into what we were before, but I want you here with me. Hen was right to call you, even though neither of us can ever tell her that. But, I want you here, Evan."

It takes a while for the trust to grow, but Buck wouldn't have it any other way, a steady, sure thing, rerooting and growing stronger in this new soil. When they're finally ready, at the wrap party, Tommy pops open the cork on the champagne, pours them both a glass, and they toast. Then, Tommy pulls Buck in and kisses him like they're at the end of a romance novel and they're about to ride off into the sunset together, where they can live happily ever after, and he might just be the stuntman, but he feels like the main character for once of his own story, and he feels like he's earned this happy ending.