I’ve been lurking through a ton of '9-1-1' fics lately, and the way writers handle Buck as a younger brother is actually pretty inconsistent, which is kind of fascinating in itself. A lot of the early stuff, especially around the lawsuit arc, really leans into him being the 'problem child' of the 118 family—this impulsive, emotionally messy little brother who screws up and needs his older siblings (Bobby, Eddie, even Hen and Chimney) to either bail him out or give him a stern talking-to. It can get repetitive.
But the more interesting takes, for me, are the ones that flip it. There’s a whole subset of fics where Maddie’s trauma and recovery become the focus, and suddenly Buck isn’t the baby needing protection; he’s the stable one, the caretaker, the younger sibling who has to step up and be the adult for his older sister. That dynamic shift feels more nuanced and true to the later seasons. It’s less about his birth order and more about the specific, messed-up history they share.