Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Buck knew the moment he saw him that Eddie Diaz was a vampire. The wind told him as it often did like a trustful companion he’d had since childhood that warned him of danger. And nothing was more dangerous than a vampire. Vampires were made creatures, humans once that escaped death by the luck of the draw. 

Eddie Diaz ticked all the boxes that sent Buck’s shoulders up to his ears and his hackles raised every time he so much as looked in Buck’s direction. Stunningly beautiful to entrap their prey, human enough that no one noticed when he held his breath too long or barely slept during a twenty-four hour shift, and superior enough to fill the room with his ego the way all vampires thought they were the top of the food chain. 

What a vampire was doing walking into fire every day was beyond Buck. 

Point was, he didn’t like him because the wind told him so. Well… not precisely but it gave him the feeling and Buck understood what that feeling meant. 

“So, a witch, huh?” 

Buck froze for half a second before the irritation took over and made him grit his teeth. What was with this dude? Buck clenched his fist at his side as he turned to Eddie, who was perfectly coiffed with his stupid perfect dangerous hair and stupid pretty un-trustable smirk. Eddie waved his hand in front of him with a twist of his wrist, motioning between them. 

“I figured that’s what got you all riled up about me being here.”

Buck opened his mouth to argue only to snap it close with a click of his jaw because... yes, that was exactly right but he wasn’t about to give Eddie the satisfaction of saying that out loud. But from the way his smirk stretched into a small smile that disappeared in his cheeks and made Buck’s stomach flip, Eddie already knew. 

It should’ve probably irritated Buck more how openly Eddie just announced Buck to the world. But it didn’t. It wasn’t like it used to be centuries before when the word witch was thrown at the end of the pointed finger. Hell, Buck wasn’t even the only magically afflicted person in the house. Bobby was a witch, in name only after he gave up his magic and became one of the Forsaken, and Hen was a daemon, who’s gaze always felt like a kiss on Buck’s cheek when he first arrived. Chimney was blessedly human but he knew too. He couldn’t not know when he’d been raised by a family of daemons and he spent almost all of his waking moments surrounded by Bobby, Buck, and Hen plus there’d been others too. By the time Buck started at the 118, Buck was more surprised than Chimney that the concept of magic was a well-known unspoken secret around the house. There were people in the department who made sure that magical creatures were placed in houses where they would best be utilized.

Los Angeles was weird. It was easier than someone would think to explain away to the humans how someone could smother a fire with a wave of their hand.

But still it was rude and Eddie didn’t know the first thing about Buck.

Eddie stepped forward into the locker room with an easiness that grated at Buck’s nerves and set his teeth on edge. He hated how easy Eddie filled the space like he belonged. Buck’s first couple months had been spent shifting his weight on his feet and feeling like he was too long limbed and in the way to do anything right.

“I’m going to take a guess from the way you were at the call that you have an affinity for air? That and the temperature seems to drop about five degrees whenever I’m near you. I meant no disrespect. I wasn’t trying to step on anybody’s toes or anything.” Eddie waved his hand in front of him again like it was a nervous twitch and Buck was too busy trying to list all the ways he hated Eddie’s face to find it endearing.

Even though it was. It really, really was.

“You didn’t,” Buck said with a sniff. “It was a good call.”

Which Buck had said at the scene even though it tasted like vinegar at the back of his throat. The overworked mechanic had slipped on some oil and impaled himself on pressurized air nozzle. Weird but perfectly human. He didn’t know why Eddie was rubbing his nose in it.

Buck spent more than enough time being reminded just how much of a failure of witch he was back in Pennsylvania, thanks.

“Look, let me buy you a drink at the thing tonight.”

Shit.

Buck forgot. It was tradition for the shift to go out for a drink afterwards with the probie. The crew had taken Buck out and now it seemed they were taking Eddie out too.

There went Buck’s chance of making a hasty exit.

To be fair, he could just not go. But that meant going back to an empty apartment and dealing with Bobby’s disapproving eyebrow lift at the next shift.

So, Buck agreed to the drink. Begrudgingly and with the promise that he would leave after one drink.

One.

Four beers later, Buck was shoving his tongue down the asshole’s throat and feeling brick burn at his back.

Buck didn’t remember how they made it out to the alleyway. He didn’t remember taking off his pants. He didn’t even remember how many fingers he took before he was ready for more. But all he knew was he hated Eddie even more for how perfect he felt inside of him.

That and how much the display of vampiric strength was making his cock throb in time with Eddie’s thrusts up into him, making Buck take it; take whatever Eddie gave him. His legs were pressed up to his chest, hooked over Eddie’s elbows, and bouncing as if they weighed nothing at all as Eddie fucked into him. Every keening gasp that slipped from Buck’s lips was pitching up higher in desperate need, blowing any pretense that Buck wasn’t losing his fucking mind with every slam against his prostate.

He could feel Eddie’s smirk against his collarbone where he’d kept his mouth to pepper kisses against sweaty skin and if Buck was in a charitable mood— which he wasn’t because he wanted more more more — he would’ve been kind of touched by the clear consideration that came from Eddie not moving anywhere close to Buck’s throat.

“Fuck— Hngh! You!” Buck choked out as he clawed at Eddie’s shoulders.

Eddie chuckled as he snapped his hips up three times in rapid succession that had Buck writhing with his head thrown back before Eddie slowed down enough for Buck to catch his breath.

“There’s that spark,” Eddie rumbled as he nuzzled into Buck’s chest. “I saw it when you were being a little brat—”

Eddie punctuated that with another snap of his hips that dragged every inch of Eddie against Buck’s prostate and drew out a sound like Buck was dying from his lips. He clamped down hard around Eddie in retaliation and knotted his hands in Eddie’s hair, dragging him up for a searing kiss that was just as mean as the rest of them. Mean and bruising that made Buck’s lips tingle with the scorch from them. If he wasn’t so busy finding all the reasons to hate him, Buck would’ve been consumed by the kisses of Eddie.

But instead, he was racing to the finish, desperate and aching, as every snap of Eddie’s hips against his ass worked out gasps that were hitching higher and higher up his throat until Buck’s brain short circuited in pleasure.

Buck only felt a little bad that he was pretty sure that stain wouldn’t be coming out of Eddie’s shirt any time soon.

“Fuck!” Eddie growled and the sound rumbled through Buck’s chest to make his insides quiver. “You’re incredible.”

The heat of that praise bloomed somewhere deep and hurting inside Buck. It licked against the bruised parts of his heart that Abby had nearly crushed beneath her feet in her rush to get away from LA, away from her life, and away from Buck as fast as possible. Buck hated how much he needed to hear that but he hated even more that he couldn’t find the energy to believe it.

The wind cooed at Buck’s neck, cooling the sweat that had built up when Eddie had nearly bent him in half, and Buck shifted in Eddie’s arms at the soreness of the stretch. He grimaced and thankfully, Eddie eased him down onto wobbly legs instead of dropping him like he half expected him to do after the way Buck had been acting.

“Thanks,” Buck said without looking up as he hurried to pull on his jeans again. He should say something back. Something better than the bitterness of the gratitude that had been on his tongue.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t even look Eddie in the eye. The swoop of endorphins from the admittedly mind blowing sex was fizzling away to something hollow in his chest. If Eddie was bothered, he didn’t show it. He fixed his buckle on his belt with the same self-satisfied smirk quirked up on his lips and Buck was pretty sure that if he had to stare at Eddie’s mouth and the way he filled the space like he belonged for another second longer, Buck was going to scream.

“You want to—”

“Tell the others I’ll see them at the top of shift,” Buck blurted out and Eddie’s eyes widened a fraction in surprise. Buck hedged around Eddie and moved towards the end of the alleyway instead of the back door they’d stumbled out of.

“Wait, Buck! Let me walk—”

But Buck didn’t wait. He called himself an uber and tried to forget about the memory of the taste of Eddie’s tongue on his.

Buck’s wards were off. That was the first thing he realized when he reached for the doorknob to his place and felt the soft resistance of the magic holding him back.

They weren’t off in a way that meant someone had tried to break them but rather they were stronger as if someone had weaved in a chain link of heavy duty protection magic to fortify his ward.

But there was something familiar about the magic too and Buck frowned at the way the spell pressed into his palm, assessing him, before deeming him safe enough to pass. It felt like a hug welcoming him home. The magic. It was like a hug that he could get lost in, tucking his face into her neck, and letting her hold him as the world continued to turn.

“Maddie?” Buck gasped, his heart in his throat and the fear that it was too good to be true keeping him from saying anything else as he pushed open the door and was greeted with the sight of his sister helping herself to a glass of wine at his kitchen island.

Maddie startled at first like she didn’t even feel him when he pushed through the wards and her eyes swung up wide to stare at him. She was pale and nervous as she fiddled with her necklace— one Buck had sent her for her birthday with a postcard that went unanswered— but she was there!

Holy shit! She was there!

Maddie’s face lit up and before Buck could even blink, she was throwing her arms around him and holding him close.

“Mads?” Buck could’ve cried. It’d been too long since he’d heard from her and even longer since he’d seen her; held her. Been held by her.

His magic stirred at the closeness of Maddie’s and the lights overhead flickered at the surge of energy connected in one space. The chandelier back at their parents’ house used to sway every time Maddie came home for Christmas when Buck would run down the stairs and nearly take her out at her knees with how fast he would throw his arms around her.

“What are you doing here?” Buck asked when Maddie seemed perfectly content to stay in their embrace just as long as Buck was. “Where’s Doug? I—”

Buck knew he didn’t imagine the full body flinch that shuddered through Maddie and the wind licked at Buck’s neck in warning.

“Don’t know, don’t care.” The fledgling of hope stirred in Buck’s chest. She’d left him? But Maddie pulled away and wrinkled her nose. “You smell like beer and trash.”

Well, Buck supposed that was what he got for letting a vampire nearly fuck him through a wall in the alleyway behind a bar.

Maddie patted his chest and the heat of her palm seeped into Buck’s muscles.

“Go shower. I’ll be here when you finish.”

Buck never showered faster in all his life and he still couldn’t quite believe his eyes when he slid out of the bathroom in some sweats and found Maddie sitting quietly in his kitchen. That distant, faraway look she got sometimes when her visions were too intense to shake was blanketed over her expression and Buck was still too giddy with disbelief to really notice the way she smothered that down with a stretch of a smile when she saw him again.

“Hungry?” Buck asked before he started throwing something together Bobby had taught him with what he had in his fridge. Maddie made appraising noises in the back of her throat as she watched Buck mix together the eggs and pour them into a hot skillet that had Buck grinning ear to ear at the approval.

He didn’t have anyone to cook for since Bobby started teaching him.

“How did you find me?” Buck asked when most of the work was done and he just had to stir until the eggs got fluffy.

“Well, I went to the address on the Christmas cards and the guys at the house sent me to a townhouse.”

Buck winced at the memory of Abby’s place he’d left. If Maddie noticed, she didn’t say anything.

“Then the property manager gave me this address which I have to say,” Maddie said with an impressed tilt of her head as she took in Buck’s loft. “This place is nice!”

But Buck recognized a deflection when he saw it. He plated Maddie’s eggs and handed it to her before he leaned onto the counter with his fists.

“Wait… So… You did get those Christmas cards?” Buck kept his tone light even though the hurt still tugged at something in chest every once in a while.

Maddie’s lips tightened into a pucker of a smile as she nodded. “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch much lately.”

Which was an understatement.

“Three years, Maddie. I haven’t heard from you in three years.” Three long years where Buck counted the days even though he wished he couldn’t.

“Yeah, I know,” Maddie said with a sigh in her voice. “And it’s not what I wanted.”

Buck believed her but that didn’t change the fact that seeing his sister seemed a little too good to be true.

He’d get over it. Eventually. He always did.

“Do Mom and Dad know you’re here?”

“No one knows and please don’t tell them…” Maddie’s head shot up and that flicker of nerves fluttered across her expression before she could stuff it down. “If they call. I don’t want anyone to know that I’m here.”

Buck didn’t bother correcting her that his parents called him about as much as they thought about him which was not at all. Instead, he focused on the ping of interest at Maddie’s words. Buck furrowed his brow as he pressed his lips together. 

“Kind of sounds like you’re hiding out.”

“Nah. More like laying low,” Maddie said with a smile that was a little too easy for Buck to really believe it.

Danger. Danger. Maddie in danger. The wind shifted at that and Buck swallowed past the nausea at the surge in power stirring in his gut. He’d fortify his wards when Maddie went to sleep.

“Anyways,” Maddie said with an almost too far stretch of a smile. “What happened to you? You cooked me food. Actual food. Is there a shallot in here?”

Buck couldn’t help the smile from that familiar tickle of Maddie’s teasing.

“My boss at work is like Guy Fieri. He’s been teaching me. We haven’t made it past breakfast though.”

Maddie settled her head on her hands. “Tell me about them. Your team. Your job. Everything!”

So, Buck did. He reiterated some of the things about training that he’d written on a postcard but he spent most of his time talking about the team. About Hen’s genius level wit and Chimney's constant sense of humor. About Bobby and how much he meant to Buck. How Bobby had been one of the first people who didn’t give up on Buck no matter how easily Buck made it. How Bobby had taught Buck that his connection to the wind wasn’t a feeble distraction from his real magic.

“So, are you in his coven?” Maddie asked after they’d cleaned up their plates and made their way over to the couch.

“Ah… No,” Buck winced. “Bobby’s Forsaken. I’m not in a coven.”

It didn’t really feel like Buck’s story to share but Bobby hadn’t been hiding nearly as much after Buck and Hen found him passed out spell drunk and with a bottle of empty Jack in his fist.

“Magic just became another way to numb the pain.” Bobby had told Buck one late night when they both couldn’t sleep.

Maddie’s brow furrowed. “You’ve been without a coven this whole time?”

Buck shrugged as he dropped his gaze down to his wine.

“’s not like they’d accept me to begin with.” He swirled the last of his wine and watched the liquid whirlpool in the center. “Can’t miss what I never had.”

Buck swallowed the rest of his wine and sucked in some air through his teeth as the liquid dried out his mouth.

That was the thing about being a failed prophecy. No one wanted to touch you with a ten foot pole. It was easier for Maddie. She had her visions and was infinitely ten times better at magic than Buck would ever be.

Besides, he had Bobby and Hen and Chimney and now…

Buck’s face must have done something because Maddie’s expression lit up.

“Oh! Oh, I know that face,” Maddie said with a wave of her finger. “Tell me.”

Buck’s groan got caught in his nose as he dropped his head back on the couch.

“There’s a new guy. Eddie. A vampire,” Buck said and then waved his hand in front of him when Maddie’s eyebrows shot up. “I know, right!”

Buck fell into the easiness of talking to Maddie as he ranted about Eddie and his stupid good looks and stupid know it all charisma. He kept the part about where he’d let Eddie fuck him until his brain melted only two hours before to himself but he still felt his face heat up as the beard burn on his chest tingled.

“I don’t know why Bobby brought him on to be honest,” Buck said when his mouth started to hurt from how much he’d been talking.

It was kind of crazy how used to silence Buck had gotten.

Buck jumped when Maddie curled her hand over his.

“Just… be careful,” Maddie said, her eyes softening with the warning but her mouth tight with worry. 

Buck frowned. “He’s an asshole but I don’t think Eddie would hurt anyone.”

The logic wasn’t all there because vampires used their familiarity with normalcy to hunt their prey but Eddie wasn’t like that. Even when he was being stupidly arrogant and perfect even Buck couldn’t deny that to most people— to everyone but Buck— he was probably a nice guy. 

He knew he hadn’t heard from his sister in years but Maddie had never cared who was a witch or a vampire or human before. Doug had. He’d been a purest asshole that kept his sneers toward Buck behind Maddie’s back when she hadn’t been looking. 

But Maddie’s worry turned into fondness that settled over Buck like a warm familiar blanket. He’d missed her. He wanted to burrow deep into that feeling and never let it go. 

“I’m not saying that. I’m talking about your crush.” 

Buck sputtered. His what? 

“I do not—" Maddie’s brow arched high in time with the dip of her lips into her cheek. “I don’t! How… that’s… no!”

“Evan.” Maddie dragged out his name with a roll of her eyes and it was just so familiar, he almost missed the fact that she’d called him by his first name again. “You bristled—"

“I do not bristle!” Buck bristled.

“You practically hissed at him like a black cat when you met him.”

“I did no—"

Maddie cocked her head. 

And no! That was the whole point of hate sex. Buck did not have a crush! No. No.

No.

“Anyway!” Buck swerved the conversation away from Maddie’s teasing before his face got any redder than it already was. “This is your first time being in LA. You want to see the sites? Hang around for a little bit?”

Please don’t go. Buck swallowed back that plea before it could pass his lips. Maddie had only come back into his life for two hours and he was already trying to resist clinging to her so she never went away again.

He missed her. The ache of missing her had been something he’d gotten used to but seeing her in front of him, smiling and laughing as she teased him for his nonexistent crush, brought it all back up to the surface.

Buck watched Maddie’s denial creep up into her expression and he tried not to let the sting of rejection get to his eyes.

“I’m just passing through.” Maddie shook her head softly.

Buck swallowed back the disappointment. Maddie was finally free. She was out of Hershey like they always dreamed of doing. He didn’t want to ruin that for her by making her feel bad.

“Listen, even if you are just here for a few days. Welcome to LA. It was getting pretty lonely around here.”

Everything changed when a caller shot himself with a live grenade and Buck and Eddie were gearing up to extract it from his leg in the back of an ambulance in the middle of a deserted parking lot.

It’s Bobby’s fault really.

Bobby waited until Eddie was walking to the back of the ambulance—with a confidence Buck was sure had been crafted from years of being an immortal asshole— before he hurried up beside Buck with a tightness in his voice.

“Alright, listen, Buck! You don’t have to do this.”

“You think I’m going to let the new guy have all the fun? Besides, you wanted us to bond. We might end up real close.”

The only indication Eddie gave of having heard them was an arched brow as he waited by the entrance of the ambulance with the box held out for Buck. Buck took it with a muttered thanks and then climbed up into the back.

Buck felt it the moment he stepped into the ambulance. It burned at the back of his throat and made his skin tingle as he sat down on the bench.

Magic. Smoky and hot that simmered in Buck’s blood as Eddie settled in beside him and talked to the patient as they prepped him. Buck stared down at Charlie as he lamented about how he’d lost his dream of being a marine to a heart arrhythmia. But the magic was there. Smooth and heated like a spiced whisky sliding across his tongue. Buck’s skin broke out in goosebumps as his heart slammed against his chest. Charlie’s place had been chock full of historical memorabilia but Buck hadn’t seen anything to indicate magic outside of the echoes of history haunting the pieces in his collection.

A daemon? Maybe?

But then why was Buck the only one to notice? Charlie had been looking at Buck all night and Buck hadn’t felt it. The wind licked up the nape of Buck’s neck but he shrugged it away to dig deeper into the feeling of the smoldering embers of stirring in his gut.

“Do you feel that?” Buck asked when Charlie drifted off into a chemically induced sleep.

Eddie’s nostrils flared and he shook his head. The tight pinch of his lips said he was lying though.

But Eddie swung his gaze up and pinned Buck to the spot as the deep brown eyes stared up at him. Those deep brown irises he’d been avoiding looking at all shift. They hadn’t said more than two words to each other before the fight in the gym and they’d both silently agreed to pretend their hook up never happened. But Buck’s head went woozy as he got lost in the haze of being looked at like that by Eddie. Ensnared in his attention and willing to do just about anything to keep it.

“You ready?”

Right. Charlie. The guy bleeding out with a grenade that could kill them both.

Buck nodded and held himself up from the swimming swirls of hot magic in the air by doing as Eddie instructed. He kept pressure on the wound and listened attentively as Eddie rambled about sensors and rotations. A small part in the back of Buck’s brain recognized the ramblings for what they were: a sign of nerves as the tension settled hot and thick over them as he tried to clamp down on the grenade.

It would’ve been endearing if Buck wasn’t staring down at the gold cap of a live grenade ten inches away from his face.

“C’mon, you got this!” Buck encouraged as Eddie whined out a grunt of concentration.

“Gonna have to… just …”

Buck felt it as the grenade popped free from damaged tissue and muscle, clamped tight in the jaws of Eddie’s tool. The stimulated buzz of the kindling in the air. It stirred beneath the mistreatment. Hot warm swirlings of magic curling up to purr at the nape of Buck’s neck. It felt warm like basking beneath the summer sun but hot as it bullied the wind in Buck’s senses for dominance.

“ The box,” Eddie said in the low rumbles of a growl and Buck snatched the box up and held it for him.

Buck was an elemental witch. His element was and had always been air. But he could feel the heat of the spark bracing to be ignited in the grenade. It called out to him, whispering in a sing-song siren call for Buck to let it out. All it would take was one twist and the flame would be in his hands. Just one—

“You still with me, Buck?” Eddie’s voice was strained as he held perfectly still and the deadly golden explosive hovered in the air in the clamped jaws of his tool.

Buck blinked and cleared his head of the sparkling sizzle that sang in his blood.

“Yeah…Y-Yeah I’m right here.” Except Buck felt like he was swimming in sensations as the heat of the inception of fire called out to him.

Buck held out the box and locked his arms when it shook with a faint tremble in his hands, rattling the handle against the sides. What was happening?

“Just focus on my voice,” Eddie said. “Focus on your breathing. Don’t hold your breath. Just breathe… Good. That’s good, Buck.”

Buck sucked in another breath and cycled it through his lungs, latching onto Eddie’s every word as Eddie moved so slowly to put the grenade in the box. The wind picked up outside, bristling as the heat of the fire curled around Buck and settled into his skin.

Eddie lowered the grenade and Buck felt the weight shift in his palms as the explosive settled into the floor of the box. The jaws released and the grenade didn’t move.

Buck felt the disappointment and then the forgiveness of the magic nipping at his skin. It swirled in his chest and curled up to sleep now that the temptation had been denied.

Buck let out a sigh and looked up when he felt Eddie’s eyes on him.

They did it! Buck couldn’t even begin to stop the stretch of his smile on his face and the one Eddie gave him in return was enough to nearly knock Buck over by how breathless it made him.

The box rattled as the grenade rolled and they froze.

The fire magic licked at Buck, teasingly and begged Buck to play. It flickered in his eyes and made Buck dizzy with want but Buck shook his head as he squashed it down. The spark would kill Eddie and Charlie in an instant and Buck refused to let that happen. The fire magic purred before it settled again in Buck’s chest like a cat curling up to sleep.

Eddie and Buck made quick work of getting themselves and Charlie out of the ambulance as quickly as possible. They hurried the gurney through the deserted parking lot where the bomb squad had cleared the area and handed off Charlie to the awaiting trauma team. Buck snapped off his bloody gloves to push the sweat on his brow away when Eddie turned around.

“You’re a badass under pressure brother,” Eddie said and Buck felt a different kind of heat bloom in his chest.

Buck blinked and let himself settle into the warmth of that praise.

“Me?”

“Hell yeah.” Eddie nodded. “You can have my back any day.”

Maybe perfect was okay when it was being worn by Eddie. 

“Y-Yeah. Or… You know…You can have mine.”

And then Eddie dazzled Buck again with that smile.

It was a nice smile.

Buck liked it.

“Deal,” Eddie said. 

Eddie’s hand settled in Buck’s with a firm grip that Buck kind of didn’t want to let go. Buck sensed Bobby before he saw him, his dormant magic cutting through the air around them. “Nice work fellas. Glad you both made it out of there.”

Eddie shrugged as he tossed his head towards Buck.

“Much easier when there was someone with a fire affinity beside me.”

Oh… No, wait that wasn’t—

“I’m not—” Buck started but then Buck felt the fire of the magic snap a second before the ambulance blew up in an explosion of fire and metal.

Chapter Text

So, here was the deal with Buck and his magic.

Buck had been doomed since birth. He came too early and too fast when the moon wasn’t right and his lungs hadn’t been strong enough to work on their own. He’d been too little and too weak to save a brother he never knew and destiny had been shattered into clumps of glitter in his overeager fists.

Buckley witches had been prized jewels of covens along the east coast for centuries and even longer when they’d populated England.

And in an instant, they were the pariahs with too much bad luck to keep around.

His parents made it pretty obvious who they blamed. Buck had grown up being hidden away in the hopes of being forgotten. He’d expected the same from Bobby when he’d realized his new captain was a witch too but Buck had been met with nothing but open arms and the acceptance Buck craved like water.

His affinity for the wind had been around for as long as Buck could remember when Maddie would find him in the backyard chasing leaves that the wind picked up so he could have someone to play with. The wind had been a part of his life through everything. It comforted him when he was lonely. It swept the tears away when he was sad. It whistled in his ears when he was joyful and it protected him from danger with a creeping touch on his neck.

A coven leader, who—begrudgingly— assessed Buck had said that his powers were instinctual but too flighty to ever be considered useful let alone entertain the idea of being able to conjure up a Witch Wind. Too unpredictable to amount to anything great. Another case of Buck failing any potential before he’d even been given a chance. She’d offered to spellbind Buck so that he didn’t attract unwanted attention to the family but thankfully—for once— his parents had stood up for him.

He was a Buckley. Magic was in his blood.

Buck couldn’t help but think about that coven leader now and what that old hag would’ve said had she’d seen that apparently, at twenty-seven, Buck’s affinity for fire had manifested.

“And you never knew?” Eddie asked, his brows furrowed as he brought the beer bottle up to his lips.

Buck shrugged as he leaned against the counter of his kitchen island and toyed with his own bottle. “I’d never felt anything until the grenade. I mean… I’ve been a firefighter for over a year now but never... I could… it was like I could feel the spark on my fingertips. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it to be honest.”

Maddie had finally managed to coax herself out of the safety of Buck’s loft to stretch her legs and take in the city. It’d taken everything in Buck not to rush over to where she was and meet her so he could plead his case again about her staying in LA. Sometimes, Maddie needed space and as much as Buck hated it, he had a feeling it’d been a while since she had any.

But he couldn’t wait to tell her. He could’ve called her but the stomach lurching fear that sucker punched his heart at the prospect of her not answering was still something he was trying to work through. Besides, saying, “Hey, by the way, apparently I’m also a fire witch. I know! Crazy, huh?” wasn’t something you just said on the phone.

But an empty apartment meant Buck could invite Eddie back to apologize to him with beer for hissing at him like a black cat. It… It also felt nice to talk about magic again. Bobby tried to help but Buck never wanted to bother him when he’d seen firsthand how much magic had hurt him.

The skin between Eddie’s brow pinched together. 

“And you never got properly assessed when you were a child?”

Buck froze as the heat of shame he knew all too well flushed up his neck and into his cheeks. He dropped his gaze down to the countertop, missing the way Eddie’s nostrils flared, and picked at the label on his beer.

“Uh… N-No.” Buck cleared his throat. He needed to get over the way his childhood made him feel ashamed for something he had no control over. To his parents, their family, and their coven he was never going to be enough and there was nothing he could do to change that. “No, I wasn’t ever accepted into the coven. Not really.”

“Because of the prophecy?” Eddie’s nose wrinkled as he shook his head, rolling his eyes in the process. He’d done that when Buck had mentioned it the first time too. Rolled his eyes like he thought the whole thing was nonsense.

Buck frowned.

“You don’t look like you believe me.”

Those deep brown eyes flicked up and pinned Buck to the spot again. He melted into it, caught up in the trance as he realized he was being looked at, really looked at, and shivered beneath it.

A vampire’s gaze was cold to a witch but not Eddie’s. Not when it was looking at Buck like that. Like he was enraptured by Buck and never wanted to look away.

Eddie’s gaze felt like an autumn caress on Buck’s skin. Cold at first but simmering with the heat of summer.

“In my experience,” Eddie said slowly like he was trying to be careful how he said things. “Prophecies are nothing more than hopeful wishes and coincidences. And…”

Buck held onto his every word, holding his breath in the process, and forced himself not to get his hopes up.

Eddie tipped his head. “And more often than not, they get used to find someone to blame for something that was going to happen regardless of some witch seeing something in her fancy smelly smoke.”

Buck felt all the air fall out of his lungs as it sucked the tension he didn’t realize had settled up his spine away.

That… That was maybe one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to him.

“Thanks,” Buck said and swallowed back the tiny lump of emotion before it could embarrass him even further.

Deflect deflect deflect! He only just agreed to stick around. Don’t scare him off because he was nice to you!

It was a mantra Buck knew well and he licked his lips as he pushed away the swirling hurt that had been soothed by Eddie’s reassurance to slip on a smirk when Eddie’s gaze dropped down onto his mouth.

“So,” Buck said as he circled the island. Eddie arched a brow as he leaned back, his legs widening so Buck could slide up in between them. “In your experience, huh? Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask. What was the War of 1812 like?”

Eddie snorted as he threw his head back to laugh and Buck almost fell forward to chase after the sound of it.

“Try World War Two, you brat. I’m not that old.” Eddie’s fist curled around the front of Buck’s shirt and pulled him close so he could trap Buck in with his thighs.

This was a game Buck knew well. Eddie may have been the first vampire he’d hooked up with but the flirting, the teasing, and the ignoring of the lingering hope in his chest that they could be something more was something Buck knew. If intimacy was a spell to be cast then Buck would’ve been a master spellcaster.

Eddie tipped his head back and Buck leaned in as if to kiss but stopped just shy of pressing his lips against his.

“You think I’m a brat?” Buck asked, brushing his mouth against Eddie’s.

Eddie moved before Buck could even blink, his hands curling around Buck’s waist and holding him tight. The barstool didn’t even squeak— and Buck would go to his grave denying that he did— as Eddie stood up and lifted Buck onto the counter like he weighed next to nothing at all. He pushed himself in between Buck’s legs and bullied himself into Buck’s face so he could dash Buck’s lips with his tongue before darting in to taste the gasp Buck let out in surprise.

Kissing Eddie when he wasn’t hating his guts was a whole other experience that Buck didn’t even know how to begin to process. It was like spinning around in the wind as a cyclone lifted Buck off the ground with a tongue that stoked the kindling smolder of the fire magic burning in his chest. Eddie kissed by taking the weight of Buck’s world until he didn’t even realize he wasn’t having to carry it anymore. Buck rolled with the momentum, caught in the sway of giddiness that came from being close to someone like this, and Eddie followed after him until Buck’s heart slammed against his chest in a desperate cry for air.

Eddie pulled back enough to nip at Buck’s lips and Buck shivered beneath the feel of his teeth.

Then Eddie stared him in the eye and Buck’s whole world faded away as he swam in the pools of dark brown again.

“I think you’re extraordinary,” Eddie said so easily and Buck’s stomach flipped for a whole other set of reasons he didn’t have enough blood to his brain to process. “Even when you’re being a brat.”

Eddie surged forward and Buck met him halfway to fall into the rolling motion of their kiss again. Buck clawed at his shirt, his hair, anything he could get so he could touch; so he could keep Eddie close. But Eddie was calmer, steadier than he had any right to be as he trailed his hands down Buck’s sides, skimming his fingers across Buck’s ribs until he could curl them around his hips.

Eddie swallowed the moan Buck let out when Eddie yanked him further to the edge of the counter. He’d never had a partner before who had the strength or size to really manhandle him but Buck was finding when it was with Eddie, it was doing all sorts of things for Buck in ways he never thought imaginable.

They barely made it up the stairs to Buck’s bed and okay, maybe Buck had other hopes of being able to apologize for being a dick than just a beer at his place but could anyone blame him? Now that the hot haze of hate was stripped from their coupling, every kiss, every rub of Eddie’s facial hair against his overstimulated skin made Buck’s blood sing. Eddie rocked into him slower than before like he had all the time in the world but harder and deeper as he explored the further depths of Buck’s soul.

Buck bared his throat, begging for Eddie to kiss him there. To suck a mark against his pulse point that he could carry with him when ultimately Eddie left and he was alone again.

But Eddie just ducked his head down to the crook of Buck’s throat and inhaled. He groaned, something quiet and soft that rippled all the way down his spine, before he shook his head and planted a kiss of Buck’s jaw instead.

Right, stupid. Vampires and throats and all.

But then Eddie was making it up to him with a particularly brutal snap of his hips and Buck’s world whited out in the all-encompassing pleasure as he let Eddie fuck him with meaning until he didn’t know where Buck ended and Eddie began.

Buck half expected Eddie to cut and run when they were done. Buck wouldn’t have tried to chase after him even if his legs were working. He didn’t want to push. They’d only just come to a truce and Buck didn’t want Eddie to run away screaming because Buck had gotten too clingy too fast.

In Eddie’s world, Buck was nothing more than a blip in time. He didn’t want to be a thorn in his side as well.

But Eddie didn’t cut and run, though. Instead, he curled his arms around Buck and held him against his chest like there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

Buck was probably looking too much into the cuddling. Even vampires needed the spark of touch.

“I think you’re extraordinary.” The reverence in Eddie’s tone when he said that, subtle and barely noticeable, was playing like a loop in Buck’s head.

That wasn’t something you just said to a person and it certainly wasn’t something anyone had ever said to Buck.

But Eddie had slipped it in so easily, tucking it away into Buck’s chest for safe keeping.

Buck sighed as Eddie’s fingers carded through his hair and pressed his ear against the hollow place where Eddie’s heart still beat. Slow and measured but still there.

Buck could’ve fallen asleep to that slow melody.

“Can I ask you a question?” Buck asked, his words a little slurred from the comedown of his orgasm.

Eddie hummed and that sound rumbled in his chest to Buck’s ear.

“Do you like sleep… ever? Sorry if that’s insensitive or rude or whatever but it’s something I’ve always wanted to know.”

Eddie barked out another laugh like it’d surprised him and Buck was quickly realizing he was becoming addicted to that sound.

“Yes,” Eddie said as he twisted one of Buck’s curls with his finger. “We’re stronger and faster than anyone else but our bodies still have to be energized to sustain that.”

“And that’s why you eat? Like real food?” Buck asked, drumming his fingers on Eddie’s chest as he skimmed them down the ridges of his abs. It’d been something he’d been obsessing over since he watched Eddie eat a rare steak that Bobby had cooked up one night as a treat for Eddie’s first week on the job. They’d kept a stock of blood in a secret fridge hidden away where only A shift could find it but from what Buck could tell, Eddie hadn’t even touched it yet.

Another hum and a slight yank on his hair had Buck shivering again as Eddie tipped his head up to look at him.

“Thousands of questions about vampires and you ask about if I sleep in a coffin and can eat people food?” Eddie drawled but the small quirk in his lips told Buck he was teasing.

Buck felt his face warm with a blush and Eddie’s nostrils flared again like they always did when Buck got a little pink.

“Never met a vampire before and the only other daemon I knew before Hen was our neighbor down the street growing up. Was curious.”

Eddie hummed as he curled his arms tight around Buck. “Any particular reason why?”

Buck shrugged and went back to nuzzling close to Eddie’s side. “Just because. I’m always curious. Just never had a person who didn’t find it annoying eventually.”

“Evan, be quiet already! You’re a wind witch. Water magic isn’t for you!”

Eddie stilled beneath Buck and it took every ounce of Buck’s control not to cling tight to Eddie in the hopes of keeping him from pulling away. He knew it had to happen eventually but he wasn’t ready yet.

“Sorry,” Buck was quick to add in the hopes he could still fix it. “I’ll stop—”

A finger appeared under Buck’s chin and tipped his head back. Buck looked up at Eddie and held his breath at the fondness in Eddie’s gaze. Fondness and something a little sharp he didn’t know how to identify.

“You can ask me anything.”

Buck’s breath hitched in his chest. Anything? A thousand questions had been swimming around in his head and he could ask anything?

Buck rolled until he could press himself on top of Eddie, his legs tangled between Buck’s, and propped his chin on the back of his hand so he wasn’t pushing into Eddie’s chest with it.

“Where are you from?”

Eddie’s lips quirked up into his cheek as his eyes wrinkled around the corners. There was a freckle under his left eye that Buck was becoming obsessed with as he stared up at him.

“El Paso.”

Buck wrinkled his nose because he knew that and it wasn’t what he meant.

“No, I mean before. Where are you from before you were turned?”

Eddie was fighting back a smile and losing terribly as he ran his hands through Buck’s hair again. Buck shivered as he melted beneath the petting. 

“El Paso. My family was from there and now my blood-family resides there too. I was sired by my father, Ramon, in Normandy when I was dying after saving my CO. Then once the war was over, we went back to El Paso where we’ve been ever since.”

Huh. Buck was expecting Eddie to have been more worldly.

“So, then why LA?”

Eddie’s expression shuddered close for a moment but Buck didn’t even get a chance to panic that he’d pushed too far before Eddie looked down at him again.  

“I… My grandmother and aunt are here so I’m still around family but… I was in Afghanistan and my helicopter got shot down. I got shot. Couple of times.”

Army medic. Silver star. Buck’s mind belatedly reminded him.

“Thankfully my commanding officer was able to get me some blood but I was discharged. Have to wait a couple decades before I can reenlist. If … I reenlist.”

“If?” Buck asked, catching on that stumble.

Eddie’s hand in his hair got distracted and slow and Buck leaned into the firm touch for more before he could help himself.

“I’ve been a soldier pretty much my whole life.” Eddie swallowed as he shook his head. “I’ve spent so long watching humanity kill each other, tearing each other apart. I… I can’t stand it anymore. My pops took it as well as one would expect which was not at all but I… I just needed something different.”

Eddie’s expression was… far away. Like he reliving a lifetime of memories in a single instance. Like he was trying to muscle back grief he didn’t know how to feel.

Buck didn’t want that on Eddie’s face so he sat up and propped his head on his hand.

“So, your natural next step was firefighting.” Buck teased. “Where there are, you know, fires. One of the few things that could kill you.”

He meant it as a joke but Buck’s stomach lurched as he said it and he wished he could swallow it back in an instant. But Eddie just cocked his eyebrow and twisted to look at Buck with that confident smirk.

“I’m in my rebellious stage,” Eddie said with a low rumble. But then something flickered across his expression again. Something like longing and a little bit sad. “And I missed being a part of a team.” 

If he had asked Buck a day earlier then Buck would’ve told Eddie to keep looking. But now? Now, he couldn’t imagine Eddie anywhere else. Buck leaned forward and pressed his lips against Eddie’s mouth in a sweet series of kisses that he hoped said stay… stay… stay with me.

Eddie smiled into the kiss, firm and gentle beneath Buck, and rolled onto his back as he pulled Buck with him. Buck slung a leg over Eddie’s waist and rolled his hips back to work out that sinful groan from Eddie that he loved so much.

“Am I a part of your rebellion?” Buck asked when he broke away to breathe. “Can’t imagine Ramon would be too happy with you being partners with a witch.”

“Oh, just that? You don’t think he wouldn’t have something to say about this?” Buck whined as Eddie grabbed handfuls of Buck’s ass, kneading the flesh and muscles, as he spurred Buck on to rut against him.

It wasn’t an answer but Buck was beyond caring as sparks of pleasure zipped up his spine. He dropped down on his forearms beside Eddie’s head and melted into the way Eddie’s arms fit perfectly around him. They kissed again, less sweet and more wicked as Eddie’s tongue dashed across Buck’s mouth until Buck was reaching back to guide Eddie back in. It was easy after the first time but the stretch was perfect and filling. 

Three things happened in rapid succession.

Eddie went still beneath Buck, frozen as he ripped his mouth away to cock his head. 

The lock on the door clicked open.

And Maddie walked in without a care in the world.

“Hey, I’m bac— Damnit, Evan! ” Maddie screamed as she covered her eyes with her hands, dropping her purse and spilling everything on the floor. “That wasn’t what I meant when I said be careful!”

Chapter Text

They’re rappelling down a cliffside to a million dollar view and hopefully to rescue a wayward hiker when it happened. Buck was below, calling out weak points and hand grips to Eddie above, when he felt it. The cold chill that raced up his spine and slammed into his throat. 

Buck choked as his vision swam and he distantly heard the sound of his name being called through a cotton muted block over his ears. He couldn’t move beyond a twitch as he tried to fight the echo; tried to suck in air to breathe. 

“Buck?” 

Buck felt the rock face crumble beneath his hand as he froze up but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t feel anything beyond the blood chilling fear that seized up his lungs and twisted them around. 

The wind whispered at his neck and Buck turned. 

She was there with a flicker, translucent and glimmering as a beautiful memory, before she went wrong and deathly in a blink of an eye. The wraith screeched so loudly Buck could’ve sworn the ground shook. 

Ghostly hands wrapped around his throat, chilling him to his core. 

Buck’s hands went numb and the cliffside slipped away as Buck started to fall. 

“Buck!” 

The wind spread out beneath Buck’s back and tried to slow his descent but he was going too fast that even if the landing didn’t kill him, it would hurt regardless. The spirit hung on, screeching in Buck’s ears until they started to ring, and then she was gone and the wind caught Buck in a blanket of air. He floated for a span of one heartbeat to the next before his magic wore out and Buck dropped to the ground in a heap. 

Buck gasped as he sucked in air too fast for his lungs to keep up with and coughed as he rolled over onto his stomach. He was alive. He was alive. But he couldn’t breathe and he needed that.

“Buck! Buckley! Respond!”

Bobby. That was Bobby. Buck picked his head up and instantly regretted it as the world went into a whirlwind of spins that made Buck’s stomach roll and his head ache with a sharpness that pierced through his skull. 

He was definitely a little more stunned than he was hurt but he still dropped on his back onto hard rock and his body throbbed as a consequence. His harness dug into his hips where the last of the tension in his line pulled and the slap of salt water in the air made the wind prickly on his skin.

Buck felt her again, electric in the magic as she used the energy to appear and chilling as a ghost’s gaze lingered on him for too long. Buck gasped and arched up to look as the beautiful ghost floated in front of him. Blood stained the front of her throat where the skin had been ripped to shreds with matted chestnut brown hair hanging limply across her shoulders. Her lips quivered as she stared at Buck unseeingly and Buck was frozen to do anything but watch as she opened her mouth in a soundless scream.

The wind howled in mourning, giving her it’s voice, and tethering Buck’s soul to hers.

A wind witch.

“Buck!”

Eddie dropped and untethered himself from his harness before he was kneeling down beside Buck in an instant.

“E-Ed—” Buck couldn’t get his name out as the wind witch whimpered before her eyes changed.

Her face went slack with death, pulling her mouth down into a droop, before she lunged at Buck with another shriek.

Buck screamed as he threw himself back into Eddie’s chest. Rocks and gravel kicked out from under Buck’s feet and Buck’s throat felt like he’d been screaming for years as the coppery tang on the wind burned at the back of it.

“Hey! Hey! It’s okay! It’s okay! Buck!”

Buck stopped when Eddie’s arms curled around him and held him tight, his breath fanning across Buck’s face at his name.

Buck looked back but the wraith was gone.

“D-Did you see her? Did you see her?” Buck practically begged as he clung onto Eddie’s sleeve and looked around for the spirit of the wind witch.

Eddie shook his head.

“No, Buck. N—”

Eddie stopped as his nostrils flared and Buck tried to suck in as much air into his lungs as possible now that they’d been freed from the icy fist.

“Witch’s blood,” Eddie said lowly. So lowly it was like a gravel husk on his vocal cords that it almost would’ve been a growl.

“Our caller?” Buck gasped, still holding onto Eddie so tightly, his knuckles ached.

“I don’t—”

“Help! Over here!”

They turned in the direction of the shout.

Buck jumped nearly a mile when his radio blasted. “Buckley! Diaz! Respond! What’s going on down there?”

Eddie tightened his hold around Buck and shushed him quickly as he unclipped his radio.

“Buck’s okay, Cap. Just a little shaken up. We hear something. Stand by.”

“Copy.”

“Can you stand?” Eddie asked and it was only then that Buck even realized he was shaking like a leaf. From the top of his head to his toes in his boots, he was trembling and he couldn’t even begin to stop. Tiny, huffing pants slipped from Buck’s lips as he tried to get a grip and dried up his throat before he could even begin to speak.

“Help!”

Their caller. Someone needed help. Buck pulled himself away— even though it felt like fighting through hardening molasses to get out of the safety of Eddie’s arms— and unclipped his line where it had tangled up in his legs.

“Buck,” Eddie said but the wind whistled in Buck’s ear and caught his attention again.

Buck spun around and tried to pin whatever the wind was trying to show him but all he saw was a million dollar view of a private beach and the rolling ocean. He climbed up the rocks with a scramble and then skidded back down to look around when Bobby called over the radio.

“Buck? Eddie? You guys see anything down there?”

Eddie stepped up beside Buck and sniffed the air before a growl rumbled at the back of his throat. The wind licked at the nape of Buck’s neck and he looked down.

There in a boneless heap as if she was dead before she hit the ground, was the body of the wind witch, tangled up in the rocks and soaked of any color from her skin as she stared up at the sky with lifeless eyes.  

“You think it was a vampire?” Athena asked when she came by the station later that night and Buck watched as Eddie resolutely did not squirm beneath Athena’s stare.

Buck had been under that stare enough times to know that it was nearly impossible not to wither beneath it at first. Athena came from a long line of old magic of healers and seers. Athena didn’t have the sight but magic was in her blood and the stories passed down gave her more knowledge than most.

Eddie tipped his head as he clasped his hands together on the table.

“The bite patterns on her neck say so but the wounds on her chest…”

Buck swallowed the memory of the way the witch’s chest had all but been ripped up by claws or teeth.

“Could be blood rage?” Eddie admitted and Athena stiffened at the mention. “I haven’t seen any in years though. I can ask my abuela if she knows anybody infected with the strain but I’m not actually in contact with any of the families in the area.”

“No, that’s okay. I know you’re trying to keep a low profile,” Athena said. “How are you doing, Buckaroo?”

Buck sucked in a breath as he looked up at his name to find Athena, Bobby, and Eddie all staring at him in concern. To be honest, he hadn’t really been paying much attention. He shivered, still freezing even hours after the witch’s gaze disappeared from the forefront of his skin, and had been trying to wipe the echo of her scream from his memory.

“You doing okay?” Athena asked patiently. “I heard you took a fall.”

Buck shrugged as he burrowed into the LAFD hoodie he’d thrown on after his shower.

“Sore but fine. Just feel bad, you know? No one knew she was gone.” According to the coroner it looked like she’d been down there for a few days. What if they hadn’t been called to the cliffside to rescue the hiker? She would’ve been left there. Alone. Her memory a lost cry on the wind trapped on that beach.

Buck shivered for an entirely different reason. Not too long ago that could’ve been him. Lost in the world without anyone to know he was missing.

“Well, we’ve been able to track down an aunt in Maryland. She’s coming on the next flight over to collect her so at least she won’t be alone for long.”

Buck could still hear her screams.

Maddie and Chimney were getting gross in how obviously cute they were.

Not that he and Buck did it a lot, but Chimney used to be the guy Buck went to, to talk about relationship problems. Chimney had plenty of his share of bad relationships after bad relationships and he had a way of understanding what Buck was trying to say— after a few quips and teasing remarks— that Buck couldn’t quite put into words. So, when he’d invited Chimney out to talk about the complexities of Eddie, Buck hadn’t been expecting his sister to show up and all but throw her weapon of a purse at him to join in the conversation.

Buck couldn’t really be too mad. His sister was finally starting to uncurl and brighten every room she walked into like she used to do. It was good to see her happy. So good that it almost made him ache for all the time lost when she wasn’t.

But none of that helped Buck with his current situation.

“Oh, is this about Eddie?” Maddie asked as she gave Chim a grateful smile that wrinkled her nose when she sipped her wine. Chimney was distracted, completely entranced by Maddie as he grinned back at her, that it took him a moment longer to realize what she said.

Chim’s jaw dropped as he swung his gaze around to stare back at Buck.

“ Eddie?” Chimney gapped. “As in our Eddie. The guy you’ve been moaning and groaning about since I picked you up from your place is Eddie?”

Buck glared at Maddie and she at least had the decency to look somewhat apologetic.

“What’s the problem with Eddie?”

“Yeah, the last time I saw you two, you both seemed pretty comfy,” Maddie said with her brows lifted.

“How long has this been going on?” Chimney asked, leaning his elbows on the table and staring at Buck with a manic glee that Buck knew meant Chim would be absorbing every ounce of information to tell Hen later.

“Not long—”

“—Since his second shift.”

Buck and Maddie said at the same time and Buck had to sit in the betrayal a little longer while he decided if he could bring himself to hex his sister.

Chimney crowed as he bounced beside his sister and if Buck didn’t know he was human, he would’ve thought Chim was a daemon by just how unhinged he sounded.

“And there is no problem with Eddie,” Buck said since it was already out there. “That’s the problem!”

Things with Eddie were fine! Great even. They worked effortlessly together like they shared the same thoughts, flowing around each other that even the wind circled around Eddie when he and Buck were in the groove.

And the sex was fantastic. Like earth shattering. Eddie made Buck feel things he never thought imaginable and left Buck craving more and more each time. Eddie stayed clear of Buck’s throat even when all Buck wanted in the world was to have a mark he could carry around and feel as his shirt collars rubbed against it. A reminder that his time with Eddie wasn’t a dream.

But then Eddie always stayed. Buck had plenty of hookups in his lifetime and even the greatest ones couldn’t get their clothes on fast enough before leaving. It’d made Buck start to curl his arms tight to his chest afterwards so that they couldn’t see how much he wanted to reach out, to cling, to cuddle as his skin stopped buzzing and his blood stopped singing.

He’d expected the same from Eddie.

And yet, Eddie stayed. He continued to stay. He stayed even when Buck was asleep for a few hours and held him through some of the best sleep Buck had ever gotten in his life.

But then they went to work or anywhere that was outside of the safety of Buck’s lofted bedroom and it was like it never happened. Eddie never mentioned it. It would’ve been easier if he was a jerk about it but he wasn’t. He just was the same.

“That doesn’t sound like an issue, Buckaroo,” Chimney said when Buck finished before he quirked his mouth to the left and turned to Maddie. “Do you think that sounds like an issue?”

“Nope,” Maddie said with a pop of her lips.

And then the bar manager called up their number for the karaoke machine and they both abandoned Buck at the table to watch their things.

Buck pouted into his pale ale and swallowed the last of it as he considered how much longer he could stay before Maddie and Chimney made it an issue that Buck left. They were teasing, he knew, and part of him agreed that they were right. It wasn’t really an issue or a problem or whatever. But it still… bugged him. Buck knew he was a blip in time for Eddie but when he was with him, it was like Buck was someone worth stopping time for. He cherished Buck like he was something to be treasured and he looked at Buck like he was the moon goddess herself and hung the moon and all the stars with a flick of his finger.

It made Buck’s head dizzy.

A glass thunked down onto the table as beer sloshed across the wood and seeped into the paper place mat under Maddie and Chimney’s appetizer.

“Now, you’re way too pretty to be pouting by yourself.” Buck looked up at the beefy fingers wrapped around the new glass.

A man smiled down at him, coy and so transparent in the way he was staring at Buck’s lips it was ridiculous. It wasn’t the first time he’d been picked up at a bar and it certainly wasn’t the worst pick up line he’d heard but it was close.

He wasn’t terrible looking. His peppered hair was cropped close to his head and his smile would’ve been nice if it wasn’t so lewd. His soft green eyes were dark as they drank Buck in and his muscles were massive in the barely holding on stretch of a shirt over his shoulders. If Buck had met him a few months prior? Sure, Buck would’ve let him talk him into having a drink and then eventually hinted that he was down to hook up in the Jeep. But he really wasn’t in the mood that night and Buck didn’t accept drinks from strangers.

“What’s your name, pretty?”  

Buck jerked back as a hand reached out to brush the hair from his forehead and bit down a grimace as his skin started to crawl. 

“Sorry, man. But I’m not interested tonight.”

That should’ve been the end of it. It never was but it should’ve been.

The man’s eyes tightened around the corner and Buck felt the wind lick at the nape of his neck in warning. But then the smile shifted into a smirk and he racked his eyes up and down Buck’s body with a slow drag.

“Not tonight doesn’t mean never, though. Maybe I could change your mind?” He used the back of his knuckles to push the beer towards Buck’s hands where he’d kept them folded on his side of the table. Buck didn’t touch it. He’d been burned enough times to know that even taking the glass to move it could’ve been taken the wrong way.

Buck shook his head. “Sorry. But I’m good.”

The smirk dropped into a dark scowl so fast that Buck felt his shoulders tighten up like he was preparing for the guy to take a swing. That hand, sticky with sweat and beer, clamped down over Buck’s wrist before he could pull away.

“Oh yeah?” The man leaned forward and Buck inched back as he yanked his hand free, wincing as his elbow knocked into the table. But the man didn’t seem to care. “And what makes you think you think you’re going to get any better offers than me?”

“Me.” The voice to Buck’s right startled him enough that he jolted in his seat but Taylor Kelly just set down a glass of bourbon in front of Buck and slid into the bench beside him. “Sorry I’m late, honey.”

She leaned up and kissed the corner of Buck’s mouth before she propped her chin on Buck’s shoulder to stare at the man with an unimpressed pucker to her red lips.

“You can move on now.”

The man’s expression slipped into thunderous discontent that only seemed to brew even darker at the fact that Taylor seemed completely unphased by his posturing. But then he grabbed the beer from in front of Buck, sloshing some of the contents onto Buck’s shirt, and stomped away to the other side of the bar where his friends had been watching.

“Thanks,” Buck said, letting his shoulders droop.

“No problem,” Taylor said before she lifted her thumb to wipe away the smear of lipstick on Buck’s cheek. “Looked like you could use a hand. Not that I’m surprised. He’s been staring at you all night.”

“He has?” Buck was usually better at clocking that.

Taylor just hummed as she took her bourbon and sipped it as she moved to the other side of the table.

“I see Chimney’s got a girlfriend,” she said with a nod to where Chimney and Maddie were performing some song Buck didn’t know.

“No. No, he does not. Uh… That-That’s my sister.”

“Oh. Sorry. They’re kind of good.”

Begrudgingly, Buck could agree even if seeing Maddie and Chimney together harmonizing on stage for a drunk but cheering audience was not how he thought his night was going to go. “I know, right? It’s weird.”

Taylor hummed as she sipped her drink before she snuck an onion ring from the appetizer plate. “Big, tall, and ugly wasn’t wrong though. You are too pretty to be pouting. What’s got up your butt? Is it Eddie?”

Buck nearly choked on his own tongue. What was with everybody today?

“How did you—”

“Oh, please. I have eyes, Buck,” Taylor said as she waved her stolen onion ring around. “Plus, he practically growled at me when I came into the station that day.”

Buck winced as he remembered that shift when someone had snuck drugs in their brownies and Bobby had nearly almost fallen off the roof by accident. The sting that Taylor had wanted to use the footage was still sharp in his chest but he understood what it was like to be desperate for a place in the world. Taylor more than anyone else had been the most surprised when Bobby had called to thank her for calling for help when she couldn’t get him down from the roof.

Something about killing them with kindness or whatever Bobby said when the others had asked him about it. 

But he also remembered the way Eddie’s mouth had dropped into a frown anytime Buck caught him looking as he and Taylor talked. He almost would’ve said Eddie had been jealous but that… that wouldn’t have made sense, right? Because Buck wasn’t anything to Eddie. Right?

“Can I ask you something?”

Taylor made an encouraging noise at the back of her throat as she cocked her eyebrow and listened as Buck told her everything. Well, everything he could tell a human who had no idea that vampires, witches, and daemons existed and maybe that was it? Maybe it was a vampire thing? Maybe Buck was just being overly sentimental about something that Eddie would forget about in a few years after Buck was old and brittle.

But Taylor listened and she asked questions when Buck started to retreat back into his doubts and she didn’t judge Buck when he could hear the neediness creeping into his voice. She finished off the last of the onion rings while Buck drank another beer and eventually Buck felt worn out and exhausted but finally like he’d released something and laid it out onto the table in pieces.

“Sounds like you just don’t know where you stand.” Taylor surmised as she swirled the last of her drink. “Have you asked Eddie?”

“Asked him what?” Buck’s head was feeling a little buzzed from the beer but he also blamed that on the emotional dump he’d just had in front of Taylor.

“Asked Eddie if you could be his boyfriend,” Taylor said with a teasing swoon. “Asked him if you two can go steady and fuck on every flat surface already.”

Buck’s ears got hot. They’d already done that part.

Ask Eddie? It was… It was supposed to be that easy?

Taylor dropped her shoulders and looked at Buck like he was being particularly stupid when he said that.

“Eddie’s not a mind reader, Buck! It sounds like he’s letting you take the lead here. He probably hasn’t said anything because you haven’t.”

And that… Well, with Eddie that would make a lot of sense. Eddie was overly cautious, even when Buck wished he wouldn’t be, to not hurt Buck. He only deepened their kisses when Buck initiated it. He only pushed when Buck pulled. He waited for Buck until Buck opened up to him and then he ravished Buck like he was thanking him.

Maddie and Chimney came back flushed and out of breath but with grins on their faces that they couldn’t wipe off no matter how hard they tried. Every time one dimmed, the other would look and they’d be smiling again so brightly it was practically blinding.

Taylor, Maddie, and Chimney talked for a few minutes before Taylor excused herself and left Buck with the syrupy sweetness of Maddie and Chimney finishing each other’s sentences and laughing at inside jokes Buck didn’t quite get. 

You know, like a couple.

And it was something Buck wanted more than anything in the world.

Buck excused himself to the bathroom but headed for the back door instead to get some fresh air. It was a mistake because the alleyway smelled like trash and wet cat from the rain they’d had on and off all day but it was enough. The wind curled around his neck and tried to soothe the ache in his chest as he realized just how much he wanted what Chim and Maddie— obliviously— had. He wanted the shared looks and the sneaking laughs. He wanted to be held by someone and told he mattered enough to stick around for. He wanted—

He wanted that with Eddie.

But the question was: did Eddie want that with him? Eddie’s life was infinite and Buck was… Buck was just a firefighter wind witch who was destined to fail no matter what.

But then why would Eddie stick around for the moments that he had.

The door slammed open with a bang and Buck jumped about a mile as the wind bristled around him.

“Hello, pretty thing.” The man from before stood in front of Buck with an ugly catch in his smirk that shadowed his face with two friends beside him.

A wall of muscle and strength stood between Buck and the door.

Shit.

Buck took a step back as the trio invaded his space and circled around him before he could even blink.

“I knew you would come around,” the man said as he reached up to touch Buck’s face but Buck reared back before he could.

“I-I don’t want any trouble,” Buck said before he yelped when hands grabbed his arms and held him still. Buck twisted and pulled, trying to yank his arms free, but their grips turned bruising with a squeeze.

The man’s hand clapped onto Buck’s jaw and lifted his head high with a yank that had Buck’s wind surging and stroking his newfound fire magic in his chest until he was hot all over. But Buck bit down on his lip and forced it back down with a shudder. He couldn’t afford to lose control of his magic and he certainly couldn’t expose himself to humans.

But the lick of fear that tightened in his chest as the man stroked his thumb along Buck’s lip was burning away all rational thought in his head.

“Get off of me!” Buck bit out as he tried to jerk free and those fingers on his jaw tightened until his lips were smooshed together.

“If you’d taken me up on my offer then maybe I would’ve been sweeter,” the man said before he pulled on Buck’s face and smashed his lips over Buck’s mouth. A tongue darted into his mouth before he could stop it and Buck bit down hard on whatever he could get until he tasted blood.

The man broke away with a shout and slapped Buck across the face with the back of his knuckles hard enough for Buck to see stars. Before Buck could even blink, he was slammed face first into the wall and pinned there with an unforgiving press of hands. The brick wall ground into Buck’s cheek and Buck cried out at the break of skin but it wasn’t enough. He kicked and thrashed and tried to scream as a hand grabbed the back of his belt to yank his hips back and then—

A growl.

The lowest, most dangerous growl Buck had ever heard. The sound sent a chill down Buck’s spine as goosebumps erupted across his skin. The wind froze, torn between hope and the urgent instinct to run.

“Get the fuck off of him.” It wasn’t a request. It was a demand and one with the promise of deathly consequences if they didn’t do as he said.

“Ed-die?” Buck gasped as he withered against the pin and another growl ripped through the air loud enough to be a snarl. One hand let Buck go but his one arm was useless when he was pressed so harshly against the wall.

“Mind your own business, man!” The man behind Buck hissed before he let go of Buck’s belt only to push at the back Buck’s neck in a brutal claim.

Buck whined as the tight hand clamped hard enough to bruise.

That was all Buck could do before something like a feral animal snarled behind him and suddenly the hands were gone. Buck’s knees gave out and he fell into a heap as the wind rattled around him. More growls and screaming were drowned out by the ringing in Buck’s ears as he curled his legs up to his chest and held them tight while he tried to catch his breath. The ground was filthy but Buck was shaking too much to even consider pushing himself up off the ground. Someone tried to run and tripped over a garbage can and Buck flinched like it’d been a gunshot. He covered his ears and tried to get his racing heart under control but it felt like it was trying to slam through his throat to run away too. His magic burned in his chest, demanding to be let out to seek retribution but he muscled it back, and tried to control his breathing.

“Buck? Buck!” Firm hands that Buck would know anywhere settled over his shoulders but he tried to shrink away with a whimper before he could help it. “Buck. Hey… C’mere. It’s me. They’re gone. It’s okay. It’s just me.”

Buck forced out a sharp breath from between his teeth and let Eddie pull him into the safe space of his chest where he could tuck his face into the hollow of Eddie’s neck. Strong arms curled around him and held him through all the earth shattering trembles that took over his frame as adrenaline and unfiltered fear shot through him.

“Eddie?” Buck asked again like he couldn’t really believe Eddie was there.

Firm lips brushed against Buck’s temple as Eddie kissed him before he nuzzled his cheek into Buck’s hair.

“It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here.”

Buck didn’t feel real again until after he showered. Eddie had all but bundled him into his truck with a hasty text to Maddie and Chim that Buck was heading home and Buck had been clinging onto his hand as his heart and his magic struggled to fall down into a restful rhythm again.

Buck had scrubbed until he was pink all over and the smell of trash and beer was gone from his nose. The clothes left for him were warm from the dryer and folded with military precision that Buck would’ve found endearing if he still didn’t feel just on the wrong side of raw. But he was warm and he was fine and he needed to shake it off.

He didn’t bother with his hair even though he was sure his curls were going crazy on his head and when he came out of the safety of his bathroom, he found Eddie at the kitchen island with a beer and ice for his face waiting for him.

“Thanks,” Buck said, taking the ice and grimacing at the ache in his cheek. Eddie just stared at him with a wordless nod. “How did you find me?”

“Followed your scent,” Eddie said with a clip in his tone. “Realized when it was stronger that you must have gone outside but since I didn’t see you, I decided to check out back.”

Buck flushed as the embarrassed shame simmered in his chest. Eddie sounded mad.

“Sorry,” Buck said out of habit and if things couldn’t have gotten worse, Eddie looked even more annoyed when he did it.

But hang on…

“You were following me?”

Because why would Eddie have known where he was or when he went outside? He hadn’t told Eddie where he was going with Chim.

Eddie at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed as he turned his head to look away. “I wanted to make sure you were safe.”

Buck should’ve been annoyed that Eddie had been sneaking around but it was kind of adorable so he let it slide.

“Why?” Buck asked before he could help himself.

Eddie still wouldn’t look at him and he swallowed thickly like there was a fist lodged in his throat. “You know why.”

Buck’s whole body tingled all over at the unspoken meaning behind that and he blamed his shiver on the ice pressed against his cheek.

But wait. No. Because that was the whole problem Buck had in the first place.

“I don’t,” Buck said, feeling brave for all of a second before he wished he could’ve gone back to pretending. “I don’t know why.”

Eddie swung his head to stare at Buck with wide, open eyes that flashed with a vulnerable want before Eddie shoved it down and ducked his head again.

What did Taylor say? Eddie wasn’t a mind reader? Well, neither was Buck.

Buck lifted a hand and cradled Eddie’s check, nudging him to look at Buck again. Eddie nuzzled into his touch, leaning into his hand until Buck could feel the weight of his head in his palm.

“What do you want, Eddie?”

They’d been dancing around each other for months, colliding to create constellations before they separated again to orbit around one another. Buck suspected they were heading towards another constellation; towards a big bang that would change everything if they let it.

Eddie stared at Buck and Buck found himself bewitched under the weight of that stare. He wanted to lean into it, drown himself in it until nothing else mattered.

Eddie curled gentle fingers around Buck’s wrist and pulled it down so that his palm was facing up. The veins in his wrist stood pale and blue, pumping blood through his body that he was sure Eddie could hear.

Eddie stared down at it like he wanted. Wanted so desperately to taste. But instead, he leaned down and pressed his lips together to kiss at Buck’s pulse point. He let his mouth linger there, pushing as much meaning as he could as he closed his eyes with a blissed out sigh.

Buck’s heart pounded in his chest as time, as if often did when he was with Eddie, stood still.

He said it so softly Buck almost didn’t catch it. But it was there in the soft brush of his lips against Buck’s skin.

“You.”

So, Buck gave it to him. He grabbed onto Eddie’s hair and pulled him to him to slam his mouth over Eddie’s and kiss him like he’d always wanted to. He took and took and licked into Eddie’s mouth to taste him. Eddie responded in kind, slow and patient against Buck’s frenzied movements, as he wrapped his arms around Buck’s waist and pulled Buck to him.

Eddie stopped and canted his head, inhaling deeply at the side of Buck’s mouth, before a low possessive rumble rippled through Eddie’s lips and into Buck’s soul.

It took Buck a second too long to realize what Eddie must be smelling and he bleated out a soft sound when firm but gentle fingers grabbed hold of his jaw.

“T-Taylor,” Buck said, out of breath and slowly losing his mind as Eddie licked the corner of his mouth with his tongue. “She-She was there. Helped me when that guy kept trying to buy me a drink and…”

But Eddie must have heard enough because he slanted his mouth over Buck’s and kissed him so hard that Buck’s mouth tingled beneath the bruising weight.

They scrambled up the steps to Buck’s bed and fell in a heap of clothes being kicked off and hands searching to discover every inch of skin like it was the first time. Buck gasped as he felt Eddie’s fingers prod inside of him, stretching him open so he could take him, and Eddie moaned as he drank up the sound. Buck rocked back onto him and tipped his head to the side so Eddie’s face slipped into the hollow of his throat.

Some would say Buck was reckless; stupid even for baring his neck to a vampire like he was. Arching his head back like a wanton whore in a silent beg for Eddie to kiss him like that again. His lips on Buck’s pulse point. The suction of his kiss. The barest hints of teeth. The thrill sent a shiver down Buck’s spine as he keened, holding Eddie close even as he put himself in the path of his jaws. 

All it would take was one bite. One bite to end everything and send Eddie into a frenzy by the amount of magic in his blood. 

But Eddie kissed him, mouthing at the skin, and Buck felt something other than fear. It bloomed warm in his chest and spread out until it glowed beneath his skin and made Buck’s blood sing as it surged into his heart. 

It was trust. He trusted Eddie. With more things than Buck was pretty sure he even realized. The trust burned away the last of his doubts and sang in his magic. He could taste it on his tongue and when Eddie dipped his head to kiss Buck’s lips again, Buck wondered if he could taste it too. 

Eddie’s rumbling growl that paired with a vicious thrust had Buck crying out and saying that Buck’s suspicions could be true. He scrambled against the sheets for purchase, slapping his hand down as Eddie let the possessiveness turn brutal before Buck curled his hand around the back of his neck and pulled Eddie down towards him so he could drink his fill of the hitching gasps falling from Buck’s lips instead. Stars blinded Buck as Eddie railed into him with relentless precision and Eddie slipped his tongue against Buck when Buck let him in for more of a taste.

Buck may be a blip in time for Eddie but for Buck? Eddie was becoming a beginning, a middle, and an end for him. He didn’t plan on wasting another minute.

The witch that stared up at the ceiling with his throat and chest torn to shreds made the third witch to be killed in two months and it was just as gruesome as the first.

“He’s gone,” Hen confirmed and shook her head as she pulled her fingers away from his neck.

Buck understood the sentiment. He couldn’t have been much older than Buck and the frozen expression of horror on his face was like looking through a looking glass of the terror and pain he must have felt as he died.

“So, it’s true then. Someone’s killing witches?” Chimney asked, arching a brow up at Bobby who gave him a short tight lipped nod. Technically it was against the rules for Chimney to even know about their existence but he’d been raised by daemons when his mother passed away so that ship had already sailed. “But why though?”

Scattered crystals and a scrying bowl were lying as if someone had kicked them over in a rage. Sage, burnt paint, and drywall lingered in the moisture in the air. One of the witch’s candles and sage must have been kicked too and caught the curtains by the window on fire. A neighbor had seen and called 911, running in with a fire extinguisher from their kitchen, but it’d been too late to save anything of value.

Buck may not be in a coven and his relationship with other witches may be riddled with resentments and hurt feelings, but that didn’t mean he didn’t mourn the loss. It didn’t mean he didn’t feel the ache of the magic snuffed out too soon. It was swept away like smoke and left something hollow and aching in Buck’s chest.

Eddie sniffed the air and cocked his head to the side as he looked around.

“What is it, Eddie?” Athena asked. Eddie didn’t answer at first. He sniffed again, tilting his face up and spun around until he stopped on his heel.

“Garlic,” Eddie said with a frown on his face. It would’ve been funny, vampires and garlic was such a cliché, but Eddie was pensive as he sniffed again. “Rosemary and… roses? Like a perfume kind of fragrance and not the real thing.”

“Well, that’s not anything out of the ordinary for a witch,” Hen said as she packed up her bag.

Eddie shook his head though. “No, it’s not… It’s not in the house. It’s… “

He looked up and stared at the door as he sniffed again before he walked over to the small table where car keys and mail sat unopened.

“There.” Eddie pointed to a splinter in the doorframe where the neighbor had kicked it in. It was so small anyone would’ve missed it at first. But there, stuck in the shards of the door frame was a piece of black cloth.

Athena called over a couple of uniforms to watch it and the crew were escorted out of the house to avoid contaminating any more of the crime scene.

“You should reinforce your wards when you get home tonight,” Eddie said when they packed up the truck.

“Do I need to?” Buck asked with a teasing tilt of his head when Eddie frowned at him. “I assumed you’d be staking out my place every night until this guy got caught. You know you can just ask to stay over, right?”

If Eddie could blush Buck was almost certain his face would be bright red at being caught. Buck was half tempted to kiss that bashful look away where Eddie was ducking his head down but they were technically still on a call.

“I didn’t want to crowd you,” Eddie said in lieu of explanation.

“You? Being clingy? Edmundo “Followed Buck to a Bar and Waited in the Shadows to Swoop in and Save this Walking Disaster” Diaz? Never!” Hen drawled as she climbed up into the truck with Chimney following after her as he snickered.

Buck only felt slightly bad for letting it slip that the thing that got them official was Eddie being overprotective and a little creepy.

“Was I wrong though?” Eddie had argued when everyone had started teasing him without mercy for days afterwards.

“Doesn’t make it not creepy, babe.” Buck had snuck him a kiss before Bobby saw and made them wash the truck for PDA in the loft.

Buck glanced around and saw that for the most part they were alone. He fisted his hands in Eddie’s turnout coat and pulled him close. If Buck was feeling bold enough, he would’ve even called Eddie’s expression a pout.

“I’ll reinforce my wards and you can stay over if it’ll make you feel better,” Buck said with a teasing smile. “I like when you’re around.”

Eddie’s shoulders relaxed as he sighed with relief and he bit down on his lip to keep his smile small as he nodded. “Thank you.”

Buck leaned in for a quick peck against his lips before he let go and made his way into the truck.

“Buck, do you think you could reinforce Maddie’s?” Chimney asked as he strapped himself in. “I know she’s got her own and the security system but I’m taking her out tonight and I don’t—”

“I’ll ask her and I can stop by while you guys are out,” Buck said before Chimney got worked up. Buck had been planning on it anyway. He may not be as great at magic as Maddie but protective charms were a Buckley specialty. He could put up a ward in his sleep.

It was still kind of weird seeing Maddie and Chim dancing around each other and if Buck had to pick a guy for his sister, Chimney wouldn’t have been his first guess, even though he was a great guy. But then again, Buck didn’t pick him. Maddie did and for once, his sister was picking someone for herself.   

Maddie deserved to be happy. Chimney too. Chimney may not have been his first guess but even Buck couldn’t argue that they were kind of perfect for one another.

Chapter Text

Doug took her. Doug took Maddie. Doug took Maddie after Buck promised he’d protect her. He knew it. He knew it deep in his soul like he knew his own name and he didn’t care that no one else believed him because he didn’t have time. Not while Maddie was alone with Doug.

Buck shoved his fist against his face to wipe the stray tear that had fallen in his frustration as his spell came up short and left him with nothing more than some smoke and oil swirling in clumps in his scrying pool. He’d never been able to successfully read whatever signs magic conjured up, not like Maddie could, but he had to try because without that he had no idea where Maddie was or where to start looking for her.

“Buck…”

Buck shrugged off the hands on his shoulders and took the sage and rosemary again to start the spell. The magic felt disjointed and broken apart as it clouded his mind but he leaned into it and tried to search the haze for Maddie. Anything at all. Anything that could help find her. Maddie used to know where Buck was all the time. It used to drive Buck crazy as a kid because hiding from his sister was nearly impossible even when he didn’t want to be found. Just because he was a lousy witch didn’t mean he wasn’t one. He knew how to do it. He had magic. He just needed to push himself more. His headache was raging against his skull as he tried to bend his magic to work and the wind cooed at his neck as the frustration mounted more and more. He just needed—

“Buck!”

The spell splintered and Buck lost his concentration again.

“Damnit!” Buck snapped as he slammed his hands on the table, making the scrying pool ripple. “What Eddie?”

Eddie stared down at Buck with a flash of hurt and if Buck wasn’t going out of his mind, he would’ve felt bad for snapping. But the fact of the matter was, Maddie was gone, Chimney was in surgery, and Buck was no closer to finding his sister than he was before.

Three years! Three years he went without her in his life because of Doug and Buck had only just gotten her back. Three years without her bell of a laugh and the weight of her at his side and the singing of her blood as their magic intertwined together. They were supposed to have been a trio, a trinity of magic that the witch world hadn’t seen in centuries, and Buck had fucked it all up by being born at the wrong time. But that didn’t mean his magic and Maddie’s magic hadn’t been crafted in their hearts to complement each other. They braided together as a duo instead of a trio and now Buck was back to being a solo act and useless once again!

He had to find her! He promised her she’d be safe with him. He had to—

Buck turned back to his scrying pool and bit down hard on his lip as he tried to will his heartbeat to slow down. If he could just—

Eddie’s chest was a solid weight against Buck’s back as he reached down and curled his fingers around Buck’s wrists.

“Buck,” Eddie said softly in his ear. So softly that it almost broke Buck in two. Buck tried to fight him but Eddie just gently pulled Buck’s hands to his chest. “You need to take a break.”

“I can’t—” Buck shuddered as he forced down a sob. “I can’t, Eddie! She’s out there and I can’t… I can’t feel her and if I can’t feel her then she could already be—”

Even when they hadn’t been speaking, Buck had felt the pulse of Maddie’s magic in his heart. It’d been his comfort when the nights were lonely and he missed her more than he thought imaginable. It’d kept him going when he wanted to quit. But now he couldn’t feel her and nothing was working!

“Doug probably has a cloaking hex on her. You said so yourself.” Buck shook his head as he tried to pull away and Eddie held firm. “You can’t help her if you burn yourself out trying to break through this spell on your own, Buck.”

Eddie was right. Buck knew that. But he couldn’t just sit around and do nothing while Maddie was hurting!

“I told Maddie… I said that she didn’t need to keep on running, that she could start over here, that she would be safe. That I would keep her safe.”

“This isn’t your fault.” Buck shivered beneath the brush of Eddie’s lips against his skin and Buck wanted to take comfort in his reassurance. But the problem was, he didn’t believe him. “What if she had kept running? You think he wouldn’t have found her? Only then, she’d be alone.”

“She’s alone now… with him.” And it was taking everything in Buck not to scream.

Eddie stiffened and Buck jolted as his front door was slammed open without ceremony. Well, not slammed but more like it’d been opened with a purpose that made Buck want to duck his head down as he braced to be yelled at again.

“I spoke to Detective Marks,” Athena said as she stormed into Buck’s loft where he’d been banished to after sneaking Chimney’s fingerprint to open his phone. Bobby followed behind her looking equally unimpressed. Eddie pulled away and Buck wished he wouldn’t have because now he felt like he was close to shattering. ”He’s not happy with you. You broke the chain of custody.  You unlocked Chimney’s phone without his permission. Marks can’t use any of it.”

“I’m sorry,” Buck said even though he would do it again in a heartbeat. “Okay? I was trying to help.”

Athena pressed her lips together as she took in Buck’s mess on his countertop before she hummed and then held out her hands.

“Come on,” she said, flexing her fingers as she lifted up her palms. Buck stared at her hesitantly before he realized what she meant.

“But you don’t—”

“I may not have the sight but I have magic in my blood same as you. Now come on and let's see if we can find a clue where to start looking while I have a friend do me a favor and track Doug’s phone.”

“I thought you said we couldn’t use the phone.”

“I said Marks can’t use it.” Athena stressed. “This isn’t my case. I’m just a concerned friend of the victim. Now give me your hands and do the spell, Buckaroo.”

Buck sucked in a breath and held it tight in his chest as he lit his sage and smudged the pool before he took Athena’s hands. 

The effect was instantaneous. Athena’s magic made Buck turn into high definition. The sharp piercing ache in his skull screamed at him, not used to using that much energy at once, but Buck ignored it as he tried to focus. The smoke in the pool swirled as Buck’s magic stirred the water but the fog remained unclear all the same.

“Concentrate on the water, Buck,” Bobby said, calm and a million miles away as Buck got lost in the dense fog. “Focus on the reflection.”

The reflection. Buck looked down as he stared at the waves of the water.

“Maddie’s a part of you… Doug may have put a cloaking hex on her but he didn’t on you. Focus on the strand of Maddie’s magic.”

Buck saw it in the distance. A star where Maddie’s strand was knotted with Buck’s. But Maddie’s was weaker, dimmer, and Buck didn’t know how to touch it without breaking it.

Buck felt the salt of Maddie’s tears on his face. The bitterness at the back of his throat.

“You must think I’m an idiot.”

“I think you’re a monster. I don’t think you’re…”

Buck’s fire flashed in his chest as the fear overrode the pain of the hand in his hair.

“She’s in pain,” Buck whispered and Athena’s thumbs swept across his wrists.

“She’s strong, Buck. Just keep looking.”

“I’m not going to run, Doug. You got me.”

“Maddie…”

Buck’s heart skipped a beat at the hitch in Maddie’s breath. He felt it in his throat, lodging against the knot of fear trapping the air. Buck panicked and sucked in a breath. The fog thickened and Maddie slipped away.

“I’m losing it,” Buck said, the words tight in his throat as he shook his head. “I c-can’t—”

“Yes, you can. Just breathe.”

Buck followed Eddie’s instructions and dropped his chin to his sternum as another flare of magic lit up his senses. He followed the star of Maddie’s magic and pushed himself past the hazy cloak hiding her.

“—I saw signs for… for Big Bear a few miles back.”

Buck’s lungs seized in his chest as he gasped and the connection broke. He would’ve fallen off the barstool if Eddie hadn’t caught him and when Buck blinked his gaze back into focus, he saw Athena in a similar state with Bobby. She stared at him with wide eyes and a slant in her mouth that Buck didn’t know how to read.

“I knew Buckley magic was powerful,” Athena said as she shook her head. “But I didn’t realize it was that strong. You’ve been holding out on us, Buckaroo.”

Buck opened his mouth to correct her. To tell her that Buck’s magic was nothing to brag about. But then he remembered what Maddie said and his heart flipped in his chest as he scrambled to stand up.

“Big Bear! He’s taking her to Big Bear.”

Athena collected herself quickly, standing up on her own feet as she patted Bobby on the chest over his heart. “Let’s go.”

Buck all but tripped over his own feet as he moved to the door.

“Buck.” Buck rocked to a stop at Bobby’s voice and turned to find him and Eddie watching them go. “Here are the ground rules: You don’t leave her sight, you don’t lie, you don’t withhold any information from her, you don’t break the law, and you don’t do anything that’s going to force her into early retirement. You got it?”

“You got it, Cap.” Buck looked to see if Eddie had anything he wanted to add but Eddie just settled onto his heels with a nod.

“Be careful,” he said and Buck could’ve kissed him if he wasn’t already running out the door with Athena.

Bobby’s rules flew out the window the moment someone said they found blood and the wind caught a whisper of Maddie in the distance.

“Maddie! Maddie!” Buck’s throat was raw from the desperation ripping Maddie’s name from his chest as he sprinted across the walkway and down to the snow covered hiking trails where the blood got brighter and the air thinner.

The wind cut at Buck’s face as he ran through the snow. His foot skidded out from under him and Buck fell but his hand barely touched the snow before he was pushing himself up and following after his sister. He could feel her. He could feel her in his heart and on the wind as it curled around his neck and urged him on. Buck’s eyes watered with the stress and the cold and the way he kept them wide open as he scanned the trees and snow for Maddie.

“Maddie!”

Buck threw his arms out as his shoes skidded out from under him again as he ran down an incline but he jumped before he could fall and sprinted around a bend of trees.

There was so much blood in the air. Buck could smell it. He could taste it on the back of his tongue. He could feel it as his heart threatened to slam out of his chest as he scanned the open wilderness for any sign of her.

“Maddie!”

And then—

“Buck?”

Maddie swayed on her feet as she stumbled forward, her black clothes slick with blood and sweat, and Buck crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat.

“Buck!” She sobbed as her knees buckled and Buck slid down to catch her before she could fall. The wind whistled as the earth shook beneath them for just a moment as their magic was reunited but Buck didn’t give a shit. Maddie was alive. Fuck! She was alive! 

She was alive! She was alive! She was—

“I didn’t give up! I didn’t give up!”

Buck could’ve burst into tears as he dropped his nose into her hair and smelled her shampoo. Shampoo that was mixed with the copper tang of blood. Maddie wept as she clung to him and Buck held her just as tight.

Distantly he heard Athena on the radio but Buck didn’t want to let go. He wasn’t sure if Maddie would splinter apart if he did. But there was so much blood and Maddie was getting weaker even if her hysterics were hiccupping higher and higher into her throat.

“Are you okay? Where are you hurt? Where—” Buck’s hand swept across Maddie’s back and Maddie arched into him with a cry that pierced through Buck’s heart. “Your back? Let me see…”

Maddie shook her head but let Buck move her as he took in the tattered mess of her jacket on her back. He moved his fingers with a featherlight touch as he tried to find a wound and was met with something that made him nearly throw up. Maddie flinched when Buck’s fingers touched the raised welted burns on her back where Doug had used his magic to brand three stars in the sharp of an arrowhead at the small of Maddie’s back.

His insignia. He’d branded his sister with his fucking family insignia like she was a piece of cattle that got lost.

The fire in Buck’s magic burned hot in his blood and made the snow around them hiss as he inched the temperature up. A puddle leaked the chill of the water into Buck’s jeans as the snow melted and the ground smoldered and Buck was glaring at the treeline as he dared Doug to show his fucking face. Buck opened his mouth to call out to Athena, the only person in that moment he trusted Maddie with, but before Buck could Maddie grabbed onto his jacket and shivered into his chest.

“He’s dead,” Maddie croaked with a flatness that Buck didn’t like. “He wanted to take me with him but I wouldn’t let him. I didn’t give up. He’s gone. He’s dead.”

And then Maddie burst into tears and held onto Buck tight as she broke apart.

Chapter Text

Buck spent more time by Maddie’s side than he did alone and when he had those few moments to himself it was only to call his parents with the fleeting hope that they would show up for once for Maddie.

The phone call went about as well as Buck expected. They didn’t answer and Buck was forced to leave them a voicemail to let them know their asshole son-in-law was dead. 

They called Maddie back later for a phone call that lasted all of five minutes. 

They didn’t ask to speak to Buck.

Maddie deflected like she always did, wearing pants that hid the brand on her skin, and putting space between herself and the trauma creeping in the shadows. Buck tried to help by stepping in the middle but he couldn’t protect her from a memory no matter how hard he tried. Instead, he gave her something else to focus on and let her boss him around as he tried to get a grasp on his fire magic that burned hotter every day he ignored it. He couldn’t do more than a few sparks on his fingertips which Buck thought was kind of lame but if it got Maddie to smile the way she did when she saw his fingertips flicker then it was worth it.

It reminded Buck of being a kid again when he and Maddie would try to stimulate their magic in the backyard because they weren’t learning any of the cool stuff all the other kids were.

But as much as Buck didn’t want to leave Maddie’s side, he was starting to miss his boyfriend. Eddie had been patient and understanding, but Maddie was still skittish— even when she pretended not to be— and Eddie kept a respectful distance as Buck tended to her recovery, indulging Buck with a few morning make out sessions in the Jeep before they had to pull into the station for work. Eddie was indulging Buck in one of those morning make outs right before the shift from hell.

Buck’s legs were really too long to be folded up the way they were so he could fit himself on Eddie’s lap but even after a few months, Eddie was still being painfully obvious how careful he considered their positions. Buck always had room to move, to get away if he wanted and Buck definitely did not want. Not in the slightest. He wanted to spend hours kissing Eddie; to be boxed in by his strength and taken apart with only the possibility of being put back together again.

Buck shuddered out a gasp as Eddie’s tongue flicked his top lip before he captured Buck’s bottom lip between his own, rolling it as his hands drifted down the slope of Buck’s back. Deft fingers snuck into the waistline of his jeans and toyed with the elastic of his briefs. Buck moaned into the kiss. They couldn’t. Not in public even though the parking garage they’d driven into to sneak this moment of privacy in was all but deserted. They didn’t have time. Kids were coming to the station and Bobby always went a little crazy when the school talks happened. Buck could already imagine the disapproving eyebrow his swollen lips and messed up hair were going to get Buck when they strolled in for their shift.

But Buck couldn’t stop and neither could Eddie, it seemed, as he pushed his hand in all the way and kneaded the mound of flesh until Buck rocked against him.

He missed Eddie. Missed the time they got to spend alone together where they could talk about nothing and everything until Buck fell asleep with Eddie following behind him sometimes. Maddie kept insisting Buck could go back to his loft and that she didn’t want to move out of her apartment but Buck knew his sister. He knew when she wasn’t okay. That wild cagey glint flashed over her eyes every time she had heard a noise or had to walk past the stain on the entryway that they hadn’t been able to get out no matter how hard they scrubbed.

Buck was trying to get Maddie to move but that was going about as well as Buck trying to move a brick wall on his own. 

But Buck knew that Maddie would come back, she always did, and the space she was putting between herself and everyone would grow smaller. Buck was happy to wait for her. 

If Buck had to make do with hooking up in his car with Eddie like they were a couple of teenagers because Buck was sleeping on the air mattress in Maddie’s dining room then so be it.

Buck rolled his hips up in search of the perfect angle that would light up all his nerves like a Christmas tree and Eddie groaned into his mouth as Buck worked up a pace.

“Missed you,” Buck mumbled as Eddie pulled away so Buck could breathe. An impossible task if you asked Buck with the way Eddie kissed along the line of his jaw.

Buck bared his throat because a witch could dream in the hopes that Eddie would nestle his lips against the pale column of flesh and claim him. 

It was kind of ridiculous. Buck hadn’t been so obsessed with something as simple as a hickey since he was in high school. He loved marks but they were never at the top of his list of things he craved when he was in a position like the one he was in with Eddie, grinding up against him in the front seat of his Jeep. But the more Eddie deflected his lips, teased Buck with nothing but a nibble on his jaw, the more he ached for something he could carry with him. A hickey, beard burn, anything would do so long as it came from Eddie. 

Eddie’s fingers knotted in Buck’s hair and yanked him back, exposing his throat further as Eddie sat up and nosed the pulse point.

“You need to stop doing this, Buck,” Eddie said, low and dangerous even though Buck shivered beneath the brush of his lips against his throat.

Buck should be scared. Eddie could take him right there and drink him dry. But he wasn’t. He most definitely wasn’t. He was the opposite of scared. He was rock hard and wanting as he whined high in the back of his throat.

“Trust you.” Was all Buck could manage but Eddie just grumbled as he kissed the spot Buck wanted his mouth on more than anything in the world.

“You shouldn’t,” Eddie said and Buck didn’t have to see him to hear that edge in his voice he sometimes got. It was something guilt ridden and ashamed and not at all something that should be coating Eddie’s sweet melody. “You have no idea what you smell like.”

“Thought it was eucalyptus and cedar body wash.” Buck tried for a joke but Eddie let go of Buck’s hair to cup his chin. He tipped Buck’s head down, tucking his face so that the access to his throat was gone, and dragged his nose up until his mouth was slanted against Buck’s.

“You smell like honey,” Eddie said before he pecked a kiss against his lips. “Like honey heated by the sun. Like the first snow of the winter. Like a bonfire with something sweet in the smoke.”

Buck melted beneath the tease of Eddie’s lips and the warmth of his words. Eddie sounded like Buck was something to be reverent about. Like something worth… Like someone worth being loved.

Buck sucked in a breath as that realization settled into his chest and his heart flipped at the rightness of it all.

Eddie had to hear it. There was no way he didn’t hear the way Buck’s heartbeat stuttered. But if he did then he showed no sign of it. Eddie pulled his hand out of Buck’s pants and curled his arm around Buck’s waist as he sat up fully to kiss him once more, hard and firm so that Buck’s mouth would tingle for the rest of the day with the bruise before he finally pulled apart.

Buck stared at Eddie. Did he feel it too? He had to. Why else would he—

But the tight knot of fear lodged itself in Buck’s throat. The last time he started to feel this way, Abby had left.

Everyone always left.

But what he felt for Abby hadn’t even been a fraction of what he was feeling for Eddie. It made his stomach swoop in a way that almost made him sick. But his skin was magnetic to Eddie. He and Buck were polar opposites attracted to one another in a way that they shouldn’t be. Buck didn’t think he could pull away even if he wanted to.

It had a name. Buck just didn’t know if he was brave enough to say it.

“We need to get going or we’ll be late,” Eddie said as he reached up to thumb away the spit on Buck’s lip and Buck nodded mutely as he climbed over the console to get into the driver’s seat.

He was still throbbing in his pants and Eddie’s possessive hand on his thigh didn’t help. But Buck was too busy sinking in the feeling of what he knew to be certain and chewed on his lip as he tried to figure out what to do with it.

It took one heart stopping moment after Buck’s feet landed on the ground for him to realize that he was okay and that Eddie was climbing the side of the house steadily being consumed by smoke and fire to get to the roof.

“I feel like, if I ever did that, you would yell at me.”

Buck met Bobby’s stare with one of his own because it was true but the humor of the situation changed drastically when Eddie radioed that he was pinned down. Desperation clawed at Buck’s throat as the fire grew hotter and the smoke thicker with Eddie’s voice sounding weaker over the radio. He had to get in there! He had to help him. He couldn’t lose—

In a flash Buck could only watch as the impossible happened before he was being shoved under the firetruck as a plane flew overhead and water screamed as it fell from the sky.

“Take cover! Hurry! Everyone take cover!”

The height of the plane and the rate the tons of water would fall would be like willingly standing in front of a speeding train as it crashed into you and Eddie was still—

No, no that wasn’t supposed to be how it happened. Buck was supposed to go before Eddie. Buck was supposed to be the blip in time, not Eddie! It couldn’t be how it ended. Not when Buck was only just starting to realize—

The water crashed from above with a thunderous roar and Buck covered his head as the earth shuddered beneath him. The water fell for an eternity, slamming hard into the trucks that shook them on their wheels, and sprayed Buck in the face as it ricocheted off the pavement like knives on his skin. Someone was screaming and the roar of the plane engines was screeching but Buck couldn’t hear any of it over the ringing in his ears because Eddie was still out there!

Buck waited for Bobby’s all clear but only just barely before he followed after his captain to the entrance of the house and waited for Eddie to respond. The fire magic in Buck’s chest whimpered at the wet dampness in the air.

Buck saw Eddie’s boot first as he kicked the door open before he walked out with the kid in his arms. Buck sprinted across the walkway to him but Eddie bypassed him and Bobby to settle the kid down on the backboard and waited.

Waited as Hen rubbed the kid’s small chest.

Waited for that chest to rise.

Waited until Eddie could collapse on his heels in relief when that kid gasped out a cough before Eddie stood up with a stupid grin of his face that was covered in soot.

Buck had one moment to share in his relief that they were both alive.

Then Buck felt the hot curls of anger burn at his throat and he stormed away to finish up handling the mess of the cul-de-sac.

Eddie steered clear of Buck for the rest of the day. Hell, nearly everyone gave Buck space as they sensed his mood. Buck didn’t say a word to anyone as he ate dinner, shoving as much food in as he could so he could be finished, before he cleaned up the dishes and stomped off into the bunkroom. He took the bunk in the corner and curled his knees up to his chest in the hopes that he could will himself to sleep but it was no use.

All he could hear was the way the roof caved in when that water crashed into it. All he could see was the flames from the flashover shattering the glass of the windows. All he could taste was the cold, unbridled panic that Eddie had gone into that house and even considered leaving before Buck.

That wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Eddie didn’t get to come into his life and expect Buck to move on after he left it.

Buck gave up any thoughts of sleep and stared at the wall in the darkness of the bunkroom for another hour out of spite before he stood up and left for the loft.

Eddie was waiting for him with a cup of coffee in his hand and at that moment, Buck hated him a little bit. Hated how easily he’d gotten to know Buck that he could single out Buck’s heartbeat out of a house full of twenty other heartbeats.

Hated him because it hurt so much to think that he thought for one second Buck would be okay without him.

Hated him because he couldn’t. Hate him that was. Because hating Eddie was hating his own heart, his own soul, and Buck didn’t know how to do that without hating himself.

“Are you done giving me the cold shoulder?” Eddie asked as he held out the coffee.

Buck didn’t take it. It was childish but he didn’t care.

“I love you,” Buck said and kept the kitchen counter between him and Eddie as he said it.

Eddie sucked in a breath as his eyes widened, his mouth going slack with the shock, and it would’ve been so fucking adorable if Buck wasn’t so pissed off!

“Buck—”

“You don’t get to do that,” Buck said, cutting Eddie off. “You don’t get to do that to me.”

His voice cracked and with it came a rush of emotions he’d tried to stomach back down. He curled his arms around himself to keep himself from splintering apart.

“I love you and I almost didn’t get to tell you that because I only just figured it out this morning. I know I’m just a blip in time for you, Eddie but you don’t get to go before me. That’s not— I can’t…”

Eddie swooped around the counter and Buck backed up to put more distance between them but he couldn’t fight Eddie as his palms lifted up to cradle his face. Buck couldn’t look at him or he would break and he kept his eyes firmly fixed to the floor.

“Hey,” Eddie said, his voice low and rough from the smoke still. “Hey, look at me.”

Eddie ducked down to catch his gaze and Buck swooned beneath the firm press of his thumb on his cheek.

“Baby,” Eddie pleaded and Buck almost whimpered beneath the balm of the pet name. “You are more than just a blip for me.”

Buck sucked on his bottom lip and rolled it between his teeth as he shook his head. But Eddie held his face still and leaned into Buck’s space until his hips were trapped between the counter and Eddie. He pressed Buck in, letting him feel the weight of him, and held him.

“Hey,” Eddie said and Buck met his gaze finally. He got lost in the sea of browns that sparkled with flecks of green in the sunlight. At the openness of Eddie’s expression that softened with the vulnerability like he ached. “You are not a blip to me. You’re… Everything.”

Buck didn’t think he remembered how to breathe as he watched the way Eddie’s eyes went glassy and his lip went stiff.

“You’re my everything. I love you so much it hurts. And the thought of hurting you in anyway—”

“You won’t,” Buck cut in as he curled his fingers in Eddie’s belt loops and pulled him closer. He knew Eddie hesitated and he knew it was because of Buck but Buck didn’t know how else to tell Eddie that he trusted him. Completely and undoubtedly.

“But I might.” Eddie argued. “I’m a creature, Buck.”

Buck shook his head, firm in this belief. “Not to me.”

“Your blood sings to me.” Eddie pleaded with him and Buck arched his head back to bare his throat again.

“Then take it.” Buck pulled away and yanked the collar of his shirt down so Eddie would have more room. “Take it. If it means you staying then take it. Please, Eddie. Take whatever—”

Buck’s breath hitched in the back of his throat and Eddie shushed him as he leaned in to press his forehead against Buck’s. The swell of tears rushed before he could stop them and Buck squeezed his eyes shut as a few slipped out.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie said as he nosed Buck’s cheek and swept the tears away with his thumb. “When that ladder broke and you almost fell, I just did what I had to, to keep you all safe. I was just doing the job.”

“I don’t care,” Buck said and he knew he was being unreasonable but he didn’t care. Not when it came to Eddie. “Please don’t leave me.”

When he met Eddie, Buck’s life was still so empty. He had the team and his job but he was adrift as he always was. But then Maddie and Eddie came and it was like his heart was too full to fit in his chest anymore. He couldn’t go back to that emptiness. He couldn’t go back. 

Eddie curled his hands to cup Buck’s face. “There’s no place in this world I would rather be than by your side, Buck.”

And then Eddie surged forward and captured Buck’s lips in a searing kiss that made him tremble all over. Searing in the scorch of the promise within it. That Eddie meant every word and he wanted Buck to know it.

Chapter Text

Something released in Eddie after Buck sort of yelled a love confession at him. It was like… Eddie had finally given himself permission somehow. Interspecies relationships used to be forbidden and witches and vampires looked at each other more as enemies than prospects now more than anything. Bigotry grew like weeds wherever there was life and Buck knew even his own parents would’ve given him a thinly concealed sneer for dating a vampire but Buck didn’t care. And he thought maybe Eddie was starting to not care as well.

He initiated things more. Eddie had always been passionate, burning a desire deep in Buck’s gut every time he so much as looked at him, but now he was more… Affectionate seemed like such a mundane word but it was true. He took Buck’s hand whenever he could. He kissed him everywhere; his head, his cheek, and the pulse point at his wrist that made Buck shiver all over. He petted Buck’s hair and massaged his temples when Buck got a headache from trying to practice his fire magic. He brought Buck coffee when they didn’t come into shift together and put up with the teasing offense from everyone else when he didn’t bring them any.

Before, it’d been like Eddie had just been biding his time and enjoying the moment as they came. But now it was like Eddie had finally allowed himself to plant roots and live his own life in LA.

Buck never said it but he had a feeling the delay had more to do with Ramon and his family in El Paso than Eddie would ever admit.

They went out on dates too. Real, normal dates where Eddie opened the door and Buck rolled his eyes even though something warm settled over his chest for the rest of the evening.

They were on one that night or at least, supposed to be before Hen and Karen and then Chim and Maddie decided to join. The bar was loud in a way that didn’t make Buck’s head throb but thumped an anticipation of a good time in their hearts. There was good beer, good food, and even a good selection of karaoke music that didn’t make everyone groan when a group of drunk girls decided to sing Spice Girls. Maddie and Chimney were giving the bar an encore with Karen and Hen cheering with deep fried green beans pinched between their fingers as they waved them like they were lighters.

Buck bit his lip as he watched the hope die from Eddie’s expression as his stripe ball knocked the eight ball right into the corner pocket.

“I still don’t understand how you can be so old and so bad at pool,” Buck said as he reached for the eight ball and put it back onto the table.

If they restarted every time Eddie scratched then they never would finish a game.

“I was a little busy.” Eddie grumbled, a pout puckering his lips as he glared at the eight ball.

“Yeah, busy sucking a pool.” Buck quipped. 

Buck didn’t get far before Eddie’s arm was curling around his middle and catching him in his embrace. Buck’s thighs hit the edge of the pool table as Eddie boxed him in, caging Buck with his arms.

Eddie was doing that more too and Buck certainly didn’t mind.

“You think you’re cute, huh?” Eddie’s smirk told Buck that Eddie was all bark and no bite but Buck liked pushing his luck a little.

“Well, you seem to think so.” Buck batted his eyes lashes and gave Eddie a smirk of his own. One that Eddie promptly kissed away as he leaned up to press his lips against Buck’s.

Yeah, he could get used to that.

Eddie dashed Buck’s bottom lip with his tongue, pressing his thigh in between Buck’s legs as he arched forward so Buck’s weight was in his hips to keep his balance. He curled his arms around Eddie’s shoulders, holding onto him for dear life as Eddie kissed him senseless, and stuttered out a gasp when Eddie teased him with a flick of his tongue. Eddie had a whole repertoire of kisses that could work out a symphony of responses from Buck. Kisses that made him hot all over and kisses that made him shiver. Kisses that were silly and sweet and kisses that had Buck breathless as he held on as Eddie took him apart.

That kiss was a combination. One that had Buck shivering beneath the heat as Eddie rolled them in a way that had Buck scrambling to hold on. His lips were firm and supple beneath Buck’s and sliding against Buck’s mouth as he braced his thigh for Buck to grind against him with a needy whine. Buck was just about to suggest they lovingly ditch their friends for somewhere more private when it happened. 

Eddie stiffened beneath him and for one heart stopping moment Buck thought he’d done something wrong. For one sharp flash of a lightning strike the panic set in of Too much…Too needy.  

But then Buck heard it; felt it on his lips. The dark low rumble of a growl in the back of Eddie’s throat. Something dark and dangerous that shook down Buck’s spine and into his toes. The wind licked at Buck’s neck in warning before Eddie spun Buck around and put him behind him.

Buck had two inches easily on Eddie but in that moment, when Eddie’s hackles were raised, Eddie practically towered over him.

“Diaz!”

Buck watched as Eddie’s shoulders bunched up at the use of his last name before they eased a little. Not a lot. The tension still rippled off Eddie in a way that anyone who knew him would sense.

“Martinez?”

Martinez was a tank of a man with muscles that went on for days and settled nicely on straight shoulders and an even straighter back. Premature salt and pepper hair was cropped short with a precision that screamed military but with a smile that was warm as it disappeared into a pair of twin dimples. He laughed as he slapped a hand in Eddie’s and pulled Eddie in for a quick hug and Buck could only watch as the motion made his biceps bulge in the confines of his worn flannel. He could’ve been a bodybuilder by the bulk packed into even his forearms. Seriously, Buck didn’t even know how he got muscle definition in some places where his shirt clung to the ridges of his chest.

“What are you doing here, man?” Eddie asked as he held Martinez out at arm’s length and Buck was absolutely not jealous at the ease the two seemed to have with one another.

Buck shifted from one foot to the other.

“Didn’t Ramon tell you? I—” Martinez stopped as he caught Buck’s movement and Buck felt the cold familiar caress on his skin.

A vampire.

Martinez's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before they narrowed and the cold caress turned sharp like a knife. The hair on the back of Buck’s neck stood tall and his magic made his fingers twitch. 

“A witch?” Martinez could’ve spit and the sentiment would’ve been the same. He jerked his gaze from Buck to Eddie and back to Buck again. “Seriously?”

Buck felt Eddie settle back onto his heel so he was in front of him again and Buck curled a hand into the back Eddie’s shirt before he did something stupid like fight his friend just because he looked at Buck like he was the scum of the earth.

Martinez leaned forward and sniffed Eddie, his face screwing up at whatever he found.

“Jesus, Eddie, you reek of him. Does Ramon know about this?”

Buck had heard worse but there was something about this being Eddie’s friend that made his skin itch.

“I can go—”

Eddie may have finally started to plant roots but Buck didn’t want him cutting himself off completely from his family. He knew what that was like. He knew the loneliness that took hold of your heart when the silence on the other end of the line only stretched until you couldn’t remember what the other side looked like.

Buck stepped to the side with the intentions of retreating to Karen and Hen but the movement made a sharp glint flash over Martinez as he bared his teeth, a growl rumbling deep in his chest.

Eddie stepped in front of Buck again and did the same.

“Don’t.” Eddie barked in a way that made Buck flinch at the sound.

But Martinez ignored Eddie and snarled at Buck as he stepped forward. “You bewitch him or something, you pathetic little—”

“I said don’t !” Buck jumped back as Eddie grabbed the front of Martinez’s throat and pinned him against one of the stone pillars hard enough that even Buck’s own teeth rattled. Martinez struggled but Eddie’s hand held firm as he leaned up into his space with another possessive rumble. “Don’t speak to him like that.”

People were staring. Wide eyes were pointed in their direction as Eddie growled a low dangerous sound that was only just held back by the way Eddie had his lips clamped over his teeth.

“Eddie—” Buck said, sounding a little breathless as his skin began to crawl at the attention. “Eddie, let him go.”

Buck cut a glance over at their friends who were staring too but were too far away to intervene without bringing more attention.

Eddie snarled once, something low and territorial that Buck would’ve almost thought he was looking at a wolf instead of his boyfriend, before he let Martinez go with a flick of his shirt. Martinez looked between Buck and Eddie with his gaze lingering a little too long on Buck for it to be comfortable before he sat back on his heels and held his hands up.

The tension that was thick as humidity between them leveled out to something manageable and most of their audience turned away when it looked like there wasn’t going to be a fight. But Buck could sense Martinez’s repulsion of his presence as if he was being licked with it.

Buck was making things worse.

Buck stepped back and put his pool stick onto the table. “I’ll go.”

“No,” Martinez snapped. “You stay.”

Buck bristled at the order like he was a dog but bit down hard on his cheek to keep from saying something. Eddie stepped in front of him again like a sentinel guard taking post.

“He should hear this anyway. Will save me a trip to the local coven leaders,” Martinez said and Buck didn’t bother correcting him. “Someone’s been infected with blood rage and killing witches.”

Thank fuck for the music to wash out the bluntness in Martinez’s drawl.

“So, it’s confirmed then.”

Martinez nodded once with one small jerk. Buck sucked in a breath and held it tight in his chest.

It wasn’t anything they didn’t already know but the confirmation felt swift and final with a single swing all the same. Someone was out there hunting down witches and tearing them apart with their teeth like they were sport.

“The congregation sent me to investigate. They think they’re young. Not even half a decade old. I’ll either take them back so they can answer for their crimes or eliminate them if they’re a threat.”

“Four dead witches seems like a threat.” Buck couldn’t help but say with a bitterness that was generational.

Witches more than any other species had paid the price for the violence and unkempt rage of others. They were looked at with suspicion and tortured simply for the crime of having a witches’ mark on their skin. Scotland, Salem, the Crusades, and so many others had been a frenzy stirred up by bigotry and sexism that had almost decimated the population without a care in the world if someone was a witch or not.

Martinez stared hard at Buck with a look that would’ve pinned him to the spot and he forced himself not to drop into a crouch underneath it.

“Five.”

It took Buck a second to realize he’d been correcting him and his stomach bottomed out with the realization.

“Five witches?” 

Martinez grunted before he flicked his attention back to Eddie. “I heard you were in town and thought I’d ask if you wanted to join. You and Jeremiah.”

Eddie went stock still at that name but Martinez softened as he nodded, a small smile dipping his dimple again.

“He’s been jumping up and down the West Coast. I’m sure he’d love to see you,” Martinez said and Buck… Buck was stuck on the fact that he said it like an encouragement. Like a reassurance instead of a threat. Like that was something he thought would make Eddie happy.

Eddie’s face flickered with expression Buck couldn’t quite understand but it made something frail and weak inside him give a little.

No, he did understand. He’d seen it before. It was a flicker of recognition. Of something that brought back good memories and warm feelings.

Buck dipped his head and fought against the urge to curl his arms around himself to protect his heart.

Eddie shook his head.

“Thanks for the offer but I’m good.”

Martinez’s smile stretched into a frown. “Ramon said—”

“I don’t know what my pops told you but I’m not interested. I’m living my own life.” Eddie cut him off with a flick of his hand in front of him.

Martinez’s eyes hardened as he jerked his chin in Buck’s direction.

“With this witch?”

Buck twitched under the lash of his tone that time and he glanced over at Maddie out of reflex. Memories of being looked at like he was cursed, watching as witches spat the ground in front of Buck’s parents, at the not even concealed wariness as they stared at him, stirred up in his mind and made the heat in his chest flush up into his throat with shame. Maddie’s mouth pinched as her gaze flickered between Martinez and Eddie then back to Buck as Chimney, Hen, and Karen held her back. The instinct to run to her, to throw himself into her arms and hide his face in her neck, was an old but familiar one and the only thing keeping Buck from doing that was the way one wrong move could’ve made Martinez strike. Buck was caught under the attention of a predator and he couldn’t get out even if he tried.

Witch. He said it in a way that made Buck feel cheap. Like he was nothing more than a passing fling. A blip in time. Buck had been those things before with plenty of people. Cheap. Fleeting. Buck had been enough phases for people that he had a kaleidoscope of shades. But that wasn’t what he had with Eddie, right?

Right?

Eddie loved him… Buck knew he loved Eddie. That mattered. Didn’t it?

But then Eddie’s knuckles brushed the back of his hand, pinky finger curling around Buck’s own, before Eddie was turning his hand and lacing his fingers with Buck’s.

“Yes.”

Buck’s heart jumped at the surety in Eddie’s voice; at the way there wasn’t even a tremble in the cadence as he said the simple confirmation.

He was making a declaration, one that would get back to his father, and didn’t care in the slightest.

Martinez sniffed and scrunched up his nose again as if he caught a bad smell before he nodded again.

“Suit yourself. See you around, Diaz,” he said before he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned on his heel.

Buck didn’t believe for one second that that was the end of it but when Martinez’s broad back disappeared through the doorway, Buck dropped into Eddie’s side as if all his strings had been cut. Air rushed past his lips that he didn’t even realize he’d been holding and Eddie simply moved him around until he could tuck Buck into his chest and hold him.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie said, his lips brushing against Buck’s hair as he curled his arms tight around him. “I’m sorry.”

Buck shook his head because he didn’t know what Eddie was apologizing for but it didn’t stop the way his heart was thundering in his chest as he fell down from the surge of adrenaline.

“Who the hell was that?” Karen’s voice cut through the lingering tension.

The footsteps as their friends circled around them made Buck twitch against Eddie and Eddie pulled him tighter until Buck was practically melted into his chest.

“Old army friend,” Eddie said, short and clipped.

Buck curled his hands into the soft fabric of Eddie’s shirt and tried to pull himself together. He felt bruised like Martinez had dragged him by his ankle and bashed him into every surface he could before dumping him at Eddie’s feet.

“We need to call Athena,” Eddie said and Buck sighed at the end of their date night.

With the news of another dead witch, Buck and Maddie practically fortified her place with wards that made Buck’s fingers ache and his head spin at the use of more magic than he was used to. Buck didn’t even pretend to be surprised when Eddie followed him up to his place and prowled the perimeter for any weak spots like a lion locked up in a cage.

Was that what it was like for someone like Eddie to be with someone like Buck? Trapped away from friends and family?

Eddie swung his gaze around with an adorable cant of his head as he stared at Buck before he was crossing the distance between them in three easy strides. Strong, nimble fingers reached up to cradle Buck’s face. Buck loved how every one of his nerve endings lit up when Eddie touched him, soft and gentle like Buck was something delicate and worth cherishing. He leaned into it as Eddie rubbed his thumb along Buck’s bottom lip until he released it from his teeth and blew out the tight coil of breath from his chest on a stutter when Eddie smoothed the pad of his finger over the abused skin, soothing away the sting.

“I’m sorry about Martinez,” Eddie said as he rubbed his thumb into light circles at the corner of Buck’s mouth until the tension slipped away. “He’s not…”

Eddie pushed out a sigh as he dropped his gaze and pressed his forehead against Buck’s.

“He’s not a bad guy. He’s just… ignorant. He likes when the world is colored in the lines. It makes it easier for him to understand given some of the shitty things we’ve seen together. I would say once you get to know him but… I don’t want you getting to know him. I don’t want him getting to know you .”

Buck’s breath hitched, caught in his throat. “Why?”

Buck was faced with two options. Option one was to consider what it looked like. Eddie had all but gotten into a fight about Buck, defensive and not answering any of his questions about his family knowing about Buck in Eddie’s life. Family, above all else to a vampire, was sacred. And despite his qualms, Eddie still talked about them with a fondness in his smile.

Buck less than two years before would’ve wilted beneath the appearance that Eddie was ashamed to be seen with him but that Buck didn’t know Eddie. He didn’t know the way it felt to be held like he was something worth holding. He didn’t know what it felt like to wake up pressed against Eddie’s side with his too slow heartbeats beating in his ear as Eddie played with his hair. He didn’t know what it was like to feel loved.

So, option two. There was something else. Something Eddie wasn’t telling him. Something Eddie was protecting him from and that was fine. Buck trusted Eddie more than nearly anyone else in the world. But he needed to know that it was option two. He needed Eddie to say it.

Eddie hummed consideringly before it fell from his lips with a laugh that almost sounded embarrassed? Eddie pulled away, curling his arms around himself. He did that sometimes when he needed distance and as much as Buck ached for his touch again, he didn’t follow.

“What do you know about vampire mates?” Eddie asked, his eyes fixed to the floor.

Buck shrugged even though the nerves of this conversation started to flutter in his chest like moths eating a hole. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his thighs and fell into his old defense. Deflect! Deflect! Deflect!

“You sure you’re not a werewolf?”

Eddie bit down on his lip as a hint of a smile peaked up into his cheeks and rolled his eyes at the old joke.

“I’m not a werewolf,” Eddie said before the humor in his expression slipped into something a little more considering as he tipped his head. “But there’s something wolves and vampires have in common.”

Buck held his breath as Eddie looked up at him and waited.

“We mate for life.”

The pit in Buck’s stomach swooped as it grew. He let out the breath he’d been holding and felt as it shuddered through him, taking with it his last grasps of resolve as he started to tremble. His heart quivered in his chest and Buck knew there was always a chance but he never…

Buck dropped his eyes down to his hands as they tangled in front of him and nodded.

“Jeremiah,” Buck said for Eddie putting the dots together that Buck had been ignoring since Martinez said that name. Eddie had a life before Buck. He should’ve known. It wasn’t—

Two fingers pressed underneath Buck’s chin and tilted his head up. The skin between Eddie’s brow was wrinkled with his furrow and the frown was… confused?

Confused instead of regretful.

Buck didn’t know what to do with confused.

“Jeremiah’s not my mate. He’s an ex but not my mate. Never my mate.” Eddie said and Buck’s breath hitched in his throat again.

“He’s not?”

Eddie pressed his lips together as he shook his head.

“But then who—”

Eddie arched his brow.

Oh.

Oh that… that was a lot to take in.

Eddie was still staring at him and Buck kind of hated the hint of insecurity that was making Eddie’s chin dip down.

“Me?” Buck asked in case he was dreaming.

Eddie’s head bobbed in what Buck would call a nod mixed with a shrug if he was feeling generous.

“I think so…Yeah,” Eddie said, his voice sounding rough because putting his heartbeat into words wasn’t really his thing. But he was trying and Buck could see that so Buck met him in the middle. “I know it’s too soon and that’s okay but there’s just not going to be anyone else for muph —”

Eddie’s sound of surprise was quickly snuffed out by the weight of Buck’s lips against his own as he kissed his stupid, ridiculous, kind, sweet boyfriend silly for his own good.Eddie curled his arms around Buck’s waist and leaned up until Buck had to arch back where the countertop bumped up behind him. But then Eddie was pulling away and Buck wasn’t done kissing Eddie senseless. He nipped at Eddie’s lip and shivered beneath the growl that melted into a moan against Buck’s mouth. But Eddie was determined and he kept pulling away even when Buck chased after him.

“Buck, wait,” Eddie said before he pressed a quick peck to the tip of Buck's nose. “I need—”

Anything Eddie asked Buck would give to him. Anything at all.

Eddie rubbed a hand across his mouth and sighed as he dropped his gaze down to his shoes.

“I don’t want to rush things with you. I love you but in the grand scheme of your time we haven’t even known each for even a year. It… I didn’t… I didn’t tell you because I want…” Eddie scowled as he blinked back his frustration. “I don’t know how to say this.”

Buck lifted his hands and cradled Eddie’s cheeks. Eddie closed his eyes with a sigh that made Buck’s pulse point on his wrist stutter.

“Talk to me. Just me,” Buck said and Eddie’s eyes went soft as they looked up at him. “Talk to me. Not your family or your friends or whoever. Just you and me right now.”

“I love you,” Eddie said without a second of hesitation and Buck’s heart jumped again, the way he suspected, it was always going to when hearing those words from Eddie. “So much. More than what makes sense but I… I don’t want you to have to settle for me just because of my feelings.”

Buck frowned. “Who said I was settling for you?”

Eddie may be the one with the growl and the teeth but Buck wasn’t above hexing someone for making Eddie feel like he was anything less than perfect for Buck. Eddie shook his head and he kissed Buck’s palm.

“No one. But I drag people down and the last thing I want is to do that to you.”

Buck’s frown deepened.

“Who said that to you?” The wind rattled outside Buck’s windows as the hot surge of anger zipped up Buck’s spine.

“It doesn’t matter—”

“It most definitely does.”

“Buck—”

“ Eddie! ” Buck pressed into Eddie’s cheeks until his lips puckered a little and he may be pissed off at whoever said that to Eddie but he was also weak willed. He leaned in to kiss him and then kissed him again so Eddie got the point before he held him away so he could look at him.

Really looked at him and saw all the things Eddie kept hidden beneath a lock and key that only Buck seemed to know how to open. All the vulnerable things that softened his mouth and swam in his eyes. Hope, uncertainty, and a deep seated fear of breaking apart where anyone could see.

“Eddie,” Buck said again. “I have been told my entire life how much of a disappointment I am.”

Eddie opened his mouth to protest, to defend and protect Buck like he always did but it was Buck’s turn.

“No, just let me—” Buck curled his fingers over Eddie’s mouth and felt a warmth blossom at his palm when Eddie kissed it. Then he licked it because Eddie was a menace . “Gross! No, don’t distract me, let me finish.”

Eddie’s grin tightened a little when Buck didn’t let him sidetrack him and maybe Buck wasn’t the only one with the inclination to deflect when he felt like he was under a microscope. Buck blew out a sigh and tried to muster up the truths that had been hard to swallow over the years.

“I’ve never been enough for anyone except for maybe Maddie. I’m the product of a failed prophecy and I know ,” Buck stressed when he saw Eddie seize up to argue. “I know you don’t think they’re real but no one had ever said that before until I met you. No one… ever told me that I was anything more than that before either. And the crazy thing is… when you say it? I believe you.”

Buck shrugged because he didn’t know why that was the case either but it was true.

“You don’t drag me down, Eddie. You lift me up. But I won’t let you drown yourself to keep doing that.” Eddie’s brows knitted together in a furrow as he frowned and Buck would bet money that if he let him, Eddie would drown himself in a heartbeat for Buck. But if Eddie thought for one second that Buck wouldn’t drown himself swimming down to catch him too then he was dreaming. He let Eddie’s face go to cup his throat and pressed his thumbs into the bolt of his jaw where any last of the lingering tension resided. “And maybe you’re right and I’m not ready yet to be ‘mates for life’ committed just yet… But I’m committed to you and us all the way.”

The smile that gently cut across Eddie’s face, startled out of him by Buck’s admission, was breathtaking.

“Yeah?” Eddie asked, quiet like it was a wish he was letting go in secret.

“Yeah.” Buck nodded and pulled Eddie close so he could kiss any other doubts away. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Eddie said with a rumble in his chest before he took Buck apart and put him back together again.

And it was something Eddie would say over and over again when Buck slipped into shock a few weeks later.

Chapter Text

Buck felt the spark in his blood at the inception before the ladder truck rocked beneath him in the heat of the explosion.

Then nothing but pain. Blinding, breathtaking pain that left Buck gasping into the hot pavement beneath his cheek as he tried to claw his way back to center. The wind whistled in his ear, begging him to get up, while the fire in his chest wept at the oversaturation of heat it absorbed to save him from being burnt.

Glass crunched as it fell, shattering onto his legs, and adding just enough pressure for Buck’s body to scream at him. Buck grunted out a cry but his lungs were still trying to get used to pumping oxygen in them again and the cry fell onto his lips with a dribble of blood and spit.

Move… Move! Danger! Move!

The wind licked at his cheek and Buck pressed his hand into the ground only for his strength to give out at his elbow.

Move!

Buck gasped as his vision swam and the slow scoff of footsteps filled over the thundering of his heart roaring in his ears.

Move!

Buck felt it on his neck. The cold creeping sensation up his spine as his senses screamed danger danger danger!

A vampire.

One that was walking towards Buck with a bored drag of his boots on the concrete.

Buck’s vision cleared if only barely though the involuntary tears and streaming blood coating his face as he looked up. He couldn’t have been older than twenty with permanently young features and baby soft brown hair as he stared down at Buck and cocked his head to the side.

“You’re new.”

Buck caught the twitch of the cable in his hand with the movement, a cable attached to a bomb strapped to the vampire’s chest, and his magic puffed in his chest at the prospect of the flicker.

The vampire frowned for a moment before he sniffed the air and shuddered on the exhale as his mouth parted. He looked like he was lost in ecstasy.

“And a witch too.” The vampire grinned. “Lucky me.”

“Buck!”

Buck’s heart leapt up into his throat at the familiar voice and a whimper slipped out before he could help it.

Eddie.

The vampire with the bomb turned on his heel and held up the dead man’s trigger with the stiffness of a threat.

“Don’t!” Buck couldn’t see them where he was but he could hear the way their boots skidded to a stop. He could feel the wind shift at the abrupt halt to their moment. “One step closer and I’ll blow him and the rest of these firefighters up.”

Buck heard the groans of the rest of the crew scattered across the pavement as sirens pierced through the air but he couldn’t summon the energy to lift his head up to see.

The young vampire sucked in his spit between his teeth with a tsk.

“So, a witch, a vampire, a human, and a daemon. Nash has a full set, doesn’t he? But you?” Buck yelped as the vampire knelt down and snatched Buck’s hair with a fist, arching him up high enough so he could tuck his face into the curve of Buck’s neck as he inhaled. “You smell incredible.”

Buck cried out as he clawed at the ground as he was lifted up, putting pressure on his back and sending a wave of agony up and down his leg. Buck choked on his own scream as it fell into keen. The vampire ignored Buck or, more specifically, drank in the sound of his cries as the pain ratcheted higher and higher until he couldn’t stand it. A purring growl rumbled from the back of his throat, cooing Buck as the tears he didn’t have a chance of holding back cascaded down his face.

“Nothing like those other witches I drank from,” the vampire said as he continued to dig his nose into Buck’s neck. It wasn’t even threatening the way he sniffed and prodded. But the angle was baring Buck’s throat and forcing him to shift where he could feel his bones grinding together in his leg that almost made him vomit onto the pavement. “Why is that?”

Buck had no idea but Buck couldn’t even string together a single thought let alone find a response that would make sense. All he could focus on was the pain that rippled from his toes to the top of his head. All he could hear was the way every one of his nerve endings were screaming at him. All he could feel was the breathlessness in his lungs and the heat that was making his heart pound in his chest as it threatened to rip him in two.

The wind howled as it rushed through the buildings of downtown LA in a sorrowful wail.

        “Let him go!”

  “Let me see your hands!

          “LAPD, show me your hands!”

“Step away from the firefighter!”

Buck cried out as the vampire forced him back down with a hand on the back of his neck, pinning him to the pavement, as he growled.

“Stay back!” He shouted as he stepped over Buck and lifted the dead man’s trigger for everyone to see. “Stay back and nobody moves or I’ll blow this entire street up!”

There was a chopper coming. Buck could feel the rotary wings as it cut through air in a mad dash to capture the scattered remains of their truck.

Buck didn’t know where to look. His instincts screamed at him not to take his eyes off the vampire who was stalking in front of him like a caged animal and barking orders at some of the others not to move. But his heart was begging him to find the one guiding line to sanity before he lost his mind as the pain consumed him in waves.

Buck arched his head, beyond caring that the rough rub of the pavement beneath his cheek was irritating the cuts on his skin, and searched for him.

He spotted Eddie behind the engine where Hen and Chimney were pushing themselves in front of him to keep him from running to him. Eddie’s eyes were tight with his mouth drawn into a frown.

“Eddie...” Buck breathed, his name nothing more than a soundless whisper on his lips.

But Eddie heard him. Of course, he heard him. He always heard Buck when he called. Eddie’s face went slack with something close to heartbreak before he seized up and tried to run forward. Hen and Chimney both pushed him back and whispered something Buck couldn’t hear, not even flinching when Eddie bared his teeth at them.

Good. They would keep him safe.

Buck drifted in and out of consciousness as tires screeched and footsteps thundered. The pain was starting to go numb and Buck knew that probably wasn’t good but he couldn’t help but go limp with relief.

The wind licked at Buck’s neck, trying to soothe him as he scrambled to hold on to coherency as more and more people surrounded them. Someone was shouting into a bullhorn but the vampire just kept pacing the destruction as he threatened to blow them all up. The fire in Buck’s chest nipped at his tongue, daring him to do it but Buck bit down on his lip as he rode through another wave of pain until it rocked him into a grey state where he just felt sick to his stomach.

It wasn’t until the vampire screeched, bellowing out a demand that made Buck flinch beneath the sound, that he was able to slip back into focus if only barely.

“Give me the captain! Where’s the captain?” The vampire screamed. Reilly grunted as he tried to pull himself away and Buck could only watch as the young vampire charged up on him in a snarl. “I told you not to move.”

“I’m the captain!” Chimney stepped out into the street with his hands raised and Buck felt something in his chest seize up into his throat. The wind ruffled through his hair, making the smoke from the smoldering fire of the explosion flare up into the air. “Okay? I’m the captain. So, please just let me help them. Please.”

“No,” the vampire said, stalking towards Chimney before falling back on his heel in front of Buck. “No, I don’t want you. I want Captain Nash.”

Bobby? What did Bobby have to do with anything?

“Freddie!”

Buck pressed his forehead into the ground as he blinked up at Bobby standing with his hands raised. Freddie, apparently, sniffed the air as he cocked his head before his mouth arched into a crooked sneer.

“You? A witch?”  

“You need to be careful what you say, Freddie,” Bobby said evenly. “There are people—”

“I don’t care!” Freddie bit out with a hiss of spit flying from his teeth. “You and all your kind ruined my family’s life!”

“Which one?” Bobby said, carefully stepping forward but stopping when Freddie moved to stand over Buck. “That’s the deal with the choice you made, right? The same kind of choice you made when you started leaving those bombs.”

“Those humans deserved to pay just as much as the witches who were supposed to have helped my father’s fortune,” Freddie said, his face twitching as a snarl ripped from his lips.

“Freddie—”

“Shut up!” Freddie screeched and before Buck could even blink, Freddie reached down and grabbed his hair. Buck’s weak cry fell into a sob as Freddie lifted him up again and Buck scrambled to get his hands under him. “This? This is because of you. All of this is because of you!”

Buck’s arms did nothing to stop his fall as Freddie threw him back down to the ground and the ricochet of the impact made something in Buck’s leg shift. He swallowed, desperately trying to keep himself from being sick, and lost himself in the ringing in his ears as he tried to remember what it was like to breathe.

Everything hurt! It hurt! It hurt!

The wind shifted at his distress, sending paper and trash scattering across the street as it carded through his hair.

“Buck wasn’t even a firefighter when your father burnt down that restaurant, Freddie. This is between you and me.”

No, Buck wanted to say. No, Bobby.

But all that left his lips was a whimper as he withered on the ground.

“Can you feel his fear? His pain?” Freddie asked, nudging Buck with his toe. “I can.”

Buck flinched as Freddie’s hand settled at the back of his neck, his thumb moving in a mocking caress over one of the splits in his skin. In comparison to everything else, the pain was nearly insignificant. But Buck’s skin crawled, overstimulated and rubbed raw, as Freddie dug into Buck’s cut and coated the pad of his thumb with Buck’s blood. Buck squirmed and instantly regretted it as the pain shot through the numbness like a bolt of lightning. The wind picked up as Buck’s skin turned hot as he let out a strangled scream.

“I can hear it. I can smell it in his blood.” Freddie hummed into a growl

“That was something your sire didn’t tell you, did they?” Bobby said as Freddie bent down to sniff Buck. Buck watched through slitted eyes as Freddie ran his blood coated finger across his own lips. “That’s the blood rage, Freddie.”

“No, that’s power.” Freddie spat as he stood up.

“Is that why you asked to be turned? You felt powerless?” Bobby shook his head, pressing his lips together into a thin line. “You got dealt a bad hand, Freddie, and I am sorry about that. But what you did with it? That’s a choice. You stopped being a victim the moment you started killing innocent people.”

Buck’s blood started to feel cold as the wind lapped at his face. His strength was fading fast and Buck felt the last grips of consciousness he had start to slip from his fingers as he lifted his head up to watch Bobby face down a blood drunk vampire.

“None of you were innocent. You destroyed my family.” Freddie growled, low and deadly as he stared down Bobby like he was prey. Bobby stepped back, pulling him away from Buck and the others, and Freddie stalked forward to follow.

“So, I’m going to destroy yours. Starting with him.” The finger pointed at Buck felt like the final stroke of a death sentence and Buck only had one brief moment to stare up at Freddie through his greying vision before the young vampire rushed towards him.

Time slowed in the space between an inhale and an exhale. Freddie snarled at Buck as hunger glinted in his eyes and he bared his teeth. Eddie, Chim, and Hen all shouted various cries of Buck’s name. The wind stood still.

And Bobby held out his wrist as he used his magic to slice open one of his veins to spill the scent of his blood in the air.

Freddie froze, his eyes wild and mouth feral, as he turned and Bobby tipped over his arm so a single drop of blood fell from the cut nicked into his skin.

The temptation was too much. Freddie’s hunger was fueled by vengeance and the object of his bitterness had essentially just smeared his scent right under Freddie’s nose.

Freddie lunged for Bobby and Buck screamed.

A scream that echoed into a wail as the pressure in the air bottomed out like a snap of an overstretched rope fraying to pieces. The wind surged up and let loose into a hurricane that sent Freddie and Bobby toppling over into a heap on the ground. The gale howled through the buildings and made cars rock on their wheels. Destruction and power twisted up into a tornado gust of wind that rippled off Buck with waves as he watched through the haze of it all.

A Witch Wind that flapped its wings with every thundering beat of Buck’s heart and sent Bobby and Freddie rolling as they scrambled to hold onto anything on the pavement to keep from being blown away.

Someone was screaming. More like someones but Buck couldn’t breathe. There was too much air in his lungs to take a breath as he watched his powers rise up into a windstorm that he couldn’t stop.

Bobby shoved his knee into the ground and with more strength than people gave him credit for, launched himself at Freddie, and slammed his hand over the dead man’s trigger.

Freddie gritted his teeth as he tried to fight but the wind kept him pinned and he ended up holding onto Bobby more than he did to struggle.

Buck couldn’t stop it. He couldn’t stop it! The wind licked up his spine with a nuzzle in his hair as it caused confusion and destruction, unleashed into the world on instinct alone.

“Buck!”

Eddie’s feet went out from under him as he tried to run to him. He landed on his shoulder, hard , and Buck couldn’t do anything else but hold out a hand to him. It was too much power that had been released and Buck had no chance of putting it back into the bottle. Chimney cried out as he slipped against the pavement and Buck startled at the sound of pain in the noise. Eddie dug his fingers into the cracks of the pavement and pushed himself up before he crashed in front of Buck. Eddie drifted, caught up in the current of the wind galloping out of Buck with the last of his strength, but he reached a hand out and grabbed onto Buck’s wrist.

“Don’t hold your breath, Buck!” Eddie shouted but Buck couldn’t even gasp let alone tell him that couldn’t breathe.

Something crashed as it toppled over and Buck blinked past the tears that had welled up in his eyes as he stared at Eddie. Eddie curled his knees up to his chest and dragged himself closer until he could get an arm around Buck’s waist and then Buck smelled it.

The scent of Eddie’s skin. The spice of his body wash sharp on Buck’s nose. The eucalyptus of Buck’s shampoo. The two of them mixed together on Eddie’s skin that reminded him of nights spent in the loft.

Buck gasped and like a snap, the thick tension of the Witch Wind broke and faded away.

“That’s it,” Eddie murmured in his ear. “That’s it. You’re alright. You’re doing it.”

Buck went limp against the ground as all his energy was sapped away and the wind turned into nothing more than a whisper at the back of his mind.

Eddie pressed a kiss at the shell of his ear and Buck bleated out a small sound at the comfort.

“Dead man’s trigger!” Bobby grunted but Buck couldn’t pick up his head to see.

Boots thundered across the pavement before a med bag slapped the ground in front of him and Hen’s familiar touch, even though the latex gloves, warmed his skin.

His skin that was tingling all over as his nerves dazzled beneath the release but was falling quiet in the numbness from his leg.

“You still with us, Buck?” Chimney asked as he knelt at Buck’s side.

“Okay.” Hen sounded breathless and Buck couldn’t even bring himself to look up to see if she was okay. “Buck, how we doing?”

“Kind of numb,” Buck croaked as he squeezed onto Eddie’s hand.

“His skin is cold and pale,” Eddie said as he checked Buck’s pulse.

“His energy’s probably depleted from the Witch Wind. I’m going to run two lines.”

“Push sodium bicarbonate.” Buck’s eyelids were getting heavier and heavier as he started to drift. “Just hang in there, Buckaroo. Eddie, can you lift this?”

Buck whined as he clung onto where Eddie’s wrist was because the thought of Eddie leaving him was almost as unbearable as the truck itself.

“No,” Eddie said, sounding tight with panic and anger. At himself if Buck had to guess. Buck wished he wouldn’t. Eddie could pick him up like a rag doll but he wasn’t a superhero. How ever many tons of the ladder truck was, it just simply wasn’t possible.

Chimney’s radio clicked as he opened the line.

“This is captain 118. Got a probable crush injury. I need all hands on deck to move this truck and clear a path to the nearest trauma center.” But Chimney didn’t wait for a response. “Let’s try to lift this off him, yeah? Lift this off him!”

“Okay, we got to try and lift this!” That was Bobby. When did Bobby get there?

Eddie moved to stand but Buck whimpered as he held tight.

“N-No,” Buck begged and whatever Eddie said was washed out as more boots pounded the pavement towards them.

Hen was murmuring reassurances as she slipped a c-collar on him and Buck tried to keep himself from falling into the traps of the black creeping in his vision.

“You ready?” Someone asked and Buck’s breath hitched on his chest as he braced himself.

He wanted to get free. He wanted out of the fox trap over his ankle even if it meant having to chew off his own leg.

Hen and Eddie curled their hands around his arms as Buck hiccupped a sniffled sob.

“Hang in there, Buck.”

“Lift!”

The truck groaned and Buck felt the shards of his bone in his leg grind together. He arched up as he screamed and the wind howled again in his agony. Buck tried to scramble free but it was no use. He was pinned and the truck felt heavier when it settled back onto his leg again.

“You got to lift higher!”

“One more time, guys. Ready? One…two… three lift!”

Buck’s scream ripped from his throat with a sob that made his tongue taste like copper. He shoved the heel of his free boot onto the truck, trying to kick it away so he could get free, but it was no use. Everything faded away to one singular focus of pain. Pain, pain, and more unspeakable pain.

“Hang on, Buck,” Eddie said but Buck could barely hear him.

“She’s too heavy,” Bobby said and Buck dropped his face as he wept.

The sky above them thundered as the wind shifted again and Buck only faintly recognized the siren song of moisture on his skin from rain clumping together in the air.

He was going to die there. Trapped underwater in the pain of it all. The wind snuffled at his neck while the fire in his chest sizzled with desperation and the rain… why was Buck feeling the rain?

Something crashed as footsteps slapped on the pavement.

Buck’s lip trembled as the loss of hope cut through his chest and nearly ripped him in two. But then Buck blinked past his tears and saw the pedestrians that had gathered to watch, run towards them with a desperate urgency in their strides.

They were running towards the truck; towards him.

“Get in here!”

     “We can do this!”

  “Hurry hurry!”

         “Everybody put a hand in where you can!”

Legs and bodies surrounded them as people grabbed for a place to shove themselves against the ladder truck and Buck couldn’t even blink before Bobby was bracing everyone again. Hen and Eddie curled their hands around his arms hard enough to bruise and Buck held on just as tight.

“On three. One… two…” Bobby counted and Buck sniffled as he braced himself again. “Three!”

Buck screamed as the agony tripled and then pulsed into a rage of pain as the pressure on his leg eased up.

“Okay we got him!”

Buck choked on his sob as Hen and Eddie dragged him free and Buck couldn’t even flinch as the ladder truck crashed as it dropped to the ground.

Buck started losing time then and his hands fell limp as the relief turned into oblivion. They rolled him over onto his back but Buck felt like he was floating.

“Alright we lift him up on the board on three.”

Buck grunted as he was dragged onto the hard plastic back of the backboard as his eyes started to slip closed.

He was weightless in a moment as his hand flopped to the side in a lazy search for the one hand that fit perfectly with his own.

  “Just stay with us, Buck!”

              “Stay with us, kid.”

     “Hospital is four minutes away. Okay? C’mon!”

“Stay with me, Buck. Stay with me.” That was Eddie. Buck would know that voice anywhere.

He needed to tell him… He needed… Buck always knew he would go first but he needed Eddie to know…

“L’v… you…” Buck whispered knowing Eddie would hear him as his head lolled to the side.

A hand curled around Buck’s as the world rocked beneath him. A hand that curled Buck’s knuckles to a mouth he dreamt of often.

“I love you so much,” Eddie said, his voice thick with an emotion Buck was too tired to decipher. “Stay with me, please. I love you. I love…”

Buck drifted off as the final declaration rustled with a hush into his skin that made Buck shiver.

Buck would know Maddie’s soothing touch anywhere. Her fingertips were soft and gentle as they stroked delicate patterns into his skin and Buck sighed as he climbed into wakefulness.

The bed beneath Buck creaked and Buck frowned at the stiffness behind his back.

“Hey,” Maddie said and Buck felt her hand sweeping across his brow as gentle fingers brushed away one of his fallen curls.

Buck groaned as the ache settled into his bones. He felt like he’d been hit by a truck.

“I know but try and open your eyes a little,” Maddie said and Buck would do just about anything for her when she used that tone.

Peeling his eyes open was like trying to split concrete with just his bare hands but Buck blinked as he tried to clear the last of the sleep from his eyes. Everything was soft and hazy with a chemical film that numbed the harshness of the world and Buck winced as he felt the IV in his hand shift beneath his skin. Buck blinked up at Maddie and tried to match her shaky smile with one of his own before he realized where he was.

Hospital.

His leg.

Buck caught a glimpse of it out of his peripheral and balked when he turned to look. White plaster was encased from his foot all the way up to the middle of his thigh and his leg was being lifted by pillows and a terrifying set of cables and metal supports.

Buck’s breath hitched in his chest.

“Hey,” Maddie said, rubbing her hand on Buck’s chest until he looked at her again.

“M-Maddie…my l-leg. I-I—”

“Hey.” Maddie drew the word out softly, dipping her head down so she could catch his gaze and hold it. “You’ll walk again.”

“But what about work? What did the doctor say? What—”

“Buck,” Maddie said, cupping Buck’s cheek and swiping a thumb to cut off a tear Buck didn’t even realize had slipped out. “We’ll worry about it one day at a time. Just breathe.”

Maddie coached Buck through some more inhales and exhales that Buck didn’t quite feel in his chest but the wind outside settled against the window all the same.

Oh… He didn’t even realize…

“Witch Wind.” Buck blurted out as he remembered the explosion of power that had snapped around him. “I…”

Maddie hummed as she went back to carding her fingers through Buck’s hair until he melted beneath her touch.  

“You did.” And there was something a little proud in her smile as she nodded. “The news is saying it was a cold front that came in faster than they anticipated.”

“But I… there were cameras… I exposed—”

Maddie shook her head. “You know as well as I do that humans will bend over backwards to find a way to explain the unexplainable. You’re okay. The coven leaders have been clamoring to see you but Bobby and Athena are keeping them away.”

Good.

They wanted nothing to do with Buck his whole life and Buck wasn’t interested in changing that just because he was one of the first witches in over a century to summon up a Witch Wind.

“They’re okay?” Buck meant Bobby but he meant everyone else too. Hen, Chimney, Eddie… Where was Eddie?

Maddie must have seen Buck’s unspoken question in his face because she tipped her head to the side.

“He’s with that big vampire from the bar. The vampire that—” Maddie sucked in a breath as her words tripped themselves over a knot of emotion in her throat. She sniffed, pushing back the tears as she shook her head. Buck reached for her hand and squeezed it. “The vampire that blew up the truck is the one that had been killing witches. Apparently, he found someone willing to sire him and he killed the witches his human father had gone to for spells of good fortune after he had died. Then when he’d killed them, he started leaving those bombs for the humans he held responsible for his father’s death.”

“Blood rage?” Buck remembered Eddie saying that once or twice.

Maddie nodded again.

“The vampire that turned him didn’t tell him about the disease so he didn’t know but he’s refusing to tell the families who it was. They’re… questioning him.”

Maddie shuddered at her choice of wording and Buck couldn’t blame her. He’d heard stories of the tortures perfected by the vampires over the years. He’d always thought it was just scary stories but even fairy tales had a hint of truth to them.

Maddie bit down on her lip as she stared at Buck and her hand shook as she cradled his cheek.

“I’m so proud of you,” Maddie said with a watery smile.

“What for?” Buck asked before he could help himself. “I couldn’t control it. Eddie had to—”

Maddie cut Buck off with a shake of her head. “You know as well as I do that our magic is instinctual. You saw someone about to be hurt and saved them even trapped under a ladder truck.”

But at what cost?

Buck didn’t say it but he would bet Maddie heard it all the same. His sister always knew Buck’s secrets better than himself.

“M-Maddie…” Buck’s lip trembled as he tried to force back the tears he could feel welling up behind his eyes. “Maddie, what if I can’t work again? What if—”

“Buck,” Maddie said and the slight edge of exasperation made Buck roll his eyes up to stare at the ceiling. “We’ll take it one step at a time but you can’t push yourself, okay? We’re talking about your health, your ability to walk. We’re talking about the rest of your life—”

“Being a firefighter is my life!” Buck snapped. Buck didn’t care about powers. He didn’t care about Witch Wind or whatever else he didn’t know he could do.

If he couldn’t be a firefighter then he was nothing.

“It’s the only thing I have ever done that was important and that mattered, okay?” Before the 118, Buck was nothing. His life was nothing. And without that? Buck would be nothing again. “Without that I-I don’t have—"

“You will still be Buck, okay?” Buck was torn between wanting to lean into the weight of Maddie’s palm and to turn away so he could be alone to try and catch the crumbs of the teetering foundation of his life. Maddie leaned in and didn’t let him turn away. “And we will all love. There are lots of other important things that you can do with your life. You’ve only just woken up from surgery. We’ll get through this together. Okay?”

Buck didn’t know. He didn’t know anything anymore.

But then Maddie held up her pinky finger and something tight in Buck’s chest unclenched. The weight settled on his lungs slipped away and Buck brought up his own clumsy pinky finger to wrap around Maddie’s. He sighed into the anchor of the promise and the familiarity of the gesture.

No spell or sacred ritual could’ve ever broken the vow made from a pinky promise between Buck and Maddie.

But Buck still couldn’t hold back the tears of fear that scalded down his cheek before he could stop them. A sob hitched in his lips and he squeezed his eyes shut as he let himself get lost in the feeling of his sorrow; as he fell apart a little at the seams.

Maddie leaned up and held him through it.

Chapter Text

The healing process was grueling to say the least. Three months in a cast that drove Buck crazy and two more surgeries that left him sore and bitter had been a nightmare to get through. Everyone had been great even when they had needlessly hoovered, starting when Buck made a surprise— stubborn— appearance at Eddie’s shield ceremony, casted bum leg and all.

Maddie had helped with the pants.

Buck had ended the day sore enough that he hadn’t been able to move the entire following day but it was worth it for the way Eddie’s face had softened in surprise when he caught Buck rounding their brand new ladder truck on his crutches.

Facing Eddie’s father had also been worth it even if Buck had about very nearly shit his pants in the process.

“My son says you make him happy.” Ramon had said with an air of skepticism that was so thick it nearly coated Buck in sweat. “A son’s happiness is the only thing that matters to a father.”

Not that Buck would know. His own father had spent most of Buck’s life either pretending he didn’t exist or trying to make up for the unfair lashes of resentment from his mother with junk food. 

“See to it that you keep him happy.” 

Buck didn’t know what exactly it was but he guessed it was the closest to a seal of approval that he thought he was going to get so he took it and promptly hobbled over to Abuela who was a lot nicer than the rest of Eddie’s family. 

Bobby felt responsible even if he never said so. Buck’s fridge was never empty. Bobby stopped by to have breakfast with him even if the shift he came off of had been grueling. He drove Buck to appointments and physical therapy and took all Buck’s snappish pouting with a grace that Buck hadn’t ever been given before.

But Bobby also kept the covens back. The ones who wouldn’t have touched Buck with a ten foot pole before and now that it was out that apparently, Buck was capable of summoning a Witch Wind, were all clawing over one another to get a piece of him.

It was during one of those visits, where Bobby had made something easy for Buck’s stomach because the pain was deep and hollow in his bones that rippled all the way up his side until he was sick, that Buck caught a glimpse of the barely there scab over the small cut Bobby had made on his wrist that night.

“Bobby,” Buck said, looking up at him from beneath his lashes as he toyed with his eggs.

Bobby hummed as he coated his toast with butter and sprinkled a hint of cinnamon on it. Buck was pretty sure Bobby knew what Buck was going to bring up. His eyes were just a hint too wide, his mouth a bit too tight. Bobby was unreadable most days. But some days the things that he bottled up, bubbled to the surface. It sharpened his tone and made him snap in a way he never really meant. But Buck’s leg was propped up on a chair encased in a cast that felt too heavy to carry sometimes and somehow Buck felt like he’d been the lucky one out of the two of them.

“Your wrist,” Buck said when Bobby’s buttering of his second piece of toast got a little too short with every jerk of his knife.

“It’s fine, Buck. I—”

“You used magic for me.” Buck cut him off before Bobby could brush it aside. The image of Bobby twisting his fingers and cutting his own skin had been playing over and over in Buck’s head. It was a memory that made Buck’s stomach twist in the middle of the night and kept him nauseous with guilt.

Bobby froze before he tilted his head up and stared at Buck.

“I did.”

Buck swallowed as he put his fork down and curled his hands around the part of his thigh that wasn’t wrapped in plaster.

Being a Forsaken wasn’t like being a vegetarian.

It was like being an alcoholic.

You gave up all of your magic. You ignored a part of yourself and rejected it until it was all but snuffed out. Bobby had locked his magic away with a key with the promise to never open it again and he did.

He did for Buck.

“I’m sorry,” Buck said, the apology burning at his throat.

But Bobby frowned and shook his head. “I’m not.”

“But you used—”

“I’d do it again,” Bobby said before Buck could argue. “For my family? I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Now eat before you have to take more of your meds in an hour.”

Eddie had all but moved in which was great for a lot of reasons but especially because Eddie could pick Buck up.

“Have I told you I love you today?” Buck sighed when Eddie had lifted him up from his post physical therapy heap.

“You only say that because I can carry you up to bed instead of leaving you to sleep on the couch,” Eddie grumbled even though Buck knew he was all bark and no bite.

Literally.

“Well, duh.”

Buck let Eddie fuss as he settled Buck onto the bed like he was made of the finest crystal that could shatter upon impact and tried not to grimace when Eddie lifted his leg up onto some pillows. The cast had come off finally which was a relief but one that came at a price because it meant having to look at the yellowing color of his bruises on his leg, pale and weak looking even beneath the stretch of scabbed over scars that puckered his skin.

He still couldn’t put much weight on it and had to wear a brace most of the day but Buck could wiggle his toes so that was something.

Not enough to confirm if he’d ever work again but Buck wasn’t even entertaining the worst case scenario as a possibility.

“I’m going to get you some ice,” Eddie said as he leaned down to kiss Buck’s forehead.

Buck whined as he fisted his shirt and pulled him down for more. For a proper kiss that was all tongue and filth that Buck had been craving for days. Eddie groaned as he pulled away, his lips pink and slick with spit, but Buck kept a hold of his shirt.

“We can’t.” Eddie breathed as he dropped his forehead to press against Buck’s. “You aren’t cleared yet and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

Buck knew with absolutely certainty that Eddie would rather walk directly into the sun than ever hurt him.

Eddie rolled his eyes as he shook his head, the gesture dragging his nose against Buck’s.

“Not until the doctor says so. You need ice.”

But Buck wasn’t willing to give up that easily. He tugged until Eddie dropped onto his knees to stop himself from crushing him and Buck was pretty sure he made a valiant effort of concealing the wince as the movement jostled his leg.

“Need you.” Buck corrected and surged up to kiss Eddie again until he got his way and had Eddie slipping into bed beside him so they could make out lazily for an hour.

Needless to say, Buck was rarely, if ever, alone. The others took turns keeping him company, Maddie stayed with him most nights when the others were on shift, and Buck was starting to chafe a little. He couldn’t help it. Buck was so used to doing things on his own, living his life on his own, that he didn’t know what to do with the constant attention baking over him like a too hot sun that felt nice at first but now was starting to turn his skin pink.

Being cleared to drive ended up being an absolute blessing because it felt like the only time Buck had to himself anymore. They meant well, Buck knew, but he was getting stronger and stronger each day. He limped less and less and his muscle definition in his calf was coming back more and more. Even the scars had started to stretch and fade into the skin.

Buck was doing better.

He just wished everyone would stop worrying.

PT was getting easier and easier with each session but every so often there would be a day where nothing seemed to go right. Buck broke out into a sweat over the simplest of stretches and a sharp twinge shot up his leg every time he put weight on it.

It had been one of those days where Buck’s goals felt like they were getting harder and harder to reach when the clouds had greyed up the sky and his mood had darkened with it. He woke up missing the weight of his turnout coat and the smell of the fuel and polish of the firehouse bays.

He missed his friends but the idea of calling one of them while they were at work, hanging out and waiting for the bell to ring, was almost unbearable. Buck didn’t want pity. He wanted his life back.

Buck had grunted and groaned through his session with sweat pooling down the small of his back but all that left him was a limp in his step and his PT lecturing him about not pushing himself too hard. Buck was hot, sweaty, and cranky as he left his appointment with nothing more than the desire to go home and shower.

But then he saw him.

Buck stopped short as he took in the long, powerful build of Martinez leaning against his Jeep and swallowed back the dry knot of anxiety that made his heart skip. Martinez smirked at him as if he’d heard and Buck purposefully did not step back even though every one of his instincts were screaming at him to do so. The wind nosed at Buck’s neck and his fire made Buck’s palms clammy as he stood up straight.

“Have to be honest, when I saw you the other day, I never would’ve guessed you were a powerful enough witch to summon a Witch Wind.”

Buck gritted his teeth and forced himself not to bristle at the insult. Everyone kept saying that and Buck didn’t know what to tell them. He’d panicked and his powers took over. The end.

“But then I found out you were a Buckley and everything sort of clicked.” Martinez’s tongue clipped the back of his teeth as he said that and Buck stiffened.

“Eddie’s at work,” Buck said instead and squared back his shoulders as Martinez pushed up to stand.

“I know. I made sure of that before I followed your scent.”

A cold chill crawled down Buck’s spine and froze the sweat dotting his skin into what felt like crystals.

Buck didn’t move and he clamped down tight on the surges of his magic that wanted to be let out. He still had almost no control over his powers and he wasn’t about to let them loose in a parking lot in front of his physical therapist’s office. 

But also, Buck tried to remind himself that Martinez was Eddie’s friend. He may not like Buck— which was perfectly clear, thanks— but he respected Eddie. Buck had seen it the few times Eddie had talked about him after his meetings to find out the source of the blood rage. Martinez and Eddie were good friends. The kind of friends that could pick back up even after months of not speaking to each other. Eddie liked Martinez and Buck didn’t want to come in between that. 

And Buck would rather walk into traffic than admit it out loud but he suspected Martinez was the one who made Eddie’s time with the other vampire families bearable. From what Buck understood, the vampiric families were all snobs who threw thinly veiled accusations of harboring the infected vampire and made the search more exhausting than exhaustive . A vampire didn’t just become one from a bite. There were all sorts of codes and rules that were in place by the families. When you sired someone it was expected that you received their consent and then you fed them some of your blood after you gave them the bite. To do so knowingly carrying the blood rage gene was all but forbidden and Eddie was hating every minute he had to spend helping the families find whoever sired Freddie Costas. 

Buck may not like it but he was glad Eddie had a friend who he could rely on because Eddie had made it clear in no uncertain terms that no one was to come near Buck. If Buck was a betting man he would say there was probably some growling involved.  

“What do you want?” Buck asked, proud of himself that his voice didn’t tremble even though he sounded a little breathless to his own ears.

Martinez inhaled and Buck couldn’t help but watch as his nostrils flared as he drank in Buck’s scent. He moved like a panther, slow and steady as he prowled up to Buck with a fluidity that should’ve been difficult for someone his size. He towered over Buck when he got close, a feat that Buck didn’t often face with his own height, and Buck simply lifted his chin to stare up at him.

“I want you to release my friend.”

Buck scoffed as he rolled his eyes. Not this again.

“I don’t—"

“You’ve bewitched him somehow,” Martinez said with the definitive air of a fact. Buck forced himself not to step back; not to hunch forward beneath the weight of the scrutiny. It would make him look like prey and he wasn’t. 

Just because he was useless at magic didn't mean he was helpless. 

“I didn’t.”

Martinez hummed, stepping even closer so he could loom over him. A hum that turned into a quiet rumbling growl deep in his chest. 

“You did. Why else would Diaz settle for someone like you?” 

The familiar flicker of hope in Buck’s chest was promptly snuffed out by doubt at his words. But Buck shook his head. Eddie… Eddie loved him. That much Buck knew.

Martinez clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he stopped in front of Buck. 

“A pathetic… Little… Witch who can’t even be born right to complete a prophecy. Do your fingertips still spark when you try to do a spell like a toddler?”

He was laughing at him, trying to work out a rise from Buck. He wasn’t the first person who thought Buck would immediately fall into aggression for his defense. Buck’s magic was still unpredictable as ever. He hadn’t told anyone about how he’d felt the moisture in the air that night because he didn’t even know if he wanted to dream up the possibility that he had not only an affinity towards air and fire but water as well. His wind stayed wrapped around him as always but he couldn’t even light a candle with his fire magic half the time.

It was… Too much and Buck would deal with it later.

But Martinez didn’t need to know that.

“I don’t use magic.” Buck bit out, not saying anything about the prophecy. “Not like that.”

Martinez’s hum rumbled low in his chest again, lighting up Buck’s skin with goosebumps in warning. 

“You’re a witch, kid. Even if you don’t use your magic willingly doesn’t mean it isn’t a part of you. Doesn’t mean you didn’t bewitch my friend into thinking you were worth his time.” 

If Martinez had said that to Buck a year earlier, he would’ve believed him. He would’ve even agreed that he wasn’t good enough for Eddie. Wasn’t good enough to be considered his mate and held like he was something that was once in a lifetime.

There were still some bad days even now that Buck would’ve caved.

But not then. Not when Eddie had woken him up with the sweetest kisses against his brow as he slid into Buck like he belonged and rocked them into the morning with a shower of love.

Buck was having a shit day and his leg hurt but it wasn’t the day he doubted Eddie.

Eddie loved him and Buck knew without a doubt that if Eddie was there, he would’ve said the same. But Martinez would and deep down, Buck knew that his intentions were good. He cared about Eddie in a way Eddie deserved to be cared about.

“I love him,” Buck said instead and watched as Martinez heard the unwavering steadiness of his heartbeat that indicated the truth.

Martinez’s brow furrowed as he frowned.

“I love him and I don’t really know why but Eddie loves me too.” Buck tilted his chin up and settled his weight into his feet. “I can tell you care about him so I won’t tell him you threatened me in a parking lot in broad daylight.”

Because Buck and Martinez both knew the wild protective snarl that would’ve taken over Eddie’s expression if he knew.

“But Eddie wants me to be his mate.” Martinez’s eyes widened and Buck didn’t gloat even if he wanted to. “And I will be. If you can’t accept that then the only person hurting Eddie is you. It’s his choice and he chose me.”

Martinez didn’t say anything for a moment and Buck tried not to grimace as he felt his leg stiffen up from the tension thrumming beneath his skin.

“So, deal with it or move on.”

Buck needed to sit down before his leg gave out and he wasn’t about to give Martinez the satisfaction of watching him collapse as he rode through the agonizing waves of a cramp. He stepped around him and pulled out his keys, proud of himself for only really limping once before he pulled open the driver side door.

“Kid,” Martinez barked and Buck’s shoulders bunched up to his ears as he turned. He braced himself for a fight. For a solid body to lunge against him and pin him to the side of his Jeep.

But Martinez just stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face as he took Buck in.

Buck couldn’t be sure but the heat of the hostility seemed to have dimmed if only a little around his eyes.

“We're not the only ones who loves Eddie. Be careful about that.”

The wind whistled in the air at the threat and Martinez cocked a brow as he listened.

“See you around, kid.” Martinez stepped back and watched as Buck got in his Jeep. 

Buck managed to get the key in the ignition with only a minute tremble in his fingers.  

Buck about lost his life on the stairs as he startled back with a hand to his chest and wouldn’t that be his luck? All that training, all that physical therapy, all the rehab, all the conditioning and building up muscle mass and Buck would’ve broken his leg falling down the stairs—probably taking Maddie and Athena out with him— because his friends and family had been a little too enthusiastic with their surprise.

The wind that usually made it nearly impossible to surprise him licked at his neck in apology.

Buck’s cheeks ached from how wide he was smiling as he turned to his sister.

“You knew?” Which now in hindsight made a lot of sense why she insisted he come pick her up from her place to drive her over.

Maddie rolled her eyes and nodded. “Yeah!”

Athena was beaming as she squeezed his hands and that was about all the patience the others had before Buck bounced into the living room. Eddie’s laugh broke through the rest of the crowd as he squeezed through and Buck fell into his embrace as they held each other tight.

“I’m so proud of you,” Eddie said, his lips brushing the skin above Buck’s ear before he leaned in for a kiss.

Buck shivered like it was the first time all over again and not four hours since he saw Eddie. If he leaned in to tuck his nose into the hollow of Eddie’s throat and let himself be held a little longer because he’d missed him anyway well that was between Buck and the wind.

Bobby clapped Buck on the shoulder and pulled him in for a hug of his own before Hen and Chimney were on him. Buck got lost in the endless embraces and shoulder claps from his team and the people at the station who had come to congratulate him on passing his recertification. The hugs shifted into exclamations as Maddie and Chimney brought out a cake… and then another cake in case Buck didn’t pass which was smart but didn’t matter anyways!

Because Buck had passed. Buck had passed and he would get to start back at work with his friends the following week after all the paperwork was submitted and Buck would be back where he belonged.

Eddie gave Buck space to mingle even if he was making a point to brush by him every so often so he could breeze his knuckles across Buck’s or steal a tug at the back of his shirt to remind him that he was there.

That was another side to Eddie that had been a surprise. The clinginess was unexpected but a welcome development. Buck kind of hated that it started because Eddie had almost watched him die but now the touches were less in the urgency for Eddie to feel the heat of Buck’s skin in his own to remember he was alive and more just because they were addicted to each other in all the best ways possible.

It was perfect. His friends were happy. Buck was happy.

All the tears and temper tantrums and bad moods and Buck was finally feeling more like himself than he had in months.

It wasn’t until Buck was casually steering his way to get another slice of cake when he realized his pocket was lighter than it should’ve been. Buck patted his thigh and then checked his back pockets before he cursed.

“Everything okay?” Eddie asked as he snagged the corner of Buck’s shirt to tug him over for a quick kiss that Buck kind of wanted to melt into.

“Forgot my phone in the Jeep. I’m going to go grab it.”

Eddie lifted a sharp, stern brow high onto his forehead. “We are not having sex in the Jeep in Bobby and Athena’s driveway, Buck.”

Buck rolled his eyes because he knew for a fact that if he asked nicely Eddie would cave in a heartbeat.

“I’ll be right back.” Buck leaned in for another kiss, something short and sweet to tide him over, before he hurried through the house and grabbed his keys from the bowl.

The wind felt cool on his skin as he stepped out front where the sounds of the party were a quiet muted muffle. The others must have parked on the street because Buck had been able to pull into the driveway with ease when he and Maddie arrived.

Buck clicked the unlock button on his fob and spun his keys around once and then twice as he arched around the front to the drive side.

Buck opened the door and frowned as he tried to spot his phone in the shadows— he needed to get a brighter case— before he bent down and found it wedged on the side of the seat. Buck stood up and closed the door as he checked to make sure he hadn’t missed any messages. It was more of a reflex than anything since the only people he would’ve heard from were stuffing themselves full of cake under the string lights of Athena’s backyard.

The wind tried to whistle for his attention too late. The sharp claws of ice cold stabbed at the spot in the back of Buck’s spine as he gasped and Buck spun around as his heart crashed in his chest just as a hand slammed up against his throat and squeezed.

Chapter Text

Buck squeaked as the hand around his throat cut off his gasp. His phone fell to the ground with a clatter and skidded away with a kick of his feet in his panic. The Jeep rocked as his back hit the side, pinning him, and Buck scrambled to hold on as the hand lifted him up onto his toes.

A growl, low and dangerous, chilled Buck down to the bone. Buck shivered beneath the gaze of two steely greys eyes that raked up and down Buck’s frame with an unbridled gaze of disgust.

“So, you’re the little harlot that bewitched my Eddie.”

The vampire leaned close enough to touch, his nose barely grazing the tip of Buck’s own, before he sniffed. Another growl thundered out of his chest as his lips pulled back, giving Buck a perfect view of his lethal, straight teeth.

The hand around his throat dragged Buck around like a rag down. Not through strength, though the grip was unyielding, but by the sheer chokehold he had with the threat of what he could do to Buck in this position. He could snap his neck, crush his windpipe, rip his throat out with his teeth, and anything else he deemed necessary to put Buck down. It’d be over in a flash and Buck choked out a whimper as the shot of adrenaline mixed with fear pierced through his spine to cut out his legs. 

“Buck?”

That was Eddie. He must have heard the shift in Buck’s heartbeat or even his whimper and the commotion by the front door was a fleeting relief before the vampire was pulling on Buck’s throat like a leash and tucking him against his side. 

Buck’s knees nearly buckled at the sight of Eddie running towards him only to stop when he saw just how close Buck was to skating on the edge of death. 

Eddie froze, his eyes wide as he stared at Buck and—

“Jeremiah,” Eddie breathed and Buck tried desperately to will back the tears he could feel burning at the back of his eyes.

Jeremiah rumbled as he leaned his face down to press his temple against Buck’s. Buck’s breath hitched high in the back of his throat and Eddie’s eyes landed on him as he lifted a hand.

“Jeremiah, let him go.”

“How could you?” Jeremiah snarled, betrayal lacing his every word. “You let this witch trick you and then you tortured my son!”

The shout rang like a gunshot in Buck’s ear and he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Freddie?” Eddie asked. Jeremiah rumbled at that name. “You sired Freddie?”

Buck choked as Jeremiah’s fingers turned sharp and pressed against his windpipe.

“Don’t move!”

When Buck opened his eyes, it was to the sight of Eddie having stepped closer. He was so close. Buck’s heart pounded against his chest, threatening to split open his ribs and crash at Eddie’s feet. But he couldn’t move. None of them could.  

“Jeremiah, I had no choice. You infected Freddie with blood rage. He was killing innocent people and threatened to expose us all,” Eddie said, his hand held out as if he wanted to touch but couldn’t

Buck would give anything to feel that touch.

The wind picked up around them but fell flat like it was too heavy with a thick morning dew that dotted across Buck’s skin.

“You turned him over to those monsters.” The covenant, Buck’s mind supplied. The group consisted of high ranking members of the vampire families across the country. Eddie had mentioned them before. A new world order that was supposed to bring peace and order amongst the families. 

Politics. 

“But worse, you abandoned me for this !” Jeremiah spat and Buck could only choke as Jeremiah shook him. 

Buck flinched beneath the harshness of Jeremiah’s hiss and Eddie looked like he was in agony as he watched. Could he feel it? Could he feel the fear rippling off Buck in waves? He’d survived the fire truck but this… this would be swift and brutal and no amount of PT would save him. Buck would bleed out before his body hit the ground, choking as he drowned in his own blood.

“Jeremiah, let Buck go.”

Buck was powerless as Jeremiah pushed on his throat and forced him to roll his head back onto his shoulder. He couldn’t see Eddie from the new angle. Just the starry night sky as it twinkled obliviously above him.

“Please,” Eddie said and the sound of the crack in his voice nearly broke Buck in two. “Please let him go.”

“You were supposed to be mine!” Jeremiah snapped before his mouth brushed against Buck’s cheek, sending a chill into Buck’s blood as it skittered beneath his skin. “I waited for you! You were supposed to come back. What is it about him? You can smell the power on him. His blood sings like a symphony.”

Buck didn’t dare breathe. Not when Jeremiah’s mouth was so close as he dragged his lips up to the bolt of Buck’s jaw.

“Does he have you spellbound, my love? I could just—”

Jeremiah snarled as his fingers dug into Buck’s throat and Buck choked as sharp fingernails pressed crescents into his skin hard enough that Buck was sure one swallow would make him bleed.

“Stop!” Eddie cried, his shoes scuffing on the driveway. “Jeremiah stop!”

Jeremiah growled as he yanked Buck back and Buck nearly got whiplash as the shift in his shoulder made him look up again. The world twisted as Buck went dizzy from the headrush but he could see Eddie again and his heart stuttered. Panic had dashed a coldness over Eddie’s expression, his lips twitching as if he was trying to keep back a snarl of his own.

The wind shifted and carded through Buck’s hair. Useless but soothing once again. But Buck didn’t want it. He urged it forward and watched as it wrapped around Eddie, tousling up his hair and caressing against his cheek.

Eddie looked like he didn’t know whether to show his teeth or to cry and Buck didn’t know how else he could save him.

Maybe the ladder truck had been the end for Buck. Maybe death had come back to finish what it started.

“I want to see for myself.” Jeremiah snapped. “Kiss him.”

Eddie hesitated and Jeremiah shoved his hand so that Buck’s chin was forced up. Those nails pressed like tiny knives into Buck’s skin and he croaked at the added pressure on his throat. 

“Or I’ll make him bleed.”

Buck’s breath hitched again, locked between the clawed hand of Jeremiah and the knot of emotions lodged as a single tear scalded down his cheek.

Eddie stepped forward, slow and careful, before he took another one and another one.

Eddie kept his eyes pinned on Buck. His outstretched hand was close enough to grab and it was taking everything Buck had not ro reach out and cling to him. His lungs screamed at him from holding his breath and the exhale fell into a hiccup of a sob as Eddie got closer and closer. 

“It’s okay,” Eddie said. “I’m here. I’m here, Buck.”

It was a relief that nearly took Buck out at the knees but one that came at a price he refused to pay. He wanted— needed— to feel Eddie’s touch. Needed Eddie’s hand to ground Buck back away from the edge. But that meant Eddie getting closer to the crumbling cliffside of danger. 

“Ed-die don’t—" Anything Buck was going to say was lost to the whine as Jeremiah growled and flexed his nails into the soft vulnerable skin of Buck’s throat. 

“Quiet witch!” 

Buck squeezed his eyes shut as Eddie hurried the rest of the way until he was standing in front of them. 

“It’s alright,” Eddie said, calm and slow as he cupped his hand over Buck’s jaw. “I’m right here, baby.”

But that was the problem. 

Buck didn’t get a chance to say otherwise before Eddie was tipping his head and kissing him like it was the first and last time. Buck melted beneath the press of Eddie’s lips, pliant and open as always when under the microscope of Eddie’s attention. The sharp thrilling buzz beneath his skin settled into something warm and sweet until all that Buck could focus on was Eddie’s lips against his own. He sighed into it, letting Eddie drink the sound with a flick of his tongue, and slipped his hand up to grab onto a fist full of Eddie’s shirt. 

Jeremiah yanked Buck away and Eddie’s lips clipped as he stood perfectly still. Like he was dazed in the moment of the kiss for too long. 

“So, it’s true.” Jeremiah sneered as he tucked Buck close. “You’ve fallen for a filthy witch.” 

Eddie’s expression was dark and vicious as he stared up at Jeremiah. 

“Yes,” Eddie said without a hint of hesitation. “I love him.”

Buck felt as Jeremiah rippled through the fallout of the impact of those words before he went completely still. Still as a statue that didn’t so much as breathe.

“You took everything from me,” Jeremiah said and Eddie didn’t even blink. “You took my heart.”

Buck’s stomach bottomed out as the wind went silent, caught on a bated breath.

“So, now I’ll take yours.”

Everything happened in slow motion. Or maybe it was too fast. It happened in the span of a blink and Buck almost missed it. Buck gasped as the hand around his throat let go and stumbled forward when he was pushed. Eddie caught him, wrapping him up in his arms, with his lips sweeping across Buck’s brow in an impossibly fast kiss before he threw Buck behind him.

Buck crashed down to the pavement in a heap, his hands splitting up and the wind knocked out of him as his chest bounced against the concrete.

Eddie grunted and the wet sound of soft flesh ripping to shreds clapped like thunder in the sky.

The coppery scent of blood burned across Buck’s nose and he rolled over in time to see Jeremiah’s hand digging into Eddie’s chest before he ripped it out as Eddie jerked. 

“Eddie!”

Eddie wobbled on weak knees, his chin dipping as if he wanted to speak and couldn’t. Jeremiah stared at Eddie with wide eyes before his face scrunched up into another snarl, one that was deep in betrayal and heartbreak, and he shoved Eddie back with his bloody hand.

Eddie fell to the ground like a puppet with all his strings cut.  

Jeremiah hissed down at Eddie and the wind went frigid as Buck went hot. Hot all over as fire rushed through his blood before wrapping around Buck’s fingers to coil up his wrists. Jeremiah startled back as Buck stood, his fire magic burning hot on his skin as flames licked up Buck’s arms and shot out to twist around his arms, making Jeremiah’s eyes glow. He stared at Buck like a moth enchanted by his flame as Buck curled his fingers to spin the fire hotter and brighter.

Jeremiah snarled as he tried to lunge for Buck but the wind gusted to keep him pinned in place as Buck flung his arm out and sent his fire magic slamming into Jeremiah’s chest where his heart should’ve been. Jeremiah screamed as the fire pierced through him and flung him out into the street where he belonged. His skin made a sickly wet sound as it skidded across the pavement and Jeremiah crumpled to a heap and didn’t get back up again. 

“Buck!”

Distantly, Buck heard the sound of Bobby’s voice calling his name as the wind died down and the fire burned back into his chest where it belonged, purring contentedly as it curled around his heart.

But Buck didn’t care. He had one singular focus.

“Oh my God!”

     “Eddie!”

          “What is going on?”

“Buck!”

Buck’s breath hitched through the strains of a gasp as he dropped to his knees beside Eddie and rolled him over. A massive gaping wound was bleeding steadily in the center of his chest where he’d taken Jeremiah’s clawed hand for Buck. Blood oozed out and drenched his shirt, pooling beneath him as if Jeremiah had nicked his heart.

He may have.

He’d been planning to rip out Buck’s.

But Eddie’s eyes rolled around in his head before they focused on Buck and Buck bleated out a soft sob when the clarity of recognition brightened them. A smile twitched up on the corner of Eddie’s lips. 

“Hey,” he breathed like he was seeing Buck for the first time. 

Buck felt something inside him shatter.

“Eddie…”

Buck’s name was clear as day as Eddie mouthed it. Eddie’s eyes scanned Buck from head to toe before he grunted.

“Are you hurt?” His hand flopped uselessly at his side and Buck caught it with a squeeze of his own trembling hand.

“Get my med kit!”

“No,” Buck said as he sniffed, shaking his head. “No, I’m okay. Just hang on, okay? Hang on. Let me—”

Blood. Eddie needed blood. Buck tried hard to concentrate as he lifted shaky fingers to cut a vein in his wrist but it wasn’t working. His magic was exhausted and frail, making Buck’s muscles sore enough that he could barely sit up. It wasn’t working and Buck scrambled as he patted Eddie’s pockets until he found his knife.

“N-No. Don’t Buck—” Eddie slurred but Buck swatted his hands away as he flicked open the blade and cut open his forearm. Blood welled up along the swift line and Buck hissed through the pain as he held up his arm. 

“Buck…” That was Bobby or Athena. Buck didn’t care. 

He lifted Eddie’s head to make it easier for him to reach. 

“Drink!”

Eddie clamped his lips together as he turned away from where Buck was holding his arm in front of his face.

“Eddie c’mon! Drink!” Buck croaked but Eddie flinched when a drop of Buck’s blood fell onto his chin.

Eddie pushed him away just as Chimney dropped beside Eddie with his kit.

“Buck, let me see—” Buck would feel bad later for how hard he pushed Chimney but he didn’t care.

“Get away!” 

Something ugly and desperate reared up in Buck’s chest and he threw himself back over Eddie, lifting his arm to his mouth again. 

But Eddie shook his head as he gently pushed Buck away again. Why was he fighting Buck?

“Love… you,” Eddie mumbled as a single line of blood slipped from the side of his mouth.

Something wet dropped on Buck’s scalp and seeped into his hair.

“No!” Buck’s lips trembled as he shook his head. “Eddie! C’mon! You have to…Please!”

Eddie was already too pale to be this stubborn and Buck wasn’t about to let him die. Not now! Not when they were just beginning. 

Buck clapped his hands on Eddie’s cheeks and forced him to look at him, softening his touch to caress the bolt of his jaw. Eddie’s eyes flickered like he was having trouble focusing on Buck but when they landed on him, it was like the world stood still. The wind stopped, frozen in place as Buck stared down at the symphony of emotions in Eddie’s gaze. Fear, sadness, but above all else, love. Deep love that pierced through a person’s soul and buried itself until it took root in their heart. Love that flared like the strongest magic and left no room for misinterpretation. 

Buck shivered as his skin erupted in goosebumps, sending the hairs on the nape of his neck standing. It was a primal instinct. One born from being examined as prey. Because beneath all that love was also a ferocity that thrummed beneath Eddie’s skin. The thrill of the dangerous position he was in tangled with the stunning clarity of his own love that matched the one shining in Eddie’s eyes. 

Buck bared his throat. 

“Drink Eddie!” 

But Eddie pressed his lips together and turned away. Or he tried to. Buck didn’t let him. He jerked Eddie’s face back and held it up to his throat before he could turn further. Eddie grumbled, low and weak, and Buck knotted his hands in his hair so he couldn’t pull away.  

“You promised! You said there was nowhere else you’d rather be than by my side. Well, you can’t do that if you’re dead you fucking asshole! I love you! You have my back and I have yours! Now drink!”

Buck shoved Eddie as far against his throat as he could, pressing his nose against his pulse point until he could smell nothing but Buck and Buck’s scent as his blood rushed into his ears. 

Eddie inhaled, falling limp in Buck’s arms, before he seized up and lunged to sink his teeth into Buck’s neck.

The pain was stunning.

It burned as all of Buck’s muscles locked in an overdrive urge to flee, escape, run and Buck held still as Eddie sucked and sucked and sucked.

                         “So, a witch, huh?” 

“Hell yeah. You can have my back any day.”

“Y-Yeah. Or… You know…You can have mine.”

           “You think I’m a brat?”

                “I think you’re extraordinary.”

“What do you want, Eddie?”

“You.”

         “You smell like honey,” Eddie said before he pecked a kiss against his lips. “Like honey heated by the sun. Like the first snow of the winter. Like a bonfire with something sweet in the smoke.”

                                “Hey,” Eddie said and Buck met his gaze finally. He got lost in the sea of browns that sparkled with flecks of green in the sunlight. At the openness of Eddie’s expression that softened with the vulnerability like he ached. “You are not a blip to me. You’re… Everything.”

Flashes of Eddie’s memories dazzled Buck’s mind as the pain turned into something syrupy sweet. Like Buck’s insides were honey warmed by the sun. They were infinite and they were plenty but they had so much more to make. Buck went pliant as Eddie curled his arm around Buck’s back for better leverage as he drank his fill and Buck held just as tight, submitting to Eddie as he fed from him. It was a tingling pleasure pain, oscillating between both with powerful surges that made it mind numbing and indescribable. 

But he was also dying. Buck knew that. He was okay with it. He just wished they had more time. Blood was slipping through his veins with every suction of Eddie’s mouth and Buck’s vision wavered as he stared up at the sky. Clouds covered the stars with a rumble and something wet and sweet dotted Buck’s skin, slipping into his open mouth as he tasted the water. 

Rain that sang with each tap against the pavement. 

       “I love you so much,” Eddie said, his voice thick with an emotion Buck was too tired to decipher. “Stay with me, please. I love you. I love you…”

Eddie whimpered as he sucked, tasting Buck and Buck’s magic as he let himself be dazzled by the water. Buck carded his hand through Eddie’s hair as he rocked with Eddie through the next surge of his drink, his body feeling heavy as he let Eddie hold him. 

“And this is Buck. Buck meet Eddie Diaz.” 

Wow. Eddie had seen battlefields and destruction that would’ve broken any man. He’d thought it’d broken him. But all the cures in the world had nothing on the sight of the beautiful witch glowering like a bristling black cat in that locker room. He smelled like heaven and Eddie’s mouth watered before he could help himself. Like honey and something sweet. His blood sang like a snowstorm through pine trees. 

Fuck.

Eddie was falling before he even lifted his hand. 

Buck’s hands were numb and Eddie’s chest was so comfortable. The rain hurried with tiny pitter patter taps on Buck’s cheek to keep him awake but he didn’t care. He would give it all to Eddie if he asked. Even when he didn’t. It was his. Eddie made another noise, one that sounded like he was in pain and that wouldn’t do. Buck’s arm fell from Eddie’s hair to his shoulder, limp and cold, but he used what little strength he had left to stroke his back before his head was too heavy to hold up. Buck’s vision greyed as he let Eddie take his weight. 

The pain turned into a screech as Eddie ripped Buck away from his mouth and Buck whined low at the loss before he fell onto Eddie’s legs and promptly passed out.

Chapter Text

Opening his eyes was a herculean effort and one that Buck barely succeeded.  

His hands were cold. That was the first thing— well, second after he placed that he was in Athena’s guest room— Buck realized as he came up onto the other side of consciousness even though all he wanted to do was roll over onto his side and snuggle underneath the covers. He was a burrower when he was really comfortable and there had been more than one occasion where he’d woken up clinging to Eddie’s hips and legs, burrowed underneath the blankets while Eddie slept sprawled out topside and hogging both the pillows.

But that would’ve required Buck to move and he didn’t think he could even lift his head off the pillow let alone roll over.

Buck’s hands were cold. Not just cold but freezing in a way that made his fingers feel like they weren’t really attached at the knuckles. His feet too as tendrils of cold seeped up into his calf muscles.

He grimaced as he shifted them to try and find a warm pocket to bury them in and croaked out a whine when it took too much effort.

The sting in his throat came back with a flash of technicolor across his eyes as he gasped and with it, came the memories. Memories of a clawed hand pressing into his windpipe. Memories of that same clawed hand that punched through the soft flesh of Eddie’s chest.

Eddie!

Buck slammed his eyes open as he gasped and searched for Eddie before his vision had fully cleared.

“Hey!” The soft shushing sounds were warm in their familiarity as the deep timber of Eddie’s voice soothed away the panic.

Buck’s head lolled on the pillow as he turned to look but Eddie sat up from his chair so that Buck could see him. The bed dipped as Eddie settled his hip onto the side of the mattress and those big, strong hands reached up to card gentle, nimble fingers through Buck’s curls. Buck couldn’t help himself and leaned into the touch as much as he could. It was a desperate move. One that came from needing to feel Eddie’s touch to steady himself as something too close to fear skittered in Buck’s blood and made him tremble. But also one that wanted to prove to himself that Eddie was real. Eddie was there.

He’d changed his shirt from the one that had been saturated in blood and ripped to shreds but apart from some paleness, Eddie seemed alright.

He seemed whole.

Buck tried to lift his hand to be sure but his muscles were like jello and his hand flopped back down before he could even lift his elbow.

Eddie looked down and scooped up Buck’s hand in his own.

“Here,” Eddie said as he guided Buck’s hand up under his shirt to press against his chest.

Smooth, solid skin met Buck’s palm and Buck pushed the heel of his hand as hard as he could so he could feel the slow methodical beat of Eddie’s heart in his chest.

“You’re okay,” Buck said with a tired slur making his words croak out of him.

Two chocolate brown eyes with flecks of green pinned Buck to the spot and took his breath away. Eddie nodded; his mouth thin even though the corners were twitching like he was trying to smile.

“Yeah, Buck. I’m okay.”

The relief was so sweet that Buck could’ve cried. Maybe he did because the small tickle at the corner of his eye slipped down the side of his cheek into his ear before Eddie reached over and wiped the lone tear away with his thumb. Buck pressed into the space of Eddie’s palm again, needy to drink in the feel of Eddie against his skin.

It was… strange. The feeling in Buck’s soul that is.

His body was beyond exhausted and sore. He was weak from the blood loss and his eyes tracked up the long lines of an IV next to a small red one where a bag of blood was being transfused into a vein in his arm. It was something that should’ve been done in a hospital but explaining why Buck had a bite mark on his throat and a cut on his arm would probably be difficult. Besides, Eddie had been an army medic for like eighty years so Buck wasn’t worried. 

“Not a vampire, right?” Buck asked because no offense to Eddie but being a vampire seemed like a lot of work. 

His magic bristled in his chest at the thought and Eddie let out a small huff of a laugh from his nose. 

“No,” Eddie said as he brushed away a curl on Buck’s forehead. “Still the same witch I fell for.”

Buck hummed and swallowed a wince. His throat and arm burned but it was numbed a little by something making his gaze hazy around the edges. His head was pounding though so whatever drugs they’d given him wouldn't touch that until it went away on its own.

He was tired, weak, and worn thin but he also felt like a piece of himself had been ripped out.

Eddie’s arm around him tightened before he tore Buck away from his mouth.

Buck could remember the bruising strength of Eddie’s arm around his waist. The way his fingers dug into Buck’s hard enough to leave marks he was sure would be there if he checked. The way Eddie had pulled Buck away rather than pulling himself away from Buck.

He could’ve drunk Buck dry with Buck at the mercy of his thirst and instead Eddie had done what he always did: he protected Buck. Protected him from even himself. Ripped Buck away and saved him from Eddie’s desperate…

“You craved me?”

Eddie’s eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks, his head tipping down as he stared where Buck’s hand was pressing up against his shirt.

No, because that made sense. More sense than it should because it had been staring at Buck right in the face. It made sense because it was so obvious Buck almost wanted to hit himself for how obvious it was. The way they were drawn to each other like two magnets. The way Eddie’s protectiveness could turn onto an edge of possessiveness. The way Eddie refused to even entertain the thought of letting Buck expose his throat like that no matter how many times he bared it in hopes that he could coax Eddie into leaving a mark.

Eddie loved him; wanted to mate him someday. Buck knew that because Eddie had said so many times. But he never settled into place with that knowledge until that moment. Like a puzzle piece twisted upside down. The way it all slid into place when Eddie protected Buck from himself rather than showed his own restraint in a moment of primal weakness.

Buck didn’t know if it was his own pulse or if Eddie’s heart beat twice in a rapid succession before settling into the slow, steady beat beneath his hand again.

Eddie had craved Buck. Craved his blood like it called out to him. It probably did. Buck had heard that witches’ blood sang to vampires like a siren lost in a storm.

And all that time Eddie had been protecting Buck from that craving.

“How long?”

Eddie wouldn’t look at him and Buck didn’t have the strength to lift his arm up to tip his chin up. So, Buck turned his hand in Eddie’s and linked their fingers together before he pulled his hand down from Eddie’s chest and placed it over his own heart. He curled around Eddie’s wrist and kept it there so Eddie had to feel his real, living heart as it threatened to beat out of his chest for him.

Eddie’s breath hitched.

“How long, Eddie?”

“Since the moment you were bristling like a black cat when you saw me in the firehouse.”  

“You smell like honey,” Eddie said before he pecked a kiss against his lips. “Like honey heated by the sun. Like the first snow of the winter. Like a bonfire with something sweet in the smoke.”

Eddie’s lips twitched up at the side like he didn’t know if he was allowed to smile or not. Like he didn’t know that Buck treasured every one of those smiles like charms that he cradled close to his chest.

The space between Eddie’s brow creased and what Buck would give to whisper it away with his lips. The wind tingled across Buck’s skin and circled around Eddie’s neck instead. The tickle was enough to turn that quirk of his mouth into the beginnings of a smile again.

“Save your strength, Buck,” Eddie said with a light chastising lilt in his voice.

“Eh.” Buck shrugged even though the noise he made sounded more exhausted than he intended. The wind was second nature to him. It didn’t usually take so much energy. “Little blood loss can’t stop me.”

 But then Eddie frowned, blinking as he shook his head.

“No, Buck. I meant—” Eddie sucked in a breath and his mouth did that little stutter it did when Eddie realized something before everyone else. “Buck, you summoned Witch Water.”

Witch Water… But that would mean…

He remembered hearing the water sing the night of the ladder truck bombing but he hadn’t heard it since. He thought it’d just been a fluke. A once in a lifetime moment spurred up by desperation and pain.

Wind, fire, air… If only that only old croon could’ve seen Buck now. Buck’s head hurt just thinking about it.

Eddie watched the dawning realization set into Buck like a second skin and for once he let his smile stretch a little farther into something beaming with pride; love. “I told you, you’re extraordinary.”

Buck was sure that if he had enough blood in his body, he’d be blushing like an idiot.

Eddie reached up and petted through Buck’s hair.

“I resent the cat comparison but don’t stop,” Buck mumbled as he slipped his eyes closed and leaned into Eddie’s petting.

Eddie’s laugh rumbled deep in his chest as he pushed back some of Buck’s hair as he leaned down. Firm lips pressed against Buck’s forehead and Buck shivered beneath the weight of the kiss. It was a weight he didn’t think he would ever get used to. Eddie nuzzled against Buck’s brow, inhaling deeply like he was sucking in every inch of fragrance from Buck’s scent. It made Buck feel small in the bed in the best way possible with Eddie bracketing over him. But he wasn’t touching him other than his lips and Buck wasn’t above using his recovery to get what he wanted.

Buck latched a weak hand on Eddie’s shirt and tugged with a whine high in his throat. He kept tugging even when the fabric slipped from his fingers and Eddie sighed as he dropped onto Buck’s side that didn’t have all the tubes sticking out of him. Buck bullied Eddie until he slid up beside Buck and scooped him close in his arms until Buck could curl into his chest. He burrowed close and inhaled Eddie’s own scent as he settled his head on his chest and slipped his hand up Eddie’s shirt so he could place his palm on the smooth skin there.

The smooth skin that hadn’t been there the last time Buck remembered.

“Jeremiah?” Buck asked quietly as if scared that saying his name out loud would bring him back. His throat went tight all of the sudden and Buck tried to swallow past the lump.

“Gone,” Eddie said simply. “He won’t hurt you anymore.”

Buck knew that wasn’t an answer. He remembered the way his magic had manifested into his hands as flames, licking up his skin until his chest had been warmed with it. He remembered throwing Jeremiah back with his magic.

Fire was one of the few things that could kill a vampire.

But Buck didn’t have the stomach to ask.

“I’m sorry,” Buck said anyway. “I know… I know you cared for him.”

Eddie didn’t say anything for a moment and instead tipped his head to nuzzle into Buck’s hair.

“I did once. He was my first real friend after I was turned. But it was never… like it is with you. Jeremiah was bitter and lonely and he saw too much of the world that he started to hate it. I’m sorry I allowed him near—”

“Don’t.” Buck flattened his hand on Eddie’s chest, putting weight into the pressure so Eddie knew he meant it. “Don’t do that. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But I—”

“I’d do it again. I don’t regret it and for you I would do it again.” Buck promised.

He wasn’t going to let Eddie drown himself in the spiral of his guilt. Not when Buck was there to lift him above the surface.

“I don’t want to ever put you in a position again where you would have to.”

And that was fair. Buck wasn’t exactly looking for the next vampire to threaten to rip out his throat either. But for Eddie? Well, there wasn’t much Buck wasn’t willing to go through for him.

Buck used to think he was nothing more than a blip of time for Eddie and some days he still did. It was a lonely feeling to think of yourself as a singular star in a galaxy for someone like Eddie. But Buck never considered what Eddie felt like. How he was like a willow tree trapped in the earth to watch as people passed by. Beautiful in his sadness and loneliness.

That reminded Buck of that fateful night they were tangled in the sheets and Eddie told Buck about how he was looking to live his own life.

Eddie was lonely. Eddie was lonely and Buck didn’t know why or how but for some reason, he was less so when he was with Buck.

Buck was lonely too. Or… he had been.

Maybe that was why his magic was starting to bloom; blossoming as if the first taste of sunlight had stroked the petals to unfurl. 

Buck had spent his whole life existing, trapped in the fallout of a failed prophecy that Buck was starting to think had nothing to do with him. Maddie had given him the keys to the Jeep and some money but had Buck really been living? Or had he just been drifting in the wind?

Drifting until he got tangled up in the branches of a willow tree that wanted to keep him.

“You have my back and I have yours,” Buck eventually said and his eyes fluttered closed as Eddie’s fingers tangled in his hair, his thumb sweeping against his temple. “That’s the deal, right?”

Eddie huffed out a sound. Like a laugh breathy with disbelief and comfort.

“That’s the deal.” Eddie agreed.

He was going to put Buck to sleep with the magical touch of his fingers. That was probably the goal, if Buck had to guess. Buck sighed as he let himself start to drift and burrowed closer until he could tuck his face underneath Eddie’s jaw, nestling against his throat. Eddie held him tight and Buck didn’t think he would ever let go.

“Stay,” Buck breathed and Eddie tipped his head so he could inhale the scent of Buck.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Buck shivered again underneath the brush of Eddie’s lips on his scalp.

Buck had been a failed prophecy from the moment he was born. A prophecy Eddie didn’t think was real and Buck was starting to believe him.  

But Buck believed in magic and what he had with Eddie? What he had with Eddie was magic in the purest form. Magic and maybe a little touch of fate.