Work Text:
PRESENTLY
The further into the facility Bobby and Eddie got, the worse the itching and pain deep within his bones became. Eddie was doing his best to grit his teeth and force his feet ahead, all too aware that Bobby, his Captain, friend and father-figure was only inches away from him. Completely in the dark about the danger that brushed against him.
It was still incredible that even after only a year of working together, the older man, and the team for that matter had already been able to put such faith and trust in Buck and him.
That bliss was greatly damaged currently due to how he could feel his wolf clawing against his ribs, pulled by the summoning of Buck’s and his Mistress. Her words crawling along his veins like a Queen Ant leading her army.
Eddie and Buck had both been ignoring her messages for the better part of a year now, having finally been able to somewhat create a separation spell. Hindering the chokehold she held over them. It wasn’t easy of course, what with their very existence due to a spell she had cast all those years ago.
When their mistress had created them, it was just a little around the ending of the 18th century. She had been outcasted by her town for witchcraft and was hiding out in the woods, licking her literal wounds from the town lynching she had only just escaped by the skin of teeth. Her family had shunned her, even her own child, the soul she had nearly died giving birth to, had thrown a rock at her head after little encouragement from her husband.
Needless to say, she was on her own. No one was going to come and save her. Which was why she had decided to create her own protection. Two beings that’s entire existence was solely to protect and serve their mistress. Fortunately, she had seen the writing on the wall fast approaching when it came to the lynching she had escaped from.
The nasty looks, hushed whispers as she passed and of course the coldness she felt from her once close knit family were only a few of the indicators that her time in the public was coming to an end. She was hurt of course, but what had truly broken the final thread holding her heart together was the shunning from her son. Her sweet, sweet Josiah. Her little cherub that once cuddled up with her each night, eager to hear another tale she had concocted just for him. Her kneading assistant when it came time to make their family’s daily bread.
Until one day, she had watched as her husband had taken their son aside, his glances distrustworthy while he sunk down on one knee to talk quietly to Josiah. She could see the instance where her son’s posture had stiffened and the happy glint in his eyes faded.
With only a few words, she had lost everything.
Eventually though, she had done her best to alleviate the loneliness and exposure forced upon her with the creation of Eddie and Buck.
And so began their servitude as Familiars.
It had taken time and of course years of planning to gather the needed ingredients but eventually Buck and Eddie had gotten the opportunity to perform the spell. Unfortunately, the spell was only half successful. Because their magic was technically their mistresses’, they had to be cautious about the amount they called upon. Too much and they would be found out and banished to their cage, too little and the spell would do little more than put fluff in their mistresses’ ears.
The spell they had performed was supposed to completely sever the bond between the three, allowing them to still exist (they had hoped) and escape their enslavement. Instead, the spell had essentially put blinders on their locations but still allowed their mistress to sense their presence if she ever got close to them. This was made especially more effective whenever she sent out flashes of honing magic.
Honing magic that was getting closer and closer to locking down their location.
“Captain Nash to Firefighter Buckley, status report.” Bobby spoke into his radio, his voice strained from the anxiety throttling his vocal chords.
Bobby releases his hold on the radio but is met with continued silence.
Unlike Bobby, Eddie has given up on using his radio. Instead, he’s resorted to yelling.
“BUCK!”
All that responds is the blaring of the fire alarm (which should have been silenced ages ago) and the pounding of blood in Eddie’s ears.
It was supposed to be a simple call.
In and out.
EARLIER
It was nearing the end of their 24 hour shift and thankfully, the call they were responding to was a simple carbon monoxide alert. The windows and other openings of the building had been opened to air out the facility and speed up the process of reopening. The occupants of the building had been throwing a party of some kind and apparently one of the attendees had forgotten to turn the oven off after making a cake for the event.
Not long after, the 118 had shown up to help evacuate and secure the building, a lover’s quarrel had broken out after a woman’s husband had shown up and caught his wife and her ‘boyfriend’ in an embrace. Apparently the man worked in the department above her.
Within a blink of an eye, the husband had lunged himself at the other man and a fight had ensued. Fists were flying and unfortunately, Buck, attempting to separate the two, had gotten in the crossfire of one of those hits and taken one directly to the face. Eddie could only watch in horror as Buck staggered back and collided backwards into a cabinet. His head bouncing painfully off of the hard metal surface.
Buck slumped to the ground, his eyes hazy with confusion and pain as the younger man drowned in flashes of images, colors and scents.
Eddie had felt his eyes flash an inhuman violet as the scent of Buck’s blood hit him and he felt himself moving towards the other man. His instincts scream at him to “protect”, “heal”, “cherish”. He doesn’t make it more than a step before he’s being blindsided by one of the men (he doesn’t know which) falling against him, after being shoved away by a red faced, ginger-haired man.
“God damn it, Lewis!” the woman shouts, turning to shove the man, Lewis, away from her as he tries to get closer.
The woman goes to the fallen man’s side and gently cups his face, his cheek rapidly swelling from the blow it had received.
Eddie is about to push himself off the ground when he’s suddenly being helped off the floor by Bobby.
“You okay, Eddie?” the older man asks, his eyes doing a quick scan of Eddie’s body.
Eddie nods, “yeah, I”m fine. Buck’s the one who needs attention.” He goes to walk around the couple on the floor but finds himself yet again caught in the middle of the lover’s dispute as Lewis finds his second wind and attempts to body slam the man on the ground.
Athena, when she arrived Eddie wouldn’t be able to say, manages to wrap an arm around Lewis’ waist pre-jump and swing him into the waiting arms of one of her officers.
“Sir, I’m going to need you to stop playing Wrestlemania and listen up.” Athena begins to read the man his rights as the officer holding Lewis turns him around to cuff him.
Eddie brushes off the concerned hands of who he can only guess to be Hen as he moves around the gaggle of people blocking him from Buck. Behind him, he can somewhat make out another officer reading off the Miranda Rights again.
All sound dwindles to white noise and his bones feel leadened down however when he finally makes eye contact with the area Buck had been in.
Should have been in.
Instead, all he is met with is an empty corner with a smudge of blood gracing the wall where Buck’s head had ended up resting.
His eyes jump around the room, urgently trying to locate his partner. He’s not even aware of the low keening sound rattling out of his throat the longer his search goes in vain.
At some point, Bobby must have noticed Eddie’s distress because suddenly his hand found its way onto Eddie’s shoulder. Consciously, Eddie had been able to recognize the older man’s scent. In his panicked mindset though, the sudden touch ignites his fight instincts. In one fluid move, Eddie grips Bobby’s wrist and pinches the nerves causing a grunt of pain to escape the older man.
“Eddie, it’s Bobby. It’s just Bobby.” Bobby does his best to speak in a calm manner but it doesn’t escape Hen and Chim’s radar that his voice and face is strained.
Horrified at his actions, Eddie quickly drops the older man’s wrist and backs away, only stopping when his back meets a wall.
He can feel an apology slipping past his lips before being overwhelmed with utterings of finding Buck. He needs to find Buck.
“Eddie, I need you to take a deep breath for me. You’re having a panic attack. Will you let me help you?” Hen asks, suddenly standing in front of Eddie, her voice warm and soothing like Eddie’s a wounded animal.
He doesn’t have the clarity to even appreciate the irony of that comparison.
Unable to vocalize human words, Eddie nods in ascension.
Hen smiles comfortingly as she delicately places Eddie’s hand against her sternum and softly instructs him to try and match her breaths.
After a few minutes have passed it can be said that Eddie’s breathing has returned to a somewhat more healthy pace. His mind however, is still scrambling around the need to locate and shelter Buck.
Locating Bobby, Eddie takes a step forward. “I need to find him, Bobby. He’s hurt.” and scared and fighting to retain his humanity. Buck’s on the verge, Eddie can feel it through their bond and he’s terrified of what will happen if Buck does shift before Eddie can get to him. Especially with the state the younger man is in.
Bobby gives him his best comforting smile, the one that usually can put even the most panicked patient or rescuee at ease. This time however, it really only feels like a bandaid losing its adhesiveness. The older man makes an aborted move to touch him before thinking better of it.
"Hen, Chim I want you guys to escort the civilians outside. Sgt. Grant and her officers will handle the love triangle. Eddie and I will search the building for Buck." He instructs, waiting until a reluctant Hen and Chim get to their duties, before refocusing on Eddie.
“We’re going to find him, Eddie.”
It doesn’t escape Eddie’s notice that Bobby doesn’t promise.
PRESENTLY
A particularly violent lash of honing magic against his mind has Eddie stumbling, only just managing to get his feet back under him and not onto the floor.
Bobby steadies him, his touch remaining for a few breaths after what would be socially acceptable to move away.
“Are you okay?” Bobby doesn’t bother to try and hide the concern in his voice. Nor the obvious scanning the older man does of Eddie’s body, no doubt looking for any injuries Eddie may be hiding.
Unsurprisingly, Eddie brushes off his concern.
“I’m fine. Buck’s the one who needs help.”
Eddie puts some distance between them as he walks into another office area, not caring that technically he should be waiting for Bobby to have his back. Just because the original situation has been contained, doesn’t mean there aren't hidden dangers waiting in the shadows.
Danger like a Familiar, soon to be two going by Eddie’s sharpening canines, on the verge of an anxiety induced shift.
Eddie’s enhanced senses take in the corners and crevices of the darkened room, searching for the form he knew as well as his own.
Behind him, he can hear Bobby enter the room as well. The snitch of a switch proceeds the sudden brightening of the room, causing Eddie to have to slam his eyes shut.
Swirls of kaleidoscopic colors dance along his vision as needles of pain prick his irises.
“Buck?” Bobby calls out as he steps further into the room, walking past Eddie to investigate.
It starts as a whimper, so soft a human wouldn’t even register it, followed quickly by snuffling of air. Eddie zeroes in on the familiar vanilla, citrus, and bark scent, buried beneath the metallic taint of copper.
Blood.
Buck’s blood.
Eddie finds the other man huddled in a corner of the room, a desk chair overturned in front of him, walling Buck in a corner of the room.
“Buck.” Eddie sails across the room to Buck’s side, his wrist instinctively traveling to Buck’s nose.
A serrated knife carving into his heart would have been more comforting than the agony Eddie experiences as Buck jerks away from him. As if Eddie’s scent is a predator snapping at his face. Logically, Eddie knows that Buck is more than likely suffering from a concussion, coupled with the invasive probing of their Mistress’ magic and the anxiety that’s inducing. That knowledge doesn’t stop him from letting out a keening whine, his body physically trembling as protect soothe hide instincts scream at him.
“Mi queirdo rosa, por favor, estoy aqui.” Eddie pleads, trying and failing to catch Buck’s eyes as the other man continues to jerk away from him. He only narrowly avoids hissing when one of Buck’s elongated nails slash across his forearm.
Eddie can feel his wolf scratching down at the remaining pegs that keep it imprisoned in Eddie’s mind.
His injury doesn’t go unnoticed by Bobby who takes a step forward, likely to try and help. In reality though, he’s only exasperating the situation.
The moment Buck catches movement out of the corner of his eye, he almost succeeds in pouncing forward, his sharpened nails and pointed teeth aimed for Bobby’s exposed jugular.
At the last moment, Eddie pulls Buck back into his arms, automatically blanketing his mate against the wall with his body, Eddie purposefully holding Buck’s head to his chest. Blocking Bobby’s view of Buck’s glowing purple eyes. The growls and whines that cascade up Buck’s throat reverberate against Eddie’s chest.
“Buck.” Eddie does his best to try and secure Buck in his arms, but his mate continues to resist. Buck whines and whimpers that transform into high pitched growls causing Eddie’s canines to sharpen and lengthen.
Eddie winces in sympathy as he feels Buck’s bones shift and crunch beneath his touch. The high pitched cry of pain drags like gravel across his soul. As if responding to Buck’s cry, Eddie grunts in discomfort as he feels his own bones begin to contort and twist.
“Eddie…” without having to turn around, Eddie can sense Bobby’s growing anxiety. It’s unsurprising, especially given everyone knows that Buck is essentially Bobby’s son in all but blood. The sentiment goes both ways with Bobby filling the role of a father in Buck’s life.
Technically, both Buck and Eddie don’t have parents. The case could be made that their Mistress is their “mother” but the comparison alone is enough to churn Eddie’s stomach.
Eddie knows he doesn’t have much longer he has before Bobby takes matters into his own hands. He needs to get Buck and himself out of here before Bobby plays witness to Buck and Eddie’s true nature.
“Bobby, I’ll take care of Buck.” the unspoken you can go travels through the air, needled by the confused and scared whines coming from Buck.
Thankfully, Buck is no longer actively resisting his hold, Eddie’s scent seeming to have bypassed at least enough of Buck’s strained senses and mental state to recognize Eddie as Buck’s mate. Unfortunately, the cages holding their animalistic sides back has deteriorated too much for that to matter.
“I know you’re more than capable of assessing Buck’s condition, Eddie, but as I seem to recall, you took a pretty good knock to the head as well. As your friend and Captain, I’d feel better if Hen and Chim examined both of you.” Bobby takes another cautious step forward. HIs steps falter however when he catches sight of Eddie’s reflection in the gleaming metal filing cabinet adjacent to the pair.
If Bobby couldn’t feel the sharp pain of his tooth slicing into his cheek, he would have thought he was in the middle of a dream. Or, more appropriately, a nightmare.
Eddie’s eyes shine a translucent, shimmering purple. His pupils are the size of nickels as the younger man’s body contorts into a painful hunch. Bobby swears he hears a crunch. He catches himself taking a step back as his eyes take in the noticeably inhuman sharpness of Eddie’s teeth.
Eddie curls his body even tighter around Buck, an unconscious growl of warning rumbles from his chest. He knows the control he has on his wolf is nearing the end and when that happens there will be no chance of shielding Bobby from the truth.
“Bobby, please.” His sharpened teeth slur his words, only lending to the worry he knows is burning within Bobby. The longer the older man is kept in the dark will only feed the fear brewing within him. An adversary that Bobby has dealt with and escaped by the skin of his teeth too many times to count.
It kills Eddie, and he knows it will Buck as well, that in this instance it is their actions and secret that is aiding the beast.
The instincts that have kept Bobby alive thus far scream at him to get out of there. The father in him though, the part that thrives on nurturing and protecting those he considers family, desperately wants to damn the consequences and stay. The two may have only been under his command for close to a year now, but from the moment the pair had entered his firehouse, Bobby and the rest of the team had embraced them effortlessly. Buck’s infectious laughter lit up the drab station walls like sunshine escaping the clouds. And Eddie with his small but heart warming smile that only got warmer as he looked at Buck cemented the feeling that two new firehouse family members had come home.
Before he is able to vocally make his stance, Eddie continues.
“I know you want to help Buck.” Eddie starts, his voice now strained as if the earth is pulling them to its core. Bobby wants to help both of them he wants to correct but is unable to form the words in time.
“The best thing you can do right now is go back to the others and tell them I’ve taken Buck to the hospital. He would never forgive himself if something happened to you, Bobby. It would destroy him. I can’t risk that, I won’t.” Although his voice had gained some strength from his declaration, there was no masking the breathiness that trailed off his words.
As if in answer to Eddie’s words, Buck let out a whimper that clawed at Bobby’s insides, the younger man’s head doing its best to burrow into Eddie’s chest. Eddie cups the back of Buck’s neck, craning his neck to shush the other man and press a kiss to the top of his head.
The relative silence is broken by Bobby’s radio going off, Hen’s voice crackling through the speaker.
“Captain, Chim and I have finished triaging the office, have you guys located Buck yet?”
The static of the speaker grinds into Eddie’s ears like a disturbed hornet’s nest. A low pitched whine rumbling from his chest as he instinctively tries to turn away from the noise. In doing so, he inadvertently loosens his hold on Buck.
Buck lunges forward, his canines having already dropped to needle like points and aimed right for Bobby’s jugular.
Bobby can only stare in horror and shock, his feet effectively having taken root in the floor. He takes in Buck’s glowing purple eyes, inky black veins throbbing in criss-crosses and lines up and down his face with a maw gaping full of razor sharp teeth.
“Buck!” With only a hair's breadth between Buck’s teeth and Bobby’s neck, Eddie wraps his arms around Buck’s middle and pins the other man to the floor. His knee digs into Buck’s back while his hand forces Buck’s head to remain in place.
With Eddie and Buck’s new position, Bobby is able to see that, like Buck, Eddie’s features have also changed to feature the same ink black veins that throb beneath the younger man’s skin, like lava bubbling beneath the surface.
“Bobby, GO.” Eddie’s voice takes on an inhuman roar, not even trying to hide his own set of sharpened teeth. Eddie barely budges at the futile kicks and jerks Buck attempts, accompanied by snarling growls and whines.
Bobby finds his feet escorting him from the room before he even realizes he’s moving. By the time he comes to the realization he’s no longer in the room, he’s already halfway down the hallway he had just traveled with Eddie.
He comes to a stop, mentally kicking himself for allowing his flight instincts to take control. He’s supposed to look out for his team, keep calm under pressure.
He’s not allowed much more time to mentally berate himself before he notices his radio is going off, an increasingly concerned Hen trying to get in contact with him.
“Captain Nash? Please respond.”
Not wanting to further worry Hen and Chim, Bobby responds, “This is Captain Nash.” He looks down the hallway towards the doorway that he knows contains Buck and Eddie. The Father in him wants more than anything to return to their sides, offer any help he could. But, the Captain in him, the one that has dedicated his life to saving lives and watching out for those under his command, holds him back. Reminding him that as a Captain it requires making the tough calls and trusting his team to know what they are doing.
In this instance, he knows he has to trust that Eddie knows how to help Buck. Because, as much as it pains him to admit, Bobby doesn’t have the foggiest idea on what is even occurring with the two.
He knows the science of fires. He knows CPR and First Aid. He knows how to make the perfect omelet and how to sort laundry.
What he doesn’t know though, is why and how two of his best firefighters look like creatures from one of May’s supernatural/sci fi movies.
He can only hope that he’ll receive answers to the many questions today has brought him.
With a grimace, Bobby continues, “Firefighter Diaz is taking Firefighter Buckley to the hospital. Just as a precaution.Diaz will keep us updated on his condition. I’m heading back to the truck.”
The bitter taste that flows around his taste buds makes him grimace as he turns and heads for the exit, knowing that as soon as he meets up with Hen and Chim he’s going to be bombarded with questions.
LATER
Outside by the truck, after doing his best to fend off Him and Chim’s questioning, Bobby assists his remaining firefighters in loading up the truck and chatting with Athena who had her own questions as to the whereabouts of Buck and Eddie.
Judging by the unimpressed looks his wife throws at him, Bobby knows fully well that he’s going to be getting an earful about letting Buck and Eddie go off without being checked over by Hen and Chim.
It’s during one of these looks that Bobby catches, out of the corner of his eye, what could only be described as two wolves slinking out of a side exit. One of the wolves is a deep cinnamon color with splashes of brown throughout the fur. The other’s fur is a striking rust color with an eye-catching spatter of gold above the right eye. Both wolves however have eerily familiar glowing purple eyes.
As much as he wants to live in denial, Bobby knows that those two wolves are Buck and Eddie.
He only catches sight of them for a second before Bobby’s attention is drawn to a fairly new firefighter to the 118 accidentally dropping his helmet on the asphalt. By the time Bobby looks back at the space the two wolves had been, he is met with an empty alleway.
Bobby only allows himself a moment to look around the immediate area, hopeful to maybe catch another glimpse of the wolves formerly known as Buck and Eddie. Unsurprisingly, there is no trace of them.
Knowing he can’t put off stalling any longer, lest he add even more suspicion to an already suspicious day, Bobby instructs his firefighters to get in the truck and head back to the station.
Later, as Bobby is getting ready to head to bed after once again going through a questioning barrage by Athena, he receives a call from Eddie.
Without hesitation, Bobby accepts the call.
“Eddie, are you guys okay?”
A breath of silence passes on the other end before Eddie responds.
“We’re as good as we can be, Bobby. All things considered.” it doesn’t escape Bobby’s notice that Eddie’s whispering, as if he’s doing his best to not disturb someone. More than likely Buck if Bobby was to bet.
Bobby exhales a sigh of relief, running a hand through his graying blond hair.
“I’ll take you both being safe anyday. You are safe, aren’t you?”
On the other end, Bobby can hear the sound of rustling, and a faint creaking, no doubt a bed judging by the time of night.
“Yeah, we’re back at our place.”
Bobby nods his head, momentarily forgetting that Eddie can’t see him.He doesn’t voice his worry that the pair had vanished from the face of earth, never to be seen again.
“Good, that’s-that’s good.”
An awkward beat of silence passes before Eddie speaks.
“Listen Bobby, I know you have questions. Believe me, If I were in your shoes I’d be demanding them. But it’s safer for you and us if you remain as in the dark as possible. At least for now. I meant what I said back in that room, Bobby. If anything were to happen to you because of what we are, it would destroy Buck and in turn myself. Buck and I, we don’t trust easily, we can’t afford to. But from the moment we entered your firehouse, it felt different. Maybe it’s because we’d been on our own for so long that we gave in to the family you helped create there. I don’t know. What I do know though, is that Buck and I wouldn’t have stayed this long if it wasn’t for you and the others. I can’t thank you enough for that.”
His heart threatens to escape out his throat as he takes in Eddie’s words. Beyond the fact that this was the most he had ever heard the other man speak, there was also the horrible notion that he was being given a goodbye.
“I can’t lie, Eddie. I’m definitely confused about what exactly went down. But I need you to know that you and Buck will always have a home at the 118, no matter what.” He clears his throat, unsuccessfully trying to dislodge the lump that has taken root in his esophagus.
On the other end, Bobby could swear he heard a sniffle, but he remained silent, still trying to get a handle on his own emotions.
“Thanks Bobby, we appreciate everything you’ve done for us. Goodnight.
“Goodnight, Eddie.”
The line goes dead. The silence leaching into his mind, making a home there with other memories that Bobby has under lock and key.
Bobby sinks down onto his couch, his phone cradled to his ear, as if holding the device there will force Eddie to call him back.
He hopes to God Eddie will call him back.