Amazing cover art by @ronordmann thank you so much.
911 Halloween week Day 7 free choice (witches transformation and magic)
14.4K mature
Maddie Buckley has magic and while trying to help her brother something goes wrong leaving Buck completely transformed and in a precarious position. There’s only one person who can help her while she tries to fix things and get her brother back to the way he was. A story where Buck moves in with Eddie but not in the way Eddie ever hoped for, for one thing he’d hadn’t expected fur and whiskers to be involved. It’s a good job he likes cats.
Maddie Buckley was born with a secret she had to keep from the world, a little later she was given a secret she had to keep from her brother.
Slowly her life became full of secrets but eventually things changed and some secrets were shared and others revealed.
Maddie thinks she’s better at not keeping too many secrets these days but some things are still harder to share than others. Some things she still needs to keep hidden away.
This may be one of them, her eyes fade from purple to brown as she looks down at the floor in horror at what’s happened.
This is a problem. A big one.
She expects her brother would agree with that assessment although he’s hardly in the position to express that right now. His blue eyes met hers and despite the unusual circumstances she can tell he’s unimpressed, but then who wouldn’t be?
This wasn’t supposed to have happened. All she can do is drop to her knees and mutter her apologies.
Maddie’s used to secrets but she doesn’t think she’s going to be able to keep this one for very long. Chim will notice when he gets home. Bobby will notice when Buck can’t go into work tomorrow. Eddie will guess something is wrong when Buck’s constant stream of texts abruptly stops.
So with limited time to fix it she spends the afternoon trying to correct what she’s done. She fails over and over again. She tries until she’s exhausted and after the fourth time she has to rescue her brother from his niece she knows what she has to do. Where he needs to go while she sorts everything out, because this is fine, she can totally fix this. She just needs some more time.
Chim comes home and stares open mouthed as she explains what’s happened. He agrees she needs help and there’s only one person to go to, only one person Buck would want to be with right now.
Which is why she’s on her way to Eddie’s house.
The phone screen remains dark no matter how long he stares. He glares at it, resting there on his coffee table, taunting him. Eddie resists a few moments longer then scrubbing at his face he gives in. He picks it up and double checks that there are no new messages that he might have missed. It seems unlikely after all because he’s been staring at the damn thing for the last five minutes.
There are no new messages.
The phone goes down again accompanied by a weary roll of his eyes at his level of co dependency. One afternoon and evening of no texts from Buck and he’s worried and miserable.
He's being ridiculous, just because Buck hasn’t text him for hours doesn’t mean something’s wrong. That thought doesn’t stop him checking the phone one last time or prevent him from tossing it away with an irritated noise, annoyed with Buck for ignoring him and with himself for minding.
Buck is probably just at the gym or at the store. There are any number of things he could be doing; maybe, Eddie thinks with a dark scowl he's on a date.
If Buck’s getting lucky it would explain the radio silence. He hadn’t mentioned anything like that but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
Eddie is honest enough to admit to himself that he doesn’t enjoy the thought of Buck being on a date but on the other hand being on a date has never stopped Buck texting before so it’s still unusual not to hear from him.
Nibbling on the edge of a nail he tries to reassure himself. Nothing’s wrong. He’s just worrying needlessly. He should go to bed, he’ll see Buck at work tomorrow anyway.
He takes three steps towards his bedroom when the abrupt knock at his front door startles him; his heart starts pounding, his current apprehension about Buck’s is putting him on edge. He approaches the door nervously, a knot already forming in his stomach.
A quick glance at the time shows him it really is too late for casual visitors which means he’s not being paranoid, something’s happened and he braces himself for something bad, what he sees when he opens the door does absolutely nothing to settle his nerves.
“Maddie?”
The sight of Buck’s sister on his doorstep generates a vicious spike of adrenaline in his blood, the desperate edge to his voice telegraphs his anxiety clearly.
“What’s happened? Is he ok?”
He looks past her in the hopeful expectation of seeing Buck, although how he thinks Bucks 6ft frame is hiding being Maddie is anyone's guess. He’s so busy worrying that he doesn’t notice what she’s holding.
“Eddie don’t panic.” Maddie seems calm enough but the words make his heart sink, nothing good has even followed those words, they fall in the same category as ‘we need to talk.’
Unfortunately that’s what she says next.
“We need to talk, can I in come in?
That’s when he notices it - the cat.
Maddie offers no explanation for the animal in her arms as she crosses the threshold into his home.
Now he’s noticed it, the cat captures his full attention. It’s large; ginger and white and it’s being held tightly to her body. The animal is looking right at him and as far as cats have expressions this one looks annoyed. He’s never seen a cat look annoyed or anything so identifiable before, outside of Chris’ cartoons. This one does though.
Maddie says his name again, drawing his attention back to her, “Eddie, Buck’s ok.”
The cat makes a loud noise and Maddie turns the animal slightly so she can glare at it.
“He’s fine.” she repeats firmly and with emphasis, if Eddie didn’t know better he’d say she was talking to the cat not him.
The cat makes a break for freedom, it twists and jumps out of her arms and lands neatly. It stalks across his floor and jumps up onto the couch where it turns and sits very still looking at them both. It’s very large for a cat and has blue eyes. Eddie finds himself and the cat staring at each other and Maddie has to say his name again to get his attention.
He drags his eyes back to her, the cat’s presence and unusual aura is distracting him,
“If he’s ok, why are you here?”
“Well” the pause is ominous “it’s a little bit complicated.” Maddie doesn’t quite meet his eye.
This time the cat makes a noise that sounds like ‘prumph’. Eddie side eyes it and Maddie sighs. She rubs her hands together, her anxiety obvious, with another quick look at the cat she takes a deep breath and starts.
“So - Buck told you about us right?”
She waits for confirmation, Eddie nods, he knows what she's alluding to. Buck told him months ago. It had been something of a shock although he thinks he handled it pretty well.
“Yes, he said you're magical.”
Witches to be precise.
“He told me everything.” His expression hardens then because he does know about them and not all of it had been good. Buck had indeed told him everything, saying he didn’t want any secrets between them. Buck had looked at him blue eyes wide and trusting and said he wanted Eddie to know the real him. Eddie had been touched by the level of faith Buck had in him.
More explanation had followed that initial reveal; Buck apparently only had a little magic but Maddie’s talent was much stronger than his own. There were reasons for that and Eddie had not been impressed.
Buck had kept his eyes downcast as he explained why his magic was lesser than his sister’s, he’d been unable to look Eddie in the eyes as he spoke about it; the memory of Buck’s haltering explanation still made him furious.
Eddie had listened in growing horror as Buck told him how his own parents had used him, drained the majority of his gift away in an effort to feed the spell meant to cure his older brother who had been dying. A spell that hadn’t even worked.
Eddie feels the echos of the cold rage that had spread through him that day as Buck kept going with his story, explaining that until quite recently he had known nothing of the spell, that his parents had hidden what they’d done letting him think he was just born faulty, Buck’s word not his, letting him grow up thinking he was simply less magical, less gifted than his sister.
Maddie’s not looking at him now, he knows she feels guilty for keeping all that hidden. Buck hadn’t even known he had a brother until last year. It had taken him a while to forgive her, Eddie’s impressed that he did it so quickly.
Maddie’s eyes have drifted back to the cat. He wonders vaguely if it’s a witch thing, taking cats out when you go visiting.
Maddie takes a deep breath before telling the rest of her story.
“Well, Buck and me, we were trying something today, we thought we’d found a way to… that maybe we might be able change…” she stops again, “well that doesn’t matter now but it went … wrong.” Her eyes peer up at him on the last word.
The cat meows again as it flops down on his couch.
Eyes drawn by the movement Eddie notices it has markings on its face, white fur around one eye contrasting with the ginger. It’s left eye.
His stomach clenches, an ominous feeling growing steadily, panic clawing through his veins.
“How wrong?” He almost doesn’t recognise his own voice, it’s low and urgent, “Maddie what happened?” he demands, desperate for an answer. “Where’s Buck?”
She winces, then nose wrinkled up, mouth scrunched into a guilty moue, she looks at the cat.
It takes a heartbeat to process what she’s trying to say and another to deny it before his whispered ‘No’ echoes round the silent room. She can’t mean…Eddie shakes his head and repeats his denial more firmly.
“No.”
Maddie nods, biting on her lip. “It was an accident.”
The cat mewls sadly from its spot on the couch.
“You… you turned Buck into a cat?” It’s suddenly extremely hard to breathe.
Her voice is small and apologetic “Kinda.”
“Kinda!?” His voice in contrast to hers rises sharply then falls into an angry hiss as he points at the couch “that’s a cat Maddie, an actual cat!”
“I know,” she looks and sounds deeply puzzled “I don’t know what went wrong. We thought either it would work or it just wouldn’t. We didn’t expect… this.” she sighs “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
The cat yowls loudly, head twisted to the side, its eyes fixed on her in a hard stare.
Maddie frowns back, she steps closer, lowering her voice, “That wasn’t my fault and you know it.” The cat goes “mrwrarr” and turns around. She folds her arms and mutters “anyway it was only a tail that time.”
Eddie’s knees feel a little weak, sitting down seems wise. It’s a lot to process but Maddie’s last sentence has to be investigated.
“You gave Buck a tail?”
She sits down opposite him, next to the cat. He can’t quite think of it as Buck yet.
“Yeah” her voice reflects the awkwardness of the fact, Eddie can’t really imagine the kind of apologies that go with giving your brother a tail.
“It was just once but he’s never let me forget it.” She glares at the cat who's now ignoring her, “he had to miss Junior prom, he was so mad with me.”
Eddie can't help thinking Buck might have had some justification for that.
“Mom and Dad kept him off school for a month. Which I personally think was an overreaction, the tail only lasted two weeks.” Maddie sounds a little defensive about the whole thing. Eddie decides to keep his opinions to himself.
Then he registers what she said, two weeks - his eyes widen in shock, that can’t be right.
“Is he going to be stuck like this for two weeks?”
“No” she scoffs dismissively, then deflates “well… probably not, a few days, maybe? Possibly a bit longer?”
Eddie’s heart sinks with every word she utters; he wishes she sounded more convincing.
Maddie plasters a smile on her face “I’m going to ask around for some advice, look for a way to reverse it but I’m sure it'll just wear off by itself.”
He listens unsure who she’s trying to convince him or herself. Or maybe it’s the cat.
The cat: aka Buck. He’s sitting perfectly still on the couch, staring unblinking at his sister. He looks unimpressed, it seems like a fairly typical expression for a cat.
“So you’re sure it's not permanent.” He’d like a guarantee but he’s not getting one. Maddie remains silent.
The cat turns his furry little head when Eddie speaks and the sapphire gaze is focused on him like a laser beam. His breath catches because there’s more than a cat looking back at him.
“Buck?”
The cat meows at him and Eddie suddenly believes, not that he thought Maddie was lying but he suddenly knows in his bones that the cat is Buck.
Maddie still hasn’t answered him and she’s taking far too long for Eddie’s peace of mind. He prompts a response.
“You are sure he’ll turn back aren’t you?”
Her response lacks the conviction he’d like to hear, she doesn’t quite mask the wobble in her quiet ‘Yes.”
“Maddie?” His own voice is thick with concern, she needs to do better than that if she expects him to believe her.
She tries again. This time her voice is bright and confident.
“Of course it’s not permanent” but she doesn’t look him in the eye when she says it.
Eddie gulps in more air, he’s feeling dizzy, fighting the growing panic inside him. It can’t be permanent. That’s just not an option. Random thoughts flit across his mind and one suddenly sticks, “What about work? He can’t just not show up.”
“Chimney’s going to tell Bobby tomorrow, they’ll put him on medical leave.” So Bobby must also know about Buck and Maddie then.
Eddie wonders how Bobby will fill in those particular forms, absent due to having whiskers and a tail? Unable to work because paws aren’t compatible with fire fighting equipment? He stops that train of thought, he’s getting distracted, his mind trying to focus on anything that’s not the cat still staring at him.
“Can he stay with you?” Maddie’s still talking to him “ I can’t leave him alone and I know this is where he’d feel safest.”
“Really?” that slips out in a tone that reveals how pleased he is that Maddie thinks his home is Buck’s safe space. She definitely notices and he finds himself at the other end of her penetrating and knowing gaze.
Buck's sister smiles at him kindly “Of course. He loves being here with you and Chris. I never hear the end of how wonderful you are. How much he… ” the cat head-buts her hard, she turns to him with an innocent sounding “What?” And Eddie’s heard that tone from his own sisters.
More yelping and mewling from his newly furry friend has her rolling her eyes.
Maddie says “Don’t be silly, of course not.” and scratches him behind the ear, there’s a small purr and he assumes that means Buck’s getting what he wants.
Eddie looks at the cat then back at Maddie “Can you understand him?
Maddie wiggles her head from side to side in a noncommittal fashion, ”Well he’s talking in cat and I’m listening in human so there’s definitely a communication barrier but I get the general sense, I think the spell links us a bit which helps and… “ she says, eyes dropping to the cat whose now cleaning his ear with a paw, “ I do know my brother quite well.”
The cat finishes washing and jumps down. He moves to sit on the floor by Eddie’s feet. When he gets no attention he rams his head into his leg. Eddie’s hand twitches but is it appropriate to smooth Buck when he’s a cat? It’s a dilemma, God knows he’s had ideas about running his fingers through Buck’s hair when his best friend is human shaped but he doesn’t ever give in to those thoughts does he so he denies himself the impulse to reach out now.
That means he has to ignore the insistent pushing against his leg. He refuses to look down, keeps his eyes on Maddie. She looks like she’s trying not to smile.
Buck stops nudging him and sits again with a grumpy little mrrrrph. A quick glance downwards shows him an upturned face still waiting expectantly.
The glance is obviously enough of an invitation for Buck because the cat, (think of him as a cat, Eddie tells himself), jumps and four paws land on his lap, that’s quickly followed by a pink nose and a head rubbing against his chest.
Cat Buck obviously has an agenda and he’s a weak man, he’s always liked cats anyway, he can’t be expected to resist this one. If Buck instigates it, it must be ok right?
He finds his hand stroking the cat's head which only encourages the furry little beast. Its purring becomes louder.
“Can he understand us? He asks Maddie.
He asks the cat too. “You getting any of this buddy?”
The cat mews back which might be an answer, it’s hard to tell.
Maddie’s response this time is slower, “I think he understands, not as much as a human but definitely more than a regular cat.”
Something flashes behind her eyes, something she’s not saying. There’s a brief glimpse of a worried crease on her forehead but he blinks and it’s gone. He’s about to ask but cat Buck bumps his head against Eddie’s chest again and he's distracted.
A few more moments pass as he fusses the cat.
“Maddie, this isn’t just a bad joke is it?” It’s his last hope and Maddie dashes it.
“No, I'm afraid not.”
“How are you so calm?” The words burst out “Does this sort of thing happen a lot?”
“No Eddie” she sounds unimpressed, “ people turning into cats does not happen a lot, even if I am a witch.”
She stands then with a heavy sigh, “look I need to go, get in touch with those people as soon as I can.” The unreadable look crosses her face again “the sooner we get him back the better.”
He nods “He’ll be safe here until he turns back.”
She smiles again “I know.”
She turns to go but the nagging doubt is still there so he calls out after her,
“Maddie?” she turns, “there’s… there’s nothing else I should know, right?”
She smiles at him and Eddie thinks it's just a little too bright, too cheerful to be real.
“Of course not”
He wishes he believed her.
Maddie sighs heavily as she leaves her brother behind with his best friend and the man she suspects he’s in love with. It’s the best place for him but she feels terrible.
They’d been trying to reactive his magic and it had gone so horribly wrong she can scarcely process it.
She’s heard about transformations like this a few times and the stories aren’t giving her a lot of hope.
She turns the key and starts the car. She has a lot to do and not much time before she might not be able to fix this at all.
The only stories she’s heard have ended with the transformation becoming permanent if the person doesn’t change back within a few weeks.
She adds that secret to the others she’s kept over the years and drives away.
Eddie sighs, Maddie’s gone and he’s alone with his best friend.
His best friend who's currently a cat. This was not how he was expecting his day to end.
Buck jumped off his lap when Maddie got up to leave, he followed her to the door and Eddie let them have a private goodbye. He’s straightening up cushions for something to do when he turns and finds himself under the scrutiny of those eerily familiar blue eyes.
Buck makes a very handsome feline. His lips twitch, of course he does. If Buck got turned into a pumpkin he’d probably win best squash in show.
Eddie laughs out loud at the thought, god, he might just be a tiny bit hysterical. This is utterly ridiculous. He looks down, brown eyes meeting blue as they so often do but this time it’s so very different.
He’s worried and scared for his friend. Maddie hadn’t been particularly reassuring about how long this would last and he can’t shake the feeling she hasn’t told him something.
Buck mews to capture his attention, he can’t imagine being a cat is Buck’s idea of a good time. He rubs at his eyes, feeling stressed. How are they going to do this?
He crouches down to talk to him, “Hi there.”
Cat Buck blinks at him slowly.
“You know I was worried about you tonight. Knew something was wrong.”
All Buck has to say about that is ‘mrrrwarawr’ which is of minimal help.
Eddie reaches out a tentative hand and Buck sniffs at him then rubs his head against his fingers. Eddie sighs,“This is not good, Buck. Not good.”
The cat stands and butts his head against the outstretched fingers more enthusiastically, looking for ear scratches that he quickly receives.
“You know this is weird right?” Buck makes a quiet meep as he sits back down on the floor. “Really weird.”
Cats can’t shrug so that’s not what happens but his new house guest tries anyway, shoulders shift strangely.
“Glad you agree” he says wryly blowing out another heavy puff of air, then the practicalities of the situation occur to him and grateful for something to do he stands and says “You hungry? Think I’ve got some chicken you can have.”
Buck perks up at that and making a significant amount of noise that Eddie can only assume is agreement heads towards the kitchen with a happy bounce in his step.
Eddie watches him go, the fact that the cat heads straight to the kitchen is just more proof it really is Buck. He shakes his head and follows him, they’ll get through this, strange as it is. They always do.
There's a chill in the air as leaves crunch underfoot, kicking up the smells of dirt, decay, and... pumpkin spice? Spooky season is fast approaching, which means it's time for an equally spooky fan event! 9-1-1 HalloWeek is open to 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star creators of all kinds, whether you're a writer, an artist, an editor, or all three! HalloWeek runs from October 24th to October 30th and features a new prompt every day. Find the schedule below:
Monday October 24th: Costumes
Tuesday October 25th: Party
Wednesday October 26th: Rated R
Thursday October 27th: Supernatural
Friday October 28th: Jack-O-Lantern
Saturday October 29th: Scary Story
Sunday October 30th: Free Choice
Each creation should be posted to Tumblr with the tag #911HW2022 within the first twenty tags so it can be shared to this blog. Visit the FAQ to learn more about participation rules, and please reblog this post to spread the word!
thanks @911halloweek for putting this event on! i have an entire week of spooky fics written out, so let’s kick things off with some fluff and girl!dad buddie 👻
halloweek day one: costumes
rated: g | words: 2.7k | read on ao3
summary:
Halloween was just a few days away, neither of them having had the time or energy to shop for costumes as of yet. Chris was seven this year, their daughter just having turned two.
Looking down to her, Buck cooed, “what do you wanna be for Halloween baby girl?”
“Kitty!” she hollered out, poking at Buck.
Both him and Eddie chuckled at that, Eddie reaching out to grab her hands. “Ok, we’ll get you a kitty costume. Chris, what do you wanna be?”
Chris shook his head, with an eyeroll, one that was all too familiar to Buck. If Chris got his love for random facts from him, then he definitely got his sass from Eddie.
“She doesn’t want to be a kitty dads, she wants to be Boo.”
Buck looked back to Eddie then, his husband frowning in just as much confusion, Chris exasperated as ever.
“From Monsters Inc!”
Oh.
tagging squad below, lmk if you wanna be added or removed <3 (if anyone’s changed their url lately and i missed it, just let me know so i can fix it!!)
When everyone had teased Buck and assumed he would be wearing some 'scanty' outfit for the part to show off his body and for the attention, and Buck had scoffed and told everyone that his costume covered all of him, this wasn't what Eddie had expected. His best friend had just walked through the door of Bobby's and Athena's house wearing a skin-tight black one-piece with an almost golden skeleton printed on the front. The tight material might be covering Buck from neck to wrists to ankles but it still left nothing to the imagination (not that it was necessary, they had seen everything of each other in the showers at work more than once) and Eddie felt like the air had been sucked out of the room—right along with every bit of moisture in his mouth and throat.
Eddie himself was wearing a ridiculous and surely historically wrong costume of a spartan, feeling stupidly naked with the robe that seemed to be barely covering enough of him to not feel like he was walking around in his underwear, and the room was suddenly still way, way too hot. And, of course, Buck had to walk in when Eddie had been in the middle of eating one of those little snack burger thingys that Bobby had prepared for the occasion, causing him to almost choke on the damn thing when he sucked in a hasty breath at the sight of his best friend.
Buck had just accepted a glass with a worryingly purple cocktail from Hen when his eyes flickered through the room, easily finding Eddie who was still coughing and hoping to just melt into the wall he was leaning against because the idea of some harmless little costume party with his found-family and their friends had suddenly turned into much more than he had bargained for. Maybe he should have been prepared for Buck giving him a damn near heart attack any time soon, especially when the other man's face lit up and he weaved his way through the other people, tempting Eddie to drop his gaze to his definitely covered but also definitely not enough body.
This would definitely be a very long evening in the best and worst way possible...
"So, do you remember how I spent weeks convincing you to agree to go to that Halloween party tonight?"
"You mean do I remember how you pestered me about it until I said yes because you wouldn't accept my actual decision of not wanting to go to some overcrowded party in skimpy costumes? Yes, TK, I actually remember that," Carlos deadpanned, turning around from where he was currently preparing silly Halloween-themed snacks for exactly that dreadful occasion. He would definitely prefer to just stay home and cuddle up on the couch, maybe watch a few movies with his husband while handing out candy to kids in between. He had been so glad to find out that he had the day off and wouldn't be out there working in the madness that always occurred during this day every damn year but TK had successfully ruined his hopes for a quiet night in because Carlos always ended up giving in to his lover's sad puppy eyes sooner or later. He had tried to resist but to no avail.
"Right, yeah. Soooooo..."
The young officer sighed heavily because whenever TK started stalling instead of blurting something out without filter, it was usually a bad sign. "What is it?"
"That means you wouldn't be terribly angry with me if we had a change of plans?" TK took a careful little step closed, blinking his eyes to innocently fan his long lashes because he was a little shit and never above using whatever means necessary to twist Carlos around his little finger.
"Depends on what I would have to be doing instead," Carlos sighed, putting down the knife and fulling turning around with his hip propped up against the countertop, arms raising to cross in front of his chest as if that would somehow manage to shield him from the effect of TK's big green eyes.
"Judd texted me half an hour ago that their babysitter canceled on them short notice and I may have agreed that we could take Charlie trick or treating and keep her until tomorrow morning." TK seemed to hold his breath as if he had just said something actually outrageous and maybe Carlos would have been at least a bit angry or annoyed at their plans being changed at such short notice—while he didn't want to go to that stupid party, he had still prepared himself mentally for it—but this? This was honestly the best thing he could have wished for.
"Seriously? Why didn't you just say so? Of course, we'll do that," the young officer said with a chuckle, feeling the tension melt out of his body immediately at the prospect of getting to spend the evening with his husband and the most adorable little girl in the world instead of having to bounce around a party full of strangers in a costume that consisted of way too little fabric than he felt comfortable with in such an environment if he was being honest. "Wait, does that mean we also have to dress up because those costumes are definitely not suitable to go trick or treating with a four-year-old."
"Well...I figured we could maybe just put on our work uniforms? At least that way no one can say our costumes aren't realistic enough," TK grinned with a shrug and Carlos knew he probably should have expected that but Charlie would definitely have a lot more fun if they were dressed up as well so this would have to do.
"If we both get Halloween off again at some point, I insist we just stay home on the couch, though. Going trick or treating is the only acceptable deviation from that plan. Understood?" The young officer said, trying for a stern tone but he didn't feel taken very seriously when TK's face broke out into a beaming smile as he stepped closer to pull him into a kiss.
