This was written by Ghostie.
It took four months for the 118 working with Buck to learn his secret…
The 118 had been called out to a house fire an hour ago, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. The parents weren't home but their three young children were with the babysitter, a fourteen year old girl named Sophie who had made it out with the toddler just as the house collapsed in on itself. They had been able to put the fire out, but now they had to do a search, and rescue the other two children, hoping it was not a recovery. Sophie told them that the children had been having an indoor camping experience in the basement. The only way in had been blocked by the collapse, but they had been able to determine that the house hadn't sunk into the sub-flooring, giving them time to extract the children. The only problem now was the opening, which was no bigger than the size of a medium sized doggy door; clearly not big enough for a full grown adult to slip through.
Bobby, Hen, Chimney and Buck were standing together trying to figure out a better and faster way to get into the basement and help those children. Buck was subtly hopping from foot to foot, biting at his bottom lip. He had an idea but he was the new guy, didn't know if he would be listened to or if he would just be laughed at. Hen and Chim were talking low as they gave idea after idea. In the background others of their crew were carefully moving rubble around, trying to make room for someone to climb down and search for the missing children.
Buck looked back towards the ambulance where the babysitter was sitting, wrapped in a blanket. The parents had shown up just ten minutes ago, huddled on either side of her, their toddler held tightly in his mother's arms. Buck could see tears in the mothers eyes even from this far away. Making up his mind, Buck steeled himself and turned back to his team. It was now or never and he didn't think those kids had much longer before the house was going to finish collapsing into the basement; not by the creaking and groaning sounds he was picking up on.
"Bobby, can I talk to you in private?" Buck asked with an asinine mixture of hesitancy and determination.
Bobby looked to his newest firefighter questioningly. He didn't know what was up with the younger man but the way he was looking nervous and worried that he may be overstepping, Bobby decided to follow Buck to a corner just near the engine truck and gave him a look, like Buck better have a good reason to pull him aside when they didn't have time to chit-chat.
Buck swallowed, steeled himself once more and spoke. "I can get in," he nodded his head towards the little opening they had been trying to shift rubble away from without collapsing it more.
"Buck," Bobby sighed. "You're our tallest and bulkiest guy. If you…"
"No, listen." Buck cut him off, wincing under Bobby's glare. "I'm… I can…" he swallowed again, his eyes shifting around to make sure nobody else was listening even as both Hen and Chimney were watching from their place a few feet away, Buck took a step closer to Bobby, the older man eyeing him carefully. "I'm a shifter."
Buck wasn't sure how the other man was going to take that news. Shifters weren't uncommon these days, most kept it a secret only meant for family, but it was no longer legal for a workplace to question an employee about their status, no longer acceptable to force a shifter to fill out forms regarding their ability before being hired by a company. Shifters no longer had to disclose their abilities in order to be hired. Many did, but most did not.
There were still a lot of people in the world who believed shifters were less than, that they deserved to die for their abilities. Buck's family had fled Europe during the war that had taken the lives of so many shifters, so many people. His great grandfather had lost his life in order to get his pregnant wife and their children on a boat to safety, never knowing that four of their nine children had also perished at the time. Growing up, Buck was always told by his mother that his ability was special but to not trust someone outside their family with the secret. He was never to reveal his ability to shift with another soul.
Buck had only revealed his secret to one person outside his family, when he was nineteen years old. He thought he could trust the man he had loved, his first and only boyfriend, but he had been wrong and had almost died because of it. A jagged scar on his left hip the last reminder of that night.
Buck looked at Bobby, trying to gauge his reaction to his sudden bomb drop; Bobby seemed skeptical. "I'm a feline shifter. I can get in there and locate them. The sitter said they were down there but couldn't tell us where. I can find them, bring them back to the hole. You just need it big enough for the kids, I can shift back to get out once they're free."
Bobby narrowed his eyes and frowned. Buck opened his mouth to try and convince him more when Bobby nodded. "Okay, what do you need?"
Buck sighed in relief. "I uh, I'll need to shift in the truck, leave the front door open so I can jump out. I'll need a small bag of med supplies that can be hooked around my neck since we don't know their condition. My radio, and uh…" He felt his cheeks heat up but he continued. "At least a pair of pants in the med bag so I don't scar the kids."
If Bobby seemed phased by that last part, he didn't show it. Instead, he nodded, pat Buck's shoulder, and moved to the front passenger door to open it before heading for the back door. Buck watched as he reached into the bag they kept on the truck of spare emergency clothes, rummaging through it until he pulled free a pair of sweats and a long sleeve t-shirt. Bobby then pointed to his radio and held out his hand. Buck jumped into action, quickly removing his radio from his shoulder and belt, handing them over instantly. Once Bobby had them he nodded his head at the truck before making his way back to Hen and Chimney.
Buck took a deep breath before climbing into the back of the truck, slamming the door shut behind him. He made quick work of pulling off his turnout coat and then removing the pants. He hesitated for only a second as he quickly unbuttoned his LAFD shirt and pulled it off his shoulders, moving to unbuckle his belt as he kicked off his boots. It was one of the things he hated the most about shifting. Usually he could shift and then just crawl out from between all the clothes but that usually ended up with parts shredded by his claws and he really didn't want to deal with that afterwards.
He tried not to think about the fact that his whole crew, a bunch of LAPD officers, and a handful of bystanders were about to see his shift. Many had been watching him talk with Bobby, they had watched him climb into the truck, and now he wouldn't be exiting as a human, but as a cat. Buck knew he just had to trust that his captain and his fellow firefighters would have his back if anyone tried something. He only had his sister for support when he was twenty three and had been attacked, but he hadn't talked to her in three years. He just had to hope that he had support now in the family he was making with the 118.
Bobby stopped in front of Hen and Chimney with the clothes and radio in hand.
"Bobby?" Hen questioned, eyeing the items in their captains arms.
"I need a small bag, something with a handle or drawstrings, to fit through that gap with medical supplies and these." Bobby held the items out to Hen.
"What's going on?" Chimney asked, popping his gum. "What's the probie doing?"
Hen looked at Bobby as if trying to read his mind before taking the items from him and rushed to the ambulance. Bobby was thankful that the woman seemed to either gather they really didn't have more time to explain in full, or she had figured it out. Bobby's money was on the latter as he turned to look back at the engine truck, his eyes trained on the open front door. A few minutes later, Hen had returned with a small medical bag, zipping it up and holding onto it as she stood next to Bobby, Chimney on his other side. She turned her attention towards the engine when she noticed Bobby's eyes widening in shock. When she turned to look, Hen couldn't help but gasp in her own shock and awe.
Standing on the captain's seat inside the engine truck was a black cat, its fur sleek and shiny. Large bright blue eyes gleaming in the sunlight as the feline looked back at them; a white splotch of fur just above it's left eye. Large front paws stepped down onto the first step out of the truck. It was too big to be a normal house cat, but too small to be a panther. Hen clocked the feline at probably the size of a bulldog. Hen opened her mouth to say - she didn't know what - when the feline gracefully jumped down from the truck and made its way over to them.
Chimney's gum popped once more and then his jaw dropped when his eyes fell on the feline as it jumped from the truck, landing swiftly on all four paws before making its way over to them. Chimney's eyes were huge and he took a step back as the feline stopped in front of Hen and plopped down into a seated position, looking up at her expectantly.
"Wow." Hen breathed before shaking her head and crouching down to be level with the cat. Without hesitation Hen wrapped the handles of the bag around the cat's neck, adjusting it so it wasn't digging into the shoulder blades and was loose enough not to strangle the creature. "Okay, Buckaroo. I know you can understand me and we are going to have a long ass conversation about this back at the station."
The cat's ears flicked back and forth as it tilted it's head down and lightly pressed into Hen's palm like it was trying to say, of course.
"Now I couldn't pack much but hopefully it's enough to hold them over until we can get you all back out. The clothes and radio are also in there, and a flashlight, as well as a pocket knife just in case."
Another press of his head to her palm before the feline stood and wove its body around Hen's legs, arching into the curve of her bent knee as it made its way over to the small gaping hole that Serrano and Meyers were stationed at, trying to dig it bigger. They turned to look at Bobby for a second before moving away when Bobby nodded at them. The feline ducked it's head, easily and gracefully squeezed into the hole, disappearing into the darkness.
"Cap, what the hell was that?" Chimney whispered after the cat had disappeared. "And why did Hen call it Buck?"
"Because it was Buck, Chimney." Bobby sighed. "He's a shifter."
"What?" Chimney's voice rose for a second before it dropped down into a whisper that only Bobby and Hen could hear. "Why wasn't I told!?"
"None of us were," Hen replied.
"Then how…" Chimney pointed at Hen and then towards where feline Buck had disappeared.
Hen rolled her eyes skyward before settling her gaze on her friend. "Chim, we both watched Buck climb into the engine and then a cat was climbing out. It's not hard to put two and two together. Besides, you know about Denny."
Chimney opened his mouth but then quickly snapped it closed, realizing that Hen was right. Hen would be the one person on their team to really know and understand. Her son was a feline shifter too, something she and her wife had just discovered the summer before when Denny shifted on his birthday right in front of them, thankfully before any of their guests arrived for his party. It wasn't really a secret among their close knit group about Denny's ability; it just wasn't talked about outside a few of them: Hen (and her wife), Bobby, Chimney, and Athena Grant. Though Chimney did have to admit that Denny's feline form was very cute. He was still a kitten with his long dark brown fur and glowing green eyes.
"Okay, so Buck's a feline shifter." Chimney popped his gum again. "Cool."
"That was Buckley?" Voyta spoke up from next to them. He had been at the ambulance checking on the parents and babysitter when Hen rushed to get the supply bag ready, and now stood next to Hen, having followed in curiosity.
Bobby watched as his team gathered around wanting answers and sighed. "It was. I'm sure he'll answer questions later but we still have a job to do." He looked around at the group. "And this doesn't go beyond us, it's his to tell and not be gossiped about, understood?"
A ripple of "Yes, Sir'' and "Yes, Cap" cascaded through the air just as their radios crackled and Buck's voice floated through.
"Cap, I'm in."
Bobby reached for his radio, "Good, have you located the kids yet?"
"Yeah," Buck sounded out of breath, "Just gotta get over a beam, hold on." They all waited with bated breath for a long agonizing minute before Buck spoke again. "Okay got the kids. The boy is awake and alert but his sister is unconscious, head wound from falling debris."
They heard Buck ask the boy if he was hurt anywhere, but couldn't hear the child's response.
"Okay so from what I'm gathering, the girl tried to get them out but the fire had blocked their escape up the stairs. When the house collapsed, she covered her brother to protect him. He seems fine, just a few bumps and scrapes." Buck took a breath, "Only injury I'm finding on her is the head wound and I've already got it wrapped."
"Okay Buck, do you know where in the basement you are?" Bobby asked. "Are you able to get them back to the why you went in?"
"Far right corner from the stairs, and that's a negative. A wall of concrete collapsed over the hole just as I got through. I can see a little sunlight just above us though, maybe from a window?"
"Alright, we're heading around the house to take a look."
"Buck." Hen spoke into her radio as the team took supplies and tools with them, heading around to the back of the house. "How are you? No injuries? I know even for you in that state it was a tight fit."
"I'm good, a few scrapes. Nothing that won't heal in a few days. Promise."
Hen nodded to herself. The kid had only been with the team a little over four months but Hen could still remember when just three weeks into his probationary period Buck had gotten a bad burn to his upper thigh after a piece of metal had slashed through his turnout pants during a multi-car pileup. He had then leaned against a burning car to help pull open a jammed door, and instead of telling her or Chimney, he had continued working. It wasn't until they had been on their way to get back into the truck that he went to step up and slipped, crashing down onto Voyta, who had been ready to climb in after him. The kid had been reamed out for not saying anything, even after he had confessed that he hadn't felt it and subsequently didn't know. At that point, Hen knew the kid had been lying, knew that the kid would be hard pressed to actually tell the truth when he was hurt or injured, not wanting to show weakness. So for him to actually say the word promise made Hen feel better. For his faults and only knowing him a short time, Hen knew Buck didn't break promises.
They were easily able to find where Buck was talking about the light. It wasn't a window like he had thought, but a small hole where the flooring had broken and fell into the basement already. With that in mind the team worked quickly but carefully as they used that hole and made it bigger in order to reach through where Buck was lifting the five year old boy up to them. Chimney whisked him off to the ambulance where his parents were waiting with their other child and the babysitter. They had to make the hole just a little wider in order to get a backboard down to Buck and the girl, but it didn't take long for Buck to get the nine year old strapped to the board and hooked to a line to be lifted out. Just as the backboard was clearing the hole, something clipped the board and sent debris falling. A ripple ran through the collapsed mountain of the destroyed house and suddenly it was sinking in.
Bobby shouted down to his youngest firefighter, "Buck, get out now!"
Everyone watched in horror as the house collapsed inward and down, sinking into the basement and settling in a cloud of ash and dust. Bobby grabbed his radio at the same time as Hen reached for her own, both shouting for their youngest member. Silence followed them. Bobby tried again as he looked around for any sign of their youngest firefighter. That was when he saw the black blur like a bullet dashing towards him, skidding to a halt at his feet. Bobby exhaled a sigh of relief as he looked down at the cat covered in soot, blinking slowly up at him.
He nodded towards the truck, "Go shift back and get dressed."
The feline rubbed against Bobby's shin before turning and bounded back down the side yard and towards the truck, dodging around moving firefighters and cops, easily leaping back into the captain's seat from the still open door. Bobby made his way back towards the trucks himself as the ambulance headed off with Hen and Chimney and the family. He stopped next to Sergeant Grant, who was watching the truck.
"So your new guy's a shifter."
"Seems so," Bobby huffed a laugh. "Kid's full of surprises."
"He did good," Athena replied. "You never would have had time to dig your way in to get to those kids."
"Yeah, I know."
They watched as Buck suddenly popped the door to the back of the truck open and hopped out, wearing everything but his turnout coat and adjusting the suspenders on his shoulders. He looked over at them and nodded once before jogging over to Meyers, Serrano and Maxwell to help them pack up the truck. Once they were done at the scene, Buck was the first to climb back into the truck, moving his turnout coat off one of the seats as he sat down on his own. Serrano, Voyta and Mitchell followed and they all stared at him the whole way back to the station. Buck ignored them, staring out the window until they were pulling into the bay.
First on the truck, first off the truck. They had just barely stopped when Buck was popping the door open and hopping out, bypassing every step down. He put away his turnout gear before heading for the showers to clean himself up of the soot, dust and blood he had gotten covered in while in the basement of the house. He heard others enter the showers as well but he didn't stick around. He quickly showered and dressed, heading for the loft where Bobby was preparing to make the team breakfast. Hen and Chimney had already returned and were sitting at the table.
Hen looked up as he ascended the last stair, pointed to the seat at the table across from her and Chimney. "Sit."
"I'm not a dog," Buck rolled his eyes but pulled out the chair and plopped down, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you want to know?"
"Why didn't you tell us?" Chimney blurted first.
Buck chewed on his lower lip as he looked between his teammates, sat in silence as the minutes rolled by. The longer he stayed silent the more worried Hen and Bobby seemed to get, and the more Chimney got nervous. Finally Bobby abandoned the food and came to join them at the table.
"Kid, you don't have to explain."
Buck shook his head. "No, no. I…" he sighed and leaned forward to rest his crossed arms on the table and bow his head. "I was brought up to not speak about it. It wasn't something we told people outside the family. It's not that I don't trust you guys with this, I wouldn't have spoken up at the scene if I didn't. But I will be honest," He looked up at the three of them. "I only really meant for Bobby to know, maybe you two, but now the whole team, plus some, knows and that does scare me."
"Why?" Hen asked.
Buck blew out a deep breath and blinked a few times before settling his gaze directly on Hen. "Because the one and only person I told outside of my family tried to kill me." He ignored the shocked gasps as he continued, "I thought I could trust him, and he attacked me when I showed him. He asked to see, said he didn't believe me. He thought I would be easier to kill in my shifted form."
Hen wiped a tear away from her cheek, "How did you get away?"
"Jumped out a fucking third story open window," Buck dug his nails into his forearms. "I was able to make my way to my sister's where she kept me hidden away while I healed. I wasn't able to shift back for two weeks."
"Why?" Bobby asked, "Sorry, I don't know much about shifters."
Hen was the one to answer, "If you're badly injured and try to shift, whether from human to animal, or vise versa, you could hurt yourself more."
Buck lifted a hand and pointed at Hen, giving her a small and sad smile. "I did it once when I was like nine. I fell out of the top of a tree as a cat, landed on all fours but I instantly shifted because I was a scared kid in the middle of a park full of people. It turned out I broke a finger on my left hand when I landed." He shrugged. "Ended up also breaking my wrist when I shifted."
"Damn." Chimney whistled.
"You can trust us," Bobby spoke up again, "And if anyone gives you any trouble about it, tell me and I'll take care of it." Bobby clapped him on the shoulder as he stood. "Now come help me make breakfast, you need to learn to feed yourself something other than takeout."
Buck laughed as he stood and followed Bobby back over to the kitchen, quickly following his captain's instructions on what to do in preparing breakfast for the team. The rest of their shift went by quickly and without much fuss. The calls were minimal and everyone seemed to be okay with Buck's shifter status, something he was thankful for. That didn't mean for the next couple of weeks he didn't stay on high alert around the others, stuck close to Bobby, Hen and Chimney until he felt comfortable enough, and felt like he could truly trust the whole team with his secret.