SUMMARY: Maddie Can See And Speak To The Living, But The Dead As Well. She Helps Lost Souls Move On,

SUMMARY: Maddie can see and speak to the living, but the dead as well. She helps lost souls move on, but it's been a couple years since she's helped anyone due to her abusive husband. But when a man appears not knowing what is going on, Maddie can't explain why he can't see the light to cross over. But maybe it's not her that's meant to help him move on. Maybe it's the other way around...

SNEEK PEEK:

"What is your name?"

"Howard Han, but uh, just call me Howie."

"Well, Howie I'm Maddie, and I'm very sorry to tell you this but...you're dead."

And in those two simple words, his whole world seemed to crumble. Chimney stumbled back as if he himself had just been slapped, shaking his head back and forth. "No, no that's not possible. I feel fine. If I were dead I wouldn't be here talking to you. I'd be...I'd be…" Well actually he doesn't know where he would be, but his guess is a hospital. The only thing he can remember is the accident and his situation being not a good one, so how the hell had he ended up in this woman's bathroom?

Only the first chapter is up but hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know if you’d like me to just post the whole thing on Tumblr instead of linking my archive. :)

This story was absolute amazing!!! 😭❤️

Well, you KNEW this was coming. Part 4. Buck sees Maddie. What are the odds? Unfortunately, now she’s gotta explain all this. 🙃

Part 3

.

The world seems to stop for a moment, her head spinning and her chest tight as she stares at the… man in front of her. It’s been three years since she had spoken to him but around six since she had seen him in person. And now he’s… grown up. He was barely an adult when she’d seen him last and now at twenty-six, he stands strong and tall in his uniform. A uniform she hadn’t even known about, a life she knew nothing of beyond the fact that he had been in South America the last she had spoken to him. 

“How did you… what are you… I… I don’t understand?” The confusion and hurt on his face causes a stab of pain in her chest as she just stares at him for a few more moments. He’d been the only member of her family to come to her wedding and eventually, she’d pushed him away. She’d pushed everyone away without even realising that was what she was doing until it was too late. Buck takes a step forward and she wonders what kind of crazy, fated universe this is what of all the stations in all of America, this is the one he would be working at. 

She’s slow to stand up, feeling the throbbing of her side, a little unsteady on her feet when the adrenaline from the last few days dissipates a little. Chimney is standing next to her within seconds, his hand hovering on her lower back as though he’s prepared to catch her if she needs. Maddie is just waiting for her brother to shout at her or to walk away, to ask her to never come back and she wouldn’t blame him. How could she? He was her little brother and she’d just… cut him off, just as her parents had done to her. Maybe they’d done the same to him, too and he truly was all alone in the world. 

“I didn’t know you worked here.” She finally whispers, although it’s not an explanation, eyes desperately moving to Chimney in the hopes he’ll be able to say something without saying too much. She had spent too much time protecting Buck to stop now, even if he wanted nothing to do with her. The paramedic is confused, for obvious reasons, Maddie can see the frown on his face and the crinkle of his eyes when he looks between the two, before she offers, “I-I’m his sister.” 

That seems to ease the confusion a little, “Maddie came by to thank us, we… hel--” There’s a frown on his face, practically flinching at the word ‘helped’ as though he doesn’t believe anything he had done that day had helped her in anyway at all, despite what she had told him, “we attended a call a few years ago.” 

It’s brief, it barely touches the surface but at least her brother seems to understand the surprise on her own face when she had seen him. She’s wary though, as he moves a little closer, flinching away when his hand moves to brush the hair from her face with a darkness in his eyes as though somehow… without knowing, he just knows. “Did Doug do this?” 

Maddie had always thought she had hid it well, she had thought that Doug appeared charming and loving to the outside world but Laurie hadn’t seemed surprised by the revelation at all and her brother even less so. She gulps down the lump in her throat, realising she’s not used to being honest, not about this anyway but slowly, she nods her head. “Where is he?” 

There’s that… protectiveness in his voice that was one of the reasons she never wanted to tell him in the first place. Buck had always, since he was old enough and big enough to do so, tried to throw himself between her and any impending sense of danger. Usually fights between her and her parents but he’d always be there. Taller than her by the time he was twelve years old and more than willing to defend her without a second thought for himself. That was her biggest worry; that he would do something stupid and get himself hurt. Doug had made it clear to her that she couldn’t leave and if she did, he’d kill her and anyone who got on his way. Anyone who comes near her now is marred with that and she’d felt guilty enough before but this is her little brother… she can’t stand the idea of him ever getting hurt because of her. 

“Hershey, I suppose. I left him…” 

There’s a pause, fingers brushing against the bruise on the side of her face as she wills herself to stand there in the knowledge that this is her brother. “For good?” Again, she nods her head, “Why didn’t you tell me he was hurting you, Maddie? I could have… I could have helped. I could have… three years, you haven’t spoken to me in three years. I tried everything… you… you just cut me out, I could have helped.” 

It’s complicated, more so than anything she could ever say out loud. And oh, how she wishes she could have run to her brother when things started to get bad or how she wishes she had taken him up on his offer to run away together on her wedding day, before things got truly bad. It sounded easy, it sounded… simple and sometimes, she had wanted to scream at herself to just leave. Why couldn’t she just… get out? What was wrong with her? Leaving had been the hardest thing she could have ever done because she was terrified. But Chimney had been right and as scared as she had been to leave, she was to stay, too. At least this way she had a chance of living, even if it wasn’t a normal life. Even if she had to spend the rest of her life running from her husband. She didn’t want to die. 

“I didn’t want to get my little brother involved.”

“Maddie, when are you going to realise that standing in between you and anyone who tries to hurt you is exactly where I want to be standing?” She’s surprised by the intensity of his voice, the tears in his eyes that cause her own tears to fall as her bottom lip trembles. She’d always been so lucky to have him in her life and it breaks her heart to know that they may never get back the relationship they once had because of the massive wall she’d had a hand in building between them, with help from her husband. 

His arms wrap around her just in time for her knees to start to feel weak and her head to spin, finding a brief moment of safety in her brother’s strong arms before she hides her face in his shoulder and wraps her own arms tightly around his waist. “He’s going to kill me if he finds me, I-I have to keep going… I-I can’t…  I can’t stay anywhere.” 

Buck doesn’t say anything in return for a few moments, his hand gently rubbing her back, the only thing keeping her from collapsing on the ground as he holds her, until he’s lowering her back onto the step of the ambulance and kneeling down to look her in the eyes. “I don’t think you should be alone right now, isn’t it better to have a family behind you if he comes because that’s what I am and that’s what the 118 is to me… you don’t have to be alone anymore, Maddie.” 

This wasn’t the plan, this wasn’t how this was meant to be - she was supposed to drive to LA, thank Chimney, leave and go… somewhere. Anywhere other than Pennsylvania. She wasn’t meant to be putting anyone else in the line of danger. Her bottom trembles as she looks into his eyes, her hand reaching out to gently cup his cheek before she nods her head, “Maybe for a few days, until I can figure something out?” 

Hurt flashes across his features for just a second before he’s forcing himself to smile, “Okay, is it okay if Chimney checks you over? I’ll go speak to my Captain, take you home.” There’s a softness to his voice, a level of understanding that she can’t quite comprehend just yet, barely able to believe that her brother was right here in LA and that he’d become a firefighter and she had never known. When she nods her head, he walks away, her eyes watching him walk up the steps before her attention turns to the awkward man hovering near her as he frowns. 

“I think I’ve sprained my wrist.” She admits, knowing there’s nothing he can do about her broken ribs but maybe he can help bandage up her wrist to stop her from doing any further damage. 

The man in front of her is kind and gentle, his touch is careful when he takes her hand in his own and pulls up her sleeve enough to examine the damage. There’s a pondering look on his face, and a far-off look in his eyes before he looks at her, “You know, my ma… she was a really big believer in fate and the universe… and destiny.” He smiles, and the look in his eyes confirms what she’d already guessed from his sentence - that he’d lost her and he’d loved her very much. “I think this was fate, Maddie and you should stay with your brother because you could spend your whole life running and you’ll be alone. But here… in LA, with Buck and with us, you’ll never have to be alone. And if he comes, you’ll have people right here, willing to fight with you and for you because we’re a family here and Buck is our family, so you are, too. You should listen to the universe when it’s screaming your name.” 

Maddie smiles a little, nodding her head, “Maybe I should.” Before she ducks her head down to catch his eye, “Thank you, you gave me hope when I needed it the most.” Chimney smiles back at her, his thumb gently grazing over her swollen wrist before she hears her brother calling her name, with a bright smile and she realises that maybe they’re both right. Maybe she doesn’t have to be alone anymore. Maybe she should listen to the universe when her little brother is standing right in front of her with a look of relief and determination in his face. 

Maybe she’s done running already.

😂👌🏼

Honestly if Bucks face isn’t something out of that’s so Raven when his repressed memory returns to him, I want my money back

Maddie: *secret*

Buck:

😭❤️

I FUCKING FORGOT I MADE THESE AND I GODDAMN HURT MYSELF.

😂

Bobby: you know... im starting to regret showing you how a blender works.

Buck, drinking toast: why do you say that?

As the eldest child and sister to two siblings I can confirm this.

2x04: Stuck-Where Maddie gets her bratty older sister moment

Buck is being serious (with his worry) for Eddie and Christopher.

Maddie is willing to listen but yet she can’t seem to help herself (I am sure) with the dig she throws with how much she can see that her brother has a massive boy-crush on Eddie.

And I can’t blame her. That is what we older sisters are allowed to do.