Chapter Text
It was a dark and stormy night- or so Buck had been told- when his mother left him with his aunt and uncle. He had only been a baby and she hadn’t even bothered to knock on the door or even give them a phone call. Instead he was left on their doorstep, wrapped in a blanket, with a note a la Harry Potter.
He knew very little about his birth family, and what he did know he learned from Aunt Claudia. Claudia was a force of nature. She was kind, but not to be trifled with. She knew right from wrong, but would often get into some mischief. All in all, Buck was happy with the family that was raising him.
Buck was two and a half when his cousin was born, so he didn’t remember much- if anything- of life before him. Buck couldn’t pronounce the name they gave him, but it was clear he took after his mother, so Buck started calling him Mischief. At the time, Buck had been going by Evan and decided he wanted a nickname as well, which was when his family and the entire town started calling him Buck.
As he grew older, he hated that he had a different last name than his family, so after talking about it- and a mysterious phone call he knew he wasn’t supposed to know about- his aunt and uncle officially adopted him and he became Evan “Buck” Stilinski.
Buck was eight years old when Claudia brought Buck up to the attic for the first time. Noah had taken Mischief to the park, leaving the two of them alone to talk. She showed him a trunk that had no locks.
“Open it, Buck,” she instructed.
Buck tried to open it. There was no lock- no latches- so it should have been easy. However it would not budge.
“It doesn’t work,” Buck pouted.
Claudia laughed, “That’s because you’re doing it wrong. You are trying to use your strength. When really all it takes is to just believe.”
She waved her hand and suddenly the trunk cracked open. She nodded to it and Buck opened it up the rest of the way.
“It’s just books,” Buck grumbled again.
“Books are everything,” Claudia said, “Books hold the keys to knowledge and open the doors to worlds you can only imagine. Books make the impossible possible. Without books, we would have nothing.”
Buck hung on her every word. Claudia had a way of captivating her audience and making people believe in her.
“These books are special,” Claudia continued, “These books hold family secrets and stories that go back centuries.”
“Really?” Buck asked with wide eyes.
“Really,” Claudia confirmed.
She pulled out the first book and slowly opened it. The pages were old and brown, but the binding was well taken care of. It was clear someone loved these books deeply. The first page was a drawing of a giant tree.
“This tree is called a nemeton,” Claudia started.
She told him all about the supernatural world that lay just under the surface of their own. And she told him that their family was the protectors of that world. However, there were some people who saw their protection as upsetting the natural balance and a century ago druids placed a curse on their family.
Buck looked at Claudia with wide eyes and whispered, “A curse? Can we break it?”
She did her best to hide her frown, but Buck could see the sadness in her eyes, “No, my little one. Unfortunately this one cannot be broken- many have tried. You see, the druids thought our family was getting too large and powerful. They felt a need to stop us from growing. So any time a firstborn of a new line is born- the parent from our side of the family is faced with a choice.”
“What kind of choice?” Buck asked.
“Either the child or the parent will die,” Claudia said, “We are given five years to make the choice. Once the child turns five, it is irreversible and the symptoms will start. It’s different every time, but will mimic a human illness. Sometimes rituals or spells can slow it down to give the person more time, but there is no way to stop it.”
Buck sat in silence for a moment, “Is that why I came to live with you? Did my parents choose me over their own life?”
Claudia shook her head and had tears in her eyes, “Your mother chose herself. Most people chose for the child to live and that’s how so many in our family have forgotten our magic. But your mother decided she wanted to be the one to live. But she also wanted to find a way to cheat death for her son- Daniel.”
“Who’s Daniel?” Buck asked.
“Daniel was your older brother,” Claudia explained, “The oldest of your bloodline. Like I said, Margaret chose herself, but she fought tooth and nail for Daniel to live, too. She had another child almost right away and tried to fuse their life forces so that the second child could keep the older alive. But Maddie’s magic and soul did not align with Daniel enough to perform the spell. So when she realized that, she had another child. You.”
“Did I save my brother?” Buck asked.
Claudia had tears streaming down her face as she shook her head, “You were a match, but the spell didn’t work. The curse was too strong. Her attempts ended up speeding up his magic induced illness and he died during the ritual. She gave you to us because she couldn’t handle the reminder of her failure. I was just grateful you survived and the curse didn’t see it fit to take two lives instead of one.”
That was when he realized something. Even though he always considered himself Mischief’s older brother- he wasn’t by blood. Mischief was the first child of his bloodline.
“Is Mischief going to die?”
“No, Buck, no,” Claudia assured him, “Mischief is going to live. And he’s going to need you to protect him and teach him about our family. I will show you as much as I can before the curse catches up to me- but these books will be your guide when I’m gone.”
Tears started prickling at the edge of Buck’s eyes, “I don’t want to lose you.”
Claudia wrapped him in a big hug, “You’ll always have me. You have to believe that, Buck- believe it.”
Claudia made time for their lessons whenever she could, but she also didn’t waste a moment she had with Mischief. It was bittersweet watching them together with the knowledge that this happiness was going to end in the near future.
Slowly, the curse started to take hold. It was little things at first- forgetting where she put her keys or leaving the milk out. But slowly the problem started to grow.
She forgot Mischief and Buck at the library. Thankfully Mrs. McCall was there and she drove the boys home. But it didn’t stop there. Soon it wasn’t just forgetfulness, but entire personality shifts.
Frontotemporal dementia was what the doctors called it. But Buck knew what it really was- a curse.
When Claudia was lucid, she helped Buck figure out what his magical talent was and it turned out he had the gift of sight. He could tell when someone else was supernatural, or when someone posed a threat to their community.
He was there the day that Claudia became both. She was a spark, but she was also using her magic to try and go after another spark- her own son. The curse was trying to take two for one and Buck was not going to let that happen.
After Claudia lashed out at Mischief, he did his best to keep the boy away from the hospital and the darkness that had consumed his mother. Instead, they went for walks in the preserve.
He knew Noah didn’t like it- they were too young to be doing that on their own. But he didn’t know about their magic. Ganted, Mischief didn’t, either, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, Buck could see magic and danger, so he was able to keep them on the safe path.
Buck had just turned ten and Mischief was seven. They were going for a walk in the preserve when Buck saw a trail light up through the woods.
“This way,” He said.
“But there’s no path!” Mischief argued, “How are we going to find our way back?”
“Trust me,” Buck said.
And the little boy did trust him. He always trusted his older brother to protect him. They wandered through the woods- following the invisible path that only Buck could see. Eventually, they ended up in a clearing. And in the center of that clearing was a giant tree stump.
“No,” Buck whispered.
He knew what this tree was- he had heard Claudia talk about it and he’d read about it in their books. This was the nemeton of Beacon Hills. Only it wasn't a tall, proud tree. No. It had been cut down. The magic that acted both as a beacon and a shield for the supernatural was gone. He had no idea how long it had been like this, but seeing it caused an ache deep in his bones.
“It’s not supposed to be like this,” Buck whispered.
He was frozen in place. In awe of the massacre that took place who knows how long in the past. But Mischief didn’t know the history of this place or the significance of what he was seeing. He walked ahead of Buck and placed a hand on the stump, “It’s lonely.”
That snapped Buck out of his thoughts, “How do you know that?”
“I can feel it reaching out for something- anything- but nothing is reaching out to it,” Mischief tried to explain.
Buck heard a growl behind him and he saw a giant wolf emerging from the trees. The wolf had glowing red eyes and Buck could tell it was something supernatural.
He remembered Claudia telling him there were a family of werewolves who were the protectors of Beacon Hills and they were there to protect those wolves. She also told him that red eyes meant they were the leader of the pack- the alpha.
“Hello, Alpha,” Buck greeted formally as Mischief was still distracted by the stump, “My brother and I were walking through the preserve and the path took us here.”
The alpha gave him a dubious look- if wolves were even capable of such looks.
“The path was shown to me,” Buck tried to explain, “We’re the Stilinski’s. Claudia’s boys.”
Then the wolf gave them a sad smile and nodded. She moved her head in a motion for them to follow her. Buck grabbed Mischief’s hand and they started following her. After walking for a while, the Alpha ran out of sight and soon after that, they emerged in a clearing where the infamous Hale house stood.
“We walked really far,” Mischief said when he saw where they were.
“You really did,” Talia Hale- the matriarch of the family- said as she walked down the stairs of the front porch, “It’s a good thing you ended up here. I can give you guys a ride home. I’m sure your dad is waiting for you.”
“Dad’s working,” Stiles said, “He’s always working.”
Talia pursed her lips- clearly not pleased with that answer, “Well, it’s almost lunch time. Why don’t you boys stay and I’ll bring you home after you eat.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” Buck said.
“Enough with the formalities- please call me Talia,” She said. They walked up the stairs and Stiles walked in first. Before Buck entered the house Talia said, “Or you can call me Alpha.”
He thought it had been her as soon as she walked down those stairs. He could see it somehow- there was a red glow around her. She was the alpha wolf and he felt safe with her.
Mischief remembered Cora from school so the two of them were chatting. Derek was twelve years old and he was looking at Stiles with pinched eyebrows and he was covering his nose.
“Is everything alright, Derek?” Talia asked.
He looked at her and his eyes flashed gold before they settled on Stiles again.
“Derek, I think you have some homework to work on upstairs.”
It was summer. There was no way he had homework to do. But he took the dismissal and ran faster than a human could up the stairs.
“Is he okay?” Buck asked.
Talia had an amused smile, “I think he was just caught off guard and was a little overwhelmed. He’ll be okay.”
Lunch was nothing fancy- just sandwiches and fruit- but it was nice. It had been so long since he’d had a family meal like this. Since Claudia had been in the hospital, Buck and Mischief had mostly been on their own. Buck had tried to learn what he could in the kitchen. He could make boxed mac & cheese or heat up anything canned, but he wanted to get better for his brother.
Laura was the oldest Hale child at fifteen. She came inside just as they were sitting down to eat.
“Laura, could you bring a plate up to your brother?” Talia asked.
“Why does he get out of family lunch?” Laura asked.
“Just bring it to him,” Talia said, “He can tell you if he wants.”
She took the plate and when she returned she gave Mischief a weird look and a small sniff, “I don’t get it.”
“It’s not for you to see the same way he does,” Talia said, “You’ll experience it yourself one day and then you will understand.”
Laura rolled her eyes and then dove into her sandwich. She was eating like… well like a wolf.
When everyone was done, Laura started washing the dishes and Talia took Buck and Mischief home.
“I want you boys to be careful,” Talia said, “Those woods aren’t safe- even for you.”
Buck nodded and then the two of them went inside. After Noah got home, Buck closed himself in the attic- looking for any information on the nemeton and werewolves. He ate up any information he could find and eventually he ended up falling asleep against the chest.
Noah found him there in the morning and despite being sore, Buck got breakfast made for everyone before Noah left for work.
“Can we go for a walk again?” Mischief asked.
“No,” Buck said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We almost got lost yesterday.”
“Okay. Can I watch cartoons?”
Stiles was sitting in front of the TV and Buck was at the dining room table looking over Claudia’s recipes, trying to see what he could feasibly do. Then there was a knock on the door.
He opened it to find an unfamiliar man who had a blue glow. He knew the man was a werewolf, but didn’t know what the blue meant.
“Who are you?” Buck asked.
The man chuckled, “I’m Peter Hale. My sister sent me to check up on you.”
“Oh.”
Buck opened the door to let the man in. He looked around the house and turned his nose up at a few things he found before he settled on the recipes Buck had laid out.
“Do you cook?” Peter asked.
Buck shook his head, “I want to.”
“I’ll teach you.”
The rest of that summer, Peter would come over a few days a week to give Buck cooking lessons. Sometimes he would bring Cora with him to help entertain Mischief.
Then school started again. And then Claudia died.
The Hales were all at the funeral. It was then that he noticed not all of them had a glow around them that signaled to Buck they were a wolf. It seemed some of them were human.
Peter and sometimes Talia would check in on Buck and Mischief. Although after Claudia’s death, Buck’s little brother had decided he didn’t want that nickname anymore. He decided to go by his grandpa’s old nickname- Stiles.
Buck was thirteen when he saw a path appear to him again and he decided to follow it. While he was walking through the woods, he ran into Talia.
“Where are you going?” She asked.
“I’m following the path,” Buck answered, “Where are you going?”
“I’m looking for Derek,” she admitted.
She ended up walking with him because she didn’t want him to get lost. She couldn’t see the path, but trusted what Buck could see.
They ended up at the nemeton again and this time Buck noticed a root cellar that he hadn’t seen the last time he was there and the path was leading right to it.
Inside, they found Derek holding a dead girl with tears in his glowing blue eyes. That was how he learned the difference between gold and blue eyes in a werewolf. He wondered who Peter killed and for what reason before he decided he was better off not knowing.
Six months later Buck was invited to a gathering at the Hale house- he thought they were officially welcoming him into the pack and he really wanted to go.
“You can’t go,” Noah said.
“Please!” Buck begged.
“I have to work and I need you to stay with Stiles.”
“He can come with me! The Hales won’t mind,” Buck argued.
“I said no and that’s final,” Noah said, “And don’t think about trying to walk there through the preserve. It’s not safe.”
Buck hated it. He wanted to go against what Noah said and call Talia or Peter for a ride. But ultimately he didn’t want to do that. Noah was struggling and he didn’t want to add to those problems.
So he stayed home.
The next day he learned about the fire. Noah held them close and he sobered up. Laura, Derek, and Peter survived. Peter was in the hospital and Laura and Derek skipped town.
Buck visited Peter in the hospital once, but it was a gruesome sight and he couldn’t bring himself to go back. That was supposed to be him. He was supposed to be at the house that night.
He found a spell that would show him what happened that night and he tried to cast it. It was his first time trying to cast a spell and it didn’t work. He thought maybe he was trying to start too big, so he tried something more simple, but that didn’t work as well.
He researched more about their family’s type of magic and found some people were gifted with spellwork while others were given a specific focus. It turned out that being about to see beyond what most people could was the only magic he had.
He hated it. It made him feel helpless.
He wondered what Stiles was able to do. He thought about telling him about their family, but he decided against it. He had a strong feeling that the Hales were killed because of what they were, so why would he bring Stiles into that world?
He had almost forgotten about everything supernatural. Then his senior year of high school came. He hadn’t noticed Stiles sneaking out of the house. Somehow he didn’t hear the jeep start up and he drove away to find half a body in the preserve. He only knew that happened when Noah was yelling at him for letting his little brother get up to his usual shenanigans.
“I can’t control him any more than you can,” Buck said.
The next night he heard Stiles and Scott talking about werewolves and that Derek Hale was back in town. It turned out the body was Laura.
Buck went to the hospital Peter was at and saw him in the same state he was the last time he was there, only instead of fresh burns they were now scars.
“Things are happening and Stiles is being pulled into it,” Buck said to the man, “I tried so hard to keep him away from all this after what happened. But now he’s a part of it and he doesn’t know about his magic. I don’t know if that makes him safer or puts him in more danger. I don’t know what to do and I really wish you could help us.”
He went to the burnt out shell of the Hale house after that and found Derek there.
“This is private property,” Derek said.
Buck shrugged, “I was a welcome guest here when we were kids.”
“You’re Stiles’ brother.”
“I am,” Buck said.
“You never told him,” Derek said.
“I should have known he’d be thrown into the supernatural world one way or another.”
He took in Derek’s blue glow- the same as the last time he saw him. That was when he realized Peter’s glow had been the same. Had been, but it wasn’t anymore.
“What’s happening?” Buck asked. He had only caught snippets of conversation at this point.
“There’s a rogue alpha,” Derek explained, “It killed Laura and bit Scott. It also attracted hunters back to town.”
That didn’t make sense. Peter wouldn’t kill Laura. He loved his niece.
“You know something,” Derek said.
“I might, but it doesn’t make sense,” Buck said, “Let me figure out if I’m right first. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”
They exchanged numbers and then Buck went back to Peter’s hospital room.
He was there when Derek brought Scott and Stiles there.
“What are you doing here?” Stiles asked.
“I’m just visiting an old friend,” Buck said, “Peter’s the one who taught me how to cook.”
“I didn’t know that,” Stiles said.
“You were too busy watching TV,” Buck shrugged.
“ This is what hunters can do,” Derek said, trying to get his lesson back on track.
“Dude! Not in front of my brother,” Stiles stage whispered.
Derek snorted, “Your brother probably knows more about the supernatural world than I do.”
Stiles gasped, “And you didn’t tell me?”
“Thought I was protecting you.”
“And here you were on my list of suspects for the alpha!”
That took Buck by surprise, “What?”
“You’re shifty sometimes.”
Buck shook his head. Stiles was a little crazy, but Buck loved him.
They left and Buck turned his attention to Peter- still confused. The red glow that signified an alpha was there, but he still didn’t know why he would kill Laura. It didn’t make sense.
The next day at school Buck was eating lunch with his best friend Danny, and Danny’s friend Jackson and Jackson’s (girlfriend? ex-girlfriend?) Lydia. They were talking about the upcoming school dance and Lydia and Jackson were bickering about color pallets. Buck rolled his eyes at their shallow conversation.
“You got a date?” Buck asked Danny.
“I’m the only out gay guy in our school,” Danny said, “If I want a date I have to go to the jungle and find someone not age appropriate.”
“I’ll be your date,” Buck said.
“I don’t want a pity date,” Danny argued.
“It’s not pity,” Buck said, “It’ll be fun. We can get dressed up with matching ties and pocket squares. We can slow dance. And if you play your cards right you might even get a kiss.”
Buck threw in a wink and Danny laughed, “Alright. I’ll be your date.”
Buck ended up having a great time with Danny. He knew he would, but he found himself actually wanting to kiss him. It was not a weird feeling, but a new one.
“Can I try something?” Buck asked.
Danny’s eyes flicked to Buck’s lips and he nodded. Buck was about to lean in when Jackson pulled him away.
“Stiles just called. Lydia’s in trouble.”
He looked at Danny, “I have to go.”
While Jackson put pressure on Lydia’s wounds while they waited for the paramedics, Buck tried to call Stiles, but it went straight to voicemail. Then he tried calling Derek.
“What’s happening?” Buck asked.
“Peter’s the alpha,” Derek explained.
“Well I knew that!” Buck yelled, “Where’s my brother?”
He knew Stiles would be safe with Peter. No matter what anyone else thought Peter had only ever looked out for them. He tried to stop them killing him, but when he got to the Hale house that night it was Derek with glowing red eyes saying “I’m the Alpha.”
Buck still hadn’t told Stiles about their family magic. And he hadn’t told Derek what his gift was. Overall he was trying to stay out of it, but with Stiles as a brother it was impossible.
There has been a black cloud around Lydia since she was bit. And Jackson had a green glow now. He had no clue what either of those meant and his books didn’t exactly have a key to help him understand his sight.
“Have you noticed anything off with Jackson and Lydia?” Buck asked Danny one day.
“You mean other than the fact that they aren’t dating?” Danny asked, “Lydia has been zoning out more and Jackson seems even more self absorbed than usual.”
Buck hummed. That didn’t help answer his question about what was going on, but he appreciated the insight.
“Now can we make out?” Danny asked.
Buck smiled. After everything settled with the alpha and the hunters, Buck and Danny recaptured their moment from the dance. Buck hadn’t considered himself as anything other than straight, but he was so glad he figured out that wasn’t the truth. He still liked girls, but he also liked guys and it was amazing.
He wanted to tell Noah, but wasn’t sure how. And when his reaction to Stiles’ admittedly very fake coming out was “Not in that outfit” it made him not want to say anything. He didn’t fit the stereotypes. But then again neither did Danny either.
But still, he kept it to himself.
They figured out who the kanima was and who the master was. They took down Gerard and brought Jackson back to himself. Once they were all done, Buck went to Danny’s house.
“So… the supernatural is real,” Danny said.
“Yeah. How did you figure it out?” Buck asked.
Danny snorted, “It’s not that hard. You guys are kind of obvious if anyone’s paying attention.”
Buck kissed him because he was amazed by how smart and open minded his boyfriend was.
Buck graduated and he realized in the midst of everything that happened that past year he had forgotten to apply to college.
Instead of being upset, Noah handed him a manila folder.
“This is everything I know about your birth family,” Noah said, “Beacon Hills is a dangerous place these days. I want you to go out and explore the world. And if you want to try to reconnect with them- there’s your start.”
He checked in with Derek before he left. He had breakup sex with his now ex-boyfriend. And he placed one of the books on Stiles’ shelf for him to find.
His first stop was Pennsylvania where his parents acted like he was some random crazy person and not their own son. Then he went to Boston to find his sister, but her husband wouldn’t let him inside and wouldn’t even tell her he was there. Noah’s research had where she worked, so he showed up at the hospital.
“Hi, I’m Evan,” Buck introduced himself, “I’m your little brother.”
“I don’t have a little brother,” Maddie said.
It was then he noticed there was a charm placed on her- a memory charm if he had to guess. When she walked past him he reached out and touched the cloud he could see that was the manifestation of the charm. It dissipated as soon as he touched it and she stopped in her tracks before turning around. There were tears in her eyes.
“Evan?” Maddie asked.
“I’m here, Maddie.”
She hugged him and he hugged back. She hadn’t seen him since he was a baby, but their connection was still there. But then she was sending him away because of her asshole husband.
He moved around a bit doing odd jobs throughout the country and he loved finding the supernaturals in each town he visited.
Then he settled in LA and became a firefighter. He let Maddie, Noah, and Stiles know where he was. It was only then that Noah and Stiles told him everything that happened in Beacon Hills in his absence. He wished they had told him sooner- he could have helped. But at the same time he understood why they didn’t.
LA was a big place, so it was strangely harder to find supernaturals there. They were more spread out and less unified than Buck was used to and they also didn’t get many calls involving supernaturals because they tried to avoid medics and hospitals who might notice their advanced healing.
He found a sort of family at the 118. Bobby, Hen, and Chimney were amazing. But then he saw the path light up for the first time since he was a kid and he knew he had to follow it. He had no idea how long he would be gone so he made up a family emergency and took leave to follow it.
Unsurprisingly it led him back to Beacon Hills for the first time in ten years.