Chapter Text
Maddie has often pondered how she ended up like this. And why. Who. When. Where. What. Honestly, she was not even quite sure what to call them. Powers? A gift? A curse? An extreme placebo effect?
What she knows is this: she heals fast; not instantaneously but definitely fast. She couldn’t recall a time when it wasn’t this way. Scrapes from the playground would heal by the time the band-aid soaked off in the bath, dark bruises from soccer field collisions disappearing overnight, casts coming off weeks ahead of the doctor’s expectation. It was perhaps the only thing about her Doug never stopped loving about her - how convenient he could beat her without worrying she would be too hurt for her next shift. Sure, people had remarked on it from time to time, but no one had dragged her off to some secret testing facility; so in itself this was not particularly noteworthy. She was young and otherwise healthy, or perhaps she had good genetics or even just good luck.
Except.
What she also knows is this: when someone else is hurt, she can touch them and it hurts less. She couldn’t heal others - as far as she could tell anyways - but she can take or at least ease their pain. It doesn’t hurt her but it does make her very tired. Depending on how long she does it for, the side effect ranges from a little fatigue to sleeping for twenty hours straight.
When she was young, she would write it off as the usual amount of magic in the world. Between the tooth fairy and shooting stars and mermaids, why wouldn’t she be able to kiss it all better? As she got older, though, she began to wonder about the origins. Maybe it was a cosmic error. Maybe it was a misplaced spell from her parents’ desperate pursuits to save Daniel. Maybe Maddie was the witch. Maybe it was another long-held Buckley family secret. She was not even sure if her parents knew; she was always too scared to directly ask about it once she realized it was not normal and they didn’t pay enough attention to her to recognize such a...quirk. She’s never told anyone actually. She knows she should - there was practically no chance of her loved ones turning their backs on her. Probably. Was it really worth the risk?
Nonetheless, life went on despite this mystery. If anything, her ability has proven useful throughout her life.
As an older sister, certainly. Daniel, near the end, would snuggle into her arms every chance he got and get some peaceful sleep, while Maddie finally felt like she could actually do something for him. Evan, perhaps, would be the most likely to find out her secret if he was a bit more observationally-inclined as he was certainly the most loyal customer of her services. Childhood incident after another, Evan would seek her out for more reason than their parents pointing him in her direction. As a nurse she would do it when possible, but she had to be careful not to go too far. It only took one incident of almost fainting on top of a patient to learn that lesson.
Maddie had never been more thankful for it, though, then after Jee-Yun was born. It was normal for babies to cry. Maddie knew that. But hearing Jee-Yun, her sweet little baby, crying in pain because of colic or whatever was too much for Maddie to handle. Being able to take some of that had been one of Maddie’s only solaces in the midst of her own mental health struggles.
Speaking of, she acquiesced to telling Chim the truth. It was long past due, at this point. She never had to doubt how much he loved her - he told her, he showed her, he would hold on to her. It wasn’t fair to keep him out of this, especially when there was a chance their daughter would have similar capabilities.
She doesn’t get a chance, not in the way she planned. She was only on the third draft of her confession speech when they got sandwiched in a four car pileup.
Once the world quieted and the airbag began deflating and she dared to open her eyes again, Maddie’s first instinct was to look for Jee-Yun. A part of her was aware that Jee was hanging out with Uncle Buck for the day, that she wouldn’t be in the backseat because her and Chim were on the way to pick her up. She was relieved to verify that the backseat was empty as expected.
After, she took a brief moment to assess herself. She was able to turn her head easily enough to look in the backseat, so that was good. She could feel her arms, her legs. Her chest hurt a bit, probably from the seatbelt, but she could breathe alright and didn’t bang her head on the steering wheel. Once that was settled, that was much as time as she was willing to commit to herself as there was a more pressing matter in the passenger seat.
“Chim.” She called, twisting in her seat to face him as much as she could. His eyes were open, but he hadn’t moved. Gently cupping his face without moving his neck, Maddie prodded, “Chimney, talk to me. Are you hurt?” When that failed to garner a response, Maddie pushed a little more. “Howie.”
In the moment, Maddie had managed to forget they were in the middle of a small pileup at a busy intersection; so much so, that a knock on the window startled her enough to jerk against the seatbelt. After Maddie turned back toward the driver’s side, she found a woman was on the phone and asking if they needed help. For a second Maddie was distracted, wondering which 9-1-1 dispatcher was on the other end. Blinking to refocus, Maddie took further stock of their situation. She could definitely get out if she tried, but she wasn’t getting out without Chimney, and he didn’t look ready for that. The woman did not look too concerned about them getting out at that instant, so Maddie wouldn’t either.
When the woman moved on to the next car, Maddie returned her attention to Chimney. Upon first glance, she would guess his shoulder was dislocated from being jerked around while holding onto the grab handle. A concussion, maybe. It’s hard to get a good look out of his eyes from her angle.
She knows he’s scared - he doesn’t like to talk about the rebar accident with her or anyone for that matter - but the longer he goes without responding to her, the more worried she gets. She would do anything to help pull him out of the traumatic shock or have prevented this situation entirely.
There was one thing she knew she could help with though.
“Here, hold my hand,” she said. She gently squeezed experimentally. Normally, she does not necessarily think about it, it just happens; except, in this situation, she closed her eyes and concentrated hard while calling upon the whatever in her. It takes a moment, but she noticed that he was beginning to relax a little. Rubbing her thumb on the back of his hand, she promised, “You’re going to be okay.”
She was beyond thrilled to have her hand squeezed back.
Hours later, after the paramedics arrived and they were temporarily separated, Maddie finds herself still holding Chim’s hand as he rests. The concussion was mild, the doctors just wanted to be conscious due to his previous brain injury. She was also fine - just bruises, which Maddie knew would heal sooner than later. She wasn’t feeling significantly more fatigued, so Chim must not be in a lot of pain which she was glad for.
Now that the panic of the accident was wearing off, the panic of Chimney realizing what happened was beginning to set in.
Being a freak wasn’t even her worst quality, in her own humble opinion, but Chim might not see it that way and her notes of everything she wanted to say, weren’t even finished -
Alas, her worries were cut short by Chim calling her name. “Hey, how are you feeling?”
The answer of good should have been reassuring, except Chim had the oddest look on his face when he reported that to her. They made small talk for a while - no one was badly hurt, Jee was staying with Buck, the ice cream definitely melted in the trunk. Eventually falling back to silence, Maddie was startled when Chim asked, “Maddie. Be honest, are you an angel?”
She was going to play it off as a joke, but Chimney gestured towards their linked hands and Maddie knew it would have been the wrong choice. “No,” she replied honestly. Not that she was aware of anyhow. “But I.. am... something. I don’t even really know.”
“I always knew you were a miracle,” Chim whispered conspiratally and Maddie’s heart soared.
Things were going to be okay.
Leaning down to kiss the ring on his finger, she remarked, “What’s that you always say? Us Hans are healers.”