I felt the need to throw in what Tan was thinking between phone calls with Luca. He's been too much a part of this story for me to leave him alone for long.
I hope you enjoy!
Warnings: Violence, Choking, Angst, Hallucinations, Head Injury, Slow burn. Still in the process of writing so check here for new warnings as I go!
If you want to be kept up to date with any upcoming stories or want to ask me to write a story for you please follow me on Facebook 'SilverMidnight52' or on Tumblr under SilverMidnightWrite! I own nothing.
A soft sigh fell from Tan's lips as he found himself once again staring down at his cell phone waiting for it to ring. He had only hung up with Luca a few moments ago, but it felt as if hours had passed while he waited for the man to call back.
With every moment that passed a ball of nervous energy grew in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't shake no matter how hard he tried. If it had been any other time he would have been throwing punches at a bag right about then, but the fear of missing the phone call had him standing there doing nothing.
When Luca had first called he hadn't been able to help but roll his eyes. The older man had spent hours pouring over every piece of evidence and testimony they had trying to finally find a clues that they had missed. None of them had been surprised by him being kicked out of the building by the end of the day.
It wasn't as if that was the first time it had happened. Every single one of them had been forced to leave early because they couldn't let a case go long enough to take care of themselves. It kind of came with the whole being a cop thing.
It didn't help that one of the people at the center of the case was someone that they all cared about. Nor did it help that Street had this uncanny ability to either find trouble in the most bizarre way or just straight up completely fuck himself over. There was no in-between for that man and every single one of them knew it.
When the younger man had first joined the team Tan hadn't really known what to think. As willing as he had been to get to get to know the man and have him be a part of their little family it felt a little off. Like, Street wasn't sure if he should be there at all. After everything that happened with his mother it was clear to everyone why there had been a wall between them and him.
Then he came back and rejoined the team. Surprisingly enough things had changed a lot after that. He was more open with all of them and that wall seemed like it didn't exist anymore. They had all been happy about that.
Yes, it had taken awhile for all of them to get comfortable with one another, but in the end the team ended up feeling stronger than it had before. Something that he knew each and every single one of them felt. It had felt nice to have everything slot back into place after feeling as if something was missing.
Somehow though, there was one thing that didn't change at all. Street's ability to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The man just couldn't help but find trouble in the most unlikely of places. No matter what they were doing.
Alright, so they had been questioning someone they hoped might shed a little light on the case, but a part of him still felt as if it wasn't coincidence that Baylon was there. Despite the fact that there was nothing pointing to it being a set up.
That was the theme of the entire case though. No evidence pointing in any direction whatsoever. It was one of the most frustrating thing and all of them had started to feel the effects before everything had gone down with Street.
He still hadn't been able to get a full nights rest since that night. It was always hard to shake whenever he saw someone on the team get injured. It didn't matter how small the injury was. All that mattered was that they were hurt and there was nothing he or anyone on the team could have done to stop it.
It was a little different this time though. He had truly thought that he had seen everything that he could when it came to his team being hurt. Well, outside of them actually dying at least. From them getting stabbed or shot to them being poisoned and even dangled off the side of a buildings a few times he'd seen it.
The one thing that he had never seen was them not fighting. Even as they started to slip into unconsciousness they still fought for every breath that they took. As bad as it sounded, seeing that always made him feel a little better.
Knowing that the people that he cared about more than anything were willing to fight until the very end let him know that he had truly made the right call in the end. Even if people questioned why he went with the career that he did he never questioned it after seeing the fight in them.
Ever since that day though every time he tried to relax and close his eyes he ended up running right back into that warehouse. Over and over he kept seeing Street laying on the ground bleeding and not fighting. Why hadn't he been fighting?
He had tried to come up with a few answers on his own. From Street being too injured to him having realized that Tan had run in and was there to help him. Idea after idea came into his mind, but none of them fit no matter how hard he tried to make them.
He had been the one to push Baylon's lifeless body off of the younger man. He had taken category of the injuries that had been endured, at least the ones that he could see. There was no doubt that he had been hurt, but not enough to not fight back.
It made absolutely no sense to him. If Tan was being honest, out of everyone on the team he knew that Street had the most fight in him. It didn't matter what they were doing that man was always ready to do whatever it took. The fact that he hadn't been made him want to force Street to tell him what the hell had happened. He just wanted to understand.
Nothing had made sense for awhile though. As much as he wanted to say that it had started with Street being injured he knew that was a lie. Ever since the case had fallen into the laps everything had just felt off.
He wasn't exactly sure how to explain it. It was almost as if it wasn't a real case at all. Just a bunch of jumbled pieces someone threw together in a hopeless attempt at writing a story. Messy and ill-fitting and insane!
"Tan?" Deacon called out walking up to him along with Hondo, "What are you doing?"
"Waiting for Luca to call back," he replied with a slight shrug.
He watched the older men share a slightly amused smirk before looking back at him. It didn't take long for all of that to fall off their faces and he knew that he hadn't been hiding his worry all that well.
"What's wrong?" Hondo questioned crossing his arms over his chest.
"I don't know," Tan shook his head leaning his hands against the table, "I figured Luca would call and talk more about the case."
"He's invested," Deacon offered a small smile tugging on his lips, "He knows Street the best out of any of us. It's hitting him hard."
"Yeah. That's why I was listening I figured, in the long run, just letting him get out all of his thoughts would help him relax for the rest of the night. Even if he was just repeating what he said before it was better to let him talk and wear himself out."
"Solid plan," the smirk once again coming to Hondo's lips as he chuckled softly, "Luca loves hearing himself talk. Did he actually say anything?"
"Just more on how he thought Baylon was the mastermind behind everything and that Keller was a victim that had fallen in love. I think he was about to say something else, but Duke started to bark and he got distracted."
When he said it out loud Tan couldn't help shaking his head. It sounded like a completely normal conversation. One that they had a thousand times over the years. There was nothing at all to worry about.
Expect he knew that there was. Something deep in his chest twisted in an all too familiar way that he knew he couldn't ignore until he knew what it was that was going on. He had learned that lesson the hard way.
At the same time though that was exactly what he wanted to do. After everything that had happened he wanted the team to get back on their feet before another hit came their way. Just a little healing time was all they needed.
"Alright," Deacon started sounding more confused than anything, "So he calmed down Duke. Am I missing something?"
"I don't know," Tan admitted softly, "He just told me that he was going to check on Street and would call back in a minute. Then he hung up. That was three minutes ago."
A silence fell over the three of them and Tan was once again hit with the knowledge that he sounded like he was overreacting. He was literally timing out how long it took his friend to get back to him. Who the fuck did that?
There was a voice in the back of his head though. Reminding him that he hadn't actually seen Street since he left the hospital. Outside of Luca none of them had. Something that felt wrong on every level.
More than a few times he had thought of going over to visit his friend, but every time he started making those plans he got in his own head wondering if he should just give the younger man a little more time. He deserved it after everything.
With every day that passed it got harder to tell himself that he should go see Street. As much as he wanted to see the younger man he didn't know if he could with the image of him laying on the warehouse floor still stuck in his mind.
"Tan," Hondo said stepping forward and placing a hand on his shoulder.
He started to turn towards his boss an excuse already on the tip of his tongue. He barely got his mouth open when his phone started ringing. For split second he felt a panic roll through him not knowing what was going on.
"Lu-," he started to greet his friend.
"Tan!" the older man yelled loud enough that both Hondo and Deacon straightened up, "Track Street's phone! We need to get there. Now!"