Hey all, I'm back with another Tarlos bingo fic cause these boys took over my card (and heart), and I can't stop writing them. This one is for the prompt 'Losing Their Temper'. This story contains harsh (homophobic, racial) language so please take that into consideration before deciding to read or skip.
*Title comes from the song "En Todas Partes" from the movie Habana Blues and translate to 'there is love everywhere'.
Hand in hand Carlos and TK made their way from the bar to the adjacent parking lot located next to the building. After a night of dancing, and silent whispering and small talk tucked together in a booth in the back of the bar, the boys carried themselves with extra swagger tonight. Hips bumping against each other every few seconds and matching loopy smiles on their faces as they practically ran to the Camaro giggling like two teenagers who had just spent their first night out without parental supervision.
For Carlos and TK this wasn't their first outing, but forever basking in their love, every night still felt like the first. They just couldn't get enough of each other. And right now, they just couldn't wait to get home to continue their amazing night with the things they couldn't do in public. But their plan came crashing down as soon as they rounded the corner and saw a man leaning casually against Carlos' Camaro.
Thinking they were about to get mugged, Carlos quickly pulled TK slightly behind him, as his other hand slowly reached for his gun. But his fingers only caressed empty air, making Carlos curse silently, remembering he wasn't packing a piece. When he had first met TK he still carried his weapon with him every time he went out with Michelle or any of her 126 friends, but after his boyfriend was shot by a child they had both unspokenly decided it was best for Carlos to leave it at home when he was off shift. The decision had felt natural after they had been victims of gun violence but, right about now, Carlos was really regretting that choice.
Thinking that his precious Camaro wasn't nearly worth as much as the boy standing to his side, Carlos decided to turn around and head back to the bar, but out of the corner of his eye he saw another man now blocking their path. "Don't struggle, and just give them whatever they want," Carlos said softly, making an act of kissing TK as he whispered close to his ear. "Please." TK was a hothead on the best of days, so Carlos didn't want to take any chances.
With no way out, Carlos and TK just continued forward, stopping as soon as they reached the man who pushed himself off the car and looked at them up and down a few times.
"Listen, man, we don't want any trouble," Carlos began, already getting his wallet and phone out of his pocket. He was about to hand them to the man willingly, but stopped shortly as soon as his easy smile turned into a vicious grin.
"Did you hear that, Aaron? Boy thinks we want to rob him," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
A voice laughed from behind, making TK and Carlos flinch.
Turning around Carlos sighed as he saw the other man, Aaron, was no longer in the far corner of the building, and now stood just a few feet away, basically surrounding them.
"I wouldn't dare touch either of those," Aaron sneered, a look of disgust on his face as he stared at Carlos' hand which still held out his phone and wallet. "It's not enough to come here and take what's ours, but now you accuse us of wanting to take it back by force?"
"I didn't say anything," Carlos explained softly, sticking his things back in his pocket and carefully raising his hands. "Just let us pass and we will be out of your hair."
"Really? Will you return where you really belong?"
Feeling TK tense at his side, Carlos sent him a side glance that he hoped conveyed a warning. "I don't know what you mean." He tried to step around the man, wanting to reach the car and stop this before it escalated any further. But he just took a step to his right, again blocking Carlos' path.
"No? Let me make it clear then. You really want to get out of our hair? Then cross the border and get the hell out of our country."
Taking in the words, Carlos' heart began beating a little more rapidly as he realized with a sinking feeling that this was looking less like a mugging and disturbingly more like a hate crime. But seeing TK's fingers twitch, Carlos pushed his own emotions down and grabbed his hand and squeezed, trying to calm him down.
"Okay, I will." His tone was clipped, already used to dealing with racist assholes like this and just wanting to get home in one piece alongside his boyfriend.
"He was born in Texas, you know?" TK snapped, pulling his hand out of Carlos' grasp and taking a step forward, fists opening and closing at his sides.
"It's not worth it, T," Carlos hissed, not wanting to give these men the benefit of even hearing TK's name.
"So you have a voice," the first man said, turning his attention to TK, who only smiled, glad to have the man's focus on him now, "and here I was thinking this was some sort of hostage situation or case of Stockholm syndrome."
"Because why else would a Patriot like you be with someone like him," Aaron taunted. "But why are we even surprised, Sean? What did we expect of two fa-"
"I think you've said enough," Carlos deadpanned, cutting the familiar slur short. His nostrils still flared, not because he had never heard it before, oh he had, from hateful assholes like these, and even from family members. So he knew how to let the words roll, but TK came from a place that he assumed was more accepting, and he wasn't sure if he had ever experienced something like this.
Turning to TK, he recognized the itch to fight in his eyes and his mind flashed back to that night in the police station and the way TK had looked after getting in a fight at a bar. So he placed what he hoped would be a calming hand on TK's shoulder and squeezed, trying to ground his boyfriend and bring him back from the edge.
"Not so brave are you now?" Sean continued to focus on TK "Do you want to hit us boy?" He looked at his fists, now clenched so tightly that his knuckles looked white, and chuckled.
"Please, just let us go, we-" Carlos tried, doing his best to stay civil, knowing this was his last chance to stop the confrontation that was getting closer.
"You come here to spread your fucking fairy dust all over our bar and just expect us to do nothing about it?" Sean wondered, cutting Carlos off. "And you," he turned to look at TK, "it's not enough to betray your race but you also have to turn back on the mere fact you're a man."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Aaron offered with a sick smile, "I think this one here is the little bitch in this twisted relationship so that last part is debatable at best."
With that Carlos saw red and he wasn't even sure what happened next. He just knew his knuckles now hurt, and Aaron had a hand on his cheek and a murderous look on his face.
Carlos hadn't even been surprised at the last comment, because already racist and homophobic, it only made sense to have all three strikes and be sexist too. But he couldn't stand the love of his life to be ridiculed in front of him.
Staring at Carlos with wide eyes, TK both looked surprised and turned on because it wasn't like his usually calm and stoic boyfriend to lose his temper like that. TK grabbed Carlos' hand and squeezed in silent comfort. The gesture made Carlos turn to look at his boyfriend and Carlos and TK locked eyes for a moment, a silent promise passing between them as they exchanged a simple nod.
But the brief connection was broken as Aaron scratched his throat, so TK dropped Carlos' hand, and squared his shoulders, bracing himself for what he knew was coming. Carlos followed suit, feeling confident about their chances because the upside of their jobs was that it kept them in shape and stronger than the average man.
"And that was a mistake," Aaron hissed, his tone laced with as much hatred as Carlos and TK had ever felt directed at them. Then he signaled behind them and just like that four other men seemingly materialized out of nowhere, completely surrounding them and cutting off any possibility of escape.
Sighing, Carlos risked a look at TK and saw all his previous confidence evaporate, his green eyes not losing their resolve, but he now looked at the scene in front of them with more apprehension than before, and with, what Carlos dared think, was a little fear too. Because they both felt they could surely take on these two, but six against two was less than favorable odds.
Aaron took a step forward and swung his arm at Carlos but TK stepped in the way, using one hand to block the punch, and the other to throw his own right hook. But the strength of Aaron's fist had made him stumble so his hit didn't carry as much weight and the man recovered quickly. Pouncing again, Aaron threw another quick punch, catching TK on the nose, startling him as his vision blurred.
Shaking his head to clear it, TK prepared to attack again but a groan sounded from his side, and he turned around to see Carlos doubled over, a hand on his abdomen and his breathing coming in small gasps. The moment of distraction was enough for Aaron to get the upper hand and hit T.K. again, this time on his temple, making him stumble again, this time right into the grasp of two of the new men, and before he knew what was happening TK was being pushed until his face slammed into the hood of the Camaro.
Hearing TK's whimper, Carlos righted himself and launched forward, only managing to get a hand on one of the men holding his boyfriend before the other two cut his progress short, grabbing his arms and pulling them behind his back.
Grunting TK tried to fight but could only flail around as the two men held his wrists against the car, and Aaron stepped close to his face, pulling his head up by his hair and whispering viciously in his ear, "we only came here to speak to you both, but your boy there decided to lay his hands on me." Aaron's tone spoke only of disgust as he turned around to look at Carlos, who was being kept in place by two of the men, preventing him from helping TK or doing much at all, but brace himself for the inevitable.
"As I was saying, we just wanted to have a friendly talk. To let you know that your kind is not welcomed here, and to help you see reason. But your beaner boyfriend decided to intervene," Aaron continued, practically spitting the word boyfriend. "So now, it's only natural that he pays. And you'll get a front row seat. Maybe that will teach you a lesson about betraying what's naturally right." With that last comment, Aaron nodded and Sean stepped forward, slamming his fist into Carlos' abdomen. One time, two times, and three times. After the first hit, TK tried to turn around and close his eyes, but Aaron only tightened his hold on his hair and harshly pushed his face into the hood of the Camaro, keeping TK in place and forcing him to watch the assault on his boyfriend.
When Sean rammed his fist into Carlos' face, sending him to the ground, TK struggled and managed to push away from the car for a second, but the men quickly recovered, shoving him back against the hood of the Camaro. "I would stay still if I were you," Aaron hissed next to his ear. "Keep going."
Sean looked stunned for a second, but then turned back to the man slumped on the ground and signaled for his two companions to get him back on his feet. This time he only managed one hit to Carlos' face, sending him to the ground again, before TK lost his remaining temper and lashed out with a rage that was once only known to him during the highs of a night out, but now came purely from the instinctual desire to protect Carlos.
Carlos had wanted to get himself free and stop TK's pain, but he knew they needed to find a way to save themselves. So, instead he took advantage of everyone's attention being on TK, and reached into his pocket and took out his phone, trying to keep his movements slow and concealed.
Pushing his arm backwards, TK caught one of the men on the nose, feeling his hold on him lighten, so he repeated the motion with the other arm, smiling to himself as this one chose self-preservation and released him before his elbow connected with his face. Arms free, TK twisted around, freeing the rest of his body, and threw himself at Aaron. Both men landed on a pile on the ground. Aaron's 'keep going' echoed on TK's head so instead of going to Carlos, he felt his fragile hold on his emotions break. Losing the little self-control he had left, TK took advantage of the one moment of freedom to pummel the man lying on the floor below him.
TK managed to land three good hits before men descended on him, taking hold of his arms and pulling him away from their leader, and shoving him face first onto the ground. And before TK could even catch his breath, blows started raining down on him as the men hit him from every angle. Curling in on himself, TK tried to protect his face and ribs, his teeth biting painfully on his lip as he tried to stifle any grunts or shouts. Better him than Carlos, but that didn't mean his boyfriend needed to hear TK's pained cries.
The onslaught on TK ended surprisingly quickly, as Sean shouted for his friends to stop and both TK and Carlos breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. "Wait, this one is a cop," Sean whispered, holding Carlos' badge in his hand.
Hearing the words, Carlos turned his head to look at TK apologetically, the movement making him wince, mostly due to his own physical injuries but also in sympathy as he recognized the pain in TK's eyes. He hadn't wanted to say he was a cop, knowing these men wouldn't take it well, but his badge had gotten loose after the last hit and he hadn't realized it until Sean just picked it up from the ground.
"Crap, this isn't good," Aaron muttered as he spit a mouthful of blood to the ground, making TK smile in satisfaction even if they were still in big trouble. For a moment it seemed like Aaron was going to cut his losses and let them go but he seemed to realize something as he started pacing. "I can't believe this goddamn city lets someone like him join the force," he ranted, before he reached to the back of his jeans and took out a gun that neither Carlos nor TK had seen before.
"What do we do now?" Sean asked, his foot on Carlos' back as he kept the man pressed to the ground, TK free for the moment but no longer in much condition to fight, especially when there was now a weapon in play.
"Bring them to the alley," Aaron sneered, pointing with his gun towards a service road that ran behind the bar and connected to the parking lot through a small alley.
The men seized Carlos and TK and dragged them after Aaron, the pace slow as they could barely hold their own weight.
Looking to each other, a whole conversation passed between their eyes, as Carlos and TK managed to convey without words the love they felt and a pledge to continue fighting even if it took their last breaths.
Reaching the back alley, Carlos and TK were pushed down onto their knees as Aaron began walking circles around them, the gun still clutched tightly at his side.
"Listen, man. I'm the one you don't like," Carlos began, making the conscious choice to let the word 'hate' out of his speech. "And I'm the one that hit you, this is not his fault. Please, do whatever you want to me and let him go," he pleaded in desperation, knowing what just happened wasn't his or TK's fault, just things that sometimes occurred in a world that was not-so-slowly being consumed by fear and hate. But still he couldn't let anything happen to TK, not on his watch.
"Carlos, shut up," TK hissed from his side, looking at him with an unreadable expression. His first instinct had been to insult Aaron and turn the attention back to him, but he couldn't do that to Carlos as much as he didn't want his boyfriend to do it to him. "We live together or we go together. That's the only acceptable choice here."
"Aren't you cute?" Aaron whispered, again grabbing TK by the hair, and moving to whisper in his ear. "Maybe I will just kill you, and let your boyfriend live with that knowledge."
"Please, no," Carlos begged, knowing he was only playing into the man's ego, but not willing to take the chance that Aaron would follow through and shoot TK.
"Or maybe I will kill the cop and let you live to regret your choices, he's the biggest threat here after all," Aaron teased, releasing TK's hair and moving towards Carlos.
Carlos opened his mouth again, but TK shook his head, successfully silencing him. Aaron paced again, wildly swinging the gun around as he seemingly debated with himself who he would enjoy shooting more. So, Carlos and TK took the moment to stare at each other, because even facing death, they only had eyes for one another. Silently agreeing that neither of them could try to convince Aaron to shoot them and leave the other one alive. That wasn't how this worked, even if it hurt the both of them in the end.
"Remember we're a team," TK said softly, holding his hand out to his boyfriend.
Taking the offered hand and intertwining their fingers, Carlos nodded somberly. "Til the end," he agreed, even as his heart screamed at him that this couldn't be the end of their story.
And before any of them could say anything else a shot ran out, its echo quickly swallowed by the night as a body slumped forward.
Sorry?
I will be back soon with the last chapter. Thanks for reading!
*The things said by Aaron and Sean in this story are terrible and were hard for me to type. And their words and actions in no way reflect the way I see the world or think about these subjects. My apologies if they were upsetting to anyone, but please know that they were upsetting for me to write.