Bomb threats were Carlos' least favorite calls. On one hand, they were usually a hoax. On the other hand, there was no coming back if they weren't, your life usually ending before it could even flash before your eyes. He had been in the force long enough to see both.
His first false alarm had come eight months into the job, when a call to the Crime Stoppers hotline had warned of a bomb at the UT campus. They had evacuated the area and spent hours searching but, in the end, it turned out to be no more than a joke. Since then, he had been called to five other similar situations at different locations; they all turned out to be false, but he hated every single one of them.
On a different occasion, Carlos had been off shift when reports came of a suspicious package at a shopping center, and he had had to watch through the news as a swarm of APD officers entered the building. That day had ended with a bomb exploding and seven cops losing their lives. Carlos had been called in to help deal with the ramifications, but luck had been on his side, and he hadn't been there when it went off.
Today Carlos is sitting on his desk doing paperwork when another call comes in: an anonymous tip into the hotline speaking of a threat to the Texas Capitol in downtown Austin.
Dropping his pen in an instant, Carlos turns to the others around the bullpen with wide eyes and mouth hanging open. Because suddenly this threat seemed very real compared to all the other calls in which he had been a willing but reluctant participant. Those had been at public buildings and relatively low-risk locations; this one, on the other hand, was at a government building and carried with it not only a threat to life and structure but also to the heart and pride of the Lone Star State.
Wasting no time, Carlos grabs his service weapon and cruiser keys and runs behind Mitchell and his fellow officers; because on this sunny afternoon it's all hands on deck.
-x-x-x-
1 hour and 40 minutes
Carlos and Mitchell arrive on scene at 2:45 pm, spend five minutes listening to their Sergeant explain the situation, then enter the Capitol. Guns pointed at all corners, behind each door, and in advance of every hall they walk into as they make their way through the building.
Tasked to work in pairs, Mitchell's comforting presence behind Carlos helps ground him, even as his heart seems to want to beat out of his chest. The usual buzz and every day action of the building is now replaced with a quiet and eerie atmosphere that wraps around him like a chokehold, with the only sounds in the building coming from their own footsteps and tense voices as they provide updates through their coms.
Five minutes into their search the voice of their Sergeant joins the others in his ear, "be advised I've just been notified that a guided tour was happening when the call came in and one of the individuals signed in for that hour has not been accounted for. So, be on the lookout for a 5 feet 8 inches male, weighing approximately 172 pounds, with short, dark brown hair and brown eyes. We are not yet sure if we're looking for a victim or person of interest but everyone be careful."
"Copy." Come the various responses from all five groups conducting the search.
"Reyes, I'm taking a left here, you go right and we will meet back in the middle," Mitchell directs when they reach a branching path that circles back at a lobby farther into the hall.
Carlos nods and squeezes his partner's shoulder as she passes. He continues his uneventful search for a few more minutes before footsteps at his back have him twisting around, gun raised and finger tightening on the trigger.
Very briefly Carlos sees a man matching the description of the one they're looking for but has no time to reach for his radio or even pull the trigger. His head implodes with pain as he crumbles to the ground, a wooden plank dropping to the floor in his direct line of sight. Carlos' eyes go in and out of focus as he stares at the crimson coloring the otherwise pristine wood.
At a moment like this Carlos would like to think that his last thoughts would be of TK, and he does say a breathy 'I love you' to his boyfriend, but his very last thought is the realization that as his body loses the fight to stay awake, there is someone dragging him by the ankles.
-x-x-x-
1 hour and 25 minutes
It's all a fury of activity from the moment TK and the rest of the 126 pull into the scene in front of the Texas Capitol. But then they are all told to hang tight and there's nothing to do but wait. Standing in place doesn't last long as a group of APD officers come rushing to them, pushing everyone behind a perimeter being set by the Texas Rangers.
"What's going on?" Owen asks one of the Rangers, taking a tentative step closer to the security tape.
"Information is on a need-to-know basis for now." The Ranger blows them off and moves to the next street as they continue to evacuate the area.
Owen and the rest of the firefighters retreat to wait by the truck, Nancy and Tommy go to sit on the bumper of the ambulance, but TK can't move. His eyes are glued to the building in front of him as he silently begs the universe to please keep Carlos safe. His boyfriend is on shift too and TK hasn't heard from him since before the call came in.
Objectively, TK knows that at any given point in time there's countless calls happening at the same time, so there's no reason to think that Carlos is here or in harm's way, but he can't help but worry. Trouble always seems to find them, regardless of how hard they try to outrun it, and even if, so far, they have been lucky to always escape alive, TK knows their luck is bound to run out someday.
-x-x-x-
1 hour and 20 minutes
Carlos wakes up with a weight over his neck and chest and for a moment he thinks that he's been shot. He lifts a shaky hand trying to pat himself but fingers close around his wrist to stop him.
"Don't move. Everything will be okay. I promise. Just stay calm."
Carlos blinks a few times as he tries to decipher the words spoken to him. His head hurts like a motherfucker and he thinks some blood dripped into his eye because it stings when he tries to open it fully. And why can't he seem to focus? He needs to focus.
"You with me, partner?"
The voice asks again and Carlos shakes his head. Not really sure of what it's being asked but sure that gesture probably covers most questions, seeing as he doesn't even know where he is.
"Carlos? Your father is outside, the 126 too. Everyone is doing everything they can do to help."
His father?
The 126?
TK?
Slowly Carlos' mind begins to settle, or more like panic, at the thought of Gabriel or anyone from his boyfriend's firehouse finding him like this. Whatever this is. He just knows it's bad.
"Mitchell? What happened?" Carlos tentatively asks when his blurry sight straightens enough to make sense of his partner's face hovering in front of him. He tries to figure out where they are but he can't see much past what's right in front of his eyes as darkness continues to push at the edges of his vision wanting to pull him under.
"Yes. How are you feeling?" Mitchell's voice is strained, clipped, and Carlos doesn't like it.
"Are you okay?" he asks instead, wanting to know what's going on with her.
"You're the one with- you're the- you- why are you asking me that?" Mitchell says, her fingers slightly slapping his cheek as she tries to fully wake him.
"I'm the one with what?" Carlos wants to know, then he remembers the weight he felt when he woke up and looks down. You're the one with a bomb strapped to your body, his mind helpfully provides, and now he can't feel anything but the collar around his neck. A timer hangs from it, pressing on his chest, over his heart, and now Carlos wishes he hadn't been able to focus, because blissful ignorance was better than this.
Carlos tries to speak, but there's no time for questions as his vision swims just before his world goes black again.
-x-x-x-
1 hour and 15 minutes
"Mitchell?" Carlos asks when he wakes up next, his panicked eyes searching but making no attempt to move this time.
"I'm here, partner. You with me now?" Mitchell says, making Carlos very grateful not to be alone.
"I think so. Head hurts." Carlos rubs his temple and frowns when his fingers come sticky with blood. "What happened? How did we get here?" He gestures to himself, and winces, absentmindedly wondering how it would feel to be blown up into a million pieces. Would he even feel anything at all? Probably not. But he's sure his family would feel it tenfold.
"What do you remember?" Mitchell asks, kneeling next to him.
"We responded to a call at the Texas Capitol?" He says, or more like asks, because he can't be sure of anything right now.
"What else?" Mitchell prods, handing him a bottle of water that she procured seemingly out of nowhere.
He doesn't know what else. His mind is a whole lot of nothing and Carlos wants to scream, or cry, or maybe just laugh at the absurdity of it all, because somehow he managed to become the bomb thread he was called in to investigate.
"Carlos," she prompts, recognizing his panicked stare and wanting to bring him back from the edge.
"Sorry." Carlos coughs once, and the cables attached to the bomb shake. He swallows the next cough and wills his body to stop moving.
He takes a few sips of water as he tries to sort through his jumbled memories. "There was a call to the hotline. We arrived on scene and were searching together, then we separated, and nothing. Just darkness," Carlos explains, looking inside his mind for more but coming up mostly empty. He remembers pain, then his memories go blank. "I think I saw the guy our sergeant mentioned."
Mitchell nods and squeezes his fingers. Since when had they been holding hands?
"He managed to knock you out. When you never got to the next corridor I called, then came looking for you. Found you here with that." She points to the bomb and winces.
"Do we know who he is? What does he want?" Doing his job and feeling like he's helping somehow is what finally calms Carlos down a little, helping anchor his mind to something real and tangible.
"We do. He must have escaped afterwards, or maybe he wasn't the one inside. But someone called in 10 minutes later, taking credit, and started making demands. But you don't have to worry about that. Everyone is working to get you out."
Everyone. Carlos' eyes close in resignation as he remembers Mitchell words from before. "Is my dad here?" Mitchell nods and Carlos inhales sharply. "Is TK here?" Mitchell nods again and Carlos stops breathing.
"They're all outside the perimeter, they're safe." Carlos exhales at that.
"Should you be here?" He feels bad he didn't think to ask before now, but selfishly he was happy to have some company.
Mitchell shrugs but smiles. "We have time. If he keeps his word, at least."
"What do you mean?" Carlos wonders, even as he automatically looks down, vision blurring again when he sees a countdown. 01:05:27. That's how much he has to live. The seconds already trickling down. 28 years of life reduced to barely an hour. "You should go."
"The hell I will, Reyes. I'm staying right here with you." Carlos would be grateful if he wasn't so fucking scared. His fear is all-encompassing now as his life does flash before his eyes. And he's not at all surprised when most of what he sees are green eyes, light brown hair and hands that fit in every crease of his body, alongside his mother calling him mi amor and every time his father said he's proud of him.
He sees himself winning the baseball championship in his junior year of high school.
He sees the day he graduates from the police academy and when Mitchell is assigned as his partner.
He sees family dinners, holiday celebrations, marriages and childbirths.
He sees the day he met Michelle and the old 126.
He sees the day he met the Strands and the new 126.
He sees the day he fell in love.
Carlos sees a life well lived but for not nearly long enough. He lifts his hand, awkwardly clutching his cross, mindful of the collar, and silently begs for time.
-x-x-x-
1 hour
As time passes gossip begins to reach TK, and in bits and pieces he learns that an officer was ambushed and woke up with a bomb strapped to his chest. He closes his eyes as the words wash over him and his world seems to slow down.
He's had a bad feeling that he couldn't shake since they arrived at the scene. He tried to blame his own past brushes with death for the dread that threatened to choke him, but now fear has a vise-like grip on his heart. Still TK chooses to believe that if he hasn't seen Mitchell or Carlos other coworkers and no one has come to get him then it must mean his boyfriend is safe.
But all the things TK has tried to convince himself of come crashing down when he sees Gabriel Reyes standing next to the incident commander's van, one hand flat against the door as his body swings and he stumbles.
TK's knees go weak as the sight gives him a moment of clarity. Even if he can't see what's happening inside and no one has spoken to him directly, TK still knows Carlos is the officer with the bomb. He just knows it. He knows it in the way his heartbeat slows down, the way his breath catches in his throat and the way his palms instantly coat with sweat. He knows it in his heart and the realization makes it stop beating, because his heart is no longer in his chest but inside the Texas Capitol alongside his boyfriend's.
"Gabriel?" TK swipes his damp palms on his pants as he takes tentative steps towards the Ranger, only letting out a breath as the one-word question leaves his body in a single exhale.
Gabriel turns around and his eyes widen. "TK."
"It's Carlos, isn't it?" TK doesn't say how he knows, and Gabriel doesn't answer, but his soulful eyes, so like his son's, tell TK what his heart already knows.
"You shouldn't be here," Gabriel says, averting his gaze and focusing on a point far in the distance.
TK just raises an eyebrow at that.
Gabriel chuckles sadly and says, "right, like any of us is about to leave." And that confirms TK's worst fears.
"What happened?" TK asks, telling Gabriel what he overheard so they can skip over the pleasantries.
"Whoever was inside got Carlitos," Gabriel breathes out, eyes misting before he blinks the tears away. "Then we got a call. They're demanding we investigate an old case as part of the Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program, a disappearance from 3 years ago."
"Was Carlos targeted?" TK asks, needing to know what they're dealing with.
Gabriel shakes his head but doesn't look convinced. "We haven't found anything that indicates that. We think it was a crime of opportunity. But Carlos being a cop and the son of a Texas Ranger we can't be sure yet. We're looking at it from every angle, we might just not have enough-" He cuts himself short, knowing he already said enough, but owing it to his future son-in-law not to keep him completely in the dark.
Time. TK's mind still provides the missing word, and his tears finally begin to fall. "How long?"
Gabriel looks down at his watch and winces. He tries to hide it, but TK sees it, nonetheless.
"Gabriel, please." TK's voice cracks and that's Gabriel's undoing.
"About an hour." Gabriel closes his eyes and his hand reaches blindly to his neck, his fingers tightening around the cross that Andrea gifted to him after the first time he got hurt on the job.
"I need to see him."
Gabriel opens his eyes at that. "No." He begins to turn around, but TK stops him with a hand on his wrist. "We're trying, TK. We're doing everything we can. I promise."
TK nods and pulls his hand back, seeing Gabriel walk away. But then his future father-in-law turns around and pulls him into a silent hug. The moment passes just as quick and he's suddenly alone.
He closes his eyes and his mind begins to wander. Ignoring every lesson taught to him since he joined the Fire Academy, TK runs through about a hundred what ifs and absentmindedly wonders if this is the day their luck finally runs out.
When TK opens his eyes again, he's no longer alone. The whole 126 is there, a wide range of emotions playing on all their faces -surprise, heartbreak, anger, hope- TK nods and says nothing, grateful for their support and even more for their silence, but the moment his father opens his arms, he falls right in.
-x-x-x-
40 minutes
Carlos isn't sure how much time has passed but Mitchell hasn't stopped talking. It's been about all and nothing and everything in between: the Ranger's last game, the Longhorns new staff, a new song released by Billie Eilish, a case they worked on last month. Carlos knows what she's doing but the distraction really doesn't work when there's a literal countdown hanging over him.
"Have they given you any updates?" He asks when she begins talking about what color she's thinking of painting her front door.
"Still working on it." Carlos knows that tone, and he hates it. He's used it with victims many, many times, and he doesn't like it when it's used on him. It makes him feel helpless and out of control.
"So, nothing is happening," he summarizes, unable to keep the dejection and resignation out of his words.
"We still have time," Mitchell urges, "no one is giving up so you shouldn't either."
He might have been able to believe it if not for the bomb around his neck. Bomb squad having already tried to disable it to no avail. The hinged collar was closed around him like a large handcuff that went around his neck, there were two pipe bombs inside a rectangular section, many cables running from the bombs to a couple kitchen timers, and an electronic timer that hung down over his chest. There were also decoys, unconnected wires and a fake cell phone. It simply was too much for too little time.
When the timer hits 00:30:59 two members of the bomb squad come for Mitchell. They step aside and exchange a few whispered words before they announce they're taking her away. She protests at first but at his insistence reluctantly agrees.
"I will see you on the other side," she whispers, smiling a watery grin.
Or in another life, Carlos thinks. "Thanks for everything, partner. Please tell TK that-"
"Tell him yourself," Mitchell says softly, and before Carlos can protest, she's stepping forward and handing him a radio.
And in that single moment, Carlos experiences the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. He goes from thinking there's a way out and he will be able to talk to his boyfriend again to the realization that there's no hope and only the chance of a rushed goodbye now. And that will never be enough closure for what they have.
Still, he takes the radio, smiling sadly at it, until his cop brain interjects, "we shouldn't use a radio next to a bomb. Frequencies can make it detonate."
Mitchel shrugs sadly, and he's spent enough days riding with her to know she means to say I'm sorry. "It could, yes," she agrees, then takes a deep breath and some of her tension goes away with it, "but no one can be sure. Depends on the specifics of the bomb and there's no time to determine that now. Sarg and the Rangers approved it, but it's your choice." She takes a step forward and kisses his check, then squeezes his shoulder and turns to leave. "Everyone is in the safe zone, for whatever it's worth."
"Thank you," Carlos says to her retreating form, silent tears finally falling, because it's worth everything. It means he gets to say goodbye, and that's everything right now.
Carlos stares at the radio and breaks down. His silent tears become barely suppressed sobs as he realizes that three years of history with the love of his life are being reduced to less than 30 minutes. It's not fair, and his inability to change his fate makes him want to scream. But he doesn't. Just wipes his tears away, waits until his sobs go back to silent sniffles and turns the device on.
"TK?"
-x-x-x-
35 minutes
Time moves slower after that. His team says nothing, but they also don't stray far away. A few minutes later, Tommy and his dad take everyone back to their rigs, only Nancy staying behind. She continues to provide silent support but skips the empty promises and TK appreciates it more than he can say.
"Is this how Carlos feels every time?" TK surprises himself when he's the one to break the silence, but he can't take it anymore. At Nancy's raised, questioning eyebrow, he explains. "Every time I get hurt, and Carlos is left to wait, is this how he feels? Because this is awful and I need to apologize." His face falls as his own words hit him and a sob breaks free. "Nance, I might never get to apologize," he whispers brokenly, and suddenly he's gasping for breath and darkness is creeping at the edges of his vision.
Nancy's been a paramedic long enough to recognize when someone is on the verge of a panic attack so she wastes no time before she's turning around and taking TK's hand, needing to keep him grounded in the present and away from his own thoughts. "TK, hey TK, you're okay. It's Nancy, listen to my voice, focus on my voice," she waits until his eyes show signs of recognition before she keeps going, squeezing his hand once before setting it over her chest. "You gotta breathe for me, partner. Focus on my heartbeat and try to mirror my own breathing."
It takes a few tries but TK eventually calms down. His breathing evening out as the darkness retreats and he can focus on the scene in front of him again. "Thank you," he whispers.
"Anything to stop you from becoming a patient in our own ambulance again," Nancy jokes and smiles when she succeeds in making him chuckle.
TK nods and allows himself a brief smile to match his partner's. This is not Paragon and at least half of the surrounding stations are here so he would never live it down if he ended up having to ride his own rig again. "Do you think Carlos knows?"
"What? That you love him? Yes, he does," Nancy answers automatically.
TK's never been one to back down from showing affection once he's all in, so he's sure Carlos at least knows that one thing, but it's always nice to know others see it too. "Good to know. But I was asking if he knows that I'm sorry, for every time I risked my life and got hurt and he had to wait and worry."
"He does," Nancy says, not missing a beat.
"How can you be so sure?" TK wonders, wishing he felt her certainty.
"Because I know. And more often than not I've been waiting right along with him." And with that the conversation ends, because nothing else needs to be said. Nancy just pulls her partner into a hug and whispers comforting words into his ear.
They all know in their line of work promises do more harm than good, but TK appreciates it nonetheless. Still his mind can't help but continue counting down, and he knows it's around half an hour now. Carlos' remaining lifetime cut to half in the blink of an eye.
"TK?" He breaks free from the embrace and turns to find Gabriel handing him a radio, and with a sinking feeling realizes what it means. They're out of time. This is the end. "Talk to him, son."
He nods even as he's not ready to say goodbye. He just wants to smash the radio on the ground and run to his boyfriend, but that's not what he's been asked to do. And, more importantly, that's not what Carlos needs.
Just as quickly as he showed up, Gabriel disappears to God knows where, and TK's left staring at the radio with a broken expression and a broken heart to go with it.
"Hey," Nancy calls, and TK turns even if he just wants the ground to swallow him whole. "Talk to him. Say whatever is on your mind. And please tell him that we're all thinking of him and we love him."
TK nods but makes no sign that he's about to move.
"You can do it, partner. Know that I'm, we all are, here for you however this day ends." With that and a little push to the arm holding the radio, Nancy steps away and goes to join the rest of their house.
TK says a quick prayer he remembers from his time in Hebrew school before taking a few deep breaths and turning the radio on.
"TK?" Comes Carlos' choked voice, pained and scared even in the one syllable.
"Hi, baby."
-x-x-x-
25 minutes
Hearing TK's voice is almost Carlos undoing but he takes a deep breath and pushes his emotions where he can't reach them until later. "How are you doing?"
TK laughs, mirthless and quiet. "You really asking me that when you're the one strapped to a bomb?"
"I'm worried about you. I need to know you're okay." Carlos wishes he could hug him, wrap his hands around his face and look into his eyes to really see how he's feeling.
"I'm not," TK says honestly. Because how can he be?
Carlos nods to himself, appreciating his sincerity even if it shatters his already broken heart. "I need you to be okay, Ty. I need to know you'll be taken care of, I need to know you won't be alone."
"I won't be alone. I'll be with you." TK sounds so sure and Carlos wonders if it's confidence or denial. Could he know something he doesn't? Could he maybe have a chance? He doesn't want to hope in vain but he's always been an optimist and today he has nothing else to hang onto.
"I love you," TK says when he stays silent for too long.
"I love you more," Carlos whispers, and squeezes his closed fist, wishing it was TK's hand and not air between his fingers.
They fall silent after that, just getting comfort from the other's presence, even if only through a radio. They both hold onto their love and the hope that the universe has one more miracle in store for them.
"TK?" Carlos' voice sounds rough, choked up and he hates putting TK through that but he can't help it. He doesn't answer, but Carlos can hear his breathing, hitched and interrupted by sniffles, and knows his boyfriend is listening. "Please tell Mitchell that this wasn't her fault."
TK lets out a sob and Carlos' tears fall. "Tell my parents that I love them. Tell them thank you." He closes his eyes because that's too little to leave his mom and dad with but he's running out of time. "Thank your team for welcoming me into the 126 family, and tell them to please take care of you. Please let them take care of you."
"Carlos," TK begs, and Carlos can picture his bloodshot green eyes and the tears running freely down his face, and he hates being the one that put them there.
He hears grunts and whispered words on the other end. He hears TK pleading with someone to please let him go, saying over and over that he needs to see him. Carlos can picture Owen, or maybe Nancy or Tommy, anyone really, holding TK from behind. Arms wrapped around his body as he struggles to break free. He can't be sure who it is but he's grateful that they kept his boyfriend from seeing him now. He wants TK's last memory to be their goodbye kiss that morning and not this.
"Babe," he breaths out, and in a heartbeat the scuffle ends. "I'm sorry."
"Carlos, you don't have anything to apologize for. I love you and I know this is not your fault. We all know." TK sounds so certain and Carlos loves him for it. "I will only tell them what you said if you promise to believe the words yourself. Nothing that happened today, nothing that might still happen, is your fault, Carlos Reyes. We all know, we all love you, and we need you to know too."
"I know," Carlos says, because deep down he does know, even if it all hurts like hell. "But you always fought to get back to me, I'm just sorry I couldn't do the same for you."
"I forgive you, not that there's really anything I need to forgive you for," TK says automatically, and it never fails to surprise Carlos how his boyfriend always knows what he needs to hear. "I'm sorry, too. For putting you into so many situations where you needed to wait for me to get back to you. I never wanted to leave you, baby. And I know you don't want to leave me now."
-x-x-x-
10 minutes
"We should hang up," Carlos murmurs, wanting to spare TK the additional pain.
"No. I'm staying right here with you."
"Thank you." And Carlos is certain that TK knows he didn't really want to end the call anyways.
5 minutes
"I love you. I'll miss you," TK croaks.
"Me too," Carlos breathes out. "Thank you for the best three years of my life."
"Thank you for saving me, and sorry I couldn't save you back."
The only response is sniffles on both ends.
4 minutes
"Is your team there?"
"Yes. They're somewhere around here."
"Lean in to them." Don't run, don't push them away, don't self-destruct.
Carlos thinks of the last three, but they remain unsaid.
3 minutes
"Is my dad there?"
"He was."
"Okay," Carlos says, and he can't help but wonder why Gabriel never got on the radio with him. He could have used his father.
2 minutes
"I love you."
"I love you too."
1 minute
Carlos' eyes widen in horror as Gabriel comes running into the room and for a moment he thinks his father is leaving with him, and he panics because who would take care of his mother if they both died today. But then he's kneeling in front of him, hands shaking slightly as he opens the back of the bigger of the timers and types in a code.
Some tense seconds follow, there's a beep, then another, then the timer stops. 00:00:13.
"Oh, God." Carlos crumbles, his breathing stops, then comes in gasps, then stops again. The edges of his sight darken. He reaches for his father blindly, but Gabriel pushes him down, waves someone in. Through his tunnel vision he sees members of the bomb squad walk around him. Then the weight is gone but he still can't breathe.
Gabriel steps forward, takes the radio from his hand, says something into it and drops it to the ground. He hugs Carlos then, whispering hasty apologies and explanations.
I'm sorry this happened to you, Carlitos. I'm sorry I couldn't talk to you, but I couldn't focus on the end, your mama would have never forgiven me and we both know she's a force to be reckoned with. Speaking of, maybe don't tell your mother about this. I love you, and I'm so proud of you.
When they pull apart, Gabriel explains as much as he can about the case. Carlos doesn't catch all of the words but vaguely understands that a father lost his son three years ago. He was distraught when the police moved the case to the Unsolved Crimes Unit. Desperate he used his knowledge to plan this and build a bomb. Carlos was just unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he's lucky to have a Texas Ranger for a dad and they were able to figure out the location of the man, contacted the wife, and together alongside Gabriel convinced him to give away the code to stop the bomb. Gabriel promised he wouldn't stop looking into whatever happened to his son. He couldn't promise resolution, but he promised not to give up.
Carlos nods and promises to help too. Then Gabriel is silently hugging him again and Carlos holds him back with a strength and conviction he hasn't felt since he was a teenager, crying into his father's arms when he injured his shoulder at a baseball game, the week before he came out to them and everything changed until he met TK. And that thought has him looking up over his father's shoulder, looking for him.
-x-x-x-
0 minutes
As soon as Gabriel pulls back again, Carlos starts to feel dizzy. His vision goes in and out of focus, his breath hitches again, his whole body starts shaking. He's on the verge of a panic attack with no way to stop it.
But then Gabriel waves someone else in, and suddenly TK is finally standing in front of him. Traces of tears still evident on his cheeks, and a watery but hopeful smile on his face. TK kneels where Gabriel was and Carlos stands up and falls into his waiting arms. But too soon TK pulls back, looking at him with paramedic eyes.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" TK's hands hover all over his body, frantically checking for injuries, blood loss, anything they might have missed.
Carlos' eyes are glossy and confused, there's dried blood on his head and droplets on the collar of his uniform shirt, but he shakes his head. "I'm fine. I've never been better." He pushes TK's hands away and all but collapses into his favorite place in the world, hiding his face in the crock of TK's neck.
Carlos breaths TK in, draws circles on his back and hugs him close.
TK clings to his vest, and his other hand plays with the hair on the nape of Carlos' neck. He twists a curl around his finger and kisses his cheek.
They stay like that for a long time and neither boy cares. Because the countdown is over and they have all the time in the world once again.
"You came back to me. Thank you."
"Thank you for giving me the best reason to. I love you."
"I love you, too," TK whispers against Carlos' shoulder, "so, so much."
They know Carlos needs to get checked out by the paramedics, probably go to the hospital and get a head scan. He needs to meet with Mitchell and his boss, reassure her that he's okay and give a statement. TK needs to meet his team and ask Tommy for leave. They need to meet their families and friends and hug them close. But right now, none of that matters and Carlos stays in the arms of the love of his life. TK just murmurs soft, comforting words in his ear and continues to hold him.
And continues on through the nightmares that follow, the sleepless nights and restless days. Through it all they hold each other, they heal as a team, and eventually, one day, this afternoon begins to hurt less and fade from their memories. But they never forget how happy they feel for the time to continue building this life together.
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