"I'm so glad we finally got a chance to do this!" TK said excitedly, snuggling up to Carlos' side as they sat next to each other in the restaurant booth. It was a late October night and their guests had just flown in for a visit, after different scheduling issues had come up and prevented it from happening for months.

"We are too. Chatting online is fine and all, but seeing each other in person is much better," Buck agreed, raising his glass of water in a toast.

"And without a life threatening crisis as a backdrop," Eddie added with a snort.

"Don't speak so soon. The night is young and the three of you have a bad habit of finding trouble," Carlos pointed out.

"That's not fair!" TK huffed, rolling his eyes. "We just have really bad luck."

"And you have unusually good luck. How does the cop have the least amount of injuries out of all of us?" Buck wondered.

"He's just really good at his job," TK bragged, talking up his fiance. He loved being able to call him that.

"Are you saying we aren't?" Buck pouted, looking slightly offended.

"Of course not. We're just victims of circumstance."

"You know, sometimes I think we're-"

"Don't say it," Eddie interrupted, giving Buck a warning look.

"You can't say it's not true," Buck argued.

"Yes I can, since it's not real," Eddie shot back.

"Why do I get the impression that I'm missing something here?" Carlos asked, watching the back and forth with interest.

"Buck believes in curses and Eddie doesn't. It's a whole thing," TK explained. "You'd know if you kept up with the group chat."

"I skim!" Carlos said defensively. "You know how busy I am putting in hours to try to get that promotion."

"Yes, the promotion that will mean I don't see you in the field as often. How could I forget?" TK grumbled.

"Have you thought about going for field sergeant? Bobby still gets to see Athena a lot," Buck suggested.

"I can't just hop from officer to sergeant. But if I play my cards right, I can be there in a couple years."

"And even though it will suck not seeing you as often, I know how much you'll enjoy being able to use that big brain of yours to solve crimes," TK sighed.

"It sucked when Eddie got partnered with Hen more. Then when he started working dispatch. I missed having my guy by my side."

"But seeing each other at the end of the day made our time together even better. And helped give us the kick in the pants to actually figure out our relationship," Eddie added, leaning over to peck Buck on the lips. "And now that we're back to being partners, life is pretty much perfect."

"Are we going to be planning another wedding soon?" TK asked, grinning at the two of them. "I can give you the number of my vendors, if you're planning on having the ceremony here."

"Whoa, we aren't there yet," Eddie chuckled, shaking his head.

"Yeah, we just practically live together and pretty much raise a son together," Buck scoffed, looking at Eddie in fond exasperation. "Speaking of." Buck reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone.

"Aww!" TK cooed, looking at a picture of Buck and Eddie with Christopher, standing underneath a giraffe.

"The zoo let Chris feed a few animals and he wouldn't stop talking about it for days."

"And I was the one who had to tell him that we couldn't get a pet meerkat," Eddie huffed.

"I still think that was a hasty decision."

"Because Chris has you wrapped around his finger and you'll give him anything he asks for."

"True."

"You guys are so cute. I can't believe it took you so long to figure out you were in love with each other," TK snickered.

"Says the guy who was so reluctant to commit to a relationship with me," Carlos pointed out.

"Hey, I was dealing with breakup trauma. And we were at least having sex. I doubt they can say the same." Eddie started choking on his drink and Buck patted his back. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Eddie's a bit of a prude."

"I'm not a prude!"

"Innocent. Whatever."

"Buck!"

"I think it's sweet." Eddie groaned and covered his face with his hands. "I've loved being your first in a lot of things."

"Check!" Eddie called out, waving to their server. They paid their bill and headed out of the restaurant, beginning the short walk back to TK and Carlos' place. It was a perfect night for a late stroll. They were going to go sightseeing the next day, with Carlos and Eddie leading the charge in their birth state.

"Everything good?" Carlos asked, watching as Eddie checked his phone as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Yeah. It's just the first time Chris has been this far away from me since I was deployed," Eddie sighed. "Seeing him grow up and spread his wings a bit is hard."

"But it helps that he was so excited to spend the week with your sisters and his cousins," Buck reminded him.

"I know," Eddie murmured, leaning into Buck as they walked side by side. "We've all been talking more and it's been going really well and I need to have faith that everything is going to go fine."

"The biggest thing you'll have to worry about is Chris coming home and begging for a pet dog. Don't they have one?"

"And three cats."

"Better than a meerkat, I guess."

"What time should we get up tomorrow? I want to make sure we have a good breakfast before we hit the road," TK asked, turning around and walking backwards so he could face the rest of the group. "Carlos' breakfast burritos are to die for."

"I think we should-" Carlos' sentence was cut off by the sound of someone screaming. They all froze, trying to figure out where the noise came from. The part of town they were in was quiet, with mostly closed office buildings around.

"We all heard that, right?" Eddie questioned, glancing around for any signs of something off.

"Definitely," TK confirmed.

"Maybe it was someone pulling a prank? It is pretty close to Halloween," Buck said hopefully.

"Best case scenario, but I'm still gonna call it in," Carlos mumbled, pulling out his cell phone and flicking through the contacts. He was just about to press the number for his station when there was a loud bang and the phone seemed to explode in his palm.

"Shit!" TK screamed, darting forward to grab his fiance's bleeding hand. It wasn't really TK's area of expertise, but he could recognize the sound of a gunshot very easily. "We have to get off the street!" Carlos nodded blankly, still in a daze from what happened to him. TK turned to look at their companions, finding similar looks on their faces. He couldn't deal with this right now.

TK threw his arms out wide, shuffling everyone toward the nearest door. By some miracle it was unlocked, so he pushed everyone inside the building and slammed the door behind them, turning the lock. Carlos was cradling his hurt appendage to his chest, grimacing in pain. Eddie and Buck still had twin looks of confusion.

"What the hell?" Carlos groaned, stumbling over to one of the walls away from the front windows of the building. TK followed him, pulling along Eddie and Buck as well. They needed to stick together and stay out of the line of sight of whoever was out there.

"Let me see," TK said softly, cupping Carlos' hand as carefully as he could. The light wasn't very good where they were, but TK could see a chunk of skin missing on the outside of Carlos' left hand. "Can you move your fingers?"

"Yeah," Carlos moaned, painfully demonstrating for him.

"That's good," TK said in relief. A gunshot could do unspeakable damage to a hand, depending on where you were hit. It looked like Carlos was mostly grazed, so while it wasn't going to feel very good, it could've been a lot worse. "Eddie, will you help me bandage this up?"

"I don't think he heard you," Carlos winced, jerking his chin up to where Eddie was still staring straight ahead. TK had heard all about the sniper attack and Eddie's subsequent treatment for PTSD, plus Buck being there for all of it. This had to be bringing up a lot of hard stuff for them, but it had to wait. TK wanted to curl up into a ball and cry for a week as well, but he had to push past it. They all did, if they wanted to survive whatever this was.

"Eddie? Buck? You with me?" TK asked, carefully approaching the two of them. He really hoped what he was about to do wouldn't backfire, but he didn't have a lot of options. TK lifted his hands, snapping his fingers in both of their faces. It got the desired reaction, making them both jerk and snap back into focus. TK held his hands up in surrender, waiting for them to recognize him as a friend and not a threat.

"What?" Eddie whispered, looking down at his shoulder and rubbing it in confusion.

"Eddie? Are you okay?" Buck gasped, falling forward and gripping his arms.

"I really wish I could give you guys time to pull yourselves together, but Carlos is bleeding and we're in the middle of a situation here," TK informed them. Both of them turned to look at TK like they'd forgotten he was there. He could see their clarity returning quickly and TK felt a bit of relief. This would be a lot easier to deal with with help.

"Shit. I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Eddie mumbled, closing his eyes and shaking his head a few times to knock the rest of the cobwebs out. Once he opened them again, you never would've known anything happened. The typical, ready for anything Eddie was back. "What do we got?"

"Carlos' hand is bleeding. Can you help me wrap it?"

"Yeah, of course," Eddie agreed, jerkily walking the few feet to where Carlos was sitting. "What do we have to wrap it with?"

"I figured we'd use the bottom of my shirt."

"Babe."

"It's fine. Crop tops are in right now," TK joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I got it," Eddie said, pulling out a little pocket knife and slicing into the fabric of TK's shirt.

"I'll call 911," Buck volunteered, hovering behind the group. "What the hell?"

"What?" Eddie questioned, looking up at him.

"My phone isn't working," Buck replied, shaking the cell in frustration.

"Take mine. I just used it a few minutes ago," Eddie said, shifting his hips so Buck could get it from his pocket. TK focused on wrapping the strip of cloth around Carlos' hand, listening as Buck whined under his breath.

"This one won't work either."

"TK, try yours," Carlos said, taking his hand back as soon as TK tied the knot to secure the bandage. He had to wipe his hands off on his pants a few times to get the blood off, but then he grabbed his phone and flicked on the screen. "Let me see."

"I can't get a signal. No calls will go out."

"A jammer?" Carlos muttered in confusion.

"What the hell is going on?" TK exclaimed.

"I'm gonna go get help," Buck declared.

"Are you insane?!" Eddie hissed, jumping to his feet and grabbing Buck's arm before he could take a step toward the door. "You think I'm going to let you go out there while there's a-a-"

"I know, but we've got to do something. Carlos needs a hospital and I can't just sit here and do nothing," Buck whispered, cupping the back of Eddie's neck and pressing their foreheads together. "I gotta do this.

"But I don't want you to go alone," Eddie said softly, looking as vulnerable as TK had ever seen him. TK hadn't seen him in person much, but Eddie was always the tough, steady guy. Eddie was a lot like Carlos in that way, while he and Buck were more impulsive. That's why they worked so well together. They balanced each other out.

"I'll be fine. I promise," Buck replied, pressing his lips to Eddie's to punctuate his statement. "I love you."

"I love you too," Eddie breathed out, giving Buck one last squeeze before letting him go.

"I'll be back soon," Buck said confidently to the group, before turning away and taking a step toward the door. But instead of going any further, he froze.

"What's wrong?" Eddie asked, moving up next to him and following his line of sight. "What the hell?"

"What?" TK demanded, leaving Carlos on the floor to see what was going on. "Holy shit." There were three masked people outside, standing in a row. They were facing the building they were in, completely still. The light from the street lamps was reflecting off of the knives they were holding.

"There has to be another exit," Buck mumbled, backing up and pushing Eddie and TK along with him.

"You gotta get up, we gotta go," TK rushed out, helping Carlos to his feet.

"What's happening?" Carlos asked, trying to get a look now that he was upright.

"This is the only other door," Buck called out, yanking on the knob of a door that would lead them further into the building. All of TK's instincts were screaming at him that this was a bad idea, but they had no other options. They couldn't sit there, waiting for whoever was outside to come in. There may only have been three people to their four, but they were unarmed. Carlos wasn't carrying tonight, since they'd gone to a place that hadn't allowed concealed weapons. They were on defense right now.

Eddie led them into the room, with Buck bringing up the rear. Carlos' steps were steady, but TK held onto him, just in case. It might've been more for him than his fiance at this point. Buck closed the door behind them, making the room pitch black.

"Help me look for a light," Eddie said, pulling out his phone and turning on the flashlight. It illuminated a little bit of the space, but not enough to see where they were going. Buck took his phone out as well, walking along the wall by the door to look for the switch. TK and Carlos stayed where they were, so they wouldn't risk stumbling over anything or getting lost. Sticking together was the most important thing right now.

"Got it!" Buck declared, flipping the lights on. TK really wished he hadn't. They all stared in horror at the wall at the far end of the room, taking in the words that were written in red. TK hoped it was paint, but he'd seen enough blood over the years to know what he was looking at. Even if it wasn't human, it didn't change the fact that they were in big trouble. This was going to be a long night.

"Welcome to hell."