Work Text:
Chapter 10 – Detectives at work
*city, office sound fx
Even though Donny was on his day off and Carlos was on medical leave, it didn’t stop them from making their way back to the station to share their findings with the captain. As they walk through the busier than usual office, their colleagues didn’t notice their arrival as they were all busy working.
They stopped in their tracks when they noticed Gabriel speaking to Captain Nelson in the captain’s office.
“Hang on, that’s my dad” Carlos said, shooting an arm across Donny’s chest to stop him in his tracks.
“Your dad is a Texas ranger? How much more cooler can this get?” Donny was gawking.
Through the windows of the captain’s office, they saw Gabriel and the captain shake hands before Garbiel stepped out. Carlos went forward and caught up to Gabriel, as Donny stood close by and observed their interaction.
“Dad” Carlos said, prompting Gabriel to turn around.
“Carlitos, what are you doing here, you’re supposed to be recovering at home” Gabriel said with a face of disapproval.
“Dad, this is my colleague, Officer Miller. We found some things about the shooting, and I think it’ll help with the investigation” Carlos said. Gabriel pulled Carlos away from the Captain’s office to a quieter corner, for a more private conversation.
“What did you find?” Gabriel lowered his voice.
“Johnaton Reeves, the suspect that got away on the day of my operation. He was the one behind the shooting.” Carlos said, matching Gabriel’s tone of voice.
Gabriel frowned. He pulled out his phone and played a video to Carlos.
“This was captured by a street camera outside of the resort. The suspect pulled up in a stolen Honda Civic with a sniper rifle. Does this man look familiar to you?”
“That’s…” Carlos said, squinting his eyes as his fingers pinched the screen to Zoom the frame into the person in question, “That’s Johnaton, That’s him! Dad, we gotta get him! we gotta tell the captain” Carlos said as he raised his voice.
“Son, son. Quiet.” Gabriel said, putting a hand on Carlos’ shoulder, and they both lowered their heads. “The APD isn’t sharing information, and they don’t want us involved in the case. I’ll do what I can to take him down, but you gotta tell me why is this man trying to kill you.” Gabriel whispered.
“Dad, that night during the raid, his father fired a bullet at one of us. I had no choice, I had to disable him.” Carlos whispered. He looked up into Gabriel’s face with teary eyes and sighed.
“I made a mistake, the doctors couldn’t save him. Dad, I killed his father.s”
“Hey, hey, this isn’t your fault. You did your job, and you did what you had to.” Gabriel said, putting a hand behind Carlos’ neck. Carlos didn’t want to seem weak in front of his dad, so he kept his tears from falling.
“you probably saved your colleagues from further danger. But right now, I need you to leave this to me.” Gabriel said.
“But what do I do? I wanna help.” Carlos said in retaliation.
“This is the second time I’ve almost lost my son, and I’m not planning to let it happen for the third time.” Gabriel said, recalling the time when Carlos was trapped with TK in his burning town house.
“Go home and lock your doors Carlitos, that’s an order.” Gabriel said, pointing a finger at Carlos. “Focus on your recovery, or I’ll tell your fiancé to make sure of that.” Gabriel said with a stern face, and made his way out of the office.
“you thinking what I’m thinking?” Carlos said, as he walked towards Donny.
“hell yeah! Erm, actually no, I couldn’t really hear what you guys were talking about.” Donny said.
“We’re gonna do this on our own.” Carlos said.
*911 theme
Chapter 11: I love you too much, too
It was 10pm in the night, Carlos made his way home after discussing the case with Donny over dinner. The elevator doors open, and Carlos took slow steps towards the front door of the loft, rehearsing what he should say to TK when he walks through those doors.
“Just stick to heart felt, and apologise. Hope he’ll forgive me” Carlos thought to himself, as he fiddled with the keys to unlock the door.
“TK” Carlos calls out, as he shuts the door behind him and walk into the living room, “babe, you home?”
*first kiss taylor swift inst
“Babe?” Carlos slid open the bedroom door to reveal an empty bed. He was disappointed, and heart broken that TK hasn’t return home. He gave TK several calls and text messages but it went unanswered.
Carlos changed into his sleepwear and laid alone in bed, staring at the ceiling. His head clouded with thoughts, jumping back and forth between the case he’s working on and how he messed up with TK. What if Johnaton tries to kill me again? What if he tries to Kill TK? What if TK isn’t coming home anymore? What if something happened to him?
He turned to his side to check the time on his phone.
11.21pm, no notifications of a text or missed call. Carlos focused his eyes at the wallpaper on his phone, a picture of him and TK together at the park. Carlos felt depressed, thinking that he had lost everything. He screwed up the case, put TK and himself in danger, and now, the only thing that keeps him going isn’t coming back home. Tears started rolling down his face, as he repeatedly wished for TK to come home in his head, fighting the urge to go out for a drive and search for TK.
*Door opens
“Carlos?” Carlos heard the front door open, with a familiar voice calling out to him. Carlos quickly positioned himself to the side of the bed and pretended to sleep, as the footsteps came closer and the bedroom door opened.
“Carlos… babe, you asleep?” TK whispered as he crawled onto the bed to get himself closer to Carlos, who was turned to the other side. TK began running his fingers through Carlos’ hair, and noticed the lit screen on Carlos’ phone on the bedside table.
“baby, I know you’re awake. Your phone screen is lit up. Can we talk?” TK whispered, as he slid his hand down to Carlos’ wet face.
“oh no baby, you’ve been crying?” TK felt an immense sense of guilt, and tried to shake Carlos’ arm to nudge him to talk, “Baby, please, talk to me”
Carlos turned over to reveal his wet face, “I thought you weren’t gonna come home tonight.”
“baby no, no, I went to meet my sponsor. I was upset but I shouldn’t have left. I’m sorry I didn’t think about how you’ll feel, being left alone after what you’ve been through.” TK rest his hand on Carlos’ chest.
“No, tk. I messed up.” Carlos said, as he sat up and leaned against the back board of the bed, “I was just so caught up with all that happened, and I’ve forgotten to consider how you feel. What you must have gone through when you see me get shot right before your eyes, at the place we were supposed to have our wedding. TK, I’m so so so sorry, it must have been horrifying.” Carlos said, as he held on to both TK’s hands.
“It was, babe. I was overwhelmed with the fear of losing you, and then losing myself. But a part of me knew you were going to be alright. You’re a raging bull Carlos, and you won’t let anything get in your way of coming home to me.” TK said, taping his index finger on Carlos’ nose.
“not raging” Carlos said, and they both let out a laugh.
Carlos rubbed his thumbs on TK’s face, and kissed him on the lips.
“Baby, I'm sorry for what I said. I just didn’t want you to get hurt because of me. I guess I just love you too much, too. Will you forgive me?” Carlos whispered.
“You don’t have to apologise because I’m sorry too. I should never have walked out on you” TK said, holding on to Carlos’ hand on his face, “But I’m not sorry for loving you too much.” TK and Carlos giggled.
“Babe, I have some bad news” TK sighed, pulling Carlos’ hand down onto his lap, “I spoke to the wedding planners again. They stood their ground and they aren’t going to refund or postpone it because we missed our wedding.”
“It’s okay, I guess we’ll just have to scale down our wedding plans and find somewhere else.” Carlos said.
“babe, it wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be the way you planned it, the way we wanted it.” TK gripped both of Carlos’ hands tightly.
“Baby, listen. We don’t need a big wedding to declare ourselves as husbands. We can do it in your dad’s backyard, or right here in the loft, it doesn’t matter. Because as long as we get to spend the rest of our lives together, it’s all that matters.” Carlos said.
“Okay babe, as long as I get to spend every moment with you.” TK nodded, “I love you, babe”
Chapter 13: The Promise
The next morning, TK woke up to Carlos making breakfast in the kitchen. He walked over and gave Carlos a kiss on his cheeks and greeted him good morning.
“morning babe. Smells good what are you cooking?”
“Bacon omelette, your favourite.” Carlos said with a smile as he sprinkled some green onions into the pan. As soon as he was done, he laid two servings on the dining table where TK was drinking a glass of milk.
He watched as TK dug in and enjoyed the omelette.
“How is it?” Carlos asked.
“I’m just so blessed that I’m gonna marry a great cook.” TK chuckled, as he continued filling his mouth with the delicious omelette.
Carlos didn’t touch the food on his own plate. He wanted to ask for TK’s permission for something that he might not agree to. So He waited patiently for TK to finish his food before popping the question to not spoil his appetite.
“Babe, I wanna ask for your permission, to do something” Carlos said as soon as TK swallowed the last of the omelette. “something, that you might not agree to.”
“What is it, babe?” TK said, as he put down his utensils and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“The APD kept me and my dad out of the loop on the shooting case, but Donny and I had made great progress and we’re thinking of doing it on our own.” Carlos said.
“Carlos, you wanna put yourself out there with no back up, when you’re still recovering from the surgery, and going against the orders of your dad to stay at home?” TK said with a face of disapproval.
“Dad texted you?” Carlos frowned.
“Yes, and he warned me that you might go out there with Donny to try crack the case yourselves.” TK said.
“I was just asking, I’m not gonna leave the house, don’t worry about it. I’ll tell Donny to drop the case.” Carlos tried to fake smile when he said that, and then stayed silent, looking down to see his plate of untouched omelette.
TK knows when Carlos is lying, but this time it was different. Carlos was genuinely upset and truthful when he said he’ll drop the case. TK knows how much solving the case would mean to Carlos, bringing closure to the cancelled wedding, taking a step closer to the promotion, and finding his self-worth in the APD.
“babe” TK said, lifting Carlos’ chin up with his clean hand, “I didn’t say I’m not gonna let you do it. I know how much this means to you”
“Really? But TK if you’re not okay with that-”
“Carlos" .” TK interrupted Carlos in the middle of his sentence, "I made a promise that I’ll come home to you every day, no matter what. I want you to do the same for me. Promise me.” TK said, still holding on to Carlos’ face.
“I promise. And I promise I’ll be careful.” Carlos said, turning his face to kiss TK’s clean hand.
*911 break theme
Chapter 14: Mirrors
The evening came around, Carlos and TK hopped into Carlos’ blue Chevrolet Camaro and headed to the 126 firehouse. They talked about a plan to have their honeymoon in Hawaii after their wedding. TK was really excited throughout the drive to the firehouse. He had watched hours and hours of Hawaii travel vlogs, and the beautiful island made it into the bucket list of the things he wishes to do with Carlos as a married couple.
TK unbuckled his seatbelt as they pull up to the firehouse. He leaned to Carlos, held on to his face and kissed him on the lips.
“Come home safe, Carlos. If anything goes south, call me and I’ll be right there.” TK said.
“Okay. I love you” Carlos said, giving TK another kiss.
“I love you more.” TK said, as he stepped out of the car and closed the doors. Carlos watched as TK walked into the firehouse.
“Hey Carlos, come by for dinner!” Carlos waved back when Mateo and Marjan waved to him from a distance.
After sending TK to the firehouse, Carlos headed over to Donny’s place to pick him up. As Carlos pulled up in front of Donny’s house, Donny stepped out of the front door and circled the car before getting on.
“sweet ride, Carlos” Donny said, as he closed the door and fastened his seatbelt, “How fast does this thing go?”
“Let’s hope we’ll never have to find out” said Carlos, as he accelerated the car gently.
“So, what’s the plan?” Donny asked.
“Remember the hide-out we found last night? We’re gonna camp outside and see if we can catch Johnaton there with his crew.”
“owwww, a stake out, exciting!” Donny said, tapping the tip of his fingers against one another.
“But first, we gotta make a stop at the station. There’s something I need.”
Donny waited in the car while Carlos made his way to his desk in the station. He stared at his favourite pen for a moment before picking it up and sliding it into the pocket on his jeans.
“Officer Reyes” Captain Nelson said, catching Carlos off-guard.
“Captain” Carlos said with a nervous voice, worried that the captain was aware that he trying to solve the case on his own.
“You’re on medical leave, what are you doing here” Captain Nelson said with a frown, feeling suspicious of Carlos.
“Just came back to get some stuff” Carlos said, with a shaky voice.
“Okay, anyway I just want to let you know that we’re still working on the case, and I think we’re getting close. Call me if you remember or find anything. Don’t go out there solving this by yourself, you got it?” Captain Nelson said with a serious tone.
“Yes captain.” Carlos said.
“Good, go home and lock your doors Reyes. I’ll see you back here next week.” Captain Nelson said. Carlos let out a sigh of relief when the captain left his line of sight.
“you have arrived at your destination” The GPS chimed, as the car came to a stop.
It was about a thirty minute drive and they found themselves parked in front the open gates of an abandoned warehouse. The windows were lit, and the exterior flood lights lit up the area around the warehouse.
“You sure this is the right place?” Carlos shut the engine and ducked his head to have a clearer view of the large warehouse in front of them.
“Yeah, my buddies from the cyber department in the NYPD pinged Johnaton’s last facebook and twitter post to this location. I’m sure of it” Donny said confidently.
“Look, a white honda civic. This must be it.” Carlos said, pointing at the familiar parked car by the door of the warehouse.
“So, are we calling it in?” Donny said.
“No, let’s have a visual confirmation of Johnaton before we do that. So now. we wait.” Carlos said, as he unfastened his seatbelts and adjusted his seat to recline slightly.
The silence was killing Donny. He was always the talkative guy that was well loved by his buddies back in the NYPD. He scanned through a list of topics in his head before he decided to ask about Carlos’ plans for doing another wedding with TK.
“So uh, Carlos, you and TK planning to make up for that wedding?” Donny asked.
“We haven’t really decided yet. We couldn’t postpone or get a refund, so we’re thinking of scaling down the wedding this time, probably just gonna have it in the loft. Or maybe we’re not gonna have one at all, I don’t know.” Carlos tried to fake smile, but the sad tone of his voice shattered Donny’s heart again.
Donny recalled his time in New York when things didn’t work out with his romantic partner. Donny had a family emergency which depleted his savings, therefore, he couldn’t afford the wedding that his fiancée wanted. He eventually left his job at a restaurant to join the NYPD for a more stable career, and tried as hard as he could to build his savings again, but his fiancée couldn’t wait and moved on with someone new.
After his graduation, Donny requested for a transfer to get away from the pain he went through, and found himself a chance to get a fresh start right here in Austin, bringing him to this very moment, witnessing somebody else who isn’t going to get the wedding they deserve. Donny didn’t know the right words to say, because he knew how difficult it must have been for the couple, especially for Carlos, after he got shot.
“Hey man, I’m really sorry to hear that. If there’s anything I could do to help, just ask” as soon as Donny finished his sentence, the flood lights illuminating the exterior of the warehouse turned off, and It was a total blackout within the warehouse.
Carlos and Donny were shocked, they sat up right in their seats and looked around for any signs of movement around the warehouse.
“They know we’re here.” Carlos whispered, as his eyes continued to scan around for any sign of movement.
*EP 3 end