#abused TK strand | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

craftytragedysalad · 7 months

Text

WIP Wednesday

Thank you so much for the tag @eclectic-sassycoweyes, I want you to know that this is my first time, and I am very emotional about that. 🥹 Then I decided to post a piece of a very different AU that I had the idea this week and started writing, I am very excited about this!

"TK's shift was almost done when he was called into the ER to help with someone that just arrived. He rolled his eyes, Tommy could be the best and the worst boss when she wanted.

Then he was informed that a man had just been admitted with a dislocated shoulder and this is a pretty regular injury, normally just a re-set needed.

TK rolled his eyes again at the nurse's assessment in the patient forms, he only hoped that she didn't tell the patient that this would be easy, not all dislocated shoulders are a matter of pushing back into the joint simply, sometimes is more complicated than that.

TK then put his doctor's coat back, passed the nurse station, and took the patient's medical record with himself.

Carlos T. Reyes, 28 years old. The first check confirmed a dislocated shoulder. No allergies informed. No other injuries.

When the doctor opened the curtain to the cubicle where the said main was, he saw someone who clearly was in a good amount of pain, holding the arm to the chest, but refusing to lay down in the bed.

"Mr Reyes, looks like we are looking at a dislocated shoulder here?" TK started talking with the man, he knew that the diagnosis was this one, but he liked to talk with the patients, and try to make them more relaxed despite the pain and fear.

"Yes." The answer was short and low, and TK frowned a bit. This image does not fit with the man on the stretcher. A tall, strongly builded man.

TK then explained that an exam would be needed now, he needed the man to remove the shirt so he could say if it was simple like the nurse made it look. Carlos nodded and started to unbutton his shirt, only to grimace in pain, the movement clearly painful. TK approached to help and the man looked a little freaked?

Even if this is an ordinary injury that can be caused in so many ways, the man's eyes are all the time looking to the door as if fearing something - or someone. TK attended enough domestic violence victims to know that look very well.

"Hey, you know we are in a safe space right?" TK started while evaluating pressing carefully the injury and deciding if an X-ray would be needed without looking into the man's eyes, he knows how hard it is for people like him to trust anyone in this situation.

"What?" The man asked kind of scared. Now TK knows for sure, he is being abused.

"I mean that you are in a safe space if someone is hurting you and you need me to ask for the police." TK felt the man tense up under his touch, one more confirmation.

"I am the police." The man answered and TK looked up, surprised.

"Okay, but in the same way doctors can be sick and need other doctors, cops could need other cops to help them, there is no shame in it." TK moved the arm and the man hissed and the doctor decided to ask for an x-ray to confirm if nothing was broken since the joint was too much swollen and turning purple." Thank you again for tagging me, and looks like everyone that I follow and I know that write fics, are already tagged on it, so if you write and have not tagged yet, I am inviting you to participate and tag me so I can like and share your post! 🥰

#wip wednesday #tarlos fanfic #tarlos fic #tarlos fanfiction #911 ls AU #Doctor TK Strand #Abused Carlos #Very competent TK #TK saving Carlos life

18 notes · View notes

wandering-night19 · 1 year

Text

I really wanted to write/post something for nurses week, so I stole a piece from a bigger AU I’ve been working on. Enjoy some Nurse TK and Doctor Carlos.

you dream of some epiphany

2.2k . Carlos Reyes/TK Strand . Teen

TK feels like there should have been a warning. He should have known this was going to happen. He’s been doing this long enough that he usually has a pretty good read on patients.

Read on AO3

#tarlos fic #tarlos #911ls fic #tk strand #carlos reyes #tk strand whump #nurse tk strand #doctor carlos reyes #nurse abuse #tw workplace violence #my fic

6 notes · View notes

cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut · 2 months

Text

Live To Tell

In 2019, TK Strand is struggling. Reeling from his most recent relapse, an encounter with an eerie stranger alters the course of his life forever. He spends a harrowing eighteen hours as a missing person, and what happens that night creates a domino effect that follows him years into the future.

In 2023, as TK settles into a beautiful life — sober and healthy — with his soulmate, Carlos Reyes, the monster from his past comes back out of nowhere.

And this time, he’s coming for both of them…

Chapter One

6.4K - Content Warnings: addiction; discussion of recent relapse; drugs; alcohol, Alex...

Chapter Two

8K - Content Warnings: violence; assault; kidnapping

Chapter Three

6.7K - Content Warnings: captivity; restraints; non-consensual touching (non-sexual); psychological abuse; Knives; torture and discussion thereof.

Chapter Four (coming soon...)

Heed the tags

💛

#new story incoming!#tarlos #tk strand #carlos reyes #911 lone star #tarlos fic

134 notes · View notes

callsign-dexter · 10 months

Text

TK is a..... father?

Summary: TK learns that he is a father and meets his daughter.

Pairings: TK Strand x Daughter!Reader, Carlos x Daughter!Reader, TK Strand x Carlos Reyes

Warnings: angst, fluff, child abuse, mention of abortion, swearing, mentions of alcohol, mentions of drugs, mention of attempt sexual assult

Masterlist

Mini TK

Sunday, January 9, 2022, is when TK Strand became the sole legal guardian of his 4-year-old baby girl, Y/N Dakota Strand.

Everything in the firehouse was going pretty smoothly. Not many calls had been made for the firetruck but the ambulance was getting called out every few minutes, meaning TK was out more often. So he wasn't there when Fiona Harte walked into the 126 with 4-year-old Y/N in hand. Judd was the first one to spot them and walked over to them.

"May I help you ma'am?" Judd asked her curious as to what she was doing here.

"I'm looking for TK Strand." Fiona said looking around and not at Judd. Owen having been downstairs away from his office perked up when he heard his son's and their last name.

"I'm sorry he's not here at the moment, he's on call. Do you want to leave a message?" Judd asked her and as she was beginning to speak Owen appeared. He saw the little girl but didn't want to say anything.

"I'll take it from here Judd." Owen said to his teammate. Judd left but stayed close by in case Owen needed something. "I'm TK's father, Owen Strand. What can I do for you?" He asked his arms crossed and a little standoffish since this unknown woman came into his firehouse wanting his son. He also took note of the little one that looked exactly like TK. By now everyone had gathered around but still doing their work. He also noticed the bag she was carrying.

"I'm Fiona Harte and this is Y/N... Strand. She's TK's daughter." Fiona said and the entire firehouse went silent. Owen was silent Fiona didn't say anything he looked at the little now known as Y/N, she was looking at Owen curiously.

"Why don't we go to my office and talk about this?" Owen questioned her and turned to show her the way. Fiona walked the way she was shown while Owen lingered back and motioned for Judd and he came to his Captain.

"What's up Cap?" Judd asked him and stood with his arms crossed. Owen looked to where Fiona and Y/N were making sure they were in the office before he started to speak and then looked to Judd.

"I trust you wholeheartedly to be in there when we have this conversation. I'm also going to need you to take Y/N and distract her, I don't care how, but she doesn't need to be in there. I have a feeling some choice words are gonna be said." Owen told him and Judd nodded.

"Of course Cap anything for you." Judd replied and Owen nodded and both men headed up the stairs. When they reached the office they both walked in. Owen walked to his desk and sat down and Judd stayed in the back next to the couch where Y/N was sitting and squatted down and began playing with the little girl, while Fiona was in the chair in front of the desk. It was silent for a few minutes except for Judd speaking softly to Y/N and her laughing, he had to admit she did look exactly like TK.

"How do you know she is TK's daughter?" Owen asked her getting straight to the point. Fiona sighed knowing she would get this question.

"TK and I met in 2017 and while we were both high and possibly intoxicated we slept together. He left the next day. I didn't think of anything until I was late. I went and got a pregnancy test and it came back positive. I didn't have the heart for me to get rid of the baby so I kept it." Fiona explained and Owen was silent he didn't know if he could believe her or not. He looked passed her and over at Judd who was listening and watching, he nodded to Judd and tilted his head to motion him out.

Judd turned to Y/N and quietly asked her "Hey do you want to go see a firetruck?" She perked up and nodded and Judd smiled. "Ok let's go." He picked her up and the smell of drugs and alcohol immediately hit him but just faintly. He knew that she wasn't doing anything but he knew that she had been around it. He could smell it on the mother when he was talking to her. Y/N clung to Judd as he walked downstairs her shirt dropped a little bit and he could see the bruising he really hoped this child wasn't abused but he had a bad feeling. When they got to the bottom of the stairs he sat her down and texted own.

Bruising on her shoulder and part of her neck. It's faint but there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Owen waited for the door to close and was about to speak when his phone buzzed, he looked at it and instantly tensed up. He didn't respond just sat his phone down and began talking.

"Y/N's gone, you can drop the act." Owen said.

"What act? I'm not acting." Fiona said but knew she had been caught when Owen gave her a look and she sighed "Fine. It was true I didn't have the heart to abort her and she really is TK's daughter. I didn't sleep with anyone before or after him."

"Why bring her now and not when you had her?" Owen said getting defensive.

"I couldn't find TK anywhere and had no way to contact him until I saw him on the news. When I found out he was in Texas well I packed the little shit up and brought her here." Fiona said and each word, she said made Owen madder.

"You could've given her up to your parents or a foster system. Why keep her in a dangerous situation?" He asked her pissed.

"My parents and I aren't speaking and I could've given her up but it kept slipping my mind. Half the time I forgot she was there." Fiona said.

"4 years is too long to have been in that situation. She should've been given up the second you knew you couldn't care for her." Owen said. "When I met you down there I could smell the alcohol and the drugs on you. Y/N will be staying here with TK, his boyfriend Carlos, and me. You will no longer be able to see her." Owen finished and got up.

"Fine by me. I don't want the little shit anymore. She was a cockblock anyways. Guys find out about her and run the other way. I'm in desperate need of a fuck and can't do that while she's around even though that didn’t stop me before but now I can do it anywhere and not care her seeing." Fiona said and got up and walked over to the bag and grabbed a stack of papers. "This is the papers for TK to have sole guardianship. I've already signed them. A note that explains everything." She finished while slapping the stack onto her desk and the note on top, and she left the office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Judd was with Y/N in the firetruck showing her around when the upstairs office door slammed and she flinched. Judd took notice of this and got out of the truck with her in tow. He got down on her level "Y/N honey, does your mom hurt you or yell at you?" Judd asked her and she was quiet.

"Sometimes. She would have guys over all the time and they leave in the morning. The house always smelt funny. Mommy and the men always hit me when I asked something or spoke." Y/N said in a quiet voice.

"Did they try to touch you?" He asked her not wanting to know the answer.

"They tried but I always ran away and hid." She said honestly and looked down with her hands in front of her.

"Hey, you did the right thing." Judd told her and lifted her head gently and then hugged and she reluctantly hugged him back, not being used to affection of love much less from a man. He let go of her when Owen and Fiona walked down the stairs. Fiona walked out of the firehouse not even saying goodbye to her daughter which confused Y/N. Owen walked over to her once he knew Fiona was gone.

"Hey, Y/N. I'm Owen. I'm your grandpa." He said getting down to her level, she did something that surprised him and Judd she hugged him.

"Hi, Grandpa." She said in a quiet voice. It wasn't much longer until the doors were opening and the ambulance was rolling in and Owen went to stand by it. TK opened the door and saw his dad there.

"Hey, Dad. What's up?" TK asked his father. He didn't say anything. Tommy and Nancy walked up.

"Everything ok Owen?" Tommy asked getting worried.

"TK I need to speak to you in the office." Owen said and TK nodded he looked at his two other teammates and shrugged his shoulders. As TK and Owen were walking, TK noticed the little girl but didn't say anything until they got to the office. Tommy and Nancy noticed her too and went over to her. Judd explained the situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Owen and TK got walked into the office and TK saw the papers. "Dad, what's this? Who was that little girl?" He said pointing to the papers and note and then in the general direction of the girl. Owen sighed.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. That little girl is your daughter, a woman of the name Fiona Harte came and dropped her off. These," He waved the stack of papers and the note "are for you to sign so you will have sole guardianship of her. She also left a note explaining everything." Owen finished and TK fell into the chair a million questions running through his head, Owen could see this "Fiona said you both hooked up in 2017 while high and possibly intoxicated. TK, son, Y/N doesn't come from a very good place." TK took the note and read through and after. a few moments he said and finally, TK says something.

"I don't know if I'm ready for a kid. I mean things are just now going great with Carlos, I don't want to mess anything up." TK said, "But I also don't want her growing up somewhere that she doesn't know and a possibly abusive household." He finished looking up at his father from the note.

"You don't have to make a decision right this moment. Go meet her and spend some time with her. Carlos loves you and would follow you to the ends of thr earth, he's going to love this little girl because he loves you." Owen told his son who nodded. They both headed downstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they get downstairs they see Judd, Tommy, Nancy, Mateo, Marjan, and the others surrounding the little girl. They get there just in time for Mateo to say "She looks like a Mini TK!" And they all laugh not knowing that that name would become her nickname for the rest of her life.

TK walks over and Y/N looked up and smiled at TK and Owen. Everyone parted to let them through. TK bent down to her level and she looked at him and it felt like he was looking right in the mirror. "Hi, Y/N. I'm TK. I'm your father." He said when she smiled he had decided to keep her she walked up to him and hugged him.

"Hi, Daddy." Y/N whispered to him and he picked her up and hugged her, yup he definitely knew he was going to keep her. No doubt about it. Now he just needed to tell Carlos and have him meet her.

Speaking of Carlos he had just walked into the firehouse coming to see TK when he saw him hugging a child. He walked over to them smiling, TK always wanted kids and he did too but didn't know when the right time was. Seeing TK with kids always made him smile. "Hey, babe." Carlos said to him and that made TK turn around with Y/N in his arms and smiled as Y/N lifted up and looked at Carlos.

"Hey, baby!" TK said and gave Carlos a kiss which he returned.

"Who is this?" Carlos asked.

"This is Y/N. My daughter." TK said Carlos was speechless but still smiling. "Come on I'll explain." He said passing Y/N off to Owen who was glad to take his granddaughter.

"Use my office." Owen says knowing the papers were in there, TK nodded and grabbed Carlos' hand, and led him up to the office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once they're in the office TK closes the door and they go sit on the couch. Carlos can see the papers sitting on Owen's desk. TK wasn't smiling and neither was Carlos but not because he was mad but because TK wasn't. He was nervous and Carlos could tell. He decided to listen to what TK had to say.

"So the little girl is my daughter. Back in 2017 when I was severely messed up I got high and drunk and slept with a girl, her name is Fiona Harte, Y/N's mother. Mom came and got me the next morning after I left Fiona. Fiona left a note explaining everything." TK said and paused Carlos could see how hard this was for him and reach over and grabbed his hands in his and coaxed him to go on. "You can read the note if you want. I want her and I'm going to sign the papers." He said and took his hands from Carlos' and grabbed the note from his back pocket and handed it to Carlos who read it.

Dear, TK

This letter explains everything about the little girl that is yours. Her name is Y/N Dakota Strand she is 4. Her birthday is May 1, 2018. I don't know what she likes and dislikes when it comes to TV shows, food, or toys. I do know that her favorite colors are blue and red.

She was conceived on August 1, 2017, the night when we were both high and intoxicated. Now I know you're probably thinking that she isn't yours but she is. But, I hadn't slept with anyone before you or after and I was late so I went and got a pregnancy test and it was positive. I didn't have the heart to terminate it.

She is 100% yours. I'm sorry it took a while for her to meet you and come into your guardianship, I couldn't find you until I saw you on the news and saw you were in Texas. So, I packed the little shit up and came here.

I no longer want her, I don't want to look after her, and I want my freedom back. I don't want anything to do with her. I have already signed my name to give up my parental rights to you, all you need to do is sign and the little shit is all yours.

Sincerely, Fiona Harte

Carlos was mad that a mother could do this and put a child in this situation. He knew she was TK's when he laid eyes on her she was the exact copy of him. "TK, I'll be with you for whatever decision you make. I know how much you wanted kids and I do too. She looks so sweet. I love her already because she's an exact copy of you and I know she'll be sweet because you are." TK started to cry he was so glad to have a supportive boyfriend. TK got his phone out and texted his father to bring up Y/N and a minute later he did.

"I love you baby." TK said to Carlos and hugged him.

"I love you too." Carlos replied hugging back and letting go when Owen opened the door.

Owen walked in and sat Y/N down and walked her over to the two men. Carlos and TK smiling. "Hi, Y/N. I'm Carlos your daddy's boyfriend and hopefully your other father someday." She smiled and looked at him.

"Hi, Papa." She said and hugged him and all of their hearts melted. TK got up and walked over to where the papers sat and started signing his name after Owen read through it. As he was doing that Carlos was with Y/N and her shirt fell off of her shoulder. He saw the faint bruising on her and instantly got mad.

"Y/N, baby. Who did this to you?" Carlos asked which got TK's attention, who was now done signing the papers and walked over along with Owen, seeing the bruising.

"Mommy and her boyfriends. She would have guys over all the time and they leave in the morning. The house always smelt funny. Mommy and the men always hit me when I asked something or spoke. They tried to touch me but I ran away and hid." Y/N told them what she told Judd. She was looking down expecting to get in trouble.

"Oh, honey. You're safe with us now nothing or nobody is going to hurt anymore. You're not in trouble." TK said and picked her up and hugged her. Y/N was shocked that she wasn't in trouble she usually got in trouble or hit more when she spoke up about her situation.

"Your daddy is right. We're here for you and will protect you." Owen said coming to stand next to TK and rubbed her back.

"You're always safe with us. You won't have to go back to that awful place or person anymore." Carlos said and came up to his family and wrapped his arm around TK. What they didn't know was that Maeto was up there and taking a picture of them being a family and smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TK didn't know if he wanted to keep her at first but after getting to know her in a short amount of time, seeing her with Carlos, and having both his and Owen's support he knew she wasn't going anywhere. He knew that she couldn't go back to Fiona not after what Y/N said.

Y/N is right where she should be, with her Dad, Papa, Grandpa, and her 126 family. She's going to be one protected little girl.

#Mini TK #9-1-1 lone star #9-1-1 lone star fic #9-1-1 lone star x daughter!reader #tarlos #carlos reyes x tk strand #tk strand x daughter!reader #carlos reyes x daughter!reader

200 notes · View notes

guardian-angle22 · 6 days

Text

Thank you to @heartstringsduet & @liminalmemories21 for tagging me in a revival of Fic Rec Friday! I wasn't sure what fics to pick for this one so I went through my history on AO3 and here are all of the completed 911LS fics that I read (or re-read) in the month of May!! (if I also added the WIPs or the fics from other fandoms we'd be here all night so I narrowed it down 😅)

◆ Meet me in the afterglow by @mi1kc0ffee (Words: 2.9K; Rating: E)

So maybe Carlos is just a bit upset that his new boyfriend isn’t into cuddling after sex. Or, TK experiences aftercare for the first time.

◆ The Shadow of You by @littlemissmarianna (Words: 798; Rating: G; TW: discussion of grief & canon character death)

TK should be safe in the grocery store, and yet, Carlos feels himself begin to panic when aisle after aisle turns up empty. The cans and boxes are in perfect rows on each shelf, and the strangers seem friendly enough when Carlos passes by them…but TK has vanished.

◆ Hold me too close by @paperstorm (Words: 1.8K; Rating: T; TW: discussion of grief & canon character death)

“Hey, baby,” TK whispers, soft enough that were they a few inches further apart Carlos might not be able to hear him. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you cry.” Carlos’s lips curve into a small responding smile and he shakes his head. “It’s okay.” He tilts his chin forward, asking for a kiss, that TK gives him readily because he thinks it would hurt like having a limb ripped off if he didn’t. Carlos’s lips are smooth and damp against his, wet with the salt from his tears. “Wanna go for a walk?” TK asks when they part, and Carlos quickly nods. - A small extension of the scene after Tommy sings at their wedding.

◆ Five fingers on each hand by @sloganeeer (Words: 323; Rating: G)

Carlos didn’t put a shirt on last night, after, and TK gets to rubs his palm over the short curls of Carlos’s chest hair. “You wanna?” he asks. - Or, TK wakes up with his husband.

◆ love in a series of bursts and inches by @lemonlyman-dotcom (Words: 35K; Rating: G)

It’s Eid 2024 and Tarlos is preparing to host Marjan and her parents for a celebratory dinner at the loft, where they will be meeting Joe for the first time. Over the night before and morning of Eid, both TK and Marjan reflect on the past four years in Austin, and the Eids they’ve spent together building a bond as found family.

◆ breathing deeper than i've ever done by @your-catfish-friend (Words: 4.6K; Rating: E; sweat/scent kink)

Carlos smells good, and TK has feelings about it.

◆ Silence and Gloom by @wandering-night19 (Words: 13K; Rating: T; TW: PTSD, physical abuse, aftermath of torture & violence)

Carlos is fine. So he wishes TK would stop looking at him with those wide, green eyes like he's something fragile that might shatter at any moment. He's fine.

◆ all is not lost by @strandnreyes (Words: 14K; Rating: M; TW: brief discussion of grief & canon character death)

As they tear through the loft, Carlos gets flashbacks to when he had to do the same for a lost lizard. Twice. Except this time it’s not a reptile, but a very expensive engagement ring that doesn’t even belong to them. They flip cushions and roll rugs and dig through the dishes filled with pretzels or chocolate covered almonds, but even after their home looks like a tornado ripped through it, they’re still empty handed. TK slumps down on the living room floor after a last ditch effort to look under the couch, staring up at Carlos with wide, horrified eyes. “The ring is gone,” he mutters, and all Carlos can do is swallow past his dry throat and nod. Or, a tale of three lost rings

◆ The Rest of the World Was Black and White (But We Were in Screaming Color) by reyestrand (Words: 9K; Rating: T)

TK Strand doesn’t like the world he lives in. The best part of his day is at night when he closes his eyes so he can’t see anything, and the worst part is in the morning when he has to open them again - open them back up to a world that lacks in beauty. He wakes up and everything is just gray. All there is are shades that are making him numb every day that passes without meeting the one person who will bring color into his world. - A soulmates AU where the world is seen in black and white until soulmates share their first kiss

◆ Thirst Trap Thursday by @chicgeekgirl89 (Words: 40K; Rating: M)

When Carlos accidentally sends a sexy picture to a random stranger he apologizes and vows never to text again. But when T.K. Strand receives that picture, he can't help but start texting back. It starts with a thirst trap. It ends with love.

◆ You Keep Coming Back With a Bird In Your Teeth by vaguenotion (Words: 133K; Rating: T; TW: kidnapping, stalking, violence, non-consensual touching)

When a gesture of goodwill is misinterpreted, a patient begins to develop a dangerous attachment to TK. The whole point of the job is to save patients, not to have to be saved FROM them.

◆ The Greatest Gift I’ve Found, The Sweetest Thing I’ve Known by @lemonlyman-dotcom (Words: 7.3K; Rating: E)

“You know, there’s a lot of things to adore about TK. But do you know the thing we love the most about him?” He makes a questioning noise. She points a finger into the dimple in his cheek. “This.” He furrows his brow in question. “Oh, I’ve known you for thirty years, niñito.” He bites back his quip about how he’s not 30 yet, wanting to know where she’s going with this. “But I’ve never seen that smile, not until about four years ago.” “When I met TK.” “When you met TK.” She nods. “We all knew something was different. Even if it took you a while to work up the courage to bring him around. You seemed so light, so happy. We knew something had happened.” He looks over to where TK is chatting away with his abuelita. “He’s a special person,” Carlos says. “He is, but honey. So are you,” Lucy grips his bicep softly. “We love you, Carlitos, and I’m sorry that we ever made you feel like you had to hide any of your specialness from us.” --- Nochebuena at the Reyes house. It's Tarlos's first Christmas as husbands, and the family's first without Gabriel.

#911 lone star fic recs #fic recs #fic rec list #fic rec friday #tarlos fic #yay!! I kinda love that this is almost like my monthly book wrap ups but for lone star fics LOL #and I hadn't realized i didnt leave comments on a couple of these!! BOO at me #I need to get better at leaving comments! someone yell at me when I just reblog fics and dont comment!#ETA I FORGOT ONE FROM TODAY!! but it was so good so I had to include it!

34 notes · View notes

paperstorm · 1 month

Note

I really think TK was taken advantage of when he was younger. He has this vulnerability along with a spark that draws people to him.

He’s also very attractive which many characters have commented on.

I just feel a vulnerable, needy, looking for validation TK who is between 15 to 22 was an easy target for someone wanting to take advantage / abuse a beautiful young person by manipulating their addiction to drugs.

And then you have Carlos, who’s so closed off and alone. His only real friend disappears. He’s distant with his family and can’t seem to make a connection to a partner.

I’m so glad they found each other. They gave each other safety, love and acceptance

Agreed it's definitely my hc that there are some men in New York who did not treat a young TK Strand as gently and respectfully as he deserved to be treated, and TK was in such a low and painful place that he didn't believe he was worthy of more than that.

#911ls asks #back like queue left some

10 notes · View notes

liminalmemories21 · 10 months

Text

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @paperstorm, @freneticfloetry, @carlos-in-glasses, @lemonlyman-dotcom, and @three-drink-amy. Thanks!

I opened old WIP to try and psych myself out of whatever block I'm having with knave-verse, and this seems to just mean I have more open files to procrastinate on?

On the other hand, I did write this scene in knave-verse - new theory, if just keep writing scenes eventually they'll transfigure themselves into something coherent? (I mean, this did kind of work for the first one, so . . . )

Mitchell ambushes him at the front door. "ADA Cortes is here."

He frowns. "Julián? Why?"

She shrugs. "I didn't ask."

He scowls at her. "Helpful. Thank you."

She leans against the edge of the intake desk and peers around the corner in the direction of the bullpen. "He never remembered my coffee order."

He sighs. "Yes, your dislike for Julián is well documented. He's probably just here about a case." Although off the top of his head he can't think of what case.

She hmmms. "I'm just saying, TK always gets my coffee order right, and he brings the good bagels."

He eyes her, and decides he doesn't really want to ask what mental leap she'd just made was. "Noted."

She hmms, dissatisfied with his response. "I'm keeping an eye on him." He gives her a dubious look, but she lets him go with an imperious wave.

He stops near his desk, where Julián is leaning over it, looking at the pictures he keeps there - his family, TK, a picture of him and Mitchell after they'd solved their first case together. "Julián, sorry did I forget a meeting?"

Julián shakes his head. "I just wanted to stop by to see if you had an update on the case."

He frowns. "Which case?"

Julián gestures. "The missing painting."

Carlos frowns more. "You'd need to speak to SSA Tulson about that. The theft is a White Collar case, not my jurisdiction."

"You seemed pretty involved the other night."

He raises his eyebrows. "That was just a coincidence. I was there as a guest."

Julian looks annoyed. "Right, as TK Strand's date. At a cocktail party at Cliff Massey's house."

He stares at Julian mystified. "Yes? Massey's on the Board at the Blanton. TK works at the Blanton."

Julian's lips tighten in annoyance. "I could barely get you to go out to a restaurant with me, but apparently now you're fine parading around the Austin elite as a plus one."

He blinks, taken aback. "The hell?"

Julián looks indecisive for a moment, like he's weighing whether he wants to say something, and Carlos remembers that from when they'd dated, the way Julián would pretend to debate with himself before he told you something he thought was for your own good. He hasn't missed it. "I looked up your boyfriend."

"Did you?" he says with a bland calm he's not feeling.

Julián nods. "He seemed very knowledgeable about art theft for a guy who's a glorified art teacher, so I got curious. He's got quite a record."

Carlos glances around the bullpen, and then takes Julián's elbow, steering him towards the conference room, tightening his grip when Julián starts to protest. "I am not doing this with you here." It isn't until they're in the conference room, and Carlos is leaning back against the door that he lets his smile drop. "So, you looked into TK?"

Julián nods. "After the theft, and some of the comments I overheard, I thought I should do my due diligence."

"Did you?" he repeats thinly. "You know, when people say they don't trust law enforcement this is part of what they mean, this kind of gross and blatant abuse of power."

Julián looks startled, but not guilty, and Carlos feels the dull flush of anger start to build. "What does that mean?"

"What possible reason did you have to run a background check on TK? There's been no arrest in the case, there's no indictment for you to prosecute. He's not even a person of interest."

"Maybe he should be."

Carlos grits his teeth. "Because?"

"He has a file an inch thick," Julian snaps, "all of it for art theft."

He holds on to his temper with a thread. "Yes. You know what isn't in that file? An arrest. For anything. Which SSA Tulson knows, which is why he doesn't consider TK a person of interest. Not," he mutters, "that is any of your business."

"You introduced him to your parents."

He gapes at the non sequitur. "Are you stalking him?"

Julián makes a sharp gesture. "I looked at his fucking Instagram account, and there he is laughing with Major Reyes, and helping someone I'm guessing is your mother blow out the candles on a birthday cake. I mean, I'm just guessing because it's not like I ever met her."

Carlos stares at him. "I'm sorry, are you jealous? We broke up two years ago, and I wasn't the one who ended it."

Julián glares at him. "I was falling in love with you. I was falling in love with you, and you never let me in, not really. And it didn't seem like that was ever going to change, no matter how long I waited. I broke up with you before you had a chance to break my heart." His mouth twists a little. "Might have left it too late for that anyway."

Carlos has no idea what to say. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." And stalls, because what can he say after that? Everything he can think of feels unkind.

"Yeah, I got that message, loud and clear. Thanks." Julián stares at the folders on the table, but Carlos doesn't think he sees them. "What does he have that I didn't?" Carlos blinks, startled, and Julian presses the point. "We could have been so good together, we could have made a name for ourselves."

"Been the fashionable gay power couple," he suggests dryly. Julian shrugs and doesn't deny it.

tagging @chaotictarlos, @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut and @lutavero

#wip #tarlos #911 lonestar #knave-verse

30 notes · View notes

snowviolettwhite · 5 months

Text

WIP Wednesday / Tease Tidbit Tuesday

Was tagged by the lovelies @actualalligator @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad @anewkindofme

Don't know how I feel about this, it is a bdsm world au about Owen Strand from 9-1-1. I have never written something like this.

The higher ups brought Owen down Texas because he is a white straight man and thinking he is a dom to add diversity, but is actually a sub. He is pretending to be a dom while he is actually a sub to keep his job and taken seriously in the intense kind of work, along with dealing with cancer and taking care of his son after relapsing.

-----

he is a liability so hard to please but, he’s a forest fire

Owen Strand is many things. He is age forty-nine and member of gen x. He is a firefighter. He is Father. He is an ex-husband. He is a 9/11 survivor. He is the fire captain of the 252 stations in New York City. He is a bit of a playboy and gets around. He falls hard and fast. He is still in love with his ex-wife Gwyneth Morgan. He is a repressor of his emotions and needs. He is an ex-Californian. He is a New Yorker. He is a hero but even heroes fall and reach a breaking point.

The Strand and Morgan families are sometimes too open for their own good but too closed off for their own good as well. Owen and Gwyn are strong resilient people. They met, fell in love, got married, had their baby boy. They were man and woman, husband and wife, firefighter and lawyer, father and mother, sub and dom. They were not enough for each other. Now they are nearing their fifties and Owen never got over her and became self-destructive.

Now is moving himself and his twenty-five-year-old kid to Austin, Texas for a fresh start. When he was first offered being captain to rebuild a firehouse 118 after tragically losing ninety eight percent of their people, he turned it down. He did not want step in on a grieving town, he knows what is like. He did not want to move to the south, New York was his home. He has been in New York since he was thirteen years old. His family is here. His kid is here and does not want to be far away from him. The south in known as being more dynamist in terms of behaviors and laws and he did not want to deal with being discrimination for being a sub fire captain or just being a sub in the south or having to hide and lie about part of who he is. They brought him in to bring in diversity because he is a straight white man, they do not want it to be too diverse and assumed Owen was a dom.

But then Owen got diagnosed with lung cancer and his 9/11 ptsd was getting worse and his kid Tk relapsed after his failed proposal to Alex, his now ex-boyfriend and borderline abusive dom. Alex left him and was cheating on him for a year. They want to stop being reminded of their pain.

-----

Tag Whoever Is Interested In Doing This.

#911 lone star #owen strand #911 lone star fanfiction #911 lone star fic #snowviolettwhite

9 notes · View notes

parameddic · 1 year

Text

"owen isn't a bad dad he just has his own stuff and the literal FBI is asking him to-" okay okay okay but you see the pattern is he repeatedly since TK was little chose to run into burning buildings and focus on the work and never once chose TK. okay but you see the pattern is he was never home and when he was home for years he was drinking and TK joined a firehouse to be closer to his dad, has absolutely idolised his dad his entire life, has always wanted to be close to him and the best way he could see to do that was by joining his firefighting crew because that way You HAVE To Look At Me, Dad, okay but you see the pattern is TK loves and loves and loves and loves his parents and was rarely made to feel like enough for them because Owen did not see him as a reason enough to come home.

okay sure Owen has his own life and okay sure Owen is making 'heroic' decisions and saving lives (absolutely) and okay sure Owen is Like That but also Owen says things like "I know what it's like to have a dumb kid go down the wrong path" rather than any understanding of TK's addiction, the fact he is very intelligent, the fact he is Owen's son not just some 'dumb kid', Owen saying things like "I'm going to be a father" like TK doesn't exist is already discounted is not enough to make him that, Owen being supportive and offering ways forward and saying 'it gets better' to people he is treating in a firefighting sense because after he is done with that he gets to walk away. Owen being a hero who values walking away values not having the mess who values doing the cool gig and not following through with the less glamorous stuff.

owen knows the words to say that make him sound right, he doesn’t know how to execute them (see: accusing Gwyn of cheating on him? a knee-jerk instinct. His knee-jerk instinct is to not execute, to not follow through, on the ideas he knows are worthwhile: his ex wife has to walk him through I am allowed to have sexual partners who aren’t you when we aren’t dating and aren’t exclusive and aren’t even together. My sexuality is actually none of your business.) (Owen knows the right things to say and feel, but the actual execution of feeling those things? That happens through the people around him. He forgets, often. He walks away after he says the right thing and doing the right thing isn’t a part of that. it’s less glamorous.)

TK has always been the less glamorous stuff for Owen. he shows up when there's glamour to be had, when there's hunting him down after he's kidnapped, when there's CPR, when there's TK in the hospital after being shot. but when it's the hard work, the getting him into rehab, the helping him stay clean, the being there for him when something's wrong emotionally, the recognising he needs a safe place to live that isn't set on fire by arsonists or a home that invites random women owen can find to drug him, when it is the slow stuff, the little stuff? he isn't there. repeatedly, frequently, TK just isn't enough to keep Owen around or keep Owen trying to be his dad or keep Owen wanting to be there. TK bores him. Bores and embarrasses him. ‘Dumb kid.’

TK loves both of his parents so much and has used them to keep his head above water for such a long time but also Owen has never needed TK to keep his head above water, he has always only ever needed the firehouse. i am not saying Owen does not care about his son or that he is inherently a bad person who can only ever have nefarious and horrible intentions and I am not even saying Owen is deliberately a bad father, I am saying. One way or another, consistently, repeatedly, Owen finds ways to keep TK from feeling like he is enough in and of himself to make Owen proud. Repeatedly, consistently, Owen ends up not being there when there isn't something cool to do.

Repeatedly, consistently, TK is "the dumb kid" who always always always hangs around, on purpose, always, but that's it. the dumb kid.

owen needs these adrenaline highs and these I-feel-cools and these "I can do it myself" and these cowboy-culture rescues where he is the only cowboy involved. that is who he is. TK falling apart just really isn't spectacular enough for him. TK was never really spectacular enough for him.

#alcoholism tw #abuse tw #neglect tw #911 ls #911 #tk strand #this was about one post on the dash but i lost the link to it but i don't mean to @ you #sorry OP this isn't a vague and you're fine to feel your own way #i just had words about tk dkfsdljgkj #headcanon

16 notes · View notes

theghostofashton · 8 months

Text

self promo saturday

thank you @lightningboltreader and @orchidscript for the tags, and @sugdenlovesdingle for creating this! <3

rules: list 5 fanworks you're proud of

made up of a thousand scars

“I was a firefighter,” he says. “Or, well, I still am. My dad’s captain. I’m technically on leave.” “And you… don’t want to go back?” “I don’t know what I want.” He sighs, tracing his fingers across a spot that’s wearing in Carlos's kitchen table. “Thought being here would help me figure that out but…” He pauses, glancing up at Carlos with a shrug. Sometimes he wonders if the drugs made him who he is. Made him fun, happy. Someone people liked having around. He wonders if he’s still any of those things, sober. He doesn’t feel very fun anymore.

you saw the truth in me

TK Strand. He’s been asked to train TK Strand. He almost didn’t believe it, when he opened his inbox on Monday morning. He had to read Nancy Gillian’s email three times before it started to sink in. TK Strand is making his return to acting after five years, and he’s been asked to train him for the role. Anyone who doesn’t know TK Strand is living under a rock. His story will go down in pop culture history as one of the biggest falls from grace this industry has seen in years. Hollywood’s golden boy, years of good press and praise heaped onto him for his talent, his charisma, his massive heart, all thrown away after a failed engagement and drug-fueled bender broke headlines.

tell me how (4x18 coda)

He’s never felt pain like this before. Nothing in his life has ever hurt this deeply, right down to his core. It’s like a part of him died too. He doesn’t feel like the same person anymore. A piece of the puzzle stolen and destroyed, and Carlos wonders if he’ll ever feel whole again. If maybe, eventually, the space in his life where his father used to be will be filled by something else, another person to love, or perhaps an excess of the love he feels for everyone else in his life overflowing and subsuming the gap, something, to prevent him from being doomed to go through rest of his life incomplete.

until we laugh again (4x14 coda)

He keeps playing the phone call over in his head. Paul handing him the phone, his dad listing off Kendra’s symptoms, the panic that shocked his whole body when Owen said he was starting rescue breaths. He should’ve expected it. He knows his dad well enough to know that if there’s something he can do to save someone, he will. No matter what. Even if it could mean losing his own life in the process. TK shudders, squeezing his eyes shut. He doesn’t want to think about that. He really, really doesn’t want to think about that.

support beams bend and break (3x11 coda)

It doesn’t feel fair. It doesn’t feel fair that he has to go through all this just because some guy decided to play a stupid prank. Because he cared about his job, cared about finding that woman and baby that were being abused. He doesn’t think it’s fair that everything hurts this much when he just wanted to do the right thing. He just wanted to help that woman, to make sure she and her child were safe. Only she and her child never existed, and he fell right into their trap. He’s so mad he’s seeing red. And he knows he shouldn’t be. He knows the anger is useless. He knows it won’t do anything for him. He knows he just needs to get past this, just put it behind him, but he can’t. He can’t move on. He doesn’t know how. He doesn’t know how to not feel this.

i'm getting to this kinda late so just gonna leave an open tag for anyone that wants to share!

#911 lone star #my fic #self promo saturday

8 notes · View notes

mooshkat · 11 months

Text

for if i'm going down, i'm taking you with me

For years now, the rivalry between the Reyes and Strand families has run strong. Both families fight for a seat at the High Table, but only one can achieve it. Since they were young, Carlos and TK have been warned to stay away from the other family and never trust each other, but what happens when a job forces them together? or, the John Wick au, with a splash of Romeo and Juliet. explicit | 4.3k words | chapter 1 of ? | written with @thebumblecee ♡

The bed frame rocks under them, a frantic thump, thump, thump as it knocks against the wall.

TK moans loudly, putting on a show for the man he’s riding as he chases after his own climax. He grips at his chest, digging his nails in as he rolls his hips just right and feels sparks race up his spine and the heat in his belly grow.

Fuck, he’s close, he’s so close.

Underneath the sounds of sex and poor abuse of furniture, there’s an angry knock at the door that TK does his best to ignore. After all, that’s the entire point of this little one-night stand. He’ll take any chance he can get to rile up the guest next door, and he hopes one day to witness him finally snap.

continue reading on ao3 !

#tarlosfic #911lsfic #carlos reyes #tk strand #katie.txt #cee.mtl #🐝🔪 fiigd itywm #i'm so excited for yall to read this

9 notes · View notes

meditating-honey-badger · 1 year

Text

Fandom: 911 Lone Star | Fic: Pretty Penny | Relationships: TK Strand/Carlos Reyes, TK Strand & Original Character | Chapter: 12/? | Chapter Word Count: | Total Current Word Count: 70211 | Rating: Mature | Warnings/Tags: Past Drug Use, Unplanned Pregnancy, Fluff, Angst, Canon Compliant to the End of Season 3, more tags will be added, picking a wedding date is hard, Stressed Carlos, engaged tarlos, Family Drama, Tarlos, Childbirth Class, Discussion of Birth, possible birth complications, Mildly Graphic Description, it's a bloody nose, discussion of past sexual abuse, Relapse, Overdose, discussion of suicide, Original Character Death(s), Explicit Language, Derogatory Language, Dad!TK, Papá!Carlos

Now that TK and Carlos are engaged, TK is ready to put the past behind him and move forward with their lives. But when he runs into a childhood friend, his entire world is turned upside down.

Let me tell you, friends, after struggling to have the time to write this chapter with so much going on in my life (My sister got married, yay! Work has been incredibly busy, Boo!), my ADHD did its best to try to prevent me from editing and getting it posted today. But here it is, finally! I hope you enjoy the new POV! Not sure if it will become regular, but I really needed it to tell this the way I wanted to.

Chapter 12

Carlos fought back tears as he looked at the grim faces around his parents’ dining room Sunday morning. The only thing keeping him from falling apart was that TK was already falling apart. He looked at TK’s red-rimmed eyes, swollen from crying and lack of sleep, and knew he had to stay strong for his husband and baby.

They’d always known this was a possibility — it had been their worst fear since the day they became Kennedy’s dads. Confronting it was an entirely different thing. Just like the lack of sleep and taking Kennedy to get her shots, nothing could have prepared them for this feeling.

TK reluctantly handed Kennedy to Andrea, then joined Carlos, hugging him around the waist and burying his face in Carlos’s neck. Carlos rubbed his back and waited for someone to come up with a solution. Typically, he was fiercely independent, especially when his parents were involved, but right now he just wanted a grown up — or someone more grown up than him — to make the nightmare go away.

“We don’t have to tell anybody,” Owen said, sipping on a smoothie. He’d made an entire pitcher, but, not surprisingly, he was the only person drinking one. “It’s not like anyone subpoenaed you for the information. It’s very easy to factory reset a phone. Do it, sell the phone, and forget this ever happened.”

“That still doesn’t solve the problem of this Kenny character existing,” Andrea said.

Carlos let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s Kyle, Mamá.”

“Whoever he is, he’s trouble,” his mother answered back. She propped Kennedy on her shoulder and kissed her temple. “Isn’t that right, mi cielo?”

“Andrea,” Gabriel spoke up, “Aren’t you friends with the social worker? Couldn’t you call her up and explain the situation off the record? See what she thinks.”

“Really, Gabriel? I’m surprised you think I would put a friend in that position. Besides, that could easily backfire.”

TK turned around and leaned back against Carlos. “We have to tell social services,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“Maybe in theory, but not in this context,” Owen said. “The priority here is Kennedy’s well-being, so in that case, saying nothing is the right thing to do.”

“You’re not talking about context, dad. You’re talking about looking at it in a vacuum. Don’t everybody’s feelings matter here?”

“Not to me,” Owen said. “I’m your father, and I’m Kennedy’s Buddy. You and Carlos’s feelings matter. Her well-being matters. I don’t care about anybody else.”

“Buddy?” Gabriel said, raising his eyebrow.

“People would never believe I’m a grandfather anyway,” Owen said.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, and Carlos snorted. His father-in-law was really too much, but at least his heart was in the right place. “Well, I agree with Owen,” he said. “We don’t owe anybody anything. Our family is what’s most important.”

“You’re all saying our feelings are the most important,” TK said, pointing between himself and Carlos, “but then dismissing my feelings about it.”

“Nobody’s dismissing your feelings, TK. We’re just saying that Kennedy is our number one priority.”

“Whatever, Carlos,” TK said, shrugging out of his arms. He walked down the hallway toward the bathroom.

“He didn’t sleep at all last night,” Carlos explained.

Read on AO3

#tarlos #tarlos fic #911 lone star #911 lone star fic #tk strand #carlos reyes #Dad!TK #Papá!Carlos #mhb fic #pretty penny

12 notes · View notes

callsign-dexter · 11 months

Text

Mini TK

Summary: 4-year-old Y/N Strand gets dropped off at the 126 where TK gets the surprise of his life.

Pairings: Carlos Reyes x TK Strand, TK Strand x Daughter!Reader, Carlos Reyes x Daughter!Reader,

Warnings: fluff, angst, drugging, kidnapping, inaccurate medical talk, hospitals, relationship abuse

Masterlist

A/N: Ages ranges.

TK is a.....father?

Custody Court

Visiting the 126

"I will always find you."

Daddy’s Hurt

Recurring Nightmare

A Family Drugging

A Family Drugging Aftermath

Where's Pops?

Milkshakes but not Grandpa's

Heat Exhaustion

Playset Mishap

Flower Girl

Medical Emergency

Adoption

Where's Mini TK?

Race Against Time

Relationship Troubles

Stress

123 notes · View notes

lire-casander · 1 year

Text

as the world shifts off its axis

[1,280 words] [teen and up audiences] [beta'ed by the always wonderful @morganaspendragonss. special thanks to @moviegeek03 for her constant support and her hand-holding.] [tk strand] [angst, tk is an unreliable narrator, little to no dialogue, spoilers for s04e01 the new hotness, religious discussion, mentions of recovery]

it seems i'm back for the time being! this story has been written in bits and pieces throughout the day, in between work meetings and arguments with my boss. all in all, i don't think it's taken me over an hour and half to put it together, which is a record for me. religious discussion comes from pope francis' interview to associated press, recovered from the cbs news webpage. i think it could be used to understand where carlos is coming from and his reasons. it's also a way for me to sort through the feelings of being a catholic bisexual woman within this twenty-first-century church.

His fiancé is already married. To a woman — to his best friend. As much as he tries to wrap his head around the fact, he can't.

as the world shifts off its axis

part 8 of as the world whirls

catch up on the series on ao3 | read on ao3

He leans into the wall once he's left on his own. A sigh escapes his lips, a puff of air finding its way into existence. He rubs a hand against his eyes as he tries to make sense of what he's just learned.

There's no way he would have believed it if anyone had told him three years ago.

His fiancé is already married. To a woman — to his best friend. As much as he tries to wrap his head around the fact, he can't.

Carlos Reyes is married to Iris Blake. They've been married for years. They've been married for longer than he's known Carlos. They go way back — back to high school, back to when Carlos needed a mirage of normalcy to get through his days.

As much as he understands the reasons behind Carlos' decision to tie the knot with Iris, it's still a hard pill to swallow. His mind is racing ten miles a second as he thinks about the implications that Carlos' confession has — how their whole life, his whole life in Austin since he decided to take a leap of faith and grab Carlos' hand on top of the Camaro, everything they've built together is now a lie. Has been a lie all this time.

Their love is built on an omission of truth that Carlos has been keeping close to his chest for years.

He can feel anxiety and dread pooling in equal measure in his gut. He takes a deep breath, then another one, but the feeling isn't budging. He can't shake it.

Carlos hadn't told him because he never thought they'd reach a moment when he'd need to come clean. Carlos never thought they'd get past the fun stage of their relationship, they'd never make it to serious stuff like living together or getting engaged.

Carlos never thought a New York firefighter turned paramedic transplant with an opioid problem would be his forever.

There's a staccato tapping grilling his nerves. He looks up from where his eyes have been inspecting the floor to tell Mateo to stop it — because it's always Mateo — only to find out that he's all alone in the dormitory. The bunk beds are aligned in perfect rows, the pillows glaring at him as he searches the room.

His own fingers are abusing the wall behind his back, playing a hard tune to the turmoil that dominates his soul. When he lifts his hand to assess the damage, he can see he's drawn blood from knocking too hard on the wall. He sighs again.

The thoughts keep piling up in heaps of heat and dread in his mind. His soul is torn between the need to understand why Carlos hadn't trusted him with this secret before and the sheer belief that Carlos loves him dearly. But there are underlying issues, things unsaid, that press against everything he's ever known to be true. There's the fear of being left behind; the knowledge that he isn't good enough to be put first, a belief that's tattooed in his soul. But Carlos has proven, once and again, that he doesn't care about anything but their happiness. Sure, there's been a few bumps along the way.

But love has trumped them all.

Still, he's married. To a woman. A small, tiny detail that Carlos could have disclosed before — when they first moved in together, when he bought a loft and put both their names in the deed, when he said yes at 3:18 in the morning. He chose not to.

Carlos purposefully kept him in the dark about his past.

He isn’t sure how they’ll be able to come back from that. If there’s a way back from a lie like this one.

The television is on when he reaches the open common room. Mateo is tinkering with the remote until he settles for a news channel, where the anchorwoman is unveiling a recent interview with Pope Francis, who apparently has something to say about gays.

Paul watches him as he enters the space and flops himself down on the couch. “Pope Francis has called laws criminalizing homosexuality fundamentally unfair, since being homosexual is not a crime,” the blond woman is reading from the cue in front of her. “However, he remains unmoving in the fact that engaging in homosexual activities is sinful, and same-sex unions are still out of the question in the Catholic Church because God cannot bless sin.”

“Nonsense,” Judd mutters under his breath. His voice is thick with disbelief. “How come homosexuality is not a crime, but is it a sin?”

And then, in just seven words, his world is upended.

Homosexuality is not a crime, but it is a sin.

There's a finality in those words, a sense of supremacy that fills all the spaces in his soul that could have been open to listening. He's Jewish — albeit not really observing, not anymore even though he's been trying to do better since his mom passed away — so he doesn't have to fold into what some old man at the Vatican preaches to his Catholic followers. But Carlos does.

Carlos has been listening to what Catholic Popes have been preaching his whole life. And those Catholic priests and religious minds have repeatedly told him, in no uncertain terms, that the way he was — the way he is — is a sin. There's nothing worse than going to Hell, he knows that. He closes his eyes, his knuckles white around the chip he's recently earned during his group therapy, as he searches for calmness.

No doubt Carlos thought there wasn't any other way around to normalcy. His parents hadn't acknowledged his identity when he'd come out to them. His Church considered — still considers — him to be unworthy of Heaven because of who he loves. Iris Blake had been his only option at having a somewhat normal life; she'd been someone Carlos had cared deeply for, his best friend in his own words. His fiancé had been lost and had felt unsafe for most of his life; he'd thought he'd had a chance at happiness that way.

And then Iris had disappeared. And, with her, Carlos' opportunity to be deserving of salvation according to his upbringing.

"You okay?" he hears Judd asking, voice muffled by the hammering of his own heart against his ribcage. "Brother?"

He manages to nod slightly. He opens his eyes to a different show on the screen, to Mateo flirting unashamedly with Nancy, to Paul and Marjan teasing them endlessly.

"I am," he whispers, smiling softly at Judd.

He will be, he's sure of that.

Because, despite everything, Carlos chose him. Despite the struggles, despite him always running away, despite Carlos' fear of rejection from his own family, they've remained strong. Even through the worst breakup of his whole life — and he's had a few, including the one that led him to Austin and eventually to Carlos — their love has been the beacon guiding him through the darkness.

He can't shake his own pain and his abandonment issues that have flared up in the span of a few minutes. He isn't supposed to.

That's why he picks up his phone and shoots a quick text to Cooper, a simple convo after meeting tonight?

And that's why he swipes at the screen until he finds the dream venue contact info and presses the dial button. Once the call is picked up, he says in the steadiest voice he can muster, "This is TK Strand. You called my fiancé earlier today. I'm calling to confirm that we're taking the date. Eight weeks from now."

There should be enough time, he hopes. After all, love should conquer everything, in the end.

#as the world whirls #angst #tk strand is an unreliable narrator #spoilers for s04e01 the new hotness #mentions of recovery #religious discussion #little to no dialogue #tk strand #911ls fic #911 ls fic #911 lone star fic #911ls fanfic #911 ls fanfic #911 lone star fanfic

10 notes · View notes