Chapter Text
The snowstorm that hit Austin could be considered catastrophic. The roads were blocked. The power was out. And it seemed like everyone in Austin collectively forgot how to function. First responders were spread thin, and emergency services were spread even thinner. They needed a miracle to happen at this rate.
///
Alex looked out the window and nodded. This was the perfect time to distract those people from his trail. He needed to take TK out of Austin, and this is the perfect time to do it. He looked at the side table and saw the gun shining in the dim light of the candle flame. He wanted to go out and kill the cop who had dared to touch his TK. He continued to stare at it when he felt a blinding pain on the back of his head. He groaned as he hit the floor and turned to see TK standing over him with a chair in his hand.
“You are not going to be able to get my dad or Carlos. And you sure as hell aren’t going to get me, you fucking bastard.”
TK grabbed the gun and Alex’s coat and ran out into the snow. He didn’t recognize where he was, but he turned in a random direction and ran. He was starting to tire, but he couldn’t stop. He needed to get away from Alex. He felt the tears filling his eyes; the burn in his lungs and legs. He heard a branch snapping and turned to see Alex coming closer.
‘Shit. I must’ve slowed down at some point.’
TK felt the tears falling from his eyes. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground. He and Alex were rolling around in the snow. He punched Alex in the nose and kicked him in the nuts. Alex fell onto his back, and he finally reached the gun and turned to face Alex. The bastard was panting and had his hands in the air.
“‘You wouldn’t fucking-”
A shot rang out. Alex fell back into the snow, the red oozing out into the white of the snow. He looked down at Alex in horror. He turned to the side and started heaving. Nothing came up since he was starved for those days.
“Fuck...”
He turned away from Alex and made his way towards the road. In the distance, he saw a child playing on the frozen little lake. His eyes widened when he saw the boy go down. He ran and saw a couple getting out of their van and turning towards the boy.
“Hey!!!”
They stopped, and they both stared at him in shock and horror. Damn, he must look worse than he felt.
“Call 911!!!”
The woman nodded and went over to the closest house. TK slowly made his way over to the lake and grabbed onto the boy’s hand.
“Just hold on!!!”
“I-im scared.”
“I know, little man, and you’re being so brave already, you ok?”
The shivering boy nodded.
“Tell me about yourself.”
///
Tommy and Nancy sighed.
The past couple of months made them feel a little empty. Ever since TK told Tommy that he was leaving, they felt a little gray. TK was like their little sunshine that brought just a little bit of brightness into their day. His quirkiness and loud, bubbly personality made them feel a little bit happier in the day. So, imagine how they felt when they pulled up to the scene and saw their missing teammate at the edge of a lake and holding onto a half-submerged little boy.
“TK?!?!”
TK turned his head a little and saw his two former teammates. He could almost cry at seeing them. He gasped and screamed a bit when he felt himself slipping.
“Nance, Cap, you need to find a way to pull us up by tying a rope to my feet. It’s the only way.”
Nancy and Tommy looked at each other and nodded. They quickly did what TK asked and used the blanket from the bus and tied it around TK’s feet. The couple also had a spare rope and used it to TK as well.
“Alright, TK, just hold tight,t ok, we’re gonna pull both of you now.”
“Gotcha, Cap.”
Nancy and Tommy stared at each other. TK’s voice was shaky. They looked back at him and saw that he was wearing some very thin clothes. They cursed silently. He probably had the beginning signs of hypothermia.
“Ok, on the count of three, we pull.”
“1”
TK heard something cracking under him.
“2”
His eyes widened in fear when he realized what was happening. He turned to look at the women. “Wai-”
“3”
The ice under TK gave way, and down he went.
“TK!!!!”
///
Several people around Travis County felt a sense of dread fill their bodies. Something had happened, and they didn’t know what. One by one, they checked their phone, and some started crying.
///
The scattered members of the 126, the NY detectives, and some officers made their way towards the waiting room of the hospital and saw Nancy and Tommy sitting there and holding each other's hands. They looked up when they heard footsteps approaching them. They stood in front of the group. Owen looked at them, a little bit of fear in his eyes.
“What happened?”
Nancy looked down, and Tommy didn’t know how to start that conversation.
“We were called to a little boy who fell into a frozen pond, and when we got there, TK was and he was holding onto the boy. We were getting ready to pull them back from the hole, but the ice cracked and TK fell in. We managed to pull them out, and got the boy breathing again, but when the backup left we turned and TK was gone. We found him, and he had the signs of severe hypothermia, and we rushed him over here.”
They looked over to a room with a window.
“He’s over there.”
The gathered group of first responders let out a small cry as they saw their boy, lying on the bed with a machine to help him breathe.
///
As Owen, Liv, and Elliot ran into the hospital, the giant crowd in the waiting room looked at them in a mix of relief and sadness. The three of them saw TK, and Owen stumbled over to his room. A nurse was there, and they saw her nodding her head before quickly leaving the room. A doctor entered a couple of minutes later, and they watched Owen stand stiffly by his son and nod to whatever the doctor told him. The gathered crowd could do nothing but sit and wait.
///
Sitting around the hospital and waiting for Owen to come out and give them some sort of news could be considered torture for some people. Especially if they didn’t do well with sitting around. After sitting for a bit, Mateo jumped up from his chair and started pacing around the room. The others were nervously watching him. They heard the sound of hitched breathing. They looked up to see Owen with tears streaming down his face, walking towards them. Liv and Elliot got up and pulled the distraught father to sit with them on the seats. It seemed that the tears were pouring down his face faster than before.
“The doctors said because of the cardiac arrest, his body’s trying to shut down.” He took a second to clear his throat. “They said that whoever wants to say something should go ahead and do it now.”
The group sat around and let the words sink in. This was it. They could potentially lose their youngest, and there was nothing that they could do. Plus, there was still the problem that Alex could come and find TK.
~
Fin looked down at his phone and sighed, going over to Liv and tapping her on the shoulder. The Captain looked up at her second and he gestured for the two of them to talk in private. She leaned in and whispered something to her brothers, and they both nodded. She stood and walked with Fin to the elevators.
“What’s going on, Fin?”
The man sighed.
“I just got off the phone with Montgomery. After the 126 paramedics gave their last known location of where they found TK, APD searched, and they found Alex buried in a couple of inches of snow with a bullet wound in his chest.”
Liv felt her heart and jaw drop.
What?
She looked at him in confusion.
“So...?”
“He survived, and they’re bringing him here with a full police escort.”
Liv ran a hand down her face. “Shit.”
Fin nodded.
“We may not be able to hide it either because his wounds may place him here in the ICU.”
“Double shit.”
Liv felt all of the stress from the past, however long it's been, crumbling down onto her at this moment.
“Ok, Fin. I’m going to try to break the news to these guys. Meanwhile, you go down and tell the officers and detective that TK is in the ICU.”
The man nodded and made his way over to the stairs. Liv turned her attention to the group and prayed to whoever was listening to give her the strength she needed. She inhaled deeply and made her way back to the group.
///
The group sat in silence as they let Liv’s words sink into their minds. She nervously looked around every one of them. She didn’t know what they were thinking, and she sure as hell didn’t know what they were going to do next.
“So, that bastard survived?”
The group looked over and saw the righteous fury on Owen’s face. His son’s scum of an ex-boyfriend had survived a potentially fatal gunshot. The group contemplated the words before Elliot burst into laughter. Owen and Liv looked at the man and wondered if he should see a psychiatrist.
“Looks like Tyler remembered those lessons I gave him years ago.”
Owen and Liv looked at him in disbelief.
“You gave my son/our godson shooting lessons?!”
Elliot nodded proudly.
“And he was damn good at it, too. He was good at those PD-mandated self-defense lessons as well.”
Both Captains looked at him in utter disbelief. Fin came jogging into the room at that moment, and they turned to look at him.
“I just spoke to the detective, and they have SWAT on him. They’re going to keep an eye on Alex, but they also need to post a couple to TK’s room since he’s in potential danger or in case Alex somehow gets away from them.”
The group nodded grimly, and Fin introduced McAllister and Blackthorn. Owen stood up and went to get the nurses and doctor in charge of treating TK and explained the situation to them to the best of their ability. They nodded and showed them TK’s room. Both men swore under their breaths and turned to look at Owen, a fierce protectiveness in their eyes.
“Sir, we promise to protect your son to the best of our abilities. We’re sorry that this even happened to him in the first place.” McAllister promised.
Blackthorn nodded along. “We won’t let anyone besides this group and the doctors and nurses into this room, unless specifically allowed by the people present.”
Owen nodded, giving them his thanks. He turned back to the group. The wayward members of the 126 needed to head back to the 122, so Owen offered to go check on Grace. Judd gave him a pat on the back before looking back longingly at TK. He sighed and gave the people in the room (who were staying in a tight hug), and turned to give a side hug to Carlos, staring at him and then nodding towards TK. The cop looked back at the man on the bed and nodded. As they departed, they didn’t know that this was only just the beginning of what the day was going to bring them.
///
Grace was missing. That was the only thing going through their minds as they drove around Austin. The former 126 members were driving to them from the 122, and Owen and Tommy were going through from the Ryder residence. They needed to find Grace and transport her to the hospital. Baby Ryder needed them.
///
Alex blinked his eyes open, and he looked around in confusion. He saw that he was in the hospital, and he saw that he was handcuffed. He was even more confused about what could’ve happened. Then, all at once, everything came back to him, and he growled out in anger. The alarms started going off, and a bunch of people came running into the room. His last coherent thought before they put him back to sleep.
‘I’m going to kill that little bitch if it's the last thing I do.’
///
As the New Yorkers sat in the waiting room with some of the Austin group, they couldn’t help that something was going to happen. They didn’t know what, but it filled them with a sense of dread. They turned to look at TK, and the heavy feeling of dread filled their hearts.
///
Owen and Tommy got out of the car and walked on foot on the highway. They found the running bus and ran for it, praying that Grace was on the bus. Stepping onto the bus, they found a laboring Grace and Billy Tyson on the bus as well. Owen hopped out and saw the 122 and gestured for Judd to go and see Grace. Owen stood outside the bus staring at the sky, praying that his only child would open his eyes again.
(A/N: Sorry if I'm glossing over it, but everything is basically the same except for Alex and stuff)
///
At the same time, TK jerked in the bed, grabbing at the ventilator tubes in his mouth. He hated the feeling of the tube in his mouth. He was confused and hurting. He felt hands on his arms, and they felt familiar. Briefly opening his eyes, he caught a green sweater and concerned brown eyes. Suddenly, the room was flooded with more people, and the warm, safe hands were removed, and TK knew he needed to get the tube out of his mouth. He didn’t like it. It wasn’t safe. There were a lot of voices talking to him and getting him to relax. The tube was pulled out, and it was replaced with the nasal cannula. TK looked over and wondered if he was hallucinating again. Carlos was standing next to him, the tears shining in his eyes. Carlos looked like he was holding his breath. He was in so much pain, but he wanted- no, needed to feel Carlos. Slowly, he lifted an arm and reached out to him. He was slowly going in and out of consciousness, but he next thing he knew was that Carlos was touching him and lying on top of him. He clung to the sweater Carlos was wearing, and he soon fell asleep.
~
The next time that TK was awake, Carlos and Andrea were in the room, and they were sitting on either side of his bed. He gently squeezed Carlos’ hand, and the cop stood up and leaned over him, looking down at him in concern.
“You alright, TK? Do you need anything?”
TK shook his head and breathed out.
Carlos nodded his head. “Ok, do you feel alright?”
TK hesitated, but shook his head.
Carlos and Andrea looked at each other in concern.
“TK, mijo, how do you feel?”
TK swallowed the lump that was in his throat.
“Tired, confused, sore. But mostly confused.”
He barely recognized his own voice, but it was enough to get his message to the other two safe people in the room. Before either mother or son could reply, they heard footsteps running towards the room. They turned their heads to see Owen standing at the door. Carlos leaned down and kissed TK on the forehead.
“I’ll be back soon, baby.”
TK hummed. He turned his head slightly to the door and saw his Dad standing there. He didn’t know why, but he felt the tears gathering in his eyes. He whimpered and reached an arm out.
“Daddy.”
His son’s voice was all it took for the father to move towards his child and bring him into a hug. The father and son clung to each other and cried tears of happiness at being together again. TK scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. Why were they being reunited? Why did TK all of a sudden feel safe and at home again? The Strands turned to look at the door when they heard a small knock, and TK almost felt like he was in a coma dream again.
“It’s good to see you again, Tyler.”
///
Alex woke again, and he couldn’t see anyone in or out of the room. There were a pair of nurses who walked in, and they were talking about someone.
“Hey, did you hear? That guy who was in a coma after saving a kid woke up.”
“Yeah, it’s a damn miracle that he survived, but a welcome one.”
“Yeah. I also heard that a pair of nurses who were tending to him are being placed on leave pending an investigation.”
“What?”
The shorter nurse nodded.
“For what?”
“They were saying that it was better that he wasn’t resuscitated in the field.”
The Asian nurse’s jaw nearly dropped. “What the fuck?”
The short nurse nodded. “Yup”
The nurses shook their heads and jotted something down, and before they knew it, Alex had sprung up and hit them. The nurses started screaming, but Alex had slit their throats with a plastic knife and booked it out of the room. Multiple footsteps ran into the room, and a bunch of screaming was heard. An alarm rang, and the hospital was now being put on lockdown.
///
Everyone looked around the place and at each other as the alarms were blaring. The New Yorkers looked at each other and nodded. Some went over to the staff and spoke with one of the nurses. They silently cursed as Fin and Sonny ran down the stairs to the floor where Alex was being kept. They stopped outside of the room where the doctors were treating a nurse who had their throat slit, and the other who had a very visible bump on their head. They turned to each other with frightened looks in their eyes. They turned to run back to the stairs, not noticing the figure that was following them.
///
Fin and Sonny made their way back to the ICU and made their way towards Liv and Elliot. They leaned in close to the two detectives, and they could see the moment when a spark of anger and fear made it into their eyes. They turned back to look at the Strands and saw Owen and Carlos sitting on either side of TK on the bed. TK was fast asleep, and they didn’t want the two men to get up. Elliot decided to go and let Owen and Carlos know. The two of them, without waking TK up, managed to get off the bed and followed the detective outside. Liv turned to the two detectives.
“So, what do we know?”
Fin started them off. “Alex was apparently awake when the nurses were in his room doing their routine checkup. He grabbed a plastic knife and slit one of their throats. He hit the other and they have a concussion.”
They all groaned out.
“So now he’s somewhere in the hospital waiting to strike.”
They all looked down in despair and wondered how this would all end. Carlos clenched his hands into a fist. It was at times like these that he wished that he were able to carry his service weapon on him. He looked towards his sleeping boyfriend, and he swore that he was going to protect TK. He wasn’t going to let him suffer on his own anymore. He looked into the faces of the people gathered and came to the conclusion that they felt the same way. TK had suffered enough on his own, and they weren’t going to let him suffer on his own. They soon came up with a plan (one that had Carlos and Owen vehemently protesting), and soon they all split up, semi-aware of the eyes that were watching them. For the plan to work, they needed to ignore their every instinct, and they split up.
///
Alex needed them to hurry the fuck up and leave. He required his revenge. How dare TK run away from him and shoot him? The little whore should’ve been grateful that Alex was willing to take him back. It didn’t matter. Once Alex had injected TK with opioids, the little fucker was going to be complacent, and he was going to obey Alex’s every word. He’d use chain the little fucker up and use him as he so pleased. He could imagine it now. He’d fill TK up and leave him naked and on the floor in view of Alex and whatever bed partner he would choose. TK wouldn’t be able to say anything, and he wouldn't run away again, because Alex would drug him until he couldn’t remember his own name. The thought absolutely turned him on, and he was panting just thinking of the way he was going to do to TK.
First, though. He actually needed to get to his personal hole. When he saw the crowd leaving his room, he smirked. They were all idiots. Alex slowly made his way to the room, and he had to school his features as a concerned lover. The nurses didn’t suspect anything, and he made it to the room. Alex crawled onto the bed, encasing TK, and he put his entire weight down onto the smaller body, his hand going up to his mouth. TK jerked awake when he felt a hand and body on him. He stared up into the eyes of someone he didn’t want to see again. He stiffened up when the memories came back to him. The kidnapping. Carlos and Mitchell’s accident. The break-up. Being tied up in the warehouse. Running away. Shooting Alex. The boy in the ice. TK screamed and jerked all around. He was beginning to panic. He didn’t want this.
“Stay still, you stupid fucking bitch!!”
TK flinched at the yell, and Alex was smirking down at him. He held up a needle, and TK felt the tears streaming down his face and his body shaking. He closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see the needle going into him.
‘Fuck. Carlos, I’m sorry. I love you’
BAAANG
TK shivered when he heard a gunshot and something warm spraying onto him. He felt Alex falling onto him, and he opened his eyes to see Elliot standing across the hall with his gun drawn and looking at Alex. Carlos came rushing into the room and went to pick TK up. The smaller male whimpered and wrapped his arms around Carlos’s neck. Carlos only whispered words of comfort and affection to get him to calm down. TK was still shaking, and he could feel hands on him. He screamed and held onto Carlos even tighter. If he could, he would’ve wrapped around his boyfriend like a koala. A bunch of people entered the room, and soon it was over. Alex was dead, and TK could only cry in relief; it was finally over. He looked around the room at the people who came to support him and could only cry in gratitude. He could finally breathe.
///
After Alex was declared dead, the group could finally feel like they could breathe. In a rush of happiness, TK grabbed Carlos’ face and kissed him, and if everyone didn’t remind them of where they were, they were sure that the Tarlos kiss would’ve turned r-18. The two of them blushed in embarrassment and smiled at each other. TK was moved into a different room, and he could finally recover from his ordeal. They were worried about his heart and his broken and cracked ribs. TK kept hurting himself because he kept laughing with the 126. They knew that they should’ve been thrown out several times by now, but they were happy to see the miracle that is TK Strand awake, so they let it go. TK also met baby girl Ryder and burst into tears of happiness when Judd and Grace named him godfather. He looked at them in question, and Judd snorted and lightly hit TK on the back of his head.
“Of course, you’re her godfather. You’re my brother, and there’s no one better that I could’ve asked for.”
TK actually burst into tears then, and the couple cooed at him as they watched the baby pat his face and coo at him. Judd then started making fun of Carlos and telling him to be careful cause TK may want one. Carlos raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend’s big brother and proudly said.
“Maybe after we get married.”
Grace squealed loudly as she turned to a red-faced TK. That sounded nice to them. Marriage. That would be another talk for another time, though. TK looked at Carlos and thought that he saw a flash of...worry? Huh? Why would Carlos be worried? He looked at his boyfriend again. Carlos was staring at him while he was holding baby Ryder and saw that he was looking happy and teasing with Judd at the same time, so TK let it go.
Two weeks later, TK was sitting inside an interrogation room at the precinct. The two detectives, Connor and Jem, were sitting in front of him and interviewing him. The entirety of the 2-7, the 126, Carlos and his parents, and Elliot were on the other side of the mirror. That was the only thing that kept him calm as he revealed everything that had happened to him in the weeks that he was gone. TK also glanced up at the mirror and smiled sadly. On the other side of the mirror, they all made eye contact with each other in worry. They listened to TK as he spoke about his time before in New York and how Alex had kidnapped and drugged him. He also beat him to the point of unconsciousness. TK had referenced the time when he had gone missing in his teens and was found far away from the 252’s district. Everything that he kept to himself was finally being revealed, and he felt that a weight was being lifted from his chest.
He could finally breathe.
When TK left the interrogation, he was engulfed in hugs from everyone. While he felt like he couldn’t breathe, he felt safe and secure with his family close to him.
Before the New Yorkers left, they (along with everyone else) brought Tarlos to a place. They didn’t know where they were going, but they were both blindfolded. Once they were standing somewhere, they took off the blindfolds and found themselves standing in a beautiful loft. TK turned to look at Carlos, and he was half surprised to see the place decorated. TK turned to look at the rest of their family.
“What’s?”
They were all smiling at them.
“Carlos was looking at getting this place for both of you before you decided to guang-ho on everyone and decided to go and be a hero. He also explained how upset you were when you couldn’t help pay for the place. So, we all pitched in and helped you guys buy the loft. Carlos also happened to show us his Amazon cart of the stuff that he was going to buy to furnish the loft, so we took the liberty of buying everything and finishing the rest of the decorating.”
TK felt the tears gathered in his eyes, and he leaned into Carlos’ arms, the taller male leaning down slightly to place a kiss on his forehead.
“Thank you, everyone. For all of this, for everything.”
Nancy and Marjan stepped forward and hugged him, swinging him back and forth.
“You, our little danger magnet superhero, deserve all the happiness in the world. And you get that with your mans. Us as well, but we know that you love Carlos the most.”
TK turned to look at Carlos with tears in his eyes.
“Yeah, I really do love him.”
Everyone cooed at the couple as they kissed. They broke apart and enjoyed a little game night with the crew. They eventually said goodnight to everyone, and Carlos and TK had a very productive first night in their new home. Overall, these past few weeks were shitty, but it showed that they could overcome anything and everything when they worked together as a family. Although they had a hard time with one of their own going missing in the beginning, they were finally together again, and they felt like they were ready to take on the world. They got their firehouse back, and they were ready to take on the world again. They were stronger together than apart.