Work Text:
Carlos watched him expectantly but TK just smiled and kissed his forehead. He started to stand up but Carlos shook his head.
“No, Tyler Strand,” he said pulling him back down onto the couch. “You are not getting off that easy.”
TK made a face. “Babe.”
“You went into a minefield, Ty?” Carlos almost sounded incredulous. “You didn’t think to tell me? And then you got kidnapped?”
TK just shrugged like this was any other conversation. “What were we supposed to do? He needed help and so I was the only one willing.”
“Marjan didn’t want to do it?”
“I have more medical experience than she does.”
“But you had the map, right?” Carlos desperately scanned his face, looking for a sign that his boyfriend wasn't the daredevil he seemed to be.
TK laughed nervously. “Uh, no, not exactly.”
His boyfriend raised his eyebrows. “You went into a minefield blind?”
“The owner had the layout memorized but he was DOA.” He felt Carlos’s hands begin to slip away but he held on to him tighter. “Carlos- hey, babe, look at me. I’m okay.”
“You’re a paramedic,” Carlos stressed. “Please, leave the dangerous stuff to anyone else.”
“It was before I was a paramedic.”
He immediately realized his mistake, sighing. He didn’t try to stop him as Carlos pulled away this time, just looking down at his empty hands.
“What?” Carlos implored softly. “TK, that was weeks ago...?”
“I didn't think it was important-”
“Of course it was important,” he argued, throwing his hands up and pacing. “You could have died! Again!”
"Carlos, what did I just promise to do?"
"That was before I found out that you think you can walk through bombs unscathed!"
TK let out a breath. “I'm sorry, but we didn't have another choice.”
“So you just walked through a minefield and hoped you'd get- what, that you’d be lucky?”
“What?” TK shook his head. “No, I may be an idiot but I'm not that stupid.”
That seemed to relax Carlos a little bit and he sat down again. “What did you do then?”
TK hesitated. Whether or not it had been a better idea than going in blindly, it was still a pretty stupid plan. It definitely was a plan that he was skeptical of when he first heard it.
But then he remembered the panic he had felt when the landmine had gone off, how he couldn't see past the dust, terrified for his father once again. He knew how Carlos was feeling and he hated that he was the one who caused that feeling.
“Ty,” Carlos frowned. Clearly, his boyfriend's silence was making him more anxious. TK looked up at him and shifted.
“Uh, well, we started on the ladder. We had it set so it was horizontal and stretched as far as it could be. My dad tossed a duffel down and when it didn’t explode he jumped down on it. Then he spray-painted a circle around it and did it again. And I followed him. He tossed the bag, jumped after it when it was safe, drew a circle, jumped again, and I followed. Until we got to the kid."
Carlos let out a breath and pressed his hands to his eyes. “Why didn’t you call the bomb squad?”
“We did, they were taking too long.” Carlos gave him an exasperated look. “We needed to get to him, he was barely 17 and he was bleeding out.”
Carlos shook his head. “You’re going to be the death of me, you know that, mi amor?”
“It’s okay, only one landmine went off.” His boyfriend started to say something. “But. It was fine. I came home and you didn’t even notice.”
“Because you hid it from me,” he said, shaking his head.
“I didn’t hide anything from you. If I’d been hurt, I would have told you. I didn’t mean to not tell you. But it’s...the reason I applied to be a paramedic. It slipped my mind.”
“Because you got hired,” Carlos mumbled, nodding his understanding.
“Because I got hired,” TK echoed.
He thought back to the day that Tommy told him he got the job. He’d opened the door and was met with the amazing smell of Carlos’s cooking. When he’d asked what the occasion was, Carlos had just shrugged.
“Marjan texted me and told me I wasn’t dating a firefighter anymore. After explaining that, no, you didn’t get fired,” Carlos had teased. “I wanted to do something special for you.”
“God, I don’t deserve you.”
“I was excited and didn’t think about it.”
Carlos shifted and cupped TK’s cheek, the pleading eyes making him soften. “Just... Please, for my sanity, be more careful. Because, now, you have someone who needs you. I need you.“
TK watched him for a moment, a warm feeling growing in his chest. A sort of fondness and peace. And love. He pressed a kiss to Carlos’s wrist.
Carlos raised an eyebrow at him, still waiting for a response. “Okay?”
TK nodded. “I love you.”
He felt that same warm feeling expand as Carlos smiled.
“I love you too.”