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Carlos was exhausted.
Austin had been plagued by a series of kidnappings over the past few months but lately it seemed like things were picking up at an alarming rate. Now it seemed that every other day there was a new missing person report coming across his desk and they all had one thing in common: male, in their 20s.
It had taken a while for them to find that connection because everything else about the victims was so different. They came from different backgrounds, different races. They worked different jobs and frequented different establishments. The only thing that tied them together was their gender and age.
That, and the fact that they turned up dead within a few weeks of disappearing.
HIs entire precinct had been focused on this case and Carlos in particular had been working closely with one of the detectives. He had been putting in long hours and pushing himself to the brink, but he didn’t care. All he could think about when he saw the missing persons reports or the bodies in the morgue was that it could have been him. It could have been one of his friends. It could have been TK.
And that last thought alone was enough to keep him moving forward.
He had talked to TK about it, at home. If he didn’t he would have cracked weeks ago and TK always knew when something was bothering him. He had kept most of the graphic details to himself — TK got enough of that in his own job — but he knew his fear and exasperation were clear. It had just been so long. So many people had been hurt and they were nowhere close to stopping it. What was worse was the knowledge that it showed no signs of stopping. That any of those people he was worried about could be next.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Carlos was pulled from his reverie to see TK giving him a beseeching look. He swallowed, trying to take a moment to gather himself. How did you tell your boyfriend that you weren’t sleeping not only because of the images of broken and bloodied bodies in your head but also from the knowledge that he could very well be next?
“Just promise me you’ll be careful?” he said after a moment. When TK looked like he was going to argue he pushed on, “You fit the profile, Ty. I just need you to promise me you’ll keep an eye out.”
TK sighed and gave him an exasperated look, “I will, I promise. All I was going to say is that you do too. If I’m going to be careful, you need to do the same.”
Carlos gave him a small smile and stretched a hand across the table. TK took it on instinct and Carlos squeezed it as he spoke. “I will,” Carlos assured him, “I promise. You should warn Paul and Mateo too,” he said after a moment, “they also fit the profile and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to them either.”
“I’ll talk to them at work tomorrow,” TK agreed. “Our shifts overlap for a few hours.”
Carlos nodded, feeling relief rush through him. This case was bad enough, the last thing he needed to do was worry about the people he cared for. But the images of the bodies they had found wouldn’t leave his head. He repressed a shudder as TK turned back to their dinner, starting to tell a story about a confused patient and an unfortunate call. He tried to follow along, but those images wouldn’t leave his mind. He didn’t even have to imagine what they had gone through before their deaths; he had read the reports that said it all. The thought of that happening to one of his friends, to TK, was more than he could bear.
But he couldn’t do anything about that now so he pushed it aside and dug out a smile as TK got to the climax of his story, trying to stay in this moment. If he dwelled too much he would lose his mind. He needed to take a break, and TK deserved to have him present. He wanted to be present, to enjoy this time they had together. So he made a conscious effort to push the ugly thoughts and horrifying images away and focus on what he had in front of him: a quiet night with the man he loved in the home they shared. It really didn’t get any better than that, after all.
After TK got changed he made his way into the kitchen to find Paul, Mateo, Judd gathered around the counter. Paul seemed to be talking Mateo through whatever it was that he was cooking while Judd sat across from them with a mug of coffee and a grin. He slid onto the stool beside Judd with a nod to the older man as he watched his two friends at the stove.
“That’s enough flour,” Paul was telling Mateo who frowned at the pan in front of them.
“But I thought we wanted it to be thick?”
“We do,” Paul agreed patiently, “but that will happen with time as it cooks down. If you add too much now you’ll just end up with a floury sludge. You can always add more later if you need it.”
“What’s today’s lesson?” TK asked as he gratefully accepted the cup of coffee Judd handed him.
“Alfredo,” Paul said with a grin. “Probie asked for a good food to cook for a date, and who doesn’t love a good alfredo?”
“Oh?” TK asked, raising eyebrows in Mateo’s direction. “Is there someone you want to cook for? Have you been holding out on us, Probie?”
“ No . It’s just good to know. You know, in case.”
TK glanced at Judd, “Does that sound like there might be someone to you?”
Judd grinned and was about to retort when Paul interrupted, “Leave him alone guys. Not all of us have been lucky enough to find our soulmates like you two. Some of us still need to play the game, which sometimes involves alfredo.”
Judd rolled his eyes but relented while TK cleared his throat.
“Speaking of Carlos,” he began, “he wanted me to remind you two to be careful.”
“Who, us?” Mateo asked in surprise as he gestured to himself and Paul. “Why?”
“Have you heard about all those kidnappings, Mateo?”
“Yeah,” he replied, expression puzzled.
“The victims are all…”
“Men in their twenties,” Paul finished, a look of grim understanding filling his expression.
“Yeah,” TK agreed. “He’s worried about you guys, so just keep an eye out for anything that looks weird.”
“What, not me?” Judd asked and TK threw him an unimpressed glance.
“Men in their twenties, Judd.”
“Are you saying no one would believe I’m in my twenties?” Judd demanded.
“Yes,” TK replied without hesitation.
Paul interrupted before Judd could reply, waving a placating hand at the older man.
“That’s all well and good,” he said, “and it’s not that we don’t appreciate it, but he does realize that describes him as well, right?”
“I reminded him,” TK assured him. “But honestly? I’m just worried about him in general.”
He looked down at the mug in his hands as the other three looked at him.
“What do you mean?” Judd asked in a tone full of concern, previous squabble instantly forgotten.
“He’s pushing himself so hard,” TK explained. “This case has been going on for months now, and over the past several weeks I feel like I’ve hardly seen him. Which sucks, yes. But I’m more concerned about the fact that we live together.”
“So if you’ve hardly seen him, he’s hardly been home,” Paul concluded.
TK nodded. “I understand why he’s so invested and I want to support him, I just don’t want him to push himself too far. And I don’t know how to tell him that without coming off as selfish.”
“It’s not selfish to want him to take care of himself,” Judd objected. “Carlos is a smart man, he’ll understand that. Besides, he loves you and he knows you love him. He’ll understand regardless.”
“I hope so,” TK replied. “But it’s hard to tell him to slow down when there is so much on the line.”
No one seemed to have a response to that so the group trailed off into silence until Paul glanced back down at the stove. He cursed and hit Mateo’s arm.
“You need to stir it, Probie! You’re not going to be winning any hearts with cement.”
It’s late by the time Carlos wrapped up his shift—later than it should have been. He had stayed to help Detective Caldwell go through witness reports, trying to comb through them to see if they could connect any of the details; again. Maybe it was futile but it had been three weeks since the last disappearance. From everything they knew about these people that meant a new body would show up any day now and someone else would disappear. Carlos didn’t want to see that happen again.
Every day that had gone by and every missing person report that found its way to his desk reminded him that people were in danger; that people he loved were in danger. That every day it wasn’t one of them, the chances that it would be increased ever so slightly.
So he pulled the overtime without complaint. He had read through reports until his eyes crossed and the Detective had all but ordered him home. But he couldn’t just go home. TK was there, likely sound asleep in their bed, but he knew his boyfriend had a morning shift. He had been working so much lately they had hardly seen each other; becoming more and more like ships in the night. And Carlos didn’t want to live like that. TK didn’t deserve that.
He would make breakfast, he decided. He would grab some good bread and make some french toast when he got home, just in time to have a nice breakfast with his boyfriend before he had to work a 24-hour shift and then Carlos could spend the next several hours getting the sleep he so desperately needed. He pulled into the nearly empty store parking lot and took out his phone to text TK. He knew his boyfriend was likely still asleep, but Carlos had been due home hours ago. He didn’t want TK to wake up and worry.
With that done he slipped his phone into his pocket and climbed out of his car, taking a deep breath of the cool early morning air. He might not love working the graveyard shift, but there was something about the quiet of the city in these early hours that he loved. He shut the door behind him as he took in the pre-dawn sky, going to pocket his keys and turn towards the store.
He only made it a few steps though when it became very clear that he was no longer alone.
The sound of multiple sets of footsteps drifted up from behind him and he froze. There were at least two people behind him, and he doubted they wanted to ask his opinion of the quality of the produce at the market. He slowly turned and noticed with a sinking feeling that he was both right and wrong: there were three of them, and they definitely weren’t here for breakfast ingredients.
He turned and faced them, shoulders squared and jaw set. “Can I help you?” he asked plainly, and one of the men chuckled.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, you can,” the one in the middle replied. “You’re going to come with us and it will be a lot easier on everyone involved if you would simply cooperate. Make it easy on yourself.”
The one on the right stepped away from the group and grabbed for Carlos’s arm. Carlos stepped away with a glare, and the man in the middle sighed, “The hard way it is then.”
He made a gesture and the other man advanced as well. Carlos pulled his phone out of his pocket but the first punch sent it skittering across the ground and under his car as he gasped in pain. Distantly he knew he should have been able to block that, but he was too tired. He wasn’t up to full strength and his brain was moving too slow to keep up with it all. He didn’t have any time to dwell on that or the fact that his lifeline had just disappeared under his car because another blow followed the first, and then another. He crashed to his knees as another hard punch sent him off balance. He did his best to fight back and was pretty sure he landed a few hits of his own, but there were two of them and they had caught him by surprise.
The blows didn’t stop coming and soon the blinding pain was warring with exhaustion to cloud his mind. Before he knew it they had him falling forward, his head nearly colliding with the side of his car. He could feel warm blood running down his face and he spit some out of his mouth as he tried to get his thoughts in order. This was bad. Whether these were the people he had been hunting down for the past few months or not, nothing good could come from this. If only he had been faster maybe he could have gotten a call for help out. Even if he had just managed to get a picture of them, or even their car. It would have helped.
But as he lay on the ground, face inches from his car, his brain suddenly decided to come back online and he had an idea. One of the side effects of the past few months was that several things had fallen through the cracks. Which meant that his usually pristine car was covered in dust and dirt. Enough that some of their friends had taken to drawing doodles and leaving messages on the windows as they passed through their driveway.
And maybe Carlos couldn’t get a picture or make a call, but he could leave a clue.
One of the men’s feet was planted firmly on his back as he and the others discussed their next plan of action. He was held firmly in place, but he could turn his head. If he was careful he could turn it enough to get a clear view of their car — license plate and all.
His hand was shaking as he raised it. He tried to move it as little as possible as he began to trace out the numbers of the plate in the dust on the side of his car. His heart was racing as he did it as quickly and carefully as he could. They couldn’t notice. If they did they would surely erase it and any chance Carlos had of leaving a clue behind would be gone.
By some miracle they were too distracted arguing with each other to pay much attention to what their victim was doing on the ground. He managed to get the whole plate written out, finishing up the last letter as he felt the one on top of him shift.
He dropped his hand immediately and waited, praying they hadn’t seen that. In the next moment, he was being hauled off the ground.
“Where are you taking me?” he asked, voice tight with pain and thick around the blood in his mouth.
“Don’t worry about it,” the one who seemed to be calling the shots said evenly as the other two shoved him roughly into the back of their car with little care for his injuries. “It’s the last place you’ll ever see so what does it matter?”
When TK woke up he reached across the bed to find his boyfriend. It had become habit over the past year; quietly seeking the other man’s presence whenever possible. But, as had happened more and more over the past few months, his hand found nothing but empty space and cold air. He sighed and let his arm flop back onto the bed as he stared at the ceiling.
It wasn’t that he was complaining about Carlos’s work schedule—he understood why he was so intent on finishing this case. It wasn’t even the fact that he hated waking up alone in their bed (though he didn’t love that). Mostly, he was just worried about Carlos. Like he had told his friends, he was worried he was pushing himself too hard. He was worried that sooner rather than later he would hit his breaking point, but he showed no signs of slowing down. What was worse was that there was nothing TK could really do about it. He could tell him about his concerns, and he planned too, but this was Carlos’s battle to fight and he had to do it as he saw fit. All TK could do was watch and support from the sidelines, and be there to support him if he did fall.
After a moment he rolled over to grab his phone, not surprised to see a text from Carlos waiting on his lock screen. He smiled as he opened it; despite everything, Carlos still made sure to let TK know where he was and to check in throughout the day. His smile only grew as he opened the message.
Leaving work now, stopping at the store. Breakfast before your shift? Love you <3
TK grinned and climbed out of bed, stopping only long enough to brush his teeth and throw on a worn APD t-shirt before he headed downstairs with a smile on his face. His smile faded though as he reached the bottom of the staircase and his enthusiasm was replaced by trepidation. He couldn’t smell anything cooking, didn’t hear any of the noises that usually heralded Carlos in the kitchen. Usually there was the gentle clatter of pots and pans, the soft music drifting of music playing from his phone. Often there was the sound of Carlos singing softly along to the music. It was one of his favorite things about living with Carlos; another element that made this house truly feel like home.
But the kitchen was silent and empty as TK rounded the bottom of the staircase. It was eerily still and looked like nothing had been moved since he had gone up to bed last night. He called out for Carlos, walking towards their backyard. He opened the door to the patio and glanced around—no sign of his boyfriend. He frowned as he shut the backdoor and checked his phone. Maybe Carlos had just sent that text. Maybe he was on his way here now and would walk through the door behind him at any second.
His heart sank as he saw the time stamp on the message. It had been sent well over an hour ago. There was no way Carlos shouldn’t be here now. Something was wrong.
He wanted to panic but he forced himself to take a deep breath, to consider all the possibilities. He said he was leaving work. Maybe he had gotten held up on his way out, maybe he was still at work. TK tried calling him, but after a few rings, he was faced with his voicemail. He reminded himself to stay calm as he switched gears, pulling up the number for the front desk of the precinct.
“Austin Police Department East, Officer Johnson speaking.”
“Hey Johnson,” TK responded, relieved to find that it was someone he knew on the other end, “it’s TK Strand.”
“Hey, Strand, is everything okay?”
TK swallowed, “I was kind of hoping you could tell me. Is Carlos still there?”
“No, he left what, probably two hours ago? Caldwell kicked him out, told him to go home and get some sleep. Ordered him to not come back for at least a day.”
TK took a moment to feel a rush of gratitude towards the detective for looking out for his boyfriend who was too stubborn to do it himself, but it was a fleeting moment. In the second after all he could feel was a growing sense of dread. Carlos had left the station almost two hours ago. He had texted TK around the same time. All signs from both of those facts pointed to him coming home, but here TK was; alone in their house.
“Are you sure everything’s okay, TK?”
TK had almost forgotten Johnson was still on the other end of the phone. “Yeah, uh...yeah. Just, I’m at home and Carlos isn’t here. And he’s not answering his phone either.”
There was a heavy silence on the line as they both pondered the implications of that. “I’ll call his parents,” TK said after a moment. “Maybe he stopped there on his way.”
“Maybe,” Johnson replied, but the optimism in his voice sounded forced.
“Thanks for the info, Johnson,” TK said after another moment of tense silence between them.
“Least I could do,” the officer agreed readily. “Hey, TK?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you let me know when you track him down? I'd like to tell him he’s a dick for worrying us.”
Despite everything, TK laughed at that. “I’ll be sure to do that,” he assured the other man. “Thanks again.”
With another goodbye he took a deep breath and looked around the empty house once more as he dialed Carlos’s number again. There were a few innocent explanations for Carlos’s absence, of course. But TK couldn’t shake the feeling of dread in his gut telling him that something was wrong .
When he got Carlos’s voicemail again the feeling of dread only intensified. He opened his contact list and scrolled until he found Gabriel Reyes. He tapped the contact and waited for the older man to pick up, each extra moment of waiting doing nothing to quell the racing of his heart.
“TK?”
TK sucked in a breath, “Hi, Mr. Reyes.”
“Is everything okay, son? You sound strange, and it’s awful early for a social call.”
“I was actually hoping you could tell me,” he said. “Is Carlos there?”
“No,” he said after a moment, “should he be?”
TK closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “He sent me a text saying he was stopping at the store on his way home but that was well over an hour ago. And I called the station and they told me he left nearly two hours ago. And he’s not here. And he’s not answering his phone.”
“And he’s not here,” Gabriel concluded grimly. TK could hear the clatter of movement in the background, the jingle of keys being picked up. “I’m coming to you,” he said after a moment.
TK nodded and then realized the other man couldn’t see him. “Okay,” he replied, voice tight.
“We’ll figure this out, TK,” Gabriel told him. His voice was calm and steady and TK didn’t know how that was possible. The innocent reasons for Carlos to be absent were quickly dwindling, but the far worse ones were growing with every passing moment. But he appreciated the steadiness of the older man, and the readiness with which he reacted.
“I’ll be ready,” he assured him before hanging up. He sagged against the counter for a moment, allowing all the worry and fear to press on him. He needed to focus; he needed to be with it. He couldn’t afford to fall apart. Whatever this was, he was certain that Carlos couldn’t afford for him to lose it, and that more than anything drove him to take a breath and straighten up. He needed to get dressed, he needed to call Tommy. He needed to be ready when Gabriel got here so they didn’t miss a possible second of time spent looking for Carlos. He needed to keep it together, for Carlos’s sake.
He could fall apart later, once Carlos was safe.
Things somehow got worse from there, which Carlos hadn’t even been sure was possible but the universe seemed determined to prove him wrong.
His badge, as it turned out, did not manage to fall off during the struggle in the parking lot. It had somehow stayed securely clasped to his waistband where he had clipped it as he left the precinct only to reveal itself as they hauled him out of the trunk. They did not take kindly to that fact and let him know exactly how much in a way that made their original beating feel like nothing.
His entire body was screaming with pain as they hauled him into a room that he was vaguely aware held others. He was so dazed he hardly registered the sensation of a manacle closing around his neck or the pull of the heavy chain that tethered it to something. It was a while before he was aware of anything, until he was able to separate the noises around him into specific sounds; until he was able to decipher the words around him. Because there are so many of them - a whole hoard of frantic voices trying to be heard at once.
Another voice - loud and harsh - yelled for quiet and the cacophony died almost instantly; a fact that Carlos and his pulsing headache were incredibly grateful for.
“Hey,” another voice said, this one much closer and much softer, “are you okay?”
“No,” Carlos said after a beat, “not really.”
The voice turned into a snort and Carlos followed its source to see a man with long, pale hair next to him shook his head. “Sorry,” he said wryly, meeting Carlos’s gaze, “stupid question. I don’t imagine any of us are alright, are we?”
For the first time Carlos started to realize that the room was full of other people. Other men, all looking to be about in their 20s.
The kidnapped people , Carlos realized suddenly. That realization was followed by the thought that the universe must have a highly developed sense of irony: of course he would spend the past three months looking for these men only to become one of them. It sounded exactly like something that would happen. He’d never be able to call TK a danger magnet again, he thought wryly.
“How many of you are there?” he asked the other man eventually.
He shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe 8? People come and go; it’s hard to keep track.” He paused, studying Carlos before speaking again. “They really did a number on you, didn’t they?”
Carlos just winced in response and his companion nodded. “They usually aren’t so rough on their fresh meat, what’d you do to piss them off?”
“I’m a cop,” Carlos replied, voice still tight with pain, “they didn’t seem to like that fact much.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, “that’ll do it. Look on the bright side, though.”
Carlos eyes the other man dubiously, “There’s a bright side?”
He nodded, “They won’t let you get killed your first time out so you’ll have a little bit of time before you have to worry about that.”
Carlos blinked at the other man, not sure what it was exactly he was trying to say. “Either I’m more concussed than I thought,” he said after a moment, “or you’re not making any sense.”
“By the look of you I’d say probably both.”
Carlos gave him the most unimpressed look he could muster before he asked the obvious follow-up: “What do you mean ‘first time out’? What happens here?”
“Fights. Stupid, violent fights that those assholes get rich off of.”
So that’s what it was. All these months one of things they hadn’t been able to figure out for sure was why . There had been theories, sure, based on their injuries; but to know for certain? It sent a chill through Carlos: both at the thought of what had happened to those men and at the knowledge that it was what was in store for him too, unless help made it there first.
“Help will be here soon,” Carlos said instead, refusing to voice his doubts. “The police, we’re close on this. We’ve been working on it for months and I managed to leave a clue when I was taken. Maybe that’ll be the last piece they need.”
“Maybe,” the man agreed, but he didn’t sound too convinced. “In the meantime, you should try and get some rest. Take the chance when you can, you never know how long it’s going to be before you are interrupted.”
“Thanks,” Carlos told him, and he meant it. This was terrifying and horrible and overwhelming, but this man had taken the time to look past his own suffering to Carlos, to offer him some reassurances and answers he had desperately needed. “I’m Carlos, by the way,” he said as he did his best to settle against the wall in a way that didn’t aggravate his myriad injuries or pull at the collar digging into his neck.
“Kolby,” the man told him with a small smile. “Get some rest, Carlos. Hopefully you’re right and someone will find us soon.”
He didn’t sound like he believed it, and judging by the way he looked Carlos couldn’t say he blamed him. He had been here a while and gone through who knows what horrors. As he settled against the wall, Carlos tried to place his name with one of the files on his desk. He had seen all their faces, learned all their stories. He felt like he knew everything about these men: who they were, who was missing them.
“Kolby Bowers,” he said after a moment, “went missing two months ago.”
Kolby looked startled to hear his name, but he relaxed after a moment. “I didn’t realize it had been that long,” he said eventually. “I thought it had been longer. Some days it feels like I’ve been here for years. I guess it’s good to know it actually hasn’t been all that long, in the grand scheme of things. Probably feels like no time at all on the other side”
“Not for Sarah.”
Kolby looked at him sharply and Carlos offered him a sad smile. “Sarah Parks,” he repeated, “your fiance. She’s been down at the station at least twice a week every week since you went missing demanding that we do more to find you. A couple of the new recruits are scared of her, I think. Hell,” he added with a chuckle, “I think my captain is too.”
A fond smile spread across Kolby’s face and the change made him almost look like another person. “That sounds like Sarah” he chuckled softly, turning to meet Carlos’s eyes. “She’s okay though, right?”
“She’s worried about you.”
“But everything else. She’s doing well, right?”
Carlos gave him a puzzled look before Kolby sighed and tugged anxiously at the worn edge of his t-shirt, “She’s pregnant. Would be about 5 months along now, I suppose if you're right about how long I’ve been gone. She is the most important thing in the world to me and she’d be devastated if anything happened to the baby. I would too,” he added after a moment. “I haven’t even met the kid and I know I already love them. That’s been my biggest worry, this whole time. That something would happen to her and I wouldn’t be there to help.”
Carlos swallowed thickly as he took in Kolby’s devastated expression at the thought of the person he loved suffering without him. It was exactly the thought he had been trying to avoid. He knew it was only a matter of time before TK woke up for his shift to find a text from Carlos saying he was coming home and no Carlos. He knew his boyfriend would be worried and scared, and he hated that he had caused that. But he also knew that TK would never stop hoping until he found him, much like Sarah had never given up on Kolby. He didn’t want him to worry, but he couldn’t deny the comfort of knowing that no matter what, someone was looking.
“It’s impossible not to worry,” Carlos began, “but sometimes we just have to remember to trust the ones we love to take care of themselves. Sometimes,” he added as an afterthought, “we need to accept that they need to take care of us.”
Kolby gave him a look that said he knew Carlos wasn’t just talking about Sarah. But he didn’t push, instead he just gave him a sad smile. “Get some rest, Carlos,” he repeated. “You’re going to need it.”
TK’s leg bounced anxiously against the floor of the passenger’s side as he and Gabriel Reyes drove in silence towards the market between their home and the station. The one TK knew Carlos preferred; the one he likely would have stopped at in the early hours of the morning. He could feel the older man’s gaze on him but he ignored it, keeping his eyes resolutely turned towards the road as if he was going to spot some clue that would tell him that Carlos was okay.
“There could be a perfectly innocent explanation for this,” Gabriel said after a few more minutes and TK finally turned to look at him.
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” he asked. The silence he got in response was answer enough. No, he didn’t believe that. They both knew Carlos better than that. If something had come up he would have told them. He would have never left them to wonder and worry. That’s not who Carlos was. Something that had happened that had prevented Carlos from contacting them. He was in some sort of trouble and he needed their help, of that TK was certain. He was less certain as to what kind but his mind was happy to provide him with a running list of every possible scenario as they drove.
They reached the market without incident - no sign of an abandoned or damaged Camaro on the side of the road - and when they pulled into the parking lot to see a familiar blue car parked there, undamaged, TK almost breathed a sigh of relief. But a safely parked Camaro did not mean Carlos was safe, so TK’s heart was racing even as he climbed out of Gabriel’s truck and approached his boyfriend’s car.
The first sign something was very wrong was the sight of keys (Carlos’s keys, the chunky keychain Izzy had made for him was undeniable) on the ground, several feet from the car. Gabriel bent down to examine them closer but TK didn’t bother. He knew exactly what they looked like: the keychain from Izzy, the key to the Camaro, keys to his parent’s house and his locker at the station, the key to their front door. TK knew every groove and edge of those keys by heart. To see them here, abandoned, just cemented the dread and fear that had been steadily growing over the past hour: something was wrong .
The next sign caused TK to suck in a harsh breath and Gabriel to look at him sharply before following his gaze to where a small pool of blood lay at the base of the driver’s door. TK moved closer, hands shaking as he bent down. It wasn’t a lot of blood; not nearly enough for a mortal wound. But it was Carlos’s blood and the sight of it beside his keys and abandoned car sent icy fear through TK’s veins. It wasn’t just in his mind anymore, he had proof now. Something had happened to Carlos; something bad.
One look at Gabriel Reyes told TK that he had come to the same conclusion. They shared a look, communicating their mutual fear and worry for a few moments, before Gabriel pulled out his phone and started dialing.
“Don’t touch anything,” he instructed, “this is a crime scene now.”
TK nodded numbly, beginning to stand back up as Gabriel spoke into the phone. But something caught his eye and he paused, looking down to the uncharacteristically dirty side of the Camaro. There was something written there, in the dirt. TK leaned closer, squinting at the shapes until the form became clear.
“Mr. Reyes,” he called, twisting to wave Carlos’s father over. The Ranger frowned but followed, eyes widening as his gaze followed TK’s pointed figure.
“I’m going to need you to run a plate for me, Anderson,” he said into the phone, eyes still glued to the side of the car. “I think Carlos managed to leave us a clue.”
Kolby had been right, it turned out.
The people, whoever it was that was doing this, didn’t want their fresh “contestants” to die off in their first appearance. It was sound business, Carlos supposed. You had to build interest; no one cared when an unknown died.
Because if they hadn’t put a stop to it, he would have. He knew that without a doubt.
His body was so battered and bruised he could barely move, let alone defend himself. It hadn’t been a fight, it had been a beating and Carlos had been the sole recipient. If he wasn’t in such rough physical shape it would have been different. He wouldn’t have been so helpless out there and he may have stood a chance. It was humiliating, but in a way he was grateful. He didn’t want to hurt anyone and for today at least, he hadn’t had to.
He wasn’t naive though - if help didn’t come soon, he wasn’t going to have much of a choice. They wouldn’t be intervening next time. He would be on his own for whatever happened and he was not about to give up his life without a fight.
There was still a part of him, somehow, that was professionally detached from the situation. There had been theories about what had happened to all those bodies they had found dumped around the city. Now he knew for sure just how they had gotten all those injuries. He knew that the bruising on their backs was likely from getting thrown against the ledge separating the makeshift ring from the spectators. He knew that the cuts and lacerations could have come from any of the weapons scattered around for the use of whoever could get to them first. He had seen the dried blood on the walls; he knew that those men had met their end there in that ring. And if help didn’t come soon, he might very well be one of them.
But he had faith in his coworkers, in the other officers and detectives who had been working this case. He had faith in his parents, in his dad who under absolutely no circumstances would not come looking for him. He had faith in his friends to be there for TK and his parents.
But most of all he had faith in TK, that no matter how long it took he knew would never stop looking for him.
It was what he took comfort in as he was dumped back into his previous spot, the collar fastened around his neck once more as he saw Koby watching him with wide eyes. It was his last thought before the pain became too much as Kolby slowly approached him, his mouth forming words Carlos couldn’t hear, before everything faded to darkness.
“Please Cap?” TK pleaded. “I promise I’ll stay back if you tell me, but I need to be here. I can’t just sit at home and wait. I’m going crazy here.”
He watched his captain anxiously, waiting for her to make a determination. He had stayed home yesterday and he couldn’t take it. He wasn’t exaggerating when he said he was going out of his mind. Sitting alone in their home waiting for news that he knew might never actually come had pushed him to his brink. He needed to do something, hence him standing in front of his boss now; begging her to let him work.
She studied him carefully for a few long, silent moments. TK had no idea what she was looking for but whatever it was, she must not have found it because finally she nodded.
“If I think at any point you are compromised and tell you to stand down…” she began but TK nodded eagerly.
“I will, Cap, really.”
Tommy didn’t look as certain, but she nodded, expression softening.
“They’ll find him soon, TK. He has a lot of people looking for him, and you found them a clue to get them further than they've been in months from what I hear.”
“That was all Carlos,” TK corrected. “All I did was find it. He’s the one who thought of it.”
“Still,” Tommy continued, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder, “they’ll find him, TK. You just have to have faith.”
“I’m trying,” he admitted softly. “It’s hard though when I know how long they’ve been working on this case with no leads. Carlos used to talk about the victims and…” TK trailed off with a helpless shrug, not sure how to say the rest of it, how to explain all the horrible possibilities that had been spinning through his mind. “I’m trying to have faith,” he concluded, “but it’s hard.”
Tommy studied him for another moment, her gaze so full of compassion and understanding that TK had to look away lest he lose the tenuous grasp he had on his composure.
“Then have faith in Carlos,” she said eventually, voice gentle but certain. “He’s strong and smart and, if I know him, just as determined to come home to you as you are to find him. Put your faith in him.”
“That’s easy,” TK said without hesitation. He always had faith in Carlos. He trusted him more than anyone, after all.
“Then hang on to that,” Tommy pressed. “And then go and get changed. We have a shift in 10 minutes if you’re coming.”
TK thanked her and rushed off to the locker room before she changed her mind. It was a day when their shift overlapped with his old crew and TK spent much of it pretending not to notice the worried looks they all gave him when they thought he wasn't looking. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate their concern - he did, more than he could say - but if he dwelled on it he would start to crack and he didn’t think he had the strength to piece himself back together again.
The day was filled with mundane calls and though TK could feel Tommy watching him critically, she never said a word. He managed to keep his mind on the task at hand and welcomed the familiar rhythm of splinting a broken arm, of inserting an IV. This was stuff he could do, these were things he could control. These were people he could help - unlike Carlos.
Unfortunately, he was forced to concede after several hours of calls, there was no amount of routine or work that was ever going to fully shut off the part of his brain that was worried about Carlos. As long as he was missing TK would always be worrying, always wondering. The best he could do was to try and keep moving. He couldn’t help Carlos, as much as it killed him, but he could help others.
It was towards the end of their shift that they got the call.
“Station 126, respond to 4625 Alameda Dr to provide support and possible medical assistance to APD.”
Coffee cups and snacks were abandoned in the kitchen as both crews headed towards their vehicles, but TK froze as he felt his phone begin to vibrate in his hand. A quick glance down at the screen stole his breath as he saw Gabriel Reyes’s name flash across it. He glanced at his team anxiously, the caller’s name on full display between them. Tommy nudged him towards the back of the ambulance and her usual spot.
“Answer it,” she instructed him. “I have a feeling these two things might be related.”
TK nodded a quick thanks to Tommy before swiping at the call with shaking fingers.
“Mr. Reyes?” he asked as he settled into the back seat, voice uncertain and nearly deafened by the frantic pounding of his heart.
“We found him, TK,” Gabriel said without preamble. “Or at least, we found the car. It’s outside an old factory on—”
“Alameda?” TK asked, his heart still racing for an entirely different reason. They had found him. This would all be over soon.
“Yes. How’d you…?”
“I’m on my way to a call there right now.”
“TK,” Gabriel said, tone shifting, “we don’t know what state he’ll be in. Or if he’ll even be there.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“TK…”
“It doesn’t matter, Gabriel,” TK said, dropping the formalities for the first time. He needed him to understand this. “Whether Carlos is there or not, I am going in. There will be other people who need help and that’s what I do. And if he is, if it’s bad, I’m still going to be there. I’ve told him I would always be there for him and I meant it. I can handle it, whatever it is.”
There was a pause and TK prepared himself for an argument. He had them all ready to go: they were the medics on scene and they needed their entire team to provide the best care. If they were right and there were multiple victims they couldn’t afford to be down any hands. TK needed to be there.
“Okay.”
The agreement from his boyfriend’s father took him by surprise, “Okay?”
“Okay,” Gabriel repeated. “I don’t really see how I could stop you anyway, and you’re right - whoever is in there is going to need help.”
TK’s heart was thudding in anticipation. They might find Carlos soon. He might have him back in his arms in a matter of minutes.
“I’m on my way there too,” Gabriel told him in the next breath. “I’ll come check in with you when I arrive.”
His tone was tense and TK could almost feel the fear radiating off of him even across the phone line.
“We’re going to find him,” he said softly. “He’s going to be there.”
“You sound pretty certain of that.”
TK shrugged, even though he knew the older man couldn’t see him, “I just have a feeling.”
“Well, I hope you’re right son, for all of us but especially for his sake.”
“Me too,” TK admitted even more softly before Gabriel ended the call with another promise to find him at the scene.
TK lowered his phone and met Tommy and Nancy’s eyes through the rearview mirror. He knew he didn’t have to relay the message to them; they had both been able to hear his side. It showed in the harder sets of their expressions as they neared the scene. Every call they ever responded to was important. Every single person they treated was someone’s loved one. But this time felt bigger. This time it was Carlos, and they both knew how important that made this for TK. Nancy gave him a nod and Tommy a soft smile in the mirror before they both turned their eyes back to the road and the task ahead. TK didn’t think he had ever been more grateful for his team than he was at that moment.
Finally, they reached the scene; their ambulance joining the ranks of emergency vehicles as they gathered their equipment and piled out into the chaos. They were met by TK’s dad, who gave him a significant look before addressing Tommy.
“APD’s IC said they are just about to enter. They’ll let us know when they’re ready for us. Let me and my team know what you need from us, Captain Vega.”
Tommy nodded brusquely, “I’ll know more when we get an idea of what we’re dealing with but for now prepare for triage.”
His dad nodded and moved back to the fire crew, but not before giving TK a comforting squeeze of his shoulder and a small smile. TK fiddled with the strap of his bag, listening for the sound of any news over their radios as his eyes scanned the scene. Everything was controlled chaos, which meant that there was nothing to do but wait. TK hated it.
After a few minutes, he heard footsteps approaching from behind and turned to see Major Reyes approaching, his expression as worried and tight as TK was sure his own was. He greeted Tommy and Nancy with a nod before turning to TK, who was frowning at him.
“I heard they were about to enter. I thought you’d be going in.”
Gabriel shook his head, “I’m too close to this,” he admitted. “If Carlitos is in there and is hurt, I don’t think I could be expected to approach the people who did this in an appropriate manner. I’ll let mine and Carlos’s teams take care of that, it’s for the best. I’d like to go in with you though,” he added, turning to Tommy for permission, “if that’s alright with you captain.”
“As long as you stay out of our way Major you are welcome to come along.” Her voice was firm and Gabriel nodded, but after a moment her expression softened, “We’re all worried about him too,” she told him. “Carlos is family to us, especially to me. Can’t let anything happen to my girl’s favorite uncle, after all.”
Gabriel gave her a soft but warm smile in response, but before he could say anything in return, their radios went off. TK looked nervously to Tommy, waiting as she listened to the entire message before nodding.
“Okay team,” she said, waving a hand at the fire crew as well, “let’s go.”
TK swallowed nervously, his heart racing as they neared the structure. They were directed inside by some officers TK didn’t know and then down a hallway to a large, open room filled with partitions that had clearly been added after. The room was teeming with people and motion, but TK ignored it all in favor of the one person he needed to see. He just needed to know he was there, that he was safe. Then he could hopefully turn his attention to others because their priority was to help the most injured. If they were lucky, that wouldn’t be Carlos.
“Hey!” a voice called from off to the side, “we need help over here!”
TK followed the voice, Nancy on his heels to a man with dirty and tangled pale hair leaning over a still figure.
“He passed out a while ago,” the man told them as he frantically waved them closer. “He needs help.”
And TK froze, stopping so suddenly that Nancy collided with him, because he knew the figure laid out on the ground. It was Carlos, and suddenly TK couldn’t breathe.
Nancy pushed past him, a comforting pat ghosting across his arm as she passed and TK shook himself. Carlos needed his help, he couldn’t afford to freeze. He needed to keep it together, for Carlos. So he took a deep breath and followed Nancy, pushing down the fear and panic and digging into his training instead. He could fall apart later, once Carlos was safe.
“What happened?” he asked the other man, who scooted back as they approached. He shrugged helplessly.
“I don’t really know. They beat him up pretty badly before he even got here — he said it was because they figured out he was a cop, and then when he came back from the fights he was in even worse shape. Then eventually he just passed out.
There was so much in those words that made TK’s heart sink. He could hear Nancy starting to form the questions and as badly as he wanted to know, they didn’t have time for that right now.
“How long ago was this?” he asked, and the man shrugged.
“It’s hard to judge time in here, but not too long before the cops showed up. Maybe an hour?”
TK nodded and joined Nancy in assessing his still form, trying not to dwell on the fact that it was Carlos’s bruised skin under his hands and Carlos’s heartbeat in his ears.
“Carlitos!”
The voice was familiar and the tone even more so as TK twisted to see Gabriel Reyes standing behind them, face paler than he had ever seen him. He stepped forward but TK held out a hand to stop him.
“We’ve got him, Gabriel,” he assured him. “I’ve got him.”
The fact that those words seemed to calm his boyfriend’s father created a lump in TK’s throat, but he moved past it. There would be time to dwell on everything else later. Right now he just needed to make sure that Carlos was okay.
Eventually they had finished their exam and treated what they could, so Nancy raced off to get a gurney and TK clasped Carlos’s hand in his own, bending down to brush his lips against his forehead.
“Hang in there, babe,” he whispered before he pulled away, squeezing Carlos’s limp hand tightly. “I’ve got you now. It’s going to be okay.”
The wait at the hospital, TK thinks, might just be worse than all the waiting that came before. Being in the same building as Carlos and not being able to see him or know how he was felt every bit as torturous and the long hours where TK didn’t know where he was. Now that he knew all he wanted to do was be with him and never let him out of his sight.
He quickly disregarded that notion however; at least now he knew Carlos was safe, and that mattered more than any waiting.
Still every second seemed to be dragging on as TK waited anxiously with Carlos’s parents to find out that he was okay. In reality it wasn’t actually all that long at all until a doctor came out to find them. TK was on his feet the minute the doctor looked towards them, his heart racing and his breath caught in his throat as he waited for the doctor to speak.
“He’s going to be just fine,” the doctor said as soon as he came to a stop before them, not dragging out the suspense. TK practically sagged in relief, only staying upright due to the firm hand of Gabriel Reyes on his shoulder.
“He was unconscious though,” TK pointed out fearfully. He was a paramedic, he knew that loss of consciousness was never a good sign. As much as he wanted to believe the doctor he needed to make sure. “Are you sure he’s okay?”
“He has a concussion,” the doctor agreed, “so we will be keeping him for at least a day for observation. And he’s dehydrated, so he’ll need plenty of fluids before I feel comfortable letting him go anywhere. But other than that, he really is fine, especially considering. There is some severe bruising and soft tissue damage, but nothing seems to be broken. He’ll be in pain for a while, but he will make a complete recovery.”
TK felt the hand on his shoulder squeeze again. “Good,” Gabriel said, voice heavy with relief, “that’s good. Thank you doctor.”
“When can we see him?” Andrea asked.
“In just a while. We’re getting him set up in a recovery room, a nurse will come find you when he is ready.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Andrea said gratefully. TK only nodded because he seemed to have lost the ability to speak. With another round of thanks from the Reyes the doctor left and TK collapsed into the chair behind him, no strength left in his body to stand anymore.
Both Andrea and Gabriel looked at him in alarm but TK just met their worried gazes with a relived grin. “He’s okay,” he said, voice rough with exhaustion but full of relief.
Gabriel smiled at him and Andrea slid into the seat next to him, wrapping her arms around him.
“He’s okay,” she agreed.
TK let out a small, relieved bark of laughter and returned the hug from Andrea Reyes, squeezing her tightly.
Carlos was okay , he repeated over and over again in his head like a mantra. Carlos was okay. They had found him and he was safe. Everything was going to be okay.
The next time Carlos opened his eyes, he wasn’t alone.
He hadn’t been alone since it happened, which was a fact he was incredibly grateful for. He had initially woken up to TK and his parents at his bedside, tears in their eyes and relieved smiles on their faces. There had been a steady stream of people after that. Some of his coworkers, the entirety of the 126. He had been surprised to see Steve Johnson appear in the doorway as they weren’t particularly close, until he explained that through the act of answering the phone and talking to TK, he had gotten invested.
“Just needed to see for myself that you were still with us,” he had said with a wry shrug. “And I was going to tell you how much of a dick you were for worrying us, but I guess I can let it slide this time.”
“I’ll try not to let it happen again,” Carlos agreed solemnly as TK scoffed and his parents rolled their eyes.
Detective Caldwell had stopped by with updates, and to thank him.
“Thank me?” Carlos asked the older man, bewildered. “I didn’t do anything. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“But you left us the license plate,” the detective reminded him. “Without that I don’t know how long it would have been before we found you all.”
The reminder sent a shiver down Carlos’s spine. It had been close, he knew that, but the reminder of just how close unsettled him. He wasn’t the only one, judging by the way TK’s hand tightened on his own.
“I’m just glad you did,” he said and Caldwell smiled.
“Me too, Reyes. And I know all those other men are too.”
Kolby stopped by too, Sarah in tow. He didn’t stay long and they didn’t talk much - the only way they were connected was through a trauma neither of them wanted to revisit, but Carlos at least made sure to thank him. Kolby had shrugged off Carlos’s words.
“You would have done the same,” he said with such certainty that Carlos almost raised an eyebrow.
“Still…” he tried, but Kolby shook his head.
“You would have done the same,” he repeated. “Any one of us would have. As awful as this was, at least none of us went through it alone.”
And there was a truth in that that Carlos couldn't deny. There was a cold comfort in knowing that when he saw reminders of that place when he closed his eyes, he wasn’t the only one. But he had been so lucky, compared to Kolby who had been there longer and to the ones who had never made it out. He couldn’t forget that.
Eventually the exhaustion had won out and he had drifted to sleep, a soft kiss from TK on his forehead and the promise he would be there when Carlos woke up the last thing he was aware of. It’s a blissfully peaceful moment that doesn’t last nearly long enough as he wakes up in panic not too long after.
But TK was there, as promised, and it is his voice and the feel of his hands on his that Carlos followed back to reality.
Eventually he opened his eyes to see TK smiling at him even as he eyes were full of concern.
“You’re safe now babe,” he murmured as he lifted up their intertwined hands to press a kiss to the back of Carlos’s, “I’ve got you.”
Carlos took a deep breath and let his head flop back onto the pillows. “I’m sorry,” he said, but TK only frowned.
“Sorry for what? You have nothing to apologize for Carlos.”
Carlos shrugged helplessly. “I shouldn’t be feeling this way,” he admitted. “I was only there for a day. There were so many others that were there longer, who went through worse. I was lucky.”
TK studied him for a moment before he spoke, learning closer and rubbing his thumb across the back of Carlos’s hand as he did.
“You were lucky,” he agreed, “but that doesn’t lessen any of the pain or trauma you went through. This was a lot Carlos, and you are allowed to not be okay.”
“But…”
“But nothing,” TK interrupted firmly. “You went through something awful, you are allowed to feel it. Of course you can be rattled by it. I know I am.”
When Carlos gave him a curious look TK responded with a sad smile, “Do you really think I’m okay after this, babe? That your parents are? I was so afraid when I realized that something had happened to you. Then your dad and I found your car and your keys and the blood on the ground…I honestly don’t think I have ever been more terrified. And that fear stayed with me until we found you and I knew you were okay. I can still feel it. It didn’t go away immediately, and it won’t for you either. There is nothing wrong with that, Carlos.”
Carlos swallowed, overwhelmed by the level of honesty TK had just displayed. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” he said softly, but his boyfriend waved his apology away.
“I hated every minute of it,” he agreed, “but I would do it a thousand times for you. Plus,” he added as an afterthought with a small grin, “your dad and I got some time to bond.”
Carlos couldn’t hold in the laugh at that and the feeling of laughter did more for him than the pain meds pumping through the IV ever could. He felt lighter and he smiled at TK, who grinned back at him.
“I was so scared,” Carlos admitted eventually, still holding TK’s gaze. “I think I still am.”
TK nodded sadly and put his hands on either side of his face, pulling him in for a soft kiss. He let his hands slide down to Carlos’s chest, lingering for just a moment on the bandage around his neck, covering the marks from where the collar had chafed against his skin. It may scar, a nurse had informed him, but Carlos knew that even if it didn’t he would always carry scars from this horror no matter what. He wanted TK to know that; he wanted to make sure he knew what they were up against in the coming days.
But when TK pulled away again so that Carlos could see his face, he didn’t see any hesitation. He only saw love and determination in his gaze.
“That’s okay,” he told him softly, firmly. “It’s okay not to be okay, and I will be here for you no matter what.”
“For as long as it takes?” Carlos asked quietly, almost afraid to voice the question in case he didn’t like the answer.
“For as long as it takes,” TK confirmed without a moment of hesitation or a second thought.
And Carlos smiled, the first real, genuine smile he had had in days because he knew that no matter what happened, it would be okay. As long as he had TK at his side, he could weather anything.