#911ls 1x10

[strandedbuckley]

TK STRAND IN EVERY SCENE 1.10: austin, we have a problem

[reasonandfaithinharmony]

The way Carlos walks into the 126 firehouse: season 1 to season 5 unwilling to move past the threshold -> strutting in with donuts for everyone, just because

911 Lone Star: Austin, We Have a Problem (1x10) | Bad Call (2x08) | Spring Cleaning (3x17) | Trainwrecks (5x02)

[lonestardust]

I often think of grace saying "out of chaos comes such beauty" while watching the northern lights and it's so simply true coming at the end of the first season because love and loss are often the same thing, the absence and presence of one another — the impermanence of life. and we see all of these characters coming together, forming a constellation — going through all kinds of pain, loss, self doubt and struggles, to them finding their place, finding family and purpose, finding love, finding strength to keep going..

[paperstorm]

Have you had a chance to rewatch any Tarlos scenes from S1-3 since the latest season started airing? Has s4 changed what you get from those scenes? For me, it's added new meaning to some of Carlos' expressions and hesitations. It's made scenes like the one after the Tarlos fight in s2 (when TK tells Carlos he understands how unsafe he must have felt for such a long time) feel more impactful and meaningful. The only scene where I would say that the experience has diminished, for me, is the proposal. It used to feel like pure joy earlier, and now ... I dunno, it probably sounds dramatic but the scene feels corrupted to me, knowing that either a small part of Carlos was panicking about Iris during that moment, maybe he felt slightly guilty that he hadn't told TK till then but he didn't want to spoil the moment of the proposal (because I find it hard to believe that he didn't think of it at all when the word 'marriage' came up), and that TK didn't have any idea about this portion of Carlos' thought process during that moment. I dunno, it's taken the joy out of that scene for me. Is it the same for you? If not, I'd love to know how you're looking at it, because it was literally my favourite scene of 911LS and I want it to stay that way...

Oh sweetheart I’m sorry it’s taken the joy out of it, that really sucks. I have rewatched a lot of older scenes and it’s definitely changed some for me. It’s added a really beautiful and sad layer to some things about Carlos; his need for control, the strained relationship with his father (the interrogation scene in Bad Call? The way at the end carlos basically begs “I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked of me, please can I be good enough now?” with tears in his eyes? With the added layer of him marrying a woman so that he could fit into society?? Pls), the way Carlos has a tendency to blame himself for absolutely everything, the way he struggles with honesty and with sort of giving people what they need when that thing is something different than what he thinks they should need. It adds layers to his desire to be everything to TK and his feelings of inadequacy when he can’t be. It’s done a lot of good things for me, for earlier episodes! It’s also induced a lot of eye rolling haha especially in season one, because it’s just so clear that they did not actually have this planned all along - or if they did, it was only in a retrospective ‘Dumbledore was gay all along!’ way that doesn’t count, because it’s not a real storyline if it was just something in Tim’s head but he never actually wrote it that way. So many of Carlos’s scenes with Michelle just feel badly written now because there’s this giant elephant in the room that neither of them ever address. The way that he’s sort of very nonchalant and unbothered about Iris being missing feels kind of icky now. It has dulled the scene in 1x10 on the car for me a little, cause I’m watching them having this lovely moment and now I’m thinking “Carlos your best friend who you thought was dead was just found alive, why aren’t you going to see her and why are you going to let two full years pass before you do??” But I think I just have to let that go. I know you’re not really asking for advice but if you were, I’d say that unfortunately we just have to take what Tim has said about this and make that the paradigm. He has made it clear that he doesn’t think carlos has done anything wrong and that Carlos never told TK because it wasn’t a real marriage and he more or less had forgotten about it. Do I think that makes sense or is good writing? No. But it’s the framework we’ve been given so I have to just go with it.

[ropoto]

Paul Strickland & TK Strand

[howlingsaturn]

my god i can just imagine a moment during the whole moving boxes into the condo part where tk would come to wrap his arms around carlos' middle to hug him close and carlos would wrap his arms around tk's neck and then tk would say something like 'so i guess we're really doing this huh' and carlos would respond with 'afraid so' and give tk this beautiful blinding smile of his and now i'm gonna combust

[morganaspendragonss]

suddenly, the sunlight

Ya girl finally got around to properly watching Lone Star, I binged it in two days, and uh..... This is the result. Hope you like it!

read on ao3

"I want to work things out between us."

T.K. still has Carlos's hand clasped in his, and he feels it twitch as he shifts to look over at him. He keeps his own eyes trained on the sky, refusing to see whatever hope or worry or sympathy is in Carlos's. He doesn't think he'd be able to bear it, not right now.

"But you're right," he continues, breathing out shakily. "We barely even know each other."

"We've got time." Carlos's voice is soft, understanding, but T.K. shakes his head, closing his eyes.

"No," he says. "I can't - I need -" He sighs, frustrated. "There are some things that can't wait."

He half expects Carlos to crack a joke here, or make a comment, or say anything really - but he doesn't. The silence soothes him, allows him to breathe for a moment and collect his thoughts into one. He stares down at their linked hands and, for a brief moment, T.K. wishes that they could just enjoy the night, like any other couple. One step at a time, and all that.

But, T.K. knows that, if they're ever going to take that first step, he needs to make this one first. Step Zero, of sorts.

"I, uh, I got some serious baggage, Carlos," he starts.

"Okay."

T.K. does look at him then, confused at the lack of curiosity in his voice, but Carlos just shrugs.

"I'm a cop, T.K. I've seen some shit too."

T.K. nods; he knows, on that point at least, they understand each other. Carlos gets the stresses of the job in a way that none of his other partners ever did, especially not Alex. Still.

"Right, but that not - I don't mean in the job." He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. It doesn't work. "You remember I told you about my breakup? And - and my relapse?"

Carlos nods, waiting, ever patient, and T.K. feels that familiar warmth in his stomach that he so often gets around him.

"Well, I, uh, I just..."

Fuck.

He'd thought it would be easier this time, because he's already said the words, because this is Carlos. But that's the problem isn't it - this is Carlos. Perfect Carlos. Too-good-to-be-true Carlos. Carlos, around whom T.K. thinks he can finally feel again.

And it's fucking terrifying.

He shudders out a breath and squeezes his eyes shut, tears beginning to well up in them. Carlos's hand slips from his, and T.K. thinks that he's ruined it all over again, but then the car creaks as Carlos sits up and there's a hand on T.K.'s face, brushing the wetness from his cheeks.

"Hey," Carlos murmurs, far gentler than T.K. deserves. "Whatever is it, I'm here. In whatever way you want me to be, even if it is just as a friend. I promise."

T.K. opens his eyes, and something inside him cracks wide open as he stares up at Carlos. His heart aches, perhaps a warning, perhaps a blessing, but T.K. knows now he can't run from the pain anymore.

"My ex," he says, moving so they're both lying on their sides, facing each other. "I was in love with him. We didn't have the best relationship, in hindsight, but at the time it felt perfect, even though we were moving so fast. I thought, for the longest time - even after I moved here - that he was my soulmate and all that shit. I wanted to marry him."

T.K. shakes his head, pushes aside a bitter laugh. "We hadn't even moved in together at that point, but I was convinced. So I bought a ring, I asked him to dinner, and he told me that he'd been cheating on me with his trainer."

"T.K., I'm sorry," Carlos says.

"I don't really remember what happened after that; it's a bit of a blur. Feels like the next thing I knew was I was sitting on my couch with a bunch of pills, even though I'd promised my dad I'd never touch them again after I overdosed when I was twenty."

T.K. hears Carlos's sharp intake of breath, and he winces. They're in dangerous territory now, the make-or-break shit that could send him running for the hills. But he's started now; he can't stop even if he wanted to.

"I OD'd - again." His voice is barely above a whisper now, but he may as well be shouting it's so quiet here. "My dad, my team, they saved me, and we moved here pretty much right after. I guess I didn't... I never really had a chance to process it all, you know?"

A lump rises in his throat, and he has to force it down, looking away from Carlos. The silence stretches out, on the brink of becoming uncomfortable, but T.K. doesn't think he has any more words left in him, much as he wishes he did. Part of him wants to know what Carlos is thinking; the other part wants more than anything to run before he can get burned again. His addiction's caused him too much trouble with previous boyfriends, and T.K. is pretty sure it was part of the reason why Alex left him. Carlos doesn't seem like that kind of guy - T.K. knows he isn't, really - but his heart won't stop hammering in his chest, and the instinct to get out is only getting stronger by the second.

Then a hand slips into his own and Carlos presses their foreheads together. "I'm sorry you went through all that, T.K.," he whispers. "But you're not alone anymore; you've got your team, and your dad...and me, if you want."

T.K. meets his eyes. "I do. I do, I just -"

"Okay, then." Carlos smiles, that stupid, insufferable, gorgeous smile, and T.K. suddenly feels sick.

"Carlos..." He sighs. "I told you that I've felt numb, ever since I left New York. You make me feels things, strong things. And it scares me to death. I want something with you, I really do, but I'm not ready to go all in yet. I can't. I wish I could, but... I just can't."

"That's okay."

"No, it's not, I -"

"Listen," Carlos says, and T.K. shuts up, nervously biting his lip. "We can figure it out as we go. I don't care how long it takes."

"Really?" Carlos's hand squeezes his, and, for once, T.K. dares to hope.

"Really." He grins. "Besides, you, Tyler Kennedy, are worth the wait."

T.K. groans. "You had to go and ruin it, didn't you?"

But he's laughing, and Carlos's hand feels right in his own, and when Carlos kisses him - brief and feather-light, nothing like the passion of their earlier hook-ups - that feels right too.

And, a few hours after the world nearly ended, with his arms wrapped around the man he knows he's going to fall in love with, T.K. Strand is at peace.

[reyesstrand]

me thinking i’d never cry so hard over 911ls again after the astronaut scene in 1x10 before watching 2x02:

[moviegeek03]

6, 7 and 16 for the 911LS asks?

6. Favorite episode?

Austin We Have a Problem (1x10)....love everything about that episode. TK’s save...the Tarlos hug...the fire fam...Grace 😍😍

7. Least favorite episode?

This is hard for me because I like pretty much every episode. But maybe Friends Like These just because the Billy plot isn’t my favorite overall. But I still love the episode lol.

16. Which character deserves more screen time?

Carlos...shocking I’m sure lol. 

[strandedbuckley]

TK STRAND IN EVERY SCENE 1.10: austin, we have a problem

[strandedbuckley]

TK STRAND IN EVERY SCENE 1.10: austin, we have a problem

[strandedbuckley]

TK STRAND IN EVERY SCENE 1.10: austin, we have a problem

[strandedbuckley]

[reasonandfaithinharmony]

911 Lone Star: Austin, We Have a Problem (1x10) | Both Sides, Now (5x01, season 5 promo)

based on this tweet by @ TheTarlost

[strandedbuckley]

[ropoto]

1x10//3x18

requested by anon - thank you for the request! <3