#911 lone star Alex

[eddieheart]

Take Me To Texas

(Part one)

Fandom: 911: Lone Star

Pairings: Past TK Strand X Alex

Words: 2089

Description: How TK found himself and his father.

Warning: talk of triggering topics, overdose, implied prostitution, implied sexual assault, domestic abuse, implied domestic abuse, implied homelessness

Author’s note: So this is the first story I’ve written/published in months, I’ve had terrible writer block paired with a mixture of no motivation and executive distinction, so I really hope you enjoy! That’s again to @buggylad for editing.

——

TK guessed it started when he was a kid. Playing around the house with his trucks and firefighters. Refusing to wear dresses, only 'boys' clothes.

They were all obvious signs, if not that maybe running around the house at full speed insisting his new name was Tyler. Anything else was too 'girly'.

He always has been and always will be, Tyler Kennedy (He didn't choose the middle name but what could he do, he was stuck with it) Strand. And boy, he made sure everyone knew.

TK was grateful enough to have grown up in New York City. A place where he could be himself with less... backlash. There were always gender neutral bathrooms and single stall change rooms.

It had been rough, being gay and trans, even in a place like New York. Bigots are bigot regardless of where you live.

But with the support of both his parents and a firehouse full of people (willing to do anything to protect him) TK was able to transition safely.

TK has spent every day since his unofficial name change as Tyler and he loved every damn second of being him. Well, maybe that was a bit of a broad statement. Life, like always, has its ups and downs, he's just happy he gets to go through them as Tyler.

Just before puberty he started hormone blockers, as a teen he took hormones and as soon as he was eighteen TK got top surgery. His parents had helped pay for it as a birthday gift.

It was a saving grace, being able to get the treatment he needed, but it wasn't all sunshine and roses. His doctor had prescribed him an opioid for the pain and unfortunately TK had gotten addicted.

Because he was out of the house, living alone, no one saw the signs and because he was in school, his parents had just assumed that he had been overly focused in his work, forgetting to reach out.

What his parents didn't know was that their only son was spirally. Something that people don't realize is that the more you use drugs, any drugs, the more you get accustomed to that dose, and soon enough you need a higher and higher dosage to get the same effects.

It's because of that, that TK eventually turned to heroine. He'd always hated t-shots as a kid but because he needed it so often he became very good with needles. It's not like he was sharing them, he always got clean ones. Either from the store or the shelter and he was as safe as he could've been given the circumstances.

It all went by so fast, his past life slipping away before his eyes. He got in too deep, ran out of money and had to find different ways to pay for what he needed.

Though in the end it hadn't mattered how safe he'd been, he overdosed. Though it was this final hit to rock bottom that brought TK, at that point, to the most difficult part of his adult life, pregnancy.

//

"That's impossible, I've been taking T since I was a kid, I was on hormone blockers!"

"It's unlikely yes, but not impossible. Tyler, TK, you are pregnant. I have some information here that you can look at and when you're ready to talk we can discuss your options. Wether that be keeping your baby or, possibly, having an abortion."

//

Tyler had been more than terrified, how could he make a decision this important alone? He couldn't go to Alex, surely not his parents and by now he'd lost all his friends. He was not ready to be a parent, that he knew.  

After weeks of deliberation TK decided he would keep his baby and hopefully adopt her out to family who could take care of her. But when she had opened her eyes for the very first time, staring up at him with wonder and adoration, he knew he couldn't let her go.

He didn't know it then, but keeping Charlie had been the best decision of his life and since then he's never looked back.

                                 ——

"Hey, Greene?," TK asked casually, glancing up from the floor. Broom griped tightly in his hands. "Do you know anything about new positions in other districts?"

"Thinking of moving you and little miss mazel?" The other replied in a playful tone.

Eric had turned away from the fire engine, rag still held tightly in hand, glancing up at TK. Greene had a jovial smile so bright that TK could already feel the corners of his lips twitching up.

"Oh, I don't know.. Just thinking that maybe a change might be good." His eyes darting nervously between his senior and the stations floor.

Green seemed to ponder for a moment before turning back to him.

"Well you got dual certified right? Last I heard there was an ambo opening in Austin." Tyler's eyes widened, that far away.

"Texas?"

"Yeah. You interested?"

Thought started to flash by, he knew it'd be all well and good until the neighbourhood found out he wasn't at all like the white, cishet, Christian he appeared to be. What would a bunch of conservative Texans do to a trans, gay Jewish man, who'd given birth to a baby girl?

"In Texas? I don't know man, probably not." He replied sullenly.

"I'll keep your hat in the ring just in case."

                                ——

A pounding interrupted the peaceful silence of both TK and Charlie's apartment. The door chain rattled as someone roughly hit the hard wood, over and over.

"Let me in TK!" Alex's voice screamed out.

A chill went up his spine, like ice water being thrown down his back. TK stood up straighter and made his way over to the entrance of his home.

"Let me in!" Alex yelled out again, voice carrying through the entire apartment.

Thank god Charlie was still in bed, that kid slept like a rock. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was out, o she'd slept through an entire thunderstorm. It was incredibly hard to wake her once she was down, which TK was very thankful for right now.

"Leave Alex! I have to take Charlie to school." He yelled back at man behind the door.

TK realized his mistake as soon as he spoke, the other man quickly yelling back through the door.

"I can help with that baby! C'mon!" If TK didn't know better, Alex could have almost sounded sincere.

But he wasn't an idiot, he knew what this was really about. He also knew that as soon as his 'sorry' phase was done Alex would go right back to how things were before.

"If you don't leave now I'm calling the cops for violating your restraining order! Go now!" Fear swam through TK's stomach, internally begging for Alex to just leave.

"Fine! I'll be back!" Alex had never truly cared about him, he knew that now. After what happened how could he not.

//

TK was in pain, he hadn't realized it until now, but he was hurting. This was going to be the death of him if he didn't change and he couldn't leave his baby girl all alone. It had hurt more that coming down from drugs the first time and all the times after that too.

It was just a slap to the face, but it wasn't just a slap. Certainly he'd sustained worse injuries, but this had been the last straw. Alex had hit him before, belittled him, neglected him, forced him to do unsavoury things, things that left a bad taste in his mouth.

But he'd never done it in front of Charlie before, never. TK had heard he scream, seen the tears roll down her eyes and watched as Alex stormed out the apartment in a rage. So no, it wasn't just a slap in the face, it was a revelation.

So that's how they ended up here, all their belongings quickly packed up into TK's car driving to his dads house. They hadn't see each other in way too long, but right now he needed his dad.

Charlie had stirred awake as TK pulled into the driveway of his childhood home. TK unclasoed his seatbelt as the little girl rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Daddy, we d'er 'et?" She asked in a soft, tired voice.

"Not yet sweetie, I'm gonna go check to see if everything is ready and if it is I'll come get you. You just go back to sleep okay?"

"M'kay."

//

Things had sort of worked out in the end, even though Alex finding their new apartment was more than a setback in both he and Charlie's lives.

"Charlie? Charlie barley, Charlie barley bee? Where's my bumble bee?" TK called out.

He wandered through their apartment halls, peaking around corners, trying to find his little baby. Rounding a final corner he came face to face with his baby girl, a blanket draped around her shoulders covering her head slightly.

TK scooped her up into his arms and spun her around, only stopping to gently tickle her tummy.

"There you are!" He cried out in mock outrage and surprise.

"Ahhhh!" Charlie yelled in a mess of playful, glee filled screams.

TK fell backwards onto the couch the young girl held softly, yet firmly in his arms. She leaned back into her dads chest hands making a grabbing motion, trying to play with his hair.

"Bababa! I caught-ed you! I did you've been catch-ed-id!"

He smiled into the little girl's hair, she squirmed in his hold, joyfully kicking her feet. Charlie threw herself backwards into his arms over and over, causing TK to let out whatever was left in his lungs as she swung about.

"Daddy!" She cried out again.

TK chuckled at her antics, pressing his cheek to hers, faces side by side, holding her tiny little hands in his much larger ones.

"What do I win for catching you bubba?" He asked jokingly, rocking her side to side.

Her feet swung back and forth, eventually she became too wiggly to hold in his arms and she began to push away again.

"Daddy!"

"Charlie!" TK called back in the same tone.

Charlie slid off his lap and grabbed the tv remote off of the coffee table. She slowly threw herself back onto the couch, trying to get back up. TK chuckled to himself, she was too small to just sit down so she had to use one leg on top of the couch to pull herself up.

When her mission was finally accomplished, Charlie pressed the hunk of plastic into her dad's chest and sat down next to him. She pushed her face into his side playfully.

"Wanna watch the TV with me Charlie bee?"

Her response what immediate, head shooting yo from where her forehead had been resting on his shirt.

"Ews!" She yelled out excitedly, arms flapping up and down beside her.

"The news? What is with you kid, I've never met another two year old who likes the news." TK asked, a playful smile on his face.

"Ewws! Ews!" She cried out again at the seemingly arborant lack of outdated musak and weather reports.

"Okay, okay, I'll put on the news." As soon as the tv was turned on Charlie jumped up from her sitting position on the couch cushion and threw herself back into TK's lap.

An older grey haired man came into frame.

"Uncle Bob!"

"Yeah! Uncle bob? Since when is he your uncle?"

"F'ever." She mumbled out, eyes glued to the television in front of her.

"Since forever? I don't know about that."

"Mmmhmm." She replied forcefully.

"Okay then."

The noise of the tv filled the apartment Charlie enthralled with local news stories and TK enamoured by his little girls reactions to what was being said.

Suddenly, a new segment cut through his daze and seemed to finally bring Tyler's attention back up to the screen.

"And now a story all the way from Austin, Texas. A fire crew lead by New York's own Owen Strand a former NYFD fire captain and now..." the sound drowned out, he barely heard anything after the name.

Owen Strand, His dad.

"Hey baby, how would you feel about moving to Texas?"

Thanks again for reading, let me know if you want/what you want to see in chapter two!

[dancermk]

I’m a little disappointed to see so much discourse, fandom competitiveness, and plain arguing going around at the moment in regards to queer film/TV. People complaining about too much sex, not enough sex, too cheesy, made for the hets, too happy, too sad, too realistic, too unrealistic, and a million other petty issues. I, for one, am a queer person in my 50s and I grew up with practically zero representation! Yes, we want to continue onwards and upwards with quality and varied shows BUT let’s be HAPPY we now have representation! Like, actual shows where the central characters are queer, not just a side character who gets f*cking murdered! There is room for all different types of representation - so enjoy the types you like, and let others enjoy what they like.

And on a side note: progress is progress and film/tv is a business that has to turn a profit! If some queer content is made to appeal to the straight community, and will also act as a means of reducing homophobia and increasing understanding, then that’s a good thing. That means in the future more and more content will include queer stories and representation. If only 10% (ish) of the population is the maximum target audience then shows won’t keep getting made!

There is a huge backlash all over the world right now - a “push back” by conservatives and religious groups that want to wind back the clock, and specifically the last decade of advances.

So stick together queers and LGBTQIA+ allies.

I’m super happy knowing I don’t have to wait years between content anymore. And I’ve loved all different types of shows over the last 5 years, for lots of different reasons!

Interview with the Vampire - is giving me the toxic, passionate gothic love affair I’ve always wanted. And addressing interracial relationships.

Heartstopper - is filling me up with pure joy and hopefulness for the future.

Shameless - gave me Ian and Mickey - unique, anti stereotypical gays with a tragic yet ultimately beautiful love story spanning 11 years

Lone Star 911 - is giving me TK and Carlos whose sexuality barely factors into the storyline! Yay!

Looking - gave me an authentic queer experience and an intoxicating love triangle.

Red, white and Royal Blue - gave me a sweet, cute romcom that allowed reality to be sidelined. Fun escapism!

Young Royals - had me captivated by first love and intense angst.

Fire Island - an underrated romcom that made me laugh so hard I cried.

Sex education - shoved the realities of sex in our faces and provided me with laughter and drama and a range of queer identities.

Gentlemen Jack -gave me historical lesbians with spectacular wit, and feminine power.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg- because there’s SO SO SO many more shows I could mention! Don’t at me because I didn’t mention YOUR favourite. This is my point! There is SO much great content it would take all day for me to include everything. This is just a sample - and that’s f*cking brilliant!!

So maybe we could all start posting/tweeting etc about what WE DO LIKE / LOVE / MAKES US FEEL LOVED AND SEEN and put down the device if we’ve got nothing nice to say.

Sending everyone a love filled week! 💜

[pensbridge]

The Boys + Wedding Cake

[redvelvetcupcakes21]

Me: there's a pattern here, I can sense it.

[welcometololaland]

no but the way I am BEGGING for a comparison gifset between Alex unbuttoning Henry's shirt carefully and TK ripping off Carlos' buttons 🙏🙏🙏

[enfernalinferno]

So this year for pride I thought I'd draw some of my favorite canon couples

Click for better quality | my ask box is open for requests

[tmylmip]

Wow, if I had a nickel for every time a white boy with daddy issues went down to Austin and hooked up with the love of his life, a Latino who's grappling with living up to his parent's legacy, in a shitty bar, only to end up fleeing and ghosting him because oh no he caught ✨️feelings✨️, I'd have two nickels.

Which isn't a lot, but it is weird that it happend twice, right?

[actuallysara]

something something about curly haired men wearing burgundy tank tops

[heartstringsduet]

Spent the night drawing all of these and I had a blast. Thanks for prompting me @herefortarlos @ladytessa74 @carlos-tk @lutavero @sloganeeer @wtfuckevenknows . Did some more realistically, took some liberties with others. Anyway loved getting some drawing practice in, especially with characters I had no idea about <3 Will do this again 🌼

[rafascosmic]

happy pride month y’all 🏳️‍🌈🫶🏻

[aplaceinme]

Summary: A rehearsal dinner. A wedding. Four couples. Two idiots (obliviously) in love. And a plan to get those two together.

Read it on AO3

[yorit1]

[watmalik]

This will get completed… eventually… one day.

[passinhosdetartaruga]

Rewatching 9-1-1 Lone star and i wish they brought Alex (TK’s ex boyfriend) back just like they did Abby in 9-1-1. Imagine they have a call and TK is just like “hello sir, everything is going to be… wait ALEX?!?!”

[freneticfloetry]

a small request of fandom

as we celebrate the release of RWRB

I would like to kindly request, from both my excitement to watch the movie and my existing spot in Tarlos fandom

that all the talented fan artists out there who will be blessing us with their work take a few minutes to make sure the shade of brown they use to depict a character of color is representative of their actual skin

please and thank you

[beautifulhigh]

B & S 💕💕💕

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

Once upon a time I had Tarlos blacklisted. I know, I know. But it never really interested me from the start. Then people were UNHINGED with the ice arc and didn't always tag properly and so it crossed my dash. And the whole angst of sitting by your ex's bedside, hoping he would pull through? That changed my mind.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

Alex is fiercely protective of Henry. Like "would go to war for him" protective. The realisation started when he wrote about wanting to fight everyone who ever hurt him (even though that included him) and it doesn't stop there. He is determined to make sure Henry has agency in his new life Stateside, even down to letting him choose where they eat that night or where they're going to disappear to for a few weeks off-grid.

If Henry wants to do something or try something then Alex is the biggest cheerleader, even if it's not the best idea to begin with. (Alex works his way around a lot of bad cooking for a while and never once even suggests Henry takes lessons or points him towards YouTube channels. This is Henry's path, he gets to walk it and trip over on it all by himself. Alex will just pick him up, and maybe pick up pizza once or twice.)

He never wants to, even unintentionally, make Henry feel like something is being decided for him or that there is a way things have to be. Henry spent too long feeling shackled by that and, well, they're "living in the Land of the Free now. So be free, H."

Ask me stuff about my 'ships, A-z style