Mirror in the Sky, What is Love?
Complete. 20 chapters all on Ao3. E, 133k.
Firefighter TK Strand and window washer Carlos Reyes first meet far above the Manhattan streets, with TK rescuing Carlos from the forty-fourth floor of the Chrysler Building before his safety line snaps. When Carlos seeks his hero out to thank him, TK is going through a nuclear-bad breakup and back living with a father who is deeply affected by 9/11. But by letting Carlos into his life, maybe it’s TK who will feel himself falling.
Or: What if Carlos was the window washer that TK saved in the Pilot? And what if Judd was with Owen on 9/11?
Chapter 1 - Head in the Clouds: On a beautiful Manhattan morning in September 2001, Firefighter Owen Strand drops seven-year-old TK off at school. Within minutes, life changes forever. Nineteen years later, Owen is the captain of his fire station, and TK is a firefighter alongside him. Together, they attend an emergency at the Chrysler Building, and life is about to change again.
Chapter 2 - We Could Be Heroes, Just For One Day: On 9/11, Owen races to join the crew of Station 126 as the day’s emergency unfolds. In 2020, he receives a devastating diagnosis, and TK’s heart is shattered when proposing to Alex goes horribly wrong.
Chapter 3 - Sunrise's Yellow Noise: When Owen figures out why TK hasn’t shown up to work, the crew races against time to help him. Meanwhile, a recovering Carlos can't get his parents to leave. On 9/11, Owen and Judd are ordered to evacuate people through the underground Mall of the World Trade Center.
Chapter 4 - The Best Comfort-Dumplings in the City: While TK grapples with having to live with Owen again after his relapse, Carlos Reyes can’t get the hot firefighter who saved his life out of his mind.
Chapter 5 - To Live and Die in a Bath & Body Works: On 9/11, under the rubble within the mall, Owen and Judd try to make sense of what’s happening. In 2020, Carlos pays a visit to the firehouse crew who saved him – but one key member is missing.
Chapter 6 - I Just Love You: Carlos joins the 126 on a night out, but after he and TK share one dance, they decide they’d rather have a night in together.
Chapter 7 - One Night in Manhattan: A misunderstanding between TK and Carlos lands TK in trouble – but can Carlos help him in time? As Owen prepares for treatment, he remembers how he and Judd kept morale up while waiting to be rescued.
Chapter 8 - The Big Spoon: Carlos tends to TK’s wounds and the night takes a much happier turn.
Chapter 9 - A Rainbow on Morningside Avenue: The morning-after-the-night-before takes an unexpected turn for TK and Carlos. Owen secretly begins treatment and remembers the moment he was pulled out from the rubble at Ground Zero.
Chapter 10 - Falling: Owen opens up to Gwyn and Enzo about his diagnosis, while TK grapples with how his broken heart could be feeling something so strong for Carlos.
Chapter 11 - The Carlos Dilemma: TK and Carlos go on an actual date-date, and later test out how structurally sound Carlos’ bed is.
Chapter 12 - A Story of Storms and Stars: After dim sum at the Spring Street place, TK and Carlos grow even closer, but things spiral after Carlos lets something important slip. In 2001, a deeply bereft Owen is discharged from the hospital.
Chapter 13 - Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?: In both 2001 and 2020, Owen has a distressed TK on his hands. But Carlos arrives home to find a very welcome guest on his doorstep.
Chapter 14 - Cheer Up, Buttercup: TK is horrified when Owen adopts a Bernese Mountain Dog who also had lung cancer, but the dog has never met a man he can’t turn into a friend. Paul makes a connection with a woman he helps on a call, and Carlos receives life-changing news.
Chapter 15 - Under Pressure, That Burns a Building Down, Splits a Family In Two: TK and Carlos take a heartbroken Paul clubbing, but an incident leaves TK with flashbacks to one of the darkest times in his life. In 2003, Owen and Enzo both show up for TK at a disastrous Little League game.
Chapter 16 - Case of the Ex: A misunderstanding threatens to derail TK and Carlos’ romance just when things are getting serious – and in the midst of it, Carlos receives more shocking news. In 2014, an intervention is staged for TK by those who love him most.
Chapter 17 - Put the Load Right On Me: In 2020, TK fights for his life after an emergency call turns disastrous, and Carlos questions his right to stay by his bedside. In 2014, TK is out of rehab and feeling good, but he discovers that a stressed Owen is sleepwalking again.
Chapter 18 - In the Name of Love (Part 1): When TK wakes from his coma, Owen and Enzo must team up for an important mission.
Chapter 19 - In the Name of Love (Part 2): Owen and Enzo race to find Carlos, and the 126 unknowingly gather to watch a great love story unfold.
Chapter 20 - Infinitely More Powerful Than the Fear of Losing It: On the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, Owen and Judd are surrounded by the love of their family and friends. TK and Carlos take a vacation in the mountains, and while the aurora borealis shines around them, TK has an important question for Carlos.
Sometimes, he can feel the phantom bruise of the Narcan on his thigh, the light of himself blinking chaotically before snapping back on, how he’d sobbed against his terrified dad. But that’s not all there is anymore. He can still feel Carlos clinging to him as he was lifted to safety. He can still feel Carlos inside him, from nights ago, the angle he found, the way he moved. He can feel Carlos kissing his shoulder. And after. He can feel the after. Lying at the foot of the bed, spent and breathless, the weight of Carlos’ sleepy head in his naked lap, TK running his fingers through his curls. He can feel it all.
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