The alarm clock, as always, went off way too early for Theo's liking. He glared at it, the noisy beeping filling the room until he groaned and slammed the snooze button. The room quieted enough that he could faintly hear Cyrus shuffling around the kitchen already, humming and making breakfast. He didn't recognize the song, but then again, Cyrus's taste in music was unpredictable. He could listen to classic rock and then switch to some obscure pop song in half a minute. With a sigh, Theo forced himself out of bed and shrugged on his clothes for the day, the delightful scent of coffee greeting him the moment he set foot in the kitchen. Cyrus wordlessly handed him a cup and ruffled his hair.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" He asked.

"Continuing to cover your ass," Theo replied, inhaling the coffee. It almost sent a shiver down his spine. How one drink could be so intoxicating and vital to morning existence, he had no idea. He was just forever grateful for whatever sacred god had put coffee in the world. "What about you?"

"Just some meetings. I'm trying to sort out a spat with another gang," Cyrus offered vaguely.

"Wouldn't happen to be Oak Mayfield's gang, would it?" Cyrus scoffed.

"I have things settled with Oak, unless, of course, you have some information that disagrees with that." Theo sipped at his coffee.

"Do you really think someone who names his gang 'The Cardinal Rebels' is smart enough to mess with you?"

"Exactly." Cyrus grinned.

"So where are you meeting with this mystery gang?" Cyrus looked at him, his eyes dancing the way they always did when he knew something and didn't want to tell.

"Oh, I can't tell you that," He said. "You said Spiro was looking for a lead. Don't want to let you off easy with a hot tip."

"Tease." Theo smirked into his coffee. "Well just be careful, okay? I don't want a repeat of Oklahoma."

"I'm always careful!" Cyrus objected. Theo shot him a pointed look. "Okay, with the exception of Oklahoma." Another look. "...And Topeka."

"Exactly. I don't want my eventual lead to be somebody found you with your brains smashed open."

"Oh, honey please. You're more likely to find a lead of me having smashed someone else's brains open."

"Nah, wouldn't happen. You're too clean for that."

"True. That's what I've got Mills for."

"You know we have him on record, right?"

"What are you going to book him for- petting a puppy too roughly?"

"Just because we can't arrest him doesn't mean we don't keep an eye on him."

"You keep an eye on everybody, The." Cyrus grinned. "I just like it better when you're keeping both eyes on me."

***

With no response on their restaurant lead on the Hunters yet, Spiro and Theo turned their attention to their other pressing matter; Oak Mayfield, the oddly named gang leader. Spiro thought he was in cahoots with Cyrus originally, but Theo knew better than that. Compared to the Hunters, they were nothing but a mild nuisance, but Oak himself was slowly gaining power and popularity. The rumors they had heard said he was planning something to put him and his gang on the high ground, and send the Hunters packing. An unlikely situation, but it meant Theo watched them more closely than Spiro did. Spiro was happy to let the gangs destroy each other—he got paid either way. But the destruction of the Hunters meant the destruction of Cyrus and nearly everything he held dear, and that made Theo's stomach twist in all kinds of ugly emotions. He knew the gang couldn't last forever. He knew he and Cyrus's relationship couldn't stay in the dark forever. But he didn't want things to end in total destruction; he wanted things to end neatly, with a massive arrest or something. He wanted Cyrus to be okay. How that would happen, he wasn't sure, but he'd find a way. Cyrus was his everything, and if the world had to believe he was hunting his own husband, then so be it. But Oak was a problem to that idea. He was planning something, if he hadn't done it already. Theo just wasn't sure what. But Oak and his gang were dirty. They didn't play by strict rules that kept them out of trouble like the Hunters did. They were filthy, didn't cover any tracks, and made themselves known. Whatever he had planned for Cyrus, Theo knew it would end ugly. That was just how things worked.

"Spiro! Adler!" The two detectives exchanged a fearful look. Two check ins from the Chief in the same week was never good. But it turned out that Edwards wasn't in the mood to rat them out today. "I sent a couple guys to check out that restaurant before you two started poking around, and according to the call we just got, Mossberg is there." Spiro practically leapt from his seat.

"Mossberg is there?" He echoed. "Now? Who's with him?" Edwards filled him in on all the details they knew while Theo paused, his blood running cold as he tried to think of a way to get word to Cyrus that the cops knew his location.

"Supposedly he's there with a bunch of his guys, meeting with what looks like another gang," Edwards was saying.

"Maybe Oak's," Spiro guessed, seeing as there were no other gangs in town that they knew about. Theo hadn't thought to ask this morning if the gang Cyrus was meeting with was from out of town.

"How do you boys want to go about this? We'll have to move fast. I can make some calls and get the place surrounded-"

"Yes," Spiro said, the second Theo said "No." Spiro and the Chief stared at him.

"By the time you get the place surrounded, someone inside might notice and they could get away," Theo explained.

"They have a better chance of escaping if we storm the place," Edwards said.

"If we surround them, then at least we'll slow them down. Mossberg will have nowhere to run." Spiro agreed. "This is a big moment, Theo, we gotta go now." He was practically bouncing with excitement. "This might be the big bust we've been waiting for!" Edwards left to get the restaurant surrounded while Theo mentally kicked at himself. He never should've brought up the restaurant in the first place— but how was he supposed to know that Cyrus still met there? He should've asked him first, but it was too late now. He and Spiro grabbed their guns, Spiro having to use the stupid tracking chip to find his again, of course, and they headed out.

This was the part Theo hated most about being married to a gangster.

He didn't mind the secrecy. Didn't mind the secrets, the lying, the constant wonder of if he was insane and Cyrus was really evil or if he even knew his husband at all— none of that bothered him much. But it was when the police got ahead; when Spiro got an actual lead. That's what terrified him most. Because there was nothing Theo could do. He tried his best to warn Cyrus when they got a lead or knew where he was, just so he'd have time to slip out and destroy as much evidence as he could before the police got there. But he didn't always get that opportunity.

Theo knew it was wrong. It was wrong to tip the scales in Cyrus's favor instead of the legal side of things, but he couldn't help it. He was a fool. A lovesick fool, and all he wanted to do was make sure Cyrus was safe and sound. That's what a loving husband was supposed to do, wasn't it? Keep their family safe? Cyrus was the only family Theo had, and that only made him more protective. Granted, Cyrus was just as protective of Theo as Theo was of him, but Cyrus wasn't the one committing a felony every time they caught whiff of a lead regarding the head leader of the Hunters. But sometimes, there wasn't time to warn Cyrus. Sometimes it was too suspicious to make a phone call or go in ahead of time to give him the heads up. It was then that Theo's blood ran cold, and every second was laced with the terror of not knowing if Cyrus had made it out okay. He always did, but still. The idea of him not escaping haunted Theo's nightmares, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop that. This was one of those situations. No warning time. So sheer, silent panic gripped Theo as he and Spiro drove to the restaurant.

As Theo had predicted, someone inside had noticed the police cars slowly surrounding the area, and the gangsters had decided to make a run for it anyway. They were desperate like that. When threatened, some gangsters almost went feral. They ran, yelled and shot wildly, thinking that the noise and chaos would provide enough confusion for them to get away. The scary part was that it usually did, so Theo wasn't surprised to see people running in every direction, some of them firing at the officers surrounding the building. Chaos. Just how they wanted it.

Theo's eyes searched the running people, his gun in hand. He didn't want to risk getting shot himself. That wouldn't do anybody any good. Cyrus was nowhere in sight, and he wasn't sure if that was to be considered a good thing or not. Not in sight meant he wasn't here, or it meant someone had already gotten him. Not in sight meant a lot of things, the majority of them awful. Theo knew Spiro was scanning the crowd too, and he prayed that if Cyrus was somewhere in this disaster, that he would find him before Spiro did. Spiro would just arrest and be done with it, and that also made Theo's gut twist. The shots continued, more of them this time as the crowd of gangsters began circling around the back of the police's blockade. It was never good to have people firing at your face and your back at the same time. Theo kept his focus to the front, since people kept popping out of the restaurant, and he was still searching for Cyrus. But Spiro looked to the back, and let out a shout.

"Theo! On your six!" Not really thinking about it, Theo spun around, spotted a man with a gun, and fired. They were in a high stakes situation, of course. Gangsters didn't care who died on the opposite side, and for the most part neither did cops. They tried to avoid firing at all costs, but if it was self defense, it was self defense. Theo didn't have the time or the capacity to think through his every move and its consequences. He just had to act, and if Cyrus wasn't here, then his first priority was keeping himself alive. His shot went high, but the man went down. Theo's eyes widened as blond hair fell to the ground, and the world seemed to pause. He should've taken another second to look at who he was firing at.

"Shit." Theo swore as a long stream of curses echoing his thoughts launched from Cyrus's mouth. The gangster dragged himself back onto his feet, looking directly at Theo, whose gun was still in his hand, a look of horror still on his face. Cyrus shot him a scowl of death, clutching his arm, and ran off. Spiro chased after him, but Theo knew that even with a bullet in his arm, Cyrus would get away, yet again. It was just his style. He also knew, of course, that he'd never hear the end of this.