"technically, you're standing on the trigger, the bomb is under here." Lightning says. he lays on his back and inches under the booth. his hands are already shaking but they all out trembling now. he's nervous. not only is Mack, his oldest friend, at risk of blowing up but so his Doc, his fiancé. one mess up and they would both be gone, so would he, but he didn't care about that. he wanted to get them out safely.

"hey watch that leg." Doc warns. the younger is inches from his bad leg, one bump and the older could blow everything up. Lightning pulls his leg away from Doc.

"I got it." Lightning assures. he's calm, confident, like he is on the track. his eyes focused, adrenaline pumping, hands shaking, and he feels so nervous he might actually pee himself.

"you're handling this remarkably well." Smokey says. Lightning frowns a little.

"this isn't the first time I've had to deactivate one of my dads bombs." Lightning mumbles.

"really?" Smokey asks. he can hear tools clanging together as Lightning searches for something. he grunts a little.

"my dad used to work in demolition. he handled the explosives. he used to trap me in my room, starting after he killed my mom. I was like 5 when this started. if I left my room he'd have one of these sitting in the floor in front of the door, so I wouldn't be able to get out. I'd have to stand on it until he either decided it had been long enough and he deactivated it, or he left the house and I could deactivate it... I generally waited for him, but there was a few times where he was gone for days and I'd get myself out. if I didn't wait for him, he'd beat me until I couldn't stand up anymore and if he stopped there I was lucky. he beat me with his hands, his belt, boards, tools, anything he could get his hands on. one time he threw a cinder block at me. it hit me in the head, almost took out my eye." Lightning explains, working on the bomb. "I remember that one pretty well because when I finally woke up he was laughing at the sound the block had made when it hit my head. then he broke my arm and told me to clean up the mess. when I struggled to do it with my broken arm he ripped his belt off and started wailing on me, knocked one of my teeth out with his belt buckle and broke another three. I still have a scar on my lip from it." Lightning adds. Doc frowns, he knows the scar, he's seen it a million times and kissed it a million more. he's ask about it previously, but Lightning had chose not to tell him and Doc hadn't pushed. Lightning still flinches every now and then whenever he kisses him, like the scar still hurts him.

"focus on the bomb kid." Doc says. he doesn't want to hear these things, they hurt him to hear. it hurts him to know the things the younger man went through.

"I am. I can do both. I told you, s'not the first bomb." Lightning mutters. "speaking of my dad, you remember when I refused to go to the gun range with you Smokey?" Lightning ask.

"uh, yeah." Smokey says hesitantly. he feels like he's about to learn something he wished he hadn't. he feels dread and he can see Doc tense up while Mack frowns, like they've both heard this story before and they hate it.

"well, when I was five, he found me and my mom. shot her in the head right in front of me. the he shot me. once I finally recovered, he put the barrel of the gun in my mouth, dry fired and told me next time the gun wouldn't be empty if I told anyone. when her funeral was coming up, he said we could go, I wanted to go, but I should've realized what he meant. the night before her funeral we went to the grave yard. he threw his bloody clothes into the grave of some old lady being buried a few rolls away from her. he threw the gun in and realized everything could be seen, so he threw me in after, told me to bury it all and then he left. guess he figured I'd either die down there or I'd be found and wouldn't be his problem anymore." Lightning says.

"kid you don't have to tell me this stuff." Smokey assures gently.

"what too graphic? I mean, I can make it not sound so bad. I probably deserved all of it and still do. I mean, I'm a pretty awful person. I'm an asshole and I'm pretty self centered." Lightning mutters. he slides out from under the booth and looks at Mack. "okay buddy, careful." Lightning says, watching Mack. Mack lets out a slow breath and slowly lifts his boot from the floor. there's an immediate sigh of relief and Doc wraps his arm around the younger the moment he stands up off the ground. he holds him tighter than ever before, even with one arm still in a sling, kissing his temple.

"fucking christ baby." Doc mutters, holding him tightly. Lightning buries his face into Docs neck and holds him tightly.

"hey! I got the bomb squad!" Sheriff shouts, carefully walking over.

"good, they can take these things with them." Doc says.

"kids already deactivated them." Smokey explains. they're carefully ushered from the area, to where the rest of the towns folk are at. they're just outside of Maters junkyard and everyone looks worried, though slightly relieved as they see the four come into view. Red doesn't care who sees he runs over and hugs Mack hard, nearly knocking the bigger man over. Mack grunts and doesn't even have a chance to hug him back before Red has let go and latched onto Lightning. Lightning yelps, but let Red squish him.

"we're okay." Lightning manages, squished to Reds chest.

"what the hell happened?" Sally ask.

"yeah, Flo said Mack stepped on a bomb?" Ramone ask. so Doc explains to them what happened, leaving out the sensitive parts of his lovers background, and that they all need to be careful until they get Lightnings dad under control. Red eventually sets Lightning down to walk over to Mack and talk to him, immediately Lightning is swooped into hugs from Flo, Mable, Louise, Sally, and Maddie.

"I stepped on a bomb and the girls are going nuts over the boss." Mack snorts teasingly. Lightning has an odd look on his face and he's pretty tense. he looks uncomfortable, but he doesn't push anyone away. he does shoot Doc a begging look and Doc chuckles softly, shaking his head. he clears his throat.

"ladies." Doc says firmly, eye brow raised. they all step away and Lightning lets out a breath looking slightly relieved, he goes immediately to Doc and cuddles up to his side. Doc doesn't like the PDA, but doesn't push the younger away. he throws his good arm around him gently and just holds him. he doesn't like it, but his fiance needs it. he needs Doc to hold him tightly right now, assure him everything is okay, to keep him together. he needs Doc pressed firmly against his side, a strong arm around his waist to keep him grounded. Doc doesn't want to let go, no matter how uncomfortable he is with the PDA in front of such a large group, because he's afraid the younger will have an anxiety attack or just freak out and break down into sobs. Doc decides he'd rather be uncomfortable then let his young lover break down and then later be embarrassed that he broke down in front of everyone. he gently squeezes the youngers hip gently, hoping to soothe him a little and Lightning relaxes ever so slightly. he huddles as close to Docs side as he can, looking slightly ashamed at his own actions, but Doc just holds tighter.

"you can handle a bomb but a couple women hug you and you lose your mind." River snorts. Lightning looks away, cuddling closer to Doc.

"two bombs." Lightning mutters, looking even more ashamed then he had before.

"leave him alone." Smokey says firmly. River steps back a little and Doc shoots Smokey a knowing look. Smokey doesn't know everything, but he's getting the picture as to why Doc is so gentle and careful with the younger man. he understands why the younger craves the attention of all of the older men in the town and practically beams when he's praised. he understands why the younger flinches when the wrong tone is used with him or someone startles him. he understands the overwhelming fear he's seen in the younger mans eyes when someone moves towards him unexpectedly or moves to quick for his eyes to focus and he flinches expecting punishment even if he's done nothing wrong, because thats what would happen when Lightning was younger. the boy was abused and despite being comfortable, he doesn't relax. he's always scared that someone, anyone, will decide he deserves the same punishment from them as his father gave him. he's even seen the younger flinch when Doc moves holds him occasionally. most importantly, he understands why Doc and the others in the town have normalized practically babying the younger man, because if they don't, they may end up sending him spiraling into an episode of thinking he deserves it all, deserves every punishment, and starts expecting them again. he could, and probably would from what Smokey knows about him, hurt himself if no one would actually punish him, for the simple fact he felt he deserved it.

"so, should we send you guys away somewhere safer than town?" Flo asks. Lightning cuddles closer to Doc looking away from everyone.

"yeah somewhere safer for all of us." Ramone agrees. Smokey doesn't miss the guilty and hurt look Lightnings face or the down right nasty look Doc sends Ramone, and he understands it. he even feels angry himself. Smokey sends the same dirty look at both of them. the younger man looks at his friends, looking almost ashamed and afraid. he's terrified they're going to throw him out for their safety. throw him out on his own to fend for himself, considering he can't even cook the younger man wouldn't last long on his own trying to run from his father. part of Smokey's brain wonders, if they threw him out without Doc, if the younger would willingly turn himself over to his father for the 'deserved' punishments. Lightning swallows hard, looking like he's fighting back tears.

"I-I'm sorry." Lightning manages quietly. Smokey sees red and speaks up before Doc can even think about defending his fiancé.

"safer? hell if that kid wasn't here right now, one of you could've stepped on that thing and you'd still be standing there waiting for the damn bomb squad to get you free, if you notice it was a bomb at all. with out him you lot all could've been dead! you're safer with him here where he can defuse everything. if he wasn't here, Mack would've been blown up." Smokey glares. Doc smirks a little, holding Lightning closer to his side, gently caressing his side with his thumb. he wants to sooth the younger man who looks ready to break down.

"everyone is safer here." Doc announces, because the whole town looks to him for leadership. "just keep an eye out, keep your phones on you, watch where you step. take care and keep an eye out. just be careful guys." Doc says. "this is a dangerous situation. deadly dangerous, far worse than the previous few years, so just watch out." Doc adds. Lightning crouches down when Bolt finally makes his way out of Maters trailer, running over excitedly to see Lightning.

"oh, hey buddy. good boy." Lightning murmurs, smiling and petting the pup. his tail is wagging excitedly and he's jumping all over Lightning, licking his face. he must be able to sense the stress rolling off him. Doc pats Bolts head gently.

"good boy." Doc says. Bolt licks Docs hand happily and barks, cuddling closer to Lightning. Lightning stands back up. "everyone just look out for each other, okay?" Doc ask. the town agrees.

"can we head back to town now?" Sally asks.

"we have to wait for the okay from the bomb squad." Doc says. Lightning cuddles closer to Docs side. Doc holds him closer as they wait around.

eventually they're all allowed to return to the town. they're careful and cautious as they do so. Lightning checks the front door to their house carefully, finding nothing he opens the door they head inside, checking the house over inch by inch. upon finding nothing they collapse together on the couch.

"h-heh, t'days been stressful." Lightning mumbles, there's already tears streaking down his face. he's now trembling and Doc pulls him over gently, holding him carefully.

"its alright kid. come on, come here." Doc soothes. Lightning curls up against him, trying hard to choke back his sobs. "it's alright baby, let it out. its okay." Doc assures. Lightnings lip quivers and he bursts into sobs against him. Doc wraps his good arm firmly around Lightning, kissing his head. "s'alright kid. its okay." Doc assures. Bolt jumps up and whines, curling against Lightnings side, resting his head on the mans leg. Doc runs his fingers through the younger hair gently. he's sobbing and rambling a bunch of things Doc can't understand. he simply continues to attempt comforting the younger man. "I know baby, it's alright. its alright." he soothes, pulling him closer. he pulls his arm free from his sling and pulls him closer, being careful with his bad arm. Lightning sobs into his side, hard enough he's shaking, until he feels like he can't breathe, until he can't sob anymore. he eventually dissolves into sniffles and hiccups, laying his head on Docs chest. Doc lets him, doesn't stop him or attempt to stop him. the kid risked his life to deactivate the bombs and Doc was going to hold him, soothe him, and let him do what he needed to do. Doc holds him, kissing his head, waiting until his sniffles and hiccups dissipate. he nuzzles his nose gently into the youngers blond hair. "you okay?" Doc ask softly. Lightning sniffles a little and sighs softly.

"y-yeah. m'okay. sorry." Lightning mumbles.

"don't be sorry kid. you're alright. you're okay." Doc assures gently.

"s'your arm okay?" he ask.

"yeah. my arm will be alright." Doc murmurs. he sniffles and huffs sitting up, wiping at his face.

"sorry." he mutters, looking at the wet spot on Docs shirt. its a nasty mixture of tears, drool, and snot.

"I'm not worried about it kid. I can always change my shirt." Doc assures. Lightning leans against him, reaching over to scratch Bolts head gently. "Smokey wants us to go back to Thomasville with him." Doc murmurs. Lightning looks at him.

"no. no way. I can't go back in that house." Lightning says quickly, tensing up. he can still see Doc, Mack, and Red tied up together on the bed and Chicks body laying on the floor. he can't go back to Smokeys house.

"easy baby, its okay. I already told him that we weren't going to do it." Doc assures, pulling closer. Lightning nods a little and cuddles up to him. "oh hey, I got you something." Doc says, getting up. Lightning separates away from him and sniffles wiping his nose onto his shirt with a mumble. Doc walks off and comes back with a small wrapped box. Monty looks up confused. "happy birthday." Doc mutters, putting his arm back into his sling with a wince. his birthday is tomorrow, but he wasn't expecting anything. actually seeing the present makes him slightly nervous. "s'nothing big or anything. couldn't figure out what you'd like." Doc shrugs. Monty hesitantly opens the present and smiles a little.