"me and Red? no." Mack says, shaking his head.

"you with Sally right?" Lightning asks.

"huh? no. no. we... we tried it, but uh... she ended up letting me down gently for a girl." Mack admits, chuckling.

"so that means you are free to see Red." Lightning grins. Mack says and lays back on the bed.

"come here." he said. Lightning walks over curiously, he yelps when Mack pulls him down onto the bed and curls up with him. "I'm not awake enough for this Lightning." Mack says, pulling the blanket over them. Lightning grunts and huffs, trying to shove away.

"let me go." he huffs. "Reds a better cuddle than you." he adds.

"thats rude." Mack huffs, letting go. Lightning wiggles free and heads back to the living room. Doc and Smokey were already gone, so Lightning lays back down on the couch with Red. the bigger man mumbles a little and wraps his arms around the younger, curling up with him.

"you okay?" Red asks, voice full of sleep.

"mmhmm." Lightning replies. Red rolls over, tucking Lightning between him and the back of the couch. Lightning grunts and cuddles him. "m'hanging out with you and Mack today." Lightning says.

"shhhh." Red murmurs. Lightning curls against him, letting himself fall back to sleep.

he wakes up, who knows how long later, alone in his and Docs bed. he yawns quietly, getting up and heads for the living room.

"Red? Mack?" Lightning calls looking around. he frowns and searches the whole house area, even their bedrooms, but neither is there. "thats great. Doc leaves me with them and they leave me." Lightning mumbled. he frowns a little until he hears the door to the garage open. immediately he panicked, despite knowing that not just anyone could get in, he took off to hide.

"Boss?" Mack calls. Red looks around.

"maybe he's still asleep?" Red ask.

"through the smoke alarm. doubt it." Mack mutters.

"its not his fault you caught the popcorn on fire." Red reminds him. he heads for Lightning and Docs room, paling. "he's not in the bed." Red frowns.

"don't panic! don't call Doc! he's here somewhere!" Mack says quickly.

"I'm not panicking. he probably hid. he's here somewhere." Red huffs. "don't panic Mack." Red murmurs, walking into Doc and Lightnings room. there aren't many places to hide in Smokey's house, so Red is sure they can find him easily, they just have to look. he walks over to the closet, hoping it'll be an easy find. "see Mack I bet he's in-WHOA! easy!" Red shouts jumping back with his hands up. he isn't sure what he'd been expecting, but finding the younger man hauled up in a closet with a gun pointed straight at the door was not it. Lightning froze a second. "easy. easy. lets put that down." Red says, staring at the barrel pointed towards his chest.

"R-Red...?" Lightning ask. Red nods quickly, staring at the gun.

"you find the- boss put that down!" Mack shouts, walking over. he jumps, startling all three of them as he swings the barrel towards Mack. Lightning swallows hard, trembling some. he certainly hadn't expected to ever point a gun at anyone, let alone Red or Mack.

"okay. okay. lets everyone, just relax a little." Red says, trying to sound soothing, but theres an edge of panic in his voice.

"I... I just..." Lightning managed. Red put his hands up, attempting to show the younger man that everythings okay, even if his hands are trembling.

"just put that down and relax." Red says softly. Lightning looked between them, then down to the shot gun. he hesitantly sets the gun back down in the corner of the closet. as soon as he dropped it, Red swooped him up in a hug. "where the hell did you even get that thing?!" Red ask.

"in the closet." he mumbles against Reds chest. Red sets him down gently, shaking him a little.

"you pointed a gun at us." Red says, eyes wide. Lightning steps back some, pulling free from Reds grasp easily, as the man isn't holding him hard.

"boss what happened?" Mack ask. Lightning shrugged slightly, keeping his mouth shut. he was quiet and embarrassed. Mack nods slightly and steps back. "I'll go try and make some new popcorn." Mack says, heading out of the room. Red pulls Lightning back into a hug gently, before pulling back to look him in the eyes.

"sorry if we scared you coming back in. we shouldn't have left like that... but Mack caught a bag of popcorn on fire and then himself trying to put the bag out. I carried it up stairs and he followed me. he's okay. real lucky he didn't get burned." Red explains. Lightning shrugged slightly, looking at Red. "sorry, we should have called down to you or something." Red sighs. Lightning shrugged again. "you okay?" he ask. Lightning nods him stepping away from him, eyeing the shot gun in the corner, palms sweaty. he hadn't even thought it could be Red or Mack. he'd just done exactly as Doc had told him before.

grab the gun and hide.

there'd be no getting Red to relax now. he was in big brother mode, protective and fierce.

"are you sure you're okay?" Red asks. Lightning looks up at him.

"don't think I've ever heard you talk this much." Lightning mumbles. Red lets out a nervous bark of laughter, pulling Lightning into the tightest hug he could.

"you pointed a shot gun at me. I think I have an excuse." Red laughs.

"I didn't mean to. I-I'm sorry." Lightning manages.

"don't worry about. just glad you realized it was me." he admits. "you gonna be okay?" Red asks. Lightning nods.

"yeah... I'm gonna go get a shower." he mumbles, pushing away from Red.

"okay. we'll be in the living room." Red assures. "a-and if Mack catches another bag of popcorn on fire I'll make sure you know whats going on." Red says, watching him walk out of the room quickly. he and Mack got damn lucky Lightning didn't shoot them out of fear, that he managed to recognize it was them. he heads back out to the living room, idley thinking if he should call Doc and warn him what had happened.

"hey Doc." Mack greets, phone to his ear. apparently Mack beat him to it. Red walks over and Mack turns on speaker phone.

"hey whats up? kid okay?" Doc ask.

"you've only been gone a few hours Hud, kids gotta learn to toughen up." Smokey warns.

"uh actually, I'm not sure if he's okay." Mack frowned.

"whats that mean?" Doc asks, an edge to his tone.

"well...." Mack trails.

"Mack caught a bag of popcorn on fire while Lightning was asleep and we didn't think to wake him up because well, Mack and the popcorn were on fire so we ran the bag of popcorn outside so it wouldn't stink up the house and I didn't even think about. I should have. we both should have. we didn't even warn him. we should have." Red rambles.

"spit it out Red." Doc orders.

"well I guess he got up and realized we weren't down here and when he heard us coming he took off to hide and we went looking for him and it was terrifying. we should have announced ourselves-" Red rambles again.

"someone spit it out!" Doc hisses.

"Red opened the closet and Lightning pointed a shot gun at his chest and then I came in and he pointed it at me." Mack finally says. they can hear the sounds of tires screeching.

"what!?" Smokey shouts.

"is everyone okay? did he shoot anyone?" Doc asks.

"uh, well, no. he didn't shoot anyone. Red managed to talk him down and get him to put it down." Mack replies.

"and the kid?" Smokey ask.

"took off running to hide in the bathroom." Red said.

"sonuva bitch. alright we're heading back." Smokey said.

"wh-what? no. we've got this. we're not teenagers babysitting a toddler." Mack huffs.

"no you're grown men babysitting a man who is on the edge of his mental state being completely wrecked and non existent and you let him get a hold of a gun!" Doc hisses.

"which, might I add, is comparable to allowing a young child to play with a gun while two teenagers are babysitting." Smokey frowns.

"we got him Doc, theres no reason-" Mack tries.

"we'll be home in 30." Smokey said and the phone clicks, ending the call. Mack groans lowly.

"go keep an eye on the boss. would'ya?" Mack asks. Red nods and heads for the bathroom. the door isn't locked so he walks in. Lightnings curled up in the bathtub, letting the water run over him, and his clothes. he's fully dressed in the shower and Red frowns crouching beside the tub.

"hey... wanna take your clothes off to shower?" Red asks.

"no." he mumbles.

"you okay?" Red ask.

"go away." Lightning mumbles.

"I want to make sure you're okay." Red murmurs.

"well I'm not okay?" Lightning snaps.