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TK chews on his lip as he and Nancy silently restock the ambulance. Things have been better between them since they repainted the rig with Tim’s name, more cohesive, but their interactions are still strained, and TK knows it’s entirely his fault. He could kick himself for the way he’s acted this past week - or even longer, if he takes Carlos’s words into account, which he always does.
They finish up their task and Nancy moves to jump down from the ambulance, but TK calls her back.
“Hey, Nancy?” he says. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
She looks at him, clearly surprised, but nods. “Sure. What’s up?”
TK hesitates, twisting his hands together in his lap. “I just. Well, we didn’t exactly get off to the best start, you know? And I wanted to apologise for acting like such an asshole. I was way out of line. Like, I’m the new guy, right? I shouldn’t have just come in and started messing with your systems like that, and I shouldn’t have tried to push it. I thought I was helping, but in reality, I was just making your job harder, and I’m so sorry for that.”
Nancy nods, giving him a tight-lipped smile. “Thank you for saying that,” she says. “And… Maybe I need to apologise, too. I was a little hard on you about the whole thing with Captain Vega’s daughter. I know you meant well.”
“Nah, I deserved it.” TK waves her off, relieved when she doesn’t try to contradict him. He meets her eyes, a smile of his own on his lips. “Look, I can’t change what I did. But maybe I can make it up to you?”
She quirks an eyebrow. “How so?”
“Well, for starters, next time I cross a line, I am giving you full permission to smack some sense into me.” TK grins when Nancy bursts out laughing. It feels like some of the tension has started to dissolve, and he feels ten times lighter. “I’m serious!” he continues. “At least tell me if I’m being a jerk again.”
“Okay,” Nancy replies, nodding. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Strand.”
They shake hands, both chuckling softly, a tentative peace falling between them. TK clears his throat, and Nancy waits expectantly, a confused frown appearing on her face; clearly, she’d thought they were done.
“There is one other thing I thought of.” TK digs in his pocket, pulling out a folded slip of paper and handing it over to her. She takes it warily, raising an eyebrow at him, and TK rubs the back of his neck nervously. “The team and I sometimes go over to my boyfriend’s place after shift or on days off to hang out,” he explains. “I’m really sorry we never invited you before, that was awful of us, but we’re meeting there again on Friday and we’d really love you to come. That’s his address.”
Nancy’s lips part in shock, and she glances between the paper and him. “TK…” she sighs, shaking her head. “This is really nice of you, but you shouldn’t feel like you have to invite me because you feel, I don’t know, guilty, or because we’re on the same team now.”
She reaches out to give him the slip of paper back, but TK just pushes it back in her hands, eyes wide and earnest. “That’s the point, Nancy. We’ve always been on the same team, or we’re supposed to have been. We want you there, I swear. All of us.”
Nancy swallows. “You sure?” she asks, and TK thinks it’s the most uncertain he’s ever seen her. Nancy’s always seemed so confident, so sure of herself and her place, and a wave of guilt washes over him for never making an effort to properly get to know her before. Especially after Tim died; they’d all seen how much it had affected her, and they still hadn’t done anything.
He smiles at her. “Absolutely. No pressure to come if you don’t want to, but the invite is always there.”
She nods, pocketing the paper. “Thanks, TK. I’ll think about it.”
With one last smile, she jumps down from the rig and walks away. TK watches her go, a weight lifted off his chest. He knows it’s going to be a process, getting Nancy to trust him, learning how to work with her and Tommy, but he’s beginning to feel like he’s ready for it.
And, he thinks, this has been a pretty good start.