Hello! So it's been awhile since I've posted anything, but NBC's new show The Night Shift has clearly given me some inspiration. I'm digging TC and Jordan, hence this oneshot. There will definitely be some more stories to follow, especially after last night's finale, but I'll start with this one. The Night Shift isn't mine. Enjoy!
"Hey, T," Topher calls, sticking his head out of Janet's hospital room as TC walks by, heading towards the doors, more than ready for this shift to be over. He's set on going home and drowning his sorrows in some whiskey while he contemplates why the hell he thought it was a good idea to grab and kiss Jordan in the locker room the same day her boyfriend decided to move to San Antonio.
"Yeah, Toph?" He stops outside the door. "Are the twins good? Janet?"
"Yeah, yeah, everyone's fine. Perfect," he adds with the grin of a new father. "Can you grab Jordan and come back? I gotta talk to the two of you about something."
"Sure," TC says slowly, feigning nonchalance. "But you're sure I just can't handle it?" he asks.
"No, I need both of you. Just find her before she goes home for the day," he instructs, retreating back into the room.
"Okay," TC mutters to himself. I'm going to kill Kenny, he thinks to himself, figuring the nurse couldn't keep his mouth shut and told Topher about what he walked in on earlier. And now Toph wants to talk to the two of them. Great. He continues down the hallway, his eyes searching for the one person he was planning on avoiding for as long as humanly possible. He spots her brown hair as he turns the corner. And she's talking to Scott, even better.
"Hey, Jor," he says, coming up behind her and placing a hand on her lower back for the sole purpose of pissing off Scott. It works. She jumps slightly.
"Now's not really a good time, T," she snaps with a pointed glance at Scott, who does not look at all happy with TC's proximity to his girlfriend.
"Yeah, TC," he says with a glare. "Not a good time." He steps closer towards Jordan in a blatantly obvious display of possession.
"Toph's looking for you," TC says, completely ignoring Scott.
Jordan sighs. "I'm sorry," she starts, turning back to Scott. She knows this is not going to go over well.
"Are you kidding me?" Scott snaps, proving her right. His hands clench into fists by his sides and he opens his mouth, ready to let TC know exactly what he thinks, but she interrupts him.
"Look, just meet me back at my place, okay?" she asks. "I won't be long," she adds at the look on his face. "It's Topher. It could be something about the twins. I'll see you soon." While TC might try to keep her here for something stupid, she knows that Topher wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. Scott will just have to deal with that. Unfortunately she's going to have some major explaining to do once she gets home.
He opens his mouth to retort, but TC is already leading her back down the hall to Janet's room, his hand still resting lightly on her lower back. TC smirks, enjoying Scott's anger and his own success. Once they turn the corner, she pulls away from him.
"What does Topher want?" she asks, hoping that it's not a lecture for the two of them. Gossip travels like wildfire in this godforsaken hospital, and she's pretty sure Kenny isn't the type to keep his mouth shut.
"Don't know," he says with a shrug as they reach the door. "Guess we're about to find out." He pushes the door open and heads inside.
"Jeez, T. You could knock," she says, following him into the room as he plows inside without warning.
Topher lets out a chuckle as they come into the room. "Come on, J. You of all people should know that TC has no manners." Both Jordan and Janet laugh at the look of offense on TC's face. Jordan heads straight for the bassinets in the corner of the room.
"Can I?" she asks, looking towards Janet.
"Of course," she says from the hospital bed.
Jordan grins and scoops a baby from one of the bassinets, cradling her to her chest. The baby settles her head onto Jordan's shoulder with little complaint. "Hello, sweetheart," she says softly. "She's beautiful," she adds, looking to Topher who smiles in response.
"I know," he says with a grin. "You want to hold her?" he asks, turning towards the end of Janet's bed, where TC is currently standing. He gestures towards the other twin. TC falters slightly. "Go ahead, T," he encourages. "You did deliver her," Janet adds with a smile.
"Alright," he says, moving towards Topher with his arms outstretched. Topher lifts the sleeping baby and carefully places her into TC's waiting arms. He settles her lightly into his left arm, tucking her head into the crook of his elbow. He grins down at the baby, a genuine smile, so unlike the smirk he usually wears. He moves to stand next to Jordan, who ignores the warmth she feels in her chest when she catches sight of the baby, looking particularly tiny in TC's arms. Whenever she sees him interacting with children, she can't help the feelings that surge through her. He is, surprisingly, very good with them and she can't help but picture him as a father. She rarely gets to see him with a baby in his arms, though, and it causes an especially strong rush of warmth, accompanied by a picture of him cradling their baby in his arms. She ignores the tugging she feels in her chest.
"Jor's right, Toph. They're beautiful," he says as he glances down at the baby in Jordan's arms. "Thankfully they don't look like you," he adds with a laugh.
"Very funny," Topher says as Janet and Jordan both chuckle lightly. He moves to sit next to his wife on the hospital bed, facing TC and Jordan. "So, look, I wanted to talk to the two of you about something." Jordan and TC glance at each other, wondering what on earth Topher could want from the two of them.
"We wanted to talk to you," Janet says from her spot beside her husband. If anything, this serves to make the two of them even more confused.
"The suspense is killing me, Topher," TC says dryly. "What is it?" He can't imagine what Topher needs from them.
"We want you two to be godparents," Topher finally says, looking up at Jordan and TC with a hopeful smile.
"Dibs on the breach twin," TC is quick to claim, relieved that he isn't on the receiving end of Topher's disapproval about his and Jordan's kiss.
"You can't call dibs on a baby," Jordan says at the same time Topher sighs, "Of course you do," in a voice that suggests he's resigned himself to TC's antics.
TC ignores them both. "I like her," he finally says with a soft smile, looking down at the baby in his arms. Jordan's heart warms at the sight and she curses her reaction to TC with a baby.
"Let him have the difficult one," she says to Topher. "Maybe he'll finally understand what it's like for us, dealing with him every day," she adds with a grin.
TC shoots her a mock offended look. "You wound me, Dr. Alexander."
She opens her mouth to shoot back another retort, but is interrupted by Janet. "Actually, we were hoping that both of you would be godparents to her," she says. "After all, you did deliver her."
"Janet's sister and her husband are going to do it for this one," Topher says, gesturing towards the twin in Jordan's arms.
"I'd be honored," Jordan says with a smile at Topher and Janet.
"Of course I'll do it," TC says with a smirk. "After all, she's the reason I got my hands up into Janet's – "
"TC!" Janet interrupts sharply, as Jordan leans over and smacks him in the shoulder with the hand not cradling her twin.
"Hey," he turns towards Jordan. "No hitting! I'm holding our goddaughter here."
Jordan ignores the way her heart flutters when he says "our" and says, "I'm pretty sure you can handle a slap without dropping the baby. Unless you've lost some of those muscles you seem to love showing off at every opportunity."
"Don't pretend you didn't used to love these muscles, Jordan. You probably still do, if the way your eyes were devouring me in the pool was any indication." He smirks at the look of indignation on her face.
"Oh, please," she scoffs, but she can feel her cheeks turning pink.
"Don't be embarrassed, Jordan," Janet pipes from her hospital bed. "I'd ogle those muscles, too, if I got the chance. Don't let it go to your head," she adds in an aside to TC, whose smirk has turned into a full-blown grin at the turn of conversation.
"What do you mean you'd ogle them?" Topher demands.
"Oh, honey, you know you have nothing to worry about. I love you. But don't pretend that you don't know that TC is some serious eye-candy."
Topher sputters, trying and failing to come up with something to say. "Is that true?" he finally asks, turning to Jordan. She stares at him, eyes wide, looking very much like a deer caught in headlights. Her mouth opens and closes a few times, but nothing comes out. At this point, TC's is practically beaming, looking every bit like the cat that got the canary.
"Come on, Dr. Alexander," TC says, his eyes twinkling. "Answer Dr. Zia's question," he teases.
She glares at both TC and Topher, trying to come up with a way to diffuse her current situation. She does not want to answer this question in front of TC, particularly not after what happened in the locker room not even an hour ago. Obviously the answer is yes, but she doesn't want to admit that to him.
"Well?" Topher asks, enjoying teasing Jordan almost as much as TC.
"Fine," she snaps. "Yes, alright? TC is hot. I know it, Janet knows it, he clearly knows it. Happy?" she asks
"I think I was just insulted," TC says and Jordan rolls her eyes. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" he teases.
"As if he wasn't cocky enough already," Jordan mutters under her breath.
"Unfortunately, he never seems to be shirtless around me, though," Janet muses, rejoining the conversation. "Maybe it's just for you, Jordan," she says with a smirk, turning back to Jordan, whose face now feels like it's on fire.
"TC's like a peacock," Topher jumps in, still trying to recover from the fact that his wife wants to ogle his best friend's muscles. "He preens."
"I do not preen!" TC barks and Jordan lets out a loud laugh.
"Looks like the tables have turned, Dr. Callahan," she says with a gleam in her eye.
"Yeah, yeah," he mutters, allowing Jordan to revel her victory. She always was an exceptionally able verbal sparring partner, and he's missed their back and forth. Silence falls in the room as TC and Jordan both look down at the babies in their arms and Topher and Janet exchange knowing looks.
"I'm going to teach this one to raise hell," TC finally says with a smirk. Janet shoots a look at her husband that very clearly says oh god what have we gotten ourselves into? Topher shrugs in response. He's known TC for long enough that he knows nothing will stop him once he's got his mind set on something. Jordan gives him a glare, but she can feel the corners of her mouth twitching, and she knows he can see it.
"And your Aunt Jordan is going to teach you how to get away with it," he adds, whispering conspiratorially in the baby's ear. "She looks like she's a goody two shoes, but that's only because no one ever catches her breaking the rules." He shoots a smirk at Jordan, who looks offended.
"I am not that bad!" she argues, indignant. Topher snorts, and she shoots him a glare that has him quieting down instantly.
"Mexico. 2008," is all TC has to say.
"What happened?" Topher asks, unfamiliar with this particular story and eager to hear more details about Jordan's rebellious phase.
Jordan turns to TC, her eyes narrowed. "One word, TC Callahan. One word and you'll have another bruise on that pretty face of yours. And trust me, it'll be a lot worse than the one Ragosa gave you."
TC doesn't doubt this. After all, he was the one who taught her how to throw a punch. "Aw, Jor. You think my face is pretty? That's sweet," he says with a smirk. "I think your face is pretty, too," he adds with a wink, and though his voice has a teasing lilt to it, she can hear the underlying sincerity in his words. Once again, she ignores the fluttering in her chest. Damn TC and his charm.
"I'm serious, TC. Not a word," she says, ignoring the smile that's threatening to form. He makes it so difficult to stay angry.
"Your Auntie Jor is a troublemaker," he says in a singsong voice to the baby in his arms. "But her secrets are safe with me," he adds, looking at Jordan.
"Aw, man," Topher whines. Janet swipes at his shoulder and Jordan lets out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, buddy," TC says. "But some things should stay in the past, I suppose." Jordan shoots him a grateful look, which he returns with a smile. "Of course, I can't make Toph forget all the misdeeds that he himself was witness to," he adds, smirking at his best friend, who chuckles.
She groans. "That was a long time ago, boys," she reminds the two grinning idiots.
"Of course," TC agrees. "Now you're the big bad chief of the night shift. Dr. Alexander's wild days are over. No more drinking Topher and the guys under the table with tequila shots. Shame," he says with a shake of his head.
"Not to mention spending the night in jail," Topher adds with a far off look in his eyes as he remembers the sight of Jordan sitting in a jail cell at a Baltimore police station.
"That was one time!" she cries at Topher. "And it was your fault," she adds, jabbing a finger at TC's chest.
He adopts a look of innocence. "If my memory is serving me, you were the one who ended up in handcuffs, darling. Are you sure you want this criminal as your daughter's godmother, Janet?" Jordan shoots him a murderous glare. She's never going to live that down, not as long as TC and Topher have working memories.
"Oh, I'm sure about Jordan. It's you I have my doubts about," Janet shoots at TC, who sputters, trying to think of a comeback. Jordan smiles in gratitude, and Janet winks in response. "I trust you'll pull it together, TC?"
"Are you kidding?" he scoffs. "Team Alexander and Callahan? We're gonna be great," he asserts confidently. "Yeah?" he asks quietly, quirking an eyebrow at Jordan who smiles in agreement. Topher can't quite disguise his snort of laughter and Janet chuckles lightly. "What?" TC asks, indignant. "Jordan and I make a great team."
"Yeah!" Jordan jumps in, quick to defend herself seeing as her criminal record was just brought to light. "T and I are going to be awesome godparents."
"The best," he adds with a smile at her.
"The best," she repeats softly, grinning up at him.
"Alright, alright," Topher says, breaking up the moment forming between the two of them. He puts his hands up in surrender. "You two will make great godparents. I have no doubts, otherwise we never would've picked you."
"Jordan, we're trusting you to keep him in line, though" Janet adds.
"Oh, don't worry," she says. "I'll keep both of them line." TC rolls his eyes but doesn't defend himself.
"If anyone can, it'll be you, J," Topher says with a glance towards TC, who sticks his tongue out in retaliation.
"Look at that, the two of them will get along great," Jordan says. "They're clearly in the same stage of maturity." TC responds by sticking his tongue out at her this time. Janet and Topher both chuckle.
"I'm going to be her favorite," he grumbles, frowning slightly at the teasing.
Jordan rolls her eyes. "Of course you are, because you're going to sneak her candy and ice cream and toys, and leave me to be the bad guy who says no."
"No, no, Jor. We are going to leave Toph and Janet over there to be the bad guys. We're going to be cool Uncle TC and Aunt Jordan. We already know that you're capable of tossing aside the rules, and I know you like ice cream just as much as I do," he adds with a wink.
She can feel her lips curving upwards without her permission. "Alright," she sighs. "For the ice cream, not for you."
"She's only a few hours old, TC. How about we wait a few years before you start filling her with sugar and sending her home bouncing off the walls," Janet says, despite the fact that she's resigned to the fact that TC will do whatever he wants.
"Alright, I'll settle for spoiling her with stuffed animals for now," TC concedes, looking to Jordan for confirmation.
She grins. "She's already got you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?" she asks, watching the way he stares down at her with what could only be described as awe in his eyes.
"Of course she does," he says. "Just look at that face." She does, and he's right. She's adorable, especially cradled in TC's strong arms the way she is right now.
"Finally, someone who can keep TC in line," Topher adds and Jordan giggles lightly in response. The twin in her arms starts to fuss and Janet holds her arms out. Jordan carefully hands the baby over to her mother.
"I should probably go," she says to Topher and Janet once the baby is settled in her mother's arms.
"Me too," TC adds, moving to hand his goddaughter to her father. "I've got to get to the toy store to get this one a gift for causing us all so much trouble last night."
"Rewarding bad behaviour. Of course," Jordan sighs.
"What do you say, Jor? Want to come with me to the store? You have to make sure I find the best for our goddaughter here," TC asks, turning towards her with a hopeful look twinkling in his eyes.
"I don't know, T," she starts, but he interrupts her.
"Come on," he cajoles. "We can get breakfast and discuss our god parenting techniques over pancakes." She still looks uncertain. "Blueberry… with extra crispy bacon," he adds in a singsong voice, not above using bribery and his knowledge of her favorite foods to get her to spend time with him.
"Discuss," she scoffs. "I think you mean argue about."
"Of course," Topher interjects. "When have the two of you ever agreed on anything?"
"Oh I can think of a few times," TC says with a smirk. "Come on, that's all the more reason for us to talk about it."
Jordan thinks of Scott, who she knows is waiting for her at her house, probably seething. She needs to diffuse his anger if he and TC are going to be working together from now on. She told him she would be back soon, and she's already spent more time with Topher and his family than she was planning on. She opens her mouth to tell TC she has to get home, trying to ignore the slightly pleading look he's sending her, but when she speaks that's not what comes out. "Alright," she grudgingly accepts his invitation. Scott can wait.
"Great," he says with a wide grin, and she can feel the corners of her own mouth turning upwards in response to his excitement. "See ya around Toph. Janet," he tilts his head towards the woman in the hospital bed.
"Congratulations," Jordan adds, smiling at the new parents. "You're buying," she says, turning towards TC.
"I wouldn't dream of making you pay for your own blueberry pancakes, Auntie Jordan," he agrees with a grin. "But you're going to defer to me on stuffed animal choice," he counters, and begins steering her towards the door, his hand returning to its previous spot on her lower back.
"Unlikely," she says, her eyes twinkling, as she falls into step beside TC.
Topher and Janet can hear their bickering continue as they move away from the room. Once it has faded away, the parents share a smile.
"How long do you think before she breaks up with Scott?" Janet asks her husband.
"Scott who?"
And there it is. The first story for The Night Shift has been completed. Leave a review if you're so inclined.