She doesn't bother to knock, instead sending a quick text message while trying to stem the guilt at dropping by so late. It wasn't as if he hadn't told her to do so - many times in fact. But she still had to fight the general feeling of being an inconvenience as she stood on the front doorstep, tugging her cardigan tighter around her.
There's a clattering of locks, and a moment later Mike pulls open the door, holding it open and inviting her to slip inside without comment. The house is dark and he makes no effort to light their way, but her eyes are accustomed to the dark anyway, and she's able to follow him with ease as he leads her into the kitchen. "Watch your eyes." He murmurs, a moment before pressing a button on the extractor fan, illuminating them both in a soft orange light. "Water?"
He's already flicked the kettle on before she can respond coffee, leaning back against the bench top and peering at her critically. "Nightmares again?" He enquires. "I've told you, I know the giant teddy seems scary, but he's just a dream, okay?" The quip breaks the tension that's been mounting in Kate, and she feels the weight fall off her shoulders as she laughs. "You didn't have to travel all this way just to see me."
"I ran out of coffee." She murmurs softly, raising a hand to fidget with her necklace in an absent-minded sort of way. "Is Rose asleep?"
Mike nods soberly. "Well, most people are at two in the morning. Have you slept at all?"
"A bit." Kate shrugs evasively, even though she knows Mike would have seen right through her lie anyway.
"Uh-huh." Mike says sarcastically, confirming Kate's thoughts. However, he doesn't press her, and for that, she's grateful. "So, what time does your shift start?"
"Six am." Kate half-laughs as Mike turns to her once more, eyes boggling at the early hour. "Yeah, I know. But we're not all self-employed and able to sleep in 'til noon."
"Well," Mike begins, scooping coffee and sugar granules into a mug. "How about you get through the day, and I take you out to dinner afterwards? And just so there are no awkward misconceptions, I would very much like it to be a date."
Kate doesn't even bother to smother her smile. "Well... I... I guess I'd have to check my diary. You know. I live such a full life and... so many guys to keep track of."
"Well, let me know." Mike shrugs. "Only reason I can fit you in is I had a last minute cancellation. I'm a busy guy. And I'm irresistible."
"With tickets on yourself." Kate bumps him lightly with her shoulder. "And... yes." She tucks her hair behind her ear and adds, "To dinner. Not the irresistible thing."
Mike hands her a mug of coffee and pours himself a glass of water, lowering his voice. "You know, Kate... if you're not ready to go back to work..."
"It's not that." Kate shakes her head, because that isn't the problem. Well, at least, not entirely. "It's... it's just... my head is just so full of noise that every time I try to shut my eyes I'm thinking all this... stuff..." She trails off, making a conscious effort to release the chain of her necklace before it breaks.
Mike sighs and leans against the bench top. "Like why does the penguin in Octonauts wear a scuba mask?" Mike supplies, nodding seriously. "That show opens up so many questions. Like, the cat I get. But the penguin? I mean, that show was nowhere near as weird as Telletubbies."
Kate snorts with laughter, perching on the bench top and smiling at Mike. She'd known if anyone could get her out of her own head, it would be him. "Bridie never watched it. It weirded me out too much. That baby-sun thing?"
"I know! Like... did the mother breed with the sun to create this half-solar, half-human baby that just giggles in the sky? Did it just appear one day? Is it a harbinger of doom? And let me tell you, there were some suggestible scenes with Tinky-Winky and that vacuum cleaner."
Kate claps a hand to her mouth to stop herself laughing out loud. Catching Mike's curious glance, she explains, "I just didn't think hearing you say 'Tinky-Winky' would ever be a thing I'd need in my life. So was that Rose's obsession?"
"No. Rose's obsession was Thomas the Tank Engine. And let me tell you, heading to the bathroom at one in the morning and accidentally kicking a toy which then starts 'choo-chooing' and whistling and takes off God-knows-where? I mean, not as painful as stepping on Lego but at least Lego doesn't have batteries and take off on you." He winks. "So... what was Bridie's?"
"Well... she watched a few kids shows. Cal got her into Saddle Club and Ocean Girl but mostly she just watched whatever we did. Old movies mostly. And anything with fairies in it." Mike rummages in a cupboard above her for a moment before withdrawing a tin of biscuits. Kate takes one, smiling softly. "I'm sorry I'm keeping you up in the middle of the night. I just... needed..."
"Me." Mike finishes with a grin, waving his hand around in a flourish. "Hey, like i said. I am irresistible." He peers closer at her, his expression softening. "You look exhausted, Kate. Come to bed." He gently extracts the coffee mug from her hands and tugs at her. "Stay here tonight." Catching her gaze, he grins. "I promise to be the perfect gentleman."
"So... first day back then?" Dutchy grins as he overtakes Kate on her way to the locker room, spinning around to walk backwards so that he can continue to face her. She feels a flash of irritation at the spring in his step, and the obvious health radiating from him when her own body is still stiff and sore, not to mention exhausted by the mere three-and-a-bit hours sleep she'd managed at Mike's last night before she'd had to head into work. "A ray of sunshine as ever. How are you feeling?"
"People need to stop asking me that." Kate mutters, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, feeling it would do very little to help the headache pounding behind her eyes. Realising just how bitchy her words sound, she hastens to add, "I'm fine, honestly. I've been looking forward to coming back for weeks. You know I am now fully unpacked? When we were in the mountains we lived in the same house for four years and I hadn't even unpacked then."
"How domestic of you!" Dutchy smiles. "But am I right in thinking that you might be moving again soon? I mean..." He gestures towards the front of the building. "A casual observer such as myself couldn't help but notice you arrived this morning from the complete opposite direction of your house. So... anything we should know about? That Mike guy was hanging around the hospital quite a lot." He blinks innocently at her and Kate rolls her eyes.
"And they say women are gossipy." She grins, dumping her bag in her locker and fishing out her uniform, moving around the corner to change and calling out, "How many girls have you gone through since I've been gone?"
"Believe it or not, I am still seeing Rachel." Dutchy calls back, voice echoing against the tiled walls.
Kate frowns as she pulls on her work shirt. "Which one was Rachel? Was she the one with the tattoo sleeves? Or the one that-" She adopts a breathy, high-pitched voice, "-speaks like everything is, like, a question?"
There's a soft chuckle from Dutchy's direction. "Rach is a builder. And you'll meet her if you ever join us at the pub. Maybe with your guy?" Kate rounds the corner to find him dressed and waiting for her. "That's if the boss doesn't have us all killed first."
"What do you mean?" Kate frowns, following him into the direction of the kitchen and, mercifully, the coffee machine.
"Oh..." Dutchy laughs, clapping her on the back. "Pray for an alarm, Kate. The Boss' favourite way of welcoming firies back after sick leave is drill after drill."
"Urgh. I'm so unfit." Kate groans as she sinks into a spot on the lounge, loosening her ponytail to ease the tension headache now settling there. She'd like nothing more than to lie on the lounge and sleep for the rest of her shift, but she knows it's definitely not an option, not just because Marshall will slaughter her, but also because her hands are still shaking and her pulse is beating hard in her neck, a sure sign she's probably overdone the coffee today. Cursing under her breath, she pushes herself to her feet once more, pacing backwards and forwards. "Break a bone and everything goes downhill."
"Pfft." Dutchy lets out a sceptical noise. "Come on! It's your wrist you broke, not your leg. You should be used to running! Although, I am going to have a massive bruise from bloody 2Dads and his harnessing fail." He groans softly as he rubs a hand over his hip. "And will you sit still? You're pacing like a toddler on red cordial."
"Too much coffee." Kate explains, not stopping her pacing. "And hey, it sure was one wedgie you won't forget any time soon. Is it always like this?"
"Oh yeah." Dutchy pulls his bottle of water closer and takes several large gulps. "Spide and Buff got poisoned once... some woman made them a crab dish to say thanks for saving her and... ultra food poisoning. Like, we were in lockdown thinking it was some weirdo toxin. Anyway, when they got back... it was like we were preparing for the apocalypse. Did everything short of learning to swordfight, I feel. Boss even got someone in to try and teach us parkour. It was brutal."
"What's that?" Spider interjects, walking into the room and wiping his sweaty brow.
"When you and Buff came back off sick leave." Dutchy explains. Spider groans.
"Be grateful you missed that one. My knees were purple for weeks from bruises. Looked like I was turning into a beetroot." He too takes a gulp of water before turning to face outdoors. "Seriously, it's like 50 degrees out there. Why is nothing on fire? Not even a teensy tiny grass fire. Instead, it's drill city."
Kate laughs but is interrupted from responding as Charge walks quickly in, muttering, "Boss is coming, boss is coming."
In an instant, Dutchy and Spider pull themselves to their feet and bustle about, evidently trying to make it look as though they're hard at work. Marshall enters, casting an appraising eye over them all before stopping on Kate and her twitching foot. "We're resuming in fifteen minutes." He reports, before leaving the room once more. Kate barely keeps in a scream of frustration.
Spider curses, and Charge heads to the fridge. Kate turns to Dutchy, muttering under her breath. "I feel like the boss is trying to make me crack or something. I'm so bloody tired."
Dutchy flashes her an I told you so sort of look. "Are you sleeping any better?"
Kate doesn't look up. "Who says I wasn't sleeping?"
"Well, your reaction for one thing." Dutchy supplies. "Plus, the bags under your eyes and experience. I mean, you had a freaking building drop on your head. After that, you're either going to be sleeping really well for the rest of eternity, or not at all."
"Cute." Kate muses, glancing at her watch. "And here I was hoping to actually put out fires. Instead, I get to do endless drills and talk about my love life."
Dutchy flashes her an amused grin. "And people say you can't have it all."
By the time Kate makes it to Mike's house, she feels about as date ready as if she'd just climbed out of bed. It's not that she doesn't want to see Mike; on the contrary, it's been one of the things getting her through the day. But the thought of going out, of facing other people, is almost too much to bear.
Mike pulls the door open, raising an eyebrow at her appearance. "Stay in and get Uber Eats?" He supplies, inviting her in.
"You're amazing." Kate responds, closing the distance between them.