[ —she nods, and seems to pick up a measure of steam. ]

Yeah. Naturally. This is a you-and-him thing. And the hard work of moving forward is gonna fall on both your shoulders. But…

[ kate sits back, spreading her arms wide, using the gesture to encompass a lot of hypothetical space. ]

I’d remind him about what it is we do. What’s been done to us. What we all risk every day ‘cause of what we signed on to do. And how the job never fails to futz us all up.

[ she bites the inside of her cheek—she’s not explaining this as well as she’d hoped. it’s just…clint killed bruce banner, went on trial for it, and somehow the world didn’t stop turning. ]

And I’d remind him about Nate. That as much as he’s entitled to his trauma and his feelings—we learned better than most people that none of us get to be defined by our worst selves.

[ kate sighs. ]

It won’t fix things. [ which is only fair. billy isn’t obligated to ever feel good or safe on this front ever again, if he so chooses. ] But it might be enough to get your foot in the door—so you two can talk. Real and properly.