[ Jesse isn’t any happier about this conversation than she is. He would spare her it if he could, but it’s all out there already. And she’d asked. Even so, he sees an opportunity in her anger. He could deflect this. Push those buttons, make her angry enough to back off and push him away. It wouldn’t even really be that hard. He’d already had a knack for manipulation with Deadlock. Blackwatch had made him a damn expert.

That it’s even a thought that occurs to him proves, to him anyway, that he’s right about all of this. He’s not a good man, prone to lying, cheating, and running away. Not at all what a father should be, and it would take nothing more than one screw-up to ruin all that happiness Ashe is talking about. ]

I can’t promise you won’t lose me one day.

[ Because he’s a coward, he says it with his eyes closed, only aware of the touch of her hand on his cheek. ]

I stop runnin’, they catch up, and everything and everyone near me is going to get caught in the crossfire. You think Talon would think twice about hurtin’ a kid? So maybe there is no house. We go underground, or we stay on the move. But whatever we do, that kid is gonna grow up afraid. Same way I did.

[ He takes a breath in, shaky around the edges, and turns his head away from her. ]

… I won’t have a family just to hurt it, and I don’t think I know how to have one without doin’ that. What we have goin’ here, this… you and Chloe… it’s more than I deserve. And if you think I’m not afraid of losin’ it every single day, you’re dead wrong.