#RedrockAgency – March 11, 2016

Jason tilts his head to the side, trying to work out the kinks in his neck. "I'm just glad it went well... Wish I could've been out there with you." he says, stifling another yawn.

Vasquez steps out of her boots, and takes a seat on the edge of the bed now that she's in just the undersuit. "Like I said, I can't go on every mission, and neither can you. Besides, I don't think the doc would've been too happy with you..." She reaches to the back of her head and pulls her ponytail free from the hairtie with a faint sigh. "Honestly, pre-mission was a total shitshow.

Jason gives a quick chuckle and nods a few times. "Probably not..." he agrees, glancing over to his side at Vasquez. "I'm glad to have you back." he says, studying her with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "It's nice to not be the only one around here working my ass off." he adds with a lopsided smirk.

Vasquez turns to look at him with a skeptical expression. "Uh-huh... speaking of, how's Ilyna? Her sister seemed pretty worried about how she'd react."

Jason sighs and shrugs again. "She'll be alright. I think the bottom line is that she just doesn't want Ehanis doing this anymore. She's worried about her, ya know? Unfortunately for Ilyna, her sister is probably going to continue doing freelance work with-or-without Ilyna's blessing. So I think having her here, working with us, is still the best course of action."

Vasquez nods slowly, gaining a faint smile. "She's inexperienced, and undiciplined, but I think she has potential. Better for her to work here than get herself killed freelancing, or end up working for some shady gang."

Jason nods in turn, "Exactly." he agrees. Pressing his hands against the edge of the bed, he pushes off with a grunt and climbs to his feet. He lets out another yawn and reaches far out to his sides to stretch. Old habits die hard apparently, considering he gets no relief or feedback from the action from his new arms. "As soon as possible, we need to start getting everyone trained up

Vasquez starts out observing Jason, but her gaze quickly falls to the floor. She nods in response again. "Yeah. I know. Our track record has made that pretty clear." After a moment's thought she adds. "You have any ideas? Set up some mock missions in the mountains maybe?"

Jason goes to open his mouth in response as he's asked for his idea, but begins nodding when Vasquez interjects her own. "That.... actually sounds like a really good idea." He seems mostly oblivious for her apparent discomfort with his appearance at the moment. "For the most part, I think we've got a pretty good crew. Just need to whip them into shape a bit is all."

Vasquez leans forward a bit, resting her arms against her legs, her gaze moving to the window. "I think so. Oh, I managed to press for some extra credits as compensation for the... bullshit. Should help cover some of our costs."

Jason raises an eyebrow at the mention of extra credits. "So... Just how much 'bullshit' are we talking? What actually happened out there?" he asks. "Sounded like a pretty straightforward deal when I spoke to Gren."

Vasquez seems briefly confused. "Oh, shit. Sorry." She says as she realizes she skipped ahead a bit. "He lied about the objective. Hell, he didn't even know the objective. There were no slave smugglers. It was... fucking weird. We were brought in to save the old Respite owner from a merc gang."

Jason furrows his brow. "Aylena?" he asks, sounding a bit surprised. "Shit. Small galaxy, huh? Is she alright?" he pauses briefly before adding, "Did she say why she just up and left?"

Vasquez lets out an annoyed grunt. "Yeah, yeah, she's fine." She says with a dismissive gesture. "And paranoid as hell. She left to sue those mercs, that's why they came after her by the sounds of it."

Jason raises an eyebrow, going over Vasquez' words. "She left to-..." he trails off, his smirk returning as he gives a shake of his head, "Fucking Illium." he adds with a chuckle. "Ah well. At least everyone got through it in one piece. Did Aylena stay back on Illium? Sounds like that wouldn't be the safest choice..."

Vasquez shakes her head. "No, she came back with us. Don't know what she's up to, but I got her to make a statement in case anyone from Illium asks us any questions about the whole thing. Didn't use her real name though... I don't know what the fuck she's up to. Can't say I want to either."

Jason gives a few nods. "At the very least, 'V' will be happy to hear she's back." he muses. He sucks in a deep breath and takes a step closer to Vasquez, gazing down at her. "There's something I wanted to run over with you." he says tentatively, "What you said earlier? About the doc not being too happy with me doing field work right now..." He runs his synthetic hand down his side

Vasquez looks up immediately, meeting Jason's gaze. "Jason, you're still recovering... that doesn't seem like a good idea."

Jason puts a hand up, palm outward. "I know, just hear me out first. We're running out of time to act on the intel Vicky gave us. Every day we leave it on the backburner is another day our intel is dated by. Boarding ships is what I did. Nobody else is as suited for this one as I am." he explains, "I'll be safe.. But I don't think there's anyone else I'd trust to lead a boarding party."

Vasquez 's gaze wanders back to the window as she considers what he's saying. "I don't-..." She lets out a sigh, nodding. "You know what? You're right. It makes sense. But you stay back, let the others do the heavy lifting. Take a command role, go in last."

Jason nods a bunch of times. "Of course." he says, although he undoubtedly won't take her advice, "Totally hands off. I don't plan on getting myself killed anytime soon. Not planning on making it that easy for you to get out of marrying me." he teases.

Vasquez looks back to him, and reaches out for one of Jason's arm, grabbing one of his wrists. She immediately hesitates upon touching the synthetic limb, but manages a small smile as she pulls him down for a kiss.

Jason leans over and plants a kiss on his wife-to-be. As he pulls back, he looks down at her with a smirk. "You do know that if we're planning on spending the rest of our incredibly long lives together..." he begins, pausing as he struggles with his words, hoping to keep from sounding as if he's passing any judgement on the woman, or revealing how self conscious it actually makes

Vasquez seems a bit caught off guard. "Jason, I-..." She closes her eyes with a sigh. "I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to-..." She trails off, sliding her hand down to his, and pulling it in closer, holding it in both of her own hands and looking at it. "I'm not disgusted. Never. Please don't think that. I... know I haven't been-..." she shakes her head, not very keen on talking about the

Jason nods in silence for a few moments. "I understand..." he says, "I guess I just-..." he trails off, shrugging his shoulders. "I knew what I was doing when I made this decision- these decisions." he regards his new arms with a glance at each, "I knew there was a chance you wouldn't like what you saw when I brought you home. And that terrified me." he admits with a short, forced

Vasquez blinks. She is quick to stand up, staring at him with a mix of shock and guilt. "You stupid-..." She shakes her head. "No. No, you're not losing me. Are you crazy? No chance." She wraps both her arms around his back, hugging him tightly and kissing his neck softly. "I love you, Jason... don't ever think I don't."

Jason lets out a deep breath, unaware he was even holding it, and wraps his arms around Vasquez' waist. He presses his head up against the side of hers, "Sorry..." he offers softly. "...Guess I need a little time to get used to them, too." he admits, "Hard to look in the mirror and see-.... well, this." he gives her waist a squeeze to emphasize his point.

Vasquez pulls back a bit, looking Jason in the eyes and moving her hands to his shoulders, sliding them down his arms and up again. She lifts her right hand to tap the implant at her temple before placing it back on his shoulder. "I'm still me besides this, even if I wish that wasn't true sometimes. And you're still you. New arms don't change that, alright?" Her gaze wanders across his

Jason gives a few shallow nods, forcing a smile as he meets her gaze. "Yeah.... right." he agrees, "Of course. I just-... You know. A lot going on. Sorry, I shouldn't have even brought it up." He gives her waist another squeeze, "I'm just glad you're home. And safe."

Vasquez plants another kiss on his lips and then lets go. "I'm gonna take a shower, alright? Talk more later. " She nods off to the side and then slips out of Jason's embrace, heading for the bathroom.

Jason gives another nod as he releases Vasquez from his arms. He plops back down on the edge of the bed and runs a hand over his head. Once Vasquez disappears through the door, he glances over at the clock and winces. 'Too early to get a drink.' he reminds himself, 'Back to sleep it is.'