[He knows what her answer is going to be, but when she confirms it, he feels winded anyway, like someone's just punched him in the stomach.
He's quite literally saved humanity from the greatest threat to its existence. He's just been given command of a global peacekeeping force. He's met more presidents and prime ministers and ambassadors and diplomats in the past month than he even knew existed. He can dis- and re-assemble his pulse rifle in twenty seconds flat; rip a bastion unit apart with his bare hands. He is not sure how he's going to deal with this.]
No, I--
[Jack hasn't been strike commander for very long, but he's already learning to navigate bureaucracy. Politics. They're all public figures now, which means this is something they can't hide. They'll have to decide when to announce it. She'll have to withdraw from combat operations. She's his second in command, for god's sake, and he already knows how bad this will look. Gabriel is going to murder him on the spot, for being so irresponsible. He might have just ruined both their careers.]
I wouldn't ask you not to.
[Jack imagines that if this was under any other circumstance, he'd be thrilled, and he immediately hates that he can't be, because he's instantly thinking about potential scandals. What the UN will do. The SEP and how they might decide that one of their genetic experiments trying to reproduce is a risk they shouldn't take. The sheer prospect of bringing a child into a world that's still rebuilding--to say nothing of who they are and what that means. Things are about to get complicated.
And then another part of him simply doesn't care, because despite the fact that he's generally very bad at making it known (too much of a consummate professional), he's pretty sure that he's completely enamored with Ana. He's bending to his knees in front of her chair before he even registers that he's moving, taking her hands in his, wanting her to look at him, but understanding if she won't.]
no subject
He's quite literally saved humanity from the greatest threat to its existence. He's just been given command of a global peacekeeping force. He's met more presidents and prime ministers and ambassadors and diplomats in the past month than he even knew existed. He can dis- and re-assemble his pulse rifle in twenty seconds flat; rip a bastion unit apart with his bare hands. He is not sure how he's going to deal with this.]
No, I--
[Jack hasn't been strike commander for very long, but he's already learning to navigate bureaucracy. Politics. They're all public figures now, which means this is something they can't hide. They'll have to decide when to announce it. She'll have to withdraw from combat operations. She's his second in command, for god's sake, and he already knows how bad this will look. Gabriel is going to murder him on the spot, for being so irresponsible. He might have just ruined both their careers.]
I wouldn't ask you not to.
[Jack imagines that if this was under any other circumstance, he'd be thrilled, and he immediately hates that he can't be, because he's instantly thinking about potential scandals. What the UN will do. The SEP and how they might decide that one of their genetic experiments trying to reproduce is a risk they shouldn't take. The sheer prospect of bringing a child into a world that's still rebuilding--to say nothing of who they are and what that means. Things are about to get complicated.
And then another part of him simply doesn't care, because despite the fact that he's generally very bad at making it known (too much of a consummate professional), he's pretty sure that he's completely enamored with Ana. He's bending to his knees in front of her chair before he even registers that he's moving, taking her hands in his, wanting her to look at him, but understanding if she won't.]
Ana--