#RedrockAgency – April 15, 2025

Jason has just left from the rec room, bag of chips in his hand. He's dressed in a pair of jogging pants and sneakers, white shirt visible beneath his thick, winter jacket. His hair is a bit messier than usual, thanks in part to the tuque stuffed in his pocket. Since Justice's arrival, he's moved away from the treadmill for his daily jog, opting for the real thing for an added opportunity to take the newest member of Redrock for a

Halisi comes to an immediate stop, turning her scowl on Jason, before catching herself and taking a calming breath, shoulders sinking a little as some of the tension leaves them. Her scowl fades, but her expression remains serious. Upset. "Jason. I need you to talk some sense into your wife. I respect her trauma, truly, I do, but Ilyna deserves better than to be treated like this, and I won't stand for it."

Jason blinks. "Just-... in general, or-...?" he begins to interject after Halisi's first sentence before trailing off as she elaborates without further prompting. The mention of Ilyna causes him to draw in a deep breath, shoulders slumping. "What is it this time?" he asks, his tone suddenly deflated.

Halisi lets out a huff, glancing off to the side briefly. "You don't know. Of course." A bracing breath. "Linda locked Ilyna in her office earlier today to berate her because-... because your cameras caught us sharing a kiss on New Year's." Some of her lingering anger seems to fizzle with the word 'kiss', a slight hint of sheepishness accompanying the last few words. She doesn't acknowledge it, frown deepening a little to compensate.

Jason lets out a puff of air, gaze briefly turning low. He doesn't look particularly surprised, offering only a few small nods as she speaks. He had already called her on their relationship, after all. "Right..." he mutters, gaze turning further down the hall in the suspected direction of the culprit before turning back to Halisi. "And I'm gonna guess by the pace of your retreat that she's doubling down on her bullshit?" he

Halisi glances back in the direction of the gym door. She seems a little relieved by Jason's reaction, nodding. "I thought if I spoke with her, she'd see how unreasonable she was being, but..."

Jason lets out a sigh, nodding once more. "Look, Halisi. You know how she is." he begins before quickly lifting a hand, palm outwards to get ahead of any response, "I know! You don't have to say it! I know that doesn't excuse it. I'm just-... Uhh-..." he gains a look of discomfort as they begin to wade through dangerous discussion territory, a minefield he doesn't particularly want to mis-step through. "...Shit." he mutters. Given

Halisi folds her arms across her chest and nods, waiting for Jason to continue.

Jason gives a small nod of his own. "...And you know about what happened on Niacal." He allows that to linger for a moment before another sigh slips out. "Linda cares about Ilyna. She does." he assures, seeming confident in that. "She cares about both of you. She just-... Niacal changed a lot for her, doc." he admits bluntly with another sigh. "Hell, for both of us, I guess. And I don't think it's ever too far from her mind."

Halisi nods again. "I know," she says, voice softening a little. "And I sympathize with her, but that doesn't make her treatment of Ilyna acceptable. I won't tolerate it."

Jason offers a dip of his head in agreement, signaling that's not what he's trying to imply. "And you shouldn't have to!" he admits. "You or Ilyna. Especially Ilyna. I'm not trying to make excuses for her, doc. Just-... explaining. Doesn't make it right. I know that. And I think, deep down, she does too. I'll talk to her-..." he continues, gesturing in the general direction of the gym, "...She will come around. I just-... I

Halisi 's lips twist in a troubled grimace and she sighs, nodding once more. "Neither do I, but it's in her hands now. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's been a long day and I must get home."

Jason offers a small nod. "Alright. I'll-... uhh-...." he nods in the general direction of the gym, drawing in a heavy breath for emphasis. His expression tells the story for him: This probably isn't going to be fun. He turns to start towards the gym but only gets a few steps before turning back towards Halisi. "Oh! Doc?" he calls out for her attention once more.

Halisi stops at the top of the stairs, turning to look back questioningly at Jason.

Jason waits for her to turn back. "Just friends?" He gives an unconvinced tilt of his head and offers a small shrug, letting her know he wasn't buying it from the get go. "You gotta work on your poker face, doc. But I'm happy for you two." A small smile creeps into his expression despite the situation.

Halisi 's mood seems to lift a little, a slightly flustered huff slipping out as she tries to formulate a response. "...thank you," she settles for, the corner of her mouth tugging upwards as she nods in acknowledgement and then executes a strategic retreat down the stairs.

Jason snickers to himself, giving a flick of his hand to wave Halisi off before heading on his way. He pauses just outside of the gym door, smirk slipping a bit. After a quick chip (for courage!) he gives the door's interface a tap and steps inside.

Vasquez is by one of the punching bags, throwing strike after strike at the inanimate object in front of her, the sound of the impacts and her grunts filling the otherwise empty room. She's wearing padded gloves, loose red gym shorts and a dark gray sports bra, leaving scarred, sweaty skin exposed. She doesn't seem to notice the door opening, a frustrated growl slipping out as a particularly hard punch sends the bag flying.

Jason pauses in the doorway and merely watches Vasquez for a moment, unable to shake the feeling that he might be next in line to take the punching bag's spot. "Me and Justice just got back from a run. Didn't know you were planning on hitting the gym today or I would've asked you to join us." he says as he starts her way to announce his presence.

Vasquez ' punches come to a stop and she shoots him a wary look over her shoulder in an attempt to gauge whether Jason ran into Halisi. The casual conversation brings her off-balance, and failing to discern anything she grunts in her response, undoing the strap on one of her gloves and tugging it off to reach for her water bottle, taking a long swig.

Jason takes a few more chips and pops them into his mouth before scrunching up the small bag and stowing what's left of it away in his jacket pocket. "Protein." he says through a mouthful of chips, suddenly feeling as if he needs to explain his injection of junk food into fitness. He doesn't immediately bring up Halisi, instead opting to slip off his jacket and stow it over an arm of one of the treadmills. "Been in here long...?"

Vasquez lowers the bottle, still seeming on guard as she watches Jason. There's a messy whirlwind of emotions just beneath that caution, but she's holding it back. "A while," she confirms between breaths, reaching up to brush away a slick strand of hair that's escaped her ponytail, sticking to her cheek.

Jason offers a few nods as he steps over to the benchpress station near the heavy bag. Given his cybernetics, weight lifting isn't quite the same workout it used to be but it still has its place. Gone are things like bicep and hammer curls, with a stronger emphasis placed on things like benchpresses that work the shoulders, chest and back. Of course, the cybernetics mean more weight is needed as well. It's taken time, but he's

Vasquez ' posture stiffens, immediately turning more defensive. She scoffs. "You gonna lecture me too? Tell me I'm blowing things out of proportion?" The questions are sharp and bitter, and she focuses on removing her second glove, avoiding looking Jason's way.

Jason furrows his brows, letting her say her piece. "Lecture? No." he says. "I mean-... I get it." Halisi didn't exactly fill him in on the details, but he has enough context to get the jist of it. "So no lecture. But I am gonna tell you that you're wrong." His words are gentle. It's not an accusation, it's an observation.

Vasquez tosses the second glove next to the first and glances Jason's way. "Wrong? Did she tell you? About the two of them?"

Jason offers a nod. "Not that she needed to. To be honest, I'm more surprised you didn't know." he says, a small smirk crossing his lips as he attempts to lighten the mood. "Come on. You saw the way they were at Christmas." He studies her for a moment, "I mean-... shit, you didn't find it strange that they were together when Li was taken...? In the middle of the night...?" He allows that to linger for a moment. "Well, if that

Vasquez looks taken aback, whatever progress the gentle approach to the subject made in disarming her immediately undone. Her face twists into a snarl and she hurls the water bottle into the floor, hard. It erupts into a spray of water as the impact dislodges the lid, but she ignores it, stomping closer to Jason. "You think this is funny?! Seriously?! You're fucking unbelievable."

Jason winces. Certainly not what he was going for, but he remains seated. His gaze lingers on the discarded water bottle as Vasquez chastises him before finally bringing his attention back to her. "Funny? No. I think we're a long way from funny, Linda." he assures, keeping his composure much better for now than the woman he's now looking up at. "But what do you want me to say?"

Vasquez scowls. "What the hell do you think? Maybe stop cracking stupid jokes and back me up here? I'm not an idiot, Jason. I knew there was something. But I thought they were smarter than this. More responsible. I thought Ilyna knew better than to put Halisi in this kind of danger."

Jason gives a shrug. "I'm not gonna back you up on something I don't agree with you on!" he says flatly overtop her, absently rising from his seat as he finds himself competing to speak. He opens his mouth to continue but seems to realize he's allowing himself to get worked up and lets her finish, biting down on his words for now. Deep breath. "Put Halisi in-..." he repeats in disbelief before trailing off. "Halisi is an adult!