Work Text:
Of Innocence and Empathy: Generous of Spirit
by Frogg
"Does Aaron know where you are?" Jason asked, maintaining eye contact as he took a sip of his coffee.
Haley smiled. "Yes, he does. He also," she went on, raising an eyebrow and forestalling Jason's next question, "knows who I'm with, and why."
"And that would be...?"
"You seem to think I object to your relationship with him." Actually, Haley didn't know what Jason thought of her opinion on the matter, but the time had long passed for them to have this discussion. She owed Aaron that much.
Jason's eyebrows drew together in a frown of confusion. "Shouldn't you?"
Lips pursing in a twisted smile, Haley shook her head. "I love him, Jason. Part of that is understanding that I can't give him everything he needs, no matter how much I want to." She paused then to take a sip of her own coffee, peppermint-scented steam floating upward in swirls. "Marriage isn't about monogamy. It's about trust - I trust him to be responsible, to protect Jack and myself from more than just the evil he faces out there with you and his team. I trust him to tell me what he can, to tell me if he needs more from me, or if he needs things I can't offer him."
Jason didn't respond for several minutes, nursing his coffee and studying Haley.
Knowing Jason was profiling her, trying to determine how much of what she'd said was the truth, Haley held her peace, bathing her face in curls of steam between swallows of sweet, minty coffee.
Finally, Jason sighed, tilting his head. "That's very accepting of you."
"I remember what Aaron was like when you left, after Boston." Haley paused, lips thinning to white, uncertain. "When you left, the man I married started slipping away. Before, I only knew in theory what you did for him. I still don't know, and don't want to know, any particulars, but don't ever think you don't give him something necessary. For all of us."
"Oh?"
Haley nodded, eyes going flat, hard. "If you and Aaron ever decide to...back off," she decided after a momentary search for an appropriate term, "it had better be because it's what both of you want, and not be because of me, or Jack. Don't even let me think that."
Jason chuckled silently, laughter trapped in his chest. "Is that a threat?"
"That's a promise."
end