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This is Rosita. I'll hit you back when I can.

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"He's been willing to keep going between us if it doesn't work with us and Grayson." There's a difference. "But that doesn't matter because it's not what I'm willing to settle for."

"As long as you not settling doesn't look like you pushing him for something he can't give. Or that's bad for him to try."

There is the faintest edge of warning in this; Jesus loves Vrenille. Vrenille has a lot of good qualities.

But no one is a good fit for everyone.

"I would never do that to him," he promises. "I'm watching. I'm paying attention."

And there's potential there for an alliance, if not a close friendship.

"I know."

Jesus might need reminding sometimes by her estimation, but she trusts him to listen.

"I need you to pay attention at the Crucible, too. I warned Amelia not to try and push her bullshit on him, to let him drive, but I don't know that she knows how to do that."

"And you think she'd listen to me if she hasn't listened to you?" He asks, dubious that he can be any more impactful than Rosita. "What have you told her so far?"

"I told her that she has to drop her own feelings or confusion about whatever the fuck happened at realignment," she answers, shrugging.

"I mean trying to force a conversation with Carver about it. She apologized, he didn't accept it, it's up to him when or if he does, and what or if he explains anything about why. I told her if she kept pushing, she and I were going to have a problem."

He has a few questions. One thing at a time. "Does Carver know?"

She shakes her head. It never even occurred to her to tell him.

"It's between us. She chose that."

He frowns at her. "Does it matter what she chose? Maybe he should know."

"She came to find me after I helped Chris in the Zoo," she explains.

"Didn't know each other at all, it's not why I did it, but she made a point of swearing she owed me a debt because I helped someone important to her. Then she turned around and pulled that shit. What advantage is there in him knowing any of it?"

She and Jesus haven't talked a lot about what happened at realignment. She's good at moving on from terrible things, packing it up and never thinking about it again, but there's legitimate anger flickering through in her voice.

"Because it involves him. Because if I fought someone over you, you'd want to know it, too." She doesn't like being left in the dark. Neither does Carver. "Why don't you want him to know?"

"Because there's nothing for him to do."

It's not, she knows, exactly the full answer but it's the best one she has; it hadn't even occurred to her until Jesus said something, and now everything in her is saying not to.

"I want her to leave him alone. She was forced to hurt him, fine, okay. But he deserves better than to have to keep playing nice with someone after they did. He deserves better than to have her keep poking around in it just because she wants to know more, and he doesn't want to tell anyone."

"Yes. He does." He's not arguing otherwise. "But he has a right to know who's got his back, and what's being done at his back, too, doesn't he?"

"It's not a secret," she protests. If he asked her about it, if Amelia said something or if it came up otherwise, Rosita wouldn't deny it.

"But I don't see why I'd need to go running to tell him either. Especially when talking about it fucked him up twice already on top of the actual thing."

"It doesn't have to be an in depth discussion." He looks at her evenly. "It's okay for him to know you care about him and you've got his back, Ro. It might even be good for him to hear it."

She looks back at him, and this isn't even a hard thing. It's nothing she's ashamed of, nothing she needs back from anyone, nothing even complicated on the face of it really, and still she wants to dig in her heels.

She doesn't know why. "He knows I care about him."

"Then why the hesitance about this? Is it because she's one of Grayson's?" He doubts that. Rosita is from Alexandria, they don't care much about that sort of diplomacy.

And, true to form: "I don't give a fuck if she's one of Grayson's."

In fact it's another part of why she stepped in.

"But he does. It's why he's keeping peace even though he shouldn't have to."

He shrugs. Yeah, he knows. "Okay, so you don't want him to know you warned her away from hurting him again because he's trying to keep the peace?"

"Why does it matter?"

It's a losing tactic and she knows that, but every time she offers something, Jesus hands her back a question.

"Maybe. Yes. Let's go with yes. It's not that I don't want him to know, it's that I don't see a point in specifically going to tell him."

"Because people like knowing they're cared about. If I get into a fight with someone over you, wouldn't you want to know?" Because he'd tell her.

"Just so you know? This behavior right here is why people want to punch you."

She would. But things between her and Jesus are different: if Jesus got into a fight with someone, she'd want to know so she could back him up.

"And it wasn't a fight. I made myself clear, I hit her one time, and we're on the same page now. She says."

He has, for the record, never been punched for this behavior. Not that someone along the line hasn't tried, but Jesus is fast and he pays attention even when he seems relaxed.

He gives her a quizzical look. "You hit her?"