JASON WASN’T sure what to expect after his fun little freak-out, but it certainly wasn’t Shade plopping down next to him on the couch one morning after breakfast and asking to “play.”
“Play what?” he asked warily. The last couple of days had really left him on edge. He’d been spending most of them on the mat. Or at the base, though he told them first, made sure to check in regularly, didn’t just leave. His feet were bruising, and he’d had to start bandaging his hands. Something in him clenched every time Chase or Shade frowned at them.
Shade’s eyes flickered down to Jason’s wrappings, and Jason felt the familiar feeling of disappointment, being in the wrong. “Tag,” he said. “Want to explain. What… what was meant. Before. No hurt. Please?”
“I….”
“No hurt,” Shade said. “Will—will yell. For Chase. If any hurt.”
Jason swallowed. He… he didn’t know if he could do this. But Shade never asked for things. And if this would help make him feel better, feel less guilty for before…. “You know that one of the reasons I was assigned an AI Companion was because they have built-in defenses. Shocks. Do-do you?” He hated to ask, but Shade had been modded. Jason wasn’t going to do anything unless he still had his defenses. In a real fight it wouldn’t make Jason go down, but if Jason lost it, it’d be enough to stun him back to reality and close himself off.
Shade nodded and held out a hand. “Fingers,” he said. And all of a sudden the nails extended, lengthened into claws. Jason blinked at them.
With a sigh, Shade added quietly, “Modded. Didn’t want… to take off hands to fix.”
“Oh,” Jason said, looking down at Shade’s nails. He couldn’t even imagine—literally getting taken apart and being put back together and not having a say on any of it. Worse than anything he’d ever been through. He reached out, almost touching Shade’s hand with his own. “Yeah,” he said. “Okay, yeah, that’ll work.”
“And Chase?”
“Chase’ll watch,” Jason said immediately. “Just in case. If I get… dangerous, both of you’ll be able to keep me down long enough for me to come back.”
Shade beamed. “Glad. Chase wanted to watch. Didn’t want to ask. Was worried.”
“Nah, that’s—I’d rather him be there. Just in case. Two against one, you know?”
“Yes,” Shade said, and… that wasn’t an expression Jason recognized. He coughed, trying to tamp down how nervous he was.
“Okay,” he said. “Uh. When? Now?”
“If okay,” Shade said.
“Oh, uh. Yeah. Yeah, sure.” Might as well get it over with. And maybe if they really saw what they were dealing with, they’d—Jason fought down a shudder. “Okay, I’ll go… get my room ready, and you get Chase? Just knock.”
“Yes,” Shade said, before smiling again at Jason and heading toward the living room. Jason watched him go with a rising fear he did his best to keep under control. No one had entered his room besides him in ages, and he wasn’t sure how well he’d handle it. Or how Chase and Shade would take it, seeing his room for what it really was. He’d managed to avoid that so far.
But he couldn’t do anything about that now. He quickly ducked inside and closed the door, giving it a check-over. Made sure his computer was turned off, that all his stuff was put away neatly, stored in the closet. He rolled his standing bags over into a corner, to free up as much mat space as he could.
On his second pass around the room, Jason went to his training case and pulled out his Taser. He’d give it to Chase to use, just in case.
The knock that came a moment later startled him, to the point that he aimed the Taser at the door before dropping his arms and letting out a breath. He was really on edge, which only made this bad idea even worse. Maybe he could ask Shade to reschedule. Or they could do this at the base’s training hall, where there could be proper supervision.
For now, though, he opened the door and, for the first time in months, let someone else come into his room.
To the Companions’ credit, they didn’t comment on the matted room, on the two punching bags in the corner, or the little desk that they were shielding. Chase pursed his lips, probably at the lack of anything else, but he didn’t say anything about the fact that Jason didn’t have any decorations. Or a bed.
“So,” he said a moment later, voice bright, “Shade says you’re willing to play tag?”
“Is that what he’s calling it?” Jason asked, trying to control his breathing. “But yeah. Yeah, maybe I just—here.” He flipped the Taser and shoved the base in Chase’s direction. “For you to use, just in case.”
They both stared at it. Chase made no move to take it. “Jason,” he said carefully, after a moment. “What is this?”
“Taser,” Jason said shortly. “Long-distance reach. Just in case.”
“No!” from Shade. “Not—no.”
“Look, it’s just in case, okay? I can’t—I can’t risk you.”
“Jason,” Chase said, “You really think that after two months, you’ll just—snap if you and Shade roll around a little?”
Jason hunched his shoulders. “I don’t know. It’s a possibility. I know I’m unstable. And you’ve—you’ve helped a lot. But I can’t—it’s just in case,” he said again.
“You still don’t trust yourself at all, do you.”
“No,” Jason said, feeling his hands shake. “Not one bit.”
“But you train with Tyson all the time?” Chase said, the words a question.
“Tyson’s got experience,” Jason said. “And he knows me, how I fight. There are always people monitoring, and our sessions are recorded because the info is valuable. And he’s got standing orders to shoot me in the event I snap.”
Shade snarled. “Who ordered?”
“I did,” Jason said with a sigh. “Tranqs, not to kill. But it’s still a protection he has that you don’t. I-I can’t do this if you don’t agree.”
Shade opened his mouth again, but Chase laid a hand on his shoulder to forestall it, his other hand outstretched, palm up. “All right,” he said. “I agree.”
“You promise?”
“I promise,” Chase said, solemn. “If I think you are going to seriously harm Shade or me, I’ll use it. Okay?”
Jason sagged with relief and handed the Taser over. “Okay.”
“But, Jason—”
“Yeah?”
“Jason, I won’t do this if it’s pushing you into a place you don’t want to be. Neither will Shade. He’d love to play with you and show you what he means when he uses that word, and I… I admit to wanting to see it and hope that it might open you up a little more. But we’re reaching trigger levels here.” Chase hefted the Taser. “And I need to make sure you’re feeling safe. That it isn’t hurting you to try to do this.”
Jason had stopped caring after Chase said both he and Shade wanted this so much. “It’s fine. I can do it. I want to,” he added quickly, when Shade narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Jason.” And that was Shade coming up to put his hands on Jason’s shoulders. “Jason, no. Is fine. Not now. Later. Think and then later. Okay?”
Jason swallowed. “No,” he said, and he wasn’t sure why he was fighting for this except that he did. “I… I do want to—try. I want to.” He clenched his fists. “I want to be able to do this with you, and—play with you, and have it be real and fun and not make it something awful. I just, I don’t know if I can.” His voice might’ve cracked on that last word, and he let his gaze drop to the floor.
He hadn’t felt that exposed in a while, standing in the middle of his room while Chase and Shade looked at him, expressions soft.
“Sorry,” Jason forced out, feeling like the words were choking him. “You’re right. I’m not ready. I won’t—”
“No.” And that was Chase. “No, Jason, let’s try. At least we can try? But if anything, if anything happens, I am telling you right now, neither of us will blame you. And we’ll care about you just the same after. You—there’s nothing you could do that would be worse than pushing us away. Okay?”
“Okay,” Jason whispered. Shade squeezed his shoulders once, a signal asking Jason to look up. He did.
“Jason,” Shade said. “I… have been hurt. Before. This will not be hurt.” He smiled hesitantly before stepping away. “You are it.”
“I’m what?”
Shade ran in, tapped Jason on the head, then darted away again. “You are it!”
Jason looked at Chase with a confused frown. Chase smiled back at him. “I did say it was a friendly game of tag. Try to catch him. You win if you pin.”
“That’s it?” Jason asked, darting another look at Shade, who was on the other side of the room, posture posed to run.
“That’s it,” Chase said, voice gentle. He was holding the Taser loosely, letting it dangle between his fingers. “I’m pretty sure you can handle it.”
“Jason is being slow,” Shade said, and his voice was colored with so much teasing that Jason couldn’t help take a step toward him, feeling lighter.
“Slow? I’ll show you slow.” He rushed forward and Shade laughed, darting out of the way.
It really was just a game of tag, and Jason felt silly over getting so wound up about it. For all that he was fast, Shade was just as agile, darting and leaping away anytime Jason got close.
The room was only so big, though, and while both he and Shade made use of the walls and the bags to avoid getting tagged, eventually Jason managed to tap Shade on the head. Shade responded by grabbing Jason’s arm and pulling, throwing Jason off balance.
Jason tucked into a roll, but by then Shade had leaped on top of him, though on and off so quickly Jason could barely get his hackles up. “Pinned,” Shade singsonged, from his new position next to Jason, where he was holding on to his wrist. “Counts.” And Jason appreciated that more than he could put into words.
“Yeah,” he said. “Point to you. Best two out of three?”
Shade grinned. “Yes.” He crouched again, at the ready. Jason didn’t need any prompting this time to put some effort into it, no longer confused about what he was doing.
The second time around he got Shade around the wrist, pulling him down as they both tumbled to the floor, Jason careful that he got the brunt of the impact. And then Shade was laughing and Chase was smiling too, and Jason couldn’t help but feel—happy. Happy and full and warm and…
Wanting.
And that was so many levels of not okay. He couldn’t let this become more in his head. He couldn’t. It was just so many levels of—they were already a matched pair. He swallowed down bile, feeling as though he’d been doused in cold water. With plenty of real experience to compare that feeling to, this was still worse.
“I’m gonna have to take a rain check on the tiebreaker,” he managed, once he was able to find his voice again.
“Jason?” Shade asked, sitting up, concern coloring his voice. “What’s wrong?” Chase set the Taser down on the floor and came farther into the room, kneeling down next to them both. He rested a hand on Jason’s back, and Jason still had to fight down the reflexive shudder, the need to press back into the touch.
“Jason?” And god, god, they were both looking at him.
“Sorry,” he said, squeezing his eyes shut. “I need a minute.”
“Of course,” Chase said. “When you’re ready.”
Jason kept his eyes closed and breathed, focusing on the hand at his back and Shade on his other side, here and safe and things were okay even if Jason was messed up in the head and he wanted more than he should ever be allowed to have. Chase and Shade were still supports next to him, just waiting.
“Sorry,” he said again, opening his eyes. “I….” He let out a harsh breath. “I don’t even know what’s wrong with me. Besides, you know. The usual mess. I shouldn’t—” He cut himself off, clenching his jaw.
“Shouldn’t what?” Chase asked gently. Always so gentle, like Jason actually mattered. And that was his job. Remember, you fuckwit. His job. This was both of their jobs; they were Delegate assigned and government approved, and Jason was not about to mess that up.
“Nothing,” Jason said. “It’s not important. I—maybe I need some time alone. Please.”
“Jason?” Shade carefully wound his fingers through Jason’s. “Tell?”
“It’s nothing—It’s nothing.”
Shade scowled, and Jason flinched, unable to help it. Picturing that expression aimed at him, for what he’d been thinking about.
“Shh, no,” Shade said immediately, bringing Jason’s hand up to his mouth and kissing it before Jason could jerk away. “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to.”
“Jason?” Chase was rubbing small circles underneath Jason’s shoulder, and it felt so much like being taken care of, so good, so missed, that Jason had to stifle a sob. The hand froze, and then Chase was wrapping himself around Jason’s back, everything Jason needed and wrong. “Jason, tell us what’s wrong, please.”
“I—I need to—” He paused, reined himself in, resolute. “I need to make a phone call.”
Shade and Chase exchanged looks.
“…all right,” Chase said eventually, pulling away and leaving Jason aching. “But we’ll be right outside your door. Is that okay?”
Jason scrubbed a hand over his face. “Sure, okay. Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Chase said quickly. “But please, if you could tell us what’s wrong afterwards—”
“No sorries.”
“Yeah.”
Jason scrambled for his phone as soon as his door was shut, not even bothering with the locks. The actual conversation was quick, just asking for an appointment. Then he changed into a shirt that wasn’t sweat soaked, spared a quick, longing glance at the ones with short sleeves, and opened his door again.
“I’m going out for a bit,” he said. “Nothing bad, I promise. I just—I need to get out of here.” He let the I need some time away from you hang in the air, unspoken. It wasn’t completely right, but it was true enough. And didn’t force him to give out details just yet.
“Are you sure you should be leaving the house right now?” Chase asked, brows creased.
“I’m going to base,” Jason said. “Not to fight,” he added quickly. “Meeting someone there.”
“Not too long,” Shade said, after a moment. “Promise?”
“Sure.”
THEY HADN’T wanted to push, not when Jason already seemed so uncomfortable. So they hadn’t asked for details.
In hindsight, they should have asked for details.
When Jason returned a few hours later, he was carrying a large packet and looked visibly upset.
“Hey, guys?” he asked, when he found them in the kitchen. They were both tense, nervous from the waiting. Chase was making food to distract himself; Shade was just pacing. “Could we talk?”
“Of course,” Chase said, exchanging a glance with Shade. “Did you want to move into the living room?” They’d been using the couch as a good go-to for proximity practice, while they talked or watched something, or played a card game. Jason shook his head.
“No,” he said, pulling out a chair. “Here’s fine. Shade? Uh, if you don’t mind.”
Shade startled but moved over to take a seat. Jason didn’t normally ask him to sit at the kitchen table; Shade didn’t really feel comfortable doing that much, and Jason had respected that. What was going on?
After a few moments of uneasy silence, Jason sighed. “Look, I’ll just come out with it. I went to speak with Molly today. From the AI Delegate? I know we just had another eval a couple weeks ago, but I—I had some questions about the H-AI relationship.”
“Okay,” Chase encouraged. “What did you want to tell us?”
“You know there’s some… general discussion about what happens when a dependent human gets a Companion,” Jason said in a rush. “The ideal is close friendship, even family, but sometimes feelings develop. It can be natural for a damaged human to cling to something that becomes happy and familiar. Maybe get their feelings mixed up or… something.” He looked at Chase, then Shade. “And I just learned for an out-and-out fact that if that ever happens, it’s the Companion’s job to discourage that. It’s only right. Sometimes—sometimes Companions have to be reassigned, if the human is functional enough to take it.”
“Jason….”
“And you two have been… really great,” Jason hurried to continue. “Better than I deserve, probably. But you… you guys could get in a lot of trouble. If you breach protocol.”
Shade let out a wounded sound, and Jason flinched back, rushing to add, “I don’t want you to go! God knows I don’t. You both have been the best thing to happen to me in a long time. I just—you don’t have to go as far as you’ve been going, and you shouldn’t have to, and I don’t want you to get in trouble—”
Shade scrambled to sync up with Chase.
“I know that clause,” Chase said. “I mean, Shade does. We both do. Translating for Shade now: ‘I know that clause. It allows that a relationship may develop between a human and AI Companion. The AI is responsible for being aware of the human’s mental state at all times and never taking advantage of that boundary. However, the Delegate is aware that often these feelings may be two-sided, as often happens when individuals spend much time together and progress and grow. The Delegate recognizes the validity of these feelings in the event that the AI acknowledges their own and is not taking advantage of their human’s current condition. Have we been taking advantage? Please Jason, have we?’ End translation.”
Shade looked stricken. Chase, torn. Jason… didn’t know what to think.
“Jason.” And Chase’s voice was even, but his expression was blank, almost angry. “Jason, we both need to know. Have you ever been unwilling, within reason, to anything either of us have ever instigated?”
“I—no. No.”
“And at any point after we got to know each other did you think, really think, that either of us would force you to do something that you didn’t want to do? That we even could?”
Jason looked at the table. “No.”
“…do you want to ask for a reassignment?”
“No!” Jason took a breath. “No, I don’t. I just—”
“Don’t want us to get in trouble, yes, Jason. We heard you. Shade wonders what we’d be getting in trouble for.”
Shade was also shaking.
“I….”
“Jason.” And Chase had calmed his tone. “I need—we need you to know something, and we need you to take it to heart. Okay?” At Jason’s nod, he continued, “There is nothing we have offered you or given you or asked of you that we did not mean. And nothing we would change or fix about how we interact with you, except on your terms. I’ve worked as a Companion for many years, as has Shade. We know the boundaries, and of course, of course we respect them. Our interactions with you reflect our own feelings for you. You in particular. But again, only ever on your terms. Do you understand?”
Jason nodded, words gone.
Chase let his shoulders sag. “All right,” he said. “Did that address your concerns?” Jason nodded again. “Then let’s leave it at that for now. I think… I think maybe Shade and I need to have a talk. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Jason?” Tentative, from Shade.
Jason pushed to his feet. “I should—go do—” Something, anything, work the bag, use his mat, sort through his feelings. Feelings he’d refused to acknowledge because that could only end badly but were apparently, at least on some level, returned…. “Sorry,” he said. “Sorry for—” He let out a shaky breath and hurried out of the room.
WELL, CHASE said through the sync, once he was able to find his voice again. I can’t say I was expecting that. He felt so tired. And things had been going well.
It’s my fault, Shade said immediately. I triggered him before, and then with today—he realized something he hadn’t been paying attention to.
It’s both our faults, Chase snapped, clearly upset with himself. I was careless. I never thought about how he might be feeling, that this wasn’t just a normal progression. But he’s already all twisted up inside that we—
We haven’t been fair, Shade said. Not being clear about how things have been going, how we’ve been feeling. His own self-anger was roiling through the feed. Maybe he was right. Maybe we should have offered to remove ourselves. Once we… once we started….
And then everyone gets to be miserable? Chase asked. We love him, and it developed naturally over time, around our regular duties. He at least has some sort of feelings towards us, enough so that he was worried about it for our own well-being. If we leave, no one wins. If we stay and at least try to work it out, there’s a chance for a happy ending. For all three of us.
He won’t be happy, Shade said. He still thinks of himself as a danger first and foremost. The hand that wasn’t synced with Chase’s clenched. Obviously.
We’ll explain ourselves first, Chase said. Give him the choice. We haven’t been fair, especially recently. He deserves to know exactly how we feel so he can react accordingly.
And if he decides to send us away?
All we can do is ask him to be rational. If he wants to send us away because he has no interest and thus ours makes him too uncomfortable, we’ll have to accept that. But if it’s because he thinks he’s trying to protect us… that, I will fight.
WHEN CHASE went to knock on Jason’s door to ask to talk, he couldn’t help but feel nervous. He and Shade had decided to talk to Jason one at a time in order not to overwhelm him. Shade had insisted that Chase go first, because of the two of them, Chase was better at making his thoughts and feelings clear.
Chase disagreed with that for a number of reasons, but he did have to admit that he was the more eloquent of the two of them. So here he was, just like in the beginning, at a barred door and asking Jason to come out.
When Jason finally unbolted the locks and pulled the door open, Chase hated himself a little bit for how sad and tired and hurt Jason looked. His shoulders were slumped, and he carried himself with an air of defeat, the long sleeves of his shirt hanging down to meet the wrappings on his hands.
“Hey,” Jason said quietly. “You guys need something?”
Yes. Chase didn’t shout. For you to stop hurting. “I wanted to talk to you,” he said. “About, ah, what you brought up before. Shade and I talked and—there are a few things we need to clear up.”
Jason tensed immediately, and Chase would’ve given a whole lot to know what he was thinking. “It’s not—it’s nothing bad,” he hurried to say. “At least, I hope it isn’t. That’s up to you. We just wanted to speak our piece.”
“Okay. Um. Living room?”
“Yes, that’d be fine.” And the nerves were worse now, now that Jason was expecting something negative. Why couldn’t they have just done this right?
Jason nodded and stepped out of his room, following Chase down the short hallway. When they sat on the couch, a few feet apart and facing each other, the space where Shade normally was screamed its emptiness.
“Um,” Jason said, looking even more worried now. “Shade doesn’t want to talk?” Chase could hear the palpable worry in that question: Is he mad at me? Does he want to leave now? Do both of you?
“We don’t want to leave,” Chase said in a rush. “Shade just… he was worried about saying the wrong thing. He asked me to talk to you first. That’s all.”
“Oh.”
“But if it’d make you more comfortable—” Chase added, and how did his stomach hurt so much when he didn’t even really have one? “He’d like to be talking to you. We just, we were worried about you being overwhelmed.”
“I think if you both have something to say to me, I’d rather you say it together,” Jason said, eyes on the floor. He looked like he was expecting an ax.
No, he looked like he’d prefer one.
“Why don’t we go get him, then,” Chase suggested. “Since he’s just hiding in our room.” He glanced over the back of the couch at the sound of soft footfalls. “Or was hiding, anyway.”
“Wasn’t hiding,” Shade said, slinking into the room. “But was listening,” he added, abashed. “Sorry. Worried.”
“About what?” Jason blurted. “Chase says he was worried, now you, what—what’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Chase said as Shade approached the couch. Jason shifted, moving down to give Shade more space to sit in the middle, but Shade shook his head, plopping down at the foot of the couch instead, resting his head on the side of Chase’s leg.
And that was big. Shade was incredibly self-conscious of his more animalistic behaviors. Even though they were what he was most comfortable with now, he still made an effort to keep them under control, at least when he was with people aside from Chase. And now, Jason. Judging from Jason’s facial expression, he understood that too.
He understood so much about them. It was why they’d begun to love him in the first place.
Jason sighed. “Okay,” he said. “So nothing’s wrong. You’re both worried and upset about something, but nothing’s wrong.” He swallowed. “Let’s just cut to the chase,” he said, with a significant look at Chase. He’d used the phrase before, but almost as a joke, always with a slight smile. Now….
“Love you,” Shade burst out, before immediately shrinking back as if he expected Jason to hit him for it.
Jason froze. Chase wasn’t even sure he was breathing.
“That’s about the gist of it,” Chase said, voice gentle. “In the time we’ve been with you, we’ve both grown to care for you. And so our including you is a step beyond what we’d do with someone else. Like we said before, we’ve only offered you what we want to give.”
“Want to give a lot,” Shade said quietly.
“We—we understand if you need some time,” Chase said, when Jason still made no move to speak. “And that this is unusual. But we promise it won’t interfere with us taking care of you and that if you don’t—don’t return our feelings that that’s fine. We just haven’t said anything yet because we didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but it seems we’ve failed in that—”
Jason let out a wet laugh, almost a sob and covered his face with his hands. “Stop,” he said. “Please. Please don’t—”
“We can’t help that we care about you, Jason,” Chase said quietly. “We’re telling you because the ball is, and always will be, in your court on what to do next.”
“I can’t do that,” Jason said. “Don’t do this to me. Us. Please don’t do this to us.”
“Jason—”
“We had a good thing going, we did, but I can’t—I’m going to hurt you. I already have.” He still wouldn’t look at them. “Don’t give me the ability to hurt you more.”
“We hurt too!” Shade snapped, startling Jason enough that he looked up.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to—”
“No. We hurt Jason. Jason has been hurt. Our fault. My fault,” he said, the last two words shaky. “Mistakes. Not on purpose. Never on purpose. Still happen.”
“That’s part of what relationships are,” Chase hurried to add. “You make mistakes. Sometimes you get hurt. Then you get better. With the people you care about.” He shifted on the couch, blindly reaching for Shade’s hand—not even to sync up, just for comfort and assurance. “We’d understand if you wanted us to go. If we made you feel uncomfortable with… this. But I’m not going anywhere if this is just another way to punish yourself. Neither of us are.”
Jason stared at them, shocked into silence. “You’re actually serious,” he said, after a long minute. “You—this—”
“More serious than I’ve been about anything in a long time.”
“Love you,” Shade said again. “Wish… I could say it better. Why. But can’t. Just want to stay. Want to show you. Want to try.”
“I couldn’t have said that any better,” Chase said, voice soft again. “Jason, everything is up to you. We just wanted to be honest. Needed to be—and that is part of regulated protocol.”
“I don’t know,” Jason said, voice small. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll ask again, then. With—with knowing this. Do you still want us to stay?”
Jason stared down at his hands, one thumb rubbing over the other in a nervous check. Chase ached to know what was running through his head. “Yeah,” he said at last. “And I know I shouldn’t because—” He stopped. “But I don’t want to lose you two. Not yet.”
“Not going anywhere,” Shade said.
“Neither of us are, unless you want us to.”
Jason let out a shaky breath, looking miserable. “Can we just—see how things go? Feel it out. Like… like we’ve been doing, I guess. Just, you have to promise me that you won’t risk anything. Please.”
“We’ll do whatever we can,” Chase assured him. He didn’t bother to add how this was all a risk, just that Jason was worth it to them. “And ultimately, everything is still up to you. You’re the one we want to keep safe.” Jason barked out a laugh at that but didn’t say anything.
The silence descended again, feeling awkward and stuffy, none of the three sure of what to do or offer or ask.
It was Jason who finally swallowed and asked, “If—if it’s okay right now, could I….” He swallowed again. “Could I have a hug?”
Shade and Chase both surged forward so fast that they had to reposition their tangle of limbs after they enveloped Jason.
This is good, Chase thought, closing his eyes in relief. It’s going to be okay.