"You were always more than property," she countered, gently, slipping her fingers through his. "If it were ... just you, I mean, if I wasn't keeping you from the hits, then ... what would you say no to? Or would you ... trust Tseng and go, hey, he thinks it's okay, let's go with that? I don't ..."

Dammit, it was so hard to explain. "I don't want you to take jobs just to prove something, to yourself or to anyone else. And I don't like the thought of you ... going after people that ... don't deserve it, I guess."