He nods to her. No, it's never safe. He's doing it right now because, to him? The risk is worth the reward. She can see him, see how he has to shove these truths out of him, how they tear at his throat a little on the way out.

It's no different from what he'd done for Jacobi on their first mission. Warren Kepler gives faith well before he even hopes for it, and never demands it. If he hasn't earned it, he doesn't deserve it.

"He knows now," because someone had left out his reality litmus notebook where Jacobi could check it and that meant that sooner or later, Jacobi had. Because he'd told Jacobi and proved it to Jacobi in an all out assault on his anxieties that he thinks has finally proven superior to the man's ability to doubt people's love.

"And I have. Because I failed our team. His anger? Came from his loyalty. Not disloyalty. I mourn that he believed that. But a part of me is fiercely proud of him. Glad that what we have means that much to him."

His head lifts a little.

"The one whose betrayal I'll never forgive? That's... someone else."