Jack ran a hand over her scalp. "Sparkle, you've looked like a fucked up mess for weeks now. Every brief time I've seen you. You have this look, and it's a look I know because I used to see it in the goddamn mirror when I was a kid, and I hate that fucking look and seeing it on you makes me already want to kill everything around you just in case any of that shit is what's causing it."

She took a long drink. A very long drink and then poured another. "But I won't. I can't do that because I know that even if I did, even if I dropped the body of whoever or whatever was scaring you pissless, it wouldn't help you. You'd feel bad. You'd feel like you did it and it would hurt you. I get that. I don't like it and I think it's stupid as fuck that you'd take that on, the blame for something I did but.. you would and there's nothing in the galaxy I could do to stop you from taking that blame."

Another slug of whiskey and she added quietly, "And you're telling me this is legal shit, which means killing him probably makes it worse because then the fucker can't show up in court and maybe that makes whatever you're doing more difficult. So okay. I'm gonna want to kill him, and I already know you don't want me killing anyone for you. So okay. I won't kill the son of a bitch. If nobody who loves you has done it yet, then I'm at the end of that line already anyway. So okay. No killing him."