[She has a pretty good idea of what the statistics are - how things like combat fatigue look (this isn't that, not really) and what it's called when you find yourself on leave and there's too many kinds of microwaveable dinners. Because she's supposed to know how to recognize those things. Because avoiding the snap of indecision is part of her job. Because when you're the only person left on the ground when a shuttle comes down to extract your team from unexpectedly hostile territory, the Alliance does a pretty thorough job of making sure there isn't any 'lasting trauma' before sending you off to do it again.

If this were home, she'd write a letter recommending furlough. But if this were home, she wouldn't be talking to a child in the first place - and for a second that thought makes her briefly angry, briefly sharp, something like the taste of metal in her mouth in the moment before she swallows it down and smooths out the twitching line of irritation from the corner of her mouth. What the hell is she supposed to do with this here?]

You're half right. [There's no bite in that, no edge of a dressing down hiding at the fringe of the words. And she keeps talking because she doesn't need him to try and fill the space or doesn't want him to - can't miss the sharp intake of his breathing or how he seizes up.] Some of the cadets in the program - they're already pretty good at some things, right? Lan Fan knows what she's doing, but I still make her run and take all the same classes with the rest of you. It's not just about being combat ready. It's making sure you have people you know and trust. So when you come up short, you know there's someone else that can pick up the slack and you don't have to feel guilty or make excuses for it.