"I'm not asking if you can manage this. I know you can." Elisha's voice is quiet. Authoritative in a way he hasn't often been since he left the military. "But you have to manage the next thing too, no matter how big or small it ends up being. There's always something else around the next corner, Elani, and you can't expend all your energy in the right now."

He picks up a file from the pile and flips it open briefly before looking at her again. "Being Jack means you have to be prepared for something else following this. And that means mentally as much as any other way."