"I know you do. I know you'd do anything for me." He squeezed her again, gentle but hard, and more to confirm a suspicion than to be genuinely affectionate. He paid close attention, as he always had, to her comfort and tension, and when her shoulders stiffened reflexively he disengaged a little. Carson held her shoulders and looked her in the eye, frowning faintly. "You're still sore," he said quietly. "You didn't spend nearly any time resting, did you?" He felt anxiety boil up like a snake in his gut and turned to shut the water off, swiping his hair back so droplets didn't fall in his face. "You spent the entire time I was gone today up and moving, didn't you? With that little... thief."<br/><br/>Carson brushed past her as he stepped out of the shower, anger flaring up quicker than he could handle it. "I thought you understood that the entire<i>point</i>of staying here today was so you could recover and so that you<i>wouldn't</i>be sore tomorrow. I thought I had made it totally clear that the whole reason I wanted you to stay here instead of at my side was so that tomorrow you COULD be with me!" He left the bathroom entirely, seizing a towel on his way out, wrapping it tightly around his waist. He ran his hands through his hair and stood in the middle of the bedroom with his eyes closed, trying to breathe and reason through it.<br/><br/>He knew what it meant, of course. Malia couldn't be trusted to take care of herself. She was too devoted to making some kind of point to follow orders or directives. Too stubborn for her own good. He couldn't train her--he couldn't take her out of the goddamn bunker, at this rate. His hands dropped and he put them on his hips, staring down at the ground. That was just the long and short of it. If Malia could not,<i>would</i>not take care of herself, then he would have to force the issue. She left him no choice. Not when he had come so close to losing her before.<br/><br/>The taste of blood on his tongue made him shiver, and he turned as he heard her step out after him. "Look, I'm sorry I lost my temper," he said before she could tell him anything. "I just... care. About you. About your safety. And I wish you weren't so stubborn about these things."