Redhawk Caldera Magic is costly. You take what you didn't earn, but you pay for it.

"With very good fucking reason," Towhee cut in angrily, really losing her cool for a minute before reigning it in and saying, "But who said you'll be treated like dirt, Reyes? Literally nobody said that? You'll be treated like the wildcard you've proven yourself to be, first with Niamh, then with Caracal. Until you show us you're not like that anymore. Nothing more and nothing less."

She let him finish without interrupting again. In that vein, Towhee didn't reply to his comment about the pups in Brecheliant, though she made note of it somewhere in the back of her mind. And when he asked after Caracal, her eyes flashed dangerously. She opened her mouth to say something after all, but he had more to say and his next few words sent her train of thought careening off the tracks.

"Fucking damn it, Reyes!" Towhee spat, voice raising. "Do you think I want to do this? Do you think I'm doing it for funsies?" she demanded heatedly. "I don't trust you. I don't know how you can trust yourself. Nobody else goes around throttling pups by random accident. Don't you think you should take a step back and figure out why the hell you did that? Why you attacked Niamh before that? Where is your goddamn self-awareness and remorse...?"

She drew in a loud breath, then unleashed an ugly laugh before all semblance of humor was wiped from her stony face. "You haven't remotely done everything in your power to fix things, Reyes. Saying you're sorry is fucking meaningless. Show me you're sorry. Show me you won't do it again. I don't want to hold it over your head forever," she seethed, gnashing her teeth, "by fucking design!"