Her words, on the other hand, combatted every defense he had, as if she had some idea of what exactly was happening to him at this moment. There was something about this woman completely calling him out on his crisis without really knowing him that made him want to back up until he could throw himself out of the nearest window. He'd never had someone want to talk to him about anything other than business, what needs to get done, training, routine, goddamn responsibility. It was vulnerability that he was most terrified of, standing there with someone seeing all the little holes in the barricade, cracks in the battlements that made him want to crawl inside himself and stay there.
Before he could swallow his own tongue to save himself, he opened his mouth to answer her.
"While I can appreciate a good theory," he paused, feeling something rising in his throat -pure apprehension. He still held her gaze, though it was getting harder. "Sometimes they're not so easy to put into practice." Brennan did something he had never done before, even under the most extreme pressure he had ever felt: he broke eye contact. He couldn't look at her anymore, even though she probably saw everything there she'd ever wanted to see by then. Words kept bubbling up now though. "Autopilot can just end up being the best option. What else are you going to do when you are in your own damn way and no one is going to get up and try help the person who won't help themselves?"