[Icelander]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

Indeed - "I want the best for her, and this guy is so far from the best for her that there are whole legions of guys who would be better…"

Just so.

It's not even subtle. Taylor promised Bell that if she really thinks she can be happy with Vargas, he would help her reach that goal in any way he could. But he doesn't make any secret of the fact that he believes Vargas is an evil man, incapable of love or affection, and not likely to make anyone happy.

In fact, while Taylor wouldn't put it in those terms to her, he thinks Bell is being actively Delusional in believing that Vargas cares a whit for her. After all, Vargas dated her for a few months seventeen years ago, managed to convince her to throw away her life and any future she might have had in order to help him escape military custody after he was arrested at Camp Mackall for a drug offence and then left her behind to face the consequences.

Over the past seventeen years, Vargas hasn't showed any sign of caring about her, either. There may have been some contact between them recently, but he certainly didn't take any risks for her or send anyone to help her escape at any point during those years.

Bell claims that Vargas sent the man with fake ID in the name of 'Special Agent' Vicente Berrocal of ICE/HSI who was at Manhanock Asylum for the Criminally Insane when our PCs arrived there, but even if he did, sending one idiot with badly faked ID to talk to her is a far cry from actually caring. If he did, he'd have done something earlier and he'd have devoted some actual resources to freeing her.

More likely, Vargas had reasons of his own to send someone to Jewell Island and it had more to do with Dr. Bruce Cotton's experiments there than any lingering affection for Sherilyn Bell. Vargas somehow knew Dr. Edward Vanderbert, the chief scientist of Project Jade Serenity and the preceding research at Jewell Island, long before he was one of the subjects in the Project. Hell, he knew the Chief of Security at the Project, Zachary Holden, from way back as well.

Taylor believes that Vargas has rarely, if ever, thought about Sherilyn Bell during the long, long time she's been locked up. Vargas might well be curious about her, now that she's out, but he'll realise that if she turns up in Mexico, she'll have either assassins, spies or both following her, waiting to target him if she draws him out.

Vargas always had an eye for a pretty girl and while Sherilyn Bell has always been cute, she's now utterly enchanting, magnetic and irresistable, due to her emerging superpowers. So it's not implausible that Vargas would desire to possess her as soon as he saw her. It's just that Taylor doesn't believe that Vargas even has the capability to genuinely fall in love or maintain a healthy relationship, so any arrangment based Vargas' desire for Bell would necessarily be short-term and probably end with Bell's death, as soon as she became tedious, annoyingly possessive or otherwise inconvenient.

So Taylor is not going to just hand Bell over to Vargas, under any circumstances. His promise to her was to help her to see Vargas and allow her the chance to make up her mind on what she wants to do next. So Taylor's goal is to gradually show her that the Vargas she thinks she is in love with doesn't exist and help her understand how horrible he really is. Which is extremely optimistic, as it assumes that Delusions can be cured with sweet reason, the accumulation of evidence and patience.*

Also, Taylor needs to ensure that any meeting with Vargas is under conditions where the PCs and their allies have the upper hand, and Vargas cannot kill them all (and maybe kidnap Bell, if he doesn't just kill her too), which would otherwise be the most likely plan for the paranoid, ruthless and hyper-violent Vargas to adopt.

So, if Vargas actually agrees to conditional immunity, as long as he works for Onyx Rain, Taylor wouldn't do anything to sabotage that. That would mean Bell wouldn't be left at his mercy and while the potential for Bell being harmed somehow just by associating with Vargas would frighten Taylor (not to mention make him crazy with jealousy), he'd at least try to avoid acting like a possessive boyfriend and simply hope that Bell would see through Vargas on her own.

This possibility, however, doesn't worry Taylor too much**, because he doesn't for a second believe that Vargas will ever agree to give up his burgeoning drug empire in Mexico to become, effectively, a constantly monitored prisoner of Onyx Rain with the illusion of some minor freedoms.***

What Taylor is most worried about is Vargas agreeing to meet them, being a courteous host, declining politely to return with them in order to serve Onyx Rain and then offering Bell the Sun and the Moon if she'll be his Queen of the Underworld.

Granted, Taylor doesn't think this is all that likely, given how suspicious Vargas has to be of her when she arrives in the company of what are clearly covert operatives from the US government that is hunting him, but it's absolutely what Taylor fears most, because it would place Bell in extreme jeopardy without leaving him any honourable way to protect her.

Edit: In general, Taylor really doesn't want to decide for anyone, even a person he loves, what would be best for them. Whenever he is forced into giving orders, it reminds him of his bully of a father. His ex-wife used to complain that he doted on and spoilt their daughters and thus always left her to be the unpleasant disciplinarian.

Nevertheless, the more Taylor comes to realise, with his folksy, experience-based variant of Psychology (Applied), just how broken Bell is, the more inevitable the conclusion that she is probably not ready to make life-changing decisions until she is better. Which he believes she can be, with patience and affection. Until that time, however, Taylor is torn between a desire to protect her from anyone who might try to take advantage of her and his personal distaste for restricting her freedom of action. As he's aware that he might be influenced by motives of jealousy to be rather more protective than is strictly necessary, he'll probably overcompensate and end up allowing her far too much space, which isn't sensible when she's likely to use it to scheme, plot and manipulate in some way that lands everyone in danger.

Yay, Disadvantage feedback loop!

*Well, that is usually how they are cured, more or less, but the depressing reality is that most psychological problems which include something severe enough to qualify as Delusions in GURPS aren't so much cured as they are managed well enough to enable some kind of life, through pharmacology, coping mechanisms and constant, heroic work by the person trying to overcome the problem.
**I suggested to the GM that it would, of course, be a really neat surprise for Taylor is Vargas were to meekly agree. Naturally, it would be a part of some nefarious scheme of his, but no matter what Taylor did, he could not convince anyone else not to allow Vargas to take the deal and his sense of honour would prevent him from doing something to mess things up, when he could fulfil his promise to Bell so easily.
***While this doesn't seem appealing to Vargas, if he should find himself in a position where the PCs credibly threaten his life and have the upper hand, Vargas might, of course, surrender to the oh-so-honourable foes, agree to any terms proposed and immediately start planning his inevitable betrayal.