[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]It was Isaac's first day back on the job. Hand eye coordination and bartending were like peanut butter and jelly, and right now Isaac was more like peanut butter and pickles. The holiday rush was coming, though, and like hell was Zev going to lose one of his more trusted employees in the middle of it. Besides, Isaac needed this. He had to pay those clinic fees somehow, and the chance to stretch his legs and talk some would do him a world of good.[break][break]

And talk he did! Half of bartending was knowing how to strike up a good conversation and make people feel welcome. The other half was making drinks that didn't taste like pee. And that was a complicated cocktail (heh) of ingredient knowledge, proper measurements, and, yes, making the shaker go shake-shake-shake. Turned out, when the physical parts could be handled by Isaac's Fennekin, he was more than capable of taking on the rest of his duties. It also meant the patrons got to look at a cute little silver fox. She even fit the canine theme. Win-win![break][break]

At the start of shift, his missing eye left him insecure. However, the rough and tumble types over in Slateport didn't seem to care very much. In fact, he actually got to practice telling increasingly ridiculous stories about how he'd lost his eye. Between the overwrought tall tales and Miyuki's flashy magic tricks, the tips were just flooding in.[break][break]

It was such a solid shift that Isaac almost didn't want it to end. Normally, by the last thirty, he was starting to flag. Today, five minutes from closing and he still had enough room in the tank for another hour. When the door opened and another customer came in, Isaac was quick to shoot them a nod and a smile. "Late night for a dr-?"[break][break]

Oh. Well, that question got cut off immediately. The other man breathed out a surprise, and Isaac recognized his face all too well. This was Caleb Sharpe.[break][break]

No. This was Caleb Harcourt.[break][break]

Isaac tried to say something. Did he shoo him away and warn Zev about his presence? Did he try to warn Caleb about what he was getting himself into? No habla Hoennian, soy Paldean? A million and one scenarios played out in Isaac's mind, but they all melted in the way of those icy blue eyes. Caleb wasn't leaving until he saw Zev. And if Zev knew, he wouldn't leave until he saw Caleb. Neither of these two men were the type to back down. Neither of these two men were the type to give in. Who was Isaac to stand in the way of destiny?[break][break]

"Not a problem. I'll hop to the back and get him," he said. There was worry shining in his eye, both about Caleb and for him. Would Caleb see it? Or was he blinded by his desire? Regardless, he kept up the facade that everything was okay, because he was a consummate professional. "Miyuki, keep our friend here company, okay?"[break][break]

Normally, he'd ask for a name. But he wasn't going to insult Caleb like that.[break][break]

He hastily ducked for the back. Zev was a creature of routine. Isaac knew exactly where he'd be at this time on a Friday. "Hey, uh, Zev? We're gonna need you out here. Like, right now," Isaac said. "It's, uh. Well." He trailed off. There was really no way of framing this delicately, now was there?[break][break]

"He's here."

[break][break]

[break]

Caleb Harcourt Isaac Merlo

NOTES

⬥ Mission: Post PAAA

Caleb didn't flinch as Zev made his demand. If it was an attempt to intimidate Caleb, it didn't stick. How could Caleb be intimidated by someone he had known since childhood? Zev had once been a scrawny outcast kid, bullied and belittled. Caleb wasn't proud of that history - he'd done what he could to stop it - but it was difficult to overlook it even as he faced down the older version that had hardened with age. Zev might be edged like a knife and capable of unbelievable destruction now, but transformation didn't erase the past, it only masked it.[break][break]
But he supposed such things went both ways. Except Zev didn't seem like he was willing to accept the Caleb of the present, only the Caleb of the past.[break][break]
A pregnant pause permeated the room. The weight of nearly 30 years of brotherhood hung between the two men, heavy and sorrowful.[break][break]
"I should be dead," Caleb began. "I saw my name on a list." He did not specify what type of list. Vaguely, the Ranger registered Isaac's continued presence, but he ignored the younger man. If Zev wanted him here, so be it. Let him bear witness.[break][break]
"You had my name removed from that list." It wasn't a question. The next part would be. "What makes you think they would even let me come back?"[break][break]
He would not go back. But if Zev was powerful enough within the Rocket organization to wipe clean the record of a Kanto defector - a man who knew countless Rocket secrets and had taken them to the League - that was knowledge he needed to have.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]They said the great pharaohs of Unova, upon taking their final breath, were entombed alongside their servants. How their very much still alive servants felt about this was lost to the ages. As Isaac locked the doors to the Howling, he found himself throwing around a few theories of his own.[break][break]

The click of the lock cut through heavy, silent air. With it, the room began to change. The air felt thick and murky. Any attempts at breathing it were like trying to suck concrete through a straw. Sins that weren't even his own began to press down against his back, leaving his feet anchored to the floor. Every footstep, every head turn, every little blink seemed to take an eternity. The pressure being radiated from the brothers' staredown was incomparable. Cillian Quinn's office, a room psychologically engineered to wreak havoc on one's mind, paled in comparison to a place that on most nights felt like home.[break][break]

By some miracle, he made it back behind the counter. Miyuki regarded him with a gentle butt of her forehead. Isaac tried to thank the fennec in turn, but with the state of his depth perception he simply feathered the air above her head. Such was the intensity in the room that didn't even notice.[break][break]

Typically during his shift, Isaac was the center of attention. Today, he couldn't be trying harder to avoid calling attention to himself. None of the words he said to rowdy patrons or the Howling's family managed to come to mind. Even his eyepatch, which had been stealing glances all night, felt like the least important thing in the room.[break][break]

All the better, if you ask Isaac. The last thing he wanted was to get involved. And yet, like a trainwreck about to happen, he couldn't tear his focus away.

[break][break]

[break]

Caleb Harcourt Isaac Merlo

NOTES

⬥ Mission: Post PAAA

Caleb smirked.[break][break]
Beneath that smirk, however, there was relief. Something akin to a dam breaking, a flooding of the central-nervous system. A tension he had not realized he'd been carrying since he'd seen his name on that list.[break][break]
He believed Zev. As long as the other man held even a remote amount of sway within Hoenn Rocket, Caleb would stay alive.[break][break]
Now for the final confirmation.[break][break]
"And what if I don't return to Rocket?" Caleb asked softly. "Will you stand idly by, allow my life to be forfeit?" He folded his arms, looking down just slightly at his older brother. "Is your promise of protection contingent on my obedience, or are you the sort of man who fights for what's his regardless of whether or not that thing is currently in his possession?"[break][break]
Caleb vaguely considered the presence of their witness. How long had the younger man been working for the assassin? Had Zev acquired a replacement for Caleb, in some strange, broken way, a mockery of brotherhood?[break][break]
The version of Caleb that had escaped Kanto, grief-stricken and traumatized, might have thought Isaac's situation an unfortunate causality of Rocket's path to dominance. Not worth his time, because the outcome was already determined.[break][break]
But Caleb wasn't that man anymore; maybe when all of this was said and done, Isaac didn't have to be some passing tragedy, just another victim of Zev's - and Rocket's - cruelty.[break][break]

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]He was brainwashed, Zev said.[break][break]

He would never dare defy, Zev said.[break][break]

The next time he saw him, this little matter would be sorted out, Zev said.[break][break]

Isaac had his doubts from the beginning, but he also knew he couldn't say for sure. bryan delarosa had already told him that Psychic types could wreak havoc on someone's brain. If the League truly wanted someone brainwashed, if there truly was some psy-op to steal away Rocket's most promising recruits, if Zev truly was important enough to get his own hand-picked nemesis, the possibility was there.[break][break]

And yet the look on Caleb's face said it all. This wasn't the cold defiance of a man who had no stake in this matter. This wasn't the anguish of a man fighting against his own mind. This was the smirk of someone who not only knew Zev, but was absolutely finished with him. The fear of both his older brother and direct superior had faded with time, age, and distance, and he almost seemed amused by Zev's attempts at asserting their own dynamic.[break][break]

Fuck. If he ever was ever forced to deal with his father, that was the confidence he'd need to bring to the table.[break][break]

Yet that confidence wasn't aimed at a shadowy enemy. It was aimed at Zev; monster and mentor, victimizer and victim, someone who exploited Isaac for all he was worth and taught him more than anyone else along the way. He was nervous what Zev would do to Caleb, having already beheld his barely-contained wrath. He was nervous what Caleb would do to Zev, and how that would make his wrath all the fouler.[break][break]

He could only hope that Zev's pride would spare him from being dragged into this mess.[break][break]

Maybe he could have just left. Their focus was intense, and in the wake of a certain rat's memos the Howling's backrooms had gained a new entryway. It would have been oh so easy to just tiptoe back when their standoff reached a fever pitch, and nobody existed in their worlds besides each other. But even now, Isaac found himself too curious, too concerned, and too fascinated to take this easy out. He had seen a few of Zev's inner layers, and now Caleb's presence threatened to dissect them for the world to see. Even now, his heartbeat hazy from fear, there was still so, so much to learn . . .

[break][break]

[break]

Caleb Harcourt Isaac Merlo

NOTES

⬥ Mission: Post PAAA

The words Caleb had been preparing to say next died in his throat.[break][break]
Kill me now, then. Make it quick. I'm not going back with you.[break][break]
For the first time that evening, Caleb's resolve wavered. Just a little. Just enough. Caleb's shoulders sagged ever so slightly under the weight of his brother's hands. A familiar weight. For a precious few moments, Caleb allowed himself to believe that Zev had come around, that this was the brother he'd always hoped for, a man who would support him no matter what he chose.[break][break]
He's even better than he used to be, Caleb noted. At acting like he cares.[break][break]
Slowly, gently, Caleb peeled Zev's hands off his shoulders. He fought back the urge to smile, the temptation to lose himself to the illusion of Zev's affection. That was the complicated thing about the best lies: they always held elements of the truth. Zev meant what he said, and he even meant how he felt. But that didn't mean acceptance.[break][break]
A small indulgence couldn't hurt, though. It had been over three years. Love was a stubborn beast, resilient and headstrong.[break][break]
"I've missed you," Caleb admitted. "Your identity is safe with me. You're not the only man who can protect his brother."[break][break]
For now.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]One minute, they seemed ready to kill each other. The next minute, there was nothing but pure brotherly affection on display. Hands on shoulders. Adjusted jackets. Quiet, tender words. For a moment, Isaac felt like he'd missed something while mixing a quick, tension-easing drink-[break][break]

Oh, don't look at him like that. He was paying for it.[break][break]

Yet one thing was clear. Even as conflict gave way to affection, the tension still lingered. Zev's words, while loving, were ultimately dismissive. He clearly cared nothing for Caleb's choices, even as he asserted that his brother would always be his. He spoke of permissions, of control, of perceived masters. Was thecimplication that, in the end, only he could be Caleb's true master? The combination of his warped words and envy-inducing actions sent a shiver down Isaac's side.[break][break]

And then there was Caleb, literally wilting under his older brother's love bombing. Were his movements slow to avoid offending the known killer in the room? Or were they slow because he wanted this moment to last forever? Isaac was painfully aware of the fact that it could be both.[break][break]

His love for his own little brother, intertwined with resentment for everything he represented, sat bitterly on the back of Isaac's mind.[break][break]

Caleb's last question broke through the veil. It was equal parts comfort and challenge. Zev was a proud man. His ability to be a chameleon was second only to his aptitude for murder. And Caleb, in an attempted peace offering, had just implied it wasn't enough. In his rejection of Zev's pecking order, he had just implied Zev wasn't enough.[break][break]

Isaac took a sip. He was at a front row screening of this horror show, and it was all he could do to stop himself from shouting warnings at the cast.

[break][break]

[break]

Caleb Harcourt Isaac Merlo

NOTES

⬥ Mission: Post PAAA

This time, Caleb did smile. It was a tired thing, stretched and strained, but the events of the last few weeks had pushed him to his limit. In the wake of Zev's well-practiced, but not entirely disingenuous, attempts at brotherly affection, Caleb allowed himself to relax into the relief of knowing his life would not end because of his decision to leave Kanto. It didn't make Rocket any less dangerous to him; despite what Zev's pride obviously believed, the man was human. If anything ever happened to him, Caleb's immunity might not last.[break][break]
So Caleb had to protect Zev, then. At least until Caleb himself could stand more firmly against a wider Rocket force. What did that mean, exactly? He wasn't entirely sure, but he knew it started with repairing some of the relationships he'd made in the Rangers. It meant coming clean about who he was, and who he intended to be.[break][break]
It also meant...protecting as many people as possible from Zev. Allowing Zev to remain freely an asset to the Rocket cause in Hoenn meant Caleb was taking full responsibility for anyone hurt as a result. Was that...the right thing to do? Should he turn Zev in, no matter the cost? If that was truly what would be best for Hoenn's people?[break][break]
I'm still a coward, he thought. The truth was that love would always be a difficult chain to break.[break][break]
"Mom did used to say that," Caleb agreed, tone warmer than it had been all evening.[break][break]
Caleb's blue eyes flicked to Isaac, then, lingering on the blond. There was something different about his face, but it was hard to make out all of the details in the shadows of the room. "I remember you," Caleb said to him, addressing him for the first time since he'd commanded him to go get his employer, tone more neutral - perhaps even kinder - than it had been then. "It seems my brother trusts you, so I'll choose to trust you too. My name is Caleb Harcourt. But you knew that already." It was meant as an introduction, a starting over, a blank slate. It was also, underneath the release of tension, a new sort of challenge.[break][break]
There were two kinds of Rockets: the ones like Zev and the ones like Caleb. The ones like Caleb either found a way to get out, or they eventually met their demise - for, in Caleb's experience, the regime had no room for perceived weaknesses. Not every man made a good soldier. What sort of future did Isaac wish for? And did it even matter?[break][break]

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Zev took it in stride. If anything, he seemed downright glad to hear Caleb's offer of protection. The pat to the cheek was the most outwardly affectionate Isaac had ever seen Zev be, and for a moment Isaac wondered if he was just a different man around those he loved.[break][break]

Well, of course he was. Zev was a different man in every situation. The man readily, even proudly told Isaac that fact. Yet every time, Isaac found himself looking at Zev's latest mask and wondering if that was the true face of Zev. He wondered what it said about him that every moment of tenderness made him want to believe.[break][break]

And yet, Caleb's tone grew warmer. Surely he had to know what Zev was doing here, right? Surely he had to know what Zev was like. They were brothers! They'd spent their lives together! And with how he'd come storming in, full of piss and vinegar, Isaac knew it wasn't just ignorance. No, at some point, their conversation took a distinct turn. Was Zev's care, condescending as it may be, truly as genuine as he had hoped? Was his manipulation just that successful? After all, if anyone had "brainwashed" Caleb, Isaac was starting to doubt it had been the League.[break][break]

Then he remembered Caleb's hard eyes, a dead ringer for Zev's. The distinct possibility arose that Zev wasn't the only master of manipulation here.[break][break]

Regardless of the hows and whys, the what remained clear. The situation had de-escalated. The tension had dissolved to a discomforting undercurrent. The great game that Isaac and Zev played paled in comparison to the round of speed chess that had unfolded before his eyes.[break][break]

And now, with the dust settled, the spotlight was on him.[break][break]

Isaac was acutely aware that he had just been made collateral damage. There was no obscuring his identity. He was a bartender, everyone at the Howling knew his name. He was also Zev's choice to linger behind through this entire conversation. At absolute best, he was an accomplice, the other holder of Zev's secret identity. Caleb didn't seem naive or foolish enough to believe that to be the case. That meant the other conclusion, and one that could end his life if word got out. He truly had been buried beside his pharaoh.[break][break]

He faced the music with dignity, slipping out from the bar to offer Caleb a handshake. The ranger now held his life in the palm of his hand. A handshake was the least he could give. "And I'm Isaac. Good to properly meet you," he said, despite there being nothing good or proper about this whole situation. Nevertheless, he kept a pleasant, friendly demeanor, because there was no sense making things worse.[break][break]

Perhaps now, up close and personal, Caleb would see the eyepatch that had blended in with the shadow.

[break][break]

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