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Caleb was just about fucking done with the Ultra Deep Sea and its creepy dream mist, but he'd committed himself to rounding up the lost and injured with Isaac Merlo and he wouldn't give up on that no matter how exhausted he felt. Isaac inspired a stubborn resolve in Caleb; though he had no clue how to actually help the younger man with the weighty decisions he was trying to make, Isaac made Caleb all the more aware of just how badly he wanted to overcome the darkness of his own past. As if protecting Isaac - from Zev, from Rocket, hell even from those in the League who would wish any former Rocket harm - would somehow make up for the terrible things he'd done in Kanto, finally absolve him of all of the guilt that had piled up over the years.[break][break]
Lyra trilled, shaking Caleb from his reverie: she had spotted something ahead. The Lapras swam down to the seafloor with haste. Once settled, Caleb hopped off her back, wincing as his feet hit the ground. His entire body ached from his fight with Zev.[break][break]
A blond young woman was lying on the ground, looking as bad as Caleb felt. It was not immediately clear what side she was on - Rocket, League, some poor civillain who's wandered into this hellscape. Didn't matter: she needed medical attention. He crouched down by her body, immediately checking to make sure she was still breathing.[break][break]
"Hey," he called out gently to her. "Can you sit up? I'm here to help."

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She didn't say anything. Caleb frowned.[break][break]
But she did...turn her head ever-so-slightly to peer up at him with very, very tired eyes. Caleb sighed, then slipped strong arms beneath her upper back and carefully heaved her up into a sitting position, cradling her head. He held her, wondering what the hell to do with her. Get her onto Lyra's shell, idiot, he chastised himself. Swim until you find a medical team.[break][break]
Pinkish-purple mist curled up Caleb's arms, swirling innocently around his torso. He knew that mist - and he knew it was anything but innocent. Last time he'd encountered it, he'd been sucked back into nightmarish memories of his time in Kanto. He would have been trapped re-living them over and over, permanently broken by his own shame and guilt, had angelo vestri not stumbled upon him.[break][break]
Faintly, Caleb's vision began to double: he was seeing the woman, bleeding and bruised, but also seeing a different version of her - unharmed, vibrant, and clearly displeased. It was incredibly jarring.[break][break]
"What is it with everyone tryna help me today!" A faint, female voice sighed. Her voice? But she hadn't opened her mouth.[break][break]
Well, maybe he could work with this somehow. Even if it was just the dream mist playing more tricks on him. He shrugged off the oppressive paranoia that seemed to follow him everywhere he tried to go within the Ultra Deep Sea: he'd get through this, and he'd get her through it too.[break][break]
"If you don't want people trying to help you, maybe stop getting hurt?" He suggested, tone wry. "My name's Caleb Harcourt. What's yours?"

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At first, her sudden vitriol was like a slap to the face. Shock colored Caleb's previously concerned expression, and he grunted half in pain and half in surprise as her elbow stabbed violently into his ribcage. He doubled over, dropping her, bringing his hands to his already-bruised side. His chest throbbed as he sucked in a few breaths. Then he looked up, staring at the blond with wide blue eyes. What?[break][break]
And then he understood.[break][break]
"Did he hurt you?" Caleb asked softly, crawling forward tentatively - not wanting to spook her again, but wanting to make sure she could really see his face: really see it.[break][break]
"My brother?"[break][break]

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I hate him.[break][break]
Could he blame her? If she'd met Zev - the real Zev - then there was little he could say to change her mind about his brother. If she knows the real Zev, she'd probably Rocket, Caleb thought. Any inclination to arrest her on suspicion was lost to the anxiety he felt for her wellbeing, however.[break][break]
At least she wasn't violently shoving at him anymore or trying to run away despite her broken body. Caleb beckoned for Lyra to swim closer; when the Lapras arrived, he pointed at the woman. "Give her a hand," he requested. Lyra trilled, then showered ana fell with a healing LIFE DEW. Perhaps she would become more lucid if she was in less pain...[break][break]
What had she said about Zev hurting her? Not physically, but... feels the need to corrupt little boys, was that what she'd said? What had that meant?[break][break]
Something clicked into place, like the turning of a key to spring open a lock. Caleb felt a sudden headache coming on. Everything seemed to be connected; as if the Ultra Deep Sea had some kind of agenda that kept pulling him towards pieces of the complex puzzle that was Zev's web of destruction.[break][break]
"You're talking about Isaac," Caleb realized. "You know him? Isaac Merlo?" What could he say to her now? I swore to protect him. Yeah, maybe that's what he should say. But he didn't even know her name yet. Who was she to Isaac, anyway?

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Boyfriend.[break][break]
Caleb wanted to laugh (or maybe scream); it really did feel like destiny, that he would stumble upon this young woman right after running across Isaac. His chest ached and he knew in that moment that he would not leave her here to die, he would get her onto Lyra's back kicking and screaming if he had to. He'd take her to get help, make sure she lived. Why, why had Isaac crawled into his heart like this, wormed his way beneath what he'd thought was toughened skin? Kanto skin.[break][break]
Nah, Kanto made me weaker not stronger, he thought. It was his choices now that would determine whether he could even use the word "strong" to describe himself.[break][break]
"I stabbed him," he found himself saying to her. "I stabbed Zev." He let that sink in. Somewhere in the back of his mind, there was a part of him still having a panic attack about it, but he ignored it - for her sake. "He'll live, but for once, he got to feel a little bit of the pain he inflicts on others. Something else to encourage you to live, allright?"[break][break]
He grinned tiredly at her, then moved closer: a second attempt to scoop her into his arms.[break][break]
"Isaac knows, by the way," he said softly. "He knows he's in a shit situation. He wants to get out of it."

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Her manic laughter was infectious. Caleb found himself chuckling along with her. "Yeah, it's fucked. The whole thing is fucked. He's my brother." He spit the word out like it belonged on the ground. He shook his head, wanting so badly to crawl under a rock and sleep (hide, grieve) for weeks, but that wasn't an option. "He's pissed, but he deserved it." It should feel better - cathartic - but it doesn't. It just feels like biting into rotten fruit, something that should taste sweet tainted by the bitterness of forced violence.[break][break]
Was she crying now? Caleb held her in an awkward half-hug, half-princess carry. "I don't think Isaac would want you to die," he assured her, smile turning wry. The Ranger heaved the blond onto Lyra's great shell, helping to adjust her bruised and bleeding limbs so that she could hold onto the Lapras's neck. Lyra kept looking back to make sure the young woman was okay.[break][break]
"You don't have to do it alone...help Isaac, I mean. I kind of swore I'd protect him, and I did mean it." He hopped up onto Lyra's back, then, sitting close behind Isaac's girlfriend, intending to make sure she didn't faint right off the Lapras and onto the seafloor.[break][break]
"So we're in this together," he declared. Did he sound heoric? He doubted it. "You gonna tell me your name?"

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He's just the type of person that makes you want to split the world open and tear down the sky before he comes to the slightest harm.[break][break]
Hell, that was accurate. She fucking gets it.[break][break]
"Yeah, that's him allright," Caleb agreed. "He doesn't even know he's doing it, is the thing. He just...he just says the most sincere heartfelt shit and all of a sudden, you want to go to war for the guy." He laughed. Less manic, more affectionate. "I haven't even known him that long but I know for a fact he doesn't deserve whatever Zev's been putting him through. I feel responsible, in a way. Zev wouldn't even be in Hoenn if not for me."[break][break]
There'd be time to explain all that to her, if she wanted the full story. Right now, he was way too exhausted to rehash it and she needed medical attention. The LIFE DEW was a short-term solution to ensure she'd make it to that help in one piece.[break][break]
Cygne. He'd remember.[break][break]
"Isaac's lucky to have someone like you," Caleb murmured to her, meaning it. "I can tell how much you care about him."[break][break]
Caleb didn't believe in cosmic justice, but he did know one thing: Zev was just one man. The more people that stood against him, the safer Isaac would be.

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