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It almost seemed too nice. Too happy. And... with the golden sun in the sky, the smell of salt, the rush of the sea... a piece of hipbone attached to his palm, Ashley started to wonder if he even deserved this.[break][break]

A small fumble to his mood. His brow creases, his heart pounds away. He did pull Kep here to the beach. He pulled Kep into everything, and now, he was going to cause so much discourse. But Ashley is selfish. He's a coward in that sense. He cuts what he doesn't want, and holds on with everything he has to the things he has. His back bends harder under the weight, and it piles on, and on. It's already too much.[break][break]

But seeing Kep here... that weight isn't so great.[break][break]

Instead of a response immediately, with his boyfriend around him, Ashley kisses him quietly. "You might have seen it on your own... but I'm glad I can share this with you all the same. I make so many mistakes, I wondered if I even deserved it..." He can feel himself wanting to loathe, but it doesn't come. How many times had he fucked up? How much would he continue to do that? How much weight can he take? Hoenn would push it all back on, but now... he could relax.[break][break]

"Heh. You're right." He comments on the apocalypses. Meteno. Bits and pieces of that one mission, what was it... Galar? Where they had even married in that memory... he thinks, anyways. The memory isn't all too easy to remember anymore. But there's a pain to it that lingers.[break][break]

His heart beats harder for Kep to hear as he wishes. The gentle thumping, the beating, bleeding heart. He can't help but feel it. He's selfishly holding on still, and he won't let it go anymore. He ran once, and now...[break][break]

He made up his mind. "You make me happy."[break][break]

So simple and in the air now. The smell of sea salt and love.

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It crashes down, when Zev Harcourt appears. He was in Jayden's office now. Heavy footfalls sound for the arrival, and Ashley could feel the sweat trickle down his neck. Agonizingly enough, his silver eyes keep focused forward, but panic starts to well up.[break][break]

He tries not to tremble.[break][break]

Zev closes the door. His words come out, and Ashley has to control his breathing.[break][break]

"I imagine... this is in regards to my failure to kill Isaac Merlo." His voice hides the tremble well, but experienced ears could hear the crumbling his voice had, like a house facing its own collapse inwards. A fragile little house of cards.[break][break]

"Was my report not satisfactory, Zev?"[break][break]

His left hand balls into a fist. He wonders... could he beat Zev in a fist-fight? Could he beat all of Rocket in a fist-fight? He had a full six on hand. He was no Champion, no Gym Leader. Hell, he lost most of the fights he took part in, even as a kid. Could he get out of the sub in one piece?[break][break]

Ana. Juliette. Maple. Magneto. Reinhardt. Cocoa. He doesn't know Zev's ace, not that well. Most of their work was human-to-human.[break][break]

Cold sweat trickles down his face. He was no good at mental chess.

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Tipping over was hardly the worst thing they'd ever gotten into. "Wouldn't mind if you did." This was so peaceful, that would be the only problematic, yet exciting thing that would happen. Sure enough, Kep does. With one of his beefier arms, he holds Kepler tightly. A kiss lined for his forehead right from the get, a welcome mat as a hand snakes its way to his hip.[break][break]

His grin, his smile. It's magic. Like waves washing away the shame and the sorrow of Rocket, it feels like a distant memory now.[break][break]

"You don't have to thank me." Silver eyes look on happily, Ash pressing his forehead to his love's. He closes his eyes... all while Mighty and Sarabi just snore away, enjoying that their other dad was present too.[break][break]

Ashley feels the tug at his heart... he needs to say it. But for once, he just wants to enjoy a little peace of mind. He tucks it away.[break][break]

"You know. It's almost our anniversary in a couple months... and we're already getting hitched." End of the world, consistent life or death circumstances, and the political climate of Hoenn seemed to lead them here. But it does have him smile. "We're not going too fast, are we?" Even if he says that, his hand still stays on Kep's hip. Even saying that, he wanted this.[break][break]

Feelings betray worry. Not even worried anymore of the now. The future, however...

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No matter how warm it may feel... that is a promise that Isaac cannot keep.[break][break]

Words cannot help the crumbling world that would soon be Ashley's grave. A promise cannot. Promises have been broken. He would know. He practically broke his to jayden cross . He left Rocket, and was betraying them again. He was stabbing them in the back again. declan walsh was right. He didn't care before.[break][break]

And that's why he has to pull Jayden to the light. He has to be the bridge. He has to do it.[break][break]

Burying these bodies? Named corpses? It was all for that goal. It was to break them from that cesspool swirl. Isaac could do it. He did it. He managed it. Why can't he? Why couldn't he? Why did he let himself be drawn back in when THEO BECKETT approached him. Theo wanted him to have a better life...[break][break]

He would fight Isaac... but that's all he could do. That's all he was able to do. Barely stop him. But when Isaac would leave, and Ashley sat there alone, he started to sob.[break][break]

There's no way out. A thought that pulled him down, like hooks fastened into him, and dragged him further to the depths of despair. Had this been Meteno, he would have underwent another mental break. But he'd learned. The labyrinthine hellscape he finds himself in has to have an exit.[break][break]

When he finally got his composure back, he would stand up. Take a breath in. Eyes to the stars.[break][break]

"Showtime." This was going to be a long, long, looooooong report.

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Feeling his chest with new pressure, Ashley peers from the hat, and sees him. Happiness pushes through him, his chest warm. The tropical paradise was warm, but it was always warmer with Kep.[break][break]

But if he thinks he's getting away with just sitting on a chair, nah. This hammock was built for two.[break][break]

"Get up here. Plenty of room." He's holding his arms out to Kep. The sun wonderful, but the shade here was the perfect blend of hot and cool. The summer was still going strong, and Alola was perfect this time of year. It reminded him of the best parts of Castelia, without all the filth in the corners.[break][break]

Hoenn was a cesspool. It would keep swirling till everyone found the drain. Alola was a palette cleanser.[break][break]

Being able to take Kep here was more important than anything else. He's not made of money, he can't afford the big hotels, but this was good enough for them together. The hammock by itself was an amenity he'd happily pay for again. Judging from Mighty and Sarabi enjoying it too, he'd agree...[break][break]

"I want to."[break][break]

His heart beats harder again. Wake-up was nice. Day in and day out, Kep was always there.[break][break]

"I'm glad you came with me."

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At some point, Ashley barely was conscious. He felt brutalized. His body was sore. He wheezed. He had been unconscious sometime in that, standing up and taking it. The dream of Alola, the dream of holding him so tightly... crumbled, but unbroken.[break][break]

By the time that Ashley laid there. Silver eyes peer up, glazed. Isaac scoops him up. His bruised arms are in pain, as he reaches up to grab Isaac's shirt. He grips it as tightly as he can... his hands are shaking.[break][break]

"You too... man..." Tears begin to flow, as he cries there.[break][break]

He feels so helpless.[break][break]

He hurts, he pains, he wants nothing more than to fix this. To make it right. Rocket pulled him back in, but the scars lasted longer than ever. All because he wants to save jayden cross. To make up for what he had done years ago. He had to come back. He had to pull Jayden out of this. He could do it.[break][break]

But he's crying so much, he can't fucking breathe right.[break][break]

How can he save his sister, Kep, and Jay? How can he possibly win against this? Is there any way to win without letting something go? Would he even be able to live with himself if he did? He already watched what happened when Jay was let go... he couldn't do that again. He couldn't run like a coward.[break][break]

But this? Could he even manage.[break][break]

"...N... no ma... matter what... keep them... safe... okay?"[break][break]

The rope is tied. Escape is no longer an option.

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July '23...[break][break]

The plane ride passes so quickly. Getting into the hotel room here in Hau-oli City, it gave them plenty of room to visit the beach, hit the harbor for seafood, or go to the shopping district to buy. Ashley had to put a big show-stopper room on hold, but he did get one with a special perk on their room's balcony.[break][break]

Which is where he was now. On the hammock, a straw hat over his face as he napped. Jet lag was a real issue, but know what isn't an issue? The Pokemon with him now.[break][break]

Three Pokemon really. There's Mighty, the little Poliwag who quietly snored on the hammock. Sarabi the Shinx too, she was ecstatic to sleep here on her Trainer like this. And of course, Maple the Glaceon would keep him cool from below, enjoying the little cat nap he could afford, and keeping everyone cooled off here on the hammock.[break][break]

He looked so peaceful, half-asleep. Like the weight finally lifted from his shoulders. It's temporary... but...[break][break]

Ashley Shepard could be free with his fiancée.

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It's not hard to see Ashley's smile fade, and Milo had taken note of it. The thousand yard stare straight ahead, looking past Milo, but the sweetness the guy possessed warmed his heart. Guy was just trying to comfort him.[break][break]

"I-" He wants to say yes. To wave away the trepidation of his return to Hoenn. If he can lie to a recruit, he can lie to anyone. But Ashley wears his heart on his sleeve. He did when he received his rating from the SPECTRA trial with Selena Desmarais and Hitoshi Inoue. He was on the lower end of the board.[break][break]

"I'll be fine." It's not fully a lie, but as he shrugs, he feels the tension build on his back. He can't stand to lie to the guy, he liked Milo. "Just had a lot on my mind, lately." He lets it slip. His facial expression says it all. Trouble and conflict matt his face, dotting it, as he attempts to mask it with a smile. Silver eyes seem to glaze over.[break][break]

He decides to let Milo in. "Okay. Here. I'll tell you." He gestures to a side alley. There, they'd get privacy.[break][break]

The moment they were alone... "No one can know. Cool?"

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He knows already that this is a test. To push him into the Rocket they want him to be. To stop holding onto his heart, and fall down the fence on the wrong side, to go over to the wrong side of the tracks. It was twofold. Ashley was killing someone tonight. And he did. They would forever follow him, until the day of his wake. He couldn't escape.[break][break]

This way, at least one of them got to be free.[break][break]

Isaac's promise is nice. It's good to sit in the air, let it bake in the sun, but the sun always goes down eventually. The sunrise isn't for awhile, and the demons swell in his heart. The dark pulls him further, the thorns yank him upwards to the rope that only tightens further. Silver eyes peer hollowed, rising higher and higher.[break][break]

He's at the landing now.[break][break]

His heart is in his throat when Isaac responds in a joke. There's no joke here. It was a test for admin-ship... one that Ashley threw away. He promised to reach the top, to keep kepler brueshaber safe. But that safety was worthless if he came back as nothing. A conundrum. He promised Kep he'd stop this, coming back with less and less of himself, but in wanting to keep him safe he had to step further. He had to let the thorns deepen. If he doesn't...[break][break]

This was the only way he could think to get everyone out alive, safe, and okay.[break][break]

"I know." He responds to the hug. He grips the shirt a moment too long. Trembling fingers hold on. But he lets go. Because it was time.[break][break]

The knee comes in, and Ash is gasping for air, wheezing. He fights himself to vomit. He remembers the face of Kep on vacation. The happy place... the love of his life. The happiness of holding him in his arms on an Alolan hammock. His happy place. His tears pour down his face as the beatings continue. He remembers the face of his half-sister, a picture he could only self-actualize, never having met her personally. How he wanted to know the sister he knew he'd never get to meet, and how much he wanted to be a part of her life. The beatings continue, and his hope to pull jayden cross back to the light, to make up for his mistake and not abandon him again. He can feel the bile in his throat, and the iron on his tongue, as he wept. The beating continues. Reinhardt turns. The Nidoking not wishing to see this.[break][break]

He made so many mistakes. He couldn't stop thinking about them, as he cries to no one. What comes next, the agony of night. The darkness swells around him. The promise of dawn forever on the horizon.[break][break]

Just think of Alola...

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Another shot, nothing. No dice, but Isaac pulls off something stronger; cutting both communicators. Any link to this scene was over, but if anyone was in Fallarbor Town proper, the authorities could be called at a moment's notice. Every movement was messy, uncalculated, but it was all given more solidification. Isaac outpaces Reinhardt, the Nidoking finding himself skidding to a halt as he neared the final one, Isaac handling the other.[break][break]

No half measures. With a hefty MEGAHORN, Reinhardt didn't think twice. And the gruesome sight of a bloodied Pokeball falls near the newly bisected remains. And as Ashley nears the duo, seeing the one now unconscious, Ashley ensures he knows the lesson well.[break][break]

Once Isaac was a step away. Seven. One for the head of that last Rocket. Four more kills. Four more dead following Ashley, but a moment of respite afforded to those who took it by force.[break][break]

His own communicator was off, and he takes a moment to explain.[break][break]

"Not taking chances anymore." He was panicked in expression and tone, the anxiety fully pumped into the air. His silver irises were shrunk, as he leans against a cliffside wall, eyes unable to focus as they went over everything. His breathing was shallow, the panic attack coming in waves of pointed authority, ensnaring him in the moment.[break][break]

"They're threatening my half-sister. And they didn't outwardly state it, but they hinted... Kep too." He can feel the cold sweat of his actions, weighing further down, ensnaring him further into the deadly trap. "Test of loyalty." He tries to say, only to grab at his mouth, swallowing back the bile and disdain. If only it were that easy. He'd never be clean. He'd never be free. And his silver eyes shoot back up to Isaac. Terror.[break][break]

Ashley had only fallen that far once, and he's far more coherent this time. Meteno felt so long ago.[break][break]

And then he slaps a fist into a wall. "... I can't leave. Not yet. I promised I wouldn't leave him to rot this time." His eyes flash with recognition. jayden cross. He had to pull Jayden out of this no matter what. But how? How can he get that?[break][break]

"Reinhardt is good at making graves by now... but dude. You need to beat my face in."

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Cold silver eyes look down the barrel of a gun, loaded to full with no chance of a roulette mistake. The game was for keeps, every shot would count. Every shot had to count. He had to be prepared to miss. But what makes it worse...[break][break]

Is that Isaac surrenders.[break][break]

Knees to dirt, hands to head, come what may, he lets it. If death was what came next, so be it. His breathing hitches, his heart enters his throat. Isaac was not intending anything crazy to get out of this nightmare. The regret pulls Ashley down further.[break][break]

The question makes it even worse. What his wedding would be like? Staring him dead in the eyes, Ashley holds fast. The barrel never leaves Isaac, but that shine. The tears start to well up. And Ashley starts to smile.[break][break]

"Figure that shit out yourself, best man." The Rockets present all turn to face Ashley. A heartwarming smile on his lips, as the barrel changes targets. And with a quick shot, one Rocket makes a gurgling sound, dropping their firearm, and grabbing at their neck as they fall to their knees.[break][break]

It's that same coldness that Isaac saw before during the mission to hunt down his father and off him in cold blood, now transfused upon the face of a brother in arms, shackled to Rocket, and attempting to break the shackles to keep Isaac safe. He circles the drain harder, he closes in upon the drain, he nears the edge of that oblivion, knowing that death is coming, riding in for him if he doesn't think up a solution. But at the moment, in this moment, as the Rocket falls... the shock ends. Sawyer the Rocket is no more.[break][break]

A traitor once before. A traitor once more.[break][break]

"Sawyer's a traitor!"[break][break]

"I knew it!"[break][break]

"Contact HQ no-!"[break][break]

Another shot, the other one nearby. Drops. Ashley stomachs it better than he ever had before. His silver eyes on Isaac. "Two more. Help." It's a whisper. A plead. He's begging, with every part of himself he can. If they get in contact with Rocket... it will be over.[break][break]

Gunfire sounds out in the night, as he aims to where one of his remaining teammates are, firing out. Twelve. Eleven. Ten. Nine. All misses. Dammit. With one order, Reinhardt the Nidoking charges that direction. His stomach continues to unravel.

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For a moment. All is still. Hell sits upon the air. Tension was so dense that not even a blade could cut it, nor an axe, but a guillotine. The dread welled up in his throat, his eyes watchful. Waiting for his friend to near him, to approach. But hoping, wishing he would stay away in the same breath.[break][break]

The other operatives were waiting in the wings, but all Ash could do was play the decoy. He had made the plan.[break][break]

The tension hangs. The noose, drawn. Time to see if the stool falls away from under him, and lets him join that tension.[break][break]

Isaac approaches. He looks better than he had been. Than he ever had been in Rocket. A sentiment that Ash couldn't help but wonder, was this how he looked? Was it how he had looked before? Happier? There was too much baggage to just let it go like that, but Isaac had left with a tour de force. He was the reckoning. But now, that he left in such a way, taken someone with him...[break][break]

"Isaac."[break][break]

He can feel the name hanging in the air, joining the tension. And with a fake smile, he sells it. He sells that he is okay. That everything is fine, for a moment. But they both knew. They both knew where this was ending. Where it had to end.[break][break]

The barrel of the pistol is out, pointed at Isaac already. The smile fades.[break][break]

"Any last words?" Cold words, no sense of warmth exuding from any of that trio.[break][break]

The other four Rockets were at the ready. Two out in the open, pistols drawn. Two waiting. Making sure, insurance for Ashley to do it. To pull the trigger. The sweat trickles down his neck, his face shows no sign of cracking. Not even a little. To show a crack in the armor, was to admit to the four here what he was.[break][break]

"On your mark, boss."[break][break]

"Give us the signal, we'll end it."[break][break]

"Do it, Rocket."[break][break]

"Shoot."[break][break]

Ashley's ear is flooded with commands from his four. His stomach turns upside down.[break][break]

His eyes focus on Isaac. Awaiting judgment. Awaiting the reversal.

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