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It had only been a short while since Makayla, his fiancee, had moved into his apartment. Caleb was, unfortunately, acutely aware of how much flack Makayla had received from her father due to her decision. In her father's mind, there was no one wonderful enough for his dearest daughter and that made Caleb a little nervous. Would he be good enough? Could he ever live up to those expectations, exceed them and win over her father?

Maybe. Or it could be impossible.

With a sigh, the redhead slumped into the couch with much less grace than per usual. The weight of the world was, dramatically, hoisted onto his shoulders and Caleb was very good at making his misery known. While he tried to dampen this terrible habit when his fiancee was in his presence, part of him couldn't help it and relished in the attention she subsequently showered upon him. It was a difficult decision to make.

Stuffing his face into a pillow, Caleb stretched out and took up the entirety of the furniture while he heard Makayla moving something in the other room. He looked like a cat with a mission to take up as much space as possible.

"It wasn't anything you did, 'Kayla." came a muffled reply, for the redhead's face was still smashed into the pillow. The last thing he wanted was to disappoint his fiancee, his soon-to-be wife. She was such the perfect solider - passionate, determined and incredibly capable. Him? Caleb was a failure in terms of Negaverse utility.

And being duped didn't help.

Turning over, Caleb's hair was a mess but in an unusual twist of events, he didn't seem to care. Instead he relished her touch, turning into her hand whenever possible. "I just... I don't want you to think I'm weak or something..." he started. Caleb then shook his head, a frown painting his features. "No, sounded better in my head. What I mean is..." He took her hand in his, sitting up to give her space to sit if she so chose. "...I've been trying to be a better soldier. Just seeing you out there makes me wish I was as strong as you, 'Kayla. I don't want you to be disappointed in me."

With a long sigh, he continued. "I know I'm a Super now but... I don't want you to feel like you're marrying a sissy, I guess."

It took everything in Caleb's heart and soul not to melt into a puddle of derpy goo all over the couch at his fiancee's kiss. Only she could do that to him and sometimes she used it to her advantage!

Caleb pulled back and shook the haze from his mind to at least get this conversation off his chest. Makayla, as much as a part of the Negaverse as he was, deserved to know what their agents were up to. "I... I was asked. No, ordered, by a Captain to assist him in a mission. I couldn't really turn him down, you know how they are." The redhead turned away, his features darkening and he started to chew his lower lip. "When I get there, he's strung up several civilians, one of them a plainclothes officer. He was ready and willing to kill the civilians to get at the knights and the senshi who showed up. You know me - I want to protect the people. It's the whole reason I keep going out at night!"

Exasperated, Caleb threw his hands in the air, as if asking the Almighty why this was happening to them. "When I refused to get myself killed against overwhelming odds -- there was a knight there -- Bischofite threatened to kill the civilian for my noncompliance. The man is a maniac, Makayla..."

The last thing he wanted was for something to happen to Makayla, or Euclase, due to insubordination. Caleb furiously shook his head at that possibility.

"No, no Makayla. The man is insane. Some of the other agents were talking about him barbecuing people on top of a building with water and a power line. He's off his rocker. I plan to report him to the higher-ups if I can but I do not want you going anywhere near him." He firmly gripped her shoulders, not to hurt her but to solidify how serious he was about this. "I'm afraid that if you stand up to him, it wouldn't matter if you were an eternal - he'd probably try to saw you in half. I'd lose my mind if I were to lose you."

Caleb then pulled her close, holding her tenderly. "I can't lose you. I'd never forgive myself... I just..." He breathed into her hair, breathing in her velvety scent. "I hope the rest of the Negaverse isn't like him... I can't work for him. I don't want to kill people..."

Knowing Makayla had found an officer who wasn't completely out of their mind was somewhat comforting. Still, Caleb wasn't convinced.

"Either they don't know about these operations this psycho is running, or they're allowing it." he started, terrified of where his thoughts were taking him. They were treacherous thoughts, thoughts he could be severely punished for. "I don't know which it is but I fully intend to find out. I know that recent meeting we had, they're allowing energy draining again. But do they ever tell you exactly why they need it and what they need it for? I ask but I get told that I don't need to know, or that it's used to keep things running. But what things?"

And the fact that children were being awakened in the war, fighting against adults would could kill them easily. Caleb shook his head, holding Makayla closer. "All I want is to protect people and be with you, 'Kayla. I know the White Moon uses children but... the ones I've spoken to don't seem to think that way... They're just as innocent as normal children. I just don't understand..."

The redhead gathered his fiancee up in his arms and held her close. He probably shouldn't have brought this up in the first place. She had just moved into his apartment, after all. They were due to wed soon, start a new chapter of their lives together. More than anything, Caleb wanted the city to be free of war so he could settle down with the love of his life and raise a family. That was all Caleb had ever wanted in his entire life.

But now, now he was wondering if peace could ever be achieved and whether his place was in the Negaverse, or somewhere else.

"I... I don't know what we could do but... I always thought corrupted was the White Moon's filthy name for it. I thought we were they way the White Moon should be. I guess I was too scared to really sit down and think about it but... why do we have holes in our heads and our chest? It looks terrifying! I mean sure, I've used them as a way to scare off White Moon senshi but I never really wondered why. Why don't they have markings on their heads and chests like we do? If we were opposites, wouldn't they have the same markings...?"

If Negaverse senshi were supposed to be the tried and true, natural existence for senshi, why did it seem so much more horrifying? Were the senshi originally all monsters?

Or were they...?

Caleb placed a palm to his face. "I... I want to ask Zinkenite. He's the one who brought us into the organization in the first place, that night at the restaurant. I want to first find out if he knows about Bischofite's outright murder before we go any further. Is... is that okay with you, Makayla?"

He gently kissed her forehead. "I'll be careful. The supernatural military be damned, this wedding will happen whether they like it or not..."

Truth be told, Caleb was really only in the Negaverse for Makayla. He had no real inclination to fight in a war or assault anyone unless there was a very good reason for it. Had Makyala not taken the first step, neither one of them would be under the command of the Negaverse in the first place. The redhead would have vastly preferred a normal life to one where he worried about the safety of his fiancee almost nightly. He knew she was well-equipped to handle herself, but that didn't make things any better.

"I'm sorry to worry you, my dear. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up. Please don't cry. How about we order something and relax for the night? This situation can wait... I think we deserve a little time off, don't you think? Besides, we have something worse to worry about - your father!"

Caleb tried to chuckle, maybe to lighten the mood even a little.

"Don't say that, darling. You won't lose me. You're too strong and I refuse to go without your permission."

Caleb held her close, simply listening to the wind outside their window, the cars that rolled by and the life happening outside the apartment they shared. The human life they were partially torn from by the Chaos energy inside them. "I don't think they'd miss us." he admitted, resting his face in her soft hair. "...they don't seem to trust us that much anyway... I think it would be nice to not power up for a while... We can just live normally, plan everything we need to and now worry about Negaverse business. Like you said, they'll call if they need us, I'm sure."

There was no doubt in Caleb's mind that this was so - the Negaverse was exceptional at keeping tabs on the White Moon activities, so why not keep tabs on their own officers and senshi as well? "Starting tonight - let's not power up again until absolutely necessary. Live life like we used to..."