Caleb Jensen

He had just been leaving the base for the night, to go back to his own off base apartment, when he watched a small convoy of vehicles starting to head out as well. He pulled off to the side to let them pass by, but when he got up to the guard at the gate, he couldn’t help but ask what was going on. He got a very simplistic run down, something tripped the perimeter alarms, and drones had showed something non-human on visual before whatever it was had hidden in some bushes. It didn’t take but half a second before he was deciding he was going to follow the convoy, and then get himself inserted into this interesting new mess. Come on, who could pass up tracking down something non-human? Especially, since Caleb doubted that they would be sending a whole mess of soldiers to take care of some wild animal in the area. Would be a bit of an overkill, huh?

Little argument was given when Caleb spoke with the commanding officer once the convoy had stopped not too far off base, the extra hands for the unknown entity weren't going to be turned away. Not when some of the soldiers there amongst the group were his own squad. No, he'd be right there with them. Geared up and ready to go, they first started out as a tight knit group that slowly fanned out to cover more ground. Caleb continued through the brush, peering through his night vision goggles and scanning the area slowly. So far there had been no sight or sound indicating the of whatever had set off the perimeter alarms. Only the usual wildlife stirred, nothing that gave cause for alarm. He was just about to check in with the other soldiers when a glimpse of light through the trees caught his attention.

Adjusting his path, Caleb moved silently toward the source. Moonlight filtered down into a small clearing, illuminating a strange figure crumpled on the ground. Heartbeat quickening, his grip tightened on his rifle as he scanned his surroundings. Seeing no immediate threat, he slowly crept forward until the figure came into full view, looking as if they had gotten hit by a tranquilizer dart, laying there crumpled in the damp forest floor. He was absolutely taken aback by the overwhelming urge to protect this creature. The knowledge that if he scooped this being up and carried them back to base -- followed protocol -- that they'd become nothing more than some twisted science experiment, it caused the bitter acrid taste of bile to rise and cling to the back of his throat.

Damn protocol, he was raised better than that. The sudden thought had his grip on his rifle turning his knuckles white. Never had he had such a reaction like this, making him balk against his own dedication to his service. And for a moment he glared at the crumpled non-human on the ground, but a moment later a sigh of reluctant dedication sounded from him and he was slinging the rifle over his shoulder and bending to scoop the sedated being up in his arms.

He brought them home. What the fuck was he thinking? And now here he was sitting in a chair he had pulled up to the side of his bed, where this creature was sleeping off the tranquilizer off in a mess of his blankets. Thankfully the creature had still been asleep when he had to go and get his vehicle, stopping at a hardware store on the way back. But he was able to get enough supplies to make a decent handmade shackle with a keyed padlock that was snuggly attached to the sleeping being's ankle. There was enough length of chain that would give this being some walking room, as well as access to the bathroom. The other side of the chain was bolted down into the hardwood floor. He'd worry about apartment deposits or fixing that later.

Right now, Caleb was leaning forward and just watching this strange being sleep. The rise and fall of their breaths, how completely unphased and almost peaceful they looked. Intently studying their face, the shape of their body, the features they had that just made them stand out like a sore thumb at not being completely human. It was both startling, and yet strangely beautiful.

He cleared his throat and leaned back in the chair once he saw the subtle signs of the creature starting to awaken from their forced slumber. Caleb waited until their eyes started to flutter with that telltale sign of near awakening before he spoke, "finally starting to wake up? Took you long enough." His low baritone voice having a bit of amusement lacing through the tone, trying to sound friendly. "Now before you start goin' and freakin' out," he went on, because the last thing he needed was this creature making an uproar. "I'm just tryin' to keep ya safe."