The night cloaked the village in darkness, the only light coming from the flicker of the fires that littered here and there. The smell of blood and death strong, not surprising with the mass of corpses that littered the area as well. Death and destruction nothing unusual around here, the place looked more like it should have fallen off its last leg long ago. Yet here it stood and here those things roamed. The corpses with glowing eyes that should by every right not exist either. Creeping about the land, hunting for a next kill and a next meal.

Among the silence only broken by the groans of the Haunted came the sound of a slight scraping. A shadow flickering across the ground and occasional wall with the movement of the flames, black shoes left no prints behind. A slight hum slipped from pursed lips, the uniform once holding merit as an officer now littered with traces of red. Skin speckled with it as well, though none of it belonging to him. As he continued, one of the monsters up ahead turned its head in his direction and began moving to rush.

Pausing in stride, the scraping would stop. Such created by the head of a blood stained ax being trailed along the ground behind him, his fingers would tighten around the handle. As the creature got closer, he didn't hesitate. The ax was pulled up and swung forward to collide with the side of its head. It froze in its tracks, the blade now lodged in the side of its face opening a deep gash that splattered more blood onto the ground before him. Tilting his head, he'd tug the ax back and thus the monster attached to it forward.

Without hesitation at all he lifted a leg, the bottom of his shoe connecting with the already mangled body and forcing it backwards off the ax. Of course such only added to the mess and tore at the gash the ax had created, leaving a wound that caused part of the face to hang off from the rest. Still it was already trying to get up, squirming against the ground and gaining attention of others around them. Stepping forward, he placed his foot upon its chest, looking into those glowing eyes as they stared hungrily back up at him. Lifting the ax once more as several others now headed their way, he brought it down, right between those glowing eyes.

He woke with a start, for a moment surroundings not sinking in and a feeling of panic began to set in. He was in a car, bumping a bit as it drove down the road and the scenery outside fluttered by.

"Easy" a voice said, turning his head he recognized the raven haired woman immediately, "you dozed off...seemed tired, I didn't have the heart to wake you."

Kidman... That was right... He'd called her and then headed to an overpass to wait. She'd pulled up and he'd gotten in, the first portion of their journey being nothing more than silence. Neither seemed to know where to start and at the moment, they had both known distance was probably a good idea. Now it was light outside, he didn't even know how long he'd been out. A slight dull throb had taken up residence within his head already, he reached up with a soft groan to slip off his glasses. Eyes slipping closed, he pinched the bridge of his nose, owning a brow arch from his companion.

"I would ask if something's wrong...but honestly you look like shit" was her comment.

He almost laughed at that, blunt as always. She did smile at the slight sound he made, eyes remaining on the road before them.

"I have a safe house set up and waiting, though it'll take us a few days to get there" she said, "plenty of time to...talk."

He replaced his glasses, turning his gaze to her, "how..."

She shrugged, "Myra was good with people, we did have some connections and those who wanted to take down MOBIUS as much as we did... If things went south, we needed to have a plan."

"From what you told me, things did go south..." he said, remembering the explanation she'd given after their run in during his escape.

"It did..." her voice lowered, softening a bit, "things went to hell and plan B has now turned into plan C... I'm guessing this isn't just a casual meeting after all, catch up for old time's sake."

His gaze turned back to the window and the cars passing them, "yesterday I was attacked by several men who seemed keen on getting their hands on me... Makes little sense if you gave all of MOBIUS an end with their chips."

"We did...but that doesn't mean it was full proof" a frown lingering on her lips, "I took out my own chip before the incident, who's to say there aren't those without them? "

"It doesn't quite make sense that the man you said was in charge had one either" he said, "even if he did...why would it be on the same network as others, or connected to them? If it was so easy to turn their own chips against them..."

She glanced at him, "MOBIUS has always had a god complex, they thought they were untouchable, that no one could take them down."

It still didn't sit well with him, "still...for any organization to put all their power, all their work into one area and source is a suicide risk."

It was like balancing the world on a pedestal. One base holding it up and creating support...if someone managed to target and successfully take out that one source, then everything crumbled.

"Not to mention MOBIUS is supposed to have connections and influence all over the world" he arched a brow, "wouldn't make sense if all of their members suddenly fell over dead when you took down STEM, we would have heard about it on some level."

If no one else was left to cover it up, or if that was truly it and had happened, then it would be all over the news. For a moment silence fell between them.

"Myra had backup plans... MOBIUS did as well for many things" her voice sour, she'd been that plan at a point, "I wouldn't be surprised if there was even more to this and they were lying to me the entire time. Not like they'd actually tell me anything... I was just another pawn and as soon as I acted out, they planned to dispose of me like they've done so many others."

As much as neither honestly wanted to believe it, it was a possibility. Without knowing for sure it was...even more horrifying than knowing itself. Both wanted it to be over, to have lives and move on...but they also knew that such could never happen. Sebastian had been pulled into it just like the two of them, he'd been through his own hell... Now at least...he had his daughter back, he had his family and a start. Of course that still didn't mean either were safe, but both knew that man would fight like hell for that little girl and had already.

"We're damaged" Kidman said, as if knowing what was going through his mind as well, "happy endings don't happen for people like us... Even if they did, we wouldn't let ourselves have them... We'd destroy our own happiness and continue the cycle."

As much as part of him wanted to argue, wanted to say she was wrong, he didn't. While it was true that MOBIUS and STEM had fucked them both up... Their problems were around far before either came into their lives. There were those reports that tried to say that the monsters in STEM were created as a result of weak minds. Kidman and Sebastian had kept their wits about them... Kidman had stated more than once part of it might have been due to MOBIUS' influence with her... Still, he'd had problems with it from the very beginning.

He'd fought it, held on, but more and more he'd questioned it. He'd thought himself stable and strong from the beginning and yet...he knew he wasn't. Even Leslie had managed for the most part...until Ruvik... A sharp nudge to his arm and he turned his attention back to her.

"Don't count yourself out so quickly" she says, "you're still fighting...just like me, even if we've been kicked more than once, we've continued to fight and push back. Sebastian as well, even though we might not get that lucky...fuck MOBIUS and FUCK stem, we'll make our own endings."

This time he did chuckle, earning a smile from her. Even in the middle of the unknown she still had that headstrong attitude. Part of him admired her for it. She was right though and part of him also knew that, he was fighting...pushing to keep doing so even after everything. Of course that didn't silence the other side completely, but it did quiet it down for now.

"Well, before we get talking...I think both of us could use a drink" she said.

Arching a brow, he glanced at the clock, "it's only ten."

"I know" she smirked, "Sebastian would be proud."

The bar she chose was out of the way, it looked like one someone might see in a stereotypical movie. A few people inside, the low hum of music playing in the background and someone even playing darts in the background. Moving over to the bar, she tapped on it to get the tender's attention, before asking for the strongest thing they had on hand. Joseph's eyes moved to the dart board, watching as yet another pierced the wooden surface with a thud. A sudden flash of an ax coming down flashed in his mind, right between those glowing eyes.

"Nn..." a hand moved to his head, a slight spike of pain causing his eyes to blur for a moment.

"You alright?" Kidman arched a brow, watching him for a moment.

"Yea...just need to sit down..." he turned, moving to a table in the back, soon followed by the female with the drinks.

She sat one before him, before sliding into the booth across from him. Again her eyes focused on him, studying him and for a second he felt like he was back in the lab. Watched for any signs of something off, studied like an animal.. He frowned, and she seemed to get the hint. Picking up her glass, she took a sip.

"So did the guys who came after you say anything?" right to the point and blunt yet again, despite their present location.

He shook his head, "nothing of use...They were speaking to another at some point, but naturally no names."

She gave a slight hum, "so basically no leads at all of where to start."

Staring at the glass before him for a moment, he frowned a bit once more. He didn't usually drink, hating the taste and what it did to people...especially after everything with Sebastian. Still glancing at Kidman, she tipped her glass a bit at him, before taking another drink. At this point both of them were on edge and exhausted in more ways than one. A drink as horrible as it sounded...also sounded perfect and that was scary.

Lifting the glass, he hesitated, before bringing it to his lips. The bitter taste hit the moment that it hit his tongue, but the burn not to bad until he dared to swallow. Grimacing, it was...definitely on the strong side. Kidman chuckled a bit at the reaction, yea he definitely didn't drink much.

"Well there is one place we can start" sitting her glass down, a more stern look crossed her features, "Beacon."

He nearly choked on the drink which was already bad enough, coughing slightly as he pushed the glass aside and looked at the woman across from him.

"Are you insane?" he had no intentions of ever going back there, especially after what happened, "by now it's probably been sealed...and I doubt MOBIUS would have left any evidence lingering around."

"I wouldn't be so sure" she leaned back in the booth, "yes they probably would have taken command of the situation...but even though it was a failed attempt, it was still an attempt and something they were looking into. They moved on to the second STEM project before hand, but..."

They were meticulous in many ways, they would have silenced the situations...but honestly it was true they wouldn't have probably just ended it despite the better judgement. That was why they had sent Kidman in originally...and then called on Sebastian. STEM was their project, their future so to speak, they were never keen on giving up on it so easily. Even then, it was hard to truly really judge what they were capable of.

"We'll head to the safe house and make a plan from there..." she knew it would give him time to think.

While kind, it was also...a bad idea. He didn't want to go back as it was, the more he thought about it and had time to think about it, he'd want to even less. He'd find some logical reason as to why it was a bad idea, as if it wasn't already such. There was no thinking about it, no hesitating more than they had to. Picking up the glass, he lifted it to his lips and for a moment let the burn of the alcohol dull the feelings bubbling up inside of him. Taking a breath, he sat the glass down and turned his gaze right to those eyes across from him he'd come to know well.

"Lets go...to Beacon."