Last Stop

[Nox]

Nox traveled all over the US picking up his life from the old days. When he had a family. When his mother was alive, and his father was happily teaching him how to hunt - both monsters and food. Nox spent 80% of his time out in the cold and and weather like he had as a child trying to remember what life had been like when his family was a live.

It wasn't sadness that made him do it. He was honoring their memory. One day he woke up and felt like he had to prove he could live on without them. That his life was more than the failure of not protecting his family. He felt better. But he needed to finish this - finish what he started.

The road into Mexico was an easy one - even the guns in his possession passed through inspection with ease. He didn't have many and most of what Nox had kept was hunting type gear so he wouldn't stand out and he could ship that all from Mexico back to Moscow. He didn't have anything back there except Aria, but he would prove to her that he had been worth saving. Nox knew he couldn't kill Aria in the end, but he'd make sure it never came to that. It was the only thing he could do now - protect her from herself.

But first he had to get home. They'd spoken once over the phone since he'd left. She told him about this guy she'd met and there were weird things going on. But they didn't chat long Nox had been driving and he didn't want to get a ticket and there was no place to pull over in the dead of the winter in the mountains that was save. So they hung up with much more to say.

Nox was glad to be in Mexico it was much warmer now. Sleeping on the side of the road was easier and he didn't freeze. There were a few caches in Mexico City and Nox knew there was a safe house for the Atharim there. He had no reason to fear it. Except that it was the heart of the enemy. He could tell from Aria's voice the Atharim were grating on her as well, but that was for later.

The safe house was Nox's first stop. He didn't want to have to carry around his stash in the slums of Mexico City. The plates were clearly American and Nox would sell the jeep once he was done with it, maybe leave it at the safe house for them to use. Whatever, it didn't matter, he didn't need it to hunt in Moscow. He'd had little need forr a vehicle since arriving, there was no point in arriving.

Nox walked into the bar that was the safe house and rolled up his sleeves on his hoodie, the red and black dragon tattoo clearly visible on his left arm biting it's own tail. Circle of life and all that. Nox sat down at the bar and ordered a beer in a bottle, and waited.