Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"So, wuddya think is out there?" Deimos took his eyes off the road and looked over at Sanford who hummed in response.

Sanford trapped his fingers on his chin as he thought. "Probably similar to Nevada. No sun and there's a lot of wasteland out here. I wanna hope there's no agency or some programs like the one Phobos was using." 

Deimos nodded. "I think it'll be hell of a lot better. Maybe we'll finally see grass again! Even dogs, cats, birds. Hell I really miss birds." Deimos shifted in his seat trying to stop his excitement from getting out of hand, opting to tighten his grip on the wheel instead.

"I hope we see some. I think a change of scenery will be the best thing." Sanford said as he looked in the rear view mirror, watching Hank and Doc in the back of the truck outside holding onto their supplies and keeping look out for any enemies that were trying to kill them. 

Deimos snickered from beside him. 

Sanford looked at Deimos, already knowing what he was planning. 

"You know Hank won't hesitate to reach through that window and choke your ass." Sanford said, crossing his arms.

Deimos grinned wider, lifting a hand, he punched it into the horn. 

Sanford tried to hide the smile that broke across his face as the two in the back jumped to full alert, lifting their guns and scanning the horizon.

He watched as Doc frowned and smacked his fist into the window, flipping them off with a cold glare, Hank joining in a moment after.

Deimos cackled loudly, Sanford finally breaking and laughing as well.

Doc rolled his eyes and settled back against the sides of the truck bed, voice muffled as he spoke to Hank, who had an unimpressed expression. 

After a few minutes it went back to silence other than the muffled voices and laughs of Doc and Hank occasionally making conversation and the wind outside the car.

Deimos squinted as he struggled to read the sign in front of them.

"Hey San, what's that?" Deimos gestured to the sign.

"Thank you for visiting Nevada." Sanford read, perking up with excitement. "This is the border!" 

Deimos slowed the car to a stop and opened the window. "Hey assholes! Take a look!" 

Doc stood to peer over the roof of the car with Hank.

Doc smiled under his mask. "Finally. We can get out of this damn cesspool." He said as he sat back down.

"Hopefully they aren't looking to kill us whatever is out there." Hank added.

Deimos nodded in agreement. 

"You guys ready?" Deimos asked.

"Yup."

"Mhm." 

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Deimos smiled and looked back to the road. 

"Alright, let's do this." 

Deimos put the car out of park and pushed on the gas, speeding forward they crossed the boarder of Nevada.

Chapter Text

"Hey... Hey! Wake up!" 

Doc groaned and opened his eye, hissing as bright LED lights immediately assaulted his vision and covering his face with his arm.

"Mornin' grumpy!" Deimos cooed teasing from above him, smiling wider as Doc glared at him.

"What the hell?" Doc mumbled, squinting up at the man.

"We're in Idaho at a gas station." Deimos said.

"Idaho?" Doc cocked an eyebrow, tiredly sitting up from the comfort of Hank's side to scan the area.

It didn't look much different than Nevada, as Doc had anticipated, but the first thing he noticed was that it was a bit more populated and much better off than Nevada by far.

And the best thing?

No one had guns pointed at their faces.

"I saved up all the money I could find from the bases we raided along the way," Deimos said as he hopped out of the truck bed. "So we can afford some gas and some snacks." 

Doc blinked, his brain still stuck on the fact that there wasn't anyone around them trying to murder them...

"You comin' in?" Deimos grinned and tilted his head.

"Oh, uh, yeah, yeah I'm coming." Doc stumbled out of the truck and followed him inside.

Walking in and jumping as the bell at the door rang he followed Deimos down a snack isle.

After picking out some things and walking up to the cash register and Deimos paid, and just as he was taking their things a map was thrusted into Doc's hands.

"We know you nevadians when we see em'. Don't want you lot gettin' lost out here." They said, a genuine kind smile on their face.

Doc would be lying if he said he didn't want to burst into tears. It was the bare minimum but it spoke volumes to him.

"Oh, is it that obvious?" Doc laughed, doing his best to give the same smile back.

"Well, I'd know cause I'm from there. Don't consider myself one though." They said.

When they said that something clicked it Doc's head, glancing at Deimos it seemed like it did for him as well.

The numbers tattooed into the cashiers hand was an identification number.

There were AWOL agents all the way out here.

"Dei! You get the snacks yet?" Sanford's voice came from the door, making Deimos turn and smile at him. 

"Yeah! We're comin'!" Deimos replied.

"Well, good luck out there you guys, stay safe!" The cashier said with a friendly wave goodbye.

"Have a good day!" Deimos called as he headed for the door, Doc following right behind him.

As they walked out Deimos gave his whole body an excited shake.

"You saw it, right!?" Deimos exclaimed, staring up at Doc with a grin.

"I saw it." Doc confirmed.

"What's up?" Sanford tilted his head in confusion at the other two.

"The cashier! They- AWOL! Another agent that escaped the AAHW!" Deimos threw down their things in the back, ignoring the fact if they got shaken up or not.

Sanford paused in his tracks. "Seriously?"

"More than serious. If there are agents that escaped the agency all the way out here, who knows how much further out they are!" Deimos was practically vibrating excitement as he punched at the air, unable to contain himself.

Sanford smiled. "Man, we should have thought of this earlier." 

"Agreed." Doc nodded, walking over to the truck and grabbing his drink he paused. "Hey, where'd Hank go? He better not have wandered off again." 

"Knowin' him,he probably did." Deimos said, squinting and scanning the surrounding area for them.

There was a moment of silence before they finally heard him.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" 

They sounded both surprised and a little miffed.

Rushing to where the commotion was coming from they stopped and looked over at Hank.

"What am I doin' here?! I live here!" A voice they didn't recognize snapped.

"Hank! What the hell is going on?" Doc exclaimed, standing next to Hank he looked at the man in front of them.

The first noticeable feature was the messy stitching that went across the left side of his face and his left eye was missing, brown messy hair pulled into a ponytail and strands stuck out from under the hat on his head...

Wait a minute...

"Is that...?" Deimos stepped forward and looked at him wide eyed. "Holy shit! I thought Hank killed you!"

With an exasperated sigh the Sheriff glared. "They did. I dunno what the hell it was but sumtin' brought me back." 

"Why did you decide to come to Idaho of all places?" Hank said, crossing their arms as they looked down at him.

"I was born here and grew up here! Why wouldn't I move back? Nevada is a shit show nowadays so I thought I ought' a come back up here." Sheriff said with a roll of his eye.

"Oh my GOD IS THAT A DOG!?" Deimos peered at the Sheriff's feet, his eyes gleamed with excitement.

Sheriff paused, looking down at the mutt.

"This is Lady." Sheriff said, giving the leash a gentle tug she sat up by his side, tail wagging slowly and looking up at Hank.

"Can I pet her?" Deimos asked. "I know you guys got drama but I missed dogs so damn much."

Sheriff sighed. "Yeah, sure. She don't bite." 

Deimos went on and started petting her, which she was more than happy about to roll over and let Deimos give her belly rubs, Sanford joining in.

"Now, you never answered my question. What're you doin' all the way out here?" Sheriff looked at Hank.

"To escape the AAHW and move on to where we don't have to constantly stress about getting pumped full of lead while we sleep." Hank said.

Narrowing his eye the Sheriff hummed. "If I had the nerve I'd do it myself for blastin' half my damn face off." 

"So your still a coward, huh?" Hank let out a small laugh.

A click was heard as a revolver was thrusted into Hank's face, Sheriff's expression cold as he looked up at them.

Doc searched his belt for his own gun and Deimos and Sanford tensed, rising to their feet in an instant, but Hank's expression remained blank as he stared down the barrel of his gun.

"Don't push yer luck Hank. I don't enjoy killin' people but you'd be one I wouldn't mind puttin' a bullet in." Sheriff said.

They were silent, some kind of silent conversation the others couldn't understand.

Sheriff put his revolver back in his holster hesitantly.

"I'm not goin' to sit here and get some petty revenge on ya Hank, as much as I hate yer guts I got a reputation to uphold here." Sheriff finally said. "I'm the person that helps people escapin' Nevada get outta here safely, since the agency and Phobos still trust me enough to give me supplies." 

"I suppose we won't be getting any help from you." Hank said, already wanting to leave the conversation as they fidgeted in their place.

Sheriff was silent for a moment as he weighed his options carefully.

"I'll help ya. Lord knows I send ya outta here without help I'd jus' feel guilty bout' it later." Sheriff dug into his pants pocket, Lady perking up beside him.

Pulling out a card with an address written on it he handed it to Hank and a dog treat to Lady who caught the treat mid air.

"If yer willin' to accept my help, then go there. I don't have time to sit here all day n' fight with ya any more." Sheriff said as he took a step back. "Really consider it, Hank."

Turning on his heel he walked away with only a wave over his shoulder as left,  Lady happily walking in front of him just excited to continue their walk.

Hank went to rip the card in half but Doc grabbed it from their hands. 

"Hank, wether you like it or not we could use the help. If he's willing to help us we need to take it, dumbass." Doc said as he looked up at Hank, who huffed in annoyance.

"We can just steal something. We don't need help from the Sheriff of all people." Hank said.

"Hank," Doc ran a frustrated hand down his face and sighed. "This isn't Nevada. The people here are nicer and they aren't trying to kill us. We can't steal, so we're taking it." Grabbing Hank's arm he dragged the beast back to the truck forcing him into the back with little arguing.

"So," Doc turned to Deimos and Sanford, who opted to stay silent to not annoy Hank any further. "Sheriff's next?" 

"Sounds like a plan." Sanford said, stealing the keys from Deimoses pocket he hopped into the drivers seat.

Everyone climbed back into the truck, making sure they had their snacks from the gas station they started towards their next destination.

The Sheriff's warehouse. 

Chapter Text

Hank was pretty upset.

Sheriff.

Fucking Sheriff!

They anticipated that the coward would worm his way back into their life one way or another, but like this?

Pretending and putting on the facade of being a stoic ass who thinks that some stitching across his face and chest was magically going to make him a braver man.

Hank had learned a lot of things back in Nevada and one was that people were good at hiding intensions and their true selves with new names to go by and some fake courage could carry you far.

And by all means, Hank had every intention of breaking through that little show the Sheriff was putting on. Hank was a person who liked seeing people at their weakest and breaking down walls, even by force if need be.

It was one of the special little talents that made their team such a force to be reckoned with.

A person who fights and slashes without a thought of mercy and can easily break down peoples defences for the information they needed, the one who built their bombs and ways into buildings, the one to keep in contact with Doc and use his programming to get through doors bombs couldn't, and the other more experienced programmer that served as their unlicensed and not-at-all-trained medic.

A circus.

That's what Hank called it.

They all called it something different.

Doc refered to them as family, Deimos and Sanford called them the gang and Hank thought what they had going on was a whole ass circus, and that circus was on fire.

No, literally.

The engine blew and Deimos had thrown off his trench onto the ground to stomp out the sleeve that had caught on fire as he tried to wave it out which clearly wasn't working.

"Damnit Deimos, you'll catch yourself on fire!" Doc scolded, his facial accessories being thrown in the back with Hank to avoid getting smoke in his mask. "Watch these, will you? And don't break them again!" Was all he said as he strode away to help Deimos assess the car.

Hank would be lying if he said Deimos and Doc bickering at each other during things like this wasn't funny. He always got a good chuckle out of the weird playground insults he'd throw at Doc, the favorite being that he wouldn't be invited to his birthday party.

Doc would roll his eye and clicked his tongue as he went back to the problem at hand. 

"You act like a 5 year old!" Doc scolded as he finally managed to snuff out the fire with a bloodied shirt of Hank's that wasn't even wearable anymore.

"Maybe I am! At least I wouldn't be fixing a car." Deimos said as he crossed his arms.

"Oh yes you are!" Doc snapped, thrusting the flashlight that laid on his belt towards Deimos.

"Oh god!" Deimos let out a dramatic sigh. "Okay, dad." 

Taking the flashlight he shined it in and they spoke it quieter more serious tones now that Doc had his hands shoved into the cars engine and even under the car trying to find the problem.

Which eventually came up as a leaky fuel system, which Doc knew how to fix, but being pretty far away from the previous gas station it'd be a hassle just to get it. 

"So, now what?" Deimos asked as he shoved Doc's flashlight back into his belt.

Hank lifted his head to reply but Doc cut him off.

"Whatever your about to suggest, which I'm assuming is grand theft auto, the answer is no." Doc said as he rubbed his temples, trying to fight off the approaching headache.

Slowly Hank put his head back down. Damn him for knowing them so well.

"Stealing a car sounds a lot better than being stranded out here though." Deimos said as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.

"But being stranded sounds better than people trying to kill us for stealing their car." Sanford said from his spot leaned against the passenger side door.

"Well, not everyone owns a gun." Deimos replied, lighting the cigarette with his thumb he placed it between his lips.

"But everyone owns a pair of fists." 

"Not if we cut em' off." 

"Damnit Deimos." Sanford sighed and took off his glasses with an exasperated sigh. "We aren't increasing our bounties all the way out here in Idaho."

"Alright, alright." Doc finally stepped in and waved his hands. "It's not that dangerous out here. It's late, how about we deal with it in the morning. I doubt Hank will mind keeping watch." 

"Sounds great to me. Haven't had a good sleep in the past 10 years." Deimos grinned and looked at Hank.

Huffing, Hank shrugged. "Fine." 

"Yeah!" Deimos threw down his cigarette and stepped it out, waisting no time hopping into the truck bed and invited himself to use Hank's lap as his pillow. "In that case, night guys!" 

Sanford rolled his eyes. "I swear..." He climbed in as well and leaned against the truck.

Hank didn't bother saying anything, sighing and crossing his arms. 

"Hey Hank..." Deimos said from Hank's lap, peeking an eye open at him.

Hank looked down, letting Deimos know he had their attention.

"Your coat smells bad." He muttered, a grin making its way onto his face. 

Which rightfully got him rewarded with Hank shoving him off their lap.

When they all went to bed in the back of the truck Hank stayed and kept watch, tensing and ready to attack whenever a car passed, which had only happened twice.

Hard to see cars in the middle of nowhere they guessed.

He'd never admit it, but somewhere along the line, Hank blinked and didn't open his eyes again. A few minutes couldn't hurt, right?

The only thing that dragged him out of it was the stench of cigarette smoke, which wasn't uncommon, thanks to Deimos but the weight in his lap suggested Deimos was still asleep, and Doc nor Sanford smoked...

The sound of car door opening and approaching footsteps made Hank lurch up, pulling their gun and firing into whatever they could see through the sleep that blurred their vision, which caused everyone else to jump awake as well.

Sanford grabbed his gun, Deimos scrambled off Hank's lap, and Doc sat up from Hank's side tiredly scrambling for a weapon to defend himself.

"Will you calm down!?" A familiar voice snapped at them, clearly a little annoyed. 

Everyone paused and finally looked up.

Sheriff had his arms crossed, frown on his face and eye narrowed as he looked at Hank.

"Thanks for another bullet hole in my truck, fer starters. Secondly, the hell are y'all doin' sleepin' out here?" Sheriff asked.

"Mm... The engine went up in flames." Doc mumbled as he rubbed his eye and looked at the Sheriff properly

"Stop to tease us or something?" Hank asked as he tilted his head at the Sheriff, who rolled his eye.

"Hank," Sheriff sat a hand on his hip. "I ain't sure what kinda person you take me fer, but, no, I ain't drivin' all the way out here to laugh at ya. If you're willin' to accept my help, I could get y'all a new ride." He said.

Hank opened his mouth to speak but Deimos spoke first. "Really? That'd be great. Better than out here. We can take our stuff though, right?"

"My truck can handle it. I'd say 3 of you can fit in the back with Lady." Sheriff said, gesturing to the mutt that sat in the back of the truck watching the scene go down.

"I'm sitting with the dog!" Deimos said, to which Sanford and Doc said they'd sit...

Leaving Hank up front with Sheriff.

"I'd rather die than sit shotgun." Hank stated bluntly. 

"Stop being a baby, Hank." Deimos wrapped an arm around Hank's shoulders. "Tell you what, I'll give you guys my CD collection, music fixes awkward situations."

"What do you have?" Hank asked.

"Hmm... I had some old 2000's pop, 90's rock, mostly Kiss, some demo songs from 2B's old highschool band, and a lotta death metal." Deimos said as he opened his bag.

"Deal. Probably better than what the Sheriff has in his car. Probably country." Hank sighed, taking the case of CD's from Deimos.

"Ugh! Even I have standards, Hank." Sheriff called from helping Doc with his bags. 

"Sure you do." Hank called back, picking up his only bag and setting it in the back, just ready to get this damn thing done and over with.

It was going to be a long and painful night...

Chapter Text

Hank would rather cut his arm off than be here right now.

Anywhere back in Nevada was better. 

The tension in the truck was so thick that if you tried to cut it with a knife, the knife would break first.

Hank focused all his attention to looking out the window. The land was barren other than occasional neighborhoods with quaint little houses that, surprisingly, still looked like they were being taken care of.

Hank could sit there for hours and mull over the little differences that Idaho had compared to Nevada, but even they got bored of it.

Normally he would be talking to Doc, Sanford or Deimos. They could bicker back and forth for hours and he would actually somewhat enjoy himself. 

Unfortunately, sitting in the back was out of the question cause it was filled with supplies, 3 people and a dog.

He just wanted to pet a damn dog...

Instead, that dogs owner was the guy he brutally mutilated some two years ago. 

Hank knew they should probably say something, anything, but Hank wasn't one for carrying conversation...

Sheriff, on the other hand...

He was sweating bullets and glancing over occasionally to make sure Hank wasn't looking at him funny. In his mind, Hank was a sprung trap just waiting to be set off.

Hank had shot off half his face after getting stabbed with a sword, so he had no doubt they would hesitate to kill him here and now in his truck.

The only thing that was saving him from his death right now were the three in the back that were chatting away.

Hank very obviously cared about their team members judging by how they seemed willing to be the pillow for them when they slept and Sheriff was more than grateful. Killing him in the drivers seat would send the truck spiraling and no one would get out uninjured.

Sheriff was dying to ask questions on how the hell Hank, killing machine and the biggest asshole to date, managed to score 3 team members that were much friendlier by comparison, but he was afraid to even open his mouth and breath the wrong way.

Sheriff let out an annoyed sigh. 'I thought I got over this. Stop bein' a damn coward!' Sheriff internally scolded himself, grip tightening on the steering wheel.

Every time the Sheriff got close to asking, one glance at Hank sent him right back to having to build his confidence again.

Sheriff never had trouble like this with normal grunts, but with Hank it seemed like some invisible force was choking him and forcing him to swallow his words.

Sheriff swayed a bit in his seat as he started seeing double, swaying the car a bit as well before he forced himself back into focus with a groan under his breath.

"What's your problem?" Hank asked, making Sheriff straighten up.

"Nuttin' just... When I'm stressed I got a bit dizzy. M' fine." Sheriff replied, glancing over at Hank who was staring at him with a blank expression.

"Need me to take over or something? I'd rather you maybe not crash like a dumbass." Hank offered with a slight tilt of his head.

"No offense, but you're the last person I'd let drive. I'd let Lady drive before you." Sheriff said, forcing a small smile and hoping Hank didn't snap his neck over a joke.

"That's fair." Hank let out a sharp exhale of a laugh.

Sheriff let out a small sigh of relief. Hank could take jokes, noted.

They fell into another silence, somehow more tense than the last.

Sheriff took a breath and before he could speak, Hank beat him to it.

"I have a question. How the hell did you manage to survive... That." They asked, glancing over at Sheriff who stiffened.

He wasn't fond of remembering it. Waking up to the mangled body of one of his co-workers and being forced to sitch himself back together and the years of not being able to recognize his own reflection. He still had to fight off thoughts of that when he was forced to handle a shotgun.

"Uh..." Sheriff froze as he tried to think of what parts to talk about. "It... I don't know. I woke up and it just wasn't fun..." Sheriff said.

Hank hummed. "Well, whoever did the stitching did a pretty shitty job." Hank said, attempting a joke to lighten the mood.

Sheriff only let out a small fake laugh as he focused himself more on driving. Maybe conversation with Hank of all people wasn't a good idea...

When they arrived at the warehouse, Sheriff and Hank both got out as fast as they could manage. 

Sheriff leaned back against the truck gathering himself from the verge of a nervous breakdown as Hank greeted his team members from their sleep in the back of his truck.

"Fuck off-" Deimos mumbled from his half asleep state curled up next to Lady, who seemed just as somewhat annoyed at Hank's intrusion. 

"We're at our destination. You have to get up at some point, dumbass." Hank said as he stepped up into the truck to lean over and prod Doc and Sanford.

Sanford sighed and stretched, sitting up and rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "How long were we driving?" Sanford asked as he readjusted his shades.

Hank shrugged. "Felt like a million years that's for damn sure." 

Doc sat up and groaned, rubbing his neck. "I forgot how much I hated sleeping in trucks..." He complained.

"Just stop being old." Sanford said, smiling at Doc and causing Deimos to chuckle from his spot.

"You shut your damn mouth!" Doc snapped with a swift kick to Sanford's shin. "I don't get paid enough to deal with you assholes." 

Doc was the first to get up and hop down from the truck after almost tripping over Deimos and Lady, stretching and letting out a pleased sigh as his joints popped in response.

Sanford gave Deimos a light kick with his foot. "Come on sleepyhead, we aren't waiting all night for you to get your ass up."

Deimos gave a heavy sigh and a few pets to Lady's head before he sat up. "Fine, fine I'm up just stop kickin' me." Deimos mumbled.

Just for extra measure, Hank grabbed Deimos by the back of his shirt and dragged him out of the truck and trying to hold back his laugh as Deimos struggled to catch himself.

Deimos shot a glare at Hank as he and Sanford joined Sheriff outside the warehouse.

"It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be." Doc said, looking up at the giant building.

"That's what she said." Deimos blurted, which Doc gave him a scathing look for.

Both Sanford and the Sheriff snickered, Sheriff covering his mouth as he tried to pass it off as a cough.

Doc could only roll his eyes. "I swear, you all have the same sense of humor as 12 year old boys." 

"Sorry... Eh... Right, right. Me n' Phobos kinda got this trade deal thing kinda' goin'. I don't really have any threats out here than occasional thieves, so I guess I could spare some." Sheriff said as he turned his head to look at the others.

Hank stood a little bit behind the group as he zoned in and out of the conversation, opting to scan the warehouse carefully for any escape routes and anything that he could use to his advantage. 

The only thing to drag him from his thoughts was the mutt that Sheriff owned perked up and sprinted off full speed towards another building, which he assumed was the place the Sheriff claimed as his house.

 Slowly Hank drifted away from the group, deciding to follow Lady instead. He never got to pet her anyway.

Following her behind the building he watched as she slipped into a doggy door to the inside of the building w.

Hank moved to follow her but paused as a grunt came from inside along with the rattle of cans.

Another person stepped out from the door, walking to the black car parked by the door and dropping the bag into the trunk. With a sigh they pulled out a device and started tapping away on it.

Hank had heard Sheriff mention that there were thieves out here, so, this must be one of them, stealing from the Sheriff's house...

And Hank hasn't had the opportunity to kill anyone in awhile...

He didn't need to think twice as he started approaching them from behind, pulling the bowie knife from the strap on his thigh.

Grabbing them from behind and putting them in a choke hold he brought up his knife and brought the blade down, only to be stopped by a hand grabbing his arm.

The person thrashed in his grip, pulling out their own knife and stabbing it right into Hank's thigh and forcing themselves out of his grasp as soon as it loosened.

Hank pulled the knife from his thigh and threw it down and wasted no time as he lunged at them again, lodging the knife into their shoulder which earned him a pained yell, kicking him back with a surprising amount of force that sent Hank stumbling.

Face to face they stopped and stared at each other, the others eyes widening as they backed away from him fearfully, clutching the knife lodged in their shoulder as they looked up at him. 

Hank repositioned himself to attack them again but they turned on their heel and ran back towards the warehouse.

They always liked a good chase.

Hank pursued them quickly, catching up with ease as he grabbed the back of their shirt, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a cloud of dust and flailing limbs as they tussled, Hank ending up on top with a hand wrapped around their throat, relishing in the way he could feel their pulse quicken with fear and desperate gasps as he tightened his grip, reaching down to pull the knife from their shoulder with his other hand-

"HANK!! STOP, STOP! LET HIM GO!" Sheriff shouted, running up to them and shoving Hank off.

The person gasped and coughed, rubbing at his neck with his hand. 

"Rich, are you alright?" Sheriff kneeled down to look over Rich carefully.

"Just fantastic-" Rich coughed out, swatting away the cloud of dust from their fight.

"Hank, what the hell happened?!" Deimos asked, turning to look at Hank as they stood.

"I followed that mutt and thought some guy was breaking into your house..." Hank explained as they dusted themselves off.

Sheriff let out a sigh as he tried to keep his anger calm.

"Thanks for the knife, I guess." Rich mumbled as he pulled the knife from his shoulder with a wince. 

Sheriff shook his head. "Alright, alright. Lets just go inside. It's late and we can continue discussin' in the mornin'. It's already 4 AM anyway..." Sheriff said as he ushered Rich forward, beckoning the others to follow him.

Everyone stepped inside and Rich walked into the building.

"Who are these people anyway?" Rich asked, pausing and looking back at the Sheriff with an eyebrow raised.

"The people I told ya' bout' while I was out. Helpin' em out a bit." Sheriff replied as he walked past Rich, leading the team into a more open area which loosely resembled a living room. 

"Ooh. Those guys..." Rich looked them over and he looked up at Hank. 

Doc finally decided to speak up. 

"Rich, was it? I apologize for Hank. They're a bit... Impulsive." Doc said, eyeing the wound on his shoulder. 

Rich hummed. "Yeah, I could've guessed." 

"If you need help with that I can stitch that up. It probably hurts." Doc offered as he stepped a bit closer.

"Yeah, no shit it hurts I was just stabbed by a feral animal." Rich said with a small laugh. "And, I can handle it. It's fine. I'll get em' to pay me back in some way."

Doc shrugged. "Good luck with that." 

Rich turned and walked off into another room and Sheriff turned to address them. "I got two spare beds in the guest room. If ya' need anythin' I'll probably be up for a bit. I'd give ya' a tour but, I got a few important things to settle." He said, gesturing to the door Rich had entered.

Deimos threw his head back with a groan. "Oh my god, finally! A bed!" He rushed in and threw himself onto a bed, Sanford following right after him. 

Doc only shook his head at them before turning to Sheriff. "Thank you, Sheriff. It really means a lot. I know it's probably a lot of trouble." 

"It ain't a problem. I damn near do this weekly." Sheriff replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

Sheriff waved them off as Hank followed behind Doc into the guest bedroom.

"Un-fucking-believable... Hank, you can't just do that!" Doc scolded as he shut the door, turning to look at Hank with his arms crossed.

"I thought I was doing him a favor." Hank shrugged, going over to the bed and laying down.

Doc huffed. "I'm to tired to argue with you right now, Wimbleton. Scoot your fat ass over." He said as he crossed the room as elbowed Hank to crawl into the bed, kicking off his boots and pulling the covers over himself, just eager to get this day over with. "And you will be apologizing to Rich in the morning." 

Hank hummed. "Yeah, alright..." 

Chapter Text

Hank cracked open his eyes as Doc patted him on the head, letting out an annoyed sigh.

"You can't be falling asleep at the table, Hank. We've got things to do." Doc said as he walked to the other side of the table and wacked Deimos on the head with a paper plate holder, which jolted him awake and knocked over his empty coffee cup.

"Must you?" Deimos groaned as he uprighted his cup. "We aren't all mornin' people like you, Doc." 

Doc shot him a look before he put the plate holder in its proper place. "It's not my fault you stayed up talking to Sanford." Doc replied.

"It's your fault for waking us up at 9 am." Sanford piped up from his seat next to Hank.

"They always like this?" Rich asked from his spot sat on the counter as Sheriff was changing his bandages. 

"Unfortunately." Doc said with a roll of his eye. "And Hank," Doc turned to them with his arms crossed. "Don't forget what I told you last night." 

Hank sighed again, straightening their posture to look at Rich. "Sorry... For almost killing you n' all." Hank mumbled.

"Aww, it's no problem big guy. I've got just the thing for you to help me out with to make up for it." Rich said with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

Hank opened his mouth to reject but Doc snapped his fingers once and Hank closed his mouth with an annoyed nod.

Sheriff pulled Rich down with a concerned look and whispered in his ear before Rich rolled his eyes. "Oh stop babying me, will you Jesse? I'll be alone with them for only half an hour." He said.

Sheriff frowned before he just shook his head and let Rich throw his shirt back on and off of the counter. 

Rich cleared his throat as he threw on his jacket. "Alright Hanky Panky, get up cause you're helping me with the storage unit." He said.

With a groan Hank got up and followed Rich out the door.

"Alright you big bear, because you stabbed me you get to help me carrying the heavier supplies to the truck so Nexus Core and Audi don't throw some tantrums. I can tell you have experience with them and not to mention your name is literally in the agency name so you know no one wants that at all." Rich said, looking up at Hank over his shoulder who huffed.

"How long is this going to take?" Hank asked.

"If you keep dragging your feet it's gonna take all day." Rich replied. Hank muttered curses (mostly directed at Doc) as Rich opened the door and they stepped in, Hank immediately backing out with a slightly bewildered expression as hot air immediately smacked him in the face.

"I probably should've told you it gets hotter than the damn sun in here." Rich said as he chuckled.

"You could've said something earlier." Hank said, deciding to power through it and step into the warehouse as Rich only shrugged.

"Anyway, all you've gotta do is sort all this stuff into piles of where they go. Some agents drive out here and just toss it in here unfortunately so it's a giant mess. Just read the labels and it'll be fine." He explained, looking over at Hank who, despise their lack of expression looked pissed.

"Right..." Was all Hank said, picking up a box and squinting at the small label.

This was gonna suck...

And it did. 

Half way through Hank opted to ditch their belt and thick trench coat. If they were going to die it wasn't gonna be from a stupid heat stroke. Hank sighed and dusted their hands off after sitting down a box and turned to Rich. "There. Was that it, can I leave?" They asked, pausing as Rich wasn't even acknowledging them, instead staring worriedly at his phone.

"What's with you?" Hank asked as Rich groaned. 

"Don't worry about it. You're free to go." Rich replied, not sparing Hank a single glance as he walked out of the warehouse.

Hank followed him out and back to the house where Rich disappeared into the living area, where Doc and Sheriff looked up from where they were talking, a big map sprawled out on the table covered in marks.

"Hey, Jess, got a minute?" Rich asked, beckoning Sheriff to another room.

Sheriff glanced between Hank and Rich before he nodded. "Yeah, m' comin'." Sheriff said, standing and stepping into the kitchen with Rich leaving the others alone.

"Hank, what'd you do?" Doc asked, squinting at Hank suspiciously, causing them to roll their eyes and huff.

"I didn't do anything. I let him have his fun bossing me around." Hank replied, squinting back at Doc.

Doc only shook his head and went back to petting Lady, who had her head laid in his lap half asleep but she shot up as Rich and Sheriff entered back into the room, Sheriff looking on the verge of a full break down.

Deimos cocked an eyebrow at him and sat up from Sanfords lap. "What's up? We miss somethin'?" 

"Soo... Nexus Core employees are on their way here." Sheriff crocked out, flinching as Hank pulled their knife in a heartbeat.

"You son of a bitch! You ratted us out, didn't you?" Hank snapped, pointing his knife right at the Sheriff who stiffened but glared at him as he pushed the knife out of his face. 

"No, you dimwit! I wouldn't have gone through the effort of bringin' ya'll here if I was just gonna hand you over! They wanted to discuss somethin' with me and need supplies so their just killin' two birds with one stone." Sheriff snapped.

Hank was completely unconvinced. "You sure? Pulling something like that isn't exactly above what'd you do." Hank said, squinting at him suspiciously.

"Hank, cut it out!" Doc snapped, coming up to them and gently pulled them away from the Sheriff as he ran his nails up and down Hank's arm. "Sheriff, if Nexus Core is coming here then what are we doing? I'd say best bet is hiding in the gust bedroom."

Sheriff nodded. "I doubt they'd poke around the house. Just lock the door."

"Of course." Doc said. "When are they supposed to get here? So we can prepare." 

"I think-" Sheriff started but a car horn outside caused them all to jump. "Now. Go! And stay quiet!" Sheriff whispered.

Doc grabbed Hank (who calmed down now) by their arm and pulled them into the room as Sanford shoved Deimos into the room.

"Now what? Just sit in silence?" Hank signed, face scrunched up in confusion.

"Yes. Now sit your ass down." Doc signed back.

Now all they had to do was play the waiting game until Nexus Core left.

Chapter Text

A click from the spare bedroom door made him let out a sigh.

Alright, He was holding very very wanted criminals in his house. Nothing out of the ordinary!

At least that's what he tried to convince himself as a Nexus Core Soldat let themselves in, staring him down with the single red eye left in their thick skulls.

"Sheriff." They greeted, practically towering over him as they approached. "You remember what we are here for, yes?" 

"My memory ain't that bad yet. What is it ya' want?" Sheriff asked, crossing his arms as he waited for them to speak.

"Nexus Core has had recent problems with the cannibalistic bandits that live on the outskirts around Nexus City. I'm sure you've had a run in with them before?" They asked, tilting their head as Sheriff shivered.

"Eugh- Don't remind me. Their like damn piranhas, almost takin' my damn hand." Sheriff spat, glancing down at the scar on his wrist.

"Well, you see, we've been discussing and after some consideration we figured we should ask you to guard the entrance of the city. You'd have a team with you of course. The MERC program we've managed to make cooperate with us. We'll-" They were cut off when from the guest bedroom came a loud thud with something clattering onto the floor.

Shit.

The Soldat stared at the bedroom with a look of confusion. "What was that?" 

Sheriff tried to ignore the beads of sweat gathering on his forehead as he tried to keep a straight face. "Oh, it's nothin'. Y'know how I am known for keepin' animals I find and it's just another one. A... Cat. Yeah, Just didn't want to scare him with company. Go on." Sheriff said, trying to desperately to change the subject again and almost collapsing from relief when the Soldat shrugged and turned back to him ready to continue- 

But an agent came in, hurriedly coming in and dragging the Soldat down by their tie and whispered something in their ear that Sheriff couldn't catch, but it clearly wasn't good as they frowned and stood up straight. "What? Is this another one of your jokes?" They snapped as the agent frantically shook their head.

The Soldat slowly straightened their posture as they looked down at the agent before turning to look at Sheriff. "Sheriff, if I may ask... Do you happen to have any whereabouts of Hank? One of my agents have reported seeing a trench coat that belongs to him in your warehouse." They asked.

If Sheriff could right now he had shot Hank right then and there for his incompetence. Dumbass!

"No, No of course not! I ain't seen him in years since he did this to me." Sheriff said, pointing to the stitching going across the left side of his face.

He was really starting to consider just turning them in at this point.

The Soldat didn't reply, turning to the agent and gestured towards the door. "Tell her to bring it in." They said, and off the agent left with a nod.

Sheriff was sweating bullets when the Soldat looked at him.

"Sheriff, you wouldn't lie to us, would you?" They asked.

"...Would never dream of it." Sheriff forced out. He was starting to choke up... He can't choke up now! Get it the fuck together!

When the agent came back he had another in tow, and in hand the familiar black trench coat that belonged to none other than Hank.

The agent reached her hand into one of the pockets and pulled out a pair of dogtags, clearly brandishing Hank's full name and information.

Sheriff opened his mouth to defend himself but in a flash the Soldat had put a hand around his throat and pinned him against the wall, feet not even touching the floor as he squirmed to get out of the Soldat's tightening grip. 

"Where the hell are you keeping them?" The Soldat snapped, glaring at the Sheriff as he scrabbled at the Soldat's arm.

"I- I don't have them, I swear!" Sheriff choked out, kicking weakly at the Soldat to release him but he stiffened at the click of a gun and the cold metal pressing against his cheek.

"If you don't tell me in the next minute I'll be the one taking off the other half of your damn face." The Soldat growled, causing Sheriff to stare in shock.

"I'm tellin' you the truth!" Sheriff yelled, trying to hold back his tears of frustration. 

Before the Soldat could make another move Sheriff yelped at a loud bang, the Soldat turning to look at the guest bedroom door before a another bang as the Soldat's eye was shot out, dropping the Sheriff as they yelled out, covering their eye in pain before a hole was shot into their chest caused them to finally collapsed dead, painting Sheriff's dull white walls in blood and him, wiping the splashes of blood off frantically from his face and looking up at Doc and Sanford as they stepped out with Hank and Deimos in toll.

"Are you alright?" Doc asked, offering a hand and helping Sheriff off the ground.

"Yeah... Yeah, thanks." Sheriff said, glancing over at the Soldat lying on his floor and stepping away from the growing puddle of blood.

A gun was shoved into Sheriff's hands by Deimos, a simple M1911 and he grinned at Sheriff. "We heard you aren't a great shot but maybe try and not die. We can't exactly bring you back out here." Deimos said, giving him a hard pat on the shoulder as he followed Sanford out.

"You fucking idiot! I swear you've doomed us!" Doc scolded as Hank threw on his trench coat, barely acknowledging Doc's words. 

"It's not the end of the world. I brought in our weapons last night for a situation like this." Hank replied, picking up their katana and putting it into the holster on their back and grabbing their shotgun. 

"That's not the problem Hank! We were supposed to get out of here without a hitch, leave Sheriff and Rich to their business, not put them in danger!" Doc said, glaring as Hank only rolled his eyes.

"We don't have time for you to start acting like your my damn dad, I wanna go shoot some agents." Hank replied, turning his back and bolting it out the door to join Deimos and Sanford on taking out agents and soldats. 

Doc was shaking in anger but he took a deep breath, not sparing Sheriff a glance as he ran out with him.

Which only left him to follow them.

While Hank and Sanford took out and distracted agents, Deimos and Doc slipped past to the warehouse, Sheriff sprinting after them.

When they opened the door Rich was stood there, staring down at the dead agent at his feet but looked up, ready to fight but he perked up. "God, you guys scared me!"

"Rich! Are you hurt?" Sheriff asked, walking up to Rich and pulling him away from the agents body.

"I'm fine, A few bruises won't kill me. They found Hank's trench coat and they turned so damn fast." Rich said, glancing back at the agents body, a long deep line cut across their neck, a large puddle of blood surrounding the agent. 

"Typical. Bastards are blood thirsty and snap when they get an opportunity." Deimos said, a look of disgust as he kicked the agents body.

A loud honk of a car made them all jump as it rolled up to the door. "Come on! We gotta get outta here!" Sanford yelled.

"We're comin'!" Deimos yelled back, turning to gesture to the others to follow he ran outside, hopping into the passenger seat and Doc hopping into the back with Hank, helping the other two up and they immediately started driving, causing Rich to stumble back with an 'oof'

Sheriff paused.

"Wait! Where's Lady!?" Sheriff asked, standing up next to Doc who fired a shot at an agent as they drove away from Sheriff's house.

"I don't know! We're overrun and we don't have the ammo to last this out, we'll come back later!" Doc yelled over all the noise, not looking up from his scope as he watched the agents get further away.

"What!? We can't just leave her!" Sheriff said, watching as Doc frowned from annoyance and grabbed him by the shoulder, pushing him down off his feet and a bullet hole appeared in the area where Sheriff's head originally was.

"Listen, if you aren't going to help, just stay down!" Hank yelled over his shoulder.

Sheriff felt a hot flash of anger go over him but Rich laid a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place as he settled against Rich as they continued to drive.

Doc groaned, finally dropping his rifle with a clatter as he sat down, holding his head in pain from the massive headache, looking up at Rich and Sheriff who sat together at the other end of the truck bed, a cigarette hanging lazily out of Sheriff's mouth as he stared at the vast landscape as they drove, eyes a little red as it was clear he had been crying.

The tension was so thick it was suffocating.

"Are you both alright? Any injuries?" Doc asked.

There was a moment of silence as Sheriff took a drag of his cigarette before he replied. "Fine." 

Doc only nodded, looking over at Hank who was cleaning the blood off his katana, their goggles tossed aside along with their trench coat.

"Hank, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Doc questioned as he crossed his arms, glaring at Hank who looked up.

"Felt nice to kill something again." Hank replied, eyes squinting as they smiled at Doc, enjoying as they watched Doc tense with anger. They loved pissing him off.

"You incompetent dumbass! That's not what I'm talking about! You just cost us so much because you left your trench coat behind! On top of that, your supposed to be wearing your tags at all times, with how reckless you are, I need them to identify you if you decide to get yourself killed for the millionth time!" Doc yelled, watching Hank sigh as he leaned back.

"We can just drop them back off, right? If Nexus Core thinks these guys are dead then they won't have any trouble." Hank replied.

"That's not how it works. For all we know, they'll probably take it over and we left agents alive there. When they get the report we all got out alive that includes Sheriff and Rich." Doc explained, taking off his gear and tossing it down to rub his eye. "Forget it... Fuck off, I can't look at you right now." He sighed, getting comfortable and closing his eye, trying to sleep through their journey to nowhere.

Hopefully, tomorrow is a better day.

Chapter Text

Doc ran a hand down his face and sighed. His back and neck were begging for mercy as he looked down at the map Sanford had grabbed before they fled, his hands stained with ink from the pens sprawled out beside him and his head was pounding.

He felt completely lost, his original plan of traveling back into Nevada and to a different state was to dangerous, with the A.A.H.W and every other grunt being out to skin them alive and all.

Traveling through Idaho would be just as dangerous with the lack of supplies and Nexus Core on high alert for them, being able to get the upper hand on them without very many weapons other than knives.

Doc had barely slept, roughly only 4 hours and he was raring to get to work to get the hell out of sleeping in the back of a shitty truck. He was more than familiar with being so close to his teammates considering how cold it could get in later hours of the night. Hank letting them use him as their pillow, Deimos using his pyrokinesis to warm up his body, Sanford usually ran pretty warm, and Doc was always the one freezing no matter how hot it was, resulting in regular cuddle piles that though none of them would admit were usually pretty enjoyable.

Two extra people would be a problem with that, especially when one of those people were mutilated by the biggest person in the group and had a mutual burning hatered for each other.

On top of that, they'd need more weapons, medical supplies considering Sheriff's facial injury and Doc's missing eye on top of Hank's recklessness, food, liquids, spare clothing (mostly for Deimos), and- 

"Doc!" Deimos called, hopping up and sitting next to him leaning his head on his shoulder and looking down at the map. "Any game plan yet?" 

Doc lifted his hand and moved Deimos' head and sighed. "That's what I've spent the last 4 hours trying to figure out. So far, I say that we take a detour back through Nevada through Black Rock Desert, stop in Lovelock to see what they have, then go anywhere that isn't Idaho, considering that Nexus Core will probably be telling the A.A.H.W about how we traveled there." Doc explained, picking up his pen and quickly drawing in some things arrows to show their route. "I'd say we could go to California, only 6 hours from Lovelock." 

"Cali? You hit your head during that escape yesterday, Doc?" Deimos asked.

Doc rolled his eyes. "Any better ideas then? Cause it'll be a lot longer of a trip that'll require being in Nevada longer than we need to." 

"Why can't we go to Utah? You were born there so it'll probably be easier to navigate if you know the place." Deimos said, pointing to it on the map.

"Deimos, I was born in Florida. Sanford was born in Utah." Doc corrected.

"You're from Florida? Jesus, no wonder your such a shit driver! You act like we're always street racing!" Deimos teased, laughing as Doc frowned and shoved him away.

"Ugh! Like your any better." Doc snapped, though the small grin on his face was unmistakable.

"Alright, alright, fine. We can go to Cali though I think we should try actually distancing ourselves from Nevada. A state over isn't very good. Especially California, since the only place we can really go from there is back to Nevada considering where were coming from. There is Oregon but who cares about Oregon." Deimos said, grabbing a pen from Doc and adding some marks himself.

Doc hummed and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Oh! I just remembered!-" Deimos reached around Doc and pulled over Sanford's backpack, zipping it open and digging through his things until he pulled out 2 tablets, their screens a little cracked but otherwise still in working condition. "Sanford grabbed these before we left, cause we know you'd have a damn heart attack if we lost em'."

Doc perked up and grinned. "Oh my god! I had almost had forgotten about these!" He exclaimed, grabbed his tablet from him and turning it on.

99+ Messages

Doc frowned, opening the tablet and skimming through them. "I knew I shouldn't have entrusted that passed out science experiment with running a damn empire, idiot." He mumbled, skimming through them before his tablet dinged again.

"I don't know what you're planning outside Nevada, but I will see to it that your plans will fail."

"I should've expected something of this sorts when your meddling of our bases was getting closer to the border."

"Something wrong, Doc?" Deimos asked, peering over his shoulder at the tablet "Is it someone threatening us again? Just send them that porn virus we made, that one is always really funny."

"I don't think this is a normal threat intended for Hank, Dei." Doc said, lifting up his facial gear as he squinted at the message.

Deimos grabbed the tablet and looked at it, face scrunching up in concern. "You think...?"

"That's probably exactly who it is." Doc said with a nod.

"Think he'll fall for it twice?" Deimos asked, his concerned frown breaking into a grin.

Doc sighed and snatched his tablet from Deimos. "Likely." Was all he replied with.

"PLANS.EXE"

"He won't bother us if hot milfs are in his area, we've got better things to do anyway." Deimos said, looking at the map and picking up a pen. "I think we should head to Utah after this. We've got a lot of places to go from there." 

Doc nodded, setting it aside and joining Deimos.

All he could do is hope that he won't mess with them all the way out here.

Chapter Text

"What?"

"That's the word we got from them. They said we specialize in this kind of thing so we should be helping them." The Soldat looked up at the ball of flame whose eyes narrowed in anger.

"What could Hank possibly be doing in Idaho of all places?" Auditor snapped, turning to look at the soldat who offered a piece of paperwork, which the Auditor took.

REPORT #1987

2/12/----

HANK J. WIMBLETON WAS SEEN IN IDAHO ACCOMPANIED BY EX-AGENTS DOC CANO (AGENT #134) AND DEIMOS (AGENT #3654), EX-M.E.R.C. SANFORD, SHERIFF JESSE B. CADELL AND RICHARD.

JESSE WAS HARBOURING HANK, DOC, DEIMOS AND SANFORD AND HELPING THEM ESCAPE, LEADING TO A BATTLE WHERE WE LOST APPROXIMATELY 9 OUT OF THE 15 AGENTS SENT.

COPY REPORT TO THE AGENCY AGAINST HANK WIMBLETON

Auditor sat the paper down. "I should've expected Hank would try and escape. Though I imagine he wasn't exactly the brains behind it. Did they see where they went?" Auditor asked, turning to look at the soldat.

"They started heading Northeast." He replied. "They aren't sure if it's their intention to continue heading towards Montana." 

Auditor sighed, drumming its claws on the desk as it thought. "Why didn't they send the rest of their agents after them? If they were low on supplies and outnumbered, they could've killed them." 

"Well... It's Hank. Outnumbered or not, they are a very lethal individual, especially with the help of 2 dissented agents and an ex M.E.R.C. Employee, it would be hopeless." The soldat said, turning over the paper as he skimmed through it.

The Auditor went silent, the only sound being the clicking of nails on the desk, staring into a computer screen displaying windows of information.

"Leave those papers on the desk. You may go." The Auditor said, waving his hand dismissively, the soldat hummed and did as they were commanded, leaving the Auditor alone in his office.

Slowly he straightened his posture, pushing aside an empty cup from infront of his keyboard he started typing until he finally pulled up what he hoped was the man he was looking for.

I don't know what you're planning outside Nevada, but I will see to it that your plans will fail.

I should've expected something of this sorts when your meddling of our bases was getting closer to the border.

PLANS.EXE

Be serious. I'm not falling for your tricks you bastard.

hm.

and I thought that would work A second time.

What could you possibly want?

I assume your links to Nexus Core have informed you?

Of course. They've been more than helpful.

Idaho of all places?

I will not make idle chatter with you.

Say what you want then fuck off.

Of course, Doc.

Straight to the point as always.

You aren't in any position to be pissing

me off.

 What are you doing all the way out there?

Surely it isn't any different than Nevada.

We are out here getting away

from you and Nexus Core. You

and them are tyrants. The way

you attempt to bring peace to 

Nevada is unacceptable.

You knew when you signed up that there would be

desperate measures of stopping Hank.

"Sighed up"

Hahaha 

It's great to see you've finally decided

to get a sense of humor.

Despite what you may think, I actually

quite enjoy living, even if 

this place has gone to the gutter

when you entrusted a coward with something

so important.

"Coward." Never thought I'd hear you 

speak so negatively on your travel partner.

I say it how it is.

Sheriff has grown as a person at least. 

I can say with confidence that I wasn't

the only one thinking it. Your decision making 

skills aren't exactly impressive.

Are you getting a kick out of your 

attempts of hurting my feelings?

Yeah, I am. 

But we are getting nowhere with this. 

Out here without having to deal with you it'll make all of our lives a lot easier. You don't have to deal with Hank because he's with me, all those agents that I had escaped with are far away and want nothing to do with you and *I* don't want anything to do with you. You've done enough to all of us and I'm tired of looking at you and thinking about you. I still intend to be the one getting the last laugh in this little game you made.

I don't see that happening.

Hank is a problem no matter where he is. If you've traveled with him for as long as I think you have then you know he is a pain in the ass.

As much as they are like a thorn in my side, Hank is about as best as I could ask for in terms of a companion and I could say the same for Sanford and Deimos. 

And believe me, you won't be the one on top when this ordeal is over.

I didn't expect you to get all sappy over dangerous criminals.

kys.

The Auditor frowned at his screen, Doc's end going silent.

He expected nothing less from him. The clever bastard had always managed to be one step ahead of him, but unfamiliar territory made him vulnerable it seems.

And he had every intention of using that to his advantage.