Erik

"So where do you work at?" Eric asked as the long silence between the both of them was starting to get annoying.

Though he started it as a tough guy routine, it was going for way too long. They were going on a mission for fuck sake, hunting something no one has hunted before. Though he was confident in his skill, he didn't know how to defeat something that didn't die.

Bruce silently flipped the page from the book he was reading as he lazily answered, "Are we going to make small talk the whole time?"

"I hope we won't but we are driving to the middle of nowhere, undercover in a sleazy van. So pardon me, if I wanted to talk."

"That's true." Bruce stood up straight as he looked through the windshield as there was nothing but darkness around them, "With the scene in place, I am still completely not sure if it's people just dressed around in weird costumes playing a prank on us,"

"I thought the same thing." Eric said with a sigh, "You believe in it?"

"I mean with how much shit is going on with the mutants and their propaganda and followed by the history of our world which correlates heavily on the human experimentation. It would be odd if I didn't believe in it." Bruce said as he waved the book in his hand that had a cover of a werewolf in the front,

"Though I am still on the edge about them being some cursed monsters, I am not even sure I can rule that possibility out."

"So what you find?" Eric let out a chuckle, as Bruce was clearly reading weirds ass fairytale folklore.

"These things are never easy, is it?" Bruce said throwing the book towards the back, "I have read 12 books and all of them have different ideas on how to kill it. Some say the fire's the solution, some say holy water should do the trick, impale it in the heart with an iron spear and a whole bunch of bullshit that I immediately erased from my mind."

"At this point, I just want to fake the whole operation out and go home."

"Don't do that! Please..." Becky's voice came from over the transceiver.

"Do you plan on listening to us the entire time?" Eric asked not looking too happy over the babysitting protocol going on,

"No, I was just about to leave and I heard it. Anyway, have a safe trip, you guys. Call me if you need anything."

"I really find it annoying to deal with people like these." Eric complained after a while, "If you handed me a mission, I would complete it regardless, but babysitting through the whole way when they aren't in the field is something I can't withstand."

"Seems like you bought a lot of baggage from your last job." Bruce commented, "Since we've got the whole night of drive ahead of us, tell me about yourself."

"You could've simply just asked," Eric said with a slight chuckle, "I don't know what much to tell you, I grew up in Oakland, some shit happened that led me to this path and after college I joined the Navy Seals and now here I am, hunting fucking monsters."

"I heard you were getting recruited or some shit like that, so why chose this instead of that. Sure both won't guarantee your life but I would rather get shot by someone than getting eaten alive."

"I don't know." Erick shrugged, "I was taking a break before I could make my decision when Gibbons hit me up, and after seeing the whole thing, I had to bear witness to this with my own eyes. What about you? How did you end up here?"

"Well, I was born in Russia, then somehow ended up here, went through some shit, and then I ended up opening my very own mercenary corp, which is going well as you can see, I am in this joy ride to hunt some wendigo's with you."

"That's vague."

"So is your story." Bruce said, "And now you know why small talks are annoying when both the parties have secrets."

"I guess..." Eric shook his head, "So how we're going to hunt this thing, let alone capture it?"

"Capturing it is not essential." Bruce shrugged, "Our priority is finding a weakness, a way to kill it first. If not, handing out a living monster to the government which already seems shady enough is going to be a lot worse."

"You think they want to weaponize it?" Eric asked with a certain keen interest in the topic.

"Of course, what better weapon can America get its hands-on, than a mythological monster. Drop that creature anywhere you want and watch it kill through, with no one to place the blame on. Supernatural stuff does come in handy now that I think about it."

"So supernatural assassins, if I hadn't known better I would've likely thought you were crazy. But I've seen enough to shit to know how this goes." Erik nodded, "Supernatural assassins, I wonder what else could there be. This whole thing has been a real eye-opener."

"Let's just hope it doesn't come around to bite us in the ass."

"You sound so against it?" Erik shook his head, "What did that thing the old Stark used to say, 'Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy.', I live by that."

"Unless by peace you're referring to what I am thinking, I don't really see how that statement is of any relevance and I can tell you with certainty that just because you have the bigger weapon doesn't mean you can win."