Going on mandatory leave didn't leave a pleasant taste on Nikto's tongue. Were they calling him unfit? He had achieved far more under less conditions. But he couldn't argue having little to no sleep and constant nightmares after the last operation was reason enough to keep him, and anybody in the same circumstances, away from firearms.

That's how he finds himself home. "Home" being that tiny house he legally owns but rarely sets foot in. Sleep wouldn't come easier here, but that wasn't the superior's problem, it was his.

4 A.M. He wakes up with a gasp, a sif he were choking in his sleep. He can't even recall the nightmare, if there was any. He got up, giving up in sleep for tonight and going to get some water. As he stands before the kitchen sink, he looks out the small window on top. There's no wind tonight, yet the bushes rustle. That's when he notices someone or.... something, standing outside.