He thought he could recover on his own, after Beacon, he thought that if he could just bury himself in work then the events would just sink into the back of his mind like a bad dream. That's all it was, a terrible nightmare he had to go through. Only, it was harder to forget than he thought. Joseph was dead, the man's desk pressed against his in their office. Sebastian had refused a new partner when his captain was trying to reassign him one. Not after Joseph. Hell, not after Kidman's betrayal. He didn't want another partner. He couldn't risk losing another partner. First it was Myra after Lily's death, then Joseph. It would seem that he had a bad rep starting with his partners.

Not only had he refused a new partner, he also refused to go and get checked out by a doctor, even at his captain's request. He never hated hospitals, there was no reason for him to. Now he had one. He would do everything he could to avoid going to one from now on. At least until his paranoia of them wavered a bit. Which wasn't likely to happen any time soon. After the paramedic that was stationed outside of Beacon had examined, giving him a clean bill of health except for some fatigue but suggested going to a real hospital for testing, he said that he was fine and just hadn't gone.

Right now, he was trying to fill out his report of what had happened at Beacon, which was just protocol for any investigation, without sounding like he had lost his mind. How would you explain being stuck in a machine where a dead man who was only a brain reigned as god and toyed with you as you tried to escape? You didn't. There was no way to. And that's what Sebastian's short coming was at the moment. With a shot of hard whiskey on his desk, a lit cigarette between his fingers of his left hand that burned absentmindedly into an ash tray beneath it, he stared down at the blank paperwork he was to fill out. He had a notepad that was covered in black ink and things crossed out as he tried to formulate a reasonable way to explain what had happened to him. It was becoming harder and harder the more he stared at the paper. Scrubbing a hand over his face, the detective leaned back in his leather seat, pulling the cigarette to his lips to take a puff. His amber eyes falling upon Joseph's desk. His chest tightened as he stared at it, the top of it still having his things like he had just left for the day and would come back at any time. Everything was organized and in its proper place. Untouched by anyone. Someone had tried to clean up Joseph's things but Sebastian wouldn't let them. He just couldn't let go, just yet. It was the thing with Myra all over again. He just couldn't come to terms with what happened so he clung to whatever he could of theirs. Joseph was his desk, Myra was her case file and wedding band on his wedding finger, Lily was her drawings he had received from her and some of her stuffed animals that still sat around his apartment. He couldn't bring himself to throw out his daughter's beloved animals. Even if it was a bit ridiculous for a grown man to have bunnies and such around his apartment. He just couldn't let go.

Breathing out smoke in a steady stream, he licked his dried lips as he tapped the filter of his cigarette over the ash tray to drop the column that was forming. It was late at night, few detectives and cops from KCPD were around, but he could see them through his blinds that were partially opened. All the lights in his office were on, which was uncharacteristic of him. They knew it too. He could see them pull worried glances at him whenever they thought he wasn't looking. He just couldn't stand to have shadows in his office now, not since Beacon. He knew what they could hide, what monsters lurked within them. Sometimes he doubted that this was the real world honestly. He was half expecting for Ruvik, in his white hood, to stand before his desk and throw him into another nightmare. He hadn't been able to sleep since the incident. Not even his drinking helped to cease the nightmares that still flooded his mind about that place, that living nightmare hell. That wasn't the only thing that seemed to follow him out of STEM. He was also always on edge, jumping at shadows that shifted in the corner of his vision. There had been a few times when he found himself reaching for his gun in the holster under his arm when a shadow 'jumped.' After realizing that he was just being ridiculous, he'd curse at himself and go back to what he was doing before. He couldn't help his fingers from lingering around his gun though.

That and he could 'see' things. Like the memories that were shown to him in STEM, the ones that Ruvik was letting him see. He could see white wisp sometimes, forming into that of a person and walking around before disappearing, usually from hitting something solid or someone walking through them. No sound came from them though, like the ones in STEM. And these were less defined, he couldn't make out who they were. Once they were gone however, his head would start pounding mercilessly and he'd have to sit down or lean against something to not fall over. It was a dizzying experience, one he thought he left behind at Beacon. Apparently not. That's also why he thought he was still connected to the machine. He didn't know why he would see these random white figures unless he was still in the system. So he kept on his guard, waiting for whoever was controlling this world to slip up and show him what was actually going on. And he'd wait patiently for that to happen. When it did, he'd be ready.

The door to his office was pushed open with a loud click and Sebastian jumped, eyes snapping towards the door as his hand immediately went to his gun. Although, he stopped himself mid-reach when he saw it was just his captain and instead, led the reach to grabbing his shot glass. "Castellanos," His captain started before pausing to give the man a look as he downed his shot in one go, throwing his head back to do so. The captain would let it slid since Sebastian had gone through whatever it was that he had gone through but he couldn't keep using that as an excuse to drink on the job. Shaking his head as the detective set the glass back on his desk, he made eye contact with the raven haired man. "It's late, you should get some rest. Try going home or something. You can't sleep on the beds here forever." The man informed the detective before disappearing out the door.

Amber eyes watched the captain walk away with a sigh. He was right, Sebastian couldn't stay at the department forever. Even if it was an enticing idea. Puffing the rest of his cigarette before putting it out in the ash tray, the detective put everything on his desk in the rightful drawers; that included his shot glass into the bottom drawer. Getting up from his seat, he moved over to the coat hanger that was in the corner of room and threw on his tan colored trench coat before making his way over to the door. Glancing back over his shoulder at the place, he gave Joseph's desk one last sad look before opening the door, turning off the lights and closing it behind him. It didn't take much for him to ignore the looks he was given. He was looking a bit rough around the edges with his stubble growing out longer than he often let it, dark bags under his eyes and his hair was a bit unruly. Sebastian slipped his hands into his pockets as he walked out of the precinct and into the cool night air. Luckily for him there were two street lamps right outside the department's main doors. It helped keep the front doors as well as the alley ways on both sides of the department well lit. Which he was grateful for. Making his way to his car that was parked on the opposite side of the street, still covered in light, he reached and entered it without too much trouble. Placing the key into the ignition and starting it, the raven haired man pulled out another cigarette and lit it before putting the car into gear. When he lifted his eyes up to pull out his parking space, he froze.

There, across the street before him, stood the small form of Leslie, still in his medical ward attire. They made eye contact, Sebastian's hand on the steering wheel tightening until his knuckles turned white. His heart sped up in his chest, hammer against his rib cage that he thought it was going to break out, his breathing became ragged through his nose and his mouth ran dry. Even blinking didn't send form go away. 'Is…this real?' he thought to himself with dread gripping his chest, making it tight. A car drove by. The boy disappeared. Sebastian's head started to hurt immediately. He blinked once the boy was gone, finding that he could move again. Turning his head to look down both sides of the street, no one was there. No retreating figures. Nothing. Clutching the side of his head as his vision wavered before him, the detective had no choice but to wait for the pain to subside before he could start driving away. He didn't want to cause an accident. He must have been hallucinating or something. That had to be it. There was no way that Leslie was here. He died, in the machine. Ruvik absorbed him – his cigarette dropped from his mouth and into his lap. Ruvik was Leslie now. That would explain why he saw him walking away from Beacon when he got out. But, that made no sense! He killed Ruvik, he squished his brain under his shoes in STEM. He couldn't still be alive.

Hissing, the detective looked down at his lap to see the cigarette had started to burn a hole in his pants. Grabbing it, he popped it into his mouth with a curse, the pain in his head going away after the pain he felt in his leg. Hands back on the steering wheel, Sebastian pulled out of the parking space and made his way to his apartment.

Author's Notes: Hey guys! I recently finished watching the Evil Within and fell in love with the game. Not wanting the adventure to end, I of course started looking for fanfics. Only, I found that there weren't that many which made me kind of sad. So I've decided to make one. Here's Chapter One of my story about what happens after the end of the game.

I, of course, don't own anything about this game. Even if I wish I did. Feel free to leave a review, be it good or bad. I'd love to hear from you guys! See you in the next chapter!

I'll try to get one of these up every week. But we'll see how it goes.