It was nearing two in the morning when Quinn and Mark decided it was time to rest for the night. Quinn stretched her arms above her head as Mark unrolled his sleeping bag beside her. "How you feeling?" Mark asked. Quinn rubbed her eyes and rolled her shoulders back and forth. "I'm alright, how 'bout you?"

"I'm good." Quinn nodded and she looked down at Mark. "Sorry about earlier," she said softly. Mark looked up at her and her gave her a small smile. "It's no biggie, I'm used to it." Quinn sighed and lay down on the grass. "Do you want your sleeping bag?" Mark asked. Quinn shook her head and closed her eyes. "Nah, I'm good," she mumbled. Mark lay down on his sleeping bag next to her and stared up at the sky. He could make out a couple stars but the lights from the city made the rest hard to see.

"Since you left wherever you left, was the Institute always your goal?" Mark asked quietly. Quinn opened one eye and looked over at him. "What do you mean?" she asked. Mark propped himself up on one elbow so he could look at her. "Since you ran away have you always been running towards the Institute?" he rephrased. Quinn paused, then shook her head. "No. Actually, until I met you, I didn't know about the Institute."

"You didn't?" Mark eyes widened slightly. "Nope," Quinn repeated, looking away.

"So then where were you going?" Mark pressed. Quinn shrugged and her eyes slowly closed. "I didn't know. Away. I wanted to go to the sea but I couldn't find it…" Mark stifled a laugh. Clearing his throat he spoke: "Where did you want to get away from?"

Quinn took a minute to respond, unwinding the scarf from her face and tracing over a lined tattoo with her index finger. "From the other kids. From the orphanage. From Reno. From the feeling of loneliness…"

"Loneliness?" Mark asked. "You were lonely? I thought you liked being…" He tried to figure out another word. "Alone." Quinn's eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked over at Mark. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me Mark." She whispered so quietly that Mark could barely hear her. Then she looked away sighing heavily. "I was lonely until… well until I met you." Mark stared at her. "Quinn…"

She laughed and the clear sound rang out like a bell. "Don't get your brain twisted, you're only a friend." She shot Mark a glare. "And you're lucky to be that." Mark tensed up and Quinn broke out laughing. "I'm only joking!" she exclaimed. Mark chuckled weakly. "Course you are 'mare, course you are." Quinn sighed. "So what about you Mark, why'd you run?"

"My father tried to kill me." Quinn stared at him, her face blank. "Serious?" Mark nodded. "Dead." Quinn bit her lip. "Whoa Mark, that's terrible." Mark shrugged one shoulder and lay back down, concentrating on trying to find more stars amongst the black velvet sky. "It didn't work obviously. The bullets turned around and killed him instead." Quinn laughed quietly. "I love karma."

"You believe in karma?" Mark asked. Quinn nodded. "Always have." Mark looked over at her and smiled. "You might not like it after you get all that's due to you." Quinn groaned and punched him playfully. "Oh shut up."

"It's true."

"I know!" She laughed. "I know." Both fell silent, smiling. "How about we make it to the Institute tomorrow," Quinn said after several minutes. Mark, who had been half asleep, roused himself to consciousness. "What?"

"Let's make it the Institute tomorrow. Just keep going 'til we get there."

"But we're like, at least a day away." Quinn sat up to look down at him. Her dark face was illuminated by a smile. "Exactly! We're so close! Why not? We have enough supplies. We'll just stop for water in the morning. You can pop in can't you? We could do it WeaponMaster. Come on." Mark's eyes widened. She never called him by the codename he'd given himself. It was always Mark no matter how many times he asked her to call him WeaponMaster. "Please?" Quinn begged. Seeing her so excited was rare and it took Mark a minute to reply.

He shrugged and smiled back. "Yeah sure, why not."