A/N: A choice is made and the Survivors reunited as the grand puppeteer is revealed. Yes, I'll be putting this in the M-rated section now but thank you all for your reads! Reviews are most welcome!

DISCLAIMER: Recognize it? (c) VALVe, Samael (c) docmilbury/Vin

Chapter 14: Inner Universe

After a half hour of what would be a lethal beating, Liam stopped to catch his breath and admire his work. To his eternal disdain, he saw each one of the bruises green up and the bones shift back in place. By then, Big Boss had to be wheeled out for a new tank, leaving his least deserving son with the Horseman. It was no secret that out of the three Giorgetti heirs, Liam would never amount to any real power, instigating an endless thirst for it in him. The Apocalypse didn't help him move the ranks, Liam would always be the runt.

"Tell me how you did it, [BEEP]," the wannabe prince asked while he yanked the conman's hair to force eye contact. Nick smirked, "I don't know what you're talking about." The mobster roared and wiped the sweat from his brow and grabbed a gun to fire five shots into his captive's abdomen. Of course it was fucking painful but, by the gambler's expressions and the quickly closing blood stains, he'd live again. "THAT! How the fuck did you become a fucking god?" Liam screamed exasperated at the sight, "You are a half-Indian mongrel, a low life prick who has no right to even breath the same air as me!"

Never to back down from a fight, Nick growled back, "And yet here we are; it's not worth it." Liam was, right then, a mirror for the conman to see himself as he was five years ago. The 'Always look out for #1' attitude, that desire for the unattainable, it was a reflection that still had some relevance but it was all overshadowed by the sheer responsibility of being Legion. Nick grew up, Liam and Selene had not. "I want your power, slumdog...and when I'm done with you," the gangster murmured against the conman's healed cheek bone, "you will tell me how you did-"

"Sir, Samael wants to talk to you," a foot soldier announced, cutting the threat short. "Tell Selene to take the call; I'm busy," Liam shot back annoyed. "He wants you sir," the man, barely thirty concluded then got shot in the forehead for his trouble. "Jesus Christ but what can you do?" the false prince shrugged while holstering his gun and putting on his suit jacket. He then signaled two bouncers to dragging the prisoner into a storage room, "I'll be back in an hour, Nicky; be smart for once and consider my offer," Liam bid him farewell then shut the door.

God, what have I done? Nick thought over and over again as he realized his mistake. Instead of getting his comrades and their family protection, he practically gift-wrapped them for CEDA and whoever this Samael person was. Back to the labs, to the torture...to being their fucking toys, he lamented quietly. And he knew, he just knew they would locked up again and punished from their escapade. His mind brought up the vision that had caused him nightmares only defined to the point of realism,

All four Horsemen were surrounded by the military and scientists, no escape...never again. Suddenly, both Coach and Rochelle were ripped from their flanks, drowning in needles and restraints. Nick turned around to try and grab Ellis while he could but he was yanked down by Infected scientists. "Nick, don' let go fer th' love of God!" That scream and those terrified blue eyes haunted Nick as he held on as hard as he could to that hand but for all his strength...Ellis still slipped away. "ELLIS!" he would call back as the Hordes swallowed him.

The grieving stopped the moment his ears heard the click of the door lock and he prepared for the worst. What he got was the biggest surprise of his life: although she was wearing a hood and gloves, Nick recognized Selene's Chanel perfume anywhere and even before he was experimented on. "Don't," she whispered while she unlocked the chains and undid the shackles. Nick knew better than to push his ex's generosity, especially when she tossed him a new black suit to replace the bloody one.

"The closest exit out of here is through the service halls, take a left and keep going until you hit Paddy's bar. Samael has already sent your escorts and should be here in a couple of hours. Get the hell out here and don't you ever fucking come back," Selene explained, using a hidden passage in the hotel the Giorgetti family was using as headquarters. "Gladly," Nick shot back, checking the gun for ammo. Just as he was about to leave, the mob princess pulled the conman and locked lips with him for a moment, bidding him goodbye from her life. "Now you're that hick's problem."

~0~

Ellis was already looking for his lover, having had covered five blocks since sunrise. When Nick didn't show up at the agreed hour, he and Rochelle stopped their investigation and started searching. "Start with places marked with three crowns," the young man established as their parameters and, in the last two hours, no such luck in locating even a scent. Frustrated, El took his hat off and scratched his head, "Where are yew, Nika?" Would he have quit to save his own skin and returned to being a mobster? Naw, tha's th' old Nick...he'd nev'r give up his freedom...

The instance he put his hat back on, he heard, "OVERALLS!" in the distance. "Goddamn it, Nick, they were COVERALLS!" Ellis snapped back then realized, "Yer back!" The lovers reunited in a strangely deep embrace and kiss, no matter who watched. "Where were yew?" "Hell, babe. Now where's Rochelle? We have to get the fuck out of here," Nick answered tenderly. "Wha'? Wha' happened t' yer old fami-" Ellis tried to reason once the hug was broken and he handed the conman his sword. "They were in on it with CEDA; some douche named Samael already sent the Beast on our asses and we have to bail NOW."

Rochelle arrived just to heard that last part and her jaw dropped, "Did you just say Samael?" "Yeah why?" Nick tried to make sense while wrapping his katana and his gun away. "He's the president of the PNCA! He's has been pulling the strings in CEDA to make the Beast from McKinley's experiments! He's also the one who's been kidnapping survivors from cities to do the trials. Remember the ten Carriers Cole had us shoot?" Suddenly, all three Survivors realized it: everything since their escape from Meridian had been orchestrated to this point.

"Sonuvabitch's been leadin' us on t' try his new toy," Ellis concluded furiously, none of them really appreciated being used like this. They all shared that dark look in their eyes and unanimously agreed. "I think it's high fucking time we got some answers, right boys?" Rochelle growled, scheming grin on her plump lips.

~0~

"The puto's in here," Liam led the scientist down the dank hotel walls, Lilith following close behind. Selene trailed them, bound by mafia law, but she'd rather avoid the little brat as long as she could. Lilith was in every sense a little doll, her dark hair bouncing along with every artificial step. McKinley just wanted to get out of Chicago and back to her laboratory; her research were proving very illuminating these days.. "Death is not in there," the Beast claimed before Liam could get the keys. "Look at that, kid think she's psychic," he spat and turned the door knob.

As much as Erin hated Lilith and her "father", she trusted her instincts more; Legion experiments were designed so they could recognize each other in a crowd by a mere scent or glance. So it didn't surprise her when the room and the chair were both empty. "WHAT THE FUCK?" Liam shouted irate, "who the fuck-" "Mr. Giorgetti, I'm sure Death and the other Horsemen are still around. The Beast can take it from here," McKinley halted whatever tirade was about to occur. "I don't fucking care! I'm going to find the prick who did this and fucking tear him apart!" the wannabe prince yelled and Selene followed orders, commanding a full lock-down of the hotel.

As the humans left the room, the Beast used her tiny hands to search around for her oldest surviving brother. Although she found his discarded clothes reeking of his blood, his trail had gone cold for a while, even for her Hunter sense of smell. That said, she found one long strand of dark brown hair.