When the Medical Clinic had been looted of whatever valuables the building once had, two people stepped out of the building and closed the door shut behind their backs. They were back in the Villa underneath the watchful glare of the Sierra Madre. Whoever this nameless person was, she appeared to be keen on her senses. Although she could not speak, her willingness to follow him into danger gave him comfort. These streets were not safe, even for stalker like him.

Artyom glanced over his shoulder and saw her eyes wincing in pain. "Hey, is there something wrong?" He wondered.

The woman looked at him as tears violently came from her eyes. It must have been outside and the particles from the clouds.

He couldn't blame her. His reaction to this place made him waste a few good air filters for some fresh good air. If this woman couldn't watch his back because of her eyes, she would be a liability. Yet, there was an option that could help her. It wasn't much, but it would keep plenty of that cloud substance out of her eyes. "Here, maybe this will help." Artyom reached for his gas mask and turned the used air filter out. "Wear this, your eyes might not have to worry as much."

She reluctantly accepted his gift to her problem before she wiped the tears from her face. Then she slipped the gas mask over her face.

"Is it working?"

A nod from her head had answered.

"That is good enough." Artyom turned his full attention to the front before he walked into the center of the courtyard. Despite the duo being alone, he was surprised to find something familiar waiting for him in the open. As he stepped forward for closer inspection, the stalker recognized one weapon he had seen Pavel use, but this was fully modified. However, there was another weapon he had not seen before.

When he leaned forward, there was a postcard and a holodisk waiting for him before he got his hands on it. The picture was that of Saint Petersburg, but when he turned it around he was surprised to find some lettering in Russian.

'You will need it, more so than I.' The message began. 'Keep it warm, the power will do the rest. Consider it a gift from an old friend, Artyom.'

There was a pile of air filters and 5.45 bullets for him to use. It was good news, he had more ammunition to use as he inspected the silenced sub-machine gun before his very eyes. Then he turned his full attention on the next weapon. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, but what did the person mean when he said '...keep it warm.' A relief for him in terms of firepower.

He looked at his newfound companion, whose eyes looked at the surrounding area. "Watch my back, I have to do something." Then he brought out his Bastard gun and slipped the magazine out from his makeshift gun before getting his hands on his new silenced weapon. The magazines contained a smaller number of bullets, but maybe that was one of the drawbacks for this weapon. However, his eyes noticed the serial numbers. It was one of those pre-war weapons he had seen before.

Artyom slipped his empty Bastard gun into his knapsack before he slung the silenced sub-machine gun over his shoulder. Then he began to make his way towards the second weapon placed in the open for him. As he got ahold of the strange makeshift weapon, he felt it's weight burden his arms. Perhaps it was a price for carrying a weapon with such firepower. Exhibition's armory occasionally had special weapons that he could never afford, but he seen such on a Ranger accompanying Hunter.

The duo turned their heads in the direction of explosions that had erupted in their first moments outside of the Medical Clinic. Then the stalker took a glance at the woman. "I think those are coming from my friends. Would you mind if I lead the way to find them?"

The silent woman nodded. That would have to mean a yes.

When they proceeded to walk through the streets alone, Artyom pulled out his trusty revolver as he hoped to find his way back to the others.

Details, he always had to watch out for the small details like an artist. Ever since the Polis Rangers sent a stalker to observe the anomaly, he was surprised at the very least. Anomalies were common in the Metro, but his kind was different. It had brought him to a new place, perhaps new world was a better term to describe a land made up of sand and rock.

Going through the remains of a city, Timur watched over a street with his Clapper in hand. These Fiends that the strange woman told him came from this part of the city. While the various armies of the Metro were settling a base camp on this side of the world, his superior gave him the go to scout ahead. If people like that woman existed, there had to be some civilized people walking around these parts.

He kept reminding him that he was heading towards the east after the sun went down. Every now and then, he would have to hide in the smallest corner and watch as a… patrol of Fiends walked past him. Nothing about them was sane, their bodies occasionally appeared to be full of abuse or had needle marks on their arms. What kind of drugs had they been on?

The Metro used to have drugs like cocaine, but Hanza banned it from every station within their own territory. Because they were the ones people went to buy items, they had to adhere to their terms in order to buy their items. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise before someone decided a more… safer alternative with mushroom hashish.

As he continued further along the right side of the road, he noticed two figures walking towards on the opposite side. Timur didn't know if they were Fiends, but he took refuge in an abandoned shop on his side. Although the night reduced visibility, he had the advantage when he lowered his night vision goggles.

When the world could be seen through different variations of green, he rested his rifle upon the window sill and observed the duo. Most of the Fiends he seen wore armor that revealed plenty of their skin to the naked eye, but these two were different. Their clothes appeared to be a uniform while they both wore two red berets as they made their way into a corner three-story building. Those two couldn't be Fiends, it was inconsistent with the others he had seen.

Then again, details.

He would have to steer clear from those two, meeting them might be worth the report sending back to the Red Line and their… allies. However, they might also be his last steps.

Before he thought of proceeding past them, there was movement coming from his side of the road across from the building those two took refuge in. Four Fiends crossed the road. There were three men and one slender figure among them, but their armor was the identifier. However, one of the men was large and tall while he carried a heavy weapon in his arms compared to those who followed him.

The party stopped at the front of the door as he looked to the others. Through the scope, he could see that he was the one in charge while the others smiled greedily. Then he left his weapon on the ground for the trio as he made his way inside. Maybe they were meeting with the duo.

His scope looked up on the windows of the broken building, hoping if those two could be seen. Maybe they were the ones that orchestrated the attack upon the Metro?

Upon the third story window, left side, one was spotting the other was the shooter. Based on the way the spotter's hands were guiding the sniper, it appeared she was the veteran. It couldn't be a meeting if they were getting into a sniper spot. Then the large burly man appeared through his scope as the two snipers tried to fight back.

Yet, the large man tossed one of them aside and he didn't get up. The second person, the spotter tried to fight back, but was overpowered by his sheer strength before a shrieking scream cried out from the building. It was that of a woman. Then he was shocked when he looked back to the trio and heard a cheer from the Fiends outside.

When his sniper rifle saw them, they clapped one-another's hands before they took out various items with needles on the end. They were celebrating.

Even in the post-apocalypse, there was standards and Timur's morals were being tested. This should be abhorred, but these were also the very people who attacked Paveletskaya Station. His emotions were filled with anger as he lined up his weapon towards the Fiends enjoying their moment of joy.

There were times to show mercy, even to the Nazis, but these people deserved none. As he pulled down the trigger, he felt his recoil erupt his targeting while the bullet struck the woman between the two men. When their shock at their dead fellow came apparent, they looked around as another bullet was fired. Then the last man began to pull out his rifle from his shoulder trying to locate him, but it was to no avail when he fired the last shot.

When the Fiend's body fell to the ground, blood seeped onto the concrete as Timur stepped out of the building and made his way towards the building. More screaming echoed into the night while the woman still fought back. "Back off, fucker!"

After he entered through the doorway, the sniper made his way up the stairs avoiding the possibility of getting side tracked by furniture and making noise. He was afraid the worst would come to the sniper in question with each step.

As he arrived to the top floor, he heard the man's voice for the first time. "The NCR has bitches like you, time you learn to act like one." The eagerness in violating someone never felt so terrible to Timur's ears.

Upon entering the doorway, he saw the large armored Fiend atop of the woman's back as he tried tying a rope on her arms.

"What is it? More NCR bitches?" When his head turned to face him, he was hidden behind a helmet. "Who the fuck are you?"

He dropped his Clapper to the ground before he pulled out his makeshift automatic pistol to bear. Without a single word, he stepped forward to get a closer look of the man's would-be victim. "Step away from her." Timur ordered in a calm and cold tone.

Despite his initial threat, the man was not intimidated. "Looks like I have another one who wants to see his own guts. Let's have at it." As he stepped away from the tied up sniper, he walked towards him as he cracked his knuckles. Unlike the other Fiends, this one was heavily armored.

Not a second too soon, his trigger finger held down the trigger as forty-four magnum bullets flew into the man's chest piece. His target stumbled back by the force that kept blocking his rounds; however, it was pushing him over to the window.

"Shit, I'm going to kick your ass!"

Timur was not afraid as he ran forward and kicked the man out the window. As the man screamed to the ground, the sniper leaned over the window sill and took off the mutant leather skin covering his face. A simple spit was all that was needed from him, nothing to be said from him before covering his mouth from the outside once again.

His attention returned back to the tied up sniper. Her shaved head turned towards him as she rose from the ground. "Who the hell are you?" She asked. He unsheathed his knife and cut her from bondage as she felt the nakedness of her wrists. "Didn't you hear me?"

Then he made his way towards his sniper rifle on the ground. "I did, but didn't want to talk." The Red sniper replied before slinging his Clapper over his shoulder.

"Good to know someone is listening. What the hell are you doing here? This place is dangerous."

He chuckled at the thought. "So am I." Then he glanced towards the second sniper waking up from his slumber.

The young dark-skinned man woke up and groaned. "Betsss-sy, what happened?"

She made her way towards him and began checking his health. "Cook-Cook ambushed us. You were lucky, he didn't try to take your pants off." Then she glanced over at the sniper. "Thanks for helping us out and rescuing me. What's your name?"

"My name is Timur." The communist answered. "I'm currently looking for a place called Camp McCarran. Do you know where it is?"

"Have you been living under a rock? Of course I know where it is, it's a military base for the NCR."

"Not exactly, more like a new arrival."

"Must be a mercenary if you came all this way to McCarran." Betsy replied. "Help Ten of Spades, I'll lead you to Major Dhatri. I don't want to risk another night like this."

"Ladna." Then he made his way towards the sniper lying on the ground. "Get up, comrade. You sleep later."

"V-very funny."

Artyom was surprised that the way to the fountain was short; however, he was filled with relief when he recognized a few familiar faces. God was present, staring at the fountain's hologram as if something might happen. Yet, there was another person, Cass. He rushed forth and called out her name. "Cass!"

The caravanner and the super mutant nightkin expressed their shock as they stood in place. He waved his hands towards them with a smile. As she remained frozen, he made his way towards them as she reluctantly made her way towards him. "Artyom, how the hell did you escape the ghost people?" The Rose of Sharon Cassidy asked. "I thought you would be dead by now."

"They dragged me into a tunnel system, but I was brought into the basement of some clinic." He replied. "I managed to close the exit before the others could flood the building."

A warm smile was all she could bring. "You're lucky. I was just about to drink all of my whiskey down."

"Knowing you, you would have done it without a second thought. Where are the others?"

Cass glanced over to the opposite side of the fountain courtyard. "Ever since you were seperated from us, they accepted the fact you were dead. Angelique and the others agreed to find one of the others with the bomb collars, but God didn't want to go. He said he didn't want to do the old man's bidding without seeing him first."

"I don't exactly blame him." Artyom replied.

She looked past him as she noticed the person following him. "Whose she?"

Turning around, the stalker saw the stranger take off his gas mask and handed it to him. "I don't know." Came his answer. "She was someone I found in the Medical Clinic and was locked up in one of those machines."

"The gal must have a name."

"She can not talk. Something happened to her voice and maybe it's part of the reason why she all those scars."

The tall lumbering super mutant nightkin stepped forward and joined them. "We see each other again, Artyom. I thought the cloud would have taken you, but you proved me wrong."

"I tend to have that effect on people." Artyom stated. "One time, my trolley got attacked by the usual tunnel trash and I was knocked out of my seat. They were surprised to see me before they lit the entire tunnel with a flamethrower."

God chuckled as Cass glanced at him. "Wait a minute, do you mean this isn't the first time something like this happened to you?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all. I believe it was my second or third time I got dragged away from a large group of people and lived." Another explosion erupted as the group turned their full attention towards the commotion. "Is that Angelique's doing?"

"Yeah. Looks like they're getting the last guy out."

Out from the streets, four figures walked out from the recent explosion as a laugh escaped from one of two men walking up to them. "It's been awhile since I blew something up. Feels good to have that adrenaline rush." It was Pavel.

Then he heard Angelique's voice was not amused by his actions. "You were tossing frag mines at ghost people carrying bombs. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You don't know good fun like I do."

A third voice spoke up, but the man was a stranger to Artyom's ears. "I will agree with the lady. As much as I love a good show of fireworks, you lacked the finesse that normal people wouldn't even applaud. Then again, I'm in the company of tourists I shouldn't expect any less."

However, Veronica spoke up at their conversation. "Maybe we should put this all away over some drinks."

"I could use that." The stranger spoke. "A good drink never spoils than say, the company."

When the four were close enough, Artyom was disturbed by the sight of the man in their company. His skin appeared to be peeling off, but he was still alive and talking. If those sights were true, it must have been painful for him to endure that kind of punishment on his body.

"Oh look, more tourists to treat. This is enough for a party if we had any drinks to complement the guests."

"No worries, Cass has some whiskey with her if she's willing to offer." Veronica replied.

The caravanner shook her head. "None of you are never going to get my whiskey." She answered. "However, I do have some good news if anyone is willing."

Three of the four stopped in their tracks as they noticed Artyom's presence. Angelique was quick to walk towards him. "How the hell did you survive? I thought the ghost people already killed you?"

The stalker chuckled at the reaction. "Apparently, they were slacking off trying to kill me."

The communist among them laughed. "You are a lucky man, Artyom. Death must have gotten lazy if you lived."

"Would someone explain to me what is going on here?" The almost dead man wondered. "It's not that I know all of you."

"One of our pals was captured by the ghost people earlier." Stated Pavel. "Somehow, he miraculously escaped them."

"That is something to celebrate, but shouldn't we get to the matter at hand. Such as getting these ties off our necks."

Amidst the reception of being welcomed back into the group, Veronica's attention was focused elsewhere and he noticed it. She was concerned with a different matter entirely as she quietly made her way towards the strange woman he rescued from the clinic. However, she appeared to have recognized the woman with the surgical scars. "Christine?"

The stranger's head reacted to the name from the Brotherhood Scribe.

When the revelation of the woman's identity became apparent, Angelique noticed Veronica's reluctant to speak. "You know her?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah. Christine is from the Circle of Steel and... she was my girlfriend."

The ugly man with the shades began to comment. "Incredible, the drama is killing me."

When Timur had arrived to the entrance of the camp, he noticed the many curious glances coming from the soldiers atop of the walls and outside of it. As Betsy knocked on the door, it opened without a question as the foreign soldiers allowed her, the spotter, and of course, him into the perimeter.

This place was more of a fort than a camp in his eyes. Walls and towers to provide defense while choke points to funnel attackers to their deaths. Problem was so much unused space that could have been used for other issues.

Betsy and Ten of Spades noticed another soldier wearing a red beret walking up to them as he smoke a cigarette. They saluted his arrival before taking the butt out from his lips. "Betsy, I thought you were training the new guy while going after Cook-Cook."

The woman nodded her head. "Yes sir, but Cook-Cook got the jump on us."

"I see. What happened?"

"Well sir, he knocked out Spades before he tried to tie me up." Then she paused for a moment.

Timur noticed her reluctance to speak about the moment, but he knew that the idea of being raped was not a matter to speak so lightly. "The fucker had sick intentions." He commented.

Betsy's and Ten of Spades' superior noticed him. "Who is he?"

"Sir, he looks like a merc who was passing by. He managed to get rid of Cook-Cook and his crew before the situation got worse." Betsy replied.

The man stepped forward to greet him with his hand out. "Thank you for helping out my snipers. I appreciate that. What's your name?"

"My name is Timur Glazkov."

"Lieutenant Gorobets, 1st Recon Alpha Team."

"Gorobets? That name is-"

"Weird?" He thought. "Trust me, I know. Don't know where it came from."

"No, I'm familiar with the surname. It's Ukrainian."

"How would you know?" The lieutenant asked.

"I am a Russian from Moscow."

The snipers turned their full attention towards him with Betsy filled with disbelief. "Bullshit, just because you have a fancy accent doesn't mean anything."

"Do you really want proof?"

"Betsy, calm down. I'm sure we can discuss this elsewhere."

However, Timur had other plans in mind. "Lieutenant Gorobets, I need to speak with your superior."

"Why is that?" He wondered. "Unless you're a mercenary, you don't look too important."

"With respect, I'm a sniper from the Red Line. The reason why I'm here is because I have orders to scout out the locations from the base camp. However, it's on the other side of those Fiend patrols."

Gorobets was filled with confusion. "Red Line, I never heard of it."

"We're recent arrivals, none of you would believe me if I told you how I got here from Moscow." Timur replied.

"You're going to have to wait. Fiends tend to attack in the morning, but I'll talk with the major and see if he's willing to talk. Wait here." He ordered.

As he departed from the snipers, Ten of Spades looked up at him behind his face wrap. "Y-You're a Russian?" He asked.

"Da." Timur answered.

"Cool. Heard about you guys in some old books, but never thought I meet one."

"I could say the name for you Americans."

Betsy spoke, but corrected him. "We're not Americans, were Californians. NCR if you want for short."

He chuckled at the thought. "All the same to me." Then he reached for his small radio pack and spoke. "Glaz to base camp, I've made contact with friendlies."

"Who are you talking to?"

"My superior."

A static whine came to life before it became clear for a voice replied. "Copy that, tovarich. We'll report to Polis Rangers, return if possible."

Author's Note: When I looked up Betsy's commanding officer, I was bit surprised before I made some last-minute adjustments. Interesting bit there, Fallout lore.