It was late afternoon when a traveller approached Beckett on his return from a supply run from Charleston. He had reached the base of the mountain path several miles out of Foundation when the man rushed to him. Wary of the stranger initially, Beckett pulled his pistol out and aimed it at the man.

"If you know what's good for you, you'd turn around and head back where you came from pal".

"Beckett! It's me!" the man stumbled out from the brushes holding his arms away from his sides in a non-threatening display, "Don't…don't you remember?"

Beckett's gaze honed in on the man, examining him in the late afternoon light. Though he was filthy, skinny and dressed in rags, there was something in his features that was familiar.

"It's me man! Louis….don't you remember?"

"Holy shit", Beckett muttered under his breath when he recognised him, slowly lowering his weapon, "Louis?... What… what're you doing all the way out here?"

"I need your help Beckett", Louis answered in a hushed tone, "They got my brother man… They're gonna kill him if I don't pay up, Beckett you gotta help me!"

"S-slow down. Who's got your brother?"

"Maddox!"

Beckett could feel the colour drain from his face at the mention of that name. During his time in the Blood Eagles, there was no shortage of crazies and blood thirsty maniacs…but Mad Maddox was not an ordinary Blood Eagle. The cruellest of the bunch with a bloody mean streak, Maddox gained the moniker Mad Maddox for his unpredictability and truly psychotic behaviour, which he used to keep the other Blood Eagles in line by lashing out at even the most loyal of followers. His behaviour was only mildly tempered when he caught the eye of Star, another insane Blood Eagle that was thankfully now out of the picture.

"Alright, alright let's…follow me, got a place up the mountain where you'll be safe. We'll sit you down and you can tell me all about it. Yeah?"

Louis nodded, his shaky body coming out of the shade of the trees and following Beckett up the mountain. Beckett could feel his old friend's pleading eyes flit to him every once in a while as if hoping he would say something that would make his situation all better, but the truth was Beckett didn't know if he could help. Maddox was a crazy son of a bitch that everyone knew not to mess with, let alone wander near his territory.

By the time they'd got up to Meredith's house, Louis was barely able to get up the short flight of steps onto the porch and Beckett scrambled up some food for him, setting it on a plate at the intricately wrought white iron porch table. Pulling up a chair to sit opposite him, he watched as the man wolfed down handfuls of food, his eyes as wide as saucers when he saw what Beckett had brought for him. Seeing him in the baggy rags that hung on his body so loosely, his face gaunt with dark circles around his sunken eyes, balding patches on his scalp from the lack of food and most likely radiation exposure haunted Beckett. This was a shell of a man that he used to know from back in his raiding days, and Beckett couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him after all those years.

"Take it easy there, don't want you upsetting your stomach", Beckett advised as he watched him scoff down the food.

"I haven't…had food… real food… in so long", Louis spoke between mouthfuls, his gaunt cheeks struggling to keep up with the influx.

"I can see that", Beckett answered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, "Wha-what happened? Last time I saw you, you… you were with Edwin's Gang"

Louis nodded, his gaze still fixated on the plate of food, "Mhm".

"How did you….What happened?"

"Blood Eagles", Louis's gaze flitted to Beckett before focusing back on the food, "They came, drove us out from the Mire and pushed us into the Bog. Got cornered by supermutants for a while, before those bots at Watoga took out more than half my group. We were holed up in Fort Defiance for a while".

Beckett's stomach dropped like a stone; Fort Defiance was a cess pool of some of the worst monstrosities, including scorchbeasts.

"I'm sorry Louis", Beckett exhaled, running his fingers roughly through his hair, "But…how did you get out? And how did your brother get captured?"

"Wasn't long until our supplies ran out at the Fort. In our desperation to find more food, one of the guys opened up the Eastern wing and…what came out of there…", his voice shook with fear and Beckett could see Louis tremble, "It tore through us like we were nothing". Louis took several breaths to compose himself before he finished, "We ran for our lives, fast as we could…only we ran straight into a group of Blood Eagles…into Maddox's territory. That was almost a year ago. We escaped, taking a stash of caps and supplies with us, but… that was a mistake. They've been hunting us ever since, finding only a few days of respite when we managed to find good hiding locations".

'Shit', Beckett thought, clenching his jaw while his mind imagined what horrors he and his brother must have been put through. He sat there in silence and listened to Louis finish recounting the journey they'd been on of trying to escape being hunted by Mad Maddox's Blood Hounds, as they were called. He found out that a few days ago they were cornered in Sutton and Louis's brother was captured while attempting to find a hiding location. All Louis could do was hide inside an air vent in one of the dilapidated houses, listening in horror as the Blood Hounds found, captured and took away his brother.

"Do you know where they took him?"

"Lewisburg… The Mansion", Louis answered in a trembling voice.

"Shit", he muttered under his breath, mind swimming with possible rescue attempt ideas and how he could approach the area undetected. The problem was Mad Maddox and his blood thirsty maniacs had the higher ground there and would undoubtedly spot them a mile away; a rescue attempt would have to be done when they had the cover of night. The smoke billowing from the burning mines nearby would also provide additional cover for them not to be detected. Beckett reassured Louis that he would do everything he could to help his brother and took him up to Foundation for the doctor to look him over and so he could settle for the night. While Louis was getting the care he needed, Beckett went back to the house and began prepping everything he would need for the trek to Lewisburg and for the inevitable firefight he would find himself in.

A cool evening breeze was coming in from the West when Meredith finally got back home. The day had been long and she was looking forward to spending some time with Beckett, relaxing on their porch with a cold drink, but when she reached the base of the steps she was surprised to see the bar closed and Beckett nowhere in sight.

"Beckett?" she called out as she went inside. He wasn't in the living room or in the floor above them. It wasn't until she heard a loud clanging in the shed outside and Beckett's familiar voice cussing at himself for dropping what sounded like her toolbox. Amused and curious to see what he was up to, she gingerly approached the shed and peered inside. It was unusual for Beckett to be in the workshop; if anything needed repairing or building it was Meredith who took up the task.

"Hey, you alright?" she called from the doorway, making Beckett jump.

"Hey! Hey…", he exclaimed in surprise.

"Whacha doin'?" Meredith eyed him up curiously and the box of tools he had strewn on the floor and her tool bench.

"I uh, I-I just needed…y'know…", he gestured broadly with a hand at the tool bench, "Looking for the ammo crafter".

"Okay", Meredith cocked an eyebrow and entered the shed, "What's really going on?"

Beckett pursed his lips, shook his head and gave her a strained smile in an attempt to convince her it was nothing; but there was no fooling her. Besides, Beckett was never a good liar, his body language always betrayed him.

"I'm going to Lewisburg", he stated plainly.

"Lewisburg? When?" Meredith shook her head in surprise.

"Tonight".

Meredith's eyes widened in disbelief, "What's so important that you have to be in Lewisburg tonight?"

"I have to help out an old friend's brother", Beckett confessed, "I just need some more ammo for the trip, y'know…just in case I run into some radstags or molerats".

"But you know we keep the spare ammo in the drawers here", Meredith went over to the long metal floor cabinet and pulled the ammo drawer open only to see that most of the 0.308, 0.45 and 0.50 ammo was gone, "Uh…Beckett, where's all the ammo?"

Beckett's shoulders slumped…he knew that if she came back before he left that he was going to have to tell her. He started his story from the beginning, how he ran into Louis on his way back from a supply run and the story that Louis recounted on everything he had been through, that his brother had been captured by Mad Maddox and taken to Lewisburg to as payment for Louis stealing from him, and that his brother would most likely be killed tonight if he didn't do something about it.

"I can't just sit back and do nothing Mere", Beckett exhaled, "What things were the other way around and it was Frankie out there?! I can't just sit here and do nothing".

Meredith listened intently to his words and sympathised, knowing that Beckett wanted nothing more than to help others who were made to suffer by the Blood Eagles. As she listened, she began to realise that there was no changing his mind – he was going to go and help rescue a friend.

"Alright, where we going to exactly?" she asked, moving through the shed to collect other items they might need, including the Chinese stealth suit she'd put together with Jen's help.

"N-no! There's no way you're coming with me!" he protested but Meredith wasn't in the mood to argue.

"If this Maddox is as bad as you say he is, then you'll need all the help you can get", she pulled out a duffle bag from one of the storage closets and began filling it with supplies.

"Mere, please. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do with myself", he inched closer to her, a pleading look in his eyes, "Just…just stay here and let Ward know what's going on. Chances are I might be bringing back unwanted company on our return".

"And I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you", Meredith shook her head and met his pleading gaze with her own stubborn and determined one, "Besides, this is no different than when I used to go carry out the missions you planned to take down the Blood Eagles. Haven't run into any problems then, and I don't intend to break that streak".

"Mere", Beckett began to say but was abruptly interrupted by Meredith.

"I'm going with you, so don't try to argue or change my mind", she stopped and faced him, folding her arms defiantly over her chest.

"I was just going to say...thank you", he added, a smile of relief and gratefulness spreading on his lips

"You're welcome", Meredith returned his smile, "Now, let's see what we can do about weapons".

Making their way under the cover of night, Beckett and Meredith arrived in Lewisburg just over an hour after they set off from the house. Setting themselves down at a cliff side overlooking the bare bones of the Unfinished Mansion about a mile away from them, Beckett and Meredith got to work loading their weapons and Meredith changed out of her clothes and donned the Chinese stealth armour. Once on, she picked out her weapons and picked up some frag mines to set around the base of the building in case she needed a diversion. They had already hashed out a plan on the way and, though it took some convincing on her part, Beckett agreed that he would stay behind and keep watch on the cliff top while Meredith went in using the stealth suit.

"You alright?" he asked in a hushed tone, his intense gaze focused on her, "There's still time to change the plan".

Meredith shook her head, "No, this is our best chance of getting Louis's brother out. I'll go in quietly, get a lay of the area and find him".

"They'll most likely have him locked in a small room or closet. Keep an eye out for any guards", Beckett advised while handing her a walkie talkie, "And if things go south, get out of there as fast as you can. I'll be here to cover your back if you're bringing company".

She nodded and accepted the communication device, securing it inside her suit.

"Don't worry, I won't be long", she leaned in and kissed him.

"I always worry", he answered, holding onto her for a while before letting go and watching her stealthily traverse the scorched and blackened earth in the direction of the tall structure ahead.

The Unfinished Mansion... what a fitting name. It would have been a regal structure had its construction been completed before the bombs dropped those many decades ago; instead it was a skeleton of a building, as tall as the Garrahan and the Hornwright Estate buildings. As Meredith got closer to it, she felt a sense of dread deep in her pit and left a sour taste in the back of her throat. The metal bones that held the building up creaked and groaned hauntingly above her and judging by the disarray and blatant disregard for life with haphazardly strewn decapitated and flayed corpses around the grounds, there was no denying that there was a vicious gang of Blood Eagles that had settled here. Meredith had to hold her breath and keep her eyes averted to avoid being violently ill at the mere sight of the poor souls who found themselves so unlucky. Luckily for her there were only a handful of guards around the ground floor who were simple to avoid. She skilfully hid some mines around the area, taking a mental note of where she left them so that she wouldn't run into one of her own traps on the way out. It wasn't until she got up to the top floor where she realised things might not go as smoothly as she anticipated. The hallways always had at least one Blood Eagle patrolling through, there were several others who were dozing on weathered sun beds, others more in the floor above who seemed to be having a raucous game of cards.

'Time for a diversion', she thought, slyly making her way to the balcony. Peering down, she noticed one of the Blood Eagle guards hovering a few paces away from where she placed a mine. Picking up an empty beer bottle, she tossed it at a rocky outcropping behind it to catch the guard's attention. A few seconds later she saw it shatter on the rocks. It had the intended effect as Meredith saw the guard's attention fixate on the location where the bottle smashed. She watched him warily inch closer to the outcropping, slowly but surely making his way toward the mine, until….

The intensity of the explosion sent concussive ripples through the air, rattling the old bones of the groaning building and rousing the attention of the Blood Eagles. Safe in the stealth cloak of her suit, Meredith hid in the nook of a wall and listened as most of the armed Blood Eagles on the floor she was on rush down to the ground floor. This was her chance!

Searching every nook and cranny, Meredith stealthily made her way through the first floor but found no evidence of Louis's brother.

'He must be on the top floor', she thought in dismay. Hastily making her way up the stairs before she ran into a guard, Meredith snaked her way through the hallways and rooms, listening to the commotion that was going on.

"The fuck is going on down there?!" a gruff man's voice hollered a dozen or so feet away from her, making her almost jump. She heard the faint and familiar crackling of a radio answer back.

"Jessy's dead, blow to little pieces", another man's voice answered through the speakers.

"How many times do I have to tell you pricks – don't. FUCK. with. me", Meredith heard the first voice growl back into the radio as she proceeded to the other rooms, the familiar rush of adrenaline coursing through her. Her focus was crystal clear, ears and eyes open to any unwanted attention and patrolling guards. Heading to the north easterly side of the floor away from the congregating group of Blood Eagles until she came upon the master bedroom. Sliding through the slightly ajar door, she surveyed the area – the room was a mess, all cabinets were broken into and some of the cabinet doors were barely hanging on by their last remaining hinge, the bed was tattered, and the whole room was filthy with the floors strewn with ripped up newspapers and magazines. Meredith was running out of places to search for the prisoner – if she couldn't find him here, it was most likely that they may have taken him to another location.

An almost inaudible whimper emanated from what Meredith assumed was a bathroom. Senses heightened with the adrenaline coursing through her, she followed the source of the sound and went into the room. It was empty.

'Come on… where are you?' she began to wonder frantically, knowing she was losing her window of opportunity.

A shuffling sound caught her attention and she felt her body stiffen. By the sound of it, it was coming from inside a wall. Meredith approached it and felt around, noticing seams running from top to bottom in the metal wall panels that made up the bathroom walls. She felt her fingers catch onto a gap as if it had been purposefully made by multiple rough handling. Fingers tightening around the gaps, Meredith pulled the panel gently, prying it open after a couple of tugs; when she looked inside she was horrified to see an emaciated man looking up at her in terror, his arms tied up behind his back and his mouth gagged painfully with a thick piece of cloth. He whimpered in fear when he saw her and pressed himself into the solid concrete wall behind him, shaking his head and pleading for mercy with his eyes.

"Easy, I'm here to rescue you!" Meredith reassured him in an urgent and hushed voice, "I'm not gonna hurt you".

The man seemed to calm and looked at her quizzically while she removed his gag.

"Are you Johnny? Louis's brother?"

The man looked at her with incredulity, blinking a few times before hesitantly nodding in affirmation.

"Where's Louis?"

"He's safe, with my friends", Meredith answered, "I'll take you to him, but we gotta be quiet and move quickly, ok? There's a group of Blood Eagles on this floor we need to sneak around so I need you to stick close to me".

Again Johnny nodded hesitantly and seemed to look around them as if he was expecting someone else to be with her.

"Is Beckett here?"

"He's nearby", Meredith answered quietly, taking Johnny by the arm and leading him the same path she used to get to him.

"Where?"

"Outside waiting for us. Now please be quiet Johnny, we can talk later".

"No, no…it was supposed to be Beckett", Johnny shook his head, confusing and worrying Meredith, "It wasn't supposed to be you".

"Calm down Johnny", she stopped around a dark corner and grabbed hold of him by his arms, pleading with him to keep his voice down but Johnny became frantic.

"Maddox!" he cried out before Meredith firmly placed a hand over his mouth to silence him. It was too late, his call had drawn attention to them both.

"For Christ's sake!" Meredith swore and pulled him with her as she sprinted to the stairs with a raucous gang of Blood Eagles following right behind.

Taking the stairs two at a time they both breezed past a confused looking Blood Eagle on the level below. Before he could take out his weapon and shoot, Meredith rammed her whole weight into him, pushing him away from them with such force that he lost his footing and tumbled off the side of the stairs and through a large gaping hole in the wall; gravity did the rest. Meredith prayed that they could get to the elevator in one piece.

"Why did you do that?!" she yelled at Johnny over the gunfire that followed them.

"It was supposed to be Beckett! They were gonna let us go if Louis brought them Beckett", Johnny sobbed as Meredith swung him around behind the safety of a concrete wall beside the elevator doors just as one of the Blood Eagles rounded the corner and fired his shot gun in their direction. He missed but just barely, sending a plume of concrete dust and debris at them before Meredith took aim around the safety of their corner and killed him with two shots. She smacked the button to call the elevator before retreating behind the wall and handed Johnny one of her loaded guns.

"Watch the other corner, if anyone comes around you shoot them!" she instructed before swiftly turning her attention back to the two other Blood Eagles who had reached the end of the staircase. With a swift aim she eliminated them before they even had a chance to aim their weapons at her.

"Come on come on!" she muttered urgently as she reloaded her pistol, listening to the elevator motor straining to climb to their level. Several seconds later she heard the familiar bell as the elevator reached their floor. Grabbing Johnny by the arm, Meredith dragged him out from their cover to get inside the elevator. It wasn't until the doors opened and revealed Mad Maddox with two of his guards behind him standing in front of them, a surprised and eager look in his blood shot eyes that Meredith felt the colour drain from her skin. Even though at first it seemed that her appearance there startled Maddox, he was able to anticipate her reaching for her pistol. He grabbed her wrist, pushing her aim away from him. Meredith pulled the trigger but the bullet instead found its target in the head of one of his guards standing to his left.

"What do we have here?" Maddox licked his lips, his savage gaze burning into Meredith as she struggled against him. With one swift kick to her midriff he sent her flying across the room, clutching her stomach and gasping for air like a fish out of water. "And what are you doing out of your hole Johnny?"

Louis's brother shook with fear and his gaze fixated on the floor as he placed his arms over his head in anticipation of Maddox reprimanding him.

"I said… who's your little friend Johnny?!" Maddox asked in a low and menacing voice, taking a few steps to loom over the man's trembling frame, making him drop to his knees. Mad Maddox was a towering figure: at 6'3" in height with skin mottled with burns and random scars, his unnaturally pitch black hair the colour of coal shaved on the sides of his head in a cropped Mohawk style, and a prominent star tattooed on his left cheek along with a tattoo of a hickey on his neck.

"I don't know, I don't know, I swear!" Johnny pleaded, cowering under Maddox's imposing figure, "Please don't….please".

"Does this look like Beckett?!" Maddox slapped Johnny over the head as he pointed at Meredith, "Huh?! Does it?!"

"N-no", Johnny whimpered, sinking to the floor in anticipation of more punishment, but Maddox strode over the Meredith and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her with ease to her feet.

"Who the fuck are you? Hmm?" he asked with deadly curiosity before turning to Johnny behind him, "Your brother stupid or something, Johnny? Thinking he could send someone else in Beckett's place? Ah well, doesn't matter, I'll just settle for killing you both".

"No no no, please Maddox", Johnny's pitiful voice pleaded as he crawled to Maddox's feet, "Please, she said he's close. Beckett is close, he's outside, probably waiting for her".

Maddox's blood thirsty gaze quickly switched to a sadistic curiosity and Meredith felt his grip tighten around her throat, "Hmm… well, then… we should invite him over to our party, shouldn't we? Wouldn't want him to miss what's coming next".

He was holding Meredith by the neck with one arm outstretched so she wouldn't gain any purchase with her attempts to kick and hit him. The last thing that haunted her as she started experiencing tunnel vision from restricted airflow and everything faded to black were Maddox's dark blood shot eyes burning into her. She didn't care what happened to her, she just wished she could tell Beckett she loved him one last time before her vision blurred and the world went black.

"Come on Mere", Beckett murmured under his breath as he looked through his binoculars at the scene going on in front of the Mansion. One of the Blood Eagles had unwittingly stepped on one of the mines Meredith placed in the vicinity and a group of his pals had come running to see what was going on, including Mad Maddox.

"Shit…", he whispered, his gaze drifting to the top of the Mansion in an attempt to locate Meredith. Heart beating fast in his chest and the first signs of panic beginning to bubble within, his mind raced with what could be taking Meredith so long. It wasn't until a strategic thought crossed his mind that made the panic rising within him slow that he realised he could eliminate their problem with one shot from his location. Hastily rummaging into the duffle bag, he pulled out the scoped for his rifle leaning on the rock face next to him, attached it and aimed the barrel at the base of the Mansion, looking through the magnified image for his target.

"Come on, come on…I had you, you son of a bitch", he muttered, a feverish desperation in his tone as he loaded a .50 round into the rifle's chamber and adjusting the zoom on his scope; by the time he'd gotten into position though, Maddox was inside the building and Beckett saw him go into the elevator. With a quick slide of the elevator doors, Beckett's window of opportunity closed along with it.

"Fuck!" he swore under his breath. A voice inside his head was screaming at him to radio Meredith and let her know Maddox was coming up to the top level, but if he did he would undoubtedly alert the other Blood Eagles on her floor to her location. There was no way around it… he was going to have to go in after her.

'Alright Beckett, stay calm. You need to go in, find Mere, and get out!', he told himself, tearing his attention away from the activity at the base of the Unfinished Mansion. He was so nervous and terrified that his whole body was shivering while in his mind worst case scenarios began playing out one by one, sending him down into a spiral. He was so engrossed that he didn't hear or see a Blood Eagle sneaking up from the west, flanking him.

"I'm coming Mere", he whispered; but when he turned around he was ambushed by the lurking Blood Eagle, knocking him unconscious. The hope of getting Louis's brother out of there, and Meredith, evaporated in that critical moment...