A sharp pain brought Beorn back to the moment. He attempted to push himself up, but the pain in his side stopped him short and left him gasping for air. His arms were covered in blood, most of it his own. Piper crouched nearby and injected another stimpack around the wound in Beorn's side. That was the sharp pain. She brought out another needle as he convulsed a bit, vomiting on the floor again. He needed to stop doing that. She injected this one into the vein near his elbow and the pain turned to a dull ache, med-x, another old friend.
"He's coming around doll," Nick said. Piper sighed. Nick knelt down as Dogmeat started to lick Beorn's face. "We thought that was gonna be curtains for you, pal. Kellogg messed you up bad. We are still going to need a doctor for you as soon as we can."
Beorn could feel the truth of Nick's words. He was hurt bad. He tried to move and felt the wound pull, felt his broken ribs making it hard to draw a full breath. He pushed through the pain and got to his knees, rested a moment then leaned on Piper as he pulled himself up. Nick gabbed his other elbow to help. They finally had him standing, suspended between his new friends. The trio made their way over to the desk where the Courier was going through some papers, shiny new boxes, and typing on a nearby terminal. Beorn stared at Kellogg's dead body, it didn't feel better. He still felt rage, numbed by med-x. Shaun was still lost, supposedly alive, but lost to him.
The big man sat down heavily in the chair as the stimpacks continued their itchy, stinging work on his wounds. The med-x helped make it bearable, but he hated stimpacks. He pulled his canteen from his belt and took some sips to relieve the cotton feeling in his mouth. Experience told him it wouldn't really work, but he knew he still needed the hydration. Piper pulled out a flask and handed it to him. He took a grateful pull and felt the warmth of the whiskey deep in his chest. He took a second pull and handed the flask back to Piper.
"Find anything interesting," Beorn asked as Courier continued to read the files.
"Plenty," replied the bounty hunter, "But nothing of use to you or me. No records indicate how to get into the Institute or where it might be located short of 'the Commonwealth'."
Beorn wanted to ask what might be of use to Courier but thought better of it for the moment. This mysterious stranger was proving to be helpful and reliable, he didn't want to alienate them right now. "So, what's our next move?" He said to the group in general.
Piper chuckled with a wry grin, "That gets us at least back to where we started. The Commonwealth is a big place Blue."
Nick replied, "I'm gonna need some time to think this over. I got diddly right now." His shoulders sagged and he lit up a cigarette.
Courier spoke up then, "I think someone is leading you along Beorn. I don't have any hard evidence, but here's what I've seen so far. You found your way to Kellogg, who left an all-to-convenient trail to follow. He taunts you with Shaun being alive, but out of reach. If you read over what is written here you'll see that there is more of the same. The logs Kellogg kept give you just enough information to keep your hope alive, but lead you nowhere closer. I hadn't heard of the Institute before a couple of weeks ago, but if they are as sinister as the people of the Commonwealth believe I would double down on the hunch they are trying to manipulate you into doing something. Take it from someone who's been used like that before, you probably won't like where it leads."
Beorn's eyes narrowed, "So we should give up the search for Shaun?" The phrase carried a bit more vehemence than he intended. "I can't do that. Not while there is some hope."
"That's not what I meant." The filtered voice replied. "I mean you need to break out of the deliberately laid out breadcrumbs they have left for you. You need to take the initiative from them. They say the house always wins. That's true, until you stop playing by the house's rules."
Beorn was starting to feel a bit better. He pulled a bottle of Nuka-Cola out of one of Kellogg's storage boxes and popped the cap off, stashing it with the rest of his growing cap collection. Who would have thought he would go back to collecting bottlecaps again? He drank down the sugary soda and looked back at Courier. "You keep getting more interesting, but you share as much as this Institute. Tantalizing me with enigmas and then leaving me with nothing of substance." Courier shifted a bit and fingered his .44. Beorn sat up, bad idea. There was a crack as he did so and fresh pain erupted in his side. He breathed hard for a moment then said through gritted teeth. "Your help so far is appreciated and you make a fair point about the Institute. We should stop playing their game, but how do we get them to play our game instead?" Courier relaxed as Beorn settled back slowly.
"That is the question. It would be nice to know the rules of their game so we make sure we are not playing into their hand." Replied Courier.
Piper broke in, "Blue, we gotta get you to a doctor before we can do anything else. Moving through the Commonwealth in your condition is not going to be easy."
"You're right Piper. You think we can make it back to Diamond City?" Replied Beorn.
"I think we can at that, if we go real careful and try to do more sneaking than fighting," said Nick.
Courier spoke up, "I'm not going with you. I have other things to do for now. Maybe I'll see you again soon." With that he stood and turned to leave.
"Help me up," Beorn said to Piper and Nick. They did and the trio followed Courier out of Fort Hagen.
As they exited the building they heard a voice crackle over a loudspeaker. "Citizens of the Commonwealth, we are the Brotherhood of Steel."
Courier said, "Damn. That's not good."
"What do you mean?" Asked Beorn. Courier did not respond, only continued to stare up at the massive airship.
"Who are these Brotherhood of Steel characters anyway?" Piper asked.
Courier was silent for a moment. Then shook his head and spoke, "Alright, I'm with you now for a bit longer it seems. These guys are bad news, I ran into them back west and it didn't end well. I have a feeling they might be here after me. Let's get you to a Doc and we can talk more as we go."
Courier told them the story as they went. The Brotherhood had a bunker in the Mojave Desert where they were hoarding tech and fighting with the New California Republic. The Courier was hired by the owner of a nearby settlement called New Vegas to destroy this bunker. It took a lot of planning and fast talking to get in there. After getting inside the Courier found out that they were ruled by some autocratic "Elder" and thought that tech was for the Brotherhood alone. Courier rigged the reactor to explode and ran. Someone must have survived to tell the tale as some Brotherhood Paladins came after the Courier a few years back.
"You think they're here for you?" Said Beorn. "I feel like that's a lot of firepower to send after one person."
"You're probably right, they are not likely here for me. It does beg the question what they are here for. It also complicates things for me a bit, makes it more difficult to maneuver unseen through the Commonwealth," replied the Courier.
"I would really like to know why you need to be so anonymous if no one here knows you," asked Beorn.
Courier was silent for a few moments. "Call it habit, I guess. I've been on the run for several years now from one thing or another. I have not met many whom I could trust. I don't know if I can trust you yet. I have trusted you with more than anyone else in a while."
Piper spoke, "Maybe you're the one we shouldn't trust. All we know about you is that you were after Kellogg, we still don't know why."
Courier crossed their arms. "I also haven't shot any of you yet."
"Wait a minute," said Beorn. "We don't need to get in a fight right now." He held his side, leaning on Nick. "This hurts, and I need a doctor. I think we can trust Courier enough not to shoot us in the back. I for one am still glad you are with us."
The group made its way quietly back to Diamond City, Courier and Piper staying uncomfortably far apart.
