A/N: Wow... school is seriously kicking my a** right now... alot of classes and alot of work... little advice: DON'T TAKE AP CLASSES! Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long, long, long, long, long, LONG time, but I've had alot of work to do and it will more than likely be like this for awhile... but I'll try and update as soon as I possibly can! I HAVE NOT given up on this story. If I had to guesstimate, I don't think I'm even halfway done with writing it, so, don't worry, there's plenty more coming! XD

Now, just as a reminder to where we are in the story, Colt, Veronica, and Boone are still being held prisoner by the BoS... at least, not for long...

"Hey, wake up!"

Colt slowly opened his eyes, his head and mind throbbing as he let in what little light there was in the room. To his side was a large and bulky black shadow stooped down, trying to shake the prisoner awake. Colt pushed the bulky figure aside and slowly sat up, his muscles straining as they stretched and lifted the top heavy man up. Rubbing his sore neck, he turned to the figure who finally cam into view; it was a power armored soldier kneeling beside him, a laser rifle slung over his shoulder and a hand on Colt's shoulder. Colt looked at him and a twang of fear struck, horrified that he might be taken back to the interrogation cell and be tortured again…

"No," Colt managed to stagger, shrugging the soldier's hand off and pushing him away, "I'm not going to the fucking room and you're not going to fucking beat me again! Back away!"

"I don't want to interrogate you," the man said, still standing over Colt. His voice was familiar… but Colt just ignored it and continued to wave the soldier off, not wanting to go anywhere with him.

"Just get away from me…"

"Look, I want to get you out of here," the soldier continued, removing his helmet and revealing his ghoulified face…

"Nikolai?" Colt asked, squinting through half-open eyelids and finally noticing him. It was Nikolai, the ghoul he ferociously beat last night. He was standing over Colt with a hand held out… for a moment, Colt couldn't believe it…

"Come and I'll get you out of here…"

Colt hesitated, not knowing what to do… why was Nikolai helping him? How was he going to get him out of here? Why? Then, he thought back to last night…

There's angels every where around you, holding out a hand to pull you back up on your feet… you just got to take their hand and keep on moving through the fire…

Colt, with a smile, finally realized that Nikolai was one of these angels… he took the ghoul's gloved hand and was hoisted to his feet, letting out a small chuckle as he realized he was finally going to move through the fire… finally going to get out of this hell… finally going to find Cass… but he couldn't help but wonder… why?

"Hey," Colt said, staggering as he stood, "Why are you helping me, Nikolai?"

"Because," Nikolai answered, bending down and picking up Colt's hat and sunglasses, holding the items out to him, "All of this suffering needs to end… yours, Aleksander's… mine… and you're the one who's going to end it all; I'm too frightened to do what needs to be done, Mikhail's just ignoring it, Vladimir's self-absorbed, and Aleksander doesn't have the emotional strength to do so… only you seem to be the one with the will to do it and the least I can do is help you. Now, come… let's go."

Colt nodded and took the items, placing the hat on top of his head, covering the chestnut brown hair, and slipped on the dark sunglasses, shading his bright blue eyes.

Nikolai clapped Colt on the shoulder, "Your friends are waiting outside."

With that, Nikolai headed for the door and Colt followed, striding across the now empty room, the soles of his cowboy boots echoing with each footfall, and towards the door. Through the doorway, they arrived in a dark hallway that seemed to be beneath another hallway. A steel grating is what seperated the two, acting as a ceiling for the hallway below and a floor for the hallway on the main floor. Bright lights from the bunker's ceiling splintered through the grating, coming down and streaking across the cold steel floor in long white streams, casting everything below in brighgt white blinds. Outside of the cell and in the lower hallway, Boone and Veronica, who were still in the Ranger uniforms given to them by the NCR, stood waiting with Ramos, who was looking around nervously and vigilantly. He turned at the arrival of Colt and Nikolai, letting out a stifled sigh of relief.

"Finally," Ramos whispered, "You guys ready?"

"What's going on?" Veronica asked, looking just as bewildered as Colt.

"Nikolai and I are getting you guys out of here," Ramos answered, looking over his shoulder at the call of a distant clang. "You should not be here," he continued, turning back to the group, the look on his face getting harder, "And the Brotherhood has no right to keep you here; the Elder has gone too far with this… you have done nothing wrong… this is the Brotherhood and NCR's war and you should have nothing to do with it."

"Wait, what war?" Colt asked, taking a step forward, "Isn't their war over?"

"Look, we have to go. We'll discuss it later. Now, come one…"

"But, how are we going to get out of here?" Veronica continued to persist.

"When we ambushed the patrol you were with, there was one Humvee left operational and I had orders to confiscate it. You guys are going to use it to get the hell out of here, whether the Elder or anyone else approves or not. Now, enough with the questions and let's go."

"No," Colt bluntly said.

"Ramos turned around, an eyebrow raised, "Are you kidding me? I'm trying to help you out of here and you say 'no'?"

"Colt," Veronica interjected, her worry for the situtation prevelent in her voice, "He wants to help..."

"I don't trust him... he's with the Brotherhood, so how do we know that this isn't a trap?"

"If you recall, I was the one who was fighting with the Elder for holding you guys here," Ramos commented, trying to persuade Colt as he stepped forward. "You need to trust me... I'm not setting you up..."

Colt looked at Ramos for a minute, picking him apart as he tried to tell fact from fiction... but it was impossible because there was not one single hint of fiction in Ramos' face... all there was was sincerity...

Colt took in one deep breath... "Alright..."

Ramos, without a second glance, turned and started towards a set of stairs just a few feet away. Nikolai, putting the helmet back over his head, brought up the rear of the group as they all followed Ramos, matching his half-jogging speed, up the stairs and emerging into the hallway above. They followed the Head of Security as he led the group onto the grating and down a brightly lit hallway, is head constantly on a swivel and the escapees and their assistant's footsteps echoing throughout the hallway.

The hallway was completely deserted… not a soul occupied it except for the group striding down the metal tunnel. It was also strangely quiet, the footsteps of the group and distant clanging and chatter further down the hall being the only noises heard... something was going on… and it sounded big…

The group came upon an intersection, made up of the hallway they were currently traveling down and another hallway that cut straight across it. In the middle of the intersection was a large steel wall adorned with a banner that had the Brotherhood insignia inscribed in gold and the banner was flanked on each side by two turrets… Colt's heart raced… but he soon realized that they were not firing and must've identified them as allies since they were with Ramos and Nikolai… but their sensors continued to track the group and the turrets rotated as they made a left at the intersection and continued down.

The group traveled halfway down the extremely short hallway and then abruptly turned right, starting up a long set of stairs that was dimly lit with omniscient orange lights. They pounded up the stairs, each one of their boots echoing rapidly as they jogged up the metallic flight. Finally, the stairway broke open into a small, gray steel room with another set of stairs that, obviously, led up and out of the bunker and a large steel door across from the group. The group entered the entrance room to the bunker and gathered around Ramos in the middle as he turned to address them.

Ramos pointed to the second set of steps, "Up there is—" He stopped dead in his words, his eyes widening as he shot his head back to the set of steps he guided the group up… a chorus of loud, metallic clattering echoed from farther down into the bunker… the clatter of power armor as its operators walked down the hallway. The threatening sounds grew louder and louder as the chorus came closer and closer…

"Quick," Ramos hissed, rushing past the group and towards the door behind them, "Get into my office… now!"

Ramos smashed his fist against a button next to the door and the large, metal sheets slid open, revealing a pint-sized room that would serve as a temporary hiding spot for the rather large group. Without argument, for the foreboding clangs continued to close in and call out their certain demise, the group, with the exception of Ramos, piled into the room, just barely fitting into the tight space that was already occupied by two tables and a computer.

"This will only take a minute," Ramos said, the clangs now calling out from just a few feet down the stairs. With a slam of the fist on the door's button, the large metal sheets hissed closed and locked… and not a moment too soon. Within seconds, the clangs arrived just outside the door and voices began conversing…

"Paladin Ramos," one of the voices said, the delicate voice of a young woman, "How are you this evening, sir? I thought you were in your quarters…"

"I'm fine," Ramos answered, chuckling, "I just thought I'd check the security cameras around the valley… make sure the NCR isn't on our doorstep. Now, may I ask, where are you five heading off to at such a late hour? Certainly not to the surface… not with all of the increased NCR activity…"

"Unfortunately, yes, sir," a second, much younger voice of a male answered, "Elder McNamara wants us to establish a base camp on Black Mountain."

"Black Mountain? Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"No, sir. The Courier dispatched most of the Nightkin that inhabited it long ago. There should only be a few stragglers… easy enough for the five of us."

"Huh," Ramos' muffled scoff came through the door as he continued to pester who ever was leaving, "Why does the Elder want Black Mountain under Brotherhood control?"

Colt wondered why as well… why is the Brotherhood even sending out units? Why is there increased NCR activity on the surface? Just what the hell was going on?

"Communications, sir. The broadcast tower that is set up there for the radio station is going to make an excellent communications tower for future units that move into the Mojave area and it will lengthen our current radio range."

"Um, sir," a third gruff voice piped up, "Why are you drilling us so hard, sir? We're just following orders… you're not… hiding anything, are you?"

Ramos was quiet for a few minutes, worrying those who were hiding away form the Brotherhood Paladins… but then he spoke, a certain false anger in his voice that seemed to frighten the Paladins…

"What are you insinuating?"

"Uh… nothing, sir…" the gruff voice answered, hesitating from the slight anger Ramos seemed to exuberate.

"You know damn well that, as Head of Security, I have to keep tabs on everyone leaving and exiting the bunker, which includes you… now, get out of here… and leave the Humvee alone! Only the Scribes are allowed to touch it…"

The clatter from before started again and grew softer and softer until it was faint. Ramos kept the escapees in the room for a few minutes until he knew for sure the Paladins were gone. Then, he opened the door, stepping aside as the group pilled out into the entrance chamber once more.

Ramos turned to the second set of steps, "As I was saying; that's the way out of the bunker. Go up that flight of steps and through a couple doors and you'll be out. Once you get out, the Humvee will be right there in front the entrance… Nikolai has the keys and will help you get out of here…"

"Won't you be coming, Ramos?" Veronica asked, taking a step towards him.

Ramos shook his head, "No, kiddo, I have to stay here and cover your trail."

"But, you can't," Veronica continued, trying to persuade him, "They're going to find out you helped us sooner or later…"

"Yeah, it'll be later… Nikolai's going to take the fall for helping you and throw any suspicions off of me. Now, if they do find out I helped," Ramos looked deeply at Veronica, "Then I will leave… but, for now, I have to stay and keep the Elder in place…"

Veronica nodded, her eyes beginning to fill with tears, "Okay… thank you, Ramos…"

"You're welcome, Veronica… now, go…"

Veronica turned, without a second glance, and started up the long flight of stairs with Boone, leaving Nikolai, Ramos, and Colt in the room below.

Colt turned to Ramos, extending a hand, "Thank you and, if they do find out, just come and find us… you can gladly join this band of misfits…"

"No problem and thanks for the gesture, but I'll be fine; the Elder trusts me a little too much," Ramos said, shaking Colt's hand. "Oh, and all of your gear should be in the trunk of the Humvee. Now, get out of here before someone sees you."

Colt nodded and waved for Nikolai to follow, the two starting up the flight of stairs after Veronica and Boone. He couldn't believe it; he was actually getting out of this bunker. Now, all he had to do was get back to General Oliver and… no, he wasn't going to give up the Brotherhood of Steel. Let the NCR find the Ranger murderer's on their own… just as he had to find his family's murderer's on his own. The NCR doesn't deserve his help… although, not fulfilling his obligations with the NCR would mean he has to find another way to get to the Stallions, Aleksander, and Cass. Thankfully, that way was right behind him… Nikolai Betkovsky…

It took a few minutes before Colt and Nikolai finally reached the top of the orange-lit staircase and the first of four steel doors. The door slid open with the familiar hiss and revealed another bare steel room made of dull gray metal. It was cold in this room, revealing that they were now closer to the surface… closer to freedom. Colt and Nikolai walked up into the room and strode to the middle, the door shutting and locking behind them.

Without missing a step, the two continued across the room and through another steel door, walking into a room littered with a couple cargo crates that held God only knows what. But that didn't matter; what mattered were the next two steel doors that stood in between Colt, Nikolai, and freedom. They strode across the second room, passing the white-gray steel crates that were pilled up on both sides of the room, and through the third steel door that slid open as soon as they came in range of its sensors.

They half-jogged up the entrance stairwell that climbed and climbed up and towards the surface, the air getting cooler and cooler as they continued foward, signifying that they were closer and closer to the surface. Colt couldn't help but smile as the two reached the fourth and final door out of the bunker that slid open as soon as Colt set foot on the last step.

A blast of cold air flushed into the bunker as the door opened and more cold air hit Colt as he stepped out into the cool Mojave night. A tear almost came to his eye as the freed prisoner of war looked up at the night sky, inky blackness, the one blackness he wanted to see, spread across the open canvas. Little lights, distant stars that burned brightly with a white hot intensity, twinkled in the blackness like little shimmers of hope in a world of despair. It was truly beautiful…

Nikolai passed by Colt, brushing his arm with the power armor as he made his way towards the silhouette of the Humvee that sat just a few yards away. The brush on the arm brought Colt back to earth and he regained his focus, realizing he can enjoy his freedom when he was farther away from the bunker and safe in hiding…

As Nikolai, the only one in the group who had experience with pre-War vehicles, jogged around the front of the Humvee and swung open the driver side door, Colt made his way to the trunk, popping open the latch and hoisting the door up. Just as Ramos said, all of the prisoner's gear was stored inside; Colt and Cass' rucksacks closest to the edge of door and Colt's M16, Boone's rifle, and Veronica's gauntlet just beyond them. Colt left the weapons where they were and opened Cass' bag, shifting through the contents. He pushed aside her leather jacket, looking at it for a minute before continuing to dig, and pushed aside empty bottles of whiskey until he finally found what he was looking for… resting on top of his combat armor at the bottom was a black leather holster holding a sparkling silver revolver that glistened in the moonlight… his prescious family heirloom.

Colt quickly grabbed the weapon, slamming the trunk shut and jogging towards the front passenger side door, clipping the holster to the straps on his right thigh. He opened the door, clambering in and slammed it behind him, adjusting himself in the seat.

When he was finally comfortable, Colt looked to Nikolai, who was still adjusting the heavy power armor in the cramped space, "Can you drive this thing?"

Nikolai nodded, removing his helmet and tossing it to the outside as he close the door, "Da… at least I think I remember… let's just hope for the best. Is everyone strapped in?"

Colt turned to the back, making sure Veronica and Boone had boarded the vehicle; Veronica was in the seat behind Nikolai, glancing out the window and hiding her face, and Boone was behind Colt, his arms crossed as he looked to the floor… both seemed tired of this adventure and Colt felt bad that they had to endure that torture… but the one way he could truly make up for it was getting out of here and finding Cass…

"Yeah, everyone's buckled up," Colt answered Nikolai, turning back to the front and buckling the seat belt. "Where the hell are we going, Nikolai?"

Nikolai just simply nodded his head as he reached into a pouch to his side and pulled out the keys to the Humvee.

"To visit Mikhail," the driver answered, slipping the keys into the ignition and started to crank the engine, "He's the only one who knows where Aleksander is… pusk, to kusok der`ma!" The engine sputtered as Nikolai slammed his fist in anger at the vehicles inability to start.

"Where is Mikhail?" Colt asked, adjusting the strap on the seatbelt.

"Red Rock Canyon."

"Why is he at Red Rock Canyon?"

"I have no clue. He said it was safe or something like that…"

Nikolai turned the ket one more time and finally cranked the vehicle's heavy diesel engine, the entire chassis and frame shaking as the pistons turned and the four stroke cycle brought the machine to life. The sound of the engine was as sweet as molasses… it was the sweet sound of freedom. Nikolai put the Humvee in gear, the gearbox grinding once more as the gears shifted, and then started the vehicle forwards, turning around towards the back of the bunker's entrance and towards a large chain linked gate just a few meters away.

"Well, I guess its to Red Rock Canyon, then," Colt said, holding on to the edge of his seat as Nikolai slammed his foot on the accelerator and sent the Humvee barreling forward towards the locked gate of the valley.

The gates broke open as the front of the Humvee slammed into it going right around fifty miles per hours, sending the steel doors to the sides of the road, mangled from the impact of the vehicle. The heavy duty Humvee, although battered from the battle just a day or two before, shrugged off the impact, not a single dent being imprinted into the frame. Nikolai, knowing the vehicle took the impact well, just continued the vehicle down the road, passing by a small encampment just outside the valley where the Brotherhood bunker was located and past a dark and bleak prison.

Within minutes the vehicle reached an intersection and Nikolai turned it right on a stretch of road that was clearly labeled, with a rusty white sign, as "I-15". Nikolai continued the vehicle down the road, obviously planning to avoid the town of Good Springs, which lay in the opposite direction, and avoid as much humanely contact as possible. The only town, which really wasn't much of a town anyway, they passed by was the sleepy mining settlement known as Sloan. After the Humvee drove on by, no one noticing a thing, the group came upon a bend in the interstate… a bend that looked all too familiar to Colt…

To the right of the road, just south of the bend, was a large concrete platform just above the railroad tracks where the Brotherhood of Steel ambushers had taken up position against the small vehicular patrol that was supposed to roll by… at least that's where Colt believed the Brotherhood had taken position and that this bend in the road was where the ambush took place… he couldn't rightfully remember...

Colt looked around briefly at the supposed ambush sight; the only thing that could identifiy this bend as being the sight of the ambush was a scorch on the road where the first Humvee was hit and the bent lamppost off to the side… the lamppost Colt's Humvee collided into. There were no bodies and there was no wreckage… the sight was completely cleaned up.

Nikolai slowed the Humvee down, "This is where the ambush took place… I'm sorry…"

Colt looked around, deep sadness hitting him at the though of the innocent soldiers who died here. "What happened to the NCR soldiers?"

"They were all killed," Nikolai answered not looking away from the road as he turned the vehicle around the bend and continuing down the straightaway, "And that's not even the worst part…"

"What's the worst part?"

"More NCR patrols heard your distress call and came running… they stumbled across the Brotherhood as they were burying the dead NCR bodies and were clearing the wreckage off the road. A small battle ensued and the NCR patrols were killed… but not before they relayed a message to the commanders at McCarran who, in turn, relayed a message to their superiors back in California. Now," Nikolai scoffed, slowly shaking his head, "Things between the NCR and Brotherhood are tense. Leading military and political leaders from the NCR and the High Elders of the Brotherhood are discussing the events and are trying to figure out what's the best course of action… but, its more or less an argument over who shot who first and who's the good guy and bad guy… and with the way things are going, there might be another Brotherhood and NCR war in the Wasteland… and it's going to be bigger than the last."

"How could it be bigger?"

"The Brotherhood leadership in Lost Hills made contact with the two other chapters, the East Coast branch and the Midwestern branch, and asked for their assistance. The East Coast branch refused, still, as always, refusing to accept the Lost Hills authority. The Midwestern branch, however… let's just say they were bribed into joining the war if it erupts."

"Bribed?"

"Da," Nikolai nodded, speeding the Humvee up as it traveled down the hill Colt and the patrol came up before they were ambushed, "They still collect technology, even though they splintered off from the Lost Hills. So, the Brotherhood leadership at Lost Hills bribed the Midwestern branch with the spoils from the probable war with the NCR… including major technology and, more than likely, control over the Mojave Wasteland... they accepted and, now, if the NCR and Lost Hills branch go to war, the Midwestern branch will jump in and deploy units here in the Mojave… it will be a bloodbath…"

Colt nodded; things in the Mojave and the southwest as a whole were getting worse and worse… but he wasn't focused in that…

Soon, the Humvee will arrive in Red Rock Canyon and, hopefully, Colt would be a step closer to finding Cass. Hope was, again, lit inside him. He was closer than ever to finding her and, now, all he had to do was go to one more location before finally seeing her again… his heart was as high as its been in years.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed and, personally, I'm glad that I finally got Colt out of that bunker... as always, review and tell me what ya think!