He hurt all over. The pain was intense. But that was good, because if it had been less he might not have sought out the healing radiation that he needed. He still had his legs under him, so he kept walking through the pain to find the irradiated barrels somewhere in the tunnels under Arbor.

The group had scattered. The next tower was in Flat Rock. He would make his way through the sewer systems, and move above ground at night, when necessary. He'd been lucky, so far. But first, he had to heal.

Lionel breathed in through one lung. The other had collapsed with the high number of lasers he'd felt passing through his chest. It was a goddamn miracle none had hit his heart. But maybe not, maybe that was what he was looking for. The pain that followed made him go down on one knee, clutching his chest in pain.

The plan had gone well, or at least it had gone. Jeremiah and Sue banged out a terrific distraction. It was hard to ignore Sue when she got herself worked up, and Jeremiah's passive-reactive nature played into that well.

Kelley's movement to the north had been a bluff, to test the spread of the soldiers. If there had been any in the area he came up, he could have easily backed down into the sewers and fled.

Sandoval... well, Landis had called it when he said no one's safety could be guaranteed. How many of those who were with him had escaped? He didn't know. He hoped the kid had, at least; last thing he needed was one of the Royces coming down on him for getting their brother killed.

The inviting glow of radiation before him, and he fell into a pile of green goop.

If he couldn't find her before he went feral...

He slept.

Bradley requested again to be allowed action against the terrorist Phaeton. He intended to draw Phaeton into a trap, bring the person into the open. A simple plan, worked with what Bradley could only describe as indomitable nature. He did not give quarter. He hadn't had a plan go awry yet; unless one counted Wade. Wade's actions were irrelevant to the situation at hand, however.

Control ordered Bradley up to the Temple of Solomon. He left Coldwater and potential recruits for Sigma behind. Sigma had not been reactivated once Wade left the team; Bradley knew it was a punishment for his incompetence, for not training the young man properly.

When Bradley stepped into the bower, he was mildly surprised to see that the Landis girl was there. She had not, as he previously thought, been consumed by the demons in the Sepulchre. She was placable, sitting at the High Ferrule's side, dreamily watching the distance. Bradley had delivered her to her fate; she had been removed from it. He was concerned by this anomaly.

"Sir," he said, and knelt with his helmet under his arm.

"Bradley," the High Ferrule drew out the "r" sound. He looked pleased to see the soldier. "Do you see my collection?"

"I do, sir," he replied.

"My Echo is extremely amusing," the High Ferrule said. "But this one, well..." He laughed unpleasantly. Echo laughed with him. "This one is the only living creature that Phaeton will not eat."

Bradley stared at the Landis girl. She sat very still, looking ahead of her without emotion. He felt his gaze scrape over those blank brown eyes. "He won't, sir?"

"She was in the Sepulchre for almost ten days," the High Ferrule crowed. "And Phaeton didn't even so much as gnaw on a finger." He laughed again. "She took exceptionally well to the EXILE-8 program, coupled with my new toy. Watch!" The High Ferrule turned to the girl. "Eve, undress."

The girl stood and began to remove her tunic, without a change in her expression. Bradley felt repelled but he watched, as ordered. She stepped out of the gray outfit and stood under the hot lights of the bower, breathing calmly while sweat built up on her bare skin.

"Isn't it something?" the High Ferrule cried. "The ISD works!"

"Yes, sir," Bradley said. He turned his eyes back to the High Ferrule.

"Now," the other said, leaning forward, ignoring the naked girl in his view, "why are you so keen on plunging into a fight with this bothersome terrorist?"

"Phaeton has issued direct challenges to me," Bradley said. "Why should I not feel compelled to answer his call, sir?"

"Well, whoever is playing make-believe out there certainly knows how the city works, and has hidden well enough to keep Omega frustrated." The High Ferrule sighed, leaned back in his throne. "You aim to do better?"

"Yes, sir," Bradley said, firmly. "This person must be operating with a terrorist cell somewhere in the outlying areas of Detroit. We must find them, and make an example of them, or the chain of command is in danger of being broken."

"It is true that many of my people have lost their conditioning over this nonsense," the High Ferrule muttered. "I've had enough of this thorn in my side. If you feel that you can do better than Omega, Sigma is reactivated."

"Thank you, sir," Bradley said.

"Wait. Watch," he said. "Eve, it's cold in this room."

The girl started shivering violently, shaking off sweat. The High Ferrule giggled like a small child, enamored of his plaything. Bradley could feel something crawling up his spine, a strange feeling that he didn't enjoy.

"May I be excused, sir?" he asked, neutrally.

"Oh, go on," the High Ferrule waved him away.

As Bradley left the Temple, his footsteps were not as confident as they had been when entering. His stride shortened, and he slowed, in thought. He'd begun to feel that there was something terribly wrong, but couldn't put his finger on it.

It struck him that he'd had the same feeling once before. When Mayer had abused the ghoul near Grayling, and he'd felt pity and allowed the ghoul to go before he was bound to bring him to the Temple. He'd cowed the feeling, then.

This time, he thought, he would would let it run it's course. Twice was too many times to ignore, for Bradley.

He hoped, whatever the feeling was, that it would be simple.

Sue, with one arm around Jesse's back and the other pressing hard onto his side, hurried him away from Arbor. They were aimed north, but she didn't care if they were going the wrong way. Jesse needed a doctor. Stomach wounds were some of the worst, she knew.

"Ma," Jesse groaned. "I'll never shirk sheep-herding, I'll hoe the damn garden, I'll cook dinner for you, just let me live!"

"You better be quiet," Sue muttered. "We'll both get shot."

"I'll never pour water onto a girl," he continued, "or throw shit into someone's bed, or pretend I'm a wild Injun!"

"Engine?" She scowled. "Shut the hell up, Jesse!"

"Injun," he corrected her. They stumbled over the dry earth, and Sue adjusted her hand on his side. Blood bubbled out of the wound and she doubled her efforts. "Wild Injuns don't garden. They do wild things."

"Very funny," Sue said. "Pick up your feet, we're almost there."

Jesse was sedated and the laser burn treated successfully. Sue watched with more than just curiosity; any skill she could pick up for the cause was worthwhile. She asked questions and was satisfied with the answers. The doctor remarked on his youth, said he would live, and it wasn't as bad as she'd expected it to be, for an abdomen wound.

Jesse mumbled in his sleep. Sue listened to every word. When he woke, they went back out into the wastes, under the black Detroit sky.

"Who's Amos?" she asked, once they'd traveled for almost an hour in silence.

"M'brother," he answered. "Real tough nut."

"And who's Celia?"

Jesse stiffened, and stopped short. He turned to face her, a weird look on his face. "Chick, that there's laundry that don't need to be aired."

Sue laughed at his attitude. "Old girlfriend?"

"No, no and no," he grumbled. "She's got―" he sighed, looked away. "She's probably dead, anyway."

Later, they hid inside a drain pipe opening from the soot-filled rain, and Jesse smeared two lines of black mud under his eyes. He drew one down Sue's forehead onto her nose and explained wild Injuns to her.

After, they sat as close as possible and tried to ward off the chill in the air from the dirty rain. She told him about her boring life in Flint and how she'd gotten the job in Sterling's radio tower, and how her mother had gone missing over five years ago. She was probably dead, like Celia.

It was close to midnight when they stopped talking and clung to each other, each lost in their own thoughts about family, and Sue kissed him.