Bradley didn't return for a long time. He was insistent on going back to bury Mayer and Angus, in that calm manner he had. Lionel spent half of that time sleeping. He hadn't slept well in ages, not since they'd left Grayling with Lilian. Too many nightmares. When he woke up, he had to ignore Kelley and Jeremiah, who were very confused about what was going on. He didn't bother to help, just sat miserably in the rocks and wondered what the hell he was doing.
He thought about the months before the soldiers showed up. She'd brought him electronics, said she found them in the base or around the area. That was an obvious lie―he smiled about it now, but at the time he'd been pissed. Lilian had argued with him about it, said they should overlook it. Celia wanted to please them, Lilian said, and that was how she expressed it. He'd fixed the electronics and had Celia sell them, but it hadn't made him happy to know she was effectively feeding him and Lilian.
And Celia had never said a word about it after the initial lie. She must have known she was paying for their food. Lilian was used to being kept. Lionel was not. How many times did he come back to the shack and find Celia sitting at his table with Lilian, leaving him with nowhere to sit, or found her picking his damn blueberries or just bugging him in general with all her damn questions?
He hadn't wanted to answer them, then. He'd give anything to answer them, now.
Celia had acted like she belonged with them, like there was nothing separating the three of them. Like they were a family. Lionel's family had been a Judaistic father and his crotchety grandfather. He hadn't thought about his father in a long time, when he'd told that story to Celia. He remembered the thirteenth principle of Jewish faith. A sarcastic smile curved across his face.
He stared out across the wastes. He didn't feel the same rage as he had, before. He felt like slow old Lionel again.
It made him feel helpless that he hadn't been able to keep Celia for more than a day. But that had been one tense, wonderful, day. He'd felt normal again, not like a ghoul, with a normal person who was willing to touch him, talk to him, be with him. He hadn't even thought about being a ghoul until Celia picked on him about his nerves. And she'd even made that feel alright.
It was worth that, to be a monster.
Bradley returned with two sets of power armor. "I think we can get Lionel into the city without trouble if we use these," he said. "I will teach you to wear them."
Lionel shook his head and gestured at the Royce brothers. "No. Amos and Jesse should. You can march me through the streets like you wanted to. Phaeton will walk."
"I want to learn," Jesse said.
"I don't think you have the patience," Bradley said, but his voice was lighthearted.
"If they're gonna pretend to be Sigma, what will I be doing?" Sue asked.
"Amos will escort you into the city and attempt to take control of the Archive Tower. Jeremiah and Kelley will go to Broadcast Control." Bradley looked at her. "Convince them to help us, or terminate them. Dead ball. All opposition, even friendly, bounces off of us."
"Why Amos?" Sue asked, pouting.
"Because Jesse is an idiot," Amos said. Jesse protested. "If you go with Sue, you won't want to be as tough as we need to be, Jesse."
"He thinks we'll ditch and run again," Sue muttered to Jesse.
"You two are too close," Amos said. "You'd be acting moony like Lionel."
"You better stop insulting me," Lionel growled. "I haven't felt your neck, yet."
Amos laughed. "No worries, old man. I'm much more useful than Bradley. You won't have to kill me."
"Lionel is a ghoul, so he deserves the right to ask for judgement. No one will stop us. It's tradition," Bradley said. "Sigma is allowed to bring weapons into the Concourse. We will execute the High Ferrule once the Broadcast Tower is down, but it will have to be very close to when we enter the Temple. Do you understand?" The rebel men only smiled grimly.
"It sounds too straightforward," Lionel said.
"Yeah, we're gonna die," Jesse added. He stretched out lazily on the rocks and Sue clung to him like she would never let go. Lionel's stomach rose, and he looked away.
"We don't have any escape plan yet," Amos said. "We need to work on that."
"We won't escape," Bradley said, point-blank.
"I don't want Jesse to go with you, then," Amos said, hard-voiced.
"Escape implies that we will need to regain our liberty," Bradley said, smiling faintly. "We will already be free."
"Can we use that ISD thing to enslave people, even temporarily?" Sue asked.
"No," Bradley said. "There's many facets to our plan. We can't have an unknown." He looked over at Jesse. "There is a chance that we could be forced to comply by the ISD, though."
"Wonderful," Lionel muttered.
"There's nothing we can do about that but hope that we will not suffer," Bradley said.
There was a lull in the conversation. Jeremiah sang a short song, a dirty-minded one, trying to lighten the mood. Almost everyone laughed. Lionel did not feel much like laughing, at all.
"How do you think we'll die, if we do?" Sue asked, in the gloom. Everyone turned their head to look at her.
"Quickly," Bradley said. "By your own hand, if necessary. You don't want to get captured. You'll go to Golgotha, or even the Sepulchre." He paused, looked over at Lionel. "Celia was sent there."
A moment of silence. "But no one comes out of the Sepulchre―" Sue started.
"She did." Bradley sighed, and loosened his armor, scratching his collarbone freely. "Phaeton refused to eat her, apparently."
Jesse dissolved into laughter on the rocks. "Too funny!" he gasped. Sue stared at him and Bradley shook his head. "What?" Jesse asked, when he regained control of himself. "She's so weird, man."
"Shut the fuck up, Jesse," Lionel said. "I mean it." He climbed out of the hole and approached the kid.
Jesse looked up at him, without wavering. "Aw, c'mon, man. You know she loves you. That's why you're going after her."
There was an awkward silence, and Lionel stared down at the kid, trying not to embarrass himself. Eventually, he walked away, down from the rocks. Jesse followed him, after a moment.
"I'm sorry, man," he said. "I didn't mean to―"
"Jesse, if you don't shut up, I swear I will end you." Lionel felt his leg muscles tense and turned to the boy. "It's bad enough you had to go blab my story all over creation. I don't need you reminding me. I remember."
"Look, I know I'm stupid," Jesse said, smiling sheepishly. "All I was trying to say is that, if anyone could survive down in that tomb with all those ghouls, it would be Celia."
"And why is that?" came an indescribably angry voice from behind Lionel.