When I opened my eyes, and with great difficulty too, I saw that the blue sky and puffy white clouds that had been overhead had been replaced with a bland shade of grey canvas. My body felt sore all over, but it seemed I was still alive. I started to open my dry lips to ask if anyone was nearby me when I heard an unfamiliar voice seeming to address me.

"Patient Number 99. Unaffiliated combatant. Sustained damage to the left leg. Cause is a .30 caliber hollow point bullet. Patient lost about a liter of blood before we could stop the bleeding. Preliminary examination points to strong possibility of the hip bone being either broken or fractured, plus remnants of the bullet scattered around. Lack the suitable tools to remove the fragments. Runs the risk of lead poisoning." The feminine-sounding voice paused. "I recommend immediate amputation."

Wait, what?!

I could feel my eyes almost leap out of my skull as the hair on the back of my neck stood up. My upper body soon followed, and I got my first good look at my potential murderer.

Standing over me was a woman of medium height. Despite having a face that looked like she was in her mid-twenties, she seemed to have grey hair, and bright, intense red eyes. Said eyes matched the crimson, single-breasted jacket she wore. It looked to be of a military kind, specifically 19th century British. She had a satchel slung over her shoulder, and what looked to be the handle of a revolver poked out beside her left hip.

Her white glove-covered hands were reaching for a nearby tray of medical instruments, amongst which, to my horror, was what looked to be a bone saw.

"Whoa, there's no need to cut off my entire leg!" I protested, my eyes darting around frantically. Where was Mordred, Ritsuka, Mash, or the others? I wasn't the only occupant in the room, but I didn't recognize any of them, other than that the groaning or unconscious men resting in their own makeshift cots were wearing the same uniform as the American units we saw earlier.

"This should have been a surgeon's job, but seeing as we don't have enough physicians here, I will do it," the apparent nurse said with an unnerving degree of calmness in her voice. She reached towards me, handing me a thick piece of leather. "Here. Please bite on this. It's going to hurt. If I were to compare it to something…" She paused, humming thoughtfully for a brief second, ignorant of my own rising panic. "If I were to compare it, I would say that it'll hurt about as much as getting your arm ripped off would."

I stared incredulously at her, my left eyebrow twitching ever so slightly. "That's the same damn thing!" I roared. I tried to slip out of the bed, but paused, pain erupting from the area I had been shot in. A hand pushed me back into a resting position. It was the nurse's, and it was deceptively strong. A Servant, perhaps? She stared at me reproachfully, as if I were a naughty child, and not some poor bloke who was about to have a leg removed without any painkillers, for fuck's sake!

"You mustn't be so childish," she said, and I now noticed the vague British accent in her voice. Not that it was of much help right now for me. "At least it's better than not dying, isn't it?"

"I really don't think amputation is necessary," I protested, as I watched the nurse grab the bone saw while keeping me pinned down on the bed with her other hand. "I already have a good healer in the group I was traveling with. If you just give me a minute to call for her—"

"No. I'm doing it. I will be cutting. This wound, at least, must be dealt with swiftly. Don't worry, you're still young. I know you can endure something like this." She paused, and for the first time, an actual emotion briefly graced her face. A look of embarrassment, perhaps? "Sorry, that sounded rather vague. Let me correct myself. You must endure it, no matter what."

"You're crazy!" I howled, hoping that one of my teammates or my knight was waiting outside. "You just want to cut something, don't you?" I accused, admittedly rather wildly, but come on, she was holding a fucking saw over my leg! "Mordred!"

As if she were an angel, the Knight of Rebellion practically flew through the open tent flap next to me. She was still in her armor, minus her helmet. I noticed the faint redness in her eyes, which widened ever so slightly before narrowing dangerously.

The nurse/assailant stiffened, glaring at my savior. "You there, don't come in here in that unsanitary state when I'm treating someone!"

"The hell I'm leaving his side! You think I'm going to let you chop off his leg, you crazy ass bitch?!" Mordred roared, and Clarent manifested in her hands as her emerald eyes burned with the kind of intensity I would have expected more out of Jeanne Alter.

To her credit, and my amazement, the nurse held her guard as a rather menacing aura seemed to exude from her as she faced down a furious Mordred. "I am not crazy. I am merely upholding my duty. Farmer or soldier, private or colonel, all patients are equal. No matter who they are, I will do my best to save them. In order to do that, proper hygiene is essential." She paused and put down the saw, eliciting a silent sigh of sheer relief from me, before she suddenly unholstered her pistol and pointed it towards Mordred. "Listen to me. Take one step closer and I'll shoot you."

"You don't scare me!" Mordred snarled, and the nurse sighed before pointing the barrel of her firearm a little lower and pulled the trigger. I flinched at the noise of her revolver going off, and Mordred paused briefly at the cloud of dirt that erupted at her feet. "You really are crazy!" She hissed, readying Clarent.

The nurse shook her head with a sigh and cocked the hammer of her revolver, aiming center mass at Mordred. I could tell that the intense woman was going to shoot to kill next.

"Wait! Can someone please tell me what's going on?" I asked, hoping to break the tense stand-off. The unnamed nurse and Mordred continued their stare-off, but I heard another pair of familiar voices outside the tent.

"Senpai! Thank goodness, you're okay!" Mash cried out. My fellow Master eyed my leg with a sorrowful look, more restrained. Understandably so, too.

"Or at least, as okay as you can be, all things considered." He paused and bowed his head. "Thank you for saving me. I just wish you hadn't been injured while doing so."

"I'm fine enough," I shot back. The nurse's ruby eyes shot towards me, a hint of incredulity in her voice as she lowered her revolver. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mordred (reluctantly) dismiss Clarent, though her body language told me quite clearly that she was ready to intervene should the nurse try to amputate my leg.

"How are you fine?" The nurse demanded. "It's a miracle your femoral artery wasn't somehow shattered from all that shrapnel. Furthermore, those very same lead fragments are still inside your hip and upper thigh. You will suffer from lead poisoning, at the very least. By removing the leg, we can reduce the number of fragments still inside you. Don't worry, I'm going to heal you, even if it means killing you."

"That's messed up!" Mordred snarled angrily, her shoulders raised and ready to tackle the woman in question should she pick back up the bone saw she was reaching for once more. Ritsuka was more composed, if as taken aback as the rest of us were.

"The ends and means are a bit reversed there, methinks," he said slowly, and Mash nodded. The Nurse paused, and then shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"I am sure that there are some people who see it that way. But sometimes, you don't have room for any doubt in the field of medicine." Mash leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowed as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Medicine… Cleanliness… Ah," Mash said with a soft sound of realization. She cleared her throat before speaking again, louder this time. "Um, are you…?"

"Am I what?" Asked the nurse irritability.

"You're a Servant, aren't you?"

"That has nothing to do with this. As long as I'm summoned here, I'll only think about how to follow my conviction. My conviction is my strength, and this is medical treatment. It doesn't matter if I'm a Servant or not, I must do my best here. Now that I am summoned to this battlefield, I must treat these patients." I felt like I had just listened to one of Spartacus's speeches. The sentiment was clear, as was the intent, but the words were a bit confusing in places. Just nowhere near as confusing as Spartacus's sermons.

Mash made a rather adorable sound of confusion, tilting her head to the side, as Mordred moved over to my bed and rested an armored hand against mine. To those who didn't know my knight and I very well, it might have come across as little more than a casual gesture of protection between a Servant and her Master. However, I recognized that in this instance, it was also a way for her to reassure herself that I was still alive and with her.

I must have been in worse shape than I imagined after taking that bullet. I mouthed to her that we could talk later, and she nodded her head ever so slightly in agreement. 'I'm glad you're still here,' she silently whispered to me, and I had to resist the urge to kiss her as I listened to Mash continue to address the nurse.

"Huh? Ah, but you're still a Servant, right? That person right there is a Master, along with my Master beside me. Mordred here is contracted to Jacob Senpai over there. I'm sure you know that means that we must protect our Masters. That is non-negotiable, even with you," Mash said firmly, and Mordred grunted fiercely, her eyes almost begging the nurse to try and fight her. Said Servant merely frowned and shook her head, however.

"That goes the same with me. My conviction won't falter unless you can have a stronger…" The unnamed Servant's voice trailed off as her eyes first widened then narrowed as she focused on Mash. "…Wait. You… That body of yours…Fine," she said, removing the hand that had still been pinning me to the bed off of my chest, and then taking a half-step away from us. "I'll withhold my treatment, for now." Saying nothing more, the Servant turned around, looking over at a nearby bed as a groaning and bloodied man was carried in by two orderlies. "Alright, you two, over here. Let's take a look at him!" She barked. We all exhaled in relief now that the intense aura she emitted was gone.

"That was way too close for comfort," Mordred growled. I had a feeling that she was talking about more than just my near-amputation. I recognized that furious look she had when I had risked myself to help save Mordred from being strangled to death by Caligula, with Nero's assistance.

"What happened? Where are we?" I asked the two most pressing questions in my mind. Mordred was the first to respond, her voice rather gruff as she tried to maintain her trademark 'tough girl' act.

"Well, Nurse Crazy over there came rushing over out of nowhere. Saw you got shot and so picked you up. With my assistance, of course." She paused, and eyed me critically. "I see we're going to have to talk with Da Vinci about adding more to your armor. I'll be damned if I let you get shot again. Your 'stunt' back there scared some of us to death." Once more, I recognized the secret meaning behind her words.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," I promised. Or at least, I hope it won't…

"As to where we are," Mash said, taking over to answer my second question. "It seems to be some sort of medical encampment close to the frontlines of the American detachment we encountered earlier. Thankfully, there haven't been any further incidents. Either they haven't noticed us, or their higher-ups have given instructions to keep their distance away from us."

"We learnt what they are calling themselves by the way. The 'American Independence Army'. Does that mean anything to you, Jacob?" Ritsuka asked. I hummed, then shook my head.

"No. It's supposed to be called the Continental Army."

"The flags carried by those various units do not match up with the historical flags belonging to the colonists at this point," Mash added, and my frown deepened.

"Well, sounds like once again we've discovered what's wrong in the singularity," I grumbled. Still, at least we were, for the moment, safe. Relatively speaking.

As if on cue, my commlink started to go off. Forcing myself back into a sitting position, and wincing only slightly from the pain in my side, I answered it.

"Hey, Doc," I said.

"Thank god you're awake, Jacob! We were worried there. Talk about a mess," Roman said, babbling a bit from stress. I didn't interrupt, letting the good doctor work the stress out of his system. "So, it seems that someone is trying to prevent the United States of America from being a nation. What's more, I was able to do a scan on some of those Celtic warriors from earlier. I already told Ritsuka about it, but I'll let you know what I told him."

"Hit me, Doc. What are we looking at?"

"They seem to have been generated by the Noble Phantasm of a Heroic Servant. Based on their ethnicity, I suspect that the Servant in question is one of the various Celtic figures from legend and mythology." I hummed softly before speaking.

"So, are you saying that they are not 'real' people?" I asked softly.

"Correct. I suspect that in addition to the 'anchor' that King Solomon has already placed in this era, there are a number of other powerful Servants also present. However, that won't really change our methods. We'll keep looking for help from Servants who are already summoned." He paused for a moment, coughing, before he resumed speaking. "And I fully understand how some of you will be nervous about this, but I think we should ask the Servant that's nearby us now. She seems dependable…I think?"

"Such a great vote of confidence," I drawled sarcastically. Mordred scoffed while Mash had a more polite and hesitant look on her face.

"Doctor, when you say it like that, it almost sounds like this isn't your problem…"

"No, I'm just a little scared. Just a little. I'm not good with nurses who are too serious. But you two aren't me! That's a battlefield, not an infirmary! Besides, I don't think we can afford to be picky. From the sounds of it, she might have an interest in you, Jacob. Try talking to her!"

"About what? About how much do I want to not have a missing leg?" I asked him rather incredulously. Okay, maybe that was a bit rude of me, but Roman wasn't the one that almost lost an entire leg!

"Actually, I tried to propose that earlier, but it didn't work. She won't listen."

"Why not?"

"She's a Berserker," Mordred huffed, warily eyeing the woman in question.

"I concur," Mash said. "Seeing how she talks and acts has given me very strong indications that this is the case. Also, while I can't be certain yet, I suspect that her True Name might be Florence Nightingale."

As if to prove Mash's theory, the nurse from earlier shot straight up, her gloves slightly bloodied from operating on a now-calm patient. From the looks of it, she was finishing up, and while I wasn't a medic, he didn't seem to be missing any limbs or on the verge of dying.

"Did we get a new patient?" She asked, before shaking her head reproachfully. "Don't call my name unless you need me," she added, before looking back at the patient she had been operating on. "Alright, the treatment is done. Keep the wounds clean, you hear me?"

"Thank you…very much," the young man rasped, one eye peeking through a mass of bandages, clearly filled with awe and gratitude. "Are you…an angel?" Nightingale shrugged slightly.

"I don't know. Angels don't give out beautiful flowers, they're the ones who fight for those in distress." Heh, then I already have one of my own, who was also a knight. "If you're in agony, yet still choose to fight—Then I will be there for you." The patient muttered another sincere thanks, but Nightingale was already moving towards us.

"I knew it," Mash said. "You are Florence Nightingale, aren't you?"

"I fail to see how that makes any difference," she responded rather gruffly.

"Please help us," Ritsuka began. "Unless we correct the Singularity—"

"Please don't bring up such foolishness, young man. I have patients here waiting for me. That is the only reason and motivation for my being summoned."

"There is a way to save them all," I said a bit curtly. I suspected that laying out why she should try to help us would be more useful in terms of helping her patients. The Berserker turned to look at me skeptically.

"What's that now?" She asked. I saw Mordred shooting me an 'Are you out of your fucking mind?' type look, as her protective and possessive nature flared up. Thankfully, we had Mash to help us out.

"You heard that right," she said firmly, holding her ground as that intense crimson gaze reoriented itself onto the Demi-Servant. "May I, Miss Nightingale?" The British Servant nodded curtly, and Mash continued speaking.

"No matter how hard you struggle, the number of patients will keep increasing. In a normal war, the number of casualties slows down somewhere along the line." Debatable. "However, this is no normal war. This enemy will fight and fight until the last man is dead."

"You are saying that the patient count will keep increasing?"

"Correct. We're here to plug in the hole, so to speak. Among other reasons," I said. Nightingale hummed thoughtfully, looking rather intrigued now, but before we could continue our recruitment pitch, I heard frantic movements from outside the large tent I was in.

"Enemy raid! Incoming enemy raid!" Someone called out in alarm, and cries of panic filled the tent and the outside as well. It sounded like this was part of some sort of full-scale field hospital, and not just a medical tent.

"The retro-looking guys?" Mash inquired, asking the soldier that had run in to sound the alarm. He paused, shooting her a quizzical look. Realizing that perhaps she hadn't used the best choice of words, Mash tried again. "The enemy from earlier?"

"That's right! Anyone here who can walk, prepare to engage. Headquarters is readying another mechanized brigade, but it won't get here in time! We have to do whatever we can to keep them back!"

The already-easy response was made painfully simple. I started to push myself into an upright position, making ready to both grab my sword resting nearby and to get out of the bed. Gripping the latter, I leaned forward.

"We've got to defend the others. To arms," I growled. Barely a half-second later, I gasped sharply in pain as the right side of my hip erupted into pain. The next second, I found myself being forced onto my back by a pair of strong arms.

Looking up, I saw that Nightingale and Mordred had come to some sort of a temporary truce, prioritizing instead my well-being.

"Whoa now, not so fast," Mordred said with a reproachful scowl. "What are you, an idiot, Master?"

"I concur with Mordred," Nightingale intoned, that almost mad look in her ruby eyes. "You there. You said that you were his colleague?" She asked Ritsuka. My fellow Master swallowed nervously but nodded.

"Yes Ma'am."

"I will assist you and the young women," Mordred tensed up angrily at being referred to by her sex but kept quiet. "Despite my appearance, I do know a thing or two about combat. Most of all, however, I can't let these patients be injured further."

While Mash and Ritsuka had excited looks, and Mordred a more resigned one, Nightingale turned to me. "You will stay in this bed. You can try to help as you can, but your hip is most likely fractured, and any unnecessary movement will result in a limp."

"Medea can help Nightingale finish patching you up when we push them back," Ritsuka chimed in. I reluctantly nodded, recognizing that I would indeed be more of a hindrance than an asset on the battlefield.

"Take Fran, Astolfo, Babbage, and Mordred with you," I said. Naturally, my knight looked at me in frustration, and made to open her mouth. "You're better suited up at the front then holding the rear, Mordred. Please?"

"…Fine, Jacob. If I turn my back and you somehow get hurt again, though, and we'll be having words."

"Agreed." Feeling bold, and to also disguise my nerves, I reached up and wrapped my arms around her. I didn't expect for her to return the gesture of affection, seeing as how there were dozens of other people around who could see us.

Which is why I almost passed out from shock when I felt Mordred move her arms around me and hug me gently. It was only briefly, but it was enough. "See you soon, Master."

"Good hunting, Mordred."

"Doctor Rush, please have your staff assist the patients who are critically injured first. Bring them to the back of this tent and have those able to defend themselves take up arms and guard the entrance," Nightingale barked, unholstering and reloading her pistol as an elderly-looking doctor nodded in quiet understanding. "Good, then let's go!"

Without further ado, the quartet of Nightingale, Mash, Ritsuka, and Mordred left the tent to face down the latest wave of Celtic foes. Leaving me behind for once while doing so.

Now I understood how helpless I must have made Ritsuka feel every time I left him behind when I threw myself into the fight with Mordred and the other Servants.

And it did not feel pleasant…

Idiot, idiot, idiot!

Mordred wasn't sure who she was referring to with that one word that she repeatedly shouted in the privacy of her mind.

Was it at Ritsuka for not taking proper precautions when he started moving out from the battlefield? At Jacob for risking himself as he did? Or was it at herself for almost losing the one she loved as well as her Master?

The Knight of Rebellion wasn't sure, and the Celt that she almost sliced in half from a single blow of Clarent wasn't exactly in much of a state to provide any damn bloody answers, either.

Kicking the mangled corpse away from her, the Knight of Rebellion caught the blade of another sword with one of the spiked ridges on her left vambrace. Trapping the sword in place, Mordred swung her sword and cleanly cleaved the head off of the offending Celt. The severed head didn't even bounce off of the ground before it and the body disappeared.

The fighting had gone for several hours now, and it seemed like there was no end in sight, as more enemies popped up to replace the dead and dying.

Nearby, Nightingale grunted softly as she punched her own Celtic adversary in the face with enough force that the Berserker snapped his neck from the recoil of the blow. Four more Celts hurried forward with guttural cries of bloodlust and vengeance, but the pain-in-the-ass nurse simply unholstered her weapon. It took Mordred a second to place a name with it, but it came just as Nightingale's revolver bucked up slightly from the first shot.

Three more bullets quickly followed after the first, and all four Celts were slain a few yards away from the red-uniformed Berserker in question. Well, as much as Mordred had mixed feelings regarding their erstwhile ally, at least she was more than capable of pulling her weight.

"Where do they keep on coming from?" Ritsuka demanded, parrying a blow from a (un)lucky Celt that had managed to sneak his way past the line of Servants that served as the rock upon which countless waves of Celts had smashed themselves upon. Mordred didn't leave her spot, knowing that Shieldy was the one charged with guarding her Master's fellow work partner.

Sure enough, the pink-haired Demi-Servant let out a loud cry as she basically hip checked the swordsman from the side with that massive shield of hers. She threw herself in front of her boyfriend, and quickly pounded the Celt into submission without any assistance.

Mordred knew, at least in part, why Mash had developed a more aggressive fighting style to replace her previous, neutral/defensive stance she had taken. The Mordred from London was the one responsible. The Knight of Rebellion couldn't help but wonder if this copy of hers had sensed the presence of Galahad in Mash, or if it was for a different reason, but either way, the blonde knight was certainly pleased to see that her friend was more focused on winning, rather than just merely responding.

The past few months really had changed them all in various ways. Masters, Demi-Servant, and Servants alike.

As Mordred sliced up and cut down numerous more Celts, and as the sun began to set, casting a blood red-orange light over the blood-stained field, the endless assaults suddenly stopped. Panting slightly, Mordred slammed Clarent into the earth in front of her as she leaned against her stolen sword. They weren't anywhere close to being as challenging as Servants, their numbers were proving to be just as exhausting en masse as if she were facing a fellow top-tier Servant.

Mordred heard Ritsuka's commlink go off. Without looking over her shoulder, she dismissed Secret of Pedigree so she could better hear whatever it was that Doctor Roman wanted to share. "Yes, Doctor Roman?" Ritsuka asked.

"I'm detecting some more foes up ahead, and this time, they're not alone!" Mordred tensed up as she heard the worried voice of the odd man. Knowing their general luck, it was probably—"Two Servants are with them!"

"Understood," Ritsuka said grimly. Barely had he finished answering before Mordred stiffened as a rich voice tinged with an Irish accent came from up ahead.

"Your Majesty, we've found them."

Original Endnotes: Uh-oh! Who could it be this time? So, Nightingale's been introduced! How did I do? Also, Jacob's in for such a 'fun' time with his injury, huh?

Not much to say, really, so on to the question of the chapter! First up: What's the worst hospital trip you ever had? For me, it was when I was 10 or 11. I took some penicillin and had an allergic reaction, and I ended up with getting a needle on my ass. Second question: Who is your favorite 'Extra' class Servant?

As always, thank you for reading, and also to my readers for all the support you've given this story! Means a lot to me! Please let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoyed the story! Let me know what your thoughts are, and have a wonderful weekend! See you in Chapter 106!

Updated Endnotes 02/03/23: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! As always, you can find the fully-updated copy of my story on Archive of Our Own if you'd like to skip the wait. Otherwise, have a great day, and see you next time!