Whoa, what? A new post? Well, this story is very VERY close to being done, and I haven't posted even half of it. So here it is! Hopefully in this next chapter I can hook some people into wanting to know what happens next. ^_^

Jade's POV

Once I came to, the first thing I noticed was the metal walls around me. I sat up quickly, feeling a sort of weight on my neck. I reached my hands up to feel a slave collar firmly clasped onto me. The third thing I noticed was that I was completely stripped of my clothes. All that remained was my raggedy looking underwear. Then I noticed Boone slouched in the corner, a slaver collar around his neck as well, wearing nothing but some boxers. Where the fuck were we?

"Boone?" I asked. When there was no reply, I asked a little louder. "Boone?"

"He went rogue after we put the collar on. He's now a little… comatose." A voice came from beside me. I swung around to see a man in power armour, minus a helmet. He was standing in a now open doorway.

"Who the fuck are you? And how did you find us?" I asked harshly.

"I was going to ask the same thing. After all, it was you and your little friend here who stumbled upon us." The man explained.

"Why the hell would we want to find you assholes?" I spat.

"That's enough. If it was any other day, I would have shot you both on sight. But I'm under orders to bring you to the Elder. Will you come peacefully?" He asked. Oh… oh shit. I had heard very little of these guys… the rumours told that they were somewhere out in the wasteland, but nobody believed them.

I glanced at Boone quickly, then nodded my head at the soldier in front of me.

"Okay. I'll take you to him. Don't make any sudden moves. Or you'll be shot."

It was… awkward walking in a metal bunker with barely anything on. I guess that's what they had intended on doing… stripping me of my clothes and my confidence. We seemed to walk forever until finally we reached a large room, with a circle like desk in the middle. Sitting in the desk was an older looking man in some kind of blue robes. I've never really known much about the Brotherhood of Steel… didn't really have much need to.

"What's your name, and how did you find us? Oh, and do tell the truth." The Elder asked. He sounded more relaxed then everyone else was… considering I was in my fucking underwear with a god damn slave collar on my neck.

"I'm Jay. My friends name is Boone. We were just exploring."

"Who explores near a mountain of mutants and a pit of deathclaws?" The man asked. He had a point. I shrugged.

"I dunno. I guess we wanted some adventure." I said.

"Well, you certainly found it. By now I hope you've pieced together who we are." I nodded my head.

"And I hope you know you took an extreme risk by coming here. My policy towards trespassers has not been… lenient. The security of this bunker is my foremost concern, and I take pains to minimize our exposure topside. For this reason, I just might be interested in contracting with some outsiders to accomplish some tasks. Some basic, some a bit more… involved." The Elder explained.

"Kay, so what kind of tasks are we talking about here?"

"First is going to be the easier one. An NCR Ranger has begun to set up post in one of the other bunkers. I want him driven off. Understood?"

"What's in it for me? If you mind me asking…"

"You'll be one step closer to gaining our trust."

I nodded my head.

"Kay. Fine, I'll do it."

"Very well. I'll be interested to see how thoroughly and efficiently you carry out your mission. Paladin Ramos will escort you back to the bunkers entrance, and he'll set you loose. Notice that I said 'loose' not 'free. You are to carry out your mission, nothing more, nothing less. To be sure of this, you have been fitted with an explosive collar. Wander off to far, and it will detonate. Stick to the mission, and you'll be fine."

I gulped, now paranoid of any movement that might trigger the bomb around my fucking neck. Then a sudden thought came to me.

"Is my friends collar explosive, too?" I asked.

The Elder only nodded. Fuck.

I stood in the empty bunker, my previous clothing back on, a rifle strapped to my back, and a bomb around my neck. After a long swig from Brad's flask, I walked out and into the wasteland. Seeing the place without the sand storm gave me a different perspective on just where we were. I expected to at least see the lights of New Vegas by now, but everywhere I looked all I saw was mountain. That's not right. We should be closer… Then I thought of Boone, how he must be waking up by now. How confused he would be. How angry he'd be. That gave me enough motivation to at least try to find the NCR ranger. He was hiding in a not too far away bunker from the Brotherhood. It was a miracle that he didn't wander into the wrong bunker. No wonder the Elder was eager to get rid of him. Still, why couldn't he just send a soldier out, instead of me? Once I reached the bottom of the bunker I was greeted by a pistol being pointed at my head. My eyes widened as anger rushed through me like a flood. In an instant the pistol was smacked across the room, and my hand gripped the rangers neck tightly. His ranger hat fell to the floor as his own eyes widened in fear.

"Get… get off me, filthy powder ganger!" He struggled to speak.

"I am NOT a powder ganger!" I yelled back, throwing him away from me. He stumbled backwards and began coughing. I rolled my eyes.

"Who… who are you, then?" He asked.

"I'm the girl who's kicking you out of this fucking dump. You have till sundown to leave." I explained harshly.

"Who the fuck are you to be telling me that?!" He asked, looking at me angrily now. I pulled my rifle from my back, pointing it at his face.

"I'm the one holding the gun. And I'd suggest you listen to me if… if you don't want to be hitting anymore dead ends."

The guy raised his eyebrow at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you see any fucking powder gangers 'round here? No. No you don't. Wonna know why? Cause they all fled to the south."

"And how do you know that?"

"Are you one to question me? Sundown. I want you out." I said. I glanced at his pistol, then grabbed it, and stuffed it in my belt. "You're not getting this back, by the way."

It didn't take long until the ranger left the bunker. I hid behind a sand pile, watching him as he left. Soon he was off in the distance. I nearly ran back to the bunker, more than eager to get this collar off of me. Once I did I was met with Paladin Ramos.

"Is your mission complete?" He asked. I nodded quickly, then pointed at my collar. Ramos lifted a key up, moving it towards the collar.

"No." I muttered, backing away. Ramos looked stunned for a second. "I want my friend's off, first."

Just before we entered a room that was tucked away in the corner, Ramos pulled me aside.

"Listen. I don't think your friend is mentally stable enough to be without the collar on, let alone being near Elder Mcnamara."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I don't think we should take the collar off just yet."

I only glared at Ramos, and shifted my weight to one knee.

"How about this, Paladin Ramos. I won't cooperate until he gets his bomb unhooked from his neck."

Ramos breathed heavily through his nose, looking impatiently at me.

"We can't let him go rogue like he had done before."

"He won't. Trust me."

"Are you okay?" I asked Boone. Once I got in the room I was shocked to see him still slouched in the corner, refusing to make eye contact. He didn't respond, only looked grudgingly at the ground in front of him. He didn't even flinch as Ramos took off his collar. I was still rubbing my neck from my own. I felt a million times lighter now.

"Look, it's okay if you're mad. I won't hold it against yah or anything like that." I explained. When he didn't respond, I shifted nervously in my seat.

"Well, I don't think the Brotherhood dealt with us as well as they should've. Just puttin' that out there."

"They had no right." Boone snapped. I turned my head to him, nodding in agreement.

"You're right. You're so right."

Boone took a deep breath through his nose.

"What did they make you do?" He asked.

I shrugged.

"Just something quick and stupid." I explained, then shook my head. "A waste of time, really."

"Can we go?" He asked quickly. I shrugged.

"Depends on if these fuckers will let us."

Boone nodded. "What did they say?"

"They said we need to talk to the Elder. Together."

"Did it sound like they wanted something else?"

"Dunno. But, we don't have our collars anymore, so that's a plus."

I knew Boone couldn't help but agree. I pulled Brad's flask from my pocket, and handed it to him.

"Here." I offered. Boone only looked at it, then looked away. "Come on, you know you need it." I added. With that he grabbed it, and took a short drink. He screwed up his face as he handed the flask back to me, making me laugh.

"Too strong?" I asked.

"Little bit…" He coughed.

After Boone put his clothes back on, I guided him out of the confinement of the small room, and out into the bunker. Paladin Ramos was waiting for us patiently outside. His eyes lit up as he caught sight of us.

"Are you two ready?" He asked. He was eyeing Boone. With a glare I nodded, and Ramos lead the way with no hesitation. When we reached the Elder, he looked up at us with cautious, yet welcoming eyes.

"When you two showed up at our doorstep, I'll admit I wasn't sure what to think. But, after some thinking on the subject, I decided an outsider could be a good use to me right now. You may refuse this next mission, and you will be released into the outside world once again. But, know we will be keeping an eye on you. What do you say?" Elder McNamara asked. I glanced at Boone, who seemed to be using all of his energy to keep calm under the watchful eye of the Brotherhood.

"What's the new task?"

"There's a radio station on the top of Black Mountain that specializes in broadcasting unique information to mutants. They're technology is incredibly advanced. We'd like to track just how the technology works by installing a remote signal transmitter."

I shrugged.

"Sounds simple enough to me."

"It's not. As you may know, the whole mountain is crawling with super mutants and nightkin. Not to mention those centaurs that follow them. Climbing the mountain will be difficult, but in return we can offer you a great many of things." Elder McNamara explained.

"What kind of things?" I asked cautiously.

"Stimpacks, Med-X, Rad-away, any medical supplies you need. We have more than enough for you."

Damn. That is a good deal. I looked over at Boone again, only to see him exactly the same as before. Staring blank faced straight ahead. He wasn't helping me at all.

"If you two need to discuss this, go ahead."

I looked behind us to see a large illuminated map, a magnifying sort of glass moving back and forth on it.

"C-can we look at that?" I asked.

"Of course."

"We'll be back with our decision." I said, and motioned Boone to come with me. We stood in front of the map for a few seconds, trying to find out where we are.

"Here." I pointed, making the magnifying glass come towards my finger. "This is where we are."

Boone rubbed the back of his neck.

"We're pretty of track, huh?" He said.

"No shit."

I pointed again at the map.

"Kay, so this is Black Mountain… aaaand, this is the Quarry Junction."

"The place with all the Death Claws?"

"Yup."

"Well shit…"

I stepped back, crossing my arms over my chest. Boone stared at me for a few seconds.

"No." He said finally.

"Why not?"

"Do you want to get to New Vegas alive?" He asked.

"Well, look at it this way. We'll get some sweet ass supplies, plus whatever else is up that damn mountain. We can take some stupid mutants" I explained.

Boone shook his head. And then sighed.

"Kay, fine. But if anything goes wrong, we're running. I want to kill Legionnaires, not mutants."

I nodded.

"Alright."

Boone wasn't very keen on the idea of Black Mountain in the first place. But when a super mutant came bounding towards us from behind the corner, it set him off edge. Within a second he had his gun out and aimed straight at the green monster. We were both shocked when it put it's hands in the air.

"Don't shoot. This is a dangerous place for humans to be." He said, his voice slow and deep.

"What. The. Actual. Fuck." I stuttered. I had never seen a super mutant talk properly before… let alone warn us about incoming danger.

"I suggest you two turn back the way you came. There is nothing good waiting for you here." He explained further.

Boone and I only stared at him for a few seconds. The super mutant looked at us in concern.

"Are you two alright?" He asked.

I coughed, forcing words to come out of my mouth.

"Yeah… um… well, what do you mean by 'danger?"

"There's nothing but super mutants and nightkin up there, ready to kill you on sight. You're lucky I was the first to find you."

"We heard your radio broadcast. We were interested in the sort of 'help' you needed." Boone explained. I looked at him quickly. How the hell did he know that?

"It's beyond me why a human wants to help us, but never the less. We have a bit of a problem. The voice you heard is that of Tabitha. She's run this mountain for two years, or what she calls it, Utobitha. Super mutants here do whatever she says… and she says kill any human on sight." The super mutant explained.

"So what's the problem?" Boone asked.

"For years this place was a peaceful community. It's leader, Marcus, set out broadcasts to invite other mutants throughout the wasteland for a safe place to be. That's how I found this place. So did the others. Everything was fine… until the nightkin came along, lead by Tabitha. Within a few days she had everyone convinced that she was a 'prophet'. Marcus knew what was coming. He broke the radio, then left to Jacobstown before anything escalated. Things are… bad up here." He said.

"What should we expect if we head up?"

"A challenge. Series of tight switchbacks up to the peak. There are three blockades, plus patrols. Sneaking past them would be… difficult. But not impossible."

"Sounds like you've had enough of this Tabitha. What if you had some help to take her down?" I asked.

"Help might improve the odds. Help just might make a difference…" The super mutant thought for a second. "Alright, if you two are good enough at what you do, I'll meet you on the peak. We can talk further. I'll have a plan by the time I see you - if I see you. Good luck. It's going to be a lot harder for you to get up there than it will be for me." He explained, then sprinted up the hill. I took a deep breath as we watched him leave.

"Great."

"Lets get going, then."

I should've known that sneaking past the mutants would work. I kept forgetting that Boone was a sniper, and specialised in not being seen. Just as I thought we had made it past quietly, Boone stopped and looked back at the patrol behind us.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"Hold on." He said, looking down his scope. He shot towards the patrol, and just before I could say anything the small bunker blew up.

"The hell?"

"Frag grenades." He said simply, and continued up the hill. One would think that maybe somebody would notice the explosion, but as we continued in the shadows we remained unseen. The bunker ahead of us was a little bigger than all the others. Boone stopped to take a better look through his scope. I waited for another explosion, but was let down as he pulled away from his rifle.

"What is it?"

"There's a lot of supplies in there. Good supplies." He explained.

"Define 'good' for me."

"Medical supplies, crates of weapons, food, chems, I wouldn't doubt there would be caps in there."

"So… we could basically just raid this, finish this stupid mission, and not ever go back to the Brotherhood?"

"That's what I was thinking."

I took a deep breath before replying.

"Where would we start?"

"Let's start with a distraction." He explained.

"Kay, with what?"

"With you."

"What?"

"Shh. There's only three mutants in there, I can get them all in just a few seconds. I just need them out in the open."

"So, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Run out there and get their attention."

"How?"

"I don't care, just get them into the open."

I stood there, staring at the patrol, my heart racing in my chest.

"… Are you going to go?" Boone asked.

"Just give me a sec." I snapped.

I took a deep swig from Brads flask, feeling the warmth of the vodka comfort me. Then I ran for the bunker, waving my arms up and down.

"Hey! Hey assholes!" I yelled.

The mutants looked up at me, anger flaring in them straight away.

"Come get me, yah green little shits!"

Then four mutants came charging at me all at once. I gulped, pulling my rifle from my back. One had a sledge hammer, the other had a combat shotgun, the other had a hunting rifle (like mine, but not nearly as powerful…) and then finally the one in the back had a large machine gun. I shot the one with the sledge hammer immediately, making it stumble backwards.

"Boone!?" I called for his back up, and the one with the machine gun fell to the ground. Then the one with the combat shotgun, and finally the one with the hunting rifle. I stood there for a few seconds, breathing heavy as I stared at the large, deceased bodies. Boone jumped from his spot, and ran towards me.

"You miss counted." I hissed.

"We dealt with it, didn't we?" He stated, walking towards the bunker. I rolled my eyes, and followed after him. He was right about the loot. I stood in the entrance of the building, my eyes wide in shock. Piles and piles of ammo filled a whole bookshelf, gun mods and magazines scattered around it. Med kits were stacked on a table, as well as some blue trunks. Boone hit one with the end of his rifle, and it popped open. Inside was bags of caps.

"Holy shit…" I said. Boone snatched one, and threw it at me. The bag bounced a few times between my fingers before I finally got a good grip on it, making Boone chuckle.

"Fuck this mission." He said, stuffing a bag into his cargo pants. "We've got enough loot here a to ditch and they'll never even know."

I crossed my arms tightly across my chest, looking around at the place. It was true there was a lot of good supplies in here… things that outweigh the Brotherhoods Offer by a ton. But as I continue to think of leaving the mission without even trying to complete their task sent another wave of guilt through me. And I just couldn't have that.

"I don't know, Boone. I think we should just bight the bullet and do what they want us to do." I explained.

"Are you kidding me? The people that stripped us down when we were in need, strapped bombs to our necks and forced us up a hill full of mutants?" Boone asked harshly. I shrugged.

"I just don't think we should ditch, is all." I said. "You heard what that mutant said. Things are bad up there… and we have a chance to change it. I just want to do the right thing here."

Boone looked at the supplies for a long time, before turning back to me.

"Fine." He said. I chuckled.

"Doesn't mean we should just leave all of this behind. Come on. Grab what you can."

Part of me wanted to find an Anti-Material rifle for Boone, but even though there were piles of guns, there wasn't one there for him. Instead we filled our ammo up, grabbed the medical supplies, the water, the food, explosives… as much as we could carry. Just before we were about to leave, Boone tossed something at me. Didn't he learn? The object bounced off my fingers, and I lunged forward to catch it. He chuckled again.

"Here. It might help up there." He said. I looked down at the object, and realised it was a scope. I pulled my rifle from my back, setting it on the table in front of me.

"Thanks." I said as I began to mount it on the top of my rifle.

"Yeah."

I wasn't all that experience with a scope, but Boone assured me it was a decent one. After a little while of getting used to it, we moved forward again. It wasn't that long until we saw buildings next to a radio tower. Finally. If it was up to me, I would've kamikaze'd up the hill, but Boone pulled me back.

"Just wait." He whispered, looking down his scope again. His eyebrows narrowed from behind his aviators as he pulled away from it. "There's a night kin with a rocket launcher on the top of the tower. Below him are a lot of mutants, both nightkin and super mutant." He said simply.

I looked through my scope, trying to find them myself.

"Any ideas?" Boone asked. I nodded my head.

"Yeah. Hold on." I said. I pulled the frag mines we got from the shelter, and began down the hill.

"Where are you going?" Boone hissed.

"Trust me." I whispered back. I placed four frag mines along the path, and shuffled back up. Then I pulled out a frag grenade, and turned back to Boone.

"Can you get the rocket launcher guy?" I asked. Boone nodded, and looked down his scope again. He took a deep breath, then pulled the trigger.

"Got him." He said.

"Good." I said, pulling the pin from the frag grenade, and threw it as far as I could, past the mines and down the hill. The explosion went off, echoing in the distance. There was a few seconds of silence, then large footsteps came rushing down the hill. I blinked a few times, not knowing where they were coming from. Then the mines went off, and suddenly three large blue bodies appeared from what seemed thin air, and fell to the ground motionless.

"What the hell?" I snapped.

"Stealth boys." Boone said simply.

"Stealth boys?"

"… it makes you invisible."

I stared at Boone for a few seconds.

"No way."

"Yes way."

Boone and I cautiously continued up the hill, keeping a close eye out for anymore mutants.

"I think they're gone." I said. Boone nodded, and stood up straight. We walked into the building next to the radio tower, and immediately went up the stairs. It was musky and dark, and was only lit up by the red lights of a radio system.

"Where is it?" Boone asked, obviously as confused as I was. I pointed to a microphone placed in front of a bunch of controls.

"There." I stared at the mess of controls, not knowing where to start. "If I were a radio transmitter, where would I go?"

Boone pulled the transmitter from his pocket, and held it on front of the controls.

"Uh… there?" He asked, pointing at a small hole near one of the nobs. I shrugged.

"Try it."

Luckily, the transmitter fit perfectly, and even lit up as it was clicked into place. I breathed out happily.

"Good. Glad that's over with." I said. Boone nodded in agreement. I was looking forward to a walk down the mountain. With all the supplies we had, we could even stop for some lunch. But the second we opened the door we came face to face with a large nightkin.

"What the flying fuck?!" I yelled, jumping back. The night kin was wearing a short blonde wig, rose coloured glasses and a sort of summer dress…

"You're the dumb dumbs who did this!" Her voice was grotesque, and the furthest thing from 'ladylike'.

Before we could get a word in, the mutant from the bottom of the hill came from behind the corner, aiming a rifle at Tabitha.

"Duck!" He screeched in a low, terrifying voice. Boone and I jumped to the side just as the bullet went through Tabitha's head, splattering blood everywhere. The rest of Tabitha's nightkins went rogue, coming at us with whatever they had.

"Don't let them get to the Quarry!" I shouted as I sent a mutant flying to the ground.

"Then go after him!" I heard Boone yell. I turned to where he was looking, and saw a nightkin running down the hill frantically.

"Shit…" I breathed, running after him. He was fast, for a mutant. "Slow the fuck down!" I yelled. Finally, after what seemed like hours of running I stopped, and aimed my gun at the Nightkin. But before I could shoot, he fell down, dead. Just in front of his body was a Legionnaire, accompanied by four other's. The head Legionnaire looked at me for a few seconds, a bandana covering his mouth, thick goggles covering his eyes. I turned around quickly, running up the hill as fast as I could.

"Boone!" I yelled. But it was too late. One of the soldiers caught me from behind, slamming his hand around my mouth, and grabbing me tightly. I struggled hard, kicking my leg up backwards and hit the soldier right in between the legs. He stumbled backwards, and I took the opportunity to try and sprint away from rest of them. Soon I was tackled to the ground by yet another soldier, making me cry out in pain as my cheek hit the pavement. We struggled like this for a few seconds, until I was kicked brutally in the side. Within a second it was almost impossible for me to breathe, making me almost paralysed. The soldiers took that time to lift me off the ground from my neck. I cried out in pain again, my hands flying up, but were soon restrained by the soldier behind me.

"Enough." I heard a deep voice speak. The soldiers stepped away from me as the Legionnaire in the bandana and goggles came towards me. He pulled down the bandana from his mouth, then lifted his goggles off of his face. What I saw nearly made my knees buckle. It was Brad.

"Fancy meeting yah here." He said, a condescending tone to his voice. My mouth dropped, my eyes widening in shock. No words came to me. Nothing at all. All I could manage was stare at him. His eyebrow raised.

"Bit of a shock?" He asked.

I was expecting him to shoot the other soldiers, and take off his façade. Or smile and say it was a joke. That he had finally found me, and how happy he was to see me. But he just stared at me, completely still.

"What have yah been up to, babe?" He asked. He tilted his head at me. "You cut your hair." He stroked the side of my head softly, then frowned. "Hmm. Where did that scar come from?"

"Is… is that you?" I forced the words to come out. Brad took a deep breath.

"Of course." He flung his arms on either side of him. "Who did you expect? Think yah could run away from me forever?" He asked harshly.

"What?"

"Oh, come on, Jay. Really? There's no use in acting dumb around me. I know you better then that."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Brad?"

Brad frowned at me.

"Fine then." He looked at the other soldiers. "Restrain her."

Soon what felt like a thousand hands grabbed me from all direction, a hand clasping over my mouth yet again. I felt some sort of strong tape being tied around my wrists tightly, and began to be dragged away from the road. I struggled forcefully, but no matter what I did the Legion was still stronger than me. I looked up at Brad, who was looking up the mountain in concern. He then spouted some sharp words in Latin as he came towards us. The soldiers threw me against the rock wall, and seemed to cover me. Everyone ducked, and stayed completely still. I heard the click of machine, and the soldiers around me disappeared. But I could still feel their grasps… I looked down at my feet, and saw that they had disappeared as well. Stealth boy. Of course. Then we heard heavy, fast footsteps. I forced my head to look, seeing Boone running down the hill as fast as he could. His gaze was set on one place. The Quarry Junction.

"Jay!" He called. I jerked under the grasp of the Legion hands on me, but it did no good. I could feel Brad's burning gaze on me. Once Boone was gone, he grabbed me by the collar, and yanked me away from the other soldiers. I lost my footing and fell flat on the ground.

"Gotten over me already, have yah?" He asked, an edge to his voice now. His figure faded in and out as the stealth boy malfunctioned.

"He's just a huntin' partner." I explained quickly, my voice quivering.

"Sure. I'd like to believe that, Jay."

One of the soldiers from behind Brad came towards him, saying something in Latin. Fucking hell, I really need to learn that language.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that." Brad almost growled. He stomped towards me, ripping off my bandana that was loosely tied around my neck. He pulled me to my knees, then snapped my head to the side to show the other soldiers what I've been trying to keep secret for years.

"See that? The mark of mortem." He snarled. I thought the soldiers had looked at me like a piece of meat before, but now it was worse than ever. Brad stood up. "We have a choice."

"Oh, look at you. Being such a man." I spat. Brad turned to me slowly, looking furious. I gulped.

"What did yah just say to me, lupa?"

Understand, Lupa?

"You… you fucking asshole." My voice quivered as I said this.

"Oh, I'm the asshole?" Brad asked harshly. I just stared at him, completely blank faced. He breathed deeply through his nose, turning back to his soldiers.

"We have a choice. Complete the mark, or end her."

I gasped, my breath becoming short and quick.

"End it and be done with it." One of the soldiers spat. The rest of them all said the same word in Latin. When Brad turned back to me I could hardly recognise him.

"Any last words, babe?" He asked.

"Fuck you." I spat. Before I could fully register how I had managed to say this, Brad's lips twisted into a dark grin.

"Yah already did."

The tape around my wrists snapped as I twisted them with rage. Once I was freed I lunged myself at him, tackling him to the ground. I pulled my knife from my belt, holding it sideways and swung at him. The blade slashed the side of his face. Blood began to ooze from his cut, and he groaned sharply in pain. I grinned darkly at him, twisting my knife in my hand, and held it above him. Survival. That's all my mind was on. In front of me was a threat to my life, and I must live. Then suddenly I received a kick in the face, sending shock waves of brutal pain through me. My knife flew from my hand as I fell backwards onto the ground again. The wold began to spin around me. Then I felt the kicking. Kicking from each of the soldiers as they spat what I guess Latin curses at me. Each kick sent a pain that took my breath away. I tried to cover my head, squeezing my eyes shut as if to shut off all my senses.

"Stop!"

All the soldiers moved away from me, reluctantly so, and Brad came towards me. I forced my eye's open to look at him as he picked up my knife from the ground. He crouched down in front of me, something shinning in his dark eyes. He pressed the knife against my cheek, piercing the skin oh so slightly. He moved the knife down to my neck. My hand flew to his, and I looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Please…" I begged.

Then I felt the sharpness of the blade puncture through my skin, razor sharp pain throbbing through me. My eyes squeezed shut as the pain nearly engulfed me. Then it stopped, and I looked up to see Brad standing over me, wiping my blood off of the knife.

"Finish her." He commanded.

Then the beating started up again. Incredible pain from every side overwhelmed me. There was no time to even breathe. But the most was the pain of betrayal. I felt myself floating away, watching from a distance as the Legion beat the life out of me. Brad just stood and watched.

The one person I had left in my life just watching as I was beaten to death. By his command. In that one fleeting moment, just as I was losing myself, I felt peace. For the very first time.

Boone's POV

I looked around frantically in the Quarry, careful to not get too close. But it didn't take long to figure out Jay wasn't here… where the hell is she? I turned around, straining my eyes to see if I could find something. Then I saw six Legion soldiers running down from the hill, and making a quick turn down the road. I crouched low, pulling my rifle from my back, and watched them through my scope. They were moving fast, and more importantly Jay wasn't with them. That must mean she was still up the mountain… I wanted to take the shot. Every inch of me was desperate for the small action of pulling the trigger. I could take out at least one Legionnaire while they were still in my sights. But something stopped me. Jay was still up the mountain. If they saw the mark she carried… I didn't wait for them to disappear into the distance. I sprinted as fast as I could towards the mountain, not stopping for a breather as I continued up the hill.

It was only once I found Jay that I stopped in my tracks. She was curled on the ground, blood pooling around her body. Around her, scratched into the dirt, laid a message. 'Hail Caesar'.

I rushed to her side, placing my ear just above her mouth. After a few pain staking moments I heard a faint breathing. I pulled back quickly, unknowing of what to do. Her neck was drenched with blood, giant bruises covered her arms and legs, and her eyes where swollen shut.

She looked like hell. Awkwardly, I placed my hand underneath her nearly bald head, lifting it softly. She almost looked like a child sleeping the way she was. With a deep breath, I slid my arms under her, and lifted her up. I didn't know what the hell to do… and I did not want to go back to that damned Brotherhood Bunker. But if I wanted Jay to survive, I had no choice.