A/N: Jubilation for all the little boys and girls, we're back again! This weekly thing is interesting. I always keep a buffer ahead of what I'm posting because who knows when laziness will hit, but wow I need to be more responsible. As far as the actual story goes, things are starting to get interesting. There are a lot of questions cropping up now about what's going on, questions that will need to be answered if the Institute is going to win this. I'm not saying anything else though, that's what the massive block of text below this paragraph is for. Anyways, leave a review if you're so inclined and, as always, enjoy!

Chapter 39: Familiar Friends, New Foe

Even if they didn't know exactly what they were walking into, Nate felt substantially more comfortable now they had two Courser fireteams with them, and three squads of regular Synths on the way. That and the fact they were no longer out in the open spaces of the city where someone could take a shot at them at any time.

Considering the circumstances, Jess and Grant had performed admirably. Conklin picked up on the potential ambush which was, like he said, something you couldn't teach, or at least not easily. And Collins' response was good, even if he should have positioned himself better so he hadn't been hit.

That being said, Nate didn't want to go through that again, not unless it was absolutely necessary.

As soon as they were inside, splitting into two teams, one group, Nate's, began searching the massive hospital while the other stayed near the first floor's central hub. Since the Coursers had been there for around two hours, they'd already cleared the ER and part of the ICU, but they still probably had 90% of the building to go. On top of that, they couldn't do too much yet because the entrances weren't secure. That meant creeping through the many lobbies, halls, patient wards, and offices, all littered with everything from half-collapsed walls to hospital beds, trays, medical equipment, and, to his chagrin, a few skeletal remains.

At one point, as they weaved through the maze of crumbling halls and neared radiology, the Geiger counter built into Nate's Pipboy began ticking.

"The shielding for their X-rays must be compromised", one of the Coursers whispered. Searching radiology was probably not a great idea, even for the Synths. They were still 20 feet from the entrance, standing in a small waiting area.

"That's a no go then", Nate replied. "We'll continue searching everywhere else unless we get confirmation our target is in there."

"Agreed."

As the six of them moved back away from the dangerous radiation zone, the ex-soldier's mind found room to bring up the 'how' again. How had Andrew managed to make it out of the Institute? That wasn't someone Nate was even familiar with. Sure, he didn't know everyone involved in Li's team, but organizing an escape was… a complex task. With the number of moving parts involved, he would have known about it.

There were really only two explanations: Li did this behind his back which, while irritating, wasn't a huge deal so long as there was a reason for it, or another group was at play.

That second possibility worried Nate. Who else would have the resources, and want a Synth to escape? Especially one with such sensitive information on the Institute. Their nuclear reactor? Their weapons program? Those were big-ticket items, and if anyone who wanted to destroy the Institute found out about them, that would be a major problem.

The Brotherhood, for example.

Half an hour into their search, Nate was in what was at one point, about 250 years ago, an MRI room. The massive machine was, obviously, inert, its extremely powerful coil not energized, which was good considering the magnetic field it could produce. What was left of the instrumentation lay on the floor, smashed and scattered.

None of those things are what caught the ex-soldier's attention. It was the bones laying against the wall opposite the machine. Whoever that had been, they'd died painfully. Their right arm was missing below the shoulder, and a massive, faded stain made a four-foot circle around them. It hadn't been someone in the hospital when the bomb fell, their tattered, rustic clothing was something Nate had come to expect from the citizens of the Commonwealth. This person had been dead a while though. Their clothes were degrading, no flesh left on the skeleton, and the pistol laying on the floor next to them was rusted almost beyond recognition.

It wasn't their mission, but the image reminded the infantryman about how unforgiving his new life was. Like he really needed it.

"Sir", a dry, monotonous voice came over Nate's earpiece. "This is B9-32 with the responding support force. We have arrived at the hospital and are ready for assignment."

Shaking himself from his thoughts, the infantryman turned and began toward the exit. Andrew clearly wasn't here. "Copy. Form a perimeter, block off all ground floor exits. From the inside. We don't need to make ourselves targets."

"Understood sir", the response came.

Maybe it was just nerves, maybe the fighting at the warehouse, then the journey across Boston had gotten to him more than he wanted to admit. It was impossible to tell given the circumstances, but something about all of this sat wrong with Nate.

Beginning the search of another hall, the first door he opened was to a break room. It looked largely untouched by the surrounding devastation, aside from the ceiling tiles that had crumbled to the floor.

The more he thought about the possibilities, the less Li's involvement made sense. So if it wasn't her, who else could have gotten Andrew out? Was someone else in her group trying to sabotage it? No… that wouldn't make sense, if that were the case, they could just go to Ayo or Shaun and be done with it. Did someone do it behind her back? While it was possible, that also seemed unlikely. Everyone working on this 'project' knew what the risks and consequences were. They already had one major operation going on. Another escape at the same time would be- is incredibly risky.

After a few seconds of scanning, it was obvious nothing was in the room. The tables were all in their normal places, and unless this Synth they were looking for was incredibly small, none of the cabinets or alcoves were large enough for a person. Stepping back and allowing the door to swing shut, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

When he turned, he found Grant standing beside him. The others were continuing down the dark, crumbling hall, checking doors as they went.

"What's up?" the ex-soldier asked in a soft whisper.

"Don't you think this is a little weird?" Nate shot the other man a warning glance, but he continued. "Why would an escaped Synth come here? Why would their trail end here? We're still well within the city." Grant rubbed at the small furrow in his armor. "And they know we can track them, so why wouldn't they get as far away as possible. This isn't like Samantha- Andrew had a six-hour head start."

Nate blinked. His teammate was asking the same question he was without actually asking it: just what the hell is going on here.

I guess it's good to know I'm not the only one who has a bad feeling about this.

"I've been thinking about that too. I don't know, it doesn't make any sense. Maybe if someone wanted to hurt the Institute, taking someone who knows as much as Andrew would be a great way to do it, but the situation doesn't make any sense. Not just why, how?"

As the ex-soldier met Grant's eyes, a knowing gaze came back his way. This situation really didn't make any sense. The other man brought up a good point- Andrew had six hours' head start on them. At the very least he'd been in the hospital for a little over two hours, and that's assuming he got there just before the Coursers.

Motioning to continue the search, the two of them followed the others down the rubble-strewn hall.

The hospital was a good place to hold up: plenty of space to hide, relatively intact and defensible, and there were probably supplies in here, considering it didn't look ransacked. That's where the 'making sense' part of the program ended though. Why not beat feet and get as far away as possible. The more ground their target covered, the more dangerous it would be for a large group to follow. At the very least, it would make sense for the Synth to attempt an escape while they were searching the building. Their perimeter guard hadn't seen anything though.

So just what the hell was going on?

Swinging open a few more doors as he went, a possibility occurred to Nate that was… uncomfortable.

What if this is a setup?

He paused to watch the others clear room after room as they neared the end of this hall, another adjoining one waiting its turn to be searched.

If someone wanted to ambush them, for whatever reason, they had a fantastic opportunity. If that someone had time to prepare… that could be major trouble.

The pit in Nate's stomach surged back into existence.

"Wait one", he whispered into his comms. Jess, Grant, and the three Coursers looked at him. He didn't need the radio to talk with those five, but he wanted the rest of his forces and the Institute to hear this. "This situation is becoming more and more dangerous. Isaiah?"

There was a brief silence over the earpiece, but a few seconds later, the SRD technician's voice buzzed through.

"Isaiah here. Yes, Nate?"

"Do we have any new information on how this Synth escaped?"

"Unfortunately, no. All we know is they used the Molecular Relay to transit at 2351, terminal location was about a mile and a half east of where you are now."

Nate chewed on the inside of his cheek, thinking the information, or lack thereof, through. Either there really was nothing new, or Isaiah couldn't talk about it over an open channel. The only way the ex-soldier knew one could use the Relay without a technician to operate it was to place information directly onto the server, like Li and her team did. If that's how this Synth escaped, they couldn't reveal that; it would be giving up their biggest asset.

"Understood. Be advised, these circumstances are… tenuous. We may be walking into a trap."

Another brief pause came over the radio and Jess shot him a suspicious glance. If he was thinking that, she was too.

"I'm sorry but- a trap?" Isaiah said, voice, and question, betraying his inexperience.

"We don't know who assisted this Synth in its escape, nor why it traveled such a short distance before stopping. The only thing we do know is it escaped during an incredibly important and sensitive operation", the ex-soldier hoped Isaiah got the insinuation, "it has even more sensitive information on the Institute, and we are now searching a location extremely well suited for an ambush."

"I understand", his response came. "What are you suggesting?"

That… he wasn't sure on that one yet. What he'd like to do is triple their numbers and flood the place with Synths, but that would only draw more attention. If they're queued up for an ambush, that's the last thing they need.

The ex-soldier grunted. "Still working on that. I'll keep you updated."

Why can't anything ever go as planned?

If it did, he'd have been back at the Institute, cooling his heels and congratulating himself on a job well done, both for the warehouse raid, and contacting the Railroad.

… Okay, that may have been a little excessive, but he wouldn't have had to sleep in another goddamn safehouse, amble through the city, get shot at again, and now risk getting ambushed.

Just another day in the life of a grunt.

Nate almost smiled.

Almost.

"Nate", Jess whispered. "I think it may be a good idea to regroup and rethink this." She was scanning the hallway, eyes darting from corner to door, probably looking for any signs of a trap.

The issue was they still had most of the hospital to search, and the place was impossible to track anyone through.

Taking the time to backtrack to the hub wasn't something he wanted to do though. If they were operating on the clock, and the infantryman was fairly certain they were, that would waste time. Continuing on like they are though… that seemed like a distinctly bad idea too.

The same question kept ricocheting through Nate's head: who did this? Who were they up against? The only logical answer was the Brotherhood, right? Then why weren't they here? Why had they-

"Something went wrong", Nate breathed. That's the only explanation. Was it the attack on the warehouse? Did that disrupt their extraction plan?

"Come again", Grant said.

Shit. He couldn't talk about his suspicions. If he did, it might tip someone off he was involved in Li's underground circle.

"Something went wrong", the ex-soldier repeated, turning to the Coursers. "Did any of you find recent signs of activity around the building besides the target entering?"

"Negative", X5-15 said. "The only indication of any foot traffic in the immediate area was disturbed rubble leading into the northern entrance. No other entrances or exits were tampered with, and there was no indication of an exit at the same location." He paused for a moment, and if Nate didn't know better, he'd have said the Synth was thinking. "There were no signs of disturbance in the block surrounding the hospital either."

"And there's no chance they were able to do so without leaving any trail?"

The Courser shook his head. "No. There is too much debris around the building for someone to move without notice."

"So we have to work under the assumption the target is alone in the building, and whoever helped him escape is on their way."

"Which means we have a deadline", Jess continued. "Just not one we know. If that's the case, we can't keep searching haphazardly, we have to narrow down the areas."

She was right, but how the hell were they going to do that in here? Not only was the hospital the largest in the state, but there were almost infinite places for someone to hide. Every room or closet was a potential hiding spot, especially for the short term.

Grant cleared his throat. "If we assume Andrew is attempting to hide for as long as possible, he will have guessed our search pattern would start at the bottom floor and work upwards. The most likely position would be somewhere close to the roof. With most of the buildings in the area collapsed, there would be plenty of escape routes from there." He glanced up at the ceiling which was missing most of its tiles to reveal the rusted piping and ducts above.

And if the Brotherhood were going to send a Vertibird for extraction…

The assumption the Brotherhood was behind this wasn't necessarily a safe one. There would have to be some way for them to establish another group within the Institute capable of smuggling Synths out. The only time they would have had the opportunity to do that was the attack, and they were only in the Institute for, what, 20 minutes?

Unless they found someone in Li's group-

Now wasn't the time for that sort of speculation. Grant had a good point, and they could start with that.

"Agreed. We'll start at the fourth floor and work our way up to the roof." Nate turned back to X5-15. "How many service staircases are there?"

"Five."

The ex-soldier keyed his mic again. "B9-32, I need you to station one Synth at the bottom of each service staircase, and one at the entrance to each on the fourth floor. Let me know when they're in position."

"Understood", the scratchy response came.

"Isaiah, are you still listening?"

"Yes."

"I need another two squads here. Drop them on the roof."

"But-" there was a short pause on the other end. No doubt the technician was thinking about the odds of giving away their position to the Brotherhood. If Nate was right, it wouldn't matter. "They'll be there in five minutes."

With a quick glance around the ex-soldier's team and the assembled Coursers, he said, "let's move to the fourth floor in the main staircase. Once the guards are in position, we'll split up, X5-15 take three Coursers with you, the other two with us. Divide the floors in half, move quickly, but watch for any signs of an ambush."

"Understood", the Courser team leader said, as Grant and Jess nodded.

The group began moving back through the ruined hospital toward the service staircase set in the northeast corner. This wasn't a perfect plan, but they had to make it work. If they were caught out before they found Andrew, and it was the Brotherhood looking for him… that intel would be crippling to the Institute.

"Our forces are in position", B9-32's voice buzzed through the ex-soldier's earpiece as they reached the fourth floor. The Synth standing guard there opened the rusted steel door to allow them through.

"Nice work, 32." Nate checked the clock on his Pipboy. Another three minutes before the extra squads transited to the roof. That gave them some time to get searching before they knew their position would be compromised. They were sending up a massive flare, teleporting that many Synths into one place, and even if the Brotherhood weren't responsible for this, they'd still want to find out what the hell is going on.

Without needing a command, the group split into two and began their individual searches. Nate and his team took the south side of the building, X5-15 and his taking the north. They searched as quickly as was safe, doing their best to scan every room, closet, alcove, and even holes in the crumbling walls as thoroughly as possible. The two Coursers were moving ahead of them, cloaked, sweeping the halls and intersections for signs of an ambush.

As they did, the ex-soldier felt his heart begin to pound harder and harder. The silence, only disrupted by quiet "clear!"s and the sound of rusty hinges creaking as doors were opened and closed was so tense, it felt like he had to consciously pull the air into his lungs.

If their stiff, abrupt movements were anything to judge by, his teammates were at least as nervous as he was. They thought they would be safe once they regrouped with the Coursers, but now… it felt as though they were in more danger than they had been traipsing through the city.

I need to calm down. They're feeding off my nerves.

Opening the door to a small examination room, Nate forced himself to breathe the musty, stale air in as deeply as he could. The room was empty, save for an exam table so rusty it had collapsed, and the small counter and shelves tucked in the corner. The walls were peeling with age, and the ceiling tiles, as with the rest of the hospital so far, were in pieces on the equally rough floor.

Once his lungs were full to the point of exploding, he pushed the air back out. Then did it again. And a third time. Regardless of whether they were about to be attacked, his anxiety wouldn't help.

"Nate", Isaiah's voice came over his comms. The man smiled, it was probably a good thing he'd taken a moment to calm himself, or that sudden intrusion on the thick, uncomfortable silence would have startled him.

"Go ahead."

"The Synths have been deployed."

"Copy that, good work Isaiah."

"This is A7-16", a new Synth, probably the squad leader, said. "Where would you like us?"

"Begin searching the roof, and move through the sixth floor once you're done. Wait for us there."

"Understood."

A modicum of relief teased into the ex-soldier's mind. Another dozen Synths wasn't a major force, but it meant their target couldn't escape from the roof, and they'd have a little more firepower if- when things went sideways.

He turned back to his teammates who were emerging from rooms they'd been searching. "How are we doing?"

Both met his gaze, eyes a little wider than they should have been.

"I thought the hard part was over", Jess said, smile a little wild. "I'd rather be back in that intersection."

The other man grunted. "Speak for yourself. I don't want to get shot again."

"That may end up happening again anyways", Nate said, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"Thanks."

He slapped the slender man on the shoulder. "That's what we're here for. Get back to work, break time's over."

"You're the one who started it", Jess grumbled as she slipped over to the next door.

The next ten minutes passed in silence, no sign of their target, but no attacks yet either. Nate almost wished something would happen. This is always the worst part of any mission: knowing you're against the clock, but not knowing when that clock would run out. It was infuriating.

Then again, something happening wasn't necessarily them finding their target, so maybe it was good-

"Nate", Isaiah's voice came back over his earpiece. "We have a few reports from the recon teams watching the airport that several Vertibirds just left, heading due west."

Toward us.

"Time's up", he muttered. Keying his mic he said louder, "copy that. B9-32, prepare for incoming. A7-16, keep a squad on the sixth floor to continue searching, send the other down to the first floor to support B9-32."

Both replied with a prompt "understood" and the ex-soldier caught his teammates looking at him nervously.

"We'll be fine", he said with a calm that wasn't reflected by his pounding heart. "We keep searching, find Andrew, and get out. We know they're coming, and have plenty of buffer between us and them. We do our jobs while the Synths do theirs. Got it?"

Grant and Jess exchanged a glance before nodding.

"Good." Without another word, Nate turned to open the last door in the hall.

There was no telling how many people Maxson would dispatch to come after this Synth. If Nate was wrong and he didn't know about Andrew, it might just be a light recon force. If they were behind this, depending on how much they wanted the intel he had, they could send a task force. Either way, their best bet was to find him as fast as they could and extract.

Despite his racing heart, some of the tension that had been pulling Nate's muscles tight began subsiding. The fight was coming, he knew that now, they just needed to be gone before it got to them.

As the ex-soldier searched the last door, another exam room, he did his best to estimate how long it would take the Vertibirds to reach the hospital. It wasn't that far from the airport, maybe 10 miles as the crow flies? It wouldn't be more than 15 minutes from takeoff to touchdown, and at least 5 of that had already been taken up.

Swinging the door shut again, he stalked into the hall where Jess and Grant were already beginning their own searches.

His focus now was making sure they did as much looking before the Brotherhood showed up as possible. That had to be his only focus. Not only would that mean they'd be out of harm's way sooner, but the Synths downstairs fighting to keep the Brotherhood forces off of them would take fewer losses.

If there was anything he learned from hanging around Li and her people, it was they valued the lives of Synths, even these ones, as much as their own. It was hard to argue with them considering the interactions he's had with the artificial humans.

It was hard to argue after seeing the determination in Sam's eyes as she volunteered herself for what was, essentially, a suicide mission.

Their mission continued, searching the building room by room, the only sounds for the next few minutes the quiet "clear!" callouts they'd been making all day. It really was an exercise in frustration; the building was massive, and they didn't have the resources to search it quickly. Even if they did, that would put them at even greater risk. Now, with a Brotherhood force of unknown strength breathing down his neck, Nate's discomfort grew with every second that ticked by in his head.

Then he heard them.

It was faint at first, so faint the ex-soldier thought he might be hearing his own heartbeat. But after a few seconds, the pounding of rotors grew loud enough through the concrete and plaster around him, it was obvious the sounds were coming from Vertibirds. Their time was up, and they still had a quarter of the fourth floor to go.

"A7-16", he said into his microphone. "Status."

"Brotherhood aircraft approaching", the monotonous response came. "We still have approximately two-thirds of the floor to investigate."

Great…

"What area has been searched?"

"We began at the southwest corner and moved outwards."

"Okay, get into position on the roof, prevent any Brotherhood forces from entering."

"Understood."

"X5-15?"

"We have reached the northwest corner and are beginning toward you. At this rate, we should have this floor searched in four minutes."

"Copy that."

Nate shared a glance with his teammates. Both had wide-eyed fear plastered to their faces. This would be the third time in 12 hours they were in a gunfight, and it was the first three of their lives. That would be enough to rattle anyone. Hell, it was almost a month deployed before Nate found himself in his first combat.

"The faster we get this done, the faster we get back to the Institute. Deep breaths, double-check everything you do. We don't need to make mistakes now."

There was a brief hesitation, Jess and Grant staring at him, both struggling to get their emotions in check.

"Got it", Conklin said with a curt nod, and she restarted her search. A moment later, Grant followed suit and the three of them damn near raced through each room, checking for any signs of activity.

Nothing.

Another room.

Nothing.

A third.

Nothing.

The pounding rotors were so loud now, it felt as though the Vertibirds were directly overhead. Hell, for all he knew they were.

A report sounded. It was a laser rifle, but- that was wrong. The ex-soldier paused to listen.

Another shot. And it came from below.

"B9-32, status."

"We have engaged enemy forces. They appear to be in powered armor."

A pit formed in Nate's stomach. Power armor? How? When did they get there? Had the Vertibirds dropped them off and circled around? No, that would have been obvious. Were these forces already in the area? A patrol?

"Numbers?"

"Unclear", the response came as more weapons' fire sounded from below. "At least ten separate units."

Ten? There was no way that was a normal patrol. Those numbers practically confirmed the ex-soldier's suspicions. The Brotherhood was responsible for this escape. But how?

Later, get your ass in gear and keep searching.

Hurrying from the room he was in, the infantryman dropped all semblance of subtlety. He ran down the halls, flinging doors open, searching each room as quickly as he could without being reckless. His teammates followed suit.

A few moments later, he heard more laser fire begin from the roof. Despite knowing they could transit out at any time, the knowledge they were pinned in on both sides, fighting against T60 power armor was… The ex-soldier's gut was tied in knots so tight he felt like he might puke. His heart was pounding so hard he felt it might burst from his chest.

As he slammed another door open, all that greeted him was another, empty office.

"Goddammit", he whispered, the small voice in the back of his head sneaking its way out. He didn't think he said it loud enough for Grant or Jess to hear, but it was still a slip-up. They were already scared, and they knew he was nervous. The last thing they needed at that point was more reason to worry. Worried people make mistakes, and the last thing they needed at that moment was a mistake.

"We're good", Nate muttered a little louder, hopefully, loud enough for his teammates to hear over their hurried footsteps pounding on the hard floor and crunching over debris.

The ex-soldier's earpiece crackled to life. "Sir", B9-32's voice came through, "We have had to retreat to the second floor. There are too many entrances on the bottom level to defend, at least 12 Brotherhood units have entered the building."

So much for that idea.

"How many people have you lost?"

"Five", the almost nonchalant answer came, "we have 31 units remaining."

31 people. That wasn't enough. Not to cover that many points of egress.

"X5-15, take your team downstairs and help shore up the defense."

"Understood", the Courser responded. Those gauss rifles would be a godsend against the power armor. It could buy them a few more minutes.

"Keep moving", he said to Jess and Grant. They still had 20 minutes of searching to go. That wasn't good enough.

That wasn't good enough. They have too much ground to cover, with only the three of them, and the two Coursers scouting ahead.

Fourth floor's out.

He made a call. Hopefully it was the right one. "Fourth floor's a no-go, move to the fifth."

The two scientists looked at him, faces wild with fear now. Nate couldn't lie to himself, he was scared too. They weren't ambushing the Brotherhood this time, they didn't have the element of surprise, the freedom of movement, and the advantage of violent action. Maxson's forces had all that now, and they were trapped.

No. Their Coursers met up with them at the service staircase in the next hall. We aren't trapped. We have the Relay.

That thought did very little to assuage the infantryman's fears. Almost two decades of being taught they were dead if they got pinched in a dead-end like this wasn't going to go away with some platitudes. They need to find Andrew, and they need to get the hell out of there.

The Coursers, one with Z1-14, and the other with X6-55 embroidered on their jackets led the way up the service staircase. Nate could hear the incredibly heavy steps from the T60 power armor lumbering up the stairs below, laser fire now a constant accompaniment. Even in the short time the ex-soldier piloted one of those suits, he came to appreciate just how incredibly powerful they were. That level of protection, the power to break through pretty much anything- it made their cumbersome movement and massive frames almost non-factors.

Unless they were fighting Damon, that is.

Yeah, well, he isn't here.

Z1-14 swung the door to the fifth floor open and surged into the hall beyond. This one was offices and labs, rows upon rows of them. The ex-soldier groaned internally. That was the absolute last thing they needed. But they couldn't stop. They had to keep going.

"Stay close, no wandering", Nate said as his fireteam followed the Coursers out in the hall. "You two are on point, but stay within sightlines."

"Understood", the Synths replied in unison. Grant and Jess… they looked damn near catatonic.

"Hey, we've got a job to do. If we don't find Andrew, everyone in the Institute will be at risk. Think about everything and everyone we're fighting for. Think about everything you've accomplished." The ex-soldier loaded the last sentence with as much implication as he could. "If the Brotherhood gets their hands on the information Andrew has, all of that is in danger. Now suck it up, and let's go."

Those words were as much for him as they were for his teammates. Nate's heart pounded so hard it hurt, and his hands were shaking to the point holding his rifle was difficult. He'd never had power armored soldiers coming after him, but he'd supported plenty during his time serving. They were terrifying, and now he had a platoon's worth up his ass. Maybe more.

As they began searching the fifth floor, the ex-soldier remembered that wasn't quite true. The Brotherhood had come after him twice before, in Diamond City, and when they attacked the Institute. There was a major difference between now and then though: Damon wasn't here.

Damon isn't here. Damon isn't here. I am. I have the forces I have and worrying about that now is only going to get everyone killed.

X6-55 swung a door open-

The Courser hesitated and Nate's heart leaped. Had she found the target? Were they done? Could they leave?

"Clear", the overly calm, almost disconnected voice came. The word set the infantryman's heart pounding again. He'd gotten his hopes up for no reason. Focus. Focus. Focus.

The gunfire from both above and below felt as though it were getting closer. That was probably just his imagination.

Right?

"A7-16, status."

"We are maintaining our defense at the roof access. Five power armor-equipped units were inserted on the roof. Two are down and the two Vertibirds retreated after we hit the cockpits. Three of our units are disabled."

That was… good. That was good. They only had three left to deal with up there, and it seems like after they lost three VTOLs that morning, they didn't want to risk any more.

But A7-16 only had five Synths left, including himself. Would that be enough to deal with the Brotherhood forces up there?

The next room Nate searched was some sort of testing lab. Other than the aging electronics and pieces of equipment he didn't recognize, nothing was in it.

"Copy. B9-32, what's your status?"

"We have lost eight more units, and dispatched three. However, an additional five Brotherhood soldiers have arrived. We have fallen back to the third floor."

Only two floors below theirs, and 23 Synths left, not including the Coursers. The little voice in the back of every soldier's head that quietly muttered "oh shit" when things got bad wasn't so little anymore. It was near the center of his thoughts as he searched the office attached to the testing lab.

"X5-15, status."

"We have flanked the Brotherhood force and dis-"

The rest of the Courser team leader's answer was cut off.

That pit in the ex-soldier's stomach doubled in size and he stopped, mid-stride.

"X5-15", he repeated. "X5-15?"

Nothing.

"Isaiah, do you copy?"

Nothing.

The ex-soldier pulled the radio from his vest. It was on, and the channel hadn't been changed. If nothing was wrong with his comms-

Their signal was being jammed.

Ice replaced Nate's blood, running through him so quickly it felt as though his entire body had turned into it. His heart struggled against the strain, and both of his arms were trembling now. His breath was coming in deep, painful heaves, and he could feel another episode crowding over him like a terrifying, black storm.

What were they going to do? What could they do? They couldn't signal for transit without comms. They were stuck, attackers both above and below. How were they going to get out? Were they going to die? Is this how it would all end? Here? Without ever having made up for what happened?

"Nate?" a quiet voice came from behind him. The ex-soldier twisted around so quickly he almost sent himself tumbling into the office's large desk.

Jess was standing in the doorway, staring at him.

Her eyes were glistening.

No- no he couldn't- he couldn't let it end there. He couldn't let these people down- his people down. They were his responsibility, and he wasn't going to abandon people he swore to keep safe again.

NOT AGAIN.

"Let's get to the roof, we're scrubbing this mission. We'll meet up with A7-16, deal with the forces on the roof and move down to assist B9-32. Since they're jamming comms, we fall back and use the roof as an escape."

"Wh- what about Andrew?" There was more than just concern for the Institute in her wavering, she was worried about the Synth.

Nate shook his head. "We can't risk it. If we stay here, we die, and if we die, he falls into the Brotherhood's hands anyway." His eyes dropped to the floor momentarily. "I'm sorry."

When he met her gaze again, it wasn't the anger or disappointment he'd expected.

Jess was relieved.

Did that mean he was making the right call? The ex-soldier didn't know, but it was the call he was making.

"Let's go", he said softly. The two of them exited back into the hall where Grant and the two Coursers were waiting.

"Lead us to the roof. We're rendezvousing with the forces there, eliminating the Brotherhood above us, then bringing the others up to use it as an escape. We're abandoning our target."

Both Synths looked at me with the same, dead-eyed expression they always had.

"Is that a wise decision?" X6-55 asked.

"We're gonna end up dead if we don't, which means it wouldn't matter anyway." He wasn't in the mood for a debate on the matter. "Get moving."

Without another word, the two Coursers turned to march toward the set of service stairs at the end of the hall. In them, the sounds of laser fire reverberated up the concrete and metal chute from only a few floors below. That was a reminder the ex-soldier didn't need.

The five of them hurried up to the sixth floor and, once they burst through the steel service door, rushed through the crumbling halls until they found the roof access.

By the time they climbed the small flight of stairs and arrived at the exit where sunlight and gunfire were pouring through, another one of A7-16's Synths had gone down. With the exchange of laser fire spearing into the doorway, it was impossible to tell where the Brotherhood soldiers were or how many were left.

"A7-16", Nate called over the sounds of fighting, "our communications are being jammed. We're here to assist in clearing the roof."

The squad leader backed down the stairs, away from the lances of brilliant blue and red. "Does this mean you have found the target?."

"Negative", the ex-soldier shook his head, "but if we stay here everyone is going to end up dead." He turned to the Coursers. "Can you two get outside and flank the Brotherhood forces up there?" The two Synths nodded in unison. "As soon as you're in position, open fire. We'll support once you do."

"Understood", Z1-14 responded as the two of them began fading from view. As usual, Nate found himself marveling at that technology. How useful would that have been when he was in?

Slipping back up the stairs, A7-16 relayed the new orders to his remaining three Synths. They continued taking regular potshots through the door at the power-armored soldiers. They must have been able to concentrate their fire on the two they'd killed. That's the only way their enhanced laser weapons would be able to punch through T60. Eventually. That's what would have to work here. The Coursers' gauss rifles could do it, if they hit the right spot though, and that's what they were all counting on.

Nate took position behind the white armored Synths-

And waited.

It seemed like an unbearably long pause, red laser fire spearing in, blue beams shooting out in return, the sounds of battle raging below clawing at the infantryman's ears and the back of his mind. A quick check of his Pipboy told him it had only been 30 seconds since the Coursers faded away, but each second felt as though it were dragging on as long as possible. Each second felt like it wanted to prolong every instant of nervous tension.

Nate took a deep breath, trying to calm his pounding heart. He had to relax, the shaking in his arms would make him useless in a gunfight. And they were about to have a gunfight.

As if on cue, the strange, piercing report of the Coursers' gauss rifles exploded from the roof and the incoming laser fire dropped off. Taking that as their opportunity, the remaining four Synths surged out onto the roof, blue beams flying.

More than a little hesitant, the ex-soldier forced himself to the door and leaned around it just enough to bring his rifle to bear. For such a small fight, the roof was chaos, backlit by the late morning sunlight. Laser bolts were spraying back and forth, a half dozen bodies, both Brotherhood and Institute littering the crumbling concrete. As he watched, one of the Synths and the penultimate power armored soldier fell.

The last was standing beside a massive air conditioning unit a few dozen feet from the door, shooting at the trio of approaching Synths. One of the bolts scored a hit on A7-16's shoulder, but the squad leader continued forward armor smoking.

The ex-soldier would be damned if he let them take any more punishment than they needed to. This was his idea, he'd better see it through.

With another deep breath, he pressed the handguard of his rifle against the doorframe to steady its shaking and took aim at the Brotherhood soldier. Nate almost scoffed; even with the support, his arms were trembling so badly, he could barely keep his sights on the fighter's head.

Focus.

The infantryman did as best he could and squeezed off a round. He didn't know if it was on purpose or pure chance, but the round hit the Brotherhood soldier in the head. The impact didn't kill them, but they stopped firing and tried to crabwalk around the HVAC unit-

Just in time for more gauss rifle fire to sound.

Sparks flew as the hypersonic projectiles crashed into the side of their target. And then another volley as the soldier disappeared from the ex-soldier's views.

On the third, Nate watched as their last target tumbled from behind the air conditioner and lay motionless on the cracked concrete roof.

They'd done it. The roof was clear.

A not insignificant wave of relief washed over the ex-soldier. They weren't trapped anymore. They had an escape.

But the job wasn't done.

"Back downstairs", he shouted. They needed to go; their forces below didn't have the luxury of surprise, or the advantage of space. They were fighting through tight halls and more soldiers.

As the now eight-person group hurried back toward the nearest service staircase, Nate found himself wondering when the Brotherhood developed jamming. Technology. It wasn't complicated, flooding the air with powerful radio waves to overwhelm any receiver, but why hadn't they used it before this? It wasn't like-

The building shook.

The building shook.

The hospital was a sturdily built structure, concrete, and steel, with deep foundations and massive supports holding everything up. For it to shake…

Bombs. Had the Brotherhood brought bombs? Something that large-

A gunshot exploded into the tight, crumbling hallway they were in, and the ex-soldier barely had time to register it before a second sounded. And a third.

Nate flung himself to the ground and scurried toward an adjoining corridor a few feet ahead.

Before he could reach it, a fourth, and fifth report sounded. They weren't the odd, somewhat muted laser gunshots, they were the deep, booming explosions of conventional weapons' fire, damn near deafening in the confines of the hospital.

And it was something big.

As suddenly as it started, the shooting stopped. Listening for movement was useless, the ex-soldier's ears were ringing so hard he could barely hear himself think.

There weren't many spots for shooters to hide in the corridor which meant they were probably dealing with a small group at worst. Whatever they were shooting was large caliber and semi-automatic. That information wasn't helpful beyond the knowledge the armor he was wearing probably wouldn't stop it. If it had been one shooter though, they were firing so quickly the shots couldn't have been very accurate.

Glancing to his right, he saw Jess, sitting across the hall from him, back against the wall, knees pulled to her chest, hands clamped over her ears. The scientist's eyes were screwed shut. He shouldn't have brought her or Grant. They weren't ready for this. The warehouse, that was something they'd planned and drilled. This was the wild, uncontrolled violence of normal combat, not a carefully practiced ambush.

Beside her, the two Coursers were crouched, X6-55 aiming partway down the hall, and Z1-14 covering Nate. Blood was pooling at his feet. The Synth had been hit, but he showed no signs of it.

"What's the situation?" the ex-soldier whispered, the ringing in his ears finally beginning to subside.

X6-55 shifted as she aimed further down the corridor. "Unknown number of hostiles. Grant and the other Synths are dead."

The world froze. Grant- Grant was dead? No… No. No, that couldn't be right. She couldn't be-

Without thinking, Nate peaked around the corner-

And found the tall, slender man lying in the rubble-strewn hall amid the dead Synths. He was face up, half of his head missing, splattered across the floor behind his body.

Grant was- Grant was gone. Grant was gone.

"You son of a bitch", Nate whispered. Whoever had ambushed them- it was the Brotherhood, right? It had to be. They'd gotten someone past the battle downstairs. That was the only reasonable explanation.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" The infantryman's voice came out in a roar this time and he twisted back behind the corner, the small voice in his head wondering how he was still breathing.

He- he brought Grant along on this, he'd brought both of them. Grant was dead and- and they were probably next. Somehow, in the torrent of anger, grief, and regret, he still noticed each shot their attacker fired had hit. The only one that wasn't a headshot was the one that hit Z1-14. Who the hell could do that? Who could fire a large caliber rifle accurately at that rate?

An answer teased at the back of his mind, but the ex-soldier wasn't listening. Whoever it was, they'd killed one of his teammates. Nate didn't care who it was, he was going to make sure he took them to hell with him.

As his heart pounded so loud in his ears, it almost deafened him, the infantryman realized something else: there was no more fighting downstairs. Was that his imagination? The shaking from before, what was that? Was it… explosives?

"Sir", Z1-14 said quietly, his voice breaking apart the thin shell of fury Nate had constructed around himself. "If we remain here, we will be flanked."

Flanked? They'd be-

The ex-soldier's mind brought the image of Grant's body back, laying in a pool of brain matter and spreading blood.

Whoever did that was dangerous, and if they'd taken out the three Synths in the same instant…

His anger began melting into fear. Who were they dealing with?

"R- right." First step was to get across to them. If the fighting was over downstairs, they needed to investigate, see what happened. Right? If the Brotherhood had won, and they were pinned down, this fight was over anyway. They needed to find out what happened. If the Coursers could cover the hall, Nate would take point moving toward the staircase, Jess and Grant-

A lump crept so far up his throat it felt like he was about to puke.

One step at a time.

"I'm coming to you", Nate said, doing everything he could to steady his voice. Both Coursers nodded, and the infantryman held up three fingers.

Then two.

Then one.

As soon as his hand closed to a fist, the Synths peered around the corner and began firing their gauss weapons down the corridor. Neither of them knew where the target was, but it didn't matter; they just needed to keep the attacker's head down until Nate was across.

He didn't waste any time. While the incredibly high-speed projectiles tore through the hall, he scrambled behind the Coursers. Once he was safely in cover again, they backtracked around the corner and resumed their posts.

Conklin was still sitting on the floor, hands clasped over her ears.

"Hey. Jess", Nate said softly, "we need to go." He set his hand on her shoulder. "We can't let whoever got Grant kill us too, okay?"

After a moment of silence, which by itself was disconcerting, she looked up to meet his gaze. Jess had always been confident. She was competent and proud.

Now the ARD scientist looked lost. If Nate was honest with himself, that's how he was feeling too. But he couldn't let that affect him. He was responsible for her, and the two remaining Synths he knew were alive. Coming here had been a mistake, but that couldn't stop him now, he had to get the rest of them out.

"We need to get downstairs."

"Down- downstairs? Why would we go downstairs?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"Whoever ambushed us will expect us to go up, and we need to see what happened."

Another few seconds of confused staring later, Jess nodded and struggled to her feet.

"Good. I'll take point", Nate looked at the Coursers. "I want you two on our six."

"Understood", they replied in unison.

Shoving the roiling thoughts and emotions that crowded his mind as far away as possible, the ex-soldier began down the hall toward the southeast corner where another service staircase was waiting. Every step he took, every door he passed, and every dilapidated intersection he crossed felt like it would be his last. He had no way of knowing where the next attack would come, and his eyes darting to every alcove and shadow didn't help. There were too many places to hide, too many possible ambush spots.

It didn't matter though. As he walked, Nate forced the fear and panic as far away as he could. Whoever this was, were they a third party? Did they stumble into someone's home, like he and Damon had with Curie? And if it was only one attacker, who the hell was it?

Reaching the steel door leading into the service staircase, the infantryman signaled the three behind him to stop. They waited a moment, looking up and down the dim, rubble-strewn hall.

Nothing.

How was there nothing? No shooting from below, no sounds of pursuit, no heavy thuds of power armor moving, not even the pounding rotors of the Vertibirds. What the hell was going on?

The fear floating around the back of his mind began twisting into outright terror. The air in the hospital was thick and heavy. Nate felt as though someone was watching them, stalking them, waiting to pounce.

He felt like they were being hunted.

Keep moving.

With a push, the infantryman swung the door open with a painfully loud creak-

Nothing.

Nothing was waiting for him in the darkened staircase, no one there to shoot at him.

That may have been worse if there had been. A few moments ago, the Synths were fighting a pitched battle against their encroaching Brotherhood enemies.

And now it was silent, save for his and Jess's ragged breathing.

Keep moving.

Nate crept into the staircase, footsteps almost embarrassingly loud on the steel platform. He swept his rifle around, looking for any potential threats.

Nothing.

Heart pounding so hard it hurt, the infantryman began down the stairs to the fourth floor. The others followed behind, Z1-14 pulling the door shut behind him.

The small group continued down the staircase until they reached the third floor, a journey that, while it couldn't have been more than 30 seconds, felt as though it stretched into eternity. Each clanging step was startling, each breath was labored, every noise imagined or real, was their attacker coming to finish the job. The staircase felt like it was constricting around them, suffocating them, trying to end them.

Eventually, they reached the door to the third floor.

And Nate could smell the burnt flesh.

It wasn't a pleasant odor. An acrid mixture of sour and sickly sweet, it made the ex-soldier want to puke.

Motioning for the others to halt, he tapped the door handle. Warm but not hot.

"55", he whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear. He waved her down and pointed at the door. The Courser nodded and crept passed a still lost-looking Jess.

Nate grabbed the handle and held up three fingers again. Then two. One.

On zero, he pulled the door open and X6-55 slipped out. The ex-soldier followed on her heels and the two of them split to either side of the hall they emerged into.

Bodies.

Among the charred and burnt rubble, plasterboard, ceiling tiles, and the occasional piece of furniture were a half dozen bodies, including two in blackened T60 power armor. Behind the fear and revulsion, Nate realized whatever did this was an incendiary device. With the amount of soot, smell of burnt flesh, and relatively little structural damage, there was no way this had been conventional explosives.

That meant whoever set it up was, one, not with the Brotherhood considering the two bodies lying 10 feet away, and two, knew exactly what they were doing.

Keep moving.

"Clear", he whispered, and X6-55 responded in kind an instant later.

Jess exited the stairs into the hall behind him, followed by Z1-14 who, again, swung the door shut.

The ex-soldier keyed his mic again. "This is Nate, is anyone still alive?" The question seemed ridiculous, but considering the remains he was looking at, it was difficult to believe anyone survived. "Isaiah, do you copy?"

Nothing.

Their comms were still being jammed. The question was becoming less and less how though, and more who.

"Let's keep moving."

After receiving nods in return, Nate began down the corridor, careful to avoid the bodies lying in prone, charred messes on the now bare concrete floor. The smell was so overpowering, he had to actively combat his gag reflex.

They continued through the halls, searching for possible survivors, careful to avoid making themselves easy targets. The entire floor was a cinder, and the more Nate saw the more he was convinced this ambush was planned. He rounded another corner to find three more Brotherhood soldiers lying dead in their burnt power armor.

Whoever did this had waited until the fighting had moved to the third floor before detonating. It was clinical, and while it wasn't clean, the damage was very intentional.

Despite wandering the halls for five minutes, the smell didn't improve at all. If anything, the ex-soldier felt himself growing more and more disgusted by it. The look on Jess's face told him she felt much the same.

They were wasting their time though no one-

The only warning Nate had was an almost imperceptible whoosh before something came crashing through a door beside them, sending splinters scattering along with the four of them in a deafening boom.

Something heavy slammed into the ex-soldier's chest- or he slammed into it, Nate couldn't tell. If he hadn't been wearing a chest plate, it probably would have cracked a few ribs. As it was, the infantryman grunted in pain as he rolled to his left, pulling his rifle to bear-

BOOM.

A gunshot went off in the confined space and something crashed into his chest, even harder than whatever he'd hit. The impact drove the air from his lungs and sent spears of pain stabbing through his torso. It felt like someone had hit him with a baseball bat. Stars exploded in his vision, his ears were already ringing from the report, and his head was swimming.

Tumbling backward to the hard floor, the only thing that kept Nate from blacking out was sheer force of will. He pushed past the pain, and terror, and exhaustion, and breathlessness to lean over onto his side and shove his rifle into position again-

He didn't understand what he was looking at. Did he hit his head? Did he have a concussion? Was he hallucinating?

It was-

"COME ON!" Jess screamed over the ringing in his ears, pulling the ex-soldier to his feet. "WE NEED TO GO!"

Nate looked at her, breathless, and confused.

"Bu-" he began to wheeze, but she wasn't going to wait for him. The ARD scientist grabbed his arm and began sprinting down the hall, pulling him along. The infantryman didn't have the strength to resist. He was just… what was going on?

Another deafening BOOM went off behind them. Even with his ears buzzing anew, he heard the sickening sounds of bones snapping and something wet tearing. Nate tried to look back over his shoulder, but before he could, his teammate pulled him into an adjoining passage. Suddenly, she was the one taking charge when he was confused, dazed, and useless.

They made another turn, and the ex-soldier realized she was leading him toward another of the service staircases. She was trying to get them out.

But why?

Why were they running?

"Stop", he wheezed again. "Stop!"

Conklin glanced over her shoulder at him. "Do you want to die?!"

"No, we'll-"

"We won't. We won't be fine."

As they rounded another corner, the door to another service staircase appeared in front of them.

And X5-15 with the other two Coursers Nate sent down during the attack.

The entire left side of the fireteam leader's body was charred, his dark brown jacket now black, but he was on his feet, running toward them. The other two had various burns, blackened clothes, and one of them had lost their gauss rifle.

When he saw them, X5-15 stopped and turned back for the door, waving for them to follow. "We must leave. Our signals are being jammed."

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Nate found himself relieved to see the three of them alive. Not everyone had been killed in the explosion. More than that, the Coursers hadn't. That gave them a fighting chance.

A fighting chance? We don't need a fighting chance…

Do we?

Swinging it open, the Synth ushered them through before slamming it back into place. They dashed down the stairs, Nate mostly in a daze as he was dragged along, half stumbling his way behind Jess.

A few seconds later, the five of them burst through the door onto the first level, unmarred by the incendiaries, and they began sprinting down the hall. As they did, some of the ex-soldier's senses returned to him. Of course, they had to run. Why the hell would he think otherwise? Everyone else was dead. Everyone. Coursers, Synths, Brotherhood soldiers, it didn't matter. Everyone was dead.

The cold, hard fear coalesced into a lead ball in his gut. He'd been right, they were being hunted. If they couldn't get out of the hospital, they were dead too.

Nate didn't want to die. Not here. Not like this.

The terror clutching at his heart, crawling up his throat, threatening to envelop every part of his mind… he'd never felt that before. In his almost two decades serving- he'd never known what it was to be truly afraid.

Running down a hall, the occasional corpse to remind him of the fight that was utterly pointless after everything, he knew what real fear was.

As they weaved through the dark, pressing halls, it felt as though they were running in place. Nate knew they weren't far from any exit, but each step stretched on and on like he had to tick minutes off before he took the next. They were running for their lives, and it was from an enemy that, in a matter of seconds, had eliminated three dozen combatants.

Silence wrapped itself around them, burying the fleeing group in a mountain of-

BOOM.

Another gunshot ripped through the hallway and Nate watched the left side of X5-15's neck explode in a shower of blood. The Courser tumbled to the ground as the other two turned to face their attacker. Nate did as well, but before he could register anything, something massive, hard, and incredibly heavy collided with his chest.

The blow hit harder than whatever he'd been shot with and, as he tumbled backward down the hall, he felt his rifle sling draw taut, and snap.

Nate crashed to the floor, staring up at the broken ceiling, wide-eyed, gasping for breath. Just underneath the pounding of his own heart, the ex-soldier heard another sickening snap as something dropped to the floor with a thud. This time, he couldn't bring himself to sit up; his lungs were on fire, his head felt like it was going to explode, and he couldn't make any sense of the situation.

Everything had gone wrong. Everything. And just like the rest of the Institute and Brotherhood forces, he was about to die there.

Before any other thoughts could tear through his mind, X5-15's face appeared above him. Most of his face did anyway. The skin and muscle were missing from the lower left side of his head, strands and blood hanging from the wound, and the Courser's jaw hung half-open like a bad horror movie.

Except this wasn't a bad horror movie.

The ex-soldier knew he should have been disgusted, but the panic and fury flooding his mind didn't leave room for anything else.

With a loud grunt, the Courser pulled Nate to his feet and ushered him down the hall, away from the sounds of a losing fight. Jess was there, ahead of him, already stumbling forward. They barely reached the next intersection and scrambled into another hall when a loud crash came from behind them, followed by another gunshot.

And Nate knew the other two Coursers were dead.

They weren't going to make it- they were going to die there too.

Keep. Moving.

The ex-soldier did. He kept placing one foot in front of the other, being led along by the only remaining Synth. As the three of them turned down another corridor, the ex-soldier knew they were nearing one of the exits. Their mad dash was almost over, the outside only a dozen seconds away.

But he also felt the world closing in on him. The darkness around them collapsing, coalescing, taking shape. He could feel it reaching out toward him, ready to pull him back away from his salvation just a few more panicked moments away.

He knew they weren't going to make it.

And he was right.

Just as they were about to round the final corner leading to the ER entrance to the hospital, a massive form shot from an adjoining passage and crashed into X5-15. The Courser was sent careening into the wall on the opposite side of the hall with a distinct crunch. Before the Synth could respond, the figure reached out, hauling him to his feet, then lifting him from the ground before bringing the man down over a knee.

The sounds of splintering bone and tearing ligaments were so loud, it was almost like another gunshot. When their attacker released the now dead body, it lolled to the ground, practically broken in two, the only thing holding the sack of shattered bones that used to be X5-15 together, skin and muscle.

That fear- that terror Nate had been feeling, the unbridled panic that had been encroaching on him took form.

The dark, blood-drenched armored form of Damon straightened to his full, immense height, seemingly filling the hallway, looming over Jess and himself. Nate took a shaking step back, staring up into the SPARTAN's impassive golden visor.

And he knew the hunt was over.

Next Chapter: 6/3, Relief and Terror