A/N: It's Friday (for me) and you know what that means! Tomorrow's Saturday! Bad jokes aside, I've enjoyed posting weekly. I was a little worried at first I wouldn't be able to keep up, but if anything, it's been motivating. I posted a really fun chapter of The Wounds We Carry last week that actually ties into this and the next chapter thematically if you know what to look for. Now, we're still with Nate and there's a good reason for that: the Institute's story became a bit more complicated than I originally thought it might, but that's okay. I've very much enjoyed writing these last 10 chapters, and I'm excited for what's to come. Anyway, leave a review if you're so inclined and, as always, enjoy!

Chapter 41: A Plan Only Lasts…

Nate shared a long, quiet morning with Jess. It was an hour or so before anyone else showed up in the cafeteria, and even when someone did exit onto the landing, they kept their distance. It wasn't a surprise word had gotten around the Institute by then; if the ex-soldier had learned anything about it, besides the obvious, it was people liked gossiping. He supposed it made sense considering they were stuck in an underground bunker their entire lives.

Had word gotten around it was Damon who attacked them though? It didn't really matter, did it? No one here besides Nate and maybe Conklin would want to ally with the SPARTAN. Hopefully, they could get Li on their side. To everyone else, the walking nightmare was another enemy coming after the Institute. That seemed pretty common for them. It must have been a sad existence, to know everyone wanted you dead.

Not that Nate could blame the wastelanders for that. The Institute was their boogeyman for a reason.

The two of them took the better part of another hour to finish nursing their glasses. By then, the commons was buzzing with activity, and their silent companionship was gone.

"Shaun and Ayo are probably going to want to talk with me", the ex-soldier mused, examining his empty cup more intently than it ever needed to be. It wasn't going to be a fun conversation. They'd be trying to plan the SPARTAN's death, again, and he'd have to play along, at least to an extent.

"Yep… I don't envy you for that one." Conklin pushed herself away from the table and stood. "I never got a chance to file a full report. We need to figure out some way to add Damon to the simulator."

Nate snorted. "Good luck with that."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "You can't help?"

"Maybe. I never asked to carefully study his physical capabilities while we traipsed across the Commonwealth."

"Yeah", she said, "I suppose not."

Standing, the ex-soldier nodded. "I'll see you this afternoon."

"Yep."

With that, the two of them parted ways, Nate heading for his son's office, Jess for the Advanced Research Division. Climbing the stairs to the large, sparsely adorned office felt… odd. It was both easier, knowing regardless of what happened to him now, there was someone out there to finish things, and harder, because he had another conflict to play two sides of.

They would, undoubtedly, want to kill Damon. Problem was Nate had no idea where to begin. And if he didn't, they sure as hell wouldn't.

"Father", Shaun said as he keyed the steel sliding door to the office open. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Oh just great, rib cage caved in, lost a squadmate, best friend tried to kill me… couldn't be better." Nate didn't mean for that to come out as bitter as it did.

"I see", the Institute leader said, voice carefully neutral as always. "Dr. Ayo will be joining us shortly, however, I wanted to go over a few things before he arrived."

The ex-soldier gently lowered himself into one of the chairs in front of Shaun's desk, wincing as his sternum throbbed in pain. "Shoot."

"You stated we would be unable to track Damon down yesterday." He frowned. "I understand you were in a difficult position, both physically and emotionally, and I would like to know if you still believe that."

Did he still believe that? "My emotions weren't running the show yesterday", Nate retorted. It was… at least partially true. "But to answer your question, yes, I still believe that."

"Care to expand on why?"

"Where would you start looking?"

Shaun's frown deepened. "I don't understand."

"It isn't a trick question. Where would you start looking if you wanted to find him?"

"I believe our best method would be to track all Brotherhood caravans and wait for another to be ambushed. If Damon was truly the one attacking them, it would lead us to him."

That was a little better than the answer Nate was expecting, but it still wasn't a good one. "And he would know that. There have been, what, 14 or 15 attacks on caravans in the past month we weren't responsible for, all stripped of their supplies. He doesn't need any more. On top of that, he knows that's a likely way for us to find him."

"Do you believe he has thought that far ahead?" the Institute leader asked. "Do you believe he waited until he had the supplies he deemed necessary before revealing himself again?"

It was Nate's turn to frown. "I… hadn't thought of it like that but yeah, that would make sense."

"So you believe he will not be engaging in any more supply raids."

"I don't know", the ex-soldier shrugged, "but if he does, they will be for a very good reason, and we can't take them at face value. We don't know what game he's playing yet, so jumping on one with the hopes of ambushing him would be a good way to get our asses kicked again."

Shaun nodded. "That is a reasonable conclusion. So you believe, if we are to attempt to engage him in this manner, we would need to determine his motives, which will help us deduce how he will attack."

It… wasn't that simple, but they could start there. "Yes", Nate replied.

"How do you propose we go about doing that?"

"I think we need time. I'm not in his head, so I don't know for sure, but I don't think Damon knows what his motives are yet. It seemed like he was just operating on instincts, doing what he was trained to… Or maybe I'm way off base and he's working a long game." Nate shrugged again. "I had ten minutes to talk to him and most of those were spent trying not to shit myself."

The white-haired man nodded. "So we need more information."

"Yes."

Footsteps pounding up the staircase signaled Ayo's arrival. When the door slid open to admit the small man, he was wearing his usual, mildly irritated frown. It was almost like when he put his black and white coveralls on, that came with the getup.

"Dr. Ayo", Shaun said, "I am glad you could join us. We were just beginning our discussion on how to handle the current situation."

"Do you think it's wise to include your father in these conversations", the SRD leader said as he came to a stop in front of the desk, glaring at Nate. "You and I both know he was upset after the attempt to put the target down the first time. How do we know he will not attempt to subvert our efforts?"

I am going to subvert your efforts, asshat. "He told me the next time he saw me I'd get a bullet in the head", the infantryman retorted. "Seems like a good enough reason to me."

"We are going off of your word. How are we to know you were unaware of his status the entire time? It seems awfully convenient he'd show up and attack right when a vital Synth went missing." The small, bald man smiled razor-thin at the ex-soldier. "We do not know if he was involved in planning that operation."

Planning that operation? Who the fuck do you think you are? Nate shot to his feet, ignoring the sharp lance of pain that shot into his chest.

"I lost a goddamn squad member in that ambush. A squad member Damon killed. Not to mention a few dozen Synths I was responsible for." He jammed a finger in the shorter man's chest. "If you're suggesting I helped plan their deaths, we're gonna be short a division leader very soon."

"No", Ayo replied calmly, shaking his head, "only that you're working with your friend to undermine the Institute-"

"Enough!" Shaun was likewise standing. "This is not productive." He looked at Nate. "Please sit, father, and allow me to handle this." The ex-soldier blinked before turning his eyes back on the man standing in front of him. He tried his best to burn a hole through Ayo's head with his glare.

"Fine", Nate said eventually before taking his seat. His glare never left the SRD leader.

The Institute leader cleared his throat before sitting as well. "Dr. Ayo, I understand your concern, however throwing around spurious accusations will not help our cause. If we wish for this to be a productive conversation, we need to cooperate."

Silence fell over the office as Ayo and Nate stared each other down. Even with his broken ribs, the ex-soldier was certain he could throttle the smaller man. Hell, he'd probably never been in a fight before.

After a few seconds of quiet glares, Ayo relented and sat as well. "So how do you propose we go about eliminating this new threat?"

"We have already ruled out trying to track him from another caravan ambush. If we did find one under attack by Damon, it would be too risky to follow up on it. As my father pointed out, any obvious signs we got about the target would most likely be a trap."

"Agreed", Ayo said, glancing at the ex-soldier. "We are aware of several key groups he is connected to. Going after one of those would be a serviceable option."

Nate scoffed. "Did you not hear what I said last night? We do that and things get very bad very fast."

"How so?" the SRD leader retorted, eyes locked onto Nate's once more. "Are you really so scared of this man you're willing to allow him to operate carte blanche because he told you he would come after us? How would he attack us? Our Molecular Relay is far more secure than it was when you and the Brotherhood infiltrated our facility, and there is no other way in."

"I don't know", Nate hissed. "That's why I'm saying we need to take it slow. I don't know what Damon is planning, what resources he has access to, or what he's capable of when he puts his mind to it. Every fight I've ever been in with him was in the moment with little or no time to plan. And he's won every single time." Well, not every time. "He's had a month to think about how to do this. Until we know more, trying something stupid like going after Sanctuary would probably be a great way to commit suicide."

Shaun cleared his throat before Ayo could retort. "I am in agreement with my father. Instead of focusing on how to eliminate the threat, we need to treat this as if it were a complex topic and we are searching for a solution." The older man stood and turned to the wall-to-wall window overlooking the hub. "We have prided ourselves on solving problems, innovating new technologies, and constructing machinery beyond the dreams of even those before the bombs fell. Every endeavor starts with gathering information. Without that information, we are working in the dark, and our solution will be the wrong one." The Institute leader looked back at Nate and Ayo. "If we come up with the wrong solution this time, it means the end of the Institute, either at the hands of the Brotherhood or Damon."

The speech was a little preachy for Nate's taste, but it made sense.

And it gave him an angle to play for time.

Nodding his agreement, he half feigned a thoughtful frown. "We need information, but more than that, we need time. Damon is mostly focused on the Brotherhood, for now. That means they not only have us to deal with, but they have to fight him as well." The ex-soldier glanced at Ayo. "And I can tell you, they're more scared of him than they are of us. That means the more he disrupts their operations, the easier things will be. Our current goal needs to be to figure out a way to fight him before he does enough damage to the Brotherhood they're no longer a major threat. That's when he's going to come after us."

Ayo looked decidedly unconvinced. "You expect me to believe the Brotherhood, who came here with the explicit goal of eliminating us, are more scared of one man than the Institute."

"You didn't see what he did to them in Diamond City."

"You are correct, I did not. However, he is only one man. I do not believe we should place that much faith on his interference."

What was the best way to approach this? If he pushed too far, they might suspect something was up, but if he didn't impress Ayo with how dangerous Damon could be if they made the wrong move, it wouldn't matter.

"Dr. Ayo… have you ever seen a Deathclaw?"

"I don't see how this is relevant, but yes, I have seen recordings of them."

Nate shook his head. "No, I mean in person. Of course you haven't. They're 15-foot tall lizards with claws the size of your forearm, fast enough to close just about any distance they want, and tough enough to take a .50 cal." He leaned forward in his chair; it may have been a bit melodramatic, but he was going for impact. "Damon took on seven of them. He killed three hand to hand. And that was on a dare. I have no interest in finding out who would win in a fight between him and the Institute until we have a lot more information."

"I still don't-"

"The point is fucking around with Damon is a really, really bad idea. If we're going to do this, we're going to do this right."

"Before we go any further off of our topic", Shaun interrupted, "I believe we all must assume my father is correct about this and Damon is someone we must consider a primary threat, even now."

The SRD leader still didn't look convinced, but he relented. "I understand. So how do you propose we go about overcoming this… obstacle."

"Non-confrontationally", Nate said. "I mean, ideally he would be on our side." He shot glances at both men. "That ship has clearly sailed. He doesn't like either of you, which makes sense considering you tried to kill him."

A sigh so tired and heavy came from the Institute leader, it sounded like he was trying to blow the desk over. "Yes, we understand you believe that was a mistake. We deemed him an imminent threat to the Institute at the time and acted accordingly. I've also made it clear I believe having Damon integrated into our regular operations would have been damaging to the overall goals of the Institute. It is too late to fix that now."

"Yeah… I got that. The point is, for whatever reason, he isn't attacking us yet. We need to keep it that way for as long as possible." The ex-soldier looked at Ayo. "That means no actions against Sanctuary or the Railroad until we figure out how we can fight him."

The two men shared a glance. "The Railroad?" Shaun said. "You would like us to cease operations to find the Railroad?"

"Yeah, that's what Damon said. As far as I know, Cass and Tommy are still with them. I guarantee the fastest way to put us at the top of his shit list is to do something to them."

Ayo scoffed. "Are you sure this is not your own biases playing into your analysis?"

A tense silence fell over the office as Nate turned to meet the smaller man's gaze, eyes on fire again. "You know what Ayo, you're right. If you do anything to those kids, you won't have to worry about Damon. I'll break your goddamn neck before he gets a chance to."

"Enough!" Shaun shouted again. "I have brought the both of you together over the past few weeks to determine two things: the best way to fight this war against the Brotherhood without the noise of a dozen other people and to find this group assisting escaped Synths. Damon is another problem we need to solve and arguing about it is only going to make things more difficult."

Several seconds passed, Nate's eyes still locked on the SRD leader, but he knew his son was right. Besides, at the end of everything, if it went off the way the ex-soldier had a suspicion it might, Damon would probably put a bullet between his eyes anyway.

"Agreed", Nate said. "So we need to figure out what he wants, and we have to do it without me, or Jess, going into the field again. At least not for a while."

He didn't like the prospect of being stuck in the Institute while everyone else was fighting, but getting his head blown off was definitely the less desirable of the two options.

For now.

They spent the next two hours coming up with precisely nothing. The problem was they had nowhere to start, at least nowhere concrete. What did Damon want? Nate had a few ideas, one in particular he thought might be the SPARTAN's motive, but if it was, this exercise didn't matter. If his friend's goal was to take out both the Brotherhood and the Institute, and then use whatever remained from the ashes to help the people of the Commonwealth, they had three options: fight him and lose (the likely outcome), fight him and win (the unlikely outcome), or find some way to ally with him. If they were going to ally with him, it wouldn't be with Shaun or Ayo at the head of the Institute.

And that's where his actual plan came into play. Well… he couldn't really call it a plan, maybe intent. As Jess said, someone else should probably come up with the plan this time.

In the end, they decided the best course of action, for now, was to expand their surveillance network to include any and all settlements to the north of the city. That would mean they could more easily track Brotherhood supply movements, and determine if Damon attacked again. If he did, they needed to be vigilant, and explicitly not attack him if anyone made contact.

On top of that, they needed to develop a way to get around the radio jamming signal the SPARTAN had used. It was pretty obvious that hadn't been the Brotherhood after everything. That's something Shaun would assign to Li.

Nate didn't convey what Damon had told him about their operation security though. That was for two reasons: first, it would hopefully signal to the armored titan he wasn't working for Shaun, at least not in full, and second, the better their opsec was, the harder Nate's job would be. He was sure they'd figure some of it out, but the ex-soldier wanted to keep them at least a little vulnerable.

"Alright", he said as he stood, wincing at the stabbing pain from his ribs. "Jess asked me to help with the new simulations they're working on." He resisted the urge to rub his chest. That would only make things worse. "First I think I'll go back to the infirmary and get a shot of whatever they gave me yesterday."

"They are putting together a simulation for Damon?" Shaun asked.

The ex-soldier nodded and turned to leave.

"I would like to be involved in the supervision of that-"

"Ayo", the infantryman interrupted, stopping just inside the office door. "Do me a favor and stay out of the specifics on this one. You don't trust me, and I don't trust you. There are too many things at play to let egos get in the way." He glanced over his shoulder at Shaun. "Can I ask you to trust me to do the job you gave me to do?"

A short silence followed his question. Nate hated lying like this, it made him feel dirty and conniving. The only reason he could tolerate it now was because of what it was for. No matter what he told himself or anyone else, he wasn't just doing this for the Institute, at least the people in it, or to beat the Brotherhood. He was doing it because he owed Damon his life multiple times over. He was doing it because it was the right thing to do.

"Yes", the white-haired man said eventually. "Please report back any developments."

Nate nodded. "Thank you."

The walk down to the infirmary was painful in more ways than one. His ribs were throbbing with every step he took through the white-washed halls, and he ached to get to the ARD and talk with Li. He needed to find out if there had been any progress in contacting the Institute. As he walked, a terrifying thought occurred to him: what if Damon had already found the Railroad? What if he was guarding them against any potential threat from the Institute. If that was the case, would their away party be at risk?

It was the worst kind of fear, they couldn't do anything about it. If they contacted Jackson's team, it might expose their purpose to the rest of the Institute's leadership, and it might expose them to the Brotherhood or the SPARTAN. All they could do is sit and wait. Especially the ex-soldier since he wasn't fond of being killed.

"Nate", Carter said as the infantryman entered the infirmary. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit, but broken ribs do that."

The nurse nodded in agreement. "Hopefully we'll see some progress tomorrow. Are you here for another Cortisone shot?"

Nate nodded.

"Okay, give me a few minutes to prepare one." He strode past the half dozen hospital beds and to a stainless steel cabinet.

"You know", Carter said as he worked, "this new development with Damon, how do you feel about it?"

Alarms in the ex-soldier's head started going off. He didn't let them show though.

"Well… It's complicated. I still like to think of the guy as my friend, but whatever happens, he's going to come after us eventually. That's trouble." He snorted. "Of course, everyone knows at this point, I think that's our fault, but there's nothing we can do about it now."

The nurse glanced up at him with a knowing gaze. "I don't believe that's what you really think."

Now Nate was on the defensive. "Why's that?"

"You forget I saw how upset you were when you woke up." He finished preparing the injection and motioned for the ex-soldier to sit in the chair by the cabinets. "Don't worry. I know most of the people here, especially those leading the war effort, think the only way forward is to kill him. I don't think that's what you think though." Nate sat and pulled his shirt up to reveal the large sleeve wrapped around his chest. "I take my oath very seriously, Nate. I don't agree with what Damon does, especially what he did when he ambushed you. I don't think we should allow him back in the Institute." As he knelt to administer the injection, Carter met the infantryman's eyes. There was an understanding in them. "But he's your friend, and you want to help him. I can't imagine what the two of you went through to get here."

With that, the nurse plunged the needle into a small port on the sleeve. A sharp sting made Nate wince, but he stayed as still as he could while the syringe was in him.

A moment later it was done and Carter stood. "That one should last a bit longer now your ribs have settled, and your body and the sleeve have started the healing process. Your chest will begin to itch tomorrow morning, but there is nothing we can do about that." He smiled apologetically. "It will be very uncomfortable."

Nate grunted. "Thanks for the reassurance."

"I always like to let my patients know what they're in for."

As the ex-soldier stood, he found Carter's eyes again. "I appreciate the understanding. All I want to do is the right thing."

Carter shrugged. "I think that's all most of us want."

I wish I could agree with that. Nate didn't say anything though. Instead, he merely nodded and left for the ARD.

X

"So you believe he can be won over", Li said as they and Jess stood in the makeshift training facility. There wasn't much to it since most of their 'live' training was actually in simulators. They'd essentially repurposed the shooting range to suit their needs.

"Yes", the ex-soldier said, nodding. "It's going to take time, and I don't think I can be the one to do it, but whatever effort we have to put into getting Damon on our side, we need to spend it."

The ARD leader's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure this isn't because you feel guilty over what happened?"

"Of course he does", Conklin interjected, "I don't think he'd be someone we could trust if he didn't. But I can tell you from first-hand experience anyone that who goes up against him is coming back in a body bag. That's the kind of firepower we need on our side."

Nate suppressed a smile. While that was true, it wasn't the entire reason. "We also need him from a logistics and support standpoint. If we have him operating on the outside, escaped Synths and the Railroad would have a much easier time moving around. He can provide recon support, and in a pinch, yes, he's the best fighter on the planet. That's without talking about his experience, and planning." The ex-soldier shrugged. "He's worth more than every Courser we have."

After a few heartbeats of silence, Madison nodded. "I completely agree. If he isn't going to trust you, and I was unable to speak with him enough to gain his trust, we'll have to be a bit more creative."

She fell silent, a thoughtful frown on her face. The relative quiet extended on for seconds, then minutes as she considered… whatever options she had in mind.

It wasn't until a dozen minutes had passed and the ex-soldier was about ready to explode when she finally spoke.

"I believe our best option would be to take advantage of the people he says are off-limits: the Railroad and Sanctuary."

Why is no one taking that threat seriously? The ex-soldier sighed. "We can't-"

"Attack them", Jess said, gazing at the older woman. "But what if we do the opposite? What if we help them in a way Damon would know it was us, but wasn't obvious to anyone else! Madison, that's brilliant!"

The ARD leader nodded. "You're correct. However, as you said, it must be done in a way that doesn't alert anyone else in the Institute, at least not until we've established strong relations between ourselves and Sanctuary."

That made sense. By that point, hopefully, Damon's cooperation would come along with it. It would also mean they could play any suspicions off as the SPARTAN's interference. What would be the best way to help? Intel? It isn't like Sanctuary is going to be fighting this war. Sending Synths there is a great way to put a target on their backs, both from the Institute and Brotherhood.

"Weapons and supplies", Nate said. "Since we're making conventional weapons now, it would be easier to supply them with guns without raising the alarm. We can give them equipment and supplies too."

"Yeah…" Li trailed off, "that seems reasonable. It would have to be carefully controlled, but we could do it."

Conklin smiled. "I like the idea of putting more of our guns in the field. Means we can see how they do against the Brotherhood."

I hope not… The ex-soldier knew that would happen though; the Brotherhood is setting up shop. Eventually, they'll clash with the surrounding settlements.

"Okay… " Nate said, nodding, "I like it. We'll need to find some way to make sure Damon is in contact with the Railroad. Have we had any word back from Jackson yet?"

Li shook her head. "They're due to check in this afternoon."

As long as they were successful in making contact, this could open up even more possibilities. Their conversation with Curie came to mind. Multiple Synths in Sanctuary might be a problem, but if they could send the right one there… it would be a massive help for the settlement. And it might make their intent a bit more obvious to Damon.

"Maybe a Synth finding their way to Sanctuary wouldn't be a bad idea either", the ex-soldier mused."

"No, that's something we can't risk yet", Madison said. "I understand where you're going, the right Synth would be immensely helpful but it would also put Sanctuary in the center of Ayo's attention. That is something we can't risk. This is going to be a very fine line… the supplies themselves won't be the problem. Logistics though."

Jess nodded. "I'll get with Isaiah and Corey, we'll figure something out."

"Good, good. Take your time though; this is something we need to get right the first time."

"We will", Conklin said, already looking like she was ready to bolt from the training center.

"Now I believe there is some 'simulator training' you two should be working on."

Right… that was the reason he'd given Shaun and Ayo for coming down here. "Yeah."

As they left, Li headed for her office while the two of them began toward the other training center, excited energy radiating from Jess. She was walking so quickly Nate struggled to keep up. That was… confusing. A few hours ago, she was still dealing with the fact the SPARTAN had killed Grant. Now she looked downright eager to get his help.

"Hey Conklin", he said quietly as they passed the weapons manufacturing facility, the sound of whirring machinery drifting through the closed door.

She didn't even bother to glance at him. "What's up?"

"Why are you so excited to do this?"

It took a moment for the ex-soldier to realize his teammate had come to a stop. When he turned to look back at her, she had an eyebrow cocked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Nate blinked. "I mean… Damon killed Grant, he almost killed you. You don't know him, and this is a huge risk." The ex-soldier didn't bother mentioning just as much risk came from Damon as the Institute.

Jess didn't answer immediately. Instead, she chewed on her lower lip and stared at Nate, eyes slightly narrowed.

That was an expression he'd seen before, and it generally meant he said something wrong.

"I'm not trying to convince you not to help-"

"Because it's the best way to keep more people from dying", the young woman said before he could finish. "If we go to war with him and the Brotherhood we're going to find ourselves in more ambushes, and worse. I don't need any more nightmares like that. Besides", she shrugged, "you trust him, even after all that. If you think he can help us, I'll see how far this goes."

As she began walking again, Jess shot him a mischievous smile. "What else am I going to do, sit around feeling sorry for myself all day?"

… Low blow…

"No", he said, following her to the simulator facilities, his own sly grin. "But I do wonder, how far have you gotten in developing a simulation for Damon?"

A half dozen technicians were in the large room, all working at a station. None of them so much as spared a glance at the two of them as they entered.

"Not far." Jess stalked over to Kurt who was standing in front of one of the eight VR units ringing the room. It was egg-shaped, with a transparent canopy the user would lay underneath. An array of cathodes attached all over their body and, apparently, transfer impulses to and from the person. Nate didn't have the slightest idea how it worked, but it worked pretty damn well.

"Ready to get started again?" Kurt asked. His voice didn't have its usual energy and when he looked at Nate, it was with no small amount of animosity. It wasn't hard to guess why.

"Yeah", Conklin said, glancing from the ex-soldier to Kurt and back. She seemed to pick up on it as well but apparently decided not to say anything.

Nate couldn't blame the technician for being upset with him, or with the situation. He and Grant were close, and no doubt he'd heard Nate wanted to make amends with Damon. Jess and Li were on board, but Nate hadn't thought about how other people would feel. Even under the best of circumstances, the SPARTAN was difficult to get along with, especially if he didn't trust you. It went beyond that now; Damon had killed someone they'd all been friends with.

One step at a time.

"What have we got so far", the ex-soldier asked, approaching the two.

"Not a whole lot", the tech said, looking back at his terminal. "We know next to nothing about him so we'll need your experience."

They were trying to build a simulation of the armored titan… strategies, tactics, physical abilities. Strategies were… anything and everything, but he always seemed to either go straightforward or completely unexpected. Tactics were much the same. Nate always got the impression he did that for two reasons: there hadn't been much that required in-depth planning, and simple approaches allowed for the most flexibility. So, basically, anything the ex-soldier could dream up, Damon would try it. And probably more too.

Then there were his physical abilities. Even though he'd seen the SPARTAN fight dozens of times, it was hard to pin down exactly what he could do. Hand to hand with a Deathclaw? Check. Hand to hand with the Brotherhood? Check. Hand to hand with regular people? A gruesome check. Firearms? Crack shot didn't do it justice. His strength, speed, and agility were likewise difficult to pin down. The protection that armor provided was… incredible.

"Where the hell am I gonna start?" the ex-soldier muttered.

Kurt frowned. "The beginning would be nice."

The eight of them spent hours working through iteration after iteration, trying to find something that did fighting Damon justice. Jess and Nate were the guinea pigs, but it wasn't much use considering they hadn't fought the SPARTAN per se, they'd just watched everyone else get their asses handed to them.

Rubbing his chest, just beneath the left collar bone, Nate painfully extracted himself from the simulator for the 20th time (at least that's what it seemed like). They'd just finished running a test with Damon's physical capabilities based on a Deathclaw, mostly because they'd run out of ideas.

At first, they tried running simulations of the SPARTAN against pre-programmed fighters. While the techs could dial the simulation up so the armored titan would win every time, it wasn't useful. Combat isn't just about how good your opposition is, it's about how they're that good. If they couldn't simulate Damon's brand of fighting, it didn't matter if they programmed an unbeatable enemy. This was about practice, not getting their asses kicked in virtual reality.

It was after they decided program on program violence wasn't working that they decided to shove Nate and Jess into the simulations. It didn't get much better. In fact, they spent most of their time being brutalized by the fake Damon, but never in a way that felt like the ambush had.

"I have no clue", the ex-soldier grunted. "Maybe." He'd died when a massive fist crashed into his chest. Considering his ribs were already broken, that didn't do him any favors. "It's too… feral."

"Yeah, yeah", Kurt said, huffing. They were all getting annoyed by that point. "I don't have a goddamn clue how we're going to do this."

Booker, an older man sporting black hair shot through with gray and a clean-shaven face, cleared his throat. "Is it possible we're approaching this wrong? We've spent the last three hours attempting to recreate his physical prowess. Clearly, we don't have enough information to do so accurately. Would it be better if we tried something like… using a Courser as our base?"

A Courser as the base?

"No…" Jess said. "The Coursers aren't Damon. Hell, you should have seen what he did to them."

Booker nodded. "I understand, but if instead of trying to model him directly, would it be more conducive to create a live training simulation?"

'Live training simulation' is the phrase they'd coined for simulated live-fire exercises. That meant building an environment and pitting two sides against one another. It was a technology that would have been immensely useful back in Nate's service days.

"How are we going to do that when we can't agree on what he can do?" another tech, Kristin, retorted.

"I think I see where he's going", Kurt interjected. "Like he said, we don't have enough information to get this perfect. What if we start with the Coursers as a base for tactics, increase their physical prowess and protection, and work our way from there." He looked at Nate. "We've tried to build this from scratch for hours, I agree, it's time we try something else."

If it meant he didn't have to go back into another simulation for a while, the ex-solder was all for it.

"Let's try it."

Jess and Kurt exchanged a glance once he answered, and Nate got the feeling he knew why.

As the other set to work, the two crossed the room to his pod. "I need to go meet with Isaiah and Corey", Conklin said quietly. "Can you two play nice while I'm gone?"

"I think we're fine", the ex-soldier replied, eyeing Kurt. "We have a job to do."

The ARD technician nodded sourly. "I agree. Hopefully, this will mean your friend won't kill anyone else."

Jess looked back and forth between the two of them. "Uh-huh. Just don't do anything stupid, okay? I'll be back in an hour or so."

Without waiting for a reply, the young woman left the two of them standing next to each other, surrounded by other techs tapping away at their terminals.

"Kurt", Nate said, "I'm not doing this because I don't care, I'm doing this because it gives us our best chance."

The other man grunted. "Don't treat me like I'm an idiot. You're doing this because you feel bad about Damon being ambushed. You're doing this because you want to make amends. You're doing this because he's your friend."

"That's all true, but I don't want you to think there isn't a benefit for the Institute." The ex-soldier lowered his voice. "And for us. Grant was my friend too, and he died on my watch, regardless of whether or not Damon killed him."

"And yet you still want to bring the man who killed him into our confidences."

Nate nodded. "That's right. I do. He isn't the one who started the shooting, we are." The ex-soldier felt the edge on his voice. Getting upset and starting an argument here would only make things worse. He took a deep breath and continued. "I'm not disregarding your feelings on the matter. We aren't in the military and I don't get to hand out orders carte blanche. Can you think of a better way though?"

There was no immediate response. Instead, Kurt glanced around the room at the other techs, and more specifically, the VR systems. "What do you think we're doing here?"

"No", the ex-soldier replied softly, shaking his head. "Virtual reality training isn't a substitute for the real thing. Who knows, maybe I'm overselling Damon, maybe we can find a way to kill him. In the chance I'm not though, we'd lose a lot more people trying, and our only chance to prevent him from burning the Institute down."

"And if I'm willing to bet you're overselling him?"

Nate shrugged. "Then I guess we'll have to talk about it as a group. This isn't a decision you and I can make on our own."

"Right." Kurt grunted again before stalking back to his workstation.

That could have gone better.

It was another 20 minutes before Booker signaled they were ready for another trial. The ex-soldier slipped back into the bulky apparatus and Kristin attached the multitude of electrodes. A few seconds after the canopy lowered and he closed his eyes, Nate found himself standing in a large warehouse, surrounded by a dozen Synths and X6-88 beside him.

The realism in these simulations still caught him by surprise almost a month after he first used one.

The environment looked like it could have been ripped straight from pre-war Boston. Rows and rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with everything from pallets of food to industrial components blocked off each aisle. It was well lit, clean, and free of the decay that was endemic to the Commonwealth.

Almost immediately, the Synths began spreading out in the aisle they found themselves in, moving in pairs, maintaining overlapping fields of fire. It was good, fundamental squad work. That also meant it was predictable.

As they cleared the aisle, Nate and his Courser companion began moving behind them. They followed along as the lead pair continued pushing toward the far end of the shelves where a concrete wall forced them left or right. If the techs wanted to choose one of the worst environments possible to hunt the SPARTAN, they'd nailed it. Bad sightlines, close quarters, plenty of places to hide or set traps. This would be the absolute last place he'd want to run into Damon.

That's probably why they'd chosen it. If this recreation was going to be faithful to the real thing, this should be a very short engagement. A short engagement that ended with all of them dead.

Perfect. Nate loved dying in these damn things.

Sure enough, as the first pair of Synths rounded the corner, two gunshots sounded from somewhere in the cavernous building. Both dropped to the ground, missing their heads.

That's a good start. The statement was really only half sarcastic.

Now, this was where the difference between a good soldier and the SPARTAN would make itself known. Anyone could wire the retreat, and most people would if they had enough time to plan ahead. What Damon would do is set up a kill box, funneling them into whatever direction he wanted them to go and, most likely, have traps laid there too.

"Engage!" The ex-soldier barked.

No sooner had he said that than three more pairs rushed around the corner firing. Gunshots cascaded from the end of the aisle and there were two thuds as bodies dropped to the concrete floor. But no more after that. The laser fire continued pouring from the other four and, even though he couldn't see where they were shooting, they must have found something. It was a… disappointing development-

Until two more cracks from a large caliber conventional rifle sounded and a third Synth was sent tumbling, two gaping holes in its white chest plate.

Okay, that's a little better.

After one more shot downed a fourth Synth, the ex-soldier waved the last four toward the next aisle over. At the very least, if simulation Damon was playing a dynamic game, that would give those ones the time to divert to another path and avoid traps in this aisle.

It worked, and as Nate and the Courser followed, the last Synth covering fell. That was eight dead in about 20 seconds. This wasn't a bad simulation.

"Alright", the ex-soldier called. "I think we're good here."

An instant later he was laying in the VR pod again, staring up at the semi-transparent canopy.

As it gently raised itself, Nate felt a pang run through his sternum. The shot Carter had given him was still working, but numbing broken ribs was damn near impossible.

"That wasn't bad", he said as he noticed the techs studying him. "It's difficult to tell in an environment like that; any competent fighter would be able to make that a nightmare for any attacking force."

"So what do you propose?" Booker asked.

"I think we need to get a little more creative." There were plenty of options available… Nate's mind flashed back to the first time he'd really gotten to see the SPARTAN fight, the first time he wondered just what got released into this world. Watching Damon massacre the Triggermen to rescue Valentine had been… eye-opening, and it was probably the best look he had at him fighting people.

"Do we have models of any Vaults?"

Vance, another one of the techs, nodded. "Yep, every Vault in the area."

"We broke into Vault 114 which was the Triggermen's hideout. That would be a good one to try."

"Let me see…" Booker said, tapping away at his keyboard. "Yes, that is doable."

Nate slipped out of the VR apparatus. "Great, I'd like to watch this one from the outside." He knows what it looked like on the ground, how quickly Damon had torn through the gangsters. A bird's eye view would make it easier to compare.

"Okay, we don't have a profile for the Triggermen you two fought there but… Gunners would be a good enough substitute." The ex-soldier nodded. "Alright, loading the program now."

Everyone gathered around the large display set against one of the chamber's walls as Booker started the simulation. A top-down grid view of the Vault appeared. The ex-soldier didn't remember much of the layout, but that wasn't important. What was important were the three dozen enemies Damon's simulation would have to fight through. They were spread out around the facility, taking cover in any number of arrangements. It would certainly be a challenging fight for most, which is why this would be a good test for their model. The SPARTAN had spent more time berating Nate than he did killing the Triggermen.

"Commencing simulation", the older man said, and an instant later the icons representing the fighters began moving. Damon's was a yellow triangle, weaving between cover, gunshots shown by small flashes in the direction he was firing. Red highlights were hits.

The first group of targets went down quickly, barely getting a shot off at the simulated SPARTAN. It was effective, but the way it progressed through the environment wasn't quite right. The armored titan made a habit of fighting at a breakneck pace, pushing his physical advantages over his opponents whenever he could. There was a subtle art to his movement that took Nate a while to appreciate though. The best way he could describe it was elegant, brutal efficiency.

This one was fighting closer to a Courser: stealing from cover to cover, taking its time, and minimizing exposure. Yes, Damon used cover effectively, but this model wasn't as aggressive as the SPARTAN.

As far as effectiveness though, it was damn good. Almost every shot was a hit, and almost every hit was a kill. That was on par with Damon, but it wasn't difficult to model. They were looking for how he fought.

Progressing through the program, several of the ambushes seemed to catch the simulation off guard, which was another red flag. It wasn't impossible to get the jump on him, but Damon had shown time and again an eerie ability to sniff out threats. That was something the ex-soldier had no idea how to model.

Overall, the exercise was a success. At least more successful than any of their trials so far. It wasn't as quick, clean, and effective as the SPARTAN, but it was a step forward.

"Good job", Nate said as the simulated attacker finished off the last of the targets. "That was much better. There are some things we need to adjust, but that's the best we've seen."

Booker nodded. "I understand."

As the ex-soldier listed out the changes he wanted, Booker deliberated with a few of the other technicians. Changing the behavior of one of these models wasn't as simple as adjusting a slider. From what Nate could gather, they had to rewrite portions of the program to create a new profile. It was the better part of 15 minutes before they settled on the adjustments, and the program was loaded again.

This time around, Damon's icon moved aggressively, using cover far less than he had the time before. It took a dozen hits before making it past the first engagement. While that probably wouldn't bother the SPARTAN with his armor, it was more than he'd ever seen the man take unless absolutely necessary. That trend continued through the rest of the simulation, and by the time the last target was dispatched this time, he'd been hit so many times, the ex-soldier had to reference the post-simulation data to count the number.

56… that's way too many.

More adjustments needed to be made. The aggression was good, but the tactical awareness and use of cover were way off.

So that's how they spent the next hour, going back and forth with the same set of parameters, adjusting Damon's behavior. It was arduous and boring, especially since Nate wasn't taking part in these simulations, but it was an interesting exercise to see if he could make something that fought like the SPARTAN.

It was on the fifth simulation when Jess returned, waving the ex-soldier away from the group.

"We've gathered a list of supplies we want to use", she whispered, "and Corey is working on a way to divert them from our regular logistics routes. We're still waiting on word back from Jackson's team, but it seems like we will have a good foundation for this."

"What kinds of weapons are we providing?"

"We're going to start small first: 10mm handguns and combat rifles, but we understand this may put the settlement in the firing line for the Brotherhood. We're figuring out how we can get them some heavier weaponry if needed." Conklin frowned. "Same goes for the Railroad. The Brotherhood will want them dead just as badly as they want us gone. They'll need bigger guns."

That was definitely true. They were even more sympathetic to the Synths than the Institute was and, even if they didn't produce them, they were just as involved.

"Agreed. Do we have a timeline?"

Jess shook her head. "We need to make sure we establish contact with the Railroad before we implement anything. The smaller the footprint the better."

Okay… that was one step closer.

"And medicine?"

"Again, the basics." When the ex-soldier cocked an eyebrow, his teammate shrugged. "It will still be a damn sight better than anything they currently have access to. MedX, Radaway, limited Stimpaks, clean medical supplies…" She trailed off, glancing at the group of techs still studying the ongoing simulation. "Isaiah brought up the idea of sending a Synth specialized in survival training. I believe that would be an immeasurable asset to Sanctuary."

He still liked the suggestion, but Li was right and they didn't need to make this any riskier than it already is, at least to start. "I think keeping things limited for now would be a good idea. The more we push early on, the more dangerous things get."

"Slow down", she said, holding a hand up. "It's just an idea for the time being. We're taking this one step at a time, but if we're serious about getting Damon's help, a gesture like that would go a long way to earning it."

Again, he couldn't argue with the logic. Sending a Synth able to help them with everything from combat to medical treatments would be an incredible way to show Damon they genuinely wanted his help. How would they do it though? How would they get a Synth there, letting him know, but keeping everyone else from finding out?

The Railroad.

If they were able to get in touch with the Railroad, and the SPARTAN was keeping tabs on them (a very likely scenario), he would know.

"Okay, we need to be very careful about this."

Jess flashed him a smile. "That's the name of the game around here. We've had to be careful about everything, and that's long before you arrived anyway."

The ex-soldier grunted. It wasn't the first time he'd allowed his… relative inexperience with the splinter group show. They may not be experienced combatants, but they've lived in a world where they have to be careful about everything they do their entire lives. It wasn't fair of him to tell them they needed to be careful with escaped Synths.

"You're right. Sorry."

This time she chuckled quietly. "Don't worry about it boss. We put up with your shit because we like you."

Thanks…

His only response was a deadpan which prompted another chuckle. "So how are things going here?"

Nate glanced back at the group. The simulation was still going, it looked only a few minutes from finishing. "Booker had a good idea we're working off of. Finally making some progress." He looked at her and smirked. "Haven't had to be the guinea pig for a while now which", the ex-soldier resisted the urge to rub his chest, "has been nice."

The simulations didn't cause any physical harm, but they sure as hell felt real.

"That's unfortunate", Jess replied.

The infantryman frowned. "Why?"

"I spent most of the time with Isaiah and Corey enjoying the idea your best friend was killing you over and over again. You ruined that for me." The smile on her face wasn't quite genuine. She hid it well, better than Kurt, but it was obvious she wasn't 100% on board with allying with the SPARTAN.

He really couldn't blame her. Even if most of him didn't blame Damon for killing Grant, there was always that small voice in the back of his head that was squawking at him, telling him the armored titan should be held responsible.

"Good to hear. I enjoy disappointing you."

Conklin's smile turned a little less forced. "I'll try not to get used to it."

It was Nate's turn to chuckle.

The two of them strode back to the group of technicians as Damon's model reached the last room. It was large, maybe a cafeteria, with a half dozen targets taking cover from the SPARTAN's entrance.

They didn't last long. The simulated Damon took out the first one with his first two shots. Three others returned fire and, while the armored titan took a few strikes, he put them down in quick succession. The last two stayed in cover, one blindly firing, and the other seeming to cower behind its perceived safety. They were dealt with in short order as the simulation rushed forward and dispatched them.

While he hadn't seen most of the run, that seemed very Damon-esque.

"I believe we are getting close", Kurt said as he turned back to Nate and Jess. "The model is moving aggressively like you said, but minimizing strikes."

"How about the combat awareness?"

Booker nodded. "That is still something we're working on. It's difficult to balance intuition in this program. From the sounds of it, Damon's experience allowed him to judge where an attack would come from and counter accordingly. Programming that is difficult since the models can only be told to check positions."

"Huh", Jess said, stepping forward, "have you assigned priorities to the positions he needs to clear?"

"Yes, we have", Kristin said, "that is built into the model of a Courser, which is what we are using as our foundation."

"Right…" Conklin trailed off and fell silent, studying the after-action report. It didn't have any information Nate would consider nuanced enough to determine how the model was clearing positions, but if Jess was anything, it was smart. Him not being able to discern that didn't mean she couldn't.

"So we have prioritized positions, I'm guessing the processing speed of the model is faster than a normal person?" Kurt nodded. "And we're still having trouble with an accurate… huh."

They were missing something… target prioritization is good, but it isn't… "I don't think we're approaching this right."

Conklin turned to him, eyebrow cocked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean we're thinking about this from a top-down perspective", Nate said. "That isn't how you do things on the ground." He looked at Booker. "Can you rewind to before Damon enters the last room?"

"One moment", Booker said as he turned back to his terminal. The screen began playing backward to the point the SPARTAN's yellow triangle was just outside the large room. Nate studied the enemy positions, looking for anything he would use to defend the room. They all had good hardcover, and each was in view of the door…

"Move to the first gunshot."

The simulation began playing forward until the flash that signaled Damon's first shot came onto screen. He had fired at the enemy to the ten o'clock of the door. By priority, that would have been the first target to take out; their cover was the best. That wasn't who Nate would have shot at first though. That target's view of the door would be obstructed by their cover. The ex-soldier would have shot at the second to last Triggerman the simulation took out.

"Damon would have identified this one", the ex-soldier pointed at what would have been his first target, "as the largest threat."

"How so?" Kristin asked. "It looks like that one was using poor cover, he would have been able to dispatch it at any time."

"Because that target would be in full view of the door. That means it can return fire as readily as Damon can fire at it. If it were me, that would have been the first to go, and give the ones in better cover", he pointed at a few other targets, "a chance to try and engage. Damon is fast enough to recover before they could get their shots off, and he would know that. Most of the time, the faster you can take out your targets, the better."

The woman looked at the screen with a "hmm", frowning thoughtfully.

"That seems like a good idea to try", Kurt said, nodding to the ex-soldier.

Nate smiled. "Good, you guys do that, I'm gonna go get us some food." They'd been in that damn room for most of the day and he was starving. The murmur of approval told him he wasn't the only one.

X

Even after the infantryman returned with what ended up being dinner, considering it was past 1900, they continued working for a few more hours. He was growing more and more concerned as time passed. Why hadn't they heard anything from Jackson's team yet? If he was right, and Damon was watching out for the Railroad… is it possible he ambushed them?

That was a horrifying thought.

No… Damon is smarter than that. He'd know, if the Institute found the Railroad, they'd be sending a lot more than a five-person team.

It was what he told himself anyway. The idea he may kill more of Nate's people, Nate's friends… as much as he wanted the otherworldly soldier's help, as much as he wanted to help him, forgiving him for something like that, even as a misunderstanding would be… impossible.

I've trusted him to this point. I need to trust he won't act without planning.

It wasn't until 2100 that Li entered the large room.

"How are things going here?" she said. As Nate turned to greet her, saw her note the two empty trays sitting on one of the workstations.

"They are coming along fairly well", Booker replied. "Better than I think we expected."

The ARD leader grunted. "It's nice to hear good news for a change."

That didn't sound promising? Had something happened to Jackson? "We were almost done." Nate glanced at the room's other occupants. "Everyone's about ready to call it a day."

"Unfortunately for you or I, 'calling it a day' will have to wait." Li didn't look happy. "Father has called a meeting." She looked at Kurt and Jess. "I will confer with you afterward for field applications of the current form of training simulation. Ayo has decided to begin training our Coursers using Damon's likeness. It would be a good idea to be prepared for the next encounter." The two technicians nodded in agreement. "As for everyone else, please begin preparations to implement the training. I understand it may not be in its final revision, but we still need to be ready."

There was a quiet murmur of ascent, but everyone was tired. They probably just wanted to hit the sack.

Li turned to Nate and motioned to the exit. "Shall we?"

Go to another meeting? "It would be my pleasure."

She smirked as they began toward the conference room. "I see you're as excited for this as I am."

"It's been a long few days. I might sleep in tomorrow."

"Yeah right."

"Hey", Nate said through a sigh. "We can always dream, right?"

"You'd have to sleep for that."

They exchanged a glance.

"Touche."

A brief silence fell between the two of them as they continued through the ARD's mostly empty halls. The ex-soldier wanted to ask, but the fact Li hadn't said anything yet had him worried.

"It's nice to hear good news for a change."

That wasn't a promising thing to say considering Jackson was scheduled to check in today. What if-

"You'll be happy to know Jackson's team was successful."

Nate let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"You could have led with that", the ex-soldier said, shooting her a dramatic frown. "You had me worried."

"Yes well…" she trailed off in a way he'd heard a thousand times before. That was never a good thing. "There were complications."

"... Damon involved complications?"

Li shook her head. "No, more like Raider involved complications." They rounded a corner and headed toward the ARD's exit. "Two of the team were injured, neither fatally. I have little doubt our intelligence report tomorrow will discuss some of this, but it seems they have become more active as well. We've known about a large group in the northwest for some time now. They've been largely content staying out of the city but…"

It wasn't difficult to guess where this was going. "But they've decided to take advantage of the Brotherhood's presence."

"Yes."

Great. That's exactly what we needed.

"Okay, so at least we've got a go-ahead. We'll have to deal with the Raiders as necessary."

"Agreed", Li said with a curt nod.

They had a plan to get Damon on their side and, as a benefit, get better weapons and supplies in the hands of the Railroad and Sanctuary. That was a win in Nate's book. Now they just have to deal with a war, Raiders, Supermutants, Gunners, and who the hell knows what else the Commonwealth has waiting for them. Oh and maintain a supply chain moving out of the Institute while also playing Shaun and Ayo for as long as they could to gather support. Then come up with a plan to depose his son, ideally non-violently, before applying the Institute's considerable resources to getting Damon back to his universe and helping the Commonwealth.

Things have certainly gotten… complicated.

Complicated… oh shit.

Nate lurched to a stop, setting a hand on the scientist's shoulder. "Li, how did Andrew escape?" How had he forgotten about that? Sure, he hadn't had much opportunity to talk with the ARD leader in private, but that was a big fucking deal. "Did we do that?"

Only silence met the ex-soldier as Madison turned to look at him, a grim frown on her face. That told him all he needed to know.

It also told him they were in trouble.

"Who then? The only thing that makes sense is the Brotherhood, but how the hell would they get him out?"

Li shook her head. "I don't know. We don't know. It would have to be someone with knowledge of how we operate, which means whoever did this is most likely within our ranks."

"That's a problem. We can afford to draw that kind of attention." He paused, grimacing. "That's on top of not losing to the Brotherhood because they have someone on the inside."

"A maneuver like that would take multiple people."

Great. "Okay, so we need to limit hardware access to people we can 100% trust."

"Agreed." Li glanced at the exit behind her. "We should keep going. They're already waiting."

Nate nodded. "Right, okay." Dammit.

As they began walking again, the doctor whispered. "I have a few suspicions, but that almost cost us everything. Whoever it is… they're not going to get away with that. They won't ruin everything we've worked for." Her face was neutral.

There was fury in her dark brown eyes though.

Add tracking down saboteurs to the list then.

The few minutes it took to get to the conference room was spent in stiff silence. Li was aggravated, and he couldn't blame her. They needed to find whoever this was and stop them from teleporting anyone else. Maybe they get away with it this time, but whoever had done it would only create a larger and larger risk the longer they're around.

When they arrived, the room was packed full of the usual suspects sans Jackson, along with a few extras, including X6-88.

"Sorry we're late", the ex-soldier said as they stepped through the door.

"Don't worry", Isaiah said, "we're still sorting things out." There were a dozen images spread across the large table in the center of the room. The tech was organizing them by floor, judging by the images of the bodies. The first and second were mostly laser wounds.

The third…

A lump crept up Nate's throat as he saw one of Grant, a large chunk of his head gone.

"We still don't have much information", Brown said. "Damon didn't leave anything to work with."

The ex-soldier had failed his squadmate. But he couldn't figure out how he might have saved him. The SPARTAN had set up a perfect ambush, even going so far as to wait for them to pass through an area for a third time.

"Nate?"

Another tech, Xavier's voice drew him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, I was thinking, what did you ask?"

"Dr. Brown was asking if he said anything that might suggest what he's planning in more detail."

Nate shook his head. "He wants to save us for last, that's all I know."

That was the truth. He had little doubt Damon intended to destroy the Institute. Hopefully, they could keep that from happening.

"That's to be expected", Isaiah said. "There's no reason he would tell us what he's planning."

"It isn't necessarily about what he told us", Brown replied.

What he hadn't said? How he'd said something? What he'd done?

Let's see, he killed everyone, cornered me and Jess, clearly wanted to kill her, but left us both alive because he wanted them to take a message back to the Institute. That message was: I'm alive, stay away from the Railroad and Sanctuary.

"He wants to fight this clean, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered leaving Jess alive, and probably would have injured me. Well, more than he did." What about the way he behaved? "He was pissed about being set up", Nate resisted the urge to glower at Ayo. "That isn't surprising."

Had there been anything else Nate was missing though? Their encounter hadn't been very long and, as usual, the SPARTAN hadn't been all that talkative.

Everyone else was looking at the images Isaiah had spread on the table. Most of the bodies in them were charred almost beyond recognition. Whatever incendiary device Damon used, it had burned hot. Even the Brotherhood's T-60 power armor had been blackened and some partially melted. It wasn't a quick or clean way to kill someone, but the charges had left the hospital's structure intact.

Wait… the only signs the Coursers found of entry-

"Isaiah, do you have images of the… no, never mind", Nate grunted. The signs of entry would have been lost in the fighting. But they'd only found one. That meant either Damon had snuck his way in before Andrew got to the hospital, and the Synth had gone there on his own, or Damon found him and purposely left that trail for them to find.

How would he have known where to be? He had a few hours to prepare, which would be more than enough time to set those charges, but the number he'd have to carry…

"Do we have images of the detonation locations?"

The SRD tech sifted through the pictures he'd laid on the table. "I think… here." He pulled out a dozen images of large, soot-covered craters in walls and floors.

"How large would each of these need to be to fry an entire floor of that hospital?"

Brown walked over and began studying the images. "I… these detonations look like they were by some sort of fuel-air explosive. He must have packed them with an accelerant which resulted in the incendiary effect." She shook her head. "Improvised incendiary bombs like this, they wouldn't be small." Her eyes narrowed and she looked at the ex-soldier. "You're thinking he had prepared for this beforehand. He was planning on ambushing us."

That seemed like the obvious answer but how? How would he have known when and where to set that trap? The Brotherhood were the ones who, somehow, arranged that escape. Unless he was privy to their planning? An operation this sensitive though, Maxson's too smart to let something like this leak outside a very small circle of his most trusted people.

"That doesn't feel right. Damon isn't working with the Brotherhood and, however they did it, this seems like it was their operation."

Ayo grunted. "Then how would you explain this? Unless you believe he would be walking around Boston with this sort of ordinance."

"No…" Nate shook his head. What other possibilities are there? The hospital…

"I find myself in agreement with Nate", Weller said. The scientist was sifting through the images. "Normal military doctrine dictates an ambush like this would be in the most controlled environment possible. This was complete chaos." He began pointing to the groups of pictures. "Fighting on the roof, ground floor up to the third, this was an almost worst-case scenario for this sort of attack." He met the ex-soldier's gaze. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Damon would have chosen a more controllable position if given the opportunity."

The SPARTAN definitely liked stacking the deck… It was true though, that hospital had been a disaster. Nate wouldn't put it past Damon to do something like this, he had a habit of bucking trends, probably to counter the exact thinking Weller was using. Something about it still felt off though. There were just too many variables for him to control; Damon's intelligent and he can be dangerously cunning, but he's also more prone to direct action.

"Yes." That left two options, both were unlikely, but ruling out the idea this was a planned ambush, Damon either happened across Andrew and he'd already had the hospital wired, or set it up for this purpose, but didn't anticipate more than one party searching for the Synth. In either case, he was playing this passive, waiting for an opportunity to hit them.

"He wasn't actively searching for a chance to attack us", Nate concluded. "This was set up, but not for what happened."

Brown, Weller, Isaiah, and Li all nodded in agreement.

"So what does that tell us?" Ayo asked, for once his voice was less than condescending.

"He's serious about leaving us alone", Li said. "For now."

"Right", Isaiah continued, "if he wasn't, he'd be more active hitting our operations. It appears he has some knowledge of the Molecular Relay and how it works, hence the signal jammer", he tapped another picture. "If he managed to track our teleportation signals the same way the Brotherhood has, he'd be able to attack them too."

And he did. Damon told the ex-soldier that much.

"That means we need to come up with a way to handle this before that changes", Nate said, looking at each person around the table. "And not instigate a change."

That means Li, Nate, and the splinter group have however long that is to make this happen.

This is where things get really hard.

A/N: This chapter was interesting. I've always had head canon for Damon's capabilities (loosely based on Blue Team in Shadows of Reach, there's just so many inconsistencies in the Halo universe for how strong they are, it's difficult to pin it down), but I've never gone through an exercise like this, writing out what someone would see from their perspective. On top of that, I thought it was really important throughout these chapters to make sure everyone knows what's going on with the Institute as a whole. There are a lot of moving parts to this story now, and because of how I've chosen to write, it can be hard to get a full picture. That's enough rambling though, thanks for reading and I'll see everyone next time!

Next Chapter: 6/17, Disruptions, The Good Kind