Greg could feel his entire body shake, pain flowing through him. No amount of pain killer was going to fix this, as was doing nothing. The doctor had told him his injuries; he had oddly twisted his arm when he was tossed around, and his leg. His leg was a complete mess; the deathclaw had actually put its claws straight through his leg, disabling it for now. He stopped looking at it, sitting there underneath the sheet, it embarrassed him, and it was completely useless. He sighed and rolled his head to the side, wanting to forget the whole situation. Well, at least the part he had remembered, he had been unconscious for about half of it, and didn't even know how he got back.

A nurse walked over to him, checking his blood level. As she did, he felt woozy; he had lost a lot of blood during the fight and had some internal bleeding. His breathing was ragged and wheezy. He looked back up for a moment, asking for water. He shakily reached for the cup she gave him, drinking it was a relief. At least one thing that was good during this time. He placed the cup down, looking back to the side. He wondered when, or if, he was going to get back to full strength. He thought of someone for a moment, Sara. No, he wasn't going to think about her now, he could deal with that later.

A doctor walked over, mumbling something to the nurse. "OK Gregory, let's have a look at your legs when I get back in a moment. Greg tensed; he did not want to see what was left of his legs, but he was going to have to see it sooner or later, and he would have rather get it over with. The doctor returned medical supplies in hand. Greg looked down as the doctor removed the sheet. His hands started shaking as he saw them, and soon the rest of him. His entire body seemed to simply give up, and he thought his eyes where deceiving him. "Get me more doctors, now!" The doctor yelled. Greg couldn't stop shaking, or looking, he felt hopelessness. He couldn't say anything, he felt as though he was choking on nothing. "More doctors, now!" The doc yelled again. He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping to get it out of his mind, but it was stuck, never to leave.

Henry was back sleeping on his bunk when the speakers blared

"This is Captain Carter. Private Henry Jones please report to my lab immediately. That is all."

What now? Henry scrambled out of his bunk and hurried to put on his uniform without waking the others. It was a standard Enclave uniform that Henry preferred because it was lighter and more comfortable than the power armor. He was about to walk out when he tripped over someone's trunk and fell face first on the ground. This woke everyone up and they stared at him with annoyance. "Hey sorry guys I know you have a patrol in the morning," Henry then slipped out without any more disturbances. He walked down the hall and proceeded down to the lab.

He was weary of being tested upon, given the fact that the colonel had mysteriously disappeared after being "treated". He checked his watch and it showed that it was 2:00 AM. Whatever it was, it had to be important. He knew that he may be experimented upon and that it could mean his death so Henry took some precautions and left a message for Demetri telling him that if anything happened to him, Sara was responsible. He straightened his cap as he stood outside the lab in an empty hallway and entered the lab.

Sara smiled as Henry entered the room. Motioning for him to sit in a chair which was in front of the desk, she turned the computer screen so he could see the promotion form filled out in his name. She gave him a moment to take it all in. Letting out a sigh, she began to speak.

"Henry, I know you don't like me very much. In fact I am pretty sure you don't trust me at all." Sara's face was serious and she rose from her chair and moved to the fridge. Removing a bottle of whiskey, she poured two glasses, and gave one to Henry and then returned to her seat.

"I know about all the rumours about me. I know what people think I have done. But what you may not have heard is that if I make a deal, I do not go back on it. It's just good business." Sara picked up her glass and drained it.

"I have an offer for you. I think I have come up with a way to at least slow, if not cure this disease we are infected with. There is however a small catch.." Sara's stared coldly at Henry and her voice took on a clinical tone.

"I am not sure as to whether or not the treatment will be fatal. To be perfectly honest, I figure that there is about a forty per cent chance that the person receiving it will die. I need to test the treatment on someone, and was hoping that you would volunteer to do it." Sara paused and pondered her offer. If Henry accepted, he would be promoted to Corporal. Sara pondered this for a moment and thought that she should sweeten the pot a little. After all, there was an opening for a Gunnery Sergeant. Turning the screen back to her, Sara promptly changed it and then turned the screen back to Henry.

"I have the authority to promote you right now. Effective immediately, you will be promoted to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant, and in exchange you will allow me to test this treatment on you." Sara paused again and started to smile.

"I will not order you to do this. I have to admit I have too much respect for you to make it an order. After all it's not every soldier who would be willing to shoot a superior officer regardless of what the consequences could have been. Fortunately for you, your actions were logical, if not a tad ruthless. As such, if you do not want to do this, just get up and walk out the door and I will hold no ill will towards you. If you wish to accept, simply click send on the screen in front of you." Sara slid the mouse across the desk at Henry. She really wanted him to accept her offer. And she was being truthful about everything she said. Sara did not wish to kill Henry. She could see a use for him. And right now, she needed all the help she could get.

The moment Demetri had got back to camp, he headed straight to the a store room to meet the requesition officer as Demetri needed to replace his helmet. Demetri stepped in the building where he was located and worked up to his desk, "I would like to get a power helmet, hellfire model." Demetri said to the man. The reqesition officer looked up, he seemed to be peering over the round spectacles he was wearing and had a bored look, he pulled a sheet of paper out from a desk draw and pushed it across the desk to Demetri.

Demetri turned the paper around, picked up a pencil and wrote what was needed and signed the form. The officer looked at the form and then hit a buzzer on the underside of the desk. A young man came in and grabbed the form which Demetri had signed. A few minutes later the man returned with a replacement helmet and gave it to Demetri. Demetri nodded his thank and stepped out. As Demetri left he heard over the coms, "This is Captain Carter. Private Henry Jones please report to my lab immediately. That is all." Demetri shook his head, "Poor bugger, wonder what she wants with him," Demetri muttered as he worked off.

Demetri made his way to the barracks and got into his uniform, making his way to his bunk he was greeted by, "Good evening lieutenant," it was Alexander, "This arrived about five minutes ago." Alexander waved a peice of paper at him. Demetri snatched the paper from his hands and scanned the sheet, "Bloody hell, so I have been promoted," Demetri said, "Shame, with the upcoming events, I doubt I'll have much time as one."

Henry only stared as Sara offered a chance to jump in rank exponentially. I may not like her, but this is a serious offer. He though back to how colonel Palvic had said it was necessary and that it was his duty to do so. Henry wasn't keen on risking his life just to get a promotion, but if he refused, another poor soldier would get it. If this works, I won't have to worry about whatever this disease does. He made his decision, but first he had a few questions to ask.

"Now I don't know about you but I'm tired of all these secrets and betrayals. I think I at least deserve to know everything about this. Where I'm from, the Enclave isn't all about secrecy, betrayals, and backstabbing. It had once also about, duty, loyalty, honor, and trust. We are the remnants of a once great country, there are few enough of us as it is. How can we ever pull America back together if everything is all shrouded in corruption and lies. I will accept you offer if you can give me that answer."

Henry remembered that many of the soldiers here hadn't lived as regular Enclave civilians and didn't really know what they were really fighting for. But he remembered, he remembered how his happy life at Raven Rock had gone up in flames along with his entire family. He didn't expect himself to get an honest answer as they would all write him off as naive and idealistic, at the very least he would know what the virus did, and in turn understand the importance of his task. Of course, a promotion couldn't hurt.

Sara stared at Henry, a look of surprise on her face. She was thinking that she had severely underestimated him. Until now, she thought that he was nothing more than a mindless grunt. An opinion that was changing by the second. Sara stayed silent for a moment. She needed to think of an answer for him. And this was one of the few times that Sara didn't want to lie. With her respect for him rising, she felt a strong desire to tell him the truth.

"You speak of things like honour and loyalty. These are concepts that are slowly being lost within the Enclave." Sara's voice was monotone and she appeared to be a little distant. Every fibre of her being was screaming at her that something had been lost since the great war.

"You want honesty? Then allow me to be blunt. America is gone. It has been for two hundred years. All that remains of the once great nation are remnants and lost ideals. We can no longer rebuild America. Instead we need to create something new. And I now believe that it is something that you should be a part of." Sara looked directly into Henry's eyes and smiled.

"I will tell you everything you want to know about the disease. But you need to understand that I am not only putting my life on the line telling you this, but yours as well." Sara paused and her expression became more serious.

"There are those within the Enclave who seek to change everything. They plan to overthrow the Enclave and take over the wasteland. These are the people who have infected us with the disease. Please do not ask for specific names as I am still trying to work everything out myself. But I think I have a way to find out all the information I need, but I can't do it without your help. I fear my allies within the Enclave are turning against me and right now I need someone I can trust." The look on Sara's face was one of hope. With the Colonel out of the picture and Viki being manipulated by someone, she needed Henry to be at her side. Sara exhaled deeply and continued.

"I am telling you all this because I need you to trust me. I can't do this alone. Please Henry, I need your help. And in exchange, I promise you that I will keep nothing from you. If you do not wish to help me, I would ask that this conversation doesn't leave this room." Sara hoped that Henry believed her. She was about to continue speaking when she became distracted by a voice on her personal intercom.

"Doctor Carter. You are needed for surgery. The Private you sent is in bad shape and we need you here." The voice had a tone of urgency. Sara pushed the button on the intercom and spoke.

"Keep him sedated and stable. I will be there as soon as I can." Sara knew that it would be some time before she could attend to Gregory's wounds. Unfortunately for him, she had other matters which were far more pressing at the moment. She looked up at Henry, her voice was still monotone, but her eyes seemed to be pleading with him.

"So I'm asking you Henry. Please help me. Work with me to restore the Enclave to it's rightful place." Sara was hopeful that he would say yes. She was putting her life on the line by trusting him.

Henry listened to her reply and simply said "I thought so," and that was what he disliked the most, there was no way of ever going back to how America once was and there was nothing he could ever do about it. "Alright, I'll help you, if that's what it takes to save the Enclave, after all, isn't that what we soldiers are here for, he quoted a recruiting manual he had once read 'Securing the Enclave's foreign and domestic interests using whatever means necessary'" he said in a quiet tone.

Henry took off his cap and said "I don't want to hold you up from attending to the wounded so I'll only say this, tell me what I need to do," However, he had seen what had happened to Greg after his sessions with Sara and hoped that the beating weren't related in any way to the treatments. He was also curious as to what troops he was commanding, though that would have to wait until he was prodded to death by needles no doubt. He one day wished to be able to become the president of the Enclave he would start small and consolidate his position first and slowly outwardly expand until once again all of America was back under his command. Until then, he would have to be content with taking down traitors.

"Thank you Henry," Sara smiled at him. Turning the screen back she clicked send and then immediately began to bring up another menu. She started to input some commands and brought up a file which contained the blueprint for Henry's DNA. She clicked into another menu labelled "Nanites" and then clicked "program". Looking up at Henry she sighed.

"It will take a little time for the program to run. So I leave it up to you. You can either wait here or go elsewhere till I return. I asked them to keep Gregory sedated because I have an errand to run first." Sara gave Henry a sideways smile.

"Like I said, I need some more information. So right now, I have to pay a visit to Colonel Pavlic." Sara got up from the desk and moved over to a cabinet on the wall. Removing a small device from it, she placed it in her pocket and looked around the room to make sure everything that needed to be locked was. Moving back over to the computer, she took a few moments to hack into the security grid for the base and sue it to determine the Colonel's exact location in the underground facility. When she had finished, she exited the security program and then locked the keyboard.

"Don't worry Henry, this shouldn't take too long. When I return, I will give you the treatment. I feel it would be a good idea for me to administer it." Sara headed toward the door and stopped as she reached it.

"Oh and if you should stay, feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge." And with that Sara exited the room and closed the door behind her.
Sara made her way across the near deserted courtyard. There were only a couple of guards, and none would question her. She entered the facility and made her way down the long corridor to the elevator which led to the lower level. She approached the guard and Sara showed her ID card. The guard saluted and Sara entered the elevator without a word. The elevator took her down to the lower level, and when the doors opened, she exited the elevator into another hallway. She entered the first door that she came to which opened into a maintenance cupboard. Once inside, she turned a mop bucket upside down and climbed up. Removing one of her daggers form her jacket, she began to unscrew the vent grate on the wall.

Once Sara had it removed, she removed the small device form her lab and dropped the coat to the floor. Sara pulled herself up into the vent opening and began to shimmy her way through the aluminium maze of ductwork . Eventually she came to what she thought was the grate she needed. It was hard to be sure because the lights were off in the room below. Taking the device from her belt, she turned it on and placed it on the far side of the grate.

There would most surely be cameras in the room, and the device would scramble them. She brought out her dagger and started to remove the screws. It was very slow going and hard to see. The penlight she had didn't give much to work by. Finally she had removed the screws and slid the grate inside the duct. Sara then dropped down through the opening and into the room below.

The room was completely black and Sara could hear the sounds of heavy breathing. She brought up the light and began to shine it around the room. It didn't provide much light, but there was enough for her to make out a shape on one of the walls. It was the shape of a man, and it was sitting on the floor.
"Colonel? Is that you?" Sara's voice was calm. There was a chance that it wasn't the Colonel. And if it wasn't, she definitely didn't want to piss it off.

Looking up slowly, the creature... Thing... Seemed to have a smile go across it's darkened face, unkown to Sara was the fact that it could see her perfectly. As the creature's smile increased in size, Sara noticed it finally.

Backing off a step she heard a voice issue from the darkness, "It's alright Sara, it's me; Paul. Please, make yourself comfortable, their's a chair off to the left. Please, tell me, what are you doing down here? Questions in which you want answers?"

"Thank you Colonel, but I prefer to stand." Sara's voice was a little shaky. "You are right though, I do have questions. The first of which being, why did you lie to me about the disease?" It was the question which had been on Sara's mind since she had retrieved the information from Sorein's computer.
"The same reason that Viki's lying to you Sara... I wanted power over you, I find it pointless now, as I'm in a position where I have not my life in my own hands. Soon enough, I see that my life shall be held in your hands Sara.

How do I know your nickname for Viktoriya? I've learnt much while they've kept me here, that and exactly what they plan to do... You have your choices Sara, and you know the answers to what they'll do... Figure it out and choose wisely."

Sara stared at the dark shape which was the Colonel. A malevolent look was in her eyes and leered at the Colonel. Who was he to question Viki's honour. Sara knew he better than anyone.

"How dare you!" The words oozed from her lips. "Viki is the one person I know I can trust. I know that she's being manipulated, and I want to know who's doing it. I'm tired of all this cryptic bull." Sara was angry and found herself wanting to rip the tongue form the Colonel's head. Realizing the predicament she would be in if she managed to make the Colonel angry, she swallowed, and calmed down.

"Please Colonel." Her voice had a pleading tone, but she meant it. "I need to know the truth. I need to hear it from you."

"You want like the truth Sara, yet, I cannot deny you the knowledge of it. Viki is the one you should be worried about Sara, she's not who she seems anymore. This underground installation runs all the way to Alpha Base. I've talked to people down here and many are quite happy to tell me of Viki's plans of betrayal. She's going to betray everyone, and when I say everyone I include you Sara... I'm sorry, but you must realise by now what she intends? I can see it in your eyes, you see the betrayal but your hiding it behind something... Sara, you must believe me, your my only hope of making it through the rest of my life, if you betray me in the end... If you betray me in the end Sara, I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you in Hell when Viki sends you in after me."

Sara listened hard for some sound of a lie in the Colonel's voice. She knew he must be lying, but there was a small amount of doubt now beginning to stir inside her. With the position the Colonel was in, what was the point of lying to her now. Nothing would change what was going to happen. But it still seemed preposterous that Viki would betray her. Someone had to be manipulating her. Though Sara was considering that Viki was incredibly difficult to manipulate. And there was also the problem with the "cure" which Viki had administered to her. A cure that was going to cut her life short. Sara could feel tears start to well in her eyes.

"So when is this going to happen?"

Perceiving her words slowly the Colonel shifted his position slightly and sighed. Looking into Sara's eyes he studied her expression then simply stated,
"Not long Sara, not long at all. As soon as the Brotherhood attack, she will either make you a casualty or the battle; or simply state you were killed by infections. The cure that she administired to you isn't a cure, as I'm sure you've found out.

Yes, before you ask, I do know just about everything that's happened in the last few hours. Much is found out her by just talking, Sara, you have to trust me. I have nothing to lose anymore, I have no reason to lie to you at all. You can tell when someone speaks the truth and when someone does not... You must've felt something from Viki when she talked to you, and you must be able to tell I speak the truth now. Please Sara, neither of us have much time and we can help each other."

Sara wanted to scream. She felt like her whole world was being ripped apart. Instead, a single tear rolled down her cheek. Sara wanted to hate her friend. It was the hardest thing for her, and Srara found herself wrestling with her emotions. She was starting to get a headache.
"So what do you want me to do?" Sara's voice was devoid of any emotion. She felt dead inside.

"Stay in hiding Sara, don't let Viki know that you know what's going on... Sara, trust me when I say that things will turn out, I need you now; more than ever... You don't truly need me, and in the end, you will have a choice of whether I continue living. I've had a good life Sara, and I'm willing to lay it down for someone that wants it more. Whether you want it or not though, is a tough question that I can't answer myself. Good luck Sara, you may need it or not; may fortune smile upon you."

Sara stood in silence with her eyes closed. Images of her life flashed in her mind. She thought of the times that she had spent with Viki. How close they had become. And now it seemed that all that had changed. Not letting Viki suspect what she knew would be the easy part. It was the choice she would have to make in the end that disturbed her. Sara knew what she had to do, she just didn't know if she could do it. But first things first. Sara needed to test the cure on Henry.

"Thank you Colonel." Sara snapped to attention and saluted. She wasn't mocking him. It was out of respect. Something she found she was starting to feel for others quite a lot lately. Sara lowered her hand and looked up at the opening in the ceiling. She hadn't realized just how far it was on the way down. There was no way she could make the jump. Blushing, she turned to the Colonel.

"Could you give me a boost please? If you don't mind."

Grunting, the Colonel moved over to her and shifted her bodyweight into his now massive arms and heaved her into the opening. Giving her a small smile he said, "It may not sound like me, but... Our paths will cross again Sara, don't forget it." Closing his eyes he moved back against the wall.

As Sara walked out of the room Henry immediately went over to Sara's computer and saw that Sara had hacked into the security system. He tried to see what she had accessed but was unable to determine what exactly it was. The only thing he was sure of was that it had something to do with colonel Pavlic. However, being somewhat good with computers Henry managed to find out other things on her computer, they were no less secret and he was barely able to determine what the effects of the virus was. Having almost been locked out after hacking the files he discovered that it would turn the person into a mutant with incredible strength and power. It still left mysteries in his head but he had uncovered a piece of the puzzle that was the power struggle. Who exactly the players were, however was uncertain to him.

Henry gathered up the info he had obtained and uploaded it into a flash drive and he took off. With the time that was given to him Henry wondered who he could possibly trust with this information. It needed to be someone loyal and incorruptible. Then it came to him, what better way to help make sure he and the other regulars soldiers were not made mindless pawns than to trust the information with Demetri! So he ran until he reached the barracks and found Demetri and woke him up. "Sir, I'm sorry to wake you up but I think you need to know this..."

Demetri had only been asleep for less then an hour, and was soon shaken awake. Demetri groaned as he awoke and pushed himself up and looked at who had disturbed him, the lights in the barracks had been dimmed to conserve power on their generator, and Demetri could just make out the features of henry. "What do you want Jones?" Demetri asked as he swung his legs around and sat on the edge. Demetri could see Henry was worried about something, "Is there a problem?" Demetri asked and started to pay more attention to what was going on, why was he awoken, and not his commanding officer.

Henry took a moment to catch his breath and began, he wasn't too sure where to begin but he knew that Demetri had to know about the virus, the colonel, and the traitors.

"Well I'm not quite sure where to begin but it seems like the virus we were told about a while back is much more than simply a random disease that came upon us. From what I was able to discern from the files it would turn the person who is infected into a big brute very much like Frank Horrigan. The worst part is this, I'm not too sure of the overall situation but I think the disappearance of the colonel recently has something to do with this. Now I was told by Sara that there is a group of traitors within the Enclave that has infected many of us and plans to betray us all, Now I don't know their members, motives, or goal. " He paused, something like this wasn't easy to explain if he didn't know the full story.

"Sir, if we common soldiers are to survive this we'll need someone to make sure that we don't get screwed over by these unknown threats. I know that if we stay in the dark we are all done for. I'll give you the flash drive filled with whatever I was able to recover so you can help determine our course of action." Henry was glad he now had someone who he was sure could back him up as well as representing the welfare of the common grunt. He looked at his watch and realized that he had to be going soon. "Alright I have to get back to the lab sir, but look over the files and we'll have to get together soon to plan out what's going to happen. I have a feeling we're going to need Greg too, he'll have another piece of this puzzle,"

He then turned around and headed back to the lab looking at all the soldiers all around him he felt more alone than ever. The secretary in the science hall could be a traitor, the janitor sweeping the hallways could be too. Even the Lieutenant-Colonel could be one of them! When he finally made it back to the lab he shut the door behind him and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Who knew when they would strike or what they would do?

Demetri listened to Henery as he provided the details on what was discovered. The stories of Frank Horrigan had been heard, a violent man, or rather supermutant who was constantly dosed on drugs and would wipe out a while settlement if ordered to, the idea of coming like that was not appeasing. And secondly, the enclave seemed split, this wasn't going to prove well if that was the case.

Demetri took the flashdrive and nodded and watched as Henry left, Demetri waited for a few moments and sighed, "Best go and take a look at this," Demetri muttered to himself and left for the command post, being a lieutenant now gave him far more access then before, and people want question him moving about during the night. demetri found a secluded room inwhich he could review the data he was given. Going into the room, Demetri pressed a few buttons on the panel next to door and it shut and locked it's self.

Demetri powered up the terminal and inserted the drive and pulled up the data. Demetri scanned through it, reading it, rereading it, he couldn't believe his eyes, "What the hell is going on here?" Demetri asked himself. Something needed to be done, yet he had no clue on how to do it.

Sara returned to the lab, sorrow filling her heart. Walking through the door, she saw Henry seated in the chair in front of the desk. She really wasn't surprised that he had elected to stay, and had she been in the mood, Sara would have immediately tried to determine if he had poked his nose where it didn't belong. As it was, she moved to the computer to check on the progress of the program she had been running. The progress bar had reached the end and the word "complete" was flashing on the screen.

Sara got up from the desk and moved across the room to one of the locked cupboards. She stayed silent and did not make eye contact with Henry. Opening the cupboard revealed a box shaped storage unit with flashing lights and several cylindrical shaped openings, each of which contained a metal tube. Sara removed one of the tubes and also a hypodermic gun form the cupboard. She inserted the tube into the gun and returned to where Henry was sitting.

Sara took Henry by the hand without a word and led him into the bedroom. She motioned for him to lay down on the bed and she brought the gun up to his neck.

"Henry," Sara's voice sounded sad. "I am going to give you an injection of nanites. The disease we are infected with is rewriting our DNA and the nanites should be able to reverse that. At the very least, they will slow it down. I brought you in here because I do not have a hospital bed here and I am sure that this treatment will cause you to convulse. The bed will protect you from injuring yourself." Sara finally made eye contact with Henry and let out a tiny smile.

"I pray that this works. For all our sakes. Oh and did I mention that this will most likely cause you a great deal of pain." And with that Sara injected Henry with the nanites.

Henry stared at the needle nervously, he hated needles. He was starting to wonder what he was doing here when Sara suddenly injected the needle into his neck. All of a sudden Henry felt like his entire bloodstream was on fire and he started tossing and turning , wishing the pain would stop. The one thing he could think of at that moment was why he didn't ask her how long it would take. As unconsciousness began to take over He remembered this, At least I managed to get word out . As the battle between the nanites and the virus raged within his DNA Henry decided to black out.

Sara watched as Henry writhed around in agony. Normally she would have been giddy from watching the expressions on his face. Instead she watched with concern and sadness. She was still preoccupied with the Colonel's words. Something she would still have to tell Henry; if he survived. Sara continued to watch as Henry blacked out.

Sara stared at him for a moment and watched his body twitch as the nanites did their work inside his body. She checked his pulse, which was fast and erratic. It would take a few minutes for the nanites to completely take effect. It was now time to see what Henry had been in to in her absence.

Sara exited the bedroom and immediately went to the cupboard which contained her trophies. The lock was intact and Sara breathed a sigh of relief. Next she moved to the computer and began to check the keystroke log. It appeared she was right, but she really didn't care. From what she could tell, he hadn't accessed anything that Sara would not have told him anyway. Although right now, she doubted she would have cared if he did. She moved to the lab table and picked up an empty syringe. Moving back to the bedroom, she checked to see if Henry was still alive. She smiled on the discovery that he was and immediately took a blood sample form his arm. She left the room, Henry still unconscious on the bed and began to prepare a slide of the sample.

It took a few moments for the slide to be ready. Sara could feel butterflies in her stomach from the anticipation. She placed the slide under the microscope and looked into the lenses. The disease was still present, but the nanites appeared to be slowing it down. She took a moment to run some calculations in her head and realized that at the rate the nanites were working, the progress of the disease had been slowed by fifty percent. It wasn't great news, but it did buy her some more time. Sara walked over to the terminal and started to program another batch of nanites with her own DNA profile. Opening a drawer in the desk, she removed a syringe full of adrenaline and returned to the bedroom.

Henry's breathing was steady and his pulse had slowed almost back to normal. It was now time to wake him up. Grabbing a belt form a drawer in the small dresser beside the bed, Sara rolled up Henry's sleeve and looked for a vein. She inserted the needle and injected Henry with the adrenaline. She used a small dose as she did not want him to be shocked awake. Sara could see him beginning to stir and she wiped the sweat away form his brow.

"Henry? How do you feel?" Sara knew what the answer would most likely be. But she wanted to hear it anyway. After that, no doubt, Henry would have questions. And they did have a lot to talk about

Henry awoke to hear someone speaking, it wasn't quite clear but when he heard it for the second time he finally remembered what had happened. He smiled weakly and said "I guess this is your payback for me shooting you." He didn't feel particularly bad anymore and he supposed that it was a good thing. The burning had stopped and was replaced with a really bad headache. "I think I'll live Sara," He then remembered Greg, "Hey shouldn't you be getting over to help him with the surgery?" Then he slumped his head back and tried to fall asleep. He felt tired and hoped that when he woke up things would be a lot better.

However, he felt that he needed some answers first. "Alright, so how's the colonel? I know that he's not dead but I don't know anything else. Care to fill me in?" Deciding that he probably didn't want to fall asleep with Sara over him as she would probably experiment on him, Henry got up and drank some water from a glass next to the bed. He felt stable enough, even without being able to get some rest it was nothing that he wouldn't get better from after a day or two. "I think you've got something good here Sara, cause I'm not dead nor am I severely ill." From what it seemed like it was only a simple ten minutes of pure torture and agony. Luckily, he had blacked out after the first twenty seconds.

Sara smiled at Henry and figured now was as good a time as any to give him the answers he sought. True she needed to attend to Gregory, but there were still more pressing matters. Right now she needed to recruit Henry fully to her cause. Something that would not be easy to do since she would have to keep some of the information from him. Not just for her own protection, but his as well.

"Well Henry," Sara began. Her tone was clinical and her face was an expressionless void. "While you were unconscious, I took the liberty of procuring a blood sample from you and testing it. The results are good. It appears that treatment has slowed the disease by fifty percent. It's not a cure but it does buy me?us more time." Sara frowned. She hadn't wanted to Henry to know how much time she had left. Unfortunately, now she needed to tell him, or it would look like she was only out for herself.

"I'm sorry Henry, I should have told you before. I don't have much time left. Even with the treatment I only have about a week left." Sara tried to look calm, but was finding it difficult. She didn't want to die. Still, now was not the time for self pity.

"The Colonel has told me who is behind everything, and he wants to help." Sara was smiling a little. "I need you to trust me Henry. As such I will tell you most anything you want to know. You will also need to understand that there are some things I can't tell you for your own safety. As such I will tell you that the Colonel has told me who is behind the resistance. But I can't tell you who it is. You have to understand that this is big. And we can't risk anyone finding out that we know anything. It would not only be bad for us, but the Colonel as well." Sara stopped talking and her face changed to one that was much more serious. Her eyes seemed now to be scolding Henry.

"If we are going to trust each other, we can't go behind each other's backs. If you want to know something, ask me. Like I said I will tell you everything I can. I am going to tell right now that you should watch how much you trust Gregory. And I am also going to ask you what you did with the files you downloaded off my computer." Sara's paused again and her face became much calmer.

"You're not in trouble. Quite frankly I would have freely given you that information. But we can't have it falling into the wrong hands. As such, I need to know where it is." This was it. If she couldn't trust Henry now, Sara didn't know what her next move would be. And the uncertainty of the situation, made her feel uneasy.

Henry listened to the same things that Sara had been saying for a while. To him it was simply another speech about how she couldn't tell him everything because of safety, trust, etc. She did have point though, so he decided to let her in on how he had improved the preparedness of their small band of troops by giving the information to Demetri. "I gave the flash drive to someone I knew who could be trusted and honest. I gave it to the newly promoted lieutenant Green. I figured that he would be more dependable than most of the officers seeing as he was also just a soldier. It would also help ensure the security of our squad, if anything happened, we'd be the ones to take care of it."

Henry often felt a bit intimidated at exchanging words with Sara as she was quite good at manipulating her words to suit her needs. However, he continued, "I'm certain that that info is in safe hands, so now you have to answer my question. When are these rebels going to strike and how are they going to do it?" Henry had many questions so he also asked her "So tell me exactly what happened to the colonel as well. He seems to be alive, judging from what you have said but I I'm also curious as to why Greg cannot be trusted. I know he was your Guinea pig before but it doesn't quite explain what was happening." His barrage of questions made him tired again and he leaned against a chair for support. "I'm also going to recommend we get the loyalists on our side to a meeting where we can discuss what our course of action will be. Acting by yourself will only get you kill Sara so that's why I'm going to ask you, Demetri, possibly Greg, and I to participate. If we don't pull ourselves together it will only mean death."

He felt better now that he was having his opinions voiced and sat down, drinking some more water, and listened to what Sara had to say. With any luck, he would've been able to save the Enclave by uniting the loyalists before it was too late. By the way Sara had put it though, it may have almost been too late.

Sara laughed at the word loyalists as Henry spoke it. Even if it were possible to have such a meeting, there was no way to know who they could actually trust. Sara did have a way, but she was far from confident that she could do it undetected. It was also quite na?ve for Henry to use that word. For all intents and purposes, the Enclave was already gone. There were just a few loose ends for the resistance to tie up first.

"I agree that we can trust Demetri. I see nothing for him to gain by going against us. The main problem we have is that we can't be certain of who else has been compromised. So unless you plan to go out and randomly talk to the soldiers about joining us, I don't think a meeting is possible. No Henry, we are on our own." Sara was still smiling and felt a little happier. If nothing else Henry's male brain was providing her a little amusemant. Sara stopped smiling and then continued.

"As for the Colonel, I can tell you that he is rapidly changing. He has also told me that the resistance plans to eradicate the Enclave and the Brotherhood at the same time. When the Brotherhood arrives in four days." Sara exhaled and looked at Henry. She could see the apprehension on his face. Sara knew that this must be difficult for him. The stories painted a picture of a woman who was completely psychotic and manipulative. Sara agreed that she was manipulative but didn't agree at all that she was psychotic. She was just different.

"And about Gregory, I don't think guinea pig would be the right term. Had he been a true guinea pig, believe me when I say that he would have been in a lot worse shape, if not already dead. But right now I really need you to trust me. It is better that you don't know everything at the moment. I will just say that Gregory is not what he appears, and I promise you that before the end, you will know everything." Sara gave him another pleading look.

"Right now, the only people we can trust is us. From this point on we can take nothing for granted. We're through the looking glass, and in the end, it will either be us or them."

Time was running out, minute by minute, second by second. It was all blurring past as the men and women taught me as much information as they could, time had no meaning to me anymore. I knew that I wasn't taking up much of it, but for what I did I may as well have been down there for years. Scowling I lifted up the heavy object that they placed in front of me and hurled it thirty or so yards. With a few shaking of heads I realised they wanted me to throw it even further, with a scowl I took a step back and rested against a wall.

"What use to you will I be if I can't even walk a mile? Let me rest." I gasped out, sweat was dripping down my sides and I was panting terribly.

"No, you go until we tell you to stop," one of the Woman replied.

Scowling I rose again and rolled my shoulders, moving forward to continue what they told me to. I could just rebel and try and escape, it may just work; but something told me it'd be better off for me to stay.

Henry realized that after all this talking with Sara he was still not so sure whether she was trying to help the Enclave. "So we're alone huh? Do you know whether General Winter is implicated? Don't forget that the higher ups are still involved. How will they react to this? Maybe you should just tell me who is in charge of the resistance so that we can arrange them to have a little accident. I'm still recommending we at least talk to Demetri as well, we have at least one squad we know for sure is dependable. I'm sure Demetri can vouch for them, we have some resources at least.

Henry turned to leave as his headache was starting to clear up, he said as he left "I'm going to talk to Demetri to see what he thinks of this, go and see what you can do and we'll all meet here in six hours with whoever we can find as well as assembling our resources, we won't have much but try to go amongst the troops to get a reading as to how everyone is feeling, if they have large operation someone will squeal, and I' sure that's your specialty Sara." Henry walked out and returned to the barracks. He wanted to go to sleep but he knew they had to get ready quickly and finding Demetri was step one.

He wandered for about thirty minutes until he found Demetri in the command post sifting through the info. "Sir, I've just spoken with Sara," he gave him an overview of what was going on and asked him "Sir, I told Sara that I'm recommending we go around and see what we can do before going back in six hours where we'll draw up some plans. We'll probably be few in number but we can trust the men. They're less interested in these politics and they should be loyal. I'm going to ask you what your thoughts are and how we should prepare." Time was scarce, not only was fighting the brotherhood hard enough but now they had to hold out against the BOS, rebels, and all the other unknowns such as the colonel and even Sara. He was allied with her but her motives and goal were still a bit of a gray area.

Sara watched as Henry exited the lab, closing the door behind him. She leered evilly at the door for a few moments and then in a single motion, removed one of the knives from her coat and threw it into the door. She stared at it for a few moments, wishing it was imbedded into Henry's head. As it was, she needed him right now, and couldn't help being impressed by the size of his balls. If he was anyone else, Sara would have gutted him on the spot for presuming to order her around. Henry needed a reminder as to who was in charge.

Sara opened the security menu on the computer and accessed the base cameras. Quickly, she found who she was looking for. Sara could see Demetri working on his computer terminal. No doubt, reading the data on the disease. Sara opened the messenger program and quickly began to write:

"Lieutenant;

Henry is on his way to see you at this moment. He wants to recruit men to help us fight the resistance in the Enclave. I wish I had the time to speak to you in person, but at this moment I need to prepare for surgery. I know that with all the stories and rumours about me floating around Blood Gulch, it is hard for Henry, and I am sure yourself as well, to trust me. I think I have proven to you already that I can be trusted. But believe me, I do understand that it may still be a little difficult. So I will tell you everything that I know.

At this time there is a resistance operating within the Enclave. The resistance is being run by the newly arrived Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov. She is the one responsible for the disease, and intends to destroy the Enclave as well as the Brotherhood.

As I said, Henry wishes to try and recruit men to fight back. This is a BAD idea. Knowing the Lieutenant Colonel as I do, I can tell you that she has her bases covered. We CANNOT trust anyone. It is very likely that one, if not all of the men in your squad are compromised. The only course of action we have at this time is to lay low. We will find out exactly who is on our side during the coming battle. I really wish it could be otherwise, but I see no other option. If Henry is allowed to go off half cocked, I don't think any of us will live to see the battle.

Demetri, I haven't lied to you yet and understand that it will not serve me at all to start now. I have spoken with Colonel Pavlic and he believes we need to stay under the radar for now. As such, after you read this message, you must delete it immediately. Do NOT tell Henry about it's contents, and as he is still under your command, you will order him to keep his mouth shut. I would also ask that you remind him that there are ways to speak to a superior officer. He does not give the orders here. I do. If he cannot do as I need him, he will, unfortunately, become expendable. We can not risk him exposing what we know.

There is one other thing I need you to know, and it won't be easy for you to hear. Henry believes that we should trust Gregory as well. Now although I am sure I can get him to obey, I don't believe that he can be trusted in any way. Before Colonel Pavlic went into, shall we say, seclusion. Gregory went to him and confessed to being a spy for the Brotherhood. Now before you grab your rifle and head to the infirmary, trust me when I say that he will be of more use to us alive. As I said, I can insure his obedience. I have a little something up my sleeve. Keep this secret and I promise you, you can be the one to kill the vermin in the end. If you reveal this to anyone, especially Henry, it will cause a problem for all of us.

Obviously, there is more we must talk about, but we still have time if we keep our wits about us. Everything in this letter is to be considered for your eyes only and you can consider everything in here an order. However, I am asking you to help me. Henry is right, we can't do this alone, but at the moment we can't afford to trust anyone else.

If you do not wish to help, you will remain silent about everything in here. If you are thinking that this letter can be used as leverage against me, let me assure you that telling anyone you know this would result in your death as much as mine. Please don't take that as a threat in any way. You need to understand, I don't know who to trust. If you are on board with me, be in my lab in twelve hours, with Henry. If not, I wish you luck, but I doubt that we will survive.

Sara"

It didn't take long for Sara to write the message and only another moment to encrypt it so that it could only be read on the terminal that Demetri was using now. Shutting down her terminal, she enterd her bedroom and changed into her scrubs.

As Sara walked down the corridor towards the operating room. She stopped for a moment to take a drink from a water fountain. It was then she noticed the camera. It seemed to stop when she did. Sara thought at first she was just being paranoid, and walked over to a window and looked out into the courtyard. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw he camera follow her and stop when she did. Sara wasn't really surprised that she was being watched. She figured that Viki would want to keep tabs on her following her visit to the Colonel. Although there was no way for anyone to know that she had gone to see him, they still knew that she had been to the underground part of the base. Double checking the syringe in her pocket, she entered the operating room.

There were two nurses moving about, attending to Gregory. They had a look of relief in their eyse when they saw Sara come in. Sara put on her surgical mask and took a look at Henry's legs. Sra could tell just by looking that there would be no chance to save his legs. It was time for a moment alone with Gregory. They needed to talk.

"Revive him," Sara looked at one of the nurses, who immediately injected Henry. Sara looked at both of the nurses and had a sadness in her eyes.

"I need you to leave. I need a moment alone with Gregory." Sara's voice was sad, but inside she was feeling a sense of glee. This would definitely make things a little simpler, thanks to the story she had told to the Brotherhood before. Gregory started to stir and Sara brought a hand up to his cheek. She caressed him gently and began to speak.

"Everything is going to be okay," Sara's eyes glimmered with compassion and hope. "We're going to get you mended and then everything will be okay."

(OOC: This is to be my only single OOC post in this entire Thread from knowledge... As soon as this Thread is finished, there will be no more Soap Opera style stuff until AFTER the battle, so make use of the last 3 posts well. Norman, Blackmane and Mere are the main one's I'm wishing to post. )

Greg's eyes opened, slowly as pain and tiredness where still overcoming him. Everything was blurry, but he could make out someone standing over him. Pain began to seep in again. He bit his tongue to not cry out in pain, even though he really wanted too. His vision was returning to normal as someones hand touched his cheek, a soft hand, one he had felt before. Remembrance of before he arrived back at the base came back. He sighed deeply, realizing it was Sara.

He grinned, happy to know she was there for him. She told him something about feeling better, but he couldn't understand much in his current state. The truth though, was that he had no way of knowing if he was to be better, and that scared him. He looked back over to Sara,"It's glad to see you again Sara." He sighed, "Will I be fine, or, or...." He stopped there, not wanting to think about what could happen. He raised his hand to his forehead, thinking heavily for the moment. "What happened back there?"

"You were attacked by deathclaws. You're legs?." Sara's eyes started to well up. Bringing up her arm, she wiped away the tears with her sleeve.

"I'm going to fix you up Gregory I promise." Sara's eyes were sad and she brought out the syringe from her pocket.

"I need to inject you with this. You have to understand that some things have changed since we returned. I spoke to Colonel Pavlic and he wants to have you?executed." The word executed was forced and had a sob behind it.

"But it's okay. I talked him into letting you live." A noticeable smile appeared behind the surgical mask.

This syringe contains a drug that will keep you unconscious for the duration of the surgery as well as allow your system to adapt to the cybernetics we are going to have to use to replace your legs. It also contains a small microchip which will act much as a slave collar. I am truly sorry for this Gregory. It was the only way the Colonel would agree to let you live. And at least we'll be together." Sara caressed his cheek again and injected the needle into his IV tube.

"Sleep now Gregory." And with that Sara started to prepare for the surgery.