A/N: A second installment for Preston Appreciation Week.

"Do excuse me, mum."

Nora grumbled and reluctantly lifted her head at the words- taking note of the blurry image of Codsworth in front of her. Sleep was still heavy in her eyes as she moved one hand to rub at them, attempting to at least clarify two feets' worth of vision in front of her. She didn't want to even think about what time it was- or how little sleep she had gotten so far. Just moving her head away from her pillow brought out the strained muscles of her back and shoulders- the same pains that had dropped her the night before.

She was still trying to recover from that raid on the Gunners two nights ago.

She figured she would've bounced back by now, but that was hardly the case at the moment; she still felt like death.

"Or perhaps General, as everyone here calls you."

Nora cracked a brief smile at the near mocking sound in his tone. "What do you need, Cods?" she muttered, as one hand moved to brush aside her messy hair.

Codsworth rarely left Sanctuary Hills, but after hearing her and Preston discussing the issues they needed to take care of at the Castle, he insisted on tagging along with them; he would do more good at Fort Independence than he would at home. And she didn't have the heart to tell him no- plus it wouldn't hurt to have an extra hand, or three, around to help.

"It appears that one of your delegates has arrived, and she wishes to speak with you- quite urgently in fact," Codsworth answered. "She seems... well, quite angry that she's traveled all this way back to the Fort and you're not out to greet her."

A not so subtle groan escaped her as Nora dropped her head back into the pillow with a wave of her hand. "Okay. Distract her while I get ready."

"Of course, mum."

She waited until Codsworth had left the room, before she reached behind her and grabbed him by the hip; Preston always slept close to her, which made him easy to reach in the mornings. And made him easier to shake awake. "You did this to me," Nora groaned, immediately hearing the tired laugh that escaped him in response. She tried to keep up her mock sense of anger, but it was hard not to smile when she felt his arms slip around her; and even harder not to when he pulled her back to him- locking her against his chest.

The warm brush of his lips against the back of her neck sealed her fate as she broke out into a grin.

"You're needed elsewhere, General," he whispered, as his palms pressed flat against the curve of her ribs. "The Commonwealth awaits your command."

She shook her head as she let herself go limp in his arms. "No, no, you see... the deal is, before sunrise, you're the General."

"I don't think it works that way."

"Look, I don't make the rules... because I'm not the General right now," Nora continued, as she patted her hand against his hip once more.

Preston laughed once more more as he brushed his fingers through her messy hair, and gently pulled the loose strands of it away from her face. "Fine, if that's how you want to play it, then... my first order of business is appointing you as the new General."

Nora snorted slightly, before she gave into a laugh- almost unable to believe that he would beat her at her own game. Or at least try to. "Understood," she replied, in a mock sense of authority. "And now, as acting General, I appoint you as General."

"You can't use my tactics against me."

"Sorry, General," she playfully mocked.

He gave an equally mocked sigh, before he tucked his head against the back of her neck. "Alright, we know that it's both our asses if you don't go out there to meet her," he reminded.

Yeah, she knew that- but she was desperately trying to ignore it at this point. All she wanted to do was sleep right now, and give her two hundred plus year-old body a rest for once. But... she had signed up for this; she needed to see it through to the end.

"Fine- but if I have to suffer, you have to suffer with me," Nora replied, as she reached out and grabbed the edge of the mattress, before she pulled herself towards it- barely able to drag him along with her. "You know, if Ronnie wants to barge in here, I guess that's fine- she'll just see you interfering with my God-given duty as General." She heard him laugh once more, before he released her- nearly causing her to fling herself off the bed.

"You know we wouldn't quite be where we are today if it weren't for her," he reminded, as he pushed himself up and followed her as she barely got to her feet.

To a small degree, maybe.

Well... they wouldn't have the artillery, which made for a damn good show when they were fired, so... maybe he did have a point.

Nora gave into a stretch, working the aches out of her body, before she slowly picked up the clothing that had been discarded the night before- rather erratically too. Normally she would've donned her General's uniform while at the Castle, but she was planning on doing some home improvements today and would rather forgo on wearing it. Ronnie tended to get a little stingy with her if she wasn't in it, but she needed to finish patching up the far wall, and finish work on the water purifier out back. She had gotten Sturges to write down some notes for them when they were last at Sanctuary so they could repair it on their own. And hopefully, they could.

If not, she was dragging the mechanic out here to do it himself.

Slipping into her worn-down road leathers, Nora fitted into her boots and tried to shake the last bit of sleep out of her system.

"Alright, Cowboy, wish me luck," she spoke, as she interrupted his re-dressing process by grabbing the collars of his duster and hoisting it over his shoulders herself. "And pray that she isn't here for my blood."

"You know Ronnie means well," Preston reminded, as he briefly readjusted his jacket around his scarf. "She's seen a lot of Generals come and go- she just wants to make sure you're cut out for the job."

"I don't know, I get the feeling she wants to cut me out of it," Nora sighed, before she leaned up and kissed him once more. "Pray for me, Lieutenant."

He spared her with a brief laugh, before he leaned down and kissed her in return. "I'll be sending prayers your way, General."

Reluctantly, she stepped out of the General's Quarters and made her way down the stone corridor until she was able to step outside. It was a little later than her usual morning wake-up, but again... those Gunners they took down had taken quite a bit out of her. She always used the extra rest when she could get it. Although, at this point, she wondered if it was the actual fighting that made her hurt, or if it had been the long walk back home that did her in. Her back and hips were throbbing with every step, but she couldn't let them get in her way.

That was the Post-Apocalyptic way of life now, after all.

It didn't take her long to spot Ronnie standing in the middle of the courtyard, looking irritated as Codsworth spoke to her.

And considering that the older woman already had a lit cigarette in hand, she didn't exactly have high hopes for how this conversation would go.

"Good morning, Ronnie," Nora spoke, as she gestured for Codsworth to depart- which he cheerfully did. "I wasn't expecting you back until tomorrow."

"Don't get your Brahmin all tied up, I finished cleaning up that island you wanted in no time," Ronnie replied. "Hell, those Mirelurk Queens aren't as tough as they used to be- barely even broke a sweat. I figured I'd hightail it back while the boys finish cleaning up the mess and give you a report on it; it's going to need a hellva lot of supplies to get it useable again."

Spectacle island.

She had spotted it off the coast of the Warwick Homestead, and had been interested in seeing what was out there, but... didn't necessarily have the time to go out and see what it was. Or if it was of any use anymore. Now, she wasn't the first to spot the island, but now that they had the resources to set up new settlements, she had been eyeing it as a promising spot.

But considering that there was a reported Mirelurk Queen inhabiting it, she was glad now that she didn't have a chance to go herself.

"That's good to hear," Nora nodded. "We're still busy with some improvements around the Castle, but I'm sure we can-"

"And why aren't you in uniform?" Ronnie interrupted.

... And there it was.

Not that she was surprised, or unprepared for it.

"I was planning on working on the wall today. I may be General, but I'm not going to sit on my ass and watch everyone else do it instead," Nora answered, trying not to let her fear of the older woman seep into her voice. She didn't know what it was about Ronnie, but she got the stiff impression that the woman could snap her in half. "Although, we do have plenty of people here to work on the wall... I suppose I could always take a swim over to the island and see what it looks like. I'm sure I've been in worse places."

Ronnie took a few hits of her cigarette in seemingly careful consideration. "Not a bad idea," the woman mused. "The island's a little roughed up, but if it gets your approval, it'd make a hellva settlement. Although transporting things there is going to be an issue."

"You let me handle that, Ronnie; it's what I'm good at," Nora assured.

Lord knows she had handled most of the trading routes across the Commonwealth- with a lot of help from her settlements. It was the only way she had learned her way around the land. An island would propose a few, serious, issues though, but until her feet were on the island itself, she wasn't going to make any haste decisions.

The woman gave a brief nod in rare agreement, before she looked at something, or someone, past her. "Why don't you take that Lieutenant-General of yours for back-up? Wouldn't want the Mirelurks to pull you under while you take the swim."

She cringed at the imagery.

"Unless he had something else planned for the day."

"Hm? No, we were both planning to work around the Castle," Nora insisted. "He was going to try and repair the water purifier out back; we asked a friend of ours on how to fix it, and I think we can pull it off. With luck, we'll have the purifier back in business by this afternoon- which will be an improvement since we're cutting into our reserves a bit."

Something about the way the woman was looking at her made her cheeks suddenly burn- like the woman was accusing her of something she hadn't done yet.

"You know, General, you should really keep to your uniform when you're on official Minutemen grounds," Ronnie started, before she made a brief gesturing motion with her hand, the cigarette smoking between two fingers. "I'll hide the improvements he left on your neck."

...

She didn't so much as move at the words- although now she vaguely remembered the collection of red and faintly bruised rings she had on her skin; most of them were gathered in the curve of her neck and on her shoulder. And a few more on her breasts, which made her glad that she had chosen to forgo wearing her harness attire instead.

She could only hope that she looked as stoic as she tried to be.

Or that she didn't look like she wanted to gunned down on the spot.

"I will take your words into... consideration," Nora spoke, struggling to keep her own words somewhat stiff on the tongue. "However, if we are to take a look at this new settlement, then we should depart for it soon enough before we lose any more light."

"That you should."