A/N: Sorry for the delay and for the abbreviated chapter! Struggling to make the next few chapters as un-crappy as possible. In the meantime, I wanted to get something out there to at least resolve the cliffhanger from the last chapter.

Chapter 25: Confrontation

Nora and Arthur scrambled to redress as Bethany stood vacantly in place. Maxson quickly threw his jacket on; Nora hastily tugged at the zipper of her flight suit.

After ten still and silent seconds, something in Bethany McNamara changed. Her face contorted into a feral snarl. Her arm shot forward, laser pistol in hand.

Maxson and Nora froze.

Beth's metamorphosis continued. Her glazed eyes now smoldered. Her thin lips writhed and twisted. Her petite hand clutched at her weapon with a deathly-white grip.

Beth directed the gun squarely at Nora.

"You…" Beth hissed, her voice now hot and noxious. "Elder Casdin warned me about you..."

Arthur dared to move. He took a slow, delicate step towards the weaponized woman, hands raised disarmingly. "Bethany…" he pleaded.

"It's not your fault," Beth grumbled to her would-be husband. "These outsiders are charmers. They worm their way into our ranks before destroying everything we love."

Nora remained rooted in place, not daring any action that could aggravate Beth further.

Beth continued, her gun fixated on the vault-dweller. "An outsider was allowed into the Mojave chapter, you know. My uncle was Elder at the time. He was foolish enough not to kill her on sight." She scoffed at Maxson, spittle flying from her mouth. "He probably thought she was a pretty little thing, too."

Beth's voice vibrated with raw rage as she continued. "The outsider betrayed him in less than three days. Found some bullshit law he'd violated and squealed on him. Hardin had no choice- by Brotherhood doctrine he had to replace my uncle as Elder."

Arthur felt hot prickling anger sting his body. Beth had swallowed this line of drivel from Hardin without question, yet it made no sense. This Mojave outsider had nothing to gain by removing McNamara, unless she had been incentivized to do so. Hardin, however, reaped numerous material and political rewards from the treachery. If Beth was too naïve not to realize the part Hardin must have played in her uncle's demotion, then she was a greater fool than the former Elder McNamara had ever been.

Beth's fingers started tapping and toying with the pistol's trigger. Nora seemed to flinch and blink with every movement of Beth's fingers. "But no," Beth spat, her story still unfinished, "that single betrayal wasn't enough for her. She had to go and blow the entire Mojave bunker to hell." Beth was shouting now. Her teeth gleamed in the light like ivory daggers. "I won't make the same mistake. I won't let this bitch live."

Arthur inched sideways in a feeble attempt to block Nora from the gun. "Beth," he attempted to coo. "I am Nora's superior officer. I initiated this indiscretion. Punish me."

His attempt did not work.

"Stay back!" Beth barked to Arthur, swinging the gun back and forth between the two of them. "You don't understand, Arthur…" She shook in rage. A red flush enveloped her skin. "Nora will betray you. It's only a matter of time." She sneered. "Just look at what happened when we tried to have her killed on the Prydwyn- she used you as her own human shield! You almost died because of this savage!"

Maxson visibly recoiled backwards as the implications behind her words congealed in his mind.

Beth is a member of the Untarnished.

Beth gave a cackling laugh at Maxson's apparent shock. "Poor, sweet, ignorant Arthur. You have no idea how much dirty work we have to do just to keep your steel soul clean." Her gun quivered in her hand, now aimed back in Nora's direction. "Hardin convinced me that I, too, had to do my part for the good of the Brotherhood..." The gun lifted slightly, in line with Nora's head. "I told Bigsley not to screw up her shooting, but that drunken oaf can't even button up his own pants."

Maxson continued to step back until he collided with one of the glass display cases behind him. It rattled and clanged against him.

The sound caused Beth to turn towards him. Nora wasted no time, lunging at Beth like a starving deathclaw. Beth was unprepared for the collision and quickly toppled to the ground. Her laser pistol flew into the air, tumbling well out of reach. Beth attempted to raise herself to retrieve her weapon, but Nora landed a well-timed punch to her face, causing Beth to collapse once more. Nora's hands lunged for Beth's throat, but Beth managed a throw her knee into Nora's gut, causing the vault-dweller to wheeze and release her grip. Beth scrambled across the floor for the gun. Her fingers curled around its handle, and she whipped it in Nora's direction.

Three discharges were released in rapid succession.

A figure slumped to the floor.

But it wasn't Nora.

It was Bethany.

Arthur stood across the room, firearm from the display case in hand. Luckily, the rusted Enclave gun still worked and the ammo beside the weapon was indeed real. The weapon still sizzled and fumed in Arthur's hand. He found himself, for the first time ever, grateful to the Enclave's insidious technology.

Danse burst into the room at that moment, poised for combat and armed with a plasma pistol. "What is the situation?!" he yelled urgently.

Nora did not reply. Instead, she hunched over Beth's body, and pressed her fingertips to the Beth's neck.

Arthur knew what Nora would say before she said it.

"She's dead."