Chapter Specific Characters: Beth (Somerville kid), Porter Gage, Nubs, Pickman, Shank, H1-87, Roger Warwick
Chapter Specific Tags/Warnings: Brief mention of underage sex, cuts and bruises as a result of implied rough sex, minor relationship drama, mentioned daddy kink, Gage is jealous, Ash is a thot, Pickman is creepy and knows it, some sappy romantic nonsense
It was a week into the repairs of Somerville Place and Ash had just returned from Sanctum, fresh and clean from a shower break. With him there, Gage took the opportunity to relay to Sanctum to take his own shower, the device on his wrist easy to recalibrate so that he could return once he was done. Normally Gage just waited until they were done with a settlement to shower and such, but Ash suspected he was getting spoiled.
Just as Ash had settled down, a smile on his face at the thought of Gage being spoiled, one of the children who lived on the property approached him. At first Ash was too stuck in his head to notice, but then the child tugged on the sleeve of his shirt and Ash looked down at her in surprise and then annoyance. "Can I help you, small child?" He asked, glaring down at the kid. Her name was Beth if he recalled correctly from all the times he'd heard the father shout it, but he didn't care enough to call her by it.
"I'm not that small." She argued, frowning at Ash.
"I stand by my question." Ash replied, getting comfortable in his chair even as he continued to glare at the kid.
Huffing, Beth pouted at Ash a bit longer before walking around his chair and sitting in Gage's. "How come you made my dad wear that weird blinky collar?" She asked, oblivious to the incredulous look Ash was giving her.
Frowning deeply, Ash stared at the kid while he thought about what to say. Well, there really wasn't any reason to lie to her. She was old enough to be a brat, she was old enough to know how the world worked. "It's a shock collar. I'm making him wear it because it ensures that he behaves."
Pondering that for a bit, Beth nodded slowly. "What if he promised to behave? Would he still have to wear it?" She asked, swaying her legs from where they hung over the chair.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because your father's promises mean nothing to me." Ash replied, a bit of a sigh in his voice. Why was he bothering? Why not just tell the kid to fuck off? "I have no reason to trust your father would keep his word, so the collar is necessary."
"Oh." Beth muttered, pondering again before speaking up. "How come me and Jackson don't have to wear one?"
Grinning darkly behind his mask, Ash looked away from the kid. "Because your father asked me very nicely to not put collars on either of you."
Humming softly, Beth tilted her head. "Could you please take my dad's collar off?" She asked, smiling sweetly at Ash. "Pretty, pretty please?"
Snorting, Ash shook his head. "Get lost, kid." He muttered, watching as she pouted for a bit before sighing dramatically and leaving. Fucking kids. The absolute gall. Shaking his head again, Ash got out a smoke and his sketchbook, deciding to do some doodling until Gage returned.
A week later and Somerville Place was officially Ash approved. The Disciples that were to hold the property actually arrived before Ash left so he didn't end up needing to assign a synth team. Ash and Gage appeared in front of Shank shortly after the property was officially approved and Ash got their new destination. When he relayed with Gage, however, they wound up in Sanctum.
"I was thinking we could take a breather here since it's not like the Pack'll make it to Nordhagen anytime soon." Ash explained, already dropping his pack and peeling his clothes off.
"Sounds good, boss." Gage replied, watching Ash for a moment before shaking his head and heading for the stairs. "Have I ever mentioned ya got absolutely no modesty?"
"What's to hide?" Ash called, balancing on one leg and then the other while he unzipped his boots. "You still need to show me that feral bite!" Gage waved over his shoulder in acknowledgment and Ash smiled to himself, leaving the bulk of his clothes by the elevator and heading up the stairs to his room in his underwear.
It was an hour or so later when Gage decided Ash was probably settled enough to receive company. Walking up to Ash's room, Gage pressed the button to open the door and frowned when nothing happened. Locked? A sudden pressure against his shins made Gage look down and he smiled a bit at Nubs rubbing herself against him. "You too, huh?" He asked, crouching to pet her. "You know what he's doin' in there?" Nubs just purred, happy to be given some attention after being rudely rejected by Ash's closed door.
When the door opened, Gage quickly straightened up, opening his mouth to say something. The words got caught in his throat however and he took a step back when someone who was decidedly not Ash stepped out of the room. Pickman was fully dressed in the usual grey Institute clothes and was currently in the process of tying his long hair back when he noticed Gage.
Smiling a smile that didn't reach his eyes, Pickman snapped his ponytail holder into place, tilting his head a bit. "Hello, Mr. Gage." He greeted, his tone as pleasant as ever. "I must say it's a delight to finally meet you."
Frowning deeply, Gage narrowed his eye at Pickman. "And who are you?" He asked, his tone suspicious.
"Ah, of course, where are my manners?" Pickman said, smile widening just a bit but still not quite reaching his eyes. "My name is Pickman. Ash has mentioned you to me numerous times but I see he's failed to mention me to you." He hummed lightly, looking down at Nubs as she brushed against his shins and finally smiling a genuine smile. "How strange."
"Yeah, real strange." Gage muttered, not liking the vibe he was getting from Pickman. It was like Shank's vibe if Shank was actually dangerous and not just really creepy. When Pickman crouched to give Nubs some attention, Gage noticed the device on his wrist and his hand went to his own device briefly. "How do you know the Overboss, anyhow?" He asked, the gears in his head working and cranking out a dozen answers he didn't like.
"The Overboss?" Pickman asked, looking up at Gage with a look of amusement that didn't sit right with Gage. "How cute. Ash and I found eachother through a mutual love of art." He informed, straightening up and looking at Gage with his usual falsely pleasant smile. "Artists have a way of finding eachother, you know." Pickman's eyes lit up suddenly and he took a step closer to Gage, his lips quirking further upwards briefly when Gage took a step back. "Are you an artist as well, Mr. Gage?" He asked quietly, something about his tone making Gage's skin crawl.
"No." Gage said simply, his voice steady and calm despite how bad his instincts were screaming at him to stab Pickman.
Looking disappointed very briefly, Pickman's expression quickly schooled itself back into its usual smile. "That's a shame." He hummed, stepping away from Ash's door. "I do believe I've taken up enough of your time. It really was a pleasure meeting you," Pickman said, walking past the raider. "Gage." He added in a decidedly creepy breath as he passed.
Watching Pickman like a hawk, Gage waited until the "artist" left before allowing himself to shudder. Ash could handle him but thought Shank was creepy? Ash. Frowning more, Gage walked into Ash's room now that the door was open and found the teen standing on his balcony, smoking. Clearing his throat, Gage watched Ash turn around and his eye widened in shock.
Since he wasn't wearing a shirt, Gage could see some of the damage on Ash's body. His chest and stomach were littered with thin cuts, there were two bloody bitemarks on Ash's side and collarbone, and finally his wrists, neck, and what Gage could see of his hips peaking out of his waistband had the beginnings of hand-shaped bruises forming on them.
As if nothing were out of the ordinary, Ash smiled slightly at Gage and it drew the older man's attention to his split lip, as though it had been bitten through. "Hey, Gage." He greeted, walking over with a noticeable limp. Ash tapped the ashes of his cigarette into the tray on the table Gage was standing beside and looked up at the older man. "Did you need something?"
It wasn't uncommon for Ash to leave for Sanctum in between building for a settlement. He liked to say that a week was his no-shower limit so if a settlement took longer than that, he often left at regular weekly intervals to shower and get his clothes cleaned. Sometimes when he came back, he came back with a noticeable limp and a certain air to him that Gage had always noticed but never commented on. Suddenly all those times made sense and Gage frowned at Ash, trying not to look as concerned as he felt. It still must've shown on his face though, because Ash looked down at himself and smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you so soon." He muttered, maneuvering a long-sleeve shirt on around his cigarette and not looking at Gage as he pretended to be interested in literally anything else. "Anyway, I heard you trying to get in while we were finishing up, so what'd you need?" Ash asked, finally looking at Gage but only until Nubs provided him with a reason to look away again. Fuck this was awkward. He'd never intended for Pickman and Gage to meet. It wasn't as though he and Gage were really dating or anything, l-words be damned, but it still felt severely awkward, like he'd been caught cheating or something.
Currently a tad preoccupied having what could be considered a bit of a crisis, Gage had to shake his head softly to get his thoughts to clear up. Why was he was so fucking jealous? It's not like he and Ash were exclusive or anything like that. "I came to show you my feral bite." Gage muttered, eye getting caught by the bruises around Ash's neck before he looked away, mentally kicking himself for feeling protective on top of being so fucking jealous.
"Oh, yeah." Ash said halfheartedly, sitting down on the couch and continuing to pet Nubs when she hopped onto his lap.
Clearing his throat softly, Gage glanced behind himself and closed the door to Ash's room, flicking the little switch that locked it as an afterthought. Pulling one side of his pants down, Gage turned a bit and showed Ash the back of his thigh where there was a noticeable chunk missing.
"Fuck." Ash muttered, moving Nubs onto the couch so he could scoot forward and get a closer look. "It did that through your pants?"
"Yup." Gage muttered, glancing over as Ash touched the old scar. "Bite woulda been much worse if I wouldn'ta been wearin' pants."
"Wow." Ash breathed, leaning over the arm of the couch to get even closer. "I never realized they were so strong. They look so frail since they're all skin and bones."
"Yeah, well, never underestimate somethin' that's hungry, I guess." Gage said, pulling his pants back up when Ash removed his hand.
"Yeah." Ash agreed softly, pausing for a moment before sitting up on his knees and looking at Gage's face. "I'm sorry." He said, looking down again. "I can tell this is bothering you." He continued, motioning to his neck and chest.
Sighing, Gage rubbed the back of his neck. "Dunno why. Ain't like we're married or some shit." He muttered, more annoyed at himself than anything.
"Yeah, that's kinda what I figured." Ash muttered, sitting back on his ankles. There was some awkward silence between them before Ash spoke again. "Do you want me to break it off with Pickman?" He asked softly, looking up at Gage.
Frowning, Gage considered that for a moment. "No, I-" He cut off, frowning more and sighing angrily. "I don't know why I care so damn much."
Taking Gage's hand, Ash led him around the couch and pulled him to sit down beside him. "I think that's just what being in love does to people." He offered, shrugging a bit. "It makes them care." He would know, after all, wouldn't he? Not that long ago he would've told Gage where he could stick his jealousy and now he was genuinely concerned about how the older man was feeling.
"Guess that makes sense." Gage muttered, still sounding annoyed. "Y'know, he talked t'me in the hall a little and I dunno how you take it." He suddenly blurted out, looking at Ash. "You're always goin' on about how creepy Shank is, but that Pickman fella's got Shank beat in that department by a long-shot."
Smiling, Ash nodded and looked away. "He's, uh, he's an acquired taste, I guess." He muttered, frowning and looking up in order to poke Gage in the chest. "Same goes for you, though. You fuck around with Shank but you can't even handle talking with Pickman?"
Gage opened his mouth to respond, and then promptly closed it, frowning. "Damn. Good point." He muttered, deflating a bit.
There was more silence that Ash was the one to break again. "You know, whenever you wanna fuck, you just gotta say so." He said quietly, reaching out and taking Gage's hand again. "I didn't wanna be the one to make the first move cuz I didn't think you were comfortable with it. You seemed like you really regretted it the morning after the first time."
"That's cuz we were drunk." Gage clarified, looking at Ash. "That was a bad decision on both of our parts that coulda come around to bite us both in the ass."
"So I'm not too young for you?" Ash asked, having been certain for awhile that that was the root of Gage's hang-ups. Ash wasn't really sure what the taboos for age gaps in a relationship were in this world, he just knew his and Gage's relationship would be considered very taboo in the world he came from, even though he was of age even by old-world standards, because Gage was still probably twice his age. Ash had always had it bad for older men, though. His first time had been at fourteen with a man in his forties so he'd always had a skewed view of age-gaps in relationships. Not that that had been a relationship, it'd been a one-time thing on a camping trip, but still.
"Well-" Gage made a sound in his throat and pulled a face as he considered his words. "Maybe a little." He admitted, squeezing Ash's hand lightly. "Ya got alotta things wrong with you that I feel like's cuz you're a teenager, but you're still the smartest, most driven person I ever met." Gage said, frowning and running his free thumb lightly over Ash's busted lip. "Sometimes I get these feelin's like I oughta be protectin' you even though I know you can handle yourself for most things. I don't think I'd feel that if you were older."
"I never did like being coddled." Ash mumbled, licking his lip absently when Gage removed his finger. "But I guess it is sort of nice having someone around who looks out for me."
"Yeah?" Gage asked, smiling a little and coaxing a smile out of Ash.
"Yeah." There was a bit of silence and Ash sighed, slumping against the couch. "Boy, this sure opened the fuckin' floodgates, didn't it?" He muttered, running a hand through his hair.
Laughing, Gage also slumped. "Sure did." He agreed, pausing for a bit before looking over at Ash. "You wanna make this thing between us official or give it more time?"
"Never was real big on official, but I guess I could make an exception for you." Ash replied, smiling at Gage. "Does that mean I can't fuck Pickman anymore?"
Pondering that briefly, Gage looked to Ash's neck again and frowned. "You like what he does to you? The cuts n' bruises n' shit?"
"Yeah." Ash admitted, looking away in embarrassment.
"I don't think I could do that." Gage admitted, giving Ash's hand a light squeeze. "So maybe we keep a person each to indulge that shit we can't give eachother?"
Frowning, Ash looked at Gage. "What can't I give you?" He asked incredulously, not even sure what kind of shit Gage was into since they'd never really discussed it.
"I, uh-" Gage swallowed and looked away. "I like to be called "daddy" sometimes." He admitted, feeling Ash cringe and laughing a bit. "Yeah."
"Yeah." Ash mumbled, scrunching his nose in disgust at the idea. "Deal."
"Exclusive besides that?" Gage asked, looking at Ash again.
"Sounds good." Ash said, smiling lightly at Gage. "That makes you my very first boyfriend."
"Two-hundred years old and you ain't never had a boyfriend?" Gage asked jokingly, laughing when Ash let go of his hand in order to shove him.
"Cute. Being gay wasn't exactly something you made public when I came from." Ash informed, having never told anyone but his therapist and the few older men he'd had sex with that he liked men before the war. It wasn't that he'd thought Nate and Nora would disown him since they'd both been surprisingly open-minded people given the time they'd lived in, Nate himself had had a few friends that Ash knew for sure were gay, the one he'd given his virginity to being one of them, but he just hadn't ever thought it was any of their business what kind of person he found attractive.
"Oh." Gage muttered, frowning a bit. "Sorry."
Shaking his head, Ash offered Gage a soft smile. "It's not a big deal. I didn't have to live very long in that world, after all." He said, taking Nubs back when she jumped up onto his lap again. "I'm gonna get to live the bulk of my life in this world where people are a little more chill."
"Awfully optimistic way of lookin' at it for you, boss." Gage said, sounding and looking surprised.
Shrugging, Ash petted Nubs idly. "I like to think of it as practical."
Snorting, Gage shook his head and looked away. "'Course you do."
Ash and Gage got dressed and left shortly after that and two weeks later, Nordhagen Beach was fully furnished and Ash approved. The family living there had only given Ash and Gage a minimal amount of trouble, Ash hadn't even needed to shoot anyone. Their accommodations when they'd arrived consisted of little more than a shack that was definitely too small for the four beds crammed into it, so the bulk of the two weeks had been spent getting a solid foundation built into the soft sand of the beach for the two shacks that needed to be built.
The Pack had always been the slowest of the gangs to arrive where they needed to be with the Operators being the fastest so, even though it'd been two weeks, Ash had to leave a team behind to watch the property when he and Gage returned to Shank. The next and final occupied settlement to take was the Warwick Homestead and, unfortunately for them, Ash happened to be in a good mood that day.
As Ash and Gage came onto the property, guns drawn, one of the older men came over, wearing a smile despite the guns. "Don't think I've seen you around here before. You new to these parts?" He greeted, flashing both Ash and Gage his smile individually before settling on Ash.
Feeling indulgent due to his good mood, Ash gave a nod. "Sure are."
"In that case, welcome. We're always happy to have guests here at Warwick Homestead." The man said, just oozing a friendly aura.
"I'm not a guest." Ash said, leveling his pistol at the man's knee. "I'm actually here for you, your family, your land, and everything on it. But, since you've been so welcoming, I'll give you a minute to think over whether you're going to get down and let me put this lovely shock collar around your neck," He said, pausing to get the shock collar from Gage and show it to the man. "or if you're gonna fight me and make me put a bullet in your leg." Ash finished, smiling. "One minute, starting now."
Eyes widening, the man's smile faltered. "Look," He started quietly, leaning a little closer. "you're the new Director, aren't you?"
Blinking in surprise, Ash lowered his gun a little, tilting his head slightly. "I was the new Director a long time ago." He said, eyeing the man curiously. "I go by Overboss now."
"I heard." The man said, lowering his voice even further. "I'm trying to tell you I'm a synth. I replaced the old Roger Warwick awhile ago. This land is being used for Institute research."
After looking at the man for a bit longer, Ash raised his Pip-Boy and put in a quick command. A second later H1-87 appeared beside Ash and before they could offer their usual greeting, Ash motioned at the man before him. "This guy says he's a synth and this farm is being used for Institute research."
"That would be correct." H1-87 responded, not caring even close to as much as the synth in question did about Ash's loudness.
"What kind of research?" Ash asked, curious now. He hadn't started any new kinds of research since he took over because he wasn't interested in science and progress the way the old Institute had been, but he also hadn't canceled any of the projects that had been going on when he took over.
"Botany. The BioScience division had been working on creating better-tasting, more nutritious plants by letting the ones they already grew get radiated on the surface for a time."
"Huh. Neat." Ash said, nodding a bit. "What's his recall code?"
"What?" The synth asked, sounding panicked. "No, wait, that's not-"
"W2-48 initialize factory reset, authorization theta zero one alpha." H1-87 rattled off easily, the synth before them going limp once the final word left their mouth.
"Alright. Go get this one wiped and reassigned to resource gathering." Ash said, glancing up at the other people on the property who were lingering about now that things had gotten unusual.
"Right away. Would you like me to do anything with the research being conducted here?" H1-87 asked, moving to stand beside the soon-to-be-wiped synth.
"Nah, whoever's running it now can keep it up." Ash said, watching H1-87 relay away with the synth before turning his attention fully to the rest of the people on the property. "Hey. I neither know nor care who that man was supposed to be to you, but he was a synth and belongs to me. The rest of you belong to me now, too." At that, Ash raised his gun, tilting his head a bit. "Unless any of you want to fight me, of course."
Chuckling softly, Gage also raised his weapon. He liked it when Ash was in a good mood. It could get weird if it was too good, but this was the perfect kind of good. Real cold and ruthless and ready to shoot a bitch.
One man, the two women, and the one kid all surrendered, but one man was still standing stubbornly. "I'm aware my tone might've been a tad misleading, but the whole surrendering thing wasn't actually optional." Ash informed, gun trained on the defiant man while Gage watched the rest of the settlers.
"I ain't kn-" Before the man could get more out, Ash shot him in the knee and he fell with a cry of pain.
Walking over, Ash leveled his gun at the downed man's head. "You ain't what, farm boy?" He asked coldly, reveling at the look of fear the man shot him from his spot on the ground.
"N-nothin', I-I surrender." He choked, grunting when Ash snapped his shock collar on him.
"That's what I thought." Ash said quietly, moving to walk away from the man and quickly looking back when another gunshot rang out. The man was now cradling his bleeding hand and Gage's gun was smoking.
"He went for his gun." Gage said coldly, watching the man closely.
Snorting, Ash shook his head. "Thanks, love." He said lightly, heading to the workshop and linking up with it while Gage dealt with the settlers. There were some large vats of something that smelled terribly fowl on the property that would need to go to make room for anything. That would take alot of work. They'd need to be drained and then torn down and then they'd need to see if the dirt was even fit for being built on or if they'd need to put in foundations like with Nordhagen.
The synths appeared while Ash was pondering how to go about safely and cleanly draining the vats so he put them up to doing everything else first. By the time his and Gage's lounging spot was finished, Ash had come up with something he hoped would work. Getting a team together, Ash led the synths to the parts of the vats closest to the water all around the property. He had them dig trenches in the sand leading to the water and then carefully puncture the bottoms of the vats.
The idea to slowly channel the fowl water into the ocean worked well for all but one particularly dilapidated vat which burst a bigger hole than expected upon being punctured. Luckily it was only a synth that got washed by the wave of fowl water and they were promptly sent off for cleaning. Once the vats were drained and torn down, the land underneath was found unsuitable for much more than a safety hazard so Ash had his synths build a foundation for the two shacks that would go there.
All in all, the claiming of the Warwick Homestead took four weeks. The Operators arrived in half that time despite the distance they needed to travel so once everything was finished, Ash and Gage left. This time they stopped by Sanctum before Shank to clean the smell of Warwick off themselves. Even for Gage, the smell was a bit much. Ash felt a little bad that a gang had to live there at all, but he hoped the smell would get better now that the huge vats weren't there, perfuming the air with funk.
"Well, that does it, boss." Shank said, flipping through his book and making some notes while he spoke. "Every last occupied settlement in the Commonwealth now belongs to the big, bad Overboss of Nuka-World and his gangs."
"Time to get started on the unoccupied settlements." Ash said, getting a raised eyebrow from Shank and raising his eyebrow right back at him.
"Just like that, huh? Not even gonna take a day off to celebrate?" Shank asked, sounding somewhat impressed.
"Not really a stop and celebrate kind of guy when there's still work to be done." Ash replied, shrugging.
Chuckling, Shank looked back down at his book. "Damn, no wonder Gage likes you so much."
Ash looked back in time to see the glare Gage was trying to kill Shank with and it made him laugh. "Careful, Shank, if the boss's man wants someone stabbed for whatever reason, the boss might very well be inclined to indulge him." The look that earned Ash from Shank was something he would treasure for a long time yet. Wide-eyed surprise mixed with just the tiniest bit of fear. It was the first time he'd admitted there was something between Gage and himself. Ash imagined Nuka-World was going to erupt into chaos once he and Gage were gone assuming that betting pool Dixie had mentioned was actually a thing.
"Right. Noted, boss." Shank said, getting his expression under control before flipping a few more pages in his book. "We going for closest to furthest again?"
"Actually, I was thinking of starting with a settlement called Sanctuary Hills." Ash said, watching as Shank frowned a bit.
"About Sanctuary Hills, that place is armed to the teeth, and-"
"I know." Ash cut off, tone neutral. "It used to be my home."
A look of understanding dawned very briefly on Shank's face before he nodded and got his pencil ready. "Well, that makes a whole lotta sense. Alright, who you gonna give it to?"
"The Disciples." Ash replied, pausing as he pondered something. "Make it a two-for-one with the Red Rocket down the road. If the other gangs come by with complaints, feel free to let them know that I personally decorated Sanctuary. The smell tends to carry."
"Right." Shank laughed a bit, giving a nod. "Should calm 'em right down, boss."
Turning to Gage, Ash held his hand out. "Ready to see where I lived before I moved to Sanctum?"
Looking unsure, Gage grabbed his hand. "Not really. I seen how you decorate."
Smiling, Ash triggered the relay, he and Gage finding themselves on the bridge to Sanctuary. Ash quickly adjusted the defenses that were still running so they wouldn't recognize Gage as a threat and then led the way to his old house, the only house without a rotting corpse in it. "So, this is Sanctuary. That one over there is the house I lived in before the war and this one was mine." Ash informed, walking into the house as he fiddled with his Pip-Boy.
"I see what you meant about the smell." Gage muttered, the stink almost as bad as the smell within Fizztop Mountain. It was only the fact that Sanctuary was open that kept it from being worse.
Slipping his mask off, Ash offered it to Gage and snickered a bit when he actually took it. It wouldn't help much, but it was something. "So what'd you think of Shank's face when I threatened to stab him for you?" He asked offhandedly, making his way to his old room.
"Funniest thing I seen in awhile." Gage replied, clearly smiling underneath the mask. "Don't know if he was more surprised that you admitted we're datin' or that you threatened him."
Shrugging, Ash got together the shit he wanted to take back to Sanctum and had a synth take it when his team arrived. He had another one take the Codsworth husk that was still there and then set the rest to work with the usual restorations and such. "You didn't mind me laying it all out there, did you?" Ash asked walking up to Gage and admiring how he looked in his mask. Coupled with the eyepatch and torn jeans, it gave him an appropriately apocalyptic vibe.
"Nah. 'Bout time we gave everyone some new rumors to work with." Gage half-joked, knowing for sure Shank would get the word out to everyone the very moment he could. Raiders really did like gossip and Shank was practically a collector of gossip. Gage supposed he sort of needed to be since he traded in information.
Laughing, Ash nodded in agreement. "Let's head down to the Red Rocket, I think my synths got it from here." Gage gave him a nod and the two set off, Ash getting his mask back once they were a ways past the last house. Gage was in the middle of trying to tune the musty old radio in the Red Rocket to something less grating than the classical music it was crackling out and Ash was linking up with the workshop when there was some popping sounds outside followed by shrill screams. Gage drew his gun immediately but Ash just frowned. "What the fuck was that?"
"Mole rats." Gage growled, firing once the first giant mole scampered into the work area.
"What the fuck?" Ash muttered, getting out his gun as well and helping Gage pick off the small horde of moles.
"Yeah. Like the Commonwealth didn't have enough shit wrong with it." Gage grumbled, huffing once the last mole was dealt with and reloading his gun.
"Not scared of moles are you, Gage?" Ash asked teasingly, raising his eyebrow at Gage.
"No, they're just one of the most disgustin' things ya can come across out here." Gage said, looking away. "Like a giant wrinkled-up dick with legs."
Snorting hard, Ash busted out laughing. "What the fuck, Gage!?" He shouted, shaking his head at the mental image provided to him. Ash calmed down but then started cracking up again, his outburst actually getting a smile out of Gage.
"Shut the hell up, it wasn't that funny." Gage mumbled, walking over and wrapping his arms around Ash's waist before removing his mask so he could kiss him.
Giggling despite the kiss, Ash shook his head. "Yes it fucking was. That's exactly what they look like." He argued, rubbing Gage's chest lightly and humming to himself.
"Y'alright, boss?" Gage mumbled, noting how serious Ash now looked.
"Just thinkin'." Ash mumbled back, laying his head on Gage's shoulder.
"'Bout what?" Gage asked, smiling and resting his head on Ash's.
"How lucky I am that I found you." Ash mumbled, sounding completely sincere for once.
"Gettin' kinda sappy on me there, boss." Gage muttered, trying to hide with humor how surprised he was at Ash's words. He'd sort of been like that ever since they'd made their relationship official, though. Calling Gage "love" and holding his hand more often and occasionally saying the sappiest, sweetest things out of the blue. Gage wasn't sure if that had always been inside of Ash and he just now felt comfortable enough to share it or what, but he wasn't complaining. It felt better than Gage would readily admit to feel so adored by someone.
"I think you like it." Ash muttered back, moving his head a bit lower. "Your heart started beating really fast when I said it." Pulling back a bit, Ash looked up at Gage, looking slightly concerned. "Unless I'm making you uncomfortable."
Tightening his grip when Ash tried to pull away, Gage shook his head, offering Ash a soft smile. "No, you caught me, I kinda like it." He admitted, laying his head back on top of Ash's when he relaxed and replaced his head on his shoulder. Damn those big amber eyes for making Gage so weak.
After a bit of just standing there, Ash took his mask back and put it back on, getting back to work shortly after. With the way his resources were now, if he put everything that wasn't essential on hold, he'd be able to get five decent-sized teams of synths together to build on the new settlements. Team One was busy with Sanctuary which wouldn't take long, so Ash called in Team Two and got them working on the Red Rocket. Like with Diamond City, Ash felt confident leaving his synths to their own devices since all they needed to do was build so he and Gage left shortly after the synths were set to their tasks.
Between clearing settlements of hostiles, reassigning synth teams, allotting times for teams to recharge, building settlements, dealing with any issues that arose, and approving settlements when they were complete, the taking of the Commonwealth took three months total. By the time it was all finished, the gangs of Nuka-World had more than enough room to stretch out and keep from pissing eachother off. The Disciples, as promised, received the bulk of the Commonwealth turfs at ten, then the Operators at nine, and finally the Pack with eight.
There wasn't a single settlement left that wasn't under Ash's control in some way. Even the people who didn't live on one of Ash's settlements stopped by whichever settlement was nearest them regularly to pay Ash tribute, having been gently persuaded to do so by his overwhelming presence in the Commonwealth. Finally, with every farm putting out for his crew and with the surplus of food that Sanctum put out, his raiders were well-fed and, by all reports, everything was good.
Though he'd still need to stop by Nuka-World every now and again to deal with any problems that came up in his absence and make sure everything was still running alright, Ash was now free to start a new adventure. When Ash caught wind of a place up north that could probably use some terrorizing, he knew exactly what that new adventure would be. It was time for Ash and Gage to head to Far Harbor.
Author's Note: Woo! The Nuka-World arc is done! That marks the end of my original plan for this story. The original idea began and ended with "what if a teenager became to Overboss of Nuka-World and was like REALLY good at it?". Luckily, the original idea has grown larger than my limited imagination and there's still lots more shit to do before I'm finished with these boys.