35. Return: Thirst Quenched.

Nora scrubbed hard at her coat. She hadn't bothered changing out of her General's uniform to enter Nuka World, but she had scraped the star off her chest piece, and pulled her pants down over her boots rather than leaving them tucked in. However, the Nuka World situation was much worse than she had anticipated, and after running a torture gauntlet and killing a man with a squirt gun, Nora found herself as the Overboss of three raider gangs.

All thanks to one, Porter Gage.

Gage had left the squirt gun in the locker room just before Nora had to fight the last Overboss in his overpowered electrical power armor. She hadn't used her gauss rifle, knowing too well it was an identifiable and signature weapon of hers, so taking him down took longer than anticipated. But she did it. And the rush she felt when the last Overboss fell to his knees with a thudding clank was one Nora was eager to feel again. It was something she hadn't felt since killing Kellogg.

Still, she found herself going through the motions of accepting the new job thrust upon her—hell that's what got her the position of General of the Minutemen. Going through the motions.

Nora had waited until nightfall to wash the blood off her coat. There was a pool of...water? Nuka Cola? Honestly, who knew what the liquid was, and who cared. Nora pulled her coat up and held it out before her. Whatever it was it got the blood out and that was good enough for her.

"Hey, Boss, mind if we talk for a moment?"

Nora turned to see Porter Gage on the makeshift elevator to Fizztop Grille, her new headquarters. "Sure thing, Gage." Nora folded her coat up over one arm and walked out of the pool. She picked up her discarded boots as she went, and she looked at Gage expectantly. He waited until she was safe and settled on the lift before hitting the button.

"You must be tired after running the gauntlet. Surprised you're still up." He commented. His bad eye was towards her, so Nora couldn't get a read on him, but she nodded in agreement nonetheless.

"I've been through too much shit to be tired from a silly murder maze." She frowned. When the lift stopped, Nora quickly stepped off and over to the makeshift bedroom area. Her chest piece was discarded on the floor by the bed, knife marks littering where a painted star once was. She dropped her boots off beside the bed and hung her coat on one of the bed posts to dry. Nora spied her gauss rifle, still tucked under her bag and hat, unmoved. She narrowed her eyes at it, then glanced at Gage who was walking around the desk right beside the makeshift wall. She bent down as quietly as she could. "So," she called over to Gage, "what did you want to talk about?" She grabbed her rifle and pulled it to her as she silently stood back up.

A gun clicked behind her. "I want to know why the God damn General of the Minutemen is here in my park."

Nora felt her muscles tense up like a wave, starting at her feet and working its way up her spine. But, like all waves, it passed by. Nora gritted her teeth and turned around. Since she was on a platform, she had a good three feet on him, making him have to look up at her. "You know who I am, yet you still declared me as Overboss in front of the gangs—"

"Those cap grabbin' fucks ain't nothing more than kids playing dress up." Gage spat and Nora raised an eyebrow with an impressed smirk. "So I'm gonna ask one more time," he lowered his finger to the trigger. "The fuck. You doin. In my park?"

Nora eyed the gun in Gage's hand, then trailed her eyes up his muscular arm to his dark hazel green eyes. She slammed her gauss rifle down on the half wall separating them and stared him down. "You know who I am." It wasn't a question, and Gage's attention had turned to the gun humming and pointed to fire right between his eyes, "You know this weapon. You know what it's done, and what it can do if I just—" Nora wasn't sure why she was displaying herself this way, but she pressed and held the trigger, the numbers on her rifle quickly racking up to 99. At full power the gun's humming turned to a vibration, and even unsteady, if she were to unleash a blast—at this distance—Gage's head would come clean off. Nora could see flecks of blue and yellow in Gage's eyes. She turned and unleashed the charge into the Nuka World night. "So my question to you, Porter Gage, is this," she leaned on the half wall, getting close enough to smell stale Nuka, sweat, and gunpowder coming off Gage, "Why did you let me?" Gage blinked his good eye at her in shock. He stepped back as she jumped onto the half wall and slid down to be on his level. Now she had to look up at him, but his head turned away as she pressed her rifle under his chin. "Hmm? Smart Porter Gage, plotting behind his boss's back, convincing all the gangs to work together, setting up a lure for poor suckers from the Commonwealth to fall for. Why, mister mastermind," she began backing him up as she talked, backing him into the desk, "did you LET me waltz in here?"

Gage finally slapped the rifle away from his face, catching Nora off guard as it went skittering across the floor. "You could have had your militia on us the second you knew what was up. But you didn't. I got," he eyed her up and down, "Curious."

Nora's eyebrows shot up, then narrowed, "Curious?" She repeated, stepping away.

"Yeah. You see, General Nora," he spat her title and name out like it was bad Nuka Cola, "I do my research. I know more about you than you'd be comfortable with—"

Nora couldn't hold back a scoff as she rolled her eyes. Gage just glared at her for interrupting. She decided to take the bait, "Like what?"

"Like how you were frozen for over two hundred years." Nora's jaw unclenched and her eyes widened ever so slightly, "How your son is in charge of the God damn Institute," she lowered her body ever so slightly, ready to attack if he...well Nora wasn't sure what would set her off at this point, but she was ready to pounce if he was willing to push her buttons. "That your little ghoul husband is the mayor to a town of drunks, addicts, and even worse gangs than what I've got to deal with. Should I go on?" Nora breathed heavily, unsure of her next move in this game of chess they were playing. "So yeah, forgive me 'BOSS', but I was curious. Why not send your whole militia in here?" He walked past Nora to stare out one of the remaining windows. "Why not come guns blazin' like last time?" Nora said nothing as she turned away, "Then it occured to me." She turned back to him, "You were desperate."

"Excuse me?" Nora scoffed. She picked up her gauss rifle, "I am not desperate."

"Oh ho ho," Gage turned, smirking mischievously, "that's where you're wrong, boss," he stepped closer until he was backing Nora up, "I could smell the desperation on you." Her back hit the wall.

"Desperation for what?" She seethed up at him.

He kept advancing until the only thing between them were his chest piece and her rifle, "Freedom." Nora's heart rate increased so much her Pip Boy let out a warning beep. Gage either didn't hear it or didn't care because he didn't react. "You see, everyone 'cross the 'Wealth has heard about your little adventure into the nightmare. And word spread that even though you had returned," Nora tried to turn her head away as Gage leaned in closer, but his calloused thumb and forefinger yanked her head back, "no one trusted you," he breathed onto her neck. Her Pip Boy let out another beep. Gage finally stepped away and Nora raised her Pip Boy to her face. She needed to calm down, the damn machine thought she was about to have an asthma attack or go into cardiac arrest. "So, when I saw you in the Gauntlet, you had a fire in your eyes. Free from your husband, free from those Minutemen, free from the pussyfootin' farmers of the wastes cryin' 'wolf' every three days. You were free and you just wanted more and more." Gage picked up a discarded beer bottle, inspected it, then slammed its neck down on the bar to shatter its neck and cap off. He took a swig before laughing, "that desperate need for more bloodshed, more fun, more freedom. You've got bloodlust in your eyes, but you've got the Minutemen's schtick so far up your ass you can't even feel it." Gage turned and smirked at her over his shoulder, "Ya should have seen the fight you put up. Got nearly every horndog in there harder than a Deathclaw's ass." Nora couldn't stop the blush that spread across her cheeks. "So, forgive me for being curious." Gage sarcastically spat over his shoulder.

For a long time, Nora watched Gage's backside. In another life, another time, maybe—just maybe—they could have been friends. She could be the Overboss he was looking for, the one the gangs needed. Hell, Nora wondered if she could somehow persuade them to be good people...like her people. But she knew she could never truly stop their bloodthirst or greed.

Nora laid her rifle aside and walked to the lift where Gage was standing, soaking in the cool night breeze. "Let's talk like adults." She said quietly. Gage scoffed. Nora ignored him. "First, I do not have bloodlust in my eyes, I had just gone through your Gauntlet—It was probably actual blood." Gage barked out a laugh, "second, I," Nora paused. If it wasn't bloodlust, why did she come alone?

"You're tryin' to show them you've still got it." Gage filled in the blanks. "They don't trust you." Nora grimaced, every time she was reminded of that it felt like a knife kebabing her stomach. "And you do have bloodlust," Nora tried to dodge his hand again, but he grabbed and squeezed her cheeks together, "question is, why don't you quench it?" He shook her face twice before letting it go.

Nora rubbed her jaw where he grabbed her, then turned and leaned on the lift railing to mimic Gage's relaxed lean. "I try not to let my frustrations out on low-tier thugs, and trouble-making super mutants."

"What about on a pack of feral ghouls?" Gage asked, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. He held one out but Nora shook her head.

"Feral ghouls were once people." Nora reminded...both of them… "it's never felt right to do that to a feral ghoul."

"Sure it's not cause your husband's a ghoul?" Gage asked after lighting up a cigarette.

"Stop." Nora snapped, she sighed, dropping her head into her arms. "Hancock is not my husband." Gage hummed indifferently.

"Then what is he?" Gage asked after Nora didn't speak up.

"It's complicated."

"Your whole life is complicated, try me." Gage blew smoke out his nostrils as he surveyed the land outside the park walls.

"He's...We're…" Nora sighed. They had never put into words what they were. Not knowing what to say, Nora unhinged her filter, and let her thoughts flow freely. "I stopped someone from stealing from Hancock a while back. Probably late January, early February two years ago." Gage turned around, leaning his back on the railing and slinging both his elbows over the edge. He sank way low, his legs kicked out in front of him as he continued to casually blow smoke in her direction. "He asked if he could join me. Sharpen up his skills, get his edge back, that sort of thing."

"Wish Colter had ever tried that." Gage chuckled.

Nora continued, "So we're a team from then on. He watches my back and I watch his. I join The Railroad, help synths. My best friend's fiancé's consciousness was transplanted into a synth. I cannot see them as inhuman. So I try to help as many as I can. I find out everything I can about my son and his kidnappers. I follow the trail to the Glowing Sea," Gage winced, "I built a device that, when tuned properly, got me into The Institute. And I found my son was no longer a baby or a child, but a dying man." It had hurt to say it out loud the first time around, and it hurt now. Even after the kidnapping and threats on her friends lives, Nora couldn't find it in her to hate her son. Even if, in the moment, she thought she had hated him and would hate him forever... She couldn't. Shaun was the last tether to Nate that she had. Even though her husband was long dead and now buried, her heart still ached for him. Even though she had moved on physically and emotionally, and moved forward with Hancock, a part of her still wished for Nate to be with her. She supposed a part of her would always miss him. Which was why it was complicated with Hancock. "I came back," Nora blinked and realized she was crying, "threw myself into being General and helping escaped synths, and haven't looked back." She flinched when Gage reached out and wiped a tear away.

"Sorry." He pulled his hand away quickly.

They stood in silence for a long time. Gage smoked. Nora occasionally wiped her tears away, but for the most part, she let them fall.

"I hadn't felt so alive since I killed Kellogg." Nora squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, "Sorry, the—uhh—guy who…"

"Took your son." Gage finished, nodding. "I told you, I do my research." He added when Nora gave him a bewildered look.

"Right, right." Nora nodded and looked down at her intertwined hands. She blinked more tears out of her eyes, "he's the one who gave me this scar," she pointed to the long scar over her eye, "one to match his." Gage looked the scar over slowly, "It was his last way of getting at me. And it works." Nora spat. Her heart always started racing when she thought about that day. "Hancock tries to hide hide it. So does Nick, and Piper, and Ellie...but I can see it on all of them. The hesitation. The fear. The...I don't even know what it is…" Nora dug her nails over her scalp, nearly forgetting how short her hair was since Shaun's people had chopped nearly all of it off.

"I'm sorry," was all Gage felt he could offer her.

"I wake up early every day and get out of bed before Hancock so I don't have to see his eyes or his face as he looks this over." Nora thought it was funny when she said it out loud. One of Hancock's biggest insecurities was how he looked (okay that was only partially true, but still, he had used that as an out for her to take if she had wanted to), and there she was, complaining that people were judging her based off of her looks.

So what if she had a few scars? Gage was missing a fucking eye! Nora shook her head. "Anyways. I came back. And Hancock has become my closest friend and confidant. I can trust him to always have my back…"

"Just spit it out already," Gage groaned and rolled his eyes, "you have sex with the guy, but you're insecure about how different your lives have been and are." Nora blinked at Gage in shock, "See?" He smirked, "Not that complicated." Nora rolled her eyes, her tears finally slowing down. Gage eyed her over and took a breath, "General...Boss...can I strike you a deal?" Nora looked at Gage. He was a blank slate. He just wanted an answer from her. Nothing more, nothing less. She nodded. "How's 'bout you act as Overboss. Help me get the park under control and back up and running, and if ya still want to kill us all," he laughed, "you can certainly try."

"Or, I can just go call my militia in now and take pride in slaughtering you all." Nora wiped her nose and tear streaked cheeks. She smiled weakly at Gage who turned to face her.

"Or, you could help me help you. Let your wild side out. Murder and kill to your heart's delight. Quench that bloodlust of yours. Clear the park of anyone who opposes our rule."

"And if I decide to leave after?" Nora turned to face him. The night air whipped around them and Nora hugged herself tightly. Being exposed in just her blouse made her realize just how warm her coat was, and made her wish she had cleaned it earlier instead of waiting until dark.

"You can leave and never return," Gage tucked a short strand behind her ear and electricity trailed after his calloused fingers as they traced down her jaw to her chin, lifting it so she had to look him in the eyes, "or you can come back for war."

"And what will you tell your people?" Nora whispered as Gage stepped closer.

"Tell them you're out living your own God damn life and they should get their thumbs out their asses and get to work." Gage smiled when Nora laughed at that.

"And what will I tell my people?" Nora asked. "My militia is waiting outside the parking lot gates right now." She saw Gage's eye flicker over her shoulder to the horizon.

"Tell them their ain't nothing here but debris and shit." Gage held her arms as she snorted. She was shivering in the cold autumn air. Just earlier it was unusually hot, but now they were both exposed to the cold.

Nora thought for a moment. "I should get a message to my people, so they don't come in here guns ablazing while we're trying to work."

Gage leaned back in surprise, "are you saying we have a deal?"

Nora chewed on her lip. This was a bad idea. She should back out now, go back to Hancock and Preston and come in here with the intent to free the slaves and kill the raiders. So why couldn't she stop herself from saying— "Yes."

Nora had gone to the far reaches of Nuka World, to a town just outside the back gates. There were about a dozen ghouls there, but she quickly dispatched them. They weren't why she was there. No, Nora climbed to the top of the tallest building and set up an old HAM radio. She tuned it to an unused station and drummed her fingers on her thighs as she sat in the sun. She had to keep her message clear, concise, and quick. Taking a breath she hit record.

"Hancock, Preston. The situation at Nuka World is different than what we expected. I am safe. Do not come until I return, and I do plan on returning. Stay in your positions until then." She paused, "And, Hancock? I...Please...trust me." Just as she finished the radio automatically stopped recording and a voice came out:

"This message will now repeat."

She could hear her own voice come out of the speaker. Satisfied, Nora climbed back down to the street. She turned her Pip Boy's radio on and tuned it to the same radio station she had turned the HAM radio to. Her messaged played on a loop.

"Good." Nora told herself, shutting the Pip Boy radio off. She walked back through the town, stopping by a few open houses to look for loot. Nora nearly screamed and jumped out of her skin when she saw a fresh corpse lying in one of the houses. "Lordy, Jesus, Nora." She said out loud, "you've seen death a million times since leaving the vault." She walked around, "learn to stay calm." She normally was, but everything was different here in Nuka World. There was a holotape next to the body that Nora pocketed for later, but other than that she left the body alone.

"Ya ready?" Gage asked as she reached the outer limits of the park. He hadn't followed her into the wastes.

"As I'll ever be." Nora shouldered her gauss rifle. "So, you got any kind of attack plan for getting the parks?"

"Well I know Galactic Zone has about a metric fuckton of robots patrolling it and shootin' anything that moves." Gage explained.

Nora snorted, "Okay, we'll save that one for last."

"Safari Adventure has Gatorclaws crawlin' all over the place."

"Gatorclaws?" Nora repeated.

"Like Deathclaw, but—"

"But gator," Nora nodded, "got it. How clever." She rolled her eyes. They passed by the backside to Kiddie Kingdom. "How about we start here?" She asked.

"Ehh, I dunno. We'll need hazmat suits and lots of radaway." Gage weighed his options.

"Why?" Nora asked. They made it to the gate, her Pip Boy wasn't indicating any kind of radiation nearby.

"Lots of radiation. Some glowing ghoul has control of this park. Boss, don't—" Nora easily slipped out of Gage's hands as she entered a new section of the park. It was quiet. Eerily quiet. "Boss!" Gage harshly whispered, "Get. Back. Here. Now!" He emphasized each word.

Nora turned in a half circle, staring with the wall and closed off building to her right, the exploded front house in front of her, and ended at the still activated teacup ride on her left. "Boss!" Gage yanked her out by her coat, but before she could scold him for acting a fool, he unloaded a clip into a feral ghoul.

Gage screamed in pain as a mist of liquid radiation sprayed him. "Get down!" Nora pushed him down and back, shielding him from the spray.

Another four ghouls came lunging from the mist as a voice spoke over the intercom. "Well now, friends! It seems we have another uninvited guest to the park."

Nora squinted at the spray of radiation, but was able to pick off the ghouls before they got too close. Gage was still slowly pulling her out of the park, and once they got through the archway he stood up and circled her.

"Porter Gage, what are you doing?" She demanded.

"You're not," he seemed confused, he bent her head forward to peer at her scalp, lifted each of her arms over her head one at a time, inspected her skin closely, "your skin…" she turned with him as he circled her, "you don't...you didn't take rads." Her back was to Kiddie Kingdom. Gage looked absolutely flabbergasted. His own skin had bubbled and blistered from the few seconds of radiation he'd been exposed to, but Nora was mainly unaffected aside from a few red blotches on her face and neck where her skin was exposed.

Nora smirked, "wanna know the perks of shagging it up with a ghoul?" She took a few steps backwards as Gage's eyes widened. "Immune to radiation." She turned on her heel and ran into the depths of Kiddie Kingdom.

Nora wanted to immediately run for cover incase prolonged exposure to radiation was still bad for her, but her Pip Boy didn't let out so much as a croak. She knelt down beside one of the feral ghouls and turned it over. Its melted, disfigured body was painted in a wide array of colors. "Almost like clowns." Nora thought to herself. She stood, readied her gauss rifle, and ran deeper into the park.

Thankfully, Gage did not follow Nora. She wound her way through a funhouse, around a racetrack, into the theater, and to the top of a castle, where she found a glowing ghoul waiting for her. He wore a suit with paint splatters across it, as well as a top hat. If he hadn't looked so frightening with his irradiated glow, Nora would have mistaken him for a magician.

"Easy!" She shouldered her rifle on the elevator ride up and exited with her hands up. "I'm here to talk—"

"Talk?!" The glowing ghoul shouted, "like you tried talking to my friends?!"

Nora took a breath and let out a sigh, "yeah, alright, probably not the most gracious I could have been—"

"And coming in with that raider gang!" The ghoul added.

"Look," Nora interrupted, "I want to talk to you about the raiders and your park."

The ghoul paused. "I want them to leave me and my family alone." He finally said in a quiet voice.

"There's nothing left for you here," Nora said gently. She slowly approached the ghoulish man. "Not just because I killed everyone—sorry again—but because—"

"No," the ghoul turned away. "I've got to stay for Rachel. She's going to come back with a cure for the affliction, I know it!" Nora thought for a moment. Rachel. Rachel. Why did that sound familiar. As the ghoul looked at his hands, Nora dug around her pockets until she found the holotape from before.

"Rachel's Holotape"

She glanced at the back of the ghoul and popped the holotape into her player.

A woman's gravelly voice came out of the speaker. One that made the ghoul turn around in shock. Nora knew the look in his glowing eyes. If he could have cried he would have.

"I love you, Oz." The holotape ended.

"She didn't...there's no cure…" Oswald looked absolutely destroyed.

Nora's heart twisted as she thought of Hancock outside the gates. She reached out and offered her hand to Oswald. He looked at it and then at her. He accepted her hand and squeezed it. "I know this may seem like a lie, coming from me, but…" Nora chewed on her lip as she debated her next words, "I am the General of the Minutemen. A volunteer militia that protects the innocent people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." Oswald drank in every word she said, "I came to Nuka World, first, to see what became of it, and now, to free it from the Raiders. I'm working with them right now mostly to make the park safer for future travelers and merchants. The less deaths for my party, the better." Oswald chuckled, and Nora smiled. "The Commonwealth is turning into a wonderful place...and," she squeezed Oswald's hand, her gaze went through the floor as she unfocused on the world around her, "and my people, the Minutemen, and my settlements, are always open to and kind to ghouls."

"Ghouls?" Oswald repeated. "Like myself?"

"Well. Most don't glow." Nora raised a hand to stroke Oswald's wrinkled cheek, "but yes, like yourself."

"How do you know?" Oswald asked.

Nora hesitated. Most people were kind to ghouls in her presence, and she didn't tolerate any bullshit from anyone when it came to whether Hancock was allowed somewhere or not. "Because my right hand man, not that raider down there, but my actual aid and most trusted friend," Nora smiled, "is a ghoul as well."

Oswald smiled, "then, Ms…?" he stood up, his hat in his hand.

"Nora." She answered.

"Ms. Nora," Oswald bowed, "I should very much like to meet your ghoul friend one day." He stood up from his bow, "and I hope the next time we meet will be under happier pretenses."

"Take care, Oswald." Nora felt an ache in her heart as she forced a smile on her face. The ghoul disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and Nora was free to turn off the misters. She laid a hand on her bag feeling the folded up flags of the raider gangs like an ugly reminder.

What was she doing?

They waited a week.

And even that was too long in Hancock's opinion.

But he kept listening to that message.

"And, Hancock? I...Please...trust me."

Over and over again.

"And, Hancock? I.."

Like a broken record.

"I…"

What was she going to say?

Hancock reminded himself that Nora had survived the Institute, and if she had done that, then she could survive anything. Her voice coming over the radio had been a Godsend. If he hadn't had that, then he was sure he would have gone feral with worry. He kept twisting Nate's ring on his finger. A bad habit.

"You're going to lose your finger if you keep twisting that ring." Preston didn't look up from cleaning his gun. Hancock eyed him. "The General is smart. She set up a ham radio, which means she's safe enough to do so." Hancock sighed and Preston mimicked him, "Look, I don't like it either, Hancock, but she asked us to trust her and I—" but Hancock didn't find out what Preston thought because a commotion rippled through the settlement turned base camp.

Hancock and Preston shared a look before they both jumped to their feet and raced outside.

Nora was back. She'd returned! Hancock ran through the crowd of young Minutemen and veteran soldiers alike, pushing his way forward until he was in front of Nora. She dropped her bag and immediately returned the tight hug Hancock enveloped her in. She buried her face in his neck and squeezed him tightly. Hancock ran his hands through her short hair, knocking her hat off balance.

"Missed me?" Nora mumbled into his neck.

"More than you know it." Hancock pulled back just enough to rest his forehead on hers. "What happened?" He could almost see the muscles in her face were more relaxed than he had seen in a long time.

"It's a long story." Nora sighed, her hazel eyes closed. There were flecks of blood on her face, but it was dried.

"We've got time."

I kind of left it ambiguous as to whether or not Nora killed the Nuka raiders. Maybe it'll be revealed later what she did.