Nate rubbed his forehead. The headache burning behind his eyes and up into his frontal lobe was enough to kill lesser men. This is probably what doctors meant when they asked if he had crippled his head. He would have to tell anyone who asked some bullshit about getting hit in the head with a board by a Super Mutant because explaining that he'd tripped over a piece of broken concrete in the road and went head long into a car was far too embarrassing to even tell Hancock.

Spending the last twenty-four hours running from Hangman's Ally to Cambridge Police Station, then Greygarden, Oberland Station, and Vault 81 really wore him out. All Nate was going to want to do was sleep when he finally made it back to Madelyn and MacCready. He felt bad for leaving her there, but Hancock and him would be far quicker on their own. And given the day he'd had, he was happy he didn't have to worry about the squire. He'd more than once had to play dead or sneak out of situations that could have easily gotten him and whatever company he had killed.

All for nothing, though, no one had claimed Hangman's Ally as their home, leaving Nate to believe that any survivors went Hancock's way or something had happened to them. He wanted to stay optimistic despite the pit in his stomach. It was just like at the Vault, he was going against his gut, but he refused to assume the worst until he heard word from Hancock.

A low, grumbling thunder rolled through the clouds above him and Nate frowned. Green mist had been mixing in with the grey for a while now, but he'd hoped he was headed away from the radiation storm. But it was right ahead of him, over the Boston area, above Diamond City and Hangman's Ally. "Damn," he whispered to himself and reached into his duffle bag to grab a Rad-X from the bottle. He hated taking pills, it always took him half a bottle of water to get one of the damn things down and these were about as thick as his thumb.

Throwing the can of purified water off to the side, Nate burped and grimaced at the taste of watered down stomach acid that fought the pill that entered his belly. He was going to need some alcohol tonight, he was not in any mood to deal with any shit. Absently he realized that he had left Madelyn with a complete stranger, and MacCready of all people. Oh God… he hoped that they hadn't killed each other….

Hangman's Ally was quiet from where he stood. No one seemed to be keeping watch, which made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Where had Maddy and R.J. gone?

Nate slowly entered the settlement and passed the destroyed turrets on the ground floor. He would have to get enough supplies to fix all six of them or the settlement wouldn't do much good defending itself. He was just coming around the corner to the hall that led to the other end of the complex when he heard voices.

"What are you doing?" MacCready's voice was more than shocked.

"I'm cooking," Madelyn replied.

"More like trying to kill us, move over."

Nate peered into the kitchen to find Hancock leaning back in a folding chair with his feet kicked up on the wall and his hat down on his face. He was either trying to ignore the other two or sleeping. Either way, he looked quite comfortable with his arms behind his head. Nate let out a happy breath. They were all alive and all fine. He felt better now, his worry drifting off like the smoke from the dinner Madelyn was attempting to make.

"Hail Sentinel!" Madelyn announced when she saw Nate standing here. MacCready scoffed.

"Hi, Nate," he said, his eyes on the back of Madelyn's head. Madelyn looked… different. She wasn't wearing her squire's uniform, instead she was in… drifter clothing? Where had she even found that? Why had she changed clothes? But he stopped himself from asking because she didn't throw a glare at MacCready like he'd expected her to when he used the intimate greeting.

"Hey," he said, looking between them then at Hancock who was pushing the front of his hat up out of his face so he could look at him.

"I have to talk to you," the ghoul said, and MacCready frowned.

"Is it about the settlers?"

"I couldn't find any," Hancock said, clearly that wasn't what it was about.

"Me either," Nate said, frowning, and then Hancock's expression changed. Whatever he'd wanted to talk about wasn't about the settlers. He'd hoped that Nate had something positive to say, and the pit in Nate's stomach grew because he'd hoped the same thing.

"Well, either way, nothing much we can do about that now. It's dark and I'm as beat as a provisioner's Brahmin." The ghoul stood and slid passed Madelyn and R.J. stepping up to Nate and giving him a look that the General knew all too well.

"When will food be done?" Nate asked, looking away from the Mayor of Goodneighbor.

"Ah… give me an hour," MacCready looked down at the food and then at Nate, giving him a slight tip of the chin telling him to go ahead. MacCready and Nate weren't exactly best friends, but they were pretty close. He'd helped save his son, Duncan, from a nasty illness that threatened to make the widower fatherless. Nate knew the pain of losing a child, and he wouldn't let that happen to anyone that he cared about. But they were on two different fields. MacCready always leaned more toward the mercenary way of doing a job while Nate had the in-born military need. And because of R.J.'s distrust of the Brotherhood, it really put a damper on their friendship. But time had worn the divide.

"We'll be back in an hour then."

Hancock was already headed up the stairs to the second, and then third level. Nate had helped build this settlement and because of that he knew the lay out better than anyone. And one night he'd decided that an almost unreachable nook would be his little get away, and that was where Hancock was headed now. Nate's lips pulled up at the corners and he followed the red coat.

John disappeared around the corner, and Nate followed quickly, coming up behind him and wrapping his arms around the other man's chest. "Oh really," the ghoul breathed and Nate buried his face his shoulder, their hats clashing and both eventually falling to the ground.

Nate nibbled on his ear and grazed his teeth along the lobe before alternating kisses and bites down the ghoul's neck.

"Mmm, gonna get yourself in trouble, Natie," John growled. The Sentinel started to pull off the ghoul's clothing, one article at a time. "Why're you dragging this out?"

"I only get an hour alone with you, I don't know when that'll happen again," Nate looked into John's black eyes. The ghoul turned around, still in his pants.

"Honestly, I think I'm just worried our little squire will pay us another visit and then somebody won't be in the mood anymore," he punctuated the statement by grabbing Nate at the metal plate in front of his manhood. "That's right, always forget you're wearing a cup in this uniform."

"Take it off me then," he said, his voice low and John smirked.

"Oh, I plan on it."

And oh did he. Torturing Nate with how long it took. It was as if Nate had taken a shot of jet and everything had slowed down, but he knew it was just John giving him shit for wanting to take things a little slower this time. He blamed it on his need for at least a little romance. But the ghoul was more than willing to comply, as when he got to Nate's trousers he paused and bent in front of him, kneeling with his face just an inch from his waist, and oh did he love the view.

"You drag this out any more and I'm not going to need you to even touch me," Nate whispered, his voice almost a growl.

"Oh, you want me to move faster? I thought you wanted to take your time," Hancock looked up at him, feigning innocence.

"Please, John," he whispered, his blue eyes begging the man.

"Oh, well, since you said please." The ghoul pulled his trousers down and his erection slipped out. His length average, but he had a girth to him that he was proud of. John's hand grabbed it at the base, and then he looked up, meeting his eyes. With his tongue flat, he drew a wet line from balls to head. Nate stepped out of his pants, now wearing only his boots, and spread his legs, giving himself a better stance.

"Jesus," Nate whispered.

"It's John, how many times do I have to remind you?"

"Shut up…"

John's mouth took Nate's throbbing head and he threw his back, a hand reaching for something to hold onto. He ended up only being able to grab onto the wall behind him, his fingers slipping between some cracks. The ghoul dipped his head, taking in most of his length with a muted gag sound, then slipped back to the top where he swallowed the excess saliva in his mouth and licked the head and the underside of Nate's shaft.

The ghoul bent down lower, giving him long, slow strokes as he mouthed his ball, sending a new sensation up the General's spine. He grunted and let out a please noise that encouraged John, so he moved quicker, his strokes starting to focus right around the head where Nate was his most sensitive. Then he returned his mouth the tip, sucking on the head and using both of his hands to give Nate an overwhelming sensation.

He knew that he would be able to hold it back much longer, Hancock was going to finish him off in record time, and based on the smile in those black eyes, he knew it as well. "I fuckin' love you, John," Nate's hand on the wall gripped tighter, rippling the muscles of his torso up his arm. Prewar, Nate hadn't been this fit, and he'd never felt the need to be, but nowadays, with little food and constant exercise it was almost too easy to maintain this Atlas like figure. One of John's hands ghosted up his lover's abdomen, reaching as high as he could.

His fingers massaged the muscles the found padding his ribs and the ghoul focused more on what he was doing. His eyes were trying to maintain contact, but they drifted closed in concentration. The General closed his eyes, the feeling bringing him over the edge, and he released the breath he didn't realize he was holding as he exploded into John's throat. The ghoul positioned himself on Nate's head so he could maneuver the come into an easier position to swallow. Nate watched the other man as he milked him for the last drop of his seed.

"I think you just sucked the headache right out of me," Nate smiled, his hand running over John's head. The ghoul stood and smirked.

"Do I get a reward?" Nate bent and wrapped his arms around the smaller man, lifting him up and then walked him over to the bed. "Put your hat back on, General."

"Yes, sir," Nate stood and saluted him the Brotherhood way. The ghoul's flag belt moved as he grew exited, watching Nate bend at the waist to grab the hat off the ground and place it on his head.

"Mmm, much better," he supported himself on his elbows, giving the large man a very sexy view. "Get on over here, Natie," he beckoned him with taunting fingers. The General came up to the bed and awaited his next command. "On your knees," he paused until the task was completed, then added, "Make me come all over that pretty face of yours."

Nate's agile fingers had John's erection free in a breath. The ghoul's prize appendage was long, narrow, and had a slight bend to the right. Their eyes locked as the Sentinel's tongue traced lines from the bottom to the top of the bent shaft. After it was slicked up, Nate's hand slid up and down the length and he sucked on the head. He refused to look away from John's face as the ghoul smile and groaned in pleasure. "Fuck, Nate, that feels–"

He tilted his head and sucked on the underside of the shaft right below the head and Hancock wasn't able to finish his sentence. When he took it back into his mouth he hummed, making sure to press the head against the back of his tongue just before it could reach his throat. The vibration always drove John crazy, and this time it was enough to send him over the edge. "Shit," the ghoul breathed, bending forward as he shot into Nate's throat. Nate pulled his mouth away and continued to stroke the ghoul so that it landed on his face just how John had wanted it. "Damn it, I was trying to last longer than you."

Nate straightened up and grabbed a shirt from a dresser and used it to clean his face. "You should know better than that."

"Yeah, yeah," the ghoul waved a hand at him, trying to steady his breathing as he sat up. Then he stood and buckled his pants back up.

"What're you doing?"

"What? I…" John glanced at him, a wrinkled brow lifted to express his confusion. "Nothing, I guess…."

Nate rubbed his beard with the shirt to get the last of the sticky liquid from the hair, and then came back over. He bent and kissed John, his nose pressed against the skin of his cheek. One of his thick arms circling the smaller man while his other hand rested on the side of his neck, holding Hancock there so that he could kiss him longer, deeper. They tasted themselves on each other's lips, wiping all fatigue from their minds.

"I love you, Nathaniel," John whispered against his lips.

"I love you, too, John," Nate's lips moved to the other man's jaw, then down his neck. Nate was so much larger than John that when he did this he had to duck his head and bend down slightly. If a third person were to have been watching it might have been comical, but to them it was only love.

"Mmm, so affectionate…" Hancock smiled, leaning back so he could look at the man holding him.

"I could stop."

"Never," John smirked and kissed Nate's forehead.

"I bet I'll beat you guys to Sanctuary, even with the stop at Tenpines," MacCready was saying, leaning against a brick wall. They had fixed up Hangman's Ally best they could and called in for some Minutemen to hold it for a few weeks before they had settlers come back in, just incase whatever happened to the first group came back. MacCready had been given another assignment, this one at Tenpines Bluff.

Madelyn had made a funny noise when it happened, almost like she knew it would, or something, but when Nate gave her a questioning look she just shook her head and chewed on the mirelurk that R.J. had made. Now she seemed to be purposefully standing a distance away making Nate wonder if the ex-gunner had said or done something to upset her. Suddenly Nate was eyeing the sniper with a suspicious stare.

Hancock elbowed MacCready in the side when he passed, catching the guy off guard. "I'll take that bet, twenty caps says we slap Sturges's ass first."

"Shi–" R.J. winced and restarted his sentence, "Well if that's the wager make it two hundred. If I'm having that block of testosterone chase me I want it to be worth my while."

"Deal," Hancock stuck his arm out and MacCready grabbed it, sealing the deal.

Madelyn let out a chuckle, and Nate glanced over at her to see her looking between the two who were now squeezing each other a little too hard, waiting for the other to submit. "Come on, Hancock, we need to get going if we're going to beat him."

Madelyn looked at him now, her dark brow lifted. "He's going out of the way isn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's moving alone, and that means he can go faster," Nate explained, starting to leave the ghoul who was still locked at arm. "And MacCready is… sort of known for being able to get more ground covered than anyone else in our ranks."

"So he's a Minuteman?"

"Well, now he is, yeah," Nate thought about it for a minute. If they stopped paying him he would probably not stay, but then again, neither would most of the Minutemen they had now. It was a job now, no longer just volunteers with good intentions.

"What was he before? He looks… like he did time with mercenaries or military."

She had a good eye, he was surprised she noticed. "Yeah, he ran with the Gunners a while ago, before I'd met him, and he's been a hired gun since, but when we got him a place in Sanctuary he decided that the life as a Minuteman was just as good and started helping us out."

"How sweet," she said, but her tone told him she was being sarcastic. He suddenly wondered how their time alone had gone.

"How's your arm?"

"Fine, still stings a bit, but that's just when pressure is put on it," she explained, glancing at it. It was odd seeing her without her squire's uniform on and her hair in a lazy ponytail instead of a bun lifted off her collar. She had a lot of hair, the tie seemed like it would bust at any moment.

"Those clothes can't be comfortable," he said, they didn't fit her well at all.

"Well, they don't smell like my uniform did, so…" she shrugged and adjusted the pack on her shoulders.

"We'll stop and get you something that fits you better, Maddy."

"It's fine, really, I don't mind." She pushed up the sleeves that threated to over flow her gloved hands. Of course she didn't mind, but he did. She wasn't going to be helpful if she was tripping over herself because her pants were too big.

"We'll stop and get you something that fits better," he repeated and put an end to that. He didn't miss her hands balling into fists and he suddenly worried he'd over stepped. He thought she would like a new outfit.

"Damn, that kid moves fast," Hancock huffed when he reached them.

"Kid?" Madelyn raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, kid, like you, he just celebrated his twenty-third birthday, right, Natie?" John asked and Nate nodded, remembering the occasion. It had been about two months ago, and Mama Murphy had demand they make a big deal about it. It was mostly for show for Duncan as they had missed his birthday and the little three and a half year old loved watching the parties.

"Well, you have to think about it like this, when Hancock and I were your age–"

"Fuck, when Nate was your age, Maddy, the world was green with life not rads."

"Okay, that's not what I meant, asshole," Nate elbowed the ghoul and Madelyn giggled. "My point is we're old enough to be your parents, and R.J. is only a few years older than you, so," he shrugged. "Makes him a kid."

"Huh," she thought about that for a moment and Nate wondered what was going through her mind.

"Jesus, Nate, you need to get that Pipboy back on your arm, at least it was nice to listen to the radio while we walked."

"I know, I just…" he didn't like to always be reminded of Vault 111. The Pipboy and his Vault suit were the two things that made him think about it more than anything else, and since he didn't really need it anymore he left it at home with the other things he only looked at in his moments of weakness. He had neglected to tell Hancock this, though, so he suffered the consequences.

"We could play a game," Madelyn said.

"Like what?" Hancock asked, resting an arm on her shoulder. She shrugged him off, smiling.

"Well, there are plenty. I like the game One Word Stories. We go around a say one word to make a story."

"I don't get it."

Nate smiled, "I've heard of that, yeah. I would say something like 'Once' and then Maddy would say 'upon' then you'd say 'a' and I'd say 'time' and then we keep going. It can get really interesting."

"Sounds like a game I'll need a couple mentats for," the ghoul grinned and produced a tin of the drug from somewhere on his person.

"Oh, no fair," Madelyn waved a hand in front of his face to keep him from taking any of the pills. "At least try it without them first."

"Fine, who starts?"

"I will," Madelyn smiled. "Then Nate will go then you and then me again. When you want a sentence to end just say period as your word," she added.

"Okay, go."

"Once," Madelyn smiled.

"Upon."

"Fuck."

Madelyn and Nate both looked over at the ghoul who looked back at them completely seriously. "A," she tried to get them back on track.

"Sheep," Nate smirked.

"Period," announced Hancock.

"Okay, I regret this," Madelyn said, waving both of her hands in defeat.

"Oh no, no, I think I get it now," Hancock laughed. "Okay, come on, go again."

"Okay, fine," she thought for a moment. "There."

"Once," Nate tried again.

"Was," Hancock added.

"A," Maddy said.

Nate thought for a moment then decided on, "Ghoul."

"Me," Hancock laughed, and then waved for Maddy to go next which threw her off.

"Who."

"Lived," Nate smirked.

"In," Hancock prompted, looking at Maddy hopefully.

"Goodneighbor," the squire sighed.

"And," Nate added, ending the ghoul's triumphant laugh.

"Did," he countered, his black eyes flickering to the girl.

"A," Maddy tried, and Nate nodded, knowing where it was going.

"Lot."

"Of drugs!" Hancock finished, throwing his arms up and cheering.

"Hancock you only get one word…" Madelyn smiled. But they went on like that for some time. After a few hours the sentences got to be rather weird, and 'Blue pie is my favorite cake' became a quite laughable topic for them.

"Did you hear that?" Hancock paused, looking around. He grabbed his shotgun and narrowed his eyes. They were about half an hour north of Greygarden at this point, nearly halfway back to Sanctuary. At this particular crossroads there was nothing of interest, so the ghoul's outburst caught the other two off guard.

"What?" Nate grabbed his combat rifle and held it ready. Madelyn held up her ten-millimeter just how she'd been shown. Nate loved how quick of a learner she was.

"I thought it was–" Hancock started and was cut off by a bullet tearing open his shoulder. "Fuck!" he went down.

Madelyn turned toward the direction of the gunfire. "Raiders!" she called and ran over to a car. She took cover and then aimed carefully into the distance and started to fire. Nate watched her for just a moment as she worked out how to aim the gun then scooped up Hancock, running over to Madelyn's side as more rapid gunfire rained down on them. "One of them has power armor!" she yelled over the new sound of a minigun firing up.

"Shit," Nate looked at Hancock who was grabbing his crippled shoulder. Digging through his duffle bag, Nate found a stimpak and jammed it into Hancock's abdomen.

The minigun's fire ticked off the car doubling the volume of combat, but then there was the sound of ignition. "Maddy, get away from the car!" Nate yelled and stood Hancock on his feet to get the ghoul moving.

Madelyn gasped and started running west, Nate followed eyeing the spatter of trees that would serve as a decent cover until the raiders got closer. The car was on fire, but had yet to actually explode. Hancock groaned and got off his ass, looking around. "Shit, my gun," he gestured with his chin to the weapon he'd accidently thrown right under the car.

"Damn it," Nate breathed and reached into his duffle bag. "Here," he pushed his combat shotgun into his hands.

"Oh, I see," Hancock smirked, leaning against the tree Nate bent around so he could get a better shot at the raiders. "Been trying to get me to use this thing for months."

"It's faster, and now you need it," Nate said, looking up at him with a superior smile.

"Fine," the ghoul sighed.

Nate looked around for Madelyn and found her a tree over trying to put a new magazine into her ten-millimeter. "Maddy, honey, turn it around, it should slide right in," he shouted as the sound of the minigun disappeared. They were reloading. Nate grabbed his sniper rifle and lied on the ground, looking through the scope, passed the grass and tried to find the raider in the power armor.

There he was. The thing was terrifying with the makeshift armor welded to the frame in a fashion that hurt Nate deep down. But the armor wasn't 100%, and it had many gaps. Nate found a gap and fired. The right arm of the raider exploded in the armor and he dropped the minigun. "Minigun down," he announced and aimed again.

Hancock rushed out from behind the tree and took out two raiders that had been sneaking up to them. Madelyn was doing well, taking her time despite the pressure, and firing only when she thought she could hit her target. Nate couldn't pay attention well enough to know if she was managing to take anyone out, but he did see a couple raiders drop before he got them.

As soon as the raider in the power armor took Hancock's shotgun to the facial region, the others ran off. Raiders were funny that way, sometimes taking the death of their leader well, and other times they ran off with their tails between their legs.

"Should we hunt them down? Keep them from coming after us?"

"They're not going in the direction we want," Nate sighed, sitting against the tree to reload his guns before returning them to his duffle bag. The car took this moment to explode. Both Madelyn and Nate flinched, lifting their arms to protect their faces as parts went flying.

"Of course, Sentinel," she said when the fire died down, her eyes now scouring the perimeter to find anything out of place.

"You should take this time to reload your mags," he said and stood. Reaching into his bag he grabbed the box of ten-millimeter rounds and handed it to her. "Do you know how to do it?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm sorry about… reloading," she said, her eyes showing how embarrassed she was.

He rested a hand on her should, "It's okay, Maddy, I don't expect you to know how to do something you may never have done."

That seemed to make her feel better. But then she looked away from him and ejected her magazine to begin adding bullets to it. "So… uh, you called me honey?"

Nate blinked at her and raised a brow. "What?"

"You said… 'Maddy, honey'…" she said softly and Nate frowned.

"I didn't even realize it, I'm sorry, Madelyn, I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable." Nate took his hand away from her, suddenly aware of all the little things he'd been doing. He was starting to feel more than responsible for her; he cared about her. Like she was his daughter.

"Uh, no, not uncomfortable, I just…" she looked around and Hancock returned to their sides, but he didn't say anything, noting the awkwardness between the other two. "I've never really had… a fatherly figure, and I guess I'm starting to think this is what that feels like."

"You don't have parents on the Prydwen?" Hancock asked, frowning. He looked sad.

"Um, no…" she looked at the magazine she was pushing bullets into while she spoke. "I… I was born in the Capital Wasteland, and as far as I know I spent the first four years of my life in a slaver's camp. But the, uh, Brotherhood came and…" she couldn't push the last bullet into the mag and it stopped her from finishing her sentence. Hancock gently took it from her and pressed it in, showing that it was hard for him as well. She didn't look at either of them, but just kept her eyes locked on her magazine. "Elder Maxson was just a squire then, like, nine years old, and he… saved me from a dog. All he did was throw a rock at it, and it ran off, but to me, it was the greatest thing."

The Brotherhood had saved her from slavery and she'd spent all her time since them under their banners. It made sense that she was so devoted to them, and to have a close connection to the Elder like that Nate was sure only made her feelings stronger.

"I was given my name by the Brotherhood, before that I was just… 'girl'," she frowned, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't know what would have happened to me if I wouldn't have been saved by them, but I know that I wouldn't be standing here with you, Nate, Hancock…" she sniffed, her nose getting stopped up with emotion.

"Damn it, Maddy," Hancock sniffed and then scooped up the squire in a tight hug. "That's it, I'm keeping you. Brotherhood's gonna have to rip you from my cold, dead hands."

Nate smiled when he saw her laugh, but she was crying, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands. He knelt beside the two of them and embraced her as well. "I know I was a bit of a handful, but I don't hate you, Hancock," Madelyn whispered, her voice thick from crying. "Honestly, I really liked you off the bat, but I didn't think I should."

"It's cool, Maddy," the ghoul leaned back and looked at her, his head tilting to the side. "I liked you off the bat too, soon as you pulled that little knife on me," he grinned. Nate smiled at the two of them, happy.

"We should get moving," she said, sniffling and rubbing her face with her sleeve roughly. Nate agreed, giving her hair a quick rustle before helping pack the rest of the stuff so they could get a move on.