Bullet Farm always made Nux feel uneasy. Yeah, he liked looking at all the guns for sale, but he had seen a few too many people shot there to feel at all relaxed amongst the bandits and gangs that milled around. Bullet Farmer was supposed to only supply Immortan Joe with guns and bullets, but everybody knew how unlikely it was that he stayed truthful to their deal.

Even as he and Slit settled down for the night in the car, Nux couldn't shake the paranoia overtaking him. It wasn't usually this bad, as shady as Bullet Farm was, and normally he could sleep fairly well, but tonight was turning out to be a different story.

"Would you just go to sleep?" Slit hissed as Nux tossed and turned.

"I can't. Something doesn't feel right."

Slit made a loud noise of displeasure.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nux asked, irritation lining his voice.

"You've got the hots for her, don't you?"

"For who?" Nux asked, hoping Slit wouldn't say the name that had popped into his own head immediately.

"Warbird," Slit said, drawing out the name teasingly.

"No!" Nux snapped a little too quickly. "She's—she's just a friend, or…imperator, I'm just helping her out some!"

Slit grinned that lizard grin. "Yeah, okay. Don't lie, you've been thinking about her."

Nux shifted uncomfortably under the coat he was using as a blanket now. "I don't know…"

"You don't know?" Slit raised an eyebrow. "I think you know. You wanna pash her."

"No!" Nux felt his face heating up at the thought of his scarred lips on hers.

"But you wouldn't stop it if it happened."

"Well, would you?"

Slit paused for a moment. "No, probably not."

"Why?"

"She's a looker. I know you've noticed."

Nux definitely had. "It doesn't matter anyway. She's got other things to worry about."

"Doesn't mean she's not up for a snog. Probably as far as you'd get, with her hip and all."

Nux sighed dejectedly. "Probably."

"Ha!" Slit's grin widened. "I knew it!"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Nux said quickly. "I just meant that you're not wrong!"

"I'm never wrong. You're into her."

"So what if I was? What do you say I do about it?"

Slit shrugged. "Go for it." His grin returned. "Bet you'd have a real good time. Bet she looks real nice under her clothes."

Nux bet she did. "What d'you think her tattoos are like?"

"Probably nice. She probably has a lot. Don't think I've ever seen them, though, which is a shame."

Nux looked at him. "What makes you think she'd let you?"

"We talked about it." Slit sat back with a smug look on his face.

"What? When?"

"Couple days ago. You weren't around." He shrugged. "Wasn't much, really. She doesn't wanna do a lot of shit 'cause, you know, her hip. Tough for you I guess."

"Shut up. She's an imperator anyways. I'm just a warboy."

Slit rolled his eyes. "You've spent every minute with her. You probably miss her right now."

He was right. Nux was missing Warbird. He was missing her a lot. "Do you think she's doing okay?"

"Have you ever even seen her? She's probably thrown somebody off the Citadel by now." Slit rolled over. "Now shut up and sleep. She's fine."

Nux made a noise of agreement and tried to settle himself again, but the second he closed his eyes, his mind started racing. Was she actually okay? Was Rictus leaving her alone still, or had he done something else to her? He didn't want to think about that. Rictus was massive, and Warbird…well, her ego was bigger than she was. He could snap her in half without even breaking a sweat, and he probably wouldn't feel bad afterwards.

What if she had managed to get herself hurt in some other way? She could pretty easily fall down a hole or off a cliff, or get hit by a wrench or a car, or caught on fire, or any number of other things that could potentially end her.

Wait, why did he care so much? He had watched plenty of warboys split their faces open, and he had laughed at them with the others. Hell, he had watched when Slit got the scars that gave him his name, and he was less than concerned. Of course, Slit was…well, kind of a schlanger. He liked to call people mediocre, and he always wanted to be closer to Joe. Nux had been surprised when Slit initially started helping him with Warbird, but that was probably because he wanted to be in good favor with an imperator, even if she was most likely going to lose her ranking.

But even watching Slit, his best friend, bleed out from his face all over himself and the sand, had never concerned Nux. Slit had probably been having fun anyways, and he was fine in the end, so what was the point in worrying? People got hurt and walked away from it all the time, including Warbird…right? She could take care of herself. She had made it this far in life.

Why was he so worried about her? With each passing hour he was growing more and more agitated with the fact that he wasn't there to make sure she was okay. He had never felt that way about anyone before, and suddenly here the feeling was, staring right at him. He guessed he had always sort of felt that way towards her, but he had never noticed it until now; he had spent too much time being afraid of stepping on toes, and even though she had been there for every one of his major ceremonies, she had always seemed a bit distant. She was the imperator who stayed closest to the other boys, but she had still always been a little more isolated. She had had her own room, her own car, her own things to do…he had never had much of a chance to spend time with her.

He still remembered the first time he saw her, though. They were both still kids; she was a young warboy, and he had just enlisted from the work force, separated by a few years of experience. She had limped back then, but not nearly as much as now, and he could remember her getting into scraps with the others. She always won. He could remember the day he watched Immortan Joe name her as an imperator alongside Furiosa, and put her in charge of the warboys while Furiosa was to guard his wives. Nux had been there, along with everybody else, sitting in the back and craning his neck to get a look as Warbird demanded to be tattooed. Furiosa also received one, but she had been much less enthusiastic. After that, Warbird stopped shaving her head completely bald and began wearing less and less white clay. She smeared grease and oil over her face and hair and left it at that.

But on that day that she became imperator, he found himself paying special attention to her. He had just finally become a driver, and had been spending most of his time outside trying to gain Immortan Joe's favor, just like Slit did. He only stuck around inside to work on his car and watch ceremonies, and he had never really spoken to her. They were aware of each other, but she only barely seemed to acknowledge him. She stuck around Furiosa and the older warboys and even sometimes the pups that flocked to her for protection. She always did a good job of settling the fights they got themselves into, too, and it seemed like even though she was utterly ruthless when she felt up to it, she was fiercely protective of those she wanted to care for. After a while of watching that, Nux had wished that she would feel that way about him, too.

Maybe it was because he had been around the other boys his entire life after being pulled up from the wretched, but he had developed a few small fantasies with her at the center around the time he really started growing up. The older boys were lewd, and although Warbird punished them heavily if they went too far, they would make comments that were less than savory, and it seemed like they rubbed off on Nux for a while. He joined in sometimes because that's what seemed right at the time. It helped that he occasionally heard her laughing along with the others when they mentioned her tits.

They really didn't talk much, and without any real contact with her, Nux's fantasies began waning and he focused more and more on being a real warboy. He brought in blood bag after blood bag, countless supplies, new cars, food, bullets, guzzoline…he did everything that he could, and he did it perfectly. After all, Slit wouldn't let him do anything mediocre. He didn't have time to spend lusting after her when she clearly wasn't interested in even talking to him, and he didn't really mind it. Nothing had ever had a chance to blossom, so he never lost anything. He did get jealous seeing the others bringing her gifts, though, so one day when they were out terrorizing marauders, he found stray crow feathers and knew he had to take them to her, and when he got to proudly present them and she thanked him, his attraction to her was rekindled. He hadn't recognized it at first, but it was there, and the closer they became, both physically and emotionally, the stronger they grew.

And now here he was, sitting in his pursuit vehicle, practically pining over her. He wished she were in the car with him instead of Slit, who snored horrendously when he had to sleep sitting up in the passenger seat. Nux wanted it to be Warbird, and he wanted the two of them to sleep side by side, or on top of each other, or tangled up in a mass of tired limbs and blankets. He wanted the warmth and the comfort and the unique companionship. He wanted the way her hair smelled and that sleepy look in her eyes that only ever lasted a second when she woke up before her gaze became as burning as the fury road.

He just wanted her.

Nux pulled his coat closer and sighed. Slit's snoring had begun, and Nux was no closer to sleep than he had been when he started all of this thinking. Maybe that pup was with Warbird right now, doing something at least semi useful. Maybe she was using him as a pillow, or maybe he had spent the night fetching her whatever she asked for. Who was she sleeping next to? Morsov? Ace? The thought made him jealous. Why should they get to be close to her when he was stuck here with Slit? He should be there, making sure that she was comfortable. He should be taking care of her. She was protective, but he wanted to protect her.

He really hadn't intended to be gone for this long, but the Bullet Farmer was being difficult when they tried to negotiate, and he had dawdled for so long that they decided to spend the night there rather than making the drive back. Nux had barely seen Warbird at all before they left, and he was regretting it now. She had told him to go out and find something to do and he had complied, expecting to be gone on a short raid or fight, but the plan had changed, and now he just wanted to reassure himself that she was still okay. Part of him refused to believe it until he saw for himself that she was in one piece.

"The faster you sleep the faster you'll see her," he mumbled to himself. Maybe if he said it enough, his brain would be convinced, and he would be able to just nod off, at least for a few hours so that they could pass by without him even noticing. Maybe if he just tried hard enough. Maybe….