Nux practically flew back to the Citadel. He left Slit in charge of unloading everything, and he was perfectly happy to do so and take as much credit as he could, even though he was Nux's lancer and not a driver. While Slit managed that, Nux ran, desperately trying to find Warbird. The drive back had been nerve wracking for him, and with every bump they hit, his worrying increased. He really wasn't cut out for this sort of thing.

He finally found her sitting with Ace and Scuttle, talking about something to do with the war rig. She smiled when Nux stopped in front of them, and he took that as a good sign that maybe she had missed him a little bit, too.

"How you doing, mate?" Ace asked, saluting him and clapping him on the back.

Nux returned the salute. "Bullets. Lots of 'em."

"At the rate you're going, you'll be sent out again tomorrow once your pursuer's in top shape." Ace said.

"Sure hope," Nux grinned. He had to admit, he really had enjoyed at least part of his driving, but he had only lasted so long before anxiety won out over enjoyment.

An awkward silence began, and after a few tense moments, Warbird cleared her throat. Ace took the hint and left, saying he had to go meet with Furiosa. At the mention of her name, Warbird seemed uncomfortable, but only for a second, and Nux decided it was probably nothing. She was probably just uncomfortable over all.

He stepped up closer to her now that Ace was gone. She was leaning on Scuttle already, so he couldn't try to support her. Damn. "Are you okay?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I—I dunno," he looked at her with huge eyes. "I got worried."

"Why?" she sounded irritated, probably because she was. "What could I possibly get into?"

"A lot!"

"Nux, I'm fine. Really. The most eventful thing I did was give Scuttle here a clay bath. I can take care of myself."

Nux felt himself relax a little. "You're right. Let's find somewhere to sit."

"I want to go outside."

"Then let's go." He smiled nervously at her and offered his arm. They started making there way out and Scuttle hurried after them, grabbing on to Warbird's free hand.

Nux huffed at first. War pups were always underfoot. Yeah, they were important and everybody wanted to take care of them at least a little, but they were still just annoying little brothers who got into things and messed them up. They were always underfoot, and they dropped things a lot. It really seemed like Warbird liked Scuttle, though, so Nux wasn't going to argue, at least for now. He liked it when she was happy, and if the little rodent brought her joy, then he would just have to deal with that.

"So what's Furiosa doing?" Nux asked as they sat down. The sun was so hot, but at least up in the air there was a breeze.

Warbird stiffened. What did he know? Why was he asking? It didn't concern him. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, Ace said he had to see her. Are they going on a run?"

Warbird was doing everything she could to stay emotionless. "Just supplies."

"So she's taking the rig?"

Scuttle perked up. "The war rig?"

Nux raised his lip in a grin and Warbird let out a tiny sigh of relief. She really wasn't a great liar, no matter what she tried.

"Furiosa always takes the rig," Nux said to Scuttle with an air of irritation and snootiness.

"Nux, shut up." Warbird snapped. She looked down at Scuttle. "Grow up to be a nice war boy, if you can. Please."

Scuttle just looked up at her and blinked, as usual. It seemed like it was his specialty. He was usually quiet, and she always figured it was because he was so little. Even the other pups were significantly bigger than he was. He was just the runt of the litter, apparently.

"Where'd you come from, anyway?" Nux asked.

"M-me?" Scuttle squeaked. He wasn't really used to being directly addressed like this yet, and he was still trying to accept the idea of his new life.

"Yeah, you."

"Me and mama lived here, and she made them take me." He paused. "She put me with them and then she went away…"

"Life is better up here," Warbird said as she looked out over the wasteland. "We've got what we need. They've got nothing."

"Joe gives them what need," Nux protested. "He gives them water and we protect them!"

"I guess so, yeah." Warbird bit her tongue before she said anything to infuriate him. "Pups are better off, though. Better than starving down there."

"We've got everything we need." Nux said confidently. "We got food, mother's milk, cars, Joe…V8…."

Warbird just gave a half-nod. She was still struggling with her beliefs when it came to Immortan Joe, and she was beginning to blame Furiosa for it. Things were easier when she was just like the other boys and could blindly follow without questioning his leadership, but that was seeming impossible now, and she felt like she had no choice but to keep thinking about it. Whenever her thoughts started to wander, they headed towards Joe and his godly status.

"What's the Bullet Farmer?" Scuttle asked suddenly. He reached up to put his fingers in his mouth, reminding Warbird just how little he really was. The pup stopped when he realized that he was still covered in clay and dust and Nux wrinkled his nose at him.

"Don't do that," he mumbled. "Hands aren't for mouths, they're for cars."

"Furiosa only has one hand," the child said. "And she has cars."

"She has the rig, and no, she has two hands. One is just better than the other."

"Why?"

"Because it's like a machine. That makes her more like V8 than the rest of us. Get it?"

Warbird snorted as Scuttle nodded quickly, reached for his mouth again, and then caught himself once more.

"But what's Bullet Farmer?" he asked insistently.

"He makes guns." Warbird answered simply.

Nux leaned toward Scuttle. "He's got bullets for teeth," he said, eyes wide, trying to scare the pup.

It worked, Scuttle's expression mimicking the war boy's. "Nuh uh!"

"Yes huh."

"No!"

"I promise he does. I saw it."

"What's it like?" he asked excitedly.

Nux went on to describe the Bullet Farmer and his guns, and then when Scuttle asked, he told him about the People Eater of Gastown and his tendency to devour his wives when they failed to give him healthy children, which, unfortunately, was often. Scuttle was such a tiny rookie that Nux had to explain almost everything to him—what flamers were, why polecats were brave, and how he planned on getting to Valhalla—and by the time they were done, the sun was starting to hang low in the sky. Nux stood and pulled Warbird with him and Scuttle hopped up, running ahead of them when he realized that there would be some food scraps waiting for him if he got back soon.

Warbird sat on a car and grimaced as she realized just how much time she spent sitting down. There wasn't much she could, and she knew that, but that didn't make her stop hating it any less. All she did now was sit and watch and think, and the only thing to think about right now was what Furiosa was planning on pulling off. Just one more night and they would be gone, and Warbird still had to figure out how exactly she was going to distract the boys long enough to give them a head start should they need one.

Keeping them all in one place was difficult, and she was afraid that maybe she wouldn't be that much help after all. What could she do? Blow something up? That was always a viable option, with so many cars around…but it was wasteful. Maybe she could set that rabid blood bag free and see what kind of damage he could do…no, that was a bad idea, wasn't it? Yes, it was. She was beginning to accept that she may need to make something up on the spot, and that wasn't a very appealing idea. Maybe if she was lucky someone else would end up doing it for her somehow. After all, warboys caused distractions on their own all the time.

"Slit wants to go out again tomorrow," Nux said as he approached her with food, a very grumbly Slit trailing behind him.

"We need to be on the fury road," he hissed. "I want to be noticed. I want to be witnessed! How the fuck am I supposed to be awaited if we only go out once every six days?"

"Fine," Warbird said. She felt her pulse speed up slightly. What if they weren't back by the time Furiosa left and they met her out there when she veered off course with the wives? "Go ahead. Why are you coming to me?"

Nux seemed stumped by that question. "Because I wanted to tell you?"

"Fine with me. What are you planning on doing?"

"Anything. Everything!" Slit rasped.

"That's a lot of things to do."

"We just have to GO!" He yelled.

That was enough for Warbird. If she told them they couldn't go, they would question it. "When?"

"Early," Nux shrugged.

"Early enough to have time to be witnessed!" Slit said as he moved to leave.

Warbird smiled a tiny bit at his eagerness. "Bring back something for me."

"We will, imperator." He called over his shoulder. "Come on, pup. You're helping me with the car."

Scuttle followed after him eagerly, and once they were out of earshot, Nux turned to Warbird. "Are you worried?"

"No." She said defensively. "I'm fine."

"…Is something bothering you?"

"Nope."

"You can tell me, you know."

Part of her really wanted to tell him, just to keep him safe, if nothing else. She knew that if he got in the way, Furiosa wouldn't hesitate when it came to pulling the trigger on him. Warbird knew that she couldn't tell him, though. He was loyal, to Joe and to the other boys. He was more loyal than she had ever been. It was something that she loved about him, but she was certain that if she told him anything about what was going to happen, he would stop her and go straight to Immortan Joe, and then…well, everything would be ruined.

She swallowed back a few words. She was beginning to realize just how serious this was. It wasn't just taking some girls on a trip to the Bullet Farm; she was literally helping Furiosa steal Joe's most prized possessions. The thought made her wrinkle her nose. She understood the importance of healthy babies…she guessed she did, at least. She hadn't met anyone other than the wives that was completely healthy, so maybe they were pretty special after all.

It was easy to brush it off, too. Everyone treated breeders the same, because to most people, that's all they were. There wasn't much time, nor were there the resources to go around, to really discuss whether it was right or wrong to own people. Warbird had heard that back before the wars, it was even illegal to own somebody else, whether for breeding or just as a slave. You would actually be punished for it. She couldn't really imagine that; after all, people owned people all the time now. It was the norm. But when she thought about it, she realized that she was pretty happy not being owned, especially not for breeding. Thinking about it made her shiver, and it was realizations like this that made her help Furiosa. She wouldn't want to have been one of them. She knew that the reason she wasn't was that she was imperfect, battered and beaten and not at all soft and beautiful like Splendid or The Dag, and she knew that she always wished she was like them, at least a little, but it wasn't worth it. For once, she was glad that she was like this. She could do what she wanted. It was unfair, but it was preferable to what they endured day in and day out.

She looked at Nux. "There isn't anything bothering me."

He looked down at her with narrowed eyes.

"I'm fine. I promise."