Chapter Text
And we are back! Here's the chapter I decided to re-write, and yes! They FINALLY do the dirty in this one! Here's a cool note about the next couple of chapters!
I am NO LONGER collaborating with someone on this fic. The last few published chapters have been deleted, which means I will be taking this in its intended direction. :) And boy, do I have some surprises in store for you all. <3
Now, without further ado...
The good doctor had been very surprised the entire time he was running tests. He noted how even a simple handshake made her shiver, and had to take a breath to still himself.
There was no cure. She had to wait it out, and hopefully it wouldn’t kill her.
He knew exactly what could alleviate some of the symptoms, and he worried about seeming like a dirty old man when he told her.
“Nora,” he said, trying to mince words. “Intense exercise and activity might help, but only for up to an hour afterwards will you be yourself. Your hormones and estrogen levels are the highest I’ve ever seen. And seeing how you haven’t had a menstrual cycle since you woke up, I think your body is trying to catch up. All at once.”
“What do I do?” Nora asked. He watched her chest rise and fall, and knew her heart was still racing.
“The longest lasting relief would be brought on by following your body’s lead. Having intercourse.”
“You’re saying that will actually help.” She said, her eyes flicking up to meet his. He could smell the pheromones pouring off her, and of course, his manly parts were responding. He cleared his throat.
“Nora, until this passes, and until you do something about it, it isn’t safe for you here.” He said. “Your smell is…” He said.
“Overwhelming?”
“And it will drive people mad. So if you can spend time absolutely alone during this stage, that would be safest.”
Nora nodded, averting her eyes and standing. “I know where to go.” Nora said, very strained. “Thanks, Doc.”
She was gone before she could hear his reply, marching somewhere else on the ship.
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Nora was slammed into the ground in the airport, panting as she struggled against Paladin Danse. Her body sang as she was pressed up against him, but she managed to push him off and flip them over.
“Where...did you...get this strength...from?!” Danse panted from below her.
“I...want to tell you.” Nora said, panting. She had found Danse working on his armor and she had asked to work out with him. He took her to the airport, threw some bandages at her, and it was game on from there. Of course, that meant Nora had to keep herself from grinding up against him every chance she got.
He easily flipped her over, pinning her to the ground with her wrists above her head. “Tell me, Nora.”
She could only stare up at him, her heart hammering and her body screaming with absolute need.
“D-danse!” She whimpered, gasping at how good his touch felt on her. She bit her lip as she locked eyes with him, her pupils dilated. Danse’s eyebrows raised.
“Whoa.” He said, letting her go. “Uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, then helped her up. He noticed how she shivered, certain parts of her body now visible for his attention. His face was flushing.
“I need you to tell Arthur,” she said. “why I’m leaving.” She said, her voice thick with emotion. Danse’s mouth felt as if he only had dust in it, his mouth dry all of a sudden.
“But...I thought you two were OK.” He said.
“Danse...I’m not myself.” She began, then told him about the doctor’s diagnosis. She was blushing the whole way through, and so was Danse. He really listened, though, and she could tell the gears were turning in his head.
“So since you...don’t want to take that route,” Danse said. “You have to leave. To be completely alone.”
“I must.” She said. “I will have to find Shaun some other way.”
“No, Nora.” He said, throwing down his towel. “You won’t have a chance in hell without the Brotherhood.”
“I can’t stay , Danse!” She said. “Right now I feel like jumping anything that walks on two legs! I smell irresistible to anyone within a five-hundred yard radius, and that may or may not include MUTANTS.” He watched her throw her hands up, turning in a circle as she explained herself. “Right now is the only time I’ve felt like myself since this started, and I know this isn’t going to stay. I’m losing my mind, and I can’t handle it. I can’t handle not being able to remember why I’ve been chasing the Institute so hard.”
“Tell. Arthur.” He said, firmly. “You need to be the one to tell him, not me. And definitely not Cade.”
“Danse--”
“No. I’m not getting in the middle of this.” He said, looking at her. “Come on.” He said. She took a deep breath, and followed him back to the vertibird back up to the Prydwen.
“Radio the Prydwen.” Danse was saying to the pilot when she hopped into the bird. “Nora Robinson has urgent news for Elder Maxon.”
There was no escaping it now.
_________________________________________________________________
He hadn’t seen Nora all damn day, and it was showing.
He was in and out of meetings, checking up on the operations of the ship. Of course, there was paperwork, and with paperwork came locking himself away in his room. He was surprised--Nora usually would come by and read a book or say hello, but she hadn’t all day.
He walked the ship when the sun was setting, casually looking for her as he leaned over railings, looking down from above. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Danse, either.
He could feel his stomach tighten with worry, and with something he wasn’t used to; jealousy. What if he had misread her signs? What if she was into Danse instead? Did he come on too strong? Had he been too obvious?
“Elder Maxon, sir.” A squire had come up to him mid-thought, and Arthur snapped out his emotional spiral of doom to face the boy.
“Yes, Squire.” He said.
“Nora Robinson has some important news for you, sir.” He said. Arthur felt his heart leap, and he had to curb the sigh wanting to come out of him.
“Where is she?” He asked.
“She’s reporting to your quarters, sir.”
“Thank you, Squire. Dismissed.”
He couldn’t believe how quickly he had walked to his room, opening the door to find Nora sitting on his bed. Her eyes flicked up to him, but she didn’t smile. There wasn’t even a hint of happiness in her eyes.
Anger flared within his chest as he walked right over to her, kneeling in front of her. He brought a finger under her chin and made her look at him.
“Nora.” He said. “Look at me.”
“Arthur…” She said, softly.
“Look at me.” He said, his tone softer. Her eyes snapped to his, and he saw her flush with color. Her lip trembled.
“Arthur.” She said again. “I have to leave.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” Arthur said.
“I must.” She said, weakly. “If Cade didn’t fill you in already…”
“What Cade has to say has nothing to do with what’s happening here right now.” He said. “Tell me.” He said. He watched her shiver.
“I won’t be myself in a few minutes.” Nora said, panic in her eyes. “The cryo sleep did this thing to me where it put everything within me to sleep.” She said, her breathing speeding up. “When I woke up, not everything else followed.” She sounded short of breath all of a sudden. “My...estrogen levels suddenly woke up yesterday, and it is causing me to lose my mind.” She said, her face flushing. “It’s...Cade...said I could either obey what my body wants and get better that way, or to fight it alone. And to fight it alone, I need to leave.”
It was quiet as they looked at each other, his breathing now matching hers.
“You sound like yourself right now.” Arthur said.
“No I don’t, Arthur.” She whispered. “I can’t even remember Shaun when I’m in that state.”
“Wait, what state?” He asked, concerned. She tried to swallow.
“I feel like I’m dying and losing my mind if I am not getting serious cardio, or getting laid.” She said, sighing. Arthur blinked. “Cade said that the only way to get better is to...you know.” She said. “Or leave, and be completely alone so I don’t attract anything that would...force me.”
“I...understand.” He said, his hand dropping from her chin. “You are choosing to leave because you don’t want to be with anyone.” He said. He watched her bite her lip.
“It’s not about want.” Nora said. “God, it’s not.” She said, her chest heaving. She closed her eyes, and Arthur noticed something unseen permeating the air. Something so...he couldn’t put a finger on it.
“Nora?” He asked after a moment. She opened her eyes, and he could see that her pupils were blown wide.
“I...need to go.” She said. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She tried to get up, but Arthur grabbed onto her shoulders.
“No.” Arthur said. “Tell me what you need, Nora. I will make it happen, I swear.”
“I need to be left out in the wild until this passes.” She said. He shook his head.
“Nora, you can ask anything of me. Anything at all.” He said, watching her flush again. “How do you want to handle this?”
“With you.” She said, and it was so silent he could hear the Prydwen humming around them. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Arthur. And I am a terrible person for living on while my son is still out there and my goddamned husband was murdered.” Tears slipped down her cheeks, which Arthur reached out to wipe away with both thumbs.
“You are not terrible for surviving.” He said, bringing his face closer to her own. “And you’re not terrible for feeling something between us.” He said. “Nora, I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t go a day without seeing just a glimpse of you. And Nora...if you want to leave and deal with this part alone, I ask that you let me come with you. I want to be the one that eases your pain, your discomfort. Even if you don’t stay with me forever, I want to be the one to help you.”
Nora let the tears flow as she looked into his captivating gaze. Something invisible--some sort of force of nature--had transcended through time and space to get them to this moment.
And that force was Roger Maxon...at first. But as she looked up at him, she could see herself staying with him and growing large with his babies. Leading the Brotherhood by his side...and how often they would be sneaking off the ship to have adventures together. With that heat building within her, she leaned up to kiss him after taking his strong jaw in both her hands.
The kiss was slow and filled with their tongues slowly swirling together in a dance that only escalated. She could feel his large, strong hands on her waist as his mouth devoured hers in a slow-burning dance of absolute control and passion. She felt her mind cloud as she pressed her front against his, earning a growl from the Elder as she reached up to unzip his flight suit.
He pulled away just long enough to hear her protest, earning her consent when she closed the distance and took his mouth with her own once again. She slid her hands past his flight suit to hike his undershirt up his chest, her fingertips slowly trailing up his chest to memorize every sculpted muscle they could find. Before she had a chance to slide her fingers down past his underwear, he was pressing her ass against his desk before he pulled away to clear his desk, terminal included. Everything clattered to the floor as he stood there before her, ravishing her with his eyes.
He just looked at her, before taking a commanding step forward. He watched her react to him, seeing her resisting the urge to scoot back away from him.
She was challenging him. Her eyes locked with his after taking her sweet time drinking in the sign of this absolute predator in front of her...with his zipper down to where she could see a defined V of where his strong hips met his ass, with a trail of hair teasing the path less taken.
With just a ghost of a smirk, he reached forward to take the zipper of her flight suit between his fingers. She held her breath, her heart hammering in her chest as he slowly pulled it down.
She watched him drink her in before he flicked his eyes back up to hers. She shivered as he slid the suit away from her breasts, which were bare from the bra she had thrown away before she even reached Cade for her check-up. He smiled, his eyes burning into hers as he flicked her nipples with his thumbs. She moaned, biting her lip as she looked him in the eye, depleting the very last of Arthur’s control.
His hands suddenly gripped her thighs as he scoot her against the cold wall, claiming her mouth with kisses that would bruise. He let his coat drop to the floor, undoing his suit enough to get his shirt off, his dog tags clinking together with the movement.
Nora’s heart felt like it was beating out of her chest as she undid her suit so she sat there topless, with her suit undone just enough to expose her opening to Arthur. She felt her eyes widen as she watched his cock spring free. Her insides clenched in a desperate plea to be filled with him.
“Arthur.” She said as he looked at her. “Take me NOW.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. In less than a few seconds, he was muffling her loud moans with his lips and tongue. He grabbed her ass as he pressed his length into her, pressing himself flush against her. He could feel her heart pounding to the same beat his was, which just made him want to fuck her even more.
He broke the kiss to look down at where they were joined, his massive cock throbbing as it stretched her. Even with how slick she was, he wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t going to hurt her.
That was until she wrapped her legs around his waist and hilted him in her. He could feel the tip of his cock pressing against her cervix.
“Fuck, Nora.” He growled, his voice vibrating low in his chest. He pulled out and slammed himself back into her, causing her to cry out. He covered her mouth with his, wrapping her moans in his own as he held onto her thighs as his powerful hips plowed her over and over again. His desk was making quite a rhythmic ruckus, so he easily picked her up and put her against a wall he didn’t share with anyone else.
It was there that he properly fucked her. Fast. Hard.
“Arthur...I’m--”
“God, Nora…” He growled as his hips snapped out, then back in as fast as a man of his stature could thrust.
Which was pretty fucking fast.
Nora gasped as she tried to stay quiet, her inner walls clenching around Arthur so powerfully, it brought his orgasm crashing into her as well.
He coated her walls, thrusting deep as she pressed her legs around him, locking him into her as he filled her with every drop of his seed. She kissed him slowly, passionately as he lay her down onto his bed. He took her face into his powerful hands as he kissed her. Her legs were still around him, keeping him inside her as they kissed.
He felt tears trickling down her cheeks.
Fuck! What happened? What’d I do?
He pulled away, looking down at her to find that she was smiling up at him. His heart skipped a beat as their eyes met, and he brushed stray hair out of her beautiful face as he smiled peacefully down at her.
This moment, he realized, had happened before. This moment was so familiar, and he was about to ask about it when there was a loud banging at his door.
“Elder?” The voice asked at the door. It was Danse, thank god. He sighed, looking back down at Nora, who was brushing stray strands of his hair from his face.
“I’m sorry.” He said, leaning down to steal another kiss from her again. She moaned against his lips, and he moaned in response before they broke the kiss.
“Arthur…” She said as they separated. They were getting their clothes back to rights, watching each other as they did so, pouting as they covered up skin marked by time, stretchmarks and scars. “Does this all feel...familiar to you?” She asked, smirking at herself as if she were admitting a silly secret that all her friends would laugh about.
Arthur stopped cold, looking at her. “You feel that too?” He asked, visibly stunned. The feeling spread to Nora now, and they stood there gawking at each other, even as Danse politely knocked on the door again.
“Just a minute, Danse.” Arthur said, loud enough for Danse to hear. He advanced to his wife--
Wait. Why did he…something caught his eye, something metallic that Nora was strapping to her boot. Was that…?
“Where...did you get that?” He asked, gesturing to it. She was about to answer, when there was yet another knock on the door.
“You should get that.” She said, before kissing him on the cheek. She made to leave, but Arthur wasn’t having it.
“You have every reason to be here.” He said. “You don’t have to go anywhere.”
“I know, Arthur.” She said, smiling sadly. “I have another lead to check out. I’ll be back soon.”