Both Gemma and Veronica sat and listened while Drew explained what Jarik had told him regarding the team of power-armored-clad troopers.

They were all sat in the cafeteria, even Suzy, who hovered next to Sarah. All of them had eaten dinner, though Drew’s plate was left mostly untouched due to all the talking he had been doing.

“I don’t know if it really is the Brotherhood of Steel,” Drew said, “but other than captured power armor from the NCR, I don’t know any other group that uses it. Well, other than the Enclave. But their existence is more of a legend and most people don’t think they ever even existed.”

Neither Gemma nor Veronica looked particularly happy about the news. Any of the major three were a threat and two of them were mutphobic to an extreme degree. The NCR was less mutphobic but they still saw ghouls or other mutated people as undesirables, often treating them as second-class citizens.

“Are we in danger?” Gemma asked.

“Well, from what my limited knowledge of the Brotherhood, they usually send out small scouting groups into a new area. They were miles south of Colville heading westward so that group wasn’t headed here.”

“Where else could they be headed?” Veronica asked.

“Likely the old power station. Or there could be something else out that way we don’t know about.”

Gemma rubbed her large elbows nervously. “So what do we do?”

“What we do is the original plan.”

“Which is?” Veronica asked.

“Which is to bring this place online, but we need to shorten the timetable considerably. We need to bring this place online and quickly. We can’t mess around any longer. Not if the Brotherhood are in the region.”

“When do we start?” Veronica asked.

“Tomorrow. It’s late, we need to get some rest.”

“Right,” Gemma agreed with a nod.

“Are they really such a threat?” Veronica asked.

“They’ll kill you two straight away,” Drew said to Gemma and Veronica. “They’ll kill the rest of us, simply because they’ll see us as a threat for merely thinking about bringing this place back online.”

Drew looked to Jack, Amy, and Sarah who had been quietly listening in. “Any questions?”

Sarah raised her hand. “Is it worth the danger?”

“Do we have a choice?” Drew asked back.

“What do you mean?”

He gestured at Gemma and Veronica. “Like I said, they’ll kill them outright. Or are you okay with that?”

“Of course not,” Sarah said defensively. “I didn’t mean it like that. Maybe we should just leave, instead.”

“I’m not running away from some bullies in power armor,” Drew said firmly. “And besides, we’re not even certain they’re an actual threat. It might be just some guys who found some power armor.”

“Maybe we should find out?” Sarah suggested.

“It would be nice if it was that easy,” Drew said. “It may turn out to be nothing but I don’t want to take that chance. They may have already attacked a caravan and taken their Handy robots. As for the caravaneers, they went missing. Likely dead.”

“Do you really want to start a war with them?” Sarah asked.

Drew looked at Amy and Jack, then across to Gemma and Veronica. “We might not have a choice.”

“Yeah,” Amy agreed. “They’re the outsiders. If they think they can come here and attack us, then we need to show them how wrong they are.”

Drew looked over at Gemma and Veronica. “You two might need to go home a little early to warn the others.”

“Understood,” Gemma said with a nod. “We can set off tomorrow.”

“I want to have this place ready to start producing robots before you leave,” Drew said. “We’re almost there but we’re gonna need your help.”

“We’re almost at a week anyway,” Veronica pointed out. “At this point, it might be best for us to stay the allotted time and then leave when we were originally supposed to.”

Drew had to admit, he had lost track of time. He couldn’t even remember how long they had been there, but it felt like it was a lot longer than a week.

“Okay,” he accepted. “Tomorrow I want at least one line ready to start producing. Preferably the Sentry line. Then I want the Assaultron line. Eventually, I want the Gutsy line.”

“How many can we build?”

“Sentry bots is maybe a dozen. Depends on how many components we have in the stock warehouse. Assaultrons, I’d wager, we have a few more parts. Already I can tell that we have way more head lasers than heads, so we might have to repurpose some of them. We have plenty of Protectron and Gutsy parts, so they will make up the bulk of our forces.”

“Forces?” Jack asked. “Like an army?”

“Like an army,” Drew confirmed. “Though we have to assume that the Brotherhood have some way of disabling robots, such as EMP so we’re gonna have to figure a way to shield their core systems.”

“Why assume that?” Amy asked.

“Because those guys palling around in power armor were seen with Handy robots such as those used as guards with the caravan. If they are the robots from the missing caravan then that means they were able to disable them long enough to reprogram.”

“Makes sense,” Sarah agreed. “How do you protect against EMP?”

“Faraday cage,” Veronica answered.

“Yep,” Drew agreed. “We would have to build a sort of wire cage inside the shells of the robots, primarily around their core systems to stop them from being knocked offline. Most robots have protections against EMP’s anyway, which is why most of them are still active after the nuclear war. But anything more direct can still knock them out.”

“It’s gonna be a lot of work,” Jack pointed out.

“It is,” Drew confirmed. “But this is why we’re here in the first place. To bring this plant back online.”

He looked down at what was left of his cold food and quickly ate it before standing up. “I think everyone should get an early night. I’ll do the dishes.”

“I’ll help,” Sarah said.

They gathered the plates and took them through to the kitchen. Drew washed while Sarah dried. Finished, they parted ways, and Drew headed towards the stairs while Sarah headed back towards the nurse’s office.

As he stepped into the stairwell, he found Gemma stood waiting for him.

“Oh, hey,” he said.

“Veronica’s gone up to the roof,” Gemma said.

“Okay.”

“You know last night? Can we… You know… Do you want to sleep with me… In the same room as me, I mean?”

Drew smiled warmly. “Sure. I enjoyed talking last night.”

She smiled back at him. “I did, too.”

She led the way down into the basement and Drew noted how awkward and uncomfortable it looked as her massive feet dwarfed the steps.

In her room, Drew sat down on the mattresses while Gemma lay down on the floor on her side facing him.

“I had a dream last night,” she said.

“Yeah? What was it about?”

He noticed her cheeks grow red. “Nothing,” she answered.

He raised an eyebrow. “You had a dream about nothing?”

“Drew,” she said, sounding a little exasperated. “Please don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“You know what!”

Drew felt a little confused, though he had a feeling he knew what kind of dream it was judging by the way she was blushing.

She growled. “Fine, it was a sex dream.”

“Was it good?”

“You were in it.”

“Was it good?” he asked again.

She smiled, her cheeks growing even redder. “Yeah, it was good.” The smile then vanished. She looked sad.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was human again,” she told him. “You made love to me like you used to. Then Kiki showed up. She was human too and she joined in.”

“It sounds like it was really nice.”

“It was until I woke up.”

Drew’s heart ached for her in more ways than one. His heart ached in sorrow. Her pain was his pain, her hurt was his hurt. His heart also ached with longing. He still felt a separation between them and he desperately wanted to be as close as they once had been.

“Do you…” Gemma began. “Do you think that it’s possible to still have children?” She looked at him. “I mean, I know it sounds stupid considering what I am. But do you think it’s possible?”

Drew wondered if she wanted him to be honest or if she wanted him to entertain the idea. He’d always had a hard time lying to her, even if it was to protect her feelings.

“No,” he said, “I don’t. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see how.”

“Same,” she said. “I don’t think I can, even if we were still compatible. I think whatever changed me probably made me infertile. I don’t have periods anymore, which kinda proves it.”

“We could always adopt,” he suggested. “There’s an orphanage in town.”

Gemma shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t work. The kid would be terrified by me. I’m the monster under the bed. I’m the creature peering through the cracks in the walls.”

“For the last time, Gem. You’re not a monster.”

“I am!” she yelled. “Just because you don’t see me as one doesn’t mean I’m not!”

Drew stood up off of the mattress and walked over to her. He reached out and gently stroked her head, doing his best to comfort her.

“You’re my monster,” he told her before he kissed her on the mouth. “I still think you would make a wonderful mother, despite your outward appearance.”

“You’re a bad liar.”

“You of all people should know I have a hard time lying to you.”

Tears began to fill her eyes. He didn’t like seeing her upset, yet he knew that a good cry might be just what she needed. He suspected it was what they all needed. There was a lot of pent-up anguish that needed to be released.

“You’re my special Gem,” he told her. “And no matter what, you always will be. You might see a monster, Gem, but do you know what I see? I see a protector. Like in those old pre-war Hubris comic books.”

She gently shook her head. “Drew, stop lying to yourself. Characters that looked like me were always the villains.”

He kissed her again. “You’re a hero to me, Gem. You always will be. You protected Amy and Jack when they were just kids. You kept them safe and helped them grow up into wonderful people. You took my heart and you made me feel joy like I hadn’t in a long, long time. When I thought you were dead, that joy, that spark vanished. Now that you’re back, I feel it again. It’s weak, but it’s growing stronger. You make me stronger.”

The tears began to flow freely, streaming down the sides of her face. Gently, Drew wiped them away before he gave her another kiss, this time on the cheek.

“I love you my precious little Gem. I love you with everything I have.”

“You have more love in you than I would have,” Gemma sniffled. “If things had been different. If I had been human and you’d been…” She gestured at herself. “… If you had been this, then I don’t think I could do it.”

“I wouldn’t have believed I could either,” Drew said honestly. “When I first realized it was you, I didn’t think I could ever get over what you had become, but I did. That’s how strong our bond is.”

“What about Kiki?”

He sighed. “It’s not going to be easy and I’d be disappointed if it was. I always liked her and I felt guilty because of it.”

“Guilty?”

“Yes, because even though I rejected her advances and pushed her away, I felt like I was still cheating on you because I liked her. I liked her a lot. Maybe it was because she was always so nice to me. To you. To us.”

Gemma nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“About what?” he asked confused.

“I feel like I’ve betrayed you by falling in love with her.”

“It’s not a betrayal, Gem. It’s honestly expected.”

“It is?”

“Yes, it is. You two would have made a lovely couple.”

“But I also love you, Drew. I love you both.”

“And I think I love the both of you as well. I won’t lie to you, Gem. Getting over Kiki’s transformation is going to be a lot more difficult. She scares the shit out of me.”

“She is big,” Gemma agreed.

“She’s bigger than big. She’s huge. I guess it reflects her heart.”

“What about Lotte? She’s even bigger?”

“Let’s not ruin the mood,” Drew said with a soft chuckle. “But yeah, she’s huge too, but it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with her heart.”

“I think she might end up being a problem,” Gemma said honestly. “I’m really concerned. Some of the things we’ve done. I think given the chance, she’d turn us into a pack of raiders. The only reason she hasn’t is because she would get too much resistance. She already gets a lot of resistance.”

Drew frowned as he went over what she said. “Some of the things you’ve done?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“We wiped out a town.”

“Why?”

“Well, we found an injured girl. Well, she was a woman and it was Axa that found her. Her name was Sally.”

“I think you mentioned her before. Back at the facility. Something about her betraying you?”

“Yeah, well Sekka doesn’t think she did. We don’t actually know what happened to her except she was with a large group that were armed to the teeth. They wanted to kill us. She looked scared. Or Sekka said she did. Axa agreed.”

“How many were there?”

“Maybe two dozen. They were armed with rifles, both bullet, and laser. They didn’t stand a chance.”

“You killed them all?”

“A few escaped including the girl. After that, Lotte told us to destroy their town so we did.”

“You killed everyone?”

“A lot of us didn’t kill anyone. It was mostly Lotte, Charan, Bek, Grunt, and Glower.”

“Did you kill anyone?”

Gemma looked away.

“You did, didn’t you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Despite wanting to know if Gemma had murdered people without mercy, he decided not to push it. At least not at that moment. Gemma had been through a lot, all of them had. Also, she had alluded to how it had taken them a while to start regaining their humanity. He hoped that was the reason. He couldn’t bear to think that she and the others might have killed children while wiping out that settlement.

Drew stepped away from her. “Perhaps we should go to sleep,” he suggested. “It’s too late to be talking about things like that.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Will you uh… be sleeping here again?”

“If you want me to, yeah.”

“I do,” she said. “Do you want to… Sleep on me?”

Drew’s eyebrows rose. “Sleep on you?”

“Yeah,” she said sounding nervous. “Back at home at the facility I often sleep on Kiki.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, it’s really comfortable.”

“How comfortable?”

“More comfortable than any bed.”

Drew had to admit. The thought of laying on her and resting his head upon her breast was very appealing.

“Okay,” Drew said. “Let’s do it.”

Gemma rolled onto her back, her hips looking like they were thrusting at the ceiling due to the shape of her body. He walked down between her massive legs before he stepped up onto her tail.

“Do you want help getting on?” Gemma asked.

“Nah. I’m gonna conquer you like a mountain.”

“Sounds kinda kinky. But I’m not a mountain. Kiki’s the mountain.”

“Well, I look forward to conquering her as well,” Drew said as he pushed himself up onto her stomach.

Gemma chuckled. “I kinda wish the three of us had gotten it on before, you know?”

“Yeah, that would have been really hot,” Drew agreed as he reoriented himself, sitting up on her chest, facing down towards her feet and protruding tail. “But I think our heads were in a completely different place.”

“They were,” Gemma agreed. “Still kinda sad we missed the opportunity.”

“Yeah,” Drew said as he laid himself down, his head going snugly between her breasts.

“Oh, wow,” he said. “This really is comfortable, just like you said.”

“Yeah,” Gemma said as she brought up her arms and wrapped them around him. “You’re like a big teddy bear.”

“And you’re like a big warm bed,” he said in return. “Yeah, I could get used to this. Very snug. Just don’t roll over in your sleep.”

“I don’t roll, you remember that, right?”

“Your ability to wake up in the morning in the same position you fell asleep? Yeah, I remember that. I also remember you complaining a few times because I was tossing and turning.”

“Well, you won’t be doing that tonight,” she said. “I’ll keep you in place.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to,” he said with a yawn. “I’m comfortable enough as it is.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Yeah. Never thought I’d sleep with my head between a pair of huge juicy tits.”

“Yeah and I never thought I’d fall asleep holding the man I love like a stuffed animal. But here we are.”

“Here we are,” he agreed with another yawn. “Goodnight, Gem.”

“Yeah, goodnight, Drew.”