Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Trigger warning for implied misogyny and mentions of PSTD, postnatal depression, death, child neglect and abuse, violence involving a minor, fantastic racism, implied drug use/addiction and grief/mourning. Canon divergence as Liberty Reprimed is being done by Danse while From Within and Institutionalised are Sparrow's problems.
…
Arthur Maxson had been groomed for command and combat since the day of his birth. The stench of power armour grease was the fragrance of his mother, the ozone burn of a laser the scent of his father. Sent away for his own safety by a mother he never knew and forged into a weapon by a good man and his daughter, he killed his first man at eleven and at thirteen stood amidst the bloody remains of his patrol and killed a half-dead deathclaw after it wounded him grievously. Last of his line, guided to greatness by the Elders of Lost Hills, he reclaimed the Citadel and the Capital Wasteland by sixteen and was raised to High Elder, and four years later sailed into the Commonwealth to destroy the Institute and set up a new command post for the Brotherhood of Steel.
He asked for nothing from his soldiers that he didn't ask from himself. Aside from a finer ration of whiskey, he ate what they ate and drank what they drank. His body already ached from the multitude of scars collected in more battles than he could recall and Knight Captain Cade was worried the stress he was under would kill him before forty.
The Elders of Lost Hills were dropping hints about him wedding a woman from their ranks. Older, wiser and far more bitter, he could see the strings they'd attached to him, the cult they'd tried to form around him, and would see them cut. His men were utterly loyal and he controlled more resources than the other Elders. If the Brotherhood was to thrive, it would be in the east and he would lay the groundwork for its future before he left this mortal coil.
To that end, he needed a wife from the Commonwealth or Capital Wasteland – healthy, fertile, intelligent, competent and loyal. So he opened up recruitment to the locals and unless they were blatantly suited to the rank of Knight or Paladin, sent the women to the non-combatant roles of Lancer and Scribe. He thought of Sentinel Lyons, who died too young from Lost Hills' machinations, and swore that no bride of his would undergo such a fate. She needed to be strong enough to carry on his work once she died.
When Paladin Danse, the soldier that taught him the mini-gun and how to scrap a pipe pistol properly, recruited a Vault Dweller by name of Sparrow Finlay – and she had the initiative to send a report alongside the Paladin and Haylen – Arthur knew he'd found the right candidate. True, she'd lost her husband and was being played by the Institute for their own warped reasons, but he knew that she would understand the need and join him. To that end, he'd dropped hints to Danse to keep her alive and healthy until he could propose to her.
Sarah Lyons had been beautiful, her hair like spun sunlight and skin like Brahmin cream where it wasn't scarred. Arthur enshrined her in the memory of his childhood and planned to avenge her when Lost Hills fell apart, begging him for help against the NCR, and he would only come to save the old records and relics.
Sparrow Finlay was lovely in a different manner; the scar that split her mouth and chin told a story, the birthmark or healed burn scar under her left eye another. Her skin was tanned, her hair a medium brown with a copper tinge in sunlight and those brown eyes haunted. Hers was a life of struggles and sorrows, much as his was, though she still had turmoil with legacies from the pre-War life.
Arthur didn't know if he could love as civilians did but he would try to be a good man to the next Lady Maxson.
When he found out that she was recovering from a chem addiction and that Danse let her go to a notorious den of ghouls and chem dealers, he could have killed the Paladin. Her public drunkenness permitted him to keep her on board the Prydwen and send Danse after this Virgil.
Then the Paladin had to open his big mouth and reveal Arthur's plans to Sparrow. The Elder saw the way Danse looked at the Scribe and encouraged her emotional dependence on him. That needed to be ended, swiftly, though Danse's revelations meant he could speak frankly with Sparrow on what was expected of her as Lady Maxson. He didn't want to push her too fast – she still mourned for the late Nate Finlay – but he needed to sire an heir and soon as the war against the Institute heated up.
To that end, he scheduled a dinner after dispatching Danse to the Glowing Sea. He had to give the man credit – as soon as he realised what was going on, he backed off. Unhappily, but he put the Brotherhood first, and so Arthur wasn't forced to do something about it. He still valued Danse and well… Sparrow was an attractive woman in her way. He couldn't fault the man for falling in love with her.
Knight-Captain Cade had reported she was fit and ready for childbearing. That was good. Once they had a bead on the Institute, he could take a little downtime during the preparation for the final assault and arrange the wedding and bedding, crude as it might sound.
Maxson sighed as the door to his quarters rattled with a sharp knock. When he opened it, Sparrow was standing there, clad in a pink floral dress that looked pre-War in design, her hair upswept in a different style and a hint of makeup – red lips and black around the eyes – on her face.
"Elder," she said formally.
"Please, call me Arthur," he insisted as he moved aside to let her in. He knew she was a sensible woman.
Dinner was no different to what was served in the officers' mess: Salisbury Steak, tato fries, grilled corn and Fancy Lads Snack Cakes for dessert. When Sparrow went to push the meat aside with her fork, Arthur frowned at her. "You need protein," he reminded her.
"I need it or does my sacred uterus require it?" she asked with a hint of acid to her tone.
Arthur tried not to sigh. Sparrow had every right to be resentful of the way she'd been removed from active duty with Danse, because he was fairly certain the Paladin hadn't told her how he felt. "I need you as much as I need your fertility," he admitted frankly. "And this is why…"
Purging the doubts and troubles that burdened him was a relief so profound that it was almost orgasmic. Sparrow listened attentively as he revealed everything: his plans for the Brotherhood, his hopes for the future, the forces that had shaped him into the High Elder he was today. He bared himself in a way he hadn't since meeting the Lone Wanderer so many years ago, when he was still permitted a measure of innocence.
When he was done talking, she ate the steak, silent in the face of her responsibilities. Arthur regretted that getting to know her needed to be rushed – but the Institute didn't allow for leisure.
He followed the line of her neck briefly before jerking his eyes up back to her face. Tonight, he knew instinctively, was too soon.
Instead he decorously kissed her farewell on the cheek, noting the slight tremble of her body, and wished her goodnight.
Barring interference from outside forces, this campaign would go as he wished it.
…
"It's fairly obvious, Elder," Proctor Ingram said carefully as she studied her supreme commander. Since Danse had been unceremoniously treated like an errand boy and sent on missions that weren't worthy for a Paladin of his calibre, the High Elder had put a guard on Field Scribe Finlay like a dog with its only bone. Normally, she would have chalked it up to an ambitious, intelligent Scribe climbing the ranks as some did, trading lovers as she rose in station, and sympathised with Paladin Danse over a bottle of beer or two. But there was a subtle reserve in Sparrow's behaviour around Maxson, a shield of cool formality held up protectively against the world that indicated the decision may not have entirely been the Scribe's own.
"It's not happening," Maxson said flatly.
"The Institute is trying to manipulate the Field Scribe for some reason. That means we need to send her into the lion's den to acquire both the information we need and the specialist we need for our project." They needed time to repair and repower Liberty Prime… and they needed Madison Li to do both.
"The Proctor's right," Sparrow said, looking away from the frown on Arthur's face. "They want me for some reason and so I have to go."
The High Elder looked around the briefing room and saw agreement written on the faces of all four Proctors, Knight-Captain Cade, Lancer-Captain Kells and even old Brandis, who was deemed ready for light duty at Senior Paladin levels as Danse was securing materials in the Glowing Sea for the Liberty Prime project.
Ingram took a deep breath and continued. "Your plans for the Field Scribe are clear, Elder Maxson. Let's see how she can handle sweet-talking Madison Li back to our order, hmm?"
Of the commanding officers, only Cade looked unsurprised, though Teagan looked triumphant and Quinlan sighed, surreptitiously sneaking a handful of caps to their colleague. The others were momentarily startled before their game faces came back. Arthur Maxson was the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel, a legend in his own time and the last of a bloodline with souls of steel. A relatively non-irradiated Vault Dweller with extensive experience in negotiation and investigation, proven fertility and loyalty to the Brotherhood – if she wasn't working on the molecular relay with Ingram, she was poring over the Litany and learning how the order's politics worked – with no ties to the Lost Hills Elders was an excellent choice for consort.
It was just a damned shame that Danse needed to be treated like Brahmin dung for the good of the Brotherhood. Before things became apparent today, Ingram would have placed bets on Danse and Sparrow pairing off because the affection between the two was obvious.
Arthur actually ground his teeth, momentarily acting like the young man who'd just been thwarted that he was, before nodding tightly. "Very well, Proctor. Your argument is impeccable."
He turned around to Sparrow. "Your orders are clear – enter the Institute, gain what information you can, and persuade Madison Li to return to the Brotherhood of Steel. When you have succeeded, you will return and be formally awarded the title of Lady Maxson after our marriage. There will be no need to wait once you have proven your worthiness to the Proctors and senior officers. Understood?"
"Understood, Elder Maxson," Sparrow replied in a flat voice.
"Excellent, you are dismissed. I want you to rest and eat properly. This will be a difficult mission."
The soon-to-be bride of the Elder saluted and walked off as Ingram and Quinlan exchanged looks. The next few weeks were going to be… interesting.
…
As he expected, Sparrow performed her mission in exemplary fashion, returning with a holotape full of encrypted information Proctor Quinlan got to decoding immediately and a subdued, repentant Madison Li. Arthur made a show of publicly forgiving the woman for her technical desertion – Project Purity had been hard on everyone – and set her to work on Liberty Prime. Once the weapon was ready, the Institute would be destroyed, root and branch.
Out of compassion for the loyal but heartbroken Danse, Maxson decided to hold the wedding while he was away. Sparrow had flatly revealed that her missing son Shaun had been corrupted by the Institute and risen to take command; the game he'd played was a warped attempt at a family reunion. Arthur privately vowed that he would avenge the Vault Dweller personally.
Two weeks after Sparrow's return to the Prydwen, Proctor Quinlan called Maxson to his office for a private briefing on the information from the Institute. When it was revealed that Danse was a synth inserted into the Brotherhood to bring them down from within, everything became poisonously clear.
When he went to confront Sparrow with the news – she was friendly with that wretched synth in Diamond City so it was possible that Danse convinced her he was a renegade synth at the very least – she was speaking with Madison Li and Proctor Ingram about Project Liberty Prime. At his accusation of knowing Danse was a synth, the utter blank shock on all three women's faces was proof enough that it was news to them. Arthur felt relieved that his wife to be was as ignorant as the best minds of the Brotherhood.
"It needs to die," he decreed flatly.
Ingram, who'd considered Danse a friend, looked troubled. "You have proof?" she asked, delicately implying things he didn't much care for.
"Quinlan and Cade matched DNA from the missing synth M7-97 to Paladin Danse," the Elder explained flatly, letting the implication slide because the Proctor was speaking from shock. "It's a synth agent designed to bring us down."
Sparrow's loyalty to Danse compelled her to take up the argument. "He's Brotherhood, heart and soul," she told Arthur. "He chose to break his heart rather than jeopardise the order."
So she knew about Danse's feelings for her and said nothing? Was it respect for a commanding officer or affection that inspired her silence? Maxson shook his head. "That was a clever ploy to gain your trust, Sparrow. I'd implied my intentions from the start and it chose to undermine them to weaken us."
He looked her in the eye. "It needs to be eradicated, purged from our ranks. If it sees any of the Knights or Paladins, it will see them as threats. But it will not see you as a threat. I want you to track it down and execute it. Return the holotags to me as proof."
He wanted to believe that she was unknowing, that the revelations of Danse's true nature destroyed any affection she might have had for the synth, but he had to be certain. So he handed her the laser pistol that was to be her wedding gift from him so she stopped using that Institute weapon.
"You have a week," Elder Maxson decreed as he turned away. "We will wed then."
He prayed that he would not have to execute her for disloyalty. Not when he needed her so much.