The Prydwen, Boston Airport, 14th February 2288
Gwen was pacing along the floor of her quarters. She was waiting for someone, someone who had promised that he'd spend all day with her as soon as she returned from her mission in the Glowing Sea. Looking around, Gwen decided to sit down on a ragged old armchair that she had found in a wreck and start reading that book that she had plundered from the Boston Public Library. Some more time passed and still no sign of Arthur. If he thought that he'd be able to avoid his wife, especially on Valentine's day, then he obviously didn't know Gwen as well as she thought he did. Gwen pulled her holo-tags out from underneath her shirt. On the chain sat her tags, as well as a single ring made from pure titanium. They had married after the fall of the Institute and that was almost a year ago. Before the day was over, people had started calling her their 'Lady Steel' or 'Madam Elder' despite the fact that she kept her rank as Sentinel.
When Gwen had first met Arthur, she thought that he was power-mad lunatic, but after a short while, Arthur had started summoning her to his quarters. They'd chat, and, in those talks, Gwen started to see the boy that still thrived under all that bravado, ego, and toned muscle. Arthur allowed Gwen to see him with all his walls down and they started to fall for each other. One evening, Arthur had summoned Gwen and to her surprise, had arranged for a candle lit dinner. During their meal, Gwen told Arthur about her feelings towards him and he revealed that the feeling was mutual. Word spread throughout the Brotherhood like a wildfire, but few people were behind the idea. One day in the showers, a few of the female recruits had cornered Gwen and accused her of attempting to climb the ranks by sleeping with Arthur. Regardless of her proficiency with hand-to-hand combat, the sheer number overwhelmed Gwen and beat her senseless. Haylen had found Gwen unconscious in the showers and had her brought to Captain Cade. Arthur was beyond furious and had the recruits responsible exiled. He had almost had them executed, but Gwen had made sure that Arthur hadn't gone to extremes. Through sheer willpower and hard work, Gwen reached the rank of Sentinel.
A rough patch in Gwen and Arthur's relationship had been the situation with Danse. Gwen and Danse were Arthur's best team before it had been revealed that Danse was a synth. Gwen was torn between helping her best friend and partner or her fiancée. Haylen had told Gwen of the one place that she was sure that Danse would have sought shelter, and together, both Gwen and Arthur sought out the bunker. Gwen had made Arthur promise to hear Danse out before anything irrational could happen and had even stripped Arthur of any weapons. The problem though was that Arthur's temper and his fists were both weapons that were in a league of their own. Acting as the neutral middle ground, Gwen got Arthur and Danse talking and in the end, Arthur allowed Danse to keep his life and stay in the Commonwealth. Danse was going to leave, but Gwen sent him to the Castle to join the Minutemen. While Gwen hadn't joined them, she kept in regular communication with the freshly dubbed General Garvey. Things were looking good for once for Gwen. That was until the attack on the Institute.
Shaun, or Father as he had been known as, was furious with his mother. Shaun had wanted Gwen to take his place as Director of the Institute, but she denied and rejected the position. As Shaun lay in his death bed, the Institute burning down around him, he chastised his mother, calling Gwen ignorant, stubborn, bull-headed and even called her the true threat to the Commonwealth. Gwen broke down, seeing who should have been her son, her Shaun, look at her in such disgust. Shaun looked so much like Nate, that the effect was so crippling and if not for Arthur, who had come into the Director's office looking for Gwen, then Gwen might have died alongside her son. Gwen was a mess of tears as she hovered over the button atop the Mass Fusion building. Arthur came up alongside Gwen, wrapped his large hand around her smaller one and together, they blew the Institute to pieces.
Cade had Gwen confined to the Prydwen for a time as he determined whether her mental state was affected. In that time, Gwen moved into Arthur's Quarters and they married. Lancer-Captain Kells officiated the ceremony and Arthur had managed to sneak Danse on board the Prydwen. Danse was in a full suit of T-60 power armour and marched down the aisle as part of Arthur's honour guard. Danse had left before the end of the ceremony but had left a note for the newlyweds thanking them for letting him attend. Shortly after, Arthur promoted Gwen to Sentinel.
Leaving their quarters, Gwen went off in search of Arthur. He wasn't on the observation deck, or the Flight deck. Teagan hadn't seen him, or Ingram, or Quinlan. Somehow, the most important figure on board the Prydwen had gone missing. Gwen headed towards the canteen, deciding that she needed something to drink. Grabbing some coffee, Gwen spotted Haylen over in the corner, chatting with Rhys. Gwen headed over to their table and Haylen looked up, smiling. Rhys then looked up and almost fell out of his seat.
"Sentinel Maxson! How are you ma'am?" Rhys said, saluting. Haylen was laughing from her seat and with a smile, laid her hand on Rhys shoulder.
"At ease Rhys. No need to get so crazy. I may be married to the man, but that still doesn't mean that I am Arthur." Gwen said, sitting beside Haylen. Rhys took his seat, but still seemed a bit on edge.
"So how is the married life? Any funny stories?" Haylen asked. Rhys eyes widened.
"Oh, I have plenty of stories about Arthur. Wanna hear some?" Gwen offered, looking out of the corner of her eye at Rhys. Rhys was fidgeting slightly, looking around. Almost like he'd rather be in a Deathclaw infested cave then where he was right now.
"Oh? do tell!" Haylen said, also looking at Rhys. Rhys suddenly shot up from his seat and ran off towards his bunk. Haylen started laughing again.
"You knew that would get rid of him, didn't you?!" Haylen said through her tears. Gwen gave a solemn nod before returning to her coffee.
"Have you seen Arthur though? I'm looking for him." Gwen asked. Haylen seemed lost in thought for a while, before clicking her fingers.
"I'm pretty sure I heard Hasley say that Arthur asked him to leave his sniper post out on the front of the ship. Hasley refused at first, but Maxson ordered him to grab a bite, he left. That was about 45 minutes ago… I think?" Haylen said. Gwen swallowed the remainder of her coffee before she stood up.
"Thanks, Haylen. I'll check there next. But if you would be interested, I do have some stories to tell about Arthur. Funny ones." Gwen said.
"And you will tell me them. Some time, not now." Haylen replied. Gwen waved goodbye to Haylen before she started climbing up to the sniper post. Gwen knew why Arthur was there. It was there that he had kissed her first, almost two years ago. Gwen had been put on sniper duty and she almost jumped out of her skin when Arthur showed up. Gwen found out that Arthur regularly came up there to reflect and contemplate. They chatted for a while and before Arthur left, he leaned in and kissed her. Gwen didn't stop him and quite liked the intimate contact. It was the first step in their journey together and there wasn't a better place to spend Valentine's Day. Well, except for their bed back in their quarters, but Gwen was sure that they would finish up there.
Pushing open the steel door, Gwen saw Arthur looking out over Boston. Gwen would offer to do sniper duty simply due to the peace and beauty that was customary up there.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to find me up here. Happy Valentine's Gwen." Arthur said without looking at her. Gwen could see how rigid Arthur's posture was and knew that it was from stress. Gwen offered to listen and give Arthur her advice, but in his very nature, Arthur was prideful and didn't like showing any signs of weakness, even to Gwen. Gwen started massaging Arthur's shoulders.
"Happy Valentine's Arthur. You know you could have left me a hint that you were headed up here. I was waiting inside for you. And another thing, I thought I told you to tell me about any problems you have. If you can't trust me with your issues, how can I have any faith in our future together? I only want to help." Gwen said. Arthur turned around and leaned against the railing. Gwen and Arthur embraced for a few silent minutes.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to wait a while until I mentioned this, but I've been receiving messages from the Elder Council. I didn't want to put this on you now, but they're looking for… something." Arthur started. Gwen stood away from Arthur and looked at him. Leaning on her hip, Gwen replied.
"For what?"
"An… heir. To the Maxson bloodline." Arthur finished. Gwen paled a little as she understood what he meant.
"They want us to have a baby together? Why?" Gwen asked.
"To the Elder Council, the idea of a Maxson being in charge is very important. Before I met you, they'd send groomed knights and Paladins down here, hoping that I'd jump then in the hallway and then be forced into marriage. Each one I sent back, without a word having been spoken between us. Now that we're married, the emphasis has come off marriage and now onto parenthood. After Nate and Shaun, I told them that we weren't ready to have a child, but almost every three-four weeks, I'd receive the same correspondence. It's frustrating. I'm sorry that I never told you sooner." Arthur replied. Gwen sighed.
"I appreciate the sentiment Arthur, but if I stay stuck in the past over Nate and Shaun, I'd be afraid that I'd miss the future. Nate and Shaun were my past, but you and the brotherhood are my future. It took me a while to see that… Sure I miss them, that's normal, but I can't stay sad and depressed for ever." Gwen said, running her hand through Arthur's beard. Arthur's shoulders dropped, and his eyelids closed.
Gwen laughed. "I always find it funny though, how the man cast from eternal steel melts in my hands so easily." She said.
Arthur wrapped his hands around Gwen and pulled her flush against him. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, Arthur whispered.
"You are my everything, you know that? Happy Valentine's Gwen."
"I love you too. Now if you hurry, we can start baking that cake downstairs…" Gwen replied with a seductive smirk. Arthur's eyes bulged as he realised what she meant. Gwen winked at Arthur before disappearing back inside the Prydwen. Arthur only then realised how tight his flight suit was, and he was determined to take it off. Just as Arthur was about to leave, he realised that he had given Hasley the afternoon off. Gwen was waiting downstairs, and Arthur had gotten himself stuck on the perch.
"Damn it!" Arthur thought.