AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys, this is my first Fallout fanfic. The story line is planned out in my head to be long and chock full of several plot lines. You'll see many of the game's characters, factions and their stories pan out. It'll mainly focus on the F/SS and Danse's interactions - because I love grumpy, well meaning characters getting messed with. Feel free to comment on whether you like it, whether I suck, what to improve upon, and whether you want more.
*SPOILER WARNINGS*
This chapter has immediate in-game character spoilers.
Annnnd...It's also short because it's an intro.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. As evidenced by my bank account.
The laser pistol had served him well throughout his career in the Brotherhood of Steel. He couldn't remember exactly when it became a de facto part of his Uniform of the Day, unlike his beloved rifle, but it got the job done when required of it. Huddling in the dark underbelly of the old abandoned military bunker of listening Post Bravo, Paladin Danse knew it would get the job done again one last time.
"Paladin", he spat out in disgust, "M7-97... I'm a god damned abomination." He felt like throwing up again though he just emptied his stomach out not moments before. After wrestling with denial for several hours the grim truth started to sink in. The anonymous tip he received had the highly encrypted signature of Proctor Quinlan. He didn't know who sent the tip, but there was no one in this god forsaken hell hole Commonwealth that could fake it.
His hands shook viciously as he loaded up a fresh fusion cell. "I have nothing left," he then chuckled bitterly, "guess I never truly had anything."
And there it was. Death. His end. Staring up at him from his lap, in the form of a recently Innocuous (well, to him at least) standard issued pistol.
He violently threw it against the wall. Piece of shit fucking pistol! His whole body was shaking now. Without thinking, he rushed out of the basement towards the elevator, setting up every possible defense mechanism on his way through the bunker. Every fiber of his body screamed to stay alive. Whether programming or acquired survival instinct, Danse didn't pause to question what he was suddenly feeling. Numbly, he went to work. The Brotherhood was coming. And he didn't know what else to do but buy himself time.
Dusk finally set when he awoke to the mechanical whirring of the outside turrets. He could feel the vibrations of gunfire more than hear it. He hadn't meant to doze, but extreme nerves and half a bottle of dusty Vodka later cast intentions to the wind. Danse didn't drink on the job. You don't drink on the damned job. Hell, usually drinking just ended in bad situations anyways. But then he couldn't remember the bad situations associated with drinking...and then he remembered none of his memories were probably real.
Did Cutler ever really exist?
And that's how the bottle found its way to his lips.
The rusted out elevator groaned in protest as it made its way down to the basement. This was it. The Brotherhood was here. His breathing hitched as he looked out the observation window.
But instead of an army, a friend. It was her. His Initiate made knight. No longer goofily fumbling around like when they first met -she was precisely disabling every single one of his defenses, with the combat precision he had a hand in teaching her.
Why her?! Why did Maxson have to send her?!
Sudden realization dawned on him, and he sadly smiled.
Because I couldn't hurt her and live with myself.
Resigned to be at her full disposal, Danse calmly walked out into the common area where she waited amidst a pile of freshly exploded protectron.
"Paladin Danse... "
"Knight Nora Howard."
A small woman in her late 20s stood before him. Long gone was the vault suit and baby fat indicative of a life of prewar luxury. A capable, sharp, and admittedly dangerous Brotherhood Knight stood before him, sniper rifle strapped to her back and 44. Magnum Revolver in her hands.
". . . Why didn't you tell me?"
He swallowed hard. "I didn't know. I. . .I just found out."
She let out a long sigh. He struggled to pinpoint the exact emotions that were playing across her face. This had to be difficult for her as well.
Knight Howard wasn't the most punctual type. She had often played loose with regulation and personnel recall, having been declared UA an embarrassing amount of times. As her Sponsor, Paladin Danse had to dodge and answer a barrage of questions that challenged his own reputation over her integrity and whether she was actually fit for Knighthood. The woman was borderline insufferable at times.
But they had made an extremely effective team. Proctor Ingram herself called them brilliant. And even QuinIan had to cast aside his snobbery for a brief moment to concede that yes, statistically, they've earned the highest marks for mission readiness and accomplishment that the Prydwen has seen In a sponsorship since Paladin Soto and Initiate Williams about three and a half years ago. They even caught Elder Maxson's eye, hand-picked for all of his most important field missions. They had been an inseparable team for several months before today. Before the hunt on his life began.
The air was thick with the tension between each other in now. They were never the best of friends - notoriously known to constantly bicker over how to best accomplish a mission -but they had respected the hell out of each other. This was going to be hard for the both of them.
After a pause that lasted for what seemed like an eternity, Danse decided to break the silence.
"I can't believe he sent you out of everybody else he could've chosen." He shook his head, as if to try to dispel the bad taste of it all, "I know Arthur never really liked to get his own hands dirty, but why you?"
"Yeah. Borderline sadistic isn't it? Sending your partner in? He must really despise you right now. He wants you to feel it."
Danse suspected as much but winced when the remark was said aloud. Nora seemed to not notice or didn't care to show she did and continued, ""...it's despicably petty of him."
That was a little unexpected, but Danse shrugged it off, and donned his normal stoic expression. "He sent you to kill me didn't he?"
The Knight eyed him sadly. He seemed so much smaller clad only in his BOS Uniform and Hood. She briefly wondered what became of his Power Armor. She holstered her 44. "Yeah... but I'm not going to."
"Howard... Nora...you have to do it. I've... I've resigned myself to it. I won't fight back. I'm... a goddamned synth monster and I shouldn't be allowed to exist. I'm everything the Brotherhood stands against and hates. Technology out of control." he started to ramble. Paladin Danse doesn't ramble.
All of a sudden she was furious. "Oh, cut the shit Danse!" She refused to let him carry on like this. "I fought through what...six fucking robots you programed to get to you? That's NOT resignation. You want to live. You just don't want to live with the shame of being a synth."
That stung like a slap to the face.
Her expression softened. "Danse… listen to me... you've done so much good in the world for so many people. Think of all the lives you've saved ... hell, mine on several occasions for example. You're not technology gone wrong." She put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, "You're a good man. And there's still so much good you can do."
Unconvinced, Danse backed himself against an adjacent wall and slid dejectedly to a sitting position.
She decided to change her tactics up slightly. "I didn't know this place existed actually." She paused to look around at her surroundings absently, "Haylen had to come and find me and tell me about it. I was really kind of panicking over where you might be until she came sprinting into Quinlan's office...oh!" She brightened, "you should've seen his face Danse! Looked like he sucked in a really sour fart!" she chuckled to herself and looked up to see if he cracked a smile.
Nothing. Got her about as far as most of the jokes she tells him usually. Most things made him roll his eyes, and scoff. Quinlan jokes usually got her a hidden smile or a snort. Nothing but a haunted look right now.
She continued, "But seriously. Haylen disobeyed orders and abandoned her post and BEGGED me in private to spare you. I didn't need convincing, but she literally travelled miles back to the Prydwen just to talk to me about you. Danse... you're not alone. You have people who care about you…" genuinely she added, "I care about you. And l know I'm a jerk that doesn't show it well, and I tease and bother you and stuff, but I really do. You don't have to die like this." she looked him straight in the eyes with pointed intensity. "You don't have to resign to something you didn't have a choice over. You can choose to pick yourself up and take it one day at a time."
Suddenly the spot on the floor he had been staring at blankly became far less interesting. He knew she was speaking for herself and her own tragic situation as much as for him. He looked up at her with furrowed brows. "What are you going to do Nora? Orders are orders. You going to risk slinking back and shrugging your shoulders at Maxson over a failed mission? Want to be labeled a traitor? And even if you do they're not going to stop trying to hunt me down until the job gets done."
She slid to the floor to sit next to him. "Danse... let's be honest. I'm capable, but I'm a really lousy Knight. I'm too opinionated and I suck at following orders. Especially if the orders are stupid. These orders to eliminate you after everything you've given to the Brotherhood? They're insane. Which is even worse than stupid." distractedly fiddling around with her gloves in a nervous gesture, she added, "You know me better than that. I'm crafty. You're going to give me your holo tags, and I'm going I lie to his face about having killed you "she turned and gave him a reassuring look.
A long sigh escaped the former Paladin's lips. The Brotherhood was everything to him. The idea of having to carry on without it made his chest seize up and bile rise at the back of his throat.
But this woman, seated so close to him now, had lost her child - her whole world. And still, she refused to give up on life or the possibility that he's still out there. If she could be so strong...he would have to try.
He allowed a small smile to slip, "You really are an awful Knight, Nora. Probably the worst I've ever met. I don't know why I ever thought to make you an initiate." He paused and gave her the warmest look she'd ever received from him, "But I guess I'm really glad I did. Damned glad."
She took it as a concession to her request that he keep living and slyly added, "Greatest insult compliment ever Danse. You almost had me going there." punching him a little, she added for effect, "Welcome to the rest of your life. You are now in full control, El Capitan."
He hardly agreed. There were thousands of new questions and mysteries about his identity that nearly crushed him under their massive weight. He felt like he had the least control over his life that he's ever had. But he didn't mention what lingered on his mind and merely relaxed his body a little against the wall next to her.
They sat in peaceful silence for several moments before he decided to speak up again. "Where have you really been all of those times you were marked UA anyways?"
She grinned at him and leaned a little closer, "I promise to tell you the full, undoctored truth of everything...if," she paused for dramatic effect, "you let me have a little bit of that Vodka you were enjoying before I got here."
For the first time she's ever been in his presence, Danse looked a little sheepish. "You can tell?"
"Pfft...I'll have to tell you about my college years too apparently. Danse, I know everything."
And so they sat there, talking for several hours, until there wasn't much else to talk about. She took his holotags, and he told her of his plan to make for the border. She bickered with him, for the last time perhaps, over staying, but he wouldn't have any of it. It wasn't safe for him here anymore, and he would go where he could find purpose again. It was time for her to leave. To lie and to save his life. And it was time for him to start everything over.
A Paladin no more.