Danse was surprised Sole had asked him if he wanted to come. They had stopped speaking to each other shortly after he had been nearly dragged back to Sanctuary from Listening Post Bravo. He didn't fault her with siding with her now elderly and ill son but he felt almost as betrayed by her as he had by Arthur.
The former Paladin stood in the mangled wreckage of the Prydwen. Sole had taken Dr. Quinlan's cat off shortly before its destruction and brought it back for him. In some sort of attempt to give him new purpose and reason not to kill himself.
He sighed as mangled terminals and footlockers littered the ground and bobbed in oil slick water. The only thing that kept him calm was the knowledge that she had issued the emergency evacuation before leaving. She saved many of his former brothers and sisters lives that he could scrounge up the energy to look her in the eyes instead of the ground when she talked to him.
Sole grunted which knocked him out of his thoughts long enough to see what was on the ground by his feet. He swallowed thickly and brushed off the shattered glass. A younger version of Arthur smirked back at him. Back when they were both blissfully unaware of Danse's true identity. Back when he was happy.
Danse quickly shoved the photo into his breast pocket and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He had another shot at molding a young boy into a man. Sole's synth son, the ten year old version of Shaun, had taken a liking to him. He had tried to keep their relationship strictly like a Paladin and an initiate but he was the one having a hard time raising the boy like a son.
He grunted as he continually looked around. Danse missed the protection of his power armor and his body still wasn't used to pacing itself without the heavy weight. He stopped six yards from Sole at the sound of water lapping against leather.
Arthur Maxson's signature battle coat had enough mud cemented to it and absorbed enough water to keep the Maxson heir's body from floating out to sea. His deathclaw scar was obscured by burns and his beard was caked in mud and blood. Danse choked back a sob as he knelt down, caking mud on the knees of his armor. One of his large hands brushed the hair away from the former Elder's face then sunk into the non-radiated water to clean the boy's face.
"SOLE!" Danse gasped and his fingers shook like they had when they found Virgil in the Glowing Sea.
His hands shook as he lifted Arthur's left arm out of the water. His coat had torn away to expose the bare flesh of his arm. Where Danse had expected to find blood, he found something he would never have expected after Bravo.
He dragged Arthur to the shore by his shoulders and pulled the battle coat off of his bulky frame.
"Holy shit." Sole's huffing filled the tense silence. "Holy fucking shit."
Danse couldn't hold it back anymore. He started sobbing as he gripped Arthur's black Brotherhood uniform. Snared wires sparked from his left arm as Sole cut away the black leather to expose his chest. They both gasped as his chest moved in an attempt to draw breath.
How long? When he was replaced? Danse breathed through his nose as he dug through Sole's pack and grabbed his own spare shirt and jacket.
"I didn't want to believe it." Danse paused as Sole whispered repeatedly. "I thought it was impossible."
"You.. You knew?!" Danse's shoulders tensed as he propped Arthur against a small rocky ledge. "For how long?"
"Danse…"
"How long?!" Sole flinched as Danse screamed out without regards to their own safety.
"After Bravo I went through the Institute records," Sole stared down at Danse as he rested his hands over Arthur's injuries. "They have records on escaped and integrated synths. You're on the list for escaped synths and Arthur…" She wanted to kneel down next to Danse and tell him what she saw in the Institute not matter how much it would destroy the both of them. "Arthur's name and synth identification number was on the list of integrated synths above the mayor of Diamond City."
Danse shook his head as Arthur's breathing returned to a normal rate. "I… I can't…"
"My best guess is he was replaced shortly after arriving in the Commonwealth." Sole bit her lip as Danse's shoulders shuddered. "His designated identification number is A9-62. I don't know his reset code and I'm sure this… this synth version of him has no idea he's a synth. Just like you didn't."
The synth in question shivered, trying to regain body heat after being slightly submerged in water for almost four days. Danse pulled him close, much to Sole's dismay, and slipped his muscle corded arms under the Synth's legs and by one behind its back. The synth that replaced the great Arthur Maxson rested its head on Danse's shoulder. Its blue eyes opened half way and slowly processed Danse's face.
"G…Garrison?" it whispered with Arthur's mouth and tried to move to look around, "Wh.. What ha.. h.. happened?"
Danse winced at his first name and he heard Sole gasp behind him. "Did they kill him?" Danse ignored the synth in his arms as he turned to face the Sole Survivor.
"I don't know." She forced herself not to think of what else she'd seen in synth reclaim. "But… the Institute is known for-"
"Then we're taking him." Danse's tone left no room for discussion. "I… I can't just leave him here."
"He's a programmed Gen 3 synth, Danse." Sole tried not to shrink under his glare, "How do you know he won't kill you when he wakes up?"
"I don't." Danse side stepped Sole and made his way towards the road. Back to Sanctuary. "I don't."