The Legend of Alphas

-Notes-

This is a Maxson/F!SS/Danse fanfic. I always thought Danse and Maxson would be great together. Two dominant personalities, the alphas, leading a faction, giving orders, obeying rules. When you add in another alpha into the mix you can expect lots of resistance. There can only be one pack leader. Obviously contains spoilers for Danse's story line. Do not read if you have not completed Blind Betrayal.

Chapter 1: Knight

It was when their lasers shot at the synths that rained from the sky that Paladin Danse decided that this person would be a good addition to the Brotherhood. It was her serious demeanor and readiness to help in the mission both that compelled him to recommend Sole to Elder Maxson. She wasn't a scrawny nobody either. Her muscles were toned and her reflexes were quick. She was familiar with the military. When the Prydwyn floated in to the Boston Airport, Paladin Danse knew that this woman had the potential to be a valuable member and brought her aboard to join. How right he was.

"I'm warning you Knight. If you intend to stay within the Brotherhood of Steel, then you are going to have to learn to follow directions" Elder Maxson growled down at Sole.

Sole was pushed up against the wall, Maxson's face merely inches from hers. His body was much larger and taller than hers and he made sure she knew it. It was an intimidation tactic. One that she would not fall for as she maintained unblinking eye-contact and a poker face.

"Yes sir we would all hate it if things didn't go your way" Sole responded sarcastically. Maxson leaned his body in another inch and Sole turned her head. Damn, she lost. He radiated body heat and, contrary to the other members of the Brotherhood, smelled like the rugged woods and musk.

"This is your last warning. Don't disobey me again" He breathed in her ear.

Sole slowly turned her face back around so that her mouth was at his ear and put her hand on his shoulder. "Or what?" She challenged.

Not waiting for an answer, Sole pushed him off her and walked away back to her quarters. She made sure to show that she wasn't scared of him as she kept a regal posture, even if her insides were on fire. She knew his eyes were watching her walk away so she had to make a show of it. After climbing the ladder to get to the living quarters, she shut the door behind her and slid to the floor with a shuddering breath.

Damn that man. Damn that good-looking power-hungry ass. She tried to calm the racing of her heart and wanting of her body. Ugh why was she turned on by that? What was wrong with her?

Sole liked things done a certain way. Even if she was supposed to be shooting at supermutants at Fort Strong from the Vertiberd, she didn't like the cowardly approach. So she had taken her power armor and plunged down to the ground to face the behemoth monster head on. He was truly a challenge to be bested. Maxson didn't take to kindly to hearing that. Said it unnecessarily endangered the lives of the other recruits. In other words, it wasn't the way he wanted things done.

That was only the accumulation of it all. She was set aside as his special target the moment Paladin Danse brought her aboard the Prydwyn. In retrospect it was kind of her fault that she laughed right in his face when she heard that he, a 20 year old boy, was in charge of an entire military faction with hundreds of underlings. She was older and sometimes had trouble finding matching socks.

Ever since then she had been a more frequent target of his "personal lectures." She was the only one that got them. Maybe it was because he really did hate her that much but she also knew that she was not half bad looking. Both Danse and Maxson had given her a once-over their first meetings. The only difference was that Maxson was blatantly obvious about it while Danse tried to be sneaky. Now as Maxson invaded her personal space in a way he did not do with anyone else she couldn't help but think there was something else to it. If she could use her looks to her advantage why wouldn't she? The Brotherhood of Steel hierarchy was a dog-eat-dog world. If you slipped up, you could fall straight down the ladder, all the way to the bottom, as she found out when a foolish initiate decided to keep feral ghouls as pets in the nearby airport ruins. Don't slip up.

Maxson had his age working against him, so he used displays of brute force and aggression to prove that he was a capable leader. Well Sole was not going to be pushed around. While yes, she did respect him as a leader, she would not let his anger get the best of her.

After Paladin Danse and Sole had cleared out Fort Strong of supermutants, along with the rest of the Brotherhood team, they got the radio that Maxson wanted to see her. Knowing what it was about, Danse scolded her and said that she needed to follow directions too. But he was nicer about it. Danse did it in a way that inspired learning from one's mistakes. He was her sponsor and guardian. If there was anyone to respect in the whole damn faction, then it would be Paladin Danse.

When they got to the Prydwyn, the escort scribe informed them that Maxson's current forecast was furious and lecture-ready. Danse actually offered to go in first to try to quell Maxson's rage. He wanted to accept part of the blame seeing as he recommended her, but was quickly thrown out by Maxson as he was not the one that needed a firm scolding.

Sole expertly batted away Maxson's temper with wit, which only served to enrage Maxson more as he felt that more…personal tactics were needed. And that is how we get to the current situation.

Sole sighed as she sat on the floor.

A creaking on her bed next to her caused her to jump back up to her feet and ready the pistol at her waist. Always have it ready. You never know when you will need it. Paladin Danse held his hands up in forfeit until she put down the gun.

"Jesus Danse! You scared the hell out of me!" She cried.

Danse stood up from the bed, clad in his orange BOS uniform. "Apologies knight. I just wanted to know how everything went with Elder Maxson" he asked.

Sole folded her arms, trying to keep her nostrils from flaring or giving any indication that she was actually panting quite hard from the scare. Too much stress in one day.

"He yelled at me, and then I made him madder. We don't get along very well. Everything little argumentative thing he says I just want to punch him in his arrogant face" she growled, scrunching up her hands in frustration. Then she turned her eyes up at the large man who made her own room look little. "Not like you. You actually try to teach me things."

Danse frowned "If you respect me then you need to respect Elder Maxson too. He is the best teacher I have ever known. He actually cares about the people of the Commonwealth you know. Your disrespect for him blinds you to his admirable qualities. When you first agreed to become part of the Brotherhood you took an oath to protect everything our organization values, including following orders of your superiors. This is not a mercenary group, we are better than that."

Sole clicked her tongue. He always knew the right words to say to make her feel bad. He was staring at her with a stern look and folded arms. His hair sticking in every direction looked silly in contrast with his low brow and chiseled jaw. Danse was good looking too, he just didn't know it. He was completely oblivious to the glances cast at him by the younger female initiates as he marched through the halls in his power armor. It was almost funny.

"You're right. I know, I'm sorry. I'll try to get along with him, it's just…" Sole ran her fingers over her temples, "I wish he would be nicer."

Danse smiled a little and nodded, taking her apology as acceptance. He made a move towards the door, but before he could get there Sole seized his arm, and pulled herself closer to him, giving him a side hug. He was so big, like a teddy bear or a big brother. Danse smelt different than Maxson; he smelled of dried sweat and oil grease. It was the smell of being on a battlefield. She loved that smell.

"Thanks for having my back Danse, seriously." She squeezed him closer for a fraction of a second as she caught Danse's arms flailing his arms clumsily out of the corner of her eye.

"…protocol, recruit" he mumbled as he awkwardly pushed her off of him and quickly exited the room.

Oh Danse.

He tried so hard to be the perfect soldier it warmed her heart. He wasn't in it for the power or the glory like Maxson was. He was in it because he believed in the tenets of the Brotherhood down to the very letter. It was both noble and foolish but it still made him the bravest person she had ever met. He was a leader that she could get behind. Not someone like Maxson.