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Dakota Michelson:
A Fallout 4 Fan Fiction
Chapter 10: Frisson
After our discovery that the Institute's only entrance was teleportation, we decided that our only hope was to find Virgil in the Glowing Sea. Nick went out back to Diamond City, but Doctor Amari let us stay at the Memory Den for the night.
In the morning, Danse wakes me up. I'm still very tired. Yesterday's experience was very draining and I can't seem to shake this headache off. I yawn and ask, "Time to go?" He nods as he puts together his belongings. We walk outside and I realize it's still very dark. It must be early morning. "How long were we asleep?" I ask. "Only a few hours," he says. I ask him, "Is everything alright?" This all seems very unusual. "Yes," he says. "I want to get stop somewhere before we head back to the Prydwen is all."
We continue walking north and it starts snowing. We haven't talked much since we left Goodneighbor, so to break the ice, I start talking about our next move. "So what exactly is in the Glowing Sea?" Danse looks over at me and back to the ground. "It's heavily radiated. Several creatures live and thrive there. Deathclaws, radscorpions, stingwings. To make it worse, there are frequent and deadly radstorms." As he tells me this, I know my newfound fear of the Glowing Sea was well justified. I try to convince myself that I can get can through this, because I have to go there one way or another, but I'm failing miserably, so I just decide not to think about it.
Danse and I approach what looks like an abandoned bunker. "What's here?" I ask him. He looks over at me and I see he has a small smile on his face, but he doesn't say anything. His smile eases me. Until now I was assuming the worst, but maybe he just wants to show me something. Danse turns on the terminal and all of a sudden the light on the elevator next to it flickers on.
The elevator moves slowly down underground and when it opens it's very quiet and it seems like no one has been in here for a while. Dust is thick in the air. Danse walks out of the elevator into the light-filled room. Several of the walls are broken. Dirt and debris are in piles at a few edges of the room. We walk through a cave that has been dug out and into another room. I see a barrel with charred wood, a mattress on the floor, and a trunk.
"So... what is this place?" I ask. Danse moves towards the barrel and says, "it's an old bunker that Haylen and I discovered on one of our excursions. No one else knows it's here, but… I wanted you to know."
I nod and look around the place. I really do wonder about the structural integrity of this place given its current condition. But I suppose it's safe enough. Danse lights a fire in the barrel and pulls the mattress next to it. I move towards the barrel to get warm. The room is frigid so the fire is very comforting. As I move towards it, Danse scoots over on the mattress, as if to make room for me to sit next to him, so I do. Danse opens a nearby trunk and pulls out two beer bottles. I chuckle because I haven't seen him drink before. I've never been a fan of beer, but I will definitely not turn it down after all that has happened. The beer is nice and cold thanks to the temperature of the room.
Danse opens his beer and takes a sip. He looks over at me and says, "I… feel like I owe you an apology. Not putting that synth down actually turned out to be the right choice." I look over at him and say, "I'm sorry I went against your authority. I know it's what is expected of me as being part of the Brotherhood. I… prefer to keep an open mind, and that led me to lower my gun and hear Nick out."
Danse says, "Well, I was wrong. I shouldn't have looked at it so black-and-white. Without him, we would have hit a dead end."
I look down at the ground, trying to hide a smile that was creeping onto my face. I'd never expect Danse to admit to something like this. I take a sip of my beer and move closer to the campfire.
"You know, when I was an Initiate, my sponsor was Paladin Krieg," Danse says. "Toughest squad leader I ever served with. He was a model soldier, embodying the values every trainee was striving to achieve. Fiercely loyal, secure in his beliefs and brave to a fault. From the moment I was assigned to his squad I was singled out. It felt like he was pushing me harder than the rest of the team. He never did explain why he treated me the way he did. It's taken me a long time to realize it, but the reason Krieg was so tough on me is the same reason I'm so tough on you. It's because I believe in you and I don't want to see any of your potential go to waste."
I feel myself blushing. "I… don't know what to say." He says, "You don't need to say anything." He takes another drink. "I trust you'll keep this in confidence. Some of that information was of a person nature, and well, I'd like to keep it that way."
"Of course." I say. It's quiet and there's a slight tension in the air. I feel myself yearning to be closer to him. I decide to lean closer to him. To my surprise, he puts his shoulder around me and holds me close to him. A big smile appears on my face which I cannot hide. My heart is pounding in my chest.
We sit like this for what seems like a long time and I wonder what is going on in his head. Danse speaks, which frightened me since it was so quiet. "This… isn't professional. We should stop this," he says as he backs off of me.
I look down to the ground in disappointment. I don't want this to stop. I've never felt this feeling before with anyone. I want to be with Danse. That's the only thing I really know in this new life with absolute certainty.
I finish the rest of my beer and he does the same. There's an awkward silence in the room now. My eyelids feel heavier and heavier by the second so I decide it's time to go back to sleep. I lay down on my side and fall asleep almost immediately.
I wake up in a startle. The only light in the room is from the fire in the barrel. Danse must have turned the lights out. I think to myself that I am glad Danse took me here. Despite the debris and the cold weather which makes this room into an ice box, I feel safe here. I feel at peace here. I can't remember the last time I truly felt this relaxed.
Danse, who's lying behind me on the mattress, takes a deep breath and rolls over. His arm wraps around me so he holds me close to him again. I'm not sure if he did this unknowingly in his sleep or if he is awake. I wait for a bit and then decide to roll over so I can see him. His hand is now against my lower back.
And he's staring right into my eyes.
Blood starts rushing to my cheeks. I'm not sure what is going through his head at all anymore. It seemed like he and I felt the same way about each other at first, and then he pulled back. He moves his hand up to caress my face and I can't help but smile. He moves closer to me and our bodies are touching now. He puts his hand on my back to push me even closer and then he kisses me. It's a very gentle, but passionate kiss. It's so intense and I'm not sure what to think anymore. All I can think about is how much I want this. How much I want him. I wrap my arms around him and we kiss faster and even more intensely. He gets on top of me and I'm surrounded by him and the mattress and we both lose ourselves.
