"Tell me why I shouldn't strike you both down right where you stand." It was not a request, it was an order. In a way, Vi was a bit shocked that he hadn't just instantly filled them both full of lasers. Her brow furrowed as she turned on Maxson.
"Because if you so much as move a finger to stop us leaving here I'll shove my shotgun so far up your ass you'll taste gunpowder."
Maxson's eyebrows lifted in shock, then a sneer crossed his face. She no longer found him attractive as before, now all his face symbolized was death and imprisonment. "I wouldn't expect any less from you, synth." He spat, like the word synth tasted bad. She wondered if he had miraculously forgotten how she had doggedly worked for him over the past months without so much as a complaint, but perhaps that's just how bigots worked.
In another surprising move, the burly man stood aside. "Go on, leave. Don't ever let me catch either of you in the Commonwealth again. I won't extend this courtesy twice."
Vi's heart leapt and she turned an excited face toward Danse, who looked dumbstruck. He didn't respond when she called his name, so she reached out and grasped the man's clammy hand and tugged him toward the exit. Her other hand never left her weapon, however, as she dragged the both of them narrowly between Maxson and the doorway into the dusty patch of dead grass outside. She turned to take another glance at him as they left, and caught nothing but hatred in the Brotherhood leader's eyes. It was like they had never met at all, aside from these unpleasant circumstances. Where she and Danse were supposed to go, she had no idea, but they still had the hides on their backs so she supposed it couldn't be too bad.
Danse's feet were bare, and he stumbled along painfully on the craggy ground as they travelled. Vi had offered up her boots since they were a similar size, but he didn't answer her and instead trundled along like a zombie with glazed eyes and sweat on his brow. Suddenly, something dawned on her.
"The Railroad!" She shouted at no one in particular. Danse jumped slightly at the sudden outburst. For the first time all day, his eyes met hers. He looked distant, not at all the firm and authoritative presence she was used to.
"They aren't going to help me, Vi. You, definitely. But not me." He said flatly. His voice crackled with a dryness that only a few hours trekking across a nuclear wasteland could bring, and suddenly she felt awful for not remembering to bring any water. She didn't need it to live, but he certainly did.
"Yes they will. If they don't want to, I'll make them," she replied. She'd come this far, nothing would stop her now. If she had to kill or die to get the peaceful life she'd dreamed about for so long, then so be it. And Danse was coming with her because whether he liked it or not, they were the same. He hadn't let go of her hand once since they'd left Maxson behind them at the little outpost she'd found him hiding at, but Vi didn't mind one bit.
Luckily, Vi's navigational abilities hadn't diminished with her brain surgery to remove the Institute's trackers from her head. Almost without thinking about it, her feet lead them in the direction of the Railroad headquarters and to safety. Despite not having any idea where they were, her systems had saved the coordinates on one of her previous visits and now she would be able to find her way there no matter how lost.
Something was eating at her as they walked, however. "It's my fault you got found out. I'm sorry. I didn't know." As soon as the thought registered in Danse's brain, he spun on her.
"You what?" His voice was flat. And angry.
She stopped and faced him, face burning with shame.
"I gave the Railroad copies of the information the Institute had implanted in my brain. I did it so they'd help me get the tracker implants removed so I wouldn't be found." Her lip trembled, but Vi tried to keep her composure.
"You knew what you were the whole time?" His voice was growing in pitch. She'd never seen him angry like this before, and it scared her a bit. There was no way around it, though, she'd known the entire time and purposely hid it. The courser responded with a single nod.
He looked like he wanted to hit her, but Danse just stood his ground instead and glared into the very depths of her soul. "You ruined my life. I could have gone forever not knowing what I was, but you ruined it. Was that part of some sick mission they sent you on? To fuck me over?"
She opened her mouth to reply, but he kept shouting.
"Because of you, I have nothing. I wish we never met."
Suddenly, his feet didn't seem quite as sore as her spun on his heel and stomped in the opposite direction they were headed in. The Danse she knew didn't make rash decisions like this, but she supposed that could be expected after having one's entire life upended. She stood there, mouth agape, not sure if she should chase after him or not, when a bone shaking rumble sent pebbles scattering around her feet. Then another, then another, until it sounded like something very big was running at them full speed. Danse had stopped in his tracks as well, head swiveling around to try and catch a glimpse of what it was.
A few dozen yards away, a centuries old car launched into the air and flew end over end like a child's toy until it landed hard on its front and promptly burst into a ball of nuclear fire. Seconds later, a roar split their ears and set the hair on the back of Vi's neck on end. A deathclaw's head emerged from a deep pit in the earth, and then quickly so did the rest of its body, unfurling like a snake that had been drawn from its burrow.
"Oh fuck, they live in burrows now?" Vi shouted, reaching for her gun. Danse had already taken off at a sprint toward a small outcropping of houses they had been passing by, and she couldn't blame him. Clad only in a shirt and undershorts, he wouldn't stand a chance.