The walk from Concord to Sanctuary wasn't long enough, Juniper still had no real lead on Shaun, and the sun was already going down. Codsworth greeted the group and showed Struges where to set up his work area. The new additions to Sanctuary decided to squat in the house across from hers. Juniper had gone back into her house and looked around. In one way she wanted everything to stay the same, and to try and make it look like how her house use to look. In another way, she wanted to gut the whole thing. Juniper grabbed a lantern, and lit the candle inside right in time to hear a knock on her door.
" It's Preston Garvey, can I come in?"
Sigh
" Yeah sure, I have nothing else better to do" Juniper tossed her pack down and sat on the destroyed arm chair. There was a certain air of formality that she was attempting to retain. Even though she knew most of the mannerisms of her time didn't translate over to this one, It was hard to change your habits overnight. Preston walked in and shut the door behind him.
Shit I should have offered him something
" Oh uh, can I get you anything, a drink maybe?" Juniper jerked upwards and eyed Preston,
" Not something that I'm normally asked, but sure." Preston walked to the couch and sat down,
Where's the drink cabinet?
Juniper scoured through the rubble that used to be the liquor cabinet, until she found a bottle of Bourbon.
" Now I just need a glass" she murmured.
" Have you been living here long?" Preston asked from across the room.
Oh man, how do I even explain this
Trying to hold back laughing, Juniper answered as best she could.
" Yes and no." She found her good glasses that survived mildly unscathed.
" Is what Mama Murphy said true?" Preston had his hands intertwined and was looking at the ground hunched over.
" Would you believe me if I said yes?" Juniper poured their drinks and walked over handing Preston his.
" Kinda stingy, especially for a house guest" Preston chuckled and drank the whole thing in one gulp.
" Everything is so different now" Juniper walked the rest of the bottle over to Preston and set it down in front of him and returned to her arm chair.
" I know I just met you, and you saved a lot of lives today. Not just ours, but other settlements who may have had trouble with those Raiders. It might not be any of my business, but someone with your skills would be extremely beneficial to the minutemen.
I don't even know this guy and he wants me to join the wanna be malita of post apocalyptic Boston?
" I think you have me confused for someone else" Juniper readjusted in her seat and crossed her legs, while sipping on her drink.
" I saw the way you handled yourself, and with a little bit of practice you could help us and yourself. If Mama Murphy was right and someone did take your son, I'd be happy to help you.
Juniper eyed him up and down and sighed.
" Look you seem like a nice enough guy, so i'll be straight with you." Taking a deep breath, she began to explain everything. As she went on she watched his expression change from skepticism to intrigue. As she explain her situation to someone that wasn't a robot, it started to sink in more and more.
" I have no idea what's happened in the last 200 or so years. What I do know is that, I don't stand a chance as it is now. I could charge into the new Commonwealth and figure things out as I go, or I could wait and learn how to survive." She looked up at preston and was met with a look of pity,
" This changes everything, I'm sorry truly." Preston reached his arm over and held Juniper's shoulder.
" Did you ever have any experience with weaponry, before the bombs?"
" Are you kidding, from what I can remember I was an average newlywed mother." Juniper couldn't help but smile,
" I mean we did do some crazy stuff back then, like go shopping, and see movies." Preston looked at her like she was crazy,
Maybe sarcasm is extinct too, sigh
Before Preston left he asked her all sorts of questions about what the world use to be like. After around 3 hours she has to usher him out the door. Juniper leaned with her back against the door and sighed. She didn't use to mind being alone but now, when she was it was a reminder. A remind that everything she loved and hoped for was gone.
I have to wait, I have to get better at surviving to be able to find Shaun. If i can't learn to survive how will I teach him to? Could we even come back to this house?
Juniper looked around and felt tears welling up in her eyes.
I have to make it work, If Al was here...he'd make it work.
She grabbed the rest of the Bourbon and made her way to the bedroom. She set up makeshift curtains and got out of her vault suit.
" Here boy, where's that scruffy dog?" Juniper waited and saw Dogmeat charge around the corner jumping onto the bed.
" I'm never gunna be alone if I have you huh?" Juniper smiled and snuggled into bed with the German shepherd.
The next morning Juniper began teaching Marcy and Jun how to grow crops. Although she only had ever grown a small vegetable garden it was still more than most city survivors. Struges taught her how to tinker, and she in turn collected supplies for him. Preston drew her a map of settlements across the Commonwealth. This was a little intimidating at first, but he said that if she spent the time learning how to navigate, and helping people along the way it would be better for everybody. One of the best new set ups was next to the house that the new settlers were squatting in. There was mostly ruins of an old house, which was easy to move and salvage parts from. In turn Juniper built an area to have meetings in, and have large gatherings.
Mama murphy advised Juniper to " Build somewhere for everything to eat and drink". Although Juniper didn't like her chem habit she began to trust the sight, especially with the details she would tell her now and then. After Preston teaching her as much as she could, Juniper began to help settlements and recruit them to the "minutemen". It had been a month and Juniper started to get antsy to find answers. After a day full of assigning housing to a new family, she met up with Preston.
" Preston, do you have a minute?" Juniper was walking in sync with him while he was patrolling,
" Of course what do you need?" He eyed the surrounding woods from sanctuary and eventually looked over at Juniper.
Just tell him, he can't be that angry
" Preston I've learned alot in the last month but, I can't keep waiting to go find him." Juniper kept on, even when Preston looked hurt.
" I know you'll be able to handle things here, I'm sure everyone will be fine. Besides the sooner I find him the sooner I can come back."
Preston stopped walking and sighed
" Look I don't like it, But you've definitely improved from when we met. It'll be dangerous, the way to Diamond city is a long one."
" Preston you know me, It'll be like riding a bike. Really terrible at first but, eventually you can't fall off forever!" Juniper smirked and Preston shook his head. This wasn't the first time She'd attempt to make jokes around Preston. During a couple of Minutemen mission she'd made similar remarks which always took him off guard.
" Sometimes I don't think you'd make sense even if I was pre-war. Alright, you should get some sleep and head out in the morning." Preston tipped his hat and continued his route.
" Night, Preston!" Juniper watched him raise his hand and wave while still walking the other way.
They'll be fine, Besides Codsworth will be here too
Right as Juniper turned around Codsworth was hovering over to her,
" Mum is it true? Are you really leaving?"
" Codsworth, I have to find Shaun sometime, and besides you need to help these guys survive."
Juniper motioned to all the lite up houses in the distance,
" At least let me gather supplies for you, before you begin such a dreadful walk." Codsworth's eyes refocused,
I know just what to ask him
"Before I leave could you grab me some water?" Juniper started walking towards the house and Codsworth made his way towards the river.
" Yes mum, right away"
Now's the only time that works to clean up, It's not I can take a bath during the day. Not with all the renovations going on here, especially not with Preston walking in all the time.
Juniper opened the door to her house and walked towards the island. There were Blueprints and diagrams all over the kitchen island, all ways to make Sanctuary a better place. Juniper went through them until she found the one she hadn't told Struges about. It was a simple one for a Basketball area. Not that anybody knew what it was, but these people need something that isn't just drinking to relax. It was a surprise that only she was going to work on. Juniper untied her hair and felt the weight fall past her shoulders. Codsworth reappeared through the backdoor with several buckets of steaming water.
" All prepared for you mum" He drifted over towards the bathroom and set them all in there.
" Thank you for the water, you're off for the night. Have a good one" She patted him and walked into the bathroom. She heard him whizz around, not knowing what to do. This happened every time she told him to go and relax.
I wish he knew how to, or could learn to relax.
She washed through her hair and finished cleaning herself up, just in time to hear Dogmeat scratching at the door.
" Hold on boy, It's almost bedtime" Juniper quickly put on her nighttime clothes and opened the door to an excited Dogmeat. Dogmeat had begun to love snuggling under the covers with Juniper every since the weather had slightly started to be a bit cooler. After all it was Early December.
That's right Christmas is right around the corner. Do they even celebrate Christmas anymore?
Juniper nudged her face into Dogmeat's fur
Will Shaun spend his first Christmas alone?
With that thought she snuggled onto Dogmeat closer and tried to fall asleep.
When she dreamed she always had fragments of her old life come back to her. Like where she grew up, or small things from her past. She still couldn't remember things that felt extremely important. Juniper finally drifted off into her dream and felt herself slip away.
" Mom I'm just fine, I don't need anybody to watch out for me" A young Juniper with a waved pixie cut, was throwing clothes into a suitcase.
I don't remember this
"I just don't want you to repeat the same mistakes again" Her mother readjusted her updo and leaned against the door.
The young Juniper turned around to face her mother and walked towards her,
" She was never a mistake, the mistake was that I entrusted her to you."
" How dare you, little ingrate" Her mother looked furious
When did this happen?
" You can't keep her from me forever mother. Sooner or later one of us will slip up, My bets on you." Juniper kept eye contact with her mother.
" Get your filthy things out of my house, you cheap tramp" Her mother raised her chin up high and tightened her jaw line.
Juniper picked her bags up and walked by her mother and stopped,
" Don't you mean daddy's house? Or does it belong to the next husband now?"
I don't understand, I never remembered this? Did this really happen?
In an instant she opened her eyes to the bright morning light, grumbling she turned over to her side and tried to fall back asleep.
" Mum I'm terribly sorry to wake you bu-"
" nmm no Cods no" Juniper tried to roll away but was met by Dogmeat licking her face to get her up,
"Whyy, are you workin to together now?" Juniper rubbed her eyes and sat up and instantly knew what she forgot to do last night.
" Codsworth.." Juniper looked at him through a mess of curls,
" I know mum I'm sorry, you dismissed me before I could remind you to perform your straightening tasks."
Ugh
" It's fine, I'll figure something out. Thanks for waking me up" Juniper sighed and got up to try and straighten her hair into a tight bun. After a few tried her hair was less curly but still had wave to it.
I just don't care, I'll wear a helmet.
She loaded up her supplies, and got into her new and improved power armor suit.
" Give em hell, General" Preston waved goodbye to her and Codsworth hovered next to him. Preston after Juniper had recruited other settlements into their cause decided to give her the rank of General. He said he didn't have what it took to reform the minutemen, which she didn't believe. He still held onto alot of the guilt that was from the Quincy massacre. Even though Juniper tried to convince him it wasn't his fault he still, would get this thousand yard stare in his deep dark eyes and just shake his head.
" Take care of each other you two!" Juniper waved and started making her way into the heart of the Commonwealth.
While passing through Gray garden Juniper picked up a new frequency she'd never heard before. It was jumbled but she did make out that someone at the Cambridge police station needed help.
It's along the way,
" Alright boy let's go see what's going on" Dogmeat barked playfully and they were on their way.
It was about 5 blocks away when she heard the gunfire,
Jesus there still under attack?
When Juniper got there she saw multiple people in uniforms, and one in a power armor suit. They were being attacked by feral ghouls, and by the looks of it they might not win.
Juniper grabbed her minigun and let it start cycling up, just in time to alert the ferals to her presence. Dogmeat ran over and held them each down by their legs while Juniper disposed of them. When she was the man in the power armor fall to his knees, she quickly ran in front of him and gave him some cover.
" Get yourself together and I'll give you some cover." she wasn't sure if he heard her or not, but there was another wave of ferals coming. Dogmeat had just finish up one roamer, when out of the corner of her eye she saw a withered ghoul jumping onto his back.
" God dammit!" Juniper sprinted over and knocked the ghoul off with the side of her minigun.
She fired multiple rounds into the ghouls head until, there was just mush remaining.
Dog snarled in the opposite direction and Juniper swung her gun around just in time, to protect the man still on the ground. After that there was an eerie silence.
" Anymore?" Juniper looked around and Dogmeat sniffed the ground around them and ran over to the man. The man stood up and started to make his way over to her. He looked at her up and down and looked on guard.
" Thank you for your help civilian, However what is your business here?" His jawline was rigid,
"I'm just passing through, trying to survive out here" Juniper lowered her minigun and eased up a bit.
" I highly doubt that, the way that you came charging in here" the man still held eye contact,
Juniper frowned at bit, usually when she came charging in and helped people they were a little more gracious.
" You're awfully suspicious of someone who gave you cover while you were down." The man broke eye contact and looked away,
" But anyway, I'm from a vault. I'm just on my way to Diamond city" Juniper reached down and nuzzled Dogmeat with her knuckles.
" You're a vault dweller?" His Chestnut eyes looked like they were going to pop out,
" I appreciate your honesty, I'm sorry.. If I was rude earlier. We've been under constant fire since we got to this station, we could use someone as skilled as you are."
Juniper eyed the power armor suit and the way that they handled themselves,
" I want to help you guys, but I don't don't like secrecy. Who are you guys?" She looked over to the two others in matching uniforms behind him.
The man sighed, " Very well, my name is Paladin Danse, and over there is scribe Haylen, and
Knight Rhys. We're from the Brotherhood of steel."
"Were you around before the war? Or did you form after" This question seemed to confuse Danse
" Our first leader led a group of soldiers to investigate a medical research facility. Shortly after the bombs fell, and he led his group of soldiers and their families into a fallout bunker in california. Now we try to bring order back into the wasteland, scavenging pre-war technology to preserve." Danse looked like he was going to explode from so much patriotism,
" All you need now is an American flag behind you" Juniper smiled and Scribe Haylen giggled behind him. However this went over Danse's head and he looked confused.
" What we need now is a signal boost to be able to call for help, from our superiors." Danse looked away
" I'm also down one man and we're running out of supplies at an alarming rate."
Scribe Haylen sheepishly walked closer
" Sir If I May?"
" Proceed Haylen," Danse turned his attention to the Scribe
" I modified the Satellite's signal but it's not enough, there's an arc jet system facility nearby. There should be a transmitter that we need to send a strong signal."
Danse looked back at Juniper
" We go in and get the transmitter and come back, simple. Will you lend the Brotherhood of Steel a hand?" Danse searched Junipers for an answer
Juniper Reached down for her minigun and let it rest on her hip,
" I don't know about the Brotherhood of Steel but, I'll do it to help you all out." She smiled and started walking out, she looked back and saw a confused Danse,
" Well come on, Big guy Let's go!" Dogmeat ran around the entrance,
" Outstanding" Danse started to clang towards her.
After a short walk filled with Danse telling Juniper all about the Brotherhood of Steel's past in the area, they arrived at the front entrance of the Arc Jet system's building. Juniper almost ran into Danse's back because he stopped so quickly.
" Listen I don't want any heroics or antics, I want this done clean and by the book." Danse turned around and looked at Juniper sternly
" Got it" Juniper readied her Minigun and braced herself for whatever they'd find.
" Outstanding, and check your fire. I don't want to be hit by any stray bullets" Danse turned and opened the door to the facility. Juniper rolled her eyes and followed him in.
We get it you're an army guy
The lobby was mostly garbage and rubble. Juniper looked around and saw nothing worth taking and walked over to Danse.
" It was corporation's like this that put the last nail in the coffin for this country. They used technology for their advantage and pocketed the results." He looked angry
" You do know that, places like this were everywhere right. That everybody had to make a living somehow. You shouldn't be so quick to judge the decisions made in the past." Juniper walked by him and furrowed her brow a bit.
As if Danse didn't know what to say he quickly went to the next room,
" Look at this, all of the building's defense robots have been taken care of." He looked over to the doorway she was in.
" Isn't that a good thing?" Juniper went to keep walking but then realized something.
" Wait does that mean someone else is here? Who would bother to come in here?"
Danse shook his head, "I don't know but keep your guard up civilian."
They both readied their weapons and continued through the next room.
They came across what looked like a dead end.
" Work on getting this door open and I'll scan the area for anything useful." Danse started to look through old files that littered the floor. Across the room there was a terminal that had the exact password that they needed for that door. Juniper wrote it down and made her way to the terminal that was wired to the door. Next to it she found a holo tape and sat against the desk and listen to it. Danse looked up and listened quickly along with her. At the end she put the tape in her bag and entered in the password for the door. Before she hit enter Danse looked over at her.
" Why are you keeping that Holotape?" He stood up and walked over to the front of the desk. Juniper looked down and shrugged.
" Sometimes, If the tape is Pre-war I like to listen to them. It reminds me that things weren't always like this." Juniper saw the confusion in his face.
" I told you I was from a vault right? Well I was frozen, right as the bombs were falling. My family ran to the shelter and I was unfrozen around a month ago." Danse looked astounded,
" I'm sorry, I had no idea. I wouldn't have said anything earlier about this place if-" Juniper waved her hand
" No don't worry about it, you didn't know. Maybe you were right even, It's hard to really piece together the past sometimes." Juniper looked down at the terminal and hit enter, right as she did she heard a distorted voice.
" Is someone present?" Danse and Juniper both looked at each other and looked back at the door with their guns raised. 3 robots very closely resembling the structure of a human ran into the room. 2 had Batons and the other had a small rifle that started to shoot laser rounds at Danse. Juniper cycled her minigun and dispatched of one of the batons and the one with the rifle.
" Behind you!" Danse shouted just seconds short, Juniper turned right as the shock baton his her right arm. The shock caused Juniper to drop her minigun and she jerked backwards, Danse quickly aimed for the being's head. Mechanical parts rained down on Juniper, she quickly scrambled to get up.
" Easy, Tango down." Danse walked over and went to give her a hand.
" Don't worry I'm not that bad off." Juniper managed to get herself up without help and checked her minigun.
" I guess no more minigun, I'm out of ammo." Juniper went through her bag and found a 10mm pistol. Danse blocked her from walking to the next room.
" What is it?" She back away and peered up at him.
" I should have told you earlier, but I wasn't sure that I could trust you. I apologize." Danse went on before Juniper could say anything.
" This looked like insitute work, the way there was no blood in the room with the destroyed protectrons. What we just fought were synths, there mechanical abominations." Danse's eyes darkened.
" You're likely to have no idea, who the institute is." Juniper shrugged and Danse continued.
" The institute creates these synths, and the worst part is no one knows where they are. They've been using this kind of technology since pre-war. There're the Commonwealth's biggest threat, we're likely to find more synths." His eyes darkened and he looked towards the next room.
"Alright, let's get rid of them then." Juniper cocked a smile and raised her pistol.
" Outstanding" Danse smiled warmly and turned around.
If he wasn't such a Jarhead he'd be pretty cute
Juniper looked up and met eyes with Danse,
" Oh sorry I'm coming!" She caught up with him and ran her palm down her head to keep her hair in it's bun.
Awkward ugh, I forgot to wear my power armor, that's what I forgot
When they made it around the corner they were met by 6 more synths, which were easy to deal with once she knew where to aim. Danse was hit enough on his torso to damage his power armor but not enough for it to fall apart on him.
" We must be getting close, " He raised his weapon again and continued, ignoring his torso.
The rest of the way to the engine core was met by minimal resistance.
Juniper looked behind her and saw that Danse had stopped. She turned to him and motioned forward,
" Common let's make tracks" Danse pinched the bridge of his nose and started to walk again.
" I was confirming our location, the engine core should be down these stairs." He decided to go first and made his way down the staircase.
" The scribe's would have a field day here" Danse kept walking but looked around marveled at the vastness of the space.
" We need to find a way to get that elevator back online. Try get the power back" Juniper nodded and went through the only open door there was. After fiddling with the terminal she got the power back online, soon after she heard gunfire. Danse was fighting off multiple synths that kept dropping down, after Juniper saw at least a dozen on the ground she panicked.
This might kill him, but if i don't he won't make it either.
She slammed her fist down on the button and heard a rumbled and a countdown. Soon after the engine started up.
" Oh my god...DANSE RUN" Juniper started to pound on the glass window in front of her, Danse looked over and quickly put his helmet on. The whole room erupted in fire, every synth fell and crumbled to ash. Juniper looked back over at Danse and saw him in a fetal position protecting himself. The doors down the hall reopened and the fire stopped. Dogmeat barked and ran towards the door, with juniper right behind him. Dogmeat stopped abruptly in the doorway, she looked down and saw the floor was still steaming. Juniper cringed started to run to Danse.
" Stay boy, I'll be right back" Juniper called back to Dogmeat and he whimpered.
Juniper grabbed bottles of water from her pack and poured them all over Danse's armor and around where he was crouching. There was a loud hissing noise from the steam but Juniper grabbed his Helmet and slid it off. Danse's eyes were closed tightly.
" Danse are you alright, oh my god." Juniper held his face and searched for any burns.
" I'm fine, my suit protected me." Danse opened his eyes and looked up towards Juniper.
Juniper quickly remembered his Torso armor wasn't intact.
" What about your torso? You're armor suffered some damage." She knelt down and inspected his chest area. Danse went to get up and winced.
" There could be some damage but, It's minimal." He looked away and turned a little red.
" Anyway I'm fine, you should worry about keeping yourself safe." He got up and made his way to the elevator and was quiet the whole way up. The control room had multiple synths in it, which wasn't a problem with the two of them and Dogmeat.
" One of these synth's should have the transmitter on them" Danse looked through the broken wires and body parts of a synth. Juniper looked to the side and saw that one synth had been covering something. She walked over and pushed it over and saw what looked like the transmitter.
" This is it right?" Juniper tossed it over to him and smirked.
" Well done, let's take the service elevator out of here." Danse turned and pressed the elevator call button.
Is he sore at me?
Juniper walked over and got into the elevator with him and Dogmeat.
" Going down" The elevator made it's descent and she looked over at him. She could only see the edge of his profile.
" Did I upset you, earlier? I didn't mean to roast you" Danse looked over and looked surprised.
" No not at all, I just" He looked away, " I'm not use to the attention." The last part he said a little quieter.
Oh god, I made him feel worse
Juniper shut her eyes and tossed her head back. The elevator stopped and they both walked out back into the wasteland.
" That could have gone more smoothly, but it's done with now." Danse turned to face her, and she cocked her head.
" It could have, but we're both alive aren't we?" They were interrupted by the sound of thunder in the distance. Danse looked over towards the road.
" We should try to make it back, this wasn't part of the plan. However there's no location that's as close as the station from this point." Juniper sighed,
" Alright let's get going, It's going to start raining pretty soon." Danse nodded and they started briskly walking back towards the Police station. When they got back, Danse told her he had something to talk to her about later. Juniper didn't feel like she belonged with the rest of them downstairs, so she headed to the roof. Dogmeat fell asleep next to one of their lanterns so she let him be. The roof was quiet, and the rain had mostly passed by them already. Juniper walked over to the staircase to the vertibird pad, and sat down. She popped in Scribe Haylen's holotape she can found and listened.
Poor girl, I wonder where she's even from
Juniper untied her bun and let her curls start to form up with the slight mist of the rain. Juniper ejected Haylen's tape and put it in her tape pocket. Her hand felt the smoothness of one of the tapes and she swallowed hard. The smoothest of all of her tapes was one, that Al had made for her before the bombs fell. She only listened to it every so often, because it was already hard enough to make the adjustment to this new life. Juniper popped the tape in and leaned her head to the side of the railing. The tape started and she heard Shaun's little fingers grabbing at the tape recorder. She smiled and pressed her fingers together remembering how small his grip was.
" I Don't think Shaun and I have to tell you how Brilliant you are, but we will anyway won't we?" Shaun cooed in the distance, and Al cleared his throat.
" Your an incredible mother and I can't wait to watch your big heart grow even bigger raising our beautiful baby boy." Juniper smirked and shut her eyes, imagining his face.
" You've always been so patient, and even with Shaun you're like a saint I'm a little jealous of that. It's been amazing starting our lives together with Shaun and I know the best years are to come." Juniper's lip started to tremble, like it always did at this part.
" Things will change, I'll join the civilian work force or maybe I'll just a house husband ha!" Juniper scoffed, and felt a single tear roll down her cheek.
" But remember not matter how hard things get, were doing this for our family. Now let's say bye, can you say bye bye Shaun?" Shaun gurgled in the background,
" We love you honey!" The tape clicked and ejected, and Juniper kept her eyes shut for awhile and took a deep breath.
They can't stay shut forever, eventually I have to face the world again.
Juniper opened her eyes and checked the time, 11: 47. It was late enough that the rest of them should be in bed by now. She got up and made her through the door and downstairs. Danse waited until she had shut the door and looked around the side of the building. He didn't know what to think, she was really telling the truth. To make it worse, she had a husband and a child. Where were they?
Would she even join if I asked her?
Danse sighed and recomposed himself and walked back into the station. Juniper had gotten cornered by the old machines at the end of the stairway by Rhys. He had his arm against the wall and she didn't back down from his stance. Her chin was rigid and raised higher than normal.
" You know, I really hate your guts. You just waltz in here and steal the show" Rhys looked and smelled drunk, Danse could smell it from over 10 feet away. Rhys licked his lips and held onto her Suit's zipper.
" I heard about you, Pre-war huh? Don't make em like they use to" He snickered and his hand made it less than a inch before Juniper held a knife next to his groin. Danse was halfway over to them when he saw the knife.
" Look, I'm not from these parts but I know an Egg when I see one" Rhys terrified face was replaced by confusion, Juniper pressed the knife closer and stared him down.
" I don't care if you're stupid, I'm not some conquest. Neither is that girl Haylen." she looked over towards a passed out Haylen on the sleeping bag closest to the door. Rhys retracted his arm and scoffed, he stumbled into the next room and fell face first onto an open sleeping bag. Danse looked back over at Juniper and watched her chest deflate.
" I don't belong here" she said in passing and walked back over to the front desk and started to pack her things. Danse walked over to the doorway and looked at her.
" Rhys can be a challenge but, he's never acted in that way before." Juniper stopped and looked over at him.
" Did you watched that whole thing" She looked angry, and her normally pulled back hair was wet and wildly curled around her freckled face. Danse walked closer,
" I was about to intervene, when I saw the knife. Although Rhys is under my command, he had no right to do what he did" Danse searched her face, but wasn't sure what he was looking for.
Juniper laughed, and Danse realized he was never going to understand this woman.
" Thank you for not intervening actually, I hope I taught him a lesson. But from the looks of this fellow he looks unteachable" She smiled and looked back at her pack. Danse reached out and held onto her arm. Juniper looked up suspiciously.
" I actually wanted to propose something to you." Juniper raised her arched eyebrows and turned to face him.
" Let's hear it then." She crossed her arms, Danse had never been treated this way in his life.
" Ahem, I wanted to ask you to join the Brotherhood of Steel. Instead of scraping by, struggling to survive out here you'd be able to thrive. Correct me if I'm wrong but, were you the only one that was unfrozen?" Juniper's eyes darkened
" Why do you ask?"
" I heard you listening to that tape" Juniper started to turn red and turned back to her pack.
" I don't want to upset you, but the Brotherhood of Steel may be able to help you." Danse's voice softened, Juniper sighed.
" Someone while I was frozen shot my husband and took my son." Danse frowned and his brow furrowed deeply.
" I've been trying to understand this place, and learn more about it before I went charging into Diamond city to find him. I'd like to join but I have to check there first, please understand" Juniper reached out and touched his arm. Danse looked down and felt the heat from her hand, and his mind went blank. The way she looked at him, he felt like he had no chance of saying no.
"I understand, I'm going to grant you the rank of initiate. For everything you did for this unit, We're going to be waiting for reinforcements, or a radio signal. For the time being, we might be here for awhile." Juniper smiled and picked up her pack.
" You should at least get some sleep, Rhys won't be a problem." Danse straightened his back,
" If needed I'll stand guard for a while to ensure your safety." Juniper raised her eyebrows.
" There's no need, I'll sleep in the side room on the couch." She made her way into the room and got settled in. Danse walked over to the only open sleeping bag which was next to the doorframe of the adjacent room. Juniper grabbed her casual clothes, she only used them when she could actually sleep safely. Danse unzipped from his full body uniform and ran his fingers through his hair. Juniper walked over to the door and peered out. Danse looked over surprised by her presence.
" Thanks for everything today, we make a good team." Juniper smiled, and looked up at his long dark locks.
" For some reason I thought you were bald, I'm glad I was wrong." Smirking she turned and walked back over to the couch to get some sleep. Danse stood there, and he touched his head.
" Why would I appear bald." He got down and settled into his sleeping bag, falling asleep feeling confused.
