Shooting ghouls in the face was becoming second nature. Even though he wasn't here, she could hear MacCready imitating them in a mocking tone and she smiled.
She followed Danse into the police station, Haylen dragging Rhys in behind them. Danse told her to get stocked up before they headed to ArcJet.
MacCready had told her once about the Brotherhood of Steel, horror stories mostly, but these three didn't seem that bad. Well, Rhys definitely had a stick up his as- his butt, but otherwise they seemed like decent people.
Danse seemed to like the sound of his own voice, but he seemed like an all right guy. She'd seen enough of the feral ghouls and super mutants to understand the hate, but she wasn't sure she could get on board with the sweeping synth hate. Sure, they weren't exactly human, but they were still people. Her only basis for comparison was Nick of course, but he was one of the coolest people she'd met since rejoining the commonwealth. They couldn't ALL be horrible, right? Not all ghouls are feral. It had to be the same.
She only half listened during their short trek to ArcJet, stopping briefly to take out a few raiders robbing a caravan and a pack of wild dogs.
They reached ArcJet quickly enough, Danse still spouting his Brotherhood propaganda. She followed him down into the lower levels of the building. She hacked the terminals with relative ease, taking them deeper into the abandoned factory.
A mechanical voice echoed down the hallway, followed by bright blue laser fire. Amber ducked down, waiting for an opportunity to fire, but Danse just clamored down the hall like a tin can meatloaf, returning with his own laser shots, while she popped heads from behind cover.
Amber ran to the terminal in the back of the furnace room while Danse watched her back. She pressed the button and jumped when the door slammed shut, trapping her in the terminal room. She screamed when the fire consumed the room where Danse stood.
She couldn't help flashing back to the vault, watching Shaun snatched from his father's hands. Watched Nate get shot and all she could do was watch. Watch and scream.
Dozens of synth burned around Danse's crouched form. When the door finally opened, she ran to Danse's side, his armour caked with black ash. He was still breathing, which caused her to fall to her knees, holding herself up on Danse's knee, despite the heat from his armour burning her hand.
"Hey there, soldier. Everything's okay. My power armour blocked the brunt of the blast. I'm fine." Danse pulled her to her feet, wiping her cheek with his large hand. Amber hadn't noticed she'd been crying.
"S-sorry...sir." She sniffled and chuckled. "I seem to be doing that a lot lately." Amber straightened MacCready's hat over her hair and smiled at Danse. He eyed her for a moment before nodding once and continuing their search.
It didn't take long to take out the remaining synths and head back to the surface. Amber took a deep breath when they got back outside, surprisingly glad to be back under the wasteland sky.
"Well that could have gone better." Danse said. Amber nodded once, suddenly embarrassed at her outburst.
"I'm really sorry, sir. Are you sure you're not hurt?" She looked up into his face, and he gave her a small smile.
"I'm fine, soldier. You did a fine job back there. I think you'd make a wonderful addition to the Brotherhood and I'd like to sponsor you, personally. I'd be honoured to help you bring the fight to the institute and help you find your son." Amber grinned was suddenly overwhelmed. She threw her arms around Danse's large neck, which was a feat at her height. Danse grunted, but put his arm around her waist.
"Thank you, Danse." Amber said in a small voice, embarrassed again. Danse set her down onto the ground slowly, giving her a small smile. His cheeks were just slightly pink, and she stifled a laugh.
"Well...let's get back to the police station."