I love the comments, thank you so much, it means the world to me. I am currently working on not only The Sentinel's Squire, but also putting together Reagan Knight's story, which runs into this one in this chapter. I hope to get that one worked out and settled in and posted soon so you can get to know her better. I also have plans for Rowan, if you remember her from some chapters back. She's going to be headed to Nuka World. If that's something you're interested in, I hope you stick around for it, as I believe I'll post them once I near the end of this story. I think we're only half way done here. How exciting! I hope you all are enjoying it!
Nate kissed the Hancock's shoulder, his hands tracing over the man's uneven skin, lusting after him. "I woke up this morning without you and I…" Nate shook his head, his scruff rubbing the other man's skin.
"Ah, well, I'm here now, and you're not gonna be able to talk me into leaving you for a while now."
"I don't want you to leave me ever again."
"That's good to hear."
Nate's teeth grazed the other man's skin and his hands wrapped around him, pulling him against his chest. One hand slid south, passing over then man's stomach to his waist. "I fucking love you, John."
"Ever the romantic one, Natie," the ghoul's gruff voice showed his smile. Nate then gently pushed him over, onto the bed where he remained on his hands and knees for a moment. Nate climbed onto the bed too and grabbed John's hips and pulled him back to press the man's ass against his erection.
Nate moved his hands onto the ghoul's ass and spread the cheeks apart so that he could spit down onto the tiny hole. Then he rubbed the head of his cock against the other man to get himself good and wet. Nate's steadying hand on the man's waist showed how tense the ghoul was. "John, relax," he whispered, bending down to kiss his back.
"Sorry–" he grunted and took a deep breath.
"We don't have to do this, love," Nate frowned and started to back off, not wanting to force himself onto him.
"No, no, I want to, come on," John bent around to look at him.
"Okay," Nate whispered and carefully prodded the smaller man. He groaned and then the Sentinel was in. "Mmm," he massaged John's back with callused hands and the ghoul relaxed more under his touch.
Moving slowly at first, Nate added a little more saliva to aid them, and then grabbed the man's hips and pulled him back in a single rough slap. "Mmm, Nate," he grunted, clamping down around him in shock. The General smiled, his eyes rolling over his lover as he thrust into him. John made soft sounds into a pillow that he grabbed, pressing his face into it in pleasure before turning to gasp for air.
Nate leaned over him and reached around to grab the other man's cock, stroking it in time with his thrusts. Based on the pleasured sounds that came from below, he was doing something right. They whispered endearments and grunted the others name.
Hancock came first, muffling Nate's name into his pillow. Nate hissed, trying to hold back until the smaller man went limp, and then allowed himself to come. They had to be quiet because Shaun was asleep on the couch in the living room, where he'd been since before they got home. Nate needed to build him a bedroom. He wished he had the time.
"Oh, Nate," John whispered, relaxing against the mattress for a moment before looking up at the General. "Bet you're proud of yourself, aren't you?"
"Always," he kissed the ghoul's cheek, embracing him before dismounting the bed and finding a towel to clean them up. "I love you, John," Nate informed the other man when he was done.
"I love you, too, Natie," he ghoul breathed, his gruff voice deep with exhaustion.
Hancock settled in and Nate stood up at the foot of the bed, stretching his arms before pulling on a pair of shorts and climbed in to hold his love. Sleep had just relaxed Nate's body when there was a gentle knock on the front door. "Mmm," John shifted. "I'll get it."
Nate sighed, letting his hand on the man slide down to the mattress when he left.
In the other room he heard Hancock open the door and say something about Maddy. Then Maddy's voice came through, and Nate rolled out of the bed, knowing what he heard wasn't good. "What's wrong?" John was asking when Nate came around the corner.
Shaun was waking up, rubbing his eyes as Maddy, R.J., and Duncan came into the house. "We have a problem," MacCready frowned, and that was when he noticed Madelyn was shaking as she held Duncan to her.
She explained about a man named Rick who knew far too much despite the information given to him. "What did he look like?"
"Dark hair, uh, just a beard," she drew a line with her thumb along her jaw. "He wore a coat, and a scarf. It was a weird coat…." She frowned and Nate shifted, grabbing up his pack and pulled out one of the drawings Lana had given him.
"Anything like this?"
"No… not really," she shook her head, her eyes flickering over it. "I mean… if I forced myself to, I could say they look similar," she added, frowning.
"What about this one?" he showed her another.
"Nope, not at all."
"This?"
"Eh…" she frowned, her nose wrinkling. Duncan stirred and she shifted him in her arm, but Robert took his son, relieving her of the extra weight.
"Last one," Nate offered and she looked at it.
Her nose scrunched, "No, he didn't look like that."
Nate frowned and sighed. "Well, damn, of course that would have been too lucky," he rubbed his forehead before tucking the drawings back away.
"Okay, so he's a creep," Hancock frowned, sitting down on the couch and MacCready joined him, holding the grumbling toddler in his lap.
"I feel like there's more to it," Nate said, glaring at nothing in particular.
"Dad…" Shaun complained, looking around. He noticed how his boy and Madelyn stared at each other for a second.
"You can go in the bedroom, Shaun," he said and the boy sighed as he got up and left. "If Duncan wants, he can also," Nate added and Robert got up to take the sleeping toddler to bed.
"What else do you remember about him, Maddy?" Hancock asked, relaxing into the couch. He was dressed in a pair of pants and nothing else. Madelyn sat down next to him, close enough that their legs touched. Nate couldn't help but smile a little. She had never done that before.
"He… his hands were soft, like he's never worked a day in his life," she said, her brows pulled together. "And when he smiled…" she shook her head and R.J. came back into the room. "He was… really, and I mean, really attractive," she looked uncomfortable and the ex-gunner raised an eyebrow. Before anyone could say anything she continued, "I don't think I've ever seen someone that attractive. It was… unnatural," she decided and looked between the men.
Nate's thick brows pulled together, casting his pale blue eyes into shadow. Madelyn wouldn't have brought it up if it wouldn't have been weird. "Did he have an accent?"
She frowned, thinking, "I don't think so, I mean, he was… very charismatic, but I don't think he had an accent."
Nate leaned against one of the support pillars in the living room and looked down at the three who stared at him, waiting. He frowned and closed his eyes. "Why are you all looking at me?"
"You're the one who always figures this stuff out, Nate," R.J. said off handedly. "Don't quite know how shi–crap got done before you came around."
He felt his jaw clench. "Well, I don't have anything this time," he said, meeting each of their eyes before straightening off the wall. "I don't know what to do from here."
"We work together," Madelyn said, her hands resting on the knees of MacCready and Hancock on either side of her. "We'll get to the bottom of this, whether or not this guy has anything to do with the settlement attacks."
"Right on," Hancock nodded and stood, touching Nate's bare shoulder. "You're not alone on this."
"I wish I wasn't in charge of it," he grumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose feeling the lack of sleep filling his eyes.
"Can… I stay here?" Madelyn asked softly and Nate looked at her in surprise.
"Of course, Maddy."
She nodded her thanks and MacCready wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side so he could kiss her temple. The motion actually warmed Nate's heart, seeing her relax against R.J.. "You can stay also," Hancock said to the other man.
"Thank you," MacCready said and removed his hat to rest it on the barrel of his sniper rifle.
Nate and Hancock went to their bedroom to check on the kids. Shaun was fast asleep, but Duncan was rubbing his eyes and lying on his back. "You want to go sleep with your dad, kid?" Hancock asked and Duncan nodded a bunch before rolling out of the bed ungracefully and then scampered into the other room.
Nate heard Madelyn's soft cooing and imagined her holding him between her and MacCready. They were a good little family. As if they'd been made for each other. Hancock glanced at Nate who was standing by the bed, staring at nothing. "You okay, there, big guy?"
He looked down at the smaller man who lied so that Nate could climb over him and sleep in the middle between him and Shaun. "Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking."
"Well, save that for the morning," he sighed and closed his eyes. Nate turned off the soft light of the lamp on the night stand and got into the middle of the bed, giving Shaun's hair a kiss before rolling over and embracing John.
Much to his surprise, when Nate woke up he was the only one in the bed. With squinted eyes he looked out the bright door at the foot of his bed, which was propped open, showing him his wooden patio with a small group of people standing around drinking and eating. He sighed and rolled over, running a hand over his scalp, through the remaining black hair atop his head and the rough sides where stubble was already growing.
"Daddy's awake!"
Nate was then tackled and he heaved a breath as it was pressed out of him by Shaun. "Hey there," he blindly grabbed for his boy and found him. He picked him up and gently wrestled him onto the mattress, tickling the boy along the way.
"Dad–!" Shaun giggled in protest and Nate opened his eyes, smiling. Shaun's bright eyes looked just like his mother's. When he looked at the group outside Madelyn was standing with Duncan clinging to her leg and MacCready leaned against a support beam near by. It was a nice sight, especially when John stepped into the doorway and gave Nate a crooked grin.
"You gonna get outa bed?"
"Nah, I think I'll just stay here until the world ends again."
"As nice as that would be, I don't think we have time for that." The voice caught Nate off guard and he sat up immediately to look out onto the porch. The ghoul that stepped into view wasn't familiar to him, but he knew exactly who he was without having to be told.
"Shaun…"
"Been a while Nate," his father-in-law sighed.
Nate threw himself out of the bed and went to the old ghoul. "I had no idea you…"
"Oh, put a shirt on," a woman's scratchy voice came from behind him. Nate turned to see a female ghoul sitting at the breakfast table he and Hancock used on their free days.
"Beth," Nate smiled, his heart warmed at the sight of them. The woman stood up and opened her arms awkwardly for a hug from the massive man. He bent and embraced her. She was so small, shorter and thinner than Nora had been, but had the same blonde hair, even after all this time. "I didn't know you two made it," he said, his face shaded with disbelief as he looked between them.
"Well, we would have visited sooner, but we only just learned that the fella doing all these good works around the Commonwealth was Nate Walker," Beth Marshall patted his bare arm. "Don't hand out your name much do you?"
He smiled down at her and then looked at Shaun, his face turning serious. "Is Luke…?"
"Luke is good, last we heard from him," Shaun frowned, shifting his weight. "He ran off to Goodneighbor a little while ago."
Nate glanced at Hancock who gave a shrug and shook his head. "Oh, I'm sorry," the General frowned and his father-in-law shrugged.
"He was never the same after the bombs."
"How has it been so long," Beth asked, touching his face suddenly, "And you look the same?"
"I–uh, we," the flash of memories hit Nate like a freight train. "We went to the Vault, and they… froze us."
"What happened to Nora? John here said it would be best for you to explain," Shaun asked, his hand gripping the other ghoul's shoulder. It was a strange sight, obviously Hancock hadn't told them about their relationship. That was a conversation that Nate wasn't sure he wanted to have.
"We were unfrozen a few years back, and Nora was…" he took a deep breath. "Killed," he finally said and then felt his son wrap his arms around his waist. He rested a hand on the boy's head. "They took Shaun, and I was refrozen. When I woke up I… went to find him," he decided not to mention that this boy wasn't the real Shaun. He was growing, he saw the development, and when he was old enough to understand Nate would tell him about being a synth, but until then, he didn't need to be treated differently.
The Marshalls looked at each other with grave expressions, but two hundred years without their daughter had softened the blow of learning she really was dead. "I knew she wasn't around," Beth said, looking down at her grandson. "Come here, boy," she opened her arms and he hugged, her eager for the attention.
"You've been getting on well," Shaun commented as a change of subject, looking at the metal house.
"Yes, it's been a lot of work, I don't get to come home as often as I'd like," he said and then looked at Madelyn who had sat down with MacCready and Duncan to allow them to speak. She was focused on the boy in her lap, playing with him by poking his nose and then retreating behind her hands. Nate smiled and returned his attention to his father-in-law. "How did you hear I was here?"
"Carla," Beth said with a smile, brushing young Shaun's hair away from his face.
"Ah," Nate nodded and Hancock chuckled.
"I'm sorry you caught us at such a bad time," he said politely to Shaun who was larger than him, but not as big as Nate. "We're having some problems with our settlements being… attacked."
"Oh dear," Beth frowned, straightening up.
"Yes," Nate agreed and frowned. "We aren't sure what's happening to them. The residents –we think– are being taken hostage, but we've not heard anything from the people who took them."
"I knew there was something strange going on," Shaun frowned and looked at John. "There aren't as many caravans as there were a few months ago, and even the raiders seemed to have been thinned out."
"We hadn't even thought about that," Nate frowned at himself, disappointed with missing the detail. "That is a lot of people to be taking."
"How big is this group? What do they do with them when they have them?" John's nose wrinkled and Nate couldn't help but look at Maddy who was staring between them with wide, grey eyes. She was holding Duncan against her chest, stroking his hair absently, but the boy didn't seem the least bit upset, he didn't understand what was going on.
"Oh, stop with all this depressing talk," Beth sighed, annoyed. "We came to talk and be happy and every five seconds you two bring up something that makes my spine cold."
"I'm sorry, Beth," Nate apologized.
"You better be." She squeezed her grandson and straightened up. "Now, are you going to tell me about this young lady or not?" She gestured to the squire who now widened her eyes in surprise.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I introduced myself as Madelyn Dangerfield, Nate's Squire from the Brotherhood of Steel," she said and stood up, handing the boy over to MacCready who kept quiet.
"How did you get such a cute squire?" Beth asked and pinched Madelyn's cheek, which perked with her smile at the contact.
"I'm just really lucky," Nate shook his head in happiness. "I couldn't have asked for a better one. Madelyn has excelled quicker that I could have hoped, and she's… become family." The Sentinel wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side, kissing the top of her green head.
"Oh, stop, you make me sound so much better than I am," she protested lightly, gently elbowing him in the abdomen, but she didn't pull away.
Young Shaun's arms wrapped around Nate's hip and he released Maddy to bend and grab his boy, lifting the ten-year-old easily. "Maddy's like my sister," he informed his grandparents and Nate checked Madelyn's reaction. Her eyebrows perked in surprise, and her eyes softened in happiness. She hadn't expected that.
"So when are you gonna get this boy a mother, huh?" Beth asked, brushing young Shaun's hair out of his face again as he'd messed it up. She had to reach up high now that Nate held the boy.
Here it was. Nate opened his mouth, but his boy spoke first, "John is my other dad, I don't need another mommy."
Beth raised an eyebrow and looked at the ghoul standing beside her husband and Nate turned to also. Shaun clapped a hand on the smaller ghoul's shoulder and said, "Close friends are normally uncles, not dads?"
"Well, I'm more than a close friend," John said with a hit of reservation. His black eyes locked with Nate's.
"John and I," the General started to explain and then Beth gasped.
"Oh–" her hand fluttered to cover her mouth in realization. "Oh, you two. Oh."
Shaun's hand on John's shoulder fell and he looked at Nate with narrowed eyes. "Ah, I knew there was something odd about you."
"I…" Nate frowned, setting his son down so that he could better address his in-laws. "I don't want you to take this as something other than what it is."
"What is it if it's not what we think?" Beth asked.
"I love Nora, still, I…" pain filled him at his words. "I remember her, and the pain is fresh. But I love John as well." Nate went to the ghoul, an arm encircling the ghoul's waist. "Without John, I wouldn't have been able to escape my grief. Losing Nora was crippling. But I loved her just as much as I love John."
"So you… don't prefer men," Beth clarified.
"No," Nate shook his head. "I see men and women equally, the same as humans and ghouls. I don't… care about that. I care about the person."
"Oh," Beth glanced at her husband and then back to Nate.
"So only half a sugar bomb," Shaun said, his lips turned down in a slight frown.
"I guess," Nate tried to smile. In his arm Hancock wrapped an arm around him and rested his head on his shoulder.
"Well, you two are very cute…" Beth breathed and then sighed. "Well, get your skinny butt over here, John," she opened her arms and the ghoul smile, stepped free of Nate to embrace the woman. "Just means I get another son. Hope you're not trouble."
"Trouble's my middle name, Beth," John promised and she laughed light. Then Shaun held a hand out and John shook it, smiling up at the larger ghoul. "Thank you," he said sincerely to the man.
"You're taking care of our grandson, it makes you family. I can't tell Nate how to live his life, and who am I to judge him?" Shaun looked at Nate with steady eyes. It would take him time, but he was willing to try.
"That means the world to us," John said and then faced everyone. "Well, if it weren't ten in the morning this is when I'd break out the drinks."
Beth chuckled, "Who cares what time it is, we aren't going anywhere."
"Do you plan to stay in Sanctuary?"
"For a time, if you'll have us."
"Of course," Nate smiled and led them into his house to prepare some drinks and food.
Three days of sitting in Sanctuary had been just what didn't want to do. But it had almost been required. Madelyn, MacCready, and even Hancock voted they relax. Nate was going to run them ragged out in the waste, and even though they all were younger than him. They called bullshit on him being ready to go, and it wasn't until he sat down on his couch with the knowledge that he had at least three days of nothing that I realized they were right.
Nate was exhausted, and it hadn't just been from running around. His emotions had been on over drive lately too, but that was a part of this new world. He'd been on the go ever since he left that Vault. Even with little more than a year of time between destroying the Institute and now he could count on his hands how many days he'd done nothing.
He knew the waste like the back of his hand, and was always helping settlements in need, clearing out disturbances, or building something. He wasn't a complainer, though, and he had never even admitted to himself he wanted a break. It took those closest to him to force him down.
"Here, drink this," John handed him a bottle of beer.
"Thanks, love," Nate sighed, sitting up on the bed to take in a long sigh before drinking.
"You want to just chill tonight?" the ghoul asked, sitting on the foot of the bed with a leg tucked under him. They had gone at it several times, trying different things out; on the counter, the living room floor, against the wall, that sort of thing. Nate was wiped, though, and John was giving him the 'come get me' smile.
"I have a feeling you would like to do a little more than that."
"Well we haven't–" A knock at the door cut the ghoul off. "I'll get it."
"Okay, it's probably just Maddy."
John left the room and Nate took a sip of his beer, looking out the door at the late evening of Sanctuary. "Uh, Nate… I think it's for you." Nate stood up at the sound of unease in the ghoul's voice. He came around the corner into the living room.
"Who is… it…?" he stopped in front of the couch, staring at the suit of Brotherhood T-60 power armor filling the doorway, pointing a gun at Hancock whose arms were raised in surrender. He could only guess how this looked, with the ghoul and Nate shirtless, alone together in a house.
The suit spoke, breaking the silence. "I am Knight Reagan Knight, I served under Paladin Sebastian Danse in the Capital Wasteland." Her voice was strong, but young, and as she spoke her laser rifle lowered. She was gaging his reaction.
Pain pumped through him, and sadness overwhelmed him. "You know… what happened, then?" he asked, hoping he didn't have to tell her.
"You killed him," she said simply.
"He was ordered to kill him," John defended Nate.
The suit turned on him, and then backed a step up. She ejected from the power armor and grabbed her rifle from the hand of the suit, pointing it at John with skill. "I suggest you stay quiet."
"That an order, Knight Knight?" John asked with just a little too much bite. As funny of a name as that was, this was not the time to be smart.
"It's a friendly suggestion, abomination." The word that Nate hated even more than Hancock had.
"You are aware that Danse was a synth, yes?" If she considered ghouls abominations, then so were synths, and her feelings may not be what he originally anticipated. Nate stepped toward her, arms raised. She turned on him, the end of her gun steady.
"I was informed that he had always been one, meaning that he was unaware to what he was and that he wasn't a threat to the Brotherhood."
"I whole hearedly agree," Nate nodded, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "I didn't want to kill him, Knight."
"Why not?"
That question caught him off guard. "Because… well, I, uh," he frowned, looking for a word, "Loved him."
He hated saying it in front of Hancock, but the look on the woman's face showed she was just as upset. She looked like Nate had just punched her in the chest, and her finger twitched, probably without her intention, firing her laser rifle at Nate. The red beam flashed across the room, skimming the Sentinel's arm, and hit the wall behind him.
John took that as her attack and grabbed a knife from behind him, then leapt forward. She turned on him, bashing the butt of her weapon into the ghoul's chest to stagger him back. "No! Stop!" Nate ordered and the Knight fell back a step out of what looked like habit. This put her outside while John held the knife ready, a hand pressed against his sternum to apply pressure to his aching bone. "Thank you," Nate came forward, standing between them.
He could feel her eyes as he looked and touched John with concerned, light fingers. Then John met his eyes, telling him without words he'd be fine. "You're fucking a ghoul?" her face twisted in disgust.
Nate heard the sniper rifle's action snap into place right before it fired. The knight did as well, and ducked, hitting her knee as the bullet flashed over her where her head would have been. She looked to the side to see who was firing on her, but Nate didn't have to see to know it was R.J.
"MacCready!" Nate shouted in warning, going to the door as the man prepared another shot. "Stand down."
The sniper looked at him with a flicker of his eyes and then returned his shadowed gaze to the knight. Her jaw set and she kept her rifle pointed at Nate. "She'll shoot you, Nate, I can see it in her eyes," MacCready protested.
"She won't," he knew she couldn't.
"Who the hell is she?"
"None of your business, merc," she snapped. He tilted his head at her, just slightly, surprised. "Yeah, I can read it all over you," she informed him.
"Reagan?" Madelyn's voice came from behind MacCready.
The knight's attention flickered passed the ex-mercenary, and she dropped her rifle. "Lynnie…?"
Madelyn smiled and came forward as the woman straightened up. "I can't believe it's you…" she was stopped by MacCready, though, as he held her back. The knight glared at the touch, but Madelyn rested a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at her, seeming to relax some. When she looked back at the knight her smile was wide. "What're you doing here?"
"Trying to kill Nate," R.J. said and stood up.
Madelyn frowned, "Oh… Danse…?"
Nate could see the pain that flooded through the knight. Tears filled her eyes and Madelyn ran up to her, wrapping her up in a hug. "I… Arthur told me…" the knight whispered, circling her arms around the smaller girl. She pressed her cheek against Maddy's green hair. So they both knew Maxson well enough to call him by his first name.
"I'm so sorry, Reagan," Madelyn whispered.
"No… no one told me…" she sobbed. "I came…. I came to the Commonwealth to–to tell him how I–" she cut herself off and sniffled, the tears falling onto her cheeks now.
Madelyn looked up at her. "I'm so sorry, Reagan," she said again and then looked back at the sniper. "Robert… will you tell her about… what you said, about Danse?"
Nate was also curious, as he had known more about the Paladin than MacCready. The sniper looked uncomfortable with all the stares. "I heard him in his sleep once, while we were camped," he gestured to Nate and then himself. "He was saying something about a Knight Knight, I thought it was gibberish. But it sounded like he was talking about a person who was… pretty important."
Of course, Nate had missed it. But now, as he watched grief fill the woman in front of him her knees going weak, he couldn't deny the past any longer. "Do… you know anything else?" she asked, her voice now soft.
Nate spoke. "I know that he spoke very highly of a knight in his service that he left behind." He had never named her, probably because of how laughable the title was, or to protect her for some reason. "I was… blinded by my feelings for him, and never realized that the admiration he showed was more than that." She looked surprised.
"He… talked about me?"
"I didn't want to believe it, but hind sight's 20/20, and now that I connect the dots, I realized that what I imagined between us was just that." He wallowed. "I didn't want to kill him Knight. I tried to talk him out of it. He told me he had 'to be the example, not the exception', and I couldn't talk him out of it."
"That's Danse," she whispered, looking down at her hands. She almost looked like she wanted to hit something. Instead, she pressed her knuckles into her palms, and listened to them crack several times before MacCready spoke.
"He is buried not far from here, I can take you."
That surprised her, and her tears fell with new force. "Buried?"
"I couldn't just let him rot," Nate said and she looked at him, her eyes blurred with grief.
"I… I'd love to see it."
"Okay, just follow me," MacCready said and led her away, up to the entrance to Vault 111.
Danse sat down next to the fire and Nate grinned at him, passing him a beer. The Paladin took it and frowned. "Oh, stop, we've secured the place, you're allowed to relax some, Danse." MacCready huffed, lying down on his sleeping bag and adjusted his hat on his head so that he could get some sleep before his watch.
"It's not the beer," Danse sighed and flicked the cap off with his thumb. "It's actually the brand."
"What about it?" Nate's brows pulled together and he ran a hand through his hair. It was getting too long again, almost coming down to his collar. He might just have to shave it like Maxson's or something at the rate it grew. He was only a knight, so he had to follow the protocols even if he was off doing his own thing.
"Reminds me of a knight under my command, she always despised this name," he shook his head and took a sip, then winced. "With good reason."
"Hah, well, we don't really have much to chose from."
"Yeah," Danse's dark eyes looked into the fire and Nate shifted closer to him, his eyes flickering to MacCready to see if the man was asleep. "Can I ask you something?" the Paladin asked, suddenly and Nate nodded.
"Of course," he pressed his beer to his lips and met the man's gaze, which he broke almost immediately. Nate took it was Danse being shy, playing with him.
"Do you…" he shifted uncomfortable, rolling his shoulders before he continued. "Do you think that a relationship within a squad is inappropriate? Especially when… engaged by the higher ranking officer?"
Nate smirked. "Danse, if you like someone you need to tell them. Ranking shouldn't stop you."
"What if they don't share the same feelings?" Danse's brow creased as he stared at the fire. "What if I've been misreading all of the tells…?"
"Trust me, you haven't been misreading anything," Nate smiled and Danse glanced at him before nodding, and pressing the beer to his lips. The Paladin grimaced at the taste as he swallowed, not saying another word.
Nate felt stupid. Of course he'd been talking about someone else. The memory was clear as day in his mind. Danse had been worried about his feelings about the Knight he'd left behind in the Capital, not the one he was mentoring here in the Commonwealth.
Nate ran a hand through his hair and John frowned at him. "I know I shouldn't be, but I'm feeling a little jealous of Dansey right about now."
The Sentinel's blue eyes flickered up to the black-eyed ghoul and regret filled him. "Oh, John…" Nate stood from where he'd sat down and encircled the smaller man in an embrace.
"I don't know why I let it bother me so much," he sighed, resting his face in Nate's throat. "I mean, the man's not around, it's not like he can take you from me."
"No one can take me from you," Nate whispered and kissed his head. "I mean it, John."
"Yeah… I know that, I guess I'm not as chill as I put on."
Nate's lips moved down to the man's face, kissing his cheek and then the corner of his mouth. He gently tilted the other man's chin up so that he looked him in the eye. "I love you, John, with all my heart."
"Damn, just kiss me," he sighed, and Nate smiled.
Closing the distance, the Sentinel's mouth pressed against the ghoul's, the stubble of his face rough against uneven flesh. Nate's hand on his chin shifted, holding the ghoul's neck, while the other hand pulled him close by pressing against his back. Hancock's arms wrapped around the larger man's neck and he stretched up on his toes to get a deeper kiss.
"I'll always love you, John."
"Christ, you really know how to make me feel like a little girl, don't you?"
Nate smiled and met his lover's eyes. "Hey… I," he shifted, pressing his forehead against the other man's. "I wanted to know… if you wanted to have this…." Nate pulled away and disappeared into the bedroom before returning with a silver chain holding a golden ring. "It… was Nora's wedding ring," he explained, holding it gently in his hand.
John's black eyes widened and he met Nate's blue ones. "I… are you sure?"
"Of course I am, John," he said and opened up the chain to free the ring. "I wore it for a long time, but… I think it's time to give it to you."
The smile on Hancock's face was everything that he'd expected. "I don't know what to say."
"Say yes to being me husband, maybe?" Nate knelt down, looking up at the ghoul. That surprised him, and John's jaw dropped, parting his lips.
"Oh, Natie, you romantic fuck," he breathed and then started nodding. "Of course I'll be your damn husband."
Nate smirked and took the man's smaller hand and slid the ring easily onto his ring finger. How lucky John had such skinny fingers. Nate shifted forward, his face resting against his stomach. The ghoul's hands ran through his hair, and he sighed. "This is not how I imagined this night going."
"Me either, to be honest." Nate stood up and kissed Hancock again.
A few hours later Nate was taking apart his sniper rifle, licking his lips, as he could still taste John on them. The ghoul was cleaning, feeling chipper and wide-awake from their lovemaking. Nate didn't know how he did it.
A knock on the door called John to it, and Nate listened as he put pieced together.
"Yeah?" he heard Hancock frown.
"I came to speak with the Sentinel before I returned to the Prydwen," the knight said. Nate stiffened and started to clear up some space. "Let her in, please, John."
"Your funeral," he sighed and Nate heard the woman come in, and looked up when she entered the living room. "Excuse the mess," John said and slipped around her to go to the couch on the opposite side of the room, away from them, by the back door.
"Please, Knight," Nate gestured for her to sit and she did in the couch that faced a table with the radio which was playing softly. "What was it that you needed to talk about?" he asked her.
"I wanted to apologize for firing on you, sir, and for how I acted." She leaned into her words, showing she meant them. He looked at her, giving her a friendly smile. His arm was already covered in scars, what was one more?
"You're fine, Knight, I took no offence," he promised.
"Thank you, sir, that's… gracious of you," she looked surprised as she let out a long breath.
"I'm sure I would have had a similar reaction if I had learned the news you did." He frowned, setting down a couple of pieces of his weapon and straightened so that he was facing her better. "I think about Danse a lot. What I did… I regret it. I wish I could have done it differently, but," he shook his head. "He talked me into it, and I couldn't talk him out of it."
She nodded her understanding. "I wanted to kill you," she said honestly. "Or at least punch you. You aren't what I imagined," she breathed. "I thought you were going to be like… Maxson."
"Hah," he smiled and shook his head, and John scoffed. "I don't think I could ever be like him. Don't get me wrong, I respect him, he's our Elder, but he also is very young, and he does lack the knowledge that life brings. He's… dedicated, but I almost think it's too much," the Sentinel sighed and then looked back at her. "Don't misunderstand me. I will do almost anything he orders me to. But I draw the line when it supersedes my own beliefs."
"You won't kill your ghoul for him," she clearified.
"Never," he agreed. "Nothing could force me to harm John."
"Nor I Nate," the ghoul interjected, and she looked at him. She looked between the two of them and then nodded.
"The merc said you two were perfect for each other, I don't even need the five minutes he suggested for me to believe it."
"Thank you," Nate's brow creased, showing his sincerity. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk about before you took your leave?"
"I just wanted to check in on Madelyn."
"Madelyn Dangerfield is the best squire I could have asked for," he smiled. "I see her as a daughter more often than not now. I can't imagine not having her at my side anymore."
"So you would stand for her graduation to Knight?"
"Of course, I don't think she's quite there yet, but when the time comes," he nodded, and glanced at John who nodded his head in agreement.
"Good," she stood. "It was a pleasure, sir." She saluted him and he stood, returning the gesture. "Ad Victoriam, Sentinel."
"Ad Victoriam, Knight."
"I hope to see you again, sir," she added as he walked her out.
"As do I," he smiled and she looked his way before climbing into her power armor and left the settlement to return to the Prydwen.