Author's Note: I hope it's painfully obvious that the only times Malcolm remembers to take care of himself are when other people remind him too, and even then he only actually listens when it's framed like he's doing it for someone else... (aka MacCready). Also, Malcolm helps other people so he doesn't have to ruminate over his own problems, one wonders how much longer he can keep that up?

Chapter Nine: May We Have This Danse

Construction on the teleporter was going as smoothly as could be expected, and Malcolm seemed content with their rate of progress.

MacCready had picked up a letter on their way past Goodneighbor, it had been delivered from the Capital Wasteland by a passing caravan.

He read the letter multiple times, feeling waves of relief over the news that Duncan was well on the road to recovery.

All the way to Sanctuary he felt like he was floating on air, and he could hardly stop a goofy grin from spreading on his face wherever he was sure nobody but Malcolm could see him.

MacCready had told Malcolm that he would send for Duncan as soon as he could arrange reasonably safe travel on an armored caravan.

Malcolm had grinned from ear to ear and said he was putting up the caps to pay for whatever MacCready needed to make it happen. "Money's no object." He'd said easily, "Safe travel for Duncan is priority one."

MacCready's heart swelled with joy, sure that his little boy would positively adore Malcolm.

Malcolm certainly had a soft spot for kids, because when they had returned to Sanctuary, Malcolm had presented a fully repaired and polished child's violin to an exuberant Kyle as a birthday present.

Marcy and Jun both looked absolutely floored.

The happy occasion was a little sullied by Preston rushing in, but at least it was a more urgent matter than distant murmurings of increased raider activity, "General, sorry to interrupt!" He said slightly out of breath, "But there's a woman at the gate identifying herself as Scribe Haylen from the Brotherhood of Steel, and she asked after you specifically. Said to tell you it was an emergency."

Malcolm quirked an eyebrow, "I only spoke to her a week ago, I wonder what could have happened since then?"

A lot, apparently.

Malcolm busied himself suiting up with all sorts of armaments, "So Danse is a synth." He huffed incredulously, "Lemme guess, the Brotherhood want him dead." He didn't make it a question.

Haylen nodded, clearly worried. "We'd intercepted a list of synths from the Institute, apparently Paladin Danse was actually a synth named M7-97, I managed to warn him before the Brotherhood could mobilize a response. He's a good man General. Please, can you help him?"

Malcolm shot a look at MacCready, who sighed, "It's your call boss."

Malcolm turned to Haylen, "Any idea where he might have holed up?"

Haylen told them about an old bunker, called Listening Post Bravo, that Danse had been scouting as a possible Brotherhood location, but that was the only place she could possibly think of.

Malcolm sighed deeply, "MacCready, you're not going to like this."

MacCready adjusted his rifle strap, "You're not leaving me behind boss." He said simply.

Malcolm smiled, "I would never, I was just gonna say that we're definitely saving Danse."

"I figured," he groaned, "I would ask how you could possibly risk your neck for someone you barely know, but that would make me a hypocrite, wouldn't it?"

Malcolm nodded, "Get Nick, I want him with us on this, if there's anyone I know who's going to be able to sympathize with Danse, it's him."

MacCready gave a sharp nod and went off to retrieve Nick.

Haylen seemed near tears, "Thank you General."

Malcolm just shrugged off the thanks, "You going to wait here for us?"

Haylen seemed nervous as she replied, "I'm no longer Brotherhood, I defected… because I had my qualms with some of their political views from the start, but this was the cap that broke the brahmin's back."

Malcolm gave a noise of understanding, "Probably best for you to stay here then, talk to Preston Garvey, I think you'd make prime Minuteman material."

She blinked at him, "You're serious?"

"You got morals, a conscience, and your loyalties lie with people and not lauded 'ideals'. Plus, unless you forget I did briefly see you in action, we could always use competent field medics."

MacCready had arrived back with Nick, who seemed grimly determined, "Alrighty doll, MacCready here tells me that you require a synth whisperer?"

Malcolm smiled ruefully, "One of the Brotherhood Paladins turned out to be a synth, we need to find him before they do and get him to safety. Name of Paladin Danse, or M7-97 according to the Institute records the Brotherhood cracked… any questions?"

Nick shook his head, "I've run into Paladin Danse before actually, practically lived for the Brotherhood. This has gotta be hitting him hard."

Malcolm seemed taken aback a little, "So he'll know you? That's good, great actually. Come on, no time to lose."

Malcolm marched off with Nick and MacCready hot on his heels.

Finding Danse turned out to be the easiest part, what with the lead on his possible location from Haylen.

The hardest part was convincing former Paladin Danse that he wasn't just a machine that deserved to be dispatched. Malcolm was still working on getting him to leave the bunker, glad that he'd thought to station MacCready in a sniper's nest on the roof of the bunker to keep a lookout.

"I'm not even real, I was programmed! I'm not even sure how many of these memories are things I actually experienced, anything before I joined up with the Brotherhood is questionable at best."

The most shocking part about this outpouring of existential angst was that Danse was delivering it while accepting a supportive arm across his back from Nick.

In fact, he had apologized to Nick at least three times before getting to his current line of thought, "How do I even, know what parts of my personality are… me?"

Nick patted his back, "It's not easy, lemme tell you. What I've come to conclude over 100 years of having to contend with the same question is this; You are your actions, if nothing else. You can own those. You achieved them."

Danse eyed Nick sadly, "I wonder if… I was based off a real person, like you were, in order to replace them without my even being aware of the fact. Was Danse someone who had friends and family?"

Danse buried his head in his hands, "Heck, I only have one name. I'd always put that down to the fact that surnames weren't that common in Rivet City anyway, and me being an orphan… but now I wonder if it was because nobody at the Institute cared to give me two names."

Malcolm sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Danse, "Regardless of all of that, I know you cared for your Brothers and Sisters, would have laid your life down for them. Haylen knows that too. That's why after she warned you she defected from the Brotherhood, it's because she knew there was no way that the current leadership would be able to overlook your...origins."

Danse seemed taken aback, "Haylen defected? But. That means she's in danger of retaliation from the Brotherhood!"

Nick scoffed, "What an organization, where the only way to leave puts you in danger of retaliation; any wonder why recruitment is down?"

Malcolm leveled a reassuring look at Danse, "She's at Sanctuary, under the protection of the Minutemen. She was more worried about you than herself."

Danse leaned into Nick as he sighed in relief, "Thank you, General Germaine. Scribe… I suppose she's not a scribe anymore— Haylen was my responsibility as a Paladin, and I've grown rather fond of her in the time I've known her."

Nick chuckled, "That's how you know you're more than a machine. You think, and feel."

Danse frowned, "So do you. I'm sorry, I didn't think anything created in a lab… was capable of sentience, I cannot even begin to apologize enough for what I've said in the past."

"It's in the past Danse, I'm willing to forgive it." Nick said easily, "After all, I know from experience how confusing it is to be human one moment and then discovering you're a synth the next." Nick brought up his slightly creaky metallic right hand, "Even with the obvious metal parts it still took a while to accept what I was."

Danse observed the hand, "You...uh not that I want to tell you your business, but the left-most caster joint is misaligned and is hitching the main joists. Probably needs a complete disassembly to oil between the contact points too."

Nick scrutinized his hand, "So that's what's been bugging me recently." Nick smiled, "Learn some neat tricks modding power armor up on that floating ship huh?"

Malcolm coughed, "As lovely as this bonding session is, and it is." Nick rolled his eyes at that but Malcolm continued, "We should get Danse to Sanctuary ASAP, before the Brotherhood thinks of looking here."

Danse stood stiffly, shedding his holotags. "Thank you, both of you. I assume your sniper associate is nested up top?"

"MacCready is indeed up in the sniper's nest, guarding the courtyard."

Danse smiled weakly at that, "Alright then General, lead the way."

MacCready joined them when they gained sufficient distance from the bunker.

"So you really only have the one name?" He asked bluntly, "Huh, hey maybe we can take this opportunity to brainstorm some possibilities."

Danse seemed confused, "Possibilities for what?"

MacCready laughed, "A name, silly! Do you feel like Danse is more a last name or a first name?"

Danse mulled this over, "I suppose a last name, as it has always been paired with my...previous ranking of the Brotherhood."

MacCready nodded, "I get you, like most people call me MacCready, my first name is Robert but only people who know me call me that… well, that or RJ."

Danse tilted his head questioningly, "RJ? But your initials are RM?"

Malcolm laughed, "He's got a middle name, Robert Joseph MacCready, I have a middle name too."

MacCready startled, "You do? How'd that never come up before, what is it?"

"Marshall." He took out his silver lighter, "I sort of omitted that when I told Nick what my full name technically was."

Danse scrunched his face, "What do you mean technically?"

"I come from a long line of Maelstrom Germaine's so my official full name is 'Maelstrom Marshall Germaine IV.'"

MacCready blanched, then laughed, "Man that sounds super pretentious."

Malcolm rolled his eyes, "You think I don't know that?"

Nick piped up, "Nick changed his name to better fit into pre-war America. His name was Nikolai Valentino, but Italian immigrants weren't exactly popular back in the day."

Danse mulled all this over, "I… don't know. It feels odd somehow? Naming myself, I mean."

Malcolm nodded, "Feels like something you should have had at the start huh?"

"Yes, exactly."

Malcolm shrugged, "Well I wasn't born being named Malcolm, but I prefer it. My twin brother… Mack, didn't go by his name 'Machiavelli' either."

Nick whirred in surprise, "You have...had— a twin brother?"

Malcolm nodded sadly, "Yeah last I saw him was three months before the bombs dropped, as far as I figure he should have been in Bar Harbor when it happened...which I understand is now called Far Harbor…"

There was a lull in the conversation and they walked in silence for a bit, until Danse sighed deeply, "So, MacCready… that idea you had about brainstorming a name for me… you have any ideas?"

MacCready hummed in thought, "I've been mulling it over, trying to think of a name that would pair well with 'Danse' as a last name, but it makes every name sound like an odd order? Like, for example: Alex Danse, sounds like I'm ordering someone named Alex to dance."

Danse considered this, "I can see your point… might actually work better as a first name?"

Malcolm shook his head, "You can just have the one name, you can ask Nick if you don't believe me, but a lot of pre-war celebrities went by just one name, just find another title to pair it with."

Nick chuckled agreeing, "Like Cher, or Madonna."

Malcolm smiled, "You could always join the Minutemen," He suggested slyly, "With it's expansion I could use some more people with military experience… like another Lieutenant?"

Danse blinked in disbelief, "I… would your men even accept a former Brotherhood of Steel member as their direct superior?"

Malcolm's smile looked mischievous, "As long as they know you answer to me? Yeah. What do you say?"

Former Paladin Danse, tentatively agreed, and became Lieutenant Danse of the Minutemen, with an ex-Gunner and a Synth Detective as witnesses.

Lieutenant Danse reflected that if anyone had told him this is where he'd find himself a few days ago, he would have thought them insane.

-chapter end-

Author's Note: Hehehe, Danse get's a redemption arch in MY story. Tin can man finally gets a cause he should actually believe in.