Note: I have a plan for this, but I will never be able to protray the BoS as I'd like to be able to. *sigh*

Need to make a choice of which fella, soon. Honestly, I love them both but I am skewed toward Danse. Leave me a review to let me know which one you prefer, hey?

"Too much debris in the way," Ruiz was muttering, holding a laser rifle up to her eye and staring through the scope at the distance. "I can't tell―"

The Glowing Sea was a desolate place. Danse understood the importance of being out among the blasted earth and monsters, though he could have wished for a better situation. The most worrying aspect of the mission was that Ruiz had declined to bring her power armor with her. He did not like or enjoy the fact that she had to flood her system with chems in order to survive the hostile environment, when it could have been avoided.

Once they were inside of Sentinel Site, he expected it wouldn't be as much of an issue. The site was one of the rare Pre-War strongholds that had been shielded from radiation, in the event of full attack. But her steadfast refusal to wear the armor and braving the Sea without protection made him wonder if she was intentionally allowing herself to come to harm. Purposefully subjecting herself to the radiation would only cause harm.

Whatever purpose Ruiz would have to hurt herself... Danse didn't understand the woman. His inability to handle her, before, had been embarrassing, though such outbursts had halted since his talk with her. He now felt more readily able to control the situation, if she were to break down again. But she had not done so.

She also had not brokered the subject with him, since. He was not so anxious to bring it back to the surface after burial. To test his new ability. He wasn't sure it was actually there.

Ruiz growled and lowered the rifle, shaking her head. Danse watched her pull a sleeve end out from her glove and wipe her eyes, then return the rifle to her face. "There's that chapel, but..."

"We should move ourselves to a higher vantage point," he mentioned, turning his head to survey the area. There wasn't much higher ground than what they were standing on, though. A disadvantage to the area they were surveying, blasted into gentle rolling hills and brown air.

"I don't think―" she started, glancing over at him. Her eyes swept up his arm and locked onto his shoulder. She paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Hang on. I have an idea."

Danse made a questioning noise, watching her move behind him. He half-turned to see what she was doing but she cut him short. "Stand still, okay?" she asked, and he felt a tug on the back of his armor.

"What are you doing, Knight?" he asked, curious. From the feeling of her tugs, he guessed she was about to climb the back of his armor. Why―he answered his own question, immediately. The height disparity between Ruiz and the ground would be far greater if she was above him. Without a comparative height in the area, the only option was to stand on his shoulders and surveil. Smart of her, to think like that.

He was surprised, though. Ruiz had not employed closeness such as this, before. Perhaps she felt more comfortable with him, since their discussion on the footbridge in the Hills. The sort of familiarity that he would require to touch another soldier, especially a subordinate, in such a manner, would have taken him years to achieve.

"I'm going to get up higher," she explained, "by using your armor. Don't move."

"Affirmative," he said, feeling her hand moving against the rubber seal of his helmet as she grabbed at the collar of the armor. Ruiz pulled herself up until her knees were on his shoulders.

"Okay, so..." He felt the weight on his shoulders as she anchored herself, pushing up into a kneel. "If I fall, you can catch me, right?"

Danse replied in the positive, but he was―well, he wasn't uncomfortable but―he searched his mind for a word to describe what was making his blood run a little faster. Was he nervous? Having the Knight so physically near to him made his heart skip slightly. It was not a pleasant feeling, yet at the same time he wished it would never end.

Feeling such as that were not very useful to him. He didn't know quite how to deal with himself, when he felt like this. He doubted that Ruby would appreciate his acting out such feelings, either. She was more focused now than she had been, and he was satisfied to have Ruiz back to normal.

He knew that Ruiz had been unsatisfied by merely being his subordinate. She would not have mentioned that she needed someone to speak to, someone who was not her commanding officer, if she was not unhappy. She'd implied that she needed him as a friend, and he had no desire to ruin that with romantic intent. He considered her a good friend, and so he had told her.

He was unaware if the feelings he was experiencing now were a part of such intent, or if he was simply uncomfortable with the physical closeness. He did enjoy Ruiz's company more than anyone he'd known, even Cutler. But he was not entirely certain how to interpret his own feelings.

Ruiz's knees slid a little, prompting her to put a hand on the top of his helmet. "Sorry," she said, as she steadied herself.

Most definitely an unpleasant feeling, when something as small as a touch―through his power armor, even―caused him such discomfort. Danse cleared his throat and fought the urge to tilt his head and look up at her. "Ruiz, I don't think this action is very safe," he said, keeping his head as still as possible.

"Nothing's safe," she said, tapping the top of his head briefly. The noise rang through his helmet far too loudly, as she pulled the rifle from her back. Danse could hear the powering up of the energy pack, and heard the click as she readied it for combat. "Just hold still and let me get a look at what's down there."

Danse sighed, quietly. "Very well. But I would advise you not to remain on my shoulders for very long. We are not without danger, here."

Ruiz chuckled. "Yes, sir," she said, lightly, and took a moment to examine the area. After a time, she put her rifle away and put her hands down onto the front of his armor, moving herself back down toward the ground.

A slight movement out to the right of their position brought him alert, snapping his head to the side to address it. He brought up his weapon, as Ruiz was climbing down his back, in a rough motion. She swore in a high-pitched voice, and he froze.

The tugging on his back grew more intense. "Danse," she muttered, as she put a boot onto his leg. "You moved and my fingers are stuck in your elbow."

Danse blinked behind the helmet facing. He was quiet, watching the movement that had yet to stop. The sound of her gloves scraping against the metal plating was the only sound he could hear, as a radscorpion burst out of the ground in front of them―

Ruiz jerked away in time for him to bash the radscorpion away, stunning it for a fraction of a second. She pulled her weapon and they decimated the creature shortly, murky blood splattering the ruined soil. Once the threat had been eliminated, Danse turned back to Ruiz and saw her examining her glove, holding her laser rifle aimed at the ground.

"I am sorry," he started, but she waved at him and holstered the rifle.

"It's fine," she said, turning back to the distance they had been watching. "Like you said, it was dangerous. I'm not hurt."

"Let us be on own way, then," he said.

"Yeah." Ruiz started walking, and he followed.

The two of them reached Sentinel site, without much interference. He explained a little about the site to her, but she didn't appear to be listening. Danse cleared his throat, looking down at her. Ruiz blinked, and turned to him. She was distracted, staring blankly at the outside of the burned carapace.

"Knight Ruiz?" he asked, carefully.

"I'm... I'm okay, Danse," she said, sighing. "Was thinking about this mission, is all."

"Let's go inside," he said, motioning at the door. "The radiation out here is very heavy." Ad he did not wish to have yet another awkward conversation with her, subject to the ravages of the wastes.

"Yeah," she agreed, and opened the door.

Sentinel site was full of ghouls. They cleared the threat as she scouted the area for a way to shut down the site alert, moving steadily toward the bottom of the facility. Ruiz was quiet until they came across another human being―a Child of Atom guarding the warheads that they were there to acquire. Danse eyed the Assaultron standing nearby, assessing the threat.

"Let me handle it," Ruiz told him, and Danse watched her speaking with the man. It was a mere moment later that she had convinced him to let them gain access. Without any need for fighting.

Ruiz was strong, he knew. Her words were well-placed, and his pride in her ability was as well. He was not incorrect in thinking she would be in power, one day. The Brotherhood had benefited from her variety of persuasion, and he was glad to have run across her.

Merely being able to get into the warhead storage without having to hurt anyone was enough to instill pride in him, in his choosing to patronize the woman. ...Perhaps he enjoyed Ruiz for her ability to get things done, with or without the combat sometimes necessary to survive in the wastes. Cutler had been that way; careful and able to deter a threat. Calculating and intelligent. It saddened him that Cutler's chapter in life had ended so abruptly.

But at least it was by the hands of someone who cared for him. Unlike Ruiz's husband. He winced at the thought.

He swept the room to assure himself that the warheads were in good condition and of use to the Brotherhood, then turned to face Ruiz. "I have to stay behind," he told her, staring down at her as she goggled at the amount of warheads left in the bunker below the site. "I will guard the acquisition until it can be removed. You return to the airport and report."

Ruiz nodded, absently, before pausing and holding her hand up to her chin in thought. "Danse," she said, quietly.

"What is it, Knight?"

Ruiz sighed and rubbed her chin. "Just..." she said. "Getting Liberty Prime remade, and all... it's going to help a lot of people. But..." she trailed off, looking thoughtfully into the darkness.

"All thanks to the Brotherhood," he said, pointedly, but she didn't reply. Just turned and made a noncommittal noise. Danse narrowed his eyes at that. If she were expressing doubt about the motives of the Brotherhood, now―

"Ruiz," he said, more of a question than anything.

She looked back at him, then sighed and turned away. "Danse, I..."

"Are you doubtful of the Brotherhood's goals?" he asked, staring her down. "That is not what you indicated to me, previously." Pulled the cast right off the broken bone, and brought it into the open. Ruiz was not oblivious, she would know that he would react in such a way.

But she would continue to try to convince him of her neutrality, if that was her affiliation; she was stubborn and strong, and she would fight. He felt embarrassed in himself to have chosen her as a protege, if she was about to claim allegiance to another.

If the Brotherhood was forced to make her into an enemy, because she was more focused on helping the Minutemen or another faction, she would be a powerful one. But only for her words. She was a terrible shot, and the numbers of Minutemen were dramatically reduced. They would not want to make war with Elder Maxson. They would be cut down, easily.

"Danse," she chided, acting nervous. "I don't think the Brotherhood is wrong." She looked down. "Just... I don't like how certain interests are being represented."

"Certain interests that supported your goal of reaching the Institute," he reminded her, stiffly.

"My goals run alongside the Brotherhood goals," she replied, her voice becoming firm. "They are of the same vein, removing the Institute as a threat to the people of the Commonwealth."

"But at some point, they may not," he finished, an icy tone creeping into his voice. "You do realize that you may make an enemy of the Brotherhood―"

"I'm not trying to make enemies―" she began, and groaned. "Look, I'm spreading myself thin over all these people―and I don't want to upset any of them―"

She paused for a long time and he watched her face. Ruiz was conflicted, for some reason, and he had not been aware of it until this point. Until it was very nearly too late, and it was certainly not a good time for her to evince such behavior. Elder Maxson would see her withdrawal from the Brotherhood as treachery. Ruiz would not realize what Pandora's box she was opening, if she incurred the wrath of the Elder―who was not known for mercy―

"If you believe that the Institute is a threat, then it would be best to support the Brotherhood," he said, trying to keep the anger from his voice. "We are the only solution that is available."

"That's what I thought," she muttered. "...Hubris. Look, Danse―"

"If you are intending to turn against Elder Maxson, you know how he will react," Danse interrupted, staring at her. "You know what I will be ordered to do. I do not want to have another friend's death on my conscience."

Ruiz turned her her to stare at him. "Really."

"To make oneself an enemy of Elder Maxson is not something one does lightly," he replied, direly.

"Then I'll accept that," she snapped. "When it happens. I am only questioning the methods of the Brotherhood, right now! You don't need to react like―" She growled, in frustration. "Like I am attacking you!"

When. Danse felt a strike of pain in his chest. She assumed that it was inevitable. Why? He turned his head away, and tried not to imagine what he would feel if he were ordered to take her out. It wasn't... easy, to stop that thought.

Why would she even help the Brotherhood, if she intended to back out? Why did she even accompany him to the Sentinel site? Giving Liberty Prime his weapons would give the Brotherhood a resource that was nigh-unstoppable, one that she knew the Minutemen were not able to fight against.

"I'm sorry, Danse," she said, slowly. "It's―just, the Commonwealth is―" she paused. "Abused. Broken. Needs a gentle hand, not a firm one. If we can make the towns better, give the people the ability to fight back for themselves, then the Commonwealth can make itself better without being controlled in one form or another. Helping people to help themselves―" She sighed.

He understood. She was only trying to help the people of the Commonwealth themselves, but she had been upset by the revelation of Shaun running the Institute; she had come to know that the people here would not help themselves without being assured constantly. Helping the Commonwealth was like trying to befriend a stray dog. They would always shy away from the hand, until they had been enabled long enough. Until the trust was given without question.

And the Brotherhood would not do that. It would leave, once the situation was more stable. Once the threat was gone and the technology gathered from the area. Elder Maxson would order them out, to establish safety elsewhere.

But Ruiz seemed to think that the Brotherhood was merely trying to conquer the Commonwealth, just as the raiders had. The iron grip that the Gunners and the raiders had on the area could be shaken loose by the Brotherhood and would be, eventually, shattered.

But they would not replace that grip with an even stronger one. That was not their goal. He had not properly educated Ruiz on her entry into the Brotherhood, and now her opinion was suffering. He must rectify that opinion.

Danse returned his gaze to hers. "It is not my intention, nor is it the Brotherhood's, to rule over these people. If they would apply themselves to join us, they would gather the same benefits as you and I have. And you know those benefits have brought you further than you would have gotten, before."

"Join you," she said, sounding angry. "And what farmer would join a group who demands his crop in return for not being overrun? I've seen how the Brotherhood works. They take what they need, without giving quarter!"

Danse breathed in, sharply. Her opinion had suffered greatly. He might be able to fix that. "We take because we need the resources to enable security. Sacrifice must be made," he answered, carefully. "If one expects safety. You know that, Ruiz. Your husband was a soldier―"

Ruiz stomped over to him, grabbed at his armor and pulled him down to her level, staring at him angrily. He stared at her in surprise, letting her move him when she should not have been able to. His gaze met her green eyes for a brief moment, seeing the anger and pain there.

He should not have brought up the subject. It was a mistake that he would now have to face the punishment for.

"Don't you lecture me about sacrifice, Danse!" she growled, her face animated. "I don't need th―and you, of all people? You―bringing up Nate―using him against me like that?!"

Danse lowered his eyes but did not move his head. "I apologize, Ruiz," he said, quietly. "It was wrong of me to say such a thing."

"Nate wanted―" Her eyes filled up with tears. "He wanted to make a difference, make things better for other people!" She released his armor and backed away, wiping her face. "I―I've been doing all I can, because―because he would have!"

Danse breathed in, shakily. Her outburst was getting to him. As much as he did not enjoy the tension, he also did not enjoy that he himself felt powerless to skew the conversation away from it. Ruiz would always make him feel terrible, for his inability to speak as freely as he ought to be able. For putting his foot in his mouth, and biting down.

"Ruiz, I am sorry―" he paused, and removed his helmet to look her in the eyes. "I understand. Nate served for a greater good. I am only trying... to compare his service to what we are doing as part of the Brotherhood."

"It's not the same," she said, sounding wounded. She did not meet his gaze, this time. "Not at all. You can't take from the people you are trying to serve, or demand that they provide to you the means to do so. That is not freedom!"

"I understand your concern," he said, slowly. "But I am not able to change what has happened. Or what will. Collecting technology and and receiving supply from the wastes is what the Brotherhood does, Ruiz. It is the only way we can continue to serve them."

She started back toward the facility, shaking her head. "I don't expect you to change," she muttered. "No one ever does." She disappeared into the facility.

Danse didn't know quite what to say. He was unsure if this argument made her into an enemy, or if he should note it as a mere discussion of politics. She was... angry that he'd had the gall to talk about what she had lost. He had been wrong to bring up her dead husband as a way to reassure her. Not only because he was not in a position to have known anything about the man, and had simply assumed his service meant she would understand―but also because he knew she was emotionally charged when that subject was broached, and he had done so. It was on his head, if she decided to leave the Brotherhood.

Perhaps she felt Elder Maxson was too strict in his treatment of the Commonwealth's population. There was no price on the freedom that the Brotherhood intended to bring to the wastes, at least none that could be identified.

He had thought she understood that, when she agreed to join the Brotherhood.

Danse reapplied his helmet, stared up at the bombs around him, and remembered his own past.

I am not a very good patron, he thought.

But he was a good soldier.