Note: Today is the one year anniversary of publishing my first story on FFNet! Technically, I wrote a few other stories before March 23, 2015, but officially, this is the first publish date! 743,290 words published in the last year, thank you guys so much for your reviews and favorites!

Butterfly Stitches is my 7th most popular story (in the short time it's been here) out of 23 total stories. I'm so glad you all enjoy it. This is fairly short for BS chapters, but is the wrap up for the previous chapter. (minor edit, I don't proofread well)

Really, thank you all for reading!

"The only reason you're still alive... is because of her."

He couldn't believe it.

Danse watched Elder Maxson turn and walk away, walking slowly and determinedly, before he turned to Ruiz. She'd put her hands on her hips and was staring at the Elder, her mouth pinched together. He looked back to watch Maxson entering his Vertibird, acting almost indifferent to what had just happened.

What had happened...? He couldn't process the entire event without feeling confusion. ...Ruiz had saved the life of a synth who she rightly should have destroyed. But why?

He knew she meant what she had told him. About sacrifices, about friends. About losing him in addition to losing her family. She'd nearly let loose a stream of tears when she first saw him, inside the bunker. Ruiz being so close to tears again... for someone who wasn't her late husband, or her lost son, brought to mind thoughts that he didn't dare think.

He was not so oblivious to think that her executing him wasn't an arduous task. A hard decision to make, to follow her orders; an even harder one to defy those orders. Ruiz had said before that she needed someone to talk to that wasn't her boss, or a hired gun. She'd wanted a friend, and he had tried his best to provide that.

But he was... he was not able to understand why she would cry for him. Why she would see him and evince the same reaction as she had when she'd cried for her husband and for Shaun. Surely, she couldn't―she wouldn't be able to feel so strongly for someone, after her life had been ripped from her hands. He would never think that. No matter his own feelings for Ruiz, which had been steadily progressing to a level he was uncomfortable with and unsure how to express.

Her emotions, whatever she felt, were clearly strong enough for her to brave the wrath of Elder Maxson. Danse had told her not to go against orders, not to risk the chance. He had been satisfied that they'd done their best. He was ready to die, in that moment.

He'd asked her to destroy him. And she'd refused.

Her feelings would not allow her to do so. Danse remembered how he'd felt when he tried to convince her not to make an enemy of Maxson―

Maxson. The Elder held no love for him. No matter how Danse felt, he was no longer Brotherhood. No matter how much history he had with Arthur, he was not the person who had made that history, nor was he the person who had joined the Brotherhood upon hearing Maxson's hope-filled speech. That person had been replaced.

Danse was not real.

He felt ill, thinking about it. He was... he had never been Brotherhood. It had all been a lie, and the person he'd replaced was―

He pushed the thought from his mind.

Ruiz still felt so strongly for him, so much so that she would put herself in harm's way for him. Ruiz had saved his life and damn near made herself into an enemy of the Brotherhood, just as he'd feared. She'd stood against the hatred and she had taken it down. As with every other problem he had seen her go up against, including her grief, she had fought and she had won.

...Perhaps what she'd meant, when she spoke of the intent of the Brotherhood, was that the Commonwealth needed less strong-arming and more people who were willing to put themselves against the indiscriminate violence of the wastes.

It was certainly her most effective tactic.

There was no sound until the Vertibird took to the air, Maxson leaving them to their individual fates. Danse's fate would not continue with the Brotherhood. But Ruiz's would. She would go on to excel in her career, if she so chose.

He honestly hoped she would continue. Her words had enlightened him to an alternate solution to the problems of the Commonwealth. The fact that she was able to sway Maxson, at all―and the somewhat-pacific departure as a result of those words―

To convince such a hard man, capable of leading an enormous amount of people, that he should give mercy to the enemy―was a strength worthy of utmost respect. Thank God she was on the right side. Such a capacity for speech was something to be feared.

Danse fully believed that she could shift the power structure of the Brotherhood with little effort. He now felt that might be necessary, for the future. For her own future.

He was still proud of her. Was still... negotiating with his own feelings for her. But he was most certainly proud of who she had become, through what trials she had weathered.

And he was thankful that she had saved his life.

Danse breathed out, then turned to Ruiz. He stared at her, trying to order his thoughts enough that he could thank her properly. She watched the Vertibird as it flew away, her eyes narrowed into slits. She was breathing a little harder than she ought to have been, her hands slowly clenching into fists.

"Brother, you're in for it, now," the ghoul muttered, standing behind them both. Danse looked to him with a frown, wondering what he meant―

Ruiz spun on Danse, grabbed him under his chin by his cap and pushed him into the wall of the bunker, her teeth bared and jaw clenched. Danse was too surprised to react, letting her shove him into the concrete with an astonished grunt. Her fingers dug into the fabric at his throat, sharp nails pressing into his skin.

"You are not leaving! Do you understand me?" she hissed at him, looking furious. "You will not leave the Commonwealth!"

"..." Danse opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. Stared at her shining eyes and let the thump of his heart fill his chest. Her fingers were warm against his skin, making his head fill up with those undefinable emotions he was terrible at conveying. He didn't like that, didn't understand it―

If his emotions were... if everything that he was had been programmed, he supposed he had no choice but to appreciate Ruiz. He had been created using the technology her son helped to perfect. He would not put it past the shady practices of the Institute to have programmed him with some sort of predisposition toward admiring her.

Danse sincerely hoped that was not the case. She did not deserve to be played for a fool, once again, nor did she deserve the horrible realization that she had put worthwhile emotion and trust into someone―something―designed to―

His role in the battle between the Institute and the Brotherhood was... what? It was probable that he was designed to provide intelligence about the Brotherhood. To determine the threat of the Brotherhood toward the Institute. Such a shameful purpose, he didn't wish to contemplate.

Danse sighed. "Ruiz," he started, his voice strained. "I―"

She pulled him forward, and slammed him into the wall again, her angry eyes filling up with tears. "You will not leave the Commonwealth!" she repeated. Her voice was thick with the emotion he had seen roiling in her eyes, when she found him inside the bunker.

He stared at her, unsure what to say. She always had been better than he, at speaking her mind. It would be best to let her have her say, before he replied.

He doubted he could form a coherent sentence with her so close to him, at any rate. She was an attractive woman, and he would be stupid to not acknowledge that. Her hands were so warm, her body shaking from the agitation... he did not enjoy this version of Ruiz.

"Look, I don't―" she breathed out noisily, closing her eyes and clenching her fingers more tightly on his collar. "I don't care what you think is best. I don't care if you are a synth, or a Super Mutant, or―if you're the mayor of some bumfuck town in the middle of Boston!"

Hancock snorted indignantly, grumbling under his breath. "Bumfuck, what the shit, thanks a fucking lot, Ruby―"

Ruiz ignored him, breathing out hot air onto Danse's face. "You need to stay here, Danse," she said, as seriously as he'd ever heard her... immediate events included. "I need you... to stay... here."

The silence that drew out onto the air was a long one. Danse wondered if she would ever open her eyes, as he studied her face and watched the tiny twitches that strong emotion brought. He could see the line of moisture pooling and falling from the edges of her eyelashes. She was crying for him, again.

God, he really hoped he hadn't been programmed to love her.

Ruby couldn't hold the tears back, anymore. The altercation with Maxson had taken every last bit of her willpower and now she was pissed, shaken, and crying. Crying unabashedly, like she had so many times before, in front of the Paladin―

Not a Paladin anymore. Ruby sucked snot up into her head and tried to pull herself together. It didn't matter if she cried. Danse wouldn't understand why, anyway. He―he wasn't the kind to see why. It had taken him so long to understand her problems, before.

She didn't really understand them, herself. Didn't understand how she could learn that he was a synth and still have the same feelings for him. Still feel as she had... and why she'd wanted to save him, even though it had been a huge risk for her, for the people she was representing.

It would have been the worst decision for her to make, if she hadn't been able to talk Maxson into backing down. She'd put not only her own life on the line to keep Danse safe, but the lives of every person in the Commonwealth. Preston, the Minutemen, every settler who'd ever trusted her... all the people she'd tried to help―

It could have been the stupidest thing she'd ever done, including filling out that goddamned Vault paperwork!

Ruby pulled Danse back again, weakly pushing him into the wall for a third time. She leaned forward, pressed down by the incredible relief that she felt. Relief that she was―as Danse had said, able to handle her problems―even if she felt completely drained. Relief that, as she'd wanted, he hadn't been sacrificed.

Finally, something had gone her way. She'd almost started to lose hope.

His hands moved to her shoulders, holding her up as she leaned forward. Ruby gasped out a shudder and let him take her weight, lowering her head even more. "I need you to stay," she repeated, her voice faint and crackling.

"That is an excellent idea," he said, a smile in his tone. "I didn't intend to stay at this listening post for the rest of my life. But it will have to do."

Ruby opened her eyes wider, looking up at him in astonishment. How―how could he still think she wouldn't want him to travel with her? God, she'd never understand him―or even why she like him, as awkward as he could be―

"Come with me," she pleaded. "Please."

"You heard Maxson," he said, firmly. "You have to report to the Prydwen. If I show my face there, I'll be shot. I won't risk that." He kept his eyes on hers.

Of course he expected her to continue working with the Brotherhood. He really couldn't think any other way. She was thankful for his stubborn nature. Another wave of relief washed over her. To know he was still himself, even if it was so incongruous to his existence... was comforting.

"I don't want to go back to the Prydwen," she mumbled, blinking back fresh tears. God, why couldn't she stop crying? It was so silly, feeling so relieved that he was going to live―and that he was going to stay in the Commonwealth―

"I'll stay here and try to make this bunker livable," he said, turning his head to look at the building. "When you need me, you know where I'll be."

Ruby didn't think she had any willpower left in her, after what had happened, but somehow she managed to stay on topic. "Come with me," she said, again.

"Ruiz," he chided, turning his gaze back to her.

"I can't do this by myself, Danse," she muttered. "You know I can't."

"I know you can, Ruiz," he said, but there was an odd tone to his voice. "But if you have a moment..." He made a thoughtful noise. "I have something personal I'd like to discuss."

Ruby blinked away the last wave of tears, momentarily jarred by his words. "What?" she asked, confused.

"I got the fucking hint, already," Hancock suddenly snapped. She jerked her head to the side, staring at him. She'd almost forgotten he was there―

"I know when I ain't welcome. Good luck." Hancock turned and started to stalk off, boots hitting the ground angrily.

"John, I'm so sorry―" she started, but let her words fade away when she heard the rattle of a Mentats tin and an unfriendly curse aimed in their direction. Ruby watched him walking off, frowning. Shouldn't have said that bit about Goodneighbor. She'd have to apologize to him and hope he forgave her idiotic insult brought on by the stress of the moment.

Once Hancock disappeared into the trees, she turned her attention back to Danse. Realized her hands were still jammed into the cap that he wore and jerked then away quickly, flushing in embarrassment. Danse let his hands fall from her shoulders to rest at his side.

She avoided making eye contact. "What did you want to talk about, Danse?" she asked, carefully staring at his chin. She'd not meant to be so forward. The heat of the moment had made her lose her head.

"I'm sorry you have to see me at my worst instead of at my best," he said, slowly. "What has happened, what is bound to happen... is not what I would have intended for you, or for myself, to encounter."

"I've only ever seen you at your best," Ruby told him, truthfully. "You stuck by me through my worst. I wouldn't be here, if you hadn't refused to give up on me." And that was the truth. It would have been so much easier to follow through on Maxson's orders if Danse hadn't been so willing to work with her through her fugues.

...Now she felt terrible for insulting Goodneigbor. She wouldn't be out here, anyway, if Hancock hadn't made defying her orders seem so worthwhile. Maybe she could find some Daytripper or something, and get on his good side. She sighed in frustration.

"I don't intend to let you wander the wastes alone," Danse said, shifting his weight. "I will go with you, back to Sanctuary Hills. But I need time, Ruiz."

She hazarded a look upward. Didn't like to see the expression on his face. Obviously, he would have to come to terms with himself. With being a synth. As she'd come to terms with her own troubles.

She felt as awkward as he must, most of the time. She hadn't even thought about his feelings, when she approached him. Hadn't though he would give in, like he had, and definitely hadn't planned for how he would feel after she'd saved him.

He must be confused. Angry. She wouldn't blame him.

"Take all the time you need, Danse," she said. A stray thought crossed her mind, and she smiled in spite of herself. "But... if you need to speak, then speak."

Danse's face contorted, briefly. He chuckled, and a wide smile spread over his face. "Thank you, Ruiz," he told her, proudly. "I have never been so grateful to have my own words come back on me."

Ruby nodded, sighing. "C'mon, Danse. Let's get out of here."

"I couldn't agree more, Ruiz."