Alexei hadn't realised just how much she had missed the Prydwen and it's hectic lifestyle. Soldiers stalked the hallways, fingers itching for a fight, Scribes followed Proctor Quinlan, writing down his words like he was reciting scripture, or creating his own. With a man as vain as Quinlan, Alexei seriously wouldn't be surprised.
Maxson had told her that they would be having a briefing in his quarters in an hours time, so she had until then to re-inspect the Prydwen and her crew. He had also told her, rather proudly, that because of her having destroyed the Institute and because she was a well known member of the Brotherhood, that they had received a surge in recruitment and that there was many new faces aboard. She felt a sense of pride that her new Family in Steel were getting stronger. This feeling also surprised her because at first, she merely utilised the Brotherhood as a way to dish out her anger on the world and its many, many flaws. Before the war, she had tried to convince Nate, to leave the army behind him, to stay with her and Shaun, but now she was second in command of a major militia, that had saved her ass on many occasions. And she loved it.
One sour moment though had been the reveal of Danse's real identity. Upon the deciphering of the data that Alexei had retrieved from her infiltration of the Institute, It had been revealed that Danse was in fact a synth. Arthur, in a fit of pure rage at this revelation, had ordered the then Knight Coles, to hunt her mentor (And budding lover) down and to put a bullet in his head. She had kept her composure before Maxson and had promised to follow out his orders, but once she had been outside the constant gaze of the Brotherhood, she momentarily broke down, crying away her worries for the only other decent soul that she had come across at that point in her journeys. She had yet to tell him at that point, but she believed Danse to be the only possible remedy for the loss she felt over the loss of Nate, her late husband.
Upon heeding Haylan's advice, she took down the bunker's defences with reverent ease. She boarded the rickety elevator and steeled herself, expecting a bloody battle to the death between herself and Danse. That's why it surprised her to find him armourless, kneeling on the crumbled concrete floor, in his underwear, asking her to kill him. She almost didn't believe it, that the strong soul that had survived constant hardship, had practically crumbled in front of her, begging for death. She refused to kill him however, and she bent down and embraced him deeply, feeling his brunette locks, gracefully brush against her face. He begged for death, calling himself a monster, an abomination. Something that shouldn't even exist. Eventually she convinced him to put on some clothes and she pulled a tattered old flannel shirt and a pair of jeans from her bag, turning away to give him some privacy as he got dressed. Then dragging him by the collar of his shirt, she brought him topside to stand up tall in the world that he had tried to avoid. As soon as she had stood outside though, she saw a Vertibird parked nearby. Solid Black. Excalibur.
Maxson's anger had only seemed to intensify when he saw Danse. He shouted at them, spouting accusations and curses, again comparing Danse to nothing but a monster and an abomination. That had been the last straw and then Alexei in a fit of rage all her own, had shown Arthur all the good that Danse had done in the name of the Brotherhood, how he had been so high praising towards him when she had just met him and how he had nearly cared for the Elder as though they were brothers. In the end, Maxson had calmed down and had only exiled Danse from the Brotherhood, leaving him his life, and had told Alexei that she was to meet him aboard the Prydwen as soon as possible. Ever since, due to the fact that it was no longer a matter of infatuation between a senior officer and his subordinate, he had taken up a room in the Castle and their relationship had really begun to take off.
Heading for Maxson's Quarters, Alexei had bumped into Proctor Ingram who was also headed for the meeting. While Teagan was a creep and Quinlan was a self obsessed hypochondriac, Ingram was simply a grease monkey, someone who was familiar with the smaller cogs that made up the Brotherhoods foundation and in Alexei's early days, the two had established a solid friendship, as well as a common interest in all things mechanical.
"Hey Ingram! How is the excavation going?" Alexei asked while leaning against the cold steel wall beside the door to Maxson's quarters.
"Very well in fact. Everyday we find more tech that surpassed even the advanced systems that we have here aboard the Prydwen. I wouldn't be lying if I said that I'm a bit jealous of the Institutes brains. If it's any consolation though, You should be proud of your boy and the tech that he was able to create down there." She said. Looking down, Alexei's shoulders slumped.
"Thanks. I try to think about all the good that they could have done, but still those bastards twisted his mind, warped his sense of morality and taught him that there was no such thing as the line that should not be crossed, just go further and further, to hell with the consequences, that it's just the results that matter. It was when he referred to his father as /Collateral Damage/ that I knew there was no way in fixing what had been done. So I swallowed any maternal instinct I had to save him and I ended his life with same pistol that had taken his father. Kellogg's Beloved .44 Magnum." She said as she pulled it from it's holster, admiring it and swirling it on her finger, before replacing it in it's holster.
"Well, all things aside, I'm happy that this bloody conflict is finally over. While I make the rare exception in regard to Synths, to hell with the 'Railroad' and their obsessive nattering about Synths being slaves. They would bitch and moan that using Synths was wrong, but did they fight in the mud alongside their brothers and sisters, watching them die for a cause that is in no way comparable to that of a human beings life... I'm sorry about that but if I was with you when you destroyed those Synth-loving Fucks, I'd have brought along 'Big Bertha'. Ingram added with a mischievous smile.
"Whose 'Big Bertha'?" Alexei asked, genuinely interested in the answer.
"'Big Bertha' is my baby. An experimental Mini-Nuke Launcher capable of breaking standard Mini-Nuke Shells down into eight smaller, yet equally as powerful, Mini-Nuke Projectiles. It would have wiped that Church off the face of this green, irradiated earth." Ingram answered. Alexei seemed quite amazed, but before they could continue the conversation, the door to Maxson's quarters swung open to reveal the Elder, who for once was without his trademark battle coat and seemed to be half way through cleaning and neatening up his wild beard.
"Hello there Coles. Ingram. What are you waiting outside my Quarters for?" He asked, sounding genuinely caught off guard.
"Well sir, It's been an hour since we've returned to the Prydwen. I hate being tardy, so I reported to your Quarters for the Briefing you mentioned earlier." Alexei reported. Again, Maxson looked confused. He shut the door, to which Alexei, stared in Ingram's direction, to which she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Then the door opened again. Maxson stood there, still half shaven, looking slightly embarrassed.
"It seems I did not watch the time. You did as you were asked Coles, and for that I thank you. Now as I must finish what I started, could you please go and gather Proctor Teagan and Proctor Quinlan and I shall be ready when you return." He asked.
"Of course Arthur." She replied before saluting and pivoting on her heels, walking in the opposite direction. Then Maxson turned to Ingram, who stared at him silently. Feeling the tension build, he said
"Thank you Proctor, you may wait outside until the briefing begins." And he shut the door.
A short while later, Alexei sat in an armchair in the corner of the room, whilst Teagan, Ingram and Quinlan stood at the sides of the pool table that took up the centre of the Elder's Quarters. Before them, at the head of the room stood Arthur who cleared his throat before starting.
"We need to leave the Commonwealth"