The heat was heavy on his shoulders as Danse stood out upon the battlements of the castle. Alexei had asked him to come out here, but as more and more Brotherhood soldiers looked at him with disgust and disbelief, he began to wish that for once he disobeyed an order and stayed inside. As his eyes scanned everyone that stood in front of him, he eventually settled on the reassuring glance he received from Scribe Haylin, who had come out to offer her support. Feeling ashamed that he betrayed her and Rys, he tried to stand back, but was interrupted when Alexei came out of the armoury and headed towards the podium. She was shadowed by her security detail, but they stood back, granting her, her personal space. It always surprised Danse, exactly how many personas Alexei seemed to have as she was capable of changing between them instantly. Earlier, he had met her soft and affectionate side when they were alone, but now he was witnessing her stoic authoritative side and to be frank, she was terrifying. Her posture was straight, strong and unbroken. Her eyes showed determination and her walk showed poise and grace. She climbed the battlements, taking two steps in each stride and soon stood before the gathered Brotherhood soldiers.
"I stand before your today as your Elder. I am glad to have gotten to know you over the course of my campaign, fighting against the Institute and especially the battle of bunker hill. While I am grateful for the whole experience, it would not have been possible, if not for the efforts of one former-Paladin Patrick Danse. The paladin has been forgotten and disgraced by you all and now I wish to offer him a chance to present himself before you and tell you his own side of the story about the reality of him being a synth. Could you possibly stand forward please." Alexei said as she gestured to one side, beckoning for Danse to step forward. He did as he was asked and stood before the crowd. As they threw objection after rejection at him, he kept his resolve and took the verbal assault.
"Shoot the robot freak!" Someone shouted from the back. Soon a small group started to chant the mantra but Alexei soon interfered.
"Danse is not to be harmed. The threat of the institute is no more. I personally saw to that as I executed my own flesh and blood. The Institute and all it's resources are now belonging to the Brotherhood. I am re-instating Knight-lieutenant Danse, effective immediately and he will handle recruit training." Alexei said, her tone final.
Eyes stared at her, dumbfounded. First were the soldiers, staring at their leader confused on why she'd possibly recruit a member of the enemy. Second were Danse's. Here was the new Elder, his love, sticking her neck out for him, attempting to try and give him reason again. She probably knew how much he missed the Brotherhood but he had given up hope of ever being a member again. That heavy thumping feeling in his chest began to take up pace then, seemed to ascend to another plane in that instance. No one had ever tried to help him or others around them like Alexei did. He now knew that he couldn't possibly ever be without her. Even if nothing ever came from it, he'd protect her until he couldn't keep going.
The silence was broken by a laser fire. Every one turned to see the now disgraced Paladin Du Foe. He was clutching a laser rifle to his chest and was shaking with rage. He had a look of angry determination on his face and was aiming the rifle directly at Alexei. Almost automatically, Jess and Mullins practically jumped in front of Alexei, aiming their own weaponry at Du Foe. Relieving herself of a frustrated sigh, Alexei walked out in front of her guards despite their objections. She opened her coat to reveal a pistol hanging on her hip. Everyone knew about the General's beloved 44. magnum. The crowd watched as she unclipped the holster, removed the handcannon and dropped it beside her.
"I will not have our Brothers and Sisters turned against each other. If you have a problem with me, Du Foe I recommend that you be able to keep up your side of the argument with more than hot air and thick-headed bravado. We will fight fairly, one against one. Hands only." She said as she cracked her knuckles.
The former Paladin cracked a scheming smile. He cracked his own knuckles and threw his rifle to the ground. As they progressed closer together, Alexei took a closer look around her. The normal bustling hub had lulled to a silenced observation, everyone interested with how the fight was going to end up. For only a quick second, her eyes locked with Danse's, his intensive worries and fears being projected by the look in his eyes. She knew that she still had to prove herself a leader to the militaristic faction, but had hoped that it wouldn't involve bloodshed. She was peaceful to a fault, but ask any of her friends and they'll all tell you the same thing. When she's determined, she can accomplish anything. While some members, more the Minutemen than the Brotherhood looked on the fight with varying levels of worriment, Alexei did not falter. She had confidence in her abilities and hoped that the people around her could see it.
"Arthur may have talked about the Institute being a malignant growth or a cancer, but little did he know that you were the cause of it all. You gave birth to the biggest terror this miserable piece of land had ever experienced. You were the malignant growth. You were the cancer and Arthur should have killed you as soon as you set foot on board the Prydwen. Instead, you worked from the shadows against our proud faction and killed our leader, only to be mysteriously put in his place. You are a scheming piece of shit and I will take your life to grant our fallen members justice... I've been waiting for this for a long time." Du Foe said, angrily.
Without mentioning a word, Alexei cracked her neck and squared her legs. Getting into a defensive stance, she gestured with two fingers for the Paladin to make his move. Shouting in intense anger, Du Foe was surprisingly fast but only seemed to be capable of charging in straight lines. It was almost like Brahmin fighting. As Alexei displayed her superior agility over Du Foe, she slipped and fell back on her leg. She gave out a sharp gasp in pain, but was able to recover in time, to narrowly avoid a fist to the face. Alexei knew her movement abilities had been severely weakened but she had thankfully managed to tire Du Foe out slightly, his movements becoming uncoordinated and sluggish. At this point, his stamina had been depleted but his intense anger and the excessive amount of adrenaline in his system kept him going. Then just as Du Foe was about to charge at Alexei, she got ready to deliver a round kick to his chest, but as she swung, he grabbed her leg, surprising her. As he slammed her into a wall, she had been winded. Relentless in his assault, his heavy punches were mainly aimed at her face and chest, in a brutal attempt to keep her winded, dazed or unfortunately both. Eventually he relented, but it seemed only so that he could try and savour the fact that he was about to kill her. Alexei was now leaning against the walls of the castle, he face, swollen and bloody, and she was unable to move. As Du Foe laughed at his victim, he slowly walked away from her, giving them both some distance. Slowly, he pulled a combat knife from a small holster on his calf and began to twirl it in the mid-day sunshine. His arm coiled back and he got ready to throw. Alexei closed her eyes and knew that this was it.
Nothing. Nothing happened which seemed to shock Alexei. As she opened her eyes, she could see what happened. Danse was lying in the middle of their make-shift battle arena and had a knife sticking out of his chest. Everyone was shocked at the scene but if by some hidden strength, Alexei managed to push herself off the wall and she managed to get to Danse. His eyes were fluttering open and closed and he himself didn't seem to realise what he had actually done. Grabbing the knife by the handle, using little effort, Alexei managed to pull the weapon out. As she looked at her love dying beside her, her vision became clouded with anger and suppressed rage. She threw the knife at the still-shocked Du Foe and hit him in the eye. There was a temporary scream of pain before the paladin keeled over dead. Putting as much pressure as she could down on his wound, Alexei shouted for Doctor Simmons. As everyone went scrambling about the Castle looking for the doctor, Alexei tried her best to look into Danse's eyes, trying her best to keep herself and him as calm as possible.
"That was a stupid thing to do Patrick." Alexei whispered.
"What can I say? You always manage to bring the crazy out in me, Alexei.."
Suddenly Dr. Simmons arrived and was followed by two teams of Minutemen holding stretchers. As she watched Danse get taken away, Alexei finally succumbed to her injuries and fell unconscious.