With Paladin Danse III: Matters of the Heart
After settling Danse in on the dirty mattress to rest, Quest stumbles around the tree house looking for supplies. Her limbs feel heavy and she clumsy grabs the Rad-X she finds down by the rusted vehicle. She is tempted to take the Buffout but ultimately decides against using the steroid. She chugs half the bottle of the anti-rad drug and saves the rest for Danse. Before heading up, she stops and harvests the meat off the Mirelurk to cook up on the stove.
Quest never liked the taste of Mirelurk meat but at this second it smelled heavenly. Zoning out on the sizzling sound of the meat cooking, she missed Paladin Danse stirring from the mattress.
“Quest what is going on? Where are we?”
“I don’t know, sir,” she answers, flipping over the meat to cook the other side, “After being blasted out of the sky I had to drag us to safety through a swamp… at the moment we are in an abandoned tree house.”
“Damn it, I remember losing control of the Vertibird,” he clenches his fist, “We need to contact the Brotherhood immediately.”
“I don’t think we want to do that, Danse,” Quest cautions.
“What do you mean by that?”
Quest stays quiet while she plates the cooked meat. She walks over to Danse, avoiding looking at his face. She settles down at the edge of the mattress and hands over the food. Then she finally looks Danse in the eyes, pain and confusion stares back.
“Everything happened so fast, Danse, but while we were escaping I thought I overheard some Brotherhood members talking,” she whispers.
“You must have been confused,” Danse says defensively. “There is no way the Brotherhood was a part of our attack. There must be some other reason why you thought that… you were disoriented from the accident so you could be hearing things.”
“I hope so… I really do hope so,” Quest says sadly.
Quest looks down at her plate and chews slowly. Was she just confused? She begins to drift into her thoughts, trying to remember every detail before and after the crash. Danse picks at his food but looks up at her suddenly.
“What happened to your face?”
“Huh, oh it was from a Mirelurk Hunter that was protecting this place…”
“Do we have any supplies to take care of that,” Danse asks.
“Nothing survived the crash…we barely did. I had a couple stimpacts on me but I used them to stabilize you. Otherwise, I savaged a bottle of Rad-X from this place and looking around there are some weapons up top, a militia hat, and several bottles of liquor,” Quest reports.
“Pass one of those over here,” he demands.
Quest tries to raise an eyebrow but it hurts too much to try.
“I’m not going to drink it. I am going to clean up your wounds. Now pass one here.”
Quest follows orders and Danse gets busy ripping some of the fabric off his suit, food forgotten. He cleans the mud off her face and she feels the sting of the alcohol cleaning her wound. He then moves down to her shoulders and carefully cleans there, sighing.
“This is bad; did you drag me here in this condition,” worry shows clearly in his eyes.
“Not all the way but most,” she answers sheepishly.
“Thank you, Knight.”
Danse continues to clean her wounds and once done takes a swig of the last of the liquor in the bottle.
“Now you smell like a drunken soldier on leave and look like a glare from a laser rifle” the Paladin says seriously.
“I’m sure going to charm the ladies with this look.”
Danse gives her glare and they quietly finish the rest of their meal, Quest slowly moves the plates aside and she curls up next to Danse as he stares up at the ceiling. Exhausted and burning, sleep soon claims her.
Waking up in the middle of the night, Danse is asleep and Quest is restless. She goes outside and stares at the stars, trying to avoid any thoughts but fails. She is sure she heard some Brotherhood members talking at the crash site but the Paladin doesn’t believe her. It’s going to be impossible to change his mind about going to the Prydwen but luckily for her; he is too injured to walk just yet. But they can’t stay here either. What if Quest was wrong? What if the Brotherhood was under attack and they are missing two of their soldiers or maybe they are looking for two missing “traitors”? She has to do something…
Looking around she see a dim light coming about a mile away. It looks like a farmstead. Maybe she can go there later and pick up some supplies. Walking back into the tree house, she decides to go to the roof and clean the old weapons she found. The pipe pistol had hardly any bullets but the laser musket had several fusion cells nearby in a basket. Carefully cleaning the guns in minimal light, Quest watches as the sunrises on another morning.
000
Paladin Danse did not want her to go to the farmstead alone but he was still too weak to walk very far. Quest reassures him that she would be well prepared for any more Mirelurks that wanted to show up as she pats the musket. The journey to the farmstead was hassle free, which is rare for the Commonwealth. Getting nearer to the settlement the area becomes more familiar. She’s been here before for Proctor Teagan. As she gets closer to the house, there is evidence of a struggle. The door swigs open and a man appears with a shotgun.
“Don’t you dare come any closer or I will blast you,” a weary looking man shouts.
“Calm down, I am not here to harm you, says coolly but evenly, “I am only looking for supplies to help a man from the Brotherhood of Steel.”
“Brotherhood of Steel!?! You know the Brotherhood promised to protect us if we gave them some crops but where were they when a Deathclaw attacked my family” the man venomly spits out. “Where was the Brotherhood when my little boy died? Then they had the gall to show up after it was done, asking around if I saw a young woman and a man. I told them no but they still harassed us and took our supplies. So the only thing you will find here is some lead in your belly.”
Quest raises her laser musket in defense.
“Ohhh, are you going to shoot us now? Well go ahead we have nothing else left to lose but I’m not the only one going to hell if you do,” bitter tears stream down his weathered face.
Quest surveys the scene and sees a little boy behind the man. There were two here last time…and near the garden a fresh mound of dirt. Sighing, Quest lowers her weapon.
“I am sorry about what happened to your other son and I am sorry the Brotherhood has failed you. They failed me too…”
With that, Quest backs away and disappears back into the swamp. Before reaching the tree house she stops and screams silently, letting out all her frustrations without drawing attention to her location. She wants to punch the withered tree nearby but resists the urge. She can’t afford any more injuries. Calming down she heads back to Danse but dives into some cattails when she hears the small roar of a Vertibird nearby. As it comes closer she hears from a loud speaker an announcement playing.
“Dear citizens of the Commonwealth, the Brotherhood of Steel needs your help with the capture of two Institute spies who have infiltrated our ranks. There is a cash reward for the capture of synth abomination Christopher Danse and his handler Nora Quest, cybernetically enhanced human. Please use caution when interacting with these two individuals, they are consider armed and dangerous. Report any suspicious activity to the Brotherhood immediately. This is an order from Elder Arthur Maxson.”
The Vertibird whirls away repeating its announcement and Quest sits stunned in the dirty water, processing the news. Is there any truth behind that announcement?
Wandering back to the tree house broken and beaten, Quest enters through the doorway and imminently gets pinned to the wall. A strong forearm crushes her throat and a fist angrily slams near her face.
“TELL ME THE TRUTH! ARE YOU PART OF THE INSITUTE,” Danse yells, desperation clear on every syllable. He looses the pressure on her neck to let her speak.
Gasping, she wheezes out “I don’t know what is going on Danse but I am not a spy.”
“Oh course you would say that,” Danse spits out, “I should kill you right here but I need to know if I am not…human.”
“I don’t know, really I don’t…”Quest gently grips Danse’s arm. “I think the Brotherhood must have decoded the information I collected from the Institute and found something on it. Why else would the Brotherhood betray us like this?”
“YOU BETRAYED THE BROTHERHOOD. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WHEN YOU CAME BACK FROM YOUR SON THAT YOU WERE IN LEAGUE WITH THEM. THEY GAVE YOU THAT INFORMATION AND LET YOU GO!!” Danse is breathing heavy, hatred and sadness mixed in his eyes. “You are the reason they turned against me but there must have a reason for this….Arthur wouldn’t turn against me if there weren’t some truth behind his words. Not after all I did for him.”
The pain in her mentors voice cut deep and it reaches a part of Quest that she was long hiding. It becomes unbearable to be in his presence without trying to pacify him.
“Shaun let me go free but he wanted me to stay with him…work for him but I came back to you and the Brotherhood. Not because I was sent there but because of my own reasons!” She pauses and breathes before continuing. “I wasn’t wholly truthful with you Danse but the information from the Institute isn’t all true either. My name isn’t Nora it is Marianne and Shaun isn’t my son but my half brother’s…”
“What, you lied about your family!?”
“The day the bombs fell, Nate lied to the Vault Tech guards by saying I was his deceased wife Nora. I was saved by my brothers lie but I had to pretend to be somebody else that I wasn’t…when I woke up to this new world it was just easier saying I was looking for my son instead of my half nephew, “Quest says sorrowfully, looking Danse in the eyes. “But Shaun is strange he looks so much like Nate and my father but his actions are nothing like them…he looked at me like I was a game and maybe I was to him but I never told him the truth about his parents. Once he showed remorse for Nate’s death I faltered. I had to save him for Nate but I couldn’t stand being in his presence and I had to return for my mission so I pretended some more…I really don’t know what happened when I was frozen but I wouldn’t put it past the Institute to turn me into some sick experiment for Shaun but I have no knowledge of it.”
Danse is silent and he slowly loosens his grip entirely and Quest slides down to the floor.
“Remember Danse, when we first met how green I was even though I thought I knew everything because I grew up around it…there is no pretending that.” She stares up at Danse but cannot get them to make eye contact. “The Brotherhood of Steel met everything to me. It reminded me of everything I lost but now I lost it all over again.”
“If you are some sick experiment what am I? I’m not even human? All these memories I thought were mine are not and everything I created for myself is a lie…I shouldn’t even be alive,” Danse says bitterly.
“Danse, no…”
“I am an abomination!! I should have died back there…you shouldn’t have tried so hard to save me,” he turns away.
“You are worth saving,” Quest quickly stands up and grabs Danse’s hand.
“No,” Danse fights. “Any second now, the Institute could flick a switch somewhere and gain control over us. They could make us do so many horrible things, Quest! Maxson saw us as a threat and the least we can do is follow his final orders and die.”
“STOP, SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT!“ she screams, “Maxson doesn’t know everything and neither does the Institute.” Breathing heavily, “I’ll go there and I’ll demand the answers on why we are like this.”
“What is the point? We are what we are…useless tools that should be discarded when our usefulness is done before they cause harm in someone else’s hand.”
“Come to Diamond City with me,” Quest pleads. “The Brotherhood can’t touch us there and maybe we can contact Nick and find a why to stop the Institute.”
“Please, the only ones that can stop the Institute is the Brotherhood of Steel and they don’t want us anymore,” Danse sounds annoyed and turns his body away from her. “Me being a synth stands for everything that they are against. I can’t stay alive knowing what I am… I need to be the example not the exception. The only noble thing left for me to do is to die for the ideals of the Brotherhood,” Danse stubbornly says.
“The man I knew would never take the easy way out,” Quest blinks back tears but continues to fight to make Danse understand. “He would march right up to the enemy, even if that enemy was the world, and never back down for what is right. He would fight until he couldn’t anymore.”
“You are mistaken I am not a man, only a machine,” Danse says solemnly.
“Fine, then go kill yourself before we can complete our mission but don’t expect me to sit around here and watch….” Quest tears herself away from Danse but collapses against the railing, howling in pain from the ache in her heart, large tears drops fall heavily down her face. “I can’t stand seeing another person I love die,” Quest hiccups and claws at the old wood.
The ex-paladin reaches over to help her up but she fights him off.
“Don’t touch me, I can’t stand the way you are now and it’s not because you are a synth,” Quest cries out resentfully.
She jumps over the railing and sprits off into the swamp leaving Danse behind calling for her. On her way out she quickly snatches a bottle of Buffout and shallows down some pills. They give her a boost to go on for a while but soon wear off and make her exhausted. She collapses in a ditch and discovers she is weaponless again, not really caring, she lets herself drift off to sleep, indifferent if anybody finds her or not.
Quest never liked the taste of Mirelurk meat but at this second it smelled heavenly. Zoning out on the sizzling sound of the meat cooking, she missed Paladin Danse stirring from the mattress.
“Quest what is going on? Where are we?”
“I don’t know, sir,” she answers, flipping over the meat to cook the other side, “After being blasted out of the sky I had to drag us to safety through a swamp… at the moment we are in an abandoned tree house.”
“Damn it, I remember losing control of the Vertibird,” he clenches his fist, “We need to contact the Brotherhood immediately.”
“I don’t think we want to do that, Danse,” Quest cautions.
“What do you mean by that?”
Quest stays quiet while she plates the cooked meat. She walks over to Danse, avoiding looking at his face. She settles down at the edge of the mattress and hands over the food. Then she finally looks Danse in the eyes, pain and confusion stares back.
“Everything happened so fast, Danse, but while we were escaping I thought I overheard some Brotherhood members talking,” she whispers.
“You must have been confused,” Danse says defensively. “There is no way the Brotherhood was a part of our attack. There must be some other reason why you thought that… you were disoriented from the accident so you could be hearing things.”
“I hope so… I really do hope so,” Quest says sadly.
Quest looks down at her plate and chews slowly. Was she just confused? She begins to drift into her thoughts, trying to remember every detail before and after the crash. Danse picks at his food but looks up at her suddenly.
“What happened to your face?”
“Huh, oh it was from a Mirelurk Hunter that was protecting this place…”
“Do we have any supplies to take care of that,” Danse asks.
“Nothing survived the crash…we barely did. I had a couple stimpacts on me but I used them to stabilize you. Otherwise, I savaged a bottle of Rad-X from this place and looking around there are some weapons up top, a militia hat, and several bottles of liquor,” Quest reports.
“Pass one of those over here,” he demands.
Quest tries to raise an eyebrow but it hurts too much to try.
“I’m not going to drink it. I am going to clean up your wounds. Now pass one here.”
Quest follows orders and Danse gets busy ripping some of the fabric off his suit, food forgotten. He cleans the mud off her face and she feels the sting of the alcohol cleaning her wound. He then moves down to her shoulders and carefully cleans there, sighing.
“This is bad; did you drag me here in this condition,” worry shows clearly in his eyes.
“Not all the way but most,” she answers sheepishly.
“Thank you, Knight.”
Danse continues to clean her wounds and once done takes a swig of the last of the liquor in the bottle.
“Now you smell like a drunken soldier on leave and look like a glare from a laser rifle” the Paladin says seriously.
“I’m sure going to charm the ladies with this look.”
Danse gives her glare and they quietly finish the rest of their meal, Quest slowly moves the plates aside and she curls up next to Danse as he stares up at the ceiling. Exhausted and burning, sleep soon claims her.
Waking up in the middle of the night, Danse is asleep and Quest is restless. She goes outside and stares at the stars, trying to avoid any thoughts but fails. She is sure she heard some Brotherhood members talking at the crash site but the Paladin doesn’t believe her. It’s going to be impossible to change his mind about going to the Prydwen but luckily for her; he is too injured to walk just yet. But they can’t stay here either. What if Quest was wrong? What if the Brotherhood was under attack and they are missing two of their soldiers or maybe they are looking for two missing “traitors”? She has to do something…
Looking around she see a dim light coming about a mile away. It looks like a farmstead. Maybe she can go there later and pick up some supplies. Walking back into the tree house, she decides to go to the roof and clean the old weapons she found. The pipe pistol had hardly any bullets but the laser musket had several fusion cells nearby in a basket. Carefully cleaning the guns in minimal light, Quest watches as the sunrises on another morning.
000
Paladin Danse did not want her to go to the farmstead alone but he was still too weak to walk very far. Quest reassures him that she would be well prepared for any more Mirelurks that wanted to show up as she pats the musket. The journey to the farmstead was hassle free, which is rare for the Commonwealth. Getting nearer to the settlement the area becomes more familiar. She’s been here before for Proctor Teagan. As she gets closer to the house, there is evidence of a struggle. The door swigs open and a man appears with a shotgun.
“Don’t you dare come any closer or I will blast you,” a weary looking man shouts.
“Calm down, I am not here to harm you, says coolly but evenly, “I am only looking for supplies to help a man from the Brotherhood of Steel.”
“Brotherhood of Steel!?! You know the Brotherhood promised to protect us if we gave them some crops but where were they when a Deathclaw attacked my family” the man venomly spits out. “Where was the Brotherhood when my little boy died? Then they had the gall to show up after it was done, asking around if I saw a young woman and a man. I told them no but they still harassed us and took our supplies. So the only thing you will find here is some lead in your belly.”
Quest raises her laser musket in defense.
“Ohhh, are you going to shoot us now? Well go ahead we have nothing else left to lose but I’m not the only one going to hell if you do,” bitter tears stream down his weathered face.
Quest surveys the scene and sees a little boy behind the man. There were two here last time…and near the garden a fresh mound of dirt. Sighing, Quest lowers her weapon.
“I am sorry about what happened to your other son and I am sorry the Brotherhood has failed you. They failed me too…”
With that, Quest backs away and disappears back into the swamp. Before reaching the tree house she stops and screams silently, letting out all her frustrations without drawing attention to her location. She wants to punch the withered tree nearby but resists the urge. She can’t afford any more injuries. Calming down she heads back to Danse but dives into some cattails when she hears the small roar of a Vertibird nearby. As it comes closer she hears from a loud speaker an announcement playing.
“Dear citizens of the Commonwealth, the Brotherhood of Steel needs your help with the capture of two Institute spies who have infiltrated our ranks. There is a cash reward for the capture of synth abomination Christopher Danse and his handler Nora Quest, cybernetically enhanced human. Please use caution when interacting with these two individuals, they are consider armed and dangerous. Report any suspicious activity to the Brotherhood immediately. This is an order from Elder Arthur Maxson.”
The Vertibird whirls away repeating its announcement and Quest sits stunned in the dirty water, processing the news. Is there any truth behind that announcement?
Wandering back to the tree house broken and beaten, Quest enters through the doorway and imminently gets pinned to the wall. A strong forearm crushes her throat and a fist angrily slams near her face.
“TELL ME THE TRUTH! ARE YOU PART OF THE INSITUTE,” Danse yells, desperation clear on every syllable. He looses the pressure on her neck to let her speak.
Gasping, she wheezes out “I don’t know what is going on Danse but I am not a spy.”
“Oh course you would say that,” Danse spits out, “I should kill you right here but I need to know if I am not…human.”
“I don’t know, really I don’t…”Quest gently grips Danse’s arm. “I think the Brotherhood must have decoded the information I collected from the Institute and found something on it. Why else would the Brotherhood betray us like this?”
“YOU BETRAYED THE BROTHERHOOD. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WHEN YOU CAME BACK FROM YOUR SON THAT YOU WERE IN LEAGUE WITH THEM. THEY GAVE YOU THAT INFORMATION AND LET YOU GO!!” Danse is breathing heavy, hatred and sadness mixed in his eyes. “You are the reason they turned against me but there must have a reason for this….Arthur wouldn’t turn against me if there weren’t some truth behind his words. Not after all I did for him.”
The pain in her mentors voice cut deep and it reaches a part of Quest that she was long hiding. It becomes unbearable to be in his presence without trying to pacify him.
“Shaun let me go free but he wanted me to stay with him…work for him but I came back to you and the Brotherhood. Not because I was sent there but because of my own reasons!” She pauses and breathes before continuing. “I wasn’t wholly truthful with you Danse but the information from the Institute isn’t all true either. My name isn’t Nora it is Marianne and Shaun isn’t my son but my half brother’s…”
“What, you lied about your family!?”
“The day the bombs fell, Nate lied to the Vault Tech guards by saying I was his deceased wife Nora. I was saved by my brothers lie but I had to pretend to be somebody else that I wasn’t…when I woke up to this new world it was just easier saying I was looking for my son instead of my half nephew, “Quest says sorrowfully, looking Danse in the eyes. “But Shaun is strange he looks so much like Nate and my father but his actions are nothing like them…he looked at me like I was a game and maybe I was to him but I never told him the truth about his parents. Once he showed remorse for Nate’s death I faltered. I had to save him for Nate but I couldn’t stand being in his presence and I had to return for my mission so I pretended some more…I really don’t know what happened when I was frozen but I wouldn’t put it past the Institute to turn me into some sick experiment for Shaun but I have no knowledge of it.”
Danse is silent and he slowly loosens his grip entirely and Quest slides down to the floor.
“Remember Danse, when we first met how green I was even though I thought I knew everything because I grew up around it…there is no pretending that.” She stares up at Danse but cannot get them to make eye contact. “The Brotherhood of Steel met everything to me. It reminded me of everything I lost but now I lost it all over again.”
“If you are some sick experiment what am I? I’m not even human? All these memories I thought were mine are not and everything I created for myself is a lie…I shouldn’t even be alive,” Danse says bitterly.
“Danse, no…”
“I am an abomination!! I should have died back there…you shouldn’t have tried so hard to save me,” he turns away.
“You are worth saving,” Quest quickly stands up and grabs Danse’s hand.
“No,” Danse fights. “Any second now, the Institute could flick a switch somewhere and gain control over us. They could make us do so many horrible things, Quest! Maxson saw us as a threat and the least we can do is follow his final orders and die.”
“STOP, SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT!“ she screams, “Maxson doesn’t know everything and neither does the Institute.” Breathing heavily, “I’ll go there and I’ll demand the answers on why we are like this.”
“What is the point? We are what we are…useless tools that should be discarded when our usefulness is done before they cause harm in someone else’s hand.”
“Come to Diamond City with me,” Quest pleads. “The Brotherhood can’t touch us there and maybe we can contact Nick and find a why to stop the Institute.”
“Please, the only ones that can stop the Institute is the Brotherhood of Steel and they don’t want us anymore,” Danse sounds annoyed and turns his body away from her. “Me being a synth stands for everything that they are against. I can’t stay alive knowing what I am… I need to be the example not the exception. The only noble thing left for me to do is to die for the ideals of the Brotherhood,” Danse stubbornly says.
“The man I knew would never take the easy way out,” Quest blinks back tears but continues to fight to make Danse understand. “He would march right up to the enemy, even if that enemy was the world, and never back down for what is right. He would fight until he couldn’t anymore.”
“You are mistaken I am not a man, only a machine,” Danse says solemnly.
“Fine, then go kill yourself before we can complete our mission but don’t expect me to sit around here and watch….” Quest tears herself away from Danse but collapses against the railing, howling in pain from the ache in her heart, large tears drops fall heavily down her face. “I can’t stand seeing another person I love die,” Quest hiccups and claws at the old wood.
The ex-paladin reaches over to help her up but she fights him off.
“Don’t touch me, I can’t stand the way you are now and it’s not because you are a synth,” Quest cries out resentfully.
She jumps over the railing and sprits off into the swamp leaving Danse behind calling for her. On her way out she quickly snatches a bottle of Buffout and shallows down some pills. They give her a boost to go on for a while but soon wear off and make her exhausted. She collapses in a ditch and discovers she is weaponless again, not really caring, she lets herself drift off to sleep, indifferent if anybody finds her or not.