Untarnished, She Shines With Honour // Arthur Maxson x F!Sole Survivor

Chapter One

As unfamiliar as the Commonwealth may be, at least the quiet thrum of the Prydwen's engines reminds Arthur of home. Provided that Proctor Ingram can keep the airship running, they carry with them a piece of the Capital Wasteland with them. The Prydwen serves a more practical function, of course, providing a heavily armed base of operations, but he knows he could have sufficed with little more than a few vertibirds, and any pre-War building with a roof.

But he had asked for the Prydwen, and though he might be young, no sane Brotherhood soldier would dare to refuse the demands of an Elder with Maxson blood.

He turns to gaze out the window of the observation deck, a cigar held between half-gloved fingers. Wisps of smoke curl and coil as they fade into the air. He knows his parents would disapprove of the habit, but it's a vice he can't quite bring himself to break. Knight-Captain Cade had once tried to get him to quit during a routine check-up, reminding him that if an Elder is to die, they should die on the field of battle not to lung disease. Still, the Elder's responsibilities can distract him from only so many youthful flights of fancies, and this is not one of them.

"Captain," drawls Maxson, taking a long drag from his cigar as Lancer-Captain Kells steps onto the deck. He does not need to turn around to know that he's standing there, his hands clasped behind his back as they always are.

"Sir." There are few people Maxson trusts more than the captain of the Prydwen. Kells has never been anything but loyal, and it had earned him the position of the Elder's second-in-command. They'd been through a lot together. He had been one of the first to bend the knee to Maxson when he had been appointed as Elder, but he had also recognised that it would take the young Maxson time to adjust to his new role.

He had been sixteen when the position had been thrust upon him.

Sometimes, he remembers her smile, and the way she used to tell him stories. He had been a squire at the time, and she'd been a Sentinel, but they both knew that while she was next in line, he'd take over as elder the instant he came of age. She hadn't lived to see that day. Sometimes, he remembers that she hadn't been dead a day before they'd started fighting for his attention, and within a week they had thrust her title upon his shoulders.

Sometimes, he remembers Sarah Lyons, and the contrast of her blue eyes against her blonde hair, and he feels like he can't breathe. Would she be proud of the man he had become? Or would she have simply laughed, and ruffled his hair like she always had, and remind him that he still has a lot to learn?

His mouth feels as though he's just swallowed sand. Maxson turns back to look at Kells. "What is it?" It takes an inordinate amount of strength for Maxson to maintain his composure, but even if it had fractured, it would not be the first time Kells had seen him mourn over heir to the Lyons legacy.

"There is someone who would like to speak with you, sir."

Maxson raises a dark brow. "Someone?" he repeats. "Any specifics beyond that?"

"I'm afraid not, sir. She somehow managed to secure passage up the Prydwen with a group of initiates returning from the airport. They claimed to not have notice her sneak aboard."

He takes another long drag from his cigar, trying to disguise his uneasiness. How had someone managed to breach his defences? He had trained his men to be more cautious than that. "Tell me why you did not shoot this security threat."

He does not typically uphold a "shoot first, ask questions later" policy, but the Institute had tried sneaking synths aboard the Prydwen before, and they couldn't afford to be anything but cautious.

If Kells notices his growing irritation, he does not comment on it. "She said she was here on Paladin Danse's instructions. She turned over all her weapons as some sort of 'demonstration of trust' as she put it, and demanded that she speak with you. She would not give her name to anyone but you. She insisted that we wait for Paladin Danse before she explained herself to anyone but you, though Proctor Ingram is attempting to get her to talk."