In The Shadow of Steel (Paladin Danse)

Part One

This is it, the moment I've been waiting for, ever since I learned of their existence. Ever since I learned that they killed my husband, and that they kidnapped my baby boy. It was foolish of them to have left me alive. They should have known a parent's revenge would have been powerful enough to become the end of them.
And now I am coming for them. The Institute wouldn't know what hit them.

It had taken a long time to figure out how to get there. I had travelled across the whole of the Commonwealth, starting from Sanctuary Hills, which had been our home, before the bombs fell. All I found there was Codsworth, who told me two hundred and ten years had past since the morning we left for Vault 111. Only recently have I realised I'm no longer going to wake up from all this as a dream. This really is what life has become, and it sucks.

Diamond City was the place I found most of my answers, and the place I found someone in this cruel world I now considered a friend. Nick Valentine, the Synth Detective. I was shocked upon seeing him for the first time; anyone would be, seeing a robot wearing clothes and able to hold a diverse conversation, for the first time. He helped me discover the identity of the man who came into the Vault, the man who killed Nate and kidnapped Shaun. He helped me track him down, and he helped me kill him. Rot in hell, Kellogg.

Nick was there with me for the most part, and it's to him that I owe it to for helping me get where I am right now. I wouldn't have found out about Virgil if it hadn't been for him helping me further in the Memory Den with Doctor Amari. And most importantly, I don't think I'd have learned of the Molecular Relay either. That had been the final answer I needed in revealing the way into the Institute. Teleportation. I think Virgil described it as, 'dematerialising your body in one space, and rematerialising it in another'.
I don't understand the science behind it, and I probably never will. I don't care about the risks, the dangers of what could go wrong, because this is the only way I will ever see my son again. Any mother would do the same, at least, that's what I keep telling myself.

"This is it," I exhaled the shaky breath that had been building up to this moment, and I looked over at Nick. "Hey, Valentine?"
My old friend was stood a ways from the platform I was stood upon, his worn face looking particularly uneased.
"Yeah?"
"If I don't come back, and my body disintegrates or whatever, tell Mayor McDonough to go fuck himself for me."
The bewilderment on his face caused me to laugh. "I don't think I'll do that."
"It's my dying wish, you have to."
"Well I'm gonna cling on to the hope that you will make it back alive, and in one piece."
"Yeah," I swallowed, suddenly nervous. "I'm praying for that too."
"I've got faith that this will work, and I'm looking forward to your return. The next time I see you, I hope it'll be with your son. Take care of yourself in there, friend."
"You too, Nick. I'll be back before you know it."
With a small nod towards one of the settlers of Starlight Drive-In, I took one last deep breath and closed my eyes, ready to face and fight the unexpected.

Bright lights were all I saw as I found myself in a cold room. Static filled my ears as my arms and legs grew numb, the tips of my toes and my fingers tingling. I guess that will be the dematerialisation of my body and cells.

"Hello." Upon instinct my hands found the way to the gun holstered at my hip, eyes scanning the narrow area before me. There was nobody that I could see, so I crept down the hallway at a steady pace.
"I wondered if you might make it here. You're quite resourceful." Upon reaching the end of the corridor, I jumped out into the opening of the room and flipped my head back and forth, no one. "I'm known as Father," the voice is louder now. "The Institute is under my guidance." Two large speakers were situated in the top left and right corners of the room, ah. They know I'm here. Stealth is out of option now.
"I know why you are here. I'd like to discuss things with you face-to-face. Please, step into the elevator." It appeared to be the only exit, so I stepped inside. If they wanted to attack me, they would've by now. I tried to calm myself down, but anxiety was eating me up from the inside. I began making a descent, but for the most part I was engulfed in darkness. The sound of this 'Father's' voice was the only thing reminding me I wasn't on my own here.