In The Shadow of Steel (Paladin Danse)

Part Four

I explained everything I had learned of Shaun, Father, the Institute and the Synths to Nick Valentine. It took a lot to remember every detail, and some parts I still couldn't completely comprehend, though he didn't disregard any piece of information. Perhaps that comes as part of being a Synth himself. As Doctor Amari previously said, all Institute technology relies on the same components and technology, so I guess he can understand the more complex information regarding the Institute due to something embedded in his brain.

    "Will you go back there?" He asked me once I'd retraced my footsteps.
    "I have to, I told Fath- I told Shaun I'd bring back this Shaun by tomorrow morning."
    "But after everything they put you through, do you really feel at home there? Do you feel safe?" He's concerned. He can see through the façade of easy living with my child. Damned Detectives.
    "I won't forget the things they did, the fact that they stole Shaun away. And despite my efforts to try and get past it all, I still struggle to be around Shaun, the real Shaun. I don't know what to do, Nick. Will these thoughts ever go away? Every time I look at him, I'm reminded of Nate's body lying cold in that pod. I'm reminded of Kellogg. All I see is the son, who isn't mine. He was lost to me the day they took him."
I hadn't realised until one escaped that my eyes had been brimming with tears. They stung for having been focused on my trembling hands for too long. I anxiously wiped them away, and sniffed lightly, my nose beginning to run.
    "Jeez, I don't think I know anybody who's had it as rough as you have. I'm so sorry this happened to your family, I can think of many people more deserving of this, and even for them that's a fate too harsh." He held my hand, in an attempt to soothe my emotions. "But that kid over there?" He nodded his head in the direction of the child who was currently wearing a battered fedora, looking at case notes with Ellie. "That is your son. He is the boy that you and your spouse would have raised. Look at him, he's got your nose." I scoffed as he laughed.
"He may have been created by cold-hearted scientists, but he has the blood of your veins inside of him. He has emotions and empathy, things he's clearly already picked up from you. You said it yourself, the DNA embedded in all Synths comes from your true born son, this 'Father' fella, and whose genetics does he hold? Yours. That means your DNA is still in that little boy. Don't you ever forget that."
    "Y-you're right," I tried to stop myself from crying. I had to be strong for Shaun. "He is my baby boy. I'll never let them keep me from him. I see more of my child in that boy than I do in Father. That man, he-he's not my son. But I do love him. Why do emotions work that way?"
    "The human mind and emotions really are a complex thing, I'd say even the Institute scientists can't entirely comprehend them both. I can see that you love your son, both of him. That was evident from the day we first met. But the way fate has unravelled has left you with an emptiness around him. He isn't the son you were looking for, and that's why you feel this way."
    "I think part of me holds onto the hope that one day he will come around, and leave the Institute. He's more dedicated to that place than he is spending time with me."
    "I think that's a fault on the Insti-"
    "What?" I asked, frowning after he'd stopped talking.
    "Can you hear that?" He said, and looked up as if towards the sky.
    "Hear what?" As soon as I spoke I heard the rumbling myself. It sounded like engines. "Shaun? Stay inside."
    "O-ok." As the saying used to go, curiosity killed the cat, but those noises weren't heard anymore; no technology was sufficient enough to make rumbles such as that since the war. Nick and I readied our weapons and rushed outside.

    "Whatever it is, it seems like it's coming from the sky!" Valentine shouted above the echoing noise and began making his way up the stairs towards Kellogg's old house; we'd be able to get a better view from higher ground. Upon reaching the top, we saw other residents of Diamond City cowering behind one another, the city security guards running around frantically. One of the few flaws of this city was that in all of their praises of being totally enclosed and protected, when the slightest bit of  trouble does hit the city goes into total disarray.
The booming sounds grew ever louder, the low rumbles reverberating through the air like a rad storm, and suddenly something flew into our view, directly over the city.