In The Shadow of Steel (Paladin Danse)

Part Eighteen

"Oh my god. We need to get to the vault, now!"

BANG.

The rumbles wouldn't stop. The sound would never cease.

"Residents of Sanctuary Hills, if you are registered, evacuate to Vault 111 immediately."

Running. That's all we were doing, all anyone was doing. Everyone around us, running. The stomp stomp stomp of feet, the cries from my little baby boy, terrified despite not knowing the true extent of danger he was in. This was it, the end of the world.

The ground shook again with the heavy footfalls of people rushing to the promise of safety in Vault 111. My stomach was burning, my skin raw beneath the itch of urgency; the worrying threat of the wellbeing of my husband and son.

BANG.

"Head to the gate vault participants! If you're in the program step forward, otherwise return home!"

"We need to get in! We're on the list!"

The words left my throat with a silence. Crowds were swarming in front, blocking our way forward and pushing my husband out of reach, my child. I thrashed, their strengths overpowering mine. Shouts turned into screams as the skies darkened, fear raining down upon our heads. I screamed for my husband, for my son, but their calls of response were drowned out by those keeping us apart. They wouldn't let us through the gate, we weren't going to reach the vault. More rumbles and the shaking of the ground silenced us all for a bried second, until the bright flash filled our eyes and we awakened from our peace.

I screamed, my voice swallowed beneath the thick mushroom cloud that devoured us all, its hunger for human consumption more greedy than the lust that led us to the Great War itself.
I felt its hot air of breath on my face even as the skin was peeled away, as the flesh left the bone. My eyes, now burnt down to an exploding pile of ash had been reopened to see more than they ever had before. A life's memory mixed with those all around me, played over and over for a brief moment before it was ripped away from me. All those I'd ever cared about, all the work I'd put in for my family. Mine and Nate's wedding day, the day Shaun was born to us. Everything was gone, lost in a moment of excruciating flames, heat and energy.

My skin was heavy with sweat from the melting touch of the atomic bomb, my joints bruised and aching from the push of those in the crowd. My eyes were stinging with fresh tears that swam in the deep pools of brown that made up my irises. The hands refraining me from my family found their way back to me, now holding me down with an intense weight upon my forearms. I screamed, Nate's face disappearing among the many faces of those tearing us apart. 
"No!" I thrashed, using every bit of strength left in me to fight my way through, I couldn't lose them. I couldn't. I wouldn't. 

My eyes sprung open, my chest heaving aggressively up and down and up and down. 
"Nate."
Up and down. I searched for him in front of me, but my eyes fell upon those of Paladin Danse, holding me down and whispering words of comfort to calm me down, to tell me the nightmare was over. That's all it had been, a nightmare. Nate had never been there, he was dead.
My breathing ruptured and my chest heaved again as the flash lit up the room; the bomb hit with the intense rumble of thunder. I broke into a violent tremble of fear, my eyes weeping as I braced myself for the second hit.

"Evelyn, you're OK. I've got you."
"We aren't going to make it. We're too late." I cried and cried. This nightmare had teeth and it was chewing.
"Nothing is going to hurt you, Evie. I'm right here. Look at me. Look, I am real. It was just a dream. Evie look at me."
Gentle hands rubbed up and down my arms, warming my shaking skin and scaring away the goosebumps that had poked their heads through the surface. I searched his frowning eyes for the lie but all I could find was honesty and warmth. My breathing gradually slowed, my heartbeat receding to normality as he continued to coerce me back to peace. 

"I'm sorry, i-it felt so real." A few more tears pushed down my cheeks, tight beneath their clammy grasp.
"You don't have to apologise. I know how vivid nightmares can be."

Another flash crept through the boarded windows of Sovaldi's Place, quiet as a mouse, illuminating both our faces before disappearing into the darkness of the world around us. The thunder's loud echo arrived later than the blinding flash, but its stay was both longer and intruding. I sighed as my skin leapt once again.

The dream had been false, but the memories real.

Once I'd calmed down it became extremely evident that Danse was still close to me, his hands still working their way up and down my arms to numb the aching fear. He had positioned himself so that he was knelt on his knees, his left thigh touching mine once he'd managed to hoist me up in a way that I would awake faster from the gripping torment of my dream. A flush crept in, the proximity of distance lacking between us vocally announcing itself. Danse was the first to move, brushing himself off and adjusting his hair to shake loose the pattern that had been created by the pillow. I pulled at the t-shirt I'd slept in to cover my already exposed legs. The flush deepened, my hands tangling in my hair.

"Both our flight suits are dry, we should make a move soon. The longer we stay here the more obvious our absence will be."


----------------------


"Nice of you two to show your faces, have a nice trip?" 

Upon our return to the airport we were met with the smug smile of Proctor Ingram, her arms folded across her chest in amusement and her amputated legs leaning to one side with the support of her armoured frame.
"We managed to retrieve something for you, a piece of equipment needed for your 'secret' project."
"Oh?" She stepped towards us, keeping her eyes on my bag as I took out the magnet. I watched as they widened in surprise upon the realisation of what I was holding, then bit back a smirk once she saw Danse also held one in his hands. "Wh-how? How did you get two?!"
"I rubbed my hands together and made a wish, and then it duplicated!"
Ingram scoffed, but a smile ghosted her lips. "OK, I won't ask any questions right now. I'm just glad you were able to retrieve one for me. You know Maxson's pissed at you both though, right?" 
I glanced over at the Paladin. If he was nervous, he didn't show it.
"So he knows then."

"I'll pretend not to be insulted that as Elder you think I don't know everything that goes on under my command."
"Elder." I spun around to face him upon his unannounced arrival. Danse rose to attention, now standing to my right. 
"Not only did you both disobey my command, but you also managed to jeopardize your safety and our intentions of a defence against the threat of the Institute. Though I am most disappointed in you, Knight. I ordered Danse to stay by your side to ensure you didn't leave the compound, yet you went out anyway and pulled him down with you whilst dragging his loyalty through the dirt. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The words left his mouth with the spit that came with them. He was angry again, his mouth twitching beneath the coarse hairs of his beard, scruffy and neat.
"Sir, I have already apologised to the Paladin. I had no intentions of involving him in this mission of mine. I take full responsibility for my actions, so I ask you not to direct any of this disciplinary at him. He doesn't deserve to be punished for ordering me to return to the airport and then proceeding to accompany me after I refused him. He came with me in order to keep me safe, an order of which you gave him."

A silence of intensity reared its head toward Elder Maxson as he processed my insubordination. His cheeks rippled against the clenching of his jaw, his teeth clenching tightly together.
"You like to overstep the bounds of authority, don't you. Tell me, will you ever sit back and follow an order I've given you?"
"If it means our enemy is drawing closer to defeat us, then no. I won't be side lined, Maxson. I know you think keeping me safe is the best course of action, but in reality you're failing to keep the Commonwealth safe. You need me out here, and you know it. Ingram now has two pieces of tech that she desperately needed to edge towards the completion of your weapon. A weapon that you kept a secret from me, and for what? In the hopes that I'd just sit here with my thumb up my ass and wait for the Institute to kindly wave a white flag?"
Danse stepped forward, raised a low hand before Maxson could retaliate. "Watch your tone." He was quiet, but everyone heard him.
"You know damn well that that's not the game they're going to play. I'm sorry I disobeyed your orders, but the way I see it is we are now one step closer to ensuring our survival here." I released an angry sigh, rubbing my face with my hands. 
"Sir, if I may?" Ingram stepped forward to eradicate the silence that had eased back in.
"Proceed, Proctor."
"Thank you. We'd initially kept the knowledge of Prime's existence to a select view to avoid tipping off the Institute. Knight Winters learned that information, as well as the location of an important component, and proceeded to head out and retrieve it. I'm not complimenting her tactics of breaking orders or acting potentially suicidal by attempting to head out there solo, but if she hadn't, then it's quite possible these two magnets could right now be in the hands of the Institute."
"You vouch for her? She is impulsive, and a liability."
"That may be the case, but she's a damned good and committed soldier." The Proctor sighed, piecing together her next statement. "I'm not asking you to turn a blind eye towards her punishment, I just believe she could be a huge help with Prime's advancement. And since she has already contributed towards that, I think she deserves to be a part of knowing what he actually is."

Elder Maxson began pacing, an evident coping mechanism he fell into whenever deep in thought. I caught Ingram's eye and smiled, grateful for her words.
"I had no idea you thought so highly of our newest recruit, Proctor." He spoke up again and stood before her.
"She's already proved herself worthy, and more, even if she does have a funny way of showing it."
"I respect your opinion, so if you think she can help with Prime, then so be it." He turned with a fast speed and paced to stand directly in front of me. His stern gaze looked me over; I held my lips in a thin line and swallowed down a gulp, his intimidating aura wafting around me. "Knight, you are cleared for active duty. Paladin Danse will continue to be your mentor, but for the time being you answer to Proctor Ingram. Whatever she asks of you, you will do it. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir, thank you sir." 
Out of the corner of my eye I could've sworn I saw Danse slump his shoulders in relief.
"Good. I'm returning back to the Prydwen. Once you learn of Prime's capabilities, I'm positive you'll understand the risks we've taken to keep him a secret."

Elder Maxson looked each of us strongly in the eye before turning to re-enter the airport. His coat whipped with the wind as he disappeared from our sights.

"So I bet you're eager to get your hands officially dirty on our new project." Ingram toyed with a coy smile on her face, immediately breaking down the wall of intensity that Maxson had built all around us. 
"It was nice of you to say those things, I'm pretty sure he was about to lose it."
"Trust me, that's not something you wanna be around to witness." Danse winced to the side, earning a chuckle from the Proctor.
"Yeah, well don't get used to it. I've got a reputation to uphold here, can't let it loose to my scribes that I have a soft side or Prime's completion will blow out of the window. So," she shook her head, regaining more of her seriousness. "Tell me Knight, how much do you already know about Prime?"
"Well," I sent a smirk her way. "I know that whatever this secret machine you're building is will win us the war."
"It will, but we've got a lot of work ahead of us first. Come on, this way." 

We left the outside area and headed in the direction of her terminal. She began typing away at it, about to continue her rambling.

She'd left in unlocked again. 

Before I could ignore the jest accumulating in my head it slipped through my mouth.
"You really should keep that terminal locked you know, else someone might come along and read it." 
Paladin Danse stifled a laugh, but Ingram was less obvious with her attempts to hide her own. "I'm starting to like having you around." She admitted.
"Careful Ingram, that emotion you were talking about is showing."

This time Danse wasn't so good at holding back his laughter. The Proctor blushed, clearing her throat back towards professionalism.

"Where was I? Oh yes. Now, unless you're blind as a bat, I'm sure you've noticed that we've been building a gantry out on the tarmac. Maxson and Kells have been looking for something that will tip the balance when we go toe to toe with the Institute. Now the Prydwen might be a big beast, but she's not built for fighting. That's where our new project comes in."
She tapped a button on the terminal's keypad and a click resulted in the opening of the garage door in front of us. The inside revealed an impressive amount of scribes working away at their work, surrounded by large hunks of metal and parts that appeared to make something bigger.

"This storage bay full of parts is what's left of Liberty Prime. The Brotherhood used it in the Capital Wasteland as a weapon against the Enclave. It's the most advanced robot the Brotherhood has ever had at its disposal. Unfortunately, Prime was destroyed in the line of duty." She poked at a few pieces of the junk metal. 
"I've spent the better part of the last few years piecing him back together. And if you think that was easy, try rebuilding a Protectron while you're blindfolded."
She released an amused sigh and I chuckled. "I use to find Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey hard enough." A few nosey scribes imitated the reaction of both Ingram and Danse as they tried to imagine what sort of games we would have played before the bombs fell. It only made my laughter increase before I gestured for Ingram to carry on talking.

 "Right, in order to get Liberty Prime fully operational, I'm going to need your help."
I bit back the rest of my laughter, recapturing my focus. 
"Glad to officially be onboard." I teased. "How hard could it be? I'm sure this only looks worse than it actually is."
"Hm," Ingram snorted. "I wish I had your confidence, because this is not going to be easy. Now, the good news is that we've got most of Prime's parts fully assembled. The bad news, is that it's going to take more than a few rivets and spot welding to get them working again. The first problem is his CPU. It's fragile, and every time we try to feed power to it, it blows itself out."

There she goes again, discussing objects of interest that made no sense to me.

I nodded my head in thought, "there must be some way to resolve that?"
"I do all the maintenance on the Prydwen, so you'd think it'd be a snap. As much as I hate to admit it, Prime's power systems are out of my league. What we need is a robotics expert, and there's someone in Diamond City that fits the bill. You may even know her already."
"Diamond City? Who is she?"
"Her name's Professor Scara."

Oh boy. I winced.

"Her name ring any bells?" Danse questioned from across the room a ways.
"Bells of arrogance." I mumbled; frowning eyes met mine. "Yes, I know her. She works at the Science! Center, Shaun and the rest of his class sometimes visit the lab for school trips. I tagged along one time, she's.....difficult. Her partner does most of the talking, whereas Scara tends to keep herself busy with her work, throwing the occasional sneer at those peaking in her direction."
"Well luckily we're not hiring her for her wit and magnetism. The locals say she's a wizard when it comes to fixing robots." The proctor sighed, glancing back up at me. "Why don't you head over there and see if you can talk her into helping us."
"I'm not sure how cooperative she'll be." 
 "Figures," she paused, stepping towards a shelf filled with parts and machinery. "Take this with you. Once she sees one of these Cerebrofusion Adapters, I'm pretty sure she'll have a tough time saying no." Ingram handed me the tool and I slid it carefully into my pouch, another object weighing on my shoulders.
"All right then. As long as she knows what it's used for I guess that's all that matters."
Ingram chuckled in amusement, "yeah, she'll definitely know. Now in the meantime, I'll prep Prime's CPU and we'll see if we can get the big guy moving."