The Knight and the Paladin - A series of Oneshots

22 Shadowing

It's been days. Almost a whole week since he last saw her. His own protege avoided him and he had no goddamn clue why. Before she went into hiding everything was normal. Like as normal as it could get on the Prydwen. But when he thought about it, about the look in her eyes, he knew he was lying to himself. Her eyes always had this stressed look in them lately, always searching for something, or someone. She looked afraid. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but how should he approach it or her..? Just before he was falling into desperation a piece of paper was slid under his door into his room. He heard light steps fading away quickly and before he was able to open his door it was quiet again. He stood up with a grunt and picked up the paper. He knew the handwriting immediately.

'Come see me in the ruins. -K.'

There was no date or time so he suggested he had to go now. He knew he had to act fast, so he just grabbed his rifle and went straight to the flight deck. As he stepped out of the vertibird he went straight out of the airport and around it where one of the fallen airplanes laid. It's rusted corpse a reminder of the pre-war world and he wondered how it felt to travel in such an enormous pile of heavy metal. Then he shook his head and kept walking to the door in front of him. Memories of Initiate Clarke came into his mind and anger rose in his chest. Kathryn had dealt with him, made him reconsider his fault and turn himself in.

Paladin Danse opened the door to the old ruins of the Boston Airport and the smell of rotten flesh and mold crept into his nose. His face wrinkled in disgust and he walked inside. There was no feral in sight, the Brotherhood cleared out the place thoroughly, but the smell still lingered. He went down where Clarke held the ghouls and fed them tons and tons of Cram. And there hidden in a corner was someone. He came closer, rifle at the ready. "Danse?", she called out with a voice almost inaudible. His eyes widened and he swallowed. "Kathryn!", he called her. Slowly she stood up, her whole body shaking. Fine lines glistened on her cheeks and he knew she had been crying. "Oh god..."

He embraced her shivering form and she clung tight to him. "Talk to me.", he said while drawing small circles on her back. She only shook her head into his chest still sobbing and shaking. "Kathryn, please, tell me what's wrong. I want to help you." He sounded desperate. A loud sniff echoed and then she looked up. Kathryn's eyes seemed hollow, missing all their former color and life. "I'm shadowed.", she choked out. "What?", the paladin said in confusion. "From who?" Kathryn swallowed the knot in her throat and answered "By another knight. He's always there, always threatening me, always near when I wanted to approach you because of him." Her grip on the paladin grew stronger, almost painful for him as her fingernails dug into his skin.

Another wave of shivers rushed through her body but she didn't begin to cry again, instead she looked up in Danse's eyes. "What does he want from you?", he asked, anger bubbling inside his chest. "He permanently asks for pictures... Nudes. Tells me that he is a dirty little whore who let's himself get fucked by everyone and all that. He walks around with his dick out of his pants. God Danse, he even asked me to have sex with him." Kathryn was shaking violently now, her legs giving in. She only still stood because Danse was holding her. His own body began to tremble from rage and he tightened his embrace around the woman in his arms. His voice was low but threatening. "If that guy does this again, steel be with him before I punch him to death!" Kathryn swallowed. She looked up in Danse's face but saw no emotion. He blankly stared into the room concentrating on not to just leave her here and run around the airport and threaten each and every knight until everyone knew better not to touch his protege.

He made a step back and even before he was able to turn around Kathryn told him the knight's name. "Of course it's him.", he said bitterly. Then he took a better look at her, finally seeing how dirty and ragged her uniform was. That it wasn't clinging to her body like it did before. Her hair was a mess and had a lot of knots in it. "how long have you been down here?", he then asked. Kathryn hugged herself. "Several days." Now Danse knew why he didn't see her on the Prydwen anymore. "Come with me, you sure as hell must be hungry.", he then offered. "NO! I... I mean... well..." Her stomach grumbled and she looked away and then sighed. She looked up into his eyes with her own frightened ones. "Okay..." Danse's mouth twitched into a small smile. "Come on then, let's get you fed." He held out his hand for her and she took it.

A few minutes later they were approaching the mess officer, asking him for a big plate for Kathryn. Danse thought it would be best to eat in private and so they were on their way to his quarters. While passing through the Prydwen Kathryn saw a familiar face, one that let her blood run cold and she paled immediately. "Danse...", she whispered "...look, there he is." Danse turned around and saw how someone tried to hide himself. He gave his plate to Kathryn and strode over to the knight which tried to run now. With one quick step Danse was on the knight and held him by his collar. "Where the hell you thought you were going, knight?", Danse growled in a low voice. The knight looked at him and swallowed. His eyes were unfocused and dilated. "If you ever dare to threaten Knight Kay again, be assured that I. Will. Kill. You! Is that clear?" The now sweating man nodded and swallowed again. Without any other word Danse began to drag him away. The knight first didn't know where to. But as his mind cleared a bit he began to panic. "No, not to Cade!"

Danse didn't care. It was obvious that this knight had a chem problem and needed medical help. "Knight-Captain Cade. Knight Colin here needs your help. He's on chems and needs counseling. I'll leave him in you charge." And with this words Danse almost threw the knight into the sick bay and right in front of the medic's feet. Knight Colin looked up into Cade's grey eyes. The knight-captain nodded. "Thank you Paladin. I see what I can do for him." Danse nodded, turned around and left. He sighed heavy and shook his head. How could someone fall this deep into a spiraling hole..? He waved his thought off and walked back to the waiting Kathryn. Danse opened the door to his room and then both stepped in and sat down. "He won't be a problem anymore.", Danse said into the quiet. Kathryn looked at him and sighed in relief. "Thank you so much.", she then whispered. Her fingers fidgeted in her lap and she chewed her lip. Danse smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Now come on, let's eat before it gets too cold." Kathryn dug into her plate and even ate faster than Danse on the field. His jaw dropped and then both laughed.

After their hearty meal Danse offered Kathryn to clean herself in his bathroom. At the meantime he would go and get her a new uniform from Proctor Teagan. Kathryn accepted the offer and went into the bathroom. When Danse came back he laid the new uniform in front of the bathroom door and then sat down at his desk to do some paperwork. A while later a fresh looking Kathryn stood in front of him. She looked much better now. Her cheeks were more rosy, the knots in her hair gone. He didn't dare to look further down. Kathryn's eyes had their color back and they shone in their bright blue again. "I want to go to Diamond City.", she then said "I need a haircut." She tried to comb her hair with her fingers and kept sticking in small knots. She sighed. "I'd gladly accompany you then.", Danse offered. They both smiled at each other. "It's late. We should get some rest before we head down.", the paladin then said. "Do you want me to walk you to your bunk?" Kathryn's smile faded. "I thought... I mean I wished I could stay here... You know..." She sighed. "Oh, uhm... okay.", Danse didn't really know what to do with that. "I just don't want to be alone." Kathryn whispered, turned away from him and hugged herself. He now looked at her again, seeing how the shaking came back and how she tried to suppress it. Danse walked over and hugged Kathryn from behind. "Of course you can stay here. I'll just sleep on the floor then." Kathryn grabbed his hands and turned around. She shook her head. "The bed's big enough for two. Can we lay together?"
He didn't know what made him agree to this. He felt so uncomfortable and didn't know how he should act in his own bed. But before he even could think more about it Kathryn was already asleep and he soon fell into a dreamless sleep.

Morning came slowly. Danse needed some time to figure out what was wrong. It was unnaturally warm in his bed. And then he felt something wrapped around him from behind. He slowly remembered that someone was there; that it was Kathryn. He was sure his head would burn his pillow if he wouldn't get out of bed immediately. So he gently tried to free himself. Kathryn stirred but didn't wake up. Only her grip around him grew tighter and he had to stop his escape attempt. He sighed but also thought that it didn't feel that bad. So he snuggled back deeper into the sheets and savored the warmth from his behind and somehow managed to drift off into sleep again. As he woke up again and opened his eyes he looked into the face of Kathryn. She still slept and had her arm wrapped around him. But a thing had changed. Not only that Danse now laid face to face with her, but he also had wrapped an arm around her. A small smile flew onto his face and he softly kissed her head.

"Mhm... Good morning...", Kathryn said sleepily. "M-morning...", Danse stammered out. Kathryn opened her eyes and almost jumped. Her face was bright red now and she looked everywhere but Danse. "Don't worry.", he said. "Nothing happened." And that was the truth. Before anyone could stammer an apology Danse stood up and walked into the bathroom. At least his morning wood was now calmed down enough to finally get to pee. He came back in a fresh black officer's uniform, his hair combed and his teeth brushed. Kathryn's eyes glistened when she took a look at him. A flush creeping it's way on her cheeks and she smiled shyly. "You look good.", she then said, a chuckle carrying her words. His ears burned as he thanked her. He coughed and then said "If you still want to go to Diamond City then you should get ready. I'll be waiting for you on the flight deck."

Kathryn walked onto the flight deck, rifle in hand and a small backpack on her shoulders. She put her hair into a ponytail which whipped in the wind. The sun was shining and she smiled. Danse felt like the day got brighter now. They boarded a vertibird and flew into the direction of The Great Green Jewel. The lancer landed at the outskirts of Diamond City and they walked the rest to the big gate in front of the old baseball stadium. Danny Sullivan greeted them with a hearty smile and waved his hand. Kathryn waved back and greeted him with a loud "HI DANNY." and then they walked down the stairs into the city. While Kathryn was at the barber Danse browsed the wares of Arturo Rodriguez, the owner of 'Commonwealth Weaponry'. He bought some fusion cells, fusion cores and one or two mods for his own laser rifle.

When Kathryn walked over he almost didn't recognize her. The dark wild curls were gone and instead her hair was now almost blonde and short, chin length and a little frizzy. It suited her, Danse thought. "Wow... you look beautiful.", he said before he could think of anything else. And right as the words left his mouth his face was bright red and he stared holes into the floor. Kathryn laughed, but also had pink cheeks now. "Thank you, Danse." She then nudged him. "Come on, let's get something to eat."