In The Shadow of Steel (Paladin Danse)

Part Twenty Seven

   "Where is she? Where is my mom?!"
   "She's gone."
   "Gone where? When is she coming back?"
   "She's not coming back, kid. Your mother betrayed us, she's an Institute spy."
The boy vigorously shook his head, so hard it caused all of the blood to rush to one place. He wheezed.
   "No! She wouldn't do that! She said she'd be back later. They tried to kill her! Why would she go along with them?!"
   "Your father is in on it. He's alive, she's been lying to us from the start." I sighed, my heart aching. The young boy was crying. That made the pain worse.
   "No, m-my father is dead. They're both dead. My mom is all I have. You have to let me see her, please!"
He was sobbing now. My gut wrenched. It was all I could not to let my voice break; his emotion was beginning to meet how I was feeling on the inside.
   "I can't, even if I wanted to. She's gone. She went with them. She left with the Institute, with your father and the Director."
   "What?! With Mr. Ayo?! No! Please, Mr. Paladin, you have to bring her home, they'll kill her!"
Sobs turned to wails, the sadness in his eyes to fear. It churned the feeling in my stomach into a deeper twist.
"Please, you must know she's innocent, look at all the things she's done to help you. My mom is good, she'd never betray you. She looks at you like you're my father. You have to help her, please!"
Hearing those words slip from the child's mouth in his pleading ramble gave me a feeling I'd never before experienced. What was it?
"Please, help my mom, before it's too late."
Had she truly betrayed us?

**********

Pain scratched at every inch of my body with its sharp fingernails. Every move resulted in a wince.
   "Ah, the hero's awake."
My eyes shot open as I jolted, but my back went crashing down to the bed as the agony shot through my skin like a bullet.
"Woah, easy there, hotshot. You've sustained a lot of injuries. You need to take it slow."
The voice came from a man, one I didn't recognise. My eyes opened, yet the dimly-lit room we were in did not help in the adjustment to clearing my vision.
   "W-who are you? And where are we? Where's my son?!"
   "Hey, we've got all day. You're safe with us, no need to ask every question under the sun." He smiled warmly, and suddenly I realised I did know who he was.
   "Sunglasses? Are we in Diamond City?"
He chuckled, "Ah, so you do recognise me. I'm Deacon, and no, we're not in the Great Green Jewel. A little east of there actually. Or west, depending on how you're looking at the map."
I blinked. "You're a security guard." My voice was hoarse and, having seemed to notice, Deacon held a bottle of purified water to my lips. "Thanks."
   "Yeah, and then some. I'm whoever I need to be."
   "And who are you now?" I asked.
   "A friend, someone who can reunite you with your son, again. Someone who can get you back to where you need to be."
   "My son, Shaun. Did they take him? Wait, where are they?!" Fear kicked in like a drum. The bruises covering me resisted my movements beneath the hands of the man holding me down.
   "We took care of 'em, don't worry. Though a few jumped before we got the chance to take 'em down. As for your boy, he's still with the Brotherhood of Steel."
   "Oh God, they think I betrayed them, what if they hurt him?!"
   "But you didn't, and even for the Brotherhood, hurting a kid? That's low, irregardless of the fact he's a synth and they know it."
Danse wouldn't let them harm him.
My chest grew tight with the memory of seeing the pain on Danse's face when they'd told their lies.
   "How do you know that I didn't betray them?"
   "We've been keeping an eye on you. You're kind of a big-deal, you know that? Nearly everyone in the Commonwealth has heard of you, the famous Vault Dweller. We knew you'd gotten into the Institute, and ever since then we've kept tabs. The security guard isn't the only cameo you've passed by."

It was a lot to take in, and my mind was already hazy.
   "I-I had no idea."
   "Yeah, that's kinda the point." He smiled. It hurt to laugh.
   "So, who are you guys, exactly?"
   "We're your last friends in the Commonwealth," he waited a beat, my guess was for dramatic effect. "We're the Railroad."

**********

Every night he snuck away, watching his back at every turn, jumping at every shadow. Something was off, and she was determined to find out why. So she followed him.

**********

   "So you think you'll be able to disguise yourself as a Brotherhood soldier, get on board the Prydwen and get the message to Danse, without getting caught?" It sounded hopeful, but that was all I had left. This had to work.
   "How hard can it be? Disguises are my forte; cameo is my middle name."
   "Jesus, Deacon, you're so full of shit." Glory tutted before turning into another hallway of the Railroad secret HQ, an underground crypt. It had been a week since they'd rescued me from the claws of the Institute, and so far, everything had remained quiet on the homefront. I'd mostly recovered from my injuries and the effects of the drugs, and today was the day my message of pleading was to be delivered to Danse.
   "You know I heard somewhere, that before the war there was this quote. Something about Marmite, and loving or hating it. I don't know, kinda seems relevant to me."
I laughed, but brushed it off to ask the question that had been nagging me ever since the members of the Railroad, though mostly Desdemona, had interrogated me in the hopes of getting me to join their revolutionary team.
   "Deacon, why are you helping me go back to the Brotherhood if they're another enemy to you?"
He sighed a heavy sigh, lifted his weary eyes up to meet mine.
   "Like I said before, we've been watching you. They're your best shot as getting back at the Institute. Dez hates to say it, but we're weak. We've lost a lot of good men, on top of all our safehouses. We try to hit the Institute, they step on us like bugs. Saving you has been our biggest victory, and we know that so long as you have the Brotherhood at your back, there's no stopping you from taking them down once and for all. And at the end of the day, that's our biggest goal too. Our personal differences can be put aside for another time."
   "Well, as reasons go, I guess that's as good as any." I offered a small smile, but another sigh is what I got in return.
   "Look, all I ask is that when the time does come, don't forget that we helped you. It's really uncool when people turn their back on you."
I smiled again and put a hand on his forearm, "I never forget a friend."
This time, a smile was reciprocated.
   "Thanks, I'll hold you to that. OK, let's get this show on the road. See you on the other side, pal."

**********

It was dark in there, and unstable. The ruins were old and unsafe; that's why they'd been cordoned off. So why did he come here every night?

Voices echoes in a low hush. She ducked down, her sufficient training proving beneficial to her level of stealth. Creeping round a corner, she saw them. She saw the trusted soldier talking to the strange man, and she heard it all.

Her hunch had been right; it had all been a lie. The wrong person had betrayed them, and that angered her, so much that she knocked into something and winced as it clattered to the floor.

Blue light illuminated the ruins as the courser fled.
Its too late, you've been seen.

It was all she could do now to avoid getting caught, to get back and alert the authorities.
It was her oath and loyalty which would ensure it.