The Knight and the Paladin - A series of Oneshots

37.1 Apologizing ain't easy I guess

Shit! Big fucking giant shit!
That definitely wasn't what she should've heard after waking up.
Danse wants to kill Rhys?!

She looked at the knight, terrified by his words, but also angry. Her hands began to shake, she threw the blanket off of her feet and swung them down onto the cold metal floor. She didn't care that she wasn't wearing anything but her underwear when she tried to stand. Her chest heaved, her face contorted into one of pure rage and slowly she began to stalk out of the infirmary. "Paladin-", tried Cade, but one glare from her let him freeze into a stone sculpture if she would've been Medusa. He swallowed and didn't dare to even blink his eyes while he watched her walk past Rhys and out into the hallway. Rhys also didn't know if he should move and walk after her, just in case something might happen and looked at Cade for confirmation. Silent understanding was it, a nod and Rhys cautiously sneaked after the half-naked paladin. With every step she took she grew stronger, the ground was shaking like she wore power armor and everyone witnessing her steaming rage was hurrying away. It was better not to cross her path now, everyone knew that. Rhys trailed behind her like a beaten up dog and tried to get as less attention as possible. He really didn't want to get another threat to his life, one really was enough.

___

Danse was sitting at his desk, not knowing why the hairs on his arms were standing and he wondered if he could feel rad-storms now. Well that was truly impossible he thought to himself as he scratched the scruff on his chin. He stood up and wanted to go look after Kathryn when the door was slammed into his face. A certain hair color was shoved into his face and it took him a moment to realize he was lying on the floor. "What the-" A fist connected to his jaw, out of the green and blue hues of her hair. "Kath-" Another one, this time at his eye. He got angry. Why the hell did she attack him? He catched the next fist in his while looking into her clouded eyes. She wasn't herself he realized. Why was she so angry? "Are you fucking insane?", she snarled. "What? Why?", he pressed out before her other fist rose and flew down onto his chest. He gasped at the impact. "Why would you do this?", she pressed on.

He had enough now. Kathryn might be strong, but he knew how to handle her. He quickly grabbed her other fist and threw her with a swing of his feet off of him and took the momentum to get to his feet. Now that he was standing he rose to all the might he could muster and towered over her. "What the FUCK is your problem?!", he demanded in a loud voice. Suddenly Kathryn's eyes cleared and she looked at him quizzically. "My problem?", she then asked. One of her eyebrows shot up and it was like a light bulb went on in her brain. "Ohh, this you mean. Well, why the fuck did you threat Rhys' life?!" Rhys winced in the background and both Kathryn and Danse turned to him. He looked at them like he did something worse than almost killing one of the persons he cared about.

Danse deflated immediately, his shoulders sagged down and he felt very guilty. His expression almost was hilarious, looking like a dog that sniffed on a very pungent sock and pulled a disgusted face. He sat down onto his bed and ran his hands through his hair and over his face. "How do you know?", he asked in a quiet voice. All the anger washed away by the sudden question of his lover. "Rhys, come in please.", said Kathryn. No one else should hear about this but the three of them. After everyone was sitting – Rhys on the chair, Danse kept sitting on the bed and Kathryn took the floor – Rhys started to explain again what happened. Both Danse and Kathryn scowled at him, but they also noticed how uncomfortable he was. He was fidgeting a lot with his fingers, scratched his head and chin and it took him like for ever to find the right words. Kathryn felt something like sympathy for the knight when she saw the glistening of unshed tears in his eyes. He really regretted dragging her out there and he urged again that no matter what punishment she saw fit, he would accept it without a questioning it.

Kathryn smiled which surprised and confused him quite a lot. "If it takes me to almost die to get that stick out of your ass to accept me as your CO, well I think you already suffered enough." Wait what? What did she just say? He scowled, needed time to process her words in his mind. Did she just forgive him? He asked her, the smile still visible on her face. She nodded and told him "I can see that you're suffering, that you mean every word you say. I know you bleed Brotherhood if I'd stab you. And what good would it do to Haylen if I'd punish you? I like seeing her happy, and since it's you who does that to her I won't nor can't punish you." Before Danse or Kathryn could react he was on his feet, slamming the half-naked Kathryn onto the floor with the biggest hug he could give her, letting his tears fall freely and thank her a thousand times that she wasn't mad with him.

"You know, Rhys", she then said after catching her breath and continued "I heard how often you said 'I'm sorry.' and that I have to wake up. Well I wasn't sleeping all the time... I just wanted to listen what people said while I pretended to be asleep. And I heard good stuff, also bad stuff. But you, Rhys, where the most honest of them. And I'd be glad to be your commanding officer. BUT! Under once condition." He looked at her, eager to know what she wanted from him. Yes?", he simply told her to move on. "You never ever will do that again. If so, be sure I let you clean the latrines for forever!", she said laughing now. His eyes still were wet but he mirrored her smile non the less and pulled her into a hug again. "You're the best paladin to serve under, you know that?", Rhys then said to Kathryn just to earn a grumpy huff of air from Danse. "No offense, Sir.", he quickly added.

When Rhys finally let go of Kathryn she stood up and brushed herself off, stalking over to Danse. "But you!", she said pointing a finger at the paladin "Did you take leave of your senses or what?" She was glaring at him intensely. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and muttered "Says the woman walking around naked? Aha..." Rhys chuckled and needed to duck when Danse threw his pillow at him. Kathryn also crossed her arms in front of her chest, tapping one foot at the floor impatiently. "I better go now...", said Rhys and was already standing up and on his way to the door. "No.", interjected Kathryn. "You need to hear this." He was curious now. "Danse, don't you think that you owe Knight Rhys an apology?" Both men looked at her, jaws dropped and eyes wide. But only Danse blushed a deep red as he scratched at his neck and cleared his throat. "Uh, well, yeah..."

"So?" Kathryn pushed on and Danse stood up to give Rhys his hand and the knight took it, and Danse said "I'm sorry that I threatened your life. I won't do it again." He was tato red in the face. Rhys couldn't believe that Kathryn made Danse apologize for defending her. He still stared in disbelief but shook the paladin's hand firmly. "Uuuh apology accepted, Sir.", he then spoke, not really knowing if he can go now or not. He looked back at Kathryn who was smiling widely now. "See? That didn't hurt, did it?" Since when is the Brotherhood a bunch of kindergarten children?!

"I can I go now? I really don't want to be in a room with a half-naked paladin and her partner..."
"Of course. And thank you." Before Rhys went out of the door Kathryn gave him a kiss to the cheek. "Oh and please give Haylen a big hug from me, will you?", she then said smiling. Rhys nodded and walked away. "And you!", Kathryn exclaimed "Come here now I really need a hug from you..." She sighed when Danse turned around and embraced her carefully. "Are you hurting?", he asked her, reminding himself from what horror she just had woken up from. "No, not really..." She moved her arms and legs to show that she indeed was in no pain. "Now come here and kiss me already!" Danse laughed and happily obeyed as he gently placed his lips on hers. He had his girl back, his partner, his lover. A huge boulder made from ice fell from his heart, the tight feeling in his chest finally was gone and he felt like he would really breath for the first time in his entire life.

___

Elder Maxson granted him the flight back to the Police Station. He was giddy to finally see Haylen again after days of the unknown about Kathryn's condition. Now he could get to her and tell her the good news. But he didn't know if he should tell Haylen about Danse's weird behavior lately. He guessed that that paladin showed a glimpse of what's going on inside him, that it was deeper than the threat he threw at his life. No, Rhys witnessed a part of Danse's deep love for Kathryn, that he would do anything for her if something bad happened. And well, he did and showed Rhys that it was no walk in the park when the life of someone beloved was on the line of death and life. And to his luck Paladin Kay was a fighter, always strong and she just forgave him and his damn stupidity and walked away with nothing more than a verbal black eye. He swore to himself that he would never tease her like that again. Only if she started to tease him first he would answer, until then he'd keep his loose mouth shut.

Haylen smiled brightly when she saw Rhys. He was still in one piece and looked very relieved. Haylen threw herself at him with her arms wide open. "Tell me, how she's doing?", demanded the scribe. Rhys smiled sweetly at her as he returned the hug. "She's doing just fine.", he explained. "You should have seen her. Or well, you should see Danse now." He chuckled. "Why?, asked Haylen. "Oh well, I don't know if I should tell you." She hit him on the shoulder and said "Oh you tease, tell me already!" and kept smiling at him. "Okay, okay. Well... Danse said some not so nice things and Kathryn got wind of it. He'll sport a black eye and jaw soon." Haylen's jaw dropped.

"NO WAY?!"
"Oh yes."
"What happened?"
"Well, she defended my life after I almost was responsible for her death..."
"But how, what did Danse say?"
"That he'd kill me if she would die. Guess I'm gonna live longer now."
"That's no joking matter, Rhys..."
"I tell you the truth. Kathryn went nuts on him and made him apologize like a child."
"Wow, really."
"Yeah when I tell you. I couldn't believe it myself. She even forgave me even tho I was so stupid."
"Punishment?"
"None. She said she couldn't do this to you. But she also told me that if I'd ever pull such a stunt again I have to clean the latrines for forever."

Haylen laughed.

"Well that's a punishment everyone would love after witnessing her wrath."
"Oh come here you little tease."

Rhys pulled Haylen tighter to his chest and gave her the sweetest kiss he could muster. Kathryn lived, and was he.

He was still alive.