Fallout: Fury Blood

Chapter 58: He's A Demon, He's A Devil, He's A Doll

Time to squabble, Kelly chimed to herself with a bracing sigh. She stepped neatly onto the Prydwen's observation bridge as the Elder brooded out the viewport, noting that the command deck was clear of guards or even maintenance crew. It unsettled her.

The memory of their last meeting on this very spot stole over her for a breath. He had stood before her, a demon in man-skin, dropping the bombshell that had shaken her world and brought Danse's world crashing down around him. The Elder had been poised to execute her at the faintest sniff of her betrayal, but upon witnessing the truth of the shock in her eyes, he had offered her his comfort, even intending to embrace her as she had wilted in despair. She still remembered the flicker of his touch on her arm.

Compassion had still existed deep in there somewhere, straining out like unripe, tenderfoot shoots through the inhabitable soil of demon-skin.

But that had been before he held Danse at gunpoint with the intention of murdering him in cold blood, even after hearing from Danse's own lips that he had not, and would never, betray him or the Brotherhood. But the radical extremist standing before her was just a rotten machine to the core where compassion was manufactured for control.

Well, he wasn't going to control her.

Kelly leered at the earthy leather valley of Maxson's brown battlecoat as his back greeted her, in his charming custom. Her final step reverberating on the deck triggered a small tensing of the muscles beneath the leather, and the hands that were clasped leisurely behind his back. His thoughts on their meeting must have resembled hers.

"Reporting as ordered, Elder."

He turned, eyeing her with those icy orbs. One look at his beard made her hands itch to yank it and strangle him with it. At least she had gotten the pleasure of breaking his nose. His bridge appeared firmly reset, but bruising loitered beneath his skin to mark the delighted occasion. He also sported a nice dark shiner on his jawline that even the forestry on his face couldn't hide. Hah. She gave herself an imaginative pat on the back.

Maxson endured her covert satisfaction. "Before we continue, I want to make one thing clear. This conversation will be the last time we speak about Danse. As far as the Brotherhood of Steel is concerned, he's dead. Do you understand?"

That explained why they were alone up here. Maxson's tone was wary, though it didn't lack it's threatening barb. Anything less would be disappointing coming from him.

"You're not going to have him killed behind my back, are you?" Kelly was just as wary, narrowing suspicious eyes at him. They were both at each other's mercy in this dirty little secret, and they both knew it.

Maxson drew his brow in offense. "I'm a man of my word, Knight. If he remains invisible to the Brotherhood of Steel, he has nothing to fear."

It sounded sincere. He wasn't a dirty player by nature, unlike herself, though he was getting a feel for it since dealing with her. But Kelly had no illusions that if Maxson ever realized Danse was with her, he would just slap them both on the hand and then ship Danse safely back home. No. Maxson would kill Danse in an instant. He gave them one chance.

But Danse was adamant to protect her. Both men were just stubborn steel fucks, as far as she was concerned.

In her silent scrutiny, Maxson continued, speaking with precise clarity. "Of course, Danse's execution creates a missing link in our chain of command. That traitor held quite an important position with us. I'm certain that you'll make a fine replacement."