Afire Love- Paladin Danse x Reader (COMPLETE)

show no mercy, part 1

idk why but this chapter ran a bit longer than i expected aND it's taken a while for me to put out a new chapter so i'm splitting it into two rip
You lay awake on your cot, unable to fall asleep.
You had asked the paladin if you could spend the night in his room, but he refused.
"If anyone noticed that you came in and never came out, we're both in trouble," he had said.
So he sent you to your own bed to be alone with your thoughts.
You flipped over the pillow to its cold side. He had left you with this unmistakable feeling inside you. Even though you had left him at least an hour ago, you still felt warm and tingly.
Someone at the end of the row started to snore.
With a sigh, you stood up from the bed and walked off to Proctor Teagan's store. The man was still awake. When does this guy sleep?
"Hey... Knight," he said groggily. His eyes were held at half mast.
"Teagan, are you drunk?"
He bent down and lifted up two empty liquor bottles.
"Did you drink that all by yourself?"
He yawned, but left his mouth open and nodded.
"You need to go to sleep."
"No- no, I need to stay ups because you want to talk with me."
"No, go to bed. It wasn't important, anyways," you said, watching him walk to the cot that was in the room with him.
Once he had settled down, you walked off into the bar. It was completely empty, except for the bartender.
"You're up early, Knight," she said.
"I was never down."
She laughed a little. "What can I get you?"
"Just a Nuka-Cola. I don't really drink."
She brought up a frosty bottle of soda as you pulled out a few caps.
"No, it's fine," she said when you tried to hand them to her. "This one's on me." She opened up the cash register and put in a few of her own caps. You left the room without a word and started going back to your cot. You stopped at Danse's door. I wonder what he's dreaming about. You placed the bottle on his doorstep and went off to bed.

"Hey, Knight. It's time to get up."
"Hmm?" Someone was poking you in the back. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw Paladin Danse towering over you. He had put his power armor back on.
"Okay," you said obediently. You rolled off the bed and stood next to him. The armor made him even taller compared to you.
"We need to meet Elder Maxson on the flight deck as soon as possible. So grab something to eat and we'll head out."
"Okay. I'll be ready in a few minutes."
"Also," he added, leaning down to whisper in your ear, "good morning, darling."
His words put butterflies in your stomach. He grinned and walked toward the ladder to the Command Deck. You smiled to yourself and pulled a bunch of mutfruit from your bag. You picked one off the stem and popped it into your mouth and started walking back to Teagan's stall.
He was standing at the counter, his hands splayed across the surface. He waved to you with a smile.
"Sober yet?" You asked him.
He gave you a thumbs up. "Anything I can get you before you head out?"
"How did you know I was going out?"
He scoffed. "Word gets around fast here. Especially when you're Danse's girl."
You turned bright red. "What- what is that supposed to mean?"
"Danse's recruit, I mean. Sorry, that was a weird way of saying it. Anyways, did you need anything?"
"Umm, yeah. Need more fusion cells," you said awkwardly.
He handed over a case of ammo while you laid down a handful of caps. "Thanks, Proctor."
Danse's girl. He had corrected himself quickly, but you couldn't help but wonder.
You made your way to the Flight Deck, where you saw Paladin Danse standing with Elder Maxson across the catwalk. The metal creaked under your feet as you walked towards the two.
Maxson heard you footsteps from a mile away and turned to face you. "There you are," he said. "Come over here."
You motioned for you to stand next to him. This was the exact spot where you and Danse had sat last night. Last night...
"See that? Across the water?" he asked you, pointing to the old military base. You nodded.
"That's Fort Strong, an old military base. Inside it, a stockpile of Fat Man missiles. The problem is, the place is crawling with Super Mutants." You furrowed your brows. "If those monstrosities acquire them," Maxson continued, "the Commonwealth's in even more danger. Your first mission, Knight, is to clear the place out and leave no mutant untouched. Understand?"
"All by myself?" you asked in shock. "Sir, I can't-"
"Of course not all by yourself. Who knows what's crawling around down there? I've assigned Paladin Danse to go with you, along with a vertibird that will drop you off there. Anything else?"
"No, sir."
"Then I suggest you two get to it. Ad Victoriam," he said, saluting. You and Danse followed suit and walked off together.
"Maxson is expecting a lot of you," Danse told you quietly. "Not even I got this big of a job on my first mission. What happened during that meeting?"
"I'm not sure," you murmured. "That was the first time we've met. He probably just has big plans." You thought for a minute. "He did seem pretty intent on saving the Commonwealth."
Danse shrugged. "Do you want to get anything before we head out? There's a set of power armor for you inside."
"I'll be okay," you reassured him. "It's just a few mutants. If there's anything big, we've got the miniguns."
"You're pushing your luck, soldier. I don't want to see you hurt," he whispered the last part sympathetically.
His words struck your heart. He wanted you to stay safe. "Okay, if you think that. I'll be right back." Danse smiled.
You came back out minutes later will your suit of armor.
"Ready now?"
"Sure, let's go."
You followed Danse to the vertibird and watched him board it. It was a stretch for your shorter legs to step onto it, but he was there to help you up.
"Your miniguns should be loaded and ready to fire," the pilot said. "Good hunting."
You sat behind the huge gun and grabbed onto it as the aircraft lowered itself from the landing bay and began its flight to Fort Strong. It hovered over the island, giving you a good look at it.
Something, it looked like a destroyed building, shifted.
What the hell...
The vertibird flew in closer as a Super Mutant Behemoth shook some rubble off its back and let out a deafening roar. The monster picked up a stone and hurled it at you, the pilot narrowly dodging.
"Shoot to kill!" Danse yelled, opening fire. You copied him. Bullets tore into the beast's leathery flesh. The pilot swerved around, avoiding another rock. Other mutants had appeared from behind cover and rapidly fired at the plane. You continued to fire at it until it stumbled back. It was almost dead.
"Shit!" the pilot yelled. "We've taken too much damage... this thing's gonna blow if it takes any more! You guys are gonna have to jump!"
Jump?
Danse glanced at you. Glad you put on your armor? his face said.
Your heart was beating out of your chest as you scootched out from behind the heavy weapon. You were about to jump before you felt a contact on your right arm. Danse had taken your hand. He could tell you were nervous, and you could tell he was, too. He squeezed your hand and nodded at you. You nodded back and held your breath as the two of you jumped.
The wind whipped your hair around as you felt pure weightlessness, adrenaline rushing through your blood. Your eyes were closed tight. And then it all stopped as your bodies slammed into the concrete below, breaking it into little bits. There was a slight tingling in your back, nothing more. You opened your eyes and drew your preloaded weapon. Danse's footfalls were loud as he ran though the abandoned alleyway onto the battlefield.
"Danse!" you yelled to him. "Come back!"
He froze and spun around, giving you a questioning look.
He wasn't going to move, so you ran to him.
"That thing's still out there, remember?"
"Of course. What's the problem?"
"If we go charging in like that, we'll get beaten to a pulp." You changed your tone. "I don't want that to happen."
He looked sympathetic. "Okay. If you think that's best. What do-"
"Look! The tin can man!" A shout came from behind you. Danse raised his weapon and fired three energy cells before you could turn around. Three Super Mutants lay dead on the floor.
"I was going to suggest stealth, but it looks like that's not an option anymore," you told him.
"Come on. We need to hide out and make a plan. One of these old buildings should work."
You ran side by side to the nearest building, an old bar, probably, and jumped through the busted out window. You followed him underneath the counter of the bar.
"Ok," he started. "The behemoth was in the center of the base. It probably still is, considering it's too big to go anywhere else and would be at a disadvantage in an alley. It'll be in an open area."
"So if it's in an open space, we can use the building around it as cover-"
"And one of us can shoot at it while it's distracted by the other," he added on.
"Exactly." You both smiled.
"Let's go?" you asked.
"I'm right behind you."
You and him wove between the alleys, ducking in and out of buildings, shooting the Mutants as they came. Deeper and deeper in.
You felt the ground shake beneath you. "Did you feel that?" you whispered to Danse.
Behemoth, he mouthed.
You walked over to him, making sure your steps were quiet.
"You go into that building," you whispered into his ear. "Go to the third story. I'll go around to the building on the far side while you distract him."
"No, I'll go to the other building. It's too much of a risk for you."
"I'll be fine. This is what I signed up for, remember? Maxson has big plans."
There was regret in his eyes when he gave in. "Ok, fine. Just please, be careful. He took his hands into yours. "You matter too much to me."
"Don't worry," you reassured him and started down the street.
"Soldier, wait!"
You stopped and turned around. Danse was running after you. Closer and closer, until slamming on the breaks and pulling you into his arms. You draped your hands around his shoulders.
"Do you promise?" he asked softly.
You stood on your tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Promise." You slid out of his arms and into the early morning sunrise.

Your feet were heavy on the cement as you wove through the alleyways, circling the center.
The buildings were arranged in a way so that that every alley opened into the center, so you had to be careful that it wouldn't see you.
You saw it plenty of times. Its beady black eyes, the sickly green skin. Your stomach turned at every glimpse.
By now, you must've gotten far away enough. It felt like you were across from Danse's building. You snuck closer through an alley to get to the nearest door and started climbing to the third story. You left the stairwell, a bit tired from the steps, and went to a window facing the plaza. The mutant was pacing around, its weapon, an uprooted fire hydrant, drawn.
The ground below it was soaked in blood.
A flash caught the corner of your eye, drawing your attention to the structure across from you. You saw Paladin Danse perched in the window, his scope catching the bright rays of the sunlight. You gave him a thumbs up and looked down the sight of your rifle. You breathed in and pulled the trigger as you breathed out. The laser shot towards the beast's head, causing him to stumble back.
The two of you opened fire on it. It spotted Danse first and ran toward the building he stowed away in. You kept shooting as Danse backed away from the window. Once it realized it wasn't getting anywhere with him, it turned to you. You shot at it a bit more before running off, letting Danse take over. It let out a frustrated roar.
Even though you were far away from the window, you could see clearly. The behemoth raised its club like a baseball bat and swung for the fences, right onto the foundation of the building you were in. The ground shifted beneath you. A chunk of flooring fell out, crashing through the second floor, leaving a hole in the structure. Danse's indistinct shouts echoed across the plaza as he continued firing. You had to get out. You had to get out, or you would be crushed in the rubble.
Thinking quickly, you jumped through the hole in the ground and landed on the first floor. You laid down a few mines and ran out of the building. It hadn't noticed you escaped, surprisingly, and continued to tear at the ruined building. Once you had gotten far away enough, you armed yourself with a frag grenade and pulled out the key. Taking a deep breath, you tossed it through the open doorway.
The grenade exploded on impact, setting off a chain of blasts, making your ears ring. You felt the shock from the blast. No, you weren't far away enough. Not enough. The building finally gave out, the explosions finishing what the mutant started. A cloud of dust rose its place, blocking out your vision from that point on. The earth shook, and you guessed that the behemoth had finally fallen.
"Soldier!" You heard a desperate voice through your ringing ears. "Y/N, where are you?!"