Afire Love- Paladin Danse x Reader (COMPLETE)

hunter // hunted, part 2

The old facility seemed completely abandoned. If it weren't for the white skulls marking up the walls, you would've thought no one had been here since the bombs fell.
"We've got gunners," you heard Danse say. He had snapped back to his regular demeanor. "Stay alert. They know what they're doing."
You had never really encountered a gunner before, so you took his advice and turned the safety off your gun. You crept through the darkness with him and found your way up a set of stairs. Scanning the ground carefully for any traps, you snuck through a walkway into a huge open room. It was at least four stories high. At the other end of the room, on your level, was a door symmetrical to yours.
Danse had caught up to your side. You pointed across the way and started to move in that direction. You took one step, and his arm immediately flew in front of you, cutting you off. You gave him a questioning look. He pointed to a small window next to your target that you failed to take notice of.
There was a man standing in front of it. With a gun. You gritted your teeth- how could you have missed that?- and waited for Danse to give an order this time.
He didn't give an order. He aimed down his rifle and took the guy out with one clean shot. Waiting to make sure no one was with him, you followed him down the walkway.
You made your way through the facility, following the Courser's footsteps. Every now and then, there would be a large explosion a floor or two above you, followed by people screaming. You could only guess that you were on the right track.
Battling your way through waves of Gunners, you ascended floor after floor until you reached the top story. The stairs didn't lead any farther.
"Okay, this must be it. Let's search this floor," you suggested.
"Good idea."
You walked side by side through the hallway leading to a small room. It was littered with overturned desks and broken terminals. There were a few spent ammunition casings. And lots of bodies.
"Nothing here," Danse murmured over your shoulder. "Let's keep going."
The end of the room was blocked by a set of doors. You jiggled the handle, and with some resistance, it opened.
The next room was as deserted as the first. A set of stairs leading to an elevator was littered with the corpses of at least twenty men.
"They stacked their defenses so the Courser wouldn't reach the top floor, but he still got through," you said.
"Twenty-three to one," Danse added.
A knot began to twist your stomach as you approached one of them. His face was pressed into the steps.
You reached out to touch the bare skin of his neck. Warm. Recently deceased. You flipped the body over and came face to face with a red dot ingrained on his forehead. A deadly, precise shot. A quick, clean death. You stood and looked around at the others who had fallen, who were sporting the same mark in the exact same place.
"And not just that, he managed the same shot every single time."
Oh, God.
"Paladin," you said softly, groping the air for him.
He was there in a second. His arm wrapped around your waist, the other brushed your cheek. "What's the matter?"
"We can do it, right? We're going to win?"
"Of course we are. Compared to what we've been through, this is a puddle jump," he reassured you. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
"Okay."
"Okay. Are you ready to go?" he asked, pointing at the elevator.
You smiled. "Sure. Let's go,"
"After you," he said, moving out of the way so you could go up the stairs. You pushed the elevator call button and started taking deep breaths. There was a ding and the doors opened. Exhaling one more time, you drew you gun and stepped in.
When you stepped back out, you were in a larger room with a metal pillar erected in the middle of it. Spotlights scanned the area.
"Split up and clear this floor," Danse commanded, stepping to your side. You nodded and took the left side of the room while he went right.
The first thing you saw was a wide door. You slid it open and readied you weapon.
There was a set of stairs on the other side, along with a separate room to the left. You walked through the doorway and moved closer to the steps.
Suddenly, a deep shout- no, a scream, a gut-wrenching scream- echoed through the stairwell from overhead. You heard heavy thumping, and then Danse was there, breathing heavily.
"Are you okay?" he panted. He held your hands in his. There was fear in his eyes.
"That wasn't me," you said quietly, your voice cracking.
"Who was it?"
You didn't say anything. You pointed up the stairs.
"Shit," you heard him mutter. He drew his laser rifle. "Come on, we have to go." He started thumping up the stairs. You followed him up the winding staircase.
"No, please! You don't have to do this!" a voice pleaded. It was followed by a gunshot. You quickened your pace.
The stairs eventually led to a room with the same metal pillar. Three gunners with their hands tied above their heads knelt by it in silence. Another one was slumped against a crimson wall.
"You! Come here," a gritty voice shouted. A man in black leather robes was approaching you. His hair was jet black and looked like it was thinning out. The Courser. "Who are you?" he asked.
"We're with the Brotherhood of Steel," Danse said. "We're here to put you down." He brought his rifle to his shoulder.
"Wait," the Courser demanded. "I know you..." There were mixed expressions on the synth's face. Confusion and understanding, welcoming and hostility, both at the same time.
Danse relaxed for a minute to listen to him.
"M7," he barely whispered.
Danse didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. His shot hit him right between the eyes, and he staggered back. You joined in and took aim, hitting him square in the chest. He took out his own pistol and fired randomly, but his bullets got lost in the thick steel armor. Your combined force brought him to his knees. He scurried back as you closed in on him, backing him into a wall, where he pulled a device from his coat. He pressed a button and twisted a dial before he disappeared completely.
"Where'd he go?" Danse demanded in rage.
Just then you felt the back of your armor tear, and an object penetrated your skin, inches away from your spinal cord. You winced in pain, but swung around with a smile. Swinging your arms in the air, you landed on something- you couldn't see it, but you knew it was there. With your armored hand, you grabbed the courser by the neck and lifted him off the ground. You squeezed the sides of his neck until, slowly, he faded back into visibility. You dropped him. He stumbled around and fell to the floor. With a quick motion, you stood over him, your foot on his chest, and put a final bullet into his head. He coughed and sputtered and then went still.
"Nice work, Knight," Danse praised you.
"Paladin," you said. "What was he talking about? What did he call you?"
"I don't know. Maybe he mistook me for someone else. He said he knew me, but I've never seen him in my life," he explained with a sigh. "Anyways. We need to get that chip."
"Right..." you said. "Where do you think it is?"
"Check his wrists. That's where would put it." Kneeling down, you took one of his hands and felt the surface of the skin. No lumps. You repeated the process with the other hand.
Your fingers grazed a small bump. "Found it."
With the paladin's help, you cut open his wrist and found with little metal capsule. You had to dig into the cut to pull it out.
"Have it? Don't drop it," he joked. You couldn't help but smile.
"I'm ready to go," you said. "Are you?"
He nodded. "I'm right behind you."