To Save a Soul

Chapter 6 We've gone nuclear

    Katherine awoke with a gasp. She'd had it again, the dream where Danse made her run as Brotherhood soldiers killed him. It was exactly the same. Detail for detail. Her eyes fluttered open to the subject of her dream leaning over her, hazel eyes shining from unshed tears.
"Danse? Danse! What's wrong?" she cried out as she went to sit up but was instantly stopped by an intense ache in her lower chest. Katherine cried out and looked down to see a small blood spot on her white shirt. Where was the rest of her gear? A huge sigh of relief escaped Danse and he found himself unable to do anything but stare at her. Katherine groaned as she hoisted herself into a half sitting position on her elbows.
"You nearly died. You're lucky he found me." a deep voice boomed.
"Holy fuck." she hissed when she saw the Doctor.
"Virgil?" she asked as she bit her lip and sat all the way up through the pain, Danse getting up to kneel next to her.
"My son, the Institute has him! I killed Kellogg and he was working with them, I need to get in!" she sputtered wildly. A strong hand came to rest on her back, Danse's.
"You...killed Kellogg?" Dr.Virgil asked in amazement. Katherine nodded wildly, yes she had.
"That means that I'm safe now." Virgil said happily.
"Teleportation." Katherine reminded him. Danse was oddly quiet beside her, Katherine hadn't realize how close she'd been to dying yet or that it had scared the shit out of him.
"Well you certainly did your homework. I can't build it, I don't have the means, but I'm sure your organization might." Virgil said before turning to his chemistry station and began scribbling clumsily on a piece of paper. Katherine turned to look at Danse who was staring at her. The look in those hazel eyes made her worry.
"What's wrong and why am I so sore?" she said quietly to him. Danse said nothing but continued to watch her.
"Danse, you're scaring me." she whispered.
"You almost...you almost died. I swear there will be hell to pay when I find out who did that to your suit...we're lucky that we found Dr.Virgil...he saved you." the Paladin told her.
"Did what to my suit?" Katherine asked hesitantly as she tried to analyze the expression that briefly graced his chiseled features.
"There were..the seal around the knee had been purposefully cut open. The wires were exposed and all." he told her, fear registering in her eyes finally. Who would want to hurt her? Better yet, who would want to kill her? Had it even been intended for her or had she simply chosen the wrong suit of power armor?
    On the count of three Danse grasped Katherine's elbows and helped pull her to her feet. She felt like she had been kicked in the chest by someone in a suit of armor. They must have injected her with a serious needle. The thought made her want to faint.
"I have made you a list of components and instructions that you will need to build the teleportation pad. Go to C.I.T. and use that device on your arm to pick up the signal, you're looking for a courser. It's essentially a suicide mission, but that's your deal." Virgil said as he handed the paper to Katherine.
"Thank you so much, Virgil." she said and she sincerely meant it. Their next problem was getting out of the Glowing Sea alive with only one set of power armor.
"You're taking my suit." Danse said blatantly. Katherine gawked at him, what had gotten in to him?
"Where would that leave you? Oh right, dead!" she snapped. She wouldn't do it. The man had done too much for her since she'd found him and the rest of his team at the Cambridge police station.
"I can give one of you a dose of Institute strength anti radiation medication, but it would be stronger on her because of her low body mass." Virgil commented. Katherine made a little hmph noise as she turned to the super mutant.
"Absolutely not. I will not risk it." Danse announced.
"Good thing I'm not asking you to take it." Katherine told him as she took the needle from Virgil. Danse glared down at her, daring her to do something against orders.
"You're not taking it, it's too dangerous. That's an order, Knight." Danse said sternly. Katherine only replied with a smile before scrunching her eyes closed as she jammed the needle into her forearm. She yipped in pain.
"Fuck." Danse snarled as he punched the stone wall before climbing into his power armor defeatedly.
"You'd better hurry. That serum will only last about six hours." Virgil told them. Danse waisted no time in storming over to Katherine after she had put all of her gear back on and snatched her off of her feet. Katherine held onto the handles in his chest plate with both hands, once again frightened by his caveman like anger.
    Danse carried her that way for a couple of hours before they heard it...a deafening roar that echoed frighteningly through the radiated air. Katherine tightened her grip on the metal bars as Danse stopped to scan their surroundings.
"What was that?" she asked as she peeped her head up over the shoulders of Danse's power armor.
"Head down, soldier." the Paladin said as took a few more steps forward.
"That sounded like a deathclaw." he told her as another much deeper roared echoed around them.
"Put me down so I can run!" Katherine squealed, but he only tightened his steel grip on her.
"Go Danse! GO! Run!" Katherine screamed as she caught a glimpse of of the beast barreling after them. Danse didn't hesitate and burst into a sprint. Katherine's heart was threatening to beat out of her chest. The heavy steps of the power armor jolted her roughly and her hair was a tangled mess in the wind, but Danse never looked back he just ran.All the while she couldn't tear her eyes away from their pursuer.
"Left leg compartment. Grenade...throw a grenade!" Danse ordered between gasps. Katherine hung riskily over the power armor's arm and, stretching, reached down to fish a grenade out of the compartment. It was a difficult task to do while in motion, but she accomplished it all the same. As he carried her again in both arms she yanked the pin from the grenade and threw it in the deathclaw's path.
"Go, fuck, go!" Katherine cried again.
"Hold on!" she heard Danse grunt. The explosion rocked the ground. All she saw was a wall of dust before they were both knocked to the ground with enough force to daze her.
    Katherine had hit the ground hard, her joints and limbs ached and it took her a good minute or two to come back around and open her eyes. She managed to get onto her hands and knees and spit out the dust that had managed to get into her mouth. Dirt caked her hands and clouded her vision as she looked up to search for Danse, but he had already found her, scooping her up in one swift motion he continued running. They traveled at a slower pace this time and made it out the Glowing Sea in four and a half hours, both the Paladin and the Knight were exhausted. Katherine collapsed, lying on her back, on the floor of the vertibird as they reached Waypoint Echo. The Paladin shut and locked both of the aircrafts sliding doors before stepping out of his power armor in the corner.
"I'm too exhausted to fly, it wouldn't be safe." Danse said as he stared down at the woman lying on the floor with her eyes closed.
"We can stay the night in here. It's safe enough right?" she mumbled with a limp wave of her hand, her eyes still closed. Danse supposed the vertibird was fairly safe. They'd be in for an uncomfortable night however, the Commonwealth got cold at night. Danse sat down in one of the seats and let his face come to rest in his hands. He was beyond exhausted. He thought about everything he wanted to say to Katherine and how irrational all of it was. How inappropriate it was. How selfish it was of him.
"I...I don't know who would do that to any suit of Brotherhood armor. It was certainly intentional. It's incredible that...that someone could survive advanced radiation poisoning...but I'm...well I'm glad you did. I think about you a lot more than I should." he broke the silence as he spoke the words into his hands, holding his breath as he waited for a reply. He never got one, instead his body went rigid as Katherine raised a hand up and set it on his knee without opening her eyes or making a noise. A gesture of comfort and admiration at his small confession.
    They kept the vertibird's doors closed as Danse flew them back to the Prydwen. All was quiet between the two. Despite sleeping through the night Katherine was still completely exhausted.
"What's the plan?" she asked as the Prydwen came into view. She saw Danse shake his head.
"I don't know." he told her simply and she knew they were in a tight spot. Elder Maxson would surely be waiting and who he would be furious with... she couldn't be sure. The next problem on Katherine's mind was who had tampered with the suit of power armor she had taken into the glowing sea. Paladin Danse docked the vertibird and followed Katherine out. Elder Maxson was waiting for them on the flight deck.
"Paladin, Knight, follow me to the command center for debriefing." the Elder commanded. Katherine glanced nervously at the Paladin but he wouldn't look at her. They both followed the Elder to the command center in silence, both exhausted, both anxious, both guilty. Once inside the Paladin and the Knight stood before Elder Maxson.
    Elder Maxson took in the sight of his two ragged soldiers before him. The Paladin in common jeans and his dark jacket beneath his kevlar vest. The Knight in shredded jeans and a tight dark sweatshirt under her own child sized vest. Both were caked in dirt and filthy. Both together and both still very much alive.
"Glad to see that you have both made it back alive, but have you made it back successful?" Maxson asked. Danse spoke up this time.
"Knight Katherine was successful in finding more information on how to infiltrate the Institute and now the Brotherhood needs to find and kill a courser. There was one major hang up along the way, Knight Katherine's suit had been tampered with." Paladin Danse reported, watching the Elder carefully. Elder Maxson turned his attention to Katherine. She gazed up at him with those intense gray eyes.
"And you're alright?" he asked her.
"I am alive thanks to Paladin Danse." Katherine said cooly, holding the Elder's gaze.
"Then I suppose that you owe him your thanks as do I." Maxson noticed Danse tense as he spoke. A mischievous smirk spread across the Elder's face.
"As for the courser, our Knight here clearly has a right to be there, I will accompany her." Maxson announced. Katherine felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. Danse's mind was racing. He knew what she was in for, but he also knew that Maxson was the leader of the Brotherhood and his authority was to be respected.
"If approved, I would like to offer my help as well. No one has ever successfully taken out a courser and lived." Paladin Danse suggested.
"I think that would be a great strategy. The more power the better our odds and as the Elder of the Brotherhood precautions need to be taken to keep you alive." Katherine told Maxson. At first it didn't seem that he was buying it, but he slowly began to nod.
"Very well. We leave tomorrow morning. Dismissed." The Elder said.
    Danse and Katherine both left the room, Maxson's gaze never leaving the Knight's small frame as he trailed them. Danse was aware that they were being followed. He stopped outside Katherine's room and turned to her.
"I'll see you bright and early soldier." he told her. She didn't understand till she saw the Elder in her peripheral. Katherine simply nodded and closed the door behind her. The picture of her family from another time staring at her from the cool metal wall. Her heart dropped. Katherine set her rifle on the dresser and let her kevlar vest and hoodie drop to the floor before she flung herself onto the bed. Lying on her stomach she stared at the floor blankly. She was exhausted and couldn't even bring herself to worry about her suitors.
    The next morning, bright and early, there was a knock at her door. A half asleep and drained Katherine called out groggily, unthinkingly.
"Come in." Katherine assumed it was Haylen or most likely Paladin Danse. The door clicked shut behind heavy footsteps.
"Katherine. I wanted to speak with you before we head out this morning." Maxson's voice startled her enough to send her scrambling up in bed. The Elder had to fight back the urge to chuckle at the figure before him, blonde hair sticking every which way wildly. There was a good few years of an age difference between the Paladin and the Elder, Maxson being the younger one.
"Go ahead." Katherine said warily as she plucked her hoodie and vest off the floor and began to put them on. Maxson remained in front of the door as he spoke.
"I know that finding your son is important to you and that it is the unspoken motive for everything you do for the Brotherhood. I wish I could have aided you myself in your journey instead of sending the Paladin." Elder Maxson told her, his voice uncharacteristically low.
"It really is fine..." she began but Maxson interrupted her as he raised his hand for her to listen.
"I'm not done, Knight." he said. Katherine stood before him in her vest and with all of her holsters in place, she was ready to go and anxious to get out of the tiny room. Maxson was slightly and almost unnoticeably smaller than the Paladin, but he was certainly more intimidating.
"I want you to know that I hope by sending you out with the Paladin that I have never forced you into a position where another might take advantage of you. I'd kill anyone that dared to harm you." he finished.
    Katherine was completely taken aback. The Elder's words had been unexpected and almost made no sense to her, she hardly knew him. Katherine nodded to herself a few times as she processed what he had said. Danse crossed her mind and she realized that she really needed to thank him for putting himself at risk for helping her. Hell, she even felt silly for being so genuinely terrified of the Elder. Another feeling that flared through her briefly was anger, anger that Maxson could even think that Danse would take advantage of her. The man was practically foreign to human contact.
"No, Danse has been nothing but kind to me. I appreciate your concern for me though" She told him with an awkward nod.
"Anything you need I can get it for you, you're aware of that right?" the Elder told her as he watched her snatch Righteous Authority off of the dresser. Katherine whipped around to face the door as someone rapped on the other side. Maxson took it upon himself to answer her door. Katherine had a good view of Paladin Danse as he shoved past Maxson and into her room. Katherine's eyes were wide as the Elder cursed at the Paladin. With the two big men in the room it had become sufficiently crowded. Katherine remained wide eyed in the corner.
"What did he do to you?" Paladin Danse snarled. Katherine was genuinely caught off guard by the Paladin's outburst. Danse was truly terrifying when angry and there was no doubt in her mind that the two men were about to pummel each other half to death in her room.
"Nothing Danse, he didn't do anything." Katherine said as she swung her rifle across her back.
"What did I do to her? Well that's none of your business." Maxson said in an exaggerated voice.
"Gentlemen don't we have somewhere to be?" Katherine hissed loudly, getting both men's attention.
    The flight to the C.I.T. Ruins was tense. Danse piloted the vertibird while Maxson stood between Katherine and the open door. Occasionally Maxson would point out various locations or points of interest to the Brotherhood and explain to her just why these points were strategical strongholds. The Elder was a lot easier to talk to than she had thought he would be. Danse hadn't spoken a word. Danse landed the vertibird on top of the Cambridge police station where Katherine had first met him. The police station was where her life had taken a drastic turn, if she had never ventured there and found the Paladin she would have probably succumbed to the wasteland. Maxson had announced that they would travel through the night to reach C.I.T. before the morning. Maxson and Danse led, side by side, both holding their laser rifles steady. Katherine trailed behind him, her own rifle in her hands. The night air was cool and she shivered with every breath she took. They traveled in silence for hours. The tension between the three of them remained heavy and Katherine just couldn't bring herself to deal with it. Katherine got the sense that the Paladin and the Elder had known each other for a long time, they were a great team she had realized as they swiftly dispatched a a pack of irradiated dogs. Both men had asked her if she was ok. They hadn't even given her a chance to fire her own weapon.
    The night sky was still dark above them when they reached C.I.T. they took a moment to rest in the courtyard. Katherine sat quietly on the pavement staring up at the stars. They still took her breath away. Danse and Maxson stood a few feet away debating what would be the best way to take out the courser once they found one. Katherine shifted uneasily, they were sitting out in the open.
"Find the radio signal that Virgil told you about." Maxson told her as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. His hand was cold, like her own.
"Thanks." she mumbled as she fiddled with the radio settings on her pip-boy. Eventually she found what she was looking for and a slow and faint beeping began pulsating from the device's speaker.
"We follow that till it's a steady beep." Maxson said as he stared down at her. The last thing she wanted to do was lead the way. Katherine clutched her rifle in her hands tightly.
"I don't think I should be going first, I'm not as experienced." Katherine protested.
"Walk beside me." Maxson told her as he raised his rifle and headed east along the river bank. Danse followed close behind her, still silent. Was he mad at her? They followed the beeping as it came more frequently till it was one steady tone in front of Greenetech Genetics building. Katherine muted the device on her arm.
"We go in fast and hard and leave nothing alive and we stop for nothing. That's an order." Maxson said as he threw the door open. Was he insane? Katherine shot a terrified look up at Danse.
    Maxson stormed into the lobby of the building to non stop firing. There were synths everywhere. Danse began to return fire right away as he took cover behind one of the massive marble pillars. Maxson ran back and snatched Katherine by the arm and shoved her up against another pillar, pinning her against it as he fired at the synths from around it's edge.
"What are you thinking? We're outnumbered!" Paladin Danse roared, looking over at the Elder and Katherine. Danse could see that Righteous Authority was clutched tightly in her hands as she rested her forehead against the pillar, eyes closed tightly. The woman was very clearly terrified. Danse had overseen her training and he knew damn well that she hadn't been trained for this kind of combat, no one had. After minutes the gun fire stopped and Katherine let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. Maxson spun her around by her shoulder so that she was facing him. Her rifle slipped from her gasp, clanging loudly against the pillar. Maxson landed a fist a mere inch from her face, his knuckles striking the pillar. Katherine gasped and Danse wasted no time in storming over as Maxson shouted down at her.
"Did you have any training, soldier?" Maxson snarled. Katherine was already on the verge of tears. She had never experienced a fire fight of such intensity. Katherine strongly believed in odds and percentages and the outlook of what had just taken place had been exceptionally grim. Overwhelmed didn't begin to explain how she was feeling. Danse shoved Maxson back, placing himself in front of the small woman now.
"No one was trained for that kind of shit! Especially not her!" the Paladin roared. Katherine flinched but the Elder seemed completely unfazed.
"I suggest you stand down, Paladin." Maxson said in a low voice before storming off towards the stairwell.
"He is going to get us killed." Katherine said quietly to Danse. Danse gazed down at her, fury alight in his eyes.
"If it goes bad and either he or myself goes down, you run. Do you understand me, Katherine?" Danse asked her. She swallowed hard and nodded before allowing Danse to lead her to the stairwell were Maxson waited.
"Have a nice little chat?" Maxson snarled. Danse glared at him.
    It would appear that the rest of the Greenetech building was full of raiders. The raiders were calling out the location of a courser over the intercom, on the fourth floor.
"Three more floors." Danse commented. Maxson barreled into every new room and hall without looking, with absolutely no hesitation. He was alive by pure luck. Danse followed him each time as Katherine found a place to take cover and remained there. Did she look like a coward? Yes, she certainly did but she didn't care. This was far far out of her skill set and training. They pushed on and on through the building. Maxson only stopped when he reached the fourth floor doorway.
"The courser is here. There are no known records of anyone successfully killing one. We fight to death on this one. Every last one of us." Maxson ordered as he turned his attention back to the open door before him. Danse looked back down at her and shook his head. She was to run. The bodies of raiders littered the floor and in the middle of the room a large pillar of electronics towered. From around it stepped the courser.
"Shit." Katherine whispered from behind Maxson and Danse.
    The courser appeared from around the corner, it looked shockingly human. So much so that if no one had told her that it was a synth she would have never guessed. It wore a long black leather trench coat and had smoothly slicked back dark hair. It's gaze had settled on Paladin Danse.
"M7-97..." it began but was cut off by Maxson's fire.
"What are you doing?" Katherine shrieked as she jumped back, the courser had returned fire. The courser was too fast and it's movements were too accurate. It dodged every shot and countered every move thrown at it. Within moments Danse was back against the wall panting and Maxson had been thrown to the ground. Time almost seemed to slow as she caught Danse's attention.
"Run!" he shouted at her. The courser had vanished before their eyes. Katherine flung Righteous Authority across her back and whirled around ready to sprint for the door, but was stopped dead in her track as the courser rematerialized inches in front of her. With one powerful push it threw her across the room. She came crashing down on her side on the cold tile floor, the taste of blood in her mouth. The force of the impact had cut her lip open and knocked the wind out of her. Maxson and Danse continued to fire at the synth.
"Arthur no!" she heard Danse shout. She rolled over to see Maxson pull the pin on a grenade and throw it across the small room to the courser. The last thing she saw was the Paladin and the Elder both dashing towards her.
    Katherine opened her eyes and was instantly greeted by an intense pain in her right shoulder. She rolled over onto her back to look up at a ceiling that was hazy due to the rising smoke and dust. On the far side of the room lie the courser, fried. A few feet to her left lie Elder Maxson on his back and a few feet past him Paladin Danse lie on his side. With a tremendous amount of effort she got up onto her hands and knees. There was no way she had been the only to survive once again. A sob pulled it's way out of her as she crawled with bloody palms past the Elder. He had a nasty burn on his left thigh but other than that he was breathing so she wasted no time in forcing herself to the Paladin's side. Tears were running freely down her face as she shoved his shoulder, rolling him onto his back. His eyes were shut and he looked so peaceful. A nasty and bloody gash ran the length of his right temple and he was covered in debris and dust like the rest of them. Katherine's body was screaming in protest, the pain making her dizzy,
"Danse..." she said as collapsed onto an elbow beside him. No response. Looking back over her shoulder she called out to Maxson and was answered by silence. She let her head drop a little. Little did she know, Maxson wasn't unconscious, he lie with his eyes closed listening.
"Danse..." she said again as she raised a trembling hand to his throat. He still had a pulse.
"Danse...please, I'm hurt." she cried more frantically this time. She had the uneasy feeling that she was about to lose consciousness.
"Danse..." she whined again before completely collapsing this time, against his body.
    When Danse awoke he sat up to see Maxson sitting with his back against the wall, a small figure cradled in his arms. The once platinum hair was streaked with blood and one of her arms hung limply at her side, the palm bloody. Danse scrambled to his feet, his body screaming in pain. Maxson looked up, fixing the Paladin with a hard stare that stopped him in his tracks just mere feet away from them.
"Is she..." Danse almost choked on his words. If she had died he would kill the Elder right then and there. The Elder shook his head and Danse released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Maxson stood up as Danse watched Katherine's limp body and hair sway with the movement.
"I have already retrieved the courser's chip, we need to get back to the Prydwen." the Elder said as he carried the Knight out of the room.