To Save a Soul

Chapter 10 The hunted

Night fell as Katherine and Danse trekked on slowly through the darkness. They had very little food and even less water. They only possessed a handful of stimpaks and no rad away. What was worse was the amount of batteries they had for their laser rifles. Katherine was still reeling over their confrontation with the Elder. Katherine knew that she had made the right decision but something was still nagging at her deep down. She was secretly still worried that Danse may still think that he shouldn't be alive. Katherine was worried that she wouldn't be enough to give him purpose again. The sky had grown frighteningly dark under the stormy cloud cover, she could hear thunder in the distance. It would be their luck that they would face a radstorm in the dead of night with no power armor and no rad resistant meds. Katherine's teeth had begun to chatter and she was shivering.
"We need to find shelter before the storm makes it to us. I'm freezing." she muttered. They had been following an old train track since they had left the bunker, the wood was slick beneath her feet.
"I passed some old train cars on this track on my way to the Listening Post. You can make it soldier." Danse told her. Katherine paused a bit in her steps, soldier? She had certainly thought that they were past those types of titles now.
    The rain began to pour down on them, Katherine's braid now felt as if it weighed ten pounds. She was chilled to the bone, all of her clothes soaked through. The hellish green lightning and thunder were too close for comfort now.
"Fuck!" Katherine swore as her feet came out from beneath her. She should have known better than to walk on the rotting wood slats in the rain. They had become slimy and she had slipped, landing hard on her back.
"Fuck my life." she muttered as she squinted up at the ebony sky.
"Are you ok?" Danse asked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She shook her head, spreading rain drops about her.
"I'm just going to be sore." she muttered as she purposefully stepped over the metal side of the track. Mud squished under her boots. She was miserable at this point.
"There they are." Danse said pointing at a three car section of an ancient derailed train. Katherine nodded. Odds were that something was lurking in or around the cars or that there was something seriously irradiated in one of them. Katherine warily took her rifle off of safety as Danse aimed his and crept cautiously up to the first car.
"Danse please be careful." she whispered. She was on edge now that she knew that they had more enemies than allies.
    Paladin Danse cleared all three of the train cars. There had been nothing living in any of them. Katherine counted her lucky stars for this. She was too worn down and exhausted to partake in a fire fight at this point and the storm was approaching swiftly.
"This one." Danse said as he stopped in front of the second car. All three cars were lopsided, half on half off the tracks, but the middle car was the least. Katherine trudged over to the door and Danse. The bottom of the train car was level with her shoulders. She look over at Danse. She didn't say anything, he knew she needed his help. Effortlessly, he scooped her up and set her on the edge before climbing in after her. The car was pitch black in it depths, the outer few feet by the door were illuminated by and eery green glow. There was a leak in the roof on the left side and water had pooled in that end. Other than them and the puddle, the train car was completely empty. Katherine crept through the darkness blindly to the far corner and dropped her back pack onto the floor. There was nothing in it besides a few batteries, three cans of purified water and the bible Danse had gotten her, the picture of her past family tucked neatly behind the cover. She propped her rifle against the bag before standing miserably in the dark corner shivering. She watched Danse drop the bag he had been carrying.
"Do you think we will be safe here?" she asked him as he peered out the door. The sliding door had broken off long ago.
"We should be." he said gravely.
    Danse could hardly get himself to look at Katherine as she visibly shivered in the corner of the dirty train car, water dripping from her hair and clothes. This was his fault. She wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for him. She could have been safe and comfortable on the Prydwen. He leaned against the metal doorway staring out at the stormy sky.
"You don't regret it yet?" he asked glumly. It was only a matter of time before she would want to run back to the Prydwen apologizing and begging...if she wasn't shot down first.
"No I don't and while you're thinking about it, just know that I never will." she said with her arms folded across her chest.
"How did you know that I was thinking that?" Danse asked as he joined her in the dark corner. He was honestly amazed.
"I know you Danse." she said simply. That was that. Katherine sat on the floor in the corner, her back against the wall, her head resting on Danse's shoulder with her legs over his. Danse had one arm around her shoulder and was rubbing her legs with his free hand, trying to warm her up as she continued to shiver.
"So tomorrow it all begins. What the fuck is Maxson thinking? Do you really think he's going to send soldiers after us?" Katherine asked as if she was trying to talk herself out of what was inevitable. She felt Paladin Danse sigh heavily beside her.
"He will send multiple units after us, that's if he hasn't gone against his words and already sent them. We need to set some ground rules for how this is going to work. I know the Brotherhood and their ways better than anyone, I know Maxson's tactics better than anyone as well." Danse told her. Now it was her turn to sigh anxiously. That hadn't been what she had wanted to hear.
"What do you think these 'ground rules' should be?" Katherine asked as she shifted uncomfortably. She was so cold that she entertained the thought that she may die of hypothermia that night. The train car was still startling dark as they huddled in the corner, cold and damp, watching the lightning. Katherine couldn't help but notice that despite being soaked, Danse wasn't shivering...not even a little. It was as if it was any other summer day to him.
"First of all let's get this out in the open... Elder Maxson is determined to kill me. I am everything the Brotherhood is against, in his eyes I have to die. I am a traitor. However, you are a different story when it comes to the Elder. He had threatened me with exile well before today, all because of you. Things aren't the same as they were before the war. I believe that I have warned you before that there is unconventional marriage but crimes, murder and rape are more common in the Wasteland. Maxson wants you and he will have you one way or another and your existence will be to serve him in whatever way he sees fit. No one denies Maxson anything but you did. You stood up to Elder Maxson for me. I'll never forget that for as long as I live. I will do everything in my power to prevent him from getting to you. If it ever comes down to it, I'd gladly spill my own blood if it means keeping you by my side." Danse told her. Thunder rumbled and the green lightning lit the boxcar allowing Katherine a glimpse of the grim expression on the Paladin's face. He honestly had no hope that they would ultimately survive the Brotherhood. If he was afraid she was terrified.
"I don't care what happens, if he finds me and somehow, God forbid, he gets ahold of me...just let me go. It won't be worth your life." she muttered miserably. She had certainly gotten herself in well over her head.
"I started out as nothing, and I've ended up as nothing... and I don't know what the hell to do about it. The absolute last thing that is going to happen is me 'just letting you go.' That's why when they find us you run and don't look back." he said in such a tone that she knew the conversation was over. There would be no changing his mind. When the time came she would do what she felt she needed to do.
    Meanwhile back on the Prydwen no one had been told anything, not yet at least. Elder Maxson had returned in a rage and only Scribe Haylen had been able to observe this. Arthur couldn't fathom how the woman had refused him. Had refused the second most powerful position in the Brotherhood of Steel, refused the most powerful man in the Commonwealth. Arthur knew that he had a temper and that he let it get out of hand at times, but there was something about her that he hadn't been able to shake. There was something special about her. It wasn't her unnatural beauty or her stubborn attitude. Arthur couldn't put his finger on it. Thinking of her in this way calmed him for a moment before the fury returned with the thought of Paladin Danse. How had he not noticed a synth in his highest ranks? He was furious with himself. What had really been the final straw had been seeing the synth's arm draped around the tiny woman. The anger in her blue eyes that had been for Arthur and Arthur alone. He would make her see one way or another. After he had regained his composure he would send out his troops. Haylen had noticed the lack of Katherine or Danse and had become genuinely concerned. She had to confide in someone. She dashed to Rhys's room.
    The night went by without any incident. The radstorm had worsened but they hadn't taken on a significant amount of rads. The morning came and the cold sun crept into the boxcar waking them up. Katherine got to her feet and immediately shuddered. Her clothes were still damp as well as her hair.
"I need to find dry clothes before I get seriously sick." she said as she leapt to the ground from the boxcar.
"We need to keep moving." was all that Danse told her.
    They walked for hours in silence. Katherine had noticed a change in Danse's mood. It had been exactly what she had feared in the bunker the day before. What had happened to him and what he supposedly was was finally setting in and she wasn't sure that he could handle something so overwhelming. After all the Brotherhood didn't train their soldiers for this type of thing. The sky had cleared and the sun was shining brightly. Their clothes had dried and Katherine had let her hair down as she trudged along behind the Paladin. She was picking up the vibe that Danse wanted to distance himself from her again, that he thought it was easier that way. Katherine was in fairly deep. The kind of love she felt for Danse was a totally different kind from the love that she had had for her late husband Nate. Nate had been that sweet and traditional love. Nate and Katherine had had the seemingly perfect marriage, they had dated for most of their teenage life, met each other's family and had gained approval from both sides. They had had a simple little wedding. Nate had gone to war and Katherine had kept herself busy with law school while he was deployed. She had worried about him but she had known the risk and was prepared for the scenario that he didn't return. He had made her a mother to a child that she never got to raise. She had loved Nate but she could have lived without him. But Danse...Danse was different. She had fallen hard and fast. So fast that she was unwilling to actually acknowledge it at first. So fast that she had thought she was a horrible person. Danse would try to put his life on the line for her and she knew that she would die for him because she wasn't sure she could live without him, she wasn't sure that she wanted to. He had saved her when she had been at her worst, when she had emerged from Vault 111 and she had in turn saved him. They were a team. Something that Nate and Katherine had never been. She couldn't lose him now.
    A cemetery had appeared in the distance, a sad sight, but a decent place to take a break. Katherine was tired and her legs ached. They needed to eat and get themselves together. Sanctuary wasn't that far off. They could possibly reach it if they didn't stop and traveled through the night as fast as they could.
"Danse." Katherine called out. The Paladin was a few yards ahead of her.
"Yeah?" he responded without looking back at her.
"I love you." she said and was surprised that he actually stopped. He froze, not turning around and Katherine's heart dropped. His hands had balled into fists at his side. Katherine swallowed hard. He was pissed. Danse turned around and stormed to her. She almost took a step back, frightened, but he caught her in a kiss instead. She didn't understand but she didn't need to. She kissed him back, happy to be in his warm embrace instead of the chilly air. When he pulled away he kept a hand against her cheek.
"I don't understand." he said finally. Her brows furrowed. She didn't know what to say.
"I love you too." he told her before planting a kiss on her forehead and heading towards the cemetery, Katherine close behind.
    Katherine read some of the tombstones as she passed them. Some ornate and some simple. Up ahead on a small hill were a handful of mausoleums that had been broken open by the years and weather or maybe even looters. It was hard to tell. Katherine stopped, she had thought she had heard a strange but familiar sound.
"Do you hear that?" she asked Danse as he joined her. He looked around, listening before he shook his head. Was she losing her mind? She could have sworn she had heard something. They continued to walk through the cemetery and under an enormous steel arch that read "Wildwood Cemetery". Katherine continued to rake her mind trying to pinpoint what she thought the noise had been.
"Wait, Danse, I think I heard a vertibird earlier." she said suddenly as the name for the sound came to her. How it had taken her so long to recognize something she had become so familiar with she didn't know.
"Shh." he whispered. Katherine watched as Danse stared up at the sky, listening. There was no point because the sound returned quickly along with the sound of gunfire and the visual of the vertibird itself.
"Oh my God." Katherine whispered to herself as she clutched her rifle a little tighter.
"It's the Brotherhood." Danse said in a panic.
    Katherine was stunned. She couldn't believe that Maxson had actually ordered for her to be fired upon and by soldiers she had been an example for.
"Fuck you!" she screamed up at the vertibird. Danse grabbed her arms and hauled her into the nearest vandalized mausoleum.
"What the fuck are you doing? They'll kill you!" Danse said angrily.
"I don't care! I'm going to kill Maxson!" she snarled. She was pissed.
"Well I care!" Danse snapped as he positioned himself between her and the doorway.
"God damnit Danse, let me handle this!"
"Stop Katherine!" he shouted as she tried to force her way past him. He pinned her against the cold stone wall as they could hear the vertibird land nearby. She kicked at him, missing, and was getting ready to punch him. His body was flush against hers, both of their chests heaving with adrenaline. He rested his forehead against hers.
"I fucking love you so stay the fuck here." he breathed as he bolted out the door leaving her speechless.
"What the fuck!" she cried as she peeked around the edge of the doorway to watch him. Three Brotherhood soldiers in power armor had emerged from the vertibird and Danse was firing at them from behind a tombstone. He killed one right away, the suit of armor that soldier had worn hadn't been power armor but repurposed synth armor, something the Brotherhood usually recycled from their kills. They hadn't noticed her yet and she remembered what Danse had told her the night before...that she was to run. Katherine dropped her backpack and opened fire on them from where she was. She was at a little of disadvantage from her position. Aiming for the leg joints of their suits, she hit one of her targets successfully and heard the hiss as the seal was broken. The soldier turned to face her.
"Shit." she muttered as she ducked back behind the stone wall, Danse quickly took down the soldier. She could hear Danse shouting something at her but couldn't make out his words. The soldier with the broken leg knelt on the ground while a second soldier quickly came to his aid. Kneeling down next to the wounded soldier the second soldier removed their helmet. It was a woman Katherine realized as the soldiers long auburn hair spill down over her shoulder. Katherine watched in horror as the woman removed the other soldiers helmet to reveal a man with messy blonde hair. Katherine glanced at Danse who was watching the two just as she was. The woman held his face in her hands and was saying something to him frantically. What was happening? It was as if they had completely forgotten that there were enemies at hand.
    Danse wasn't moving, he seemed to be in a trance as he watched the two. Katherine assumed he was having an internal struggle about killing the Brotherhood soldiers. With some hesitation Katherine wandered out from her spot in the mausoleum. The man was clearly mortally wounded and the woman was panicking. Katherine couldn't recall having seen either of them aboard the Prydwen which led her to believe that they must have been new recruits that were eager to prove themselves to the Brotherhood Elder. As she got closer she realized that the woman was sobbing while the man was trying to console her. It didn't take Katherine long to figure out that the man was bleeding out from the shot to his leg.
"Let me help you." Katherine said as she approached cautiously.
"I am a Brotherhood Knight, despite what you've probably been told." she added. The woman's gaze snapped to meet her own.
"He is going to die. My husband is going to die because of you. You shot him." she snarled. Katherine's heart dropped. Her husband. Katherine fumbled for words for a moment, completely taken aback.
"You attacked us! I'm really sorry but that's the truth!" She exclaimed. The woman looked at her in disgust as her husband clutched her arm.
"Because we were ordered to." She told Katherine as if that would justify everything. Katherine stood trembling before them.
"And I was just supposed to let you kill us?" She sneered sarcastically. Whatever.
Danse was watching from his place of cover. Fuming mad that Katherine had left her place of safety and actually approached the enemy. From what he could gather the male soldier had been fatally wounded and Katherine had gone to help. Did she know him? Danse wasn't sure. The female soldier was shouting at her and her proximity to Katherine concerned him as Katherine wore only a kevlar vest while the soldier was in an almost full shot of power armor. She had made one fatal mistake, she had removed her helmet. Danse had to remain calm and remind himself that he had known what it was like to travel with Katherine. The woman had sufficient training but showed either too much fear or not enough. In the instance she wasn't frightened enough. She was one hundred percent vulnerable. Paladin Danse could sense that Katherine had had enough and was starting to turn on the soldiers, her irritation had escalated to anger. Danse strode over to the three, straining to hear what was being said.
"Elder Maxson ordered us to kill the synth. Are you aware that your companion is a synth? You're not safe." The dark haired woman was telling Katherine. He clenched his fists in anger upon hearing her words. How had they found them so quickly?
"For fucks sake, he is not a synth." Katherine groaned angrily. A branch framed underneath Danae's boot. Fuck, he had been distracted. Instantly the Brotherhood soldier turned around and aimed her gun at him. He stopped dead. Before the woman could pull the trigger Katherine fired. With a sigh she turned and shot the now shouting man as well. Two impeccable headshots. Three Brotherhood soldiers dead because of them.
"You didn't have to do that." Danse told her. She looked at him in disbelief.
"You're right I should have just let her kill you then went in to enjoy my happy little life as a slave on the Prydwen." She snapped.
"They deserve to live more than I do." He retorted. Katherine swung his beloved rifle back across her back and placed a hand on her hip. A total smartass.
"Right, because you're a synth. A machine. Your life isn't worth half as much as a human life." She mocked him but quickly realized that he may not have caught on. Danae's gaze dropped. He knew eventually that she would realize what he really was. That she'd come to terms with it and realize the mistake that she had made.
"Tell me Danse, why would a synth bleed? Blood just like my own." She continues and Danse's gazed snapped back up to meet her fiery one.
"What?"
"Why would a synth bleed human blood?" She repeated. He was caught off guard by her question. He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, he had bumped his head against the tombstone in his hurry to dodge the bullets. Sure enough there was crimson blood smeared across the back of his hand.
"I don't know." He said. He honestly didn't know. He had never seen a synth bleed. Ooze hydraulic fluid maybe but not bleed.
"Exactly." She said firmly. The Paladin said nothing. Instead he silently watched as the small woman that he had come to love approached him and demanded that he kneel down so that she could inspect the wound. Katherine gently brushed some of Danse's dark hair away from what seemed to be the source of blood. Sure enough there was a pretty decent gash running across his temple.
"I don't think it's deep enough to need stitches, we just need to keep an eye on it and make sure that it doesn't become infected." she told him sternly.
Katherine was pondering Danse's situation in her mind as they marched on through the Wasteland. Supposedly he was a synth. If he was, why would the Institute want him to be unaware of what he was? What did they have to gain from that? Why could he bleed? Why would he have been programmed to be able to have emotions? He could have sex for Gods sake, how was that something a synth would be programmed to do? There were just too many things that didn't add up. There was no possible way. There had to be a way that she could prove to Maxson that he had made a grave mistake. Rhys and Hayley would believe her... maybe they could turn the Brotherhood against Maxson, maybe Danse could become the new Elder. Hell, she knew he deserved it and was more qualified for the position. There had to be a way. She had to get back on the Prydwen whether Danse agreed or not.    
    Eventually the couple stopped when they came across an abandoned townhouse on the water. Katherine thought she recognized the little pond, maybe they were closer to Sanctuary than she had originally thought? The sky was overcast again and the air was cold. Half of the roof was missing on the second floor and most of the bottom story was flooded with murky water and debris. Katherine could feel her stomach rumbling and passed Danse.
"I think you should let me go first." he said as she passed him, making for the staircase. He watched her go with her rifle poised in front of her just as he had taught her.
"Why? I am perfectly capable of clearing this place just as you are." she retorted sarcastically. Everything even remotely sarcastic always went straight over his head. Sometimes she felt bad and sometimes she figured that he would eventually catch on.
"It's m...my job to protect you now." he said with a slight stutter. Katherine was glad that he was behind her and couldn't see they shy smile that now played across her lips. As soon as she reached the top of the stairs and there was enough room for the Paladin to get by her, he did. Katherine let out a frustrated little sigh. The Paladin finished clearing the tiny townhouse and motioned to her that it was safe. Katherine watched the Paladin as he hoisted a lumpy rug out the window. She heard it hit the ground with a thump and a rather distinctive snap. She knew what it was even though she hadn't seen him do it. Half of the old buildings and structures they took shelter in had been the home of a few skeletal remains. It didn't matter how many months she had been wandering the Wasteland the bodies never failed to depress her. The magnitude of the tragedy would never lessen in her mind. The damaged wood floor creaked beneath her feet. What kind of injuries would one of them sustain if the floor fell out from beneath them? She hoped they wouldn't have to find out as she laid her rifle on the little shelf above the bed and through her backpack on the floor beside the bed.

    Paladin Danse went back downstair to gather what makeshift supplies that he could. Katherine took the opportunity to pause for a moment and reflect. The dingy and peeling wallpaper had once displayed a beautiful pattern. She sat down gingerly on the wood framed bed that had miraculously been placed under the section of roof that had stayed intact through the centuries. Letting her elbows rest on her knees and her face fell into her cold hands. There was no denying that she was feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Every now and then the nagging feeling of guilt of making it out of the vault alive would bug her. Sometimes she would miss Nate and Shawn as if it was her first day out of the vault again. There were times that the simple lack of utilities and safety that she had had in her past life would come back to haunt her. She was sure that if she had been born and raised in the Wastelands that she wouldn't be the way that she was. Where and how you were raised made a difference. The Brotherhood had already found them once, she hadn't expected them to be so efficient. They had killed their first fellow soldiers and Danse had taken it better than she had. Overthinking was her specialty and that's exactly what Danse found her doing as he returned.
    Katherine didn't bother to lift her head as she listened to Danse set somethings down on the floor across the room. Then she felt the mattress shift beside her under his weight. For a moment there wasn't anything but silence in the room, she felt him put his arm around her and drug her closer. Neither spoke a word and neither moved. Eventually Katherine began to doze off, prompting Paladin Danse to pull her fully onto the bed and lie with her till they both fell asleep.