Now or Never: Elder Maxson x Reader - Part 2

2- Trail Still Hot

A/N - Uri and Danse are sent in to clear out Fort Strong, and Uri finally divulges more of the truth...

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By the time they reach the Prydwen, the clear blue skies of that morning have morphed into a rainy afternoon. The downpour soaks her to the bone - again, she finds herself hating vertibirds. The pilot docks the 'bird with ease and, this time, Uri climbs off the machine as instructed by her superiors.

A small team of scribes meet them, upon their departure, to take their collected artifacts to Quinlan. Danse seems to know a few, so she hangs on for a moment to let him chat to them. She still finds it as hard as the first time to look down at what her broken home has become.

They are led up to where their Elder is - stood gazing down at the Commonwealth from his observation deck. Uri knows it's ridiculous, considering they had only travelled together for a week at most, but she missed him.

"Elder Maxson," Danse murmurs, announcing their arrival.

"Good afternoon, Paladin. Initiate," He offers Uri a formal nod, barely sparing her a glance, "welcome back."

"Good to be back," Danse admits.

"Please, debrief me on your achievements whilst at the station. I received your team's updates, of course, but I would like to be debriefed in person."

Danse does all the talking, leaving Uri feeling rather lost. He notifies the Elder of any gains and achievements, leaving out the negatives that he had read in their reports. When Danse has finished catching him up to speed, Maxson nods.

"Job well done, Paladin. I expect to see you both on the flight deck at oh-eight-hundred hours, tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

Uri had been hoping to catch him on his own, for a moment, but his dismissal leaves her feeling rather jarred. Whilst she tries to consider what this means, she follows the Paladin as he dispatches from his power armour in his own quarters. She hasn't seen him out of it often - he's all tall and muscular, like everyone else in this damn place.

The mess hall is fairly empty. Though Uri has missed cooked food, she merely picks at her brahmin stew as she settles into a seat beside her Paladin. Alice is already there, sifting through an old math book when they set themselves at her table.

"Good evening, Paladin," She says politely to Danse, then smiles at Uri, "Sanchez - good to see you back."

"Glad someone thinks so," she says sulkily. Alice studies her saddened expression for a moment, then glances at their commanding officer. She sits silently, after that. Waiting until he finishes his food. When he has, he stretches languidly and releases a sigh.

"I'm going to speak to Proctor Ingram. Sanchez, ensure that you are at my quarters by oh-seven-four-five hours. I would like to speak with you before we meet the Elder."

"Yes, Paladin."

As soon as he's gone, Alice turns curious eyes to her fellow initiate.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," She sighs, "Maxson was just... off. He barely looked at me. I feel like I've done something wrong. Maybe the reports he was getting on my progress pushed him over the edge?"

"Wait - reports?"

"Yeah," Uri nods, "Y'know - daily reports on my progress?"

"What? He never asks for anything like that," She says, eyes wide, "he must really think a lot of you."

"Apparently not," the vault-dweller huffs, taking a gulp of purified water to wash away the sudden lump in her throat. "Anyway - it doesn't matter too much. I've made a lot of progress, this past month. I'll definitely need you to teach me some of those wrestling moves at some point, though."