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Beads of sweat cleared a clean path on his ash covered face. Out of habit, he peered over to Nora, who carried a look of distain. Every now and then during their travels, she would grimace as she attempted to shelter her eyes from the sun. There was one occasion where Danse had asked Nora if something was troubling her, and her response was simply “it’s too bright.”
He suspected that her response was due to all that time she spent frozen and sheltered away from the harshness of the world. He watched as she cursed under her breath, angrily looking up at the sky. Danse found this more than amusing, smiling away in secret all while preventing a fit of laughter.
It had been a long time since he could start giving his trust to anyone; to confide in someone. And now this new chapter with Nora had blossomed into a world that had hope, all thanks to her humbled and determined nature. It took a month before Danse realized that he had a burning crush for this woman. Unfortunately he was met with a dilemma: He grew an attachment to a woman whose sole determination is to find her kidnapped son, all while dealing with the death of her husband. Distractions aside, his priority was the Brotherhood. How could Nora ever see him as more than her sponsor?
They were on a mission to clear out some scum raiders who have continued to terrorize a small settlement. From what they’ve witnessed, these recently acquainted civilians had less than a week to survive. As always, Nora surprised him. He never saw her hesitate to help the people of the Comonwealth. With every confident yes that left her lips, his adoration would grow. Once again in secret, Danse’s lips curled into a slight smile as he watched her take the lead on their trek.
In the distance, a form of a factory stood intact. An hour had passed with ease, nearing their destination.
“We’ll make it by dawn” Danse stated confidently as he pointed towards the factory that housed the raiders.
“As long as we don’t have any interruptions this time around” Nora stated as she scoped out the area. “All clear,” she expressed as she smiled brightly at Danse. Danse felt an intense drop in the pit of his stomach. Her cheerful expression sent his heart racing. But as fast as his heart was racing, he turned and headed towards the wrong direction. The embarrassment guided the flustered Paladin into a fit of panic. Danse cleared his throat and shifted about oddly.
“Good work soldier” was all he could muster as he pretended to double check the area. Nora giggled quietly, loving every moment of his struggle. When he finally composed himself (facing the right direction this time), He motioned for her to continue on their walk. Luckily they treaded on in comfortable silence.
When they worked their way uphill, they came upon a view of destroyed houses. They silently nodded to each other, transitioning into combat ready stances as they inched through the old neighborhood. As always, Danse covered her back as she peered around cautiously. There was never a time when he left her out of his sight during a mission. Not even during his first encounter with her.
Nora, a stranger, came guns blazing into battle against the feral ghouls that surrounded him and his team. He originally suspected she was just barging in for a chance to demand caps, but even then he was dumbfounded at this stranger. In truth, he felt bewitched.
Beep. Beep.
A foreign sound broke Danse from his daydream, and before he could aim at the damned thing headed towards Nora, Danse felt a violent jolt to his torso. After a few precious seconds he regained clarity, realizing he was now pinned between a super mutant and a wrecked car. His power armor luckily saved him from any serious injury and the pain was minimal, but that didn’t stop the mutant from trying to land a devastating blow onto Danse’s skull. Using his left arm to block, Danse was able to protect himself from these deadly strikes. In all this struggle, Danse could hear the distant tune of that constant beeping accompanied by the echoes of gunfire. Nora was being chased by a suicide bomber…
Using his laser rifle, Danse pushed with enough force to create some space between him and the mutant. With a mighty swing, he struck at the mutant’s jaw. The super mutant grunted in pain, but before the mutant could yell something idiotic, Danse fired away. Showers of red blasts sent a headless body down to a heavy thud. Danse barely caught his breath when another frightening sound reached Danse’s ears.
“Shit.” Without hesitation, the Paladin charged toward the direction of the explosion that sent a shock through the neighborhood.
This time Danse’s heart raced out of fear. Images of Cutler flooded through his mind. His dear friend who was taken and transformed into the very thing he hated. Lifeless or transformed, there was no way in hell that Danse could handle such atrocities happening to Nora. “Please” he begged.
Danse soon came upon a house that was devastated by the blast. The pitch-black smoke was accompanied by the reeking smell of burnt meat. He made his way behind the house to the source of the explosion. His gaze avoided the bits of flesh scattered everywhere. Despite not wanting to witness this terrible possibility, with one deep breath he finally looked down to see if any of the carnage belonged to Nora. Too difficult to tell.
A distant cough echoed. Danse with wide eyes began to investigate for the source. Then he saw her. Well, he saw her arm sticking out from the cover of the right side of the house, her delicate fingers wiggling about.
“You okay?” Nora shouted in between coughs.
Danse let out a deep breath. The silence that followed frightened Nora. She left the safety of her cover to check up on Danse. Her lips were pursed and her brows furrowed with concern.
“Paladin Danse?” Nora responded with a hushed tone.
As the smoke cleared away, Paladin Danse found his voice again “Glad to see you made it Soldier.”
He wanted to say more.
“Me too…I mean, glad to see that YOU made it, not that I’m glad that I made it-”
Nora desperately tried to organize her thoughts but she was blabbing away, stuttering and struggling as she made her way towards Danse. And her words kept coming out but Danse couldn’t hear them. He was lost in thought as he watched her careful and considerate steps. He felt like a fool for thinking she was truly in danger; she was a reliable soldier after all.
In a matter of seconds they were arm’s length apart. Nora locked eyes with Danse who towered over her in his power armor. Nora waited for a response to her unheard words, but Danse couldn’t break away from her gaze. It wasn’t until he saw a slight movement that Danse broke away, noticing the crimson streak trickling down Nora’s chin; a busted lip. He gave a disgusted look at the bits of corpse that laid about the ground. Nora brought her soft fingers up to her lip.
“That’s just great.” Nora sighed as she saw her fingers coated with blood. Without thinking, Danse brought his armored hand up to Nora’s lip. She held her breath for a moment as his hand inched close. There was a deafening silence that engulfed the two soldiers, but it seemed that only Nora had noticed. The gentle Paladin wiped away what he could from Nora’s chin and lip. Nora winced at the chill of his armor.
“Sorry” Danse spoke carefully. He thought only of a soft confession for Nora. Always the fearless hero of the Brotherhood, he was now trembling as he lowered his head with parted lips. Suddenly it hit him: He thought of the mission, he thought of his brothers and sisters at the Brotherhood, that ring on her left hand, and he thought of the mother who was on a desperate hunt for her child. He fought against this yearning, and with a pat on Nora’s shoulder, the moment was gone.
“Let’s finish the job.” Danse turned away, cheeks burning and flushed with red. Oh god, I’m such an idiot.
A confused Nora followed suit without question.
If only he knew.