Listening Post Bravo was no more or less desolate than the rest of the Commonwealth 200 years after the nuclear war, just another bunker in a hill covered in dead trees. Brotherhood Knight Nora Donovan wondered why ex-Paladin Danse ran so far, rather than holing up in a place closer to the Brotherhood ship he escaped from, the Prydwen. Scribe Haylen was fairly confident that he’d be here. He had fled after the Brotherhood found data from the Institute indicating he was one of their simulacrums, or synths.

Nora was worried about Danse. She’d been ordered by Elder Maxson to find him and execute him. She shook her head. Why would you send the man’s best friend to kill him? Elder Maxson was either a cruel man or a stupid one, maybe both. The whole situation was making her rethink her involvement in the Brotherhood at all. Usually she was able to take the good parts and ignore the bad as long as they were helping the Commonwealth and its citizens.

It didn’t take long to get to Listening Post Bravo by vertibird, but Nora knew that it must have been a long, grueling journey for Danse without his power armor. After hearing what had happened, she was both surprised and relieved that he had run. He was always so dedicated, so noble, living for nothing but being a Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel. Without that? She had to find him. She just hoped that he was still alive.

Nora made quick work of the turret outside the door and the Protectron inside. Seeing that the defenses were still functioning filled her with dread. How could Danse have gotten past them? How could he be here? Still, she owed it to him to make sure.

The Listening Post was not large, and she quickly found Danse sitting on the floor in a small control room. It was odd to see him out of his power armor. It made her feel massive and uneasy in her own set. He was still wearing the armor’s padded orange undersuit. He was a rather tall, muscular man, which probably explained why he wasn’t able to scavenge any suitable scraps of armor as he fled.

He stood up when she entered the doorway, but didn’t look at her. She breathed a sigh of relief and said “One sec.” His head snapped up when he heard her voice, but she was gone before he could say anything. She headed for the door to the outside.

The Vertibird crew were no doubt waiting to hear from her. What to tell them? “Knight Donovan here. There’s a huge underground complex, it’s going to take me some time to find Danse, if he’s even here. No use you wasting your time. Head back to base, I’ll contact you when I’m done.”

“Roger that, Knight Donovan.” She saw the vertibird lift off. No doubt the Brotherhood soldiers aboard hadn’t exactly been thrilled to be sitting ducks on the ground in the Wasteland anyway.

When she was done securing the door against any more intruders from the Commonwealth, she hastened back to Danse. He was still staring at the spot she’d left, mouth slightly open. Maybe he hadn’t expected to be found. Nora spun around just inside the doorway and opened up her power armor so that it filled the space. She needed to talk to Danse face to face. As a bonus, in case something broke through the main door, the armor would give them a few extra seconds to prepare.

“Nora,” said Danse in his deep, quiet voice. “I’m… surprised that they would send you.”

“Me too,” she smiled thinly and stepped toward him. He was alive, she could get him some power armor and maybe hide him away up in Sanctuary Hills for a while. It was going to be OK. If he’d been anyone except Danse, she would have hugged him fiercely. He wasn’t the type of person who appreciated such gestures, as she’d come to know over the months of missions they’d completed together. “How’d you get in here without getting blasted to pieces?”

“I knew there had to be an escape tunnel somewhere, and luckily the the tunnel must have flooded at some point, the mechanicals guarding it had rusted out. I had run out of ammo, so I was motivated to find another way in out of the radstorm.” Danse cleared his throat. “It doesn’t matter. There’s something I need to tell you, Knight. I respect and admire you greatly. The Brotherhood is fortunate to have found you.” He paused. “I’m ready anytime.”

Nora shrugged. “OK then.” She glanced back toward the doorway. “It’s going to be a long trip, but we can take turns in the armor—what are you doing?”

Danse was now kneeling, hands behind his back, staring at the floor. “Maxson never liked to do his dirty work himself. He knew you could be counted on. I know you can be counted on.”

Nora just stood there, staring at him in silence. “You think I’m going to kill you?”

“I’m a synth, which means I need to be destroyed. I need to be the example, not the exception.”

“Danse… so what if you’re a synth? I know some other synths, they’re good people! You’re a good person! And, and, if you wanted to die, why did you even run?”

Danse sighed. “I thought I was human. I couldn’t accept that I was a synth. Self preservation kicked in. I needed to regroup and assess the situation.” He looked slightly toward Nora, but kept his eyes on the floor. “Synths aren’t people. They’re machines. The Danse you knew was replaced by a… a thing. You’re just cleaning up the mess left behind.”

Nora’s body tingled with fear and her heart thundered in her chest. “I won’t do it. It’s not right.” Her eyes filled with unshed tears.

Danse finally met her gaze. His eyes were dark and cold. “Then leave me a bullet and go.”

Nora’s legs suddenly gave out and she found herself kneeling in front of the ex-Paladin. He dropped his gaze again and she gently cupped his chin in her hand, making his eyes meet hers. Even after weeks of being on the run he still smelled faintly of sharp scented power armor grease.

He was her rock in this land where it seemed every creature was out to kill her. A lot of Wastelanders thought of the Brotherhood soldiers as mindless grunts. She had too, until she’d traveled with Danse. She had seen him risk his life to save hers many times. She’d done the same for him. It was more than that, though. He was so dedicated to the Brotherhood and so selfless. Traveling with him had shown her his gentler side and his wry sense of humor.

She thought back to one of the rare times they had both been out of their power armor at the same time. Thoughts of how his lips would taste had filled her brain. After they had shared a few sips from a bottle of vodka she had found, courage overcame propriety and she had snuggled into his side. He had smiled and put an arm around her. When she tried to steal a kiss, though, he turned away, telling her that as a Paladin, it wouldn’t be right for him to take such liberties with someone under his command. She could tell that he was attracted to her as well, but knew that a man of his strong beliefs wouldn’t be swayed. In the morning, she had powered through her horrific hangover headache to apologize and he had given her one of his rare smiles, told her it was already forgotten, and they'd moved on.

It was just another reason to try as hard as she could to become a Paladin. As equals, maybe she’d have a chance.

Well, he wasn’t a Paladin anymore.

Danse made a muffled noise of surprise when she surged forward and pressed her lips against his. She held his head in her hands and pulled back the cap of his power armor outfit to run her hands through his hair. He relaxed and began to return the kiss. The fear in her body turned to heat as he put his arms around her and pulled her close.

Their lovemaking was eager and almost frantic. She finally realized just how much Danse had held back from her emotionally and physically. Concern for each other’s pleasure overcame any awkwardness, and when they were done they sagged down together on the floor against the warm metal side of the equipment console. Nora found herself drifting off, secure and sated.

She woke up suddenly, her first thought that nobody had been awake to defend them. Shortly after her eyes opened, she felt Danse’s hand stroking her hair back from her forehead. Somehow her head had ended up in his lap. She grinned up at him. “I’m sorry I fell asleep on you like that.”

Danse was looking away, lost in thought. “Uh… no, I am ashamed to admit that I too fell asleep. I woke up slightly before you did.” He smiled sadly and reached to hold her hand in his. “I want to thank you. I never got to experience that as a human, but it was… pretty amazing even as a synth.”

Nora chuckled. “Well, you definitely did better than a lot of humans I… hold on, never? This was your first time?” She looked up at him in surprise. Danse blushed all the way from his face to his chest. Nora thought it was adorable. “You’re a natural, my friend.”

Danse chuckled and Nora practically purred with delight. He was so focused on duty most of the time that he rarely seemed to find time to laugh. It was nice to see. Then he spoke and her heart froze.

“I understand if you won’t leave me a bullet. I give you my word that I will wait here until someone else from the Brotherhood arrives.”

“Someone else… wait, you still want to die?”

Danse’s expression was carefully blank. “What I want doesn’t matter. What matters is that the Brotherhood needs to eliminate all synths or else we end up in the same kind of world that caused the War. That can’t be allowed to happen again. My feelings don’t count, if you can even call them feelings anymore. My emotions are all just circuits and electricity now.” He choked out a bitter laugh. “Even love.”

Nora sat up and took both of Danse’s hands in hers. “Love?” Her mind was racing in all directions. He was still staring at the opposite wall.

“I’ve loved you for a long time, Nora. I could never allow myself to act on it because of our roles in the Brotherhood. I had to be strong.” He paused and glanced at her. “I… probably shouldn’t have told you that.”

Nora blinked, confused. Danse loved her? He had never mentioned anything to her after she made that clumsy pass at him.

His actions, though... when they were in combat, he usually followed her lead, although he outranked her. He unquestioningly did whatever she asked. He had travelled with her in search of her son, and had only made the odd irritable interjection when she met with synths and ghouls, both of which the Brotherhood was sworn to shoot on sight. Suddenly realization dawned... he had disobeyed the Brotherhood for her. Danse, who followed protocol even when it involved making the hardest decisions, set it aside for her.

Nora sat back and crossed her arms. “Now you tell me this? Now?” She ran her hands into her hair, threw back her head, and screamed at the ceiling in frustration. “You stubborn… look at me!” Danse had dropped his gaze again. He was so different from the confident warrior she knew. He did follow her order though, like a good soldier.

“Out on the battlefield, you’re always thinking of everyone else before yourself. I’ve seen you take a bullet for others more than once. Have you thought about how your death would affect your friends? Scribe Haylen? Me?”

“Paladin Danse died when the Institute captured him and replaced him with a machine. This is just finishing the job. Tying up loose ends.”

Nora knew that her friend prided himself on his ability to reason. She would have to appeal to his head, not his heart. She was almost out of her mind with despair, but she was going to have to pull herself together. For his sake.

“Alright then. Maybe I’m a synth. You ever think of that?”

She surprised Danse for the third time that day. “But… that doesn’t make sense.”

“Oh, and being frozen in a Vault for 200 years and somehow miraculously surviving makes sense? What’s more likely?”

Danse furrowed his brow in thought. “You weren’t on the list.”

“Did you ever think that the Institute might have fed you the information they wanted to feed you? And wouldn’t the perfect way to screw with the Brotherhood be to make them think that their best, most loyal soldier is actually a synth?”

“Why wouldn’t they choose someone like Elder Maxson? That would have been far worse.” The back and forth reminded Nora of the long nights when they sat by the fire and debated any topic that came to mind. Danse’s brain was every bit as appealing as his body.

“Really?” Nora answered. “Killing Maxson would have been as easy as replacing him. Now he’s going to be jumping at shadows, wondering who he can trust. He’ll make mistakes. And the Institute will be there to take advantage of every last one.” As she said it, Nora realized it was most likely the truth.

“Maybe. But speaking of what’s more likely, considering that the Institute had a copy of my DNA, it’s far easier to believe that I’m a synth than believing that the Institute somehow got my DNA without kidnapping me. I’ve killed every Institute synth I’ve seen, and I’m always in my power armor. Finding my DNA on the battlefield after the fact? Not likely.” He stood up, and Nora stood with him. Suddenly it was as if they both realized the state of their undress, and they hastily spent a few moments making themselves presentable again.

Danse tentatively moved toward Nora. As though she were made of glass, he put his arms around her, then hugged her gently. “I know they sent you to execute me. If you don’t follow your orders, the Brotherhood will hunt you down and kill you. I can’t let that happen. You have to go now.” He broke away from her, resolute and calm.

Nora shook her head. “I can see you’ve made up your mind. Fine.” She sighed and walked over to her power armor suit. She pulled a massive pistol out of its holster. It was the perfect size for the suit’s huge hands, which meant it looked like a giant’s gun in hers. It had a lot of stopping power though, which was the important thing. With practiced ease, she let the bullets fall from the cylinder, into her hand, and onto the floor. Two stayed in her palm. The metal cases of the others rang off the dusty tile, almost deafening in the silence. She carefully placed the two bullets back in the cylinder and clicked it shut as Danse watched.

“Here you go.” She held the weapon out towards him, her hands trembling slightly. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as the wastes.

Danse tilted his head slightly. “Why two bullets? It’s not like I can miss.” He looked genuinely confused.

“The other one’s for me. You’re the best person I’ve met since I woke up from the ice. Maybe the best person I’ve ever known. I can’t go back to the Brotherhood knowing that they drove you to kill yourself. I don’t want to live in a world where humans commit the most heinous acts I’ve ever seen and get away with it, but an honest, loyal, loving man has to die just because their soul rests in a cradle of circuitry instead of flesh.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t see any point in living if you’re gone.”

Danse stared at her with a deep, piercing gaze. “You… wouldn’t.”

Nora had finally reached her limit of frustration and fear. Tears flowed down her face. “What is there for me here once you’re gone? I’ve lost my husband, my son, and now I’m going to lose the only other person in this Godforsaken wasteland that means anything to me. I’m done.”

Danse’s hands twitched, but he stood there, still staring, speechless. His mouth twisted downward as she spoke. He didn’t move.

“Fine. I’ll go first. Ad Victoriam.” She brought the muzzle of the gun up to her chin and closed her eyes. She had started out thinking that she was going to have to fool Danse into thinking she’d kill herself, but after allowing herself to give voice to her own feelings, the truth was apparent. The Commonwealth could go fuck itself, she was tired of surviving alone.

Cocking the hammer was harder than she remembered without the power armor. It budged only slightly. As she brought her other hand up to finish the job, the gun was struck from her hands and clattered across the floor. Her eyes flew open.

“NO!” Danse roared, eyes wild. This time he crashed into her, hugging her hard against him. “No.” His breath hitched in a silent sob.

They stood there, clinging to each other, for a long time, as Danse’s body trembled. Finally he spoke.

“If I don’t deserve to die, then everything the Brotherhood taught me is wrong. Without the Brotherhood, what am I?” His voice was husky and full of tears that he refused to shed.

Nora pressed her cheek to his chest. “You’re my friend.” But would that be enough?

He stayed silent, his breathing still ragged. She continued. “Look, you owe it to me to stay alive until we can confirm whether you’re actually a synth. We’ll find a way into the Institute to get the truth. I promise.”

Danse pulled back from her, eyes glistening, still holding her hands in his. “I trust you,” was all he said. It was all he had to say.

“And I trust you. In order to find the institute, I’m going to have to go back to the Brotherhood. I need you to give me your word that you’ll do everything you can to stay alive.” Nora knew that Danse’s beliefs were deeply ingrained, and one of those was that he would never break his word to anyone. The Wasteland had opened her eyes to the worst things that could happen, and she wasn’t about to leave Danse an out. If he thought his existence was a threat to the Brotherhood, he would complete his last mission as soon as she left him, simply by wandering out into the Wasteland unarmed.

She saw the despair in his eyes as he considered his answer, and made herself stand strong. She had once lost her entire world too.

Finally he growled. “I give you my word.” She nodded sharply. It was enough.