From the Ashes- Afire Love part 2

blind faith

Haylen fell silent.

"Haylen, when you brought me that box after you'd searched through Listening Post Bravo, it was closed. It had my name on it."

"I know that," she said. "Can you please tell me what you're trying to say?"

You stood abruptly, taking her by the shoulders. "He's still out there!" you insisted. "I was there when he was putting together that box. I saw him. But I walked in before he could finish it, and then we went outside, and he never went back in. So-"

"If he was killed, how could he have finished with it?" Haylen guessed. She didn't sound convinced. 

"Yes!" you almost shouted. "But you gave it to me, signed, sealed, delivered. I..." You breathed out a sigh, turning to the entrance of your tent. You looked past your camp, to the radiated wasteland. "I know I'm really reaching here.  I watched him die in my arms. Or I thought I did," you scoffed before turning back to her. "But if there's a chance, even the smallest, of us finding him again, I'm going to take it. It's crazy, but please, just have faith."

"Sentinel," she said, approaching you. "I'm with you." She rested a gloved hand on your shoulder. You smiled.

"So, where do we start?" she asked, bringing her hand to her hip. "I'm at your command."

"Well..." you began to say, thinking deeply. He could be anywhere, the Commonwealth was a big place. "I think we should start where everything ended. We need to search through Listening Post Bravo, one last time," you explained. "But first, we have to tell Elder Maxson that we're leaving..."

You trailed off seeing the grave look that took over the scribe's face. She stood in silence before saying solemnly, "He's not gonna like that, Y/N."

"I know. He can't know we're going to search for Danse, he'd be furious." Maxson hated two things. Things that weren't quite human and relationships in the Brotherhood. And not only was Danse revealed to be a synth, you were in a relationship with him. Since his death, he'd been at most tolerant of what you shared with him. But at any mention of the late paladin, he would snap. "Okay, I think I've got a plan for me. But how can you slip away?"

The scribe scoffed. "I'm just a scribe. I'll get someone else to come fill my role. No one would notice. But you? You're a sentinel. This better be a good plan, and you better pray it works."

You were sure it would. Actually, it wasn't even some fancy lie, just a little white one. "We've gotta get going as soon as possible. Grab whatever you need, I don't know when we'll be back."

"Sure. I'll wait for you outside," she said, leaving the tent. You picked up the uniform you'd been wearing last night and slipped it on. The fabric clung to your skin. You kneeled at the side of your bed where you stored your lockbox and pulled in out, dragging it across the rusty red dirt. You took out three things- a few cases of fusion cells, a fusion core for your armor, and then Danse's holotags that he'd given you so long ago. It had been a long time since you'd been to the bunker, since it all happened. You'd be surprised if you found anything at all. But where else could you go?

You stepped into your power armor, waiting for it to close around you. Outside your tent, the hazy green sky greeted you. Haylen waited, leaning against a barricade, arms crossed. She caught sight of you and stood straight.

"Ready?" she asked when you came near.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here." You reached for a signal grenade, snapped it, and threw it outside the west side of camp. Smoke rose in the air. You watched it for a moment before turning around, seeing the rest of camp staring at the two of you. You made eye contact with Knight Green, who looked the most confused out of all of them. You owed them an explanation.