Ad Victoriam ~ Elder Maxson x reader - Part 3

5 - Trust

"I want to start out by apologising, Uri. How I reacted yesterday... It was unacceptable."

They are stood by the derelict shell of an old airplane; watching the sea gently lap at crumbling walls of what was once Boston Airport's runway. Fighting off old-world memories doesn't help Uri's current head state. She shakes her head, sighing shakily.

"No. Arthur, you had a right to be angry. How you approached the whole thing was shitty, but..." Amber eyes glance upwards, finally meeting his. She looks exhausted. "Well, truth is, I didn't exactly want to say anything because you're not being honest with me."

"What are you referring to?" The Elder's brow furrows.

"Liberty Prime. The professor. You said you were okay with my mission failure in the Institute, but I see it in the way you treat Scara. You're mad at me but you're scared of showing me that, so you take it out on her."

At this, Arthur pauses. He wants to deny it, of course... But maybe Uri has a point. Upon first hearing of the mission failure, all he had wanted was to find her; afterwards came disappointment. A spark of anger burning in the back of his mind. The tactician within had spent countless hours kicking him for his decision to send Uri in - of course she was doomed to fail. Letting a Knight with such close, emotional ties to the faction infiltrate them was a foolish risk to take. It has cost them precious time, knowledge and resources.

He bites back an agitated sigh.

"Uri, it wasn't your fault. How were you to know that their leader was the very child you spent all those months searching for? It would have been downright evil of me to take my frustrations out on you."

"Yeah, but now you're taking them out on someone who isn't to blame!" She huffs, "If I didn't fuck it up, then we wouldn't be in this mess. Anyway, having you direct that anger at someone else isn't helping. At the same time, I don't want to use it as an excuse. I..." She looks down at the cracked road she is scuffing with the toe of her boots, "I'm not gonna tell you what happened down there, because I want to figure it out for myself. But I will tell you this much - it's important, and I think it's best I get away from the airport to do it."

"You want to leave?"

"No," she throws him an exasperated scowl, "I want to head out on a mission of my own."

"You realise that what you're asking for is ridiculous, correct? You want me to grant you leave without telling me - the Elder - what this mission is for?"

"You've got enough to be worrying about without this on your shoulders, Arthur."

"So you think that leaving me to catastrophise will be more beneficial than not telling me?"

"Damnit," she curses. He does have a point... But, as paranoid as he is, Arthur is yet to realise that the Institute has eyes and ears everywhere. If he knew already then he wouldn't spend a minute in peace. It would kill him. His eyes burn with the intensity of his curiosity, but Uri shakes her head. "I need you to trust me, Arthur. After failing, I may not deserve it... But as your girlfriend, I'm asking you to let me handle this. I swear I wouldn't be so secretive if I really didn't think it was for the best."

Now, there's an interesting thought. Trust her. He wants to snort at that. Does she not understand what she has done to him? He has trusted her with his life. He continues to trust her with a side of himself that he does not offer up to anyone else...But to trust her with this? A pre-war vault dweller, with destroying the Institute? Yes, she has survived when it seemed absolutely impossible; but she is no leader. Her title as ex-General is testament to that.

"I trust you, Uri, but as Elder I have to look out for the wellbeing of my soldiers - I am not confident that undertaking this... task... that they will be safe."