Heart of Steel Turned Gold

Chapter 16: We'll Make This Work

"Very well" I sighed and stood up. I walked towards her and lead her to my quarters. I doubted seriously she wanted sex, seeing how inappropriate it would be to unscrew the door hinges of the meeting room for it, but I never really knew with her. I closed the door behind me to face her. She had her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"Am I wrong to assume you wanted a kiss?"

"So, Elder" she said my name with grit, and it brought me back to when Sarah Lyons would scold me when I was a child.

"How am I supposed to rebuild the teleporter sans resources?"

"What?" I said, genuinely confused.

"How am I supposed to build the teleported when your soldiers stole all my settlement's resources?"

Her settlements, I nearly forgot she was the General of the Minutemen.

"It is natural for our soldiers to need resources to repair their armo-"

"Excuse me, excuse me, I just, I must have something in my ear, but did I just hear you defending their crime?" She looked at me with wide eyes.

"It isn't a crime, they need to eat..."

"So you allow them to steal my people's food, that they grew and worked hard to produce?" Her eyes narrowed at me, "What kind of entitled piece of shit thinks that way?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, we defend those settlements, so in return-"

Apparently those were the wrong words to say. She exploded.

"DEFEND? DEFEN-Oh okay, right, see my settlements have NEVER reported any help from the Brotherhood, but who knows, maybe you help different set- oh wait just a flipping fucking minute. I own..." she leaned in real close "ALL. OF. THEM."

"Jacqueline! I'm sorry they took your supplies but there is nothing I can do now! It's probably been used to repair power armour and create gun mods by now." She was steaming.

"Then how the actually fuck am I supposed to-"

Teagan, Quinlan, Cade, and Ingram were at the door. They couldn't hear this, they weren't used to anyone swearing in front of their elder.

"Knight Storm, if you wish to stay on this mission to infiltrate the Institute, I suggest you stop speaking and get to work. Having you on this is a privilege many others would be proud to-"

I didn't see her hand, nor did I feel the contact it made with my face but I could feel the burning sensation it left as she stormed out of my quarters and past the proctors.

I turned to see Ingram chasing after the woman of my dreams while the others looked at me, waiting in anticipation for my reaction. Hoping for some kind of punishment, but all I could feel was despair. I walked past them slowly and made my way towards the power armour station.

There she was, as beautiful as the day I first spoke to her, hammering away at her power armour, ignoring Ingram's words. She put a helmet on and grabbed a blow torch.

"You know you're overreacting ri-" the sound of the torch igniting interrupted her.

"Not now Ingram. Why not just let Liberty Prime blow a hole through the CIT ruins? It's the easier plan." She yelled through the noise.

"We didn't want to take unnecessary lives here, we wanted to see how teleporting would..." she huffed "You aren't even listening to me are you?"

The torch blared for a good ten seconds before she yelled again, "Whatever you're saying, don't bother."

Ingram grumbled to herself how stubborn she was before marching past me and towards her own station. Apparently the armour wasn't working because she roundhouse kicked the metal plates into the walls. She stormed off to her old bed and footlocker. I followed silently behind, hoping she'd calm down at least a little before I approached her. She jumped face down on her cot and started screaming, her pillow muffling most of the noise. She turned her side and sat up, grabbing her duffle bag.

I touched her shoulder gently. I though she'd burn a hole through my skull with the glare she gave me. I sat down next to her.

"Sweet pea" I whispered "I am sorry, but you know..."

"Yes, yes" she exasperated "I'm aware that you need to assert your authority over your men the way dogs do, making sure they don't challenge you so you stay the alpha, I get it" she shrugged her shoulders, "What I don't understand is your need to raid local farms for supplies. How do you think we got those supplies Elder?"

"I..." I wanted to protest

"I went out there Maxson, I collected tin cans, desk fans, coolant bottles, telephones, and I building my settlements out of scraps. All of this, within a year." Her eyes were full of sorrow when she finally looked at me, "Imagine what you could do if all of your soldiers did the same. The Prydwen would be unstoppable." Her eyes were welling up now.

I help her close, not wanting to let go, the attack was coming very soon, and there was no reason to be making new enemies, especially with the woman I loved.

"No more then, Liberty Prime will be ready, and after the Institute is destroyed, we'll make a peace treaty, one that benefits your people and my own." I sighed "I promise."

She grabbed my hand a gave it a squeeze before standing up and going to see Neriah.

We'd be okay.

We'll make this work.