Story Description: Elder Maxson is the austere leader of the Brotherhood of Steel, utterly changed from the doe-eyed boy of his youth. But when, for the second time in his life, he meets an influential vault dweller, he finds his past, present, and future colliding, forcing him to recognize that all within the Brotherhood is as it seems…

A/N: Upon playing Fallout 4 I just about pissed myself when I remembered that Elder Maxson was the same child you meet in Fallout 3 at the Citadel. How did the wide-eyed kid with the crush on Sarah Lyons turn into a (hot, but) radical, broody leader of the Brotherhood of Steel? What does he think about finding yet another influential vault dweller? What exactly happened to Sarah Lyons? What other forces might be at work within the Brotherhood of Steel to facilitate the organization's rapid change from Fallout 3 to Fallout 4 and the speedy rise of Elder Maxson? This is my attempt to reconcile my thoughts. F!SS and F!LW. Some F!SS/Maxson and references to Maxson/Sarah Lyons. I will refer to SS as Knight Nora because couldn't come up with a cool last name and figured that was a dumb reason not to continue with the story. This story will occur both before and after Danse's personal quest as well as the end of the game so spoiler warning.

Apologies ahead of time for any misspells and inaccurate Fallout info.

A Steel Mirror

Chapter 1: Her

It's her.

As he finished his speech and saw her for the first time, a glimmer of recognition panged him. For one very brief instant, the carefully constructed visage of the unrelenting, unyielding, ever-certain Elder wavered.

She, too, was a vault dweller, with a grimy vault uniform and rusted sniper rifle. She, too, had a canine companion and a buzzing Pip Boy.

She, too, had a determined face and a tangible air of strength.

And yet, after a second's glance, Elder Maxson realized he was mistaken, and his hardened mask returned. This was not the so-called 'Lone Wanderer' of the Capital Wasteland. This was not the woman with the kind eyes who chatted with him as a young, inexperienced boy on the Citadel. This was not the hero who purified the Capital Wastelands' water supply all of those years who. He stifled a sharp stab of disappointment.

"Ad victoriam!" he finished, but found himself distracted and unmoved by the chants of his comrades back to him.

As they departed, he addressed this new vault dweller how he would have addressed that Lone Wanderer from so many years ago, the one who abandoned the Brotherhood and vanished into obscurity. "I care about them, you know. The people"- of the Capital Wasteland –"…of the Commonwealth."

This woman's eyes were different from her doppelganger of years past. There was no kindness, nor amusement towards him. Yet again, he was no longer a naïve, idealistic boy.

"If you say so," she uttered warily.

He wondered if her Capital Wasteland counterpart would have said the same thing.

Convincing this new vault dweller to aid the Brotherhood of Steel was more difficult than expected, even with her promotion to Knight. She agreed, only eventually and clearly tentatively. Had it been this difficult for the Brotherhood of Steel to convince the dweller of Vault 101 for aid a decade ago? He scratched his beard and growled.

Soldiers parted like a school of fish to a shark as Maxson left his observation deck and trudged into the belly of the Prydwyn. The Elder took no notice of the anxious shuffles of his crewmates, still brooding as he headed to the Prydwyn's main deck. His soldiers saluted him hastily, but he neither noticed nor acknowledged them. Instead, he brusquely slammed the door to his private quarters.

He felt a tangible pull towards a heavily fortified chest beckoning at the foot of his bed. He paused before lifting the heavy lid open, lest one of his brethren disturb him. He wished to be alone when he found what he was looking for.

He heard no signed of commotion or rustling near his door, and slowly proceeded to rummage to the bottom of the chest. It was no accident that the objects of his desire lay buried at the chests' base. He purposely placed them there, lest some curious scribe discovered them while cleaning.

Then he felt them. His calloused hands hastily grabbed the familiar texture of glossy photos and rumpled paper. He used to review the pictures and reports obsessively in his younger years, as if he would somehow gain an epiphany or unlock a secret if he just looked one more time. Finally, with time, these accursed papers' powers weakened, until the memories and speculations they held faded like their very text.

But today, their curse has begun anew, thanks to that damned vault dweller.

The last decade has morphed Maxson into a stolid, reserved man. And yet, as he found himself looking upon one of the few images of Sarah Lyons, he found himself suppressing the same damned blush that used to engulf his cheeks as a boy on the Citadel.

She was as he remembered her, comfortably suited in power armor with her silken blonde hair tied up, standing assuredly in the center of her unit, the Lyon's Pride. The photo was taken for the Brotherhood archives not long after the Capital Wasteland's water was reclaimed and the final remnants of the Enclave were destroyed. Despite her accomplishments, Sarah's face betrayed no gratification or pleasure, save for a familiar twinkle in her eyes.

He wished, almost painfully, that she could see him now: as the leader of the Brotherhood…as a man… not as a silly boy with unfeasible dreams.

Off to the side in the photo, both with the Brotherhood and yet clearly alone, was the vault dweller of years past. Even at first glance, it was apparent that famed 'Lone Wanderer' was indeed a different woman from the Vault 111 resident. The Lone Wanderer's features were sharper and leaner than her doppelganger from today. Her hair was lighter and she was taller. This vault dweller from the photo gave a small smirk at the camera, with the same kind eyes he recalled as boy. This woman clearly approved of the Brotherhood members beside her.

And yet, the Lone Wanderer ultimately abandoned the brotherhood following Sarah's death.

Perhaps these two vault dwellers weren't so different.