If you'd asked Zer0 where he'd be now ten years ago, he'd probably have said dead if he'd have answered you at all. Some mornings, with his ports aching and every remaining muscle stiff, he kinda wishes he was. People like him aren't made to grow old and rusty but that's what he's doing, in spite of his better judgement. Somedays he considers finding the hardest challenge he can and throwing himself at it until it beats his worn body into a paste, his now miserable life finally spent. But it isn't just his life (and it hasn't been for quite some time) so he doesn't, he keeps on living no matter how hard it is some days to get out of bed, to keep going in the face of his growing inadequacies.
He scoot backwards slightly on the mattress and finds Gaige curled up along his upper back, warm and comforting. He smiles.
"Go back to sleep, old man," she grumbles into his back, wrapping an arm around him to keep him close. "I swear I can hear you think."
Zer0 pulls her hand up to his mouth and kisses it, whispering "I love you," like she doesn't already know. Sometimes he thinks he says it just to remind himself what he's living for nowadays.
"Love you too," she says, "But I'm serious, go back to sleep. I'm going to finish up repairs on your leg today and then we can have sex and I have been looking forward to that since you left like a week ago but I need to be well rested-" Zer0 turns around to face her and Gaige stops mid sentence before adding, "Oh god, I said something stupid, didn't I?"
"We could have made love/ I have the temp and besides/ I don't need both legs."
Gaige blinks, still waking up. "No, no I know," she yawns, "I'm sorry, I have no idea why I said that."
But that's a lie and both of them know it. Both of them know exactly why she said that: yesterday Zer0 had been barely alive and in no condition for anything more physical than sitting up. He'd come back from his recon mission in pieces, bleeding out with a totaled leg and Gaige had barely flinched. She'd just patched him up and cracked jokes at his expense like it was no different than any other time. And she had become a much better liar over the years but he could still read the fear in her eyes when she wasn't laughing. Thinking about that fear made him finally come to a decision he'd been dancing around of a while.
"No more solo work, I promise," He says, pecking her on the lips.
"Yeah, yeah that is what you said last time," the hint of a frown gracing her face as she refuses to meet his eyes.
Zer0 tilts her face up until their eyes meet, whispering, "I mean it this time." Then he leans in and kisses her harder. She sighs against his lips, not kissing him back for a moment before giving in, her hand coming up so she can run a thumb along one of his cheekbones.
It pains Zer0 to realize that he's finally lost his autonomy, that he now must depend on others to have his back constantly. But he can't stop working and he can't keep doing this to Gaige so it's the only option. Of course, if he's being honest with himself, he hasn't been autonomous for quite some time, probably since he first arrived on Pandora. He's never been truly alone since then, playing the part of the lone assassin while all the while having friends and a woman who loves him there to have his back at a moments notice. He doesn't want to think about it though so he deepens the kiss, losing himself to Gaige's insistent touches.
They make love then, slow and steady. And Zer0 is right that he only needs the one leg but that's mostly just him being stubborn. He makes Gaige come three times, long shuddering cries pried from teeth biting bottom lips, her body clenching around different parts of him in turn. Moments like this he can almost pretend he's still the person he once was, still dexterous and skilled. But then Gaige's thighs clamp around his own and the empty structure of the temp leg reminds him that he's not, he's broken. She loves him though even though she deserves much better than the person he's become. At least here, in bed, he can make himself worthy of that love, if only for an hour at a time. And so he does, dragging orgasm after orgasm out of her soft, curved frame, her faces the picture of ecstatic bliss.
When she's finally worn out, all loose and constantly moaning with each thrust, he lets himself come, loud and hard, body shaking with the force of it. Then he collapses on top of her, kissing her forehead and mumbling, "I love you," into her hair. She breathes it back as a kiss to his collarbone and he shudders at the contact.
"So sleeping now, yeah?" Gaige says after a minute of heavy breathing. "Because I'm pretty sure my legs wouldn't support me right now. And I was tired before you fucked my brains out so… sleeping, yeah."
"Yeah," Zer0 says, rolling them over so Gaige is perched on the middle of his chest, wrapping his arms around her back. Gaige falls asleep rapidly after that, her breathing slowing down, her head pillowed right above his heart. He shifts his legs a little, the temp whining for need of grease but he ignores it, carding his fingers through her hair. Some days might be hard but in this moment, here with her, he's so glad to be alive he could burst. So he drifts off to sleep, a hint of a smile on his lips, ready to take on whatever the future throws at them.