Waking up seemed like the hardest thing Jack had ever done. His eyes, squinting at the light above him. A sharp ringing in his ears, and not to mention the fire burning in his chest. His fingers felt like pins and needles all the way down to his feet.

"Jack…My name is Dr. Raven Amelle. I need you to lie still okay? If you move, it's going to hurt."

Her voice was soft spoken and sweet to Jack's ears. He opened his mouth to speak, but turned into a small groan of pain when he moved his jaw. As Jack opened his eyes to search the room, He was met with a blurry haze that only amplified as he looked into the light.

"Here" She spoke again. The woman came into view turning down the bright lamp above Jack's head. As his eyes began to focus he made out small features of her. Chocolate brown hair, pale skin, her figure was almost as perfect as an hourglass even though it was partly hidden by the white coat she wore. "Better?" She questioned sitting beside him. Jack blinked as he looked to her face, as she tinkered with something on his chest. A pale blue and green eye, Jack noted. Her lips were painted red, the bandage just under her chin was wrapped tightly on her neck and slightly reddened with blood. Recent.

"…Where…" He spoke hoarsely. His throat was dry and scratchy.

"You're in a Hyperion lab on Elpis. It was…quite the trip to get you here. After getting information from an Atlas employee that you were somewhere on Pandora with the Atlas CEO, Hyperion launched a search and rescue mission to bring you back."

"…CEO?" Jack questioned again flinching at the sudden pain in his chest.

"Sorry… I'm sure you remember Rhys." Oh did he remember that scumbag. Jack's jaw locked in anger remembering they're last encounter in the Helios wreckage.

"Judging by the way you're flexing, you do remember Rhys. He became the Atlas CEO after the Helios disaster. His company has become…quite troublesome to Hyperion. Stocks have fallen 15% in the past 8 years, not to mention revenue."

"Okay…How long…Have I been...Out." Jack breathed finally feeling the oxygen tubes around his nose.

"Close to 10 years."

Raven's words hit Jack harder than a train. His eyes widened with horror, and his heartrate quickened on the monitor. "Relax Jack. Pretty much all of Hyperion knows you're here. And the thought of you waking up at any minute, has them scrambling to do better."

Jack glanced down at the straps across his chest when he tried to move. "Unhook these." He ordered.

"Just a few more minutes. If I let you go now, the virus in your A.I. will take over again."

"Virus! What the fuck is going on?!" Jack yelled angrily in a panic.

"Calm down." Raven said eying him. "If your heart rate gets any higher you're going to trigger the virus. Take a few minutes to breathe and I'll explain everything."

Jack sighed dejectedly.

After a few minutes of Raven tapping away on a comm, she finally made her way back over to sit beside Jack.

"Alright…Lay it on me cupcake…what's goin' on?"

"Rhys is a very smart man. He built a virus and displaced it into your system, so if we did manage to get you back, and try to rebuild you, a virus would completely take over and destroy anything in its path. Well after A year and a half of moving around the virus to get to this point, we made a discovery in the core of your A.I. that Nakayama had left. Cloning structures, blueprints, formulas, everything. I backed it up to a hard drive just to be sure that the virus wouldn't delete any of it, which it did. "

"Nice save."

"Thank you. Anyways, we built these clones using Nakayama's blueprints. Your current state is the third to pass the Virus. The first two couldn't get they're heartrate below a tachycardia level and ended up triggering the virus. The last one almost killed everyone in this department."

"Is that why you have a bandage around your neck?" Jack asked.

"…Yes. That's also why you're secured. Because if you lose me, you lose Nakayama's entire life's work."

"Good to know. Is it like…Implanted in your ECHOeye or somethin'?"

"Actually I have it memorized." Jack cocked a brow at her statement.

"You a Nakayama fangirl or somethin'? Because damn that must be pretty boring." He laughed and Raven smiled weakly. "Not entirely. I liked his approach on Hyperion Sciences. Health, tech, firearms, and His cloning formulas for you was an added bonus." Raven stood. "I just need to run a few more diagnostics, I think I almost have the virus out of your system." She turned and walked back to the computer across the room. After a few moments of silence, Jack turned his head to watch her.

"You must be pretty smart. I'm impressed with the level of work you've been doing." Raven turned her head to look at him. Her expression was a mix of shock and surprise as she blinked at him.

"Well…Thank you Sir. …I-I appreciate that."

"Please…Just Jack. Or Handsome. Ehh call me whatever you want kitten, just not Sir. Makes me feel old." Raven smiled in response as she went back to her diagnostics. "What can you tell me about my body?" Jack questioned.

"Well you're skeletal structure is made of a tungsten, and magnesium mixture so that it remains strong and durable under harsh environments. It's chemically unresponsive but lightweight. You're organs we're donations from the healthiest candidates, willing to give up their lives for the…Handsome Jack. And finally your skin is made up of the finest synthetic nerve and skin-grafting Hyperion has to offer, making you a fully functional human being. Well besides you're bones and brain."

"So what happens when I get shot?"

"You bleed."

"And when I have sex?"

Raven cocked a hesitant brow as she typed away on her computer. "Well…All functionality will be the same. Nakayama made sure of that. Any D.N.A. passed will still be your own."

"So I can still have kids?"

"Yes."

Jack hummed in response. "Good to know."

When Raven finished her tests, she released him from the leather straps and helped him sit up. Jack looked down at his hands, then to the ugly hospital gown that he had been left in. "Really?...They wouldn't put me in pants, or a shirt and boxers, or somethin'? Shit feels weird." He growled and Raven chuckled softly. "I'll have someone bring you, you're clothes down. So I'll give you a little update. There is no longer a sign of a virus hiding anywhere, or anything of that matter. Just take it easy for the next week or two just to be safe. Hyperion can wait until then." She added pulling a cord from Jack's head. Jack could feel her warmth in front of him. He could smell her delicate perfume, the scent of her hair. It was strangely intoxicating.

"You okay?" She asked curiously as she grabbed a comm to get Jack's things. Jack blinked realizing he had been staring at her for the past few seconds. "Yeah...yeah totally fine. Just trying to get my baring on things is all. It's…Weird."

"I'm sure it is. After being trapped in a A.I. form for so long I'm sure you forgot some sensations and experiences."

"Yeah…So what happens now?" He asked curiously and Raven cocked her head.

"Why are you asking me? You are my superior. Shouldn't you be ordering me around?" She smiled and Jack nearly beamed at the thought. He was back. And it felt good. He nearly snapped out of his thoughts when the transport chute 'pinged'. Raven grabbed the clothes hand set them beside Jack. "When you're ready or you need help, just call me on your ECHOcomm. My information is already preloaded into your new equipment." She said flipping the switch on Jack's temple. As the Comm booted up, it booted fast. He began scanning the room, and finally scanned Raven as she walked out, her file popping up before him.

"Doctor Raven Amelle, 29 years old, Pandorian, Hyperion Scientist, formerly Pandorian Vault Hunter Leader."

This caught Jack's eye immediately. He made his move to go into her file as he carefully changed his clothes. "Expert tech specialist, weapon specialist, medical specialist, Net worth: $2.3 Million." Jack whistled to himself and back-tracked to the file labeled "Pandorian Vault hunter leader" And eyed its contents. Pictures of her team, her flag, documented tattoos (Which Jack stared at happily), and finally her armor. Heavy armor to be exact. This lady was a total badass! Jack stood carefully, his new legs nearly buckling at his weight. Jack fastened his belt and picked up the famous tailored tail-coat, sliding it up and over his shoulders. It felt good. A little tighter than normal, but good nonetheless. He tip toed slowly to the mirror on the wall surveying his new body, not to mention his face…It wasn't a mask anymore…It was his face. He rubbed his chin, feeling the prickly stubble against his fingers. He made a mental note to himself to give this woman a raise. As much of a narcissist Jack was, He never found himself to be this perfect before. Nakayama and this…Raven Amelle certainly made sure he was perfect to the last pore. Jack called Raven back into the room and she came back with a clip board in hand. "Oh hohoho-man Doc…The raise I have planned for you is gunna leave you living like a queen." Jack complimented admiring himself in the mirror. "Oh and what's this about being some…oh I dunno- A vault hunter leader?"

"I was young and reckless." She answered not taking her eyes off of the clipboard.

"Anything I should know? Y'know…"

"If you think of me trying to betray you Jack you're sorely mistaken. I have the same amount of hatred for Atlas and Dahl just the same as you. Besides, Hyperion has state of the art weapons equipment I can get first hand."

Jack laughed suddenly. "You sound like you like to kill people. That's bad for business y'know."

Raven looked up to him with a coy smile. "So is throwing people out of an airlock…But that's none of my business." She whispered with a wink.

Oh…this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful partnership.