Maya took a deep breath, standing in front of Lilith's house. "Ok, you can do this." She stepped up to the door and knocked. After waiting several moments, she closed her eyes, took another deep breath, and knocked again.

"I'm coming, hang on!" Lilith opened the door. "Sup?"

Maya crossed her arms, looking down at her feet. "You mind if I come in for a bit? I need to talk about something."

"Sure. Come on in." Lilith opened the door wider, letting Maya pass through. Maya sat on the couch and folded her hands, but she soon began rubbing them together instead. Lilith sat down in a chair opposite her. "What's the matter?"

Maya sighed. "You know how Eridium made your powers a lot more… well, powerful?"

"Of course. I stopped using it though after Handsome Jack pumped me full of it though. My powers were going crazy. It wasn't easy getting off that stuff, let me tell you."

Maya hesitated, staring at her hands, clenching her tattooed hand. "I started using Eridium about a week after we found you."

Lilith nodded. "So how'd that work?"

"Well, my phaselock can kill almost anything short of a badass with Helios alone now."

"That's hot."

"I hope you're talking about how the Helios burns."

"Maybe. But still, that's good, right?"

"There's more though. If my Helios kills an enemy, they explode."

"…Ok, that's badass."

"Except for when I found that out. Zer0 and I were out on a mission. We just had to clear out a few bandits just outside town. Easy. We got to the last few, and I phaselocked one while shooting another in the head. Zer0 took care of the rest, and then sliced at the one I had phaselocked. The Helios finished him off and he exploded, like I said. But it hit Zer0."

"Impossible."

"I wish. It launched him into a storage container. Broke most of his ribs, and Dr. Zed says he's lucky his spine is in one piece."

"Have you tried controlling it?"

"Of course I have!" Maya yelled. "I'm not stupid! I went to the Circle of Slaughter with Axton and fought to keep him from getting hurt. But no matter what, he could always feel a burn when an enemy exploded. I've tried focusing positive thoughts on him, blocking him from my mind, focusing all my anger and frustration on just the enemy. That last one only made it worse."

"Then you have to stop using Eridium, or this will be permanent."

"I've tried." Maya was almost crying now. "But I can barely last a day without craving it again. Then when I start again it's even worse." She put her head in her hands, hating her powers for the umpteenth time that she could remember.

Lilith fought to keep from crying herself. She knew exactly what Maya was going through. Heck, she had spent 3 months trying to quit Eridium before she looked to Mordecai for help. She got up and sat next to Maya, putting her arm around her. "So why'd you come to me with this? Not Axton or Zer0"

Despite herself, Maya laughed. "Seriously? Axton would rant at me for ages before he'd even start listening, and I really don't need that right now. Zer0, I don't know if he could really help. We don't even actually know if he's human. Besides, I feel awful for what I did to him."

Lilith sighed. "Alright. I'll help."

Maya let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. "

"One thing though. If I'm going to help you, you have to stay here with me" Maya opened her mouth, but Lilith cut her off. "I have to be able to keep an eye on you so I know you aren't sneaking Eridium. This isn't anything against you. I tried the same thing for a while when Mordecai helped me out with my addiction."

Maya's eyebrows furrowed. "That's a bit creepy really."

"Oh come on, I'm pretty sure he has a bigger interest in his bird than girls."

"That's even creepier."

"That's not what I- know what? You're right, that's weird." The two sirens chuckled.

Maya sobered up again. "Any idea how long this is going to take?"

Now it was Lilith's turn to sigh. "Honestly, it could be anywhere from a week to a month I think."

Maya's eyes bulged. "A month?! How am I supposed to leave the guys on their own for a month?"

"They're big boys. They can take care of themselves."

"You don't know Sal. He's a maniac! He'd get himself killed in seconds if I wasn't covering him so often!"

"He can take a hit better than anyone!.. Except maybe Brick."

"Axton is too reliant on his turret."

"Have you seen that thing at full potential? It tore through most of the last wave of the Circle of Slaughter."

"But-"

"Zer0 can always use his Deception if he gets in trouble, Gaige's Deathtrap could probably take down the Warrior on his own, and I rarely see Krieg flinch from any kind of hit."

"So what, I'm not even needed by them?"

"No, you're one of a group of 6 badass vault hunters, each of which can tear apart nearly anything on the planet with their bare hands but who stick together anyway cause they started as a team and they see no reason to pull that apart."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Ok, stop flattering me already." She sighed. "Fine, I'll stay here. Now what?"

"Wanna grab some pizza? I'm starving."

Maya's eyebrows rose again. "Seriously? I meant what to do about my addiction!"

"Well, not much we can do until you start craving it again."

"I thought I had to stay in the house?"

"You only have to stay in the house so you can stay in my sight. I just have to be able to watch your ass."

"Literally or figuratively?"

"Both"

Maya threw her hands in the air. "Fine, let's go get pizza."

They stood up, and while they were walking to Moxxi's, Lilith called Axton on her Echo.

"Yeah?"

"WHO IS IT?"

"Seriously Sal? Do you always have to yell?"

"WHY NOT? GOT A PROBLEM WITH IT?"

Axton sighed. "No. Whaddya want Lilith?"

Lilith shook her head in wonder. How grown men could be so immature, she would never understand. "Maya's gonna be staying with me for a while" Maya glanced her way until Lilith mouthed "Axton" at her. She nodded and turned forward again.

"You sure you two don't need supervision?"

"I'm sure Axton."

"Alright. How long you gonna keep your girlfriend over there? Day or two? Or is this one of those one night stands?"

"Maya's right. You are obsessed with sex." Maya turned to her and mouthed "I told you so", then turned forward just in time to run into the doorframe of Moxxi's. Lilith snickered, and then answered "A week or two. A month at most. Just don't wait up for her. Go kill all the bandits you want."

"Alright. You girls have fun" he hung up, leaving the siren to shake her head.

"Hey Moxxi! Could we get a pizza over here?" She called across the room.

"Sure thing sugar. Be ready in a half hour."

"Should have called ahead" she mumbled, and then sat down across from Maya at a booth.

They sat in silence for a while until Maya broke it. "How… What did you end up going through when you were killing your addiction?"

Lilith was silent for a while. "I was shaky for a while. Like when you haven't eaten in a while. I felt really weak too. I'd get angry at almost anything, which was probably the hardest part for Mordy." She grinned a bit before it changed to a frown. "But the worst part for me was the nightmares. I'd see all sorts of horrible things. Handsome Jack torturing people, including me. Including my team. And yours." She paused for a bit, and then continued on, almost whispering, eyes shining. "I saw Roland die. Over and over again. Not just the way he really died. I saw him tortured, beaten, torn apart limb from limb. I even saw Jack dissecting him once. I saw monsters tearing through Sanctuary. I saw you guys getting mauled by them. And I couldn't do anything. Not because it was a dream. But because I was terrified. How could I stand up to these monsters if they could destroy all of that so quickly? So easily?" Tears fell from her eyes even as she fought to stop them.

Maya hesitated, then reached across and held Lilith's hand. "That's not going to happen. Look, whether legend or blatant threat, we've always managed to kill it. The Warrior, Jack, Terramorphous. None of them could stand up to us. We've never heard of anything bigger than Terramorphous. And if we ever do, we'll beat it. We always have."

Lilith smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"Pizza's done hon!"

"That was a short half hour" Lilith stood up and walked up to the bar.

"You and your lady friend having a good time?"

Lilith threw up her hands. "Why does everyone assume we're dating?"

"I never said that, did I now?"

"It was implied"

"Mhmm" Moxxi finished cutting up the pizza and folded up the box around it. "There ya go hon."

"Thanks Moxxi" Lilith tossed the cost on the bar before walking back to her booth with the pizza.

"Lilith, we need to get out of here."

"Why do you-oh shit. You're right." The sirens could both sense it. Someone nearby had Eridium, and a lot of it. The stood up and walked out, taking the pizza with them. Lilith followed behind Maya, and noticed her shiver. Lilith frowned. It wasn't even cold out. Heck, they were in the middle of the desert! It wasn't the cold causing the shivers. Lilith sighed and put one arm around Maya. This is gonna be a long ass job.