Of all the skag-holes on Pandora, Hollow Point was the…uh…skaggiest. Bad conditions, bad restaurants, bad bars, bad businesses…the whole thing was a bad casserole served with a heap of bad on the side.
And it was just Athena's luck that she lived there.
Hollow Point was isolated. Most towns located in big caves usually were. Athena could live out a peaceful (well, as peaceful as Pandora can be) life with Janey.
Problem was, the only person who could really find work in Hollow Point was Janey, who helped Moxxi's son Scooter out in his garage. It was steady employment, but it was hardly enough to support a junk dealer and an assassin.
When Jack had given Athena that massive "Just saved Elpis" check, she wanted to tear it up and throw it all in his (now masked) face. But knowing it was good money regardless, she'd kept it, and it was enough to get a ticket for two on a rocket back to Pandora, buy a house in Hollow Point, and pay the bills for at least a year.
But what about afterwards? She didn't want Janey to be the only thing supporting them, but she had promised the junk dealer she would never take another bounty job so long as she lived.
Still, she chose Hollow Point for a very important reason: it was mostly off Hyperion's radar, so there was no chance of Jack knocking on her door asking for her help on another job.
After dinner one evening, Athena decided she needed to take a walk. Carrying her trusty shield, in case some bandit decided to get the drop on her, she made her way down the street, thinking about her options.
She had just passed by the Purple Skag bar when she heard an odd sound...one that she wasn't too fond of.
Whirling around, she looked down to see a purple CL4PTP, timidly tapping its two hands together.
"What do you want?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Good evening, Athena the Gladiator!" the Claptrap said with the typical annoying enthusiasm CL4PTPs were known for. "I wish to speak to you about business!"
Athena stared straight into the Claptrap's eye. He awkwardly looked back.
"Umm...I've been sent by Hyperion CEO Handsome Jack?" the Claptrap stammered.
Athena blinked. "Excuse me, 'Handsome' Jack?"
"Oh, yes! His aesthetic attractiveness requires the addition of an adjective denoting his amazing appearance! He-"
"Blah blah blah, you stupid robot, what did he want?"
"He has an important mission for you!"
Athena stood there for a second. Taking a deep breath, she finally gave her response: "You tell that maniac that I don't want anything to do with him. I did one job for Hyperion, and frankly, that's enough."
"He thought you might say that! He promises that you'll be paid a fair amount!"
"How much?"
The Claptrap unit projected out the amount in big holographic letters. Athena's hands dropped to her side as she leaned forward to stare at the big numbers. Finally...
"I don't want it," she said firmly.
"But...but..." the Claptrap unit turned off the hologram.
"He can keep the money."
"But...he said that you would need the money, to support yourself and that dirty junk-"
Athena grabbed the Claptrap by the arm and hauled him into the air. She pulled out her sword and held the tip up to the Claptrap's oculus.
"Sorry! Not dirty! Uh...pretty! Gorgeous! Uh...incomparable?"
Athena squinted her eyes.
"Do you not know what that means? I'm saying she's incomparable, like a...a...like a..."
She wanted nothing to do with Jack. But that money...
"Tell Jack I'll call him," she said, lowering her sword.
"Oh, excellent!" the Claptrap exclaimed. He glanced down at the ground. "Umm...could you...put me down? If it's not a problem?"
Athena abruptly released her hand and the Claptrap slammed against the ground.
"Ack! My wheel! You broke my wheel!"
"Better start crawling back to Helios, then," Athena replied as she walked off in the direction of home.
The Claptrap groaned something about crazy Vault Hunters as he dug his hands into the ground and pushed himself away.
By the time Athena got back, Janey had fallen asleep on the couch, listening to the radio. It was blasting some weird tune: "I like the size of your mainframe..."
"Egh," Athena muttered as she turned the radio off. She paused to look at Janey. She didn't want to wake the junk dealer up. It looked like Janey had made herself very comfortable: she'd set up a pillow and blanket, though the blanket had mostly rolled off her person.
She placed her shield on the coffee table, picked up the phone, and dialed the number Jack had given her.
"Hello?"
"Jack, it's Athena."
"Oh, hey! Lance Assassin and former Hyperion-hired bounty hunter! Okay, soldier, before we start the formalities...why'd you have to break that Claptrap? You know that's my job!"
"I don't appreciate it when someone calls my girlfriend 'dirty.'"
Jack paused. "Yeah, I can see that. Well, I killed him already if that makes you feel any better. Then again, I like to kill all my Claptraps."
"How's Nisha?" Athena continued. It seemed like the proper thing to ask.
"Oh, she's amazing! Dynamite in the sack, I gotta say! You know, I was wondering, how do those moon natives perform in-?"
"Shut it."
"...Fair enough. She's working this job, too, you know! She'll be so happy to hear you're coming along! And Wilhelm, too! And Timothy, and Aurelia, they-"
"Hold on a second," Athena interrupted. "I haven't said 'yes' yet."
"Oh. Uh, well, I can understand if you don't want to do this." He muttered to himself, "After all, you did call me an 'obsessed monster' or something."
"I haven't said 'no,' either."
"Oh! Indecisive, huh? Alright, what's your game?"
"What is the job?" Athena asked slowly.
Handsome Jack let out a laugh. It was a sort of disturbing one, actually, coming from the man who ruthlessly killed Gladstone. "Athena, dear, Atlas-brainwashed Athena...when money is on the line, do you really care what the job is?"
Athena looked at Janey. The junk dealer from the moon had drooled a little in her slumber.
"No," Athena said finally. "I don't."
"Just what I thought. If it makes you feel any better, it's fairly simple. Your girlfriend will never have to know."
"Just one more thing," Athena said. "How long will this take?"
"Well, it's...8:30 now, I want to get this started at 10:00, so...You'll be back home by the morning."
Athena took a deep breath. "Alright, Jack. I'll do it. But once we're done here, I want nothing to do with your work. I just want to live a normal life on Pandora."
"Hah, you said 'normal' and 'Pandora' in the same sentence. But I promise, this is my last job for you."
"Good."
"Alright, perfect! Take a Fast Travel station up to Helios when you're ready, I'll meet you on Deck 13 1/2!"
"See you then," Athena replied. "Wait, did you just say-?"
But Jack had hung up.
Athena pulled the hood over her head. Hopefully, she could get through this without Janey ever finding out.
It was a long-shot. She didn't even know if she would survive this mission. But generally, the odds were in her favor.
She was on her way to the door when Janey snorted in her sleep.
Athena looked back at the junk dealer. It didn't feel right, leaving her in the night doing something she'd sworn off. But the less she knew, the better.
Her blanket had rolled off the couch completely. Athena slung one of her guns onto her back, walked over to the couch, and gently placed the blanket over Janey once more.
The junk dealer shifted in her sleep, and let out a long, peaceful sigh.
Athena watched her for a moment, quietly riddled with guilt. Finally, she leaned in and kissed Janey on the cheek.
"I'll be back in the morning," she whispered. She paused. "And I'll bring coffee."
"Sorry," the teenager who had bumped into Athena muttered.
"Hold it."
The girl stopped. She turned sweetly to the former Lance Assassin. "What's the matter?"
Athena raised her sword. "Drop it."
The thief bit her lip. Finally, she rolled her eyes and handed Athena the laser gun she had snatched off the gladiator's back.
"Did you really think you could get the drop on an Atlas-trained assassin?" Athena asked.
"I thought I had good odds," the girl shrugged.
Athena raised her gun. "Let's test those odds, shall we?"
The thief raised her hands in the air quickly. "Don't shoot! I won't bother you again! I'm unarmed, see?"
Athena squinted her eyes. Finally, she lowered her gun.
The thief let out a sigh of relief as she lowered her hands. She frowned as she looked at Aspis. "What's that?"
Athena was about to respond when another one, younger than the thief, dashed out from the shadows and grabbed the older one by the collar.
"Okay, Fiona, we're gonna leave now!" the other one said in a purposely loud voice.
Fiona didn't answer. She seemed almost hypnotized by Athena's shield.
"Fiona!"
"Okay, geez, Sasha!" The two girls scurried off into the darkness.
Athena shook her head. On Pandora, you didn't have to be insane to be a thief. You just had to be stupid enough to steal.
She turned to the Fast Travel station. This was going to be a long night.