"We're not friends anymore, are we?"
That was the thought running through Gaige's head as she came out of The Fridge, over the Highlands, retook Overlook from Jack. The same thought as she infiltrated Opportunity, killed Jack's body double, took on the murdering CEO's voice and overtook the BNK3R before she came to Control Core Angel and saw the truth. She fought her way through endless Gun Loaders and ION Loaders, Badass and WAR Loaders, only to take down Angel's Eridium injectors. She felt a tug on her heart as she heard Angel call her father an asshole before she slipped into death. Then it had all gone to hell. Roland was killed, Lilith taken by Jack and the Crimson Raiders weren't sure they'd be able to end the war with Hyperion.
Now, two months later after fighting Professor Nakiyama, becoming the #1 Badass on Pandora by way of Torgue's Tournament and other assorted feats, Gaige found herself sitting in the remains of Control Core Angel, her back against one of the pillars that had held the poor girl captive.
"We're not friends anymore, are we?"
"Of course we were," Gaige sighed, drawing her knees up and looking down. "We were still friends, Angel. I just wish I'd have been able to save you and keep you alive. You didn't deserve what he did to you..."
She stayed sitting on the floor for what felt like hours, remembering a lot of Angel's words from the first moment she took the ECHO from Claptrap in Windshear Waste. She sighed, wiping her eyes and shaking her head. "You got hurt because of Jack. I wish I could have had my dad meet you. I think he would have liked you," she said. "We could have taken you all over the Galaxy to have fun. Eden-6 and their planet-wide carnivals. Oh, that would have been fun. Or even playing Bunkers and Badasses with Tina. Well...maybe not with Tina. I hope you're in a better place, Angel."
As Gaige got up, she dusted her legs off, weeks worth of dust falling around her and back onto the ground. She too the Vault Symbol pendant off of her belt and laid it on the floor in the containment unit, smiling softly. "THe Vault's treasures were nothing compared to having a friend like you," she said, walking out and pulling the heavy door closed with her mechanical arm. "That was the real treasure. I can find Captain Blade's Treasure of the Sands, loot a million chests and get as much money as I can carry, but that's nothing compared to being a good friend."
Gaige walked out, tapping the elevator button and heading for the surface. After trading a white-rarity pistol she didn't want into the Guns Vendor and getting a couple hundred dollars, she turned and walked down the rocky path, tapping the Fast Travel Station and headed for Sanctuary where Lilith had told her that Brick and Mordecai had captured Athena, a former Vault Hunter who had been living in Hollow Point for a few years after an event on Elpis. She disappeared into the light, hoping that Angel's soul was finally at rest.
