Author's note:This story is a continuation of the fic Nothing is Never an Option by GleefulHeretic who claims that this story is only on hiatus but has not updated for several years, which has compelled me to finish it. You will need to read the first part from the previously mentioned account to understand this because I can't do a recap worth a damn. If you have any suggestions or whatever PM me or leave a comment (although I doubt anyone will actually read this, but losers can hope right?) and keep in mind this is my first fic so please, constructive criticism instead of just tearing me a new asshole. Enjoy!

_

Story begins about five minutes before the end of chapter four when Janey goes into the kitchen to "clean up"

_

Keep it together Springs.

The water running from her kitchen tap was not nearly cold enough as she repeatedly splashed her face.Stupid water.

But Athena said she was coming back.

She splashed more water on her face.

She needed to keep it together.

This whole Athena-returning thing could be shot to hell if she pulls another move like she did with Athena's scarf. Janey had intentionally left it out of Athena's other clothing as to create an intimate moment between the two. But when Athena had held out her hand, Janey just walked right up and put the garmet on Athena herself. In those brief moments she nearly lost control. She could just see it all.

Janey walks tward Athena, scarf in hand, but in the moment they are close enough to one another Janey grabs Athena, pinning her to the wall of her apartment. "I need you", she whispers into the armor-clad woman's ear. "I need you so desperatly that if you leave here and I stay, it will be the end of me". The gladiator stares into her eyes, pulls her closer, and whispers "then come with me", adding a level of innuendo that would make Moxxi blush.

Janey splashed her face again and willed away her naughty thoughts. Stupid vagina. Did it not know what would happen if Athena rejected her? The universe would basically implode.

But then she remembered the kiss they kind-of shared the night before, and her resolve evaporated into the air. The way Athena looked at her, Janey was amazed that she ever fell asleep. She sighed, ending it in a short rasberry, knowing what she had to do and steeling herself in the single breath. In the end, she needed to come clean with Athena, she needed to tell her exactly what she felt, lay her cards on the table, and hope for the best. If she said no, well this universe had a long enough life. And if she said yes...

Janey splashed her face again.

She took a deep breath, wiped her face, and strode proudly into her living room. Athena was there, standing by the door holding something Janey couldn't see, mumbling to herself incoherently, although Janey could make out the words "sorry" and "Jess" being used more than once. If Janey had to guess, she would say that Athena was having a panic attack. "Athena" Janey said, slowly coming up behind her, "you alright?". Janey peered over the shorter woman's shoulder to see what she was holding, instantly recognizing the item and mentally facepalming herself for owning it.

It was a millitary issue helmet with built in thermal sensors, which Janey had been planning to sell for some time but hadn't found a buyer. She had never realized, until now, that it was an Atlas helmet, probably built for one of the assassin units they employed. Assassin units that Athena used to be a part of.

"Hello? 'Thena, you in there?" she asked, trying to hide the worry from her voice with varying degrees of success. Athena's breathing became more shallow and Janey thought she may have been hyperventilating but she wasn't sure. She wasn't exactly a doctor. If she was, she would've known how to save Stephanie when the Kraggons-. She shook her head and forced herself to stay in the moment. She put a hand on the gladiator's shoulder and said her name again, this time the fear for the shorter woman was rather apparent.

The next moment was a blur. Athena let out an earsplitting scream, almost as if she had been uttering a battlecry or had been shot, then spun around and collided her fist into Janey's jaw. There was a sickening crack, and for a moment Janey felt as if she was floating, but once the floor hit her, the pain came. It shot into her jaw, to her brain, and back to her jaw again, both causing and silencing a scream of her own. She cupped the side of her jaw and slowly rolled over onto her back. She could feel tears welling in her eyes but refused to let them fall. She looked into Athena's eyes, a thousand thoughts racing through her head but refusing to speak because she thought her jaw might just snap off, instead attempting to put all of her pain and all of her confusion and all of her fear into a single gaze.

Athena's features softened from thier snarl, then morphed into a look of pure terror. She took a step back, visibally recoiling from the act she had just comitted. Genuine fear, like that of a child in a hurricane, coated her entire being. "Janey... I-I'm..." Athena uttered. She's going to run, Janey thought, and for some reason, she felt compelled to try to stop her. The junker leaned forward, still on her bum, and reached a hand out to try and get ahold of Athena, or to elicite some positive reaction. This seemed to have the reverse of it's intended effect however, because when Janey did this, a single tear fell down her cheek.

Athena gasped as if the wind had been knocked out of her and her eyes grew to the size of saucepans. "I'm sorry" the gladiator let out a strangled sob on the last syllable, then bolted for the exit. Janey stood up and went to follow her crying her name as she crossed the doorway into the hall. As soon as she did however, an electric jolt of pain shot into her jaw, causing her to fall to the floor.

There, in the hallway of her apartment, with the door to her home wide open, watching her love run from her, cradling what was at the minimum a dislocated jaw, Janey wept. She wept for the first time scince her beloved Stephanie had died, losing her only way of escape in the process to Deadlift, nearly a year ago.

She wept for her loves, those gone and those going, for her pain, for her embarrasment, and for her loss. Janey Springs, the ultimate optimist, the shining smile in a black hole, the "scrapper with a smile", wept like a small child lost in the supermarket.

She wept alone

A/N : Ta-da! don't worry, this will end on a happy note, or else i'd ball my eyes out. please rewiew and if you want to be a beta reader, PM me and ill learn how to make you that! Please remember i am using this on my mobile so i am cursed by its limitations. andsorry about the shortness, the rest will be longer.