More Than a Vault Hunter, Chapter 1 – One Hell of a Party

A/N: Hello everyone. I know it's been a while since I uploaded anything, and that this sequel is pretty late in coming, but I have been little distracted with my personal novel. I've stepped up the amount of content per chapter, because I'm on holidays, so each chapter will be pretty big, as well as a few days apart. As big as I can get it at least, so as to help me get better at writing, and give you, the reader, the best experience possible from this story.

This is a sequel to my previous Fan Fiction, 'The First', so if you haven't read that I recommend that you do. There are lots of important things in that story you will need to know to understand a lot of things in this story. Simply head over to my profile, and check it out from there.

Please review and all that jazz. Any support is greatly appreciated. :)

Read on.

(OR stands for Operations Room, and DT stands for Deathtrap)

I stood next to Angel among the rest of the Vault Hunters as we looked out over the crowd. We had returned from the Vault of the Warrior only a few minutes ago, and already the people of Sanctuary were cheering for our victory and the death of Jack. Lilith stood at the front of the group, and the masses quietened at the raise of her hand. They had respected her as much as Roland, and had no trouble with accepting the new leadership. Besides, she was the most experienced leader of us all, and would do well in her new position.

"People of Sanctuary, it's done. Jack is dead, his Warrior defeated, and Pandora is finally free!" More cheering broke out among the crowd, but they silenced quickly when she kept speaking. "But even though we have won the battle, we aren't finished yet. Hyperion still has too much influence here, bandits still cover the planet in their swarms and we still have a lot of work to do. So I ask you, my friends, now that the worst is behind us, will you help me make Pandora the planet it was meant to be? Will you honour Roland and all our friends who have already given their lives in this war? Stand by me and fight on, Raiders! For Roland and for Pandora!"

The crowd went wild; the soldiers held their fists above their heads, the people clapped and cheered and smiles were on every face as they looked forward to the future that awaited them on Pandora. They weren't fooled into thinking it would be easy, but they were ready and willing to do anything to end this war for good, and finally live in peace.

Lilith smiled and said, "But tonight, we can celebrate. Moxxi told me just before I came up here, that in honour of Jack's death she has decided that all drinks are a dollar all night long. And I have decided that tomorrow will be a day off, so you all can rest and recuperate after a long, bloody, battle. Raider's, dismissed."

The crowd cheered and dispersed in their different directions. Most of them headed straight for Moxxi's, and I knew she would have an interesting time pouring that many drinks that fast. I just hoped someone would bother to help waiter for her. We made our way back into the HQ, and gathered around the holostation. We all looked at Lilith, expecting her to speak to us specifically. We could tell there was something on her mind, but we wouldn't know what if she didn't say anything.

"So guys, I guess that's that, but while they get to celebrate, I have a something pretty quick to say. It won't take long, and then you can all go mingle and get drunk off your faces, but right now I need you to be serious."

Brick raised a hand, and said, "I know what this is about, and before anyone says anything, dibs on hunting the Vaults."

Everyone laughed, and Lilith scoffed, "You can't call dibs on hunting hundreds of Vaults."

"Says you."

"Ugh, whatever. Now, my first point is actually about the Vaults, and the Vault Key. For now, we have to keep the Vaults a secret, and protect the Key as well as we can. We don't know how many Hyperion spies are still among the Raiders, and I would rather not have someone else beat us to it again. The Key will stay here with Tannis, so she can study it and maybe come up with a more efficient way to charge it, so I have don't have to nearly kill myself every damn time we need to use it. Once Hyperion is gone, then we can start calling in new Vault Hunters."

"Now, about cleaning up Pandora. I will be staying here for the most part and co-ordinate our efforts. It would be nice to have Angel stay too, but I know that you will be of much more use out there. I would be too, I suppose, but we can't have everyone running around like maniacs, can we?"

Axton frowned, "We can't? Oh, so then what have we been doing this whole time?"

We laughed a little, then Lilith kept talking, "Brick, considering you want it so bad, you could go off and find the other Vaults. Not that it would do you much good, considering you won't have a key. So really, you'll have stay here with the rest of us. Maybe you could try to get your slabs to clean up their act, yeah? You know, so we don't have to kill them all."

Brick just grunted, and nodded slightly.

Lilith continued, "The rest of you will be doing what we normally do, fighting your way through the hordes till there's nothing left but mush and bullet casings. We can organise our first moves later, so for now, go out and enjoy yourselves. You have earned it, all of you."

We began to make our way downstairs, but as I got to the door, Lilith called out to me. Angel turned back and gave me a quizzical look, but I just waved her away and went back into the OR. I looked around and saw that Lilith had already sat down in one of the chairs, and motioned me to sit across from her. I relaxed back into the chair, feeling the aches and pains in my muscles from the final fight. We had barely had time to relax, and I took the opportunity to sit for a minute quite eagerly. Not to mention, my clothes were still pretty torn up and bloody. My dark T-shirt had rips and holes everywhere from shrapnel and bullets, and my jeans were the same. Some of the blood stains were mine, but mostly from all the Hyperion engineers that had gotten a little to close. Luckily I didn't have to worry about any wounds, because, as a Siren I could heal myself by drawing on Phase energy.

With a sigh of contentment I collapsed in the chair and asked, "So what's up Lil? Have a special mission for me, do you?"

"Yes Fletch, I do. I wasn't sure who I wanted to give this one to, but after seeing how you handled Jack and the Warrior, I'm pretty sure you're the right choice. I want you to find the other Sirens. We are going to need them, and I don't think anywhere would be safer than with us. So, I'm going to let you have as much authority as you need, as many resources as you need and all the time I can give you to find them, and get them safely to Pandora, and to us."

I was surprised. I thought she was going to tell me to focus on taking out a specific faction or base somewhere on the planet. Not go scouting around the six galaxies, looking for two completely separate people, who I had no idea how to find. I barely even knew that much about the world in general, how did Lilith expect me too-

"Angel will be going with you."

My brain stopped in its tracks. Angel would be coming with me around the universe, on a quest to find the only other two members of the Siren race not yet on Pandora. I could live with a mission like that. "Well, that makes a bit more sense. But still, just the two of us, practically kids travelling the universe alone with no back up and no way to get any. Are you sure we can't take anyone else? Someone who can help us not stand out in the crowd?"

Lilith sighed, and thought for a few seconds before replying, "I suppose I could spare one other person. One, and only one. You don't have to choose now, but when you tell me who you picked make sure you've really thought long and hard about it. Ok?"

I had already eliminated a few of the other Vault Hunters, and I knew it wouldn't take long to reach a final decision. However, I would still go over my choice plenty of times, so I could defend myself properly if Lilith disagreed. Which I could swear she would do, no matter who I picked. "That's better than nothing, I suppose. I'll get back to you soon with my choice. What about transport? We aren't talking about little Moonbase trips anymore."

Lilith grinned, "Fast travel isn't just for moving around on a single planet, you know. I have thought about Angel's hacking and I reckon she could hook you up to the interplanetary network pretty easily. I doubt you would even need fake passes, she could just activate or deactivate old ones at will, then erase data and cover your tracks."

"Any idea where we should start looking?"

Lilith shook her head, "Not really. But I'd say the places closest to home are a good bet. It's no secret that the corporations snd probably the whole universe, have been watching very carefully to see just what happens here on Pandora. And like Maya and I, Sirens seem to be drawn here. As well as the commotion about Pandora and the Vaults, there is so much about this planet that is Siren friendly. You probably felt the way the energy changed as you got further away from Pandora on your trip to the Moonbase."

I nodded, thoughtful of her words. Pandora was a one of a kind place. Eridium, a major source of Phase energy, was found in almost limitless amounts here on Pandora. Not to mention that the Vaults and all the Eridian ruins had been built by and used the same energy that Sirens did. It was pretty obvious that whoever had been here before us, had control of Phase and all the mysteries that Eridium held. Pandora had a lot of potential and a lot of power that only Sirens would be able to harness.

I also knew that Lilith wanted me to find the other Sirens for their own safety. Once the corporations found out what Sirens under the effects of Eridium are capable of, there would be no telling how far they would go to capture one. Lilith, and any Vault Hunter would do anything possible to stop that kind of power falling into the wrong hands again. Hence the mission she was sending Angel and I out to complete.

Speaking of Angel, "So, why didn't you have Angel stay behind and tell her all this too?"

"I thought I'd let her go party with the others. She deserves to not have to be distracted from her fun. She did kill her only known relative an hour ago, who just also happened to be her father. She deserves a worry free night."

I frowned, "What about me? I don't get a 'worry free night' of my own?"

Lilith tilted her head, and smiled a little, "I may have only just met you Fletcher, but I can already tell what kind of guy you are. No matter what night it is, you would be mulling over some problem. So I thought I would let you mull over one that actually matters. Now come on. The others are waiting, and I don't like to hold things up."

We made our way over to Moxxi's, passing multiple people on the street. The radios were all on full volume, and the bass from the music at the bar was shaking the city itself. We saw Claptrap in the middle of a group, wheel rolling back and forth and his robotic arms gesturing wildly. Then, with what seemed to be a final exclamation, he rolled back a little too far and fell over on the gutter. The crowd around him burst out laughing and dispersed again, obviously uninterested in whatever he had been saying. As we walked past, I leant down and pulled him up from the ground.

"Thanks, minion! You really do-" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Lilith behind me. He immediately turned and rolled the other way as fast as his little wheel would take him.

I turned to her, with an eyebrow raised, "What was that all about?"

She gave a sly smile, "Little bastard got a little too confident one night. Tried to hump my leg." She shuddered, but chuckled a little too, "That was the last time he ever came within twenty metres of me willingly."

We laughed together, and stepped up into Moxxi's. Apparently, we were just in time to see Salvador on the bar, a glass of Rakk ale in one hand and an imaginary microphone in the other. He was bellowing out some sort of song, but unfortunately it was in Spanish and no one had any idea what the hell he was saying. Even so, the whole room was humming and clapping along happily nonetheless. Smiles lit the room like suns, and the air smelled of beer, sweat, and pizza. It was going to be a long night.

I looked around for somewhere to sit and spotted Axton, Maya and Angel at a table over near the back of the bar. Leaving Lilith to talk with one of the lieutenants, I began to make my way across to their table. As I got about half way through the room however, I saw Scooter standing at the main entrance. When our eyes met, he motioned me outside. As curiosity began to unfurl itself in my mind, I followed him out into the night air.

He had gone left and was standing not far from the door, looking around anxiously as if he was afraid of being caught. I walked over and stood next to him, looking around to see if I could spot anything unusual, "Yes, Scooter?"

He smiled at me nervously and looked over his shoulder for the fourteenth time in almost as many seconds, "So you're Fletcher, yeah?"

I didn't say anything. There was no need to answer. At least, I hoped not.

He turned back to me, and said, "Ah, so, do you happen to know much about Gaige?"

Gaige? Why would Scooter want to know about- Oh. So that's why he was going to so much secrecy.

"I know a bit about her, Scooter. And before you ask anything more, no I do not think it's a good idea to go talk to her. She wouldn't even look at you twice much less go out with you."

His eyes snapped onto mine in anger, and he was about to utter a probably ineligible retort before I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I am totally kidding, man. What's up?"

The anger faded from his eyes, to be replaced with the same anxious look as before. "Well, I was looking for her before, you know? To see if she would help me design some new weapons and drive systems for the runners and technicals tomorrow. But when I found her…." He trailed off, eyes stopping their mad flickering and settling to stare wide eyed at the ground.

Despite my earlier joking, I was starting to get a little worried now. What had Scooter seen to shake him up so much? From what the others had told me, he had never broken down like this before. Not even in New Haven. "Scooter, what did you see?"

His eyes came back to mine and he took a deep breath, before letting it out in a rush as he said; "She was missing an arm."

I frowned, "Ah Scooter, you know that she can remove her bionic arm whenever she wants right?"

He shook his head vigorously, "I know that. I probably get her smartness better than any of y'all, but it wasn't her bionic arm that was missing, it was her other human one. And she was bleeding, and there was sparks, and I saw Deathtrap lying on the floor, bits missing, and she had this look in her eyes man. In her eyes. It was like she was in some other world, where she wasn't bleeding out from a missing arm, and was just working on her robot like any other day."

Okay, so maybe he did have some reason to be shaken up. But not this bad. "Scooter, are you drunk?"

He burped, and nodded, "Yeah, a little. Why?"

I relaxed a little; it probably wasn't as bad as he made out to be. "Go back to Moxxi's and get another drink, but first, where was Gaige when you saw her last?"

He pointed toward the other side of town, "At Zed's. He wasn't there though, no one except her. Everyone else is either here at Moxxi's or in the streets."

"Alright, I'll take care of it. Head on back to Moxxi's now." He moved to go, but I stopped him again, "And tell Angel to come as fast as she can if she gets my call, okay?"

He frowned, but nodded and made his way back up the steps. I turned and started walking quickly in the direction of Zed's. No need to run and draw unnecessary attention, even though it probably wouldn't matter anyway, considering how conspicuous I would look in any crowd. Siren tattoos, distinctive clothing and dark brown hair a little on the long side left a fair bit to be desired in the 'I am hard to notice' column.

Luckily, I reached Zed's place without incident. This side of town was practically deserted; the only other person I could see was one of the Raiders on watch up on the rooftops. I put my ear up to Zed's door, and drew in some Phase to boost my hearing. Barely breathing, I listened carefully for any sounds or vibrations on the other side. I could hear the regular in and out of Gaige breathing, and a humming from some sort of machinery. I waited until the humming stopped before opening the door and looking into the room.

Deathtrap lay deactivated on the floor and several bits of armour had been removed, revealing the complex machinery and electronics beneath. There was a small, neat pile of tools lying next to the massive robot; a spanner, soldering iron and a coil of solder itself, a circuit board, and surprisingly, Gaige's hammer. She usually always kept it on her belt. I wonder what would make her leave it on the ground like that.

When I looked up at where Gaige was standing over a desk, working on something with some tool I didn't recognise, I realised that Scooter had been right. She only had one arm, and it wasn't her robotic one that was missing this time. There was a rough bandage over her right shoulder to staunch the bleeding, and yet she didn't seem distracted by the pain at all. It was about time I found out just what she was up to before she did something she might regret later.

I knocked on the open door, and she looked over at me. "Oh, hey Fletcher! I didn't hear you open the door. If you're coming in, close it behind you. The breeze might mess up my work."

I stepped in and shut the door behind me. Sliding carefully around Deathtrap's dissected form, I made my way over to the desk. Standing on Gaiges's left, I finally got to see what she had been working on. I also tried really hard to not wonder what she had done with her old arm. "Gaige, what are you doing now?"

She laughed, "Oh, don't give me that tone. I'm making some self-improvements. You know how it takes me a really really long time to recharge Deathtrap? Yeah? Well, I have a solution."

I looked over the desk, and it hit me. "You're building a second digistruct rod, and like last time you're making it into an arm. Smart girl. But you didn't think of just putting two rods in the one arm?"

She smiled, and motioned to the nearly completed arm that lay on the desk before us, "You know how to jump to conclusions, at least. Yes, I am building a second spawning rod for DT, so that now I can have him out all the time!"

I frowned, "Don't you mean, have two different units out at different times, but they nearly overlap so that it's like having one Deathtrap?"

She pouted, "You're taking all the fun out of it. But... yes, that's essentially what I mean. Get this though, smarty pants. If I was only creating a second rod on its own without further modification, that would be right. However, I have done much more than that." She waved her arm toward the deactivated DT, and said, "I have linked his charge systems wirelessly to both rods, so that now, while one is charging, the other is powering DT, then when the other has finished charging, they swap. So in effect, DT will be able to remain in the battle indefinitely."

Smart, and probably unbelievably tricky. "Fair enough. I have to say though, Scooter saw you when you were opening up DT and thought you had gone insane. He sent me over here to see if you were okay. He won't admit it, but it was probably to make sure you didn't go on some madness fuelled rampage."

She laughed in her crazy way and wiped her face with a cloth. I remembered then that she was actually older than me, even though I was taller. It was hard to see this nutcase Mechromancer as anything more than a teenage girl with a big robot protector, but when you got to know her she had an inner strength of purpose that not many were gifted with. A prime example of this was cutting off your own arm just to make your robot that much better than it already was.

"Well you can go tell Mr Scooter that I'm not planning any rampages quite yet. However if he continues to spy on me as he has been ever since I showed up here, I will be forced to send Deathtrap at him. It will not be pleasant."

I laughed, and she got back to work on the arm. The hand of the unfinished limb sat over to the side, the metal digits hanging limp from the joints. I picked it up carefully and admired the careful workmanship that had gone into its creation. The joints moved smoothly, and with the same resistance and stretch as real human fingers. Though I am sure they could take a lot more pressure than human ones before they sustained any damage.

"Do you have the same sense of touch through these as you did through your… old hands?"

Without looking up from her soldering, she nodded and said, "I do. In fact, it's about a third better at detecting vibrations and textures. Which is why I have also decided upon another add on that I think you and the others will approve of. I know I do. Just give me another quarter hou, and I'll show you and the others when I come to the party. But for now you can hurry up and get back to your girl, who I am sure is missing your company." She looked up from the desk, and grinned, "Better hurry, before Scooter or God forbid, Claptrap tries to make a move."

I laughed, but made my way over to the door, "Sound advice. I'll see you soon Gaige."

"See ya, Fletch."

Making my way back through town to Moxxi's, my smile grew with every step. Jack was dead, the Warrior defeated, and it was a night of celebration. Not to mention that everyone would end up drunk as hell. As I walked in through the main entrance, I saw that Axton, Maya and Angel were still where I had left them. Making my way through the crowded room, I reached the table and sat down next to Angel.

She smiled at me and wrapped an arm around my waist, "There you are. I was just beginning to wonder whether or not I needed to come and save your ass. You know, again."

I scoffed, "Please, like I would need saving. If anyone needs saving right now, it would be Maya. Stuck here with only you and Axton for company. It must have been hell."

Maya smiled, "Sure was. But I'm not sure this is any better."

We laughed, and Moxxi came over with a tray of drinks. She handed them out, and said, "On the house for the Vault Hunter's tonight. You sweeties enjoy yourselves."

"Thanks Moxxi," Axton took a swig from his beer, and said, "So, how about it hey? It's done. The Warrior is dead, and I must say you two probably had the most to do with that. Seriously, your one of the best pairs I've ever seen. And I don't just mean on the battlefield." Angel blushed, and hugged me tighter. Axton chuckled lightly, and motioned to my drink, "Go on, give it a swig. You'll like it."

I picked up the bottle, and checked the alcohol content. 14% per volume. Well, I was planning on getting hammered, but maybe not that fast.

Screw it, I thought, and took a mouthful of the beverage. It tasted okay at first, but when I swallowed, it burned and smarted in my throat. I struggled not to cough and splutter, and set the drink down with a grimace.

Axton smiled and took another sip from his own drink, "Don't worry, it grows on you."

I glanced at the bottle again, and said, "That's what I'm afraid of."

Zero came over from the bar, and I moved across to let him sit. He usually moved with a steady, calculated grace, but at the moment he seemed more normal. Which I suppose meant he had been hitting the booze too.

"So my friends, I have decided to screw the Haiku for a while. It became just a little too much strain near the end there, and now that I have finally beaten one of the biggest challenges in the universe, I think it's time for a change. So goodbye Haiku." He seemed committed to it, though it was always hard to tell if Zero was joking or dead serious.

Maya raised an eyebrow, "But you're still not going to show us your face are you?"

Zero simply put a :P emoticon on his visor, before saying, "No. And don't pester me about it or I will go back to Haiku, and they'll be so convoluted you will never understand a word I say."

Maya just raised her hands in surrender as a smile played on her lips. Zero ignored her, and said, "I did come over here for a reason, however. Have any of you seen Gaige?"

I nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"Oh, no reason," He said, "Lilith is just trying to keep tabs on us, and was getting a little worried, apparently."

"Ah, in that case, tell her she'll be back in ten minutes or so, and that she had a surprise for us."

Zero nodded and got up, "I'll be back," He said as he left and wandered over to the bar.

Angel smiled and when he was out of earshot, said, "No he won't. He's going to go find Lilith then spend the next hour trying to impress her."

We all stared at her in shock. How could she know what he was going to do, and how could she think that Zero was interested in Lilith?

Angel read the looks on our faces, and just shrugged, "That guy has a butt load of implants and cybernetic upgrades. The impulses are pretty easy to interpret. Before you ask, no, I can't tell you what his past is, because if I did, he would know, and he would try his absolute hardest to kill me. Then I would have to kill him, and I don't want to do that."

We all looked at her like she was crazy, but she shrugged again and had some more of her drink. I just shook my head and looked around at the rest of the room. Zeo and Lilith? It wasn't possible. Besides, Lilith still needed time to get over Roland. I knew Angel had learned a lot of secrets over the years, but I doubted she could predict exactly how this one would turn out. I wondered just what kind of scandals she could remember from when she…. Yeah, I don't think I'll ask her about those.

We chatted about unimportant matters for a while, as we watched the party go on around us. Getting wilder and wilder as the night grew older and older. I checked the time on my ECHO and saw that Gaige should have turned up a while ago. I decided to let it go; she would come when she was ready.

In the time gap, I let myself think about who to bring with Angel and I when we went on our mission. I had already eliminated Salvador, Axton, Maya, and Mordecai, as they would be needed here, and I didn't want to separate Axton and Maya either. That left Zero, Brick, and Gaige. I simply needed to mull over the different characteristics of each of them, and decide from there. Shouldn't take long, but it took more thought than I had the time to give it right now. Plus the alcohol wasn't helping.

I turned my attention back to the others in time to catch the end of Maya's sentence. She seemed to be explaining her life from before Pandora to Axton. "So after I blew that self-righteous bastards brains out, I grabbed the next shuttle here. On the way, I was contacted by someone who told me they knew about Sirens and gave me instructions to board a particular train. And from there, well you know the story as well as I do."

Axton nodded, "That I do. I gotta say though, while your story is pretty good, it's nowhere near as awesome as Gaige's. I mean, that bitch Marcie got what she deserved in my opinion. Goes to show that abusing your power can and will get you in deep shit. Especially when you're using it to better someone like Gaige."

Angel smirked and said, "More specifically, something like Deathtrap, owned by someone like Gaige."

I looked over Maya's shoulder, and saw the subject herself coming up the steps to the bar. Deathtrap was shadowing her, and I guessed that the dual rod mechanism must have worked. But more surprising, and what really drew the room's attention, was that she no longer appeared to have a mechanised arm. Considering I knew that both of them were now mechanised, I was doubly impressed at her work. I assumed she had built two small holoprojectors into each arm, so as to produce the appearance of regular flesh and bone.

The whole room stopped and stared. Everyone here knew that Gaige had a bionic arm, but only a few of them had seen DT up close. So the combined effect of the fear of DT and the pleasant surprise of seeing Gaige as, normal, had stunned the room dead quiet. I was the first to do anything. Standing from my seat and walking over to her, I reached out intentionally with my left hand. She grinned, and we shook. Her hand felt like any other, so I assumed there was more to the ilusion than I had first predicted.

The room burst back into life, with everyone crowding around us, questions heavy on their lips and awe in their eyes as they admired DT. The rest of the Vault Hunters pushed through the crowd, and greeted Gaige with much the same questions as everyone else. The general gist of the room was how the hell did she do it?

Gaige touched a spot on her left arm and DT moved in front of her, clearing a path to the bar. Everyone, still crowded around her, continued with the questions. Except Angel and I. Angel would be able to tell exactly what Gaige had done pretty easily, and Gaige had told me herself earlier. So we didn't speak, and just waited for her to say something on her own time.

The volume of the room was growing and it was nearly impossible to think straight. Moxxi was waiting behind the bar and when Gaige got near, she reached under the bench top and pulled up her old megaphone from the Underdome. Handing it to her, she winked and patted the top of the bar. Gaige climbed up and switched on the megaphone.

I was the closest to her, and covered my ears for the rather loud command I could tell was coming. Angel did the same and I could even feel her fiddling with the megaphones electronics with her power, making it clearer and louder.

Gaige looked around, grinned, and then yelled into the megaphone.

"SHUT UP!"

The room went dead quiet.

Her smile grew even more, and I heard her mumble, "I've always wanted to do that," before she addressed the crowd before her.

This time, in a much more peaceful voice, she said, "For the last thirty seconds, I have been hearing a bazillion questions, all very loud and very annoying. A bit like me, really. Kidding guys. In answer, to them, no, I have not cloned another arm and transplanted it with my old one. I'm not Zed, and he had nothing to do with this. I have simply planted a holographic projector in it to make it look like I did. Also, because I am so awesome, I replaced my old arm with another mechanized one. Look." She pressed a spot on her left arm again, and the holoprojectors shut off, revealing two near identical robotic limbs. Her left had multiple buttons on the forearm cover plate, obviously to control the arms functions, and Deathtrap too.

"This is good for two main reasons. Firstly, I am now able to have my wonderful friend here out for an unrestricted amount of time, and I am also now ridiculously strong. Not to mention, they look like regular old arms most of the time, so no one will be able to tell the difference. Don't say it, I already know. I am the greatest engineer alive."

Someone cried out from the crowd, "Well duh! Why do you think we've put up with you for so long?"

Everyone laughed, and Gaige said into the megaphone, "You're lucky I can't tell who said that, because they would be in some deep shit."

She jumped down from the bench, and handed the megaphone back to Moxxi, who put it back under the bar. Gaige looked around at us, her eyes bright and her smile happy. She tapped the controls on her arm, which looked like a regular old skin again, and Deathtrap digitised.

From there, we celebrated and partied like everyone else already was. Looking back on it, the whole thing is just one big blur of craziness and drinking. But, I had at least accomplished something important that night. I knew who would be coming with Angel and I on our mission. With that care behind me, I simply enjoyed myself.

It had been one hell of a party.

A/N: So there's chapter one, and I hope you enjoyed it. Long, right? I'm planning on having them all long, but maybe not quite this large. Yes, Fletcher and Angel and, you guessed it, Gaige, are going to be heading out on their own into the borderlands universe. But that doesn't mean I'm abandoning writing about the others. There will be POV switches coming up, so we can keep up with the others back on Pandora.

I should be updating every two or three days, so keep an eye out. Or you could just hit that good old follow button, or if you're really awesome, the favourite button too. Either of those and you'll know as soon as I upload!

Thanks for reading, please review, and next chapter up soon!