Mordecai and Stella

by Scarlet Thorne

***SPOILERS FROM BORDERLANDS 2*** Shortly after Borderlands 2 ends, a grieving Mordecai meets his match in the sweet Stella.

It was almost sundown when Mordecai finally left his room. His friends were worried about him, because since Bloodwing died, he hadn't been himself.

All of Sanctuary's citizens avoided his gaze as he made his way toward Moxxxi's. The bar was run by his ex-girlfriend of the same name, but thankfully, besides the nightly argument they had when it was time to cut off his Ale, they got along okay.

He slid himself into the booth in the far corner, unsurprised that Brick wasn't there yet; he was known for his crude language and his almost embarrassing tardiness. They'd known each other for a very long time, and Mordecai couldn't even remember the last time that his best friend had been on time.
Almost an hour later, he sipped on his ale and laughed to himself as Brick finally stomped in through the double doors.

"Over here, you big son of a bitch. I was wondering if you'd forgotten our longstanding arrangement. It's not like it would be the first time."

"Yeah, well sometimes there are more important things to do than babysit your melodramatic ass." Brick pulled up a chair and plopped down into it, knowing full and well that he wouldn't fit into the booth. Oversized muscles made up the entire top-half of his body, making his size a popular joke among the other vault hunters.

"And what might those be? You only have a few other friends, and they'll all be popping in here by the end of the night." Mordecai scowled as he drank the rest of his beer. With an impatient arm wave, he signaled to Moxxi that he needed another. She looked directly at him before pretending to be preoccupied with a dish-rag.

"I was on my way back to Sanctuary when I found the largest skag I've ever seen in the nearby valley. I mean, it was absolutely massive! Even for me!"

"Wow. You need to get laid if a skag could entertain you like this."

"Don't you worry about my sex life, my puny little friend." Brick used his hands and tongue to issue a vulgar hand gesture, and they both laughed aloud as Moxxi finally approached their table with several mugs of Rakk Ale. She placed them onto the table and sauntered away without even acknowledging Mordecai. He knew that she disapproved of his drinking habits, but he disapproved of her screwing everyone with a Y chromosome, so in the end they were even.

"But seriously, it's been quiet around here since Jack kicked the bucket, and I think a hunt would put some pep in your step." Brick took a long swig of his beer, hoping that Mordecai would take the bait.

"Why? What would it accomplish? I'd rather sit here, drown my liver in an obscene amount of alcohol, and then crawl my way back to my room."

"You mean, like you do every night?" Moxxi tossed her dishrag onto the bar before traipsing towards their booth. "You sit in here every night, doing the same thing, drinking the same thing, with the same people."

"Exactly. Why fix something that ain't broken?"

"What he's saying is, he's scared." Lilith walked in before taking a seat at the bar. She was singlehandedly commanding the Crimson Raiders since her boyfriend, Roland, died in battle against Handsome Jack. She had taken an incredible hit when she lost him, but like any good general, she was too strong and too proud to show weakness in front of her troops. Lilith smirked, knowing exactly what Brick was doing and that her words would spark him into action.

"Scared? Are you kidding me? I could probably take that thing right now! And let me tell you," he smirked before chugging the rest of his drink. "I'm drunk." As an afterthought, he let out a loud belch, sending Brick into fits of laughter.

"Then do it." Moxxi glared at him over the bar.

There was a beat of silence.

"Fine. I'll do it. And when I win, Moxxxi gives me an entire case of Rakk Ale."

"Fine, sugar. But if you lose, you stay sober for an entire month. I mean, not a drop of alcohol in your system." Moxxi batted her eyelashes at him. "Deal?"
He had a moment of hesitation, but before it could grab hold of him, he physically shook it away.

"Deal."

"Was it really necessary for the entire gang to come and watch?"

Shortly after Moxxi and Mordecai shook hands and sealed the deal, Maya, Zer0 and Salvadore had found their way into the bar. It had only taken a single phone call and Axton was ready to meet them as well.

The group stood in the center of the valley, allowing for Mordecai to get ready. He would rather hug a Stalker than admit it, but he was a little nervous. He hadn't been in a real hunt since Bloodwing died, and while at one point he had been the best sniper this side of the galaxy, he didn't feel that great about his abilities without his avian sidekick.

But he'd get Hell if he let his friends see that.

"Yes. It is." Maya shot Mordecai a dirty look. "We're all worried about you. I wouldn't want to hunt with you in the state you're in. And since you're always in this state, it would make me feel better if you could prove to me that you can hit something besides the bottom of whatever bottle you're downing."

"You make it sound like I have a drinking problem."

"You do." Each person in the group shouted it at the same time.

"Well, you'll see. You'll all see." Pulling out his favorite sniper rifle, he headed towards some tall grass. Brick came with, but the rest of his friends piled themselves on the myriad of broken down runners near the Catch-A-Ride station.

"I saw it over there. It was a Badass Fire Skag, with flames on its head about the size of my arm!"

"Yeah, well let's get this over with." Mordecai flipped open the scope on his rifle and scanned the field they were in. Besides a few bullymongs that were meandering in the far corner, he could see a small camp set up in the distance. "Who would be dumb enough to camp out here? Do you think those are bandits?"

"I'm not sure… Wait, there it is! That skag is sleeping over by that camp!"

Kneeling down in the tall grass, he peered through the scope, and sure enough, there was a sleeping skag that was easily twice the size of a Marcus's van alongside of the tent.

He scanned the surrounding area, making sure that it was alone, and that was when he saw her.

A short and curvy woman with a knapsack strapped to her back was walking towards the camp from across the field. She had long curly dirty-blonde hair that was swept up into a ponytail with a black bandana over her head. She wore a baggy white wife-beater tank top over a pair of dark gray cargo pants. She was covered in mud and dirt, as if she'd been scrounging around in the dirt all day.

She was the most beautiful thing that Mordecai had ever seen.

And she was walking directly into harm's way.

Without thinking, Mordecai swung his gun over his shoulder and took off running in her direction. Swiftly and silently, he made his way through the field, aware that all of his friends were watching him, but unable to keep himself from protecting this girl.

He was about ten feet away from her when she noticed him, but by then, it was too late. He leapt toward her and tackled her; in mid-air, he flipped them over so that he would take the brunt of the impact.

He felt her delectable curves flush against him before he realized the pain of his gun digging into his back.

Pathetic.

"What the Hell are you doing?!" She was quick to push herself off of him, but he refused to let her go.

"Shh! You'll wake it up!" He finally allowed some distance between them when he rolled her onto the soft grass. "There's a badass skag sleeping in your camp, and-"

She broke out into loud, uncontrolled laughter.

"Woman, are you crazy? You'll wake it up!" He leaned over her and covered her mouth with his hand. "Now you sit here, quietly, and I'll go-"

She laughed even harder.

Before he could even feel slighted by her obvious expression of his inadequacy, he heard the rumbling growl.

The skag had woken up, and it looked angry.

Standing almost two feet taller than Brick, this skag had red-hot flames shooting from every inch of his body. He was by far the largest that Mordecai had ever seen, but he wasn't afraid; instead, he had every inclination of killing this thing, simply to prove that he could to the pretty blonde laying alongside him.
Rolling into a kneeling position, he swung his gun from his shoulder and lowered his sights on the fiery monster before him. His finger was on the trigger, and he was a split second from ending its life when she screamed.

"No!" Throwing herself in front of the skag, the blonde girl almost took a bullet to the face; at the last second, Mordecai was able to pull the gun up, shooting clear into the sky instead.

"You must be batshit crazy, lady! I could have killed you!"

"Henry was just protecting me. You have no right to kill him because you-"

"Wait, rewind. Henry?" The Ale was still strong in his system, because he could have sworn this girl had named this thing…

"He's mine." Turning to face the monster, she ran her hands directly over the flames from his neck. She sustained no burns, and instead, the flames began to fade away until it looked like any other skag. It rubbed its head against her palm, almost like a housecat.

"I don't understand… How come you aren't getting third degree burns?"

"It's all just a defense mechanism. When fire skags feel threatened, these pores in their skin open, allowing oxygen into these small sac-like pouches just under the surface. They also emit a flammable gas from glands that-"

"Whoa, what are you? Some kind of scientist?"

With a smile, she added, "My name is Stella. I'm a field biologist."

Of course she was. She grinned at him like it was a good thing.

The last time he encountered a biologist was at Hyperion's Wildlife Exploitation Preserve when Bloodwing died. In his books, scientists were evil.

He felt like he was going to be sick.

Of course, since his friends had been watching him from their perch at the Catch-A-Ride station, once they'd seen that he wasn't going to be hunting that skag tonight, they made their way through the field. Introductions had been made, and of course Lilith, ever the hostess, had invited Stella back to Sanctuary.
About an hour later, the entire group was settled at Moxxxi's, listening to stories about how Stella got to the highlands. Mordecai had been wrangled into staying by Maya (who was incredibly strong for such a petite woman), and even though he wanted desperately to hate Stella, he was hanging on to every word she said.
Apparently, she had been a biologist at the Hyperion Wildlife Preservation Center when it first opened; unaware of its true intentions, she had been hired right out of college as a director of research in the badass wing. There, she had met Henry and several other badasses, becoming attached to the test subjects and the research that she had been doing.

When Jack had taken control of the Hyperion Corporation, the entire center changed, even to the point of being renamed the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve; it had gone from a small research center to an incredibly large and corrupt laboratory. The animals were treated poorly, and often killed if they did not yield the results that were expected.

One day, a particularly cruel researcher had been studying Henry when the electric prods came out. Stella watched as Henry reacted poorly to the treatment, and in turn, he tore the researcher limb from limb. Knowing that her favorite subject would be put to death, she released all of the subjects directly under her care and ran.

They all escaped, but only because most of the security personnel were occupied with the arrival of a high priority new test subject: Bloodwing.
Mordecai quickly stood from his seat.

"That's it, I'm going back to my room." Without another word, he stormed from the bar.

"Don't mind him… Bloodwing was his." Lilith muttered softly; she of all people was aware how suffocating the grief could feel sometimes.

"Wait, what?" Stella sank back against her seat. How was that even possible? She'd remembered the many notes on Bloodwing, and the owner had been an incredibly dangerous mass murderer. He had supposedly slaughtered millions of civilians, but this man had thrown himself into harm's way to protect her…

"Bloodwing saved all of our lives more times than I could count. He wasn't just a bird to Mordecai; it was his best friend too." Brick sipped at his ale, his usual lightheartedness gone.

Stella could understand that; Henry was more to her than just a pet to her too. He kept her company and kept her warm on those chilly nights at camp. He had even protected her that night that those bandits had attempted to ransack her tent.

If someone had taken Henry and killed him like they had killed Bloodwing, she wasn't sure what she would have done.

The energy at the table was palpable. It was silent for a moment, and no one knew quite what to say.

Eventually, Maya whispered something into Axton's ear, and Brick made fun of them for flirting, and the entire table lightened up a bit. Shortly thereafter, Lilith phased Stella back to her camp with the promise of a visit tomorrow afternoon.

As Stella settled into her sleeping bag, she couldn't stop thinking about the day's events or her new friends. There was something niggling at the back of her mind, but she just couldn't make sense of it.

Snuggling up against a snoring Henry, she drifted off to sleep with Mordecai on her mind.

"So, are you gonna do her?" Brick heaved his dart at the wall, causing it to bounce off the edge of the board and land on the floor a few feet away.

"Wait, what?" Mordecai choked on his water. (Yep, Moxxi was sticking to the bet and not giving him any alcohol at all. He was not pleased.)

"Stella. Are you gonna do her?"

"Why would I do her?" Fiddling with the darts in his hands, he kept his face blank as he looked at Brick.

"I don't know. You jumped her pretty quick that first day, and you've been absolutely hostile almost every other time I've mentioned her." Brick whipped his last dart at the board, growing increasingly irritated with the game as he missed the board entirely.

"I jumped her that day to save her life from that ridiculous skag that is practically attached at her hip. And I am not being hostile, Amigo." Taking a deep breath, he focused on his target and threw the darts in quick succession. The first two darts sailed into Bull's eye, but the last one swung left, just missing a perfect throw by a mere centimeter.

Brick stared openmouthed at the board. "You missed."

Mordecai felt heat burning on his cheeks and was grateful for his disheveled goatee that kept his blushing cheeks from view.

"Oh shut up. I barely missed."

"But you never miss! You get a Bull's eye every goddamn time!" Brick grinned as he dropped into his chair, which almost buckled under his weight. "Damn… This girl must really be under your skin."

"She's not under my skin! I don't give two shits about her." Gulping his water and wishing it were any bit stronger, he slowly sank into the booth.

"Fine then. I'm gonna make my move."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. If you aren't going to do anything, you can bet your ass that I am. She's got a body like a pin-up girl, even if she hides it under all of those layers." With a dazed look on his face, he added, "Hell, sometimes finding the gift underneath is the best part."

Mordecai saw red, but refused to admit it. He nodded softly and occupied himself with watching the two Crimson Raiders that had taken over their abandoned game of darts.

Suddenly, he heard the bar go silent (which was quite an accomplishment in a bar filled with soldiers, bandits and just all around low-lives). Turning his attention to the double doors, he saw Maya and Lilith standing with Stella. But while Stella usually took his breath away, tonight she damn near knocked him on his ass.

Instead of her usual grubby tank tops and cargo pants, she wore a red halter top over a black short skirt with knee-high black stiletto boots. The top was made of a stretchy material that accentuated every curve she possessed, while the black skirt was seemingly thin and flirty, merely hinting at the treasures that it concealed. Her long curly hair cascaded over her shoulders before landing at her stomach, only emphasizing the generous cleavage that she normally kept hidden.

The entire get-up just made him even madder. But before he could stand up and walk out, Brick stood directly in front of his only exit; there was no way he could subtly make an escape with that buffoon standing in his way.

The girls made their way to the booth behind them, and it was only then that he realized that Lilith and Maya were dressed up too. Normally, the pair was dressed as the warriors that they were, but tonight, they looked genuinely girly.

Blatantly ignoring the conversation that Brick seemed hell-bent on getting in on, he pulled his switchblade out of his pocket, flipped it open and shut, and waited for the rest of their makeshift gang to make an appearance; he knew that if Maya was around, then Axton wouldn't be too far away. She had that poor boy on an invisible choke chain.

Naturally, Axton, Zer0 and Salvador made their way into the bar, each looking a little worse for wear. They'd spent the past few days scoping out information on Jack's new protégé, and what plans that he might have for Hyperion.

Mordecai floated in and out of the conversation, mostly involved in his own tempestuous thoughts. Stella had been in their lives for a few weeks now, and at the rate they were going, it looked as if she was inserting herself into his group of friends very neatly; he wasn't exactly sure why that bothered him.
Whenever he was sure that she wasn't looking, he found himself gazing at her. There was something incredibly visceral in his attraction to her; it wasn't simply because she was an attractive woman, because he spent more than enough time with Maya or Lilith, both of which could stop traffic if they truly wanted to. So what was it about this girl that made him lose his mind so badly? She made him feel like the poor, angry kid that he'd been as an orphan on Artemis; never good enough for anyone or anything. No matter how skilled he was, he was always made out to feel incompetent. This girl was smart, strong and incredibly gorgeous, and while she was nice enough now, all he saw when he looked at her was the laughter falling from her lips during his pathetic attempt at a rescue.

"Don't worry, sugar. Mordecai is stone-cold sober; he'll walk you back to your room." Moxxi laughed when his head shot up.

"Oh, really. He doesn't have to do that." Stella's words slurred together, and it was only then that Mordecai realized that she was trashed.

"It's not a problem."

"No, please. Don't worry about it. I can just, um-"

"Get ready, though. We're leaving soon." She continued to argue with him, but he turned to Lilith instead. "Is she staying here? Or should I take her all the way back to her camp?"

"There's a vacant room over by Marcus's shop; I figure she's spending enough time in town that she might as well get a place to crash. I was gonna have her break down her camp before having her move in, but it's already furnished, so she should be okay for tonight." Lilith helped Mordecai get Stella to her feet (made even more difficult by the incredibly high heels she was wearing).

They walked in silence, rounding the corner towards the town center, until she snapped.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" He stopped walking as they passed Crazy Earl's shop and turned to her.

"I don't know; whatever it is that I did to make you hate me." She turned to look at him with an incredibly vulnerable look on her face.

He didn't know what to say. Stumbling over his words, he said, "I don't hate you. Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, it could be that you turn all sulky whenever I'm around." She kicked a beer can that was sitting in the street. "And don't even deny it. You laugh and joke with everyone until you realize that I'm there, and all of a sudden you're quiet and distant."

Mordecai was struck speechless. He didn't know how to convey the words to her without looking like a complete chump, but he tried anyway. "Listen, Stella, I'm just going through some stuff right now. A few months ago, I lost one of my best friends and my bird; I'm dealing with it the best way I know how."

"You're dealing with it by it by freezing out anyone that you don't know that well, and pushing away everyone that you already do!" Stumbling, she braced herself on a nearby post. With a deep breath, she added, "You know what? Forget it. It's none of my business."

Mordecai couldn't help but smile to himself, knowing that she was too busy trying to maintain her balance than notice him. "You're an incredibly nosy woman."

"And you're an incredibly discriminating bastard."

He grabbed her elbow as she reached the top of the stairs. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Discriminating?"

"Yeah, discriminating. You're discriminating against me because I'm a scientist. You compare me in your mind to those people who killed Bloodwing, rather than get to know me. Because I promise you, Mordecai, if you had bothered to get to know me, you would know that I would never do that to a single animal, let alone one that belonged to a friend."

He looked at her, closer now than he had been since he'd tackled her that first night, and he had the strong urge to kiss her. All he'd had to do was lean forward, and…

"Hubba, Hubba!" Claptrap wheeled himself around the corner from Marcus's shop, and stopped directly in front of Stella. "I hear you're a scientist. I'd love to volunteer myself to you; in the name of science, if you know what I mean."

Mordecai ran his free hand over his face. God, give him the serenity to deal with obnoxious robots.

"That's sweet of you, but I'm actually a biologist. I study animals."

"Well, that explains why you're hanging out with Mordecai! Zing!" Claptrap looked at Mordecai's stern expression, before adding softly, "Don't hurt me." Claptrap took off toward the little shack that he had claimed in the far corner of Sanctuary's borders without another look back.

"Sorry, we're not really sure why we keep him around."

She laughed softly, and for once, Mordecai was actually grateful to Claptrap for lightening the mood.

They walked quietly around the corner, but there was none of the previous tension present. When they reached the door to her new apartment, Mordecai took the key from her and unlocked the door for her, since she was still having a hard time standing by herself. She had her hands draped over his shoulder, and he would have been lying if he'd said that it didn't boost his morale a little bit to have her balancing herself on his shoulder rather than the doorframe. With one arm draped low on her back, he guided her to the bedroom. He helped her sit down, and when she stumbled even then, he cursed.

"How did you get this drunk? I would have sworn I'd only see you finish off two of those drinks, and-"

"I'm sorry… I don't drink much. I'm a bit of a lightweight, and I guess I didn't realize how strong they were…" Her little self-depreciating smile softened the edge of his anger. It was a surge to his system, being this attracted to someone so quickly and so strongly.

"Well, uh, yeah. Moxxi uses a heavy hand with her booze. I guess it could kick your ass if you weren't used to it." He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly aware of how small the room was, and how close they both were to the bed. Clearing his throat, he turned away. "Do you need anything else? I think Lilith said that they would help you get your stuff tomorrow. You know, if you're not too wrecked from the booze. I could-"

When he turned back to her on the bed, she had lifted up her foot onto the mattress to unzip her boots; the position gave him an uninterrupted view as she unveiled inch by creamy inch of her legs. She slowly pulled the zipper down to her ankle before tossing the boot ungracefully to the far corner of the room.
Then she swiveled her legs to the other side before starting on the other foot.

Mordecai stood, dumbstruck, watching this incredibly erotic and intimate little show; he wasn't sure if she knew he was watching her, but there was nothing in this world or any other that would have made him stop.

After the remaining boot clunked to the floor, she stretched her arms over her head, arching her back and releasing a soft groan before standing. "I want water." She took a few wobbly steps toward the door, shuffling her cute bare feet, before losing her balance as she stubbed her toe on a broken floorboard. She lost control and tipped forward, directly into Mordecai. His arms automatically wrapped around her, and his hands splayed out on her waist like they had been itching to since that first night. Her warm cheek landed against his neck and he almost blew a gasket. The slight red tinge to her cheeks as she looked up at him in humiliation did him in.

"I, uh, I'm sorry. I guess I should look-"

He kissed her.

His lips met hers in a timid embrace. He told himself that it would be okay if she pushed him away, but he knew that it would crush him if she did. The few seconds of her initial surprise seemed to stretch on forever, but eventually, her lips opened in tentative exploration and he sighed in relief.
Gripping her lower back over her soft red top, he held her as close as humanly possible to his own body, afraid that if he let go, he would wake up and this would all end just like every other dream he'd had since he'd met her.

Her soft lips tasted lightly of ale, but also of something much more potent. Her little pink tongue tangled against his with refreshing inexperience; he had learned to expect a certain air of skill from most women who looked like she did (namely a certain bar-owner ex-girlfriend of his).
His hands ached to creep slightly lower to the ass that he'd been admiring from afar for weeks. He'd always considered himself an ass-man, and hers might just convert him to whatever religion was responsible. Suddenly, Stella laughed softly in the back of her throat. Afraid that he'd done something wrong, he froze, until she reached behind her back, gripped his hands, and lowered them exactly where he'd wanted them.

He groaned against her lips as he allowed his fingers to span the curves of her ass.

There had to be a God, somewhere.

Satisfied with the placement of his hands, he slowly dragged his lips along her jawline to her neck, nibbling and suckling as he went, until he reached his destination just underneath her ear. She arched her back and moaned softly as he tasted her, making it harder and harder for him to not push her down onto the bed and have his way with her.

Just as he was wondering why he didn't do exactly that, his echo recorder went off in his pocket. He considered ignoring it for just a second, before obligation kicked in. They were still in the middle of a war, even if Jack was dead, and he had responsibilities to both the Raiders and his friends that were genuinely a matter of life and death.

Cursing under his breath, he slowly pulled away from her and pulled his echo from his back pocket.

"Mordecai here."

"Hey man, where are you?" Brick's unnecessarily loud voice filled the small apartment. "I'm at your place and you're not answering the door. Are you still mad about the whole Stella thing? If you don't want me to ask her out, then stop being a pussy and do it yourself."

Looking up to make sure that she hadn't heard Brick's remark, he felt his cheeks flush at her barely contained grin.

"Brick, knock it off. I'm just leaving Stella's place now. We stopped at Zed's and got her something for her inevitable hangover tomorrow." Cheeks still burning, he couldn't pull his eyes away from Stella. She was obviously still drunk, but with her hair rumpled and her lips swollen like that, it would take a man much stronger than he to think pure thoughts in her presence.

"Whatever. I wanted to see if you wanted to go with Zer0, Sal and me to Frostburn Canyon. I guess there's some Hyperion bullshit going on there, and Lilith wants some of her best men there. And of course by best men, she means me."

"Nah man, not this time. I'm pretty beat. I think I'm just gonna head home."

For the first time in their friendship, there was silence on Brick's end of the line.

"Are you sure? I mean…"

"Yeah, but hit me up when you get back." Without waiting for a response, he ended the call and turned the entire thing off.

For a while, neither of them said anything, but the energy between them was palpable.

Finally, Stella broke the silence.

"I would have said yes."

"I'm sorry?" His voice was gravelly, and while he knew exactly what she was talking about, but he needed to hear her say the words.

"If you had asked me, um, out. I would have said yes."

"Oh. Well, if you want to maybe get something to eat over at Moxxi's sometime…"

"That sounds great."

It was strange; just a moment ago they were trying to crawl into each other's skin, but now, he felt awkward and clumsy, and he was desperately afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"I'm gonna let you get some rest." Without saying another word, he walked to the sink in the kitchen and rinsed out an empty glass. Filling it with water, he brought it back into the bedroom. She watched him with disappointment.

"Oh, I uh… Don't you want to, um…"

"Don't say it; if you ask me to stay, I won't be strong enough to say no. You're drunk, and while I may be a man that does some bad things, I don't ever want to be a man that takes advantage of that." Taking a deep breath and steeling himself against the incredible attraction between them, he took a step forward and kissed her forehead. "So… I'm going to get you ready for bed. I'm going to kiss you goodnight, and then I'm going to go home, alone." Tipping his head forward, he softly kissed her lips. "Tomorrow, I'll be back to help you break down your camp and set you up here, and then we can talk about where this is going."

"You're much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Mordecai." She smiled.

"If you think that, I must be a much better actor than I give myself credit for." He kissed her again, careful not to let it get out of control.

He helped her get into bed before letting himself out onto the street. As he let himself into his own little apartment near the Raiders' Headquarters, he found himself smiling for the first time in months without the help of alcohol.

Stella woke up the next morning with a pounding in her head and a smile on her lips.

She'd been crushing on Mordecai since he first "saved" her from Henry, and she couldn't believe that last night had actually happened… Normally, she knew to pace herself with alcohol, but she'd been so nervous in his presence that all of her normal well-mannered behaviors went forgotten. To be honest, she still couldn't believe that Lilith and Maya had talked her into dressing up like that in the first place, under the guise of a "Girls Night". Of course, as soon as she realized that Girls Night was going to be at Moxxxi's there had been some red flags, but she'd seen Mordecai looking at her with something softer than his usual stoic anger and her backbone flew out the window.

Reaching for the glass of water on the table that Mordecai had gotten for her before he left, she took a small sip before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Since she hadn't had anything to change into, she'd just slept in her clothes, and while it wasn't exactly the most modest outfit, it was comfortable.
Afraid of walking barefoot in this long-abandoned house, she shot a disdained look at the high-heeled boots lying in a heap across the room. Unfortunately, walking in those boots required a sense of coordination that she just didn't have this morning.

Before she could bring herself to put on the dreaded boots, there was a soft knock at the door. She shielded her eyes as the door swung open before she could reach it. Maya and Lilith strolled into the kitchen as if they owned the place (which, in Lilith's case, she kind of did), tossing a dark green bag at on the table near Stella.

"We brought you some clothes, since it would suck trekking back to your camp in those shoes and that skirt." Maya laughed. "They should fit, since you're roughly Lilith's size anyway."

"What do you mean I'm roughly Lilith's size? I wore her skirt and top last night, and it was at least two sizes too small!"

Pulling out a chair at the table, Maya laughed out loud. "Oh come on. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Adventure, I can do. Another girl's night with you two? I doubt I'd survive it." Stella grinned. She would never admit it, but she was grateful to Maya and Lilith for forcing her to dress that way. If they hadn't, she may have never needed Mordecai to walk her home… Either way, she smiled innocently before grabbing the knapsack and trekking to what she believed to be the bathroom. "Lilith, you better take this skirt back before I burn it."

Stella was ecstatic to find a comfortable pair of cargo pants and a black tank top with a pair of old black Raider boots, and of course, her favorite black bandanna, which she had left at Lilith's last night. Once she was dressed, she turned to the mirror, and for the first time without the goading of her newfound girlfriends outside, she started to primp. She had gone without her black bandanna last night only due the many threats of force from Lilith. Pulling her hair into pig tails, she put her bandanna on her head in typical do-rag style and teased her pigtails like usual to give her hair more volume, to keep from that pesky school-girl look she usually got with pigtails.

Once she was satisfied with how she looked, she stepped out of the bathroom and stopped in her tracks.

Lilith and Maya were gone, and Mordecai leaned against the table with his hands in his pockets and his eyes directed at her.
Oh God. He was so ruggedly handsome. Just looking at him, she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach that were zipping around as if they'd been drinking Moxxi's attempt at coffee. And when he looked at her, she felt like the most beautiful girl in the world… She felt good enough.

Growing up, she'd been a pampered daughter of a Baron on another planet. She was the youngest of three girls, and always a disappointment to her father and stepmother. Both of her older sisters were dainty and innately knew how to behave. Stella, on the other hand, was constantly playing in the dirt, failed all her classes on etiquette and was simply never good enough for her father. When she graduated from her all girl's high school and told her father that she wanted to go to school to be a biologist, he announced that she wasn't going to college, but she was going to marry some wealthy businessman of his choosing.
She ran away that night, traveling to the furthest planet she could run to with the small amount of money she was able to bring with her. Stella put herself through school working as a waitress and renting a single room from a kindhearted old man that lived near her campus.

Several years later, when she heard the news that her father passed away, she wept. She wept because the father she had never gave her the love she needed, and because she had never been able to give him the daughter that he wanted her to be.

Never once had she felt pretty enough, or good enough; when Mordecai looked at her, she simply did.

"Lilith and Maya were pretty quick to step out of here." Mordecai dragged her attention back to the present, before clearing his throat. "Did you, um, tell them about last night…?"

"What? No, I promise, I know that they're you're friends, and I wouldn't want to-"

"Because that would be okay." Mordecai pulled his hands from his pants pockets and stepped toward her.

Stella stood directly in front of him, feeling so nervous she could pass out.

Mordecai reached forward and slid his hands into hers. "Maybe today, we tell them about us."

Gulping, and hoping that he meant what she wanted him to mean, she asked, "And what is there to tell them?"

"That you're my girl." Mordecai grinned nervously. "That is, I mean, if you-"

With more force than she meant to, she leaned forward and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him.

He reacted vigorously, wrapping his arms around her waist and turned them until he was able to perch her on the table. Stepping between her legs, he kissed her hard, and he lost all semblance of sanity when she moaned softly. His hands roamed her body, sliding underneath her tank top, memorizing every inch of her skin, knowing that eventually-

"You owe me $50, Z."

Pulling away from each other like teenagers caught with their pants down, they turned to find Brick and Zer0 standing just inside the front door.
Zer0 sullenly pulled a couple bills from a pouch on his belt before handing it to Brick.

"What the Hell, man?" Mordecai turned, standing in front of Stella in a strangely territorial stance.

"Sorry to cockblock you, Cai, but we just ran into Lilith and Maya on the way to Moxxi's, and they said you would be here." Brick smirked. "We're headed to Moxxxi's before breaking down Stella's camp. Why don't you take a few minutes to, um, calm down, and we'll see you there."

Laughing, Brick and Zer0 turned and walked in the direction of Moxxxi's.

Mordecai turned to look at Stella, relieved to see her softly laughing.

"Your friends are idiots. But I love it." Stella wrapped her arms around Mordecai, before softly kissing him again.

Well aware that they were walking a dangerous road, Mordecai kissed her back for a moment before stepping back. "We should probably get going, girlie."
Taking a step toward the door, he turned, and smiling nervously, he reached his hand toward her. With a smile, she tentatively accepted his hand.

They walked to Moxxi's hand in hand.

Mordecai knew that his friends had been worried about him since Bloodwing died. While he would never admit it, he was a bit worried about himself for a while. But now he wasn't. With this amazing girl on his arm, he felt like he could face anything, including the onslaught of sexual innuendos and good-natured ribbing he was about to get from his friends.

It was almost 10am, and not only was Mordecai out and about for the first time in months, but he was grinning ear to ear.

He might just be okay.

Two weeks later, Mordecai walked into Moxxi's and sat at the bar.

It was only about 4 o'clock, so he knew that his friends weren't here yet, but he was supposed to meet Stella here for dinner. Of course, he had been so anxious to see her after she'd been on a mission with Maya and Sal all day that he'd gotten here a smidge early.

"Well, it's been a month. Eager to get your hands back on that Rakk Ale?" Roxxi gave him a dirty look as she cleaned down the bar.

"Actually, I'll have two of those iced teas that Stella likes."

Roxxi froze. "Wait, you realize it's been a month, right? You can drink again."

"Nah, I'm good. Stella is gonna be here in a bit."

Roxxi looked at him, really looked at him, and saw that he was doing so much better. God, for the first time since she'd known him, he looked happy. While it bit her butt to admit that he never looked that happy with her, she was genuinely happy to see that he was no longer miserable because of that damn bird. Whether or not he knew it, he'd had a death wish before. This Stella girl, even though she dressed like a man and smelled like that Skag she spent so much time with, was giving Mordecai something to live for.

"Well, I never thought I'd live to see the day." Roxxi grabbed two glasses and poured the iced teas. "Did she ask you to stop drinking?"

"No, I just don't think I need it as much anymore." Mordecai was obviously a bit embarrassed by the conversation.

"That's, well, admirable." After serving his drinks, Moxxi went back to cleaning the bar. She refused to admit how much it hurt, knowing that this pathetic excuse for a girl had been able to get him to stop drinking without asking, while Moxxi had fought with him over every single drink, and he'd never given it up for her.

"Moxxi, listen, I-" Before Mordecai could offer up any type of excuse, there was a commotion at the entrance. The first thing he saw when he turned was Stella, leading their small crowd of friends into the bar.

Goddamn, she was every bit as gorgeous as he remembered.

While the rest of their crowd filed into their usual two booths, Mordecai grabbed her hand and pulled her out toward the side entrance. Satisfied they had some semblance of privacy, he turned her, leaned her against the wall and kissed her like he hadn't seen her in years.

After Stella's knees were officially weak, she grinned. "And what was that for?"

"I missed you." Mordecai leaned his forehead against hers.

"Maya, Sal and I have only been down at that Varkid farm for about six hours…"

"I know, but that meant that I wasn't able to do this…" He kissed her again, sliding his hands into her hair and nibbling her lip. "What do you say we skip dinner and go back to my place? I can cook some pretty good thresher steaks for us… After I show you just how much I missed you…"

"Mordecai…" Stella pushed him back just a few inches, catching her breath at the look on his face. "Um, Okay… Let me just get my bag from the table…"

"No. I'm your boyfriend. Let me get it." He gave her a small peck on the lips. "Wait here."

Bounding back into Moxxxi's, he made his way to the booths.

"Hey guys, Stella's not feeling well, so I'm going to walk her home." Mordecai tried to look like the concerned boyfriend, but all he could think about was getting Stella's blonde tresses sprawled out on his pillowcase…

"Oh I'm sure. And let me guess, you're going to stay with her and nurse her back to health, right, buddy?" Brick laughed.

"Hey, I'm just going to-"

"Yeah, loverboy, we don't want any details." Lilith handed Stella's bag to Mordecai, before glaring at Brick and effectively silencing whatever crude remark he was going to make.

Mordecai left his laughing friends at their booths before stopping at the bar. Pulling a ten out of his pocket, he laid it on the bar for Moxxi. She was helping another customer, and effectively avoiding him, but he saw her looking at him from the corner of her eyes. He waved, before putting another ten in the tip jar.

As Mordecai walked to meet Stella, he wondered why Moxxi was acting this way all of a sudden. She had her pick of any guy on Pandora, and hell, most of the time she took it. Yeah, they dated a bit way back in the day, but now, looking back at it, their relationship was incredibly destructive, based on sex, alcohol and violence. It was nothing like what he had with Stella.

As he rounded the corner, he saw her. God… After everything she had been through since landing on Pandora, she still had that light in her expression. She seemed so innocent and so fucking pretty that she just made his gut hurt.

"Did you get my bag?"

"Mhm. Now, for my payment…" Wrapping his arm around her waist, he scooped her against him for a kiss.

She giggled, and he felt his heart pound. Slowly, they walked hand in hand, taking the long way from Moxxi's to his apartment. He saw the funny looks he was getting from all the guys around Sanctuary. He had been more angry and sullen than any of the guys on this little rock of a town, and the idea that he was now grinning like a lovesick teenager must have made him quite the spectacle. He didn't care. Let them look. He knew that if everyone felt the way he did right now, there would be no wars or bloody battles. Hell, there would probably be orgies in the streets, but that was another matter entirely.

Once they got to Mordecai's little hole in the wall apartment, he escorted her inside. He set her bag on the little side table near the door. This little apartment had been fully furnished when he'd gotten it, and even though he'd been living here for about five-ish months, he didn't think he'd moved anything or brought anything of his own, save a few weapons. Actually, now that he was looking around, he realized that he didn't have anything inside this little ramshackle apartment that made it his, besides the pile of garbage near the garbage can and the pile of dirty dishes in the sink.

He wasn't sure why, but that thought made him a little sad.

Stella made her way to the couch and timidly sat down in the center, watching him the entire time.

"Do you want to watch some TV or something?"

"Um, sure." Grabbing the remote, he sat next to her on the couch, touching her as much as humanly possible in the process, earning another giggle from her.

Damn, he could survive on those little giggles alone.

It was hard to find something to watch on the little TV, since the reception wasn't the greatest when they were miles in the freaking sky, but eventually he found a couple old reruns on TV. Leaning against the armrest of the couch, he wrapped his arms around her and settled her between his legs, laying against his chest. She was small enough that she fit perfectly against him. The thought wasn't lost on him.

After a few minutes of pretending to watch some silly antics of a random sitcom couple, she turned her head just slightly, and gently kissed him at the corner of his lips.

"You are incredibly sweet for a big, bad, vault hunter, you know that?"

Her smile melted him inside.

"Oh, that's because I'm waiting to show you my bad side until I have you in my thrall." His fingers subconsciously played with her hair.

"Don't you know, Mordecai? I'm already in your thrall."

Slowly, he leaned forward, connecting their lips. He was so afraid of ruining this moment, of pushing her too far…

He knew that she wasn't as experienced as him when it came to sex. She'd told him how she had only been with one other guy, some guy named Ben that she knew from her time at Hyperion. He, on the other hand, had been with more than his share of Pandoran women: women like Moxxi, who liked to use sex as a weapon, or women like himself, who were too angry to actually enjoy it.

But this was different. He had no shortage of hormones rampaging through his body declaring he take her immediately, but this time, he would wait. This was more important. She was more important.

Of course, while he was trying his best to keep this calm and sweet, she was trying with all of her might to climb into his skin. She kissed him with a ferocity that he hadn't known from her before. It was incredibly hot.

"Mordecai, I-"

"I know, baby. We'll take it slow. I'm in no hurry…"

"Um, that's not what I was going to say…"

Pulling a short distance from her, he looked into her eyes, and what he found there struck him in his core.

"I was going to say, um, why don't we take this into your room?" She blushed, and goddamn it brought a shock to his system.

"Baby, it's okay. Don't push on my account-" Stella softly placed a finger to his lip.

"I'm not. I'm pushing on mine."

Slowly standing up, she reached for his hand and led him to the door on the other side of the room. She didn't have to pull hard; he would go wherever the hell she wanted him to. He was completely entranced by her.

Opening the door, she nervously took a few steps inside.

The bedroom wasn't much to write home about. There was a queen-sized bed along the far wall, a small wardrobe where he kept his clothes, and a larger wardrobe where he kept his weapons. Along the same wall as the entrance was a door that led to the simple bathroom.

But damn, it was so much more beautiful with her in it.

Still holding his hand, she turned to face him and walked deeper into the room. Standing at the foot of the bed, she smiled at him. Taking a deep breath, she reached to his face and removed his glasses.

Mordecai, afraid to move, afraid to breathe, stood completely still. He let her remove his glasses before slowly unzipping his vest. She tentatively reached to remove his hip holster that held his pistol, before pulling her hand back. He saw that she was too nervous, so he did that for her before laying it on the chair.

She had to step on her tiptoes to remove his bandanna, but he let her struggle through it, since it brought her closer to him, and, knowing she couldn't see him, he inhaled her scent. Somehow, on this godforsaken planet that is filled with grime and smog, she still smelled like a fucking goddess.

Once she ran out of the little things to remove from him, she stalled. Afraid she would lose her nerve, Mordecai pulled his t-shirt over his head. He let her take in the scars and bruises that marred his torso, and his breath caught when he felt her fingertips as they gently grazed over more than one of them.

Mordecai was incredibly antsy, and incredibly hard, but he let her subtle exploration of his body continue. While he normally enjoyed being in control, he let her take the reins while he could. He had nowhere else to be. He had nowhere else he wanted to be.

Stella was scared to death.

She knew that Mordecai would never do anything to hurt her, but she was terrified of doing something wrong. She'd only had one other real relationship with a man, with Ben, and it hadn't exactly been as charged as her relationship with Mordecai. Okay, it hadn't been charged at all. But this was so important, because she was starting to feel as if she was falling in love with Mordecai…

She knew that it was too soon to be able to tell, but God Almighty, he was something else! He cherished her. He treated her like a person, with opinions and knowledge, and then he shot her that cocky half smile, and she just melted…

Biting the bullet, so to speak, she peeled off her tank top. She knew that her bra wasn't anything spectacular (especially not compared to someone like his ex, Moxxi), but judging by his sharp intake of breath, he seemed to be appreciating it.

Too nervous to do it herself, she took his hands and brought them around to her back, placing them on the hook of her bra. It took him only a moment, but when the fabric finally fell away, revealing her breasts to his eyes, he lost his control.

Before she knew it, she fell backwards onto the bed. It didn't take long before he was on her like a rabid thresher. He palmed her breasts and brought them to his lips, lavishing them with attention they weren't used to. Stella tried to stay cool, but when his mouth closed on a nipple, she squeaked. With a wolfish grin, he slowly started to play with her pants buckle, never removing his lips and tongue from her cleavage.

Her whole body felt hot and tingly, and she didn't know what to do with her hands. She gripped the bedspread as he started to drag his mouth to her stomach and belly button. Only then did she realize that he'd gotten her belt buckle open, her zipper was down and he was peeling her cargo pants from her hips.

Clad only in her little gray panties that weren't maintaining her modesty as much as she hoped, she tried to sit up, wanting to touch him as he was touching her. But he wouldn't have it. He gripped her ankles and pulled her towards him, wrapping her legs around his waist and bringing his lips to hers. He gripped her wrists in each hand before bringing them above her head.

He held her that way for a moment, marauding her mouth and making her lose her mind. Before she knew what was happening, he held both of her wrists in his left hand, and his right hand started to wander lower…

She felt the shred of fabric before she heard it. With a flick of his wrist, her panties were torn from her body, the remnants tossed across the room, forgotten before they hit the ground.

"Mordecai, those are my-" She couldn't' finish her thought. He nipped her lip, hard enough to silence her.

She had fought being controlled her entire life. She was a strong, independent woman that had only gotten where she was today because she had the balls to strike out on her own.

But, she was embarrassed to admit, having him take the control like that was an incredible turn on…

With one hand still holding her wrists above her head, he used the other to unbuckle his belt. Unfortunately, removing a belt was a two-handed job. With a groan of frustration, he pushed back onto his heels and used both hands to do it. After what seemed like forever, he wrenched his jeans open and his dick sprung out, harder than he ever remembered it being.

Stella watched the entire thing with wonder, and when he finally released himself, she bit her lip. He was much larger than her last, and only, conquest…

Running a rough hand from base to tip, he watched her. Leaning forward, he kicked his jeans from the bed, before positioning her right where he wanted her. He ran the tip of his dick over her gorgeous pink pussy. Satisfied she was lubricated well enough for him, he placed himself at her entrance.

"Um, Mordecai, it's um, been a while, and I-"

"Shh. It's okay baby. We'll take this as slow as you need." His voice was deep and gravelly, but that could not be avoided.

She said something else to him, but he couldn't focus on her words. Every ounce of his attention was focused on not shoving his entire length into her delicate channel. Her felt flutters as she tightened and relaxed, which felt like butterfly kisses on his dick. Slowly, he worked inch by inch until he was seated firmly inside her, never once taking his eyes from hers.

Finally satisfied he could do so without hurting her, he dropped to his forearms, bringing his lips toward hers. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him even closer to her.

Slowly, he started to push in and out of her. Placing one hand at her bare hip and the other clenched in her hair, he fought to maintain control. He was aware of the guttural sounds he was making, but he was powerless to stop it. Wrapped in her arms, burrowed deep in her little pussy, he came to the realization that he'd been fighting since the moment he met her.

He fucking loved her. Oh, God. He loved everything about her.

He stared into her gorgeous green eyes, and as he increased the pace, he felt her body start to clench. She was going to come, and he knew that the sight of it alone was going to shatter him, let alone the feeling of it on his dick.

He increased his pace a little more, biting her lip, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as he thrust his dick into her body.

When she came, she screamed out, and he lost it. He started thrusting against her with more force than he would have liked to, but at this point, he was unable to stop himself.

He came hard. Harder than he ever remembered.

After gathering the strength to push himself back onto his hands, he saw that she had a single tear on her cheek. He leaned forward and kissed it, before kissing her at her temple.

He couldn't look her in the eye. He had to mentally prepare himself to deal with his revelation, physically gritting his teeth before the words could fall out.

The next morning, Mordecai woke up with a smile on his face. He was happier than he ever remembered being. The sun was shining, he didn't have a massive hangover, and the woman he loved was naked in the bed next to him. Life was good.

He rolled over to Stella, who was laying on her side facing away from him. With slow deliberation, he softly nibbled her ear until he heard a soft moan.

"Again? Jeez, Mordecai. You kept me up half the night, and I'm tired." She grumbled and tried to roll over again, but he was persistent. Kissing her neck right behind her ear, he pressed his morning erection against her back. Feeling encouraged when she arched her back against him, he wrapped his arms around her and-

"Fine!" She rolled onto her back, and laughed. "You're a sneaky bastard, aren't you?"

He just grinned wolfishly as he entered her again.

Mordecai stepped out of the shower an hour later, feeling oddly refreshed considering he'd gotten maybe three hours of sleep in between countless bouts of athletic sex with Stella. While he felt a little sore in some places, if she looked at him sideways, he'd be ready to go again in seconds.

Yeah, he was a lovesick puppy-dog, and he couldn't be happier.

With that thought in mind, he walked, buck-naked into the bedroom, expecting to coax her into another round, but she was gone. The bed was made neatly, as it hadn't been since he'd moved in, and his clothes were folded in a neat pile at the foot of the bed. He was about to open the bedroom door, when he heard a couple clangs of pots and pans in the kitchen and her off-key humming.

Grinning to himself, he turned to get dressed. If he was being honest with himself, he was starving. Besides, he could probably get her back into the bedroom again afterwards…

After throwing on a pair of old jeans, he opened the bedroom door and made his way toward the kitchen. He couldn't hear the clanging or the humming anymore, but he thought he heard her speaking softly. Pausing at the entrance to the kitchen, he leaned against the wall.

Stella was whispering on her echo, and she mustn't have wanted this conversation to be overheard.

"Ben, that is so great. Thank you so much. I cannot tell you how grateful I am… Yes. I will be there at 3pm today. Fantastic! Goodbye." Stella took a deep breath before sliding her echo recorder into the pocket of her jeans.

"Important call?" Mordecai couldn't keep the steely tone from his voice if he wanted to.

"Oh, Mordecai. Uh, that was, um…"

"Ben. I heard." Mordecai felt his heart in his stomach. "This wouldn't happen to be the same Ben you told me about before, would it?"

"What? Oh, uh, yeah. He was my colleague at the Wildlife Preserve. We were old friends."

"Yeah, and then you fucked him."

"Mordecai! You're being crass, and-"

"Did. You. Fuck. Him."

"Yes. We were romantically involved before, but-"

"So apparently you weren't as tired from last night as you said, if you're looking for seconds elsewhere."

"What? No!" Stella stepped toward him, but he put his hand up.

"Get out."

"Mordecai… But I love you…"

His gut clenched. They had never said it to each other before, and as he had just been coming to terms with it himself, it killed him.

"You don't get to say that to me. Not now. Get the fuck out!"

She stared at him for a moment, tears building in her eyes , before she turned, grabbed her bag from the small side table, and quietly let herself out of his dinky apartment.

Mordecai stood, frozen solid, afraid that if he breathed too deeply he would break into tears.

He had only cried once before in his adult life, and that just happened to be months ago, when Bloodwing died. Still, he felt those familiar tremors in his throat.

He should have known. He wasn't good enough for someone to love when he was a kid; why the Hell would that have changed now.

Stella stood at the entrance to the recently re-renamed Hyperion Wildlife Preserve. It felt like she was standing on the precipice of her old life and her new one.

She wiped her eyes again, ashamed to still be crying after this morning's… event. She fixed her hair, which was tied back into a neat braid, just as she used to wear her hair. She wore her only dress suit that she kept when she ran. Patting away some skag hair that had stuck to her, she took a deep breath, and walked into the front lobby.

"Excuse me? I'm looking to speak with Ben Henderson?"

"One moment, Ma'am. And can I ask who is asking?"

"My name is Stella? He should be expecting me."

The receptionist hit a few numbers on a little keypad, and mumbled into her headset. "Ms. Stella? Mr. Henderson will be with you shortly." Without another word, the receptionist continued clicking away at her computer, unwavering smile still plastered on her face.

Stella sat in one of the chairs, fighting back flashbacks of the last time she was a "visitor" to this place. She had been going on a job interview, and had been just as nervous then too. Of course, for completely different reasons, but still.

"Stella! You look incredible!"

Ben walked through the office doors, looking just as smarmy as before. He wore an expensive pinstripe suit, jet black hair that was spiked to perfection, and he shot her a smile that had very obviously gotten work done since the last time she'd seen him.

"Ben! It's been so long!" She pasted a pathetic smile on her face, hoping that it was enough to hide her pain from her old friend.

She needn't have worried though. His eyes barely strayed higher than her shoulders.

"Let's head to my office, where we can, uh, chat." He guided her to the doors, and then down a narrow hallway. His hand rested awkwardly on her lower back, lower than deemed polite, but as much as she wanted to, she knew she was too polite to ask him to move it.

Eventually, he brought them to a large room at the end of the hallway. The walls were sky blue, with inspirational posters framed along the wall. There was a massive black desk directly in the middle, with a set of black couches along the wall.

She walked toward the chairs near his desk, when he reached for her elbow and guided her to the couch. "This will be a little more comfortable. We are old friends, after all."

God, had he been this creepy when they dated? She didn't remember. But maybe he just seemed so much worse now because she had been with Mordecai.

Oh, Mordecai…

Reeling herself away from the thought of him and the damn imminent tears that would follow, she turned back to face Ben as she sat down on the awkward leather couch.

"Do you like the couch? It's patented Stalker leather. Very rare. It has to be made at incredibly freezing temperatures, to prevent it from turning invisible under the stress of the binding process."

"Oh, that's, uh, nice."

Stella sat as close to the arms of the couch as possible, but was unsurprised when he sat as close to her as he could without sitting in her lap.

"So, let's get down to business. Why don't you tell me what brings you here?"

"Well, Ben, I'm interested in getting my job back. I know that I left under questionable circumstances, but-"

"No buts. Don't even worry about that. None of the old higher-ups are even here anymore. I run the place now." Leaning back against the couch, he surreptitiously placed his arm along the back behind her. "I would be thrilled if you took your job back. Honestly, we haven't been able to find anyone to head up the Badass Division that has half of your talent with coaxing them. We've had two deaths in that department within the past week."

"Oh, wow, Uh…"

"You have a gift, Stella. I'm willing to give you a pay raise, of course. With benefits. You'll have final say over everything that happens in that department." He laughed. "Only I could override you." He played with a wisp of hair that had come out of her braid. "And we both know that I could be, persuaded…"

Ben leaned in to kiss her, but she was saved when there was a sound at the intercom.

"Excuse me, Mr. Henderson?"

Ben dropped his hands from her and stood, looking angry.

"Dammit, Jenna! What? What do you want?"

"Mr. Tennyson is here, and he wanted the Billabong Project reports. He said-"

"That is all, thank you."

"But Mr. Henderson-"

"I said that is all, Jenna! Thank you!" Violently pushing the button, he took a deep breath and turned back to Stella.

"I am sorry. I told her that we weren't to be disturbed."

"Oh, that is fine. I understand. Remember, I used to work here." They both laughed, and she knew that his laugh was just as forced as her own.

"Well, I have to get this paperwork ready. Should I get the hiring paperwork ready, as well?"

Stella took a deep breath. "Yes."

"That is fantastic! I can't tell you how great it will be to have a familiar face around here again!"

Interesting statement, considering he still hadn't looked at her face once in this entire conversation…

"Ben? Would it be alright if I took a quick look around? I would love to see some of the changes that have gone on." Stella tried not to sound too eager.

"What? Sure. Of course, because you aren't officially an employee yet, you would need a guide, but I'll arrange it. Why don't you sit down for a moment, and I'll get one of our research interns to take you for a tour." With one last smarmy smile, he sat down at his desk and started typing in his computer. Within minutes, she was effectively forgotten as he started to ridicule a technician named "Schmidt" through his Echo.

Stella picked at her nails, trying to gather courage for what she was about to do. She may not survive this idiotic move, but even if there was a small chance that it would work, she had to do it. She meant what she said when she told Mordecai she loved him. Even if he didn't take her back, she wanted him to be happy, and this was the only way for him to get that.

When a short, chubby man with glasses arrived at the door, she took a deep breath and stood, preparing for the, quite possibly, last moments of her life.

It had been almost 30 hours from his devastating breakup with Stella, and he couldn't bear another second in his apartment. He took a pathetic walk around Sanctuary, which took all of ten minutes, before inevitably going to Moxxxi's.

He slid onto a seat at the bar as Moxxi flirted with a soldier at the other side of the bar. As soon as she saw him, however, she dropped her sultry smile and came over to him.

"I want a Rakk Ale."

"No."

"What the Hell, Mox? I'll pay. You know I'm good for it."

"Where's Stella?"

"Oh, you didn't hear? We're done. She was fucking her ex."

Moxxi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You heard me. We spent an amazing night together, and then I walked in on her talking to that son of a bitch on her Echo in my own fucking kitchen." It hurt to even say the words.

"Wow… I didn't know the Skag-girl had it in her."

Wincing, Mordecai said, "Yeah. So now you know why I need a beer."

"No." Grabbing a glass from under the bar, Moxxi filled it with Stella's favorite iced tea. "Did she say she was messing with him?"

"No, but-"

"And did you hear any sexy talk on the phone?"

"No… But she was making plans with him."

"Sexy plans?"

"Well, I didn't hear that much, Mox. I just-"

"You're making a Hell of a lot of assumptions about a conversation that you didn't hear that much of, Sugar."

Mordecai silently sipped the iced tea, contemplating what she said.

"What did she say when you asked her?" Moxxi looked at him, and when he immediately looked away, she raised her eyebrows. "You're telling me that you didn't even ask her? Sugar, I thought you cared about her!" Moxxi calmed herself, afraid that if she got angry enough, her accent would come through. "Mordecai, I can't believe you're doing this again."

"That's a little different Mox. You actually did cheat on me."

"I never cheated on you."

"What?" Mordecai froze, staring at her incredulously.

"I said, I never cheated on you."

"But you said…"

"No. You were so goddamn sure that I did, that you wouldn't listen to a word I said. Sugar, you were drinking all the time, and by the end of our time together, sometimes you would go days without even talking to me. Of course, you would come home and accuse me of cheating. I never did, not even once. Jack came on to me while you and I were together, but nothing happened until after you and I were done. He was the polar opposite of you; he was charismatic, confident, and more than anything, he paid me attention. It was addicting."

Mordecai was silent. He'd had no idea.

He thought back to their time together; it was a little bit of a blur. He couldn't remember much, except for the constant fighting, and then the humiliation he felt when he heard that she'd gotten over him so quickly.

After a moment, he looked up at Moxxi, and saw that for the first time since he'd known her, she seemed authentic. Her face was still painted with layers of makeup, but there was genuine emotion on it, and not the typical careless mask.

"Moxxi, I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say, but it seemed to be enough.

"I am too. We weren't good together. But let's talk about how you're going to get your girlfriend back." Cocking her hip to the side, Moxxi grinned. If there was one thing that she was good at, it was playing cupid.

"I think I blew it. She was supposed to see that douchebag yesterday at 3pm. If she wasn't screwing him beforehand, she probably is now." Mordecai sipped his iced tea slowly, savoring the taste and smell of it. It reminded him of her.

Suddenly, Lilith phased into the middle of the bar.

"Mordecai!"

"What's going on?"

"It's Stella!" Gripping his wrist, she pulled him up from his bar stool.

"Lil, I don't know if she told you, but-"

"She's hurt!"

"What?!"

"Henry has her just below Sanctuary, but she's hurt, and he's not letting anyone near her. Brick's getting ready to take him apart, but while she's awfully bloody, I know if she survives this, she'd die if anything happened to that thing."

"Take me there."

With a flash, Lilith phased them to the ground below Sanctuary.

Immediately, he saw his friends spread out around a flaming, snarling Henry. He was able to pick out Stella, laying still in a heap on the ground.

Without thinking, he took off, running toward Henry and Stella. He could hear his friends screaming, but nothing was more important than getting Stella the help that she needed.

Henry roared, and while Mordecai stopped, he looked up at the flaming beast, staring him in the eye. Stella once told him that animals could read emotions through your eyes. He looked at Henry, and tried to tell him that he would never, in a million years, hurt Stella, and how much he loved her, and how much his entire existence had become dependent on her wellbeing and happiness.

After what seemed like an eternity, Henry's flames receded and he sank down into a passive stance. Lilith took a step toward them as well, but Henry snarled. Knowing that he was the only one that Henry would let near her, Mordecai leaped toward Stella, terrified that he was too late.

"Baby? Stella, sweetheart? Are you okay? Speak to me!" He brushed her hair from her face. She was wearing what looked like a torn and bloody business suit, and her hair was in a half-hazard braid. She had scratches and bruises along her cheek, but he couldn't focus on any of that. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. She was gripping a small knapsack tightly in her arms, and only when he tried to extricate the bag from her grip did she finally move.

She tightened even more around the bag, but eventually, his soft words broke through the fog of her consciousness. She opened her eyes timidly, looking up at him. "Mordecai?"

"Yes, baby. It's me."

He wrapped her in a hug, holding her as tightly as he would allow himself before Dr. Zed took a look at her. He examined every inch of her face, grateful that she was alive.

"Mordecai, I-"

"I'm so sorry, baby. I know that I overreacted yesterday. I'll stay the fuck away from you if that is what you want. As long as I can take you to Zed and prove to myself that you'll be okay, I'll leave and you'll never see me again. Hell, I'll leave Sanctuary if that's what you want, I'll-"

"Damn it, Mordecai! Shut up!" She was still weak, but her raspy voice finally got through to him. He closed his mouth and looked at her.

"First, I don't want you to go anywhere. This is your home, and your friends. I would never want to take that from you." She glared at him when he opened his mouth to interrupt her, so he quickly shut it again. "Second, I don't want you to stay away…"

He held her in his arms, well aware that they were being watched by all of his friends (and Dr. Zed, who Lilith had phased to the circle as soon as Mordecai had been able to get past Henry).

"Are you saying…" She gently nodded, and every ounce of tension in his body eased away. Without another thought, he kissed her. He kissed her with everything that he was feeling, from how terrified he was for her, to how relieved he was that she didn't hate him, to how much he loved everything about her.

She pushed him away after a moment.

"What?"

"We can get back to that later." She grinned sheepishly. "I have a third thing that I need to tell you…"

"Yeah? And it is more important than us making up after our first major fight?" He waggled his eyebrows.

She laughed softly, wincing when the action caused her bruised ribs to ache. "Yes. It has to do with my reasoning for going yesterday. I need you to know that it had nothing to do with Ben. Nothing happened, and I just… I meant it when I said I loved you."

Mordecai grinned. He was aware that she would be upset if he tried to interrupt her again, so he bit his lip.

"Mordecai, there's something you should know. I remembered something that I had read in a memo before I left. It's about some tests they were doing on Bloodwing…"

He froze.

Before she could finish her statement, there was a squeak from inside the knapsack.

He recognized that squeak.

Without a word, she opened the knapsack. Inside, there was a makeshift nest, with three little birds, identical to Bloodwing when she was a baby, nestled together inside.

"Mordecai, they cloned her before she died. They made more, but these were the only three that survived the difficult birthing process."

He stared at the baby birds, all of which were sleeping soundly, unaware of the action going on around them.

"You risked your life for these… For me?"

No one had ever done anything like this for him. He was used to being someone's afterthought; he had friends, sure, but no one ever went out of their way with his happiness in mind.

"Stella, I… God, I love you."

Their moment was short lived, because within seconds, Zed, Lilith and Maya were running over to phase Stella to Zed's office. After a short but pointless argument on whether or not Mordecai should go with Stella, Lilith phased them all back to Sanctuary.

While Zed worked on patching Stella up and getting her set up on IV fluids, Mordecai held the baby birds on his lap, never letting them out of his sight. The baby birds looked as if they were only days old, and were barely able to keep their heads up. At one point, they woke up and started squawking, but Mordecai found some syringes filled with a dark yellow liquid in a baggie hidden in Stella's knapsack marked "Food". He fed each of the birds, and within moments, they were back to sleep.

Hours passed, and besides periodic updates from Zed, he was in the dark. There was so much that he wanted to tell Stella, but he had to wait to see how she fared after her treatment.

He planned on spending the next few weeks patching her up. He imagined that he would have a very interesting next few weeks playing nursemaid to her and the baby birds, but it was worth it.

Their little family was definitely worth it.

Months later, Moxxi stood at the bar and watched as Mordecai and Stella sat in their own little booth, flirting and stealing kisses, oblivious to the world. Of course, those three flying rats were causing a ruckus, squawking and squeaking right alongside them. She should remind them both that there is a strict "No Pets Allowed" rule, but she always had a weakness when it came to Mordecai, and now that he was actually happy, engaged to Stella and a fully functioning member of society, she couldn't bring herself to do anything that would jeopardize that.

"The puppetmaster likes to watch the show, huh?" Lilith sat down at the bar, grinning.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please. I know that you told Brick about Henry, and Stella mentioned that you met her days before we ran into her at her camp. It was your idea to get her drunk at Girl's Night and then have him walk her home, and I even dressed her in your clothes to do it. Every single thing that brought those two together can be brought back to you."

Moxxi smirked, before cocking her hip and turning toward Lilith. "So what'll it be, sugar?"