Chapter 1: Red Horizon
A/n Gauge is 22 in this fic. Enjoy!
Gaige's eyes shot open, tears pouring out of them. She quickly sat up to survey the environment, only to find three out of the four other people that were in the room when she fell asleep. Maya was lying next to her and Salvador and Zero were in the bunk beds. "Oh crap! Where's Axton?" she whispered to herself. The mechromancer silently sprang to her feet, and darted to the balcony door. No sign of Axton. A look of frustration fell upon her tired face, as she rattled her brain, wondering what to do. If Jack had shot him, where was his body? A thread of hope shot its way into her soul as she saw that the light to the bathroom was on. Gaige leaped over Maya's sleeping body, and threw the door open. She tackled the unaware commando in a huge bear hug. "Um, Gaige. What are you doing?" Axton asked. Gaige started crying again, as she gazed up at him and said "I was so afraid I'd lost you for good" "What are you talking ab…." "Oh shut up." she interrupted, as she leaned up and kissed him. Axton didn't fight it, and kissed her back. After coming up for air, he scooped her up into his arms, and took her back into his section of the room. There, they both drifted off to sleep in the comfort of each others arms.
The next morning came quickly, bringing rain and a thunder storm. Something that rarely happened on Pandora. Salvador was the first awake. Shortly followed by Zero. By the time Gaige woke up, Axton was the only one still asleep. She stood up slowly, and quickly escaped to the bathroom. As she was washing her hands, she noticed someone was in the shower. This sparked an interest in Gaige. She already knew who it was, and wanted to scare them. As an evil grin crept onto her face, she discarded her clothes, and leaped into the shower, and hugged the figure. "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY ABBS!" screamed the figure. Gaige's eyes widened, expecting to hear Maya's soft voice. "Oh my god!" she said to herself. The mechromancer looked up to see Kreige, gazing down at her. She quickly jumped from the shower and ran for the main room of the house. "Mornin Shorty!" Maya said cheerfully. Salvador and Zero looked over and whistled. Gaige's fase became a bright shade of crimson, as she realized she was naked in front of her entire team. Axton jumped in front of her, handing a bra and a skirt to her. She couldn't get them on fast a morning of eating anything the could find, the six vault hunters set out for the bunker. Not wasting any more time they fast traveled to Thousand Cuts and made their way up the hill. As they reached the bad-ass constructor atop the fort, Axton deployed his saber turret, Zero snuck into deception mode, Salvador drew out a second shotgun, and Kreige grabbed his buz-ax and went bat shit crazy. The constructor wasn't going down without a fight, so it called back-up. Four war loaders appeared out of thin air, and began attacking the vault hunters. Once done with kicking robo ass, the team made their way towards the destroying Bnk3r, and retrieving the vault key, the team headed back to sanctuary to inform the town of Rolands death. As they got to the city, Axton said, "You all fast travle back to the house. I'll tell those who don't know." "I'm staying with you," Gaige said. Axton nodded, and the four other vault hunters headed back to their home in the highlands. As Axton and Gaige walked up the stairs of the Crimson Raiders home base, they heard a female crying. Lilith was in Mordecai's arms, tears rolling like rivers. Mordecai looked at them and forced an uneasy smile. "Dose Brick know yet?" Axton asked softly. The hunter just shook his head. In that moment there was a jolt in the ground and the four fell to the ground. "Oh! What the hell now?" Mordecai raged. "Mordy! Take the girls to safety! I'll handle this!" Axton commanded. He nodded in agreement. He grabbed their hands and ran. Axton got to his feet only to see that all hell was breaking loose. Feeling a hand on his back, he turned. There before him stood Jack. "What's up buddy? Do ya like my little improvement I'm making to the city. Axton turned to look out over the balcony, and what he say scared him senseless. The skies were a red/orange mix. Smoke lay on the rooftops of some buildings. Fire engulfed entire homes. Worst of all, the city was literally beginning to crumble. Blood was being spilt around every corner. Hyperion loaders were killing everything in sight. Axton saw Mordecai and the girls running for the fast travel. Axton turned to look at Jack. "YOU FUCKIN BASTARD!" he screamed. He threw a punch at him, but it went right through him. "Ha! You forgot about my decoys didn't you? Stupid kid." Axton vaulted over the balcony. Upon hitting the ground, he sprinted for the fast travel. As he was about to select his destination, he heard someone yell his name. In front of him stood with a gun to his head. "Jack! Let him go. Kill me instead." Jack just smiled. "Axton, NO! I'm done. My life is over. You have more to live for, more to do. Tell the others..." he swallowed hard. "Tell them I said goodbye." And his life was hit the first option he saw. As he was teleported away he saw the city go up in flames.
Thanks for reading! Please review. Criticism is welcome. And most of all stay tuned for more!
