He stood on top of the tallest house in Sanctuary. He liked this place. He liked the view. The city looked so peaceful from up here. Golden light shone through sturdy windows down into the cozy alleys. The moonlight let the metal roofs gleam like silver. With all the garlands and lanterns they had brought out, the city actually looked beautiful. It seemed like all the piles of rusty junk and trash had politely retreated into the darker corners. Most people had gone to bed by now. Those who had drunk too much now lay beneath the tables sleeping off their hangover. A few couples had settled into the cozier niches of the city and were enjoying the gentle warmth of the summer air. Somewhere on the Plaza, a radio was still playing. The faint melody drifted dreamily through the night and up to his watch post.

Maniacal laughter cut through the serene calmness. Krieg was hopping across the plaza, pirouetting and prancing around like an overjoyed child. Mordecai couldn't help but chuckle briefly. He made a note in his head for future reference: Never give an unstable violent psychopath alcohol to drink. Who knows what could happen. His eyes turned sad again, but the echo of his smile lingered. At least some people were still able to be happy. Even if it were the insane ones.

Something rustled behind him. Uncertain footsteps, the gentle breath of a woman. He knew the sounds.

She drew breath to say something, but then no words left her mouth. Mordecai remained motionless. Another insecure step. The heel of her boot quietly touched the roof. Another breath. Another silence.

"You were not celebrating with the others." Moxxi's voice was little more than a whisper.

"There was nothing for me to celebrate." His voice was low and rasping. He hadn't used it in a while. "It feels wrong." He paused. "Many good people died so we could be here. So many good people. Roland. And-" his voice failed him before he could say "Bloodwing."

Quiet. He could feel her urge to say something. "Many people called it the most beautiful day in years", she tried again.

Mordecai closed his eyes and took a breath of the mild summer air. "Let them call it what they will. Let them sing and dance and get shitfaced. Who am I to judge their actions? But don't expect me to join in."

He could hear her smile. There was no sound, but he knew she smiled. She took a step towards him.

"It just feels so wrong to me. They dance as if all of this was a happy ending. How can they forget all the pain we had to go through to get here?" The hunter clenched his fist helplessly.

"Sometimes, forgetting is the only way to stay sane in this world." the gentle sound of Moxxi's voice felt like balsam and soothed his haggard soul.

"Sane? This is Pandora, nobody here is sane", Mordecai replied jokingly. As if to underline his words, Krieg's frenzied laughter welled up again. Apparently the madman had convinced some other drunkards to join him in his grotesque dance.

She stepped beside him and laughed. This time he could here it. "You see? It means they won't forget. At least not everything."

The hunter smiled and nodded, absorbed in thought. "That may very well be."

There was another silence. But this time, it was not the uncomfortable kind.

"I thought you were dead."

Mordecai turned his head and looked at her for the first time. In the darkness her eyes seemed like deep pools, inlaid with sparkling emeralds. The delicate pallor of her face glowed like the moon.

"Seeing you and the others charge into that cave and knowing what Jack was capable of...", she trailed off. The hunter knew that she didn't want to talk about Jack. "And when your ECHO-connection died and we couldn't reach you anymore-", the growing lump in her throat made her velvety voice sound strained, "I thought I'd lost you. For good this time."

Mordecai carefully raised his hand to her face. He hesitated briefly before tenderly stroking her face and brushing away a strand of her chestnut hair. "Oh my Moxxi..." and with a smirk he replied: "I never die. Not while you're still around."

She blessed him with a giggle and chirped, "I hope so."

Her view moved to look over the city. Not quite sure, the hunter pulled back his hand from her face. A strange tingle lingered in his fingers, as if they didn't want to let go.

Another silence. This time it was he who broke it. "You'll have to thank Brick, actually. He was the one who saved me"

"Thanks, I will. I guess owe him quite a bit by now."

Mordecai looked at her questioningly, but quickly shook it off.

"It's a shame though that you couldn't be the one to kill Jack", Moxxi deplored with sudden viciousness.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that your idea of romance or something? Your Ex killing your evil second Ex?"

She cocked her head, deliberating. "Yes, maybe that's why. Or maybe it's the image of a sniper bullet making his handsome little head pop like a cherry."

"You don't have to worry about that one. As far as I know Lilith gave it to him hard."

She snickered. "Your innuendos are still crap."

"What do you mean?" the hunter was confused. "What innuendo?

Moxxi's suppressed snicker welled up into a laugh, while the puzzled Mordecai could just stare at her until he finally understood. "Oh I see! "Gave it to him. Hard." Okay. Yea, that's a bit ambiguous." Now he had to laugh as well.

She shook her head. He was a hopeless case. After a calm moment of chuckling, she changed the topic. "Did you ever think about what Pandora would be like if all this had never happened? If Jack had never shown up?" She let her view wander across the sleeping city.

"No Handsome Jack and no Hyperion? Seems like a bad fairy story now, doesn't it? That time when Hyperion was just another corporation that made guns?" He shrugged and chuckled incredulously, but then he suddenly turned serious. "I thought about it every blasted day since they raided New Haven. It's what kept me from sleeping at night and from sobering up during the day." Suddenly he wished he had something to drink. It was easier to have visions of a brighter world when drunk.

Moxxi leaned on his shoulder and took his hand. Her skin was soft like silk, strangely out of place in his bony fingers. The hunter felt her eyes on him and when he met her gaze a deep warmth filled his stomach.

"Maybe it wasn't all for nothing", she whispered and gently squeezed his fingers. "Do you want to give it a second chance?" There was no jest in her voice. "You know, what we had together. For those old times' sake."

Mordecai hesitated

"I got Rakk-ale", she offered hopefully.

A smirk crept up the corner of his mouth.