Janey stared down the gun barrel. "I see you've got a new model," she said nervously.

"Janey Springs, you are charged with obstructing justice," Nisha barked. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, well, then too bad. You're gonna obey every thing I tell you, and you can't do a thing to stop me from bringing Athena. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

"Nisha, she's going to be back any minute now."

"I guarantee it," Nisha replied. "And she'll find her girlfriend held at gunpoint, so she'll take any demand given to her. I repeat, do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

Janey blinked. "What if I don't, Nisha?"

"Well then I guess I have to kill you."

There was a long silence.

Then, to Nisha's bewilderment, Janey laughed. "Well, don't kill me," she mocked. "That might not turn out well."

Before Nisha had time to realize something was up, Janey let out a whoop and kicked the table upwards and jolted herself and her chair backwards, narrowly avoiding the shot fired by the surprised Lawbringer, who was thrown onto the ground by the force of the table.

"Where'd you learn a move like that?" Nisha asked as she stood up.

Janey looked to the wall and grabbed an assault rifle Athena had left hanging.

"Athena whispers in her sleep," she shrugged. And she opened fire.

Athena stumbled down the alleyway. Shit, shit, shit—FUCK!

She finally managed to slow down in front of the house. Finding the door locked, she ignored the key in her pocket and punched it right out of its frame.

Something was wrong. The kitchen table was lying on top of the counter, and a chair had been toppled over. Lining the walls were various spatters of blood, along with bullet holes across the plaster.

Pulling out Xiphos, Athena cautiously took a step forward. The floorboard creaked with the weight of her foot.

Suddenly, something jumped up from behind a couch and opened fire with an assault rifle. Athena quickly raised her shield, blocking every bullet, absorbing the damage in the process.

She prepared to throw it at the villain, but stopped herself. "Janey?"

Janey lowered her gun. Her arm had been grazed, and her bandana had been abandoned at some point. "Oh, hey, hon!" she said in a strangely cheerful tone. "How was your walk?"

"It was…good," Athena said slowly, now unsure of what to do with her shield. "Umm…what happened here?"

"Oh, it's questions, isn't it?" Janey asked. "That's a lot coming from someone who LIED TO THEIR GIRLFRIEND!"

Athena's jaw dropped, then quickly went back up. "I…I didn't lie to my—"

"Look at me, I'm Athena!" Janey said in a bad American accent. "I take bounty jobs from Handsome Jack and I lie to my g—ON YOUR LEFT!"

Athena threw Aspis at the figure that had jumped up from behind another couch. It landed right on target, sending Nisha through the air and against the wall, leaving a dent. The Sheriff of Lynchwood recovered quickly, pushing herself off the ground with a kick.

Athena pulled out a pistol, and Nisha did the same, leading to an old-fashioned standoff.

"What are you doing in Hollow Point, Sheriff?" Athena asked darkly.

"Oh, I just enjoyed the real estate," Nisha replied, rolling her eyes. "What do you think I'm doing here?"

"She's here to recruit you," Janey piped up. "To ally with Handsome Jack. To defeat the new Vault Hunters."

"He would want me for that, wouldn't he?" Athena asked sarcastically.

"He's offering a hefty sum," Nisha continued.

Athena snorted. "We established this after Elpis: I'm never taking another job from him."

Janey made a loud "harrumph" noise.

"Yeah, Athena?" Nisha mocked. "She knows."

"What?"

"About that little business we did involving a certain annoying robot."

"Lawbringer here told me," Janey said. "Then she tried to hold me as a hostage to make you go with her, but I just kicked the table into her face, grabbed one of the assault rifles you have on the wall, and started shooting at her."

"Springs here has more strength on her than I thought," Nisha agreed. "Truly impressive. So what do you say, Athena? I know you're not financially stable."

"I've sworn off all work with Jack," Athena repeated. "Permanently. I'm responsible for the deaths of too many innocent people."

"You mean those stupid helper robots?"

"The scientists on Helios, the Dahl soldiers, the Guardians of the Vault…even those annoying robots."

"Oh my god, wake up, gladiator!" Nisha laughed. "This is Pandora! No one's innocent of anything! I'm sure as Sheriff of Lynchwood I've unleashed my iron justice on a few people who committed no crime in the eyes of the law."

"From what I've heard of Lynchwood, you are the law," Athena replied. "And they say you're not a soldier of justice: you're just a woman who likes to shoot people."

Nisha rolled her eyes. "Potato, potahto, Athena. Now, what shall we do about this stand-off?"

"It's not going to end until someone pulls the trigger," Athena replied.

Nisha laughed. "You're not going to shoot me, Athena. You don't want to get on Jack's nerves. You might end up like the Meriff."

Athena smirked. "Maybe you're right," she shrugged. "But after all we've been through: as allies on Elpis, fighting bandits and guardians alike…are you going to shoot me?"

Nisha hesitated. "Athena…the Vault Hunters are headed for Lynchwood in a few hours. Jack wants me to try to kill them."

"And you know you're not going to succeed," Athena concluded.

"I'm not an idiot," Nisha nodded. "I know when I'm outmatched."

"If you're smart enough for that, perhaps you're smart enough to know when you've gone a step too far."

Nisha looked at Springs. Finally, with a long sigh, she put down her pistol.

"You're a Lance Assassin, Athena. Don't pretend you haven't killed hundreds for someone else's benefit."

Janey raised her gun. "Get out of our house."

Nisha shook her head as she made her way for the door.

"You know," Athena called out. "One can only kill so many innocent people before they start to grow a conscience about it."

Nisha paused in the doorframe. Athena wasn't sure what the Sheriff of Lynchwood was thinking.

"Whatever happens Janey, just remember this," Nisha said. "She lied to you."

And then she was gone, never to be seen again alive.

Athena and Janey stood there, unsure of what to do next.

Finally, Athena lowered her gun and walked over to Janey, placing a hand over the mechanic's cheek. "Are you okay?"

Janey brushed the hand away. "I'm fine," she said. "I see you broke the door." She grabbed a wrench from her toolbox and ran over to the threshold, readjusting the broken hinges like clockwork.

"Sorry I didn't get back sooner," Athena said, watching her girlfriend carrying the door back to its frame.

Janey sighed, avoiding Athena's gaze. "There was no way you could've known she'd be here."

"Yeah," Athena replied. She looked at the damage leftover from Janey's fight with Nisha. Jesus, this was going to be difficult to clean up. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Janey stopped what she was doing. "Athena, where were you tonight?"

"What?"

"You said in that note that you would be at the bar. Were you really?"

"Janey, I wasn't lying about that." Athena protested.

"How do I know? How do I know you weren't out there, slaughtering bandits just to get a hold of five dollars?"

"Janey—"

"How do I know you weren't kidnapping someone and bringing them to some loan shark?"

"Janey—!"

"How do I know you didn't assassinate someone in their sleep, all for a quick buck?"

"Because I would never lie to you!"

"How can I know that, Athena?!" Janey shouted. "How can I trust you after all that just happened?"

Athena could find no words to respond.

Janey sighed. "I can't do this anymore." She stormed away from the door, past Athena, and into their bedroom, slamming and locking the door behind her.

"For the love of…" Athena ran up to the door and banged on the wood. "Janey, come out of there!"

"I'll stay here!" Janey shouted. "It'll just be like Serenity's Waste…I'll lock myself in here from the outside world and let myself grow old and looney!"

"You're gonna have to come out to the kitchen for food sometimes," Athena replied.

Pause.

"Well, then I'll just starve, won't I?"

"Janey, let me in!"

"No!"

"Janey, I need to talk to you!"

"Why should I listen? What if everything you say is a lie?"

"You're the world's greatest kraggon slayer and the best children's book author in the world."

Pause.

"Oh fuck you, everyone knows that's true!"

"Janey!"

"I don't ever want to see your face again, do you hear me? Never!"

"Well now you're just being melodramatic!"

"Don't tell me how I should feel!"

Athena kicked the door. "Dammit!" She leaned against a wall. Why couldn't she have gotten home sooner? Before Nisha spilled the beans on everything.

Then again, that wouldn't have happened, either, if she hadn't lied to Janey in the first place.

Well, now she was stuck in a moral quandary.

Athena slid down to the floor. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night of pondering her life decisions up to that point.