Note: Well. Holy hell, have I let this story wither. I have had my reasons (college, playing other games, getting used to playing games while going to college) but now, I'm finally playing Borderlands 2 again, and thus am inspired to work on this again.
Finally.
I do not own Borderlands, nor any affiliated characters. Please review and comment.
Love's Labors Two
Chapter 3
It turned out that Dahl men were surprisingly tough to crack. Brick and Salvador had been taking turns in shifts to punch the guy in the face until he told them something, and so far all they'd gotten from him was a host of colorful insults. Salvador was in the middle of pulling a newly removed tooth out of his hand when the others pulled him out of the storage room in the back of Crimson Raider HQ.
"What's the problem?" He asked shortly.
"Well, we'd kinda like the guy to still be able to talk when he feels like it. You two punching his face into ground meat isn't conducive to him talking." Axton said.
"What can he tell you? You already know who sent him."
"I know what sent him. I know Dahl sent him. I don't who exactly sent him. And that is something I'd like very much to know. Hence, why I'd like him to be able to talk."
"You know, I am open to other forms of persuasion." The merc called from the room. He could see the Vault Hunters debating through the still-open doorway. "Like bribery. That might do it." The man's gaze focused on Axton. "Just don't think you can pawn that ring, old boy. Never liked diamonds, right?" The man was smirking, something knowing in his gaze.
Axton's face seemed to shut down, harden. He reached into his pack and pulled out a small leather bag.
"I'm going to need a few minutes alone with him." He stated, leaving nothing up for discussion. He quickly went to the door, then shut and locked it behind him.
They'd been putting up with the screaming for almost an hour. Not quite nonstop, but the lulls were so infrequent they almost didn't make a difference. Everyone just sat in a sort of awkward silence, unsure of what to do. Sure, the guy and his buddies had tried to jump Axton in the bar, had threatened a bunch of innocent people, but whatever was happening to him in the other room… Most of them were surprised Axton even knew enough to keep the guy screaming for five minutes, let alone forty-five.
"No. No, no please, noooAAAAGHGHGHGH!" The screaming slowly subsided into hushed gasping and what sounded like whispered words.
Lillith finally stood up.
"Alright, that's it. We gotta draw the line somewhere, and it sounds like we just hit the perfect place to draw it."
"Seriously?" Brick asked.
"We don't even know what this guy-"
Before Lillith could continue arguing, the door opened and Axton stalked out, heading straight for the steps. Looking in, Lillith could see a small leather bag, full of blades and knives of various types and sizes. The captive merc had long cuts running all over him, with a suspicious-looking slit opened over the crotch of his pants.
They all just stared. That Axton, the slightly, well, often extremely pigheaded turret-loving rifleman could be capable of this…
Axton came back up the steps, Insta-Health in one hand.
"So?" Lillith asked.
"So what?" Axton replied.
"So what did that poor bastard say that made you do that?"
"I needed to know-"
"Oh, don't give me that crap. He was here to bring you in. You probably guessed that the second you saw him. I want to know what it was he did that made you go Hostel 48 on him."
Axton sat himself down on one of the bunks and fingered the ring hanging from his neck. He looked contemplative. He never looked like that.
"That crack about diamonds. That's what set me off."
"Yeah, no shit. Why?"
"Cause the only reason he'd say that to me was if he'd been told to. And there's only reason I can think of that he'd be told to say that to me. A reason I had to be sure about. I'm sure now."
"What reason?"
Axton dropped his gaze, he was staring at the floor.
Everyone else was now getting seriously worried. In all the time they'd known him, he'd never acted anywhere near this serious. Maybe when Angel died, but that was it.
"I'm probably going to sound like an idiot for asking this, but who do they have?" Maya offered.
"Sarah. They've got Sarah."
Axton was packing. Shoving bullets, clips, gun parts, rations, and what looked like vomit bags into a large duffel bag. She couldn't understand why he was packing though. His wife now had an 'ex' in front of that title. And she could personally attest to the fact that he'd in some capacity moved on. So why on earth was he packing like he was about to go running off into the galaxy to save her?
"Ax, why are you packing?" She asked him.
"You know why. I'm going to get her."
"Get her?" She asked incredulously.
"Yeah."
"Where from? From what, from who?"
"Don't know yet. Doesn't matter either."
"Ax, I wasn't literally asking why you were packing."
He stopped and turned around.
"Then what are you asking?"
"I'm asking why are you bothering to play the damn white space-knight for the woman who left you."
"It's not about her, Maya."
"Then what is it about?" She threw her hands up in anger, exasperation.
"It's about me."
"Of course. Everything is, after all." She said sarcastically.
"Shit. That came out wrong, that wasn't how I meant it."
"Then how did you mean it?"
"It's about her and me."
"So what, you run off, rescue her from her bosses, she swoons and takes you back?"
"No. That's not-
"Then what?"
"It's because I put her there!" He yelled. Almost screamed. "Wherever she is, whatever's happening to her, it's on me. Because I was such a self-absorbed jackass she had to choose between ordering her husband's execution, or breaking all the rules to help him desert."
He'd slowly quieted as he ranted. Now she had to strain to hear him. He had his head titled down, palms braced against the table. "I'm doing this because she's going through what she's going through because she gave a stupid asshole a chance he didn't deserve. And now she's paying for it. That's why I'm packing. She deserves more than to get left to rot or executed by her douchebag of an ex."
She had to stop at that. Axton. Acting responsible. She wanted to pinch herself.
She let him keep packing for another minute before she finally managed to speak up.
"So, what's our plan?"
he stopped at that. Looked at her like she was crazy.
"Wait, 'our plan?'"
"Yeah. How are we getting wherever we need to go to?"
"WE?" He asked incredulously.
"Me and you. Zero, and Sal and Gaige too, if they're game. Maybe that Krieg guy, if he ever comes back."
Axton was shaking his head.
"There's no 'we' in it, Maya. This is my life, my mess, my responsibility to fix it. And I'll be damned if-" She cut him off by punching him hard in the gut. "What the hell was that for?"
"I thought I might be dreaming. So I punched you to make sure I wasn't."
He groaned in pain and exasperation. "That's not how it-"
"Also, now I know you probably aren't some weird imposter. Acting all out-of-character, responsible and concerned."
"Very funny. But seriously. None of you are coming."
"Why?"
"Cause I don't want any of you to get killed trying to help clean up my mess of a life."
"Give us a little credit, Ax. We took down Hyperion."
"Yeah. Hyperion was a bunch of dumbass robots and engineers with shit training and high tech guns. You'd all be going up against Dahl. That's a very different thing."
"Company loyalties playing on you?"
"No. Like I said. Hyperion: Dumbass bots and engineering majors with guns. What do you think Dahl is?"
"I dunno."
He sighed. "A whole army of me's. Only they actually take orders. And are good at working together."
"Guess what? None of us are going to care." She stepped closer, put a hand on his arm. "We're your friends, Ax. This is what friends do. Help each other out when someone's personal shit hits."
He finally hung his head in defeat. Reached up and slowly grasped her hand.
"Fine. I'll put the word out, see if I can't get someone with a ship who owes me to come pick us up tomorrow."
She could tell he'd needed some space that night, so they'd taken separate bunks. The second she woke up and saw his was empty, she knew she'd made a mistake.
"That son of a bitch."
In case anyone doesn't quite get it, Axton half-castrated the guy.
Given that the story is supposed Axton growing into a somewhat responsible person who can be concerned about people other than himself, he's totally going to sneak off and do something personal and dangerous and leave his friends behind and safe. Also, if anyone didn't pick up on it already, Maya and Axton are an item here. Cause soldiers and sirens just seem to go well together.
Why not Zero, I hear some of you asking?
Because Zero is either so badass and mysteriously mysterious/awesome he doesn't have the time/need to pursue a relationship, or I save him for Angel (I'll go down on that ship. Playing this : watch?v=0uc01ASDJT8)