A/N: I only own my OCs. Everything else belongs to Gearbox.
So, I thought I would go ahead and update now, since I'm going
to be gone on vacation for a little while. Thanks again for your
reviews! Any criticism is appreciated, folks. Makes me happy.
Haha, enjoy!

Property of Hyperion
Chapter Seven: Reunion


We stood in front of a large door with two flamethrowers hooked to it. Water was still pooled in spots where ice had melted not too long ago, though frost was beginning to form again. I tilted my head, frowning, before looking back at the woman. She had tried talking with me a couple times, both on the ride here and after abandoning the vehicle, but was consistently met with the brick wall that was my body. Communication wasn't happening. Once she figured that out, she seemed okay with the silence.

"Nipple salads," I muttered, cackling like an idiot.

Well, almost-silence.

"Nipple salads!" I laughed a little louder, this time. The Siren pulled a lever and we were lowered down into the bowels of the Fridge. "NIPPLE SALADS!" By that point I was laughing hysterically, hunching forward, and grabbing my stomach. My sides ached and tears gathered in the corners of my eyes. Because it really was the funniest phrase in the world, right? I must have looked like an idiot.

"What does that even mean?"

No answer. I was beginning to feel like this body was mad at me. Which wouldn't exactly have been a first, but I wasn't sure what had happened this time. At the bottom of the shaft there was a massive room. Off to the left was something (apparently) very interesting: Fink's Slaughterhouse. My finger twitched against the trigger of a Bandit's shotgun I had picked up on the way. The woman looked at the sign, shuddered and walked over to the vending machines behind me to sell the loot we'd gathered. I stepped toward the door.

"We can do this later."

I looked over my shoulder at Cypher, then back to the door. "Highest of angels lose their wings to the meat carnage," I growled. What was wrong with me today? My left hand tightened around my axe. Alright, was drenching the Bandit Technical in blood not enough? Sheesh!

"No! We've got a job to do, remember?"

Without hesitation, I yelled and buried my axe into a chunk of ice beside me, digging it in as far as possible. Powder floated in the air as my buzz axe dug deep gouges in the ice. "Rip the flesh!" I screamed, attacking the chunk again. Chips of ice bounced harmlessly off my shield while I released whatever rage I was holding. Again and again slices were taken out of the ice until all that was left was a mound of shavings. "Carnage," I huffed indignantly. Wow, now I was on the level of a pouting child. Fantastic.

"Hey, are you ready to go?"

Cypher was walking my way, peering up at the sign once again before stopping a few feet from me. She didn't miss the tantrum I'd thrown and glanced at my axe. "I got plenty of ammo for the both of us, since it doesn't look like you have many places to keep it, and I bought some guns and a couple shields. Here." It was a Pangolin shield I didn't recognize, but looked a lot better than the old one I was wearing. While I switched out shields, she adjusted the Burning Anarchist she'd just bought, trying to secure it to her hip. After a few moments, she gave up and settled for holding it. "If I remember right, there are a bunch of Rats through the gate, and the Highlands are just beyond it." She handed me a box of shells.

Sometimes this body of mine really confused me. Instead of taking the box and putting it in one of my many empty pockets, I pushed the shells back at her and stalked towards the gate she had mentioned. I didn't make a move to help her turn the crank that opened the doors, even though it was crusted over with frost. When the gate opened and we were hit by a blast of frigid air, there was no hesitation. My feet carried me swiftly into what was, hopefully, a blood bath. Maybe a little more murder would have eased the tension.

Everything in the massive cave was covered in ice and snow. Blood was spattered here and there, a few Rat corpses were still twitching, and not all of the chests had been opened. Someone had been here before us. My boots crunched in the snow as I made my way over to one of the field rats that were so common. I'd been through here once, ages ago, before I found Maya. I kicked a small rock as hard as I could, snow going with it. It fell onto the iced lake a hundred yards away.

The Rat wasn't dead. When I got close enough, a mauled hand shot up for my own. On reflex I swung my axe and lopped off half his forearm. "I can tassste you already, meat monger!" He swiped at me again with his other hand, baring dirty, jagged teeth at me, and I slammed my blade into his skull. Blood and brain and bone sprayed back onto me as he wailed. I howled back, rage making me shake, and proceeded to turn his body - bones and all - into ground meat. Organs squelched in my hands as I pulled them from his chest, various liquids flew back onto my mask and arms, and for some reason I only got angrier.

"What is wrong with you?!"

I left my axe in him and began to dig through his tattered clothes. "Sunsets are masterpieces of gouged-apart souls." There was a bit of money, a gun not worth selling, and a lot of bones in his pockets. I snorted, opened the Rat's mouth, and ripped out a few of his larger, sharper teeth. "Hellions smile at the root torture," I spat onto his body, grabbed my axe, and turned.

Everything had been killed in here before we arrived - if not dead, they were twitching and withering away. Cypher was right about there being Rats, but even she was expecting a fight - not that she looked ready for one. Blood and footprints were scattered hither and thither. Not even the iced-over lake off to the right was spared. I couldn't imagine what had been there before, but all that was left were bits of crystal and chunks of rock.

Cypher had gotten far enough ahead that it took me a few minutes to reach her, finding her working on a small safe. Attempt after attempt was proving useless; she couldn't crack it. As gracefully as possible (Yeah right) I pushed her aside and cut the lock off with my buzz axe. Sparks flew and melted bits of snow, one singed the bandages on my right arm, and then the lock fell to the ground. Purple glowed from the inside, and I immediately lost interest. Well, I was still interested; Eridium was always great for Black Market trade, but my body couldn't have cared less. Cypher seemed enchanted, though. "Perfect," she whispered, grabbing the four bars like they were gold. "And... Thank you," she paused, looking a bit sheepish. "Er... It is Krieg, right?"

I stood there, silent. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what had ticked me off so badly.

"Are you going to say anything, or just stare at her?"

"Yes."

She smiled, putting three of the bars in her pack. "Thank you, Krieg." I got the impression there was something else she was going to say, but instead she concentrated on the glowing bar in her hands. There was no way to tell exactly what she did, but it looked like she absorbed it. Her marks, which were rather faint before, began to shine and thrum. Her whole left side was lit like a neon sign. The bar seemed to melt and sink into her palm. It was pretty to watch, the way her skin regained even more pigment, appearing brighter, and she looked less gaunt. Seconds later, the bar was gone, and Cypher looked like she'd won the lottery.

"Salvador, where are you going?"

I froze. The short Truxican was stomping towards us, covered in blood just like I was. "Una de esas malditas Ratas robado la cruz de mi abuela." He sounded mad. I, personally, wanted to back out of his way, knowing the gunzerker wasn't very fond of me, but my feet didn't move.

"We don't speak Truxican, Sal."

"My grandmother's cross, amiga. One of them stole mi abuela's cross."

The rest of the team was right behind him, starting with Maya, then Axton and Gaige, and Zer0 was nowhere in sight. That worried me more than anything - I could never tell whether or not the assassin would kill me or help me. Gaige stopped jogging after the group, staring at the dwarf incredulously. "Dude, you put it in your pocket after you got it back from the rat thief."

He stopped and frowned deeper. Immediately he began to search his pants for the trinket. "I would never have put it- Ah." He pulled his hand from the worn pocket, a long chain with a golden cross hanging from his thick fingers. "So, maybe I did." It wasn't until he'd secured the treasure around his neck that he noticed us. More importantly, he noticed me.

"Oh boy. This won't end well."

The Truxican swore under his breath and leveled his gun - no, not gun. Rocket launcher - at me. "Ey, cabrĂ³n. Long time no see."

"Buddy, this isn't the time to lose your head. I need you intact."

I met his glare and readied my axe. Why did I ignore myself at times like this? Why?

"Now's not the time. Ellie expects us to stick with Cypher for a while."

The dull side of my axe collided with my skull. "Shut up shut up shut up! Get outta my head!" Two or three more times I hit myself, for all the good it did me. At least this was a sign I still could hear myself. Though, the fact that I was being willfully ignored four times out of five didn't make me feel that much better.

Gaige's eyes landed on me, and the resulting expression appeared to be a mix of relief and something a little more somber. "Krieg? What are you doing out here?"

"Huh?" Maya took her attention from Axton, whose conversation I hadn't caught, and stopped in her tracks. "Wow. Uhh, hi."

"Oh great," Axton sneered. "Now the whole family is back together."