"Tell me about your scars."

It wasn't as much as a request as it was a demand. He hadn't meant for it to come out as bluntly and felt instant embarrassment wash over him.

"I'm sorry, I shou-"

A raised hand interrupted his apology as Athena lowered the water bottle from her lips. She seemed a lot healthier than she had been yesterday when Zer0 had brought her to his apartment. She sat up straight on the edge of the bed while he leaned against the table on the other side of the room. Her blackish-blue hair was slightly disheveled and had a few strands that stuck up in odd places. Her tank top had ridden up some to show off some of her tanned stomach and her right hip. Not really an appearance you would expect from the most lethal assassin on Pandora.

"Why the sudden curiosity?"

He looked down at the floor, surprised at her question. He rubbed his neck awkwardly and he started to ponder it himself. Why was he all of a sudden curious about her scars? While he had fleetingly wondered about it before, he never had the courage or the initiative to ask before. Whilst thinking it over, he didn't notice Athena get up from the bed and walk over to him. Upon seeing her gray socks in his peripheral vision, he glanced slightly up at the shorter woman, who had her arms crossed over her chest and a questioning gaze in her eyes.

"Well?" she asked as she reached behind him to set the water bottle on the table.

"Each scar has a tale/ Some are vicious, some are not/ I'm just curious."

Athena nodded along to his words.

She turned away from him and walked back over to the bed. "What would you like to know?" She asked as she sat down in her previous spot.

Following suit, Zer0 sat down beside her and began to trace her figure with his eyes. Multiple scars were visible on the surface of her skin along her shoulders, arms, and neck. Without thinking, he began to reach out and brushed the small set of triangular shaped flecks that dotted the right side of her neck and led down her shoulder. Instead of tensing up as he expected, she merely rolled her shoulder as she attempted to get used to the feeling of a warm hand on her cold shoulder. Letting his hand drift up towards her neck, Zer0 curiously brushed the small crescent shaped scar underneath her chin, barely the size of the cap of a beer bottle. Instead of letting his fingers linger under her chin, he instead decided to return back to the flecks across the shoulder and neck.

"These."

Athena seemed to pause in thought for a moment as she lifted her left hand and began to trace her own scars with the tips of her fingers. Zer0 retracted his hand as he felt their fingers rub against each other.

"Vehicular explosion. Someone placed a contract on me and I threw Aspis at the assassin's technical as he tried to run me over. The velocity of the vehicle propelled pieces of shrapnel forward that lodged in my shoulder and neck," Athena explained as she looked up at him.

"Could you not heal the wounds?"

Athena shook her head.

"Sadly no. I couldn't take the risk of there being multiple assassins, so I ran. It must have been three hours before I stopped and removed the pieces with a pair of tweezers. I didn't carry any insta-heals with me at the time, so I had to bandage them up and wait for self-healing to take it's course."

"Must have been painful/ To not have the resources/ In order to heal."

Athena gave a shrug and looked down at the floor.

"While it's almost certainly not healthy, I'm very used to feeling pain," she clarified.

Zer0, clearly surprised, looked at Athena with slightly widened eyes. She seemed so nonchalant about admitting that pain was a common occurrence to her. Considering his next option, he decided to drop the matter for the moment and lifted his hand again. He thought of going to her shoulders or to her back, but instead he went to the spot underneath her chin. Lifting her head, he gently rubbed the crescent underneath her chin with his thumb. Their eyes met and Zer0 found himself getting lost in the blue-gray color of them. Making sure to remember where each speck of azure dotted her eyes, he spoke his request.

"This one."

"I was chasing after a hit and he had climbed on a rooftop. I wanted to get the jump on him, so I started to climb the side of the building. Unfortunately, it had rained the night before and I ended up slipping. I hit my chin against the ledge of a window and ended up losing my target," she explained without wavering her gaze against his own.

"Ouch."

"It was more of the shock of slipping than of the pain of hitting my chin."

Removing his fingers from under her chin, Zer0 curiously began to look for where he should ask about next. Looking across her back, he found a peculiar scar that was half hidden by her tank top. It was a straight line that went diagonal along her back from underneath her left shoulder blade and probably ended at her right hip. Placing a hand tenderly against her right hip he looked up for permission to continue. Receiving a nod from her, he lifted up the fabric and concluded that he was correct in that the long scar stopped upon reaching the bone. Ghosting his index and middle finger across it, he felt her immediately stiffen and stopped his movements. Clearing his throat, he removed his hand and allowed the tank top to fall back into place.

"That one."

Athena reached behind her and gently rubbed the spot where his fingers had been. Upon looking at her face, he noticed a small tinge of red beginning to grace her cheeks and ears. While it could've been possible that her sickness was starting to take a toll on her, Zer0 began to suspect it had to do with allowing him to play with her skin. Figuratively, as he doubted he would ever be allowed to do something as lewd as that with her.

"Rabid stalker," she voiced, causing him to be shook from his thoughts. "I was clearing out a den of them in the Helios Space Station when it managed to get behind me and hook its claws in my back."

"They have stalkers there?/ I thought stalkers were native/ Only to this place."

Athena shook her head and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, waiting for him to continue. Looking down at her arms he noticed a very large, jagged scar that went from the palm of her left hand to her elbow. Not even bothering to feel it underneath his fingers, Zer0 pointed at it and waited for a response.

Upon looking down at where he pointed, Athena went from a light red to pale. She opened her mouth to speak a few times, but would close it soon after. Eventually, she resided to just running her fingers along it from the palm of her hand to the crook of her elbow. This continued on for a few minutes before she looked up at him with a mix of surprise, pain, and even… fear in her eyes. Swallowing harshly a few times, she bit the inside of her cheek and proceeded to let her hand drop away from her left arm.

"Torture."

Surprised at such a short answer from her usually long explanations, Zer0 raised an eyebrow at it.

"By whom?"

Athena closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"The Lance didn't like it when we messed up," she said through gritted teeth.

Upon realizing what was just spoken, Zer0 began to shake with… with what? Anger? Guilt? Disbelief? Probably all three. He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists. He struggled with the urge to herd together all the Crimson Raiders in the city and learn if any of them were ex-torturers. Taking a few deep breaths he looked softly at Athena who had returned to rubbing the scar on her left arm. Too preoccupied to notice him, he quickly took her hand in his hand and held it making her look up at him.

"How many?" He asked.

"Dozens."

Tightly grasping her hand in his, he brought it up to his mouth and placed his lips against the knuckles of it. Breathing uneven, short breaths against the back of her hand, Zer0 began to struggle with his own rage again. Removing his mouth, he replaced it with his other hand.

"You know I'm broken, right?" Athena blurted out of nowhere.

Zer0, worried, looked at her with an intense gaze as she stared at the floor.

"I mean killing your whole family and being taught that you were nothing, nothing but a weapon your whole life? Who wouldn't break from that?" She explained with a small, uncomfortable chuckle upon finishing.

Zer0 leaned forward and pressed his lips against her temple.

"You aren't a weapon/ You are a beautiful woman/ Not a gun or tool."

Taking her hand from his own, she proceeded to wrap her right arm around his waist and pulled him closer. Knowing what she wanted, he proceeded to engulf her frame in his arms as well while his lips didn't break contact with the side of her head.

"You aren't a weapon/ You aren't a goddamn weapon/ Do you understand?"

She nodded and wrapped her other arm around his waist. Resting her forehead against his chest, Zer0 proceeded to pull her into his lap.

"You never were one/ You need to remember that/ So you'll be okay."

"I appreciate it," she whispered.

He shrugged and leaned back until his shoulders hit the wall. Removing his lips from her head, he proceeded to hold her closer. His protective side of her was, metaphorically, on his sleeve.

"Scars are not just scars/ They're badges of a fighter/ I always think that."

Athena proceeded to nod and allowed herself to be held. Zer0 place the side of his face against the top of her head and allowed the quiet of the room to take over for the moment until it was broken.

"So…" Athena began as she lifted her head to look at him. "You think I'm beautiful?"

Oh boy.

Author's Note: Beta-read by Foryewhoartliterate. Sometimes, I can't help, but feel bad for Athena. Probably just me. Still taking chapter suggestions as well. Thank you for reading.