Gaige woke up, a smile on her face. Last night had been great. Jack had taken her out, stood up for her, then helped her climb onto the roof, and laid there together. Then he'd put his arm around her. She just wished she'd had the guts to kiss him.
"Someone's happy."

Lilith and Maya were both sat up in bed, staring at Gaige. "Never seen you smile that much. Something happen?" asked Maya.

"Come on, tell her." Lilith had a girly glint in her eye.

"Tell me what?" asked Maya, eyebrow raised.
"Well... I kinda have a thing for Jack." Lilith brew a raspberry at the word 'kinda'. "And he bought me a gun before." He passed her gun to Maya, who looked incredibly impressed as she looked it over. "And last night we went to Moxxi's. Some guy started flirting with me, and Jack roughed him and his friends up. Then bought me a cupcake. He knew it was my favourite!"

"Well duh, Gaige. We all know that. Wait, is this reticule a cupcake too? Damn, that is awesome."

"Yeah, yeah. But then we laid on the rooftop, watching the stars and talking, and he put his arm round me and we were like practically cuddling."
Lilith raised her eye now, too. "Aaaaand?"

"And that was it. But I think he likes me too. And he's taking me shopping today!"

"Shopping? For what?"
"Guns!" Gaige said with glee, standing up and changing from her pyjamas.

"Damn" Maya said, giggling. "That boy has got you so sussed."

Gaige waited by the building that housed the fast travel. She wore a skirt, as normal, this time blue. She had bare legs, and converse shoes. She had considered a low-cut shirt, but decided against looking slutty, and had instead gone with a plain, white shirt. She loved the quick change machines, but they offered so little difference, and she wanted to surprise Jack. As a final touch, she'd left her goggles at HQ, and instead let her hair cascade down her head, just as Jack had said he liked a while ago.

She felt severely under dressed, but also kind of nice with the change. She wasn't a girly girl, and both sirens had expressed their surprise when she'd left dressed like that. She even drew some odd stares from people, so used to seeing the local mechromancer dressed for the work shop.

"Wow."

She heard his voice before she saw him, sitting with his legs over the edge of the roof. "You look...incredible." She was glad she'd drawn this reaction from him. She was worried all morning, two or three times considering going back and changing.

"Thanks." She smiled.

"Well then. Shall we go?" He hopped off the roof, and landed lightly next to her, hand out. She took it, glad they'd got to holding hands already. She wondered if this was what a relationship felt like, seeing as she'd never properly been in one. Sure, the odd boyfriend, but they all pushed her away after realising her obsession with mechanics.

Jack took her to Marcus Munitions, which disappointed her. "What's with the sour face?"

"Oh, nothing. I just thought we'd be going somewhere more...excessive."

"Oh, we are."

They walked down the stairs, to Marcus' till.

"Hey, Jack!" called Marcus. "My favourite customer!"

"You say that to everyone who spends money here." Jack replied. He pulled out a cigarette packet. "Want one?"

Marcus took one, lit up, and let out a long breath. "Not bad. Firemelon papers?"
This received a nod from Jack. "Now. I'd like to contact , if that's okay with you."

"Of course. For a fee." Marcus smiled, his yellow teeth hidden behind the smoke.

Jack handed him a roll of notes, and made his way into the other room, and picked up the phone. Marcus dialled in the number, and Jack waited four rings before they picked up.

"Hello? Who's speaking?"

"It's me. Put me through to Davis."

"Jack? You know I can't do that, he's in a meeting."

"Well, you can, or I can let everyone know about that little contract on the Dahl elemental's expert."

The line went silent for a second, before the reply. "Just one minute, sir."

"Contract on the Dahl's elementals expert?" Mouthed Gaige
Jack put his hand over the receiver of the phone, and whispered "A few months ago, one of the high ups at Maliwan supposedly died. His family was devastated. A week later, Dahl start pumping out top quality elemental weapons to rival Maliwan, but with higher fire rates. Turns out the slimy bastard moved in with another girl he got his leg over, and started working the same tech into Dahl weaponry. So they hired me to take him out, without alerting anyone to them being the same person."

At this moment, the president of Maliwan picked up. "Jack?"

"That'd be me. I have a proposition."

"What is it?"

"I want to visit the facility on Pandora. You can transport us from wherever, in whatever. Keep it secret if you want. But I wish to have a bit of a shop around. And in return, I drop the bill."

"That can be arranged. Pick up in half an hour from The Dust. And who is 'us'?"

"Me and my.." He looked Gaige up and down. "..girlfriend. Maliwan is her favourite brand. I would like a look at the best weapons you've produced. And I will be buying the ones with a large price tag."

"Very good, Jack. Pleasure doing business with you." The line went dead.
And Gaige stood, struggling to keep her mouth close, and her heart under control. Girlfriend?

A military ship awaited them. Being a firearms company, and one of the best, Maliwan did have a small, private army. To transport them, they had these ships awaiting them. The design was similar to a buzzard in a way, the front end being the same, but three times wider. It extended into a long, flat top, with metre long strips coming from either side, just behind the pilots seat, and close to the back. These had what looked like grills on them, projecting some gas as propulsion. There were also two of these underneath at the back end, halfway along the underside, and one under the front. The back was flat, the plate folding down and acting as a ramp. There were no windows, so there was no way that either Jack, nor Gaige, could tell where they were going.
The walked inside, responding to the pilots questioning if they were ready by calling. Jack sat down on one of the two uncomfortable benches that were attached to the wall, facing inwards, and winced slightly. He pulled off his hoodie, and folded it into a pillow, before handing it to Gaige. "Here. These seats are about as comfy as nails." Despite the mass of room, enough to fit eight on each side, and more standing or sitting on the floor, she sat as close to Jack as possible. Resting her head on his shoulder, she was happy when he placed his left arm around her shoulders. For some reason, he was incredibly comfortable. He wasn't rock hard muscles like Axton or Brick, though she supposed with his abilities he didn't need to be. Which was good. Unlike most girls, muscles didn't turn her on. Intelligence did. Muscles just kind of intimidated her.

They took off, the noise of the engines deafening, and she sat up placed her hands over her ears. Jack seemed unaffected.
After fourty seconds, the sound dulled to almost nothing, and she relaxed again. She regretted taking her head away, but Jack didn't seem to mind. She wondered if he meant the girlfriend comment. It was weird, falling for a guy a year and a bit younger. But the fact he was taller, and so mature, made it so much more natural.
She was so deep in thought, she hadn't noticed he'd taken his arm away. She was only disappointed for a second before he instead took her hand. She suddenly bounced slightly, and grimaced. Even through the hoodie, the seat was uncomfortable. She squeezed Jack's hand accidentally, and he gave a soft, much gentler squeeze back. She was grateful for it, and smiled a little.

"What's got you smiling?"

He was looking right at her, and she blushed a little. When did she turn into such a shy person? She was acting like a schoolgirl. "Nothing, nothing. Just..you."

He smiled in response. "You know, you do look incredible today. And the smiles cute."

He kissed her cheek, and she felt the heat in her cheeks. He laughed. "And that. That's cute too."

She wanted to say something, but he kissed her cheek gently, and leant back. She was planning to kiss him back, but the noise started again, and she felt the ship descending. It had only been about ten minutes, but it felt like seconds. They landed, and the door folded down, revealing a smartly dressed man in a black suit. His hair was slicked-back, black, clearly dyed from the amount of wrinkles that lined his face. He waved his two armoured bodyguards from his side. "I assume I don't need them around while you're here Jack?"

"Of course not, Mr. Davis. You know as well as I do, if I wanted you dead..."

"I would be already." Finished Mr. Davis, laughing. "And your girlfriend?"

Jack introduced her, then took her hand and walked her down the ramp. "Quite a catch there, Jack."

"You have no idea, Mr. Davis." He replied.

"Now." He waved to his facility. "Would you like a tour?

"How do you think Gaige is getting on?"Maya, Lilith, Axton and Mordecai were sat in the living room, eating leftover pizza.

"Why? Where's she gone?"

Lilith replied. "I'm sure it's going fine. He's a sweet kid. But these two don't know."

"Don't know what?" Axton hated being left out.

"Don't worry." Maya giggled. Some people were so clueless.

"Well guys, it's been great, and I'll be back later for drinks?" He aimed this at Axton, who nodded. Salvador was at Zed's, the cure having finally fixed him up to near normal, and he'd most likely be joining them later. "But I gotta go check on Bloodwing Junior."

"Bloodwing Junior?" Maya asked. "Has it hatched?"

"Nah señora, just thought the name would be appropriate for when it does."

"Fair enough Mordie. Catch you later."

"Ciao" He got up, and left towards the fast travel station.

"HEY SLABS?"

"Oh dammit, what is it now?" Maya groaned. Unlike Axton, she'd left it an hour before heading up and laying down, and she'd only just rested her head on the pillow. She got up, opened the door, and nearly walked in Axton.

"What's he want?"

"No clue."

The both walked down the stairs, to find Brick in the doorway. "Slabs! Who fancies smashing some bandit skulls?"

They both shrugged and walked with him to the fast travel station. Nothing much else going on today.