Jack woke up in a strange room. He almost didn't recognise it, with its spotless white ceiling. It was a good ten minutes before he decided to move. His head was pounding, his muscles were weak, and he desperately needed a drink. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck.
After he realised the pain wasn't subsiding, he turned his head to the right. He suddenly recognised the room, with the medical equipment scattered over various shelves. It was obviously the tidying of Dr Zed, who's idea of a clean was piling up objects and a pressure washer. The next thing to hit him, besides how much it hurt to move, was that Gaige was asleep next to him. She was sat on a chair, with her top half slumped down on the space next to him that was left on the bed.
He tapped her on the head gently, taking a further two minutes for his muscles to react and move to his will. His teeth were crushing in his mouth, the pain making him grit them forcefully. When he'd finally managed to make contact, she began moving. "Huh?" As she stirred, raising her head and looking into his eyes, it looked as if a light had been turned on. "Jack!" She screamed, tears beginning to form, and a smile landing on her face instantly.
Dr Zed rushed in the room, and pulled her back from hugging him. "Wait no, lil lady. He's gonna be in a hole heap of pain already" She looked pissed, but she let it lie. "Now, could you grab an insta-health out of the vendor? It'll see you rolling!" He looked pleased with himself, then raised an eyebrow. "No? Ah, Marcus had a go to, just had to try. Now, hand that here." He took the cap off, and slid the needle into Jack's arm, injecting the red fluid into him.
The pain instantly subsided, albeit with some of his sense. Jack felt almost drunk, but he was grateful for the pain relief. He sat up, feeling the dizzying sensation worsening for a second, and took a deep breath. Gaige gave Zed a questioning look, and he sighed, before nodding.
Gaige launched herself at Jack, wrapping her arms around him, and sobbing into his neck. She didn't say anything, couldn't She just buried herself into him, taking in the feel of his skin, the rhythm of his breathing.
"Woah, woah, woah. What's up?" Jack asked, seemingly puzzled.
"I thought I'd lost you." Gaige said, in between deep breaths.
"Hey, never cry over me." It took effort to move his arm, but he managed. Breaking the embrace, he held her chin with his thumb and index finger. "If something happens to me, you move on. I will never want you to waste your life worrying." Gaige nodded her head, even though she clearly didn't mean it. "Hey, Doc. Can I go now?"
"Well, I'd rather I could patch you up a bit better. But what the hell, go on then."
Gaige helped him up, and supported some of his weight as he hobbled to HQ.
"Well, I'll be damned." Axton had always considered himself a tough guy, what with the being able to handle five bandits simultaneously. But coming out of a Hyperion trap single handed?
"You're walking already!"
"How long has it been?" asked Jack, rubbing his head.
"A week." answered Lilith, poking her head through the living room doorway.
"Ouch. Sorry guys."
"Sorry?" Laughed Maya, getting up from the sofa. "You saved our skins, then apologise? I don't get you kid." She helped Gaige move him to the sofa.
"Actually guys.." he said, sitting up. "I wanted to get a shower." He stood, one arm leaning on the sofa. He walked for the bathroom, keeping on hand to the wall.
"Why?" asked Salvador. "You haven't started stinking yet."
"If I've been out a week, it's been a week and two days since I've showered. I need one."
"He can barely stand up..." Maya whispered to Gaige. "Why don't you help him?"
Gaige turned red. "Help him shower?"
"Oh come on, don't tell me you two still haven't...Oh my God, you actually haven't! Oh, well then." Maya walked off, leaving Gaige looking like a tomato.
Jack just managed to have a shower, letting the warm water wash over him. It stung his cuts, but it wasn't too bad. Towelling off, he remembered he'd forgotten to grab some clothes. Normally, he'd just digistruct someone, similar to what he had on. But right now he wasn't in any state to use any of his abilities, so he opened the door. "Gaige?" Gaige came to the door, and noticed he was naked but for the towel around his waist. "I hate to ask you, but could you grab my clothes for me? I have some spares under the top of my bed.." Gaige nodded. "Thanks." He smiled.
A minute later, Gaige came down, and passed him the clothes through the bathroom door. He slid them on. A pair of fading blue jeans and a plain black shirt. He towelled his hair of a bit, the moisture making the top ruffled, and left the bathroom. Gaige was sat, alone, in the chair. Jack plonked himself down on the sofa, and leaned back. He smiled at Gaige. "Thanks gorgeous, you're a life saver."
"I'm a life saver? You just took a week to recover because you saved our lives, and I'm a life saver for bringing you clothes?" She got up and sat on the sofa, next to Jack.
"Well, that. And that the one reason I had to keep going was to see your beautiful smile again." He kissed her neck, and she felt her face warm. His lips brushed gently up, every skin cell coming alive with his touch. He repositioned himself, and gently touched his lips against hers. She couldn't hold it anymore, and forced hers to meet his, kissing him passionately. Their lips melded together, and she finally felt the relief she had been seeking. He was home. He was finally home. And he was hers.
"Guys, we need to..er.." Lilith walked into the door. Her eyes flicked around, looking anywhere but to the moment she'd just ruined. "Sorry. I didn't mean to..uh.."
"Don't worry about it." Jack laughed. "So, what do we need to do?"
"Right." Lilith snapped back out of the state of embarrassment she was in. "We need to find somewhere for Dr. Mallard to stay. Apparently, she released the animals into the wild after the Son of Mothrakk was killed, so there isn't any reason for her to stay there any longer. She's been staying here, but she needs a permanent place."
Jack looked thoughtful for a second. "People are upping and outing of Sanctuary a lot recently. Since Handsome Jack's gone down, people don't need the protection of Sanctuary any more. Even if other people have come in and bought up the houses, someone else is gonna leave sooner or later. We just have to keep an eye out for people looking to leave, and she can live there."
"And what until then?"
"Oh come on." Jack rolled his eyes. "You girls have plenty of room up there. If you need an extra bed, take mine, I'll have the couch. It ain't gonna be a mass of trouble for you guys keeping her up for a little while." Lilith agreed, as did Gaige, albeit grudgingly. Since their first meeting, she'd disliked the woman. She guessed she just needed to make it clear Jack was taken. "So where is she?" he asked.
"Upstairs." replied Lilith. "She was upset about you too. She's catching up on her sleep."
"Fair play." replied Jack. Gaige was glad he didn't suggest waking her. She wanted him to herself for a while. "Anyway. I'm starving."
"Well duh, you can't have eaten in over a week. Why didn't you get something sooner?"
"I had..er..something I wanted to do first." He looked at Gaige, and they both blushed slightly. It was weird, seeing Jack blush, but it happened to everyone. "Anyway. Anyone up for going to Moxxi's? I could hit some pizza hard."
Everyone agreed, save Salvador and Mordecai, who had already brought beer with them and wanted to stay inside. Axton was thinking of joining them, but if he'd been in the same position as Jack, he knew he'd want people to come, so he followed them all out the door.
The Pandoran sun was low in the sky, the dark starting to creep around the edges of the horizon. They took the two booths closest to the door, to spare Jack the little bit of distance. Flopping down onto the seat, Jack leant his head back, and sighed. The insta-health had begun wearing off, and though it was less of a pain to move, he still felt like he'd been hit by a sprinting bullymong.
"Hey, sugar." Moxxi walked up to the booth, placing a hand on his shoulder. He winced slightly, but she didn't seem to notice. What can I get you?"
Jack asked for a stinger to go with his pizza. The high alcohol content that developed from the treatment of the stinging cactus' liquids would hopefully dull the pain a little. Everyone else got rakk ale, relaxing for the first time in days. Jack was sat on one seat, over the table from Gaige, with Lilith and Maya sitting opposite Axton across from them. Moxxi got the drinks, and sat down next to Jack, to the surprise of the others, and the annoyance of the other customers. "Bar's closed for a bit, boys." she called. Looking at Jack, she asked "So, where have you been, sugar? I thought you'd come visit me, it gets so lonely." She winked and nudged him, before taking down a gulp of ale.
"He was at Zed's." Gaige interjected. "He was trapped in a Hyperion ambush for two days."
"Ooh, I like a man who's brave." Then, she seemed to notice the several cuts that decorated his body. "Ouch. Hope you gave them a beating."
"Yeah, I did."
"How did you actually get out?" asked Axton, intrigued. He thought his escape from Nine-Toes' pit had been impressive, but a sealed room with a bunch of loaders and little cover was something he'd hate to face.
Jack shrugged. "Luck."
"Oh, come on. I remember that little acrobatic act at the Atlas store. You can't put it down to luck."
"Well, I suppose. I can't really remember. I just remember machine parts everywhere." He stared at his drink for a while, as if it held every answer he'd ever searched for. Then, he shrugged. "That's it. I just can't remember." Everyone was a bit frustrated by this, but not surprised. When you're running on adrenaline, it sometimes get's hard to focus on your actions.
Axton looked put out, but Moxxi seemed indifferent. "Well sugar, as long as you gave them a spanking." She drew out the word 'spanking', making the silence oddly awkward as she always did. "Anyway," she drained the rest of her drink. "The customers are getting rowdy. Not that I don't like a bit of aggression." She winked at Axton, and walked off.
As they were chatting, discussing what missions they could take, and how to avoid another ambush, Dr. Mallard walked in. "Uh, hey." She rubbed her head, pushing her obviously just-washed hair away from her face. Axton had to admit, after she'd washed up a bit and changed into some clothes she'd borrowed from Maya, she did look quite attractive. The blue top hugged her figure, showing off her curves and ample breasts. Her black jeans were also tight. It didn't leave much to the imagination, but any man who complained most likely swung the other way. Her eyes lit up as she saw Jack. "You're alright!" She ran and wrapped her arms round him, holding him for a while. "Oh god, I was worried you'd die! Thank you so much!"
"No problem." Laughed Jack, letting go of her. "Glad to see you're doing alright. Didn't get hurt by the loaders?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm alright. They didn't do anything too bad, just a few bruises."
"Good" replied Jack, smiling. "Want a drink?"
She nodded, sitting down. "Mordecai and Salvador left to go back to Mordecai's. Sounds like they already ran out of booze."
Jack called for a glass of water for himself, and a rakk ale for Chloe. She sniffed the bottle uncertainly, but took a healthy gulp nonetheless. "So, sweetcheeks." He glanced at Lilith. "Do we have any new missions?"
She nodded her head. "How did you know? I was going to keep it until tomorrow, but yes."
Every looked her way, intrigued. "Okay, come on, tell us." Axton was like a pleading six year old.
"Yeah, come on Lil, sooner the better."
Lilith sighed. "Fine. Well, here's the gist of it..."