Disclaimer, I own nothing. The characters presented by my story belong to Gearbox and 2K. The characters are fictional, any events that occur are purely coincidental. (IE If one day a Siren walks up to you, Phaselocks you, and shoots you, please don't sue me)

Also, this story is based on Maya. She is my favorite character and I will be writing this story in relation to how I believe she is thinking. In the interest of not plagiarizing the entire game, I will find ways to skip unimportant dialogues and go straight to my own work.

*Italicized texts are Maya's thoughts*

Chapter 28

For Her Own Good

Axton stood in front of Lilith's apartment for a long while before he got the courage to knock on her door. After a few seconds of no reply, he knocked again. Then when there was still no reply Axton knocked even louder and called out for Lilith.

Finally he heard an annoyed reply, "I'm coming! Hold your fucking horses!"

When the door opened Axton was greeted by a sloppy Lilith who had clearly just taken a bath. She was wearing loose shorts, a baggy shirt, and had a towel draped over her shoulder. Axton was surprised at how tiny she looked in the loose fitting clothing.

"Well? Are you coming in or are you just gonna stand there?" Lilith jeered.

Axton didn't realize he was staring and quickly apologized, "Oh right. Sorry."

He entered the apartment then scooted over to the couch. Axton waited for Lilith to get comfy in her armchair before he spoke, "Do you know why I'm here?"

Lilith scoffed, "I was thinking to annoy me, but since you accomplished that. No."

Axton chuckled, "Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn't know you heard me."

"Well I did, and so did the neighbor, and the guy across the street, and the bandit across Pandora in a fucking coma."

"Harsh."

"I know. So why don't we hurry up this painful conversation and you tell me what you want soldier boy."

At the mention of the name Axton's head shot up and he asked, "What did you just call me?"

"I called you soldier boy," Lilith replied, "why you got a problem with that?"

Axton smiled, "No. Not at all."

In his entire life only one other person had ever called him 'soldier boy' and here he was sitting with that person's other half. If only those two knew how perfect they were for each other.

"Hey…. Are you gonna talk or sit there smiling all night?"

Axton snickered, "As much as I would enjoy sitting here all night smiling at your ignorance, let's get straight to the point and save us both lots of time in the future."

Lilith nodded and gestured for Axton to continue.

"Stay away from Maya."

Deadly silence followed this request, Lilith and Axton just sat there glaring intently until she finally spoke.

"What?"

Axton sighed, "I know you heard me. Stay. Away. From Maya."

Lilith's teeth clenched as she raised a brow, "Is that a request? Or a threat?"

"It's whatever you want it to be lady, but I'm only telling you this once. Don't go near Maya, don't talk to Maya, hell pretend she doesn't exist for all I care."

"And what if she talks to me?"

"Ignore her," Axton replied coldly. "But know this, she's a sweet girl. She's much nicer than anyone I've met, Zer0's met, Salv's met, and especially the best that you have ever met. If you ever come near her again I will rain hell on you. I love her, she's the first family that has ever cared about me and I hate to see her hurt. So for your and her own good, stay away from her."

Axton tried to sound determined in his speech, but it was difficult. He saw how Maya looked at Lilith, it reminded him of his wife's face when they first met. That unbelievable connection of seeing the person that you know will love for the rest of your life, no matter what happens in the future. Of course he knew that Maya wasn't aware of it, but he thought Lilith should have been. Evidently not.

Nonetheless, he was already steadfast in his resolve. It was either tell Maya that she should pursue this because obviously the two have some kind of connection and risk his baby sister getting very hurt in the process or tell Lilith to back off and let things go back to the way they were before. Axton chose the latter.

Lilith never took to being told what to do well, this time was no exception. Honestly she didn't want to talk to Maya either, at least not yet, her emotions were in turmoil and she didn't need Maya complicating things further. However she was not expecting Axton's threat to be so direct.

She leaned forward from her seat and rested her elbows on her thighs, "Why would I ever hurt her?"

Axton returned the gesture in kind, his eyes unwavering from Lilith's, "The better question would be, why did you hurt her?"

Lilith's eyes dropped when she recalled what happened earlier that day, "It was a mistake. I got a little out of hand."

"A little? Your handprint is on her fucking neck you prick. And the thing I don't think you realize is that she CHOSE not to stop you. Not that she couldn't, but she didn't."

Lilith backed up into her chair again, she knew he was right. Maya's Phaselock wasn't strong but it wasn't weak either, using it to pull Lilith back wouldn't have been difficult, but why didn't she?

Seeing Lilith back off Axton continued, "You've seen her ability. Phaselocking you would not have taken a damn ounce of her energy, but she just let you do it. I don't know why, but I don't give a damn either."

An empty silence ensued as Axton maintained his hostile presence watching as Lilith lost herself in her thoughts. The tension was so palpable that they could have cut the air with a knife. Lilith leaned her head back, sighed deeply and let her voice crack through the stillness.

"No."

Axton jumped up with his fists clenched at his side, "What did you say?"

Lilith crossed her legs and looked up at Axton, "No."

"No what?"

She smiled mischievously, "No I'm not going to stop talking to Maya."

"Are you looking for a death wish?" Axton leaned in, resting his hands on the arms of the chair and hovered his face over her.

Lilith scoffed, "Are you looking for yours? Little man?"

With that Lilith Phaseshifted, Axton was taken by surprise by her power. Even though he knew she used it earlier that day, he was too busy protecting his own ass to notice what Lilith was doing. He pulled out his gun and turned around furiously, trying to find Lilith.

"Come out you fucking bitch!"

A soft voice whispered behind him, "I'm right behind you."

Axton felt a powerful wave of energy pushing him into the wall in front of him. He brought his arms up to brace himself but still felt the full brunt of the impact.

"AGH! You sly cunt, alright you wanna fight? Here, stand in front of this!"

Axton tossed out his turret which immediately locked onto Lilith and began firing. Luckily Lilith's years of being shot at have trained her instincts to avoid the bullets with ease. Not to mention the many hours of training with Roland's Sabre turret made Axton's look like a little toy.

Eventually Axton's turret digistructed back to his side failing miserably to even scratch Lilith. When the smoke finally cleared the room was in complete shambles. The furniture was blown to bits, all the decorations on the walls were scorched, and yet somehow the apartment structure itself was undamaged.

Axton chuckled, "The fuck is this house made of?"

Instantaneously, Lilith reappeared a mere arm's length in front of Axton brandishing a gun, "My turn."

She shot out his shield then charged forward giving him a swift kick to the stomach causing Axton to slump to the ground. Lilith kneeled down and lifted his head, "Sweetie you should know better than to fuck with a Siren."

Then with a snap of her fingers Lilith Phaseblasted Axton smack dab against the wall. Not letting up she grabbed his collar and began showering punches. Her mind was so clouded by anger that Lilith didn't even pause slightly when Axton stopped moving.

Tears were streaming down her face as he wailed on Axton. What made him think that he could beat her? Did he really think that she meant to hurt Maya? How would he know what she was thinking or what was best for either of them? Who the hell was he to tell her that she can't talk to Maya anymore?!

Lilith flew into a rage, her powers flooded every little ounce of logic in her mind. She was so blinded by her powers that she didn't hear the door get knocked down or even feel the person tugging at her trying to pull her off.

Without warning Lilith blacked out for a split second, then an immeasurable pain tore at her body. Lilith felt like her body was on fire, all her muscles contracted sporadically, she could barely breathe, her brain felt like it was melting, and all her worst nightmares plagued her mind. This was the most painful sensation she had ever gone through in her entire life. Everything she felt made her want to die. It seemed like an eternity before she was finally released from her prison.

Lilith landed with a thud on the ground, she was utterly drained of all the energy in her body. It took her awhile to calm her breathing and regain a small bit of her consciousness. Her eyes flitted a few times before she could keep them open long enough to make out the figure crouched over Axton.

It was Maya.

**This one took a while to pump out, school is starting to kick into full swing and it hasn't even really started yet..yikes. Now as usual I'd love to read those reviews, get some more favorites, and follows**

Random Brain EXPLOSIOOOOOON:

1) So as for the Axton pairing, I don't see him as being gay so sorry if you were looking forward to that. He's definitely getting paired with a woman, I'm just in the process of deciding which woman at the moment.

2) I am definitely bringing in Krieg soon! So if you're a Krieg fan, look forward to that!

3) Gaige I'm planning to bring into the story when we get to "A Train to Catch" and you'll see why.

4) Oh and this might be a heartbreaker for some, but Salv isn't getting a girl or a boy. He's just too badass to tie down. I'm sorry xD Although I will have an elaborate chapter on his love for his guns….and by guns I mean actual weapons. A clarification for any of you dirty people out there.