Sorry once more for how long this update took!
I've had little inspiration for these chapters until Trey shows up again. Ahh I feel awful xD
A few hours after Leesa and Mordecai fought, Leesa walked out of Mordecai's home. She was looking at the ground with her arms wrapped around herself.
"Are you okay, senorita?"
Leesa looked up to see Salvador walking up to her with Axton.
She smiled, "Yeah, I just..." Leesa pointed behind herself with her thumb, "I was just dropping something off for Mordecai... Look Axton, I'm really sorry-"
Axton held a hand up, "It's fine, Leesa. I was just angry at everything. I know it wasn't your fault."
Leesa nodded.
"I heard you and Mordecai got into a fight." Axton mentioned as Salvador grabbed onto Leesa's wrist, pulling her towards Moxxi's bar, "Do you need to talk?"
Leesa shook her head, "Nah. It was a silly fight."
"Mordecai does fight often. It was miracle with how long Moxxi and him lasted." Axton mentioned, waiting to push Leesa's buttons.
"Those two dated? I can just imagine..." Leesa laughed lightly, following Salvador and Axton.
Axton nodded and joked, "Well, the only reason they stopped seeing each other was because Moxxi started seeing Jack-"
Leesa stopped walking causing Salvador to stop.
"Oh... I'm sorry..." Axton rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Jack... Did see other people?" Leesa slowly asked.
Axton looked down, "Uh, yeah."
Leesa glanced at Moxxi's sign on the front of her bar and shook her head, "I..."
Salvador grabbed Leesa's other wrist, "Leesa, it's okay. You have us."
Axton watched on, looking right at Leesa's eyes for a sign of Icebringer. He noticed the colors of Icebringer's eyes slowly creeping over Leesa's from the corners. Halfway to the pupil, the colors receded and vanished completely.
"I need to get away from here." Leesa pulled her wrists from Salvador and walked off in a rush towards the fast travel station.
Axton rubbed his left temple, "I really fucked up didn't I?"
"No, amigo. We all thought she was over Jack."
"Salvador?"
"Si?"
"Have you ever thought... That maybe during Leesa's meditation, Icebringer came out instead of her?" Axton asked, looking around for any signs of eavesdroppers.
Salvador shook his head, "I believe in Leesa."
"Not even for one moment?"
"If she was Icebringer, we would be able to tell."
"Icebringer could have taken over Leesa so she wouldn't show her normal eyes." Axton suggested.
"What's gotten into you?" Salvador asked, concerned over Axton's accusations.
Axton paused, "N-Nothing. I'm just... I've been thinking about a lot of things."
Salvador nodded and reached up to place a hand on Axton's shoulder, "You're strong, Axton."
Axton watched Salvador walk into Moxxi's bar before whispering to himself, "I'm not..." He turned to the fast travel station and walked over to it, looking at the recorder on it to see where Leesa went to. He selected the coordinates and entered the vortex, focusing himself on his task.
oOOOOOOOOo
Zero sat at the edge of his bed, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. Maya slept beside him with her back facing him. She muttered slightly in her sleep, causing Zero to look over his shoulder at her. He smirked slightly and took off his helmet, setting it on the night table closest to him. Zero laid back down in bed and moved close behind Maya, wrapping his arm around her.
He leaned over and kissed her ear, gently pulling her back into him more.
Maya stirred slightly, her eyes opening and closing tiredly, "Mm... You're still up?"
Zero rested his face in the crook of Maya's neck, "Yeah..."
"A lot has been happening lately, huh?" Maya commented.
"Unfortunately."
"How's your chest?"
"It's steadily improving. It will scar though."
"Scars are sexy."
Zero chuckled, "Let's hope for more then."
Maya smiled and intertwined her fingers with Zero's.
"I am concerned for Axton."
"We all are, hun." Maya pulled away from Zero so she could turn over to face him.
"I would have told him about Seven if I had known he was married to her."
"We know that, too." Maya stroked Zero's face, "Life's just a little complicated right now. Axton will be okay."
"What about Brick though?"
"Come on. Brick's the toughest guy on Pandora. He'll pull through too." Maya reassured, "Now what's really bothering you?"
"What do you mean?" Zero asked.
"You're usually the one comforting me when I'm worrying. Not the other way around." Maya responded simply.
Zero sighed, "There's a lot of things emotionally compromising us and we still haven't even faced the Eridian."
"If we can all pull through these few moments, we'll be able to handle the Eridian." Maya placed a hand over Zero's heart, "We have amazing friends who are so strong in many different reasons. The Eridian doesn't stand a chance."
Zero nodded, "I apologize for being doubtful."
Maya kissed Zero softly, "It's okay... I agree that this is all tough on us right now, but we'll stick together."
"I just... I had a weird experience the other day."
Maya rose an eyebrow, "What about?"
"It was when Axton started verbally attacking Leesa. I saw... Something." Zero closed his eyes, "There was a moment where I saw a gray hand on Axton's shoulder while he was yelling. When Leesa was talking, the hand went away and only reappeared when Axton was arguing with everyone."
"Why didn't you bring it up?" Maya asked, a bit concerned.
"Zed gave me some medication before we talked to Seven. I assumed it was a side effect." Zero explained, opening his eyes to watch Maya. "But I saw it happen again. I saw an orange hand on Leesa's shoulder while she was watching us out of her window earlier today. When Mordecai appeared in the window behind Leesa, he had the gray hand on his shoulder."
"What if this isn't a side effect of anything, Zero? What if this is really important?"
"What if it's not? It may really just be the medication."
"The Eridian's hand is gray and the hands you see are gray. This may be a sign of something bigger."
Zero grabbed Maya suddenly and pulled her off the bed with him. He forced them back away from the bed and close to the bedroom wall.
Maya looked up, grabbing onto Zero's arms, "What is it?" The fear on Zero's face caused Maya to start to panic.
"The orange hand was on your shoulder."
This thing with Zero seeing hands was so last minute but I really like the idea of it playing in my head and how it enters the story later!