The Vault Hunters were not in the best of moods, well except for two of them. The original four were taking Aurai back to the Fast Travel Station to get her to the Crimson Falcon. The main problem was that the only available one was the one in the middle of a desert. Which was a three hour walk. With nothing but the following as conversation:

"I love you more!" chimed Aurai cutely, hugging the Titan's arm tightly.

"No I love you more!" replied Dion grinning widely, his inner child exposed. It was the definition of puppy love, helped by the fact that technically neither of them was very mature to begin with.

"No I love YOU more!"

Alan gritted his teeth, having tolerated the mushy crap he had been hearing for the last hour but had slowly been coming to a boil. The Siren and Titan were engaging in this for so long and so sincerely he wanted to vomit, but he decided to keep it inside for their sake. Unfortunately, even a holy fucking paladin could only take so much irritation.

"I love you more!"

"I love…"

"OH DEAR MOTHER MARY, SHUT THE HELL UP!" snapped Alan letting his rage out. "I'm going to fucking murder you if you keep this stupid shit up any longer! 'Oh Dion, oh Dion, where art thou Dion?' Jesus Christ shut your asses up! I'm happy for the lovely newlyweds, but your conversation tastes like fucking diabetes!"

"Hey! Shut up!" spat Paula aggravated, having listened in on the Siren and Titan's conversation. "They're just in love you stuffy Catholic, not like you know what that's like."

"No, I don't! And I don't want to find out!"

Aurai pouted quietly. "Cousin Alan is being a meanie."

"I do have a question," stated Saprus curiously. "If you two are in love, why is Aurai still roleplaying the family thing? I mean, unless incest doesn't bother either of you, in which case all the power to ya."

The Siren stuck out her tongue, still holding onto Dion. "No Grandpa Saprus, that's not it at all! You're all still my family, so I'll call you that."

She hugged the Titan tightly, almost clinging to him. "But Dion is my Honey Bunches of Cuddle Muffins and I love him!"

"Honey Bunches of Cuddle Muffins?" repeated Alan snickering. Then he burst into laughter, holding his gut to keep himself from exploding.

Then Paula smacked him in the head, stunning him and nearly knocking him out.

"Ow! What the fuck was that for?!"

"It's a pet name!" exclaimed the artist gritting her teeth. "Couples do that a lot!"

"Yeah, but Honey Bunches of Cuddle Muffins? Try to say that aloud without laughing."

[Richard McGuiness] "Honey Bunches of…bah hah, hah, hah! That's hilarious!"

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Ugh, brute. You don't know the complexities of love."

[Richard McGuiness] "I've been married three times. When am I ever going to figure out this love shit?"

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Maybe someday. You go Shipper on Deck Paula!"

"Thank you creepy pansexual announcer!" replied Paula. "Anyway, Alan, just shut the hell up."

"Ugh, fine. Damnable artists and their stupid culture."

They kept walking through the field, silence filling the local area. It was rather creepy actually, as if something was about to strike out at them without warning.

"What about Suture?" inquired Dion quietly, suddenly nervous. "What should we do about him?"

"The man has a contract with us," responded Saprus blankly. "He's one of us."

Aurai remained quiet, probably because she wanted to hear what they were going to say.

"How can you justify that?" asked the Titan angrily. "Do you even remember what that place looked like? Those surgery rooms, those cells? That's all Aurai had for ten years of her life because of Suture. How can anything he possibly say justify that?"

"Let's at least see what he does," said Saprus quietly. "I mean…it's not right to just kick him off our ship. He did help us after all."

"He didn't help Aurai," snapped Paula.

"Can a man not repent for his sins?" questioned Alan hostilely. "I was once a murdering psychopath who cared for nothing at all in this world. I was worse than what I am now."

He grasped at the cross around his throat. "But now…I see what I truly must do. I repented my old ways. Who is to say Suture hasn't done the same?"

They all stopped, someone standing in front of them. It was the last person they had anticipated to see them, so all of them stood aback.

"Suture," murmured Dion gritting his teeth.

"You have some explaining to do," spat Paula.

The surgeon stood quietly, his straw hair messy on his scalp. His shirt was still white and his jeans were still blue, but his eyes looked different. They were blank, filled with no emotion at all. When he met the Siren's eyes, he averted his, glancing at the ground nervously.

"I want to talk to him," said Aurai quietly.

The four Vault Hunters paused, but let her proceed regardless. She walked forward, her gait smooth. She had no anger in her face, nor any other emotion. It was like two mannequins were facing each other, neither of them offering any facial expressions.

She stopped, standing nearly a yard in front of him. He was taller than she was, but she showed no fear. Her eyes were harder than his, like steel.

"You came here for a reason," said the Siren blankly. "You never do things without reasons. But that contradicts why you experimented on me. You did that for fun right? For your own enjoyment?"

"…I have a reason," murmured Suture quietly. "I do…have a reason."

She narrowed her eyes. Her words began to spit poison at him, the venom in them nearly filling the air with it. "You made me suffer for ten years just because you felt like it, because it amused you, not because you had a reason. Reasons are unnecessary to you as long as you get what you want. That's all that's important right? What you want? Let me ask you Suture, have you ever once in your entire life cared about someone besides yourself?"

The surgeon looked away. "…yes."

"Liar," spat Aurai simply. "If you did, you would've treated me like a person, not some rat. You would've rescued me sooner, or at least tried to help me. And you damn sure wouldn't treat Katelyn like she's some kind of object you sick fucker!"

The last sentence stunned the surgeon, causing him to stare at her astonished. It was like she had hit home with that remark, which she noted very quickly.

"Oh, think I didn't notice? Katelyn loves you asshole, and you can't see beyond your own hedonism to see that. You're so busy with your bullshit science you can't even consider the notion that this human being you work with actually cares and respects you even though you don't. I bet it confuses the living shit out of you. Let me ask you another question: Have you ever loved someone besides yourself, ever?"

Suture looked genuinely ashamed, his head hung low. "…no."

"I knew it. You're nothing but a monster wearing a human's face, trying to impersonate something it can't understand. Only the worst monsters will lie and deceive those around them, and you're one of them. I hope you die when that hollow heart of yours turns into a black hole and finally consumes you from the inside out."

The surgeon suddenly grabbed her with his left arm, his grip strong and vice-like. With his other hand, he pulled out a pistol.

"Don't do it Suture!" snapped Dion raising his gun.

Suture looked Aurai in the eyes, before twirling the pistol in his hand and placing it in her own.

The Siren paused, then noted how the surgeon was getting onto his knees. Then, as quietly as he had done before, he grabbed her hands and gently placed them above his head, aiming the pistol directly into his skull.

"Do it," he said quietly. "I don't deserve to live for what I've done to you. I won't ask for anything from you. You can even dissect me if you want, get your revenge through hubris. I don't care anymore. It doesn't matter what happens to me anyway. I'm not fit to be alive anymore. Do it."

Aurai stood stunned, the gun shaking in her hands. Even though he had done so much to her and caused her so much suffering, yet she couldn't do it.

Suture saw her predicament and wrapped his hands around the gun, sliding his finger into the trigger with hers. "I see. You don't even want to waste your breath on me. I understand that. If that is the case, just let me do it. Pretend to do it for my sake. We both pull on three. One…two…"

BAM!

Aurai threw the gun aside, panting in disgust and revulsion. She hurriedly wiped her hands of the gunpowder, trying to get it off as fast as she could.

Suture looked at her astonished, the gun having only gone off next to his head from where she had pushed it.

"But…but why?" he asked simply. "Revenge…I thought I understood it…"

"I hated you," she said interrupting him. "I always hated you. It was the only thing that kept me alive in that tank when I powered those Vault Keys. My desire…my hate…was enough to keep me going. And yet…"

She crouched down and hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"…that's not the kind of person I want to be anymore," she said quietly. "That side of me scares me. I don't want to live my life full of hate and suffering because of it. I want to move on and become happy again. So to help with that…I forgive you Doctor Suture."

The surgeon was utterly stunned, no words coming onto his lips. Then he began to cry softly, the guilt finally lifting off his shoulders. He didn't hug her back, but he didn't turn away like he normally would.

"Thank you…" he whispered gratefully, still not able to move. "But…what you said…"

"It was out of hate," protested the Siren gently. "I did not mean it. Despite what I said, I know deep inside you are struggling. You hate yourself for what you did; I saw it every second I was with you back on the ship. You tried to hide it, but I saw it. A monster can't feel guilt or shame, but you do. I wanted to see if you truly wanted to be forgiven, and you convinced me. I can't hate someone for hurting me if they feel genuine guilt for it. It's not in my character."

Suture paused, processing what she said slowly. "…I see."

Paula came running over, tears flowing freely down her face. She hugged the two of them tightly, showing her inner passion rather brazenly. "Oh my God this is so cute! An all-loving heroine forgiving her long-time enemy! I should paint this moment in a picture but I'm just so overwhelemed by how awesome it is I…"

Alan threw her away from them, his eyes narrowed. "Damn it woman stop interfering with the tender dramatic moments! I actually liked watching them!"

[Richard McGuiness] "Second the motion! Kick that bitch off the show!"

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "We're fictional characters you idiot. We can't boot someone off our show if we don't write the script."

[Richard McGuiness] "Damn it!"

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Besides, I thought you didn't like the dramatic shit you testosterone pumping Neanderthal."

[Richard McGuiness] "Hey! That isn't a fair assumption! A man can be as dramatic as he wants to be! Just like the principle that men can cry, men can like dramatic scenes as well!"

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "I thought the parable is men don't cry."

[Richard McGuiness] "Boys don't cry. Men cry."

"Well now that this tender moment has been completely obliterated, shall we go home?" inquired Saprus sarcastically. "I bet Katelyn's practically had a meltdown waiting for you."

"Oh that's right!" yelled Aurai bopping to her feet excitedly. "Mommy's waiting for me!"

She looked down at Suture and saw how he was still beating himself up internally. She smiled and extended a hand.

"Come on! She's waiting for you too Suture!" chimed the Siren friendly.

He glanced at her surprised. "But…"

She wagged her finger at him, turning to a sterner tone of voice. "Now don't go acting guilty all over again. I forgave you, so there's no point in sitting there with such a heavy weight on your shoulders. You can't see the horizon if you're staring at the ground. So come on, get up."

The surgeon looked at her offered hand, her genuine smile, then back to her hand. He offered a small smile of his own, grasping her hand firmly.

"Of course…and thank you Aurai."


[Richard McGuiness] "Welcome to the Question and Answer portion of the chapter, which we decided to add due to how fucking complex this entire story can get at times."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Complex for you maybe. I'm pretty okay save for a few things."

[Richard McGuiness] "Well not everyone went to fucking Yale ya doucheblender. Okay, first question from damla22.02, paraphrased since it technically wasn't a question. "I don't understand Masher at all he is psychologically fucked up". Well congratulations. You completely summarized Masher in a single sentence."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Yeah that one is totally true. Masher is the most fucked up person I think we've ever had in any story made by our producer. But do we got a Freudian excuse or anything?"

[Richard McGuiness] "Well let's see here: troubled childhood caused by an abusive mother, zealous older brother instincts, misogynistic attitude that puts fucking Indians to shame, the customer support ones not the pipe-smoking ones, and he's a bisexual whose only heterosexual interests border on rape. I'd say we went a little over-the-top when we made him. Though when you think about it, Masher is just a simple hedonist. He loves fighting, so he does anything he can to piss others off. The insults, the rape, the threats, it's all an act for him to get someone to fight him. It's still disturbing to watch."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "I don't know. John and Jane are pretty messed up, despite how cute they are. Let me read their psych report: participated in snuff films, do not Google that, from an early age by their own parents participating, developed incestuous habits because of those films, gain sexual gratification from violence in every sense, as well as having elements of BDSM sprinkled in just for the squick value. All the more to make them cuter in my eyes."

[Richard McGuiness] "You are a revolting pansexual who has completely destroyed my views on that class of sexual orientation."

"And you are an alcoholic brute who can't even count the single-digit IQ points you possess on your fingers."

[Richard McGuiness] "Why you! Get over here!"

*a brief fight ensues, which cannot really be vocalized due to human limitations on hearing*

[Richard McGuiness] *panting* "Let's call it a draw."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Fair enough."

[Richard McGuiness] "I love you man. No homo."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "I love you too. Homo."

[Richard McGuiness] "Fine, whatever. I'm kinda flattered by it actually."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Well now that the unpleasantries are over, we ask that the audience asks more questions for us to answer. Mainly since it benefits everyone and it's kinda fun."

[Richard McGuiness] "True dat. See ya later assholes!"