"Alright...I see one. Red mohawk. Orange pants. Sitting on the barrel." Axton said, staring down the scope of his Dahl sniper rifle.
"They all have orange pants, Axton." Maya said, peering down at the same bandit camp through the scope of her Maliwan rifle.
"Nuh-uh. That one with the fire axe's got brown pants."
"I think that's mud."
"I think his pants are just brown."
"Just take the shot already. I want to see how bad you mess this up." Maya elbowed Axton, trying to throw off his aim, a smirk plastered across her face.
"Will you quit it? You keep doing that, I'm gonna miss." he said, shooing her off.
"That's the point."
"Cut it out." he said, his brow furrowed in concentration.
She faked a yawn. "This is taking too long, I'm getting tired."
A loud crack sounded throughout Frostburn Canyon. The pair watched as Axton's bullet tore through the psycho's hand and the can of soda he was drinking. He screamed in pain, falling to the ground as his wrist spurted blood.
"Okay, okay. That was mediocre." Maya said, flashing him a grin. "My turn. Let's see...big guy, he's got a weird looking gun, has some gas canisters on his belt. Wearing a mask with a bunch of nails sticking out of it."
"I see him. Go for it." Axton said. Maya took a breath, lining up her shot, when Axton slapped her rifle barrel to the side. "Don't miss!"
Maya pulled away from her scope, shooting him a glare. He just gave her that impish grin of his.
"Don't dish out what you can't take." he said innocently.
She frowned, putting her eye to the scope again. The bandits were alert now, accusing each other of shooting the psycho. Suddenly, the big bruiser's gas canisters blew up, lighting him on fire. The bruiser screamed, instinctively pulling the trigger of his gun, lighting up three marauders next to him.
"Hah! Beat that." Maya exclaimed.
"I think I already did." Axton retorted.
"I just killed four bandits with a single shot, and you won? Right. You didn't even kill him, he's still screaming and rolling around down there." Maya replied.
"It's not about killing. It's about the best shot. Style counts. Wait-what were we even betting on again?"
"I...can't remember."
"Okay, new bet. If you win, I'll..." Axton paused. He didn't really know what to bet. "...I'll make you...dinner."
"Axton, if what you made last night on the Southern Shelf is what you call dinner, that's not much of a reward."
"Uh-uh. That's different. That was field rations, not a home-cooked meal. I'm actually not that bad of a cook, you know."
"You killed a bullymong with a fire gun and said it was done. And it was still undercooked!"
"Yeah, well, I was low on ammo. Sue me."
"Fine. But it had better be the best dinner I've ever had."
"Okay, and if I win?"
She laughed. "Not gonna happen. How about this. You tell me what you want if you win."
"A date." he said.
"A date?"
"Yeah, it'll be fun. We can just go to Deathskull McKilldeath's drive-in movie theater. I hope you like slasher flicks and finger food. And when I say finger food, I mean..."
"Oh, shut up!" she said playfully. "Fine. A date."
"You know, I wasn't being serious, but since you agreed..." he teased.
"Ugh, you're hopeless. It's your turn, by the way."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." He looked down the sights again. "I'm lookin' at...the one with the hand necklace."
"Aw, he was my next pick!"
"Cry me a river, darlin'." He switched his rifle to burst-fire mode.
He pulled the trigger, and three bullets slammed into the psycho. The first two went straight through the fingers of the severed hand on a rope the psycho wore around his neck, neatly punching through the index, ring, and pinky fingers. The last shot went clean between his eyes. The psycho fell to the ground, stone dead, his necklace flipping off the bandits around him.
"Let's see you top that one." he cheered.
"Pff, easy. Watch and-wait, did you seriously just call me 'darlin'?"
She pulled away from the scope, an unamused look on her face as she looked at him.
"Yeah. What's the big deal?"
"Don't you think that's a little objectifying?" she said.
"Maya, I'm smart enough to know that if I actually objectified you, you'd...melt my brain with lightning, or something."
"I didn't mean anything by it. It's...it's like a pet name, y'know, like 'love' or 'honey'. Like how Jakobs people say 'partner'."
"Don't do it again." she threatened.
She flashed him a friendly smile. "I'm messing with you. It's kind of adorable, actually. Like how you call your turret your girlfriend."
"I'm not adorable. I'm a badass." Axton smirked.
"Sure you are." she said, staring back down her scope. Axton's eyes lingered on her face. She's so pretty when she's killing things, he thought. "Let's see...he's got a midget on his shoulders, and he's carrying two AR's."
"Good luck. That guy looks like he eats rusty nails for breakfast." Axton said, looking back through his scope.
Maya took a deep breath in, lining up the shot and pulling the trigger. Her incendiary round shot though the air, entering the goliath's helmet through his visor slit. It ricocheted a few times, loud 'ping' sounds filling the air. Then, the helmet came off.
They both pulled away from their rifle scopes, looking at each other.
"Whoops." Maya said.
"Let's...let's get out of here. I don't wanna be around when he's done with the guys down there." Axton replied.
"Agreed."
The two Vault Hunters stood up, slowly walking backwards from the scene before taking off into a jog. They skidded to a stop when a headless midget corpse flew from behind them, splattering against the rock of the canyon wall.
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY, ASSHOLES!" they heard the enraged Goliath scream. In his enormous hands he held a nomad aloft, tearing him in two and dropping him before leaping after the pair. They were about three hundred yards away, but when running from a goliath, they might as well have been within arm's reach.
"Shit shit shit shitshitshit!" Axton said, switching to his assault rifle. He turned quickly, firing a quick burst at the enraged goliath who hurtled through the air like a vengeful comet. He landed just a few feet behind the Vault Hunters, sending a shockwave outwards from the impact crater. The enormous goliath grabbed Axton in one hand, laughing maniacally as he raised him into the air. The Commando bayoneted his arm over and over to little effect. He put the barrel of his rifle right up against the goliath's wrist, mag-dumping everything he had in an attempt to free himself. The hand relented and dropped Axton just as the other hand shot forward in a backhand. Axton had gotten lucky, he knew. That blow would have taken his head and most of his torso off. He landed in a roll, dodging and weaving as the goliath punched the ground, attempting to smash him into a pulp. Maya, for her part, had been blasting the goliath with her shock SMG, but it didn't do much besides tickle.
"Can you PLEASE DO SOMETHING, MAYA?!" Axton screamed, narrowly avoiding a punch that would have turned him into jelly. Then the goliath smacked him, sending him flying at the canyon wall. He hit the rock hard, screaming in pain. The goliath ran at his fallen form, aiming a punch for his head. Shaken but not defeated, Axton still held his rifle, blasting the goliath and disregarding the pain. The monster raised a fist, throwing a punch at the commando with murderous intent, but stopped cold. A strange purple aura enveloped the bandit.
Maya grimaced, grunting with exertion as she held the bandit at bay.
If looks could kill, Axton thought, she would have killed him and his entire immediate family with that glare.
The goliath made a noise like he was choking and suddenly his exposed skull slid even further out of his body. Axton saw neck bones, then shoulder blades, then vertebrae as Maya ripped the goliath's skeleton out of his body, nervous system attached. The Commando's eyes widened as the goliath's body slumped to the ground, little more than meat, as Maya sent the skeleton crashing into the canyon wall, shattering it into a million pieces and showering Axton with bone and gore.
Maya ran up to him, the pain just now catching up to him. He had a couple of broken ribs at the very least, and he was having trouble breathing. He'd never had a punctured lung before, but he imagined he had one now.
"Axton. Can you breathe? Talk to me." Maya said, kneeling down and resting a hand on his shoulder. Axton took fast, shallow breaths, trying to keep air in his system. His hands shook and he put them on Maya's shoulders as he gasped feebly.
Maya put a hand on his chest instinctively, and her tattoos began to glow with an almost angelic blue light. Axton saw her fingers glowing where they touched his chest. He felt his shattered ribs fix themselves, flesh re-knitting itself together. He even felt his bruises fade away.
He took in a deep breath. "Holy shit." he said, panting. "Holy shit, I almost died."
The two shared a look.
"Holy shit, since when can you do that!" he exclaimed.
"I don't know!" she replied.
He flashed her a relieved smile. "Well, I appreciate the save. But you were also the reason that I almost died in the first place, so we'll call it even."
She grinned back. "I said I was sorry."
"Actually, you didn't. Now can you please help me up?" Axton said, offering her his hand. She took it, helping him from the ground. "Thanks, darlin'."
She giggled and he glared at her.
"It's not funny."
"It's kind of funny, Axton."
"Not really."
As she helped him stand up, he felt his legs weakening underneath him. She let him sling his arm around her shoulder, helping him walk back to their runner. Apparently, Roland had a job for them back at Sanctuary. Something about the Vault Key and Tundra Express.
"Since you almost got me killed, Maya, I think you owe me that date."
Maya looked at him, flashing him an amused smirk.
"I'd like that, Axton." she said.
That night, the pair lay next to each other on a blanket on the roof of a Sanctuary building, Maya watching with one raised eyebrow as Axton smacked a modified Echo unit, trying to get it to work.
"I swear on my life this thing works. I used it in the middle of an artillery strike! I don't know why it wouldn't work now."
"So far, this has been the worst date of my entire life, Axton." Maya said.
"But you said it was your first date ever, which would also make it the best." he replied.
"Fair point, but it still sucks."
"Will you please just give me a moment?" he said, smacking it again. Suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the modified projector on the Echo, beaming title credits up on a nearby building wall. "There. It's starting."
800 DEGREES PICTURES PRESENTS
JOHNNY WHILSHIRE IN
BLOOD WAR V: THE BLOOD IS BACK
"God, I hate action movies so much." Maya complained, a sarcastic grin on her face.
"Maybe you wouldn't hate them so much if you paid attention instead of talking the whole time." Axton replied, nudging her with his elbow.
"You've talked more than me so far." she said, elbowing him back.
"Shush!" He shoved her shoulder.
"You shush!" She shoved him back.
He smiled, playfully shoving her again. She put a hand out, trying to intercept his shove, and their hands came together. They looked at each other, their fingers entwining together. They both blushed a bit, Maya's cheeks growing noticeably redder than his. They both instinctively leaned in, their eyes closing as their lips touched for the first time.
Axton missed the way her blue lipstick tasted. He missed the warm touch of her hands when she healed a bullet wound or a broken arm. He missed the way she furrowed her brow when deciding between weapons. He missed the way her hair smelled like citrus fruit even after a gunfight. He missed the way she would lay her head on his chest and stare up at the night sky. He missed her walk, her smile, her touch, the way she snorted sometimes when she laughed. He missed the times they had gone out without the other Vault Hunters to watch movies on the roof of Crimson Raider HQ. He even missed how gorgeous she looked when she was angry.
He couldn't help but think about her as he pored over file after file, examining every scrap of info he could find. After he'd signed the contract with the Warden, he requested every bit of information about the Hieronymous Vault, its Key, and Jocasta the Siren Queen that Dahl had. Considering that they already had two Vault Key fragments, it was a lot of info.
Tannis would probably be screaming if she were here, he thought. Or crying. Or both, actually.
Despite already having most of the Key, Dahl didn't actually know where the Vault was. They'd used seismographs, Eridium detectors, everything they had, but they still hadn't found it. Luckily, Axton knew where it was. But the third piece of the Vault Key? He was totally clueless. Oh well, he thought. I'll read the rest tomorrow. Axton shut the lights off, laying in the bed of his Dahl-assigned quarters. There were guards stationed outside, he knew. More to prevent him from leaving then to prevent anyone from getting in. But he wasn't leaving. Not until he'd opened the Vault. Not until he saw her again.