AN: Hello everyone! Here is another chapter, a lily's early too! I'm pretty ahead with the writing, and I hope to be done the story soon :) I wanted to ask, would anyone be interested in doing a sequel to this based around the events of BL3? OBVIOUSLY I would change that storyline up quite a bit to avoid what happened. Drop some reviews and let me know what ya think, anywho, here's chapter 12!

Chapter 12: Wilhelm

Elpis? When did Lilith go there? Maya had no time to feel bad about her not asking about Lilith's past, for the trembling train car suddenly launched in their direction.

Maya dove to the right into the dirt, while Lilith phased away before the train car could crush them. It landed with a loud crash, kicking up dust and rocks that began hailing on them. Maya squinted through the cloud of dirt that hung over them, there was something over there where the train car had once sat. Something huge. She spotted some small ice hills ahead of where she lay and she ran for cover. "Lilith!" she shouted, and the red head phased back beside her.

"It's a trap! The vault key's not on the train, abort the mission. Lilith you know what happened, you can't beat Wilhelm!" Roland's voice crackled frantically.

"Wilhelm nearly killed us all back in New Haven without taking a scratch. If things get bad here Maya, we need to run!" Lilith instructed.

But Maya wasn't going to run. She was filled with a fiery determination she hadn't felt in a long time. Her powers were coursing through her and she felt her energy renew. She didn't even feel the bitter cold. Too long had she felt like that scared little girl, always on the run, always on the defense. She was ready to be the offense, and Wilhelm was her lucky victim.

She stood from the cover, Lilith attempting to grab at her but missing as Maya had already started to walk into the clearing. "Maya!" she hissed. "Get the fuck back here!" Lilith let out a frustrated grunt and phased, presumably to the clearing but Maya didn't see her.

She could tell Wilhelm would be a challenge He appeared to be some sort of large cyborg, standing nearly 15 feet tall. She could see he still had a human face, and his arms were somehow built into extended mechanical ones. The robot was a dirty yellow color except for the crimson turret that sat upon his massive shoulder. His face was scarred and ugly, a black and white shaggy beard covering the lower half of his face with hair to match. His eye was either missing or replaced with some sort of glowing red device. The red eyeball swiveled round flashing, before honing in on her. With a puff of steam he took off in a full sprint towards her, his giant metal feet slamming into the snow.

She put him in a powerful phaselock, and unsheathed a corrosive shotgun. She knew the elemental effects would do a good deal of damage on the machine. Her blue tattoos glowing, her eyes a hardened steel, she began firing the shotgun. Slugs pelted him all through his metal body and the acid began eating at the metal, causing an audibly sizzle. Lilith had phased in behind him and she too began shooting him. She seemed to be shooting him with a shock weapon, aiming for his head to cause some critical damage. She could see Maya was fighting to hold up her phaselock, so she yelled to her. "MAYA! LET HIM GO AND TAKE COVER!" Maya looked unsure, she continued holding him up with a trembling hand, the other struggling to aim the shotgun. Sweat starting to break out over her body.

"TRUST ME I HAVE A PLAN!"

Maya knew she didn't have a choice, she had held him as long as she could. She ran for the cover behind a wall of ice while simultaneously ending her phaselock. She would need to take cover and recharge her strength, but she kept her eyes on Lilith.

Wilhelm came crashing to the ground, He groaned and rolled over, slowly pushing himself up to a standing position. Shockingly, he began to laugh. "IVE FOUGHT VAULT HUNTERS BEFORE!" He boomed.

He turned to face Lilith, "I remember you, you little shit!"

He suddenly leapt through the air, landing to the ground in front if Lilith with a tremendous slam. The earth kicked up and trembled, a large crack breaking it's way up to Lilith's feet and sending her in the air. Maya's heart nearly stopped, but Lilith phased mid air to reappear at Wilhelm's back. She unclipped a sticky grenade, hurling it at him. It landed directly in the middle of his back, letting out a loud beepbeepbeepbeep before it exploded, sending him face first into an Ice shelf lining the perimeter.

"AAAAAGHHHHH!" he screamed. He was now smoking and had less than half his health remaining, Maya was sure. As he struggled to get up, Maya jumped from her cover and began shooting the shotgun at him once more, hitting him with a few criticals causing him to collapse to the ground again. Lilith too was spraying him down with her SMG, aiming as many headshots as she could. We're gonna do this!

On all fours he pushed himself off the ground, once again leaping through the air. Lilith phased again just before he landed to her, narrowly dodging his large metal feet. There was fury etched on his face as he whirled around searching for her. She once again appeared behind him, attempting to shoot him in the head from behind. As he turned to face her, Maya jumped from her cover ready to phaselock him-

But his turret. The fucking eyesore of a turret mounted to his shoulder, he hadn't used it the whole fight. She fucked up and didn't pay attention to it. Neither if them did. A bloody great turret just forgotten.

And Lilith couldn't phase fast enough.

Maya watched with horror as one of the large projectiles ripped a hole in Liliths abdomen. There was a look of shock on Lilith's face, before it twisted into pain and blood began to pulse from her midsection and out of her mouth. She crumpled, writhing around in the dirt which was slowly turning nearly black with thick blood.

"NO! LILITH!" Maya screamed. She had to get to her, but she couldn't. She had to stop Wilhelm somehow first, or they would both be dead. It was up to her.

Think Maya think! Wilhelm had turned from Lilith now, and was starting in Maya's direction. She phaselocked him before he could start his turret, and unclipped 2 of her grenades, lobbing them in his direction.

"AAAAARERRGGGH FUCK!" He bellowed. The grenades had a corrosive element, and they began to eat most of his body away. The blast of the grenades broke the phaselock, and he lay face first in the dirt, coughing and sputtering. She knew he must be near death by now. He tried to stand up, but his metallic arm gave way and broke off. There was the hiss of metal being eaten away as she approached him. The turret too had melted, and was now just the vague shape of a gun full of holes and sludge.

She kicked off the remains of the turret when she got to him. She then kicked him till he rolled over to his back. His face was a ghastly sight, the acid had eaten most of it away, all that remained was an ugly smoking skull, his good eye was bulging and frantic.

She put her foot on his throat and pressed, causing fresh acidic foam to spew from his mouth. He garbled and choked out , "Hyperion…agh…will win in the end…ahhhgggh-youre all fucked!"

Maya pulled out of her shotgun, placing it directly to his forehead. "Looks like you picked the wrong side Wilhelm," and she pulled the trigger.

His head exploded with a satisfying splat, brain matter and blood painted the dirt below him. There was now nothing recognizable of the great Wilhelm.

She had no time to revel in such victories. "LILITH!" she screamed, her breathing frantic as she sprinted towards the red haired Siren who now lay motionless in the dirt. She skidded to a stop and went to her knees assessing the damage. Lilith's breathing was shallow, and she was sputtering up dark blood from her mouth. "M-Maya…" she said softly.

"Shhh Lilith, hold on!" What the fuck do I do? She had an idea, she never tried it but Lilith was steadily losing a great amount of blood and she knew she had to act fast.

She held her hands over the large wound in her abdomen, and began to create a phaselock on the isolated area.

"AAAAAAGGGHHHHH!" Lilith shrieked in pain, as Maya began constricting her organs and muscle tissue in the area, effectively holding the wound closed and stopping the bleeding momentarily. "I know Lilith, I'm so sorry, it will be over soon! Just stay with me, I'm going to get you out of here!" Maya's eyes shone with unshed tears at the pain of her Siren. While her one hand was used to maintain the phaselock holding together Lilith's stomach, the other went to her backpack pulling out a health booster.

"FUCK IT HURTS SO BAD MAYAAA!" Lilith screamed. She was pale as a ghost and a cold sweat had broken over her.

"I know baby hold on," she jammed the health booster into her leg followed by a second one. She looked to the wound, which was slowly closing over, her skin slowly rebuilding itself before her eyes. She released the phaselock once she was sure the bleeding had stopped. Lilith let out a grunt of pain and began to take a few deep breaths. She looked sickly, the color still had not returned. Maya needed to get her to Dr. Zed, she had lost too much blood and wouldn't survive if she didn't get a transfusion. "Maya, I don't think-"

"Don't say anything Lilith, I'm taking you home, Come on, there we go, it's okay," Maya hushed soothingly, hoisting her over her shoulders. Lilith didn't respond, and Maya could only hope that she had just passed out. She ran to the Fast Travel station nearby and punched in Sanctuary's location.

"Wait!" came Angel's voice. "Wilhelm dropped a power core, and my sensors tell me it's one of a kind. Bring it back to Roland." Maya spotted it a few feet away and dashed for it, tucking it safe in her bag.

"Maya!" shouted Roland on the Echo. "Is Lilith okay? What's her condition?"

Maya swallowed a lump in her throat, "I-Im not sure. I have to get her to Zeds Roland. Like now."

"Okay I'll go to Dr. Zed and let him know and Axton's on his way to meet you at the fast travel here in Sanctuary. Hurry!"

She was already sprinting for the fast travel network, her heart in her throat.

Hold on Lilith.

They were reconstructed back in Sanctuary, Maya all but fell into Axton's arms. He helped her hoist Lilith off her shoulders, taking her into his arms so Maya could rest. She was bloodied and bruised, and sure she must've had a few cracked ribs, but the adrenaline pumping in her veins wouldn't allow her to slow.

"Come on! We gotta get to Dr. Zed NOW!"

Together they ran through the streets until they reach Dr. Zed's/Lilith's building where Axton kicked the door open and rushed inside. The doctor and Roland were already awaiting there arrival. Inside Dr. Zeds clinic there were four beds, two of them bloody. The lights were dim and flickering creating an ominous atmosphere, but appearances aside Dr. Zed was damn good at what he did.

He was already scrubbed up standing by a bed, his dark eyes hard. He had salt and pepper hair slicked back, and was slipping on a pair of gloves as they entered. "Alright now go ahead and lay her here," he said in his calm, smooth voice.

Axton placed her gently on the bed and Dr. Zed began looking her over. He pulled the tattered remains of her shirt up revealing the now small wound. "She get shot?"

"Yes," Maya said quickly. "I was able to stop the bleeding and heal the wound but it was too late, she lost a lot of blood." God Lilith please be okay!

She could barely keep from pacing as Dr. Zed felt her pulse. "she's alive but barely," he stated matter of factly. "pulse is weaker than a skag pup, she needs blood that's for sure." He turned to Maya, "You're a Siren ain't ya? Best be your blood, see if we give her blood from someone who isnt a Siren she would probably lose a good amount of her power, maybe even entirely."

Maya was already nodding furiously, "YES let's do it now, please!"

"Okay then, hop up here. She's gonna need a decent amount, you'll probably be a little woozy and tired afterwards but no worries, you'll be fine in a day. She will probably need a good week maybe before she recovers completely."

He hooked her up to an IV, and began filling a bag with her blood. She watched as the red liquid filled it quickly, but it wasn't quick enough. She didn't know what she would do without Lilith. Now that she has her, she never really pictured life without her. The fight wasn't over, this couldn't be the end.

Dr. Zed withdrew the IV once satisfied and detached the bag, quickly hooking Lilith up and feeding her veins the Siren blood. The room was silent for a moment. "That's all we can do for now." Dr. Zed stated. "Let's keep her here overnight so I can monitor her, then she can probably go back up to her room sometime tomorrow since it's just upstairs."

Maya went to Lilith's bedside, taking one of her cold hands into both her own and pressing her lips to it. It was like ice, it was unusual because Lilith was always so warm. The cold didn't suit her.

She let a single tear fall before wiping her eyes furiously. She felt a hand on her should and turned around to face Axton. He engulfed her in a tight embrace. He rubbed soothing circles into her back, whispering in her ear "Its going to be alright Maya. Lilith will be fine I know it, and it's all thanks to you. You did awesome out there."

She nodded into his chest and stepped back. "I guess I should fill you guys in on what happened," she said.

Roland nodded. "Yes, were gonna need to take a look at that power core as well. It might be of some use in the future. And Maya, I gotta say, well done on defeating Wilhelm. That was something none of us could ever achieve, your power really knows no bounds. Thank you."

Maya blushed at his words. "Let's go to the war room," she said standing up. The sooner she got this brief over the sooner she could return to Lilith's side. There was no way she was going to leave her alone tonight.

They reached the war room. Mordecai had already arrived and was sitting at the table with a beer. Everyone else grabbed a seat as well. Maya began to explain the events that happened on Tundra Express, leading up to the near-death of Lilith and the discovery of the power core.

Roland studied it carefully. "Well, we may not have found the vault key, but at least Sanctuary will be safe a little longer. The one you got from Reese only has a week left, tops."

Suddenly, Roland's echo started to crackle. He picked it up, adjusting the volume and held a finger to his lips. A dark voice came through, "wooooow bravo, champagne, cheers, high five! Slooooow clap. You got the damn power core didn't ya? You've been warned, the kid gloves are coming off, tighten up the big boy pants cause things are gonna get really REALLY bad for you vault hunters," came the sarcastic voice of Handsome Jack. The echo went silent.

"Well that doesn't sound good." Axton remarked.

Mordecai sighed, "Sorry about the bad Intel everybody, I really thought the vault key would be on that train. I'll make it all up to you later, and tonight beers on me."

Maya felt a flare of anger. It was true, if it hadn't been for Mordecai's bad Intel they never would have been put in this situation and Lilith never would have been so gravely injured. She knew he had good intentions, but she was bitter regardless.

"I'm not drinking tonight " she said shortly. "Are we through here?"

Roland nodded. "Take tonight and tomorrow to rest, we can regroup the day after that and come up with a plan."

Maya started for the door, fully intending to return to Lilith's side, shower and sleep be damned, but a gentle hand on her arm stopped her. She whirled around to face Roland.

"Maya, I…I can't thank you enough. Your quick thinking back there saved Lilith's life, and not that long ago you saved mine as well. I'm sure this whole mess wasn't what you had in mind when you came to Pandora, and you and Axton choosing to help a group of strangers…not a lot of people would have done the same. I can tell you care about Lilith deeply, and she for you. It was wrong of me, the way I acted. Lilith was just the first thing I experienced that wasn't tied to work, and it was a good feeling. I guess I just didn't want to let go of that...but I see now that I was wrong. Lilith and I were never meant to be. After seeing the two of you together, it was always meant to be you. I will be apologizing to Lilith once she's well of course, but for now I want to apologize to you."

It was the most human she had ever seen of the soldier as of yet. She was stunned, but thankful. Roland was a good guy and a wicked good ally despite his minor shortcomings. Besides, everyone has their flaws. Roland had come forward and admitted his, and expressed his remorse, and for that he had Maya's respect.

"Wow, thank you Roland, you have no idea how much that means to me. I always want what's best for us, for all of us. Axton and I are more than willing to help any way we can. And…as for Lilith…I do care deeply for her. I will always look out of her best interests."

Roland nodded, smiling. "Then you better go to her, vault hunter."

Maya smiled back before turning and heading through the door, his words followed her to Dr. Zeds.

It was always meant to be you.