A/N: So it seems like where Janey and Athena's relationship went after the end of the pre-sequel might be elaborated on waaay sooner than I'd thought since Janey and Aspis (Athena's shield) were both seen in the preview for episode two of Tales From The Borderlands. Honestly, while I couldn't be happier with this news, I was sure we'd be waiting until Borderlands 3 months or years from now. Perhaps I'll just write like a maniac and finish this story before the episode gets released but we'll see. My writing speed is kind of pathetic.

The current plan is for seven or eight chapters so, with this one, consider me 25% done. Chapter two here was kind of a huge pain to write for some reason but the next one is when things start getting really fluffy so that'll be fun. Anyway, enjoy! Or don't! I'm an author's note, not a cop.

P.S: Speaking of news I couldn't be happier with, it appears Anthony Burch officially confirmed them as a couple on ask fm the other day. Celebrate with me.

Janey felt somewhat conflicted as she and Athena made the short walk from her storefront to the Up Over bar.

On the one hand she had to restrain herself from actually skipping with joy at the idea of being on something more or less like a date with the armour-clad woman but, on the other she was too worried about her to really enjoy the feeling. Janey glanced over at the girl walking beside her. Athena moved with her usual flawless, military posture but her eyes looked completely exhausted both mentally and physically. Obvious fatigue aside, she just looked…defeated. Whatever happened had clearly taken its toll on her.

As they climbed the stairs into the bar Janey let out a small sigh. She had been crushing on Athena worryingly hard since the the vault hunter had first fallen into her life from Helios and it was nice to think she might have some romantic intention but she knew the truth was Athena probably just needed someone to talk to. A drinking buddy to drown her sorrows with. It certainly wouldn't be the first girl she'd started to fall for who only really saw her as a novelty. Janey walked over to the bar and seated herself on one of the stools before noticing Athena had stopped in the building's entrance, her eyes scanning the area warily. When it seemed the gladiator was satisfied nothing was waiting to leap out at her she looked to Janey who smiled back and patted the stool next to her. Her own feelings were what they were but if a friend was what Athena needed right now then that was what she would be.

Athena seemed to hesitate and, for a moment, Janey thought she looked about ready to turn and run back out the door. Thankfully, her body seemed to relax slightly and she released her grip on the sword at her waist moving across the room and taking a seat next to the taller woman.

"So what's your poison, then?" Janey asked cheerfully. "The saviour of Elpis gets whatever she wants!"

The gladiator reached up to pull her hood back and Janey immediately wondered if refraining from showering her in lame pick-up lines and compliments would be as easy as she had thought a minute ago. She was pretty. Son of a taint she was pretty. Her short black hair was messy, there were dark circles under her eyes and her face was lightly smudged with dirt but somehow it all only made her look more…wait a minute, was she talking? Damnit, Springs! Stop staring at her like an idiot and speak words!

"S-sorry, what did you say?" She stammered. "The…music was…kinda loud there."

Athena raised an eyebrow and suddenly Janey wished she were a better liar. It was a bad save. The music was pretty quiet and for a moment she thought the dark-haired swordswoman's look was knowing.

Athena leaned forward and rested her elbows on the bar surface. "Uh, I said I'd have a Rakk Ale, please. If they have it here I mean. I guess I've only ever seen it on Pandora before."

"Well, Moxxi used to run this place before she ran off yesterday and left the whole place to the claptrap over there" Janey replied as she gestured for the nearby bartender claptrap unit to come over. "She came from Pandora so it's worth a shot, right?"

The harsh scowl that flashed across Athena's face at the mention of Mad Moxxi was caught and suppressed as quickly as it appeared but spoke volumes nonetheless. Between that and Moxxi having left in a hurry yesterday with her kind of scary friends Janey was at least able to deduce the two of them had had some kind of major falling out. In the gun-for-hire business a "major falling out" was normally resolved by somebody getting shot and the former owner of the Up Over was as cunning as they came. She wasn't sure who had started whatever had obviously happened between them but, despite her frequent attempts to gain Moxxi's attention before Athena showed up she found herself surprisingly certain she would take the gladiator's side if things got ugly. It made her wonder but she shook the thoughts from her head and returned her attention to the woman sitting next to her.

"Here" she said sliding a bottle along the bar to Athena. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Athena took the bottle of Rakk Ale and stared down at it as if trying to decide where to begin with whatever tale she had to tell. Eventually she gave up, her eyes fell shut and her brow furrowed before she raised the drink to her lips. When she brought the bottle back down it was almost half empty.

"You know I used to work for the Atlas Corporation, right?"

Janey nodded. "Mmhmm. I heard the story of how you turned on them and took the Crimson Lance apart on the ECHOnet a while ago. Exciting stuff!"

"Yeah, well basically when you work for a corporation like Atlas for as long as I have you don't find yourself with an over-abundance of social skills." Athena continued.

The blonde woman resisted the urge to tell her that was bullshit and she was perfectly charming but just barely. Instead she stayed quiet and listened. Janey got the impression someone like Athena didn't bare her soul very often and she wasn't going to be the one to interrupt.

"Atlas is a weapons manufacturer when it comes down to it. They make weapons, not people. Why should a tool for killing know anything more about people than where the blades and bullets go? The idea is they keep pointing you at things they want dead until one of those things finally gets the better of you. You're not supposed to leave. Ever."

The gladiator took another drink before continuing, her eyes seemingly fixed on some point in the empty space in front of her as she spoke.

"But I did. For…a variety of reasons. One of them being I discovered our leaders were completely corrupt. The men and women we trusted to wield us. I didn't notice it until it was practically right in front of my face. That's how they wanted it. Whether they were idiots or madmen or even literally toddlers they expected us to do as we were told, not question our commanders. The…training they put us through was supposed to make us that way. As far as they're concerned I'm a defective product."

She paused for a moment before raising her bottle to her lips a third time. When she lowered it again the edge of her mouth curled up into the kind of sad smile that made Janey's heart sink a little bit.

"Now I find myself in more or less that same position again where I took far too long to see who the one giving me orders really was. Maybe someone else would have noticed but I was clueless right up until it didn't matter anymore. Again."

"You're…talking about that Jack fella you were working for? The new Hyperion bigwig?" Janey asked. She had seen very little of him while he was in Concordia during the whole thing with Zarpedon but remembered feeling vaguely uneasy when he was around for some reason. She had never quite been able to put her finger on it.

Athena nodded. "He saved our lives on Helios. His efforts are the reason Elpis and half of Pandora aren't space debris right now. I would say he changed somewhere along the way but I'm not so sure the Jack I thought I knew was ever really there to begin with. Perhaps he simply flushed anything remotely honourable about himself out of the airlock with anything else he couldn't afford to gamble on. Whatever he might have been once he's nothing but a deluded, power-hungry madman now…and I let him use me to get what he wanted."

She took another drink, this time nearly draining the bottle completely. When Athena lowered it again she was pressing her thumb into the neck of the bottle so hard it was trembling. It seemed her carefully maintained stoic demeanour was beginning to crumble be it due to rage, the alcohol or a bit of both. Janey knew she had to do something but hadn't quite found the words yet so she simply reached out and laid a comforting hand on Athena's forearm. Whether the gladiator was using the bottle as a substitute for Jack's trachea or not Janey didn't want her shattering it and injuring herself. The second Janey's hand touched her arm Athena's eyes immediately widened slightly and stared at it as if some kind of venomous creature had crawled onto her. Janey was worried the gladiator might snap her arm off but instead she stared at the blonde's hand for a moment before relaxing and releasing her death grip on the bottle. She sent a perplexed look Janey's way, the woman's unfamiliarity with people touching her who didn't wish her bodily harm making itself obvious. Janey smiled back at her.

"Athena? I know I'm just some random, junk-selling moon girl you met a couple of days ago but, for what it's worth? I'm real glad Atlas couldn't get their fingers in you. You said you're a faulty weapon? Maybe you're right about that. Thing is people aren't supposed to be weapons. They're supposed to be people and being one of those means making mistakes sometimes. You're the biggest asskicker I've ever seen and that's bloody awesome! Seriously, Deadlift's crew? Those Lost Legion assholes? They were so far out of their league against you it almost wasn't even funny! But, that said, you're also this incredible, beautiful woman with a big old heart in you. If you were just a tool only meant for stabbing things you wouldn't be here fretting over this whole mess. You're great."

She squeezed Athena's arm ever so slightly.

"I think you're great."

Athena stared at her for a few seconds before her lips parted and she took in a small breath as if she were about to say something but paused and the swelling in Janey's chest told her it was time to back off or risk freaking the shorter woman out if she hadn't already. She pulled her hand away from Athena's arm and returned it to her own bottle taking a lengthy drink to try and distract herself. If she kept getting carried away like that Athena might just get up and-

"Hm. Beautiful, huh?"

Janey almost choked on her drink at Athena's sudden comment but miraculously managed not to. Crap, had she actually called her beautiful? Why would she have said that? Well, obviously because it was all kinds of true but she had resolved not to try and woo Athena tonight. So much for that Springs, you idiot. The last time she called Athena pretty she remembered the warrior woman getting all tongue-tied in the most adorable way. Maybe the booze was lending her confidence. She looked back over at Athena who was staring down into her bottle again but she could have sworn she saw the slightest hint of a smile on the gladiator's face for a second. Janey felt heat rushing to her cheeks as she attempted to recover.

"I…well, that's just…y'know…my opinion..." Was all she could manage to stammer but the silence that followed was a little awkward to say the least. She wracked her brain for something else to say but just when she thought she had something Athena spoke up again.

"Thank you for this. I don't…I've never really had anyone to talk to about this kind of thing before. It is…helpful."

"You're welcome!" Janey chirped thankful for the change of subject. She held her bottle up in Athena's direction. "To life and all its assorted bastards, right?"

Athena chuckled and gently clinked her bottle against Janey's. "You have…quite the way with words, you know that?".

Janey grinned and shrugged. "Of course I do. I'm a legit author remember?"

A big smile spread across Athena's face and, for a moment, Janey felt like she had conquered the highest of mountains. "I do." The gladiator replied. "Although you may want to refrain from using that line in one of those children's books of yours".

"Spoilsport" Janey mock-pouted. The short silence that followed was far less awkward than the last and more like two people genuinely enjoying eachother's company.

"So…what's next for you?" The blonde woman asked in an attempt to find out how much time Athena would be on Elpis for. She quickly regretted it when the smile almost instantly dropped from the gladiator's face.

"Hm. I…honestly hadn't thought about it." Athena replied "I had expected to come out of that job with enough money to keep me going for a while but it…didn't turn out that way. Now it seems I'm pretty much back to square one. Jack's attention is on Pandora now. I'm in no great hurry to return."

Janey looked Athena up and down, again noting how exhausted she looked. She turned back to her drink and bit her thumb as she pondered. An idea had planted itself in her mind about halfway through their time in the bar and only grown more compelling as time passed. She couldn't stand the thought of Athena just walking back out into the lunar wastes alone in her current state.

"Hey, um…Athena? Would you…like to stay at my place tonight?"

Athena instantly looked up at her, the look on her face one of total bewilderment. Had this woman seriously experienced so few acts of kindness in her life that they confused her so much? No. Janey knew why she might have reason to be hesitant. The black marketeer hadn't exactly been subtle expressing her fondness for the gladiator during her stay on Elpis. If Athena was concerned Janey's only thought was to get into her pants she supposed she couldn't really blame her but, while her feelings for Athena had only gotten more serious over the course of the evening, her foremost intention was to tend to Athena's well-being. Although, if the gladiator suddenly decided to tear Janey's clothes off and kiss every inch of her body for whatever reason she doubted she would find it in herself to complain. A girl could dream after all.

"I'm not…I mean, I won't make it...weird or anything. I just think maybe you could use a decent night's sleep. Maybe take a shower?"

Athena blinked and Janey realised how that must have sounded.

"N-not that you smell bad or anything! You just…I always feel better after a shower is all." She shrugged and gave Athena a sheepish smile. "Couldn't hurt, right?"

Athena continued to stare at her dumbfounded for a moment longer before she looked away.

"Janey, I…"

"Just for one night!" the blonde woman quickly interjected. "If slumber parties really aren't your thing then feel free to leave first thing tomorrow, I just…I don't like the thought of ya'll sleeping in rags or worse out there. You might find Elpis is worse than Pandora in its own special way…"

Athena looked down at her empty bottle. "Sleeping rough comes with the profession" she stated matter-of-factly.

"I know" Janey replied. "I get that, but just for tonight you don't need to. Consider it a favour to me?"

Athena was quiet for what seemed like a long time before speaking.

"Alright. Okay. I will…pay you back somehow of cour-"

"Nuh uh!" Janey interrupted. "You're doing me a favour remember?"

Before the woman in red could object Janey quickly finished her drink and paid the robot at the bar having to quickly remind and then convince the claptrap that it ran the place in Moxxi's absence before rising from her stool and offering Athena a hand. "Shall we go then, my lady?" she said in her best sophisticated voice.

To Janey's surprise Athena, after a second's hesitation, actually did somewhat timidly reach out and take her hand. Janey smiled and helped the battle-weary woman to her feet before letting Athena's gloved fingers leave her own. She would have liked to have held her hand all the way to her place but she also didn't want to push her luck too far too quickly. She would be ecstatic if something eventually ended up happening with Athena but for now she just wanted the gladiator to be okay.

Her hand was still trying to shake off its longing for the touch of Athena's by the time they walked out of the bar into the street when she suddenly felt Athena's fingers close around hers again. She looked at the woman walking beside her who had already pulled up her hood again partially obscuring her face.

"It...seems the alcohol here is more powerful than on Pandora." she muttered quietly. "Would you mind lending me a hand? For support."

That was odd. Janey was notorious for being terrible at holding her drink but she felt fine. Rakk Ale wasn't even that strong. She pondered on how much of a lightweight one would have to be to get wobbly after one bottle of the stuff when a thought so wonderful it made her heart skip a beat occurred to her.

Athena's blue eyes looked up to meet hers briefly before looking away again.

"Perhaps I drank it too quickly"

Janey couldn't help the broad smile that grew across her face as she gently squeezed the gladiator's hand in response. If she was right, and she really hoped she was, then Athena was an even worse liar than she was.

"Heh, perhaps. Come on, my place isn't too far, just a few levels down. There's a mostly comfy sofa with your name on it. Not literally though. That'd be weird even for me."

Athena smiled and the two began the walk to Janey's apartment. It took a few steps for Janey to notice Athena had removed her glove sometime between leaving the bar and taking her hand. The skin on her fingers was somewhat calloused by what Janey imagined were decades of swinging that sword of hers around but the blonde still relished the shorter woman's touch and a pleasant, warm feeling spread up her arm. Under the circumstances Janey decided to allow herself a small deviation from her whole "don't hit on Athena, just be her friend if that's what she needs" plan and gently worked her fingers in-between Athena's intertwining them. For a moment she was worried she may have gone too far and Athena might let go but instead she felt her hand being clutched tighter.

Whatever else might have happened that night, Janey was happy with this. This was good.