Chapter 12
As Lilith opened her eyes, shortly after zer0 had left she was feeling...conflicted, she was captured and tortured for this tyrants amusement and then told by her captor that no harm would ever befall her, she did...kinda feel for him, especiially a little bit more now that she knew how he sounded without that helmet on,but after what he put her through...she doesn't want to risk it again, or risk her friends,'I wonder how their doin right now?', but before she could think on this any longer, Jack appeared in the doorway, she looked at him with a fiery glare until she saw a lean,tall and masked figure appear next to him in the doorway grasping Maya by her arm, she didn't seem to mind...infact she seemed almost...happy!?Lilith was confused and slightly angered at this, maybe there was a plot against her seeing as she was the most powerful discovered siren it wouldn't be unexpected but she didn't think that a fellow siren would help kill her, she began frantically scrambling for ideas as to why she'd be acting this way, but after a few minutes of silence, she got nothing and zer0 walked over and helped her to her feet, she didn't mean to snap when she said,
"Get your fucking hands off me"
"Watch your dirty mouth lilith sweetie, or i'll-"Zer0 cut Jack off here,
"Do nothing to her until the key is charged, we still need her Jack, do not forget"
"Yeah you're right, but i can't wait to fill that bitch with bulletholes after this is done"
Lilith swore she felt Zer0 tense at this, seemingly slightly irked by his comment, she needs to know what the hell zer0 was all about before and she wants to know now,
"Hey zer0, what the hell was earlier abot?"She whispered
Zer0 nearly tripped at this, but kept his cool and simply said,
"I-I, don't know what you're talking about siren, be silent"
She almost slapped his helmet clean off his face until she was shoved, although gently, through a doorway and into an airship, she was forcibly strapped in by Jack and she assumed Maya was just as uncomfortable with his proximity as she was, she began to doze off, uncaring about what or where she was going.
/
Zer0 looked to the sleeping siren and her sister next to her, Maya was looking out the window or at the floor or ceiling, generally anywhere to avoid eye contact with the tyrant next to zer0 however zer0s eyes were drawn to the redhead, how she would slightly stir at the ships turbulence or sudden movements, she was so peaceful looking while she slept, he remembered the particular night with her, when she pulled him in with her and fell asleep rather fast, he remembered how when she would stir, his arm would involuntarily wrap around her and pull her closer while he stared at the ceiling or the surroundings, ready to kill any threats that were to arise against them...he missed that lair,
"We're comin up on the Vault now, we should be seein the warriors resting place very soon"
Zer0 wanted to cut him down for awaking her, 'Soon, i'll have you Jack and you will not have any traps to save you this time' as he was thinking this, the air ship landed in what zer0 assumed was the Vault of the warrior, it was covered in lava except from a rocky path that led to the vault door that showed the prison of the great beast, there were walls all around and the mouth of the volcano looked to house the great eridian warrior...and they were no more than 20 feet from it.
Zer0s helmet enhancements allowed him to hear faint gunfire, he smiled at this, knowing the others would be along soon, however Jack would also be aware of their presence soon also, he wondered how long they had been fighting as he knew Salvadors patience levels were...less than normal to put it lightly, he thought that they could have been here by now, but there may have been an obstacle or something that made them slo-
"Zer0!"
"Yes Jack?"
"Answer me next time i ask you, what should we do about that?"
Zer0 looked to a monitor that Jack had pointed at, he saw the crew, Roland,Brick,Sal,Axton,Gaige and Mordecai all approaching their location, fast.
"I suggest we hurry in charging the key, if we awake the warrior, even the vault hunters won't stop us"
"Hmmm...good call , i'll make the prepara-"
"YOU BASTARD!"
Zer0 looked to see lilith, wings blazing out and ready to scream and attack if Jack hadn't shocked her half to death,
"Listen here you siren WHORE, i'll tell you when to speak and when to stay quiet like a good little girl,K?"
"...yes jack"Zer0 was about to kill him, a few more minutes until they key was going to charge.
"Z, grab the redhead and make sure she stays still, or else we'll lose her and we don't want that"
"Yes Jack"
Zer0 dragged her over to the vault key and held his blade to her throat, making sure she didn't move after Jack had placed the vault key in the recepticle, it shot up about 5 feet and Lilith and Maya shot up with it, they were about 9 feet off the ground and floating there, wings out and tattoos ablaze with vibrant colours, and suddenly...a flash of white and the keys colours were almost blinding, but Jack wasted no time in trying to force the key into the slot but, nothing, it wouldn't budge
"Jack, it will go at it's own speed, no longer than an hour and we will have the beast"
"Yeah and what of the hunters,HUH!?"
"...let me worry about them"
And with that zer0 drew his sword and departed, he walked towards what looked like a fast travel station and he heard...laughter, something that was rare on Pandora it wasn't maniacal laughter either, it was...happy, genuine happiness from what looked to be Gaige and Axton, hand-in-hand walking along a metallic bridge, he saw Brick and Sal laughing merrily to themselves about the 'Constructors explosion takin out the sniper' and Roland and Mordeacai, they were already at the elevator, awaiting their friends to enter it so they can go after Jack, once they were all in the elevator, Mordecai spotted zer0, he alerted the others who stared down at him from the slow moving machine, once it landed they cautiously approached him, seeing as his blade was drawn they didn't hesitate to aim at him with whatever weapons they had,
"It is good you are all here, Jack is this way along with the sirens, follow me"
Roland caught his attention by saying,
"Zer0, tell me...what is it you plan on doing after this?"
Zer0 could tell he was not trying to make small talk, so he simply responded with,
"If we survive this attack, i will tell you"
Roland simply nodded at this and continued with the rest of the vault hunters who were already approaching Jack,
"I must warn you all, he will not hesitate to kill the sirens should you let him know you are here, a silent approach is required"
They all looked at each other after zer0 said this and concealed their weapons temporarily and crept down towards Jack, zer0 followed suit until they arrived at where he was, until he turned around, clapping slowly,
"Hey your right on time, keys nearly ready, but before i cleanse this planet for good, i'm gunn-"
"Do what Jack?" Zer0 emerged from the back of the group, blade equipped and ready,
"Oh hey zer0, why you helpin them now, huh?"
"I'm doing this for a better reward than your money Jack"
"And that would be?"
Zer0 simply projected an emoticon that confused everyone,'3' and he lunged at Jack, although he underestimated the dictator as he had multiple doubles, with the same firepower of Jack aswell, the vault hunters began to attack the doubles, but where they killed one, 2 more spawned in it's place and it seemed to be endless shooting, zer0 was chasing jack down and slashing at him, he threw two kunai at him which tripped him right nest to his console,
"I ain't dyin here z, but you and all your buddies are!"Jack laughed while coughing up some blood, he slammed his hand down on the moonshot console and 3 badass constructors were shot next to them all, but atleast the doubles disappeared while jack was bleeding out, Zer0 went after the constructor closest to him, Sal and Brick charged another while Axton and Gaige went right after the last one, Roland threw out his turret and supplied healing and ammo to any that needed it and Mordecai went straight for the eyes of the machines, after a surprisingly short battle with the constructors and a few healing hypos needed here and there for some of the hunters, zer0 turned straight to Jack who was next to the console and clutching his ribs with both hands,
"Z, there was so much potential...and you threw it away for what, huh? For what!?"Jack began to scream, all the vault hunters looked to zer0 who drew his blade and pointed it towards Lilith and leaned close to jacks ear and said,
"Her"
And he drove his blade through him, eliciting a bloodcurdling scream from Jack and stuck him to the console,he said aloud:
"Leaves falling from trees
/Snow drifting onto the ground
Life leaving your corpse
He turned to the others, thankful they had not heard what he said about lilit-
"Zer0? What did you mean by that 'Her' thing?"He heard Axton ask with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face,
"Nothing you must concern yourself with commando, now awake the warrior"
The last part of zer0s sentence sent chills down everyones spines, Roland approached the vault key and eased it towards the slot, it worked, and with an almighty roar the volcanic dragon appeared and looked down upon the vault hunters, it looked to be awaiting commands,
"Ermmm, what do i say?"Roland asked while looking at zer0,
"Tell it to approach the flying city and to protect it's inhabitants, it is yours now Roland, do as you wish with it"
And with that being said, Roland gave the order and it flew towards sanctuary and began to circle the city.
Once it left both sirens fell from the floating faze but were caught by both zer0 and Mordecai...in a bridal carry, Maya blushed but still proceeded to kiss Mordecai deeply, while Lilith...stared at zer0,everything else seemed to vanish for her, it was just her and the being she saw cut down a tyrant and save an entire floating city from certain and inevitable destruction, but not for them, not for the vault hunters friendships, not for his petty challenges...for her, she continued to stare at the void of a helmet before she...punched him square in the chest, he dropped her and curled over, clutching his chest from a siren punch, he looked to her level and displayed a '?' on his helmet,
"Thats for leaving me"
She then bent down slightly and pulled his helmet in close to plant a kiss on it,
"And thats for takin out Jack"
Zer0 looked at the group of vault hunters who watched a clueless assassin get kissed by a siren and witnessed him get pulled towards a fast travel station and disappear,
Brick spoke up at last,
"I love our friends"
They all looked at the soft berzerker and...laughed, a genuine and long overdue happy laugh.
/
Zer0 spawned at the lair of the Firehawk with the redhead herself, he looked at her and she seemed to be in a rush, he quickly followed her up to where her bed was and she sat on the edge and patted a spot next to her, motioning zer0 to sit down and he did,
"So...tell me about you"
"I'm sorry?"
"You said if we survive you'll tell me, go on tell me"
"What do you wish to know?"
She pondered this for a moment and looked at him, with a serious tone she said,
"What happened to you?"
Zer0s only response was '?'
"I mean...somethng must have happened to you for you to enjoy killing, seek the 'Ultimate Challenge' and hide yourself away all the time...what was it?"
Zer0 visibly tensed at this, he never liked to share this, he could lie but there has been enough lying to her, she deserves the truth.
"Very well, i lived a regular life on 'Internias' until the age of 7, i was kidnapped from the orphanage that i was in from birth and watched it burn to the ground, i was beaten, tortured and thrown down the stairs should i speak out of place-"
Lilith saw his hand curl into a fist
"This continued for 1 year, at the age of 8, the bandits that had taken me were shot or kidnapped for questioning by the Crimson Lance, they found me and saw my condition, took me in and provided me housing and food, i was 12 by the time i had killed my first contract as i was converted to being an assassin at that age, i was tortured for 72 hours straight once a week and left to rest for the other days, it was 'endurance training for the battlefields that i will eventually be in', i stayed with them until one particular assassin, known as athena, went awol and killed most of my division, i slipped away from the combat and was a hired mercenary until i heard of this 'Vault', a brief look at my past for you, now is there anything else you'd like to kno-", Zer0 didn't get to finish his sentence as he was tackled to the bed by an unrelenting siren, he felt tears rolling down his skintight suit and pried her away,
"I apologise for whatever it is i have done, i did what you asked"
"I know, but tortured and watching your home being burned down before the age of 10 sounds...distressing"
"It is what broke me, it is why i feel nothing when i kill, the trauma metaphorically 'Broke my sanity'"
"I'm...sorry to hear that zer0, i don't need anything else from your past"
"Very well, what else would you like?"
"Well..."She hesitated here, knowing it is risky to ask,
"What do you look like?"
He moved away from her slightly,
"I...cannot tell you, for your own safety"
"I'm a freakin' siren, i can handle whatever it is"
"A good point, but i have made powerful enemies...people in great positions of power that would take you and use you against me"
"I've got enemies...Atlas high command actually so i-"
"You have one, maybe two if you count hyperion, i have over thirty corporations on me, some leaders are heartless and cruel like jack"
"Zer0...please, i felt your kiss on me at jacks hq, it was your lips so why can't i see you?"
"*Sigh*, very well lilith, but i ask that you do not reveal my identity to anyone,ok?"
"Yeah of course"Lilith began shaking, waiting for this...being to reveal himself to her, she could be the first one alive to see him
He shakily removed his helmet, and with that hissing noise, it was off, he just had to pull it up and...she would see,he trusts her enough 'Here goes'
Lilith gasped, she looked at the...man...the human man infront of her, his long black hair covering his right eye as it fell to his face, his chiseled jawline and black eyes, jet black eyes looked at her...as if piercing into her skull, she was speechless
Ze0 visibly flinched when she gasped at him, he was scarred on his face from needles and scalpels...the only prize from being born was caught off guard when Lilith crashed her lips onto his, she pinned him to the bed and lay ontop of him, he broke the kiss to ask startledly,
"Wha-what are you doing"
Lilith loved his voice, rough but gentle without the helmet on, she wanted to be his siren and him her assassin, she did not want to let him go in this moment, which is why it came as a surprise when he separated them both, she almost growled at him,
"What are you doin?"
"I...am unsure, i felt something when you...pounced on me...something i have never felt for someone before...what is happening to me lilith?"
It's at this point lilith remembers that he can't feel...he hasn't been 'programmed' to feel, she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls his face in close, she asks him,
"What does it feel like?"
He looks at her and rubs his thumb across her cheek,
"It feels...unusual, like i...want to be with you for...a long time"
Lilith visibly blushes at this, she looks him dead in the eyes and plants a kiss on his cheek,
"Heh, thats cute...and here i thought you were an emotionless killer"
He cups her face and stares into her eyes, his eyes looked to lose all emotion and feeling for a brisk moment,
"Only if someone tries anything against you...i intend to keep my promise, no harm willl befall you sire-, lilith"
She looked at him again after he said this and saw his jet black eyes suddenly have...something in them...something she knows he has never experienced beore, she quickly thinks to herself before falling asleep with her assassin holding her, 'Oh my fucking god...i'm actually in love...damn it feels good'
Zer0 himself thought the same, he also thought to himself, 'Anyone that dares to try and hurt her...better pray that i'm the last to know about it' And with that thought, they fell asleep together once more, not as siren and assassin or two strangers...but as complete opposites in love.
Authors Note-I'm sooo going on with this...but there may be a slight pause in updates seein as i'm out of ideas for now...soooo...yeah.