First off, Gearbox and 2K studios own Borderlands and I have absolutely NO claim to the title or the characters of Borderlands. I just thought I would put my own twist on characters and events. I hope you enjoy it.

Kind of a short chapter. I tried to get some explanations out of the way without it coming off as boring. There's some foreshadowing in this chapter, just like the prologue. Don't worry though, it picks up. Sorry for the mushy parts too, important for the story. Just speed read if it's not your thing.

P.S. Holy freakin' crap I did a lot of rewrites and editing to my story! If your new it doesn't much matter, but if you're one of the few that have read the chapters I've posted, then I'm sorry; I just thought that my story needed some better content.

Chapter 1: Bad Dreams

"NOOO!" Axton bolts upright in a cold sweat, gasping for air. The image of Sanctuary going down in flames still seared into his brain; he quickly checks himself over for burns or any sign of camouflage. Finding only gray shorts and a black undershirt he breathes a sigh of relief. "What was that? It was so real." His attention turns to his surroundings. "Where am I?" The room is pitch black. His sheets are twisted around his legs, soaked with sweat. The alarm clock beside his bed tells him that he's only been asleep a few hours. His breath slowly returns to normal as he realizes it was all a dream.

Groggily, Axton gets up and stumbles over to the bathroom where he quickly flips the light switch on before dry heaving into the sink. He finishes, leaning against the sink on his hands and feeling mentally drained. The ghostly face in the mirror takes a second to recognize and he runs his fingers through dark brown hair that's longer than he remembers it being before. A short dark beard is stretched across his face from not having bothered to shave for the past few weeks. "Another night, another nightmare" he thinks. He splashes water on his face and comes eye to eye with himself in the mirror. Emerald eyes show pain, sorrow, and guilt- all brought back and revisited by the nightmare. Axton's fingers slowly reach above his left eye, where his rank insignia used to be, tracing the scars left behind after it was removed. The pale face in the mirror is slowly falling out of focus and, for a second, he sees his old soldierly self: Sergeants rank plates over his eye; face cleanly shaven; hair neatly trimmed, high and tight. He's standing straight in standard issue green and black camo BDU's, hand raised to his forehead in salute.

The sound of running water from the sink brings mind back into focus; for a second he can't remember even turning it on. He splashes more water onto his face, as if to wash away the past. Even though he's exhausted, he knows sleep won't come now. So he turns the faucet off before heading off to the kitchen for a drink. The cool water from the fridge helps take the edge off his pounding headache as he steps out onto the balcony.

Nights on Pandora are long, long and dark. Pandoran days are ninety hours long: which makes for roughly forty-five hours of daylight and nighttime. As Axton gazes up at the volcanic moon, he never thought he would ever get used to the strange schedule, but he did. Still, having nearly two days worth of darkness and daylight is unnerving. Time is slow on this planet. Not like it was on his home planet of Hieronymus, which had a day/night cycle like that of ancient Earth.

He looks upon Sanctuary and how much construction had been done; is still being done. Raiders HQ is now has a third floor with a new living quarters, armory, and mess hall. Now a veritable fortress; it even has a landing pad on the roof and two Anti-air turrets placed on the towers that stand to either side of HQ.

In only two years, Sanctuary has grown to be twice its original size and holds twice as many people. This wouldn't have been possible before but with Hyperion crumbling, the Crimson Raiders were able to bring in massive amounts of supplies and building materials from the now lightly guarded Hyperion supply bases. Not to mention the surge of ex-Hyperion personnel. They surrendered to the Raiders every chance they got; as they had all been forcibly employed into the company, and worked under the threat of execution. At first, the Raiders didn't know whether to shoot them or simply turn them away, but In the end, Lilith decided that they could become citizens as long as they contributed a great deal to the resistance. The refugees agreed. They had all been inspired by the resistance put up by the rebels.

What came next was a colossal undertaking. Plans were immediately set out on how to upgrade Sanctuary: New buildings, improved reactors, enhanced defenses, a new shield, and a perimeter wall around the city. Scooter and Gaige worked with ex-Hyperion engineers and found a way to take some of the workload off the reactors by using solar panels and wind turbines to help power the buildings; this allowed the reactors to dump most of their power into keeping the city flying, and boost the power of the defense shield.

Alongside all of this came four new areas that are what expanded the city: a supply dock constructed on the northwest side, designated residential sectors on the southeast side by Moxxi's Bar and just north of the Headquarters , a business sector in the northeast by Marcus Munitions, and a transportation district on the southwest side by Scooter's. As a result of the surge of new citizens from all around Pandora, a new town was built right under the city after they had moved it to the Highlands. It was named Haven, and was built like Sanctuary as a trade post and home to the new citizenry. All of this new construction would have been near impossible if they hadn't found a whole set of mass production digitizers with the help of inside intelligence from the ex-Hyperion engineers. They had only to supply them with the correct quantities of raw materials or raw energy to get a new part or product.

Meanwhile, during this time the Vault hunters helped the Crimson Raiders secure their control over almost all of the Highlands, except Opportunity and the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. A lot of The Dust had been taken as well. All of this had happened within the past two years, with more still to be done.

Axton finds it eerie how detailed the nightmare was to the present day. It was almost like the dream was looking into the not-so-distant future. Simply thinking about the possibility makes him fearful. Especially about the involvement of the familiar entity that he knew all to well.

"What does it all mean?" he quietly asks himself. He tries not to think of it, instead, gradually losing himself deep in other thoughts.

He stands on the balcony, enjoying the quiet of the night. It was a communal balcony about two stories up in a new apartment building built just behind Crazy Earl's hostel by Moxxi's. Maya and Gaige share the apartment next to his.

After what must have been close to an hour, a light breeze carries the faint scent of perfume his way. He turns and is surprised to see his friend Maya leaning against the wall, wearing a simple pair of black shorts and a gray tank top. She smiles and walks over to where he is leaning on the low balcony railing.

"Feeling lonely tonight?" she asks, eyebrow raised.

"Nope," he replies, "Just can't sleep."

She cocks her head at him thoughtfully, before mimicking his posture and looking out at the city. "Had another bad dream, huh?"

"What makes you ask that?"

Maya glances at him. "You look like crap. That's why."

Axton chuckles and takes a drink from his water bottle. "Gee thanks. You know you don't look too snappy yourself, darlin'." She makes a pout face and punches him in the shoulder. "Ow!" He rubs his now sore shoulder. "You know you should be careful carrying those deadly weapons around, Maya, someone might get hurt," he jokes, pointing at her hands. In response, she put her hand on a hip and sticks her tongue out.

"So. How long had you been watching me?" he says, with a mischievous grin.

"Not long." Maya brushes some blue hair from her face. "I heard you yell and then walk out here. I figured I'd see what's up but it looked like you needed some time to think. Plus, Gaige keeps snoring, " she smirks.

Axton lets out a snort, shaking his head in disbelief. "Really?" He raises an eyebrow. "I never figured our little anarchist would be one to snore."

"Oh yeah. She snores alright. I'm surprised you can't hear it through the wall." He just shakes his head. "By the way, don't let her hear you call her 'little'. Her metal arm can break concrete you know."

"Noted." He notices her peering at him, as if trying to probe his hidden thoughts.

Axton will often catch himself wondering if he should try to take it further with Maya, but the memories of his mistakes with his ex-wife and commander, Sarah, still haunt him. Every time he feels her getting too close, about to discover his secrets, he pushes away. It has been the subject of more than a few arguments before, but she never presses the issue further than that, as she holds her past close as well. He still doesn't know if he can trust himself to not choose glory and pride over commitment, and for that reason alone, he hasn't been with a woman since he left his ex-wife.

Slowly breaking her gaze, he puts those thoughts away and says, "I doubt Gaige's snoring and my yelling is what woke you up though. I've seen how you sleep—like a rock."

"Just some bad dreams, like you," she says, offhandedly. Axton is about to question her, but she cuts him off. "Anyway's, I know this isn't the first time you've come out here, unable to sleep." Her smile is replaced by a look of concern. The siren has been one of his closest friends for the past couple of years. She knows when something is amiss with him, and he her.

Scratching his beard he says, "No, it isn't the first time. In fact, it's been happening a lot over the past few months."

Maya looks away. "I'm sorry," she says. "What have your dreams been about?"

"Usually the same thing, over and over again. Sometimes it changes but mostly they stay the same." In his head, Axton doesn't like where this conversation is headed.

"Oh. But you still haven't told me exactly what they're about, Axton."

"It's nothing, really. You wouldn't want to hear it."

"Please, I want to know."

He's a little taken aback by her forcefulness. "Trust me. It's nothing worth mentioning." He looks away from her gaze. A feeling of guilt comes over him for not trusting his friend. A feeling he's been feeling for a while now.

"Axton," she says, putting her hand on his arm, "I don't know what has come over you lately but,...you're not alone. You don't have to keep all of this to yourself, I—"

"Death," he interrupts. "Sanctuary's invaded and no one is left alive." Axton hangs his head and continues. "The whole city is in flames and it falls from the sky. The entire dream plays out like it will happen sometime in the future, and all of it is because of me. Because I lead the bastards here." The commando takes a minute to take a deep breath. "The worst part is that,..I can't help but feel like it isn't a dream, but more like a—a prophecy of what is to come. The Sanctuary in the dream looks just like this, only it is mixed with archetecture from Overlook. I'm not sure what that part means." He looks up at her, the pain evident in his eyes; a knot forming in his throat. "I-I'm sorry...I don't mean to burden you with this." They stay standing there looking at each other for a tense moment, not knowing what to say.

A single tear runs down Maya's face as she asks, "Who, Axton? Who does this?"

"I think...I think it was the Dahl Corporation." Her hand drops from his arm and the look on her face says that he struck a chord, like she knows something. At the sight of her upset, he figures it best not to ask. He didn't think he'd ever seen her shed a single tear before. "They're my old employers. The ones who taught me the skills I have today." He barely keeps the frustration from his voice: just talking about it makes Axton tense. He doesn't want to weigh her down with this.

She quickly wipes the tear away and nods. "I remember. Why would they come here though? Didn't they abandon Pandora decades ago?" For some reason he has the unnerving feeling that the blue-haired siren knows more than she's letting on; she's feigning ignorance.

"Yeah, they did. I remember learning about it. It was all very hush-hush. They got pushed out by the Atlas Corporation when news of the Vault reached them. I know that they had a mining operation going and they used prison labor. Then they abandoned the planet, stranding all the prisoners and families that had colonized the planet. Patricia Tannis was one of the citizens. Everyone called it the worst defeat in Dahl's history." He breathes in the chill night air and tries to relax. "I call it cowardice."

"So that's why there are so many psychotic bandits. Because of all the prisoners."

"That's right. All the prisoners eventually broke loose and then the winter cycle ended and all the wildlife came out of hibernation. It was every man for himself."

She turns back, face serious. "Do you think that they'd actually come back here after all these years? I mean, to do what? Mine the eridium?"

He sighs. "To be honest? I don't know. There's still plenty of eridium left and Hyperion wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. That's incentive enough." He says quietly, "God only knows what they'd do if they found out that I was here." He takes a sip of calming cool water and they both look back out over the city, thinking quietly to themselves. "She's got something that she's not telling me," he reckons. It wouldn't be the first time Maya held a secret from him. He was usually pretty good about keeping his thoughts in check, but, between the two of them, she could usually eventually pry information out of the commando. An uncomfortable silence lays thick around them and they watch the people stumbling in and out of Moxxi's Bar. Sometimes he wishes he could be like them. Never having to worry about the big picture, only concerned about getting to the bottom of the next bottle. The thought makes him laugh inside—he didn't even drink anymore.

The quiet lasts for minutes until it becomes almost unbearable and Maya finally breaks the tension. "I'm sorry for pressing you about your dream," she says quietly. "I know how real they must feel." That perks his ears, though he decides now isn't the time. To stay on this subject would only worsen his mood. The blue-haired siren is the closest friend he has ever had; he wishes she could be more than that. "Maybe she can be..."

He moves closer to siren and places a reassuring hand on her arm. "Don't worry. I'm fine Maya. It feels good to get it off my chest." Their eyes meet and Axton feels her soft hand slide over his rough one. His heart skips a beat. "I'm glad your here, darlin'." This time the silence is welcoming.

For a moment, Axton is able to be free of all doubts as he slowly moves closer to her, searching her sapphire eyes for the troubles that lay beyond them; both seeking to ease each others pain. As her blue lips move closer, a doubt forms in his mind and he hesitates, only to forget it as the two lock in a tight embrace. Time loses all meaning. His hands find her hips and she wraps her arms behind his neck. The kiss is fierce, passionate, and full of longing. Again, the doubts arise in Axton's mind. And this time he cannot ignore them. Maya pulls away when he stops. "What's wrong...Axton?" she breathes. His expression becomes uneasy, and he looks off over the balcony.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this..." Without thought, his hand goes to the ring and dogtag around his neck. "Maya, there's something I have to—"

"Ahem!"

Both pairs of hands immediately fall to their sides and they quickly separate. Embarrassed, Axton rubs his neck and notices Maya blushing furiously. "Oh, hey Gaige. I, uh,..thought you were asleep..still," she stutters.

Gaige is wearing an oversized t-shirt and standing with her hands on her hips. She shakes her head, making her red pigtails bounce. "Nope. I woke up to get a drink and couldn't help but notice that you two were out here getting all mushy gushy on each other," she says, giving them both a devilish look. The redhead walks over and grabs Maya's arm as if to escort her back into the apartment. "Don't you two know how late it is? We have to get up early to go to kick some Hyperion butt! You can't do that on half a night's sleep." She pulls her friend towards the door giggling to herself. Maya manages to get in a quick 'Goodnight' before she's pulled through the sliding glass door. Leaving the commando standing there confused.

He sighs and walks back inside. "Always gotta be sumthin'," he grumbles. A sweet dreamless sleep meets him as soon as his head hits the pillow.