Author's Note:

- Sasha Zafford-Daae is an OC not to be confused with Sasha, Fiona's sister, from Tales from the Borderlands.

- This story has strong Phantom of the Opera/Beauty and the Beast vibes because I love both stories.

- This is an AU based on the game Borderlands 2. Many of the characters we know and love aren't yet known for the things they do canonically (ie: Lucky hasn't "busted Moxxi's lady parts"; Moxxie doesn't yet own a bar in Sanctuary, etc.)

Combat is my love.

Brutal violence, my partner.

I need no one else.

Chapter One: No One Else

Sasha sat alone in her dimly lit bedroom staring intently at the cracked screen of her Echo.

"Come to Pandora," Uncle Mick urged, his voice crackling over the video call.

Sasha tried to stay focused on his stern, lined face and not the bustling activity going on behind him at his bar.

"Earth's dying," he said bluntly. "It ain't getting any better. You need to come to Pandora and be with your family." Mick grinned and added, "Plus, you can sling hash with your cousins and we'll teach you how to hunt skags."

Sasha's dark eyes widened at the mention of the vicious, Pandoran beasts. "Yeah, you must be confusing me with one of your other nieces," she joked. " I was an education major before the pandemic, not an adventurer. I doubt I can take down anything much bigger than a chihuahua."

Mick chuckled, and gave a little shrug. "You'd be surprised at what you can do when you have no choice."

"Hmm," Sasha mused. "Well, anyway," she went on, "it's starting to get bad again. They've got everyone back on liquid nuri and even that's being rationed out."

"Ohh," Mick clucked in sympathy. "When was the last time you ate something solid?"

Sasha scrunched up her face a moment thinking, "I dunno, maybe like a month ago? My neighbor and I went in together and paid way too much for some expired MRE's. They weren't great, but it was still better than nuri. That crap's supposed to be nourishing and nutritious, but it looks and tastes like Pepto Bismol."

Mick grimaced, his thin lips curling in disgust. "Ugh, that stuff's no good for your gut or soul. Hang on a sec, lemme remind you what is."

Setting down his Echo, Mick walked out of view and returned a minute later with a plate piled high with baked carrots, creamy mashed potatoes and fat, juicy sausages.

"THIS," he said panning his Echo over the plate, "is what your gut needs."

Sasha felt her mouth water and her stomach lurch with desire for food she could actually chew.

"It ain't perfect here," Mick admitted, "but we're doing a helluva lot better than you all are right now." Setting down the plate, Mick's face re-entered the frame. The background changed as he moved from the noisy bar into his makeshift office in the back.

"Uncle Mick," Sasha said. "I want to come to Pandora and live with you guys, I really do. But you've gotta understand, it's scary. I've hardly even left New Jersey. Now suddenly, I'm supposed to leave my whole planet behind?" She sighed. "Plus…Mom and Dad are here. I can't just leave them."

Mick's expression softened at the mention of his late sister and her ex-husband. "Darling, please don't take this wrong, but it's just their bodies on Earth. Their spirits are long gone."

Sasha nodded, her eyes tearing up.

Mick removed his green bowler hat and ran a hand through his thinning black hair. "You're all that's left of Fiona," he went on. "When she first got sick, she made me promise that if anything happened to her or your father that I would look after you. Please come to Pandora. Don't make me break my promise."

Sasha was silent as the weight of his words washed over her.

After a moment, Mick replaced his hat and asked, "So, are you still wearing your NL?"

Sasha's hand flew guiltily to the port at the nape of her neck where her Neuralink should've been clipped in.

"No," she admitted. "Once they closed all the schools, I didn't really see a point. There's not a whole lot I want to concentrate on anymore."

"Hmm," Mick nodded. "Well, Hyperion's footing the bill for an academy in the Capital. That company's got trillions of dollars behind their name, so you know it'll be nicer than any school you or I have ever seen. If you come to Pandora, you can apply to teach there."

"Nah," Sasha countered. "I'm like twenty credits short of a degree."

Rubbing his eyes with the back of a fist, Mick grinned and said, "And I don't have a liquor license. You think that stopped me from opening the best damn pub on Pandora?"

Sasha laughed as her uncle pretended to flex and kiss his biceps. "Touche."

"Hey Da, what're you doin' back here?" she heard her cousin Lucky say off screen.

Mick turned in his direction and said, "Trying to get your hard headed cousin on a flight to Pandora."

Suddenly Lucky's pale face filled the screen, his reddish brown hair slicked back as always. "Hey Sass-age," he grinned into the Echo's screen. "Get the lead out your ass and get here. And don't bring any of that shitty fire candy with you!"

Sasha rolled her eyes, not having the heart to tell her playful cousin that it'd be over a year since she'd seen any kind of candy, let alone Hot Tamales (her favorite).

"Alright boy, that's enough," Mick said gruffly, taking his Echo back. "Sorry, your cousin's still an ass, but he's right. Don't sit on this any longer Sasha. The last time a new strain of the virus emerged, they shut down off-world travel for months. It could happen again, only this time you could end up sick and stranded on Earth alone."

Sasha looked down at her hands. The idea of leaving the only home she'd ever known for an alien planet terrified her, but she knew Mick was right. She was alone. Everyone she knew was either dead, dying, or had left for off-world settlements like Pandora and Tantalus. Her parents, who had spent several painful months wasting away in the hospice, had been her last tether to Earth. Now that they were gone, there really was no one and nothing to keep her there. Even the neighbor she'd bought MRE's with had left to live with a relative on Promethea.

"Alright," she said, her voice small. "I'll do it. I'll come to Pandora."

Mick's sad face lit up with a smile. "Oh thank the Lord," he said. Sasha's Echo dinged letting her know money had just been added to her account.

"Alright, I just sent some credit through," Mick said slowly. "Buy yourself the next available ticket to Pandora, then send me a copy so I know what time to expect you. Then, pack no more than a duffle with essentials and get yourself to a launch station."

"Ok," Sasha nodded in agreement. "I will."

Mick sighed. "I'm sorry to do this Darling, but you've not been wearing your NL, so I have to make sure you understand. Tell me back what you're supposed to do."

Sasha tried to keep a straight face, but felt the corners of her mouth turning down. Mick's behavior was exactly why she hated it when people found out that she had a Neuralink. Sure, sometimes external stimuli could be overwhelming and make her process information a little slower then she would have liked, but she was by no means stupid. Uncle Mick doesn't think you're stupid, she reminded herself. He means well, he just doesn't understand how the NL works. He thinks he's helping by talking slowly and asking you to repeat back directions.

Outloud she said, "It's fine Uncle Mick. I'm used to it." She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts, then repeated back, "Hang up. Buy a ticket. Pack a little bag. Get to a transport station, give them my ticket. Come to Pandora."

"Almost. Send me a copy of your ticket so I know when to expect you," Mick reminded her.

"Oh yeah, okay, I will. Thanks Uncle Mick," she said.

As the call ended, Sasha leaned back against her headboard feeling uneasy. She was leaving everything she'd ever known, possibly tonight, to join her uncle and his family on a dangerous alien world. The knot in her stomach tightened. She had no other choice. Pandora was her only hope for survival.

Sighing, she began to scroll through her Echo to purchase a one way ticket to the strange new world.