A/N: So here we are again. This took a little bit longer than expected but whatever, here you go! This story has been getting great attention so far, so if we could keep that support up, that'd be awesome! Also, for any of you that may be wondering, yes, this story will have Krieg :)

Guardian of all that exists: Thanks! ^_^

Epic Gamer: Yeah, sorry for not replying. I did actually take a look at the OC a while ago :)

GJ115: Yus. Krieg. and thank you!

kricV5: Not quite, these guys are a little bit different, but Krieg will still be in the story :)

Hope you enjoy!

The following morning, Koen was woken up by a loud banging noise. He opened his eyes quickly, realised that was a bad idea, and shut them again. He remained lying in his bed, thinking nothing of the banging. He was just about to drift back to sleep when he heard the banging again. It finally struck him that the noise was actually someone knocking on the front door. He groaned in annoyance and decided he might as well go answer it.

He dragged himself off his comfortable bed and headed for the door, picking up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and putting them both on as he went. He pushed the door to his room open and stepped out into the hallway, rubbing his eyes and yawning slightly.

"I swear to God, if Marshall's locked himself out again, I will kill him," Koen grumbled to himself.

However, just as Koen reached the front door, he heard a door open behind him. He turned to see Marshall poking his head out of the door, the room completely dark behind him. He looked absolutely wrecked and his eyes were slanted, like he was struggling to keep them open.

"Would you shut up?" Marshall groaned, thinking that it was Koen who was making the knocking noise.

"It's not me!" Koen argued, "There's someone at the door."

Marshall looked at the door, then back to Koen, tilting his head slightly. "Do me a favour and answer it, I'm going back to bed," Marshall said.

Koen shook his head and watched as Marshall sank back into the room and shut the door behind him. "Unbelievable," Koen grunted.

Finally, Koen turned back and opened the door for whoever was there. He snapped to attention and woke up properly when he saw who was standing in the doorway. Gaige's dad, Alex, stood with a fist raised in front of him, like he was about to knock on the door again. Alex kept his hand raised for a second after the door was opened, before letting it drop. He then gave a weak smile at Koen, which Koen returned.

"Hey, Alex," Koen greeted, "What's going on?"

"Hi, Koen," Alex replied, "Mind if I come in?"

Koen knew in his head exactly why he was here. They would have to have this conversation eventually, considering how important the matter was.

"Uh, sure," Koen said, and moved out of the way slightly while still holding the door open. Alex stepped inside and looked around while Koen shut the door behind him.

"So, where's Marshall?" Alex asked.

"Sleeping," Koen sighed, rolling his eyes slightly, "Anyway, come on in here."

Koen led Alex through the hallway into the small kitchen. Koen pulled the two chairs out from under the small kitchen table, one for him, and one for Alex. Koen crashed down into his chair, still tired from waking up only minutes ago. Alex hesitated a moment before sitting down in the chair next to Koen. At first, neither of them said anything, and Koen just drummed his fingers on the table, waiting for Alex to say something.

"Well," Alex said finally, "Gaige and I got into a little bit of an… argument last night. I assume you already know what it was about."

Koen nodded slowly, but said nothing. He didn't expect Gaige to get into an argument with her own dad over this, but he guessed that was just how desperate she really was.

"She wants to… go back to Pandora," Alex continued, "I mean, why the hell would she possibly want to go back there? From what I've heard, it's one of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy. It was stupid of me to send her there in the first place, she barely made it out alive, but to let her go again? That's… beyond stupid."

Alex slumped back in his chair, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "I just don't know what to do," He mumbled.

Koen bit his lip and nodded slightly in understanding. This was a difficult situation to be in. On one hand, Koen didn't want to disappoint Gaige, on the other hand, he really did not want to piss Alex off. He thought for a second about what he was going to say, took a deep breath and went for it.

"Right," Koen began, resting his arms on the table and leaning forward. "Alex, Gaige sent over a month on, like you said, one of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy. The kind of place where good people are hard to come by. If, on Pandora, you get so lucky as to find some of these people, you keep them close."

Koen paused for a second to glance up at Alex, who was looking at Koen with interest, looking slightly confused.

"What I'm trying to say is, those people she was with on Pandora aren't just a group of Vault Hunters. She was with them the whole time she was there. They travelled together, lived together and fought together. She saved their lives countless time and they saved hers. To her, they were more like close family than a group of friends. That's why she's so reluctant to just let them go."

With his point made, Koen leaned back in his chair and waited for Alex's reaction. Whatever his reaction was, Koen knew in his mind that he had spoken the truth.

"I… I guess that makes sense…" Alex said quietly, surprising Koen, he expected a slightly more aggressive response. There was a short silence before Alex spoke again.

"You've… ah… given me a lot to think about…" Alex trailed off, then stood up to leave. Koen got up as well and followed him as he walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway towards the door. Alex walked up and opened the door, turning around to Koen before exiting.

"Thanks for clearing some of this up, Koen," Alex said, "I'll, uh, see you around, I guess."

Koen only nodded in response. Alex then turned back and walked out the door, shutting the door behind him. Koen remained staring at the closed door for a few seconds, looking back over everything he said. With a shrug, he turned and headed back into the kitchen to get himself some breakfast. He entered the small kitchen and looked at the clock on the wall. The time was a little bit past ten. He figured he had gotten an acceptable amount of sleep.

He opened one of the cupboards and took out a slice of bread for himself. He tossed it in the toaster and turned it on. He stared idly and waited as the toaster did its thing. Funnily enough, this was the first chance he got to actually think to himself about whether or not he would go back. Of course, if Gaige was going he would definitely go. He didn't really mind how things played out, he'd been to that planet before and it had only half killed him. He smirked at his own thoughts and continued to stare at nothing.

Eventually, the toaster finished its job and the toast shot up. However, at almost the exact same time as the toast finished, there was another knock at the door.

"Dammit," Koen groaned, and then grabbed his toast and headed for the door. He took a bite as he walked, savouring his makeshift breakfast.

He opened the door and was surprised to see Gaige standing there, looking like she hadn't slept in ages. She looked up at him when he opened the door, her messy hair hanging over her face slightly. She was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a pink t-shirt.

"Hey," she mumbled quietly, "Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure," Koen replied, swallowing down his mouthful of toast. Gaige walked through the door and looked at the toast in Koen's hand. She looked back to him before grabbing the toast from his hand, taking a bite and continuing down the hallway. Koen raised an eyebrow and shook his head in disbelief before shutting the door. He followed Gaige into the sitting room, where she walked up to the couch and simply crashed onto it.

"You look exhausted," Koen remarked, sitting down in a chair opposite the couch.

Gaige was lying face down in a pillow, so she was difficult to hear. "I stayed up all night trying to rebuild that stupid ECHO device…" she said in a muffled voice.

"Sure looks like it," Koen reasoned.

Gaige then moved her head slightly so that one of her eyes were visible to Koen. She glared at him for a second before putting her face back into the pillow.

"It was kinda stupid of me to break it in the first place, but I haven't slept in 34 hours and I think I might die. Just a feeling," Gaige said.

Then, with a loud groan, Gaige forced herself into a sitting position. She took another bite of the toast and then sighing.

"Well," Koen said, "I guess you probably didn't come over here just to eat my toast."

"Yeah, well," Gaige replied after she had swallowed the toast, "I was coming down anyway, but then I saw my dad walk in ahead of me so I hid and waited for him to leave. When he did come out, he was looking kinda sad. What did he say?"

"Well, he mentioned that you and him had a bit of an argument last night-"

"It was more of a heated debate, but go on," Gaige interrupted.

"Seriously?" Koen asked, then continued on, "Anyway, I had no idea which side to take, so I just told him how it is. On one hand, I think going back to Pandora is a terrible idea, but I understand that that Maya, Axton, and the rest of them, they're all your friends, and trust me when I say I personally would do anything for my friends."

"Well I've made up my mind, and I'm going, whether my dad wants me to or not. Question is, are you?" Gaige said, raising her eyebrows.

Koen looked away from her for a minute and bit a fingernail. He'd have to make up his decision officially right now. Although he didn't seem so sure, he almost felt that his decision had been made from the very start.

"If you go, I'm going too," Koen said finally, looking back at Gaige.

A massive grin spread across Gaige's face and she raised both arms in the air. "Yes!" she celebrated, before bringing her hand down and patting a spot on the couch next to her. "Come here," she grinned.

Koen laughed and shook his head, getting up out of his chair. "I will, but first, I'm going to get some more toast."

A/N: Remember to review, follow, favourite, all that good stuff!