Lilith sighed and rubbed her eyes. "The way we use the fast travel system, it's easy to forget that a planet is a big place to hide something, even a starship."

"No kidding," Mordecai agreed. He looked across the holo-table at Zero. "You're sure you can't think up anything that might help us narrow the search before anyone else gets back? I'd hate to say we just wasted our time starin' at these maps while they were out getting' stuff done."

Zero shook his head. "I never was my Brother's keeper, nor his friend. I don't know his mind."

"Too bad," Lilith grunted, straightening up and cracking her back. "Sibling insight would've been nice. What about defenses? When we do find this ship of his, any guess what he might throw at us?"

Zero shrugged. "Big guns."

"Starship caliber weapons," Mordecai said wearily. "Those are gonna be fun to take on." He checked his watch and sighed. "I'm gonna take a break and let Talon stretch his wings. He's been cooped up for hours."

"Sounds good," Lilith said. "We'll keep at it."

Mordecai nodded and headed out. Lilith and Zero both watched him go, waiting until he was down the stairs.

The instant his footsteps had faded, Lilith shut down her ECHO device. "Ok, now that there's no chance of anyone calling us at an awkward moment, we need to talk," she said quickly.

"We need to discuss How to move forward with this," Zero agreed, flipping the switch on his own ECHO. "Have any ideas?"

"Not a one." She folded her arms and paced around the holo-table, tense and uneasy. "I never expected you, of all people, to drop that particular bombshell on me."

Zero remained leaning against the wall, but his voice was as tense as Lilith's pacing. "The path is unclear From my perspective as well. Bring in the others?"

"Are you crazy?" Lilith snapped. "We don't even know how to handle this, and you want to bring in the others?"

Zero merely stared at her, his faceplate blank.

She stopped pacing and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sorry. You didn't deserve that. All you did was tell me the truth."

"No need for sorry. Situation not your fault." He paused, then flashed :] onto his display. "Well, just a little."

"Fair enough," Lilith said dryly. "Anyway, no, I don't think we need to let the others in on our little secret yet. Not until we've resolved this whole thing with your brother."

"'Resolving' it will Mean a hard fight to the death," Zero cautioned. He hesitated for a second, then said, "You know what he'd want."

Lilith glared at him. "Uh-uh. You do not get to play that card. Maybe Roland wouldn't want me there, but he wouldn't want us to leave Gaige with your murderous brother, either." She leaned close and jabbed her finger into his chest. "And all three of us would know that whatever happens, the group's chances are better with me there at the end, even if my powers are a little flukey right now."

Zero glanced at the offending digit, then at Lilith's face with a :) "Fiery spirit. Roland chose his girlfriends well. You should be with us."

"Glad we agree," Lilith said, leaning back. "I have to admit, though, facing your brother scares me less than this." She wiped an eye and smiled sadly at Zero. "Aren't feelings crazy?"

"On this world, that's fine," Zero replied. "Pandora's not for the sane. Wouldn't you concur?"

"Truer words were never spoken," Lilith admitted, smiling faintly. "Okay. Matter discussed, matter on hold. Let's figure out what to do with your brother." She boosted herself up and sat on the edge of the holo-table. "Tell me about him."

"There's little to tell, And most of it useless now," Zero said hesitantly. "Any suggestions?"

"Tell me about when you were kids," Lilith suggested. "Tell me about growing up together. Who's older, you or him?"

"I am the older," Zero said, sitting uneasily, "And I didn't see him much. He barely knew me."

"So why does he want to kill you?" she asked. "What makes him blame you for your father's death?"

He shrugged. "Father wanted me To follow a certain path. I chose something else." Zero laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them. "A few years later, Father died from 'broken heart." He scoffed. "So my brother says."

Lilith was silent for a minute. "Your brother really loved your father, huh?"

"He was the good son, The one who followed orders. Father was his life." Zero shook his head. "Not enough for me. Father's dream, insufficient. Needed a challenge."

"And after he died, your brother thought the only thing that would make the world right was to kill you?" she asked incredulously.

"Father never was Exactly what you call sane," Zero admitted. "Must have passed that on."

"Well, his oldest became an assassin on Pandora," Lilith grinned. "By your logic, he passed on crazy to you, at least."

:) "True."

"I dunno, man," Lilith went on. "I'm all for revenge, but I usually like it when there's something more concrete to base it on. He says your dad died of broken heart, just because you didn't take the job he wanted? Sounds pretty lame to me." A stray thought occurred. "What did your dad want you to be, anyway?"

Zero shifted in his seat, looking more uncomfortable than Lilith had ever seen. "Um..."

"Come on, tell me! What's the problem?" She leaned forward. "Did he pressure you into being a gynecologist or something?"

Zero didn't move a muscle.

Lilith's mouth dropped in gleeful amazement. "Oh, my god!" she cackled. "That's it, isn't it?!"

Zero put a hand to his faceplate and shook his head. "Gynecology, As well as Urology, All in one doctor."

She couldn't help it. Lilith burst out laughing, harder than she had in years. It was a few minutes before she could get herself under control.

"Not that funny," Zero grumbled.

"I'm sorry," she finally gasped, wiping tears from her eyes. "I really am. It's just..." she struggled to keep her voice steady, "the idea... of you, wearing that armor while examining-"

Zero sighed as Lilith collapsed to her knees, laughing like a madwoman. "Oh, cruel destiny, Why do you torment me so? Why must I suffer?"

Lilith started to get herself back under control, although she kept snickering a little. "So, what happened? How do you go from-" she choked back another snort, "your father's lofty ambitions to killing people for money?"

"I-"

"No, wait," she interrupted, holding up a hand and hiccuping with laughter, "I don't wanna know. It'll just detract from this." To Zero's surprise, she suddenly draped herself playfully across his lap, throwing her left arm around his neck. "So, doctor, will you be opening a clinic next to Zed's? Running annual check-ups for all Sanctuary's residents?" Her grin widened a little more. "Should I make mine now, before you're all booked up?"

Zero sighed morosely. "And everybody Wonders why I keep my past A deep, dark secret."

"Lilith? Zero? What's goin' on up here?" Mordecai was standing in the door, staring at them in disbelief. Even Talon, riding his shoulder, seemed puzzled.

Lilith waved at him, but otherwise stayed put. "Hey, Mordy. 'Sup?"

"Uh..." Mordecai stammered, clearly having trouble catching his balance. "Just wanted to let you know, Axton and Krieg just ECHOed in. They got what we were after."

Lilith sat up straight, oblivious to both her teammates' growing discomfort. "The signal ping? It worked?"

Mordecai nodded. "They couldn't tell anything from there, but they're on their way back now. Once they plug the data into our map system..."

"We'll be that much closer to an answer," Lilith finished with satisfaction. "What about Maya and Salvador?"

Mordecai shook his head. "Nothin' yet. Of course, if your ECHOs were on, you'd know that already." He looked at them suspiciously. "Why'd you shut 'em off, anyway? Especially now, of all times?" He crossed his arms and looked at her a little accusingly. "Or do I really need to ask?"

"Uh..." Lilith looked at Zero awkwardly, suddenly aware of how she was sitting.

Zero looked back, blank-faced for a second. Then an exclamation point flared to life, and he bolted to his feet.

Lilith, caught off guard, tumbled to the floor. "Ouch! Zero, what-"

"Shut off your ECHO!"

Mordecai looked at him like he was crazy. "What?"

"He can listen to our Communications!"

Horror dawned on both their faces at the same time. "What did Axton say?" Lilith asked quickly. "Exact words."

"Uh..." Mordecai thought back. "They completed the mission, had some trouble with Surveyors, and got what they were after. Then he said they'd plug the data in when they got back and we'd go from there."

Lilith breathed out a sigh of relief. "We were lucky he was that vague. But if Maya calls in and says too much..."

"He could move the ship, And we're right back to square one," Zero said grimly. "We have to warn them."

"I'll try to get 'em," Mordecai said, heading out to the balcony. "I'll see if I can tell 'em not to say anything without tippin' anyone listenin' off, either."

Lilith got up and brushed herself off, looking uneasily at her communicator. "With all the times we've been contacted by random people over the ECHOnet, I didn't even think that someone might be actively using it against us for once." She looked at Zero. "What made you think of it?"

"He's using all my Tricks from my assassin days," Zero said grimly. "It's what I would do."

She folded her arms and looked at him in exasperation. "So you can guess everything except where he might hide his ship, huh?"

:( "Yes."

Lilith shook her head. "Figures."

"We could have a problem," Mordecai said, walking back in. "I can't reach the others. I don't know if they're just not getting my calls or just can't answer now, but they ain't picking up either way."

"Just keep trying," Maya ordered. "You hear a peep out of it, you do whatever it takes to make sure they don't let on what we're doing."

Mordecai nodded. "Right." He started to turn away, then stopped. "But that still doesn't explain why your ECHOs were already off." He folded his arms and looked closely at both of them. "Or your choice of... seat cushion."

"Zero told me something funny and I got flirty," Lilith said lightly, waving a hand. "Don't read anything into it."

Mordecai glanced over at Zero, who merely stared silently, then back at Lilith. "Uh-huh. Look, it's none of my business if you wanna hook up with someone new-"

"Can we not discuss this right now?" Lilith asked, in a tone that clearly said shut up this second or I will phaseblast you into oblivion.

"Sure, Lil." Mordecai tossed up his hands. "Whatever you say."

Lilith gave a sharp sigh and rubbed her forehead. "Any idea how much longer before Krieg and Axton get back?"

"Shouldn't be long," Mordecai said. "It sounds like they cleared out the trouble in Opportunity, so the trip home should be pretty quick."

"Then I guess the only x-factor will be how long it takes Maya and Salvador to get their scan," Lilith said. "That's something that-"

"Heeeeey, Liiiilyyyyy!"

The voice drifted in through the window on a breeze. All three looked out off the balcony, into the sky.

"What the hell?"

There was a buzzard hovering over Sanctuary.

Axton materialized in Sanctuary's transit station and sighed with relief. "Finally." He turned and stepped aside as Krieg's form finished resolving itself. "Okay, Trappy, we're done." He hesitated, the added, somewhat reluctantly, "Thanks for the help."

"No problem, Minion 1!" Claptrap replied happily as Krieg unstrapped him. "But maybe next time we take the elevators up, too."

"You'll have to take that up with the elevator operator over there," Axton said dryly. "And if there is a next time, don't look off the edge of the building just because the shooting stopped." He rubbed his leg. "Those little pinchers of yours are gonna leave bruises from you clinging to my leg in terror, I'm sure of it."

Claptrap slumped despondently. "Sure thing, Minion 1," he said, his tone deflated. "I'll just be rolling around if you need me."

Axton decided to give the little guy a break. "Hey. Poker this Thursday?"

Claptrap brightened instantly. "You betcha! I'll have the deck shuffled and the snacks ready!" He rolled off, in much better spirits and dub stepping to himself.

Axton noticed Krieg looking at him. "What?" he demanded, a little defensively. "He helped us out. The least I can do is play cards with him." He sighed and headed out of the building. "Besides, maybe I'll die in the rescue attempt and this'll all be moot anyway."

Krieg let out a gravelly sort of chuckle. "Talking about the deer, huh?"

"And we're back to me not getting a word you say," Axton sighed. "Come on, let's-" He broke off. There was a sound echoing down from the headquarters open balcony, one that seemed wildly out of place right now.

Laughter.

A few seconds and a flight of stairs later, Axton was looking into the meeting room in disbelief. Everyone else was there, lounging around. Salvador was standing by the holo-table covered in foul-smelling, horrible looking goo. Meanwhile, Tiny Tina, of all people, was standing on the center table and going on in enthusiastic detail about something.

"-and then, Sally just gets up and screams he's the king of the world or something, I couldn't really hear him over the engines." She grinned psychotically. "It... was... awesome."

"My one regret is that there wasn't enough of Varmothra left to grill." Salvador sighed dramatically. "That would've been a feast worth eating!"

"Probably just as well," Maya said. She was grinning like an idiot, too. "I can still smell whatever that flammable substance was on your clothes, Sal. If you lit a match right now, you'd be grilling yourself." She made a face. "Besides, who grills varkids? Deep-frying is the way to go. A really good breading even adds to the crunch."

"I like 'em flambeed," Mordecai argued. "Dice 'em up, throw 'em in a pan, pour skag brandy on it, then light the whole mess on fire." He kissed his fingertips and gestured to the air. "Delicioso. One of the few things I actually enjoy eating."

"And of course it involves alcohol on everything," Lilith teased.

"Well, I don't really enjoy eating bugs," Axton interrupted brightly, drawing everyone's attention. "Too crunchy for my taste, not enough meat." He took a few steps into the room, hands wrapped tightly around his belt. "I bet Gaige doesn't like 'em either. She doesn't really seem the type to eat bugs. Remember Gaige? The friend that got kidnapped last night?"

Maya gave him an uneasy look. "Axton-"

"I bet Brick likes them, though," he interrupted quickly, voice growing more brittle with every word. "I bet he loved chowing down on varkids. Remember Brick? The guy who got skewered last night?" He gave a sarcastic laugh. "I bet he's not feeling like eating right now, not with a gut wound like that." Axton glared around the room, dropping the happy facade, voice raising with every word. "Does anyone here remember that we're supposed to be going after the bastard that did this?!"

"Ax-"

He slammed his ECHO unit down on the holotable. "There's the data from Opportunity. I'll be at the fast travel station when you've got a location. Assuming you're all done swapping recipes." He stormed out of the room.

Varkid grilling, Axton fumed, stomping down the stairs. What's next? Taking some time for go-carting? His rage swelled, and he kicked the front door open.

Zero was standing in the alley, arms crossed and staring impassively at him

Axton blinked. "What the... how did you get past me?"

Zero pointed up. "The balcony is Merely one floor above ground," he said calmly. "No challenge at all."

"Whatever." Axton stormed forward and tried to shove past, but Zero sidestepped back in front of him. Axton glared at him, a red haze at the edge of his vision. "Get out of my way, Zero."

Zero re-folded his arms and kept blocking him.

"Go on, get lost!" Axton yelled, still trying to maneuver around him. "Go back up and laugh with everyone else! Waste time while one of our friends is in the hands of a known enemy!"

"I wasn't laughing. Your data has been input, We'll have results soon."

"Oh, then that makes everything better!" he shouted, finally shoving his way past Zero. "It makes up for the lost time, the directionless floundering, the whole damn thing!" Axton kicked one of the stray boxes that littered Sanctuary in fury.

Zero said nothing and continued to watch him.

"And what about you, huh?!" Axton suddenly demanded, whirling around. "What have you done this whole damn time?! You knew, didn't you?! Right from the start, from Aegrus, you knew and you didn't say anything!"

Crack.

Axton's fist had moved before he even realized what he was doing. In a split second, his knuckles were aching and Zero's head had twisted with the force of his punch.

Zero turned back and rubbed at his jawline. "Finished?" he asked mildly.

Axton's rage flamed out, leaving the ashes of regret. "Sorry." He turned away and thumped his head against the alley wall. "I couldn't stop him, Z," he finally said. "He'd critically wounded one of our friends, was in the middle of kidnapping another, I find out he's got a deathmark on you, and I couldn't stop him." He turned and slumped to the ground, letting the back of his head crack against the wall this time. "I've been trying to ignore that this whole time, but when I saw all you guys just hanging out, laughing like nothing was wrong..."

"I left him alive."

Axton broke off. "What?"

"Our fight, so long ago? I knew he survived." Zero sighed and sat next to Axton. "How could I kill him, The only brother I had?" He shook his head. "I was weak back then."

Axton couldn't find anything to say.

"We're paying a steep cost For my mercy at the time," Zero continued. "This isn't on you."

"Ain't the same," Axton said bluntly. "You made a mistake, I just plain blew it." He sighed and thumped his head on the wall again. "How many guys have I cut down over the years? And then, when one of my friends' lives is on the line, I'm too slow to make a shot and save her."

"So we make it right By taking back our friend," Zero said. "And this time, he dies."

"On that, we agree," Axton grunted.

"Ax! Zero! Get up here!" They looked up in the direction of the shout. Maya was waving at them from the balcony. "We got it!"

Mordecai frowned at the map. "Of all the places on Pandora, why'd he go there?"

"It actually makes good tactical sense," Maya pointed out. "There's energy signatures to hide his own power output, it's low traffic, and from our own experience, it's safe to assume he can turn it against us pretty easily."

"You mean if we accept Krieg's word he can hack Hyperion digistruct pillars," Lilith said.

"It adds up," Maya said. "The first thing that happened at the Terminus was the WAR loaders manifesting. There was no way Gaige did that, not just by firing up the light bridge. Then, Krieg and Axton get attacked by Surveyors in Opportunity, a dead city with no one controlling it?" She shook her head. "No way that's a coincidence, not if Zero's right and his brother can tap the ECHO net."

"Does that mean he did the bugs, too?" Salvador asked. "If he heard us talk about the mission, he knew we were going to Tundra Express."

Maya looked over at Zero. "Well? Did you ever work up anything that could mutate organisms like that? Is he using another one of your tricks?"

"I never worked on Biomanipulation," Zero said. "That one is all his."

"We know he accessed Hyperion's abandoned stuff," Lilith said. "Maybe that included their slag research."

"Even if he did, that one won't help up there," Axton grunted. "Not much life in those mountains. But if we assume he can hack Dahl's digistruct pillars the same way he can do Hyperion's, he won't need to mutate anything."

"Look, why are we still talking?" Salvador asked, grinning. He held up his guns. "Is there any chance we're wrong?"

Maya and Lilith glanced at each other. Lilith shook her head. "No. There's no chance."

"Then we are agreed, We have his location now," Zero said. "It's time to move out."

It was undeniable. Maya's scan of the ion trail had allowed Sanctuary's sensors to search for precisely the correct energy signature. That had illuminated half a dozen points on the map that might have been a landing site. Axton's turrets had gotten a directional ping from one of them.

Maya shook her head and stared at the map. "Digistruct Peak. Never thought we'd have to storm our own training ground."

"He's gonna start throwin' every construct in the database at us the second we show up," Mordecai warned.

"Hey, it's still our facility," Lilith pointed out. "Almost everyone that worked on it lives in this town. If anyone can find a way to neutralize his advantage, it's us."

"Then we'd better get started," Axton said firmly.

['Our' is an annoying/versatile word. It can be one or two syllables depending on how you say it.]

[Next week, the Vault Hunters resolve all their problems peacefully and everybody leaves happy. That'll be a satisfying conclusion to this, right?]

[Thanks for reading!]