Acti0nable

Zer0 crouched behind a rock, his eye to the scope of his sniper rifle. Only two guards? Unusual for the Bloodshots. Probably more waiting behind cover. Still, may as well get started.

"I'll take these two," he muttered to Gaige. "If more come out, I'll pick them off from up here, and you head into the fray."

"Right," Gaige whispered back. She peered over the rock as Zer0 took careful aim. He squeezeed the trigger – once, twice. His aim was unfaltering.

Immediately, an alarm went off, and bandits started to emerge from everywhere. Gaige brandished her shotgun, digistructed Deathtrap into existence and charged forward. Zer0 allowed himself a sight grin behind his helmet before returning to his rifle and continuing to perform carefully placed brain surgery on the bandits while Gaige and Deathtrap sliced through the ranks. Within a few minutes, the carnage was over. Gaige was panting slightly as Zer0 joined her amidst the carnage.

"That went well."

"Yes," replied Zer0. "Now let's get what we came for."

They performed a quick search of the camp and quickly located the fuel cells they had come looking for in a small run-down building. They stowed them in their backpacks quickly – that would keep Sanctuary's engines running. Hopefully.

After Gaige had retrieved a nice looking pistol from one of the bandit corpses, they headed back across Three Horns to the Happy Pig Motel, where they parked and headed for the Fast Travel station, eager to get home. As enjoyable as killing bandits was, mused Zer0, it was always nice to -

The hairs on the back of his neck pricked up suddenly. He stopped in his tracks, and Gaige walked into him.

"Hey! What -"

"Shh!" Zer0 put a finger to her lips quickly and surveyed the area. Nothing to be seen anywhere. No bandits, no Hyperion troops… but there was something. And he didn't like it.

"We're being watched," muttered Zer0.

"Watched?" hissed Gaige. "But -"

"Come on," he said. "Let's get back to Sanctuary. We'll be safe there." He hoped.

Unexpected twist, thought 0ne as he uncloaked. He surveyed the area quickly, then cloaked again to make his way over to the Fast Travel station and back to his ship.

For the first time in several years, a smile wormed its way onto 0ne's face under his helmet. He rubbed his hands together, causing a sickly metallic grating noise. This was going to be a fun job.

"So who's this assassin, then? A friend of yours?"

The two of them had been back in Sanctuary for about an hour now. Scooter was happy with the fuel cells they had brought him – the city wouldn't fall out of the sky today, anyway.

"No."

The ghost of a smile tweaked Gaige's lips. "Because you have no friends, right?"

Zer0 looked at her sternly. "Now is not the time. Although I will have you know -"

"That I'm not far wrong?" said Gaige, counting the syllables on her hand. Zer0 nodded.

"Not in my business. Assassins do not make friends. We make enemies."

Gaige smirked slightly. Zer0 quickly reorientated the conversation.

"You've heard of the Group of Ten?"

"You mean the super-secret super-awesome club of super-assassins?"

"Close enough," sighed Zer0. "My guess is that it's one of them."

"Someone hired an awesome ninja assassin to kill us? Awesome!"

"It is not awesome. If I'm right, there'll be trouble. I'm worried for you."

"Worried for me? As sweet as that is," replied Gaige, "I can take care of myself. Plus, what about you? Surely you're a bigger target than I am."

Zer0 hesitated, then sighed. "Not if I am right. No contracts on each other – the rules of the Group."

Gaige blinked. "Holy crap – you're a super-secret super-awesome super-assassin? That's so cool! I should have guessed! Is that why you have such awesome tech? And do you guys have, like, parties and stuff? That would be awesome! Actually, it probably wouldn't, cause if they're all like you they'd -"

"Gaige. Please concentrate."

"- so I guess – huh? Oh right, possible violent death or something, right? Sorry. All right, fine. So let's assume they're here to kill me. Are you saying that one assassin is a bigger threat than Handsome Jack and his robot army?"

"If I'm right? Yes."

"So… should I be looking out for anything when we go out on jobs? Like, will he disguise himself or something?"

"No, no disguises. Why disguise when you have stealth? Unnecessary."

"So -"

"Also," interrupted Zer0, "I don't think you should be going out on jobs for a while."

"What? No way. I mean, this assassin might be tough, but come on. Can't be any tougher than Terramorphous, and we've killed him like half a dozen times!"

"If he wants you dead," replied Zer0, "we will need a strategy. We can't just jump in."

"You say that like 'just jump in' isn't a strategy."

"It isn't."

"It's never failed me," retorted Gaige. Zer0 rubbed a hand over his helmet in exasperation.

"Planning is crucial. Stay here in Sanctuary. Just for the time being."

Gaige grumbled a half-hearted protest under her breath, but Zer0 knew full well that she couldn't keep disagreeing with him. He was her weakness – and she was his. That's what made this so dangerous.

In the firing range of Marcus' store, Maya had the sights of her sniper rifle positioned carefully over the struggling bandit's head. She squeezed the trigger – once, twice, three times. The first two shots landed perfectly, but the third missed, hitting the wall behind.

"Two would have been enough."

Maya was not yet used to Zer0's ability to sneak up on anyone. Surprised, she dropped her gun, barely missing her foot.

"You've got to stop doing that," she muttered. "One of these days I'm going to have a bladed weapon and then I might lose a toe."

"I apologise. I require your talents – could I have a word?"

"Sneaking up on someone and then asking for a favour is not really a good idea, but go ahead."

Zer0 went ahead. He told her about the assassin, and who he thought the assassin was. He told her his suspicions, leaving out the part about him being part of the Group of Ten. Finally, he asked for her help.

"So you just want me to keep an eye on Gaige?"

Zer0 nodded. "I asked her to stay in Sanctuary. But -"

"Yeah, I understand. Okay, I'll do what I can." Maya turned back to the bandit and levelled her rifle.

"Thank you."

Maya fired twice, both shots hitting their mark. "You don't often ask for help with this sort of thing. Two heads are better than one, you know."

Zer0 paused. "No… Two headshots are better than one."

Honestly, 0ne thought, Vault Hunters are overrated. Especially this girl. It took him less than two minutes to hack her ECHO and pinpoint her location when he first arrived. Someone calling themselves "mechromancer" really should be more of a technological challenge than this. Her robot might cause some problems, but that's easily dealt with. He'd be done with her by now if she hadn't been with Zer0. He hadn't been expecting that.

Still, the added challenge was always good… and if it meant a chance to kill two birds with one stone, then that was even better. Knowing Zer0, he'll be trying to convince her to stay in the flying city. But she's impatient. Impatient and a little too self-confident. How long will it be before she can't resist killing something and just has to sneak down to the surface? Two days, he guessed, three days tops. He turned back to the console, watching the small red dot marking the girl's position blinking steadily within Sanctuary.

Too easy.

A/N: This isn't going to go on for more than another chapter or two; I don't really think I can drag it out for that long and I don't really want to. Still, hope it's interesting, and apologies for the slow updates.