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"You're leaving again?" Rhys slowly let his left arm sneak around Fiona's back and gently touched his forehead against hers. She could feel his warm fingers stroking the small of her back, and she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of her lover touching her for the last time in probably months.
"You know very well I have to," She swallowed hard and let out a slow sigh. She had said her goodbyes with the corporate stooge a dozen times before, leaving Rhys to his work on rebuilding Atlas, while she travelled all over the universe with Athena to search for new Vaults. The Vault Hunters hadn't had any luck in their work so far, but this time Fiona thought to herself. This time they were going to find all the riches the world could offer, and Fiona could finally get off this godforsaken planet. Not that she was really sure if she wanted to leave Pandora anymore, especially now that this man in front of her had crawled his way into her life with his adorably dorky laughs and incredibly dorky fashion sense and stupidly dorky hair.
Rhys moved his forehead a couple of inches away from her, so that he could look into her soft green eyes, and Fionas mind went completely blank.
"Yeah..." he said with a resigned sigh and gave her that damn look. Those goddamn puppy eyes made up of brown and gold was going to be the end of her. Not like she would ever say that to him, but something in her chest made her ache so much that she thought it was going to kill her, right then and there.
"I just hoped you could stay a bit longer," Rhys' soft murmur was heartbreaking, and Fiona squeezed her eyes shot and moved her left hand to softly touch right above Rhys' heart.
"I'm still here," she whispered back to him and gently rubbed the tender spot. She gave him a weak smile to which he returned, and with one last look at the man she cared so much about, she turned around and walked out the door.
9 weeks later
"Shit!" Fiona punched the dashboard in the stolen car Athena had managed to hijack from the bandit camp. "Shit, shit, shit!" She let her head drop back against the headrest and let out a shaky sigh. Athena was fuming next to her; Her hands was gripping the steering wheel so hard that Fiona thought she might pop a blood vessel at any second. Her foot was glued to the gas pedal and the sand from the Pandoran dessert practically covered the vehicle because of the speed they kept.
Fiona took a quick glance backwards and let out a sigh of relief.
"We've lost them, Athena. You can-" Athena's fist punched the steering wheel so hard that Fiona jumped in her seat.
"Goddamnit, Fiona!" Oh shit. Athena wasn't furious. She was raging.
"When I tell you to stay put, you stay put!" Fiona opened her mouth to spit out her angry reply because fuck no if anyone, not even a dangerous mercenary like Athena, could talk to her like this. The first word didn't even escape her mouth because Athena hit the brakes so fast that in a split-second Fiona thought they were going to crash and burn in this piece of junk.
When they came to a full stop Athena turned around to Fiona with murder in her eyes, breathing heavily through her nose.
"Don't ever, ever do that again, con artist!" Oh shit. Athena had used Fiona's old title which meant she was reallyreallyreally pissed at her and okay, on second thought, maybe Fiona's plan hadn't really been the best, but it was damn better than what Athena had asked her to do.
Stay hidden and keep an eye out on the pistol. Pfftyeaah, like Fiona was going to stay crouched behind that stupid bush that reeked of skag piss while Athena had all the fun. She was a professional con artist and damn useful for this type of job; Go undercover, get into the bandit camp, steal the Gunstock Maggie for the leader of the Zaford clan and get it to back to the little shit Mick Zaford in return for a new lead on the Vault. The plan had maybe probably gone accordingly if Fiona hadn't decided that she could be the hero of the story and grab the pistol herself when none of the bandits was around to guard it. One of the psychos happened to spot her sneaking up and screamed bloody murder to alert the rest of the camp. The Vault Hunters had barely gotten themselves out of there alive, bullets and knives coming at the from all directions. Athena's quick thinking had a perplexed Fiona by the arm and dragged her to the nearest car and drove away so fast that the dusty trail from the car still probably hadn't settled.
Athena practically threw the car door open and stormed out, quickly walking over to Fiona's side and did the same to her door.
“When I give you orders, you follow them!” Athena’s furious gaze never faltered, and a completely stunned Fiona stumbled out of the car.
“Ow,” she winced once she was standing in front of the purpled haired woman. She doubled over and clutched her hand to the right side of her stomach and yeah, of course, there was blood. A lot of blood. The adrenaline was now wearing off and holy shit that actually really hurt.
Athena took a quick look at Fiona’s bloody hand and cursed under her breath before helping Fiona sit down with her back against the car.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Fiona asked through gritted teeth. Athena removed Fiona’s jacket to get a better look at the damage. She gently rolled up Fiona’s blood-soaked shirt and let out a long sigh and gave a little shrug.
“I’ve seen worse. You’re going to have to keep it pressurized.” Athena’s brows knitted together as she quickly took of her black scarf and pushed it down on the wound.
“Shit,” Athena cursed under her breath and Fiona let out a shaky laugh.
“Yup. Shit.” She let her head fall back against the car and closed her eyes. “I guess one of those little assholes had a really good day, huh?”
Athena’s only reply was a low hum like she was lost in thought. After a couple of minutes of sitting in the burning sun, Athena took another quick look at the wound and her shoulders visibly relaxed.
“Looks like a knife wound. Nothing that’s going to kill you. Keep the pressure on it for now, and I’ll find some supplies to patch you up.” She quickly stood up and went to the driver’s side to find said supplies.
Fiona’s head slumped back against the car door, and she closed her eyes. She could hear Athena rummaging through their supplies, and Fiona’s thoughts went to her kid sister, Sasha, and wondered how she was doing. ‘Probably better than I am right now’ Fiona thought and smiled to herself. Sasha was currently fulfilling her lifelong dream of traveling the world and living the good life. Right now, she was probably conning some poor sap on Eden-5 or drinking cocktails in the sunset with August on Dionysus or some shit like that. After Sasha’s near-death experience almost a year ago, she had come to the revelation that August wasn’t so bad after all. One night shortly after opening the Vault, Sasha, August and Fiona were the only ones left at the Purple Skag, and Fiona had almost spit out her drink when she saw how Sasha was casually touching August’s cheek with a smile that promised a lot more later. One touch led to lingering hugs and lingering hugs led to small kisses, and one day there wasn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind; Her sister had fallen hard for the broody man they once tried to con.
After Vallory’s death, August had come across some family money, and of course the smitten idiot had offered Sasha enough money to follow her dreams and travel wherever she wanted. She had stubbornly refused his offer at first, but after some time Fiona had had “the talk” with her about what a golden opportunity this could be for her, and had begrudgingly admitted that August was a good man that would take good care of her (not that anyone had to take care of her baby sister, just, you know, to take care of the money aspect of it).
The day Sasha and August set off on their adventure, she had hugged Fiona goodbye and given her a small wink before advising her to try what she was doing. Fiona had laughed and told Sasha that the life of a space traveling tourist wasn’t for her, and she was happy to stay a Vault Hunter/con artist under Athena’s training. Sasha had shook her head with a knowing smile on her face, and told her sister that that wasn’t what she meant. Fiona’s questioning face made Sasha let out a real laugh (a laugh Fiona missed every damn day) and the terrifying comeback from her sharp sister had made all of Fiona’s blood go straight to her face and kinda sorta made her hyperventilate. “A relationship. Let yourself be happy, sis. And my advice? Go talk to Rhys.”
Fiona had refused to listen to her sister. Her sleepless nights had nothing to do with the thoughts of Rhys kissing her, stroking her cheeks whilst whispering sweet nothings into her ear and childish bantering that turned into passionate sex. He was interested in someone else, goddamnit! Not Sasha, not her, someone else. Fiona cursed her sister to hell for putting those thoughts into her very confused brain, and there was absolutely no way in hell she was doing any of those things with that corporate asshole. Until the day before her first Vault Hunter mission with Athena.
Fiona’s excitement was cut short when the elder Vault Hunter had asked Fiona to kindly ask Rhys if they could borrow some guns from Atlas for the mission. Fiona had only had a minor panic attack at the thought of Rhys and her alone and had very responsibly drank a bottle of some shitty alcohol to, you know, make her better with words in case he refused to lend them the weapons. Fiona hadn’t seen Rhys in a long time, not since the very disappointing experience with the Vault of the Traveler where absolutely nothing had happened (unless you count the agonizing pain and complete emptiness that followed by them both being thrown out before the Vault entrance crumbled). But pft, this should be easy! It was Rhys after all. They had been alone, well, at least two times before.
But of course, since this is Fiona’s life and she is doomed to live a life of eternal misery, things did not go as her drunk mind had anticipated. He had buzzed her into his apartment, and the first thing Fiona noticed when she got the courage to look at him was his disheveled hair and his goofy smile. It was just so… Rhys. So naturally, her drunk mind went straight to all the dirty thoughts that had kept her awake at night. Like that’s probably how his hair will look after I ride him into bliss or those lips will look so much better on me, down there. Screw that someone else, whoever it was. So well yeah, she had asked him kindly. With her mouth. Just, not in the way you usually ask a favor from someone.
The next day Fiona had woken up in Rhys’ bed and he had greeted her good morning with this incredibly tender look on his face that had pushed Fiona’s panic button on repeat. She had scrambled out of the bed and practically sprinted to the shower where she repeatedly banged her head against the shower tiles. Maybe she could blame this whole experience on a concussion.
When she had finally built up the courage to meet him face to face again, he was gone. He had made her breakfast and left her a note with a thank you for an amazing night and a sorry that he had to leave before saying goodbye as he had a morning meeting he couldn’t miss, although he really wished he could skip it, so they could talk. He had also left her an ECHO comm, telling her to call him anytime she needed anything. Fiona had gathered the guns he so kindly had let the Vault Hunters borrow, the ECHO comm (after a couple of minutes of internal arguing) and quickly scribbled a thank you and I’ll see you soon on the back of the note.
The Vault tip had been a false lead, and the two Vault Hunters disappointingly had to return home after only a couple of days on the road. When Athena had asked Fiona where she should drop her off, Rhys’ name was out of Fiona’s mouth before she could even think of another answer. Fiona told her fellow Vault Hunter the very conning lie that Rhys had requested his weapons back once the mission was over, and the ever-suspicious Athena seemed to buy the lie with just a little doubt written on her face.
Truth be told, Fiona had missed the jackass, and kind of wanted to clear the air after what happened between them. The disappointment on his face after she had dodged the morning after was burned into her mind, and it was slowly eating away at her. Rhys was her friend, and friends were rare on Pandora.
With a determined mind and her arms full of the borrowed guns, she entered his apartment, and there he was. Just like she remembered, his hair disheveled, barely awake after a night’s sleep. He had locked eyes with her and all common sense fled from Fiona’s mind as he whispered her name like a fucking prayer. He strode over to her, cupped her face and gave her a bone melting welcome home kiss. They could talk later. Right now, both their lips were preoccupied with other activities.
After that, Rhys’ arms and lips always welcomed Fiona home, like long lost lovers. They argued, they kissed, they had mind blowing sex and they fought about silly things like how much hair products Rhys used or how Fiona was using up all the hot water when she showered, and damnit if it wasn’t making her feel things. Athena had stopped questioning Fiona about Rhys after their fifth trip because of course the brunette was going to use her spare time with her new boy-toy.
Fiona was interrupted from her trip down memory lane when Athena crouched in front of her with gauze and a canteen of water. She gently removed the black scarf that was keeping the pressure on the wound and gave Fiona a small nod.
“It looks better than I first thought,” Athena put the bloody scarf on the ground and helped Fiona sit up straighter, so she could wrap the gauze around her waist.
“It’s going to leave you with a scar, but the cut is shallow, so you should be fine.”
“Huh,” Fiona replied after some time. “A sexy scar like the one your girlfriend has?”
Athena’s hand twitched and she let out an uncharacteristic chuckle before tying the gauze tightly.
“Janey’s scar is way sexier than what your scar is going to be, con artist.”
Fiona let out a chuckle and didn’t realize until Athena had helped her back in the passenger seat of the car that she had used her old title of con artist on her, even though Athena didn’t seem that furious anymore. Maybe more… Sullen.
Fiona took a sip from the water canteen and turned around to face Athena who had gotten back into the driver’s seat.
“L-Look, Athena,” Fiona really despised apologizing to people, but there were just some battles you had to give up. Maybe Athena had been right for being so angry with her. Hell, even Fiona had started to realize what a completely and utterly shitty idea it had been to barge into a bandit camp all by herself. Huh. Must’ve been the blood loss making her think logically or something.
“I-I’m… Sorry,” Fiona’s gaze went down to her folded hands in her lap where she was absentmindedly picking at her chipped off turquoise nail polish.
“I… I shouldn’t have done… What I did.”
Athena turned to look at Fiona and her expression was completely unreadable. Typical mercenaries. She didn’t say anything, so Fiona kept going.
“I really thought I could handle it, but… I guess I misjudged the situation.”
Athena kept quiet for so long that Fiona was starting to worry. She risked a quick glance towards her, and Athena was staring out into the sandy dunes, her hands firmly holding the steering wheel. Fiona swallowed hard, and for one panic-stricken moment she realized that Athena could just cut Fiona out of her life. Of this life. No more training, no more vault hunting and no more road trips through shitty cities that had nothing to offer than murder and corruption. It was a shitty way of spending your life, but it was also exciting and thrilling and gave her more than 28 years of her con artistry had done. Fiona was about to open her mouth and give the best damn speech of her life about the perks of bringing her along on these trips, but Athena interrupted her.
“We could have died,” It was such a quiet statement. Athena’s tone of voice, her soft heartbroken tone frightened Fiona more than when she was spitting bloody murder at her.
“Yeah,” Fiona gave her a small smile. “But what else is new, right?”
Athena let out a sigh and turned to look Fiona straight in the eyes.
“I’ve… Never been afraid of dying. It’s a part of my job. It’s a risk. But…” her eyes flickered uncertainly between Fiona’s and down to her wound in her stomach.
“But now… I have something to live for. Someone to live for.” There was a minute’s pause between them, but the reality of Athena’s words was making Fiona guiltier for pulling that shitty stunt than any other con had.
“Janey.” Fiona replied and gave a small nod in understanding.
“Yeah,” Athena took a deep breath. “Janey.”
Neither Vault Hunters had anything to say anymore. It was like a bomb had gone off, filling the air around them with pain, heartbreak and misery. Right now, both Vault Hunters stared off into the horizon and wished they could be anywhere than right here in this shitty tin can of a car in the middle of the desert with a prize on their head and probably fifty bandits trying to locate them after their failed attempt to steal one of the rarest pistols on Pandora.
Fiona’s mind went back to Rhys. She missed the hell out of him. It had been nine incredibly long weeks since they had seen each other. She missed his dorky laugh. She missed the way he smelled. She missed his colorful stupid socks. Hell, she even missed hearing about his workday at Evil Corp. They had both decided to not use the ECHO comm he had given her, in case it would compromise the mission, or the wrong people were listening in. Right now, Fiona wanted to say to hell with it and call him, just to hear his voice.
“Athena?” Fiona asked quietly, pulling them both out of their reveries. Athena looked so completely… Defeated. She gave Fiona a small nod for her to continue.
“How did you… Know?”
Athena’s small smile didn’t quite meet her eyes, but she looked more relaxed. Her eyes were glued to the horizon and she thought for a moment, like she was reliving some old treasured memory.
“You just know,” she responded quietly. “It’s not something you’re prepared for. Love is… Can be messy and hard,” she turned around to look at Fiona, the smile still etched on her exhausted face.
“But once you find it, it’s so worth it. So, if you’ve found someone you love, Fiona, hang onto it. With both hands and your gun as a backup plan. Because in this shitty place some godforsaken creator decided to call our home, nothing beats being with the one you love.”
Fiona was staring at Athena for a long minute.
“Woah, that was… Probably the longest sentence I’ve ever heard you say,” Athena really smiled then, a full-blown smile that made Fiona smile back at her, and suddenly the air wasn’t so thick with negative shit anymore.
“Let’s get out of here,” Athena turned on the engine and stepped on the gas pedal.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of this particular shitty spot of sand, and I reeeeally want to get back to the person I love.”
Athena gave Fiona a knowing wink, and Fiona raised her brows, feeling her cheeks heat up.
“Yeah… Let’s go home.”