Work Text:
“Whoa,” Fiona says as she walks into Scooter’s old garage. “I had no idea this place could look so… nice.”
“Yeah?” Janey beams at her from one end of the room. “I had no idea either, but it sure cleans up well, doesn’t it?”
“That seems a little bit like an understatement.” She’s pretty sure her mouth is hanging open and the box in her hands is going to fall out of her grip if it slackens any further, but the garage looks huge like she’s never seen it before in its new setup, even with tables and chairs and decorations throughout the room. “I definitely wouldn’t have thought to hold a wedding here.”
“Mm, yeah, always knew this place had some potential,” Janey says. “That, and we haven’t got the money to rent the space I was looking at. But you know, move some of the junk out, put some pretty flowers around, install some nice lighting, and it’s all the same thing.”
"Did you do all this yourself?"
"Some of it. Mostly I just told everybody else what to do and fixed up their mess."
Fiona smiles and walks up to Janey, watching as she fixes up one of the decorations — some heart that seems to be decorated with half-broken lights spelling ATHENA + JANEY. It's not her style but it's cute, in the way that she can tell Janey made it herself. “You want some help with that?”
“Nah, you just sit back and look pretty.”
Fiona coughs at that, but she stands out of the way and starts taking in the sight of the converted garage instead. It really does look surprisingly good. It's nothing like she remembers it, almost sparkling under the new light fixtures and decorations. At first, it was strange to walk into, not quite right, but now that she's finally got a good look, she’s a little glad for the changes. They're just enough to not make her think about what the place used to contain.
There are a few guests already around, but none that she recognizes, so she stays there and turns the box in her hands over idly, watching Janey as she finishes her work.
“That’s good.” The heart flashes and Janey steps away from her work to wipe her hands. She examines it for a long moment, before turning to Fiona with a satisfied hum, and her expression lights up at the sight of Fiona. “That a present for me?”
“Oh, yeah, this is from me and Sasha, who should be coming soon,” Fiona says, offering the box to her. “We’ve never been to a wedding as actual guests before, so we don’t really know what to do, but- hopefully you and Athena like it.”
“Aw, thanks,” Janey says as she accepts the box. “You didn’t have to bring anything but your cute selves, of course, but it’s much appreciated.”
“Well, you guys did a lot for us so... it’s the least we could do.”
Janey laughs and holds the present under her arm. “Well, I could say the same for you. Don’t worry about it. But I’ve got to run now — get ready for the ceremony and everything and make sure Thena isn’t having a mental breakdown — so you make yourself comfortable, all right?”
“Sure,” Fiona says.
Janey smiles at her and ruffles Fiona's hair with her free hand before winking and turning away, leaving Fiona to herself.
The problem with weddings, as Fiona finds out, is there isn’t much to do when nobody’s around to talk to or before the actual wedding. She holds out optimistically on Sasha showing up for a while before she realizes she’s probably going to have to make her own entertainment.
Thankfully, there’s already the beginnings of a spread on some of the tables. More importantly, there’s an entire display of wine glasses filled laid out on one of them — probably arranged ahead of time to save the trouble, she thinks — and that’s the one she makes her way towards and decides to camp at.
It’s not the best champagne, but it’s Pandoran — certainly the best anybody can get on Pandora, anyhow. She likes it, though. It feels a bit like home.
“It’s a little early to be drinking, isn’t it?”
Fiona coughs over her drink in surprise, and the champagne burns through her throat. She curses and pounds her chest with her fist and coughs some more, glaring just in time to see Rhys sidle up across from her.
He smiles sheepishly at her, as she returns it with an unimpressed stare.
"Hey, Fi," he says.
"Hey, loser."
Rhys scowls at that before reaching for a glass off the table she’s leaning against, and she takes the chance to get a proper look at him. He’s looking a lot better off than she remembers — straighter and sharper, angles all over. Still with the ridiculous asymmetric pinstripes, but his new vest isn’t cheap, she knows. She’s almost impressed.
Then he takes a sip from his glass and his face scrunches in disgust so thoroughly that illusion immediately shatters.
Fiona watches him as his expression shifts from mild horror to outright repulsion and eventually settles on the faint contempt he's always been good at. “Oh, jeez, I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to the Pandoran stuff. Kind of regretting crashing that big space station now. At least it had good alcohol.”
“Suck it up, Mister Fancy Pants, you live here now.” She takes a drink from her own glass, relishing the way Rhys stares at her with thinly-veiled disbelief. “And while we’re talking about fancy pants — you finally figured out how to wear a tie, huh?”
Rhys laughs. “Yep, no more tucked-in clip-ons for me.” He coughs, glaring down at his drink as if it’s offended him before looking back up at her. "And you... look nice today too."
"I always look nice."
"Yeah- yeah." Rhys scratches the back of his head with his free hand. He looks from her, to her drink, down to his own, then back at her. "Uh, so. I haven't seen you in a while. How've you been doing? Any luck with the Vault Hunter business?"
"Not yet," Fiona says. "Still getting there. Hard to get started, but once you get a good foothold it's supposed to be smooth sailing or something, but I wouldn't really know.” She shrugs and considers him for a moment. “What about you?"
"Well, I own a mega-corporation and have my own cult following dedicated to making giant statues of me," Rhys says with a crooked grin, running his hand through his perfectly slicked hair. "So, not too shabby."
"Ha, funny. Show-off." Fiona punches him, aiming for the shoulder but only reaching his arm. Belatedly, when the blunt pain in her knuckles begins to set in, she remembers it’s his metal arm.
"Hey! Watch it with the cybernetics. This thing is worth more than all the junk you've stolen in your life, you know." Rhys sets his glass down and nurses the chrome with his flesh hand with a glare. "And here I was, about to offer you an Atlas sponsorship and everything. Once-in-a-lifetime deal."
"Yeah, whatever. I wouldn't have sold out to a corporate goon like you anyways.”
Rhys puts a hand on his hip and sticks his tongue out at her in lieu of a reply.
"Oh yeah, mature," she says.
"Don't you know it. I'm all about mature. Mature is my middle name, and my last name, and my nickname."
"Charming." Fiona snorts. She downs the last of her drink and sets it back on the table, then picks up the one Rhys abandoned. "Speaking of maturity, you talk to Sash yet?"
He looks oddly surprised at the question before replacing it with a dubious look. "Ah-ha. No, not yet. You think I should?"
She shrugs. "Maybe not. I did hear you were a massive disappointment in the sack. Probably for the best that you don't."
"I- wh-w-whoa, what?" Rhys splutters. "Where did you- we didn't even- I'm not- hey!"
Fiona bursts out laughing at him, doubling over and clutching her sides with her free hand, almost spilling her glass. By the time she straightens herself again — sides in pain, breathless — Rhys has his arms crossed. “Oh man, you should see your face. I wish I could take a picture. You could use it for all of your future Atlas propaganda posters.”
“Oh, funny,” Rhys says. “You should get an award. You know, because you’re so goddamn funny. But for your information, I am fantastic in the sack.”
Fiona grimaces. Nope, not going to go further with that. No way in hell. “Ugh. Forget I even mentioned it.”
“You're the one who brought it up.”
“Yeah, and now I’m regretting it. A lot.”
Rhys is, thankfully, silent after that. She takes that as her chance to finish the last of Rhys’ drink, noting with amusement how he continues to look at her with a fascinated horror.
“No, I don’t think I’ll get used to it,” Rhys says faintly.
“More for me, then.”
Rhys wrinkles his nose at her and crosses his arms again. He opens his mouth to say something, but Fiona doesn’t get to hear what he’s going to say before his gaze catches onto something behind her and he stiffens.
"Holy crap. Is that who I think it is?"
Fiona follows his gaze to the gathering, but doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Who?"
"Oh god it is," Rhys says, clutching her sleeve and pointing with his chin. "It's Zer0. He's here. He's actually here. I’m not sure if I want to hide now or -"
Fiona looks over again and- sure enough, she sees the familiar shape of the Vault Hunter. She’s not sure how she missed him the first time, because wow, does he stand out, and not even in a good way. He even looks like he attempted to look nicer than usual for the occasion, except he looks exactly the same and just as creepy and she wouldn’t have even believed he’d been invited to the wedding in the first place if she hadn’t been there herself at the time.
Rhys fidgets with his metal fingers, his eyes darting from her to Zer0. It would be almost endearing to see if his reason for his nervousness wasn’t so plain weird. She never really understood that particular obsession of Rhys’ — but then, again, he did idolize Handsome Jack of all people, so maybe she should just avoid questioning his tastes altogether.
"Okay, Fi. I, uh. I'm gonna run, you can go grab a seat without me. Talk to you later. It was good seeing you again and everything."
Fiona rolls her eyes. "Yeah, sure, go talk to your weird mancrush," she says. If there even is a guy under that suit, she adds privately. She hasn't ruled out sexless cyborg alien yet. Or, Sasha’s hypothesis: sentient tentacle monster.
As Rhys turns to go, she says, "Don't forget, Rhys: safety first!"
Rhys pauses just long enough to squint at her and give her the middle finger. She responds by sticking her tongue out at him.
"Ma-ture," he says.
"Don't you know it."
“Oh cute, ha, I get it. You’re doing that thing- that thing where you throw my words back at me. Nice. We’re going to talk about this later, trust me.”
“You started it.”
He shakes his head and finally runs off with a hilarious skip in his step, like he’s trying to contain his excitement and failing miserably. She watches his back with a small smile before turning her attention back to the wine.
The wedding is a very modest affair — not too many people, not too few. There's something very cozy about it, sitting back and just taking it all in. Not quite jumping straight in, but enjoying the experience nonetheless.
She spots Janey again soon after, in the middle of preparing one last thing, and spends some time helping her before she's shooed away.
She doesn’t really feel like socializing, so afterwards she hangs around the edges of the gathering for a while, keeping an eye out for Sasha and watching guests drift about until they all start migrating outside the garage where the ceremony is set up to take place.
Outside, she finally spots Sasha and Vaughn and calls them over with a wave.
"Yo, Fi," Vaughn says brightly, bringing her in for a hug. "You're looking well."
"Yeah, wow, you too." She can practically feel his six pack through his clothes, like a rock against her stomach, and his arms are a little too tight around her shoulders. "It's really good to see you."
Vaughn grins before releases her, and Sasha follows up with another hug. "We were just looking for you," she says. "The wedding's about to start."
“God, I’ve been looking for you too, you don’t even know,” Fiona says. "You'd think it'd be easier to find people who stand out as much as you two in this place."
“Where’s Rhys?” Sasha asks, craning her head to glance at the people around them.
“Last I heard, flirting with Zer0,” Fiona says. “Or hiding from him.”
Sasha looks really confused at that, but she shakes her head instead of questioning it. The appropriate response for anything involving Rhys, Fiona thinks.
“Well, whatever, he can find his own spot,” Sasha says, linking her arms with Fiona’s and Vaughn’s and tugging at them both. “Come on, let’s get to our seats.”
Rhys is still missing when the ceremony finally starts in a chorus of music, but it's his loss, she figures, when she sees Janey and Athena finally make their way down. Sasha and Vaughn chatter excitedly from beside her, but she contents herself with watching the scene in front of her. It might be the champagne in her system, but as she watches the couple, she can't help but feel warm and- like she's floating along, like she's being taken on a ride with them. Athena looks at Janey with an expression Fiona has never seen before, and she can't help but smile at it.
By the end of it, her cheeks ache.
The final vows are punctuated by a kiss and an explosion of fireworks. Homemade ones, Janey had told her earlier, looking ready to burst out of her own skin at the prospect of showing off her own work. They curl up into the hollow cavern sky of New Haven and rain down in bright rivulets of sparks, bathing the rooftops in a flickering glow.
She’s never seen fireworks before, and especially not this close. Space explosions are about the closest she’s ever gotten. Fireworks, she decides, are better.
It’s starting to occur to her in small revelations — all the things she’s experiencing for the first time, all of the things she would never have gotten to experience if none of the people around her had come crashing into her life. Weddings, fireworks — all of it. She doesn’t even want to think about where she would be if she’d never met them. Maybe still living as a con with Felix and Sasha. Probably buried in the dirt, in the middle of the wasteland.
And there’s something about it — somewhere, deep down, it feels like that adventure she shared with these people is over for good. Like everyone has gathered to say goodbye to everything that’s brought them together and starting their new lives.
It's a silly thought. It ended long ago, she knows, but it’s suddenly feeling real.
The fireworks lead way to music, which leads way to food — finally, she and Sasha both say as they all return inside. They toast to Athena and Janey, and the wine leaves a warm path through her chest as she looks at the two of them, arms around each other as they dance slow circles around the center of the room.
She finds Rhys again soon after the dancing starts, sitting at a table by himself and nursing another drink that he clearly hasn’t touched. As she gets closer, she realizes his eye is glossy and pink.
“Rhys.” She puts a hand on his shoulder and narrows her eyes at him as he rubs his nose with his sleeve. “Have you been crying?”
Rhys sniffs in response.
Yep, definitely crying.
"Wow okay, come on, you massive baby," Fiona says. "Stop crying and come dance."
"I'm not- look, I’m not crying," Rhys protests with a shaky exhale, dabbing at his eye. "I just have an... allergy. To crippling amounts of happiness. Look, I'm even starting to break out in hives."
"Sure thing, big boy." Fiona rolls her eyes and grabs his arm — the sleeve that doesn't have dark spots all over it — and throws him into the center of the crowd.
So they dance, and Rhys spends most of it tripping over his spindly legs and swearing to Elpis and back that he knows how to dance while Fiona laughs at him. They dance and make fools of themselves until everyone around them disperses — first to avoid them, then to watch.
Sasha joins in, and then Vaughn follows, and somehow the scene manages to devolve into a group effort to teach Rhys how to not stumble over his own feet. It doesn't work, unsurprisingly. Rhys only grows flustered under the attention and trips over himself as he gets increasingly defensive, and they all laugh at him and make him fumble even more.
They laugh until Fiona's cheeks hurt again, and it's fun. It's the most fun Fiona has had in as long as she can remember.
By the time she slinks back to the side for a break, Rhys is still dancing with Sasha and Vaughn and still looking ridiculous, but they’re all laughing and smiling and it’s nice. It leaves a light feeling in her chest.
It hits her then how long it’s been since she’s seen them all together, like this. Not since they saved Gortys and separated to do their own things afterwards.
She spots Athena skirting around the edges of the gathering, too, watching the chaos, and wonders if she’s thinking the same thing.
"Hey," Fiona says as she approaches Athena. "I didn’t get to say this earlier but, congratulations. You guys- you’re going to be great together."
"Thanks," Athena says. "It's... I'm very happy."
She looks more somber than happy, Fiona thinks, which doesn't seem quite right, but she doesn’t mention it.
“You’re not going to join in on the -” She spares a sidelong look back at Rhys. “- dancing?”
Athena shakes her head, but turns it to look back at them. Fiona follows her gaze and realizes with a start that she’s looking at Janey, in the center of the crowd. Her expression is softer than Fiona has ever seen it, softer than it was even during the ceremony, and Fiona feels… weird. Like she’s interrupting something.
Idly, she wonders if Janey has any idea.
The silence between them lasts for so long that Fiona almost doesn’t realize Athena is addressing her when she finally says, “You’re still Vault Hunting, right?”
“Yep,” Fiona says, and then mentally backtracks. “Well, I mean, I’m trying.”
"I was thinking,” Athena starts quietly, “if you're looking for Vault Hunter work, you can come talk to me. I... know some people."
Fiona can't help but grin at that. Rhys’ stupid Atlas sponsorship be damned, she’s got an actual Vault Hunter to help her. "Janey's okay with that?"
"Nothing wrong in keeping up with old contacts. Even if she does get suspicious.”
“So no, then,” Fiona guesses. “That- that seems like something you should talk about with her. I mean, she worried about you a lot."
Athena gives her a small smile back. “Yeah, I… I think I will. After that last Vault, she's been a little more understanding," she says, and lowers her voice as she continues, "I think she kind of liked it, actually. Still won't let me go, but that's fine."
“Well, when she does, you can come with me any time,” Fiona offers. “Janey too. You should tell her that, bring her along with us so she doesn’t have to worry as much. We’d be awesome.”
Her enthusiasm is probably showing a little too much right then, but Athena just nods at that. “I think she’d like that,” she says, looking pleased before turning her attention back to the dancing.
Janey emerges from the crowd moments later and catches Fiona’s eye. “Fiona! Thena!” she exclaims breathlessly as she makes her way to both of them and twines her fingers with Athena’s. “There you are. Why aren’t you celebrating?”
“Oh, I am,” Fiona says. “Don’t worry, I’m not done here yet.”
"Good, good! Well, it’s perfect that you’re here anyways — see, we wanted to properly thank you," Janey says, grinning wide. "For everything. Without you, this never would have happened."
Athena nods stiffly. Before Fiona can say anything back, Janey grabs her hands and pulls her and Athena in. Fiona blinks for a moment in confusion, her gaze flicking between them both before she realizes Janey’s got her arms around her and it's a hug.
It's a nice hug at that, and the two of them are really warm and smell really nice, Fiona thinks hazily before she thinks to reciprocate, bringing her arms up and around the both of them. Janey lets out a delighted giggle before she pulls her head back to press her lips against Fiona’s cheek, and Fiona’s thoughts stop right there.
"Uh, it's." Fiona can feel her cheeks flushing warm as they pull away, her skin tingling from the contact. "It's no big deal, really. Just happy to see you happy."
"Aw." Janey finally pulls back and bounces excitedly on the balls of her heels while Athena looks away. "She's so cute. Can we keep her, love?"
That takes a moment for Fiona to process, and even then she’s not quite sure where exactly it came from. She blinks once, and then twice. "Uh- " she starts, and trails off to look at Athena, who seems... amused?
"If Fiona is okay with it, sure."
Janey lets out an excited laugh, stifling it with her hand. “Oh, this is going to be just stellar.”
"Uh?" Fiona repeats, glancing back and forth from Janey to Athena. "What am I okay with? Mind filling me in on what's going on?"
"What's going on is -" Janey leans in. "- we've just had our wedding, we’re in the middle of having our party, and now we're inviting you to the afterparty. To show our appreciation, and all that. You in?"
"I'm... in?" Fiona gapes at them for a long moment before it starts to click and- oh, okay, that was not an offer she was expecting to get tonight, and maybe not in her entire life. She's still not sure she understands where it's coming from, but she probably shouldn't question it. "I mean, yeah. I'm in. Totally in. Wow."
“Perfect! That was way easier than Athena said it would be.” Janey wraps an arm around Athena’s shoulder and rocks her. “Wasn’t I right, sweetie?”
“Yes, you were right."
“Wait,” Fiona says weakly. “Wait, you guys discussed this? About me?”
“You betcha,” Janey chirps. "Talked about it for a long time, trust me, just had to make sure you were a hundred percent.”
“I’m… extremely confused,” Fiona says, flushing again because wow. “But flattered. I’m… very flattered.”
“You’re adorable, that’s what you are. Now you just make sure you stick your cute face around after the wedding, and we’ll take care of the rest, you hear?"
Fiona blinks, not sure what to make of any of this but still fighting down a smile anyways. "I hear."
“Super! Now, excuse me while I steal the wifey back,” Janey says with a wink that makes Fiona’s chest flutter. “Don’t forget, m’kay?”
“Yeah- no, I won’t.” Definitely not. She’s probably going to be reeling over this for the next month.
Janey laughs again, delighted, before she grabs Fiona's shoulders and leans in to press another kiss against Fiona’s cheek, enthusiastic and wet, and Athena smiles at her before they both turn away. Fiona stands there for a long moment, just watching them go, mind still catching up.
She’s still struggling to catch up when the fireworks start up again.
There's a feeling in her chest that's numb, still confused, still unresolved. But there’s a another feeling in her that’s rising and rising and exploding to the rhythm of those fireworks, and the grin that’s been threatening to spread across her face finally does. She thinks she’s going to burst.
Wanting to be under the fireworks, to feel them in the air, she makes her way back outside. Rhys is already there, sitting in one of the rows, spread out across the chairs and watching the fireworks above.
His head rolls over to follow Fiona as she approaches. "Come to gloat about your dancing superiority at last, have you?"
"Hey, don't get too hung up over on that," Fiona says. "Maybe your flailing is like, a special mating ritual from whatever planet Zer0 is from. He's going to be falling into your arms in no time."
"Wow, thanks. That makes me feel so much better."
Fiona lets the sarcasm fly over her head in favor of moving to sit next to him instead, and Rhys pointedly spreads his legs farther apart to give her less space. When he stares defiantly back at her instead of moving, she kicks him and watches in satisfaction as he shrivels up with a pained hiss.
"Ow, ow. Okay, you win, you friggin' savage. Jeez, talk about kicking a man when he's down."
Fiona smiles, sweet as she can — though she knows she’s just grinning stupidly anyways at this point, she can feel it in her cheeks — and settles down next to him, pushing him over when he tries to take his space back. He resists for a moment before acquiescing and settles for shooting her a suspicious look.
“You keep smiling,” Rhys says. “Why do you keep smiling? Should I be scared? Because I’m scared, Fi, so please stop smiling at me already.”
"I think I just got invited to a threesome," she blurts out, the words flowing straight from her chest, wanting to be freed to the world. "With Janey and Athena."
"What, already?" Rhys crosses his arms and peers at her with a raised eyebrow. "That's so unfair. Why don't I ever get invited to threesomes?"
Fiona pulls a face. "Oh my god, Rhys, this is exactly why."
Rhys huffs at her. "Well fine, you are officially uninvited when Zer0 and I start thinking of adding someone else."
"Oh, ew. Thanks."
"You're welc- hey." Rhys sends a glare in her direction. She sticks her tongue out at him and laughs. “Oh, okay, you’re just going to be like that. I get it. Have fun with your stupid threesome, you homewrecker.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“Yeah, shut up.”
Fiona grins victoriously back at him and gives him a playful shove. He hisses at her and returns the favor, and she laughs and leans against him before turning her gaze back upwards, feeling the fireworks explode in her chest, watching them rain down above them in rivulets of sparks.
Maybe the adventure is over for good, she thinks. But she sure as hell isn't going to let any of these people go.