Chapter Text
You sat there quietly, in Concordia’ sleazy bar, next to the rattling speakers that kept spitting irritating music which was honestly really shitty. Drink in your hand, you thoughtfully observed the near empty room, where the only other people with you in there was Moxxi (the bartender and a good friend of yours), a guy who was so drunk he had fallen asleep on the counter, and one of these bothersome claptrap units you only wish you could explode the crap out of it. In all honesty, you didn’t even know why you were still in there.
“You seem reflective today.” Moxxi noted as she sorted out some stuff behind the bar. “Something on your mind?”
“Not so much.” you exhaled sharply. “I’m just bored.”
“Well if you have nothing else to do, there’s this scavs camp, a couple miles west, in Triton Flats. I’ve got a friend who’d like to see someone take ‘em down.”
“Cut the crap. How much?”
“Let’s just say a lot. But see, I’m busy, and I’m sure he won’t mind if I put you on the job.”
“Did he tell you why?”
“Not a word. You know how this works: as long as the job’s done, the how and why doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, I’ll think about it.”
Finishing yet another drink of that alcoholic stuff you didn’t know, you slammed the glass on the counter, silently ordering another.
“Well you could just ask politely.” your friend mocked you as she poured you the next drink.
You murmured a silent ‘thank you’ before drinking the glass’s content once again.
“Geez, slow down a bit will ya?” Moxxi promptly reacted. “Unless you want to end up like that dumbass over there.”
She pointed the passed out guy a few meters away, which resulted in a sigh from you.
“You know me better than that.” you commented.
“You weren’t saying that last week.” she nagged you with a wink.
“It was one time Moxxi. And I swear, I’m definitely certain that there was something in my drink.”
“Well, if you haven’t had 20 of ‘em…”
“Oh shut up.”
Moxxi giggled lightly, while returning to her cleaning. Silence took over for a few minutes, before she approached you, saying:
“I’ve got something to do in my workshop. I can count on you not to blow shit up in here?”
“I can’t promise you anything.” you replied, smirking.
She only sighed, before quitting the room with a small sign of hand. It wasn’t the first time she left you alone in the bar, which usually meant that it was time for you to leave. But in that shitty world you lived in, was there really anything else to do?
You were slowly thinking about leaving now: a passed out dude and an irritating robot weren’t much good drinking company. That, and the fact that you’d probably end up raiding that scavs camp Moxxi told you about when the sun would rise made you recognize that you’d probably need some sleep ‘til then. Two or three hours would be enough.
As you were about to take off, footsteps resounded from behind you, climbing the stairs that lead in the bar. Curious, you turned around to have a look at that person that had quite an obnoxious hour to come have a drink.
It was a male, quite tall, with light chestnut hair and odd different coloured
eyes: blue on the right, green on the left. In all the time you spent in this bar, it was the first time you ever saw him around. He kept looking around the room, like he was searching for something, or someone. Inquisitive, you decided to step in.
“Can I help you?” you cordially asked the man.
He lowered his gaze to face you, probably surprised by the fact that someone was talking to him. Immediately, a smirk drew itself over his lips.
“Well, you can help me anytime sweetheart.” he grinned.
You sighed and rolled you eyes: it was impossible to count how many times you’d been approached by someone trying to flirt, and how you were annoyed by it. Although this time, the guy did not look like a drunken idiot, which unknowingly to him gave you a reason not to leave immediately on the spot.
“It must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line.” you teased mockingly.
“You’d actually be surprised…” he retorted with a wink.
You exhaled sharply, but not without keeping a smile in the corner of your lips.
“I’m certain. Now, you’re here for..?”
“Do you know if Moxxi’s still here?”
“She just left, like legitimately a minute ago.”
“Right, of course.”
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, before turning his head, deep in thoughts. Many people knew Moxxi around here, but you still couldn’t help but to wonder who the hell was this guy, and what was his relationship with your friend. You were about to ask him a question or two when he turned back around, smirk wide on his lips.
“Well, if there’s nothing else to do, you up for a drink or something?” he inquired, as he casually threw himself on a bench next to the bar.
“You do know I’m not working here right?” you retorted defensively.
“Oh come on, who cares. As long as you know where the booze is.”
“Fine then, but you’re paying.”
“Mind if I ask you how will I pay if there’s no one here?”
You promptly answered by scoffing, before taking place next to the man at the bar. Extending your arm over the counter, you took a few seconds to grab a bottle, along with two glasses, placing them next to you. You poured the liquid before pushing off the cup in front of you.
“Hey, I didn’t get your name by the way.” the man stated, as you took a sip of your drink.
“You never asked.” you retorted. “But I’m (Y/n), nice to meet you.”
“Lovely. I’m Jack.”
Emptying his glass in one gulp, he laid it down on the counter, not even minding to pour himself another on.
“It’s odd I’ve never seen you around here.” he started, locking his gaze with yours. “First time in Concordia?”
“Not at all.” you contradicted him, smirking. “But usually, everyone’s already gone when I get here.”
“Missing on the party?”
“Meh, I like some peace in quiet. People generally bore me.”
“Am I boring you?”
“Surprisingly enough, not yet.”
Your only answer to that was a smirk, to which you laughed before finishing your drink as well.
“What about you?” you asked him, once the glass rested empty on the counter. “Coming here often?”
“Well, let’s just say I come and go.”
A rowdy metallic noise interrupted your conversation, and you understood where it came from when Moxxi emerged from behind the wall that lead to her workshop.
“Still here (Y/n)?” she called out, before stopping sharply as she saw the person you were talking with. Her gaze hardened straight away as she approached the bar.
“Look who decided showed up.” she muttered, looking precisely at Jack. “What are you doing here?”
Now you had the confirmation that these two knew each other. And by seeing Moxxi’s facial expression, it could only mean one thing: you had to get out of there. This was none of your business.
“Hey Moxx, I was actually looking for you.” Jack replied after a few seconds, using her nickname, which seemingly did not make her happy.
“And I clearly wasn’t.” she retorted sharply. “What do you want?”
He marked a small pause before answering.
“Well, I was having a drink with this lovely lady here—”
But when he turned around to have at look at you, he instantly realized that the bench was now empty. The only thing that proved you’d once been there was the now unfilled glass resting on the bar, a small note glued onto it on which you could see nothing but a small heart. Seeing that, Jack’s only reaction was not an exclamation, but rather a sly smirk on his lips.
Because he knew it wouldn’t be the last he’d hear from you.
☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎
It was only two days later that you decided to head out to that scavs camp, following Moxxi’s coordinates. The sun wasn’t even up when you hopped down from your Moon Zoomy, a few meters away to get an idea of what you were confronted to.
This camp was seemingly pretty small compared to some previous ones. It was installed in an old wrecked ship that had probably crashed years ago, leaving only metals scraps and debris scattered around. Apparently, a single wreckage was enough for them to start a camp into it.
A few scavs were reunited around a fire, a tone of voice way too loud to be considered talking. They were heavily armed, and you had no clue on the extent of the reinforcements and gunnery that were waiting for them inside. Of course, no one told you it’d be easy right?
Making sure your ride wasn’t visible from the camp, you armed yourself with all the weapons you had: an assault rifle in hand, with a small pistol lodged in the back of your belt along a few ammo rounds and some grenades you managed to get your hand onto. You additionally made sure that your shield was activated. After taking a few deep breaths, you rushed nearer to the camp, hiding behind a piece of the wreckage.
“Time to hit the grave motherfuckers.” you mumbled with a smirk, loading the first round of ammo before instantly turning around, firing at what was now your enemies.
It didn’t took a while for them to react, although two of them were already on the ground when they responded to the hit, aiming all their bullets at you. Apart from the few ones that reached you, scratching your shield without much damage, the scrap of metal that you considered your hiding spot did a pretty good job at covering you from the enemy’s fire.
They of course had reinforcements: you noticed right away when a dozen scavs joined their comrades outside, also firing in your direction. Oddly, they were a lot numerous than what you initially expected. Some of them also carried heavy weaponry and armours that weren’t to be taken lightly. You were taking high risks by accepting this mission, but there was no turning back now.
Following a self-given pattern, you quickly left your safety spot to shoot a few bullets before retreating back, taking some time to reload to restart it all again. But as much as this technique seemed effective now, they were doubtlessly getting closer, and you weren’t sure of having the necessary weaponry to fend them all off when they’d show up.
Reloading your rifle, your attention wasn’t drawn when one of these assholes (a nickname you deemed self-explanatory for them) flew off over the metal scraps and landed a few meters away, on the snow in front of you, making you lift your eyes only when he started shooting.
You felt your shield getting weaker right away, and instantly reacted by raising your gun in his direction. But your finger barely brushed the trigger when the deafening noise of a gunshot resounded, as you saw a bullet traverse from left to right through the bandit’s brain before his body collapsed onto the ground. You just stood there in awestruck, wondering what the hell just happened there.
“Missed me cupcake?” exclaimed a voice you first couldn’t recognize, until Jack came into your view with his usual grin, and a golden pistol in his left hand.
The accustomed sound of gunfire still filled the background ominously, but it didn’t refrain you from asking:
“What the hell are you doing here?” you yelled over the noise as you rotated to shoot up a few scavs.
“Helping you.” he replied defensively, voice as loud as yours. “What does it look like?”
“That you’re trying to steal my pay check!”
Hitting once again the recharge switch, you put up yet another rond of ammo into your rifle before aiming at the bad guys.
“Oh come on honey, you now me better than that.” he retorted as he hid aside you behind the wreckage, shooting on the other side.
“Actually, I don’t know you at all.” you scoffed. “Now what’s the real reason?”
“Moxxi told me about it, and I was bored.”
Suddenly, a bandit peeked from the wreckage side, aiming at you when Jack shouted something like “Get down!”, to which you obeyed before seeing the scav’s body roughly hit the ground.
“What do you mean she told you about it?” you exclaimed over the never-ending noise of detonations.
“Does it matter? I’m saving your ass.”
He was right: his reason for being there wasn’t really important if he was preventing you from getting killed. Even if you could’ve done it by yourself, of course.
As this ceaseless war didn’t seem like reaching an end, you acknowledged in disarray that the enemies weren’t fewer than before. In fact, it looked like there was even more of them, to which you couldn’t help but ask yourself a question: how in the hell?
Looking around, you also noticed that your shield kept getting weaker without the time required for it to recharge itself, and that the amount of bullets left on your side wasn’t positive looking. You genuinely hoped Jack brought some stuff on his end, or else you weren’t sure of how all this would go for you.
All of a sudden, an abrupt beeping sound echoed near, startling you before bringing up the question: what was it? Lowering your gaze to your belt, you instantly identified the signalling red light as your shield, that were now powered down. Which could only mean one thing: one well-placed bullet, and it was done for you.
You repeatedly smashed the recharge button, wishing it’d make a difference even if you pertinently it wouldn’t. Recharging once again your rifle that was crucially getting low on ammo, you were about to share your problem to Jack, in hope he had a solution or maybe a spare fully charged shield near him, when a excruciating pain crossed through your shoulder, making you forget every thought you had in mind at the moment.
It was no secret: you had been shot before. But in none of your memories you remembered it hurting like this. Your arm immediately went numb, as a burning sensation went through your chest, then the rest of your body, causing you to lose balance and stumble to hit the ground.
Your head spun as you felt dizzy, your vision gradually getting blurry. The muffled sound of gunshots felt distant, and the only thing you remembered from this scene is hearing Jack’s voice saying:
“(Y/n), are you alrig— shit are you bleeding?”
You felt a hand on your shoulder, and everything turned to black
☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎
Oddly enough, when you felt your body awaken, it was not on the cold and hard surface of the moon, like you expected. Rather than that, was a soft material, seemingly like a mattress, along something that appeared to be smooth drapes. When you fluttered your eyes open, the steady lamp over the bed lighting the surroundings instantly made you realize that you had no idea where you were.
A small room, painted in a shaded yellow, with a old desk and a wooden chair was the first thing to introduce you to this unknown place. It was barely bigger than a closet, but the decoration and the neat-looking appearance of the area seemed like nothing you ever saw in Concordia.
After fainting on the battlefield, you had no memories of what happened next. Maybe you’d been knocked out ever since, or perhaps someone made sure to. Both cases, you weren’t feeling safe alone in there.
Trying to get up, the acute pain in your shoulder instantly came back, causing discomfort in the rest of your body. As you applied your feet in the ground, the ache got even worse, making you collapse abruptly head first on the ground in a loud thump. “If I was trying to be subtle, well that’s crossed off the list.” you mumbled to yourself, struggling to get somewhat of a balance.
Not even a minute later, the sudden noise of the door beeping open echoed in the room, bringing up your attention on the person that entered. And honestly, you weren’t much surprised to see Jack, looking down at you with something that looked like discouragement.
“What the hell are you doing?” he called out, promptly approaching to help you get back on the mattress. “One shoulder isn’t enough?”
Normally you’d have retorted with a smart ass remark, but the pain could only make you wince. You sat back on the bed, taking a few breaths, before muttering with a hoarse voice:
“I could’ve gotten out of there by myself”
The first answer to that was a scoff from Jack, before he exclaimed:
“By yourself, my ass! You were lucky I was there princess, or else I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be breathing right now.”
You exhaled sharply, knowing he was right about this. If it hadn’t been for him, you would probably be dead and buried by now, even if the burying part was discutable. You owed him your life, and God knew how much you hated owing debts to others. Still, for the first time in years you couldn’t count, you mumbled a silent 'thank you’ that almost went inaudible. Except it didn’t.
“What did I just hear?” Jack smirked mockingly.
“I said thank you, geez!” you blurted out on an exasperated tone.
“You’re thanking me? What happened to you?”
“Yeah, I figured I’d try it out, seeing how it goes.”
“Well that’s new.”
With something that seemed like a giggle, you managed to properly place your feet on the ground, and tried to get up once more. You were barely holding up, but at least you weren’t falling. For now.
“Slow down there sweetheart.” Jack asserted as helped you keep your balance. “You shouldn’t move too much if you want to heal.”
“I’m perfectly fine. ” you retorted defensively.
“No, you’re not. Now sit the fuck down before you hurt yourself even more.”
Listening to his advice, you inhaled deeply: there was no need to make this worse than it already was. So you gave up on your plan, sitting back down on the mattress in defeat.
“I’m puzzled.” you stated, bringing your eyes up to face Jack’s. “Why did you saved me? For all I know, you could’ve left me there.”
“What would the fun be in that? I’m not THAT cruel.”
“Still, its weird.”
“God, what is it with you girls and your need for clear answers!”
“I’m sorry, it’s a girl thing now?”
“Totally.”
You scoffed mockingly, widely smirking, before sarcastically asking
“Well, is it a girl thing to do this then?”
And on theses words, you grabbed his collar and firmly pressed your lips against his. For a second you noticed something that looked like surprise into his eyes, until he eagerly replied to the kiss by putting one arm on your back, slightly grinning. You closed your eyes, putting an arm behind his neck, and enjoyed the moment until you both broke apart, in need of oxygen.
“I must admit, you keep surprising me darling.” he admitted as he stepped back.
“And I’m not even done yet.”
He chuckled, a smile in the corner of his lips, before exclaiming:
“Now get some fucking sleep, before I knock you out myself.”
“Oh, you would never do that.” you riposted.
“Do you know me that well sweetheart? I’m capable of anything.”
And that’s how, with a smirk and a slight wink, he left the room, leaving nothing behind expect you smiling widely from ear to ear. Because internally, you knew that today was a beginning, a start to a much bigger story than what you could ever imagine.