Authors note: Haven't played Borderlands in a while, so this fic was off my radar. Thanks to everyone who gave me a kick in the parts (PM's and/or reviews). It's short; but then I've never been one for huge chappies.

Standard disclaimer: I do not own Borderlands 2, any of its characters, or any of the other wondrous creations of Gearbox Software, 2K Games or Iron Galaxy Software. However I certainly lay claim to misspellings, mistakes, tweaks, spells and characters of my own creation, and any re-characterization you may notice.

~~Damage Control~~

Angel heard, rather than felt, the crunch as the back of her skull shattered against something ... very hard. She had time to think that this was going to hurt, a lot, and then she was swept up into the sparkling embrace of the FastTravel system. She reached out, knowing she would have only a very few moments to access the network.

FastTravel stations. Radio hubs. Downloading data ... targeting programs ... packets of encrypted information bristling with layers of protection meant to shred anything that probed it too closely. Angel reached deeper into the system, backtracking into the familiar layers of a network she had been instrumental in setting up. Handsome Jack's almost-but-not-quite private servers.

Even in the brief time since her "death", she could see that things had changed. Jack was no siren, but his headware was almost enough to make up for it. Angel had never seen it's like. Well, not until she'd taken a quick look at some of what Gaige's self-mods could do. Gaige was a genius in her way, a bizarre combination of creativity and willingness to experiment on herself. Completely unique.

Jack's extensive modifications were always tested, often on someone who didn't realize they had "volunteered" to be a test subject in the first place, and if they worked well, there was usually a "terrible accident" rendering Jack's equipment the only (surviving) version. But Jack had rarely acted alone. He'd had his private, collared siren, his "AI" working with him. And even if she couldn't do much without his supervision and okay, Angel had a very good memory.

Even so, and even able to use her Siren abilities to interact with the network, she could barely follow the snarl of explosive software he'd set in motion.

In the instant that Jack had cursed the Vault Hunters for Angel's "death" he'd also initiated a rather nasty duplicating worm program, that even now was flashing through the system, dividing and darting off, infecting the FastTravel and NewU systems.

Angel could barely follow it. Them. Chewing away, splintering away at the Arrival Files of a select group of people. Mordecai. Axton. Maya. Lilith. Roland. Gaige. And Brick. The system had started on Jack's moon, but already about half of the FastTravel stations on Pandora wouldn't successfully allow the arrival of any of them. Now that she could understand what she was seeing, it was clear that the Bunker would be last.

Once all the arrivals had been disabled, then the system would start disabling their ability to initiate travel. And then, for these individuals, even the simplest "New U" cosmetic options would be completely disabled. For most people FastTravel was just that, travel. But for some people on Pandora, it was something more urgent. FastTravel recreated the individual at full health, free of chemicals, diseases and injuries; their ideal selves; homeostatically perfect.

For Mordecai the down side had always been that no matter how much alcohol he had on board at the start of the trip, he arrived stone cold sober.

Most of the Vault Hunters tended to appreciate Fast Travel for it's lifesaving qualities. But Jack was intelligent enough to see both sides of it's potential, and use them to the fullest. Jack had the ability to effectively summon limitless reinforcements to fight the Vault Hunters; and he would no doubt use them. And now he was shutting off the ability for them to leave ... or heal. Maya's abilities at healing were not going to be enough.

Jack had found a way to maximize the heck out of his chances to kill all the Vault Hunters.

Angel "reached" out to grab one of the myriad of copies of Jack's bristling, deadly program. If she could only modify it; set up a virus inside the virus, she might be able to thwart his plan. She hastily began re-weaving the deadly pattern.

And spilled out of the blue wash of data onto something hard, and hot.

Gravity reasserted it's ugly grip, and harsh sunlight blinded her. Two large hands took hold of her and lifted her up. Angel looked up, not into Brick's scar-ridden face, but into a softer smile. Short cropped hair, and curves that were more overwhelming than generous.

"Well sweet cheeks," The affectionate grin was infectious.

Angel found herself smiling back, and also turning slightly red. Fortunately she was saved from having to say anything back.

"Guess now I know why that crazy mechromancer needed my scanner. Jack don't never willingly give up anything he thinks he owns. Or any one."

Once Angel was steady on her feet, Ellie's hands on the young girl's shoulders changed from 'holding her up' to affectionate. "Whatchu doin here gal?"

Brick's voice came from behind her. "I'm gonna punch her so she don't die of being sick."

Ellie's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. "Ya wanna run that by me again? Y'all plannin' on murdering her so she don't...die...wait...but sirens can heal, 'specially Lil when she gets her little paws on some Erid-"

Angel could see the pieces falling together in Ellie's head.

"Well goddam that torturin' murderin' summbitch! Them vaulties better kill the hell out of that Handsome Jack-off."

Angel nodded, and realized that had been a mistake. She was already starting to feel light headed. She put out a hand to steady herself, and it landed on Ellie's generous hip.

Brick pulled back his fist.

Ellie stepped in front of it. "Hold yer punch for another minnit big guy." Then she deftly flipped a red syringe out of her pocket and injected it into Angel's arm in one smooth motion.

The dizziness receded. A little.

"Wow." Angel said. "That worked. Kind of." She took a breath. "Ellie, Jack is planning some horrible things to do to the vault hunters. Brick's been ... well anyway when I'm inside the system I can try and do something about it, but I really need to get to some kind of console." She would have tried to explain a bit more, but everything started to turn grey.

The explosion of blue told her that Brick's punch had definitely been in time.