A/n: You ever have an idea that just will not leave you alone until you sit down and put it on paper?

Yeah, this is one of those.

Saying Goodbye Is Hard

"Of all the wonders that I have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear. Seeing death, a necessary end, will come when it will-"

BOOM!

The psycho exploded into a cloud of blood as a dozen mini-rockets ripped through him. The momentum of his mad running carried a few large pieces of flesh forward, splattering a the ground.

Just a few steps away from the mangled gore that had once been human being stood a girl, clad in a blue vest and a red skirt. Her fiery orange hair was tied up in twin pigtails. She wore a pair of goggles on her forehead, on her cheek, a band-aid.

With a swift jerk of her mechanical arm, she pumped a new round into her Torgue shotgun, its barrel still smoking. She stared down at the red smear on the ground, at the shattered bones scattered across the landscape, at the murder she had just committed…

…and let out a groan of relief.

"Finally, sweet silence! Jeez, where do these guys come up with this stuff?"

Turning on her heel, Gaige walked at a relaxed pace through the carnage. Bodies lay strewn in various states of dismemberment, some on fire, some corroded, some simply blown apart. As Gaige passed them and the massive machinery they had moments ago been working on, she tapped her ECHO-device.

"Hey, Lilith." She waited a few seconds. "Hello, is anyone there? Axton? Mordecai?" A few more moments of silence. She leaned against the side of a rusted crane. "Oh, come on, someone's gotta-"

"I WILL STRANGLE THE TALK BOX WITH MY MIND!"

The sudden screaming in her ear made Gaige jump, so bad that she accidentally pulled the trigger. The shot bounced off the ground, zoning in on a single solitary rakk gliding in the distance. The poor thing was decimated in an instant.

The ringing in her ears fading, an angered Gaige yelled back into the ECHO. "Dammit Krieg, get of the ECHO right now! Better yet, find Lilith and put her on!"

"THE FIRES OF VENUS WILL IMPLODE, AND DANCE WITH THE SOULS OF THE-"

Wump!

A familiar distorting sound came across the airwaves as Krieg's ramblings faded into a quickly quieting yell of shock. A new voice came on the ECHO.

"I really gotta keep that door locked… yes, hello? Gaige, you still there?"

Gaige sighed in relief. "Yes, I'm still here, Lilith. Just thought I'd check in and give you the good news."

"Oh? And what news is that?"

Gaige smiled to herself in self-satisfaction. "Oh, I just thought you'd want to know that I just finished clearing out Mount Molehill Mine, along with Meltwater Crossing and Ripoff station before it. Tundra Express is officially bandit free."

"Really? What about Buzzard Academy?"

"Empty as Oasis. Better yet, there's even a few untouched buzzards left, just waiting for new pilots."

"Whoa. You don't mess around kid." Lilith sounded genuinely impressed, much to Gaige's delight. "I just heard back from Brick and Salvador. They cleared out the Fridge just a little while ago. At this rate, we should have the Frozen Wastes cleared by the end of the week."

Gaige's smile widened. Ever since the Vault Hunters had taken down Handsome Jack, they had all been working their butts off to try and make Pandora at least a little bit safer. Step one had seemed simple: deal with the bandits. Lilith, in the hopes of avoiding more bloodshed, attempted to negotiate with the various bandit clans.

There was a lot of shooting that day.

After that, the Vault hunters started Plan B: full on extermination. Things had been going surprisingly well. Thanks to a deal with the Zafords (apparently being the only bandit clan that actually wanted to talk before shooting) the Highlands were a complete safezone, save for the occasional stalker attack. Thanks to Ellie's one woman war against the Hodunks (with a little help, of course), the Dust was close to clear. Maya and Zero were in Sawtooth Cauldron, sniping and blasting any bandits that came near them. Axton was in Sanctuary, doing his best to fill Roland's shoes in training the Crimson Raiders. Brick and Salvador were working together to clear the rats out of the Fridge, while Lilith and Mordecai were doing their best to coördinate everyone. And Krieg…

Gaige didn't want to know what Krieg did. She really didn't want to know.

There was still a lot of work to do, but at the moment… Gaige was starting to think she could call Pandora home. Y'know, and be happy about it.

Gaige spoke into her ECHO. "So, I did good, huh?"

Lilith chuckled a bit at her smart-alecky tone. "You did great, kid. I'll send a battalion of Raiders to the Tundra tomorrow morning, see if we can get Buzzard Academy up and running for the good guys."

Gaige fist pumped he metal arm. "Awesome! I'm gonna get to a fast-travel station and warp home. I could really use a shower…"

"Actually!" Lilith perked up, rather quickly. "Before you come back to Sanctuary, could you do me a quick favor?"

Gaige gained a puzzled look. "Uh, I guess? What do you need?"

"Well," Lilith started, a little awkwardly. "Since you're in the area… could you check in on Tina?"

Gaige blinked. She looked up at the star studded sky, at the giant Hyperion satellite in front of Pandora's enormous moon. The sun had set hours ago. "I could, but, she's probably asleep."

"I know, but… could you just check? Just see if she's okay?"

Gaige straightened up, standing away from the wall she'd been braced against. "I can. Any reason why she wouldn't be okay?"

"I…" Lilith hesitated. "I've just been a little worried about her ever since…"

She didn't have to finish. Gaige may not have Roland that well, but she had seen how torn up Lilith, Brick and Mordecai had been when he died. And unlike the others, she had seen how hard it had hit Tiny Tina, too. While the they had worked over that Hyperion spy a few weeks back, Gaige had decided to take a break and wandered upstairs, just in time to hear Tina's breakdown at the B&B table.

Gaige shook her head of the memory. "But I though you guys settled that a while ago. Y'know, the Bunkers and Badasses game, the statue…?"

"Yeah, but… Tina's not exactly the most… stable person. I'd like to think that she's okay, but I'd feel better knowing for sure."

Gaige pursed her lips. "If you're that worried, why didn't you have her move to Sanctuary?"

Lilith gave a sad sigh. "I tried, but Tina wouldn't budge. She wants to stay in that workshop of hers." She gave a little huff of impatience. "Look, just… I'll make a mission out of it if you want, but I'd really need to know if she's okay."

Gaige shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Lilith was starting to sound desperate, and saying she'd make a mission out of something was as close to 'please' as she'd ever get. "You don't need to do that." Gaige finally said. "I'll go check on the little monster, free of charge."

Now Lilith gave a sigh of relief, however small if might ave been. "Thanks, kid. I appreciate it."

Gaige smirked slightly. "Yeah, yeah, don't get all sappy on me. I'll call you back as soon as I'm done." She almost cut the signal, before yelling, "And tell Krieg that if he eats my cupcakes again, I'm gonna to shove a grenade up his ass!"

Before Lilith could respond, Gaige cut the connection. With a little hop to he step, she walked out of the mine, stepping gingerly over a headless rat in the process.

It wasn't far from the mine to Tina's Workshop. Just hang a left and, literally, you were right there. Gaige had passed by the there earlier on her way from Meltwater Crossing, and it looked the same as it did then: the massive slab of metal that acted as a gate was shut, and no light came from the space above it. If Gaige didn't know better, she'd of thought it was abandoned.

"Hello?" Gaige called over the gate. "Tina? You awake?"

Her only answer was the quiet echo of her own voice. Gaige waited for about a minute before calling again, to no avail.

"Great." She mumbled to herself. She gave the gate a quick onceover. The thing must have weighed a ton, given how it had indented the ground beneath it after god-knows-how-long of use. Lifting it wasn't an option. Looking at the patchwork gate, she figured that she might be able to climb it.

Gaige had a better idea.

With a wave of her mechanical arm, a form digi-strucked in front of her; a floating legless torso of metal and claws, a single massive eye taking up what passed for a head.

The machine, who Gaige had affectionately named Deathtrap, quickly hunkered into attack position, ready to launch forward and tear apart the first hostile it saw. However, when it realized there were no enemies around, it swiveled around towards Gaige, cocking its head in confusion.

Gaige gave her kill-bot a grin. "Hey, DT. Think you can give me a quick lift up?"

Deathtrap blinked its single eye and turned towards the gate, then towards the space above it. It looked at Gaige and gave a mechanical warble of affirmation. With practiced ease, the massive mech gingerly grabbed Gaige's arms with its claws and lifted her onto its shoulder. Getting comfortable, Gaige wrapped her metal arm around its neck as she settled into her familiar perch on Deathtrap's arm.

"Okay, boy," she said. "Up we go."

Deathtrap rose up and over the gate, just barely squeezing through the opening. As it came back down to ground level, Gaige took in the sight of Tina's Workshop.

It looked… dead. Gaige frowned as she looked around. In the past, whenever Gaige had been to the Tundra, the workshop had always been lit up with a orange glow, a small spot of warmth in the bleak cold. Now… everything was dark. No fires, no lights; even Mr. Sparks, Tina's generator, was silent.

Slightly unnerved, Gaige leapt down to the ground. "Tina?" She called out as she stepped forward. "Are you all-?"

Snap!

Gaige looked down as her foot caught on something. A thin piece of thread, stretched taunt across the width of the entrance, broke on contact. A sharp crack from above caused her to look up, towards the deactivated mines that stuck out of the ice that formed the cave walls.

At least, she hoped they were deactivated.

Because, somehow, breaking that thread had caused a crack in the ice. A crack that just so happened to go right through where a single mine was held in place…

Right above her head.

Gaige didn't even have time to yell, or even move, as the giant explosive dropped from the ceiling. She just threw her arms over her head and prayed that her shield would hold.

Clunk!

The dull thud of metal hitting metal jarred her from defensive stance. She peeked through her arms, and was greeted by the surprising sight of Deathtrap holding the mine in its outstretched claws. Apparently the mine was deactivated, judging by the lack of flashing red lights over its surface. Though given how Deathtrap was struggling to stay aloft under its weight, Gaige figured she still would have been in a good amount of pain had that mine hit her.

"Thanks for the save, babe." She breathed as the mech lowered the mine gingerly to the floor. She looked towards the workshop, the relatively short distance suddenly seeming a lot farther than before. "Uh… don't suppose you could carry me to the door?"

Deathtrap blinked again, before circling behind Gaige. It gripped under her arms and lifted, just enough that she floated about a foot off the ground. They glided silently across the cavern, Gaige keeping a sharp eye on the ground just in case there were any more surprises she might have tripped over had she walked the distance.

Finally at the door, Deathtrap set Gaige back on her feet. "Thanks again, boy," she said, before giving another wave of her artificial appendage. "Take a nap." Deathtrap gave a metallic whine as it faded into data, resting until she needed its help again.

With that done, Gaige turned to the workshop door, raising her good hand to knock. Don't know what Lilith is so worried. She thought to herself. Little nutball's probably asleep by no-

Gaige froze mid knock.

No… no way…

She lowered her arm and pressed her ear against the door, hoping she had misheard.

"uh…sniff, sniff… uh, ahh… sniff…"

Gaige's stomach twisted into a cold knot as she realized what she was hearing.

Tiny Tina was… crying…

Gaige had a moment's hesitation, just a moment, where she tried to think of the correct thing to do. Another muffled sob ended that.

Gaige bent down, running her hands along the bottom of the door. The instant she found a hand-hold, she pulled with a sharp jerk.

The door squealed and groaned as it rolled up, opening into a dark void. There was no source of light; even the ammo supplier had been turned off. It took Gaige's eyes a moment to adjust to the near-total darkness. Once she could see again, she looked to her right…

And promptly felt her heart shatter.

Tiny Tina lay curled up on her tiny mattress, her arms wrapped around her legs like she was afraid she might lose them. She lay exposed; her sheets and covers a crumpled mess on the ground. The little Psycho mask she always wore was nowhere to be found, allowing her hair to hang loosely over her clenched-shut eyes. Her only sleepwear was an oversized grey t-shirt, the symbol of the Crimson Raiders on its back. But the worst part was, rather than her pillow, Tina's head rested on the pink-framed picture that normally sat at her bedside.

Surprisingly, Gaige's entrance had not woken the distraught girl. She just cried softly through closed eyes, giving little gasps of air every few seconds.

Now Gaige was not an emotional person. Far from it; even before coming to Pandora, her most common emotions were usually frustration, anger, and occasional bouts of self-pity. Her time on the crap-sack planet had done little to help matters. Not to say she was never happy; a few hours fiddling with her machines or relaxing with the other Vault Hunters at Moxxi's always brought a smile to her face. But other than that? Machines made more sense than people, at least to Gaige.

But even as emotionally stunted and socially inept as she was, even Gaige knew when something wasn't right. Jack mutating and killing Bloodwing, his slag experiments… what he did to his own daughter. That last one really struck a nerve with Gaige, given how much her own father had sacrificed to keep her safe. And then to see that… monster try and use the same sentiment as an excuse for the torture he subjected Angel to…

All of it had filled Gaige with both a deep sorrow and a white-hot rage at the time. All of it was twisted, horrifying, infuriating.

But out of all of it, of all the horrors and heartbreaking things Gaige had seen on Pandora, none of it compared to this. That was all horrible. The sight of Tiny Tina, the happiest, craziest, most energetic little girl on the planet, crying?

That was just wrong.

Gaige was suddenly aware that she was right next to the bed. Funny, she didn't even remember moving. Instinctively, she reached out with her left hand, but froze inches from Tina's shoulder. She pulled her arm back, giving a long look at the cold metal, the skeletal limb ending in almost talons. She looked back at Tina, flinching as the girl sucked in another pained breath. Swallowing, Gaige looked lifted her other hand, the flesh one. Carefully, she placed it on the girl's shoulder, shaking gently.

"Tina? Hey, Tina, wake-"

Pow!

Gaige suddenly found herself staring up at the ceiling. She felt a sharp stinging on her nose, joined by a trickle of something warm, flowing down her cheek.

What the hell just happened?

The air was forced from her lungs as something heavy slammed onto her stomach. She tilted her head up to see what was happening.

Her blood ran cold.

Tina was straddling her stomach, her arm pulled back to deliver another blow. Her lips were pulled back in an almost animalistic snarl, her hair sticking up at wild angles. But what affected Gaige the most were her eyes.

Those deep blue eyes, usually so full of life and wonder, were now dim and bloodshot. In them, Gaige saw sadness, anger, but above all…

Fear.

A/n: Yeah, this was supposed to be a one-shot, but I felt it was running long. The next and final part will be put up… when I find time. In the meantime, let me know what you thought, and tell me if you want me to continue.

See you when I see you!