Chapter 3

Zero awoke to the dark of the cave, it had gotten to the middle of the night whilst he and Lilith had slept. He sat upright and pushed himself up, hearing his back crack in argument. He made sure he still had his blade and his equipment was all fine. His eyes wandered to the bed next to him, a half-dressed Lilith was laying there in nothing but her underwear, blood red bra and panties. He immediately looked away and gave her the privacy.

He began to look around the cave, scanning for anything out of the ordinary, but it was all normal, well as he remembered it anyway. The only thing he hadn't remembered from earlier was the clothes on the floor, but obviously Lilith had gotten hot so that would explain that.

His eyes kept shopoting glances at the bed, to make sure everything was in order. He kept telling himself that it was to make sure no assassins had planted anything, but he knew it was a lie. The real reason was her fantastic...her.

'STOP THINKING LIKE THIS!' His thoughts screamed at him, he couldn't help himself, something about her just kept pulling him to her. He winced a small bit as his thoughts kept screeching at him to stop, to look away now, but it was futile.

'What is wrong with me? I have never felt this way. What is this woman doing to me?' He silently asked himself, not knowing the answer to it he just kept staring. He wasn't being inappropriate, he was looking at the markings on her exposed waist and arm, they had his full attention. They wrapped around her arms so perfectly, if she didn't have them he didn't know if she would have the same effect on him.

He was a foot away from the bed and began to walk closer, taking small baby steps, as if afraid to wake her up. He reached the end of the bed, her back to him, the only things facing him were the strap of her bra, her hair and siren markings. He tilted his head whilst looking at the markings, following them intently down her armand to her hand. He looked back up her arm and to her neck, now looking down her side, as they covered a small portion of her back and a good part of her front as well. He reached the hip now, his eyes dancing along to the small, thin fabric of her underwear, he snapped out of his stupor and looked away, staring at the floor now.

'It is natural for a male to view females this way, as mates, do not fight natures ways.' He told himself in his head. His thoughts argued however.

'Nature can't woo us/Our skills exceed it's greatly/We are much stronger.' His inner self haikued to him.

'Even we cannot fight nature, our own biology.' And for once, after he said this to his thoughts there was no reply. Nothing but silence.

He was right about him not denying his own biology it's dues. It had control over him much like the siren in front of him. He looked back to her sleepig form, he didn't feel right doing it. She had no idea he was watching her and imagining things about her.

'She deserves better.' He decided to himself, he reached down and pulled the covers over her. He may have done it a bit too roughly as she began to stir a small bit, not to the point of awakening but enough to show she was aware of his actions, even in slumber.

Now he felt as if he should move away from her, he was towering over a half dressed sleeping siren. 'Quite the predicament.' He thought with a smirk. He tried to walk back a small bit, give her room but he didn't move. He tried a second time. He couldn't move away from the side of the bed, as if a force stronger than himself was holding him there. He looked around, panicking a small bit at this.

Suddenly, he felt something grab his wrist, it's hand had locked around him and she had rolled over, facing him. He stared at her.

'She doesn't know of our thoughts, they are our own. What does she want?' He asked himself, he was on edge from before but now she has just intensified it. She was staring right at his visor with a small smile, something that historically didn't bode well for him, so he couldn't see it happening again.

"Why'd you touch my leg?" She asked, her tone was not suggestive like before, more of a dangerous glee in it.

'We touched her leg?' He asked himself, now a small bit worried at two things.

1) He didn't remember touching her leg.

2) She looked to be ready to murder him.

He thought he'd start with the first one to ask her about, he hadn't a clue that he did it.

"Lilith, I do not remember this, I covered you up." He told her.

"Really?" She asked skeptically. "Then why did your hand touch here?" She finished, pointing to her inner thigh.

'WHAT?!' He shouted in his head. His entire upper body began to shake, he had no idea that he had touched her there.

"I did no-"

"BULLSHIT! If you think you're getting away with that, taking advantage of me when I'm asleep? I'm gunna-"

"LILITH." He cut her rant off, the first time he rose his voice in anger with anyone. "I tried to cover you up, you..." He trailed off, still getting a rage-filled look from her.

"Looked cold, so I moved the covers to cover you up and keep you warm." Her smile just grew wider and even more sinister.

"Oh? And why were you trying that? The covers are completely different from my legs so why'd your hand go there? Huh?" She asked him, now flinging her legs over the edge of the bed and facing him completely, the covers were nowhere on her so it was just her in all of her...half nudity.

Zero just stood there, paralysed with both confusion and astonishment. He managed to look her over four thousand times in a second, before he looked to her face and saw it had completely changed and reddened. Where anger had previously been, now only an awkward stare, as if he had a dead bug on his helmet.

He had notice that the red was not from her blush or rage, infact from his helmet. It was projecting '3 3 3' Vertically up his mask, something even he had never seen before.

"What's that one mean?" She finally asked, letting her hand leave his wrist to point at his mask. He shook his head at it. "Nothing." He said quickly, pulling his now free hand up to cover the emote up and keep it away from her. He made the mistake of turning away from her, but looking back for a split second at her waist. She had spotted this and looked down, and back at him with a look he had never seen before.

She bore a smirk, a half smirk as it only curved the left corner of her mouth up and she had a strange look in her eyes. Zero only noticed that before he had turned around, he was trying to think of something to stop the emote from showing, but images of her kept flashing in his mind, making it flash on and off and brighter and brighter.

"That looked like your everyday cheesy 'heart' thing, why'd you show me that?" She asked him, she looked extrememly confident in herself now, no sign of rage left. 'Is she bi-polar? A sociopath?' He asked himself, not daring to face her.

"But you sir, you showed me three love hearts, why is that?" She asked, such a playful tone behind her words.

"I didn't mean to tou-"

"Ah bah, bah, bah..." She whispered, she had risen from the bed and placed her finger over his faceplate, which was now facing her.

"That wasn't what I asked now, was it?"

"No." He said, his helmet was facing her but his eyes were drawn to the ceiling, or the floor, anywhere but her.

"Why'd you show me a love heart?" She asked him again.

"I...I was unaware that you had removed your garments, I saw what shouldn't have been seen. I apologise." He said to her, almost shamefully but he was helpless to his own biology.

She pulled her hand back and placed it on her chin, keeping her other hand on her hip and looked to be in thought.

"Why're you apologising? You made a mistake, we all do. I overreacted and thought you were trying something on me, I'm sorry." She said to him solemly. Zero on the other hand was unawre that she was talking, he had given in to his needs and was looking her up and down. He took in every single small detail, whether it be a faint scar or a small bruise.

He was only snapped back to reality by a small, pale hand clicking it's fingers infront of his helmet. He blinked a few times to recover and looked at her again, trying to let on that he had not been staring.

"Well?" She asked him.

"Around mid-night." He said confidently, she just laughed at him and he stood there, afraid to say anything else.

"I wasn't checking the time, d'ya not hear me?

"I didn't."

"How not? I'm right here."

"My attention was elsewhere." He said before he had even processed it, he quickly felt his eyes shoot wide open and she 'hmm'd.

"Well, where was it drawn?" She asked, placing her hand on her waist and bopping it to the left a small bit, standing like a model would on a catwalk.

'She knows...' His thoughts began to sing. He began to rub his fingers together, his throat went dry and he tensed up.

"I think I can guess though..." She trailed off as she turned around and went back to the bed with a smirk.

'Let's see how he likes this...' She thought mischeviously. She bent over a small bit, trying to reach the covers. She threw a glance back and caught him looking her way, he looked to be...happy to say the least, she giggled a small bit and turned around to face him.

"You look excited there, see something you like?" She asked him, placing her hands on her chest and gently swooshing them down her body to her waist, catching the small fabric of her underwear lightly.

"Do not toy with me, put some clothes on please." He said shakily, turning his head afer a few seconds but she could still feel his eyes on her. She was enjoying this way too much for rational thought to have any impact on her.

She backed away, still having her small smirk on her lips as she sat down on the bed, facing him. 'Lil, he ain't the normal kinda guy on Pandora, he's been a gentleman.' Her thoughts told her, she took them in and focused singly on the 'ain't the normal kinda guy'. She knew the normal kinda guy would laugh at her, only after trying her on to she if she was easy. The normal guy would only show interest if their guy friends did. Zero saw in her what no other guy has ever seen before, from what he has said anyway. She tilted her head and looked at him, innocent amber eyes with a devilish grin. Zero just remained fixed there, displaying the three hearts emote again.

"Be honest Z, do you really want me to put clothes on? We're alone here, just you and me. No one is here to see, so it'd be just between us." She asked him and he had loosenned up a small bit at that, he must have scanned the whole place to loosen up that easy.

Zero looked at her, keeping his eyes fixed on hers. Desperately trying and epicly failing to maintain eye contact, she kept stretching her leg out, feigning a pulled muscle.

He caught her hand begin to move up to her face, she had her first finger outstretched and kept curling it repeatedly, beckoning him to come closer. He walked cautiously towards her, her hand beginninng to lower back to her side as he closed in on her.

"What now?" He asked, clueless as to what to do. She sprang up to her feet and latched herself around his waist, he remained on the spot however, not faltering. She wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed him gently between them, her arms around his neck and staring straight into his visor.

Zero moved his arms up her back, giving her a small bit of support and feeling her body heat through his suit, she was extremely warm.

"Lilith, why are you so hot?" He asked her, worried more for her health than how it had sounded as all she did was blush wildly.

"You tell me killer." She laughed out, pulling her face closer to his faceplate. Zero then began to try and think.

'It isn't a warm day and it isn't fiery here, no open flames and no adrenaline. Perhaps an illness?'

"Are you sick? Do you require medicine?" He asked her, instinctively pulling her even closer to him, now their chests were touching and their faces were milimetres apart.

"Oh, that kinda hot-" She said disappointedly, but continued. "Nah, i'm just all...nervous." She said. Zero wondered why she sounded saddened at the first part.

'Was I supposed to perform an action? Did I miss an opportunity?'

"Lilith, what other kinds of 'hot' are there?" He asked her. She smiled again, something that made him smile a small bit. His hearts emote only began to brighten.

"Well, seeing as you're new to this there is...temprature kind, and the other kind. The kind where guys see women as...as ermmm-"

"Potential mates?"

"Heh, yeah...That." She said, blushing still.

"I see, but hot is something commonly used in bars. Something slurred out by drunken patrons, normally aimed at women who give themselves away. That 'hot' has nothing on the sirens. It has nothing on you." Lilith kept her eyes on him, not breaking her look on his visor.

"Zero, I'm not hot alright, guys rarely like me because-"

"Because you are strong? A strong woman, something they do not want. They prefer their own dominance and so seek weaker women."

"I...huh." Lilith said, thinking aout what he had just said, it did sound logical enough and would be as good an explanation as any. She looked at him still, unsure of what to say. He did however make as if to do something as his hand moved from her back, but immediately shot back.

"Z, anything you're thinkin against right now is probably a good thing to do, go baby steps if you're uncomfortable." She said reassuringly, his strong chest felt like it had loosened a small bit and he began to move one of his hands from her back.

He brought his hand up to her hed, running his fingers through her hair. He brought it to her right cheek and brushed her spiked strands of hair to the side, away from her eye. He let his hand rest there for a bit, savoring her skin under his gloved hand.

"Lilith, what are we doing? We barely know anything about each other. This does not seem appropriate, yet I wish for it to continue."

"We can get to know each other soon, we're getting comfortable right now." She told him, smiling. He moved his hand now, from her cheek to the back of her head and pulled her face in so it connected with his visor.

"Is this right? Are you comfortable with my approach?" He asked, almost as if he were nervous about her. Like she would shatter if he touched her to harshly.

"It's great, why don't you take the mask off?" She asked him, out of the blue and he seemed to be shocked as he shot both of his arms back to his side and she slid off of him.

'Lil, we went too far with this one.' She told herself mentally.

Meanwhile Zero was having a similar internal conflict of sorts.

'What do I do? The first person to care for me and not my skills, she wants me to remove my hemet, my identity.'

'Don't, she will not be forever, our legacy will.'

'Our legacy will be forgotten, in due time. We will fade like many others, forgotten.'

'If you remove our helmet, then it will be lost sooner and we risk being ended.'

'For this one time, I am willing to risk it. You will not stop me.'

'DON'T DO I-'

He silenced the inner him, he cupped his hand around her chin and pulled her head in close as she looked ready to leave. He brought his head close to hers and whispered.

"For a brief time, I will reveal. One minute is all you will have, does this satisfy?" She nodded her head franticly, yes. He sighed and brought both of his hands to his helmet, having small doubts at the last second.

'Hiss' Was all that was heard for a few seconds, then back to a silence as his helmet had disconnected, but not left his head. He was now visibly shaking. He pulled it up, centimetre by centimetre until his jawline and chin were showing. Lilith just looked on, eyes wider than normal and mouth hanging slightly loose, but not open.

He pulled it off fully, in one swift move and stared at her, the harsh Pandoran sun was attacking his eyes for a few seconds before he adjusted and blinked.

Blinked again.

Then once more.

Lilith just stood there, awestruck at the sight before her. He was...something else. His skin was white like the snow, paled beyond belief. He had scars all across his face, one eye pure a paled red and black because a scar was running through it and down his face. His other eye was blood red where white should be and jet black everywhere else, his jaw looked like it had been broken a few times as it was held in place by screws under his cheeks. His hair was a short jet black and looked greasy, he must not have had time to wash it often. His head was the shape of Rolands, almost identical but that was it. He had burn marks, even injection scars in his face and...that was it. This was him.

She then snapped back as he visibly and audibly gulped, he held his helmet at his side, tapping it nervously and stared at her.

"So this is you?" She asked him. He just nodded, not saying a word. He was counting down in his head.

'43, 42, 41-'

"40 seconds left." He told her, his voice was almost as mechanical as his helmet had made him sound, he had a set of three small scars across his throat. Zero raised his free hand and moved it in front of her face, getting her attention.

'Why does she stare so intently?' He asked himself, but was then cut off as she did something.

She smacked his waving hand away and locked her hands around his head, constricting him and pulling him towards her before she crashed her lips into his. He just stood there, slightly arching down and not moving a single part of his body. He could feel her blazingly warm lips against him, her tongue had began to dance about in his mouth but it was almst searingly hot. He noticed a glow from her markings and they were a dark yellow, not bright like they were previously.

It was only when he felt a warm sensation on his lower cheek did he focus on her face, her eyes clamped shut and small trails of water had began to drip from them.

She broke the kiss, with another five seconds to spare and caught her breath, wiping her face with the ball of her hand. Zero finished the countdown now and put the helmet back on, a clicking noise telling him everything was as before and he relaxed again, back to normal.

He stared at her through his helmet, she was crying but why?

Lilith had finished wiping the tears away and grabbed him by the wrist, leading him to the bed and sitting him down. She stood in front of him with her arms crossed under her chest and looked at him threatingly. Dangerously.

"Zero." She began, her tone made it clear she was not going to repeat herself and was being serious here, he listened intently.

"I'm going to ask you a question, and I want nothing but honesty from you, okay?"

"Of course, go on."

"What happened to you?"

"I do not und-"

"WHY ARE YOU SCARRED LIKE THAT?!" She bellowed at him suddenly, her voice breaking midway through. She had flung her arms out to her sides as if ready to pounce on him and her tattoos had lit up even brighter than their darkness before, but he didn't react.

"Siren, calm yourself please, take deep breaths an-" He was caught off guard by her outburst but remained composed, barely as he held his arms up defensively.

"DON'T TELL ME TO BE CALM! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN THROUGH FOR IT TO LOOK LIKE THAT!? TELL ME!"

"Lilith, If you calm yourself then I will tell you, I expected that you would have questions so please, take a few deep breaths." He told her calmly, she complied and calmed herself and her tattoos began to go back to their ocean blue colour.

"Okay, alright fine. I'm calm, what happened?" She stayed there, arms crossed again but looked a small bit restless.

"Is there anything in particular you'd like to know? Or shall I start at the beginning?" She raised her right hand and held two fingers, telling him he should start at the beginning. He sighed before he started talking.

"Atlas, you are familiar with them, correct?" She nodded yes, he continued.

"They had facilities on their spaceships to create their idea of 'Super Soldiers' I was to be an 'Alpha Assassin', one to best the previous Lance assassins. I was created through their facilities and born from a test tube, specially modified to have dulled emotions so I grew no attachments. I had heightened senses, to be able to react quicker and more accurately." He paused and checked on her, she was taking it all in very well considering she was ready to kill him a minute ago.

"They had me bred from a perfect healthy teenage male, around fifteen when I was born. Not yet fully developed so they could see if their tests had any genetic issues via natural development. I lost two fingers to it but nothing more, hence my four fingers per hand." She nodded and furrowed her eyebrows, he took a pause at how to word the next part.

"They tested on me, they removed my chances of producing offspring as it would only be a distraction." He saw her tattoos light up a small bit now and she looked angered, or restless. "They put me through torture and almost blinded me via combat blades. They used my face as a piece of meat for angry Lancemen who failed missions, hence my broken jaw held in place by screws and my slashed vocal chords. I was attacked with blowtorches and used as a live target at the ranges, they claimed it was for training and my survivability and also for resistance. I came out with many wounds and after a while of using their medical supplies, they began to abandon my wellbeing as they had moved on to other projects. This continued for around seven to eight years and I had to learn my own ways of maintaining my health."

He clenched his hand a small bit, feeling something strong wash over him and Liliths tattoos were beginning to get even brighter.

"So I became what they had initially wanted me to be. I became a monster, an assassin and I was ruthless. An Omega assassin went AWOL-" Liliths thoughts immediately went to Athena, it matched her and she was the only one that did it.

"-and gave me time to escape with my equipment, I had to cut down former collegues to get out and I did so very efficiently. Like they wanted. From there on they left me alone, going after Pandora in search of 'The Vault'. I began doing contract work in search of a challenge, I had nothing else in my life so I began looking for one. I was then drawn to Pandora a few years later after I heard of their demise, I wanted to test myself inside The Vault and well, here I am now." He finished up, unclenching his hand and looked towards where Lilith was.

Lilith looked angry at something, she even had huge inferno wings coming from her back and eyes had lit up, her tattoos had began to blind him yet she was still standing there, calm and still. He went on edge, she looked very dangerous like this...even in her half naked form.

"You went through that? For the best part of a decade you have been tortured, is that what you're telling me? By Atlas?"

"I did go through it, it is what made me what I am. That is what I am telling you, yes. And for your third question, correct, Atlas were the only ones who knew of me." He stated, he had no idea why she seemed intent on getting this much detail but maybe it was a siren thing.

She then changed her stance, she stood fully straight now but looked angry still.

"Lilith, I apologise if I have angered you, but I did as asked." He told her as she began to approach him, a few small steps at a time like she was stalking him, he took in a shaky breath and readied himself.

"Lay down. Now." She commanded, he did as she told him as he knew she didn't look to be ready to mess with. He adjusted himself on the bed, laying the full legnth of it now and his feet just dangling off the bottom of it, he stared at the ceiling and waited for whatever it was she had in mind.

"Li-Oof!" He had the wind knocked out of him by her straddling him, she looked straight down at him with her deadly serious expression, he was now trapped.

'Fuck.' He thought to himself.

Lilith sat there, her legs around where his abs were. He was her's now and no-one. No-one was going to take him away.

'He's seen nothing-NOTHING, but death, pain and torment for his entire life. Poor bastard's too broken to see how shit his life's been.'

"Zero." She began as her wings died away and her tattoos returned back to blue once again. "My biggest issue, and this is on one of the most dangerous planets known to man. My biggest issue was guys trying to make fun of my markings and how 'un-womanly' I was. You've been through so much and I can't imagine how difficult it was for you."

"It was not overly difficult, I had no family. No friends. Nothing to hold me down or grow an attachment to."

"That's my point, you have nothing in your life. Not one thing can ever take away what they have done to you and nothing can give back what they have taken from you, they took your chances of having kids and even your emotions, your feelings are non-existent because of them."

"Not entirely true, I have felt strange things since meeting you. I have had this feeling in my lower abdomen where it feels so light. I have felt the need to prioritise you above eveything else right now."

"So I made you feel? After your entire existence of being tortured and beaten, you come across me and you feel?" She asked skeptically.

"You do not view me like all the others have, you do not attempt abuse or view me as expendable. You have trusted me and I cannot thank you enough for it, trust is a difficult thing to earn, especially on Pandora."

"Zero I-"

"Lilith." He cut her off, he brought his arms out from under her legs and ran them up her sides slowly, reaching her face. He had to sit up a small bit to reach it though, but he wrapped one arm behind her head and slinked the other down her back and pulled her down on top of him, keeping her there.

"You do not need to care about my past, it is behind me and will stay there. My future is in front of me, and right now on top of me." Lilith pulled her head back slowly and looked at his visor.

"What do you mean?" She asked warily.

"I have promised myself to tear Hyperion down, they are after you and so I plan to make sure you remain unharmed by their assassins. You are my challenge and my future, I will not leave you."

Lilith's mouth hung agape now, visibly to him as he emoted a '?' but she didn't care about it, everything just went black except him. He still stood out against the black, even though he was basically a shadow. 'He...He won't leave? After everything he has been through, he is...wow, he's clueless to all of this too.'

"Zero I...what are you saying?" She asked, on the verge of ripping that helmet off of him and kissing him again.

"I must elaborate I see. I am saying that for as long as you have a bounty on your head, or as long as you are hunted by corporations, I refuse to leave you. Both a chalenge and personal matter." He had no idea how this had sounded, so oblivious to it all.

"Zero-"

"Lilith, you need not say anything more. I understand how this may sound-"

'Thank god, he does know.' Lilith thought to herself.

"And if this is an uncomfortable or creepy thing as it does sound like a stalker thing, then you just have to say and I can leave." He finished and Lilith almost facepalmed.

"Zero..." She began, getting up and returning to her straddled position. He emoted a '?' at her.

"If you ever need to...I dunno, talk about it, I guess? Y'know I can listen."

"Gesture is noted, but un-needed, I care very little about what has happened, right now is right now and the past will not change it." He spoke to her, as mechanical as always.

"If I may, can I ask a question?" Lilith nodded and arched herself back, trying to pop her back as it felt like it was going to seize up on her.

"Why did you have tears in your eyes when I revealed my face?" She didn't expect that but had to quickly come up with an answer, although she had thought he wold be curious even the slightest bit.

"Well, look at your face-Not in a bad way or anything just, it's scarred like that for the remainder of your life, for god's sake you need screws to hold your jaw in place."

"I see, and this caused you distress?"

"Well, yeah." She said, as if it was an obvious thing.

"Why?" She looked down at the man beneath her, she smirked and placed a finger on his faceplate.

"It was my understanding there would be just one question, no more."

"Of course." He finished the conversation and now silence followed, both of them looking at each other and Lilith keepeing her finger on his mask. Lilith had her doubts about his eyes constantly being on hers for the full time because his helmet had shifted a few times, and she thought she would use this to her advantage.

'Not completely different from other guys.' She thought with an internal grin.

"Enjoying the view?" She asked him, he was lost in thought and just staring at her. He blinked a few times and shook his head to come back to his surroundings.

"I-what?"

"I asked if you're enjoying the view."

"I can't see anything but the half-naked form of a siren in front of me. If that is what you were referring to then yes, very much so."

"I don't have to be half naked y'know." She said suggestively, he emoted another question mark on his helmet.

"If you'd wish to get dressed then I may suggest you wash first, we have been through combat afterall."

'He still doesn't get it, what do I have to do?' She thought to herself, groaning quietly. Suddenly he sat up, getting to her neck level and made to stand up from the bed, she shoved her forearm to his chest and pushed him back down, not hard or anything. Not too hard anyway.

He flumped back down, looking on at her confused.

"I was-"

"What? Without asking my permission? You're my seat."

"With all due respect siren, I can feel a form of moisture forming from your underwear so I was goi-"

"WHAT?!" She screamed as she rolled off of him and down to the floor, franticly checking her underwear and inner thighs. She heard him chuckle at her reaction as she shot him a death glare.

"Apologies Lilith, but I had to see your reaction to something like that as it was a darker feeling before, the moment was...too good...to pass." He said, traces of laughter, very lightly, still in his voice. Lilith stood to her full height, now standing above the laid down Zero, he immediately stopped talking and almost stopped breathing with the look she was giving him. She folded her arms and stood there, tapping her bare foot against the metal floor.

"I h-"

"Don't. Talk." He obliged, not making a sound as he looked at her.

"I apol-"

"That's strike two mister 'Dangerous Assassin'."

"I don-" He was cut off as she jumped on him, holding him in place as she locked her knees at both sides of his head, he couldn't move as he lay there frozen. He was beginning to panic again as he could even smell her scent at the proximity.

"That was strike three, don't go again or something...more will happen." She warned as she seemed to have herself planted there, not moving soon. He began to think how to get out of this, well he tried but the sight of...her kept drawing him away from his thoughts of escape. He scanned the thin red fabric mere inches from his faceplate, he began to feel his male reaction again and tensed his lower half up.

He also began to try and cross his legs and hide it, struggling a few times in the process because she had leaned back and held his legs still. He panicked as she turned around and looked to what he was doing.

'Do not notice, please whatever deity exists, let her ignore it.' He began to beg to a god he didn't believe in for help but when she turned around with a blush and a sadistic grin, he knew she had noticed. So he was going to try and play it off, in hopes she didn't make a deal out of it.

"Why are you smiling li-like that?"

"Hm?" She looked at him with a sweet look, but grin still there on her face. "Oh, nothing major. Just something that you've shown me." She told him, bringing her arms to her front and allowing him to quickly cross his legs. She brought both of her arms around and placed them on his helmet, one at each side and began to...caress it almost.

"Lilith, what are you doing?" He asked out softly, as not to make her attack him again.

"I'm trying to find out how to take this helmet off, now be quiet and let me just-" She stopped as she found a small openeing, about the size of a pinhead at the sides of his helmet. She locked her finger nails under them and pried it off, it came off slowly and he stared at her now with a bit of fear in his eyes. He clawed at her back and tried to get her off him, to get the helmet back. But to no avail.

"Ahhbb, bahh bahh bahh." She teased out, holding his helmet over the railings and he went into panic mode now. He stayed still and so did she, he was assessing this and trying to think of how to get it back.

"Please do not do this." He begged her.

"I'll give you this back, on one condition." He nodded yes franticly before she had even said what it was.

"You do something for me...something you might see as unusual. Okay?"

"Yes, of course just give me it back." He said shakily as she dangled it there, he exhaled with relief as she pulled it back in and over him, she set it on the floor next to the bed.

"I want you to be honest with me here, and if I think you're not then the helmet goes over the edge, kay?" She asked sweetly and he just nodded yes, beginning to get annoyed at the cold Pandoran air.

"Tell me, what do you think of me, like...y'know, my body?" She whispered the last part almost inaudibly but he heard it and went deep in thought as she quickly continued.

"Not like I need approval or anything, just cause I've been naked for this entire time and you haven't tried anything on me, I'm surprised."

"I see-" He began in his robotic sounding voice. "I personally see your body as a work of art, something to be jealous of and proud to have. Your legs look to have the strength of a racehorse, but still look so fragile and tender. Your arms are so thin and fraile, but stronger than most men on this planet and that is admirable." He stopped as he threw his eyes at her and she looked to have reddened cheeks and looking away from him.

"Your face is something that should remain untouched, something that seems only acquirable through wishes or dreams, unmatched by any woman I have seen in my travels. Your body now, your torso is strong and muscle is obvious but you maintain in the image of what most men see as feminine. The markings are such remarkable things, things that all women should be envious of and things men should tremble at as you pass by them, not stare at your...other parts."

'My other parts? And what parts are those?' She asked herself mentally, Zero looked to have realised his mistake a small bit too late and looked at her, she just looked back with a huge grin.

"And what does this man-" She placed a finger on his armour, right on the chest. "Think of my...other parts?"

"I'm not sure I follow."

"You do, and you know you do so don't avoid it or else." She gestured to the railings and looked at his helmet, he had a look of exhaustion wash over him.

"I think they are...err..."

"Let's stick with your rythm before, okay? Where you go one at a time." Zero nodded and she 'Hmm'd mischeviously to herself.

"Well, what about up here?" She popped her chest out a small bit and eyed it, giving him hints and he noticed. His reaction however, was so much better to her. He shut his eyes for a minute, tensed up and crossed his legs even tighter than before, she smirked even wider and looked down at him.

"They are...very nice." He forced out, she raised an eyebrow at this. 'Just very nice?'

"What happened to the descriptions from before?" She asked, hurt by this.

"They are perfect, alright? They are not enlarged to the point of ridiculous proportions and yet they are not almost non-existant, they are amazing." He said, cheeks beginning to go a small shade redder now and he kept his eyes closed. Lilith now went into thought again, 'He likes them? I always thought they were small...well they were compared to other girls all the time.' She sighed internally.

"So they're not too small? The other girls were alway-" She noticed his eyes bolt open and focus on her.

"The other girls were not sirens I'm guessing. The other girls are in no way whatsoever better than you, whether it is your perfect frame, chest, rear or sensitive region." He blurted out quickly, immediately regreting it however as he clamped his mouth shut and looked over the railings, silently bidding farewell to his helmet.

Lilith bit her lip and kept herself from outright laughing, 'Sensitive region? Innocence in an assassin? Really?'

"Awww, you like this?" She leaned down and kept her chest below his chin. He audibly gulped and nodded yes, she 'Hmm'd playfully again and leaned back upright, she tugged on the fabric of her panties. "And you like this?" He shot a split second glance at what she was doing and drew in a shaky breath, nodding yes.

"Well, what do you think of this?" She asked him, still tugging on the thin waistband.

"I have not seen it/It is masked by thin fabric/Though probably nice." He said, returning to haiku. 'Maybe he's trying to calm himself down?' She thought. However she ignored it and placed her hand on her chin.

"Okay, two outta three, now what was the last one again?" She tapped her chin, keeping her eyes on him as he looked at the railings next to them, trying to keep his mind occupied.

"Ohhh...that's right." She said, Zero's eyes widened as the realisation hit him, she knew. But his eyes stayed on the railings.

'Composure Zero, maintain it and do not let her have us as her plaything.'

'It is too late, she has won and I do not want to fight it'

"What about my...rear do you like?" She asked suggestively, Zero's body fully seized on him a he began to have images he didn't want to flash in his mind.

"I do not know I ha-haven't paid much attention to it." He managed out, although Lilith thought it sounded almost painful for him to say.

"Well, we can fix that. You wanna pay it some attention now? Seeing as you've looked at the rest of me, it feels left out." She added a playful pout at the end of it.

"You have done enough to me today, I apologise for my earlier attempt at humour, please let me go." He begged out.

'Aww, he's right. We've done enough...for now.' She thought, but she really enjoyed messing with the assassin, he seemed too oblivious to it all and it was fun for her.

"Okay, fine, you're right. But the next chance we get you're gunna take a good look at my ass and tell me you like it." She said in a commanding tone and watched as he almost began to choke on air, partially at her words and partially her relenting on him.

"I see, of course." He sat up forcefully now, using his strength behind him to throw Lilith off of him and to the end of the bed on her back, she landed with an 'Oomph' as he fixed his helmet back on to his head.

"Now siren-" He began in his monotone and masked voice. "We should check with our allies, their progress must be significant by now, we have spent a while with your torment." He said, stretching himself out now and scanning the cave.

"Yeah sure...echo them and I'-"

"My echo is still at the motel after I was pulled here by your abilities, most likely gone by now." She remembered that it was her that pulled them away at random.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that by the way." She said as she began to get dressed in her same old clothes.

"Not to worry, it was a clunky piece of equipment. More of a burden really." He told her as he spotted something familiar, his rifle from their first brush with assassins. He walked to the fireplace and picked it up, it had some dust on it but looked reasonably able to function. He made sure the scope was fine and tuned, then he holstered it on his back.

He turned around and saw Lilith now fully dressed and checking her own echo, he approached her and just towered next to her.

"I've got like seven missed calls, one from Roland so I'm guessing they got him out. They work fast."

"They work inelegantly, they rush through and try to power everything. How distasteful."

"You think you can do better?"

"I have taken on corporations by myself, their own battallions have been sent for me and I have avoided or killed them, a bandit dam would have been nothing challenging for me." Lilith looked at him, skeptically now and asked him in a just as skeptical tone.

"Really? You've taken on corporations yet you were almost killed by those assassins back in Three Horns." She asked as she began to text Roland.

"You were my priority, not the assassins. They seemed more intent on getting you for Jack than me dead."

"I still don't get why I'm such a big deal for you, but you've got your reasons I'm guessing." Zero nodded as he stood still next to her, she finished her text and turned to head for the exit with him behind her.

"You may find out more in depth in the future, for now however we will focus on our goal."

"And that is?" She asked, turning to him now.

"Getting to Sanctuary, Roland must have a plan, correct? Or at least a clue on how to go after Hyperion."

"He does, that's why he was caught by the Bloodshots, they were gunna sell him and get the money from Hyperion."

"I see, if we have him then Sanctuary will be a prime location and target for assassins. We must return there." He said as he brushed past her towards a Fast Travel in her cave's exit, just beyond a set of blast doors.

"Yeah...let's go." She said half-heartedly, in thought as she got to the station and punched in the co-ordinates for Sanctuary. Before the Fast Travel whizzed them both away Lilith felt Zero quickly squeeze her hand and emote a '3' before letting go and going back to his void like helmet state and they both disappeared.

A FEW SECONDS LATER:

Zero spawned in at Pierce Station with Lilith, standing next to her as she walked out the door. He remained still and just stood there, as if staring at the wall, but was actually deep in thought.

'We came here in search of a challenge, yet we reveal our identity to this woman and even begin to feel? Two possibilities, sirens are stronger than we thought or we are weak.'

Zero preferred the first one, the red-head had such a strong personality and she had unmatched physical looks, he would say that the sirens are stronger than he had anticipated. He then began to walk, he left the small station and proceeded towards the small HQ building, the door was open he saw as he crossed the shifty looking street.

He walked in and saw a small woman, around Liliths height but with a brown jacket and vest on beneath it. She had trousers and boots on, the trousers brown and the boots black. She looked at the door as he walked in and gasped, then threw herself under the table.

Zero thought about approaching her, but from her frantic eyes he had noticed and the actions, she seemed a small bit unstable. He decided against approaching her and instead opted to go upstairs to the command room. He rounded the corner at the top of the stairs and walked to the slightly adjacent door, he heard talking. It sounded happy and more importantly, unaware of him.

He opened the door and immediately was drawn to a blue head of hair, the other siren, Maya. She threw a look in his direction as she was sitting with a confused looking Axton. Zero ignored the commando and siren, they looked content enough with each other on the couch. He threw his gaze to the other side of the room and saw Salvador, staring at Gaige and her robot. She had it out and laying on the floor in the middle of the room, tinkering with it's hands, muttering something about 'Awesomer claws', he decided to leave them to it. He walked in a few inches until all eyes focused on him, he felt on edge a small bit.

"Greetings, how was the mission?" He asked the group of four. They all huffed and shifted their glance to Salvador, who held his hands together and looked at the ground guiltily.

"See, it was fine until this jackass-" Axton began, jabbing a finger in Sal's direction before continuing. "Thought it'd be a good idea to speed it up, see he held back and whoever was at the back got a ten second countdown, if they didn't move to the front of the groupp before then, he'd shoot them. He called it 'Ovejas Initiation'."

"I see, was it successful in it's purpose?" This time Gaige replied, eyes still focused on her gigatic robot.

"Which one? Killing us or speeding us up?"

"Both."

"Then yeah, it worked wonders. Ax there's just pissed cos' he lost all his money."

"Hey!"

"Enough." Roland came into the room, Lilith behind him at the table. He stared at the room full of Vault Hunters and sighed.

"Look, I need you all to go and contact an old friend, he's out in Tundra Express." Axton looked at Roland.

"Why?"

"He's got intel on the Vault Key, we have a window and it's closing quickly." Axton just nodded in understanding, picking up his Assualt Rifle from the ground and dragging Maya off the couch, towards the station. Gaige's robot dsappeared in a pixel mess and she wrapped her robotic limb around Salvadors arm, doing the same but with a bit more struggle. Roland began to text something to them all, pressumably details on their mission.

He put his echo down and looked at Zero now, serious expression still present on his face.

"Assassin."

"Roland."

"You abandoned your group at the dam, why is that may I ask?" He crossed his arms, he didn't look cross, just amused by something.

"Against my will, yes. Your friend, Lilith had teleported us both to her cave. I had to get her eridium else she would have perished."

"Well...I guess thats fine then, you ready to go out there with the rest of your team?" Roland asked, strong tone still evident and no sign of wavering. Lilith butted in for Zer0 however before he could start.

"Uhhh actually I'm needin him for some more work. He's good with the assassins out there, so I'm hoping to make sure he keeps an eye on em' for me." She said cooly, flicking her hair. Zer0 looked at her-confused but not complaining, and remained fixated on her.

He was really hoping she meant more of their time together, it really was a relaxing and in every way just better way of things going for him. He needed the break. Roland looked at her with a curious glance, but waved it off and assumed it was probably for the best. Assassins know how each other work.

"Thanks. Anything else?" Lilith asked him, grabbing Zer0's wrist and beginning to lead him back down the stairs and to the Fast Travel station, Roland shouted his response back down to her.

"That's everything!" He was barely audible over the small crowd already at the small station, where both Zer0 and Lilith had arrived rather quickly to the sight of Gaige punching Axton and Maya slapping Sal on the top of his head with a laugh.

Lilith dragged Zer0 past all of the other Vault Hunters, Axton speaking up for them all when they saw Zer0 leaving with her.

"Hey! Where ya goin? We need him." He said, shoving Gaige back and holding his stomach with his hand.

"Not as much as I don right now handsome, just go on. He'll catch up." She told Axton from the Fast Travel station as she ignored the rest of them and punched the co-ordinates in for Frostburn Canyon and felt the whizzing effect begin to wash over her.

Zer0 looked at her, the only thing being visible to both her and the rest of the Vault Hunters was a bright red heart emote coming from his helmet as he squeezed her wrist gently with a nod, before they both disappeared into the system.

A/N: I'm back...bitches.