Disclaimer, I own nothing. The characters presented by my story belong to Gearbox and 2K. The characters are fictional, any events that occur are purely coincidental. (IE If one day a Siren walks up to you, Phaselocks you, and shoots you, please don't sue me)

Also, this story is based on Maya. She is my favorite character and I will be writing this story in relation to how I believe she is thinking. In the interest of not plagiarizing the entire game, I will find ways to skip unimportant dialogues and go straight to my own work.

*Italicized texts are Maya's thoughts*

**Underlined texts are Lilith's thoughts**

Chapter 41: I'm Phased

~~~~~~~Sanctuary: Lilith's Apartment~~~~~~

Back at Sanctuary Lilith had not moved from the position Maya left her in. Even though Maya told her not to worry, how could she not? Based on her actions thus far there was no reason for Maya to trust her. Lilith wasn't a violent person by nature, but ever since she started using Eridium, things have been different to say the very least.

A Siren's power originates from her soul, every person has their own aura and this is the same for Sirens. However the main difference is that a Siren's soul contains the key element of their ability. There are only six known Sirens in the world, but there is a theory that due to their differing souls each has a unique ability. Which may explain why Lilith can do Phasewalk while Maya's ability is Phaselock.

Ever since she was young Lilith has been trying to learn more about her Siren abilities and the history of her people. However considering the fact that she was orphaned from birth, this didn't make the search any easier. In the past few years the only things she has managed to learn is that there are only six known Sirens in the universe. Whether or not there are more hidden ones, she wasn't sure.

Through her few years of exploring Lilith has learned bits and pieces about her own abilities, however actually meeting another Siren has brought her to question exactly why it was that the two have such different powers. Lilith's Phasewalk and Maya's Phaselock are fundamentally Siren abilities, but their overall strengths are no where near the same.

Based on what she's seen thus far Lilith has concluded that Maya's elemental powers are not as honed as her own. Lilith's Phasewalk paired with Blight Phoenix has been her ticket to every battle, however it seems that Maya does not have any elemental damage to speak of.

Does this mean that every Siren has different abilities? Can a Siren be taught by another to learn each other's abilities? Shit does anyone know anything about Sirens? Where the hell do we even come from? That reminds me… Where did Maya come from? Heh, I don't even know. That's kinda sad. What are you doing right now? God I hope you aren't going out trying to get hurt.

Lilith brought her hand up to her neck, it was still burning at the place where Maya kissed her. All she could think of was how much she wanted to hold Maya, to pull her in and kiss her mindlessly. Yet here she was just sitting on the floor leaning on her bed like a dejected puppy waiting for its master to come home.

Funny how life works. Look all your life for answers to who the hell you are and the moment you stop looking, the answer comes bumbling in her front door.

This is so fucking dorky. Stop looking for what you want and it hits you in the face eh? Come to think of it, Maya has a strange obsession with finding Roland. He's my best friend so I can understand my frustration with him gone….but why does Maya want to find him so bad? What's going on that I don't know about?

~~~~~~Ellie's Workshop~~~~~~

"Hahahaha! Yes, we win sucka!"

Salvador huffed angrily, "THAT WASN'T FAIR! OUR RUNNER'S ABSORB MECH BROKE!"

Zer0 sighed, "If you drove safer / Then that couldn't have happened / This is such a mess."

"AGHHH! Who are YOU to say YAH WALKING HUNK OF BORING!"

Axton chuckled, "Hah! Is that the best you can do there bro? You're losing the little touch you had."

"Agh! I'LL SHOW YOU TOUCH!"

Salvador leapt at Axton and landed a heavy-handed punch that sent him flying.

"Oof! What the fuck?!" Axton flew back and skidded on his butt, he shook his head and without another word lunged low at Salvador. Now both men were on the floor, wrestling viciously at each other.

Maya's frustration, both sexually and with the boys, mounted as she stood up and abruptly called for their attention, "DAMMIT! You kids stop fighting right now or you're going to spend the next day sweeping Ellie's shop since you messed it up so much!"

Both men stopped and looked up at Maya, she was being extra touchy right now. Axton could tell that it wasn't so much the boys fighting, but he knew better than to mention that. In an attempt to lighten up the situation Axton cracked a joke, "But…. there's sand everywhere. That's just cruel."

"Yeah… we're just messing around," Salvador agreed.

Damn, I blew up on them for no reason. Agh fuck this shit man. What is going on with me? Why am I being so difficult? How can they possibly deal with me? I don't even want to deal with me right now.

Maya was at a lost for words, there was nothing she could really say besides sorry, but she didn't want to say that either. Axton silently motioned for the others to go off with Ellie, hoping that she'd give them some work to do while he got a moment to talk to his little sis. Luckily Zer0 caught on and quickly shuffled everyone away.

As they walked away Salvador quietly questioned, "What's wrong with Maya?"

After a few steps, Zer0 responded, "None, not even you / Can stop desires of the heart / …"

"It wants what it wants," Ellie butted in, "Sorry dear, couldn't help myself." Zer0 was taken back, it was as if she read his mind.

Ellie continued, "Salvador honey, you ever met someone that just stole that heart o' yours?"

"Uhhh, not really."

"When you do and only when you do, will you know what she's feelin'."

"A beating heart rings in my HANDS!"

Everyone jumped up and stared at Krieg in absolute confusion, no one understood what could have possibly made him say that. It took a few moments, but Ellie knew exactly what he meant, she smiled and asked, "Does it ring softly or strongly?"

Krieg's eyes widened, it was as if he never expected anyone to understand him. Even though Zer0 couldn't decipher fully what Krieg wanted to say, he knew that it was something important. The uniqueness of Krieg's condition has been bugging Zer0, hopefully after everything is over that he can do some tests and try to bring Krieg's psyche back. No promises, but he definitely wanted to try.

"Softly", Krieg spoke gently, but it looked like it took every little bit of strength he had to do so.

Ellie chuckled, "Well dear, you too. When you find the one that makes her your heart ring strong is when you found yah boo. Until then, just enjoy the softer hearts of those around you. That's what family is for hun."

The day was progressing very strangely, no one expected to see the soft and intellectual side of Ellie but it was a nice change of pace. Upon reaching the shop, Ellie immediately put them to work, cleaning, cooking, or just maintenance of vehicles. She wanted to buy Axton some time to defuse the ticking time bomb that is Maya's emotional state.

***So how did I do on this chapter? I know it's a long time coming so I hope your expectations didn't get too high. Be honest. Also, keep shooting those reviews and messages***

Random Brain EXPLOSIOOOOON:

1. It's been awhile since I've posted up a chapter! Sorry about that readers, I definitely still plan to finish this series, life just hit hard and I'm reeling back from it now. Thanks for being awesome and still following me =)

2. Hopefully I'll get some time to post up a few chapter over this month before I leave for two months of training this summer. We'll see how far I get!

3. So I'm wondering, what are your summer plans? Please feel free to message me and tell me how you've been doing and what y'alls plan to do this summer. I really want to know =D