After the Vault

The Escape

Tim wished he'd been able to shoot him again. To drive a bullet into his skull, watch him bleed out. Lean over his dying frame as he would be able to utter the words, "I won."

Except this did not feel like a win in the slightest.

Tim watched as the man in the window slumped forward, taking a few shaky breaths before he stilled.

He would later hear that when they found the body, the bullet was found straight through Rhys' heart.

Felt fitting, in some sort of way.

Tim kept her alive using med packs and enough sedatives to tranquilize a skag, her wounds bandaged and her head treated to the best of his ability. She needed rest and he could afford to at least give her that.

He didn't allow himself to acknowledge what has happened. What he had lost. What they had all sacrificed.

The day she awoke was possibly the worst day in his existence, and that was including the day he underwent the surgery.

She didn't scream or wail or beg. She just...went cold. Kept insisting that they needed to find the Vault, find some way to get her back home.

The look in her eyes terrified him. Because it was completely hollowed out.

Because it was a reflection of his own expression.

They survived for months on the run, watched Atlas crumble and another company take its place. Did odd jobs for people to earn some cash. Both didn't acknowledge that they wished the others were still with them, that there were moments where they couldn't even look at each other as they desperately tried not to dwell on the past. Where a flash of black hair would make Tim freeze in his tracks, or how Fiona would look at Tim's cybernetics with a sort of sadness that Tim knew he could not alleviate no matter how hard he tried.

It was inevitable that something would develop, a hollow imitation of what they had both has before. But it felt nice to have someone there, a warm body to hold. Someone you could trust to have your back when the Skags came, or the bandits broke into their encampment. Even if at times Tim pretended that his hands were carding through cropped black hair or Fiona traced his cybernetic arm for a few moments too long.

Neither tried to make it anything more than it was. They couldn't afford to.

A year passed before they found the Vault of the Traveller, the pair of them covered in dirt as they ran into the cave.

Fiona had reached for him automatically before he took a step back.

"I was never meant to come with you, Fiona," he declared gently. The metal arm he had been fitted with by a rather nice Vault Hunter gleamed in the purple hue of the casket. "Besides, I have a few universes I wouldn't mind exploring."

She has responded by stepping away from the casket, her hands going to his jacket before she pulled him close.

The kiss was brief, no more than a quick peck before she pulled away and smiled sadly.

"Take care of yourself Timothy Lawrence," she murmured as he looked down at her.

"You too Fiona..." He replied before he hesitated. "Err, actually I don't know your last name..."

She laughed a little.

"Legally it's Kadam," she confessed.

Tim's eyes widened as he took a step back.

"Nisha Kadam?"

"She didn't stick around long enough to be a mother though, so I never really considered her mine," Fiona continued. "Besides, I had Felix and Sasha. I didn't need anyone else."

Tim nodded before he chuckled nervously.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me, knowing her. Never really took her for the motherly type based on what happened with her own."

He held Fiona tightly for a moment before he let her go.

"If you remember any of this when you go back...don't hesitate to try to find me alright?" Tim requested. "Might be nice to have someone around I can trust while I'm running around Pandora."

She grinned and nodded.

"Don't forget to say hi to everyone for me," Tim murmured as she stepped up to the casket.

Her hand hesitated over the casket before she opened it.

A cool violet light surrounded her frame completely before she disappeared.

Tim sighed before he approached the casket himself, opening it as he took a deep breath.

He felt a sharp tug as he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling weightless before he landed with a soft thump.

He felt someone smack his cheek and his eyes flew open as he looked up at a starry sky.

"You alright there Jack?" A familiar voice asked with a dry laugh as he turned to look at a pair of molten gold eyes.

He sat up as the Indian woman knelt beside him.

"Where the hell am I?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes, pulling back his hand to see...there were no age spots.

"Elpis, where else?" Nisha replied as she glanced around before she stood up.

He gulped audibly.

"Well? You coming or what?" She asked sharply as he stumbled to his feet.

He nodded, picking up the pistols beside him as he followed her.

There was a sharp buzzing in his ear before a cool, gentle voice began to speak.

"You alright Tim?" Angel asked desperately and he couldn't help but giggle a little hysterically.

"I'm fine," he replied, and he was shocked at himself. Because he actually meant it.

He was getting a second chance.

And he was damn sure he wasn't going to put it to waste.

Now, he just needed to figure out a way to get off this frigging moon....