Rue [Borderlands fanfiction]

Part 2

[Bold indicates Handsome Jack speaking. Only heard by Rhys unless specified]

"You know Hyperion?" Asked the smaller Hyperion.

"Everyone down here knows Hyperion, Vaughn." The Pandoran without the hat spoke. "Handsome Jack made sure of that." 

"Babe, I love you so much. You're everything I could ever want, and I'll never, never leave you."

"I love you too, Handsome, and I promise I'll never leave you."

I winced slightly at the mention of Jack. I'd been trying to forget about him since I'd come to Pandora, but you don't just forget a person who's been such a big part of your life for so long. The flashbacks didn't help.

"I mean, where you ever on Helios?" Vaughn asked. "You do look really familiar." 

I wasn't comfortable with the way this conversation was going. They were about to uncover something about my past that I'd kept hidden ever since Jack died.

"Stop." I said, pointing my gun at him. He paused, raising his hands. "Who are you?" I asked all of them. The Hyperion with the robotic arm stepped forward.

"I'm Rhys" he spoke. He pointed at the Pandoran with the hat. "That's Fiona" and then pointed at the other Pandoran. "That's Sasha." 

"And I'm Vaughn" spoke Vaughn. They seemed harmless enough. I put my gun away.

"I'm Rue" I spoke. "And the facility is there." I pointed behind me. "I'll help you. Come on." They looked unsure. Of course they did. This was Pandora. You trusted no one. I probably shouldn't of trusted them, to be honest. But the truth was, my life was dull. I didn't really care if they tried something. I had nothing to loose. 

"Guys?" I asked, turning around to see that they hadn't moved. 

"What?" said Rhys.

"I said, come on, I'll help you" I spoke to him. His eyes widened.

"Oh no, I wasn't talking to..."

"Okayyy..." I spoke slowly. "Anyway, let's go." 

I led the way, with them following this time. As I helped Rhys re-attach all the wires to unveil the facility, he looked at me. 

"Where you ever on Helios, Rue?"

"What, erm, I, er- oh look that this!" I suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the next power unit we needed to go to to attach the next wires, scanning it with my Echo. I saw Rhys rolling his eyes as he followed me. 

"You were, weren't you?" He asked again, looking at me. "Why are you hiding it?"

"Look, I've just met you. I don't need to tell you my life story or anything, okay pal?" I said, exasperated. I didn't want to be mean to him, he seemed nice enough, but I didn't want anyone knowing about my past. Rhys noticed that he'd hit a nerve.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to make conversation." He mumbled, re-attaching the final wire to unveil the facility. Rhys looked in amazement as we walked over to the entrance, joining the rest of the group.

"Wow." Breathed Fiona and Sasha.

[Rhys' POV]

We arrived, in the caravan, to Old Haven, where the Atlas facility supposedly was. It seemed abandoned. Until, that is, some crazy Pandoran girl jumped out of the shadows, pointing her gun at us. Just add it to the list of things that have tried to kill us so far.

"Woah woah woah" I said quickly, putting my hands up as she pointed the gun at us.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, shaking the gun in our faces again. 

"We're looking for the Atlas facility" Fiona spoke, approaching the girl.

"Course you are" she replied frostily. 

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but she looked familiar. I'd definitely seen her, or a picture of her somewhere before. Up on Helios. Vaughn obviously thought the same, as he approached her, asking her. She seemed to know Hyperion, which I guess wasn't that unusual, since everyone on Pandora seemed to know Hyperion because of what Handsome Jack did here. At the mention of Jack, she seemed to wince slightly. I think I was the only one who noticed. Obviously had a bad past with him. 

As Vaughn asked her if she'd ever been on Helios, she seemed to tense up, asking us who we are. I introduced myself, then Fiona, then Sasha. Vaughn introduced himself. We learnt that her name was Rue. And that she wasn't going to hurt us... yet. She'd put her gun away at least. She offered to help us.

"I'll help you. Come on." She spoke. We were all a bit unsure. We didn't know this girl, and it was unusual to meet someone this helpful on Pandora.

"Alright kiddo?"

I suddenly heard Jack's voice from behind me. I turned around to see that he had appeared, and walked next to me.

"What's happening?"

"Guys?" I suddenly heard Rue's voice. I saw Jack noticed Rue. 

"Who's that chick?" He said. Then he looked again. "Holy shit..." he spoke, walking over to her.

"What?" I said to him, forgetting that no one else could see Jack.

"I said come on, I'll help you" Rue repeated. I widened my eyes, remembering that no one else could see or hear Jack. 

"Oh no, I wasn't talking to..." I began to say. Rue gave me this weird look.

"Okayyy..." Great. I'd now freaked her out. I quickly scurried over to Jack.

"What?" I hissed at him. "You know her?"

"Rue..." His voice was soft. I'd never seen him like this before. 

"Jack!" I hissed again.

"It's my girlfriend..." Jack spoke softly, reaching out to touch her although we both knew he couldn't. 

"Your girlfriend?" I asked, shocked. I saw a tear roll down Jack's face. "Jack, are you crying?" I asked him quietly as the others started to look around. Jack quickly wiped away his tear with the back of his hand.

"Crying? Pfft, no kiddo, course not. I just... I haven't seen her in ages, that's all. I've missed her."

I gave a sympathetic smile, not really sure what to say. I decided to approach Rue, and ask her about Hyperion, see if she'd open up.

"Where you ever on Helios, Rue?" I asked. I knew she was, because of Jack, but I wanted to see what she'd say.

"What, erm, I, er- oh look that this!" She quickly diverted away from the question, scanning the power unit with her Echo-Eye.

"She's got an Echo. Kid, you gotta me into her brain. I need to see her again, properly. Talk to her."

"Fine" I mumbled, rolling my eyes as I followed Rue. I tried again.

"You were, weren't you? Why are you hiding it?"

"Look, I've just met you. I don't need to tell you my life story or anything, okay pal?" She spun around, suddenly flipping out at me. I could hear Jack chuckle.

"Just as feisty as she always was. Some things don't change."

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to make conversation" I spoke.

That confirmed it. Jack was telling the truth. Then why was Rue so quick to cover up her past?