Soldiers For Life

Ten: Father Meets Son

{Axton}

I was out on a mission to the Dust to stop a trade in Lynchwood. Sheriff Nisha was overseeing it. It was information for the info Stockade, and it could be useful in the mission to take down Jack and bring home Xiper. I missed my son more and more everyday, and my wife, his mother, even more. He would be 21 now. I buried his mother in the Tundra Express, near Tina's so she can make sure no one loots it. Maya became my second in command, Salvador, Brick, Gaige, Krieg, Zero and Mordecai were all the ones we had left to go in the field with. Angel had come to love working in the bar, so she refused to fight. 

I had them in my sights of my Jakobs sniper rifle, the conversation was being eavesdropped on by Gaige having Deathtrap hidden. 

" Commander Leon. I have to say, Jack's got a magic touch. You kid are one hell of a looker." 

" And you are old enough to be my mother, your point? I'm here for the info. Let's keep this straight and civil, bandit." 

This Leon kid didn't mess around. He was about my size and built, his hair was a sandy blond, and he had...a blue and green eye. Xiper? Was that my son? 

" Gaige, double check my sight. Is that Leon kid having mismatched eyes?" 

Gaige looked through her Maliwan scope, and her jaw dropped. 

" He does. Ax, do you think.." 

" I have to find out. Don't hurt him, even if he's going to try and kill you. Let's go. Zero, you stay here and have the Technical ready to go." 

He nods, and Sal, Gaige, and myself come with me. We went in guns blazing, and this Leon kid didn't hesitate, he pulled out a Conference Call, and fired off at us, his mismatched eyes hardened. Nisha took off with the info, Leon was fighting with military practice. I finally got close and pined him, cuffing him. 

" Get the fuck off me, murderer! I'll bathe in your blood, monster!" 

" I'm sorry, but you now get to take a nap, son." 

I took the butt of my rifle, and knocked him out. He went limp, I carefully picked him up, and set him gently in the bed of the technical.

" He's a pretty boy, I wonder how he got the scar on his eye." 

" He's Hyperion raised, Gaige, I doubt he'll listen to me once he's awake. Let's go." 

{Leon}

I woke up with a horrible headache, my nose crinkled in disgust from the smell. It smelled rotten and like molded over hot garbage. Where the hell was I? I sit up, and find my hands were cuffed behind me, four walls of cement, and one with a barred door. A prison cell. Wonderful. I'll get out of here in a few minutes, I just need the lockpick I keep in my hair. I start shaking my head, stopping when I hear a soft clink of metal, making me look up in horror. 

" Looking for this, son? We searched and stripped you of anything you could use to escape. I doubt I need to introduce myself." 

He didn't. " Commander Axton of the Crimson Raiders. I know exactly who and what you are, murderer." 

The bandit grabbed a chair, turned it, and used the back as an arm rest. He looked more ragged in person, like the years haven't been kind, his pine green eyes looked so full of sadness and fear, it was rather pathetic. 

" What is your name, son?" 

" Don't call me that. My name is Commander Leon, son of Handsome Jack, Crusader of Hyperion and Bandit Slayer of Pandora." 

" Leon. That's quite the rap sheet ya got, kid. Son of Handsome Jack, you said? Who's your mom?" 

" You'd know, considering you killed her, asshole." 

He looked hurt, then enraged, then back to tired and drained. 

" I'm not even surprised he lied. Leon, does the name Juniper mean anything to you?" 

" That's my mom's name. Dad adopted me and took me in after he watched you shoot her down. A woman who had a newborn. You bandits really are fucking animals." 

" Does the name Xiper mean anything to you, Leon?" 

" Nope. Sounds really stupid, actually." 

The old commando pulled out a photo, and it looked really old. He showed it to me, placing his hands through the bars to not obstruct my view. 

" This was taken the day you were born. This is your family. Jack isn't your father, Leon, I am. Jack kidnapped you, and raised you to hate us, so you'd kill us and be a perfect loyal pawn in his game. Jack's actual child, Angel, is a siren who works in the bar here in Sanctuary."

He pulled the photo back, and started crying, his voice occasionally cracking as he continued to speak. I remained silent so I could absorb as much info as I could.

" Your mother and I were so happy, we went out for a picnic of all things in the Tundra Express, and were ambushed, guns to our head, Juniper handed you over out of fear for your life. Jack shot her in the head, and left before I could stop him. It's been 21 years. Your birthday is in two days. I have nothing to lose, so believe me when I say none of this is a lie." 

His tears were proof enough he wasn't lying, but some part of me can't believe him. My birthday was indeed in two days. Dad was planning on letting me run the company for a day as a present. This old bandit looked hurt, scared, shattered, and broken. 

" If what you say is true, then why lock me up like a criminal?" 

" You are still Hyperion, and I knew this was the best way to talk. You can take what I say or leave it. I just wanted you to know the truth." 

" Truth is relative to the person. You may be telling me a version of the truth, but how I perceive it is my truth. Now facts, those are undisputed truths that a whole unanimously agrees to. So what is this information? A truth, or a fact?" 

He cracked a smile, and he actually laughed a small bit. 

" You sure are smart and quick like a whip crack. What I told you is fact." 

" So if I asked Dad about it, he'd agree with you?" 

" No. He'd continue to lie through his fangs to you. See, Juniper used to be Jack's wife, before I met her, and she fell in love with me after being here for a few days. It took Jack forever to accept that Juniper said goodbye. When he learned of you, I think it was his way of taking a piece of Juniper back, of making me suffer."

" Good. Bandit scum like you deserves to. You kill without second thought and think it's just consequence free. I know that every time I pick up my shotgun, I understand there are repercussions for my actions, that its a human life. The part of me that knows this feels sorry for the fact that something so glorious fell so far as to become cannibalistic, savage, and crazed. They traded their humanity to live like an animal. I set them free. You just make them suffer even more." 

The awe on his face was rather hilarious, to be honest. He moved, placing the chair to the side, putting the picture away, and he gave a defeated sigh.

" You really don't believe me, do you?" 

" Why would I, or even better, why should I? You are the enemy of my father, the man who took me in, raised me like his own, and literally gave me a world to one day call my own. Why would I, the Hyperion prince, believe anything less than you are lying to try and get a sympathetic nerve out of me?" 

 The old commando gave another sigh, and left with a few parting words. 

" If you don't believe me, I'll bring you all the proof I have. I'll make you see reason."