Archive of Our Own ^beta

They were fine being alone, they always had been, so why did the soldier insist on tagging along every time. Had they not proved themselves to be an efficient fighter? Was he challenging their skills? They enjoyed the silence after a clean kill, not the enthusiastic clapping or cheers that emanated from the man.

‘>:(‘

They positioned the sniper and looked down the scope at the head of the badass, waiting for Axton to get into position.

‘tik’

As they had planned, a single shot kill, they moved over to the slag barrel and shot it while Axton threw down his turret.

“Nice shot Ze!” They scoffed at the nickname the others had given them.

‘////’

Axton was an exemplary fighter, the way he weaved through the bandits, the way his body twisted, the grunts of effort through the comms.

‘…’

They cursed silently at the train of distracting thoughts, they needed to assist him. Almost all of the bandits had already been obliterated by Axton, but they still shot at any stragglers and snipers. The sound of gunfire filled their ears, so much so that they couldn’t hear the quiet steps until the lab rat was on top of them.

‘!!!’

They tried to roll, but the lab rat had them pinned, a large blade dug into their upper thigh, and they felt the tip of a gun placed in their back.

“Zer0? You alright?” Fuck they left their side of the comms off.

The gun dug deeper, and they could hear the lab rat’s laughter as it pulled the blade out.

They struggled under the weight, but the thing stabbed their shoulder, they could feel the knife rip at their suit and skin as the lab rat repeatedly stabbed them.

Footsteps could be heard, and the gun was lifted off their back, enough for them to roll off their stomach and pull out their Maliwan pistol.

“Fuck Ze, why didn-” Axton collided with the lab rat forcing them both to the ground. Zer0 gripped their pistol and shot the thing once, twice, thrice, until it stopped moving. They pulled themselves off the ground, pain shooting through their thigh and walked over to assist Axton.

He had a large gash on his side and his arms were covered in what Vault Hunters considered flesh wounds. What concerned them was the furrowed brows and grimace, Axton almost always was joking and grinning, Zer0 felt a pang of hurt seeing his face like that because of them.

‘:(‘

After that Zer0 noticed how much attention they paid to Axton. It was odd to say the least, and they couldn’t fully understand why. They trusted in his abilities, but something pulled them to watch the man run and slaughter. Normally they would lounge in the back of the technical with Maya and let Salvador man the guns. Gaige would sit in the front joking with Axton and Krieg would let Maya lay in his lap, but in a spur of them moment decision they sat in front. Gaige groaned and whined, but eventually sat in the back, muttering obscenities. Axton gave them a pointed look but shrugged when he saw them pull out their sniper and start cleaning it.

Normally when they found weapons or shields, they only thought of selling it, or maybe giving it to who was closest to them if the weapon had better stats. Now they found themselves saving a rifle or pistol to hand off to Axton when they got back to sanctuary, but they ended up doing that for all the others at one point, so it became a mass trade.

“Hey Ze, you like Maliwan right? Found this.” Axton tossed them a Corinthian, shock type, but slightly less powerful than their current weapon. Before they could change it, a bright red heart flashed on their visor. They panicked slightly, but when they saw the light blush on Axton’s face and an ear-to-ear grin, they felt a tightness in their chest.

“Glad you like it!” He placed a hand on their forearm before winking and running to where Salvador was waving. Zer0 could feel where he touched linger, tingling almost.

‘////’

“Gortys Core, yeah old Atlas tech.” After Jack’s death the other vault hunters left, Maya and Krieg first, Gaige soon after them, and now Salvador and Axton were discussing it. Zer0 was fine staying here, all the contracts they wanted, and what Moxxi just gave them could take them weeks to find. They thrived fighting alone, they loved fighting alone…

‘:(‘

No, they couldn’t allow how they felt get in the way of their mission, they had to retrieve the Gortys core.

“Just the person I wanted to see.” They could hear Axton’s stomps and heavy breaths; he ran over to them.

“Mox said you’re heading out on a mission, I got something to do on the way there, mind if I tag along?” There was an indecipherable emotion in Axton’s face, of course Zer0 wanted him to come along, but…

“Axton are you al-/-right? Something seems to be off/ do you need to talk?” They saw Axton’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise and red creeping up his neck.

“Uhh yeah, but let’s talk when we get there?” Axton took the lead in walking past Scooter’s now empty garage to where a transport station waited.

The ride was quiet, Axton drove and Zer0 stared out the window, occasionally stealing glances at the soldier. They eventually arrived at a cave, a little more than halfway to where Zer0 needed to be and only a couple minutes walk from where Axton’s location was.

They sat down to where they had a clear view of the opening and set up a small, covered fire. Axton set up right next to the opening, but instead of laying down, he sat down next to where Zer0 was.

“Ze…” He tentatively placed a hand on Zer0’s thigh.

‘////’

Axton either didn’t notice, or just didn’t want to make a comment about the emoticon.

“Me and Sal have this one thing planned, it’s gonna be big!” He tensed, “You alright, with everyone else leaving?” He looked up at them.

“I was alone for/ years before joining the rai-/-ders, I will be fine.” That was a lie, but a necessary one. Axton’s eyebrows furrowed, then softened, the metal moving with it.

“We’re leaving soon, just have to finish the plans. I just wanted to-” Zer0 never had realized it before, even after talking to Maya and Krieg and listening to their stories, they had fallen for Axton. No, they couldn’t, he was leaving soon and… No, they couldn’t… They were panicking, they’ve never felt this way, never been in a relationship beyond platonic and even that was pushing it.

“Hey Ze, come back to me.” His hand was warm and solid, lightly squeezing their muscle, pulling them into the moment.

Maybe it was a fluke, maybe it was just lust or a strong bond, but they knew there was two ways they could figure it out, but they didn’t expect Axton to take the first step.

The hand on their thigh moved to their helmet, a silent question played between the two. Zer0 touched Axton’s hand and put pressure on the middle one, with a hiss their helmet opened and revealed their face. They had never allowed a human to see them without their suit and helmet, but they never expected it to be this intimate, to feel so exposed, yet safe.

Axton’s stubble grazed their sensitive skin as he went in, his lips were chapped and Zer0 was clearly inexperienced, but it still felt right. A hand snaked its way around their back, pulling the two closer. When Axton finally pulled away his face was a dark red and eyes searching, this time Zer0 went in.

Zer0 didn’t regret it, they loved every second of it, but waking up the next morning to find an empty spot, that hurt. Had they done something wrong, enough for him to leave? They had thought-
His jacket. Axton had left his jacket over Zer0 when they were sleeping, that brought some relief to their tightening throat. They weren’t sure what it meant, but they assumed it was a promise to see each other again before he departs.

“Sorry about that botched mission sweetheart, come and get a drink.” They arrived back on Sanctuary, the Gortys core remained unfound, but they weren’t worried about that.

“Least you got us to keep you company.”

‘?’

“You haven’t heard? Sal and Axton left the day after you went for the core, talking about a podcast or a race.” Moxxi turned to make another drink and Zer0 sat there in shock.

‘:(‘ the emoticon was turned off as Moxxi delivered the smoking glass to another patron.

The tightness came back tenfold as the stepped out of the bar, they needed another mission, something, anything to distract them from that momentary weakness.

Working for Rhys was pleasant, hearing him discuss new weapons or talk about his wife, occasionally them and Lorelei would mess around Promethea. They enjoyed this, it was a team them three, occasionally four and soon to be five.

Zer0 adored Sasha, the two got along, sometimes she’d ask them for aiming lessons or just to talk about things in general.

Then Maliwan attacked and Sasha left with her sister, Zer0 missed her, but Rhys, Rhys was heartbroken about her leaving. The invasion didn’t help either.

They saw Maya again, she looked happier than ever, they had missed her the most. Talking to her again and hearing about how Athenas was, how happy her and Krieg were, that she got an apprentice, it only made her death hurt more. They hadn’t met Ava before, they never got to see who she was before her mentor died, they regretted not reaching out earlier.

The funeral was today, and everyone wanted to be there. They saw Tina, who even though she grew up, still had her childish spirit and love of explosions. Brick and Mordecai accompanied her, followed by Sir Hammerlock and who they assumed was Wainwright. Krieg didn’t show up, but that was expected, we all mourn in different ways. Ellie walked up with Fl4k on one arm and Axton on the other, Moze, Sal, Zane, and Amara followed, but stuck near their respective partners.

Everyone who knew Maya spoke, some were tales of fighting, and some were just personal moments they shared with Maya. They sat next to Ava, her eyes puffy and hood shadowing her face from view.

Some people stayed on Sanctuary 3 to reconcile, Brick, Mordecai, Tina, Salvador, Axton, and Gaige. Seeing Gaige again after so long was an experience, she still was the chaotic being they had grown to know and love.

Somehow Salvador beat them at the range, apparently shooting everywhere and accepting the minus points was a valid strategy.

And Axton was nowhere to be seen, but that was fine, it’d likely be an awkward experience for the both of them. At least they were fine with it until Moxxi said that Axton asked where they were.

“I told him that you were skulking around in your room.” She gave them a wink before they set off.

“Oh, hey Ze, how have you been doing? Heard you were with Atlas now.” Axton was looking at the board of bounties.

“You look… different/ How is the Arms Race, Salva-/-dor says it’s going well.” They acted as casually as they could as the closed the door.

“It’s been fun, but we both wanted to be here for the funeral, Arms Race can wait.” He leaned against the wall.

“I have something for/ you. You had left it on Sanc-/-tuary two.” They walked over to their unused closet and pulled out the only thing inside, his jacket.

“I- wow, you kept that?” He laughed as he took it into his hands.

‘?’

“Ze, I left that for you. I wanted you to have it, since…” He trailed off as he handed the jacket back.

‘////’

“Thank you.” They stared at the material and saw where Axton had repaired it, in a spur of the moment decision they put it on. They heard Axton chuckle and step forward,

“I’m sorry for leaving like that, I never was good at good-byes.” His hand found the same spot from years ago, he waited for Zer0 to protest before he clicked the button there.

“You look the same as you did then.” His calloused hand ran over their cheek as he pulled them in.

They were there for hours, sitting on Zer0’s bed, talking, Axton pressing chaste kisses against their exposed skin, making up for their years apart.