A small hiss of pain left Maya's lips as the soft piece of gauze soaked with a special ointment made contact with her raw skin. She didn't mean to, it had been an involuntary reaction to the spike of pain as the medicine did its effect.

"Sorry, was that too rough?" Lilith's soft and concerned voice asked from where she was seated behind her on her bed.

Maya shook her head. "No, it wasn't your fault really, everything just hurts." she shrugged as the other woman resumed her work on her back, her hands trembling slightly, and Maya knew it was just because she didn't want to hurt her.

The withdrawal from Eridium hit Lilith harder than she would ever admit. She had already been developing dependence from the substance, and what Jack had done hooking her up and forcing her to absorb it for days without a break had increased the symptoms tenfold. But she was determined to fight through it.

And aiding Maya with her wounds was a decent way to do so, something to occupy her mind with, something to keep her hands busy so she wouldn't try to get them on the first hunk of Eridium she could see.

The aftermaths of the fight against Jack and the Warrior hadn't been kind to anyone, to herself, even without fighting, but the rest too. Maya though had been rather unlucky, having been caught in the flames of the monster's breath in a split moment she had lowered her guard. And the result had been a number of rather heavy burns on her skin, thankfully her shield held enough for her to not get killed, but still, it hurt like hell.

So, while the rest were scurrying around Pandora, demolishing what was left of Hyperion, the two Sirens were left on their own. Lilith wasn't nowhere near stable neither physically nor mentally after what Jack had done, and Maya was of course in no shape to fight again yet, as much as both desired to be on the battlefield again.

But for now they had each other's company, and it was enough.

Maya's burns still needed heavy treatment, or Zed would have scolded her like a child if she neglected herself, so she had asked for Lilith's help, she couldn't do everything herself, and also she knew how much the fellow Siren needed a distraction.

So the Firehawk was currently in the middle of helping her apply whatever medicine that Zed gave her on her back, where Maya couldn't reach. She couldn't help but frown at the state of her friend, from the red angry burns painting her skin, to the old white scars underneath them that refused to disappear.

Lilith knew from what those were caused too, the people that had raised Maya hadn't been too kind with her, if anything at all. She and the others had discovered one particular bad day, where their group had decided to get together and tell each other bad stories of the past in hopes to relieve the burdens on their shoulders. Maya had told them about the Order, what they had her do and how they exploited and abused her, she had shown them the scars that coated her skin, but never she thought that she would ever see them this closely, and that they would have been so many.

"You're going to have more scars after this." the words left her without thinking. More sickening patterns adding to the canvas of her skin.

"I stopped counting them long ago." Maya shrugged lightly, but at least she wouldn't be ashamed of these, just like all the ones she acquired ever since landing on Pandora, these were battle scars, not shameful ones that some coward inflicted on her when she couldn't defend herself. She'd wear them with pride.

"It is not too bad, despite the pain, I'm alive, we're alive and Jack is dead. I'll recover."


"I will take everything you love away from you!" Jack had yelled to her that one time of too many she had dared to confront him.

He had kicked her down then picked her up again by her neck, squeezing it to cut her air flow, but not enough that it would have killed her, he didn't want her to die just yet after all. He had still proven his dominance over her, by using the fact that she was powerless and too weak to retaliate back to him with nothing else but words.

The constant pain from the Eridium being forced into her was agonizing and left her helpless, barely able to keep herself standing the best of times.

She couldn't remember why he had said that, in retaliation for whatever she had said, she guessed it could have been about Angel though.

"You and your little friends killed my daughter, you killed an innocent girl, but now, I will take all you have left." he glared at her with such hatred that she had never seen in anyone before.

"Roland's already gone, you remember right? How easily he crumpled to the floor in a pool of blood right in front of you." he grinned at her obvious pain, as she choked back a sob.

She didn't want to give him the satisfaction to see her cry, but the wound had been way too fresh, and she had never been good at hiding her feelings, whatever they were.

"You will awaken the Warrior for me, and you're going to watch it kill every single one of your little friends one by one."

He let her go then, she easily fell back on the floor due to exhaustion as he began to pace around the room as he usually did when he started one of his monologues. At least he couldn't watch her dry her eyes with his back turned away.

"I had a nice idea, hear me out, your little Siren friend, maybe I'll save her for last because you know, Sirens are special, and deserve special treatment, like you."

"You won't make her your slave…" she spoke, knowing that being used and controlled was the thing Maya hated the most in the whole universe because of the people that raised her. Her? She could handle it for a while longer, hell, probably she deserved it even. At least a bit.

But Maya? Jack didn't even deserve to stand close to her. She had come from far away, escaped from a life of lies and abuses and got involved in a war that she most likely didn't even want to be part of, but had stayed anyway. For her friends and for her.

Jack laughed as she said those words. "She? My slave? No. She's weak, she can't even use Eridium, I can tell she's one of those that acts all high and mighty but in reality is made of nothing."

"You take that back…"

Another chuckle. "So you tell me she's strong then?"

"More than you would ever dream to be, asshole."

He stopped grinning then, walking over to grab her by the hair this time, and hold her face in front of his ugly mask. "You seem to care a little bit too much for this woman for her to be just a friend, little Lilith, or are you going to tell me I am wrong? You forgot about Roland a bit too early, or have you been betraying him behind his back with that bitch?"

"I never did such a thing." she growled back. And it was true, she had never betrayed him, even though her heart hadn't always been in the right place she had been loyal.

But she couldn't deny the fact that she was attracted to Maya too. That woman had broken into her heart the very second her eyes laid on her. She was beautiful, strong, smart and caring, and so much more. All things Lilith had never been good at.

However, Maya hadn't shown any interest beyond friendship, which Lilith was still happy to have, she finally could relate to another Siren, and that itself was a miracle. So she had swallowed back her feelings, but it didn't mean she cared any less.

Jack just shrugged at her remark, and resumed talking. "You know, I don't really care, but it would be really nice to save her for last, have her break little by little right in front of you, watch her be helpless and beg for her friends to be spared as they get mauled before her eyes, before it gets her turn. And you can't do nothing but watch."

He grinned, letting go of her hair but once again reaching for her collar. "Or maybe we could do something with this right here. You will end her with your own hands, Lilith." he laughed as her eyes widened in fear. "Does that sound good? I think it does."

She shook her head, hard. "I won't."

He shoved her back down again. "You don't get a choice, pumpkin. You're going to maul her pretty face like you've done to mine, hold your little hands on her throat and squeeze the life out of her as she begs you for mercy. Oh it'll be so fun!"

"No…" barely a whisper overlapped from his booming laughter.


She kept whispering it, shaking her head back and forth. Until a warm pair of hands on her cheeks stopped her.

"Lilith, open your eyes." it said. She had them squeezed shut tightly, but she forced herself to open them anyways, meeting Maya's worried silver eyes.

"What's wrong Lil? Did I say something wrong?" Maya had noticed something hadn't been right the moment Lilith had stopped moving her hands, and turning around she had found the other woman like that. Breathing heavily with her eyes closed and whispering the same word over and over. She wondered what she was seeing, even though she had a feeling of what it could have been.

Lilith placed her hands over Maya's, finally managing to get herself under control, feeling bad for seeing that she made the other woman worry too thinking it was her fault.

"I'm okay… just bad memories." she spoke softly.

"Jack again I guess." a nod. Who else could have been after all?

They sat in silence for a bit, to let Lilith gather her thoughts, if she wanted to say more or not. Maya knew not to press.

"I was scared…" Lilith's head hung low as she said it. "I was scared to lose you, he kept repeating all those things to me, how he'd kill all of you and save you for last, how he would order me to kill you, and I…"

Her mind drifted back to when at the Vault had hit Maya with his flames, and she had screamed. She thought at seeing her lying on the ground unconscious close to her, as she tried to reach out through the barrier with Jack laughing at her misery, her tears and her wails of agony. And at how she held her weak and limp body to hers as soon as she got free.

Once again Maya forced her to look at her. "Lilith, it's okay, I'm here, he hasn't killed me, nothing he told you ever happened, he's dead, and he can't hurt us anymore."

A nod. "I will be okay, you will be okay, we'll be okay. Things will get better."

Maya let go of her now, when she was sure she wasn't going to break down in the next two seconds again. "I was scared too, you know? The others too. We were afraid to not make it in time, what if we weren't strong enough to take on the Warrior even? But we did, we got to you, the Warrior is gone, and we're safe. This is what we have to remember, not all the what ifs our mind thinks of."

Lilith nodded again. "That's true."

"I know it's hard, but you don't have to get through this alone. Isn't what you told me a while ago? Maybe you should take your own advice."

Finally, a small smile. "That I did, and you're right.."

This time she couldn't resist reaching out wrapping her arms around the other woman's waist, she stiffened but relaxed almost immediately, she still wasn't used to too much contact, but she was trying.

"Thanks, Maya." she placed a small kiss on her cheek, leaving the other woman stunned for a second, her face becoming an interesting shade of red.

"You're welcome…" she turned away, blushing. That had been quite unexpected, but not unwelcome.

Feeling bolder, Lilith held her tighter, but still keeping herself from touching any wound. "Can you stay with me tonight?" she asked. More than anything, she needed to feel the warmth of another person after all those bad thoughts, to ensure that she wasn't alone.

Maya wasn't sure of what Lilith truly wanted, but she was positive it was nothing bad, and after what she had said to her, she was sure it would be for the best if she stayed, part of her was convinced that despite everything, Lilith was still afraid to not see her again tomorrow, and needed confirmation that she was there and that things weren't the way her mind plagued her with.

Besides, she was still the same love starved kid she had always been ever since she was born, she did need some comfort herself, more than she'd ever admit.

"Yeah, I will stay."

Lilith hadn't let go of her the entire night, as she woke up the next day with her arms still on her waist, as the other woman slept soundly from under her. She had insisted on having Maya lie on top so her weight wouldn't hurt her, despite the blue Siren being taller and heavier. How thoughtful.

With a smile, Maya tucked her head back on Lilith's chest, feeling her heart beat in her chest, and closed her eyes again, realizing the red head wasn't going to let her go anytime soon. Maybe she could enjoy this loving warmth some more while she could.