Saying Goodbye Is Hard: Part 2

Tina launched her fist forward, aimed between Gaige's eyes. On reflex, Gaige lifted her mechanical arm up.

Clang!

The dull sound echoed throughout the workshop. If Tina felt any pain from hitting the unforgiving metal, she didn't show it as she pulled her arm back, and fired off with her other hand. Another impact. When she tried for a third strike, however, Gaige's metal hand caught her by her wrist.

"Tina!" She yelled in desperation. When Tina's only answer was to attack with her free arm, Gaige caught that too. "Tina, stop it!"

Instantly, Tina started struggling. All trace of anger in her eyes vanished replaced full on with fear. "Lemme go! LemmegoLemmegoLemmego!" She screeched, fresh tears streaming down her face.

"Tina!" Gaige yelled back, struggling to keep a grip on the wiggling teen. She clenched her teeth as Tina rammed her knee repeatedly into Gaige's stomach. Jesus, how is someone so small so damn strong! "Tina, will you just calm dow-OH!"

Gaige's grip slacked as Tina kneed her right between the legs. A deep, sharp pain spread up through her stomach, making her eyes cross.

The sudden release made Tina throw herself back. Flying back by her own force, her legs caught on her bed, making her fall backwards. A painful crack echoed throughout the garage as her head bounced off wall behind the bed.

Gaige missed all this, however. She was too busy clutching at the space between her legs, clenching her eyes to keep tears of pain from leaking out.

Whoever says getting hit there doesn't hurt girls is an idiot! She thought as she rolled onto her side, waiting for the pain to subside.

Eventually, (how long, she had no idea; it felt like an eternity) the pain ebbed away, replaced with an almost numb-like feeling. Once she was confident she could feel her legs, Gaige pushed herself up. Instinct took over as she replayed the last few minutes in her head, ready to chew Tina out. "Tina! What the hell do…"

The words died in her throat.

Tina was curled up in a tight little ball in the corner of he bed, holding her head in pain. Her eyes were shut again, though obviously more from fear then from pain.

Gaige let out a sad sigh, feeling utterly lost. She wanted to help the kid, she really did, but didn't know how make her feel better. Hell, she didn't even know why Tina was acting like a little… well… a little Psycho!

With no better idea, Gaige decided to just try talking. At least the kid was awake to hear her now. She pushed herself up until she was kneeling beside the bed. "Hey, Tina?" Tina flinched at her voice, drawing herself even closer to herself. She looks so small. Gaige thought. "C'mon kid, talk to me." No reaction. Frustrated, Gaige reached out her good hand towards Tina's shoulder. "Okay, kid, you're starting to freak me-"

CHOMP!

"Yeeoow!" Gaige screamed as she yanked back her bleeding hand. Gaige stared at the blood in disbelief. "You bit me! What the hell- Ow!"

Gaige reared back as Tina lashed out again, catching Gaige square on the nose.

"Okay, that's it!" Gaige yelled, fed up. Before Tina could lash out again, Gaige reached out and grabbed her by the wrists. With a sharp jerk, Gaige pulled Tina forward until they were almost nose to nose. She brought Tina's wrists together and, moving quickly, grabbed both wrists in her mechanical hand. As Tina began to thrash again, Gaige reached up with her real hand and placed it on top of Tina's head. With some effort, she turned Tina's head until she was forced to look into Gaige's eyes, and held it there. "Tina, knock it off!"

All this did was make Tina redouble her efforts. Gaige was getting worried, and a little frightened herself. For the first time, she was able to clearly look into Tina's eyes, and what she saw scared her. The usually sharp blue eyes were wide and unfocused, like a wild animal, and filling with so much pure, unadulterated fear.

Gaige took a deep calming breath, more for herself then for Tina. "Tina, listen to me." She tried to make her voice as calm and as soothing as possible. Tina responded by slamming her eyes shut and trying to move her head, but Gaige held firm. "Tina, you're okay. I'm not going to hurt you. It's Gaige. Remember? Robo-lady?" Gaige laughed a little inside. It always annoyed her when Tina called her that, and now she was calling herself that. That little humor quickly died when Tina just tried to move again. "C'mon kid, you know me. You helped me install concussion claws on Deathtrap. You trained me to be Pandora's number one badass. Heck, you made me a character class in your B&B game!"

Tina kept struggling. Gaige let out a frustrated growl. "Fine then! Let's try this!" With quick motions, Gaige completely let go of Tina. Suddenly free, with nothing to hold her in place, Tina fell forward. Before she could hit the ground, Gaige grabbed her by the shoulders. Just as Tina started to struggle again, Gaige, in one motion, flipped her around, and pulled the girl to her. She fell backwards into a sitting position, taking Tina with her. Before Tina could react, Gaige wrapped her legs around the girls waist and her arms around the girls chest, pinning Tina's legs to the ground and her arms to her sides. Finally, she pressed her chin to the top of Tina's head, and held on tight.

If Gaige had thought Tina was struggling before, this was a whole other animal. Tina was full on thrashing, her entire body moving in one massive convulsion. Gaige clenched her teeth as hard as she could to keep from biting her tongue. That's it kid. Gaige thought grimly. Tire yourself out.

The whole time, Tina kept yelling. "No! No! Nonononononononono!"

Gaige had no idea how long it took. Five minutes? Ten? An hour? All she knew was how thankful she was when, after the most exhausting experience of her life, Tina's struggles started getting weaker. Her screaming faded into pathetic whimpers. She kept squirming for a few minutes more, before going completely still, her form trembling in exhaustion.

Gaige let out a relieved sigh, but kept herself wrapped around the teen, just in case she was playing possum. She felt liked she'd gone ten rounds with Terromorpheous, then tried to bench the BNK3R. "You… done?" She gasped out.

Silence was she her only answer.

"Tina?" She asked.

"ZZZzzz…"

Gaige pulled back and stared at the back of Tina's head. "You fell back asleep!? Ugh!" She fell back onto the garage floor, Tina coming with her, snoring lightly.

Gaige stared up at the ceiling, barely making out the various cracks and dents in the inky blackness. Her arms fell limply to her sides as Tina shifted slightly. Gaige frowned. What is going on with this kid?

After a minute or two, Gaige realized she had to do something. She couldn't just lie on the cold ground with Tina on top of her all night. In fact…

Gaige's frown deepened as her thoughts moved in a different direction. She hadn't thought much about it before, having spent all evening and most of the night in the tundra cold, but Tina's workshop was freezing! Maybe it had been warmer before Gaige opened the door, but right now, she might as well been laying in the dirt outside.

Gaige shook her head, frustrated. Maybe I shoulda had Lilith make this a mission, she thought with a huff. That gave her another thought: now what do I do?

Lilith had just told her to check to see if Tina was okay. Well, that answer was a painful and resounding no. Should she call Lilith and tell her? Probably, but Lilith was already worried about Tina. How the heck would she react to this? Then what else should I do?

Gaige laid there for a minute or two, thinking hard.

"…mmph..."

Gaige looked down at Tina, who had so far been content with using Gaige's chest as a pillow. The little blonde turned her head as a small whimper escaped her lips, a small frown on her face. Gaige's eyes gained a determined glint. Oh no, she was not having a repeat of what just happened. She was nipping this in the bud now.

"Tina." Gaige said, poking th girl in the cheek. Tina mumbled slightly, but kept sleeping. "Tina, wake up." Gaige repeated, poking harder. Tina grumbled, as if uncomfortable, but stayed down. Gaige sighed, then smirked. She gently grasped Tina's earlobe between two fingers…

And twisted.

"Ow!" Tina sat straight up, holding her sore ear in pain. "Ow ow ow OOOOWWW!"

Gaige chuckled slightly. "Are you actually awake this time?"

Tina twisted around on Gaige's stomach, looking down in surprise. "Robo-lady?" Gaige just barely resisted rolling her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Gaige pushed herself up on her elbows, Tina sliding down into her lap. The girl blinked, apparently just noticing that she was sitting on Gaige. After looking about the room, she also noticed that she was no longer on her bed.

"Um… what's going on? Did I mix up one of my root beers for one of Mordecai's again?"

Gaige blinked. Maybe… no, Rakk-ale was strong stuff, but there was no way it could make someone act this nutso, not even Tina. "Uh, I don't think so, kid."

"Oh… what?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, genuine confusion in her eyes.

Gaige stared up at her in disbelief. "Kid… you just about kicked the crap out of me!"

Tina tilted her head to the side. "Whaaaaa…?"

Gaige shook her head. "You… there's no way in hell you don't remember nothing. Kid, you bit me!"

Tina's eyes widened, before she burst out laughing. "Whaaaaat? Gurl, you crazy." She said, waving her hand in an exaggerated 'whatever' gesture, looking off to the side.

Gaige frowned, though no more from annoyance. "Uh, Tina?"

"Yessum?" Tina said, looking back at Gaige. She was greeted by Gaige's deadpan expression, in front of which was her only flesh hand. A clear set of teeth marks showed blatantly across the rather pale skin, blood still trickling down her arm.

Tina's smile faded after a few moments of silent staring. Her eyes seemed to dim slightly, the flippant, manic air that had surrounded her upon waking up (again) quickly fading.

"But… I didn't… do that." She said softly. She cleared her throat, before speaking in a lighter tone "I mean, why could I bite you, Mecha-Maid? I was asleep."

Gaige sighed. "Tina… you were awake. You were yelling at me. You were crying!"

Tina shook her head like the child she was. "Nuh uh! I don't cry. Baby's cry. I ain't no baby."

Gaige stared at her for a moment, before taking a deep breath. The concern was plain in her voice. "Tina… you're crying right now."

Tina froze. Slowly, painfully slowly, she reached a hand up to her cheek. She touched her face gently. When she pulled her hand back, she could see her fingertips glisten, even in the faint light coming in through the doorway.

"I… uh… I… I got nothin'." She finally said, her voice surprisingly quiet.

Gaige looked at her. Within minutes, Tina'd gone from wild animal, to her usual crazy self, and now to just… sad. The faraway look she had was almost painful to see.

Gaige just looked at her for about a minute. Then she sighed. "Tina… I think we need to talk."

Tina looked back at her, surprised, almost dazed. Slowly she nodded her head. "Okay… sure."

Gaige nodded back. "Cool. But, um, can you do something for me first?"

Tina tilted her head to the side, ever so slightly. "What?"

"Could you please get off of me?"

A/n: So… what's it been, four, five months? Yeah, sorry. Summer kind of kicked my ass. I hope to have the last part of this up by the end of this month. That being said, if it gets to this time next month and this story still hasn't updated, somebody please yell at me to hurry up. Sometime I need a kick in the pants to get moving.

I hope you liked this chapter, and I'll see you at the next one.