Maya didn't even care to turn on the lights. She just entered her room and headed straight for her bed. She had way too much on her mind in the last few days, that it sounded so tempting to get some sleep. The events of the last few days made a chance for sleep too enticing to pass up. The other vault hunters were still at Moxxis, trying to get over their last battle. The fight had given Maya some bad wounds that hadn't healed yet. She sat down on her bed, got out of her armor and threw it carelessly on the ground.

And then she noticed another person in her room.

Her new Pandoran reflexes kicked in. She whirled around and hit her visitor hard in the stomach. She started for her gun-

He moaned and staggered away backward. ¨Please stop, it's just me.¨

Maya froze. She recognized his voice and stared at him in surprise. ¨Zero?¨

The assassin went silent. He just stood there, a few steps away from her, holding his hurting stomach. She was much stronger than she looked, he thought. He hadn't been here for many days and didn't even care about telling his teammates where he went. It was not surprising at all that Maya was mad at him.

¨You've been away for god knows how long! What the fuck are you doing here?¨ she hissed, still a little angry about how he sneaked up on her. He didn't answer, but the way he stood there made her stop short. ¨What's wrong?¨

Zero wouldn't be here if he had another choice, but he had to tell someone about his injury and Maya was the only one he really trusted – and who could eventually fix it. The siren waited for an answer, but he didn't know how to tell her what had happened, without driving her really mad. ¨I've got a problem," he simply stated.

Oh really? Yeah, maybe not just one, was what she wanted to say. But the hurt tone in his voice made her think twice. There was something wrong - very wrong, she guessed. Now was not the time for any sarcastic comments. ¨What is it?¨ she asked, stepping a little closer to him, just to see how he stepped back again. ¨I won't hurt you. But I can't help you if you´re acting like some anxious shit.¨ She still hoped she made her position clear to him and he wouldn't back away again. But Zero still looked a little bit... insecure.

¨There's a splinter in my eye¨, he explained.

¨What?¨ She blinked, confused and intrigued at once. She tried to think about what he said. A splinter? A fucking sharp splinter? Did that even making any sense? But then she realized, what that meant to him. ¨Wait, I'll turn on the lights and then I'll-¨, she started but was quickly interrupted by his panicked voice.

¨No, please don't!¨, he exclaimed. It sounded strange, foreign. Not like the confident, distant Zero she knew. It had to be very serious.

¨Listen, I can't do anything in this darkness. I need some light¨, she explained but he just took a grip on her hands and shook his head. He had never done that before.

¨Please, don't¨, he repeated.

Maya went silent for a moment. She nodded and pulled him to her bed. ¨Sit down¨, she ordered and he obeyed. ¨How did that happen?¨, she asked when she took a chair and sat down in front of him. The pale moonlight was hardly enough to handle his injury, but she respected his wish to stay anonymous even if his stupid behavior started to get on her nerves. She looked at his helmet, a little puzzled. She tried not to think about what was under it...

¨I hunted and killed him¨, he explained, not caring about telling her who exactly he had killed.

¨...wow, Zero, you got so much better with these social-things you know? I nearly thought I understood what you said,¨ she replied sarcastically. ¨Stop fooling around, idiot and just tell me exactly what happened,¨ she said, when she laid her hand on the cracked spot of his helmet. She made a pitiful sound, already feeling sorry for him. That didn't look good. There was this dark liquid that had the familiar stiffness of blood.

¨Doctor Mercy. You remember him? We thought we weren't strong enough to kill him yet. Well, I changed that,¨ he said, getting a little bit more into detail.

Maya took her hands down. ¨You...went to three horns valley all by yourself? Are you insane?! He could have killed you!¨ she replied, shocked that he left without telling her. She had been worried. Normally they went on missions together but their last one ended very bad, so they decided to do some other side missions before getting to Zed's rival again. But Maya thought he would share her point of view. Obviously she was wrong about that. So he went away, without saying anything and stayed out of touch for more than five days.

¨Why did you do that? And don't even think about giving me this ¨Challenge¨ crap¨, she asked angrily.

He thought about telling her that at least for him it was the challenge, but he knew that it hadn't been only about that. There was another reason...

¨I-¨

¨You know what?" Maya interrupted furiously. "Stop it. I don't want to hear it.¨ Maya, you liar. "Now let me figure out how to get this damn helmet off."

¨You're mad at me,¨ he noticed.

¨Really? So that is what this small-sized brain of yours is for? Judging if somebody's mad at you? Congrats on that, you're right,¨ she snapped. Zero went silent again. After some frustrating minutes of cursing at his helmet she gave up. ¨Take it off,¨ she commanded.

Zero decided that it was better to do what she forcefully demanded and took his helmet off. It hurt but was necessary for her to handle his wound.

Maya cupped his face in her hands and tried to take a better look at his injury. His skin felt smooth and gentle, almost human, but he still felt a little colder than her. She couldn't see much in this darkness, but what she could see looked more human than she'd expected. He had two eyes, a nose and very soft lips – just like her. Why had she always been so afraid to look behind his mask? Did she really think, he'd be an ugly, creepy alien? And why had he hid his handsome face for such a long time? She shook her head and took her hands off his face.

¨I was worried." It was unexpected and he wasn't sure if she really meant what she said. Her hands laid in her lap again and she avoided his eyes.

¨I'm sorry,¨ he replied, knowing that it was his fault and he deserved her anger. It was just now when he recognized that maybe he had hurt her more than he was aware of.

¨It looks bad... I... to be honest, I don't know what to do...¨

Zero heard how sad she sounded and immediately wanted to tell her, that there wasn't any need to be sorry. She didn't do anything wrong. It was his fault, being too confident to think he could handle a bunch of psychos alone.

¨You only have to rip it out. I'll go and take care of the rest¨, he assured her, taking her hand and leading it to the splinter.

¨No.¨ Maya had a very bad feeling about this and she really, really didn't want to hurt him or cause an geyser of blood. But she was the only one who knew about his wound and if she rejected him, he probably wouldn't find anyone else to help him. She sighed and waited some seconds to prepare herself before she took a hold of the splinter and pulled it out. Fast and quick. Zero gasped and jerked back. ¨I'm so sorry¨, she excused, still trying to focus on him and his wound.

¨It's... It's okay¨, he responded. Actually it wasn't okay. It felt like this stupid splinter crushed his eye and he immediately thought he won't be able to see anymore, but he didn't want her to feel bad about helping him. Maya bit on her lip and watched him a while before she spoke again.

¨We should really stop this, you know? I... I don't have any right to judge your actions,¨ she murmured. He still was an assassin and working with her didn't make her responsible for him. He could still do whatever he wanted and she shouldn't care about that. But she did. Very much so, maybe more than she was ready to confess.

¨Maybe. But I understand your anger. I should have told you about my plans,¨ he replied honestly.

Maya wanted to use this moment to ask him again about his real intentions of getting away alone to deal with this asshole.

¨Will you ever tell me why you did this?¨

Zero knew she wouldn't let it go and besides that, she couldn't be angry with him when she knew the truth...could she? He knew that her existence already had a big influence on his actions and he was absolutely not ready to let her get close to him and increase that effect. Besides that, he feared she would've insist to come with him and would've get hurt. Maybe even worse than him.

¨He hurt you and got away with it. I didn't want him to. So I killed him.¨

Maya looked at him. Was it.. Shock? Horror? Discomposure? Did she think he only said it to calm her down or did she believe his words? He didn't know and looking into her eyes didn't give him any answers either.

¨Wait you... did it... for me?¨

Silence again. She still didn't know how to react and just stared at him, his dark eyes, his white alien skin. There was a long pause, while she was studying his face – or at least that bit she could see. It was still unbelievable what he just said. She thought that there weren't any words to respond anymore. If he wasn't so badly wounded, she would yell at him for doing such stupid shit.

But she somehow laid her hand on his cheek and gave him a small kiss on his lips.

It was much too short, and before he could even act on it, she backed away again. He never had someone in his life he wanted to protect, to feel the urge to revenge every pain that would come to her, but now it felt like Maya was the only person he could ever have such feelings for.

¨Sorry,¨ she whispered again, her cheeks burning from the sudden, strange sensation on her lips. She had never kissed before and always thought she wouldn't need something like that, but he woke something different in her, that just told her to do it. And it felt right.

¨There's no need for any excuse,¨ he took her hand and smiled. It was obvious that he wasn't completely human, and Maya had always been afraid of the revealing moment. But now she didn't care anymore. It wasn't important what he was, the only thing that mattered was, that she trusted him and maybe one day they would be even more than friends.

¨Thank you,¨ this time it was him, leaning in, laying his lips on hers, holding her hand. Again she felt hot, horribly shy, and some kind of warmth in her heart. She returned the kiss and only broke away from him, when she accidentally touched his aching cheek. The wound didn't only affect his eyes; it also seemed like he got an even deeper cut on his flesh.

¨Sorry,¨ she quickly said.

¨No, it's all right,¨ he immediately responded. ¨Just... don't stop.¨

Maya felt her heartbeat rising. What the hell was wrong with her? With him? Why didn't she get off of him, slap him for being so stupid, for touching her a way no one ever did before? She didn't know what exactly was happening here, but finally gave in to enjoy this moment. He cared for her, that was for sure now and Maya couldn't stop thinking about how happy she was.