Chapter Text
Maya wasn’t quite sure what to make of Krieg. There were moments when he seemed almost human. Those moments were usually shattered by him raving about meat bicycles but the fact that they even happened was a miracle. She caught him looking in the distance, eye unfocused but calm, muscles relaxed instead of twitching at every sound. Sometimes he’d shrug, instead of threaten to rip out someones entrails and wear them as a scarf, when asked a question. On one occasion he had simply waved off an offer of assistance rather than shriek that he was overflowing with red.
He hadn’t been working with the team long. They’d found him outside of Sanctuary just before racing off to Tundra Express. She quickly had to talk down the other Vault Hunters from shooting him on sight. They had been very surprised when he shouted, “PRETTY LADY!” at her and didn’t immediately try to sever her head from her body. He’d helped them hijack the Hyperion train. Though his help was not easy for the team. His inclination to run straight at the enemy with the intent to hack them to pieces bothered Axton and Zer0. They preferred some semblance of tactics in their assaults. Maya had convinced them to work around Krieg’s berserk style. At least he and Tina seemed to get along pretty well. The little demolitions expert liked his raving about death trinkets.
As the group of Vault Hunters searched for the train car with the vault key he was unusually calm. Rather than stomping his stride was smooth and quiet. Even more surprising was the fact that his buzz saw stayed strapped to his back rather than constantly moving through his fiddling fingers.
“That should be it,” Axton said, pointing to a train car half buried in snow.
“Well let’s grab it and get out of here,” Gaige huffed, still shivering from the cold.
“I told you to bring a coat,” Maya sighed, adjusting her own jacket. The only ones unaffected by the chill were Krieg and Zer0. She supposed the assassin could have some super high tech bodysuit but Krieg… he didn’t even have a shirt and wasn’t shivering in the slightest. Gaige was muttering under her breath about not needing a mother when everything went sideways. Wilhelm burst from the train car in a rain of metal shards and turned his gaze to the team.
“Holy sh-” Gaige breathed but was cut off by Axton.
“Get behind the shield,” he ordered, tossing out his turret. Zer0 vanished but the rest of the Vault Hunters huddled beneath the relative safety of the shield. “We need to divide his attention. Spread out and try to keep him in the middle of the field by harassing him until he turns to someone else.” Everyone nodded tensely, aside from Krieg. He had a pep talk for them,
“I WILL PULL YOUR LUNGS OUT AND RIP THEM TO RED PIECES” That really got Wilhelm’s attention. Krieg dashed across the snow field, his charge directed right at the mechanical monstrosity. Axton used that moment to urge the Vault Hunters into position. He’d quickly learned to make use of Krieg’s insanity. Just before Krieg leaped a sniper round blasted through Wilhelm’s shield, dazing him and giving the Psycho a perfect opportunity. Krieg smashed his buzz saw into the pistons on the robotic shoulders of his adversary. Wilhelm recovered quickly and tossed Krieg off but the Psycho continued to harry his legs with blows from his saw.
The rest of the team fired at Wilhelm’s body. Axton laid suppressing fire with the help of his turret, Salvador unloaded his two assault rifles, Zer0 continued to snipe from afar, Gaige sent in her robot to help Krieg, and Maya peppered the cyborg loader with her SMG. Things were working in their favor… until he started digistructing some friends.
Axton and Zer0 focused on the surveyors to prevent Wilhelm from recovering. Maya and Gaige turned their attacks to the spawned loaders, phase locking and gunning them down as fast as they could. Salvador kept firing at Wilhelm, prompting the enforcer to turn and leap in his direction. The gunzerker strafed just in time to avoid getting crushed by the mechanical legs. Zer0 took the opportunity to short Wilhelm’s shields with an electrified bullet once the surveyors were down. Krieg jumped onto the back of the loader and attempted to dig his fingers into Wilhelm’s eye sockets. Jack’s lackey screamed and jumped again, throwing Krieg clear… and off the cliff behind him.
“Krieg!” Maya shouted. She was about to race over when Wilhelm went berserk, his robotic eye malfunctioning horribly as he thrashed every which way. There was no chance of her going anywhere near him, or the cliff. The Vault Hunters kept firing, but it was difficult to hit any vulnerable areas with their target moving so erratically. Wilhelm didn’t calm but he did seem to get some of his bearings back, he demonstrated this by jumping over to Gaige, forcing her to flee behind another train car. He attacked Axton next, who managed to yank his turret out of the way and take cover behind a spur of ice. Maya was his target after the commando and she barely managed to escape his stomp. She had hoped he’d focus on someone else but instead the enforcer kept after her, swinging his loader arms with fierce speed. One of those would probably punch through her shields and her body. In desperation Maya phase locked Wilhelm. It would only last for a moment but she needed any time she could get. The instant she was clear several corrosive grenades landed at his feet and detonated. Wilhelm staggered like a drunk, reeling from the damage to his robotic exoskeleton.
“I’m out!” Gaige yelled across the battlefield as their enemy struggled to maintain his balance under their fire.
“Only two clips left for me,” Salvador answered.
“My bullets are few, we must take him down quickly, or die in the snow,” Zer0 ECHOed in.
“Hell,” Axton swore, “is anyone not low on ammo?”
“YOU WOKE THE WRONG DOG” was the only answer. Krieg hauled himself over the edge of the cliff clutching his buzz saw tightly, the teeth coated with ice. His body was battered but still standing. The Psycho switched the melee weapon for his unused shotgun and blasted Wilhelm with the corrosive rounds. A few more grenades from the rest of the team and the enforcer fell, screaming.
“I RELISH YOUR AGONY” Krieg shouted, right before face planting in the snow.
~
Get up. Come on, you’ve taken beatings worse that this. “Shut up,” Krieg groaned quietly.
“Look who’s finally awake,” Maya said.. Look who saved you, the pretty lady. Now thank her.
“Not enough red,” the Psycho muttered.
“Yeah, a healing hypo will only get you so far. You fell off a cliff, take it easy.” A memory, unbidden, flashed to the front of his mind. ‘Take it easy’ said a man in a lab coat, ‘you’ll get paid once the trials are over’.
“NO EASY. ONLY SCREAMS AND FLESH. STRANGLE THEIR THROATS, EAT THEIR FACES,” Krieg shrieked, sitting up sharply despite the immediate protests from his aching body. She’s not one of those white coats. She’s a friend and wants to help. “NO HELP EITHER. JUST KNIFE TASTERS AND FLESH BAGS.” He turned his head to see her and saw the raw confusion on her face.
“Okay then, just… don’t do anything rash. You need time to heal.” She walked back to the others who were huddled around a small fire. They’d camped in one of the derailed train cars. All of the Vault hunters were watching him warily. Can you blame them? You’re out of your mind and ranting about killing things. Just breathe for a bit. And lay down. Some of those ribs are definitely broken. The wild part of Krieg growled at the orders but followed the advice. What was that memory? I don’t recognize the place. It had to be just before you took over. A lot of memories are missing from that time. Meh, puzzle pieces. I never liked puzzles.
“We couldn’t fast travel while he was injured,” Maya said. Krieg was finally calm enough to tune into the conversation the Vault Hunters were having.
“Can he move yet?” Axton asked.
“He’s got broken ribs and plenty of other injuries. The hypos helped but he’s still in rough shape.”
“Just get him back to the Doc in Sanctuary,” Gaige huffed.
“Not a good idea,” Maya frowned. “Roland doesn't want him inside the walls. Plus I doubt he’d allow anyone to see to his medical needs.”
“NO WHITE COATS,” Krieg interjected.
“I think that settles that,” Salvador said.
“Tina probably has some hypos, we can send a few people to collect anything she can give us,” Axton suggested.
“It’s better than sitting around here,” Gaige agreed.
“I’ll stay with Krieg,” Maya said. “He seems calmer when he’s taken a beating but even so…”
“He likes you the most,” Axton said with a nod. “You’re probably the safest from him.”
“I will also stay,” Zer0 said.
“Okay, me, Gaige, and Salvador will see what Tina has and be back soon,” Axton said. The three Vault Hunters, plus Gaige’s killer robot, headed back the way they’d come. The inside of the train car was silent, aside from Krieg’s slight shuffling as he tried to find a comfortable way to rest with all his injuries. His inner voice was still gnawing on the memory, trying to place it in the blank space between who he used to be and the monster he’d become. Maybe it’s a clue to why we’re… like this. Trials… some sort of experiment gone horribly wrong? He snorted aloud. Yeah, it would take something that messed up to make whatever the hell we are.
“You okay?” Maya asked, the need to fill the silence apparent in her voice. Krieg grunted. He couldn’t talk straight, not without it turning into something psychotic. Basic grunting and shrugging? That he could do. “Did you fall all the way down?” A tiny shake of the head. Progress. “So you caught yourself with the buzz saw and then climbed?” Krieg made a soft ‘mm’ noise. “No wonder your arm looks terrible. I had to stick in back in the socket. It was awful.” He turned his head so he could really see her with his one eye. The siren was fidgeting, clearly shaken by the battle. It hadn’t been pretty, sure, but they’d seen worse. The only difference was that he’d almost died. She’d cried out when he’d gone over… She cares. The realization was surprising. He was a mixed up monster with homicidal tendencies by all appearances. Had she somehow seen through the Psycho and figured there was a man down there? Of course not, idiot. You’re reaching and you know it. Beautiful sirens don’t watch crazed maniacs close enough to see any sign of intelligence… if there are any outward signs. Don’t overplay her concern.
“No more cyborg,” he stated firmly, with only an edge of madness in his voice.
“Yeah, that guy was nuts. Who wants to be half robot right? That’s messed up. Then again Jack probably made him do it.” Krieg growled at the mention of Jack, still unsure of why he had that reaction. “Amen to that. He’s going down.”
“Strip his flesh,” the Psycho grumbled.
“And salt his wounds,” Maya answered. The wild side of Krieg perked up at that. She was speaking his language. “Yeah, you’re a little predictable with that. Maybe mix up the crazy more.”
“I’ll bathe in his meat chunks” Krieg hissed.
“That’s a new one, good work.” The Psycho side of Krieg was warming up to this Siren. Good, more reason to not kill her. She understands you. Remember that. They lapsed into silence again, this time more comfortably. Perhaps he could help the Vault Hunters, so long as Maya was around to keep him closer to sanity and vouch for his actions.