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Jack slipped underneath one of the ring’s ropes and leaned towards Fiona, smiling.
They had gone to Moxxi’s basement fighting ring, where Jack had signed up several days ago to fight for tonight, and there was quite a turnout of Sanctuary citizens wanting to watch Jack fight. Moxxi was charging five bucks at the door, and the booze was flowing freely from the cash bar. There were also several large betting pools forming, either betting for or against each match, or for Jack's ability to survive till the end of the fighting roster without getting knocked out.
And there were plenty of people who signed up to fight him. People of all sorts of sizes and backgrounds showed up, paying Moxxi’s fighting fees to get the chance to knock Jack in the jaw.
Some of them just wanted to test their metal against the veteran Vault Hunter, others wanted to settle a score and make it hurt for Jack. Fiona eyed several of Jack’s opponents carefully. Some of them he could take easily, but some of the Bruisers with rippling muscles had her nervous for Jack. She didn’t blame anyone for betting against Jack in those matches.
“Do I get a kiss for luck?” Jack asked. She leaned in and met his hot mouth, which he quickly used to devour hers. They were like that for several moments, until Moxxi approached them.
“While I do love a good show, I was hoping for a slightly different form of entertainment. Get back in the ring, Jack.” Moxxi said, putting her hands on her hips.
Jack reluctantly pulled his mouth away from Fiona’s.
“I wish you weren’t doing this,” Fiona said, running her fingers through his hair as he nuzzled into her touch, a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye.
“You know me, darling, gotta get my blood moving somehow.” he said, finally pulling away and facing his first opponent.
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Jack held his own fairly well against the first few opponents, making decisive wins against each of them, including the man who was nearly a foot taller than Jack. But now, standing before him was a bandit clan’s bruiser. It was also clear that Jack was getting tired. Sweat dripped off of Jack, leaving his hair damp and his skin gleaming.
Fiona bit the corner of her thumbnail, chewing nervously as she watched Jack’s now-sluggish dodges from the Bruiser’s heavy fists once Moxxi announced the fight’s beginning. There were several close calls, Jack narrowly avoiding each blow. Then the Bruiser got a shot on Jack’s jaw, colliding with a crack and sending Jack flying against the ropes right in front of Fiona. He took several heavy breaths in front of her, his head drooping down.
“Jack, are you okay?” she asked. He raised his head and gave her a wink, then stood up again on two unsteady legs, spitting out a glob of phlegm and blood onto the floor before turning back to his opponent.
The Bruiser chuckled and prepared to throw several more punches at Jack. But he underestimated Jack in this state, and tried to land a slow, dense blow against Jack. Rather than dodge, Jack used the man’s own momentum against him, rolling into it and using it to send the bruiser spinning towards the floor, where Jack proceeded to kick him in the temple multiple times until the Bruiser was too dazed to move, and Jack was declared the winner of the round.
The Bruiser was carried off to the medical clinic, while Jack leaned against one of the ring’s poles, trying to catch his breath as his next opponent climbed into the ring, fresh and ready to fight.
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Fiona sat backstage. Jack had been finally knocked out after his seventh round, his endurance and grit finally failing him. He was currently getting healed in the medical clinic from several bruises, a handful of cracked ribs, and a broken nose.
That’s when Moxxi approached her, shoving a small box into Fiona’s hands.
“Tell Jack you're paid in full when he comes out, won’t you hun?” she said “I have some accounting to do, and some bets to pay out, so I can’t wait for him.
“What’s this?” Fiona asked, removing the lid to the box. Moxxi smirked.
“That’s his payment.” she replied, “It’s for you.”
Fiona blinked. She genuinely thought he was just doing this just to satisfy his own bloodlust and boredom. The idea that he was somehow doing it for her never crossed her mind.
Fiona lifted the lid to the box gingerly and gasped. Inside the box was a small gold cylinder with a glowing purple streak coursing through it and a small, roughly carved heart maring the carefully designed gold swirls on the barrel.
“A slag upgrade?” Fiona said, whipping out her derringer and holding up the new barrel setting against it to test the fit. It was perfect.
“It’s more than that sugar. You now have a Moxxi weapon, hun,” Moxxi smiled. Fiona’s eyebrows knitted together.
“I can’t say that I understand the significance.” Fiona said, “Beyond good workmanship,” she hastily added.
“You’ll understand why my weapons are special when you fire it. Jack didn’t want you getting hurt in the field anymore, so this was his special request. It’s a shame he didn’t want anything else; if I kept running these fight rings like this, we both could have made a fortune.” Moxxi turned and left, and Fiona gently tucked the new barrel back into the box and waited for Jack.
She didn’t have to wait long- after all, Anshin’s were fast. Jack soon came out of the clinic, fully dressed back in his regular attire without so much as a bruise left on him.
Fiona grabbed the collar of his shirt as soon as he was close to her and dragged him down, immediately pressing her mouth against his. After a few moments he chuckled and pulled away.
“I take it Moxxi gave you my payment?” Jack asked, running a finger under Fiona’s chin. She pulled the box out of her pocket and showed it to him. He opened it and appraised the new barrel.
“Damn, she did good work on this one.” he said, turning it over gently “Almost makes that Bruiser’s hit to my jaw worth it.”
“While I appreciate it, you didn’t need to do this for me.”
Jack bent down slightly and slipped his arms against her thighs and pushed her against the wall, pinning her there before returning his mouth to hers.
“Yes, I did.” he whispered, grazing his mouth against the side of her jaw and against the shell of her ear.
“Asshole.”