Chapter Text
Wren held out her hand, and Arzhel took her fingers, placing a kiss on her knuckles.
“It’s, um, nice to meet you,” She stammered out. She could feel Jack’s gaze burning into her back, but she didn’t pay any mind, as she was very distracted by this new man’s smoldering gaze.
“And same to you, Dr. Whitlocke,” He smiled pleasantly.
“Call me Wren, please, Arzhel,”
He placed a hand on his chest, “Zell,” He corrected.
Wren nodded, heat rushing to her cheeks, “Sorry. Zell,”
“Haukr,” He dismissed her apology with a laugh, “It’s alright. It’s an odd one, I know,”
Wren smiled, shrugging, “No weirder than mine, I’d say,”
“Around here, I suppose that’s true,”
Wren blinked, pulling herself off of the man’s statue-esque face and looked between the two, “So, how do you know each other?”
Hammerlock shrugged, “Oh, when you’re an adventurer like ourselves, you run into the toughest and strongest,”
“Ah, you’re too kind, Hammerlock. I simply have an interest in the fauna of these planets,”
Wren nodded, “That’s pretty much why I’m here too,” She sipped at her wine, “I heard a lot of interesting things– Sandworms, the stalkers, bullymongs, skags, Rakks… Just to name a few,”
“Ah yes, I read your paper on the Stalkers, actually. Saved my life, knowing how to track one while it’s invisible.”
Wren’s cheeks reddened, “I completely forgot I wrote that,” She laughed, “It was one of my first papers,”
Hammerlock looked between the two, smiling smugly, “I do believe I should go greet a few more of my guests. I’ll leave you to it,” He winked at Wren as he passed by her, clearly pleased with his handiwork.
She nodded, “I’ll catch up with you later,”
“Would you care to dance? I’d love to hear more about your work,”
“Only if I can hear more about your adventures. Why were you tangling with those banamaor creatures?” Wren was truly curious, as they were by far one of the more deadly creatures Wren had ever studied.
Zell offered his arm, leading her to the floor, “Well, I am actually a Vault Hunter by trade,”
Wren hushed him, “I wouldn’t announce that so loudly,” She looked around, “Not with… Handsome Jack in attendance,” she said with her voice low.
Zell shrugged, twirling them to the sway of the music gracefully, “I’m not a Raider, so I should be fine, right?”
She shook her head, “No, he hates them all the same,”
“You sound like you know from experience,”
Wren pressed her lips together, “I do, but I’d rather not talk about that,”
“Ah, a history?”
She hesitated, “Is it history if it’s still unfolding?”
“Should I watch my back?” He teased.
“Around here? You should anyway,”
He shrugged, “Ah, well. Life’s short,” he dipped Wren, the pulled her back up, staring into her eyes, “Live a little,”
Wren swallowed, her mind swirling from his charming demeanor and the several glasses of wine, “I suppose, but a little caution is probably wise,” She said, a smile playing on her lips.
He shrugged, “If I wanted a calm life, I’d have stayed on Asgard. Lived out my life as a fishermen or something,”
“An honest living, but tedious all the same,”
“Exactly. I love a little variety, don’t you?”
Wren hesitated, “Of course– it’s like fish,”
He gave her a look, waiting for an explanation.
“It’s good for a few days, but around day three it begins to stink,” She wrinkled her nose.
He laughed, “That’s a good one! I quite like that,” He looked at her curiously, “You’re funny, Wren,”
“I can be,” She giggled, “Especially after a few drinks,” the song ended, and Wren spotted Jack watching her, the way Zell’s hand kept her close, pulling her in for another dance. She would be at Zell’s side all night at this rate, and Jack was not happy.
Zell and Wren danced for two, three, four songs before Yrsa trotted up, butting her sharp snout into Wren’s side. Zell moved Wren away from the creature instinctively, but saw the calm, doglike nature of this specific one and let Wren go.
Wren looked down at the beast, “What?”
Yrsa made a low, growl sort of noise and Wren nodded, “I gotcha, I’ll let you out,” She looked over at her dance partner, “I’ll be back, Yrsa needs a bathroom break. Besides, I could use a breather,”
Zell nodded, “May I accompany you?”
“Of course,” They left the dancefloor, and headed out into the hall. Wren led him to the gardens, allowing Yrsa and Ivy free while the humans stayed out of the grass and on the stone deck.
He watched Ivy fly high up into the trees, “A rakk too? Impressive,”
Wren shrugged, leaning her backside against the stone railing of the patio, “I found her in a slag puddle. She’s still pretty young,”
“Mutated?”
She nodded, “Yeah, she’s got an electric mutation, but she’s harmless. Mostly,”
“Huh. Do you know why she’s electric specifically?”
Wren shook her head, “No, I got her before my accident so she’s still a big mystery to me. I never got a chance to look at her DNA or anything. Hopefully, I’ll have some access to a lab soon though,”
“That would be good…” He looked at her curiously, “Aside from your papers and such, I still feel your last name is ringing a bell,”
Wren thought for a moment, “My mother maybe? She’s the lead Valkyrie,”
“Yes! That’s it. You… didn’t inherit her godly gift?”
Wren hesitated, “No, I did,” She held out her palm, a small flaming flower bloomed there, embers floating out like pollen in the wind, “I just… I don’t take orders well,” She smiled ruefully, “Especially from my mother… and then she has a big pair of shoes to fill,” She closed her hand, crushing the flame in her palm.
“I understand. I’m an Odinson,”
Wren eyed him curiously, “Really? That’s… rare,”
“I know, and it’s even rarer that I don’t use it,”
She shrugged, “Who’d want to go into politics anyway?”
“Exactly,”
They laughed, and Wren realized Zell was looming above her, staring down into her brown eyes intensely. His hands sought hers, and she looked up at him. She hadn’t realized how sharp and blue his eyes were against his dark hair. She caught a glimpse of something from beside him– something golden and shining in the moonlight. Danger prickled through her and, instinctively, she pulled Zell aside just in time for a loud crack to ring out into the air. Something white hot caught Wren in the shoulder, right where Zell was standing a moment ago.
Wren looked up, searching for the source, fire in her palm, and found Jack standing there with a smoking gun.
He balked, realizing what he had just done, “Uh, h-hey, cupcake, some party you’ve got going on!” He did a little dancing movement, “Super fun,”
“You fucking SHOT ME,” She shouted, “Jack, what the fuck,” She clutched her shoulder, trying to slow the bleeding.
“To be fair, I was aiming for him,” he gestured to Zell with his gun. He looked at the thing and put it back in its holster somewhat sheepishly.
Zell moved for his gun, but Wren put a hand on his, stopping him.
“Don’t bother. You couldn’t hit him even if you wanted to,” She was livid, but more in pain than anything, “Will one of you go get Wainwright or one of the maids? Zell?”
Zell moved to leave, eyeing Jack with a deadly look as he left, making a gesture to ward off evil as he passed.
“Man, try to kill a guy once and you get that kind of reaction? Seems like a bit of a red flag to me, pumpkin,” He moved closer, pulling out his pocket square for her arm.
“You know what’s a really big red flag?”
“Shooting you in the arm?”
“Yeah, that’s fucking right, asshole, shooting me in the goddamn arm,”
“You don’t seem too mad?”
“If I didn’t know your shields were active right now, you’d have a sunburn up your asshole,” She spit, “Jack, you’ve done some fucked up shit to me, but this?” She snatched the pocket square from him and held it to her wound, “I don’t even want to look at you right now,” her eyes swam with tears, whether it was from pain or anger, she didn’t know. Yrsa pushed her snout into Wren’s hand, but she pulled away from her companion. She felt too hot, and worried it would hurt the little thing.
“Wren, baby…” he reached out to caress her cheek, his voice gentle.
She slapped his hand away, “Don’t fucking touch me,” Her hand stung from the energy produced by his shield, but she didn’t care. She sank down to the floor, knees now feeling like jelly. Her ears were buzzing now. She wrapped her fingers into her hair, pulling in an attempt to keep herself grounded.
“Honey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shoot you. Honest—“
“Yeah, but you did. You tried to kill Zell because you’re jealous, but you shot me instead,”
“Wrennie…” he knelt down beside her.
“Fuck you,”
“Honey, I’m serious—“
“I am too! I don’t know what you want from me, and I don’t know—“ she choked on a sob, “I don’t know. I try to move on, I’m wrong, I try to stay, I’m wrong. What do you want? What the hell am I supposed to do? Fuck,” she clutched her shoulder, “I love you, Jack, but I don’t—“ she faltered, her voice giving out as she felt that overwhelming sensation of the Voices all coming at once, all coming to make sure their Conduit was taken care of. Her voice squeaked out one last syllable before she was choked out.
She began speaking in tongues, her eyes turning black as all came to help, to fix her up and keep her safe.
Wainwright, followed by Zell ran outside, seeing Wren bloody beside Jack. His hands red from her blood, and sorrow in his masked face.
Wainwright cocked his shotgun and aimed it at Jack with one hand, “Get away from her, you Skag-spit son of a bitch!” Wainwright shouted, “I knew lettin’ you in was a mistake, but she vouched for you, just like she always does,”
Jack held up a reddened hand, “Shoot me, and you’ll hurt her,”
“Now you care?” Wainwright laughed dryly, “I think you worry more about that pretty face of yours over anythin’ else,”
“Look, that all can wait, but she needs that bullet out before she heals over,” Jack said seriously.
Wainwright cussed and moved towards Jack, “I don’t care how much sweet talkin’ you do with her, you ain’t foolin’ me one bit,” he knelt down beside Wren, who had not stopped speaking in tongues.
“Is… is that normal for her?” Zell asked warily.
Wainwright was observing the wound as best he could with his poor eyesight, “Yeah… I’ll let her explain- no, actually, Jack, why don’t you tell ‘im? Maybe he’ll help me kick your ass later,” He growled, “I can’t see… We’ll probably have to cut it out,”
“Here,” Zell held out a blade, “I’ll get some alcohol,” he dashed off in search of high grade booze. He wasn’t gone for long.
Wainwright held the blade, hesitating.
Jack gestured to Wren, “Well? It needs to come out!”
“I know— I…” Wainwright turned back to Jack, “I can’t see well enough, I’ll make it worse,” hesitantly, he held out the blade to Jack.
Jack took the blade and immediately doused it in the brandy, then without much hesitation, stuck the blade into her closing wound, cutting open the hole wider so they could remove the object.
Yrsa growled, confused if she should attack Jack or not. She crept closer to Wren, sniffing and keeping a keen eye on the procedure. Zell moved to drag her away, but the Skag growled and snapped at his hand.
Wren hissed in a mixture of a thousand voices as the blade dug in, none of the tones being hers. A bit of purple energy shot out, blowing Wainwright over onto his backside. Jack stayed steady, unaffected due to his shield.
“I’m sorry, Wrennie,” Jack whispered, “I’m so, so sorry,”
“The Conduit is loved, the Conduit is protected, the Conduit is safe—“ Wren said in the otherworldly voice, purple energy flowing in a steady aura.
“I know, I know,” Jack growled, “But that bullet needs to come out,”
“The Conduit is healing,” the runes began to burn into her cheeks and face again, signaling the energy was really flowing now as it worked to heal Jack’s meddling.
“No, you’re putting a bandage over the problem,” he dug the bit of metal out and threw it to the ground and held out his hand for the brandy. Zell pushed it into his hands and Jack dumped the liquid onto her wound.
She screeched, voices buzzing like an angry nest of bees. Another wave of energy exploded forth, nearly knocking Wainwright and Zell over again.
“I know, pumpkin, I know,” he murmured, taking her hand into his protected fingers despite the fact it was hot enough to fry an egg, “I’m sorry,”
“The Conduit is loved,” the Voices said through her.
“The Conduit is protected,” he said.
The voices seemed to fade away, giving way for Wren’s sweet tones to shine through again, “The Conduit is safe?”
Jack nodded, “Yes, she is safe,” he handed the blade back to Zell, “See? All done,” he picked up the bullet from the ground, “Pain’s done,”
“Thank you,” All of the voices said in unison, but the tone that stood out most was Wren’s. Her eyes fluttered shut, and once again her breathing and heart stopped. The three men waited with bated breath, prepared to help her further if she needed it. Yrsa nudged her mistress’s hand, whining anxiously.
Wren took too long to come back, gasping like a fish out of water. Her wild eyes searched for their faces as she panted, trying to come back to her reality before tiredness took over.
She found Jack’s face, clutching his bloodied hands with an intense grasp, “Stay?” she said, her voice strangled and hoarse from hosting so many at once. She leaned into him, closing her eyes as she pressed her forehead to his shoulder.
He hesitated then nodded, “Anything for you, pumpkin,”
“Hell no, there ain’t no way I can let you after a stunt like that!” Wainwright blustered, “Look at her!”
Zell crossed his arms, looking at Wren and Jack thoughtfully, “Ordinarily, I would agree, but… I think she needs him right now,”
“What?!” Wainwright shouted.
“Outvoted,” Jack said smugly.
Wainwright threw his hands up, “I need a goddamn drink,” he growled, getting up to leave, “No, actually I need the whole damned bottle if I’m gonna be sleepin’ with a murder in the house,” he pushed the patio door open forcefully, and Zell followed behind, casting a lingering glance between Wren and Jack.
Jack held Wren close, his eyes welling with tears, “I’m so sorry, baby,” he pressed his lips to her hair, “I’m sorry,”