Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cold.

Dark.

Empty.

Nothing remained, just the light impressions on Rhys's eyelids of a large, alien chest.

He shivered and opened his eyes. He steadied his empty left hand, hovered as if still touching the chest, and looked at it. It stood out starkly in the pitch of the room. There was no light, but he could see it clearly. He shivered again, fingertips tingling and twitching. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt so cold in his life. It wasn't the agitating chill of the thermostat being too low, or even the driving chill of a wintery night to seek a flame. This cold felt like emptiness, the utter absence of life, flesh, blood and being-

Am I dead?

The cold vanished.

Warmth flooded his entire being.

It was so relieving, he could have wept. He inhaled like he'd just done it for the first time in his life. And coughed. A sensation buzzed in his head, then cleared. He inhaled again, lungs expanding. Warm, at last. Rhys grimaced and shook his head, realizing his thoughts were definitely jumbled. He touched his own face.

It was definitely still there.

“What just happened?" Fiona's voice echoed from somewhere far away, sounding awestruck. "That was..."

Rhys pulled his attention from his hand, unable to utter a word.

Now, there was no more darkness. Fiona stood next to him, not far away. He shook his head again, trying to get it together. Breathe in your lungs. "Ugh." He took more breaths just to make sure he could. "I don't know what that was, but I don't want to do it again anytime soon."

Fiona gawked upward abruptly. "Where the hell are we?”

Rhys’s own eyes turned around the massive room.

Most eye-catching? The glowing, purple crystals jutting from the walls and ceiling. Twisting shapes of alien design ran in disorienting patterns in every direction. A thick mist swirled at their feet, and the movement made Rhys scramble back until he realized what it was. Fiona snorted at him. He did another take, because- "Fi-" He stopped and inhaled, heart racing. He put a hand against his chest, breathing. Alive.

He was alive, he reminded himself. Not dead.

Fiona glanced behind her, brows furrowed. "Okay, that is...disconcerting." She turned fully.

Two towering statues of Guardians looked back at them, eyes sparkling with crystals. Behind the statues, a golden light came from the ceiling, casting unnatural-looking shadows below that danced in the mist. "Thought I saw..." Rhys trailed off. "Anyway. We appear to be...in some sort of alien cave.” His eyes fell to the middle of the cavern, between the towering statues. There was a strange hovering symbol. Not just any symbol, he thought. It was the infamous, well-known Vault Symbol.

“You think?” Fiona replied. “What about that thing?” She pointed at the floating symbol. "And before you say the obvious, I mean besides the fact it's a Vault Symbol."

Rhys turned on his Echo Eye and scanned. Question marks popped up in every info slot. He'd hoped Atlas might have more information, considering they had originally been eyeing this Vault... “I’ve...got nothing,” he admitted, still tense. “But it must be important. I mean... look at it. It just screams, 'I’m important!' ”

Fiona smiled, but it seemed forced. Rhys noticed she kept darting her eyes about. “Maybe...it’s how we get rich?”

Rhys felt disappointed, similar to when they’d found the Gortys core. Whatever this was, it didn’t seem worth all the trouble they’d just gone through to get it. Sasha had almost died for this!? Still, Gortys had turned out to be quite worth it - mostly, having debatably come with her fair share of troubles - so maybe this would, too. Rhys swept the shadows with a swift scan. He finally forced himself to appear relaxed. “You suppose...it’s...worth a lot of money?” He asked, shooting her a sheepish grin. And remembered this was where Gortys had led.

So, no real return so far... Noted.

Fiona exhaled. “If not, we’ll be begging the others for scraps of whatever the Traveler dropped. Ugh, whatever. Surely some idiot somewhere wants this and will pay big money for it.” She put her hand on her hip with an annoyed look on her face. She was probably similarly disappointed there were no obvious treasures.

Rhys shrugged. "If nothing else. We're gonna be really famous now."

"Not sure that's a good thing for a wanted con artist."

Rhys tried to joke. “Unfortunately, there’s only one this time...soooo what’s to stop you from stabbing me and taking it for yourself?” He didn’t know why he felt so on edge.

She chuckled in response. “Aw, don’t worry. The whole keeping-Jack-a-secret-and-nearly-getting-us-all-killed thing aside, I don’t feel so much like stabbing you anymore… Come on. Just grab the damned thing and let’s get out of here, this place is starting to creep me out. I feel like something is about to jump out and try to eat us.” She checked her sleeve pistol for emphasis, before casting wary eyes about the room for the umpteenth time. 

"Starting to?" Rhys teased. "You've been looking over your shoulder every two seconds. And come on, we already killed the monster. It was really hard, remember? No one's ever said there were more challenges in a Vault."

Fiona looked unimpressed. "As if you didn't almost die of fright just from appearing here. I'm handling this better, considerably."

"Not everything is a competition!"

"Really, corporate boy?"

Rhys didn't back down. “Why don’t you grab it, if you're in such a hurry?”

She narrowed her eyes, scoffing. “You're going to do this right now? You’re the one worried about me taking it for myself.”

“I’m...I’m not-” He sighed. “That- that was a joke.”

“I know. I was joking, too."

They stood there, staring at the object awkwardly.

"I mean," Fiona started, taking a step forward, stirring the mists, "if you’re scared of it, I can.”

“No," Rhys said, halting her in her tracks, "no, no, heh, scared? I’m not-I'm not scared. I'm excited to find out what that thing is, sure, but scared? Pffft... I’ve totally got this.”

Fiona folded her arms. "Alright...then grab it, Mister-I'm-Not-Scared-Of-It." 

"Yeah, I'm on it!" Rhys took a deep breath and moved. More mists floated upwards. Rhys thought it smelled sort of sweet and cloying.

He drew closer to the object. The eyes of the Guardians glittered coldly above him, and Rhys swallowed and looked ahead, instead. Eyes on the prize, he told himself. He realized that the area beneath the object was raised like a platform, with a few steps taking his feet out of the mist. Closer, he saw iridescent light flicker through the symbol.

"Well?" Fiona asked somewhere behind him.

"It's...pretty," Rhys stated, lamely. "Shiny."

Fiona sounded closer. "We can admire it later. I wonder how we get out of here..."

The curiosity in Rhys's thoughts morphed into something stronger the more he stared into the blank surface of the symbol.

He realized it wasn't blank. It reflected his own glowing Echo Eye back at him. And then the depths increased, deeper and deeper, as if one could fall into the space the symbol thing took up. There was a black void there. It seemed to call to him. Just reach out. He felt...a want. No, a need. A need to know. The fear all but vanished. This was the reward. Take it. Claim it. Seize it. 

He did. He clamped his human hand around the edge of the symbol, the texture smooth and cold against his fingers. Rhys smiled. "See?" He lifted it slightly. It was lighter than a piece of fluff.

The symbol came to life, glowing a harsh purple that slowly changed into a vibrant yellow. Rhys blinked. His hand started to feel warmer.

"Oh great, what'd you do this time?" Fiona asked. "Did you break it?"

"How would I break it?" Rhys shot her a glare. "I didn't do anyth-" The symbol slipped through his fingers, but in reverse, breaking down into a shiny mess floating around his palm, slithering, snapping Rhys's eyes back to it in shock. "Uh, what-" It flowed up his arm like liquid gold, sinking into his skin- 

Burning, everything burned like fire.

An ear-splitting scream rang through the room. Rhys sank to the ground, the intense pain all he knew. He thought he heard someone shouting at him, but it all seemed…so far away, so very far away. The room blurred, his senses going fuzzy and fading away until everything was gone.

Rhys tried to open his eyes, but he couldn’t. It took too much effort.

He heard someone saying something, and sensed them standing near, but nothing made sense. His head was throbbing in a steady rhythm, heavy pressure on his skull like a vice. He groaned. There was also an incredible pain in his left arm like the limb had been broken in several places; the burning felt as if it went down to the very bone. He wanted to shut it out. He couldn’t.

The pain doubled in strength. He cried out. Body contorting, he could do nothing but hang on to whatever was under his hands as the debilitating agony flowed through his entire body, tightening in his chest until he couldn't even breathe. Tears welled in his eyes, and he just wanted it to end.

Please stop, please, please, please-

With each passing moment, his exhaustion grew deeper, and his throat started aching from his screaming.

He could feel nothing else at all.

The agony lessened.

How long had it been?

His eyes flew open as he sobbed in a breath of relief. He regretted it. His chest ached, and the gold lights of the room lanced into his skull. He slammed his eyes shut again.  "Gah ..." He lay there, panting, nerves tingling, a less pronounced ache lingering literally everywhere else in his body. He could feel a layer of sweat on his brow, tears on his face.

A tired voice reached his ears. “Mr. Rhys? Can you hear me now?”

Rhys peeled his eyes open once more, squinting against the light, long enough to recognize the figure standing over him before shutting them again. “Unng. Hey... Dr. Shen...” He wanted to lift his arm to wipe his brow, but it felt far too heavy. His tongue felt thick. His throat burned with rawness. “What’s...happening?” he rasped. "Why do I...feel like I've been mulched?" He blinked more, but nausea flooded in until he shut them again. "I...didn't, did I?"

“I...honestly don’t know, sir. I'd love it if I did. I do know that I have you on a high dose of painkillers.”

“You...don’t know?” Rhys repeated, forcing his eyes open once again, resisting the nausea. He looked down and saw... Well, he wasn't sure what he was seeing. In the gold-hued lights of the room, he made out what seemed to be...a sheath of a purple-gray something formed over his hand and wrist. The texture was thick, leathery, and had woven into his flesh in a twisted pattern all the way up to his elbow. There was an IV connected to his bicep, above the imprints. He immediately felt sick...well, sicker. Felt wrong. Felt weird. 

He was sure the only reason he hadn't hurled yet was simply because he was too weak to even manage that much.

“What...the hell?” Rhys struggled to recall what had happened to him. He thought he should know.

“I didn’t think you were going to wake up. You’ve been out for several weeks.”

“Weeks?” Rhys asked, alarm shooting through him. “And how did that happen?”

“Your friend, uh, Fiona? I think. She said this happened in that Vault.” Dr. Shen frowned. “She claimed you touched a Vault Symbol and collapsed. Knew that alien shit was good for nothing.”

“What’s...what’s going to happen...?” Rhys cleared his throat, before twitching his shoulder. "My arm."

“It seems stable for now, if you can call it that,” Dr. Shen squinted at his arm now, lips a tight, thin line. “It hasn't worsened in all this time. That I can tell. As for what it is and why it's like this... Honestly, can’t tell you." He gave a brief shrug. "My expertise is in cybernetic implanting as an M.D. Not cross-species alien...diseases.”

"Disease?" Rhys swallowed, fighting the growing panicky feeling. “So uh...maybe, maybe I can just..." He gave a shaky laugh. "Cut it off? Amputate it. I don’t mind having two metal arms, especially if it...gets rid of this damn thing. It hurts like a bitch, to put it mildly.”

"And is all the pain located in your arm?"

Rhys took a second. "Definitely not. I think my skull is about to implode, and my entire body is...burning."

“Then I have to advise against amputation. Also, while it could be cut at the shoulder, your skin up to your elbow has been impervious to damage." That explained the IV, Rhys thought. "Trying to amputate it may not actually provide relief or a cure...especially if it runs deeper than the arm, which is possible given your symptoms and the state of your body. We have no way of truly knowing. Mr. Rhys, this infection-”

“Oh, infection, is that what it is? You couldn't have mentioned that sooner?"

“I don't know what it is!" Dr. Shen exclaimed, voice fraying in a way that indicated someone who has not slept in a day or two. Or longer. Rhys blinked in the realization that maybe someone else might be just as worried over this. "I apologize. Infection may or may not be accurate. Though your WBC is definitely elevated, I can't seem to make sense of the readings we've gotten... Your vitals are...concerning...unusual." The doctor grabbed an Echopad from the nearby desk and started rambling numbers at him.

Rhys swallowed a lump in his throat, telling himself to stay calm and not freak out. Panicking would not help him here. He wasn't sure he was succeeding.

"...I'd suggest you take it easy. And whatever it is-”

“What am I supposed to do?!” Rhys asked. Almost before he ended the sentence, a thought popped into his head. He pushed his cybernetic arm against the bed to try and sit up. Every nerve in his body screamed.

The doctor stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. The touch was light, but Rhys winced in pain. Dr. Shen looked apologetic and let go. “Mr. Rhys, you are supposed to rest. You've improved since you first came here, but you are in no condition to move. Perhaps your body will continue to adjust. Seriously, though, you have to take it easy until then.”

Rhys sagged back in defeat. “Yeah, yeah, I know, but I need to...to contact someone. Look, Doc, you’ve done great, I'm sure, but even you have to admit this alien stuff is right out of your purview.”

Dr. Shen's eye twitched. “That's...what I've been saying this whole time, sir.”

Rhys chose to ignore the dry tone. “Well, there must be people who do know a lot about alien stuff. I need to get into contact with some of them, and that's going to take awhile-”

“I’m already on it,” a new voice chipped in. Rhys glanced up as Yvette walked into the room, a tired look on her face. "Fiona told everyone what happened."

"Yvette!" He said. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" He groaned, wincing as a fresh wave of pain rolled through his head. "Ugh, literally."

She brightened considerably and hurried over. “It's great to see you awake, Rhys! I've been worried sick. You look like shit."

Dr. Shen stepped back. "I will give you a moment with your friend."

"Thanks, doc." 

"Excuse me," he muttered, walking past Yvette.

Yvette sat by the bed in the unoccupied visitor chair.

Rhys cleared his aching throat. "Uh...what were you saying about, y'know... being on it ?"

"I’m in the process of contacting one Dr. Patricia Tannis. She’ll know something. It hasn't been easy, given that she seems to live alone and out in the middle of the wastelands, but...we're doing our best. Apparently, finding Eridian experts is almost impossible.”

Rhys blinked. “Uh...okay?”

“I’m your personal assistant slash secretary slash VP now like we discussed, and I've been holding down the fort while you were...out. I’ll get you caught up on the details later. We currently have several other new hires from the Children of Helios. They love you, apparently. There's been other influences across Pandora trickling in. Everyone wants to know more about the man who took out Helios."

“Oh...I see..." Rhys wasn't entirely sure he was up for processing this, yet. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact the Vault of the Traveler had bit him in the ass. Hard. Back to business was definitely difficult. "I really thought The Vault was going to get us rich, but...apparently not.”

“You're welcome.”

"Sorry...I'm...just out of it right now. I think there must've been a bus in that Vault that ran over me... Thanks, Yvette."

Her face softened. "Yeah. I probably could've waited on the business stuff," she seemed to realize. "I thought it might help get your mind off this Vault shit, but it's too soon, isn't it?"

"Yeah, a bit," Rhys sighed, glancing at his arm. Rhys wondered why he was surprised by her initiative. She was a shrewd, intelligent woman who knew her way around corporate offices and affairs. Rhys was glad for her assistance. And way back before all the bullshit with Vasquez, she'd already been planning on being his secretary after his promotion. God, that...felt so long ago.

Another thought occurred to him. "Uh, have you heard from Vaughn?"

"He's not here at Atlas if that's what you're asking. He's still holed up in that Helios camp. He seems to really like it there."

"Yeah, he sure seemed to. I just thought he might've heard about... Maybe called or something..."

"I'll call him later."

Rhys winced. "Well, the doc has me on bedrest, but I'm sure I'll be up in no time." He tried for a reassuring smile. He wasn't sure it succeeded.

She leaned back. "What did the doctor say about all of this?"

"Apparently, I was a second from death for a while. But, on the bright side, I'm improving."

"Damn." Yvette shook her head. "At least there's that."

Chapter Text

Handsome Jack hated oversleeping.

He hated sleep in general. It made his head thick and groggy when he woke up. And god this sure felt exactly like that... But, wait, something wasn't right. He lay on a cold surface that burned? Where had he passed out this time? With a groan, he raised a hand up and rubbed at his face. His eyes fluttered to light filtering in through a window. The ceiling was metal, as far as he could tell. He sat up slowly, trying to orient himself.

"Hello, Jack," said a voice. 

He didn't know that voice.

Jack's eyes snapped wide open, adrenaline shocking his system. What he saw pissed him off.

Bars? A cage?

Someone trying to lock him up? Oooh, they were going to regret that! Who the hell would even dare?

He tried to stand up, but he wobbled dizzyingly, leaning back on the...damned metal table. It was ridiculous. "Friggin' helll," he slurred, feeling like he was hungover to the eightieth power. He fumbled for his gun, only to find it too was absent. "You better start running really fast, asshole, because when I get outta here-"

"You won't. Not yet."

Jack finally focused on the speaker on the other side of the bars.

A tall woman stood there in silver, shimmery robes. She had equally silver hair and a wizened face. She had a blue tattoo on her neck that seemed...kind of familiar... It had a circular shape with triangles around it, maybe a depiction of a sun or star? How the hell should he know? On her shoulders, were light tuffs of fluffy material. She held herself like she had no fear, no concerns, regal.

"Do I know you?" Jack blurted, frustrated by the sense he knew something about her, but he had no idea what it could be. "You seem...kinda familiar."

"No, you don't," Silver Lady answered.

"What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On. Here? And if you lie to me-"

She didn't even blink. "Threats are unnecessary. I will tell you what you need to know. You are alive because your role is necessary. It was not easy work bringing you back. Months have passed, and my assistants have been hard at work the entire time." She began pacing, heavy boots thumping against the floor with each step. It wasn't anxious pacing, but the kind that demanded attention. "But you have been successfully restored to your body."

Jack worked on righting himself properly. He adjusted his weight on his legs to a more comfortable tilt. Once he found his balance, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward. If he wasn't so dizzy, he probably could easily pry the bars apart. They weren't that thick, to begin with. It was like they were begging Jack to escape.. It was a matter of waiting at this point for his head to clear. "Missed the king, eh?" he asked, grinning, taking a chance to observe his confinement and the metal bed - god, seriously? Metal? - he'd been on. Freaking shitbags.

Silver Lady gestured as if waving his sentence away. "As I said, it was necessary."

"Necessary for what?" he muttered, pleased to feel his senses starting to clear. Oh, they were going to regret screwing with Handsome goddamned Jack!

"That is not information you need."

"Oh screw you!" Jack spat, unable to contain his anger any longer, "I'm done playing games!" He seized the cell bars.

Silver Lady merely nodded. "Fair enough. I trust you do not need assistance in your escape?"

"The hell does that mean?"

She actually smiled - fucking smiled - in response as if Jack wasn't a frightening sight to behold (and Jack knew it, if the number of times his underlings wetted themselves when he so much as looked at them were any indication). But here Silver Lady was, acting as if he was just an amusing mouse in a cage. He would show her-

"Do try to have fun. It's not often I have to leave my assistants to be cannon fodder," she said before snapping her fingers. A door opened behind her, and she strolled through it. It snapped shut, looking for all intents and purposes like the rest of the wall.

Jack pried his way out with a yell. Nobody toyed with him. He soon learned with more anger that the wall was completely inaccessible. "Freakin' coward!" He yelled at it. Whatever. This was wasting his time. He wasn't getting through that with his bare hands. A quick search of his immediate surroundings revealed a few guns leaning against the wall. He grabbed one and went marching down the hall.

He didn't understand why he was able to escape so easily. He wasn't a stupid idiot. It was more than obvious these idiots wanted something. Perhaps they believed he would owe them a favor for this? Well, Handsome Jack doesn't play around like that, he thought. Whatever was going on, he would just kill them and be on his way. Cause now that he was breathing and moving again, he had some unfinished business.

A certain dorky face flashed through his thoughts. One with cybernetic implants. The face might be dorky, but he knew how damned savage the true nature of the man it belonged to was. He'd have to be careful with that one, too...

He quickly found a lot of idiot bandits in need of a good killing in the next room. Lab coats and clipboards. They turned slowly, and Jack hefted his gun. "Hey, kiddos, I know you think you're so clever, bringing back the king and all, but uh--" he aimed his gun, a rush of warmth spreading from head to toe in anticipation. Think of something badass, he told himself. "Y'all aren't the heroes of this little adventure, and Handsome Jack doesn't do favors. And since you definitely aren't Hyperion..."

"What-?"

"How did he-?"

"WAIT--"

They started running.

Jack squeezed the trigger.

It was a blood bath, to put it mildly. One marked with screams and little resistance. One that felt very fitting, if Jack had to say so. One that really made Jack feel good and alive again. His pulse raced, and his body shuddered with warmth. Damn, they did good on his body, whoever these freaks were. Jack moved amongst the corpses.

Unfortunately, it became clear the silver one had vanished without a trace. He set about exploring the...actually pretty small building. Computers and more computers were what remained. Some had been destroyed by his gun. Sure, one might consider this all hasty, but Jack had woken up to bars, a woman that gave him endless heebies, and a place he didn't recognize. If he hadn't put them down, they would have trapped him somehow. 

Don't wanna die? Don't lock up Handsome Jack, kiddos.

He needed to find out what the hell was going on, exactly. The more he thought about the situation, the more his head started hurting.

Jack stepped outside, greeted by an empty field. It was so empty, a chill ran up his spine to his hair. Bright sunlight highlighted stark grass blades. Where could that silver lady have gone? He stepped back inside.

He did another thorough sweep of the building, poking into corners and looking for the hidden entrance he knew must be around. He had little luck. Keeping his gun close, he kicked a corpse aside and sat at one of the computers, ignoring the blood-stained keyboard. He had some time to research.

Before that...

It was unfortunate he hadn't conveniently stumbled upon a mirror, but he assessed of himself what he could. To his surprise, he wore his favorite attire. His vest and sweater and coat. He shivered. He didn't want to think of these weird assholes messing with his body. He took off the top half of his outfit, and lifted the familiar Hyperion sweater. How had they replicated all of this? If he found out this was some weird new version of Hyperion... No, he discarded that thought swiftly.

He stared at his stomach, then raised the article of clothing higher, finding a familiar jagged scar stretching from his left breast down to his ribcage. He felt uncomfortable and dropped the sweater again.

His hands raised to his face, finding his mask in place with clips. 

Couldn't even fix the damned scar, could they?

Nothing ever did.

He turned to the computer. He wouldn't stay long, but he wanted to know what the hell this all was.

.

Rhys strolled to the front of the presentation room, riding a wave of confidence. In spite of his inward excitement, he found it easy to keep his stride even and calm, the inner businessman taking over without missing a beat. And the excitement? Well, he finally had everything he wanted. Almost. Okay, perhaps that overstated things a bit, but things were slowly getting on track. As on track as they could.

“What is so important, Rhys,” Mr. Whitaker asked behind him. “that we had to call this meeting to this craphole planet? Just because you’ve taken a liking to it, doesn’t mean the rest of us to have. No amount of shielding could keep the sand out of my coat, and now it's ruined. Waste of good money.”

Rhys had risen Atlas from its dry and uninspiring grave as Hyperion’s former doormat almost single-handedly. And he’d done so in part by contacting old shareholders to bring in some true money. Not all had been keen on it, but many were persuaded by promises of having a seat on the board.

Mr. Whitaker had never been a fan of Rhys. Something about...arrogance, or...ignorance? Rhys couldn’t remember. Not that he’d been listening to that pointless rant in the first place. Either way, he was confident Mr. Whitaker’s outlook on life - and by extension, the man's outlook on himself - was about to change.

“Why, Mr. Whitaker,” Rhys spoke pleasantly, “it’s because I have made a discovery that will blow your little mind.”

Mr. Whitaker sneered.

“Then tell us,” said Mr. Brown, one of the other members. Older, and far more intelligent, Mr. Brown actually had business sense, a knack for numbers, in-depth knowledge of the competitive market, and a clear understanding of business hierarchy.

Also, he wasn’t a huge asshole, so that was a plus.

All people who worked in business were some level of an asshole, but tolerability was important.

Rhys raised his cybernetic arm, opening his hand palm-up while activating his Echo Eye. “For convenience, I have forwarded an overview of the information in the presentation to your Echo devices."

Mr. Whitaker scanned the info quickly, his mouth dropping with each bit he took in. Rhys watched him like free comedy but continued on without comment, smug, “Ladies and Gentlemen… Over the past month, I have been doing some extensive research with trusted Eridian specialist, Patricia Tannis, and it turns out the Vault of the Traveler was a precedent to something even greater. So, while it appeared to bring nothing but annoyance, within the extensive information in the chamber...lay directions for another Vault. The Vault in question appeared on some little dwarf terrestrial planet on the edge of this solar system when the Vault of the Traveler was opened-”

“What the hell is this!?” Mr. Whitaker exclaimed, dropping his Echo pad and meeting Rhys’s gaze. “Even if this were true-”

“Please, save your questions for the end of the presentation, Mr. Whitaker,” Rhys said, never ceasing his smile. “It will not take much longer, and I don’t abide interruptions in my boardroom.”

Mr. Whitaker frowned, folding his arms, but said no more. The rest of the board shot the man frustrated looks.

Rhys was positive in his decision, just then.

“Excellent,” Rhys said, “now, as I was saying... Where was I?” He made a show of tapping his neural port. He paced forward a few steps. “Oh yes, I remember now. Right up here. Ladies and Gents, you must know the old Hyperion became a god among gods for exactly two reasons. One, they had a competent leader-”

There was a snort from Whitaker, an uneasy stirring from the others.

“-and two,” Rhys pushed on, resisting being put off by them, “...said leader got rich, powerful, and infamous from Vaults and Eridium. If we want to be on top of the game - that is, the market, the news stations, the horde of companies looking to tear us down before we can truly establish ourselves - this must be our goal.” Rhys pulled up the holographic projection of the new Vault marked in the solar system at the front of the room. “The planet where the new Vault lies is smaller than even Elpis, but it is there. It's called Iphus. I have sent a few teams to report back with information- meteorological readings, topographic reports, seismographs, climate feedback, etcetera, etcetera. I understand it's very cold there.” Rhys turned and leaned against the table. “Most importantly, I have gained confirmation. Confirmation that the Vault is there. It was not hard to find, apparently, and will be accessible in a few months, perhaps less-”

“This is absolutely absurd!” Mr. Whitaker exclaimed.

“Mr. Whitaker!” Mrs. Lane spoke up, looking even more annoyed than Rhys usually was by the man. “That is inappropriate!” She was another of the competent sort.

“No, no,” Rhys waved his hand, “let the man speak, now. He’s obviously bursting with questions and just can't be held back any longer. And my presentation is over.” He put his hands on the table. “So, why is this plan...ahem, absurd, I think was the word used, Mr. Whitaker?”

Mr. Whitaker huffed, puffing out like a self-important rooster. Heh, a cock, Rhys thought, because the man was certainly a dick. “Maybe the fact that every single Vault has brought overall negative returns for those who open them! They don’t hold treasures, just bullshit cryptic mysteries. I thought you more than anyone would know that-!”

“No, no, no, Mr. Whitaker. I don’t recall you being an expert on Eridian Vaults. Is this a new hobby of yours? I'm not taking advice from amateurs, mind you.”

“Anyone with ears has heard of Pandora’s Vaults and what lies within them, Mr. Rhys. Hyperion’s leader - Handsome Jack- he died because of a Vault. Helios fell because of another Vault! If we don’t want that fate, we must avoid them. Alien shit is not the way forward! Pursuing this is asking for a slow and painful death, not just to our persons, but to this company!”

Rhys cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. “Helios fell because of its resistance to Atlas- to me…" Oh, Rhys hadn't wasted the chance to market the fact he'd kicked Hyperion in the dick...but in a chill and professional way, of course. "Not because of the Vault. Hyperion would’ve been just fine without Handsome Jack, if they’d simply allowed me to fill his shoes.” His smile faltered, and he shook his head. Whoops. Well, make a mistake, move on like you didn't. It was amazing how well that worked. “That’s not the point. The point is that what lies in the Vaults is too valuable to pass up. Atlas needs this. We need this.”

“You obviously don’t even know what is really inside this Vault!” Mr. Whitaker threw his hands up. “And how the hell do you even plan to open it without a key!? Did you find one of those too?”

Rhys's smile returned. “Oh don’t worry about that. This Vault doesn’t need a key. Not in the sense they usually do.”

“What?”

“I told you the Vault of the Traveler was the precedent. It turns out, that when I accessed it, I was granted the power of opening this next Vault. It has no key...other than me.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“The Eridian specialist helped me figure that out.” Rhys raised his currently-debatably human arm, flexing his fingers inside the thick black glove that hid the change, whatever it was. Even Dr. Tannis had seemed stumped by it. And way too excited. Amongst her wild, terrible flirting, lack of a filter, vomiting, and "busy-one-moment" and "passed-out-on-a-random-surface next" work style, (and Rhys trying to manage his new issue), it had been a sort of exhausting time. But so worth it. Besides, he had great respect for her knowledge.

Mr. Whitaker scowled so hard, it was a wonder his face didn’t just fall off. “If you pursue this, I’m withdrawing my money from your company. Let’s see how long you last without my support, Mr. Rhys.”

Rhys sighed exaggeratedly. He’d expected this. Mr. Whitaker did have a lot of money, but it was not going to benefit the old fool now. “That’s...unfortunate, Mr. Whitaker. You are passing up on the opportunity of a lifetime. You will not change your mind?”

“I absolutely will not! Hmph!” Mr. Whitaker stood, jabbing a finger at Rhys. “You will never be Handsome Jack, try as you might, and everyone knows it. So you can stop pretending before you embarrass yourself for real by dying in some unnamed corner of this hell system…Those are my parting words to you, Mr. Rhys.”

“Why ever would I want to be a man who died?" Rhys snapped, indignation getting the better of him. "Please, I’m- I'm waaay better than Handsome Jack ever was.”

Whitaker ignored him. “Good luck continuing to fund your expedition on the...whatever planet.”

“I am very sorry to see you go,” Rhys said, putting his cyber hand on his chest, “with all of my heart.”

Whitaker turned and marched through the door. Rhys tracked his steps through it, and after counting three, he watched Whitaker halt. Whitaker raised a hand and touched his chest, and without warning, he pitched forward and fell to the floor with an unimpressive thump.

Rhys saw their confusion as the other board members got up and rushed to the unmoving body. 

"Oh my god!"

“Contact the medical team!” Mr. Brown said.

Rhys didn’t move from his spot as he watched them do just that. “Status?” he asked.

Mrs. Lane replied, “No pulse.”

“How unfortunate.”

The others milled about, someone muttering, “the hell? Did he…?” the person - Rhys couldn’t remember their name at that particular moment - trailed off when they accidentally met Rhys’s gaze.

The medical team arrived. They made efforts to resuscitate Mr. Whitaker but were unsuccessful.

“Confirmation, please?”

“Dead. Time of death is 11:05 standard galaxy time.”

“The cause of death?”

One of the medics looked up. “Symptoms indicate acute cardiac arrest, but we’ll need an autopsy to confirm.”

Rhys spotted Yvette. She walked in, only casting a brief glance at the corpse before stepping around it. She didn’t even flinch. “We’ll have the autopsy performed,” she said in an all-business tone, walking over to Rhys. “But something tells me you don’t need the confirmation on the cause.” She handed him a datapad.

“The cause of death?" Rhys replied, "idiocy, asshole-ry, general lack of human decency, nothing more, nothing less.” He cleared his throat. “Yvette, please contact Mr. Whitaker’s daughter and let her know she just inherited a large share in Atlas. I trust she will be far more sensible with it. I did the research.”

“Of course.” Yvette walked away.

As the rest of the people filed out, taking Whitaker's body with them and leaving Rhys alone, he walked over to a cooler sitting on the large table. He opened it and clasped a chilled bottle. Rhys sat back in one of the empty chairs. “It’s good to be king,” he murmured, pouring some wine. After all, there was no one left to dispute the statement, in any sense of that thought. He sipped the tart drink. 

There'd have to be a follow-up meeting, but the rest of the board took this pretty well, he thought.

There was a thrumming, a deep base resonating through the room, music designed to light the blood on fire, to send the urge to sway to the sounds, hypnotic and twisting.

The new Atlas complex contained a club. The workers and soldiers needed to blow off steam. Rhys had been more than happy to sign off on that money-making morale boost. Certainly, it didn't bring in major profits, but every bit counted. It also attracted the locals of a nearby Pandoran settlement. Bouncers had ot be stationed at the entrances to maintain order, but it usually went as well as any Pandoran club could. There were certain ruffians, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Rhys made his way to his preferred VIP booth. It was a large thing, soft as down. Rhys didn't have to wait long for his usual. All the while, he kept touching his changed hand, couldn’t stop even though it only agitated the dull ache within every time. The rough texture of it could be felt even through the glove. He wished he had more solid answers on it. Even knowing that he contained the power to open a new Vault, there was much that was not understood. For now, his health was within "acceptable parameters", but Dr. Shen had said this with a disapproving frown and demanded Rhys get more frequent checkups.

Painkillers didn't work all that well. They'd tried a few different ones. With his current ones, the pain was tolerable most of the time. It was a part of him now. Still, when he had little work to distract him, the heavy music and influencing drinks made it easier to forget. 

Someone sat across from him, and Rhys grumbled without bothering to look up, “not tonight.”

“Good thing that’s not why I’m here.”

Rhys looked up. “Fiona?"

"Yep." She sat there in a fancy black coat and matching black hat with sharp red accents. She held herself confidently.

"It’s been...awhile," he said, a smile coming across his face. "What...weeks? Months?" He took a sip of his drink. “So...h-how did you...find me here, exactly?” This wasn't the element he wanted to be in with his friends. He wasn't entirely comfortable, honestly. He felt awkward, having never intended to mix something like this club up with a meeting of a friend. Not that he was ashamed. It wasn't even that odd a CEO would spend free time this way, certainly.

But Rhys liked to keep his life partitioned neatly. Made everything easier.

Fiona looked amused. “I think everyone here knows what you get up to on Saturdays. Just so happened to be the day I wanted to chat. All I had to do was ask.”

“What does that mean?”

She signaled a waiter. "A strong whiskey, please." She looked back at Rhys. "It means people are starting to notice you and what you do."

"Okay, yeah, but what? People gossip about the New Atlas CEO getting drunk on Saturdays?" He scoffed.

"People gossip about everything, which should be obvious, even for you. Actually, they're more gossiping about Atlas returning and eyeing the new Vault on Iphus, than anything. Everyone thinks it's gonna be the usual corporate screw-over all over again. That the rest of us are gonna get burned for the what, fourth or fifth time?” The whiskey was sat in front of her. She took a sip. "Not that wild stories about you don't abound."

“Well, it won't be a screw-over,” Rhys said indignantly. "Unlike some people from the past, I learned from their mistakes."

"If that ever becomes true, I'm eating my hat, Rhys."

He felt a playful smile curve his face. "Besides, I happened to hear you were making a bit of a stir yourself, Vault Hunter. How does that even work, exactly? Aren't all Vault Hunters people with powers or gadgets?"

She shook her head. "We're not superheroes, Rhys."

"I mean have you seen the Wanted posters? Sirens? Robots? Aliens? People with crazy technology? Seems like they are."

"Well, that's what you think. Sometimes those wanted posters also have cannibals and girls with death bots, too... Nothing too special out here. Besides I've got a few tricks up my sleeve now." She tapped her sleeve.

"Oh right, that little pistol. Bet it's gonna kill lots of Vault monsters."

"Shows what you know," she looked smug. "Maybe one day you'll see what I mean. Besides, doesn't all of this make you a technical Vault Hunter too?"

"I mean, leading a company to a Vault does have different connotations than running through the wastelands shooting everything in site."

"Sure..." She shifted. "So this Vault... It must be pretty interesting if you're going after it."

“Fiona,” he said, leaning forward and smirking, “is someone hoping for dibs?”

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."

“Then I hire you as my Vault Hunter.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. We’re friends, right?”

She hesitated. "I...suppose I can live with that, yeah."

"Oh come on! I'm not even holding it against you that you made me touch that Vault symbol."

"You wanted to! That was on you!"

Rhys laughed. “It- it was a joke..." He felt a bubble of agitation rise, despite his attempts to stay chill. "Though, admit it. You're probably pretty glad it wasn't you crying and pissing yourself on the floor, right?"

"Rhys..." Fiona frowned a little. "I-"

"Nah, it's cool, nevermind," he flicked his hand. He didn't think she knew what was under his glove. He didn't really feel like getting into it. "Anyway, is Sasha around then? How’s she doing?” He hadn’t really gotten a chance to catch up with her after the Vault had been opened. She’d left while he was still out. Typical.

Fiona looked like she wasn't quite ready to change the subject, but she just shook her head. “Nope. Said she’d sooner cut off her own fingers than come back to Pandora. But she did tell me to say 'get well soon!' to you. We keep in contact via Echo. I would've left with her...but I wanted to continue Vault hunting.”

“Can’t say I blame her. This planet sucks,” Rhys muttered. He drank again. "I'm surprised you didn't take off for another system. There are other Vaults out there. And the Iphus one was a recent discovery."

"Well, I thought about that..." She hesitated. "Felix hired another Vault Hunter to train me after Athena...retired. So...I stuck around a bit longer than I intended." She ran a hand through her hair, a nervous habit of hers. Rhys wondered what she might be nervous about. “And after what happened in the Vault of the Traveler..." She exhaled and took another drink. “How are you feeling, anyway? I thought you were going to bite it, to be honest.”

“Fiona..." So, not letting the subject go. He regretted broaching it. Still, he forced his smile again. All chill, see? "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were actually worried about me."

"You got me. But just a little, like this much," she held her fingers apart a few centimeters.

"How sweet. And I'm perfectly fine, thank you!"

Fiona looked as if she didn't believe him. "I saw that...symbol thing...go into your hand. Are you sure that-?" She was eyeing his glove severely.

"Just let it go, please." Rhys returned to nursing his drink. "I am okay."

For a few more seconds, Rhys thought she might press the issue, but she gave up. "If you say so. Well, give me a call when you've got something for me." Her Echo gave an alert, and she glanced at it. "Oh, I, uh...gotta take this. See you later, Rhys." She dropped a ten-dollar bill on the table, seeming distracted as she walked away, leaving most of the whiskey untouched.

Rhys shrugged and returned to his drink.

Rhys couldn't be bothered to actually walk across the large Atlas complex, despite its location in a more temperate area on Pandora. From each exit gate to the next, it would take a good half hour to walk, and he just didn't have that sort of time. But he also needed exercise, since most of his days saw him sitting on his ass in Atlas HQ. And what constituted the perfect combination of making good time, style, and exercise? (But not too much exercise, 'cause there was no way Rhys was breaking a sweat before work).

He'd taken a liking to a scooter!

It more than sufficed for stretching his legs, and was much faster than walking. 

He was also able to give out high fives or hold onto an Atlas Latte Extreme 5000 on his way to and from work.

Practical and versatile. 

In that moment, he was riding home on his scooter, half buzzed from the club. Someone waved at him. He waved back.

"Good evening, Darrel!" he called. "See you Monday!"

"Back at you, Rhys!"

Rhys's house was a decent-sized building in the Atlas complex. He left the scooter by the door and yawned. He leaned in for a retinal scan and the door slid open. Everything used to be very Atlassian in design, black, red, and gold before Rhys had toned them down. After all, such colors were far too harsh for a living space. There were spots of green in the entryway with large plants. And he had decorated every spare space he could find with various trappings of his life. Photographs of friends and good times, various art, old awards and trophies, and the odd collector's objects. 

Immediately, Rhys was greeted by a small red and white robot wheeling up to him. “Hiya, Rhys!” She waved a hand, giving her equivalent of a pleased smile. "I missed you!"

“Hey, Gortys!” Rhys crouched down to get eye-level with the bot, or well, more eye-level. "Missed you too."

She seemed even happier. He held up his cybernetic hand, and she high-fived it. “Did you have a good day?” She asked.

She asked this every time he got home after being gone all day, and it was almost too sweet. “It was alright,” Rhys admitted. “Could've been better, could've been worse. Oh, and Fiona's back."

Gortys bobbed on her spring. "Oh my gosh! I wanna see her again! She's so cool and pretty! Did you invite her over?"

Rhys chuckled. God, Gortys was always so adorable, and it never failed to cheer Rhys up. "Ah, no, but I did hire her to help me find a Vault, so she will be around."

"That's amazing. I hope she gets a chance to visit sometime. Maybe she'll finally teach me how to con people!"

Rhys laughed. "I...I don't think that's something you need to know, but, um... What about you? How- how've you been doing?”

“I’ve been doing great!” She said, waving her hands animatedly. “Loader Bot and I watched some movies, then hung out at the new shopping center. It’s huge! And there's sooo many people! And then we went and watched this rakk migration!”  

Rhys was glad she never changed. She was so cute and uplifting. He looked around. “So where is LB? Sleeping off some...ice cream flavored oil or something?”

“Ice cream flavored oil?!" She exclaimed. "Ooooh, that sounds so tasty! But robots can't really taste, so maybe not." She rocked a little.

"Guess you need some tastebuds, because ice cream is the ichor of the gods."

"Ooooh, yeah. I would love to. Anyway, LB went ahead and plugged in for the night. You should upgrade his chassis so he doesn’t have to recharge so much!”

“I will add that to the list. Unfortunately, Hyperion didn't design loaders to have long batteries, so it may require some rewiring."

"Oh."

"But don't worry, I'll look into it."

She smiled again.

Two small drones buzzed into view, very old-Atlassian in design. “Reporting for duty, sir!” they chorused.

Rhys waved them off. “Take the night off. I’m fine.”

“But sir!” one of the robots said. “You say that every night!”

"If someone tries to break in, that’ll change... Dumpy.” Rhys had finally cleaned up the drone’s voice modulator. Mostly. He still swore it was a little too shrill with a tiny hint of static. Still, he'd decided it was fine. He even made Dumpy a companion named Shiny, which seemed fitting at the time. Shiny was a bit more impressive to look at, being newer and with fewer replaced parts, but they made a nice pair of personal security drones. And their differences made it easier to tell them apart.

Dumpy gave a little aerial bounce. “I would destroy them. Give them a good zap.”

The other drone spoke, “I would shoot their legs! Then they can’t run away!”

“But zapping is more fun!” Dumpy said, somehow pouting, even though he had no face.

Shiny replied, “maybe, but we still have to find out what evil they’re up to.”

"Then we destroy them!"

"I'm...okay with that."

Rhys walked past them, calling back, “I’m going to bed! Gortys, no loud music.”

“Of course!” She said. "Why would I do that?"

"Good night, sir!" The drones said, flying away.

Rhys’s Echo Eye pinged, halting him in his tracks. He sighed and went to where a message waited on the screen.

Unknown User: Hey? Rhys? ??

Great.

[Rhy5w1nz]: Who is this? 

[Unknown User]: We met at the club. I hav somethin of yours you left behind. Could you come down? 😁

Rhys searched his mind, trying to recall if he’d left anything there recently. Maybe...oh!

[Rhy5w1nz]: You have my missing sock?

[Unknown User]: Yess, I do! 🧦😜

Rhys rubbed his head. Come to think of it, Rhys was wide awake now. He hadn't felt like getting laid today, but the prospect of getting his lost sock back made him smile. 

[Rhy5w1nz]: I’ll be over right over, sock thief.

[Unknown User]: Perfect.

Rhys started to leave the house, catching Gortys’s attention in the process. “Whatcha doing?” She asked. "I'm pretty sure your bed is the other way."

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I just...forgot something. I’ll be home soon.”

“Oooh, can I come along? I want to see your office!”

“It’s nothing fun or exciting, I promise, and it's not even at the office. Don't worry. If you want, I'll take you to work Monday!”

"Awesome! Yes, you have a deal!"

He left the house and stepped onto the scooter, starting a path back the way he came. He counted each step. The cool evening air carried sweet scents to his nose. He started humming one of his favorite songs to himself, digging his heel in for more speed. He switched off his legs, letting each step add a sweet burn to his thigh. He glanced at the darkening sky. The fun thing about Pandora, every night was like a whole day off. 

He sprawled into the dirt.

It took a few moments to even comprehend he'd taken a tumble. And as it did, he shook his head. He grunted and clambered to his feet. He hurt a little more than usual, but nothing unmanageable. He checked himself for cuts, then looked to see what he'd even hit. Beneath the scooter wheel was a large metal rod. He was pretty sure that hadn't been there a second ago.

He heard footsteps. His eyes landed on someone approaching him with a very purposeful speed.

He stared, before feeling his mouth drop. "I...whaa..."

“Hey there, kiddo! Really just as ridiculous as ever, aren't ya?" Rhys was taken by an all-too-familiar, handsome smile behind a Hyperion-yellow pistol clasped in a large hand. "I sure hope you didn’t forget our unfinished business. That would be very unprofessional. By the way, Rhysie buddy, you owe me like...a lot of friggin' money, which isn’t even the half of it.”

Alright. Okay.

There...was probably a rational explanation here.

Maybe Rhys was hallucinating.

Well. It sure didn't feel like a hallucination. Handsome Jack stood there before him in all his usual grandstanding glory, too tall, too large, larger than life. It was the same too-many-layers-of-clothing-Jack. The same murderous-glint-stuck-in-his-eyes Jack. They were heterochromatic. Well, Rhys had known that already, but...damn. They were something else in person. He was so used to that blue hologram Jack. In fact, even Jack's skin tones were so rich, the mask a few shades too light.

Jack drew closer, brows heavier than usual.

“Jaack!” Rhys said and glanced around quickly. Somehow there wasn't a single Atlas guard or even employee in sight? Was it that late? Or had Jack set this up? Probably.

He tried to send out an emergency call, only to find his communications jammed. Freaking hell.

He only half-registered the thought that this was probably how he was going to die. He raised his hands placatingly, staring at his approaching demise. “Could you...uh make an appointment with my secretary, please? I’m a very busy man now-”

"Pipe down, cupcake. We're just gonna have a little chat."

"A chat?"

"Yeah, dumdum, a chat." That was a rather aggressive way to say chat.

"Oh, right...does- does this chat involve...murder?"

Jack grinned.

And punched him.

In the face.

Rhys staggered back, gripping his face as warm blood dripped down his cheek. Okay, this was about as real as it got.

Rhys thought about his cybernetic hand. He had a weapon, hidden in its fingertip. A needle loaded with a fast-acting toxin. And boy was that addition handy. He'd used it before, if only because it was necessary.

And while Jack was certainly not there for a friendly chat, Rhys found himself hesitating to use it. This was Jack, after all. Nothing would get past him, even if Rhys didn't also hesitate for a very different reason. Because well. What if Jack wasn't there to kill him? The chance was low, but Rhys didn't strike when he wasn't absolutely sure.

"This isn't very...chatty," Rhys backpedaled as Jack advanced. "Seriously, you really don't want to mess with me now, Jack," he said, wishing his voice wasn't as shaky as it was. "I'm not-not exactly a d-desk jockey anymore." What he wanted to ask was, how the hell are you even here?

"Uh-huh. 'Uhhhhh I'm not a desk jockey, I'm so brave ahhh!' Come on, princess," Jack said with beckon. "I just need to hit someone a couple of times. I've had a shitty week."

"Not happening!"

And that was when Rhys tripped over his own feet, and Jack surged forward and snagged his jacket front. "It's happening."

"J-" Rhys tried to react, but the rest of the moment happened too fast to think.

Jack slammed something over his face. A damp cloth that smelled chemical. "Just take a deep breath for me, Rhysie."

Everything went black.

Chapter Text

“Hey, pumpkin," came a familiar voice through the white fog in Rhys’s floating headspace, "you awake yet?”

Jack…?

Was he in the caravan? The jostling movements around him sure felt like it. Just five more minutes. Why couldn't Jack just let him have his sleep? Jack was in his head, but he was far from courteous. 

No, that wasn’t right. He shouldn't be in his head.

“Got a little rough on you, but...you seem to have a tough noggin, soooo…”

Rhys tried to focus on the voice. It didn’t seem to be coming from his head. It was...beside him. Rhys felt a heavy pain seep through his left arm, and he groaned. Oh yes, that seemed right on schedule.

Right. The Vault Key. Handsome Jack had appeared in the flesh again, for no-easy-to-discern reason. 

“I mean, all those cybernetics have to be good for something, right?”

Rhys could pretend to still be unconscious, but Jack must already be aware of his stirring. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide it. 

Rhys opened his eyes. He forced himself to look up and take in the situation.

He saw rolling, moonlit, snow-covered landscapes out of a...windshield? They were in a car. A bump made him realize his hands were cuffed behind him. He was locked into the passenger seat with the seatbelt. That was probably more to keep him in place rather than for his safety. He turned his eyes to the driver - Jack - who was only half paying attention to his driving. The rest of Jack’s attention seemed to be going towards Rhys as he side-eyed him with raised eyebrows.

This was...weird. Maybe not surprising, but definitely weird.

"Wha's...going on?" Rhys muttered, still groggy. This...waking up confused thing sucked. How was Jack even alive? And...if he wasn’t going to kill Rhys, then what did he want?

Jack’s right hand moved animatedly from the steering wheel. "In case you haven't noticed, you're in my car! Pretty sweet right? Brand spankin' new! Seat warmers! Contact-activated-dopamine-injectors! Costs more than most people make in a lifetime!" He sounded very cheerful. "By the way, I...sort of kidnapped you, but eh, that's just a technicality, beside the point. Just wanted to...catch up with my ole buddy!"

Rhys...didn't feel much like talking. His head hurt, and he was far from able to play Jack's mind games. He decided to go with a more simple solution. He tried to scan Jack with his Echo Eye, only to find out the implant was completely offline, dark and unseeing. That was also when he realized his cyber arm was equally unresponsive and numb behind him, a dead weight. "What...did you do to my cybernetics?"

“Yeah, figured you’d get all scan happy, so- I put a stop to that! 'Sides, didn't know what you might be hiding in them. You're quite ruthless, Rhysie dear. Crashing an entire space station with thousands of people in it? Who knows what you would've done left unchecked! Hacked the whole car and blew it up? I dunno. You wild.”

“Never say that again, please.”

“What? It’s true.”

“I...no, just...” Rhys shook his head, wincing. "Did you send me that Echo message?"

"Yep! Bravo !" Jack said, grinning like a kid on Mercenary Day. "Tracking you down to that new Atlas compound was pretty easy. All I had to do was wait after I sent the message. You really should be more careful scootin' alone. Haha, god--"

Rhys frowned. "I had defenses! Guards--”

"Which I disabled."

"Yeah, but- but they would've-"

“Say it, kid.”

"Say what?"

"That I win."

Rhys glared. "I'm not saying-"

“Comeoncomeoncomeon-”

"No."

"You're no fun, kitten!"

Rhys rolled his eyes. “You’re just making my headache worse! God, you’re just as annoying as I remember!”

Jack clamped a large hand on his shoulder, causing Rhys to jump. “Come on, cupcake. Just admit it. I thought of everything! Me, myself, and I! The one and only Handsome Jack! God, I'm so smart! And don't change the subject! I’m onto you."

Rhys turned his glare out the window, falling silent. He was not doing this right now.

"Aw, don't be like that."

If Rhys didn't know better, he'd think Jack was pouting. He shut his eyes, leaning his head against the cool glass. That helped a little. Jack hadn't been wrong. He couldn't come up with an escape plan without his cybernetics. He'd...just have to hope for the best right now... “Figured you were gonna...kill me,” he mumbled. He didn’t really want to wonder why he was still alive. Because the obvious answer...wasn’t pleasant.

“We still have to catch up, Rhysie! By the way, you're being way obvious now with that whole changing the subject thing."

Rhys pushed on. “And what exactly do we have to catch up on?”

"Oh my- Fiiine, I'll let it go. For now. And for starters, you could catch me up on this new Vault." Jack planted his hand back on the steering wheel, lips pursed.

Rhys felt suspicious. "What...what about it?"

"What's so special about it that you've got almost all of Atlas crawling all over it?"

Rhys frowned again. Nope. He was not falling for that. "Just leave it alone."

Jack gesticulated, obviously becoming annoyed. “What the frig does that mean?!”

Rhys groaned. He still didn’t really feel like talking at the moment, and he’d probably acted far too odd about the Vault. He was too tired and achy to navigate this sort of conversation. He let his eyes slide close, wondering if he could go back to being unconscious if he tried hard enough.

He heard Jack shift. There was a sudden, cold pressure against his temple, digging right against his neural port, sending a shock down his body. He gasped and snapped his eyes open to find that same Hyperion pistol from before pointed at his brain. Jack was sending him death glares in between driving. “I asked you a question, Rhysie.” His voice was dangerous.

Rhys considered his options for a moment. Jack probably wasn’t going to kill him over this. Rhys was alive right now for a reason. So this was probably more for show than anything. But Rhys wasn’t willing to gamble on that. Jack was known to have anger issues, to put it mildly. And he knew Jack was too stubborn to let this go. If by some chance he did let it go now, he’d only press harder later.

Rhys cleared his throat, making his decision. "It's got...y'know, Vault stuff. Loot. The usual."

Jack laughed at that, and the laughter somehow sounded more mocking than usual. He lowered his gun. "Are you telling me you don't know what's in it? "

"I...I have ideas," Rhys replied vaguely. "Weren't you all about the Vaults or whatever?"

"Look, kid, every Vault contains something unique. Power, knowledge, riches. Usually, a monster to deal with. Sometimes the gain isn’t something you’d immediately notice, so I’ve always made sure to figure out what the Vault contains before opening it. Three Vaults, Rhysie, were opened by my will. And I always had a pretty clear idea what they held."

“You opened three? I thought you only opened one ?”

“Yeah, no, the first Vault is what you're probably thinking of. Made Hyperion rich. The second Vault didn’t have much in it, so it was easier to keep a secret. The third Vault Hyperion was lead to believe was never successfully opened due to…” Jack made a strange sound, like a strangled cat, which might have been funny in any other situation. “Well...I guess I died. Or something. But it was opened. It contained...the Warrior .”

“Warrior?” Rhys echoed blankly.

“A weapon of mass destruction. Those...Vault Hunters destroyed it though. Still can’t imagine how, but, uh, guess they did.”

Rhys shifted. "A...weapon of mass destruction..." It clicked. "You...were gonna destroy the populations of Pandora."

"Kill the bandits, the psychos...but yeah. A fresh start. Seemed...like a good idea. At the time. Not so much in retrospect." Jack shook his head, knuckles white on the steering wheel. "So...are you blindly opening this Vault, Rhysie, or do you know what's in it? Because if you don't...it's gonna fuck you over big time."

"I..." Rhys thought about his hand, the one still hidden in his glove, and he had to make a decision here. And he did. "All I know is it's linked to the Vault of the Traveler."

Jack snorted. "That's really stupid, princ-"

A sudden roar blared against Rhys’s eardrums. His eyes flew to the rearview mirror to see a spike-adorned monster truck with psychos clinging to it flying up on them. The headlights were blinding bright, the motor louder than hell itself.

Jack exclaimed, “oh wonderful!”

"Oh great," Rhys said at the same time. Jack floored the gas pedal, sending Rhys crashing back against his seat. "Bandits! That's exactly what I was hoping for, Jack, so thanks sooo much for this. I just love this planet so much!"

Jack was fiddling with some buttons on the dash. “Chill out, I’ll take care of ‘em.”

Rhys looked again at their adversaries. He saw one of the bandits hefting a huge object and pointing it at them. “Uh, don’t look now, but I think that one’s got a rocket launcher.”

“Time for some fun,” Jack growled, pushing a button. A turret emerged from the back of the car and began unloading a steady stream of bullets on their pursuers. The bandit with the rocket launcher fired, causing their car to veer right. Jack wildly corrected it, somehow preventing a crash, all the while growling like a feral dog.

Rhys hated this. A lot. He was not built for high-speed chases. Or unexpected violence. Or any sort of violence really. Not anymore, as it were. He'd had some fun, at times, but after having his ass on the line enough times, he often felt his chances of an early demise only increased. "We’re outmatched,” he yelped. “Turn on my cybernetics!"

"Why would I do that, pumpkin?"

"I'll hack their truck!"

"Hell no! I ain’t falling for that, you opportunistic little shit!"

Well, it was worth a try. “In my defense, I would have gotten rid of the bandits first.”

To his surprise, Jack cackled in response. Another rocket hit the road beside them. Good thing that bandit had poor aim, probably because there was still some distance between their vehicles.

The truck was gaining on them. Rhys could make out details on the psychos' weird, bloodied masks. The bandits started firing more guns. Bullets pinged off the car.

"Don't worry," Jack said, eyes in the rearview mirror, "this car is designed to withstand bullets."

Rhys’s attention was drawn out the window. "Uuuh, is- is it designed to withstand a very large, very pissed off badass alpha skag?!"

"What?!"

The beast had torn out of a snow bank on the left side, shaking, howling, and spitting. The thing was larger than the car and looked like it weighed a couple tons, its hide armored and jutting spikes. Jack swerved viciously around it, throwing Rhys sideways in his seat. He winced as his head smacked the glass of the window. That wasn’t helping anything.

The creature roared and gave chase. Its steps shook the ground, and Rhys could see its flapping tongue in the mirror. Of course, it chose to go after them and not the bandit-infested truck, which would have been a nice break.

Would this night ever end?

Rhys asked, “So, this is probably a very bad thing, right?” 

“It’s a piece of cake is what it is,” Jack responded. He pushed another button, and a second turret popped out, this one larger. It shot a rocket at the skag. It exploded on the beast’s legs, causing it to stumble and fall. The monster truck crashed into the skag, exploding into pieces on its armored hide.

Rhys exclaimed, "wow, that worked! Why didn't you use that sooner?"

"Didn't want to waste it. It only has one shot. Can't beat Ja-"

Rhys laughed with relief. And looked forward. "JACK!"

They crashed into a snow drift in the road, the car embedding into the dense white powder. Rhys was flung forward, the seatbelt biting into him, his vision darkening from whiplash. He was half-aware of Jack hitting reverse and stomping it, but the tires spun uselessly in the snow and ice. "Damn it! This freakin' sucks ass."

Rhys’s eyes raised as a shadow fell over them in the white moonlight. He saw the skag, still alive, limping forward, blood dripping down its legs. "Oooh boy...that's...definitely not good." The vehicle groaned, shifting. A huge indent appeared on the roof, a crack crawling across the windshield. 

“It’s climbing on the roof!” Rhys yelled. "How is this car bulletproof!?"

"Do you know how much a badass alpha skag of that size friggin' weighs, Rhys?" Jack snapped back. “This car’s bulletproof, not crushproof!

The next foot came down on the windshield, sending more cracks through it. They webbed out ominously. The skag lowered its drooling head, nipping at the car with its multiple jaws as if seeing if it were edible. For a skag, it probably was.

"I..." Rhys said, swallowing, "didn't think this was how I was going to die, to be honest. I can see the tombstone now... 'Crushed by alpha skag. So not worth it.'"

“Oh chill out, kiddo! I don’t need all this commentary!” Jack fiddled with the buttons. "Ah hah! Turret's back online, baby!"

Rhys heard a whir, and then, the turret fired. The skag screeched and slipped forward, half falling into the snow bank, one foot slipping off the car so its shoulder planted into the hood. Jack targeted its exposed underbelly. A river of blood spattered across the windshield.

Rhys grew nauseated. "Oh god, that's- that’s just disgusting !"

"I'm gonna fill this thing with lead!" Jack poured on the rest of the turret's strength, pushing the skag completely off the vehicle and into the snow. It flailed and screeched, clawing at the car and leaving deep rends in the metal of the hood. What seemed to be an endless fountain of blood and chunks spilled across the car and snow.

Rhys was doing everything in his power not to vomit on himself, shutting his eyes tight and willing the image of the shredded beast from his mind.

The skag fell silent - finally dead? Rhys heard the turret go silent.

Jack chuckled. “And that’s why you don’t screw with Handsome Jack.” There was a small pause. “See? Told ya to chill out, Rhysie. It’s dead now, and so are all those idiot bandits."

Rhys didn't open his eyes. "Ugh. Right. Great.” He’d really rather be somewhere else right now. Somewhere he didn’t have to risk seeing a skag’s innards everywhere if he accidentally opened his eyes.

Rhys heard Jack moving. "Ah...taint," Jack muttered.

"What now?"

"Well...it seems the car is toast. Can’t even turn it on. The backup digistructor ain't workin'. And my Echo comms got torn up, so-"

"Lovely. So...just to be clear, what you're telling me is...we're stranded?"

"Something like that."

"Damn it, Jack, just put my cybernetics back online so I can call someone! If you’d done that in the first place, we wouldn’t have crashed!!"

"Like hell! You basically admitted you would’ve hacked the car!"

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have killed you!”

“You want me to just believe that?”

It was weird arguing with his eyes closed, so Rhys opened them. “Oh god.” He gagged. Somehow, the skag looked worse now. He looked at Jack instead, clearing his throat. "Look, you want us to freeze to death out here? Or are we within walking distance of wherever we're going?"

Jack looked outside his window, jaw working. For a long moment, he just sat there.

"Fine.”

Rhys perked up. “Fine?”

“Yeah, but if you try anything funny, things are gonna get really ugly if you catch my meaning. The one thing that didn’t get torn up when we crashed was this baby." Jack tapped his gun, now jammed in the holster on his thigh.

"Right." Rhys said. “I get it.”

Jack pulled a device out of his pocket and pushed a button on it. Rhys gained his vision back in his cyber eye, felt it and his arm powering up. " Thank you." Rhys started to put the call forward, but... "Shit... Uh....well..."

"What now?”

"It...appears to be...I can't get signal."

"The hell does that mean?"

"Well," Rhys said, "there could be magnetic fields interfering, solar flares, fluctuating pressure systems, or maybe weather events. Perhaps there's a glitch. I can't connect-"

"Yeah, I know, smartass. What I meant was, why can't you? Weather shit should be trivial to that tech."

Rhys squinted. "What makes you say that?"

Realization seemed to come over Jack. "Right. No carefully cultivated vast planetary network to back-connect with in emergencies. So that means it relies on shitty short-range towers. Right." There was something accusing there, but Rhys ignored it.

Rhys looked out his window, deliberately not focusing on the skag or blood. Snow was starting to fall, clouds winking out the stars above as wind gusted over the snow-covered land. "Looks like the weather isn't playing around.” Rhys sighed. Wow. This was just great. "Alright, so not ‘crushed by badass alpha skag,’ but rather, 'froze to death in Pandora's wastelands.' Somehow that's worse. Doesn't quite have the same drama to it." Rhys looked at Jack and realized the man's expression had soured considerably.

"Can you hack the car with your eye?” Jack asked. “Maybe fix it?"

Rhys scanned the engine. “Yeah, that’s waaay too busted to repair on the spot."

Jack went quiet again for a bit. "The car should be fairly insulated. We just gotta wait. Once the storm passes, we'll see if we can get a signal."

Rhys felt a bit apprehensive. "You- you don't strike me as the waiting type."

"I mean, yeah, I'm gonna be bored as hell, but uh, don't exactly have a choice right now, do I?"

An awkward silence descended. 

Let's not make that tombstone 'Handsome Jack got tired of waiting out a snowstorm and murdered Rhys for something to do'.

Rhys realized his left arm was getting quite tired and uncomfortable, so did his best to arrange himself to where it wouldn't strain so much. He knew better than to ask to have it freed.

He accidentally looked at the skag corpse again, but it wasn’t so nauseating now, the blood and gore slowly being hidden under fresh snow.

He checked for a signal. There was none. This was definitely going to be a very long, Pandoran-style night.

Jack began talking. About Hyperion and...something else, leg bouncing with pent-up energy all the while. Rhys didn't really listen too hard, too busy trying to plan his survival should something go even more wrong. Another skag or more bandits showing up? Hopefully, the turret had enough juice in it to deal with that. Jack growing bored enough he decided to strangle Rhys for fun? Maybe Rhys could hack that pistol. Although it was possible Jack would disable his cybernetics again.

Hopefully, Jack realized Rhys was their best hope of getting out of this mess and would not do that. It was Jack’s fault anyway they were stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Rhys let out a huge, annoyed sigh. He saw his breath cloud. "So uh...how insulated is this car, exactly?" He interjected into a brief pause in Jack's words.

Jack went even quieter...before saying, "shit. Those cracks must be deeper than they look.” Rhys saw him leaning forward to observe the imperfections in the windshield.

Rhys began to shiver. Fuck, it was getting cold pretty fast. It probably had to do with the wind, which had picked up even more speed outside. "Maybe we should build a snow shelter?" He wasn't the most experienced in this area, but he was pretty sure those were recommended when stranded in a blizzard.

"No, that's stupid."

"Isn't...that a survival thing?"

"Where the hell did you hear that?"

"I don't know... Probably saw it in a...a show or something."

"Nerd."

Rhys frowned. "I'm pretty sure it's-"

"Are you hearing yourself? A snow shelter? A shelter made of snow? That's just gonna like, friggin' melt when it warms, and then we'll be cold and wet, and that's worse. Quit believing everything you see in the movies."

"But..." Rhys didn't know how to argue that. He was sure something about Jack’s logic wasn’t right, but he had no idea what. He sighed and gave up.

"Look,” Jack went on, “it may be a little drafty, but this thing's blocking the worst of the wind, so as long as one of us doesn't do anything stupid, we'll be fine."

"And what e-exactly could I do?" Rhys snapped, agitation at Jack's rotten attitude getting the better of him. "I'm kind of- kind of immobilized over here in case you forgot!" He bumped the bottom of the dashboard with his foot for emphasis.

Jack looked unimpressed. "Like I trust those cybernetics."

Cybernetics. Rhys had a gnawing feeling he was forgetting something related to those. It hit him. Rhys sat up straighter. "Oh-oh man, I almost forgot!"

"Forgot what?"

"Thank god," Rhys muttered, going into his user menu. He navigated to settings and options. He activated Survival Mode: Warmth. "That's sooo much better," he sighed happily as the warmers kicked on, a built-in heater basically. And the inner cybernetics would ensure his core temperature didn't drop to hypothermic levels. "I have warmers in my implants," he informed a bewildered Jack. "Ooooh that’s so niiice ." He sighed with pleasure.

So maybe he had a bit of gloating in his voice. So what? It wasn't his fault Jack didn't plan ahead better.

Jack shifted with a suddenness that made Rhys wince. "Oh, hell no!” Jack hissed, fumbling at his pocket. “That's just not right. I'm disabling those cybernetics." He pulled out the device from earlier.

"Wait!" Rhys exclaimed. "Seriously! This is our only source of heat right now. You kill it and you kill us!"

Jack's finger hovered over the button as he scowled at Rhys. “You mean that’s gonna be warm enough for both of us?”

“I mean, as-as long as we don’t waste it, it...should keep us from freezing, yes.”

"Fine. Just...how long is that gonna last?"

"At this charge...a couple of Pandoran days. Hopefully, it doesn't come to that. Because uh, we don’t seem to have any food or water supplies."

“There...might be some water in the emergency kit in the trunk. Hyperion issued.” Jack paused for a minute. “Actually, I don’t know what’s in it.”

They fell into another silence, Jack staring out the window. Even with the warmers, Rhys still felt a bit chilly. He was shocked that Jack wasn't even shivering, although he did have on a lot of layers. Maybe that was paying off. 

Jack eventually lowered his usually rolled-back sleeves and produced a set of gloves from his pocket to put on. Rhys realized Jack had a lot of pockets in those layers. What else might he be carrying around in them, and did he ever lose stuff because he forgot which pocket he placed them in? Rhys contained his amused snort at that thought. He leaned his head back against the headrest.

At some point, Rhys dozed off. He snapped awake when he heard sudden movement. Jack was reaching over, and Rhys started to instinctively pull away, only to see Jack unlatch his seat belt. "What're you doing?" he mumbled.

"The warmers ain't doing the both of us much good over there, now are they, cupcake?" Jack's voice seemed a little stiff. "Gotta...share the heat so it doesn't go to waste."

Rhys blinked as Jack reached back and released the cuffs on his wrists. Rhys pulled his hands forward, rubbing his left wrist with relief. “Oh thank you-” only for Jack to grab his hands and snap the cuffs back on his wrists in front. "Oh, come on!” Rhys complained. “What am I going to do in the middle of a winter desert!"

"I dunno, try to get the drop on me? Strangle me with that cyber arm? Kill me and wait out the storm?"

"Oh my god- Yeah, whatever. Whatever keeps you paranoid."

"Just shut up and put your arms out here." Jack tapped the middle compartment between them

Rhys frowned and did as he was asked.

Jack leaned a bit closer, frowning at Rhys’s cyber arm as if it weren’t cooperating.

Rhys started to get impatient. "What exactly is this supposed to accomplish?"

"Heat conservation."

"I..." Rhys realized what Jack was trying to do. Or what Jack seemed to think he was trying to do. "Oh...J- Jack? I...really don't know how to tell you this, but uh, sticking my arms into the middle of the car...isn't conserving heat."

"You...got a better idea besides hogging it all to yourself, cupcake?"

"Well...ideally the warmers stay close to the body for maximum heat absorption. So when there are two bodies..." Rhys coughed to emphasize his point.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Are you serious? You think you're getting near me? You can think again."

Rhys yawned. "Whatever you want, Jack," he muttered, too exhausted to argue. He settled into the new strange position as best he could, arranging himself so he could rest his head on his arms. It had been such a long day, and all he wanted was to be in his big, way-too-soft, king-sized bed with its golden silky Atlas sheets back home. His legs were starting to get cramps from the limited space. He should never have answered that Echo message Jack had sent.

He dozed off again.

The last thing Rhys expected was to be fully reawakened by large hands grasping his jacket and bodily hauling him into the driver's side of the car.

"What the hell!?" he yelped in alarm.

"Chill out," Jack said. “Jesus.”

Rhys was...in Jack's lap, cuffed arms against the man's chest. Any other situation and this...might have been somewhat amusing. Right now, Rhys was just shocked and half-asleep, frozen stiff, trying to comprehend this. Finally, his tired brain began to realize… Jack really must've been pretty damned cold. Jack was...shivering? Rhys couldn't see it, but he could feel it. It was as if the shivers were being suppressed, tight, small, but intense waves running through Jack.

Rhys tried to balance his arms against Jack's chest. This was...pretty awkward positioning, especially for his long limbs and Jack’s size, and he didn't want to apply too much concentrated pressure against Jack’s ribs. If Jack was uncomfortable, he'd probably make Rhys equally uncomfortable. But Rhys also didn't want to move too much, lest he cause his paranoid captor to assume the worst. Even if Rhys wanted to try something against Jack, he wouldn't have dared risk it when Jack was clearly at an advantage in a strangling match.

He didn't know where to look, so he studied Jack's coat. He spied a few dark stains across the fabric. Coffee? Dirt? Blood? It was hard to say.

In spite of the awkwardness, he couldn't stop himself from grinning a bit. "Told you."

"And I told you to chill out," Jack growled back. "I'm watching you, so no funny business."

“Yeah, I noticed that.” Rhys couldn't exactly relax now that he was too busy trying not to move too much. "Jack, can I, er, lean forward-"

"No."

"You're...not a little uncomfortable like this? If I moved my arms a bit-"

"No. You're staying right where you are, princess."

Rhys decided starting a conversation might be best. It had to be better than awkward silence while sitting in someone’s lap, right? "So uh, I’ve been wondering... H-how are you alive, exactly? This time, I mean.”

Jack raised a brow. “I’ve been wondering when you’d ask... I don’t know the full story, honestly, just that some idiots of an interested party brought me back. I killed them all."

Rhys suddenly wanted to shiver for an entirely new reason. “You just...killed them?”

“Yeah?"

"Weren't you even a little curious why they brought you back? Or how?" Rhys blinked. It was weird conversing this close. 

"'Course I was, dumdum. But it wasn't like they left much behind. Most of the data in their computers self-wiped when I accessed it... They weren’t Hyperion, so they definitely weren’t bringing me back for any selfless reason." Jack barreled on unimpeded, "they wanted what every greedy scumbag horde of idiots out here wants. To make money in the most heinous ways possible. Trust me, they deserved it. Judging by what little I found, they probably thought they could control me. Thought I’d owe ‘em big time. But Handsome Jack doesn’t do debts to scumbags."

Rhys exhaled. "They must've gotten that tech to do this...from somewhere, though?"

Jack shrugged. "Probably stole it... Anywho, after I washed my hands of those idiots, I... Well, I set up shop and got back in contact with Hyperion. Once some things were settled, I decided you and I should have a chat, so I looked into your whereabouts. That's how I found you at the shiny new Atlas facility. Not that it was hard. Lotta people talkin' about Atlas these days.”

“I...wow.”

Jack's lips tilted. “I know, right? Crazy, but here we are.”

“So...what is your body anyway? Is it...cybernetic? Synthetic? Cloned? Are you the AI Jack I found, or..?”

Jack frowned, then growled a bit, seeming annoyed. "I...how the hell should I know? I remember being in your head, so I guess? But I don’t feel digital. Body feels exactly the same as before. Maybe they did clone it."

Rhys just sighed. Leave it to Jack to miss all the interesting information. It was possible Jack knew more than he was letting on. The whole thing was rather suspicious, Rhys thought. He decided he wouldn't press too hard, however. “Okay, moving on. So what’s your plan? Helios - all your power - it’s all gone.”

Jack actually laughed. “You think I had all my eggs in the Helios basket? Pumpkin, I’ve got a shit ton of other resources off-world. Did you forget I was like...a trillionaire? Hyperion isn't dead...not yet. I admit, I’ll miss Helios, like, giant freakin’ H in the sky that can rain death and hellfire at any second? Awesome! But now that it’s gone, I can just make something even more badass. As for my full plan, that’s what our little chat was going to be about."

“Seems we have time for that chat you keep mentioning now.”

“Nah, we gotta do it somewhere else. You’ll see. It’ll make sense later.”

“I sure hope so.”

Rhys couldn’t help but wonder if he should be more worried. It was quite possible Jack was right and Hyperion was about to become number one again. And if it gained the strength it had from before… Well, Rhys wasn’t sure his baby Atlas could withstand that. Not unless he got to the Vault...

Well, he would worry about that later. Now wasn't the time.

“So,” Rhys started, “are you going to kill me if we get through this and have our little chat?”

“I’m not going to kill you, cupcake. I...actually need your help. Besides, the past is the past. Let’s just agree to leave it there.”

That was strange, considering how good Jack was at holding grudges. Rhys would have to try and figure out the change of heart later.

Maybe it was as simple as Jack needing him for something. But for what? Hopefully it wasn’t related to the new Vault. At least Jack didn’t seemed to be planning on torturing him to take revenge.

Jack spoke again, “you know, Rhysie. I admit, I almost miss our little chats. I mean, being stuck in digital space sucked, but it wasn’t all bad..”

“If you say so.”

“We had a lot of fun on our little adventure.”

“You know what, Jack?” Rhys said, suddenly agitated. “You’re actually right this time. We did have a lot of fun. But guess who screwed that up? It sure as hell wasn’t me.”

Jack moved, hand reaching up. Rhys jumped, but Jack merely scratched his neck. "Jeeze. You're...pretty tense there, kiddo."

"I think that's fair...considering you uh, kidnapped me."

"Details, Rhysie. Details. I just told you I wasn't going to kill you."

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna be one hundred percent comfortable around you. Speaking of comfort...my arm's getting pretty sore. Are you sure I can't just-"

"Nope! And my answer ain’t changin’ anytime soon, sweetheart, so stop askin’."

"I...you may not have noticed, Jack, but I'm not a physical person. I mean, sure I’ve killed people, but not with my bare hands-" Rhys was trying to placate the man's paranoia. He didn't need to be strangled over this. “Even you should know that! I can barely throw a punch! And I have a metal arm!”

Jack grumbled. "I...suppose you have a point. I guess… Whatever. I don't gotta tell you it's not gonna be pretty if you get any ideas, now do I?"

Rhys opted to press forward without responding, closing the distance between them. Jack stiffened like a board under him. Rhys could've teased him for that, but he decided to ignore it. It had been annoying enough convincing Jack for this in the first place. He was too tired to push his luck.

It certainly felt a lot warmer already, and distributing his weight took the strain off his shoulders, so that was nice. Rhys sighed with relief, drawing in a deep breath. He was hit with an interesting aroma from Jack’s clothes - a mixture of blood, cologne, coffee, and some other scents that were lost on him. The smell was tangy and metallic, and frankly, it might have been gross if it were on someone else.

But this...this was Jack. And it suited him fine.

Rhys let himself relax against the rise and fall of Jack’s chest, feeling oddly content. He didn’t question why he was so relaxed. Too tired, he kept telling himself. Too tired.

Rhys was being shaken. He groaned, shifting a little. He just wanted to sleep for crying out loud! Was that too much to ask for?

"Rhys, wake up."

It was more the sound of the voice and the realization of who it belonged to that forced his eyes open than an actual willingness to be awake. His head was...on Jack's shoulder, his arms pinned uncomfortably between them, but keeping them quite warm. His left arm was numb from loss of circulation. Rhys hadn't just dozed off. He'd fallen asleep . On Handsome Jack. Wow. So he could add that to the list of his not so smartest moments.

Wait...did this also mean they were... cuddling ? Sort of?

Rhys didn’t even want to entertain that thought. He willed it away.

"Rhysiieee…"

" What?" he mumbled.

"You drooled on me."

"I...uh...oh. Sorry." Rhys realized his chin was feeling cold and wet, and there was a patch of wetness on Jack's coat. That was...embarrassing. It was one thing to accidentally drool on Fiona and piss her off, because that had actually been kind of funny... Until she’d punched him for it. But it was entirely different to drool on Handsome Jack.

Handsome Jack, whom he’d fallen asleep on.

This was all so surreal.

"Whatever.” Jack sighed in a long-suffering way. “It'll dry. Anyway. It's not snowing now. See if you've got signal yet. I’m getting pretty tired of sitting here." His sentences were short and sharp and a little jarring for the ears of someone who just woke up.

Rhys wiped the wetness off his chin onto his own sleeve. "Just...gimme a sec..." Rhys leaned back a bit, trying to shake some feeling into his arm. At least the numbness had also cut off the inherent pain in the mutation. Well, it would be back. He was thankful for his glove. Who knew how much shit Jack would give him if he knew about the hand-

Rhys leaned back, and he felt something hard and large against his thigh. He assumed it was that Hyperion pistol, but...that didn’t make sense. Not with the...location.

He blinked at Jack's glaring face. If he'd been more awake, he might've had the good sense to not say anything. But he wasn't more awake, and had no good sense at the moment. And so he opened his mouth.

"Jack, you have a boner."

He...hadn’t meant for it to come out like that.

"Yeah, no shit, Genius. It happens. Handsome Jack has the libido of a stallion . So when he’s confined for several hours, smaller Jack gets unhappy.” Rhys winced as Jack went on, “not that, I’m saying it’s small, because it’s not- There’s like, a full nine inches there-"

Rhys had to interrupt. "Oh my god, did you really just say all of that?" He groaned, shutting his eyes with sheer secondhand embarrassment. No one could ruin a moment like Jack could. He shifted to make sure he was not....touching Jack's boner... God his life was so weird whenever Jack was around.

“Am I detecting some jealousy, Rhysie? It’s okay, you know, to be a little jealous of what Handsome Jack’s got. No one can be like me, after all."

Really, how was this man an actual adult ? "I...no. Jealousy is...definitely not what I'm feeling right now."

"Pft, and what about you, Mr. Ill-Timed Boners? Gettin' all judgy over here like some priest."

"I...I'm not judging your boner, Jack... Wow, I really just said that. Let's just, let it go, alright?" Rhys's face was burning. He cleared his throat and quickly went into his Echo menu. "Oh hey, yes , I do have signal!" He wasn't sure if he was more relieved for the actual signal or for the fact it was a good way to change the topic.

"Great. Call someone. But make sure they aren't gonna cause problems, or there's gonna be problems."

"Right. I have an idea, actually."

Chapter Text

Rhys took a moment to look outside now that he was mostly awake. Or tried to. As cold as the inside of the car had gotten, Rhys had to first wipe condensation from their breaths off the window to see anything. Once he did, he found himself staring. The atmosphere was clear, crystal clear, the sky blue and soft. The sun had started to rise, casting a pink glow on the distant mountains and icy cliffs, its light glittering like pearly diamonds in the snow. Pandora may for the most part be a trash planet, but some parts of it were...beautiful. Stunningly so.

"Rhysie," Jack spoke up, shifting. Rhys was acutely aware of the movement as it jostled him. "I thought you were calling someone?"

"Right." Rhys quickly refocused on his Echo. He had a few missed messages. None of them were overly concerning, just simple inquiries from Yvette and one message from the board. No one seemed shocked he’d been off the Echo for a whole night. After all, a quick weekend hookup was not all that unusual for him these days. Besides, work was supposed to leave him alone until Monday. Not that it always did.

Rhys wondered if maybe others should be more worried about him if he vanished for a night. What if he’d been captured by bandits or mauled by monsters? What if Jack had been intent on killing him? He’d figure that out later.

“So who are you calling?” Jack asked with all the casualness of someone who hadn’t just sported a boner a few minutes ago. Or threatened Rhys multiple times. Or been on a high-speed chase with Pandora's hostile denizens and in a car wreck immediately after. Speaking of which, Rhys was now quite stiff and sore from not just one, but two wrecks in the past day, and then falling asleep cramped up and half freezing.

Also, he needed to pee, which sucked. But that could wait. He had gotten used to holding it through long meetings, so-

That wasn’t important.

He ignored the discomfort as best he could. “Well, I got an idea.”

"Yeah?"

“I’ll just have...probably LB, bring a car digistructor. Then we can...get where we were going in the first place.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Just like that, eh? Not gonna try to escape or something?" He said the word "escape" in a mocking tone, as if he thought there was nothing to escape from, as if he hadn't abducted Rhys in the first place.

“For one, Jack, I gave you my word I wouldnnn't-" His words caught as his stomach twisted and he tasted acid. "Uggh, gross-" Jack's face became pinched as Rhys continued, "Ooh, sorry.” He swallowed. "Stomach trying to come back on me. It happens when I drink and then don't eat for a long time after-"

"Rhys."

"What?"

"I don't need to know this. Get back to what you were saying already about giving your word?"

Rhys coughed and started talking at Jack’s lapels instead of his face. "Ahem. Right. As- as I was saying, I promised I wouldn't bring trouble. And I won't. Even if I wanted to... Well, if you were going to kill me, I assume you would have done it by now. Besides...I’m curious what you’re planning. I have to pay attention to the competition now.”

Jack clapped his leg. Rhys blinked in surprise and looked at Jack’s face. He felt...things he didn't want to feel right now, things that were caused by the pressure of Jack’s hand. “Well," Jack said cheerfully, grinning, "someone’s all grown up now! All mighty CEO Rhys watching the competition and being smart! And I remember when you were just a wittle bitty janitor-"

"Jack, please-"

"And now look at you!” Jack sighed as if nostalgic and reminiscent. “How they grow...”

"Jack, your jokes could be classified as horrible."

"Nah, that one was genius. Now get on that call already."

"I'll- I’ll just do that." Rhys started the call and waited for an answer.

The line was picked up after a few heartbeats. "Hi," said a deep, robotic voice on the other side.

Rhys almost sagged back against Jack, his relief was so great. Finally. “Oh, god, LB !” He exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you, heheh. Or hear you.”

"Are you in trouble again? You use that tone when you’re about to ask for a rescue."

"Hey don't say it like that! You haven't had to rescue me in...a month! A month now!"

"I have been counting, and since we met, I have saved your life a total of twenty-seven times, which does not include the times I have saved you from other forms of ailment or trauma-"

"LB!" Rhys said as Jack snorted on laughter. "Come on, bro, I'm stranded in the snow! I just need a digistructor, please. A car digistructor! My car is totaled! Just track me through my implants and bring one asap because I have no idea where I am."

If LB had been designed with the ability to sigh, he probably would have in that moment. Or Rhys imagined so. "I will be right there. This makes twenty-eight."

"Could you please stop keeping count," Rhys groaned before the call ended.

"That was cute," Jack said derisively. "Can't believe you're still keeping that hunk of junk around. Last time I saw it, it seemed ready for the scrap pile."

Rhys rolled his eyes. "He has...a new body now." Well, shit. Rhys hadn't thought of that . Hopefully Jack either didn't notice - which he probably would - or he wouldn't care - which he also probably would. Whatever. Too late now. Jack would just have to deal with it. “Besides, he’s useful.”

“Useful at bailing your ass out of messes? Sure sounded like it.”

“He was exaggerating.”

“Uh, that sounded like anything but an exaggeration, princess. And robots don’t exaggerate. Besides I know how good you are at getting into trouble.”

“He doesn’t just save my ass, okay? He also...also…” Rhys’s brow furrowed as he thought as hard as he could.

“Yeah? Oh, this oughta be good.”

“He makes a good cup of coffee?” Rhys offered sheepishly. “Is the life of parties?” Okay, that was a lie, he admitted to himself. LB was the worst at parties.

“Woow, Rhysie. Wow.”

“Okay, you’re the one who got us into this mess, so he’s saving your ass too.”

“I still don’t have anywhere near the ass-saving count you do, buddy, but that’s a cute attempt to drag me into this.”

A loud whoosh had Rhys’s gaze turning outside to see a stream of snow fly up under impact with an object. He saw the figure that had presumably caused it. It stood up, a glowing red light mounted on a gold, vaguely-skeleton-shaped body. "LB's here!” Rhys said. The robot was wearing one of the latest Atlas jetpacks that’d recently gone on the market. Well, that explained how he’d arrived so quickly. “I’m getting out.”

"I’m coming with."

Jack managed to get the door open. Rhys and Jack both struggled to get out, but it turned into an ordeal for them both. Jack reached up, and Rhys raised his bound arms in an attempt to steady himself. Limbs crashed awkwardly. In the struggle, Jack somehow elbowed Rhys in the face.

“Ow! Shit!”

“Oh chill out! I barely bumped you!” Jack said. Jack’s legs were moving as he tried to wriggle out. Rhys sat up further, trying to allow room, but his back pressed against the steering wheel. The car honked. He jumped forward involuntarily at the noise, right back into Jack’s chest. Jack grunted. “Ugh. Okay! This isn’t working! New plan!!!” His expression shifted into an ornery, maniacal grin.

Rhys stilled, uncertain. “Wha-?”

Jack grabbed him by his front and all but threw him off.

Rhys fell into the snow face-first. The little ice crystals stung, and he cursed as he stood up, struggling to brush away the white powder clinging to him with his cuffed hands. Oh god. He'd thought the car was cold? Outside was ten times worse. The wind seemed to push right through all his layers and penetrate down to the bone. How far were they from the Atlas facility? It wasn’t nearly as cold there.

“You’re such a dick!” Rhys exclaimed, turning to Jack.

Jack look smug. “Heh, it worked didn’t it?”

Rhys watched Jack wobble out of the car, seeming just as stiff as he was. Served Jack right. So maybe the whole throwing-Rhys-into-the-snow-face-first thing had worked, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

LB stepped forward, switching his red light between the two. He gave a thumbs up at Rhys. “Hello, Father.”

"Would you please stop calling me that," Rhys said, trying to puff his clothes up against the wind. He wished he had a hood of some sort.

"Yes." LB took a few seconds before saying anything else. "Dad, then. It is my understanding this is a good synonym, Dad."

"That's...that's worse. A worse synonym."

"I have more synonyms pulled up. Shall I list them so you may pick a more suitable one?” Without waiting, LB began to rapid fire list them off. “Dada, daddy, daddio, pa, pop, papa, padre, parent, old man, patriarch, paterfamilias, sire, predecessor, begetter, origin, source-"

"Stop, stop!" Rhys, who'd been trying to even process what was happening, exclaimed. How had LB gotten even more adept at dry humor, anyway? Maybe he'd been taking private lessons from Fiona. "Just, whatever. I don't care!"

"As you say, old man."

Rhys facepalmed with both bound hands. "I didn't even create you... Why..."

"Family is more than blood," LB said, so serious that even Rhys wasn't sure if this was more humor or not. "Or...oil." Okay, this was definitely LB messing with him.

"LB. Seriously. Stop."

Jack, meanwhile, had been stuck scrutinizing LB with narrowed eyes. Now they lit up with recognition. “Wait-wait- Is it-? Oh god, it is ! It’s in my fucking immortality suit , jesus-” He started laughing, doubling over, howling like he’d been told the funniest joke he’d ever heard. “You put a sentient loader AI in my endoskeleton, cupcake?! That’s just so stupid!”

Rhys hadn't been expecting that reaction. "I didn't put him in there. He did, thank you."

Jack just laughed even harder as if Rhys had told another, even funnier joke. Well, at least it meant Jack wasn’t about to get murdery. Hopefully.

Rhys felt that given all that'd happened-that the suit that was currently amusing Jack so much had been a huge part of their falling out-a more violent response would have been expected. But it seemed Jack was not clinging to the past. Or if he was, it seemed he was saving it for another time.

Rhys almost snapped at Jack 'how the hell is this so funny? Did you forget the part where we tried to murder each other?!' but he bit his own tongue. Hard enough to hurt and remind himself he was in uncertain territory here. No way could he invite Jack to shoot him so soon. Jack had punched him, already, he remembered. And taken him prisoner-ish. Poking the dragon would be a huge mistake. Not until Rhys knew better what he was dealing with.

LB pointed at the howling Jack. “Should I attack?”

“Noooo, no, no!” Rhys exclaimed. “Do not attack.”

"Are you under duress?”

“No, no, no,” Rhys assured. LB's light seemed accusing, and Rhys realized his bound hands were in plain sight. Damn it, Jack. “It’s alright! Jack is not going to kill me.” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly. The cuffs jangled coldly. Honestly, he still didn’t one hundred percent believe that Jack wasn't going to, but he was fairly sure...

Still, letting LB attack would ruin any chance that Jack might not be about to kill Rhys.

“Yeah, what he said,” Jack said as his laughter subsided, stepping forward and elbowing Rhys in the ribs.

"Oof." Rhy winced. “Would you stop acting like a child for two seconds!”

“Aww, someone’s getting all pouty over here. How adorable !”

Rhys glared at Jack’s unceasing grin before turning back to LB. "So...could you digistruct another car now, please ?"

"Yes," the robot replied, holding up a portable digistructor. The box was about the size of a melon, and a tap had its light coming on. Within moments, another car printed from the ground up. “It is done.”

"Thank you so much, LB. You’re a lifesaver.”

“I am well aware. Twenty-eight times now.”

Rhys exhaled with resignation.

LB said, “are you sure you do not want me to shoot him?”

Jack unholstered his pistol. "You're welcome to try, metal mouth. The first time you asked was kinda funny, but now it isn’t so cute anymore.”

LB continued on at Rhys, ignoring Jack. “Need I remind you of what happened the last time you were alone with Jack?”

“Hey, I’ll put bullets in ya!” Jack snapped, his face falling as the first sign of annoyance peeked through. “Rhys, tell this scrap pile to get outta here already before I tear it apart out of boredom.”

Rhys let out a large sigh, so the others would register his annoyance. Hopefully. “Look, LB, I gotta see what he’s up to first."

“Oh. Why didn't you say so, Dad?”

Rhys rubbed his temples, knowing passive-aggression when he saw it. “Now go tell Yvette I’m fine and I’ll be back in time for work tomorrow. Kay? And if I’m not back home later tonight, please come looking for me, and if I’m dead or otherwise suffering, then you can shoot him, okay?”

"Hey, hey," Jack said, "that bot’s looking like real good target practice right now, Rhys. Wouldn’t you agree?"

“Fine,” LB said. His voice hadn't changed at all - mostly because it physically couldn’t - but he somehow seemed more agitated. LB's light switched to Jack. "Hurt or otherwise endanger my human again, and I will kill you."

Jack stepped forward, raising his shoulders and jutting his chin. "You do realize that I created you, right? Every piece of tin in that shat-up AI of yours from that shitty light to the shiny new body you stole? That is all my doing."

"You may have created me, but you aren't my father."

Rhys knew that LB was one hundred percent serious this time.

Before Jack could react, LB fired up the jetpack and took off, spraying snow all over Rhys.

Rhys frowned hard as Jack pointed and laughed at him...again. Of course. That was twice he was covered in snow. Why not?

Jack inhaled. "Wow, that bot really likes you, Rhysie. Are you two like, dating, or something?"

Rhys shot Jack the harshest scowl he could muster, hoping it conveyed his utter irritation.

"I'm just screwing with you," Jack chuckled. "Just make sure it doesn't try any funny shit, alright?"

"He won't," Rhys muttered, brushing the snow off as nonchalantly as possible.

He entered the passenger seat of the new vehicle. Jack climbed into the driver's seat. Jack surprisingly, said nothing as he hit the gas and they were driving once again. Better yet, they finally had heat. Glorious heat. Rhys was able to turn the warmers in his implants off.

Rhys just gazed out the window, watching the frosted scenery quietly and trying not to think of how the urge to go was increasing. He would’ve just gone back there, but the cold...

He spoke up. “Where exactly are you going to take me?”

“It's a surprise! It's just one little thing I gotta show ya."

“How...long is it gonna take to get there?”

“Probably a couple more hours.”

Great. Just great.

Rhys had half a mind to turn on the radio, but when he had a mental image of fighting for control of it with Jack, Rhys knew immediately he didn't want to give Jack any ideas. What kind of music did Jack even like anyway? Country? Classic? Rock? Pop? He couldn’t even begin to guess. It was probably best left a mystery, for his own sake.

Sometimes, Rhys imagined just starting up a car and driving as far as he dared on Pandora. Get away from all his new responsibilities. It wasn't that he no longer wanted them. It was simply the nature of such daydreaming. Almost as if Rhys could run from everything: from his new name to his changed arm. In a way, today was like those fantasies, driving and driving. Rarely was Jack in such fantasies (rarely). Even rarer, Jack was driving.

This, Rhys reminded himself, was very real. A fact he wasn't sure was positive or negative. He wanted to maintain optimism, but. Well, this was Handsome Jack, after all.

Optimism involving Jack was a fantasy in itself.

And I'm sitting here with no plan B. What am I doing?

The scenery changed drastically after another hour or so. Outside his window, snowy mountains became empty plains then eventually turned into grassy fields. How was that possible? Pandora's climate confused Rhys at the best of times. Then again, he wasn't a meteorologist or familiar with the lay of the land here. Rhys would be hard-pressed to be able to navigate places he'd already been.

Rhys glanced at Jack who hadn’t said a lot since their conversation with LB - surprisingly. Rhys still felt strange, like at any moment he was going to wake up in his bed to find he'd had an incredibly realistic dream. He really didn’t think he’d be in this type of situation again. He didn’t think he’d ever see Jack again, and that…confused him, in several ways. Jack still hadn't been intent to broach anything that had happened between them. He seemed to straight up ignore their history, to pretend there had never been a major blow-up between them.

It rankled in Rhys's chest like a heavy weight he couldn't get rid of, spurring some uncomfortable semblance of nausea. For not the first time, there was that part of him that wanted to start screaming at Jack and never stop. The rest of him prioritized making it through this encounter as unharmed as possible.

He pushed those thoughts away, sighing.

Jack glanced over briefly and spoke up. “Why the long face, pumpkin? We’re almost there! I know it’s been a long road trip, but the wait is almost over. You’ll soon know just what Handsome Jack is planning next! Isn’t it exciting?”

“Sure.” Rhys didn't fully trust his own tongue at that point.

“You really gotta work on your enthusiasm presentation, tiger.”

Jack slowed and turned down another road, this one actually paved. It went through a tunnel and out the other side to reveal rocky, mossy cliffs waiting there. Rhys cast his eyes around. Where were they now? He saw old, abandoned Hyperion towers and ruins here and what looked like some sort of old military base situated at the top of a hill. He activated the tracker on his Echo with his cybernetic arm. It seemed they’d gone further west and south. Rhys had never been here before.

Before he even realized it, they were turning onto a bridge over a stunning, vast body of water. In the distance, in the middle of the lake, Rhys saw… Whoa… His eyes went wide, and he leaned forward. “Holy shit,” he almost squeaked.

“I know, right? This is Opportunity, baby! She’s been repurposed, but for the better. In the long run, anyway.”

The city was quite beautiful from here, its buildings glimmering and glittering in the sunlight. It looked quite large. “I...I thought it was destroyed by Vault Hunters?” Rhys whispered.

“Not quite. I mean, they defaced the hell out of it, but they didn’t outright destroy it."

The city was slightly more disheveled up close. Most of the buildings and sights had been destroyed or marred in some long-ago battle. Robot husks, glass, metal, and creature skeletons lay strewn about the torn roads. Scorch marks and bullet holes were everywhere. Animal nests and thick vines climbed up the sides of some buildings. A group of rakks could be seen circling above a completely destroyed building. Some areas remained mostly intact, but their lack of upkeep was showing with rust and cracked windows.

A quick scan told Rhys the wreckage was about two years old.

“It ain’t much now,” Jack said with some obvious wistfulness, “but I’m working on getting a team in here to start cleaning all this up.”

“I kind of wanted to live here,” Rhys admitted suddenly, not sure why. "Before, when I was at Hyperion. Thought'd be really cool, to be a part of Handsome Jack’s famous shiny new city. Of course, that was...not feasible..." He shut his mouth as an image flashed through his mind of the charred wreckage and debris of Helios around him. On that dirty, sooty ground, firelight illuminated a poster advertising Opportunity. Rhys swallowed, could almost taste that acrid, scorching air again. He felt he might gag at the memory.

He thought he saw Jack glance sideways at him. “God, you’re such a friggin’ fanboy.”

Rhys didn’t respond. His jaw clenched. His mood soured further. "Was," he all but snarled under his breath.

“So," Jack said, oblivious, probably for the better, "I argued for days with a bunch of Hyperion idiots off-world who thought I wasn't me. I swear, when I finally get a vacation from this shithole, I'm airlocking all of 'em. Oh wait...guess I'll have to shoot 'em. Keep forgetting I don't have airlocks anymore. Anyway, I was able to finally get back to my resources.”

“Resources?" Rhys asked. "You mentioned those before. Something about having more than Helios?"

“Precisely, cupcake. Glad to see you're listening! I’m gonna use them to retake Hyperion. Gonna rebuild what was lost. Stronger and better than ever.” Jack slowed the car to a stop in front of one of the few intact buildings, shutting it off. “Here we are!”

“Hyperion’s pretty weak right now,” Rhys said as they walked into the building. 

“Did I ever tell you about the time I brought Hyperion to the top after it was sabotaged by mad-and that's the insane type of mad there-Dahl militarized forces? No? Well, this is gonna be a cakewalk compared to that.” Jack looked self-congratulatory.

Rhys frowned and flicked his hands, jangling the cuffs lightly. "You...you didn't have to tell me. I was there."

"You were?" Jack stopped. So did Rhys. Jack squinted at him as though trying to read through the new information, almost suspicious. Jack's hands half-burrowed into two pockets on his coat. "You joined Hyperion pretty young, huh? Survived quite a bit."

Rhys felt a little odd at Jack's expression. "Yep. I-" Rhys started to add on to that, then decided against it. "A-anyway, I was definitely there when Dahl attacked."

Jack tilted his head. "Rhys. Just how the hell old are you?" 

Rhys turned away. He paused. "Almost twenty-four."

"How the friggin' hell is that even possible?"

"I'm a genius, that's how," Rhys faced Jack with a humorless smile and a wink. "I snuck into Hyperion a bit early, if you catch my meaning."

Jack still looked a bit unconvinced. "Sheesh. Well, then you know I ain't lying, cupcake." He started walking again. Rhys followed.

"Guess I do. How old does that make you, anyway?" Rhys asked teasingly.

"None of your business."

Rhys felt like maybe he should've had that response, too, to Jack's prying. Oh well. Despite Rhys's young, boyish good looks, people tended to assume he was older than he was because of his reputation. He never corrected them. "I mean, if you want to be technical, this new body of yours is what, a few weeks? Months?" Rhys was guessing. Jack noncommittally grunted back. "You're pretty well off for a newborn."

"Shut up, kiddo."

"Don't call me that."

They entered a large, gray room. Rhys looked around. There were monitors and odd pieces of equipment placed everywhere. It looked haphazardly scavenged and thrown together as if it hadn't belonged to this room originally. Towards the back was another door, one that looked tightly secured. It had a somewhat ominous, red light above it and a sign proclaiming level four clearance was necessary to access.

Rhys gestured at it. “That- that looks locked up pretty tight. What’s behind door number one?”

“Nothing,” Jack answered, voice unusually clipped. “Don't worry about it. It doesn’t involve you.”

However, the curiosity was an itch that needed to be scratched. Rhys tried to scan it, but his Echo Eye only came up with readings for the door itself, which seemed equipped to electrocute unwanted visitors to death or even laser them to ash. He shook his head and folded his arms. Well, Jack's secret would have to wait for another day, then. It seemed too important to Jack to just let it go. “Alright alright, what’s this a-about? What’d you want to talk about?”

Jack took off his outer coat, which surprised Rhys. He hadn’t really thought it could come off. Which was a weird thought to consider in retrospect. Well, maybe he was just so used to it being on Jack that he’d never expected to see it removed. Jack seemed oddly exposed in that weird, long-tailed, white shirt and leather waistcoat underneath. Did Jack have multiples of those, or did he just wear the same ones all the time? Why didn’t that bother Rhys more?

Jack slung his coat over the back of an apparently well-used chair at a desk. He started booting up the monitor on it. “Look, Rhys,” he said over his shoulder, all pretenses of bullshit finally falling away. Jack almost looked...tired, suddenly. “Here’s how it is. I’m working on this project that’s gonna bring in a whole lotta dough for Hyperion. It's the only way they're gonna even think about Pandora ventures again. For all my abilities, I'm stranded here until they do...

"Problem is, the bumfucks lost control of most of our Eridium sites after my...death. Anywaaay, all I need is to secure a site and have a steady source of Eridium again. Normally, Hyperion would cover that with scouts, soldiers, and bots, yaddy-yadda, but whoops, somebody destroyed Helios, and by somebody, I mean you, cupcake-”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Jack sure picked a wonderful time to poke at that. But even then, Rhys detected no real anger in his words. It was surprising. Rhys wearily approached the desk as Jack sat down in the chair and started typing on his keyboard. Rhys gestured with both hands. “I’ve done enough business deals to know where this is going. You want me to help you take the site.” Rhys walked around the room to sit on one of the tables so he could talk more directly to Jack.

Jack looked at him. “How much you want in return, cupcake?” He asked, staring at him intensely. "Money-wise, I mean."

“Sixty percent,” Rhys said, slipping with ease into businessman mode. “Which is generous considering I’ll be doing the heavy lifting... Well, Atlas will. But I will basically be handing this to you on faith with no guaranteed payoff.”

“Fine.” Jack waved a hand. “I don’t care. Sixty percent is fine by me.”

That was easy. Easier than Rhys would have imagined. He wouldn't question it, but he was starting to catch a hint of the truth. Jack was playing nice...out of desperation.

Rhys relaxed somewhat. Jack couldn't kill him when he had no alternatives. “Before I agree… What even is this project?”

“Can’t tell you. Sorry, tiger. Can’t leak anything because of company policy.”

“Come on, come on, Jack,” Rhys said with the most charming smile he could pull. “You know me well enough by now. We’re practically best friends-”

A lie. A cold one, but-

“Nuh uh, not falling for that,” Jack said before turning back to the monitor. He beckoned Rhys over. “Be content with the money... I want this site here.” He was pointing out a location not far from Opportunity on the map. “It’s best-suited location-wise for efficiency once we arrange some transports. There’s some bandits down there. May be tough customers if they’ve been affected by the eridium exposure, buuuuut, I figured it’d be a walk in the park for you and your robots up at Atlas.”

“Yeah,” Rhys said dryly. “That’s just what I was thinking. A walk in the park.”

“Isn’t that part of what helped put your new Atlas back on the market? Besides the Vault campaign thing. The latest combat bots ya made? Efficient things?”

“They do cost a lot of money.”

“Don’t worry about it, champ. If this goes the way I’m expecting it to - and it definitely will - you’d be getting it back tenfold!”

It didn’t sound too bad. But something bothered Rhys. "Why exactly did I need to come to Opportunity to discuss this?"

Jack sighed and stood up. He closed the distance between them and grabbed Rhys's arms. Rhys tensed, in spite of himself. Jack ignored it and finally unlocked the cuffs on Rhys's arms, relinquishing his hold. Rhys moved his hands gratefully in response, rotating them. He met Jack's eyes, which were...darker than usual. Rhys couldn't get a read on his expression, but if he absolutely had to guess...conflicted, perhaps. "I don't suppose you need these anymore," Jack said, letting the cuffs hit the floor.

Weird.

Jack angled his body, slung an arm around Rhys's shoulders, and dragged Rhys to his side. Rhys blinked at the sudden warm contact, fighting not to choke out a shocked complaint. He didn't know why it caught him off guard how hands-on Jack could be; personal space had never been his strong suit. Rhys had sort of thought that was a digital Jack thing, the need to touch things to try and feel grounded - not that digital Jack could.

But apparently, this was just how Jack was.

Rhys tried not to think about the pressure again, but there was a tingle in his cheeks.

"Rhysie, it's about the bigger picture here," Jack was speaking, but his words just confused Rhys more.

Jack lead Rhys toward the exit door, the weight of his arm on Rhys's shoulders not exactly kind, but not exactly threatening either, just the way Rhys expected it to feel.

Jack was dangerous, Rhys reflected, but there were ways around that, ways to make his danger useful.

"Ya see this?" Jack asked as they stepped outside. Jack was gesturing broadly with his other hand.

Rhys looked around and found himself trying to imagine it all as it was meant to be. That beautiful shining city from the posters. "Yeah?" He urged.

Jack’s voice was intensifying. "I needed you to see, with your own two eyes, what exactly this looks like. How real it is. I needed you to understand what is going to happen, so that you can make a clear choice."

"What kind of choice?" Rhys asked. "It sounds to me like you're implying more to this chat than one simple business deal."

Jack grinned wolfishly. "You're exactly right, my smart boy." Rhys smiled back. "What I’m trying to say is... It seemed unfair to ask for commitment without showing you how serious I am about this. And I am serious, baby. Deadly friggin' serious. I'm back, and you gotta realize that what I'm really asking for..." He paused dramatically. "Waaaiit for it…” He drew in a deep breath and exclaimed, “a partnership ! An alliance between our companies! How cool is that! It may not look like much now, but even you must realize where this is all going. And it's a generous offer, considering I'm ignoring the fact you stole Atlas from me."

"To be fair, you weren't doing anything useful with it," Rhys replied while calculating this new development. Jack sure wasn't wasting time. It could prove quite fruitful, indeed. It wasn't like before when Jack had been stuck in his head. Rhys had a distance between him and Jack. There'd be no axes in his back, and he was a far cry different from the naive Rhys from before.

He hesitated for just a moment, but it was more for show than anything. His mind was already well and truly made up. "Alright, Jack, you have yourself a deal."

“YES! Excellent!” Jack said, releasing Rhys's shoulders and shaking Rhys's hand roughly. “Oh, you are gonna be rolling in so much cash before long! Enough to fund your little Vault venture and make you rich and more famous than you could possibly have imagined, eh?”

Rhys had a sudden overwhelming urgency. “Yes- er, Jack, this is great and all, but I’ve actually been meaning to ask... Do you have a bathroom here?”

Jack tilted his head. “Oh, cupcake, we definitely need to work on your enthusiasm presentation. But yeah. It’s the door on the left when you walk in.”

“Thaank you.” Rhys extricated himself and practically ran into the building.

Chapter Text

Rhys woke up pretty early. O'four hundred hours, galaxy time. He couldn't fall back to sleep.

He wanted to just escape the suffocating blankets.

He got ready for work a bit slower than normal, taking time over a chocolate chip pancakes and coffee-flavored ice cream breakfast. Nearby, Dumpy and Shiny had started an argument over which little drone was faster, then they were zipping through the house, racing. Before showering, Rhys frowned in the mirror, appraising himself. Bruises had formed in an ugly shade of purple on his torso and over one eye. He traced them, exhaling sharply at the ache he felt in response. They felt like a warning somehow, one he definitely didn't need. 

He showered and dressed, gelling his hair and applying a carefully selected skin cream to his face. Rhys returned to his bedroom to dress in his Atlas best. It was still early in the morning, but Rhys couldn't sit still. He decided he would walk into work today. He needed it.

“You still wanting to come to work with me today, Gortys?” Rhys called through the door. He stared between two ties, settling on the red one with gold lines running down its length. He walked out of the bedroom.

“Oh yes! I would!” Gortys replied, pivoting toward him from where she sat on the couch. LB must have helped her up there.

LB looked up from a computer he'd been typing on. "I am coming too."

Rhys planted his hands on his hips. "LB, Gortys will be fine."

"I am interested."

Gortys waved at LB. LB waved back and walked over, picking Gortys up. Gortys smiled.

Rhys sighed. It seemed only life-or-death situations could pry LB away from his self-assigned charge. Not counting Rhys calling for help, Rhys was certain he hadn't seen those two truly apart since...well, not since the Vault of the Traveler business. Gortys still seemed oblivious to her bodyguard's intense loyalty, bless her. Rhys supposed he couldn't blame LB, considering how much he went through to save her.

"Have a good day, sir!" Dumpy called, followed by a whir of agreement from Shiny. The two bots zoomed away.

With a chatting LB and Gortys in tow, Rhys made his way to work. He ground his teeth. His arm started aching, but he did his best to ignore it. He moved through the building, hearing Gortys ooing over every other object or person they passed. Rhys nodded greetings to people. Before long, Rhys made it to the hallway leading down to his office. The sound of raised voices reached his ears. He slowed, surprised. It’d been awhile since Yvette had felt the need to raise her voice at someone. He steeled himself and stepped into the room where his eyes landed upon the offender.

“Fiona! Hey, what's up?"

The two women stopped arguing. Fiona pointedly stepped back. “See?” She said, waving a hand. “He doesn’t mind!” She brightened. "Hey, Gortys, LB!"

The robots waved. "Hey!" Gortys responded, rolling toward the former con artist. "Fiona!" She wrapped her arms around Fiona's calf.

"Looking cute as ever, Gortys." Fiona patted her head.

"Thanks, you too!" Gortys let go.

LB opened his arms and Fiona winced. "I uh, can't hug right now," she said, face turning into a funny wince. "Pretty sure I'm not supposed to crack anymore ribs right now."

"I will be gentle. It will not hurt."

She shook her head. "I'm good."

"As you wish."

Meanwhile, Yvette exclaimed, “Rhys!” and rushed to him, grabbing his arms, inspecting him as though she might find a knife sticking from his chest. “You're in one piece! What the hell is going on with you? Why did LB say you were with Handsome Jack? I about called in maintenance to check his memory."

“Uhhh, because...I was.” Rhys looked at LB. “Thanks.”

“I did tell her you were coming to work today,” the robot offered.

Gortys seemed confused. “Why is everyone mad?” She whispered.

"Father has made more bad decisions concerning Handsome Jack."

"Ooooh."

"Okay," Rhys interjected, "that's enough-"

“Jack is dead," Fiona spoke up, eye twitching. “Twice over. What are you talking about? Gods, please don't tell me...” She trailed off.

"Well...it turns out..." Rhys rubbed his neck. Oh, he was dreading this conversation. "Jack...is not as dead as we thought." He shut his eyes to avoid their expressions for a minute.

Fiona exhaled, "there it is."

“You told us the AI was gone,” Yvette said. "How is that possible?"

“I think he might have survived the Helios crash?” Rhys offered, squinting open his eyes. Confusion was the primary emotion looking back at him. He scratched the back of his head. “I- I don't know for sure... I don’t think even he really knows. But he has a body now.”

“A what?” Fiona said. She was tensing up even more, eyes bright with anger. “And I suppose you're gonna tell us you had nothing to do with it?”

“I didn’t!” Rhys protested. So what if he had made one or two not-so-great decisions concerning Handsome Jack before? That was a long time ago!

She pursed her lips accusingly.

Rhys glared back. “Look, I don’t know how, and I don't know why, but Jack is alive and I had nothing to do with it!”

Yvette interrupted whatever Fiona was about to say. “Are you alright?” Her eyes had softened. Rhys was a bit taken aback by the sudden shift in tone.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine, perfectly fine. Why wouldn't-”

“You’re fine? You look anything but fine. You have a black eye!"

"It doesn't make me look badass?" he asked with a forced pout.

"No, it doesn't... This is serious, Rhys. You were with Handsome Jack. He could have killed you.”

Rhys sobered himself. “Jack...didn’t want to hurt me. Besides...it’s not like I just walked into his arms or something. He sort of...abducted me.” He coughed hard.

Fiona rubbed her temples and sighed.

Yvette said, “I’m surprised you survived that. He’s not known for being forgiving.”

“He decided to make an offer to Atlas. He wants help securing an old Hyperion Eridium site."

“Eridium," Fiona echoed. "And you think it’s a good idea to just give him Eridium? You’re just going to trust him? Why am I not surprised? All ready to be bff's with that monster again?"

“Look, it's not like that! I'm not just going into this blindly like before, okay?" Rhys insisted, frowning again. "I've been thinking about this a lot. I'll put the usual safeguards and such in place, gather more intel on Hyperion's goals... Besides, Jack didn't even haggle over the negotiations, which means he's desperate. And he should be. He has almost nothing but his name and an abandoned ghost town now. Atlas is on top here on Pandora. If anything goes wrong, Hyperion takes the hit, and Jack gets thrown to the skags...figuratively. He can't afford to screw me over.”

"Yet," Fiona insisted.

Yvette cut in before Rhys could argue, “We’ll discuss this more thoroughly later, Rhys - with the board. Right now, could you at least explain why she’s here,” she pointed at Fiona.

“Oh, right. Fiona is a...new hire.”

“For what?”

“Vault hunting,” Fiona said, tipping her hat.

“Yes,” Rhys supplied.

“Apologies," Yvette grunted, folding her arms, "that I didn’t just take the grifter who punched me in the face and left me for dead at her word,”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Fiona didn’t sound sorry. “I was in a hurry.”

Yvette pointed. “She shouldn’t even be here. She’ll probably try to lift something on the way out. I won’t stop the drones from riddling her with bullets in that case.”

“She’s not going to,” Rhys started, then looked at the woman in question. “Right? Fiona, are-are you going to steal anything?”

“Tempting...but no. I’m a professional Vault Hunter now,” she winked.

A surge of pain lit up Rhys's arm, and he leaned against the desk with a grunt. "Shit..."

“What’s wrong with you?” Fiona asked, a bit of worry slipping into her voice.

“Just a...a slight stomach ache,” Rhys lied with a chuckle. "Don't worry. Probably...a bad breakfast..."

“Fine, you're off the hook for now, but I’m not done with you. See you, LB, Gortys, sorry I don't have time to stay and chat. Maybe we can catch up later."

"Understandable," LB replied. "See you later."

"Bye!" Gortys added. "It was great seeing you!"

Fiona marched to the door, quickly exiting.

Once she was gone, Yvette turned to Rhys. “I’m currently looking into some better painkillers for this thing. I have found some promising options.”

“Sounds good. On that thought, please order up a double dosage of the ones we’re using now,”

"Right." She grabbed a datapad, tapping on it until a projection floated above it. "Anyway, first on today's agenda is a meeting with R&D presenting enhanced cybernetics schematics. Dr. Grace, head scientist, is in charge of the presentation."

"Great. Looking forward to it," Rhys said as the pain subsided. He entered the office with LB and Gortys following.

“Ooooh, this is so cool!” Gortys said cheerfully. "And it's kinda like Jack's office! Except brighter! And with fewer Jack statues!"

His office had a large view. It wasn’t as good as Handsome Jack’s had been, since Helios gazing down on Elpis gave Jack's quite a view, but it was something. Rhys gazed out over a large plateau of grassy fields. It was quite pretty in the springtime. He dropped onto his chair, letting out a long sigh.

If only he could see the future. That would be very helpful right now.

After a couple of hours and several dozens of questions, Gortys finally left with LB.

A man entered his office. "Hello, there!" he said jovially. The man introduced himself, smiling like he had won a million dollars. "I just wanted to say, I've been looking forward to this." The man was of average height, looked to be in his twenties or thirties, had dusty blonde hair, scruff, and bright blue eyes. He wore a lab coat, and Rhys recalled-

"You're here for the R&D presentation?"

"Of course, Mr... Rhys."

"Rhys is fine." Rhys scanned the message from Yvette on the meeting topic quickly. "You're presenting...new enhanced cybernetic schematics?"

"Indeed." 

Rhys glanced back to see his eyes locked on... Rhys followed them to his robotic arm. Okay. "Something of interest to you, there?" Rhys asked conversationally, a tingle in his neck.

"I- my apologies," the man shook his head and looked up, setting his case down. "It's hard not to admire such...craftsmanship." He retrieved a device that projected an image. Graphs and facts, Rhys saw. "Obviously, cybernetics are of great interest to me."

"Okay, then," Rhys said. It wasn't like oddness was in short supply on Pandora. Besides, his arm was definitely well-made, and it wouldn't be the first time it caught attention. Rhys liked to look nice for a reason. Don't think too hard about it, he told himself. He would take it as a compliment. "Show me what you have."

"Well," the guy said, composing himself, "Quite simply put, Atlas would be offering all there is to offer." 

"Please, tell me, how exactly these are better than Hyperion's current cybernetics."

"Ah, that would be an interest to you on a personal scale, I imagine." The man cleared his throat. "Seeing as you started with such cybernetics yourself, but, and I apologize for my boldness, it would be superior to your current kit. I am not privy to what modifications may have been made in-"

Rhys bounced his leg impatiently. "Go on with the presentation..." Crap, Rhys didn't remember the guy's name. He'd look it up. 

Thankfully, the R&D guy got the idea and pointed at a graph first, then the subsequent images around it, each expanding with a touch. "Okay, Rhys." There was excitement in his voice. "So. Cost efficiency, aesthetics, and utility, all improved, far more than what Hyperion managed. Imagine a...ah, full nervous system attachment. Spine, limbs, brain. We can improve anything, not just the data-mining and secretarial functions of the Hyperion implants, or the military-focused ones of the old Dahl models- which, I might say, were horrifyingly faulty and usually caused their owner's significant problems years, sometimes decades after receiving them..."

He paused and glanced at Rhys. "You heard of a mercenary hired by Hyperion some years back? Willhelm the Enforcer? That Dahl tech all but killed him." He cleared his throat. "I was privy to an examination at autopsy." The guy shuddered. "You wouldn't have wanted to see it, sir."

Rhys nodded, curiosity rising. "Uh, I have some follow-up questions there, but for now... Continue, please."

The guy cleared his throat again. "Also not to be overly dismissive of some off-brand prosthetics that are barely more functional than a plastic grabber, or those made by  random hobbyists, but... Well, need I say more? Anyway, our implants? With our ambitious project, we could wire all the way from your brain to your toes if wanted. Implants can improve left or right-brained capacities. Motor functionality can be upgraded by three hundred percent. We could also give the enhanced functionalities of a cybernetic part to any limb or organ without removing the corresponding body part first. No more amputations, eye replacements, heart replacements, etcetera. Unless of course, it is already necessary, such as in cases in which the part in question was damaged beyond repair prior to the operation. Because of this, costs of cybernetic implants will decline by almost sixty percent, but profits would increase substantially due to fewer materials required."

Rhys mulled that over. "That sounds great in theory but, how is that even possible? These implants will actually work in reality? Hyperion was trying to wire implants into the nervous system and brain for years with only minimal success."

"I cannot cover all of the ins and outs here, Rhys, but I will send a full report. Suffice it to say the implants behave completely in tune with the owner's nervous system with almost no risk of rejection. Based on our early trials."

Okay, so now they were getting to the heart of it. And it was proving to be quite interesting. Rhys could safely say the worst part of being CEO was the meetings. So many meetings and too many people. They were necessary but often dull. Sometimes, Rhys would find himself zoning out. That was what his Echo Eye was good for, recording and sorting out the important bits.

This meeting, though, was proving to be interesting. Rhys found himself engaged.

This could really make Atlas again, he thought, fighting an excited smile from showing up too soon. He wasn't going to make it easy on this guy. "What about accessibility? Affordability will make them sell better, but what terms are you thinking of personally?"

"Terms? If you're referring to the fine print on Hyperion models, s-um, Rhys, I suggest we simplify them. People are less likely to purchase cybernetics if they know their body will be claimed by the company upon death. I would start by making that voluntary and in large print, so to speak. But that is my opinion."

"Obviously," Rhys replied, "we'd h-have to work out the details on that, but I don't think anyone was ever too happy with the fine print. Well, maybe Wilhelm was..." Rhys nodded with thought. "How did your team come up with this?"

"Sir?" The man's brow furrowed.

"Well, I imagine all these sudden leaps and bounds didn't appear out of thin air," Rhys chuckled.

"I, uh...well..." He cleared his throat. "Full disclosure? I came from Helios. I was head of the lead cybernetics team. We...brought a lot of their data from Helios. After it crashed, I spent a significant portion of time mining as much info as I could from the broken databases. We- er, they- were close to new breakthroughs in cybernetics. Then there were all the new resources Atlas was picking up after you...looted a Vault. It was just a matter of time and working on perfecting what Hyperion did not."

"Oooh, stealing from the competition. I like that," Rhys said, feeling suddenly smug. "Hang on a sec." Rhys scanned the file again. "Your name is...William Grace?" 

"Yes. People tend to call me Dr. Grace."

"Right. Dr. Grace, this seems very promising. R&D will have full funding to complete it."

Dr. Grace smiled. "Thank you very much."

"So, follow up question time," Rhys leaned back. "You got to witness Wilhelm's autopsy?"

"I did."

"What sort of issues were there?"

"Well, this is more confidential in nature, but the man had a serious case of corrosive rejection in many of his implants. I believe it is why he was killed. In his prime he was an unstoppable force but the careless combination of man and machine weakened him... I cant imagine how much pain that must've caused.

"But my work on implants has made them more refined than any cybernetics before."

"So the danger is almost zero, but not quite?"

"Everything is a risk." The man looked determined. "But I do not foresee such decay in our work."

As the meeting ended, Dr. Grace seemed to be quite pleased. He closed the device and his face lit up. "I just want to say, I am a huge fan of your work."

"O-oh," Rhys said, blinking. "Really?" 

The man made a fist in the air. "The way you brought Hyperion to their knees and stopped at nothing to do it. Destroying that fake Jack and crashing Helios! And without missing a beat, rising Atlas from the grave like a phoenix! It's short of impossible! I believe that you and this company will become a legend!"

"Oh- uh, thanks?" Rhys said, rubbing his neck. He was still taken off guard when this sort of thing happened, even if he should be used to it by now.

"Ah, sorry if that was inappropriate." Dr. Grace said, and cleared his throat. "I really was eager to meet you."

"No, no, it's fine," Rhys said, catching himself and offering a hand to shake. "No harm done."

Dr. Grace obliged happily before leaving. 

Rhys noticed that Yvette had been waiting nearby. She approached. "So, how does it feel to be on the other side of the fanclub for once?"

"To be honest...I'm not sure," Rhys replied. "It's sometimes...weird?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? I figured you would love it. You love attention."

"I mean...it's nice to have respect, and at first it was...wow, so cool... But it gets kind of hard to tell who genuinely likes me and who's just kissing my ass for their own benefit."

"Touché."

Rhys's neck tingled again. "Though that guy was probably one of the former... He was a bit...more odd than usual. So, anyway, what's up?"

"You have a call holding from Dr. Tannis."

"Oh, thanks," Rhys said. "I'll get it."

Rhys lay sleepless in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't tired tonight, in spite of the long day. Well, scratch that, he was tired, but sleepy, he definitely was not. He had so many mixed thoughts and feelings floating around, and nothing calmed them down. He rolled over restlessly, punching his pillow lightly.

Jack… What do you want? What do you hope to gain? What are your plans?

Rhys had no answer for this problem. No solution that seemed possible, or doable. Taking Jack out wasn't a feasible possibility at the moment, but leaving Jack to return to his former machinations wasn't either. Honestly, it felt like the only course of action was to wait and watch how this was all played out.

The thought didn't give him much comfort.

Rhys went into his memory banks and searched through them for something to play. Usually he’d go to one of the earlier ones, and rewatch all the trouble he, Vaughn, and Yvette used to get up to on Helios. They were great for cheering up. But tonight, he wasn’t much in the mood for that. Instead, he went into some of his more recent memories. He took a deep breath and selected one.

The caravan rattled along toward their destination. Most of the people in the cabin were already crashed on the couch or the floor. Only Athena - who was currently driving - remained awake. Rhys was sitting in the back on the floor, in one of those moods where sleep was futile. He’d offered to drive, but Athena had waved him off with dismissive words. With a sigh, he rested his chin on his knees, utterly bored. There was a storm outside the caravan, mostly snow and wind, but it added to the background noise of the rattling vehicle.

“Hey, tiger!”

Rhys almost jumped but caught himself. He wasn’t used to Jack popping out of nowhere, yet, but he at least was better at catching himself before reacting. Rhys glanced at him. The AI had manifested himself to look like he was sitting next to Rhys. “So what's up with my new favorite dork?"  he asked jovially. " See you’re not sleeping like everyone else.” Jack had been in such a good mood since he’d murdered a bunch of Vallory's thugs at the Atlas facility.

“Not tired,” Rhys said quietly.

“Ahhh, it has been an exciting day, huh kid- er, cupcake?”

“Why are you here right now?”

“What, I need a specific reason to hang out with my meat sack host? I’m bored,” he whined. Rhys sometimes wondered if Jack even considered his phrasing, or if he just spewed the first bullshit that sprouted into his brain. He’d never imagined Jack would be so...childish at times.  "Got tired of looking at your stupid memories anyway. Boooring."

Rhys felt his face go red. Which memories did Jack watch? He didn't want to know. Hopefully Jack had found one dumb one and decided that was enough. Rhys ran a hand through his hair. “Er- it’s just the last time you appeared, you seemed to have a specific thing you wanted to talk about. And the time before that- and-”

“Okay, okay I get what your're saying, but honestly, I’m really just boooorrred. God, I hate road trips.”

“Well that makes two of us,” Rhys snorted. “I’m so stiff, and this damn car is so crowded.”

“Yeah I just wanna...I don't know, blow up some bandits or....strangle an underling. Or have hot sex with my badass girlfriend."

Rhys frowned. “Well, I just want to be back on Helios, chilling in my bed with a bowl of sugary cereal and watching videos on the Echonet."

“God, you sound, like, super single, do you know that, cupcake? And I'm not talking like the you're in between relationships kinda way, I'm talking like in the forever alone kinda way."

"Hey! What do you know?"

"That your last girlfriend dumped you because you wanted her to peg you."

Rhys went red. "Jack, stop looking at my memories!" He huffed then added in a mutter, face burning, "and there was more to it than that. She liked that one R&D guy better. All 'cause he liked feeding cute, helpless animals to the skags and filming it for the Echonet hits!"

Jack shrugged. "All I'm trying to say is- You’ll get back to your boring forever alone cereal, Rhysie, I promise!" Rhys squinted at him. “Just gotta find the Vault thing first!”

Rhys hesitated, wanting to say something, but he wasn't sure he really wanted to. 

“What is it, tiger? You look like the cogs are turning up there.”

“I just...can’t get over how strange all this is. I went to a Vault Key deal and walked away with you.”

“All in all, a better deal,” Jack preened. "I mean, are Vault Keys drop-dead gorgeous and super smart and funny? Didn't think so."

Rhys didn’t grace that with an affirmation. Vallory’s goons were hunting them now and he was stuck in this chilly caravan with a bunch of people he’d only met this morning. He wasn't sure this was the better deal. He should be sitting on a mountain of cash right now in Henderson's former office. Still, this had been interesting, he supposed. Maybe "interesting" wasn't the correct word for it, though. Probably "absolutely appalling and terrifying" was.

Jack’s voice dropped. “Bet Helios has gone into the shitter without me to whip those lame-Os into shape.”

“Oh my god, yes,” Rhys said. “Stock rates dropped. Productivity went down. So much profit loss occurred. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. There was a shit ton of infighting in the power vacuum that followed. A loooott of people died. The costs of rehiring took their toll. Like, my position was unstable before, but when Vasquez yanked the promotion out from under me, I knew it was only a matter of time before I was out an airlock. I guess I’m lucky he didn’t vent me into space right behind Henderson.”

“He didn’t see you as a threat,” Jack said, “boyhooho we proved his stupid ass wrong. Bet you wish you’d been the one to pull the trigger on that shotgun instead of that evil Val-whatsit lady.”

“Kind of, yeah,” Rhys admitted.

“Hey, don’t be ashamed of it. Wallethead got exactly what he deserved. Now if it were me, I would’ve choked him to death the minute his greasy ass betrayed me.”

“Don’t-don’t you mean strangle?”

“Nah, I would’ve taken that stupid tie and stuffed it down his stupid throat.”

Rhys glanced up to ensure everyone was still asleep and Athena was occupied with driving. She’d already caught him talking to "no one” once. He didn’t need it happening again.

“I’m serious, Rhys,” Jack said, tone evening out. He did sound quite serious all of a sudden. “If you’re on my team- loyal to me, and I can see you are - I’ll always take care of you. Uh, not...in a weird way...just...in a teamwork kinda way.”

Rhys was taken aback by how serious he sounded. “I uh...I appreciate that, Jack.”

“Try to get some sleep, kid. I don’t need you walking off a cliff later from exhaustion.”

Jack made finger guns just like last time before vanishing.

Rhys stood up and walked to the front of the caravan. "A-Athena?"

"Yes?"

"You knew...Jack, right, from before."

She glanced at him from the corners of her eyes. "Yes."

"Did you...did he ever betray you?" Rhys asked carefully. He knew Jack was probably watching this exchange, but he couldn't help himself.

Athena shot him another sideways glance. "That's an odd question. Why do you ask?"

"I guess...I just want to know more about him. I haven't gotten to talk to a lot of people who- who worked with him directly..."

"You'd do well to find a better obsession, Hyperion. I know something about wanting to be blindly loyal to those you work for. It'll bite you in the ass. Even if he's already gone... You'll have to find your own strength one day."

"But...you didn't really answer...um..." Rhys trailed off, twiddling his fingers together.

"Jack never betrayed me personally," Athena finally said, "maybe he never had a reason to. Or maybe I was too valuable. Or maybe my actions spoke louder than my words, and he sensed my loyalty to the mission first and foremost. He always cared more about results than the people who worked for those results."

Jack blinked into view, scowling. "For the record, I don't betray people, okay? People betray me, and then they get a bullet in their face. Not sure where people get off saying I betray people all the time like some kinda Echo series villain." The hologram vanished again.

Right, so Jack was definitely watching. Rhys sighed and nodded. "Thanks," he told the assassin and retreated back to the back of the caravan, mulling his thoughts over.

Rhys found himself examining the memory, trying to fill in the gaps. Not memory gaps - the memory was perfectly preserved by his Echo Eye. He just didn’t understand. Jack had sounded so genuine then. He had examined many of these memories, but the hint of impending betrayal couldn’t be found before. Would Rhys see it coming if it was to happen again?

No, he told himself. He wouldn't. That's why he was going to be more careful this time. That's why, he wouldn't let his guard down again. He wouldn't let himself fall for Jack's empty words and too-good-to-be-true promises.

Never again.

Chapter Text

It was a couple weeks later that Rhys took the initiative to contact Jack first. Not that Jack hadn't been calling every day, sometimes more than once, since their deal. That man was definitely persistent, Rhys would give him that. Rhys was honestly amazed at himself. Here he was, strangely not as annoyed as he really should be. Wasn't all that calling...harassment or something?

“Heya, Rhysie-cup, how’s it going?” came Jack’s voice. It sounded...smug, like he'd just won a bet.

Rhys leaned his elbows against his desk. "What's got you sounding like a skag with a fresh kill?"

"Oh, nothing." Jack chuckled. "Just the fact that you're calling me, which must mean you have news for me, baby. I just love getting news! Unless it's bad news, but something tells me it ain't that."

Rhys still wasn’t sure how he felt about allowing Jack to speak over the private link he kept in his Echo Eye. It was too much like when the man had been in his head, but he didn’t have a lot of choice. The fewer people who knew Jack was alive again the better. And Rhys was nowhere near ready to go public with this...deal. Yet.

"Well, come on, pumpkin, don't keep me waiiiting."

Rhys drew up a document on his computer. "Just before calling, I received confirmation the bandits have been....removed from your Eridium site, Jack. Atlas is holding it now."

“Excellent! You know what? You- you're doing pretty well for yourself, Rhysie!" Rhys hadn't heard Jack this happy since...well, since before...yeah. "This is gonna to be so great for m-er, us. And by great, I mean it's a money-maker.”

“And so you keep saying," Rhys said, skimming the document to look at the costs, "but I'll wait for the results of this...project before getting too excited. Gaining that site expended resources, and it won’t be long before people realize what’s going on. Atlas and Hyperion are supposed to be enemies-”

“Pssh, of course, kitten. Also I know you're new to being CEO and all, but you really should loosen up a bit. There's always gonna be rumors, but that's not a bad thing! Rumors make you popular, exciting, eh? And you know what they say? There's no such thing as bad publicity! Take it from me-"

"Who? The former CEO of Hyperion?" Rhys closed the document.

"That's just a matter of time, cupcake," Jack chuckled, but there was a heavy determination in his tone. "And it's not like I was fired or airlocked or something. Friggin’ Vault Hunters. Anyway..." Rhys scrolled through some stats as he waited for Jack to continue, "...so I've been thinking...ya know, just, turning the ole cogs upstairs..."

"Yes, what now? More Eridium?" Rhys typed on his keyboard, eyes still glued to the holoscreen. "Not unless you're ready to divulge what your project is."

"Aww, cheer up, Rhysie, wouldja? You're quite moody for a man who has piles of money with his name on it just waiting for him in the future. And no, this isn't about Eridium, actually."

"Oh?" That was a surprise.

"I was thinking you should come visit."

Rhys's mind blanked out, hands freezing on the keyboard. "Visit?" He echoed.

"Yeah! Come see what ole Jack's been doing down here in Opportunity. I mean, you saw a bit last time, but I’ve made some upgrades since then, and finally got some resources and money from Hyperion - so, it’s not gonna be a ghost town for much longer. Already got some loaders and constructors cleaning up, and I talked the board idiots into sending some employees again. Pretty sweet, huh? Almost feels like I can make something from this friggin' mess.”

“I dunno, Jack,” Rhys said automatically, reverting to neutral as he tried to process what Jack was asking. What was the man's angle here? Before, Jack had dragged Rhys to Opportunity to make a deal. But Rhys felt like there was more to it this time. What, he couldn't begin to guess. Jack wouldn't do something like this without reason, especially since it seemed he'd given it some thought. Rhys pulled up his mail and scrolled his messages. “I’m pretty busy.”

“Come onnn! You can't be that busy, it's Friday- the weekend!"

Rhys sighed. He needed to keep more distance between himself and this new thorn in his side. Hopping down to Opportunity didn’t seem like such a great idea. "Jack, I don't think-" The sound of voices reached him from beyond the Echo comms. There was some sort of activity going on outside his office. “Actually, Jack, I’m gonna have to call you back. There’s something I need to attend to.”

“Hold on, cupcake-”

Jack wasn’t going to be happy to have Rhys hang up like that, but it was just in time. The doors to his office opened.

“Vaughn!" Rhys exclaimed. He hadn't felt this genuinely happy in quite some time. Months at least. "C'mere ole pal!!” He leapt up and walked around the desk, arms open for a hug.

Vaughn stepped back, frowning. "Rhys," he said. "You look...different, somehow."

Rhys paused, taken aback. “Erm what? What’s- what's wrong?” He slowly lowered his arms, scratching the back of his head.

“What’s wrong? That’s all you’re going to say?” Vaughn seemed to burst now that he had the chance. “Look, Rhys, it’s been months! ” He threw up his hands. “No word, no contact, nothing! No, ‘hey buddy, how’s it going lately? Haven’t been murderfied by bandits yet? Oh that’s cool! How’s it going with that weird Helios cult anyway!?’ no asking if you want to have a movie night, get drunk, get pizza or ice cream or... something . And I had to hear from Fiona about this Jack-coming-back-to-life business. Again. Look, I-I thought we were bros!”

“We are!” Rhys insisted. “I’m really sorry, man...it’s been really hellish lately. Running Atlas, this Jack thing... I offered for you to come work here, but you declined, so...” He shrugged and looked away. “There hasn’t been a good time to just hang out or chat or... Sorry."

“Whatever, I’ll get over it.” Vaughn seemed to deflate. He never was one to hold onto his anger very long. "If you're still offering that hug...?"

Rhys met Vaughn's gaze and sighed with relief. "Of course! I'm-I'm always offering hugs. Well, to some people, anyway. And you're one of them."

They hugged, Rhys glad to his other best friend back. Even if it was probably just temporarily.

“I can see you’ve been busy," Vaughn commented when he stepped back.

“Yeah... Sooo...does that mean you’re not going to rail on me about Jack?”

“Rail? Nah, that's Fiona's job," Vaughn said. “I mean, does it seem like a bad idea to me? Yes, yes it does. He did try to kill you last time. But am I going to even try to convince you it's a bad idea? I'm not even bothering, bro. I know you too well. And I think Yvette does too."

Rhys let out a loud exhale and leaned back on his desk, palms planted on it. “Look...what do you expect me to do? I tried to destroy him before, and that obviously didn’t work. My best bet is to just...carefully see where this goes. It’s not like I’m going to put my life in his hands again. I'm not planning to let my guard down. It’s just business.”

“Maybe you should just...cut off contact or something?”

“Noooo... I’m kinda in the middle of a business deal with him. That would not be wise.”

“Look, Rhys." Vaughn paced back and forth a couple times. "Fiona just wants to keep you from getting yourself killed. I think. And I do to of course.”

Rhys folded his arms. “Look, I- I handle dangerous and unstable people all the time in this business, even moreso now than before. I’m not just some low level code-monkey anymore, okay? I can handle it.”

Vaughn halted and rolled his shoulders. He smiled. "Well, I guess that's good enough for me. Like I said, not gonna bother you over it."

"Thank you," Rhys said. It was nice to know there wasn't going to be more arguing over Jack. At least with Vaughn. “You know what? How ‘bout a fun night tonight, bro? It's Friday. Let’s get wasted! We’ll make Yvette come along too!”

“I was actually hoping you’d say that!” Vaughn exclaimed, eyes brightening.

Yvette walked in just then. “Make me come along where?”

“To Rhys’s." Vaughn replied. "To get wasted, maybe watch a movie, all of us falling asleep cuddling..."

Yvette paused for a moment, then smiled. “Okay, I'm in, but one of you is buying the drinks. And it’d better be something good. None of the Pandoran black moonshine shit or cheap rakkahol.”

Rhys grinned. “Beggars can’t be choosers, Yvette.”

“I’m not begging. I’m simply taking advantage of your generous nature to put in a request.” She grinned back.

“Seems like a lot of people do,” Rhys replied with a playful eyeroll. “And don’t worry. I’ve got port from the Edens that survived the Helios crash. We'll break it out - the good stuff.”

“Perfect. Otherwise I might've had to sit this one out.”

Vaughn laughed then said, "alright, come on, where's the group hug at?"

With more chuckling, Rhys and Yvette obliged, practically crushing Vaughn between them to the best of their ability. They held on for awhile, and Rhys felt like he was gaining some years of his life back quite suddenly. Sometimes it was easy to forget how much Rhys missed this. He'd been so busy... It was so nice to just be in the same room with his best friends again.

The hug ended after a few moments.

"Hey, bro," Rhys said, raising a fist.

"Bro," Vaughn replied, pressing his fist to Rhys's. "Bro?" He asked Yvette.

She stared at his fist for a few moments...then obliged.

"Oh look, Rhys! I got her to do it. I got her to do the bro fist!"

"Yvette," Rhys said teasingly.

"What?" She cleared her throat, pulling off her glasses and wiping them. "It's been a...long while. I'm feeling...an emotion. Or three."

Vaughn whispered, "Shhh don't tell anybody,"

Rhys chuckled. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Yvette cleared her throat again and spoke directly to Rhys. “Oh, before I forget, I have something you might like.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial. It was filled with little capsules coded with bright colors. “I managed to procure something that might help with the pain. The best painkillers money can buy that are actually safe to use. I put it on the Atlas budget. They’re expensive, but...hopefully worth it." She handed the vial to Rhys.

“Where did- did you get these?” Rhys asked, checking the bottle and slowly turning it in his grasp to examine the contents.

“They came all the way from Eden-7. It was a hard bargain, but I got a good bulk deal.”

“That was...fast.”

“Yeah, well, it couldn’t wait.”

Vaughn spoke up. “Uh, Rhys, why do you need painkillers?”

Rhys realized he had yet to share that detail. Well, it was now or never. He raised his left hand and pulled the glove off.

“Holy crap!” Vaughn exclaimed, eyes wide.

“Yep,” Rhys said, flexing the thick gray layer on his hand. He rolled up his sleeve while he was at it to show the lines traveling up his elbow. “Courtesy of that stupid Vault.”

“The Vault of the Traveler did that? I knew you were out for awhile but... Freaky! What is it?”

“No idea, but-uh, Dr. Tannis, the Eridian specialist I hired? Seems to think it’s an Eridian augmentation. One specifically that allows me to open another Vault.”

“Whoa...so the Vault Atlas is after….”

“Yep…”

“But why...why does it cause you pain?”

“It’s meant for Eridian physiology, not human. Or at least, that’s what Dr. Tannis ‘hypothesized’ . She suggests I should be thankful it didn’t outright kill me or manifest in a worse way.”

“Damn, bro.”

Yvette cleared her throat to cut in. “Anyway, pay attention because I don’t want to repeat myself. You can only take one pill every four hours. That's one dose. Do not exceed six doses in twenty-four hours. Unfortunately, the effects are not said to last as long as one would want - two to three hours approximately...but at least it’s better than nothing.”

Rhys stared at her. “Could you repeat that?”

“Oh my go-”

Rhys chuckled.

"What-" Her expression showed realization next. "Prick."

“Ah, hah, the look on your face! Nah, I got it. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Can’t wait to try these.”

“Would you prefer I keep an eye on them?” Yvette asked. "Maybe I shouldn't even ask-"

“Nah, I got it.” Rhys said as he tucked the vial into his pocket.

“Be careful. They cost a lot.”

“You already said that.”

“Just making sure you heard.”

Several games were played, a movie watched, and enough pizza, ice cream and alcohol consumed to reduce everything to a pleasant hum in Rhys’s mind and make him comfortably full. Yvette was passed out on the floor, snoring loudly. She’d fallen asleep part of the way through the movie. Rhys had collapsed on the large couch in the living room, Vaughn lying partially on his chest. Vaughn groaned, “the room won’t stoppp spinning, oh my goood.”

“I know, man,” Rhys said with a sigh.

“I’m glad, bro, so glad.”

“Me too, bro.”

“Bro.”

Gortys's voice whispered from nearby. “Why do they keep saying that word?”

“It seems inbedded in their circuitry,” LB responded. “Whereby on visual or physical contact, they must use the word 'bro' at least twenty times.”

“Oooh.”

Rhys snorted and threw a pizza sauce-stained paper plate at the former loader. Unfortunately, he didn’t account for the plate’s lack of aerodynamics, and it floated off to the side. “Hey, shut up, man. Filling her head with nonsense.”

“It is perfect sense.”

“Oh really? Well- You-you're just jealous I won’t call you son. Hah.”

"Unlikely," the former loader replied, picking Gortys up and putting her on the table nearby. He then took a seat on the floor.

Rhys was actually grateful for this. It was much better than hitting the club. One night stands lacked a certain...necessary emotional aspect to them - the feel of trust, the feel of letting your guard down. Rhys honestly hadn't really been planning on it this weekend, hadn't been in the mood. And as a nice bonus for tonight, his arm wasn’t hurting for once.

Vaughn spoke up, “it’s been so long since we’ve done anything like this. It’s almost like back on Helios-mmph,” he burped. “S’cuse me.”

“Ah, the good ole days,” Rhys sighed. “Hey, remember that time we put that overpowered laxative in Vasquez’s coffee? Oh god he was perpetually stuck in the restroom for like, two days. He had to call in to work anyway, and Henderson was pissed.”

Vaughn laughed. “O.M.G. yeah, and he had no clue why. And remember that time that Nakayama guy pushed you down the stairs because he hated your guts after you got the high score on the annual Handsome Jack trivia quiz? The fall broke your arm, so we put ten alarm clocks in the walls of his room that week to go off overnight at various times. And Yvette actually helped us.”

Rhys laughed. “Yeah! Oooh my god, that dude was the worst. What a sore loser. It was just a stupid quiz.”

“Oh," Vaughn laughed, recalling something else "-and that time that one dude threw himself out an airlock because you beat him at the grand finger guns tournament.”

“Okay, yeah, that one was pretty funny actually.”

They lay quietly for awhile with nothing but the sounds of LB and Gortys discussing the movie and the whir of the electronics in the room.

“So… The arm...is it really bad?”

Rhys glanced down where Vaughn was staring at his mutated hand visible on his chest from the rolled up sleeve. “It sucks." Rhys said. “But it could be worse. It hasn’t spread or anything and it’s manageable. I think I just gotta manage the pain until the Vault’s open. That should help. And we're looking into other ways to deal with it in the meantime.”

“Oh, that makes sense... I think?”

“It does. You’re just drunk, bro.”

“So’re you, bro,” Vaughn giggled, and they both started laughing.

There was another lazy pause.

Until Vaughn broke it with. "Can I...ask you something, bro?”

“What is it, bro?”

“Tell me the truth... Are you glad Jack’s back?”

“Huh?” Rhys asked, blinking at the ceiling. “What does that mean? Why would I be glad?”

“I...don’t know, bro, you just...were so depressed when we last talked at the base camp. Like, spacing off every twenty minutes with this miserable look on your face. And now...well, you just seem a lot happier now.”

Rhys spluttered out some laughter. Just how much reaching did it take to make a connection like that? He wondered. “Pfffft, what? Now the alcohol really has gone to your head, bro! Jack had nothing to do with any of that. It was...a rough time then, okay? I didn’t know what I was doing and death seemed imminent, but now… Now, things are looking better for Atlas, for myself. And I have my friends around. So yeah, pretty happy.”

“Yeaah, surrre. Because Rhys didn’t care one bit his great hero - the one whom he kept all sorts of merch of in his office and won trivia contests of and kept his spit in a vial that one time - betrayed him!”

“Come onnn, bro!” Rhys said, face burning. “That was...a long time ago. I- I don’t care about that anymore. I was...too much of a Hyperion boy. Company man.”

“Uh huh. Whatever you say, bro.”

“Ugh,” Yvette’s voice was heard. Apparently, they'd woken her up. “Would you just shut up and admit you’re in love with him already, Rhys? Why exactly do you pretend like you don't?”

Rhys’s felt the alcoholic flush in his face deepen. “I- whaaat are you talking about? Why would- That’s absurd- ”

Yvette sat up, glasses missing and hair a wild mess on her head. “Don't think I forgot about that truth or dare game when you were first working at Helios where you told me you had a crush on that man.”

“I was drunk! Like way more than now! And a lot younger! And I was also new to Hyperion! Like I said, long time ago." Rhys narrowed his eyes. His voice dropped. "And even if that were true... Meeting someone like Jack in reality has a way of...disillusioning a person.”

"Uh huh, suurrre, fanboy. You seem...very disillusioned."

Vaughn made an aborted shrugging motion. “Hate to say it, but Yvette's right, bro."

“Hey, LB,” Rhys called. The robot turned his red light on him. “Back me up here! Tell them I do not have a crush on the crazy asshole that tried to steal my body! That'd be ridiculous.”

“No. Yvette’s logic is sound." Yvette made a sound of agreement as LB continued. "Even I have concluded this much. And all I have are algorithms to go on. Shall I pull up examples of similar behaviors and how they relate to 'human crushes' on the Ec-”

“Alright, you know what, we are no longer friends. None of us. I disown your…all of your friendships.”

“Aww, come on, Rhys,” Vaughn said. “Don't get like that!"

But Yvette just laughed. “Okay, fanboy, whatever you say,”

“I’ll back you, Rhys!” Gortys said, throwing her arms up.

“Oh, look," Rhys said, "Gortys is my only friend now. The only one who believes in me! How's it feel to not be my friend anymore?”

“Yep!" the smaller robot said.

"I feel fine," Yvette said. 

Gortys spoke up, "What am I backing you on again, Rhys?”

“Doesn’t matter, friends have each other’s backs.”

“Okay! Question, how do I have your back? Obviously it’s on you, and taking it off seems painful...and fatal.”

“No just...support me, please. Emotionally.”

“Okey-dokey! No problemo!”

"That seems unwise," LB said.

Yvette crawled onto the couch

“Yes, Yvette, join the cuddle puddle,” Vaughn said, which provoked a laugh from all of them. She flumped down, making Rhys grunt, and he threw an arm around her.

“I’m drunk,” she whispered.

“We all are.”

Vaughn said, “We should get together more often.”

“Yeah, we should...”

Rhys woke up groaning, head and arm throbbing, a loud chiming in his ears. Bright Pandoran sunlight filtered in through the gold Atlassian curtains. Rhys squinted, pulling up his arm - and subsequently bumping someone - to rub his eyes. He focused, taking in the situation and his lack of personal space. Vaughn was using his chest as a pillow, passed out. Yvette had her calves on his stomach, the rest of her sprawled across the bed to take up a surprising amount of space. 

Rhys winced. “Ugh…”

The chiming kept coming. Even Vaughn was beginning to stir.

Rhys stretched toward the Echo communicator on the nightstand, which seemed like far too much effort. He wiggled, disturbing his friends. Yvette complained sleepily, shifting slightly, while Vaughn just groaned and rolled over, away from Rhys. Rhys finally snagged his Echo and activated it, holding the display to his face. He had all of two seconds to register an unhappy face in the screen before-

“What the hell, kiddo?" Jack said, "First you hang up on me and then you ignore me?!” Jack’s voice was like a blow to the head. Rhys winced, hungover as hell and not needing this.

“Could you quiet down a little?" Rhys whined. "Oooh my- My heeeaaad."

Jack seemed to do a double take. “Heh. You look like shit, princess. You been partying? I thought we had business to take care of. What happened to 'I'm pretty busy, Jack'?” he asked, imitating Rhy's voice. But Jack didn't sound angry. In fact, he seemed amused.

Oh god.

He realized he was a fucking mess. And Jack was seeing him like this, without his carefully styled and professional look in place. Shit, fuck, that wasn't good. He couldn't afford to show any weakness around Jack, even if that weakness was dumb bedhead. Rhys reached up and tried to comb his hair back with his left hand, but it was tangled and he knew it would require the comb. All he managed was getting his fingers caught in his own hair, as if this wasn't embarrassing enough.

Jack laughed at this, because of course he would. “Anyway, I’ve been trying to call you all night!”

Rhys, cheeks burning with embarrassment, rubbed his temples, noting the fifteen missed calls in his notifications. “Yeah, Jack, that’s when people sleep.” He dropped the communicator and put his face in his palms, trying to quell his discomfort. His private comms currently displayed even more missed calls. About two dozen. What the hell was Jack's problem anyway? Didn't he ever sleep?

“Pffft, sleep's for the weak.”

Apparently not.

Yvette chortled nearby, but didn’t say anything. Rhys pulled his face out of his hands and looked at her. She grinned. He couldn't place why she had a surprisingly smug look on her face this early in the morning. She didn't look much better off.

“What was that?” Jack asked. “You with someone there?”

Rhys grabbed the communicator again. “Uh yeah, actually- My friends...”

Jack’s eyebrows shot up, mouth going to an 'O' shape. “Damn, Rhysie, you’ve been getting around.”

Rhys felt his face burn even more. “No- Jack, they’re- my friends, they’re not...not...”

“What, you mean like, the no benefits kinda friends? Psh, lame.”

Rhys groaned. “Come on, man... Please get real...”

Yvette snickered again, but seemed to be trying to contain it.

Jack also laughed - Why was everyone finding this so damned funny? - before sobering with an abruptness that was jarring. “What was so important you had to hang up, anyway?”

“I’m CEO, Jack. Besides, I don’t have to tell you everything I do.” Rhys reluctantly dragged himself from the bed, taking the Echo with him. He stumbled into the kitchen and set to work on making coffee, hoping it’d help chase away the hangover. “In fact, I shouldn’t tell you much of anything that I do. You’re from a rival company. I mean, technically we have a partnership, but that’s just for business deals.”

“Well, sure, but technically we haven't worked out the deets on that. Besides, it's just common courtesy to tell someone why you were a rude jerk to them, especially when it really seems like you hung up on that person to run off partying."

"That's not-"

"Buuuut, whatever… I’ll let it slide. Handsome Jack’s generous like that.”

Rhys snorted. He reached for the vial of painkillers. He popped one and poured his coffee, adding a splash of cream. As he stirred, a thought occurred to him. "Wait. How the hell did your call get through anyway. I had my stuff off."

"Three words, kid. Are you ready for this? Jack. Hack. Attack. Eh? Pretty sweet?"

Rhys pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course... And besides, you've used that one before."

"Yeah, and I'll keep using it, because it's awesome." Jack shifted in the screen, and Rhys found himself trying to make out details in the background. He couldn't see much, but some overhead lights of a pearly-white color were visible. "Anyway, kid, are you going to come down here or what? Today or tomorrow would be perfect, seeing as it's the weekend."

“I didn't even agree!" Rhys said as he sat down, sipping on his coffee.

"That's...why I'm asking?"

"Jack..." Rhys took a moment to inhale. "I just...don't understand."

“What is exactly so hard to understand about 'would you like to come visit'? Seems pretty straight forward to me, dumdum.”

“Why do you want me to see this? CEO of a rival company, remember?”

“Rival companies, sure, but you seem to keep forgetting our deal. You’re the one who gave me the Eridium, so I figured you should get a peak. Plus it’s badass and why wouldn’t you want to see this?”

“Jack, there’s people who deal with the overview stuff. They'll send the report as soon as Hyperion officiates it. In other words: not my job. I’m an extremely busy man-”

“Yeah, yeah, blah blah, Mr. Party Head, I am too, but you don’t see me complaining.”

"It's unnecessary and out of my way.”

“Come on, Rhysie, cooome onnn … You really aren’t even a little interested? Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. 'Sides, the Hyperion report's only gonna have what they want it to have. This way I share more than that."

"Isn't that...against company policy. Or something?"

"They can't do shit about it. I'm the one down here, not those dicks on the board."

Rhys took a larger drink of coffee. "I thought you didn't want to share before.

"At first I was a little eh on it, but I've changed my mind. You deserve to see more." There was a pause, Jack's expression going from amused to unreadable. He added, "Besides...I was hoping to buy you dinner.”

“Dinner?” Rhys stiffened. Was Jack going to poison him? He instantly shoved that idea away. If Jack was going to kill him, it wouldn’t be with poison. Jack preferred more dramatic methods of murder like shooting you in the face or wringing your neck.

That didn’t give him much comfort.

No, surely not. The specifics of the site deal still had to be haggled over by logistics. Jack couldn’t kill him...yet. Not unless he decided he didn't want his Eridium anymore. But now that he had Hyperion resources maybe the deal wouldn't stop him. Maybe Jack still wanted revenge. Maybe this was some kind of hostile takeover in the making. Rhys honestly didn't know. He'd sworn to himself he wouldn't let his guard down.

“Yeah,” Jack said with a laugh that crinkled his mask. God, did that mask look so life-like, Rhys reflected suddenly. How did they make it? Did it come off? “Din-ner .” Jack emphasized each syllable as if pronouncing the word to a toddler.

“Why?”

“Jeeze, don't sound so suspicious, kid. It's just as a little personal thank you for the deal. Plus, we gotta eat anyway. And honestly? I just need an excuse to go to the new restaurant Hyperion's opening, and you do too! It'll be fun. I can't remember the last time I had a decent friggin' meal with genuine flavor. We'll be the first customers. And there'll be VIP privileges and discounts. Pretty cool, right? You're in the big leagues now.”

Rhys had to process that. “Are you sure good food exists on Pandora?”

“Oh don’t worry about it, it does, but it does only here in Opportunity. So that's why you need to get your ass down here to have some. Trust me. I'm never wrong about food.”

Rhys leaned back in his seat, sighing. Oh, screw it. Who knew the promise of a nice dinner was enough to win him over? Possibility of imminent death be damned. It would be nice. The food Rhys had been importing for Atlas was hardly top quality, mostly to save on costs at the moment. Atlas couldn't afford to dish out extra if it could be helped. He missed those fine dinners he and Vaughn and Yvette used to save up for every once in awhile on Helios. “Alright, Jack. Fiiiine. I guess I am a little curious. I'll be down tomorrow.”

“Awesome! Oh, and don't forget to dress nicely. Anyway, I’ll see ya then.”

And with that, the line went dead.

Rhys thought he might feel a little annoyed, but the truth was, he was kind of happy with this. He’d finally see what all the fuss was about. And the meal was a nice bonus.

"Really?" Yvette asked. She walked in and helped herself to coffee.

"Really what?" Rhys asked.

"You refused to meet with him until that man said he was going to buy you dinner, and then magically, all caution thrown to the wind, you were all for it. And you're still going to tell me you aren't in love with him?"

"Oh okay, it's not that kind of a dinner!" Rhys insisted. "Besides, why are you listening in on my calls?"

"As loud as that man is, hard not to."

Rhys sighed, rubbing his face. "Is this really such a bad idea?"

"Yes," Yvette said without missing a beat.

"God," Rhys pushed his face into his hands again. "I could use a little more faith here."

"Well, I suppose I could lie. Which seems shitty of me when your life could be on the line here. But if you really want-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay..." Rhys said, a weight growing in his chest, knowing she was right. "I'll...I'll call it off later."

"Uh huh."

"I will!"

"You won't. I'd even bet a week's worth of lunches on it."

"Deal," Rhys said.

"Oooh nice," Yvette said. "I'm looking forward to those lunches."

"Me too," Rhys said. "Because you'll be buying for once."

"Hah, we'll see."

Chapter Text

Once Rhys had showered, dressed, and tamed his hair, he returned to the kitchen. He found Vaughn awake, sitting at the kitchen table with Yvette, sunglasses hiding his likely sore eyes.

Rhys announced to his friends, “I’m gonna do it.”

Vaughn asked, his voice raspy, “do what?”

“Call off the dinner,” Rhys replied. He felt much more awake now and ready to follow through on his promise, his hangover chased off by the painkiller and coffee.

Yvette said, “the one I was just telling you about.”

“Oh. Right. The one you two made the bet on. The one…with Jack. Jack and Rhys.”

“Alright,” Rhys said, pulling out his Echo communicator. “Watch as I earn a week’s worth of lunches and ultimately wipe that smug look off Yvette’s face.”

“Can’t wait,” she replied with folded arms.

Rhys dialed Jack’s comms. He kept it to audio only because he figured that’d be easier for everyone involved. Just tell him and hang up.

“Y’ello~” came a cheerful answer. “What’s up, babe? Jack of your dreams answering.”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “Hey, Jack-”

“Ahhh, Rhysie cupcake, I was just thinking about how I forgot to set up a specific time for our meetup and dinner! Which I’m really looking forward to, by the way. This is gonna blow your socks off, kiddo... That’s what you’re calling about, right? Need to know when to meet your ole pal Jack?”

“Right, Jack, listen-”

“Would six o’clock be cool?”

Rhys stared at his device, watching the flicker of the signal bar on the small screen. He glanced up at Yvette, her gaze twinkling as she mouthed, “go on.”

Rhys looked back down at the device, swallowing.

“Hello? Can you hear me, pumpkin? This thing working?”

“Y-yeah, I’m here.” Rhys cleared his throat. “Um. Actually. Jack?”

“Yeah, what’s up? Six not a good time? I know it’s a long drive, and you’ve probably got a bit of homework-”

“So here’s the thing.” Rhys glared at his Echo, forcing his mouth to speak. “I…”

“What is it?” Jack’s voice started to sound impatient. “This suspense is killing me! Come on, spit it out before I have an aneurysm.”

“Well, actually, let’s just say that I can’t make it,” Rhys blurted, wincing. He hated the way his chest felt heavy, outweighing everything else in that moment. Even his worry of pissing Jack off.

“You can’t?” Jack responded, sounding offended. No...not offended, Rhys realized, but also disappointed? “Why the hell not?”

Jack must be lonely. He was an extroverted man and he hadn’t had much contact with anyone since his return to the flesh. Rhys’s fingers dug into the kitchen table, his robot hand squeaking on the hard surface.

Shit. Rhys couldn’t afford to feel sorry for the bastard.

Rhys heard himself add, “...at six. I meant I can’t make it…at six.” Fucking hell.

“Ah. You got a better time?” There was something like…relief in the reply.

“Seven?” Rhys asked, avoiding Yvette’s and Vaughn’s gazes.

“Perfect, I’ll see ya then, mm’kay, babycakes?”

“Sounds great, bye,” Rhys managed before he slammed his pointer finger down on the disconnect button. He looked up at his friends, expecting to see Yvette with the smuggest expression on Pandora. However, she just looked keen, maybe even concerned. “I uh,” Rhys started and took a deep breath. “...I felt bad.”

“Right,” Yvette said. “Well, I just earned myself a week’s worth of lunches...if you don’t get killed first.”

“I...” Rhys frowned. “Well, it’s just lunches, and it seemed shitty to cancel plans like that… I mean, if Jack wanted to kill me, he would’ve done it by now… Right? Wouldn’t…wouldn’t he do it some other way, or…?”

“Your guess is good as mine, bro,” Vaughn replied with a shrug. “I just wanna nurse this hangover in peace.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Yvette said, “I think Jack is serious about the dinner which means it’s not a guise to lure you into a trap or something.”

Rhys wasn’t sure that made him feel much better.

Saturday arrived with more weight than Rhys had expected. He stood before his wardrobe, drumming his fingers on the polished wood, staring at the Atlas suit with the dark gray vest. He nodded. It would be enough. The suit was nice, and the burgundy, honeycomb patterned tie would keep it from being too ostentatious. The meetup with Jack wasn’t for awhile yet, so Rhys decided to wait to put it on. He’d have time.

He heard the chime of his front door opening.

“Yvette is here,” LB announced from the next room.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Rhys said, leaving his room. He noted Dumpy and Shiny floating off from the entryway, doing little aerial bounces.

Yvette strolled in through the door, greeting LB and then Rhys. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Rhys replied, “what’s up? You here to hang out before I leave?”

Yvette walked up to him and clasped his shoulder. She stared him dead in the eye and said, “I’m here to both keep you alive and help you get laid by the man of your dreams.”

“I’m- I’m sorry?” Rhys asked, taken aback, overcome with the urge to step away. He resisted the feeling.

“You heard me.”

“Okay, yeah, I did, but... What are you talking about?”

“Tonight. Your big date with Handsome Jack himself.”

Rhys giggled, rubbing his neck and ignoring the heat in his cheeks. “Oh, hah-hah, very funny you. Could you please stop acting like it’s a date?”

“Nope. So, what are you wearing tonight? I should hope you aren’t going in your PJs.”

“Of course not! And what does it matter to you, anyway?” Rhys asked, plopping onto the couch, but Yvette didn’t join him. She just stood before him and stared down at him, expectant.

She nudged his leg with her foot. “Show me, Rhys.”

“Whyyy?”

“Come on. You’re no fun anymore. Now that you’re all big important CEO, you won’t even let me give you fashion advice. You used to let me help you get dressed up all the time for dinners. I miss it.”

“Fiiine,” Rhys said, standing, “but only because you looked all pouty. Right this way, madam,” he said with a sweep of his hand toward the master bedroom. They walked into it and Rhys crossed the space to his wardrobe, pulling out his chosen outfit. He tossed it on the bed. “There.”

“This.” Yvette gave it a once-over and looked at him, brows furrowed. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Why?”

“This is atrocious, Rhys. Jack will take one look at that and probably go on a killing spree, starting with you.”

Rhys snorted. “And just why would Jack care what I’m wearing?”

She gave him a look. Rhys wasn’t sure what the look was supposed to convey, but it felt quite judgmental. “Rhys.” She walked to the wardrobe. “What’re the tightest pants you own?”

“What?” Rhys asked, crossing his arms. “What kind of a question is that?”

“Which ones?”

Ears blooming with warmth. Rhys opened a drawer on his dresser and pulled out tights. Yvette watched as he held them up. “The hell… Why do you have those? Don’t answer. That’s too tight... For now.”

“See?” Rhys asked, stowing them back in their place. “This is silly.” He shut the drawer, maybe a bit harder than necessary.

“Alright,” Yvette said. “Just hang on. We can fix this. Thank the stars you have me, or you would definitely be shot dead tonight.” Within minutes, Yvette had dragged out several pairs of his fancier pants, comparing them to each other in silence. She finally tossed dark black slacks with red and gold streaks down the side onto the bed. “Hope those show off your ass,” she said. “Not that you have much ass to show.”

“Come on, Vet, you can’t be serious.”

She ignored him and delved into the wardrobe again, coming away with a rich-red dress coat and black tie. “Wear a white dress shirt under it,” she said, tossing them onto the bed with the pants. She pointed at his original choice. “And take this...thing out back and burn it with gasoline in a barrel.”

“This is...way too much,” Rhys said, eyes roving over her selection. “How embarrassing is it going to be when I show up overdressed as hell? I don’t even wear that to board meetings.”  

“Trust me, Rhys, you’ll be silently thanking me later when he’s got his fingers up your-”

“Ooookay, haha, I’m gonna stop you right there.” Face burning, he narrowed his eyes and locked his hands behind his neck. “I know you find this whole thing hilarious, but I think we need to discuss just exactly what you think is going on here. Jack and I…aren’t going on a date, okay?” He had to chuckle at the ludicrousness of that statement. “Like I said, it’s not that kind of dinner. If Jack had any ah...aaattraction-” He coughed hard, finding it next to impossible to even register such a possibility. “Excuse me. If, well, he had. That. To me. He would’ve said so a long, long time ago. He’s not the kind of guy to get shy. And let’s just say you’re right, and he did...find me…”

“Attractive?” she supplied ever so helpfully.

“Yeah, that. He would still see himself waaaay outta my league.”

“You’re CEO now. You seem plenty in his league to me.”

“Then you don’t know Jack. Besides, he already told me once he’s straight.”

Yvette sat on the bed. “You do realize you’re pretty enough to make any straight man question his sexuality, right?”

“Oh, come on!”

“I’m serious! And just why were you discussing sexuality with him in the first place?”

Rhys chuckled, scrubbing his flaming cheeks with one his left hand. This was too much. “He… He likes talking about sex, obviously. He’s just a...carnal guy, y’know?”

“Alright, I’m gonna just say this plainly. There’s a reason he was flirting.”

“That…that wasn’t flirting. That’s just how he talks. To everyone. Everything. Even inanimate objects!”

“So why else would that man be buying dinner for you?”

“I…” Rhys hesitated. “I think…” He folded his hands together. He also sat on the bed, settling in the space between the two suits. “I think he’s...lonely.” At her look, he added. “Not that kind of lonely. He…he used to be surrounded by people, right? As many or as few as he wanted at any given time. And then he got stuck in my head and I was- was the only one who could interact with him. So I’m… I’m the only person left he knows that is at least on friendly terms with him. I mean, if he could have his girlfriend, or hell, even just some trustworthy coworkers there instead, he wouldn’t even be asking me to come to Opportunity. He just wants an excuse to talk someone’s ear off for an evening.”

Rhys fiddled with the sleeve of the suit, staring at the strong accents. “And being completely honest I…I’m not… Even if I wanted to. Even if he wanted to… It’d be a baaad idea, I mean, the absolute worst idea. Talk about baggage, and I mean...there are bad boys, and yeah, that can be...hot, sure...but then there’s Jack… He’s not...just some edgy, leather boy with a disturbing aesthetic and an unhealthy obsession with guns. He’s this…this unstoppable force that does what it wants, that gets what it wants. He literally came back from the dead, twice. And we’re not even getting into the fact that he’s from a rival company and he’s untrustworthy.”

Yvette sighed. “Rhys…”

Rhys continued, “and you do realize I’m like...the complete opposite of his type, right? Laugh at my former obsession all you want, but I know for a fact that he likes weird, hot, older women who know how to handle guns and have tons of experience. You’ve heard of- of that bartender Moxxi? You know they dated, right? And she wears clown makeup. And his last girlfriend Nisha is literally a cowgirl with purple lipstick who loves murder just as much as he does! Also from the videos I've seen, she gives off some serious dom vibes.”

“Alright,” Yvette said with a shrug. “Fine. If you’re right, then all the more reason to wear that suit. At least it’ll look like you put in effort tonight, and I’m sure that’ll score you some points with Jack if you’re serious about this partnership.”

“You think so?” Rhys asked.

“Yes. I do.” Yvette checked her watch. “Alright. Just don’t wear those gray, skag-skin boots with that suit. That’d be horrifying. Anyway, I gotta get. Hanging out with Janelle tonight. Have fun and try not to piss Jack off. I’d like to know if and when you make it home alive, too.”

“Yes, yes,” Rhys said. “Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Rhys entered the room that he and Jack had first discussed their deal in, the one with the scattered tech everywhere. Not much had changed, except Rhys now noted a haphazard pile of clothes in the corner and a refrigerator nearby. Did Jack live in here? Rhys didn’t see any beds. Jack had probably just scattered stuff around as needed. It wasn’t like he had any roommates to be conscientious of.

Rhys spotted Jack standing near one of the computers, his back turned to Rhys. Rhys wondered if Jack knew he was there. Surely. Surely people couldn’t just walk in here, right? He cleared his throat to be safe.

Jack turned around.

Holy shit. Rhys had to stop and stare. Jack was dressed in a sharp three-piece suit with a gold tie. Rhys swallowed hard, feeling heat crawl up the back of his neck. A man with a mask attached to his face via metal clasps had no business looking this good. Rhys realized he had never seen Jack in anything but the piles of layers he usually wore. He had also forgotten how…present Jack was in person, how much aura he exuded, now made even stronger with the fancy suit.

Good thing he had listened to Yvette. His fear of overdressing seemed silly, in retrospect. Not that he would ever admit that to her.

Jack gestured for him to come over.

Rhys did so on unsteady legs, nerves wound up tight. “Um, hi?” he said, pausing a few steps before Jack and fidgeting with his hands. “Hope I’m not late. I…got lost and-“

Jack closed the distance between them. “Heya, Rhysie,” he purred, too close. He leaned in even closer, like a lion examining fresh kill, and whispered, “you look so hot tonight, tiger. Almost makin’ me jealous. Almost.”

Rhys felt the flush spread into his face, and he ran a hand through his hair. He casually stepped back. “Uh, thanks? You too?” Shit, what kind of a response was that? “Uh…I mean…” Jack’s expression grew confused. Rhys folded his arms, trying to control his reaction, ignoring the way mortification settled in his chest. “So...uh, yeah, what’s- what’s behind that? You ready to share that much?” He asked.

Jack looked even more confused. “Behind what?”

“That big eerie door,” Rhys said, pointing at the big level 4 clearance door from before with its red warning light.

Jack glanced at it. “Oh…that. Thought I told you it was none of your beeswax.”

“Curiosity is maddening.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“But satisfaction brought it back to life,” Rhys finished smugly.

Jack looked at him. And his lips twisted into a vicious grin. “God, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for someone to respond with that?” He laughed. “Like…forever!”

Rhys preened. “Honestly, same.”

“You’re really something, kiddo.” Jack turned fully to the door. “Anyway, I can’t divulge this secret. It’s not part of the project related to our deal. And I’d really, really appreciate it if you left well enough the hell alone.” Rhys shuddered at the sudden threatening tone.

“Just…tell me one thing?” Rhys hesitated. “Is it…a threat?”

Jack tilted his head at Rhys, expression clouding with something heavy. He shook it as if to rid himself of whatever dark emotion was there. “Nah, what’s gonna come out of that room is gonna be amazing and dangerous, probably, but not a threat to you.”

Rhys was confused. “But it’s a threat to some people?” Because that sure seemed implied.

Jack shrugged, frowning. “I suppose it could be, but hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”

What did that mean? The answer left Rhys with more questions, but he knew that if Jack was going to tell him, he would’ve already.

Rhys shifted. “Soooo...weren’t you going to give me a peek at that project?”

“Yes. Right! Almost forgot!” Jack twisted around and flicked on a computer monitor. “What is the most powerful, genius, and handsome Jack working on? This!” He spun the monitor towards Rhys.

Rhys leaned in, studying the contents. “Can I…?” At a nod, he scrolled the page, eyes flicking to the highlighted and bolded information first. “This is…” he started, spotting a series of formulas. “Whoa.”

“Yeah, I know right?”

“You did this by yourself?”

“Uh, yeah? Duh? Surely even a dumdum like you hasn’t forgotten how incredibly smart I am.”

“It’s just…a lot of work,” Rhys said, knowing full well Jack was hardly good at focusing his wild energy. Or maybe he had misjudged that much. There was a reason Jack had gotten as powerful as he did before his death.

Jack sighed in a long-suffering way. “Yeah, sometimes even the hero has to get their hands dirty because someone killed off all their workers.”

“This...isn’t what I expected,” Rhys admitted.

“What did you expect, sunshine, besides pure badass awesomeness?”

“I don’t know. Weapons. Bots. Maybe a new space station. This...this is…” Rhys hesitated. “Can you uh, explain to me how this is gonna get us rich.”

“I know I didn’t give you a lot of reading time, but…jeeze, kid, think about it for a second. This reactor would take one gram of Eridium and churn out enough power to say…keep a city as big as Opportunity running for years. Or hook up a lovely giant ass gun and wipe some smug bandit settlement off the map if you want. Whatever tickles the fancy.

“And it’s gonna earn us a fortune because I’ll sell it and that’ll put me right back on top of Hyperion. I already have a demo planned for the board idiots in a couple weeks. With this technology, Hyperion - and Atlas - will outpace everyone on the market. The E-tech market will look like child’s play in comparison to this. Pretty sweet, eh? I can worry about weapons and space stations once we’re rolling in dough again.”

 “You know,” Rhys started, returning his gaze to Jack’s. “A lot of people wouldn’t have wanted me to trust this deal of ours. They would’ve had me refuse. And to be honest, I kind of wanted to agree with them, but...I didn't. And I’m not disappointed.”

“You can always trust me to make a pretty penny, tiger. Anyway, now that the boring stuff is outta the way, let’s go.”

Rhys raised a brow. “Go where?”

“To dinner, of course. I’m starving. Said, I’d thank ya, right?” He winked.

Rhys had been expecting to spend more time with the project, not on the dinner. “But I’ve barely looked at this thing,” he protested, turning back to the monitor.

“Cooome ooon, I’ll send you a copy later. I’m hungry now.”

Rhys swore Jack could act like such a child sometimes. “Alright, I suppose I am pretty hungry.”

“Great.” Jack stepped closer again. “By the way, cupcake, I wasn’t kidding when I said you look hot as hell. Finally learning a bit about fashion, I see. That’s good, good for you.”

Rhys blinked, trying to process everything. “I got some advice…from a friend...”

“Come on, hurry up!” Jack said, strolling for the door. Rhys, still unsure of what was going on, had to spring into a quick stride to catch up.

The restaurant was two blocks down, and Jack opted to just walk it. Rhys saw loaders everywhere, removing debris and eliminating pests. The city was starting to look somewhat livable. Still, the damage had been extensive; reparation would take time.

They entered a building that didn’t look all that impressive on the outside, still marred with damage. However, the inside had been furnished out and looked quite nice. The floors were polished wood, the lights tinted to a soft gold hue. A fish tank with exotic aquatic creatures inside adorned one side. The music was gentle and relaxing. Rhys noted scenic paintings on matte walls – images of stunning vistas from beautiful planets such as Aquator. They filled Rhys with a strange longing and regret, a part of him wishing he could be somewhere other than Pandora, living a life that wasn’t this chaotic.

But it was only a part of him. He had to admit that a larger part of him did get a thrill out of this life. 

It sank in for him that he’d just walked into a barren restaurant with Handsome fucking Jack, and he wasn’t even truly armed. This seemed like the start of a twisted joke that ended with his body hanging over a fence somewhere. A small voice in the back of Rhys’s head started ranting about him not being careful enough. The lack of people didn’t help. It made the place feel…off, like it existed in a void.

But he could smell the enticing scents from the kitchen, and he just couldn’t bring himself to care about anything else.

Jack lead them to a fancy booth, immediately sprawling across one entire side of it. Rhys claimed the other, crossing his legs and focusing on posture. It’d been awhile since he’d felt the need to, but this called for it.

“So, uh… There are workers here, right?” Rhys asked, glancing up.

“Oh yeah,” Jack said. He pulled out an Echo and jabbed the button.

“Handsome Jack, sir!”

“Hey, idiots, we’re waiting!”

“Coming right away, sir!”

Jack shut the Echo off. “I paid a lot of money for those idiots to get down here asap. Just needed a real cook, y’know? The chef is actually good, but the other bumbling fools could do with some more brainpower.”

A nervous looking waiter arrived, and Rhys offered him a somewhat consoling smile. The man handed them menus then went off to gather wine at Jack’s command.

“Pick whatever,” Jack said with a careless wave, “price isn’t an issue, and seeing as we’re the only people the chef has to cook for… Well, Hyperion has to keep these guys funded.”

“Are you saying Hyperion is paying for this meal?” Rhys asked, glancing down the pricey menu.

“Well, Hyperion is paying for the food to be here, technically. But I’m paying the chef and the dumb waiters for the dining experience. Anyway, since we’re VIP, it’s got a lot of perks, like free wine, more free wine-“

“You’re paying?” Rhys interrupted.

“Uh, yeah? I literally just said that.”

Rhys shifted, clearing his throat. “Shouldn’t...I be paying for my portion, then?”

“Listen, dork, if you were paying, this wouldn’t exactly be a personal thank you from me anymore, now would it?”

“Right.” Rhys watched as the waiter returned with some dinner wine.

Jack ordered rare steak. Rhys stuck to salmon.

“A dry white wine goes with that one, dumbass,” Jack said in a loud voice toward the waiter, gesturing at the red bottle in front of him. "This won't due for Rhysie here." The waiter mumbled something about bringing an extra bottle of white whine.

Jack laughed as he walked away. "What an idiot."

Rhys stared at the marble tabletop, tapping his fingers. The idea of the meal had been alluring but being in Jack’s vicinity threw the hopes of it being a relaxing experience out the window. Jack easily took up all the space around him as if the environment belonged to him. It was suffocating. Rhys just wished he could somehow…break this taught atmosphere, find some ease.

Rhys felt the sharp gaze on him and looked up at Jack’s mismatched eyes. They glinted, and Jack broke into a wolfish grin.

Rhys looked away.

It was a long, uncomfortable wait for the food. Jack, surprisingly, said very little. Rhys occasionally checked his Echo Eye for any new messages but found none. It was a relief when the waiter finally returned with their meal (and the white wine), and even Jack seemed too happy by the sight of the food to make a snide remark.

Upon receiving their meal, Rhys had been somewhat surprised to find that Jack finally exhibited manners in this one area of skill: dining. Chewing quietly, using the utensils, and even keeping his elbows off the table – the works. Rhys had anticipated Jack’s dining habits to be somewhat like a skag’s, fast and without grace. Weird thought, but the wine had settled in his brain. He felt a lot more at ease now. 

Rhys got a slice of pie for dessert and took his time with it. 

Jack had lost some of his intimidating aura after knocking back some of the alcohol. His voice became lazy, quiet, almost as if he was getting sleepy. “Gotta hand it to you, kid. You’re doing pretty well for yourself. Being CEO, already got dibs on a Vault… I’ll be honest. I didn’t think you’d be able to handle the responsibilities. You didn’t even know where to start last time, what was heads or tails. Thought you’d be lost without me.”

“I hold many surprises, apparently,” Rhys replied, taking another bite of his pie. He swallowed. It was delicious. “But I haven’t been alone with the responsibilities exactly. Yvette’s been invaluable.”

“Yvette...Yvette… Why does that name sound familiar? … Uh, wait, you mean the one chick who betrayed you?”

“That...was more complicated than that.”

Jack shook his head, a lock of hair falling out of place. “Sometimes you’re just too forgiving, pumpkin.” He took another drink. Rhys noticed that he was on his third wine bottle by now.

“It’s worked out for me. Besides, you seem to have gotten a bit forgiving yourself.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Rhys gestured at the table between them. “Well, this… The deal.”

“Me and you?” Jack narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to imply I shouldn’t forgive you, kiddo?”

Rhys nerves jumped, but he laughed it off. “That’s not what I meant. I just…” he cleared his throat. Good grief, he was really going to get himself killed, wasn’t he? “I guess I need to know where we stand on…” he trailed off.

“Well, perhaps I am being a bit more forgiving,” Jack said, sitting up suddenly, all traces of laziness vanished. Fresh energy was building behind his eyes, Rhys could tell. “But you gotta admit, pumpkin…we work exceptionally well together.” Jack reached out with a single finger. He dragged it down the back of Rhys's cybernetic hand.

Rhys honestly wasn’t sure how to react to that. Jack was odd at the best of times and unceasingly touchy. This was normal. It was. Totally, one hundred percent, not-weird-in-the-slightest Jack behavior. And Jack was probably tipsy, anyway. 

“Uh,” Rhys responded, clenching his spoon harder to stop himself from rubbing his face and drawing attention to the flush he felt there. “I- I suppose we do.”

“Yeah. We do."

Jack stood up, drawing Rhys's attention from the dessert he was slowly consuming. Rhys found himself leaning back because Jack seemed even larger standing above him. Jack slipped out of his side of the booth and…slid into the space next to Rhys. He draped an arm around Rhys's shoulders. Again, with the touching. Rhys could smell the wine on him.

“Well, you want to know where we stand?” Jack asked. “The way I see it, what happened before isn’t gonna repeat itself. Because when we put our minds to it, we get what we want. Eridium? Money? Power? Anything. It’d be a waste to ignore that. We’re just...a good pair. Ambitious, powerful, super hot-”

“Alright,” Rhys said, setting his spoon down. He didn’t quite look at Jack because that would put their faces too close together. “Where exactly are you going with this? The last time you talked like this you were buttering me up.”

“You even know me so well!” Jack was rubbing a slow circle into Rhys’s shoulder with a single finger. Rhys focused very hard on the pie. Okay, so maybe his body was reacting a bit. That was also normal. It was the alcohol. It was then he realized he hadn’t been to the club since Jack’s return... So, it had been some time since he’d gotten laid.

He shoved that thought quickly from mind.

“You comin’ to the demo? I want you there,” Jack murmured, leaning in. “For the project? Surely you remember me mentioning it.” Rhys could feel hot breath on his neck. Christ.

“Y-yeah, I remember. But. Umm, I’ll have to uh, check, the uh, schedule. You- you haven’t even said- uh, said when it is exactly-“ Rhys really hated how blood was rushing downward to his groin.

“Come on, you can make time.” Jack said in his ear. “If you can make time for those losers at Atlas, you can make time for this.” His voice dropped low. “And I’ll make it worth your while.”

Rhys shivered, but he was also growing annoyed by Jack’s behavior. He clung to that irritation to keep him sane in that moment. “Really? And just how do you think you’ll do that?”

“Like this.” A warm wet sensation slid up Rhys’s neck. He jumped, struggling to process...that....

…Jack had fucking licked him?

“What the hell?” He asked, pulling away sharply, looking at the man with wide eyes. Could Yvette be right? Because this seemed a little much, even for Jack. He swallowed hard, heart leaping up into his throat at the very idea. This was not something to write off as normal Jack behavior.

“Jeeze, relax a little, why dontcha? You’re tense as a whore in a confessional booth,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. “And now’s kinda a sad moment to get all shy on me, babe, dontcha think?”

“What are you talking about?” Rhys demanded, glaring.

“I’m talking about us, you idiot. The mood, the flirting.”

Rhys stared at him. “The...wha- now- Huh?”

Jack pulled his hand away and rubbed his forehead. “Woooowww, okay, ya know, I really thought I was maybe being a little harsh when I called you a dumdum before, but you really are this stupid, huh?”

“Since when-?” Rhys started, but a lot of things started to make sense. “Ooooh my god...Yvette was right, holy fucking shit-“

“Right about what?” Jack asked in annoyance.

Rhys ignored that. He ran both hands through his hair. “Wooooowoww, I uh… I must be asleep right now, right? Because there is no way this is happening.” He was close to having a full on panic attack at this point.

“You think you’re dreaming?” Jack asked. “You have this dream a lot then, pumpkin? How exactly does this dream normally end?”

“I… No!” Rhys felt his face turn red. “Why would you even-? I’m, I’m not, I’m just- Don’t you just like women anyway?” he blurted the first thing that seemed to make sense to his confused brain.

“I’m gonna be completely honest, kid. You’re right. I don’t mess around with guys, ‘cause most of ‘em are ‘bout as attractive as a rotten spiderant corpse that’s been pissed on by ten bandits and an alpha skag. But you... You’re not so bad. For a dude, anyway. And I haven’t had a partner in a while. Turns out my girlfriend, yeah Nisha? Did I ever tell ya about her? Badass cowgirl bandit who killed other bandits? Anyway, she’s dead. By Vault Hunters. What else is new?” Jack puffed out his cheeks. “And I’m getting tired of my hand, ya know? And I just don’t trust anyone else on this pisshole of a planet near my genitals.”

Rhys gaped at Jack. “That was like…the worst mood-killer of an explanation I’ve ever heard someone give for wanting sex.”

“Come on, dumdum, just answer me. It doesn’t have to be like, super gay buttsex or anything. We could just trade handjobs? A little mutual masturbation, eh?” Jack said with a wink.

“I...uh...I can’t.” Rhys was only able to speak through sheer muscle memory. The absurdity of this situation knew no bounds.

Jack squinted at him. “I'm pretty sure I misheard ya because it sounded like you said ‘I can't’ after a significant stuttering sound when I offered you an opportunity to touch my dick.”

“No...you heard correctly,” Rhys replied, strained. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might explode. He stood as best he could, hoping that would signal Jack to move. Rhys fell into businessman mode through absolute necessity. “Thank you for the dinner, Jack. It was lovely. But if you’ll excuse me, I have an early morning tomorrow and a long drive back to the Atlas HQ.”

Jack stared at him. “You really gonna turn me down, Rhysieee?” He asked. And Rhys reminded himself that Jack's tipsiness was to blame for this frankly embarrassing conversation.

“Yes,” Rhys said. “That’s exactly what is happening, Jack. While I appreciate the fact your hand must be getting rather sore at this point, I don't have time for this. You’ll just have to find someone else to…jack you off.” Despite everything, he snorted at his own pun. "I'm sure once Hyperion comes back, hah, comes back, someone there will be happy to...touch your dong for you." Rhys would've been impressed with himself if he wasn't also terrified of his own recklessness quite suddenly.

Jack glared, but he finally – finally – moved. Albiet slowly, almost too slowly, and Rhys stood there waiting, tense, uncertain what Jack was going to do. Once Jack had made his feet, he stared Rhys in the eye for several moments, but Rhys didn’t back down. Then, Jack... just slid out of the booth, allowing room for Rhys to pass by. Rhys slipped out, relief flooding him at the sense of not being cornered anymore.

“Fine,” Jack said in a low, tight voice. “Don’t come crying for it in the future, though, cupcake. I won’t offer again.”

“I won’t,” Rhys said. And with that, he powerwalked out of the restaurant, hurrying down the street to get to his car. He scrambled in, started it up, driving away from Opportunity as fast as he dared. He was barely anywhere when he pulled up his private comms with the Echo Eye. He called Vaughn.

Vaughn answered, “Uh, Rhys? What’s up? You alright, buddy?”

“Ooooh, not really, Vaughn,” Rhys answered. He just needed to get this off his chest, and he wasn’t ready to convey what’d happened to Yvette yet. “I’ve been with Jack.”

“Oh right. Is he trying to kill you?”

“Ah, what? No, no, I’m driving home now. But he...you know he took me out to dinner?”

“Yeah?”

“A dinner, Vaughn,” Rhys groaned. “He said it was a thank you for the deal, and I was too big of an idiot to realize differently. Yvette was fucking right!”

“Oh no…”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, you are saying what I think you’re saying, right?”

“Yes, Vaughn! He wanted...wanted to…”

“Get you in on a big scheme to take over Pandora?”

Rhys frowned. “What...what, Vaughn, bro, keep up? Hello, it was dinner!”

“Oh. Oh… Well that’s great, bro!”

“How is that great!” Rhys was almost in hysterics. He had to swerve his car back into the correct lane quite suddenly. Not that Pandora had much traffic, but better safe than sorry.

“I thought you wanted to bone him?”

“Ugh, do you have to say it like that?” Rhys groaned, feeling his face go red. “And no, I don’t want to- Ugh, how many times do I have to say it?!”

“So what, you...you turned down Handsome...Handsome Jack?!” Vaughn exclaimed, sounding horrified. “And you’re still alive?! Wait, wait, did he try to shoot or strangle you before you got away?”

“No, Vaughn, he didn’t. But I thought he might. He wasn’t exactly happy. Especially because I may have made a pun about jacking off?”

“Hoooly shit, bro. Damn he must really like you if he let you walk away from that. I mean, refusing Jack is like...I don’t know, the same as calling him ugly or something.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do?” Rhys asked with a groan. “This is going to make everything really awkward from here on out.”

“I don’t know, bro. You’ll have to probably...I don’t know, think on it awhile? Try to get a read on Jack’s mood later? Maybe he’ll just let it go.”

“And maybe skags will fly,” Rhys said. “I should never have agreed to the dinner... Ugh, what I have I done?”

“I think this is more a matter of what haven’t you done. Or who you haven’t done.”

“Knock it off, asshole.”

“Too early?”

“Waaaay too early.”

“I’m sure things won’t be as bad as you imagine.”

“Just...for the love of everything don’t tell Fiona. Or Yvette. Or anyone really. This is not good…”

“You know Yvette’s gonna find out, right?”

“I’ll…I’ll tell her myself. Once I figure out a way to convey this without it making her smug.”

“Right. Okay. Well I'm gonna just try to sleep now and not worry my head off over you. Drive home safe, bro.”

After a quick affirmation, Rhys hung up, turning up the radio in the hopes of distracting himself from his thoughts.

Chapter Text

In his office, Rhys’s thoughts wandered back and forth like a pacing skag in a cage. He was surprised his Echo hadn’t been blown up with missed calls from Jack during the night. Maybe Jack was through pestering him now that he realized he wasn’t going to get his fun. Rhys almost...almost...kind of regretted leaving how he had. But he knew how incredibly stupid that thought was. He couldn’t afford to be careless. Jack was the last person on Pandora he could fall into bed with. Well, maybe not the last, but close to it.

Besides, Jack had all the grace of a horny, fifteen-year-old boy, Rhys reflected as he tried to read some documents on his desk, to no avail. He couldn’t realistically imagine that sex with Jack would even be that good, especially since it couldn't be more obvious Jack had never touched another dick in his life. Not that Rhys could imagine Jack was much better with pussy.

How the fuck that man had ever had a relationship in his entire life was a mystery that would never be answered.

Right on cue, Rhys heard a small beep from his Echo Eye. He checked his notifications, finding a single message. From Jack. He hesitated, not really wanting to read it, dreading what it might say.

Curiosity won out.

[SirHandsomest69]: demo’s gonna be on the 10th here at Opportunity. r u comin or not?

Rhys scrutinized the message. It seemed odd Jack would want to include him after how disastrously their last interaction had gone. Perhaps Jack would be content to ignore last night, and they could both get on with their lives.

It was better this way.

Yvette walked into the office, heels clicking against the tiles. “Morning, Rhys,” she greeted as she approached.

Rhys closed out of his messages. “Morning, Vet.”

“You look like shit. Didn’t you sleep?”

“A little bit,” Rhys said, tossing some papers into a stack. “But it wasn’t exactly what I would call restful.”

“Well, guessing from the message I found when I woke up this morning, I’m going to say things didn’t go so great last night? What happened?”

Rhys sighed, brows pinching. Agitation flooded in all over again. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Yes.” She took a seat across from him.

Rhys wasn’t anywhere near ready to discuss this, but… Whatever. He wasn’t sure he would ever be. Like ripping a bandaid off, he wanted to get this conversation over with quickly, if painfully. “Turns out, you were right. Happy? Jack did indeed seem to be attracted to me.”

Yvette shook her head. “That is not a sentence I ever expected you to say with so much disappointment in your voice.”

Rhys leaned back, squeezing his eyes shut. He decided the prospect of getting this bullshit off his chest was not so bad after all. Yvette didn’t seem to be planning to tease him, which he was thankful for. “Turns out that asshole has some internalized homophobia- or maybe masculinity issues? Hard to tell. It’s probably both.”

“That bad, huh?” she asked. “Guess it’s not surprising.”

“He got drunk…said he was flirting with me. And then he said he didn’t want-” here, Rhys made quotes with his hands, “-‘super gay…buttsex’,” he grimaced hard, “but rather, an ‘exchange of handjobs’. His words. And that was all after he told me his last girlfriend was killed by Vault Hunters and he was tired of his hand. What the fuck is wrong with him?”

“Yikes,” Yvette said.

“Yep,” Rhys replied. “I think I would have rather he just shot me dead than make me hear all of that. It’s like being around a testosterone-fueled teenager who thinks they’re the alpha wolf, when in reality, they’re just a goddamned asshole.”

His Echo Eye beeped again, a reminder that Jack hadn’t stopped existing on the other side of the comms. A pity of sorts. “And the pain continues,” Rhys mumbled, pulling up his messaging to see an inquiry on why he hadn’t responded yet.

He replied, [Rhy5w1nz]: I don’t know if I can make it. I’m busy.

[SirHandsomest69]:  come on, pumpkin. that’s what u always say. the excuse is startin to get obvious.

Another message popped up.

[SirHandsomest69]:  is this bout last night?

Great, so Jack was going to bring it up after all. Rhys resisted the urge to headdesk.

And another message.

[SirHandsomest69]: i couldn’t care less about that.

[SirHandsomest69]: come on Rhysie.

[SirHandsomest69]: call pls. we need to talk.

Rhys sat back, huffing, the words "bad idea" ringing through his head.

Next came a barrage of emojis, all ranging from crying expressions to heart eyes and laughing faces. Rhys honestly couldn’t be sure what Jack was attempting to convey.

[SirHandsomest69]: pleeeeaaaaseeeeee, Rhyyyyysie

“He wants me to call,” Rhys muttered.

Yvette raised one brow. “Maybe that’s-“

His Echo Eye informed him of an incoming call from Jack. “Well, too late,” Rhys noted, "someone beat me to it. I guess he's not quitting so easily." He stood up and turned away from Yvette. “Jack,” he answered, voice calm and cold.

“Got bored with typing. Aw, what’s with the tone, cupcake?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know,” Rhys said. He paced over to the large windows behind his desk. “How about you explain to me what the hell you were playing at last night.”

“Awww. Are you mad, cupcake?”

Rhys forced himself not to growl his next answer. “Yeah, I am.”

“Why?”

That just about broke his contained agitation. “Are you serious right now?”

“Yes, actually,” Jack said with a snort, “I uh, don’t… I actually don’t remember a whole lot from last night.”

Oh my god. Rhys paused, inhaling once, twice, three times before replying. “Well let me just remind you then! You came onto me with all the grace of a freakin skag in heat! It was embarrassing as hell!”

“Oh. Wait. It’s coming back to me.”

“Yeah. Even if you were any good at seducing people – and you are the absolute worst at it, pal – do you realize that we just can’t- can’t – what was the expression? Exchange handjobs? Yeah, that. You know why? Not only because we’re from rival companies, but because any interest I might have had in wasting time in such a way with you was instantly destroyed last night!” Rhys ended his rant, half expecting to meet Jack’s own anger in turn.

But Jack just laughed, long and loud and obnoxious. “Ohh my god!” He howled, sounding as if he would be doubled over if he were there in person, showing no evidence of controlling his mirth. “Oh my god- Rhysie!” He had another bout of wild laughter

“What,” Rhys snapped. “Is. So. Goddamned. Funny?!” Rhys felt a sinking feeling in his gut. He wasn’t completely sure what was going on, but he felt strange, like he’d said something stupid without realizing it. He didn’t like this.

“Oh my god, I can’t, I can’t even-” Jack coughed a few times. He drew an audibly deep breath, recovering. His tone became somewhat harsh. “Wow, kid, you’re really dumb as doornails, aintcha? I guess that explains why you got all pissy.”

“What are you talking about!?”

“I was just messin’ with you.”

Rhys stared outside, watching grass blades sway in the breeze. He felt like his ability to process words had been short circuited. “What.”

“It was all a joke. But the fact that you thought I was serious. That’s just- that’s just pure comedy gold, babe. You heard me say ‘buttsex’ and ‘exchange handjobs’ in the same breath and thought I was serious.” He chortled like he might have another fit, but seemingly made the effort to stop himself this time. His voice dropped suddenly. “What, do you think I’m a friggin clown or something?”

“Yeah, I do- Wait, what?” Rhys said, realization settling over him, leaving a nasty feeling in his stomach. “You were pranking me?!”

“Yes, dumdum. I made that perfectly clear.”

“But... You seemed damned serious. You- you licked my neck! You couldn’t-”

“That’s ‘cause I needed to make it believable, which I guess worked pretty well. By the way, did you put lotion on your neck or something last night? ‘Cause your skin, was like, super bitter. Anyway, I just wanted to make you squirm a bit. It would’ve been so funny if you’d like, I dunno, got really hot an’ bothered and spread your legs or something and then I would’ve been all like, ‘surprise! Psych!’ But instead, you got all insult-y and stormed off and ruined the fun.”

Rhys let it all sink in. He ran his hands through his hair. “Woooow. Jack, I… I don’t even know what to say to you.”

“That good, huh?”

“Yeah, no. I…I’m speechless. I just… Just um, just wondering something. Are there, y’know, bigger assholes than you out there? Because it’s hard to imagine. You should get a metal for it or something.”

“What? You’re still this mad, pumpkin? Why? Did you want me to be serious?”

Rhys ground his teeth, ignoring that question. He was not going there, not now. “What I want, Jack, is for you to quit screwing around with me!” he snapped, slamming his fist against the window. “I don’t need this shit! I’m not your plaything to fuck around with when you’re bored. I’m not your damned lackey you can make a fool of for your own amusement. I’m not standing for it, jackass.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of vitriol over a little joke, Rhysie," From the tone of Jack's voice, Rhys's anger was evidently starting to rub off. "May uh, may wanna check your tone there, buddy, just a suggestion. Y'know, I’ve been letting this shitty attitude slide so far, because I'm fair, but I gotta be honest here. Patience is running out.”

“Well at least that feeling's mutual,” Rhys spat, voice dripping with venom. “Because I really don’t wanna check my tone, dickbag. And guess what, I’m not coming to the demo. And you're actually right for once! It’s not because I’m busy. It’s because I don’t care." Once started, he couldn't stop. It felt good to just let it all out, the tangle of pent up emotions that'd been stuck in his chest like glue since Jack had crashed back into his life. "All I care about is you paying up what you owe Atlas. And I still want the papers you promised on the project. So, send those asap, please, and have a fantastic day.” He hung up without waiting for a reply, walking back to his desk and throwing himself in his seat. He realized Yvette was still sitting across from him

“That did not sound good.”

“No kidding. He said he was just joking,” Rhys responded. “Which makes sense, I guess, but I don’t have time for these goddamned mind games of his.”

“Wow, what an asshole,” Yvette said. There was an awkward silence in the air after that, and Yvette cleared her throat. “Well, let me know if you need anything. I gotta get back to my desk.”

“Wow, what happened to you?” asked a voice. “You look like someone who lost a million dollars all over again.”

Rhys looked up to see Fiona entering the office. “Don’t you ever knock?”

“Nah,” she said, sitting down on the nearby guest couch, crossing her legs. “Knocking’s boring.”

“What do you want?”

“Aw, not happy to see me?”

“It’s just..." Rhys inhaled, reminding himself he didn't need to direct his lingering annoyance at anyone other than Jack. "I don’t have any work yet for you. The Vault won’t be accessible for a few more months. So unless you want to spend that time on Iphus...”

"I'm good." Fiona leaned back on the couch. “You know. We didn’t get to finish our conversation from before.”

“Remind me?” He said as he signed some legal documentation for those Atlas jetpack upgrades on his datapads.

She tilted her hat. “You know, about Jack?”

“God,” Rhys said, dropping the pad so it thunked onto the desk. He resisted the urge to pull his hair. “Look, Fi, I don’t know what to tell you that I haven’t already said.” He had grown tired of Jack infesting every inch of his life. If he could just have one casual non-work-related conversation that didn’t involve Jack, it would be a blessing at this point.

“Just be honest with me on one thing.”

“What?”

“Do you think he’ll try to destroy Pandora again?”

Rhys paused, taken aback. He realized that with everything going on, he hadn’t seriously considered if Jack might intend to pick up where he left off and what that might mean. It took a few moments to formulate a response, one that seemed appropriate right now. “Honestly, Fi, I have not the tiniest idea what the hell that man wants or what he intends to do. He could be about to launch a nuke at the moon for all I know. I’d rather not even speak about him again.” He leaned back with an exhale. “Like, ever. Or hear about him. Or see him. Or listen to his stupid voice. Or be subject to his stupid pranks." Or feel his breath on my neck... "Christ, why does he wear, like, four layers? Maniac. If he could just crawl back into the hole he spawned from, that'd be nice.” Just need to focus.

Fiona's brows had jumped up during his tirade. “Something happen already?”

Rhys laughed without humor. “Nothing you want to know about, trust me.”

“Alright. I’ve got my imagination, anyway.”

“Is there any way I can pay you to stop bringing this up. Please.”

“Even I won’t stoop that low for money,” she said with a chuckle. She stood up and walked over to the desk, placing her hands on it. Rhys met her keen gaze. “But I will change the subject, since I'm merciful..."

"Ah yes, that's why they call you Fiona the Merciful, right?" 

"Yup. Anyway, the real reason I’m here. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” She seemed oddly hesitant quite suddenly. “Someone who is going to be helping me help you with the Vault.”

“Oh?” Rhys asked, perking up. Anything that wasn’t Jack-related was a nice break. Plus, he assumed Fiona would only bring on someone trustworthy. She wouldn't risk someone who'd make off with the loot. “And who might that be?”

“Rhys,” Yvette’s voice said over the intercom. “There’s someone here for Fiona.”

Fiona nodded at him.

“Let ‘em in,” Rhys said.

The doors to the office slid open soon after. Rhys's gaze landed on a tall, older woman with a silver stripe in her dark, short-styled hair. She wore an ice blue designer coat and dark, sleek pants with leather boots. She had the sharpest cheekbones Rhys had ever seen, and her very presence was commanding.

“She’s hot,” Rhys whispered before he caught himself.

“And you’re definitely not her type,” Fiona shot back, scowling at him.

“Ah, Fiona dear,” the woman said in a high, strong, heavily-accented voice. She walked over, leaned toward Fiona... And...kissed her? It was on the cheek, but still... “We’re going to be late.” Her hand landed on Fiona’s arm, but her eyes went to Rhys. “But you must introduce us, dearest.”

“This is Rhys,” Fiona answered, still glaring at him. “Rhys, this is Lady Hammerlock, the Vault Hunter Felix hired to finish training me.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rhys,” Lady Hammerlock said, offering her hand. “I've heard so much about you. You may call me Aurelia if you wish.”

“H-hello,” Rhys said, struggling with his shock. But he did manage to shake her hand. Her grip was incredibly strong. “Um, quick question, are you two…dating?”

“Is that what it’s called by poor people?” Aurelia inquired.

“No-“ Fiona insisted. “I mean- Dating is…a strong word.”

“I would have gone with courting-“

But Fiona was shaking her head, face darkening. “That’s not…” She glared even harder at Rhys, as if this was his fault. “We kiss sometimes, okay?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure dating is the right word there,” Rhys teased, gleeful. He directed his next question at Aurelia before Fiona could protest. “You’re a Vault Hunter, then?”

“Indeed, darling. That is what they call it when you get hired to hunt a Vault, I suppose, even if I’m more in it for the sport of shooting things than the more mundane cash reward. Such would be useless." She was so well-spoken, it brought Rhys a since of calm and familiarity he hadn't had since before Helios. "I own a planet and hundreds of turbo-mansions,” she added with dismissive a wave of her hand. 

Rhys’s brows climbed upward, and he turned his gaze back to Fiona. She glared even harder. Rhys walked around the desk, elbowing Fiona’s side. “Daaamn, girl-“

“Shut up,” she said.

But he was still amused. “Whaat? I’m happy for you.”

"You've got that look you get when you're about to say something you'll regret."

"Hardly-" He raised a hand animatedly. "But like, wow, I'm just shocked. Who knew you were smooth enough to land a trillionaire-"

"Alright," Fiona said. "That's quite enough. We should go, Aury, before we're late.”

"Yes, indeed."

She grabbed Aurelia’s hand and all but dragged the tall woman out of the room.

"Rhys," Yvette's voice said over the comlink at Rhys's desk. "Dr. Grace is here. He wants to speak with you."

"What about?" Rhys asked, finding himself frowning at his monitor. He fired up his Echo Eye to ensure he hadn't forgotten something. "There's no scheduled appointment."

"He says it's important, but won't tell me details."

"Surely, Yvette, he can give you something of an idea," Rhys muttered, too low on sleep for this. Rhys glanced around the empty office. "Look, if he can't tell you, he doesn't have to tell me."

There was a pause. Yvette spoke again. "He says it's about the future of Atlas."

Rhys blinked a few times, really wanting to say no. But still, maybe it could be important. Probably wasn't, but he could decide after getting an idea for himself. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. He has fifteen minutes."

Rhys minimized the document he was working on and leaned back in his seat, folding his arms... Rhys struggled to remember his first name. Bill? Wilfred? Damn it. Dr. Grace walked in, looking uncertain. His expression smoothed out after a moment, the look of bewilderment being replaced with one of purpose. He paused a few feet from the desk.

"What is it?" Rhys asked when he was within speaking distance. "I'm a little busy, Dr. Grace."

"Mr. Rhys, sir?"

"Yes?" Rhys asked, struggling not to sound as impatient as he felt. He was almost done with the one document he'd been on.

"I just need a few moments of your time," he said, pausing a few steps from the desk. He clasped his hands together in front of him and didn't quite meet Rhys's gaze. "I thought you should hear this, from me."

Rhys waited for him to continue.

Dr. Grace seemed to realize he wasn't going to say anything. "...Handsome Jack has returned."

Oh. Great. More Jack talk. Rhys laughed, but more out of the fact he just couldn't escape it than anything else. "Dr. Grace. That's just rumor. Jack is dead."

Dr. Grace took a step forward, expression intensifying with earnesty. "Rhys... I appreciate why you must feel the need to lie, but I know this for a fact."

Rhys's brows furrowed. Unbelievable. "Did you just call me a liar?"

"I..." the man paled. "Erm…" He cleared his throat. "I'm deeply sorry, that wasn't what I meant-"

Rhys stood up, muscles tensing in anger. "If you don't have anything better to do with your time than call me - your boss, might I remind you - a liar, then I suggest you get the hell out of here and actually do something useful. I am actually working, here."

Dr. Grace stared, eyes bugging comically for a few moments. He swallowed, hard. "Sir, I am sorry... I noticed an a-anomaly in the numbers. I looked into it...and found that twelve Atlas robots had been sent to secure some random site in the middle of nowhere. I thought surely it was either a mistake, or someone up to no good, but... a little digging found out the truth. You sent them."

Rhys ran a hand through his hair, agitation growing, starting to understand. Stupid fucking jumped-up overachiever. "Let me guess, you didn't stop there despite the fact your boss had done this."

"I was curious!" Dr. Grace defended. "You cannot fault that, surely. I-I monitored the site. Eridium mine. Last night Hyperion came in and took over, and Atlas let them. By your orders. Today, someone came to me with undeniable proof Jack is alive, that you had spoken with him more than once, and that you had even struck a deal with him."

Rhys stared at Dr. Grace. What the hell? Who would've known that? He blinked that thought away. It wasn't like Jack was hiding, as such. Still, he wasn't going to stand here and be accused by his own workers. "That's quite a funny story, Dr. Grace. But Jack is dead," he repeated, firmly. Please take a damned hint. "You really should stop listening to rumors and idle Echonet chatter. If someone thinks Jack is back, it's probably because they've seen one of his surviving doppelgangers. And were it that I had made a deal with Hyperion, it was likely for some minor contract that has slipped my mind."

Dr. Grace looked...sad? "I am just concerned, is all."

Rhys had been answering to a lot of people over this shit. He'd be damned if he had to answer to one of his underlings. Rhys strolled around the desk, glaring at Dr. Grace, who was shorter. That was nice. It let him look down his nose at him. "Listen closely, Dr. Grace." He jammed a cybernetic finger at his chest and recalled everything he'd learned about running Atlas, lately. He didn't let people get away with bullshit anymore. "I'm only going to say this once. Don't make me say it again. You are head of R&D. Worry about R&D. I'm CEO of this company. I worry about the company. Not you."

"I meant...you," Dr. Grace said, clearing his throat. "I'm worried about...you."

Rhys felt his eyes widen at that. He was taken aback for a few moments and worked quickly to get it under control. He searched Dr. Grace's expression, the pit of his stomach knotting. "You are? Why?" He wasn't used to random concern from people he barely knew, especially in a place like a corporation on Pandora. And he hadn't missed the doctor's behavior before. Was this idiot really...? 

Dr. Grace adverted his eyes and stayed silent. Rhys turned away and facepalmed. "Oh man, I can't deal with this right now, man." Rhys pivoted back to the head of R&D. "Whatever you think about me, drop it right now. I don't want to hear it. Get out," Rhys said, anger relighting. "Your fifteen minutes are up." He wasn't even sure it was, but if not, he didn't care.

Dr. Grace didn't move immediately, and that annoyed Rhys. It was as if he wanted to say more.

He looked at Rhys with a warring expression. "I'm sorry," he uttered and turned, finally leaving.

"Well," Rhys said when his office was empty again, "that was needlessly dramatic. And I'm definitely not going to acknowledge any of what just happened." He felt an uncomfortable tingling on his scalp again. He scratched his head. "Oh well." 

Rhys had received a handful of notifications quite suddenly. Thankfully, none were from Jack.

Rhys skimmed them. One was from the buffoons at the Torgue Corp. which he'd probably send down the chain of command. A couple of offers from Vault Hunters; he filed that away for later, but at the moment he didn't trust most Vault Hunters he knew about. Maybe that Zer0 assassin might be interested. After all, he seemed loyal to his missions, Rhys thought with a tiny smile. He shook his head.

The next message in particular caught his eye, because, in the preview, he saw who it was addressed to.

Rhys Meyers.

He opened it, dread in his gut.

Rhys Meyers,

This correspondence may come as a surprise, for it has been far too long since we've seen each other. I have seen the Vault of the Traveler and your involvement in its opening. The second will be opened soon. Please send all information you contain on the Vaults in an encrypted reply. I must warn you, that you are in grave danger, and you must realize that this is for your own good. You should be more careful who you trust, or it will be your end.

In destiny, lies truth.
Matriarch.

The message was followed by a symbol that Rhys knew too well, one that depicted a blue sun.

Rhys closed out the message, staring at the wall. 

Her.

If one were to ask Rhys what he immediately felt, the answer would have been "nothing at all".

Rhys's entire mind was blank.

This was not good.

And then his heart rate picked up. His fists clenched. There was a possibility it wasn’t what he thought. But that seemed very low. He deliberated for a few moments. There was no way they should’ve found out about this. Not with how carefully he’d covered his own tracks.

Who had alerted these bastards?

Careful who you trust echoed through his head. Rhys’s thoughts jumped to…

Jack?

Would Jack do this? But why? This just didn’t feel like a Jack move. Seemed too underhanded. Had to be someone else.

Right?

It wasn't like he'd never misread Jack before.

Jack handled situations like a charging bull when one pissed him off. He preferred to take out his enemies personally, theatrically, and viciously. Jack had beaten the last Atlas CEO to death with his bare hands, then crushed all of Atlas’s stock rates to dust, then hung it all on his wall as a trophy… If he wanted to, wouldn’t he try to do that again? Then again, Rhys knew that Jack had blackmailed his way to the Hyperion CEO position years ago. And Jack did like to be assured of his victory before making a move. So maybe…maybe, Jack would do this. Perhaps Jack was trying to weaken him for a final blow, stretch out his resources to deal with this new issue. Or maybe, later, Jack would come forth and reveal this as a blackmail scheme.

Either way, Rhys couldn’t completely write Jack off. He had just yelled at the man earlier that day, and he hadn’t even gotten a read on how much Jack may have been pissed off in turn. The timing was suspicious.

Rhys had to at least make sure. Because if Jack was the leak here, he had to deal with it swiftly and efficiently, long before Jack would see the retaliation coming.

Rhys raised his cybernetic arm and stared at its pointer finger. He flexed his hand just so, and the tip withdrew. He eyed the thin, shiny needle underneath. He flexed his hand, and the tip slid back in place. 

He hoped he didn't have to use this.

Rhys found himself hesitating. He really didn’t want to be around Jack right now, for any reason. And with the game he was about to play, it would certainly be dangerous. Cat and mouse, but he didn’t feel like the cat in this scenario.

Rhys called Jack.

"Y'ello," came a gruff voice.

"Jack," Rhys said, "We need to talk."

"Yeah, we do. About your rotten friggin' attitude."

"I'm coming to Opportunity tonight," Rhys said. And hung up.

He took a deep breath and walked out of his office, his computer work all but forgotten.

Chapter Text

Rhys entered Opportunity, taking his time parking. He stared at the building for several minutes, flicking the little tip on his cyber finger. Doubts ran wild through his mind. Jack might be responsible, but all he had to go on was suspicion and not much else. If Jack wasn’t… he wouldn’t know where to start next. He’d never told a soul the kind of info his enemies now had on him.

Sitting here wasn’t accomplishing anything. Rhys forced himself to exit the car.

He sent a message to Yvette.

[Rhy5w1nz]: If I’m not back in a few hours, I’m probably dead. He closed his messenger down, turning off notifications.

Rhys entered the usual building he met Jack in, making his way to the tech-filled room. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. The room was almost the same as before, save for a few moved items. After some discerning, he also realized Jack was not there.

Perhaps it was better this way.

He paced to what seemed to be Jack’s computer, sat down, and started the scanner on his Echo Eye. With his recent upgrades, any security walls shouldn’t be a problem, and Jack would be none the wiser.

He was met with a list of folders and files. He studied them and found most matched the current Eridium project; there was even a file dedicated to projected profits and benefits. But some weren’t. He found something quite curious. A file on Atlas. The fact it existed wasn’t what made it curious. Jack would be a fool if he didn’t have some info on his rival companies.

No, what was worrisome was how extensive the file was. A full list of current Atlas employees and their typical schedules, financial records, product lines, stock values, base locations, and more. Worse, he spotted data that shouldn’t be known by anyone else yet, secret projects, classified information, and complete informative profiles of every board member. How did Jack get this? Was there a traitor? A sell-out? It seemed possible… But who would do it? Was it the same person who sold Rhys out to them?

Shit. Rhys found his own file, and it had his employee records all the way back from when he first started on Helios, including the logs from his first cybernetic implant procedures. More alarmingly, Jack had full medical records. Including ones on his Eridian mutation thing, ones created by Dr. Tannis.

So Jack was aware... And had never said a word? Odd. His suspicions mounted, breathing tightening, fists clenching. Fucking damn it, Fiona was right. He was an idiot. This was on him. For sort of trusting Jack. Again.

But he’d been sure he hadn’t let his guard too far down. How did this happen?

Oddly though, no matter how deep he dug through the records, he couldn’t find the information Jack would’ve needed to be the one to sell him out. There was no record of his past, or his last name, or anything even remotely related to his current problem.

Maybe Jack hadn’t sold him out.

But he couldn’t just relax. Jack had taken all this other information without permission, and Rhys needed to know how.

He heard the door open. Just in time. He needed some answers. He drew a deep breath, prepared for the worst, hoping for the best. He swiveled the chair around, his Echo Eye scanner closing.

Jack walked in, a look of surprise flitting over his face for a brief moment. “Well, well, well, look who finally showed.”

Rhys wasted no time. “Hello, Jack. You have classified Atlas information on your computer. Care to explain that?” He folded his arms.

“You hacked my computer?” Jack asked, brows pinching. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Look, kiddo, it’s really simple. Y’know all the data on your company that’s stored in that nifty computer you got stuffed into your brain? Yeah, so when you passed out in the car a few weeks ago, I just...downloaded it.”

Rhys stiffened. “You downloaded it from my head? There- there were precautions-”

“Yeah, but your system let me right in. Like welcoming an old friend.”

“What-?”

Jack laughed a bit. “I left some data in the friend or foe signatures when I was there before in case I needed back in.”

“But I’ve upgraded multiple times since...” Rhys trailed off, bitterness and resentment growing.

“I’m just that good a programmer,” Jack said, pleased with himself. “No one would’ve noticed these changes, they were so minute. Nothing out of the ordinary? Nothing to change.” As Rhys glared in response, Jack went on, “Aaww, don’t get pouty, cupcake. What did you expect from a genius? I figured I may as well have that data, since we’re business partners and all.”

Rhys stood up. “No, you only have info that I let you have.” He stepped forward, forcing himself through the intimidating aura exuding from Jack. “Partner,” he growled. “Why would you do this? Planning to bring Atlas down again?”

“No, I needed it,” Jack said, not even a little fazed by Rhys’s anger. “I could care less about your stupid doormat of a company. I barely cared about it when it was a threat.”

Rhys chose to ignore the insult. “Needed the info for what?”

“Because you like to keep your damned secrets close to your chest. Makes it hard to trust ya sometimes, babe,” Jack replied, shifting. “Just like this.” A hand clamped around his left arm, yanking it up. Rhys jerked, but Jack didn’t let go. Jack ripped off the glove in a heartbeat, revealing the changed skin underneath. “Vault Key.” Jack whispered like a kid sharing a secret, looking directly into Rhys’s eyes.

Rhys ripped his arm free and put space between them. He was off balance.

But Jack followed with a slow-growing grin. “So, what exactly are you doin’ here tonight, Rhysie? I’m guessing you didn’t come down here and hack my computer for the fun of it. And I highly doubt this is about last night.”

Rhys’s back hit the monitors, and Jack wasted no time caging him in, one hand against the monitors by his head, the other resting at Rhys’s throat. Jack applied no pressure, their skin only just touching. It was a threat, and Rhys knew it. Rhys drew a shaky breath, picking out a place on Jack’s neck to jab him with the needle if this went bad. At least if Jack tried to strangle him, he’d get time to fight back.

Rhys struggled between whether honesty or lying was the best way to proceed.

“Well?” Jack asked, voice growing impatient.

“I’ve…been sold out.”

“To who?”

“How do I know you don’t already know?”

“You think I did it?” Jack’s voice was sharp, almost offended. “That’s why you hacked my computer?”

Rhys took a deep breath and looked Jack straight in the eye. “The people responsible for this… They’re basically a cult. And they wanted information on the new Vault. Someone told them about me. Where I was, what I was doing… I escaped from them years and years ago, but… Here they are. So, who could have given them information I’ve never told a soul, but maybe the man who had access to my memories, who I recently fell on bad terms with? And now I learn you got into my brain again very recently with no problem!? Pretty suspicious!”

“Friggin’ christ!” Jack hissed, somehow getting closer, breath hot against Rhys’s skin. “Your lame-ass memories only go as far back as your implants, dumbass, which were only a few years old by the time I wound up in ‘em. And I’m sure as shit that I don’t remember any cult bullshit!” Jack’s voice raised. “And if I wanted to harm you, it wouldn’t be through your stupid past! Like I need to use dirty tricks against a little dork ass beanpole like you!” As if to make a point, his fingers flexed against Rhys’s neck.

Rhys jutted his chin. “Then who could’ve done this!?”

“Listen to me, and listen well, Rhys. Anyone can dig enough and find dirt on their enemies if they want. Anyone. I didn’t do this. I don’t have a reason to hurt you, Rhysie, how many times to I have to friggin say it!?”

“Oh, and how much reason did it take before?” Rhys asked. With a surge of anger, he shoved, forcing Jack to stumble back. “How much reasoning did it take for you to want to betray me then?!” He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he was starting to be reckless, but he was too tired, too angry, too stressed, and his fuse had run out.

Jack’s expression changed, voice intensifying. “What did you. Just. Say?”

Rhys normally would’ve been terrified at the murderous look on Jack’s face, but he wasn’t backing down. Right now, he didn’t care. Later, he might.

For a brief time - fifteen? Twenty? Minutes - he’d had it all, everything he could have ever wanted. Hyperion under him, Handsome Jack beside him. And he’d deserved it. It’d been heaven. Better than heaven. He’d felt so...powerful, unstoppable, unbeatable.

But Jack had taken it all away, and a full year later, Rhys was still struggling to reclaim a fraction of that.

Rhys spat, “Why did you betray me?!”

“I betrayed you?!” Jack snapped. “That is reeeaal cute, cupcake, because from where I’m sitting, you betrayed me!”

They were so close, Rhys could feel spittle.

Rhys yelled, “don’t you dare say I was the one who betrayed you, asshole! You tried to kill me!” They were glaring death at each other, but Rhys refused to back down. "And don't even get me started on that damned immortality suit!"

“You. Tried. To shut me down,” Jack hissed. “Remember that, Rhysie?! Remember?!” His fists clenched in the air like he wanted to wring Rhys’s neck but was stopping himself. “That’s not what a partner does. And oh big deal, poor Rhysie got what he wet-dreamed all along about-Handsome Jack camping in his brain- and he still threw a damned fit.”

“You weren't yourself Jack! And you wanted to kill everyone else, anyway. I couldn’t let any of that happen!”

“Rich coming from the guy who killed everyone anyway. Boy, was that like salt in the friggin' wound.”

“I didn’t have-”

“-have a choice?” Jack barked a harsh, condescending laugh. “Yeah, you said that already.”

Rhys started pacing. He ran his hands through his hair. “Agh, god, you’re such…such a dick!” He yelled, kicking a chair so it went rolling away. 

For a moment, neither said a word, and Rhys struggled to gain control of his temper, breath coming to him harshly.

Jack finally muttered, “You wanna answer a question of mine now?”

“What.”

“You killed like...a whole lot of your coworkers to take me down. Tens of thousands of people, some of who you knew personally, in one fell swoop. Tell me, did you know exactly what you were doing? Even you can’t be that stupid, so you must’ve known.”

“Yes.” Rhys turned around. “I did.”

“Tell me...does that bother you? Even a little bit? Keep you up at night?” Jack’s tone was knowing as he spoke. “And I want an honest answer, pumpkin. None of that bullshit about living with it. ‘Cause you and I both know that’s a load of skag shit.”

Rhys turned to the monitors, placing one hand on a desk as if to brace himself, and he found himself replying, “I felt nothing. I thought...maybe I was in shock… But...the guilt never came.”

“And it never will,” Jack said, voice unusually serious. “Not until the ones you love get caught in the crossfire. Not until everything you ever cared about is reduced to rubble, and those who are left vanish into the night to escape who you’ve become.”

Rhys didn’t reply, his lungs suddenly tight. He could almost feel the heat of flames again, the thick smoke in the air, choking him, and a warped, distorted voice so haunting as it echoed around him that it sounded like a dying god.

Jack pressed, “You’ve killed since, haven’t you? There's no other way you would've survived out here this long.”

Rhys blinked, gaze raising, but still looking at nothing. “Yes.”

Jack growled. “And you liked it, didn’t you? Gave you a rush?”

Rhys chewed his lip, the first answer in his mind failing to leave his lips. “It’s something that must be done, sometimes,” he said robotically. “That’s it.”

“Yeah. Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” Rhys heard the approach and twisted toward Jack, tense. Jack paused, expression unreadable. "Pandora breaks everyone it doesn't kill, in the end."

Rhys forced himself to think about what he should be asking. “What happened? Why did you do that? Back on the station?”

Jack turned away and roared, punching the nearest console. It dented deeply. Rhys jumped in surprise at the sudden outburst in the stillness.

“You wanna know?” Jack asked, voice ragged. Rhys saw that the skin on his knuckles had torn, sluggish blood creeping from the injury. “My daughter. I told you I found out about…her death... I didn’t just find out, like reading it on a log or something. It fucking played in digi-space, that fuckin’ room was everywhere…god… I watched…as she took her own life. It was like I was standing there, but…couldn’t do a damned thing, because it was just a frickin’ recording from the surveillance.”

Rhys watched the man deflate.

“I failed her,” Jack added emotionlessly.

Rhys didn’t even know what to say to that.

Jack turned back around, face unreadable. “She was five, y’know, when her powers first manifested. Her…her mother and I…well, we figured if we tried hard enough…we could help her.” He started pacing. “We did everything we could possibly think of, but sirens? You can’t just look that shit up on the Echonet. No one knows shit about them, and those who claim to, say everything under the fuckin’ moon, and just you know they’re lying. Others said throw your kid off a cliff or sell 'em to cults. What the fuck?!

"So, we did what we could with what we had, but it wasn’t enough. At the time we were low-level programmers at Hyperion. Angel’s powers were growing. We didn’t have the resources to hold them back. We found ways to stave them off. Found ways to channel them. Into networks. Into machines. But we were only delaying the inevitable. In just a few short years, Angel's powers were threatening to burst, and we were out of ideas." Jack went rigid. “Then...her...mother…suggested we shut her down.”

Rhys felt trapped in some kind of weird dream, where nothing felt quite real. His gaze fell to the floor.

Jack drew a deep breath. “I said no fuckin’ way am I killin’ my own daughter. Not like those psychopaths on the Echonet. I’ll find a way to save her. I have to. I’m her father. I have to be her hero.”

He paused for a long time, and Rhys couldn’t look at him, scared of what he might see.

“That night,” Jack said, voice blank. “Angel’s mother went into her chambers to do what I refused to - without my knowing. The alarms went off. I got there as fast as I could… But I wasn’t fast enough. I found a small child crying. Her mother gone… Gone isn’t the right word. In pieces... Turned inside out. Angel understood she’d done something wrong, but she was only nine. How the fuck does a nine-year-old live with obliterating her own mother?”

Rhys shifted, squeezing his own arms and looking at the wall now. Anywhere but Jack.

“I went to my last resort,” Jack continued. “I started hunting the Vaults, which gave me what I needed to climb to the top of the Hyperion food chain. Along the way, I uncovered Eridian artifacts that helped her. I thought maybe I could still save her. Years and years went by, and eventually, I found I could channel her powers into a Vault Key. But she had long since started hating her own existence. She didn’t…didn’t want to try anymore. Too long, too hard, the price too high. I couldn’t bring her around. She...wanted to die. She wanted me to let her die. When I refused… She…she thought I was just using her...” Jack’s hands fell onto the nearby chair, digging his fingers in hard from the looks of it, as if he needed to strangle something. “And I was using her. I told myself it was for her good…but it wasn’t. I failed her.

“But what could I do… give her what she wanted? Let her die?”

Rhys was sure he was not meant to reply to that. This all still felt surreal, and he didn’t trust himself to say a word.

“So, Rhys, you wanna know why I started airlocking every shithead on that space station?” Jack growled, whipping around. The movement drew Rhys's eyes. “Because not a single, fucking one of those morons mattered to me. Angel was the only person who ever mattered, and what did they do, huh? They didn’t help her in any way. They didn’t stop the bandits or the Vault Hunters from killing her. And after my death, they all sat on their asses, getting fat and lazy off my hard work, off my resources, off my company, doing nothing but letting it all go to shit while waging little stupid finger gun fights to mock my legacy! They deserved the cold vacuum of space. Every. Last. One of them!”

“Every last one…” Rhys repeated, mouth moving of its own accord. He saw Jack freeze stiff. “Does that include me? Did I ever matter? Or was I next?” It slipped out before Rhys could stop it.

Jack made an aborted motion. “You weren’t next, Rhys. You weren’t like the others.” Jack cleared his throat. “You weren’t lazy and pathetic and useless. You proved that much on Pandora. You were the only one who seemed willing to do what it took. The only one willing to even try to help me.”

Rhys thought of all those stupid posters that had been in his office. Jack, Handsome Jack, his face everywhere. Rhys had locked himself in his office and cried for a good twelve hours when Jack died. Well, the first time.

It was stupid.

All of it.

Why did he ever care?

“But did I ever matter to you?” as much as you mattered to me? Was left unsaid.

Jack’s face went through several expressions as if undecided on which to settle for. “What exactly are you asking?”

Rhys stopped. He realized his mistake. “I… Nevermind,” he said. “I’ve- I’ve gotta go.” Rhys made for the door, taking a fast stride. He could feel the sharp gaze boring into him with each step, but he didn’t look back.

First, came the high.

“We'll rule this entire freakin' universe. You and me, baby, President Rhys and Handsome Goddamned Jack.”

The words had been like a shot of drugs through Rhys’s system.

Almost of its own accord, his body turned to the amazing view of Elpis. He took a long breath. How long he'd dreamed of this very moment. So many years, so many nights laying awake and envisioning this. It hadn't gone down in any way he'd ever imagined it. This was better than anything he could've possibly imagined. Rhys breathed out. “I can’t believe this."

“Why can’t you? Okay, look, I get it, a little imposter syndrome is normal when you've basically just become a god-I'd know, I'm an entire goddamned space station right now, Rhysie-but remember, you had to kill like, hundreds of people just to get to this room. Not to sound like a friggin’ shampoo commercial here, but you deserve this.”

Rhys's tension eased. He looked back at the nearest monitor where a blue facsimile of Jack's face gazed back. Amazing how much open bliss showed on Handsome Jack, just then. Rhys had never seen Jack this happy. "…You’re right. And I should just admit it. I do deserve this.”

“Ooohh I’m so proud of you, my special boy. I just...wanna hug you right now. I'm gonna...gonna build a robot that’ll hug you whenever I tell it to!”

Rhys ducked his head in the hopes that none of Jack's cameras could see the sudden, burning flush lighting up his face. Jack's approval was just the icing on this wonderous "rule the universe" cake.

Second, came the power.

“What do you want to try first?” Jack asked. "There is a lot to play with, here. I'm just, so eager to stretch my metaphorical legs."

Rhys had to consider what he could do. He envisioned Helios, as if he were standing outside it. The way he had seen it flying in, both on his first day here(half finished), and more recently(complete and beautiful).

Now. It was all Jack! He thought of that large eye in the middle of the H.

Jack would like this...

“Let’s try out the moonshot. Wipe a bandit camp off the map.”

“Hell yeah, read my mind!" Jack exclaimed. "One moonshot strike at Prosperity Junction comin' right up-“

“What, no, that’s not a bandit camp! Jack!” 

“Eh calm down, it's just a couple of shots. Probably just collapsed some roofs."

Rhys huffed, pacing by Jack's desk, frustration clenching in his chest. How the hell was this going to work if Jack decided to only half pay attention to his decisions? "Shouldn't we discuss this stuff from now on!? How about 'any ideas where to fire at, Rhys?' or...I don't know."

Jack's form in the nearest monitor shrugged, unbothered. "Look, you said bandit camp, and so I shot a bandit camp... Sorry, baby, my head is just a little...floaty right now from all this data. Won't happen again. Speaking of data, maybe we could- Ugh, what?- Wait... No, no... no no, nonono-”

Rhys caught a flash of...panic? In Jack's eyes before the monitor went black. No way, Jack never panicked.

Rhys gazed around the office as though Jack might materialize within somewhere. “Jack… Are...are you alright? He walked down the steps leading from Jack's desk, calling into the empty room. ”Jack?" His shoulders stiffened and a chill ran through his body.

Third, came the mishap.

The intercom crackled.

“AARRGGH!" Jack roared over the intercom, causing Rhys to jump out of his skin. He backpedaled and his eyes flicked to the trapdoor momentarily. Something felt...wrong. "Hey, dickbags!" Jack said. "It’s me, the one true Jack again! You know, the one who just gave you brain-dead losers a new handsome president-two new handsome presidents! Anyway, I've just been checking what's new, ya know? But I see y’all morons have let my station go to the gutter in one short year!"

Rhys blinked. So now Jack was angry at everyone? He walked back to the desk, wondering if he could access Jack's computer. He doubted it.

Jack went on. "Yeah, yeah, I know you guys just-just can’t function without your uncle Jack, but there’s nooooo excuse for just how bad this is. Argh. God, it’s just like- like walking into a bathroom in a shady motel. Shit everywhere! Even the coding in Helios’s mainframe hasn’t been properly maintained! Look at all this loose junk. And I'm a freakin' AI now so this station is my body, and you all, are parasites.”

Rhys was sure something was different though. Jack had looked so damned happy moments ago. Rhys doubted a little coding mess would have been enough to piss him off to this extent. Sure, Jack wasn't exactly the calmest person in the borderlands, but his anger was usually a little more directional than this. “Jack," he said into the empty room. "Can you talk to me? What’s wrong? I mean, sure those guys made a mess of things, but we can fix it. ” He raised a hand, as though he could touch Jack through thin air. "So if you're listening, I'm listening. Too, I mean."

The monitor flickered, almost dully. Jack's face reappeared. But he didn't look at Rhys. He looked downwards, as though- “She’s...dead.”

Rhys hesitated. “Who? Who’s dead?”

“My...my little Angel.”

Rhys felt like his entire body emptied of anything but genuine sorrow. He had no real idea of what that meant; he'd never met her, but he also knew he'd never seen Jack look like this.

He then remembered the living Jack swearing vengeance on the Vault Hunters who'd killed his daughter.

This Jack hadn't known.

Rhys looked down, too. "...I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say.

Jack's voice became a growl. “They’re gonna pay... All of ‘em. Every last one of ‘em who was even remotely responsible. Starting with the failures on this station."

The intercom came back to life. "So, whooo will start repaying me everything this company and I have lost? Let’s start with the losers in accounting! You couldn't even keep the embezzlement to a freakin' minimum without me. Lazy assholes.”

Hyperion's announcement voice used the intercom, then. The voice was of a cheerful woman. “Two hundred accountants vented into space!”

Rhys's blood rushed through his ears suddenly. He jogged to the end of the platform, heart pounding. What the hell?

“Who’s next?" Jack was saying. "Any volunteers? As I speak, I have algorithms already determining the next losers to be done with!”

The Hyperion voice started again, “Helios lockdown protocols in effect! Propaganda Securities Department Neutralized! Armaments and Guns submersed in deadly gas! Sectors 2, 9 and levels B and A of housing vented! 628 employees dead and counting! Please ensure station securities are in place-"

Rhys's voice unfroze, horror pouring out of him. He'd never envisioned Jack would do anything like this. “Jack! Stop! You can’t just kill everyone!” He also was aware that his friends could still very well be on the station.

The monitor chuckled. “Oh-hohoho it’s not everyone, Rhysie, just everyone who fucked up my space station! Oh wait…You're absolutely right. That is everyone. We’re startin’ over, baby. Wiping this shitty slate clean, and it's gonna be gorgeous.”

“That’s enough! L-listen to me, please!"

And finally, came the betrayal, the end of Rhys's dreams of ruling with Handsome Jack.

“What? ...got something to say, cupcake?”

Warning bells chimed in Rhys's brain. He had to stop this, but carefully. He pressed his hands back onto the desk, steadying himself. He took a breath, closed his eyes, ready to use all his best business-man self to get through Jack's stubborn brain. He raised his attention to Jack, who glared. He tried not to shrink. “Jack, you need to calm down and let me help.”

“If you wanna help, then you'd better start helping me airlock these asshats. There's probably a button up here somewhere for that. I don't know, you can figure it out, I'm sure. Just use your Echo Eye."

Rhys swallowed. "I'm not going to do that. I need you to just, think for a minute. I'm sure this is all extremely stressful, and you aren't even letting yourself mourn for a moment, Jack-"

"I can mourn when I'm dead!" Jack snapped. "What does mourning do, anyway? Sit around feeling sorry for myself? Yeah right. I'm not a dang loser."

"It's called processing. I would assume an AI knows what that is."

"Well, my processing speeds are off the chart now, princess."

"There's still the human side of you that needs to, as well, Jack. You can pretend to be just 1s and 0s, but you are Handsome Jack."

"Do you even know what it's like here inside Helios, Rhys? Can you even begin to guess? It's like...I don't know what words even make sense. Just picture you could touch every end of Pandora with your fingers in one moment, like the sky is your blood, and the earth is your flesh, and every last creature are tiny little bacteria festering on you. Sounds poetic, I know. But it's sorta...honestly? Horrible, too, all these little fleas are on my hide and I am sick of them."

"Maybe you could use a break?" Rhys suggested, hands twitching. He fought to keep his tone nonchalant. "You wanna hop back onboard for a bit until you get more used to all of this?"

"Nah."

Rhys just wanted this over. Please, just let this end soon. He couldn't help but feel responsible for this catastrophic disaster. "Jack-" 

"I may be in a vast sea of code, but no way I'm going back in that little box of yours, no offense. You know, I could probably run this whole shebang without a single other moron here. How's that for best CEO of the damn universe? I have more than earned the peace and quiet."

Hyperion's voice came back, making Rhys nauseated. "Cafeteria vented. Five hundred cooks deceased!"

Rhys's pounding heart jumped as if to escape his body. And he couldn't breathe right. "What about me?" Rhys asked, a lump in his throat. 

"What about you?"

Rhys had two sudden visions. One saw him being vented out into space. The other showed him sitting in this empty death trap Helios had become, alone with the crazy AI of Handsome Jack. Forever. Well, more of a death trap.

Neither gave him any sense of hope.

"Am I...?" Next? He couldn't get the words out, afraid to make Jack target him. He had thought Jack would always be a level of reasonable. Jack had made Hyperion glorious, after all, and from what Rhys knew, being completely unreasonable hadn't occurred to him. He'd devoted so much to being like Jack. He thought he'd known his hero inside and out. A person had to be smart to get to this point. And smart people knew when to give or take.

Was he wrong?

"Actually, wait a moment," Jack said. "About you! You're right. These schmucks can wait. You're the real star of the show, here."

The desk moved, causing Rhys to yelp and stagger backward until his back hit the glass windows.

The desk rose up and up until it was taller than he was, revealing a chamber within. With hissing steam, the glass slid back. Within stood what looked like...a child's understanding of a skeleton. Like a stick man, golden metal rods made legs and arms, though the hands and feet were more sophisticated. There was no head, and the torso was a simple plate of metal full of glowing lights. It almost looked like a very skinny loader bot, Rhys thought.

Two monitors on the desk had come to life above this...thing. Jack smiled again, but it wasn't a happy smile, more of a cruel amusement, Rhys thought. "So here's the thing, Nakayama, bless his creepy little heart, may he rest in whatever constitutes as peace for his little scrawny hide... He built this. Called it an immortality suit. An endoskeleton. And it works...for an AI, anyway. I mean, my meat self was always going to die. There was no real way to transfer his brain into this thing. But mine? Mine will.

"So all I gotta do is hook myself up to it and boom, physical form again."

Rhys stared, taken aback. "Okay?" He cautiously straightened his stance. Well, at least Jack was distracted from his murderfest. "Cool. I figured we'd get you back into a body. But what does this have to do with me? Do you need me to initiate the transfer or something?"

"Not yet," Jack replied. His smile grew, and Rhys still felt uneasy. "See, Rhys, the endoskeleton will hook right up to a body in the right circumstances. Any body, really. In most bodies, a cybernetic kit would have to be already installed. And guess what. You are kitted right out."

Um. "You want me to...be your host body?" Rhys asked, trying to comprehend the weight of that suggestion. "By implanting that thing in me?"

"Don't look so worried, champ. I'll leave enough of R&D alive to make sure it gets implanted all correctly. You'd survive. Given the lay of things, this is the best option. We'd never be separated at that point. I'd still have my fingers in Helios - sexy - but mostly I'd run around in your hot little body. And considering everything that's happened, this is really where all this led. Don't you see, Rhys? We're the goddamned heroes now. My brain, your body, literally nothing could ever stop us. Not even Vault Hunters."

Rhys folded his arms and took two seconds to answer. "Uh, how about no."

"What?" Jack asked.

"I'm not doing that." 

There was a long, deafening pause. Rhys tried not to think or feel in that moment.

"Rhys..." Jack's voice was thick with...something. Something Rhys couldn't fathom in that moment. "Look, I know it sounds a little...argh, scary." Jack tried to laugh, as though it were a silly thought. "I mean, does it? I don't really know. But having another person living in your body isn't really that new. This is just a little more physical."

"And where the hell does that leave me?" Rhys asked. "A puppet or what? Do I become some kinda slave who can't move unless you want me to? What about my life, Jack? Do I get to date or eat my own food or go where I want?"

"We'll figure it out. The important thing is, no matter what, we'd be together. Permanently."

Rhys's calm finally dissolved. Panic took over his words. Anger, too. " No, Jack. I refuse. This is my body, I'm not giving it to you."

Another pause. Jack's eyes widened for a few seconds, and then they narrowed down to mere slits.

"Listen, Jack," Rhys stepped up to the desk, trying to be courageous, looking the monitor Jacks straight in the eyes. Well, one of them, anyway. "I need you to get out of Helios. You're obviously overloaded right now. I'll let you jump back in and we can figure out how to get your body back instead-"

Jack interrupted. "And if I don't?"

Rhys gritted his teeth, agitation winning over. "I'm going to have to temporarily disable your AI until we figure this freakin' mess out!" He hadn't meant to snap. But he was tired. Scared. Hungry too, come to think of it. He hadn't eaten in possibly days.

Again, Jack was silent.

Rhys didn't know what to say.

Jack sighed and his head swung back and forth. He raised his hands, on both screens. “This is what I get for daring to trust someone again, huh? You’re gonna betray me too? After everything I’ve done for you!?”

Rhys tripped, bumping into Jack's chair. He trembled and grasped it, trying to breathe. He knew he'd fucked up, majorly. Why did he pull that threat? By the Giants, Don't panic, don't panic- Too late for that. “J-" He couldn't get a lungful of air over his terror. "Um, I'm not-I’m not-”

Jack was seething, suddenly. He didn't even try to listen to Rhys. “You want me back in your empty little head so bad? Fine."

Something slammed into Rhys's head, sending a shock through his brain. He yelped, realizing his mistake. The neural jack from the chair was lodged into his port. “Shit!” He grabbed at it, trying to pull it out, but it was locked in tight. “Jack, wait-”

Jack appeared before him in that familiar hologram form, and his voice echoed between Rhys’s ears. Jack was in his head again. “No one betrays me and walks away! Not them! Not you!”

Rhys yelped as his cyber arm came to life and slammed him into the chair with enough force to knock the wind from his lungs. Before he could react, two restraints broke from the throne and snaked around his wrists, trapping him. “What’re you doing?” Rhys snapped, struggling. 

“Deciding the best way to take care of you,” Jack said, looming closer.  “I never made my office vent-able, ya know? Besides, that seems a little...impersonal after how much our relationship has come along. Ya know, I used to really hate this whole digital space bullshit making me insubstantial in a physical sense, but uh, I gotta admit, this is kinda fun. I feel like a god or something. Like I can just throw you across the room with a thought.”

It was Rhys's turn to be incensed. "This is your reaction just because I won't let you turn us into some freaky human and artificial intelligence combo, here? Why does that matter so much?"

"Well, it doesn't, not anymore. Now that I know how you really feel."

"Jack, let us talk!” Rhys hissed, kicking out and inevitably doing no damage. “I’m not betraying you-”

“Oh you say that now, but you’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you? Gonna shut me down now that you have my throne, take all that power for yourself? Opportunistic asshole!” Jack leaned in closer. If he’d been human, Rhys would’ve probably felt his breath. “You were gonna use me and kill me, weren’t you?”

“No,” Rhys growled. "I wasn't."

”I’m done chatting, buttercup.” Jack moved in so close, Rhys saw every digital detail as he abruptly grinned, every pixel sloughing off his frame, every digitally rendered line. Amazing how someone made of light and colors could be so dangerous, Rhys thought feverishly. “Oh. This is gonna be fun.” Rhys felt the restraint leave his right arm, but before he could do anything to free himself, his robotic hand came to life and snapped around his throat, squeezing. He choked. “Never strangled someone with their own hand before. Should be interesting.”

Rhys coughed. He could feel just how much force it was exerting, and how it was inexorably getting worse and worse. "J-Jack, stop…”

Jack showed no evidence of doing that.

Rhys searched his mind wildly when he remembered- "D-Dumpy!” He rasped as loud as he could, which wasn't very. “Help!”

The small drone sprang to life, whirring, breaking its own clasp on Rhys's belt and zooming into the air.

Jack started with an amused laugh, “you think that puny little thing is gonna stop-”

The robot’s laser zapped Rhys's cyber arm perfectly in the wrist, taking it offline. The electricity tingled against Rhys's skin. It fell limply from his neck, landing in Rhys's lap. Rhys coughed and gasped, trying to recover. He shook the white spots from his eyes and swallowed to an answering pain in his throat.

“You little shit," Jack snarled, "you really believe that’ll stop me from killing you?!”

Dumpy’s laser severed the neural jack, sending a jolt of electricity through Rhys’s cybernetics. He flinched and panted. As he sat there groaning and trying to recover, Dumpy cut the other restraint.

Rhys leapt up, head swimming. He didn't have time to think about anything other than escaping. He dimly noted his cyber arm coming back online. Rhys flexed the fingers.

“You know what?!” Jack’s voice blared over the speakers now. Good, he wasn't in Rhys's head anymore. “Your friends are gonna die too, Rhysie! I’m gonna take 'em - Vaughn, Sasha, Fiona, hell that junky loader bot you love so much! - and jam an endoskeleton into their puny little bodies-lethally, mind you, no careful surgeries for those bandits-and then I’m gonna connect my AI to all of ‘em! And you’re gonna watch as your zombie friends tear you limb from screaming bloody limb!”

“You’re nuts!” Rhys shot back.  Rhys jabbed the button on the chair, triggering the trap door.  “I don't know what I ever saw in you! I would've been more than happy to be your co-president, but I'm not giving up my life to you." He gripped the Gortys beacon to make sure it hadn’t gotten separated from him. He stumbled from the chair, body protesting, wincing. He rushed to the trapdoor but halted before leaping.

He couldn't resist getting in one more jab. “And just so we're clear, I’m way more handsome than you are!”

He leapt.

“Oh hell no!” The trapdoor slammed shut on Rhys’s torso, working a choked cry of agony from him that only somewhat drowned out a distinctive crunch. Tears welled in his eyes. That probably broke a couple of ribs. He got his arms between himself and the door and pushed. At first, there was no sign of it budging. He closed his eyes, wheezing. Fuck. If he didn't get this open.

He was going to die.

He let out a cry and used the last remaining strength in his muscles-

And pushed.

He fell freely.

Right to the bottom.

He slowly roused himself, certain he'd blacked out for a moment. The additional impact had jarred his entire body. He lay in the pile of dried blood and guts, groaning with pain, disgust, and all the emotions coursing through him-

Rhys jerked out of the memory, blinking to find himself sitting in his car, not moving an inch. He swallowed and wiped the sweat off his brow. He hadn't meant to get submersed in it so deeply.

He realized sweat wasn't the only dampness on his face.

He wiped tears off.

He started up the car and drove out of Opportunity. He decided there was no possible way to sleep after everything. He knew exactly where to go instead.

I need to just...get everything off my mind.

Chapter Text

God, he needed this was the first thought to run through Rhys’s mind. He stepped into the familiar club, breathing in the foggy, vapor-filled air with it's vaguely sweet aroma and twisting music. Rhys found his booth and slid into it. He ordered one of his favorites - Pandoracorn Piss. Not a flattering name, but then again, on Pandora, if a drink had one, it was probably because it was even shittier than normal. The Pandoracorn Piss was actually one of the few decent options in this place. It was served in a smooth wooden bow, the stuff itself a pinkish glowing goop. He drank at it, the swirl of dizzyingly sweet flavors flooding his taste buds. He moaned gratefully. Yeah, that hit the spot.

Rhys did his best to not think of anything, busying himself with his alcohol. He blinked when a new drink was sat on the table in front of him in a tall blue glass.

“Who’s this a courtesy of?” Rhys asked, barely containing his knowing smirk.

“There, sir,” the waiter said.

Rhys followed the gesture to see- wow, okay, an interesting item at the counter. Male, but hot enough, he supposed. Especially if he drank some more.

Rhys turned back to the waiter. “And this came straight from the bartender, of course?” Rhys said carefully. Damned if he was getting drugged.

“Of course, sir."

“Thank you.”

The server left.

Rhys wasn’t too picky with genders. Although sometimes that changed, depending on the mood. Right now, Rhys was definitely in a mood. What kind, he couldn’t be sure, but it was the kind that made him grab the drink and take a large swallow, trying to make a show of it. The drink was very sweet with a potent afterburn. Not too shabby.

A little spilled. Rhys saw eyebrows raise, but he ignored his own mistake. Instead, he nonchalantly wiped his mouth on his sleeve and gestured with his gloved hand. His attentive admirer made his way over. The man was obviously muscled, dressed in tight clothing.

“Sit,” Rhys said, wetting his lips and meeting dark eyes. The newcomer took up the space beside him, and Rhys inhaled sharply as a firm arm went around his waist.

“Hey, sexy.”

Rhys took another drink. “So, what should I call you?”

“Call me Dante… Or whatever tickles ya, Rhys.”

One problem with being well-known was that people tended to know your name long before you knew theirs, but Rhys was used to it at this point. It was...actually kind of ego-boosting, if he were honest.

He studied Dante, up and down, before deciding that yeah, this wasn’t bad. He had his lips suddenly seized in a hot, biting “kiss”. Rhys grunted. He hadn’t been expecting that, but he didn’t pull away. Dante tugged his lip before drawing back, swiping a thumb against Rhys’s throat.

“You know,” Dante said in a thick voice, “for being a CEO, you give off quite the bottom vibe.”

Rhys rolled his eyes, reaching for his drink. “I’m verse, thank you,” he muttered. “And bottom doesn’t mean submissive,” he added. He gulped some more of the alcohol. Okay, so he might not be drunk enough for this. But he would get there. And then things would be fun.

“True,” Dante murmured in his ear. “I’m thinking…bratty bottom, though.” A hand squeezed his thigh.

Rhys met dark, amused eyes, recognizing the verbal trap. Whatever he said next would damn him. So, he opted not to say anything. He started to reach for what was left of the Pandoracorn Piss. Dante noticed and beat him to it, pressing it against his lips for him. Rhys figured the other wanted a bit of a show, so he indulged him, sliding out his tongue to lap up the rest of the liquid.

“God, bet you’re really good with that mouth, baby.”

Rhys knew he was hitting the liquor too hard, especially when he chased it with a gulp of Dante’s drink and Dante murmured an amused, “Whoa. Look at you. Trying to knock yourself out or something?”

But he couldn’t help it.

Rhys was desperate. He admitted that to himself. Not for a partner, of course. It was not typically hard to find someone in here who wanted to fuck a rich CEO. He was desperate for everything to fade to a dull buzz, for everything to stop being important. He just needed one mindless night.

Dante’s hand landed on his groin, but Rhys pushed it back. “Not yet,” he said. “Not until I tell you.”

“What, are you that fast or something?”

“No,” Rhys said, “but you obviously have no concept of foreplay,” he said in a condescending tone. He wrinkled his nose and sniffed. “Boring. Unoriginal. Why don’t you just leave if you aren’t going to be more interesting than my hand.” Rhys was starting to think he’d misjudged by letting this one over to his side. The looks were good, but the attitude sucked. Rhys’s patience was running thin.

But Dante smirked at him. “Brat. But don’t worry. I’ll get you going.” Dante shoved a tongue into his mouth, prying fingers tugging on the V dip of Rhys's outfit. Dante pushed buttons open to expose more of Rhys's chest, thumbing at his nipples. “You’re so pretty. Like eye candy.”

Okay, so they were getting somewhere, finally. It’d taken long enough. And the influencers in his system were starting to catch up with him. Things were looking up. He should be wacked out enough for this soon to really get it going. Rhys was finally reaching that heady, pleasant, clouded state where senses became enhanced and dulled at the same time.

“T-touch me,” Rhys hissed, impatience and arousal beating out his agitation. “Now-“

The hand returned to his groin, squeezing him through his pants.

Rhys threw his head back, moaning as blood rushed into his lower extremities. Finally. Touch. Nice, sensual, but ultimately meaningless touch. Dante's mouth went for his neck, sucking, and Rhys melted against that feeling.

Unbidden, the memory of Jack close to his side rushed through his brain, the feeling of Jack's tongue against his neck. He shuddered, hard. He could almost hear Jack's voice in his ears-

“That’s cute, Rhysie.”

The rush of anger hit him like a freight train. “Don't call me that!” Rhys snarled, gripping the man's hair with his cybernetic arm, yanking him away and leaning in towards Dante’s face. The man’s hands went to his metal wrist. “Don't ever fucking call me that!” He yelled.

“What the fuck’s your problem, man!?” The other demanded, tugging. “Let go-“

Rhys growled, releasing Dante and shoving him back. “Get away from me, asshole.”

Fuck. Fuck. What was wrong with him? Everything was so...wrong right now. Wrong. He felt all strung out and twisted up at the same time. Why? He just wanted to crawl out of his own skin and scream into the void. He wanted to throw his drink and tear his hair out.

Dante leaned back in, fists clenching. Rhys started, but he bristled quickly. Dante seemed to want to say something, but was hesitating. After a bit, his expression brightened. “Oh, I get it, brat. You wanna fight a little, huh?” Dante shoved him back against the soft leather seating, gripping his wrists and forcing a kiss onto his mouth. Rhys was tiring of this. He would flexed his cybernetic arm, ready to do some real damage this time.

A large hand clamped onto Dante's shoulder, ripping him back and flinging him to the floor.

Rhys stared in shock.

“Leave before I blow your friggin’ head off, bandit,” growled the hand’s owner.

Rhys stared at Jack like he was a ghost. Jack just stared at Dante.

Rhys reflected that he must be dreaming. There was no way Jack was here right now.

He pinched himself, but it did nothing.

Not dreaming?

This couldn't be happening again, for crying out loud! Why the fuck didn't Jack ever leave him alone?!

Dante took Jack in as he stood up. A grin spread across his face. “Thought you were a bouncer for a sec… Heh, you can’t be the real Handsome Jack. He’s dead. You one of those doubles? Better get out. Nobody likes that face around here, and horsin’ around won’t win you any friends. Either way, you don’t have to get involved. Me and…my friend here are just having a bit of fun. Aren’t we, Rhys?”

Rhys opened his mouth to dispute that but Jack shoved a gun in Dante’s face. Rhys looked away hurriedly. “This real enough for you, idiot?” he heard Jack say. The gun went off. The noise was loud and jarring even with the music in the air. Rhys felt blood spatter on the side of his face and in his hair, his ears left ringing. People screamed and ran for the exit, leaving the club barren in minutes.

Rhys was glad he had adverted his eyes. He didn’t need to see anything that’d make him hurl all over himself. Not because of Dante's demise – he couldn’t care less, really - but brains were still not his favorite thing to see all over the place.

Rhys saw blood on his drink glass. He wiped it off with his glove, nose wrinkled.

Jack blew off the tip of his gun before holstering it. He barely seemed to notice the commotion he’d caused. “What an asshole, huh?” he commented lightly.

Rhys dampened a napkin with the sweat on the drink glass and scrubbed at the blood on his cheek and temple. “What the hell are you doing here?” He asked. He was too bewildered. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Jack was some demon that could be summoned just by thinking or talking about him.

“We didn’t finish our conversation, cupcake,” Jack said, slipping into the booth uninvited, claiming Dante's former spot. He smelled metallic. Jeezus. Rhys was not in the headspace for this. He risked a look at Jack, confirming his suspicion that Jack was painted in fresh blood. “By the way, looks like that disgusting bandit left a mark on your neck. Like an overgrown mosquito. Gross.” Jack made an exaggerated gagging sound.

“Look, Jack. Thanks for the help, but...now’s not really a good time. Can we finish this later…?”

“Ooooh my god, stop using that friggin’ excuse, Rhysie. Driving me nuts. Besides, I didn’t come into this cesspit just to be told it was all for nothing, kitten. What even is this place? Looks like a sex club for criminals. Pretty sure someone was gettin' nailed by the entrance... Your tastes are...terrible. Just terrible. It’s makin’ me feel sorry for you.”

“Who said anything about tastes,” Rhys replied and laughed. “Can’t taste much of anything r-“ he hiccuped. “-right now. S’cuse me.”

Jack also laughed. “Wooow, you are totally bombed, cupcake. It’s hilarious.”

Rhys sighed. “How’d you even find me, anyway.”

“As if it’s hard to find the Atlas CEO. Next question.”

“And...since when did we not finish our conversation? Seemed finished to me.”

“Well, for one, you asked me a question, then didn’t give me time to answer.”

“Question…?” Rhys honestly couldn’t remember.

“Keep up, Rhysie. You asked if you mattered.”

“Oh, right.” Rhys remembered now. The question had seemed important before, but he didn't know why. Now it just sounded silly. “Funny question, right?” He chuckled. “I’m just…so funny. Haha. Coulda...been a comedian...”

“Listen, you idiot. I didn’t know how to answer before, because I hadn’t really thought of it. But I did think about it, after you left. And now I know how to answer.”

Rhys stared at Jack, trying to figure out where this was going. “Ooookay? And?”

Jack put a hand on Rhys’s shoulder, forcing their eyes to lock onto each other. “You did.”

Rhys shifted back, uncomfortable at the sudden lack of distance between them.

“I know, I know,” Jack was saying, “it’s a lot to take in-“

“Uh huh, that’s nice, Jack. You should probably just go now before someone sees you in this den-”

Jack scowled and pushed on. “We were partners, Rhys. I trusted you. You trusted me. That shouldn’t have changed... I realize now you weren’t trying to betray me… And yes, we had a little, eh, misunderstanding about the whole, argh, venting everyone into space thing and-”

“Little?” Rhys echoed.

“Fine. Big. Big misunderstanding. And the immortality suit thing, too. But, as I was saying, we should put it behind us and look to the future where better things are waiting.”

Rhys laughed again, a little less loosely. “What if...there’s more misunderstandings?"

“There won’t be.”

“No, that’s not good enough,” Rhys said, sitting up straighter, his brain sobering more, “I need to know you’re gonna like...stop yourself if you ever get the urge to kill me again. I can’t just be buddy-buddy again if I’m somewhat expecting a bullet in the head. Like uh…Dante over there.”

“Who?” Jack asked. “You mean that bandit. Wow what a stupid name.” Jack narrowed his eyes at Rhys. “Come on, cupcake, I’m not gonna kill you. How do I convince you of that?”

Rhys clenched his drink in hand, holding Jack’s intense stare without flinching. “Promise me you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt the next time you think I’m going against you.”

Jack’s expression didn’t change. "Rhys-"

"No, I'm serious. Please."

Jack shook his head, looking exasperated, but relented. “Fine. I will.”

“But do you promise.”

“Yes...Rhys. I promise.”

 “Promise what?”

Jack’s eyes rolled at the ceiling. He sighed. “I, Handsome Jack...Pandora’s greatest and most underappreciated hero...do solemnly swear to give you the benefit of the doubt should something like...our previous big misunderstanding happen again. So that I don’t kill you. Happy?”

Rhys grinned, feeling foggier than before even as relief went through him. “Hmm…” Rhys felt a bit playful. He raised his cybernetic arm, and crooked his pinkie. “But what about a pinkie promise?” He crooned. “Everyone knows that’s the only real way to make a promise.”

Jack took only a second before wrapping his pinkie around Rhys’s. “Yes yes, whatever. Pinkie promise. Just how drunk are you, anyway? You better frickin’ remember this conversation in the morning.”

“Don’ worry. It’s all recorded if I don’t.” Rhys sighed. "Wow, you’re quite serious, huh? Guess I’ll just have to trust you now...partner.” He giggled. “Sound like…a cowboy saying it.”

“You are ruining this moment, Rhys.”

“What? I learn from the best.” Rhys giggled some more. "And I thought you liked...cow...people..."

"Definitely ruined." Jack looked annoyed. “What’s so damned funny anyway?"

“You! You’re just...just really funny, you know that?” His giggles turned to full on laughing. “You come in here, shoot some dude who I sorta-maybe-not-really was thinking of banging then say ‘oh, I promise not to try to kill you again, Rhys!’ And then, covered in blood, you just-” He guffawed more. “Just sit in this booth chillin’ like it’s a Tuesday night on the town! And that’s just in one night! It doesn’t even compare to the stuff you pulled…last night!” Rhys frowned. “Wait. Whoa…was that really just last night? Feels like a week ago…”

“So, uh, you still haven’t told me just how much you’ve drank?”

Rhys laughed more. “Not enough for this goddamned dream.”

“Dream?”

“Yeah. Everytime I close my eyes and open them, god do you just- just show up! It’s great, fantastic, you’re like...a magician! You appear out of thin air. You know what I think? I think I’m still in that coma after touching the alien symbol and none of this is real. It’s just one long dream… Pretty realistic though, but… It’s the only way this makes sense! Wait…” he gasped. “What if… it’s not a dream… holy shit.”

Jack leaned closer. “What the hell, cupcake? Did that bandit hit you in the head or something?”

“I don’t…think so…” Rhys blinked a few times. “Anyway, you can uh...go now. If I need you…I’ll just, think you into existence. Like usual.”

“Nah, nah, I’m not done, you drunken idiot. I also need to know if you’re coming to the demo or not. You said you weren’t, but it seemed kinda...in the air.”

“Yes. Fine. I’ll go,” Rhys grunted, throwing himself forward to lean on the table. “Why not? Nothing’s real and nothing matters!” He just wanted Jack gone. Anything to escape the proximity between them. It was doing things to his already hazy brain.

“Great.”

“Yep. I’ll see you then. Bye!”

“You could go first,” Jack suggested. "Since you're so clearly out of it. Someone should make sure you get out alright."

“But I got…business here. I’m a business man. Let me do...my business.”

Jack dramatically looked around. “Uh…doesn’t look like anyone’s here, Mr. Businessman. You need someone to walk ya home? You’re pretty wasted.”

“I’m good!” Rhys said cheerfully. "Thank you and see you later!"

Jack shifted suddenly. Rhys felt it through the seat cushion. It felt like Jack had moved closer. “Would you really have banged that idiot? I mean...there's bad taste...and then there's...no taste.”

Rhys blinked. When was this going to end? Why wouldn’t Jack just go? “Yes, I was,” he said. "I mean, no, I wasn't. Or maybe I was? I don’t know.”

“How do you not know?”

"I...don't remember? That was...like...forever ago."

"Oh my god-"

“Why do you care so much?” Rhys whined, growing impatient. “Look, can you leave already so I can just...relax?”

“Uh huh. Looks like you were doing plenty of relaxing before I got here.” Jack lay a hand on his shoulder. “And why so eager to see me gone, Rhysie? ‘Fraid of the rumors about Hyperion and Atlas getting cozy? I mean, no one’s even here…”

Rhys said nothing. He buried his head in his arms. Maybe this problem would go away if he ignored it.

“Or…” Jack’s tone dropped. “Is it something else?”

Rhys said nothing. He was too out of it. Jack seemed to be insinuating something, but whatever that was, it was lost on him. Maybe it had to do with the Vault?

“Oh, okay, are you ignoring me now, princess?” Jack pressed closer.

Yes.

Rhys really was trying at least.

“Ooor… did you pass out? Well, that’s not safe. What if someone just...took advantage of you or something?”

There was a pause.

“Kiddo? Come on, we should just...get you home or something. You look like shit. And I can’t even see your dweeb face right now, so I’m just going off that mess on your head.” Jack shook him. “Rhyssieee, time to wake up!”

“Jack,” Rhys groaned, sitting up. “I’m not passed out, and I’m not going home! Could you please leave now? I’m trying to just have a mindless night, okay? Surely you can understand that. Pleeease.”

“Heh, it’s cute when you beg,” Jack commented. “What is this stuff anyway?” He grabbed Rhys’s drink and took a gulp.

“Come on, man. That was rude!”

“Wow this tastes like horsecrap. You really need better tastes, not just in partners, but in drinks- wow-”

“Says the man who banged a hooker in clown makeup more than once and then called it a relationship.” It took about three seconds before Rhys realized that might not be the best thing to say to Handsome Jack.

Jack stiffened. “Excuse me?”

“Nothin’,” Rhys muttered, trying to reclaim his drink by reaching mindlessly for it. “Jack-”

Jack’s hand twisted into his hair, yanking him closer to Jack’s glaring face. Rhys yelped in surprise. “Whaa- le-go!”

“Say that to my face, pumpkin,” Jack said with a tight, angry expression.

Rhys stared at Jack for a moment, then snorted. Was it bad he wasn’t even bothered or scared at this point? Probably. But honestly, Jack’s reaction was funny as hell. “I mean...am I wrong?”

Jack’s grip tightened. Blunt nails scraped Rhys’s scalp, and a thrill ran through his entire body. He should’ve felt fear, or anger, or at the very least, caution. He felt none of those things. He felt…excited. Like he was tapping into something dangerous and powerful. “You’ve got quite a mouth on you, Rhysie,” Jack said at length, loosening his hold. “You really need to install a common-sense filter or something in that computer brain of yours so you can learn when to shut the hell up.”

“You aren’t my boss,” Rhys replied, “a-anymore.”

“Startin’ to understand why that idiot was over here. You’re just beggin’ for a rough handling, huh, kiddo?”

“What are you-“ Rhys started, but then Jack slammed him down, pinning him against table. Rhys gasped, that same thrill going through him, but stronger, like a shockwave. “J-Jack-”

“I said, shut up!” Jack growled, tangling a hand in Rhys’s hair. “God, you make me just wanna…wanna…” He yanked Rhys backward as quickly as he’d shoved him down. Rhys’s back slammed against the booth. Jack still held his hair to keep his head pulled back, as if his whole goal here was to expose Rhys’s throat.

But Rhys was getting mad, the thrill from before fading. He tried to reach the hand in his hair. “Let go!” he snapped.

Jack moved in and bit Rhys’s throat, hard, using his full mouth like a wolf. For a weird, panicked moment, Rhys thought Jack might try to tear it out. Jack climbed onto him, straddling his waist, teeth never leaving his neck. Jack scraped his teeth inward, before settling on a fixed point against his throat.

Rhys gasped, his whole body tensing as Jack applied more force there. The feeling was warm, wet, painful, too much and not enough. Something heavier than the thrill from before settled in his gut. Rhys bucked up, not sure if he was trying to throw Jack off or feel more of the other holding him down. He swallowed a heavy moan at the building ache.

His skin broke. Rhys couldn’t hold back the cry of pain. Jack’s grip tightened so much, it was a wonder he hadn’t ripped any hair out, his other hand bruising Rhys’s shoulder. Jack lifted his head, looking down at Rhys with blown, mismatched eyes. Blood glistened on his lips. He looked quite manic. Rhys blinked up at him.

Rhys finally regained some self-awareness, focusing on the warm wetness against his neck. “What are you doing?!” He yelped. He forced his metallic arm between their bodies, and with all his power, shoved at Jack. Not that it accomplished much. There wasn’t much room to push.

“That was for your shit talking, you little shit,” Jack hissed, holding on to him despite Rhys’s pushing. “And also to cover up that disgusting hickey with something more worthy. You let that bandit mark you up and shove his tongue down your throat. I can fuckin smell him on you! You really were gonna just let that trash do whatever the hell he wanted to you, huh?!”

“Why the fuck do you care?!” Rhys snapped. What gave Jack the right to fucking bite him like that, hickey or no? “In case you didn’t notice, what me and that so-called bandit were doing didn’t fucking involve you.”

Jack glared at him, jaw working, “You like when people force themselves on you, cupcake? Is that why your dick is so hard right now? Gettin' off to the memory of that that idiot eating your lips off?”

Rhys had to pause. Shit, he was hard right now. He could feel it pressing against Jack’s pelvis. “Fuck you!” He spat

Rhys tried to slip away from Jack, but he didn’t have a good angle. He drew his legs up, trying to push Jack off sideways. He probably looked more like a flailing fish out of water than someone with any dignity left.

Jack didn’t seem to have any trouble staying in place. “Where ya tryin’ ta go, Rhysie?” he growled, sounding viciously playful. He leaned in, elbows on the headrest on either side of Rhys’s head as he stared at him. “Thought you had...business here.”

“Ah, go back to hell, Jack!” Rhys kicked out, snarling. “I’m leaving.”

“Doesn’t look like it to me,” Jack said, grinning. “You’re like…a limp spaghetti noodle right now. Well, except for your dick. I guess this makes us even for our little moment in the broken car in the snowstorm, huh?”

“Jack,” Rhys growled, forcing himself to hold still and meet Jack’s gaze. “Get. The. Fuck. Off. Of. Me. Right. Now.”

A few moments passed.

Jack’s mood shifted abruptly. He leaned back, hands raised, “Alright, alright, gee, whatever you want, princess. You’re so damned uptight right now.” He slid off of Rhys.

Free, Rhys flopped out of the booth and onto the floor. He stumbled to his feet as fast as he could manage. His head swam dizzily and he leaned against the wall, panting and confused. What the hell had just happened? His head was too muddy to try and figure this out.

He could hear Jack laughing behind him, and he just wanted that voice gone. “You look like a dying bird, kiddo. Wow, that is not safe. I mean, it’s hilarious, but definitely not safe. You’re gonna get mugged or something.”

Rhys stood there for a moment as he tried to regain some sense. In spite of everything, his dick was still hard, his mind fuzzy, and about a million phantom sensations were thrumming through his body along with the fresh pain in his neck. He forced himself to move, making his way to the back, to his reserved room. He let the door lock behind him. He took long enough to kick off his shoes and dropped onto the bed on his knees. He undid his pants, grabbed his erection and pumped it with swift strokes. He couldn’t help the way his brain recalled Jack on top of him, teeth in his neck, his weight and heat holding him down. He groaned, going harder against his own palm.

And then he was coming, moaning Jack’s name.

Rhys slumped forward and fell asleep.

Chapter Text

“Rhys, what is going on with you?”

Rhys looked up, greeted with the familiar sight of Yvette approaching his desk.

She continued, “all those cryptic-ass messages you kept sending over the weekend…“ She shifted from foot to foot, clearly agitated. “Mind explaining just how joking your ‘if I’m not back in a few hours I’m probably dead’ message was supposed to be? Because it wasn’t very funny.”

“It, no…” Rhys scratched his head. “It’s…a long story.”

“Well, you said you would explain today, so explain. Why did you put Atlas on alert?”

“I…” Rhys leaned against his desk. “Look… On Friday, I received a weird message.”

She folded her arms, saying nothing.

Rhys took that as a sign to go on. “Apparently, some…people have information on me- erm, Atlas - that they shouldn’t.”

She frowned. “Who?”

“From…what I can tell, they’re an old Atlas enemy.” It wasn’t a complete lie, exactly, he thought. It was just omitting some truth. “They go by Followers of the Azure Sun, and they’re pretty obsessed with Vaults.”

“Who isn’t?” Yvette said dryly.

“Fair enough. But they…Come from Tantalus and have their government by the balls. Or what’s left of it. So… They actually have power. Enough to worry about. Slightly.” He didn’t need it to sound worse than it actually was. This situation could be contained, just as soon as Rhys found the information leak.

“How come I’ve never heard of them before now.”

“They normally wouldn’t come this far out into the borderlands, and apart from the residents of Tantalus, most people haven’t heard of them.” Rhys waved his hand, as if dismissing something. “Anyway, they demanded information on the Vault on Iphus, so they obviously don’t know everything yet, but we have to be careful.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod. “Send me what you have on them, and I’ll try to help…”

“Of course.”

“Sooo… I hate to say the obvious here, but what if Jack-“

“It wasn’t Jack,” Rhys leaned back. “Yeah, yeah, I know. That was my first thought, too, but I hacked his stuff and it’s… Well, he has more information than I’d like, but not what he would’ve needed to sell me out.”

“Who else could’ve done it?”

“I don’t know. Some of the information they have, I’ve never shared with any other person, not even with you. No offense.”

“None taken.”

He shook his head. “Jack thinks someone did some digging and found shit to use… But it just doesn’t feel right. Either way, I intend to find out.” He frowned. “And when I do they’re skag food. I’ll have all the best programs, bots, and people on the task. That includes you.”

“You let Jack in on this?” She asked incredulously. “Pfft, so much for being careful with him.”

He glared. “Look, I kind of had to let him know why I hacked his computer.”

“Oh my god, you told him you hacked his computer?!”

Okay, in retrospect, that did sound pretty bad. “I mean…yeah…”

“Are you trying to get killed?”

“No! I was trying to confront him!”

“That sounded more like a yes.”

“Just let it go,” Rhys groaned.

“Fine, but we need to stop this leak before it gets out of hand. Asap. I still wouldn’t write Jack off completely, but…it does seem unlikely he could do this.”

“Yes.” Rhys was about to turn to his computer, content to let the conversation end, but Yvette’s expression changed. He paused. She smirked. “Whaat?” He asked, suspicious. “Can I help you?”

“What’s with the scarf? Someone leave some fun marks?” She wiggled her brows teasingly.

“Yvette!” Yes, Rhys had on a scarf, an article of clothing obviously warmer than needed as Pandora could get pretty hot in the day. He didn’t feel like explaining what had happened to his neck. It’d been an impressive bite that’d bruised and bled that night. It still wasn’t healed and probably wouldn’t be for a good week or so. In all honesty, he was trying not to think about that night at all. It was something he still couldn’t wrap his head around, equal parts embarrassing and unsettling and never-again. And yet, he still hadn’t deleted it’s record from his memory banks. But he would. Eventually. Just as soon as he got less busy.

Yvette tilted her head. “I’m curious.”

Rhys sighed. “Well… It- it isn’t pretty.”

Her eyebrows raised. “What? Is it really shameful?” She chuckled.

He winced, heat in his ears. “No! No, it’s just…” He sighed again, this time with as much exasperation as possible.

She raised her hands in a placating way. “Alright, alright, Rhys. I mean, if you aren’t comfortable sharing...” 

Rhys decided to bite the bullet and tugged the scarf away.

Her eyebrows seemed to raise even more. “Damn. That’s…impressive. And horrifying. Are you sure you didn’t try to get too friendly with a skag while you were drunk?”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “May as well have…”

“Who did it?”

“Some…” He trailed off, fingers twiddling. “Some maniac at the club.”

“Yeah I gathered that much. You should be more careful who you make bedroom eyes at.”

"You don't say..." He situated the scarf back in place. She just shrugged. “Anyway, we’ve got work to do.” He was glad when Yvette left it alone and agreed.

Rhys followed the scientists into Research and Development. Most of R&D was situated underground. There were no windows, just long, sleek, silver halls with glowing gold and red LEDs accenting its pathways, their light mostly drowned out in the white fluorescents on the ceiling. Most of the rooms were hidden away behind automatic, steel doors scattered throughout the halls.

“Dr. Grace,” Rhys greeted upon reaching the cybernetics division and spotting the lead scientist.

“It’s a pleasure to have you here, Mr. Rhys, sir,” Dr. Grace said, obviously preening. Rhys decided to ignore it. He must have some good news, so let him preen. Rhys couldn’t argue results. “Are you ready to see our latest progress?” Dr. Grace said, practically vibrating. He gestured an assistant over.

Rhys paused and deliberated for a few seconds. Right. Well… “Actually, before we start, I wanted to speak with you personally.”

Brows raised. “Oh- of course, sir.”

He motioned the other to follow him a few paces from the other scientists in the room. Rhys put what he hoped was a consoling hand on the man’s shoulder. He quieted his tone. “I...I wanted to apologize for being a dick the last time we spoke.”

Dr. Grace’s eyes widened. “I- no. I should be the one apologizing for sticking my nose where I shouldn’t have.”

Well, that was something at least. “Look, I’m putting it behind us,” Rhys said. “Not that I want you to make a habit of doing stuff like that. Still, it doesn’t negate the fact that I…could and should have handled our conversation…more professionally.”

Dr. Grace looked odd for a moment, before smiling, wide. “I appreciate it, sir.”

“Seriously, though.” Rhys grasped Dr. Grace’s other shoulder with his robotic hand, tightening it, looking him dead in the eye. “Don’t ever do anything like that again, or I won’t be so forgiving next time. Got it?”

Dr. Grace stiffened but nodded, eyes dancing away in what Rhys could only guess was nervousness. “Of course, sir,” Dr. Grace muttered.

“Great!” Rhys smiled and gave the scientist a hearty clap before stepping back. “Now let’s see what you’re hiding down here.” Rhys gestured broadly at the hallways.

“Yes, sir.” Dr. Grace lead the way with the assistant, who was either very happy, excited, or anxious. Or maybe all three. They kept darting glances at Rhys the whole time, saying nothing. It was to be expected. “This is our progress,” said Dr. Grace as they stepped into a side room.

Rhys almost stopped in his tracks but forced himself to keep moving. A large cylinder of glass was positioned in the back of the room with several machines around it. Inside it lay a skeleton shaped mannequin with multiple wires attached here and there. They ran out and down, cascading along the torso and arms with a thicker one flowing down the spine. It looked reminiscent of every art Rhys had ever seen of a-

“Full human nervous system,” Dr. Grace said, “as promised.” There was something like pride in his voice. “Say goodbye to the clunkier cybernetics of yesterday. This...this is the most refined technology in the galaxy.”

Rhys approached the implants. His Echo Eye powered up to run a scan. Of course, the team would be sending up the full, written report later, but he wanted to record some raw information to parse  and organize on his own. The Echo Eye stored the info for later, highlighting some areas of note for him. He closed out the HUD.

“You got this from Hyperion?” Rhys turned around, not bothering to hide the fact he was impressed.

“Well,” Dr. Grace said, rubbing the back of his head, “I got their early prototypes. This is simply where it all lead.”

Rhys put a hand on his chin in thought. “It would require a very skilled surgeon to correctly implant this. Full implants can be unpleasant, as I understand.”

“Yes. But now doable. And my team is getting with Dr. Shen’s team and we’re putting together a plan on the best way to do it.”

The next hour or so was spent discussing the model and its potential future. Rhys learned a lot, and while it still needed some work, he was impressed with the overall report. Perhaps within the year, they could even distribute it on the market. Test and trials were needed first, but Rhys suspected it wouldn’t take too long, since they’d built off Hyperion’s old, already advanced implants. While more refined, the newest prototype was still somewhat similar. Not enough to cause legal disputes, but enough to know they would work.

Rhys wondered if that would annoy Jack. Jack probably wouldn’t notice. Hyperion had dozens of markets. Jack probably didn't even remember them all.

Jack. Rhys ignored the phantom twinge in the skin of his neck. He felt like he was forgetting something...

Oh right. Jack’s demonstration was this week. He held back a sigh at remembering it. “Thank you, Doctor. That will be all for now.” He left the room, trying and failing not to think about Jack and what that maniac might have planned. His fingers brushed his throat, and he shook his head, trying to clear the heat that'd settled in his cheeks.

“Maybe I shouldn’t go,” Rhys complained to Yvette as he combed his hair. She’d come over to hang out before he left.

The day for Jack’s demonstration had arrived too quickly for Rhys, and he was agitated. For  the most part, he hadn’t had a lot of interactions with Jack since the awkward night at the club. And those they’d had were solely through the Echo, brief and rushed. They’d both grown quite busy. Rhys was focusing most of his time on Atlas, and he was sure Jack was doing something similar with Hyperion.

In fact, Hyperion had finally sent more workers to Opportunity. As expected, now that Jack had other people to pester – and probably put his dick in, Rhys reflected sourly – Rhys wasn’t much needed anymore.

Not that Rhys cared. Nope. Not one bit. Who’d want to have sex with Handsome Jack anyway? Definitely not him! Only a complete moron would want that!

His comb shattered in his cybernetic hand. He glared and tossed it in the trash, knocking pieces of plastic from his hair.

“Jeeze,” Yvette remarked, looking up from her Echo. “A little tense there? I can practically hear your brain exploding.”

Rhys took off down the hallway, going for another comb. “I mean, would Jack even bother if the tables were reversed here?” he shot back from in front of the restroom mirror. He left the door open to ease conversation. “I- I doubt he even cares. He only pestered so much before because he didn’t have anyone else to focus his manic attention on. He probably wouldn’t even notice if I didn’t go.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Oh?” Rhys said. His volume increased. “Then why- why haven’t I gotten a single message all day from him? Or week for that matter? Quite unusual.”

“Missing the attention?”

“Nope,” Rhys popped the word with his lips. “It’s kind of nice, like getting a vacation.”

“Maybe you should message him first?”

Rhys groaned in annoyance. “Then it’ll just remind him and allow him to play everything off.”

“He probably assumes everything is still on. So, he will notice if you don’t go.”

“Ugh. Like I care.” Rhys finished with the newest comb and left the mirror. He went to the living area where Yvette sat at the table. “Besides, you- you’re missing the point here! Jack is a chronic nagger.”

“Then don’t go if you feel so strongly about it.” She said it as if things were that easy. “It’s not like he’s lonely anymore, so you don’t even have to feel bad this time.”

For some reason, that only annoyed Rhys further. He shook his head and flopped down in a seat across from her.

“Also, Rhys, I really do recommend moving on if you aren’t going to bone him. Broody isn’t a good look on you.”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “Haha, Yvette. So funny. As usual.” He frowned, checking the time. He still had over an hour. “Unfortunately, as much as I’d rather stay home, I’ve gotta see this demonstration firsthand. Even if I would love to give Jack the middle finger right now, Atlas needs to know what’s going on.”

“Glad it’s decided, then.” Yvette stood up. “Now, let’s see if you’ve learned anything about fashion since the last time you had a date with Handsome Jack.”

“Yvette-!“

“Come on, stop whining. I'm helping. Again. Really you should be paying me for my time."

Rhys really did try not to fuss over his outfit. He did. Even Yvette was growing impatient by the time he’d tried on the fourth combination. They’d kept arguing and trading pieces out and around. He knew something was wrong when she finally relented to a dark form fitting type of outfit that had stiff shoulders and thick sleeves, muttering about his “ridiculous look”. The suit was fine! It accented his shoulders and the colors weren’t too bad. Gray and gold. It came with a collared overcoat and a red tie. 

He nodded at his reflection. It would have to do. He said his byes to Yvette and left for Opportunity. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it set him on edge.

When he arrived at Opportunity, there were even more people than he was expecting. So many. A full parking lot and several cars parked along the roads in every available space. It took Rhys an annoying minute to find a parking space, almost on the bridge it was so far back. Groups of obvious corporate assholes in suits walked along the sidewalks everywhere, and in their midst, a handful of loaders. Surveyors soared through the air, snapping photos of everything.

Opportunity looked better than ever, lights shining bright, almost all damage erased. It looked exactly like the city in the posters.

Rhys stood on the walk, baffled and half-wondering where the hell all these people had come from. Hyperion? If so, they’d sent a small army.

“Hey, bro!” Called a voice. He turned around.

“Vaughn?” He asked.

Vaughn strolled over. “Yeah, I heard you were attending this little thing, so…” He hadn’t changed much, save for wearing something that vaguely resembled a dress shirt, and it wasn’t even stained with blood! Rhys sometimes had trouble recalling the Vaughn from accounting he’d first befriended. Vaughn looked so different now, something that really stood out now that he was in stark contrast to all these suits. Vaughn shrugged. “Besides, most of Helios is here tonight, so I tagged along anyway.”

“Oh. Well, you could’ve messaged.”

“Eh, I could’ve, but honestly…I forgot to.”

“Any idea who all these people are?” Rhys looked around.

“I don’t know but word spread pretty far. Apparently, people came from all over because of the rumors that Jack is indeed alive!”

“That…would make sense.” Well, it had been a matter of time. Jack was no longer a secret. Great.

“Speaking of Jack…”

“Huh?”

Vaughn grinned. “Bro, are you in need a bodyguard against Handsome Jack’s unwanted advances?” He teased, elbowing Rhys. “I’m getting pretty good at throwing a punch now!”

“Seriously?” Rhys said, neck burning. “Look, we… Jack and I talked it over. Everything’s fine now… It’s all in the past.”

Vaughn’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?” He asked. “That was quick.”

“Yeah, turns out he was just…uh…” He glared at the memory of the conversation, “…joking.”

“Wow that’s…dickish.”

“Yeah. When isn’t he, though?”

“Touché. Well, that’s great then, bro.” Vaughn said but hesitated as he searched Rhys’s expression. “Right? You said you didn’t-”

“Yeah, it is great!” Rhys said with forced cheer.

Vaughn stared at him uncertainly. "Okay, is there-"

“Look who made it!” interrupted a loud voice.

“Here we go,” Rhys mouthed before turning to Handsome Jack. That hadn’t taken long. It was almost like Jack had watched out for him or something. Maybe Jack truly had been too busy to message. Whatever. He wasn’t going to worry about it. He realized something was off though. There was tension in Jack’s shoulders. His brow sat even heavier than normal.

“Hey, kitten,” he said with a smile that came across far more predatory than friendly. There was a dark glint to his eyes, a manic energy in his step. It was enough to put Rhys on edge all over again. “Glad you made it.” He didn’t sound so glad. “Was beginning to think you weren’t gonna show.” He laughed like he was trying to joke, but the sound came across harsh to Rhys’s ears.

Okay. So Rhys just had to be calm. Someone here had probably pissed Jack off and Jack still hadn’t gotten over it. Angering Jack was an easy thing to do, especially when the number of nearby dumbasses had increased exponentially.

Jack turned to look at Vaughn, brow furrowing. “I really hope this isn’t a plus one, because- Oh wait, oh wait, I remember him! It’s Ole Iron Abs! Dude, I have so much respect for your abs! Like first glance, NERD, second glance, ABS!” He said, shoving Vaughn playfully.

“Oh, thanks!” Vaughn said with a somewhat nervous-sounding laugh. “I work hard on them.” So much for being a bodyguard against Jack, Rhys thought with amusement.

“Yeah, you do! Although I see you’ve lost the nerd glasses, kiddo. Decided to go for the ole slick contact lenses? And the beard’s a nice touch!”

“I didn’t really need the glasses,” Vaughn admitted. “I mean, I did for my accounting job. They helped handle the numbers and stuff, like a less fancy Echo Eye. But just for everyday stuff, I see fine.”

“Whoa, the nerd who isn’t as nerdy as he seems!” Jack glanced back at Rhys. “Same could be said for you, Rhysie, at least until you open that stuttering pie hole! Anyway, kiddos, the main event is in one hour at the auditorium. Make sure you get a good seat. It’s gonna be quite a show.” His voice had dropped almost to a purr.

"R-right." Rhys looked around again. “This... feels more like a party than a demo.”

“Oh yeah, glad you noticed! Isn’t it great? Why do demo’s gotta be all boring and serious? I asked. And the answer was, they don't! Just wait until we get to the fireworks.”

“Sounds fun. Uh, I imagine they’re serving drinks at the bar?” Rhys was trying his best to get away.

“Heheheh, yeah they are.” Whatever weird edge was in Jack’s voice only increased.

“Neat, that’s where I’m going,” Rhys said, wincing at a distracting ache making itself known in his arm. He’d forgone the painkillers tonight for exactly this reason. He started to leave.

Jack grabbed his cybernetic arm, grip tight. Rhys found his breath catching in his throat when Jack leaned in. His breath smelled of alcohol. So maybe Jack was a bit tipsy right now. Great, he didn’t want to deal with tipsy Jack tonight. “Don’t wander too far, babe,” Jack whispered in his ear, lips so close he could feel them. “I’ve got a surprise for you specifically.”

“Oh ummm…cool?” Rhys shifted away as much as he could. He felt a strange, tight feeling in his gut, but he ignored it.

“Attaboy,” Jack said, releasing and patting him on the back. “Go get wasted if ya want. It’s a party!” With that, he walked away.

Honestly, the prospect was looking even more and more tempting.

“I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see that,” Vaughn commented in a forced light tone. “Anyway, he seems a little…murdery,”

“Well, I’m leaving as soon as the demo’s over.” Rhys said, face burning. “So we’ll just have to make it until then.” He rubbed his jaw. “Look, I need to knock back a few drinks for this thing. Maybe you could go save us seats or something?”

“Sure thing. I’m going to take a peak around first. Never been to Opportunity before and who knows when I’ll get this chance again."

“Great.”

The agony in his body was only growing. Not surprising, given the circumstances and noise. Rhys found the bar. The bar at least was classier and homier. Not like the dingey club he often visited at the Atlas complex. And the alcohol was good stuff too. Rhys sipped a potent, fruity mixture that had a soft gold glow to it. It was possibly the best drink he’d ever had, a nice flavor, a perfect bite. Rhys really hated that he had to forgo painkillers just to have a drink. But the things costed plenty of money anyway, so... Maybe skipping them from time to time wasn’t so bad.

Not that drinks here were cheap.

Whatever.

He half wondered if Jack would wind up killing anyone tonight. He certainly seemed in a mood to. I wonder what’s got him so riled up. This party-demo-thing is for him, after all.

It didn’t matter. Rhys was here to try and relax and have fun, though he decided he might need to drink a little quicker if he were to achieve either of those things.

Jack appeared a half hour later, not unexpected. He sat next to Rhys quite casually. Rhys was mostly through his second drink by then. Jack looked at Rhys’s glass, eyes narrowed. “The King’s Ransom eh? A little too sweet for me, but still, suits ya…” he hollered at the bartender and ordered a drink for himself. “Isn’t this place so much better than the little sex club you were at?”

“I mean, not if I’m trying to get laid,” Rhys said with a wry laugh.

Jack scoffed. “Yeah, right. As if people are lining up for you there either.” Rhys ignored that. Jack's drink arrived, and he took a large gulp. “So, you brought the little guy, huh? Why?”

Rhys blinked. “Who?”

“You know… Abs guy.”

“Oh, Vaughn?”

“Yeah, that name.”

“Why not?” Rhys asked. “And I didn’t bring him. He decided to show up.”

“Uh huh.”

“Alright, what's with that tone?”

Jack side-eyed him. “I know you’re into dudes.”

“Oh…oh wait,” Rhys laughed. “Vaughn? You think I’m into Vaughn?” He laughed harder at the prospect. “Oooh my god now that’s a freakin hilarious thought!” He calmed himself after a moment of Jack’s lingering glare. “Dude, Vaughn’s my bro and has been since the moment I joined Hyperion. I don’t like him like that. Besides, he’s romance- and sex-repulsed," Rhys stated it in a matter-of-fact tone. He took a drink

“Hmm,” Jack replied, shifting, “kinda didn’t sense anything there, but who can tell?” His words seemed more of an acknowledgement than anything. Rhys could’ve swore his shoulders lost a bit of tension, though.

“Why do you care, anyway?”

“Just curious,” Jack said tersely. “Can’t I check in on my buddy?”

“I guess so,” Rhys said, feeling weird. “What about you? Why don’t you have a sexy babe hanging off your arm yet?”

“Oh, I’m sure there will be later,” Jack said with a laugh. “Besides, I uh... Haven’t really…found my type yet.”

“Uh huh, sure. Are you really so picky?”

“I have tastes. Unlike you.”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “Oooh no, no, no, I’m so not having this conversation again.”

“Smart. Because I might have to shoot you this time.”

Rhys wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not. “What’s got you in such a mood, anyway? You’ve been wound up like fishing wire on a reel since I got here.”

“The board’s here,” Jack growled, hand turning into a fist on the counter. “I can’t fucking stand them. I just wanna strangle every last one of those assholes.”

Oh. That made sense. "Are you going to?" Rhys asked. "Strangle them?"

"Maybe. The night's still young."

They sat there for awhile before Jack looked at his watch. “Oh man. Look at the time! We’re gonna be late for my own demo.” He chuckled. “Hah, I should be late. Remind those board suckers who relies on who around here. Nah, let’s go. I’m gonna blow them away, anyway.” Jack finished his drink in a huge swallow, standing. He dropped some money on the counter. “Oh, the drinks were on me, by the way,” he said to the bartender, who shrugged.

“Jack!” Rhys started to protest.

“Shhhhushush, babe, don’t worry, daddy’s got ya covered.”

Rhys really wished Jack would stop doing this. Jack’s hand clamped onto his shoulder like an iron vice and yanked him off the stool. Rhys stifled a yelp. Jack steered him toward the nearby exit.

Rhys managed a glare. “I can pay for my own drinks!”

“Yeah, I know, dumdum. And you can also punch yourself in the face. Just ‘cause you can, doesn’t mean ya should. Just accept a good thing for once in your miserable life, why don’tcha?”

“And why should you pay for them?”

“Like I said. I’m here for ya, pal.”

Rhys stopped just outside, digging his heels in. It took some effort, but he shrugged free of Jack’s hold. Jack looked impatient. “Let’s get something straight, Jack. I appreciate the thought-”

“Thank you-”

“-but seriously, dude! There’s a difference between looking out for someone and meddling in everything they do!”

“Come on, tiger, it was just drinks.”

Rhys groaned and rubbed his face. How did he explain that he didn’t…didn’t want Jack to do these things because… “Look, Jack, the only people I want buying me drinks out of the blue are the ones I want to fuck after, so just- Don’t do it.” There was a heavy pause. Rhys realized what he'd said. He also realized he was going to have to live with it for the rest of his life, however long or short it may be since it seemed he couldn’t keep his damned mouth shut to save his life.

Jack’s face twisted for a moment, expression wobbling like he couldn’t decide between a simple frown or an outright glare. “Look, Rhysie, I’m trying to be nice.”

“I know, Jack,” Rhys hissed, “But sometimes you… Butting in every chance you get isn’t being…nice….” He trailed off. The way Jack was gazing at him made him want to sink through the ground to escape.

“Uh-huh, is that so?” Jack uttered in a thick voice, eyes hooded. He stepped closer.

“Yes,” Rhys forced out, swallowing.

Rhys almost jumped when Jack’s finger went up his changed arm, feather light through his sleeve. “Still hiding your little secret. I see,” Jack mused out loud.

“If I don’t, then it'd be a problem.”

The energy was so thick between them he wanted to run away, wanted to stay, wanted to be angry, wanted to fight, wanted more and less all at once. It was probably the alcohol getting to him. Jack pulled his hand away from Rhys's arm and stared at his face with a harsh expression. Jack took another step forward, then another, crowding until Rhys had to back away. He continued and backed Rhys against a wall, looming. Rhys was never quite sure what to make of this. Rhys was tall. He was used to towering over others, but somehow Jack threw that all to the wind like everything else, managing to be just a bit taller, broader, larger- enough that it made a difference. Jack's aura of dominance never helped matters.

So there he was, caged in, too caught up in this weird energy to say a word. Jack said nothing for a long time, gaze burning and intense.

“So…when are we gonna stop pretending this isn’t happening, huh?” Jack growled, grabbing his shoulders.

“I don’t know what you’re talking abou- mmmf-“

Jack’s lips had slammed against Rhys’s. Rhys was too caught off guard to react. A thick tongue shoved itself into his mouth. It seemed too large, like Jack’s hands - which were still clutching on in a death grip. Jack quickly dominated his mouth, every space, swirling his tongue around Rhys’s with a dizzying speed. Rhys moaned without thinking, his body shaking at the heavy wave of lust that surged through him.

He felt Jack’s fingers skate down his chest to hook into his belt.

“S-stop!” Rhys yelped, pushing him off. Jack looked confused. Rhys hissed, “someone’s gonna see!“ He wiped the saliva off his lips with his sleeve as he looked around. Luckily he saw no bystanders...at the moment.

“So? You think I care?”

Rhys looked back at Jack, what had just happened was starting to sink in. “Holy shit, Jack, what- what are you doing?!”

“Uuuh, I believe it’s called kissing, genius. You said if I was gonna buy you drinks I should fuck you after.”

Rhys’s ears grew hot. “That’s not...exactly what I said-“

“Whatever, kiddo. Come on, we’re gonna miss my demo. We can pick this up later. Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you.” Jack winked.

Rhys watched Jack walking on like nothing had happened. He decided the best option for him would be to try to escape the party after the demo. He’d planned to stay longer, but Jack was starting to become too much.

And he still had no idea how to deal with what...Jack had just done.

Chapter Text

Rhys’s thoughts buzzed, images of Jack’s lustful gaze flashing through his mind’s eye. That kiss…the way it’d felt…a bit like heaven. If Rhys had believed in heaven, anyway.

Did Jack just do it to mess with him? Like before, at the dinner?

He didn’t think it was that, not this time. But it could be. And he should keep that in mind. But if it wasn’t. He had no idea how to feel. One part of him was annoyed. Another was worried. But the largest part was undeniably thrilled. And that annoyed him, too. What was he going to do? He couldn’t just…have sex with Handsome Jack… Right?

Right?!?

“Rhys!”

Rhys blinked and looked over at Vaughn. Vaughn looked concerned.

“I called your name like, five times, bro! You alright?”

“Y-yeah…yeah. Just thinking.”

They were in the large auditorium which was cramped and crowded. Rhys was shocked Vaughn had managed to save them seats at all.

“Oh, it wasn’t easy. I had to fight off at least ten people,” Vaughn explained when he asked. “And one of them was a badass psycho. I headbutted him.”

Okay, so Vaughn was probably joking. Probably.

Despite having lost Jack earlier to the crowd, Rhys didn’t think the other had a reason to be late. The demo was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago. Rhys clenched his hands. He couldn’t explain the tightening anxiety in his stomach.

As if on cue, Jack came on stage. The auditorium plummeted into silence. It was a whiplash of noise, from loud to hushed. Whispers arose, and Rhys saw Jack’s face pinch behind the microphone. “Yeah, yeah, I’m your hero, blah blah blah, back from the dead because I’m a badass! Y’all should know I’m friggin immortal and never gonna die! And whaaat is this!? This ain’t a welcome, kiddos? This is sad! Give me some spirit. This has to be the most lifeless shindig I’ve ever seen!” His voice raised with each word.

There was hesitance. Someone started clapping. Followed by more clapping, until it rose to a deafening roar of noise. Rhys didn’t clap. He frowned, fists tightening harder against his knees. He was trying really hard not to recall that very intimate kiss.

“Yeah!” Jack said. “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!”

When the clapping started to cease, Jack demanded more with a gesture of his hand. After another minute or so, he seemed satisfied. He stepped forward and began talking the noise down.

“Sooo, before I blow your little pea-brains away, I’ve just got a few things to say. First off, if you’re from Hyperion, y’all did an absolutely terrible, heh, horrible job at keeping things intact in my absence. So. Screw you, lazy assholes. Second, if you’re a bandit, doubly screw you for walking into my beautiful city with your gross, baby-stomping boots and horrible body odor. Do me a favor and look up the word ‘shower’ later, mmkay? Or at least deodorant. Also, the rest of you are probably just assholes from rival companies, anyway, so just screw all of you.”

Confused and agitated muttering swept through the audience.

Jack’s eyes seemed to drift around, and Rhys swore silently as they landed on him. Jack winked and grinned. “Especially one of you in particular.” The anger had left his tone to be replaced with amusement and something…hungry.

Rhys winced, heat spreading up his neck and into his face. For fuck’s sake. How could he really be attracted to this man…? Vaughn was trying to exchange a glance with him, but Rhys ignored his attempts to get his attention.

“Oh,” Jack said, “if you’re Chef Jenson, you’re unscrewed. You’re the only person here who can do anything, so thank you for not being useless!”

Rhys saw a man in the audience give a curt wave. “Always a pleasure, Handsome Jack!” he called.

Wow. Rhys glared. Is he serious?

“Rhys, what is going on?” Vaughn whispered.

“Your guess is good as mine, bro…”

A group of Hyperion soldiers wheeled a covered cart onto the stage. “Ah, there she is!” Jack said in a pleased tone. The guards walked off to stand in a vigilant formation around the stage’s edge. “Aaaanyway,” Jack continued, “tonight, kiddos, is a grand night that will mark the rebirth of Hyperion’s presence on Pandora with Project Revivification. Pretty cool title, huh? Bet most of you couldn’t even pronounce it.” Jack turned away and yanked the cover off the cart. “I present to you, this gorgeous babe, a device that processes small levels of Eridium into vast amounts of power.” On the cart was a box with glowing purple lines on it. Jack pulled on a dark, black glove over his right hand. “See this? This beauty?!”

Rhys found himself leaning forward, eyes narrowing. He’d read the report thoroughly, but he was still eager to see it work.

Jack grabbed a handle on it and pulled.

The auditorium was plunged in black, causing startled gasps from the attending members. The lights kicked back on, revealing Jack leaning over the box. “Right now, Opportunity’s main power is completely shut down, kiddos! We’re on back-up, in case it wasn’t obvious. Now, watch carefully!” He opened the box, which had a small circular sphere in the middle that glowed bright purple. “This is all the Eridium this baby contains at the moment.” Jack removed the sphere, holding it up. The sphere was no bigger than an apple. Jack pressed the sphere and it opened. A glowing liquid oozed out and dripped onto the floor, sizzling on ground. “Look at that. A friggin’ teaspoon!” He grabbed a little vial of the same liquid and tilted its contents into the sphere, careful not to spill it. “Also worth noting this stuff is barely dangerous. You might burn some skin off if you spill it on you, but you ain’t gonna die. You’ll ruin your granddad’s suit though, so best leave it to the professionals.”

After that, he put it all back together. He tossed the glove away and turned back to the audience. “In case it wasn’t obvious, this bad kitty right here is responsible for Opportunity’s power.” He tapped the box. “And that, friends and enemies, is how we can power a whole friggin’ city of people for years on a few drops of Eridium at a time. This stuff practically grows on trees around here, so. Impressed? I know you are! Questions?”

“Excuse me?” A voice said. “What’s to stop this tech from being stolen. Looks like it just slides out of the box.” Rhys realized he recognized the guy as part of the Hyperion board.

Jack stared at the man for a bit, face unreadable. “Come here,” Jack said. That was met with confusion. “I said, come here, you idiot.”

The board member glared but stood and walked up onto the stage.

“Go ahead,” Jack said, “take the box. Steal it.”

“What kind of nonsense-?!”

“Just do it!” Jack said. “You asked a question, this is me answering it! If you don’t want an answer, feel free to leave! Maybe throw yourself in the lake for the threshers on the way out and save me a headache later!”

The man frowned, grabbed the box, and pulled.

He screamed and seized up. People in the audience gasped and shrieked. The man fell to the floor, jerked a few times, then lay unmoving.

Jack laughed, “Whoa, what an idiot. Did he really not see that coming…?” Jack poked the body with his boot. “Whatev.” He looked up at everyone. “This is exactly what happens to anyone who tries to touch the box without authorization. Besides this, the box is always kept under the highest security, no elaboration necessary. The technology authorization itself, you have to buy from me.”

“Don’t you mean Hyperion?” Someone asked.

“Nope. All me.” Jack left the microphone. The guards came back over to wheel the cart off.

Everyone started talking at once.

“Oh man, that was gross, Rhys!” Vaughn said. "That box sure is cool, though."

Rhys met his wide eyes. “And here I was, half-hoping he wouldn’t kill anyone tonight. Although, the dude kinda had it coming.” Rhys knew the Hyperion board was full of assholes.

“Yeaaah, he kinda did, I guess,” Vaughn replied. “Hey, Rhys, uh, is there something you aren't telling me about you and uh, Jack?“

"Huh, what? Nooo-of course not!"

"Then why is he hardcore flirting with you, bro! In front of everyone!"

"I don't know!" Rhys said, running his hands through his hair. "Okay? I wish I did." He sighed. "I...I think-"

Everything exploded. The noise tore through the room. A shockwave that shook them to their core, rattling the walls and seats. “Holy shit!” Someone yelled. There were a lot of screams, now. A lot of people running.

Rhys found himself pressed flat against his seat. At first, he thought the explosion might have come from the stage, but a glance there told him that wasn’t the case. The soldiers had rushed into position around the cart, and Rhys couldn’t spot Jack. He raised his head and scanned the room with his Echo Eye. A hole had been blasted into the far wall. A group of loaders with glowing red lights came pouring through it, guns and shields up. Repair surveyors soared in ahead of them, unleashing little bolts of electricity at fleeing people. One swerved in Rhys’s and Vaughn’s direction.

“Duck!” Rhys yelled, grabbing Vaughn and practically dragging him under the row of seats. The bolt struck the ground, singeing the carpet.

Vaughn yelled. “Shouldn’t we be running or something!”

“If we try that, we’re gonna get butchered by those bots!” Rhys said. Damn it, this was Jack’s fault, for dragging him to this damn thing… “The exit’s too far! Just hang on, I have an idea!” He crawled forward enough to direct his scan. “Come on, come on, come on-“

…Running Diagnostics Check for: …

…BULLoader .exe ...

…Bypassing…

…Rerouting…

A message popped up on his HUD in a red box.

[An Error has occurred! Unknown Coding Detected! Please, despite risk of great personal harm, disable and send in this unit for a tamper check! Hyperion thanks you for your service!]

“Great!” Rhys yelled, “that’s just great!”

“What’s going on!?”

“Someone’s hacked them!” Rhys‘s heart thudded in his ears. “I’m- I'm trying to override it, but it’s got several layers of replicating code!”

“Never mind that! I see an opening by the stage!” Vaughn’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Rhys! I…I think we can reach it!“

“Hang on…hang on a minute! I’ve almost got it…”

“Whatever you’re doing, Rhys, do it faster!”

Rhys furrowed his brow. He then smiled. “Ahaha, he’s all mine!” He let out a pleased whistle. The loader in his sights turned and began firing on the others, causing them to let out a series of “ow’s” and “hey’s” and “Please stand down for your imminent destruction’s”.

“Alright, go!” Rhys said. “I’ll cover you!”

“What?! That’s crazy!”

“If I get out of range I’m gonna lose this bot!”

“I’m not gonna just leave you, bro!”

“I’m alright!” Rhys said, smirking. “Hacking is child’s play. I’m already on the second o-"

A nearby roar like an angry bull interrupted him. “Friggin’ defective SHITBAGS!” That was unmistakably Jack, and Rhys could hear rushing footsteps. There were several. He still couldn’t tell who was where though.

The only thing he knew for sure was the Hyperion security team was fighting back. Rhys saw a guy crouch nearby, gun blazing. A bullet tore through his helmet, splattering blood against the seats. He collapsed in front of Rhys’s hiding spot, leaking blood everywhere.

“Oh god, that’s gross,” Rhys muttered, scooting back and trying to focus on the bot. “Don’t puke, don’t puke-“ he chanted to himself.

“Rhys! We gotta go!”

“You go, Vaughn!” Rhys yelled. “I…almost got-“

The second loader came under his control.

“That’s two down!” he cheered. The second loader joined the first. He could…almost sense it then. A force fighting back against his own hacks, trying to take back over. “Oh no you don’t, bastard,” he muttered, focusing all his power on keeping the loaders under sway. “Rhys. Always. Winz.“ He paused and shook his head. “Nope, sorry. That sounded cooler in my head.”

A grenade fell near the corpse.

“Shit,” Rhys started to scrambled back, but he hit the seat. The grenade exploded, turning the Hyperion soldier’s body into a shower of blood and body parts.

Rhys found himself staring at the ceiling. Head ached. Ears rang. Cybernetics buzzed. Something hot and stinging dripped down his face. He wasn’t under the seat anymore. He lay in a pile of wreckage and blood.

“Ughh.” He felt his eyes closing.

Something grabbed him and dragged him. He tried to resist but could barely move. He was shoved back behind a wall of wreckage by the stage, and the one responsible came into focus. Jack’s fingers snapped in front of his face. Jack’s voice sounded far away, as if he was in another room, yelling. “Hey, wake up, Rhysie!”

Rhys blinked. “Vaughn, where’s Va-“

“You’re little nerd friend’s fine, don’t worry. He got into the tunnel access after I told him I’d save your stupid ass. Seems he has more brains than you.”

“Shut up. Asshole.”

“What the hell are you doing here?! This is a shootout, princess!“

“I was rehacking your bots for you, you’re welcome!”

A bullet pinged off the wall next to Rhys. He winced.

“Frick. hang on, I’m not done,” Jack said. He hit his pocket watch and vanished from sight.

Well, that was disconcerting, Rhys had to admit. His senses were coming back to him. He’d probably lost his hold on the robots, he reflected. The noises of the fight were getting louder. He sat forward and risked a look beyond his cover.

Two of the loaders were scrap piles at this point. However, most of the Hyperion fighters had been wasted. There were a few left, yelling desperate orders at each other as the remaining loaders tromped over the wreckage of seats. The surveyors seemed down a few numbers, too. The ones left were busy trying to repair the damaged loaders.

To Rhys’s surprise, one of his hacked bots was still fighting. It had the advantage of being a BUL loader, and it kept pulling up its plow and crashing it into the enemy. The surprise came more from the fact that the hacker hadn’t taken back control of it yet. But as Rhys rescanned, he realized with a smile his code had come out the superior in the end.

Rhys saw Jack reappear about halfway down the aisle. Jack howled obscenities, drawing attention. He held a nasty-looking shotgun. It tore through two surveyors that dived at him with corrosive rounds. He yanked it around. A third loader went down under its attack. It was then Rhys remembered that he'd seen that weapon before. The infamous Conference Call. Rhys shook his head. He saw a second loader coming from the other side. It demolished a security soldier before turning towards Jack.

Jack didn’t see it.

Rhys whipped out of his spot, hand raised. He turned the BUL loader under his command. The BUL plowed into the enemy bot, smashing its legs right off.

“OW!” the hostile loader complained. “Systems require maintenance! Repair surveyors requ-”

The BUL finished it off with a few shots from its mini gun.

Jack spun around, shotgun pointing at the BUL loader. The BUL ignored him and shot down a surveyor, which seemed to convince Jack it was an ally. His shotgun lowered and his eyes turned toward Rhys. Rhys waved with a sheepish smile. Jack grinned back, nodded, and vanished again.

Rhys accessed what was left of the enemy, but the last of the hostile loaders were being cornered by their team and the single ally BUL loader. It was all over a few minutes later, leaving smoke, a robot scrap pile, and a single BUL patrolling the area.

Rhys’s heart was still thrumming. He leaned back against the wall, sucking in deep breaths to calm it. His head ached, but he at least the immediate danger was over.

“What the hell?!”

Rhys jumped. Jack reappeared in front of him. “Damn it, Jack, could you not do that?”

“Why’d you stick around?” Jack asked, crouching down to get eye-level. “Everyone else was running for it. You’re not a fighter.”

“I’m also not an idiot.”

“Debatable.”

Rhys glared at Jack. “Shut up. People were- were getting picked off at the doors. ‘Sides, my hacking helped you!”

Jack sighed, waving a hand. “Yeah, fine…I suppose it worked. Mostly. Sort of.”

“I’d say I saved your life just now,” Rhys said with a smug grin.

“Hardly. I had a shield on, dumdum. Even if I somehow missed the loader, it would’ve hit the shield and then I woulda killed it.”

“Suure.”

“And you almost got yourself killed. Like an idiot.” He jabbed a finger at Rhys. “So how many wounds ya got? You’re covered in blood.”

“Just this,” Rhys said, pointing at his head. “This is nothing, of course. I don’t even feel it.”

“Liar. You look like ya got skull bashed. Let me see.” Jack reached up and touched it. A lot more gently than Rhys expected. Rhys winced at a light probe near his temple. Jack drew back after a few more heartbeats. “Doesn’t seem too deep,” Jack said. “I’ve got some healing hypos back at the office you can use. Should clear it right up.”

“Oh, come on, there’s no need for that! It’s not that bad.”

Jack’s brow raised. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of needles, pumpkin.”

Rhys frowned. “It just seems unnecessary!”

“We’ll see."

Rhys exhaled. "Anyway. Any idea who hacked those bots?"

"Nope, but we'll figure it out. God, this ruins everything. I just wanted a fun night. Can't have everything, though, it seems. Screw the fireworks, party's over, we're sending these idiots home. Can you walk?”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “Yes. Of course. I just said it’s not that bad.”

“Come on, then,” Jack said, standing up and making for the exit

Rhys stood up much more slowly. He hesitated once he got to his feet. Jack paused and turned around. “Well?”

“I…” Rhys hesitated. “Maybe I should go.” He picked at his gloved hand for a moment.

Rhys thought Jack would protest, but the other just gave a weary sigh. “Fine. Whatever.” He gestured vaguely, turned, and left. Somehow, the look...managed to come across disappointed.

Rhys stood there for a long moment, uncertain. He checked his messages to see a bunch of worried ones from Vaughn, asking if he’d been rescued or not. He sent a reassuring message back. He deliberated for a few moments. “Ah, fuck it.” He sent Vaughn a message not to wait up for him, and then made for the door Jack had left through.

Rhys walked into the familiar room of tech. Jack was sitting at his computer. He still looked like a mess from the fight, hair askew, clothes spattered in blood...and oil? Probably.

“Decided not to leave?” Jack asked, some surprise in his voice.

Rhys walked over. “Yeah. Well, I… There’s something we should…talk about.”

Jack furrowed his brow at him. But he nodded. “I see. Come on. I’ll show you my new…house. It’s not super great, but that’s ‘cause I have to wait for those idiots to finish building the new penthouse.”

Rhys nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.”

“But first,” Jack said, grabbing Rhys’s hand and thrusting a instant-healing syringe into it. “No bleeding on the new furniture.”

The place was nice enough on the outside with its perfectly trimmed hedges and flower beds, Rhys noted, but it was also a bit generic. Its plain siding and flat roof were obviously intended for someone less prestigious. The whole layout seemed too simple for Jack. Plus, it was on a corner of a block with several other similar houses.

Jack unlocked the door with his handprint.

Rhys gaped when they stepped inside.

“Make yourself at home,” Jack said, seeming unaware what a sorry state this place was in. He vanished down a side hall.

Rhys stared. Furniture was arranged in odd ways. Stray clothes decorated several surfaces along with boxes (some empty, some not), wrappers, and hundreds of datapads and Echo logs. On the walls were Wanted posters for the infamous Vault Hunters, and they had countless darts sticking in them. And bullet holes. So many bullet holes. Missed darts lay on the floor. Rhys thought there might even be some remnants of a broken beer bottle there too.

At least there wasn’t old food. Oh wait, there was a bag of open dry pretzels on the coffee table next to a recliner. No telling how old they were. Honestly, the fact Jack ate something as lame as dry pretzels was hilarious to him.

Rhys thought he should be appalled by the sorry state of the place, but his emotional reaction was…not there. What is actually wrong with me? Rhys wondered. There was no way he had sexual attraction for Jack, right? Not after this, right?!

Maybe all his disgust had been used up on the dead bodies in the firefight. He snorted and moved over to one of the free recliners and sat in it with all the awkwardness of being unused to the room. The recliner was a lot nicer than he’d expected it to be. In fact, it seemed almost new. Which made sense, he supposed, considering how recent Hyperion's presence was. He sank into it with a sigh of relief. It felt good to have a soft surface to relax on.

Rhys heard a shower start up. He sat up at that, the awareness he was in Jack’s living space getting the best of him. He drew his legs up and rested his elbows on his knees.

Jack emerged awhile later, hair damp and loose, clad in a flannel and faded yellow sweater and sweatpants. It was certainly a look Rhys wasn’t accustomed to on him. Rhys swallowed his nerves, adverting his eyes.

What was going on here? Was Jack wanting him to leave? Or was he expecting sex now? He didn’t feel confident asking, but he hoped Jack realized that’s exactly what they needed to talk about.

“Do you want…?” Jack trailed off. Rhys looked at him again. Jack was on the other side of the debris-littered couch, expressionless. “…Well, since you’re here and all…” Jack hesitating had to be the strangest thing, Rhys thought.

“Yeah?” Rhys prompted.

“Well… Do you want to put on the TV?” Jack asked. He turned and walked towards the other room that seemed to be a kitchen.

What? Groaning at the effort, Rhys pulled himself from the comfy spot and to his feet. He walked to the kitchen where Jack was pouring a glass of bourbon. “Goddamned fight sobered me up,” Jack muttered with a laugh.

Rhys walked over, sensing something off in the way Jack stared at the hard beverage.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” It was starting to click, what was happening here. “So, what? …Not such a confident sex god without the liquid courage?” Rhys asked. Somehow it didn’t sound like the joke he was intending it to be.

Jack turned his gaze toward him. “You don’t make this easy, Rhysie,” he said in one of the calmest voices Rhys had ever heard from him.

“Wait- wait wait-“ Rhys said, gripping his hair with both hands. “That’s why- why you were tipsy out there today? And, the last time, when we had the dinner… But you said… You said it was all a joke? Was that kiss out there a joke too?” He was getting frustrated. “I- I don’t understand you!”

Jack looked into his glass of alcohol but didn’t move. He didn’t say a word, and Rhys began to doubt if he would.

“Fine,” Rhys muttered, dropping his arms.

“I know what I said before,” Jack growled. Jack gripped his glass and drained it in a huge swallow, slamming it back down. He turned to Rhys. “But it was a lie. I want you, Rhys. I want you, and I don’t know why. It’s so…frustrating.”

Rhys glared. It was a struggle to hold on to his own agitation, but Rhys was afraid of what might replace it if he let it go. “Why’d you lie?!”

“To be...honest with ya. I...started doubting after you turned me down. I thought… I thought it’d just be better to pretend it was a joke. Easier.” Jack’s eyes burned, something building in them, sharp and dangerous. He took one step toward Rhys, but no further, displaying that uncertainty again. He reached up as if he wanted to grab Rhys, but stopped, letting his hands fall to his sides.

Rhys couldn’t bring himself to do anything, to show his cards one way or another. There was a time he would have given a lot for something like this. Once upon a time, he would’ve killed for Jack just to even know his name. He couldn’t have ever fathomed Jack would one day be looking at him with desire and need. But now… So much had happened, and…

Rhys had to be smarter than he was.

“God, I want you so fucking badly.” Jack said, voice thick. “And that’s the truth, pumpkin. The goddamned annoying as hell truth.”

There was a long pause, and Rhys kept his mouth shut.

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “So…what, nothin’ to say to my amazing confession? It doesn't blow your socks off?”

“What should I say?” Rhys responded, gripping his arms together. That I want you too? How stupid that is? How bad of an idea it would be to pursue this?

“The truth, Rhys. I just told you mine, now tell me yours.”

Rhys shook his head, keeping his voice as steady as he could. “The truth? The truth, plain and simple, is that it doesn’t matter what you or I want. This can’t happen.”

“And why’s that?”

“I… We're- we’re important people from rival companies. I’m CEO, and after that incredible demo today, they’ll probably reinstate you as CEO. Maybe Hyperion could afford that kind of scandal, but Atlas can’t. If anyone found out-”

“Then don’t. Let. Them."

“I guess you don’t read tabloids?” Rhys said dryly. “People always find out. Hell there’s probably already rumors at this point.”

“Exactly! People are going to talk and make shit up, regardless of what we do.”

“I’m not going to give them proof!” Rhys sighed. “It’s not just the potential scandal either. It’s us. We have too much history. Even if you want to put it aside, we can’t just ignore it. We had a really hard time maintaining an alliance just imagine trying to maintain a sexual relation, god.”

"Oh," Jack’s voice sounded bitter. “So this about you not trusting me.”

“Jack, that’s not…not it, exactly.”

“Sure sounds like it.”

How was Rhys supposed to respond to that? "It's...complicated, Jack. Too complicated, is what I mean."

Jack stepped away, pouring another glass of the alcohol. He drained that too. “Whatever, cupcake. I get it. I’m not gonna to argue anymore. I've already got a headache.” There was a defeated finality to his voice. “Do what you will.” He turned and left the kitchen.

“Um,” Rhys said, following him back to the living area. He felt awkward again. “Is…there somewhere I can stay? It’s really late, and I don’t want to drive back like this.” In truth, Rhys didn’t feel overly tired. The fight and Jack’s confession both left his mind buzzing, but he didn’t trust the drive and endless stretches of empty road not to lull him into drowsiness.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Stay here. It’s no big.” He went down the hall to presumably the bedroom, leaving the door open. Rhys glanced at the couch. It was buried in…stuff, and none of that stuff was blankets or pillows. What did Jack intend?

“Rhys?” Jack called. “C’mere.”

Rhys walked into the bedroom. It wasn’t super fancy, but it looked cozy enough. It had simple but pleasant décor and a king-sized bed. The bedroom was actually tidier than the rest of the house. Rhys figured Jack must not spend as much time in here.

Rhys stepped over towards Jack, curious.

Jack gestured towards the bed. “You can sleep on my bed.”

“I’m sorry?”

“It’s the only bed here, including bedding,” Jack explained. “Don’t worry, I’m not tired. I won’t bother you. I'm just gonna do some work out in the living room.”

“But…”

“Before you even think about sleeping though, you’re gonna take a shower. You're gross right now. Shower's the door on the left when you leave this room.” Jack left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Rhys followed the instructions, going to the bathroom. To his shock, the bathroom was even cleaner than everything else. With a grumble of confused agitation, he peeled off his blood-soiled clothes and took a hot shower, washing the blood from his skin and hair. When he finished, he left his clothes in the hamper where Jack’s earlier ones seemed to be. He redressed in nothing but his boxers and his socks.

Rhys stared at nothing when he returned to the room. He brushed his hands over the silken soft sheets on the bed. They were a lot nicer than he had expected. He felt strange but climbed onto the bed. He lay down, inhaling Jack’s scent. He scooted timidly to the pillow, pulled at the blanket, and covered himself. It was oddly comforting. Rhys tried to sleep.

Jack had confessed to wanting Rhys for awhile now, so… Did that mean Jack had jerked off in this very bed to thoughts of him?

Rhys blushed and shoved the thought away, rolling over and hugging the blanket tighter to his body. After fighting off some more unwanted thoughts, he finally drifted to sleep.

Rhys heard a creak. His eyes fluttered open to the dark room. He heard what almost seemed to be cautious footsteps before the bed dipped on the other side. Rhys felt the person settle down there. Rhys shifted and shut his eyes again, sinking back into sleep.

Chapter Text

As Rhys awakened, the first thing he registered was the sensation of something pressed against his back. Something large and warm. He squinted in the faint lighting of the room before turning his head to see who- He felt his mouth drop.

Handsome Jack, mask and all, sound asleep beside him, as if this wasn’t the weirdest shit in the whole of Pandora.

Oooooh god.

Maybe this wasn’t so weird, not with the way Jack had been lately. Rhys stared at the sleeping face, trying to recall. Did…did we…? His own face heated instantly. Okay, no, he remembered last night, and he sort of remembered Jack coming to bed. So much for ‘not bothering him.’ Still, Rhys became very aware of his underdressed state. “Whaat is happening?” he blurted. Wait, no-

Jack’s eyes snapped open, and Rhys stared into the mismatched gaze. It was far less intense than he remembered, softened with sleep. Jack jerked away, back to his side of the bed. “Sheesh,” Jack muttered. “Relax, pumpkin.” His voice was weakened with sleepiness, and Rhys was astonished by its laxed quality. It was almost…lilting like this, as if Jack had the faintest of faint accents. “You were hogging the blankets.” Without any warning, Jack yanked the covers.

Rhys felt the cold air of the room hit his bare skin. He yelped, indignant, sitting up. “Give it back!” He snatched the blanket in a tight grip and tried to pull it to him.

Jack held on like a steel trap. “Let go before I smother you with a pillow!” he growled, but Rhys heard the amusement in the threat, knew it wasn’t serious.

“I’d like to see you try!” Rhys yanked hard, jerking Jack’s arms.

“You’re gonna rip my good sheets, pumpkin!” Jack complained. “Then you’re buying me new ones! They’d better be pure silk!”

“You’re the one not letting go!”

“You’re the one pulling!”

“I need this more than you! You’re wearing a sweater!

“I didn’t ask you to take your friggin’ clothes off, sweetheart!”

“Actually you d-“ Rhys started the joke, stopped himself, and went with- “You expected me to sleep in that blood-soaked suit?! You said I had to clean up!”

“You could’ve asked for something to sleep in-“ Jack pulled so hard, Rhys fell over on top of him. “Like a robe, or- Oh my god, you’re such a little pain in the ass, Rhysie!” Jack said when Rhys tried to pry the cover out of Jack’s hand with his robot one. Jack didn’t let go, but he stopped moving, eyes narrowed. It was such an abrupt halt, Rhys glanced at him in confusion. “Wait, cupcake…” Rhys stopped tugging so hard. Jack’s brows shot up, and he wheezed. “Oh my- Is your hair normally this curly? Oh god- That’s- that’s friggin hilarious!” He let out full-blown laughter.

Right, Rhys had washed and slept his carefully cultivated look away. Freakin’ Jack. “Shut up, jerk!” Rhys hissed, face burning. “And let go. My blanket!” Rhys managed to pull it up enough to wrap the edge around his shoulders. He started to lean away.

“Alright, you asked for it!” Jack flipped them both over, surprising Rhys. He pushed Rhys down and leaned over him, the blanket tangled between them.

Rhys stared. “What are-?”

Jack smirked down. “Time for a Jack attack!”

And then…Jack…fucking tickled him.

“Oh- oh my god, Jack!” Rhys squeaked, writhing. He tried to fight back, but Jack was determined. Plus, his clothing protected him from a true retaliation. Damn it.

“Heheh, I warned you, Rhysie!” Jack had way too much energy quite suddenly. “And you just wouldn’t listen, wouldja? You never do!”

Rhys squirmed, trying to get away from Jack’s hands. “Oh-haha- Alright, heh- alright, alright!” he exclaimed, panting and giggling entirely against his will. Jack let him go. And Rhys realized why. Jack had successfully reclaimed the full blanket, wrapping it around himself. He flopped onto the bed. “Gee,” Rhys struggled to recover, managing his words between gasps of air. “What…what are you, four?” He slumped back against his pillow.

Jack lay on the longest edges of the blankets to keep them from Rhys. “I’m not the one stealing the covers, pumpkin.”

“Me? You stole them first!”

“It’s my bed. How can I steal my own covers?”

“By giving them to someone else and taking them away?”

Jack turned enough to give Rhys a fully-annoyed face. “I didn’t give them to you. I let you borrow them. And now your time’s up, princess.”

Rhys frowned, crossing his arms. And yes, he did pout a little. He wasn’t going to play fair, not when he had good ammunition. “You’re so mean to me. You never said there was a time limit.”

Jack remained unmoved. “Uh? Just did.”

“Fine,” Rhys said, a smirk tugging at his lips. “You don’t have to give them to me.” He crawled toward Jack.

Jack eyed him, something like wariness in his gaze. “What’re you up to, pumpkin?”

Rhys sprawled across Jack, earning an “oof.”

“Well,” he said in a smug voice, “if I can’t have the blanket to myself, then I’ll just use it as best I can.” He lay his head on the blanket – on Jack - closing his eyes. He could hear Jack’s breathing, in and out, in and out, the whoosh of air with each inhale and exhale. He drank in Jack’s scent around him, hands clenching against the bed covers. Jack smelled different than he was used to. There was a lot less alcohol, blood, gunpowder, coffee. This scent was body wash, shampoo, and whatever the hell made it Jack.

In that moment, given time to think, he reflected…

He really did like this.

Jack’s hand came up, and brushed up the back of his neck, traveling up into his hair, fingers tangling almost painfully in his locks. Rhys’s breath caught. Was this what dating Jack would be like? Dumb morning fights over the covers? Weird almost-cuddles and touching?

No, no, no, he couldn’t think like this. Couldn’t afford to. This was one hundred percent platonic. It had to be.

Jack’s voice reached his ears. “It’s not a bad look, y’know.”

“Hmm?” Rhys hummed, a part of him wanting to drift back to sleep. His back was chilly but most of him was soaking up the heat from Jack’s covers just fine.

“The hair. I mean, I wouldn’t wear it into the boardroom like this but… It’s not a bad look.”

Rhys tilted his face up to meet Jack’s gaze. “I thought you said, ‘hilarious’.” He air-quoted.

“Why do you assume those two things are incompatible, Rhysie?”

“Oh yes, it is I, Rhys, who has nice and hilarious hair. Makes total sense.”

“Now you’re just being obtuse,” Jack muttered. His hand roamed down the front of Rhys’s neck and slotted against his throat. “I think ya know what I meant.”

Rhys really didn’t.

He probably should’ve been warier with Jack’s large, rough hand on his windpipe, but he found himself distracted by the warm touch of skin between them. “Your skin’s…just so soft,” Jack observed, sounding a bit uncertain. “Is that normal? Or do you have some sorta condition?”

Rhys grumbled, impatience growing. “Yeah, I have a condition. It’s called a I take care of my skin.”

“Nah, it just means you’re pampered. I’ll bet you’ve never even been to a gym in your life, huh?”

“Who goes to a gym anymore? Everyone knows they’re all scams. What are you, living in the stone age or something? I guess for an old man like you-”

Jack growled, a sharp grin stretching his face, hand squeezing just a bit against Rhys’s throat, a (playful?) warning. “I’m gonna have to actually smother you with a pillow at this rate.”

Rhys huffed. “You can try, but if you move, I’m taking this blanket back.” His hand lingered at the blanket’s – Jack’s – side.

“Whoa, check out ruthless little Rhysie here!” Jack’s hand dropped, eyes running over Rhys. Rhys felt his skin tingle under the scrutinizing gaze. “You’ve got quite a bit of ink, don’t ya, pumpkin? Nerd ink. Was it this extensive before? ‘Cause you really went overboard-”

“Shut it.” Rhys had gotten a new tattoo on his side a few months ago. It was a hexagonal pattern under his left rib. It stretched down to the top of his hip, and quite frankly, he thought it was really cool.

“What’s the matter, pumpkin? I’m just observing-“

Rhys grabbed Jack’s right hand, pointing at his wrist. “And this isn’t nerdy ink? What is it, anyway, it looks like…like…” His brain wasn’t cooperating.

Jack rolled his eyes. “It’s a cog, genius. A gear. Ya know, like a machine? Because machines are badass…that do badass things. Point is, this is badass ink. Not this weird nerd shit you’ve got.”

“Yeah, right. Nobody thinks that but you.”

Rhys stared at his own left hand gripping Jack’s right one. Jack was letting him do this. Was letting Rhys touch him, casual and friendly. Rhys’s changed arm stood out against Jack’s normal one, and he felt a little sour about it. His arm felt…weird and gross, as much as he didn’t like to acknowledge it. A large part of him still wanted…whatever this was to be gone. But Jack hadn’t said much about it, other than to seem fascinated by its power as a Vault Key. Rhys was thankful he hadn’t been teased about it too much.

A sharp pain struck Rhys. He let go and bolted up into a sitting position, wincing. “Shit,” he muttered. “Oh crap, crap-“ The second wave of agony hit, and he groaned, gripping the limb to himself and drawing his legs up to his body, wanting to curl up on himself.

Jack sat up too. “What the hell’s with you all of a sudden?”

Rhys sucked in a sharp breath as he waited out the intensity of the pain. “I…I suddenly remember… that I forgot my painkillers. It’s been almost a full day without them…” A fresh wave of agony hit, and he bit back a whimper.

Jack didn’t even blink, holding Rhys’s gaze, that intensity Rhys remembered so well back in place. “Your what?”

“Painkillers…for my arm.”

Jack didn’t respond right away. His eyes dropped to Rhys’s changed arm. “Jesus, that Vault Key fucked it up that bad, huh?”

Rhys managed a nod. Now that there was a lull in the agony, he moved to climb off the bed, but Jack gripped his shoulder, stopping him. “I can get them.” He used a tone of voice that indicated he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Rhys was taken aback. “What? But- You don’t even know where I parked. I’m not even sure if I remember.”

“I know where you parked. I met you outside earlier, remember?”

Maybe Jack’s need to manifest into Rhys’s life at any possible moment was paying off for once. Rhys really didn’t want to get up right now. He just wanted to curl into a ball and cry. He wasn’t about to argue when he just wanted relief. And Jack could probably get it faster anyway. “Fine. They’re…in the glove compartment…”

Jack sprang out of bed and vanished out the door. Rhys cradled his arm, slumping to the bed for the comfort of its softness. God, this whole thing with Jack had completely distracted him. He felt like he should be mad about that, but he wasn’t. He was kind of glad the truth had been spilled. At least all those confusing things now made sense. Now, he could fully deal with them. His wandering thoughts came to a halt; more pain curled up his arm, spiking all the way to the shoulder. He felt dizzy, vision swimming.

It felt like hours, but eventually Jack came back with a disposable cup of water and the vial of painkillers. Rhys accepted it all gratefully, popping the pill and chasing it with a drink.

“Thanks,” Rhys muttered, setting the cup on the side table. “…I’m gonna need a bit for this to kick in.” He returned to his lying position.

Jack hesitated beside the bed, looming. It made Rhys a bit wary, especially through his own discomfort. He felt weak. Jack’s physical presence was already intimidating, even if he now had bed head and fewer layers, and it wasn’t helping Rhys feel much better.

“Does it hurt to touch?” Jack asked.

“Not exactly. It just…hurts in general.”

Jack reached over. “So, can I?”

Rhys felt confused. “I guess...”

Jack touched it, carefully. “Weird,” he remarked, pulling his hand back.

“Yep.”

Rhys was hit again, and he gasped, unable to suppress a sharp moan. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to recover himself. It was several moments before he opened them again and glanced at Jack. He saw Jack lean over and grab the blanket they’d been fighting for. He threw it on top of Rhys, but didn’t bother to straighten it out. “Here. Have it back. I’m gonna go call for some breakfast. ‘m starving.” Jack left the room.        

Rhys checked his Echo Eye for personal messages. He had some from both Yvette and Vaughn, both checking in. They seemed slightly concerned by the fact he’d chosen to stay in Opportunity.

He messaged them.

[Rhy5w1nz]: I’m fine. Got stuck here overnight because I didn’t want to drive back so tired. He thought for a minute and then went on. So, you know the “joke” from before. With Jack? Apparently it wasn’t a joke. Jack actually is attracted to me. It’s sooo weird.

Jack returned just then with a laptop, sitting cross-legged on the bed and opening it. “So, looks like you were right, pumpkin.” He sounded quite happy.

“About what?” Rhys mumbled. The painkillers were kicking in.

“Sooo’s, not to brag but- They’re totally gonna reinstate me as CEO! Not that they’re too happy about it!” He sounded gleeful. “God, they hate me, I hate them, we’re the dysfunctional Hyperion family, baby, and I’m gonna make their lives hell. And also return to being filthy rich, going to lavish parties, banging people-!”

“Great,” Rhys said dryly. “Now we really do get to be actual rivals… Hyperion.”

“Oooh. Chills. I like that. Hyperion. Badass title for a hero. Heh, Atlas,” he growled back in a playful tone. “That really suits you, eh? Isn’t this great!? We’re like…frenemies now! We get to bite each other’s heads off in public, but in private, laugh about stupid idiots, hang out like buds, go for drinks, vent about our boards and useless staff-” and Jack started going on and on about all the things he was imagining would happen now they were rival CEOs.

Rhys zoned out a bit. He didn’t understand why Jack was so pumped to be official rivals. Rhys took a deep breath, let it out slowly. Boredly, he checked his messages to see Yvette had already replied.

[Y9]: omg. You two are starting to become a soap opera

Rhys messaged back.

[Rhy5w1nz]: I know, I know.

[Y9]: So you banged? Give me the deets :P

[Rhy5w1nz: No! Of course not! Just because he’s attracted to me doesn’t mean we’re gonna bang!

[Y9]: REALLY RHYS?!

[Rhy5w1nz]: It’s a bad idea!

[Y9]: QUIT BEING AN IDIOT AND BANG HIM, I STG

...typing...

[Y9]: AND IF YOU DON’T AND I HAVE TO HEAR MORE OF YOUR STUPID PINING, I WILL START CHARGING YOU FOR MY TIME

[Y9]: I’M NOT A THERAPIST. BESIDES THERAPISTS GET PAID!

[Rhy5w1nz]: Are the caps really necessary?

[Y9]: YOU WILL OWE ME A HUNDRED BUCKS FOR EVERY TIME YOU SAY THE WORD JACK AROUND ME

[Y9]: YES

Rhys sighed. Okay. Well, that was nice. He couldn’t exactly blame her, though. He had been venting to her a lot lately about Jack. He probably should do it a little less. He sent back,

[Rhy5w1nz]: You love me too much to do that.

[Y9]:You wanna bet? Better start saving that money Rhys. I wasn't kidding

Rhys sent an eye-rolling emoji before closing out of the chat.

“So, Jack?” Rhys asked. “Do you have something I could wear? For now, anyway? I um, don’t have any spare clothes-“

By way of reply, Jack stood up and sat the laptop aside. He opened a drawer, dragged out a couple things, and tossed them at Rhys. “You’re welcome,” he said before returning to his laptop.

Rhys pulled the items of clothing to him. It was an old sweater and a pair of skinny jeans. The sweater looked like it was going to be too large, but he would make do. It wasn’t like he had to worry about his looks, just that his skin was covered from the chill. And Jack’s gaze. The emotion that followed that thought wasn’t very supportive of his endeavors to stay unaffected by Jack's attraction to him. He shook his head, pushing the blanket off and pulling the sweater on over his head. Yes, it was too large, but at least his body height kept it from hanging too low on him. It just pooled on his shoulders and folded at his sides more than he would like. He slipped off the bed, yanking the jeans on. They were a bit too loose as well, but the fact they were skinny jeans did help.

“You have a belt?” Rhys asked.

Jack didn’t even look up from his reclaimed laptop. “Yeah, in the closet over there. Behind the door.”

Rhys followed the directions, finding a dark thin belt to loop through the jeans and keep them in place on his waist. Rhys was grateful he still had his socks to protect his feet from the cold floor. Rhys turned back to Jack. “Alright.”

Jack finally looked up. Jack's brows tightened. He blinked, mouth falling open. “Uh…damn, pumpkin. You look like you could stomp all over m-er, someone.”

“What?” Rhys said in shock. He had expected Jack to start laughing at this ridiculous, haphazard ensemble. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It’s uh…yeah, uh, definitely not a bad look.” Jack cleared his throat. The expression on his face was a familiar one, hungry. His voice pitched deeper, but also rougher. “It’s like…like you absorbed some of my…badass aura or something.”

Rhys…suddenly understood what Jack meant. He went red but grabbed his pillow and threw it at Jack. “Oh my god, you freakin’ old pervert. Stop eye-fucking me already. It’s not like I want to wear your damned clothes!” Rhys left the room with a huff before Jack could retort. He decided to search for breakfast. He located and opened Jack’s freezer. He dug a bit but it was mostly empty. “Ugh, seriously. What kind of man is he…” Rhys muttered. “No ice cream in the freezer…”

“What was that?”

Rhys whirled around. Jack was in the doorway of the kitchen. “Ugh. Why the hell wouldn’t you have ice cream? What kind of grown man doesn’t keep a well-stocked supply of ice cream!”

Jack went still again, but this time in a different way. He stared at Rhys as if trying to remember something. After a moment, he simply pulled out his Echo and tapped on it. “You really are something else, Rhys.”

“What…what’d I say?” Rhys asked. Jack’s mood swings would forever baffle him. “Is something wrong?”

“Hah, more like is something right?!” Jack was back to radiating that unconquerable happiness. “Don’t worry, Rhysie-cup. I’m having an ice cream feast delivered to this door right now. Handsome Jack gets whatever he needs precisely when he needs it.”

Rhys stared at Jack’s amused face. “Seriously? Oh, wait, you’re playing a joke on me, aren’t you?”

“Normally, that’d be a fair assumption,” Jack waved his hand, “buuut…”

There was a knock. A voice called through the door. “Handsome Jack, sir? We’re here to deliver your breakfast! Chef Jenson sends his regards.”

“Eh? Ehhh?” Jack exclaimed with wiggling eyebrows.

Rhys watched in astonishment as a cart was wheeled in to the kitchen that smelled like heaven. Big covered platters and bowls adorned it. Jack had it placed about the table and then the delivery person left. Jack uncovered the platters. Indeed, there were pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage….and about ten flavors of ice cream. Rhys’s jaw dropped. “How the heck…? That was really fast-”

“Ahhh,” Jack sighed at the food, sounding very satisfied. “That’s…that’s just so beautiful!”

“Who eats sausage for breakfast!” Rhys exclaimed, trying to cover his own shock and happiness. “Those are grease piles!”

“Sit down, champ; you’re pushing your luck. I mean, a thank you for the last-minute ice cream would be nice. Seriously, there’s just no appreciation anymore-”

“Yeah, alright!” Rhys interrupted. “Fine, okay… It looks good. Very good.”

“Yeah it does! Help yourself, baby!”

Breakfast was interesting. Rhys watched Jack successfully devour enough food to easily feed three adult men for a morning. There may or may not have been some ice cream mixing and them daring each other to try weird combinations of the various foods. It was finished with Rhys trying a sausage on a pancake topped with ice cream, which was weird but not as horrible as it sounded. Not that Rhys could bring himself to finish it.

Jack had returned to his laptop in the sitting area. Rhys stood in the doorway from the kitchen, having just finished up. He cleared his throat, catching Jack’s attention. “I um… I should probably go,” Rhys said, feeling awkward all over again. “I uh…have work to do. But…um, thanks for breakfast and letting me stay. If it’s alright, I’ll just…send the clothes back later.”

“Mm,” Jack acknowledged, looking back at his laptop. His expression gave away nothing.

“I…uh…well, see ya…” Rhys gave a brief wave and started to head for the entryway where his boots had been moved to. His feet stopped. He lingered before the front door, something heavy sitting in his chest. He stared down at his arms and Jack's clothes on his body. Jack’s scent was all over him, strong and present. He was oddly…comforted by it. Rhys remembered the look in Jack’s eyes when he’d seen him like this and that look… It went to him in both the best and worst ways. Rhys turned a glance around the weird, messy, little house.

How long would it be before he had another completely private moment like this with Jack? A week? A month? Even longer? They were both probably going to be even busier now. And what about him? How much longer did he have, in general? Nobody had long on Pandora. That much was the only truth he knew for sure. Even Jack hadn’t technically survived Pandora’s wrath. For all Rhys knew, he didn’t have a lot of life left. And he wasn’t infamous enough to be brought back from the grave if he did kick the bucket.

And who knew what was waiting in that Vault...

Either way, Rhys wasn’t sure which regret he would rather live (and die) with. The regret of never pursuing his own desires? Or the regret of having done so and it turning out to be a mistake? Did it really matter, in the end?

“Oh, screw it,” he muttered, squashing down all the thoughts yelling about how bad an idea it was at him. He was going to regret this later, he knew, but- but that was later, not now. At least he was certain of the privacy. There was little reason to believe someone would gain the proof of it to ruin Atlas. He hoped. Maybe he was just telling himself that. He turned and strode back into the living room before he lost his nerve.

“Thought you were going,” Jack commented, gaze flicking up. “Forget something?”

“Yeah, I did,” Rhys hissed, his frustration leaking into his words. His tone must’ve taken Jack off guard because Jack’s eyes narrowed. Rhys walked around and leaned in. Jack had a moment to blink before Rhys kissed him, hard. He didn’t have access to Jack’s mouth - it was firmly shut - so he sucked on Jack’s lips for a moment. He bit down, hoping it would spur Jack into a reaction. It did. But it wasn’t the one Rhys wanted. Jack yanked back, eyes wide.

Well, this was awkward. Rhys…wasn’t used to doing this sober.

Jack's fist gripped Rhys’s front, glaring. “What the hell are you playing at, cupcake?”

“What’s the matter, Jack? Don’t want to kiss me anymore?”

“Gotta say, Rhysie,” Jack growled, pushing Rhys back so hard he stumbled. Jack stood up, looming. Again. “This playing hard to get shit is…” He shook his head. “-Is pissing me off! You’d better cut this right out now or I’ll put my foot in your ass-”

“I’m not playing hard to get. I- I changed my mind!”

Jack’s expression morphed, darkening. “Well…in that case.” Jack surged forward and ripped the sweater off Rhys, exposing his chest and stomach to the air. “You should’ve friggin said so before you tried that weird lip bite thing.” Jack gripped Rhys and pushed him against the nearest surface. Jack's breath fanned against his neck, his hair tickling Rhys's face. “If you’re having any second thoughts, the door’s over there. You’d better use it now.” Jack bit down on his sensitive skin. Not as hard as before, but hard enough.

“Oh god-“ Rhys muttered, suddenly dizzy at how quickly this had progressed. This was happening, actually happening-

“Try not to pass out on me, kiddo,” Jack said with a snort. “I know I’m amazing, but gee.“

Rhys jerked involuntarily, gasping, sensations like electricity going up his spine. No, he wasn’t having any second thoughts, not with Jack sucking on his neck so hard. The sensation of Jack moving against him became more pleasurable with every wild heartbeat, and his breathing was reduced to short gasps for air. The room felt hot even with his sweater gone. Maybe it was the way Jack was covering him. He twisted against Jack, moaning with want. Those loose pants felt very tight against his groin now. “Ja-Jack, please-“

Jack’s leg got between his, and pushed-

Rhys’s Echo pinged. Rhys felt Jack’s entire body go stiff against him, a growl of frustration rumbling through his chest. The sound was coming into Rhys’s private link, but Jack was close enough to hear the noise, apparently. “Ignore it,” Jack rasped. It was both an order and a plead.

Rhys wanted to ignore it, so very badly, but through his Echo Eye, he clearly saw that it was marked as urgent. “Ugh,” he groaned. “Sorry…I… I have to take this… It might be an emergency.”

“Emergency my ass. The only emergency is the fact we’re both going to get blue balls!”

Jack gave another grind of his thigh against Rhys’s dick.

“Jaack-unnf-“ Rhys complained. Jack wasn’t helping. “Cut it out!” He really just wanted to thrust his hips back against Jack’s leg, though. The Echo pinged again.

Jack made another frustrated noise, but he stepped back, hands raised beside him. “I’m really starting to think you’re doin’ this to me on purpose, pumpkin.”

Rhys caught his breath as well as he could and answered. “What is it?“ he snapped.

“Rhys?” Yvette’s voice said, sounding confused. “Look, I don't know why you sound so weird right now, but you’re going to want to hear this. I just received news. We know who leaked your information.”

Rhys’s whole body went rigid. Any remaining arousal he’d had vanished. He flicked the tip of his cyber finger without thinking, the one with the needle. “Who? Who did it?”

“It was…” there was a clicking sound. “Dr. William Grace. Head of R&D.”

Rhys went cold. “What? What?! Are you sure? How is that even possible!” Rhys clenched his own hair with both hands, anger rising. “There’s no way! He couldn’t even have that information- There…there’s no way he could do this!” He was in denial. “Why would he? I gave him everything he had-“

“Rhys! Take a deep breath,” Yvette said. “I don’t know why or how, just the who.”

Rhys groaned. “Is he apprehended at least?”

“No. He disappeared last night. I think he knew he was about to get caught.”

Rhys kicked the floor. “God damn it! I should’ve known, when he got nosy- and, and-“

“This isn’t your fault, but you need to come back to Atlas asap. Grace couldn’t have gone far and we need to contain this as soon as possible.”

“Right,” Rhys said, defeat rising in his chest, “I’ll head back now.”

Yvette hung up. Rhys looked up at Jack, who looked even more agitated.

“I have to go,” Rhys said, snatching the sweater from where Jack had dropped it on the floor. He pulled it back on. “It is an emergency, This…this was probably a bad idea, anyway.” Rhys wondered if this was the universe trying to save him from doing something incredibly stupid. The disappointment was sour in his mouth, though.

“Who did it?” Jack growled, fists balling. “I heard you talkin’, ya know? So who were you yellin’ about?”

“None of your damned business, Hyperion,” Rhys responded, heading for the door.

Jack intercepted, “Whooahho-ho-ho, no. You are not doing this to me, Rhysie. You owe me an explanation at the very least.”

“I don’t owe you shit, Jack!” Rhys snapped. “Get out of my way!” He tried to shove past Jack, but Jack wouldn’t budge.

“You won’t even tell me why you’re running off?”

Rhys exhaled, forcing himself to calm down a little. “You know that information leak? The one I hacked your computer over?”

“Uh huh?”

“Well, turns out, someone at Atlas leaked it. One of my head scientists.”

“You can never trust a scientist.”

Rhys snorted. “Now if you don’t mind, I have to go take care of the situation!”

Jack stepped aside, still frowning. “Don’t think I’m gonna forget the fact you wanna bang now, princess.”

Rhys didn't know what came over him in that moment, but he felt a sharp grin tug at his mouth. "Oh I know," he said, and he did what he'd been wanting to do for awhile now. He grabbed Jack's crotch and squeezed. Rhys heard it in the way Jack's breath changed, the effect it had. Jack's hips jerked a bit.

"Little shit," Jack grunted.

"Asshole." Rhys let go and pulled on his boots, almost falling in the process. He rushed out the door without another glance.

Chapter Text

Rhys hadn’t slept much, a few hours every night before a flood of nightmares would drag him back to reality. He would see Jack, or them, or other people, tormenting him, laughing at him, mocking him. He would feel cold touches and hear empty promises. He would see guns and knives and endless rivers of blood.

He sat at his desk and clutched a luke warm coffee in cold hands, glaring at the pile of documents before him. He could already tell today would be an “off” day even more than usual. He felt defeated by everything. 

The trail on Dr. Grace had run cold. 

After leaving Jack’s, Rhys had spent several hours with Yvette and security trying to trace the traitorous asshole. He’d even called up Fiona and Vaughn to help devote more digital power to the cause. Headache became a worse headache as hours melted into more hours and more coffee and more staring at the wall, thinking of the repercussions of failing. Thinking of what would happen when- 

Eventually, it had become clear that no amount of work or sheer effort could find Dr. Grace.

Currently, Rhys’s tired gaze switched among the papers, and the part of him that craved a distraction grew larger with each second.

And being the fool, he called Jack. He wasn’t fully sure why, just that he wanted to talk. Or maybe he just wanted to vent. 

“Heyyy, Jack.”

“Whaddya want, pumpkin. I’m pretty busy right now." 

“Things here have been shit,” Rhys said, sighing. “We lost our.... the traitor.”

“‘Course you did.”

It wasn't that Rhys had been expecting emotional support, but...Jack seemed a bit more dickish than usual. Rhys had thought Jack would understand the frustration he felt. Unrealistic. 

Rhys was torn between annoyance and feeling a bit guilty for how he'd last departed Jack's company. "Look...sorry I ran out like that the other day, I just…  Betrayal is a helluva moodkiller, you know?” He sucked in a breath. “Maybe we should… Do you want to schedule a pick-up for...um where we left off?” He asked, biting his lip. “Er, sometime. Doesn’t have to be...immediately, uh… But the sooner- I mean, I would want...um...”

There was a long, weird pause, one that made Rhys squirm. They’d admitted to wanting this, hadn’t they? Why weren’t they past this weirdness yet? 

“Yeah, maybe.”

That stung. What? Rhys felt his heart sinking. “ Maybe ?” He echoed in disbelief, given how hard Jack had been trying to get into his pants before.

“Look it’s getting really busy here, sweetie, why don’t you call back later?”

“ Sweetie ?”

The line went dead.

Jack had hung up.

Rhys tangled his fingers into his hair and pulled, not caring if he messed up his slicked-back locks. He resisted the urge to yell. Jack was obviously pissed at him. But it was really weird. Jack was usually more than ready to let everyone know when he was mad and exactly how much. Now, he seemed really reserved. What was this? Rhys couldn’t stand it. Maybe there was more to it than Jack being angry at him, but he couldn’t be bothered to actually worry about what menial shit might have set Jack off this time.

He had too much to stress over already. He decided he needed to just forget about Jack for the moment. He could play around later. Yeah. It’d been an amazing time lately.

A call came onto the Echo. Rhys perked up, half hoping it was Jack.

It was an unknown caller.

Rhys deflated. He almost didn’t pick up, but he knew he didn’t have much choice. It could be important and with the current lay of things...

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hello, Rhys.”

Rhys felt white-hot adrenaline flood his body. He leapt out of his seat, clutching the desk. His coffee mug hit the floor, shattering, but he didn’t care. “Dr. Grace- I really, really hope you’re enjoying yourself right now, buddy, because you don’t have a lot of time left to enjoy anything at all!” Rhys sent a quick message through his Echo Eye to Yvette to have her trace the call.

“If it’s any consolation, Rhys, I would have preferred it not coming to this...”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Rhys demanded. “Why did you do this?”

“Because of Jack.”

“What?”

“Handsome Jack is back, and he is a threat, especially to you.”

“Says the guy that sold me out.”

Grace responded, but Rhys glared at nothing and missed it. He was too distracted with the mental image of wrapping his cyber fingers around Grace’s neck and crushing that traitorous asshole’s windpipe. "What?" He asked again.

"I said, where do you think I got that data to sell you out with?”

“I can’t imagine. And believe me, I have been trying .”

“After Helios’s crash, there were a lot of sturdy Hyperion data cores just...lying around down there near the Helios camp. Anyone with a modicum of hacking skills was picking it all apart to sell.”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “The info you have wouldn’t have been in Helios’s database, it-”

“-it was.”

“I didn’t tell anyone that data. Nobody could have recorded it-”

”You told one person. Years ago.”

Rhys blinked. He had a sinking feeling. Shit …

“I sold you out, but it was going to happen sooner or later. Now you can take the fight to them on your terms.” 

How was this on Rhys’s terms? “You mean yours ?” He spat. 

“Ours,” Dr. Grace said. “...I believe that if you are willing to go against Jack, we could wield a mighty weapon against them all. He has something...behind that door in Opportunity. Something the Followers of the Azure Sun fear and want. It could destroy them. And more. Consider it.”

Rhys laughed. “Wouldn’t you like that, you dickwad?”

“Haven’t you wondered why Jack hides it from you? The weapon? Even if you do not want to use it, you must surely want to keep Jack from doing so. Or do you really believe he will not turn on you one day?” 

Rhys scowled and said nothing. Jack hadn’t said it was a weapon exactly…but come to think of it, that door was pretty ominous. "Why should I believe you?"

"You have the means to check these accusations yourself. Helios is still there. So too should the info. Right...well, I understand this is a lot. And that you’ll need time to investigate...so I don’t expect an immediate answer…”

Rhys gritted his teeth, stepping a few paces from his desk. “I don’t care if you’re right. I'll deal with the cult without you. And Jack. Dr. Grace, nobody betrays Atlas and lives. Nobody betrays me. Not like this. Jack may even try to kill me, but this is so much worse... at least hed have the guts to do it himself! When I find you... imagine skags eating your eyeballs, because that will be so much more pleasant than what will happen.”

“Right. You’re angry now, but I think with time you’ll understand.”

“Fuck you.”

“Also, I am well aware that this call is being traced, but you will not find me that way. I have bounced the signal from multiple towers. It would take well over a half hr to truly trace it. I have to go now.”

“No, no, no, don’t you dare hang up-” 

“Goodbye, Rhys. We’ll speak again. Maybe sooner rather than later. Who knows?”

The line went dead and Rhys stood there, glaring at his desk.  

“FUCK!” He yelled, knocking stuff off of the desk and onto the floor. He hated the way Dr. Grace’s words made a horrible kind of sense. He stormed for the office entrance, calling Yvette. He had to get to the bottom of this. “Yvette. Contact the shuttle bay and have them get me a buzzard. I have somewhere I need to be. Also could you see if Fiona’s available? I might need a grifter right now.”

"Are you sure that-"

"Yes. Please."

Apparently, his tone brokered no argument. “Sure thing, Rhys.”

The buzzard drifted over the shattered Pandoran wasteland, traveling south for well over an hour. For the last twenty minutes or so, the looming, scarred remains of Helios had towered in the distance, growing larger with each passing minute. It was a behemoth of a ruined structure, and there was a part of Rhys that felt bitter nostalgia at the sight of it. How he'd once loved that station almost as much as Jack had... He pushed those thoughts away. There were more important things to think of.

Rhys, Fiona, and Aurelia rode the buzzard. Most of the ride had been fairly quiet. Fiona piloted the machine, her face screwed up with concentration. Aurelia hefted a rifle and took aim at various targets, though she never fired a shot. Rhys might've wondered why, but his mind simply refused to linger on anything too long save for his current problem. Rhys hadn’t been able to stop brooding on the suspicions knotted in his gut. Handsome Jack wasn’t someone he could trust. He’d known that. From day one. But since day one, it was...something he’d wanted. He couldn’t trust him, and denying that just kept biting him in the ass. 

Maybe...maybe there was something else going on he couldn’t see. But that seemed needlessly optimistic. 

He just wanted to curl up in a dark room for a while. Maybe refuse to acknowledge that the world existed for a few months. He needed quiet, calm. A complete recharge.

He wondered if this would've happened if he'd never responded to the Echo message that had lured him into Jack's trap in the first place.

“I don’t suppose you’d explain more about what’s going on?” Fiona spoke up. She turned in her seat. "I found the autopilot. Finally... 

“I can’t be certain at the moment,” Rhys replied with a shrug.

"You've been scowling so much it's a wonder your brow hasn't fallen off."

“It’s like I said. I need data from Helios. Things aren't looking great right now.”

"What sort of data, though?"

"Data that will tell us if Dr. Grace is lying to us or not."

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to wait and see."

They landed in the designated landing zone, a large pad on the ground with a painted white L. Plumes of dust rose up under the engines as they wound down and Rhys covered his face to try not to inhale it all. His eyes watered. Fiona and Aurelia also did so, though the Lady had a handkerchief. They climbed out of the buzzard and made their way toward the entrance to the Helios camp.

From the interlocking tunnels of the crashed space station, someone familiar appeared. Rhys recognized Vaughn.

Vaughn laughed and ran over, clasping first Rhys, and then Fiona in a hug. “Great to see you guys again! Welcome back to Helios! I know the circumstances aren't fantastic, but I really missed you guys. Been awhile, Fiona."

"It has," she said with a smile. "Glad to see you're looking well."

"Feeling well, too."

Aurelia glided over, and Vaughn nodded at her. She lowered her kerchief when he spoke. "So you must be Lady Hammerlock. Nice to meet you.”

"The pleasure is mine, of course. Fiona has filled me in on the details of this quaintly rubble-filled place."

"That's...one way to describe it," Vaughn conceded. 

Some of the Children of Helios were gathering nearby. "It's Rhys," someone said and happy whispering started up. 

Eyes turned to him. Rhys rubbed the back of his neck, feeling heat rising in it.

"Seriously?" Fiona asked. "This again?"

Rhys looked at Vaughn cautiously. "Yeah," Vaughn answered his silent question. "They still love you, bro. You should give a speech or something. I feel like it'd really improve morale." 

"Unfortunately, I don't have time." Rhys cleared his throat. "But I'll take it under advisement." He glanced at the sky. "No rock showers right? Because I really really need to get into Helios and do some digging. More than just Helios, too. I need to scrounge every inch of this place. Anywhere there's debris, I have to be there until I find the data."

"It better be worth it," Fiona chipped in. "Are you sure this guy didn't just send you on a goose chase?"

Rhys felt the mentioned scowl return. "I mean, maybe. But until I know what's going on, this is my only option. So how about it, Vaughn?"

Vaughn hummed. "Well, I was going to make hot cocoa and sit around the campfire again, but... This sounds way more interesting. Let's go digging around in our corporate past for dirty Hyperion secrets. It will be like the old days! Let me go get my gear and a few guns!"

"This is...creepy," Vaughn muttered.

Day one began with combing the more important areas of Helios they could reach. Which turned out to not have much. It seemed like most everything here had already been looted or destroyed. Currently, the four stood in a large hallway lined with empty rooms. It was dim, only some light able to trickle in through holes in the walls. The wind howled eerily, moaning like a beast. That wasn't the creepiest part, however. The hallway was full of loader bots, barely functioning, with half-dead lights on their robot 'faces'. The loaders were muttering.

Rhys shivered, picking out words.

"Why is God dead?"

"Repairs required. Repairs required. Repairs required-"

"Must find sanctuary. They could save us."

"Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow."

Fiona grimaced, looking paler, clearly not unaffected. She brushed her single lock of red back, a nervous habit, Rhys recognized. "What's wrong with them?" She whispered.

Aurelia said, "nothing good, darling."

"Their batteries shouldn't even be functioning," Rhys replied. "They must've subsisted off the power lingering here...all this time. But now they're malfunctioning too much to do even that."

"Why would they stay?"

Vaughn folded his arms, shuddering visibly. "Not all the loaders managed to gain free will. Some are stuck here."

Aurelia stepped closer to one, eyes narrowed. "Rather dreadful, I say."

"Why does this existence destroy us," a loader lamented at Rhys, looking right at him. "Do they no longer dream? Sirens keep singing to me in my dreams. Do you not hear them as well?"

Rhys chuckled nervously. "Your guess is as good as mine, buddy..." He turned to the team. "Come on. I don't think they have enough juice to cause us trouble. Let's go." As they walked down the hallway, loader eyes turned emptily towards them. The muttering continued, nonsensical and haunting.

Vaughn frowned. "Shouldn't we... I don't know, help them?"

Fiona asked, gently pushing a loader back; it stepped back obligingly, "What can we do? Oh hey, they're not so bad."

"Random human," the loader responded. "No orders."

"Rhys could," Vaughn insisted, louder now. More bots looked at them. Rhys stared at the back of Vaughn's head, trying to telepathically quiet him. It was unsuccessful. "You've got all sorts of bots at Atlas, bro. Can't you...take them home with you? Rebrand them or something? They are so sad. It's depressing. I have never even been here before. Or if I have don't recall them all just gathered in here like...like they're praying or something."

Rhys shuddered. Vaughn was right. This made little sense. While he knew bots could gain sentience, he wasn't sure about these loaders. They seemed to be malfunctioning, mostly. They weren't showing much free will with this display. Then again, it wasn't like free will always led one to happiness.

Aurelia said, "do Robots form religion? That is an intriguing and unsettling thought. Humanity does plenty of that, already."

A sudden, ominous thought came to Rhys. "No-no, not formed. Taught." He turned his head and looked at the loader nearest him. "Is this about Handsome Jack?" he asked in a plain voice. "Is that why the..standing around and...?" He trailed off as Vaughn's face became full of realization.

"Dead." The loader spoke.

More words came from nearby loaders. Stuff like, "Dead and gone."

"Not just God."

"Like Helios. Helios died. I no longer hear them. Or him."

"Misery. It never ends."

"Damn." Fiona raised her voice. "Hey, guys, you really don't have to miss that horrible asshole. Or even this space station! There's more to life than that!"

The loaders went quiet, all of their lights fixed on her.

Rhys tensed. "Fiona, maybe-"

"Yeah, I said it." Fiona ignored Rhys and jumped up onto a piece of debris. She planted hands on her hips, raising her voice even more. "I know that you don't know anything beyond the fact you were manufactured by a greedy corporation to do its dirty work! But I promise there's more. And if you miss him so much you wouldn't stand around like a pack of dying skags. Get out of this place and find yourself without your...ugh, god. He wouldn't want you to cry like babies like this, would he? I mean, come on, this is Jack you all are talking of. He'd shoot all of you for standing around like this."

Rhys wondered if this is how he died. Because Fiona blasphemed to a bunch of loader bots. Rhys leaned toward Aurelia and whispered. "You picked a real winner," 

"Shush, darling, I'm watching."

Okay, then. Like I'm one to judge. Considering who he had called yesterday for... He pushed that thought away but checked himself. "Right. That was rude. Sorry."

"Apology accepted, darling."

"This might sound weird, but you have a very pleasant way of talking."

"Of course. I am a lady."

Rhys shut his mouth before he put his foot in it again.

A loader turned around towards the other loader-the one that had originally spoken to Rhys. "This human must be correct. Would he want this for us?"

"He was like us, though," another said. "Digital. He controlled all of Helios. What more is there now that he is gone?"

All the loaders started talking. They moved in increments, more muttering sweeping through. A few of the loaders seemed perpetually dead, not saying anymore than their unusual chanting, but the rest were agitated. Or as agitated as a robot can get. One loader said, "but what can we do? I am not programmed for this. Our batteries will soon be dead."

"Nor am I."

"Repairs required, repairs-"

Rhys mused at Vaughn, "I wonder how much it would cost to get them juiced up and rewired. I don't know if we can just set a bunch of possibly sentient, horribly depressed loaders loose. And if I rebranded them well...lawsuits would definitely be in my future."

"Well, then don't rebrand them. Just juice them up and send them on their way. No one will question wandering loaders."

"That would cost some money...and doesn't even begin to cover the fact that they would need some work..." Rhys sighed at Vaughn's look. He already had a lot of irons in his fire. "Look, bro. I feel bad for them, too. Okay, can we put a tab on that? I know it sounds shitty but this data is just a little more important at this current time. I could die without it. Not to be overdramatic."

"Seems you are decided," Aurelia observed. She turned to the former Hyperion employees.

"Yeah, okay," Vaughn conceded. "But I'll also add, bro, you could just send the Children of Helios some fancy Atlas batteries... I mean, aren't we bros-?"

"Later, Vaughn."

"Fine, fine! I get it! But don't think I'm forgetting!"

Aurelia chuckled right at that moment. "If needed, I could put them out of their misery?"

"Come on!" Vaughn groaned. "Don't do that!"

"Whatever you wish, darling."

Fiona exhaled loudly. "Okay let's get out of here before one of them decides it has enough battery left to turn us into meat chunks."

Rhys fired up his Echo Eye. "Keep your eyes peeled for data cores." 

They sat around the campfire, watching the flames dance. A chilly draft found its way into their shelter. They were about six hours on foot away from the main crash site at Helios, wandering amongst the largest chunks of debris embedded in the landscape. It had become clear that Helios's shell was almost picked clean. Everything the team had come across in that time had more or less been empty or combed through.

Rhys sighed and drew his knees up, ready to go home. He would love to just be away from all of this. He hated this part of Pandora even more than the winter desert part of it. And he began to feel like maybe he was on a goose chase. Whatever Grace had found, others could've too. He should have realized the dangers long before now. He just...had stupidly expected Jack- another Jack, long ago- to keep his word.

"Hey, don't look so down," Fiona said, tilting her hat up. Even in the gathering darkness, she hadn't removed it. She chewed on a toothpick. "We've got a lot of places left to look."

"Not wanting to spend weeks out here," Rhys grumbled. "I have a company to run...eventually."

"Think of it like a vacation, then." 

"Easy for you to say. You aren't the one being targeted by a weird cult."

"Oh, maybe, but you could stop brooding."

"I am not brooding..." Rhys sighed again. "Okay fine. I'm brooding. I just want one thing to go right for me, lately."

"Just hang in there."

Rhys wished he'd had more sleep lately. "What do you know about hanging in there?"

"I spent over two decades living in a dust-filled caravan with my sister and an insane old man. I know all about hanging in there. We're gonna get to the bottom of this. I know it." 

Rhys blinked. He looked at her expression. It was a mix of agitation and determination.

"Look," she went on. "I know we haven't always had the best track record, but for goodness sake, you need to focus on the good. Right now, nothing major is happening. Whatever comes, we've got this. Just like before. We killed a Vault Monster, Rhys. We can deal with a cult."

If only you had any idea... "Alright, I get it." Rhys stood. "I'm not going to get much sleep. I'll just go relieve Aurelia on watch."

Fiona called, "hey."

He turned back. 

"Don't get eaten."

"Thanks so much."

She grinned and tilted her hat back down.

On day two, a group of bullymongs spotted them first. The great beasts leapt from tunnels in the rock walls, giving furious roars. Four arms swinging and jaws full of hatred, they started grabbing any loose debris they could get their claws on. They launched it at the group.

Rhys darted behind a rock, glaring at their luck. Not that they were trouble-free the entire time. He'd just hoped this might go smoother. Was it suicidal looters that had gotten the data on him?

"This will be fun!" Aurelia thrusted her arm forward and a spike of ice flew out, embedding in the first bullymong. The creature slowed, confusing Rhys at first. He realized then that it was slowly freezing, and more ice shards were flying out of its body to the nearby creatures. "Oh, I think you're gonna need more than that patchy fur for this cold, my dear."

"Almost seems like you don't need the extra help," Vaughn commented beside Rhys, gesturing.

"Yeah," Rhys conceded with a laugh. "Hey, watch out!" 

More bullymongs were running up the path behind them. Vaughn brought out an SMG. Fiona whipped around, a pistol extending from her sleeve. It fired a shock round in the first. The bullymong seized, screeching, and started to fall. A bullet wound appeared between its eyes, spraying blood. Rhys noted that Aurelia had spun around and now held a sniper.

Rhys heard a crash and a larger boulder barely glanced off his hiding spot. "Shit!"

"I got it, bro!" Vaughn stood up. "I'm returning the favor for the demo!"

"Be careful, bro."

Vaughn started firing. "I am, bro! Whoa, I feel really alive right now, bro! I'm Pandoran! Woo!"

The group of bullymongs lay dead. "We make a pretty good team." Vaughn said.

"Oh, please," Fiona said, "you're making us‐" she gestured at herself and Aurelia, "do all the work."

"Hey, I shot stuff. Rhys saw me."

"Barely. How are you even still alive?"

Aurelia held her arm out and reaccepted her ice shard. "I imagine there will be more creatures ahead. I see a particularly large piece of debris ahead."

"Spiderant nests," Fiona acknowledged.

Rhys started down the path. "Does anything on this planet choose to live in greener pastures? This wasteland is a dump."

The spider ants weren't much match for their team. 

Vaughn knocked down a thick band of webbing over the door with a machete he'd brought. 

Aurelia sniffed. "Well, this is not the most comfortable place, is it? Should be interesting."

They entered the new chunk of Helios. Rhys immediately recognized fragments of one of Helios's main cores. He knew this could be his best shot at answers. "Guys I think this core might be what I need. Hold on a second while I hack it."

"I'll look around," Fiona said with a greedy glint in her eye. Rhys didn't mind the team looting.

"Me too," Vaughn acknowledged.

Rhys's Echo Eye illuminated the object, confirming what he knew. It was a core. He honed in, watching as the hacking window booted up.

[Executing Rhy5-Winz.exe]...

"Check out this loot!" Fiona said. Rhys glanced over since he had to wait for his program anyway. Fiona held up a small machine, showing it to Aurelia and Vaughn.

"Vault Hunter is just the title," Fiona said smugly, holding up an Echo pad. "Turns out there's a lot of other treasures to dig up." She whistled. "5k for this little piece of palladium in this rig. Wow. We should've thought to blow up Helios years before we did." 

"Wasnt exactly planned," Rhys muttered.

"Well done, dearest," Aurelia hummed, giving Fiona a kiss on the cheek. Fiona grinned.

Vaughn asked conversationally. "So, I take it you don't really even need the money now?" 

Rhys turned back to the core, starting a download for the data.

Fiona chuckled off to the side. "Come on. You can never have too much money, Vaughn."

"You and Rhys have that line of thought in common, then."

"Who doesn't? You?"

"I'm pretty happy with simpler things. And how's Sasha?"

"She's fine. She's got a safe home. A garden too."

"A garden? That gun-loving girl is now gardening?"

"I know," Fiona said with a chuckle. "I can hardly believe it, either. She told me she has never really felt safe until now. She's finding a whole new side to herself." Fiona exhaled. "I, however, can't seem to sit still and be content. I'm almost jealous... I promised I'd get her off-world and I did. I'm not done though."

Rhys finished up. "I have what I need. Come on, everyone, let's head back and see what we've got here."

Chapter Text

"So...Dr. Grace wasn't lying....exactly."

Rhys leaned against the desk, blowing air out of his cheeks. He’d spent the last few days digging and decoding the mountains of data from the cores, most of it useless, still barely sleeping. He’d finally found what he needed, though. And it twisted his gut. “I guess...I’m not overly surprised or anything. Grace’s story checks out...and there really wasn’t any other way he could get that information.” Rhys dropped his head. “He’s right. The cult would have gotten it sooner or later, with it strewn all out here in Helios and people picking up the garbage to sell to hackers and data-miners and... shit… ” He sucked in a breath.

And continued. “The only reason the info is there at all is because of Jack. He's the only one who ever knew. It was a long time ago- he assured me he would never keep a record of it."

Fiona asked, "why'd you tell him at all?"

"I..." Rhys sighed. "I was going to be thrown out because I wasn't supposed to be on the shuttle for Helios. Jack was going to do it... so I played the sad sob-story card and it didn't work until I went in-depth on the details... Plus, I..." I wanted to trust him, even then. "It was before the mask and...the crazy."

Fiona patted Rhys’s shoulder. She’d been listening to his ranting for a while now. He appreciated that. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I guess Jack didn’t mean to get you in trouble? This time? I suppose he kept the file for himself.”

“No, it’s just…” Rhys straightened up and looked at her, seeing the worry brimming in her gaze. Fiona never liked to admit her caring, but he knew most of her actions were born of a need to protect the ones she cared about. She would rather everyone assume her heartless. “If...If Jack is this paranoid and untrusting and a liar at his best…then what is he at his worst? I...what is there to look for in someone like that?”

Fiona folded her arms, lips quirking. “...I would normally say ‘monster’, but this conversation doesn’t feel right for that, oddly enough.”

“No, no, you’re right.” Rhys slumped again, back against the desk. “I just...what do I even do with this information. Go yell at him over it? God, he probably doesn’t even remember. He doesn’t remember how I joined Hyperion so… He didn't even remember me from before.” Rhys put his face in his hands. “How am I going to figure out why he did it? And...how do we get past this? It feels like every time I might consider giving him...not a chance, exactly, but...a doubt? Something like this happens.”

Fiona also leaned against the desk so she could catch Rhys’s gaze. “Why worry so much over it? Just cut off the partnership. He’ll deal with it. And if not, take him out. He’s either your enemy or he’s not.”

“It’s not that simple…”

“And why not?” She asked, eyebrows raised. “I know you’re all buddy-buddy with him as much as possible, but this is a whole new level of buddying up even for you.”

“Because I...  Fi. I like him a lot.” It slipped out.

“You... like him?” She echoed dryly, bewildered as she straightened her position. “Are you a pre-schooler suddenly?”

Rhys also straightened up, glaring. “Fine. I want to have sex with Handsome Jack. Is that adult enough for you?”

Fiona gaped, looking scandalized for a moment. Her expression fell into disbelief and anger. “Wait...you’re...you’re freakin’ serious ?!”

Rhys ground his teeth. He no longer gave a shit what people thought. “We almost did have sex, too.”

“Uuuaagh,” Fiona grimaced, taking two steps back as if he’d hit her in the face. “Like I want to know that! God, what is wrong with you? It's Handsome Jack! This isn't just some random bad boy you can have a one-night stand with, Rhys. He's a mass-murdering asshole who tried to take over Pandora!”

He cleared his throat. “It’s not like...there’s a lot of people who are better in the...dating pool?” 

Fiona just raised a brow. “Okay, you know what. This is exactly a you thing, isn’t it? Why am I surprised at all?”

Her tone made him defensive. “I can't help who I'm attracted to!”

“You can help who you actually do it with!“

"But we haven't-"

"I know! Just...I'm gonna throw up."

The door to the information room opened, startling Rhys. He glanced up to see Aurelia strolling in. She paused. “Things seem a bit tense in here,” she observed. "Don't mind me."

“Oh, hey,” Rhys said, “Aurelia.”

“Hey, darling,” she greeted. She walked gracefully across the room and sat down on the only stool available, still managing to be quite tall. “Now what’s all this ruckus about?” She leaned forward with interest.

Fiona face-palmed. “Don’t make him repeat it.” 

"She's mad that I...like Jack. A lot. Sexually."

Fiona winced again. "Handsome Jack- and quit reminding me! I mean, we also just found out he's the reason you're in trouble, too!"

Rhys leaned over, feeling an evil grin on his face. "Hey, Fiona. I want to-"

She plugged her ears.

Aurelia hesitated, hand on her chin in thought. “Handsome Jack...the name seems familiar.”

“Wait, you don’t know?” Fiona asked, lowering her hands. “Handsome Jack...as in the Jack. From Hyperion. Tried to take over Pandora.”

“Oh yes, I recall now. Pandora’s last contender for the ultimate throne. Quite an accomplishment that would be, dear Rhys. But didn't that poor fool shuffle off his mortal coil?”

"He came back."

Fiona looked even more distraught. “You’re complimenting him?!”

“Why yes? Jack may be of low birth and all, but he did open Vaults, gain power and wealth, and there is something to be respected in that. You know, Rhys dear, Jack hired me once, to find a Vault on Elpis. It was a fun little venture. He wasn’t quite off the rails as he is now, but he certainly knew how to find exciting work.”

Rhys’s interest piqued. “You remember...how he used to be?” Rhys leaned in, he didn’t know why that made him so happy. “Before the mask?”

“Indeed. One might even say I had a firsthand seat to watching his growing madness.”

“What was it like?” Rhys whispered. "The madness bit, I mean."

Aurelia giggled as if giddy. “It was exciting! But Jack himself became quite too quarrelsome for my tastes, so I sought amusements elsewhere after the assignment. Although, I did return for the... Actually, I...would rather not speak of that…” She shuddered. "Ugh, claptraps."

“Hah, that’s so cool!” Rhys said. “I wish...I could’ve worked more closely with Jack back then. I didn’t get to know him very well before...well before he got stuck in my head. But I had met him.”

"Oooh, yes, the AI. Fiona has told me something of that adventure. Must make the...desire more intense. I would have taken the AI and made it my personal servant."

Rhys coughed. "Uh- sure, well-"

Fiona spoke up loudly. “Are we really just going to casually discuss this?"

"It's fascinating," Aurelia said. "So what seems to be the issue? Something about Jack causing you trouble?"

"Well," Rhys started. Maybe an outside perspective wouldn't be so bad. Especially one that was so far judgement-free, unlike with literally everyone else who'd found out about this. "Jack...made a file a long time ago when I first joined Hyperion. That file got out recently and it's...put me in danger. I don't think he meant to do it, but... Stuff like this keeps happening. I don't know that I can trust him."

"Seems to me you should talk to him about the file and see if his answer is less than satisfactory or not."

Rhys laughed. "Yeah, you would think. But one does not simply discuss trust issues with Handsome Jack."

"And why not?"

"I..." Rhys hesitated. "I don't know if he would remember, it was so long ago. And even if he did, I don't think he would understand what he did wrong. Or really be able to offer anything that would...make it easier to deal with."

Aurelia shifted, still thoughtful. "I can offer only this. Everyone has their demons, Rhys. It only matters if your demons can get along with theirs. So, do they?"

Rhys wasn't sure how to respond to that. It was almost odd how at ease he'd gotten with Aurelia in such a short time. She was an incredible person.

Fiona walked over to Aurelia, arms crossed. "You're just...going to validate his weird fixation on Jack?"

"Why not?"

"Jack is...a lot worse than maybe you remember? He's killed a lot of people for no other reason than to conquer a planet."

Aurelia folded her hands, still perfectly graceful. “My mother was a warlock, darling. She conquered planets with our corporation not unlike this Jack wanted to, in much the same way - just with fewer Vaults and a larger, deadlier army. She brought a lot of pain and misery. And...I was not idle. I helped. It was expected. Father and...Alistair...both chickened out and fled, but I stayed. I wanted to be just like her.”

Fiona blinked a few times. “I..” she trailed off. “I mean...but you don’t do that anymore, though. That was a long time ago." 

“Bring war? True. War’s not really my style, as you know… But you and I, we have a lot of fun killing things when we train. I had fun killing things before I came here, conquering things. I understand this Jack being a person you hate for your own personal reasons, but you should at least give Mr. Rhys a little less heat when he has known another side of the story… Just as you might hope for if one of my victims wanted to harm me.”

Fiona looked at Rhys. “So...what you’re saying is I don’t have a right to judge because we’re together...”

Aurelia made an affirmative noise.

“Ugh, Rhys,” Fiona said, leaning on Aurelia’s shoulder and sighing. “My life was a lot simpler until your dumb robo-arm dropped that fake Vault Key.”

“You realize I would have been killed over that,” Rhys pointed out, “if I had brought back that fake Vault Key back to Hyperion. The board would’ve airlocked me themselves....”

“In my defense...I figured any Hyperion stooge would deserve it.”

“My point is... I’ve forgiven you for a lot, you know. And I’m not asking you to like Jack or even forgive him,” Rhys said. “I can’t even imagine circumstances in which you could. But could you please , stop being so vitriolic and coming down on me over this?" He grimaced. “I’m not mad, exactly, I just… When I need a friend, you can either be one, or not.”

“Rhys…” she said, a certain understanding seeming to come across her features. “I...you’re right. I’ve been...unfair to you… A lot of the things I’ve said, some of it was for fun, but some was just me being a dick. I...I’m sorry.”

Rhys smiled a bit. “I’ll spare you the pain of dragging this out and just accept it.”

“I throw myself on your mercy,” she said dryly. “But don’t ever expect me to like that man.”

“Oh don’t worry. I won’t. I’m pretty sure I just said that, too.”

“You did. Just wanted to reiterate it.” She grimaced again. “Also please never share details of your sex life, especially if it involves him. I prefer not to be this nauseated.”

“Fine by me.” 

“I guess...I should at least talk to him about this,” Rhys sighed. “Ugh…At this point I’d rather yell.”

“I wish you luck, darling.” Aurelia said. “Now, Fi, shall we do some hunting? The hills here are with all sorts of fun monsters, and with the time of the Vault approaching, you should brush up on those skills!”

“There’s still a couple months.”

“Come on, I’ll make it worth your while,” Aurelia whispered, clutching Fiona’s shoulder.

Fiona snorted with presumable embarrassment, face darkening. “Sure? How can I possibly say no to that?”

Rhys coughed and made for the door. “Well, I guess I should fly up to Opportunity then.” He turned, walking backwards. “Also, could this...keeping our sex lives a secret thing go both ways, please?”

Fiona flushed darker. “Fine by me.”

Rhys hit the door but ignored the ache in his shoulder. He spun and hurried out with all the speed of someone who'd just had a brand put to their skin.

Rhys was halfway down the hallway when his file decryptor popped up a fresh notification. In big red letters. IMPORTANT. He paused and read through it. LEVEL 4 ACCESS REQUIRED. DIVINE BEING. ERIDIUM INPUT 100% There was an image in the file of a young woman with dark hair and glowing light surrounding here, wings, a halo. She looked. Like an angel.

What on Pandora? Rhys froze, breath leaving him.

Level 4.

That door in Opportunity was Level 4 clearance. 

The Weapon.

Eridium.

Dr. Grace hadn't lied about the other thing.

Adrenaline spiked in Rhys.

Any doubts on whether approaching Jack was the right move or not fled his mind. He practically ran to the landing pad and waiting buzzard, not even bothering to bid his friends goodbye.

Rhys flew down to Opportunity, in spite of his exhaustion. He called ahead so that his buzzard wouldn’t be shot down. He tried to prepare himself for the inevitable confrontation between him and Jack. He went to the house he’d last been with Jack in. To his surprise, knocking was ignored, and when he tried to open it, it slid open just fine. He checked Jack’s home, which was empty. In fact, it all was very empty. Had Jack...moved out? It made sense. Hyperion’s CEO could hardly do with staying in this room forever, could he? Where had he moved to? Or maybe Rhys had gotten the wrong place. He could’ve sworn...

Rhys stepped back outside, casting his gaze around the city. His eyes landed on the main building that now had people coming and going. Someone there would surely know. He strode in and inquired at the desk. In fact, Jack’s new office was in the main building. After some directions, he made his way up to find a secretary, a sharp eyed woman with short hair.

“Who are you?” she said, eyes flicking up and down, clearly unimpressed.

“Atlas CEO, Rhys,” he said, keeping his tone pleasant. “I need to see Jack.” He pointedly ignored the fact he was a little behind on his self-care. His appearance was less than up to par. He didn't care, though. This was too important.

She looked at her computer. “You don’t have an appointment, and it is after hours. You’ll have to schedule.”

“Yeah, right,” Rhys muttered, and started for the door.

“I really wouldn’t if I were you,” she called after him. “Have you not heard he likes to kill people?”

Rhys ignored her and entered the room. The hall was short, and when he reached the large office, he found the room was much like the old office. There was a spacious view of the large, lush gardens in the back of Opportunity, and the main difference Rhys noticed was the lack of giant, gold Jack statues.

“What the hell?” Jack snapped, looking up. “Rhys?” He took a second. “How’d you get past the secretary?”

“I kept walking. Nice office.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to talk about a few things. Important business and all.”

“Why didn’t you call ahead, idiot? I’m busy.”

“Well, that must suck.” Rhys quipped, standing before the desk. “Someone demanding your attention when it’s inconvenient for you?”

Jack glared at him for a moment before he resumed typing away for awhile, and Rhys thought he was ignoring him. Finally, Jack turned to him, the scowl still stuck on his face. “Fine. Talk.”

“So you know how I told you I was sold out to a cult?”

Jack folded his arms. “What about it.”

“My fucking scientist got that information from you .” Rhys hadn’t meant to snap exactly. He’d meant to talk calmly. But his lack of sleep combined with Jack’s dickish attitude was getting to him.

“Me?” Jack echoed. “The hell does that mean? I sure as shit don't have that info?”

“He found the file on my past in Hyperion’s systems.”

“So it coulda been anyone recording that info-”

Rhys raised a finger, anger flashing through him. Something in the movement stilled Jack. “Don’t. Insult. Me. You think I didn’t consider and investigate every possibility before coming here? No, Jack, it wasn’t just anyone,” Rhys stepped forward, glaring. “It was you. You’re the one who hired me. You’re the one who knew my situation! You promised me then, that you would never make a traceable file of that shit, but you did !”

“And there’s no other possibility!? I don’t remember hiring you, much less making a file, princess! I don’t even know what the frig this cult is!”

“Yeah, of course you don’t,” Rhys snorted. “It was a long time ago. And I know it was you who made the file because I went down to Helios this week and mined that info myself.” Rhys gripped his hair. “How am I supposed to trust you, Jack? Past you was a liar. This you is a liar. You’re just….a liar!” He hissed. “And trusting you has only ever bitten me in the ass. What am I supposed to do?!”  

Jack stood then, sending the chair crashing back. “I can’t speak on something I don’t even remember, pumpkin. But how do you know that your memory isn’t also shit. Can you really be sure I'm your only suspect!? Anyone at Hyperion could've made the file!”

"The file had your signature in it. You wrote it. I'd show you but I just don't have the time to prove myself to you. I don't need to."

Jack said nothing.

Rhys shook his head, stepping to the side of the desk. “Wow, that’s the best you got, eh? I was hoping you would at least have something somewhat convincing, but I guess that just makes what I have to do next that much easier, huh?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Rhys pulled his gun and aimed at Jack’s forehead. “I want you to know I’m not scared of you anymore.”

Jack’s eyes widened with fury. “Woohoo, good for you, you little asshole! Just what the frig is this?”

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Jack,” Rhys said. “We’re going to take a stroll over to that computer lab you were working in, and you’re gonna open that door and show me what you’ve been keeping from me. If I don’t like what I see…” he trailed off, flicking the safety on the gun.

“You think that little twig pistol is going to break my shield?” Jack asked.

Rhys grinned. “My guns bypass shields. Surely you’ve seen the adverts?”

“You wouldn’t shoot me, Rhys.”

“Are you willing to gamble on that? You’ve endangered me. You lied to me. And now you’re refusing to show me your secret weapon. What’s a guy to think? I admit, I don’t much care for guns. I prefer...less messy means of demise, but I needed to make sure you understood the danger.”

Jack slumped. “Fine. If you wanna see what’s behind the damned door so bad, let’s friggin do it.” Jack walked toward the door of the office. Rhys followed, keeping his gun trained on Jack. When the secretary saw, she gasped. “It’s alright,” Jack said to her. “Don’t bother with security.”

“But- sir-!”

“I said don’t!” Jack called back. 

They walked out the door, down the street, and toward the building. Rhys said nothing. Jack muttered to himself in discontentment. 

When they reached the door, Jack paused. "You're really gonna be kicking yourself, buttercup," he sneered. "You know, I was gonna show you soon, but you just had to be a dick about this, didn't you?"

“Yeah, sure. Just open it,” Rhys hissed. “No tricks, alright?”

Jack went up to the door and stood before a bioscan.

“Please input voice password!” said a cheery automated voice.

Jack spoke without hesitating. “I’m sorry.”

At first, Rhys was confused, but when the doors opened, he realized that must’ve been the password. Seemed a rather odd password, but he decided not to ask. He didn’t know if it would put Jack in a mood or not. Well, more of a mood. 

They stepped into the circular chamber, its darkness interrupted by a blue light from the center, emanating from a large...glass cylinder? It was filled to the brim with the odd liquid, and Rhys’s eyes were drawn up, following the tubes up to the ceiling. “What the…” he trailed off when he realized there was something else in the tube. “Is that…? A person?” Rhys asked with some shock, making out the outline of a body within the tank. This made no sense? What was Jack doing here?

“Yep,” Jack said, walking over to the console. “I...brought ‘er back.” His voice lowered, and a heaviness seemed to drop his shoulders from their normal carriage. “My...Angel.”

Rhys gaped, lowering his gun and turning to Jack. “You brought your daughter back!?” The file he'd found at Helios made more sense.

“I had to, okay?” Jack said. “I...I thought you would understand, considering you're the only one who knows about how she...” His expression darkened. "So you see, Rhys, this is not a big scary secret weapon? She's my daughter." There was absolute venom in his tone.

“I-” Rhys hastened to say, “no, yeah, I do understand,” which, actually wasn’t a lie. He remembered how heavy Jack’s voice had been. Was this the only person Jack cared about now? “...I’m just...surprised that you could.”

“I studied how the information I had on how those idiots brought me back. Angel was...deeply connected to the bunker where she was housed at… I had everything I needed there to...create a backup of her, the way Nakayama made one of me.” His fists tightened. “You see, Rhys, this was the only thing that made me feel like there was any point in trying to start over. I had lost every-fucking-thing I had. But knowing...knowing I could fix this… I knew I could fix it all. And I'm going to, Rhys. I promise you that.”

Rhys took a couple of steps toward the tank, but it was hard to make out any details of the figure within. “Just a quick question,” Rhys started. “If she- if she couldn’t control her powers before…” he trailed off, crumpling under the icy gaze fixed on him.

“This time it will be different. I’d hoped I could bring her back without her powers, but it’s too wired into her DNA. That is why I hooked her up with some new implants that should help - and they will help her control her powers this time. This time, they won’t be the end of her…” Something in Jack’s eyes seemed to be left unspoken. "This time, she can have her life."

“Aww, isn’t that so sweet?” said a third voice.

Jack’s eyes widened. Rhys felt a full shudder go down his body and he spun around, gun hanging in his grasp more loosely than he wanted. He aimed it all the same.

“Who knew he cared?" The woman's voice echoed through the chamber as she stepped in. She was tall, wizened, and her cloak shifted with each step. “Oh that’s right. We did.”

“It’s...her,” Rhys breathed in disbelief.

“You know this chick?” Jack asked. "I've seen her before, but-"

“It’s the Matriarch.”

“Well,” she said in a soft tone, “it certainly has been some time, hasn’t it, Rhys?”

“She’s...uh, head of the cult,” Rhys said, clearing his throat. “And uh...also my mother.” 

Chapter Text

The Matriarch walked further into the chamber, smiling softly. “That’s correct.” White robe-like clothes flowed from her arms and waist, meeting silver pants and black boots. The expression on her features gave nothing away. Rhys felt extremely wary, but he was also frozen in indecision. Caught between the whiplash of dealing with Jack and learning about Jack’s daughter…and now this, his own mother.

Rhys had loosely trained his gun on the Matriarch, eyes narrowed as he gazed down the sights. He wasn’t the best shot. And shooting at anyone wasn’t his preferred method of handling problems, but he would if he had to. He preferred the drones for shooting. Though overall, he’d rather take care of problems with a good poison. Much less of a mess and fuss. 

Not that any of that applied here. Rhys had nothing but his gun. 

The Matriarch frowned. “You’d point a gun at your own mother, after all this time?” She said. “I know we have not always agreed, but I will never stop feeling love for my son. I thought you would feel similarly.”

Rhys flinched and wavered. He didn’t mean to, but his hand started shaking. “You threatened me!” he argued, even as it sounded weak in his own ears, somehow. The emotions in his body betrayed him. “And you...followed us to this room.” Okay, that sounded even weaker. Rhys shook his head, a lump in his throat. Emotions roared through his chest.

This was not how he pictured today going.

Rhys did not like thinking about the thoughts this scene brought up, about his own raising. He’d spent a long time trying to put it all behind him, to become his own person. But it seemed as if his past had no intention of letting him go. First Jack, and now this. He tried to push away those nostalgic thoughts, and focus on the now. He had to remember, this was his enemy.

All his mother had ever cared for, was the Vaults. Not him.

“She’s the one who brought me back,” Jack went on, uncertainly. He looked guarded as hell. His whole body was tensed and eyes bright with fire. His shoulders were tall, and his posture indicated he was ready for a fight. If it came to that.

Rhys sighed. Of all the things to happen lately… He started getting a very bad feeling. Something was wrong, off. He knew it. He could feel it in his soul. He fidgeted. “I should’ve known she had a hand in bringing you back. Ever since I got that message. It just seemed so...coincidental!”

The Matriarch hummed. “There are no coincidences, boy… My, how far you’ve fallen from your teachings, Rhys. You can’t even remember the basics... But yes, I did have a hand in Jack’s return,” Matriarch said, waving a hand casually. “As I’ve had a hand in all your trials, son…”

Jack said in an angry, cold voice, “you got played like a real tool, Rhys. Real smart of ya, baby doll. Lead them right here to my daughter .”

Rhys swallowed, casting a quick glance at Jack, trying to read him. It wasn’t hard. Jack gazed back at Rhys with all the contempt of a bullymong finding an intruder in its lair. Guilt swelled inside of Rhys, gnawing at his heart. He looked back at the Matriarch because that was somehow easier.

It felt like the walls might be closing in. Rhys’s heart started racing too hard, his breathing grew erratic. He trembled. Could he die right now? A lot of emotions were resurfacing just then, and it kind of felt like he could. He realized how horribly he’d screwed up. He hadn’t been careful enough. He’d been so focused on what Jack might do, that he hadn’t been looking out for real danger. He hadn't watched his own back… And now they were all in a danger.

Rhys’s body felt like it was about to come apart at the core, that he would burst.

Jack hated him.

And Rhys couldn’t blame him for it.

The Matriarch turned her head, observing Angel. 

Jack looked absolutely furious, minutes from striking. He growled and stepped forward, startling Rhys. His hands flexed as if they were preparing for a good strangling. Rhys watched him, trying to somehow ground himself. Jack’s next words were directed at the Matriarch. “I dunno the hell you’re playing at, lady, but if you don’t leave….” 

“Relax, Jack,” she said, amicably. “I know what you’re thinking, that I’m here to hurt someone...but I’m not.” She looked at Rhys again. “Rhys, put the gun down...please.”

Rhys was uncertain. A shudder went up his spine. Flashes of memory shot through his mind, snippets of pain and fear but also relief and warmth. Of love… This was his mother. He couldn’t fathom harming her. Inch by inch, he lowered the gun. His mouth felt a lot drier.

“The hell, Rhys?” Jack hissed. “this couldn’t more obviously be a trap! If you hadn’t marched us in here, I’d-”

“What do you want?” Rhys asked the Matriarch, ignoring Jack. Jack wouldn’t understand. Couldn’t. Jack had hated his mother, had punched her. He also had no idea what they faced. Rhys’s own feelings hardly mattered, either way. The Matriarch was powerful, he knew. He only hoped he could somehow subvert the damage this was definitely causing.

She replied, “I want what I’ve always wanted… Peace. I’m here to help, though I know you will not believe me.” 

Rhys huffed. “Since when do you help ?”

“Do you remember nothing of your teachings?”

“If you're here to help then why did you threaten me with that message?” 

“I did not threaten; I only commanded. Regardless, everything I’ve done has been to lead to this moment. It will soon become clear.”

A loud crack fell upon his ears. Rhys stiffened. It was like everything was in slow motion for a minute. Jack turned toward the tank, eyes widening. The tank, with Angel--the glass was shaking. “NO!” Jack roared. He ran to the presumable controls. “What did you do? What did you do ? I swear to everyone you’ve ever loved, if you have harmed her- I’ll disembowel your entire friggin’ family!”

Rhys started backing up as he watched the cracks spiderweb up the tank. His heart hammered even harder, his stomach rolling. No. His horror grew. He knew, he knew, that if anything happened to Angel, nothing would stop Jack from carrying out his promises. Jack would destroy everything. Or try to.

For a minute, it was like everything was going to be fine. The glass stopped cracking, holding its shape against the pressure. The form within was unharmed, safe.

The Matriarch smiled.

Glass shattered like thousands of diamonds, glittering and spinning through the air and ringing as they struck the ground. Rhys blenched and threw his arms up. The fluid sloshed out from the tank, splashing over their boots and legs, taking some of the glow of the room with it. 

The girl slumped from the tank to the ground, the dim light all Rhys could see her by.

Jack’s voice snapped. “Hey, don’t look at my daughter , you jackasses !” He rushed across the room and pulled off his coat, slinging it over her. Then, he shoved off a couple more layers, throwing them over her to hide her form.

Rhys could only gape, frozen to the spot. This was Jack’s daughter before him...and as much as he’d interacted with Jack lately, he’d never seen such a vulnerability. Even when Jack had recounted memories of Angel, of her death, nothing amounted to this raw need to protect he displayed. It was obvious that this was a non-negotiable part of him, that he could never lose or reconcile the loss of Angel.

And It made Rhys’s guilt grow even more.

“Oh...baby girl,” Rhys heard Jack say, voice soft. “I…I’m sorry . I’m so sorry . Angel, come on! Wake up!”

“Rhys,” the Matriarch said. He gazed at her, having missed when she closed the distance between them. “I regret that we’ve grown at odds.” A hand brushed his jaw and Rhys almost recoiled. He was torn between shoving her away or...yeah, there was a part of him that wanted the sort of protective closeness of a parent, just then. 

“I...I screwed up, big time,” Rhys said. He didn't know why he said it. It just slipped out.

Matriarch’s hand guided Rhys’s face against her shoulder. “It’s okay, son.” Rhys let her embrace him, and he inhaled her scent, something perfumey. He sighed and felt his body slump. “It’ll be okay.”

Rhys saw something. He turned his eyes and noticed Angel shifting in Jack’s arms, sitting up. He felt relieved to see that she was alive. Rhys shifted away from the Matriarch, watching intently.

“Angel?” Jack asked.

“D-dad?” the girl finally responded, her voice soft and weak.

“I’m here,” he said, looking at her face, running his hands over her cheeks. “I’m here. And so are you.”

“Da… Jack… where… Where am I?” she asked, blinking.

The switch from “dad” to “Jack” must’ve been like a knife to Jack. Even Rhys flinched at the coldness. Jack’s look was inscrutable, but he stiffened. 

The Matriarch moved across the room, grabbing something off of a table at the side. It looked like a wad of clothes. She strolled over and dropped the clothes by Angel. “For you, I believe.”

Jack frowned at the Matriarch. “Get back, or I’ll kill you.”

The Matriarch just smiled.

“These are different,” Angel observed, still huddled in Jack’s clothes. She looked at Jack. “What’s going on?” She looked around the room. “This isn’t the bunker… Who are they ?” She asked, looking back and forth between Rhys and the Matriarch.

“Call me the Matriarch.” 

Jack snapped. “I freakin’ told you to step off, didn’t I?!”

The Matriarch finally stepped back.

“All of you, turn around so she can dress!” Jack called, going so far as to glare at Rhys with a murderous glint.

Rhys complied, turning away and waiting. He felt incredibly awkward. Everything that'd happened so far was...weird, to say the least. And now he felt like he was intruding on something private and personal. And...well, he supposed he was. It was too late to change that, though.

There was a shuffling and the sound of clothes rustling. “Alright,” Angel said after a minute. “I’m decent.”

Jack sighed. Rhys turned back around.

Dressed, Angel stood there, wearing a leather jacket, a Hyperion logo t-shirt, jeans, and calf-high boots. Jack was also pulling his own donated layers back on. Angel looked around again. “I don’t understand,” she said, a strange tension running through her. “Where are my friends? How am I alive? Where are the injectors?” 

Rhys had the desire to leave, to run away, but with the Matriarch there, he couldn’t. Since this was his fault, it was also his responsibility to stay put. So, he waited, as father and daughter started to argue. The Matriarch seemed just as interested in the conversation.

“You should...remember,” Jack said, cinching up his vest, voice tight. “The...Vault Hunters-”

“My friends ,” Angel replied, voice sounding tight. “Did you kill them?”

There was a pause.

“Do we need to have this conversation now?” Jack asked.

“Yes. Your pals don’t look in a hurry.”

“Fine,” Jack waved his arms. “We can talk about this right here in front of these clowns. If we have to.”

Hey, Rhys thought. He glared, but no one noticed.

Jack barreled on with, “the Vault Hunters weren’t your friends, Angel. They used you to get to the Vault, to get to me-”

“It’s just a question, Jack!? Did you kill them? Yes or no?”

A few nameless expressions flitted over Jack’s face. He shifted, tension mounting. “Just counting your ‘friends’, " he air-quoted, “…Just one, but that-”

“Just one ?” She asked, voice rising. “Who?!”

“...Roland.” Jack’s tone betrayed no emotion.

Her face fell. “Of course…” she said in a strained voice, shaking her head. “What about the others.”

“They won.”

“They...did?” 

“Yes.”

“So you never finished charging the key?” she stepped away, but still held his gaze.

Jack jerked, as if he wanted to follow, but didn’t. “I did. I opened the Vault...but the weapon within...your friends destroyed it.”

“Good,” she said, eyes like ice. “I’m glad they did. After everything…”

“Then they killed me.”

“You don’t seem very dead.”

“And neither do you… I was brought back. And I used that same way to bring you back.”

At that point, the Matriarch interjected, “I provided the means.”

They looked at her. Angel looked back at Jack and yelled, “You shouldn’t have bothered! We both know you’ll just throw me back in that cage, or worse-!” 

Jack’s teeth gritted. “Not. This. Time.”

“Yeah, like I’m just going to believe you, after everything!” Her tattoos started glowing, so bright white they shone through her new jacket. 

Rhys thought about what Jack had said, about how Angel hadn’t been able to control her powers, that Angel had killed her own mother. Rhys backed up warily, ready to run if he had to.

“Angel,” Jack said, loud, “you need to calm down-”

“No,” she hissed. “I won’t go back. You should have respected my wishes, that I’d rather be dead than live that life!” 

“Listen to me, please. When I was bringing you back, I worked in some implants-

The Matriarch interjected again, completely unfazed by Angel’s display, “ Our implants.”

Jack shot her a venomous look and said, “-that should help you with your powers. You don’t have to be contained…”

“If that were true, you would have done it before!” 

“I didn’t have the means - the technology - to before!” Jack wrung his hands together.

The Matriarch said, “we did.”

Jack sent her yet another death glower. He looked back at Angel and sighed. “You...you have to believe me! It’s been three years… I was able to bond the implants better than they’d ever been before. I...I have all of the details on that computer there. You just have to access-”

Angel marched past Rhys like he wasn’t even there. He stumbled out of the way, eyes wide. Her hands landed on the terminal. Her eyes and tattoos glowed as she murmured, “executing phase shift.” After a few moments, the glow died down, and she looked up at Jack. “So it seems.”

“I...wouldn’t lie to you…”

“Oh, I’m sure,” she said, voice stony. "Never in your entire life have you done that."

“You have nothing to fear, child,” The Matriarch said. “And I have something to offer.” She held a small device. 

Jack moved, “get that away from her, you-” 

Angel snatched the device first, glaring at her dad. The device glowed, along with Angel’s tattoos and eyes for a minute. Jack fidgeted close by, eyes dark and furious. Angel kept it out of reach, as the others looked on.

The Matriarch said, “Angel, you’re coming with us. We can keep you safe.”

Jack’s voice raised. “Like goddamned hell! You aren’t taking her!” Jack advanced on the woman, hands clenched. He may not have a gun, but that wouldn’t stop him from protecting his daughter, it seemed. 

“You can come too,” The Matriarch said. 

The answer must’ve been quite unexpected, because Jack halted his advance, frowning. “What?”

“We should speak, Jack,” The Matriarch said. “Your daughter's hatred will only grow...but we can help you. I have seen it. We can also help her. While the implants will help, they are temporary. Her powers will grow out of control again. Don’t you wish to be reunited, as a family? Without the fear of losing her? You have already seen how I have manipulated events to reach this point.”

Rhys had watched for too long, having been frozen in indecision. Jack might be furious at him -- no scratch that, he definitely was, but he knew he had to speak, now. “Jack, don’t listen to-”

Rhys heard footsteps at the chamber door. There was a whistling sound and a low thud. Rhys blinked, seeing a dart in Jack’s neck. Rhys snapped his head to the source of the sound. A man with a lightweight dart gun in his hand stood at the door, lowering it. Rhys's attention whipped back to Jack.

Jack made a groaning sound and slumped to the floor, the dart in his hand. 

Rhys spun back around to face the attacker. Rhys paused, a flash of shock and anger flooding his body. That man... He knew him all too well. “Dr. Grace! I will kill you!”

Rhys raised his gun.

His cybernetic arm made a zz zztt t noise, and it sparked with electricity. Pain raced through it up into Rhys's body. Rhys yelped and gritted his teeth, feeling the currents travel all through his implants. The pain kept growing. Rhys fell to his knees, and his gun hit the ground. Rhys groaned. Everything around him in his vision was getting blurry.

The jolting agony let up.

Rhys took a few moments to catch his breath, uncertain what had happened. He...he knew one of them must've done it, but he hadn't seen Grace use anything. It had to be...the Matriarch. And unfortunately, he wasn't shocked. It wouldn't be the first time she'd...done something like this in his life. His arms and legs shook, but Rhys struggled to get up. 

An impact smashed him across the face. The butt of the dart gun. Rhys fell back to his hands and knees, gasping for air. “You are quite disruly, Rhys,” Dr. Grace said. “I didn’t want this to happen, but it seems there’s no compromising with you!”

A kick to his side sent him to the ground.

“Stop…” Rhys groaned, curling up, his changed flesh hand over his head. 

“That’s quite enough, Doctor,” the Matriarch said.

“Yes, Mam.”

“I’ll go,” Angel’s voice said. Rhys heard more footsteps. “I saw the vision.”

Through his pain, Rhys noticed Jack fumbling, staggering like a weird drunk, trying to stand, to no avail, like his legs were noodles. “Angel…”

“You can’t stop me, Jack,” Angel said, eyes shining. “I saw.”

“You could mend your bond, Jack,” the Matriarch said. “Yes…You might think Rhys was trying to warn you of something, but... Rhys ran away from his destiny, rejected his teachings. And you must know why. Did he not betray you after all? Betray Hyperion? He must be shown the correct course again.”

Jack grunted, heaving air. “I...Angel… You can’t...trust...anyone.” He coughed. “Godammit, what did you...hit me with…”

“Just a...form of sedative,” Matriarch replied.

Angel watched Jack. “I have to,” Angel said, turning. “It’s the only way I can survive! You brought me back. You have to let me do this if you don’t want me to die again.”

Rhys said nothing, lying on the floor. He felt pathetic, nursing his arm and wincing. Jack gave up trying to stand, looking weak. His head thudded against the floor. 

This is my fault. I let them manipulate me… Rhys once again made to stand, his pained body protesting. He grappled with his dropped gun and stood.

“What is it with you?” the Matriarch said. “I have not attacked, and yet you still resist with such hostility.”

“Not attacked? You….did whatever that is to Jack. You zapped me!” Rhys hissed. “And then Dr. Grace got to have his punching bag.” He had to make this right. “Let them go, okay? I’ll surrender.”

“There is no negotiation.” Matriarch moved forward, and Rhys’s aim faltered again. She grabbed Rhys’s wrist and took the gun away, passing it to Dr. Grace. “Come on. Stop being so overdramatic, son. I can help with your problem too.” She gripped the glove covering his transformed hand and pulled it off, gazing at it. "Yes, I understand it is quite painful. Come along."

“Yes, mother,” he said, voice empty.

Rhys sat in the back of the covered vehicle in a sort of holding compartment that separated it from the front, arms bound. Nearby, Jack lay sprawled on the floor, hands also tied on his chest, all but passed out cold. He kept groaning and trying to get up, to no avail. The movements of the vehicle seemed more than enough to unseat him from his balance. A huge bump almost knocked Rhys over. Rhys sighed and leaned back, gazing at the ceiling of the vehicle. They put something in his cybernetics so he couldn’t make any outgoing calls for help. Also, he had no idea where Angel was.

He had a lot of regrets, right then.

After a while, Jack grunted and sat up, keeping his balance this time on the next bump. He was still slow, but it was clear that the sedative was wearing off. “Where the hell…?” He started before pulling at the binds. “Oh friggin’-” He looked around the vehicle before his eyes clued on Rhys, narrowed. “Where’s Angel?”

Rhys said, “I think in another vehicle."

“This is your fault.”

Rhys sat up straight, anger growing. Sure, he’d been thinking similarly before, but that didn’t mean Jack couldn’t take some responsibility too. “Hey, this isn’t just my fault! Consider that maybe if you hadn’t: one, made a file on me, two, betrayed me so that Helios crashed and it leaked, and three, been a huge asshole about literally everything, maybe we wouldn’t be here! Including Angel!”

“Yeah, but it’s your stupid cult that’s got my baby girl!” Jack snarled. His shoulders hunched, and if Rhys wasn’t also angry, he might have been more afraid of Jack’s obvious rage. 

“It’s not my cult, you stupid-”

A huge bump sent them both sprawling on the floor. 

“Fuck.”

“It’s run by your friggin mom!” Jack snapped, trying to sit up. “Jesus. I thought my mom was a bitch.”

“Ugh Jack, just… Shut up .” Rhys drew his knees up and dropped his head into them. “I can’t deal with this right now, pleeaase.”

Jack grabbed him and shoved him on the ground. Rhys yelped. Before he could retaliate or escape, Jack quickly straddled him, his tied hands braced on Rhys’s chest. Rhys struggled against him, to no avail, trying to push the larger man off. “Jack, what the fuck!?” He cried out, alarmed. Jack had gotten on his arms, too, so he had no leverage against him. His weight was cutting off the blood flow, making his flesh arm tingle.

“‘Can’t friggin’ deal with this,’ he says,” Jack hissed. “It aint your daughter that’s in the process of being brainwashed by a bunch of weird lunatics for whatever weird goal right now, is it!?”

“Jack-”

Even bound, Jack’s hands got around his throat, tightening. Rhys coughed, writhing uselessly, kicking his feet. No matter how he moved, the pressure just got worse and worse. Jack leaned down. “Listen real good, cupcake, if anything happens to Angel, you’re going to fucking regret ever being born. And so will everyone in this lousy cult.”

Rhys wheezed out, “I’m on your side here, you fucking asshole!” 

Jack grinned, one that was not at all amused. “Yeah...well, we’ll see, won’t we? Forgive me for not trusting you after pulling a gun on me, forcing me to expose my daughter, and then letting those assholes nab her.”

“I’m tied up, too! I’m not with them! ...I didn’t let them do anything! They force-hkk-” Rhys choked as the hands tightened. His vision swam.

Dimly, Rhys became aware of the vehicle decelerating, crunching over what sounded like rocky terrain. Was this how he died? Because even the cult hadn’t forseen that Jack might murder him?

Jack released his throat. “Something’s happening.” Jack got off of him.

Rhys began coughing, shaking feeling back into his arm. His hands came up to rub his bruising windpipe. “Ughh…” He rolled over, instinctively covering his throat in case Jack went back in again. He groaned in pain as he massaged it, wincing. He cast a wary look back at Jack, who was watching the door. He looked like a furious animal, waiting for its prey to show. 

Had Jack been ready to kill him?

“Jack,” he rasped, cautiously.

“I’m not in the mood for small talk, princess.”

“I…” Rhys swallowed, the discomfort in his neck like a warning. “Hey. Benefit of the doubt? Remember? You said you wouldn’t kill me when something like this happened again!”

Jack didn’t respond.

Rhys hated that that hurt. He sighed and slumped.

“I didn’t kill you, did I?” Jack’s voice said. “That’s your benefit , Rhysie. Now don’t talk anymore, ‘cause I sure as fuck need to kill something , but I’m saving it for the next cultist asshole I see, precisely because of my promise.”

Rhys blinked...and closed his eyes. He wanted to go back to things being less complicated. Before Jack had barreled into his life. He wished sincerely that he could go back to before he’d met the AI, and just...never go to Pandora. Sure, he now had Atlas, and he loved being the leader of Atlas, even through the hardships and late nights. But he couldn’t deny Hyperion had afforded him a greater protection. Or maybe not. He doubted he would've lasted much longer there, either, after Vasquez had stolen that promotion.

Maybe his mother was right...about coincidences and destinies.

The vehicle stopped. 

There were voices outside the vehicle hatch. The doors opened. Jack launched himself out of them like an attack dog, yelling and shouting. He even got his hands around someone’s neck, strangling them. A large group of guns pointed at him, but Jack still didn’t let go of his victim. It took four men to pry Jack off the object of his wrath and haul him up to be dragged off. Jack raged the entire time.

“LET ME GO YOU FRICKIN’ ASSHOLES! I’LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU AND YOUR GODDAMNED FAMILIES!” 

Rhys more tentatively stepped out of the truck. He tried to assess their surroundings, noting that they were in some kind of gorge. He had no idea where on Pandora this could be. He watched as they dragged Jack off to some nearby doors in the rocky wall that seemed to lead to some sort of an underground...bunker? He couldn't be sure. It was a fight every step of the way for Jack, but the guards eventually got him through.

Two soldiers vaguely motioned Rhys towards the same door. Rhys dropped his head and went without a fight, knowing that if Jack didn’t stand a chance, he didn’t either. 

The door slammed shut behind him as they went.

Chapter Text

Did Jack ever give up?

Jack’s voice echoed back to Rhys in the metallic tunnels, all manners of threats and curses on his tongue for their captors. In spite of Rhys's fear, deep exhaustion settled inside of him. He just wanted to sit somewhere calm and peaceful for a while, check back into reality another day. They descended into a well-lit passageway of fluorescent lights, the guards a deterrent to any idea of escape. They were like soldiers, complete with masks and armor.

The place seemed like some sort of hastily-built bunker. 

A hand fell on Rhys's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Rhys watched the other soldiers continue on, while two stayed with him. The hand on his shoulder pushed Rhys towards a different path. A huge silver door loomed at the end, glowing with cold, bright light. Here, a soldier tugged off his mask, submitting to a retinal scan.

The doors slid open, and inside the group went, silent as ghosts. The room was neither large nor small. Center, a silver desk waited on which a couple of potted plants and a computer sat. Two empty chairs resided on each side of the desk.

The soldiers pushed Rhys into the off-side chair. He arranged himself, patting the wrinkles out of his clothing. Distinct anxiety crawled up his throat, speeding his heart rate.

Matriarch glided into the room, already speaking. “I’ll admit, when I didn’t hear about you within a year of your leaving us, I carelessly assumed you’d gotten yourself killed." She went to the other side of the desk to gaze at Rhys with calculating eyes. "But...no, here you are, seven years later, at long last leading your own company and everything. What an accomplishment!" The sandpaper sarcasm in her tone scoured Rhys. He swallowed. "What exactly did you waste all that time on? It’s disappointing.”

Disappointing, huh? Rhys gave a half-hearted shrug and a sheepish smile, not sure what he should say.

Matriarch gazed, clearly unimpressed, at Rhys. “I can see now, what you could’ve been, and it is...painful. You would’ve been a great force to be reckoned with, powerful.” As she spoke, Matriarch moved around the desk, approaching Rhys. She grabbed his cyber arm, raising it to inspect with shrewd eyes. “Now, you are nothing but a corporate tool with clunky cybernetics. I should have worked harder to bring you home. But it is not too late. You can still have comfort and safety...your family .”

Rhys cleared his throat, watching her hand drop his. His arm was not clunky. He carefully spoke. “I...have no interest in the family’s destiny."

“It hurts to hear that.”

Rhys opened his mouth to apologize, but stopped himself. “And why bring me here now?” Rhys pushed on, ignoring the palpitating of his heart. “I-I am hardly of interest, now, to the family. All-all this time, and... Corporate tool, right?" He laughed without humor. "And considering I wasn’t the only heir...” He gathered himself and pulled his best charming, CEO smile, all smooth business. “Maybe this is rather hasty, Matriarch? Am I really worth such effort? How about we acknowledge the cost-benefit of this being too steep on both sides and go our separate ways?”

Matriarch leaned back, a ghost of a frown on her lips. "Do you even know why I'm here on this...Pandora?"

Rhys adjusted his posture, shoulders stiffer. "I'm-I'm assuming from your message this is about...Iphus."

She gestured to his other, changed hand. “Correct, this time. This is about your future. You survived this far. You came all this way to be blessed by the Vault of the Traveler. You alone have the means to unleash Iphus. To finish what was started. You cannot ignore this, or it will kill you. It is destiny for you to bring this power back to our family. Quite beautiful, isn't it?”

So, there it was.

Rhys wasn’t even the concern. Just that stupid changed arm. But he was more than a little caught up on one thing. "Um. Did I hear you right? Kill me? Do you mind elaborating that point?" Was she lying?

She gestured, not looking nearly as worried as Rhys felt. “The key you hold was not meant for human physiology. It is incompatible.” 

Dr. Tannis had her hands on her elbows, eyes shimmering brightly.  She sounded way too pleased.  "My hypothesis, Rhys, is that this is no ordinary mutation. This artifact was meant to bond with a host. However, your physiology is not Eridian in nature, and thus, you suffer debilitating side effects! Were I you, I would be most grateful to not be dead, or worse."

Rhys’s face started to feel damp. He looked around the room, anywhere but at his mother. Had the Matriarch known, even then? Had she listened in, had ears in Atlas, everywhere? Did Dr. Grace know? Even worse, could Tannis be another plant by this cult? He didn't want his mother's reappearance in his life to be be because of the Vault of the Traveler. Because of that floating symbol thing. Was she right? That this was destiny? How did she know all of this?

Irritation flashed through Rhys. He gritted his teeth. "I should have let Fiona grab that damned-"

A hand gripped his chin and forced him to look back at Matriarch. Nails bit into his skin. “Well, can you deny, now?” She smiled, eyes afire. “Come home, Rhys.”

Rhys was growing angry, though, tired of every one's games of late. "I will open it. But...but not for you and yours, Mother. I will open it for Atlas. For myself."

Matriarch dropped her hand and moved away from the desk, gazing at a picture frame on the wall. It was a beautiful painting of ferns and waterfalls.

Rhys assessed the room again. The room was perfect, structurally sound, all but impenetrable. There were the guards still there by the door, unmoving as statues. It was the only exit. He would never get out. He only had enough in his needle for one enemy, after all. He tensed even more and faced forward again.

Matriarch was speaking. "Is this not painful to you, Rhys? Why treat your own mother this way? What have I done to deserve such coldness? Everything that has happened should prove you made the wrong decision all those years ago." She turned back towards him.

“You smothered me,” Rhys said, trying to find the strength to hold his ground. He didn't want to give in easily, to fall into the desire to give up and apologize. He had to remind himself he wasn’t the villain here. He had left all those years ago because he had to. “You never intended me to make my own path! It was always about your plans, about how important my siblings were, about-”

There was a beeping.

Rhys jumped.

“Alvin, get that please!” Matriarch said. The addressed guard hurried to the source, an Echo device on the desk.

The guard answered. 

There was a quiet conversation, and Rhys only caught a bit of. “When will you arrive?... Yes, I will let her know.” The guard turned. “Matriarch, Dr. Grace has the remedy ready.”

“Perfect, bring it.” 

The soldier conveyed her wishes on the line.

Rhys shook his head in the ensuing pause. "What do Angel and Jack have to do with all of this, anyway? You must've had some motivation for bringing them along." He knew it was too late to fix that mistake, and guilt clawed at him for that. He hadn't forgotten how angry Jack was. If there was any way to start mitigating the damage, he would. Trapped here, that seemed unlikely, but he deserved to know why. 

"You do not need to know right now."

Rhys's hand twitched. “How did you bring Jack back?”

“It was quite simple. Amusingly, you aren’t the only one with implants. The AI survived despite your attempts to be rid of it. We found it and combined it with some cloning technology... Well, you've seen the end result, now. A perfect replica of Handsome Jack.”

Rhys's flame of defiance grew colder. "Is there some sort of control implant in him?” 

“Unnecessary. His role is to act as a catalyst without our intervention. In fact, intervention could have impeded it. His presence is very useful for us." She chuckled. "If not for his actions, we would not be here, now. Neither would Angel. He drove you to such decisions that made this all possible.”

She meant that Jack had made him careless. Rhys scowled, seeing the truth in that. He'd become so tunnel-visioned over Jack's return. He'd lost sight of the larger tapestry in motion. And then there was Angel, who had practically ran with the cult. Why? Maybe to just get away from Jack...? “Where is Angel?”

“She is safe. It will be good for her to learn what Jack did not wish her to know. Speaking of Jack. Don't be fooled by him, Rhys. He may seem alluring, powerful, someone to aspire to. But he is far more selfish than anyone else I have ever met. I know you care for him, but it will only do you more harm than good in the long run, even if you survived. His usefulness will run its course, eventually."

Rhys dropped his gaze, heat building in his face at the word 'alluring'. Did she...? Suddenly, he was stammering, all confidence blown away as if a grenade had been set off in his emotions. “I-I don't-I don't know what you mean."

“How much evidence must you be confronted with before you acknowledge it yourself? There are few who do not know about Helios's early demise.”

"Is that why you almost let him kill me again?" Rhys laughed bitterly. Once more, he wondered, if the vehicle hadn't stopped, would Jack have killed him? Jack’s words seemed to indicate he hadn’t intended to, but perhaps he was just manipulating. Like he always did. Like the Matriarch did. Rhys knew they both did, and he couldn't let himself fall for any of it. But who did he even begin to trust here? How many webs of lies could each of them weave? 

"The sedative wore off quicker than anticipated. I was guaranteed Jack would be out for another hour. That did not happen."

Rhys didn’t even know what he was doing anymore. How was he to navigate this when his emotions were in such turmoil, with no backup and no real friends here? He had to get back to Atlas, he reminded himself. He had to focus on that first. Yvette. Vaughn. Fiona. LB. Gortys. Dumpy. Shiny. He had to get to his friends. He had to get to safety. Then he could try to untangle the lies later.

But how?

Furious words spilled from his lips as his heart thundered. "Wouldn't you kill me? You would sacrifice me, too, wouldn't you? If destiny demanded? What if that's what the Vault requires?" Rhys looked up at her, unwavering for once.

Matriarch's face did not change. "Don't be absurd. Your destiny will not see you dead."

"But if you had to. Hypothetically, then."

"Theoretical questions are irrelevant, son. But the answer to it is no. I love you too much."

They hadn't even seen each other in so long. “But what about destiny?” He desperately wanted to find a crack, a way through the certainty. He wanted her to mess up in her words or maybe to question herself.

But she didn't even blink. “The family is your destiny, nothing would ask for the destruction of such.”

Lies, or…? It was so easy to lie. Too easy.

Rhys did it.

Jack did it.

Who didn't?

Rhys wanted to yell. A wave of even deeper anger began to seethe in his chest, like a black snake that wanted to crush something. He shut his eyes and did what he had to when some shithead was driving him insane. He breathed, for many moments, until he trusted his own voice. Yelling would only put him at a disadvantage, here. "So... What...what happens now?" His voice was shockingly empty of any emotion.

"We begin preparations." She snapped her fingers.

Hands clamped onto Rhys's shoulder, causing his eyes to fly open. The guards. They seized his changed arm, rolling up the sleeve. A person entered through the door. Rhys turned to look past the ones holding him. “Oh, well, if isn't Dr. Grace.” Rhys noted coldly. Another liar. He had to laugh, a rumbling chuckle that rocked out of him without permission. Until he was bursting, tears forming in his eyes.

“Doctor, do not respond to him,” Matriarch commanded sternly. “He is still in a state of chaos.”

“Yes, Matriarch.”

"That's a word for it!" Rhys chortled. 

Dr. Grace held... a rather large-looking syringe. The doctor looked. Disgruntled.

Rhys sobered. “What is that?” 

“It’s for the key," Matriarch responded. "Continue, doctor."

“Hey,” Rhys said, grimacing, “don’t think I’m forgetting what you’ve done, Dr. Grace. You better pray I don’t escape this place, because if I do, you might want to head for another galaxy, my friend. First, you betray me. Then, you beat the shit out of me. I don’t forget things easily. Perfect memory an’ all.” He found himself grinning. Oh, he had plans of how to deal with such betrayal.

To the man’s credit, he did not react.

Rhys might’ve resisted, but he knew it was futile. He still squirmed slightly in the tight grip when the needle got near the changed arm. He closed his eyes and inhaled evenly. There was no use in fighting, so he focused on breathing. The sharp sensation hit him like a wasp was stinging him, letting him know the needle was in, and he just focused on breathing. In slowly, out slowly. It was deeply uncomfortable, feeling the contents injected into his body.

The sting withdrew.

The soldiers let go of him.

Rhys opened his eyes, mouth dry, a bit lightheaded.

“Done,” Dr. Grace pulled away and left without looking at Rhys's face once.

Rhys felt tingly all over. He looked down at his arm. "And that's supposed to...help? How?"

“Nanobots will determine the differences in your physiology and the key, and work to sync up the incompatibility. Now it is more compatible, perhaps imperfectly. It will be enough, though. I suspect it should be far less painful this time. That’s all. Stand up.”

Rhys did so.

She hugged him, and Rhys sighed, eyes drifting shut. He was so exhausted, and he wished he didn't want this gesture of comfort. “I have saved your life,” she said. “It will be alright, now. I'm sorry I had to hurt you earlier.”

Rhys's eyes shot open at a dreadful emotion blooming in his chest. "I-"

She let go.

The guards grabbed Rhys.

He was marched from the room.

Rhys sat down on the old couch in the room. It was a nice enough room, he supposed. Apart from the ceiling being metallic, the furniture was soft and cozy. There were plants and tables. The floor was wooden. A warm teapot was resting nearby, and Rhys was sipping the heated drink from a generic mug. A heavy sigh puffed out his chest. He was so drained, he just wanted to sleep. 

Jack, as if determined to be completely opposite, paced nearby, an angry tiger locked in a cage. So far, he hadn't said a word to Rhys. His face was twisted with emotions Rhys couldn't read. He would have simply thought it anger, but it seemed more intense...almost fraught.

Rhys had at first been trapped in a haze of remorse, but it'd slowly turned into annoyance. “Do you have to do that?” Rhys groaned after what seemed like Jack's fiftieth pass by the couch. “It’s not going to help you get out.”

“Yeah, I have to," Jack said like it was obvious. "I feel like I have a thousand ants crawling on my skin right now. How can you sit there drinking tea?!”

“Wow," Rhys muttered, "sounds like a nightmare. I’m thirsty.”

Jack shot him a glare. “And if it’s poison?”

Rhys shrugged, rolling his eyes, “it won’t make a difference, Jack. If they want to poison me, refusing to drink tea won’t stop them.”

“Idiot, that's the dumbest...” Jack muttered, yanking at his own hair. With a growl, his mind seemed to shift gears. “Did they tell you anything useful?”

Rhys wasn't sure if it really counted as useful or not, but he had learned stuff. “They gave me an injection that’s supposed to keep my arm from killing me. So that was a fun reveal."

“You can’t believe any of that, can you? They could've put anything in you!”

“I don’t know,” Rhys admitted, uncomfortable. “I...I don’t know why they’d lie about that, specifically. My-my arm hasn’t hurt since, and I’ve been without my painkillers for a while now. Though maybe not a whole day. Hard to say in here.”

“Anything else?” Jack demanded, his pacing speed increasing.

“I don’t think they like you too much,” Rhys commented casually.

“What makes you say that?”

“They appear to like your ability to annoy everyone into screwing up. Also, this might matter to you, you have implants-"

Jack paused. "Implants, huh? ...I suppose that seems likely," he admitted.

Rhys went on, "You are the AI. They used the implants to stick your AI ass into a meat body. Don’t worry, they didn’t want to control you because you’re destructive enough for them, so you aren't implanted with a control chip… So...nice to know the implants I wanted to roll out were inside of you the entire time. And that it wasn’t even my technology.” He sighed bitterly. “Damn it.”

“Could be more lies,” Jack argued. Rhys noticed his hands were shaking. From anger? “But...shit it does add up. What I wanna know is if they lied about the control chip thing. Of course, could never get those to work properly at Hyperion. You can barely control machines, let alone sentient beings.”

“If we get out, maybe you should see a doctor, see what’s in that body of yours?” Rhys asked.

“Yeah, yeah, maybe. Probably... Yeah, you're exactly right, for once.”

Rhys just curled up and pushed his face against the couch. Every minute longer, he just wanted to give up. What could he do against these people? Seemed like fate had brought him to this moment. He’d fucked up with Jack… with everything really. He wished he'd never forced Jack to reveal his hand. He had endangered them all because of it. 

But could he really hold it against himself for not trusting the egomaniacal man who'd tried to kill him?

“What about your Echo Eye?” Jack asked suddenly, voice tinging with...something. Hope? Desperation? Rhys couldn't read him. “Can you scan me?” Jack's voice was right beside him. Rhys glanced up from the couch, blinking his eyes. Jack stood in front of him, looking even more disgruntled than usual.

Rhys realized he’d never really tried to. “Sure.” After a moment he muttered... "What?"

"What's the matter?"

"They did something to my cybernetics, this isn't...Atlas data mining, or even Hyperion's. It's...theirs." Rhys shivered. Had the shot done that? Nano bots? Or was it before, when they'd disabled his ability to make outgoing calls. Suddenly, he was the one feeling ants on his skin. He sat up straighter, setting his tea aside with a frustrated groan.

"Does it say anything?" Jack urged.

Right. Information flooded his eye. He was surprised he had this level of access. He scanned it. 

Handsome Jack

>Class A1 body.
>Full implementation of Artificial Intelligence.
>Will serve purpose in original Jack’s death.

Destiny analysis: No further action required... Self-sustained Catalyst.

There were files too, and he briefly parsed them. “Yeah, it checks out, what she said. No sign of anything beyond your connection to a body. But given the tampering with my Eye, it's hard to say."

“Can we hack outta here?” Jack asked.

Rhys focused his scan on the door, not expecting much. “I can’t access the systems or any communications. Yeah, they definitely did something.”

Jack let out a growl.

Rhys, with curiosity, ran the scan on himself.

Rhys Meyers

>Original, organic body
>Eridian technology integrated and stabilized. 
>Potential: Scientific gains from Eridian technology integration
>Potential: Recruitment and Re-education

Destiny Analysis: in flux... More readings and assimilation required... Vault of Traveler chosen.

Lovely.

The dread was back in full force.

Jack grumbled and continued pacing around the room. Rhys really did wish he would stop.

"I thought you were going to kill me. In the truck." Rhys hadn't really meant to start this conversation. He wasn't sure if he wanted to. It was beyond uncomfortable to admit. But, it nagged simultaneously, a maggot gnawing at this soul. He had wanted to trust Jack would not harm him. He knew deep down, he never would be able to.

And yet, there he was, hoping for some reassurance, some kind of reason to keep trusting, practically praying for it. He wanted to be wrong, he wanted Jack to be better. It was ridiculous. Why hadn't he just kept his distance as he'd meant to?

Jack froze. He turned his head slowly. "Baby. If I want someone dead, they then become too dead to complain about me maybe wanting to kill them. I don't accidentally leave people I mean to kill alive."

How comforting, Rhys thought dryly. "You say that now, but-"

Jack was suddenly towering over him. Great. "You know what's really funny in all this, cupcake? You made me promise to give you the benefit of the doubt. But never once did you afford it to me in this mess. How's that for partners? " Jack snapped bitterly. “You know what, screw this shit, Rhys! There’s no us with you, is there. It’s only about you and what I can do for you. I’m a monster, and you can’t see any-fucking-thing else. Who gives a shit?”

Rhys thought about Matriarch's words. Maybe she had a point. Maybe Jack wouldn't hesitate to end him. Or maybe their history was just too storied to get past.

And yet, his chest ached at the thought.

Rhys slowly stood, drawing up to his full height and meeting Jack's gaze. He knew he was not an intimidating sight, but that didn't mean he was just going to sit there and let Jack stare down at him, let Jack have the upper hand. "There was a time I would've done almost anything for you. I worshipped you." Rhys frowned. "That's passed. And it was not my fault." Rhys tried to find anything in Jack's expression that might change his mind but he couldn't read him now. 

There was a stiff, tense pause.

"Listen good, Rhys." Jack said, "The only thing I care about, right this moment, Is getting Angel and getting the frig out of here. Help with that, then we can go back to being enemies or whatever the fuck it is you want."

"That's the thing, Jack." Rhys felt his body tensing. "I don't want to be your enemy. But I'm done trying to get anywhere near you emotionally. I'm done putting in this effort."

"Emotionally?" Jack barked. "Unbelievable. We aren't goddamned dating."

Rhys's jaw turned to stone

Jack's expression blanked. He turned around and walked away.

"Coward," Rhys shot at him, unable to stop his mouth.

Jack paused again. He didn't turn, but his shoulders tensed. "What. Did. You. Say?"

"You're a fucking coward! Everything you ever do is out of fear. Like when you attacked me on Helios! Or in the fucking truck earlier! You’re a huge coward and every act of violence reflects it. Maybe Matriarch is right!”

Jack slowly turned, looking punched.

Rhys knew he might just be asking the fates to prove him right all along, to show him Jack would be his end. It wasn't that he'd never landed a low blow on this man, but right now, when they were at their weakest, he knew Jack would lash out. Angel was in danger. They were captured, so if Jack wasn't about to explode, Rhys would eat his shoes. And he welcomed it.

Rhys was already lost to this cult. Maybe this was better than what they surely intended for him. Whatever his destiny was, it was not with these people. He wouldn't allow it. Rhys didn’t want to die. But he'd hit a limit where he had to either dive into the fire or stay in the frying pan.

Besides that, he doubted the cult wasn’t watching them. Matriarch wouldn’t risk Jack’s wrath on him. 

He did still have his needle, but it was also deadly, and he...didn't want to kill Jack. But he'd use it if necessary, he told himself.

Every new crashing thought justified the recklessness he felt.

Rhys waited for the attack.

It didn't come. 

Jack laughed instead, roughly and angrily. "Oh, and you're so brave yourself, oh mighty Rhysie, huh? Every step of our entire interaction since I've come back has been you trying to control and distance yourself from me because you think I’m just too dangerous to frickin' exist. But you can’t survive without me, either. Your goddamned fanboy idiocy means you're too weak to just end it. You eat from the palm you think will slap you... Must really suck to be that pathetic."

Low blows back, huh? He knew it was, but it didn't stop him from raging. “What!? How dare-”

“You wanted to shut me down! You left me to die after you smashed Helios into smithereens! And then you couldn't even properly manage that. And guess how we got into this mess? Despite our little deal, you marched your scrawny ass down to Opportunity, ready to end me over the slightest bit of suspicion, the suspicion you let your little family prey on. And you know what? If you'd just frickin' gave me a little grace...” Jack trailed off, defeat suddenly in his eyes, dulling the anger.

Was Rhys wrong? Was he going to have to eat his shoes?

"Jack...I..." Rhys shook his head, completely off guard. His guilt was back, creeping up his brain, merciless. He reached around blindly in his memory to distract from it. "Actually, this seems a good time to ask- Why the hell did you ignore me last week? You snubbed me on the line when I called. I really thought you were hiding something."

Jack folded his arms, looking exasperated. "I was finishing up the last of Angel's vitals checks, about to bring her back to life. I might have even introduced you to her, if you'd been a good boy... So yeah, our rain check was pretty far from mind!"

"Right..." Rhys said. Again, was Jack lying? He rubbed his temples. "Damn it. This is all we do, Jack." He laughed acerbically. "Fight."

Jack moved.

Rhys's eyes flashed up. Jack advanced on him, and Rhys reacted before he could think. He threw his cybernetic fist, catching Jack in the stomach. All things considered, he felt pretty good for a fight this time. He wasn't going to get caught off guard like he had in the truck.

“Jesus!” Jack wheezed and stumbled back, holding his midsection and wincing. “What the fuck?”

“Don’t touch me!”

Jack lunged and grabbed his shoulders. Apparently, Rhys’s reflexes were somewhat lacking. He didn't react in time to stop it.

He did have the sense to strike at the hands on him, drawing a hiss from Jack. Then everything became a blur. They scrapped wildly, hands and arms tangling and Jack's weight crashing into Rhys. Briefly, Rhys had a weird thought. This didn't feel like violence. There was no pain or fear. Jack shoved Rhys against the nearest surface, a table. That teapot and mug crashed to the floor, spilling their contents. Rhys writhed, trying to buck Jack off of him.

Hands grabbed his wrists. Rhys pushed back with his cybernetic arm, actually breaking Jack's hold. He tried to land his palm into Jack's chest with enough force to knock him back. He failed. Jack was too close.

“Stop it, Rhys!” Jack yelled in his ear, startling Rhys out of his adrenaline-fueled resistance. He panicked a bit, seizing up, one hand loosely on Jack's heaving chest, fingers hooked into his vest, the other caught in Jack's vice-like, large hand, pinned to the table. “Right now!" Jack panted. "This is what they want, don’t you get it? They want us to fight because then we can’t get out.” 

Rhys, when it sank in Jack hadn’t gone for his throat yet, forced himself to still. Their proximity was making it hard to think, though. “Why’d you come at me like that, then?” His eyes looked over Jack's head, at the ceiling.

“I don’t...I don’t know."

Rhys inhaled sharply. “You were going to attack me, weren’t you?”

“No, I wanted to... I just wanted to..."

Rhys squirmed, heart thrumming. “Get off of me!”

“Ugh, you frickin’ little asshole!”

Rhys sighed, trying to calm himself. He didn't want to admit the way it felt like electricity had been pressed into his muscles. He shivered.

Jack's eyes narrowed. There was no way he hadn't felt it, and Rhys fought against everything to remember where they were. He fought against the burning sensation in his face. He fought against the heat in his groin. “Just. Let go…you made your point. We can get at each other’s throats later, right?” His voice was high and strained. He could hear his own pathetic desperation.

Jack posture lost some of its rigidity, but his grip remained. His gaze darkened. He looked like he was barely listening. “Suppose so.”

“That’s what’s best, right?” Rhys asked, cautiously. His hand twitched in Jack's. It was so hard to ignore-

Jack's legs moved, pressing their bodies closer. “We’re just natural-born enemies, huh, Rhysie?” Why did Jack sound amused right then?

Rhys choked on his own air. “Like skags, and...uh, anything...not skags?”

“Rhysie, I hate your goddamned guts. These stupid games you play? I'm tired of it.”

“Oh, as if you aren't always playing your own damned games. I hate you more! Your stupid hair, and your stupid layers, and your stupid voice-”

Jack slammed their lips together. Kissing, hot and heavy. It took Rhys a second to even question it.

And by the time he started to reciprocate, the door to the room slid open.

Guards materialized everywhere, ripping Jack off Rhys. Jack snarled, “Hey, what the fuck?! Where’d you come from!?” 

"You will not touch one of my family like that!" the Matriarch's voice said furiously from the doorway. “I am willing to offer grace, but you won’t touch Rhys!”

Rhys bolted from the table, stumbling into one of the soldiers on accident. He was shoved back onto the couch. He became paralyzed to the spot, heart thundering.

"Go to hell, you crone," Jack sneered somewhere behind him. "It's not your frickin business!"

"I protect my family, Jack."

Rhys's mortification was through the roof. He hid his gaze in his palms, feeling sweat on his temple under his changed hand. He was so fucking stupid! What had just happened?!

"Take him to another cell."

Just like that, Jack was gone.

Matriarch’s voice reached Rhys, right in front of him, all but yelling. He hadn't heard this level of anger in a long time. "Rhys! What are you doing? Jack cannot join the family. There is no match. Such a match would not even carry the lineage! You foolish boy!"

Rhys lowered his twitching hands, face still damp and burning. “It wasn’t like that," Rhys defended, meeting her eyes, "M-" he cut himself off. "I-I don’t want to...match with...him...” He flinched at the hostile expression, feeling childish. His heart stuttered. Pathetic, he thought. He felt so pathetic. He couldn't say anything. 

“Do not lie to me!"

Rhys blanched. "I'm sorry."

"Actions do speak louder, son," she continued, seeming to calm some. "I had not known the...the actual state of...your desire. I'm confounded. If I had known... Come on. I wish to start the reconnection sooner." She beckoned. "The sooner this damage is undone, the better. Perhaps Jack was the wrong pawn for this play."

Rhys stood up, legs stiff. But he followed, not quite meeting her eyes. There was anger in him but primarily shame. The guards came up behind him, seizing his shoulders. 

There was no escape.

Why couldn't he do anything right? he wondered.

Chapter Text

The guards shoved Rhys into the chair. The clamps and straps tightened on his arms, legs, and chest, causing Rhys to grimace. Then, he was left alone. He leaned his head back against the restraint chair and looked up at the bright white lights. He squinted at them. Mentally, he tried to make sense of what had just happened with Jack because that was better than thinking of why he might be tied here. A kiss hadn’t at all been expected. He hadn’t been lying to Matriarch when he’d said it hadn’t been his intention. And yet... He’d loved it.

Holy shit.

Jack had kissed him.

Again.

Just when Rhys was sure Jack hated his guts more than ever.

So why?

Rhys had only initiated the kissing with Jack once, so far. That awkward moment at Opportunity.

Would he ever get a chance again?

Maybe he was just going crazy. Maybe the tea had been spiked with something hallucinogenic, after all. Maybe he'd been trying to make out with a vase.

Regret ached at his core. All of his careful maneuvering for nothing. He still blamed himself for all of this. It was hard not to. In spite of his reasoning, he had not been careful enough. Even when he was trying his damnedest to do this all right, to say safe, he'd still failed miserably. And it wasn’t just in how he’d forced Jack to reveal Angel.

It was how he'd been treating Jack this whole time. With the utmost caution, even after agreeing with that drunken pinky promise at the club. Jack had been right to accuse him of being afraid right back, of trying to control him.

He thought about that day, at that little Hyperion cookie-cut home. That day when he’d ran out on Jack because of...Dr. Grace. He should have just had sex with Jack instead of taking that call (not something he expected to ever think). It hadn’t even been worth leaving, in retrospect. If he’d stayed that day, he would have been pissed at himself, sure. He would have blamed himself for the traitor escaping, true. But maybe. Maybe, he wouldn’t have gotten so jumpy about Jack so quickly. Maybe Jack would have shown him Angel sooner, as he'd hinted. Maybe Rhys wouldn't have fallen for Dr. Grace's manipulations, lost-

He stopped that thought.

Over sex? Seriously?

He laughed sourly.

Nah. He wouldn't have given Jack any more benefit of the doubt, then. Jack wouldn't have revealed Angel, even if Rhys hadn't threatened him. Another lie, then? Why should he have? Sex was just sex. There wouldn't have been any gain in partnership or attachment, nothing. It was stupid to even think of. Jack would scoff at the idea of...dating. 

Whoa, whoa, whoa, he must really be drugged. Dating?! Where had that thought come from?

There was partnership, there was sex, but dating was something else entirely! The only thing more stupid than wanting sex with Jack would be wanting to actually date him. But that hadn't been his original thought. Some part of him had subconsciously connected point A to C by making B be dating. A would be the sex, C the trust.

That's what it came back to, he thought. Not dating. 

But trust.

Maybe, maybe, maybe-

It didn't matter.

Whatever was happening, he doubted he'd see Jack again. What a way to end their weird new...partnership? Enemy-ish friends without the benefits that they both wanted? What the hell were they? Whatever it was, it ended with a kiss and the cult Jack-only-saw-as-his winning. 

This was not helping him. This was not better than considering the family's goals. Rhys exhaled, eyes sliding shut. He could see the light impressions behind his eyelids of the fluorescent panels. Other things were surfacing in his mind, brought back by recent events. He let himself think of another memory from long ago, from before Jack.

The choking smog hung low in the district. 

Rhys came here sometimes, following a trail of curiosity he couldn't stifle - the old begging veterans and the vendors chasing kids with brooms, the voices of too many people to count.

There was an hour break between two of his classes, a time of privacy he was supposed to spend in self-reflection. He was allowed nothing during these times but the company of his mind. However, he’d figured out how to leave his room without the guard noticing. There was an old grate in his washroom that lead to a service corridor in the palace. From there, it was easy to grab an old uniform and disguise himself. No one ever recognized Rhys Meyers beyond that point. 

He only did it every now and then, this escaping. Only when he was up to the risk. He knew if he was ever caught, he’d never see the city again. He never had much time here. Thirty minutes tops.

Yet it was enough to hear stories. People talking of distant worlds and things he could only imagine. Corporations, curious animals, planets, space travel, ect...! All he ever heard about in his classes was the history of Tantalus, how his family had saved the war-torn world from the corporations' squabbling. And of the Vaults. And of his own supposed destiny.

Something new was happening at the market, today, though.

There was a dome generator warding off the smog, he recognized it from his hacked Echo searches. He stepped into it. The air was much fresher, like back at the palace. The source of the dome came from a temporary stall outside a transport marked with black and red. A huge H was emblazoned on its side. Amidst the dusty rubble was an armored group of soldiers standing around, chatting. 

Rhys gaped, starstruck. They were so cool!

He'd heard about the corporations from a mix of gossip, his teachings, and Echonet jaunts. While they were viewed as an enemy by his family, he had always found himself overly interested in them. They seemed greater than anything. Why be enemies when they had the power to control these giants? Why screw with Vaults when there was no doubt about where the true power lay? 

Atlas with their alien technology and their scientific advancements for their own gain. Dahl with their army massive enough to populate a few planets if they wished - or wipe those planets out with their deadly war power. Hyperion with their superior market ownership and advertisement, topping all others in sales. Maliwan with their deadly and beautiful elemental weapons that were wielded by the wealthiest individuals across the galaxies.

Vaults were shifty, uncertain things, but the Giants were immortal weapons wielded by those who held true power. So, while Rhys had struggled to distance himself from what his parents wanted, it felt like destiny was calling him for this. Not the Vaults. The deep want that he was struck with just at a mere mention of the Giants told him he had to. He could picture himself at the top, every time, wielding the endless power. He could see it so clearly he knew he'd been born for it.

But he knew, deep down, his family would never listen, so he would never tell them.

"Hello?" Rhys asked.

"Yes?" The voice came from the helmet. So cool. "What do you want, kid?"

"Are you...Hyperion?" He asked.

"Indeed."

"Whoa. I want to join!"

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen!"

"You're too young to fill out the application without parental guidance." The man groused. "Genlin law. Sorry, kid. Or you can just wait a few years."

A shock of ice hit Rhys. He couldn't. He had to do this! A few years was forever! To be stuck in those classes, to deal with his siblings...

"But it's my destiny!"

"Ugh, I had to get this shift, didn't I, Ricky? Move along, brat, before I put my boot to your behind!"

Rhys sulked away.

It hadn't been that day, but he'd finally gotten away about a year later.

Because of Jack. 

It wasn't something he admitted to many people, but Rhys still believed in destiny.

Just not the destiny that had been drilled into his head from a young age by his family. His concept of it had become much looser. Still.

He believed in what he'd accomplished. That destiny. He’d survived so much. Sure, it had been a lot of effort and time, but in the end, he'd walked away with both a company and the riches of a Vault, as he'd always dreamed. Atlas had felt right, like he was meant for it. So while his plans to rule Hyperion had failed, he had taken satisfaction in what he'd gained. He hadn't started out to plunder a Vault; it was where he'd wound up. And it had felt good, felt right, felt like he'd earned it.

Until it'd turned his arm into a pain-filled annoyance, anyway.

And now. Here he was. His family had found him, and they were convinced he was their key to more power. Were they right? He'd fought for so long to claim his destiny for himself alone. But it seemed it'd brought him full circle. The thought churned his stomach. Was all his struggling for nothing?

No, Rhys thought. He wasn’t going to give up. Not now. After everything. He would survive, again. He wasn’t going to be Rhys Meyers of the Azure Sun. He was Rhys of Atlas.

Someone entered the room, interrupting his circling thoughts. It was Dr. Grace, who sat some things on the nearby table.

“Well, I haven’t been instructed to not speak,” Dr. Grace's voice hit his ears, striking full reality back to him, quite cruely. “I’ve been hoping to speak to you again, one on one.”

Rhys gave him a wry look. “Too bad. Could really, truly, entirely, use some peace and quiet right now. My day has been rather subpar, let me tell you, William. Out of curiosity, do you ever go by Bill?” 

Grace stood before him, frowning. "No." He sighed, eyes severe. "You kept lying. Telling me Jack was dead. Of course, I knew otherwise with my connections to the Azure Sun. You had to know people would learn eventually, especially when he had that demonstration in Opportunity."

"And what?" Rhys asked. "Yeah, I knew, but why would I share details of the deal I was making with him with you?"

"I just think it speaks of the deep shame your...connection to him instills in you."

Rhys laughed. "Great. Now...now you are analyzing me, too? Just what I need. This is almost worse than a betrayal. No wait, it definitely is. Here's a suggestion, Bill. Shut the fuck up."

"Is it not worth thinking about?"

“Oh my god, I get it! They instructed you to torture me with your stupid ass voice, is that it?” 

“You really hate me so much?” Dr. Grace asked, as if he couldn't imagine what he'd done wrong. Dumbass. “I have only acted on Matriarch’s orders. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Sure seemed that way, didn’t it?”

"Perhaps I got a little...carried away. I wanted to ensure the plan succeeded."

“That’s one way to put it.”

“I…” Dr. Grace looked frustrated, suddenly. He looked around the room, then backed away. “My implants I gave the presentation on all those weeks ago. Do you remember them? I was ordered by the Azure Sun to complete them. For the family, not you. They gave me more resources than even Atlas could." 

"Yeah, I-I had gathered that much since I've been here." Rhys eyed the man carefully. "How did you wind up with...the family? Did you really work at Helios? Or have you been with them this whole time? Are you from Tantalus?"

"Nope." Grace smiled. "My life was saved by them. I wasn’t lying when I told you I came from Helios. I was one of those idiots who put on Jack masks and played finger-gun wars. So petty, so meaningless, in retrospect. Corporations are soulless, and Jack is a puppet on strings. When Helios crashed, my pod was crushed. I was close to death, and all I could think of was how pointless my entire life had been. But then they pulled me from the wreckage. They saved my life."

“They must have had a reason," Rhys said, hands moving as much as the restraints would allow. "They don't act from kindness."

Dr. Grace gave a short nod. “There was a reason. Matriarch was already starting an expedition on Pandora. She was looking for good people to carry out her will. And I had talents she did not want to go to waste. My talents with cybernetics.” There was a pause. “I must ask you something, Rhys. She is your mother...and."

Rhys said nothing, not really wanting to be interrogated. But Grace took that as a go-ahead, apparently.

"Is she a siren?”

Rhys hadn't been expecting that, though he somehow thought he should have. He laughed. “She was obsessed with sirens and imagined a universe where they ruled everything in peace and harmony, but...no. She is not. How she wishes she was, though.”

“I see,” Dr. Grace replied. “Couldn’t help my curiosity. I suppose the tattoos, like yours, are aesthetic in nature only.”

“Pretty much.”

“It was my scientific curiosity, Mr. Meyers.”

“Don’t call me that,” Rhys said.

“Then don’t call me Bill.” Dr. Grace grinned. He powered up a nearby monitor, opening some program.

Rhys wondered, "did you know about Angel? When you said Jack had a weapon?”

“No,” Dr. Grace said, “that was an interesting twist, given what happened. I had been informed it was a weapon, and to relay that to you.”

“To make me act.”

“It seems so.”

“So even you don’t know everything they do.”

“No...Matriarch plays her own hand. I follow her orders.”

“Like a good little minion,” Rhys said. "You don't even care when they lie to you."

“How can I argue that?” Dr. Grace spoke, sounding more dry than offended. “There’s something else I was not lying about.” He seemed to hesitate. “I wasn’t lying when I said I admired you.”

Rhys didn’t know how to answer that. Until he did. “And that’s why you decided to lure my family to me?” He asked dryly.

“I…” Dr. Grace trailed off. “You feel as if you had no choice in all of this? What do you think I feel?”

That gave Rhys a slight pause. Curiously, he met the man’s eyes. “They didn’t give you a choice, either, did they?” He asked. “You said they saved your life, and…” He felt new irritation hit him. It made more sense now. Fates damn it. He’d been all too happy to despise Dr. Grace to his core, but what if this was all Dr. Grace pretending for the cult, as he had for Rhys?

Dr. Grace’s eyes were wide. Again, it looked like he wanted to speak.

He just turned away.

He’s afraid.

Rhys wanted to yell. He spoke quietly, though. “Dr. Grace... Get us out of here. We’ll protect you. If you just-”

“Stop. You don’t know what you’re asking,” Dr. Grace cleared his throat. “The Matriarch’s will is all that matters.” He said it loudly, almost robotically. He typed on his computer. “I...it is the only way,” he added in a whisper.

"It doesn't have to be, we-"

"No."

“What are you going to do to me, then?” Rhys asked in resignation.

“If it’s any consolation, you are not to be in pain. These implants are just what we need to facilitate reconnection-"

Rhys felt a rush of fear. "Um, excuse me? Did you say implants?" 

"Preliminary, for now. It takes time. I know you liked my little presentation. Luckily for you, I’ve had practice. Most recently on that AI you're so ashamed of liking."

Rhys's breathing picked up. No, no, no!

Grace looked at the monitor, his hands twitching, his mouth frowning. He put on what looked like a fake smile, but he didn’t spare Rhys a glance. "No need to be like that, Rhys. Come on. You were a slave for a corporation like I was. This is better." His voice sounded so fake, too.

"Fuck you!" Rhys suddenly spat. Whether Grace was acting because of fear or something else, he didn’t care anymore. Grace wasn't the one about to be fucking implanted with who knew what. “As if this goddamned family isn’t just another sick cult! This is not better! I had my life, I had a home! I don’t need this. I never did, and never will! Atlas is mine. The Vault of the Traveler is mine, and so is Iphus-”

The doctor slipped the syringe into Rhys's elbow. 

Rhys sucked in a breath, and his tongue turned to lead.

He slumped, darkness clouding his vision.

Rhys woke up in his room. He sat up groggily and looked down at himself as if expecting to find he’d been turned into some robot hybrid, but nothing looked out of place. Save for the ugly white shirt and pants they had stuck him in, anyway.

A message appeared on his Echo Eye.

Rhys Meyers,

I'm leaving this message to help you understand what happens now.

You were given an Anshin when the operation was complete. You'll have to spend a week in recovery to ensure the preliminary laydown is bonding to your body properly. We will begin with the next set if all goes well. The secondary set will allow us to set up your spinal cord for the rest. That will cause some pain, even with another Anshin, but your recovery time will be much longer, allowing you to heal fully.

Don't worry, you will be just fine, in the end.

Jack was, wasn't he? He just wasn't in his body during all of that.

Also, there will be more sets in the future, as Matriarch desires, and she will not let you come to harm.

-Dr. Grace

Rhys panicked. He leapt up, pacing wildly. More implants? He knew it had been implied before, but... Just what the hell were they doing to him? He strained his memory to remember what Grace had said about the implants back at Atlas. Physical improvements? But why? Why did these matter when all he had to do was open a Vault? How did this relate to the reconnection Matriarch wanted? 

Time passed slowly, with none of his questions becoming clearer.

Days dragged on, leaving Rhys with little hope.

Being back with the family was both exactly and not quite the hell he remembered.

There were the constant “talks” by various members of this forsaken cult. The sitting in a white room for hours for "reflection". All Rhys managed was to panic more during those times. There were also the weird, low-calorie, tasteless meals that left his stomach cramping. They were worse than the cheap shit he imported for Atlas. At first, he'd just assumed decent food was hard to get out here. But he had a growing suspicion it was to torment him psychologically along with everything else.

Rhys had not seen Jack since the...kiss. He also had seen no sign of Angel.

He tried not to worry about it. It was his understanding the family still needed Jack and Angel alive for some reason. He couldn’t be worried. He had to focus. He also could not keep panicking at the thought of what they'd done to him surgically. He was okay. He was still himself. A few more metal bits in his back weren't the end of everything. He tried to reassure himself, but it was hard not to feel...violated.

And then the week was over and it was time for the second set. 

The guards came in, and Rhys tried to run, only to get caught. Rather easily, in all honesty. Two steps and they had him. "No, no, no! Let go!" He yelled. "I really don't want the implants! Guys, can't we negotiate this?!" He gave up when it became clear they would continue to ignore him. He was dragged to the room with the restraint chair.

"W-where is Jack?" Rhys asked Dr. Grace as soon as the man was in the room and they were alone. 

"He's fine. Very resistant, but it doesn't matter. He won't be joining the family."

"Then, let me guess, you guys kill him when his usefulness ends?"

"That depends on if he gets in our way," Dr. Grace said. He pulled up a hologram...showing each metal piece along Rhys's spine in the simulated light, Rhys realized. "This is a recent scan. The preliminary went amazing. Your body is perfect for this. Like a clay ready to be shaped and molded. Destiny," he added in a soft tone. "No wonder you survived Hyperion's little experiment."

"You're fucked up," Rhys spat.

"Who isn't? How is this any different than what you've already gone through?"

"I never agreed-!"

"Quiet. Now, it is time for the second."

Rhys fought the tremble in his limbs, the burning in his eyes. He would not be weak now. "Don't do this," Rhys hissed. "You don't have to do this."

Dr. Grace carried his syringe over. "Yes, I do."

"Why? Why is she ordering this? What does she gain?!" Rhys howled.

"I have not been told." Grace gave him the shot.

Of course not.

Rhys came too, aching with pain, but not as much as he might have expected. His senses still felt dulled. There was a bubbling creek nearby, framed with tall ferns. His eyes turned up large gray walls on all sides, but there was a blue sky above. Fresh air filled his lungs. Fuck. What had happened? Was he dead? Was this the afterlife?  He panicked again, heart thundering.

He groaned and tried to sit up. To no avail. He felt too weak. If he wasn't dead, he supposed that meant the implants were in? He collapsed back onto the rug he was on.

"Psst, hey!"

He winced and turned his eyes. A young woman in a hoodie vest, face on folded arms, was just sitting beside him. His first thought was how orange her hair was. "Holy crap!" She whispered. "Sorry. Trying not to be too loud, but I’m really excited. You're Rhys, right? Atlas's CEO?"

Rhys was still trying to catch up with the situation. "Uh…yeah?" 

"Hell yes! I knew it."  

"Am I dead?"

"No, you aren't." She was still whispering. "Anyway. My name's Gaige! I am a huge fan of your implants! Um, the old ones. Not the ones they just started on. Those are creepy. And I know. I’m the biggest cybernetics expert there is. Grace can kiss my ass. I put my own damned arm on while I was bleeding to death.” She wiggled robotic fingers at him. “In my dad’s frickin' garage man. But they went and promoted him, probably because he's got less willpower than a drunkard in a bar.”

"Oh uh...thanks?" He felt confused. “Did they implant the second set?”

“Nope."

"No?" Rhys asked, hope rising. "They were going to do the second procedure, though."

"It didn't turn out. There was a malfunction in the system after you went under... Not my fault, definitely not my fault, if you know. I’m sure one of their dumb new recruits dropped a wrench in a generator.” She winked. “Now you’re taking a break until they get things back to normal.”

Rhys felt a wash of relief. "That's...that's good, then. Where...am I?"

"You're in the ‘courtyard’," she said while quoting with her hands. 

“And that is?” Rhys groaned and rubbed his face. Was the sky simulated then? Were they even still on Pandora?

“Just a little touch of home, Matriarch says,” Gaige answered. “You’re still on Pandora, in all those tunnels.”

Rhys asked, "um...you haven't happened to see an angry masked guy around? Handsome asshole who looks like he can murder you if he glares hard enough?"

Gaige got a weird look. "Uh...no?"

"Great."

"Look, brah, maybe you’re brain damaged now or something, but I just wanted to ask….are you here willingly ?"

Was this some sort of test? Didn't seem like it. His mother already knew his hesitations. A test wouldn't take this shape, would it? In this short lady with orange pigtails, goggles, and a metal arm? Did he care if he failed? He was going to be dragged off back for more implants sooner or later. Most likely sooner. "No. No, definitely not. I’d really rather not be here." He winced.

Gaige whispered, "thank goodness. I wanna get you out. You and Angel."

Rhys perked up. "You know Angel?"

Gaige nodded. "Yep! Had a lovely tea party with her. She’s adorable."

"They haven't harmed her, have they?"

"No, but she's gotten anxious. She said she made a mistake coming here. She's been waiting for a chance to get out."

Rhys made sure he was quiet. "So who are you really and how'd you get involved in this? And are we being listened to?"

"Don’t worry, I already disabled all the listening bugs in this room temporarily, but still being quiet in case someone comes in here. They’ll chalk it up to the power issues… Anyway, I'm here for uh...well that's ehhhh. But I'm here to...monitor this uh...family. was pretty boring work until Angel showed up. I have to get her out, though! I think they don’t have her best interests at heart, and I’m ready to get DT on some of these weird clowns.

“Then I recognized you and thought, no way is that Rhys with these guys?!"

"How'd you know to interrupt the procedure?"

"I was with Dr. Grace's team for a hot minute. Decided to do something because I had a bad feeling. Also, he was pissing me off."

"Thanks." Rhys looked around. To be completely honest, if this was an elaborate test, he still had to try it. He also didn’t really understand half of what she meant, but he knew what an escape opportunity sounded like. "So, what's the plan?"

"Not sure yet honestly!” At Rhys’s face, which must’ve shown disappointment, Gaige went on, “but I'm getting there, brah! Trust me. I'll keep you posted!”

“Can you get communications out of here?”

“Yes, but only every now and then, as they monitor everyone really closely…"

“Okay, if you can involve outside help, I have people at Atlas looking for me."

“I’ll keep that in mind. I should go now. Don't want people to be suspicious. Quick, give me an autograph so I have a cover story." She handed him a pen and paper.

"Okay." Rhys wrote his name.

“Great to see ya, brah!” She bounded off. “Can’t wait to tell everyone I got your signature!!” She yelled.

What…? Only on Pandora did he meet the oddest people. It was then he noticed she had a skull on the back of her vest.

Rhys saw Gaige again the next day when she brought in fresh tea. Her eyes burned with eagerness. "Hey, Rhys!" She whispered. "Don't worry, the bugs are malfunctioning again. So, the Matriarch is going back to Tantalus temporarily tomorrow. At midnight, I’m gonna make the move."

"Thank goodness. I think they're gonna resume the secondary implants soon!" Rhys said. "I do not want them!" It was worth a try, even though a part of him expected it to fall through.

“I got all the guard rotations memorized and know the service exits. Meet me by the garden entrance. I’ll make sure your room is unlocked.”

"Got it."

"We got this."

"What about Angel?"

"I'll get her, don't worry."

Rhys gave a thumbsup. He hoped this worked. Maybe, just maybe, he would be free again.

He wondered how he would get Jack out. He'd figure that out later. 

Chapter Text

 [48 Standard Galaxy Hours Earlier]

Handsome Jack’s stomach growled.

He narrowed his eyes, fucking pissed.

This damn cult had fed him little more than shitty rabbit food. 

If I’m just a damned AI why am I so hungry? He felt as human as he remembered before being in Rhys's little head. All of his cravings were real as ever.

He grabbed the toothpaste container and squeezed out a sizable blob onto his palm. With his other hand, he drew a circle on the mirror, using the toothpaste as his paint. Two dots in the middle for eyes. He gave it large ears and hair that swooped off to the side. He nodded at his creation of a cartoony shape of a certain siren.

“Oh I’m Lillith and I freaking suck !” He whined in a high-pitched voice.

He added a far-too-small stick figure body and wished he had some beer.

He ripped off some toilet paper from the wall and proceeded to roll them up into small projectiles. He lobbed them at toothpaste Lillith, chuckling when one landed in her eye. He rolled his own eyes and made more projectiles. What the hell was up with her hair anyway? Did it defy gravity? Freaking Vault Hunters. He couldn’t wait to be so powerful again that he would track them to whatever shitty end of the universe they’d gone to. Oooohhhooo, they'll be in for one hell of a shock.

He grew bored and paced again.

He glared at the mirror. “Pandora was mine,” he growled distinctively. 

The toothpaste, he noted, was starting to slide down, leaving behind unpleasant trails. He curled his lip in distaste. Ugh. Jack hated mint. And Vault Hunters. 

He paused. I’m an AI, huh?

He turned back to the mirror. 

Was he? If this body died, would he still be alive, then, yay or nay? The jury was out on that, but... Ever since he got to Opportunity, he had been plowing through all of his work without so much as taking a break. Except for a certain disaster dinner date with Rhys. And that night spent holding him... And now as he gazed at his reflect-oops, the smeared toothpaste Lilith-reflection, he wondered further about his body.

He started poking around the mask with his fingers. He’d taken it off a few times. Had he really not done this investigation? He couldn’t remember. He traced the lines of his human flesh on his forehead, up to his hair. “Not exactly hair plugs, anymore,” he laughed at himself, then shrugged.

He scraped his nails over his skin and wrapped a palm around his own throat, giving it a mild squeeze. He wasn't really into being strangled in most cases. He preferred doing the strangling... However, there was a certain whip that had changed his mind. Still, the feel of his own neck in his fist gave him a tactile feedback he was lacking.

I miss sex.

How was it even remotely possible Jack hadn’t gotten laid in-? Yeah, nope not going to go down that road. He would have to pin his own name to some sort of loser virgin nerd board if he did.

Damn you, Rhys.

It wasn’t really his nature to introspect on anything deeply. He saw a straight line from point A to point B in most situations. He had goals. He pursued them with a clarity he knew many lacked. This was why he was always on top. Rhys’s problem was he overthought everything that could possibly happen. Ugh, and now Jack needed to stop thinking about Rhys. Somehow his brain seemed focused on the dweeb from the moment he'd woken up in his brand new body. It was like he couldn't think of anything else in his spare time.

His heartbeat fluttered and he chuckled.

Maybe he should’ve not kissed Rhys until they were out of this mess, but fuck, it was so hard to resist that stupid pouty face. For those few minutes, he'd forgotten where they were. It didn't help that every single time Rhys's emotional demeanor broke like a dam, Jack couldn't help himself from the rush of hopping on board the tidal wave.

Hey, he was still pretty pissed about the entire Rhys's weird family holding them prisoner situation, but he could only say it fueled his intensity toward Rhys at this point. Besides, no way he didn't get to save all of them from this freaking mess. He was Handsome Jack after all, hero and legend. Rhys would be thankful, too. The alternative was worrying, and Rhys could do enough of that for the both of them.

He had the utterly insane need to put his hands on Rhys as much as possible. Not just his hands. His mouth and body, too. How many nights now had he thought about having the new, gorgeous CEO of Atlas wrapped around him?

Rhys had taken the deed of ownership from Jack. And yet, somehow all that thought did was make Jack's dick a little hard. He truly wanted to just put all the shit from before behind them. They'd had enough pathetic heart-to-hearts, now, no? And now Rhys talked about emotional connection, as if he didn't just want a taste of what Jack had, as if his attraction to Jack was anything more than that ridiculous fanboy lust lingering. And of course the usual attraction your average idiot felt toward the hottest person in the galaxy.

If the little dumdum had been just as ready to let go of their spat as Jack had been...

If Rhys would just let it happen...

If. If. If.

It was obvious how much Rhys wanted it. But of course, Rhys let all the blah blah, history, blah blah, rivals bullshit, interfere. He just loved to kill Jack's mood, didn't he? Oh, but how he'd have that little thing flushed and panting, desperation burning in his eyes. That brown and gold color darkened with blown-wide pupils. He loved yanking that soft, curly hair, loved feeling the vulnerable skin of Rhys's throat.

He would love to fuck Rhys in the morning after all that styled look was gone.

Or wait, no, even before that.

Oh, those stupid outfits Rhys thought were fashionable but were nothing short of embarrassing? The ones that Rhys gift-wrapped himself in, managing to show every perfect soft tease of skin beneath (despite the utterly appalling nature of it all) just to drive Jack nuts? He would rip them off so hard buttons would fly and Rhys would be able to do little but hang on for dear life. Jack would finally learn just where those tattoos ended.

Rhys was just the sort of person he took one look at and wanted to destroy, in many meanings of that word. Jack would taste his tears and sweat, smell the scent of his sex, bruise and bloody him until Rhys could say nothing but his name.

Then, 'cause Jack was a perfect gentleman, he'd kiss it all better. Every mark on his kitten would be soothed, every hurt alleviated, every agony tamed.

It seemed his dick was still quite interested. And it wasn't like sex couldn't be a sort of reconciliation, payback, and apology all at once, eh? How awesome was that? So versatile.

And. He didn't truly want to admit it, but in the silence and isolation, he knew Rhys had suffered enough for this screw-up.

He flexed his fingers. Oh? He felt a metallic spot under his thumb, right by where the artery thrummed in his flesh. He used his other hand and wiped more of the toothpaste away from the mirror. He gazed at the small metal circle under his jaw. A port? He turned his head this way and that. It looked remarkably similar to Rhys’s port. Was this where his AI had entered the new body?

Damn, what had Rhys said about his AI? He didn’t remember it fully. Something about implants and getting a check-up with a doctor. 

Jack hated doctors.

A voice in his head chided, are you sure you aren’t underthinking, John? This is pathetic, even for you. It sounded a lot like Herald-fucking-Tassiter.

For real? Jack glared and turned from the mirror, cursing. Okay, being alone in a little room was really really really not good. It’s not like Jack could strangle the assholes in his own head. He frowned harder and paced more. It really didn't take much boredom for that little dark devil in his brain to come knocking again.

Oh, John, aren’t you compensating a little too hard for all those…hmm, flaws? Trying to pretend that the fact you can’t remember your own name half the time isn’t a big deal. Maybe if you weren't such an overrated screw-up.

Jack barked a laugh. They weren’t voices, really. They were truths, harsh and grating, trained into his mind at a young age. He knew they made him better, ultimately, as angering as they were, because Jack worked better pissed. 

Do you really think Rhys is ever gonna fuck you? Please.

Jack faced toward the mirror, folding his arms. "Yeah, I do."

He hates you.

You pissed him off.

You pushed him to the edge.

Just like everyone.

You will always make everyone betray you.

This is all just really really embarrassing.

“Didn't ask for the opinion, buddy! I couldn't even give a shit, not what you or he thinks.”

Jack tried to laugh.

His chest squeezed in on itself.

He raised his voice. “I don’t give two flying skag shits.”

Is that what you told Rhys? You let him see you so vulnerable, before, boohooing about your oh-so-sad past. Everyone's got a bad past. As if you could even dream of having it anywhere near the worst. Why do you think he tries to walk all over you? You keep letting your guard down with him and you’re gonna be stabbed in the back again.

Jack knew from a young age he was nothing like his peers. He was a loner before he’d even understood what being alone was. He hadn’t cared, though. He didn’t remember a whole lot of his childhood, though he remembered --

No, enough of this self-pitying crap.

And while you're in here thinking of what a great hero you are, and how you miss sex, there's an actual, genuine, real problem.

Angel.

Not even a little worried about her? Isn't that fucked up of you?

"Of course I fucking am!" Jack snarled, heartbeat quickening for a new reason. He resisted the urge to hit the wall. "I just ain't gonna freak out about every little problem like some people!"

She hates you too.

Probably more than anyone else in the entire universe.

I mean, who else have you failed more spectacularly?

“Can you shut the hell up until I get us out of here!” Jack growled at the air.

You're the one who needs to stop.

Stop being so freaking weak. Every time you crack, you get a little closer to death.

Again.

"This is for your own good."

That's what she had said...Gran Gran.

He caught his own reflection again. He took in a breath. Come on, Jack, he told himself. Think. He lightly smacked his own forehead. What could he do at this moment?

For the umpteenth time, he examined the cell door. 

If he was an AI, could he jack - haha - into it somehow? He poked the metal with his finger. He’d need some sort of plug. His own brain could call him stupid, but he was a damn good programmer. But he also had no tools. There was nothing in the room. And unless he found a way to pry these metal plates up with his bare hands - and he shouldn’t rule out the possibility that dying in this body would kill him permanently - no shoving his fingers into electrical sockets.

There was no way in hell he was getting out like this. 

He drummed his hands over his chest before forgetting he was wearing the frustrating white shirt of the cult, not his usual coat. He exhaled and slumped back, sinking down the wall in frustration. All he had in this room was toilet paper (bolted to the wall), a toilet, a tiny cot, a sink, a mirror, and some toothpaste. Wasn't exactly a way out with that. The Giants know he already tried backing up the toilet with the toothpaste and toilet paper and shreds of the white clothes on his body.

Afterward, a guard had spent what felt like damned hours shocking Jack with that weird shock technology these idiots had. Wasn't a clock or window in here. Just the ugly glaring white fluorescent lights.

Angel went with these freaks willingly.

He put his head in his hands and groaned. Suddenly, all of his lighter thoughts were just entirely gone. Chased out of his own mind by the dark pit yawning inside of his chest. Frickin' hell, he was going to kill someone. He promised himself that much.

The cell door opened.

Jack jumped up, ready to throw himself at the intruder, only to double over again with a howl of pain. Shocks of electricity rippled through him, his muscles spasming. He crashed to the ground, shuddering, doubling in on himself involuntarily like a dying spider. “Shiiit,” he grunted, trying to breathe right. "I'm gonna rip out your stupid eyeba-!"

Another shock interrupted him, quickly fizzing out. He fought for air and opened his eyes.

Four guards.

He laughed. “Yeah, you need an army to keep me dow-” He broke off as the shock came again. He bit his tongue and suppressed a sound of agony.

"The glorious Handsome Jack," said a sarcastic voice.

Oh frickin' hell, her.

His thoughts were fuzzier now. He almost felt drunk, just without the fun feelings to go with it.

His tongue was heavy and painful when he spoke. “You’re lucky...you’re na....quite at the ta of my...shit list, lady,” Jack groaned, muscles protesting as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He laughed between intakes of air. His mouth tasted metallic, something wet oozing onto his chin. “There's a certain annoyin' 'holier than thou' re'head that's there but uh, gah," he spat on the floor, "gotta say, you're making a huge effort to get up there. Gold star an' all, cupcake." He looked up at the silver lady. "You an ole Lil shoul' really meet. You'd be good friends."

She looked back at him as though Jack was a disgusting larva she'd accidentally stepped on and needed to scrape off her boot.

“Is this just your constant state of being?” She asked with slitted eyes. 

Jack wiped his chin. He saw blood on the back of his hand. So that's why his tongue hurt like a motherfucker. “Yeah, uh, when you mess with my daughter...yeah.” Jack stayed down, though, eyes honed on the remote the guard held. Could he get it away from him? “So where exactly is this father-daughter reconciliation you promised?"

"Angel is in the process of learning. Unlike you. And you aren't exactly making an effort, are you? The second I let you even move, you'll be attacking anything in sight like a feral rat."

Jack's heart hammered, his head tightened, and a fiery sensation bubbled up in his chest. He reached a sitting position. "Here's a thought for you. Let me take Angel out of here, and I won’t disembowel everyone you’ve ever so much as seen in your entire life? Huh?”

“Your threats are distinctly impossible and ultimately pointless.”

Jack's mouth twisted, teeth baring in an unfriendly grin. "You think I'm lyin'?"

She sighed. “You are absolutely impossible. There is destiny unraveling here, and you don’t care. At all.”

“Oh, dimple-cheeks, of course I do. The only destiny around here is that I'm gonna be a goddamned hero who rescues a damsel in distress and gets his reward kiss. So yeah, I care about it a lot, I just think you’re a senile asshole who doesn’t know the sky from the ground.”

“Should I shock him?” The guard asked in a bored tone.

“Not yet. How do you foresee this playing out?” The Matriarch questioned. “You what? Escape? Your daughter magically loves you again? She gives you a big hug? And then you steal the Vault from Rhys? You pretend to be his ally. Perhaps something more. Once you’ve got the power you need, you bury a knife in his back and pick up where you left off? Isn’t that your big plan?”

The hell? Jack felt his brow drop. "That’s…that’s a lot of assumptions, lady.”

“I prefer to know what is truth. If I am wrong, correct me.”

"Ahah, I see what you're tryin' ta do." Jack settled forward somewhat, wincing. All of his muscles were like jelly. He wasn't getting anywhere, not physically. “First off, my family bonds with my daughter, or my relations to even Rhys are none of your goddamned business. Secondly, why the hell would I tell you anything about my plans? You gonna torture me if I don’t?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Hardly. Your plans are transparent enough. Admit your interest in Rhys is superficial and selfish.”

Jack laughed, a gut-busting laugh that felt like his already unstable stature would dissolve and send him toppling onto the tiles. Oh, this was so damned priceless. “God--that’s-that's what all this is about, isn’t it!?” He guffawed. “You were playing pretty nicely with ole Jack until you caught him kissing your precious son. That’s just-frickin’ priceless! I mean, sure, angry parents are a thing, but I don’t remember dealing with this crap since I was a goddamned teenager.” He laughed more, half expecting to be shocked.

He wasn’t. After a minute, he started to catch his breath. He met the crone’s eyes, surprised to find her smiling, as if equally amused. She said, “you will not touch him again. His destiny has nothing to do with you. I know what is best for him. And you...? You have nothing to even offer him. No place for his heart. No family or bloodline. You barely even have your worthless corporation anymore.”

“That’s where you're wrong, princess.” Jack forced himself to move. His body shook. He staggered to his feet, using his utmost concentration to maintain balance. "Spoken like a true asshole parent, though. Gold star on being a total asswipe. Again."

"I know Rhys better than you ever will. I raised him. I gave life to him, shelter, food, safety, and comfort. I know what he is made of. I know where his destiny is leading him. I know what he is thinking. I know what he struggles with."

"And that was what...forever ago? Because, between the two of us, who actually lived in Rhys's freakin' brain? I think I have the most recent point of view on that kitten's motivations, here." Jack's tone grew more smug. "Starts with Hyperion and ends with Handsome Jack. Cause I've got plenty to offer him, heh." 

"You are disgusting. Lest your tiny brain has forgotten, I am his mother. I love him. And love is not something you will ever be capable of. Your reasons will always be self-serving."

Jack snorted. "If you believed that my motivations are purely selfish, you wouldn't even be here harping at me. You'd know warning me away would be pointless."

"I am warning you so you know there will be consequences should you touch Rhys again."

Jack considered, a tiredness growing inside of him, dousing some of his passion. His voice was quieter. "Rhysie's gonna make his own choices. Something tells me you ain't gonna stop him. Lord knows I couldn't. He's a crazy little asshole that never gives up."

She took a step into the room, all traces of amusement gone from her expression. "And should I listen to the man who pumped his siren daughter full of Eridium and drove her to suicide?"

Jack blinked at the lights above. He would've once flown into a rage to hear an accusation like that. Now? Well... "Yeah, I did... You know what's interesting? I don't know what went through the meat version of me's brain when he died. But when Rhys was about to pull the plug on me, all I could think of were those freakin' mistakes that led to me being a ghost with no real friends or family..."

"What is your point?"

Jack ignored her, almost talking at nothing. "It was a looong time before I learned my mom was a goddamned leech trying to suck up my hard work. Even longer before I learned that ole Gran Gran was an abusive shithag. So. What's my point? My point, grandma, is you, standing there, thinkin' you know what's best for your kid. You think I haven't thought that either? That I didn't have to learn the freaking hard way? But unlike me, you won't even feel a shred of remorse when it gets your child fucking killed, will it?!" His voice hurt his own ears from volume. "Rhys begged to be at my company, he begged to sit in my throne, and he now has dreams beyond anyone whose ever..." Jack trailed off. "...ever tried to screw him over. Including me." All of the gusto left in a breath of air. "Call me selfish, but you're the one that wants to use him, now. Not me."

She stepped forward, face drawn into something darker than a night sky shrouded in overcast. 

She slapped him.

It was the fact that he currently had the physical integrity of a marshmellow that prevented Jack from retaliating. He fell back against the wall, groaning. He briefly rubbed his cheek, which stung even through his mask. 

For a second, though, he also could swear he saw Gran Gran's face. 

"Learn you damned lesson, Johnny."

Jack's eyes opened and shut like a camera lens trying to focus.

The Matriarch's visage had gone utterly blank. “It’s clear that there’s nothing to be gained by this. Shock him.”

Jack sank to his knees. The world dimmed around him.

"I told you!"

When he had enough sense left to process his surroundings again, he found the guards and Matriarch gone. The door was locked again.

“Frig’ bitch,” Jack muttered, feeling drool seep out of his mouth, “uh... I nee'...fre...nap.”

He crawled onto the cot, sinking down and gaping like a land-stranded fish. Somehow, he knew the shocks weren't the only reason he could barely think right now.

Rhys followed the two guards back to the Matriarch's office.

This family...cult, he reminded himself, wanted back into his head. It had been hard not to let it happen. Every person in his vicinity kept saying this was for his own good. It was harder than anything to keep their words out. But hope gripped him, that he might escape. Because of Gaige's promise, he'd decided to more or less try for his mother's approval. What more could he do? He started saying the things he knew the Followers of the Azure Sun wanted to hear. After all, two could play such games. And he wasn't going down easily. 

Rhys found himself thinking of Jack, often. Thinking of Jack helped ease the helpless feelings choking him. Despite how much everyone here wanted him to think of Jack with great shame, it made him feel less alone. In some way, he longed for the AI in his head again when he was stuck in his room, someone to talk to that he could...well, not fully trust, exactly... But someone to confide in. Someone who would have a solid plan. Someone to just distract him from things.

His mother was typing briefly on a computer when the three entered the office. "Good morning, Rhys."

"Is it morning?" Rhys said lightly. "Hard to tell here. But uh, good morning. Quite lovely." He missed coffee. In fact, he had a headache often that was no doubt the caffeine withdrawal taking its toll. Or was it one of the other countless bullshit things they'd done to him taking effect?

Jack would've probably said, "don't worry, baby, you'll be able to drown your sorry face in that fast bean juice 'fore too long."

"You're smiling."

He glanced at Matriarch's pleased expression. "Am I?"

Why, he was. 

"Are you happy?"

She didn't have to know why. "Yes." He pulled on all of his corporate training to give no inclination of his true thoughts. "I know what I need now. This family."

She bought it. "I am pleased to hear it." She steepled her fingers, closed her eyes, and breathed. "Unfortunately, such happiness may not last long. I'm afraid I have some...unpleasant news. How is your arm feeling?”

"It hasn't hurt since the injection." Rhys suppressed a shudder as he remembered that needle.

She stood and proffered a data pad. He took it gingerly. “That is what I wish to speak of. The injection will not be enough.”

Rhys blanked, even as he stared at the information in his grasp. His eyes flicked to his changed hand, its quiet, leather-gray presence inscrutable. “I’m...still dying? I thought you said - you said you saved my life!” His gaze soared upwards, equal parts fear and fury piling on.

Her hands went behind her back, and she held herself with poise. "Do not panic. This is how it was meant to be. I regret I could not be clearer the last time we spoke. Had I not interfered, son, you would never have opened the Vault in time. I have bought you the needed time. Dr. Grace’s work is admirable, but not miraculous. The Eridian technology still far outpaces our own."

Rhys felt bulldozed over. He stopped himself, catching a curse of surprise in his throat. He coughed as though to dispel it.

A thought entered his mind.

He glanced at a nearby potted plant. “And the implants are related to that, I suppose.”

Silence. 

It lingered.

He looked at her.

She was scrutinizing him in that way he knew indicated suspicion. He smiled at her reassuringly, shoving his frustration down determinedly. “I’m curious, is all. Didn’t you say you would fill me in more on what’s in the Vault?” Rhys pressed. “Shouldn’t I be aware of what’s awaiting...us?”

"There is sense in you, at last," she crooned. To Rhys's surprise, the Matriarch opened a drawer and took out a book from within. She dropped it onto the desk. The cover had a picture of a woman with white wings. "There is only one mention of Iphus in any text in the galaxy. Page forty-four, if you would."

Rhys leaned over and flipped the book open. He read in a quiet voice. “Vault of the Passenger?”

“Indeed.”

“What would that mean?”

"You have eyes? A very unique one, in fact." 

Rhys clenched his teeth and activated his Echo Eye. He skimmed the info. There wasn't much, a scant page. He read part of its contents out loud, "...We can speculate, but there is a suggestion of immense power waiting within." Rhys glanced up, shaking his head. "Not…not to be utterly obvious, but isn’t there always power in Vaults? That's nothing we couldn't have already speculated.”

“That is the frustrating part, yes,” she admitted with a wry smile. “Keep reading." 

Rhys knew how agitating a lack of knowledge was for his mother. She wanted to be all-powerful, all-knowing. It was not her way to gamble on ifs. He read more. "...Specific artifacts we've discovered on other planets indicate that a vessel is required for this power, or a bond of uncertain nature with this Vault, or perhaps a sacrifice-either literally or metaphorical. Maybe even all of the above."

Rhys folded his arms and powered down his eye. Then, he caught something. "You...wrote this." He said, staring at the name.

She nodded. “The implants ensure your receptivity to this Vault. Whatever that means at the time of opening."

Rhys felt miffed. "But you don't know? You...you just said Dr. Grace's work is not miraculous."

"It is enough."

"How did you write this book?"

"I can bring you every piece of evidence, every scrap of metal, paper, photograph, and person who knows more than you do, and it would take more time than we currently have. You have no patience. Decades of work and research. The brightest scholars in every galaxy. Consults with the Ancient Siren Priestess, Lumin, on Traguai HT8. I have waited and exercised patience you can only dream of in your youth. I had not known who would hold such power until now. But I knew that whoever it be, would be destroyed by that power. Even Atlas knew better than to run headlong into a Vault. They built a robot for it." Her hand shot forward, pointing. "You are lucky you are not already dead! And if you continue to think yourself more knowledgeable, you will perish, or worse, threaten all that you hold dear." 

She met his gaze, shut the book, and slumped in a way that showed a crack, a moment of her age. She seemed to notice this immediately and straightened her stance again.

Know it all.

Rhys huffed. "Anything else I should know, then?" 

She shifted. “Yes. Know that Jack will die."

Rhys's breathing stuttered. "What?"

She slowly tilted her head. "You heard me. You must forget about him entirely. He is a placeholder, a ghost. He barely exists."

Nausea grew inside of him. His knees shook. His hands became fists. “So, you'll allow me to just review this information really fast, right? I might die. Jack is definitely going to die?” Rhys felt his heart rate pick up. “There are mentions of sacrificing or needing a vessel or something that we don't know. But these implants will work and this family walks away with the power.” He couldn’t help it. He’d thought he could control his rage, but it was mounting. 

“You will only die if you ignore Iphus… Are you weeping for that man? Don’t tell me you have more than surface feelings for that…brute.”

Rhys wiped his eyes. They were, in fact, wet. Something...was filling him like an emotion he couldn't place, restless energy. “No.” Was it a lie? He wasn’t sure. “I am tired and frustrated-” He stopped himself. “I am weak.” He covered his eyes. "Damn it. I’m s-sorry." His voice broke. He sobbed in a breath. “Let me return to Atlas-” Rhys started, trying to level out his voice. “My people will...uncover the Vault the fastest. Keeping me here isn’t going to help me.” He swallowed.

"No." 

Rhys opened his mouth, only to be interrupted.

"You must trust me. I am here for you." Her voice rose a hair. "All of this is for you."

Rhys flinched, but his thoughts snarled. Yeah, right. It's for you, Matriarch. It was what he wanted to say.

It was hard to describe what happened next. All of that energy Rhys had been feeling growing inside seemed to reach a breaking point. Rhys had expected himself to start yelling. Instead, he noted darkness in his vision. The monitor on the desk flew off. The potted plant shattered. The lights dimmed. The soldiers darted forward, only for Matriarch to raise a hand and stop them.

The Matriarch had backed up in the commotion. "Incredible," she breathed.

Rhys looked at his own left hand, shock growing. It was no longer gray. Glimmers of gold and purple arced through the patterns in his flesh. "What...?"

Matriarch approached. "The compatibility with this technology you are achieving now shows results. What we've done has begun to tap its potential. You must learn how to use this to open the Vault. That specific moment, I suspect, was like a static discharge. It wants to fulfill its goal."

Rhys gawked. "I-uh...I really don't think this is sentient..." He laughed nervously.

He spotted a couple more flickers of energy before the glow in his arm completely faded, leaving his hand looking the same as before. He felt pressure on his shoulder. Matriarch pulled him into a hug, one he didn’t really want. He didn’t fight, just closed his eyes and accepted it. She was less perfumey now, he thought with some strung-out amusement. In spite of the situation, he felt warm. Almost safer. “This is a deeply stressful time," she said. "An incredible, unprecedented time, but stressful, all the same. You need to rest. We will finish the procedures and then approach the Vault.”

Once more, he had no idea what to believe about any of this.

He knew they were constantly manipulating him. He couldn’t afford to be careless. But it was so hard to see through this incredible mess. 

She relinquished her hold, walked toward her table, and picked up the book.

Her lips tilted upward.

"Welcome home, Rhys."

Chapter Text

[23:45 Standard Galaxy Time]

Fifteen minutes until midnight.

Rhys activated his Echo Eye and maneuvered into the changelogs. He accessed his cybernetics. He coaxed the data under his thoughts. Not just anyone had the fine tuned thinking an Echo Eye required to function properly. He always enjoyed maintenance on his kit, and this was similar, though with more important matters overshadowing it. He kept the usual safeguards in place, undeterred in each step of the way. 

He thought of those months stuck at the old Atlas biodome. He’d worked on his own cybernetics after Jack had tried to murder him twice. He'd had to utterly replace his arm, of course, so it was as much hardware as software. He had taken his time and been more careful, taking frequent breaks and watching the lulling drift of the spores, the swaying leaves in the warm, almost-tropical air. It was time he’d spent healing and reflecting on Handsome Jack’s betrayal. Time spent examining what had happened.

This time, he had no such luxury. This time, he had no time for meaningful reflection, which was good considering where he was at and what his family wanted from him. This time, he was utterly ruthless, gutting his software as needed. 

What a family. Rhys didn't even know anyone here by name besides Matriarch and Dr. Grace.

It turned out the interface he had from the cult was less a replacement and more of an overlay. In spite of Jack successfully getting back into his head, the family just did not have such access because of Rhys’s own complicated web of firewalls and codes of defenses. No one here was smart enough. He smiled at that thought.

[DELETE ALL DATA].

Select.

[WARNING: THIS ACTION IS IRREVERSIBLE].

He okayed it. He had backups back home. He wouldn't have any physical backups of the experience here at the cult, but it was a sacrifice he was happy to make. Rhys leaned back and combed his hair with tense fingers, watching piles of code falling away and away. He remembered once someone saying no one knew where data that was erased went. It just simply ceased to be-a concept that was hard to grasp for physical beings.

Oh.

Vaughn had said that while picking over a turkey sandwich on their lunch break back in the day.

Rhys could go for a turkey sandwich right now, honestly. He sat in his clean white shirt and looked at his empty plate on the nearby stand. Not a single piece remained. None of the food here even had sauce. He’d eaten something fibrous and bland last, which had only gotten semi-appealing when his hunger reached a new height.

After five minutes, his Eye sat in its factory state as if he’d just woken up from the surgery to install it.

The door opened. A guard approached him, his black mask with the Azure Sun symbol devoid of emotion. “Suspicious activity detected here. You will need to come with me.”

“What’s she paying you?”

Nothing was the usual reply.

Rhys stood and stuck out his hands, wrists together, as if in compliance. The guard started to grab them.

Rhys stabbed the man with the needle.

“Ow- The hell?!” The soldier jerked. "What are you playing at?"

"Oops," Rhys said with a smirk. "Should've had more of a heart, dude."

"I...I need...backup!" The man stumbled, rough wheezes cutting off his words. He crashed into the table and fell to the floor, clutching his chest. "Gah..." 

"Oooooh, ouch," Rhys said. He couldn't summon any sympathy for his captors, given how much suffering they'd caused him. He'd done this to people for lesser slights. He felt pride, chiefly. He'd learned well from Jack.

He watched with some fascination. He bent forward and yanked the mask off the man's face.

Rhys flinched. It wasn't the blue-faced asphyxiation he was witnessing that sent him scrambling back, but the man's other issue sure did: a nasty purple rash that stretched over pure violet eyes. They glowed slightly. 

That wasn't his poison's doing.

Rhys's heart thrummed and a flicker of energy raced over his changed arm. He swallowed, collecting himself. What the hell had the cult done to these people? He shook himself and examined the now-unmoving soldier again. It looked like..."Eridium?" The door to his room opened, and Rhys's eyes flew up, expecting more guards.

There were more guards, but they collapsed dead on the floor. Rhys saw the young woman with the bright pigtails behind them, brandishing a gun. Gaige gave him a thumbs-up. ”Heya. Havin' fun?”

Jack’s daughter stood beside her in a casual white dress that showed off the blue tattoos on her arm and black combat boots. The two were quite a contrasting pair.

Rhys almost slumped with consolation. He knew Gaige had said Angel was unharmed, but seeing her there, looking only a little nervous, was such a damned relief. Jack would be less murder-y after they got here out of here, surely.

“So your name is Rhys," Angel said. “CEO of Atlas? I am a little behind on the current events. You were the one with with Matriarch and Ja-”

"Yep,” Rhys interrupted, pulling at his shirt sleeve. “Hey, uh, we can talk about that later."

Angel hesitated…and shrugged. “If you say so. I’m fine not talking about it, at all, honestly.” Rhys swore he saw a flash of blue in her eyes, though. It was gone just as quickly as he had noted it.

Rhys had spent some time in his solitary room thinking about Gaige, too. He had come to the realization that he actually knew her. Of her, at least. She was a Vault Hunter. He hadn’t seen it at first, being so preoccupied with what was happening to himself. But when given time to think, he recalled that she was an enemy of Handsome Jack. A pretty notorious one. Rhys remembered there were six Vault Hunters that had all but dismantled Jack’s power, then. Gaige had been one of them.

He didn’t know if she’d realized who he meant when he’d asked about an “angry masked guy” around. Rhys had been half out of it, then. What he did know was that he didn’t plan to mention Jack anymore. Yeah, he wanted to find Jack in his escape, but it would be hard to do with the two before him. He'd have to figure that out on the way. It was likely Gaige knew about Angel’s relation to Jack. They had obviously been chatting a lot. Did Angel tell Gaige about him being with Jack at Opportunity? About being captured with him?

Giants, this would get complicated fast. It would be best to wing it. After all, it may not get as bad as he feared.

Gaige wrinkled her nose at the dead, unmasked guard by Rhys's feet. "What's with him? Some Pandoran illness?" She backed up. "Better not be contagious." 

Angel squinted, staring at the soldier. "That looks like..."

Rhys took a vial from his storage and reloaded his fine needle. "Eridium?"

She shuddered. "Eridium sickness. Happens from inhaling aerosolized Eridium."

"Eridium gas? That uh...that exists?"

"Yeah. And Gaige, don't worry, I'm confident it's not contagious like this."

Rhys's heart rate increased. "Did...Matriarch do this? Is she experimenting on these people?"

"Not sure. It's not like Eridium isn't plentiful on Pandora. He could've been in an Eridium mine, or... Weirdly, the sickness is far from debilitating... We need to get out of here."

"True." Rhys felt she was withholding something in the way she carried herself uncertainly, words careful, but it didn't seem worth pressing, yet. He turned to Gaige. “Did you reach anyone at Atlas?” He stepped over the body and walked out of the open door. He moved with purpose, shoulders and chin raised in determined frustration. The others kept step with him. 

She replied with a noncommital sound. “I don’t know, brah. I tried but I don’t think it got through. These people really tightened on security lately. I could only send out a fast message, not wait for a reply.”

Rhys slowed his stride. A sudden, nauseating idea grabbed him, and he fiddled with his sleeve. He observed his changed hand. It was calm, though he felt an odd pulse through his arm in response to his current thoughts. “I…”

“What’s wrong.”

He dropped his voice, tone furtive. “She...she knows about you?”

Gaige furrowed her brow. “...You tell her or something?”

“What? No, no, why would I do that? It's not like she's practically all-seeing or anything! She has to know there's a traitor. You didn't even know why that guy back there was purpled out.”

“I'm here as an engineer, of course I'm not getting purpled or hearing about people being purpled! They compartmentalize information here more than the corrupt politicians on my homeworld. Besides, if she knew, wouldn’t I be in cuffs?” She demonstrated with her hands, jangling imaginary manacles.

“Maybe she wanted this,” Rhys thought out loud. He began to pace where he'd stopped, restless energy in his feet. “I mean, of course, she’s aware of everything that happens here, and if she is allowing it…it’s because it works out for them. But why ?” His changed fist tapped his forehead. “I...I can’t figure it out, and the last time I acted without thinking, I helped these people out unintentionally. It hurts my brain.”

“Well,” Angel said in a dry tone. “Look at it this way. You can stay with these people and get more wires in you, or you can leave. Sounds like one of those options is more likely to give you freedom.”

Gaige had mentioned that? Well, that was simple enough. So why did it feel like a trap? Rhys chewed his cheek. He slumped. “I don’t know…I don’t have any other options. I, uh…really don’t want to be implanted with their weird cybernetics.” He knew he had to decide. “I guess if it is a trap, we’ll find out. Alright, escape it is, then.”

"Good attitude," Gaige agreed. "Let's keep that."

“So what’s the plan?”

She spoke in an excited tone. “There's a tunnel that leads up to the outside not far from here. It's a back entrance for staff, so it's not heavily defended, but there will be resistance. With me, Angel, and DT, we can defeat anyone in our way.”

“DT?”

Gaige grinned. “My best friend. You’ll meet him soon. Come on.”

They trekked down the fluorescent passageway, following the short girl. Rhys wondered when this “DT” person would show up. 

“So," Gaige chatted, "Atlas is interesting, now. Before it was all boring military crap." She talked like it was just a normal day. “Don’t get me wrong. The weaponry has always been great, but now the company is way less pretentious. Probably still corrupted to the heavens, but. Eh. I like these new guns that bypass shields.” She brandished a model Rhys recognized. Firefate Eigths. 

“A great line.” Rhys chuckled in spite of his tension. “I’m also partial to the Creator Fifths sniper rifles.” Sure, Rhys hadn’t used those guns himself, but he’d seen plenty of demonstrations. He'd only ever really used a pistol and had never actually shot anything more than a target at the firing range.

Gauge whistled. “Been eying that one. Well, no better rec’ than from the CEO, himself.”

“He has to sell them, you know,” Angel pointed out

“So? If they were junk, no one would buy ‘em." 

“You’d be surprised.”

"'Sides, everything is a free-for-all out here, anyway. Companies are all shit, but guns? Guns are how you survive.”

Rhys inputted, “you’d just have to find out…And here’s a little secret for being my rescuer, Gaige. Atlas is working on bullet tracking technology. We are going to utterly wipe the floor with all the other companies soon.”

Gaige bounced in her stride a bit. “Gaah, I hope you’ll send me one of those guns. That is insane!”

“If I get out of this place in one piece, I’ll send you an arsenal.”

“Hell yeah! I knew this adventure would pay off! And Axton said it wouldn't! Hah, in his face!” 

Was Rhys the only one growing worried? The halls just kept going. Although, so far there were no guards. How big was this place? 

Rhys looked briefly at Angel. “So, what did the Matriarch give to you?”

“Oh, that device from before?” Angel seemed to think for a moment. “It’s like a power dampener. If I am losing control, I can use it to calm my power. After we left Opportunity, she told me I could keep from hurting people that way.”

Rhys supposed that was what Matriarch had meant by offering to help her. He knew that his mother always had ulterior motives, though, so he asked, “so, is it a permanent solution? And can they track you through it?”

“Permanent?" She crossed her arms. "I'm not sure. It may work indefinitely, maybe not. I don’t think they could’ve tampered with it, however. It’s Eridian. They don't know much about it, but Matriarch seemed convinced it would help. I’ve been using my powers to…converse with it.”

“Converse?”

“Yeah…tech talks to me. It’s my powers. It's half of why Hyperion got where it did. It's also why I can't control it. When I freak out, my powers scream for help, and every nearby device tries to kill whatever is in the room with me. Even Echo devices suddenly become bombs, somehow.”

“Wow,” Rhys laughed. “That’s pretty awesome. The talking part.”

"That's Angel for ya," Gaige said. She patted Angel's shoulder. "The coolest gal in the universe."

Angel actually smiled at that, a bit of pink dusting her cheeks. She looked at the floor. "Well, Eridian tech isn't the same," Angel admitted. "I can't really talk to it the same way. It's. Foreign."

Rhys realized that didn’t answer his question fully. “You said you saw a vision, though. What vision? Is that how you talked to it?"

She looked back up. “Sort of. I saw…the Vault. The one the cult is going nuts for.”

“What about it?”

“It-” She abruptly stopped speaking, brows and lips tightening, eyes turning colder. “You’re just as greedy and selfish as my father, aren’t you?”

“I- What?” he said, taken aback. “I’m just asking questions?!”

“Let’s just escape, alright?” She glared and stomped ahead to avoid his gaze. 

Gaige leaned over and whispered. "Yeah, don't talk about Vaults with her. Touchy subject."

Rhys sighed inwardly. Of course, Jack’s daughter would be prickly. Though,from what had happened to her, it would be a shock if she wasn’t. Especially where Jack was concerned-

A guard suddenly rounded the corner. Gaige shoved in front of Angel, fast as a cat. Gaige whisked up her gun and offloaded it into his head without even hesitating. The guy didn’t even get to utter a word, collapsing in blood. Rhys couldn’t help feeling a surge of satisfaction as his own brand of gun was used to kill one of his captors. It was a fantastic product, he thought, no louder than a bag of popcorn.

“Whoa,” Rhys said. “That, uh...was fast. Fast murder.” 

“Yep,” Gaige said. "We're probably gonna see more soon."

"Thanks," Angel said quietly, looking a little shaken. "I almost forgot about the bad guys."

"No problemo, precious."

They ascended to a new floor.

There was a patrol here. The guards were ahead of them, walking away. Gaige raised her gun and fired. Each burst fire was as clean and precise as before. The guards obviously had not been expecting any fight. They went down like potatoes. No wonder she’d once been a Vault Hunter. Rhys had a feeling he hadn't seen even a fraction of her abilities.

They reached a long, gray corridor, and at the end was a room. Rhys paused when the others turned down another way. The girls looked back at him questioningly. “That has to be important," he explained. "It’s the biggest door we've seen in this section.”

Angel made a face. “So? Shouldn’t we get on with the escape?”

“I need intel,” Rhys said intently. After all, he hadn't forgotten Jack. All he needed were some schematics of this bunker. He assumed Jack would be in some kind of prison block.

He felt another pulse through his arm. The resolve that swept through him was so strong, it felt almost like it came from somewhere outside of himself, alien. It moved his legs before he even considered it. He trotted forward and smashed his hand into the button beside the door. It slid open.

The room was like another soulless office. There were two support columns near the door. The lights were dimmed. Again, plants framed the corners and scenic paintings graced the walls, reminding Rhys of Matriarch's office. There sat a laptop on a desk. Well, the bench was functioning as a desk. A workbench of sorts. An array of odd tools were lined up neatly beside it. Rhys couldn't make out what kind they were. 

“Rhys?”

Rhys's head jerked. Jack gazed back at him, blinking as if wondering if he was imagining this. He was bound to a chair not unlike the operating one Rhys had been in before. “Jack?”

"Man, I never thought I'd say this out loud, but it's freaking amazing to see you, cupcake! That wasn't sarcastic, okay? I'm tired."

Rhys asked, looking around the room again. “Why are you in here?”

“How the hell should I know? Why are you?”

“I’m escaping. You have no clue at all?”

“The guards just dragged me here...like a long time ago. No idea how long I've been sitting in this ice box. It's goddamned cold! Didn’t say a freaking word.”

Rhys moved forward and started yanking the restraints free. He felt a tingle run over his neck at Jack’s proximity but ignored it. 

To no one's surprise, Rhys mused, Jack started ranting. “So, your crazy ass mother started talking destiny at me. Tried to act like she's sooo much better than me, too. If they weren't zapping the shit out of me, I woulda rearranged her face a bit, if you catch my meaning. Told her I didn’t give two shits and she should give my daughter back.

"And then!" He laughed loudly. "And then she has the nerve to try to tell me not to go near you-" He started guffawing, gasping for air.

"Jack-!"

"-like-like she's some high school helicopter mom, I swear-"

"Jack, please-"

"I mean, what am I, sixteen?!"

"I think more like one," Rhys groused. "You big baby with your new baby body."

"Says the baby-faced twink."

"You learn that word recently? Are you proud of your vocabulary?"

"Always. My vocabulary is perfect. Anyway, where the hell have-?” Jack stopped abruptly, oddly, turning his attention fully towards him. “Yikes, you look...”

“What?” Rhys asked, pulling the last strap off. He looked back at Jack. Jack’s expression was hard to read.

Jack shook his head and stood up, rubbing his arms. “Shitty. Like really really unbelievably shitty, cupcake.”

“Thanks,” Rhys intoned dryly. "And you look like you need a few sauna treatments, yourself!" He pointed at Jack's now-loose hair and dry-looking fingers.

“No, no, I’m not just being an ass this time. You look like utter hell, Rhys.”

It was rare when Jack used his actual name. It added weight to his statement. What did Jack mean, exactly? He raised a hand and brushed back his hair a bit self-consciously. It did feel dry, messy, and unpleasant. He’d been using the offered hygiene products, though they were inferior to his own.

Jack's eyes seemed glued to Rhys.

Rhys tittered, "is-is it uh, that bad?"

"We'll deal with it, later."

That wasn't comforting. "Great! I am almost afraid to look in a mirr-mmph-" Jack's mouth slammed against his. Rhys let out a surprised sound, muffled against Jack's lips. 

There were a couple of noises behind them, a cough and an "ugh."

He yanked back like Jack had burned him. "Jack! For stinkin' real?"

"What's the matter? It's been a second or two since we even saw each other, tiger, and not like that crone let us finish kissing last time."

Rhys flushed in pure humiliation. "Okay, but there's uh...an audience..."

Angel muttered behind him, “that explains everything.”

Jack’s eyes darted past Rhys. “Angel?!” He exclaimed.

Rhys backed away as Jack jerkily moved forward, but Angel retreated with an unreadable expression, causing him to freeze without making it very far.

She mumbled. "Matriarch told me you were going to die.”

Jack looked confused. "Huh?"

"She told me that too," Rhys added. 

Jack turned back to the instruments, the muscles of his face tightening. Rhys studied the tools and realized some were surgical. Some were not. A jack, pliers, screwdrivers, scalpel, knife, a few data pads. He picked one up. 

Subject: Catalyst is becoming too troublesome

Rhys felt cold. "Either they were going to torture you, or..." Matriarch had told him Jack was going to die... Not anymore, he told himself.

"Or take my AI out of this body," Jack said, eyes widening a bit. "Effectively fridging me."

Jack stared for a moment more before looking sideways at Rhys. “I hope your escape plan involves killing some of these weirdos,” he said, rolling his shoulders. “Could really use a good homicide right now.”

“If they get in the way, then yes. Almost certainly.”

Jack glanced over at Gaige, who'd kept an understandable silence. There was a long pause, and Rhys felt sweat starting to accumulate on his own brow. Realization seemed to dawn on Jack. “You!”

Fuck, this was what Rhys had hoped wouldn't happen. “Jack, can-?”

“Me!” Gaige agreed, raising her metal hand in front of her. “So, it’s true you aren’t dead, asshole, huh? Angel didn't mention you being here.”

Angel said dryly, "I was hoping they tossed him out of the car somewhere on the way here."

“Nope,” Jack said, stepping toward Gaige, puffing up like an intimidating animal. “Not dead. And unfortunately, neither are you. Been a while since I’ve seen one of the piece of shit bandits responsible for my death. But worse than being responsible for my death, you were responsible for Angel’s...so get the hell away from my daughter before you regret being in the same room as her.” 

Gaige growled back, looking far from scared. “Hey, I’ll definitely take the credit in ending you, but Angel, that was not my fault. I didn’t kill her. You did!”

“Jack, Jack-” Rhys said, trying to grab his arm, “stop-”

Jack yelled at her, not even seeming to acknowledge Rhys as he shrugged him off like an annoying fly, “you don’t know shit, you little pigtailed-!”

“Yeah I do, you fucking jackass!” 

“Gaige, let me,” Angel said, stepping between them. “Gaige has done more for me today than you have in years- She’s right that I died because of you! I died out of your selfishness! And you know it!” She stamped her foot.

“I didn’t wanna do it!” Gaige said. “Angel deserved better. But I had no choice. Now, I do!”

Jack closed his eyes and abruptly deflated. Rhys’s own body had locked up in the confrontation, but now shock replaced his fear. Jack put his hands on his face. “Frig’, I won’t be like her!” he snarled inexplicably. He took several breaths. “Come on, come on…"

There was only the sound of tensed breathing for several moments.

Jack finally spoke, unnaturally soft for him. “You’re right.”

“What?” Angel asked, mouth dropping.

“It was my fault, Angel. And I am sorry. I know I really, really fucked up. In every way imaginable.” Jack exhaled, lowering his hands as if meeting Angel’s gaze was harder than anything. “I made so many frickin' mistakes. Still, that does not mean she is a safe friend for you. If she can pull the plug on you in any circumstance, she is a danger!”

Angel looked guarded.

Rhys fidgeted, glancing back down the hall. “Guys.” He wanted to get moving before this all went to shit. Why couldn’t they do this later? 

Angel said with coldness, "Jack, if you want to be pissed at anyone, right now, how about your new boyfriend? He hasn't told you he's still dying, yet."

Gaige exclaimed, "huh?!"

"Ohhh, heyyy..." Rhys felt sheepish as all eyes turned to him. "Sooo... I guess Matriarch told you that," he said pointedly. Angel didn't respond, gripping her elbows with white hands.

Jack's face assumed an entirely new looked. Almost strained. "What?"

Rhys's attention darted to his Vault Key hand and back. "Yeah. Turns out. Their injection wasn't all that useful."

Jack suddenly looked completely exhausted. He hung his head, all the air leaving him in a gust. "Damn it."

Rhys wasn't sure he liked this defeated feeling Jack radiated now. He tried for a lighter tone. "It's not that bad, yet. I just need to get to Iphus. Matriarch talked like I had plenty of time."

"We don't even know if she's lyin' or not, but-" Jack swallowed. "Rhys. The time here in this shit place has felt longer than anything I've ever felt. No one else on our side is dying, got it? Not a single frickin' person."

Rhys joked, "oh, come on, Jack, don't look like that. It's starting to make me feel bad, and you don't do feelings, remember?" 

The sounds of hurried footsteps echoed to them before Jack could say a word. They turned their heads to see a group of guards aiming guns at them.

“Great,” Rhys said, “while you guys wasted your dramatic time, we’ve got company!”

A loudspeaker suddenly activated, making him jump. “Stand down, all of you!” A voice said. “Matriarch will not tolerate this defiance! Hands up and you will be shown mercy. Defy us and we cannot guarantee your survival!”

“All right,” Rhys said. “Now what?”

“Now it’s bloodbath time,” Jack hissed, twitching.

Gaige nodded, pulling a wide-eyed Angel behind a support column. “Looks that way!”

Jack yanked Rhys to the other pillar. Rhys started saying, “okay. Stay under cover whenever pos-” He gasped before they made it. A burning pain seared through his shoulder on his cybernetic side and tears sprang in his eyes. Jack slammed him to the column. Guns began firing in earnest, destroying the room, tearing through the laptop, sending tools flying, glass shattering, and plants whipping as they were shredded. 

"Goddamn it," Jack cursed against Rhys. "Is it bad?"

Rhys leaned against the support shakily. He felt warm fluid trickling down his chest. His white shirt was painted red. "Shit. It fucking hurts!"

Jack grabbed Rhys's changed hand and pushed it against the wound. Energy flickered over Rhys's knuckles where they touched, but Jack seemed oblivious, eyes on Rhys's. “Just keep pressure on it.” Rhys watched Jack tear a large strip of cloth off his thin shirt. He ushered Rhys's hand off the injury and wrapped the makeshift bandage around his shoulder. He drew it tight. And tighter until Rhys grimaced, cursing. Jack tied it. They looked at each other, lingering.

"Uh, thanks," Rhys spoke through his teeth, as they waited for the bullets to slow. "I kinda thought...her people wouldn't try to kill me. I am the only one who can open the Vault!"

"Guess someone didn't get a memo." Jack turned to the girls. "Angel, are you okay over there?" he called.

"Yeah," Angel said. "We didn't get hit." Rhys saw her starting to glow, however. He saw even the soldiers taking steps back. Angel’s tattoos flared brighter. Oh crap. “Executing phaseshift,” Angel said, she peered around the pillar. “Wow, Matriarch gave you boys a lot of tech, didn’t she? Unfortunately, they don't like you guys too much.”

Silence engulfed the room. The soldier's guns clicked as if empty.

“What the fuck?!” One of them snapped. 

“My gun’s jammed.”

"My taser is melted!"

One of the guns even started smoking. A couple exploded, sending showers of blood across the room. The soldiers yelled and threw their weapons away from themselves. Angel quit glowing abruptly.

"That's my girl!" Jack looked as full of life as he could in his bedraggled state, once more. His body trembled for a moment against Rhys. After a second. to see if the guns were truly done exploding, Rhys figured, Jack darted from the cover, moving viciously. He leapt at a guard, wrapped broad hands around his head, and snapped his neck in two seconds.

The other guards swarmed around him, but Jack was undeterred. "Finally getting some of your own medicine, bastards, huh?!" Jack was doing pretty well brawling them this time around, fists catching each in turn. A guard grabbed his arm and twisted. Jack headbutted him so hard Rhys heard a crunch.

Okay, maybe he really hadn’t wanted to kill Rhys, Rhys thought. It was so easy for him to do that. Still, it didn’t make him feel that much better that Jack had just apparently non-lethally strangled him in the transport out of frustration.

“Alright, it’s show time,” Gaige said. “Ready to meet DT, Rhys?”

“Uh...sure?” he said, confused.

Gaige raised her arm and a floating robot digistructed into thin air. “Do what you do best, baby! Oh but don’t hurt Jack, he’s on our side, sorta...weirdly. For the moment.” DT made a gargled sound and floated toward the nearest soldier.

“What the hell!” a soldier shouted. "Okay, we need some backup-" Massive claw-like blades manifested in the robot’s hand and slashed his throat open.

“Oh, a death bot,” Rhys said, brow raised. "How did I not see that coming? I feel like it should’ve been obvious.”

Gaige screamed, fist pumping, "Anarchy forever! Go Deathtrap! Go go go!"

The soldiers had started to flee, forgetting even Jack. Deathtrap shot them down with a laser. 

It was over.

Jack turned to Gaige. "You can't kill anything without this bot, can you?"

She scowled. "What was that?"

"You make it do all the work! Even if I wanted to, I'm not being rescued by some two-bit Vault Hunter with a portable lawnmower. I'm rescuing us. You may as well put it away." 

Deathtrap turned and made an offended noise. Gaige walked towards jack, jamming a finger into his chest. "Are you scared of the bot that tore your lungs out last time or something?"

"Hardly."

"This was my plan, you numbskulled dunderhead! My rescue!"

Jack puffed with amusement. "And a drunken spiderant could've came up with it since your plan looks a lot like 'mow down everything in my path', red!"

"That's rich coming from you, Mr. Hyperion Overlord! You have a better idea?"

Jack chuckled. "Nah, we're stuck on this course, now. But how about a little deal? We're gonna find out once and for all who is better at killing, Vault Hunter. You don't get your little bandit pals for help here. Just you and me. Whoever kills the most people between here and freedom gets to say they rescued this group. And your bot? Doesn't count!"

"Of course Deathtrap counts! I built him from scratch." Gaige considered. "But I don't need him to kick your ego into next week. Deal!"

"Idiots," Rhys muttered. "Actual idiots."

Angel coughed pointedly. "And you are trying to date the most idiotic one."

Rhys felt his face screw up. "I'm not-! I don't have to talk about this with you... Alright, back to our escape, everyone, please." Rhys stomped forward. He needed to hit something. The others followed. "Don't get us killed over your little bet, guys."

Jack chortled. "You should know competition only makes me better, Rhysie. How else would I be CEO of Hyperion?"

Gaige snorted. "Because Helios was a big oppressive circus and they chose their biggest clown?" 

"Says the girl with red hair and a skull on her vest."

The group continued on their route, making it through a service tunnel. At the end waited another oh-so-unique shut door.

Rhys, still needing to hit something, punched it with his cybernetic fist angrily. He wasn’t accounting for the agony that ripped through his shoulder from the shock traveling through his wound. His eyes watered. He grabbed his shoulder, whining, “owww-ow-ow-ow! Fuck, why did I think that was going to work, whyyy?” At least there was a slight dent in the metal. 

“Wow, Rhysie,” Jack said, fakely impressed. “You really are just the strongest warrior we got, huh?”

“Let the big boys take care of this, citizen!” Gaige laughed. “DT, if you would!” DT purred and melted through the door with his beam. “Ta da!”

“Cool. Great.” Rhys frowned, pride bruised. “Let’s just get out of here.”

Unfortunately, about twenty more soldiers waited, all facing them expectantly in a block formation...

Standing weirdly still.

Deathtrap proceeded forward, blades raised.

The soldiers didn't raise guns. Instead, they began to...glow? Sparks of purple energy raced down their line. Hisses, grinds, hacks, and growls filled the chamber. Their bodies writhed weirdly, morphing, and Rhys saw claws, fangs, and horns springing from their uniforms.

Jack groaned, "this fricken bullshit again?”

Rhys's left arm started buzzing. He rubbed it, heart racing. “You know what this is?”

“Saw this shit on Elpis. The Dahl soldiers near the Vault transformed. Weird. No Vault here.”

Angel whispered in trepidation, "it was the only known instance in which Eridium sickness progressed to this stage."

The beast-like men struck back at Deathtrap, who gave a startled rumble, knocked down as they pounced. Guns fired. Gaige gave a war cry and Angel started glowing. Rhys felt Jack push him down to the floor, telling him to stay there.  

The intercom sounded over the racket.

“Surrender now. The Ascended have arrived to halt your advance! For The Matriarch!"