A wave of guilt passed through Rhys while his mechanical hand reached to rub the back of his neck. “Oh, right..sorry.”“It’s the change, isn’t it?” The accountant asked, basically reading Rhys’ mind. The slight nod of the taller male allowed Vaughn to continue. “ I can understand, I mean..within the past year, so much crap has happened. I mean..Vasquez down-grades you. We end up on Pandora, fighting for our lives, I might add. We’ve killed people. Brought down Helios. Made deals. good and bad ones.. And we even brought Helios back from the ashes.”“Don’t forget- We somehow brought Handsome Jack back from the dead with..whatever the hell that was in the Vault.” Rhys added.“Exactly! So, how about this, me, you, Yvette and possibly Handsome Jack go out and have some sort of relaxing vacation. I know you can convince Jack. It was your profession after all. And also, might I add…you two are a little..closer…eh?” The last sentence Vaughn spoke struck Rhys’ heart. Blood rush curled around Rhys’ cheeks making the embarrassment more visible.“Would you keep it down?” Rhys hissed out a whisper towards the friend.An amused chuckle passed Vaughn’s lips which brought a question to mind. “Speaking of which. How did you and “He Who Should Not Be Named” get together. One minute, you two are out on Pandora and the next minute, he has his arm around you. I know you’ve had a thing for him even before he died, so…did you tell him orrr..” The friend hoped the change in subject would relax Rhys a little more..yet the question seemed to make him more tense.The memory of the initial “confession” made the assistant groan in annoyance. “Long or short version..?” “Hmm… Medium. Not so short that I have no visualization but not so long that it would take twelve books to complete.”A sigh quickly shot past Rhys’ lips as he began. “Well..lets start from the beginning.-” —-Being on Pandora was a rather normal thing for Rhys by now- though Helios had been completely built, he still had to run errands for Jack since he had gotten “promoted” to CEO Assistant. Don’t get him wrong, he enjoys it better than his previous position as Vice Janitor. He also enjoys the fact that Jack promoted Yvette and Vaughn both- he even offered Sasha and Fiona jobs. However, Sasha is still rather ticked at Rhys after their first and only “date” and doesn’t want to be around his “smelly mug”, thus she declined. Fiona declined simply because of the memories she would be leaving behind if she had taken the offer…aannnd she still doesn’t trust Jack. At all. Basically if she had the option to eat rotten skag or be alone with Jack for only thirty minutes, she would make sure to hold her breath when she goes to take the first bite.Jack, on the other hand..it was odd just to walk again, let alone on a hot, odorous, foul-loving planet. For as many times as he has actually been in Pandora, he’s never had this much trouble getting to places. And Rhys, poor Rhys, is stuck hearing him complain as if walking is the worst thing that could ever happen to the..special flower that is Handsome Jack. ‘Why did I have to agree to this..? I could have just said “No, sir. I can handle this one on my own.” But nooooo.. I just had to say “If you don’t mind having someone tag along, I can have it done within a day.” Jesus Christ…I don’t think I have heard him whine so much in a minute.’ Rhys grumbled to himself, allowing his feet to slowly drag with each step, showing his physical and even mental exhaustion. Mainly mental.At this point, Rhys had briefly forgotten why they were even out there, but then he remembered. They needed some more spare parts for some “big ass robot that would look so freaking cool on display.” As much as he wanted to say no, he couldn’t..Jack was giving him the “puppy dog” look and Jack knows Rhys couldn’t say “no” to such a face.The more whining that came out of the CEO’s mouth made the assistant really want to just punch something or just…fall over. Just as he was about to resort to, more than likely, the second option, Rhys had spotted what seemed to be a small town in the distance. “Shut up for a minute and loo.” Rhys spoke in a tired yet relieved tone as he pointed to the building silhouettes in the distance.“Did..did uh you just tell me to ‘shut up’, cupcake?” Jack spoke in a harsh tone. “You don’t tell me what to do, Rhysie. It seems you have gotten your position mixed up in that small head of yours.”Rhys ignored the semi-threat as he looked blankly at the older male. He simply was too tired to feel regret at this point. “There is a town… maybe they have a shop or something we could rest at. If you want to stay here and complain more, go for it. I’m going to go look for a place to sit..”Jack watched Rhys walk farther ahead of him, rather surprised, proud and annoyed at the kids’ actions. With a childish grunt and a kick of the dirt beneath him, Jack swiftly caught up to the rushing male. As they passed rugged building after rugged building, one shop in particular had caught their eyes. Without hesitation, Rhys had already began to make his way to the entrance however, Jack was quick to try to stop him. He recognized this place. It was one of the old locations Moxxi had. He and Moxxi still have bad blood ad since Moxxi is rather popular, she always has people watching her back for her. Jack really was not in the mood for any confrontation, though he will kill someone in a heartbeat if need be if someone tries to create any issues. “Hey, uh..kiddo..maaaybe we should continue to look for a place. Anywhere but here is perfectly fine by me. Hell..even Hollow Point would be better than here..” Jack stated yet Rhys ignored the pleading male and walked inside. Jack had no choice but to follow. Upon entering the bar, Jack noticed that nothing has changed except for the owner. The designs are the same, the drinks were the same, even some of the people were the same. Just no Moxxi, upon Jacks’ relief. He would be even more relieved if he hadn’t recognized some of the faces. Sticking close to Rhys, he calmly whispered to Rhys. “Look, this isn’t a good place..a bunch of these people reeeaaally don’t like me. I say we get out of here before things get out of hand.”As Rhys looked around, he noticed people were staring and some had their hands near the weapons they carried. Great..the one chance he had to sit down and get something to eat, there is a risk of getting shot. Seems like another normal day at this point. As Rhys turned to walk out of the shop, a low gruff voice spoke up.“Hyperion assholes aren’t allowed…especially the leader of the Hyperion assholes…”Rhys turned to the male who spoke out and waved a reassuring hand as a nervous smile eased wearily across his lips.”Okay okay, we were just leaving, no need for violence or anything.”“You don’t get it.. yoa’ll see..you guys have already tainted this air with your Hyperion filth… You kill us out and now you’re wantin’ta take more from us? Nah nah…ya’ll aren’t gonna leave so easily. Not until ya’ll’ve spilled the blood that we have.” “This isn’t good, Rhysie..” Jack spoke quietly as he slowly reached for the gun he had strapped to his hip. At this point, guns and angry faces were pointed at the two cornered men. Looks like they’re going to have to fight their way out of this. Rhys swiftly grabbed the stun baton he had holstered on his hip as well and lunged forward toward the nearest target. The slightest touch from the baton sent the person flying across the room which triggered the other attackers. Jack began to shoot the others that were going for Rhys as the assistant whacked away. Bodies flying everywhere, screaming and yelling in either agony or joy. As the crowd died down and they thought it was over…until a Badass Marauder made a lovely appearance. Jack grabbed Rhys’ arm and pulled him behind the bar for cover. “So here’s the plan…you jump on his back, use your baton thingy and shove it right in his eye then I’ll come up and shoot him like the badasses we are. Got it? Good..now go!” Jack ordered. Rhys was trying to piece together what the plan was but the Marauder was not giving him the time. Bullets began flying at the assistant which made him yell in panic as he was trying to reach the enemy’s back. With a grunt, Rhys jumped and wrapped his arms around the really gross neck of the badass while trying to maintain his balance. No luck considering the Badass was spinning him around like a horse on a carousel. Dizzy and nearly sick, Rhys raised the baton and jammed it into the eye, causing the body to tense and spazm. Jack took that as a cue and stood up, aiming for the head. Rhys jumped down then heard a gun shot followed by other rapid gun shots. The Marauder fell to the floor, a pool of blood surrounding him. “God damn it!” Jack shouted in pain.Rhys looked over to his boss to find him leaned against a wall, holding his bleeding shoulder. Apparently when the Badass was spazming, his fingers curled around his gun, pulling the trigger and basically rapid fired until the body fell. One of the wandering bullets hit Jack’s shoulder. Rhys panicked and rushed to Jack’s side.“See! This is why I didn’t want to come in here in the first place! Son of a taint, that hurts!” Jack exclaimed.Guilt rushed over Rhys immediately. “J..just sit down, I’ll go look for a healing pack.”“So now you’re going to leave me alone? What if more come back, huh? I can’t protect myself, cupcake.” Jack hissed.Rhys admitted Jack was right…there was basically no other choice but to “carry” Jack. The CEO looped his good arm over the younger male’s shoulders while slightly leaning on the thinner frame. The blood loss was making him rather dizzy and Rhys could see it. The assistant wrapped an arm around around the clothed waist of the male while leading him around the bar in search for any healing packs.Thirty minutes of searching, they finally come across a loot chest however…the timing may have been too late. Jack grew pale and weak. Rhys laid the older male down in a sitting position allowing the weak body to lean against a rather frail wall. “Hang in there. Hopefully there is something in here that can help.” Rhys spoke softly to the dozing male. Upon opening the chest, money and a health pack laid inside to Rhys’ relief. Snagging the pack, he turned to tend to Jack whom had passed out…Rhys panicked and injected the red serum into the wounded male. It almost immediately closed both sides of the wound and within minute, Jack’ color began to come back..but Jack still wasn’t awake..Rhys tried gently shaking him, nudging him.. speaking to him..anything he could to wake him and..nothing…Not a word or a single movement from the male.. Rhys began to tremble as he placed his forehead on Jack’s newly healed shoulder.“I’m sorry, Jack. I’m so sorry. I failed you again. I should have listened to you. I shouldn’t have been so selfish to go into the bar. If I would have just listened to you, you wouldn’t be..be here..” A stray tear eased down the cheek of Rhys, staining the dirty cloth Jack wore. “I wish I could redo it…I wish I would have listened..Jesus Christ, usually if someone is in love with someone else, you listen to them, right? Damn it.. damn it!” The kid began pouring his heart out to the still body…until the body wasn’t still anymore.. A chuckle could be heard from the wounded which Rhys immediately sat up to investigate. His cheeks and nose red from the tears and embarrassment alike. He sat there and stared at the male who was now laughing before him.“You know..I wasn’t passed out that entire time, right pumpkin?” A sly smirk found its way to Jack’s lips.“J-Jack? Wait…what? Youre okay? Wait…you heard all of that?” Rhys spoke nervously..feeling his heart drop into his stomach. “Yup- But to be completely honest with ya’, I always kinda knew~ I was stuck inside your head after all. I just wanted to play possum to see how far this would go. I gotta say, you put on quite the show.” “You’re such an asshole!” Rhys exclaimed as he stood from his spot.Jack quickly followed and grabbed Rhys by the wrist, pulling the thinner frame closer to him. With that one movement, they were inches away from each other. With a smooth purr of his voice, Jack stared into the watery eyes of Rhys and spoke. “You know you love me, sweetheart.~”
