“What do you mean by ‘leaving’?”Rhys paused, halfway to the door already. “Leaving. As in walking out that door. Exiting the premises. You know what the word means, Jack.”“I didn’t say you could leave.” “I don’t need your permission.”“We’re not done here.”“Oh, I think we are. You got what you wanted out of this, I’m done. Goodbye, Jack.”“Rhysie, pumpkin, please don’t go.”Rhys sighed, wondering why he was such a loser to be falling for this again. “Why, Jack? You don’t want me here, you just want an audience, and anyone can fill that role.”“No, it’s not the same without you.”Rhys shook his head, “I’m just a habit you’ll get around to breaking at some point. Sorry Jack, but I’ve got better things to do than wait around for the inevitable airlocking when you get bored.” He kept walking till he got to the door, pulling on it and finding it had been remotely locked. A quick hack got it open, and he left. Jack wasn’t even really trying that hard to stop him, Rhys thought, so he must have been right in what he’d said. The next morning Rhys headed to his own department instead of his desk in Jack’s office. He closed the door behind him after entering Henderson’s office and asked for his old job back. Henderson had been around Hyperion long enough to know not to ask any unnecessary questions. He logged in and re-authorized Rhys’ account with the proper credentials and sent him back to his old desk. His cubicle was just as he’d left it. He tore down the various Handsome Jack promotional posters from the walls, shoving them into the recycling before sitting in his old chair. It wasn’t long before he was back in the flow of checking line after line of code. He could still tell who in the department had written it by the repeated errors. By the time lunch rolled around and he took his comm off DND, he had fifteen texts from Jack’s receptionist asking where the hell he was and why had he forwarded his PA email to hers. Rhys felt a bit sorry for her, she was a nice enough girl. He sent back a quick apology and a goodbye. He had no plans to go back, and told her as much with no explanation why. Her reply was just a string of curses, which made him laugh a little. It was a quiet week. Everything was back to how it had been before Jack had swept into his life like the tornado of destruction he was. The only real change was Vasquez being more of an asshole, but that could have been worse. He’d built up a tougher skin while working closer with Jack, and he just ignored his former rival now. Vaughn hadn’t asked any questions about Rhys’ self-reassignment. He was a good friend like that. He did, however, offer to buy comfort food filled lunch, complete with ice cream, once they’d manage to sync their schedules. They were mostly ignored, until someone pulled a chair up to their table. “Hey,” the man said in a quiet voice as he straddled the back of the chair. “Your Handsome Jack’s little what do you call it… PA! That’s you isn’t it?”“No,” Rhys said flatly between bites of his ice cream, not even looking at the man. “I quit. Just a programmer again.”“You what? Quit?”“Yep. So whatever you hoped to get passed on to good old Handsome Jack, you’ll have to do the regular way.” “Handsome Jack airlocked my brother.”“Handsome Jack airlocks a lot of people,” Rhys said. “But not you. He let you just quit, with you knowing all his pass codes and things.”“Jack programmed Hyperion. He knows how to change his password.”“But are you sure he did?”Rhys dropped his spoon into the empty bowl. “I don’t know what you’re trying to get at here, but it’s not going to work, so just get lost.”“Something made you quit. Surely you want a little payback for something, don’t you?”Rhys finally turned to look at the man. “No.”“What if I shot your friend here?”Vaughn raised his hands defensively. “Don’t drag me into this, I’ve got a presentation in half an hour. I don’t have time for a lame finger gun fight.” He got up from the table and collected their dishes for the trash. “I’ll see you later, bro.”Rhys nodded. The man slid his chair closer to him once Vaughn was gone. “I do have an actual gun.”“Don’t really care,” Rhys replied with a shrug. “Not like I have much to live for at this point.”“Jack really fucked you up good, didn’t he,” the man said. “So why don’t you help me out?”“No.”“Just come with me and try your code on the door.”“I guarantee you it won’t work.”“If you won’t try, I’m just going to have to go up there and force the receptionist to open it. Do you really want her death on your hands when you could have prevented it?”“You’re an asshole.”The man grinned, “Not as much of an asshole as Handsome Jack.”“I think I might like him better. He never blamed me for things he decided to do.”When they reached the outside of Jack’s office, the man gestured with the gun for the receptionist to put her hands on the desk and told her to keep them there. He pointed at the door lock and waved Rhys to it. “You realize that even if I manage to open the door, he’s just going to shoot you,” Rhys said helpfully. “Sources tell me he’s scheduled in R&D for a meeting. Won’t be back before we’re done.”“And what exactly is it you plan on doing?”“A little thieving. A little sabotage. A little bombing.”Rhys shrugged. “Suit yourself. Better get closer. If it does open, it doesn’t stay open long.” Once the man had stepped up to the door, Rhys plugged in the door code that Jack had taught him would trigger lock down. A shielded door slammed down behind them, separating them from reception and trapping them in a narrow space against the door. Gas started piping in from a vent in the ceiling. “You little shit,” the man growled, turning the gun on Rhys. “You did that on purpose.”Rhys couldn’t help himself and grinned. “Yeah, I did.” The gun fired and he felt the bullet impact his chest and pass through it. “Guess I should have expected that,” he said, before passing out from the gas. —-“You are not leaving me like this, Rhys. Come on, wake up.”Rhys groaned, and slowly opened his eyes to a brightly lit white ceiling. He recognized it. He’d spent a lot of time in this clinic over the years. He tried to lift his flesh hand to his aching head but found it was stuck. Glancing over he found out why; Jack was holding his hand in both of his. “Let go,” Rhys said weakly. “No. Never.”“Jack, stop. Just… just go.”“Rhysie, you almost died. If I hadn’t skipped that meeting and been in the office…”“So what? The janitors would have cleaned up the mess. There’s no reason for you to be here.”“You are such a goddamn idiot. We need to talk.”Rhys reached over for the nurse call button with his cybernetic arm but the movement pulled on his wound and he winced, letting his arm fall back beside him again. Between Jack’s tight grip and his own weakness, he was trapped. “Fine. Talk.”“I had a lot of time to think after you left.”“That must have been so difficult for you.”“Shut up and listen. I am trying to handle this like a proper, calm adult.”“First time for everything I guess.”“I swear I will gag you with your own socks until I finish if I have to, cupcake.”Rhys snorted but didn’t say anything. Jack kept Rhys’ hand held tight in one of his and ran the other through his own hair nervously. “Marry me.”“What?”“You were right, I haven’t made any big show of how much you matter. I’ve been burned a lot in the past, pumpkin. You know that. It’s hard to.., well, it’s hard to have feelings. I don’t like it. But I like you, and I know I want you around.”“You want me to marry you because you ‘like’ me.”“Alright, fine, I’ll say it. I love you Rhysie. Marry me.”Rhys stared at him a moment longer, then closed his eyes. “Pumpkin?”“I’m thinking.”“Oh. Okay.” Rhys thought about how miserable he’d been since he left. Sure, the work had been easier, but it was far from exciting. He missed Jack, it was true. But was it enough?The silence stretched way past comfortable for Jack. “Rhysie? Cupcake? An answer or something would really help me out. I’m kinda nervous here.”Rhys opened his eyes, slowly, with a huff. It reminded Jack of the last time he’d woken Rhys up from an unplanned nap on the office couch. It had been adorable then, now it made his stomach clench from nerves. “You understand proposing to someone who broke up with you isn’t the way it goes?” A small smile graced his features as he saw Jack’s face fall. “But it isn’t the worst start. An ice cream date sounds even better. Try again later.”Jack smiled and ran his fingers though Rhys’ hair. “Consider it done. As soon as you’re out of here, it’s banana splits and sprinkles. We can even use sprinkles instead of confetti at the wedding!”
