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With a metallic thud and a creak the heavy yellow door of the small cot opened and someone stormed outside, one hand thrown defensively in the air while the other one removed the Hyperion yellow hood that covered the face.
“No, no, no, no, don’t shoot!”, a trembling voice begged, “this is not what it looks like!”
That voice…it sounded so familiar, you were unable to pin it down immediately but you instinctively lowered your weapon.
“I am NOT Jack!”, the person continued, finally revealing his face, “not at all…”
A set of beautiful eyes, a blue and a green one, stared tremulously at yours. The dark brown hair, with one large grey strand, was a mess and the face was grafted with a seemingly identical mask. Your heart skipped a beat at the sight. Roughly ten year after leaving Elpis, you’ve only seen that face on propagandistic posters and threatening ECHO messages. The very last time you had seen it in its original form, if you could even call it like that since it was another man’s looks implanted on him, was when Athena grabbed the collar of your jacket and tore you out of the vault, away from Jack and his doppelganger.
“My name is just-“
“Timothy”, you interrupted him, "Timothy Lawrence."
It was the moment his perplexed gaze lingered longer on you as expected when you finally realised that you were still standing there in full armor, helmet covering every possibility for him to recognise you. You clicked the button on the side of it and the visor sprang up. Timothy's eyes widened, your soft facial contours, that plushed sweet lips and those dark eyes in which he lost himself countless times while his hand caressed your smooth hair. He gulped, hands now shaking uncontrollably and his voice trembling as he breathed your name, still with a hint of doubt. He was locked up and hunted in this blasted casino for so many years, his mind might just as well play tricks and the one person he always longed for was not standing there but was a mere illusion, an infallible sign that loneliness finally broke him. In addition to this, it just couldn’t be you, Jack boasted with having tied up all the loose ends prior to his time as head of Hyperion, he never mentioned specifically killing you, but knowing his former megalomaniac boss, it was highly probable.
“You...you're real, rrrrright? I mean like you’re standing there, physically, not imaginary…cupcake?”
There it was, the way Jack spoke, how he rolled the “r” and stretched out the last part of word, paired with Timothy's adorable insecurity. You nodded, your lips forming a broad smile before you jumped at him, hugging him as tight as you could without crushing him. Timothy pressed his nose into your hair, inhaling deeply all of you as he wanted to breath in all the lost years at once as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. He still was a prisoner in this awful casino, but with you in his arms, he suddenly felt...good, calm, in a way he felt as he finally arrived at a placid home after an eternity of unrest, pain, torture and devouring fears. Shots in a distance broke your silent reunion, your heads got up in a sudden panic, scanning around for potential enemies. Even outside Pandora, it was hard up to nearly impossible to have a few minutes of non-threatening quiet. Timothy grabbed your hand and dragged you hurriedly behind him. He abruptly stopped at a strange device on a wall, two corners away, shoved his face against the lens, swearing under his breath. After a few seconds and a quick beeping noise, the wall slid aside, revealing some kind of large half empty storage room you were pushed inside before the wall closed again.
“Welcome to the casa de Timothy”, he waved his hands around, smiling like a child in a sweet shop.
You giggled at his gleeful childishness. While hunting the vault and defending against the invading Dahl forces on Elpis, you could always count on Timothy to keep you smiling. His sweet and innocent soul that felt out of place in the reality you were forced to reside in was what made him most precious, a rare jewel of kindness in a world that was rotten to its core. Your helmet and weapon dropped with a loud clunk to the floor, only two seconds before you threw yourself into his arms, sobbing with your face pressed on his chest.
“I missed you”, you blubbered out, “you don't know how much I missed you.”
Streams of tears ran down your cheeks, they emerged from an ineffable joy, locked up for almost an eternity and not to be stopped by anything. All your emotions broke loose, flooding the moment, overwhelming both of you as his tears joined yours. He squeezed you as hard as he was able to, not planning on letting you any time soon, hell, if he would never ever get away from this place he would at least be stuck here with you in his arms. He grabbed your chin, pulled your head up a bit and gazed deeply into your eyes.
“I love you, pumpkin. I survived hell, no matter what he did or told to me, I kept going, never knowing why, but now”, his voice broke off for a moment as he struggled to remain calm, “having you here in this hell with me, I finally realise why I could never give up, I knew we would find each other again someday, just like we found each other on Elpis ten years again.”
“I saw right through your act”, you gently mocked.
“And you didn't even know Jack at that time”, he replied amused, “I wonder how bad I actually must be as his body double.”
“Fortunately you're no use as mimicking Jack”, you cackled, finally pressing your lips on his.