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Betrayal comes in many shapes and forms. In this particular case, it had come in the form of an AI, then an hologram, and eventually an exoskeleton shoved into the corpse of some innocent casualty.
Bringing Handsome Jack back to life had been much easier than what Rhys had imagined. He had been ready to fight nail and teeth for it. Turns out he didn’t have to, in the end. Part of Rhys was… Almost disappointed, in fact. The harder this would have been, the sweeter the reward would be. Or so he thought.
Well, Jack had proved to be thankful enough, in his own personal way of course. The promise was kept - they both ruled Hyperion, together. Every waking day had become a blessing to Rhys. Not only did his lifelong dream come true - he was the leader, the boss! - but he got to live it alongside the one person he admired so much, the one person who was so important to his eyes.
Oh, but this lifestyle wasn’t quite easy either. You see, Jack had… His own way of ruling. He remained the face of Hyperion. Rhys operated from the shadows. The dirty job? That was all for him. Getting rid of employees? Rhys. Announcing the damages caused by Hyperion researches on Pandora wouldn’t be reimbursed? Rhys. Anything that Jack deemed not worthy of his time, it was a job for Rhys.
He did not complain, though. He had made a promise, a promise with himself, to stay no matter what, to never give up on Jack, on Hyperion, on his new life. He had earned it. He had earned this. So… Even if it was hard… Even if sometimes, it hurt… He would follow Jack, no matter what. Yes, he would hold on to that promise.
Though, what could he do? Rhys wasn’t a hero. He was just a normal human being, just some guy who got extremely lucky at some point. Of course his downfall would come. Of course it would. Eventually, it would.
It all happened way sooner than he thought it could, though. And it was such a stupid mistake - a speech that had went sour, a few bad decisions, a couple million bucks lost. It didn’t seem like much! Not to him, not to the new co-boss of Hyperion. Boy, was he wrong.
From that point in time, the moment he next saw Handsome Jack, he immediately knew there was something wrong. No Rhysie. No encouragement. No mention of how he was Jack’s favorite. None of the things that usually went on between the two of them. Instead, a dead, cold silence. That, until, after a long moment, where Rhys genuinely didn’t know what to do with himself, Jack finally spoke.
“I knew that moment would come, kiddo. I called it. Lasted longer than I would’ve thought. But still called it.”
The deliberate tone of Jack’s words pierced Rhys like an arrow to the chest. He knew what was about to come. Didn’t want to believe it, but he knew it.
“L-lasted?” He repeated, incredulous. “Listen, Jack, I know I messed up, but that can be fixed, alright! You keep saying it yourself!! With enough persuasion, anything can be fixed. Please, let me fix thi-”
“I’ve gotta admit, Rhys, I don’t really care what you’ve done. You just, did it, y’know? You fucked it up. You had the power in your hands to make things right, and you fucked it up. But hey, we both knew you would, someday, didn’t we?”
Handsome Jack was standing just in front of Rhys, now, staring right in his eyes, but there was no hints of a smile, nothing that could give Rhys any reassurance for his face. There wasn’t even anger in the way he looked at him. Nothing. Except maybe some determination.
“Jack, please…” Was the only thing Rhys managed to say. Just one plea. An agonizing plea.
He did not even budge when Jack raised his hand in front of him, and slowly reached out for his throat. He did not flinch when his fingers gripped at his neck, and started to tighten. He did not try to fight back.
“Between you and me, Rhysie? I was waiting for this to happen. So, no hard feelings, huh?”
It hurt. It hurt like a bitch. It was obvious that he wouldn’t let go before Rhys was dead. And honestly, he wanted to let him. Because, seeing this, seeing how little important he was to Jack’s eyes, that was worse than death to him, at this very moment.
“S-sorry, I love you.”
Jack’s expression changed in a second. The determination became.... Something else. Maybe shock? Or disbelief? Rhys couldn’t tell. He was in no place to try and too much about it, anyway.
“What did you say?”
“I love you.”
A few seconds passed, and Rhys started to suffocate. His breathing was shallow, and he knew he would pass out soon. And after that… After that, was a different story.
“Great.” The grip of Jack’s fingers slowly loosened, until he entirely let go. “Of course you do.” There was so much spite, so much disdain in his words. Rhys almost - no, he wished, that he hadn’t stopped. That he had just killed him. That he had spared him the judgement from this.
He fell to the floor, on his knees, clutching his throat. Breathing was painful. Tears were pooling at the corner of his eyes, and he couldn’t bring himself to watch anything but the floor.
“I’m sorry.”
He noticed that Jack was starting to walk away. The footsteps continued further away from him. God, did he wish he was dead.
After the sounds of footsteps was gone, he finally managed to bring himself to look up. And what he could see, was a distraught Handsome Jack, his hands holding up his head, as he massaged his temples.
“As you should.”
Betrayal comes in many shapes and forms.