Chapter Text
Jack never liked to think about how his life had gone down the figurative drain, but something about the holidays made him think. Maybe it was the sentiment of always requesting at least one holiday with his delightful daughter, only for her mother to reject him fully. Maybe it was that he had lost custody of her only because his job was demanding and she would inevitably end up left alone with a babysitter or a nanny, and the court jury that they had gotten fell for the crone’s sob story about how that just wasn't the way to raise a child. Maybe it was that he hadn’t even spoken to his daughter in 3 years, and it depressed him so. She would be 9 now, and hope for trying to reconnect with her was dwindling.
He had been fine the first week, angrily throwing himself into his work. Within a month, he found himself too sad when sitting around the house. He had started moving things out with the intention of replacing it all, but ended up just putting all his things in a storage locker. Eventually he was left lying on the cold hardwood floor of an empty house.
At work, no one could tell, of course. Handsome Jack didn't feel depressed, he was threatening in the way workers needed to be motivated not to mess up their job. He always wore fresh pressed suits, and walked with a swagger that would make the ladies swoon. He made his demands and didn't think about his life on a deeper level.
Consequently this also meant he rarely got breaks, because breaks meant going home, and going home meant being alone. He would strip out of his suit and put on his ratty pajama pants and an old sweater, and maybe a hoodie he found in a dumpster on one of his worse nights after Angel had left. Eventually he had just left his house, and lived in his van. It was just easier that way. At work he was Handsome Jack, and after he was a mess. He took solace in driving around town, since the local cops didn't like it when cars stayed in one place for too long. He would drive his van to the same place to sleep for a few days then move to a different part of town to change it up. He had visited places he normally never would have that way.
Tonight, he had picked out a spot in front of some crappy apartment complex, not in the complex parking, but out on the curb. He got out of the car and took a short jog to the convenience store he had passed to buy some shitty soda to drown himself in for a while. When he got back, he drained the soda before tossing it in the back of his van and passing out in the driver’s seat.
Rhys lived further away from work than he would like, but his roommates and best friends had agreed that until one of them gets a promotion, they were stuck.
“Bro its just too expensive to live that close to work.”
Yvette had agreed. “Vaughn’s right. We’d have to end our lost souls event, and you don’t want to do that.”
Rhys had sighed. They had started a small group, consisting of only the three of them, that always held a small thanksgiving dinner for the homeless and lonely around their city. It never gathered much attention, most of the guests having been invited there by one of the three personally, but they hoped one day they would be able to do something bigger. They had a regular venue that actually donated the space to them, the landladies loving the concept and occasionally helping out. They had yet to officially join the group, but Rhys considered them honorary members.
He sat back from looking over their plans for that year, and glanced out the window. There was a rather worn out looking man getting out of his car, a van packed with living essentials. He walked down the sidewalk towards the convenience store. Rhys glanced down at the stack of fliers Vaughn was going to be passing out the next day. The man looked a little down on his luck, and could probably use a nice meal. He grabbed a flier and ran out the door.