Chapter 8
If he could make himself any smaller, it'd help out. A lot. But he couldn't, so Rhys settled for keeping his head down while he was at work and preventing himself from doing anything to attract too much attention to his person. He did his work, oversaw progress with coding, met with different people in his department to get to know them as his employees, rather than his co-workers. It was a shift in office dynamics, but no one seemed too miffed about having Rhys over them instead of in a cubicle next to them. If anything, they seemed to work better now that Vasquez no longer presided over them. It was a nice feeling, knowing that he inspired a greater work ethic.
But Rhys still kept his head down, not wanting to draw Handsome Jack's focus to him again so soon. He used the oil he was given diligently, unsure if Jack would be keeping tabs on him just to make sure he was taking care of his product. Rhys had to remember that, too, that Jack essentially owned the cybernetics that he had surgically implanted.
In a sense, Jack owned him.
Rhys shivered and banished that uncomfortable thought to the back of his mind, and got back to inputting data on his computer. It had been about a week since he and Jack visited the labs, and since then the lab technicians had sent him several files and programs to look over for bugs, and the people in the earlier development stages sent more plans throughout his department for them to start planning and writing code for the actions that the developers wanted.
Vaughn kept him entertained as he worked, sending him emails and messages on his ECHO about anything and everything. Things in Accounting were slow apparently, with no fraud to fix or misplaced money to find, and most of Vaughn's co-workers could handle the workload without him, so he was allowed a little time to slack off. He spent that time sending Rhys messages about their infamous neighbor, Mr. Lawrence. The aforementioned man and his daughter were back in town this week, their presence announced by the sleek black vehicle in the driveway and the new bottle of honey that Athena viciously hoarded to herself. But Vaughn still hadn't seen the man in question, and his theories on just who he could be dragged on. Rhys got the jist of most of them, but Vaughn's latest message included his idea that Mr. Lawrence could be a diabolical dictator who wanted to rid the world of bad people all in the name of the greater good, and he used scientifically enhanced bees to help in his destruction.
Rhys scoffed and sent back a couple of laughing emojis. You know, the ones with the scrunched up eyes and tears from laughing so hard? Yeah, Vaughn got like, seven of those in a row, and Rhys chuckled as he hit send on his ECHO.
Take that, bro.
Rhys couldn't even fathom where Vaughn got his latest theory, though. They knew next to nothing about Mr. Lawrence, and none of it pointed to him being an evil dictator.
'Lay off the video games, bro. They're frying your brain.'
Vaughn sent back a couple of alien emojis, probably meaning to convey his weird and out of this world conspiracy theories, and Rhys smiled at the message before putting his ECHO face down on the desk.
The rest of the day at Hyperion passed by without anything exciting happening, with Rhys going over code for his own idea for a prototype in the mean time. He wanted to develop a personal companion bot, one that would act as a last line of defense in case of emergencies and as company if you ever got lonely. It's personality interface could be customized to fit its owner's needs, and would act like a pet more than anything, or like a guard dog that could fit in your hand. But it was still just a scribble on his legal pad and a handful of lines of code saved to his files, and his work took precedence over it, so it would be some time before he could build anything substantial.
With a sigh, Rhys glanced at the clock in the corner of his screen and decided it was a good time to call it a day. Vaughn had about another five minutes before he could clock out, so Rhys packed up his things and left his office to meet Vaughn on his floor. The trip to Accounting was silent and uneventful with only one other person in the elevator with him, so Rhys fiddled with his ECHO until the doors chimed and opened for him. The clack of keys and quiet murmur of conversation carried over the floor as people worked, many of them not bothering to look up as Rhys passed them by.
When he finally reached Vaughn's cubicle, he found the accountant glued to his screen, fingers flying over the keyboard with remarkable speed, and no apparent drive to clock out and leave. Vaughn didn't even notice Rhys walk up.
Rhys grinned and leaned down until he was looking over Vaughn's shoulder, his face precariously close to Vaughn's. The shorter man didn't even blink, so Rhys took his chance and hummed, loud enough for Vaughn to hear him, and made sure to speak directly into his friend's ear.
"So about those aliens!" The shriek that followed had a few people peering up over the walls of their cubicles, but they all went back to work when they saw Rhys waving at them with a huge grin. Vaughn jumped and pushed away from his desk violently, slamming into the opposite end of his desk in an effort to get away from whatever the hell had just scared him. When Rhys looked back down at him, laughter bubbling up through his throat, Vaughn was clutching at his chest and breathing heavily, his glasses skewed as he glared up at Rhys.
"Not cool, bro."
"Oh come on," Rhys put a hand on his hip, still grinning. "You gotta admit, that was a little funny."
Vaughn didn't bother to respond, instead fixing his glasses and rolling back over to his computer. Rhys' little joke did serve to remind him of the time however, so Vaughn saved his work and shut off his computer, and packed away his things as Rhys watched with an over-satisfied smile from just outside his cubicle.
"I have one word for you, bro: karma, and when it comes to bite you in the ass, I'm going to be the one laughing at your misery." Vaughn pushed his way past Rhys on his way to the elevator, not really mad at his friend, but annoyed to a certain degree.
"Uh, Vaughn, buddy?" Rhys called after him, easily catching up to Vaughn as he reached the elevator. Vaughn looked up at him, still glaring as he pressed the call button. "I'm sure that that was more than one word. Isn't counting your strong suit? Bro."
Vaughn's aggravated yell followed them into the elevator, paired with Rhys' barely stifled laughter.
The drive home was a quiet affair, conversation muted to allow the silence to fill up with music from the radio instead. Predictably as they pulled into the drive way, Vaughn's eyes were glued to the house next to them and the car in the other parking space. Rhys spared a glance at the home, noticing that there were a few lights on and that he could see some shadows moving past the window blinds. Unlike his friend, he wasn't too worried or curious, although he did wonder how Angel was doing and if she was getting along with her dad all right.
During the week, they had several conversations with their neighbors in an effort to make themselves seem more friendly. It never hurt to have connections, after all, and passing on fresh baked goodies to the local moms worked wonders on every household. Their neighbors traded stories back and forth about Mr. Lawrence, never once dropping his first name or what he could possibly look like, much to the disdain of Vaughn, but they had heard more accounts of terrible encounters than they could handle.
Like their realtor said, nothing Mr. Lawrence did was illegal, he just had a downright sour disposition. According to their neighbors, he didn't hesitate to hurl out thinly veiled insults about their gardens or chosen paint covering their houses, and he regularly insulted their pets, constantly raving about how his garden out back was the best, and how his bees were better than any old, smelly dog or mangy cat. Reportedly, Helen two houses down tried to give him and his daughter a welcome gift of cherry pie, but Mr. Lawrence shut the door in her face with a scowl and caused the pie to fly back into her, running down her front in bright red globs.
Helen even heard the man laugh from behind his front door.
That was when Angel started going around the neighborhood to do damage control. Their neighbors had nothing bad to say about the teenager and only sung her praises, often citing how they couldn't imagine such a sweetheart being raised by that godawful man.
Honestly, all the stories reminded Rhys of his CEO, but he couldn't imagine Handsome Jack living in a suburban area like this one. The idea was too far fetched, and even Vaughn, the king of far fetched ideas, laughed at him when Rhys suggested it.
With a last glance at the house, Rhys and Vaughn made their way inside, greeted by the smell of food wafting from the kitchen. They shared a look, equally worried because one, Athena was a shit cook, if they were being honest, and two, if the food smelled that good then that meant someone else was in their home.
Their worry subsided when they heard Janey's laugh come from the kitchen, followed by a quieter chuckle from Athena. Janey's cooking they could handle, and she had some killer recipes from her mom in Australia, so they were more than happy to let her commandeer their kitchen for the night. They spared each woman a wave as they went to their respective bedrooms to change into comfier clothes, and when Rhys emerged he made a beeline for the living room. Usually when Janey was over, that meant game night for the four of them, so he booted up a multiplayer game for them all to enjoy and started up a solo round as he waited for the others to join him.
Rhys heard Vaughn make small talk with the ladies in the kitchen, his best friend's voice getting louder as he left and joined Rhys on the couch. He had two cans of soda in his hands, one of which he placed on a coaster in front of Rhys on the coffee table. Rhys nodded his thanks, eyes glued to the screen as he shot his way through enemy players in the game's online multiplayer mode.
When dinner was ready, none of them bothered to eat at the dining room table or at the kitchen island, opting instead to eat at the couch, each of them taking sporadic bites as they gripped their controllers and fought each other on the split screen.
Janey and Vaughn were really going at it, while Rhys and Athena stayed back and hunted each other with a little more tact. The screen was confusing to look at at times, and Rhys laughed every single time Janey died because she was focusing on Vaughn's portion of the screen instead of hers. After awhile, they decided to power the game off and switch to something else, so Vaughn pulled out Bunkers and Badasses. As they set up the game and got their characters in order, Rhys gathered the dishes and took them to the kitchen. Washing them could wait until the following day, however, so he simply rinsed them off and put away the leftover food.
With the television silent for the first time since Rhys and Vaughn came home, they all heard a knock sound from the front door, causing everyone to look up at Rhys expectantly. He had yet to sit back down, so it was easiest for him to get the door. Rhys didn't bother looking through the peephole before he opened it, so seeing Angel's large, blue eyes staring up at him with worry threw him for a loop.
"You didn't answer." Rhys was taken aback by Angel's tone and her statement, wondering what could make she sound so.... shaken up. Had something happened? Did he need to call the police. His heart was pounding just thinking about it.
"Angel, is there something wrong?" Rhys tried to keep his voice quiet so as to not worry the others, just in case there was nothing actually wrong. That, and he wanted to keep from spooking the girl any further.
"I knocked five minutes ago but you didn't answer." Oh. Rhys was going to explain that they still had a game up and running around then, and the television would have been too loud to hear knocking, but Angel kept talking. "Can I come in?"
Rhys gulped, not too sure her dad would be too keen on her going into someone's house, let alone a house filled with adults Mr. Lawrence didn't know. He told her as much, again a little surprised by her reaction.
"No, it's okay! He knows I'm over here and he's okay with it. Please, can I come in? Just for a little bit, I promise." Angel was gripping the bottom of her grey hoodie, wringing the fabric nervously as she looked up at Rhys. She kept fidgeting too, as if her body was thrumming with electricity and couldn't sit still. Rhys sighed and knew he couldn't say no to her.
"Alright, stop it with the eyes, already." He opened the door wider to let her in and closed it softly behind her, locking the deadbolt and leading Angel into the living room. They were met with several pairs of confused eyes that switched from Rhys to Angel, but they all focused on Rhys when he cleared his throat.
"Everyone, this is Angel." She gave a small, shy wave from her place next to Rhys. Vaughn returned it, and Athena got up to greet the girl with a warm smile.
"Angel, you already know Vaughn and Athena," They had met when Angel dropped off the second jar of honey. "But this is Janey, Athena's girlfriend."
"Hiya, Angel!" Janey got up too, walking over to Angel to give her a firm handshake. "Athena's told me alllll about you and your honey. Real good stuff, that is."
Rhys smiled at them, glad to see that Angel was responding warmly to the other occupants. Her behavior at the door had him all out of sorts.
"We were just about to start up a game of B&B. Wanna join us? Or not," Rhys quickly added after Angel gave him a confused look. "You can watch us if you like, or I can find something on tv for you to watch."
Angel looked contemplative for a moment, again fiddling with the hem of her hoodie. Her eyes shifted from each person as they made their way back to the couch, and Rhys even patted an empty spot between him and Athena for her take. She did happily, secretly enjoying the easy atmosphere the group created.
"Can you explain it to me? I've heard of it before, but I..." Angel bit her lip, thinking over her next words carefully. It was a stark contrast to the Angel Rhys has met before, and it only served to make him worry more. "I haven't had a chance to play it, or anyone to play it with."
The last part was said in almost a whisper, but everyone heard it. Angel looked around at them nervously, and she breathed a small sigh of relief when no one commented on it. Vaughn grinned at her though, and handed her a blank character sheet and a pencil.
"Here you go." Vaughn handed her the basic rule book, too. It was confusing to read through and thicker than the standard board game rule book, but it held crucial information on character creation. The rest they could teach her as they played.
"You gotta create a character first. Athena can help you with that, she's like, the biggest B&B nerd here, but don't tell her I said that." Vaughn stage-whispered, covering his mouth with his hand to prevent Athena from reading his lips. She could see and hear him of course, but Athena merely rolled her eyes and smiled as Angel giggled between her and Rhys.
It was another hour before Rhys coaxed an explanation out of Angel after they agreed to take a break. Athena had helped her create a neat elf character with cleric abilities to be the healer of the group, and the teen was doing pretty well for her first time, but Rhys wanted answers. It was clear that the rest of them were confused too, but they had kept to themselves, not wanting to startle Angel any more than she was.
"Hey Angel," The girl looked up at Rhys from her spot on the floor, one hand curled around a can of soda and the other holding the rule book. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, but I want to know why you came over here looking so... scared. Is this something I should be worried about?"
Rhys didn't want to imply that he was worried that her dad had done something, but that's exactly what he was hinting at. He trusted Angel and didn't think she'd lie about her father and his behavior towards her, but what the neighbors had been telling him made Rhys think otherwise. Athena and the others went quiet, each citing a reason to get up and move to another spot in the house, like grabbing a drink or heading to the bathroom, leaving Rhys and Angel alone in the living room. She had stiffened when Rhys first posed the question to her, teeth clenched around the straw she had in the soda, but she visibly relaxed when the others left.
"No it's not like that, I swear." Angel looked down at the board as Rhys scooted off the couch to sit next to her on the floor. He stayed quiet, not wanting to rush her.
"It's just- It's just that dad got a phone call earlier, something about work, and whatever it was about made him really mad." Angel took another drink from her soda and put down the rule book to fiddle with a couple of twenty-sided dice, anything to keep her hands busy.
"I don't like being around him when he's like that, so I usually stay in my room until he calms down." Rhys furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he went over her words, and his expression obviously worried Angel more, since she spoke a little louder and more frantically when she continued.
"Rhys, I swear it's not what it sounds like! I don't- I don't cower from my dad because I think he'll hurt me! He'd sooner slice his own hand off before he hit me, please believe me. He's, god, he's got a nasty temper, but he's never touched me like that, I promise."
"Alright, Angel," Rhys a put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly as he smiled at her. He'd take her word for it. "I believe you. If that isn't the case, then why did you feel the need to escape?"
The teen took a little longer to respond as she got her breathing under control again, looking down at her lap with her bottom lip between her teeth and brows furrowed. It wasn't a bad reason, per se, but saying it out loud was daunting, and Rhys' implication made her realize that she really made it sound like her father was beating her, of all things.
"Dad- He knows I don't like to be around him when's really angry, so he tries to keep himself in his home office when it happens and he tries to be quiet, but I can still hear him through the walls. I just, didn't want to tonight, and I knew you were home and you all seemed so nice when I met you before so I thought it'd be okay and I-" Rhys put both hands on her shoulders this time, causing her to halt in her mini rant and look up at him.
"Breathe, Angel. It's okay." A nod and she continued, slower and calmer this time.
"Before he could get really into the phone call, I told him I was coming over here. I've told him about you and Vaughn and Athena, so he was fine with it. Dad told me he'd come over to get me when he was calm again."
"Angel," Rhys kept his tone soft, smiling at her again when she met his eyes. "You're more than welcome to come over here when he gets to be too much, alright? Make sure it's okay with him first, though, okay?"
Angel gratefully accepted the offer with a tight hug and whispered thank you into Rhys' neck. Over her shoulder, Rhys met Vaughn's eyes, who was poking out of the kitchen, and nodded at him, letting him know that it was okay for them to come back into the living room. Once everyone was settled again and Angel was much calmer than before, they continued the game, playing for another hour or two before someone else rapped their knuckles on the door. Vaughn had passed out after his character was killed in battle, and Janey was busy defending Rhys' character, so Athena stood to answer the door.
Rhys wanted to see who it was, but the deep tones coming from the front porch signaled that it was probably Angel's father. The girl was dozing off against his arm, and he didn't have the heart to wake her until he absolutely sure that it was time for her to go. Rhys wanted to get up to meet this infamous Mr. Lawrence, but that was outweighed by keeping her asleep and peaceful.
Minutes later, Athena came back to the living room, kneeling down and carefully shaking Angel awake. The girl came to with a questioning hum, her eyes lazily focusing on Athena.
"Sweety, your dad's here. I'll walk you to the door." Angel nodded and with help from Athena and Rhys, she was standing on her feet. A little wobbly as she stood in one place, but steady enough to follow Athena to the door as the older woman led her by the hand.
Both Janey and Rhys said goodbye and goodnight quietly, which Angel returned with a yawn stifled by her hand. Rhys and Janey busied themselves with clearing up the game after that, letting Athena handle Angel and her father. When the bodyguard came back, she helped them get everything put away. Rhys shook Vaughn awake and rolled his eyes as his friend as Vaughn shuffled off to bed, not even bothering to help clean up.
As Rhys stuffed the game away, Athena bid Janey goodnight and walked her to her car. When she came back, she helped Rhys clean up the glasses and soda cans from around the table.
"I knew him." Rhys eloquently went 'Huh?' at the statement, his own mind tired and sluggish. It took him a minute to realize she was talking about Mr. Lawrence.
"I've worked for him before, helped him out when he thought someone was after him. He was totally right, by the way." Athena rinsed out some of the glasses, then turned to Rhys.
"Didn't think he'd be living here of all places."
Rhys, still lagging as his body started to remind him of just how badly he needed sleep, didn't even think to ask her about Mr. Lawrence and who he really was. He barely remembered what she said when he woke up the next morning, and decided that he didn't care enough to pester her about their neighbor.