Chapter 12
The things that Jack wanted to talk about were...trivial at best, and could have been saved for the upcoming quarterly review, though Rhys wasn't about to suggest waiting for that meeting to be around Jack. Not when-
Not when Jack kept touching him, and looking at him with softness in his gaze.
The contact was brief after that initial hand on Rhys' neck, with Jack placing a hand at the small of his back as they bent over Jack's desk going though documents on the computer, or a hand gently curled around his elbow when Jack led him back to the window in his office. It was all very disconcerting, but Rhys found himself reveling in the attention.
It was... nice? Confusing, definitely, and had Rhys buzzing in his skin and unsure what to do with it, but it was nice.
Plus, it had the added bonus of distracting Rhys from the absence of a familiar weight on his right side. He hadn't given his arm much thought since Jack helped him with getting it docked on his desk, the CEO's attention drawing him away from it. That, and he was also actively trying not to think about it. Rhys caught brief glimpses on his prosthetic on the desk and each time it invoked that strange feeling in his gut. It wasn't hard to let Jack distract him from that.
The CEO donned his usual brash persona once the problem of Rhys' arm was handled, with his voice reverberating off the walls and seemingly filling the space. The more time Rhys spent around him, the more he realized that Jack was more than just a man. It wasn't as if he didn't already know that, what with working for Hyperion for nearly ten years, but it was something else to witness in person.
Jack Lawrence was an entire entity unto himself, able to command any space he was in with just the right infliction in his voice.
Rhys looked over at him, watching as Jack pointed out some flaws in a prototype's code on his desktop.
Yeah, Rhys could see how Handsome Jack had quickly rose to the top of the Hyperion food chain. It was almost insane to imagine Jack in any other position than the one he was currently in. Jack, as an intern? Or a code monkey like him? The thought was enough to make Rhys laugh.
Which he apparently did out loud, because suddenly Jack was narrowing his eyes at Rhys, hands planted firmly on the desk on either side of his keyboard.
"Something funny, sugarplum?"
"Uh-" Rhys panicked and quickly scanned the computer screen, looking for an excuse or something to distract Jack with, anything that wouldn't give away the fact that he hadn't been paying full attention to the matter at hand. "Just their ideas!"
Jack rose to his full height, arms crossed over his chest. Again, Rhys was just this much taller than Jack, so the CEO was peering up at him every so slightly, eyes still narrowed and accusing. Rhys glanced at the screen again, happy that he had at least one ear open when Jack was talking, and that he actually recognized the prototype plans displayed.
"I mean, what were they thinking? The coding they have for this model is obsolete compared to some of the other products Hyperion has launched within the past year alone. If we were to green light something like this, we'd probably be mocked by the competition. Um-" Jack's stance changed, less defensive and more relaxed, which in turn eased Rhys' own nerves. Thank god. "In fact, I think I remember seeing Torgue release something like this a few months ago, which caused their stocks to plummet, if I recall correctly."
And he did. Vaughn had been talking non-stop about it when it happened. Torgue's last big launch was proving to be a hot topic around the office water coolers even now, especially in his department and down in R&D, but he didn't expect to see something so similar appear in documents waiting for Jack's approval.
It sure as hell saved his ass, though. God bless.
"Hmm." Jack turned back to the screen with a thoughtful frown, giving Rhys an opportunity to release the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Well shit," The CEO spat out after several more seconds of scanning the documents. "Whoever tried to pass off Torgue's shitty plans as Hyperion originals is dead friggin' meat. There's gotta be a name somewhere..."
Rhys could see Jack clicking through document, searching for the names of those who were associating themselves with the project. For a brief moment, Rhys actually felt sorry for whoever published the plans for green lighting, but the more rational part of his mind took over. If someone was going to honestly try to pass along another company's failed plans, even with heavy edits and changes to the original, just to try to get a leg up in Hyperion, then they deserved whatever Jack had planned for them.
"There we go!" Jack pointed at the screen with a triumphant grin, his fingertip pressing on the monitor and causing the color around it to ripple slightly. Just above his finger, Rhys saw the names of three different people who were taking credit for this stunt and who were unknowingly waiting their doom. The department head even recognized one as an employee on his own floor, but the other two were R&D members as far as he could tell. Rhys straightened up, tugging at his shirt collar.
"What are you gonna do to them?" Rhys asked somewhat hesitantly. Even if Jack didn't tell him straight up, Rhys would probably hear about their fates eventually. Such was the web of gossip that thrived in office environments.
"What are we gonna do to them, you mean." Jack flashed a rather smug grin at his companion, hands on his hips and striking a pose not unlike those on his motivational posters.
"Um, what?"
Honestly, Rhys thought he deserved some kind of award for his excellent speaking skills.
"'Um, what?' " Jack shot back at him, voice pitched to imitate Rhys', not unlike the first time Jack called him up to his office. "I'm calling these idiots up here and we're gonna fire their asses. Together. It's gonna be great, kiddo." Handsome Jack placed one hand on his desk again, the other still firmly planted on his hip, and leaned into Rhys' space for the umpteenth time that day. The grin on his face was dirty, his eyes hiding absolutely none of his excitement at the prospect of the fucked up bonding time he was proposing. Rhys found himself leaning back before he even realized it, and felt heat on his cheeks. God, he was weak.
But that didn't change the feeling of dread that settled in his stomach at Jack's proposal. He was not facing anyone else while his arm laid charging on the desk, not even a handful of people who wouldn't remain in the company long enough to sneer at Rhys for being handicapped.
"Yeah, no, Jack." Rhys peered at the screen again, taking note of the Robotics employee, then looked back to Jack. He was nervous about putting his foot down on this matter, but he would not let anyone else see him like this. Rhys turned slightly from Jack, again taking to putting his left side in focus instead of his right. Jack caught the motion easily. "I'll take care of Roberts when I go back down since he's in my department and is my responsibility, but I won't stand here and watch you terminate the others when it's not my place."
Rhys' voice did not waver and tremble, thank you.
(Okay it did, but just a tiny bit. Promise.)
There was an instant change in Jack's demeanor. It was in the way his shoulders went stiff, and how the grin on his face shifted into something not unlike an animal baring its teeth. Oh, Jack was still smiling, but it wasn't jovial. The hand he had on the desk twitched, his fingers curling into a fist, and Rhys found himself taking a step back. Then, Jack's eyes roamed over his shoulder again, and his mockery of a smile relaxed into something neutral. Rhys, for his part, couldn't help the flinch as Jack focused on him, even though he literally just witnessed Jack go from calm and collected to subtly enraged and back again.
That wasn't something Rhys wanted to see again.
"Ruin all my fun, why don't you." Jack straightened up and ran a hand through his hair, expelling a weary breath as he did so before he leaned forward to press a button on his landline phone. "Stacey, babe, contact uhhhh," He looked at the documents still open on the screen, skimming through to find the names he'd already apparently forgotten. "Contact Jones and Hernandez from R&D and let them know that I want them in my office in an hour, no excuses."
"Jack, I just said-" Rhys snapped his mouth shut when Jack held up a single finger to him and clenched his flesh hand at his side, watching as Jack hung up on his secretary without so much as a goodbye or a thank you.
"You won't be here in an hour, cupcake."
"So then we're done here?"
"Ah, ah, ah." Jack wagged the same finger in front of Rhys' face, his lips twisting into a smirk. "I didn't say that, either. I still have a few things to go over with you. First," Rhys made a face as Jack continued, but any objections were silenced with a hard look from his boss. "There will be someone from R&D coming up to your office tomorrow to hammer out some final details on your upgrades."
Rhys' eyes widened in surprise. He had completely forgotten about those. His supposed upgrades were half the reason why he even went down to R&D in the first place, and nearly had his head bitten off when Jack found out about his joints and hardware. Was Jack really still going to do that for him?
"Second, I need to talk to you about Angel." Jack's face lost any hint of mirth it had, replaced by a serious expression that was somehow so uncharacteristic of Jack, though it wasn't new. It was the same seriousness Jack emanated when he offered such a gentle hand to Rhys earlier that morning, and for some reason it made something churn in Rhys' gut. Hesitation blanketed his next words, his hand running down his front to smooth out imaginary wrinkles from his shirt and vest.
"Did something happen with her?"
Silence was his answer as Jack gazed at him, lips pressed into a thin line and brows knitted together as Jack contemplated something. The lack of response was making Rhys antsy, his fingers twitching at his side. Something must have changed his mind, because Jack was waving him off and sitting himself down in his chair, swiveling around until he was turned away from Rhys, mood and demeanor nonchalant compared to just before.
"Nah, never mind, it can wait." Again, Jack leaned forward until he was pressing buttons on his phone, calling Stacey once more. "Hey princess, tell those dumbfucks to hustle. My schedule just cleared up."
Rhys fidgeted by the desk, unsure as to what that meant exactly. Was Jack dismissing him just like that?
"You can't just mention Angel and not-" Jack swiveled around to meet him again, hands clenched around both armrests as he reclined in his chair.
"Sorry, is she your daughter?" Rhys opened his mouth to answer, the startled syllables on the tip of his tongue when Jack cut him off. "Answer's no, pumpkin. Like I said, it can wait. And since you want to be a goddamn party pooper, you gotta go. Don't want your delicate sensibilities to be ruined, now do we? So pop your arm back on and get the hell out of my office. Now we're done."
Rhys didn't waste any time in disconnecting his arm (which thankfully received more than half of its full charge) and hurrying to the office doors, his prosthetic cradled to his chest after he slung his bag over his shoulder. He fumbled a bit, off-balance and tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away from Jack, but luckily he caught himself in time and grasped at the door handle, pausing to turn back towards Jack.
"Sorry if I was an inconvenience, sir."
Outside of Jack's office, Rhys found a bathroom he could duck into and quickly took off his upper layers to dock his prosthetic into his shoulder port. There was a murmur of static in his ears as his arm calibrated and connected to his ECHO eye, the two systems linking up and providing the connections and power Rhys would need to control the arm. Once all the start up sequences were finished, Rhys flexed his fingers and turned his arm this way and that, making sure everything connected properly. With a sigh, he dressed again and slipped out the bathroom, giving Jack's secretary polite wave goodbye despite the sneer that seemed to be permanently plastered to her face whenever Rhys was around.
The ride back down to his own floor was quiet due to the elevator being empty, which he was eternally grateful for, and no one gave him a sideways glance as he quietly entered his own office with a heavy sigh. Rhys leaned back against his office door once he closed it, sagging against the wood and letting the strap of his bag slip off his shoulder, resulting in his bag dropping to the floor.
He just wasn't in the mood, honestly, so Rhys stepped over his bag as he walked into his desk, sinking into his chair with a weary groan.
Just what the hell was with Jack that the morning? His mood swings happened faster than a monsoon on the river, coming and going in a matter of seconds. And what about Angel? What had Jack wanted to tell him for that split second?
Groaning in frustration, Rhys ran both his hands up his face and through his hair, leaning forward until his elbows rested on his knees as he held his head in his hands. Handsome Jack was good CEO, that was something no one could deny, not with all the solid proof he provided of his expertise, but god was that man fucking awful at being a human being.
And to think Rhys thought that they were having a moment earlier! With all the touching and looks Jack kept shooting him.
"Ohhhh my god," Rhys leaned forward more, rolling his chair closer to his desk so that he could drop his head onto its surface. "What the fuck."
He must have stayed like that for some time, because by the time Rhys was able to pull himself up and start his computer to try to get some work done, Vaughn was texting him and asking if they were going to meet for lunch that day. To be frank, the last thing he wanted to do at the moment was converse and interact with other people, but he owed Vaughn. The man had tied Rhys' shoes for fuck's sake, he deserved a lunch buddy who could at least put on a brave face after whatever the fuck just happened in Jack's office. Steeling himself for the next thirty minutes of stuffing food in his mouth and making small talk, Rhys tapped out an affirmative response to Vaughn and stood, walking over and bending down to grab his wallet from his bag before he left his office.
Another elevator ride and soon he would be joining Vaughn, but before the elevator could reach its destination, it stopped a few floors above Accounting to let someone else on. Rhys paid them little mind, eyes glued to the screen on his ECHO again, until the person spoke, and Rhys couldn't help but think that their voice sounded familiar.
"Shit, you're going down, aren't you? I'm really I'm just in a bit of hurry to uh, go up, you know? Didn't even look to see which way this one was going, oh man. I'm uh, rambling a bit, aren't I? Sorry, sorry..." Despite the person's words, Rhys still saw him step into the elevator, probably too awkward to wait for the next one. He looked up from his phone fully intent on putting on a fake smile to lie through his teeth and tell the person no, it's perfectly okay that you're making things ten times harder for me right now, but the words died in his throat the minute he locked eyes with the new passenger.
From the swirl of his hair to the tip of his shoes, the rambling person looked exactly like Handsome Jack. Even the godawful yellow sweater he wore was reminiscent of the one people had seen Jack wear under his suit jacket on occasion, and one glance at his shoes revealed that yes, even their disgusting choice in footwear for a corporate environment was the same.
Judging by the way this lookalike's eyes were traveling up and down Rhys' own form, he was taking him all in too, but with a blush that was steadily increasing in intensity across his cheeks.
(Take that, alliteration!)
Rhys was still too shell-shocked by being faced with a stumbling, rambling, blushing Jack that he couldn't even open his own mouth to spit out a witty line like "Take a picture, it'll last longer," but that wasn't actually witty past the age of ten and Rhys was pretty sure he'd twist his own words with how tongue-tied he was feeling right now. His newest elevator companion however, successfully gained the use of his tongue, but the words that fell out of his mouth left much to be desired in way of subtlety.
"Oh wow. Oh uh, Jesus you're pretty, did you know that? Like, really pretty. I mean handsome! Attractive? Just, good looking. Ha haaa, god I'm just gonna stand over here, and try not to um, stare." He then squeezed himself into a corner closest to the elevator door and furthest from Rhys, pressing the button for Jack's floor as he did and nervously pulling at the collar of his sweater.
Rhys' first thought after that outburst was that it definitely boosted his confidence levels, especially after leaving his house that morning feeling like shit. Then, Rhys decided that this man could in no way be Handsome Jack in any shape or form. Jack just wasn't that good of an actor. Thirdly, oh no he's cute briefly floated through his head, and then Rhys' last thought was of the panic he felt when he still blurted out:
"Jack?!"
And subsequently regretted it as the man's face went through various emotions, most notably surprise, realization, and resignation.
"Timothy, actually." He said as he scratched the back of his neck, and fuck he even had the same wrist tattoo as Jack. Rhys realized now that this Timothy didn't have the scar across his face like Jack did, which he just didn't notice before as he focused on the man's intense blushing, but like Jack, he did have one green eye and one blue, which were currently going between Rhys' face and the elevator floor.
Human cloning wasn't scientifically possible yet, was it?
(Then again, this was Hyperion, where Handsome Jack could literally try to make anything possible. Rhys wasn't going to rule out cloning just yet, to be quite honest.)
"Jack's twin?" Timothy spoke, the words coming out hesitant with a smile that tilted to the left as he shrugged his shoulders.
(So their mother, god rest her soul, cloned them in the womb. Kinda. Still science-y enough for Rhys, so it counted. Look, he didn't major in biology for a reason, okay?)
"Oh."
Fuck Rhys, seriously?
"I mean, god, uh nice to meet you, I'm Rhys." He held out his prosthetic for him to shake, and absolutely didn't flinch at the long stare Timothy aimed at it. "I've actually been working closely with your brother for a few weeks."
Timothy scoffed, his hesitant smile morphing into something more fluid and easy as he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the elevator wall. Rhys looked up at the floor counter just above Timothy's head, slightly disappointed to find that Vaughn's floor was next.
"Good luck with that," Timothy shifted, still giving off nervous vibes despite his change in body language that seemed to be more casual. Pretty people do that you to, Rhys supposed, and then immediately grinned to himself because this man had called him attractive. "Jack's hard enough to-"
Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the elevator chiming, alerting both men that one of their rides had come to a stop. Suddenly feeling awkward in his own right, Rhys offered Timothy a shy smile as he walked out of the elevator, raising his hand in a half-assed wave.
"It was very nice to meet you, Timothy." Rhys stopped just outside the elevator doors, taking note of the way Timothy immediately put his hand on the door jam to stop them from closing too soon.
"Yeah, uh, same to you? I'm sorry about that stuff I said when I got in, I just uh-" Rhys laughed, cutting off Timothy and causing the man to flush again.
"It's fine. It was sweet. Maybe I'll see you...around." He gestured to the entire building with his hand, eyes briefly pointing up to indicate Jack's office. If he was still going to be in relative close contact with Jack both at work and at home, Rhys was sure he'd meet the twin again.
"Yeah. Oh yeah! That'd be nice, I think."
Another smile and wave sent Timothy's way, and Rhys left the blushing man in the elevator, probably imagining the whispered Marry me as he walked away.
If only Jack was that sweet.